Eventually both Dran and Wala exited the cave to go fully scout the type of materials they would have access to in the forest. They of course knew it would likely be mostly wood from the trees, but it was their first time this deep in the Nameless Forest, so it wouldn’t hurt to survey the area.

Which left the cave mostly empty. Well mostly empty if not for the fact that there was a sleeping Rick who was currently unconscious as he underwent his evolution.

An evolution that was now coming to an end.

“Erm..uh..Velora..?”

[Welcome back Rick. Your evolution was a success. Though, there are some changes you may not be happy with.]

‘Oh yeah…OH YEAH!! I evolved! Wait a second…What do you mean I won’t be happy with?’

[It would be easier to show you. Would you like to see your status?]

'Wait, I'm nervous now…show me?'

{Name - Rick}

{Age - 20}

{Race - Royal Goblin}

{Tier 3)

{Essence - 0}

{Evo Points - 0/540}

{Skills}

{Velora}

‘Velora.’

[Yes?]

‘Where’s the rest of my status?’

[It’s been taken away.]

‘Taken away huh.’

[Yes, taken away. There is a message attached to your evolution. It is in regards to your current situation. Would you like to see it?]

‘Sigh Welp let's see it!’

[Understood.]

~ Tier 3 already huh? Good for you. That also means you should probably understand a bit about the world now. The numbers you saw before were a part of a little tutorial of sorts and Tier 3 marks the end of that. You don’t need the numbers, they are only a crutch. ~

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‘This is evil! Are they eventually just going to take away my status altogether! Bring me my numbers back!’

[I don’t think that's possible.]

‘Ahh this sucks. Should I expect more messages as I evolve through the Tiers?’

[I do not know, but it wouldn’t hurt to be prepared for that to happen.]

‘Super big Sigh I think the author just didn’t want to keep up with all the numbers!!!’

[...What?]

‘Nevermind that, let's see what changes Tier 3 brought me. Hmm…I feel mostly the same. Well apart from an increase in overall bodily strength, but other than that I don’t really feel any different. Do I look any different Velora?’

[Your muscles seem a bit more refined, but other than that, no.]

‘Huh…was Tier 3 just about getting a little stronger?’

[Perhaps things not visible to the naked eye got improved.]

‘Sometimes you really show your smartness Velora! But yeah you're probably right, It didn’t show up as a skill in my status but maybe I can sense mana or something now?’

[Perhaps, I suggest consulting Kida.]

‘Yeah I’ll do just that…where are they anyway.’

[They exited the cave shortly after you triggered your evolution.]

‘I see…well let's go find them!’

Unbeknownst to Rick, the second he woke up from his evolution. Every single Goblin in the area could feel it. They couldn’t feel the fact he woke up per se…but they could feel something else. Though they wouldn’t find out what that feeling was for a while longer.

“Hm? Do you guys feel that?” Said Dal as he looked back towards the cave.

'Yeah…it's the feeling we get around the Leader…but it feels stronger.” Responded Kida as she too looked towards the cave.

“Hey! I thought we just now agreed to call him Chief. As the leader of his new guard team I won’t stand for anything less!”

“We get it Geedi you won the draw, but don’t you feel it too?” Said Dal.

“Of course I feel it, but I’m not surprised. The Chief is special after all.”

No one else said anything as they all kind of just stared at the cave entrance. Well everyone except Geedi. She was busy scrutinizing the members of her Squad. They had a draw to decide who would be the one to follow Rick around and she won it, though the rest of them had a feeling that she probably would've fought to get the position if she didn't win so it was probably for the best.

Anyway, she now needed the actual members who would fill out the team and it was driving her just a little crazy.

Eventually she settled on 5 of them.

“Alright, you 5 will be on this team. We will be guarding the Chief! So if you're not ready for that, tell me right now!”

“...Huh ready for what?”

Geedi turned around in a fright to see Rick walking out of the cave and looking straight at her.

POV Rick

“Chief!”

‘Did she just call me Chief? Where did that come from?’

“Why Chief? You don’t have to call me that, Rick is perfectly fine!”

“Ah Chief, we should probably talk. We have decided on some things, that we hope you don’t fight us on.”

‘Is this a rebellion Velora?!’

[You are overreacting.]

‘Probably…but you're not supposed to say that! Anyway let's see what they have to say.’

“Sure Jaba, we can talk. Want to go back in the cave?"

“Ah yes we can, just me and you should be fine.”

Rick and Jaba headed back inside the cave and eventually found themselves back around the fire pit.

“So Jaba, what's all the fuss about?”

“Well, we all talked about it, and we realized you do need to be treated with a bit more respect. We also decided that you do in fact need an escort, and Geedi won the draw to become the captain of the escort. She is currently picking out members for the escort, but the idea is for them to follow you around and protect you everywhere you go.

“Also with the whole respect thing, we won’t call you Rick anymore. It needs to be something more respectful and Wala suggested Chief, and we agreed to run with it. Is this alright with you?”

“Chief huh…well I guess I don’t have any complaints. I’ll do my best to be a great Chief for the tribe.”

“That's great! Also…that feeling we get that we talked about earlier…It got a little stronger after your evolution.”

“Wait what? Really? I can’t even feel whatever it is you're talking about.”

“Yeah, it's not a bad feeling, and it's not super stronger than before but we can all feel it.”

“I see…well, at least it's not bad…”

‘Dammit Velora I’m a pheromone battery!!’

[You're overreacting.]