Astraea had left, but Luo En was still in the great hall.
After hearing about the little elf’s concocted potion, Maximus no longer worried that Luo En might lose.
The Elf Secret Elixir had been used on that kid, so what else was there to say?
They might as well hand him the championship.
The duke knew exactly what that Forest Holy Liquid was.
It was because of that potion that the elf who once stabbed the All-Father had been able to grow strong.
If Luo En couldn’t win the championship, then Maximus would think that Luo En did not deserve the little elf.
The tall knight retracted his aura and walked toward the exit, keeping a distance behind the little elf.
Strangely, the pedestrians on the street showed no reaction to the nearly three-meter-tall duke.
Even when he squeezed between two arguing merchants, they didn’t pause for a moment.
It was as if Maximus did not exist in their perception.
This was a very advanced use of energy.
Maximus had been a great knight for over sixty years, and his mastery of knightly power had reached an extremely high level.
Erasing his own presence and making ordinary mortals unaware of him was just one of the many subtleties of knightly power.
Next, the duke would secretly protect the little elf without revealing himself.
As a fellow blessed by the All-Father, even if she was a Heteromorph, he would not allow her to be harmed during this trial.
Naturally, Astraea could not detect the duke. She pressed forward under the strange gazes of passersby. If not for the collar around her neck proving her identity, she would have been apprehended by the Royal Capital Guard several times already.
Casting a purification spell on the air around her, the little elf headed straight into the Sewer.
When she passed the camp where the earlier battle had taken place, Astraea earnestly inquired about the goblins.
The soldiers of the Royal Capital Guard almost drew their swords upon seeing Astraea, but when the knight on duty placed his sword against the little elf’s neck, she produced the credentials the duke had given her.
The Royal Capital knight sheathed his longsword grudgingly and said, “Heteromorph, I don’t know how you obtained the duke’s written order, but remember this—I’ll only say it once.”
Astraea put on a serious expression, indicating she was listening intently.
“The goblin tribe in the Sewer is more intelligent and stronger than the wild goblin tribes. On average, one Hobgoblin is born for every hundred goblins, and one Goblin Mage is born for every thousand goblins. Additionally, according to the latest intelligence from the Frontier Brothers, there appear to be even stronger individuals among the Hobgoblins. There is no further data on the Goblin Mages yet.”
This knight did not hold back; he told Astraea all the information the Royal Capital Guard had gathered during this time. After she nodded to indicate she had noted it, he added, “For the sake of you working for the duke, I’ll give you a warning—never study the magic of those Goblin Mages.”
“Huh? Why?”
The little elf asked curiously, feeling there might be some huge secret behind it.
The knight gave a deep look at the little elf’s pointed ears and said, “That power is blasphemy.” Then he fell silent.
Astraea nodded outwardly but did not take his words to heart.
Blasphemy or not—most humans believed in the All-Father, but she was not a follower of the All-Father. Blasphemy wouldn’t be her concern.
Besides, goblins were physiologically cousins to elves. There was no reason she couldn’t study the magic that goblins could study.
Astraea quickly put the matter out of mind. She was here to find Tang Deli the knight’s remains, not to help humans uncover the secrets of the goblin nest.
Gripping the hilt of her longsword, the little elf cast a Lighting Spell and walked step by step into the depths of the Sewer.
—
What should a goblin’s life be like?
From birth to death, goblins did not live nearly as long as their elf cousins. An ordinary goblin would learn to pick up a club and go hunting about two weeks after birth, then go out robbing with the strong males of the nest. If lucky, they might leave offspring before the age of two.
As for the object of their reproduction, that was beyond their control. They used whatever was available, but at least it would usually be a female from the same group.
Then they would repeat the process until they were killed or died of old age at ten.
For the first time, Gajiga thought about the meaning of his existence.
He suddenly felt that the club he was swinging was no fun, and the females promised by the great chief had lost their appeal.
He didn’t want to muddle through his short life meaninglessly. He wanted to live properly.
So he threw down his club, ignored the puzzled cries of the goblins around him, and returned to sit in the nest.
The nest was always noisy, the sounds of thousands of goblins making it impossible to find peace.
Oh, he wasn’t human; he was a goblin.
Gajiga looked at the great chief, who was shrouded in black mist, and scratched his hairless head.
