He moved much more easily than the last time he walked through the forest, almost like he'd lived in the forest for a few years.
'Strange, how can I move like this? Sure, before I managed because I lived near a forest back home, but it's been years, so I was a little slow compared to when I was a kid going through a familiar place. But now I'm basically flying through the place.'
He began to test his new coordination by jumping and swinging off tree branches that would normally be impossible for a child of his size to reach, even if they jumped from a chair.
'What the? Am I a monkey now? What's with these ups?'
He climbed onto a tree branch and sat there, panting.
*Huff* *huff* "Seriously, what is this?" 'I think my base stamina, strength, agility, and other physical abilities have improved to a healthy adult's level.'
'It's like I'm that kid from that Hunter anime. He was really strong for a kid and kind of dumb.'
"I can probably fight Rank 1 goblins one-on-one now without being afraid for my life after making the slightest mistake."
'But better safe than sorry, as they say.'
As he was resting on the tree, three goblins walked into view from behind a few trees. The one standing in front was a greenish-yellow-skinned goblin and was a little taller, standing at 4 feet tall compared to the yellow-skinned goblins that only stood at 3 and a half feet tall.
'Oh? Well, well, if it isn't a peak-grade Goblin. If I remember correctly, greenish-yellow-skinned goblins are the ones closest to ranking up and evolving into a green-skin goblins.'
'It's quite rare to see a goblin that's on the verge of evolution so far from the nest. Normally, they hole up there to evolve in safety.'
'This is good for me, as monsters on the verge of evolution have a higher chance of having a Magic stone in them. I think there was a spreadsheet online that said all the drop rates and guys like this one are the best for early game farming... Oh yeah, wasn't there a method to induce evolution in goblins?'
Goblins come in many different colors. The forest ones are Rank 1 Yellow, Rank 2 Green, and Rank 3 Dark Green. Goblins normally don't go above Rank 3 and only a Goblin King is an exception to that rule.
As he observed them and began to sneakily follow them.
'It's not like I will do it, because that method is only possible in-game. You need to sacrifice players to them. The only reason that was possible in that game was because you can't lose levels in that game. Sure, there's the death timer, but that was only for a few hours depending on how much you PKed before death.'
As he was following them, they walked to a river with clear and flowing water.
'Wow, that's some nice-looking water...' He gulped as he hadn't had a proper drink of water for a few weeks.
'I'll kill them once they let their guards down.'
The big goblin drank from the water first, then the other two after it was done. It then walked up the river alone as the other two were still drinking, unconcerned about their leader's movements.
'Hmm, seems like these guys come here often. It might make a good mob farm.'
He followed the leader, making sure not to be noticed by the other two.
Eventually, the big goblin found a small cave big enough for a child to get into.
As the goblin was about to enter the cave, it heard a noise from behind it and quickly turned around, its wooden weapon at the ready. It's being more alert because evolution leaves them in a weakened state.
But goblins aren't that smart, so they entered the small cave by themselves instead of waiting for their companions.
**POV Change: Goblin Zoglin**
I was named Zoglin at birth by one of our elders. I was different from the others, though no one knows why. I was stronger, smarter, and faster. I knew I was meant to one day become the strongest and take over the tribe.
So, I fought others to become stronger. I killed creatures to gain their strength, and in a short amount of time, I was already on the verge of evolution. But because of my quick growth, many other goblins were angry at me. I knew they would try to kill me and eat me to gain my strength, so I took two goblins with me and searched for a place to evolve.
What I didn't expect was an unknown creature appearing as I was evolving. I tried to fight back, but the pain of evolution was too much... Before I could complete my evolution and fight back, I was killed by this unknown creature.
**POV Change: Axel: a few minutes ago**
He quickly and quietly followed the peak-grade Goblin into the cave and waited for it to start the evolution process.
It gritted its gnarled teeth in pain as it began to painfully evolve. The sound of bones cracking echoed throughout the cave and small horns started to protrude out of its head.
Axel was surprised to see such a transformation.
'Holy shit, it's a special grade?' he thought in excitement.
'If I let it fully evolve, then I might get a special grade magic stone... too bad I'm not strong enough to kill a special grade. It's really such a waste of good materials.'
He then pulled out his water staff and smacked the evolving goblin as hard as he could across its face, sending it flying to the wall with a loud thud.
'GG EZ' he thought as he pulled out his dagger and ran up to it while it was stunned, stabbing it a few times in the head.
'hmm. I'm much stronger than I expected. I know I can't kill a rank 2 especially if it is a special grade. but normal rank 1 goblins should be no problem especially if I get the jump on them.'
'still, though I'm really sad I needed to give up on such good material, but I might get a medium grade, so it's not a total loss.' he thought sadly.
He then took his dagger and used it to cut open the semi-evolved goblin with some difficulty as it was on the verge of evolution and harder to cut with a normal-grade dagger, so it was messier than normal.
'And just like that, I've finally got a Magic stone. It's about the size of my palm, so I'd say it's probably medium grade or a little lower.'
'Now then, let's take care of the other two,' he thought as he put the heart and Magic stone in his bag.
'You know, in hindsight, I should've put a clear slime in my bag. It would keep my bag clean and dry.'
He moved to the small cave entrance and saw the two yellow-skinned goblins just outside. One was far away eating leaves, and the other was digging in the dirt by the entrance.
'Why is that one eating a plant?'
He blinked a few times, then pulled out a dagger and threw it in the center of the two goblins, catching both of their attention.
Seeing the shiny weapon, just like the ones the older goblins had made both of them dashed towards the rare item, screaming as they scrambled to have the weapon for themselves.
'Morons,' he thought as he watched the two goblins fight over the dagger. They kicked, bit, and punched each other like their lives depended on getting the dagger, and after a few minutes of fighting, both were tired. But the weaker one was more injured and bleeding as it lay on the ground.
The victor held the dagger above its head and danced around in joy as it won the weapon, only for its victory to be interrupted by a stab to its head, killing it instantly. "Gak."
"Giwl," the weakened goblin on the ground said as it saw its brother get killed by a creature it had never seen before and gave a look that said 'What is that ugly thing?' before getting stabbed in the head.
'Sometimes, I feel bad for how stupid Rank 1 Goblins are because they go for almost anything that is shiny. If they were Rank 2, they would have looked for who threw the dagger first, then tried to take it.'
After cutting both of them open and taking their hearts, he went back to his base.