Seeing the potential in their abilities, Arthur treated the goblins like tressures. If he grew them right, he would have three blacksmiths of his own. He would take their weapons and add runes to them and sell them. It was a low-cost and high-return investment.
To have them grow he would need to give them permanent runes. He knew that a primitive core wouldn't be enough to give them skills, so he decided to hunt for some low-mid cores. He would use the primitive core to give the low-mid-tier goblins a stats' boost and use higher-tiered cores to strengthen the two middle-mid tiered guards.
He left with Kira, who had become a primitive tier, to hunt some monsters. This was to strengthen himself further and to obtain the cores necessary for his project. He would have liked to ask the two goblins to accompany him, but he feared a high-tiered monster would annihilate the village.
Since they were the only middle-mid tier goblins in the village, Arthur decided to name them. At first, he wanted to give them names like Long Face and Oval Face, but he knew it would be annoying to call them that forever. That's why he gave them shorter and neater names, Nero for the long-faced one and Mero for the oval faced one.
He didn't want to strengthen them before he strengthened himself since he knew the bond would break if they became stronger than him. He was not about to use his ability to strengthen himself, that would be foolish.
He hunted some low-mid-tier monsters, raising his level further. As he looked at his legacy, he reviewed the changes he had and what could be used to help him.
[Scholar Guardian's Legacy]
[Abilities: Beginner Runes Wordsmith (25%), Useable Runes: 12]
[Skills: Lesser-Mana Breathing Skill (F), Poison Strike (F), Camouflage (F), Earth Manipulation (E), Bladeless Wind Slash (E), Shadow Swap (E), Goblin's Bond (Unique)]
[Insignia: The Breaker.]
He still had no idea what his insignia did, so he left it at that. He made a mental note to ask Master Ronin when he goes to his villa later on. He wouldn't tell him about his insignia, as he knew it was bad news from its name. If words leaked that he was the person who ended the trial, he would be doomed.
His anxiety acted up as he remembered Jin. He wasn't worried about Miko and Hazel, since he still trusted them. The good thing was that Jin didn't know his last name, only his first. There a million Arthurs out there so he wouldn't be found out. The only possibility would be him forcing Hazel to reveal, but that had a really low shot of happening.
Arthur was sure that after she received her legacy, her worth shot up in her family. She would be protected from any harm, being treated like the so-called Genius Berserker. With Annabel, the Witch of Icy Islands by her side, Arthur was sure she could contend with Erin Voldor himself.
He still had a long way to go, but he wasn't worried. He was already nearing the boundaries of the neo-rank even though he had awakened not long ago.
Walking back after successful hunting, the wolf and man enjoyed their trip carrying several monster corpses. Kira was already twice his size after he evolved, making Arthur able to mount it. However, its speed was rather slow if he carried Arthur on its back.
They entered the village, welcomed by Mero and Nero. Arthur began to gut the animals and skin them, a feat he learned from all the nights in the trial. He wasn't that skillful yet, but he got the job down. He started roasting the meat, making the aroma spreading in the village making many heads turn.
Arthur found out that the goblins at their meat raw, giving them many diseases. They still evolved from eating mana-rich meat, but they were borne to parasites that lived in them.
Smelling the good smell of seasoned meat, the whole village turned up salivating at the sight of roasted meat. Since Arthur had more than one corpse, one being that of a Beras and another was that of a giant horned rabbit, Arthur didn't mind sharing with the village.
It seemed that food was the best incitive not matter what species you were and how green your skin was. Arthur started handing out portions of meat to the goblins, and they all gleefully ate. He made sure to give Mero, Nero, and the three blacksmiths extra portions to raise competitive spirit among the rest.
His plans seemed to be fruitful immediately, as the others eyed the meat the blacksmiths ate with envy. They began to talk among themselves and point, only to start running off somewhere.
The next scene was one that made Arthur laugh a lot, as the goblins started giving him things like ores and broken weapons. Others were giving him mana cores they had stashed for some reason, although they were mostly primitive ones.
Arthur accepted all of them. If food was all they wanted, then he would give it to them. He gave more meat to the ones that have given him something, and the rest started following along.
When the meat ended, there still some goblins offering what they had. It was then that Arthur realized these goblins didn't only want food, but they also sought to appease him since he ruled over them now.
Arthur didn't hate this. He encouraged it.
If these goblins could grow more, he would have a loyal group of followers using his bond. This way, he would have a steady supply of mana cores after they were strong enough to hunt.
Arthur grabbed several of the mana cores brought to him by the goblins and called out to them. The group trembled in fear, probably thinking he didn't like their gifts before they started looking everywhere for something else.
What he meant was delivered by their bond, and the group came after they felt no anger or the like from Arthur. They sat on the ground, kneels touching it before they prostrated themselves.
Arthur felt his patience wearing thin, so he simply used his Strength-II rune in combination with the primitive mana core. Like before, the rune surrounded the core that turned ethereal. Arthur pushed it into the first goblin, that started trembling and screaming.
'What? It shouldn't be painful!' Arthur was stunned by the goblin's reaction. After a few moments, the goblin looked around like it was in another world. It examined its body and looked around for any wounds, but there was none. It felt the surging power within and started screaming in joy.
"KAKA, Ge Ka," It said some rubbish that Arthur didn't understand. The village turned nosy as the whole goblins started talking like they were witnessing a miracle.
"Damn you, were you just scared I'd hurt you?" Arthur massaged his temples in exasperation after he realized that the goblin was simply too scared.
Before he knew it, the rest of the goblins also prostrated themselves, Mero and Nero included. Arthur looked over the village as fifty goblins knelt to him.