God Agent: All Hail The Great Kobold

....Two days later....

Ka’z and his team finally reached the edge of the southern region.

The journey had been long and exhausting, but the change in scenery was enough to keep everyone alert despite the fatigue weighing on their bodies. The dense greenery that had surrounded them for most of the journey gradually opened up until they found themselves standing before a massive stream that stretched so far in both directions that Ka’z could not see where it ended.

The water flowed steadily beneath the afternoon light, reflecting the sky like a moving sheet of glass. Tall trees still surrounded the southern bank, their roots digging into the rich soil while thick vegetation covered nearly every open patch of ground. Yet on the opposite side, the landscape looked completely different.

The earth was harder, rocky and barren in comparison. It was difficult to believe both sides belonged to the same forest.

Ka’z stood near the bank with his arms folded as he stared into the distance. West sat comfortably on his shoulder while its eyes followed the movement of the water with suspicious curiosity. The little creature occasionally tilted its head as if trying to understand how the river continued moving without anyone pushing it.

"It is said this stream demarcates the Evergreen Forest into different regions, and it’s also the source of most of our clean water," Gruk said as he walked up beside Ka’z.

He pointed toward the distant direction where the stream disappeared beyond the trees.

"The only time I got to join Tud’or on one of his expeditions to the Grave of Roses, I was shocked to see that the mountain was surrounded by this same stream. It made the entire place look even more beautiful."

Ka’z slowly turned toward him. "It really goes that far?"

Gruk nodded firmly. "Farther than you think. We traveled for days, and I remember seeing it again and again. Sometimes it looked narrow, sometimes wide, but it was always there."

Ka’z returned his attention to the stream. He had never seen anything like this before in Vaal’kor. His entire understanding of water had revolved around the pools and underground sources inside the cave, yet here was a massive river cutting through the forest itself and creating natural borders between entire regions.

Drak soon walked up beside them, his expression becoming slightly more serious as the conversation shifted toward the different parts of the Evergreen Forest.

"Every green forest is considered a treasure trove of resources. The southern region where we live is known for its unique herbs, vegetation, and fertile lands. It’s rich with almost everything."

Gruk nodded. "Since all we have are herbs and plants, the humans who come here are rarely fighters. Most of them are people looking for ingredients to make medicine, drugs, or other things. That’s why we have an almost zero percent human encounter rate and very few violent clashes. We don’t really have anything worth fighting over."

Ka’z raised an eyebrow but said nothing. He found that explanation strange. To him, fertile land, clean water, herbs, and medicinal plants sounded extremely valuable. However, he quickly remembered that value depended heavily on what a society understood and what it needed. If humans had easier ways to obtain food and vegetation, then perhaps the southern region truly was less valuable compared to other parts of the forest.

Drak pointed across the stream toward the rocky ground beyond it. The trees there were thinner and more scattered, while large sections of exposed stone broke through the soil.

"The eastern region where the Ashmork Clan comes from is known for possessing special rocks. From the little I know, those special rocks are what they use to create their armor and weapons. That’s why they have better equipment than us."

Ka’z blinked in surprise.

Special rocks?

His eyes slowly narrowed as his thoughts began connecting.

Iron ore!!!

That was most likely what they were talking about.

Everything suddenly began making sense. The Ashmork Clan had been capable of equipping hundreds of goblins with metal weapons and armor while Vaal’kor was still relying heavily on wood, bone, stone, and whatever rusted weapons Tud’or had managed to acquire from outside the southern region.

Ka’z had wondered how a goblin settlement hidden inside the forest could have access to so many weapons. The answer had apparently been sitting beneath their feet. The eastern region was rich in metal.

Everything was beginning to fall into place.

"What about the north?" Ka’z asked.

Drak and Gruk exchanged a glance before both shaking their heads.

"We have never gone that far before," Drak admitted. "Even the west has mostly remained unexplored by us because it’s controlled by the Gnolls."

Gruk nodded. "But what we do know is that the west has some special rocks that Kong’gong said were extremely valuable in the human kingdom. He once explained that you needed to possess those rocks before you could purchase certain things over there."

Ka’z’s eyes narrowed as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. At first, the explanation made little sense. Then something clicked in his mind.

