The Last Primal

"[Orc] Rise, Roas. It is me who should be apologizing to you, my first one. I have neglected you and because of that, you suffered greatly. I hope you can forgive your foolish master."

After pulling the kneeling Roas from the ground, Aiden bowed deeply, as an apologetic gesture, causing great shock to all of his servants. 

Roas, who was the most affected, was flustered, unsure of how to react to the gesture, he stood still, frozen on the spot. After a few seconds, however, awakening from his stupor, he hurriedly reached for his master, pulling him up from the bowing posture he kept.

"[Orc] P-please, master… there is no need for that. It is my duty as your guard to keep you safe. Wherever you point is where I should be striking. It is my failure that I was unable to complete the assignment you have entrusted me with." He stopped for a moment, taking a deep breath to settle his thoughts. 

The glint of determination shined in his eyes as he continued with conviction and fervor. Straightening his back, he hit his chest with his right fist.

"[Orc] Today's failure will serve as the fuel to propel me forward. I will strive to not be a useless waste as I was today. I promise you that from now on, I will not just meet your expectations but even ascend higher!"

Aiden did not interrupt his servant's vow, and while he did not expect such a thing from any of them, he was very happy to see the conviction in his first creation's eyes. He kept a gentle, friendly smile on his face, as he listened to his exclamation, only nodding at the end.

"[Orc] I will accept your declaration, Roas." 

After gently patting his minion on the shoulder, he turned towards the trio who stood still in their shock from all they witnessed. The evolution of Roas was truly a special one, gaining traits similar to Glohn, but at the same time, he seemed to have reached a unique stage. Something different, something exceedingly powerful. He had an aura similar to the master, an aura of dominance, power.action

They kept looking at Roas incredulously, still trying to come to terms with his gains. Their trance was broken with the words of their master.

"[Goblin] You all did a great job as well! Glohn, you are very strong, you managed to keep up with the enemy even after he powered up, and even without my intervention, I am sure you would have come out as the victor! I am proud of you!" He started, praising the eldest of the ex-goblins first. 

Glohn, hearing his master's words, immediately knelt, lowering his gaze, plastering it on the ground. Just like Roas, he began hitting his chest with his right fist as he spoke with a loud, reverent tone.

"[Goblin] This one is undeserving of your praise, Master! Even if I failed today, I will work twice as hard as anyone else and promise to be worthy of all the help you have offered to this worthless one!"

Following their teacher, Gob and Galina also quickly knelt down and spoke in unison.

"[Goblin] We also promise to grow stronger, Master!"

"[Goblin] Rise my friends, there is no need for any of that." Aiden spoke in a calm, warm tone as he helped Glohn up from the ground. "You have all done well. The enemy was stronger than we expected, not to mention this was your very first battle since your change. Getting used to your bodies and abilities takes time."

Taking a little pause in his speech, Aiden glanced over at Galina, who from all of them, seemed to be the most affected by everything that happened. She had a guilty, troubled look on her cute, youthful face, she was clearly battling with her own emotions.

"[Goblin] Come here, Galina." With the same friendly, gentle smile on his face, Aiden called out for the troubled girl, reaching his left hand towards her to grab into. "Don't feel down, you did nothing wrong."

Aiden's words seemed to hit the core of the issue, as at the next moment, Galina's emotions erupted, her eyes watered, she cried out. 

"[Goblin] That is not true Master! I was the weakest amongst of all of us! The others had to spend time and energy protecting me from the arrows! I didn't know what to do, and because of that, Senior Brother Roas was hurt! If I wasn't such a waste… If I…" Before she could finish her thoughts, she was suddenly pulled by Aiden, causing her to fall into his young master's embrace.

As her head hit the young master's strong chest, her emotions reached the critical point, and with a violent, tempestuous explosion she burst into a bitter cry.

"[Goblin] Master… I'm just a bu-urde-en!!!"

"[Goblin] Now now, it's okay, don't be sad. We all care about you, nobody thinks you are a burden. You are important to us!" Looking up, he gleaned at the guys who were looking at the sad girl with great concern. "Right guys?" 

Glohn, Gob, and even Roas who didn't have much interaction with the newcomers nodded at their master's question.

"[Goblin] Yes, we do!" They spoke, not just to blindly follow their young master's words, but from within their hearts. The trio was already a close, tight group as they suffered together, but even for Roas, the girl and the others were already important members of their increasing family. If nothing else, this battle they went through helped him to understand and get closer to these three. 

Roas stepped closer, placing her large right hand on the sobbing girl's back. With gentle caresses, he spoke in a warm, caring tone, in their native, [Goblin] language.

"[Goblin] I do not fault you for anything Galina. It was entirely my fault for getting hurt, I underestimated the enemy. No…" He shook his head as a wry smile appeared on his face. "No, it was me who overestimated my current abilities, and wasn't focused enough. Instead of blaming you, I am thankful that you saved me and gave me the chance to stand up from this grave mistake!"

---

It took a good ten minutes before the violent sobs finally calmed down, and Galina managed to calm down. After such an emotional outburst, she felt tired, so Aiden opened the Minion Portal with the assistance of his System and sent her back with Gob and Glohn in tow as they did not want to leave the girl alone. However, before leaving, they asked the young master to call for them as soon as he reached the top floor as they wanted to be there to look that monster in the eye that caused all that suffering to them and get their revenge personally.

As he already promised this to them, Aiden agreed. After they left, he turned towards the silver-haired prince who was just now starting to show signs of waking up. 

Heaving a tired sigh, he spoke.

"[Orc] Please, look after this idiot, and keep him in check. If he starts his childish temper tantrum again, feel free to put him back to sleep. I have no energy to waste on him right now, I need to check a few things."

"[Orc] As you wish, master." Roas nodded, picking up the lying prince and putting him over his shoulders as if he was a sack of potatoes.

Left alone, Aiden finally had the time to focus on the system and all the notifications that he had to ignore during the heat of the battle. He was still puzzled, what happened that suddenly turned the system into an unknown, silent mode, but regardless he was thankful for such a feature.

The first couple of dozen notes gave a constant log of their minions' states. It seemed that he would be able to follow them most likely even from a great distance and be able to react immediately to any trouble they might face in the future.

The second segment was the various experience rewards they received for defeating the orc warriors. For a direct kill, they received 15-30 points of experience, however, there was no explanation of what the calculation was based off. The only difference was for the two evolved/changed creatures that they fought of. The mutated berserker gave a whopping 150 experience, ten times than the average warrior to Roas and himself, while the glowing one that he ultimately absorbed gave him another 100 points while it only gave half of it to Glohn, Gob, and Galina.

After that, he reached for the newest, latest note, that showcased the updated status sheet for Roas. Just as he expected, he underwent a significant change.