After securing what was left of the village we’d set fire to, I gave some orders, and then I decided to return to the village. The old goblin and the noncombatants who fled during the battle rested at the village.
The humans won’t attack any time soon, but their aggressive attempts at expansion is worrying. The feudal lord of the west might have promised a ceasefire, but who knows how long that’ll last.
I need to renew our strength as soon as possible and expand.
But before that I should examine the goblins that evolved. It’s important to know every goblin’s capabilities. Such basic knowledge is needed to decide our future policies.
Let’s start with Gi Ga.
He went up a class, but he turned to a knight instead of a duke. The conditions behind this phenomenon are currently unknown. There’s not enough data. I’ll have to confirm the other goblins’ evolution conditions first.
The most eye-catching of the newer skills is the Defender’s Knowledge.
Defender’s Knowledge
After a mutual introduction, the chance of skills occurring during battle increases.
So in other words, the same conditions for a duel. Anyway, it makes him stronger, so that’s good.
Gi Jii is a noble class now. He’s been with me since before we even annexed the orcs, so it’s not strange to see him evolve. Gi Gi’s also evolved… Anyway, let’s see his skills. He’s always been put in charge of reconnaissance missions, so it seems he ended up specializing quite a bit.
Assassinate
No sounds are made when sneak attacking an enemy from behind. Works only for the first attack.
Savage Dog’s Nose
Distinguishing between allies is possible even without vision.
Bat Ears
Enemies up to one class above one’s own can be detected as long as it’s within a forest.
Looks like he’ll be most useful paired up with Gi Gi or Paradua’s iron legs.
If Gi Za and the others are the first generation, then Gi Zu here is the first of the second generation to become a noble class.
The Mad Dog skill has turned into the Mad Shishi[1] skill. He’s also gained the Bite skill. Let’s pray his resistance to the mad god has grown stronger too.
Mad Shishi
Battle power increases with the madness. Strength, agility, and defense will all increase.
Bite
Use your tough jaws to tear apart the prey.
That’s about it for the goblins of the Gi Village that reached the noble class. Of the remaining survivors that evolved, they evolved from normal to rare.
Pitch BlackVerid, you bastard. Don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong!
—Younger one, whatever could you mean? I’m lending you my power to help your ambition.
The thoughts of the snake on my right arm resounded within my mind.
An excellent goblin. It must be because he went through such a difficult battle that he grew up like this. There’s a deep hatred toward the humans hidden in his eyes, however. And then there’s these bunch of no good gifts he got.
Nose that Smells Death
When one’s life is threatened, battle power will rise. Increases strength.
Fierce Arms
Can use two weapons at the same time. Skills invoked while dual-wielding are invoked a level lower.
Man-Eating Snake
Battle power is increased when fighting against humans. Strength and agility are increased.
—Younger one, I pray for your victory. Use him well.
Even his hatred, you mean.
I spat curses in my mind before I looked down at the goblin before me.
“I name you Gi Ba.”
“I gratefully accept.”
A goblin that uses the same element as the late Gi Zo. Nose that Smells Death… well, he’s the same as Gi Ba, but Seeker of Knowledge, huh. Must be because of Gi Za’s lectures. Well, it’s not bad. I’ll need a couple of commanders to rule over the humans after all. Any skill that can make commanders is a good skill in my book.
Seeker of Knowledge
Blessed by the Goddess of Wisdom, the growth of intelligence is increased.
Deliberate
Tends to think deeply about things. Due to this tendency, it is possible to invoke skills with a small amount of ether.
I bestowed a name upon the kneeling goblin.
“I name you Gi Bi.”
“My sincerest devotion for this act of kindness.”
The next goblin that came was someone with the Beast Tamer skill. Now that I think about it, the Gi goblins that lived through that intense battle were all heavily influenced by either the water mage, Gi Zo, the beast tamer, Gi De, or the spear-user, Gi Da. Considering their positions, I suppose it’s not that surprising.
It’s my first time seeing the Hand-to-Hand Mastery skill, but it seems to have a rank just like the other weapon skills.
Hand-to-Hand Mastery
Compensates unarmed combat. It is easier to deal fatal wounds against the enemy.
That seems to be it. I guess I won’t know just how useful this is unless tested.
We’ll have to thoroughly test it from now on.
“I name you Gi Bu.”
“I gratefully accept, my king.”
This goblin lost a limb.
The Man-Eating Snake skill should be useful when fighting with humans, but that hate seething hidden in their eyes… They really hate humans.
He lost his limb, so I’m sure it’s a given, but I sure hope this hate doesn’t get in the way of my ruling over the humans. I’ll just have to be careful when using his sort.
“I name you Gi Be.”
“I will burn even my life it it means vengeance to the humans.” The one-armed goblin nimbly bowed.
Then the last goblin came. Ra Gilmi of the tribes.
Although of the noble class, he looks a lot more like the druids. In other words, that means to say he looks like a human. Blue skin, arms that extend just a little past the waist… If you dressed him in a robe, he’d look not much different from a human. The divine protection of the god of bows is a good thing too.
He Who Sees One-Hundred Li[2] Ahead
Accuracy when shooting with a bow is increased. The resulting damage is also increased.
Makings of a Hero
Will affect one’s leadership. Charm bonuses affect not only goblins of the same tribe, but also others.
Shadow Stitching
Can momentarily stop the enemy’s movements by stitching their shadows. Can affect enemies up to one class above one’s own.
Shadow Stitching… another useful skill. Since it works up to one class above, that means even the duke class can be affected by it. The power relationship between the villages might just change with this. Let’s hope Rashka doesn’t make a fuss…
With this I’ve finished examining the goblins.
After counting the goblins, I took those that could move with me to erect tombstones for those who passed.
Most of those who can fight in this village are already rare class. Those who survived without evolving are noncombatants. Namely, the young, the females, and the old goblin.
We picked up the corpses of the goblins who died and buried them in a corner of the village. The knight class, Gi Ga, the noble classes, the rare classes, and me… we each took the corpses of our brethren and gathered them.
From here on out, we’ll have to fight the humans while increasing our numbers. We manged to secure the females, but from here on out, I’ll have to be even more careful with thim.
If they die, everything else will too. No one can escape death… even me.
We dug a simple hole for a tomb, buried the dead in it, covered them with dirt, and then planted a seed in the same spot.
“To the valiant goblins who died fighting!”
A fist to the chest as I bowed. There were those among the normal and rare classes who did not understand what I was doing, but the knight and noble class goblins all followed solemnly.
Gi Da! Gi Zo! Gi De!
You are true warriors!
All things shall one day cease.
Therefore, I shall conquer the world.
So that I may leave behind proof that I once lived, I will leave a trace of my existence on this beautiful world.
Tl Note: Here’s the fourth chapter of the week. I posted this along with the previous one because they’re both short.
Footnotes:
[1] Shishi refers to the Chinese guardian lions I believe.
[2] Li is an old unit with varying lengths. Supposedly, it is now standardized to 500 meters.
