"What a load of bullshit. You've been squatting here haven't you?" He accused, pointing at the garbage in the warehouse.
Herman pointed at himself and stammered, "W-who me? N-nah it was probably old John! He stays around these streets you see... He might've come in here some nights... couldn't be me I stay like - a couple districts over?" He said while feinting Lex with the broom.
Lex sighed, before darting his hands out for the broom, tussling it from the squatter's hands. "Gimme- Put the damn broom down!"
Herman snarled, "NO!"
They wrestled with the broom, tugging back and forth, both staring straight in each others eyes with fire.
Lex tried to yank it out of his hands, only that the damned squatter had a grip of pure bloody steel!
The haggardly man smirks before using Lex' own tricks against him as he pulls backward with all his might, trying to hold Lex away with his leg.
*TRIP*
Unfortunately for the homeless guy, turns out his balance wasn't so good on one leg as he tumbled over, only, his vice grip dragged Lex down with him.
The rolled back and forth, each trying their hardest to win the brooms favour.
Once they were upright, they came to a standstill.
Breathing heavily, they both locked eyes once more.
'We're at a stalemate.' They both thought.
"Right, right! Okay, let's both drop the broom on 3, yeah?" He stared into Herman's eyes as they narrowed, nodding his head.
"3..."
"2....."
"1!" They both said at the same time.
...
No sound of a broom hitting the floor could be heard.
Neither of them let go.
Both still firmly gripped onto the broom.
"You were supposed to let go!" Herman yelled.
"So were you!" Lex spat back.
"Bah, but I'm old! I need the extra security." Herman said.
Lex scoffed. 'Yeah right.' He was at a loss here, it seemed they matched in both wrestling technique and cunning, how could he defuse this situation?
At that moment he heard a muffled commotion.
Sounded like it wasn't quite in the store, but just outside.
The squabbling children quietened down listening intently to the noise.
''It sounds almost coherent... are they people?'
It was then he realised what the terminal said.
This is a different world.
The hermit lunged at Lex pushing him to the wall and putting his hand to Lex's mouth.
"Shhh! You hear that? We're not alone here." He said as his eyes were now locked onto the door to the front.
Shaking his head, Lex managed to free his mouth, "Get your dirty hand off my mouth, squatter." He said in a hushed voice.
Herman raised an eyebrow and glared at Lex "Dirty? I'll have you know I-"
Lex rolled his eyes at Herman, "That's not the point-"
Their voices were cut out before they could finish by the system voice.
[ Unknown entities interacting with the mana barrier. ]
[ CCTV down, unable to confirm threat level. ]
Lex shot his gaze around the warehouse, not sure where it was coming from, "Unknown entities? The hell is that supposed to mean?"
"You're the owner. You tell me!" Herman cried.
Lex shot a deadpan expression toward Herman.
"Enough of the squabbling, get off of me! We have a bigger matter at hand." Lex said pushing Herman off of him, causing him to stumble slightly.
Herman stayed his distance this time, yet still keeping the damn broom at his side anyway.
"So I think it's about time you explain what the fuck's happening." Herman said, as if expecting a full rundown.
"How about your name first?" Lex asked.
"Herman. Now tell me what's going on." He replied.
"Right, Herman. I'm Lex." He sighed, crossing his arms. "I don't know."
Herman raised his brow, "You don't know?" He questioned snidely.
Lex raised his arms into the air, "No! I have no idea what's going on!"
He paced around.
"I came in here because my Grandfather had left this strange store as the only thing in my inheritance."
Herman crossed his arms.
"This is my first time interacting with it and apparently, for the next 24 hours, we're stuck in a different world!"
Herman waved it off, "Pfft, what else? You going to tell me magic exists now?"
Lex' face is deadly serious. "I'm not joking."
Herman gazed at Lex, taking a second to discern if he was joking, staring at his face for any glimpse of deceit, before slowly realising Lex meant every word.
His mouth dropped agape as he flapped his arms, "What the hell, you're not joking?"
Lex, disgruntled by the scrutiny, "No, I've already said that, I have no clue what's going on and now there's some 'unknown entities' knocking on a so called 'mana barrier'. I have no idea what to do."
