As soon as I did that, I grew depressed. How was I even supposed to tell the difference of one extra point in intelligence? I should’ve prepared some simple math problems to compare the time it took me to solve them before and after.

Only it proved to be unnecessary. The same moment I sensed my intelligence increasing to thirteen, my thoughts instantly became clearer and more agile. I was afraid of experiencing a placebo effect, but the change was too pronounced for it to be a mere autosuggestion.

This is incredible, I thought. The feeling of instantly improving like this was exhilarating. This was nothing like my old world where any substantial growth took months of hard work to achieve and was too gradual to clearly perceive.

Sure, I didn’t suddenly transform into a genius ready to unravel all the mysteries of the universe aided with nothing but hard logic. It was more on the level of being able to think a little bit quicker and maybe have a glimpse at solutions that beforehand would’ve eluded me. Still, becoming a better, no, becoming more of a person by just raising some arbitrary number in my mind shocked me to the core.

My increased intelligence quickly came in handy, because in my elation I was about to spend my last attribute point to push it all the way to fourteen. I realized, however, that splurging this way wasn’t the best way to go. Intelligence would remain my main stat but it was still to early to cut myself off from other paths of development.

At that moment the doors to the room I was lying in opened. Bob and Alpha, followed by the two other goblins, whose names I never got the chance to learn, came in and quickly noticed that I was no longer unconscious.

“Rhys!” Bob exclaimed, “You’ve woken up!”

I smiled at them. It was surprising even to myself, but seeing them genuinely care about my wellbeing really raised my spirits. Well, Bob cared at least. Alpha’s reaction was a bit more mixed. It was also a relief to learn that at least temporarily the issue of giving Bob a boy’s name has been brushed aside.

Looking at them now, with the help of the memory packet I received during the ceremony, it was easy to spot the differences between sexes. Mercifully, Alpha was a male, but it turned out that one of the basic goblins in our group was also a member of the fair sex. Well, fair was a bit much, given that they were all monsters.

“How long was I out?” I asked. Bob frowned. “Long. We were afraid you’d starve yourself before regaining consciousness.” This made me realize that my throat was completely parched, something I hadn’t noticed before, due to other injuries drawing most of my attention.

“Could you pass me some water?” I asked. “I’ve got something better. We’ve been learning how to make healing potions today, and we’ve managed to stash one away before Kahr took the rest for himself.” Bob turned to Alpha. “Gharak, give it to him.”

“Why should I?” he replied. “It took us two outings to find the herbs, when he was just lying here. And it’s not like we don’t have our own wounds to tend to.” I noticed that they really weren’t in the best shape. They were dressed in a new set of clothes, which they probably received after the ceremony. These looked to be made of leather, but they were all fraying on the seams and there was no shortage of holes ripped in them.

Bob was wearing a fringed loincloth on her waist and a vest on her torso. Alpha was dressed similarly, only his chest was bare. Their bodies were covered in bruises and many shallow wounds.

“What happened?” I asked. “Kahr.” Bob answered. Seeing my confusion, she elaborated. “He’s the one who put you in this state. He takes advantage of every sparring session to beat us down, and takes away everything we manage to gather on our outings. If we try to save something for ourselves, he beats us again.”

“Which is why we shouldn’t give our only potion to someone who didn’t contribute at all!” Alpha interjected. Instead of replying, Bob just suckerpunched him in the jaw, clearly not so averse to Kahr’s system, so long as she was the one benefitting from it.

“Rhys is our leader and the strongest of our group. When he joins us, we will be able to gather more food.” she said, quickly extracting a small bottle from under of Alpha’s loincloth and feeding me its contents. “Trax, Rubi, go and ask for some of the stew, there might still be a bit left.” she said to the two other goblins.

“Thanks.” I said, gulping down the potion. As the rejuvenating liquid poured down my throat, I took the opportunity to observe my status. I saw my vitality steadily increasing, eventually reaching 127/155 (175) and stopping. I was still weakened and it seemed that I wouldn’t return to my top condition until my ribs fully healed, but I still felt much better than before. My bruises and cuts receded, leaving only the issue of internal injuries to deal with.

