Chapter 4: A Goblin’s Kindness (1)

Quickly shaking away the negative emotions that would

always invade his mind whenever he went outside, Sae-Jin

returned to his cave, one that resembled a respectable

dwelling... more or less. He then set about formulating a new

plan.

Now that he was a Grey Wolf, he could go a bit further away

to hunt. The issue was.... it was still undoubtedly dangerous.

Even though his Trait Level was at 3 and had advanced from the

Brown Wolf to a Grey one, the Monsters in the Low Tier

hunting ground remained a tough challenge.

Besides the Grey Wolves within the Low Tier hunting ground,

there roamed Monsters such as Orc Warriors, Skeleton

Soldiers, and Trolls, each of them possessing powers greater

than that of a Grey Wolf. The reason why these wolves were

acknowledged as Low Tier creatures and could survive in this

hunting ground was simply because they formed large hunting

packs.

'It would have been nicer still if the Orc Form evolved as

well.'

Judging by how only the Brown Wolf Form evolved, all three

of his Forms – Orc, Wolf, Goblin – must have had different

criteria, specific conditions assigned for each of them. If his Orc

Form evolved into an Orc Warrior, then it wouldn't be a

problem to continue using the same hunting pattern for

catching Brown Wolves, but... unfortunately for him, that

wasn't the case. Right now, his Grey Wolf Form possessed

higher Physical Strength stat than that of the Orc Form.

'It means I must hunt in the Wolf Form...'

Sae-Jin emptied all the complicated worries out of his head

and stood up to leave. Sitting here wracking his brain cells

wasn't going to give him answers. For now, he'd go out there

and take a look-see first.

He moved all four of his feet and left the cave.

*

– Krrrrrng...

As expected, the laws of Low Tier hunting ground was far

more dangerous than that of the Lowest Tier areas. The

viciously growling Grey Wolves with feral eyes couldn't be

compared to that of the lowly Brown Wolves at all.

If it was just comparing the body sizes, then Sae-Jin's current

Grey Wolf Form was 1.5 times larger than the normal ones,

but...

– Kwawawal!!

– Khwal!!

The spectacle of 6 ferocious Grey Wolves pouncing on a

patrolling Orc Warrior and ripping it to shreds, was something

he didn't find enjoyable or impressive to witness.

– Pureung...

Losing his motivation, Sae-Jin turned around and went

another way. From his back, noises that eerily sounded similar

to dogs voraciously chewing on a toy and a desperate, pained

scream could be heard. Knowing that he wasn't on the menu for

those wolves today could only give him a small sense of relief.

He then headed towards the outer area of the Low Tier

hunting ground. This was after rolling his head around for a bit.

Numerous Monsters inevitably gathered around a drinking

water source such as rivers and lakes, which could create a

potential killing field of sorts. Because of this reason, most of

the physically weak Low Tier Monsters that lived in groups

settled down in outer areas that were as far away as possible

from the said water sources.

For instance... Monsters such as Goblins.

– Krrrrng...

Sae-Jin's thoughts proved to be correct.

His eyes sharpened abruptly, a deeply sinister grin plastered

on his lips. In the distance, he saw a bonfire burning brightly,

illuminating a quaint little village consisting of several

primitive huts.

Sae-Jin slowly approached there. It was quite likely that he

had found a village of Goblins nestling in this Low Tier hunting

ground that practiced in medicine and witchcraft. These

Monsters possessed pathetic physical strength. The things he

had to be wary of were: if it was a Goblin practicing medicine,

then he needed to look out for poisons; if a Goblin dabbled in

witchcraft, then he had to be cautious against curses. However,

it wasn't easy to defend against such attacks, so if a Goblin's

rank was higher than Low Tier, then regardless of their own

ranks, Hunters and Knights would see it as the number one

Monster to avoid like a plague.

– Khreng Kkheng!!

– Ddhkeeng!!

Sae-Jin spotted two green-skinned Goblins. One of them had

tattoos plastered all over its body. Must've been the so-called

"Elite Goblin."

'They are medicine-types,' thought Sae-Jin.

He used his nose to make sure. The super sensitive olfactory

sense of the Grey Wolf caught the unmistakable whiff of herbs,

confirming his thoughts.

– Khreng!!

– Khreng!!

Two Goblins performed some sort of a farewell ritual and

parted ways. Seeing this, Sae-Jin quickly lowered his body and

hid in the tall grasses.

