Morning came, though Darren had no way of knowing it.
Inside the cave, the darkness remained unchanged.
When he opened his eyes, his surroundings were still dim.
Thinking back on the previous day, everything felt unreal—like a dream he desperately wished would end.
But the cold stone beneath him and the unfamiliar air around him made one thing clear.
This was his new reality.
As his eyes adjusted, he noticed that the cave walls were covered in faintly glowing moss.
The floor, too, was dotted with patches of grass arranged into crude bedding.
Several goblin babies lay around him.
With their green skin blending into the moss and grass, they weren’t easy to distinguish at first.
They were scattered across the cave floor on makeshift beds of grass.
Most were still asleep, while a few were awake, clumsily playing with the grass or tugging at nearby sleepers waking them.
They were all different sizes.
That alone told Darren they hadn’t been born at the same time.
In his previous life, he had studied the life cycles, growth patterns, and development of monsters.
Because of that, he could roughly estimate their ages.
Goblins were among the weakest of all races—even among monsters—but they compensated for it with rapid growth.
Goblin infancy lasted only two months.
After six weeks, they could already stand, at least when raised under the care of the developed races.
Ironically, even as slaves, monster infants often received a minimum level of care.
Slave owners didn’t want their investments to die prematurely, so monster children were supervised and fed just enough to ensure their survival and growth.
It wasn’t kindness.
It was profit.
Even so, that care allowed monster infants to develop faster than those raised in the wild.
Looking at the babies around him, Darren knew their growth here would likely be slower.
As he continued observing his surroundings, something caught his eye.
The grass beneath and around them.
He recognized it immediately.
Calm Lillis.
This grass produced a lily that released a faint, calming mist.
More importantly, it was a key ingredient in potions used to stabilize the mind.
It aided meditation, improved focus, and allowed mages—and even certain control-based lifestyle classes—to progress more efficiently.
But Darren remembered something even more important.
For monsters, the effects were far more profound.
When combined with proper methods, Calm Lillis drastically reduced the fatality rate of monster evolution.
Even by itself, it significantly increased the chances of survival.
‘I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a hobgoblin in this tribe’, he thought.
As though responding to his suspicion, heavy footsteps echoed from a dark passage.
The seven female goblins from the previous day entered the cave, followed by a towering figure.
It was nearly twice their height.
While the other goblins barely reached 140 centimeters, this one stood around 176 centimeters tall.
Its build was broader, its posture more upright, and its features—though still green-skinned with a long nose and elongated ears—were noticeably closer to human.
A hobgoblin.
A male, judging by its frame.
Seeing him confirmed Darren’s suspicion.
There were likely more evolved goblins within the tribe.
The hobgoblin spoke.
“Where are the new babies?”
At his words, four of the female goblins stepped forward, lifting Darren and his siblings before carrying them toward him.
Darren immediately understood what was happening.
In goblin society, newborns were named the day after birth.
The right to name them belonged solely to the tribe’s chief.
Which meant only one thing.
This hobgoblin was the chief.
One by one, the infants were presented before him.
When it was Darren’s turn, the chief paused.
“This is the one that didn’t cry?” he asked.
The oldest female goblin nodded nervously.
“Yes.”
The chief studied the infant for a moment before nodding.
“Alruk.”
“He shall be called Alruk.”
With the naming complete, the chief turned and left the cave.
The female goblins soon resumed caring for and feeding the infants.
Alruk.
That was his name now.
No longer Darren Silvermoon.
Just Alruk.
And for the first time since his rebirth—
He understood them.