(Leon’s POV)

Leon was a young hobgoblin born a few years ago.

His father was an ordinary goblin, and his mother had also been an ordinary goblin.

However, his father died during Mana Cream Cultivation training. His weak goblin body couldn’t withstand the rigorous training and eventually succumbed to heart failure.

Not long after his father’s death, Leon’s mother married an asura and soon became a hobgoblin herself.

Leon vividly remembered his father’s disappointment at dying before becoming a hobgoblin and his mother’s joy upon her transformation.

From a young age, Leon was determined to become a hobgoblin, no matter what.

He trained every day, regardless of the weather—rain, scorching heat, or snow. He relentlessly prepared his body to endure the Mana Cream Cultivation process.

Though over a decade had passed since Ku Moku introduced Mana Cream Cultivation to the goblin community, there was still little progress with the method.

Unlike Dragon Breath Cultivation, which had steadily advanced and now boasted dozens of dragon prana paths, Mana Cream Cultivation remained largely ineffective.

Few goblins managed to become hobgoblins through Mana Cream Cultivation.

Despite over 50% of goblins now being hobgoblins, most were female goblins who had married asuras, earning the title Valkyrie Hobgoblins.

The dragon prana in asura sperm played a crucial role in their evolution.

Consequently, Valkyrie Hobgoblins couldn’t provide adequate guidance to young goblins aspiring to become hobgoblins through Mana Cream Cultivation.

This led to high mortality rates among male goblins attempting the process, with many abandoning their training. Female goblins often chose the easier path of marrying asuras.

Despite the enormous challenges and risks, Leon remained undeterred, resolute in his dream of becoming a hobgoblin.

He postponed beginning Mana Cream Cultivation, focusing instead on training his small goblin body until he felt perfectly prepared. For five years, he trained relentlessly, without a single day of rest.

His muscles tore and healed repeatedly, and his bones broke and mended countless times. Leon’s discipline, perseverance, and hard work were tested to their limits.

His goblin peers distanced themselves from him, unable to understand the depth of his ambition.

Nevertheless, Leon continued his training until, after five years, he finally felt ready to undergo Mana Cream Cultivation.

The Mana Cream Cultivation process transcends the definition of cruelty. It is a form of torture that can drive even the most iron-willed individual to madness.

First, a goblin must expend all their energy until they are on the brink of collapse. Then, they are injected with a serum derived from the venom of the Kolio flower, which renders the body immobile while preserving full consciousness.

This means that, although paralyzed and unable to move, the individual can feel everything happening to their body, with pain intensified threefold.

Once Leon was immobilized and paralyzed, all his clothes were removed until he was completely naked.

He was then coated with a cream made from the essence of mutated animal blood, which was rich in Mana. This cream required a special process to produce, the recipe was currently held only by R-18, Ku Moku, and Nedira.

After being covered in Mana Cream, Leon was placed into a jar filled with fresh blood. While this blood didn’t necessarily have to come from mutated animals, it had to be rich in Mana.

Given the current state of the Bog Forest, where mutated animals had been hunted to near extinction, the blood used came from Mana Species, such as humans or elves.

Research conducted by R-18 indicated that demon blood was too dangerous and contained Mana that required complex filtration.

Therefore, Leon used elf blood sourced from Nezena’s Elf Husbandry.

Once Leon was submerged in the blood, the jar was sealed with a special seal made from dragon prana.

This sealing process required the help of an asura, as only they could contain the Mana within the jar.

The sealing took only a few minutes, allowing Leon to hold his breath. However, the next phase forced him to inhale and swallow the blood in the jar.

The jar was then buried beneath a rare plant for a week.

During this week, the air inside the jar quickly depleted. The Mana Cream on Leon’s body began to react like molten lava, burning his skin.

Paralyzed by the Kolio flower’s venom, he could only scream silently in agony. The blood he had ingested began to react within his body, as if hot embers were slowly burning his internal organs.

Leon was tormented but unable to struggle, until the venom’s effects wore off after a day. His body then writhed in pain, and his screams echoed until his throat was raw.

