《Goblin Progenitor》


 1. Goblin Progenitor - Death

    was another defeat...


    Jon stared at the woman''s back, as she left him standing there under the street light, as she walked into the night of the city. Leaving him alone, Jon sighed internally as his thoughts began to rumble around in his head out of control.


    ("Once more I failed at trying to connect with a woman in a deep meaningful way.")


    ("I seriously want to give up... but I do not want to be alone...")


    ("Why do women not love high-strung nerves, awkwardness, profuse sweating and gasping for breath after short walks?")


    ("I only forgot her name once, It was Emma, I really tried this time to not forget but I still managed to say the wrong name during dinner. I did manage to say my own name correctly, '' Jon'', this time.. last date I went with a friends name by accident and kept with it the entire date out of panic.")


    ("I arranged this date to be at a wok restaurant, that I really liked, this time hoping familiarity and friendly territory would give me a plus. ")


    He remembered clearly how they both said almost nothing while they waited for the food.


    Wait... no "he" almost said nothing, he kept silent, thinking it would be best to keep a low profile.


    (brilliant thinking during a date when you are trying to present yourself)


    It usually was the best idea though, once Jon would begin talking, things would get weird between him and women the moment. It would be an incoherent mess, jumping from one topic to the next, Getting a lot of "uh huh" and "oh" in return. While Jon became increasingly aware of him not saying anything particularly relevant to the situation.


    ("But if I got asked questions, I at least had time to think it over, I would then answer as best I could and talk more clearly. it was less nerve-wracking for some reason...")


    Today this was not a day that had impressed this woman.


    ("Of course my looks are not impressive either. Not that she was the looker either, but clearly.. above my reach, I slowly realized, as the evening progressed with the both of us not really feeling anything.")


    After they had dined and seen a movie, Jon could barely remember the movie now, he had frozen during the entire thing unsure how to act. Like a small animal in front of the headlight of a truck.


    ("Hold her hand? In what world do I live in where that''s possible?!. Do not be silly Jon! Just Freeze!! Maybe it will work out if I do not move!!")


    Now here he was standing in the dark of night underneath a streetlight, his thoughts beginning to pound himself over his failings which would undoubtedly ring through his head on occasion on and off for the rest of his life.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    He sighed loudly and turned around, trying to remember where he had parked his car when suddenly his vision was blinded by bright lights.


    He quickly froze like a small animal in front of ''literal'' headlights this time.


    "..truck-kun?" Jon managed to say out loud as a truck slammed into him.


    Pain - spinning vision, that was clouded in red - a sense of flight - and then more pain with the sense of crashing into the ground.


    ("I can not move... My vision is still blurred in red. I can see the woman that left me standing there.")


    She has turned around, looking back at the man she left, clearly shocked at his current situation.


    Jon could barely make her out, she was backing away slowly, she screamed something, but he could not make out what...


    ("... Don''t leave me... Why. I do not want to be alone..... Will I die alone?... My vision fades as my world turns red.")


    ...


    Cold. it''s was cold. Its been so cold for so long now and it was all Jon could feel.


    ("I feel horrible... I feel weightless but still feel like I¡äm stuck in place.


    Like I¡äm dipped in tar. Blinded. Unable to sense anything but this freezing sticky cold that envelopes me giving me small jolts of pain every now and again.


    I try to open my eyes... I.. I do not think I have eyes.. how can that be?!


    No arms? No legs?! .... am I in a hospital.. unable to feel anything or sense anything?!...")


    Jon struggled in his mind, nothing but the sense of the dreadful chill around him and his own thoughts.


    ...


    ("I do not know how long I have been here in this place... am I dead?.. normally you would see your life flash past you when you died right??


    Of course, that would just make me depressed... just remind me more of how alone I am... even death is lonely.....


    I.. I.. I do not want to be alone... Please... I DO NOT WANT TO BE ALONE!


    Wait.. what is that... Light?... It''s Blinding!!..


    Truck-Kun ?! is it you, you bastard?! Come to kill me one more time?!... Wait.. it is not cold anymore..")


    Suddenly Jon was no longer surrounded in cold, his thoughts were now wrapped in something pleasant and warm, it ''felt'' bright and glowing but he could not ''see'' it. Only feel it wrap around him pushing away the cold, dark and sticky substance he had been in.


    ("This feels...so good no more pain. How can light be physical... I can feel the light wrap around me... I can still see the sticky coldness I was in. but it is not near me. Pushed away by the light


    I finally relax, is this the feeling I always wanted, wrapped in this gentle light.


    This is nice... I am still alone though... But... This... This is nice..")


    Suddenly everything begins to move around Jon, spinning madly as if suddenly picking a direction, then speeding towards a point of light, other points of light hurling past him, blasting through the dark matter he had been trapped in for an unknown amount of time.


    as the sense of falling/flying intensifies and suddenly Jon felt like he had been dumped into warm water, all his normal senses once more forcing themselves back onto him.


    Pressure. Tightness. A sense of feeling heavy once more as gravity meant something.


    A heavy drumming sound was constantly hammering all around him, he could feel his body and move it again. But it was difficult, he was floating inside a viscous mass. He tried to cover up his ears from the hammer sound as he realized.


    ("Wait I have a head!, Arms! feet! I can feel them!! And lungs!")


    "...."


    Lurk tried to say something, only to realized that he could not speak, or breathe!!! He was still submerged!


    ("I cannot talk,, wait... I CAN¡äT BREATH!!!. Wait... What is this! a Hose?!. I''m stuck in liquid!... Wait.. Calm down.. Is this hose.. Its going into my stomach... am...I inside. a .. womb?..")


    ("AM I REINCARNATING!.... Reincarnation Truck-kun is true!! Its a real thing?!")

 2. Birth

    Jon felt a sudden pressure around him, it had been intensifying every so often now with each attempt.


    ("Ow!. getting squished again!.. Guess my "mother" is about to push out her new favorite son..


    Wait am I even a son??... Yes! I am!... wow I really am. For a moment I thought I was holding onto the umbilical cord there...")


    ("My son down there is a bit too big is it not?... I''m just a baby... Its hard to see though, I can only see some vague outlines and shapes. Wait how can I even see this much. It should be completely dark inside a womb. At least I have gotten used to the constant loud sound I deduced was my mother''s heartbeat.")


    Another intense pressure surrounded him.


    ("Aargh! there''s another squish. How long does a birth normally take?


    I guess this is gonna take hours.


    Hmm. I hope I won''t die during birth, or my mother dies...


    Will someone do a cesarean?


    Then it would not take that long I guess, are there even doctors present, I could be born anywhere in the world!!! Depending on the technological level!. I can see I have hands and feet and a human body, so I know I''m not reincarnating as an animal.")


    ("Aargh! Again that squishing! A+ for effort mother! But ow!")


    Once more his body was pushed hard from all sides when suddenly he could feel the umbilical cord, he had made sure was not around his own neck suddenly was no longer connected to the walls surrounding him.


    ("wait the umbilical cord just snapped?!... They are not supposed to snap, are they?... It actually more like it suddenly let go of the womb wall... that was weird... Wait... Light?... Aargh it''s bright!! I am already out? Ow what was that!!")


    He was pushed out, his senses bombarded with new sensations, no longer warm and comfortable, it was chilly and he landed on something hard and cold. When he felt something push him hard. Then came that sensation of brief flight again!


    Jon rolled along a rough surface, he was stunned briefly from the sudden impact from whatever it was that pushed him. He shook it off, feeling he was lying on something cold and rough. he curled up into a ball and began to try and cough, each cough sending out a viscous liquid from his mouth, he drew in a gasp of air.


    After wiping his eyes he could see no lights, but despite that, he could still see clear shapes and sense that there was someone close to him, but he was not between legs as expected, or doctors hands holding him...


    ("I must have been kicked accidentally?.. that explains the sudden pain I felt when I was pushed out I guess...


    he managed to turn his head weakly to look behind from where he had been pushed. He could see the lower half of a woman lying on the ground naked. Evidence of her having given birth was clear. Not a sight Jon was pleased to see, no sight a son should see. He looked around and no one else was here, no doctors or nurses. No family members. Was she all alone?


    ("I hope she is alright.. she is not moving?...is my new mom already dead?.. please do not be dead... I do not want to be alone.")


    Jon tried to speak. but he only managed to cough out a bit more liquid mass, helping him take better breaths, he thought it odd how he could do that. Were babies not normally weak at first and required a lot of help. He had managed to clear his throat and even more impressively turn his head to look. He could even move his arms so they had a slight effect on his movement albeit only a little.


    One of his mothers legs curls up, reacting from the noise he made, the other leg following up. She slowly curled up in a ball. He could barely hear her make some noises. But now his main worry was elated.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    (Oh.. she is alive good phew.. why is no one here to help us during this time, where is "here" even, I better look around?)


    Jon turned his head to look around, he managed to put his hands down and roll, when he noticed his hands for the first time. His nails... They were black. But more importantly, he had only 4 fingers.


    ("What.. What am I?? Everything is grayish black tones. I cannot make out colors with my sight..")


    He tried to push up of the ground to look down his body when he was shocked even further!!


    ("Wait! I got three legs?!.. Oh, wait no. Two legs... OK, I just needed to bend my legs out... That ''third'' leg was something else...


    That''s a tad too large... how will I be able to walk with that between my legs. and my feet..also much larger than normal.. black nails too... Why is my body already so defined. Are babies not weak little balls of weakness?")


    Noticing more differences with his body, he did not feel as weak as he would expect a baby to feel. He could not get up and walk yet, but he could move by crawling on his arms and elbows. He turned his head after trying to look around, he seemed to be inside a cave?? He coughed once more when he noticed his mother make a movement, reacting from the cough.


    ("... Wait is my new mother crying?... Oh there are other people here... I can just barely make out other women lying down a bit further away")


    The room he was in, was a small cavernous room. Only one door that was covered by something not made of rock perhaps wood. it was messy and dirty inside the room, there were small chunks laying everywhere and blood on the floor.


    His senses said that this place was horribly filthy, but his body did not recoil or gag from it. As he looked around he could tell there were 5 women lying up near the wall furthest away from the entry point into the room. They were all making small sounds of breathing, the only one making noises was his new mother.


    ("I have to make sure she is ok. Also... I am hungry... I have in fact never been this hungry... but I just want to make sure she is ok for now. And also to make sure she knows I am alive... So she hopefully can take care of me...")


    He began to crawl slowly towards his mother. It is amazing how mobile he was, being this young...


    He was pretty sure babies are normally just rag-dolls the first bit of their life.. but he could move himself. If only slowly though..


    He slowly managed to make it past her legs up to her knees. He tried to lean against her knees as he was trying to get a better view of her. To look past her arms she has curled around herself.


    Instantly he was knocked back and grabbed, he felt himself fly through the air and then slam into something hard. All the wind was knocked out of his lungs and his body was wracked with pain. He barely managed to lift his head and look back at his mother''s location.


    She was not sitting up slightly, her hand was stretched out towards his location, her breathing incredibly ragged as she was trying her hardest to stay upright on her elbow.


    ("Wait?! She threw me away?! Why would you do that mother?!..")


    She is completely disheveled. Her extremely long hair is a mess around her.


    Her body would be amazing with fairly large breasts and good curves...


    But it is much to thin, she looks like she has been starving for a while.


    And she has several scars around on her body. Covered in the filth in the room and dry bloodstains.


    Her eyes staring at Jon, it was the only light in the room, those two eyes. They have been crying for a long time. Dark rims around them showing how worn out she is...


    But wait... Light.. yes.. there are literal lights in her eyes?. Purple.. how can he tell her eyes are purple?. Everything else is grayish dark tones... But her eyes are a clear purple color. Jon surmised he must be able to see in the dark, and so must she, she was looking straight at Jon, her face grimaced staring hate and death at him.


    Jon was shocked, his eyes widened, the state of her and the rejection and pain she inflicted on him.


    The sudden realization he was still alone.. even in a brand new life...


    ("I feel like crying. I cannot cry. Don''t cry... I know I am a baby now... But ¡­ I do not want to cry...")


    Jon hung his head down. Closing his eyes. Giving a slight sob. But no tears fell from his eyes.


    Suddenly he heard a slight sudden change in her breath. It was raspy from her exertion of throwing me away and sitting up so she could focus her hate into me with her stare. But now she was silent holding her breath.


    He looked back up, slowly opening his eyes, she is looking at me with a shocked look.


    "Whui are c¨ªn hend ¨²- naru??" [Mother]


    Jon blinked, what did she say, he sat up and gave her an odd look at her as she stares back at him, her mouth opened in stunned silence.


    Jon was about to try and speak again but then...


    [Elven language unlocked!]


    ("Wait what the hell????")

 3. Connecting

    Suddenly I can see letters appearing in front of me, causing me to jerk backwards, they follow my movements where ever I look. I read the letters that appear in English..


    [Elven language unlocked!]


    Yep. Its there right in front of me. Well now I can confirm it for sure, I have reincarnated and gotten a system, but now is not the time. I look past the letters, that float in front of my eyes, over to my mother. The letters fade away, because my focus shifts away from them, my view of my mother unrestricted again.


    She still looks at me shocked, as she slowly sinks her posture back down, trying keep to upright and to look right into my eyes. The former look of hate and disgust, no longer present even the light in her eyes have faded, replaced by confusion. But she slumps back down and our line of sight is broken. She must have used a lot of her strength, both from giving birth and from throwing me, now she cannot keep herself upright.


    I panic a little and try to crawl back over towards her, my head still hurting like hell from the impact against the wall, the process of crawling over is slow but I managed to get back over to her. She is lying down on her side, her knees still huddled up close but her arms are not covering her face any more, her eyes are closed and she is breathing shallowly.


    Looking at her closely now, her ragged breathing the only sound, I once more notice the poor shape she is in, her body covered in cuts and scars, dirt and filth on her here and there. Her hair clumped together some places, looks like dried blood, the rest unkempt and damaged. Then I notice her ears.


    Long thin points, instead of the normal ears I know, so the [Menu] was not lying. She is a elf.


    So because she spoke to me I instantly learned her language? That is a very convenient ability, I will have to investigate the menu more later, I resume trying to get closer to her. Her eyes open slightly from hearing my shuffling, my form the first thing she sees, she instantly backs away eyes filled with fear. I pause and back away slightly, trying to not appear hostile, I cannot scare her. Mainly because I do not want to make her even more scared, but also that I really do not want to get thrown once more.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    My tiny body lying next to hers, propped up on my elbows, I look at her eyes as she slowly calms down. I inch slowly forward, as I reach her hand that is lying on the ground with no strength, and gently put my own 4 fingered hand on it. Each small move I do makes her twitch slightly, her eyes switching between panic and calm with each pause I give her, as my hand touches hers gently she quickly looks at my hand. Her eyes widening slightly from the weird situation, confusion once more taken control of her mind, instead of pure panic.


    We sit like this for a while, I try not to stress her more, just allowing her to reclaim her calm.


    Her eyes move back up looking into mine, that purple light returning again, her fingers twitch a little. But slowly she closes her fingers and holds onto my tiny hand. If she wanted, she could easily take back up her hobby of flinging newborn babies through the air at the nearest hard wall, but instead she closes her eyes and sobs quietly.


    Her crying must be because of not having had any gentle interaction in a while, this simple action of holding someone''s hand has brought tears to her, I allow her to slowly cry and try to also tighten my hand in hers. We remain like this for a while, as she slowly calms down, she looks at me again with a quizzical stare at this apparently abnormal situation.


    "..why.. why is this happening.." [Mother]


    I listen intently to her weak voice, perfect English, I try to shrug my shoulders and look like I do not know. I try to speak again, but only a weird noise comes out, my mother twitches as if that noise is something she has heard before. I quickly tighten my grip on her hand and stop trying to speak, returning my eyes to hers, wanting her to not return to her panicked state.


    "..purple.. eyes.." [Mother]


    She manages to say something odd, before closing her eyes, seemingly falling asleep. Wait why would she say purple eyes, does she mean mine?, it dims on me I must have the same eyes as her. Was that why she was so confused? She seemed to relax or become very confused, whenever she looked into my eyes, so that must be a weird trait I have.


    I look at her hand tightly closed around mine, five elegant fingers, despite the horrible mess they are covered in. I look at my other hand, four rough looking fingers with black nails, clearly I have not inherited her hands or skin tone not that I can make out specifically what color it is only that its shaded more darkly. I move closer to her, my body also feeling weak from my exertions, and then lie my head down on her hand.


    ("...at least we are not alone anymore...")

 4. Realization

    Jon woke up feeling warm and safe, his eyes still remaining closed, he felt he was wrapped up in the same feeling of golden light surrounding he had experienced before, not wanting to fully wake up and having to get out of his bed.


    ("Bed... wait.. what happened last night - The date...then.. TRUCK!") [Jon]


    As Jon was thinking this to himself nuzzled into his safe and comfy place, his eyes opened wide, as the last nights events flashes before his mind. He instantly tried to look around and instantly he realized he was caught!


    He was locked in a tight grip by two arms, all of his body trapped save one arm and his head which was pressed between something soft and warm, staring around trying to get a grip of his situation. His mind quickly cleared out of the odd stupor he was in, this was the best nights worth of sleep he ever had in fact but did not still feel sleepy, his mother the elven woman was holding him in a tight embrace. She on the other hand was deep in sleep, at least it seemed like it, her eyes were closed and she breathed steadily and calmly.


    She clearly seemed to be doing a lot better, quite odd Jon pondered how she must have gotten a major boost to her willpower, somehow she was able to regain her spirit and strength due to sheer will? He tried to struggle a little against the arms and hands holding him, without trying to wake his mother but gave up, as he was straining with it he noticed something strange. His hand was bigger now, compared to yesterday he was not this big, the delicate elven fingers were still comparatively much bigger but now there was a stark difference.


    ("..Did I really grow this much.. during one night?..")


    Jon thought to him self as he looked at his one hand that was free, the muscles were a lot more defined, and the nails ¨C no not nails ¨C claws.. Black sinister sharp little claws. He had grown at least twice in size over night?!


    ("This does not make any sense...you cannot just suddenly grow that much without food and water??.. and I was starving last night... wait I''m not as hungry any more")


    Contemplating how this was possible he looked around trying to see what could have happened when he suddenly bumped his head into two big clues to what could have helped with his situation.


    ("...Don''t tell me.... In my sleep I ¡­.")


    His eyes opens wide, looking at the magnificently sized pair of bosom on either side of him, seemingly very clean of any dirt as if someone had made sure to clean the bits around the ...tips, yeah sure they were a prize example of a good pair of breasts! But there has to be a limit ¨C he grew so much in one night! Something has to be missing from the equation!This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Breathing in a panicky way, he tried to figure a way out of this death grip he was in, if this woman woke up now. Even despite how they had a precious moment last night, where they both sought out comfort and caring from each other, through sheer eye contact and holding hands as they drifted off to sleep. No matter how much that had made her feel ok with him being near her..


    ("..She will murder me when the first thing she notices is the, now considerably larger clawed baby? who has a obvious milk mustache on his lips, in her arms!. There is no way to explain it away! I CANT EVEN EXPLAIN IT IF I HAD THE CHANCE!!") [Jon]


    He squirmed in her arms as he desperately tried to pull his other hand free from hers. When suddenly he heard a weird sound mingled in with sobs from somewhere in the room. He instantly stopped squirming, his ears peeking up and his eyes focusing at the location where the sound was originating from.


    One of the other occupants in the room was lying, right next to him and his mother, facing away from them. The crying woman was trying to shuffle away from something in front of her, the sobs turning into quiet squeaks of fear as she tried to roll away from what ever was making the odd sound.


    "Gob..Glek" [???]


    ("Gob.. Glek??") [Jon]


    [Goblin Language Unlocked!]


    Jon gasped loudly as he saw the [Menu] text pop up in front of him, the word GOBLIN right in front of him, as his eyes locked onto that word. The woman trying to roll away finally managed to do so, rolling over to face him and on her chest was a small humanoid baby looking creature, holding on with tiny dark claws leaving small claw marks on the woman''s skin as it held onto her chest before biting/sucking down on her exposed breast, in a not so gentle way, causing the woman to squeak out again. Clearly the most she could muster with her diminished strength.


    Witnessing this tiny dark skinned creature latched onto this poor woman, his thoughts instantly went to his own hands and the dark skin and nails. His mind struck by the horrid realization.


    ("...i am a goblin... and.. my mother is a elf... No. then.. no wonder she was terrified of me last night... Goblins are the enemies of all good creatures in fantasy!?... of course.. ") [Jon]


    He shook his head as his thoughts despaired, focusing on the tiny creature that was completely still and content with draining what nourishment it could, but still it would scratch with its claws seemingly just out of spite or a urge to cause harm.


    The eyes of the goblin were red and its mouth had small jagged teeth, Jon moved his hand up to his mouth and felt the same sharp fangs, though his teeth also had normal teeth, as opposed to the goblin in front of him that had all jagged teeth in its horrid grin of a mouth. Its ears were large and long, with its earlobes being larger than it should be for its size.


    ("..born with fangs.. and claws...and why is it so...violent.. it does not need to claw her chest like it is. its just doing it to cause pain") [Jon]


    Jon felt his own ears while thinking and they were large too, but thinner and no excessive amount of earlobe as this goblin. Realizing he was clearly different than this goblin. He turned his eyes to look at his mother who was somehow still sleeping. When suddenly with a dissatisfied sound the goblin baby released its mother? And looked right into Jon''s eyes, then shifting its glare to the much larger pair of bosoms Jon is nestled in between before sporting a vicious toothy greedy grin and crawling towards him...


    (".....Oh....I do not think so buddy!!! These are mine!! - Eh I mean! This is my mother!!!") [Jon]

 5. Round one - Fight!

    The two beasts clashed against each other tearing at each other, each move could spell victory or death for them both, as lightning struck across the skies they slammed into each other, claws tearing flesh and teeth biting.


    Meanwhile somewhere entirely different, back inside the cave Jon resurrected inside, at the exact same time. Jon was holding back the goblin baby with his free hand by pushing its face just out of reach of its prize.


    "Hiss Food gob!" [Goblin Baby]


    ("No! Gob you!!") [Jon]


    Jon said tiredly to himself, he had been holding this goblin monstrosity at arms length now for a short while pushing his palm into its face, much like a big brother would do against a little brother. After the first few tense seconds of it crawling towards him and then trying to climb up to where he was, he blocked it by putting his hand out. And what happened amazed him.


    [BloodLine Detected! Would you like to access Progenitor Options?]


    ("what?.. umh ? yes?.. ow! stop trying to scratch me you varmit!") Jon tried to keep the goblin critter busy pushing at it while he examined the Menu as it widened out and showed up declaring a Bloodline was detected?. Did it mean family bloodline? he looked at the hissing flailing goblin baby he was holding at bay and surmised it must be a family member.


    _____________________________________________


    [Progenitor Access!]


    Race : Goblin (100%)


    Name : Hruk


    Sex : Male


    Age : 0 (Today is Hruks Birthday!)


    Status : Half-Brother


    Father : Xarn - The Terror of the farmsteads - Goblin (Dark Elf 25% / Goblin 75%)


    Mother : Emily - Human (100%)


    Stats : -Open-


    Traits/Abilities : -Open-


    Titles :


    [Progenitor Access : No Abilities/Traits available!]


    _____________________________________________


    ("Wait i can see this goblins stats?, Hruk huh?... but who named him - he was just born... did the system name him? because his mother sure as hell did not - she is barely conscious.")


    Jon looked over at what he presumed was Emilia - she was out cold. and now her problem of having to deal with Hruk has transferred over to him. He looked further down the list.


    ("Half Brother. So we share the same father. Xarn... and he has a title too?.. whoa.. He is part dark elf!!.. Wait am i part dark elf too??.. Wait no..") Jon suddenly remember as he looked at Hruks Race


    ("why is Hruk 100% Goblin if his father was part dark elf?..... is the goblin genome stronger and removes non goblin traits the further away it gets from its original parentage always arriving at goblin?.. but wait no that cannot be right. Why is Hruk not Part human?.... Ow!")


    Jon adjusted his hand as Hruk managed to scratch him on one of his fingers, and almost managed to move close enough to his mother to scratch her. He was still in a precarious situation if she woke up and noticed that her puppies had been salivated on and manhandled (goblinhandled) by Jon, he expected great amounts of pain. Why had she not already awoken ? Hruk was making more than enough noise, and he was sure she had been struck at least once by those tiny claws - he could not tell properly from his vantage point as he was still held in place by her tight grip.


    ("lets try this..") Jon focused on his mother, and the menu opened up showing a new list, which made Jon slowly open his mouth agape.


