Harsh sunlight broke through the dense canopy of leaves that hung over the foilage-covered earth of the Forest of Aeternitas. As the darkness receded slightly, the chirping of birds began to resound through the air as the sounds of various creatures hustling through the vegetation followed.
In a particular spot, where the coverage of the canopy was weak, large amounts of light gathered. A brown ball of fur rolled into this spot before spreading itself out to bask in the warmth of the light.
Butterfly-like creatures fluttered through the air as a gentle breeze brushed through, causing the leaves to rustle
There was an air of serenity in this scene.
At this moment, it was like all the problems of the world no longer existed; they had disappeared along with the wind. Only peace remained in the confines of this verdant world.
To the inhabitants of this region of the forest, nothing could possibly disrupt the tranquillity of their home. The brown racoon rolled onto its back, allowing its belly to experience the sunlight's warm embrace.
Suddenly, the light disappeared as a trace of bafflement appeared in the racoon's black eyes. Its facial expression seemed to be asking where the sun went, before contorting with pain as it felt a heavy mass crushing its stomach.
Without being able to let out a shriek, the racoon exploded into a mess of flesh, fur and blood as a red blur charged through the clearing. The bloodthirsty aura leaking from this blur caused the temperature of the surroundings to drop causing every being to freeze.
Though they hadn't encountered many predators in their region, the birds, the butterflies, the creatures hiding in the vegetation, their instincts were screaming at them. If they were to even slightly move, brutal death awaited them.
A predator had descended into their peaceful sanctuary.
But just as this bloodthirsty aura had appeared, it quickly disappeared with the red blur as if it was never there in the first place. The temperature returned to normal but the animals remained unmoving, even with their instincts telling them the calamity had left.
The close brush with death had frozen them in place, their brains were still processing the encounter. The peacefulness of the region had long been replaced with fear whilst the cause of this incident rushed through the thick trees without care.
As the images of the surroundings were reflected in the depths of her amethyst eyes, Faye heightened her senses, hoping to pick up traces of intelligent lifeforms. It had been a few hours since she had left the village in search of the followers of the evil god, and she had yet to find anything that could point her in the right direction.
Although she had wanted to leave right after informing the First Priest of what was to be done in her absence, the demoness had allowed herself to be convinced by the wise goblin to instead set out at the break of dawn.
The accumulated fatigue from the use of the Mind's Temple technique and the receiving of the whispers of her Lord would have made her easy pickings for the creatures that roamed the forest at night. Even while being aware of her great strength, the priest still insisted that she delay her departure.
"The creatures that are active during the night are...terrifying"
Faye could still see the faint traces of fear in the priest's eyes, it surprised her that there were mortal beings that could evoke fear from the experienced goblin. Hence why she followed his advice and left at dawn, using the time to learn the basics of magic from the goblin priest.
If the creatures of the night were monstrous beings, then it meant that there were also creatures that roamed during the day that were just as terrifying. So to ensure that she would be better prepared to deal with the stronger creatures hiding in the forest during her mission, Faye learnt as much as she could about magic in the limited time she had.
Although she wasn't able to cast magic that could cause mass destruction, a basic mana blast wasn't out of the question. This could be considered decent progress for a newbie like her, though, in the eyes of the demoness, it was quite lacking. It was disappointment born out of ignorance.
With the mages in her home village being both few in number and lacking magical knowledge, Faye's perspective could be understood. Only time and experience show the Asura what was considered sub-par progress in the world of magic.
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"Focus within yourselves and feel the mana flowing through veins"
After hearing of the apostle's plan, Thrag wasted no time putting it into action. This was the first step: teaching the goblins how to use magic.
The apostle was unsure whether she would make it back from her reconnaissance mission before the scouts returned or even when the first step of the conquest was carried out. So, she ordered Thrag and the other goblins mages to teach the basic principles of magic to as many goblins as they could.
Those who were interested in becoming mages were to be given the necessary training. Mages were an important resource in wars and it was difficult to find many among the many races of monsters, though there were a few magic-oriented monster species.
If the followers of Corruption could gain a few rookie mages, they would provide great use in the upcoming battles. If no one was interested, at the very least the goblins would be able to use the basic principles to make sure of their innate affinity.
The second step of the plan was to find all the goblins who had a Node and teach them the method of Node Enhancement. With the priest having lived a long period of time, he had seen and spoken to enough goblins with a Node to understand the enhancement process.
To speed things up, Thrag combined the two steps together by taking the initiative to ask the goblins in each group he taught whether they had a Node or not. Since there were four goblin mages, including the priest, they were able to quickly teach every goblin the basis of magic as well as work out the number of Node Bearers.
Of the 284 goblins living in the village, only three were Node Bearers. This number was within Thrag's expectation, a monster with a Node was a rare creature with the potential to be a future calamity.
Carefully inspecting the three goblins that stood before him, the priest sighed in his head as his eyes hovered over two of the goblins present. Determined, with green eyes and hair blacker than the night, they both shared great likeness with the former chief. They were, after all, his only two children, Carnelius and Carnelia, the Twin Prodigies.
Thrag had been aware long ago that these two young goblins were Node Bearers, he just wondered what these two felt about their father's death. Was that determination in their eyes directed towards revenge, or was it for something else?
"I can tell you two want to grow stronger, but for what reason?"
Deciding to probe their intentions, the priest awaited their answer with the hope it was not revenge. If it was, then he could only use them to test the incantations he had received from the Lord of Corruption.
Hearing the priest's question, the two goblins looked at one another before turning back towards Thrag. And then, with great passion in their voices, they declared in sync,
"To bed the apostle!"
Silence.
Shock was apparent on the faces of both Thrag and the third Node Bearer, they couldn't believe what they had just heard. Recovering from his shock, the priest gave the two a questioning gaze, from which they shook their heads in disappointment. The twins had expected Thrag to understand them but it appears they were wrong.
Stepping forward, Carnelius brushed his hand through his short hair before deciding to appease the priest's questions.
"Like our father, we only want the strongest and the strongest in this village is the apostle"
Understanding flashed in the eyes of Thrag and the Node Bearer, the latter having been awoken from his shock by these words.
"But we are too weak to even think about bedding her right now, so we need to get as strong as possible so that we can do just that"
This time it was Carnelia who spoke whilst she twirled a strand of her shoulder-length hair. There was a dreamy look in her eyes, it was clear she picturing the beautiful figure of the apostle but as for how she was picturing it, Thrag would let her keep that information to herself.
Since goblins were creatures of lust, they didn't really have any inhibitions engaging in intercourse with members of the same sex. However, due to the innate desire to impregnate and be impregnated, they tended to stick with members of the opposite sex.
Thrag wondered how the twins would even attract the apostle when the only being in her heart was the Lord of Corruption.
Shaking his head, Thrag turned to the Third Node Bearer.