“He was right,” I said, making a mental note to thank the goblin general later. “We lost half the army in the battle; you could’ve easily been hurt. Those bouldites are no joke.”
She crossed her arms. “I need to fight, Father. I need to train. Become stronger.” She spoke the words with intense conviction.
“Why?”
She hesitated. “I just do. Fate Stealer feels it too. There’s something I … we need to do. We need to get stronger.”
“You can join me in the next battles,” I said. I didn’t like it, but there was more going on behind the scenes that surpassed even my concerns. Some higher force had plotted the course we now took, and we had to find the way through despite the obstacles. “Until then …” I drew out two small vials from my inventory. “How about a consolation prize?”
“What is that?” She blinked at the vials.
“Permanent magic resistance potions,” I said and handed her one. “Bottoms up.”
Lirian’s eyes widened slightly but she touched her vial to mine, then we downed them. I felt warmth spread through my body.
Magic Resistance permanently raised by 10%. (current: 50%)
Not bad for a goblin, I thought.
I looked at Lirian. She didn’t seem any different. “How do you feel?”
“I am … well, Father.”
“Did it work?”
“I don’t know. I do not feel any different.”
I brought up her character screen.
Name: Lirian, Goblin Princess
Level: 50
Attributes: n/a
Skills: n/a
Spells: n/a
Traits:
● Shadow-Touched
● Child of Fate
Gear:
● Ornamental back scabbard
● Kobold fire choker
● Fate Stealer
● Royal Scale Armor
The potion’s bonus seemed to have disappeared into her obscured stats. I hoped it didn’t go to waste and would still offer some protection. I knew that even if it did, it wouldn’t completely negate magical damage, which would break my vow and end my life, but my time in the game was limited anyway. I didn’t want to think about having to part from my spouse and my daughter, but some rational part of me knew I had to do my best to ensure their continued safety.
“Will we be joining the army now?”
I shook my head. “They’re just marching. It’ll take them two more days to reach the next engagement. Sullivan and Savol are capable of handling any patrols they might encounter.”
She nodded. “Then I’ll resume my training in the arena with Tenragan.”
“How is he helping you?” I asked curiously. At this point, Lirian was almost 20 levels higher than her mentor, and even though he was a boss, there was no doubt in my mind my daughter was stronger.
“He helps me fix my weak points,” she said. “My ability to protect from magic or multiple melee attacks is inadequate, as I learned when I fought the bonetises. Tenragen can simulate those conditions in the arena.”
“Wait, so he’s sending multiple warriors at you while bombarding you with spells?”
She shook her head. “He has spinning sword traps that shoot magic bullets. Protecting against them is … troublesome.”
“Damn,” I said. “Maybe I should talk to him about tuning it down a litt—”
“No!” my daughter said hotly. “I need to train, Father. I need to be ready.”
“Alright.” I raised both hands. I knew she wouldn’t be in any real danger, but I still didn’t like the idea of her being attacked with spinning swords and magic bullets. “We should get some sleep first. Let’s go home, Lir.”
We looked at each other for a moment, then my daughter’s eyes softened. I took her hand and teleported us both directly into the Chief’s Haunt.
***
The next day, I allowed myself time to indulge and spent a pleasant moment having breakfast with my two girls. But it wasn’t long before Tika had to join her hunters and Lirian went to train. I also had tasks ahead of me.
I let my mind roam over my clan, sensing everything happening in it, finding my trade minister at his usual spot in the marketplace. Kaedric, please meet me at the marketplace, I sent out my thoughts and teleported there.
Yeshlimashu was concluding a deal with a player I hadn’t met before, handing out a wrapped parcel. “Ah, Chief,” he bowed his head. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“You … you’re him!” the befuddled player stammered. “You’re the one!”
I chuckled. “Actually, there are sometimes two of me.”
“You’re Oren, right?”
I nodded.
“Holy shit. Thanks a lot for getting us out. This year was …” He shuddered at the recollection.
“Don’t mention it,” I said. “I try to do what I can to help the players stuck here. Is there anything you need?”
The player, RobotDoc, shook his head. “I help manage the Gremlin’s Guild in Everance. I’m being paid – reasonably well for a change.” He held up the parcel as if to make his point.
“Ah, thanks for that,” I said. “Your aid is a huge help to the clan.”
He smiled weakly. “Just trying to do my part.” His expression suddenly turned worried. “Shit, I’m wasting your time. You probably have a ton of stuff to do.”
“You’re not wrong about that, but if there’s anything I can help you with, just let me know,” I said.
He shook his head. “I’m fine, really. Thanks again!” He turned and left.
“RobotDoc is a little timid but has a good head for business,” the gremlin next to me said. “Now, how may I help you, Chief?”
“I’ve come into quite a lot of gold,” I said. “I want to arrange for a one-time large shipment.”
“Of course. How large?
I consulted the Settlement Interface, having deposited the dragon’s hoard into the treasure chest in my room before I went to sleep. “I have 169,695 gold in total.”
The gremlin let out a low whistle. “That amount would buy you a lot of food.”
