It had taken over 24 hours to reach the village, the neverending drone of thousands of small feet only pausing when the entourage had stopped for the night. Mike spent the majority of his time foraging near the trail. He had actually come across some turnips and fennel, which he was excited to add to his garden.

As the sun set and shadows lengthened, the raiding party waited quietly in the bushes.

“They still haven’t posted sentries… Why wouldn’t they post any sentries?” he whispered gently.

Although the small creatures didn’t provide a plethora of different conversation topics, he had found himself talking out loud to them more frequently. It was nice to have some company, even if the company was a different species and didn’t speak the same language. Still, he was holding out hope that with enough time they would be able to understand and communicate with him.

“Big Bossy Boss” the hobgoblins nearest him murmured their customary response to his whispered query.

Accepting that he wasn’t going to gain any additional insight from the hobgoblins, he sprinted into the town. He was actually hoping that this raid could result in acquiring a few items and mostly scaring the townsfolk, but he was planning for the worst. If he was forced to fight, the optimal scenario for the hobgoblins, as he saw it, was one where he weakened the townsfolk to the point that the small creatures could easily deliver the finishing blow, thus getting the experience for the kill. He had noticed that a single kill for a level 1 hobgoblin brought them up a full two levels during the last fight.

His high Dexterity brought him to the back door of Bart’s shop in a matter of seconds. Someone had taken the time to reattach the door since he was last here, and ever the thoughtful guest, he gently tried to open the door and spare the hinges this time around. No sense in destroying hand forged metal. Locked. Internally debating whether to save the hand crafted hinges or the nice slab of oak that was the door, he decided oak was more replaceable. Two hits form his ax and the door fell inward.

“Remember, we aren’t out for blood, we just want to scare them away from fighting us in the future and grab a few small necessities.” he said, turning over his shoulder to speak to Creeagle, only to find that nobody was behind him.

Spinning all the way around, he spotted the tribal leader and his hosts standing with uncertainty, still in the bushes on the edge of town, seemingly unwilling to cross the border.

“Yeah, good point, I did just say we weren’t looking for blood. You guys just wait there and I’ll be back in a jiffy.”

His foot stopped in midair as he attempted to enter the building, Damage Premonition sending warning tendrils over his whole body. As he withdrew his foot, the feelings dissipated, then reappeared as he attempted to step back in again. Deciding he would listen to his ability, even if might be on the fritz, he headed towards the front of the store.

No sooner had he turned the corner than a large mob of angry adventurers stepped out from the nearby doors, sealing off both ends of the alley. Even more of their number stood up on the roofs of the buildings around him, blocking off every avenue of escape and ringing him in on all sides. As he glanced around at his attackers, some of the faces stood out as those he had previously killed.

The heavy silence and tension was broken as man stepped out from his fellows. Mike guessed he was the leader of the operation based on his superior weaponry and armor.

“Atta..” the man’s opened mouth was silenced by an ax to the face. Mike casually swayed aside from the rebounding ax sending it into those behind him.

Not wasting any time, Mike was already charging the end of the alleyway with the smaller number of enemies, which sadly happened to be further into town.

“This is why I always plan for the worst” he muttered aloud as he danced from one man to the next, striking off spear heads and causing what little damage he could.

For the first time since Bart and his crew had ambushed him in the valley, he felt worried about the outcome of the fight. In their greed, enemies along the roof and behind him began attacking him with projectiles, often hitting their own team members when he dodged to the side. Damage Premonition was enough to keep him going initially, but soon attacks began to land and he found himself getting weaker.

“Raidy raid!” a small voice shouted out.

“Raidy raid!” the rest of the hobgoblins yelled, their proximity to Mike evident in their volume.

The group surrounding Mike momentarily lost focus, realizing for the first time that Mike wasn’t alone and that a horde of hobgoblins was on their doorstep. Not wasting their distraction, he changed directions and charged the group that was nearest the hobgoblins, pincering the enemies between him and his army. His axes whirled as he severed muscles, tendons and bones with every strike. Without the enemies’ full attention, he was able to quickly make his way back to the hobgoblin horde and out of the alleyway.

As he rounded the corner of the alleyway and out of the enemy throng, his Damage Premonition skill once again erupted, warning him of danger all over his body. Contorting as he moved, he managed to dodge all manner of axes, spears, knives and arrows, but was thrown forward as a fireball hit him directly in the back. Using Tumble, he was able to roll with the blow, rotating to face his attackers and ending crouched on his haunches. It wouldn’t be enough though, as Damage Premonition warned him of many more incoming strikes, forcing him to use Unflinching Meteor. The enemies didn’t realize for a full two seconds that he was invincible, and continued wasting resources on him. Upon realizing his invulnerability, the enemies ran to converge upon him.

“Big Bossy Boss!” Creeagle and a few hundred hobgoblins attempted to stage a rescue and ran to meet the converging enemies.

