With my unruly Ogre gladiator’s help, the troops made short work of the first beast and took it down in just a few more minutes.
Tendrils of information swirled around my soldiers, but to my surprise, only several of them heralded a level up. Frowning, I delved deeper into the metadata, trying to figure out what went wrong. I found the answer quickly enough.
Similar to what happened in the first hunt, Rhyno’s overwhelming damage output awarded him the majority of the experience. The rest of my troops received just a few hundred XP each, which was only enough to level up the goblin adepts. Even Rhyno didn’t level. At level 16, the 2,000 XP he gained wasn’t enough to push him over into 17. We had to try something else.
Rhyno, I thought to him, you may only attack each oxsaurian once, so make it count.
The brute looked up at me, chewing his own teeth in annoyance. Yeah, he got the message.
I ordered the second oxsaurian to move toward my eager soldiers like a sheep to the slaughter. A big, armor-plated, spiked lamb. I released the domination and froze it.
Rhyno heaved a Stalker Pin at the beast, embedding it deep in its side. Then he stepped back and looked at the other Ogres in resentment as they bashed at the huge beast, chipping away its HP. It took the soldiers 30 minutes to down the second beast, much longer than the first. Still, it was quicker than the previous hunting trip. The dozen soldiers who were carrying my Runecrafted weapons proved their effectiveness.
Once the second beast was down, the hobs and the adepts got a level up. The Infernal Ogres were 90 percent through to the next level. With 23 soldiers, each one got a smaller share than those in the previous hunting group. But this was offset by their ability to fell the beasts more quickly.
I sent Vic down the hill for the second time and we repeated our bull ‘fishing’ method.
We repeated this pattern through most of the night. By the time the sky started clearing, the bodies of a dozen oxsaurians dotted the ground.
I instructed my war party to stop. “That’s enough for now.”
I reviewed my soldiers’ progress with satisfaction. The 14 hobs had all reached level 14, the three Infernal Ogres were level 16, the adepts were 12, and Rhyno made it to 19.
“Everyone, load up the meat and skins,” I ordered.
While the troops kept themselves busy collecting the hundreds of units of raw meat, I turned my attention back to the herd. “Let’s get a few more, Vic. It’s my turn.”
“Sure thing, Boss.”
We repeated our tactic and lured in two more oxsaurians. I promptly froze each one and sacrificed them.
Level up! You have reached Character Level 33. You have 1 ability point to allocate.
A few more hundred units of food for my rapidly growing army. Excellent.
“Let’s do that again.”
The next two bulls made their way up to us. I froze and sacrificed the first one and was about to do the same with the second when Vic’s voice sounded in my mind.
What’s wrong?
Shadow-crap!
I checked the area below and saw that Vic was right. The level 60 beast was walking toward us, scanning his surroundings. Damn, he’s noticed us!
I estimated we had a minute before the alpha crested the hill and found us.
Everyone. We’re leaving! Leave the meat and run!
I jumped on Tempest’s back. Vic reached me and stretched toward my shoulders, assuming his Vicloak shape. I nudged the demon wolf, and he leapt forward, easily overtaking the jogging soldiers.
I gathered my mana and cast Shadow Hounds as we ran. Once the four mastiffs formed, I sent them back to the corpse-covered ground.
The alpha made it there first. It saw the bodies of its packmates and bellowed a roar, pawing at the ground. One of my mastiffs reached the beast and pounced on him. I commanded the hounds to scatter back and away from us, and luckily the alpha took the bait and gave chase.
We made it back to the tree line and the comfortable darkness under the thick foliage just as the sun started shining.
We camped at the same location as before, where the soldiers fell down to sleep, exhausted from a day of fighting.
When the sun was casting its last rays of light, we broke camp and made our way back to Goblin’s Gorge.
29 – Undermining
We made it back to the clan at the break of dawn. I ordered the troops to the barracks to rest and made my way to my own house.
As I rode Tempest through the settlement, I accessed the ‘Population’ tab and checked on the workers I’d added to the war party. I grinned when I saw the information. It worked! All my workers had gained a few levels. Zuban and Vrick were now level 10, Tika and Guba were level 8, and the two smiths were level 7. Though none of them had participated in the raid, they still got a small share of the XP, enough to skyrocket their relatively low levels and their work skill caps. The experiment was a success. I’d found a new way to increase the power of my clan and speed up the settlement’s development.
There was a surprise waiting for me when I got back to my house. Tika was drowsing on a bed. An actual, goblin king-sized bed!
That’s right, I did tell Kaedric to summon a carpenter, I recalled.
I got out of my brand-new, still spotless, Pyrolith scale gambeson and climbed into bed next to my beautiful huntress.
Still sleeping, Tika moved her body, pressing against me.
I smiled. It was good to be chief.
***
I was awakened by the racket of shouting.
“I don’t be giving a bleeding rat’s ass! He has to know.” Guba’s shrill voice was instantly recognizable.
