Hoshisu’s eyes pierced me. “Are you telling me … a rogue AI has us trapped inside a game, and you can’t make more golems to fight him because you lack the AI components needed to control them?”
“Uh … pretty much.”
Julee giggled. “That’s pretty funny.”
“In a morbid sort of way,” Sullivan agreed, looking at me. “Before heading out, choose who’ll be joining you when you make for Whitebanner.”
“It’ll need to be a small group so we won’t be detected,” I said. “I’ll take Yulli and Lirian with me.” Yulli, a tier 2 boss scout, was both stealthy and lethal. Lirian’s goblin heritage made her naturally stealthy, and she could do almost anything I could. Plus, she’d proven her worth in Akzar.
“Don’t forget to check the town’s prison after you’ve taken over,” Kyth said. “Sometimes the NPCs just throw players there to rot.”
“Which reminds me of something,” I said, remembering the hint from the tablet. “I recall one of you told me of a rumor about a player who’s trapped someplace in isolation and without food?”
“That was me,” Nero said, his face darkening. “I heard about it from a player in my contact list.”
“Can you get in touch with him? See if he can find anything else about that player? It might be important.”
He nodded. “I will do so immediately.”
“Thanks, let me know what you find.” I bade everyone farewell and stepped out of the tent.
“Hold it right there, Chief,” a gruff feminine voice said from behind me.
I turned to see Pandamonium, the savage player girl we’d rescued from Novenguard. “Hey, Panda – what’s up?”
“I’m coming with you.” She crossed her arms, looking at me with narrowed eyes.
I tilted my head. “Coming where?”
“To Whitebanner,” she said. “I have a beef with NPCs who think they can throw us into prison just because they feel like it. I want to make them pay, see the lovely spray of crimson coming from their open veins.”
I winced at the mental picture and took a closer look at the feral woman. Panda was wearing the same skimpy, stereotypical bikini armor that showcased her powerful muscles. She seemed oblivious to her state of near-nakedness, her eyes displaying only barely contained rage seeking a way out. She was a catastrophe waiting to happen; I couldn’t risk taking her along with me on a mission that needed stealth.
“Listen, I don’t think–”
“That would be a mistake. I’m good in a fight, and I know how to slip in and out of towns without being seen. Trust me, you need me, and besides …” Her expression hardened. “If you don’t take me with you, I’m going to march there on my own.”
I glared at her. The woman weathered my gaze defiantly. She was persistent; I had to give her that. She’d just recently joined us, but she was over level 20 already, higher than any of the other players except Nero. It felt unwise to bring her along, but it was potentially more dangerous letting her go alone and risk having her alert the town to my presence.
“How can you get us inside unseen?” I finally asked her.
Her scowl vanished, the hint of a smile on her lips. “I’ve rubbed shoulders with enough lowlifes to know there’s always a way inside. A secret passage, a forgotten sewer entrance, something. Take me with you and I promise you I can find a way.”
“Fine. But if we’re going to do this, I want it to be clear that I’m in charge. Whatever I say goes – understand?”
The powerful woman hulked over me and I stared back, unflinching. Finally, she relaxed her stance and laughed. “Whatever you say, Chief.” She smirked mischievously. “I’ll be a good girl.”
“Err … good.” I wasn’t sure how I felt about the sudden change in her demeanor. The woman was too erratic and unpredictable for my taste. Pandamonium indeed. “I’m getting back to the valley now. I’ll see you before we head out.”
“You got it, Chief,” she said lightly then walked away.
I rolled my eyes at her back. Women!
***
Back in Goblin's Gorge, I headed straight for the Breeder’s Den. I didn’t have to be there physically, but this was going to be the biggest single summon of magic-wielding units so far. I wanted to greet them to the clan and grant them my spells.
Goblin adepts required 30 advanced and 20 exquisite food to summon. The amount of the higher-grade food I had at my disposal was enough for summoning 38 new adepts, and using it all would limit my ability to summon other types of advanced units, like Ogre Mages. But Sullivan was right. An army couldn’t function on assault forces alone. We needed support roles too.
I queued in 38 goblin adepts and set them with the ‘bless’ roles, which turned them into healers.
The building started shrieking in what constituted its ‘normal’ range of sounds, and a moment later, the first of the new adepts poured out.
As advanced units, the adepts were all named individuals, which was a relief. As mere goblins, their base level was 1, which, factoring in the capital bonus, put their actual level at 10. It wasn’t bad, but the lowest-level units in my army were level 10, and the veteran healers were all 13. I decided to give them a little boost. It was going to be tedious to raise their level one by one, but luckily, I had a mandibled alternative.
Kaedric? I transmitted my thoughts.
How much will it cost to increase the new adepts to level 11?
With the latest growth spurt from our string of conquests, we had over half a million EP available. I could afford to splurge some more.
You know what, better make it level 13. Goblins were naturally weaker than the standard soldier, so the more I strengthened them, the more useful they’d be.
