Chapter 30
The first goblins emerged from the forest just after nightfall.
They did not arrive like an army.
They stumbled.
The largest group consisted of perhaps thirty goblins, though only a few carried weapons. Most had wounds. Several were supporting injured family members. One child was being carried by an exhausted mother, while an elderly goblin limped behind them with a broken spear acting as a cane.
The villagers at the perimeter raised their weapons.
Gabriel stepped forward.
“Identify yourselves!”
The lead goblin nearly collapsed before answering.
“We come from the western marsh settlement,” he gasped. “The Redcaps attacked us. We fled when the watchtower fell.”
The goblins behind him began talking all at once.
“They took the food stores!”
“They killed the hunters!”
“Our chief is dead!”
“They’re following us!”
That last sentence changed the mood completely.
Gavin climbed onto the watchtower and stared into the darkness.
“I see movement!” he shouted. “A lot of it!”
The chief turned toward me.
“My lord?”
I hated that he had started calling me that.
It made every decision feel ten times heavier.
“Get the civilians inside the central huts,” I ordered. “Gabriel, organize a defensive line. George, Gavin, take the western side. Don’t chase anything into the forest.”
The three brothers moved immediately.
The refugees were ushered toward the centre of the village. The children were gathered near the communal kitchen, where the older goblins formed a protective ring around them.
I stepped beyond the fence.
Ultima appeared beside me.
“Estimated enemy force: approximately sixty redcaps, fourteen worg riders, and an unidentified commander.”
“Any other threats?”
“Multiple mana signatures. Some are stronger than standard redcaps.”
“Then we’ll start with the outer group.”
The forest erupted.
Redcaps burst through the trees, shrieking and waving crude weapons. Their skin was dark green, their mouths filled with jagged teeth, and their eyes gleamed with a savage intelligence.
The worg riders came behind them, moving with terrifying speed.
I activated [[Haki]].
The effect was immediate.
The weaker redcaps froze mid-charge. Some dropped their weapons. Others stumbled backward, suddenly aware that the thing standing before them was far more dangerous than anything they had expected.
The worgs resisted better.
Their ears flattened, their bodies trembling, but several continued forward.
I raised one dagger.
Greed devoured the body of the nearest redcap.
The creature disappeared in a burst of black particles, its physical form consumed before it could reach me.
Gluttony swallowed the soul.
The second redcap suffered the same fate.
The rest began to panic.
That was when Kuroe arrived.
He stepped through a portal in a cloud of scarlet flame, wearing his human vessel. I had created it in the same way as before, using [[Physical Synthesis]] to form a temporary body and [[Subordinate Control]] to transfer his soul into it.
He looked like a tall young man with long red hair, black eyes, and a deeply offended expression.
His clothes were far more elaborate than mine.
“You are late.”
“I was preparing the emergency deployment of my most impressive robes.”
“We’re fighting redcaps.”
“Even redcaps deserve to witness my magnificence.”
He lifted one hand.
The ground beneath the redcaps exploded into crimson fire.
The blast did not reach the village, but it sent the enemy force scattering. Several redcaps were thrown into trees. The worg riders veered away, losing control of their mounts.
George and Gavin attacked from the flank.
George hurled spears of flame that struck the ground in front of the fleeing redcaps, forcing them toward the centre. Gavin moved in flashes of red light, using Flame Step to appear beside isolated enemies before striking them down.
Gabriel held the defensive line.
He did not fight like George or Gavin. He was slower, heavier, and much more deliberate. Whenever a redcap reached the village perimeter, Gabriel met it with his shield and drove it back with brutal strength.
The goblin villagers joined him.
At first, they only threw stones and spears.
Then they started working together.
One goblin tripped a redcap with a rope. Another struck it from behind. A third pulled a child out of the way before the enemy’s weapon could fall.
They were afraid.
But they were not helpless.
The battle lasted less than twenty minutes.
The redcaps were too disorganized after [[Haki]] shattered their first charge. The worgs were captured instead of killed, mostly because the villagers were interested in keeping the animals.
I ended up standing over the final redcap, who was pinned beneath Gabriel’s shield.
The creature snarled at me.
“Kill me, surface trash.”
I tilted my head.
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
“You attacked a village of surface goblins.”
“You are not one of them.”
“No,” I replied. “But I’m protecting them.”
I did not kill him.
Instead, I used [[Mind Link]].
The skill connected our minds for less than a second.
The redcap’s memories struck me like a wave.
A brutal camp hidden among red-stone cliffs. Redcap tribes gathered under a large, scarred warrior. Captured goblins dragged into cages. A black banner marked with a jagged crown. And, behind everything, the silhouette of a much larger creature standing at the mouth of a cavern.
The connection broke.
I staggered.
Ultima immediately steadied my consciousness.
“Master?”
