Waking up the next morning, I look down at my gross looking body to see scratch lines from my ankles all the way to my neck. Seeing so, I cover myself with furs to prevent my hunting mates from being suspicious. Today is the day I change myself, so nothing can go wrong. I also need at least three other goblins as fodder to catch the excess energy from the ritual to prevent alerting the whole forest.

Arriving at the center of the camp, I see Bearg and his two companions already waiting for me.

"Bearg, I'd like to lead the hunt today, I'm feeling really good" I say to him with a straight face.

With nothing but a grunt as a reply, I smile knowing that today was going to be different than all the rest. I pity them in the fact that they should all die today, especially since they have been kind to me in comparison to the terrible leader of this tribe, however it is a necessary sacrifice if I am going to gain any power in this tribe full of illiterate fools. As goblins, we should all be able to instinctually be able to understand each other, however as this is a feral tribe, the fact that I can only speak to Hama, Bearg, and the other hunters will make this quite lonely.

Bearg P.O.V

Today, the outsider has been acting serious. Something is gonna happen, I can sense it.

When we went out to hunt, He went straight towards an orc as if he knew where it was to begin with, and used suprise to kill it real quick. It was the fastest kill I ever saw in my life. Drop from trees. Straight thrust at throat. I cant find the word to say how it was. It didn't waste time or strength.

'Course I was happy and all but then he said something strange. He didn't want to eat some and drag the rest home like normal.

"Let's drag the corpse to a clearing outside the range of the ghost wood tree on the east side of the village. If you trust me, I can change us all into hobgoblins." He says

Turn us in to hobgoblins?!? Of course I'd be happy, but what does this have to do with the food?

"...okay" I grunt in reply, both suspicious and happy.

Main Character P.O.V.

Sheesh, Bearg is highly suspicious. And naive. If he was any smarter, he would have refused, because the way I offered him to become a hobgoblin was like luring a child away from it's family with candy. I'm a little ashamed at the way I had done this, but i need to figure out a way to get strong fast. My father didn't give me a deadline like my siblings, however I am not going to pass up on a chance to learn this world's unique magics. I am a collector of techniques and spells, and it's not in my nature to forfeit a chance like this. 

After dragging the orc corpse to the clearing, which took roughly two hours, between trekking through the forrest and avoiding other creatures and monsters that could eat us, I hung the orc from a tree and dug a pit under it. I slit the skin at several major arteries to allow the blood that is still left in the body to drain. Next, I turn to the three next to me and say

"Wait here for me, the tree is dead, I'm retrieving it's mana core. I'm going to use a method from my old tribe to split it between us so we can all become hobgoblins." I say as I shamelessly blame a dead tribe for all my knowledge on.

Looking at me with some fear and shine in their eyes, they obediently wait for my return.

Walking through the ghost wood tree's death zone, I start to see some signs of life appear. Bugs appear occasionally. It appears that it is only a matter of time before bigger creatures realize that the tree is dead. I backtrack my way all the way to the center, and since I am not worried about it attacking me, I go at a much faster pace, arriving in just ten minutes. It takes a total of five to dig out the stone, and another ten to return to the clearing.

Upon seeing the sky blue crystal in my hand, the other three goblins widen their eyes in surprise and stare in awe.

"Mana Core!" Bearg shouts in exclaim. "I've never seen one before... it looks... tasty..." he says as drool drips from his mouth.

With disgust, I pocket it and reply "Wait a little and we can all become powerful."

I walk over to the pool if blood that has appeared in the ground under the orc corpse. The reason we have to do the ritual here is because even if the other forest inhabitants smell blood, they will likely assume that it is prey of the ghost wood tree, and they will not come to bother with it in fear for their own lives. Ripping some fur off of my terribly made tunic, I wrap it around my hand and dip it in, making it a poorly made paint brush.

I walk to the open and start drawing on the ground. The array design starts with a circle with three circles on the edge, and two connecting circles in the center. Outside the infinity, I place symbols for fire, water, wood, earth, and metal. Everything from here is connected with lines. The array is only three meters in diameter, making it a fairly small one, however it will serve it's purpose. Next I sit in one of the loops of the inner circles and gesture towards the other three goblins.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

"Sit in one of the circles and we can begin." I say to them.

The next action they do leaves me baffled. All three of them walk to the same circle across from me and stand in it.

"Umm... we don't all fit in one of the circles" Bearg looks at me with an embarassed expression.

I stare blankly for a moment and realize they took my words literally and sigh.

"Haaaa..... each of you in different circles please." I struggle to keep my voice sounding calm.

Following my directions correctly this time, they all sit down with serious expressions.

"If you leave the circle before it is done, you will die a very painful death. It might hurt a little so bare with it for a bit." I scared them to make sure they didn't have any ideas about leaving

Ignoring the hint of panic on their faces, I took the crystal out and placed it on the adjacent circle. Upon making contact, the crystal started to glow. As the glow got brighter, the crystal melted into liquid and spread over the circle. Upon making contact with the lines of blood, it intermixed colors turing a dark shade of purple that steadily glowed. The liquid crystal traveled along the formation until there was none left, however it continued to intermix with the blood until it covered the entire array, as the color of the purple started to lean towards the red side.

