Chapter 25 – Frustrations

“Close formation! Surround the chieftain! Retreat to the treeline!” Wrex shouts as he walks backwards, shield locked onto the horde of hobgoblins.

The [Warrior]s waste no time obeying, closing ranks and backtracking at a quicker pace.

I didn’t go too far into the clearing; and, the moment I spotted the enemies, I was already halfway back into safety. Reaching the first tree, I peek around it getting a closer look at my enemies.

Fortunately, the hobgoblins’ ambush were spotted early and they are still a ways off. While the enemies are already sprinting towards us, we definitely have time to reach the safety of my ranged units before they’re upon us.

“Ranged units! Focus your fire on the three leading hobgoblins. Fire on my mark!” I snap at my surrounding goblins. I raise my crossbow taking aim at the lead hobgoblin. He is a really ugly looking one wielding a wooden club and wearing a leather chest piece.

“Fire!”

I loose my bolt towards the hobgoblin. Seven arrows and two fireballs follow suit, striking at the hobgoblin vanguard. My bolt takes the hobgoblin in the arm causing him to stumble. Another two arrows strike his belly and thigh. Another hobgoblin takes a fireball to his groin and an arrow to the shoulder, while another takes two arrows to his exposed chest. The rest fly wide.

“Keep firing!” I yell while I quickly reload.

“Take out their archers!” A woman screams. I look around for the source, and spot a female hobgoblin from the center of the enemy formation. She is fully decked out in leather and chainmail armor wielding two axes in each hand. She is far better geared than any of her subordinates.

“Target the ugly looking female officer!” I shout at my goblins while simultaneously cocking a new bolt.

“Who the hell are you calling ugly you short bastard!?” The hobgoblin screams back.

We release another volley at her.

Noticing the approaching projectiles, she throws herself to the side, dodging most of them. An arrow still nicks her arm while another two of her subordinates take superficial wounds.

Wrex and the rest of the [Warrior]s finally make it back to the treeline, using the dense foliage as coverage to slow down the advance of our much larger enemies.

We slowed down most of the enemies, but they are still charging at us. They are only a few meters out.

“Brace for impact!” I shout. “Mages, up front!”

Wrex and his men releases guttural roars as the two [Fire Mage]s step forwards. The hobgoblins echo the roars as they charge at us, full sprint.

“[Flamethrower]!” The [Mage]s shout as two blazing cones of fire erupt from my frontline. The screams of the hobgoblins pierce through the air.

“Fire!” I shout as we release the third volley, cutting several of the screaming voices short.

“FUCK! Get back! Get back now!” The female hobgoblin shouts. “There are too many of them!”

The hobgoblins immediately break, sprinting off in different directions.

“Keep firing! Take them all down!” I shout as I reload my crossbow.

We manage the loose another two volleys before the hobgoblins are all out of range. We cripple three of them; and, Wrex runs after them trying to finish them off. His legs are too short to catch up to the hobgoblins who still have their legs intact.

Two hobgoblins crawl on the ground. One has two arrows stuck in his calves, while another has his achilles heel charred black. Wrex quickly targets them, raising his cutlass to deliver the final blow.

“Wait!” I shout. “Keep them alive for now. They might be useful.”

Wrex looks over at me squinting his eyes. “Are you sure, Chief? They just tried to kill you.”

“Yeah. We might get some information out of them.”

Wrex looks back over at the squirming hobgoblins at his feet.

“I don’t like it.” He grunts delivering a kick to the charred wound of the hobgoblin.

“Don’t worry. If he doesn’t tell us anything, I’ll let you kill him in any way you want.” I scowl threateningly at the wounded hobgoblin. “So you’d better spill the beans.” I tell the prisoner.

“I’ll tell you nothing, goblin. Chieftain Aria will split you in half for this.” The hobgoblin hisses.

“Chieftain Aria is it? Is that the ugly berserker chick that lead you?” I ask him.

