Well this is going to be a problem.

The first night had passed by now. Gorin had been a zealous manager of the snail pit and collected every snail as soon as it had grown adult. She had only left a few of them behind that had already laid a few batches of eggs now. Luckily it seemed growth also affected reproductive cycles and such so that the numbers of snails did not go down too much. Thanks to that the goblins had the first good meal since a while. But another thing happened as well, one goblin was lost. Apparently a Mountainstalker had snuck up on a goblin that was posted outside to keep watch. Another goblin had only seen how the beast had jumped him, broke his neck with a single bite and pulled him away. From what i was told that thing should be a big cat with short, brownish fur.

“So what are we going to do about this? ”(Me)

“Lord, I think it will return soon. It should also be responsible for some of our peoples disappearances during the time we were fleeing. ” (Gobar)

We both remained in the cave and pondered for a while. Simply said this was a really bad situation. The Mountainstalker was alone but the goblins were not really on par with it. They would still need some time to recover from the days of starving. Even then a single goblin as they were now wouldn't be able to kill a beast like that. They may be able to see in the night relatively good and hear better than humans as well but the beast was better. One idea would have been that i keep watch. But as i learned even a Dungeon Lord seems to need sleep. So that was not an option in the long run either.

Well sitting here won't help.

So i went towards building once more. First up it was important to get some more food in. I went to the snail pit and made a branch in the connecting tunnel that led to another small nursery and filled it with 200 of the smiley meals.

Next i should make sure that the goblins replenish their numbers.

It was time to build a room for the small goblins to grow up as well. From what i understood they would need longer than insects since their bodies were bigger and more complex. So i build a nursery to the side of the big cave and expanded it to double the size. They could use the moss as beds at least.

Ah let's see how my status is like now

Name: Goblin Cave Rank: F Mana: 39370 Mana recovery: 2788 M/h Level: 1 10%

Well nothing surprising on the mana part. But why did i get percents on my level ?

Since there were a lot of snails killed you gained some.

Once you rank up once insects and other unranked beings will no longer

provide any exp for you. From then on only beings of the same, higher or at most one rank beneath you will have an effect on you.

Well that was something at least, then we would not stagnate forever here at least. Now back to that damn beast, what should I do about that guy.

Now that i had taken care of everything that needed immediate attention i returned to the crystal core and informed Gobar that he should take the hoblin children to the new nursery. I simply assumed that Gorin would see the tunnel and extend her duties since she was such a hard worker.

Hmmm that reminds me did I not get a plant at the end of the Tutorial ? Gotta take a look at that maybe it´s something useful

Shadow Grass 3 M

Common grass that contains a weak neurotoxin.

Sometimes used by the poor as a drug.

Causes in a high dose confusion, paralyzation and hallucinations.

Well that could be useful.... Wait a moment that might be an idea. How do goblins get skills.

Any being can acquire skills by fulfilling certain conditions.

Active ones by reaching a certain mastery in the basics.

Passive ones by being exposed to and surviving outside influences,

the stronger the influence the stronger the gain.

Hmm wait are those then simply numerical values on how far you are ?

Once a skill is learned, skill points can be invested.

This advances skills faster than just through normal work.

Further, by upgrading an active skill, basic knowledge of the corresponding

level will be transferred to the individual.

In case of passive skills the body will be altered.

Skills are divided by rank :

Legend

Master

Expert

Practitioner

Novice

Advanced

Middle

Low

Ahh well that is useful… Now i think i might have an idea about how to deal with the fucking predator out there.

“Gobar ! Get in here quickly !” (Me)

Why i do not go to the old goblin ? because i am the Lord here. Simple as that.

I waited a bit as i heard the goblins outside transmitting my call and soon after the old goblin came rushed inside accompanied by the clanking of his staff.

“You called, Lord?”(Gobar)

“Yes, what skills do you have as shaman ? ”(Me)

The old goblin settled down on the furs once again while he replied.

“Well, Lord, I have learned nature, earth and water magic to the middle level ”(Gobar)

“Is among one of those a magic to cure poison ? Do your apprentices have the same skills ?”(Me)

“Yes, Lord, both nature and water magic offer certain spells to cure various poisons and yes since they are learning from me they learned the same. Though they are mostly still in the low area. ”(Gobar)

Jackpot ! Now i can give this a try.

“Get the least useful male goblin we currently have and wait with him and with your apprentices here”

I left as soon as i instructed Gobar and went to the second nursery to plant some of the shadow grass in the back of it. Unlike normal grass it had one central root from which green blades of grass would grow upwards and the roots down. But for some reason it would not grow at all.

Huh? what is going on here?

Shadow Grass needs light to grow unlike the

moss you have planted previously.

Light?..... yeah right i am in a cave so how do i even see anything ?

As Dungeon Lord you see everything if it was under light.

Even goblins need some light which is why they plant

luminous mushrooms.

