Warmth (end)

Boom!

A fist has found its way to the stomach of a saber-toothed tiger. It was a monster of tall stature as it stands at 4 meters.

As if to show that height isn't everything, a goblin appeared from the tiger's shadows. To be exact, he was under the tiger. That goblin with a menacing look on his face was Dawn.

The horn on the back of his head was sharper than before. It had an end now that was pointing to the sky. His light green skin had become even lighter than before.

The tiger that was standing tall soon fell over once Dawn was completely out of its range. As Dawn was walking, he called for the blessings of the battlefield. It showed…

[Race: Goblin]

[Rank: Mid Viscount]

[Position: Great Chieftain]

[Titles: The fake king of the goblins]

[Divine Protection: None]

[Latest Achievement: Killing a great number of various monsters]

[Blessings received: Mid Viscount]

Dawn nodded in satisfaction. As soon as the sun was out, he hunted monsters to increase his rank and get used to his body.

It's not as if his goblins will be the only one to fight so he needed to train. Of course, some goblins were there as Karkas persuaded him so.

Then after a few hours of hunting, he finally received the blessing. He just tested it out with the tiger. The result was an overwhelming victory.

Though the change in him was small, it was still important. Dawn was strong in the first place, a small change will definitely influence his future battles.

He looked for the goblins and when he saw one, he called for them.

"Carry this to the village!"

The goblins responded not through verbal but through actions. They immediately ran to the tiger's corpse as if their lives depended on it and they followed the king who was already walking further ahead.

****

---Hmm? What's happening?

Dawn was near the village when he noticed that the goblins were raising a ruckus. They were running about searching for something but as soon as Dawn stepped inside, the goblins turned to look at him and ran at him.

"Gruuu!"

"Chwee!"

"Guu!"

They all said some incomprehensible words as they all pointed a finger in the deeper parts of the village. Of course, Dawn understood them as he was also a goblin.

He nodded his head and he ran towards the center. He didn't know what was happening. His goblins were disciplined, there's no way they would be this loud if it was just a normal thing.

However seeing how the goblins calmed down seeing Dawn, it was probably no big of a deal. It was something that the goblins couldn't do something about it but Dawn can. They judged it as so and Dawn also agreed with them.

They were spot on as when he arrived at the center of the village, he saw someone…a goblin that was not under him.

The goblin was a stray, he had green skin and he had a body bigger than the rest. Clearly, he evolved at least once.

He had a look that was scary to the others and eyes that were sharper and narrower than the usual. His body that was big held numerous scars proving his mettle in battle.

That goblin, sensing the change in the atmosphere, looked at Dawn's direction. They met eyes. Then the goblin looked at Dawn's stomach…at his tattoo.

Then…he snickered. He looked at Dawn with scornful eyes and he walked towards Dawn.

He talked in a condescending tone.

"You, give your goblins and serve our village."

Dawn popped a vein in his head. He could understand if they were here to talk but he showed disrespect at the first meeting and laughed at him. That was unforgivable. The goblins around him all think so as well as they bared their teeth and clenched their fists.

Dawn was about to reply but…

Pwat!

A fist came down on the goblin's head. It was a large fist and soon a goblin appeared from behind him. The goblin that talked in a haughty way and the goblin that showed up after looked similar. They were the splitting image of each other.

The goblin talked as he bowed his head.

"I am sorry for this one but-"

"Wah!"

Before he could continue, a nearby goblin shouted. When they looked at that direction, the Elder and his group has returned. And the goblins were making a fuss about it.

---Judging from his look, there's something he found.

That was the conclusion Dawn made in his head when he saw the Elder's face.

****

The goblins of importance gathered in Dawn's house. As Dawn thought about the meeting to come, he had quite a strange look on his face.

"Sorry for the late introduction but we are the goblin brothers. I am Wos and he is Mos."

The goblin who punched the other talked as he pointed a finger to himself and his brother. His brother just scoffed when the gazes focused on him. It seems like he hasn't reflected on his earlier actions.