There were a number of things I wanted to ask about. What exactly have they been doing during the time I was passed out? What was the structure of our tribe? This was all I’d learn on my own in time, however. Instead, I decided to ask about the system.

“Can you tell me about your advancement ceremony?” I asked Bob. I was a bit vague due to a certain premonition in my head.

Bob was at first hesitant. She chose her words slowly, her eyes glazed as if in a trance. “It was incredible. I felt the presence of a great being enveloping my whole body. She spoke to me in words I couldn’t understand. But I could feel her goodwill. Mother looked at me and knew me. She recognized me as her child, gave me knowledge of who I am and power I would need in life. When it ended, I felt like I opened my eyes for the very first time.”

I was startled. Her experience bore only a passing resemblance to my own. I turned to Alpha. “How about you?”

He scrunched his eyes, but replied nonetheless. It was clear that he simply wanted to share his story with Bob rather than to answer my question.

“I found myself in a place filled with white fire. I too saw Mother. She looked at me and knew that I was a warrior. She showed me countless images of great battles. My ancestors triumphing over fearsome enemies many times their size. When I woke up, I knew that my destiny was to lead the tribe to greatness.”

Bob listened to him with interest and turned to me. “How was your meeting with the Mother?”

I felt completely flabbergasted. Is that what was supposed to happen? Bob’s story of feeling divine presence could’ve been written off as excessive reverence of a neophyte. Gharak, however, described being shown visions of other goblins? And both of them received some sort of a directive to follow?

I didn’t have time to ponder all of this new information right now. I had suspected that my “Awakened monster” trait might have separated me to a certain extent from the rest of the goblins, but that was a bit much. I only knew that sharing my own experience of hearing an impersonal voice following a script wasn’t the best idea.

“When the pyre was lit, a bright light filled my eyes and I was transported to a white space of immaculate beauty.” I started, doctoring my own story to adhere closer to a revelation than a character creation screen in a video game. “I heard Mother’s voice. She said that my path is great and leads outwards. I could see images of strange lands, cities filled with people, incredible creatures flying in the skies. My body started changing and when I woke up, I knew that I had just taken the first step of a long journey.”

Bob looked at me with wide eyes. “You could understand Mother’s words?” Crap. “No, no. I heard her voice, but couldn’t hear any sounds. Only, when she spoke, the knowledge would appear in my mind.” I quickly added, hoping this would cover up my slip up.

It seemed to have worked. Bob was sufficiently impressed with my fabrication and even Gharak, who was clearly jealous of her reaction, didn’t poke any holes in my story.

I was stepping on thin ice, but I had to ask the most pertinent question. “During the ceremony, Mother bestowed upon me knowledge of something called a status window.” I ventured, cringing at my own sloppy storytelling. “It’s supposed to reveal to me all the information about my body and abilities, but I wasn’t able to access it. Do you know anything about it?”

They both looked at me incredulously. As I expected. They had no idea what I was talking about and only exhorted me to do my utmost to discover it on my own. When it came to the Mother, even Alpha pushed his petty rivalry aside to grudgingly encourage me.

The two other goblins, Trax and Rubi, returned carrying a small metal bowl. It looked like it used to be a shoulderguard that someone had clumsily hammered into a general shape of a container. It was half filled with pasty gruel, not the steroid packed kind I grew used to back in the nursery, but nourishing enough for my current condition.

I already felt quite a bit better now, thanks to the potion I drank, so I didn’t require help eating. I quickly slurped it down. Pleasant warmth started radiating from my stomach.

“Is there more?” I asked. This put a damper on the atmosphere. My question was met with silence and four pairs of eyes showing varying levels of resentment. Ashamed, I realized how brainless my question was. They all looked hungry and downtrodden. Meanwhile, as soon as I opened my eyes, I consumed their only potion, ate their food, and even asked for seconds.

I closed my eyes, not saying anything more. The other goblins also didn’t have the energy for more conversation and curled up to sleep on the ground. Just like we did back when we were children. The pale blue light giving the impression of covering our resting bodies with a soft translucent blanket.