“Watch your tongue, goblin.” He growls.

“Or else?”

“She will split you in half.”

…

Really? I… No. Forget about it. I’ve been down this V.I. road before…

“Where is her base?” I ask him.

“I’ll tell you nothing, goblin.”

Sigh. “Wrex? Would you mind?”

Wrex steps on the charred flesh of the hobgoblin, eliciting a pained scream.

“Let’s try this again, shall we?”

“SHE WILL SPLIT YOU IN HALF FOR THIS!”

Oh, for the love of…

Next time I take a prisoner, I’ll make sure it’s at least a Lieutenant. These lesser V.I.s are going to drive me mad at some point.

“Hey, listen. If she is going to split me in half, or whatever, we will first have to meet. So, if you want me to be split in half sooner rather than later, then why don’t you tell me where I can find her? You know, so she can split me in any way she wants. Sound good to you?”

He eyes me suspiciously.

“How dumb do you think I am, goblin? I won’t tell you. She will find you. And when she does…”

“Yeah yeah, split in half. Got it.”

Well, this was fruitless. I was hoping interrogation was a thing in this game. Might even be, for all I know; but, I’m clearly doing something wrong. No matter. I’ll have Wrex talk to him for a while. In the meantime, I should look through the loot…

“Enemies!” A cry echoes from one of my scouts. I whirl my head around, looking towards the treeline on the other side.

The female hobgoblin alongside the leftover of her little warband stands just inside the treeline, hiding behind trees. They don’t seem to make any moves towards attacking us though.

“Warriors! At attention! Protect the chief!” Wrex shouts, positioning himself in front of me, shield raised.

“Hey, Shorty!” The female hobgoblin peeks her head from behind a tree. “I want to talk. Parley?”

Huh? What’s this then?

“What do you want, Ugly?” I shout back.

“Hey, fuck you!” She screams back. “I want to talk, you little anklebiter.”

“Then why don’t you come over here? And, leave your goons behind.”

“Do you think I’m stupid? Why would I trust you?” She screams.

“Hey, you wanted to talk to me, not the other way around.”

She’s quiet for a moment.

“Okay, how about this. We both meet at the middle? I get two bodyguards, you get four?”

“How about no?”

“What the hell, Shorty. I want to make a deal!” She shouts

“Then for starters, why don’t you stop calling me short?”

“Oh for god’s sake. I’m coming out, alright? Don’t shoot.”

The female hobgoblin steps out into the open, hands raised. She is still too far away for me to accurately shoot her in the face, but she seems honest enough. I don’t trust her, though.

I snap a few orders to my goblins. I have my scouts head into the forest to look for any ambushes, while Kain and the other [Rogue] try to sneak closer to the enemy. Wrex tightens security in the opening while we bring the [Mage]s up front.

I turn my attention back towards the female hobgoblin.

“So what did you have in mind?” I ask her.

She scowls at me for a second, until she takes a deep breath.

“I want to make an alliance against the minotaur player out east.” She says.

“No dice.”

“What do you mean, no dice? Hear me out at least.”

“Why would I? Sounds like you both killing each other is nothing but good for me. Why would I want to trust another player?”

“Because he’s winning. The minotaurs are unbelievably tough. My hobgoblins can hardly touch those guys, and I’m a tier two race. A tier one race like you wouldn’t stand a chance. You wouldn’t last five minutes against him.”

“I’ll take my chances.”

She gives me a good long glare. Eventually, she closes her eyes and sighs.

“Listen. There is no need for this. I’m barely hanging on here. An alliance is in both of our best interest. I can see that you are strong, but I don’t think you are strong enough to beat him. At least not yet. That fucker has better gear than me; and, he has suffered far less losses. After you just killed some of my hobgoblins, the fucker will soon wipe me out. I don’t want that asshole to win.” She says with resolve in her eyes.

What she says makes a lot of sense. I actually wholly agree with her. My biggest concern so far is going up against a tier three race. I don’t really know how strong they are; but, after seeing the sheer size of a centaur, I don’t like my odds.

