Twenty seconds is a long time when you are in a life-and-death situation. Luckily, I had not left the tunnel. Due to still in the dark, the Shade Spawn perk was active. Luck was on my side that no monsters were around, well, alive anyway.

The corpses of goblins made a small hill twice the size of my current body. I would’ve whistled if I could. The visual was quite impactful.

Curious, I eyed the other end of the heap. The sound of fighting had stopped after that last roar.

Did the orc die? Maybe, the goblins were annihilated?

I couldn’t wait for twenty seconds to pass.

XXX

A groan escaped Logier’s lips as he leaned against the cold wall. His left hand pressed against his chest, from where red life liquid was oozing profusely. One of the goblins had managed to sneak an attack while he was distracted by a few.

He hated fighting against goblins for this reason. They were too cowardly and would often use despicable ways to fight.

Logier’s snout twitched as a foul smell hit his sensitive nostrils. He looked down at the wound on his chest—the smell was coming from there. Black blood was escaping through the gaps of his fingers, carrying the smell of rotten eggs with it.

Poison!

Logier recognized the cause right away. The rusty dagger that the goblin had left inside must have carried a potent poison. He knew goblin blood and spit were poisonous, but he hadn’t thought they’d be this malicious.

His flesh was being corroded at a visible pace. The scariest thing was that this poison had numbed his pain receptors. His flesh was melting, but he didn’t feel anything.

Logier knew his condition was dire. The shamans of his tribe had warned him about the goblin poison. According to them, the poison could kill even him, a Chief, who has the Keeper’s blessing.

He ground his teeth in desperation and then exhaled a deep breath. In a whisper, he invoked his blessing.

“Signa!”

Following the whisper, a red translucent rectangular box blinked into existence and hovered in the midair.

[Request]

[Explore]

Available Merit: 1000

Logier pressed a finger on the first option. The screen cleaned up and displayed a three-dimensional skull image.

[State your request] –it demanded in a disembodied voice.

“I’ve been poisoned by goblins. I need help.”

[The antidote for goblin poison is 50 Merits]

Logier winced at the price. He only had a thousand merits left after the bulk spending for his tribe before leaving. In his tribe, only he had the blessing of Keeper and access to Signa.

The fishy smell from his chest washed away Logier’s hesitation. Merits may be an important resource, but his life was more important. He can earn back these merits later.

“I’ll take it.”

[50 Merits have been deducted from your soul. You have 950 Merits left.]

[The antidote has been applied to your body.]

[Transaction is complete. Thank you for using Signa.]

Logier felt a cool sensation on his chest. Then, a searing pain hit him with the force of his old man’s hammer. His torso felt like it was on fire. The antidote not only countered the poison but also restored his pain receptors.

“Guh!!” He grunted as the burning pain in his chest increased. Greenish blood poured out from between his fingers of the hand pressing on the wound. The rotten smell was even more intense than before. The antidote’s effects forced out all the poison in his blood.

Shirr!!

His ears stood up straight as they picked up a strange sound. Something heavy was being dragged along the floor.

Logier’s face twitched as his heart palpitated. He reached for his weapon but then remembered it broke a while ago when defending a few goblins’ reckless charge.

His red-skinned face paled into a pinkish brown color. To his dismay, he didn’t even have enough stamina to move a single finger. He was like a sitting duck to whatever that was approaching. The Orc Chieftain felt fear for the first time in many years.

While waiting with bated breath for the thing to appear, he once again activated his blessing and called upon Signa. But the skull image appeared bearing a piece of bad news.

[You’ve reached the daily usage limit of Signa. You’ll need to upgrade to Level 2 Orc Chieftain to increase the daily limit.]

Logier quietly gasped and wondered when did he use up all three chances. The situation has become dire as the worse possible situation occurred. He regretted not buying a healing brew.

The orc chief squirmed as he tried to move his broad shoulders. Unfortunately, he had taken way too much damage, and his body was completely worn out.

The grating noise stopped as a shadow loomed over Logier’s form. The culprit finally made itself known. It was a goblin and one that looked weaker than the rest he had flattened. The little green creature was holding a broken remnant of his trusty mace.

‘Is it karma, I wonder?’ Logier thought, staring into the goblin’s beady green eyes. ‘If only I hadn’t met that thing before coming down…’

Logier was already tired and heavily injured when the goblins attacked him. If not for that, he’d have flattened them into pancakes instead of suffering this humiliation.

“Kil-” The green creature growled in a broken dialect. Logier blinked as he barely held on to consciousness and inspected the goblin that looked ready to smash his head open. “You are awakening to the wisdom I see.”

His thick lips stretched into a hideous smile, revealing his rows of sharp teeth, bloody and broken from the continuous battles. “Do you want to devour me and evolve?” He tauntingly asked. “It’s what the voice inside your head is saying, right?”

“yOu spEak!” The little goblin made a gasping sound.

“Yes, I can.” Logier agreed.

The little goblin stopped and stared down at Logier’s single eye. Its twig-like arms shook with hesitation. For the first time, it was meeting another monster that could speak. The others around it could only growl and follow their instincts.

Is this orc also saw that light? It wondered as it looked into Logier’s wounded form.

Then it thought about what the orc spoke.

It was true that there was a voice inside its head, constantly guiding its actions—always had been. However, ever since it began to think, this voice started to feel annoying. Sometimes, it even blatantly disobeyed that voice.

“K-now tHis v-oIcE?” The goblin put down the broken mace and asked, standing cautiously away from Logier’s reach. It was smart enough to understand not to let its guard down around anyone in this place.

“Yes,” Logier admitted. “There used to be a voice inside my head too. Though, not anymore.”

“tRue? hOw did yOu mAke It gO?” The goblin asked as it stared expectantly at the wounded orc. The voice in its head had been driving it nuts, even sometimes forcing it to do things it didn’t want. It hated such a thing.

Logier’s face twisted in pain as he pushed himself into a more comfortable position. Even with his enhanced natural recovery, the scale of his wounds would take a lot of time to heal.

“I have a way,” He said solemnly. “Come closer, I’ll tell you.”

The goblin hesitated. As a beast capable of thinking, it had become more cautious of its surroundings. Unfortunately, it hadn’t ‘awakened’ for long and didn’t understand the way the world works.

In its excitement of seeing another who had seen the light, the little goblin threw caution to the wind and approached Logier.

“Come closer. I won’t say it loud.”

The goblin did as told, excited to know the secret to make the voice go.

Logier smiled when he saw the goblin exposing its twig-like neck. He leaned further and whispered, “in the next life, don’t let others know you can think.”

“Ki?”

Before the goblin could understand the meaning, Logier sunk his rows of sharp teeth that could grind bones into dust into the thin neck of the goblin. Blood splashed from the wounds as Logier’s jaw strength crushed its bones.

The little goblin died even before it could realize its fatal mistake.

Suddenly, the Keeper’s blessing activated as a red window flashed in front of him. The skull image appeared as it hissed into his ears like a cat with its tail stepped on.

[Committed a Taboo! You are penalized with 500 Merits]

[You can no longer use your Skills and tittles for 10 circles]

[Penalty: Corrosion]

[You will experience horrendous pain in your bones every second hour for 4 circles.]