I turned my ethereal head in the direction of Hagitha and studied her. She was a cute little thing and had a look of wild concern on her face. I almost felt bad making her worry, but I knew better than to be distracted. Instead, I spoke directly into her mind.

"Gaze upon me. Behold my form. " I commanded, using this time to act like a powerful spirit that compelled obedience and exuded magnificence.

It felt strange since most of my interactions with living creatures had been ones wherein we were or at least I had acted like the people I was interacting with were my relative equals. Not this time though. I was obviously and demonstrably the strongest creature here, and I wasn't about to let them believe otherwise.

After commanding Hagitha to look at me I refocused on the whole scene in front of me. Calmly I opened my mouth to speak. "Enough. Calm yourselves." I told the goblin encampment, using my power and authority to project my voice throughout the collection of tents and frightened goblins.

While their attention was focused on me, Hagitha began to move closer to me. She sneakily walked in my general direction but avoided drawing overt attention to herself thanks to everyone's focus on me.

My voice silenced the panicked commotion that was audibly throughout the encampment. The goblins gradually calmed down over the course of a few moments, many of them stopping their running altogether, or approaching their mates and family members in case this was a prelude to a disaster.

A few goblins dared to try and grab their bows. I could respect such efforts, but I didn't stand idly by while they acted in a way that might endanger my allies or my scheme.

I locked my gaze on the goblins who used the moment of calmness to attempt to take a defensive stance and willed the earth to move in my defense. I didn't target the goblins themselves, as they weren't in a position to attack me just yet. Instead, I took careful aim at their weapons. I focused on the earth beneath their armaments and willed it to open up underneath their armaments.

Bows and arrows, lances, clubs, and inexpertly made axes all sunk into the earth, as if someone had dropped them into the ocean. And in order to truly cement my status as the top of the local food chain I quietly asked a question to the system.

"How do I use telekinesis? Do I just... reach out with my mind and will things to happen, like I do with earth control?" I asked the system, hoping to make use of my first real psychic ability to ensure that this conflict came to a decisive, and unpainful end for everyone involved. I heard an intrigued noise sound off in my head, and chuckled.

[Yes, actually. That's exactly what you do.] The system explained, evidently impressed that I was gradually making use of the full suite of powers I had at my disposal. I grinned, physically, and did just that.

---

The goblins that had been attempting to rally a defensive force were the ones I targeted. I turned to look at them and reached out with my mind. I envisioned something like a network of invisible hands reaching out from my head and grabbing those few goblins who had the courage needed to move decisively in the face of danger.

The goblins, who were quite brave all things considered, suddenly made a number of unbrave noises as they felt my mind's "hands" reach out and slam into them. They were suddenly pushed back, inexplicably in their eyes. It made them even more afraid. I chuckled but was surprised, as that wasn't what I wanted to happen. I had meant to grab them, not knock them down.

"I may need... to practice this power." I muttered, very quietly. That said I gritted my teeth and reached out with another set of hands, three in total, aimed at that same number of goblins. And this time I aimed at their shoulders. The invisible hands extended forward and effortlessly found their targets, powerfully grasping the shoulders of the fallen creatures and then hoisting them into the air.

Their less courageous, and more intelligent, comrades stiffened as they examined the state of the few goblins with the courage to stand up to my allies and I. Two of them were stuck in the ground, immobilized and making exerted noises as they tried to free themselves.

And three more of them were floating in the air. The floating goblins were uttering curses and scratching at the air that surrounded them, but they continued to float helplessly. I turned my gaze away from the floating goblins and turned to face their comrades.

"I am not your enemy. Now, are you satisfied?" I asked, after having casually flexed two of my powers, in order to deal with the few goblins who attempted to stop me. A silence fell over the encampment and the creatures who had frightfully reacted to my presence looked despondent.

I looked out across the encampment and took careful stock of what I saw. It was... well it wasn't great.

The encampment was a messy, disorganized place. Tents were situated haphazardly throughout the area surrounding the hole in the ground that led to what could more reasonably be said to be the goblin's lair.

