11 - Abomination
Sullivan watched the altar with a slight frown. Some of the other players stood next to him as well as their brand-new goblin general, Savol.
“You sure he said now?” Malkyr asked the army’s strategist.
“That’s what the message said.” Sullivan rubbed his brow tiredly. The invading army seemed to have targeted Woodhaven, and the player had barely slept for the past two days as he oversaw the army’s deployment to defend the hamlet.
“Looks like Big Chief is late again,” Hoshisu said.
“Something’s happening,” Kyth said.
The magical portal that connected the hamlet flared, then a tall goblin wearing a feathered headdress stepped out of the shimmering portal and looked around.
“Oren!” Sullivan said with relief. “Thank god you’re back. Did you accomplish the mission?”
The goblin player smirked. “How does 2,000 new soldiers – from level 10 grunts to level 50 officers – sound?”
Sullivan’s frown turned upside down at the news. “It sounds incredible! Though we’ll still be outnumbered by about a thousand, and we haven’t even accounted for the enemy’s high-level elites.”
To Sullivan’s surprise, Oren’s smile widened, revealing sharp goblin teeth. “Don’t worry, we’ve got a few elites of our own.” He stepped back from the portal as it shimmered again, letting a huge figure through followed by a smaller blue one. “Everyone, say hello to Bonecruncher and Broncar.”
***
I chuckled with satisfaction as the awestruck players took a few steps back from the two-headed Ettin. With the behemoth’s impressive bulk that dwarfed even Rhyno’s, it was easy to overlook Broncar, the blue-skinned, tier 4 boss, who was the more deadly of the two.
Hoshisu was the only one gawking at him rather than at the two-headed giant. “What a hunk!”
I raised a brow and gave the deadly hob another look. I could understand what Hoshisu saw. Broncar was perfectly muscled, and his blue skin made him resemble a marble statue.
Hoshisu apparently realized what she’d said because she instantly glared at me as if daring me to bring up her blunder.
I wisely decided to address the other players instead. “And that’s not all. Aside from the new soldiers and officers, we’ve also got about two dozen other bosses on our side; shamans, gladiators, and some elite warriors.” Sadly, the three commanders would take several more days to respawn. They would have been invaluable with directing the troops, but I was confident we could make it work without them.
“This … this is great,” Sullivan said. “This completely changes our situation.”
“I’m going to send the entire force through now,” I said. “Then I’ll go back to the valley and work all night on some new golems.”
“Hold on, Chief,” Kyth, the gnomblin, said. “The fight is barely half a day away. We’ll need you fresh and alert for that.”
“I’ll be okay, I’ve fought like this before. Trust me, the new golems will more than make up for it.”
Sullivan nodded. “Make them as high-level as possible. This battle is going to be a lot different than the battle for Novenguard. There, we outnumbered the enemy, but they had superior levels. Here, they outnumber us while the average levels are similar. We’ll need to try to maintain our hold on the walls for as long as possible; make the enemies pay a death toll to even out the odds when we meet them in full battle.” He looked directly at me. “And I have some things I need your direct intervention with. Remember what we talked about?”
“Yep. I’m your special one-man hit squad.”
“Right. Which reminds me – you can only teleport long distances inside your towns, right?”
“Not exactly,” I said. “I can teleport anywhere inside Nihilator’s zone of influence. Since this hamlet only has a simple shrine, the area here extends a few dozen meters around it.”
“That’s not good. Is there any way to extend that?”
“Yes. Upgrading the altar to a Dark Temple should expand the range to a couple of hundred meters. We can extend it even further if we build three shrines around the hamlet.”
Sullivan shook his head. “The enemy’s scouts will locate and destroy any shrines outside our walls. Can you order your goblins to upgrade the altar here?”
“Sure,” I said. “I’ll send Zuban over when I get back to the valley.”
“That would be great. Just don’t forget to come back here an hour before morning. We have a short window of opportunity to prepare a few surprises.”
“Will do.”
A torrent of soldiers spilled out of the portal. I could envision the long lines of soldiers in Akzar, lining up in front of the cathedral to come through.
“I’ll see you later,” I said. I had nine hours to prepare everything. Then it would be time for battle.
***
“Kaedric!” I called out as soon as the dizziness from the long-range teleport had passed.
To my surprise, the mandibled hob didn’t immediately appear. Though I had to give him some slack; he had no way of knowing I’d be teleporting to the middle of the clan at that very moment.
“Sure.”
Level up! You have reached Character Level 60. You have 1 ability point to allocate.
Dark Mana spell school level increased to 54.
Faith spell school level increased to 39.
Soul spell school level increased to 29.
Quest Updated: Servants of Darkness
Nihilator has tasked you with converting enough of the world’s population to grant him the raw power he needs to overthrow all other gods. For converting an entire city’s worth of new believers, you’ve been rewarded!
