“Who am I?” I turned toward the frozen man. I could almost hear him screaming in his mind. I banished the darkness and pulled back my cowl.
The man’s eyes widened in horror as they stared into my own goblin eyes. “I’m a Shadow Lord. The chief. And this city is as good as mine.”
Then I pulled out my sacrificial dagger and, with a single stroke, embedded the blade in his heart. The bone dagger did its thing, and the unnamed man’s body was quickly consumed by liquid darkness, leaving me a shiny new level 6 void crystal.
I shrugged. “He was trying to kill me,” I said with my normal voice. “So I killed him first.”
“Yeah, yeah.” I blew him off as I scanned the chamber’s interior.
“Not really. I guess I was feeling a little nostalgic. Come on, let’s go. Got things to do, people to kill.”
I rolled my eyes and went back outside.
***
I reached my destination about an hour later. Everance Palace; the home of the city lord and the seat of power that most influential citizens and nobles strive to reach.
I didn’t like what I saw.
High-level soldiers, knights, and powerful spellcasters were patrolling the palace gardens. I caught a glimpse of a face I recognized – one of the city’s ministers – and he was trailed by no fewer than eight level 200 bodyguards. And I noticed several blotted-out dots that even my enhanced goblin eyes couldn’t pierce, indicating the presence of high-level rogues or assassins.
Storming the palace on my own, or even with a group of assassins like I did in Akzar, was out of the question. And if the rest of the city’s leadership was as closely guarded as the one I’d just seen, there was no chance I’d be able to surgically kill them all in a surprise attack to take over the city.
That left the original, bloodier plan. I was going to have to raise a huge army and come knocking down their front gates.
Even though I couldn’t go after Everance’s leadership directly, there were still other ways to undermine them … weaken them from within to increase our chances. But for that, I needed help.
And I knew just where to go.
***
The Leeway Pub was just another shoddy establishment in the harbor district with a very distinct clientele. A human bouncer stood at the entrance, arms crossed, eyes scanning the streets.
I removed my cougar fang necklace and put it inside my inventory. The interactions ahead would be difficult enough without the added ‘monster vibe’ effect of the magical item. I pulled my cloak tightly around me, and, abandoning the shadows, walked straight toward the lone man.
The Leeway Pub served as a meeting place for some of the most dangerous outlaws in the city, so my deep cowl and veiled appearance didn’t raise any alarm bells.
“Password?” the bouncer grunted.
I sighed. Vic was going to love this. “Cocky.”
My unruly companion let out an amused snort in my mind, but the guard didn’t budge. “That’s last year’s password. What’s the new one?”
“Shadow-crap,” I muttered. I’d been afraid my information was outdated. I could have easily overpowered the level 30 guard, but I needed to get inside peacefully.
Don’t worry, I know the master password too.
I looked up at the guard. “I need to get inside.”
The man’s face clouded, but it cleared right back up as I handed him 50 gold. “Of course, step right in.”
Vic snorted in my mind.
“By the way,” the bouncer said as he opened the door for me. “For future reference, the password is now ‘Ballsy.’”
Vic let out a chuckle.
I rolled my eyes and stepped inside.
The place had a faint presence of smoke coming from the oil lamps that should have been cleaned months ago. Shady figures huddled together in small groups, many of them also with hoods pulled over their faces. My shorter figure made me stand out like an orc at an elven wedding, and several of the patrons turned their heads as I walked by.
I came to a stop in front of a plain man sitting behind a plain table. “What’s up, Crowley?”
The man’s eyes narrowed at my casual tone and two bodyguards seemed to materialize out of thin air on either side of him. He wore simple, somewhat dirty clothes, and his hands were rough, just like those of a common fieldworker. But I knew better than that. Crowley was nothing like his appearance. I’d crossed paths with him before during my years in Everance, usually during a quest to thwart one of his schemes. Crowley was the head of one of the biggest, most dangerous criminal organizations in the city. He was supposedly a high-level crime boss, but no one knew his exact level for sure. Now, armed with a unique monster skill, I could finally take a look at his true capabilities. Analyze.
Crowley Archer
–obfuscation item detected
“Damn it,” I muttered.
The crime lord looked me up and down calmly. “I don’t recognize you, and you just tried using some sort of detection magic on me. You know my name, yet it’s apparent you have no idea who I really am. You have ten seconds to explain yourself before my boys take you out for a walk.”
“I only need two.” I took the seat across from him. “How would you like to help me take over Everance?”
The man looked at me in surprise then laughed. “Good one. You get credit for being funny. Boys—”
I raised my hand toward the two thugs then frowned as none of them froze. Whatever enchantment was at play also hid Crowley’s thugs’ information so I couldn’t see their levels. I could normally affect creatures up to the level of my Dark Mana skill, which was currently at 81, meaning both guards were over that. As befitting a crime lord.
The first man reached out to grab me, but he froze in place of his own accord as I tugged away the shadows covering my face and looked straight into his eyes.