Duh

Ohh ok, makes sense…. and is pretty useful. Also... did the screen just get back at me ?

The matter about the screen had to be put aside for now. A quick look around told me that there were indeed those mushrooms in certain places. Gobrin had even planted some of them into the nurseries. After some thought i simply left the cave and went to the entrance. I raised a square wall just high enough to border the goblins hips and was delighted to see that it was recognized as its own room. I planted the Shadowgrass here and activated growth. It sprouted just like i had wanted.

Perfect ! now for a gardener…..

“Hey you goblin ! you with the runny nose ! ”(Me)

The goblins present looked startled and everyone tried to see who was meant before they all focused on one of them that had snot flowing out of his nose.

“Y-y-yes Lord? ”´(snot goblin)

“Get over here to the plot and water these plants. Once they grow halfway to your shin harvest them and bring them posthaste to the crystal room”(Me)

The goblin went at it right away, running into the cave to get water from the nursery. I meanwhile returned to the crystal room where gobar and his apprentices waited with another goblin for my return.

“Gobar who is this one ?”(Me)

“This is Gob my Lord…. he fits your criteria. But he is a good goblin that will follow any command given.”(Gobar)

Well that for sure. That guy looks dumb even for a goblin ! I guess he would just obey and do what he is told. Which is perfect for my plans!

The one in question had indeed a slightly absent expression on his face and with his big glassy eyes he looked silly at best. Well for his task he didn´t need to be the sharpest tool in the box.

“Gob i have an important mission for you this night. For this you will need to go through some… experiments.”(Me)

“...”(Gob)

I waited for a few moments but he didn't seem to have any intention to respond at all. There wasn't even a change in his expression.

“Hey, Gobar is that one just dumb or brain dead?”(Me)

“Lord, your sentence was too complicated. I think he doesn´t realize you are speaking with him. It would be best if you give him very short and precise instructions.”(Gobar)

The heck… sounds more like a zombie. But who cares. Let's see how useful he can become.

I waited then for a while longer and talked about Gobar about other things. I did learn some about their old home place, which seemed to be a “peaceful” Village. “Peaceful” because apparently they were too weak and cowardly to pick a fight with any of their neighbours. Finally the snot goblin came running in with a primitive basket that had been filled to the brim with Shadowgrass. He set it down and i immediately dismissed him to get more.

“Lord what do we need those for?”(Gobar)

The old goblin was eyeing the basket and picked up a blade of the grass. He was obviously in doubt about how we would use this to battle the beast.

“If the Lord´s plan is to put out poisoned bait i am afraid the Mountainstalker will smell it.”(Gobar)

“Ahh but we will put out a very special bait. Give the basket to Gob and let him eat it ”(Me)

The old goblin's eyes widened in shock and he looked very uneasy.

“Lord, even if the poison is within a goblin the beast will not eat a corpse.”(Gobar)

“You idiot i am not telling you to kill Gob, let the poison do its work on him for a bit and then cure him! Now less questions more work”(Me)

The goblin grandpa and his apprentices seemed confused, but did as i had told them anyway. They gave the basket to the idiot goblin and had him eat more and more of it. There was some fascination to it to watch how the poison took effect on the goblin. His face became partially paralyzed and he seemed to be hallucinating. That was until Gobar made a cut in his arm and activated his spell.

“[Blood purification] !” (Gobar)

I watched in wonder as the spell pulled a blackish liquid out of the wound. It seemed to be the poison that remained in his bloodstream.

A goblin has acquired:

low neurotoxin resistance.

Skill was added to your list.

Nice ! it works !

“Gobar catch that poison you are pulling out of Gob. We will use it later.”(Me)

“Lord ! we will need a bowl for that or it will affect us too if it seeps into our skin.”(Gobar)

“Good then get one. Repeat this process and feed him the stronger poison with the grass later. ”

It gets in through skin even ? That's more than i had wanted.

I watched how they fed and detoxed the poor Gob over and over again. They took turns in using the spells so that the others had time to recover their mana. At some point i even grew bored of watching it because Gob just smiled dumbly, nodded and did as he was told. I went outside to get some other goblins move towards the nearest trees and organize some long sticks. They were supposed to make them into makeshift spears. After half of the day had passed finally the message came.

A goblin has acquired:

middle neurotoxin resistance

low poison body

Skills were added to your list.

Ahahaha ! perfect there even was a skill for that !

I had read in the past about how you can build resistance to certain things. Just how an alcoholic could have a immense blood alcohol concentration that would knock other people out cold. The good Gob now had poison in his blood.

Hmmm now that i think of it what list were those skills added to ? My own ?

Any skills your servants learn can be granted to others for a

certain amount of mana.

The individual has to be compatible with the skill.

The list can be found under the servants menu.

Ahh well good to know. Maybe i'll have some others learn those as well but not now. Give me the infos on the poison body skill !

Poison body(passive)

Depending on what is eaten, poison will gather in the body.

This is especially so for bodily fluid like spit, blood etc.

