John was panicked. Humans never evolved. They couldn't. Sure, there were stories of great heroes being granted the chance to become gods, but that wasn't evolution. Was it going to be painful? He had no idea, and that scared him.

  For now, John picked up the corpse, after getting his Obsidian Shard back, and threw it over his shoulders like he had seen hunters do with deer. He almost toppled over. He knew he had to move quickly. Predators would smell the blood and come looking. He took off at a quick walk in the direction that he hoped the village was at. While it wasn't exactly safe, most animals and Monsters alike would avoid it.

  While he walked, he brought up the notifications that didn't show up during battle. The first one explained why he didn't kill the Alpha Half-Blood Rabbit in one hit.

  Well, that was a scary thought. He didn't even know that 'Ironhide' was a skill. Though considering most proper races don't have fur, it makes sense that no one knew about it, or at least cared enough to write it down. He cursed those lazy scholars. They almost killed him.

  The next one somehow frightened John even more than the last.

  Those numbers almost made him trip over. John could barely believe his eyes. He must have regained two hitpoints while he was walking and waiting. That darn Alpha would have killed him if he didn't regen any health. He felt cold sweats break out all over his skin. Panic was beginning to set in. Near-death experiences tended to have that habit.

  As he moved, John couldn't help but look around more and more. He thought he felt eyes in every bush. He wouldn't be able to defend himself if he was attacked even by the weakest of animals, not to say anything about Monsters. In an effort to distract himself, he brought up the remaining notifications. He ignored the ones about his magic. He knew they did one damage. Instead, he looked at one much more interesting.

  'Well, that was new.' John thought to himself. He knew about Exp, everyone did. Normally, once someone got a class the Exp they had gained until that point was given a number, and it could be invested into acquiring and advancing class-related skills, as well as a handful of general skills shared by every class. Every time more Exp was gained, it would be added onto that number. It seemed to work a bit differently here, fueling evolution instead.

  Well, at least the level part seemed the same. Get Exp, level up, get stronger. Speaking of getting stronger, he could physically feel his muscles being slightly larger. It was easy when there was nothing there to begin with. He decided to check his character sheet.

  'Well, that's fucking scary.' John thought. His character sheet was the same setup, but it was full of errors. In fact, the distortion caused by them almost entirely covered his Health. Luckily all creatures knew the state of their Health, Mana, and Special Points naturally. His Health was on 2/12, Mana at 8/10, SP at 0/0. He had never figured out how to unlock SP. Apparently, it was for the melee types. Something about an extra stat being unlocked through training. 'Meatheads, all of them.'

  His system seemed to be completely fucked, but at least it still worked. He just couldn't see it working. It was like the heart of a person. You couldn't see it, but it worked and kept everything going as it should. Sure, it had some hiccups now and then, but overall it was fine.

  Well, until it gave out and you died. But John decided not to think about that part. He would simply have to deal with his broken System until the System came around in a week to give him a hand. Hopefully, It didn't forget.

  Eventually, the sounds of the forest died down and the sounds of Goblins came on the wind. As the man turned Goblin got closer, the sounds got louder, and he simply followed the noise back home. As it turned out, he was not the first to arrive.

  Three other Goblins stood nearby, by the old Goblin. Each had some kind of prey in their hands. One had a rabbit, a normal one. Another had a bird. The third had a fish. All were small and looked rather weak. Both the prey and the Goblins.

  They looked over to John as he arrived, amazement in their eyes at his catch. The one with the rabbit looked at his prey. It was practically skin and bones, nothing compared to the plump Alpha John had caught. It almost looked like that Goblin wanted to cry. The old Goblin however seemed impressed.

  "You have done very well young one. I take it you are ready for evolution already?" The old Goblin asked, stepping forwards, a smile playing on his lips. It was not a friendly smile, however.

  "Yes," John answered back. It was the second real-time he had spoken so far. The Goblin words felt strange on his tongue, and his mouth struggled to form the words. He had to assume it was from being an infant since none of the other Infant Goblins spoke either.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "He speaks. You are truly a smart one. To bring down an Alpha but hours after being born. Perhaps you are not the brain-dead fool I took you for, late birther."

  John couldn't help but scowl at the comment. He didn't know how, but he could tell that it was an insult. It wasn't even the worse one he had gotten, far from it, but it sunk deep into his Goblin stomach and sat there like a stone, weighing on him for some reason. Must be due to his new form, instincts, or something.

  "We wait for the others. If they do not arrive before sundown, then they are dead." The old Goblin told everyone. Five more arrived, but only two bore meat. The rest had nuts and berries, one even had nothing at all.

  The moment the sun began to set, a large Goblin, the size of a twelve-year-old human, made its way towards them. It was scarred all over and had a giant axe upon its back. The axe was crudely made, but from the dried blood sticking to it, it was very effective.

  "This it?" The new Goblin asked. The old Goblin bowed his head and replied.

  "Yes, Cheif. It seems we had a few more losses this time than last. The wolf pack must be struggling for food again. However, we did get one impressive one. Took down one of those Death Rabbits. A big one at that."

  The Cheif nodded and moved over to John. The Cheif was so much taller than him, it hurt John's neck to look up that far. It was clear that he had evolved multiple times, rare for a Goblin. They tended to die a lot. Even the old Goblin, it was rare for them to live that long.

  "Well, boy. You seem to have done well for yourself. You have leveled up too. Consider me impressed. Once you have evolved, we should talk. Well, if you turn out smarter than the rest of them. I'll save you a portion of food. Consider it a gift for your contribution to the tribe. Go into the cave. Take the left path. That is our evolution room. It isn't safe to do it anywhere else unless you want a knife in the gullet."

  The Cheif then effortlessly lifted the Alpha Half-Blood Rabbit up and threw it over one of his shoulders. Such a Monster seemed like it wouldn't stand a chance against this Goblin. Why it lead so few Goblins was a mystory to John since Goblins only followed rule by strength. All the surrounding tribes should be rushing to swear fealty to this highly evolved Goblin. Just how far away did he get sent from civilization?

  For now, John headed to the evolution chamber. Really, it just turned out to be a room with a whole heap of furs on the ground. Probably so that the Goblin evolving didn't die of the cold in winter or something.

  Something inside John clicked when he decided he wanted to evolve. It was like the system simply knew it was time. A notification popped up. Unfortunately, it was heavily corrupted. He really needed the System to get here and start fixing things.

  John was amazed. He had just almost been deleted by the very system that gave him strength. And what was this about there being two separate systems? One for Monsters, and one for humans? Well, he had to assume other races like Dwarves and Elves also used the human one since they have one that looks and acts the exact same. Either way, it was a scary thought. Though it did explain why the System never seemed to favor either humans or Monsters.

  A Ying and a Yang. One of light, one of darkness. They keep each other in check. It was an interesting way to maintain balance.

  Well, there wasn't much to pick from, so that made the choice easy at least. Goblin Outcast would be nice. It was stronger and rarer, but it was certainly a death trap. Strength only to get instantly killed by the Cheif. Perhaps that was the true purpose of the evolution chamber. To make sure no one made the wrong decision.

  John selected Adult Goblin.