[Rick…your arm.]
‘It will be fine.’
“My Lord…your arm. I apologize for not being strong enough to protect you. I can apply medical measures.”
“It’s fine Loruk you did good.”
“My Lord…”
“It’s fine. Really.”
“I understand, thank you My Lord.”
‘Velora show me my status.’
[Showing.]
{Name - Rick}
{Age - 21}
{Race - Royal Goblin}
{Element – Goblin Fire}
{Tier 4)
{Essence - 240} Absorb?
{Evo Points - 945/2160}
{Skills}
{Velora}
‘240 Essence from one kill. I would have to kill six tier 4 beasts to accomplish the same thing. This was the right decision after all. Plus, the essence will help heal my arm.’
[Yes, you gained a lot of essence, but nearly lost that arm, let alone your life. No amount of essence would likely bring either of them back. Fighting six Tier 4 monsters would have been far safer. I am not trying to convince you to stop. Just informing you.]
‘I appreciate it, Velora. Now let’s absorb the essence, you can take a bit for yourself.’
‘Understood.’
???
After that initial battle with the Barclaw, Rick spent roughly another two weeks in the area and fought and successfully defeated three more Tier 5 beasts, bringing his total Evo Points to 1800 out of a total of 2160. Of course, this number did not reflect all the essence earned as some had been absorbed by Velora.
Either way…He was close.
So very close to Tier 5.
And he would have tried to find another Tier 5 to fight tooth and nail against, but even he had to admit that both him and Loruk were exhausted beyond reason.
Not a single one his battles had been easy, and the injuries were only continuing to pile up. It was mainly Velora that was pushing him to go back, but the fact that Loruk doesn’t have the same healing capabilities played a role as well.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
So, eventually a couple of days passed as they slowly made their way back to the Village, only arriving in the deep of the night on the fourth day.
It then took some convincing that they were fine and only needed rest before the entire Village was almost woken up once the few that were awake noticed their arrival.
They remained in the Village for just two nights so that Rick could check in on everyone and to make sure everything was going alright.
Well as alright as they could be given the situation.
After the two nights were over, Rick and Loruk was once again back deep into the Eastern part of the Forest, on the hunt for their next life and death battle.
It actually took another two weeks of searching and fighting to finally accomplish what he needed.
{Name - Rick}
{Age - 21}
{Race - Royal Goblin}
{Element – Goblin Fire}
{Tier 4)
{Essence - 0}
{Evo Points - 2160/2160} Evolve?
{Skills}
{Velora}
‘Finally!!’
[Finally indeed. I finally get a break form watching you nearly die over the last couple of weeks.]
‘It wasn’t that bad…’
[Rick. The horn of that Morkan was barely a few inches of piercing through your head.]
‘That was a weird situation! Who would’ve thought that weird looking plant was actually a hidden monster disguised as a collection of bushes!’
[And the beast that nearly bit out your throat?]
‘Wolves aren’t supposed to be able to fly Velora, that was a weird one as well.’
[It wasn’t a wolf. It was a Sky Falon.]
‘It was a wolf with wings, no matter what it’s called. What the hell was it doing in a tree anyway. Weird stuff I’m telling you.’
[Do you want me to continue listing out all the ways you could’ve died?]
‘No..no…I think I get it. Let’s head back home, shall we?’
[Mhm.]
“Let’s go Loruk. We’re heading back.”
“Yes, My Lord.”
???
Rick and Loruk eventually made their back to the Village and Rick immediately went to his abode and didn’t waste anytime before triggering his evolution.
The entire Village was aware of what was happening, and not a single Goblin was training or building anything at the moment.
In fact, the Village was essentially on lockdown…on orders of both Rogu and Jaba.
“Recall everyone! I don’t want a single thing to disturb the Chief during this time!”
While Jaba continued to give out a string of orders Rogu had the entire Royal Retrieval team gathered.
“I will stand guard in front of his home. I need everyone else to create a perimeter around the entire Village. As our good friend Jaba said, nothing will be allowed to interrupt this process. I don’t care what it is, nothing will be allowed to interrupt. Are we clear?”
The Royal Retrieval team members, and in particular Loruk, responded with grim determination as they quickly left to their posts.
No one knew exactly how long it would take for Rick to evolve, but Jaba did let them know that it took roughly a day for him to complete his Tier 4 Evolution, which was longer than when Rick first completed his Tier 3 Evolution.
So, they were prepared to maintain these positions for more than a day since it was safe to assume this evolution would be longer than the previous one.
Eventually the Village settled into a tense state as Rick who was not informed about any of this went through his evolution.
One day passed.
Rick showed no signs of waking up, and meals were delivered by rovers that Jaba had put in place.
Two days passed.
The Village continued to keep watch.
Waiting patiently for the leader.
Three days passed.
The lake in this distance rippled wildly for a few moments and a large head slowly began to rise out of it.
It was followed by a loud rumbling voice that resounded in the surrounding area.
“Hmm, so it’s an evolution. One potent enough for me to sense while sleeping. Interesting…”
Rogu of course heard the voice immediately and a grave expression took to his face before drawing his sword and rushing towards the forefront of the Village,
He dared not stop any further, just in case he invited danger that wasn’t coming in the first place, but if he felt the Serpent encroaching on the Village, he would take the battle towards it, to avoid any disturbance to Rick.
