Black Onyx - Forgotten Magic

Gerald took the book to a table and sat down to read it. Skimming through the pages he soon came across a familiar beast, "Goblins!" His lip twitched when he read the name.

There was a lifelike depiction of those well-known pests. Below them was also a description. 'Common Goblin. With an average height of 120 cm and a weight of 40 kg, they are no more than a nuisance even for an inexperienced warrior. With the base strength rank of Bronze 6, they pose no threat when alone. The real danger comes from their numbers…'

"Yeah, yeah, I know all that already…" Gerald flipped to the next page. 'Hobgoblin... An advanced form of a Common Goblin, with an average height of 170 cm and a weight of 85 kg, they can pose a significant challenge… strength rank of Iron 3, they are best avoided…'

"So, they start at Iron 3, huh? I wonder how strong was the one I fought…" Gerald continued to read through the Bestiary. 'Common Orc, an advanced form of a Hobgoblin, …height of 180 cm, weight of 120 kg, they …rank of Iron 5, dangerous if not surrounded…'

"Huh?"

'Orc Warrior, an advanced form of a Common Orc, …height of 210 cm and weight of 150 kg, …rank Iron 7, extremely dangerous…' Gerald kept skipping through the lines, the shock in his heart growing as he looked at the lifelike drawings of the monsters.

"What the fuck!" he cursed with a loud whisper. 'Orc Scout, an advanced version of a Common Orc, …height of 180 cm, weight of 80 kg, …rank of Iron 4, they rely on speed more than strength, …extremely agile… dangerous…'

'Orc Shaman, and advanced form of a Common Orc or Goblin Shaman, …height of 180 cm, weight of 80 kg, … rank Iron 4, they utilize Earth and Fire magic, burning their victims alive… extremely dangerous, should be fought with the help of a Water mage…'

Gerald's heart rate slowly rose until his heart almost sounded like a car engine. "Oh no, no! What is this?"

He flipped through the following pages and the pictures and descriptions made his hairs stand up. "What the fuck are these nasty monsters?!"

Those simple, weak Goblins were able to advance to so many new life forms. From a simple Goblin to a Hobgoblin or a Black Goblin.

From a Hobgoblin to an Orc or an Ogre. From an Orc to an Orc Warrior, Orc Scout, or Orc Shaman.

From an Ogre to a Giant, From a Black Goblin to a Goblin Shaman, and then to an Orc Shaman.

Also from a Black Goblin to an Imp, a being with great Fire magic potential. Furthermore, it could then continue to advance, all the way to a Fire Devil, an Elemental being made of molten stone and fire.

"What is this?! How is this still a reality? How can one being morph into another?" Gerald held his breath. "What am I even talking about, of course, they can, it's magic. If they can have offspring with humans then a metamorphosis is probably not far off."

He continued to flip the pages and soon he came to the realization. Most, if not all animals were capable of a partial if not complete metamorphosis.

Wolves, for example, had at least two forms they could develop into. From a normal Grey Wolf, they could advance to either a Black Wolf or a Silverback. Gerald has seen both of those forms before.

A Silverback could apparently grow almost to the size of a horse, while the Black Wolf would only change the color of its fur and become more aggressive.

A Silverback could then advance to a Dire Wolf, grow even more, and don a completely white fur. It could apparently gain a higher form of intelligence.

Black Wolf, however, would advance to a Warg and later to a Bloodhound. It was an extremely strong and bloodthirsty beast that usually accompanied Orcs.

All these different paths the beasts could take were not voluntary. They were completely dependent on the environment around them.

A Gray Wolf would advance to a Silverback if he had plenty of food and a relatively peaceful environment.

It was exactly the opposite for the Black Wolf. It would become aggressive and bloodthirsty because of constant competition and lack of food.

It almost appeared like the evolution in a world with magic took a different path. A more radical and faster change indeed seemed better suited for a chaotic environment.

"Maybe the beasts hold the key to the long-lost body-enhancement arts? Oh man, I wish I could observe some of them, and perform some experiments!"

Gerald continued to read for the upcoming few hours. Only when the students started leaving en mase did he decide to stop. The sky was already getting dark, so he quickly asked around to find the Dancing Boar Inn.

It was a nice and cozy place. The place smelled of roasted meat, fresh bread, and alcohol. Many people were chatting and having fun around the table.

He found his group quite quickly as they weren't exactly keeping a low profile. They all had red faces from the alcohol and they were acting just as you would expect of a drunk teenager.

They were fooling around and laughing, annoying the customers in their vicinity. Gerald casually ordered some food and then joined his new friends at the table.

"H- Hey, it's Gerald!" Kara was the first to notice that someone joined their table. She then proceeded to over-enthusiastically hug him in her drunk state.

"Hey! Hand's off! He's my tea- *hic* teammate!" came an annoyed voice from the other side. Sera, in her drunken stupor, tried to remove Kara from Gerald.

Instead, Kara hugged him even harder and cried, "It's not like I'm trying to steal him from you, why can't we share?"

Sera hesitated and then started speaking slowly, slurring her words while at it, "F- Fine, but that is just… just because you are my *hic* friend and I like you…" She drank another mouthful of beer and went to hug Kara.

"I love you too!" Kara hugged her back. Then without any rhyme or reason, they both started crying while hugging each other all of a sudden.

Rivers of tears came from their eyes and they both started to comfort each other, but the words that came out were complete gibberish.

'What the fuck! I came at a bad time, they are both dead drunk!' Gerald looked at them, stupefied. Their conversation, actions, and emotions switched so fast that he wasn't able to follow them.

He looked around and saw Owyn and Nina kissing passionately, while Gelen almost fell asleep with a fork in one hand and a mug of beer in the other.

The only one somewhat normal was Derrick, who had to keep a clear mind because he was the leader. His brother was nowhere to be seen.

"I fell so embarrassed… Ten minutes ago they were all still somewhat normal," Derick said apologetically when his and Gerald's eyes met.

"I've seen worse," Gerald casually commented. He didn't dwell on it for too long. His diner arrived soon after and he redirected his attention to the food before him. He washed the delicious meat down with excellent wine.

Because of the Nanites in his body, the mild poisons like ethanol were neutralized almost immediately. He knew how damaging alcohol could be to the brain, so he opted for Nanites that were programmed to neutralize it. Still, he could enjoy the taste of a glass of fine wine.

Back on Earth, people had a choice to decide what degree of protection they wanted from the Nanites, and many decided to skip the ethanol one. He was not one of them. Certain medicines were also programmed in the recognition database so they would be ignored.

It was not difficult to change the programming. With a quick visit to the doctor and in less than five minutes, the Nanites could neutralize almost anything.

Harmful compounds would be chopped up on a molecular scale until they became benign, and that was that.

After the meal, Gerald and Derrick chatted for some time before paying and helping their drunk teammates back to their respective rooms.

The next day, in the morning, Gerald met Derrick once again. He was sitting alone, with only a painful hangover keeping him company.

"Any plans for today?" Gerald laughed.

"Ooh," Derrick moaned and lifted his tired head up. "Oh hey, Gerald. Yeah, I plan to leave today, around noon. If we stay any longer then all our profits will be wasted in this city."

"Great, I planned to leave then as well. Are the rest still asleep?" Gerald sat down and ordered a light breakfast.

"Dead-asleep, yes. Next time I should limit the number of drinks they can order. My Silver Phantom can't afford to be known as a bunch of drunk kids."

"Haha, true that. To the success of Silver Phantom!" Gerald lifted his cup in a toast.

Derick lifted his glass of water and similarly toasted, "To the Black Onyx!"