Snorlax had led an interesting life… especially for a goblin in the plane of Lethon.
Starting out with the intelligence of an animal, the primitive creature had been part of a group of unwitting test subjects in an Adept's experiment.
Being disposable elements in the highly dangerous soul transfer study, it was no surprise each of them met their demise. Only the lucky goblin survived, a result even the Adept failed to break down and comprehend.
Needless to say, the human level intelligence the creature gained in the process stumped the Adept even further, but seeing as his experiment had had such an uplifting effect, he decided to keep the goblin and teach him a few things.
This is how Snorlax became the Adept's assistant, in the latter's day-to-day life and in his experimental studies.
Be it handling or cleaning magical tools and equipment, assisting his master in the lab, or making sure the latter's residence was always neat and tidy, the enhanced goblin picked it all up really quickly.
To reward him, the Adept offered to teach the goblin three spells.
Ideas and dreams of escape churning in his sly, nascent mind, Snorlax chose the Invisibility, Partial Transformation, and Camouflage spells.
If the Adept knew of his servant's intent, he didn't care nor show it. He taught Snorlax the three spells and the latter mastered them to the best of his ability.
Which is what allowed him to survive when his master's Adept Tower was attacked and destroyed by a group of Adepts from the surface.
When the dust settled and all that remained was rubble and silence, the goblin stopped masquerading as a rock and ventured into the Underground with its newfound freedom, wandering from place to place, dodging multiple lethal pitfalls, and scraping by with its higher thinking abilities.
Said capabilities soon found him the leader of the goblin colony Greem recently decimated, reducing him back to what he had been at the onset of his sapience; a slave.
Feeling the tight collar around his neck, Snorlax kept his head low as Greem questioned him for details about his former master Adept Pridka and where the ruins of his old tower were located.
"Point to where the old Elysium City is," Greem said and passed the goblin a crystal ball containing a map of the Underworld.
It was obviously incomplete and inaccurate, seeing as the chaotic nature of the subterranean world made it impossible for a thorough charting of the multitude of tunnels and caves it was composed of.
Nevertheless, Snorlax was able to pinpoint the location of the destroyed city the fallen adepts and apprentices used to call home after a while. He handed the crystal ball back to his new master and lowered his head and arms again, waiting for new orders.
"Is this information accurate?"
Snorlax felt the band around his neck constrict and do something to his mind, and before he knew it, he blurted out, "Yes, master. Snorlax is telling the truth."
Hearing a satisfied hum from Greem, the goblin naturally relaxed and its trembling reduced in intensity a tad.
"Stand straight and take this."
Doing as instructed, Snorlax raised his head and saw a neatly folded pile of clothes with some hygiene items arranged on top, floating in front of his face. The goblin held out its thin, short arms and caught them.
"Go in there and scrub yourself from top to bottom. DON'T leave any place untouched. If you come out and I smell the slightest stink on you, you can forget about becoming my salesman and earning your own money."
Eyes completely wide at the notion of owning something, much less money, the enslaved goblin bowed his head and fervently promised to come out of the bathroom cleaner than he'd ever been.
And he actually did.
When he came out of the shower about an hour later, the green of his skin could finally be seen, and Greem's sensitive nose only picked up soap and deodorant from his direction.
He wouldn't be surprised if the creature actually drank some of the products to ensure a thorough cleansing. god knows he had eaten and digested worse things when he scraped by in the Underground.
Smoothing his hand on his new and fresh gray robe, the now generic-looking goblin stood before his master, his droopy yellow eyes shining with eagerness.
Eager to obtain true loyalty from Snorlax and also benefit from his grasp of magic markets and great people skills, Greem handed a storage bag to the creature and explained things.
"Inside you'll find some magical tools, knowledge, and golem cores. Here's the deal. I'll give you fixed prices for these items. When you sell them, I want that exact amount of magic crystals, nothing more. Anything you're able to make on top belongs to you."
Snorlax almost began to pant as he clutched the heavy bag almost as tall as himself tighter, unable to believe what he'd just heard. He almost couldn't resist looking inside it to see just how much money he was going to make.
His former master Adept Pridka had been a Second Grade Adept, and he'd learned more than spells and lab work from him.
Etiquette, bargaining, and a host of other skills were part of what he studied due to being in the Adept's presence nearly 24/7.
He mainly picked them up through observation, but the master dropped some nuggets from time to time. Eleven years of this had transformed Snorlax into a fine and crafty merchant, just one with no wares.
And that had just changed. Taking the list of items and prices from his new master, the goblin bowed and thanked him for the great opportunity before leaving the room.
Outside where his new master could not see him, Snorlax felt for the metal band around his neck one more time as thoughts about his past surged into his mind. It seemed in this life, he was doomed to either be a slave or a wretch.
While being a wretch came with the benefit of being free, the life of a slave came with comfort, safety, and a third benefit he'd just realised; agency.
As Adept Pridka's slave, he learned magic, real world skills, and how to be civilized. Under his new master, he'd been given the chance to earn his own money and do whatever he wanted with it.
At this point in his life, where he had tasted the two sides of freedom and captivity, Snorlax didn't have any strong negative feelings towards either of them.
Both were just a means of survival. Who cared what shape or form it came in? Besides, he didn't fail to realise how lucky he was with this new master of his.
