Life Reset

by Shemer Kuznits

  “I hope someday I will be able to build something as magnificent as that” he said reverently.

  Breeder’s Den constructed. You can access it via the Settlement Interface

  +500 reputation with GreenPiece clan.

  Current rank: Friendly. Points to next rank: 4000

  The reputation increase wasn’t a complete surprise, the building was clearly a sign of status. It was an excellent perk. Having a better reputation with the clan would make it easier to command them.

  “Zuban, send the Lumberjack worker to start cutting trees.” I instructed. “We will soon need all the wood we can get.”

  “Right away,” his eyes were still full of wonder.

  “I will soon have construction orders for you, so be ready.”

  “Yes, Esteemed Totem,” he replied respectfully, then left to follow his orders.

  I eagerly opened the Construction Interface and saw three buildings listed in my settlement. I accessed the Breeder’s Den menu.

  “Wow” I whispered when I saw the next screen options.

  A list of goblins opened up, detailing various types of goblin I could instantly summon, each with its own cost of food.

  Available raw food: 37

  ● Goblin - standard mob. No proficiencies.

  Requirements: 20 basic food.

  ● Goblin Worker - Noncombatant, can have a proficiency in one type of basic work-related skill.

  Requirements: 30 basic food.

  ● Goblin Warriors - Simple combat oriented goblin, proficient in one type of basic weapon.

  Requirements: 50 basic food.

  ● Goblin Crafter - proficient in one type of simple crafting skill.

  Requirements: 30 basic food + 20 advanced food.

  ● Goblin Lieutenant - Combat leader, can lead War Parties, stronger than Goblin Warrior.

  Requirements: 50 basic food + 20 advanced food.

  ● Advanced Worker - proficient in one basic and one advanced work-related skill

  Requirements: 30 basic food + 20 advanced food

  Vic suddenly declared.

  Once again Vic took upon himself to decide for me what I should or should not see, and did it as insultingly as possible.

  My heart fell as I read the requirements to summon each goblin. That was a lot of food.

  I guess Vic did the right thing by censoring the list.

  At the moment I barely had enough food to summon a single Goblin Worker. I didn’t even know how to produce advanced food required for some of other choices. I better ask Guba about that.

  Right now, lack of food was the primary hindrance to my ambitions for a grand empire. I had to increase food production. I had an idea how to accomplish that.

  Thanks to the presence of the rabbit breeding grounds we could construct of a Rabbit Warren. But, it was a large project that would delay other construction projects. Initially, I had intended to invest in buildings that maximized construction speed and efficiency, to help build faster. Now I realized I had to increase food production instead. Increasing the population was a higher priority than construction speed.

  The Rabbit Warren required 40 pieces of wood, that meant we needed to cut down 20 trees and split them into workable timber.

  I opened the Settlement Interface and navigated to the Population menu and selected the goblin worker with the Lumberjack skill.

  Goblin worker

  Level: 2 (0%)

  HP: 21

  P:3, M:0, S:-1

  Skills: Brawling 3, Haul 1, Lumberjack 5

  Traits: Noncombatant

  Clicking on the skill informed me the Lumberjack worker could chop 5.2 trees per 10 hours work day at his current skill level. It would take the same amount of time to split the logs into timber. I could make him work longer hours, but that would only be helpful for a day or two, then he’ll get too tired and would work at reduced efficiency for several days. The skill details also clarified that non-proficient workers could cut 2.5 trees per day.

  Hmm… so if I have all the workers cut trees, that would be 10.2 trees per day.

  Then I realized something and grinned evilly. It wasn’t just the workers who could cut trees. Zuban could too, especially as there was nothing for him to build at the moment anyway. That would bring the yield up to 12.7 trees a day.

  If only I had three more able-bodied goblins.

  As I was commiserating, my eyes wandered idly over to Vrick, and my grin grew even wider and more evil.

  Heh, heh, heh. I do have extra able-bodied goblins!

