The green-coloured goblins were the smallest in size, followed by the blue ones, which were slightly bigger. They even held wooden clubs the size of their bodies. The front part of the clubs had spiky carvings etched into them. And coming to the red ones, circling around the entire area like guards, they looked like angry beasts with slightly pale red skin and an unusually hunched back, which seemed they could spring at anyone without giving a chance to react. They were the size of a fully grown man, with muscular arms and slender yet strong legs. Each held make-shift weapons like a club and a stone spear, and some spear heads were even shining as if they were made out of some crystal.

Some of the bigger goblins wore a strip of cloth along the waistline, and there were many hovels of different sizes put together in groups of four and five. Just from a glance, there were more than five hundred of those, with each one capable of sheltering three to five of those little monsters. Green goblins were the highest in number, followed by blue ones, and the number of red goblins was a little over twenty; they circled the entire area like guards protecting their colony. A few gathered on one side, dismantling the carcass of a winged monster. Little green ones were playing around, running between other bigger goblins. In the centre, the blue ones were setting up huge stones on top of each other, making a small round pit, and then filling it with dried leaves and wood. They were acting more like humans, the more and more I got to know them. This was not how I imagined a monster's habitat. I couldn't see more of anything from this high, but as I glanced at the old man beside me, he was staring intently at them with a green glow in his eyes. His eyes darted from left to right at an insane speed, observing every little detail he could get. A few seconds later, he closed his eyes and opened them again. The colour in them returned to normal, and the old man sighed, standing back up. "What did you see?" I asked as he walked a few steps with his back facing me.

"I don't think we are going to return anytime soon." He said as he annoyingly scratched the back of his head. I looked at the nest of goblins once again and imagined a scenario where we needed to face all of them at once. A shiver spread across my body. The thought of a fight against well over two thousand of those monsters would be nothing short of horrifying. My eyes fell on the cave ceiling right above the goblin lair. I thought I saw something of a small opening for a second, but I ignored it as mere imagination, and we went back to the place where we stayed yesterday. The night came at its usual time. My throat felt a little parched. And drinking monster blood was no solution for that. Old man Gustav came back from his usual patrolling. From the tied-up goblin corpses, two went missing right into our stomachs. He didn't say anything about today, and I was too mentally fatigued to start a conversation. So we both went back to sleep. The next morning, we went in the opposite direction from yesterday. Around twenty minutes of walking later, I heard the sound of water. The sound only grew as we moved closer to it. I gulped down my saliva in my dry mouth just at the thought of drinking a mouthful of water. We reached a similar open space, like the muddy one where we fought the goblins before. It was a dead end, and from the rocky wall of the cave, a tiny spring of water flowed, creating a small stream on the ground. He pulled out two water pouches tied to his waist and sank them into the flowing stream, filling them completely.

Handing me one, he drank from the other. The sweet scent, followed by a fresh and cold aftertaste of water, invigorated every nerve in my body as I emptied out the entire pouch in a second. The sip alone washed away all my worries, relaxing my tense muscles. I filled the pouch again and drank it whole, two more times. The ground surrounding the stream was dry. Hm… My eyes followed the path of the stream, and it ended some distance away, disappearing into the ground. I went there and inspected a little, and I found a small pit where the water from the stream flowed. It was small, only enough to fit someone around my size. I sat on my knees and looked into that, narrowing my eyes. Even up this close, an inch away from the pit, I couldn't get to see anything in that pitch darkness. Only the sound of water that hit an unknown depth continuously was audible. We filled our pouches with water again, went to the same cliff, and spent the whole day observing the goblin colony. I didn't understand what we were trying to look for, and he didn't tell me the reason even after I asked many times. Before we ate, he sparred with me in hand-to-hand combat. I didn't use Mana, and he didn't use Aura. But the winner was decided in under a minute. That's how weak I was. Maybe because we were not in a completely safe place, he didn't inflict much pain like usual. Though his attacks were non-stop.

We repeated this routine for another five days, and in the end, all our stocked food was completed. No goblin came out of their nest after our battle on the first day. The goblins in the nest didn't look alert, but with no food to eat moving forward, this useless routine would only take a drastic toll on our bodies. I'm tired. And without securing any food, we couldn't think of returning to the Colosseum either. I also wondered if there were monsters other than goblins here, but there were no traces as far as I could see. I could tell the area was solely monopolised by them at this point. The dynamics of their society's workings were well organised. The old man waited patiently, watching the goblins like every other day, and another fruitless night came in an instant. The fire burned, with ambers rising above. I added another piece of wood when the fire seemed to calm down a little. He sat opposite me, stretched his body, and laid back on the dry ground. Our stomachs growled at the same time, but I ignored it. "Are we not going to train today?" I asked after a moment of silence. There was no reply. I wasn't desperate for training. But him being all mysterious without telling me anything was testing my patience. "What are we doing in this place?" I didn't get an answer. "Staying silent won't make our deaths any better."

