《Vulk's Fang》 Prologue: summoning once again Soora Enkas walked down the steps away from the World Tree, it had been four years since she was last here. For a high elf like her that amount of time could be considered nothing more than the blink of an eye. Given that, fact she found it strange that she would be summoned back so soon her position had her looking after several small and mid sized beast race villages so most of her time was spent aiding the various village chiefs in times of crisis. The only reason she could think of for the summoning would be to receive an assignment but her last one had just finished and nothing of importance had been reported to her, so Soora was not expecting problems. But there was in fact a major problem, a group of remnant of the vengeful spirits that she was assigned to guard a village against came back and with more numbers than ever before. Threatening even some of the larger surrounding villages. Thinking about her new mission only gave her a headache, vengeful ghosts were simply too hard to get rid of and came with a plethora of problems that could cause an entire kingdom to fall if they gathered for a long enough time. Normally after a group of vengeful ghosts gathered in a location a horde of undead would soon follow and attack the living, then monsters would begin to gather from the large amounts of miasma released from the undead. From then on it would just become a vicious cycle of monsters turning into undead whenever they were killed only to attract more monsters. Four years ago Soora struggled with getting rid of the spirits themselves as they were the root cause and the only way from preventing the dead monsters from becoming undead but that proved easier said than done. As the high elf overseer of the various villages she was not allowed to interfere personally by elven law all she could do was bring in help or give advice. That was when a marvelous idea hit her, she could just summon someone to take care of ghost problem for her, someone with the right skills for the job.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. And that was exactly what she had done, Soora summoned a hero for her village with magic available only to the high elves. Although her hero wasn¡¯t what she had expected, summoning him worked out splendidly and having confirmed that he threat to the villages was gone she sent him back completely ignoring the fact that she had promised him a significant reward. After all as a reward she had promised to give herself to the hero but that was against the laws set for the high elves, so she simply sent him back. It was not that she had not thought of giving him anything else it was simply the fact that he accepted her offer without knowing the elven laws and his ignorance could not be blamed on her. However, now she once more faced the same issue and the best way to deal with it would be to call back the hero. Thinking about him Soora couldn¡¯t help but laugh slightly, calling him a hero was a bit much, other than his ability to directly harm ghosts his physical strength was lacking and when it came to magic he was nothing more than an ignorant hick with mana reserves equivalent to a toad. His personality wasn¡¯t bad and unlike most of his race didn¡¯t live solely by his instinct but that was it and just that wouldn¡¯t be enough for her or the elders of the world tree council to allow a high elf to brake the law elven law, especially when it came to lineage. ¡°Ahh! No matter I¡¯ll just get the prince and his group to convince him after that I¡¯ll be done here and go back to my duties.¡± In fact there were other ways to get rid of the vengeful ghosts but they required other ghosts or individuals who could interact with them and someone like that was just too rare and time consuming to find. Not only would the time taken to find and train another person allow the problem to grow but it would also mean a bad mark on her record. Calling the wolf prince was her best option at the moment, four years ago together with the wolf prince, his guard, and a maid the hero was able to drive off the monsters and ghost. In the process they had also become very close, having made her decision Soora went to the stables where the tamed beasts were kept. After looking around for only a short while she found what she was looking for a winged horse. This would be able to get her to the prince quickly. On a normal horse the journey to the prince would take months depending on the weather and terrain but by flight she could be there and back in just a couple of days days. Chapter 1: The importance of a name Outside the dark cave, rain was all he could see. On days like this hunting was impossible to go out and hunt for food, instead one would have to rely on food that had been stored. Unfortunately for him, his rank in society was too low to allow any of the village''s precious resources to be spent on him. All he could get were some bugs born from infestations and the deepest pits of the cave. Even fruits and the like were much too good for him in the eyes of his fellow villagers. ¡°Me eat. Then go children!