In an ironic turn of events, I was left with more advanced food than basic food. I couldn’t summon any more hobs since I didn’t have enough gear to equip them.
Ogres, on the other hand, were dangerous beasts even without any gear, but summoning them called for a whole lot of basic food. Luckily, I learned a while ago that a higher-ranked food could be substituted for a lower-ranked one. With that piece of information, I used up my entire store of basic and advanced food to summon Ogres.
The Breeder’s Den required 150 units of food for a single Ogre. With my remaining stocks, I was able to queue in 84 of the brutes.
The long line of hob lieutenants was still streaming from the building. I shook my head in wonder as all the open space around the pond was quickly taken over, and the soldiers began spilling out between the buildings.
Having the clan undermanned for a full year had kept the upkeep down, allowing the workers to amass a truly incredible amount of food, which I now took full advantage of. I wouldn’t be able to repeat it even if I had two years to spend. The clan’s upkeep had nearly tripled, now requiring 820 basic and 282 advanced food every day to support the population burst.
The lieutenant line was finally reaching its end, and loud gasps could be heard among the players as the Ogres started coming through, pushing aside the smaller troops.
None of the new recruits received a random upgrade like Kaedric or Bargush did. My Lucky Bastard skill is at the Expert rank; shouldn’t I get at least one upgrade?
I see, I replied, watching over the mass of bodies. All around us, goblins were running, carrying weapons, armor, grenades, and other gear, equipping the new soldiers for war.
I now had over 1,300 fighting troops under my command, and the feeling of power was intoxicating. I wanted to set out and squash our enemies right away, but the rational side of me proved stronger. I still had a few things I could do to strengthen my forces even more.
“Kaedric,” I called. The next phase of my plan was more a little complicated – mathematically – and I needed some help.
“My lord?” Somehow, despite the noise and chaos, my seneschal had appeared at my side.
“How much energy would it cost to increase the level of all our new lieutenants to 7 to match the rest of the army?”
The seneschal scanned the army. “It will take 556 energy to raise a single lieutenant. Times 700, that comes out at 389,200 EP.”
I winced. That was the lion’s share of our stock, but energy points were meant to be spent, not hoarded. That would still leave me with close to 200,000 EP. It was enough to resurrect the casualties we would surely sustain.
“Do it,” I commanded.
“Yes, my lord.”
As one, a sizeable number of the soldiers roared when their levels jumped by several points.
“You might be interested to know,” Kaedric said calmly, “that our daily energy gain has increased to 27,522.”
“Good. We’re going to need every bit of it.”
“The workers are providing the soldiers with food for the journey,” my seneschal continued. “With the recent reduction in upkeep you acquired, it will last them for eight days.”
It was a four-day journey to Novenguard, and if we couldn’t take the town in four days with the forces we had, lack of food was going to be the least of our troubles.
Everywhere around me, soldiers were gearing up, preparing for departure. Over 1,300 warriors at my command. It was unbelievable. Mere months ago, from my perspective, I was stranded in the valley with a handful of goblins and nothing else. We’d come a long way since then.
“Listen up,” I said in an assertive tone.
A hush spread over the throng, and all eyes turned to me.
“All magic casters, step forward.”
Twelve Ogre Mages, 23 goblin adepts, and two hobs moved to obey. I went one by one, granting each of them the spells Mana Shield, Mana Drain, and Drilling Arrow. To the Ogres, I also granted Mana Infusion.
I was eager to witness an Ogre Mage storming into the ranks of our enemies, their already toughened armor enforced by the protective field of energy and their massive strength enhanced by mana.
I was almost done, but I had one more tool at my disposal. Faith points.
I’d been hoarding this precious resource for a while and now had 2,433 points to spend. FP were used to purchase various religion-based bonuses, like Eternal Night, or other powerful zone-based bonuses. But zone blessings wouldn’t work outside Nihilator’s area of influence. That left me with the personal blessing option.
