“Look, if you listen to me, I can help both you and your people grow stronger,” As Elijah spoke, he tried to keep the irritation he was feeling out of his voice.

“We will never listen to a weak human like you,” Clink said.

“Strength isn’t what determines a leader ability to-”

“I don’t care. Your weak and I’m strong. Once I’m free I’ll kill you and take over this village.”

“Idiot! I already told you that telling someone you plant to betray them is a stupid thing to do.”

After Elijah finished recovering his energy, he left his hut and went to speak with the goblin leader, Clink. He planned to have a heart to heart and try to establish the foundations for a better relationship in the future. Sadly, Elijah was too naive.

When Elijah went to speak with Clink, the interaction was very antagonistic from the start. Was Clink upset with the way he and the other goblins were being treated? No, he thought the treatment was great.

Clink wasn’t too bothered about becoming a slave either. Since they lost the battle, to Clink, it made sense for him and the other goblins to be slaves to the victor. What made Clink so antagonistic was the difference in levels between him and Elijah.

During the end of the goblin attack, Clink submitted out of fear. He was overwhelmed by the villagers’ tactics, traps, and the large number of goblin deaths. His confidence was shaken, and Elijah’s Supreme Speech skill was the final straw that made him crumble.

Now, Clink was no longer afraid. With his fear gone he couldn’t accept the fact that he had to listen to Elijah who was a lower level than him. In Clink’s mind, the goblins were led by the strong, the orcs were led by the strong and the rest of the world should work that way as well.

“I don’t have to lie to a weakling like you,” Clink said.

“Dude, I’m trying to help you.” Elijah helplessly said.

“Your too weak to help me.”

Releasing a frustrated sigh, Elijah closed his eyes and did his best to calm down. He failed. Clink continued to talk about how weak Elijah was and demanded that Elijah submit to him.

Closing his eyes made Clink’s voice louder and more grating on his ears than it normally was. Although Elijah wasn’t injured from his cultivation session, his senses were still a bit more sensitive than they normally were. Specifically, Elijah’s sense of smell made him aware of the goblins breath and sweat.

“Enough, alright.” Elijah sighed before he continued. “Okay, let's try this. If you were the leader, what would you do?”

Clink paused for a few seconds. “What do you mean, human?”

“If I were to let you lead the humans and the goblins, what would you do? How would things be different than they are right now?”

“If I was in charge things would definitely be better.” Clink confidently declared. “I would make sure everyone has food to eat every day and I would protect everyone from our enemies.”

“That sounds great, but I’m already doing that.”

“What?” Clink spoke with a voice full of genuine confusion.

“During these past few days, have you’ve eaten good food? Has there been any enemies trying to attack you?” Clink shook his head with a confused expression still on his face.

“Then why do you need to lead?” Elijah continued with a confident expression on his face. “I can already accomplish what you want to achieve, and I can help you and your people grow stronger. If you want to be strong, if you want to live a better life then following me is the best thing you can do.”

Stolen novel; please report.

After Elijah finished speaking Clink didn’t immediately respond. Elijah saw that Clink was seriously thinking about what he said, and Elijah thought that he finally managed to break through to Clink. Elijah was wrong.

“I don’t care. You’re a weakling, so you should listen to me.”

Elijah could only let out another sigh of frustration. “Sometimes I forget these NPCs aren’t real people.” Elijah thought to himself. “They act like real people, but if you ask them one question that’s too detailed or suggest something that isn’t a part of the script, the thin veil of realism is easily broken.”

“Besides, you may have given us food, but you don’t let us hunt. How can we grow stronger if we don’t hunt for food?”

“Okay,” Elijah thought to himself. “This is different.”

“What do you mean?” Elijah asked Clink. “I gave every goblin a cultivation technique and it should be much more effective than your scavenger ability.”

