The ranked goblin stepped forward as he stood in front of his kin. Looking at the gathered ragtag army his father had given him, he grinned with his ugly green face.
These particular goblins were the healthiest of his father's army. Not just that — glancing behind him, the two shamans his father had given him proved even more that he was the most favored of his father's hundreds of children, and that was why he'd been charged with attacking this human camp.
And he was certain that if he could gain the support of the shamans of his clan, he'd become the next goblin king.
Speaking to the goblins in their language as he pulled out a curved bone blade, he moved in front of the human he'd enjoyed torturing.
"As you all know, by the power vested in me by Gadrak'ih, our king and my father, we've chased and slain these humans from our lands, and soon we will make our own territory," he spoke while brandishing the blade in front of the human, already anticipating the fear in his eyes. But he saw nothing — just dead eyes that almost looked lifeless.
He frowned in a way that made his already ugly face even uglier. He wanted to put on a show; after all, their kind favored action, not just speech. Grinding his teeth, he glanced at one of the shamans behind him to use their connection to the worms they had forced down the throat of the human.
The shaman to his left gripped his bone staff expressionlessly before tapping it on the ground three times, and with a scream, a worm burst out of the mouth of their human prisoner as he writhed and thrashed in pain.
"See, this is fear. For years our kin have faced countless assaults from the higher humanoid races, but no longer. For under the rule of the great Gadrak'ih and I, we shall show them what fear is!" he motioned as he pointed the knife at the human screaming in agony. Of course, what he wanted was fear, but this would do.
He stabbed at the human's privates, bringing the blade down on the already dying man, stabbing and gutting him as he pleased himself with making a human suffer.
Finally, from behind, one of the shamans on the right gave a fake cough, snapping him out of his bloody pleasure.
He licked the blood from his lips.
"Come, feast on this delicacy I present to you all, for the next will be the females! Hahaha!" he shouted.
Finally hearing the words they wanted, the entire group of goblins roared — well, more like screamed — in excitement as they rushed toward the corpse, pushing and kicking each other.
Rael watched all this from his vantage point. Though he didn't understand the crap they were saying, he got some hints on who the leader was — a target he'd have to take care of.
Seeing the savagery as they devoured the man's corpse and how some did awful things with the body, Rael was definitely going to wipe them out. He just had to figure out how to do so with his Aether reserves.
Thinking carefully, an idea popped into his mind. Since the three ranked goblins would be his priority in battle, he'd better know their weak points now, then refill his reserves and think of a battle plan.
Casting the Eye of Critic spell, his eyes glowed red as he gazed at the supposed leader.
Name: ******
Title: Goblin Prince
Rank: Tier 2 Iron Fighter
Seeing the words that formed in his mind along with three red glowing spots that appeared on the leader's left shoulder, right ribs, and groin, Rael noted those were the leader's weak points. Though he had no idea how the weak points would play out in battle, he was definitely certain that the groin would apply to any other male targets.
Shifting his gaze to the other ranked goblins holding staffs like sorcerers, he cast the spell again.
Name: ******
Title: Goblin Shaman
Rank: Tier 1 Iron Adept
Name: ******
Title: Goblin Shaman
Rank: Tier 2 Iron Adept
Rael squinted his eyes. He had never faced spellcasters — he hadn't even faced any humanoid of the same rank — but from the Eye of Critic spell, he could tell that their weaknesses were their staffs and eyes.
While getting rid of those might be easy, and probably winning as well due to him being human and bigger (though that barely mattered when it came to Aether users), he wasn't letting his reckless nature get the better of him, so he had to plan — but first, observe.
He slowly withdrew from the goblin camp before disappearing into the woods.
…..
At midnight, Rael could be seen inside his room, on his bed, shirtless, looking through the uneven window at the night sky. He was resting and refilling his Aether reserves while also thinking of future scenarios. Though he disliked daydreaming and wild imaginations, he couldn't help it — after all, his only company was the rustle of wind and the chirping of insects.
He thought back to some books he'd read and rumors as well — rumors about the rank after the 3rd rank, something about champions. Though even the third rank was far from him, he couldn't help it. Even Grandveil, being a high-tier territory, had none and even saw such figures as rumors. But these baseless rumors always pointed to the Three Alliance, three powerful territories said to exist since the pre-Godfall era.
It was said that their rulers were even above such ranks. Whether true or not, Rael didn't know, and honestly he doubted it. After all, politics is built on lies. He remembered the Drakul family used such rumors as well at the time his deadbeat father hadn't stepped into the 3rd rank — yet such rumors were still circulated that he had, buying the bastard the perfect time until he finally broke through to that rank with the help of Rael's mother.
"That bastard." Rael grinded his teeth with a calm expression, but his eyes said it all — rage and hate.
"I guess there's no difference between this world and Earth. Still the same human heart."