Chương 98: Evolution

Kyle leaned against the wall, cleaning his wounds and bandaging them before drinking his last health potion. He was hiding behind a large piece of rubble deep inside a remote alley in the southern district. This was the best way to prevent the occasional blood dots from flying from his wounds to attract the attention of nearby goblins.

'2 or 3 cracked ribs? My stomach and liver are also hurt. Not to mention that most of the surface injuries are still not fully healed. I need treatment as soon as possible.' Kyle assessed his injuries before leaning back on the wall to rest for a moment. He never forgot about Garrick. The man was on his to-kill list. After all, he had sent people to kill and silence him.

"That bastard was tough, but at least that's an enemy down," Kyle muttered under his breath. He slowly raised the two rings he snatched from him and carefully examined them. The movement caused waves of pain to flow from the webbing between his fingers.

"Sssth!" He winced from the pain. Thinking back, confronting an enemy stronger than him in such a dangerous environment was stupid. The wiser choice was to flee, guaranteeing his life. With his talent, given enough time, he could become ten thousand times stronger than Garrick. At that point, he could slowly search for him and exact his revenge. However, he couldn't bring himself to flee. The gap between them wasn't large, plus Garrick was half-crippled. Fleeing from such an enemy was cowardly.

He wouldn't always face weaker enemies. Even if he escaped Garrick, he would eventually face an enemy stronger than him at some point in his journey. At that point, he might not have the opportunity to flee and exact his revenge later. He might not even have the courage to swing his sword if he always kept fleeing; thus, he decided to fight. Even if that meant putting his life on the line.

"I've won. At least, that proves my point," Kyle grinned. He carefully examined the two rings before putting away the adorned silver ring lined with runes. The one remaining on his hand was a simple bronze ring with hardly any decoration. It was the space ring. After examining it for a while, Kyle slowly injected his mana into it. A room-sized space suddenly appeared within his perception. Strangely enough, Kyle felt that it wasn't nearby. It was neither a space attached to the ring nor a space near him.

The ring was more like a key, connecting his mind to space infinitely far away.

'No authentication? It seems any person who injects mana into this ring can get access to its contents.' He turned his perception to the edges of the ring. He tried extending his senses past the edges of the space, but he felt as if he was pushing against a wall. No matter how he tried, he couldn't get past those walls.

'Pocket dimension, substorage space? How does it work? Who created this space, and how did they link it to the ring?' Kyle had so many questions, but it wasn't something he could figure out using the little knowledge he remembered from college. He tried a few more times before giving up, finally turning his attention to the contents of the ring. Many objects were scattered, floating fixedly within the ring.

'No gravity and no airflow. Is it a vacuum?' Kyle wondered.

"Boom!" A loud explosion suddenly sounded from the distant battlefield, snapping him out of his daze.

"No time, unfortunately," Kyle muttered, shaking his head. He focused his attention on the contents of the ring, trying to find anything that could help him.

'Changes of clothes, a spare sword, a few daggers. What's that brick-like thing? Black bread? It seems Garrick wasn't doing well.' Kyle mumbled internally. He almost felt bad for killing him. Almost.

"Oh!" Kyle suddenly exclaimed'So many gold coins? How many are there, hundreds?' Kyle's perception locked onto a 30-centimeter-long wooden chest, filled with silver and gold coins as well as a few gems.

'I'm rich!' Kyle suppressed his excitement and examined the remaining things in the space ring. Apart from a clutter of miscellaneous objects, there were three remaining stacks worthy of attention. A few glass containers filled with what seemed to be poison. Five spindle-shaped glass containers stacked on the other side of the space, and finally a few books. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

'That's it.' Kyle immediately focused on two of the spindle-shaped glass containers and tried to pull them out.

"A health and a mana potion." Kyle carefully examined the red and blue liquids inside the glass containers. He checked if the seal at the top had been tampered with before uncorking and drinking them. He drank half of the health potion and splashed the rest on his injuries. After a few more minutes of resting, he felt much better.

'My mana has recovered to almost 40%. That's enough for now.' Kyle carefully sensed his mana core before standing up. He tried moving a bit, and apart from his aching calves and the occasional stinging pain from his stomach, the rest of his injuries didn't sting anymore. Scabs had formed over them.

'That's enough; the rest of my injuries can't be treated with mana potions of this level. I need to go to the church.' Kyle swung his arms for a bit, making sure that he still had combat capability before walking away towards the church in the central district. …. The goblin lord stood about two hundred meters away from the town's walls. He towered over the other mutant goblins, standing over 4 meters tall, his body filled with knotted muscles. His arms alone were almost as big as the average person.

Nearby goblins didn't even dare to move in his presence. His body shone with a dark red sheen as the energy of the ritual flowed into his body, gradually enhancing his strength and mana signature. He held his axe over his shoulder, casually scrutinizing the guards and adventurers before shifting his gaze to the two most powerful beings on the opposite side. Richard and Kaelen confronted him from the town's walls, their expressions solemn.

"You finally got the courage to emerge from your burrow, you green-skinned rat," Richard said sarcastically. The goblin lord raised his eyebrow, then grinned.

