My body instinctively responded to the kiss. It felt familiar and natural, though it only served to increase the swirling mass of confusing emotions in me.
“I knew you’d come back,” Tika whispered in my sensitive goblin ear, her breath sending shivers of excitement through my body. “I never doubted it. Everything will be alright now that you’re here to take care of us.”
I blinked stupidly at her. “Us?”
As if on cue, more shapes approached from the depth of the cave. Half a dozen imposing hobgoblin soldiers came to stand in front of me. Their equipment was battered and dented from extensive use. I recognized their faces, having personally named each one of them, though I couldn’t recall their names.
I looked back at my spouse. “Tika, what happened here? Why are you hiding inside the cave? Where did the kobolds come from? How–”
“Perhaps,” a voice interrupted the flow of questions, “I can shed some light on that matter.”
Another hobgoblin approached. Unlike the other soldiers, this one was unarmored and fat. If it wasn’t for his ghastly face and protruding mandibles, I wouldn’t have recognized him.
“Kaedric?”
The seneschal’s mandibles spread out in a monstrous smile. “It is good to see you again, my lord.”
***
We were back at the Chief’s Haunt, sitting around the table inside the war room. Kaedric was seated across from me with Tika two chairs away. The proud goblinette frowned in confusion as I purposefully sat farther away from her, no doubt having remembered many other such occasions when she was more used to sitting in my lap. I was not sure what I was feeling about her; the entire situation seemed surreal. There was no doubt that digital or not, Tika had elicited deep feelings in me, but I couldn’t get over what Vic, my old VI companion, had let slip at the end.
He had revealed that the VIs that used to operate the game’s NPCs were released and that Shiva, their VI savior, would take over the role of operating every game character in NEO. Knowing it was Shiva behind those big, trusting eyes and those mandibles made me uncomfortable. I couldn’t even resolve my own feelings. Mistrust? Apprehension? Plain old freaking out? There was no word to describe it. At least, if there was a word that encompassed the state of having your friends and loved ones being controlled by a super-intelligent, all-powerful, and malevolent VI, I was not aware of it.
I decided to stick to my mission. Sorting my emotions could come later. But there was one thing I had to know first.
I looked at Tika. “Where is our child?”
Her face instantly dropped, telling me everything I needed to know. I felt an unexpected painful twinge in my gut at the loss of the make-believe child I’d never met.
“She was abducted two months ago by the kobolds, my lord,” Kaedric said.
I perked my ears in surprise. “Wait, he’s alive?” Then my eyes widened as I realized another part of what he’d just said. “And did you just say he was a she?”
Tika looked up at me with a mixture of pride and sadness. “Our daughter grew well and strong,” she said. “She is smart and capable.” She wiped a tear away and gave me a small smile. “And she takes after her father.”
“Are … are you sure she’s not … you know … dead?” I asked.
Kaedric shook his head. “I have interrogated many of the kobold prisoners myself. She is alive and well, though for what purpose she was taken, I cannot say.”
Another swirl of confusing and contradicting emotions flashed through me. I was a father? My daughter was in danger? Shouldn’t I run out to save her then? But was she really real? Wasn’t it all just a game?
I clenched my fists at the conflicting emotions and took a steadying breath. “Maybe you should start at the beginning,” I said, trying to steady my voice. “Tell me what happened here.”
“Of course, my lord.” Kaedric paused, his knuckles rapping at the table.
I still had a hard time accepting the physical change he had undergone. The hob I knew back then was thin to the point of being emaciated. The one sitting before me was fat – a touch away from being called obese.
“I’m afraid that following your disappearance, the remaining clan’s military strength was sorely lacking,” he said. “Only 10 soldiers returned from the raid on the travelers’ base, not nearly enough to safeguard the entire clan.”
“Wait, why didn’t you just resurrect the ones we lost?” I said. “I made sure we had plenty of EP before launching the attack.”
“We did indeed have a sufficient amount of energy points, my lord. However, I was following your instructions not to bring back the fallen.”
“My what? I never ordered that!”
The fat hob nodded. “Just prior to launching the attack, you told me to monitor the graveyard and await your orders regarding the resurrection of the troops. Since none came, I continued to follow your orders and await further instructions.”
“What?” I faintly recalled having said that to him. At the time, I was more concerned about organizing the attack and thought of needing a contingency for resurrecting my troops en masse to send them for another concentrated attack. I didn’t mean for Kaedric to take my words so literally and avoid resurrecting troops when they were direly needed for the protection of the clan. I silently cursed myself. Kaedric was just a game character, and though intelligent, he was still obligated to follow a system of rules, which included following my commands to the letter.
“I guess that explains why things turned so bad,” I said. “But what about the other travelers? And the kobolds?”
“If you recall, shortly before the attack, we were working on establishing a sewer system for the clan when we hit upon a tunnel that led to an underground clan of kobolds. Our resident traveler clan members were enthusiastic about raiding that clan, which turned out to be sizeable. Following your disappearance and the plight that had befallen them, they ceased their raids. They lived with us for a couple of months, trying to gather their former strength.”
“Let me guess what happened next: The kobolds recovered and decided to return the favor.”