Higher ranks of this allow a higher concentration and different kinds

of poison to be stored.

Cannot exceed poison resistance.

Nice ! now let's see if that gets any higher

I leisurely returned to the crystal and saw that Gobar had a few bowls of the poison standing around. They had fed Gob some snails and water as well to replenish him from the constant draining.

“Seems it is going as planned. Do you think we can get his poison body higher, Gobar?”(Me)

“Gob learned the poison body skill ?!” (Gobar)

The old goblin was thoroughly astonished and seemed to ponder for a while. He then pondered for a while before he begun to insistently prattle on to Gob. Our poisonous idiot looked confused at Gobar for at least half an hour if not more before he suddenly smiled brightly and nodded repeatedly with such vigour that his ears sways back and forth.

A goblin has acquired :

Middle poison body

Skill was added to your list.

How did that happen ?

“Gobar?”(Me)

“Yes ! Lord, i had Gob use his skill points for this. ”(Gobar)

“hahaha ! good, but why did he… no he is simply too stupid to do it by himself?”(Me)

“Yes and we didn't want him to have any dangerous skills so we never told him to do it before.”(Gobar)

Perfect ! now for the rest of the plan… we just need to wait till night.

Night the same day:

This damn kitty cat show up here soon or i'll really get some anger problems here.

I was grumbling to myself as i waited outside. The whole space in front of the dungeon was void of goblins except for Gob who stood close to the fence with one of the wooden spears in hand like a sentry. Though no sentry would look as absentminded as he.

Well he is just bait… but i somehow i am split on whether to wish for his survival or his death.

Like this it went on for a good while longer. Suddenly i realized something was slowly edging closer to the goblin from his blind angle.

Holy shit ! even i nearly didn't notice that thing. How can a cat as big as that be so silent and stealthy.

In this moment i was seriously glad that i had NO body. That cat was bigger than a wolf at least. I zoomed closer even to take a closer look and marveled at the predatory impression this beast gave off. That was until it got ready to pounce.

Uh oh nearly forgot the plan !

I flew back to Gob and just as the cat run towards the goblin and jumped I shouted into his ear

“Gob to your left ! Defend !”(Me)

The goblin turned just in time to see the giant cat leap at him. With a panicked screech he pulled up his hands instinctively to protect himself.

Hmm guess even idiots recognize mortal danger ! … Damn this whole Dungeon Lord business makes you cold.

I marveled just for a moment at my cold calculations before the fight drew my attention back.

The cat had been surprised by my voice it seems. It was distracted for a moment and didn't see the goblin raise his hands. Most likely he didn't even realize that it brought the spear's tip towards the cat. It only managed to make a bloody scratch in its shoulder but it was enough to enrage the beast. It attacked Gob mercilessly and got his forearm between its teeth. Gob was screaming all the while and struggling fiercely but of course it was amounting to not much. The goblin's blood leaked from the beast's maw as it ripped through flesh. But after some moment it's eyes widened and it let go, spitting and retching harshly.

Yeah now you are in deep shit kitty !

“Gobar now !”(Me)

On my command several goblins burst out of the dungeon´s entrance. 5 of them armed with the other wooden spears and the three mages.

“[Natures binding !]”(apprentices)

“[Swamp´s embrace!]”(Gobar)

The effect was not really dramatic but it did its purpose. The grass around the beast's legs wrapped around it and held it in place while Gobar´s spell let the cat sink down like it was in quicksand.

Hah ! got you now.

The other goblins approached the cat cautiously with the spears directed at it. The predator that had now become prey itself was in a pretty confused state right now. The bitter and burning sensation its mouth and throat, it's trapped limbs and the approaching goblins drove it into a violent struggle but to no avail. The hissing and snarling made the spearmen back of a little, but the mages recast their spells a few times to incapacitate the feline further and the poison soon enough weakened its thinking and movement. Once it was sure that the cat had no way to escape one of the apprentices hurried over to Gob and begun treating his wounds, careful to not come into direct contact with his blood himself.

Good, time for the next stage !

“Hey kitty, do you understand me ? ”(Me)

At my words the cat hissed angrily and i felt something like a negative emotion, apparently it did not like to be called that. I wonder what it meant in cat language.

Wait why is it not translated to anything ?

Beasts like this especially lone predators do not have much

in terms of actual expressions since they do not need them.

You will get a vague feeling of their meaning.

Hmmh guess not everything is possible to be put in words.

“Anyway i'll make it easy. Submit, or die !”(Me)

The cat looked at the goblins and down at its trapped legs for a while, growling and snarling but at the end it seemed to settle down.

Congratulations you have a new species

Mountainstalker

For your first subduing of a being and acquiring a new species your recieved a level up

You recieved titles for your actions:

Using your own subjects as bait without a second thought or remorse

[Cruel Overlord]

Using your own subjects as experimental testobjects and delighting in their pains

[Sadistic researcher]