Meanwhile, somewhere a few miles away from Hespar's final position.
A temporal altar was erected to start the process of a ritual. Only this time, the sacrifice had more varieties. Instead of a few goblins like before, there's also a human and two pitiful Forest Wolves.
Going through the same process, the priest-looking goblin first uses the dagger in its hand to slit open its victim's neck before leaving them to bleed to their deaths. As this space was somewhat special, the extraction process was faster.
The tendrils appeared just like before, after the last drop of blood was extracted from the sacrifice. But this time, some notable changes can be seen when the tendrils drill their way into the goblin's body.
Perhaps, the changes this time was due to the number of blood or sacrifices reaching the threshold for a promotion.
The tendrils first went through a symbiosis process and grew thicker with time. From over a thousand or so tendrils inside the goblin's veins and internal organs, they formed into four more thick tendrils roughly the size of a pinky finger.
Weirdly, there no sign of discomfort can be seen on the goblin's expression. Instead, the look full of bliss was plastered on its face.
Wherever the four pinky-size tendrils pass through would have a qualitative change, whether in thickness of the veins, freshness of the muscle, and durability in the bones. The body of this goblin also had a makeover as it grew to the size of a hobgoblin.
From a mere 1.2 meters before this, the goblin is now about 2 meters tall, roughly 70 to 80 centimeters taller.
The tendrils then pass through the goblin's throat. Just like how it changes the muscle and bones all over the body, the organ on the goblin's neck underwent a restructuring process, allowing it to manage human speech.
Of course, managing to speak the human language is an entirely different matter. The remaining tendrils underwent another symbiosis process to create a single tendril, roughly half of a pinky, before making its way into the goblin's brain.
This was the riskiest moment for the goblin.
But it was blessed with all the luck it could have. The assimilation was successful, as the goblin completed its evolution into a hobgoblin. All the tendrils it painstakingly gathered might be gone now, but they can be collected again with time.
With its height, the priest robe was no longer enough to cover the hobgoblin's body. Lucky for the goblin, there's spare clothing it can use left by the human sacrifice. The armor also seems to be quite fitting.
Since the ritual is considered complete, there's no longer a need for the altar to remain active. Without the power of the hobgoblin, the altar soon crumbles with the sacrifices, turning into dust as the surroundings return to their forest appearance.
Only now, the hobgoblin starts to receive the blessing from its evolution. The mental image appeared inside the goblin's head, with two words it had no idea how it was written or read.
But for some reason, the hobgoblin knew the meaning behind the two words.
[Blood's Authority]
-----
The party was currently held in a searching room as a few guards inspected the goods they brought back from the wilderness.
"Had you guys come up with a decision regarding the Serenity Ice Flower?" the same guard who spoke with Hespar yesterday asked. This was the only time he could converse with Hespar, as he would be occupied in his time at other times.
"We had come to an agreement about the Serenity Ice Flower. Including the two we found today, my squad had six stalks of the flower in our inventory. Should I bring all of them over to your quarters later in the evening?" Hespar replied to the guard.
"Six? That's great. The number was just what my squad needed to complete our assignment. Where's your camp? Would it be convenient for you to make your way to camp sixteen?" the guard asked.
He had no idea that Hespar's quarter was also positioned in the same area.
"That would be more than just convenient. My quarter is at camp sixteen too. The fourth room, to be precise." Hespar answered.
"Indeed. That would be more than convenient. My quarter is in the second room. Let's meet up after I clock out from my duty. I will make my way over with our squad's bookkeeper." the guard replied happily. The inspection also coincidently finished at the same time they concluded the conversation.
"See you later, senior." Hespar politely responded to the guard and left the inspection room with his party members.
On their way back to Hespar's quarter, the group came across Agnes and Brent. The two were walking side by side, with a metal rack in Brent's hand. Slender glass vials can be seen neatly arranged by the stand, with a hint of yellowish liquid sloshing inside.
If Hespar's guesses weren't wrong, the content inside these vials should be the prized Blood Plasma refined from the Blood of Mountain Lizard.
"Hello, squad leader." Agnes greeted Hespar sweetly before shifting her attention to the goods in their hands. As for Brent, he did the same as Agnes, then offered to take a few bags off Hespar's shoulder.
The group of eight quickly becomes the attraction to the recruits around them. After all, it was not easy for the recruits to come across an unknown squad with such a friendly atmosphere. But none of the outsiders would believe it if they were told that this squad was recently established three days ago.
"Home! At last!" Ashen said while making his way straight into Hespar's tent. Everyone else took their turn to enter the tent one after another. By the time everyone was inside, Ashen was ready with all the containers they'll be using.
"Boss, leave the inventory work to me," Ashen said and started to arrange the materials according to their kinds. At the same time, he made sure the Serenity Ice Flower was set aside because Hespar would need them later.
Everyone else was gathered around the table, except for Ashen.
With the current assignment related to hunting Mountain Lizard expected to be completed soon, it would be best for them to discuss which task to take next. During the discussion, Hespar took a few notes about his squad member's placement.
He found out that out of his ten squad members, six were all from the Vanguard Division. As for the remaining, Agnes was in the Processing Division, Shelly in the Medical Division, while Shane and Lewis were part of the Supplies Division.
Amongst everyone here, Shane and Lewis have the most seniority. They had served their military tenure for a little over a year by now. After them were Brent, Agnes, Shelly, and Fulham, who were around for a little over six months.
Stolas, Quinn, Foster, and Ashen all had a service period between one to three months. Hespar would be considered the freshest out of the squad and the only person with an officer position.
Although it would be unfair to the three absentees in this meeting, they can only blame themselves for not attending when required. With the majority of members here, Hespar took his time listening to them before deciding on their next assignment.
The Forest Zone received the highest vote of so many zones to select for their next team assignment. But while it was their top pick, not everyone voted for this zone. Agnes was one of the members who had chosen somewhere else.
Unfortunately, the zone she selected only had one vote compared to the Forest Zone, which had six out of eight votes.
"Agnes. How much more blood do you need to accomplish your current assignment? Is the Mountain Lizard's blood in our inventory enough for you?" Hespar asked out of his concern. Mentioning the matter also made him remember that Ashen had helped deliver the five-lizards worth of blood to Agnes's workshop.
"Honestly speaking... The supplies I got yesterday were enough for ten tries. But I only succeeded seven times. If we're making a rough estimation, I think I can narrowly finish the assignment if I carefully refine what we still have." Agnes replied.
It seems that five-lizards worth of the blood was just enough to refine ten vials of the Blood Plasma. And based on their inventory record, the squad has about twelve lizards of blood left.
Hespar's attention soon went to the seven vials of Blood Plasma on the table. Judging from her reply, Agnes had brought everything she refined to Hespar's quarter today. Perhaps, she already had the intention to report her result and take another batch of lizard's blood with her after this meeting.
According to the agreement made by Hespar yesterday, one part of the finished product should be returned to the squad's inventory for every three-part of resources taken. This means Agnes is expected to pay the team back with three vials of Blood Plasma.
If she were to get the same amount of blood from the Supplies Division, that would have cost her around four to seven silver coin pieces. And with only seven vials successfully produced from the ten tries, her profit was merely hanging between three silver coin pieces to a breakeven.
But instead, she was allowed to use the same resources from the squad's inventory without initial cost. Her only cost would be the time, effort, and a third worth of the resources in the form of the finished product.
At the same time, she would still make four silver coin pieces profit by handling the finished product to the Processing Division.