As soon as Luka washed himself up he offered us some herbal ointment.

“Here, rub it into your bodies. It will help mask your smell!” Thomas and Greg quickly started rubbing the greenish mixture into their armpits and neck, before trying to pass it to me. “No, thanks I am fine…” I tried politely refusing. “For heaven’s sake! Alabaster! No need to act that disgusted! You will wash yourself at the end of the day! Goblins have an incredible sense of smell!” the party leader tried scolding me. “No, what I mean is that I don’t have body odor…” “A-ha, you have clearly never been with a woman, they manage to smell you even right after the bath… Still, I insist!” a small container with sticky, mushy, green substance was forced into my arms.

Not wanting to waste any more time, I took it, moved to a secluded location, and cursing loudly I wasted part of the paste smearing it over some innocent tree. Then I waited the time I presumed would be needed for me to cover myself with it before returning back to the group and giving back the small container.

Luka leaned towards me and sniffed few times loudly

“Wow. I literally can’t smell anything! Isn’t that stuff great?” he boasted “... my grandfather’s recipe! We’ve had problems with goblins for generations!” “Truly magnificent.” I agreed, trying not to sound sarcastic.

And so, armed in ointments, friendship, and deadly weapons of various shapes and sizes we followed Luka into the forest where the goblin's nest was located. And then I truly learned that when Luka is not busy with complaining, he is actually quite a great person. Not only skilled in tracking but also generous in sharing his knowledge.

“Here, can you see? This bush is growing irregularly compared to those beside it - something must have obstructed its growth. My bet was that goblins were walking through it many times thus hindering it over and over again, that was the first trace that led me toward their nest…” “But that could be something else’s work! Why not a deer or wolf…” Greg raised his question. “No, too close to farmland. Wild animals do not approach human settlements unless provoked or are starving… or chased by certain death, then indeed they don’t seem to care where they are running. Still, when you track someone you pretty much have to guess. Not once nor twice your tracking will lead you nowhere, or - just as you said - to another creature that roamed the area. That’s why you look for other tracks that would ensure you in your pre apprehension… Like this one.” he pointed on the damaged tree’s bark “... See those scratches? That’s how goblins mark certain territories. X-shaped means danger, a circle - gathering grounds and so on…” “Why is there an X mark in the circle?” Thomas asked, making the tracker look at him as if he was an idiot. “That would mean dangerous gathering grounds? Like, farmland? The place we came from?” “Oh… Makes sense.” the huge man blushed.

We walked like that for nearly an hour before Luka silenced us.

“Okay everyone, shut the fuck up. We are getting close.”

His posture changed. Up until now, he was standing tall, walking slowly looking left and right trying to embrace with his vision as much as he could, but then, he dropped on the ground and started crawling forward. We did the same, trying to get as close to the bushes as possible.

Spreading the branches and rubbing against a nasty, thorny bush I looked at a small clearing in front of me. It was just as Luka had told us before. There was a cave entrance illuminated by a torch and protected by two lazy standing goblins, resting on their spears trying to fight back their desire to sleep. Our party leader patted my shoulder and pointed at the trees on the side of the clearing. Up in the branches, another goblin with a simple bow had made a small nest for himself, watching every now and then in all directions. Suddenly, he aimed at something and shot. Seconds later a squirrel fell off the nearest tree. The goblin let out a quiet, grumbling laugh, happy with his display of skill.

“I will take down the one on the tree. Will you manage to take those sleeping without raising an alarm?”

I quickly took into consideration my possibilities, and then nodded.

With my rather loud armor, sneaking was impossible. Their backs were facing the cave entrance, leaving little to no place to just walk to them from behind… unless…

I entered the clearing from the other side, frontally approaching the goblins. No matter how sleepy or lazy they were, they couldn’t not see a man three times taller than them, wearing not very masking white armor in the middle of the forest. They woke up nearly instantly, I could see them confused by my rather bold approach. With the corner of my eyes, I noticed a hunter also twisting in his nest, raising his bow and aiming at me… and Luka, moving quickly between the trees towards them.

I stopped in the middle of the clearing, picked my weapon… and threw it away, towards them, kneeling down and putting hands on my head, surrendering. The two looked at each other before lowering their spears - or, actually, just sharpened poles and approached me slowly.

I waited patiently at my spot. Once the guards passed a certain distance and the hunter on the tree was no longer in their sight, Luka went from behind a tree and threw a short knife, piercing its head from below. The body landed on a soft soil covered in moss making no sound whatsoever before Luka dragged it into bushes.