¡± Hearing the screams of one such villager he almost burst into tears. Four years, it had been four years since he returned to this village and only then had he realized how truly dumb these creatures that thought of themselves as intelligent beings were. Before he was taken from the village he already had a feeling that he was different, unlike his kin he questioned what made sense and what didn¡¯t. Once he had gotten the opportunity to go out and hunt with a group but just stayed back aghast at his kin¡¯s way of hunting. He couldn¡¯t comprehend how five hunters died simply to kill one rabbit and could still call that a successful hunt. While thinking back on that dreadful day he felt pain from the back of his head. It wasn¡¯t uncommon for someone to simply come up to him and strike him to get his attention. Looking back his eyes reflected a green monstrosity. Long arms disproportional to its body, short legs, a wrinkled face, and jagged broken fangs protruding from its lower lip. A goblin his kin, unlike them however his appearance was closer to that of a ten year old human boy. Although his skin was a sickly pale green, his body was more or less proportional and his fangs were relatively small, though he still shared the same hideous face. ¡°You get Work!¡± He didn¡¯t answer the goblin in front of him and instead simply began walking to the back of the cave. The work the goblin mentioned was simple, all he had to do was catch some bugs from the back of the cave and leave them near the younger goblins so that they had something to eat. Beneath him a white light shone, surprised he almost jumped out of the way but was able to suppress his instinct, this had happened once before. Just like four years ago he was being called to a different location, simply going by his last attempt to escape the light he already knew it was impossible. After a brief moment of blindness he saw a familiar scene, the inside of a large tent were he had once spent a weak trapped. Looking closely it was slightly different but the design was the same sturdy walls made of beast skins and five large poles to hold up the structure. He wondered how long it would take someone to find him this time. When he was summoned here four years ago he could not get out regardless of how much he struggled, that was not due to the strength of the tent but the summoning circle beneath his feet. Unless the summoner completed a contract with the summoned he would either have to be sent back or make a deal with the summoner a barrier would lock him in side the circle. This time his wait was relatively short and soon four figures appeared from the entrance of the tent. Prince Seff an adolescent from the wolf-man race, Iefyr an elf male and the guard of Prince Seff, Nima a female minotaur the prince¡¯s maid, and Soora Enkas a high elf female but most importantly she was the one who summoned him and owed him a debt. ¡°... So Soora I¡¯m guessing you didn¡¯t call me back just to pay me what I¡¯m owed?¡± Soora looked at him for a moment before answering, he knew what she was thinking. He was a goblin and tricking one wasn¡¯t to hard of a task, so she could possibly voice any number of statements that seemed agreeable. ¡°Child do not call me that. But the simple answer to your question is no¡­ Going past that there is much more trouble than originally thought and your contract has yet to be fulfilled so I need you to venture forth once more.¡± He looked at her wondering how little she truly she thought of his intelligence, previously he had proven that he was an adept thinker. Though knew little in the form of actual knowledge his learning ability and wisdom were quite excellent. Looking at the other three there faces were quite anxious. ¡°So how much did you know?¡± He no longer cared to listen to Soora, eventually he would get back to her, but for now he had to ascertain where his so called friends stood. ¡°I had a vague idea but did not foresee the end result.¡± The first to answer was the prince, he stood at roughly six feet tall with a muscular body and could be mistaken for a handsome young adult in his early twenties. His appearance was simply that of a human¡¯s with the ears and tail of a wolf. He however knew that the prince¡¯s appearance was deceiving just four years ago the prince was only an eleven year old brat. ¡°... Thank you.