‘Jumping down from the tree, I quickly dashed towards the scene, and the black wolf was immediately made aware of my presence.

  ‘In all my naked Goblin glory, I stood facing this wolf with nothing but the saber fang as a dagger.

  ‘Now standing here in front of the wolf, it immediately began to growl loudly in my direction. Its legs were bent, and it looked ready to dash in my direction. There was even spit falling from its mouth as it bared its fangs in direction.

  ‘I wonder if it senses the difference in strength. I wouldn’t be too surprised since even the Horned Rabbits had the presence of mind to back off. Hmm… it isn’t running away though so maybe it can’t?

  ‘Anyway, this wolf is probably faster than me, but since it's facing me head on, I can probably just run straight at it, and if it turns to run, I can throw the dagger right? Right.

  ‘Good! Let's go! Come to me, my fur coat!

  ‘Dashing forward in the blink of an eye, I quickly closed the distance between us, only to find out the wolf dashed at me as well! Right as it was within arm's reach, I swiped down with the dagger to go for a one shot kill to the head!

  ‘But the damn wolf dodged! Why would you move, you bastard?! Just accept becoming my new coat!

  ‘It then attempted to swipe a paw at my thigh, but I was surprisingly quick to dodge thanks to my new and improved physical gifts and reactions to go with them. But that was dangerously close to the jewels, you walking coat!

  ‘After dodging, I quickly threw a punch at it with my offhand, yet it dodged again. Only this time I was expecting it, and I somehow perfectly timed a nice stab with the dagger straight to its head! Mission Accomplished!!

  ‘That was all it took and now my brand-new coat was sprawled in front of me. How was that Velora?’

  [Reckless and sloppy. You should be able to dispatch a lower tiered beast far easier than that. Though I suppose you’re fighting instincts and skills will come with experience.]

  ‘Well, that was a bit of a buzzkill, Velora, but I suppose you're right. Especially since I have the family jewels in full display. That wolf could’ve snipped them right off, huh? Ahh, that's a little scary to think about. Anyway, do you think this wolf’s pelt will be enough to make a nice fur coat?’

  [It appears too small for any type of coat, but it should be just enough to cover your lower area. Although it will barely reach mid-thigh length, any sort of coverage is better than none. Perhaps combining it with the rabbit hides will make a large enough coat.]

  ‘Right again, it seems I’ve been wrongfully calling it a coat all this time. Let’s quickly bring this guy back and turn him into meat strips, and a nice pelt to cover my waist area.’

  [Good idea.]

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  ‘Okay, now that I’m here, I’ve only ever done the whole skinning thing on small Horned Rabbits, so this might not go so well. It’s not like I have a knife. I just have the fangs and the rather sharp horn that tops the spear I came with. Whatever let's get to it. A Goblin’s gotta do what a Goblin’s gotta do after all.’

  …

  ‘Done! Dammit, that took forever! I don’t even know how long.’

  [Approximately three hours.]

  ‘Three hours?! Damn that genuinely took forever then… well at least I’m finally done with the skinning. We still have a decent amount of daylight left. Let's lay this out to dry while I finish butchering the rest of the wolf for meat.

  ‘As I spent the next while working of the wolf, I finally noticed something weird. I don’t ever see any beasts approaching the lake. And now that I think about it, not only do they not approach, but they might also even be avoiding it.

  ‘It might be safe to assume that the beasts of this world might not need as much water as a typical animal or human being from back home, but to not drink at all makes little sense.

  ‘Is there something going on? Is there some beast lurking within the depths that's been keeping beasts away? But I’ve drunk here before and that was before my evolution, so I was nothing but a small and weak Goblin.

  ‘So, unless there was a beast lurking within the lake that didn’t like the taste of Goblins, there shouldn’t be anything down there. What do you think of it, Velora?

  [Not enough information to form any sort of conclusive judgment.]

  ‘Figured you’d say something like that, but I remember the voice that invaded my dreams said that there weren’t any human settlements or sentient beast Tribes in the immediate area.

  ‘I suppose that doesn’t mean they aren’t any individual strong beasts, or even a group of strong beasts that weren’t big enough to be considered a settlement of their own perhaps.

  ‘Come to think of it, what could have possibly injured that giant wolf that Jaba and I almost died to?

  ‘That beast is undoubtedly the strongest creature I’ve seen since I’ve been here, so the fact that something could injure it to that extent and even force it to run is troubling.

  ‘Not that I can do anything about it. Let’s just focus on hunting and continue grinding. Speaking of grinding… Velora, how much Essence did I get for killing that wolf? It was Tier One, right?’

  [You received exactly 1 Essence point, bringing your total to 5. Which would then translate to 5 Evo points out of the required 180 needed to evolve again.]

  ‘Just slightly better than the rabbit. The grind to Tier Three is definitely going to take a while. Well, let’s just absorb what I have now.’

  [Understood, but I am required to tell you that from Tier Two onwards, absorbing Essence will only get more and more painful, as you're now forcibly elevating your entire being to a far purer level of strength. Think of it as a refinement process. Do you still wish to absorb now?]

  ‘Pain? I was already feeling a little weird from the tingling sensation, but there's genuine pain involved now? Fine no pain, no gain. Since I have no choice, I gotta muster up some courage for gang green! Let's do it!’

  [Understood. Your body will immediately begin absorption, pain will be felt instantly and during the entire process.]

  ‘Wait, what do you mean instan-... AHHHHHHHHH!!!!

  ‘Huffing and panting as I recovered from the slightly intense few seconds of pain from the absorption, I just lay on my back, trying to recover.

  ‘Velora, is that how the process is going to be every single time in the future?’

  [Yes, but I’m sure you’ll get used to it. Although in the future, I recommend only absorbing a little each session as a longer session simply means more pain. There will still be some pain, but lessening the amount absorbed each time will lessen the pain.]

  ‘Doesn’t that seem like information you could’ve told me before I went through that experience?’

  [Perhaps.]

  ‘You're having fun with this, aren’t you?’

  [Of course not. I’m just a skill designed solely to help you.]

  ‘No, you're a hundred percent enjoying this!’

  [Preposterous.]