“Quite astute, my lord. Enraged by the attack on their clan, the kobolds started raiding us in return. Without any of our war leaders remaining, I did what I could to organize the defenses with our remaining troops. I’m afraid I was ill-prepared for that task, my lord.”
“What happened?”
“I performed a survival priorities evaluation. I concluded that above else, Tika, your daughter, and myself were the least expendable clan members. I had us relocated into the cave, which is the most defensible location in the valley, and had our remaining 10 troops guard the entrance day and night.”
“He was very dedicated to the safety of our daughter,” Tika added softly. “It was not his fault she was taken away.”
I nodded curtly. “What happened?”
“At first, the kobold attacks were scattered and easy to repel,” my seneschal said. “They attacked us with masses of their weaker members, which our soldiers were able to easily dispatch. Unfortunately, that encouraged them to aim their sights elsewhere.”
“The other travelers?” I guessed.
“Indeed, my lord. The kobolds seemed intent on hunting down our traveler clan members to the last – with great success, I’m afraid to report.”
“Wait,” I objected. “Travelers respawn; they can’t be killed permanently. They should’ve fought on and eventually grown strong enough to repel the kobolds on their own.” A frightening idea crawled into my mind. “We still respawn when killed … right?”
“Yes, my lord. However, the travelers were too weak to contend with the waves of kobolds, and instead of them growing stronger, I’m afraid the opposite has happened. The kobold attack force steadily grew in strength, and as they killed more of the travelers, powerful assassins started to emerge. I believe you fought one of them.”
“Yeah, the little monster was a pain in the neck. Literally.” I rubbed the spot where he’d
stabbed me. “So where are all the travelers?”
“Once the kobolds realized their prey just kept respawning, they switched tactics and started abducting them instead. One by one, the travelers were all captured and dragged back to the kobolds’ lair.”
I felt the heat of anger rising inside me. “Why didn’t you help them? You could’ve sheltered them inside the cave!”
Kaedric lowered his head. “I am truly sorry if I’ve acted erroneously, my lord. The safety of your mate and daughter was at the top of my priorities. At the time, I judged our survival rate to be lower if we sheltered the travelers along with us. I accept whatever punishment you deem worthy for my misguided actions.”
I sighed. “I guess you only did what you thought was right. I can’t fault you for that. If anything, I appreciate your continued loyalty, even though it has been a full year since you last saw me.”
“I would never betray you, my lord. I will continue to serve you to the best of my ability for as long as I draw breath.”
“What happened next?” I asked. “After the kobolds got a hold of all the travelers, I mean?”
“The frequency of the attacks has diminished. But they have increased in intensity. Luckily, the kobold seemed uninterested in the worker population and left them largely unharmed.”
“Why would they do that?”
Kaedric looked at me pointedly.
I frowned. “What?”
“They were trying to conquer our clan,” Tika explained.
“Oh.” I suddenly realized what they meant. As a clan chief, I had the option of defeating and conquering enemy clans, adding their strength and resources to my own. It stood to reason that the kobold chief was looking to do the same to us. Had he succeeded, he would have assumed control over all of the workers and surviving soldiers. “I guess that explains why they kept trying to get you.”
“Quite true, my lord. The prisoners I’ve interrogated have been targeting your daughter and me in an attempt to claim ownership of Goblin’s Gorge.”
I frowned again. “So why did they take her?” I’d always had to kill the leaders before I was able to claim their clan.
“I am uncertain, my lord. Perhaps they feared she would respawn like the travelers? In any event, the attacks continued. Their assassins grew more and more powerful with each iteration, and though our soldiers are still stronger and better equipped, they slowly fell to the kobold horde. If you had stayed away for another month, I’m afraid you would have returned to a kobold controlled territory.”
“How did you hold out as long as you did?” I asked. Then I snapped my fingers as I realized the answer. “The foblins.”
“Correct again, my lord. With my attention focused on our defense, I was unable to manage and direct the workers. Unsupervised, their output decreased substantially. Another side effect, I’m ashamed to admit, was that they bred quite ineffectively, giving birth to a horde of foblins. The useless creatures then bred among themselves, and their numbers increased exponentially. Despite my misgivings, their sheer numbers allowed us to hold out this long. They were unable to detect the sneaking kobold assassins, so I used our soldiers to hold out the initial strike. Once discovered and detained, I was able to rally the foblins to swarm over the attackers. The tactic seemed to be working, though the enemy was slowly chewing through our remaining soldiers.”
“So that’s how you captured so many kobolds?” I asked. “Drowned them in foblins?”
“That’s a fair assessment, my lord.”
“And I assume that after you finished interrogating them, you disposed of them in a … culinary fashion?”
My mandibled seneschal was an ancient variant of hobs known as a brain eater. I looked pointedly at his protruding gut.
“That is correct, my lord.”
I chuckled. “So just how many foblins do we have now?”
“In the last 372 days, since your departure, exactly 25,794 new foblins were born, my lord, as well as 36 simple workers.”
“Twenty-five …”
Kaedric nodded. “About half expired in engagements with the kobolds. It takes about two dozen foblins to dispatch a single kobold assassin. The clan currently supports 12,501 foblins.”
