The Evolution of a Goblin to the Peak

Souta, Yenxa, Amanda, and Gragas arrived one kilometer before the hidden base below the two mountains. They didn't move forward and decided to rest, as they were afraid that some people would spot them if they moved forward.

Souta glanced at Amanda and Yenxa.

Amanda was a witch, and her soul weapon at this moment only had the power of an orange-grade weapon. Her power level was improving thanks to their constant training inside Saya's inner consciousness.

She's in the liquefying realm, and when he asked her about it, she answered that she liquefied forty percent of her mana in her mana pool. It means that she has already reached the intermediate stage of the liquefying realm, or A-rank expert. It wouldn't take too long for her to reach the high and peak stages.

But then her power level was still low compared to Franklin and Torkez, who reached the high stage of the liquefying realm. Also, her combat prowess was lower than the two who experienced brutal war in the Great Astley Empire for decades and nonstop fighting in the living labyrinth. Her skill set, too, was nothing compared to theirs.

It seems that he needed to thoroughly train her and impart some of his skills to her.

Then, about Yenxa, she was a genius, as she had already reached the peak of C-rank. Her skill set and combat prowess weren't bad either. It's better than Amanda. If Amanda was an early-stage B-rank, then Yenxa would have beaten her.

In training, Yenxa never complained, and she did everything that he ordered like a robot. She didn't show much emotion, and she only followed his commands. She wouldn't even budge if Franklin or Alice ordered her to do something for them.

If the order didn't come from Souta, she wouldn't follow it. She swore to serve him, not those people, so she only listened to him.

"It's bad," Souta said inwardly as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

There will be a time in the future when he's not by her side. At that time, she needed to listen to Alice's or Torkez's commands.

It seems that he needed to correct her behavior, but he could somehow understand her. Yenxa didn't listen to others because she couldn't communicate with them. Also, she didn't have a sense of familiarity with humans or demis.

She felt at home with Souta beside her, who was also a goblin.

'Hmm? Maybe I should leave Yenxa to Doranjan next time. That way, maybe she could open up to the others.' Souta rubbed his chin as he contemplated what he should do to Yenxa.

Oh, right? Doranjan and Yuko were in the Monster Kingdom on the south continent.

Souta closed his eyes and activated the [Pet Resonance] skill for Yuko. Both of their senses were shared with each other.

'Master?'

A small, tiny voice sounded in his head. There's no doubt that this was Yuko's voice. She must have felt surprised as he suddenly activated the [Pet Resonance].

'Yeah, it's me. Where's Doranjan? I couldn't see him through your vision and couldn't sense him through your perception,' he said, nodding and asking.

'Hmph! That hateful old lizard left me here! One day, I'm going to defeat that old lizard! I will! I will beat him!!'

'Hahaha, Doranjan is already a century old, so you wouldn't stand a chance against him! He could become a fourth evolution stage at any moment as he reached the peak of the third stage.'

'Then, I will also evolve into the fourth stage and beat him! I think that I could beat him in the future!'

'I'm looking forward to it.' Souta laughed lightly before he asked, 'So where is he?'

'That old lizard is fighting for the dominance of these woodlands. I don't know where he went, but he said that he had sensed the presence of another lizard like him.'

'Oh, another dragon... It's interesting.'

Souta chatted with Yuko for a while as he asked about their current situation in that place.

The place they were residing right now was called Forbidden Woodlands, or Monster Kingdom. It was a place full of monsters, and it has a total of thirty-seven enormous mountains. These mountains were full of resources, and each mountain was guarded by a third evolution monster.

According to Yuko's words, there's no leader in this place, and all thirty-seven third evolution monsters are the authorities. If a thirty-eighth third evolution monster was born, then it would turn into a fight to control one of the mountains.

So when Yuko and Doranjan learned it, they decided to occupy one of the mountains by defeating the third evolution monster that ruled it.