"Ah… Stop nagging, boy. We will be going back tomorrow." He got up, rubbing his hand on his growling stomach. "Today, you seem to have more energy than usual. Let's get some exercise before we go to sleep." He said and went inside the trunk of the tree. Putting his hand on the roof, he searched for something, and after he found it, he came out and threw it to me. It was a sheathed dagger. "You will be needing that." When I pulled it out, I saw a long blade curved a little at the tip. It was light and white in colour. I ran my fingers across it, only to get a small cut. It was sharp, but the material it was built from wasn't metal. It looked like a monster's tooth or nail. But for it to be this big, I didn't know how gigantic the owner it belonged to would be. I got up and stood opposite him beside the fire. For now, I kept the dagger inside the pocket of my cloak and leaned a little to the front, extending both my arms into a fighting position. I placed my left arm—restricted near the palm—close to the chest and the right to the front.

I noticed his smirk and sprung forward, closing the distance. When his fist was aimed straight at my face, I pushed it to the side using my right palm and directed my left elbow towards his chin. He used his other hand to get hold of it, stopping my moment, and using one of his legs, he pushed mine to the side, making me fall to my face. Cleaning the mud from my face, I took some distance, but with another sprung forward, he kicked me straight in the face, lifting my weightless body in the air and making me fall on my back. I jumped back up and ran towards him, sliding on the wet ground before reaching his legs. When he was about to drive a punch down, I rolled to the side and took the support of a tree, pulled myself back up, and using the tree's trunk as my footing, I launched myself towards him. He turned his head towards me, but I was already near him, aiming my fist at the side of his ribs. But using the gap between his arms and body, he caught my arm, clutching it tighter. I tried to get free, but he circled around to his left as his left elbow drove straight into my jaw. The pain hit, and I struggled to keep my balance, and he slightly pushed, using his foot, for me to fall to the ground again. I pulled out the dagger, unsheathing it directly under my cloak. "Feeling desperate, eh?" He changed his posture, extending his prosthetic hand to the front. I did the same as before. With my right hand carrying the dagger, I pointed to the front. It had a dull appearance, but the sharpness was legit. As for strength, I can only test it in real battles.

We both closed the distance at the same time. Using the dagger, I sliced him from under his blind spot. He put his metal arm to block it, only tearing the leather glove covering the hand. A clink sound rang, and it continued as he parried my dagger attacks with his strong hand. My hands felt numb with each attack I threw, and he didn't try to evade a single one of them. I let go of the dagger, and as it rotated in mid-air, I stepped on the old man's foot as both his hands landed on my shoulders in a definitive chop. My hands went numb for an instant, but with my head, I butted him in his chest. He stumbled a little with one of his feet still under mine. At that moment, the dagger was right beside my hand, and I caught it while also moving closer to his body. Aiming for the lower abdomen, the chance presented itself for a second before he covered himself in a thin coat of green aura, and my dagger was parried using his very body. It also became a chance for him to pin me down using his body weight. The dagger was thrown to my side, piercing into the wet soil, and I laid on my back with his hand right above my chest, pushing deeper and deeper into the soil. "Not bad, kid." Saying that, he went back and slept inside the tree trunk, leaving me beside the burning fire.

"I'll consider that a win," I murmured to myself. I pulled out the dagger from the ground and sat on an elevated rock before the fire, leaning back on the tree. I kept thinking of ways I could overpower him in a fight. If he took the fight seriously from the beginning, would I even have a chance to touch his body? And even if I did, inflicting enough harm would be another matter entirely. A man old enough to be my grandfather was already this powerful. If he was an exception, then that's good, but if the outside world is filled with people like these, then how well could my meagre strength fare amongst them? After cleaning off the mud from the dagger, I put it back in its sheath and tied it to the side of my waist.

