42 Return To The Hobgoblins
'Hehe! Finally, I'm back!'
Rey had a wide grin on his face as he began to walk down the wide passageway of the seventh floor.
He had been looking forward to this moment for a while now, and there were a lot of things he couldn't start doing.
'I made sure to properly understand every single detail about Hobs that I read. While the research on them was incomplete, he practically knew all there was to know at this point.'
As per the plan, he would ensure their civilization flourished by teaching them a bunch of things and ensuring that they evolved a lot in the process.
'I should also experiment with the effects of various Monster Cores on them.'
Rey was genuinely curious about what would happen, and he was itching to find out.
"SKRRIAAAK."
"GURRIAKKA."
"HUKAKAYA."
The sounds of Hobgoblins danced in his ears as he entered the clearing.
Once again, he was greeted with a putrid odor. It wasn't as bad as the previous time, but it still smelled disgusting.
"Well… I'm back." Rey muttered as he watched the Hobs recognize his presence.
The instant they saw him, all of them—women and children—rushed to his presence.
They all kneeled and bowed their heads in subservience, speaking words in Goblin language that properly passed across a message of submission.
'Guess we're back to this…'
Rey didn't particularly dislike it, but he also wasn't the biggest enjoyer of being worshiped.
As long as they did what he wanted, he didn't mind either way.
"Well, let's begin, shall we?"
*******
It took all day for Rey to properly teach the Hobgoblins about hygiene.
'I honestly thought it would be like last time…' Rey thought to himself as he watched the Hobgoblins.
Unfortunately for him, teaching them about the important aspects of development wasn't nearly as easy as instructing them to harvest Monster Cores.
These green things were indeed smart, for monsters, but not by a large extent.
Rey realized he had to recognize that.
'Well, at least we made some progress today.' He comforted himself with that thought.
Not only were they able to properly set up the waste system, but Rey also taught them all about fire and its uses.
They could use it to cook, for warmth, and also to burn away all their wastes.
When Rey asked them what they drank for water, the Goblins showed them a pool of muddled water that probably had as much infection as the feces problem he had gotten rid of.
Water fell from crevices in the ceiling at particular intervals, and when it did, they let it gather in a ditch they dug themselves.
Unfortunately, this meant that the water would mix with the dirt, leaving it in an unsanitary state.
Also, since the water wasn't running, it improved the chances of disease festering.
'Monsters are living things too. While these ones have evolved to tolerate sickness in an unhygienic environment, it isn't absolute.'
Ninety percent of Hobgoblins died before reaching adulthood, and even among those who did, only seven percent made it to old age.
It was that bad.
'If I solve all these problems, just how well will they prosper?!'
Rey was genuinely curious about that.
In order to solve the water problem, he instructed them to make large pots from the Orichalcum that was abundant among them.
This would allow them to cook and also harvest water into clean vessels.
'I don't know complicated stuff about homemade equipment and health practices. Maybe I'll have to learn about that too…'
Rey wondered how he was going to ask Alicia for a book recommendation on those topics.
Wouldn't it be too absurd?
'Sometimes I wonder how much she knows about what I do…'
Rey often pondered on the reason why Alicia never asked him any questions regarding how he spent his time and what he was up to.
After being caught sneaking around the Royal Estate, Rey had thought he would be constantly policed by her, but that wasn't the case at all.
'Does she know, and she's hiding it? Or is she really oblivious?'
The Alicia he knew was constantly curious and suspicious of what she didn't understand.
That alone made Rey suspect the former.
'I can't be too sure, though. I just have to remain lowkey…'
If she didn't say anything, he wouldn't as well.
The Hobgoblins weren't done constructing the pots he had instructed them to. He knew it would take a lot of trial and error, but they were bound to get the hang of it eventually.
It was getting late, though, and Rey knew he had to leave pretty soon.
Before going, he had to do two things.
The first and most important was to drain as many Monster Cores as he could from the Hobgoblins' depository.
As for the latter, it was already staring him in the face.
'I guess I should do this first…' Rey smiled widely as he stared at the 'thing' that had now become his opponent.
It was a NightWolf.
The dark fur of the beast danced with the stale air within the arena that the Hobgoblins had made for him, and it's blackened eyes reeked of starvation.
NightWolves were usually fed the feces of the Hobgoblins, and occasionally, some grounded Orichalcum mixed with dirt.
The Hobs thought of this as the perfect revenge against the very beasts that tortured them for Eons in Goblin-Time.
'That's a pretty nasty meal if you ask me…'
As a result of their terrible diet, NightWolves were extremely weak.
Compared to the healthy-looking Hobgoblins, their bodies were pretty disproportional.
The NightWolf that currently faced Rey had a bloated stomach, but it's limbs were extremely bony.
Its fangs had been clipped off, most likely by itself.
'I noticed they occasionally eat their nails so their bellies stay full…'
It sucked to be the NightWolves, and their very existence reminded Rey that the Hobgoblins were just as cruel as he was.
No… perhaps they were even worse.
'Monsters will always be monsters.'
"GRRRRRRR…"
As the NightWolf growled, Rey prepared himself for whatever attack that would come.
'I'm not expecting much, but I'd like to see what it can do!'
*43 Rey Vs The NightWolf
~WHOOSH!~
The NightWolf lunged at Rey with primal ferocity, opening its jaws wide as it desired to rip him to pieces.
