In the Tavern....

"Hey, I'm currently trading 4 goblin masks each with 5 uses, 2 red hobgoblin masks each with 5 uses, and 3 black hobgoblin masks each with 5 uses. With these masks, you can transform into whatever the masks are made from. You can easily infiltrate the orc army with these masks. Anyone interested? Red hobgoblin mask can be considered as D-rank magic item and Black hobgoblin mask can be considered as E-rank magic item." I exclaimed while I sat and drank honey mead. I looked around but many seems to be uninterested. At the corner of my eye, I spotted Kyuu - my first customer. "Hey Kyuu...how about a red hobgoblin mask? It lets you become a red hobgoblin with some fire abilities/magic. This mask can be considered as a D-rank magic item...an entire two ranks above a goblin mask."

"Hmm, sorry fire magic is completely incompatible with my abilities. But if you even happen to find one that has ice properties we can discuss this again." Kyuu apologized.

"Ice properties are blue colored hobgoblins. If you meet some, send some my way. Make sure their heads are in perfect condition though. The better the condition, the higher chance I can increase the number of uses." I mused.

"Hmm, then I'll have to go hunting." Kyuu replied before leaving the tavern.

Suddenly, a melodic voice appeared to my right. "Hmm...hobgoblin heads...."

The owner of this voice was a Dragon-Elven hybrid by the name of Alliuna Palata. If my memory is correct, she works as a scholar/librarian...a keeper of knowledge. Alliuna walks up to my table and with a wave of her hand, many hobgoblin heads appear. There were 5 green, 8 violet, 9 black, 7 white, and 2 rainbow colored hobgoblin heads. Then, she turned around and walk away. As she left, I overheard her say "not tasty enough anyways."

I see her walk to a table on the other side of the room and proceeds to glare...I mean watch curiously...at me. I shrugged and proceeded to look at the assortment of hobgoblin heads. Nice...free hobgoblin heads...score! Though upon further checking, most aren't in perfect condition since there were teeth marks everywhere. Oh well, with these, I can probably make masks with 3-4 uses. If my memory is correct, green hobgoblins have Nature affinity, violet hobgoblins have Thunder affinity, black hobgoblins are Normal with no affinity, white hobgoblins have Holy affinity...but rainbow? There's no such thing...they must have been diseased. I feel sorry for the one who took a bite out of them, she needs to go to a healer as soon as possible to see if she didn't contract anything.

Activating my Maker's Domain, I quickly made the masks. As for the rainbow ones...because they are diseased, the masks made from them are Cursed. Finally, finishing the masks, I laid them out on the table. "I have 5 green hobgoblin masks of 3 use (E-rank magic item), 8 violet masks of 3 use (D-rank), 9 black masks of 4 use and 3 black masks of 5 use (E-rank), 7 white masks of 4 use (D-rank), 2 red masks of 5 use (D-rank), and 2 cursed masks of 1 use (E-rank). If you want the cursed mask, be careful as upon wearing, you will get a huge boost in strength, speed, defense...but the after-effects is whatever made them cursed...in this case disease...will affect you. So, anyone interested?"

"Interesting. Very interesting. He's converted the Poison element back into the purer Nature element.... I guess that is easier for humans to use. Lacking poison immunity, they would probably have to be extremely careful not to harm themselves with the special element. He also doesn't recognize the Darkness element, I heard it was taboo for humans. I wonder why.... All the elements should be equal, no?" Alliuna chuckled to herself. "Hahahahahaha!!!! Diseased? You call the heads of lesser divines diseased? Oh how amusing my family would have found that. Even humans realize gods are all sick in the head. Well, I guess belief in ones own invulnerability and supremacy is a type of disease, if not exactly the type he's thinking of. But still...this is too much fun! I wonder what will happen next?"

Though she was talking to herself, I was still able to hear her mutterings. These black hobgoblin heads that she gave me have Darkness affinity? Curious as to why she said that, I compared the ones I recently made with the black ones I made earlier. Hmm, oh I see. These heads are pure black but the 3 I got from guild quest are not as pure which makes them only normal affinity. As for rainbow being lesser divines? They're hobgoblins...they can be considered as the second evolution stage of goblins...how can they be gods? Also, though humans view darkness as taboo, nothing is taboo in my line of work.

When I told her this, she replied, "Humans have even forgotten what gods are.... How sad indeed this is. No, they're just diseased. A sickness of the mind and soul, yet with interesting effects on the body"

"Don't know if they are gods or not but the final result is still a cursed mask. Do you want one?" I said. However, Alliuna has already left. With a shrug, I continued to advertise my wares.