“I’m afraid he is otherwise indisposed.” Kaedric’s dispassionate voice was firm.
I regretfully got out of bed. I’d almost forgotten what it was like to spend the night in an actual bed instead of furs on the floor. I had slept like a baby.
I opened the door. “Why are you shouting?”
Guba seethed. “There be theft and treachery!”
I rubbed my eyes. “Huh?”
“Someone snuck in ter the warehouse and stole me entire vat of liquid fire!”
That shook me wide awake. “Huh?”
Kaedric gave the disgruntled elderly goblinette a reproachful look. “Why did you not come to me immediately?”
“I don’t trust yer kind,” she said bluntly. “Hobs be hobs be hobs. This is a matter fer the chief!”
I dimly remembered Guba telling me liquid fire was used for crafting grenades and traps. “Someone stole a whole vat of liquid fire?”
“Aye!” Guba answered sharply. “It be nearly 20 liters. Took me a month to gather all them ingredients”
“Damn it!” I bristled. Someone had it in for my clan and me. First the murder of the two lumberjacks, then the sabotage at the lumber yard, and now this. “I want to know who’s responsible!”
My seneschal’s eyes became distant. After a moment, he shook his head. “Our patrols have encountered no suspicious activity throughout the night, my lord.”
I gritted my teeth. “I thought you stationed guards at the warehouse.”
“Only to guard the shop while it was stationed there. Once Gazlan moved his wares to the marketplace, there was no need to maintain their presence.”
“From now on, I want two guards stationed inside the warehouse at all times,” I ordered.
“It is uncustomary, but I shall relay your orders, my lord.”
His remark was understandable. NPC guards were usually stationed to guard an entrance. But that only made it easy for rogue-type players; once they gained entry, usually through a window or basement, they had free rein of the place.
“Which of the travelers were present during the night?”
It was now always night in the valley, but Kaedric took my meaning.
“Our patrols have encountered Raystia, Riley Stonefist, Nero SantoDrago, and Sullivan Tucker.”
Again, Riley’s name came up. He wouldn’t be so dumb as to pull another stunt after how he had to atone for his last transgression, right? I frowned. I didn’t know for sure. “Who’s Sullivan Tucker?”
“It is the one who spoke up against you before you completed the Dark Temple and unleashed Eternal Darkness.”
He was the player I’d jokingly thought to award with a gift for helping me make my point to the others. I guessed he was a plausible suspect. He sounded like he had issues.
I had a sudden inspiration. “Who of the four travelers was present in the valley during the previous incidents?”
Kaedric bowed his head respectfully. “I should have thought of this myself, my lord. Three of the four were present on all other occasions. Nero was the only one who was absent.”
I exhaled a sigh of relief. Out of the four, I really didn’t want that one-man army guy to be against me, especially not when he was playing a pivotal role in training up my soldiers.
It was good intel, adding a piece to the puzzle, though I couldn’t act upon it alone. The information was unreliable. Kaedric’s knowledge only extended to the individuals my troops had encountered while patrolling. They could have easily missed the real culprit.
“Okay, I want a scout following each of the three travelers at all times. On second thought, make it two scouts. Make sure they keep their eyes and noses open.” I had 16 of the specialized hobs and could easily afford the manpower. Stealth was an integral part of their position, which made them most suited for the job.
“Yes, my lord.”
“Well, I guess it be good you taking this seriously,” Guba grunted. “Ye should find the culprit and slit ‘em throat. They can be doing a lot of damage with all that liquid fire.”
That made my blood freeze. I saw my entire settlement ablaze in my mind’s eye. I turned back to Kaedric. “Tell Bob to have all of our troops comb the valley for that vat.”
“Shouldn’t be too hard,” Guba said. “The thing’s odor can blind a bat, even them nose-plugged hobs can smell it; just be looking fer a whiff of sulfur.”
I nodded. “That helps. You got that?” I asked Kaedric.
“Yes, my lord. I shall inform Borbarabsus immediately.”
“Good.”
The two walked away, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
This was the third act of sabotage against my clan. Someone clearly had it out for me, but I had no idea why. The new players should have all been thrilled to aid us. The abundance of quests my clan offered was a quick and easy path to wealth and power. I couldn’t understand what someone could gain by deliberately hampering our efforts.
I briefly contemplated the possibility of Vatras planting a spy in our midst, but I shook my head. It was extremely unlikely. Players that had the required mental capacity to play as monsters were scarce, and those that came to my clan were randomly selected by the company. Vatras would have no way of inserting his own man into my clan.
For now, I’d done what I could to find the culprit and ensure it wouldn’t happen again. I had other priorities and couldn’t lose any more time on speculation. If Tal’s information was correct, I had about two weeks before the first wave of attackers reached us. I had to be ready for them.
I needed more soldiers.
I opened the Warehouse Interface and reviewed our available food stock.
