The Tyranny of Evolution

Eliana's senses were constantly on edge. The deeper she ventured into the labyrinthine tunnels of the greater goblin kingdom, the more suffocating the air became. Every flicker of movement, every whisper in the shadows, made her heart race. The goblins here were not just stronger; they were more cunning, more ruthless. The Hobgoblins she passed loomed over her like twisted, monstrous statues carved from nightmares. Their muscles rippled with barely contained power, but their eyes were the true terror—they gleamed with the intelligence of creatures who had survived horrors beyond comprehension.

These were not the wretched, pitiful goblins of her past. These were something more.

The First Lesson: The Eyes in the Dark

Eliana was being watched. She knew it. The sensation prickled along her spine like cold needles. The walls of the underground tunnels seemed to breathe around her, shifting, whispering. Her every step echoed, but it wasn't just her footsteps she heard.

Somewhere in the darkness, something moved.

Then, she saw them—glowing red eyes, dozens of them, staring at her from the shadows like tiny embers burning in a vast abyss. The creatures clung to the ceiling, their bodies amorphous, writhing like a mass of flesh held together by unseen strings. Their limbs—if they could be called that—twitched unnaturally, as if they had forgotten how to function.

The goblins around her did not react.

Eliana's breath hitched as one of the things dropped from the ceiling with a wet squelch. It had no discernible face, just an open maw filled with jagged, uneven teeth. A grotesque, gurgling laugh echoed from deep within its throat, a sound that made her stomach churn with primal revulsion.

She stepped back, her instincts screaming at her to flee.

A massive, clawed hand clamped onto her shoulder.

She whirled around, her dagger drawn—only to find Tharnok, the hulking Hobgoblin who had been watching her earlier. His grip was firm, like iron.

"Do not show fear," he murmured, his voice barely above a whisper. "They can smell it."

Eliana swallowed hard.

The creature in front of her twitched, tilting its featureless head as if disappointed by her reaction. Then, with a chittering screech, it scuttled backward into the shadows, melting into the walls as if it had never been there at all.

Eliana let out a slow breath, heart hammering in her chest.

"What… was that?" she forced herself to ask.

Tharnok smirked, his teeth gleaming under the dim torchlight. "The remnants of failed evolution. Those who try to skip steps in their ascent become… that."

Eliana's stomach turned.

The Second Lesson: The Hollow Ones

Days passed. The deeper she went, the worse it became.

She encountered them on the fourth day—the Hollow Ones.

They were goblins once, she could tell. Their skeletal frames still held the vague outline of what they had once been. But their flesh was stretched too thin, their eyes sunken, their mouths forever locked in a soundless scream.

They moved, but only barely—twitching and jerking like broken marionettes.

One of them reached for her, its fingers brittle and gnarled like rotting wood.

Eliana recoiled. "What… what happened to them?"

Tharnok, who had taken a keen interest in her progress, studied the creatures with a detached gaze. "Evolution is not kind. Some goblins do not fail entirely, but they do not succeed either. They become this—stuck in eternal hunger, unable to die, unable to grow."

One of the Hollow Ones let out a guttural whimper, like a starving animal.

Eliana felt a strange, horrible pity. She had been hungry before. She knew what it meant to starve.

But she could never allow herself to become like them.

With a deep breath, she drove her dagger into the creature's skull. It did not scream. It simply collapsed, its body crumbling like dried leaves.

Tharnok grunted in approval. "Good. You are learning."

Eliana wiped her blade clean, forcing herself to ignore the knot in her stomach.

This was what survival required.

The Final Lesson: The Truth of Evolution

The more horrors she faced, the more Eliana felt the ember of something dark and exhilarating burning within her. The fear that had once choked her was beginning to melt away, replaced with a thrill she had never known before.

She had been skeptical at first. How could this place, this madness, possibly be a path to power?

But now she understood.

Every trial, every grotesque horror, every death she witnessed—it was all part of something greater. Evolution was not just about becoming stronger. It was about embracing the abyss and crawling out of it with blood-stained hands.

For the first time in her life, Eliana felt truly alive.

She turned to Tharnok, her eyes gleaming with something almost feral. "What's next?"

The Hobgoblin let out a deep, knowing chuckle.

"The real test."

Eliana grinned.

She was ready.

No—more than ready.

She was hungry.

Her ascension had begun.