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Forgotten Lands - Chapter 31 (Book 2)
🕑 Added 2024-05-13 10:00:07 +0000 UTCZayn’s hunting speed increased rapidly. He didn’t even have to fight actively to crush the droves of Magma Goblins coming his way. The Goblin Spirits and the Hellhound were more than capable of slaughtering the Magma Goblins.
It wasn’t easy to control 65 Spirit Souls simultaneously, but Zayn was fortunate enough to have some experience with warfare. He didn’t lead many armies to the battlefield, yet he knew enough about leading to give his tiny army simple commands.
Zayn was fortunate. The Spirit Souls were not as mindless and cumbersome to control as ordinary Undead. Spirit Souls retained most of their memories, skills, and motor skills. Their movements didn’t change much. If anything, Spirit Souls could fight much more freely than the Magma Goblins. They weren’t afraid of death and couldn’t feel pain.
After a few painstaking hours of traveling and combat, Zayn had replaced the weakest Goblin Spirits. He also replaced the Goblin Spirit, who’d lost most of their Soul Power in battles with fully fueled Goblin Spirits.
The Goblin Spirits he’d discarded were used to nourish the Lord Rune. Zayn hoped that it wouldn’t be expensive to upgrade the Lord Rune. Upgrading it would increase his combat prowess while strengthening his allies, including the Spirit Souls.
Unfortunately, the Lord Rune’s progression bar didn’t butch even after Zayn sacrificed more than 20 Soul Wisps to nourish it. Thus, Zayn switched to nourishing Rune Engraving instead. The progression bar of Rune Engraving shot up to 1% after Zayn discarded five Goblin Spirits. He would have to nourish the Rune Engraving ability of the Lord Rune with 500 Spirit Souls or Soul Wisps to create the 4th Spirit Card.
That was a lot, yet it wasn’t. Zayn’s situation was nothing like it used to be. Defeating 500 Tierless creatures wasn’t too difficult with 65 Spirit Souls by his side. He was in the perfect location to create his 4th Spirit Card. Maybe he could make a 5th Spirit Card as well?
The thought alone existed to him. His heart leaped out of his chest, and he continued moving forward.
Zayn started nourishing the Hellhound Spirit. The Magma Goblins in the deeper parts of the Goblin Lair were stronger than the Goblin Spirits. Therefore, it was necessary to up his game as well.
The Hellhound’s Foundation improved drastically.
[Foundation Orbit] – 760/824 [+2]
[Star of Vitality – Novice 99/99][+2%]
[Star of Strength– Basic 120/153][+2%]
[Star of Agility – Basic 199/199][+2%]
[Star of Dexterity – Basic 159/159][+2%]
[Star of Perception – Basic 103/134][+2%]
[Star of Energy – Novice 52/52][+2%]
[Star of Wisdom– Novice 28/28][+2%]
There had been some things Zayn tested by nourishing the Hellhound Spirit, and he had to acknowledge that the results were much better than expected. The Hellhound grew exponentially more powerful for every Foundation Star reaching its limit. It felt like every Foundation Star granted a boni to the Hellhound for reaching its limit.
Zayn tried to reach the Foundation Orbit’s limit of the Hellhound Spirit to test out whether the Spirit would be granted another major boost in power or if there would be any other changes. Unfortunately, accumulating Soul Essences by killing droves of Magma Goblins wasn’t that easy anymore.
That was also why Zayn was happy that the Magma Goblins grew stronger and their numbers increased.
It was also great that the Magma Goblins had better equipment as they ventured deeper into the Goblin Lair. Their weapons improved, and many Magma Goblins started to wear proper leather armor. Zayn didn’t plan to sell any equipment for the time being since his Spirit Souls could use the weapons and armor, but it didn’t hurt to collect the goods his Spirit Souls didn’t require. Each sword and armor piece was worth a little bit, and Zayn was the last who would throw away mountains of decently valuable goods.
The quantity of goods, the Soul Essences, and the Card Shards procured in the Goblin Lair were all valuable to Zayn. However, the Spirit Souls and Spirit Cards he could acquire in the Goblin Lair were even more valuable.
He continued moving deeper into the Goblin Lair and pushed deeper until the cavern tunnels grew wider. Zayn noticed a subtle change that started after entering the last cavern tunnel. More torches had been installed alongside the tunnel walls, and various intricate patterns of runes, murals, and what Zayn presumed to be stories attracted his attention.
