Chapter 158
Chapter 158
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 158
Chapter Title: The White Dragon
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After the kobold invasion on the goblins.
Changes had occurred among the goblins.
The most prominent of those changes was training.
Right now, they were climbing the mountain while carrying stones as big as their own bodies.
The goblins' faces were, naturally, mostly ashen with exhaustion.
"Gi, Gibble, do we really have to do this?"
One of them called out to the goblin leading the way.
A goblin with silver hair bordering on white.
He was the mastermind behind this training and the new chieftain of the goblin tribe.
He had inherited the chieftain's position after the incident with the kobolds.
"Yes, do it. Then we can fend off not just the kobolds, but other races too."
"Is, is that so."
They wondered if this would really work.
But for now, the goblins silently followed his orders.
They still remembered the euphoria from the day they repelled the kobolds.
So they could endure the training for the time being.
"And I told you my name already."
"Ah, sorry. Havel."
Havel nodded and swept his gaze over the goblins.
What they were doing now was basic physical training combined with fortification work.
The goblin village was far too defenseless.
There were no palisades, of course, and no sentries to warn of enemy incursions.
That was why they kept letting in invaders like the kobolds.
'It's fine while I'm here.'
At the very least, he needed to create an environment where these guys could eat and sleep safely.
So Havel was expanding the village while tempering the goblins.
The goblins didn't know it, but Havel had infused calamity into the stones.
Goblins were calamity beasts living in the Tower.
Naturally, they reacted most sensitively to calamity.
As a result, just carrying the stones was enough to stir their calamities.
In fact, a few days into the training, several goblins were already showing marked responses.
'Talent, I suppose.'
Even the lowest of races, goblins, had their share of talents.
'Being the lowest race isn't so bad, actually.'
As the bottom rung, they were practically blank slates.
No matter what training Havel put them through, they grew without picking up bad habits.
'The issue is the time it takes to grow.'
Havel couldn't stick around on this floor forever.
Honestly speaking, even at this growth rate, it would take more than a year.
'There should be a faster way.'
Havel tapped the arm crossed over his chest.
Separate from training, they needed other avenues for growth.
'The best would be elixirs, of course.'
Nothing beat elixirs for accelerating growth.
Just feeding them to these near-blank-slate goblins would make them grow fast.
Havel decided to start by finding elixir ingredients.
Of course, the goblins knew nothing about elixirs.
Elixir or not, they'd eat anything they could.
That was how pathetic the civilization of the lowest race was.
So the place Havel headed to was a race that had at least some standing.
"Gaul."
"Hiiiieeeek!"
A red lizardman's scream echoed loudly at Havel's arrival.
This was the swamp city of the red lizardmen, Vioram.
The spot Havel had sought out was a remote house in Vioram.
Havel had come looking for the lizardman tending his farm there.
Gaul had once lived by hunting.
But after encountering Havel, he now quietly farmed at home.
With Havel showing up again, he couldn't help but scream.
"Why are you so surprised?"
"How could I not be! Why are you back?!"
Gaul's face twisted in revulsion.
Ignoring him, Havel hopped up and sat on the fence the lizardman had built.
"I have something I want to ask."
"...What is it."
Gaul asked with an uneasy expression.
Havel glanced around.
"You know any elixirs or the like that promote growth?"
"Elixirs?"
Gaul blinked.
Then he quickly realized what Havel was after.
"You planning to grow the goblins?"
"Yeah."
There was no reason to hide it, so Havel answered honestly.
Gaul knew that Havel had even gone to see the city lord Gaiola.
Goblin growth.
It might threaten the lizardmen far in the future.
But right now, Havel was far more terrifying.
So Gaul paused for a moment, lost in thought.
"Elixirs, huh..."
Then something occurred to him.
If this worked, maybe he'd never have to deal with this loathsome guy again?
With that in mind, Gaul cautiously opened his mouth.
"I know of one."
"Tell me."
Havel picked up on Gaul's meaningful tone.
But he brushed it off and urged him to speak.
Gaul spoke in a secretive whisper.
"If you follow the Mahanon Mountains up, there's a dragon tribe member."
The Mahanon Mountains were the main habitat for lizardmen, kobolds, and goblins.
"Rumor has it that dragon really loves elixir ingredients."
The rumor was true.
Dragons often descended to various cities to collect ingredients.
"It probably knows something, right?"
So Gaul informed Havel of the dragon's existence.
Gaul grew a little tense.
Havel was strong, sure, but his opponent would be a dragon.
Gaul knew he'd suggested something outrageous.
If Havel dismissed it as nonsense, he might get beaten.
His muscles tensed up in that moment.
