A month passed. I walk alongside Axi and Asaru to Roheb again. Just like the last time, carts are filled with fur and bones. I thought about what I could sell, but I didn’t find any great solutions. I could sell enchantments, but I don’t know that much about them. I only have runes for basic elements and a few two-merged elements. There’s also vitality and fakeness, but those I rather don’t sell. It’s simply possible the items I can create are nothing great and cheap among humans.
Enchantments are created by manually inscribing runes on equipment. It’s the crafter's work. I’m not a good crafter. Axi can do it, but there’s a limit to how much she can do. She isn’t a factory. I would rather keep her stuff for myself.
Alchemy? My Hedge Alchemy skill is a common rarity and not even level 20. Once again, this will only break my image without generating any substantial profit. If I could create health potions, I could easily get a lot of money, but I need special vials for that. The only way for me to get them is to buy them. Roheb is even unlikely to have them. They need to be imported. There’s also the matter of not exposing my core.
I don’t think I can earn anything using the Flesh Working skill. I could provide healing services, but I have limited mana. That would stop me from resurrecting monsters and earning EXP. I can also sell one of our cores, but those are too precious. Their supply is very limited. I have told Asaru to go steal back Rike’grak’s water core from kobolts, but one of them already ate it.
After two days, we finally reach our destination.
“Can I go sigh-see a bit?” Asaru asks me.
“Why?”
“I just want to observe humans. I will disguise myself as one of them.”
“Fine. Just be careful and don’t go near priests.” Even if something happens, given our relations with Adam, she will probably be allowed to leave. It’s a bit of a risk, but Asaru is competent.
Guildmaster Rish greets us not long after. I sell our merchandise just like the previous time.
“Do you want more ores?”
“No. I’m actually hoping to buy information from you. First, I want information on all the monsters around here. Give me information on green skins as well. I will be able to judge the accuracy of your information this way.”
“No problem. We don’t charge much for that thing, but since you want information on all monsters, how about two silver coins?”
“That’s rather cheap.”
“The real money is in trade. The more informed adventurers are, the more they can bring to us. Besides, adventurers can always just trade information among themselves. By staying cheap, we are also informed.”
“Smart.”
“I will send here a clerk from the guild later. Anything else?”
“More information. I’m looking for a specific ruin. It should be south of here, probably not very far. Other than that, I only know the ruins should be related to magic and maybe magical research. Old laboratory, ruins of a magical academy, or something like that.”
“Hm… I will take a look at our documents. If I find it, I can sell the exact location for one silver. Otherwise, I will have to ask other branches. That would cost you extra. Probably at least ten silvers. It’s the cost of messengers.”
“Fine. It’s not an urgent matter, actually. It’s fine if you take your time and send a message using traders.”
“That would certainly lower the costs.”
“One last thing. Do you have any books on local alchemical ingredients? I was hoping to polish my rusty alchemy skills. On that note, do you have proper vials for sale?”
“I can give you the basics for free. We also hope adventurers will find those things and bring them to us. As for vials, there’s no alchemist in Roheb. We have a few vials, though. Sometimes adventurers buy health potions and then sell vials back to us. I can sell you four vials, two silver coins for each.”
“That’s quite a bit. How much health potions are these days?”
“In Roheb, you can get a health potion for 12 silver coins, but that’s because there’s nearly no supply. All of them are imported. In capital, you can buy health potion only for six silver coins.”
That’s only four silvers for the alchemist's work. That’s good. My work won’t attract attention. I doubt those alchemists are synthesizing vitality mana. They are probably just extracting it from living beings. “How many vials can you sell me?”
“Four.”
I have another one after I gave a health potion to Axi. In Roheb, that should give me fifty silvers of profit. I won’t be able to get more vials, though. Not unless those who buy potions use them.
“Give me vials. I will try concocting.”
I just now need to wait for the clerk.
[Asaru’s POV]
Walking among humans is weird. I always wanted to kill them. Now, I am observing them to learn. What to learn? I don’t know. That’s why I’m observing them. I can’t fake being a human for long, though. After reincarnating, I lost the Fake Mana Affinity trait. Faking myself now hurts me, especially when I try to become something ethereal like air. The only exception is water, probably since I have the water core right now and the associated trait.
At least I don’t lack fake mana. I still have my original core with me. Draining mana from it is a bit annoying, but it’s still way better than using a dozen items to slowly generate fake mana. Smag has the second fake mana core. He is planning to camouflage the village with it or something like that. I don’t know and don’t care about it that much.
