After the Goblin General and his troop had left, Sigard and Mazia had relocated to the Core room. There they planned to use their plunder of Quintessence to expand their army.

So what was their first course of action?

Well the Goblin General had done an absolutely amazing job of bringing several multiple tribes under his command with no support at all. So Sigard wanted to give him the backing and resources he deserved. Preferably not just common goblin warriors but more…exotic varieties of goblin, such as shamans, redcaps, brutes and cavaliers. There were such a vast number of types and subspecies stored in the catalogue that the General’s forces could be greatly enhanced by their inclusion, plus testing a few would be useful. Providing new mounts also crossed Sigard’s mind, but goblins had already bred such fearsome horrors as the Abomination Boar, the shark-like Ravager Boar and the moldering Grave Boar amongst others so they weren’t in any particular need of new steeds.

Anyway Sigard decided on one goblin shaman, at 1000 Quintessence, one goblin cavalier, 300 Quintessence, a dozen goblin brutes, 300 per brute, and something that piqued Sigard’s curiosity one goblin gardener, at 1500 Quintessence. The shaman looked like a typical goblin but hunched over with cryptic tattoos on his body. The cavalier appeared as a more muscled and fleshed out specimen of goblin with a better balance of bodily proportions. Though it currently lacked a mount it was supposed to be an expert of cavalry warfare. The brutes on the other hand were much larger and fatter compared to normal goblins, they were much stronger and tougher but dull and dimwitted. Sigard thought they would be useful helping with renovating the fort which is why he created so many while he only one each of the other types as a test. The gardener strangely enough appeared more decrepit and diminutive than the common goblin. His eyes glinted with wisdom and intelligence while exuding a calm aura.

Now finished with the goblins, for now. Sigard moved on to his next goal, expanding his dominion over the Twilight Forest. And his plan was rather simple.

To create a population of wolves to inhabit the Twilight Forest, there they’ll fix the forests imbalanced state by hunting the oversized deer population and make it harder for any adventurers to infiltrate the forest. They would also support and augment the goblins already serving Sigard thru the Goblin General.

Sigard had decided on Dire Wolves, standing at cost of 800 Quintessence per wolf, with four pairs of one male and one female for a total of eight. Coming to 6400 Quintessence it was barely a drop in the bucket compared to the current reserve of 900 thousand, but with such a negligible income both Sigard and Mazia knew that they could blow thru it in a shockingly short amount of time. Especially since they were trying to build and outfit an army almost from scratch. But if all went well these eight Dire Wolves will be the beginning of a breeding population that could provide a more diverse range of cavalry.

Next was to create monsters that could act as the logistical backbone of his growing army. Monsters capable of building fortifications, scouting new areas of the Maze, sniffing out valuable resources or making weapons and armor. Just that Sigard did not yet know which kinds of monsters would be proper for such purposes, which meant that he would need to search the catalogue. The same catalogue that gave Sigard a roaring headache with the vast unfiltered information it provided and constantly shifted its selection of monsters based on random thoughts. He would hold off for the time being, so he could organize what he’s already created. The goblin brutes would be a start, as laborers for future construction projects and supply carriers in addition to fighting.

The catalogue also contained a great variety of equipment, items and artifacts but the higher end ones were prohibitively costly. From what he’s gathered searching the catalogue, at least before straining himself, many of these items were consumables that were used up in one or two uses. And because of their high cost Sigard was disinclined to purchase any. The one exception was a healing salve meant for the Mantis Queen.

With the current round of recruitment finished, Sigard and Mazia lead the wolves and goblins to the ruined fort. The Dire Wolves were released into the forest while the goblins were put to work. The brutes started on fixing up the fort, though it required some coaxing from the Golden Tiger’s snarling to get them going, and needed constant supervision. The shaman and the cavalier took up the job as overseers since they weren’t doing anything at the moment. The goblin gardener on the other hand immediately started inspecting the soil in and around the fort, after combing the area he picked a spot and set to work clearing it.

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Several days passed before the Goblin General returned with fresh goblins. This caravan of goblins was significantly larger than the one that he brought before, it also included females and children. The mounts were mostly dire boars, only a few were of the more monstrous breeds the general’s troops had employed before.

Female goblins were well known for their fecundity. They could have multiple litters of children in the course of a single year. With up to a dozen offspring per liter, and the offspring reaching maturity in less than six months. It is for this reason that the goblin tribes maintained a near inexhaustible supply of fresh troops in their armies.

The new goblins started mingling with the variants Sigard had created. There seemed to be no problems between the two groups, in fact many of the goblin warriors appeared to be admiring the three expert goblins.

“Master, I have returned with warriors and laborers for service in your great designs.”

The Goblin General had reported to Sigard and Mazia as soon as he was finished organizing his subordinates. He had immediately kneeled before Sigard, even though Sigard never ordered so, while wearing an expression that was somewhere between fear and awe. And ‘great designs’ Sigard certainly had plans but he didn’t remember them in such a grandiose fashion.

“Good work.” Sigard decided to ignore it for now. “Is there anything you need?”

“Not at this time, my master, the Trolls have been crucial in mauling the Crimson Tusks Tribe and forcing them to retreat to their strongholds.” He said with a fiery passion. “Their presence is also swaying many of the chieftains and elders of smaller tribes to pledge their service to my host.

Sigard was impressed by the Goblin Generals intelligence and eloquence, because goblins are regarded as cunning yet simple and crude.

“So what happened to your Abomination Boars?”

“Most of my warriors are still dealing with the Crimson Tusks and several bands of intruders from above, the best mounts are with them. More bands of my warriors will arrive in the coming days.”

“Good. Anything else to report?”

“Not at this time master.”

“Okay, go get acquainted with the new goblins I’ve created.”

Sigard sent the Goblin General to meet the shaman and company, he then turned towards Mazia.

“Our army is finally starting to come together.”

“Yes Master, a general, troops, specialists and support personnel, the broad outline of a goblin dominated military has been assembled. If Master wishes to further expand its size then this one would stress the continued recruitment of errant goblin tribes or the expenditure of Quintessence to create more troops.” She said mechanically, though with a slight smile.

“So continue what I’ve been doing?”

“Exactly Master.”

Sigard considered what Mazia said, that it was the use of Quintessence that allowed him to achieve even these meagre results. Even the recruitment of existing goblin tribes had been achieved by a goblin he made with Quintessence. He knew that acquiring more was vital, he needed to confirm a few things with Mazia.

“Do you know anything about who made that column?”

“Unfortunately, this one has no knowledge on who built them or why they did so. Without a master this one was rendered inactive for an undetermined amount of time, leaving the Maze unregulated. All this one is certain of is that there are more structures similar to the column throughout the Maze. This one can sense that the flow of Quintessence is still disrupted, obstructing this one’s ability to draw Quintessence from the rest of the Maze.”

“Hah, so finding and destroying more of them is the only way gather more Quintessence?”

“Unfortunately that is the case Master, the passive income of Quintessence is so marginal that it might as well, not exist.”

“Then-“ A mournful howl interrupted Sigard’s sentence. Coming from the forest one of Sigard’s Dire Wolves had suddenly started howling, the lone cry was soon joined by more wolves.

“What now?” Sigard said aloud as he immediately moved towards the source.

Motioning for Mazia and the Golden Tiger to follow him, he went into the Twilight Forest. The Goblin General also followed bringing a small escort of goblins with him.

It didn’t take more than fifteen minutes before they arrived at the location of the howling. Obviously it was one of the Dire Wolves Sigard released into the forest just a few days earlier, but the surprising part was that there was another wolf there, dead.