¡± He could tell the prince wasn¡¯t lying and readily bowed his head, if it wasn¡¯t for the prince the possibility of him even succeeding in repelling the ghost threat was too small to even consider. ¡°I thought you were simply going to join us after we finished the mission.¡± Looking at the half cow half woman he smiled. Unlike a male minotaur, a female¡¯s head was still that of a human¡¯s, excluding the horns. She looked the same as she had four years ago. Standing at eight feet with a well proportioned upper body of a human and the lower body of a bipedal cow. He said his thanks once again, having never known her to lie he decided to put his faith in her. Lastly he looked at Iefyr the only other elf in the room.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°... I knew the outcome. Elven law is strict and even more so are the laws placed on the high elves. For that I could not tell you nor could I tell these two. I was given a mission and I accomplished it.¡± Looking at the man who he once thought of as a friend the lone goblin was truly hurt. Out of the three it was Iefyr who was closest to him. Out of a desire for knowledge he often spoke with Iefyr and during the time they had spent together he had truly come to think of Iefyr as a true friend. Often he would fight with death looming over him with the thoughts of helping his comrades rather than the reward he was promised. He looked back at Soora without saying any words of gratitude towards his former elf companion. The previous two he thanked were for what he could not say before being sent back to his original location. But it was clear that Iefyr was simply obeying orders and doing his job therefor he didn¡¯t need gratitude the goblin had done his part and that was enough. ¡° You shouldn¡¯t have expected more then what you could grasp in your hands.¡± Hearing Soora express herself as if this had nothing to do with her he was infuriated. ¡°... You, are you really saying that? You were the one to make the offer I only accepted!¡± Getting his hands on a high elf? That was an impossible dream not even a goblin king could accomplish. ¡°I was given an offer and then denied my prize after going through hell. So do not say that my greed was the problem¡­ Regardless, what offer do you have for me this time witch?¡± As soon as he uttered the last word Iefyr drew his word and struck the barrier that divided them. ¡°Insults to the high elves are punishable by death.¡± ¡°Iefyr clam down there is no issue. Good now that we get to the point I¡¯ll inform you of the situation. The ghosts are back and in greater numbers, this time however the undead have not yet gathered in such large numbers so the task should be simple enough. As for the deal, how about after you complete the task I give you a legendary treasure from one of our armories.¡± Seeing the astonished faces of the wolf prince and his maid he already knew that the deal was too good to be true. Iefyr looked back at the two and began to scowl. ¡°So going by the reaction I¡¯m guessing that your deal is too good to be true and most likely another lie. Try again?¡± Soora was finally beginning to grow frustrated, after all despite being a high elf she was still relatively young and could not shrug off everything like the elders of her tribe who could sleep even if the world was being destroyed. ¡°Prince i would ask you to not interfere with my plans.¡± The young prince simply shrugged. ¡°I owe a debt to a friend and this is the simplest way in which I can repay him.¡± Turning back to the goblin, Soora resigned to herself to give up something as long as it wasn¡¯t anything to important. ¡°So then tell me what you want.¡± Looking at her slightly defeated expression gave the goblin a small amount of joy. ¡°It¡¯s simple I want a name.¡± Soora smiled looking at the goblin whose thoughts were so small. ¡°Good after you complete your task I will give you a name.¡± Looking at her he could only tilt his head in amazement. ¡°How? How little do you really think of my intelligence? No you give me what I want then we make a deal. Anything else isn¡¯t worth even mentioning.¡± This was something that he would stand firmly by, first he would receive his reward then do his given task. Any other way would just be setting himself up for failure. ¡°... Hmm a name is simple enough, okay I¡¯ll agree to those terms.¡± The small goblin could only smile on the inside as he heard those words, a name something most took for granted was quite special for monsters. ¡°Then you can call yourself Yorgen.