But no one could hear his suffering underground.

In 95% of cases, jars opened after a week revealed the lifeless body of a goblin who failed to transform into a hobgoblin. It was highly likely that Leon would meet the same fate at that time.

However, Leon’s ambition, perseverance, and refusal to give up prevented him from surrendering.

He clung to his fading consciousness and endured the pain consuming his body.

The image of his father’s regret and his mother’s happiness as she embraced her asura husband replayed in his mind like a broken film reel.

Suddenly, he heard a sound from outside, and a hole was dug. Without realizing it, a week had passed, and he had successfully transformed into a hobgoblin.

Yet, the journey to strength didn’t end there. After surviving the Mana Cream Cultivation process, Leon became a hobgoblin, but with the lowest level of power, barely able to match an unevolved orc. This level was known as Copper.

Nedira categorized the strength levels achieved through Mana Cream Cultivation into several tiers based on the toughness of the hobgoblin’s body.

She mimicked the classification system of mutated animals, as the Mana Cream used for transformation corresponded to the danger tier of those animals:

Copper - Iron - Silver - Gold - Platinum - Mithril - Orichalcum - Admantitie.

To become an Iron Tier hobgoblin, one must use Mana Cream derived from Iron Tier Danger Mutated Animals, and so on.

At that time, Leon was still very weak. In the Wilwatikta Kingdom, someone of his strength wasn’t even eligible to join the Palaka, let alone fight against Mana Species.

Fortunately, to advance in power level, Leon no longer needed to undergo the same burial process. He only had to train his body to better adapt to Mana before he could use the next tier of Mana Cream.

Leon didn’t despair; he was thrilled to find that his path to becoming strong didn’t end there.

However, as Ku Moku had mentioned in the history books Leon studied in school, he felt a sense of loss after his transformation. This loss didn’t deter his desire to become stronger, but after transforming into a hobgoblin, Leon suddenly lost interest in holding power within the kingdom’s government.

One of the reasons he had trained was to elevate the status of the goblin race, so they would be seen not only as workers but also as warriors like the orcs.

Nevertheless, Leon didn’t dwell on this because his primary goal was to become stronger and climb the tiers of power.

Due to his determination, Leon advanced to Iron Tier hobgoblin in just two months. He meditated constantly and didn’t leave his room during that time.

Eagerly, Leon then registered himself with the kingdom’s military department.

At that time, the Wilwatikta Kingdom was aggressively attacking supply caravans of the Human Alliance. With a need for manpower in these raids, Leon secured a position as a loot gatherer.

He didn’t complain, understanding that as an Iron Tier hobgoblin, he was still very weak. If placed on the front lines, a human mage could easily kill him.

Leon had no intention of dying before reaching the pinnacle of hobgoblin strength.

Raid after raid, Leon and his group ambushed the supply caravans. Leon became increasingly accustomed to fighting humans and mages.

Despite his adaptability, Leon noticed a significant disparity between asuras and hobgoblins.

Orcs were much stronger than goblins, but the power gap between asuras and hobgoblins was immense, like the difference between the sky and the earth.

A Silver Tier hobgoblin should theoretically be as powerful as a First Evolution Gate asura, but reality was different.

With their Mantra Path, Mana Organ Path, Body Building Path, and various Dragon Breath Paths, asuras could fight more versatilely. They seemed to have many cards to play in a battle, whereas hobgoblins relied solely on their physical strength.

This meant that even a Silver Tier hobgoblin couldn’t possibly win against a First Evolution Gate asura who had mastered Padakacarma, Brajamusti, or Brajadenta. Asuras could attack from a distance and retreat when the enemy got too close.

While asuras themselves weren’t a problem since they were on the same side, mages posed a significant threat with their versatile spellcasting abilities.

For the first time, Leon doubted the usefulness of goblins transforming into hobgoblins.

Was the path he chose the right one?

Were goblins never meant to be warriors but merely workers?

Had all his sacrifices been in vain?