"Is that true?"
The second evolution piqued Souta's attention. He wondered what kind of path does a toxinum goblin had. Did they go back to the normal path? Or did they create their own path? Just like how they opened up the toxinum goblin.
"I don't know. I only receive this information from the previous leader, my ancestor. This information was passed down from generation to generation, leader to leader, hoping that the legends are real." The old goblin, Jarkal, explained.
Hmm...
Souta understood that they haven't seen someone at second evolution for a long time. They didn't even believe that there were second evolution monsters. The previous leader thought that this level of goblin was just a legend but Jarkal believes it. He just believes that there wouldn't be a legend like this if this event didn't happen in the past.
"Can you explain to me this legend?" Souta asked with curiosity in his eyes. This unknown path was new to him. He wanted to know their characteristics and traits for him to have a better understanding of their race.
"According to the information that was passed to me... The second evolution is real. One toxinum goblin managed to evolve to a higher life form in the past. They called it Lethal Toxic Gob. It has an ability greater than the toxinum goblin as its toxin could transform into gas and liquid. The toxin is too strong that it could knock an adult toxinum goblin which was resistant to toxins and chemicals. Its overall strength also is several higher than the strongest toxinum goblin." The old goblin, Jarkal, patiently explained everything to Souta without hiding anything.
Souta was immersed while listening to Jarkal. In other words, this type of goblin was a toxin path. It was much stronger than venomous and poisonous path. The toxin path possessed the characteristics of those two paths. A lot of people think that these two were the same but they were not. If a person bites the goblin and that person died, then it's poison. If the goblin bites a person and the person died, then it's venom. Well, these two characteristics were combined to lethal toxin gob.
It was said that no other creature could touch the lethal goblin gob as the toxins in its body were too strong.
'This evolution path is powerful. I didn't have destructive power but the toxins could kill countless creatures. The only ones who could stop it are those puppeteers and golem creators.' Saya's voice sounded in his mind.
'Yeah... But this didn't suit my style.' Souta said to her.
Most of the goblins here didn't believe in second evolution, the legends that were passed down in their tribe. But Souta was different, he believed those legends as he knew that the second evolution monster and above were true. Of course it was true, he and Yuko were the proof of it.
It's just that the goblins in this world didn't saw someone could evolve into second evolution. There's an occurrence of it but it was pretty rare that they treated it as legend.
"I see... What an extreme evolution path." Souta muttered and he glanced at Old Jarkal. "I'm going to tell you that I'm not a human. I'm a blood goblin, a third evolution stage monster. I already formed my monster orb and I'm asking you because I'm curious about the path that your tribe took. It's my first time seeing your kind, after all."
He smiled as he saw Old Jarkal looking at him with a blank expression. He knew that this old goblin was having a hard time believing his words. A second evolution monster was already a legend for them, then what about a third evolution. It sounds unbelievable.
Well, if Souta was in Old Jarkal's position he wouldn't believe it too. But then, Old Jarkal knew that Souta didn't have a reason to lie to him.
"I-Is that true...?"
"I don't have a reason to lie to you." Souta shrugged his shoulder and added, "I'm from another world. In that world, there are creatures that you can't imagine. They are like a god if they appeared in this world. Right, let me ask you a question. How old are you?"
"Nineteen years old. I only have a few years in my lifespan." Old Jarkal replied to him. A lifespan of a first evolution goblin was short. They were already lucky if they lived for twenty years.
"I see..." Souta nodded and then he looked at the goblins around. "How about them?"
"The oldest one is ten years old." Old Jarkal said.
Souta didn't say anything. The lifespan of a non-evolve and first evolution monster was too short. Compare to the lifespan of a human and demi, these goblins were just children. It was hard to imagine that he gave up ten years of his lifespan just to fight a noble head before.
Well, it doesn't matter any to his current stage. A lifespan of a third evolution monster could rival those humans and demis.
Sometimes he wondered how old is this body. It was already a grown-up goblin when he took over this body.
"Who's the one that evolved faster than anyone in this tribe?" He asked the Old Jarkal.
"The fastest one..." Jarkal pondered for a while before he answered, "is... Yenxa. She's seven months old when she evolved into toxinum goblin."
"Yenxa. Call her." Souta said.
"Yenxa! Come here!" Jarkal shouted as he looked around.
No one answered him so he asked some of the goblins to find Yenxa but then they realized that Yenxa was the one who brought Souta here. She was currently unconscious and was lying outside the gate. A bunch of goblins woke her up and brought her to Jarkal, their leader.
"Oh?" Souta raised his eyebrows when he saw the goblin.
He didn't think that the one who brought him to this place was the Yenxa. Also, she was a girl. This bald goblin that had sharp fangs and a pair of spikes on its back and elbows was a female goblin.
'Is this a trend here?'
Souta was living with humans and demis. He never once lived with other goblins so he didn't know their cultures and their preferences.
'What do you plan to do with her?' Saya asked.
'I wanted to cultivate this type of goblin to see if their power is effective in higher level.' Souta replied to her.
This was what he wanted. To see if their toxins could evolve to the level that it could knock down those powerful creatures in Imperium. Also, how it was compared to those poisonous and venomous creatures.
Yenxa looked at Souta with a nervous expression. She didn't know why this powerful man wanted to talk to her. It makes her tremble and scared. She didn't know what will happen to her.
"She's Yenxa. The one who reached the evolution fastest in this generation." Old Jarkal said.
Souta looked at Yenxa in the eyes and asked, "Do you want to stay here in this place for the rest of your life? If you don't want then I can bring you out of this place. I will support you and help you grow stronger until you reach your limit."
Old Jarkal and Yenxa were shocked when they heard his words. They couldn't believe what they were hearing.
Isabella who was behind Souta was confused. She couldn't understand what they were saying. 'Souta could talk to a monster? Hmm... Oh, right... I thought that he could only talk to Yuko.' She said inwardly while observing the three.
The dragons were a creature who could understand human and demi's language. Their intelligence was higher than normal monsters and it let them learned different languages of different creatures. This was the reason why she didn't think about Souta conversing with a dragon. She thought that it was normal for a dragon to understand their language.
"I'll give you a time. I will return later to know your answer." Souta said to Yenxa who had a blank expression on her face.
'Are you sure that you want to take her?' Saya asked.
'Yes, I'm going to cultivate here and gather some materials in this world to prevent her from leaving her current evolution path.' Souta replied to Saya as he turned around. He left the territory of this goblin tribe as if nothing happened.
The other goblins were confused. They couldn't follow what's happening or why Souta wanted to take Yenxa with him.
...
When they left the goblin's territory, Isabella asked him why did he talk to those monsters. He said that it was his first time seeing that kind of monster. There's no toxinum goblin in the Great World Imperium so he wondered that if one of them reached high level then would their powers work against those creatures in Imperium or not.
"Well, let's focus on our goal first... We need to investigate the strange energy fluctuations in this place. I will return later in that tribe." Souta said to Isabella.
"...energy fluctuations? I didn't know about it."
Isabella stopped as she looked at Souta's back blankly. Now that she thought about it, he said that he felt energy fluctuations when they arrived at the entrance of this cave.