The beasts had been pushed to the back of the antechamber by the time my forces were ready to go. The first room of the goblin’s wing was stuffed to the brim with my mini-boss, all the elites and as many of the basic goblin’s as I could, with the overflow waiting in the tunnel to the second room. I had 54 standard goblins, seven elite goblins and one mini-boss, for a total of 62 armed and eager goblins. That gave me the numerical advantage over the bandits, but it wasn’t a very large one. No armour for the majority of my mobs, with only minimal light leather armour for the rest and basic iron weapons. Iron wasn’t the best material for weapons in the first place, being heavier and more brittle than steel or even bronze with a harder time holding an edge. The bandits didn’t seem to be very well equipped themselves, rusted weapons and tatty armour and clothes. They were bigger and likely stronger than the standard goblins, in stature as well as levels since all of my mobs were level one.
‘Attack the bandits from the rear.’ I ordered to the approval of the goblins. They raised weapons and the warhammer wielding mini-boss lead the charge as I opened the stone slab of a door. ‘Kill all of the humans but leave the beasts unless they attack you first.’ I was supposed to help out the beast and monsters of this world so killing off a decent sized group like this one seemed like a really stupid idea.
The mini-boss and the elites with shields exited first and charged at the back ranks of the bandits as they circled to kill the beasts. An overhead blow from the mini-boss, a quick spear thrust and axe swipe to the neck from the first of the elites burst the head of one, skewered the heart of the second and took the head off the third, showing just how poor the quality of armour these men had. The archer elites sent of a pair of arrows into the necks of two others while the rest of my forces moved up to engage.
“What the hell? Where did all these high goblins come from?!” One of the bandits shouted just before a pair of axes embedded themselves in his gut and chest, ripping out intestines and spraying a lot of blood.
“Doesn’t fucking matter!” The biggest one shouted from the centre of their encirclement as he blocked a bear's claw swipe with his great sword, “It just means more experience and money for us once we wipe out their nest.” The rest of the bandits cheered at this proclamation, only for several to be killed by the claws and fangs of the remaining wolves, panthers and bears.
‘So, they want to kill me, do they?’ I thought darkly to myself. I was not someone who advocated for violence in my past life. Hell, I'd dedicated every bit of free time I had to volunteering wherever I could to help those less fortunate than myself. But hearing the declaration that they intended to shatter me just as I was starting out in my second life, one provided to me by the Gods of this world no less, rage boiled inside of my crystal and blood red light flashed throughout the entirety of my domain.
“What the hell was-” one of the bandits began before my voice boomed out for all to hear.
“KILL THEM ALL!” A blood red energy flowed into my goblins and even the beasts that hadn’t yet been killed. It coalesced into their eyes, and they all flew into a berserker like state. Injuries were ignored; blows were given full force with no thoughts to pulling their weapons back, and chaos reigned in my domain.
“What the hell? What the fucking hell?!”
“Don't get distracted now.”
“How are these things so strong-” The last one was cut off with a gurgle of blood as the dagger wielding elite stabbed his kidneys and neck. The bandits began dying off quicker, but my own forces took devastating losses much faster than they did.
In my need to finish these fools off, I began working on my goblin boss to guarantee their deaths. I quickly pulled the mana into a boss core and pressed the goblin template over it. He stood just shy of 6ft tall and was heavily muscled. His skin was practically leather and even his bones were much denser. With all of this in mind I further augmented his core with the Stone element. This was an advanced form of the basic Earth element and focused on the toughness and unyielding aspects of earth. His bones became even denser, his muscles more compact but still held incredible power for an F-Rank monster. His skin turned a dusky grey and white hair flowed backwards to his broad shoulders.