Upon the completion of this step, energy from the formation poured into my body. Starting from my feet, my bones made cracking noises as they twisted out of shape and compressed into normal looking human feet with a dark green tint. The hair on my feet receded until it was nonexistent. The bone cracking pain followed up my legs until it reached my knees, and with a pop, my kneecaps popped inwards until they looked like a normal childs. continuing upwards until it reached my pelvic bone. At this point, I felt my meridians from my legs connect, however they did not open. At the pelvic bone, the two pelvic girdles snapped in  place at a normal angle, as opposed to the previous tilted one. I felt my coccyx vertebre start to burn as it pulled back a little. The burning was accompanied by cracking as the twisted spine slowly started to stretch out and curl in the correct places. 

Without uttering a groan, I look upwards to see how the other three are doing, only to see a comfortable and relaxed look on their faces. This shocks me as I am going through intense pain, and they look like they are taking a pleasant nap while sitting up.

At this point, a sharp pain assaults my shoulder blades as they pull back and stretch with a click. With my spine lengthened out, my arms now longer reach down to my knees, however they were forward on my body, making them look like they just dangled forwards from my clavicle. They pulled back and started to look like normal arms. With most of my body done, I feel most of my meridians have all been shifted correctly. Next is on to my head. I feel instead of grinding or searing pain, I feel extreme pressure, like my face is being compressed. My jaw clicks back as my chin shrinks, and my nose melts and reforms. My ears slowly start to melt, but they stop after a certain point, leaving my ears pointed. My forhead feels intense pressure, as the bone is being shrunk to no longer appear like it is overhanging. 

The last pain is something I have felt before from my previous life. The expansion of the eyes. At this moment, an intense pain shoots through my eyes like they are being gouged out with a spoon while stabbing right through my cornea with a knife. Slowly, my iris turns orange from the muddy yellow they used to be.

When all this is complete what is left is a short green child with pointy ears and orange eyes. I inspect the inside of my body thinking that the formation is complete and see three of my meridians are cleared. The other twelve have been moved in place, and are capable of being cleared by me. What baffles me next, however is that the energy in the formation has not died down yet. I see it compressing in my brain. I panic and try to expel it as quick as possible, however it is adamant about just building up without releasing. 

Feeling the pressure rising, I have no idea what to do when all of the sudden the rising energy compresses into a magic core a quarter of a centimeter in diameter. It pulsates with a dim glow, and I feel energy course through my body. It feels like I am aclimating to this worlds primal energy with the addition of this mana core. It is a little different from the dantian but it seems to serve a similar purpose. What I'm confused about is how I have my dantian and this mana core, so I don't know how having two energy sources is going to affect my growth.

With a sigh of relief when I notice the formation die down, I look out at the other three. They all seem a little taller. As if they are growing into their arms. Spreading my soul perception out, I notice they all have accumulated magic cores in their heads, all of which are bigger than mine. All of their meridians seem connected, however only one is cleared. In each of them. Returning my soul perception back, I look at their bodily changes when I realize they all appear as hobgoblins. All three of them. Not as big as Hama, but you can tell that each one of them is several times stronger than before.

"It worked outsider! It worked! We really became Hobgoblins!" Bearg shouts with clear joy on his face. The other two clearly showing equal amount of excitement.

Of course, I am surpised at this outcome, but with the laws of this world being so different, I guess it is not safe to say all my predictions will be correct in comparison to the previous worlds. Thinking to here, I have an idea in mind, and these three will be good allies for my taking over the tribe.

"Bearg, I don't know if you realize, but our tribe is weak. Under the leadership of Hama, everyone is barely eating and there is only one hobgoblin. You know I am capable of strengthening us all, how about you support me as I challenge Hama for leadership. Under my rule, I believe we can all become hobgoblins. We won't get bullied by any other tribes anymore, we can keep our women, and we'll be able to return to the demon territory like our ancestors." Making all these points, I continue

"Hama is a coward. Under him we will eventually die a dogs death."

Although all three are taller than myself who looks like a five year old green human child. Their new sensitivity to mana gives them a slight recognition of my strength compared to them, and they can all tell they are weaker than myself in terms of magical means.

"We all already knew Hama is a coward. I would have challenged him myself if you would have not. You have our support." Bearg gives me a serious stare.

Of course they were willing to follow me. I gave them power, showed them my own ability, and made promises towards the future. The only thing that has me baffled is the sudden fluency of Bearg.

"My brother and I will follow you. You will not need to worry about the other hunters, we can take them if they decide to attack you." One of Bearg's companions says to me.

With a smile on my face. I suddenly realize the usefulness of evolution. Intelligence. Now even more of a reason to increase the strength of the village. It's tiresome to speak in broken goblin language to the laborers.

With my goals complete, we drop the dead orc from it's hanging place, and we return back to the village. All of us with smiles on our faces and satisfaction in our hearts.