Author’s note: I ended up writing the entire chapter twice. The completed chapter got corrupted literally seconds before I uploaded it. That was really harsh. -__-

Chapter 14: Plight of a Magician

Half a day had passed since I returned to the Goblin’s Paradise. During that time, I have come to learn a few things. First, the Portal would be closed for the next five days. This was clearly stated by the system after I went towards that place. During that time, I groaned in frustration. Five days was too long, especially in a world where killing was the same as breathing. The second thing I’ve learned was the unexpected efficiency of my two subordinates. They did everything I ordered, no questions asked. I was honestly happy by this, since I could do a lot more things now that I have my very own men. My only problem was that they were both level 1 monsters, creatures that could die in an instant.

After testing my magic, I realized that my mana regenerates at a slow speed, at a rate of 2 points per minute. Running out of mana during battle would be imminent, and I needed a way to counter that out.

And so, we were currently inside the Mines. The three of us, me including Uno and Dos, were holding pickaxes. Our goal was to mine Cursed Rubies. Those things have a grim name, but in reality, they were high grade mana stones coveted even by the rulers of this Realm. A single consumption regenerates 200 mana, which was almost twice my current pool.

I led my men towards the deeper parts of the mines. Upon arriving there, I immediately issued my orders.

“Uno, you search for Cursed Rubies over there,” I said. “Dos, you take that one.”

The two nodded in understanding. It was amazing that despite being unable to speak, these two held eyes filled with intelligence. They were unlike the other Goblin Spawns in this place. This was not simple bias held by a superior. It was a conclusion I came to after interacting with them.

To clearly differentiate the two, I looted clothes from the mountain of corpses outside, ripped it off then made a scarf. I asked Uno to wear a red scarf on its neck, while Dos wore a blue one. If I did not do this, it would have been a pain to differentiate between the two of them. After all, they looked really alike.

The three of us began hitting the rocks using our pickaxes. There was no one here aside from our group. Quite a distance from us, I could hear the reverberating sound of the other goblins working.

At first, I was a bit hesitant on mining Cursed Rubies. These stones were clearly valuable to the Goblin Race, and I was not sure if there would be repercussions if I took them for myself. But after some deliberation, I decided that I needed those stones. Unlike other Goblins, I was wearing clothes anyway. I could just hide them there. As long as they were not found, there should be no problem in keeping them.

Time passed and our group eventually got our hands on some Cursed Rubies. Luckily, they were really small, and it was easy tucking them inside my pockets. We got a total of four stones and I decided that that should be enough for today.

“You two, come here,” I said. Immediately, they stopped hitting the stones and went towards me. I was significantly larger than them now that I was a Goblin Mage.

Standing side to side, the two of them awaited my next words.

“We are going to hunt,” I said. “Do you understand what I am trying to say?”

The two looked at each other then at me. They shook their heads.

I let out a sigh. I decided to ask them straightforwardly this time. “Do you have objections if I decide to kill our fellow Goblins?”

The two were probably surprised by what I said. Their eyes widened momentarily. But eventually, they shook their head. I felt relief upon seeing that.

“Of course, I am taking the two of you with me. You shall help me in the hunt,” I said. Although they were the weakest type of monster in this place, bringing them together with me as I hunt would still be better than simply being alone. “Are there objections?”

The two motioned that there was none. My lips crooked into a smile at that.

“Good. We still have five days before the Portal opens again. Time to gather some Exp.”

***

Goblin Spawns were the weakest bunch out here. With that in mind, I decided to make sure the two of then doesn’t die unnecessarily. First, we need a shield and a weapon. Pickaxes were out of the question. They were simply too heavy right now for the two.

I led the two around the Goblin Slaughterhouse. There were thousands of goblins in this place, all busily moving about.

“If you find anything we could use as a shield, woods or something, tell me.”

The two nodded in understanding. We looked left and right, searching for materials we could use as shield. Dos, the one wearing a blue scarf, tugged at my clothes. I looked at the direction he was pointing at.

“Good job,” a praise escaped my lips. Dos was clearly please by my statement. For the first time, I saw it smile. It was a peculiar feeling, seeing a monster smiling at me, but for some reason, it reminded me of a child trying to please his parents.

I went towards the place my minion pointed at. Before me, piles of wood were scatted on the ground. Most of them were broken, some were rotting, but I could see fine ones here and there. After licking my lips, I began rummaging through them. I eventually found two slabs of wood which I deemed good enough to be a shield.

Using my knife, I bore two holes in each of them, near the center. I then inserted a bundle of twisted cloths inside then tied it, creating a part which would be easy enough to grasp.

“Finally done,” I mumbled after completing the shields. A bit curious, I used the Identify skill on it.

Broken Wood

Durability: 4/4

A rotting piece of wood. It was supposed to be a shield, but it can’t really protect anything. Due to the horrible aesthetic sense of the creator, cloths were inserted at its center.

It was not even considered a shield, huh? I was a bit dejected at this, but at the same time, reading the descriptions given by my skill was amusing.

My two minions were staring at me, probably wondering why I was smiling.

“Try it.”

I handed the shields to them. Good. They could easily carry it using one hand. A notification popped up unannounced.

You have gained a Title!

Horrible Goblin Craftsman

Level 1

A title granted only to Goblins that have crafted a horrible piece of equipment.

+ 1 durability to all equipment crafted.

Upon reaching a certain level, this title would enable the craftsman to endow bonus stats to the items created.

The bonus right now was a bit useless, but the last statement really piqued my curiosity. So, it would be possible to create items granting bonus stats, huh? That would really be convenient. After all, leveling up in this world was hard. Consequently, obtaining status points were the same.