    _____________________________________________


    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work![Progenitor Access!]


    Race : High Elf (100%)


    Class : Wind Mage [Level 12] *New Class


    Name : Mercia Suntree - Guardian of the world tree, 11th Princess of the Elven Suntree Nobility, Savior of Ventril Treegrove - Goblin Destroyer - The Terror of goblins - Killer of Firk the Goblin King. Mother to the Goblin Progenitor


    Sex : Female


    Age : 150


    Status : Mother


    Father : Rondian Suntree - Guardian of the world tree, High King of the Elven Suntree Nobility -List Truncated- (High Elf 100%)


    Mother : Xensalia Goldenbranch - 4th Concubine of the Elven Suntree Nobility, Highmage of Suntree, Creator of the Worldtree Aura Rune Network -List Truncated- (High Elf 100%)


    Stats : -Open-


    Traits/Abilities : -Open- (New Abilities and Traits detected!)


    Titles : -Open-


    Active spells Detected! : Light Regeneration [Level 1], Stasis [Level 2], Mana Lock Curse[Level 2], Paralysis [Level 2]


    Active Spell casting Detected!: Magic Beacon [Level 5] (Magic runes in process 91% and building)


    [Progenitor Access : Abilities/Traits Available! Would you like to open options?]


    _____________________________________________


    Jon began to shake, tears would start to form in his eyes, a whimpering sound came from him, as his world slowly came tumbling down around him.


    ("Pp.Pp.Princess??.. High King?!...Highmage?!.. I am so dead!. Goblin Destroyer!?. oh no! no no no! Ow! Stop it Hruk! can you not understand i am doing this for your sake too!!")


    Hruk managed to latched onto Jons hand with his claws when he was distracted, causing him to retract his hand slightly and he lost his grip on him. Hruk immidiately tried to climb up his mother, his claws making contact with his mothers skin, but instead of drawing blood a slight bluish hue appeared where his claws snagged on. Jon quickly smacked Hruk in the face sending him back down on the ground. He looked at the weird blue glow along his mothers skin that faded away.


    ("..That must be that stasis spell?..and regeneration ? she does look a lot better... if not for all this grime and filth on her all the cuts and wounds she had were gone. and she was even looking proper nourished too... that explains how i could... gain so much mass..goblin metabolism must be extremely efficient.. Did she put herself into stasis to protect herself from further assault?")


    [Magic Beacon (Level 5): Magic Rune in process 92% and building]


    ("wait what?...Beacon?..she is casting a spell right now?.. its a much higher level than the others... she must have been casting all these spells during the night in her sleep??... why did she not do this from the beginning. Oh she has a mana lock curse?.. but how is she casting spells? even i know with my knowledge of fantasy that you need mana... Open stats ?")


    _____________________________________________


    [Stats Menu]


    Name : Mercia Suntree


    [STR] : 90


    [AGI] : 160


    [STA] : 80


    [WIS] : 220


    [INT] : 350


    [LUK] : 20


    [Health] : 920 / 920 - [Paralyses effect]


    [Mana] : 1..0..1..0..1...0 / 1850 - [Mana Lock Curse] - [Elven Soul Link]


    _____________________________________________


    ("...she is gaining 1 mana and instantly using it?..Elven soul Link?.. waaait... Open Menu ")


    _____________________________________________


    [Progenitor Menu Access!]


    Race : Goblin Progenitor (100% ¡ï)


    Class : New Class is Available!


    Name : Lurk - Goblin Progenitor


    Sex : Male


    Age : 0


    Status : Son


    Father : Xarn - The Terror of the farmsteads - Goblin (Dark Elf 25% / Goblin 75%)


    Mother : Mercia Suntree - (High Elf 100%)


    Stats :


    [STR] : 1


    [AGI] : 3


    [STA] : 2


    [WIS] : 10


    [INT] : 15


    [LUK] : 30


    Health : 10/10


    Mana : 0...1...0... / 315 - [Elven Soul Link]


    Abilities : (New Abilities detected!)


    [Speech : Goblin]


    [Speech : Elf]


    [Brawling] *New!


    [Dagger] *New!


    [Bow] *New!


    [Stealth] *New!


    [Survival] *New!


    [Dodge] *New!


    [Wind Magic] *New!


    [Earth Magic] *New!


    [Holy Magic] *New!


    Traits : (New Traits detected!)


    [Elven Soul]


    [Goblin Soul]


    [Slightly Evil]


    [Night Vision]


    [Heighten Senses] *New!


    [Mana Sensitive] *New!


    [Mana Aura] *New!


    Titles : Goblin Progenitor - Reincarnator


    _____________________________________________


    ...


    ("....this is a lot to take in... huu.. i do not even know where to start... Ok. Ok Jon..or...Lurk..Calm down.. I will have a talk with you Menu about that name later! but for now!..... She is connected to me via Elven Soul Link... So.. She is using my mana through the soul link, to cast a spell called Magic Beacon..... What is gonna happen once she finishes casting it??..... Uhm.. Open Magic Beacon?")


    _____________________________________________


    [Magic Beacon]


    Target : One Person whom physical contact has been established with prior.


    Cost : Depends on distance


    A Holy Spell created by the Highmage Xensalia Goldenbranch, once this spell is cast the person targeted knows with pinpoint accuracy the location of the target - Is used mostly for Teleportation and Communication spells to lock onto.


    _____________________________________________


    ("....Family is gonna come visit.")

 6. Choice

    Jon relaxed back onto his mother, lying in her embrace. Hruk had apparently taken the slap to the face and the impossible task to reach the goals against a superior foe, and climbed back onto the woman Emily. Jon breathed a sigh of relief, it was getting annoying to hold back that little bastard.


    ("...what should i do now... I have to think about myself?...But..")


    Jon sighed because once his mother had finished the Magic Beacon spell, someone, would come to get her. The spell even implied it was used to teleportation assistance. That would mean someone, most likely Elven warriors or mages would show up, see their princess having been defiled, with a goblin baby on her. Knowing how royalty and nobility would handle unwanted children, which could range from expulsion or simply covering it up and placing the child somewhere else to be cared for or if the people involved were particularly cold murder the woman involved with her baby..


    Jon simply could not see a how elves appearing would not instantly kill him to protect their princesses reputation. Even just the fact she had been captured - defiled - and forced to birth a horrible creature the enemy of their people, that would warrant a major cover up.. and getting rid of the evidence. Did she know that when she began her spellcasting?, is that why her grip on me is so tight. She is using me to get mana she must have noticed that our hands contacting each other allowed her to gain mana through the soul link, circumventing the Mana Lock Curse she had on her.


    ("...i can feel if i want to.. i can block the Soul link and cut off her mana.....but this would doom her to her continued defilement and eventual death in this hell..... One or the other.. one of us will die...")


    [Magic Beacon (Level 5): Magic Rune in process 93% and building]


    While laying there in his mothers embrace, trying to think, he heard the other women in the room beginning to weep and shuffle about. The sound of more goblins babies have entered the room, hissing and making the odd gob noise, they were out of sight of his current position but he could guess they were all like Hruk, now trying their best to get food and torture their mothers. The timing of these births are weirdly coordinated..


    This is what would be Mercia''s remaining life if she could not escape.. lying in this pit - unable to move - unable to resist. Along with all the other victims in here. Suffering till the end. No matter how much he thought about wanting to save himself, he simply could not force the Soul link to be removed. Dooming this woman to this fate at the expense of his continued existence as what? A horrendous goblin that cause fear, misery and death where ever they go.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    Jon closed his eyes and tried to relax whilst keeping a ear at the direction of Hruk, encase he decided to take his chances again. Trying to accept this horrible situation of having to sacrifice himself for this elf he knew nothing about, that most likely detested him to the core of her being. That to protect herself and her family name she would do... what?.. he did not know exactly.. he only had a guess.


    Seeing her first fearful reaction and then her slowly accepting his hand on hers. Maybe there was a small chance.. But for now he tried to absorb this feeling of being embraced in a warm hug, one he could not remember having had in a very long while in his first life, and focusing the pleasant feeling.


    [Magic Beacon (Level 5): Magic Rune in process 94% and building]


    Maybe he could ask her?. But no she was in stasis.. most likely to protect herself from any further assaults. Jon quickly asked for the Menu to bring up the spell Stasis to confirm that theory


    _____________________________________________


    [Stasis]


    Target : One person who has to agree - cannot be forced.


    Cost : 500 mana


    The target of this spell becomes incredibly hard to damage/and stop requiring sustenance or taking further damage from either spell effects or wounds. The spell will also draw in ambient mana to fuel other spells cast on the target and keep them going for extended time past their duration (warning if the local mana ambiance is to low, all other spells will cancel out in favor of stasis) at the cost of being completely immobilized


    Target awakens once a stated requirement has been fulfilled or ambient mana runs out.


    This spell has the following effect modified by by the Highmage Xensalia Goldenbranch


    "Elven Trances are not blocked by this effect"


    _____________________________________________


    Wow. That''s quite an effective spell to save someone from the brink of death or in the case of a hopeless situation to wait for assistance. But what is an Elven trance. Maybe that''s how she is still able to cast spells, being conscious enough for that. It reminded him of Elves from some fantasy stories and games that they did not truly sleep but simply focused their minds. Maybe she could only cast spells in this trance due to her state of paralyses.


    [Magic Beacon (Level 5): Magic Rune in process 95% and building]


    ("wait.. maybe if i could get free but remain in contact with her until she finishes her spell, then hide somewhere or try to get outside this room. Maybe we could both remain alive...")


    As Jon thought that the entrance to the room suddenly opened up. In the doorway stood a imposing goblin, wearing wolf furs, bone amulets and metal chest armor. In his hand holding a murderous looking club with all kinds of spikes and odd crystals embedded inside it. Behind him the sound of many goblins yapping and screeching at each other.. The red eyes of the goblin staring at the women in the room from left to right. Ending his glare on Jon and Mercia.


    ("...family is here...")

 7. Seperation

    The goblin in armor and furs walked in - as he left enough room for the goblins outside to get in they spilled in around him, leaping inside. Some of them carrying baskets/buckets. Some carrying a charred dead animal. One of them a slightly taller and a lot more skinny than the regular goblin walked up to the first big goblin who stood above them all by one head taller at least.


    "Gegege boss! can we have fun with them this time Gegege! yes?! yes?! I wants to breed them too!!!" (skinny goblin)


    The Boss goblin stared at Jon and Mercia still, only breaking his stare on hearing the goblin beside him, he then swung his hand down onto the skinny goblin sending it slamming into other goblins that were carrying baskets, knocking them all down sprawling on the ground. They all quickly got up on their feet and stepped away from the skinny goblin, who was sitting up against the wall, holding onto its face and jaw that seemed to have been dislocated. The goblins were all getting exited and cheering at the sudden activity, pointing and laughing at the skinny goblin.


    "..." (goblin boss)


    The boss approached the goblin that was moaning in pain and promptly kicked with full force into the head of the goblin against the wall, a sickening crunch silenced all the yapping and screeching goblins that were scurrying away from the boss.


    "...put this one into the wolf pit..." (goblin boss)


    The goblins all screeched and laughed at the carnage and one of the goblins closest to the now dead skinny goblin dragged the corpse outside of the room. The boss turned once more and walked over to the woman furthers away from Jon and Mercia kneeling down.


    ("...just like that he killed his ally..... and all the other goblins just laughed...") (Jon)


    [Magic Beacon (Level 5): Magic Rune in process 96% and building]


    ("..come on... hurry up damn it... now I really need this to finish..") (Jon)


    The boss motioned for some of the goblins carrying a basket to come over as he grabbed onto a goblin baby that was crawling around the woman. He looked at it closely then put it inside the basket.


    "... feed that one..." (goblin boss)


    He then walked over to the next woman. the goblins with the basket following as the goblins carrying the charred animal corpse ran over starting to cutting pieces off it and forcing it into the woman''s mouth making her swallow it, kicking her when she tried to shy away and curl up. He picked up two goblin babies from the next woman, one of the babies mouths was covered in blood and it was flailing, its teeth were abnormally big and it looked manic.


    "...Hmmr.. gegegege feisty.. put this in another basket..... get rid of this corpse.." (goblin boss)


    He handed the feisty baby off to a goblin that screeched as it bit his hand, he struggled with it for a while before giving it a punch. Which only seemed to agitated it. the other baby was put into the first basket along with the other one - that one seemed more normal.


    ("...it killed its mother?... I never noticed..these goblins all look different too.. that one especially, why are they all so different from each other...") (Jon)


    [Magic Beacon (Level 5): Magic Rune in process 97% and building]


    Jon looked at all the goblins, some were taller, had long arms or short legs, big pot bellies or hunched over, some without noses and just slits or ones with big long noses. The ones waiting seemingly staring at the women, fighting a internal battle within themselves to not launch them self forward to cause mayhem,suffering and death.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    Meanwhile the boss was examining the next woman lifting her head turning it, the woman gave no resistance. When he let go she just layed back her head. She was severely malnourished her eyes in gaunt sockets, her body wasted away.


    "..Hmpf no spawn Tsk! Gegegege. Chop this one.!" (goblin boss)


    The boss moved to the next woman, Emily and Hruk. As soon as he did several goblins leaped at the worn out woman laughing and screeching as they started stabbing and hacking at her with their knives and small axes. Before two goblins took hold of her legs and dragged her corpse outside. The goblins frothing at the mouths and cheering at the murderous atmosphere.


    [Magic Beacon (Level 5): Magic Rune in process 98% and building]


    The boss picked up Hruk, which cause Hruk to promptly hiss and snarl at the boss. The boss nodded to himself and put Hruk into the basket along with the other goblins babies. He grabbed Emily''s head, she cried and tried to get away but the boss had no trouble as he checked her body out.


    ("... This bastard.. I want to kill him.. I want to gorge out his eyes and rip him into pieces...") (Jon)


    Jon did not seem to notice that the same blood lust and intense feelings the goblins were all cheering about, now having spilled blood was effecting him a lot, his vision turned red from rage his heart pounding in his chest as he tensed his body wanting to jump at the boss and rip him up.


    "...Hmrr... Feed this one.." (goblin boss)


    The boss let go of Emily and she curled up and tried to get away. The boss stepping over her and looked at Jon and Mercia - Looming over them, he was much bigger up close sending a chill through Jons raging body, causing him to freeze momentarily still his heart beat like drums in his chest. The goblins behind started to feed Emily behind them. laughing and stuffing her mouth with the charred meat.


    (".. come on you stupid spell... Garghr!") (Jon)


    [Magic Beacon (Level 5): Magic Rune in process 99% and building]


    The boss grabbed onto Jons neck and Mercia''s arm and pulled Jon free from her embrace. Jon was lifted up, his tiny form compared to the big goblin as he was turned around. The Boss made big eyes as he examined Jon up close. Jon grasped onto the bosses arm tearing at it with his claws as best he could trying to get air from the tight grip.


    "... Pah... Not a dark spawn...Chief will be upset..This one goes to the day cave...Hmrrr... Purple eyes....." (Goblin boss)


    [Weak Bloodline Detected! Would you like to access Progenitor Options?]


    ("...Dammit!..he is choking me!....The spell... it did not finish!...urrgH. Me..Merc..Mother is gonna die here!.... Hrrng...Sure Menu!.. Perfect time! Gargh!")


    _____________________________________________


    [Progenitor Access!]


    Race : Goblin (100%)


    Name : Vrek Bearslayer


    Sex : Male


    Age : 5 years


    Status : Different Family - To distant bloodline connection.


    Father : Unknown


    Mother : Unknown


    Stats : -Unable to Open-


    Traits/Abilities : -Unable to Open-


    Titles :


    [Progenitor Access : No access to abilities or traits!]


    _____________________________________________


    ("Aghrr..I was kidding menu!.. Hggurr!!") (Jon)


    A goblin came over with a basket and set it down next to Mercia, The goblin boss put Jon inside it and then looked at Mercia with wide eyes.


    "...what is this...This elf bitch is ... Fine?.. Not drained??.." (goblin boss)


    The goblin grabbed her neck and lifted her. a slight blue shimmer appearing where his tight grip appeared - and his eyes widened out in anger. He slammed her against the floor - a blue shimmer once more covering her head where she impacted against the floor.


    "Magic!. Gegegege!! Gob! how!. This bitch!. Chop her!!!"


    The goblin boss grabbed a knife on his belt. and raised it up high. other goblins also leaped forward with their weapons and stabbed them down onto Mercia''s body. her body got covered in blue shimmering fields none of the weapons piercing through enough. As they kept on stabbing slashing and kicking, the blue shimmer slightly changed color.


    "Yes! Gegegegege! Keep slashing! biting! Murder! Kill this elf whore!!" (Goblin boss)


    The goblin boss changed his hand to the club lifting it up high as it just about to slam it down onto the weakening stasis spell and crack Mercia''s skull in. The basket with the weird goblin baby this elf bitch had birthed, had a small goblin arm sticking out from a tear in the basket. Stretched out to just barely allow a finger to touch her foot.


    [Magic Beacon (Level 5): Magic Rune in process 100% Complete! World tree Aura Rune Network Link Active]


    A White flash instantly covered the room and the goblins and the goblin boss all shrieked and backed away from the glowing figure that appeared in a flash now standing over Mercia...

 8. Alone

    The white light vanished and was replaced by a gentle green glow from the girl now standing over Mercia''s


    She looked to be a young girl not much taller than the Boss Goblin, green flowing hair down to her waist, her body was covered in wooden bark on her shins, knees, crotch, stomach and chest and her arms had jagged bark. The bark had green glowing vines pulsing on them Connecting all the various pieces of bark between each other. Her eyes glowed green as she quickly looked around identifying all the goblins near her and Mercia''s beneath her.


    In her hands instantly two one hand scythes appeared with vines springing out from her Wrist pieces onto the bottom of the scythes as she spun around into a kneeling position. The goblins all still reeling from the sudden blinding light in this completely dark cave got slashed up, several of them all falling back onto the ground dead with completely sliced off limbs or deep gashes that none of their primitive rags or skin could protect again.


    The goblin boss managed to block the initial attack - despite blinded, but he was forced back as the scythe connecting with his club - blue sparks springing forth from their impact against each other he quickly slammed his club out to hit the intruder. Roaring out a command that caused the cave outside to become active with goblin shrieks and yells.


    "Interloper!!! Come chop and fight you useless gobs!!!!" (Goblin Boss)


    The girl crossed her scythes and blocked the club directing the attack away and use the momentum to slash across the chest of the goblin boss. His chest armor getting torn to shreds as black greenish blood sprayed out over the girl. The goblin boss screamed out with two deep gashes across his chest. The armor did nothing to guard against the scythes at all.


    The girl was silent through all of this, simply methodically and effectively slashing and cutting down the goblins. Her eyes cold and calm from the impeding threat - she did not move away from Mercia and having pushed the goblin boss back, she promptly attacked the nearest goblin that was still somehow alive having survived the first assault, it tried to slash at her leg but before it could the scythes lopped its head off.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    The goblin boss held onto his chest plate black blood leaking out, he grabbed two knives from his belt with one hand and threw them at the monster of a girl that suddenly appeared and effortlessly slaughtered his minions. The daggers sped forward just about to hit the girl in her head, as her focus was on the goblin she just killed. A wicket grin on the goblin


    Sparks flew as she moved to fast and blocked the two daggers with one scythe, The goblin boss stared in disbelief as the other scythe was thrown by the girl - the vine extending as the scythe flew through the air and sliced the goblin boss''s arm off and then instantly pulled the scythe back to her hand.


    [Vine Wall] (?? Girl ??)


    The girl pointed a flat hand at the door and vines suddenly erupted out of the rocks and covered the doorway completely - just as swarms of goblins outside were getting near it. The vines then grew fierce thorns and hardened to become immovable.


    The room was lit in a gentle green glow from the girls armor and magic runes that started to appear underneath her and Mercia, she briefly looked around the room at the goblins and the women in the room. Emily next to her raising a hand up towards the girl. The girl looked down at her. Her eyes still looking clear and unmoved from the carnage she did or the desperate hand being lifted towards her. The runes beneath her spinning faster and faster their glow intensifying


    [Return] (?? Girl ??)


    The runes flashed and enveloped the girl and Mercia - and just as quickly as she appeared, she vanished along with Mercia. Emily''s hand slumped down on the ground releasing a sob as the room once more covered in complete darkness. The vine wall beginning to crumble away, the goblin screeching and yelling became louder and louder from the other side.


    The goblin boss breathing and gasping. Sitting up. holding his arm where it got cut off snarling loudly and deeply. The vine wall crumbling completely and goblins poured in and looking at the dead goblins and then at the boss.


    The boss suddenly howled out in rage and anger, spittle flying from his mouth, all the goblins followed suit clamoring and screaming their hate - the screams resonating with the anger of the entire goblin tribe, having been assaulted and robbed of one of their major prizes, through the entire cave system.


    In the darkness sat a single basket.. Through small holes in the basket two purple glowing eyes could be seen burning with a passionate fire.


    "..Bye.. Mother..." (Lurk)

 9. Relocation

    Lurk observed from the basket the rage of the goblins, the boss''s howling seemed to make all the goblins follow suit, even he could feel the urge to yell out along with all the other goblins.


    ("It must be some kind of instinctual group mentality.. they are all following suit of the strongest.. i guess it makes sense.. oh shut up already!!.. it would be a good way for a violent race like this to function without constantly murdering each other.")


    Lurk tightened his lips as he did not want to take part of it, instead just humming a little to take his mind of the loud yelling. The goblins all were riled up screaming and then quieted down right away, as the Boss stopped. Just then another goblin walked inside pushing past all the goblins outside as they made way for it.


    The goblin was covered in various pieces of human clothing - all sewn together in patches. A makeshift bone armor covering his chest and shoulders. his face was also covered completely in wrapped rags, cut up clothing even fine clothing worn by humans. Only his eyes were visible. Adorned with bone,stone even stolen jewelry charms all tied on a multitude of strings.


    "Gegege! move you slugs! out of the way! get out!" (?? Rag goblin ??)


    The rag goblin whacked a few slow goblins to make way since the room inside was packed with all of the goblins surrounding Vrek, as they all scurried to get out of the room. Leaving only the rag goblin and two of his minions with Vrek the boss goblin. There was a quiet pause between the two goblins as they faced off.


    "..What are you waiting for!. Heal me you gob!" (Vrek)


    Vrek had calmed down and was holding his arm tightly stopping the blood loss mostly, his body still covered in dark blood but the arm was the worst of it. Somehow he was still able to stand up, making a point out of it to stand as tall as possibly. The rag goblin looked at him up and down sneering and making a annoyed sound.


    "...Heal me now Boor!" (Vrek)


    Vrek yelled and grabbed the Rag goblin, who''s name was apparently Boor, with his hand - the bleeding of his severed arm continued. But Vrek lifted up the goblin causing his two minions behind to back away in a panic, still wounded and crippled it seemed Vrek was still able to project killing blood lust and dominance.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    "..GHerg.. Yes.. Yes.." (Boor)


    Lurk stared from the basket as Vrek let go of the rag goblin. The rag goblin held out his hands and put them onto Vrek. Red glowing runes started to appear at his hands as he called out [Heal!] several times in a row, Vreks wounds sealed up and stopped bleeding. He regained all his strength with only a arm lost.


    "..Now.. explain.. What happened.." (Boor) said as he looked over the dead goblins strewn across the corner of the room.


    "..grrrR.. The elf sow escaped.. She used magic!!.." (Vrek)


    "Magic?! Impossible! Gegege. Chief''s curse would make it impossible!" (Boor)


    "She summoned a wooden one. Very strong.. But i was strong enough to survive!! Gegege!" (Vrek)


    Boor''s eyes narrowed into slits, if what Vrek said was true it was indeed a feat to survive the attack of a wooden one. But he had doubts as he had personally seen these slay countless of goblins, orcs and bigger targets effortlessly - only the dark lords champions would stand on equal ground to them.


    "PFf.. maybe this wooden one took pity on you!" (Boor)


    "Shut it!... We must move now.. Take these spawn and relocate our nest." (Vrek)


    "Chief will be angry, you losing his new favorite sow and then loosing this cave!.."


    "I said shut it!! Now move you gobs!"


    Vrek yelled out his orders and the goblins all went into action, Lurks basket was picket up along with all the others - The remaining women too were dragged out - moved around in a complex rough cave passage, goblins picking up anything and everything. After a short while he was carried into a larger cave. from multiple doorways came goblins hauling goods, weapons, and a few women that were all corralled over to one place where they were immediately assaulted by goblins. These women looked much worse for wear than the ones he saw back in the room, clearly these were fair game for any goblin.


