<758 – As a Warrior (4)>
The professors were in a state of emergency.
Was it a sudden ambush, or had they fallen into a trap?
One of their number had died at the hands of a mere goblin.
“What kind of fellow was that friend?”
“He was the one teaching body enhancement armor crafting in the Production Department.”
“Well, at least it’s a small blessing in disguise? A goblin wouldn’t be able to figure out such advanced technology.”
“It’s fortunate he didn’t inherit the experiences of a combat professor who honed killing magic and techniques to their ultimate forms.”
“Let’s not be careless like that foolish friend.”
The professors sighed in relief.
After all, the deceased professor wasn’t that powerful, and the potential of armor crafting technology wasn’t all that impressive either.
Armor crafting is a miniaturized version of golem creation technology, designated as a taboo by the Empire and a makeshift solution for the elite’s frivolous whims.
Compressing defensive gear to its limits, it becomes more of a wealthy pastime than anything functional.
Even if they lost the technology, all that was at stake was a rich man’s game, and the rare metals needed to create it were technologies artificially developed in the Middle Realm, which didn’t exist in the Goblin World.
“A primitive goblin could never keep up with the upgraded versions of the latest military technologies developed by the most luxurious class of humanity.”
“Uh, you all… don’t you forget we invaded the Goblin World because the goblins succeeded in developing non-fair flight…?”
“……”
The real problem started there.
Goblins’ technology was no longer as crude as before.
For primitive goblins, technological development was entirely unfathomable.
They would steal superior inventions using their innate strength to gain even more power.
Or they would exploit subspecies to forcibly develop more valuable equipment.
These were the only ways goblins could possess valuable gear.
But that equation had now been broken.
Goblins no longer slack off in effort.
They weren’t lacking in technical prowess either.
“No matter what, rare metals are still out of reach! Due to their greedy nature, the stronger units in a clan have likely melted down all valuable items into their weapons. Seizing enough rare metals needed for armor crafting is impossible for the fallen ones now!”
It wasn’t an unreasonable claim.
In goblin society, valuable and luxurious items are always owned by the upper class.
That’s why goblin mutants and upper-class goblins melted down all rare metals into items that represent their class to prevent losing their valuables.
Even the greediest goblins wouldn’t covet items that symbolize someone else’s class.
If they thought their own was more precious, they wouldn’t use heavy and worthless weapons belonging to a lower class.
With the fall of the Goblin Empire, there were no subspecies left to mine minerals.
The wealth and assets they had accumulated turned to ash along with the empire, now buried deeper than the earth with no way to recover them.
The miracle of the Goblin Warrior was just that—one miraculous stroke of fortune.
Professor Morax, an alumnus of the Administration Department, forced unsettling thoughts into the realm of impossibility.
“…”
“…”
“The poor guy probably died thinking this would happen, right?”
Yeah, this was all because they neglected pest control.
Morax immediately unfolded the Contract of Agreement.
“Children dedicated in the name of Morax, I offer you this price in exchange for reaping the bounty of death.”
Using the famine that struck the Middle Realm, Morax exchanged the flesh and soul of a young child from a once-young woman for a sack of rice.
“If the forbidden act of equivalent exchange has a power built upon it, then nothing is to be feared. The souls dedicated to me will bear the hardships I must endure!”
The children committed to him became ensnared in Morax’s dimensional territory.
The only way they had to escape that desolate mini-dimensional prison was to fulfill Morax’s requests.
Their souls were being squeezed in agony—tools to elevate his status.
“Oh, to break free from pain, enter into a new contract with me. Devote yourself and become a minion for me!”
Tiny shadows crawled out of the contract with a squelching sound.
The parents of the children once relinquished their rights over their kids, and the children made a contract with the professor.
“I’ll gift you a homeland of souls you can always return to instead of your parents. Will you follow this uncle?”
The children, joyfully, shyly, or cautiously took the hand he extended.
As a result, they became bound as lacking servants, dying in the world yet returning to the mini-dimension as Morax’s Children.
By fashioning them into the forms of monsters, he could control them as he wished—the professor of the Administration Department’s Dimensional Contract Theory.
The summoned children received the bodies of high-class monster mining trackers, kobolds.
“Uuuu…”
“Uuuuuu…”
The kobolds dashed through the goblins’ burrows.
“I can see it. The distribution of mana in the underground. The positions of materials with particularly powerful mana. It must be rare metals.”
The sensing abilities of the diligent children, honed by the cruel punishments of failing Morax after donning numerous bodies, filled his perception with diverse information.
