Chapter 59 - 58
By the time they reached the goblin village, the sun had already started dipping behind the trees. Grokk was the first to greet them at the gate, eyes narrowing with mild suspicion.
"Welcome back, Master."
"Any trouble while we were gone?"
"Only the usual. A few wandering monsters sniffed too close to the edge, but I scared them off."
"Good job. Keep it up and I’ll make sure you get stronger too."
Grokk bowed. "Thank you, Master. Um... may I ask, who is your companion?" He turned toward Skitz, eyes narrowing. The aura was familiar—eerily so—but the face...
Then it clicked. His expression shifted from confusion to astonishment. "Master Skitz?"
"In the flesh," Skitz said with a grin.
Grokk bowed again, more deeply this time. "Congratulations on your evolution."
Behind the gesture, however, envy stirred. Grokk was well into his fourth decade. His single evolution had taken decades of clawing through blood and bone. And yet this one—this goblin—was barely twenty seasons old and had already surpassed him.
Still, Grokk said nothing. The goblin village was different from anything he had ever known. These monsters had order. Purpose. They built, cleaned, planned. He’d seen kobolds sketching with charcoal, goblins repairing water troughs, children being taught numbers.