“As I was saying,” I said lightly, taking a glance around to check that no one had noticed what I’d done. “I’m a high-tiered goblin boss, a Shadow Lord, and I have a large army of monsters at my command. I’m coming for this city, one way or the other. I’m offering you the unique opportunity to join me early on, and I promise great rewards if you do. But if you go against me … well, a few more enemies won’t mean much at this point. So what will it be?”
Crowley’s eyes met my own, which were now visible underneath the cowl. With a smirk, I passed a hand over my face, obscuring it with a fresh patch of shadows.
“Now that’s a proposal I don’t hear every day,” the crime lord said. He motioned for his bodyguards to back away, and they returned to stand behind him. “You obviously know I’m one of the underworld leaders, but helping monsters kill the rest of my fellow humans is a little dark, even for me.”
I grinned at his response. In the past, getting a confession out of a sharp criminal of his true position was only achievable after a long and arduous chain of quests. But now, all I had to do was flash him a view of my face to get the same response. “You have me all wrong,” I said. “I’m a monster, yes, but I’m also a traveler. I don’t go killing indiscriminately … often.”
“A traveler, eh?” Crowley’s eyes narrowed even more. “Your kind are a precious commodity these days; I have several open bounties on the likes of you. Rich people are willing to pay a lot
of gold to have a traveler working for them.”
“Sorry, but I’m a little busy with being a clan chief and conquering this entire zone,” I said lightly. “But if being a traveler is not proof enough for you, ask around. We’ve conquered Novenguard, Storg, and Whitebanner already, and we didn’t hurt any of the civilians. They’re now part of my clan. You will all be, too, by the way. If you help me get there, you’ll have the ear of a grateful chief who owes you a favor. What do you say?”
“That is … an interesting offer,” Crowley said slowly. “I will need time to verify this information using my sources and to gather some of my friends. Let’s say … three days?”
“Sure.” I stood up. “I’ll visit again in three days.” I bent forward, dissolving the shadows from my face, and pulled off my hood completely. “And if I don’t like your answer,” I growled, taking pleasure in his alarmed expression at having a snarling goblin mere centimeters from his face, “I’ll burn you and this entire place down.”
Then I teleported away, leaving him alone with my threat.
I loved being a monster.
***
“You know,” Vic said audibly as we appeared back in the Dark Temple. “Every time I think you played out that whole monster angle, you go and do something like this. Kudos for that whole ‘I’m the bigger bad’ routine.”
“Glad you approve,” I said dryly. “Anything to appease my fans.”
“Actually, they’re my fans,” Vic said brightly. “For them, you’re just the hilariously innovative meat-suit sidekick I keep around.”
“Haha – I know for a fact some of them are watching me specifically and … why the hell am I arguing over this with you?”
“No idea, Boss; you usually just let things slide. But hey, don’t feel bad, you still get a small consolation prize. Check this out.”
Barter skill level increased to 15
It looked like my little conversation with Crowley was enough to increase the skill. Barter was tied to the Social attribute, which rarely increased since I invested all my level-up points into Mental. My recent tier up, however, increased both my Physical and Social secondary attributes, giving room for my lower-leveled skills to grow.
“So what’s next, Boss? Gonna try appealing to the head of the local lawyer association? I hear those guys are real cutthroats.”
“Not exactly,” I said as I moved toward the exit. “But there are a few other—” I stopped abruptly when I opened the door and looked at the street. “That wasn’t here before.”
White pillars were planted in the ground around the temple. They were slightly curved, reminding me of giant elephant tusks, their narrow tips pointing toward the edifice. The pillars exuded a strong sense of magic, and I could see the darkness emitted by the temple stopping before them.
It seemed that despite the loophole the Mob Squad had used to get approval for the construction of the evil building, the city had taken precautions, erecting a barrier to contain the darkness from spreading, limiting Nihilator’s zone of influence.
Several high-level priests and paladins were stationed along the barrier.
I closed the door before they could see me. This was a problem.
As a powerful, tier 4 boss, I knew I could breach the barrier, especially with the proximity of my temple to enhance my strength. But such an act would brand me an enemy to the city, giving them the excuse they needed to tear down the building.
I couldn’t allow that.
It also meant I couldn’t bring in any additional forces without being seen.
I was confident in my ability to slip past the guards, but the number of things I could achieve on my own was limited. I’d already accomplished the most important thing I wanted to do. It was best to leave for now. I could always bring in forces once I was ready to reveal their presence and turn the temple into a staging area for an attack from within.
“Come on, Vic.” I put the cougar fang necklace back on as I turned and moved toward the altar. The runic lines on the floor flared, and a shimmering portal opened before me. “Let’s get back home.”
2 - Home Sweet Home
Magic flared around me as I stepped out of the portal in Goblin’s Gorge’s cathedral.
Goblin adepts scurried around, some chanting fevered prayers to our dark deity, others praying over the altar.
