Hours had passed before Byung finally completed the creation of his first tool. He couldn't contain the smile tugging at his lips—he had something tangible now, something real, something he could pass along to the others. With this blueprint, the goblins could mass-produce it.
They would believe him because they had seen the fruit of his labor, and that alone was worth investing in.
Byung refined the tool before entering the mines, pushing deeper than any goblin had ever dared, the others trailing behind him. They weren't going to meet the quota anyway, so what was the point of working the old way? Better to pour all their effort into this new method.
Byung swung the pickaxe effortlessly, cutting through dense ore their crude stone axes could never hope to pierce.
The goblins froze, awestruck—not only because the metal tool sliced through solid rock like clay, but because of the strength Byung displayed while doing it.
He was small. Weak-looking. Puny, even. Yet the power behind each swing was unnatural. Impossible to ignore.
"What?" The muscular goblin who had bullied him earlier stared wide-eyed, unable to comprehend how Byung possessed more strength than him.
When Byung finally stopped, the goblins erupted into cheers. Murkfang stood speechless. If they could mine this deep, there was no telling what they might uncover.
Excitement surged in him. Their hopeless situation suddenly glimmered with light.
He could see it—the spark this goblin carried—but with each success came a rising unease.
He shouldn't be this strong. Or this smart… Murkfang thought grimly. He had never expected much from their kind. Goblins were the lowest of the low, and he had accepted that long ago. What unsettled him wasn't their weakness—it was this sudden, unexplainable shift.
Before long, Murkfang had the goblins mass-producing the tools under Byung's instructions.
They were no longer just a race that destroyed and consumed. Now… they created.
Kragg's plan had already begun. He sent Maui alongside Naz and Naruz.
The two had no objections—they trusted Maui with their lives. Unlike the larger orcs, they were smaller in stature, which often limited their chances. But now, they were chosen.
Every goblin in that mine would no doubt try to get into their pants, but Maui knew it also came with a layer of protection. Goblins rarely managed to impregnate a woman—their seed was weak, poor in quality. Still, something in her gut warned that exceptions existed. And if one did… it could be dangerous.
So why had Kragg chosen them, despite promising the goblins the right to pick?
It was calculated. A move far beyond the goblins' comprehension.
Gribnox's lust was well known at the brothel. To say he had no weakness would be a lie. He was like all the others—driven by base desire.
Naz and Naruz, however, were anxious. Unlike Maui, they didn't trust their safety. They didn't even know what role they were meant to play. Still, they understood the mission clearly—find the source of the goblins' sudden change and eliminate it.
Maui had her doubts, but she also had her experience. She and the others had mastered techniques that allowed them to give pleasure without conceiving. It was what made them prized workers—not merely for their bodies, but for their control.
The goblins were known for their savagery, for taking what they wanted without thought or restraint—but Maui wasn't concerned.
She sat in the carriage, smiling faintly as the horse trotted along. The rhythm of the ride reminded her of her days on the battlefield. Orcs lived long lives, but even she could sense it—a new age was dawning.
The only question was, who would be the one to usher it in?
The news of the dead orc soon reached Drekk.
The moment he learned that the weapon found in the body was his, he knew. Borg had killed one of his own.
That single fact gave Borg's story credibility—the tale of a rogue orc. But Drekk knew better. His weapon's presence at the scene was proof enough. The goblins' words would never outweigh an orc's, so defending himself was meaningless.
Kragg possessed something Drekk lacked—patience and strategy. His plan was to destroy the goblins from within. If he removed the anomaly—the one causing this shift—the goblins would revert to their natural state: compliant, submissive, obedient workers.
But Drekk wasn't entirely foolish.
He was fascinated by Byung. He had seen him face death without fear, and that was a quality Drekk valued above all others.
"Borg…" Drekk muttered, a slow smile spreading across his scarred face.
Yes. This was the orc who would give him what he desired most—war.
The seed had been planted.
But Drekk still wondered—would this be enough to lure the Goblin King out from the shadows? Or would the ruler simply sit back and watch his kind be slaughtered?