The Evolution of a Goblin to the Peak

Souta's eyes adjusted as he saw through the heroes that entered the city.

The strongest one was a person that broke four shackles. The second was three shackles and the third was two shackles. The remaining was at the peak of solidifying realm.

A powerful group of people have arrived but Souta knew that only the strongest one had received the blessing among the seven of them. The blessings that god could bestow to their followers were limited so it was impossible for everyone to have it or else there would be an army full of blessing users.

'SS-rank...' He muttered inwardly before he averted his eyes.

He was sure that if it was a person that broke one shackle then their group could handle it even without Eilish's help. After all, they've gotten stronger ever since they fought Clan Leader Rowan in the Witch Clan Territory.

"So strong..." Eztein muttered in shock. He could feel the aura emanating from the so-called heroes.

"Three of them are above my levels. It was indeed a strong lineup." Eilish nodded at Eztein's words. "But I wonder who's the god they serve."

At her words, Souta turned his head and glanced at their banner. He looked at their symbol and sighed.

The god that these people serve was just an ordinary god of Mount Olympus. Although this was Dionysus' territory, the people of this land can still choose which god they would serve. In the end, everything in Hairin was ruled by Mount Olympus, one of the Holy Lands.

Becoming the heroes of the main gods of Olympus was several times harder than becoming heroes of ordinary gods. Zeus, Hera, Apollo, Artemis, Athena, Poseidon, Ares, and the rest had high requirements. Sometimes people that wanted to join their legion died because of the harsh test.

"The authority of heroes is just below the gods. In this land, they are above nobles, kings, and emperors."

Souta shook his head before he looked at the ocean elf. He said, "Let's go now. Let's look for the other merchants."

"O-Okay." The ocean elf was still in a daze looking at the heroes. He snapped out when he heard Souta's voice.

The group turned around and they stopped watching the parade.

Alice who was in the back glanced at the heroes one more time before she followed Souta. These heroes would soon be dispatched to confront the demons in the war.

Demons.

She felt conflicted because she was herself a demon and every people in this city was calling them vile, cruel, inhuman, wicked, etc.

'The demon's reputation isn't good here too.'

It's natural that the reputation of the demons wasn't good. After all, the first thing that the demons did after the great barrier loosen was to attack Giza and God's Continent. No one would have a good impression of the demon race after the invasion.

The first impression was too horrible.

At least for now, most of the races think that the demons were their enemies that they had to kill.

It would be dangerous if the words got out that she was a demon.

The group left and went to find merchants that they could strike a deal with.

On the next day, Souta finished what he wanted to do in this place. He found three merchants that could bring them supplies and exchanged their products.

He didn't care about the heroes. He was just curious about the appearance of the heroes and he was satisfied when he saw their strength. He heard from the people that the heroes would stay here for a week before they went towards the frontline.

The demon invasion wasn't a big problem to the Holy Lands. Actually, they didn't care about it just like how the three great countries of the Giza Continent didn't care about the demons.

The only people that cared about it were the people that were affected by demons or people that didn't have the confidence to protect themselves.

So heroes took this chance to make a name for themselves. They went to the frontline to create a legend of their own story. It was to get the attention of the gods and deities.

To prove their potential.

To increase their fame.

To increase their authority.

Souta and the rest left the dukedom after they told the location of the headquarters.

"We've completed our goal so what are we going to do now?" Eilish asked with a curious expression.

Alice and Eztein glanced at him. They wanted to know what Souta was planning to do.

"Finding merchants isn't enough." Souta shook his head. "We're going towards the capital of heroes, the central point of all territory of Mount Olympus, the Champion's Den."

"Champion's Den?!"

"Yeah, the Champion's Den is the city of heroes. It is a place where heroes gathered or people that wanted to become heroes."

Souta explained to them what kind of place was the Champion's Den.

All kinds of strong people can be found in that place. From A-rank to God-rank powerhouses could be found living in that place.

"W-We're going to that place?!" Eztein was shocked when he heard Souta's explanation.

"Indeed. It's my goal for now." Souta nodded.

Alice narrowed her eyes.

Souta saw her look and said, "Don't worry, nothing would happen to you."

He knew her concerns. Her disguise wouldn't work on people that achieved godhood so if they were going to a place that has gods, there's a high chance that her identity would be revealed.

"I know. I trust you." Alice shook her head.

'You really know a lot of things for a mere goblin. Oh, I recall that you've mentioned Athena before.' Saya's voice sounded in his mind.

Souta ignored Saya. He was going to follow some of the things that he did in the game. Of course, he knew the limitation of his current ability so he excluded the things that he couldn't do with his third evolution strength.

"I'm quite excited when I heard you're explanation. I've broken one shackle but I haven't seen a group of people above my levels." Eilish said with a smile.

"Imperium couldn't be compared to the people in your world. The difference is huge and the forces inside the Champion's Den could easily annihilate all the forces in your world." Souta said.

"It's harsh but it's the truth." Eilish nodded.

"Boss, are we going to join the heroes?" Eztein suddenly asked and it gathered Alice and Eilish's attention.

"Hm... Joining a god's banner isn't bad at all. But well, let's just see..." Souta smiled and didn't answer directly.

Champion's Den was still quite far from their position. It was outside Hairin and it would take them several weeks before they could arrive in that place. A lot of things would happen before that.

The group traveled for several days. They've received Torkez's call that the said merchants have arrived at their headquarters. He negotiates with them and Souta told him to exchange the epic enchanting ores and some monster orbs in his room.

It was their funds if they wanted to build a true headquarters in that place.

After Souta said those words to Torkez, he didn't interfere with the negotiation. Torkez could handle it and he trust that he wouldn't let him down. It's for the future of the Astros.

It's been five days and the group was in the middle of a huge jungle.

"Are we going to enter this place?" Eztein asked.

"Yeah," Souta simply nodded.

"A dungeon. We could find treasures in this place." Alice said.

That's right. The group was standing in front of a cave, the entrance of a dungeon. The aura emanating in front of the entrance made everyone sure that there were two or more third evolution stage monsters living in this place.

"There's nothing to worry about, I couldn't feel any danger," Eilish assured them. She was the strongest here and an ordinary third evolution monster was nothing to her.

"Let's enter," Souta said with a simple shrug of his shoulder. He could see that there were a total of seventy-nine monsters in the dungeons and three of them have reach the level of the third stage.

They could easily clear it with the strength of their group so there's nothing to worry about.

"I wonder what kind of treasure is hidden in this place." Eilish wondered as she followed Souta behind.

"Just normal treasures. Mid-grade potions and orange grade weapons." Souta said.

"If this place has fourth evolution stage then we could find high-grade mana fruits and red grade weapons," Alice added.

"Boss, you're a monster, right? How about you talk to the monsters in this place?" Eztein asked.

"Huh?"

Souta tilted his head in confusion. What's there to talk about? Does Eztein think that the monsters would simply leave their home when he said so? Even if he talked to the monsters here they wouldn't easily surrender all the belongings here.

In the end, Souta could only sigh and said, "Eztein put your position on the monsters inside the dungeon. Someone entered your home and suddenly demanded that they wanted your treasure. What are you going to do in this situation?"