Chapter 54 | I, the Ogre

The border between the Forest of Monsters and the swamp was sparsely populated—because a pack of mana-swamp crocodiles resided here.

In this muddy environment, just five of these troublesome mana-swamp crocodiles were enough to drag down and kill an ordinary Professional.

Yet, in a place that even adventurers were unwilling to step foot in, there existed a tribe entirely populated by goblins.

“Goler.”

A Warlock 'goblin' whose physique was not deformed was holding a book and calling out to his most powerful subordinate.

The surrounding mana-swamp crocodiles automatically parted to clear a path after the Warlock 'goblin' handed down an order.

“Teacher.”

Goler, dressed as a swordsman, possessed an aura that was distinctly different from other goblins.

It was hard to imagine that the word “clear” could one day be used to describe a goblin.

“I need a mage, a human Professional mage. Goler, I believe you can do it.” This goblin Warlock whom Goler called teacher was none other than the rumored Goblin King.

But what almost no one knew was that he was not a goblin at all.

Moor Sunstrider—that was his actual name, a standard high elven name.

Of course, he was not actually a High Elf either. He was indeed an elf, but merely an ordinary, low-ranking blood elf.

A blood elf born with a bloodline defect who was cast out by his own kind.

He envied and yearned to associate with those powerful High Elves, but because of his physical defects, he was severely marginalized by his clan. Eventually, he inevitably spiraled into paranoia, believing that only powerful strength could overturn all of this.

However, an experience exploring ancient magic caused him to lose his identity as an elf entirely.

The power of the ancient Mana Weave left him hideous and twisted. Under the influence of the Mana Weave's power, his appearance gradually grew to closely resemble a low-grade goblin.

Ultimately, his clan drove him out and regarded him as a disgrace.

Carrying a belief driven by revenge and twisted resentment, he came to this forest—attempting to seek out the power left behind by ancient elven tribes to reverse everything.

As for the goblins, they were merely a stepping stone in his pursuit of power. From the bottom of his heart, he looked down on those filthy creatures.

Even Goler before him was nothing more than a highly useful tool in his eyes.

“But Teacher, the human Professionals Association...” Goler subconsciously wanted to refuse.

“Do you still harbor illusions about humans, Goler?” Although Moor was not a true High Elf, he looked down on humans just the same.

Most High Elves believed that humans were merely inferior life forms created by the gods in the likeness of elves.

Only the outstanding legendary heroes among them were worthy of being compared to them.

“Yes, King.”

Goler's eyes suddenly flashed red.

As the red light faded, the scales in his heart tilted completely to one side.

Along with it, the way he addressed his master also changed.

“By the way,” Moor called out to him again just as Goler was about to withdraw.

“Take this. I custom-made this for you. Keep things clean.” The pendant on Moor's neck glowed slightly, opening a void pocket next to his hand.

Then, a bone sword covered in runes slowly slid out from the void pocket, appearing in Moor's hand.

Goler froze for a moment upon seeing this, but he still accepted the bone sword. “I will not fail to deliver on your expectations, Teacher.”

“Go on. Do not make me wait too long.”

Only after Goler had completely departed did Moor put down the book covered in ancient elven text.

After looking left and right, he suddenly reached out and pulled a goblin from not far away toward him.

“Go... lu...” (Goblin: King, spare me! I beg of you!)

This goblin struggled to break free of Moor's control, his eyes filled with intense terror.

“Being chosen by me is your good fortune.” A blue light suddenly burst from Moor's eyes.

The light locked onto the goblin in his hand.

The moment their eyes met, the goblin in Moor's hand ceased breathing, leaving only a faint blue light diffusing across its body.

Moor's long nose twitched slightly. Taking a sharp sniff, he inhaled all of the light into his nostrils.

“Phew...” Letting out a long breath, Moor finally obtained a moment of satisfaction.

“Despicable creatures... Even after selective breeding to give them mage aptitude, the quality of their souls is still so poor. This is completely insufficient...”