I’m noticing some fake mana. Is there something camouflaged in the town? I probably shouldn’t investigate… After all, whoever camouflaged something done it for reasons.
I start walking in a fake mana direction. It’s a rather poor looking house. What do humans do when they want to enter the home of another? I shrug and simply open the door.
“Hello?” I ask if anyone is present. After all, I’m not a thief. At least not right now.
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“Hm? Who are you?” A rather young looking man comes out. His heir is wild, and he is stinky. Compared to goblins, it’s not that bad; however, I noticed humans like to be cleaner.
“I’m Asaru.” How should I breach the topic? I just look in the direction of fake mana, hoping for a reaction.”
The man perks up. “Do you want to buy something? Please, come in!” He leads me to another room. The first thing I notice is a fake image of a forested hill. It’s a poor job, though. There are many imperfections. I walk closer and notice that there’s no depth to that image. It’s completely unrealistic.
“Do you like this painting?”
Painting? I look around and find more of those paintings. Half of them depict people. Once again, the quality is poor. Someone with a vision deficiency may misjudge those paintings for real people, but most would instantly know it’s just a fake.
There’s also a three-dimensional fake of a person in the room, but it’s clearly unfinished. The completed parts actually look real.
“Why are you doing this?” What’s the point?
The man sighs. “I know. In a frontier town like this, nobody appreciates art. I was hoping the previous governor would buy the sculpture of himself, but he was killed by a goblin horde. Just my luck.” The man sighs again. “At least I know the gods will look at me kindly.”
So that’s art. I heard that’s something enlightened people create, but I never understood what it is. I still don’t get it. Why bother?
Looking at various paintings, there’s one that makes me stop. It depicts a man on a battlefield. He kneels on the ground, bleeding, while looking at his fallen companions. It makes me remember hobgoblins that died in the dungeon.
I sigh. There are new dungeon monsters there. We didn’t destroy it. The new version of me exists as well. I don’t know what I should do. Do I even have to do something?
“Do you like it?” The man asks me and stops me from thinking about useless things.
“A bit.” I nod. Is this another use of those arts? I suppose you could use them before a discussion to create a mood. It’s completely useless in battle, though.
“I can sell it to you for thirty bronzes.”
Oh. “Sorry. I’m not interested in buying. Actually, I should go already.”
“Wait. Twenty! I can’t go lower!”
I shake my head and walk from his shop. I don’t care for his works; I came here because I felt a bit of fake mana. This makes me think. Can I create such art to generate fake mana, or maybe even upgrade my magic? Obviously, I would go for full realism, to the point where someone else would mistake my work for the real deal. I need to try this.
[Smag’s POV]
About an hour after Rish has left, a nervous twentysomething woman walks toward me from the town. She looks quite afraid, but she tries to be professional. We exchange greetings, and she immediately goes to business. She is a clerk from the guild.
She tells me a lot about various local monsters, though the information is lacking about the 2nd-tier zone. This makes it not that useful, but I still learn some things. More importantly, I finally know my lifespan. Twenty five years. How short. On the other hand, this means Asaru is around that age.
Orcs can live up to fifty years and ogres up to one hundred years. Regular goblins live only for ten short years. I will have to become an orc. It’s best to become an ogre as well, but getting a better evolution is still important. Waiting a bit more is fine. If possible, I should aim for a better race. While hobgoblins can naturally evolve into orcs, this doesn’t mean this is the only way. The requirements are likely staggering, though. Still, it’s worth it for a longer lifespan.
According to the god, I can’t evolve into a 6th-tier monster, or I will be exposed as a Trojan horse. The moment I reach the 5th tier, I need to do it knowing how to either hide from the system or reincarnate and keep gathering strength. I have no idea how to even start hiding from the system, so reincarnating myself is still my primary goal.
We spend the night near the town. In the morning, I get my alchemical vials. After that, we march back to our camp. The next day, I go find Anastasia. She is in her hut.
“Hey. I have good news for you.”
“Oh?” She stops fletching.
“I traded for some knowledge in the town, and I finally figured out how to make you a goblin.”
“Really?”
I nod. She exhales, but then becomes worried. “Do you still want to do it?”
“I do; it’s just… it’s a lot. I know there’s no other way for me right now, but I have always been a human. I never wanted to stop being a human.”
