It took a few days, but eventually the entire cavern was swept clean. The plants were properly harvested and preserved, the loose Rank 4 scales and bones were collected, the rare crystals and minerals were dug out, and the blood pool was completely drained. They even went so far as to scrape moss from the sides of the cavern walls and collect the top layer of soil that had been saturated with mana.
"I'm at 90% capacity, Master," Elyra reported.
"That's good. I was worried we wouldn't be able to collect everything, but with this, we can maximize our profits," Bastion said.
"It's a shame we'll have to leave this turtle shell," Seraphina commented. "We could probably have used it to build a nearly impregnable house."
The only things left were the giant bones, likely the tortoise's appendages and head, as well as the enormous hundred-meter shell, all of which were simply too big to fit into any magic bag.
"I've prepared the ritual circle," James said.
Stretching 15 meters in diameter, the circle was dug into the soil, its grooves filled with blood from the blood pool. In each cardinal direction lay pieces of basilisk meat, bones, and fangs. Intricate carvings filled the circle, with smaller circles containing magic-rich plants, minerals, and crystals, their symbolism focused on honor, strength, and guidance.
"Are you sure we won't accidentally turn into a goblin?" Ariel asked with concern.
"No, Ariel," Lilia replied, rolling her eyes. "I double-checked everything, and this ritual doesn't have the capability of altering its participants' form unless a truly powerful being intercepted the connection to the ancestral plane of the goblins and started messing around. Even then, we would be able to cut off the connection at the slightest sign of tampering."
"Not to mention," Bastion chimed in, "James is currently under the protection of the God of Spores. If anyone outside of Gaia were to mess with the connection, he would know someone was interfering with his hero and would fight back."
"Besides," Seraphina added, "we're currently fighting on the side of fate, which means almost everything we do will eventually lead to the success of the mission."
"What if the mission requires that we all turn into goblins?" Ariel asked in fright.
Lilia, Bastion, and Seraphina couldn't answer that. It truly was possible for all of them to turn into goblins for the sake of the mission. It might even require one of them to sacrifice themselves, and fate would easily allow it so long as James's mission was fulfilled.
"It'll be fine," Bastion said with a weak smile.
"I can, um… always turn us back into humans…" Seraphina said, unsure.
"YOU CAN TURN GOBLINS INTO HUMANS!?" James exclaimed with excitement.
"Well… no… not yet, at least. I would have to reach Rank 3 to have the stats necessary to concoct the potion, and I'm missing some very rare and powerful ingredients that can't be replaced. We would have to go to the Central Empire to shop around, and I'm certain we wouldn't be able to afford them with our current finances."
James wilted immediately, his only hope of regaining human form dashed.
"Can it turn a Diamond Golem into a human?" Bastion asked quickly.
"No. Diamond Golems cannot be affected by status potions, so it wouldn't work. It says so in the listed effects."
Bastion joined James in wilting as well. It had been bothering him that an early Rank 4 class was locked away because of the Ability. He had been trying to psyche himself up to take the class at his Rank 2 promotion but couldn't justify giving up sex for it.
He was simply too young to give up the pleasures of life. Maybe when he reached a thousand years old, he might consider it.
"All right. That's enough," Lilia said as she clapped her hands to grab everyone's attention. "Ariel, it's up to you whether you want to take the risk or not, but I'm calculating an increase of 10 attribute points each from this ritual. So I'm taking it, even if it turns me into a goblin."
She stepped forward and stood on the focal point of the ritual, waiting for the others to make their decision.
James ran up and joined her. He was already a goblin, so it was none of his concern. Also, the ritual was attuned to him, which meant he stood to gain the most from it.
Bastion and Seraphina shrugged and joined as well, with Elyra quietly following. Since Seraphina had a solution, even if it would take them a long time, they could eventually turn back into humans. Ultimately, they decided to take the risk.
In the end, Ariel sighed, shook her head, and joined as well. Maybe she'd end up as a goblin with wings.
Once everyone was in place, James began chanting, feeding his mana into the ritual and causing the blood-filled grooves to flare with a dull crimson light. The carvings pulsed in slow, rising rhythms, synchronizing perfectly with the cadence of his voice.
The plants, minerals, and crystals dissolved into motes of energy that spiraled inward, wrapping around them like a tightening current. The air grew heavy and charged, carrying the scent of iron and damp earth, while a low, resonant hum reverberated through the cavern, sinking into bone as unseen forces reached toward the ancestral plane and began to answer.
