Goblin King: My Innate Skill Is OP-Chapter 268: Deliberation

"But the thing is, I only acquired the skill the moment I became chief; you never became chief, so we can’t say for sure."

Flogga narrowed her eyes at me, the corners of her lips tightening as she kept her glare fixed on me.

"Young totem... are you showing off?"

"No!" I waved both hands immediately, shaking my head so hard my neck almost cracked. "That wasn’t my intention."

But as soon as the words left my mouth, I replayed what I’d said in my head... and yeah, it definitely sounded like I was bragging.

"I was just curious," I added quickly, trying to defend myself. "If [Skillshare] isn’t exclusive, then that means the ones I challenge might also have it. If my opponents can share skills too, that changes the entire game does it not."

Flogga considered that for a moment, then nodded slowly.

"That is understandable." She set her ladle aside and leaned her elbows on the table. "But I told you before, I was once the mate of a Chosen who also became chief. I can assure you he never had such an ability, young totem." 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Her tone shifted, firmer, certain.

"Neither have I heard of anything like it."

"We can’t be sure," I said, even though the evidence was leaning heavily in one direction.

Flogga shrugged, still stirring her mixture with slow, practiced movements.

"You could ask the two chosen you have under you. Gork was it. He had worked under a Chosen who was also a chief. Maybe he knows something."

"I did," I replied, shaking my head. "He said if Jael had such an ability, he never displayed it."

"Then that only means it’s exclusive to you, young totem, does it not?" Flogga said without hesitation. "And even if it is... what exactly are you going to do with that information that you aren’t already doing now?"

That question stopped me for a moment.

I actually had to think about it.

Flogga rolled her eyes like she could feel the gears turning in my head.

"If there’s something you want to do, then just do it," she said, her tone firm and dismissive in that familiar grandmotherly way of hers. "Stop worrying about what could possibly be or not be. You’ll make yourself old before me at this rate."

I huffed out a breath.

She wasn’t wrong.

Overthinking had never saved me from anything in this world.

Action had.

"Hmm." I nodded slowly. "Thanks for the advice, Granny Flogga."

A small, warm smile tugged at her wrinkled face, but it vanished as quickly as it came. She stood up with that deliberate stiffness that came with age and pointed her ladle vaguely toward the cauldron.

"Alright, young totem, I have things to do..."

Right. That was the polite equivalent of get out.

I rose to my feet as well.

"Yes, yes. I’ll go now," I said, not offended in the slightest. I knew I’d stayed longer than intended.

"Good. And make sure to inform me before you leave the camp."

"Of course," I replied, nodding once before stepping toward the doorway.

Mira paused in her sorting to bow as I walked past, and I acknowledged her with a brief nod before stepping into the cooler air outside.

As the shed door closed behind me, my thoughts settled on the one thing I had been avoiding all this time.

Using [Skillshare].

If other chiefs truly had this ability and shared the skills they gained with their clans, then I needed to do the same.

And if they didn’t...

If this was something unique to me...

Then all the more reason to take advantage of it.

Either way, it was time to stop holding back.

To make my goblins deadly in battle, I had to be deliberate with which skills I shared. I couldn’t just hand out abilities blindly. Compatibility mattered. Some skills wouldn’t work well with certain goblins, and others might even be wasted entirely if the user couldn’t handle them. I needed to think carefully.

As I headed back toward my shed, still deep in thought, movement caught my eye.

Thok.

And behind him... a flock of giggling female goblins trailing after him like he was some kind of celebrity.

I stopped walking.

This bastard—

Instead of keeping watch like the others or helping his grandmother with her work—

He was busy flirting.

He said something I didn’t quite catch, and the giggling doubled, the females covering their mouths and leaning into one another like he’d just delivered the funniest line in existence.

I narrowed my gaze.

What on earth was so funny?

And more importantly—was Thok really that charming?

Since when?

What was his charm stat?

One hundred?

Two hundred?

Because from the looks of it, he was running a whole side business I didn’t authorize.

What on earth was he saying that had this many females hanging onto his every word?

I wasn’t jealous—far from it. I had Zarah, and that was more than enough for me.

What worried me was the aftermath.

Because knowing goblins... knowing their ridiculous libido...

If Thok kept this up, I’d end up with half the camp filled with his offspring running around like green, hyperactive toddlers.

I exhaled through my nose, choosing not to confront him now.

I’d talk to him later.

Right now, I had more pressing matters to handle.

I turned away from the scene and headed toward my shed, pushing aside the distraction and focusing on the task ahead.

When I reached the chief’s shelter, I climbed the stairs and dropped onto my bedding with a tired thud. For a moment, I just lay there, letting my limbs sink into the familiar fabric, the exhaustion from everything I’d done today finally catching up.

Then I lifted my hand and pulled up my status window, letting the translucent pane unfold before me.

Before I could decide who would get what skill, I needed to look through them properly—Every ability, active or passive I’d accumulated so far.

It was time to choose wisely.

I exhaled once, then...