My belly gurgled audibly, and I felt a sudden dizziness.
Debuff gained: Starved, Dehydrated
Effect I: HP and MP regeneration at 50%
Effect II: Speed: -20%
“Yeah, that happened a while ago. Not really a good idea to go for so long without food or water, Boss. Especially when you’re a squishy meat suit or a mindless puppet.”
I sat down, leaning against the shrine, feeling ravenous. I took out some rations from my inventory and wolfed them down.
Kuzai approached and stood over me.
“Hey, Kuzai.” I waved a piece of smoked meat at him.
“It nourishes of dead flesh and decaying plants. It is not a pure creature of darkness,” the unhinged dwarf muttered to himself.
I ignored his ranting and held out a piece of food. “Want some?”
He drew back and gave me a withering stare. “The master has created a perfect vessel. I am one with darkness, it binds and sustains me.”
“I’ll take that as a no.” I lowered my hand and kept on eating, feeling better already. I finished my plain meal with a drink of water from my flask. “Your loss.”
Debuff removed
“We should leave,” he said flatly. “My shadow will remain behind to maintain the shrine. I have seen to that.”
“We should probably check this place out first, see if we can find anything of value.”
Kuzai snorted. “There is nothing of value here.”
“Here, Boss,” Vic volunteered, pointing to lump of wood. “I got bored while you were meditating so I scouted the place. You never know when you might stumble on a couple of oblivious puppets getting it on. Anyway, this was left in a pile of discarded Ogre refuse. I think you’ll find it interesting.”
I looked at the block of wood he was pointing at. It was a piece of tree log about half a meter tall. It probably weighed over 50 kilos. Analyze.
Totem Pole Piece: Ogre
Description: This piece of totem pole represents a conquered clan of Ogres. It can be added to the main totem pole of another clan. This will strengthen that clan by granting it an Ogre-related feature.
Type: Settlement Totem
Effect I: +10 clan morale
Effect II: Clan gains the Ogre Gluttony trait: Doubling an individual’s upkeep will increase their Physical attribute by +1 and their physical related skills effects by 20%.
Jackpot! This primitive-looking piece of wood was an incredibly valuable find for my clan. I could already imagine the impact it would have on the development of Goblin’s Gorge. The builders would be the first to receive this boon, increasing their construction rate, maybe even all the workers that relied on the Physical attribute. But how the hell was I going to carry it all the way back to my clan? The thing was probably twice my own weight!
As if to answer my question, Kuzai came to investigate. He frowned as I gave him a wide grin. The ex-dwarf was sturdy and had over ten points in his Physical attribute.
“Be a dear and carry this for me,” I almost purred.
“I will not!” he said, his face full of indignation, then mumbled to himself, “It treats me as a common mule, the master’s chosen do not do degenerate menial work.”
I smirked at him. “If you won’t carry it, I will have to attempt it. But I’m not strong enough. You wouldn’t let the master’s choice treat wreck his back, would you?”
He gaped at me for a solid moment before snapping his mouth shut. He gave the piece of log a grudging look. “How far?”
“Let’s start with bringing it out of the fort.”
He grumbled something inaudible but bent down and hoisted the log onto his shoulder. He moved gingerly, nearly buckling under the weight, but was holding it together. “This way,” he said.
He led Tempest and me to a far corner of the cave, then rolled away a boulder, revealing a narrow tunnel leading upward. It was probably an old garbage chute, just enough for a dwarf and a goblin to climb through. Kuzai had it rough, but he managed to half-carry, half-push the totem log all the way up.
We came out through a hatch to stand on a small platform, just above the broken staircase that led back down. Once we descended the platform, we were again standing at the basement level of the fort.
We moved unhurriedly through the main corridor. Now that the demon infestation had been dealt with, there was nothing left that could pose danger.
As we passed the storage room, I again saw the broken plow. “Hold on a sec,” I told Kuzai.
The dwarf grunted, lowered the totem piece, and glared at me. “What does it want now?”
I entered the room and examined the plow from all sides. It looked to be in pretty good shape despite its years of disuse. The metal moldboard, the piece that pierced the ground, was intact. The wooden frame also appeared to be in good shape. Only one axle was broken. The other wheel was in working order. It almost looked like a wheelbarrow. That gave me an idea.
“Kuzai, come here for a sec.”
He gave me a sour look. “What do you want?”
“Grab the handle, see if you can pull this thing.” He grumbled but did as I asked. Despite the broken wheel, the plow rolled behind him, its broken axle dragging along the floor. It was noisy and cumbersome, but it could work.
“Alright,” I said with a tone of finality. “We’re taking it with us. You can put the totem on top of the plow, and we'll use it as a makeshift wheelbarrow.”
The dwarf glared at me. “I. Am. Not. A beast of burden!” he said through clenched teeth. “Get your wolf to do the hauling.”
Vic groaned.
Sorry, Vic, his idea was actually not a bad one. “Come here, Tempest.”