Do it.
I examined the Breeder’s Den Interface again. It was still loaded with food, over 16,000 basic and 5,000 advanced. With the loot we’d gathered from the defeated army, on top of what my clan produced on its own, I had enough gear to equip over 2,000 new hob soldiers. The food was enough to summon either 228 hob warriors or 177 lieutenants. I didn’t have to think about it long. Lieutenants were superior to standard warriors in every way, and the best thing about them: they came into the world as already named individuals – sparing me the naming ceremony.
The Breeder’s Den’s food quantities dropped as it churned out new hobs.
I had to resist grinning and rubbing my hands like an evil cartoon character. With the building fully renovated, the hobs’ starting level was now 4. Coupled with the capital and vassal bonuses, every individual that stepped out was a level 13 warrior, higher than even some of my more recent recruits that had already seen battle. All they were lacking was a bit of training, and they would instantly become every bit as combat-ready as the rest of the battle-tested warriors.
With over 200 recruits, the number of soldiers in my standing army now rose to 1,852. I’d come a long way since I started out with just two goblin warriors and one lieutenant. Unfortunately, it also meant our daily upkeep had increased accordingly, reducing the amount of daily food we could gather toward recruiting more soldiers. But I had a plan for that too. It mainly involved conquering a whole lot of other settlements and plundering their stores.
A row of 38 goblin healers stood before me. I nodded at them and walked past each one, individually granting them Mana Drain, Mana Shield, and Drilling Arrow spells. Thanks to their relatively high starting level and mana pool, the adepts would be able to quickly utilize the new spells and train them up. I moved on, granting the Lucky Bastard skill to all of my new recruits. For once, I didn’t have to worry about a soldier exploding in my face, and the named lieutenants didn’t even bat an eyelash at the new skill.
I decided to go look for Lirian next. With everything going on, I barely had a chance to spend quality time with my daughter. It felt like I mostly saw her
when we were fighting. Of course, as goblins, it could be argued that fighting was considered spending quality time together. But even though NEO brought out the more savage side of my personality, I was still a human at my core, and I missed my daughter.
I found Lirian in the arena pit going through a rigorous drilling exercise supervised by Tenragan. The elderly arena master was focused on the young goblinette, issuing drill orders which she immediately executed, swinging her oversized Outrider sword.
Every move she made was calculated and fluid. With a focused expression, she neatly cleaved through a combat dummy, turned on her heels to skewer another one, then raised the sword guard just in time to deflect a shield thrown at her by the old hob. She moved like a dancer. It was a beautiful sight to behold.
I once again wondered about the mystery that was my daughter. I could still not see her character stats, except for her level. Lirian was only level 35, but her movements conveyed the fluidity and confidence of a Master-ranked swordsman. It was impossible, of course. A person’s skill levels were limited by a governing attribute, which was rarely ever higher than their own level. But somehow, Lirian was both an expert swordswoman, a competent spellcaster, and had a naturally endearing personality. It was as if her Physical, Mental, and Social attributes were much higher than they should have been. Another impossibility.
The sweaty goblinette noticed me watching her. “Father! Is it time?”
I shook my head. “Not yet, I just wanted to see you train.”
Her face brightened. “Tenragan says I will soon be ready to challenge The Champion.”
I looked in alarm at the wizened hob.
He grinned at me knowingly. “Rhyno, not Bonecruncher. She still has a way to go before she gets good enough to challenge that beast.”
“Oh.” That eased me down. Rhyno was tough but nowhere as lethal as Akzar’s two-headed champion. “Yeah, let’s not pit my daughter against the goblin-eating cannibal just yet.”
He nodded. “A wise choice.”
I didn’t bother to answer him. Something about the blackened sword Lirian carried drew my eyes. Fate Stealer. It looked just like it always had, but for a moment I could swear I saw a glitter running through the blade. I couldn’t analyze the magical weapon any more than I could my daughter. The two had been linked since the moment she pulled it out of the ground.
Lirian followed my eyes and looked back at me in concern. “Is something wrong?”
“I’m not sure,” I admitted. “Have you noticed anything strange about your blade?”
She paused. “Strange, how?”
“I don’t know … has it glowed weirdly, turned in your hands unexpectedly?”
“No, it sings to me as it always has.”
I blinked. “It sings to you?”
She nodded, looking surprised. “Of course. It sings of battle and purpose. It guides my hands.”
“Okay,” I said slowly. Intelligent items that could talk were extremely rare in NEO – way above Epic rank. “Has the singing changed recently?”
She paused to think about it. “Fate Stealer always sings more clearly after I’ve slain an enemy. She guides my hand more surely, too.”
So, a weapon that evolved by claiming lives. Or stealing fates. Not ominous at all. Then again, I guessed it fit right in along with the whole monster theme we had going on. “The sword doesn’t … tell you what to do, does it?” I asked timidly.
Lirian smiled. “No, Father. It is just a sword.”