¡± The goblins smile disappeared due to the wording that Soora had use. Having a name and calling himself by a name was a different thing altogether for a monster. A monster with a name was generally given one by a stronger being for a goblin that could mean anyone but most of the time it was done by a goblin general or priest. A named monster would always be stronger than the rest of it¡¯s kind and would even have a chance to evolve into a higher species. However a monster that simply called itself by a name had no such advantages, it was simply making itself more of an individual. ¡°Hahaha, do you think that¡¯s enough, no. What I desire is a true name one which would make me stronger, one bestowed upon by higher being, a high elf such as yourself will do. Considering the drastic difference in rank between you and I, I just might be able to become a hobgoblin or a goblin knight.¡± Now Soora was truly annoyed, she did not expect the small goblin to know the meaning of a true name, instead she believed that there might have been a named goblin in his village and he simply wanted to be similar. ¡°I can have Iefyr give you a true name.¡± Watching the exchange Prince Seff and Nima were content, their goblin friend had not asked for to much or the impossible, instead a name for a monster was quite a common agreement when it came to seeking their aid. Although most of the time the monster would end up in a life long contract, but they would not allow such a thing to happen to someone they considered a friend. Iefyr however was not happy with this arrangement, he knew exactly why Soora was unwilling to name the goblin herself. After all giving a monster a true name would weaken one slightly for a period of time and in a way naming amongst elves was kept between trusted tamed monsters or family. The goblin had his own thoughts and was even a bit hostile so he could not be considered tamed or family. ¡°No, this is a contract between you and me. So either you name me now or send me back." Soora weighed the pros and cons of naming the goblin, on one hand she could get rid of her problems fast, wouldn¡¯t have to deal with any new variables, and avoid the hordes of undead that plagued her villages before. On the other hand she would lose some of her mana for a time. ¡°... Fine goblin I will name you.¡± ¡°My lady you should allow me to be the one!¡± Despite his reluctance to name the goblin he could not let Soora, a high elf, name a goblin. A creature that was considered nothing more than a pest to be exterminated. Soora simply shook her head after hearing Iefyr¡¯s words it was common knowledge that the monster would need to accept the name, normally this would be easy, most monsters could hardly be called intelligent. The goblin in front of her however, was not like most monsters, its intelligence had to be acknowledged. Soora had been planning to deceive it not by using his lack of wisdom but of knowledge. However it seemed have had picked up a fair bit of information from his time spent with Iefyr. ¡°Then goblin¡­ I Soora Enkas bestow upon you the name Vulk Balor.¡± As she spoke a light began to envelop the goblin signaling the beginning of his naming ceremony. Chapter 2: Goblins bloodline system As the light enveloped him the goblin, now Vulk, felt intense pain. He wasn¡¯t sure if the ritual was supposed to be this painful but he was at least certain that something was happening to his body. After what felt like ages Vulk once more regained control of his body and the pain he had once felt seemed as if it had been nothing more than an illusion. Looking around vulk could see the astonished faces of the prince and his maid. Iefyr on the other hand looked at Soora with a solemn expression. ¡°My lady he seems to have been able to grow a monster core and at the same time rank up.¡± Soora on the other hand paid ignored Iefyr¡¯s observation, she was more concerned by the fact that the manna loss she had suffered was much more substantial than she originally intended. ¡°Haha Vulk, it¡¯s a good name that''s brought you luck!¡± Prince Seff however didn¡¯t miss a word that Iefyr had said, a monster core! It was something that every monster desired. Looking at the goblin that stood before him the prince was truly impressed unlike his previous form Vulk was now a head taller, about the height of a thirteen year old human child. His arms and legs were perfectly proportional to his body and even his face had smoothed out somewhat. ¡°Vulk close your eyes and focus on your status. Now that you have a core you should be able to receive help from the system. Vulk had heard of the system before from one of the elder goblins who had access to it and quickly closed his eyes anticipating what was to come.
Name: Vulk Balor Race: Goblin beast warrior
Rank: E (15)
Strength: 15
Agility: 18
Vitality: 25
Mana : 2
Soul energy: 30
Skills
Soul¡¯s Claw ¡î¡î¡î Lv. III
Soul¡¯s Fang ¡î¡î¡î Lv.I
Claw Techniques ¡î Lv.V
Lesser Poltergeist ¡î Lv.I
Title
Inheritor of Wisdom. One of your parents having eaten the fruit of wisdom now passes it on to you.