Well, I don’t think I would do too badly; but, there is just no way for me to know. I have gained a lot of power over these last few days, and should soon be able to produce some tier two weapons and armor. From what I can see, the hobgoblin still uses mostly tier zero equipment. It must be because she spends all her available summon points on fighters rather than crafters.

An alliance would be great; but, it’s just not feasible at this point. There is no way for me to know she won’t backstab me the first chance she gets.

Unless…

“I’ll accept your allegiance, on one condition.” I say.

She looks relieved. “What condition?”

“One second…”

I open up a blue window I recently discovered during a browsing session of the options available to me in my [Chieftain’s Hut].

Alliance Agreement

Contract offered by: The Dark Fang Tribe

Contract received by: The Slasher Tribe

Contract length: 14 days.

The Dark Fang Tribe offers alliance with the Slasher Tribe with the following conditions:

The alliance will last until the contract expires, or twenty-four hours after the Bullox Herd has been defeated.

Both players will offer any intelligence they have about the Bullox Herd. The game’s Main A.I. will determine if the information is truthful.

The Slasher Tribe will not be allowed to take hostile actions against the Dark Fang Tribe.

The Dark Fang Tribe may not take hostile actions against the Slasher Tribe without just cause. The Main A.I. governing the game will determine if the action is justified.

The contract may be cancelled at any time by mutual agreement between the players.

Both players swear to maintain an armistice for the duration of the agreement.

None of the players may force or coerce a third player to influence the agreement or cause deliberate harm towards the other player..

Warning!

Breaching this contract will cause the offending player to be unable to gain any Summon Points for a predetermined amount of time. The Dark Fang Tribe will lose three to seven days depending on the severity of the breach. The Slasher Tribe will lose fourteen to twenty-one days depending on the severity of the breach.

“Hey, what the shit? That’s completely unfair!” The hobgoblin yells.

“I don’t care. You’re the desperate one, not me. If you don’t like it, feel free to attack me right here and now; and, I’ll make sure you will lose a hell of a lot more than five hobgoblins.”

She looks furious.

“Tell you what, I’ll even release the two captives if you agree. That means you only lost three hobgoblins. Deal?” I add.

Her eyes shoot daggers at me.

“Depends… What do you mean by ‘just cause’? That sounds sketchy.” She frowns.

“That is to make sure I can back out of this if you do something really fucking stupid that puts us both at risk.” I tell her with an even tone.

She snorts. “Who the hell do you take me for? If anyone’s going to put us at risk, it’s most likely going to be you.”

“I doubt that. I have three hobgoblin corpses that says otherwise.”

She scowls at me. It doesn’t affect me much. Her scowl can’t hold a candle to good old grandpa Gut on a Monday morning.

“Well if you don’t want to… We could always duke it out right here, right now. So what do you say?” I ask her.

She wrinkles her nose in disgust. “Then it’s a deal.” She growls.

“Great! I’m Greg’lok. You may call me Greg if you want.” I grin at her.

She takes a step forwards. “I’m Aria. Pleased to meet you, Shorty.” She says through gritted teeth.

Oh, we’ll be such great friends. I’m sure!

----------

We join forces with the hobgoblins and head south into the forest. Apparently, Aria and her crew made the decision everyone else completely ignored. She created her village deep in the forest next to a river. I’m both glad and suspicious that she invites my goblins and me into the heart of her territory; but, it shouldn’t be so bad. At least, not for me.

It could have taken us days to find this place. Really. You shouldn’t underestimate the size of these biomes. I reckon it should take twelve hours to walk from one end to the other. The amount of square kilometers that makes up is staggering. That’s a whole lot of ground to cover to find the enemy base.