Greg and Thomas also left the bushes and now started slowly sneaking towards the two so very distracted with this unusual sight of a colossal white man that out of blue approached them and kneeled down.

They could almost poke me with their spears when the shadow of Thomas fell on them. They looked behind, just to see a sword and axe ending their life in unison.

I got up from the ground, shaking the dirt off my knee.

“Now, an adventurer kneeling in front of two goblins, that is quite a sight to behold. Can’t wait till I would mention that to everyone in the House!” Luka smiled teasingly. “Luka. Friend. By now you should learn that I don’t really care about others' impressions of me. I am here just to save those people, and to get it done I am willing to suffer any humiliation…”

I said approaching two killed goblins, and then going back to the hunter in the bush, swallowing their essences.

“Oi! No need to check on him! Trust me, I did that already!” the party leader misunderstood the meaning of my action as he saw me kneeling over the body. “I trust you. I still choose to check it anyway.” I shrugged my shoulders. You have gathered [Goblin - Nest Guard]'s essence + [28 exp] You have gathered [Goblin - Nest Guard]'s essence + [36 exp] You have gathered [Goblin - Hunter]'s essence + [42 exp] [364/500] → [470/500]

I once again picked my blade off the ground, looking at my companions.

“Now what?” I asked, looking towards the cave entrance. “Now?...” Luka asked, taking the torch off the cave’s wall “... combat reconnaissance.” he smiled widely.

And so, we descended into darkness. Luka, with a torch, walked in front, I followed right behind him, as the only warrior with a shield, ready to step in front of him and protect him from any danger he might spot, with my own body, if necessary.

Greg and Thomas, acting as our back guard, were stumbling every now and then letting out silenced curses. The tunnel was narrow and because of me standing between them and the source of the light, their vision was greatly limited.

I, on the other hand… I saw everything perfectly. Quite a few times I wondered whether I should suggest going as first, as the light of the torch could betray our position, but then again, telling them why I could see in absolute darkness even better than during the day would prove to be quite problematic.

And suddenly, Luka stopped. I, not prepared for such a change in movement, almost tripped and fell on him.

“Careful, you nitwit!” he hissed.

I wanted to say something along with the lines ‘sorry, I was just trying to keep your exposed ass safe’, but somehow I managed to stop myself.

“Can you hear it?” He asked. “Can’t hear a shit.” Greg whispered from behind me “... except for Thoams wheezing like a wounded bison.” “Exactly. It’s far too quiet…” “Well, you said that they are active mostly at night and early in the morning. Maybe they are all sleeping? Bah! Even those guards were nearly sleeping.” Thomas said, trying to find a solution for Luka’s questions which clearly occupied his mind. “I have been hunting goblins for quite some time. They are usually loud. Growling, snarling, biting one another. Even when they sleep they tend to snore. Ready your weapons la… wait… now, did you hear that?”

Indeed, something could be heard from far away. A quiet echo traveling through the tunnels sounds blurred and twisted by the distance, impossible to understand or even tell apart.

“Everyone, no more talking. You want to communicate something, do that by patting shoulder,” said Luka, shifting the torch to his left hand and picking one of his daggers.

Curled down in anticipation, we kept on marching, slowing behind each twist and turn of the corridor, till, at some point, we saw a light at the other side of the tunnel.

We entered a huge cavern, easily as big as the farmland. It was shaped like a funnel, with a spiral path down. On the walls of the cavern, we could see dozens of holes - small rooms dug into the solid rock, clearly not a natural formation. Each of the holes was from a few meters tall and wide, up to a few dozens. Some of those rooms were connected by artificial bridges made of wood tied with vines. At the very bottom of the cavern, I noticed dozens of animals. Pigs. Sheep. Two cows. A few goblins approached them with baskets filled with grass, throwing it down to feed them. And at the very corner of the cave, I noticed a pile of bones. Mostly animals and goblins… but also those that belonged to humans.

I was patted on the shoulder by Luka, who pointed at one of the ‘rooms’ on the opposite side of the cave on one of the lower levels. The room was filled with wooden cages, and inside of a few of them, I could notice three humans. Two males, one female. All of them were stripped naked and severely bruised.

“Fucking animals…” Greg hissed. “Hold your horses.” the party leader dug his fingers in Greg’s back “... don’t act rashly. We don’t know these tunnels, they have an advantage.” “I know, damn it. I am not an idiot.”

As for the goblins, most of them were sleeping and there were indeed more than ten or twenty. While speculating the size of the nest doubling their initial number turned out to be a rather wise idea.