Seeing the chart Vulk was truly happy that he had learned to read from the goblin elder. Although he wasn¡¯t taught anything great the basics between goblin language and demon language were more or less the same. Monsters were ranked from the lowest F rank monster to the highest S rank. As a goblin he had most likely previously been in the F rank category, a threat even the average farmer with a farm tool could get rid of. Now after having ranked up he became a goblin warrior, or more accurately a goblin beast warrior. Seeing the word beast he could only think of his mother, a horned rabbit that had been captured, used, then eaten but not before giving birth to him. As for the inheritor of wisdom title it was a great explanation on why he was so much smarter than the average goblin. And if it came from one of his parents then it must have been his mother, as his father was either killed in a hunt or simply died of old age. After all his father, like him was birthed from a beast, though which one Vulk had no idea. Soora seemed to have finally gotten over the temporary loss of a portion of her mana and looked directly at him. Seeing her eyes Vulk felt a bit uncomfortable but could do nothing. After staring at him for a while Soora furrowed her brows. ¡°Vulk, how do you goblins even consider this a language?¡± Vulk was surprised by her words, their meaning was clear she could also see his status. This was likely the source of the uncomfortable feeling he had while she was looking at him. ¡°No matter it seems that everything is fairly normal though it is a pity that you are under the goblin system. But with this you should find it agreeable to accomplish my task correct?¡± Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Vulk smiled, his first thought was to simply tell her no. He thought about letting her feel a similar disappointment to his own but in the end decided against it. As long as he completed his task he could be sent back to his village and start a new life. ¡°Yea there aren¡¯t any issues on my part. Designate a task and a payment and I¡¯ll agree.¡± Prince Seff and Nima both smiled the contract was more or less and complete they would have an old comrade back but most importantly this time things would not end on a sour note. ¡°Then let us begin. Vulk Balor I Soora Enkas have summoned you. I offer thee a contract, rid me of the vengeful ghost that plague my villages and i shall offer you a sword in return.¡± ¡°I accept this contract.¡± This time around the contract was completed quickly, unlike the first time when Vulk knew little of what was going on. ¡°With this the contract is active, i will see you once more when you have finished your task. As for everything else I will leave that to the prince.¡± Soora didn¡¯t wait for a response and left followed by Iefyr. After the two left Prince Seff let out a sigh of relief. ¡°You, I know you weren¡¯t exactly happy with High Elf Enkas but talking to them disrespectfully in front of an elf is just asking for death. More so in front of Iefyr who practically worships Even law and the the high elves who govern it. I Wasn¡¯t to sure if he would still try and attack you after the barrier was gone. Even my little stunt in helping you was pushing things a bit.¡± Vulk smiled at the prince¡¯s statement, it showed true concern something he hadn¡¯t been given in a long time. ¡°Ah don¡¯t worry about that, it¡¯s unlikely that after going through all that trouble that they would just kill me off and after this i doubt that i¡¯ll be back for a awhile. But more importantly can you help me understand the system?.¡± Nima could only sigh seeing the exchange between the two, they just like four years ago completely disregarded their social standing. One was a prince while the other was from a race considered pests to all living things. However it brought her joy as the prince would rarely open up to a person and she had also thoroughly approved of Vulk. ¡°Master allow me to explain. The system is something most beings above E rank or above have access to, it allows for further growth or simply put manages and details our potential. Seeing as high elf Enkas stated that you run on the goblin system it is likely that the system you use is quite primitive in nature.¡± Vulk didn¡¯t fully understand as he had never seen the status of another but could make some guesses as to what Nima ment by primitive. ¡°Although i say primitive, the correct way to say it is that it lacks certain functions. But first allow me to explain the system¡¯s functions then the various kinds of systems that exist in this world.¡± Vulk nodded his head waiting for her to continue, this knowledge would be very important to him from now on and having to figure it out himself would just be to time consuming and difficult. ¡°First are the functions of the systems the first and foremost function is to allow growth in a predetermined manner. Most races can view a window similar to this, Status open.¡±
Name: Nima WarHerd Race: WereBeast Minotaur
Level: 21 Job: Berserker
Strength: 80
Agility: 57
Vitality: 78
Mana: 25
Skills
Cleaning ¡î Lv. VII
Poison Techniques ¡î Lv. II
Axe Arts ¡î¡î Lv. VI
Fire Magic ¡î Lv. V
Earth Magic ¡î¡î Lv. IV
Herculian Strength ¡î¡î¡î Lv. III
Titles
Fatal Calamity Cook. For some inexplicable reason dishes cooked become poisonous.