“I’m fine.”
The redcap stared at me in horror.
“You saw the Blood Crown?”
“I saw enough.”
The chief approached carefully.
“What did you learn?”
I looked toward the dark forest.
“The attack wasn’t random. There’s a redcap warlord gathering tribes in the western cliffs.”
The chief’s expression hardened.
“And he will come here?”
“Probably.”
The word spread through the settlement.
Fear returned quickly.
It was one thing to survive a raid. It was another to discover that the raid had been part of a larger campaign.
That night, I expanded the village’s defences.
With [[Physical Synthesis]], I transformed piles of stone into reinforced walls and iron spikes. Kuroe carved defensive runes into the gates. Gavin marked hidden routes through the forest, while George created fire pits along the western perimeter.
The goblins watched in awe as raw materials changed beneath my hands.
A stone became metal.
Mud became brick.
Broken wood became polished beams.
I could create almost anything, provided I sacrificed enough material.
The village changed before sunrise.
By morning, it had a wall.
Not a perfect wall. It was uneven in places, and some sections were only waist-high. But it surrounded the settlement with enough strength to stop a casual attack.
The chief ran his hand over the new stonework.
“You made this overnight.”
“I had help.”
Kuroe placed a hand over his heart.
“I contributed my artistic vision.”
“You set the wall on fire.”
“An essential aesthetic choice.”
The chief did not understand our relationship yet.
That was probably healthier.
After the immediate crisis passed, the village elders held a council.
They invited me, Kuroe, and the chief’s family. The meeting took place inside the largest hut, though it quickly became obvious that the structure was too small for serious political discussions.
Representatives from the western refugees sat across from us.
Their leader was an elderly female goblin named Grace. She had received her name before the attack, but unlike the chief, she had not evolved.
She stared at me for a long time.
“You protected us,” she said. “You defeated the redcaps and gave our people shelter.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
I considered lying.
Instead, I gave her the truth.
“Because I hate watching people get destroyed when I have the power to stop it.”
The room grew quiet.
I continued.
“I’m not offering charity. I want to build something. A protected society for goblins and other people who have nowhere else to go. A place with training, food stores, defences, and paths to evolution.”
The chief’s eyes sharpened.
“A society under your protection?”
“Not under my rule,” I told him. “Not exactly. I’d be the strongest person here, so pretending I have no authority would be ridiculous. But I don’t want everyone treating me like a god or a king. I want a council. Local leaders. Rules. Shared responsibilities.”
Kuroe raised one finger.
“And ceremonial praise.”
“No ceremonial praise.”
He lowered the finger.
Grace considered my words.
“What do you want in return?”
“Honesty. Cooperation. No attacking other settlements. No slavery. No selling people to adventurers or nobles. If you join, you help defend the community and contribute what you can.”
The refugee goblins whispered among themselves.
Then Grace bowed.
“Our village is gone,” she said. “Our chief is dead. Our homes are burned. If you truly offer protection, we will join you.”
A notification appeared.
[[Settlement candidate identified]]
[[Integration conditions available]]
[[Accept refugee village into Protected Community?]]
I selected yes.
A pale green line spread between the two groups.
[[Western Marsh Goblins integrated]]
[[Population increased]]
[[Communal Mana Pool established]]
[[New function unlocked: Village Evolution Support]]
I blinked.
“Ultima?”
“The settlement contract has gained enough complexity to develop a support function.”
“Can it evolve the refugees?”
“Not automatically. It can accelerate evolution under specific conditions.”
I turned to Grace.
“You’ll need training, discipline, and named individuals before most of your people can evolve. But now that you’re part of the community, you’ll have access to those resources.”
She lowered her head.
“Then we will work.”
The news spread.
By midday, three more goblin groups had arrived.
One came from the northern hills. Another lived near the lake region. The third had been hiding underground after losing several members to human slavers.
They all asked the same question.
“Can we join you?”
The answer was becoming obvious.
The settlement was no longer a village.
It was becoming a refuge.
By the end of the day, our population had more than doubled.
The huts were overflowing. Food stores were being reorganized. Families were sleeping in communal buildings. The captured worgs were being trained by Gavin and several young goblins who had decided that riding monsters was now their life’s purpose.
I stood on the new wall and looked out over the growing settlement.
Then Ultima spoke.
“Master, you have a problem.”
“Only one?”
“Makkura has requested a human form.”
I looked toward the dungeon entrance marker I had created through [[Odyssey]].
“Why?”
“He claims Kuroe has received an unfair advantage.”
A roar shook the night from somewhere behind me.
“THE LICH HAS CLOTHES, HANDS, AND THE ABILITY TO HOLD TEA!”
Kuroe’s voice followed.
“Your envy is unbecoming, Makkura.”
“I WANT TO BE UNBECOMING!”
I closed my eyes.