The one with lots of tattoos on its body, began walking

towards where he was hiding. Judging by the binocular-like

object as well as a pair of shoes the creature held in hand and

wore on its feet, it seemed like this Goblin was heading out

either to scout or to gather medicinal herbs.

Sae-Jin's heart beat faster and faster the closer the Elite

Goblin got. One footstep, two footsteps. Unaware of the danger

lurking in the bushes, the prey unhurriedly walked closer to the

trap, and seeing this scene, Sae-Jin's muscles tightened in

dreadful anticipation, unconsciously salivating.

As the time to pounce neared, he slowly rose up half way, his

ears flattening to reduce air drag as much as possible. However,

Goblins were clever and alert Monsters to begin with, and an

Elite Goblin was even more so. In order to catch one, he had to

exercise utmost discretion and maximum wariness.

– ....Khrrng?

As expected of a perceptive creature, the Elite Goblin stopped

just short of the trap, sensing the aura of uneasiness permeating

in the air. But Sae-Jin didn't wait and kicked the ground,

pouncing on his prey.

Ignoring the distance, the terrifying beast rushed towards his

target like a crashing wave of a tsunami.

'... It's far.'

It turned out, the Goblin was just out of the initial reach. To

make the matters worse, the creature had regained most of its

composure as well. As a matter of fact, the d**n thing had pulled

out a primitive blow gun and was trying to shoot it at Sae-Jin's

direction. As befitting of the moniker "Elite", there was not a

single shred of fear showing in its calm demeanor. All those

tattoos weren't just for a show, indeed.

'Son of a bi*ch!!'

But Sae-Jin was far more desperate than the Goblin. His

desperation, fuelled by the emotions of heartache and fear,

pushed him past the physical limit of the Wolf's four limbs, and

like grey-coloured tempest winds, the Grey Wolf stormed in and

sunk his fangs into the neck of the Goblin before it could mount

a counterattack.

Almost at the same time, an alert window popped up as if it

was a message of his victory.

► [Complete: breaking past the limit while running] Active

Skill "Whirlwind Dash" has been acquired.

– Instantly raises the dashing speed. (Can be used in Human

Form.)

– Calculated from the numerical value of the current Agility

Stat, the skill can be safely activated (2 times) per day; exceeding

this amount will put strain on the body.

Kwajeek.

Sae-Jin broke the neck of the Elite Goblin while reading the

pop up notice. The dead Monster's blood seeped into his mouth,

past his fangs. Then another notice window popped up into his

view.

► [Complete: Traditions of Goblins, Inheritance of

Memories.]

– Drank the blood of a Goblin specializing in medicine. Now,

while in either the Goblin Form or the Human Form, the host

can freely activate "the Elite Goblin's medicinal knowledge and

concoction skill".

Sae-Jin tilted his head slightly. Was this a good thing? But

since he was as good as in the middle of enemy encampment, he

wasn't able to afford time to ponder this new development.

–Khreng Kheng!!

The hullabaloo raised by a beast's hunt roused a pack of

Goblins and they were busy heading this way.

Sensing the overwhelming killing intent, Sae-Jin didn't even

look back once as he fled the scene. The countless poison darts,

obviously fired by the irate Goblins, inundated the air behind

him, but a Grey Wolf's running speed was far greater and rapid

than they were.

*

The sight of a Grey Wolf excitedly shaking its hips with a

booty of an Elite Goblin dangling in his mouth while walking

back to his home in the Lowest Tier hunting ground could easily

be described as endearingly humorous, somewhat.

"...?"

But in the middle of this trot, Sae-Jin suddenly caught a faint

but pained whimpering from somewhere.

After carefully lowering the Goblin down, his ears stood up

sharply to listen.

– .....Ha, ahhh...

So weak, it might die out any second, but it was there for sure.

It was a moaning of a person in trouble.

There was no need to think too deeply when a human wanted

to help out another human being.

Sae-Jin picked up the dead Goblin again and quickly dashed

towards the direction of the dying person.

After running full speed for a minute or so, he found a gravely

injured figure lying on a thick grass. The injury on this person

was terrible enough to make him turn his head away.

He could see intestines within the torn abdomen, crimson

blood spilling out, and intermittently, the whimpers managed

to escape from the lips in between the bubbling red stuff

clogging her mouth.

Even though it was an incredibly serious wound that would

have killed a person instantly, this person, a female, was still

clinging on desperately. Her consciousness had abandoned her,

but she kept on moaning in pain while both her hands were

rolled in tight fists, as if she could not accept the fate of her

impending doom.