A chorus joined James's chant, amplifying his voice as drums and vibrations pounded at their ears, swelling louder and louder. The cavern itself seemed to pulse with the sound, its walls trembling as if alive, resonating with the growing power of the ritual.
Ariel closed her eyes, unwilling to witness the worst come to pass as she felt her body grow in strength. She was easily twice as strong as before the ritual, and the effects were starting to go to her head. Still, she kept her eyes shut, fear overriding the euphoria of her increased power.
Suddenly, the lights dimmed and the sound vanished into an eerie silence. A shiver ran down her spine as she stood frozen, bracing herself for whatever change might follow.
She slowly felt around her body, fearing she had transformed into a goblin, but sighed with relief when she found her ample breasts unchanged. It seemed she hadn't turned into a goblin after all. When she opened her eyes, she noted that none of them had changed forms, except for James.
"Fuck yeah! I evolved into a Hobgoblin Shaman!" James shouted with excitement.
He looked around, compared heights, and noted he was about as tall as Ariel at 5'8" (1.73 m), a stark improvement from his previous 4-foot-tall (1.22 m) form. Unfortunately, he looked exactly the same otherwise, with his long crooked nose, pointed ears, bald head, and sharp teeth. And, of course, he was still green.
"Congratulations," Bastion said. "Are you confident in taking down the goblin chief now?"
"Fuck no! Are you kidding me? I have no chance against that monster. I may have evolved and reached Rank 2, as you put it, but I'm still leagues weaker than him. Maybe if I bathed in that blood pool for a decade, I could just barely reach his level, but even then, winning against him in ritual combat would be a stretch."
Bastion calculated and ultimately decided the blood pool wasn't worth giving up. A few basilisk parts, along with their spare Rank 3 ingredients for a ritual that benefited everyone, were fine to trade. The blood pool, however, had too many applications and too much bartering power to relinquish. They would need to find a way to equalize the fight and somehow bridge the strength gap that they had taken from James.
Ignoring the burden of the responsibility he had taken on, Bastion checked his status.
[Name]: Bastion Diamondhart
[Age]: 36
[Class]: Armory Knight (Rank 2), Diamond Knight (Rank 3)
[Ability]: Space Node, Diamond Body
[Rank]: Rank 1
[Level]: 170
[Health]: 1105/1105
[Mana]: 675/675
[Strength]: 82
[Dexterity]: 67.5
[Vitality]: 110.5
[Intelligence]: 67.5
[Wisdom]: 110.5
[Charm]: 56
[Luck]: 40
[Status Points]: 0
[Arts]: Smithing 5, Enchanting 5, Earth Magic 5, Light Magic 5, Shield 5, Sword 5, Whip 4, Heavy Armor 4, Summoning 4, Unarmed 3, Fire Magic 3, Water Magic 3, Dark Magic 3, Wind Magic 3, Riding 3, Cannon 3, Taming 1, Cooking 1, Traps 1
[Skills]: Shield Bash 5, Block 5, Charge 5, Reinforce 5, Amplify 5, Slash 5, Parry 5, Stab 4, Smash 4, Dodge 4, Dash 4, Jump 4, Summon Familiar(Zephy, Pebbles) 4, Diamond Armor 4, Diamond Edge 4, Diamond Shatter 4, Diamond Rain 4, Diamond Steed(Steve) 4, Taunt 3, Inventory 3, Armor Slot 3, Weapon Slot 3, Quick Slot 3, Facility Slot 3, Tame 1
[Skill Points]: 120
He maxed out his Wisdom and Vitality after the fight with the basilisks and allocated the remaining points to Strength. Since he gained 10 points in each attribute, including Luck, he ended up overshooting his Vitality and Wisdom by 10 points each, which wasn't a bad deal.
The rest of the girls likely experienced similar enhancements, with Ariel seeing the most noticeable improvement due to her still-untrained stats. As for Seraphina, she had managed to push her main attributes past one hundred, whereas before she had fallen slightly short.
"Seraphina," Bastion called out.
"Yes, husband?" she replied with a smile.
"How's the progress on your bomb?"
"Pretty much done. All I had to do was create a batch in a much larger container."
"Are we ready to hunt down this Goblin Chief, then?" Bastion asked, looking around at everyone. No one objected, not even James, who wore a nervous expression. "Then let's go."
With their preparations complete, the group moved through the natural tunnel linking the tortoise cavern to the goblins' underground cave system. Ahead lay a long trek from the swamps to the heart of the goblin village, located directly east of the dukedom's fort.
And so, the hunt for the Goblin Chief began.
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