Colby leaned over to Coro, "Will they always look like this?" he asked.
"No, after they consume enough energy they evolve. This works better with fresh kills, as the energy has yet to dissipate."Coro replied.
"What will they evolve into?"
"There are about 50 different possibilities so I cannot say for certain." he replied.
"Ah, are you hoping for any in particular?" asked Colby.
"I would like a pit fiend ideally." he said. "Though I am fine with anything."
"How much does it take to get them to evolve?"
"Another meal like that one should get them to maturity, I would think." replied Coro. At least according to what I have read he thought. He had studied demonology intently, trying to think of the best approach to collecting his demons.
Mox stretched, before standing up and walking over to Coro. Coro could tell he was getting impatient. He leaned over and picked up his bag.
"I found the trail they used to get here, we should follow it back to their camp." said Colby.
"Children stay close to Uncle Mox, follow his lead if we come up on anyone else."said Coro.
They made their way to the forest, following the trail the goblins had used to get there. Coro was quite curious about Colby, he didn't expect him to come seek him out so soon after leaving the city.
He was wrapped in a heavy armor, that was black in color. His family crest was engraved on the front of his chest plate. A shield hung across his back, and the hilt of a sword could be seen attached to the center of it.
"How long have you been raiding?" asked Coro.
"Only a couple months," replied Colby. "I started on the level 1 world and worked my way up. Now I have to find a team if I want to continue to progress."
"What monsters do you run into on a level one world? I've just graduated and skipped straight to this world." he asked.
"Oh? That's quite brave of you. On a level one world the highest lvl monster you will find is a level 2. On the level 2 world they could be as high as level 3. I've heard there are some level four monsters on this world but I haven't come across any. Not that I want to without a raid team." replied Colby.
"Interesting. Do you have any abilities as a tank?" he asked.
Colby smiled, "I have a couple. One is just a normal class related ability, one is inherited from my family."
As he finished replying they began to hear sounds of a camp in the distance. Crouching down they slowly made their way towards it, careful not to make much noise. Mox kept the imps with him fifteen feet further back, so that they would not alert the goblins by accident.
Colby and Coro crept up until the camp was in sight. There were six in total. Five were the same level one monsters that attacked before. The sixth seemed to be the boss of the group. He sat on a wooden chest, ordering his underlings around.
"Let's go make a plan." whispered Colby, backing away from the camp. The two headed back towards Mox and the imps.
Five minutes later.
Colby approached the camp again with Coro at his back. He had taken his shield and sword out and was approaching the camp. The goblins hadn't noticed him yet, a fight had broken out between two of them and they were cheering it on. The noise drowned out the group's approach.
Colby lifted his hand to his mouth and whistled as loud as he could. The goblins froze, looking for the source of the noise.
"You ugly slugs should pay more attention to your surroundings!" yelled Colby.
The goblin boss screamed back at Colby. The other goblins immediately rushed him, scrambling over each other in an attempt to get there first. They surged toward the line of trees where Colby and Coro waited, without concern for their safety. It would cost them dearly.
As they were within a couple feet of Colby, he braced himself. Mox leapt out from the overgrowth to the right, pouncing on the goblin closest to him. It crumpled under his weight before his jaws found their way to the goblins neck. The imps surged past Mox eager to join the fight as well.
All 20 of them jumped on the two goblins closest to them. The imps were no match for the goblins 1v1, but with ten imps per goblin, they were guaranteed to win. They pulled them to the ground and ended them quickly.
Colby quickly decapitated the goblin that was fiercely scraping at his shield and turned to face the last goblin. Before he could attack, however, Mox leapt onto it. Quickly breaking his neck, he looked at Colby and snorted.
"Pfff, greedy hound." snorted Colby.
The goblin leader, upon seeing his underlings defeated so swiftly, grabbed his spear and started advancing on them. He was a level 2. They wouldn't defeat him so easily.
Colby advanced to the front of the group, lifting his shield.
"Well let's go then you limp noodle!" he taunted.
The goblin narrowed its eyes at him. This one must fall first, it decided. Fully grasped by some invisible drive to attack Colby.
That must be the class skill that he mentioned earlier, thought Coro. What ability did he inherit from his family, I wonder?
As the two closed on each other, Mox began circling them, waiting for an opportunity to strike. He couldn't be careless he was only a level 1 hellhound. The imps made a ring outside of Mox's path. They would not get in his way, as he was their senior. However, they too wanted to jump into the fray.
The goblin chief suddenly charged Colby, thrusting his spear, intending to impale him immediately. Colby lifted his shield and blocked the attack, getting pushed back a couple feet. He slashed towards the chief with his sword, causing the chief to leap back. His shield had a gash where the spear had brushed against it. Colby had to be careful, he couldn't take too many of those attacks. His shield would not hold up against them.
Mox leapt forward intending to grab the chief's arm in his jaws to slow him down enough for Colby to finish him. However, the goblin was prepared for this and pivoted, thrusting his spear towards Mox's chest. It bounced off his armor leaving just the smallest scratch, while Mox's momentum carried him into the goblin. Upon crashing into him, Mox began his assault. He latched onto his arm, trapping the spear between them, and shook his head. If he could make the wound bad enough he would make the goblin bleed.
The imps had waited for this moment. Five sprang forward, two attacked his ankles ripping through the tendon holding the goblin up. As the goblin collapsed, the other three grabbed ahold of the spear in its hands and ripped it from the goblins grasp. The goblin screamed in rage, but Colby was already there. Swinging his blade down with all the force he could he beheaded the chief.
"I'm glad that you joined us, that would have been pretty difficult for us without you." said Coro. He looked at the gash on Colby's shield. "That spear thrust did a lot of damage."
"Yeah, I will have to have it repaired. This is the best shield I have." replied Colby. He had spent 3 gold coins on this armor, as it could survive through a level 2 attack. Though, he didn't have anyone in mind that he could trust with such a job.
"That armor on Mox must be worth quite a bit of gold, to be able to survive the same thrust with naught but a scratch." Mox sat a little straighter, proud of his armor. He instantly forgave the smith that insulted him earlier. Perhaps, he could make him his next set after his evolution, he thought.
Coro asked the imps to collect the cores from the bodies and search them for any useful items. He then had them stack the bodies off to the side where Mox could choose the one he wanted to consume. He and Colby made their way over to the chest to see what spoils had been left for them.