Chapter 5: Lake’s words - Savior in the oracle

Lake found himself dangerously close to Azeth, not more than ten meters away. However, he dared not approach any further as the burst of killing intent almost seized his heart, its intensity astonishing as Azeth was merely a newborn. Such hatred was indeed uncommon.

Calmly observing from behind, Lake let his shadow move forward slowly, attempting to check on Azeth without being noticed. However, Azeth's keen senses alerted him to the intruder.

"Who!?" Almost instantly, Azeth leaped off the ground, landing about a meter in front of him. In mid-air, he twisted and faced the direction where Lake was present.

A silhouette lingered, vaguely resembling what Azeth had seen before.

"You, you are..." Azeth squinted his eyes, not due to poor vision but because of the anger coursing through him. Clenching his fist and slightly opening his mouth, he stared intently at the silhouette, ready to launch himself and deliver a fatal blow. However, before he could act, Lake withdrew his shadow and revealed himself.

Tap Tap Tap

"Forgive me for surprising you.”

Lake's sudden appearance was more than just surprising for Azeth; it was startling. Instead of a colossal goblin, a true monster stood before him. Strangely, through his dragon eyes, Azeth could perceive an immense amount of energy and aura emanating from Lake.

'What is this?' Azeth felt a twinge of confusion as he observed a large chunk of purple-colored energy behind Lake, reminiscent of the mana he had encountered in his mage days. However, clarity dawned on him soon.

'Dragon eyes... yes, I can gauge the strength of my opponent.' With this realization, the initial confusion lifted, making way for a new challenge.

Azeth hadn't anticipated encountering a being at least a hundred times stronger and faster than him, let alone a goblin. 'He is a goblin, but with horns? A hobgoblin? If so, with such strength, could he be the Goblin King or the leader of some tribe?' Azeth speculated, his mind working swiftly to grasp the situation.

'That is most likely possible, but why is he here? Aren't they supposed to be bigshots sitting somewhere deep?' He was a bit baffled, but observing the goblin's facial expressions and the wavy voice with which he spoke, Azeth knew instantly that he had to stay strong. Even if weak, he should at least stand firm.

“You are forgiven; speak, why are you here?”

As these words came out of the tiny hatchling, making him sound nothing more than cute, the great Goblin Lord Lake almost burst into laughter. He barely controlled himself, turning his head slightly away while puffing his cheeks, unable to laugh by any means.

Azeth, on the other hand, realized the effect of his words.

‘Ugh, so much for trying to be cool…’ he thought to himself, his words replaying in his head again and again.

Closing his eyes, Azeth attempted to prevent himself from dwelling on his cringeworthy words. Lake, on the other hand, regained his composure in a moment and then stared at Azeth before speaking, “Ahem, great lord, I have come here today to escort you to our Village.”

As these words reached Azeth, he too stopped overthinking about his words and then stared at Lake in confusion. Not only did Lake refer to him as ‘Lord,’ but he also talked about ‘escorting to his village.’

“Escort?”

“Yes.”

“No, I mean, why? Why should you escort me or rather, what makes you think I will accompany you to your village?” Azeth asked, his confusion evident as his mouth remained open and his eyes widened even more.

“Lord, just three days prior I received an oracle saying a great being will be born here who can protect us from the impending doom. I’ve sent my shadows throughout the entire forest and found no one other than you being born. Therefore, coming to the conclusion that you are the one, I request you to accompany me to the village where we will take utmost care and protect you until you are strong!”

“…”

“Huh?”

“What did you say?”

“Lord, three days-”, Lake was about to repeat himself, but before he could, Azeth stopped him.

“Stop, stop, I’m not asking you to repeat… rather, my question is, you do realize that I am a dragon, right?”

“Yes, lord.”

“No wait, let me rephrase… I am a dragon who is supposed to be bullied by goblins, slimes, and whatnot? And you are saying, I am your savior… is that right?”

“Yes, lord.”

“…”

‘What the heck? You guys should bully me, you bastards, and here you are calling me your savior already? What kind of plot twist is this!?’ Azeth stared at the sky, as if seemingly staring at the creator who made the world.

As he gazed at the clouds above, a few drops of water fell on Azeth's face, seconds before the drizzle began. The already cold atmosphere got colder. Seeking refuge, both of them decided to take shelter under the same gigantic tree. However, Azeth was not ready to share the shelter with Lake. If he were a female, that would be a different issue, but imagining sharing an umbrella with a bulky dude, especially a stranger who is a secret boss but is pretending to be docile...