"Sounds good."
Havel accepted Gaul's suggestion with surprising ease.
Gaul's eyes went wide.
He was accepting a dragon fight just like that?
Was this guy fearless?
Or goblin-stupid?
But he'd been the same way against Gaiola.
'Maybe.'
Could he actually take down a dragon?
Meanwhile, Havel hopped down from the fence.
"By the way, if you slip in any funny ideas next time, that's the end for you."
He left the pale, frozen Gaul behind and departed leisurely.
As per Gaul's directions, Havel began ascending the Mahanon Mountains.
Unlike the relatively peaceful lowlands.
The Mahanon range was infamous for its treacherous peaks.
Which was why Havel had, at some point, reverted to his original human form.
No matter what, a goblin's stubby legs made mountain climbing a hassle.
"Keng!"
A pack of white wolves far off spotted Havel and barked.
Viewing him as prey, they descended the snow cliff.
Then, without a moment's hesitation, they bared their fangs at him.
Kwajik!
The instant the lead white wolf's fangs reached his neck.
A cracking sound rang out, and the teeth shattered.
"Kaeng! Keng!"
The white wolf let out a pained yelp and fled.
With one wolf's fangs broken, the others panicked and withdrew.
"Plenty of beasts around here."
The dragon's nest should be visible by now.
But with the snow falling so heavily, he couldn't see a thing.
"Gonna have to give Gaul a smack on the way back."
As Havel thought that.
Tarak—
A pile of stones struck by his kick tumbled downward.
Squinting ahead, a cliff came into view.
The fierce snow had hidden it.
A massive valley that cut across the entire range lay there.
And Havel knew exactly what that valley was.
The dragon's nest in the Mahanon Mountains.
This was definitely the place.
Realizing he'd come to the right spot, Havel stepped toward the cliff's edge.
To onlookers, it looked like he was falling.
But Havel nonchalantly began scaling down the cliff wall.
His vertical gait left even the birds passing through the valley stunned.
Eventually, reaching the bottom, Havel set foot on the ground.
The floor was an icy wasteland.
The jagged ice shards protruding everywhere were sharp enough to impale and kill anyone who fell.
"Made it."
At the same time, Havel sensed a massive presence beyond the ice field.
A presence unlike any he'd felt since entering the 8th hierarchy.
Following that presence, Havel arrived at a gigantic ice palace.
A colossal ice door blocked his path.
It looked like only a being of immense size could pass through.
The dragon's entrance, no doubt.
But this time, a goblin would be entering.
Havel placed his hand on the ice palace door.
Then casually shoved it open with a bang.
Kiiiiik— Thud!
The door, which seemed impossible to open without a dragon, swung wide.
Witnessing this, Havel strode inside without a care.
The presence continued emanating from deeper within.
Just as anticipation swelled in Havel at the thought of looting a haul of elixirs.
—Who dares enter my home?
A voice rang in Havel's ears.
A voice impossible to tell if it belonged to a man or woman.
Havel followed the voice and ventured deeper.
For some reason, the speech pattern felt familiar.
—Eh, wa, wait a second!
The other side started sounding flustered right away.
They hadn't expected Havel to charge in so quickly.
Arriving at a room in an instant, Havel kicked the door down.
Kwang!
"Kyaaak!"
A scream echoed as the door flew open.
Apparently, it had been standing in front of the door to block intruders.
Havel looked toward the scream and saw a white dragon there.
White scales.
Sharp white fangs.
Wings wrapped in vast membranes.
Rank 3 among races.
A white dragon.
Tremendous power flowed from the dragon's massive frame.
Yet despite that power, the dragon seemed somehow lacking.
And soon, Havel realized why.
"Elashiya?"
"Ha, Havel-nim?"
She recognized him too and reacted with bewilderment.
Her true identity was none other than Elashiya, one of Havel's companions.
Unlike Havel, she had possessed a dragon.
'I thought we'd been scattered to different worlds.'
So we ended up in the same dimension after all.
'Which means...'
Elashiya, being weaker than me, possessed a rank 3 dragon race, while I got stuck in a goblin.
So what's the clear condition? Raise your own race's ranking, anyone?
As Havel took a moment to assess the situation, he clicked his tongue.
'Fine.'
This worked out even better.
"You got any elixirs?"
No need to beat up a dragon now.
Elashiya blinked at Havel switching straight to looting mode.
Then she snapped to her senses and rose to her feet.
"Ha, Havel-nim, forget that—there's a huge problem!"
"What?"
"The dragons are coming to kill me!"
Havel blinked at her next words.
Suddenly, Elashiya had become the dragons' target.