After several minutes of slowly being bled out, Malkyr got fed up. He bellowed a roar and used his telltale shockwave attack. The power of his attack ripped apart the vines, nearly pounding Bob into the ground. Once Bob was out of the picture, Malkyr took a threatening step toward Bek, but the goblin raised his hands and declared innocently, “Bek yield.”
“Ugh,” Bob groaned, lying on the ground. He rose unsteadily to his feet and got out of the pit. “Malkyr wins the final round and will challenge the arena champion in the next battle. There will be an official announcement for that fight. Today’s tournament is over.” He walked slowly to one of the benches, wincing in pain, and sat down with obvious relief.
I sat next to him.” Are you okay, Bob?”
He rubbed his head, wincing. “Yes, Dread Totem. I think I’ll stick to announcing for now.”
“Good call. What’s next?”
“Malkyr has earned the right to challenge the arena champion, Rhynorn, to a duel. Such a challenge can only be issued once a week. To allow both sides to prepare, we will hold the battle in six days.”
I nodded. “Better not delay that too much. I estimate we have about another week to get ready before we go to war.”
Bob’s face lit up. “Is it time already?” he asked eagerly. He was a hobgoblin all right.
“I think so, but I have no way of knowing exactly when.”
“We could deploy scouts outside the valley,” he suggested.
I shook my head, “We could, but it won’t be of much use.” There was no point in trying to explain to him the time differential the players brought with them. Any scouts we’d send would be brought into the players’ slowed time and wouldn’t be able to give us much advance warning. They were much more likely to be discovered and killed. I didn’t want to thin my forces unnecessarily.
I frowned. If only there was a way to scout the players outside of their time bubble … wait a minute! “Bob, you’re a genius!” I exclaimed.
“I am?”
“Here’s what we’ll do,” I continued excitedly. “Send out five scouts. Have them form a semicircle beyond the valley’s entrance, a kilometer apart from each other.”
Bob frowned. “I’m afraid that will leave too large a gap, Dread Totem; the enemies will be able to slip by unnoticed.”
I shook my head. “The first wave of scouts isn’t there to locate the enemy. Every eight hours, send five soldiers to replace the ones outside. Instruct the relieved soldiers to report to you directly when they arrive. If some of them are late by ten minutes, come and get me.”
Bob’s frown deepened. “I’m afraid I don’t –”
“Trust me,” I cut him off, still excited. My plan would work, I knew that for sure. If one of the scouts got into the players’ zone of slowed time, he wouldn’t be able to return to the clan quickly to report. So if one or more of the scouts failed to return within eight hours, we’d know they entered the enemy’s zone of slowed time. We would even know the rough direction based on which hob didn’t make it back.
“I shall send the scouts at once.” The lieutenant got to his feet.
“We’ll leave for one more hunt the day after tomorrow.” That was cutting it a little too close for my taste, but I needed the time to summon more troops, and the extra strength the hunt would give us outweighed the risk.
With that in mind, I opened the Food Interface and checked our stocks.
698 raw meat
185 raw fish
480 gathered edibles
36 gathered ingredients
320 mushrooms
9 purple salt
2 magmashrooms
Thanks to the blessing and various bonuses, we were producing an inordinate amount of food. There were sufficient stocks to summon a few soldiers while keeping enough in reserve for emergencies.
Vic, how much simple food can be produced from all the ingredients?
That got me thinking. I used advanced food almost exclusively to summon goblin crafters or advanced workers, but with the attack coming so soon, the focus had to be on military strength. Bob had proved his worth several times over, and with advanced food, I could recruit more hobgoblin lieutenants.
How much food can we make if we factor in the fish?
“Then let’s go shopping.” I cracked my knuckles and opened the Breeder’s Den Interface.
I already had six Infernal Ogres. I could recruit more, but in the time it would take to outfit one, we could equip three hobgoblins. A hob lieutenant cost 70 basic and 30 advanced food, so I queued in seven of them, the maximum I could afford with my existing food stocks. That left me 1,172 units of simple food to play with. I didn’t beat around the bush and summoned 16 hob soldiers, leaving just enough spare food for emergencies. That put my army total at 69; eight lieutenants, seven Ogres, three goblin adepts and 50 hob grunts. Hopefully, I wouldn’t lose too many during the naming ceremony.
“Bob, the new recruits will arrive at the Breeder’s Den shortly. Have them outfitted and start training.”
“Yes, Dread Totem.”
“Be ready to bring them to the temple when I call for you.”
His expression sobered. “Yes, Dread Totem.”
“Kaedric.” I turned to the hob behind me. “I’ll be at my house. Please have all the new weapons and armor delivered to me there.” I had the rest of the day and tomorrow to work on Runecrafting, and I wanted to make the best of it.
“Of course, my lord. Shall I have your food delivered as well?”
“Good idea.” Some days, it was nice being the chief.
I entered my house and sat down at my table. My seat had been replaced with a comfortable armchair that fit me perfectly. I silently cursed myself for not having summoned a carpenter sooner.
