Vladimir knew that leaping straight into the battle would be a death sentence for him.

The only thing that could help him now were the tubes on the back of the goblins.

“You two, can those two things explode?” He asked as he watched the slowly degrading situation on the catwalk.

“Yesa, but it will make a badda boom,” the goblin stretched his hand, showing how much it will explode.

“Give it to me, we need to help him,” he ordered. The goblins looked at each other and shrugged. The human was right, Sou’Rek was powerful, but there were too many rats.

“It’sa costly geara,” one of them said while looking at Vladimir with his big eyes. Vladimir thought he was trying to be cute. Now he realized he was she as he looked at them more closely.

“Za’Dek willa be angry. Again,” the other goblin added in a meek voice.

In the end, they nodded. “Hurry up,” Vladimir beckoned them, losing his patience.

“Finea, but you will be the onea paying,” they unstrapped the tubes made from a strange kind of metal.

[Alchemical steel

Ingredients: Steel, Unknown]

“How do we overload it?” He asked with a seemingly calm voice, but behind it was hidden an agitation.

“You havea to open it, slowly,” the goblinette answered as she slowly retreated.

Vladimir observed it more closely and noticed a few clasps, holding the front. He had to use all of his power to open the lid.

“Releasa all of the steam,” the goblinette said, this time from three metres distance. He looked inside and saw several smaller tubes filled in steam behind another lid. Again, he had to put everything in the opening. He jumped back as the overheated steam exploded out.

The small tubes were starting to produce more and more heat, slowly turning the protective metal red.

“Throw it away!” She yelled, panicked. What idiot would even try this? Alchemical steel was expensive material in itself and the whole steam tube was even more costly. It was safe to work with, but it needed water and steam to be stable. She heard stories of goblins who had faulty or cheapened things. Never ends well.

Sou’Rek was in a pinch. He did not realize before but if he would run, his three companions would be over-runned by the giant rats. He dodged as he could, even slew two more, but the last ten surrounded him and always attacked from behind.

He tried to lunge a few times or jump over them but the catwalk was not large enough.

“Move away!” A sudden shout echoed over the place. He glanced in the way of the source and saw a red hot canister flying over to his position. He clenched his jaw and leapt forward.

A rat was able to hit him with its nasty claw, creating a small tear on his back. The rat didn’t have enough power to hurt him badly, making only a small, bleeding scar. That was something he was trying to avoid. The fumes were already flowing inside of his diving-suit, poisoning him.

He ran with the rats right behind him. He got around five metres away, then he heard the explosion.

All of them were thrown in all directions, with him propelled forward. Most of the bastards went over the railings, falling into the septic tank. Two of them were caught up in the direct blast, their bones were broken and twitching on the ground.

He jumped back up, while his ears were ringing and effortlessly executed the rest of the rats. In the end, he lost. The diving-suit was damaged and he wanted to smack himself in the head. He got careless, made a mistake and again paid for it. The Mind of the Sage… He thought it would make him smarter, better than others. And instead got smacked again. He decided he needs to be more careful from now on.

Vladimir and the two guides darted to him. Vladimir looked around if there were some survivors but there were only corpses.

“Human, bossa has an opening in tha suit! We musta go!” The goblinette exclaimed.

The fallen inquisitor looked ill even through the glass.

“Lead!” Vladimir ordered.

They sprinted through the sewers, escaping another pack of rats in the way. They even almost collided into young orcs on their hunt, but they were deep into the shaft and luckily did not notice them.

Soon they entered a small, empty shaft, leading upward.

The revolutionary HQ was hidden on a ‘small’ space between sewers and the underground section below the city. The entrance was hidden similarly as the entrance in the cells.

“Bossa Za’Dek!” The goblin guide shouted in the room filled with resting goblins. Some of them ate, shagged or smoked some kind of weed.

[Tri-Dream Weed

Effective only for CAC less than 5. You enter a lucid dream for 3 hours upon use.]

“Ya are back! Finally!” A large goblin entered the room from his office on the side. He was large, larger than any goblin Vladimir saw. He was as big as a human, had deep green skin and small tusks, protruding from his large-mouth.

[Analysis complete: hobgoblin.

Next step in the path of goblin evolution.]

Vladimir checked the hobgoblin and nodded. Sou’Rek was hanging over his shoulder, the case he had taken in the cell was thrown into the river of filth along the way.

“You must be Za’Dek,” Vladimir said with a serious face, but inwardly he was laughing. He knew he was acting like a child, but lately, the reasons to laugh were fewer and fewer. If he has to laugh at butt joke, let it be.

“Yes, and you that human… Interesting,” he said as the hobgoblin closely examined him. He sniffed him a few times and realized his mistake.

“First, lose the suits before you stink it up here,” he ordered as he retreated to the safe distance. “And what happened to him?” He asked, finally noticing the fallen inquisitor.

“Bossa, bossa, there were at least 20 rats! He lunged at them! He is really brave!” The goblinette was bewitched by Sou’Rek. It impressed her how he fought them all by himself. If the stupid human did not throw the canister.

“Fumes, huh?” The hobgoblin motion on an empty cot near them.

Vladimir slowly put the goblin down and stepped away.

The revolutionary leader ordered another goblin to strip him and then examined him.

“He will get over it,” was the only thing he said then turned to a now naked human.

“Hmm, you are not much. I heard better, Traitor-Slayer,” he said while flatly staring at Vladimir’s body.

“So what now?” Vladimir asked, completely lost. He finally got out of the cell and the coliseum. He was free.