The runes didn’t pose any danger to him. However, they were runes that reported the invasion of foreign existences. Zayn wasn’t afraid of fighting, but he knew that ordinary Magma Goblins couldn’t engrave useful runes. The runes carved into the walls were graceful. They weren’t something a beginner could have engraved and maintained.
‘It was about time for the stronger Goblins to come and greet me!’ Zayn thought, chuckling lightly as he discovered something at the end of the cavern tunnel. The tunnel grew wider until it ended in a massive hall that resembled a ginormous training hall. Zayn would have loved to inspect the training hall and the enormous hall with its 10-meter-high ceiling and the massive glowing stalagmites that illuminated the entire hall. Still, he was too busy contesting the deadly glare of a two-meter-tall Magma Goblin, a Hobgoblin Warrior, to be precise.
It had dark crimson skin like the other Magma Goblins but was taller than them. Its muscles bulged, pressing tightly against its skin as it stepped forward. A large onyx-colored scimitar rested in his hand. It scraped across the flat stone ground. The Hobgoblin Warrior had massive tusks jutting irregularly from its lower jaw. Just looking at the Magma Hobgoblin Warrior was enough to cause the chills.
But not for Zayn.
The Magma Hobgoblin Warrior was, by far, one of the tamest creatures he’d seen in the last cycle. He scoffed lightly and diverted his attention from the Hobgoblin to look at the other Magma Goblins. A bunch of Magma Goblins stood near the Hobgoblin. They looked stronger and better trained than the Goblin Spirits.
‘You guys are just about to evolve. Or maybe you’ve already evolved into Goblin Warriors? Hmm. You guys are taller than my Goblin Spirits. You must have evolved already. That means you guys are all at the 1st Tier. That’s good. More Soul Essences for me,’ Zayn thought, his head flicking to the other Hobgoblins that stood further away from the first one that had attracted Zayn’s attention.
At first, Zayn had only seen one of the Hobgoblins, but the longer he scanned the massive training hall, the more he discovered. It didn’t look good for his Spirit Souls. There were even taller Magma Goblins, the evolutions of Magma Goblins, to be precise, but none of them paid attention to Zayn. They disregarded his existence.
That…wasn’t new since he’d often encountered slightly more intelligent races with large settlements, but it was unexpected that the Magma Goblins were like that.
‘Did they not sense that I’m already at the 1st Tier? They should smell the blood and death of their brethren on me as well. Or do they not care because only the Hellhound and I are Tier-1? They don’t take me seriously,’ Zayn’s eyes traveled back to the Goblin Warriors, his eyes narrowing.
Realization dawned upon Zayn, the corner of his lips curling upward.
‘No. They use me for their rituals. They have to prove their worth to the settlement. Good. No. Great! That’s perfect!’
The closest Hobgoblin and the Magma Goblin Warriors surrounding him attacked.
“You’re using me for a ritual?” Zayn chuckled, calling upon Florakinesis and Root Strike. He used the Cards more than ten times in a row, but nothing special happened. The ground underneath him trembled lightly. That was it. Nonetheless, Zayn’s lips curled upward.
This was going to be fun.
He split the Verdant Saber into the Verdant Dagger Set and activated its Enhanced Poison enchantment. Zayn also applied Poison Augment to the Verdant Dagger Set, only to add Double Impact and Draining Touch.
Last, Zayn used the Lifeforce Conversion Card to drain more than half of his overflowing lifeforce, converting it to pure power. He kicked the ground, creating intricate cobweb-like cracks underfoot, and charged the wave of Goblin Warriors and the Hobgoblin Warrior. His 62 Goblin Spirits followed him with slightly slower strides. They were behind him but took their time reaching the battlefield.
Zayn and the Hobgoblin were about to clash when a verdant-green shield manifested between them. He’d used Aegis Natura to block the Hobgoblin’s vision, blink to the furthest left Goblin Warrior, and release the Hellhound and two Goblin Spirits from the Spirit Cards. The Shanyt Axe and a steel spear landed next to the Goblin Spirit, who picked them up before charging the Magma Goblin Warriors. They moved slower than the Hellhound, which had already pounced toward the Goblin Warrior, clawing it twice before going for its neck.
The Magma Goblin Warrior was not slow, but it didn’t expect more enemies to appear right after Zayn emerged next to it. It blocked Zayn’s first two attacks and fell victim to the Hellhound. The Hellhound crunched on the Magma Goblin Warrior’s neck with tremendous strength and ripped a large chunk of flesh out of it.