Knowing where her village is will save me at least a day of future scouting. It doesn’t bode so well for her that she actually invites me over just like this. I’m not sure if she is just that poor of a tactician, or if she has some ulterior motive to lure me into a trap. Probably the former. Betraying me now would fuck us both over and I don’t think she has a reason to murder me out of spite. At least, not yet.

I spend most of the trip filling Gut in on everything that happened with our new communication ability. He sure as hell wasn’t happy that we walked straight into an ambush; but, the result of the battle more than mollified his growling.

The battle went really well.

It wasn’t much of a battle; but, the power of ranged units is amazing. I managed to finish off three of the enemy hobgoblins, cripple two and injure half a dozen more without suffering any casualties. Granted, Aria’s units are surprisingly poorly geared and they were running at me in an open clearing; but, they are still a tier two race. I thought I would be able to kill off more than this really; but, Aria’s Advisor is a [Blood Priest]. I didn’t see him during the battle; but, he healed and kept several of the hobgoblins alive with his healing magic.

I suppose it all turned out for the better. We are allies now; and, the more units she has, the better it is for me. At least, in the short term. I even returned most of the few upgraded pieces of armor back to her. The armor can only be used by tier two humanoid races, so I can’t really use them for anything but [Scrap]. It should make a difference for her troops though. At least, I didn’t come out of this battle empty handed. My [Hauler] carries three shiny new tier two [Skulls].

It takes an hour and a half for us to reach her village, or what I assume is her main village. The lack of buildings catches me by surprise, as I figured she had to have at least some semblance of an infrastructure by now. What I’m seeing is appalling.

She has a single [Builder] working on what I assume is a [Barracks]. She has a [Blacksmith], a [Workshop] and a [Leatherworker’s Hut] circling a [Cooking Fire]. That’s it. That’s all she has made after sixteen days in game.

“What the fuck, Aria... What the hell have you done for the last sixteen days?” I blurt. Not able to contain my shock.

She furrows her brows. “What is it to you, Shorty?”

“Where are all your buildings? Your builders? Where is your Longhouse for crying out loud?”

“What? I don’t need them. Troops are more important. In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been fighting a god damned war over here. Who has time to sit here and play tea party?”

“What the… Seriously? I was afraid about you being daft earlier; but, this, right here, is beyond anything I could have predicted. Really? I mean… REALLY!?” I make a big spectacle out of shaking my head and facepalming.

“Hey! Shut the fuck up! I don’t want no fucking green smurf telling me what to do. This right here is fine. I’m not dead, yet. Pull the tampons out of your ass already.” She sneers.

“Hell, with this setup I doubt you could even produce any tampons.”

“You want my axe to introduce your face to your balls?”

“Try me, bitch.”

We scowl at each other while both of our subordinates surround us creating a firm line split between us.

“How about we take a minute and breath, eh?” A voice shoots in from the side. Our heads snap to the side, glaring at the hobgoblin advisor, Warwick.

He shrugs. “Wouldn’t help either of us to fight it out here. So, we should just calm down a little and take a little break, eh?” He smiles.

Aria and I scowl at one another for another moment until we break eye contact and walk in seperate directions.

What an idiot. Really. What sort of an ingrate would spend twenty thousand fucking Euros to play a game when you can’t tell your tit from your arse? Who let that girl in here? Freaking over privileged rich kids. Treating this as some sort of joke.

…

Why am I wasting my time making an alliance with this idiot?

I should just let her take point in an attack against that damned minotaur and let her kill herself alongside a few of the enemy units. Then, I’ll sweep in and mop up the rest. She’s just so narrow sighted and crude. She isn’t worth wasting time on.

Shit.

I take a deep breath and try to calm myself. It isn’t bad. It’s actually still good for me. She is a disposable pawn; and, she still has a good amount of units left. Who knows? Maybe she has some information about the game mechanics I don’t know. It’s worth checking out.

I’m glad I haven’t revealed all my cards to her yet. I still have Kain and the other [Rogue] hiding in the woods nearby. If everything goes to shit, I’ll just have them sneak into base come nightfall and have her killed. I probably won’t do that, though. The penalty for breaking the contract is severe; and, I doubt stupidity qualifies as a good reason for offing her.

