Three days later, Finn and Darwin hid among the wet bushes of the forest, barely able to see the large city of wood and stone in front of them due to the heavy rain.
The city in front of Finn and Darwin could easily be the same size as the cities where the dukes lived, according to Darwin. The city was so large that it seemed incredible to Finn and Darwin that no one else had stumbled upon it by pure chance, despite being hidden among the enormous trees, the dense fog, and the heavy rain. At a glance, they could see that the city was full of hobgoblins and ogres, and there were hardly any goblins around.
"Well, I recommend we retreat to a safe place to rest and attack them at dawn tomorrow" said Darwin. "I doubt it'll stop raining anytime soon, so I don't think they'll find us."
"Yes, that would be the most sensible thing to do. Besides, I don't think we need to look for the goblin witch" said Finn, pointing to a huge tree in the center of town with a house-shaped structure on it. "We can go in while it's dark, knock out the goblin, lure him out of the village, and then burn everything here to the ground."
"Sounds like a great idea" said Darwin.
—
At dawn, Finn and Darwin left their hiding place and slowly and stealthily approached the monster village. At the entrance to the village, they saw two hobgoblins standing guard. Using the slime and his telekinesis, Finn created a whip that split in two at the opposite end from where he was holding it and captured the two hobgoblins, pulling them towards him.
"Shhh, just go with the flow," Finn said, feeling the hobgoblin resist his grip. 'I feel like Indiana Jones' Finn thought, snapping the hobgoblin's neck.
"Okay, let's move along" Darwin said, finishing snapping the other hobgoblin's neck.
The two entered through the large doors and quickly hid in the bushes to avoid being seen by the monsters, if there were any awake. Little by little, they made their way deeper into the city; passing through the tents of different sizes and small stalls where they placed their resources. They were both lucky that the rain hid their scent. The two advanced until they reached what appeared to be the cells where the female monsters were captured. There were many more of them because the cells were much larger.
As they crossed the cells, Finn couldn't help but hear a rather familiar snort. Glancing quickly toward the cell, he saw a horse-woman chained and separated from the other monsters. She was staring directly at him and Darwin, as if she had always known they were there. Finn held her gaze for a few seconds, curious that she didn't react violently like the others he had met.
"Another horse-woman? Well, how many have escaped the centaurs?" Darwin whispered, also looking at the horse-woman.
"Don't you feel like there's something wrong with this one?" Finn asked nervously.
"Yes… Her gaze is a bit strange, and she hasn't gone crazy trying to capture us" Darwin nodded.
"Yes, her gaze isn't normal. I can still feel that desire the other horse-women emanated from her, but this one seems calmer, more rational. That scares me; it's as if she now has the ability to reason" Finn said, and Darwin agreed with him.
"…we have to move on" Darwin said, trying to forget about the horse-woman.
After advancing a few meters, the two finally reached the enormous gray tree, slowly climbing the wooden path that jutted out from the tree until they reached a large wooden platform, which was where the goblin witch's tent was. Slowly peeking through the curtains, Darwin could see the goblin sleeping on a bed made of straw and wool, as well as an ogre sitting at a huge table, eating what appeared to be a harpy leg.
"We're in trouble. There's an ogre guarding the goblin witch" Darwin said, closing the curtain.
"Well... it shouldn't be a problem. If I use my slime to drown him and silence him, you can use your fire to burn his face..." Finn tried to come up with a plan, but at that moment, a loud explosion was heard, followed by the screams of the monsters.
Boom!
"THEY'RE ATTACKING US! THEY'RE ATTACKING US!" the hobgoblins shouted.
"Everyone up, we're being attacked by Earthlings!" another hobgoblin shouted, only to be slammed hard by a massive fist.
"An attack?..." Finn asked, surprised.
However, before Darwin could speak, the two heard a powerful roar followed by a loud bang. The ogre in the tent had jumped out upon hearing the noise and looked at Finn and Darwin, charging at them without hesitation. The ogre rammed them all the way across the wooden platform until he threw them off the platform with him.
"Stupid!" Finn said, punching the ogre to free himself and then grabbing Darwin's arm.
Using his slime, Finn extended it to the stairs, managing to break his fall slightly, but still crashing to the ground with great force. It took Finn a while to catch his breath.
"Shit, why do I always have to fall from a high place?" Finn asked, sitting down and looking at the dead ogre's body.
"I hate this so much..." Darwin said, also sitting down, but a snort caught his and Finn's attention.
In front of Finn and Darwin stood a huge beast made entirely of earth, stone, and bones. It had the skull of a deer with glowing green eyes; its torso was made of earth, stone, and bones; one arm was made of pure bones from different species, and the other of stone; and finally, its legs were made of earth and stone. The beast was about 5 meters tall and radiated pure rage.