Herman thought for a moment. "Well, let's go out and see, maybe they're not hostile, but maybe as curious as we are."
Lex grimaced, "I'd honestly rather hide in here until they leave..."
It was the logical thing to do, there could be anything- anyone out there in the front. Herman however, didn't think the same as Lex.
"Pussy." Herman said, as he walked to the door to the front. "I'm going to check it out, you can stay here and hide if you wish."
Frowning, "I'm the owner god damn it! Not letting some squatter check out my own damn store." he said, following closely behind his disheveled companion.
Herman smirked, "That's more like it."
***
(Outside the Store)
"Huh."
Herman nodded, "Huh."
Both men were stood, stroking their chins with folded arms as they stood on the lush greens that replaced the busy streets of the old world.
They stared past this bizarre translucent dome that covered the store, eyeing a group of very short specimens.
"People?" Herman asked.
"Nah." Lex shook his head. "Goblins."
"Goblins? How do you know? I thought you said you had no clue what was going on, don't tell me you were lying." Herman questioned.
"I wasn't lying Herman. Games and stuff man, you never played and RPG before?" He asked.
Herman shook his head.
Lex scratched his head, "Ah, how do I put this, they're like bigger, green, rough looking garden gnomes with pointy ears."
He continued, "Oh, and they're sometimes depicted as violent, stupid, vulgar creatures. But that's just from books and games."
"But uh... they don't look like vulgar creatures, maybe a little stupid but not 'vulgar'?" Herman said, staring at the goblins now stood together on edge at the appearance of humans.
Herman was correct. They did not look or move or speak like he had imagined goblins to act, yet their green skin, pointed ears and humanoid form spoke otherwise. They were small, barely 4ft, with varying heights, although the tallest couldn't be any more than 5ft.
They were clothed, not well mind you but it was real clothing - not rags or loincloths like he had expected.
Lex's best guess, given by the padded gambesons and shoddy spears, that this was a scouting party, probably checking out the big fucking dome that appeared in the middle of the woods.
"You know we can hear you right?" Said a goblin, stood in the centre.
He was the tallest, the 5ft goblin that looked like he towered over the others. His gear was certainly better than he'd seen on the others.
His weapons of choice were two dark green sabres on his back. He wore black leather lamellar armour with green accents, his large nose was studded gold, and his white mohawk certainly separated him from the rest.
This goblin's yellow, beady eyes were staring right at them.
Herman and Lex both darted their eyes back and forth from the talking green man.
"They can understand us." The both said.
Herman tried to step forward, slightly opening his mouth to speak before Lex put his arm in the way.
He whispered to Herman, "Let me do the talking, I'm afraid you'll just piss them off."
Herman scoffed, hesitantly stepping back and letting Lex talk, keeping a close eye on the situation.
Lex stepped forward, before realising now he had to talk to these goblins. 'Shit, at first I wanted to stop Herman from doing anything stupid, but now I've got to talk to them... maybe it would be better to let Herman take the lead...'
His thoughts were broken by the goblin across the barrier, who was tired of being ignored.
"Ahem" he coughed, "I am head scout Vargis from the honourable Green Spirit Tribe. Working under orders from the great Chieftain Guram to investigate the source of the tremors deep within the Durov Forest."
"Care to explain what's currently going on? What is your intent here within these lands?" Each word Vargis spoke was confident, but holding a slight bit of caution, his eyes darting between the duo and the magical barrier.
Lex scratched his head, unsure of what answer to really give here. "Well, scout Vargis, I suppose the only way to put this is simply." He said as he sighed.
Vargis' eyes narrowed, giving a hand signal to his party to prepare themselves.
'Are they... wary of us? Why?' Lex wondered, as he realised the folly of his wording.
"Go on." Vargis spoke, his voice a cadence lower this time.
Lex let out a single laugh. "We're setting up shop here."
"Shop? Like... a store?" Vargis lowered his shoulders, and raised his brows.
"Y-yeah. A store, we'll sell all kinds of goods, food, water, drinks, household supplies, alcohol, nicotine, the usual stuff and maybe some unusual stuff, I can't really say right now since we're still setting up." He explained.
Internally he facepalmed, 'They probably don't even know what half of those things are!'
