Island God: Going From Level 1 To World Ruler-Chapter 40: Messengers

---MASS RELEASE CHAP---

Midas’s head broke out of the surface of the water, taking a deep breath as he swam to shore with one hand. In his other hand, he held the limp body of Gool.

The poor goblin had passed out due to fear. Fear of what, you may ask? That horrible smell from before, of course.

Midas laid Gool out flat on the grass to let him recover. He sat beside him with one knee bent and the other flat. He stared at his palm, ’This is more like it.’ He thought, excited.

All the new power-ups he had received happened so fast that he wasn’t able to keep track of them all.

What surprised him the most was the 500% increase in pain tolerance. He didn’t know exactly what he would use this for, but he wasn’t going to complain.

If nothing else, it would make the process of continuing the Nine-Breath Circulation technique easier in the future.

He imagined the disgusting black sludge from before was all of the impurities that the first breath washed away.

’It’s insane that everyone has such a disgusting matter inside of them at all times... that smell was unlike anything I have ever smelt before. It actually smelt like disease and death... if those two things had a smell to them.’

He paused, exhaling.

’I did it... the first breath has been conquered.’ He thought back to when he actually took the breath.

It was perfect. It felt like landing a trick shot after thousands of attempts. Satisfying, exhilarating, and also immensely relieving all at once.

He wanted to fight. To test out his newfound power. However, he had other things he needed to do first.

Gool choked up the few gulps of water he had swallowed and sat up.

"What in the hell just happened back there... what was happening around your body, and what the fuck was the disgusting black shit that smelled like a rotten fish carcass?" Gool had a lot to say when he woke back up.

He glanced at Midas, noticing all the blemishes on his skin had disappeared. He looked the same, but different at the same time.

The young man almost seemed to have a glow about him now, but it wasn’t actually there.

It was like the sclera of his eyes outside of his pupils were now whiter than before, not a single red vein ripping across.

’There’s something different... but I can’t tell exactly what.’ Gool said to himself.

Midas chuckled, "The first breath out of the nine in the technique. I did it." He said.

Gool’s eyes widened with shock.

"I expected it to take a lot longer. I mean... Dorian said most die without even reaching the fifth breath. That can only make sense if the time it takes to master a breath exponentially increases as you go... but still. It was technically my first try. My first attempt at mastering the breath, and I got it." Midas said, slightly at a loss at his own seemingly impressive feat.

"Well, what did you expect?" Gool immediately replied after thinking for a bit, "You sat down for over half a day on your first attempt. Do you think normal humans would sit down for more than even ten minutes in absolute silence, doing nothing but breathing? Humans are the most arrogant when it comes to how valuable they think their time is... why would they waste it doing nothing? Imagine how many attempts it would take for another person to sit down for even an hour straight without breaking concentration on their breathing... I imagine it would take weeks or even months to build up so much damn patience." He said.

"Well, that’s if they aren’t as desperate as I am," Midas said. He knew that this was the case, but he also wasn’t going to deny that his months in the Ashen Hollow helped immensely during this challenge. "Anyways... how do you even know how humans are like... have you ever even seen one apart from Dorian and me? Where did you hear that humans were the most arrogant with their time?" He said with a smirk and a raised brow.

Gool looked over from the side, "Uh... my grandmother. She told me." He admitted, "But still! It would be wise for you and me both to trust her. After all, her knowledge was passed down from her ancestors, reaching all the way back to where humans once claimed dominion over Demadur."

The two finished their conversation and headed back to the basecamp, Midas’s stomach grumbling for long-sought-after sustenance.

On arrival, he was met with an unexpected scene.

Much of the area from before had been cleared out and expanded. The bushes were cleared from a wide perimeter, only leaving lonely trees that provided safety from the skies via a canopy.

Dozens of small huts and lean-tos were now littered all over the place, and the goblins hadn’t disappointed in the food and water departs either.

Midas was greeted by a few chef goblins who sat him down beside a campfire and presented him with a small array of foods.

It was humble, but Midas wasn’t complaining. He slurped down a warm, hearty soup made of diced meat and root vegetables. He had a few unique-looking fruits for dessert, and also a kebab of meat on a stick.

The food melted in his mouth, sliding down his throat while almost absorbing into his body as soon as it entered his stomach.

As soon as he was done with the heavenly experience, a yell caught his attention.

"King Yemo has arrived!" A goblin beside Yemo shouted as eight more goblins made their way into the scene.

Yemo immediately noticed Midas, nodding before heading over to him.

"My lord," Yemo placed his right hand on his stomach and bowed his head.

"Yemo... It’s good to see that you and your party have returned safely. I didn’t expect you all to be so quick. How did you manage to arrive here on essentially the same day as us?" Midas said, a bit surprised.

"Haha!" Yemo chuckled, raising his hands. "These are wrist hooks." He said, looking at two bone hooks attached to a band around his wrists.

"They make climbing trees much easier, allowing us to quickly and safely swing through branches." Yemo proudly exclaimed. "And these," He turned his left foot outward, showing the heel of his foot. "These are rolling sandals." He said.

He, and also the rest of the group, were wearing wooden sandals with leather straps that also had a small wheel at the heel that was able to roll with no friction.

"These allowed us to quickly move through the terrain, travel down slopes at a breakneck pace." Yemo was clearly proud of all his inventions, sniffing the top of his pointer finger as he closed his eyes.

Midas’s eyebrows raised with surprise, "Wow... that’s actually quite impressive. Good on ya, Yemo. You are a pretty good inventor." Midas said, thinking back to when he faced Balbam, the troll.

’Now that I think about it, it seems Yemo was the one to create that contraption around the troll as well. It didn’t seem too out of the ordinary back then, but looking back, it’s quite amazing that a goblin created a way to harness the power and control of an enormous troll.’ He thought to himself.

Yemo smiled with glee on hearing these words. If he had a tail, it would be wagging right now.

"Well then... if you are prepared to do so, I want you to inform me of any and all information you retrieved from the messengers or any other orc," Midas said, his tone suddenly turning more serious.

"Yes... There is quite a lot, so I begin as soon as possible." Yemo replied, his happiness now turning into a fear that flashed across his eyes.

"War is coming..."