“What is such a huge nest doing so close to the city? Why weren’t they spotted yet?” Thomas raised a question. “Farm animals. They managed to start up a small farm, becoming mostly independent. If they are lacking food, they hunt in the forest. Actually… why did they start attacking farmland, to begin with…” Luka started wondering aloud “...No, it can’t be… that’s ridiculous…” “What is it?” “Farmland was being attacked by younglings. By kids.” “What?” “Test of courage. When they come to an age, they need to decide on their role in the nest. They need to hunt to become hunters, they need to collect food to become gatherers… and if they want to become warriors, they need to show that they are fearless. Raiding farmland and stealing just a crate of food or a single animal? That’s pointless, when you attack, you try to take as much as you can… unless you are not attacking for food alone. They took it with them only as proof of their courage… And, if it wasn’t for them, we would probably never learn about their presence until they would grow in number and start massive raids. Bless the stupidity of youth.” “Luka, do you know how many of those little fucks are out there?”

The team became quiet for a moment or two, as Luka was counting.

“Forty to fifty.” “So about ten of those for each of us. Shit. If only we could attack them one by one.” “That’s not the main problem. As soon as they spot us, they will try using those people as hostages. We will be risking their lives.” “Shit!... What now, should we return to the city and come back with backup?” “No. No time for that. Humans usually don’t live long in goblin’s captivity. They will be probably executed at dusk in some sort of ritual or test of adulthood… I mean, the men will be killed. The girl will have a far worse fate awaiting her.” “What!? Fuck! FUCK!” “Keep it down, moron!”

My companions were having an angry conversation in subdued tones.

“... There… might be a way to free them unnoticed but…”

I started, stopping their argument.

“... By the heavens! Alabaster! If you know how then do it!” “What I would need to do, might be a taboo…” I said, noticing a pendant on Greg’s neck, under the guild's ID. Three symbols crossing one another, same as on the golden ring given to me on my birthday. Symbol of a worshiper of the Three. “Method is unimportant when it serves the greater good, damn it!” It was him urging me. “Very well… In that case. Bring me bodies of the goblins we killed.” I made up my mind. “...What?” I noticed his eyes nearly popping out. “Don’t question it. If he has an idea, while we have none, we should give it our best shot! Do it!” Luka hissed, sending Gregory and Thomas away.”

They returned with the bodies, dropping them just by the end of the tunnel I felt their gaze on my backs as I was approaching them. I pointed my blade towards one of the bodies lying on the ground before I started a chant.

“Bones of my bone

Blood of my blood,

Your shackles I rip,

Your body I raise.

Your life might be done,

But your task is not,

So hear out my words,

And obey my command.”

One of the goblins moved. It’s limbs twisted in an awkward, unnatural manner as he started getting up from the ground.

You have used [Dark Arts - Necromancy] on target [Goblin - Hunter] You successfully raised a [Low Tier] puppet.

This [puppet] will obey you. Mp Consumed: 45 Mana: [145/190] “That’s…” Greg said as he looked at me with a mixture of surprise and disgust. “That indeed might work, so shut up, Greg. Unless your goddesses know how to save those people!” Luka hissed. “It’s never fine to rely on dark forces!” “Even if it means sacrificing three innocent people?!” “T..that’s…” “Shut up.” I hissed “... I need to focus. This is the first time I am actually performing this spell since the day I was forcefully taught it.” I… didn’t lie “...And trust me, I am probably even more sickened by this magic than you are. Because I can feel it’s filth within me.” Saying that I hoped that Greg won’t become hostile to me… or mostly, that he would keep his mouth shut and wouldn’t report on me to the local inquisition.

I moved to the other goblin.

“Bones of my bone,

Blood of my blood…”

It didn’t take me long before I had three puppets walking under my command. I felt them. I sensed them, like an extension of my mind, like a body outside of my body which I could move. With some sort of delay and awkwardness of move… but I could.

I sent them out to the nearest room, and obeying my command, they walked, dragging their feet awkwardly till they approached two of their kinsmen. The sleeping goblins woke up but seeing that these were other goblins, they just let out angered growls and rolled to the other side, trying to once again fall asleep. Fools, woken from deep slumber didn't even notice wounds filled with not dried blood. The smell must not bother them either, as they most likely presumed that they got into one of the inner nest fights for positions. My puppets took out their daggers and jumped on the bodies, stabbing repeatedly, aiming for lungs and throats to silence every cry and scream that they could let out, not letting them alarm the rest of the nest.

I send them to the next room while entering the newly cleaned room. My current powers allowed me to raise up only one more, and so, I chose the one that looked slightly stronger and sang one again.