Breathing a little easier, I smiled back at her. “Well, then, I’ll leave you to train. We’ll head out in two days. Until then, I’d like to spend some time with you and your mother, so don’t stay out too late, alright?” It felt a little weird asking my one-year-old daughter not to stay out too late butchering practice dummies with her magical sword, but every family had its quirks.
“Yes, Father.”
“I’ll see you later, then,” I called over my shoulder as I walked away.
***
“Dire Totem!” a squeaky voice called out to me.
I turned to greet the gremlin. “Yeshy! I mean, Minister of Trade, how may I help you today?”
The gremlin’s chest puffed up. “I would like to talk if you have a moment.”
“Sure, what up?”
“The Gremlin’s Guild building in Novenguard is finished,” he said proudly. “I can now regulate the flow of goods between it and other trading partners – Goblin’s Gorge included.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I thought we were already connected. We’re receiving a daily tribute from Novenguard, after all.”
He shook his head. “Vassal contribution isn’t trading, it’s just … a given. But with the new guilds, I can send out caravans to other connected towns. Your vassals’ economies are already improving; I believe you'll see an increase in your tax income, but more importantly: I can now accept your requests for shipping goods throughout your kingdom.”
My kingdom , I repeated the words in my mind, enjoying how they sounded. I wasn’t thrilled about shooting down the excited gremlin. “I appreciate your enthusiasm …” I said carefully, “but we can already do that through the Export Office–” Yeshy’s widening grin made me pause and think it over. “Except … only monster towns can have an Export Office.”
The gremlin beamed at me. “Exactly! Think of the possibilities. Novenguard produces lots of grain, but they’re short on metal ores. Claytown produces quality pottery, while Woodhaven, wood. I’m told Storg has excellent craftsmen, and Whitebanner has access to the ocean. If we combine their strengths intelligently, we can achieve great things.”
“I like the sound of that! I think the first thing we’ll need to do is ship all of Novenguard’s produce over here.”
“I can arrange for a caravan immediately,” the gremlin replied. “How would you like to pay?”
“I … err … pay?” I frowned at him. “I own the place, don’t I?”
He nodded. “You do. But taking without giving will destabilize their economy. The people will become poor, and their productivity will drop. A fair trade bolsters the entire kingdom’s economy and benefits everyone.”
“I see what you’re getting at. What would you suggest we do?”
“Hmm …” He pondered the question for a moment. “Your greatest need is food, correct?”
“Yes,” I said. “At the moment, we have plenty of gear for new soldiers, but at some point, we’ll need more.”
“Very well,” he said. “Then I suggest taking over Whitebanner and establishing a Gremlin’s Guild as soon as possible. The smaller hamlets don’t need one; the bonus to taxation won’t justify the cost, and the caravans can make a stop there along the way. For now, you may buy grain or flour from Novenguard. I also propose establishing a trade route between Zemitpozes, my city, and Woodhaven. Gremlins need all the lumber we can get, and you’ll make a nice profit from taxing the caravans. I expect Woodhaven will also rapidly grow after such a move.”
“Sounds great! Let’s do that.”
“Of course, such a lucrative operation will no doubt draw bandits and outlaws,” he pointed out. “It’ll be prudent to have a few heavily armed patrols along the trade routes.”
I put a hand on my forehead. “This is starting to sound extremely involved, Trade Minister.”
He grinned. “We’re talking about managing a kingdom’s economy; of course it’s involved. If not handled carefully, decisions we make can have more dire repercussions than an invading army!”
I groaned.
We?
No, I said quickly. That would be very helpful. Thanks, Vic.
I opened the Settlement Interface, and sure enough, there was a new tab labeled ‘Global Economy.’
Global Economy
Tax rate: 25%
Daily income: 1,030
Active trade routes: 2
Active patrols: 0
That didn’t look too bad. I clicked on the established trade routes line.
The next screen was a little more complex.
Active Trade Routes
● Novenguard → Goblin’s Gorge
Transferred goods: 2,000 flour (payment: 100 gold)
Return trip goods: -
Travel time roundtrip: 10 days
Threat level: Mediocre
● Woodhaven → Zemitpozes
Transferred goods: 800 lumber (payment: 400 gold)
Return trip goods: -
Travel time roundtrip: 12 days
Threat level: Minimal
I looked up at the gremlin. “You work fast; I approved those shipments barely ten seconds ago.”
“There’s no money to be had by sitting idly on one’s backside,” he replied philosophically.
“I guess so. Why do both routes have no goods on the return trip?”
He shrugged. “You didn’t specify any. You can exchange the gold payment for some other commodity.”
“Like …”
“All types of ore are in high demand in Novenguard.”
I checked the Settlement Interface for our current inventory. We had about 1,300 units of both copper and tin that we mostly used for construction. “Let’s say … pay half the imported flour with equal measures of tin and copper.” We also had iron, but we needed that to craft gear for our soldiers.
Life Reset: Conquest (New Era Online Book 5) Page 31