I quickly spun up his equipment. I went with hide armour since it offered much more protection than the leather I had given the elites and mini-boss. Since some of the bears had died in my influence, I was able to make the armour out of their hide and fur. A full suit including a helmet shaped like a bear’s skull with his face looking out if its jaws. With my mind forced into a hyper state due to my anger, I was able to force the iron I knew how to make to take on enough carbon to turn it into steel. I turned it into a large kite shield that practically covered his entire body. I then forced mana into the shape of a large steel battle axe, with a large crescent blade on one side that went down about a third of the shaft, which was five foot long and made of oak. The back side was shaped into a blunt hammer-like face that would give the option to smash through heavier defences. I poured the required mana into his pattern and was momentarily taken aback by the cost. 500 mana to bring him and his equipment into existence.
But it was so worth it.
Taking his first breath into this world, he looked around the boss room I spawned him in. His eyes eventually fell upon me, as I hadn’t yet had the time or even inclination to make a proper core room yet.
“Chieftan,” He said as he took a knee, voice low and gravely, “Where is the enemy?”
That pulled me out of my rage induced state and right into complete and utter shock. I hadn’t done anything differently with his creation than I had the rest of the goblins, other than use a boss core and elemental infusion. So how come he was so much more intelligent?
*DING*
You have earned the achievement:
True life
You have brought your first creation to true life.
Reward:
1000 EXP
Your first true creation will grow in both level and core advancement alongside you.
It took me only a second to digest this new information before I went to investigate my boss.
Name:Pending Selection
Species: Goblin
Variant: Stone Blooded
Current Evolution: Knight
He also had a skills list, but I didn’t have the time to go throw those with the battle still raging outside. Quickly checking in, it was not going my way. The bandits were down to only 10 now, but my goblins had been cut down to two archers, one of those being an elite, the two elites equipped with shields and the mini-boss. The beasts had been brought down to four wolves, three panthers and just a single bear. I just had to hope my new boss would be able to turn things around.
“Rise my knight,” I projected to him, “Bandits have driven beasts into the antechamber of the dungeon and have declared their intent to kill me, though they do not realise this fact. There are only ten, no wait nine now, of them remaining alive. However, our forces have been reduced to a pittance and the beasts are all heavily bloodied.” His eyes grew steely, and his jaw firmed in anger at this revelation. “I name you Orthrok the Goblin Champion. Go and slay the so-called civilised intruders.” His eyes shown with a brief surge of power, and his equipment slightly glowed as something happened before he rose and dashed off to the fray.
The bandits had just managed to down the mini-boss and were grinning as the advanced on the final four goblins when the door to the boss chamber opened behind the beasts. The eight of them quickly ran to the back corners while Orthrok walked into the open. He was taller even than the bandit boss, and his equipment made them all do a double take, the grins slowly turning into worried and shocked expressions. Their hands began to shake, and the confident stances they held fell apart as they internally debated if this hunt of theirs was still worth it.
“What in the name of all the Gods is that fucking thing!” A badly shaking and paling bandit screamed out before his head was taken by an axe.
“Everyone shut the fuck up and get your shit together!” The bandit boss shouted over to his remaining men. “It’s just a big high goblin. It’s nothing to-”
“You have threatened the life of my Chieftan.” Orthrok spoke calmly yet with an authoritative air. This, more than his appearance, shook all the bandits to their cores. “You have expressed your desire to wipe out my kin and destroy our home. And for that...” He growled with true menace, “You will all DIE!” As he spoke the last word, a wave of red energy flowed out from him and over the bandits. They stopped retreating and began advancing on my boss. He raised his shield and stomped his foot, a green energy rippled through the ground. The advancing bandits lost their footing and wobbled as Orthrok advanced.
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The bandit boss was able to get his footing secure and launch a blow. Orthrok interposed his steel shield and absorbed the strike from the great sword and immediately followed with an axe swing that took his head.
The fight didn’t last much longer after that. The red energy that covered the bandits forced them to focus their attention on Orthrok which gave the remaining goblins to launch attacks on their backs, cutting them down with arrows, sword, axe and hammer strikes. As the final bandit’s body fell to the ground, Orthrok lead the survivors in a victory cheer.