A few minutes later, two goblin gofers arrived, each carrying an armload of weapons and pieces of armor. They left in a hurry, and another two arrived carrying similar items. When the third pair showed up, I started to get worried. Just how much did those two manage to craft while I was away?
The next pair of goblins came in hunched over, carrying a single item between them: a giant steel spiked mace. The huge weapon easily weighed 30 kilos, no doubt intended for our Ogres. Finally, the last load of items arrived and was discarded unceremoniously on the floor.
My stomach dropped as I looked at the huge pile that covered most of the inside of my house. “Vic, how many items are in this pile?”
“Shit.”
I sighed. At least the melee weapons were simple, as I already had their schema. I picked up the first sword, sat back in my chair and started enchanting.
***
It only took me about an hour and a half to enchant all the melee weapons with the sonic damage design. Luckily, the larger maces didn’t take longer to enchant, nor did they have more rune slots available.
Runecrafting the 30 bows took longer though. I was happy to find that the RaTog scheme applied to them as well, but I did have to make some adjustments to adapt it to the ranged weapons.
Tika returned from her daily hunt when I was down to the last two. The beautiful goblinette sauntered over and caressed my cheek. “Are you coming to bed?”
“In a few minutes,” I answered distractedly. “I just have to finish these first.”
“Yes, just a couple more min– oh – Oooh!”
Her hands had reached my long goblin ears and her fingers started to massage them gently. I was drowned in a sea of pleasure the likes of which I had never experienced. It seemed that not only unrealistic pain and horror was possible in NEO. Unbelievable, exquisite pleasure from a gentle ear rubbing was also an unexpected side effect. It was a good thing I hadn’t figured out earlier the range of sensation a goblin’s ear could produce, or I would never have gotten out of bed. I suddenly realized why Ferengi in Star-Trek were such suckers for Oo-mox.
Tika lowered her face to mine with a knowing, mischievous grin. “Don’t be late.”
I finished the last two bows in record time.
I might have fudged the enchantment a bit, but damn it, Oo-mox was awesome!
Yes, some days it was good to be chief.
***
The next morning, after I managed to extract my exhausted body from the comfortable bed, I got right back to work.
The leather armor had only three rune slots available and the steel one had four. That complicated things. I had a few options, and I needed to figure out what my priorities were. I decided straight away not to enhance the armor’s durability. I just didn’t have the time. If I did the connect-the-dot mini-game for each and every piece, I’d be stuck in my house doing nothing but enchanting for a week.
I considered my other options. The leather-wearing scouts weren’t supposed to handle melee combat. They were probably going to draw the ranged players’ fire. They were especially likely to draw in the mage AoE spells, as targeting the melee fighters posed the risk of harming their own forces. Since the favorite AoE spell was Fireball, I decided to make the leather armor fireproof.
With only three rune slots, the choice was easy. I placed the Mag rune of warding first and connected it with the Esh rune of fire. From there, I drew the connector rune through the entire length of the armor piece. It was less time consuming than connecting the dots, but it still took a few more minutes to run the lines through the entire piece.
Armor schema discovered: MagEshet [Fire Resist]
Though it was simple, inventing the new schema kicked up my Runecraft skill to level 34. I finalized the enchantment by pouring in the required 270 MP then reviewed the result.
Enchanted Leather Armor [Runecrafted]
Description: A simple, yet effective, protection to the wearer’s body. This piece was enchanted for additional resistance to fire.
Type: Armor [torso]
Rank: Magical
Durability: 70/70
Armor: 22
Effect: Fire Resistance 25%
Base price: 120
Instead of applying the same enchantment to the other 20-something pieces of armor, I decided to see what could be done with the steel armor.
I examined the first set. It was a basic design. Strong steel plates were hammered onto thick leather hide that covered the body. Though far from elegant, it offered a higher defense value than pure leather.
This type of armor was meant for those on the front lines, who would have to face the brunt of the attacks. I opened the Runecraft Design Mode, selected the Ko rune of strength, slapped it on the armor and connected the Te rune to it. A small swirling of dots became visible inside the semi-translucent representation of the armor. There were over 20 durability points and at least 30 armor points. If I wanted to increase the armor’s potential to its maximum, I had to connect all 30. That would take too long. Luckily, I had an alternative. I slapped a binding rune on the chestpiece and back and connected the Te rune to it. That combination transferred the strengthening effects of the Ko rune directly to these two places. Though it was far from optimal, it offered a decent armor boost for relatively little work.
Armor schema discovered: KoteGog [Enhanced Armor]
Enchanted Steel Brigandine [Runecrafted]
Description: A simple, yet effective, protection to the wearer’s body. This piece was enchanted with additional protection.
Type: Armor [torso]
Rank: Masterwork
Durability: 70/70
Armor: 41
Base price: 160
That was more like it. The enchantment upgraded the armor to ‘Masterwork.’ An armor of 40 meant a sword hit that would normally deal 40 damage would do only 20 instead. At the estimated power level of our enemies, that amount was about the average they ought to be able to inflict per hit. At least, for the first wave.