He watched as hobgoblins were thrown about in droves, but the enemies began falling to the hobgoblins’ superior numbers. With only 1 second remaining of Unflinching Meteor, he watched as a small, Level 1 hobgoblin, happily perched on the shoulders of an adventurer and punching away at the man’s skull, was thrown through the doorway of Bart’s shop. A loud click followed by a deafening explosion blew the walls from the shop, spraying surrounding hobgoblins and townsfolk alike with wooden shrapnel. Rage coated Mike’s vision as he activated Footsteps of the Wind and went on a rampage. In the 10 seconds it was active, he took down every townsperson he could reach, killing with impunity and without mercy, the fire of honing his senses to be a match for his extreme speed.

Mike’s Dexterity abruptly dropped as the enemy turned to flee, and he could barely keep up with Creeagle as the tribe leader chirped loudly, waving a poached knife above his head as he led his numerous army forward into the town.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

The battle raged through the entirety of the night, the townsfolk periodically grouping in an attempt to thwart the monster horde. One such attempt happened near the center of town, where Mike was surprised to see Bart, Jake, and the man he didn’t know appear out of thin air. Was he really viewing respawn for himself?

The appearance of the giant was troubling, but Mike’s fears proved unfounded as Creeagle activated Trilling Enthrallment and caused all of the surrounding hobgoblins to dog pile the man, while Mike dealt with the other two.

Around 10 minutes later, Mike realized he had indeed found where adventurers respawned, as a surprised Fenn appeared and found herself in the middle of a battlefield. Mike couldn’t help himself, and he dueled her for a while, allowing himself to accrue a few more points towards Dodge and Hardened Skin. When he had had his feel, he activated Footsteps of the Wind and quickly ended the fight in order to join his forces.

Though they townsfolk grouped many times, they were unable to stop the raid. When the survivors fled town, Mike kept the hobgoblins from chasing after them, not willing to take any more losses than he already had.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

As the sun rose on the town, Mike checked off the items on his grocery list: Anvil, Scotch Auger Set, Paprika (though the small amount of the powder meant it would have to be used sparingly), Hammers, Tongs, and blessedly, some Garlic Shoots. He had been forced to find his items around town as Bart’s shop was leveled in the blast. All of the aforementioned items had fit into his spatial storage bag, but he was forced to carry some barrels and pipes on his person, strapping the large implements to his person wherever possible.

His list completed, he watched in amusement at the items hobgoblins prized. Though the town had plenty of gold and coins, the small creatures seemed to place more stock in small household items: broken cups, bowls, silverware, and especially pillows. They seemed fascinated with the soft adornments.

The System had already cleaned up the bodies from the previous night, but Mike’s mind turned serious as he thought about the number of people he had lost the night before. The townsfolk would respawn, but he didn’t know about his team. He had used Hands of Healing on one hobgoblin, but had been able to save only a scant few others with the rudimentary medicine available to him.

“Strange that I’m beginning to think of you all as people when you clearly aren’t” he said under his breath to no one in particular.

“Big Bossy Boss?” Creeagle asked, a new level of intelligence seemed to glisten in the hobgoblin’s eye.

Mike couldn’t help but analyze the hobgoblin, and was shocked but what he saw:

Name: Creeagle

Monster Type: Hobgoblin Horde Leader

Level: 8

Strength: 9

Dexterity: 8

Intelligence: 8

Charisma: 2

Toughness: 8

Luck: 10

Abilities: Trilling Enthrallment (5)–buffs allies in a 100 foot radius and causes them to converge on a single target.

The tribal leader had gained a full 4 levels since he had first met him in the valley, his stats approaching those of a Level 1 adventurer. Mike couldn’t help but notice that the creature was also taller, at close to 5 feet.

As he waited for the hobgoblins to finish looting, he couldn’t help but notice that many of them seemed to have gotten bigger, and the majority of them were at Level 3 rather than 1 now. He didn’t know how that could be possible. Though many humans had been killed the night before, the surviving hobgoblins still outnumbered those they had killed. Perhaps they shared experience for kills? He thought back to the notification he had received when he became a boss and how it had said that the party that killed him would get rewards. Maybe the hobgoblins could form parties as well? If so, he guessed it was completely random, as other than large masses swarming targets together, the hobgoblins didn’t show any level of coordination.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

The trek back to the valley took way too long, but since none of the hobgoblins knew where it was, Mike was forced to stay with them. The trek took almost 6 days, which gave him plenty of time to work on Beast of Burden. Each morning he would run ahead and put his barrels and pipes at the next camping area, then run back to the hobgoblins who were usually still sleeping.

Finally, at the end of the sixth day, they entered the valley. The single upright log that had once been the start of a fortification had been joined by hundreds of others since he had left, leaving only a very narrow entrance leading back into the valley. It was narrow enough that it proved difficult to get through with a large barrel in his arms.

The elevated position afforded him a view of the valley, and he realized in that moment, that this small piece of land had come to feel like home.