Chapter 542
Without waiting for Rattan to recover from the crushing weight of this revelation, he continued. "To doom us even further, these mages altered our very biology, making it impossible for our race to procreate the normal way. That’s where ’Mother’ comes in."
Vellok gestured towards the fleshy organ embedded into the ground like a tumor grown from the planet itself. Tubes snaked from it into the walls. Arcane sigils glowed faintly around it, and with each slow, wet heartbeat, it breathed out magic.
It took a while before Rattan found his voice. His mind reeled, heart pounding under the weight of all he’d heard. He stood still, his thoughts trying to outrun the implications.
Finally, in a voice both cautious and heavy with realization, he said:
"Then from the current state of the world... the mages must have succeeded. We—Goblins—are now the First Child. If what you’re saying is true, then everything the Empire is now doing—the suppression of the Ratfolk, the silencing of dissent, the manipulation of public thought is all meaningless so why continue."
There was no triumph in his tone. Only a dawning horror with slight anger..
Vellok’s eyes narrowed, a flicker of amusement and disappointment crossing his face.
"Rattan... you are a mage. I thought you, of all people, would understand that magic rarely does exactly what we command. Especially when it concerns the vast and untamed things—worlds, souls, time, will. The moment we reach outside of ourselves, we step into uncertainty."
He folded his arms, his voice growing sharper. "Yes, the mages’ plan worked—and didn’t. The Ratfolk’s status as First Child was sealed, suppressed like a memory buried in the bones of the world."
"But we? The Goblins? We did not inherit that title. Not fully. Not immediately. Not by right. We are like seeds planted in sacred soil—waiting, not yet accepted."
Rattan frowned. "What do you mean... ’waiting’?"