"But if my Golden Finger can bestow monster bloodlines, then the identical image in the second slot must also be goblin bloodline."
"Wouldn't that be redundant?" Suddenly, Raine thought of this problem.
"Could it be that..."
Raine tried focusing his attention on the second slot.
As he pressed the second slot, a system prompt appeared:
[Unable to bestow two bloodlines of the same type and level. Fusion? Yes/No]
"Two of the same-level, same-type bloodlines? What a tongue-twister!"
"Does that mean if they're different levels but the same bloodline, I can still bestow them?"
Raine mused silently.
"But... can't bestow?"
"Fusion?"
Raine furrowed his brow, then relaxed. He chose "Yes!"
Stacking or fusing identical things was quite common in games from his previous life.
Besides, after fusion, their strengths were usually combined, or they'd become more powerful.
This was obviously a good thing.
[Fusion failed. Insufficient quantity. Unable to fuse to next level.]
The system's slightly mechanical prompt left Raine momentarily stunned.
"Insufficient quantity?"
Seeing this prompt, Raine wasn't too disappointed. Instead, he felt a faint sense of delight.
After all, judging from the system prompt, the general direction was right, and this was doable.
"If two goblins aren't enough, does that mean I probably need three, maybe even four?"
Raine looked at the four square slots and soon came to a conclusion.
And the system's mention of a "next level" made Raine feel a surge of anticipation.
"What could the next level be?"
At most, after killing two more goblins, he should know the answer.
Raine couldn't help but stand up, looking around. All around him were golden rice fields, the heavy heads swaying in the gentle breeze, making a rustling sound.
At least within his field of sight, there were no other goblins around.
As an eighteen-year-old youth, he recovered his stamina quickly. Having rested for a little while, most of his lost energy was already back.
"Just two more..."
Raine soon had his gaze fixed on the tall haystack.
Just as he was about to climb the haystack to check his surroundings—
Suddenly!
A familiar scream came from not far to his left.
"That's Uncle Gates's voice!"
Raine immediately remembered that Uncle Gates's farmland was right next to his own.
Having just been attacked by goblins himself, it was likely Uncle Gates was also attacked while working.
Without hesitation, Raine grabbed his pitchfork and rushed toward the screams at full speed.
After just seven or eight seconds, when he was almost through the rice field, Raine slowed down and began tiptoeing forward.
He carefully parted the rice stalks and immediately saw Uncle Gates lying on the ground, desperately swinging his sickle to resist.
One hand covered a bleeding wound on his right lower back, while the other brandished the sickle, terror all over his face.
Two goblins armed with daggers were circling Gates excitedly, dodging back and forth, sometimes stabbing at him and making Gates even more terrified.
From the situation, Uncle Gates must've been ambushed by the green-skinned dwarves while working.
Only two?
Raine narrowed his eyes and burst out!
Just as the two goblins thought victory was in their grasp, suddenly, a pitchfork stabbed into one of the goblin's back!
"Pshh!"
The four iron prongs at the tip of the pitchfork not only pierced the goblin's back but also went straight through its belly, making four puncture holes.
This scene made the other goblin let out a panicked shriek. It glanced at Raine and immediately turned to run into the golden rice field.
Raine yanked out the pitchfork and chased, but after taking two steps, he saw the opponent's speed was high. Once it got into the dense rice plants, he'd never catch up.
Without thinking, Raine stopped abruptly and hurled the pitchfork with all his strength!
"Whoosh~"
Maybe it was the effect of agility +1, or maybe the distance was short—whatever the case, his aim was spot on.
"Pshh!"
The pitchfork flew seven or eight meters and stabbed deep into the fleeing goblin's back!
Raine was delighted. He quickly ran over, pulled out the pitchfork, and stabbed down hard, finishing off the struggling second goblin.
"Uncle Gates, how's your injury?" Raine hurried to Gates's side without checking his Golden Finger, examining the wound.
"Raine, thank goodness you got here in time, otherwise I'd definitely be dead!" Gates said, thanking him repeatedly.
"Uncle Gates, let's talk later. We should get back to the village first."
Just then, Raine thought of something. He quickly went to the haystack and stabbed the pitchfork in deep.
Then, using the pitchfork handle as a step, he climbed to the top of the haystack.
Standing over two meters high on top of the haystack, his view was much better.
Soon, Raine spotted, in both directions a hundred meters away through the golden rice, movement among the rice ears and glimpses of green-skinned figures.
His heart skipped a beat!
Clearly, there were still unknown numbers of goblins nearby.
Even though he'd just managed to kill two goblins, that didn't mean he could handle three or four at once.
"Uncle Gates, let's move!"
Raine grabbed Gates with one hand and the pitchfork in the other, quickly heading toward Oak Village.
As they neared the village, aside from seeing smoke curling up, he also heard the sounds of women and children crying coming clearly from the village.
The two quickened their pace.
In the cobblestone-paved central plaza, dozens of villagers were gathered, holding clubs, pitchforks, and sickles, discussing something anxiously.
"Rose and Loli are both missing! Those green-skinned monsters must have taken them!"
"If we hesitate any longer, it'll be too late!"
"But it's almost dark. If we have to fight those monsters at night, we probably can't make it..."
"Yeah, those green-skinned dwarves see even better at night, but we can barely see a thing. Chief, hasn't Berry returned yet with the Adventurer from Mill Town?"
...
Some girls are missing?
As someone from Oak Village, and inheriting its memories, Raine instantly recalled what Rose and Loli looked like.
Both were fifteen or sixteen, Rose with a dusting of freckles and always a sweet smile on her face.
Loli had golden hair always tied in a ponytail, relatively quiet, and her favorite thing to do was bake bread.
"Gates, you were ambushed by those green-skinned monsters too?" Chief Kael came over as soon as he saw Raine and the wounded Gates.
"Yeah, if not for Raine, I wouldn't have made it back."
The village discussion continued. Raine found a free spot to sit and checked the system.
He saw that the four attribute slots were now full, each showing a goblin icon.
Without hesitation, Raine tried focusing on the three inactive goblin icons.
Immediately, the system prompt popped up again:
[Unable to bestow four bloodlines of the same type and level. Fusion? Yes/No]
"Yes!"
With a touch of excitement, Raine quickly chose "Yes."
In the next instant—
The four identical goblin icons suddenly twisted and blurred, and then three of them vanished.
At the same time, the first goblin icon completely transformed.
From the previous weak-looking goblin, it turned into a robust goblin wearing Leather Armor Shoulder Guard.
"This is..."
Raine's eyes lit up as he immediately focused on the new icon.