Finn didn't think twice and grabbed Darwin with his left arm while using the other arm alongside the slime, pulling himself away just before the monster attacked. Finn and Darwin crashed into the tent Finn had used to pull himself up. Finn and Darwin quickly got up, hearing the screams of the monsters fighting each other.
"It's a territorial fight!" Darwin said quickly.
"Why? What could be here?" Finn asked.
"I don't know, but it's no coincidence that earthly creatures, monsters made of pure magic, suddenly appeared right where all the goblin witches usually gather to ascend a goblin to a goblin witch," Darwin affirmed.
This was the information they had managed to extract from the last goblin witch just before coming to this place. Rituals were often performed in this city to ascend goblins and introduce them to magic.
"In that case, we should send a message to..."
Boom!
Finn couldn't finish speaking when the tent they were in was hit by another earthly creature, destroying the tent and sending the two flying several meters in different directions.
Finn crashed into several tents and then bounced a few times on the ground before crashing into the wooden wall the monsters had built to protect their base.
"Ugh, my arm!" Finn complained, seeing his arm turned the wrong way.
Finn sighed heavily before guiding his slime around his arm and forcing it to fit, causing him great pain. Finn breathed heavily a few times before reaching for a healing potion from his bag and downing it thoroughly. In a matter of seconds, his purple and swollen arm recovered, returning to normal.
Unable to rest for a moment, Finn rolled to the side, avoiding the ogre body that had been thrown by the earthly creatures. He then stood up and ran in the direction Darwin had been thrown, dodging and killing several hobgoblins in his path.
In the distance, Finn could see Darwin unconscious, lying in the middle of what used to be the female monsters' cage. But before Finn could reach him, a hand grabbed his foot, pulling him with great force and slamming him to the ground. An ogre had seen him and followed him closely. The ogre lifted Finn into the air again, wanting to whip him again, but he managed to react this time.
"Ugh, fucking beast!" Finn exclaimed, reaching out and forcing the slime into his mouth and then out through his eyes, nose, and ears, quickly killing the ogre.
Finn fell heavily to the ground, watching as a hobgoblin approached Darwin's unconscious body with a sword in hand. Using his telekinesis, Finn pulled Darwin's body, avoiding the monster's attack, and then moving his fingers, sent the hobgoblin flying away from the cell.
With some effort, Finn got to his feet and limped to the cell where Darwin was unconscious.
"Idiot, get up, this isn't the time to be unconscious!" Finn moved Darwin's body until he stood up, dizzy.
"Fuck, that hit totally knocked me out!" Darwin said, standing up as quickly as he could and drawing his sword.
"We have to get out of here or we'll end up dead," Finn said, looking toward the wooden wall surrounding the village. "If we break the wall, we'll be able to get out of here."
"You won't leave!" a voice exclaimed from the distance.
Suddenly, Finn and Darwin were pulled with great force by a spell, dragging them along the ground until they were right in front of what appeared to be a fountain. Finn looked up and saw a goblin wearing elegant cloaks and a stone arrow tied with rope around his neck. The goblin was standing over the body of an earthly creature.
"Do you think I don't know what your intentions are here, humans?!" the goblin witch shouted. "I WON'T LET YOU TAKE OUR RIGHTS AWAY. THEY BELONG TO US. THAT'S WHAT THE MURAL REVEALED TO US!!!"
The goblin extended his hands, launching a powerful torrent of lightning at Finn, causing him to writhe on the ground. Acting as quickly as he could, Darwin conjured a fireball as big as the goblin witch's head and threw it at him. Seeing the fireball approaching, the goblin simply moved his hand, dodging the fireball, but not the dagger that was flying at high speed behind it and ending up stabbing his right eye.
"Ugh, filthy humans!" the goblin cried in pain, ceasing his attack on Finn.
Darwin quickly grabbed Finn, avoiding an ogre's attack and hiding in another tent. Quickly taking out a healing bottle, he poured it on Finn's burned chest, causing him to breathe heavily. After a few seconds, Finn recovered and stood up, complaining of the pain.
"FUCK!! That hurts like hell" Finn complained. "The other goblin witches' lightning didn't hurt this much!"
"It's because it's on another level" Darwin said, peeking out of the tent to see if anyone was approaching.
"We have to do something fast!" Finn said, drawing his sword and cutting through the tent's fabric to get out the back.
"We have to get rid of that ogre first. One hit from him and he'll kill us" Darwin said.
"Stupid humans, you think you can escape!" the goblin witch shouted over the ogre's shoulder.