His eyes widened.

"Are you talking about gold?!"

Drak and Gruk immediately turned toward him as if he had suddenly grown another head.

"How did you know the name when you’ve never seen it or been there?" Drak asked, but Ka’z ignored him and immediately grabbed Gruk by the shoulder.

"Are you sure it’s gold?"

Gruk hesitated beneath his intense stare. "Not just gold. Kong’gong mentioned other things too. Something like salva..."

"Silver!" Ka’z interrupted passionately.

Gruk visibly shrank backward while Ka’z slowly released his shoulder.

The rest of the team had already stopped whatever they were doing and were staring at him with expressions that ranged from confusion to awe. They had never heard Ka’z speak with this much certainty about something he had supposedly never encountered before. To them, it only strengthened the belief that the Greater Kobold was somehow feeding him knowledge.

How else could he know these things?

Ka’z barely noticed their expressions. His mind was already racing.

He staggered back a few steps until he stood near the edge of the stream, his eyes becoming unfocused as he remembered something Rok had said during his interrogation. The goblin had proudly spoken about the Ashmork army and how the Vaal’kor clan survived this long because their forces were divided.

He did say their warriors were still fighting the Gnolls.

Ka’z slowly rubbed his chin.

’Just how much do these guys actually understand about the value of these materials, or am I overthinking this?’

The more he learned about the Ashmork Clan, the harder it became to judge them. On one hand, they had created armor, weapons, a powerful army, and even developed their own system of magic and rune knowledge. On the other hand, their understanding of the larger world seemed limited.

Or perhaps they understood far more than he assumed.

"And the center?" Ka’z eventually asked.

Drak and Gruk exchanged another glance before speaking.

"The center of the Evergreen Forest is just a massive mountain filled with aether crystals," Gruk said. "That’s where we get all our crystals."

Drak nodded. "They call it the Grave of Roses because so many people have died there that their decomposed bodies are said to be the reason the entire area is filled with flowers."

Ka’z went completely silent and his eyes slowly widened as the information settled inside his mind. All this time he had been living inside the Evergreen Forest without realizing the place was practically a mine filled with resources.

His thoughts immediately returned to the name.

Evergreen Forest.

At first, he had assumed the word Evergreen simply described the trees. Now, however, he was beginning to wonder whether the name had a deeper meaning. Perhaps someone had named the forest after its resources. Perhaps the entire place had been recognized as valuable long before any of the current inhabitants were born.

The realization made Ka’z feel strangely irritated.

"Then it makes no sense," he said. "Why haven’t humans taken over this place if it’s so important?"

Everyone exchanged glances.

Then they slowly turned toward him. The looks in their eyes made Ka’z realize he had apparently asked the dumbest question imaginable.

Drak awkwardly scratched the back of his head. "Errrm... In each region, there are powerful magic beasts that have marked those places as their own territory."

Gruk immediately continued. "The magic beast at the center is said to be even stronger than a Gold Core warrior. No human has ever attempted to climb those hills and survived. Even Kong’gong said those beasts were stronger than human nobles."

Ka’z froze.

The information hit him harder than he expected. Powerful creatures controlled the resources. That was why nobody simply marched into the forest and took everything.

It was not because the humans were unaware of the value. It was because someone stronger was already sitting on it.

Ka’z slowly looked toward the southern forest again.

For the first time since arriving in this world, he felt like he truly knew nothing about the place he called home. He had spent so much time focused on Vaal’kor, the cave, the colony, and the problems directly in front of him that he had never stopped to consider how massive the world around him truly was.

’I need to talk to Kong’gong when we get back, and I need to get my hands on that red scripture. I want to understand everything going on.’

He made the decision almost immediately.

Ka’z had not felt this ignorant in a very long time, and the feeling was pissing him off. He hated being the person in the room who understood the least.

"Cross the damn river!" Ka’z suddenly roared, his voice startling everyone around him.

His eyes burned as they turned toward the eastern region. "Every day we let those Ashmork swines breathe is another day they have to prepare for us!"

The others immediately erupted into excited laughter and began moving toward the stream. Weapons were adjusted, supplies were tightened around their bodies, and everyone checked their belongings one final time before stepping closer to the water.

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