Volume 21 Chapter 10, Change of the Dependents

The base where the goblins were located was just a stone’s throw away from the gate of the 14th Floor.

As soon as Kousuke and the others had checked the gate, a group of goblins came rushing toward them from the base.

This was not unusual, and the goblins, perhaps having some wisdom, had been showing this kind of movement for some time when Kousuke arrived.

The problem was not the goblins themselves, but the fact that they were acting as guides to Kousuke and the others when they saw them approaching.

In particular, the individual at the front of the group that was waiting for Kousuke and the others had changed so much that it was hard to believe that it was the same goblin as before.

Other than the two horns on their heads and the pointed ears, they looked almost indistinguishable from humans.

He took a closer look to see what changed so drastically and found that they had grown hair.

When he first saw their appearance, he wondered how hair alone could create such a big difference in impression.

The change was not only in appearance, but there was also a big change in the way they interacted.

“Master, welcome.”

The goblins were now able to speak, albeit only a few words.

Originally, the goblins seemed to be communicating with each other in their own language.

However, it was a language that could only be understood within the same race, and they were not speaking <Common Language>.

The individual in front of them seemed to understand Common Language perfectly.

When their skills were checked, they had <Language Comprehension>, but they also had <Common Language>.

Perhaps it was this skill that enabled him to speak.

Including this goblin, there were not only the ogres from Southeast Tower, but also new species of ogres, the Great Ogre and the Ogre Leader.

It was the Ogre Leader who was able to speak the language.

The Great Ogre was a size larger than a normal Ogre.

It was apparent from its appearance that it had become a complete power fighter.

Unfortunately, the only Ogre Leader was the first one that came to greet them.

There were several Great Ogres that had evolved, but since there were others that had evolved in addition to the individual who was given Divine Protection, it was likely that they would evolve regardless of the Divine Protection.

It was unclear how the Ogre Leader evolved, but it would be possible to confirm this if the number of Ogre Leaders increased.

The name also suggested a possible further evolution.

The presence of the Ogre Leader indicated that it was a fully led group.

Previously, they were a collection of small groups, but now they were working individually and in coordination with each other.

In many ways, they became an interesting race.

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Surprised by the transformation of the goblins, he went to check on the foxes one last time.

The foxes were not so different from usual that it was a surprise.

Of course, there were more individuals who had evolved, but there was no increase in the number of species.

However, for the first time, there were a few individuals other than Wanri that had become multi-tailed foxes.

For now, there were still two individuals, but when these grow up, they may become individuals that could become capable of becoming a humanoid, just as Wanri had done.

“Are there any other individuals of the heavenly or land foxes that have the ability to change and become humanoid?”

So far, there were three fox species, including Wanri, that could be humanoid, but no others have appeared.

“Hmm. I don’t know.”

Wanri answered Kousuke’s question.

No matter how much Wanri understood, she didn’t know everything about the foxes.

“I see. Then what race did they become, being multi-tailed foxes?”

“It is from the same foxes as me. It seems that they cannot become Nine-tailed Celestial Foxes or Land Foxes.”

At the Yurino Shrine in the Eighth Floor, Wanri checked on the status of the foxes, and found that there was nothing unusual.

As for the many-tailed foxes, Wanri seemed to be watching them carefully and said she would bring them back as soon as they could transform into humanoids.

He came to the Yurino Shrine to ask Wanri about the condition of the foxes, and he took the opportunity to ask Saki and the others about their current condition.

Saki and her friends regularly report back to Wahid, so they knew that no problems were occurring.

It seemed that Saki and Saki’s staff were doing a good job with administration on behalf of Cecil and Alisa, who had been very busy as adventurers recently.

It seemed that Cecil and Alisa also came to check on them from time to time.

He had nothing much to say to Saki and the other three, so he was about to return to the Administration Floor when Yuri stopped him.

“Kousuke-sama, may I have your time?”

“Yes. Did something happen?”

“Yes. Recently, we’ve been able to capture a stable amount of power in this area, so I thought it was about time for you to expand the area.”

“Oh, I see. I remember you mentioning something about that.”

He had previously consulted Yuri about the possibility that the shrine, serving the same role as the World Tree, would naturally become more powerful as it expanded its area on the Floor.

At that time, he was told that the power was not yet stable and that he should consult again when it was stabilized.

Kousuke had forgotten all about it, but Yuri seemed to remember it well.

“Okay, I’ll try to update the Floor. Then, the Floor to combine it with… Wanri.”

“Yes?”

“I’m going to combine the 10th Floor and the 48th Floor, would that be a problem?”

Both were Floors with foxes.

He was thinking that it would be better to combine them together anyway.

“Hmm. Nothing wrong with that, right?”

“I see. Then let’s start with those two.”

“Okay.”

He told her that he still had enough Divine Power saved up to synthesize the two Floors, and that he would do it as soon as he returned to the Administration Floor.

“Speaking of which, will there be more we can do when we get more power?”

Yuri nodded at Kousuke’s question.

“Yes. There will be more things you can do.”

“What kind of things will I be able to do, for example?”

“For example, if you give us permission to prepare a branch temple, we would be able to transfer power over there in the event something happens to this place.”

“Is this branch shrine to be located at an intersection of the earth’s veins as well?”

He wanted to know if it was necessary to set up a regular shrine in the same way that he had prepared the Yurino Shrine.

But Yuri responded that there was no need for that at all.

“No, no. You do not need to do anything in particular. I can prepare the buildings and everything else. All I need is your permission to set it up.”

“That’s very convenient… Huh? Do you mean inside this area?”

Kousuke realized that there was some discrepancy between his description and Yuri’s.

“Yes. Yes.”

“Ah, I knew it.”

Kousuke was intending to build a branch temple in another area of the Floor.

“Can’t you do it on another Floor?”

“That’s difficult to do. In the first place, each of the Tower’s Floors is like an independent world.”

If they were to actually create it in a separate Floor, it would require a lot of power.

“I wonder what would happen if we synthesized Floors?”

“I can’t say anything about that until I have actually examined it, but I think it will probably be fine.”

“Heh. Why is that?”

“If the power of the earth’s veins increases after the synthesis of the Floors, that means that the earth’s veins will be physically connected to each other.”

The fact that the power of the earth’s veins were physically connected meant that they could also be transferred to a branch.

“I see. Should we try synthesizing it for now and see how it goes?”

“Yes.”

To begin with, they had not yet performed Floor synthesis.

It was only after the synthesis had been performed, and the power had been increased that the conversation could be continued, as usual, by saying that they should try it out first.

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After returning from the 8th Floor, Kousuke immediately performed Floor synthesis.

As soon as the synthesis was done, he returned to the 8th Floor to see how things were going, but there seemed to be no problem.

He synthesized only two Floors currently, but he planned to synthesize more after seeing how it went.

As with the World Tree, the plan was to eventually combine nine Floors in total.

They wouldn’t earn as much Divine Power as the World Tree through the Floor synthesis, but the Yurino Shrine would still become a considerable Divine Power generator.