Not only did the latter buy him new clothes and have him clean up, he'd presented him with an avenue to be somewhat independent. This was leagues better than some of the treatments he'd seen, heard, and experienced himself.
He could not and would not complain.
Thanking whatever lucky stars he had, Snorlax threw the sack on his back and made his way to the public hall. He had things to sell and money to make.
☀☀☀
2 months later…
Greem's main goals for selecting the Underground world mission had been accomplished. In fact, he had done that and more.
He had obtained the necessary resources for his secret advancement, accumulated a ton of wealth from his golem core sales, "advanced" to Pseudo Adept, and gained a really special someone he could put his trust in.
To top it all off, he'd also helped her grow stronger, making her an official Pseudo Adept, just like him.
Ever since they climbed the airship and journeyed to this place, he'd steadily been loosening the restraints on his aura, making it seem to those he came into frequent contact with that he was steadily improving.
After the last mission he undertook with Mary and Kevin's group, he'd gone into "seclusion," informing the camp that he was about to advance, keeping up appearances by having Snorlax purchase various recovery and food resources.
Of course, all these items went into storage to be resold later. But to the outside world, Greem and Mary both disappeared as Advanced Apprentices and returned a month later as Pseudo Adepts.
If there were checkboxes beside each of these goals, they'd all be checked save for one: the expedition into the ruins. Greem hadn't been able to undertake it due to his wanted, high priority status in the Underground world.
In preparation for it, he'd gone to claim some Adept level resources as the rewards for the heads he brought back when Adept Angus warned him not to venture into the Underworld anymore.
In that place where all was hidden from prying eyes, the Adept would not be able to protect him from the master of any of his victims that was feeling vengeful.
And it's not like a mere Pseudo Adept with no power backing him could have an official Adept as a bodyguard who followed him everywhere.
If that happened, Greem was certain the other First Grades stationed in the tower and in nearby outposts would chastise Angus for his unbecoming behavior and strike him, the presumptuous ant, dead.
Adepts really did not like their authority being challenged.
As a result, Greem gave up the idea of retrieving the mouth-watering loot just sitting in his memory and the ruins. He had to be alive to enjoy them after all.
Taking advantage of the unexpected free time, he went over his future and his plans for it. He also trained with Mary and went on the occasional hunt with her, helping her stockpile blood for her own Adept advancement.
He also kept creating golems, polishing his skills, and enriching his knowledge on crafting with the various books and crystal balls on metallurgy, runes, and forging.
Now that he'd gotten the items that should theoretically tide him through the private advancement, he needed to think about his path and combat style.
His 154 kg weight, combined with his ability to utilize his whole body with every strike or movement, made him absolutely deadly to any apprentice or creature on his level in close quarters.
Adding his potent life force to the mix ensured that he could end an opponent in one strike if he got close enough.
However, as amazing as this was, his sheer mass and size had a negative effect on the "getting close to the enemy part." And it was going to get worse as he advanced, where his weight would be entering the realm of tonnages.
The Levitate spell and his various Agility type magic tools would be rendered useless.
For the magic tools, Agility +4 wouldn't make any significant difference when he weighed a tonne. With the spell, its long casting time and short effect duration were the issues.
And they were going to get worse if Greem tried to learn the Adept level version of the spell. Not that he was going to. His affinity was fire not wind. He couldn't waste precious time on something that didn't match his soul talent.
That didn't mean he was done with wind entirely.
He needed a new means of mobility and one of the ideas he had to solve the issue was using multiple, intermediate level wind elementium cores to fashion something like a suit or armor.
He imagined giving the cores positioned strategically on various points on his body a command, and they'd all drawn in the wind elementium, joining their tiny little hands to form a shroud that propelled his movements.
It was a nice idea, one he couldn't wait to work on, but the one about constructing a rocket pack wouldn't just leave him alone.
One of the rewards he requested from Angus was an Agility type magic tool meant for official Adepts. Of course, being an Adept level treasure, such items were rare, already in the hands of those who wanted and needed them.
Hence, Greem didn't get the belt, ring, or heck, cape like he expected. He got a pair of wings. Implantable wings.
According to Angus, the Wings of Flamingo were extracted and refined from an Adept level creature.
Meaning if Greem had them implanted, he'd gain the flight speed and maneuverability of that very creature at the peak of its life.
Completely sold on being able to fly, Greem of course accepted the wings and had them "installed," gaining two faint red marks on his shoulder blades.
The treatments done on the feathered appendages had not only given them a metallic sheen, it also gave the ability to shrink down in size when not in use and also pass through his clothing.
While the wings fulfilled a wish Greem was sure everybody had, they still hadn't solved his problem in its entirety. That's where the rocket pack came in. If he was able to make it according to the specifications in his mind, all aspects of his mobility would be improved.
The masterful use of such a configuration was still fresh in his mind. Sam Wilson's clever and skillful use of his wings were always a treat to watch.
It would take some doing, but Greem was confident he'd be able to create the pack. If he added the wind core suit on top of this, they'd shore each other's weaknesses and boost him even further.
He couldn't wait to get started.
Fortunately, he'd already obtained some of the materials needed to craft these items. As for the rest, he knew where to get them, but he had to return to the Swamp Tower first.
It was a good thing then that their time on the mission was up. It was time for him and his girlfriend to go home.