So far, all the goblin slaves Elijah examined had the scavenger innate ability. This ability allowed goblins to absorb astral energy for their cultivation from the dead creatures they consumed. Other than the goblin leader, the other goblins didn’t have a cultivation technique, and this was the only way they could increase their cultivation level.

Clink obtained an incomplete Solar Fire cultivation technique when he found the twilight core. This gave Clink the opportunity to quickly increase his level and stand above all other goblins. Elijah already gave Clink and the other goblins the opportunity to learn the complete Body Tempering realm portion of all three cultivation techniques he obtained.

“Cultivation techniques can improve our energy, but only the food we hunt can make us strong.” Clink replied.

A single sentence can bring forth several ideas. Clink’s words allowed Elijah to gain a better understanding about the difference between goblins and humans. He understood that the way he treated goblins, and the other races that he would bring under his rule, would be different than how he treated humans. Also, Clink’s reply gave Elijah some inspiration on how he could build a better relationship with the goblins and make them willingly acknowledge his leadership. However, he had a few questions that he wanted to ask first.

“How does eating make you stronger? Does it increase your stats?” Elijah was a little confused by what Clink said. Based on his understanding the scavenger ability could only be used to increase the goblins cultivation levels.

“Yes, after we eat enough food and gather enough energy, our bodies become stronger.” Clink clarified.

The confusion Elijah felt didn’t lessen at all. It sounded like the scavenger ability could increase the goblins stats. However, it also sounded like Clink was describing the normal growth all cultivators experienced when their cultivation increased.

“Whatever,” Elijah said. “If you want to hunt, then I lead you and a few other goblins into the forest tomorrow. We can probably go sometime around noon. I’m sure that I can-”

“We don’t hunt during the day we hunt at night,” Clink interrupted.

Elijah frowned. “At night?”

“Yes, we hunt at the beginning and at the end. There isn’t enough beast during the day, so we have to hunt at night.”

Elijah paused for a few seconds before he continued speaking. “Alright, it’s a bit dangerous but we can try hunting tonight.”

At that moment, Clink broke in to a very loud, and very annoying, laugh. “Hehe, you, hunt with us. Why would we bring a weak human like you to hunt with us?”

Elijah wore a calm expression as he replied to Clink in a confident tone. “Going with me and going without me might be the difference between life and death. This applies to the goblin warriors that will be joining us and you as well.”

Elijah swore he saw the goblins skin turn a shade darker. “You’re lying!” Clink furiously roared with spittle flying out his mouth. “Clink is the strongest! Clink is the one who protects the goblins not you. Clink doesn’t need your help!”

Clink’s shouting attracted the attention of the nearby goblins and a few villagers that were walking around. After Elijah decided to talk with the goblins, he traveled to the area in the village that was created for them. There were several goblins inside and around the three large houses that the villagers built for them.

The goblins were engaged in various activities. Cultivating, eating, sleeping, talking, fighting, and even love making. Elijah did his best to ignore that last activity.

“Do you know how to heal the goblins that get injured?” Elijah rhetorically asked Clink. “I do. Do you know how to increase the strength of the goblins fighting beside you? Do you know how to detect enemies that are coming your way? Do you have skills that can weaken the enemy? Guess what? I can do all these things. You think you deserve to lead the goblins because your strong, but I know I can lead them because I have the skill and talents to do so.”

“You’re wrong!” Clink screeched. “I’m strong and you’re weak! Only the strong can lead!”

At this point Elijah no longer felt like putting in the effort to persuade the goblin leader. “You can complain about me being weak as much as you want, but that won’t change the fact that I’m the Chief of this village and the ruler of this territory. I plan on taking the goblins to hunt tonight and it’s up to you if you want to join us or not.” After less than a second passed, Elijah realized his mistake. “Actually, it’s not up to you. I’m the Chief and you’re joining us.”

“I won’t listen to a weakling like you.”

“I wasn’t asking. Did you forget that you’re my slave? You can follow me willingly or unwillingly, but you will be following me.”