I looked at my two men. Unlike before, they looked more durable now. They no longer gave off the feeling of dying after a flick of a finger. A shield really did wonders.

Now, it was time to get them some weapons. One-handed ones at that.

“Follow me,” I said, and the two immediately complied. It was really amazing that these two did not object to anything I say. They really did everything, no questions asked.

With a clear goal in mind, I led the two towards the place where the carnivorous plants were located. Just like before, the plant monsters resembling sunflowers were being fed corpses one after another. Numerous Goblin Spawns were carrying dead bodies towards this place, and the Goblin Workers harvested the fruits that dropped down the stalks of the plant monsters. Some time ago, I saw a plant ‘accidentally’ eating a goblin. My fear of those carnivorous monsters increased a level since then. I engraved in my mind that I should not get close to them.

I looked around. I was pretty sure it was around this place.

“Over there,” I mumbled after finally finding the place.

With two goblins obediently following behind me, I went towards the place below the cliff. The roots of those plant monsters protruded out of this place. This area was like a comfort room for them, the place where they ‘defecate’ things they could not easily digest: human bones.

In front of us, a mountain of bones was seen. I rummaged through them, searching for a femur of a right size. Thud sounds were heard as I tossed bones left and right. Eventually, I found two of them.

“Take it,” I said to Uno and Dos.

The two took the femurs. They looked like a skull goblin now, at least that was what it was called in a game I played many years ago.

I did not know if it was common knowledge, but human bones were actually stronger than asphalt. If a rock and a bone were to clash, the rock would eventually be the first one to break apart – if they have the same weight, theoretically. If we were to base just on strength alone, bones were even stronger than steel. Of course, there was the density which we have to consider, since bones were made lighter in nature to support the movement of the body.

Equipping my men was somewhat satisfying. They looked a bit cooler right now. I was moved by the sight. No matter what the system said, I really thought that the shield I made were awesome.

I gestured for the two to come closer to me.

“We are now going to hunt goblins,” I said. “The two of you, make sure that the enemy won’t be able to come close to me. If it tries to flee, block its way out. You can attack with your bone mace, but make sure to focus on defense. Don’t die. Got it?”

They both nodded. These two were really intelligent.

“We’ll be going back to the Mines. Let’s go.”

***

The Mines in the Goblin Slaughterhouse was vast. I have not fully explored it yet, and I have no intentions to. I was sure that it was a dangerous maze that once you were lost, you could die simply from starvation. I did not want that to happen, so I stayed in places I was familiar with.

Currently, the three of us were walking through the tunnels. There were goblins here and there, their pickaxes hitting the walls, creating loud striking sounds. Killing goblins near the entrance would be foolish, so I led my men towards the deeper parts of the tunnel.

After some time, we finally found a goblin working alone in the dark. Goblins usually worked in groups, but in these tunnels, it was not unusual to find a goblin working alone. Those kinds of guys were my target. Three versus one should be easy enough.

“Get ready,” I said to my two men. Immediately, as though they have trained for a long time, they positioned themselves near the exit, blocking the potential way out. The Goblin still have no idea that we were going to target it. Faithfully, it continued to strike its pickaxe against the wall of the tunnels.

“Fireball,” I chanted. A full second passed, and a twirling mass of fire began manifesting itself in front of me. As expected, there really was a bit of delay in formation of the spell.

Probably because the tunnels got a bit brighter all of a sudden because of the fire in my palm, the goblin looked my way. It stared at me, then at the fireball twirling in place.

It was probably due to inexperience, but right now, I have no means of making the fireball move by itself. I literally have to throw it to the enemy, otherwise, it will simply remain in my hands.

I stepped in, then using the force of my entire body, threw the fireball towards the Goblin. Its eyes widened for a moment, before it eventually jumped to the size to evade the attack.

“Damn it.”

My attack missed the target. Using magic was harder than I thought.

“Fireball,” I chanted again.

The Goblin probably realized that I was trying to kill it. It shrieked, its voice reverberating through the tunnel walls. Shit. At this rate, reinforcements would come.

Uno and Dos probably felt my plight. They moved in and began hitting the Goblin using their femur-turned-mace. The enemy Goblin was hit by the sudden attack. It fell down the ground, pain evident in its eyes. I used that chance to strike.

Once again, I threw a fireball with all my might. This time, the attack hit the goblin on the ground. The fireball created a small explosive sound upon impact, but the damage itself was disappointingly smaller than expected.

“Fireball!”

“Fireball!”

After two more strikes, the Goblin finally died.

You have killed a Goblin Worker!

You have received 53 Exp!

“It takes three fireballs to kill a Goblin Worker, huh?”

This felt stupid. I was regretting choosing the Mage class now, for a bit. If it takes three fireballs to kill a Goblin Worker, then a complete mana pool would grant me only three kills. Well, there was the Cursed Rubies which were supposed to be high class mana stones. I should be able to replenish my mana pool with those items. The only problem was I did not really have an idea how to use them.

“A Lesser Fireball is really weak. Damn it.”

If I leveled up my skills, I could probably kill a Goblin Worker with just a single strike of my magic. But right now, that seemed impossible. I have to survive with this weak magic for now.

I turned towards my men. “Bury the body on the ground.”

The two nodded. They grabbed the pickaxe left behind by the dead goblin then began hitting the ground. After burying the corpse, we went around the tunnels again, hunting for our next prey.

Leveling up in this apocalyptic world was really hard. But I have no choice but to get stronger from now on. With that in mind, I resumed the hunt.