It's already been close to two weeks. They must have already assumed that I had gone missing. Keeping aside the fact that I didn't know how to return, I still didn't feel the urge to leave this place. It was dangerous here. Mentally and physically, old man Gustav has been pushing me to my limits. In the fights I have been through till now, most of my attacks didn't have much effect on the situation; I felt they weren't flexible enough to utilise the surroundings to my advantage. My self-healing ability continued to improve, but I couldn't just rely on that for every situation I encountered. Various methods floated in my mind, but I always went for the safer route. The ones I was at least a little confident in implementing. I rubbed my hand on my chest. I wanted to dig under the flesh and break the barrier around the black mana core with my bare hands. Being limited by mana capacity was frustrating at times of need. Pulling mana from my core, I created a small water sphere that circled above my right palm with ease. Next, I created a small flame, maintaining the water sphere. Right after, a ball of gusts and a rock joined the fray. The four elements maintained unity, and I didn't stop there. I used my other hand and did the same. Sweat beads formed on my forehead as I tried to distribute my concentration between both hands. Later, I felt a sharp pain in my head and let go of the controlling elements as they disappeared into thin air. I have come a long way in a very short span of time. Even though it wasn't nearly enough for the real world, I wonder how my Master and father would react to this limited development.

I drank some cold water from the water sac. The appearance and disappearance of light were the days and nights here. I still wondered if this place was really under Misty Grove. A place teeming with monsters that could destroy an entire village overnight. I didn't know how many more days I would be staying here, but even within the harsh pain, this reality felt more relaxing than the one inside the mansion. There wasn't anyone who was particularly worried about me. Thinking back, the new maid must be working hard. I haven't seen her since that incident. When I first saw her, oddly enough, her appearance felt familiar. I didn't interact with many—any—people from outside the mansion except Master Shaka and her. So, it left me with a strange, lingering feeling at that time. Coming to the goblins, I didn't know what was happening at that place. And the old man didn't bother explaining.

Fluttering on its last breath, the fire died down. I closed my eyes, but I couldn't sleep. My stomach burned every time I took a breath. The sound of the old man's snoring irritated my peaceful ears. If any monsters were near this area, his sound alone would lead to our doom. Sighing to myself, I got up and started walking into the night of darkness. The route became familiar to me with the days I've been travelling to and fro, and an hour later, I reached the cliff and laid on my stomach at the edge. Within the darkness, the sight before me was closer to being blind. There were torches put everywhere, but for some reason, they were not lit. Even in the hovels, there was no light. But the eyes of each goblin reflected the little light from the night, making them shine like a pair of round mirrors. The shining lights formed a line a little away to the left from their hovels, near one corner of the cave ends. The rock there was a little curved inside, making it impossible for me to check where they were going. A few goblins stayed at their homes, so it was even hard for me to actively check any further. I looked at the other side of the cliff to the left, which extended in a curved path connected to one end of the cave. I checked the path leading there, but it was covered with even denser trees. It felt even deeper with the lack of light.

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I walked on that unknown path, and the distance from the place where I had to return only grew further. It was so uneven that I had to climb some trees from time to time to look at where I was going. And it became harder to walk faster as the soil became muddy and my feet began to sink in every time I took a step. I pushed through with each heavy step, carrying a chunk of mud along with it. I couldn't even use Mana for fear of any of the goblins discovering me. I could see the edge of the cliff I was on minutes before and confirmed my location, but there was no way forward. Standing behind a tree, I looked at the place below me. Between the twisting structure of the cave rock, there was a narrow pathway. And the goblins walked in there, holding the rocky wall to their right. The path disappeared into that small entrance, surrounded by another set of round rocks. I crouched a little but could see nothing in there. I didn't know how deep it went, but in fact, it could house hundreds of those goblins. Soon, more and more goblins joined that group, and the goblins near their hovels decreased to less than a third of what they used to be. Only a few were doing miscellaneous tasks, and the red ones who were securing the area were left. Even though I couldn't differentiate them by their colour during this time, their sizes gave it away. The side of the cliff I was standing on was close to the ground below but also directly open to the onlookers. The rock was curved inside for me to climb down, and even if I tried to do it quietly, I would be spotted in under a minute. Goblins aren't nocturnal, but like any other monster, their senses are heightened during the night.