I rally my goblins and set up camp a little ways downriver from the hobgoblin settlement making sure to post sentries of my own in the trees nearby. We brought enough rations for three days; but, I hope we won’t be out here for that long. Perhaps I should demand she share some of her own resources?

…

Not worth the trouble asking.

Her lack of infrastructure is worrisome, though. Just the fact that she doesn’t have a [Longhouse] means that she has a severe morale penalty from that alone. Coupled with the fact that I doubt she even bothered recruiting more than one or two different types of food gatherers, the morale deficit must impact her combat capability to an even greater degree. Her items already suck, so that makes me feel even worse about the fact that I didn’t manage to kill more hobgoblins than I did during the fight.

It can’t be too bad though. She did manage to kill off three minotaurs. Considering her poor equipment, that means the distance to kill off tier three units isn’t as far as I first feared. This is good. Really good. It might mean I can ditch this sorry excuse for a gamer first chance I get.

Sigh.

I need to gather some information before I do anything.

First of all, though.

“Kain, are you near?”

A flicker in the shadows of a nearby bush catches my eye.

“Of course, Chieftain. What do you need?”

A brief smile crosses my lips. I can’t stress enough how much I like this guy. Having him around is going to be so much fun.

“I want you and the other [Rogue] on watch duty. Keep your eyes on the hobgoblin woman. I don’t trust her; and, if she tries anything, kill her. I’m not taking any chances.”

The lieutenant nods before he slips back into the shadows.

Sigh.

Gathering my thoughts and calming my mind, I head over towards the hobgoblin settlement. I make sure to stay as close to the treeline as I can, making certain I’m not too far from Kain in case anything goes to shit. Wrex and a few of his boys walk ahead, keeping their eyes peeled on the environment.

Noticing our approach, Aria and a few of her own minions head out to meet us. I can feel the gaze of her advisor on me, sizing me up. She might be an idiot; but, I doubt her V.I. companion follows her example. I make a mental note to be wary of her [Blood Priest]. With as ominous sounding class as that, I wouldn’t put it past him that he is more dangerous than he seems.

“What’s up, Shorty?” She glares at me.

I force a smile. “I figured, since we are allies and everything, that it might be prudent to share some information.” I fix my eyes on her.

“Tssk. Why bother? I know enough.”

My inner voice screams at me not to roll my eyes. Come on, Greg. Be diplomatic. You can do it. It’s not so bad. Remember your training. Remember your job…

“Maybe you do. It couldn’t hurt to compare notes though? What do you have to lose?” I ask her.

“You mean other than my temper?”

“Oh for fu-”

“Maybe we should hear him out, Mistress?” Warwick interrupts me. I still glare at the infuriating woman, my face crimson red.

“Tssk. Whatever you want, old man.” She shrugs. She drops to the ground and pulls out a knife with which she starts picking her nails.

The woman is lucky I’m not a fire mage. My eyes alone could incinerate that bitch.

“What do you want to talk about, short Chieftain?” Warwick smiles at me.

Ignoring the subtle slight, I take a deep breath. Remember your training, Greg. You’ve been through worse. Killing her would get you nothing but short term satisfaction. She is a valuable meat shield. Wrex could use a break. You got this.

I exhale deeply.

“What can you tell me of the minotaur? I need to know anything you know. Like, how many troops does he have? How many have you killed? Where is his base? What is the quality of his gear? Which class is he and his advisor?”

Warwick gives Aria a sideways glance. She just shrugs. “Tell him what he needs to know. I don’t really care.”

He closes his eyes for a moment before he turns his attention back at me. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say the old priest is frustrated. These V.I. features sure make them seem lifelike...

