Since so much happened today, it'll be difficult to mention everything.
I’ll do my best to not mention anything useless, and write about it from start to finish.
First, there are eight new Hobgoblins. Two of them were mages and one was a Cleric.
The one who became a Cleric was close friends with Gobuji-kun, so he might have been drawn into becoming a Cleric. The number of clerics increased as I expected, and I found myself grinning wickedly.
Next up is Gobumi-chan. When Gobumi-chan woke up today, she had become an entirely different race called a [Dhampir - Variant]. The change in her appearance isn't even comparable to the time when she ranked up from Goblin to Hobgoblin.
Or perhaps I should say, it’s pointless to compare them.
She was at least 180 cm tall with a charming body, a narrow waist accentuated by her breasts that would overflow in your hands, a beautiful moon-like face more fleeting than an Elf's, glittering silver hair that flowed down to her waist, fine skin, and finally, red eyes with golden pupils.
She also acquired the ability [God of Ice’s Divine Protection]; a wonderful ability that allows the user to generate and manipulate large amounts of ice. According to Gobujii, the blessing of a [God] is above that of a [Demigod]. It's extremely rare, even when compared to the rare blessings that Gobukichi-kun possesses.
Moreover, it's hard to imagine from her delicate appearance that her strength and agility was remarkably different from before. I dare say that she would be evenly matched with Gobukichi-kun whose base stats were higher than me.
Even with the blessing of a [God] the undead body of a vampire would be weak to the sun. But because she is a [Dhampir-Subspecies], she doesn't have this weakness.
As always, she'd be able to go out at any time, even during the day.
Gobumi-chan has become immensely beautiful. If you understand that much, then, there won’t be a problem. But her appearance bothered me... I felt like I have seen that face somewhere before... like the adult face of a certain childhood friend.
I’ll keep this story to myself for now as it's not a concern for today. Let's get back to the other changes. There are so many changes I'm having trouble grasping them all at once.
Now, on to Gobue-chan...
What Gobue-chan had turned into was a species of [Lord] called a [Half Earth Lord]. She was not from a subspecies.
She was at least 240 centimeters tall, approaching my height with a stout and solid muscular physique. She had two large horns that extended 20 centimeters out and curve back on her forehead. She's got short yellow hair and garnet-like eyes. Her skin appeared to be firm but still was soft like that of a woman. Her breasts were comparable to the size of watermelons but had better shape to them. Lastly, she had yellow looking stones around five centimeter in diameter embedded in her abdomen as well as under both her elbows. They appeared to be the same type of stone that Hobusei-san’s [Lord] species had. Those stones, called “Ogre Orbs”, were imbued in a [Lord]’s body and contained the abilities and characteristics of their species.
The abilities of her species generally helped with manipulating earth. One of them was related to mining; the ability [Complete Geological Comprehension] made her able to see the brittle points in the bedrock. This would help her mine different types of ore while also strengthening her body.
As a test, she tried digging through a wall with her bare hands which acted like a drill and the ground gave way. She dug more effectively barehanded now than when she was equipped with a pickaxe as a Hobgoblin.
With this development we could mine ore and spirit stones faster than ever before.
It also seems that she can use lightning based magic now, which can occasionally be useful during mining to locate ores. She'll be able to find a variety of ores now.
What can I say, Gobue-chan's mining has improved a lot. It's amazing to see the things you can accomplish when you push forward with your all towards something you love.
In combat Gobue-chan is nothing to fool with as well, she can easily break rocks with her bare hands. Imagine what would happen if something alive was caught with one of those blows.
A body is more fragile than bedrock, it would become paste.
She sure is scary.
Now, moving on to Hobusato-san.
Because Hobusato-san has always been good with a sword, she became a [Lord]. She turned into a [Half Bloody Lord]. Like Gobue-chan she is a normal [Lord] and not a subspecies.
She is two meters tall, with clearly defined muscles. She has modest breasts, and in the center of her forehead was a 15 centimeter ruby that extended out. She has carnelian colored pupils, slightly red skin, and long blood red hair that was bound by string into a ponytail. She also had two bright red Ogre Orbs about five centimeters in diameter embedded in her hands. Note: a carnelian is a brownish red gemstone
Although she didn't gain the ability to use magic, her physical capabilities had grown in leaps and bounds. It seems that the [Bloody Lord] species excels in close quarters combat.
It is with a race that includes the "Blood Sword", and as is suggested by the blood in their name they can manipulate their own blood and the blood of others. There are conditions to do so though.
Even if she cannot use magic, these abilities made her strong. If we are talking about only direct combat ability she would likely be in third or fourth place in our group, and certainly be in the top five.
Although she might fall behind Gobukichi-kun and Gobumi-chan in terms of physical power, in close quarters combat I expect that [Predict], [Precognition], and [Intuition] would even out the match.
At any rate, everyone mysteriously developed a black tattoo similar to mine like Hobusei-san, but they differed slightly in the design and placement.