“It has returned.”
I whirled around, expecting to find the demented priest, Kuzai, huffing at my neck. Instead, I found the smiling face of a goblin.
The goblin chortled. “I’m sorry, High Priest, I just wanted to give you a sense of familiarity.”
“Bek,” I said with a grin. Before logging out, I’d appointed the previously small and timid goblin to be head priest, upgrading him to a tier 3 boss. He now held my old title of Dread Totem, a position of greater power than that of Kuzai. “How are you enjoying your new role?”
Bek gave me a small bow then pointed his thumb toward the corner, where a gray-skinned, emaciated creature was scrubbing the floors. “I told Kuzai to scrub the building until it’s white as snow.”
I arched an eyebrow at him. “The cathedral is built out of black obsidian.”
“I know,” Bek chuckled.
I laughed. “Good call.”
Kuzai had more than earned the humiliating treatment. In his fervor, the ex-head priest had gone against my orders more than once and ultimately crossed the line by sacrificing members of our clan to Nihilator. As punishment, I stripped him of his authority, promoted Bek over him, and told the goblin priest to make the other’s life a never-ending humiliation.
“There are more adepts than usual,” I noted, pointing my chin at the dozens of goblins.
“Yes, High Priest. I’ve recalled some of the army’s adepts to help attend the cathedral. The dark god is pleased with our show of devotion.”
As far as I knew, Nihilator was only interested in sacrifices, but if having a bunch of goblins fussing around his altar worked, I wasn’t going to put a stop to it. “Good, keep it up. But make sure they’re ready to join the army at a moment’s notice.”
“Of course, High Priest.”
I walked through the cathedral’s hall toward the giant double door at the far end and stepped outside, where a wide staircase led down to the valley’s floor. I could see the entire city spread before me. I almost didn’t recognize the settlement anymore. Goblin’s Gorge had transformed. The streets were bustling with workers, soldiers, players, and a few gremlins thrown into the mix. Many buildings had sprouted two or three floors, several even reaching four. Everywhere I looked, I saw signs of development. Many more buildings were surrounded by construction struts and piles of building materials, while goblin builders crawled over them, busy at work.
I glanced back at Kuzai, who was scrubbing the floor while glaring at Bek, and smirked.
It was good to be back.
***
“Oren!”
“Father!”
Tika and Lirian smothered me in hugs before I could take more than a few steps inside the Chief’s Haunt.
Channeling a bit of mana into my muscles, I picked them both up in my arms. My spouse and my daughter giggled as they hugged me back, kissing me. For a second, I forgot about everything else. All that mattered was this moment, being with the ones I loved most.
They dragged me over to the dining room where a couple of goblin maids hurriedly brought us some pastries and drinks.
“What have you two been doing while I was away?” I asked.
“I’ve been training some of the new workers as hunters,” Tika said proudly. “Raider’s Camp has access to good hunting grounds, and with the portal system you established, it’s easy to bring back meat.”
“Great!” I nodded approvingly. Anything that added to my clan’s food stocks helped make us stronger. “What about you?” I asked Lirian.
My daughter smiled at me. “Training, of course.”
“Still?” I checked her information. Though most of it wa
s hidden from me, I could at least see her level. Lirian was now level 45, five more since I’d last seen her.
“Yes, Father,” she said. “I was too weak to help you fight Storg’s master summoner. I won’t fail again.”
I chuckled. “You ran him through, Lir; it’s not your fault he was way too high-level to die. And if you hadn’t joined when you did, he and the other mages would have blasted me apart.”
I intentionally neglected to mention that I was never in real danger. Nihilator’s Sanction would have saved me from death, though my daughter’s intervention did spare me a great deal of pain.
Lirian’s face brightened. “I only want to make you proud. Like a proper goblin princess should.”
I put a hand on her shoulder. “I am proud of you, Lir.” I felt a lump in my throat as I took in the sight of her delicate face. I had only two months, at most, left to spend with her. Digital or not, Lirian was my daughter, and the thought that our time together was limited weighed heavily on me.
“It’s getting late,” Tika said. Her eyes burned as they locked onto mine. “Shall we go to bed?”
I smiled at her, feeling some of my anxiousness lifting. “I can’t. There are things I must discuss with Kaedric first.”
“It’s nearly the end of the day,” my fiery huntress pointed out.
I hesitated. I wanted to follow her upstairs, but I couldn’t. The deadlines the company had set for me forced me to expedite the work. A month – or two at most – didn’t seem like a lot when I had a hostile, major metropolis to conquer. And if I’d be forced to leave my two best girls behind in the end, the least I could do was to secure a safe place for them to live in.
“I’ll try to be quick,” I said and turned toward the door.
I paused for a moment on the cobbled street outside my house to let a couple of hulking Ogres carrying an entire tree trunk pass by.
Life Reset: Salvation (Life Reset - Neo Book 6) Page 2