“So you want to become a monster out of obligation.”
“No. I want to become a monster to be happy. Because it’s the only way, however thorny it is. So, while I don’t really like it, I know it’s for the best.”
I shrug. “It’s your decision.” Anastasia is no longer important. I have Samantha and Nancy as incubators. I have Greenek, Prisham, and Foary as minions. There are also Gon and Gen. Those two are less talented but still good enough to be leaders of small hunting parties. I no longer need Anastasia. If she becomes a goblin, good. I won’t mind too much failing here, though.
“I want it.”
“You need to pray to a Dark God first. It doesn’t matter which one.”
“I only know Invitar. Nobody teaches humans about Dark Gods.”
“That’s fine. Just make sure the prayer is genuine. You don’t need to ask for anything, though.”
I leave her alone and wait outside. This shouldn’t take long. Five minutes later, she leaves her hut. Her presence is different.
“All my cursed titles have been consolidated into Witch title. Apparently, I’m now fully aligned with Dark Gods.”
From my perspective, there are now cracks in her soul. If I were to help them a bit, her soul would look just like the soul of a monster. I guess this is what Delahar meant by saying the process is straightforward. I’m not sure how to turn her into a monster without my set of abilities, though.
“Ok. Now, I need to kill you and reincarnate you as a goblin. Just like Axi.”
“I see. Shouldn’t you tell me first that I need to be dead serious about the change, or something like that?” She tries to laugh.
I stare at her. I just want to shrug, but I stop myself. “I’m not good about that kind of thing. We can go to Axi. I’m sure she will support you emotionally.”
She just nods, so we do as I told her.
“Isn’t that good?” Axi asks after I have informed her about the procedure.
“It is.” Anastasia meekly nods.
“Then go for it. I died nearly ten times. It’s scary at first, but then it just becomes routine. When you know it’s not the end, dying is not that scary.” I can’t help but nod. That’s the reason for nearly all religions on Earth. Everyone wants to think it’s not over.
“Yeah.”
I just walk over and stab Anastasia in the heart. She tries to dodge at the last moment, but I surprise her. She looks at me, and I find only incomprehension in her eyes. After a moment, it changes to understanding and a bit of anger, until the light in her eyes extinguishes.
“You could have warned her.”
“I’m not sure that would be better. This way was fast, at least.” I collect her soul and then apply light pressure using isolating mana. The outer layer of her soul shatters like the fragilest glass. Now, Anastasia’s soul looks like it belongs to a monster. Everything has gone well so far.
I knew I would need a womb for the procedure, so I prepared. Nancy isn’t pregnant right now. I go to her, and after a round of child-making, I replace one of the fetus's souls with Anastasia’s. Will it work? I have made numerous experiments like that previously. Even if Anastasia’s soul changed, she still should be a human. Reincarnating a human in a goblin's body shouldn’t work. Delahar said it’s straightforward, and give me okay, though. I have no idea how to change Anastasia’s soul, so it will probably work.
Time passes, and Anastasia’s fetus isn’t rejected. After two weeks, Nancy bears another batch of goblins, including Anastasia.
“Anastasia?” Axi asks the only female goblin in the group.
“Yeah.” The small gobliness looks at her hands and body curiously. “Uh. Do you have some clothes? I don’t want to parade naked.”
I give her two strips of cloth. She gives me a stare instead.
“What? We don’t make clothes for children. Just tie this around you for two weeks.” I shrug. She sighs and just does that. “By the way, can you still control fire and chaos mana?”
I observe how the chaos mana in the air moves. Indeed, she can still do it. We don’t have any flame around, but she probably kept that skill as well. “Can you drop the skill? I want to check if you will still have access to the mana.”
“What if I don’t?”
“Then I will give you the chaos mana core.” After Delahar gave me a better solution, my soul blade was depreciated. I can spare the chaos mana core.
“Fine.” After a moment, the chaos mana moves again. “I can still control chaos mana, but my control is weaker. I lost two perks, though, so that makes sense.”
So my theory seems right. Access to mana types is some form of understanding Dao. I will really need to meditate or something. Maybe I should study how humans attune to mana types and improve on it.
My tribe is getting stronger. I will live only twenty five years as a hobgoblin, so I will wait until most of my tribe evolves into orcs before I join them. I want to spend some time grinding skills, hoping for a better rarity option. I can’t wait too long, though. Two, maybe three years. After that, our tribe will have to migrate once again.