    The baskets with the babies and himself in it, were put over in a corner along with the two remaining women from the room - and then fiercely guarded by a few goblins that looked tougher than usual goblins. No one came over here to assault these women. Vrek gave orders along with 3 other goblins, Boor included, piling up goods in different parts of the room and then assigned goblins to each pile. As these groups were formed up, they all left out through the largest passageway.


    Vreks group took care of all the goods and numerous goblins that had been moved over to Lurks corner, picking up everything, they then hurried out of the large room. After a while of traveling through the passageway a open night sky became visible to Lurk.

 10. Training

    The journey was rather uneventful, and the sights along the trip were not as interesting as Lurk had seen in the travel brochure. Granted the basket was the main cause of this, as it only had so many holes to look out off. Of course the he would never speak ill of the holes, since they were the main reason he could save Mercia.


    From what he could gather they were in a forest/hill area with the occasional large rock formations jutting out of the ground. Creating a lot of small nooks and tiny valleys every so often. The goblin group moving swiftly through without much pause. And compared to how noisy the goblins were inside their safe nest - now they were silent, only the shuffling of feet and the goods, and the occasional sound of metal armor from the bigger goblins.


    The hierarchy was easy to spot. The goblins wearing the most items, weapons and decorations they had on them spelled it out clearly they were strong, cunning or powerful enough to keep the items to them selves. When he had the time in the main cave, before they left, he spotted 4 goblins that all were the most decked out. Vrek, Boor and two other goblins. Clearly they were the leaders of this group. But the group Lurk was with only had Vrek, the others took different paths apparently.


    The other locations they were moving to, might not have enough room for all the goblins Lurk suspected. Lurk tightened his fists, when he sometimes caught a glimpse of Vrek through the holes in the basket. Lurk had never hated anyone as much as he did now, not that he ever hated anyone before in his old life. He was a meek person then, but now when thinking back to how Vrek tried his best to murder Mercia. He wanted to leap out of the basket and strangle Vrek.


    But for now his body was not strong enough for such amazing feats of revenge. Which reminded him that he might as well use the time to get more acquainted with this Progenitor Menu.


    With a thought the menu opened up before his eyes as usual - his vision going straight to the Flashing "*New!" in the menu.


    _____________________________________________


    [Progenitor Menu Access!]


    Race : Goblin Progenitor (100% ¡ï)


    Class : New Class is Available!


    Name : Lurk - Goblin Progenitor


    Sex : Male


    Age : 0


    Stats :


    [STR] : 2 (+1) *New! (body growth)


    [AGI] : 6 (+3) *New! (body growth)


    [STA] : 4 (+2) *New! (body growth)


    [WIS] : 10


    [INT] : 15


    [LUK] : 30


    Health : 14/14


    Mana : 50 / 315


    Abilities : (New Abilities detected!)


    [Speech : Goblin]


    [Speech : Elf]


    [Brawling] *New!


    [Dagger] *New!


    [Bow] *New!


    [Stealth] *New!


    [Survival] *New!


    [Dodge] *New!


    [Wind Magic] *New!


    [Earth Magic] *New!


    [Holy Magic] *New!


    Traits : (New Traits detected!)


    [Elven Soul]


    [Goblin Soul]


    [Slightly Evil]


    [Night Vision]


    [Heighten Senses] *New!


    [Mana Sensitive] *New!


    [Mana Aura] *New!


    Titles :


    Goblin Progenitor


    Reincarnator


    Elven Savior *New!


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident._____________________________________________


    ("huh. My stats increased due to body growth? That was quite fast. I wonder how long it takes till i am a adult goblin...")


    Peering through the list, as he took notice of the changes in his stats the "*New!" tags vanished. As if the Menu acknowledge that he has understood a change had occurred.


    ("Neat. So whats next... My Health increase by 4 too, must be because of the STA increase. And my mana has been recharging up.. Why do I have so much mana though. it seems odd compared to my health.")


    As Lurk thought that, the menu brought his attention to the Traits list, the trait [Mana Aura] flashed and a description popped up.


    _____________________________________________


    [Mana Aura] - Inherited from Mercia Suntree


    +300 Max Mana


    Through hard training and dedicated attention to magic and understanding of how mana flows through ones body. The owner of Mana Aura has gained a significant Mana pool boost!


    "Mastery of magic requires a strong will.. And lots and lots of mana!" - Merlinor Grandmage


    _____________________________________________


    ("Ah. That explains that... But I do not remember dedicating myself to any such thing...How on earth did I get this.. is it some cheat start ability? Wait. I inherited it from Mercia?.. but this sounds like something you would train - not some genetic trait?")`


    Once more as he thought about how he acquired this the menu once more brought his attention to a line of text all the way at the top of the list. And another description expanded out.


    _____________________________________________


    Race : Goblin Progenitor (100% ¡ï)


    The Progenitor is the head of a new species - a great leader of a culture - the head of a grand family - the great ancestor. The Progenitor is the master of his bloodline and has a great deal of control and knowledge of his bloodline. A progenitor will bring great change and power to his bloodline!


    Any member of the bloodline that the Progenitor has been within range, will impart their Traits and Abilities onto the progenitor to make sure none of the traits are ever lost to time - and to spread them through his future bloodline.


    The stronger the connection in the bloodline the more access is granted!


    Range : Touch *


    Rank : 1


    -Level of Progenitor is not high enough to access more information or other uses.


    *Some abilities are absorbed differently (languages and others)


    _____________________________________________


    (".. wait this does not make sense.... Should traits not flow.. Down a bloodline.. why would they flow back up towards the ancestor of a bloodline... This is such a ludicrous cheat!!!")


    Lurk looked at his Traits and abilities, seeing all the "*New!" tags on all the skills and checked each one - and found out they were all inherited from Mercia. But they were all at rank 0.


    ("...hmm I doubt my mother was only rank 0 in these abilities.. so I only inherited the foundation of the traits?.. Hmmm.. [Wind Magic] and [Bow] had a extra notation under both of them that none of the others had.")


    _____________________________________________


    [Wind Magic] - Inherited from Mercia Suntree


    *Exceptional Natural Talent! 200% Increased


    ---


    [Bow] - Inherited from Mercia Suntree


    *Strong Natural Talent! 150% Increased


    _____________________________________________


    (".. so Mother was a powerful wind mage?.. And good at bows.. that feels like something all elves have. At least how I have always seen or heard about in fantasy - Elves are always good at bows. Its kinda their thing.. I guess I am now too?.. So all the other skills are basic?.. So I can collect natural talents and improve them that way.. hmm since I do not have a bow to test, can I cast magic maybe?")


    Lurk held out his hand and tried to focus on it, imagining wind to spin in his hand. For a while nothing happened but then he felt a very weak push of wind in the basket. it was not much. But there was definitely a effect! Lurk grinned like mad at this - How awesome was this! He thanked his mother in his heart for this great gift.


    [Level 0.1 Gained in Wind Magic!]


    [Gained Mage Class]


    ("..I guess I am gonna be busy training for a while..")

 11. Sun Soakers

    Lurk continued to test his magic ability with nothing else to do, though he felt he should stick to wind magic. It was at least somewhat hidden. During the journey the goblins paused and started to eat. He was starving but he was also concerned. What do goblins eat? Well if what he would guess at - Anything, everything and... Everyone. The other baskets began to be noisy once food was in sight/smell range.


    """Food! Gob! Food!""" (Goblin spawnlings)


    "..ehh..Food!..Food!" (Lurk)


    Lurk sighed inwardly and decided to join the noisemakers, as it would be the only way to make sure that the goblins might know when someone was fed or not. He doubted their child caring abilities to the max. Eventually a good sized piece of meat was thrown into the basket. Lurk looked at the meat and sighed.


    ("...I really hoped for something non meat.. for all I know this could be a former person...") (Lurk)


    Lurk touched the meat gingerly, meanwhile in the other baskets the sounds of gnawing and chewing was heard. Just as he touched it Menu interjected with a message.


    [No Bloodline connection! - No Access!]


    _____________________________________________


    Race : Earth Boar *dead*


    Stats - Locked


    Skills/traits - Locked


    _____________________________________________


    ("..Thank you dear Menu.. I retract almost all the bad thoughts I had about you... So the progenitor ability can check other species too.")


    Now feeling a bit better about what he was gonna put in his mouth, he began eating it.


    ("Its sad to eat uncooked meat, ahh... I will never eat proper cooked food again.. goodbye my favorite pizzeria.. I will miss you.. Lasagna and Chicken.. I think I will miss you most of all..")


    The meat vanished quickly, and Lurks stomach made all kinds of sounds as he was finished. He could literally feel his body absorbing what he ate at record speed. Goblins definitely had a fast metabolism. He was sure he was skipping months of growth a normal human baby had to do in hours.


    He continue to train in wind magic, as the goblins took off again and after several hours the night sky vanished from the baskets view being replaced by rocky caves with roots on the walls and floors.


    The cave passage expanded slowly until it opened up into a large room, the sound of water and also the sound of goblins shrieking heard. When Lurk managed to look out, it seemed Vrek was in the middle of proving that this cave was now under his leadership, using a impressive political campaign of stabbing the goblins that were already in here, till the rest agreed. He managed to do it by 2 goblins.


    A deep crack about 5 feet wide in the room had running water about 10 feet down in the gash, several pieces of wood and sometimes planks were placed over the crack. the walls were covered in roots and had many horizontal cracks of varying sizes down the walls. At the back of the room was a particularly large root that had made a sort of miniature room beneath it. A ordinary dinner chair was placed inside with many bones and pieces of broken weapons placed around it. Near it were the two dead goblins that failed to see Vrek''s great leadership abilities and Vrek promptly sat down on this "throne" and began giving out orders.


    Once he got to sorting out the goods and organizing where everyone was to go and stay. Vrek came to Lurks basket he looked down into it and picked Lurk up by his neck.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    "..Frel!.. Gegege! Got one for the Sun Soakers here!.." (Vrek)


    Vrek then threw Lurk over to a goblin that managed to catch him by his arm, this goblin was fairly human looking as opposed to other goblins, he was wearing a wolf pelt on his body along with rags and leather with the head of the wolf acting as a helmet his yellow eyes that examined Lurk briefly before nodding at Vrek and returning his look to Lurk.


    "You are now part of my Sun Soakers gegege, I am Frel. What is your name spawnling?" (Frel)


    "...I am Lurk."


    Lurk was rather shocked at being thrown through the air, and as he was hanging from Frel''s grip having been lifted up so he could look straight into Lurk''s eyes. Frel nodded at Lurks straight forward answer, putting Lurk under his arm while dragging a bag of goods along. He headed towards a horizontal crack in the wall, that went in rather deep and then exited into the middle of a passageway/room that was about 30 feet deep 10 feet wide on either end of the crack, each that ended off at both ends with many roots covering the walls.


    Frel walked to one end, putting Lurk down on the ground. 3 other goblins were putting down their sacks and items and turned to look at Frel and the newcomer. Lurk noticed that all of these goblins like Frel looked a lot more like he did in his body shape - Like tiny humans without the excessive body differences from the other goblins. No out of proportioned traits in these, Except for one of the goblins - who seemed to be sporting two mounds hidden behind rags on its chest.


    ("..Huh a goblin female.. its the first one I have seen so far. If it was not for the slightly bigger ears, hands and those bigger canines she would pass off a miniature human girl - along with all the other goblins in here.. this is a weird bunch..they have the same looks as me, though i have not seen my face yet.")


    Frel opened his bag and threw some cloth rags at Lurk.


    "Gather the rest of your own items like a proper goblin.. This is Lurk gobs. No chopping he is a sun soaker like us, Sala handle Lurk til he is grown. " (Frel)


    After stating that calmly he dropped off a smaller bag to one of the other goblins, he went down into the other end of the cave and began unpacking his things.


    Holding onto the rags in his hands Lurk looked at the 3 goblins. Sala the female goblin stared at him with a frown on her face, they were all taller than normal goblins due to most goblins actually being slightly hunched over.


    She had black hair that was tied up in a pony tail and had loing cloth rag and wrapped rags around her chest. With two actually leather bracers on her arms. The biggest goblin had his right arm covered in what appeared to tiny piece of wolf fur, and also sporting a loincloth with a belt that had many pouches.


    His left eye was missing with scars running down that side of his face, and short black hair. The last goblin was tiny, this was the smallest adult goblin he has seen. Frail was a word to describe this goblin with, but he had ragged pants as opposed to the loincloth, his body was completely bald making him look even more pitiful.


    "Tsk.. Why should Sala take care of you.. You look Scrawny and tiny.." (Sala)


    "..I am a spawnling.. I will get bigger.." (Lurk)


    *Bonk* Sala promptly did a not so gentle fist onto Lurks head. Causing him to hold onto his head rubbing it.


    "Pff. You are scrawny and tiny now gob! Sala is strongest one, ... After Frel of course.. So you will do what I say!.." (Sala)


    "..Ow! Yes yes. Just do not go bonking my head like that.." (Lurk)


    *Bonk*


    "Nope!. Sala decides when to bonk! That is Vorm and that is Aurk. We are now your Party"


    [Party activated - Sala, Vorm, Aurk, Lurk]


    Lurk rubbed his head once more, and the 3 goblins turned around to their items and began to lay them out on the ground. The bag left by Frel was opened and meat was taken out. Aurk shared it with everyone leaving Lurk last.


    "I am Aurk.. gege. Do not act weak. Learn from us.. Live longer.." (Aurk)


    Aurk was the one eyed goblin. Now seeing him up closer as he handled the meat he could tell that the hand with the wolf pelt on it was not moving as well as the other. Clearly it was not just his eye that was maimed, also his arm was crippled. Lurk had to give this goblin credit. Living in this kind of group and being maimed to this degree and remaining alive, he was gonna be sure to listen to what this goblin had to say.


    He handed Lurk the meat that turned out to be the same boar meat. Looking over at Vorm who just stared at Lurk for a brief moment before sitting down eating his portion of the food.


    (".. Looking forward to working with you..") Lurk thought to himself as he ate his food looking at the odd trio. Before laying down on the rags and closing his eyes.

 Waking up from a nightmare

    Sound of birds singing and chirping slowly stirred the woman on the exquisitely designed bed.


    Mercia sat up slowly and felt completely at ease. Closing her eyes she could feel the calming aura of the world tree and the sense of nature everywhere around her. She was home in the elven capital of Sunsitell, her room at the palace she had not been back to in at least a decade.


    Wrapping her arms around her knees as and letting her forehead rest on her knees. She thanked the world tree for being free with all her heart. But she had suffered and lost a lot. Her friends and a lot of her team mates were either dead or missing still. She prayed they were not suffering as she had been. A wave of guilt hit her as she thought of how only she could be saved from that dark hell.


    "Emily, Shera and Geraldi..."


    She raised her head and a tear ran down her cheek, thinking back when it all went wrong. They were visiting the Kingdom of Caraltor, Emilys home in a attempt to gather more support against the Dark lords renewed aggression''s against both Caraltor and the elven forest. As usual it was a constant fight to get the humans to agreed to work together with the elves. Only a few people and groups would provide any help. The kingdom it self was not willing to assist..


    "things would not be like this.. but we brought it on our selves after all..."


    Ever since the first calamity, that brought down the greatest Kingdom of the realm - Luxenplain. Where calls for help went out the elves did not respond, they were safe inside their great forest protected by the endless might of the world tree. Though most elven historians would argue that even if they had helped, nothing would have made a difference in the end due to time.


    The Kingdom of Luxenplain was a vast area of readily available farmland, sealed on all its borders by impassable mountains. With just enough sea routes and just the right land entry points into the country, this allowed them to be the central trade hub between all other civilizations. Their defenses were unassailable. Magnificent castles and a trained strong army at all their entry points, their great wealth and endless food supply the plains gave them, made them the reigning kingdom of man for centuries.


    But then the rifts started to appear. Monsters and demons of endless types, would appear in single small numbers across the realm - causing mayhem where they went - but it was handled by the adventures and kingdoms without much loss. But it would continue to happen despite what the greatest minds of the realm tried to do to stop it. But it was manageable at the time.


    The biggest threat was if beings of a particular intellect and cunning appeared, that also possessed the magical powers to needed to set up strengthening magical constructs around the rifts to allow more monstrosities to keep appearing at a faster rate. All focus was on fighting the rifts that became opened up permanently by these beings.


    Luxenplain had only a few rifts opened and they were handled fast and with determination. Not a single permanent rift was ever allowed to be formed inside their borders. But then...


    The great Kingdom had a hidden pest inside its kingdom that was not detected from their last rift they sealed off. Its multitude of farming villages that filled the plains, with little to no defense and highly populated by happy peasant families.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    At first it was not noticeable, but villages in a small area in the middle of the kingdom started to have cases of missing people. Distress was sent to the nearest noble family that sent out adventures to check on the area looking for a rift, but they never found any. What they did find was a village that was completely ransacked. Corpses and empty buildings was all they found.


    The adventurers kept looking but all they kept finding were that the villages in the area were all looted with not survivors. They did notice that most of the dead were men. The managed to finally track it down to a cave..


    From that cave poured out goblins, the adventures were completely overrun by the sheer number of the goblins. Like a domino effect each village, filled to the brim with food and healthy population was destroyed, women were captured and the goblins numbers would explode from each village taken. This new monster that appeared through a rift, filled with evil in their soul, cunning, ruthlessness and a ability to breed faster than anything. Despite being small and weak in stature. Broke the greatest kingdom the realm had ever seen.


    Its greatest strength, its numerous people and endless supply of food caused a endless tide of goblins to fill the area and spill out from the kingdom. Eventually this calamity was broken, not by a grand victory or a specific hero that could kill the singular threat. No, when the goblins had looted everything and finally began loosing more bodies than they made, they then tried to escape out from the now destroyed kingdom that was collapsing in on it self from its mortal wound the green plague had caused.


    Goblins would appear in other kingdoms despite having been brought down to low numbers, as they were sneaky enough and knew when to lay low. But now it was known what to look for and safeguard the villages better. Adventure guilds grew stronger and more numerous. The great kingdom was now desolate and rifts began appearing inside and were not stopped or reported in time. The second calamity, the dark lord appeared within this dead kingdom.


    He brought organization to the monsters that appeared. The dark kingdom was born inside the corpse of Luxenplains. The central trade hub of the realm was shut off. All the kingdoms now suffered greatly and starvation and wars occurred in great numbers - the rifts would keep appearing on occasion to steal the other kingdoms attention, but after the dark kingdom was formed the rifts became rarer and rarer.


    The elves did begin to strike out, but it was only because they discovered that the pemanent rifts caused the world tree to weaken. The elves now felt the threat along all the other races of the realm.


    "...if only we had done something sooner.."


    Mercia thought to herself, not caring if it would have changed anything at all, she felt in her heart that it would have helped even a little it would have been worth the risk. Which was why her and several of her countrymen and siblings decided to go out from the protective area of the world tree to help the humans despite what the elven council said.


    Her last battle was to defend a human city, alongside her friends and other adventurers and soldiers. But the enemy was to strong. A army of monstrosities and demons would slam against the defenses of the city, but what changed and broke the city was the appearance of a Royal demon that destroyed the cities magical defenses and its wall.


    Mercia herself was caught by the demon after trying to stop him along side her friends, Shera was torn apart trying to give cover, Geraldi was vaporized by the noble demon and then her and Emily were overrun. The demon took special notice of her elven heritage and decided that she should suffer at the hands of their weakest forces. Battered and drained she and her friend Emily was then thrown out to the side, to goblins that were part of the army. Now mere cannon fodder and worthless compared to all the other monstrosities.


    Mercia closed her eyes not wanting to think about it anymore. Instead she thought of the goblin.. the goblin she had birthed. And the message she saw before her eyes at the time.


    [You have gained the title - Mother of the Goblin Progenitor]

 Mother

    Mercia''s thoughts wavered thinking back to the dark room, after her defeat being thrown out towards a swarm of goblins. They all grabbed at her and then fought over who got to keep her and Emily, A dark skinned goblin was the one that captured her. She was brought back to their nest and into the dark room filled with filth she was raped by that dark goblin, If not for the comforting sense the world tree gave her and boosted her spirit she would be crying a lot worse. But she steeled herself, the worst feeling was that Emily was left behind, and....


    She thought back to when she was saved and brought home.


    After waking up from stasis that she did not think she would wake up from. She saw Penelope kneeling down over her, casting a few spells on her.


    "[Clean], [Mana Transfer], [Mana Transfer]" (Penelope)


    Penelope.. Her younger sister that had died 5 years ago. Was sitting next to her bed, her body still that of a young girl but now covered in bark like armor, the bark was slowly fading away along with the vines there were covering her skin, being replaced by gentle looking leaves and thinner vines.


    How she ended up like this began those 5 years ago, she was living out on the edge of the forest, being trained in the elven city of Gerrensita as a priestess. It was then that the world trees protection suddenly shrank back several thousands of meters. All the outer areas of their domain was suddenly wide open - No longer did the tree protect all the inhabitants within from being detected.


    Any unwelcome being that entered into the denser aura of the world tree, would find itself hopelessly lost - and inside the range of the magicians of the capital that could utilize all their powers with in its entire domain. The forest of the elves covered a vast area. And suddenly they lost huge areas of land, with villages and cities on the outer edge exposed to the world.


    Someone was waiting for the protection to shrink back like it had. Just outside of the forest in hiding were several demonic wizards, they instantly sensed where the cities and villages were located and rushed into the vicinity and placed down portals leading back to their main camps. The elven forest was assaulted on many locations all at once.


    It was a hopeless cause of course to assault the forest and win - the elves were extremely powerful and had both strong warriors and even stronger magic users. But the surprise assault gave enough time for the invaders to kill and destroy, before enough elven reinforcements could appear through their own portals from the central cities around the world tree to drive the invaders back. The invaders threw them selves in suicide attacks to kill as many elves as possible.


    The academy was assaulted and almost all the students were killed, including Penelope. But she was part of the royal family, she was brought home to the world tree and entombed within the tree itself performing a ritual to create a [Leaf of the tree]. This was custom that when a royal would fall - their body would be turned to the tree and become a new living being and servant and guardian of the tree.


    She knew it was no longer Penelope, her innocent personality and kindness was not there. Instead her small body was a powerful tool of the world tree, used to carry out the will of the elven nation and join the ranks of all the other Leafs.


    "I will get a cancellation sphere to treat your status", Penelope stated out and left Mercia lying on the bed still paralysed and mana locked.


    But she had given her some mana and her mind felt a lot clearer now. The goblin child was not in her grasp, she knew during her stasis that their contact was suddenly broken.


    Thinking back to her time in the cave. After having given birth to the goblin which took all her strength away. After she had thrown the goblin away, the strange goblin had come closer with gentle looking eyes, as if trying to calm her. She was unable to keep herself proper focused.


    All she thought why was this goblin so odd. Progenitor. It was called the goblin progenitor, she threw it away as she felt it trying to touch her hoping it would have been killed. But it survived and then completely shocking her it seemed to become sad, and she noticed something about it.


    Its eyes was purple.


    The trait of the elven noble line, she had never heard of goblins with any other color than red and yellow eyes, even the worst of the goblins sometimes had completely black eyes.


    But this one, a goblin spawned from her had her families trademark eyes. She was unable to keep up by then but the goblin came over and carefully tried to comfort her.. Why would it do that after she tried to kill it. She could not understand, but someone wanted to give her comfort and she accepted it gladly, finally having proper release from all the horrors she had experience in this cave and not a single kindness shown, but suddenly this tiny creature with her families eyes was trying to comfort her.The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    It put her hands on hers and she closed her hand on it. The goblin would then lie down on her hand and she would cry for a while from the sudden kindness shown when she noticed something. She could feel a elven soul within this goblin. Once more she could feel her soul having a connection to the mana of the world. Taking that away from her was just another horror she had to endure.


    Elves were intensely magical creatures and without mana they would become listless and lose vigor fast. But now she could feel mana trickle back into her soul. Something all elven magic users had learned was to tap into other elves mana and share it - it was not the same as a spell that was specifically designed to transfer mana in effectiveness, but now she saw hope for herself and Emily.


    She slowly managed to scoop the goblin child up in her arms and hold it on her chest. It had fallen asleep, completely feeling safe with her. She needed to make sure that their connection would not break, and also... make sure goblin would be taken with her back home. At first she wanted to do it because of the potential danger a special goblin would represent.


