Jumping down from the tree, I quickly dashed towards the scene, and the black wolf was immediately made aware of my presence.

In all my naked Goblin glory I stand facing this wolf, with nothing but the saber fang as a dagger.

Now standing around twenty feet from the wolf, I see that it immediately got into a position where it can easily dash forward, but it didn’t do so, it’s only baring its fangs while growling in a menacing manner.

Can it sense the difference in strength maybe? I wouldn’t be surprised since Goblins will soon be top of the food chain! Back to the matter though, this wolf is probably faster than me, but since it's facing me head on I can probably just run straight at it, and if it turns to run I can throw the dagger right? Right.

Good! Let's go! Come to me, my fur coat!

Ahhh! Dashing forward in the blink of an eye I quickly began to close the distance between us, only to find out the wolf dashed at me as well! Right as it was in arms reach I swiped down with the dagger to go for a one shot kill to the head!

But the damn wolf dodged! Why would you move you bastard just accept reality!!

It then attempted to swipe a paw at my thigh, but I was surprisingly quick to dodge, my superb Goblin instincts in full effect! But that was dangerously close to the jewels you walking coat!

After dodging I quickly threw a punch at it, with my off hand yet it dodged again, only this time I was expecting it and I somehow perfectly timed a nice stab with the dagger straight to its head! Mission Accomplished!!

That was all it took and now my brand-new coat sprawled in front of me. How was that Velora?

[Reckless and sloppy, you should be able to dispatch a lower tiered monster far easier than that by my estimate. Though I suppose your fighting instincts and skills will come with experience.]

Well, that was a bit of a buzzkill Velora, but I suppose you're right, especially since I have the family jewels in full display, that wolf could’ve snipped them right off huh...Ahh that's a little scary to think about. Anyway, do you think this wolf’s pelt will be enough to make a nice fur coat?

[It appears too small for any type of coat, but it should be just enough to cover your lower area, although it will barely reach mid-thigh length, any sort of coverage is better than none. Perhaps combining it with the rabbit hides will make a large enough coat.]

Right again it seems, well let's quickly bring this guy back and turn him into meat strips, and a nice pelt to cover my waist area.

[Good idea.]

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Okay, now that I’m here I’ve only ever done the whole skinning thing on small horned rabbits, so this might not go so well, and it’s not like I have a knife just the fangs and the rather sharp horn that tops the spear I came with. Whatever let's get to it. A Goblin’s gotta do what a Goblin’s gotta do!

……

Done! Dammit that took forever! I don’t even know how long.

[Approximately two hours.]

Two hours?! At least I’m finally done with the skinning, well since we still got a decent amount of daylight left let's lay this out to dry while I finish butchering the rest of the wolf for meat.

It was now that I finally noticed something weird. I don’t see any monsters approaching the lake. And I haven’t seen any at all near the lake since I’ve been here. I understand monsters might not need water as much as a typical animal or human being, but to not drink at all doesn't make any sense.

Is there something going on I wonder. Is there some beast lurking within the depths that's been keeping monsters away? But I’ve drank here before, and that was before my evolution, so I was nothing but a small weak Goblin.

So unless there was a monster lurking within the lake that didn’t like the taste of Goblins, there shouldn’t be anything down there. What do you think of it Velora?

[Not enough information to form any sort of conclusive judgment.]

Figured you’d say that, but I remember the voice that invaded my dreams said that there aren't any human settlements or sentient monster tribes in the immediate area.

I don’t think that means they aren’t any individual strong monsters, or even a group of strong monsters that wasn’t big enough to be considered a tribe.

Come to think of it, what could have possibly injured that giant wolf that me and Jaba almost died to?

That beast is undoubtedly the strongest creature I’ve seen since I’ve been here, so the fact that something was able to injure it to that extent and even force it to run is troubling.

Not that I can do anything about it anyway, so for now let’s just focus on hunting and my continued grinding I guess. Speaking of leveling, Velora, how much essence did I get for killing that wolf, it was Tier 1 one right?

[You received exactly 1 essence point, bringing your total to 5. Which would then translate to 5 Evo points out of the required 180 needed to evolve again.]

Hm just slightly better than the rabbit huh I guess the grind to Tier 3 is definitely going to take a while. Well let’s just absorb what I have now.

[Understood, but I am required to tell you that from Tier 2 onwards, absorbing essence will only get more and more painful, as you're now forcibly elevating your entire being to a far purer level of strength. Think of it as a refinement process. Do you still wish to absorb now?]

Pain??? I was already feeling a little weird from the tingling sensation but there's pain involved? sigh.. anyway no pain no gain! Since I have no choice, I gotta muster up some courage for gang green! Let's do it!

[Understood. Your body will immediately begin absorption, pain will be felt instantly and for the entire process.]

Wait, what do you mean instan-... AHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Huffing and panting as I recovered from the slightly intense few minutes of pain from the absorption, I just lay on my back trying to recover.

Velora, is that how the process is going to be every single time in the future?

[Yes, but I’m sure you’ll get used to it over time. Although in the future I recommend only absorbing a little each session as a longer session simply means more pain, there will still be some pain, but it is significantly shortened by amount absorbed.]

…..

Doesn’t that seem like information you could’ve told me before I went through that experience?

[Perhaps.]

You're having fun with this aren’t you?!

[Of course not, I’m just a skill designed solely to help you.]

Noo you're a hundred percent enjoying this!

[Preposterous.]