“Fine. Bring him here.”
A black portal opened above the village square.
Makkura emerged from it in his drake form, wings folded tightly against his body. The goblins screamed and scattered until they realized he was standing beside me.
He lowered his head.
“My lord.”
“You want a human form?”
“I wish to experience your world properly,” he explained. “Kuroe has already received one, and the Alve possess humanoid bodies. I am the only major subordinate still restricted to a monstrous shape.”
“That’s not entirely true. You can transform with Tri-Form.”
“It makes me larger, smaller, faster, or stronger. It does not allow me to wear boots.”
That was difficult to argue with.
I used [[Physical Synthesis]] to create a human vessel.
The body formed from pale clay, black scales, dragon bone dust, and a fragment of refined mana crystal. It looked like a young man in his early twenties, tall and athletic, with black hair, sharp features, and bright blue eyes that burned with the same ghostly fire as Makkura’s.
Small black horns curved backward from his temples.
A thin line of dark scales remained along his neck and forearms.
I used [[Subordinate Control]].
Makkura’s soul left the drake body and entered the vessel.
The moment his eyes opened, blue flame burst from his mouth.
He stared at his hands.
Then at his feet.
Then he tried to spread wings that no longer existed and fell face-first into the dirt.
The goblins stared.
Kuroe burst out laughing.
Makkura stood slowly, brushing mud from his clothes.
“I will kill you.”
“You will need to catch me first.”
Makkura’s human form wore black trousers, a blue sleeveless coat, and silver-lined boots that Kuroe had apparently prepared in advance.
I looked at him.
“You already had clothes ready?”
“I anticipated the event, master.”
Makkura flexed his hands, then raised one toward the sky.
“Freedom!”
He immediately tripped over a stone.
I decided not to mention it.
The next transformation involved the Alves.
They did not want new bodies.
They wanted the same bodies.
Addison, Avery, Amelia, and Arlo arrived through the transport circle shortly afterward. They had clearly heard about Makkura’s evolution and had already discussed the matter among themselves.
Amelia stepped forward first.
“We would like vessels as well.”
“Do you want different appearances?”
“No,” Addison replied. “Our bodies are already ideal for our abilities.”
Avery crossed her arms. “And I refuse to look weaker just because someone thinks evolution should mean becoming prettier.”
Arlo nodded. “Our current forms are familiar. Changing them would reduce combat consistency.”
I appreciated that they had turned body design into a tactical meeting.
The process was simpler this time.
I created four bodies from refined golem material, artificial souls, and samples of their existing mana signatures. Then I used [[Subordinate Control]] to transfer each Alve into the new vessel.
When the light faded, they looked exactly the same.
Same faces.
Same hair.
Same horns.
Same height.
Same clothing.
Even the tiny scar on Avery’s left wrist had been copied.
[[Individual Addison evolved]]
[[Race: Advanced Alve]]
[[Skill efficiency increased]]
[[Individual Avery evolved]]
[[Race: Advanced Alve]]
[[Summoning capacity increased]]
[[Individual Amelia evolved]]
[[Race: Advanced Alve]]
[[Healing output increased]]
[[Individual Arlo evolved]]
[[Race: Advanced Alve]]
[[Spiritron manipulation increased]]
The four of them tested their new bodies for several minutes.
Addison confirmed her modifiers were stronger.
Avery successfully dominated a wild worg.
Amelia healed one of the refugees.
Arlo created a Sunder blade that sliced cleanly through an iron bar.
They had not changed visually, but their abilities had clearly improved.
Makkura looked annoyed.
“Why do they get to remain exactly the same?”
“Because they requested it.”
“I requested dignity.”
“You fell over a rock.”
“That rock was… dishonourable.”
By sunset, the settlement had become a strange combination of goblin village, military camp, refugee centre, and experimental society.
I was beginning to suspect this was how kingdoms started.
Not with crowns.
With people arriving at your gate and asking whether they could survive beside you.
The last visitor came just as night settled in.
A goblin messenger from the northern hills collapsed at the gate.
He carried no weapon.
Only a red cloth tied around his arm.
The chief rushed toward him.
“What happened?”
The messenger looked past him, straight at me.
“More villages are coming,” he said. “They heard you defeated the redcaps. They heard you give names. They heard your people evolve.”
His breathing shook.
“They are asking for protection.”
I glanced over the wall.
Beyond the torchlight, dozens of tiny lights moved through the forest.
Not enemies.
Campfires.
Entire groups were approaching.
Ultima spoke to me, the interface reflecting the growing number of mana signatures.
“Master,” she said, “your population is increasing rapidly.”
“I noticed.”
“Projected requirements for food, housing, defence, and governance will exceed current capacity within three days.”
I looked at the lights in the darkness.
Then I smiled despite myself.
“Good thing I’m building a society.”