The Chiefs and Rick entered the building where an old Goblin was already waiting for them.

  “I greet the Future King. My name is Raj, and I am the Elder in charge of watching over this building. I’m sure my father and grandfather are beating themselves up for not being the ones to conduct the ritual for the new King.

  “Hehehe.”

  “Elder Raj! Now is not the time for your foolishness.”

  “Ah yes, you’re right. My apologies, Future King! Please follow me!”

  The other Chiefs threw apologetic looks towards Rick, but he waved it off with a smile. It was nice to see all the Goblins and their different personalities.

  Anyway, Rick and the others didn’t waste any time and followed the old Goblin through the narrow passage and into the room that Elder Raj had pre-staged the second he heard that Rick had finally reached the Dark Lands of Mir.

  Once he got to the entrance of the room, he turned to the group trailing him.

  “Alright, only the Future King is allowed in the room! The rest of you have to wait right here!"

  They followed instructions, and Rick walked into the room while the Chiefs stood to the side.

  “Great, now sit within the circle.”

  On the ground were the very same stones that glowed a beautiful shade of green on the day that Rick woke up in that cave.

  They were neatly arranged in a perfect circle on the floor. Made big enough that Rick could comfortably step in and sit without issue.

  Though the second both of Rick’s feet were in the circle, a green glow could once again be observed from the stones.

  “Perfect! Now remove your upper garments!”

  “Wait, what?”

  “Remove your upper garments, Future King!”

  Rick looked at the Elder weirdly for a few moments before taking off his cape and his chest piece.

  “Good!”

  Elder Raj then pulled out a knife from who knows where, startling Rick in the process.

  “Give me your hand!”

  Realizing that he was already too far gone, Rick stuck out his hand, and Elder Raj didn’t waste any time cutting across his palm, Rick wincing as he did so.

  But the Elder didn’t seem to care as he turned Rick’s palm face down and the blood flowed all the way down until it hit the floor and began pooling under Rick and thus spread to the nearby stones.

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  Once the blood reached the stones, Elder Raj smiled wildly and jumped back towards the passage.

  “I await your awakening to King!”

  He said that last line and then turned towards the Chiefs who had been squeezing themselves together like a pack of sardines in an effort to watch the entire process from the small entrance to the room.

  “Alright, out! All of you get out! The King cannot be disturbed during this process!”

  The Chiefs would’ve complained if the situation was any different, but considering the importance attached to this Ritual, they complied and immediately exited the building, Elder Raj included.

  But they didn’t stop there.

  Once out of the building, all 14 of them spread out in a tight encirclement with the stone building at the center.

  There was no need to call for other guards when they were present. Nothing at all would be allowed to interrupt what was taking place in the building, not without defeating 14 Tier Six Chiefs who were willing to lay everything down to protect their King.

  Meanwhile, back in the room…

  The stones began to seemingly absorb the blood flowing out of Rick’s wound that had already begun to close, and as they absorbed the blood, the glow only intensified.

  Rick’s mouth hung agape, and his eyes were opened wide as he took in the scene in front of him.

  Blood-absorbing stones that glowed red.

  It didn’t get more fantasy/otherworldly than that.

  Though Rick didn’t have too much longer to be surprised at the stones and their functions. Once the stones finished absorbing the necessary blood, the glow grew rapidly in intensity for a brief moment, then all of a sudden the room flashed a super bright green, and Rick couldn’t see a single thing.

  But he could feel it.

  It was like a power not of this world had latched onto his body from multiple locations and before he knew it, it felt like something had stabbed him.

  Not from one spot, but from many.

  And as he was trying to push through the pain he was feeling, a notification popped up in front of him.

  One that Velora had no control over.

  It was quite a simple notification.

  Accept the rise to Goblin King?

  Yes or No

  Note: This option will never be available again. If rejected, you will forsake all rights to officially rise to the throne of the King of Goblins.

  Note (Cont’d): If rejected, evolution limit will be the Eighth Tier.

  Note (Cont’d): If accepted, evolution to Goblin King will trigger.

  The notification was simple and very straightforward, but the potential implications were anything but.

  This was the first time that Rick had heard that he could reject the Goblin King position. Of course, all this while he heard the Goblins calling him Future King time and time again, and General Rogu had informed him of a ritual that he would need to go through to complete the process.

  But in the back of Rick’s mind, he didn’t realize just how official this ritual was and exactly why they always referred to him as Future King, and never just King.

  This was the reason.

  And it made sense. If Rick ever had children, every single one of them would be Royals by blood and position. But to become a King or Queen in an official capacity, they would need to go through the exact same ritual.

  Otherwise, they would just remain Royals.

  But right here, right now, Rick had a choice.

  If he wanted to, he could select the option No and accept the fact that he would never reach the peak of this world, but he would be very close to it.

  At minimum, he knew for a fact that he would be stronger than the Orc who he promised to kill and likewise be more than strong enough to at least be an active deterrent to the stronger powers.

  He didn’t know who those stronger powers were, of course, and had no idea what being Tier Eight, Nine, or Ten meant, but those were just the quickfire thoughts that ran through his mind as he stared at the option.

  Seemingly forgetting about the pain that ravished his body.

  He hesitated for a moment longer as the idea of not having to carry the weight of the Goblin race on his shoulders flashed across his mind as he deliberated.

  A few more moments passed… then Rick made his decision.