Chapter 131: A new form (1)

After the brutal demise of their leader, and the loss of their empowered state, the rest of the humanoid creatures lost their will to prolong the fight and turned tail to run for their lives.

Unfortunately for them, this was a fruitless endeavor, as neither Sam nor Biggy was willing to let the prey go. Their master, Lily also continued to fire arrow after arrow, ending lives one after the other. In a manner of seconds, the entire group of the small humanoid creatures was lying on the ground, dyeing the emerald sward with their dark green viscous, thick fluids.

With their work done, the two black hounds leisurely walked back to their master's side, sitting down on the ground. They were looking ahead panting happily completely ignorant of the carnage all around them. As for Lily, she immediately rushed towards Aiden, with her bow still in her hand. 

Arriving next to him, she hurriedly knelt down on the floor. Looking at his grinning face, she grabbed her right shoulder and gave a good strong shake. 

"Brother, are you okay? What's going on?"

While keeping his eyes closed and the satisfied grin still plastered on his face, Aiden slowly shook his head. He spoke between breaths.

"Nothing… I'm… going to change… Don't worry… I am going… to be okay..."

Having said that, Aiden turned his head towards the sky. Although his eyes are still closed, still, as if he could still see, his face had a gentle, calm expression. The satisfied smile changed, the nasty curve became gentler, gradually turning into a calm and serene happiness.

Lily sat down on the floor, not moving from his brother's side even an inch. Her two guardians sat right next to her, snuggling next to her, yowling for her gentle caress and attention.

"Oh, you two… Come here, let's wait for brother together.!" Lily smiled at their shenanigans, pulling their heads into her embrace. Their heartfelt moments became a bright contrast to the cruel scenery around and behind them.

Meanwhile, Aiden wasn't sleeping, despite what others could have thought of seeing his expression. At first, he just wanted to enjoy this addicting feeling of the surge of power. He also received a string of new System Notifications but before he could take his time to open them up and read them, images started flickering inside his mind, clouding his visions with scenes of the past. 

Just like with the Guard and the Warden he 'absorbed' last night, Aiden saw the life of the humanoid creature playing for him. The creature, who was called 'Zart', was part of a species commonly referred to as 'Goblins'. 

All across Eora, the goblins were ugly, evil creatures that were hated by most other civilized races. Just like other goblinoids, they had a short and nasty temper. Due to their incredible breeding rate, individual lives were not valued amongst their species. Their leaders usually came to power through betrayals or coups. Sometimes, just like with the now-deceased Zart, they were born under lucky stars, became mystics, or shamans, leading their folk through their ritualistic zeal.

Zart was such a goblin. He was special from the moment he was born. As the first-born son of his father, who was the previous leader of the tribe, he was destined for greatness. During his early years, he ventured into a cavern with his group and found the dead body of a human male. He was wearing ugly and useless dark brown cloth robes. In his hands however, he had the gnarled wooden stick that had a shiny red gemstone at the top.

As he wrestled the stick from the dead man and came in contact with the gem, he heard a deep, unnatural voice call out to him inside his head. Zart didn't know first what or who this person was, but it promised great power to him if he would pledge himself to his servitude. To show his power, the voice taught him how to evoke the spell inside the magic wand, urging him to try it out on his companions who were still nearby.

Tempted by the thought of power, Zart made his way out of the cave. Seeing as how the rest of the team were just a few meters away still fighting over the remains of a deer, he grabbed his stick with both hands, and just as the voice taught him, raised it above his head. Focusing on the gemstone at the top, he repeated the seemingly jumbled mess of words. First, he was quite skeptical about how these meaningless phrases could do anything, but after just the first few lines he chanted, his eyes caught the weak flickering light deep inside the gemstone. 

Continuing the chanting now with more faith behind his spoken words, he could see as the small flickering light grew bigger and bigger until the red gemstone could no longer contain it. Dark red thick smoke escaped from its crystal surface and as if it had a mind of its own, oozed towards him, shrouding his figure, leaving only a blurred visage.

Noticing the pulsating strange light, the team approached Zart, looking at his new treasure with greedy eyes. As if coming to a tacit understanding, they all pulled out their weapons, and with a loud cry lounged themselves at him. As they got close, using their crude, primitive weaponry, they sliced, mauled, and bludgeoned, already thinking about how to distribute the new shiny spoils.

However, the expected result never came. While their attacks did connect, they felt as if hit a sturdy wall, and not a living being. They all took a step back, nervously grabbing their weapons, looking at the blurred figure in front of them with puzzled expressions. They took on a defensive posture, readying themselves for a potential counterattack.

The figure that was revealed when the remainder of the smoke dissipated into the air, scared them stiff. The goblin in front of them was no longer the same. No, it was much taller than them with big bulging veiny muscles. He had bloodshot, scary eyes and a cruel, ominous expression on his face.

Before they could have made a decision between fight or flight, Zart was already in front of them with both of his fists raised into the air. With great power, he slammed them down, crushing the heads of the two closest goblins to bits and pieces. After that, the rest of the battle was cut short, as with two side swings, the remaining two were swiped to the sides with crushed ribs.

Seeing how he murdered a group of four with such ease, Zart's face contorted into a cruel grin. This was the power he was craving for. This was what he needed. He laughed maniacally at the sight and was already planning his next steps.

The image blurred and faded, only to be replaced by new ones in front of Aiden. He could see how he schemed against his father and eventually killed him. How he destroyed the rest of the elders and competition that vied for his position. He could see how with his and the demonic voice's guidance, his small and insignificant tribe grew, only to eventually become part of a larger horde, consisting of hundreds of similar tribes of goblins under the rule of the much stronger creatures.

At this point, it seemed that something was blocking the rest of his memories to play out, something powerful. Although Aiden could tell that Zart had memories of these creatures, he couldn't get these images to play out. 

As the images faded, and Aiden now understood more about these goblins that lived at the foot of the nearby hills and deep in the forest as well, he switched his attention to the System Messages still blinking at the corner of his vision.

As the notifications unwrapped themselves, Aiden could only smile. Once again, he gained something unexpected.

[New Life Essence found! New Form - Goblin created!

Memories processed, System updated!]

Unexpectedly, Aiden gained enough essence from this goblin leader that allowed the system to open the path for this species to be used as a new form. Deciding to give it a go, Aiden suddenly opened his eyes and sat up, startling Lily with the sudden movement.

"Lily, uhm…" He wasn't sure how to tell her this. Although he told most of the secrets about himself already, among the years they spent inside that hellish dimension, he never gained a new form. This did not happen for many years. 

Taking a breath, he made up his mind. Looking at his sister, Aiden had a serious expression.

"Lily, remember when you first found me? Back many years ago?"

Thinking for only a moment, Lily nodded. Seeing that, Aiden continued.

"I will once again go back to that cocoon, or egg if you prefer that, and will change myself to take on the form of one of these creatures. Don't be afraid, you have already seen me change before and also during combat. This is the same, it's just… Slower as this will be my first time trying this out."

Seeing the look in her eyes, Aiden could only sigh. She clearly did not understand what he was talking about.