Rows upon rows of goblin corpses lined the entrance of the village, their green bodies twisted and broken under the pale moonlight. The thick, metallic smell of blood hung heavy in the air, mixing with the damp earth and the dying smoke from scattered torches.
Hinata stood at the threshold of the now-silent goblin village, his gauntlet still dripping with dark ichor. A few final droplets fell onto the blood-soaked ground with soft, wet sounds before he took a step forward.
He hadn't expected it to be this easy.
After feeding them the Fog Pill and stripping away their awakened strength, the goblins had become little more than ordinary wild beasts, frail, slow, and terrified. In barely ten minutes, he, a semi-awakened human, had slaughtered ninety-two of them.
'So this is the difference,' he thought with an empty expression while staring at his fist. 'Between a mundane human and an awakened.'
The gap in strength was far beyond what he had initially thought.
If it was indeed this large, then how much stronger were beings of an even higher class?
Hinata shivered as the memory of Albedo resurfaced. Had she truly been his enemy, he wouldn't have survived.
The realization made him understand just how impossible his feat in the Shadow God's chamber had been, and how vast the world truly was.
Ding!
[Class Awakening Mission]
Objective: Kill 100 goblins
Progress: 99/100
Hinata exhaled slowly, rolling his shoulders once. There was no sense of satisfaction, no rush of power, just the quiet knowledge that another minor obstacle had been cleared.
Perhaps it was because of his encounter with the crazed woman, or maybe it was the dread slowly creeping into his chest. If he truly wanted to find his way back home, he needed to become stronger, so strong that not even the heavens would dare defy him.
Without saying a word, Hinata crossed the threshold into the empty village. Goku floated silently beside him, unusually quiet after witnessing the one-sided massacre.
The village paths were deserted, the shabby wooden huts standing like silent witnesses. Most of the goblins inside had already succumbed to the Fog Pill's effects, either dead or too weakened to move. Hinata moved with calm purpose toward the largest hut at the center, the one that looked like a crude throne room.
He pushed aside the tattered hide curtain and stepped inside.
There, slumped against the far wall on a makeshift throne of bones and ragged furs, sat the Goblin King. The creature was in terrible shape, skin pale and mottled, black veins bulging across its body, foam dripping from its cracked lips.
Its eyes, however, still burned with a mix of rage and pain.
In one clawed hand, it clutched a small wooden box tightly, as if it were the last thing keeping it alive.
"Looks like it's on its last leg."
From the state of the room and the rotten stench radiating around it, Hinata could tell that something had occurred in this little town before he came.
Perhaps a coup… Either way, he wasn't going to sit around and investigate goblin politics.
Gradually, he made his way up the stairs leading to the throne. The deeper he went, the more the smell filled his nostrils, causing him to feel lightheaded.
Hinata stepped closer and calmly pried the box from the Goblin King's weakening grip. The moment his fingers closed around it, a blue system window flared to life in his vision.
[Tier One Item Acquired: The Equalizer (One-Time Use)]
[Description: The last creation of the Angel of Death. Upon activation, this artifact permanently equalizes all of your stats to match the value of your single highest stat. Only one such item exists in the world.]
"Only Tier One?" Hinata shook his head. "I seriously don't understand the tiering system in this world."
Despite saying that, Hinata already understood a bit about the tiering. In this world, item tiers apparently weren't ranked based on their strength alone. Even the status of the creator could affect the rank.
Goku, who had been looking around the hut for any spoils, hovered to his side. "What are you still waiting for? This is your last kill, right?"
Hinata nodded. "Yeah, it is." He shut his eyes for a moment, then opened them with renewed conviction. A lot had happened to him today, and honestly, he wanted nothing more than to sleep. 'One last task.'
He glanced at Goku. "I don't know how this awakening works, but once I start, I want you to feed me this." He handed the box the Goblin King was holding over to Goku with a smile. "Then I'll leave myself in your care."
He raised his fist high and smashed it into the Goblin King's face. Blood splattered across his features, making him look almost demonic. A faint grin spread across one side of his lips as the system rang in his ears.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
[You have completed class awakening mission!]
[You have completed goblin evolution mission!]
[You have slain Goblin King]
[You have slain six different types of goblins.]
The moment those panels flickered into existence, the shadows in the room twisted and coiled like living serpents, drawn toward him as if answering an ancient call.
A foreign, icy surge flooded his veins, recreating his bones and weaving strength into his muscles.
He could already feel a dormant power awakening within him as dark mist filled the area surrounding the throne. Hinata felt like all his mundane senses were being stripped away and new ones were being formed.
[Dear Heir of Shadows, please prepare for your awakening!]
The light around him seemed to vanish for a moment, then a small pale purple light materialized in the darkness. Hinata could hear the beating of this light, as if it were calling out to him.
He stared at it for a long moment. "Is that my core?"
The moment those words left his lips, the light shot inside him with a force that nearly sent him flying. At the same moment, Goku forced a pill into his mouth, causing the system to ring out again.
[You have digested an equalization pill.]
[Equalizing all stats with highest stat.]
[Highest stat detected: Charm (???).]
Hinata's eyes went wide. Truth be told, he had completely forgotten about his charm stat. Did (???) mean he had infinite strength, constitution, and mana?
The questions kept piling up, but with no answers coming, he had to suppress them and concentrate on his awakening.
[Evolution has started.]
[Awakening of class started.]
[Tier Seven Item: Slime is evolving using your other items.]
Hinata felt his core slowly stabilize, though the sting of his bones recreating themselves still persisted.
After a long moment, the dark mist began retreating, and the sting vanished, replaced by a cool, almost icy sensation.
[Congratulations on your awakening, Nishikawa Hinata.]