Personal Blessings (Directly applied to specific Shadow-Touched creatures.)
● Liquid Darkness I: The body exudes tangible liquid darkness when wounded, mending flesh and closing wounds, at a rate of 1 point of damage per 5 seconds. Cost: 10 FP
● Shadow Body I: Can form shadow claws with 50% armor penetration. Cost: 10 FP
● Shadow Armor I: Darkness covers your body. Increases armor by +5. Cost: 10 FP
● Coat Weapon I: Any weapon wielded becomes coated with darkness, which sharpens it. +10% damage, +10% armor penetration. Cost: 10 FP
The lowest rank of blessing cost 10 FP, meaning I’d be able to bless 243 of my troops. My first instinct, as always, was to grant the Liquid Darkness bonus to as many troops as possible. It would synergize well with the AWC ‘Shared Pain’ ability. If a single soldier would be hit by 50 points of damage, 10 points would spread among its squadmates for 1 damage each then they all would almost instantly regenerate that damage.
I was about to do just that when I realized something. Due to the relative slowness of weapons production, I had a platoon of unarmed Ogres. Shadow Body would fit them perfectly, turning their already formidable fists into unstoppable piercing weapons. With a thought and a confirmation, I expended 860 FP, granting the blessing to the 86 Infernal Ogres, leaving me with 1,573 FP.
Next came the players’ turn; they were fighting for their lives, and they deserved a little something in return. Unfortunately, once I selected Malkyr and tried to grant him a blessing, I was met with a failure notification.
Ineligible recipient.
I grimaced. Sorry guys, I tried.
That left the rest of my forces. It made the most sense not to spread the blessings around, but to bless entire squads where the synergy with Shared Pain would be the most effective. With 20 soldiers per squad, I had enough FP for seven squads plus change. I chuckled as I realized the symmetry of it all – exactly seven players had joined the raid on the Infernal Goblins. They earned the bonus.
After I’d blessed the 140 soldiers, I was left with 173 FP. Some of the bosses, like Yulli and Kilpi, had already received the Liquid Darkness blessing, but seven of the hob bosses did not. I corrected that on the spot. With 103 FP remaining, I spent it all on the nine bosses and Rhyno, purchasing them Shadow Armor I as well.
“Oi, Chief, what about me?” the golem asked excitedly.
“Oh, right.” I reached into my inventory. Aidanriel leaned in excitedly but leaned back when he saw the magical pouch I took out. “Jump in.”
“Oi, no fair! How come everyone gets to stay out in the open?”
“You’re my secret weapon,” I explained patiently, holding up the pouch.
He brightened up. “Oh, that’s completely different then, mate.” Reaching with a tentacle, he poured 20 Viridium beads into it. I needed more pouches, but several of them had disintegrated from overuse. I eventually shared the load with some of the other players, with Nero volunteering to carry the golem’s heavy core.
My army was assembled, geared up, buffed, and thirsty for blood. Several dozen goblins carrying stacks of lumber a
nd stone collected behind a hob wearing shining mithril armor.
“Ready, Zuban?” I asked the hob. Bargush, the four-armed builder, was standing next to him.
Zuban nodded, though he seemed restless. “I am ready to do my duty, Dire Totem.”
“Relax,” I said with a smile. “I’m not sending you into battle. In fact …” I gestured at the throng of warriors, “… you’ll have all those hotheads between you and our enemies.”
He seemed to relax at that. “It is quite an impressive army, Dire Totem. And they are eager for battle.”
I looked over the sea of warriors again. I now had exactly 1,142 hobs and goblins under my command, a force of 108 Ogres, and 100 kobolds – and that didn’t even count the mobilized forces of Koboldtopia.
“Oh yeah,” I said, feeling a feral, vicious grin spread across my face. “Novenguard is doomed.”
23 - The March
Like a swarm of locusts, my army spilled out of the valley’s narrow exit. I let the Ogre Mages take the lead and clear a path. The overpowered brutes took great pleasure in ripping out whole trees using Mana Infusion to bolster their already impressive strength to frightening levels.
