The Evolution of a Goblin to the Peak

"Is that true?"

The second evolution piqued Souta's attention. He wondered what kind of path 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 received this information from the previous leader, my ancestor. This information was passed down from generation to generation, leader to leader, in the hope that the legends were 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 hadn't happened 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 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 into 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 so strong that it could knock out an adult toxinum goblin, which is resistant to toxins and chemicals. Its overall strength is also several times 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 paths. The toxin path possessed the characteristics of those two paths. A lot of people think that these two are the same, but they are not. If a person bites the goblin and that person dies, then it's poison.

If the goblin bites a person and the person dies, then it's venom. Well, these two characteristics were combined to form the lethal toxin gob.

It was said that no other creature could touch the lethal goblin gob because the toxins in its body were too strong.

'This evolution path is powerful. It 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 or the legends that were passed down in their tribe. But Souta was different; he believed those legends because 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 see how someone could evolve into a second evolution. There's an occurrence of it, but it's so rare that they treat it as a 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 were in Old Jarkal's position, he wouldn't believe it either. 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 shoulders and added, "I'm from another world. In that world, there are creatures that you can't imagine. They would be like gods if they appeared in this world. Right, let me ask you a question. How old are you?"

"I'm nineteen years old. I only have a few years left in my lifespan." Old Jarkal replied to him. The 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 him. "How about them?"

"The oldest one is ten years old," Old Jarkal said.

Souta didn't say anything. The lifespan of a non-evolved and first evolution monster was too short. Compared to the lifespan of a human and a demi, the lifespan of these goblins was that of a child. It was hard to imagine that he gave up ten years of his lifespan just to fight a noble.

Well, it doesn't matter to his current stage. A lifespan of a third evolution monster could rival those humans and demis.

Sometimes he wondered how old this body was. 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 answering, "is... Yenxa. She was 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 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 or 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 at a higher level,' Souta replied to her.

This was what he wanted to see: if their toxins could evolve to the point that they could knock down those powerful creatures in the 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 feel scared. She didn't know what would happen to her.

"She's Yenxa. The one who reached the evolution fastest in this generation," old Jarkal said.

Souta looked 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 to, 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 creatures that could understand human and demi's languages. Their intelligence was higher than that of normal monsters, and it let them learn the 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 some time. I will return later to know your answer." Souta said this 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 had happened.

The other goblins were confused. They couldn't follow what was happening or why Souta wanted to take Yenxa with him.

...

When they left the goblins' territory, Isabella asked him why he talked 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 if one of them reached a high level, then would their powers work against those creatures in the 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 to 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.