The goblin surprised them both with a fireball that they barely dodged.
"You'll die right here, right now!" the goblin shouted, starting to charge the lightning bolt in his hands.
"That's it!" Finn shouted, moving his hand and causing the slime to move at high speed, covering the ogre's head and the goblin hands in an instant.
"This stupid slime won't do anything to me..." the goblin shouted, but the lightning bolt in his hands reacted immediately, running through the slime and hitting the ogre directly.
"Slime is made of water, idiot!" Finn yelled.
The ogre fell dead, knocking the goblin to the ground. The goblin tried to react, but Darwin was quicker, swinging his sword and cutting the goblin's left arm before he could cast a spell. He then tried to cut the other arm, but this time the goblin did react.
"Ugh!" the goblin yelled in pain, extending his one hand, causing a great draft to blow Finn and Darwin away. "Sigh, sigh, I have to run..." said the goblin, holding his cutted arm.
The goblin staggered toward the tree, while Finn and Darwin were barely recovering from the sudden attack.
"The bastard can use three elemental spells… what kind of ritual allows a goblin to use three elemental spells?" Darwin said, holding his head.
"I don't know, but we have to follow him. He has the arrow" Finn said, standing up and running toward the goblin.
The two ran toward the tree, dodging ogres along the way and killing a few hobgoblins. When they reached the tree, they saw a trail of blood leading up the wooden stairs.
"He climbed up to his tent. Does he have something to heal him?" Finn asked, running up the stairs.
"I don't know, but it's very likely" Darwin replied.
After a few seconds, the two finally reached the large platform where the goblin warlock's tent was and saw the goblin almost crawling toward the tent. He had lost a lot of blood and was very weak.
"Back off, filthy humans!" The goblin shouted, extending his single hand toward Finn and Darwin.
Seeing this, Finn didn't hesitate to extend his hand, using his telekinesis as a kind of barrier that pushed him toward the goblin witch. A few seconds later, a crash was heard, and two energies of different colors manifested, red and blue, fighting to win in a contest of power.
"What is this?" Finn asked, feeling the effort he had to make as his telekinesis collided with the goblin's.
"Clash of pure magic. Telekinesis is nothing more than the pure control of magic itself, so when it collides with another magic of the same type, it shows the purity of the user's magic under the pressure of the two magics..." Darwin explained, focusing on the red magic. "However, this is different. The red color in the goblin's magic indicates that it's not natural. That color indicates the presence of blood magic. I don't know how, but the goblin has been using some kind of blood magic on him!"
"Die, humans!" the goblin shouted, and the red color increased, generating a larger barrier that began to push Finn back.
"Shut the fuck up!" Darwin shouted, generating a flare that collided with the red barrier and shattered it almost instantly.
"What?!" the goblin shouted in surprise.
As the red magic dissolved, Finn's magic moved forward again without any problems and struck the goblin, sending him crashing into the tent. Finn breathed heavily; this was the first time he'd done something like this, and he could feel how it had generated a great strain on his body.
"We had the same basic magic, but his was more potent..." Finn said, unsure of why.
"I can't help you with that. Telekinesis is a very complex magic that is completely tied to the user and their anima, from what I understand. Those are things I can't understand, nor do I want to understand" Darwin said.
Finn nodded before starting to walk toward the tent with Darwin, looking at the unconscious goblin on the ground.
"We have him" Finn said.
"Yes, but we still can't get out of here. It's still total chaos outside" Darwin said, listening as the fight continued outside.
"We have no choice but to wai," Finn said, then looked at the goblin witch. "We should cut off his other arm to make sure he can't use magic."
"Sigh, I think I only have one healing potion left. I broke several during the fight" Darwin said, taking the last potion out of his bag.
"No problem, I still have four unused. I'll give you half" Finn said, drawing his sword.
"Good, let's do it quickly. I want to see what's in this tent the goblin wanted so badly" Darwin said.
Finn nodded and with a quick movement, cut off the goblin's other arm, letting Darwin pour the potion over it and close the goblin's wounds. Then he took out a sky-blue potion, pouring half of it into the goblin's mouth.
"Good, that should do it for now. With that amount of sleeping potion, the goblin witch shouldn't be able to wake up for about six hours" Darwin said, putting the potion away again.
"Why do you carry a sleeping potion with you?" Finn asked curiously.
"The sound of insects at night is keeping me awake" Darwin confessed. "Now we need to do a quick inspection of the room."
"You're forgetting this" Finn said, throwing the stone arrow the goblin witch had. "It looks like a makeshift arrow."