Not just were weapons strewn about, but so were conscious and unconscious goblins and goblin babies. As I studied it I got more and more annoyed. After a few moments of polite contemplation and careful examination, I opened my mouth to speak.

"I came here to present you with a gift and encourage you to worship me. But now it seems that I can provide you with an even better present than what I had originally come here to give you." I said, sounding somewhat exhausted even to myself.

"Now, allow me to introduce myself." I told the creatures, speaking confidently so as to maintain the impression I had undoubtedly impressed upon the souls of the lowly creatures I had cowed. As I did this, I freed the goblins whose feet I had trapped in the earth and lowered the goblins who I had suspended in mid-air for trying to organize a defense against my servants or me.

A part of me hoped that that would generate some goodwill towards me. That it would cause me to be seen as a powerful but also merciful entity. I knew better than to think that that was likely to occur though.

---

"Goblins, my name is Cosecha." I told the goblins who were out of the hole and stood scattered around the encampment. Some of them muttered my name, the word escaping their lips quietly and fearfully. I chuckled, allowing the sound to not only escape my lips but to actually reverberate throughout the encampment.

A few of the goblins immediately prostrated themselves when I said my name. One of them was Troik, who had emerged from the hole alongside Mawby and Mianthus, a male goblin who was one of Troik's friends. Seeing Troik fall and show submission to me inspired a pair of goblins who had silently stared at me in terror while I defended myself from their braver allies, to do the same thing.

"I am a spirit of the harvest, the earth, and abundance. As you can see," I told my future followers, stretching out my hand in the directions of the goblins I had defeated but then mercifully freed. "I am quite powerful. My power aside, I did not come here to be your enemy." I told them.

I allowed and caused my voice to flood not only their ears but their minds, by establishing mental links with them and echoing my words into their heads. I didn't make it overt enough to draw additional attention, but I did overlay my voice with my power.

"I came here to help you. I came here because I know that you've been struggling with food and because I possess the power to end your struggles." I explained, beginning to speak more excitedly the longer I talked. I worked to hide the excitement I felt as I spoke.

"I can create an unlimited amount of fruits. And any fruit I create is perfectly healthy and is all the food a creature needs to eat for an entire day." I revealed to the goblins as I rose my watery tendril in the direction of the goblins and willed a beautiful copper-colored apple into being atop my fluid appendage.

The sudden appearance of the apple at the end of watery tendril caused the eyes of the goblins to nearly universally widened. I smiled, my airy head being thankfully visible in the darkened forest and causing some of the goblins to begin to relax. I tossed the apple to one of the goblin children, a creature even smalled than Troik or Hagitha.

The creature's father, an older, fatter goblin, caught it in midair and glared at me, before muttering that I wasn't about to "corrupt his child." That made me laugh, but so as to not cause another conflict I laughed internally. Part of why it was funny was that it wasn't a bad instinct since eating food I created opened one up to my influence, which I was could undoubtedly use to corrupt someone. I wasn't done talking and began shortly after I tossed the apple to the goblin child.

"I would like for you all to serve me, eventually. And I believe you will. But I am here today to introduce myself and to offer gifts so as to begin a fruitful conversation between my servants and me, and you all. I am in no rush to acquire your service and devotion. I will earn it." I explained, smiling at the goblins.

It was at that moment that I entered the minds of my zombified stags and withdrew the reanimating sparks that gave them what limited abilities and cruel mockery of life they possessed. The two deers slumped to the ground, once again fully and truly dead. The goblins gasped as the long bodies of the stags clattered to the earth, once more falling like puppets who had just lost their puppeteers.

"I came bearing not only fruit, but also meat. I would like to talk more, but I am happy to do so after we feast. Now come. Show me your appetites, feast and make merry." I announced, before beckoning the goblins towards the deceased deer, so that they may claim their meal.

I had worked hard for it, and I wanted to encourage them to eat their fill. The goblins rose, swiftly, thanks to the impact of hunger burning a swift hole through their prior caution, fear, and restraint.

The first of the goblins to dash forward were Mawby and Troik, rising up from their subservient positions faster than I imagined positions and animalistically lunging towards the free meal I had just given the entire tribe. As they dashed forward they opened their mouths, causing copious amounts of saliva to vacate their maws and showing me their weirdly shaped and monstrous teeth.