“We don’t exactly know how many of them there are; but, we estimate him to have at least ten [Warrior]s and two [Shaman]s. Maybe more. He doesn’t always bring everyone.” He takes a moment to scratch his chin. “ I believe we have killed eleven [Warrior]s, while we lost twenty-eight of our own. It’s not ideal; but, we have killed more priority targets.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Such as?”

“We gutted what we believe is his advisor last night. A nasty fellow who uses insect magic to attack our forces. It took a lot of effort and manpower; but, he didn’t stand a chance against our fierce leader.” He nods at Aria who sits idle to the side, yawning.

“Huh… You don’t say.”

“Uhm, I do, short Chieftain.” Warwick nods seriously, looking slightly confused.

“Ah, shit. Wait, what I meant was… Ah fuck it. Nevermind. What else can you tell me?” Goddamn V.I. conversationalists, am I right?

“Okay…” He hesitates for a moment. “We have had two major battles and six lesser skirmishes. Most of our battles have been near our own territory and at the clearing we met you. So, we don’t know precisely where his base is located. He usually arrives from, and retreats towards, the mountain. I’d make a fair wager that’s where he made his base. It might be a trick though.” He says.

“Makes sense. Almost everyone else seems to have made the same decision. Except for you guys, that is.” I mutter. “Please, go on.”

Warwick nods. “They mostly have leather and copper gear; but, they had some iron weapons in our battle last night. Their leader is of the [Guardian] class, wearing full steel plate armor and wielding a double edged steel axe and a tower shield. He has a lieutenant [Warrior]. An annoying brute who wields a two handed [Iron Axe]. He killed many of our best [Warrior]s…”

“The fucker killed Gob.” Aria growls.

“... Gob?”

She scowls at me. “Yes, Gob. My lieutenant. What? You have a fucking problem with my naming sense, Shorty?” She snaps at me.

I raise my hands defensively. “What? No… Gob doesn’t sound so… I mean… It sounds good!” I stammer.

Jesus Christ, Greg. Why do I keep reacting like when talking to women? She doesn’t even sound that hot… I mean. Fuck! Shut up, Greg.

She narrows her eyes. “Are you making fun of me, Shorty?”

“NO!” I nearly shout. I can feel how my cheeks start to blush. Oh god, not now. Why does this even happen in a virtual body?

She raises an eyebrow. “Are you… blushing?”

“No.”

A wide grin spreads on her lips. “You are, aren’t you? Really, Shorty?”

I turn away from her. “Shut up, Ugly.”

“Aaawww… Is the tough little gobby-wobby being shy now? What’s the matter Greggie? Can’t handle a being near cute girls?” She teases.

Anger builds within me. Don’t let her get under your skin Greg. You haven’t trained for this. Just shut up and weather the storm.

“Don’t tell me you are a virgin, are you?” She sports a shit-eating grin.

“I’m not!” I blurt out before I can help myself.

Her grin grows ever wider.

Shit. There’s no coming back from this. I walked face first into her taunt; and, whatever I say from here on out will just make me look worse.

For the record, I’m not a virgin. Not that it matters… Hey, fuck you! I’m not!

…

I close my eyes and start counting to ten. I shouldn’t get drawn into her pace. There is just no way I would survive that.

“...Nine...Ten.” I mutter. “Right. If you are all done being an adult, how about we talk about our plan of attack?” I ask.

“Why so serious?” She winks at me. I’m prepared though. I don’t even blink. “Tssk. Fine. The plan is simple. Tomorrow, we attack. I’ll attack up front, while you cover me from the rear. Simple and efficient. We overwhelm them with numbers.”

“Perhaps we should add a few more details?” I give her a dead stare.

“What? I’m giving you the best chance you’ll ever have at looking at a woman’s ass up close, Shorty. Maybe you should be a little more grateful?” She winks at me again.

…

Okay. Now she’s pissing me off. She may have caught me off guard earlier; but, I won’t let her ruin my strategizing. That’s like telling a Texan that bacon is overrated. Hell, that’s like telling any man that bacon is overrated. You just don’t say that kind of shit.