Quest Type: Mythic
Progress: 26,041/5,000,000 (0.5%)
Reward: 5,000 XP, +200 Faith Points
The XP reward brought me halfway through to the next level, and my FP total had reached 970.
I opened my character sheet and invested the new level-up point into Mental, then took a moment to go over the information in detail.
Title : Dire Totem
Level : 60
Race : Goblin
Type: Boss III
Religion : The Cult of Nihilator
Attributes:
● Physical 4
● Mental 68
● Social 4
Pools & Resistances:
● Hit Points: 1,765
● Mana: 6,439
● Armor: 105
● Mental Resistance: 60%
● Lightning Resistance: 20%
● Magic Resistance: 30%
Skills :
● Lucky Bastard 53 Ⓑ
● Analyze 115
● Tracking 18
● War Party Leader 40
● Runecraft 71
● Barter 14 (maxed)
● Governor 14 (maxed)
Spells :
● Dark Mana 54 Ⓑ
○ Drilling Arrow
○ Mana Shield
○ Mana Drain
○ Direball
○ Mana Infusion
● Faith 39
○ Heal Followers
○ Shadow Web
○ Shadow Hound
○ Shadow Teleport
○ Dark Protection
● Soul 29
○ Blood Wrath
○ Touch of Decrepitude
Traits :
● Goblinoid (+1 Physical, -1 Social)
● Quick Learner +20%
● Boss Boon III (15 HP & 30 MP per level; Nihilator’s Sanction ; Damage Reflection )
● Soul Companion: Vic
● Shadow-Touched
● Mind Over Body (-50% to pain, +50% Mental Resist)
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br /> My character strength was coming along nicely, especially considering Shiva’s new regime of anti-player rules. My mana and health pools soared again. As a boss, those two properties benefited both from the level up and the ability points I’d invested.
I opened the Settlement Interface next and accessed the vassal list. Now that I’d taken over Akzar, my main objective was to organize troop deployments to reinforce my army as soon as possible. I was eager to see how conquering a settlement bigger than mine contributed to my clan.
Akzar
● Daily Energy: ~50,000
● Population: ~8,000
● Daily Resources: 5 high-grade Viridium, 800 gold, 300 army rations
● Militia: 3 battalions (~2,400 soldiers total)
● Breeder’s Den: +4 level for newly summoned combatants
“Holy crap,” I said out loud.
“My lord?” my seneschal’s voice said from behind me. “Is there something wrong?”
I spun to face him. “Kaedric. Nothing wrong –far from it. With Akzar as a vassal, new soldiers we summon from the Breeder’s Den will start as level 10 at the minimum. Not to mention, we get all their energy yield as well.”
Kaedric nodded. “Quite an accomplishment, my lord. Congratulations.”
Vic, what are the squiggly lines next to some of the fields? I asked mentally.
I scoffed. I know that. I meant, what do they signify?
I frowned slightly as something else occurred to me. “Compared to its size, it’s a bit weird we get so little resources from them, though I guess the gold yield isn’t bad.”
“Hobgoblin cities are heavily invested in warfare development, my lord,” Kaedric said. “As a result, they have stronger armies but don’t usually produce much beyond their immediate needs. For its size, Akzar’s gold contribution can be considered adequate.”
“I guess that explains it,” I said.
“That said, the high-quality Viridium they provide us is quite valuable, my lord.”
My eyes widened. “You’re right, that’s not the standard Viridium.” I grew excited. “That metal is supposed to be even more susceptible to enchantments than the regular kind.” I’d heard about that type of Viridium before, but it wasn’t available even before the embargo.
“Yes, my lord. In addition, as a rank 3 metal, it may be used to fully renovate the Breeder’s Den.”
“That’s right!” I exclaimed. After considerable effort, I’d been able to help Zuban, my chief constructor, reach the Expert level of his craft and repair the destroyed building. But even then, he was lacking rare materials to fully complete the job. As a result, it incurred a penalty to the levels of summoned hobs. “We’ve gotta make that a priority.” Enchanting could wait. “How much of the stuff do we need to fix the building?”
“With your permission, my lord, I shall summon the chief constructor to answer that.”
I nodded. “On a similar subject, we should be able to import standard Viridium from Akzar again.”
“You are correct, my lord, Viridium is once again available via the Export Office. Shall I handle the requisition?”
“You’re using obsidian for the exchange, right?”
“Correct, my lord, obsidian is the most cost-effective resource for bartering with Akzar. We currently have 4,780 units that, at a five to one ratio, can be used to import enough Viridium to craft 956 spheres.”
“Let’s use 4,000 obsidian then. Keep some reserves in the clan. I’m not sure I can even enchant 800 spheres in one sitting.”
“I’ll take care of it, my lord. I shall deliver the imported metal directly to the Dreamer’s Lodge.”
“Make sure the Azkar is crafting the spheres for us. Also, send 20 to Duladeen. Tell her I need a new core casing as quickly as possible. Ah, here’s Zuban.”I watched him approach. Despite being a worker and not a fighter, at level 40 and clad in mithril armor, my chief constructor cut an impressive figure.