    But then she recalled how the goblin reacted to her, her logical thinking wavered from this and instead of calling her own mother for assistance to come get her. She decided on something else, to call on Penelope... Penelope would follow her commands cleanly and not react in a unknown way.. She also felt ashamed from her situation and she could not bring it on herself to doom this goblin that had treated her kindly.


    While she was taking in mana from the child,amazed by how much mana it had access to, as she needed a specific amount to make sure she could kickstart the spells and draw out the casting over several hours. Something suddenly stirred on her chest and she was suddenly having to deal with the goblin breastfeeding of her. This cause her face to redden up intensely, yelping out in the shock.


    Looking down at the face of the goblin that in his sleep was calmly suckling, he looked content and calm, a normal looking face instead of a hideous goblin monster. She resigned her self to it, feeling a odd warm sensation within her knowing she was feeding her child. Another tear ran down her cheek as she smiled weakly at the situation.


    She prepared herself to go into trance, the first spell she began casting was stasis, followed by regeneration since her body was in a bad state - stasis would fuel regeneration and keep her stamina up for the long period of constant concentration she needed to maintain the spell casting.


    But during the very last moments of the spell to call Penelope - contact was broken, she did not have a physical sense while in stasis, all she knew was suddenly the mana stopped coming and the link she had with the goblin in her arms was gone. She dreaded what could have happened - she was unable to do anything she needed almost no mana and she was unable to do anything but keep the spell from deteriorating.


    Then she began to feel the stasis spell being assaulted - its power draining fast. She sighed in her trance. She was doomed.. The goblins must have returned and now they were gonna kill her had taken the child.. Her kind child that worried about her.. That needed her..


    Just as she felt the stasis was gonna break. Suddenly she felt it. The connection was back, the goblin had somehow managed to touch her - it was saving her, she could feel the intent from the goblin as mana rushed in actively from the other side giving her more than enough to finish the spell.


    She cast the spell - and then waited, hoping that Penelope would take the goblin along with her and the other women.


    But she woke up to a sad reality, only she was saved and now she was lying in her bed, tears ran down her face as tried to come to terms with failing at saving Emily and the other poor women, but also mostly that the child goblin that had helped her once more, was hopelessly lost far away.


    Penelope came back and held a small red orb over her that glowed briefly before turning into mist. Mercia could once more move and mana was coming back to her on its own.


    ".. What happened Penelope.." Mercia asked, wiping her face and regaining her calm.


    "On teleportation to your location, 14 goblins were in close proximity to my entry point. Before I could destroy all of them they managed to cry out for reinforcements. Attempts to block them from breaching in and from being able to teleport all of your requested targets out, they would have overrun my location and been able to kill her royal highness despite my attempts to protect her. Saving the royal princess was of higher priority and all other orders given were ignored."


    Penelope stated out her actions coldly and without a change of her neutral face whilst sitting next to Mercia''s bed looking at her.


    "..Did you see the goblin i mentioned in my spell to you?.." (Mercia)


    "No goblin spawn was detected on your person. 5 goblin spawns were detected in closed baskets in the nearby area - but the time needed to search them would endanger the princess" (Penelope)


    ".... The high mage has requested a report on my location and activity due to my leaving my post.. I will.." Penelope stated as if suddenly she had received a message, she began to rise from the seat next to the bed.


    Mercia quickly grabbed Penelope''s hand and looked at her with a desperate look.


    "..please Penelope.. do not mention the goblin child i asked you to secure to my mother or anyone else" Mercia begged out quickly, a tear running down her face.


    Penelope paused, looking at Mercia tilting her head a little, staring at her for a while quizzically. She lifted up a hand to Mercia''s face and removed the tears gently.


    "As you say your highness." (Penelope)

 Let me see your war face.

    *Bonk!*


    "Ow!...Good morning Sala..."


    Lurk rubbed his head as he was sitting up, Sala had been taking care of him the last few days helping him with some basic things. One of which was waking him up, when he failed to wake up earlier than her.


    "What is good about it? you are saying strange things again!"


    Sala had her arms crossed looking at Lurk as if he was weird. During the time he had been here the last week, he had kept to himself and not made a ruckus. Completely different from any normal goblin spawn, which would be constantly trying to test its boundary of supremacy. Since all goblins had a innate sense of being superior to other beings, goblins included. They would only submit through either raw dominance or physical violence. Neither had been needed with Lurk, he had calmly accepted his place in the new hierarchy, as the new guy or he was tricking her!!


    Lurk had also gotten help from Sala to turn the rags into useful leg coverings, Lurk himself even thinking up threads before she could tell him to rip some of the cloth pieces into threads. Which annoyed her even further. How could she appear to be the stronger and the older goblin, if this annoying goblin kept one upping her. Any normal goblin would be hissing and spitting at being *Bonked* and she would then proceed to ramp up the use of physical violence. She had done it before with other goblins, Vorm being the last one.


    Vorm has also become passive and accepted his place, but he was a lot more normal, with the first bit of his upbringing being violent and even attempts at her life with a rock he had found. He gave up quickly though since Vorm was a particularly small goblin and did not have great strength. He was extremely cunning though and very good at sneaking.


    "Well get up, you are gonna train today, since you are big enough now!" Sala exclaimed after checking out Lurks height once he got up from his makeshift bedding, he made of the remaining rags. He had not left the cave during the last 7 days, and mostly he spend time cleaning up the cave, which further annoyed her to no end. Saying it was unhealthy to leave food scraps around or not cleaning blood of weapons or rags. He did get a bonk or two in the head when she thought he just wanted to take her weapon or her clothing. Even wasting water to such pointless tasks, but he calmly stated that since the main room had a small river running through it, water was not that rare a commodity.


    They had left him inside alone everyday and left the cave to scout, the Sun Soakers tasks was to go outside during the day time, to make sure that nothing was encroaching on their cave and they also did some light hunting to bring back food for themselves, since most goblins were extremely uncomfortable out in daylight. Even sudden bright lights would cause disorientation in them. Which Lurk had already witnessed when the scythegirl rescued his mother. They also explorer out further at times, to confirm targets of opportunity for the rest of the goblins to go assault during the night, whenever that was relevant.


    Their "breed" of goblin was not annoyed by sunlight in the slightest, which Lurk attributed to their more standard humanoid looking form, and their eyes all had different colors, instead of the common red.


    During these 7 days Lurk had grown extremely fast, causing him to ache a lot as his body went from baby to teen in those few days. Goblins metabolism was really something he thought to himself. From what he understood after asking Sala about how long it took for a goblin to being born from the time of conception, it would take around 7-12 days, which caused quite a situation when he asked about it.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    Sala thought he was trying to ask her to breed with him, which earned him the most consecutive bonks in a row yet. She explained that their group was forbidden to breed with their females, since they could not waste to loose manpower on it. Since the carrying of a goblin child was so fast it also drained the female intensely wracking their body and required alot of food.


    Something the chief which he had not yet seen, had ordered for special goblin females to not undertake. He also found out that goblin females were very rare, and their main population came from forcing themselves on other humanoid species. Which was the only way the Sun Soakers would be allowed to breed, but even that was not done regularly at all, since the other goblins seemed to loathed the Sun Soakers, and fighting them if they tried to get in on the action. This also gave them the rare honor of having a separate piece of the cave to themselves.


    "So what are you gonna train me in." asked Lurk picking up his small club.


    "Fighting! of course! Sala will make sure you can chop as well as the next goblin." Sala exclaimed proudly, picking up her own small club. Aurk and Vorm were looking at them now, seemingly waiting for the entertainment to begin.


    "Right when do we begin th..." Lurk asked when suddenly Sala lunged at him swinging her club at him, he immediately raised up his club to block her strike, and deflect it out to the side.


    ("Holy hell! atleast give a warning first!") Lurk thought and backed off after deflecting the hit.


    [Mace] increased to 0.6)


    Sala stared at him and swung out at him again mercilessly. "You should have struck at me there! not backed off!" She yelled as the club hit Lurk on his chest sending him sprawling backwards as he rolled off the ground trying to get up.


    [Dodge] increased to 0.1


    [Toughness] increased to 0.8


    Lurk grimaced from the hit, he had noticed that all the bonks Sala had been giving him had been raising his Toughness, but he had not dodged before. His mace skill he had been training while they were outside on scouting duty. But most of the time he had been training his magic spells since he was alone. which he managed in raising them up quite a lot he felt.


    [Wind Magic] 0.9


    [Earth Magic] 0.3


    [Holy Magic] 0.6


    Wind magic was the easiest to train, but once he hit 0.9, regardless of how much he trained it would not go further. He could create a small wind blast, that could now annoy someone at best.


    Earth Magic was also tricky since he did not know how to proper train it, he tried to focus on small rocks, causing them to jostle around a bit on the ground. The smallest of pebbles he could fling off by focusing on it.


    Holy magic he first tried giving himself a small scratch, then trying to see if he could heal it, but nothing happened. He then tried to make light which worked as he could create a tiny speck of light at the end of his finger. Spending the last couple of days making the light move around and trying to make it go farther away from him or to make it more intense.


    Running out of mana was the main reason why he could not keep training it. Compared to the room he was born in, the mana did not replenish as fast as back there.


    Lurk focused on Sala, getting ready for her next strike which came swiftly at him. Managing to block it and swing back at her this time. But unfortunately Sala was faster and stronger than him, causing him to get another strike hitting his arm as he overextended his attack.


    [Toughness] increased to 0.9


    "Argh!. Ok ok! i yield!" He dropped his club from the pain and grabbed his arm which hurt like hell.


    "...Yield? whats that?" Sala asked whilst she sent a fist flying towards his face.


    "Huh?!" Lurk exclaimed as his head got punched, sending him flying.


    [Toughness] Increased to 1


    Unlocked Talent! - [Iron head]


    "urgh... thanks menu...really nice letting me know...urgh..." Lurks vision was blurred out seeing Sala standing over him.


    "Well! Good for a first try!..Hey! its not time to sleep yet!!"


    *Bonk!*

 Grinding

    Lurk woke up his head hurt, looking at his menu checking his health. He saw he had half damage, but some of it was was marked as stun damage. Holding his head as he sat up, Sala at least had put him back on his rags to rest up. The group must have gone out on their mission, leaving him here to lick his wounds.


    "Stun damage must have been from that punch....wait.. what was that I saw?"


    Lurk quickly looked back at his Menu limiting it only to his new additions.


    _____________________________________________


    [Progenitor Menu Access!]


    Race : Goblin Progenitor (100% ¡ï)


    Class : Mage Level 0


    Name : Lurk - Goblin Progenitor


    Sex : Male


    Age : 7 days


    Stats :


    [STR] : (10) 5+5 *New!


    [AGI] : 15


    [STA] : 10


    [WIS] : 10


    [INT] : 15


    [LUK] : 30


    Health : 10/20 (5 Stun damage)


    Mana : 315 / 315


    Abilities : (New Abilities detected!)


    [Mace] : 0.3 *New!


    [Block] : 0.2 *New!


    [Toughness] : 1 *New!


    Traits : (New Traits detected!)


    [Iron Head]


    Natural Talents (New Natural Talent detected!)


    [Bow] : Strong


    [STR] : Medium *New!


    [Wind Magic] : Exceptional


    _____________________________________________


    Lurk looked at his stats, noticing that he had a +5. His strength had doubled suddenly. Looking for the solution, he saw under natural talents he had a new one [STR] : Medium. Where did that come from he wondered?


    _____________________________________________


    [STR] : Medium (¨ªnherited from Sala)


    +100% Strength


    Pump those muscles! Muscles are more dense but look the same! How?


    Must have had a Giant in the family!


    _____________________________________________


    ("well that explains that..wait I got that strength boost from Sala ?.. huh yeah I have not really checked her out, since I did not touch her long enough for the skill to detect her. Guess that the bonks she has been giving me, were not enough for that. Must have activated when I was unconscious and she moved me to my sleeping spot. This explains how she is that strong.")


    Lurk stretched a little and pain flared up from his chest, and his arm was also very sore. He decided to try again with his holy spells. Holding his hand to his chest, he focused and thought about a soothing healing.


    [Holy Magic] raised to 0.7


    [Weak Heal Cantrip Learned]


    [Stun damage healed] 1...2...3...4...5


    He tried to keep healing, but the same issue happened with no effect, perhaps his skill was not strong enough to heal anything but stun damage. Contemplating it, his wounds still hurt - but he could sense a difference. Thinking along those lines he tried something different and focused on just soothing the pain.


    [Holy Magic] raised to 0.8


    [Weaken Pain Cantrip] Learned


    The pain slowly faded away, the longer he kept focusing on it until it nothing was felt anymore.


    ("This is very useful.. I wonder what would happen if the others knew I could do this... I have decided not to show anyone.. worried I might be taken away to another group. For now at least this lot of goblins are more pleasant than what the other goblins seemed like.... Hmm but why could I suddenly heal.. Maybe it was because this was a more intense situation, so I guess I cannot just hurt myself over and over and heal it.... Maybe I could but it would require me to REALLY commit to it... Ill have to think a bit about that...")


    Checking his mana, the spells he used to heal the stun damage and calm the pain down completely cost him 30 mana. Luckily he had a big mana pool to work with. And during his rest and the last nights sleep, his mana pool had gone back up to full.


    Making a bit of wind appear in his hand, he thought about why his skill would not rise up to 1. Maybe it was along the same sort of as the healing. You can only train so much, sometimes real life experiences needs to give the extra kick. Maybe he needed some revelation, or just someone to teach him the "trick" or feeling needed maybe just some more imagination. Right what would make a proper wind spell...


    Thinking about all the stories and movies and comics he have seen, Lurk focused on a point in front of his finger. Trying to suck in air into a single point, condensing it together harder and harder. His mana started draining as he experimented with several ideas of how to do it. Eventually he thought of a flat spinning disk that only allowed things to flow inward, his head started to feel a pressure building in his head. Focusing on the current shape he was working with he gave it one last push and then allowed the focused spot to be released in a forward direction.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    Like a flash the condensed little pellet of air burst forward and slammed into the wall. Though it did not damage the stone wall, Lurk was sure that softer things would definitely feel that.


    [Wind Magic] raised to 1 !


    [Wind Bullet cantrip] Learned


    [Deflect cantrip] Learned


    He tried the bullet cantrip to check its mana cost, a much better and much faster forming "bullet" appeared and slammed into the loose rock he was aiming for on the ground, sending it flying through the room.


    ("..10 Mana..hmm.. so I can shoot 31 of them at full mana... I wonder how much damage they would do to something living?.")


    Lurk was thinking to himself when he heard someone coming down the crack in the wall from the main chamber, unsure how long it had been since the others left he moved back over to where Vorm Slept, his place had a big root coming down giving a spot to hide behind.


    Staring at the Crack he saw a goblin he did not know peek out. Its red eyes scanning the room before pushing inside, in its hand was a rusty looking kitchen knife.


    ("what on earth is it doing in here??.. I have never seen any goblins come here before now..")


    [Stealth] Increased to 0.1


    After the goblin entered, it moved up towards where the boss slept. Two more goblins came in, one of them looked back into the crack, holding a club in its hand as it did so. The other one moving over to Lurks rags and turned them over looking through them. They all only had loincloths and that rusty dagger and one club.


    "Gegege.. Hurry.. find food.. saw them bring in deer last night!" The goblin at the crack said while drooling slightly.


    "Gob.. ooh this is shiny gegegege!!" The goblin fooling with the boss''s gear and travel bags pulled out a dagger from the bag.


    [Stealth] Increased to 0.2


    "..Gege..if you are taking that, make sure that sun boss does not find you with it.. gegege.. He is mighty cruel when angry gegege!.." The goblin that was done looking through Lurks rags finding nothing, as it turned around to stare at the other goblin down the other end of the room.


    (".. Right.. Now!!!..") Lurk readied himself and aimed his finger at the goblin that was close to him. Its back turned towards him. The wind bullet formed and burst forward into the back of the goblin, its skin bursting where it was hit a small hole the size of the bullet.


    "Aiieeee!!" The screaming goblin fell forward grabbing at its back where it was hit, turning around in a panic to see Lurk pointing at it, another bullet forming at his finger before blasting forward hitting it right in the throat - The goblin gasped and clawed at its throat blood spurting forward.


    [Stealth] Increased to 0.3


    [Wind Magic] increased to 1.1


    [10 xp Gained! - Goblin killed]


    "Gegege!! Chop time!! EEeEeEEEE!!" The goblin at the crack rushed forward with its club raised.


    Lurk jumped to meet it with his own club ready, with not enough time to form another bullet before it would reach him. He swung his club the goblin just slightly slower than him as the club hit it right in the head sending it sprawling back onto the ground. Just as Lurk was gonna form a new bullet, when he saw the last goblin throwing its rusty knife at him and charging forward.


    Lurks eyes widened and raised up his hand he was forming the bullet in, quickly changing it to deflect instead. The knife hit a small air disturbance before hitting Lurk and was barely diverted away from hitting him, instead hitting the root next to him sticking out from it.


    [Wind Magic] increased to 1.2


    The goblin charged at him slashing with its new found dagger, Lurk tried to block it but the goblin had a good run up and the extra power in its blow, cause Lurk to not be able to deflect it enough and he got a cut on his already wounded arm.


    Lurk stumbled a bit backwards his arm not being able to hold his club. Lurk held up his fresh hand and said out loud in a panic the first thing he thought could help.


    "[Flash Light!]" (Lurk)


    [Flash Light cantrip] Learned


    His palm suddenly send a brief light beam into the goblins face, it shrieked out loudly and tried to cover its eyes. Lurk grabbed the rusty knife, stabbing it forward into the throat of the blinded goblin. The goblin grabbed Lurks arm as it gurgled and fell down kneeling, black blood spitting out of its mouth and from its throat. Lurk noticed that saying out the name of the spell, seemed to help forming it.


    [10 xp Gained! - Goblin killed]


    Lurk breathed heavy, the goblin letting go of his arm as it fell completely down flat. Lurk held the rusty knife, he realized that the second goblin was still alive, but unconscious since it must have been stunned from getting hit in the head. So he charged a air bullet aiming it at the goblin, but then suddenly he stopped.


    His heart was pounding and he was feeling, exhilarated!! he walked forward over to the goblin that was out cold... Looking down at it, he felt powerful and stronger than the heap of a loser lying here in front of him. He knelt down sitting on the back of the goblin grabbing its head!


    _____________________________________________


    [Progenitor Access!]


    Race : Goblin (100%)


    Name : Goog


    Sex : Male


    Age : 7 days


    Status : Half Brother


    Father : Xarn - The Terror of the farmsteads - Goblin (Dark Elf 25% / Goblin 75%)


    Mother : Denise [100% human]


    Stats :


    Health : 6/16 (8 Stun damage)


    [STR] : 7


    [AGI] : 8


    [STA] : 6


    [WIS] : 3


    [INT] : 4


    [LUK] : 5


    Traits/Abilities :


    [Xp Gain] : Small (Locked - only humans can use this trait) Learned!


    _____________________________________________


    Lurk stared at the goblins stats, as he put his hand onto the unconscious goblins head.


    "[Weak Heal Cantrip]" (Lurk)


    [Holy Magic] raised to 0.9


    "...ge?..gob?..." The goblin slowly stirred as Lurk healed its stun damage, but before it could do much, Lurk punched it hard into its head"


    ...


    "[Weak Heal Cantrip!]" (Lurk)


    [Holy Magic] raised to 1


    [Light Heal] Learned!!


    "...time to move onto normal wounds I guess...." Lurk said, as a evil grin spreading on his face in the darkness.


    "[Light Heal!]" (Lurk)


    SLAM!


    "[Light Heal!]" (Lurk)


    SLAM!


    ...


    ...


    ...


    Later...


    [Holy Magic] raised to 1.9


    [Out of Mana]


    SLAM!.....


    [15 xp Gained! - Goblin killed]


    Laughter was heard from the Sun Soakers cave.

 Hunting

    The Sunsoaker team returned to the cave, Sala carried several rabbits whilst Vork and Aurk carried a large lizard between them on a stick. They stepped into the main cave and immediately, a big goblin that was wearing proper furs and a closed metal helmet, came over and took the lizard away from them, and half their rabbits.


    Sala made a annoyed face giving a tsk with her tongue. The goblin in the helmet turned to stare at her, but Aurk patted Sala on her back and made her continue walking, following behind as they were ignored, though some goblins threw some rocks that did not hit anyone of them while laughing loudly. Meanwhile Frel their leader had walked in deeper to the cave presumable to talk to the boss.


    Sala mumbled and grumbled all the way over to the crack in the wall, that led to their area, seeing a goblin with extremely wide mouth filled with pointy teeth, that was standing just at the entry point. Turning to look at the three of them approaching. The goblin hissed and spit at them, Sala giving it a backhand causing it to be pushed back away, then walking inside the crack in the wall following by Vork.


    Taking out her frustration on this goblin having first dibs on the food they hunted. Aurk remained to stare the Wide mouthed goblin down, that snarled at him, whilst looking at the crack with a nervous look. It scampered away but kept looking back now and again. Aurk gave it a final look, and stepped inside the crack and made his way to their room.


    "Lurk!" Aurk heard Sala yell ahead down the passageway, and he sped up traversing the uneven crack, stepping into the room.


    "What happened?" Aurk looked at the state of the room, Sala was holding Lurk shaking him a bit, as he seemed to be out cold or maybe dead. Three goblins where dead inside the room, two of the corpses left on the ground to themselves, but Lurk was lying right next to the last one, the dead goblins head was messed up, having been slammed into the ground over and over, black blood spread out beneath it.


    Aurk turned to look down the passageway that lead into the main room. "That explains that goblin at the entry..."


    Vorm was checking the dead goblins. Picking up a dagger looking it over a few times.


    "how did he handle all of these guys..." Sala stated looking at the carnage after checking Lurk out that seemed fine and only had a cut on his arm.


    "I do not know.. this does not make sense.." Aurk was kneeling down on the ground near one of the dead goblins, taking his rags away. He put a hand at the weird wound on the goblins back and its throat.


    "Oi.. Is that boss''s extra dagger??" Sala was checking Lurks wound and saw it was not serious at all, barely any bleeding. She noticed Vorm holding the dagger quickly questioning Vorm about it.


    Vorm turned to look at Sala, then he looked at the Dagger and as he realized it, he let go of the dagger in shock letting it fall onto the ground.


    "Urgh....." everyone turned to look at Lurk that groaned out, blinking and looking around groggily.


    *Bonk!*


    "What happened here Lurk! Did you beat all these goblins yourself??" Sala looked more annoyed than relieved, giving him one of her bonks on his head. He barely noticed it this time.


    Lurks head was pounding through, he looked at his menu and he made a guess that he must have used just to much mana in the end, causing him to going unconscious.


    "Uh..yeah.. I hid when I heard them coming in... They wanted the deer you got last time.... those legs, did they not think we already ate those?.." Lurk sat up, looking at all the dead goblins. Focusing especially at the last one he spent time healing and hurting till he ran out of mana, unable to stop himself. Rather he was not thinking about stopping which was more scary.


    Clearly his mind is effected by being a goblin. Once the blood lust got going it was not gonna calm down til it was sated. Just his brief thought he had, that maybe he could grind his healing on another goblin than himself. One of those stray thoughts all people get, that are terribly evil and potentially stupid. That no one really does since their logic then comes in and says "nah that''s dumb and evil" before going on with your day.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    But this time that logic voice was not saying anything, he just went with it and enjoyed it too, he could remembered laughing as he blacked out. He took a look at his Menu and brought up the trait he thought would be the main culprit.


    _____________________________________________


    [Slightly Evil] Gained through Birth


    The darkness has a slight grip on your mind and soul.


    _____________________________________________


    ("... Huh... Born Evil.. This seems unfair.. Its like some religions smacking you with being born with sin despite not having done anything. Except this time it was literal. ")


    Lurk was still touching the goblin he used his healing skill on, with his foot so he decided to check its trait too.


    _____________________________________________


    [Beyond Evil] Gained through Birth


    The darkness resides in your soul - following its beck and call.


    _____________________________________________


    So something is effecting all goblins through this trait. Lurk extended his hand up to Sala, that grabbed it and helped him up. Lurk checked her Menu now that he was awake to do so.


    _____________________________________________


    [Progenitor Menu Access!]


