Chapter 49: Vexing

Ever since Logier lost his right hand, I knew this day was coming. This pig even told me about it. However, while dealing with goblin lord, and later the appearance of Cathie made me forget about this issue. A frown married my face as I carefully scrutinized him.

“Why are you happy, though?” I asked while inspecting the condition of the two humans. Once again, they started frothing from their mouths. It can’t be helped as I was spamming Dizzy on them since the morning. There was a limit to a human’s perseverance, after all. Well, they seem to have withstood even less time than yesterday. Their mental fortitude seemed to have regressed in just a day.

Perhaps it was because of the predicament they were in, which consumed their attention. Nonetheless, I discovered another aspect of mental attacks. The more distressed my enemy was in, the more effective my skills’ effects would be. To test my theory, I used nearly all my skills aside from Nightmare Seed and Nightmare Manifest. One was useless while the other was too MP consuming. I didn’t want to feel a splitting headache this soon in the day.

That’s right, headache. I no longer faint from MP depletion. In my opinion, though, this new predicament was much worse than flat out fainting. At lest, after fainting, I didn’t suffer the torment of head-splitting pain for hours. It was yet another drawback of me reaching my limit. I sighed mildly and shook my head to clear my thoughts.

I had no intention to evolve anymore at that time. Moreover, it wouldn’t be that easy. After reaching the adult Dream Weaver, the next chance will only come when I amass more than a thousand EPs. With goblins and orcs living in harmony, it wouldn’t be that easy. Therefore, for the time being, I have decided to master all my attributes.

I was hoping to get a better evolution path after this. Something tells me that evolution will only become harder and harder in the future. Since that was the case, I shouldn’t waste the potential of any path I follow. The current me was just an Imp; hence, I should master all the strengths and weaknesses of the Imp.

As an Imp, my primary weapon was illusions. Whereas, deception should be my very nature itself. This nature got suppressed due to my memories as a human before. As a result, I couldn’t display the strength of my species to its maximum. The realization occurred to me after I learned about my species from Monsterpedia.

But it was not too late. I had to rectify the mistakes, and due to that, I had stopped thinking about evolving for the time being. Moreover, an adult Dream Weaver was by no means a weak monster. They were ranked pretty high up on the list of dangerous monsters. And their skill to manifest one’s nightmare listed among the top fifty of evil abilities. The only reason why they fell short to the ones above was due to their inadequate intelligence. They were unable to display these dangerous skills to their maximum potential due to a lack of knowledge and higher-order cognitive thinking.

With my memories as a human, this was akin to giving a tiger a pair of wings.

…

Logier didn’t talk much. We had nothing in common to talk anyway. After announcing me about his apparent retirement, he devoured a deceased adult goblin whole. Then he rolled to the side with his fat belly facing to the roof and snored loudly.

I could only smile wryly at this. Moreover, I was quite worried about the new Orc Chief’s stance towards me. If they were hostile, I would have to plant a Nightmare Seed on them. At current, I could only implant 2 Nightmare Seeds, as one of them was still in use.

Besides, I was feeling a little restless since the morning. Its as if something bad will happen to me. After hearing about Logier’s actions, I realized the source of this anxiety. This should be because of the orcs’ new leader having different opinions about me. Despite my calmness, I was very restless inside.

Shortly after that, I saw a group of orcs coming towards me. I secretly commanded Urt to come to my aid should things go south. At present, he was hiding a little farther from me, behind one of the trees.

Three stoic looking orcs trotted over, displaying extraordinary might as they did so. Their steps carried an unstoppable momentum. I was so anxious that my tail started to move erratically, not unlike that of a cat stalking its prey. I moved my head away from the humans and looked at them, especially the one in the center who wore a small ornament made of bone-fingers. I had seen Logier wearing it all the time.

‘It should be the symbol of power, right?’ I had a fleeting thought before sobering up. In my peripheral vision, I saw Logier’s subtle movements. ‘So he was pretending, eh! Now I understood why he came to me after resigning.’ I thought with a smile, at the same time, I regained a bit of confidence.

The entourage stopped a few meters before me. My eyes bore into the pupil’s of the seemingly new chief, creating a stifling atmosphere. ‘This is so awkward, dammit!’ I screamed inside my heart. I had never faced such a situation before that day and was quite unsettled due to it. I looked deeper into the orc’s eyes and couldn’t help but scream internally, ‘Say something, please! I beg you.’

Despite my begging, the orc still remained silent and kept staring at me. Finally, I was unable to endure the pressure and thought of starting a conversation from myself. After throwing a contemplative look at the others around him, I settled my sight on the new chief, “you are?”

“I am Sepi, the new Orc Chief. Please accept my respect.” As soon as my voice faded, the new chief kneeled on one leg. Then he slammed both his palms on the ground, forming a palm-shaped depression.

‘Eh!’ I was prepared for everything, even instant attacks. However, this was something I had never thought would happen. The mighty chief was actually bowing to me? An inconceivable light flashed on my eyes.

“Accept his due respect, little friend. After all, we owe you this one.” Logier’s voice came from behind, which pulled me back to my senses. Blinking once, I threw a confusion filled look at him, while asking for advice.

“It is a custom of my tribe.” Logier stood up and walked back to the group of kneeling orcs and also kneeled together with them. “This is how we show our gratitude to our benefactor.” He added before assuming the same posture as Sepi and others.

“Ah!” I was startled and screamed unintentionally. My countenance changed, “Please stand up and be at ease.” I shouted hurriedly. However, deep in my heart, I felt happy. Who doesn’t want to be praised by others, especially by the ones whom they helped? I might not know about the others, but I, Alex, definitely love to be acknowledged.

Despite how good it felt, I made them stand up hurriedly. I longed to have a long-standing cooperation with them. Therefore, I couldn’t allow something like this to happen for any longer than its necessary. The orcs gradually stood up before retreating back. I thought they would share some pleasantries, but I have never expected them to just leave like that.

Unexpected indeed! As expected of monsterdom, straightforward and direct in their code of conduct.

That night, the orcs had another celebration. Many poor goblins were slaughtered that night for the sake of the banquet. However, Urt’s indifference and other goblins’ silence really shook me to the core. I knew monsterdom was a cruel world, but isn’t it just too brutal? I felt my world view was a little too shallow.

…

The night passed quickly, and the morning came soon after. As I came out of Goblin Lord’s cave, I heard shouting and pig-like squealing coming from a distance. Feeling surprised, when I went closer towards the sound to investigate, I saw something that I never believe would happen.

A group made of twenty orcs was battling against hundreds of thin and lean goblins who were wielding pole dirt as their weapons. Although I said fighting, it was actually a one side slaughter. The orcs were killing the frenzied goblins left and right without a shred of remorse.

“STOP!!” I screamed at the top of my lungs while getting closer to them. “Have you chief gone crazy? Why are you killing them left and right?” I was indignant and a bit surprised. I thought I had made it clear to the orcs, they’re not to touch these goblins. And yet, not even a day passed, and my words lost its meaning.

I was vexed at the moment as well.