The horde of nearly a hundred Infernal Ogres came after them, trampling the vegetation that survived the mages’ devastation. Four of them were carrying the small catapults on their backs.
The thousand-strong hobs followed their trail with several dozen non-combatant goblins coming up behind carrying building materials and other supplies. Thanks to all the slaves I’d rescued from Akzar, we had plenty of workers to spare.
Lirian, myself, and Bob strolled behind the throng. Bringing up the rear, covering every bit of exposed land, came a tidal wave of foblins. I’d decided to bring only 3,500 of the lowly creatures, keeping exactly 10,000 behind. Foblins weren’t much in the way of fighters; their only real use was as fodder to wear down the enemy before the real army engaged. I didn’t think we needed any more of them. We already outnumbered the entire town by more than two to one and their militia by twice that much again. More foblins would just get in the way. And if they did prove useful, then it was still a good idea to keep more of them in reserve for our march on Everance itself. Foblins, after all, could not be resurrected.
Lirian walked next to me, Fate Stealer strapped to her back. The young goblinette looked excited to be included, though she occasionally threw concerned glances over her shoulder.
“Worried about your mother?” I guessed.
“A little,” she admitted. “But I know she had to stay behind.”
“Without her hunting, the clan won’t be able to stock up on meat quickly enough. Your mother is too vital to be away for long. But don’t worry, I left Tenragan and several of the young soldiers behind, and Kaedric has 10,000 foblins at his command if needed.” I’d also decided not to bring along the kobold oracle. Despite my dislike of him, someone needed to watch over the kobold settlement.
Lirian seemed to relax at that. “Tenragan is a capable fighter. He taught me a lot.”
“That’s good,” I said. “Because you’ll need all your training when we reach Novenguard.”
Her eyes gleamed. “I can’t wait to fight my first human! Is it true that they have no claws? And that they’re pink on the inside and outside? It sounds disgusting. How long until we get there?”
I smiled and put my arm around her shoulders. “They come in all sorts of colors, and no, they don’t have claws or sharp teeth, but they have more advanced technology than we do. Don’t underestimate them; their soldiers are dangerous.”
“Yes, Father,” Lirian said eagerly.
I laughed at her enthusiasm. “Be patient; we still have a four-day march ahead of us.”
She pouted. “That’s too long.” She looked over the hobs filing through the thick forest and the foblins who marched behind us, occasionally stopping to brawl among themselves. “Can’t we run ahead of the army?”
“Hmm.” Lirian had a point. It would be relatively easy for us and a few others to go ahead of the horde. We could use the time to scout out Novenguard’s defenses and come up with an assault plan. “That’s not a bad idea,” I said and raised a hand to my earring, which was unnecessary, but the movement helped me focus the words I wanted to send to my war party. Everyone, listen up. Lirian, Yulli, Bob, and I are going to move ahead of the main force to scout out Novenguard. If any of the players want to join us, they’re welcome; just be sure you’re able to keep up the pace.
This sort of mission called for a scout and Yulli was my highest-level one, not to mention a tier 2 boss. And as my general, Bob would naturally have to come along.
The two hobs, followed by Aly, Hoshisu, and Nero approached.
“Scouting the enemy is not a bad idea, Chief,” Aly said, gesturing at herself and the other two players. “We’ll come with you.”
“I made sure our lieutenants will keep the main force marching forward, Chief,” Bob said.
“Great.” I looked over the players. “Stay right here for a few moments; I’m going to give us a leg up.”
I put my hands on Bob and Yulli’s shoulders and teleported away. An instant later, the three of us arrived at Raider’s Camp, the very first settlement I’d conquered. I was momentarily disoriented from covering so much distance with extra people. The location was half a day’s travel from Goblin’s Gorge. It wasn’t feasible for me to move the entire army in this fashion, but I could accommodate six people. Once the dizziness had passed, I teleported back and repeated the process, bringing Lirian and the three players along as well.