    Race : Goblin (65%, 25% Human, 10%Ogre)


    Class : Pugilist Level 2


    Name : Sala


    Sex : Female


    Age : 3 Months


    Status : Second Cousin - Twice removed


    Father : Blud - Skullcrusher (Goblin 75%, Ogre 25%)


    Mother : Lisa Sofenweim (100% Human)


    Stats :


    [STR] : 14 (7+7)


    [AGI] : 10


    [STA] : 12


    [WIS] : 6


    [INT] : 5


    [LUK] : 20


    Health : 34/34


    Mana : 12 / 12


    Abilities :


    [Speech : Goblin]


    [Brawling]


    [Mace]


    [Stealth]


    [Dodge]


    Traits :


    [Goblin Soul]


    [Slightly Evil]


    [Night Vision]


    [STR Boost Medium]


    Titles : Head bonker


    _____________________________________________


    "..I guess I got lucky.." Lurk rubbed the back of his head not able to really come up with a good excuses for how he managed to take these guys out, without revealing he was able to use magic."


    "...Did you not go all out against Sala earlier?!" Sala got angry and stepped up close and stared into Lurks eyes.


    "Uh..uh. Oh that training ?? no no! I went all out.. Though I expected you to go a little easy on me..." Lurk backed away up against a wall, Sala followed staring at him angrily still, why is she so angry he thought.


    *Bonk!*


    "Sala did go easy on you! It is not like Sala wanted to kill you!!" Sala fumed and turned around huffing annoyed, seemingly not caring about the goblins that came in to steal from them.


    "..Uhm.. what about the corpses here?... wont they get angry and come kill me the ones outside?" Lurk asked Aurk as Sala had stomped away over to her corner, ripping the skin of a rabbit whilst staring at Lurk.


    ("...please do not stare at me while you are ripping a rabbit apart Sala.....also have i not heard that said before somewhere..?..")


    "Hm.. No?. Hm. Maybe but they will not do it head on.. These goblins are all very young. There was one outside that was standing guard, but it was pausing since it must have taken to long, and it was afraid to go in and check.." Aurk grabbed one of the goblins and started to drag it out after taking all its rags off. Throwing all the rags he collected over to Lurks corner along with the rusty dagger and club.


    "Grab one and help.. You too Vorm" Aurk said as he began dragging the corpses out into the main room, Lurk and Vorm helped out, as they entered the main room, most goblins noticed and were quiet staring at them. Lurk stepped out with the corpse, followed by Vorm that quickly went into the crack again.


    Aurk stood still looking out over the room, Lurk remained by his side. More goblins began noticing the pair standing with the dead goblins. Becoming silent.


    A goblin Lurk had not seen before wearing furs and a Full Metal helmet, came over. Staring at Aurk and Lurk. He pulled out a Axe from his belt, Lurk readied himself slightly while Aurk stood still. The Helmet Goblin hacked the axe down onto the first dead goblins neck - then the other ones.


    "Grab these worthless gobs!" The helmeted goblin said to some nearby goblins that grabbed the headless corpses and dragged them away following the Goblin with the helmet, Leaving behind the heads.


    "He left the heads for you, the rest of the meat is for the nest." Aurk Stated calmly as he turned around and stepped back into the crack in the wall.


    Lurk looked at the skulls, the goblins in the room staring at him, clearly some thought mistakenly, that Aurk had killed the three goblins, since Lurk looks a lot less impressive. Lurk thought about this and looked to the heads, picking up them up he placed one at each side of the crack, taking the last one using the neck wound, he marked a crude drawing of a sun on either side of the entryway, before putting the head next to the crack along with the others.


    He turned to look at the goblins, they were transfixed by the symbols and then staring at Lurk, he turned around and stepped into the darkness back into the room.


    [Drawing] Learned! Raised to 0


    [Intimidation] Learned! Raised to 0.4


    Title Gained : Sun Soaker

 Reward

    Going back inside the Sun soakers room, Lurk put a hand on Aurks shoulder briefly before Aurk had the time to go back to his items and begin unpacking his gear.


    [Progenitor Menu Access!]


    Race : Goblin (75%, Scalemen 25%)


    Class : Hunter, level 5


    Name : Aurk


    Sex : Male


    Age : 8 months


    Status : Half-Brother


    Father : Xarn - The Terror of the farmsteads - Goblin (Dark Elf 25% / Goblin 75%)


    Mother : Histaansi - (Scalemen 100%)


    Stats :


    [STR] : 10 (-5 crippled)


    [AGI] : 15 (-5 crippled)


    [STA] : 20 (15+5


    [WIS] : 5


    [INT] : 3


    [LUK] : 20


    Health : 40/40


    Mana : 15 / 15


    Abilities : (New Abilities detected!)


    [Speech : Goblin]


    [Axe] *New!


    [Bow]


    [Throwing] *New!


    [Stealth]


    [Survival]


    [Dodge]


    [Tracking] *New!


    [Crafting Primitive] *New!


    [Intimidation]


    Traits : (New Traits detected!)


    [Goblin Soul]


    [Evil]


    [Night Vision]


    [Viper Spit/Bite] : Weak *New!, Locked (requires +75% Scalemen)


    [STA Boost] : Small *New!


    Natural Talent


    [Crafting] : Small *New!


    Status :


    [Permanent Wound Eye]


    [Permanent Wound Left arm]


    Titles : Ice Wolf Killer - Wounded Warrior - Sole Survivor


    _____________________________________________


    "Hmm?.." Aurk turned his head slightly to acknowledge his attention was on Lurk.


    "Uhm. Thank you, is it normal with that sharing we just did?" Lurk quickly thought up something to say, whilst also trying not to be too shocked. Another half brother, he sure is a grizzled goblin this one. Sole survivor Lurk wondered what that was about, must have something to do with that Ice wolf killer trait.


    Aurk nodded briefly before going over, sitting down unpacking his bags.


    "Normally if you kill something it is yours, if you can keep it. But we sun soakers are not accepted and must share our kills. Yes we could have kept those three for our selves, but it is better to hand them over... You did not take their heads with you?"


    Aurk was taking out his axe which he began to check, before remaking some arrows that had broken during their hunt. as he talked to Lurk. Noticing lurk was empty handed.


    "Ah.. No i decided to leave them outside as a warning, also i marked the doorway with their blood" Lurk scratched the back of his head, he really did not want to keep the heads. He still would not accept eating thinking beings, though he would worry if the Slightly Evil trait would have something to say about that if the chance happened. He decided to not take the chance.


    "... Really?.. hmm..... Clever.. You will do well." Aurk paused in his tasks, looking slightly surprised.


    "Though some goblins might take the heads, because there is flesh on them. But its a good way to mark territory i thought" Lurk stated as he sat down, looking at his prize for defeating the three goblins.


    A Rusty dagger and another club, and three questionable rags that he would need to dedicate a lot of cleaning time too. He felt a weird sizzling sensation on the side of his head, knowing it was Sala that was staring at him constantly he sighed, not looking forward to the training she intended to go through with him later.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Lurk turned to look at the entryway as he could hear someone coming down it. Frel the leader of Sun soakers stepped in, looking around at everyone before looking at Lurk.


    "Explain" Frel said staring at Lurk, feeling like he was being picked apart by that stare Lurk quickly got up.


    "Uhm.. Yes sir eh. Well three gobs tried to come in and look for food, and they also tried to take this." Lurk went over to were the dagger Vorm had dropped on the ground, no one had touched it yet, Lurk thought it was a bit weird. He picked up the dagger, it was in good condition one of the better looking weapons in this group.


    Suddenly a fist slammed into Lurks stomach and he was completely stunned collapsing onto the ground dropping the dagger.


    [Toughness] Raised to 1.2


    "..Do not touch what is mine!" Frel Said putting a boot on Lurks head stepping down hard briefly, Lurk coughed grabbing onto the boot trying to resist the force being exerted on his head.


    "I.. Argh. Yes i will not.. I was handing it.. Argh to you..Cough" Lurk stammered out, earning a brief extra pressure of force from the boot on his head. Frel moved his foot letting him go, picking up his dagger.


    "Do not let it happen again." Frel went down to his side of the room, Lurk coughed and managed to sit up. That punch knocked all the air out of him, and even caused normal damage. Normally, punching had only cause stun damage. Lurk made a mental note of not pissing Frel off.


    After collecting himself he went back to his spot. He noticed that Sala was once more looking at him, but not in the same intense way. He gave a brief look, causing her to look back down to her rabbit skinning, her mumbling continuing. The others in the room seemed to be focused on their own situations.


    Lurk had forgot that Frel was their leader, he would have to show his dominance over Lurk at some time, this was the first time and also the perfect time Lurk thought. Since Lurk had just done something rather noteworthy. Frel managed to remind everyone that he was still in charge and the top goblin in this group. Plus to enforce the rule, that Lurk did not know about to never touch Frel''s stuff.


    Lurk spent some time cleaning the rags, and decided to use them and the other rags he had to make some arm coverings. The longer he worked on them he noticed Menu giving messages of his crafting improving slowly.


    [Crafting Primitive] Raised to 0.3


    [You have created - Rag Bracers - Normal]


    He thought about it when the messages came up, but why did he not already have crafting? Sala had shown him how to make his small leg coverings. Maybe because he did not do it himself, only giving some brief advice? But how did that explain the drawing skill and the intimidation he learned just now.


    Was it once more just the situation? He was not overly involved with making the pants, but when he was standing there beside Aurk, that was standing there calmly projecting his own presence. The focus of goblins on him as he did the drawings, was the statement of placing down heads as a warning worth more to the menu?


    That single thing raised his Intimidate from nothing to 0.4, but the drawing only appeared as 0.


    Getting skills on ones own was weird, it must require a lot more training from someone or they have to stumble onto their own natural talents maybe. Compared to my skill list everyone else so far seem very focused on a small assortment of skills. Well they were basically on the tribal level, it would be weird to expect more.


    Aurk was looking at Lurk as he was working on the bracers, the new gob was gifted. Sala could do a little but it was never anything worth mentioning. But Lurk just made proper arm coverings that would not just fall apart from nothing.


    Sala went over to Frel with the rabbit meat and furs she had cleaned then went back to her spot. Lurk was getting used to this, that all their gains were handed to Frel, once they had done their work with it, he would then hand out the food. Once more showing his dominance over the group.


    He handed out meat to everyone and then some of the furs to Aurk, before turning around looking at Lurk. Handing a rabbit skin to Lurk. who up till now had only gotten meat.


    "Good work.. You are coming out with us tomorrow" Frel said as he left Lurk alone with his reward.


    ".. Thanks.. " Lurk said as he looked the rabbit skin over wondering what to make out of it when he suddenly felt Sala sitting right next to him.


    "...So shall we eat first..or Train..." Sala said - a black intimidating fog rising up around her, as lurk swallowed briefly.


    "..Uhm. Heh..Heh. Let''s eat first..?.." Lurk said weakly backing away from the pure determination Sala was exuding, he would need the extra strength he thought for the coming trials...

 Round Two! Fight!

    Lurk began making something out of the rabbit skin, sitting in his own world seeing the occasional Menu text informing him of a gain in his skill. He had several dark marks on his face, more than one would expect really, bruises and such also covered his arms.


    Sala was mumbling still, annoyed at how things had gone during the fight. Even she had a few bruises on her arm, one in particularly mighty big bruise on her forehead. Lurk really wanted to heal it as an apology, but he was still not sure if its was "safe" to do so. Sure he could become a welcomed big shot in the nest and his power would be acknowledge or he could become a unwelcomed big shot that instantly would get stabbed in the back, because Lurk did not understand the Goblin Hierarchy. Even if it was just - The biggest the baddest that ruled, he would not be able to be the biggest or the baddest at the moment.


    Maybe if he could convince someone to be on his side.. Well.. he would need to wait until Sala calmed down first, before even considering her. That second fight had gone differently from what everyone expected after all, now she was mad and embarrassed.


    Lurk thought back to how it started; he had slowly begun eating his food, while Sala munched hers down staring at him. How can you eat in peace, when a punch maniac is waiting to cave in your skull in a "training" exercise.


    "..You are not trying to stall are you..." Sala grumbled, Vorm and Aurk both looked at her.


    "..Gulp.. No nooo.. Its just such a delicious rabbit.." Lurk smiled as he bit down another piece of raw rabbit meat. Vorm and Aurk turned to look at him as he responded. They both had been doing this back and forth. They also wanted to see the fight again, though the warm up to it was rather entertaining too.


    Having run out of meat, Lurk sighed and got up slowly after taking one of his clubs. Sala jumped up, Lurk instantly stepped back.


    "Whoa whoa!.. Wait!.. Lets make some ground rules ok?!" Lurk said holding the club out to create distance.


    "Rules? What? there are no rules except do not kill, and even that is a stretch!" Vorm and Aurk nodded at Sala as she said this.


    "Its not good training if people go unconscious or die!, you need to teach me, right?!." Lurk blocked a hit with the club as Sala whipped forward.


    [Block] Raised 0.3


    [Dogde] Raised 0.2


    "Grrrrr. Just fight as well as you can!" Sala seemed really upset still, that Lurk had been holding back, or she at least thought he had. How can he fail so miserably against her, but against 3 goblins kill them all, with little damage to himself, it infuriated her. Lurk kept trying to keep her at distance, he was actually trying his best now, but only to block and dodge.


    [Block] Raised 0.4


    [Dogde] Raised 0.3


    Which did not always work out as well as he had hoped.


    [Toughness] Raised 1.3


    "Ooff! " Lurk stumbled back as she managed to strike him making him stumble a bit, but he managed to recover himself before falling, it was becoming easier to remain agile and on his feet.


    [Dodge] Raised 0.4


    Sala was getting annoyed that Lurk seemed to be not wanting to hit her, he seemed to be weak of spirit. She had to problem wanting right now to cave in his skull if he kept this up. The anger like usual flaring up and demanding blood spilled soon.


    Lurk noticed that her behavior was changing, her normal anger and annoyed self was being replaced slowly by something else. He could somehow feel it. Just like back when in the room he was born when all the goblins yelled and screamed, something was effecting them all. When he saw the unconscious goblin he then proceeded to heal to death, that same feeling welled up inside him.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    Now he could see it in her eyes - slowly but surely building up. She was definitely annoyed because he was not hitting back. But it felt wrong to try and hit her, to much of his old personality said you can not just smack girls in the face with a club. But he had to do something or the inner rage/hate goblins seem to have inside them ready to boil at a moments notice. Would erupt - And maybe she would forget about the not killing part.


    So Lurk suddenly switched from defending and he lungeded forward, dodging underneath her swing and slamming his club into her stomach. Sending her down past him as he turned around to face her again. But she had dropped the club, and was not coming at him with her fists. Her combat style changed completely and she managed to slip past his club and punch him square in the face.


    [Mace] Raised 0.4


    [Toughness] raised 1.4


    "..Ow?.." Lurk stepped back from the hit, and ducked from the other fist, that tried to repeat the face punching, she grabbed his arm, that he held the club in. before twisting it and causing pain to shoot up it, forcing him to drop his club. He punched back at her with his free arm getting a body blow in on her making him slip free from her grasp.


    [Brawling] Raised 0.2


    That was odd. That punch barely hurt his face, Lurk rubbed his cheek as they both manage to build some space between each other. She seemed to have calmed down somewhat, that hate and anger feeling, seemed to have gone down a lot. She just wanted him to fight her properly, now she was back to her usual self.


    Sala jumped forward with a punch, Lurk dodged it and blocked the second hit. But she managed to make him unsteady and after a upclose scuffle she managed to suddenly slip a arm around his neck and get around behind him. Lurk tried to get free but she had a good grab.


    [Brawling] Raised 0.3


    [Block] Raised 0.5


    What followed was a lot of punches straight to his head. Lurk felt like Sala was not putting in her best strength into those punches, it felt like something a big sibling would do holding down the younger sibling and start toying by knocking on the head. Now Lurk felt upset! Was this not supposed to be serious!.


    [Toughness] Raised 1.5


    [Toughness] Raised 1.6


    Sala on the other hand was putting more and more strength into her punches. Her fists even started to hurt now. How was Lurk still standing, as she landed one last punch into the side of his head. Lurk managed to grab onto her arm and separate himself from her.


    [Brawling] Raised 0.4


    He flipped around grabbing first one arm then the other one, both where locked up against each other, body to body trying to wrestle each other down. It was a struggle to keep up both of them having now locked their arms up, chests pushed into each other. Lurk got distracted from earlier feeling her chest against his back, and now against his chest while they struggled back and forth.


    ("This is a fight dammit, stop distracting me with your bits Sala!") (Lurk)


    Sala was perplexed, how could he suddenly match her strength! She had to end this now. With all her might she move her head back to give him a proper strong headbutt. Slamming her head into his. Lurk had the same idea, as he had finally begun to figure out what was going on.


    _____________________________________________


    [Iron Head]


    You were hit in the head when you were born. Subsequently you received way to many hits in the head for a baby to receive, in the following short amount of time growing up.


    Stun Damage (only) to the head is reduced down to 1/10 effectiveness


    Toughness is doubled considering any damage to the head!


    "You knuckle head!"


    _____________________________________________


    ("..Seriously what kind of weird trait is this.,.. Sure his mother threw him into a wall. He got Bonked constantly by Sala and even received a proper knock out punch, from her in his face that knocked him out cold. How can that justify this trait!!")


    Lurk met Sala''s headbutt with one of his own. Vorm and Aurk watched as they both slammed their heads into each other, the oddest most hollow *Clonk!* sound was heard and Lurk stumbled back, whilst Sala was wobbling backwards before falling onto the ground, seeing small goblins dancing over her face.


    [Brawling] Raised 0.6


    [Toughness] Raised 1.8


    "Ok.. that one i could feel.. Ow...argh.. I hate to think how much that hurt her." Lurk rubbed his head whilst looking at Sala splayed on the ground.


    "Uhm. Sala?.." Lurk asked out briefly as he walked over closer sitting down.


    "..Uuuh.. what happened to Sala .." Sala blinked a couple of times.


    "Well.. I think Lurk managed to beat you" Aurk stated calmly, causing Sala to sit up fast, which she regretted quickly.


    "What! impossible! ow.... Urghh Sala''s head!..." Sala rubbed the big bruise on her forehead.


    "Well.. You wanted me to go all out.. Ow.. I would be willing to call it a tie. since we are technically still up..?" Lurk tried to comfort her a little.


    Instantly he remembered she did not want a fake fight or to be pampered to with words.


    "..You!...You Idiot!!!"


    *Bonk!!!*


    ...


    "..Ow Sala''s hand!!"

 Daylight

    Lurk had finished his work on pouch he made from the rabbit skin, making sure he had a place to hang his knife on around his waist along with it. Afterwards he asked Aurk if he could help with any of the tasks he was doing, Aurk gave him some of the arrow materials he had, showing him what to do with them.


    [Crafting Primitive] Raised to 0.5


    [You have created - Rabbit Pouch Small - Normal]


    Aurk was reclaiming arrow heads from broken arrows of various types, Sala calmed down also and went out to get water from the main room. Vorm did his usual and just sat hidden in his area, he had picked that large root to sleep behind of out of sight.


    Frel was in the other part of their "room", it was actually a twisting corridor cave that tilted to the side over at Frel''s side so he remained out of sight. His part of the cave was more than fifty percent, another sign of his dominance.


    Lurk had felt angry and humiliated, when he was being forced down under his foot. He knew if he was gonna survive he had to be either standing behind someone, or push someone down to take the front. Submitting to Frel was the only choice for now, as he could feel both the regular fear of being bullied but also he felt that odd goblin instinct behind his thoughts pushing him to submit.


    Right now though he was not strong enough he felt, he might know magic but he had seen another goblin also know magic. Frel might have a lot of tricks and strengths, Lurk did not feel confident that his spells would be able to force Frel down or to kill him even. So for now, live and learn and try to get along with Frel and avoid angering him. Sadly he did not manage to touch Frel skin, whilst being held down to see his Menu, that would have been a good way to see his skills and of course steal them for himself. He would have to try harder next time the chance showed it self.


    Lurk seemed to get along well with Aurk, Sala was well... Sala with all her quirks and Vorm.. Vorm was tricky, he would not say anything. He also did not look comfortable if Lurk looked or moved close. So Lurk had to wait to try and get his Menu info of him, Sala came back in with some water from a bucket, looking slightly perplexed.


    "Hmpf.. Sala expected a lot more from the drawings you told about, what is it anyway."


    Lurk tilted a eyebrow as Sala asked him, it was after all just a circle with lines waving out of it. When Lurk told her it was suns he drew on either side, Sala tsk''ed, she had hoped it was something more impressive like a dragon or a giant goblin stomping smaller goblins.


    "I was not gone that long Sala...."


    Lurk sighed, though he did not spent alot of time on the drawing. It did not even raise in skill, it was still at a comfortable 0 in the menu.


    "Well i think dragons would be scarier!." Sala huffed, putting the bucket with water down.


    "Hm. Well it works for now, it might give some goblins a urge to come challenge you Lurk, but it was a good idea to show strength" Aurk said as he managed to finished a arrow and after looking it over, putting it back into his quiver.


    "Oh? Why would they challenge me? I just made clear this is our cave?" Lurk stated, trying to think of what Aurk could mean, as he tried to put himself into a goblin outsides position. Lurk a new goblin would show up, kill three goblins and then lay claim to a part of the cave in a show of power and defiance.


    "..Ah.. Someone will feel like they need to show they are the bigger goblin towards the young upstart.." Lurk nodded.


    "Hmhm, you put down a line and tell no one to cross it, the urge to cross it will build. Until they are shown again it was not a fluke and accept the strength" Aurk nodded as he said.


    After finishing helping Aurk, they rested and slept. Lurk was slightly nervous as tomorrow he was gonna go outside, what kind of world would it be. All he had seen was caves and a brief glimpse of a star filled sky through his limited view from the basket he was carried in. Drifting off to sleep as he thought about Mercia hoping she was safe.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    [Crafting Primitive] Raised to 0.6


    [You have crafted 3 primitive arrow shafts]


    ...


    The next day they crawled out of their part of the cave, Lurk stepped into the main room. Most goblins were all sleeping, though some were awake giving evil stares to the group as they left. Lurk sighed as he saw a woman lying over near the area with the "throne" goblins lying around the area.


    It was not Emily, but Lurk had seen she was brought along with this group. He wondered if she was still secluded and "off limits", since he recalled that once a goblin tried to go for her it was instantly killed. Lurk felt bad for her as he could see her despair when Mercia was saved and she was left behind.


    The group ventured out of the main room, Aurk walked with Lurk showing him were the traps were the goblins had placed in this main cave corridor. Right at the entry point into the main room was a slab of rock, Aurk informed Lurk that the Shaman of their group had placed a magical rune underneath it that would incapacitate anyone stepping on it. Further down the cave corridor, sinister little sharp spikes with poison on them hidden in loose dirt, more than enough to pierce soft leather footwear.


    When they made it outside, two goblins were hiding near the entrance in cracks that seemed to have been dug/mined out by the goblins. If he not for his enhanced senses he would not have noticed them.


    Stepping outside, sunlight hit Lurk and he saw a rocky pathway leading up in a curve, large trees hanging over the deep hole this cave was situated in, the sun piercing through enough to illuminate the entire opening in the ground.


    Following behind the others they left the deep hole up the path and began trekking into the forest.


    He now knew he was green as expected, Aurk was a deep green with traces of various darker lines crisscrossing his body, Vorm was pale green and looked even more feeble in the light than he could imagine. Frel was a very dark green the contract between Frel and the others were apparent - Frel had gear, boots furs and daggers and bow. Only Aurk had a bow too.


    Sala was the same shade of green as Lurk and she too seemed more pleased outside in the sun. She closed her eyes and smiled happily, making Lurk stare at her briefly until she noticed and Lurk quickly looked away. She had a spear now and a club, and two hefty leather gloves that were slightly to big for her, with metal studs on it. Lurk had never seen those before, if she had worn those while fighting him, he was sure he would have been dead.


    "Today we are scouting for any trace of enemies, also finding food as we see fit. So a regular patrol" Aurk said to Lurk


    "what kind of enemies are we talking about?" Lurk quizzed as he was looking around at all the trees and nature around him, this was endlessly more interesting than being inside the caves. The trees were massive! many different birds were chirping and making noise. The group stepping inside the canopy of the forest.


    "Dangerous beasts we cannot handle ourselves, humans, elves or kobolds are the ones we most expect. Normally elves would not be a thing to look for, but since we fled from our last cave, we have been told to keep a eye out for signs of elves." (Aurk)


    ("Elves huh... Yep i could see why they would come here..") Lurk thought to himself.


    "But there are also places we need to check for activity, there are roads nearby and a destroyed human nest nearby we also check up on for any changes." (Aurk)


    "Destroyed? how long ago? would humans be looking for the ones that did it? was it us?" Lurk asked quickly.


    "Oh it was not us specifically, but goblins of old did it. No one is coming to check on that nest, they are all long dead. This place is the human wastelands. We are right on the edge of it near a large passageway in the mountains where the humans pass through to venture into our lands and beyond."


