Of course, the Goblin was taken down when V. Minh managed to draw his gun and shoot it three times in quick succession. The rest of us were startled by the gunshots. Q. Minh and T. Hải now noticed the medic sitting unconscious between them. Q. Minh screamed and fell down for a moment before standing up. T. Hải, seeing V. Minh shoot, instinctively followed suit and shot the Goblin twice. This time, the Goblin was completely taken down. I ran straight to the jar, summoned an axe from my pocket dimension by chanting "Inventory," and smashed the jar. Hundreds of dark green orbs flew out of the jar, heading towards the chests of the lifeless villagers on the ground. When all the orbs were positioned over the villagers' chests, they simultaneously sank into their bodies, and everyone woke up. This supernatural scene happened in an instant, and the seven of us gaped as we watched the villagers slowly open their eyes and come back to life. H. Anh, T. Hải, Q. Minh, and Đạt ran to the villagers, calmly explaining everything to the confused people.
Truong chanted "Scout," signaling V. Minh and me to grab our weapons and continue to inspect the warehouse, sensing that the enemy was hiding. V. Minh summoned his Adamantine longsword the same way I did. Truong also did the same and took out his spear. The three of us cautiously approached the warehouse.
"Truong, why does only V. Minh have Adamantine material? Make it for all of us, will you?" I patted Truong's shoulder, complaining.
"That's not Adamantine. It's just Tungsten Carbide!" Truong sighed, saying, "This wasn't my discovery. V. Minh showed it to T. Hải, and from there, the two of them studied it and came to that conclusion."
"I thought Tungsten Carbide was dark gray? Why is V. Minh's black?" I asked.
"Tungsten Carbide can be almost black," Truong said.
"So what are those red lines?" I pointed to the red, snake-like lines on V. Minh's sword.
"Those who are skilled in dark magic always have it like that!" Truong replied.
"So, do other mages have blue lines? And does it have any effect?" I continued to ask.
"No. It's just a way to differentiate those who use dark magic from those who don't," Truong said.
"Then let's convert the material of our weapons to that," I said, putting down the battle axe, crossbow, spear, and pike.
"You collected the group's weapons quickly, huh?" Truong grimaced, commenting.
"Hey, it's my job!" I proudly said.
"I can't deal with you!" Truong squinted at me, picking up each weapon, including his spear, and converting them to Tungsten Carbide by chanting "Alchemy."
"Prepare yourselves!" I said, returning each weapon to its rightful owner and grabbing my battle axe.
V. Minh and I stood on either side of the warehouse door, while Truong stood opposite the entrance, holding a TT-33 pistol. Suddenly, Truong pulled us away and chanted "Magic Barrier," creating a magical barrier while maintaining another one around the medic.
"H. Anh, set up the barrier!" Truong shouted.
"For what?" H. Anh said in surprise.
"Just do it!" Truong insisted.
Still not fully understanding, H. Anh, along with Q. Minh, Đạt, and T. Hải, set up a barrier facing the warehouse, wide enough to protect 1000 people but not completely enclosed. Suddenly, the house exploded, shattering into hundreds of pieces flying in all directions. The female Goblin, who had been hiding, finally revealed herself, holding a potion with a light purple liquid. She began to grow rapidly. The three of us were immediately thrown outside. Her size increased quickly, her foot touching H. Anh's group's barrier, which was slightly longer than the barrier's six-meter diameter. The weight caused the barrier to show signs of cracking. Some men took the opportunity to evacuate the villagers. Her size stopped increasing at a point, pushing H. Anh's group's barrier a considerable distance and causing significant cracks. The villagers were safe and had time to evacuate. Our group had just landed on the ground, no one injured thanks to the magical barrier absorbing most of the impact, and then the three of us went to support.
"She's a Gremlin, a hybrid species between Goblins and Fairies. Her appearance is human-like with green skin like a Goblin, and she doesn't have the protruding sharp teeth like an Orc, so it's clear she's a Gremlin," V. Minh said calmly, looking at her.
"You're quite composed," Truong responded calmly.
"You both are calm! How can you look at an opponent that resembles a giant green-skinned child so casually?" I exclaimed in panic.
"According to official documents, Gremlins belong to the Neutral category, not Hostile like most other Fantasy races," Truong calmly replied.
"Does that mean we can negotiate?" H. Anh asked.
"Exactly!" Truong confidently responded.
"But this Gremlin just destroyed the cultural center!" Q. Minh said.
"I don't want to use Hellfire again, negotiating is a more reasonable solution," V. Minh calmly replied.
"Less talking, more helping us!" Đạt said, still chanting Magic Barrier, but the barrier was now close to breaking.
"Everyone, step aside, let me and V. Minh handle this!" I said.
