A lot happened today, so I’ll keep it brief and to the point.
First, eight new hobgoblins evolved—all the goblins who had reached level 100 underwent Existence Evolution. Among them, two had the aptitude to become mages, and one became a cleric. That last one was close to Hobji, the hobgoblin cleric, and likely influenced by that relationship. I couldn’t help but smile to myself as my plans successfully unfolded.
The other individuals who evolved were as follows.
Gobmi, previously a hobgoblin, woke up today as a dhampir variant, a half-vampire species, and a far more drastic transformation than the one she had undergone to evolve from a goblin to a hobgoblin. In fact, the two evolutions were incomparable.
Gobmi now stood over 180 centimeters tall, with a slender, graceful figure. She had an ample chest that spilled slightly over her hands as she held them against herself, and her waist was noticeably slim, giving her an attractive hourglass shape. She’d become as beautiful as the moon is ephemeral, surpassing even the elves. She had plump lips, waist-length hair that shimmered like silver, flawless skin, red eyes with golden pupils, and an aura of enchantment.
On top of her new look, she had also acquired the Blessing of the Ice God, which allowed her to generate and manipulate large quantities of ice from thin air. According to Gobjii, this blessing from a God, who was a rank higher than a Demigod, made Gobmi’s abilities even rarer and more powerful than those of someone with dual Demigod blessings, like Gobkichi.
Gobmi’s physical attributes, like strength and agility, had improved dramatically… likely to the point where she was on par with Gobkichi, and possibly even stronger than I was. Additionally, as a variant, she was protected by divine power and did not share the common weaknesses of vampires, such as sensitivity to sunlight. She could move perfectly freely during the day with no restrictions whatsoever.
The really important part is that Gobmi had become incredibly beautiful. That’s the main point. Oddly enough, her appearance resembles someone I used to know, albeit a few years older. The memory is hazy, though, so I’ll set it aside for now and continue detailing the numerous changes that occurred today.
Indeed, the differences compared to yesterday were substantial.
Next up was Gobei.
Gobei had evolved into a half earth lord, a subspecies of demon lord. Unlike Gobmi, Gobei was a normal type, not a variant, and she now stood over 240 centimeters tall—approaching my height—with a robust and muscular build. Her most prominent features were her short, slightly spiky yellow hair, two twenty-centimeter-long curved horns on either side of her head, garnet-like eyes, and supple skin with a dark, earthy tone. She had a well-proportioned chest the size of a couple of watermelons, defined abdominal muscles, and two yellow orbs embedded in her elbows, each about five centimeters in diameter.
The orbs embedded in Gobei’s elbows, like the one in Hobsei’s forehead, were known as “Demon Orbs.” Every demon-type species had these orbs embedded somewhere on its body. It was said that the true power of the demon species could be unleashed by activating these Demon Orbs.
Gobei’s new abilities mainly revolved around terrain manipulation, with a particular focus on mining. Abilities such as Geological Insight allowed her to pinpoint weak points in rock formations, and she had various physical enhancements that helped her mine and extract minerals efficiently from the earth. Now, when she tried digging into a wall with her bare hands, she could do so with the ease and precision of a drill. It was quite a sight to behold, and a bit unsettling. Her digging speed surpassed even that of a Unique-class magically endowed pickaxe, which was impressive. This allowed for much faster and more abundant extraction of Spirit Stones and other minerals, so I had no complaints.
She could also use a bit of Lightning magic, which allowed her to sense different metals, and would be put to good use detecting minerals while mining. Gobei had always focused on improving her mining skills; once she found something she was passionate about, she pursued it relentlessly, and got impressive results. Her dedication was commendable.
Of course, her combat abilities were not to be underestimated either. Considering that she could crush rocks with her bare hands, it was easy to imagine what would happen if she hit a soft-bodied creature. They would be reduced to meat paste. It was truly terrifying to imagine.
Next was Hobsato.
Hobsato had always been skilled with sword-type weapons, so she evolved into a half blood lord, another Demon lord subspecies. Like Gobei, she was a normal type, without any divine blessings.
Standing about two meters tall, her physique clearly displayed her muscles while retaining a feminine softness. She had a modest chest, a single fifteen-centimeter ruby-like horn protruding from her forehead, carnelian-like eyes, slightly reddish skin, and long, blood-red hair tied into a ponytail, revealing a tantalizing glimpse of her nape. Each of her hands had a red Demon Orb embedded into the back, about five centimeters in diameter.
While she didn’t gain any new magical abilities, her physical attributes and close combat skills had improved dramatically. In fact, it seemed that the blood lord species excelled in close combat. As indicated by their name, they possessed a unique ability to manipulate blood—both their own and others’—under certain conditions. This made them quite formidable, even without magic. On blood-soaked battlefields, their strength would likely be unparalleled.
In terms of close combat capabilities, Hobsato would probably rank third or fourth, just behind Gobkichi and me. While her physical prowess was somewhat lower than Gobkichi’s or Gobmi’s due to her species, she had abilities like Foresight, Precognition, and Intuition, all of which would make her a formidable opponent in melee combat.
What puzzled me was that, like Hobsei, everyone else also had black tattoos that resembled mine but were slightly different. Gobmi had one on her back, Gobei and Hobsato had them on their arms, and the hobgoblins had them variously on their necks, arms, or legs. They reported feeling a surge of power from these tattoos, so for now, I decided not to worry about it. I’ll consider it a mystery to be solved later.
To celebrate their evolution, I gave each of my newly evolved comrades a selection of magic items.
To Gobmi, I presented a magic dress called Mist Garment of the Undying Queen, made of blue and white magical steel thread and blackish-purple enchanted cloth. I also gave her Glasses of Sealing: Evil Eye, to prevent her from using her species-specific Enthralling Evil Eye recklessly, and a beautiful magic claymore sword called Moonlight Drops, with a blade made from magical ice crystals harvested from permafrost.
Gobei received the War Pick of the Earth Mother Goddess and a matching shovel, Shovel of the Earth Mother, both sized and strengthened to suit her large frame and abilities. Since she had outgrown her clothes, I also gave her three gray coverall-style magic garments and a towel made from my threads, enchanted for extra durability—she had requested something to wipe her sweat.
For Hobsato, I provided a full set of red iron armor resistant to both physical and magical attacks, along with a matching magical red cape and a magic longsword called Crimson Empress, which had vampiric abilities. Though she didn’t think she’d need a sword with her Demon Orbs activated, I still gave it to her as a precaution.
Then, I gave Gobmi, Gobei, and Hobsato standard-issue storage bracelets, similar to what Gobkichi and Hobsei already had.
I must say, the sight of them all lined up was pretty impressive: Gobmi, now dressed like a noble lady in her elegant dress, Gobei with her jumpsuit unzipped in the front, revealing her gray, sarashi-like chest wrap and exposing her navel and collarbone, and Hobsato, now a steel knight clad in red armor with a dangerous aura… All looked perfect for their new roles.
Despite styling them myself, I couldn’t help but think how well each of their new looks suited them.
Still, it felt odd that, despite our significant evolution, we were all still using names, like Gobrou and Gobkichi, that no longer reflected our current status. We weren’t goblins or even hobgoblins anymore. So, I decided to consult Gobjii, and here’s what we came up with:
I, Gobrou, became Ogrou.
Gobkichi became Ogrekichi.
Gobmi became Dhami.
Gobei became Asue.
Hobsei became Spellsei.
Hobsato became Bloodsato.
Gobfu became Hobfu.
And so on… Each individual who had evolved received a new name.