    "Humans and others come here trying to destroy us and hunt for the monsters that roam in this land, we destroyed them all long ago. But now they are beginning to push back inside here in smaller groups." (Aurk)


    "Oh. Adventures searching for fame and glory or revenge ... or captured friends." Lurk thought


    The group separated as Frel went of on his own, Sala and Vorm went one route and Aurk took Lurk with him to check out the destroyed human "nest" for activity.


    It was a uneventful trip for a good while, Aurk and Lurk sneaking and listening intently as they traversed the forest. Finally they reached a slightly raising hill that they climbed up. Once at the top lurk could look out over the forest, and out in front of them was the human nest.


    ".. That looks like a ruin of a city..." Lurk looked at what he thought was a city, a broken stone wall around it, covered in nature as it had begun reclaiming it all back. Inside only stone structures were visible and they were collapsed. Unsure how people would live but it looked to be more than just a peasant village.


    Aurk nodded as he looked at Lurk "..yes they do call it cities.." Aurk looked out over the city along with Lurk, when he suddenly pulled him gently down by his shoulder to lie on the ground.


    "Look..." Aurk pointed at something down in the city, Lurk managed to see something small like a child suddenly skip past between two crumbled stone buildings.


    "..What was that?.. It looked..." Lurk had never seen that before...


    "...Kobolds.." Aurk said calmly..

 Scouting

    Lurk stared intently at the part of the city where the movement occurred, as he asked Aurk for more information.


    "So what do we do with kobolds when we see them?"


    Lurk had a inkling of what goblin responses towards kobolds, or for that matter anything or anyone would be. But he wanted to know more, he was worrying about the future. Could he really exist within a goblin group safely, or even ethically. They were capturing women and raping them to extend their numbers. Murdering and hurting for the sheer joy of it, Influenced by the trait [Evil].


    Everything Lurk felt was he wanted to stop this, but he was only one goblin. He did not want to submit to this way of living. When he felt sure of his skills and knowledge of the world he would leave. For now he would help the Sun Soakers, helping to defend them and the nest would also be defending himself.


    "They are tasty" Aurk stated


    But then again, he could just leave right away, he thought on hearing that from Aurk as he hung his head down sighing.


    "It is odd though that they are here at this fallen human nest." Aurk said staring intently down at the city.


    "how come? i would think there would be a lot of hiding spots down in a city?" Lurk said as he regained his calm.


    "this place is a hotspot for things to trafic through to get to the outside of the wastedlands." Aurk said as he pointed over to wards one side of the city and panned his hand.


    "The city lies right up against the outer mountain here, the other side of the city, has that rising rock formation that stretches out for a long distance." Aurk


    "So its a shortcut.. Ok..." Lurk nodded


    "it is very risky to stay long term in such a location, so they must be here for something.." Aurk said just as Lurk noticed a movement.


    Looking down at a collapsed building he saw a tiny humanoid form peek out from a hole in a building and quickly dart out and across to hide in another building. It had digitigrade legs ending in small claws instead of feet. Its torso was like a normal humans, up til it reached the neck. a long thing neck that ended into the shape of a lizards head with tiny horns. The kobold was holding in its tiny 4 clawed hands, a sack over its shoulders that seemed full.


    "They seem to be looting or moving things ?" Lurk stated on seeing the kobold with its cargo. That was the one i saw running in behind that building it left. It was empty handed, look more of them." Lurk said just as another kobold came out with another bag over its shoulder. Aurk NoddedStolen story; please report.


    "They must have found a chamber hidden beneath the buildings that no one has seen yet.." Aurk rubbed his chin.


    "I guess that is a rare find, looking at how old this ruin is. Guess they are lucky" (Lurk)


    "We will wait here and observe their numbers for a while. Then either we attack them or we go back to bring reinforcements from the nest." (Aurk)


    "Wait really?"


    Lurk asked that, knowing that of course they would attack. Even he was curious what they had. Was it dangerous? Was it useful. Would the kobolds become stronger and become a bigger threat. Though he was not sure if this what was Aurk thought, or simply he wanted kobold casserole for dinner.


    "Yes. if we could find their nest it would be even better." Aurk said without hinting at a perticular reason. Goblins might not need reasons Lurk Surmised. After keeping an eye out on the city, watching the kobolds appear and disappear on occasion. They guessed the numbers to be around 7 or 8. They were moving bags and a crate from one building to another. Slowly and quietly. Instead of moving a single bag all the way out of the city. They would run back and forth meaning there was quite a lot of stuff being hauled.


    "I wonder what it is they found?" Lurk asked quizzically


    "What ever it is, they will be at the edge of the city before nightfall.. Hmm We will reunite with the others. Frel will decide on this. Come" Aurk said as he began crawling back down the hill for a bit making sure to be out of sight and then moving normally down into the forest again. Lurk quietly followed. During the time spendt his Skills updated a few times so he knew someone was watching out for enemies down in the city.


    [Stealth] Has raised to 0.7


    [Perception] Has raised to 0.5


    ("This system is weird, this literally confirms when someone is actively looking for you too... I guess this means no one else has this system but me. So its not that kind of world..")


    Making their way back, along their normal patrol route they came to a large rock that speared out of the ground high up into the air. They met with Sala and Vorm that were hiding near it.


    "Sala and Vorm saw nothing special, but got these rabbits!" Sala showed a few rabbits in her hands proudly, Vorm stayed hidden keeping his eyes opened towards the forest.


    "Well we found something, Kobolds dragging loot from the fallen human nest." Aurk said just as Frel appeared out of the forest. Aurk then explained in greater detail to Frel while i sat with Sala and Vorm keeping a lookout.


    "Sala will for sure kill more kobolds than Lurk!" Sala smirked and stared at me, i merely smiled at her.


    Fighting for resources and territory, i sigh inwardly. Maybe i can raise my value in the group, at the very least i want to make sure nothing happens to Sala and Aurk, maybe even Vorm.


    "I will go back to gather a group to come to the human nest, you take the others and assault them before they escape with the loot, scare them off or kill them." Frel said to Aurk, before he began heading back towards the cave.


    ("huh.. well i guess he would be the only one that could make the other goblins come out. Out of all the Sun Soakers he seems to be the only one the goblins would acknowledge") Lurk pondered as he followed behind Aurk back towards the ruined city.


    "lets go kill some kobolds!" Aurk said, and a odd sensation ran down Lurks neck as everyone grinned, even he felt a smirk and a urge building.


    ("Dammit [Evil] trait.. ")

 Assault

    Everyone ran at a brisk pace towards the city, Lurk felt the anxiousness of the upcoming fight. Trying to ignore the instinct in him from completely taking over, unlike the others that were excited and filled with blood lust.


    They reached the hill and spotted the kobolds leaving a 2 story building, that was missing half of it and its roof was gone. The Sun Soakers ran along the edge of the city until they reached the place closest to the building.


    "Vorm you go in from the left, wait for the chaos to begin then strike the ones in the back" Aurk sent Vorm off to hide behind a crumbled wall near the crossing point the kobolds were using.


    "Sala and Lurk. Take the right, you will strike out when they move to attack my location." Aurk pointed towards a toppled over giant statue that was right at roadway between buildings. If they could do this properly, they would hit them from two sides and give Aurk a chance to keep firing his bow.


    Lurk followed Sala in a wide circle moving from hiding spot to hiding spot until they reached a alley between the remains of two buildings. The collapses statue was just ahead. Sala was grinning and breathing hard, Lurk had somewhat collected himself but it was getting harder to not give in to the urge and wish to maim and cause suffering.


    He felt he needed to keep his head, or he would not be able to control how he would attack. He was still on the fence on using spells yet in front of the others. The instincts were yelling for him to use his spells, to cause more destruction than the others and show them his power, so they would fear him and submit.


    A kobold was moving out from the building it had left a bag in, as it ran back Lurk and Sala moved behind the statue. Now they waited for Aurk, they did not have to wait long as they heard a ruckus from the delivery building and saw Aurk slice a kobold down and then readying his bow towards the cross way.


    A kobold came out running with a bag, followed by another one holding a small box. Just as they reached the midway point a arrow flew out and sank into the chest of the box carrying kobold, that yipped out loudly and fell back onto the ground. This caused the bag carrying kobold to screech out and begin to make loud consecutive yipping noises, before leaping into cover behind the statue, not noticing Sala and Lurk on the other side.


    [Stealth] Raised 0.8


    Nine kobolds appeared out from the other side of the cross way and came running out, the front ones having small shields and spears, and two of them having bows that either began charging towards Aurks location or firing their bows. The rest having daggers.


    Aurk managed to fire off one arrow hitting a shield, before he took cover from the arrows being fired at him. Just as the shield carrying kobolds ran past the statue. Sala and Lurk leaped out, Sala punched the kobold hiding just on the other side of the statue, sending him slamming into the ground, as she kept her speed up into the back of a kobold with a shield.


    ("I have to focus, Kill them!, be aware of whats going on..Hnng shut up Evil trait")


    Lurk moved out and grabbed one of the shield kobolds cutting its throat with the rusty knife. He was slightly bigger than the kobold, its throat was not covered by scales like the sides of its neck was. He held onto the kobold until the last shield kobold turned to face him, where he then kicked the dying kobold into the kobold making it lose valuable time to react.


    You kill [Kobold Warrior] 30 xp gained!


    [Dagger] Raised 0.2


    [Backstab] Learned! 0.2


    [Stealth] Raised to 0.9


    Three of the other kobolds that were wielding proper daggers but no shields leaped at Sala and Lurk, Sala managed to block one of the kobolds but was sliced by one of the daggers, the last dagger kobold stabbed out towards Lurk but he stepped to the side just as the dagger was about to hit. Lurk quickly stabbed into the side of the kobold that over extended, causing it to yip out in pain and stumble back away from him. The shield kobold then stabbed its spear at Lurk and he was unable to dodge it fully, a small flesh wound to his hip was slashed. But then a arrow struck into the back of the shield kobold causing it to collapse.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Lurk quickly grabbed the shield it dropped, just in time to block a strike from the dagger kobold he managed to stab. He was pushed backwards back behind the statue, now fighting out of sight of Aurk and his bow. Sala too was forced backwards by the two dagger kobolds fighting her, she could just barely keep them occupied without receiving any big deep wounds.


    [Shield] Learned 0.2


    Lurk managed to just see the bow kobolds suddenly having to deal with Vorm that killed one of them, having sneaked up behind them. Lurk was almost worried that Vorm had not attacked at all but he had disrupted the bow kobolds completely.


    Lurk was suddenly rushed by the dagger kobold, it managed to cut at him and then slam into him, sending him sprawling onto the ground, his own knife flying away from the sudden slam, the kobold quickly jumped onto him with its dagger striking down but he blocked it with the shield.


    [Shield] raised to 0.4


    Sala got cut again, but managed to counter and knock a fist up under the jaw of the kobold sending it flying back flat on the ground. The other kobold against her also took the chance to wrestle her in a grab giving her a slight cut.


    Lurk slammed his shield up to meet the dagger coming back to hit him, disarming the kobold that then began clawing at him and suddenly bit down onto his shoulder. Sala was held and struggling with the kobold, despite her being stronger it had managed to get a good hold on her. All her focus was on it, and she did not see the kobold that she punched into the jaw, rising up quickly and leap up at her with its dagger ready to sink into her back.


    "Sala! Watch out!" Lurk quickly pointed his finger at the kobold about to stab her and yelled out


    "[Airbullet!]" The kobolds chest burst a blood spray from a tiny deep hole and fell back onto the ground, Sala stared wide eyed along with the kobold she was grabbling with, that also had shock written all over its face.


    You killed [Kobold Warrior] 30 xp gained!


    [Wind Magic] Raised 1.3


    She lifted up the Kobold and slammed it into the ground on its back stunning it completely. Lurk yelled out in pain from the kobold on him that was biting him, before he put a finger against its head and called out again "[Airbullet!". The kobolds head suddenly had a clear hole going through it and stopped moving completely.


    You killed [Kobold Warrior] 30 xp gained!


    [Wind Magic] Raised 1.4


    Lurk held onto his shoulder in pain. Sala stomped her foot down onto the stunned kobold ending its life as its throat gave a sickening crunch. She seemed to have snapped out of her bloodlust and ran over to Lurk.


    "L.L..Lurk! are you ok?!" she held onto his hand he had placed on his shoulder wound were blood was leaking out from the bite - the kobolds sharp lizard teeth had torn quite a mess out of his flesh.


    "...[Light Heal!].. Argh.." Lurk said as a brief light appeared underneath his hand, the blood stopped flowing as easily. Sala''s eyes were even more wide than before.


    [Holy Magic] Raised to 2.0


    [Lesser Status Clear] Learned


    "..You . You are a Shaman Lurk?!" Sala lifted her hand off Lurks, he sat up slowly looking at her.


    ".. Please do not tell anyone yet ok?.." Lurk put a hand on her arm where she had been cut the worst.


    "[Light heal]" the wound closed somewhat and was not bleeding anymore. Sala looked at Lurks hand healing her, then turned to look at Lurk still flabbergasted, but she quickly nodded.


    [Holy Magic] Raised to 2.1


    Aurk came out onto the road back in view of Sala and Lurk, he aimed his bow back and forth but lowered in as all the kobolds were down.


    Sala helped Lurk up and Aurk looked over to where Vorm was sitting over the last kobold stabbing it repeatedly with his dagger, again and again. Screetching in glee.


    "Good work, gegege!.. Weak little cretins!" Aurk was thrilled and his pupils were small dots as he kicked one of the corpses of the kobolds. Vorm still cutting and stabbing his dead kobold.


    "Yep.. Good work." Lurk smiled at Sala, who had returned to normal as he held onto the flesh wound he got from the spear.


    Sala looked at Lurk, her cheeks were shaded darkly. Lurk just smiled at her.


    Meanwhile. The last kobold had gotten away, Vorm had not been able to keep it occupied and he got to caught up in stabbing and slicing up the bow kobolds. It was running away back towards where it and its group found all the loot, it burst into the collapsed house and into a ripped up floor that lead into a dark basement.


    "...Yip!.Gasp... Boss.. Yip! we were assaulted by goblins!!.." (Kobold language) The kobold said into the darkness of the basement.


    "..Grr...What??" A deep gruff voice came from a large form, that was trying to open up a big chest with a iron pipe. Two red eyes turned to face the kobold and it stood up. It was much larger than any of the kobolds, giving off a deep growling snarl as the eyes flared up.


    "Foolish goblins.." The large form threw away the pipe and pulled out a large sinister looking axe...

 Progenitor Activate

    Aurk and Vorm seemed riled up still on their blood lust, having found one kobold that was still alive, Aurk began to torture it for the sheer fun of it. Vorm was slowly coming down from it though and had begun to loot a little, but still occasionally stabbed a corpse.


    Sala was calm and constantly looking at Lurk, she still seemed shocked from the realization of Lurk being able to cast magic. Lurk decided to check the bags out, after picking up two daggers, fresh shield and a spear. Checking through the first bag out on the road it contained a lot of clothes, mostly pants and shirts for a human sized male.


    Moving onto the small box one of the kobolds was carrying, it had a small latch to unlock which was simple enough. Checking inside it, there were a lot of small cogs, springs, tiny thin metal plates and a roll of wire.


    "Where did they loot this from i wonder.." Lurk rubbed his chin.


    "Sala does not know, what is this?" Sala came over to look, she picked out something that looked like a pen, but it was completely solid with the tip made of some dark crystal. The pen itself covered in tiny etched runes.


    "it looks valuable.. Lets keep it in this box." Lurk put it back into the box closing it up.


    Aurk had calmed down, his arms were drenched in blood and his breathing had calmed down.


    "Good work... huff... " Aurk nodded to Lurk and Sala "lets gather the bags and see what there is, we can take"


    Aurk went over to the building he shot arrows from. Vorm beginning to earnestly gathering loot from the kobolds into one location.


    Checking the bags there were some wood carving tools, weights and scales, hammers and other odd tools that Lurk could not make sense off, they looked awfully delicate and some of them had broken already.


    Some bags had small ingots of various types, one of these ingots was gold. The rest he could not all identify. He was not even sure it was gold, for all he knew it was some weird magic substance.


    A bulky looking bag had a lot of books, Lurk thought it was peculiar the kobolds were picking all these items. Did they know they were useful? Or did they just loot everything not nailed down.


    Opening one of the books Lurk confirmed he could not read it at all.


    [Progenitor Menu : Detected unknown written language]


    [No current active bloodline targets have access to language, unable to integrate]


    ("Hm.. So none of the touched goblins or people could read this? Not even mother?") Lurk pondered on the books, but he did not have enough time to look through more books til he suddenly heard a roar and the sound of Aurk yelling!


    "Gnoll!!!"


    Lurk hurried outside along with Sala seeing Aurk firing his bow at a 2 meter tall wolf man, Its legs were digitigraded like the kobolds. Its arms were long and had big claws. Its head was that of a thin long wolf head, with glowing red eyes.


    In its hand was a huge axe made of a black metal. The arrow Aurk shot, landed on its chest armor that was made of leather and pierced in, but it was not very deep. The rest of its body was covered in fur pieces.


    "You will die goblin trash!!" The gnoll charged at Aurk, Vorm had vanished and was no where in sight. The gnoll swung down the axe on Aurk,


    "[Air Bullet!]"


    Lurk aimed at the gnoll and launched a wind shot at the gnoll. Causing a hole to burst on its arm, as they were not covered in extra fur or leather armor. Lurk did not think he had a chance at piercing the armor.


    [Wind magic] Raised to 1.6


    The shot to its arm caused the axe to slam into the ground, giving Aurk just enough time to dart to the side. Aurk threw the bow away and pulled out a shortsword and sliced it at the gnolls legs. causing a small wound to appear making the gnoll growl in anger lifting the axe back out of the ground.


    "Pathetic goblins!" The gnoll followed Aurk as he darted back, standing near the toppled over statue, that was resting at the breaking point down to the ground.


    Before the gnoll could swing another strike, Sala came running up the statue to just above the height of the gnoll as she jumped at the gnolls back, grabbing onto its neck she began punching it in the side of its face with her studded leather gauntlets.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "Gargh! Arghr!!" The gnoll began thrashing about letting one hand go of the axe trying to grab at Sala. Lurk aimed at the arm that was still holding onto the axe as he began spamming his air bullets as fast as he could.


    "[Air bullet!]"


    "[Air bullet!]"


    [Wind magic] Raised to 1.9


    The arm burst two holes that spurted out dark blood, its grip not as tight as before on the axe. Aurk jumped forward and saw that Lurk was trying to do and stabbed at the gnolls arm, the shortsword stabbed into its arm, causing its axe to fall out of its grip.


    "[Roar!!]" the gnoll suddenly released a loud roar that shook into the very core of the goblins.


    [Fear effected Detected!]


    Lurk paused and began shaking, his air bullet missing the next shot, as he began to realize he was fighting a giant werewolf beast that could rip them all to shreds!!


    "[Air bullet!]"


    ("What am i doing! i have to get out of here!")


    [Fear Resistance] Raised to 0.2


    ("Fear resistance?.. wait.. No.. its a spell?! or a skill?!") Lurk was just about to bolt, when the menu appearing with the message of him gaining resistance, He quickly cast his new spell.


    "[Lesser Status Clear!]"


    Holy Raised to 2.2


    As Lurk cast the spell his fear vanished instantly, it was a magical effect! But before Lurk could get anything more done, the gnoll grabbed onto Sala, who had also been shaken visibly by the roar and was not holding on as well anymore. The gnoll slammed her into the ground in front of it, Sala coughed out blood from the impact and was stunned.


    The gnoll then kicked out at Aurk, that was stunned from the roar unable to protect himself. Aurk was sent flying along the ground. He tried to get up in a panic, but was moving slowly from the sudden kick he could not guard against.


    Lurk needed to do something! His air bullets were not strong enough, why had the Menu not given him some new Wind spells like the holy spells did. This was a bad time to try new things but he had to try.! but first!.


    "[Lesser Status Clear!]"


    Lurk cast it at Aurk, who blinked and got up quickly grabbing his dropped shortsword


    "Distract him!" Lurk yelled as he began to focus in his hands grabbing as if he was holding onto a sphere. Air began rushing towards his hands, causing small gusts to appear as he was trying to form a new spell.


    "Grrr a Shaman... I will enjoy ripping your heart out and eating it!" The Gnoll stomped forward picking up its axe, But Aurk leaped at it causing it to have to block his first strike.


    ("Hnggg. Why is this so difficult. I need to picture it better. A sphere this big will not work. It will just cause a burst.. It needs to be like the bullet.. Wait!")


    Lurk changed his approach and change how he was holding his hands like grabbing a sphere, instead pushing his hands flat together, but not quite touching. The compressed air sphere turning into a spinning flat disk.


    "Aurk get clear! I got i.." Lurk was about to release the spell when suddenly a arrow struck out from a building behind the gnoll into his shoulder. The last kobold that had managed to escape, yipped in triumph and readied another arrow.


    Lurk stumbled back, the spell loosing a lot of power that he quickly began to reform, but the kobold was readying to shoot him again! Aurk barely dodge the giant axe swinging past him. If Lurk did not shoot the gnoll it would overpower Aurk and come at him, But the raw forming of this spell like this was costing ludricous amounts of mana, he could not shoot it off to stop the kobold and he doubted if he could take another arrow and maintain the mana forming again.


    Lurk gritted his teeth and poured the mana into the spinning air disk, the kobold yipping loudly as it nocked another arrow and pulling on the bow, when suddenly a dagger punched through its torso and Vorm leaped up from behind the kobold from his hiding spot.


    ("Alittle late Vorm but thank you!!")


    Aurk had stumbled from the dodge he did and the gnoll had swung the axe up and was bringing it down with full force towards him. Aurks eyes widened out!


    "[Tempest Disk!]"


    [Tempest Disk] spell created


    [Wind magic] Raised to 2.4


    [Wind Spear] spell learned


    [Wind Shield] spell learned


    The axe sank into the ground next to Aurk, two gnoll arms holding onto the axe, but with no gnoll attached to the other end.


    "AAaaieeeeeEEE!!!!" The gnoll yelled out in pain in a high pitched howl, its arms had been severed completely, black blood spurting out from its stumps just below its elbows.


    Lurk ran forward with a dagger in each hand, and sliced just at the gnolls leg, where he suspected its Achilles tendon was, the gnoll collapsing onto one knee. His second strike with the dagger aimed at its abdomen that was now in reach.


    "ArghrrR!!! Aieee!!" The gnoll collapsed onto the ground still sprawling madly, Aurk jumped up with his sword and stabbed it down onto the gnoll putting all his weight into it, the sword stabbing into it deeply, but still it was flailing around. Lurk and Aurk kept stabbing and slicing at the gnoll until it with a raspy breath and a last flailing collapsed.


    [Dagger] Raised to 0.5


    [Backstab] Raised to 0.4


    [You killed a Gnoll Warrior] 200 xp gained


    [Progenitor Level 2 reached!]


    [Progenitor Access upgraded]


    Aurk and Lurk were standing over the collapsed gnoll, covered in dark blood, both of them breathing hard . When a unknown voice was uttered.


    "..Lurk.. is a Shaman?..."


    The voice belonging to Vorm, a high pitched squeeky voice, he was looking at Lurk carefully. Aurk also turned to look at Lurk.


    "...hah.. its a long story....huff..." Lurk said as he hurried over to Sala and pressed a hand against her torso.


    "[Light Heal!]"


    Sala blinked waking up, getting helped up slowly by Lurk holding her arm around his shoulder holding her standing.


    "..I was hoping you would not let anyone else know..." Lurk did a weak smirk at Vorm and Aurk.


    They both stared at Lurk then at each other.


    But before they could say anything.


    Goblins appeared around the corner, being led by Frel their leader.


    """"""Geegegegege!"""""" The goblins jumping and screeching at the blood carnage in front of them, waiting behind Frel.


    "Ah.. Seems you handled it well." Frel said, his eyes locking onto the dead gnoll then looking at the group. his eyes narrowing.


    ("..Ah crap") (Lurk)

 The strong rule the weak

    Viewpoint : Frel


    Frel had been having it tough for a while, being the lowest ranked boss, but ever since they had been forced to relocate from their main cave, that Cheif Xarn had said was important to the great mission, the great mission that the dark lord himself had bestowed on Xarn.


    Things had begun looking up for Frel, first he got a new gob to work on his team. He had been waiting for this moment for a long time ever since Sala joined, he was forced by the chief to not mate with her, due to their important task and low number of special sun gobs to do said task. But now with the new gob here to lessen the load, he could finally see the days of being able to mate with Sala, under the excuse of that the new member is more than capable to fill her spot.