Vargis' brows furrowed deeper, as his face was plastered with confusion. "You mean to tell me... that you are opening a store... in the middle of Durov Forest?"
The goblins behind him looked at each other with skewed heads, murmuring to each other.
"Are these idiots humans?" One said
"Durov forest, a store, they're either ignorant or lunatics, maybe both."
Each sentence coming from the goblins gave Lex a bad feeling.
"U-um. Yes? Is there something wrong with that?" Lex answered carefully.
He had an inkling that this wasn't a normal occurrence for these goblins.
Vargis shook his head, looking at him in pure bafflement, "Something wrong with that?" He repeated.
"Do you even know where you are? You are in the heart of Durov Forest!"
The two humans looked at Vargis blankly.
"You know, the home of monsters? Surrounded by dozens of differing races of monsters?
"And you chose here to start up a shop?"
"Your only customers are going to be monsters and the occasional adventurer."
Lex's face went white as he learned of his current location. His face twitched as he tried to keep a straight face.
'Did the terminal transport us not only into a different world, but in the heart of a deadly forest surrounded by monsters? Seriously?! Did it malfunction or some shit?'
'What if they come to realise that we're nothing but weak humans?' He shivered at the thought.
Flashes of images depicting goblins razing villages with wicked smiles ran through his mind.
"A-ah um... well... you see-"
Lex began stuttering, before feeling a hand on his shoulder.
Herman whispered into his ear, "I don't think the problem was me pissing them off, but you making a fool of us."
He stepped past Lex who called out to him, "Hey, Herman- Don't-"
His words were falling on deaf ears as he gave Lex a middle finger, before turning to the goblins with his hands in his pockets.
"I assure you we know exactly where we are, scout Vargis." He spoke confidently with his face blank of expression.
He spread his arms slightly as if welcoming him. "See in our company, we do not care for race. We will provide our service to anyone, no matter the colour of their skin, the length of their ears, or sharpness of their teeth. So do not worry, you too, are welcome to frequent this store once it is operational."
Vargis held his chin in thought, 'So they do know where they are. And if they chose to come here willingly...'
His gaze turned to the mana barrier as his eyes narrowed in as hard as the could.
'I can't appraise it. It's completely invisible to my magic sight.' He tutted internally.
Suddenly, he jolted his head back round to Herman, "Wait a second- What did you just say?"
Herman raised an eyebrow, "That we don't care if you're green, white, black or what."
Vargis looked at him with a boggled stare, before shaking his head and looking up at him with firm eyes, "What you said, is it true? That you'll allow us goblins to buy your products?" He said quickly.
Herman gave an assured nod, "Of course. We are above petty things like discrimination between races, Of course. You're talking to me, aren't you? You've been more polite than the kid here, at least. If you've got money to spend and don't cause trouble, you're welcome. All are welcome, and I mean all. All are welcome, and I mean all."
He smiled.
This startled Vargis, "I-interesting."
He coughed, "Well then, I have to discuss this with my tribe before I can give you an answer, I realise I've not yet been told your names, if you will."
"I'm Herman Staul." He said before pointing at Leo, "And this is the owner, Lex Peckham."
The goblin nodded, before fixing his posture and standing straight. "Well Herman and Lex, I look forward to seeing what becomes of the store." He offers out a hand to Herman.
Herman smiles wildly, and greets Vargis' hand with a thorough shake.
He turned to his men, whistling loudly.
"Let's move, if we leave now we should be back at the tribe for sundown."
"Sir!" The scouts called, as they gave a salute, following their Header into the forest.
***
(Vargis' POV)
As Vargis lead his party through the glades of Durov Forest. He couldn't stop thinking about well... any of it! It didn't make sense!
'What merchant company openly sells to monsters? Are they daft?'
His jaw clenches.
'It'd be the stupidest story I've ever heard if it weren't for that mana barrier, and those tremors... was it because of a spell? A spell causing an earthquake?'
He frowned just thinking about it. If they were up against something like that no normal goblin would survive.
'I need Wraith's help with this.'
He stopped moving, taking a look back in the direction of the store.
'But... if we can get on their good side, Guram tribe will flourish faster than the others who don't dare approach humans.'