Hobusato-san had one on her back, Gobue-chan on the arm, and Gobumi-chan on the leg. The other Hobgoblins had them on the leg, arm or neck.
I am not worried about them, because I can feel a power coming from them.
I expect that I'll understand what they're for in the future.
To celebrate their Ranking up I passed out two magic items to each Hobgoblin.
Gobumi-chan received a blue and white dress made with dark magic and bound together with steel like thread. She also got glasses related to her new ability that is a trait of her race, the [Eyes of Bewitchment]. These glasses work to seal the effects of her eyes' ability. It's not a good idea to look into her eyes for too long. I also gave her an enchanted claymore called the [Drop of Moonlight], the sword looks like a piece of artwork made from ice crystals.
Gobue-chan got two new weapons, the [Earth Goddess War Pick] and an enormous [Earth Goddess Shovel] as a set that have the capability to accommodate her new larger size. Because her old clothes didn't fit any more I also gave her a new set of clothes consisting of surplus magical items, and a new towel made from my thread to wipe away the sweat from her hard work.
To Hobusato-san, I gave a set of magic items consisting of full plate armor made with red iron, a red cape which is a good match for physical and magical attacks. Lastly, I gave her an enchanted long sword [Blood Princess], that has the ability to suck blood, though this hardly seems necessary with her abilities.
To the three people who became a race above and beyond that of a standard Hobgoblin, I supplied them with bracelets that have the storage ability. Gobukichi-kun and Hobusei-san already have identical bracelets.
But, yeah.
Gobumi-chan has the look of a noble's daughter. She doesn't pull the zipper in front all the way up, liberating the rest of her top. Gobue-chan is dressed like a farm boss. She wrapped the towel I made her around her body and tucked it into her breasts, exposing the top of her chest and her navel. Hobusato-san has the look of a knight with her whole body dyed in red.
Nevertheless, even though we had ranked up so much, we still call each other by our old names, like Goburou, Gobukichi-kun and such, and it was beginning to feel odd.
Well, we weren't Goblins anymore.
I asked Gobujii, and here's what he said our names would be:
- Goburou → Ogarou
- Gobukichi-kun → Ogakichi-kun
- Gobumi-chan → Dhammi-chan
- Gobue-chan → Asue-chan
- Hobusei-san → Supesei-san
- Hobusato-san → Burasato-san
- Gobuji-kun → Hobuji-kun
- Gobu-chan → Hobufu-chan
- etc.
The individuals who had ranked up each received new names.
Though I didn't expect Gobujii to have a good naming sense, this was terrible.
It's not like a person can decide his or her own name either though, so I let it go.
Also, because this will likely be asked, I will go ahead and mention it here.
If you take the average strength of the races and place them in order, it would look like this:
Dhampir ≧ Half Spell Lord = Half Earth Lord = Half Bloody Lord ≧ Ogre ≧ Elf > Kobold Foot Soldier > Kobold = Hobgoblin = Human > Goblin.
This list is only considering their races, it does not account for skills or weapons.
An Ogre can beat one of the Half-Lord race in terms of physical strength, but unfortunately their intelligence is usually lower, so their tactics are simpler and they are weaker.
There is not much of an opportunity for exceptional individuals.
Now, about the Elves and Kobolds.
I decided not to eat the Kobolds because they wanted to join us.
Well, even if I did eat them, they wouldn't strengthen any of my abilities. It appears that having them around won't hurt either, their loyalty seems genuine. I am excited to see what a Kobold will turn into after it ranks up. It is reasonable to assume that it could turn into a variety of things. Anyways, having minions that can move freely and scout in the future will be a great asset.
As far as the war between the humans and the Elves, I know Father Elf-san will request my help. There is still time, I'm sure a messenger will be come here soon.
If he does make a request I will accept it.
A large-scale war will give me the chance to gain new abilities and get stronger in general. I can also gain more knowledge about the military power, tactics, and methods of battle in this world.
It will also serve to strengthen ties with Father Elf-san, and that Elven wine will become easier to get a hold of.
That sake is seriously delicious!
For that reason, having a large number of minions can help in many ways, such as baiting the humans into a trap, constructing military camps, or launching surprise attacks and would expand the range of strategies I could use in the war.
This is why I decided not to kill them and instead made them my followers. Of course there's no way I'd trust them just like that. Within their group there are only a few that I trust completely.
So, as insurance, I gave all the Kobolds a different version of the cuffs that were enchanted with three abilities like the cuffs I distributed before, but further enhanced with a new ability [Enslave].
With this, the concern of wondering if any Kobolds defy me in the middle of a battle is solved. Even if they wanted to disobey, they could be used without any issues.
These cuffs were also given to the Elves, who were used for sex and breeding. However, these were enhanced with [Conceal].
I wanted to make them submit with [Enslave], while also avoiding any unnecessary trouble with the other elves by using [Conceal].
