Goblin King: My Innate Skill Is OP-Chapter 275: Mutation

After a few minutes of thinking it through, running the options over in my head, I finally decided it was best to check on Flogga and see how she was doing.

Skill lines weren’t ordinary; they could affect her biology directly.

I highly doubted she would just sit there and casually gain knowledge and power.

There was a real chance something in her body would respond, shift, or mutate.

So I used Warp, letting space fold around me as I snapped back into Flogga’s shed to see.

The moment I appeared, I spotted her sitting hunched on a small wooden stool, panting heavily, her breath uneven and rough like her body was adjusting to something it didn’t understand yet.

Maya was right beside her, gently wiping sweat from Flogga’s face with a cloth, her movements careful and scared, the way someone acts when they’re trying to help but don’t know how.

The confusion on Maya’s face was obvious, a tight mix of worry and fear. She had no idea what was happening to her master, and judging from the faint tremors running through Flogga’s arms and the strange heat radiating from her skin... neither did Flogga.

My heartbeat picked up the moment I took in Flogga’s condition, and a tight heaviness settled under my ribs.

For a second, a very real question clawed at me: Did I make a mistake?

Flogga slowly lifted her head, her eyes unfocused but determined enough to find me.

"Young totem," she whispered, her voice low and strained.

I crossed the space between us in an instant and took her hands, feeling how her skin pulsed with alternating waves of heat and cold.

"Are you alright?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady even though my chest felt like it was squeezing itself from the inside.

Maya, who had been crouched beside her a moment ago, rose to her feet quickly. She looked rattled, cheeks flushed, hands shaking slightly.

"She... she said she felt strange," Maya explained, her voice quivering. "Then her body started heating up, then cooling down. I didn’t know what to do."

I exhaled slowly, a long breath that did nothing to ease the pressure in my chest.

The doubt circled back immediately, sharper now that I was seeing the consequences firsthand.

Did I really make a mistake? Was this skill set a bad match for Flogga?

Seeing her like this made my chest tighten a little more than I expected.

I didn’t understand poisons well enough to know what reactions were normal or dangerous, which only made it harder to judge if I’d messed up or not. All I knew was that she was panting, sweating, and clearly going through something her body wasn’t used to handling yet.

"Young totem... what did you do?" Flogga asked, her voice rough but steady. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

I let out a deep breath, rubbing my thumb over the back of her hand.

"I shared a skill line I thought suited you," I admitted, my tone dropping with regret. "I didn’t think it would make you sick."

"Sick?" Flogga blinked slowly, then narrowed her eyes at me as if I had said the most absurd thing imaginable.

"Young totem, I think you are mistaken. I have never felt more alive."

I paused, my mind tripping over itself.

...Pardon?

Before I could say anything, Flogga lifted her hands and stared at her palms with a kind of reverence, as if something inside her was humming, echoing, waking up.

"There’s a strange energy running through my veins," she said, her voice gaining a spark of excitement. "I feel strong. Like I was young again."

There was no fear in her expression. No confusion.

What I saw instead was a kind of fierce joy, the thrill of someone discovering a part of themselves they never knew existed.

Then, almost breathless, she asked,

"What kind of skill did you share with me, young totem?"

"It’s a poison-type skill line," I replied, trying to explain it in the simplest way possible. "It flows through your veins. You can release poisonous venom in small or large amounts, and you can channel it through your limbs or into a weapon."

"Oh... that suits me quite well."

Of course it did.

Even her so-called potions had always leaned toward the poisonous side of things. Bitter root, stamina drugnaut—or whatever it was called.

They all tasted like death and burned like acid on the way down. She had always worked with toxins; now she finally had a skill set that matched her natural tendencies.

"Also," I added, watching her expression brighten, "there’s a passive that boosts your success rate when creating poison. It increases the potency and stability, too. Whenever you brew anything toxic, you’re basically working like a professional alchemist."

Her eyes widened with genuine awe.

"Wow... you have such a skill?"

"Yes," I said. "I’m pretty sure I got it from the shaman I killed."

That seemed to excite her even more.

"I cannot wait to test it out," Flogga said, almost bouncing with enthusiasm despite how drained she looked. "No...I want to test it right now."

"Wait—?" I started, but she was already trying to stand.

She pushed herself up, her legs trembling under her weight.

For a moment it looked like she’d make it, but her strength dipped, and she sank back onto the stool with a soft exhale. As she did, a faint wisp of purple smoke drifted from her lips, curling into the air like evaporating poison.

I stared at her, equally stunned.

That wasn’t normal breath.

The skill line was already reshaping her from the inside out.

Mira coughed softly, a reflex she couldn’t hide, and I turned to her immediately.

"Mira, stay outside for now," I said, trying to keep my voice calm but firm. "Don’t come back in until she settles."

I had no idea what the next stage of this reaction might be. For all I knew, Flogga could release something stronger without meaning to, and Mira would be the first to breathe it in. I wasn’t going to risk that. Not with how unpredictable this still was.

Mira hesitated, her eyes flicking between Flogga and me. She looked torn, like the idea of leaving her master alone felt wrong to her.

But Flogga spoke before I could repeat myself.

"Chief is right," she said, breathing a little heavier than before but still managing a small, reassuring smile. "Go. Come back at night. I should be fine by then."

Mira swallowed...