A new day and new troubles. As soon as I arrive at work I am immediately called to Darwin's office. Did I do something wrong?
Is there any need for me to go to Darwin's office for that? You can just tell me outright.
Darwin actually looks calm if you ignore the incessant shoveling of sweets. His stomach must be a bottomless pit to be able to hold all that material being stuffed into it. What skill is that?
"From how you are looking at me you want to know how I can eat so much without exploding. Why don't you try to use your instructor's assessment skill to find out?"
That's a good idea but honestly, I don't know use that skill it just happens. And all I can think of when looking at Darwin is that he is a glutton.
What do you mean by tell him that! He'll get mad at me.
"All I can think of is the word Glutton."
Darwin's expression turns to one of uninhibited glee. He looks like a child that just got offered sweets.
"To think that you would be able to tell. We'll have to conduct some tests to be sure this wasn't just by chance."
"You aren't mad?"
"No, why would I be? I am a glutton. But for that word to pop into your head, it must be your assessment skill."
"I don't quite follow."
"Hihi, you see, the skill that allows me to eat without limit is called 'true gluttony'. This skill negates any negative effect eating something could have with the exception of taste and mental associations. Therefore, I can eat all this and the amount of weight I gain is absolutely zero."
Then why is he such a chubby guy? Shouldn't he be slender and muscles like some kind of bodybuilder?
"Well, my appearance is a bit of a special case. But I can assure you it has nothing to do with my food intake."
"That just gives me more questions. Also, can you stop answering my questions before I ask them? I'm losing (screentime) my patience here."
"Sorry, your thoughts are just so obvious when I look at your face. Still, there is something I would like to talk to you about."
"Another raid or massacre?"
"Raid no, massacre maybe. But nothing as bad as that village thing. I actually have some good news too. The surrounding villages have heard of the raid and a bunch of people decided to leave."
"Based on the flow of this conversation this is the time when you tell me about the bad news."
"Ach, what bad news? I just have some potentially upsetting news."
"Same thing but tell me anyway."
"The closest city wasn't happy about the raid so they called for help from the alpha plain and sent a whole bunch of adventurers to follow the trail you left with that wagon. Now you have to decide, do you give up on this group of goblins and let them fight for themselves or do you help shore up their defenses."
"I can't just give up on them? Can't we get some more help?"
"The timing is a little regrettable, I would send Jade but she is currently occupied. I can't promise you the support of stronger members since we can only send them once a high-level enemy appears."
"Why, who made that rule?"
"Being Y. He has this weird obsession with justice and forbids the use of excessive force. And before you ask I've tried to reason with him but to no avail. Thanks to that justice freak I'm stuck here all the time."
"So no help?"
"Not entirely. As I said, if strong opponents show up you get help. Additionally, if you kill enough of those adventurers the dungeon might spawn new types of monsters."
"What does that mean?"
"I'm sure you read the novels. You know, the whole DP thing that dungeon get if adventurers are in a dungeon or better get killed within it. Dungeons without a master use them in the simplest way. Wherever the DP are coming from they will spawn in new monsters to get even more."
"So basically kill as many as possible and hope to get reinforcement."
"Doing that seems like the optimal course."
I take my leave from Darwin and reenter the dungeon where the goblins are already training in a frenzy. What is going on with them?
Now I'm really curious. I speed up and enter the camp. My arrival is once again greeted by a handful of goblins who seem to be the leaders whenever I'm not around. As I look at them they seem different. But how?
"Strong one! Enemies are near but we are strong, we evolved, we are ready to fight. Tell us what to do."
"Am I going crazy or did you just speak in coherent sentences?"
"Evolution made me smarter! I'm even stronger now."
Okay, he evolved. Assessment skill, do your work and tell me what is going on. As if I flipped a lever a piece of information pops into my mind.
The fluent goblin before me is a goblin leader. A goblin evolution that needs a large group of goblins and a certain level of charisma and strength. Behind him are four goblin swordsmen who specialize in swords now and two hobgoblins. Those two stand tall like a human and seem more muscled than the others.
"Seven of you evolved?"
"Yes, strong one! We are ready to fight the intruders for the glory of the great strong one."