Once he recovered from his satisfaction, Moor tossed the goblin—which had become even more withered—aside like trash.

The surrounding mana-swamp crocodiles quickly swarmed forward. Within seconds, they completely devoured the goblin that had been drained of its soul.

“Just where did things go wrong...” Moor picked up the ancient elven book again and began flipping through it.

He cultivated this group of goblins merely to alleviate the restless mana addiction in his body. As for the giant goblins that appeared during this process, they were merely byproducts of his experiments.

If those goblins weren't so utterly stupid...

...he wouldn't have kept any goblin possessing mage aptitude at all.

“There should be a Mana Weave node here... This is absolutely correct.”

Ancient mages communed with the Mana Weave, using their souls to harbor mana. They possessed earth-shattering power that the current crop of mages couldn't possibly compare to.

“Even if it's closed, there should still be traces...”

The ancient elven book in Moor's hand had been acquired from a twisted Ancient Tree of Knowledge.

It recorded a vast number of ancient spells.

However, these ancient spells generally depended on one thing—the Mana Weave.

The book recorded that the Mana Weave had opened and closed three times.

Each opening had brought irreversible changes to this world.

Finding the power of the Mana Weave was equivalent to owning everything.

And every ancient elven tree had once been the coordinates of a Mana Weave node.

Moor originally did not believe the legends in this ancient book.

Until he obtained an opportunity to touch the Mana Weave through that twisted ancient elven tree!

Knowledge, power!

The moment he soared within the Mana Weave, he felt as though he had peered into the essence of the world. At that moment, he truly felt a sensation as if he could alter heaven and earth.

Unfortunately, this power came quickly and went just as fast.

This contact did indeed bring him power distinct from traditional mages, but it also left him with deep, lingering side effects.

When he first made contact, he felt great. Even his physical constitution and appearance had undergone significant changes.

But as time went on...

...before long, his appearance began to deteriorate rapidly, his limbs degenerated further, and ultimately, even his soul became twisted...

Accompanied by the loss of his power, he gradually became this hideous creature.

He was also stripped of his surname and driven out.

Of course, none of the above was the most troublesome part.

The most troublesome part was that... whenever that trace of the Mana Weave's power lingering inside him began to circulate, he would feel agonizing pain—both in his soul and his physical body.

Thus, over these years, he had been constantly looking for a way to reverse all of this.

Eventually, he discovered that powerful, high-quality energy could serve as a low-efficiency substitute to fill the residual 'hyper-mana' in his body, thereby alleviating the agonizing pain.

And souls were the most cost-effective source he had discovered.

By continuously absorbing souls, his power actually gradually restored! It was even constantly growing. However, the catch was that the requirements of his innate 'hyper-mana' absorbed from the Mana Weave were also progressively rising.

The souls of goblins were already hard-pressed to sustain Moor's consumption.

Souls, in truth, were not equal, contrary to what some bards claimed.

There were disparities in the quality of souls, even vast ones. Often, the higher the intelligence and the longer-lived the life form, the better the quality of its soul.

And those traditional mages who underwent meditative cultivation were the best and most perfect food in Moor's heart.

(Note: A Knight's bloodline power will resist mana and is incompatible with mage magic, and the same goes for their souls. It's not that they cannot be used, but the results are extremely poor. For a Professional Martial Artist with the Fusion of the Three Qi, the soul remains only as long as the body is intact, making them exceedingly difficult to utilize as well.)

“I must breed even stronger servants...”

It was precisely for these souls that Moor began his continuous expansion, even going so far as to instigate those foolish ogres to establish a nation.

Unfortunately, at the very last step, it failed...

The destruction of the ogre kingdom made Moor realize that his current strength was not yet enough to contend with the powerful individuals among humans.

Thus, he restrained himself a great deal to avoid drawing the attention of those legendary humans.

At present, he only dared to raid villages at most, seeking high-potential, high-quality souls, and in the process, thinning out the growing number of goblins under his command while quietly carrying out his deployment plans.