Though the demon wolf was ten levels below the dwarf, Tempest was physically stronger, and with four legs, he was more ideally suited to drag a heavy burden. With a bit of innovative rope work, I managed to tether plow and wolf. Tempest moved slowly, testing the weight. He wouldn’t win any races but he managed to pull it much more easily than Kuzai.
We stopped near the plundered forge and I threw in the few remaining pieces of armor and the four swords we’d left unclaimed.
With the impromptu wheelbarrow filled to the brim, I nodded to my companions “Now let’s get out of here.”
It took a little doing, but with Tempest managing most of the heavy lifting, we were able to bring everything up from the basement level and out of the fort.
We stood outside, taking in the mountain peaks all around us.
“Time to head home.”
***
It took most of the day to reach the foot of the mountains, the plow’s broken axle scraping a deep gouge on the ground behind us.
We rested the daytime away before coming down to the oxsaurians’ plain. Kuzai was even gruffer than usual during the daytime, preferring to hide below the plow rather than risk exposing his skin to the rays of the sun.
Early the next night, Kaedric contacted me as ordered. He did not have a lot to report. The construction efforts were ongoing and would take some time to complete, so I directed my seneschal to only contact me in case of emergency. I would be back at the clan soon enough to see to it firsthand.
I tightened Tempest’s tethers before entering the hilly area. The grasslands spread far and low, offering visibility for a great distance. The journey was uneventful. We encountered two herds of oxsaurians, but I employed my Shadow Hounds, luring them away each time.
Once we were at the edge of the territory, I decided to test a theory. The oxsaurians were all around level 40, meaning that with my Dark Mana skill at level 39, I should be able to influence some of the lower-level ones.
Following my instructions, my mastiffs separated a single bull from the herd and lured it our way. The powerful beast charged toward us at an alarming speed with the single-minded purpose of a ba
ttering ram. I was somewhat gratified to see Kuzai flinching from the incoming impact. I waited until the beast entered my range of influence, then I poured over a hundred points of my mana into its muscles and commanded them to stop. It froze in its tracks, but its momentum carried it forward. It fell to its belly and slid all the way toward us. With a deliberate gesture, my dagger plunged into its eye, sacrificing it.
That single casual kill was enough to push me well up to level 26. I collected the level 39 void crystal with a grin and added 140 units of raw meat to the growing pile on the plow.
Oh yes, I will return here soon enough.
When we finally crossed over to the edge of our forest, sunrise was close. We camped under the foliage. Kuzai was at ease below the thick canopy. On the first of dark, we resumed our journey.
Tempest proved to be a loyal companion. He dragged the broken plow unerringly for days without complaint. Having a part-demon pet wolf was pretty cool.
The next day we walked through forest trails, heading in the general direction of Goblin’s Gorge. During that time, we were attacked twice by wild beasts. We easily won on both occasions. A few Drilling Arrow volleys were enough to handle the low-level enemies. Kuzai didn’t even bother to use spellcasting, preferring to simply crush his opponents with his heavy maul.
We finally arrived at the valley’s entrance at the end of the third night.
A wooden wall closed off the entrance. Two hobgoblin sentries welcomed us, lowering their heads respectfully as I passed them by.
We crossed the valley’s forest and soon found ourselves in open fields. Despite the haze of the morning sun, everywhere I looked, I saw signs of construction and development. My goblins had worked diligently during my week-long absence.
I waved Kuzai off toward one of the vacant cabins and untethered Tempest from the plow. I made my way to my own house and slumped tiredly into my bed. Tika was already sleeping. I nuzzled her neck and she sleepily pressed harder against me. I was tempted, but after roughing it out in the wild for a full week, I needed the rest. I fell asleep feeling fully content, holding my beautiful huntress in my arms.
***
I woke up the next night feeling much better, the Lyrical bird chirping its morning song and filling me with a sense of optimism. It was like I had never left. Tika was still asleep. That lazy minx, I thought amusingly, eyeing her womanly curves with appreciation.
I stood and quietly left the house. I had a busy day ahead of me.
Naturally, Kaedric was already waiting for me outside.
“My lord, it is good that you are back.” The hobgoblin bowed low, his mandibles clicking as he did so.
“Good to be back.” I looked around. “We have much to accomplish today.”
“Yes, my lord. How may I be of service?”
“First thing, I need to go to the cemetery and resurrect Bek.” I winced at the thought. The goblin was level 16 when he was killed, so it would cost 160 EP to bring him back.
“I can attend to that, my lord.”
I should have thought of that. After all, that was why I brought Kaedric into the clan, to help me take care of the smaller management issues.
“Thanks, Kaedric, please do that. Now, for another matter …” I pointed at the broken plow. It had remained where I left it, next to the row of cabins. “There’s a totem piece on the plow. Have Rhyno bring it here, and get some goblins to unload its content into the warehouse, then drag it off to the smithy. I want it put back into working order.”
My seneschal lowered his head, closing his eyes for a moment. “Done, my lord. It will be but a moment.”
“Good. Now, tell me about the newcomers. How many are there? Where are they?”
