The Evil God's Gift

Before dark, the goblin temple, campfire, and tower had all been built. The goblin laborers, who had shrieked under the lash, had even repaired the damaged walls. Now, goblins of all sizes stared at Xiao Yu, terrified that the goblin tyrant would fly into a rage and cut them down.

Good. The players probably won't come here to level at night for the time being. That gives me a chance to pray at the temple and see if I can learn a new spell or something. That was what Xiao Yu wanted most.

After telling his subordinates to take up their posts, Xiao Yu took a goblin laborer into the goblin temple.

The goblin temple was called a temple, but it was really a small tower of wood and stone, built with exceedingly crude workmanship. In its hall stood a bizarre red stone statue. It was highly abstract, looking somewhat like a person but more like a red ice cream cone.

What kind of god is this? Goblins are pathetic enough already, and even the god they worship is this bizarre. Still, no matter how bizarre it was, it was a deity. Whether his camp had any prospects for growth depended entirely on what happened today.

As he thought, Xiao Yu knelt before the statue and began to pray. The process was simple: all he had to do was use the temple's prayer skill and present an offering. But to make sure everything was perfect, Xiao Yu went through the motions of talking to the air before dragging the unlucky goblin laborer onto the altar in front of the statue.

The offering could have been an animal, but it was difficult to catch one in the middle of the night. The goblin laborers had no use for the time being anyway, so Xiao Yu simply grabbed one and brought him in, then used the sacrifice function. If it requires a sacrifice, it looks like the goblins worship an evil god. As Xiao Yu was thinking, flames suddenly erupted from the laborer's body. They spread rapidly from the inside out, and the goblin laborer screamed as he quickly burned to ash. Xiao Yu was startled.

As the flames died out, the red statue caught fire in turn. Watching it burn, Xiao Yu suddenly found it somewhat familiar.

Just then, a voice rang out in his ear.

Kalax (unknown creature): "Insignificant goblin, was it you who summoned me?"

Kalax? Why does that name sound so familiar? Wait, isn't that guy the flame demon lord who lives over in the Lava Mountains? Thinking back to how the goblin laborer had burned to death, Xiao Yu was certain it had to be him.

Xiao Yu was speechless. He did know Kalax. Like him, Kalax was a flame demon lord of the Fire Elemental Plane, but he wasn't a player, so the two had little contact with each other.

At this point, the distinctions between the ranks of elemental creatures need explaining. The lowest were elemental spirits, newly born units that, like young goblins, were all level 1.

After completing a trial, elemental spirits could advance into ordinary elemental creatures, such as fire elementals, lava golems, and flame lizards. At that point, they still had the ordinary summoned creature template. After undergoing some form of evolution, they could advance into blazing fire elementals, enraged lava golems, and the like. At that stage, they had the elite template. Summoned creatures had no rare elite template.

That was where the evolutionary journey ended for most elemental creatures. But if they were fortunate enough to accomplish some astonishing feat, they could advance into powerful monsters such as fire elemental elders, lava giants, and flame lizard elders. By then, they had a boss-level template, though only that of an ordinary minor boss. They could count as a significant threat in a five-player dungeon, but in a forty-player raid dungeon, they were merely elite mobs.

Of course, that wasn't absolute, because the difference in strength between elemental creatures at this rank was greater than at any other.

If a fire elemental elder advanced again, it could become a fire elemental lord. An elemental lord was essentially the final form of an elemental creature, with a major boss template. It could command a large group of elemental creatures to serve it and become a boss in a raid dungeon.

Of course, major bosses had ranks too. The lowest was a one-skull major boss, and the more skulls it had, the stronger it was.

There was also the title of elemental king, though it was only a title. An elemental king was generally selected from a group of elemental lords. The current flame demon king was Ragnaros, an eight-skull super major boss. There were also Al'Akir, the six-skull wind elemental king; Neptulon, the seven-skull water elemental king; and Therazane, the seven-skull earth elemental king.

Kalax was a four-skull flame demon lord, not much different in strength from what Xiao Yu had once been.

Who would have thought this guy had started pretending to be a god? Damn, no wonder the goblin chieftain used spells instead of divine spells. This guy isn't a god at all, so he couldn't teach divine spells even if he wanted to. Now everything was clear.

Still, it's impressive that he can use an altar to communicate with his followers. Why didn't I have that function back then? Does it take a four-skull boss to have it? Or are there some special conditions?

He kept those thoughts to himself and didn't reveal the truth. There was no benefit in saying it aloud; it was enough that he knew. Besides, if he said, "Oh, you're Kalax! I'm Lagrios. We've even eaten together," Kalax might just burn him to death with a fireball.

So he shook his head, dismissing the strange thoughts, and called out respectfully, "Great god, your faithful servant begs for your help. Our camp has suffered a devastating blow, and the previous chieftain was killed by adventurers. Although I have inherited his position, I am weak. Our camp is now in its gravest hour. I hope that you, in your greatness, will bestow spells upon me so that I may gain the power to protect the people of the tribe."

Kalax (unknown creature): "Foolish goblin, I told you long ago not to go around stirring up trouble, but to lie low and wait for my orders. I never expected something like this to happen anyway. I should burn every last one of you to ashes."

Xiao Yu immediately put on a terrified expression, though he felt no anxiety. From the sound of it, there's something he wants me to do. I reckon this will work out.

Sure enough, after venting his anger, Kalax finally said, "But I am merciful. Considering that the task I entrusted to you remains unfinished, I will grant you some power so that you can better carry out my task. Now, accept my gift."

System notification: Galax (unknown creature) has bestowed a Flame Mark upon you. Accept?

Flame Mark: This mark contains a portion of Kalax's flame power.

Accept. Why wouldn't I? Although Xiao Yu knew the mark was probably nothing good, a player with a wild monster template didn't have many choices. He certainly couldn't afford to be picky. After all, unlike adventurers, they didn't have opportunities to encounter all sorts of adventures. If he refused, Kalax might simply burn him to ashes, and that would be the end of everything. Kalax wasn't an adventurer; if Xiao Yu died to the plot, all his efforts over the past two days would be wasted.

So Xiao Yu absolutely didn't dare refuse the gift.