I decided to leave, but a sharp sound caught my attention. I scanned the area and saw one of the bigger hovels surrounded by an unusual number of goblins. Suddenly, there was light coming from inside, and after a few more painful echoes, a goblin rushed out of it with his hands on top of his bald head. And the goblins outside followed suit. They circled the hovel and started dancing, screaming out their lungs. Even the goblins that were spread across different places started an unusual dance, leaving their makeshift weapons on the ground. Another goblin, with a crouched back, came out of the bigger hovel, holding something wrapped in cloth in one hand and a wooden staff in the other. I narrowed my eyes, and two pointy ears peeked out of a small opening, with small, gleaming white teeth that bit the white cloth in an attempt to chew. And all the goblins started to group around the hunchback older goblin, making a huge crowd. The older-looking goblin lifted the one covered in cloth for everyone to see. Then the torches that weren't lit in the entire area were lit up one after another, filling the entire colony with warm yet bright light. I hid myself even more and looked at the scene with more care. Every hovel now had a light with a torch of flame right outside. Their shouts increased, echoing through the dark space. A blue goblin carried one of the torches in its hands and went near the pit, surrounded by huge rocks they made during the day. It threw the torch into the pit, lighting up the contents inside. A wall of flames burst out, and the goblins gathered around it, dancing in a unanimous setting. A rare occurrence. The sounds of their steps, followed by the joyous screams, filled the area with a blissful atmosphere.

They brought the corpses of different-sized monsters to the centre. Two red goblins stood before them, holding their spears tight with both their hands. One spear tip was made out of a yellow crystal, and the other was red. They had an ambient glow before, but as they extended the spear forward, the glow intensified, making a clear set of intricate designs visible even from this distance. Rune stones? They did a slicing motion, followed by a few more, cutting the flesh into many smaller segments. I thought they were crystal stones that are found in cave rocks, but how did they manage to get these in here? I looked around. Half of the red goblins carried it with them. Ten? Fifteen? And they looked proficient in using them too. All the green ones rushed there, carrying each piece of fresh meat with both their hands. The red ones did the same with other corpses, and the entire colony had a feast, brimming with energy for the night to end. Seeing that, my stomach growled in pain once again. Even raw meat is making my mouth water these days.

The ones that were on the path of the small entrance never stopped as they dragged their slow yet steady feet. The difference in atmosphere among the monsters of the same colony didn't sit right with me. The commotion died down, and all the remaining goblins went to their usual posts. And the goblins on that small path also completely disappeared inside. Yet the total missing numbers were still negligible, with hundreds still roaming around. Looking back, the night felt unusually long, and I walked along the same uneven, muddy path. Old man Gustav was still asleep. I walked past the place where we were staying. A few minutes later, I reached the small stream. Collecting water in both my hands, I drank. The cold and fresh water refreshed my entire being. The little sleepiness I was feeling a moment before washed along with it. The ground surrounding the place was wet and clear of trees nearby. Going near the end of the stream, I observed the small pit again. Kneeling on the ground, I checked inside from every angle possible. As I kept my head very close to the pit, a tiny reflection reached my eyes. It disappeared, but I waited, and it showed up and went out again.

Standing up, I looked in a direction, narrowing my eyes. Using Mana, I manipulated the water out of the stream, dropping a chunk full of it onto the soil beside a tree at some distance. I poured enough to make the slightly wet soil watery. Going there, I dug both my hands into the watery soil, stirring it to make a muddy area. I didn't use Mana, and when the mud became thick enough, I covered my clothes and body completely with it. A little of it went inside my ears, and some chunks of it were stuck to my hair. It felt like my cloak had weights hanging from it. So, I removed it and tied it to the top branch of the same tree, where I made a muddy place below. I cleared the mud over my eyes, kicked some dry soil on top of the mud, ran towards the dark, small pit, and jumped inside.

My back touched a rocky path, with water flowing on top of that. It was like a water slide, and I slid along that, speeding up second after second. My body swayed left and right, and I kept my hands crossed, close to my chest, while my speed continued to increase. I could feel a little pain whenever my body rose a little and hit small rocks in the sliding path. The scratches healed instantly, and when a light appeared at the bottom, I racked my brain for a way to stop myself, but there was not enough space to move my body or limbs to exert enough force. The light at the other end intensified, and I closed my eyes. Mana surged out of me, and the stream of water that was flowing downward changed direction and suddenly came to a stop. In the next moment, it covered me entirely, flowing upwards at an increasing speed. I held my breath as I was submerged in a pool of water, and my body stopped right before the exit. I spread my legs and pushed at either side of the pit simultaneously, holding myself tightly in one place. I let go of the control over the water, and it rushed out altogether, giving me air to breathe. Using the strength of my legs, I slowly crawled down, inching closer to the exit.