¡°The most obvious differences are levels and job. The average system for most sentient races is made and run by a race¡¯s guardian deity. We beast-man are under the War God¡¯s, the humans are under the Sword Goddess'' system, the elves are under the system made by the spirit of the world tree, and so on. These systems allow us to grow in strength and abilities through certain designated tasks such as hunting monsters. Other tasks are job specific such as a farmer farming or a seamstress making clothes. As we gain exp. points and go up in level which then augments our abilities. This however comes with the demerit that abilities can no longer grow naturally, continuously running no longer increases your stamina and heavy lifting won¡¯t make you any stronger.¡± The system was an odd thing that would allow the weak to grow strong but it had its demerits. ¡°The systems run by guardian deities are know as Guardian Systems. Growth however isn¡¯t the most important part of a system it¡¯s the ability to learn skills. Take for example a someone who¡¯s never picked up a sword but was granted the sword skill after being placed under the effects of the system, that person under the corrections of the system would be able to wield a sword with some skill. In short the system gives us a cheat allowing us to do things without understanding the process, things like goblins learning magic after ranking up or the undead learning curse magics when they couldn¡¯t before. In both cases neither of those had ever gone through the long process it takes to learn magic it¡¯s something they just suddenly and instinctively knew.¡± Listening this far Vulk felt he had a rough understanding of the system, but one thing was different first of all was the fact that he had no indicator for levels and second was the red words indicating soul energy. ¡°Now then i will explain why the goblin system, and most monster systems are considered primitive. Simply put they are called bloodline systems. These systems unlike the ones run by deities were made by a talented individual of each monster race with the help of the god of chaos. It lacks both levels and a choice as to what direction one will grow. In place of levels a monster will have a rank which is determined by the average of it four stats and skills can only be learned if one of your ancestors has learned it. And as for growth there are two ways one is to eat the magic core of stronger monsters and the other is to naturally get stronger the old fashioned way, working hard. For you it would be best to learn a sword skill or a basic weapon skill and perfect it the hard work will naturally force your body to the extreme and in turn your stats will raise along with your rank.¡± Vulk could only nod, it would take time to digest everything that he was told but the point was that he had awakened his bloodline system. It was likely to have been set up by a previous goblin king. Thinking about his ancestors Vulk could only sigh, his mother was a horned rabbit and who knew what other things were in his blood. After speaking with Nima for a bit longer he was also able to get information about the soul energy he was in possession of. Basically it was a stat recognized by the system but would not be counted amongst the other stats to consider his rank. As for titles, they were useless and often something to identify a certain aspect of an individual or a prank from a deity. ¡°Well that¡¯s enough of the lecture, for now let''s get something to eat and then discuss how we¡¯re going to go about hunting the vengeful ghosts.¡± Vulk agreed with the prince¡¯s idea and the three left the tent. That night Vulk was able to eat to his heart¡¯s content for the first time in a long time. Despite him being a ¡°special¡± goblin in the past it was only in terms of wisdom and without the rest of the goblin village he was likely to have been killed long ago. From what Nima had told him even a normal level one human was much stronger than the average goblin. Only E rank goblins and above could be considered a threat. Even then goblins were weak, however Vulk vowed firmly that he would be different, though he had his doubts about reaching as high as becoming a goblin king he could at least become a goblin knight when he got back to his village. If he could he could live the rest of his life in peace. Chapter 3: circumstances Vulk had now been traveling with his three old companions for two weeks now and during this time he gathered a fair bit of information from Prince Seff and Nima. While simply keeping his distance from his former elf companion. Vulk unlike four years ago was not looking for random information, instead he asked about the continent, its people, and some questions he had about the goblin system. The continent known as Istreth named after the god of creation. Currently they were in the edges beast planes ruled by the beast men. The reason a high elf like Soora was in charge of such a place was due to the great distance between the capital of the beast planes and their small settlements. Unfortunately even after much discussion Vulk could not find out what part of the continent he lived in. Gobins were much too common all around the continent, even more so a group of F rank goblins lead by one E rank, and not having explored