Experience Earned, and Wisdom Gained

"Ugh..." Roy groaned, slowly opening his eyes. The rays of light radiated out from the sun, basking the village in its beauty.

Looking around though, the village itself was anything but. Dozens of bodies lay scattered on the ground, emerald blood soaking the dirt, stone and dilapidated buildings.

"So you're awake? How are you feeling?" Terren looked over to Roy, as he looked down on his stomach. Inbellis was sleeping in its usual spot, though no longer fitting inside Roy's bellybutton.

"Terrible, if I'm being honest." Roy removed Inbellis, as he sat up.

"I bet. You inhaled a ton of that black stuff. Just lay down for now, I'll make some breakfast." Roy nodded his head, laying back down.

'Maybe I'll take a look at my status now.'

Status

Name(s): Roy Palmer

Species: Infant Babirusa Orc Lv. 20/20

EXP: (328/-)

Job(s): [Apprentice Tamer Lv. 25/100]

EXP: (36/250)

{Available Jobs}

[Apprentice Craftsman] [Apprentice Assassin] [Apprentice Dissector] [Apprentice Magician]

[Apprentice Hunter] [Hatchetman]

Stats:

HP: 133.0

Str: 133

Agi: 19

Int: 136

MP: 126.0 (68.0 + 58)

Tier:

Tier 1 (Mana Heart fully formed)

Mana Vapor: 43%

Affinities: Metal, Water, Spirit

Achievement(s):

[Lesser Victories] [Lesser Strength] [Mana Heart Killer (Tier 0)] [Lesser Intelligence]

[Lesser Agility] [Lesser Trifecta]

Skill(s):

Passive-

[Mental Fortitude Lv. 6] [Apprentice Crafting Lv. 10] [Taming Lv. 3] [Hatchet Arts Lv. 10]

[Apprentice Assassination Lv. 8] [Apprentice Dissection Lv. 4] [Apprentice Hunting Lv. 1]

[Spear Arts Lv. 6]

Active-

[Pierce Lv. 7] [Mana Manipulation Lv. 6]

Trait Skill(s):

[Keratin Growth Lv.10] [Keratin Control Lv. 7]

Unique Abilities:

[Other World Reincarnation Tutorial] [Aptitude]

Combo-

[Drill Shot] [Enhanced Drill Shot] [Newtonian Thrust]

Pet(s): [Inbellis]

Language Level: Trilingual

{Known Languages}

[English 97%] [Latin 94%] [Gobish 22%] [Koboldese 90%]

'Wow, nearly ready for evolution! Just need to train up my Mana Heart, and [Keratin Control] a bit more... Wait... Now that I think about it, why were the goblins able to evolve while still at tier one?'

{Info}

Goblin King's [Horde Enhancement]

The greater the number of goblins in the horde, the stronger the enhancement.

Goblins under the influence of this skill can ignore the system's guidelines and forcefully evolve before reaching the required Mana Heart tier. Doing this though, ruins the potential of the body. As the Mana Heart of the prior tier can not handle the needed mana processing of the new body, especially when it is stressed even further by the enhancement.

This skill is extremely useful for goblins, who have a natural soft limit of tier three and hard limit of tier four. Breaking through to tier four though, is almost impossible for goblins, as the majority do not have the potential or lifespan.

'So basically, they sacrifice their future for more power immediately. Though the ones that do it, might not ever have reached that power level without it...' Roy slowly processed the information he received. It took him a few seconds to realize the implications of the skill as well.

'Wait... Goblin King... Oh god, how many goblins are there? How strong is his army with that insane buff?!' Roy was beginning to feel terrified upon this realization.

'I have to get stronger fast. If the absolute limit of a goblin is tier four, the worst case scenario is exactly that.' Renewing his resolve once again, Roy began absorbing mana into his Mana Heart.

...

"Alright, so, all of us have reached the max level for our evolutions. Now we all need to reach tier two in order to safely evolve. I think we should find a safer location further up the river, where we can hide out in case of any goblin reinforcements." Giving his thoughts, Roy took a big bite out of his cooked meat.

"I was actually gonna say the same thing." Terren chuckled lightly, looking at Solus for her input.

"That works for me too." Solus replied in a monotone voice.

"...What's wrong Solus?" Roy asked, looking at his sister's unusual mood.

"I'm angry. Not just at you, at myself too. I shouldn't have agreed to what you said... We're a party, a family... right? You should rely on us more!" Solus responded, as she stared deeply into Roy's eyes, tears flashing in her own.

"I'm sorry... I didn't want you guys to get hurt. I didn't want you to have to experience those curses. Hindsight is twenty twenty though; I shouldn't have done that alone. I'll make sure to rely on both of you more in the future... if that's okay with you?" Roy, after realizing the perilous situation he had put not only himself in, but the others as well, decided to correct his mistakes while he still had the chance.

"That's all I wanted... Thank you." Solus gave a warm smile, and relief washed over her. Her whole body now relaxing, Solus could finally breathe easy.

"I may be way weaker than the both of you right now, but I hope you can rely on me too, because I'll be catching up to you eventually!" Terren chimed in with a big smile, before taking a huge bite of her cooked venison.

The group, now in high morale, laughed, and played, as they enjoyed a nice break after such an intense battle.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Somewhere deep in the Forbidden Forest, on the side of a cliff, a small hole was currently being occupied.

A small shivering fairy, with a damaged wing, was trying to warm herself by burying her body into the dirt.

*Sniffle*

"Mommy... big brother..." The small fairy cried her eyes out, as she attempted to muffle her voice. Fearing it leaking out to the trackers currently hunting her.

"Someone, please save me..." She whispered, so faintly that she couldn't even hear her own words.

The small figure curled up into a tight ball, trying her best to stay warm, as she slowly fell asleep.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Sir! The unit is prepared to move out on your order!" A somewhat tall goblin saluted the general standing before him.

"At ease. How many are coming?" The General asked, continuing to walk forward with a confident gait.

"All of your tier two, second evolution subordinates are coming sir. The king said only to bring the most elite unit!" The goblin proudly said, slamming his fist to his chest.

"Hahaha! Then it makes perfect sense for his majesty to choose me!" The general bellowed out, before stopping in front of the tailor shop.

Walking into the shop, the general walked up to the counter and spoke to the goblin manning the counter. "Is my suit, and backpack ready?"

"Y-yes sir, Mr. General sir!" The goblin saluted, seeing who had walked into the shop. It quickly ran into the back of the store, grabbing the package meant for the general.

Handing it over, the goblin thanked the general for stopping by. The general gave a light nod, before walking out of the shop.

Taking a deep breath of air, the general smiled and spoke proudly, "Just about time to leave."