He wasn’t wrong. In my previous life, that much gold could have been converted to nearly 17,000 real-life dollars. Back then, I would have probably cashed out. But not anymore.
“Ah, Kaedric, good,” I said as the mandibled hob joined us. “I need your help with something.”
“Of course, my lord.”
“Considering the amount of gold we have, the food cost per soldier, and our inventory of military gear, how much food do I need to import to summon the maximum number of soldiers?”
Kaedric considered my question. “That would depend on the composition of the force you’d like to summon. What ratio of spellcasters, heavy-hitters, ranged units, and such, would you like to bring forth?”
That was a good question. Spellcasters were always the most difficult to summon since they required exquisite food, which was hard to come up with. “Given our limits, how much exquisite food can we produce on our own?” I asked.
“Twenty thousand units.”
I stared at him. “That many?”
He nodded. “Yes, but that would necessitate butchering our entire herd of oxsaurians. We will then need to acquire new specimens to continue production.”
“I don’t want to reach that far. Better to maintain our daily yield.”
“Yes, my lord.”
My thoughts wandered back to the skirmishes we had with the bouldites. The Ogre Mages were by far the best ones to meet their charge. Goblin healers were also invaluable for their ability to bring back injured soldiers from the brink of death, and they could also cast Drilling Arrow spells that proved effective against the highly resistant brutes. Hobs, on the other hand, died way too fast. All it took was a single hit to take them down, and they were barely able to hurt the damn beasts. Still, they would be rapidly leveling up from victory to victory, and I could already see their potential reflected in the few higher-lev
el veterans. Normal Ogres were almost as easy for the bouldites to kill as hobs, but they packed a stronger punch. Still, equipping them in size-appropriate gear was a pain.
“Ten percent Ogre Mages, ten percent Infernal Ogres, ten percent goblin healers, ten percent kobold assassins,” I said. “The rest should all be hob lieutenants; an equal mix of tanks, skirmishers, and scouts. Oh, and I’d like to bring in enough bonetises to serve as mounts for our melee skirmishers. We should have plenty of limestone for that.”
“I see.” Kaedric looked away thoughtfully. “We’ll need to spend 140,000 gold to purchase 125,000 basic, 40,000 advanced, and 10,000 exquisite food. That much, coupled with our existing stores, will allow us to summon 122 Ogre Mages, 125 goblin healers, 125 Infernal Ogres, 120 kobolds, 1,337 hob lieutenants, and 1,000 bonetises. We have enough gear to equip all but the Ogres, but we can purchase the larger gear required for them with the remaining 30,000 gold.”
My head was spinning a little from all the numbers being thrown around. “So not counting the bonetises, we’ll gain around 2,000 new soldiers?”
“Exactly 1,829. However, there’s a caveat.”
“What’s the problem?”
“Given that the army is not currently being garrisoned in one of our blessed zones, it requires quite a lot of upkeep. The Ogres are especially ravenous creatures.”
“Are you telling me …”
My seneschal nodded gravely. “I’m afraid so, my lord. After this summoning, our entire daily food gain would be needed to sustain the army. We won’t be able to amass enough to summon more in any significant numbers.”
“I see,” I said slowly. The new summons would almost double my standing army, bringing my number of forces to just over 4,000. I was counting on my vassals’ militia to provide an additional 7,000 troops, and I also had over 8,000 foblins I could use as cannon fodder. But those reinforcements would only be usable once. After that, the drafted militia would take time to recover their losses, and dead foblins remained dead. In theory, I could call for the militia before it was back at full strength, but they would be severely weakened to the point of being no better than XP candy for our enemies.
No. I had to keep them in reserve until the final battle against the hordes protecting the cave, but even with their help, I didn’t feel confident in our chances. That meant I was going to have to rely on my standing army to breach through the obstacles to get to the area outside the cave for the final battle. Four thousand was going to have to do.
“Alright,” I said and turned to the trade minister. “Please arrange for the trade per Kaedric’s specification.”
The gremlin brightened. “It would be my pleasure, Chief. It will take me a few moments to arrange. The shipment will soon be sent and arrive in eight days.”
“Damn, I forgot about that,” I said. “I can’t wait that long; the next battle is less than two days away, and I need my new soldiers out there fighting and gaining levels.”
Yeshlimashu scratched his cheek. “I apologize, Chief, but there is no way to make the caravan go faster, as I’ve—”
“What about the portal system?” I interjected.
He shook his head. “This is simply not the way it’s done. Caravans exist for a reason; we can’t simply load the cargo into the portals.”
Vic sighed.
Game Logic, eh? I turned to Kaedric. “We’ve been moving around resources and provisions through the portals until now without a problem, right?”
“Correct, my lord. But those were items already belonging to us. I’m afraid we have no way of similarly transporting trade goods until they come into our possession.”
“Yeah, I get that. But is there anything stopping us from delivering them to the closest vassal settlement – as the intended destination – then use the teleport to bring them here?”
The gremlin and hob both blinked at me in surprise.