It seems that in the Elves' culture cutting a hole in their ears for the attachment of ornaments is taboo. Apparently their name will be struck from the clan forever, and they will be exiled. For that reason Elven slaves of this world had their long ears cut halfway. Installing these cuffs on their ears was mostly to try to deny them their last bit of resistance.
It was fine to just install the cuffs, but they could make up an excuse like "It was done against my will, I couldn't help it" to hide their real intentions, so I did this to strip off their remaining pride.
Well then.
Earlier Ogakichi-kun was asking for advice about his relationship with Asue-chan. So, I put him charge of the male elves. I told him "Try doing it with a male elf as practice before the real thing." while watching over them. I to made sure he knew to go easy on them to not break them. As a reward, I let the Goblins, whose social standing was low and normally had no chance to get a turn, have turns with the Males as well. The male Elves sure were pretty boys. They were satisfying enough.
I have to wonder if the higher ranked Hobgoblins are with the women for hours on end.
In the end I think it's better for the elves to live obediently.
The Elves who had all been imprisoned until now, to prevent escape, were allowed out of their cells.
I let them participate in training with the Kobolds and the others. To use an elite Elf only for sex and breeding would be wasteful. Apparently it's more difficult for Elves to get pregnant, so the numbers that will be more stable rather than what used to happen with human women.
Now that I don't have to worry about being disobeyed, the sex and breeding in the future will be more efficient. It might be good if we captured some humans.
The Elves, being out of prison for the first time in ages, were very happy about their freedom. It seems the change of scenery was a success.
Now its time to train the newcomers. We're working on being able to organize into ranks quickly and improving their endurance. It is the type of basic training that Gobukichi-kun and the other Goblins started with. Anyways, this would be good for the Kobolds, but the Elves being elite warriors could have skipped over the basic training, but because this was a new beginning they joined in.
The ones who already knew what to do didn't have any problems, but there were others that needed to work on a thing or two.
The training continued until they could no longer stand.
After they took a break, there weren't any Kobolds among them who could be chosen as a supervisor based on combat, strength, or character. A Goblin was appointed as supervisor to teach this new group the way to use logistics and how to be effective rear support in battle.
Those that remained now, were the Kobold children and the Elves. They were given additional combat lessons through sparring sessions.
I wasn't going to have them spar against Gobukichi-kun, or even any of Goblins, Hobgoblins, Elves, or Kobolds.
This training was also going to be an experiment.
I will have the Elves and Kobolds fight against Skeletons that I can produce with [Lesser Summoning: Undead].
I can generate them almost indefinitely, so there is no risk involved, and I even gain experience if they are defeated just by using the ability. Among the bones that remain after they're defeated are a variety of ingredients that can be used for blacksmithing or alchemy, so this process kills three birds with one stone.
The practice was held in the cave. It is a little gloomy, but it has to be because the strength of an undead wanes in daylight.
The undead come up from a black shadow on the ground. It seems like some sort of hallucination as they rise up from it.
The last time I summoned a skeleton something unexpected occurred.
Unlike the common Skeleton that was normally summoned, a Black Skeleton was summoned. It 2 meters tall, equipped with a jet black mantle and full plate armor that covered its entire body in brutally sharp looking metal.
It was armed with a curved saber and had a crimson kite shield for defense.
I could clearly see this was a higher ranked Skeleton compared to the past Skeletons.
It was comparable or maybe even better than a Greater Skeleton. The Skeleton system uses "Soul Equipment" to arm the body according to the ability of the individual. This means that weapons and armor are decided by the level of either [Greater Equipment Materialization] or [Equipment Materialization].
The high quality weapons and armor cannot be wielded by anyone else after the skeleton is destroyed because they disappear in a fog at when they're defeated. The quality of the equipment has improved to the point where it envelops the entire Skeleton. This Skeleton is without a doubt is the strongest I have seen yet.
I examined it quickly.
According to the examination, my [Lesser Summoning: Undead] ability somehow created it, even though it shouldn't be at a high enough level to do this. Normally the ability is strengthened by what I eat, but this is different, and this shows it's a good idea to practice with the abilities too.
I think its fitting to call it the Black Skeleton Knight.
The Black Skeleton Knight faced off against Elves equipped with Mithril short swords and round shields, but it was still victorious.
I could tell watching it fight that it had the skill of a true knight, complete with the robust defense of the kite shield, and the furious waves and slashes let out by its saber. I have to admit it had some brilliant movements.
The Black Skeleton Knight was resistant to slashing abilities and fatigue. It's well suited for drawn out conflict.
Even against the Elves there wasn't a big difference in skill, but in the end it lost due to the difference in physical strength.
So yeah, this guy isn't usable.
The experience gain was important, but as I was also trying to manage a number of Black Skeleton Knights. I let them get defeated by going easy. The experience gain was steadily decreasing as they were defeated though. I'm not quite sure why.
Later in the evening, I continued my experiments with [Lesser Summoning: Undead].