NOVEL WEB Chapter 22 : Goblin Discussion
"Oh, didn't you and Rigerd used to patrol together before?" Hurard asked Gesea.
"Yes, we patrolled and found some interesting things. The entire forest has turned into a barren land, and..."
"And what?"
"We heard news that the Blue Alliance was wiped out due to last night's disaster by a passing wanderer."
Instantly, the expressions on the goblins' faces turned to shock. They had never expected that half of the 13 goblin tribes in the Abyssal Forest would vanish in a single night.
However, there were those who doubted it, but when they saw the serious expressions of Rigerd and Gesea, it was highly likely that the Blue Alliance had indeed been wiped out.
"It seems they were quite close to the epicenter of the disaster."
"If they were that close, it makes sense they vanished in one night."
"Truly a terrible disaster."
Everyone nodded and agreed that last night's disaster was truly horrifying. Shortly after, a voice from the hermit Flurx made everyone realize they had strayed from the topic.
"Apologies, tribal leaders, our topic was about prophecy. After summarizing your discussion, I conclude that you will focus on more pressing matters than the prophecy, is that correct?"
"Yes, if the Gods truly descend, we will know sooner or later."
"As tribal leaders with more intelligence than other goblins, we must prioritize what makes sense."
"Indeed, it would be a waste of resources to seek the presence of the Gods."
"We can focus our forces on more important matters. If the Gods come to us, we must prepare offerings and pure maidens."
"Yes, for now, we will focus on more important matters."
After hearing all the tribal leaders' statements, Hermit Flurx nodded in agreement with the opinions of all the tribal leaders.
Since the formation of the alliance, the Red Alliance's tribal leaders typically had similar or closely aligned opinions. Although they occasionally had different opinions, they resolved them in the end with a unified voice.
Goblins generally lacked intelligence and could only be given simple orders. However, goblins who had evolved to a higher level typically had intelligence comparable to humans.
They could even distinguish idealism from realism and think about realistic matters. This naturally inclined the Red Alliance to excel in long-term warfare, despite being outnumbered and less powerful.
The goblin race had many levels, including very rare ones that were on par with Karma Elves or Redemption Liches.
The goblin race's evolutionary path began with a normal goblin, which evolved into a hobgoblin. After becoming a hobgoblin, goblins were given a choice, or more precisely, two evolution paths. The first path had goblins with high intelligence and normal physical strength.
The second path had normal intelligence but significant physical strength.
If they chose the first path, hobgoblins would evolve into High Goblins, and then Sage Goblins.
If they chose the second path, hobgoblins would evolve into Hunter Goblins, and then Berserker Goblins.
Both paths would merge into one after evolving into a Goblin Lord, and the evolution chain continued until reaching the highest goblin race at level 150.
Since a goblin became a hobgoblin, their body size would evolve to be the same as a human. High and Sage Goblins tended to become tribal leaders more often than Hunter or Berserker Goblins because they had higher intelligence, enabling them to better meet the needs of their tribe.
"Alright, the first point about the prophecy is concluded. Let's move on to the second topic."
"The second topic is the most important and will shape the future of goblins in the Abyssal Forest."
All the goblin tribal leaders instantly reviewed the report of this meeting, focusing on the key points to be discussed.
"To provide food and drink for the goblins from the six goblin tribes, we only have a supply of food and water for 20 days, and the underground water source we found is gradually depleting."
"So, what needs to be discussed is how we can find a source of food and water for our tribal members. Please begin the discussion, tribal leaders."
"Thank you, Hermit Flurx."
"I recommend that we form a team to search for food sources."
"Yes, I agree with you, Gys, the leader of the Fizzletale tribe."
"We can prepare a team consisting of trained hobgoblins because it's likely to be very dangerous."
"Yes, there's a possibility that other races are also searching for food."
"When I patrolled, the entire land had turned into a wasteland, and I saw no signs of monsters or animals."
"So, do we need to explore the Abyssal Forest or infiltrate the outskirts of the Igrasian Empire to find food and women?"
"That's a great idea, like hitting two birds with one stone."
"We can obtain a food source and women to offer to the descending deity."
"Well, besides that, the remaining women will be given to the Berserker Goblin leading the expedition."