"It must have some kind of magic imbued with it that we can't sense, since according to the goblin witches, this thing is what gave them intelligence and magic." Darwin speculated, putting the arrow back in his bag. "We'll give it to the Master later."
Finn nodded, and so the two of them began searching the entire tent, looking for anything out of the ordinary or an object that could be used to perform rituals, other than the arrow. The two searched through the goblin's personal belongings, the makeshift bed, and even books, discovering that golbins also knew how to read and write, or at least this one did. Searching through the books, they found several magic books they used for practice, and they also found a journal belonging to the unconscious goblin wizard.
"Dear diary..." Finn read, mocking the goblin. "The illusory door is very convincing... You must be kidding me" Finn said, reading.
"Did you find anything?" Darwin asked, still searching through the books.
Finn nodded slightly, walking toward the back of the tent, where only a red cloth was covering it. Finn extended his hand, and it passed through the cloth without any resistance. It was an illusion.
"It's a hidden passage. The damn goblin put an illusion over this part of the tree" Finn said.
"I see, that's why the tent is stuck to the tree despite all the space it has on the platform" Darwin nodded.
"Yes, this tree is hollow, from what I read. It's some kind of cover where they perform their rituals." Finn entered the tree, followed by Darwin.
Upon entering, they saw some stairs lit by torches. These stairs descended far below ground level. The two went down the wide, wooden stairs. The path was covered in dust. The two walked down for a few minutes until they reached a straight path that led to a room without doors.
Upon entering the room, the first thing they saw was that it was decorated with all sorts of symbols they couldn't understand, with a large stone bed in the center. The bed was surrounded by a river of blood, leaving only a straight path to the bed. In the corner of the room, they could see several corpses of goblins, harpies, and even a horse-woman.
"A blood ritual?" Finn wondered.
"So this is where blood magic came from… although, I don't know what they tried to get from the other species…" Darwin replied. "Blood rituals are mainly used to acquire abilities from other species."
"Maybe they tried to mutate" Finn speculated. "Just imagine it, a goblin witch with the same size and strength as a horse-woman and the claws and wings of a harpy."
"Maybe… but that doesn't make sense with what the goblin witch said earlier" Darwin said, remembering what the goblin had yelled.
"Yeah, they think we were coming for someone. I imagine they mean the godites" Finn said, walking around the room.
"He said 'They belong to us' in the plural, so it's very likely that they are" Darwin affirmed, examining the bed.
"And they are…" Finn said, stopping in front of a drawing.
In front of Finn was a drawing of a creature. It had elongated ears and reached Finn's waist. The creature didn't have sharp claws or body deformities like the goblins.
"If they're looking for a way to get to the godites..." Finn said. "I think when they found the ancient mural and saw the creation of the goblins, they thought the godites were rightfully theirs and think we want to take them."
Finn looked amused at the drawing of the godite with hearts drawn around it.
"That makes sense, but it doesn't explain how the hell they increased their intelligence in less than a year" Darwin said, taking the arrow out of his pouch. "Apparently, this arrow is the one that helped them, but how, how did they know what to do with this arrow?"
When he took the arrow out of his pouch, the room reacted unexpectedly, causing the walls to fade away and revealing a large hall with several magical writings on the walls. The writings glowed and began to spread until they reached the stone bed. The river of blood surrounding the bed was consumed, causing the bed to glow red with some kind of magic they were unaware of. The stone arrow also glowed golden, transforming into a golden arrow with a drawing of a tree at the tip.
"Well, I think we now know how they gained intelligence" Finn said.
Looking at the table more closely, they could see the shape of a body, indicating that whoever performed the ritual should lie there. Also, where the blood had been before, there was now only an empty channel with several inscriptions that Darwin could somewhat understand.
"Transfer… they didn't procreate with the beastwomen for military strength, they used newborn goblins to increase their own intelligence" Darwin said, amazed. "But since they discovered that, they shouldn't have been intelligent enough to understand it in the first place."
"And I don't think they occupied it," Finn said, noticing another ancient mural on the far wall, detailing the ritual with drawings. "I imagine the goblins must have found this place by coincidence, along with the arrow, and then performed a quick ritual to confirm what this mural said."
"Who created such a thing?" Darwin asked, disgusted. "It stipulates that they have to be specific offspring."
"So what about the corpses in the corner?" Finn asked. "Failed attempts?"
"Most likely. Otherwise, why isn't there a horde of monsters capable of using magic? It must be that only a few could access magic and knowledge" Darwin said.
"Sigh, whatever. The Master will investigate this later. Let's just return to the guild to finally finish the mission" Finn said tiredly.
"Sigh, I can't wait to finish this mission..." Darwin replied.