the last couple of days have been frustrating me a lot. It is not really the enemies that I have to face but rather the goblins I need to deal with. The situation with them has been getting worse with each single day. First it was the rat Den. That was still not that hard to deal with since the rats and and the den are not really immediate enemies. They are relatively far away and even if worst comes to worst, we can still destroy the quarry to buy ourselves more time. You would be surprised how much a plan of action tends to givpe confidence to a person.

This time the mess is more immediate and deadly to deal with. it has been caused by the night wolves or more accurately an army of night wolves. They have grown to such numbers here that they can't hide traces of their presence or more likely they don't bother to.

The troop has reported entire campsites appearing next to the temple. Each night the troop have counted at least fifteen different fires in this area. That level of confidence is worrying to say the least about. Naturally this is putting all the goblins in a panic.

It is not exaclty comforting to them that our only line of defense is a wall, that is not exactly in tip top shape. There are too many weak spots on the wall, that we cannot really do anything about. I think that is why the night wolves have never bothered to destroy this place. It is not in the least ready for a fight.

It won't take much to deal with us. I wonder why they have yet to attack us. It will at least be better than trying to deal with this bunch of goblins all ready to kill each other. Let's just be polite and say that soldier one and Jack have two separate mindsets. Because if I started expressing my anger, we will be able to do nothing and die a pretty pitiful death indeed. Time to get back to this conversation. by the way we are in my room right now.

soldier one- we do not have that long, troop master. How long do you think we have before they will enter this place. Magical arrays are something that take very long to make. Even if you are a named one's, arrays are something that are nearly impossible to build in such little time.

Jack- the one I want to build is relatively simple. if we manage to make it, we can light a signal fire to the main base. I think that I will be able to craft it using my own mana.

Jack and soldier one have been arguing over the usage of a magical array. This is supposed to be some kind of a explosion array, though young Jack has been pretty Unopen about the details about this array. 1 Even soldier one, who is somewhat subservient to Jack, is opposing him on this matter.

Soldier one- what is the point. We have a much better chance of making a run from here. The night wolves are overconfident, they don't even bother to hide themselves now. We can use your undead to draw their attention and then escape the other route.

Me- will you Two stop arguing. We still have time to deal with the enemy. The night wolves are not attacking us for a reason.

Soldier one- does it matter why they are nor attacking us. This is nothing but a cat toying with its prey.

Me- could be, but that still gives us time. While you two have been eating each other's head out, we have another option. We can hide out in the den.

Jack- that will be suicide, troop master. The den is a dangerous place and the wolves can still attack us down there.

Me- we can collapse the tunnels in the quarry. I have have told you before of how unstable the rock down there is. It might take some time, but I will be able to do it.

Soldier one- it could be possible. But the night wolves are the locals here. I can certainly imagine them having someway to clear any tunnels down there and then there is the issues of the den itself. I don't think clearing that is something that we can do. The rats might be worthless weaklings but This is the hunting season, their numbers might not be something that we can handle.

Jack- once we are stuck down there, we also have to worry about food too, troop master. Once down there, we only have only one exit and that is going to be at the other end of the den. To reach that position we gave to clear an entire dungeon.

Me- it is still safer than the plans that you two have. Firstly, soldier one, what you propose is stupid from every angle. We would need the luck of a God to escape from them. We are literally in their lands and they have the ability to hide themselves here. Too much can go wrong. Secondly, Jack what you propose is also stupid. Do you really think we have the time to make a array in the time that we have enemies right next to us.

Jack- what else can we do, troop master. We could fight the night wolves if this was only a family or two. Now, we have entire legions of these creatures. Why the hell would they even bother to attack. We will still be stuck.

Me- that is why I propose that we hide out in the den. It is the safest place for us. This army is meant for something. I am certain that they won't squander it on a mere group of goblins, who will most likely end dying anyways.

Soldier one- the only part of that is where we all will end up dead in some rats belly. You know my soldiers strength. We could barely deal with one creature down there.