366 raw meat
93 raw fish
160 gathered edibles
12 gathered ingredients
252 mushrooms
9 purple salt
2 magmashrooms
I grimaced. The oxsaurian alpha attack had forced us to retreat before we could gather all the meat from the cows we’d killed. There were probably over a thousand units of raw meat, but we had only managed to bring 200 back. The amount of food available would barely be enough to summon a handful of new troops, especially when I factored in the mortality rate of the naming ceremony.
I decided not to strain our food stocks for now. I needed to be able to summon new workers should the need arise, and I wanted as many soldiers as possible for the next hunting trip. It would be the last one before the attackers arrived.
Looks like I have some time on my hands for enchanting and investing in my own training. I’d been postponing it long enough.
With a flick of my mind, I pulled up my combat skills information.
Dark Mana 44 (0%) Ⓑ
Drilling Arrow 26 (95%) Ⓑ
Mana Shield 27 (0%)
Blood Wrath 31 (0%)
Heal Followers 11 (0%)
Mana Drain 10 (92%) Ⓑ
Shadow Web 20 (90%)
Shadow Hound 22(0%)
Shadow Teleport 13 (50%)
Dark Protection 6 (0%)
My all-important Dark Mana skill was two points short of its maximum cap. It had risen nicely thanks to the rapid leveling I’d done lately.
That was not really a problem.
I closed my eyes, envisioning the dark area below the Ogre fort. I had claimed that place in the name of Nihilator, so I could use my Faith Rank 4 bonus to teleport there. With a flash of shadows, I appeared, standing next to Grymel, the adept who maintained the shrine.
The adept’s eyes were closed as he stood, holding the unholy shrine with both hands. Two large, Shadow-Touched mastiffs stood on either side of him, silent guardians, a present from Nihilator.
I moved to stand in front of the goblin adept and put my hands on the shrine’s bone-covered surface. I closed my eyes, giving myself away to the thrumming sensation of dark power.
Dark Mana skill level increased to 46.
It felt like no more than a few moments, but when I checked my built-in clock, I found that half the day had passed. Raising the skill this way took more time as its level rose. Still, it was quicker than the ‘normal’ method. I was now five skill points short of reaching the Expert rank. Then things will get real interesting, I thought with a smile.
My other combat skills, namely Drilling Arrow, weren’t as highly trained. I could spend the next two weeks hunting nonstop, continually looking for tougher opponents to build it up, but decided against it. Drilling arrows had become my secondary attack option anyway. It was much more efficient to freeze and sacrifice my enemies. Nowadays, I only used the arrows to damage those that were immune to my influence. As my control of Dark Mana grew, developing the arrows became less pressing.
There was another ability I was much keener to develop. Shadow Clone had proven its usefulness and versatility, but the impact it had on my mind was severe. I couldn’t use it without Vic’s aid. Yet.
I stepped away from the shrine and sat on the ground. The closeness of the shrine might help me control my clone better.
Isn’t it obvious? I need to learn how to control my clone.
I have to try, Vic. I need to use every edge to make my way out of here, you know that. Don’t worry; I’ll start slowly.
You will? I shot a smidge of sarcasm back to him. Well, I guess it’s in your best interests to help me since I’m the conduit that allows you to take physical form and can help you with your quest.
I shook my head. That lazy bastard.
Ha ha, I thought back dryly. But I did as he said. I sat down, assuming the lotus position, and started practicing my breathing
technique for relaxation, slowly clearing my mind of stray thoughts.
That was an odd way of putting it, but I did as he suggested. It wasn’t an unfamiliar technique. I spread my thoughts over my body, starting at my toes, then moving my awareness like a flashlight’s beam along my body until it reached my head. I breathed in the sensation of my entire body alight, feeling every muscle and joint at once.
Though this part sounded weird, Vic’s ability to sense my innermost thoughts and feelings made him an excellent coach. I did as he said and was rewarded with a feeling of lightness as I pictured my entire sense of self engulfed by my eyes.
I instinctively knew what he meant. My body had become nothing more than a hollowed shell. My real self was perched on the windows that were my eye sockets. I drew myself into my body, watching as the windows to the outside became distant. My eyes descended into a hugging darkness that was the inside of my own body. I came to rest at the center of my being, surrounded by a protective shell made of my own physical body. The darkness was unlike my manifested power; it was warm and cozy, like being inside a womb. I was comfortable, secure, safe.
This part was more difficult. I started to channel my mana, but the sudden rush of power nearly broke my sense of serenity. I let go and concentrated on soothing my turmoil. I tried again, slowly, siphoning a single mana point at a time. I managed to maintain the sense of tranquility while gradually channeling mana into my shadow.
I didn’t know how much time had passed, but I eventually felt my shadow rising up, claiming its three-dimensional presence, and my mind rushed in to fill it.
Unlike the previous times I had tried using this power, it felt different now. The awareness I kept tucked deep inside my body was a faint whisper, and I was able to perceive the full sensations of my new cloned body.
Life Reset_EvP_Environment vs. Player Page 49
