Return of the Woodcutter

After talking a bit more with the goblin he had named Zeut, Aito was led to the nest's treasury that actually looked like a junkyard. 

In a moderately large dark room, items of all kinds lied all around the place, forming piles, reflecting the light of Aito's magic torch. A putrid stench emanated from a certain corner where human captives who had wet themselves were tied and gagged. 

Not far from them was a corner filled with human bones as well as leftovers from the previous leader's dinner. It also appeared to double as toilets. 

This horrendous sight reminded Aito of how disgusting those green creatures were. However, he was also surprised that they understood the concept of preserving their food. 

Zeut added that they were the leader's private livestock. In fact, the treasury was the leader's personal space, where only those authorized by him could enter. Most of the time, goblins would just bring offerings here before swiftly leaving. 

Aito gave the goblin a few orders before it promptly left to execute them. Certain nobody but tied humans were around, he deactivated Fearless Aura, then cast an illusionary wall to block the entrance. 

No goblins would enter the treasure room without his consent and would announce themselves first. But they could still see him from the entrance, so the illusion was just to block their sight. 

Once done, he sat on a pile of garbage, removed his helmet despite the stench, and took a well-deserved break. 

His gaze traveled towards the tied humans. 

'Just what am I supposed to do with them?' 

He had especially tried to avoid other challengers because he didn't want to deal with humans. Thankfully, they couldn't see him since their eyes were covered with a crude piece of cloth. 

The idea of leaving them to rot here brushed past his mind. However, it would be too cruel to do so. Aito made his mind to free them later. They have lived like that until now, so they could certainly wait a few more hours. He didn't want to deal with whining and useless blablabla. 

Having made up his mind, he took out a soul core with a yellow color denser than the ones he had seen before. 

It was the golden goblin's soul core. 

Curious, he brought out his candle to pry open the core's secrets. 

[Lv2 Soul Core]

Soul type: Goblin

Description: A soul core containing the life force of a goblin shaman. Absorbing its life force will make one stronger. 

Application: Absorb it to use. However, be mindful of your own soul level. 

Well, he didn't really learn anything new apart from the fact it was a Lv2 soul core, which he found weird since they were just on the fourth floor. 

He then thought about the pile of soul cores in a corner, thinking there was a possibility that the golden goblin had absorbed or, more precisely, eaten enough human soul cores to level up. 

It was the only explanation he could find. That and the fact it had been a special creature. 

Aito then stared at a particular sentence that warned him of his own soul level, wondering what the notification meant. Was there a possibility that absorbing a level 2 soul core was dangerous for a level 1 challenger? 

He had never heard about this before. Well, he didn't know much about souls in the first place. But as far as he knew, souls were weakened after their physical vessels were destroyed. 

'So, it should be safe,' he thought, sucking in the goblin shaman's soul. Hesitating wouldn't lead him anywhere. He needed to get stronger as fast as possible and this soul core might be his ticket to level up faster. 

Also, this place was relatively safe, for now. 

After a few moments… nothing happened. Aito left the other soul cores he had collected untouched and patiently waited for the goblin shaman's soul to be digested by his own.

Suddenly, a powerful heart-throbbing feeling gripped his bosom. In immense pain, he grabbed his chest and fell from the pile he has been sitting on, landing on the cold dirty ground. 

'What's… happening!?' 

He clawed the earth and rocks, trying to dig out his suffering, to no avail. Something was puncturing his chest like a nail slowly nearing on his heart. 

Coughing blood, he finally felt what was really happening in his own core. Inside his body, his soul was fighting the previous goblin leader's soul. Although weakened, the goblin soul proved to be a worthy opponent.

Their souls clashed in a storm of aura inside the core, sending mana hurling throughout Aito's body that escaped through his pores in forms of transparent blue light. 

The worst was that he could do nothing but wait it out. He didn't know if there was something he could do to help his soul. 

'Submit to me!' He thought, trying to keep himself to pass out from the pain. 

Even though he was exhausted after going through the tunnels, he held on. 

A chaotic hour passed without anyone interrupting him. 

Aito laid on the ground in his own blood, weakened, frail, pale, but victorious. The goblin shaman's soul had finally shattered a few moments ago, allowing him to take a breather while his own soul was regenerating, consuming the other's life force. 

Color progressively returned to his face as a surge of strength seized him, easing some of his inner injuries. His soul rose from within the ashes of the previous battle, growing stronger, larger, until it stopped, reaching something akin to a limit. 

With the pain gone, he immediately fetched two recovery beads, cracking them to heal his wounds. He could feel that the absorption process had damaged his insides, he didn't even know how he was still alive after this. 

Aito waited around thirty minutes before slowly standing up, swearing to himself that never again would he do something so stupid—at least not without prior preparations, if there were any.

Feeling lucky to be alive, and the need to heal his wounds faster, he cracked two other recovery beads, speeding up his healing process. 

Once he felt better, he recharged his mana reserve with mana cores. Using soul cores, for now, might be risky. His soul needed rest, after all. 

'Doesn't that deserve an achievement?' 

Alas, no notification windows popped out of nowhere. Maybe a challenger had already claimed that feat before. Very probable considering he wasn't the first nor would he be the last to climb the Tower. 

Thirsty, he took out his magic water bottle, infused his mana into it, only to see that it filled within less than two seconds. 

'Weird, Roan told me it would only fill this quickly if I was near a source of water like a ri…ver…, hun.' 

He brought his magic torch next to a wall, temporarily removed his articulated gauntlet, then touched it. 

His hand was wet, too wet to be a coincidence. He wanted to try digging, but ultimately told himself it would be a bad idea. However, a very good idea struck him. 

He didn't have to do the digging himself. 

At first, he had planned to ask the goblins to drink their own paralysis poison as a subordinate rite, then kill them all one by one once they wouldn't be able to move. 

Well, now that felt foolish. It might have worked, but once morning came, there was a high probability the nest would be flooded with goblins, and killing thousands of them before the paralysis effect wore off could be... challenging.

'Now, the question is, will they be stupid enough to dig their own grave?'