The only ones who were present from Dawn's side were Karkas, the goblin high and then the Elder. The others were out, hunting for beasts and monsters.

Karkas spoke as he narrowed his eyes.

"So? Why are you here?"

Karkas was late to the commotion as he was looking over the meat that was brought. The meat was stockpiled through the days and it was spoiling faster than what the goblins could eat.

"Hmph! Weaklings should stay out of this."

Mos spoke as if he was waiting for his turn. A punch came straight to his face as his brother, Wos, coughed and spoke to clear the misunderstanding.

"Ahem! We want the cooperation of this village. To be exact, we want to move somewhere near your territory. The monsters that are in our area are increasing and we couldn't hold it all off."

In the world of monsters…goblins, if one wants to move into another's territory, they have to pay respect to the owner. They can't just blatantly move and create a village there. That would mean war. From the looks of it, the village of Wos was strong as both of them have received the blessings of the battlefield.

Karkas received the full authority to deal with them from Dawn so he was the one who replied.

"You can't stop it? Even though both of you are blessed? And from the looks of it, you aren't the chief."

Karkas couldn't believe it. If both of them were blessed then surely, some of their goblins were also blessed. At least, the chief is.

"Yes, my father is the chief. We can't stop it; if we hunt, some goblins die every time. We are being chipped away slowly and we can't endure any longer."

Karkas was thinking about something before he asked the goblin.

"Tell me the location of your village."

"The south."

"Ah!"

As soon as he answered, an exclamation escaped the goblin high's mouth. He spoke again.

"Is your village one of the four?"

The one to reply wasn't Wos but Mos. He spoke once more in a haughty tone.

"That's right! That's why you should just say yes and kiss our asses!"

Again, his brother punched him in the face. Wos spoke.

"Sorry for this brother of mine. We number 200 and this territory of yours is quite big. Surely, you can't handle all of it?"

Indeed, even though it was great for Dawn's village that monsters were popping out almost everywhere, there was still the chance that it may overflow and produce a monster strong enough to overthrow their rule.

They need some help in managing this or increase their numbers that they wouldn't feel threatened by the numbers. However…

"We don't need any help in managing our land. But, king, what do we do?"

Karkas asked Dawn. Even if he received the permission of Dawn to make decisions on his own, he still couldn't decide. The numbers of monsters in the south were rising and if it worsened, they could be affected by it.

"King? That? What a laugh!"

Mos spoke after looking at Dawn and his tattoo on the stomach. He was thinking that it was probably artificial and it was something Dawn made up to make others follow him.

Wos didn't punch him this time, he was also curious about the tattoo. As the sons of the village chief, they know about the king.

Receiving their gazes, Dawn spoke with a powerful tone.

"I will meet your chief. Make him come here before I make the decision."

"A goblin pretending to be the king wants to meet our chief? Haha!"

Mos burst out laughing; holding his stomach. The one to interrupt his laughter was his brother. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at Dawn from bottom to up.

"The chief can't come. We, his sons, came here as a sign of respect but don't you overdo it."

"Then, is your brother's attitude a sign of respect?"

Wos couldn't answer Karkas' question. His brother clearly was displaying hostility; it wasn't a sign of respect or anything.

As if fed up by this, Dawn spoke as he let out his aura. Even though he didn't know when and how he got it, he knew how to use it.

"Come the day after tomorrow. If he comes, we will give our reply. If you come, you…won't return."

The brothers didn't answer; they simply stormed out of the house as they pushed their way out.

"King…we should call the others."

Dawn nodded his head at Karkas' words. If they invade while Didi and the others were out, it wouldn't be funny. Then he spoke to the goblin high.

"You call them. Make sure they return by tonight."

"As you will, your grace."

Dawn looked at the goblin high's back then suddenly the Elder who staying quiet spoke.

"Dawn...there's probably a bigger problem than them."

And so, both Dawn and Karkas listened to the Elder's report. They knew that if the Elder said so, it was probably the truth.

"A human..."