Still, thirty-seven third evolution monsters were a huge force. This was the reason why most humans and demis banned anyone from entering the Forbidden Woodlands. Eventually, people started calling this place the Monster Kingdom.

Fortunately, those thirty-seven monsters looked like they didn't work with each other. Their pride was high, and they wouldn't cooperate. To control them, one needed to shatter their pride and thoroughly beat them to the point that their chances of winning were basically zero.

The basics of taming a third evolution monster.

If the third evolution monster had high intelligence, then they could talk with it.

"Damn, thirty seven... Even I wouldn't be able to handle it. Three would be enough to defeat me, and five would be enough to kill me." Souta muttered as he looked at the sky.

The Monster Kingdom on the south continent was already strong, but the so-called Monster Dungeon here on the central continent was stronger.

He shook his head and put those thoughts in the back of his mind. He took out the fifth stage monster orb and started his training.

On the next day, Souta opened his eyes before the sunrise. He expanded his perception and found that Yenxa and Amanda were asleep while Gragas was already awake.

He stood up and woke the two. They start their infiltration, and maybe it will lead to another battle. It's inevitable, as he guessed that he would interrogate the people there for more information.

'So the battle is unavoidable...' He said to himself.

The group quickly ate their breakfast before they departed towards the hidden base. The distance was one kilometer, and they could quickly cover it with their speed, but they slowed down their movements. They didn't want to alert the other people.

"This is pretty bad, right?" Gragas said in a low voice while looking around.

"Yeah, they've completely occupied the two mountains," Souta replied.

"How can we enter the hidden base?" Amanda asked.

The two mountains were several meters in front of them, but there were barricades set up around the foot of the mountains, and there were hundreds of guards patrolling around it.

Four hundred Ruin Realm experts.

One hundred forty Disaster Realm experts.

Twenty-nine Extermination Realm experts.

Lucky for them, there's no Annihilation Realm in the two mountains, but they weren't sure about the hidden base beneath the two mountains.

It seems that they've somehow lowered their guards because of the impending war with Monster Dungeon. If not, they would've probably sent five Annihilation Realm masters to guard this place.

Gragas, Souta, and Amanda looked at each other.

"Should we go?" Gragas asked in a low voice.

"Yeah." Souta nodded.

"Who's going to be the bait?" Amanda asked as she looked at the two.

"Of course, it's you and Yenxa," Souta replied to her.

"I should've expected this." Amanda sighed.

"Good luck; I will help you using my doppelganger, so don't worry," Souta assured her.

He knew that it was suicide for Amanda and Yenxa to confront these people unless they were in the Annihilation Realm like Gragas. Even Gragas would have died if he confronted twenty-nine A-rank experts and hundreds of B-rank experts alone. His protective field would eventually shatter if it kept receiving attacks from A-rank experts.

"You should start it, Gragas." Souta glanced at the dwarf.

"Okay."

Gragas nodded, and he raised his hammer above his head. His mana spiked up, and it coated his hammer. The flames surged from his hammer as the temperature rose drastically.

"So much for an infiltration mission! This is already a raid mission!"

He roared as he swung his hammer on the ground.

[Earthshaking Burning Smash]!

The ground shook heavily as huge cracks formed on it, and flames gushed out of these cracks just like tidal waves.

Swoosh! Swoosh!

Amanda and Yenxa quickly charged forward to swiftly kill some of these people. Gragas' attack caught most of the guards off guard, and it would give them a chance to eliminate dozens of people.

[Doppelganger]!

Seven humanoid shadows emerged from Souta's shadow. They stood beside him before their bodies flickered as they followed Amanda and Yenxa.

Ohm!

Souta opened his palm, and three pitch black balls formed on top of it. The black balls were scattered around the mountains.

He could simply use it to teleport later. He could also use it to save Yenxa or Amanda if they couldn't handle their enemies.

"Yeah, this is not an infiltration mission anymore!"