“Now, you will work for us. We got you out, you owe us. We are backed by the church of steam, but their service is expensive,” he explained

Vladimir frowned. He doubted he could be a warrior, for that he has too little experience. Assassin? The senses of orcs would be able to pick up his smell from far away. Businessman? Who in this city would even make a deal with him. Devils would eat him alive and orcs would execute him on the spot. The only thing he could think out was being an inventor, but nobody knew who he was in the past life he felt was so long ago. Sou’Rek only knew he hailed himself as a genius in his world and that it didn’t have any magic or ki. At least, for what he knew.

“No. No warrior, no assassin and for fucks sake no merchant,” the hobgoblin read him like a book.

“Did you just…” Vladimir asked, incredulously.

“No, I did not read your mind. It’s just weak humans like you are easy to read. No, you will do as said. Sou’Rek said you have interesting abilities. You were able to change the orcen basic breathing technique,” Za’Dek said, completely flabbergasting Vladimir.

He did not realize before, but now it was clear to him that the fallen inquisitor was smart enough to discern the changes.

“So, you want it for goblins,” Vladimir nodded. It made sense. The goblins were terribly outclassed by the orcs themselves. The devilish wizards were something so high up he could not even imagine their true power.

“Yes, what do you need?” The hobgoblin did not want to waste any more time.

“Goblin corpses, the best would be fresh and a few alive ones. Two or three would be enough. A place of my own,” Vladimir slowly counted, while the hobgoblin nodded at each item.

He did not trust them enough to ask for healing. He already owes them one, no need to add to the pile.

“Oh, and bring me food,” he added.

“Goulash, Bread!” Za’Dek shouted. Immediately two young goblins arrived, male and female, both wearing clean black togas, sandals and pouches on their backs. The male had black, short, wild hair. Otherwise, he looked like the rest of his race. Ugly face with a far too long nose, big mouth filled with sharp teeth and big black eyes. The female had white, long, braided hair, looking meekly.

Where they came from, Vladimir did not even notice. It felt like they just materialized next to their leader. “These two are my closest helpers. If something happens, they know how to find me,” he beckoned them.

“I am Goulash!” The male introduced with a deep voice, standing in attention.

“I… I am…” She opened her mouth, but Vlad was barely able to hear her over the noise in the room as she spoke too softly and his heart beating.

“She is Bread!” Goulash spoke for her.

“Hi, I am Vladimir,” Vladimir introduced himself and raised his hand. The goblinette flinched and took a step back. “Did I do something wrong?” Vladimir asked. He did not expect that someone stronger than him would fear him.

“No,” Goulash answered while holding Bread by her arm. “She had just had a bad experience! She will get better as she gets used to you,” he added.

“Goulash…” She meekly said as she looked at him, red as tomato.

“Hey, you twoa, wherea the fucka is the second tube?!” The local quartermaster yelled at the two poor guides, interrupting Vladimir and the group.

“It wasa him! He broke it and threwa it in the pack of rats to save former bossa!” The goblin guide shouted back and wildly pointed at Vladimir.

The quartermaster quickly walked to the said man and asked, “did he talka the truth?”

Vladimir looked at the large, fat goblin wondering if he was more large than tall as it was so close that even with his analyser he had a problem to say.

“So?” The fat, ugly goblin impatiently said.

“Yes…” He unwillingly admitted.

“You pay me backa! Or find me newa one!” And with this, the quartermaster marched off with heavy huffs as his fat shook.

Vladimir glanced at the grinning hobgoblin, but the moment he saw his smile, he knew there he was not going to help.

“Sou’Rek will wake up in the next two days, now I have to go. Do not make a mess, do not fight and if there are some problems, talk to my helpers,” he nodded and left. The two helpers went to their duties after an apology. Bread looked back at the human with an inquisitive gaze but followed Goulash without a word.

Vladimir stood there, looking around the crowded room of rowdy goblins.

“Oh, for the love of… What has my life become?” He asked himself while looking for something he could call a bed. He found two cots, unexpectedly clean and dropped on the makeshift bed. He tried to fall asleep, naked as the day he was born, which he frankly got used to. What he did not get used to were the loud noises, though the cell he shared with Sou'Rek had been good preparation.

Oh and he forgot to allow Onyx to absorb the energy. All of those rats… Damn it!

⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬

“What do you mean gone?” The orc asked the covering goblin near the hole in the cell, who feared the punishment. The orc was the perfect example of his race; burly muscles, bald, lightly decorated tusks with gold, white toga with sandals and a large double-axe at his back.

“There is a hole! In the ground! Hell took them!” The poor goblin squealed in fright.

The orc peeked into the cell, slightly gaping at the hole in the bedrock. “And how in the hell nobody heard it?” The orc wondered to himself.

Now he will have to explain to two powerful superiors and a devil that the prisoner was gone. Who knows where. He briefly wondered if he could run away, but he dropped such a notion as fast as it came.

He sighed, grabbed the goblin by his head and left.

⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬

“What do you mean gone?” The almost naked devil asked the covering orc, who feared the punishment. The devil woman looked very agitated as she learned about it. Dargan took longer than she anticipated. Ssirze tried to interrupt but she put him in his place as fast as he came. A simple spell to cage him in a dream he did not expect. It took him a whole three hours to get out of it. He said it was because he did not expect her, but she suspected he just used it as an excuse to stay there.

“Kulgar, Dargan,” she turned to the two brothers, who were laying in the bed exhausted, “hire an army! I want him here! A fucking blind spot… A being that is immune to divination magic and even spills it into the outside world! Do you know how unique it is?” She asked, eyes filled with greed.

“Yes, mistress,” they answered simultaneously and left the room. Naked.

The succubus giggled at the sight and turned to the lone, scarred orc.

“Now, what punishment will be here for you, little orc?” She stood up, her breasts and ass enticingly jiggled. The orc gulped and prayed to Staumaz, hoping he would survive the incoming ordeal.