Chapter 25: War on all fronts
An old goblin with a beard appeared, he had been the best fighter. However, now he had no confidence in defeating this hobgoblin. He commanded: "Soldiers, bring me his head, so I can piss on it!"
A group of scared monsters surrounded the challenger while feeling truly scared.
John looked around, scanning all who were present, their secrets were revealed to him.
[Name: Kulan
Race: Goblin
Class: Warrior
Level: 2
HP (Health Point): 20/20 (CON*8+4)
MP (Mana Point): 22/22 (INT*12+4)
SP (Stamina Point): 20.5/20.5(CON*10+DEX/2)
Attributes:
Strength – 2
Dexterity – 1
Constitution – 2
Intelligence – 1.5
Wisdom –1
Charisma – 0
Luck – 2
Skills: Ugly (Basic): Scare away any who dares come close, passive
Condition: Healthy, anxious
Mana imprint: 3% connection to the soul
XP (Experience Point): 10/30]
[Name: Kaj
Race: Goblin
Class: Warrior
Level: 2
HP (Health Point): 20/20 (CON*8+4)
MP (Mana Point): 16/16 (INT*12+4)
SP (Stamina Point): 20.5/20.5(CON*10+DEX/2)
Attributes:
Strength – 1
Dexterity – 1
Constitution – 2
Intelligence – 1
Wisdom –1
Charisma – 1
Luck – 0
Skills: Unlucky (basic): Terrible luck, passive
Condition: Healthy, scared
Mana imprint: 2% connection to the soul
XP (Experience Point): 0/30]
[Name: Lesin
Race: Goblin
Class: Warrior
Level: 2
HP (Health Point): 20/24 (CON*8+4)
MP (Mana Point): 22/22 (INT*12+4)
SP (Stamina Point): 5/26(CON*10+DEX/2)
Attributes:
Strength – 2
Dexterity – 2
Constitution – 2.5
Intelligence – 1.5
Wisdom –1.5
Charisma – 2
Luck – 1
Skills: N/A
Condition: Light injury, out of breath
Mana imprint: 5% connection to the soul
XP (Experience Point): 15/30]
[Name: Oci
Race: Goblin
Class: Chief
Level: 3
HP (Health Point): 20/20 (CON*8+4)
MP (Mana Point): 22/22 (INT*12+4)
SP (Stamina Point): 20.5/20.5(CON*10+DEX/2)
Attributes:
Strength – 3
Dexterity – 2
Constitution – 3
Intelligence – 2
Wisdom –2
Charisma – 2
Luck – 2
Skills: Rage (Basic): Can neglect any pain for 10 seconds having a full function, twice per 3 days, exhaust all mana and stamina
Condition: Healthy, battle-ready
Mana imprint: 8% connection to the soul
XP (Experience Point): 20/45]
…
John used their anxiety to throw a bone spear towards the exhausted goblin.
Thud
Before any reaction could be made from the crowd, the spear went inside the target's left eye, penetrating the brain, the force had been so strong that the goblin was sent flying. Yet Lesin was dead before his body landed on the ground. This further frightened the spooked monsters, using this chance John activated his leading skill, faced the crowd and said: "My fellow clansmen, I have evolved, indeed it is true, and so can you. We have suffered enough at the hands of this monarch and his gangs; it is time to take up arms and fight for our beliefs. It is time to live lavishly like kings, take all that is ours, we will attack other communities, having others join us or become our food. Then we attack other monsters here, gaining a bigger territory and more power until we conquer the entire dungeon. All the brothers and sisters with me, charge"
The speech was simple, some complicated words were not understood by these green humanoid monsters. However, the effect was rather good, some took arms, ready for a battle. He used the gained momentum to charge and strike a goblin in the head with the second spear, it was not sturdy so the spear broke. John used the broken part within his hands to stick inside the enemy's eye penetrating the brain. This action was blocked by the poor goblin, yet with the overwhelming strength of John, none of the present goblins were able to stop him, so he died unwillingly.
Then chaos broke out, all members attacked one another, screams and curses could be heard from every corner. On the battlefield, John walked around calmly and when one fell to the ground, he stole their life, not raising any suspicions. The chief saw him walking calmly, this made Oci very angry, jumping forward to attack, he screamed: "Die, you bloody demon"
If looks were able to harm, John had been dead many times, yet looks were mostly harmless leaving him unscathed. John simply threw another goblin towards the attacking enemy, distracting him, then moved behind the chief with fast speed, held the poor goblin by the neck and lifted him off the ground.
He shouted: "Your leader has been captured, drop your weapons and kneel to your new leader"
Crack, a heartbreaking sound was heard, followed by the fall of Oci's limp corpse. The truth had been that, John had devoured all of the monster's life energy, using the broken neck as cover, he hid the murder. After the death of their boss, all of the community members kneeled one by one pledging their loyalty.
There were many corpses on the ground, many with light injuries yet they were all dead! Suddenly the new chief commanded: "We feast tonight, we will eat all the bodies here and go towards the next village, making them submit"
A loud cheer followed this mandate, they could finally eat will all their might, reducing pain from hunger. Once the celebration was concluded, loud snoring sound could be heard from all directions. John had been sitting within the late chief's cave, reviewing his rewards. The stolen life force had been more than sufficient for 2 more upgrades, with some core reinforcement. After pondering momentarily, he modified his vessel once. Then as a routine check, he scanned the body.
[Name: Kala
Race: Hobgoblin
Class: Archer
Level: 2
HP (Health Point): 74/82 (CON*8+10)
MP (Mana Point): 42/42 (INT*12+6)
SP (Stamina Point): 85/94.5(CON*10+DEX/2)
Attributes:
Strength – 7
Dexterity – 11
Constitution – 9
Intelligence – 3
Wisdom –4
Charisma – 5
Luck – 3.5
Skills: Lead (Basic): higher chance of success in rallying troops
Good shot (Basic): higher chance of success in shooting a target
Condition: Healthy, stable
Mana imprint: 25% connection to the soul
XP (Experience Point): 0/145]
As the body was stable, the rest of the energy was forced into mana imprint, triggering another evolution, which with John's control became more efficient.
He rescanned the body again; after finding everything to be working properly, he started to cultivate his core. Since now it needed an astronomical amount of energy, it was better to purify the powers of it. During this process he could lightly feel the metaphysics, touching upon the door of understanding, yet gaining entry was another matter altogether.
After some refining, he felt enlightened, but he still could not grasp the concept clearly. John analyzed:
"The spirit seems to follow rules of the higher tire, in order to understand the secrets, it holds, I need to grasp more power, purer force. One method is to manually destroy impurities, or I could use the mana imprint of stronger monsters to do this process for me! The former is safe but long-term, the latter is highly risky, yet fast. What should be done? Each one has its own advantages and disadvantageous. For now, I have to improve my core further"
While cultivating the core, he felt a ceiling, preventing more advancement of the essence!
"I have finally encountered a bottleneck, this is an opportunity to discover more about mana and souls, so it has to be used with more care. In either case, more sacrifices are needed for my powers to grow strong. We should march towards another village tomorrow, massacring them"
Inside a small dark cave, only a pair of cold shiny eyes were visible, their depth and cruelty would frighten the bravest of warriors. These pair seemed to be looking into the horizon, towards a small village of green humanoid monsters, calamity was about to strike their direction!
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