  Vrick and his warriors relied on their Physical attribute, which happened to be the primary attribute for the Lumberjack skill. It made them perfect candidates for the task, much more so than anyone else in camp.

  So assigning the three warriors to the job will give me…20.2 trees, Yes!

  We could meet the quota in a single day.

  I rounded up Vrick and Zuban, and relayed my new orders to them. They huddled together for a quick discussion, then herded their crew together and began giving orders while handing out axes from the clan’s stockpile. There were just enough of the battleaxes looted from the hobgoblin raid party to equip everyone in the group.

  I watched as they made their way to the valley’s tree line and started hacking away at the trees. Zuban and Vrick started a friendly competition to see who could chop faster. They were soon chopping in a frenzy, though of course, they couldn’t hold a candle to the Lumberjack worker.

  The Lumberjack was cutting trees twice as fast as everyone else, and felled the first one long before anyone else. He had just become an important asset for the clan’s development, so I decided he needed a name.

  Inevitably I ended up calling him ‘Woody.’

  Zuban had assured me, that once they finished cutting enough trees, Woody would be able to turn them into construction timber on his own at a rate that would keep up with the builder's’ needs.

  The Rabbit Warren cost 130 BP. However, my newly established construction crew only produced ten BP a day. So it would take them 13 days to finish the building.

  I left the trees cutters, and went to find Guba.

  I found her rummaging through our equipment packs, a look of annoyance on her face.

  “Lost something?” I asked.

  “Hmmm?” she turned to look at me, rolling her eyes. “Can’t find me good kettle! How am I supposed to be cooking in them conditions?”

  I gave an exasperated sigh. I could smell another quest brewing. “And I suppose you'd appreciate it if I could locate your lost kettle, right?”

  “What?” she turned back to the pile “don’t be ridiculous, I won’t be sending our Esteemed Totem running around looking fer a cooking utensil.”

  That was surprising. She usually had no qualms about making me run around.

  Maybe it’s my increased reputation in clan, I mused. Well it's about time!

  “Here’s the little bugger!” She declared triumphantly, withdrawing a beaten tin kettle from the pile. “Found ya!”

  She turned her attention back to me. “Was there something ye wanted youngling?” She was back to her normal gruff tone.

  Well, that didn’t last long, I thought tiredly.

  “We have a Breeder’s Den now,” I pointed at the new structure.

  “A neat trick,” she replied calmly. “Especially for a young Totem such as yerself.“

  “And you were right when you said it required a lot of food….” I tried to move the conversation in the right direction.

  “Hmph!” she snorted, gruff as usual. “And now you be needing old Guba to make food for yer precious little Breeders, eh?”

  “Well, we do have all that meat” I reminded her, “I need it cooked, something simple and edible as soon as possible. Can you do it?”

  She made a sour face, then shrugged. “Was me grann
y an old hag who consorted with Bugbears? Of course I can!” She chuckled at her own joke. Then in a more business-like tone, “I can be cooking all them raw meats, make them into some nice juicy steaks. That should be good fer the Breeder’s need of simple food.” She looked at me knowingly, “But I be guessing that ain’t gonna cut it for long, eh? You’ll be wanting advanced food next, but I not be the right goblin for that job.”

  I cocked my head “Why not?”

  “‘Cause I ain’t no proper cook ye halfwit youngling! I’m a Chemist who knows a wee bit about cooking. I can slice-n-dice alright, but that ain’t gonna cut it fer the advanced stuff. You’ll be needing someone with proper cooking proficiency fer that. Let ‘em do all the hard work!”

  “I see…” I pondered her words. Another bump in the road toward my future monster kingdom.

  “For now, please cook 30 portions of simple food and bring it all to the Breeder’s Den.”

  “Hmph” was her only retort.

  Food was a real issue. I needed to work on my Drilling Arrow skill anyway, so I decided to go hunting, though I didn’t plan to stray far this time. One overly powerful bear matriarch was quite enough.