While a frenzied and hungry pack of goblins approached the two thick corpses I had laid out in front of them, I opened up my inventory and pulled out a third layer of stag flesh, the very flesh I collected from the body of the stag skeleton who now had impressive intelligent, skills, and an intimidating appearance.

I threw the additional layer of skin and flesh onto the corpse of one of the deers and smiled as it seemed to urge the goblins to dash towards me even faster. When those of them who got to the food quickly got there they began to speedily and messily devour the food, spraying blood and flesh everywhere with every bit, nibble, and mauling they gave the bodies. It was something else.

---

During the minutes that followed the goblins rushing towards me with famished looks on their little faces, I was mentally messaging Hagitha, Mianthus, Troik, and Mawby. My initial message was apologetic.

"Hello everyone, I apologize for first coming and meeting you this way rather than privately meeting with each of you individually." I told the little creatures, being somewhat sincerely in my apology.

I had decided to do this in a somewhat spur of the moment way, and though I was happy with the results overall I was doing my best to assess and refine my strategies for future moments when I have to do something like this. That said the messages I received back from the goblins weren't at all negative.

"You came! You're here! You're real!" Mentally shouted Troik. I grinned at him as I read his message.

"So it's true then... is it all true? Do you realize possess all the powers Troik said you do?" Asked Mianthus, clearly and understandably being shocked by all of this. I couldn't really blame him, I doubted I'd have believed Troik if I were a goblin in this tribe given the extreme nature of what he had most likely told them.

"I never doubted you'd come eventually! I just... never imagined that it'd be so fast." Said Mawby, delighted and understandably shocked to be in my company, in the same form I had adopted when I first met her.

"To think that Troik went out and met a servant of an actual spirit..." Hagitha mused, laughter in her voice.

And that was the beginning of a few minutes of relative peace in what had been a long and quite fulfilling day.

---

It wasn't until several minutes later when the goblins had torn through much of the body-fat and flesh of the three stags I had acquired on my way here that things quieted down enough for me to talk to the whole tribe once again.

Goblins were scattered about the encampment. Most, but not quite all, of the goblins outside of the hole in the ground loomed close to the skeletons of the stags.

The flesh and fur that once covered the bodies of the creatures I had delivered to the goblins were gone, and the skeletons of the creatures were visible. Before I said another word to the goblins, I targeted the two skeletons and envisioned twin beams of obsidian energy shooting from my hand and infusing them with unlife, reanimating them as skeletal servitors in my service.

With that potent, imagined image my main focus, I began to attempt to use one of my divine powers "Create Undead". I was determined to use it without asking for guidance since I had asked for help so many times before, and I was doing it by instinct and by inferring that activating my powers tended to be done mentally.

For a few moments, nothing happened. I was silent, as were my undead minions, and the goblins I had just fed chattered away amongst themselves. A few of them gave me awed looks, but whenever I turned to look at them and smile they'd turn away in a blur of motion.

But then the newly visible skeletons of the truly deceased stags began to vibrate and radiate an eerie, yellow light. The sight of this was so odd that my other undead followers revealed themselves and approached the encampment. Their eyes were collectively locked on the vibrating piles of bones.

Mentally, I sighed in annoyance at them and told them to step back. Grudgingly, they acquiesced to my demand and stepped back out of view, hiding in the shadows of the forest.

And it was at that moment that I received a notification.

"Oh hey, my first undead-related title. Nice." I thought, in the safety of my mind as I read through the notification. While I was doing that the skeletons of the stags completed coming into unlife once more. They rose to their feet and looked majestically at the goblins. And the goblins looked at them, with terror and awe-filled eyes. I chuckled and turned to address the crowd of tiny creatures.

---

"Fear not little ones. The creatures you see here are not your foes. In fact, they are your friends." I arrogantly declared, channeling pride and self-confidence into my voice so that I may burn a majestic image into the minds of the tiny creatures.

"I am an endlessly resourceful master and I have come to you with a number of gifts. The food you just ate was only one of what I come bearing." I explained, smiling at the skeletal stags.