The others complied, and the immense weight of her foot shattered the large barrier, touching the smaller barrier that V. Minh and I had created. V. Minh used Shadow Point to teleport us away before the giant Gremlin's foot hit the ground, causing a loud noise and cracking the asphalt, sinking the ground. The others used Mana Transfer, channeling most of their Mana to Truong. Truong chanted Spark, creating a large lightning bolt strong enough to shock the giant Gremlin, rendering her immobile. T. Hải, Truong, and I walked quite a distance to reach her head.
After a while, we successfully persuaded the Gremlin to join our side... through a combination of magical threats and force. When Đạt and V. Minh asked, "What if she betrays us?", Truong simply replied, "Your Hellfire and bullets are enough." After that, she reverted her size to the original 1.35 meters. Đạt cast a healing spell, and the Gremlin recovered and stood up. I looked closely at this Gremlin; she had the appearance of a child, with light green skin and short dark green hair, naturally styled, with pointed ears, barefoot, and large orange eyes. She had a cute face, resembling both a child and a young girl, but she dressed quite scantily (actually, indecently), wearing only a piece of black cloth covering her body and hips. Then she introduced herself.
"Hello everyone, I'm Cherno, a female Gremlin. In case you didn't know, Gremlins are a hybrid species between Goblins and Fairies. We are basically Goblins but more human-like, although not as agile as Goblins. However, I have the ability to change my size and others', and from my body's saliva, I can make a potion that changes size..." Cherno cheerfully introduced herself with great energy.
"Alright..." Truong stared at Cherno. "So... do you need to eat? If so, what do you eat? How old are you? Do you remember how you were born? Why are you here?"
"Gremlins don't need to eat... Cherno probably eats for enjoyment, just like Serinos," V. Minh said, and Cherno nodded vigorously.
"Oh, Gremlins originally lived in Europe," Cherno continued.
"How did you get here?" I asked.
"I came on a ship with a missionary," Cherno replied.
"So, you were born sometime between the 16th and 19th centuries?" V. Minh asked.
"I was born after the Black Death," Cherno answered.
"Then why do you still look like a child?" H. Anh teased.
"I haven't absorbed enough mana, that's all," Cherno pouted.
"So, we understand how beings like you, who don't need to eat, get nutrients," V. Minh and Truong said in unison.
"We should resolve this quickly. How do you plan to prove your loyalty, Cherno?" T. Hai asked seriously.
"I can become a Familiar for one of you!" Cherno exclaimed with a wide smile.
I, V. Minh, and T. Hai hid behind Truong, while Q. Minh seemed indifferent. Dat was busy keeping an eye on the unconscious medic. Cherno looked at us with wide eyes and then asked again.
"So, does anyone agree to take me as a Familiar?" Cherno looked at us with innocent eyes.
We all pointed to H. Anh. H. Anh looked back at us in confusion.
"Why me?" H. Anh asked.
"You know, actually, the contract between me and Serinos hasn't ended yet," I replied.
"I'm already married to my chemistry set, thanks!" T. Hai added.
"I don't need one right now, but you do!" Truong said.
"What about you, V. Minh?" H. Anh asked V. Minh.
"I have 17 spirits that are enough for now, thanks," V. Minh replied.
"Since when did you start learning Necromancy Magic?!" H. Anh asked, surprised.
"Didn't you notice after we fought the zombie division, V. Minh went out to the field full of zombie corpses to practice, right in front of the military?" Truong replied sarcastically, but I still couldn't tell who Truong was mocking.
The medic finally woke up.
Serinos and the military with tanks, cannons, and military trucks also returned and listened to our conversation. An officer patted H. Anh on the back from behind, and we all turned our attention to him. The officer and his colleagues, dressed in bulletproof vests, helmets, and equipped with communication devices, climate control equipment, guns, knives, and many other gadgets, looked at the battlefield that was once the cultural center: a burning skeleton lying in one corner, the debris of the cultural center and warehouse forming a ruin, and a few terrified civilians who had fainted, whom we "forgot" to evacuate.
"What on earth happened here? Did the enemy launch a surprise attack?" he asked us.
"Yes, we captured one of the enemies alive. Please extract as much information from her as possible!" I handed over the High Elf girl, who had been tied up since earlier, to the soldiers next to the officer, and the High Elf meekly accepted her bindings without resistance.
The officer looked at the High Elf girl for a while, then stepped past us and picked up some fragments of the soul-binding artifact. I ran over to him, spending another 15 minutes explaining everything and recounting the entire situation, including Cherno. Afterward, he said:
"All seven of you, follow me back to the camp!" His face was stern.
"Why?" I was confused, and so were the others.
"And the blue-haired girl, she will be your guardian," he continued.
"Why am I being made the mother of these seven?" Serinos snapped.
And so, the seven of us, Serinos, and Cherno were taken back to the camp. A platoon was left behind to deal with the material damage and search for more weapon fragments.