So, now I’m standing at a crossroads. Option A, the tempting one, is to start a long winded flame-war between us, throwing insults back and forth until it all ends in bloodshed. But, since I’m apparently being an adult, I decide to go for option B and do the grown up thing - ignore her and change the subject.

Good day to decide to try out adulting, Greg. Spectacular choice.

“We’ll hash out the details later. In the meanwhile, I have a request. I want to be the one who finishes off the minotaur.”

“What? No! Request denied. That asshole is mine!” She shouts.

Sigh. “I have a quest to kill him. I don’t want to lose out on the reward.”

“A quest, huh?” She frowns. “Is it that major personalized one that gives you five targets to kill?” She asks.

I raise my eyebrows. “You have one too?”

“Yeah… I have five targets… Well, three now. Two of them seems to have gotten themselves killed before I could get to them. A pity. One of them was really close too. A orc player named Ork’Grimlar who shared our biome. It wasn’t you that killed him, was it?” She glares at me.

“What? No. The harpy, Harvalon, did him in on the first day.” I say a tad more defensively than I probably should. “I did kill Harvalon though.”

Interesting. Seems like my quest wasn’t as unique as I thought. It sounds like the quests are pretty similar. Kill off five targets, with one of them sharing your biome. Not too bad. Gives us all something to strive for. One thing bugs me though…”

“What exactly does your quest description say?” I ask.

“Huh? What does it matter?”

“Just humor me.” I sigh.

She rolls her eyes. “One second…” Her eyes seems to glass over as her body stiffens. There’s a blue glint in her eyes that reminds me that we are indeed digital characters. No matter how real this world feels.

“Ah, here we go. ‘Hitlist: Take out your assigned targets.’”

“Is that all?” I ask.

“Yeah, why?”

“Just curious…” I furrow my brows. “Say, do you know any of the other contestants in this game?”

“What? No. Seriously, what’s up with all the questions?” She inquires, squinting at me.

“It’s nothing important, really. I have the same quest as you. It’s just worded differently.” I trail off into my own thoughts.

I’ve had a good hunch from the start that the developers were up to something. Like, how Logan took my call personally during my interview, why he dug for more information about how I lost my job, the reason he didn’t disqualify me after punching that stupid prick, Richard, in the face... He wants something from me. But, what the fuck could it be? I don’t think he gives two shits about me or my troubles. Not really. Does he have some sort of gripe with Richard? Maybe his father?

…

No. There are better ways of resolving a conflict than chucking his son and me into a video game to duke it out.

What else could it be?

Just for the lulz?

Nah, really. He can’t be that weird… It has to-

“Oy! Shorty! Are you spacing out on me? Helluuuuuh!” Aria throws pebbles at me.

In a blur of movement, Aria releases a surprised yelp. Everyone turns in her direction. Her hobgoblins sneer while raising their weapons, preparing to strike at my goblins. Wrex raises his shield threateningly, his subordinates forming a shield wall between me and the hobgoblins.

“Kain! Stand down!” I shout.

The goblin [Rogue] growls, but releases the grip on his dagger which is pressed tightly to Aria’s throat. He slides down her back and takes a step back.

“She attacked you, Chieftain.” He growls, not taking his eyes off Aria.

Sigh.

Why isn’t anyone normal around here?

...

After a few more angry threats and scowling, both races retreat back to their respective camps. We all agree to attack the minotaur at first light; and, since the situation is way too tense, we decide to postpone the planning until morning. There is just no way we can have a civilized talk without someone dying today.

I shrug it all off and slump into the grass. Wrex has already organized the idle goblins to start sparring. No need to waste daylight, is there? Especially since we’re this close to a source of water.

It’s been a long freaking day; and, I could use a nap.

I lay my head on the grass and close my eyes. Sleep doesn’t come easy to me; but, there is one thing I just can’t get out of my head.

...

I can’t believe she named him Gob.