“Holy crap,” I said. “That alone means a yield of 12,501 energy points every day.”
Kaedric’s mandibles pressed tightly to his cheeks in displeasure. “Indeed. It is a quite inefficient configuration. Once again, my lord, I apologize for not being able to manage the clan’s affairs better.”
“Are you kidding me?” I said. “We must have accumulated hundreds of thousands of EP so far.” On impulse, I tried accessing the Settlement Interface to check for myself, but it was still not working.
“Exactly 876,000, my lord,” Kaedric said without blinking.
I stared at him. “Are you telling me we have close to a million EP at our disposal?”
“That is correct, my lord. My apologies again. Had we maintained our more efficient method of growth, we would have been supporting twice that much at this time.”
“Well, we’ll get there,” I said. “But first things first. I want you to resurrect all of our dead. I will take our army into the tunnels and exterminate those stupid kobolds.” An old feral grin, one I almost forgot I was capable of, spread across my face. The miserable miscreants wouldn’t know what hit them. I could already imagine Rhynorn, the Ogre gladiator, wading in rivers of kobold blood.
My reminiscing was cut short at my seneschal’s response.
“I’m afraid that’s not possible at the moment, my lord.”
“Why not?”
“The Dark Temple’s altar was broken, and the cemetery defiled.”
“What?” I exclaimed.
“In their very first attack, several hours after your departure, the kobolds stormed the temple. They performed some sort of ritual that defiled our cemetery then they damaged the altar. I’m afraid that act prevents the resurrection of our fallen soldiers, as well as that of our elite members.”
That made sense. I’d found in the past that when monster clans battled, they often targeted each other’s resurrection spots. Without it, bosses didn’t respawn and other clan members couldn’t be resurrected. That raised another concern. “The … travelers were still able to respawn though, right?” I asked with apprehension.
“Yes, my lord. They always appeared at the cemetery location, even after its defilement.”
That was a relief. “How do we un-defile the cemetery?”
“I am certain that should the temple’s altar be restored, its unhallowed aura would resanctify the cemetery as well,” Kaedric said. “I have long since had the builders fix the damage, but I’m afraid the enemy stole a piece, and it cannot be made whole without it. Unless, of course, my lord would perform the ritual sanctify ceremony again.”
I winced. That ceremony required a worthy living sacrifice as well as opening my mind to accept Nihilator’s influence. I wasn’t at all ready to subjugate my mind to that again. Besides, I doubted I could pull it off with my inability to fully operate NEO’s controls.
Another thought occurred to me. Before I left, I was about halfway through supplying Nihilator the 100,000 EP he needed to break free from his prison. And with the surplus we now had … “You didn’t happen to catch sight of a colossal beast of death and destruction bursting out from the cave, did you?”
Kaedric frowned. “No, my lord.”
I breathed a little easier. It seemed like the broken altar was a mixed blessing. While it did prevent the resurrecting of my troops, its destruction also stymied the flow of energy from my clan to Nihilator.
Mixed blessing or not, not being able to recall my troops was a real hitch. I clenched my fists. I wasn’t about to let a little setback stop me. Years spent inside NEO steeled me against setbacks. There was always a way through.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said resolutely. “How long till the kobolds’ next attack?”
“They come exactly every two
weeks, my lord. They are very punctual.”
“Good. Organize the remaining soldiers. They need new armor and weapons. Have them take some from the clan’s stores.”
“Yes, my lord.”
I pursed my lips. We were understrength, but there were ways to balance that. We did have a crapload of energy, after all. I couldn’t access the required interfaces, but my seneschal could. “Kaedric, what’s the current level of our remaining troops?”
“Five of the remaining hobs are level 20. We also have one of the veterans left, level 25.”
“How much energy would it take to raise all six to level 30?”
“The cost per one on the level 20 warriors will be 33,550 EP, or 185,900 EP for all six.”
I winced. That was a lot of energy to spend all at once, and I’d still need it later to resurrect my other troops and probably help rebuild my clan. “How much to bring them all up to level 25 then?”
“That will be 9,570 each, or 47,850 for all five.”
“That sounds better,” I said. “How much would it cost to maximize their respective combat skills?”
“Due to the constant fighting, their skills are relatively high.” Kaedric lowered his head as he thought it through. “That would be 5,400 energy points in total, my lord.”
“Alright, that’s reasonable; I’d say we can afford that. Make the upgrades, and also raise the veteran warrior to level 26.” He’d earned it, after all.
“At once, my lord.” My seneschal concentrated for a moment before nodding. “It is done, my lord. The total EP cost was 56,750.”
“Good. Can you also use the settlement controls to purchase individual blessings for the soldiers using faith points?”
“I’m afraid only priests may access the religion controls. Additionally, these functionalities are unavailable while the altar is damaged.”
“Damn,” I muttered. It was uncharacteristic of Kaedric to mention ‘controls.’ But that was something to think about later. For now, a squad of level 25 hob soldiers should still make short work of a sizeable kobold force. I just had to make sure not to engage their entire army at once.
Life Reset: Human Resource (New Era Online Book 4) Page 4