– Khrrrng..

Sae-Jin knew who this woman was. Her race was an Elf... like

human, her profession a Knight.

The daughter of the Master of the Raven Knights Order,

reputedly the strongest Knights Order in South Korea, and only

a step away from accomplishing the feat of the youngest-ever

Knight ranked Highest Tier in the history – some even going as

far as uttering that she could be THE representative of the

whole nation and some outright admitting that she was the

most beautiful female Knight in the nation – Kim Yu-Rin. (Me:

Another Kim?! There are other surnames in Korea, btw. Also,

not 100% sure of how to classify these rankings just yet. Will

revise if more context is provided in the future.)

The claims of being the most outstanding beauty wasn't all

empty talk, tough. Even while precariously striding on the

boundaries of death, Yu-Rin's beauty still wasn't going

anywhere.

But the description of her stunning beauty and admiration for

her personality had to wait for now. All the honour and glory

could only be maintained if one managed to live.

Putting down the dead Elite Goblin, Sae-Jin quickly assumed

the Orc Form. As a giant Orc, this slender woman felt lighter

than a feather. So, he even hoisted the Goblin carcass he was

planning to discard over his other shoulder and hurriedly ran

towards his base of operations.

He just hoped that he could make it in time.

*

Sae-Jin placed the woman down on the stone bed and changed

to the Goblin Form. "Thanks" to his short height, he had to

climb up on the bed to diagnose all of her wounds. And just like

that, like a lie, he could tell exactly what potion he needed to

make, and the ingredients necessary to make the said potion.

'A dream-inducing grass, jejeung liquid, a scorpion grass,

and... a single low grade Mana Stone.' (I've no idea what this

jejeung is. Left as is.)

Sae-Jin began rummaging through the belongings of the dead

Elite Goblin. Thankfully, he found all the necessary ingredients

as mentioned as well as a mortar and pestle inside the small

rucksack it carried on the back. And the most important item in

concocting the medicine, the low grade Mana Stone, he just

happened to have a couple on hand, so that was that taken care

of.

Sae-Jin began implementing the steps to create a potion as

engraved in his brain.

Dividing the ingredients in equal measure, he poured all his

efforts grinding them in the mortar. When the herbs were

powderized to a certain degree, he then added the Mana Stone

and resumed grinding away. That's when the miracle happened.

The solid Mana Stone melted into a liquid that emitted a clear

blue light, as soon as it interacted with the rest of the

ingredients.

It didn't look any different from other emergency medicine on

sale in the stores, but the effects would be heaven and earth in

difference. Using the knowledge of herbs now firmly rooted in

his head, Sae-Jin could ascertain the comparative advantage. It

seemed like he made a mid grade potion. If the widely available

emergency medicine could only heal the surface wounds, then

his own miraculous potion would not only mend the deep

injuries but also replenish the lost blood as well.

Sae-Jin applied some of the liquid on the woman's wounds

and poured the rest down her throat.

And then, the miracle began. The frightening injury on her

abdomen, with the internal organs on show, slowly but surely

started to regenerate by itself, and her pale complexion that

seemed to indicate that death was just around the corner,

regained some of the lost colours.

"Whew...."

Sae-Jin breathed out a sigh of relief, seeing the recovery of the

woman below. Suddenly, several message windows popped up

and obscured his view.

⸢Condition Cleared: A Goblin's Kindness.⸥

– Must administer a necessary aid to at least 1 human being.

All stats rise by 1.

– The host can now assume the "Medical Goblin" Form

instead of "Goblin" Form. All stats related to the Goblin Form

will be adjusted accordingly.

► Acquired the passive skill "Goblin's Craftsmanship."

– The host will receive bonus attributes when performing all

jobs related to craftsmanship. (Manufacturing, Cooking,

Cleaning, Healing, etc.)

– The skill's effectiveness will be reduced during the Human

Form.

".....Eh?"

Not only did the Goblin Form evolve, he even ended up

getting a skill to boot.

Sae-Jin toiled hard for the whole month, hunted like crazy

until it felt like his back would snap into two, and still, he

couldn't even get a sniff of skill during all that time, but here

he was, getting three of them in one day!!

Was this emotion that he was feeling right now one of

profound happiness, unbridled panic, or inescapable emptiness?

Whatever it was, Sae-Jin just sat there, unmoving, and stared

at the message windows.

Meanwhile, without fanfare, a single modest tattoo

manifested on his forehead, just like that.