Goblins (3): Flames and the Chain of Evolution
Well, at least hobgoblins themselves don't multiply as explosively as goblins. That's something to be grateful for. With enough food, goblins can swell to dozens in the blink of an eye, which would summon hobgoblins just as quickly.... But seasoned adventurers or soldiers can smash them without breaking a sweat. So, I'll leave a warning through the Life Church for the humans. Make sure goblins don't gather in groups larger than a few dozen. A warning it is. For now.... Investigating and researching goblins takes priority.
With that resolve, I dove deeper into understanding them.
First off, it seems even goblins don't find it easy to multiply via mold. Rewinding time confirmed it: instead of baby goblins spawning from the mold, the goblins' mana reserves hit rock bottom. So, probably, only mold supplied with ample mana produces offspring.... Without enough mana, it won't proliferate wildly from the mold.
Put another way, in mana-rich environments, they could explode in numbers.... Hmm.... I'll worry about that later.
Watching goblins drain their mana nearly dry just to spawn young sparked a question. What happens if a goblin's mana runs out completely? They probably die, right? Yeah.... Gotta test it directly.
Leaving the goblins in my oddly endearing terrarium alone, I captured a cluster living in the wild and began extracting their mana.
The amount pulled from one goblin was surprisingly substantial. No way.... Is this not just one goblin's mana, but the mana shared by the entire cluster being drawn out too?
It was bizarre. Extracting from a single goblin somehow drained the mana from the whole group.... It was as if the entire cluster was being treated like one organism.
Once all their mana was siphoned, the goblins died as expected. Not just the one I'd targeted, but every single one in the cluster dropped dead simultaneously.
Utterly strange. I knew individual goblins were linked via mold and mana, but depleting it causing them all to perish at once? It was like they were connected through a mold network.
Hmm.... Mold network. Sounds familiar. Mycelial network, yeah. Anyway, moving on.
The goblin corpses, drained of mana, didn't rot like normal ones. They crumbled into dust-like powder and scattered.
Hmm.... This powder—is it goblin mold? Even in death, they spread it as their bodies decompose? Tenacious little bastards.
Gazing at the goblin mold dispersing on the wind, I mused. That pitch-black stuff.... Kinda like charcoal dust. Wonder if it burns well?
I sparked a tiny flame with mana and touched it to the mold.... It ignited spectacularly.
Indeed.... Fire might be the answer to goblins. It burned so fiercely, you might worry about starting a forest fire.
Well, hunting goblins and torching their nests or caves with torches should suppress the mold. That's a relief, I suppose.
Alright, one mystery solved.... On to the next.
Goblins are monsters. Monsters drop mana stones. So goblins should have them.... But for some reason, they don't.
Most monsters drop one reliably, yet goblins? Nothing. That puzzle unraveled after capturing one, anesthetizing it, and dissecting it alive.
There was a mana stone inside a goblin's body. A tiny fragment, but definitely there.
The problem? It was so minuscule and fragile that the shock of death shattered it to pieces. Plus, the mana in the stone was dwarfed by what they shared via mold.
Thus, goblins were worthless monsters—no real byproducts even after hunting.
Tch. No wonder people avoid hunting them. Adventurers go for worthwhile prey; there's no reason to bother with these.
Leaving goblins aside, next up: hobgoblins.
Hobgoblins emerge when dozens of goblins cluster, and physically, they're leagues beyond regular goblins. Though individuals vary—roughly 0.7 to 0.9 times a normal human's strength? Trained soldiers or adventurers could dispatch them easily, of course.
Anyway, I captured one for a closer look.
Definitely tougher flesh than a goblin's. If a hobgoblin led goblins in raiding humans.... Untrained folk might be in real danger.
They shared mana with their cluster just like goblins, and most traits matched. The mana stone inside.... Oh, there it is.
Due to its larger size, the hobgoblin had a proper mana stone. Small compared to other monsters, but a solid crystal nonetheless.
For maintaining public safety, plus the value of this stone.... It might justify hunting. Worst case, have the Life Church offer a small bounty—cut off goblin ears as proof.
But for now, onward.
While observing hordes of goblins and hobgoblin-led clusters, something intriguing caught my eye.
Two goblin clusters with hobgoblins, foraging for food, made contact.
Regular goblin clusters without hobgoblins? They'd usually part ways peacefully or, rarely, squabble. But with hobgoblins? Different story.
The hobgoblins leading each cluster spotted each other and locked glares.
They stared piercingly, tension thick.... Then both thrust out fists and bumped them together.
A baffling sight. The standoff vanished; the hobgoblins acted like old cluster-mates, and the two groups merged in seconds.
Hmm.... Hobgoblins banding together. Fascinating.
Unlike plain goblin clusters, hobgoblins trigger mergers.... Ah, mana links between the two hobgoblins too. Incredible.
Wait. Mana connections...? Like goblins? Does that mean....
Hobgoblins can evolve like goblins? If hobgoblin clusters merge like this.... What if dozens of hobgoblins gather into a massive horde?
Does it evolve further? That question didn't linger long.
In an untouched jungle, a cluster with dozens of hobgoblins. At its center loomed a colossal figure.
Towering two heads above adult-sized hobgoblins, this behemoth bellowed orders at them.
Green skin like goblins, muscular build, massive protruding fangs from a huge jaw—hallmarks of the monster.
Let's name it. Orc fits. Those tusks give it a boar-like face. A piggish snout would've been perfect, but.... Ahem.
Anyway. Orcs commanded hobgoblins, who bossed goblins. Simple, efficient hierarchy.
Hmm. Let's see. The goblins under the orc's lead were heading toward a small village....
Can't ignore that.
Hundreds of goblins. Dozens of hobgoblins. And an orc. Weak individually, but this many? Serious threat.
So, I stepped before the goblins.
“Kyarruk!!”
“Kwaaak!”
The goblins screeched noisily. Frail but numerous pests. Time for a quick cleanup.
I snapped my fingers lightly, and flames erupted on their bodies.
They burned like dry tinder, reduced to ash in moments. Even their dispersal spores incinerated—fire works wonders on goblins.
As their goblin underlings blazed, hobgoblins charged. But hobgoblins are just hobgoblins. I'd studied them enough.
Another finger snap, and they too burned to cinders.
Watching this, the orc.... Turned tail and fled.
Terrified by me torching its minions in seconds? Or grasping my power? Either way, the orc cleverly bolted.
But I can't let it go. First orc I've seen—an evolution from hobgoblins. Need to dissect and study it closely.
Thus, the orc was ensnared by tree roots bursting from the earth, immobilized in an instant.
Now, investigation time.