I studied them and focused on their eerily empty eye-sockets. And I began to reflect on an unexpected but noteworthy benefit of my decision to supply the goblins with the skeletal stags.

"I'm giving them sentries sure, but I'm also supplying them with spies that are both eager to inflict violence and utterly loyal to me." I thought, a strange smile on my face as I focused on that thought. It was a thought that had occurred to me when I was chatting with my first goblin followers, the four goblins I had previously interacted with in one way or another.

Troik was the first goblin to approach one of the stags. He walked over to the thing but stopped short, not wanting to reach out and touch it but hoping to examine it more closely.

The undead stag's eyeless skull turned to examine the strangely childish and innocent goblin. My creation didn't show any hostility to the goblin, but the link that tethered the skeleton and I together grew hot thanks to the annoyance my worshiper was unable to physically express.

"If you'll allow me, I intend to give you these skeletons. It will be a free gift given in good faith and to foster goodwill between us. These skeletal stags are sleepless, hungerless entities that you can use to guard your homes at all times, thus freeing you up to pursue other tasks." I revealed, aware of one of the biggest weaknesses of being a mortal: the need to sleep.

As soon as I said the word "Sleepless" I heard an audible cheer from some of the goblins. It brought a smile to my face and I knew at that moment that I had already achieved at least this decisive victory.

"I can see that that prospect excites you. I'm glad to be able to help make your lives better." I told them, speaking truthfully. I actually did like the feeling of winning them over not through terror and fear, but by making their lives easier and by giving them reasons to worship me as a helpful god.

I felt their awe begin to slowly pour into me. It made me feel lighter, and stronger, while also boosting my ego. I had to work to suppress a sense of genuine, possibly even earned, pride and arrogance, but I managed to put a lid on it after a few seconds of internally struggling with myself.

"I have come here to earn worshipers. Or at least to begin to do that. I know it may take time, which I think is reasonable. I wish to improve your lives and to show you how you could be living if you wish too. I possess powers both more useful and stranger than the ones you've seen, little ones." I told them, whispering of the already considerable diversity of powers I could use to change and alter reality.

They began to whisper to each other, awe and fear mixing together in their voices. I heard them ask curious questions, about healing, about housing, and about safety. It was actually surprising to me to hear them ask such well-thought-out questions and wonder, reasonably, about my powers.

Eventually, their whispers got louder and louder and turned into regular-volume, spoken conversations.

---

"This creature clearly possesses great power. We should see what it is willing to help us with!" One goblin told a neighbor of hers. There was cautious excitement visible in her pink eyes. A thin smile on her full lips.

"But think of what it's asking? It wants us to serve it, to worship it!" A peer of hers replied, concern and even a bit of outrage audible in his voice. He glared at her and then turned to glare at me. There was a fire in his gaze, not a magical one or another, but a fire of anger at the thought of losing something, and I speculated that maybe he feared to lose some sense of freedom or independence.

"I wonder if it could heal... Just imagine if it could restore Xiax's arms?" Another asked one of his sisters, a goblin that looked just like him and had the same last name. I was about to reply when that goblin's sister responded before I could.

"Look at it! It's clearly an elemental of some soul. What sort of elemental can heal?" She asked, sarcastically.

It was as if it were common knowledge that elementals couldn't heal, which I added to my list of known trivia, a list that was admittedly quite small while reminding myself that overhearing something doesn't make it true and that later on. I was more than capable of admitting that I'd need to research this to see if it's true. I refused to assume something that serious and far-reaching without evidence.

It took the goblins a few minutes of discussion and conversations to decide how to move forward as a community. Shortly before they turned to speak to me, and in the span of seconds between them having their communal time and them readying themselves to speak, I explored an idle thought.

I found it quite interesting that this conversation about the future of the goblin tribe was taking place without the mysterious orc chief who supposedly lorded over the goblin tribe, especially because he was a real person. He just wasn't here.

Instead of being here with his goblin minions the orc chief and his animal companion, creatures I had detected using my not-so-mini-map over the last few days, the orc chief was deep underground. He was gradually making his way towards us, alongside his animal companion, but he wasn't here yet. And judging from their pace, the duo was quite far away.