"But I'm also puzzled, Goblins who evolve towards the strength path seem to prefer human women."
"That's true, I'm more interested in fellow goblins than humans."
"How many hobgoblins and Hunter Goblins can we gather at the moment?"
For several minutes, they continued discussing the plan to infiltrate the outskirts of the Igrasian Empire with the aim of finding food and women.
For goblins, human women could only be obtained in a few ways. First, by kidnapping them individually, which was the easiest way.
Second, by joining a team with the specific task of kidnapping human women, but the members could only enjoy them after evolving into at least a hobgoblin.
Third, they could have a personal human woman or a personal human slave by evolving into a highly skilled Goblin Hunter or Berserker Goblin.
Human women were also highly sought after for sacrifices to the deity during the early winter. These women would be offered as sacrifices, and they had to be virgins. This was done to reduce the number of goblins suffering from the cold and to improve the overall survival rate of all goblins during the winter.
Offering virgin women was just one of the many goblin traditions. Goblins considered humans to be no different from animals and showed no mercy towards them, especially since it was humans who killed the Goblin Lord, fueling the goblins' vengeance.
Of course, the fate of women kidnapped by goblins was very grim. If they were lucky, they would become sacrifices in the early winter, but if not, they would be slaves to the goblins until death. Besides the prophecy, the last message of the Goblin Lord was, "Kill humans."
After a lengthy discussion and debate, they finally reached an agreement.
Hermit Flurx resumed the conversation after all the tribal leaders had finished their discussion.
"All right, we all agree that the Goblin Lord's prophecy will not go astray, and we'll split the expedition force into two teams."
"The first team, the White team, will be led by a Berserker Goblin named Gerx and will be tasked with finding food, especially meat, in the western part of the Igrasian Empire."
"The second team, the Black team, will be led by a Berserker Goblin named Draz and will be tasked with kidnapping many women, especially virgins, to be offered to the Deity."
"Expedition preparations will be carried out today, including logistics, supplies, weaponry, and more. If everything goes smoothly, the estimated time for their return will be about 2-3 weeks from tomorrow."
"As for water, we will continue the established team to dig and search for water sources."
"Is everyone in agreement?"
Hermit Flurx asked, looking at each of the goblin leaders. They all nodded in agreement with Hermit Flurx's statements. Flurx was currently the only goblin with the Great Sage Goblin race, and he was hundreds of years old.
"All right, if everyone agrees."
"In that case, we will discuss the third point, which is the most sensitive among us. Uniting all the goblin tribes under one leadership."
The atmosphere in the meeting suddenly became very cold, as if all the participants were competing and unfamiliar with each other.
When the situation was extremely tense and cold, a hobgoblin suddenly entered the tent without permission and appeared quite panicked.
"Sorry for the interruption! Two elves said they want to meet with the leaders of the goblin tribes."
All the expressions of the goblin leaders looked very surprised, except for Rigerd and Gesea, who seemed to consider the elf's visit as something normal. However, they did not pay attention to Rigerd and Gesea's expressions and were deep in thought.
"Why are elves here?"
"Isn't the Elven Kingdom to the east?"
"The Elven Kingdom is a closed nation, according to the knowledge of the ancient goblins."
"Should we meet with them?"
"Should we temporarily suspend the meeting?"
Various questions were raised by the goblin leaders due to the visit of the elf race at the same time they were having an important meeting. All eyes were on Hermit Flurx, who signaled that the goblin leaders needed advice.
"In my opinion, we should accept the elves and instruct them to wait, and prepare a tent as a waiting place."
Meanwhile, outside, the situation was highly unfavorable. Hundreds of goblin warriors appeared to be ready for battle because they had an instinct that the two elves were very dangerous.
The two elves stood calmly in front of the simple gate of the goblin settlement, and five red-skinned Berserker Goblins also stood in their way.
This was a crisis situation, and the goblins were on high alert. The Berserker Goblins knew that these two elves were highly dangerous, so their instinct to protect their race had risen dramatically.
The two elves appeared very calm as if they had no fear and did not consider everything happening to be significant. They both wore very fine and luxurious clothing, which made the goblins cautious, but they did not want to act recklessly by attacking first.
"Allow us to introduce ourselves, goblins. I am Aether, a servant of the White God."