“There’s a goblin village too. While the other professors leave the underground resources unattended, I should clean up the underground thoroughly this time.”
Following the goblins collecting rare metals, he quickly spotted goblins that scurried away like squeaky mice.
“Crazy human, Golb!!”
“Did I bring a crazy human, Golb?!”
“Elderly and children, flee, Golb!!”
The kobold’s body served its purpose in tracking.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Morax commanded.
“Wasting summon cost is a sin. Self-destruct. Then I’ll grant you a month of peaceful respite from torment.”
Morax’s Children launched themselves at the goblins with faces of resigned acceptance.
A mana explosion erupted in the underground as the sending messages from above professors went haywire.
-Don’t do anything foolish.
-That’s a resource we also have the right to share.
-Prepare for the consequences of unauthorized resource plundering.
Such confusing words.
Did they call rare metals a resource, or the goblins a resource?
Either way, they were resources in their own right.
“Foolish ones. If the possibility of the warrior crafting armor is what’s at stake, shouldn’t they be thinking to shut down that possibility instead of clinging to resource greed like this?”
They couldn’t cheer him on, so the professors’ communications filled with contempt were deliberately cut off.
“Come forth, vessel of the Earth Predator. Enfold yourselves, children dreaming of a year of pain-free liberation.”
A year of liberation from torture to squeeze mana from Morax’s emotional pain.
The souls of the children who fell into temptation nestled within the body of a colossal high-class monster, the Earth Predator.
“Foolish ones. With such limited learning, they’re merely being used.”
Morax laughed at the children’s naivety.
A vessel of higher quality cruelly tosses the souls residing within it.
If the vessel was at the level of the Earth Predator, souls enclosed in it would be crushed to the point they couldn’t even maintain their self for a year.
A year of rest?
It merely indicates the time for soul regeneration is a year.
Naturally, that pain would be far more severe than ordinary torture.
“Consider ignorance as a crime.”
The Earth Predator, engulfing the land, collapsing tunnels, and destroying goblin hellholes.
Desperate goblin upper-classes and mutants charged at the beast, only to be torn apart like a mouthful of food over and over again.
“If it appears, I’ll deal with it; if it doesn’t, I’ll obliterate every supply base you could survive in Gehenna. Goblin Warrior. Thus, your death is ensured!”
While it seemed like a perfect plan, a goblin clad in tattered old armor stood in front of the Earth Predator.
A strange confidence radiated from its posture.
An unusual spirit.
This was Morax’s chance.
To consider the possibility that this was the Goblin Warrior.
To realize that the chance he thought impossible was indeed realized.
He could consider the armor before him was crafted from rare metals extracted from the class equipment gifted by the upper classes.
Morax didn’t hesitate.
“An armor crafted anew wouldn’t look so worn.”
It was a reasonable observation and excellent speculation.
If only the Goblin Warrior hadn’t granted the antique option to the Night Mentor, allowing the object to appear worn and aged.
The Earth Predator allowed the overwhelming output of armor to breach past him, and Morax found himself allowing the Goblin Warrior’s sword to pierce right through.
“W-wait, don’t… Not even a little bit…”
“I’ll be cleaning up this trash, Golb.”
The Warrior’s sword beheaded the Second Professor.
Now, thanks to the increased experience points and functions, the Warrior could store his followers in a mini-dimension.
Of course, gaining experience didn’t mean he could unleash the powerful divine abilities possessed by a professor.
However, if the contracted target willingly wished for a contract.
If they genuinely wanted to assist her in any way.
He could collect souls of individuals exceeding limitations or drawing strength even beyond the confines.
– “We’ll help too, Golb!”
– “We can’t let the demon scum off lightly before we can find peace, Golb!”
Moreover, unlike Morax, he didn’t need to worry about the souls fleeing and could surround himself with spirits who’d always follow him.
The Goblin Warrior was liberated from limitations involving the quantity and level of summoned spirits and cost restrictions.
Moreover, the most crucial ‘vessel’ needed for creation could be proactively loaned by goblins who had died before him.
– “There are huge monster subspecies among the targets, Golb!”
– “We can create non-fair flights too, Golb!”
Ground, air, sea.
Regardless of the realm, massive soul vessels started to appear in the Goblin World.
An immortal goblin army that would rebirth as long as they didn’t wipe out the fragments of their souls began to accompany the Goblin Warrior…
This was the very reason the professors were left with no choice but to request help from the Dragon Principal, to which he declined and they had to confront the impending crisis on their own.