'It's faster than I expected…'
Of course, its speed was nowhere close to Rey's, as he easily evaded the beast.
Despite the NightWolf's bony legs and malnutritioned body, it was just as fast as an average Hobgoblin adult.
'I can only imagine how fast it would be if it was in perfect condition.'
Of course, there was no way to find out about that now.
Perhaps he could discover more about the NightWolves if he tried, but Rey genuinely had no real interest in them.
He just wanted to know their Skills.
'I have limited time. In between training myself and experimenting with the Hobs, I don't think I can handle another commitment.'
Besides, the NightWolves were the major source of nutrition for the Hobgoblins. There was no way he could just use them as he pleased.
… Not unless he had some way to substitute them for something else.
'I'm currently broke, and I don't have access to a large quantity of food.'
Since he wanted the Hobs to grow healthy and strong, forgoing the NightWolves was a necessary sacrifice.
'Even this single NightWolf has enough nutrients to feed dozens of Hobs. I have to leave it in good condition after I kill it.'
"GRRRAAAAHHHH!"
The NightWolf charged towards Rey once again, it's eyes now glowing purple for some reason.
'Could it be… a Skill?!'
~BZZTZZZ!~
Crackles of lightning flashed around the NightWolf as it rushed towards Rey.
With its body coated in purple currents, its speed drastically increased, and charred marks appeared around the very ground it trod.
'I see! So that's its Skill…'
Rey wasn't particularly disappointed since he didn't have a lot of high hopes for the NightWolf, to begin with.
'My [Greater Lightning Magic] Skill can do the same, and a lot more too…'
16:06
Still, Rey wasn't done with his research.
'Let's see how much damage it can deal.'
Rey planted his foot on the ground and waited for the blow to come.
'This is the first time I'm intentionally taking a hit from a monster…'
He wasn't particularly frightened since he had Skills that could come to his aid if he was ever injured.
However, it still felt weird.
All of Rey's instincts told him to kill before got killed, or harm before he got harmed.
Anytime he was in such a zone, he went on a frenzy.
But this time, he was still.
'I genuinely want to know!'
The NightWolf closed the distance between it and Rey within a mere second, its claw raised to deliver vindictive justice.
~SWISH!~
The claw slashed through Rey's baggy shirt, and his eyes instantly widened the moment it happened.
'N-no…! How could I have been so careless!'
Rey instantly regretted his decision to stand still. It had backfired in the most unexpected way!
And no, it wasn't because he was hurt in any way.
Not even a scratch was on his body
The reason for his current distress was something far more serious.
It was…
'My favorite shirt! Goddamn it!'
Rey honestly felt like crying.
He hadn't been paying attention to what happened to his outfits too much since his defenses always ensured he would never get touched.
He had worn this current shirt because he felt great today, and now it was in tatters.
'You… it's all YOUR fault!' Rey glared at the NightWolf.
The Monster instantly felt the bloodlust that radiated from its supposed prey.
It could feel every hair on its skin stand, and all of its instincts told it to run—flee as fast as it could.
The resounding crackles of electricity danced around the NightWolf as it turned tail and deserted the fight.
"Hey! Where are you going?!" Rey yelled, but the NightWolf did not listen.
It was too busy following its internal directive.freewēbnoveℓ.com
"Oi…" Rey's voice suddenly took a dangerous turn.
~ZZZTTZZ!~
"… I asked you a question."
Purple flashes of lightning began to dance around Rey's body as he activated the same Skill that the NightWolf just displayed.
A C-Tier Skill called [Lightning Coat].
It wasn't a particularly weak Skill, though its base damage output was quite low.
What made the Skill considerably useful was its 'Buff' attribute.
It increased the user's speed and strength—though not by an extremely crazy amount.
Just a 25 percent increase.
For a weakling like the NightWolf, that number wasn't a lot.
However, for someone like Rey… it was overpowered.
~WHOOOSH!!~
Rey instantly swept through the gap between himself and the fleeing creature.
In a flash, he was right in front of the pathetic thing.
"Where the fuck do you think you're going?"
Rey grabbed the NightWolf by the throat, heading the creature whimpering instantly.
He could feel the blood and bones that stuck to the beast's trembling body. Its fur was hard and rough, but none of that conceded Rey.
Even with the crackles of electricity from the NightWolf, Rey was unbothered.
His own burst of purple electricity seemed to do the one damaging the NightWolf.
"Now I see why the Hobgoblins were able to defeat you guys…" Rey whispered.
The NightWolves were by far superior to the Hobs, but they were also straightforward creatures.
'Their attacks are predictable and usually center around my lower abdomen to my leg area.
For the Hobs, that was around their chest.
'It's no wonder their armor mostly covers their chest.'
Speaking of the Hobgoblin armor; it was made of Orichalcum, which was a nonconducting mineral.
'Add that to the Mana-dulling effect it has… the NightWolves didn't stand a chance.'
It was quite an amazing thing—how strong predators like these could lose simply because of the innovation of a weaker species.
'I wonder if the same can be applied for the Dragons…'
When it came to power versus adaptability, which would emerge superior? From what he was seeing, the latter seemed to be the case.
Rey couldn't say for sure, though.
After all… he still hadn't met a Dragon.
At least, not yet.
*