    From what Lurk had shown so far, it was very likely. When he had suddenly killed 3 goblins effortlessly, that were foolish enough to come in and try to steal from Frel. He saw both the possibility he could take Sala off scout duty, to focus on nothing but being his breeding sow. But there was also the other possibility of it, this young gob could potentially become extremely strong. If he did not make sure to force his dominance on this gob, he would have to kill Lurk before he got any ideas.


    Then Frel would be back to the same problem of not enough scouting power. Lurk had seemed meek and would follow all orders from anyone without issue, Frel had not been worried after seeing this. Clearly he was a goblin with a weak mentality just like Vorm.


    Vorm broke easily when he did his first rebellion, after beating him horribly and then leaving it to Sala to handle, it was more than enough to get him to follow in behind Frel''s dominance. Sala herself was a tad more tricky, she required a lot of beat downs and threats before she stepped in line. How frustrating was it back then when she was struggling against him and he could never just beat her and then breed her.


    No she was to not be bred, only trained and used as scout. He dared not go against the dark goblin Xarn''s orders, just being in the same area as him made Frel bow down in fear from his sheer presence, fearful of being killed instantly if Xarn so wished it.


    But he made sure Sala knew that she was gonna become nothing but his breeding sow, when he had beaten her down and whispered it to her grabbing her breasts and pushing her down. He broke her spirit to resist after that.


    Then there was Aurk.... Aurk had caused him a a lot of problems way back when Frel took over the leadership role from the last leader, that got killed by the Silver wolf that killed the entire scouting team at their meetup point.


    Frel was not with the gobs that got attacked at the time, but Aurk was there along side the old boss.


    During that fight they managed to "barely" kill the Silver beast, a feat unheard of for gobs to do in such low numbers. It did cost them all their lives, except.... Aurk he was the last gob just barely alive, he had managed to get a spear backed into the ground, holding the tip up towards the leaping wolf. Making it spear itself, critically wounding itself and just as it did that it ripped Aurks left eye out giving him that scar he has now. Then Aurk manage to give the killing blow just as he himself was knocked out cold from the battle.


    When Frel arrived he saw the carnage, the resentment and hate over Aurk''s achievement. Aurk would surely become the next Sun Soaker''s boss. But Frel saw the chance and took it, just before the last of the old Sun Soaker''s team came to meet up at the location. Frel gave him self some small wounds, covered himself in a lot of the blood from the wolf and sank his own sword into the side of the wolfs dead body.


    To make sure Aurk would not hinder him, he was gonna kill him. But then he felt like he wanted to make Aurk suffer the same way he did, whenever he thought Aurk was gonna be the next boss. A sick grin on his face as he slammed a club down onto the unconscious Aurk''s left arm to cripple him to make him easier to handle and keep him submissive.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Frel stole the honor of killing the wolf away from Aurk, the pelt he now wore as a cloak and headgear, a constant reminder to Aurk that Frel was stronger than him. He always grins seeing the defeated look in Aurks eyes when he looks at him. It took barely any beatings to force Aurk in line, he was broken to serve now. He even gave Aurk a tiny scrap of the silver wolf fur, that Aurk wore on his crippled limb, oh it would make Frel laugh cruelly when he saw that.


    The last two of the old team died during his time as the boss, making it only him and Aurk for a while alone in the group. But then came Sala, Vorm and now.... This gob.... Lurk.


    ---


    Frel was looking at the situation in front of him, he saw clear signs of magic used on that gnoll. There was no way its arms could both be sliced off by these goblins, no it was clear that the new comer was a shaman.


    If Frel was not careful right now, Lurk could usurp his position if he was unlucky, or if Frel was lucky Lurk would just be known as a Shaman that could take a high place in the hierarchy and form his own group.


    But a evil grin was on Frels face as he looked at Lurk, Lurk was exhausted and his eyes were giving the tell tale sign of mana exhaustion. He had seen this before in the eyes of the Shaman Boor, after having fought during the raids and then healing the chief and bosses. The same look and fatigue would be obvious on him, his eyes a weak glimmer of what they used to be.


    If Frel did this correctly, he could crush Lurks spirit right away before he regains his mana. Then Lurk would follow behind in line due to his meek spirit and Frel would become an even greater boss being able to dominate a shaman!! He smirked harder at this thought, he did notice how Sala was unable to stand only after being helped standing up by Lurk. Vorm was the only unharmed one in their group and Aurk had the same look in his eyes as normal, dejected and broken.


    This would be easy...


    "Ah.. Seems you handled it well." Frel said to them, they all froze and looked at him. Lurk looked shocked by his sudden arrival. Standing there holding onto Sala, Lurk had definitely been keeping it a secret that he knew magic, the gnoll forcing his hand now, he was clearly planning to take Frels place!!. Frel just knew it!!


    "Good.. you collected all my loot and killed these weaklings! Gegegege!" Frel grinned stepping forward slowly, the goblins he had gone back to recruit in the cave, were cackling and laughing, they could sense there was something brewing in the air and could feel Frel ooze out superiority.


    Lurk also stumbled forward a bit moving Sala with him over to Vorm, putting his hand on Vorms shoulder and gave a nod at him to take over holding Sala, Vorm was suddenly stunned looking at Lurk then Sala before relenting and holding up Sala. That weakling gob always avoided everyone and even touching him was enough to cause such fear, pathetic! Frel thought to himself.


    "We did do all of the fighting here on our own... I believe we should get a big cut from this loot if not all of it..."


    Lurk suddenly said, causing the goblins cackling and laughing to pause as they stopped. Frel sneered at Lurk, what did this pathetic spawnling just say? Could he not see his position right now? Battled and wounded, no mana and Frel was standing there with a squad of goblins that would leap at Lurk and tear him apart at his word.


    "What did you say you worthless gob??" Frel froze in place seething with anger staring daggers at Lurk, but nothing he did or said seem to effect Lurk, even Sala and Vorm were unaffected by his projected anger. Vorm would already have hid and cowered by now! What was going on?!


    Lurk slowly stepped over to check on Aurk, not moving to fast to set off Frel, who was at the boiling point. He calmly placed a hand at Aurks shoulder and looked him over. Aurk perked up, before he was hanging his head when Frel had appeared, but now his eyes widened out and he was stunned from the sudden touch by Lurk and he turned to look at Frel.


    What was that in Aurks Eyes.... Those eyes were devoid of fear! What did Lurk just do!!! He did not cast any spells!! He is still empty on mana!!.. Wait! no! Frel had not noticed it before now, but.. He was no longer Mana exhausted! Taking those few steps over to Vorm then Aurk had rebuilt mana!!


    Frel stepped back a single step. The goblins behind him looked at him backing off, they were all confused and looked back and forth between him and Lurk.


    "...This progenitor system is seriously ludicrous...." Lurk said softly to himself as he looked at Frel with a hardened look, his eyes glowing slightly purple.


    "Time to show who the boss is ..." Lurk grinned at Frel, causing Frel to take another step back.....

 Who is the Boss

    Viewpoint : Lurk


    [Progenitor Level 2 reached!]


    [Progenitor Access upgraded]


    Lurk had ignored the messages, as he wanted to be sure everyone was ok at first. But when Frel suddenly stepped out in front of them, with a evil superior gleam in his eye, Lurk decided he better check his choices.


    [Racial Restrictions Unlocked!]


    [Unlock Hidden Bloodline Traits]


    [FBP - Family Blood Points] = 2


    [Blood Line Manipulation] Unlocked!


    [Metamorphosis] Unlocked!


    ("Ok.. what does racial restrictions unlocked do..")


    _____________________________________________


    [Racial Restrictions Unlocked!]


    The Progenitor is able to utilize any skills or traits that normally requires a higher percentage of racial blood. (Elite, Master, Venerable, Ancient and Godlike bloodline Skills not included)


    "Breathe fire like a dragon!, with out the huge body requirement!"


    Upgrade a Bloodline member with this trait costs 1 FBP (Family Blood Point)


    _____________________________________________


    Lurk checked down his list and saw that the former ability he had collected of Aurk.


    [Viper Spit/Bite] : Weak, unlocked! (requires +75% Scalemen)


    It was now unlocked.


    (".. So my bite and spit is poisonous.. Well there goes kissing unless, I hope its something I need to activate.. Ok what is the next one.. ")


    _____________________________________________


    [Unlock Elite Bloodline Traits]


    Some traits and natural talents are too deeply rooted to access for the Progenitor!


    Unlock these Elite bloodline skills with FBP (Family Blood Point)


    Cost may vary from target to target!


    (New Elite unlock able abilities detected!!)


    _____________________________________________


    ("Wow.. Ok what new abilities are there for me to unlock?")


    Lurk thought to himself as the menu quickly brought up the flashing texts.


    [Magical Resistance : Dark Elf] Cost 3 FBP


    [Magic Soul] : High Elf] 3 FBP


    [Light Step : High Elf / Dark Elf] Cost 1 FBP


    [Darkness Servant : Dark Elf] Cost 5 FBP


    [Natures Servant : High Elf] Cost 5 FBP


    [Soul Link Ability: High Elf / Dark Elf] 0 FBP (automatically unlocked!)


    [Ogre Pure Power : Ogre] Cost 1 FBP


    [Ogre Magi Curse Unlock : Ogre] Cost 10 FBP


    [Roar: Ogre] Cost 0 FBP (automatically unlocked!)


    [Ravenous : Goblin] 0 FBP (automatically unlocked!)


    [Beyond Fertile : Goblin] 0 FBP (automatically unlocked!)


    [Eyes of the Progenitor] Cost 2 FBP


    ("Wow this looks amazing.. Wait Ravenous?, Beyond Fertile?? What does that do??.... Urh..")


    Lurk suddenly became really focused on the fact he was holding Sala up with her arm around him, he could feel her breast against him, only separated by that tiny rag piece... Feeling her body against his caused a stream of urges to boil in his mind, but he managed to shake it out of his head with a little focus and the current situation he was in. Though he did stumble a bit as he walked forward with Sala.


    ("Great.. Wait why do I not see any other Elite skills... Oh it only updated Salas Ogre link, I must need to touch everyone again to see if they got any elite skills...")


    Lurk noticed that only the Ogre trait was listed in the Elite list. And his own default racial abilities of goblin/Elf/Dark Elf. ")


    ("Right i need to focus on the tips at hand...i mean its breast if i.... Its best if i get Sala out of my hands so i can focus on Frel here...I am dangerously low on mana and the others seem to be scared of Frel...")


    Lurk began to move over towards Vorm to hand over Sala when he suddenly had a thought.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    ("I learned soul link... can I do this then... ")


    Lurk focused on Sala and the sensation he had back in the cave with his mother when she had tapped into his soul to absorb his mana.


    [Goblin Soul Link Activated!]


    ("It worked!... Sala I will be borrowing this mana for a moment...")


    Lurk could feel Sala''s mana like it was a physical thing, he gently tugged at it, Sala looked up at him and did not seem to resist as the mana from her flowed over into him. He could feel she was terrified about the fact Frel showed up, so he also decided to give her a little something back for helping him with the mana..


    ("[Lesser Status Clear]")


    [Holy Magic] Raised to 2.3


    [Targets Fear has been dispelled]


    [Acquired Dominance over Target after Current Dominance (Frel) was dispelled - through Evil Trait]


    ("Wait what?, did Sala just change from being Frel''s minion to me?..but I did not do anything to her... Oh.. She was stunned I was a shaman.. I hope its not fear but admiration that caused it...")


    Sala had indeed stopped looking at frel in fear, her eyes turned to look at Lurk instead a slight glimmer over them as Lurk careful brought her over to Vorm, he gently touched Vorm on the shoulder and hinted at him to hold Sala. Sala''s heart was pounding as Lurk did this gentle act of protection, her cheeks darkening once more.


    [Goblin Soul Link Activated!]


    ("[Lesser Status Clear]")


    [Holy Magic] Raised to 2.5


    Touching Vorm''s shoulder, Lurk immediately cast the status clear on him, after activating the goblin soul link, it was lucky that he was able to silently cast spells through the soul link or Frel might have reacted instead of standing there gloating and feeling boss.


    [Targets Fear has been dispelled]


    [Acquired Dominance over Target after Current Dominance (Frel) was dispelled - through Evil Trait]


    Vorm did jump a little from the touch, but suddenly the nerve wracking soul crushing fear he had been feeling constantly was suddenly abated, he turned to look at Lurk in shock and awe. This goblin made Vorm feel differently... Not scared... But... Safe?


    Lurk briefly glanced over the new abilities and updates about Vorm - while he gently tugged at Vorms mana absorbing it, when he was shocked by what he saw.


    [Dark Magic] Unlocked!


    [Mana Pot] Unlocked!


    [Stealth Boost] : Strong Talent Unlocked!


    [Elite Skills detected!]


    [Darkness becomes you : Vampire] Cost 1 FBP


    [Blood Feast : Vampire] : Cost 3 FBP


    [Dazzling Gaze : Vampire] : Cost 0 FBP unlocked automatically


    Lurks mana sudden refreshed a great deal, but he realized it was actually just the new trait [Mana Pot] that gave him a extra 50% Mana, the mana appeared instantly and along with the mana he borrowed from Sala and Vorm - he was once more looking good on mana.


    ("Wow.. A goblin banged a vampire... This explains why Vorm is so stealthy.. Its a shame he never realized he had a Magic Trait or he would not be such a scared goblin, of course then he would maybe be a evil goblin mage instead... So lucky me")


    "Good.. you collected all my loot and killed these weaklings! Gegegege!"


    Frel stated, staring at Lurk as he let go of Sala and slowly moved forward closer towards him and Aurk. Lurk thought that Frel was a tad to ambitious there. But when he thought about it and looked closely at Frel he could see the sense of superiority he felt and projected out. He was clearly staring at Lurk so intently because he had not cemented his dominance over Lurk yet.


    "We did do all of the fighting here on our own... I believe we should get a big cut from this loot if not all of it..."


    Lurk calmly said as he continued to move over to Aurk, Aurk was acting weirdly as he was looking down into the ground, clearly effected by the mood of Frel. Lurk put his hand on his shoulder and made a effort to look into Aurks eyes as he cast the status clear on him and seeing Aurk was wounded still he healed him a little too.


    [Goblin Soul Link Activated!]


    ("[Lesser Status Clear]")


    [Holy Magic] Raised to 2.7


    ("[Light Heal]")


    [Holy Magic] Raised to 2.9


    ("[Light Heal")


    [Holy Magic] Raised to 3


    [Holy Aura] spell Learned


    [Light Regeneration] spell Learned


    Aurk suddenly snapped out of his stunned submission to Frel, looking into Lurks eyes he felt Lurk worry about him, he was unsure how to feel about this, when he suddenly realized that the fear was gone! Frel was no longer the dread in Aurks soul, Lurk was here to support and make sure that fear would never return!


    Lurk instantly felt the hate from Frel as his superior gloating turned to focused anger directed straight at Lurk, The goblins behind Frel stopped hooting and cackling, like they had been doing ever since Frel had been stating his dominance, hoping for a one sided beating to occur.


    "What did you say you worthless gob??" Frel was standing completely still, stunned that Lurk would even dare to utter defiance in his face.


    Lurk looked over the new additions from Aurk in the menu.


    [Iron Scales] Cost 3 FBP


    [Breathe underwater] Cost 1 FBP


    [Heat Sense] Cost 0 FBP


    Lurk absorbed Aurks mana and tensed his fist turning to look at Frel intently now - the menu fading away. Lurk felt mana coursing through his body once more. Frel backed a step away, a slight hint of worry as if he has realized, that maybe it was a bit much of a task to just beat Lurk into submission.


    "...This progenitor system is seriously ludicrous...." Lurk said softly to himself as he looked at Frel with a hardened look, his eyes glowing slightly purple.


    Locking eyes with Frel, feeling Sala, Vorm and Aurk behind him ready to assist, Lurk calmly said.


    "Time to show who the boss is ..." Lurk grinned at Frel, causing Frel to take another step back.....

 Battle!

    Frel sneered at Lurk, the sneer quickly turned into a loud yell!


    "Chop this gob!!!!"


    Frel leaped behind the many goblins that rushed past him, their eyes mad with blood lust as they threw themselves at Lurk & Co. Lurk guessed there to be around 20 goblins, as he at the same time quickly checked through some of the new options in the menu, he was thankful the menu worked fast in his mind as he readied him self.


    Most of the goblins launched themselves at Lurk, the first one slammed a club down onto Lurk who parried it just barely with his shield, as he used his shield hand to point at a goblin coming up behind the first one.


    ["Wind bullet!"]


    [Wind Magic] Raised to 2.5


    [Shield] Raised to 0.6


    The goblins chest was punctured by the small air bubble and then it burst open from the sudden release of the air inside its body. It left Lurk opened to a assault though, as a goblin threw it self at him, claws first and grabbed onto his body throwing its full weight into him.


    [Access to new traits!]


    But the force was not enough, Lurk still stood firmly on the ground as the goblin tried, with no success to get Lurk onto the ground. Lurk had managed just before the goblins attacked, to buy one of the new Elite skills he thought would help the most in this situation.


    _____________________________________________


    [Ogre Pure Power]


    Activate, cost mana while in use!


    +50 STR


    "Release the physical restrictions on the body and unleash the ogres power!"


    _____________________________________________


    Another goblin tacked into Lurks legs but it was like hitting a wall, it did not move with the amount of force the goblin used on it. His strength was beefed up from 15 to 72 due to his strength boost he got from Sala, Goblins surrounded Lurk and one of the club wielding ones slammed a club down onto Lurks shoulder causing his body to cry out in pain down its left side.


    [Toughness] Raised to 1.9


    [Access to new traits!]


    Vorm received a goblin that tackled him, it seemed like he was out of action instantly and the goblins ignored him, as if that one goblin was enough to restrain Vorm, their greedy eyes on Sala instead. But infact Vorm had managed to hide a fact, that the goblin that tackled him had received a dagger up its throat into its skull. He rolled quickly out of the goblins corpse and sliced the leg of one of the rear guard goblins, it sprawled down onto the ground with him.


    Sala had recovered from the stunning slam into the ground from the Gnoll and slammed a fist into the head of a oncoming goblin sending its sharp teeth flying into the air, ducking under another goblins club she sent a fist straight up into its jaw that made a sickening crunch. But a goblin grabbled onto her leg and sent her down onto the ground, the goblins cheering and yelling as she got clawed and punched by two others.


    Aurk handled himself a bit better, he stabbed a goblin straight into its chest, sending it slumping down onto the ground dead past him, he dodged a goblins club strike grabbing onto its arm and twisting it around til a crunch and screech came from it, stealing its club he blocked another goblins hit, but not the last goblin that stabbed him in his crippled arm he used to block it with.


    Frel having leaped behind all the goblins, pulled out a small vial he held in his glove, crushing it onto his sword, the sword got a sickening green tint to it as he began to move towards Lurk keeping a goblin between him and Lurk at all times.


    It was looking dire early on into the fight, Despite suffering casualties in gruesome manner the goblins were all riled up in their blood lust, nothing would stop them now till their enemy was dead or caught suffering and being tortured to shreds. Lurk stomped his foot down onto the goblin that was trying and failing to hold onto him, its neck giving a satisfying crunch and was left at a odd angle. Lurk then help up a hand tightening it into a fist and yelled out loudly!


    ["Holy Aura!"]


    [Holy Magic] Raised to 3.2


    [Brawling] Raised to 0.8


    _____________________________________________


    [Holy Aura]


    Activate, cost mana while in use!


    Allies receive 20% Stats


    Enemies receiver -20% Stats


    Light heal spell cast one all friends once (only usable one time per aura per battle)


    _____________________________________________


    The goblins blood lust was suddenly shaken, as Lurk suddenly had a spiked halo rune glowing behind his head. Bathing friend and foe in its holy glow, the goblins still rushed at Lurk but they had lost a lot of mirth and were beginning to doubt their strength. Lurk received a slice from a knife he tried to block with the goblin holding onto him still but failed. Lurk gritting his teeth as he slammed the shield onto the neck of the goblin holding him, it sprawled off him like a rag doll from the sudden force applied to it.


    [Toughness] Raised to 2.0


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.[Shield] Raised to 0.8


    He was still swarmed by goblins, with plenty of targets to pick from, he made a throwing motion and yelled out "[Wind Spear!]" impaling two goblins that spun from the force of the spear going through them.


    [Wind Magic] Raised to 2,7


    Vorm managed to Slice another goblin in the back of its foot sending it down on the ground with him, the last thing it saw was Vorms dagger going into its throat. Sala was struggling as the goblin that grabbed her leg was struck between her legs, its grin and red eyes spelling out its intent clearly.


    Unfortunately she grabbed onto the goblin tightening her legs, causing the goblin to deeply regret its position making it gasp for air as a few of its ribs cracked. She sent a fist flying into its face and shook her arm free from another goblin that had managed to grab onto her. Luckily most of the goblins at her were resigning to only using fist since they thought she was incapacitated.


    Aurk had seen Frel was moving straight for Lurk, his eyes also noticing the green tint on the blade! Aurk knew that tint, the last time it was used it caused a human soldier to claw at his own face in pain and anguish unable to do anything but suffer for a hour til death took him, the goblins waiting and laughing at him as he suffered. Aurk slammed his club into the skull of a goblin trying to push through to get at Frel, but he was stuck fighting two more goblins.


    Lurk pulled out one of his daggers stabbing one of the goblins in the chest, letting go of the dagger as it was stuck, he spun around slamming his shield into the face of a goblin, seeing Frel right behind it as Frel leaped forward with his short sword and dagger, Lurk blocked the two strikes with the shield but was then utterly shocked by what happened next.


    [Dagger] Raised to 0.7


    [Shield] Raised to 1.0


    "[Slice!]"


    Frel called out a skill and suddenly his speed increased and his hands moved fast cutting at Lurk several times. The wounds caused by the short sword struck onto his right arm, felt like fire was poured into the wounds. Lurk rolled back just in time before Frel managed to drive his sword into Lurks chest.


    [Toughness] Raised to 2.2


    [Poison Resist] Learned!


    Pain assaulted Lurks brain as he rolled back, instantly casting spells he readied himself to face Frel again. He was being poisoned!


    ["Lesser Status Clear!"]


    ["Heal!"]


    [Holy magic] Raised to 3.4


    Lurk still could feel the pain, though not as horrible as before, but it was still there in his arm building up again. His spell was not strong enough to completely remove it!.


    [Poison Resist] Raised to 0.4


    A sick grin was on Frel as he saw Lurk begin to sweat and breathe hard and drop the dagger he had drawn as his fingers twitched.


    "Gegegege! You should beg for me to kill you now!.. You will never survive that poison! it will cause your body to spasm from the pain for hours until it finally kills you!"


    Frel taunted Lurk knowing he was dead from that assault. He moved in to stab Lurk again, but just then a dead goblin came flying past Frel, followed closely by Aurk who hacked down onto Frels sword, disarming him. Aurk swung out his club at Frel but he dodged it.


    "Gegege! How quickly you turn Aurk!, Is this gob so much stronger you think?! look at him now, he is doomed!"


    ["Lesser Status Clear!"]


    [Holy Magic] Raised to 3.5


    Lurk gritted his teeth managing to cast another spell but it was still not removing the poison completely, his body began trembling from the pain his arm was in, Aurk looked to Lurk and then stared daggers at Frel.


    [Poison Resist] Raised to 0.6


    "Bwhaha! still got some grit in you! I thought I broke you after I took your wolf pelt and snapped your arm! Gegegegege!"


    Frel grinned sadistically, a few goblins that were focused on Lurk had joined beside Frel against Aurk. Now seeing Lurk was suffering from poison unable to act.


    Vorm and Sala struggling to get the last couple of goblins down, Vorm once more now properly restrained, Sala being clawed fiercely by the goblins around her.


    "Bow now and I will promise not to cripple your other arm gegege!"


    Frel taunted Aurk, Aurk gritting his teeth tightly, he was still no match for Frel. If he launched an attack, Frel would utilize the other goblins to get in a fast strike, just like he did against Lurk. But he did not bow.


    "I was fearful of you for so long, But Lurk freed me!" Aurk launched his way forward aiming straight for one of the goblins he knew would become a shield, stabbing it in the neck, getting ready to block Frel''s assault.


    But he did not have to block any assault as suddenly out of nowhere Lurk managed to cast a spell quickly followed by another.


    ["Lessen Pain!"]


    ["Tempest Disk!"]