The beasts cautiously approached the goblins, full of snarls and bared fangs, wary of any new attacks. Orthrok motioned to the survivors to lower their weapons. “You need not be afraid, friends.” He smiled gently at them and let his guard down completely. “You are safe here.” He slowly reached out to leading wolf, letting it sniff him and decided for itself if there would be need for any more bloodshed.
Thankfully, for all parties involved, it pressed its head into Orthroks hand and rumbled gently as he was petted. I smiled to myself as the rest of the beasts calmed down and began licking their wounds. I quickly pooled together enough mana to heal them and let it flow out into the room.
Every head perked up and looked in my direction at this as they felt their wounds begin to close, flesh and bone knitting itself back together. After the touch of my mana left them, every one of them bowed towards the direction of my core. At this, notifications began flooding my vision as the bodies and equipment all began to break down into motes of light.
The wolves, panthers, and bear that you have saved through the intervention of your mobs and furthermore by healing their wounds after the battle, have all sworn their loyalty to you. You have unlocked new monster patterns: Wolf, Panther, Bear.
You have defeated a vastly stronger force that had expressed their intention to destroy. As all those slain were of at least ten levels and one core rank above you and your monsters, you have been granted extra rewards.
You have gained 11 levels and reached level 15.
You have earned 11 upgrade points.
You have gained enough core progression to advance to the next rank.
Once I finished reading, I felt a bond form between me and the eight remaining beasts. Their emotions of gratitude flowed along to me, and I couldn’t help but be reciprocate them. I sent along impressions of mana affinities to them and got surprised reactions from all.
The lead wolf was the first to respond and an image of Orthroks shield appeared in my mind. “So, you would like a metal affinity?” I asked with a smile as he gave a nod. I sent the metal mana down the bond to his core and watched as the changes took place. He grew to 100cms in height and bulked up to weigh 150 pounds. His fur took on a silvery tone, his fangs and claws lengthened by an inch and were reinforced, almost reforged into steel.
New Variant unlocked: Steel fanged wolf.
I couldn’t help but chuckle as the other beasts all looked to him in surprise and awe, especially in the wolves' eyes. The other three immediately sent images of their alpha and they all got metal affinity cores and became stell fanged wolves. The two panther males sent along images of the dark night sky, which I took to mean darkness affinity. The female sent me an image of her shadow, so I gave her that affinity. The two males' coats became black as pitch and grew even sleeker. The female grew another 30cms in length and her coat was even darker than those of the males. Her claws took on an obsidian like colour.
New Variants unlocked: Night panther. Shadow stalker panther.
The bear was the most surprising of them all. She sent me images of her former den, a mate and two cubs within. The image then shifted to them all dead or dying at the den mouth as the bandits cut them down. A feeling of determination and anger flowed towards me, and I knew what she was asking of me.
“Are you sure you want this?” I asked her gently. All I got in reply was more determination. “Very well.” I sent the desired affinity down towards her core. The changes were incredibly distinct. Her fur went from a rich brown to a snow white, her eyes the crimson of blood. Fangs and claws grew and sharpened, turning ivory white. Bone plating emerged all over her body, acting almost like plate armour. Gauntlets appeared on her forelimbs, thick plates covered her torso, and a skull helmet wrapped around her head.
New Variant unlocked: Grave bear.
I was dangerously low on mana after performing all of that, so I sent for Orthrok to guard my core room and allowed the beasts to roam wherever they wished in my dungeon. I focused on drawing as much mana into myself as I could handle at any one time. I did not know how long I spent doing this, only that I came out of my trance to find myself unable to draw any more mana in ouch I reached 10,000.
As I already had the rest of the wings constructed, I just needed to work on the monster patterns and get them settled in. I started with the gnolls. Their pattern wasn’t quite as bad as what happened to the goblins, but it wasn’t exactly in stellar shape either; mangy fur, brittle teeth and claws, poor vision. I remedied all these flaws and further strengthened their teeth and claws. They didn’t have the behavioural notions for setting up a permanent settlement so never any guarantees of weapons in the wider world. The final pattern stood roughly six feet tall on average when standing on their hind legs, but with the option to go on all fours for a powerful running and pouncing speed.