Me- even you know that thing was an entry guardian. It was clearly not that much of a threat, from that angle. Leave for now and organize your troops. Leave the medics and the two injured but everybody else needs to stay in the quarry for now. Those long twisting tunnels are better then camps for now.

soldier one leaves, clearly unsatisfied but he won't refuse me for now. At the very least I hope so. Now is not really the time for insubordination.

Me- you clearly have something on your mind, Jack. Tell it me very clearly.

Jack- why are you so confident, troop master. That we will be able to survive this ordeal. Dens are not something to be taken lightly

Me- it is not confidence. I am just not the kind of a man to wait for death. I also need you to focus, Jack. We are dealing with deadly enemies here and the night wolves are too powerful. The rat Den seems a risky option, but it is safer than the night wolves. I have already given you a task that you have not yet even started.

Jack- what you have asked of me is nothing but a waste of time. I am not a mere butcher for you to play around with.

Me- you are a necromancer young one. This is something that comes in your domain. I want you to start this now and how goes your progress with the box.

Jack- I have almost completed it. All it will take me is a couple of days and I think that should be enough.

Me- for now you as well retreat down there. We can't be losing our most powerful member right now.

Jack- yes, troop master.

Saying that Jack leaves, a bit more calmly and I am left to stew in my own insecurities. It is another reason that I hate this job. You never know just how good your decisions are.

Maybe it would be wiser to listen to these two. I wonder how long that elder is going to sleep. He could easily solve my problem you know. I am starting to understand why he has summoned me. After all, he is putting in a lot of resources to make my body.

Right now I have three major worries to pull of this plan of mine. The first is dependent on Jack. According to Jack, it might take us weeks, If not months to get out of this den, if we were to box ourselves in.

That leaves us with a problem of rations. As Jack said this is the hunting season. We were supposed to spend about four weeks here, scouting the location for any threats. It was supposed to last the entirety of the hunting season.

Now we need alternate source of foods and of we are going to end up in a den full of rats, it would be wise to make them into our next food supply right. Naturally that is hard since their bodies are seeped in toxins and extracting useful meat from them is pretty hard. That is the exact task I have given our Young necromancer, who are supposed to be masters of surgery and with a great knowledge of anatomy.

It is not something a necromancer should be doing, but even I have no choice in this matter. It will be good practice anyway.

The second worry of mine is about the troops. Right now a majority of my troops are incapable of fighting and those happen to be our strongest members. That worry is something that I will deal with right now. I have given soldier three, seven and their medics Long enough to make a decision.

As for my last worry, it is something that is better left to myself.

(The rats)

This is all the information that I have gotten on rats in this place. They are supposedly a common species that are found in most mines in this world. They tend to be pretty sensitive to light and only tend to leave their nests during the night. That explains the effectiveness of light string.

They have a pretty straightforward set of attacks. They have a set of relatively small claws. That means that they have to get in pretty close for the claws to damage the body. It is the perfect time for me to kill them.

Then they can bite you but that is also pretty ineffective, since the only time I have seen those bites of their work is when they have ambushed me(what, I is hard to tell where the rats are in these tunnels. If they had mana it will be useful.)

Lastly, they have the mana bolt, which seems to a common ability among beasts(even the night wolves had it). The rats can gather mana in their throat and blast it out. I have yet to meet any rat with that ability.

Well, the rats are pretty harmless, but it is still better to be careful of them and their kind. What they don't have in individual strength, they have in numbers. Their number can increase very quickly.

(Entry guardian)

An entry guardian is a creature of the den, tasked with guarding the entry into that floor. A den can have multiple floors, often Going to hundreds in terms of numbers.

They are often a more powerful version of the creatures that can be found at that level of the den. They are created by granting special powers to a creature of the floor, which can be taken back upon death. One of the primary purpose of a entry guardian is to limit the number of creatures that can enter into a floor.

They are very good at stopping weaklings from entering, allowing only strong soldiers to enter. I admit that it is not a perfect system, but it is still many times better than having hordes of humans run down into the dungeon, killing all the creatures down there now. Somehow it is always the humans that are causing such kind of problems.