“…”

“Is this enough?” Lake asked, his left eye twitching as he sought confirmation.

“Just a meter more,” Azeth replied, hearing which Lake walked a meter away, now finally out of the shelter and completely exposed to the rain.

“Yep, you could sit there,” Azeth said, taking a seat like a boss, averting his gaze.

Lake continued to stare at Azeth as water drenched his face and kept dropping down. Although his eyes seemed closed, he was undoubtedly annoyed. Nevertheless, he put up a barrier for himself to avoid the rain after a sigh of annoyance.

The sudden rain provided enough time for Azeth to contemplate his next steps. The invitation to accompany the goblins wasn't necessarily a bad deal. It promised safety, shelter, and peaceful nights without worrying about dangers. Moreover, the goblins could aid him in getting stronger, as per Lake's assertion.

Considering the possibilities, Azeth envisioned building an entire army, perhaps with advanced knowledge, and leading the monsters to wreak havoc on the Reiz Empire – a perfect plan.

Azeth smirked internally at these thoughts. ‘You came to me seeking protection from doom? Mind you, I will lead you to complete slaughter… I’m not a monster lover; I hate them. And now, I hate humans too… so I don’t care if both sides end up slaughtering each other as long as my revenge is complete.’

‘Keke, you will be mere tools in my plan. It couldn’t get any better… approaching me to become my tools, that is.’

While the outside was somewhat calm with just the sound of drizzling as the rain had calmed down, Azeth's internal thoughts ran wild as a vengeful demon took birth within!

“I accept your offer, Lake.”

As these words reached the distant Lake, his expression instantly changed. He had a lot of thoughts exploding in his mind, primarily about Azeth’s possible rejection or acceptance of the proposal. After Azeth accepted, Lake couldn’t help but feel joyous, though he controlled himself.

He stood up immediately, staring at the sky momentarily as the rain had stopped. Looking at Azeth again, he said, “Follow me, Lord.”

Smiling, Azeth stood up and walked right beside Lake as he led the way. Everything seemed perfectly fine, but Lake had just one question lingering in his mind.

‘How did he learn my name?’ As Azeth walked a bit ahead, Lake’s eyes glowed with a faint red light as he realized that Azeth was by no means normal.

‘Interesting…’

“…”

‘And with this, he would be somewhat interested in me and his curiosity might even help me in the future.’, Azeth mentioned Lake’s name not by mistake, but after a small plan. The idea of having some secretive power would increase his worth, and in this case, it is the system that helped Azeth by showing him Lake’s stats.

...

[Profile]

Name: Lake, the Mighty

Race: Goblin Lord

Rank: A

Level: 80

Age: Unknown

Attributes:

HP (Hit Points): 800

MP (Magic Points): 400

Strength: 400

Dexterity: 350

Speed: 200

Constitution: 400

Stat Points: 300 [*]

Abilities [Does not consume MP]:

1. Titanic Strength Lv.40: Strength attribute is multiplied by 40 for 5 minutes.

2. Iron Defense Lv.20: Forms an impenetrable barrier, reducing damage taken by 20%.

3. Regeneration Lv.4: Rapidly recovers 4 HP and 2 MP per second.

4. Enhanced Detection Lv.10: Can sense and analyze motions or positions within a radius of 100 meters.

5. Shadow Portal Lv.20: A space created by shadows to store objects.

Skills [Consumes MP]:

1. Rampage Lv.4 [12 MP per minute]: Boosts Strength, Speed, Dexterity, and Constitution by 4 times.

2. Fireball Lv.2 [20 MP per cast]: Casts a fireball that inflicts burning damage over time.

3. Shadow Control Lv.10 [10 MP per cast]: Able to control shadows; the shadows can individually use weapons but if shadow/darkness type.

Equipments:

1. Dreadblade [Rank S]: A legendary sword that enhances Strength and Dexterity by 40 points each.

2. Dragonhide Armor [Rank S]: Armor crafted from the hide of a powerful dragon, providing substantial protection; Constitution +40.

3. Amulet of Arcane Power: Enhances magical abilities; MP regeneration increased by 10%.

[* Stat points cannot be used by an individual without a system. The host can however steal the stat points by killing the targets. Note: Only 10% of the stat points can be stolen as of now due to host’s low level.]

...

‘The stat points stealing is rather interesting but apart from that… this guy is a monster!’

Azeth by no means would take Lake lightly after seeing something like this. The only thing he has to do now is… make perfect plans.