very far from the cave he once lived in Vulk couldn¡¯t name any identifiable features. The people of Istreth were also quite varied from beast men of all kinds to dwarves and elves. The most common race however were the humans. Prince Seff had warned Vulk many times to be wary of humans as they considered anything that wasn¡¯t human an affront to their god and hunted it down. That didn¡¯t mean all humans were this way but a majority of them were and keeping his distance might be for the better. Finally he got a bit of information about the system, the one thing that he didn¡¯t ask about before the stars next to the skills. The answer came fast and a very simple way, the stars represented the rank of the skill. And when a skill reached level ten it would have the chance to go up a rank. The highest rank skill would be five stars. ¡°Vulk were almost there so before we reach our destination let¡¯s talk.¡± They had been traveling by horse, so for them to have some privacy while they spoke Vulk slowed down his horse for a bit taking enough distance from Nima and Iefyr. ¡°Vulk you should speak with Iefyr, he used to be the one closest to you.¡± Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°Seff you couldn''t have ask for something a bit harder? Like slaying a dragon?¡± Vulk¡¯s words were dripping with sarcasm, the betrayal had hurt him yes, but Vulk reason to avoid Iefyr went deeper than simple hurt feelings. Vulk understood Iefyr¡¯s way of thinking, to Iefyr this was nothing more than a task and everything else was simply irrelevant. If Soora would only ask Iefyr would happily kill all three of them, in the end thinking of someone like that as a companion much less a friend was simply too hard. ¡°Ha¡­ you know he has his own issues and reasons on why he is the way he is. Have you ever heard of how an elf fight?¡± Vulk shook his head he had seen Iefyr fight before but he always seemed reluctant off by a bit. ¡°It¡¯s simple the common elf uses a bow and wind magic and if they''re good enough they can also use earth and water magic to synthesize wood magic.¡± Vulk nodded in understanding Iefyr had always fought with a large tower shield and cast magic from behind but when things really got tough he would use a sword along with his tower shield. ¡°It seems like you get it, simply put he¡¯s terrible at magic. As an elf he¡¯s an embarrassment to his kind, or at least that¡¯s the way he sees it. Even his fellow elves seem to look down on him, which is why he¡¯s so devoted to elven law but even more so to Lady Enkas who doesn¡¯t discriminate against him.¡± Vulk could understand what was being said but a story like that meant little to him. ¡°Seff i get what you''re trying to say, everyone has their own problems but he¡¯s not the only one who¡¯s suffered, I¡¯m a goblin born from a horned rabbit, being on the bottom of elven society has to be better than the bottom of goblin society. Being used as bait to lure in prey, never eating my fill, and eating only a small amount of bugs every couple of days. That was my life after i went back to my village. If he could have said something at least given me a decent weapon or trained me a bit in combat to compensate for the fact that he knew i would get nothing then i might have not cared that he didn¡¯t tell me anything. But the facts were that he knew and let me go on thinking that my life had changed for the better.¡± Seff could only sigh, Vulk had a point and he knew it. The conditions of an F rank goblin were terrible and being at the bottom of the F ranks was even worse, so he would not be moved by an elf who went through a bit of discrimination. ¡°In fact from what i know even you and Nima went through similar things. If not a prince would not be out here in the edges of the beast planes were monster, ghosts, and humans attack every so often. Yet, Seff, you still provided me with some support.¡± Seff closed his eyes and thought about what to say next, after a couple of minutes he let out a sigh and looked at Vulk. ¡°Yes you¡¯re right. I¡¯m in a similar situation, as a beast man i should look closer to a wolf than a human but my mother is human and therefor i¡¯m closer to a human than a beast man the only saving grace for me is the fact that i¡¯m under the war god¡¯s system. While Nima is from a fallen aristocratic family who were branded traitors and sold off. And you''re right we all have our issues, but please as a favor to me at least talk to him.¡± Saying that Seff road ahead and caught up to the other two leaving Vulk behind to think about what he had been told. Chapter 4: Useless formation? The four who had now reached their destination walked in their old formation Iefyr walk in front carrying a tower shield, Nima followed him holding two large war axes, Vulk followed closely behind her, and Seff brought up the rear. While walking Vulk thought about their formation, Iefyr was the only one who would stay in his position the rest were all close combat fighters and would rush the enemy as soon as one appeared. Given that they cared little about fighting through tactics or even adding someone to act as a proper rear guard always walking in a line seemed pointless. ¡°Undead ahead!