The great chief was huge, the largest goblin he had ever seen. It was said that the chief had been this size ever since the nest was established ten years ago.
“You, little one, learn.”
The great chief, emanating black mist, tossed a book to Gajiga.
This was the finest book Gajiga had ever seen—nothing like the shabby trinkets other goblins collected.
After all, the great chief was the great chief; his belongings were different from those of other goblins.
Thinking this, Gajiga opened the book the chief had thrown him…
Then he stared at the picture on the first page for a long time.
“You, learn, understand?”
The great chief’s voice was loud, and many goblins wanted to come and watch, but they could only see the chief’s tall figure.
“Gaga… gu?”
Gajiga couldn’t understand a single word in the book, but he felt as if something in it was trying to burrow into his head.
Gajiga screamed in pain, writhing on the ground clutching his head, while the great chief watched coldly.
Finally, Gajiga stopped struggling and lay peacefully on the ground.
When he woke up again, though he still couldn’t read a single character, he seemed different from before!
The great chief threw over a piece of cloth and a Bone Staff, and Gajiga equipped them on the spot.
He had changed. He was no longer an ordinary goblin; he had become a Goblin Mage.
That was the end of the memory. Gajiga crouched in the shadows, coldly watching the little elf holding a Lighting Spell.
The reproductive urge he hadn’t felt for a long time was aroused at the sight of the little elf. This rare experience made Gajiga stare wide-eyed at her.
He wanted to see who it was that could stir up his desires.
—
Astraea found Tang Deli the knight’s remains, but she dared not directly retrieve the knight’s family crest.
The knight’s remains were hung on a wooden rack in the goblin nest, with the crest that needed to be recovered pinned to the chest of the corpse.
Without speaking, Astraea drew her longsword and faced off against a Hobgoblin.
Getting here had been easier than she expected. The little elf hadn’t experienced a single battle.
She had carefully avoided all the goblin patrols. If not for discovering Tang Deli, she could have gone even deeper.
“Guga!”
An ice crystal pierced the spot where the little elf had just stood. Nimbly dodging the enemy’s spell, Astraea looked at her attacker.
A Goblin Mage shrouded in black mist.
Astraea didn’t know what the black mist on the Goblin Mage was, but she could tell that this one contained denser mana than the one she had encountered before.
Gripping her longsword, the little elf assumed a stance, facing her enemies.
Three Hobgoblins, one Goblin Mage, and countless ordinary goblins.
Astraea swung her sword forward.
“Enhance!”
Magic enhanced Astraea’s strength. The little elf swung her sword and cut down three ordinary goblins, then gripped the longsword—which was rather long for her—with both hands.
“Hah!”
With a flash of the blade, Astraea wielded the longsword as if it were a greatsword, making full use of her elven body’s advantages.
With amazing flexibility, she tried all sorts of sword strikes unimaginable for a human, cutting down all the goblins that surrounded her, sending them to an early grave.
But choosing to enhance swordsmanship came at a cost. The little elf held the longsword with both hands, devoting most of her energy to close combat.
This left her with insufficient energy to construct new spells to counter Gajiga, the Goblin Mage.
Conversely, Gajiga’s occasional spells always forced Astraea to dodge embarrassingly.
“Take this!”
Engaged in a struggle with a Hobgoblin, Astraea used her crossguard to deflect the Hobgoblin’s club, then thrust her sword forward, nearly piercing the Hobgoblin’s chest.
At that critical moment, Gajiga cast a prepared spell. A water barrier appeared between Astraea and the Hobgoblin.
The little elf’s sword had already passed through the water barrier. If she continued thrusting, she would surely pierce one of the Hobgoblin’s hearts.
But Astraea dared not gamble. She withdrew her sword and retreated several meters to put distance between herself and the Hobgoblin.
Sure enough, the ordinary-looking water barrier suddenly transformed into a cage, locking onto the spot just vacated by Astraea.
If the little elf had been a moment slower, she would have become the goblins’ prisoner.
“Phew…” Exhaling a breath, Astraea stared intently at Gajiga, who was wrapped in cloth, as if seeking a breakthrough from him.
But as a mage, Gajiga was vigilant enough. A Hobgoblin stuck close to his side.
He had long heard of unlucky goblins dying to human decapitation tactics. The clever one would not make that mistake.
Come on! Capture that elf. He had a feeling that the offspring born from that elf would all be superior!