The kobolds were in just as poor shape as the goblins had been. Weak and brittle scales, tails that lacked the muscles needed to use, weedy muscles and easily broken bones. Worse of all, their draconic blood was none-existent. I wasn’t expecting it to be in massive quantities and give them breath weapons or anything like that, but for creatures of draconic descent it was shameful that it had all been bred out of them. The one thing they had going for them was excellent night vision, but this was also a huge weakness as they would be blinded by the sun.
I gave them the love they deserved. I didn’t make them much taller, leaving them at only three and a half feet tall, but I did strengthen their muscles so that they wouldn’t slump so much. Their tales would be able to be used again properly, maybe even to trip people up. As the draconic blood blossomed into them once again, they grew two small horns that swept slightly back over their heads. Their scales strong enough to act as a natural armour, and they gained different colours based on what draconic bloodline they have most prominent. Their eyes could handle the sun without sacrificing their night vision. Their fingers grew much more dexterous and coordinated to help with trap making.
The lizard folk were interesting and thankfully not that badly worn down, at least in compared to the last three. They were humanoids with only slight differences between them, at least at the most basic level. It seemed that further down the line the individual bloodlines they had, based upon the lizard species they were based on, and diverged quite a bit from there. The main issues they had were a mixture of bloodlines that interacted horribly with each other, such as a viper and an alligator. I removed the mixing, made it so that when they couple only one bloodline is present within the young without any battle or dangerous mixing taking place. I did leave in a small chance for positive mixes to occur though, such as venom improvements.
Once I finalised all these changes and set them as the new species standards, I went ahead and populated their respective wings in the same manner as I had done with the goblins. The gnolls immediately took to spears and longswords above everything else. The kobolds almost exclusively took small blades of all types, with the odd one taking a hammer or bow. The lizard folk were a fair spread with their weapon choices.
The creation of the bosses was interesting. The kobold boss was almost just shy of 5 foot tall, with wiry muscles and emerald scales. She gained a natural air affinity to her core thanks to the emerald bloodline emerging in her. Her horns became thin and spiral in design but didn’t curve any differently from the standard, only six inches long. I gave her a pair of steel short swords to compliment her quick movements. Her scales were thick enough to act as real natural armour, not only just like the rest of the kobolds.
The gnoll stood six and a half feet tall, with a much more pronounced snout than the rest. His fur was a sandy brown with black patches over his face and arms. I infused his core with the poison element and equipped him an elm longbow. His eyes turned a dangerous shade of purple and his fangs glinted deadly toxins. When his full quiver appeared on his hip, he began to pull the arrows out and drip poison on the tips.
The lizard folk I turned into the squad's second front line. He stood an impressive seven and a high foot tall, thick with muscle, bones and scales reinforced with the metal element. He’s bloodline was from an ancient line of crocodiles called sarcosuchus, a crocodile species lost to history that would prey upon dinosaurs. This game him his impressive size and musculature. With steel threads woven throughout his being, he would have incredible strength to use with his size. I created a 7-foot-tall steel great sword him to wield, and he took to it as if he was swimming.
New Variant unlocked: Toxic gnoll
New Variant unlocked: Emerald kobold
New Variant unlocked: Steel sarcosuchus lizard folk
New Evolution unlocked: Hunter
New Evolution unlocked: Skirmisher
New Evolution unlocked: Warrior
With my dungeon floor full, and the beasts making their way in and out hunting and figuring out where they wanted to settle in for now, I took another look at the last notification I had received at the end of the battle with the bandits.
You have gained enough core progression to advance into the next rank. Do you wish to do so now?
I selected yes, and my world faded away as the budding power exploded out of me.