I heard a sound and stopped myself. Closing my eyes, I tried to sense my surroundings, but it was to no avail. Instead, I used the sense of hearing to differentiate between the sound of my breathing, the flowing water, and... the sounds of footsteps. Mixed in with other noises, I could hear light yet slow thuds. The sounds grew and died down, and about three to five minutes later, the same thing repeated. Taking this opportunity, I waited for the gap between each sound and let go of the strength in my legs, sliding out of the exit. To my left and right, two red goblins stopped in their tracks, smelling a whiff of scent in the air. I didn't have time to think and rushed to a side rock, holding my breath. They came closer to the place the sound came from, but I was masked by the wet scent of mud and water, still dripping from the edges of my hair and tattered clothes. They went back to their posts as they briefly checked the stream of water flowing from the hole. Letting go of my breath, I pulled out the absorbed water from the bandages I was covered with, drying them off and peeking out of the rock, looking at the nest of goblins as closely as ever.

Between hundreds of the same species, I was the one who didn't belong here. My heart raced at the step I was going to take next. Ignoring every other goblin, I looked in the direction of the small entrance surrounded by rocks. It was on the complete opposite side of me, and the rocks themselves were like a gateway. The narrow path that followed disappeared into visible darkness. No more goblins were making a line there, so I could see a bit more clearly. It looked like another long tunnel. Something like, I used to enter this vast cave. And if it could house a few hundred goblins, then I could only imagine what the other side of the tunnel would lead to. I hid again as another red goblin passed by the rock I hid behind. Coming here was something I did on a whim, under pure speculation that the long, narrow pit beside the stream would lead here. I could return to the tree cave and sleep for the rest of the night as if nothing had happened. But even in distress over being found out by the teeming numbers of goblins, my mind was still hellbent on uncovering what was happening. Nothing was normal here.

Tightening my fist, I looked for a way. Most of the goblins were tired and went back to their hovels. Only the ones in red and a few others were outside surveying the area. And they looked the most powerful out of all. I pulled out most of the Mana from my shrunken core, gathering it between my hands. When I collected enough, I let it spread in all directions instantly. The sudden change in the air and the tingling presence of new energy made the goblins alert, making them hold their weapons tightly. The ones outside began to gather in groups of two and three, trying to find the source of the minor disturbance. The pure form of Mana I released continued to spread, reaching every end of the isolated goblin nest on ground level. The Mana inside my core was nowhere near enough, so I tried to scatter it as much as possible by keeping the density to a bare minimum. When the slight panic among the goblins turned to vigilance, I was already at my limit. With my index finger pointing above, a small spark was conjured and replaced the entire area with a sudden outburst of flame. A wave of fire spread as if it appeared out of nowhere, and I crouched and hurried my legs in the direction of the tunnel.

Some goblins fell on their backs as their eyes burned, and some were struggling to put off the fire, swaying their bare hands in the air. The hovels made of dry grass, mud, and wooden logs started to burn a little, already getting caught by the flame in a few places. All the goblins came out, and the entire area started to fill with even more panic replacing the calm before. I used this chance caused by distraction, reaching halfway closer to the tunnel. But I stopped when I saw more than a few pregnant goblins appearing out of nowhere. They couldn't move their feet as fast as others. Some even tripped on their belly, a crushing thud ringing in my ears. The flame caused the thick smoke to rise, making breathing hard. I covered my nose with one hand and gritted my teeth as I reached the path leading inside the tunnel. Looking back, the light of day started to appear, but the scene before me had my heart clenched. I turned back to enter the tunnel, but multiple rocky formations rose from the ground, blocking my path. I turned my head again, and with a heavy gust that divided the entire area into two, the flame and smoke went out, making the goblins stand on either side, leaving the path leading to me open. And from the middle, a small, old green goblin walked towards me with a wooden staff in its hand. Its eyes were glaring directly into mine as the rest of the goblins closed their eyes and bowed to it on their knees. With its crouched back and slow yet steady steps, it moved closer.

The old goblin shook its staff, and a slice of air was fired at me at an incredible speed. I leaned my head to the right, and it hit the wall of rock behind, making a hole right through it. The total numbers and the current situation weren't the most favourable for me. There was no path to escape, so I gripped the dagger's handle on my waist, narrowing my eyes. And a scream echoed inside this huge cave, making all the goblins, including me, turn our heads in that direction. The uneven cave ceiling covered by a set of thick vines had a hole, and through it, a figure covered in a thin set of clothes was thrown out.