Zayn used the commotion to his advantage. He thrust one Verdant Dagger toward the Magma Goblin Warrior’s chest, piercing his heart neatly. He twisted his body a moment later, evading a spear blade by a hair’s breadth. His other hand lunged forward, the Verdant Dagger cutting the hand holding the spear.
The Verdant Saber’s enhanced poison entered the spear-wielding Goblin’s system while Double Impact and Draining Touch were enacted. The tiny cut on the Goblin’s hand tore apart, while a small portion of its energy and lifeforce had also been drained.
Zayn used Aegis Natura again against the same Magma Goblin Warrior. However, instead of blocking its next attack, Zayn used the Aegis shield to prevent the Magma Goblin Warrior from pulling back. The monster had noticed that Zayn was too strong to deal with on its own. Yet, unable to pull back, it was forced to attack Zayn again. But Zayn was not alone.
The two Goblin Spirits next to him had already made their move. The spear-wielding Goblin Spirit thrust his spear toward the Goblin Warrior’s abdomen, piercing deep into it, while the Shanyt Axe cut neatly through one of the Magma Goblin Warrior’s hands, severing it.
The Hellhound changed targets and attacked the injured and poisoned Goblin Warrior. Simultaneously, a notification popped up before his eyes.
Spirit Soul has slain Magma Goblin Warrior(Elite). +3 Soul Essences, +2 Common Card Shards.
That was even better than expected. Zayn used blink to move away from the Magma Goblin Warriors and the Hobgoblin Warrior, who’d crushed the Aegis Shield after two mighty strikes. It turned to Zayn, only to be struck by a series of arrows – poison-covered arrows.
The Goblin Spirits might not be the strongest, but it was not like they were useless against Tier-1 creatures. They could still inflict a cut or two on Tier-1 creatures before getting killed. Zayn had enough vials of poison to provide one for his Archers and the strongest melee fighters. They weren’t affected by the poison and could easily smear it on their weapons or dip their arrows into them. That was exactly what they’d done when Zayn and the Hobgoblin stared threateningly at each other.
The poison was strong enough to paralyze weaker Tier-1 creatures. Even Elite Tier-1 Goblin Warriors with a weaker Foundation couldn’t avoid the paralyzation. It wasn’t overly potent against them, but strong enough to render them defenseless for a few seconds. Seconds was all the Goblin Spirits needed.
The Hobgoblin roared at the top of its lungs. It ignored the poison or tried to and charged Zayn, who continued smiling at the naive creature.
Zayn blinked behind the Hobgoblin while continuing to use Florakinesis and Root Strike. The ground continued tremoring. It was still a weak tremor but grew louder as energy left Zayn’s body. However, he didn’t stop using Florakinesis and Root Strike.
Instead of slowing down, Zayn used Draining Touch and Double Impact on both Verdant Daggers once again. He slashed the Hobgoblin, which spun around to split Zayn into two halves, only to blink away right before the Onyx Scimitar was about to hit him. It would have been too close and dangerous for others to move away this late, but Zayn could tell he was in perfect condition right now.
He was in a good mood. He used Blink more than a dozen times, swirling around the Hobgoblins, reactivating Double Impact and Draining Touch every time its effect wore off. The injuries all over the Hobgoblin’s body grew worse by the second, and it wasn’t even half a minute before it crashed to the ground, breathing heavily.
The paralyzation poison started to work, though later than expected.
The Verdant Dagger Set morphed back to the Verdant Saber right before Zayn drove the saber deep into the Hobgoblin’s neck, Draining Touch sucking the monster dry, refilling Zayn’s lifeforce and energy pool.
Spirit Souls have slain 9 Magma Goblin Warriors.
+31 Soul Essences, +1 Common Card, +3 Uncommon Card Shards.
It looked like the Goblin Spirits finished their work as well.
A smile crept up on Zayn’s face. They’d been a bit faster than expected. He also twisted the Verdant Saber in the Hobgoblin’s neck, ending its miserable life.
Magma Hobgoblin Soldier(Elite +) has been slain.
+7 Soul Essence, +4 Uncommon Card Shards.
“You guys shouldn’t have underestimated me,” Zayn said, fletching his white teeth as he summoned the Hobgoblin Warrior’s Spirit Soul.