“Bones of my bone…” Mana: [10/190]

I noticed one more thing. The essence was gone. My zombie-goblins had devoured it, holding it in their guts. When the time comes, I could leech on that essence myself, or use them to empower my servants… Of course, there was no way that I would waste such a valuable resource on mere goblins. I was quite sure that I would shatter them as soon as the job here was done… Still...

Hahaha! Here I stand, fearsome undead commanding an army of four goblins. Truly, the days of mankind are numbered.

I chuckled in my mind. Still. Having four puppets is better than no puppets, and saving three travelers is better than letting them die in a gruesome way - or worse.

Another room, another, and yet another, all were cleared silently by my puppets… But, obviously, something I didn’t take into consideration was eventually bound to happen. The goblins which kept on butchering their kinsmen were getting dirtier and dirtier, covered in their blood. And when one of the sleeping goblins woke up and saw a group of bloodied creatures with drawn weapons, it let out an ear-piercing shriek.

“... Go for the prisoners! Quickly!” I yelled as I bolted onward, deeper into the tunnel.

Goblins started walking out from their rooms, each of them carrying a weapon, or at least a sharp tool.

I took a stance in front of the prisoner’s cell, cutting down every monster which ran our way. Greg and Lucan bolted behind me, breaking the cages and freeing the trio of humans. They were dumbfounded seeing us, and the girl even started crying.

“Luka, Greg! Lead them out of here! Thomas! Carve them a path out!” “Are you nuts! You cannot kill forty goblins by yourself!” Luka yelled “Around ten are already dead, damn it. And most of them will probably chase after you!”

I yelled as a group of three of the green devils ran towards me. One attacked frontally, another from the side, while yet another tried jumping on my head.

The one running straight at me was quickly pierced by a thrust of my blade, I couldn’t react to the other two though. One jumped on my leg, and the other grabbed my head, trying to force a dagger through the vizier of my helmet.

I rammed into the side of the wall, squashing the bugger on my leg while grabbing with my hands the bastard on my head and throwing him to the ground. I lifted my head and stomped on his core. His ribs let out the music of broken bones as he spits out blood. With pierced lungs, he had one minute of life in agony left and I let him savor it.

“Don’t you fucking dare to die on us! We will lead those people outside and come back to aid you!” Luka yelled as he started running the other way. “Fear not, death and I are acquaintances. We date frequently, but can’t get into a serious relationship.” I said readying my blade seeing a group of ten goblins approaching.

But, there was yet another thing we overlooked. Something we didn’t think of until now. Creating such a well-organized settlement in a hidden area wasn’t something that any regular group of goblins would do. Normally, such a big camp wouldn’t manage to avoid detection for such a long time. And, we didn’t bother reacting to the small wooden pole in front of one of the rooms.

Now, as I think about it, they must have been organized by a clever leader. A leader who right now had just left his room.

Gorru Titles: [The Survivor], [The Hateful], [Potential Lord]

Gorru was a member of many tribes, which were destroyed by humans. Over and over again, as he kept on surviving thanks to his wits alone, he would start over - joining a new tribe, starting from nothing, getting a somewhat respected position... just be attacked and having everything he worked so destroyed. Again.

Gorru learned lots and fast watching humans. Now, becoming an old goblin awakening his magical potential, he became a shaman-leader of a new tribe that he himself gathered. Watching those he called brothers dying over and over again filled his heart with hate towards the human put but one purpose into his life.

To pay them back. To burn the cities. Sacrifice humans to the spirits. Clean the world from the "disease" that humanity is.

The older shaman looked at me with a wrath-filled gaze, before touching a “wooden pole” next to his room. Only then did I realize that it was a totem. A visualization of the nest's protective spirit. And that he wanted to awaken whatever was in it.

Skill proficiency increased Skills:

[Sword Usage - Apprentice level 12]

[Shield Usage - Apprentice level 9]

[Bow Usage - Apprentice level 1]

[Nature Magic - Novice level 1]

[Mana Sense - Low - Passive]

[Life Sense - Low - Passive]

[Combat Maneuver/Team tactic - Novice level 3]

[Heavy Armor Usage - Novice level 4

[Hand-to-hand Combat - Novice level 4]

[Stealth - Novice level 8 ➝ 9]

[Mind Magic Resistance - Low level 8]

[Dark Arts - Curse Words - Novice Level 3]

[Dark Arts - Necromancy - Novice Level 2 ➝ 3]

[Tracking - Novice Level 2] [New]