“I have counted 15 individuals so far, my lord. Most seem content with running around, doing various chores. Four of them have banded together and are undertaking more unique requests. Raystia, the one I mentioned before, is one of them.”
“I’ll keep an eye out for them then. How is our impromptu shop doing?”
“Well, my lord, Gazlan, the new trader, is a sharp goblin. He struck a deal with most of the newcomers, bartering equipment, arms, and armor for gold or favors. This act did seem to placate many of the newcomers. But I’m afraid it won’t hold for long. The new arrivals become stronger by the day. They will soon demand equipment that is beyond our abilities to produce.”
I shook my head. “We’re nearly there. Once we finish constructing the high-priority buildings, we can finally concentrate on new Weapons and Armor workshops. Then our new smiths can start producing better quality items. I first planned it to be solely for the purpose of arming our hob soldiers, but we could probably spare a few for trade.”
“Quite astute, my lord. In any case, the newcomers have paid for their wares by helping to construct some of the buildings and by providing more resources to the clan. A few came by enough gold to purchase the items they wanted. We have collected a total of 200 gold so far. I have deposited the coins in your house’s chest.”
“Good job … ahh, there’s Rhyno.”
The Ogre boss walked toward us, his heavy legs thumping on the ground. He held the totem piece in one hand like it weighed nothing.
“Boss-man is back,” he grunted, looking me up and down.
“Rhyno, good. Place that piece on my house roof, please.”
His face clouded, but he lifted the piece of heavy wood and laid it on the top of my roof.
Clan Totem Piece acquired [Ogre]
+10 morale
New clan trait: Ogre Gluttony (+1 Physical, +20% Physical governed skills)
I rubbed my hands together “Excellent.”
Did I really miss having him around not long ago? I wondered to myself. I probably suffered from temporary insanity.
Shut up.
I turned to my seneschal. “I want all the builders to be doubly fed. That should give a real boost to their construction efficiency.”
“Yes, my lord.”
“What else?” I asked. My task list for the day was full. I needed to inspect the new marketplace, check the Breeder’s Den, and talk with Zuban, Vrick, and the other leading members of my clan. I also wanted to check on how Guba was doing and make sure our new visitors were behaving themselves. And I needed new gear. I had a cool new staff now, but I had long outgrown the other equipment I was using. There was so much to do it was overwhelming.
Goblins started to appear, getting up from their daytime sleep.
I heard movement coming from my house, bringing to mind a different kind of activity I wanted to pursue. With a wave of my hand, I dismissed both Kaedric and Rhyno and went back inside.
Everyone could bloody well wait for five more minutes. I was the boss, after all, and Tika was waiting for me.
I closed the door behind me and saw the well-toned, exotic goblinette before me. She hadn’t bothered to dress after waking up and wore only the tight-fitting teeth necklace I had gifted her. She was enticing and fierce. Just the way I liked it. And she looked me straight in the eyes as if daring me to do something about it.
I grinned. They might have to wait more than five minutes.
19 – Lay Off
Several hours later, Tika and I finally sated our mutual carnal desires and collapsed, exhausted, in our furs. We remained cuddled for a good while longer, enjoying each other’s closeness.
Tika got up first, put on her tight-fitting leather armor, shouldered her bow and went out for her daily hunt.
I remained wrapped in the furs for several more moments, relaxing and savoring the post-coital bliss.
Now that I was back at my clan, the seat of my power, I was bombarded with the countless information threads that saturated the place. Information about the settlement status, worker progress, daily upkeep, religion, and more, each demanding my immediate attention.
But I was relaxed and felt too lazy to sort them on my own.
Let Vic do some of the work, I thought and opened the Settlement Interface instead.
Goblin’s Gorge Interface
Energy: 4,342
Settlement level: 2 (Hamlet)
Bosses: 3
Morale: 53
Religion: Rank 3
Efficiency: 16.7%
Population: 78
Housing: 52/46
Food Upkeep: basic 74, advanced 6
Buildings: 23
Fortifications
Food production
Resource production
Crafting production
Research
Commerce
The interface had changed.
My purple companion was hanging in his cloak shape from a peg on the wall.
“Thanks, Vic.”
I studied the menu more closely. The boss count had updated, taking Kuzai into account. Morale was at an all-time high, partly due to the new totem piece and partly due to my goblins’ satisfaction at having proper housing. Which, I suddenly noted, was already beyond capacity. I would need to build more cabins soon.
Wait a second … Something didn’t feel right.
The menu had a new ‘Commerce’ option, but that wasn’t what bothered me. The population count was higher than I remembered, but it wasn’t that either. It was …
“Kaedric!” I shouted, both verbally and mentally, bursting out of my house.
My seneschal appeared from behind a building, walking steadily toward me.
He paused, giving me an appraising look. “Is something wrong, my lord?”
“Where’s all my energy?” I demanded. “I’ve been gone for a week, and the clan has about the same amount of energy as when I left. Explain.”
Life Reset: EvP (Environment vs. Player) (New Era Online Book 2) Page 30