“You called for me, Dire Totem?” Zuban asked.
“Yes. We’re going to receive steady shipments of high-quality Viridium. Kaedric suggested we might be able to use it to completely repair the Breeder’s Den. Is that correct?”
The hob’s eyes shone with excitement. “Yes, yes it is.”
“How many units of metal do we need?”
“Twenty, my lord.”
Kaedric said, “We will have the required amount within four days.”
“Great!” I turned back to Zuban. “I authorize you to rush the building as soon as we have it.”
“Of course, Dire Totem.”
The fully renovated building would add to our strength, but it wouldn’t be ready in time for the coming battle. “One more thing, Zuban. I need the altar in Woodhaven upgraded to a Dark Temple. Send through the required resources, and rush the building as soon as possible.”
Zuban grinned at me. “It is a humbling experience to be able to raise complex architectural projects within moments, Dire Totem. It almost makes me obsolete.”
I shook my head. “Using energy to rush building is just a tool. Without your expertise, all that energy would just be sitting there.”
He bowed his head. “I’m happy to serve. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go carry out your orders at once.”
“Of course,” I said. “I should also get going; I have a lot to take care of on my end.”
“Before you go,” Kaedric said, “might I have a few moments to go over our clan’s affairs?”
I paused to think about it. “Alright. As long as it’s no more than a few moments.”
Kaedric nodded. “I’m pleased to report that after weeks of hard work, the sewers are completed.” I could hear the satisfaction in his voice. “It already attracts small critters, and I expect it won’t be long before various infestations take place.”
“Hold on.” I stared at him. “That’s … a good thing?”
“Indeed, my lord. We have 20 newly born warriors, all level 1. They are far too weak to be sent to the front lines, but they should prove strong enough to scour the sewers. Our clan’s travelers might also wish to train in relative safety.”
I chuckled. “So we’ve basically got our very own mini-dungeon.”
The mandibled hob cocked his head. “My lord?”
“Never mind; traveler’s terminology. What else?”
“Our basic food yield was extremely low of late, given how most of it goes toward the army’s upkeep. In the past four days, we’ve accumulated just short of 300 units of food overall.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You said it was ?”
“Yes,” he said. “Thanks to the contribution from Akzar, we now have a steady daily yield of 300 units of army rations. Thanks to that, I’ve changed some of our ingredient allocations in favor of increasing our advanced food yield, though we still have a large stock remaining. The clan currently produces 70 units of advanced food each day, and the exquisite food yield is steadily climbing, currently at 110 units per day.”
“That’s pretty good.” I ran some quick calculations in my head. “Hmm, it means we can summon about four new hob lieutenants or two Ogre Mages every day.” Not long ago, that would have been a tremendous amount, but now, with an army of thousands at my command, it was a drop in the bucket.
“The gremlin trader, Yeshlimashu, has requested that a Gremlin’s Guild be constructed in Novenguard and Akzar, my lord,” Kaedric said.
I nodded, recalling that I’d promised to construct gremlin trade guild buildings in my towns. “Sure, let’s do that. As far as I remember, it should increase our revenues from those towns, right?”
“Indeed, my lord, by an additional ten percent. However, you will first need to appoint a new ruler for those settlements. Shall I summon new n
obles to handle that?”
“Yes, transport the required resources through the portal and use energy to rush the constructions. I’d say we can afford it.”
“Yes, my lord, our energy reserves are currently in excess of a quarter-million.”
“Great, anything else?”
“With the sewers completed, we need to discuss the next building project.”
“Do you have a suggestion?”
He nodded. “Since space is a limited commodity inside the valley, I believe researching blueprints for building upward would be prudent, my lord. We should upgrade our lodgings first then add more floors and workspace to the existing workshops.”
I chuckled. Kaedric’s plan sounded like it was going to raise skyscrapers in my humble town. “Do what you think is best.”
“Very well; once the researchers finish the Breeder’s Den upgrade project, I’ll assign them their new tasks.”
“Looking forward to what they come up with,” I said with a smile. “Anything else?”
“No, my lord. The kobold assassins await your presence in the cathedral.”
The reminder instantly extinguished my good mood. I had pushed the issue out of my mind, postponing the need to dwell on it. Now it came crashing back at me.
It was time to pay Nihilator his due.
I choose to walk to the cathedral rather than teleporting directly there. With a heavy heart, I ascended the obsidian stairs that led up to the mountain ledge upon which stood the dark building.
The five surviving kobolds who had accompanied me to Akzar were already waiting, looks of uncertainty and apprehension on their reptilian faces.
In contrast, Kuzai, the demented priest looked positively elated as he eyed the kobolds hungrily. Bek and two other goblin adepts were at his sides. “ It has finally come to repay the master’s blessings.”
“Of course you’d be here,” I grunted in reply.
Life Reset: Conquest (New Era Online Book 5) Page 20