  I found Tika fletching arrows.

  “Tika, would you like to go hunting with me again?” I asked.

  She got up to her feet and lowered her head shyly, “Yes, Esteemed Totem.”

  We ventured into the valley forest and I looked for tracks. After about half an hour of hiking through the dense trees, I eventually found some strange sinuous line tracks Tika thought were promising. The track led us to a small clearing and my Tracking went up to level 2.

  At the center of the clearing was a large dirt mound, taller than a goblin. There was an opening on top. It looked like a tiny volcano.

  “Careful Totem,” Tika cautioned, “Big beetle inside. Taste good, but angry.”

  “Beetles?” I asked indignantly, “You want to eat beetles?”

  Tika nodded quickly. ”Good eat, much meat, make good soup.”

  “Oh, alright,” I crinkled my nose. “Let’s get some beetle meat.”

  I activated my Mana Shield and Tika found a secure perch on one of the surrounding trees.

  I picked up a small rock and tossed it into the hole. Angry chittering came from the mound, and a beetle the size of a cat emerged from the top. It looked like your average garden beetle, only bigger, with bright yellow body and large black spots, it looked poisonous.

  I analyzed it.

  Forest Muck Beetle, level 5, 35hp

  It didn’t have a lot of hit points for its level, presumably because it was using poison attack, instead of a physical one.

  My poison suspicion was soon proven true as it charged at me, spraying a foul-smelling yellow liquid from its tiny mouth.

  The spray was easily repelled by my shield. The spray just slid off it, doing no damage as it was only effective on organic substances.

  That made the fight ridiculously one sided. I dispatched the angry critter easily with a few Drilling Arrows. Once the beetle was defeated, a new one emerged from the mound, and again, concentrated its ineffective attacks on me.

  This is good target practice! I thought two hours later.

  Drilling Arrow went up four whole points and was now at a whopping level 7. We had also collected 16 raw meat, 12 beetle chitin, and 5 poison glands.

  I knew that various creature’s chitin could be used as crafting components for making armor, so the nest was a good find. And I hoped Guba would be able to make use of the poison glands, I would have to check with her later.

  It was getting late in the day by the time we finished farming all the beetles. I decided we’d done enough hunting for one day, so we headed home.

  I stopped by the woodcutting crew, to check on their progress. They got more logs than I had anticipated.

  Could I have miscalculated? I furrowed my brow.

  “It’s mostly thanks to Woody,” Zuban explained when I asked him. I had to be precise in order to correctly assess our capabilities and plan out our long-term strategy.

  “He became faster at cutting the trees down as time passed. Vrick and I were impressed with his technique, so we copied his movements, and… it worked. We both have the Lumberjack skill now.”

  Of course! I should have anticipated that Vrick and Zuban would pick up the skill, they were both VI operated NPCs and had the capacity to learn and evolve. The longer they all worked, the faster their skill level rose, making them more efficient workers.

  I accessed the Settlement Interface and inspected their character information. I saw my assumption was right. Woody increased his Lumberjack skill from level 6 to 7, and both Zuban and Vrick had the skill now, each at level 2.

  Good! Finally, something good happened.

  None of the other workers or warriors received that skill, as expected.

  I tabbed over to the Breeder’s Den interface, and checked the summon goblin’s description again. It said simple workers could have only one work related proficiency and warriors could have one simple weapon proficiency. Underwhelming, but then again, they were goblins.

  I left the woodcutters to their work, and Tika and I continued on to the camp.

  I put the meat from the day’s hunt in the food pile, which had shrunk a great deal when Guba used most of it to cook steaks.

  Guba herself was stirring the cauldron at her usual pose. It smelled like we were having stew again for dinner. “Is the food ready?”

  “Hmm?”

  “The 30 pieces of simple food, did you finish preparing it?” I clarified.

  “Oh, hours ago,” she waved her hand negligently. “Been working on tonight's meal, used most of the leftover meat fer that.”