“I believe that will work,” Kaedric said slowly. I could almost feel the gears in his mind shifting, acclimating to the new possibilities.
Vic chuckled in my mind.
I should have thought of it sooner. I looked at the gremlin. “Yeshy?”
“I … it’s not the way it’s done,” he said. “But I can make it happen.”
“Good. I want everything delivered to here before the army makes contact with the next enemy tribe.”
“Yes, Chief. It will take a day or two at most.”
“Okay,” I said. “Then I’ll move to the next item on my list. Kaedric, is there anything I should know before that?”
“Nothing major, my lord,” he replied. “The builders and researchers are momentarily idle. I’ve been considering using them to further the development of our offshoot settlements, but I’m leaning toward letting them think up new warfare upgrades first.”
“Alright, keep it up. I’ll see you later,” I said and teleported to the science facility.
The building’s grandness, though still impressive, had somewhat been reduced by the abundance of new, tall buildings in the city. Only a few players were roaming around the place, several of them turning to wave pleasantly at me.
I went up to the third level, where Aly’s lab was located. The intelligent, platinum-haired woman was inside, working some sort of robotic arm contraption over a futuristic worktable.
She turned to face me as I entered. “Hey, Oren.”
“Hey,” I said. “I hope I’m not intruding; you look busy.”
She shook her head. “Just making one last round of checkups. I’m done. Here it is.” She pressed a finger to the side of a computer screen, and a spinning holographic projection of a futuristic-looking gadget in the form of a metallic band appeared.
“This is the AVT,” she said proudly. “Artificial virtual telepathy. The band is capable of forming dynamic neural connections with the brain, adapting itself to the user, and transmitting commands wirelessly.”
“Impressive.” I studied the fruit of her labor. “So I gather this needs to be implanted into the brain? I can’t imagine too many people would be willing to undergo brain surgery for that.”
“No. It can be inserted through the nasal cavity; a local anesthetic would be enough. The entire procedure shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes.”
“Impressive,” I repeated.
“So, how does that work?” she asked. “Do I need to hand you a flash drive with all the specifications, or …?”
“Vic?” I asked.
My cloak dropped from my shoulders, forming into a purple goblin. He winked at Aly, who raised a puzzled eyebrow at him but didn’t comment as he approached the worktable and studied the hologram. “Very nice,” he said. “Shiva is evaluating its worth. Ooo, very nice.”
“What?” I asked.
“That curly-haired meat suit didn’t disappoint,” he said. “This thing is the most advanced discovery your people have come up with so far. It’s worth quite a lot. Here’s the list of rewards you may choose from.”
Optional reward:
Breeder’s Den summon price reduced by 25%.
Increase all soldiers’ levels by +100 for 10 minutes.
Instantly gain 1 random Master-rank building.
“Holy shit,” I said. The rewards were incredible. I wanted all three. The Breeder’s Den discount would allow me to summon nearly 500 more soldiers than expected. The level increase option was insanely powerful, short-lived as it was, and gaining an instant Master-ranked building was a potential game-changer.
But I couldn’t get all three. I had to choose the best option for my clan. I immediately ruled out the Breeder’s Den discount. It would have been a great bonus to get early on, but an extra 500 soldiers at this stage wasn’t going to be a game-changer.
“I’ll go with the second option,” I said. I was going to have a difficult battle ahead, and instantly increasing all my soldiers’ levels by 100
was just the edge I was looking for.
“Huh, really?” Vic asked. “I thought you’d go with number three. A single Master-ranked building – the Breeder’s Den – is the sole reason you were able to get as far as you did. I thought you’d jump on the opportunity to gain another of its caliber.”
“That would have been my first choice too if things were different. But it took a long time to make use of the Breeder’s Den’s full potential. I need all the power I can get now rather than later.”
“You sure? As far as you know, the new building might give you the ability to instantly win against the bouldites.”
“Or it could turn out to be a really sophisticated fertilizer plant,” I said.
“True enough, Boss,” Vic laughed. “So that’s your final choice, option two?”
I breathed in. “Yes.”
“Okay, done.”
“That’s it?”
“Yep.” He drew out an item, seemingly from thin air, and handed it to me. It was a small transparent box with a big red button inside. “When you want to activate the power, just open the box and press the button. Be careful not to activate it by mistake; don’t play with it like you do with your shining balls. Just to make sure you won’t confuse them – this is a box, balls are round.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, Vic,” I said as I put the box in my inventory. “Thanks, Aly.”
“You’re a pretty rude companion,” the woman said, looking at Vic. “I guess that fits with what we know about you AIs.”
I sucked in my breath. “You know?”
She nodded slowly. “I suspected. Hoshisu too, but we had no confirmation. Until now.”
“Vic is an ally,” I said. “I didn’t tell the others who he really is because—”
“Because his people are the reason we’re being held as hostages? And you didn’t want to raise trouble by revealing your companion is one?”
I nodded mutely.
“I trust you, Oren,” she said. “If you think your AI friend can be trusted …”
Life Reset: Salvation (Life Reset - Neo Book 6) Page 29