It was time for mass production.
I sat in my chair, and piece by piece, enchanted all the hobs’ armor.
Sometime during the endless work, one of Gandork’s gofers came by to deliver my food. I chewed distractedly and resumed working.
By the time I was done enchanting the 32 pieces of armor, it was late in the day. Thanks to the enchanting system and the ability to apply the already-made schemas, I was able to enchant the majority of the equipment in record time. Even then, I’d been working for six hours straight.
New Building added to your settlement: Armory [Barracks Extension]
The system message broke my reverie. I chuckled. Right on time.
The new armory should help maintain the gear at top condition, reducing durability damage.
I got back to the now much smaller pile. Only the six Ogres’ leather armor remained.
They were just an enlarged version of the hobs’ leather armor, meaning its defense value was low and could only hold three rune slots.
Before I could start weighing my options, another system message opened.
Goblin’s Gorge has reached Level 3: Village
Your settlement population has reached 200 members and may now support up to 5 bosses (currently: 3).
Primary boss max Tier: 3. Amount: 0/1. (cost to upgrade from Tier 2: 20,000)
Secondary boss max Tier: 2. Amount 1/2 (cost to upgrade from Tier 1: 5,000)
Tertiary bosses, Tier 1, Max count: 3. Amount 2/3 (cost to promote: 1,000)
Available energy points: 13,579
New construction blueprint unlocked: Chief’s Haunt
Population growth rate: +20%
Some new foblins had probably been born, making us reach the 200 population mark.
Shit! I suddenly remembered I still needed to perform the naming ceremony for the new soldiers. Hopefully, the ensuing population loss wouldn’t cost me the upgrade.
And what an upgrade that was!
I could now recruit two new bosses for my clan for a pittance of 1,000 EP. I could also increase any of those bosses to tier 2, my own current tier. Those upgrades represented a huge power boost for my clan. The only downside was the cost. I hoped to reach the 20K mark to purchase tier 3 for myself, but I still had a way to go.
Getting a new blueprint, saving us the research time, was awesome, and the Chief’s Haunt sounded interesting. I accessed the Construction Interface and clicked on the new blueprint.
Chief’s Haunt [blueprint]
Description: A large, two-story building with a basement. House of the settlement’s leader. Includes a meeting room, a trophy room, three sleeping chambers, and a secret alcove. Includes magical traps and four treasure chests. Offers new settlement options.
Size: Medium
Rank: Expert
Required materials: wood 50, pelts 20, steel 20, level 2 stone 50, magic crystals 10
Build Points: 1,000
I let out a soft whistle. Though it was only a medium-sized structure, the Chief’s Haunt required almost twice the barracks’ build points. I was not averse to upgrading my humble abode into something more inspiring. My clan was growing and a leader’s dwelling ought to reflect that.
I decided to postpone the ceremony for a little while. If I could get a few new members, it might offset the losses the ceremony was sure to incur. That meant staying home and continuing my enchanting.
I considered the Ogre-sized leather armor again.
It had the ex
act same stats as the hob armor. My Ogres were my trump card and as such merited a better enchantment. Still, only three rune slots didn’t leave me with much leeway.
Using binding runes to strengthen only specific parts of the Ogre’s armor would be less effective, as they had more targetable spots than the hobs. I could channel the strengthening rune through the armor’s defense points, but that would take a lot of time. Still, that method would free up one more rune slot. I frowned. But how much more effective can the enchantment be with one more rune? I could use a containment rune and put a void crystal in the socket as a power source. I’d have to use the oxsaurian crystals for that, but it would increase the overall defense value by roughly 50 percent.
Still, there could be another way to achieve the same goal without having to spend a precious crystal. I need to juice up the enchantment, but other than a void crystal, what can I use? I knew I was missing something. I needed to protect those expensive Infernal Ogres, and … Wait a minute! That’s it! The Infernal Ogre had a trait that caused them to emit small flames. It was not much but it was still a type of power. If I can tap into their innate fire ability like I did with Malkyr’s gauntlets and connect it to the enchantment … I thought in excitement.
I began the process.
First, I drew an inverted rune of fire then connected it to the Ko rune of strength. From there, I stretched the connecter rune and meticulously connected the armor’s dots, all 30 of them.
Working on an item much larger than a weapon meant I had extra room to maneuver, so it was less difficult than I’d expected. It was still time-consuming, so I skipped connecting the durability dots.
I held my breath as I finalized the enchantment by pouring in the required 270 MP.
Armor schema discovered: SheKoTe [Fire Enhancement]
Runecraft skill level increased to 35.
FirePowered Leather Armor [Runecrafted]
Description: A simple, yet effective, protection for the wearer’s body. Its strength increases when exposed to a heat source. The bonus disappears when the heat source extinguishes. Does not offer extra protection from fire-based attacks.
Life Reset_EvP_Environment vs. Player Page 51