  Right, I cringed. The clan required food for upkeep as well. There were eleven of us, so I guessed eleven pieces of raw meat were going to be consumed every day.

  “Tika, can you hunt enough every day to supply the clan’s needs?” I asked.

  She considered my question for a moment then nodded.

  “Good hunt place. Much animals. But more danger. I go far, I find more danger. Close is safe, but not many meat.”

  “I understand.”

  So, the more meat she hunted, the higher the danger for her.

  “For now, please hunt just enough to keep the clan fed. If you do get lucky, and spot an easy hunting opportunity then take it, but don’t put yourself at risk unnecessarily, alright?”

  She nodded.

  Suddenly, it came to me, get lucky…Lucky! Tika could benefit from some extra luck, and it just so happened I was a Lucky Bastard with a stinkin’ badge. I chuckled at the poor joke.

  “Tika, come here please.”

  She came towards me, timidly.

  “Don’t worry,” I gave her a disarming smile. “This won’t hurt.” I took her hand in mine.

  No reason it shouldn’t work… so what if she’s an NPC and not a player?

  Holding her hand I concentrated for a long moment.

  Would you like to impart the Lucky Bastard skill to Tika?

  Yes! I confirmed.

  Tika’s eyes grew wide as sparkles of energy moved from my hand to hers. She gasped and swallowed nervously a few times until the light show died down.

  I let go of her hand and looked at her inquisitively. “How do you feel?”

  She in sighed relief. “Good, I thinking. Gooder than good, maybe.”

  “It is a good thing. I hope it will help with your hunting. Just be careful.”

  “Yes Esteemed Totem,” She bowed reverently.

  “Now that I think about it…” I turned to Guba. “Give me your hand as well.”

  She looked at me sharply, but shrugged and gave me her gnarled hand. I repeated the process, granting her the skill also. After the pyrotechnics subsided, Guba looked at me in wonder.

  “So, there be even more ter you than I thought…Totem.” She gave me a very slight bow.

  Well, that’s progress, I thought.

&
nbsp; As long as I was at it, I decided to go all in. “Tika, I can grant you another blessing.”

  Taking her hand again, I imparted Drilling Arrow to her.

  “An emergency weapon, if you run out of arrows again, like when we first met. Practice that spell before using it in combat.”

  She nodded her understanding, again bowing respectfully.

  I walked over to the Breeder’s Den, accessing its controls on the way. It showed 30 pieces of simple food were available.

  I cracked my fingers like a pianist before a concert. Let’s get this party started.

  I selected ‘goblin worker’ from the list.

  Please select the main skill for the worker:

  Builder,

  Digger

  Farming

  Gatherer

  ...

  The list of skills went on and on, I scrolled to the bottom. There were over a hundred different skills available.

  Far too many to go over right now, I shrugged and selected Builder.

  The hut shook slightly and emitted...clanking, clashing, grunting, and screeching noises. Is it broken? What the hell is going on in there?

  A few moments later the sounds ended and the blue cover flap opened to reveal a fully-grown goblin worker wearing a loincloth.

  It worked! I can create my own NPCs now. I thought triumphantly.

  I accessed the goblin’s character details.

  Goblin worker. Level 1 (0%); 16hp; P:2, M:0, S:-1; Skills: Haul 1, Builder 1; Traits: noncombatant

  Exactly as ordered.

  “Report to Zuban,” I commanded the newborn goblin. “He’s chopping wood, over there,” I pointed toward the woodcutting crew.

  The first experiment was a complete success. My next goal was to summon another worker, one who could operate the Rabbit Warren once it was built.

  But for that I first be needing more food… Damn, I’m spending too much time with Guba, I’m starting to sound like her. I frowned, as I realized I would have to hunt again. I hate hunting, it's so tedious.

  I decided I’d earned a little break. I couldn’t log out to enjoy a nice dinner and some wine, but there was no reason why I couldn’t enjoy myself here in the game, even as a goblin.