After the goblins ceased their fruitless crying, W decided it was time to leave. He had no doubts that the humans were already there based on the prophecy.
'Brothers, please understand that the only way to defeat these fiends is to partner with us orcs' Unfortunately for W the goblins were extremely reluctant to join an orc tribe. They thought that he as god's emissary had some amazing powers that would help them eliminate their foes but now the emissary started to seem like a charlatan.
Sure you can talk directly into my mind but that alone isn't convincing! We are not going to become your slaves!
That was what the goblins seemed to be saying with their loud cries of protest and expressions of loathing. W found it ridiculous but he decided to be open-minded and kept his cool.
This led him to believe that it wouldn't be a bad idea to make a display of power but without being able to look at his status he couldn't really say. Though he didn't really garner any hope for Rebub's skills. As for his own consciousness skills, they were either passive or dependant on the system. Useless to gain trust.
'Wait, there is an exception' Apart from transmission he could also use... Assimilation!
W would usually receive a notification indicating when the skill was ready for use but that was obviously currently impossible.
'The system needs to improve its offline features…' W muttered before looking around with the intention of finding the greatest thing to assimilate. He believed that since it was given by the dungeon it could still work without the system.
'Assimilating my bones might be a holy thing to do but…' That would sort of defeat the purpose of his visit. It was also worth noting that he would only be able to assimilate one at most. The goblins would be left expecting him to assimilate the rest.
'In that case…' The next best target would be something that was either a symbol of god or a symbol of power. Something important enough that seeing it vanishing in a fake short ritual to god would be convincing.
'If God accepts my prayers, will you all be convinced?' What would he pray for? Well for strength of course!
The elder still seemed doubtful but it moved away from the altar giving W free reign. W naturally didn't hesitate to make use of his skills.
He grabbed a small piece of his own bone. The goblins had nothing worth assimilating, though W hadn't expected otherwise. In the end, he had to try and get away with only a small loss.
'Oh Great God' W wanted to hide in a hole somewhere as he broadcasted his prayer over transmission to all of the goblins.
'Please accept this simple offering in advance, I know it's unfitting of your grandiosity to hold such a small ceremony but please grant me strength' W said and looked up at the dirt ceiling of the goblin hideout.
As he did tears started to well, and eventually, it seemed he was crying. Dirt fell in his eyes.
The goblins that saw this pious display were however instantly convinced. No more! We were wrong to doubt you! They didn't care about the result of the prayer anymore but that didn't mean that what followed didn't astound them.
The pure white bone started to disappear from W's hand and his body which seemed scrawny and weak started to seem much tougher. The goblins were beyond themselves. The great god answered and granted him strength!
The elder goblin was especially sorry, he collapsed to his knees. Again. This time he started begging for forgiveness and his tears which one would assume had run dry from the earlier discharge started to pour out in a flood.
'Is it possible that all goblins are so well hydrated?' It was that or they were all blessed with the art of exaggerated reactions. The other goblins were in a similar state to their leader after all.
W threw the matter to the back of his mind and instead focused on his own body.
'The assimilation skill works even on non-dungeon given bodies' That was good. The effects were also not half bad. Best of all, the skills' ability to be used by him as a lesser split allowed for it to be potentially exploited.
'Even though the cooldown will be longer I can leave a piece of my self in each body with the sole task of waiting out time and strengthening itself perpetually.
Once the goblins' river of tears finally stopped flowing, W took charge of things.
'Let's leave immediately' W told them and all of the goblins instantly straightened their postures. They seemed rather energetic and prepared.
'I guess they are used to nighttime marches' This wasn't all that farfetched. Orcs slept at night. That was the ideal time to go out scavenging for whatever might be necessary.
The goblins all started to come out through the trapdoor with wary eyes. They all looked around frantically and waited as W was the last to go through. He needed to pick up his bones after all. As he came out however he noticed that there seemed to be some sort of hidden tension.
The goblins' ears were perking up and down as if trying to find something.
'Can they hear well?' W looked at their ears and started to think. They were large and pointy when compared to humans and while he wasn't sure if that would be helpful he did know of one thing that would.
'If these goblins have been living in this hill for a long time and only coming out at dusk or night then maybe…' Maybe they had adopted some of the traits of nocturnal creatures. Then it wouldn't be at all surprising for the goblins to hear well or better than regular ones.
But try as the goblins might they failed to hear any abnormalities. Whatever they had first heard was either a fluke or the hidden creature was a skilled one.
'I'll have to be cautious' Since then, W took on a more wary and careful attitude. Things were a bit awkward for him as he had to carry his bones but now that his potion bags were empty he could simply stash them there which he did.
The march continued for a while and without impediment. The orc and the goblins adeptly coursed through the dark forest. Unaware of the threat in the shadows.
***
"Sharog!" Ed yelled as the sun started to set and the orcs were preparing to pack up their business.
Sharog who was no different came out of her house with Gurln and Lash. Gurln was the one that released Sharog from prison while Lash was his little sister. They had both started studying under Sharog although the initial plan only involved one brat.
"I want to have a spar with you" Ed said to Sharog's complete surprise.
"What!?" She exclaimed not believing Ed's words at all.
"Are you trying to have me killed!? No way!" Sharog said refusing outright. Gurln was surprised at the extreme reaction but also felt he could understand her somewhat.
"I… I guess it is too much to ask…" Vorgarag had been completely overwhelmed in the past and still lost while using crystals so expecting Sharog to take on this challenge with wide open strides was asking for too much.
Seeing Ed's dejection, however, Sharog looked back at Gurln and Lash and then back at Ed. She gritted her teeth and muttered out words that were hard for her to really agree with.
"I can give it a try… " Sharog said nearly inaudibly.
"Really?" Ed said not convinced.
"But it's for educational purposes! You have to take it easy on me!" She wanted to show both Gurln and Lash Ed's skills. There were two reasons for this. One, Ed was awesome. Two, Gurln and Lash used to be enemies. A complete trust couldn't be expected from a fellow tribe member so how could it be expected from an outsider?
Displaying Ed's skills to overwhelm her even while holding back would surely make them both feel that there was an unbreakable barrier between them and Ed. That he was an impossible challenge. That he was certain death.
Sharog thought it wouldn't be bad to show this to the entire sacred tribe but arranging such a large-scale show of her one-sided beatdown didn't make her one bit excited.
Well, the men that participated in battle probably had Ed's strength ingrained in her mind but the kids they took and their mothers were blind to the truth.
"I see… For these two?" Ed looked at them asked before running his assessment.
[Gurln (Expectant)]
{ The traitor of the sacred tribe Gurln, and disciple of the orc Sharog. Has a naturally curious personality and a strong thirst for power }
[Lash (Shy)}
{ Prisoner of Sanctuary and disciple of the orc Sharog. A shy young orc girl who bears hatred for her captors }
Ed frowned. It wasn't the first time he assessed Gurln and Lash but the amount of information was beyond his expectation. The information itself was also rather important.
'These two are a risk' Gurln thirsted for power, that didn't mean he would betray Sanctuary but the risk existed. As for Lash raising her up seemed foolish. Her hatred was understandable and as she was still young there was hope but…
'I should keep my eye on her' He didn't need any future troubles when he was already struggling with his present ones.
"Ed?" Sharog asked after seeing him frown while looking at her disciples.
"Ahem, let's pick somewhere for battle" Ed said focusing on Sharog again.
"Sure" Sharog said although still showing hints of concern.. Was it possible that Ed was doubtful of the two? Maybe it was hasty of her to suggest Gurln be allowed into their meeting for the next morning.