"Been a while since someone talked to me like that. You're brave, I'll give you that, human." The goblin lord said with a wide grin on his face. Just as Richard was going to talk more smack, Kaelen stopped him.

"Now's not the time for the chit-chat. The ritual has taken effect. He's getting stronger. We have to stop him," Kaelen said gravely. Richard looked thoughtfully at the goblin lord. He could sense that he was a peak rank 2 just like him. Generally speaking, a being at that level required sublimation to reach the next level, the master rank. That was a bottleneck only a few could pierce through.

"The ritual effect is using the vitality of tens of thousands of people to push a chosen individual to rank 3? But is that even possible? The master hurdle is something only a select few can pass through." Richard looked a bit incredulous.

"I don't know, but if that truly happens, it's game over. We don't have any way to deal with a rank 3 extraordinary monster. So we have to stop him." Kaelen sternly replied. The goblin lord didn't interrupt; he just listened with a grin on his face. His massive muscles squirmed as the red energy constantly entered his body. He felt that he was getting stronger and stronger. The incredibly solid hurdle that prevented him from reaching the next level for so long was starting to crack.

He was on the verge of evolution.

"Attack!" Kaelen yelled before rushing towards the goblin lord at breakneck speed; the air around him exploded as his speed surpassed sound itself. Richard followed closely behind; lightning flashed on the surface of his body, augmenting his speed to a superhuman degree. He quickly caught up with Kaelen and surpassed him, reaching the goblin lord in less than half a second.

"Ha!" Richard roared as he swung his sword. The blade, coated with lightning, instantly reached the goblin lord's neck, only to be blocked by his giant axe.

"Clang!" The impact generated a shockwave that swept across the battlefield, sending several nearby goblins tumbling. The soft dirt under the goblin lord's feet instantly caved into a giant crater, yet the goblin lord's body barely shook. Richard's arms vibrated from the collision, but his expression didn't change; he disengaged and instantly moved to the right flank, falling into sync with Kaelen on the opposite side.

Richard's sword was coated with lightning-attribute mana, not only endowing his attacks with a strong paralyzing effect but also increasing the damage of each of his attacks. Kaelen's sword was wrapped with wind-attribute mana, increasing his sword's sharpness and extending its reach by almost a meter. The two of them didn't hesitate to attack at the same time, attacking from both sides. The goblin lord blocked Kaelen's attack with his axe and Richard's sword with his steel vambraces.

"Not bad!" He said as his arms moved back slightly, yet his body didn't budge. He flexed his muscles, launching both away, but the two quickly rushed back the moment their feet touched the ground. From the guards' perspective, two beams of light, one green and one purple, flashed around the stationary goblin lord, striking him multiple times in a second before flashing away. The goblin lord easily blocked the two's attack.

Though his speed couldn't compare to the two, his strength and defense were beyond their imagination. After swatting away Richard's strike with his axe and blocking Kaelen's sword with his steel vambraces, his eyes suddenly turned bloodshot.

"Ha!" He swung his giant axe at Richard, who was attacking from the side. Richard quickly braked and jumped back, just in time to avoid the goblin lord's axe swing. The axe blade passed just a few centimeters away from his face; the harsh wind caused his skin to sting.

"Boom!" The axe heavily struck the ground, causing it to explode. The splashing dust and dirt forced both Richard and Kaelen to back up. They vigilantly looked at the dust cloud, prepared to face the goblin lord's counterattack. However, there was no further attack as they imagined. The dust cloud slowly settled, revealing a giant crack in the ground, dozens of meters long and almost 1 meter wide. Countless tiny fractures extended from both sides of the crack.

The hulk-like monster silently stood before the long crack on the ground, his body pulsating with that dark red energy. Kaelen gloomily looked at the goblin lord. He realized that he was stalling.

"Richard. Bring out your trump card. We need to kill him as soon as possible. If he breaks through–" He didn't get to finish. The goblin lord suddenly froze. His axe dropped to the ground as he leaned forward, clutching his body. The red energy pouring from above intensified, converging on his body like a waterfall. His skin split and reformed, his bones cracked and healed, and his muscles squirmed as if maggots moved below his skin. His frame started growing larger.

The red light converging on his body slowly darkened, almost turning black. An unimaginable pressure descended on the battlefield, stopping Richard and Kaelen in their tracks. Even the rank 1 adventurers fighting in the distance staggered, their feet almost buckling. The guards on the wall and the goblins filling the plain outside the town fared even worse. Most immediately collapsed on the ground, losing consciousness or frothing at the mouth. More were so scared that they collapsed. Richard's eyes narrowed.

Beside him, Kaelen's face paled.

"So this is what it feels like. Hahahaha!!" The goblin lord laughed, his voice booming across the battlefield. His stature slowly grew, tearing through the armor he wore, completely exposing his giant frame. He slowly raised his head. His eyes, once merely tinted red, now blazed like twin furnaces. He picked up his axe, once proportional, now looking like a toy in his grip. The goblin lord had reached rank 3.