“Neat trick,” Hoshisu said, examining her arms as if to make sure they were still there. “That was my first ever teleportation.”
“That’s as far as I can get us,” I said. “We need to make the rest of the way on foot.”
We set out from the main gate at a quick pace, heading northeast.
***
“Are you kidding me?” I grunted in annoyance, two days later, as I stared at the high walls ahead of us.
It had taken my six companions and me two days of hard travel to reach our destination. We could have made it even sooner, but our journey wasn’t without peril. Twice, we were attacked by powerful monsters, and once, we had to carve our way through a swamp filled with hob-sized frogs. Other than slowing us down, the monsters weren’t all that dangerous. With the combined strength of three bosses, we made short work of them. Lirian, in particular, showed her worth as she carved a path through the giant amphibians. Her blackened Outrider sword seemed to ignore small obstacles like frogs’ skin, bone, and the occasional tree trunk.
It was close to midnight when we finally made it out of the Badlands, passing the unofficial line of misty marshlands, and into ‘civilized’ land. A flat open plateau full of crop fields extended ahead of us, ending with the town of Novenguard in the distance.
The town’s walls were solid stone and three times the height of an Ogre. The configuration of the town was also unconventional. Instead of a circle or a square, it had a sort of ‘U’ shape, with the two prongs pointing toward us. Guard towers were visible along the prongs, and I imagined the walls themselves were riddled with murder holes, creating an effective kill zone.
“I can see why they would design it that way,” Hoshisu remarked calmly. “Any creatures storming the town from our position will be surrounded by walls, allowing the guards to rain arrows at them from all sides.”
“So we’ll go around them,” I said. “Come on, let’s scout the other side.”
It was dark enough so I wasn’t worried about being spotted by the town’s sentries, and the fields seemed deserted. As we walked out into the open, we saw the farmland spanning the entire open area in front of the town crisscrossed by roads. Novenguard had plenty of food, which was great news for me since I planned on seizing it all.
“Son of a–!” Hoshisu swore when we finished skirting the outlying fields.
Whoever designed the city’s defenses was annoyingly good a
t their job. The entire city was built inside a massive river bend.
“We can’t attack from here,” Bob agreed. “They’ll be able to pick off our warriors easily while they wade through the chest-deep water. The Ogres will be an even easier target.”
“And there’s still a wall on the other side,” Aly said. “A frontal assault looks like the best option.”
“Perhaps we can build a bridge?” I asked half-heartedly. I already knew the answer.
Bob shook his head. “The walls are high enough to give their archers significant range. They’ll be able to safely pick off our building teams. We’ll need to provide constant guard under a rain of arrows to even begin such a task, and we stand to lose half the army before even reaching the other side.”
“There are also those things.” Hoshisu pointed at dark lumps along the walls.
I squinted. My eyesight wasn’t nearly as sharp as the assassin’s. “What are those?”
“Catapults,” she said shortly. “Short-range ones specifically designed to counteract such measures. “Whatever you build they’ll be able to destroy almost instantly.”
“Son of a–!” I had to agree with her earlier assessment. The town was proving to be as fortified as a castle. Our saving grace was that we still outnumbered the defenders by quite a bit.
“We have to draw them out into the open,” Nero said as he gazed calmly at the city walls.
“How?”
We lowered our heads in contemplation.
“The foblins,” Aly said suddenly, drawing everyone’s eyes.
“No one takes foblins seriously,” she said with an apologetic tone. “If we send several hundred of them into the fields to wreak some havoc, won’t the town send a force to deal with them?”
I rubbed my chin. “We’ll have to send them during daylight when the farmers are working. They’ll be butchered for sure, but any force we draw out and defeat will mean fewer folks defending the city. I agree, I think it’s worth a shot.” Their dead guards would remain dead; I could always resurrect my own.
Life Reset: Human Resource (New Era Online Book 4) Page 39