¡± Vulk snapped out of his useless thoughts and looked where Iefyr pointed, just as he said there stood an undead wolf aimlessly walking. The characteristics for any undead were similar they were normally slow, intelligent, and generally weak. That was until a living creature come within a certain distance, they would then as if being chased by hell hounds run towards the living and fight with unimaginable strength. The ideal way to beat them was to use long range attacks while they were still in a daze. Looking around the group Vulk knew they lacked any ranged attacks. Seff made the first move and ran towards the zombie wolf at an incredible speed, as soon as the zombie detected him it moved at an alarming speed but it was still too slow. Even before it could move into a proper sprint its head fell from it¡¯s body. ¡°Haha this is going to be so much easier than four years ago!¡± Vulk knew why Seff went first, although he had already known he was stronger than a zombie, four years ago the one who could only contribute his followers for the battle was now in the front lines. ¡°Haha I¡¯ve sharpened my claws just for this moment!¡± Just as he said when he fought he neither used his sword nor spear but his claws. Every wolf beast man had some proficiency in using their claws for combat but usually it was far better to use a sword then one¡¯s own flesh and blood. Seff however always remembered how his goblin companion could rip apart everything with his claws including ghost. Now that he was older he understood clearly that Vulk¡¯s claw arts weren¡¯t high, however he felt proud having achieved his goal. Vulk sighed a little on the inside, he knew what the prince thought of him, but it would be impossible for Vulk to do something even similar to what the prince had done. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Let¡¯s move on, seeing as the zombie was alone we should still be a good distance from the ghosts. From now on stay vigilant.¡± As they continued the four continued to meet lone zombies from time to time, gradually the intervals began to shorten until finally in front of them stood five zombie wolves and four zombie boars. ¡°The Jump from frequently encountering one too running into nine is a little¡­¡± Although Vulk was the one who spoke out loud they were all thinking the same thing, but the larger group was something they had been aiming for as more zombies meant that the ghosts were near. ¡°Vulk can you sense ghost or do we search for them like we did before?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t search for them, we¡¯re just going to have to go into the largest crowd of zombies and hope one¡¯s there.¡± While Seff and Vulk were talking Nima had already crushed the zombies with the flat side of her war axe. It would have been easy to simply cut through the zombies but her war axe wasn¡¯t anything special, just a simple and crude iron axe so constantly crushing bones with the blade would slowly damage it. In contrast using the flat of the blade to crush skulls was easy and wouldn¡¯t wear on the blade too much. As the four went further in they encountered a decent sized group of forty zombies that Vulk guessed would most likely have a ghost in it. ¡°That group might have one so this time we¡¯re all going, Nima ram to the center, Vulk stick to her and kill the ghost if it¡¯s there. Iefyr and I will clear the area from the outside.¡± Everyone nodded to the prince¡¯s orders, Nima would be enough to protect Vulk as the zombies were fairly weak be resurrected from normal animals and not monsters. Following behind Nima as she chopped away at the vile undead vulk remembered a time when he had followed behind Iefyr as he bashed both zombies and monsters who were in his way. ¡°Vulk ghost ahead!¡± Due to his smaller size Vulk was able to look between Nima¡¯s legs and see the ghost, its appearance was no different from the standard he was use to. A dark greyish living shadow that constantly flickered as if trying its best to stay in the world of the living. The ghost stared at the incoming duo but lost interest quickly. Vulk with Nima¡¯s help was now standing before the ghost who paid him no mind. He could imagine that the ghost simply felt no threat from him or Nima, this was also how the ghosts reacted back then. ¡°I know i look different but you could at least react when you see me.¡± To the ghost Vulk was nothing more than a slightly different goblin, nothing worth mentioning. Vulk looked at the sharp nails at the end of his fingers, these were his claws these were the only weapons he had ever had. ¡°[Soul claws]¡± Activating the skill his claws were enveloped in an eerie black and purple smoke. This was much different from what he had done before when the skill was used based solely on instinct and showed no visual changes. With his claws Vulk grabbed the ghost and ripped it in half. ¡°GYAAAAAA! GYAAAAA! GYAAAAAA!¡± Having been ripped in half the ghost let out a terrible shriek. ¡°That was a bit loud, i don¡¯t remember them doing something like that before.¡± As soon as he spoke, Vulk regreted not ripping the mouth off of the ghost first. The zombies in the area became even more agitated and fierce, some even seemed to have gone up a rank. Though fighting them still wasn¡¯t an issue. The real problem was that the shriek seemed to call other zombies from even further off distances than what he could see.