    [Holy Magic] Raised to 3,7


    [Wind Magic] Raised to 2,9


    [Poison Resist] Raised to 0.8


    Lurk''s shaking stopped just as he cast his spell lessen pain, combined with the lesser status clear it made him stable and able to properly aim again, he could not focus before on any of his range spells due to it and it took monstrous effort to cast the other spells. He threw out a disk that spun past the dead goblin that Aurk had just cut down, right at Frel who panicked seeing the spinning disk slide underneath his vision beneath him. He fell onto the ground trying to figure out what just happened.


    The answer lay before his eyes as his legs flopped down onto the ground near him, Frel made a inhuman(goblin) shriek that turned into gurgles as his mouth flooded with black blood.


    Instantly the goblins blood lust faded, the remaining goblins panicked and fled screaming away from the battlefield that was covered in dark blood and goblin corpses. Sala and Vorm got up after they had managed to just barely hang on, they stumbled over to Lurk and Aurk that were standing over Frel''s pitiful body that had been severed just at the belt by the tempest disk.


    Lurk bent over grabbing onto Frels neck, lifting him up and ripping his wolf pelt off him. He grabbed hard onto Frels neck with one hand, while he handed the wolf pelt to Aurk. Tighenting the grip as Frel choked and died as Lurk held him.


    [Access to new traits!]


    [Poison Resist] Raised to 1


    "..Huff....I believe... That wolf pelt is yours Aurk..." Lurk said through gritted teeth" to Aurk as he steadied himself, his golden halo fading out from behind him. Aurk looked to Lurk shocked, he did not understand. Lurk had killed Frel, his power was without questioned stronger than himself. The pelt was not his to claim.


    Lurk noticed Aurks shock but simply grinned after casting a few last spells.


    "[Lessen Pain] [Lesser Status Clear] [Light Regeneration]. Hey. Cough he stole it from you to begin with!. Plus it would look better on you gegegek!"


    [Holy Magic] Raised to 3,9


    Lurk then grabbed Aurks sword and sliced his own arm off above where Frel had hit him with his poisonous blade.


    Lurk then slumped down onto the ground unconscious.


    """Lurk!!""" (Aurk, Sala, Vorm)

 Fate

    Lurk was dreaming, he was once more floating in the gentle warm sensation, that he ended up in when he first died and began his Resurrection. He opened his eyes, this time instead of being formless he had his goblin form, but he was aware of it as if seeing it in a third person view.


    He had not looked proper at himself through a clean reflection, he had to admit he looked rather normal if not for the size difference, which he could somehow understand he was around half the height of a human. His hair was black short and arranged in a normal messy way. His eyes was a deep purple hue, with clear black pupils.


    His form was extremely defined muscular wise, he wondered why that was, this seemed extreme for such a lean form to be this chiseled. When he began examining his body looking or rather observing it all at once from all angles. He stopped briefly looking at his left arm, where it looked like there was a clean line running across his arm, the arm after that looking transparent, he looked at his muscles, wondering why he looked like this. But before he could examine more, a old friend appeared.


    Menu popped up with lines drawn from certain parts of his body as suddenly his skin vanished, his musculature became fully visible, with many small descriptions of each little muscle group if he looked closer at it. But what also was shown were two runes floating beside his body, he could sense a clear connection between the runes and his muscles. Examining the Runes he realized that he could read the runes, at least the main part of it, it was surrounded by magic spinning circles that were moving like a clockwork, exchanging tinier runes between each other. Some runes changing shape, or vanishing only be replaced by another, all moving elegantly without discord or chaos.


    But the main rune spelled out.


    [STR Boost] : Moderate


    [Ogre Pure Power] : Ogre


    They both were vastly different, the STR boost one was simple and rudimentary compared to the Ogre pure power one. With endlessly more complexity and when observed seemed to have Magic circles that appeared out of nowhere and vanished into nowhere, making no sense in a purely observable way.


    But it was all beautiful to watch slowly move and tick in front of him. He decided to examine what was a common reference between them and he found something at the very core that seemed to be the base structure. Here they were the same but it would expand out and become infinitely complex after just a few circles.


    He understood one of the common runes, he thought about it and the rune flicked out of existence. His body at the same time changed slightly as his muscles became less defined, he flicked out the same run on the other one. His body becoming a average looking body type.


    A on/off view rune for them, the runes became to complex after much further away from the rune he looked, interweaving with to many things to easily identify what one rune would do or could even be manipulated. He flicked the two runes again and his body once more turned normal.


    He thought of his body as a whole, several runes began appearing all around him spread out in a orderly fashion into a big complicated magical circle network, with his body floating in the center of it.


    Watching every rune with its own little system of magic circles and runes ticking along, seeing them interact with each other. Energy could be felt flowing around in this magic network. Pulsing like a heartbeat the runes acted together.


    Observing each rune one by one he realised it was all the things his menu had shown him. His skills, traits, natural talents and magical cores. When he saw the magical runes for each Magic type he had it was easy to identify them they were each glowing a specific color, some of them more potent than others. He easily identified his [Wind Magic], it was pulsing faster and was considerably more complex and larger than the others. The newest one the [Dark Magic] was barely ticking with almost no extra connections to other runes.


    It was like looking at a Game talent tree, but it was infinitely more complex except if you stepped back and viewed it all at once. He noticed a special grouping of runes that seemed more separate from the others, a clear distinction that these were not a direct part of the overall system, but were latched onto it.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    One of them in particular read in its name as.


    [Horncrown Viper Poison]


    It seemed aggressive and was sending out connection points into many different runes in the core of the system, [Blood], [Nerves] and many other smaller ones. He remembered he had been poisoned, and he realized he only had once chance to survive it. To cut of the injection point in his left arm.


    Now that he was watching the rune in detail he saw that it was connected to parts inside his arm that was still connected to his body. But in very very small areas of the blood vessels. Knowing that poison required almost no amount to be deadly.


    Like the most deadly poison know to man was Botulinum toxin, which only required 1 nanogram per kilogram of the victims mass to be deadly. As little as an intravenous dose of just 10-7g would be fatal to a 70 kg person. Lurk was a goblin and much smaller. Granted the Viper poison here would most likely not be this poisonous.


    What he also noticed along side of the poison rune were some other runes.


    [Lessen Pain]


    [Lesser Status Clear]


    [Light Regeneration]


    The last spells he cast on himself before he blacked out from the pain, he could see them pulse and then their effect on his body. Lesser status clear had surrounded the Poison and was removing it slowly but it was fading right away, with more poison still to go. The lessen pain was effecting his nerve system fighting against a torrent of pulses that were connected to a pain description. It was far from enough to hold it back.


    His arm was connected to the Light Regeneration he could see his arm knit it self together very slowly. First it was closing off the wound, but then it was beginning to build below the stump, adding to bone and flesh.


    All three of the runes were being fueled by their own little system of runes, that were slowly vanishing with each little pulse they worked. The Lesser status clear had no fuel rune connected to it and was slowly vanishing again.


    It was after all just a single target spell with instant effect and no upkeep to it. But this would not do, if he was just a little bit unlucky, then that tiny tiny amount of poison would be more than enough to kill him several times over or make it last way past his lessen pains duration, but it was not enough even at its current strength. His body would not handle this much he instinctively knew.


    He remembered when he was touching the runes and they interacted with each other. But he needed more time for what he now had planned to try out. With that thought the pulses of the system slowed down substantially. He quickly began to examine the Lessen pain and Lesser status Clear for similarities and compared it versus the now very very slowly fading Light regeneration.


    It took a while, though time seemed like a very loose term in his current state. He began to tinker with the runes on the two runes with a duration, until he figured out what made them have a duration and how those specific runes connected to the other systems of the spell.


    During this he figured out he could manipulate the runes and the small pathways that would all amass into the magical circles that the runes ran along like as if on power lines or a train system.


    He focused on what was the connecting point on the lessen pain of its duration system, and he decided to get ready for something very unpleasant. Just as the spell had done a pulse, he severed the connecting point of the duration part. Moving it quickly over to the almost faded out Lesser Status clear rune. It snapped on but not in a elegant way, and there were conflicts. It was like a hamster in a wheel compared to a elegant complex race car engine.


    The "hamster" struggling to keep it the rune going, but it began flashing as if it had stopped fading out. But the energy stored in the Duration system was leaking out fast! It was clearly too demanding a spell to keep running with this simple of a system. Worse also was that the body his body he was viewing was now being flooded by pain to a dangerous degree.


    He needed to hurry fixing and to cut unnecessary traits of the spell itself. It was to demanding, he quickly looked it over and saw where he part effected the body. He localized a point that connected all the limbs and main body parts. The targeting system of the rune, it was set to effect everything in his body all at once. He did not need that. He severed all the parts that were pointing to anywhere not his left arm, after making sure that the poison had not left his arm. Realizing he could narrow it down even more he connected it to the very term of the core part of the Poison rune.


    He used some of the left over runes he thought would fit to stabilize the connection point and suddenly the spell turned into...


    [Lesser Poison Clear]


    The poison began vanishing with each tick, but the pain thrashed around in his body from each little piece of remaining poison until it all vanished and his body calmed down.


    ("phew...wait.. everything seems to be fading, my sense of self is back.. before it was like i was viewing everything.. now everything is fading..")


    Getting a last view of his body surrounded by the complex clockwork of runes he noticed one rune standing out above all the others that was connected to everything. But he had not seen it before due to his focus on the minutia and micro of how things worked.


    [FATE]


    ("...Ok...")


    Lurk thought as he slowly faded out of unconsciousness and slowly opened his eyes and waking up in a cave, seeing a sleeping Sala right up against him.


    "Ahh!!" (Lurk)


    "Eeiik!" (Sala)


    *Bonk!!!*

 I am the Boss

    Lurk rubbed his head, somehow that one hurt. Sala might be hardening her fists, to counter his Iron head trait. Lurk froze as he opened his eyes again as he was now sitting up, Sala sitting next to him.


    Naked.


    Why was she naked, wait why is he naked and why are they sleeping together. Lurk stared at Sala his gaze slowly drifting down Salas body, Sala meanwhile was angrily staring back.


    "Lurk should not scare Sala like that! Sala was trying to sleep!....Oh! are you Ok?!"


    Sala chided on Lurk for rudely awakening her, suddenly remembering that Lurk had been unconscious ever since they fought Frel and he cut his own arm off, they had brought him back to the nest and placed him inside Frels sleeping area.


    ".. Yes .."


    Lurk was still staring at the naked Sala but he managed to speak, she really did look like a normal human healthy, voluptuous, curvy woman. Sala leaned over towards Lurk staring at him oddly.


    "Is Lurk sure? Lurk seems to be acting weird?"


    "....Why are you nake.... No.. Where are we??" Lurk shook his head snapping out of it, he looked around, they were inside a cave this much he reckoned. Looking around he quickly guessed they were back, examining his surroundings he realized they were back in the Sun Soakers corridor/room, but it was at the end where Frel had his things, around a small bend in the corridor out of sight of the others.


    Lurk and sala were laying on furs with a few baskets and bags up against the wall, a few makeshift looking weapons, also proper daggers and bows stacked up with their assortment of arrows.


    ".. Wait did you go back to the cave? Is that not dangerous? Would we not be killed for killing Frel?"


    Lurk said as he put some furs over Salas nakedness, he needed to focus right now!.


    Sala accepted being wrapped in the fur, her cheeks darkening as Lurk did this. But quickly she answered Lurks question.


    "Well Frel was beaten by Lurk!, so now the Sun Soakers boss is you!" Lurk sighed, he was a little worried about what he should do when he killed Frel, but he also was worried that once he would cut his arm off to save himself from the poison. That maybe Aurk would kill him to take the position.


    Aurk was after all a rather imposing goblin with great deal of strength, as the battle with the kobolds and gnolls proved to Lurk. Hell he shot a bow while having a slightly crippled arm AND missing a eye! During the battle he was actually worried that Frel might have been extremely strong, since he had managed to keep Aurk submissive. But from what he understood it seemed he had broken Aurk, by stealing his prize and crippling him.


    Lurk looked at his arm, the stump had many little bumps that were discolored apart from his regular skin. Small patches of darkened skin seemingly stretched from a bit up his arm, with visible veins wrapped around the stump. He could tell it was only a tiny bit healed longer than from where he cut it off. The regeneration spell had luckily made it possible for him to disregard the issue of having to cut his arm off.


    He was unsure if the spell could heal his arm and hand back, but the spell seemed to be able to do it when he checked the description. It would require a lot of castings though he could guess from how little it had reformed.


    "Uhm.. Ok.. But why are you here... Naked?"


    Lurk blushed a bit looking away, he was hoping that she did not force herself on him, while he was unconscious, he doubted goblins had much restraint. Knowing Sala if she wanted something she might just take it when the opportunity was there.


    Sala opened her eyes wide at seeing Lurk blush and look awkward, she was baffled by how he was acting and it made her face hot from him being like this.


    "Aurk told Sala that in order to help with the poison. Sala needed to be up close against you, skin to skin! It helped your body to fight the poison! Sala''s body saved Lurk! So do not forget it!"If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Sala looked proud and victorious over this achievement, having been told by Aurk that the poison was incredibly dangerous and he had never seen a human survive it. It helped that Lurk had cut his arm off. But he could see that lurks body was still thrashing in pain while they carried him back.


    Lurk thought about what he heard, he had seen science reports of primitive people doing something along this line. But mostly dealing with fevers and other such ailments, whether it worked or not. He could not remember it being done against poison. He checked the Menu and saw that he indeed had created a new spell in his unconscious state. It reminded him of Mercia during her stasis spell. But he did not cast anything like that.


    The Menu flashed bringing up the new trait


    _____________________________________________


    [Blood Line Manipulation]


    The Progenitor can access his bloodline to create templates or change old templates into new configurations, to either change his own structure to use [Metamorphosis] and apply to himself or to apply to any Direct Blood Line members. This tool can show various effects from the structure the Progenitor picks in a target and how it will appear in its various stages of growth.


    Can be activated which will induce a meditative state.


    _____________________________________________


    ("... I have control over my body''s genetic structure?.. And my Direct Blood line members?? I could see my body in that dream but it seemed a lot more metaphysical than physical effects. Like skills? how is that genetic?. But wait can i use this on .. Others too ??.. He need to check this out later..")


    ".. Ok .. Thank you Sala for saving me.. " Lurk did not feel like taking away her achievement, since she looked proud of herself and using her body to beat a impossibly strong poison.


    Sala turned slightly away with dark cheeks


    ".. You are strange!! " But then Sala suddenly flipped back pushing forward at Lurk causing him to fall back


    "What? what?!" Lurk tried to shield himself as Sala had leaned forward fast against him, staring angrily at him.


    "Who says thanks!? You are weird! Weak!... But you are not weak!. You beat Frel! The gnoll! So easily!, but you faked against Sala!!!" The anger was back in Salas eyes.


    "But.. I did not want to hurt Sala with magic! We were just training!.. Well ... And i was unsure if i could managed Frel! or even if i needed to!"


    Sala stared at Lurk quietly for a while after he said his piece. She had slipped out of the furs in her rush forward again. Once more exposing her chest to Lurk, but he was in panic mode from Sala, so he had not had the time to stare yet.


    "Hmpf!. Well! now that Sala knows Lurk is this strong, it is good enough!"


    "Eh?.. Good enough?" Lurk cocked a eyebrow, slowly realizing Sala''s state of undress.


    "Yes! Sala will become Lurks breeding sow!"


    ...


    ...


    ...


    ...


    ...


    "What?!"


    Lurk had dropped his jaw and was staring flabbergasted at Sala, who''s eyes were more determined that he had ever seen them be before. Also from hearing the word -breeding sow- it sounded horribly demeaning, but Sala was grinning with dark cheeks like she had just claimed a prize.


    "Of course! Sala had been chosen by Frel to be his future breeding sow! but he was banned from doing so! Sala wanted someone strong to make spawnlings with! But Sala did not like Frel! But now that you are a Shaman!, You can claim any breeding sow!"


    ...


    ...


    "... Wait so you like me?" Lurk asked with a odd face.


    Sala''s cheeks flared up and she began shaking slightly, her eyes glowing, her fist tightening up making a audible sound of knuckles cracking and veins bulging on her arm and hand.


    *BONK!*


    [Tougness] Raise +0.4


    "I never said i liked you!!!"


    Sala hit Lurk hard on his head, and turned away in a huff. The furs falling down off her body away completely.


    Lurk rubbed his head again gritting his teeth. Opening his eyes seeing Sala''s back and body sitting there looking all annoyed, she had a good firm body as she was incredibly strong. Lurk could not deny she was pretty and right now he felt she was super cute acting all bashful about something simple like that, but being able to boldly demand being his -breeding sow- urgh that term did not sound good...


    Sala mumbled annoyed, as she suddenly felt a arm wrap around her and Lurks body resting up against hers. Pulling her closer against him, she could suddenly feel her heart pounding away and body turning hot, as Lurk held her against his body.


    "...Well... I do like you..." Lurk said leaning his head closer to her ear. She slowly turned around and looked at his purple glowing eyes. Before slowly laying down on the furs with him.


    ...


    ...


    ...


    ...


    Lurk woke up, instantly feeling sweaty and sticky... Sala was laying beside him looking extremely worn out and disheveled but with a wide silly grin on her face. Lurk thought it would be a ordeal for her considering that goblins had one part of the anatomy still retain normal human size. But it was no problem at all.


    Lurk could also not have done anything about it if he wanted to have stopped. Once they were entangled on the furs his ravenous trait kicked in and they kept at it for a hour at least over multiple sittings... But Sala seemed to be able to take it. Lurk smiled feeling rather good and pleased about his accomplishment, when Menu suddenly butted in flooring him completely


    [Please pick a name for your First Spawn]


    +2 Family Bloodline Points


    ...


    ("..wa..")


    ("..Wha..")


    ("..WHAAAT!?!?!?!?!?")

 Parental 101

    Lurk sat still for a while looking at the menu. A fly could have flown into his opened mouth, made a home, had children, gone away and then come back as a grandparent.


    Fly :"This was where we started our family kids.."


    This was how time seemed to flow for Lurk who was stunned.


    ("... So i forgot something important, Beyond Fertile huh... I knew i should have listened in school during sex ed... When two goblins like each other really well, they will bump uglies and end up with a horrendous evil monster you have to take care of till it goes too college.... I cannot even send it off to college... How can I handled this? I know nothing about being a good parent. Will the kid try to eat my face when its born?!")


    Lurk shook his head, and slapped his cheeks hard.


    ("Right.. Snap back to reality... Name huh.. So I can personally name my kids, instead of the menu giving it a four letter name. Its weird how all goblins have four letter names, at least so far all I have seen. Maybe i should ask Sala?..")


    Lurk looked at Sala still sleeping, when he remembered something.


    ("Family Bloodline Points... I got two points?... Will I get two points for every child?.. Wait no. It says -Bloodline- .. Will I get two bloodline points.. Per.. Descendant..")


    Lurk opened up the Family Bloodline points and confirmed it was indeed per descendant! But!


    It was one point per individual born directly of the line, if a new parent from outside was entered in, that also gave one point...


    The speed goblins can reproduce... Yes points could be rolling in, but this is gonna be a problem, Lurk could feel if he did not control this properly. But how can you control goblins in this way!. Lurk worried that this would be a dangerous path of having to beat the living crap out of everyone and tell them to practice safe sex, whilst also picking willing partners..


    ("Right.. Lets take it one step at the time...")


    Lurk wanted to know first what gender the kid was, for some reason it started with a name. Then as he thought this the menu fizzled, a new option appearing.


    [Pick a Gender and name for each gender]


    [99%] Male


    [1.0] Female


    ("huh one in a hundred is a female for goblins. No wonder they go assaulting other species for their reproduction... How can i change this?.. Oh")


    Thinking this, the menu slowly changed the numbers


    [Pick a Gender]


    [50%] Male


    [50%] Female


    [*Warning This change will carry down this bloodline, and will have to be changed manually later*]


    ("Right.. Wait I can change it later?.. Oh yeah the bloodline manipulation trait said something along those lines... Wait I can alter those in my blood line?.. Like I can change Sala?")


    Moving the current menu out to the side he touched Sala gently on the cheek, bringing up her information.


    _____________________________________________


    [Progenitor Menu Access!]


    [Edit Options] : Costs FBP points to alter


    Race : Goblin (65%, 25% Human, 10%Ogre)


    Class : Pugilist Level 2


    Name : Sala


    Sex : Female


    Age : 3 Months


    Status : Second Cousin - Twice removed


    Father : Blud - Skullcrusher (Goblin 75%, Ogre 25%)


    Mother : Lisa Sofenweim (100% Human)


    Children : *Unknown*


    - Stats -


    [STR] : 14 (7+7)


    [AGI] : 10


    [STA] : 12


    [WIS] : 6


    [INT] : 5


    [LUK] : 20


    Health : 34/34


    Mana : 12 / 12


    - Abilities -


    [Speech : Goblin]


    [Brawling]


    [Mace]


    [Stealth]


    [Dodge]


    - Traits -


    [Goblin Soul]


    [Slightly Evil] (Reduction detected, unable to go lower due to Progenitor Limit)


    [Night Vision]


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.[STR Boost Medium]


    Titles : Head bonker, First Consort to the Progenitor


    _____________________________________________


    ("Ok I can change it, But would it not be best to alter Sala, so the child would have more options?.. Like just in nature finding a mate with more desirable traits, I just have the luxury of being able to manipulated both sets of - Genes? - This is not just gene manipulation though.. Its also exchange of knowledge?.. Like I can give Sala Earth magic?")


    Thinking this the menu highlighted the Edit option and brought up all his traits he had collected. Zooming too the earth magic it showed the listing for it.


    _____________________________________________


    [Earth Magic]


    Weak : 1 FBP


    Normal : 2 FBP


    Small : Not possible - collect a stronger affinity


    Medium : Not possible - collect a stronger affinity


    Strong : Not possible - collect a stronger affinity


    Exceptional : Not possible - collect a stronger affinity


    Powerful : Not possible - collect a stronger affinity


    God Tier : Not possible - collect a stronger affinity


    _____________________________________________


    ("Hmm.. Because I do not have anything but the earth magic normal I cannot grant anything better than that.. how much would it cost to give her the same Exceptional wind tier... What the!")


    _____________________________________________


    [Wind Magic]


    Weak : (Very High Chance of descendants learning this - unless other bloodlines thins it)


    Normal : (High Chance of descendants learning this - unless other bloodlines thins it)


    Small : (Good Chance of descendants learning this - unless other bloodlines thins it)


    Medium : 1 FBP


    Strong : 2 FBP


    Exceptional : 4 FBP


    Powerful : Not possible - collect a stronger affinity


    God Tier : Not possible - collect a stronger affinity


    _____________________________________________


    ("So the stronger the affinity I have, the better it will be if I decide to buy it. But if I do not buy it there is a random chance they have a lower version any ways?.. Huh ok")


    Lurk concentrated on showing all the traits, this kid would potentially learn without him buying anything.


    _____________________________________________


    -[Inherited Potential Traits]-


    [Stealth Boost] : Chance to learn (weak, normal)


    [Bow] : Chance to learn (weak, normal)


    [Wind Magic] : Chance to learn (weak, normal, small)


    -[100%]-


    [Speech : Goblin]


    [Night Vision]


    [Goblin Soul]


    [Goblin Body]


    [STR Boost Medium]


    [Slightly Evil] (tiny random chance of increased potency due to outside interference)


    -[Elite]-


    [Ogre Pure Power : Ogre] 25% chance (Female parent has potential but is not unlocked)


    [Ravenous : Goblin] 75% chance (Female parent has potential but is not unlocked)


    [Beyond Fertile : Goblin] 75% chance (Female parent has potential but is not unlocked)


    [Chance for random number of traits to appear] : 0 to 2


    _____________________________________________


    ("My elite traits have a chance of being carried on?, but only because there is a shared connection. The vampire trait is not in there for instance.. So Stealth, Bow and wind magic have a chance to carry on. Then all the basics of being a goblin are included, oh and STR boost since we both have is also there?... And.....")


    Lurk looked at the trait [Slightly Evil]


    ("Becoming evil from birth is still not fair.. Hmmm outside interference? Someone or something is effecting the trait? Someone pulling the strings from behind the stage. Sure would be nice to block that.")


    The menu flashed and brought up a option.


    [Slightly Evil]


    Block outside interference - Cost 1 FBP


    Lower Potency - Cost 10 FBP


    ("I do not like that someone else is changing me, Sala or my kid.")


    [Purchase Accepted "[Slightly Evil] Block outside interference" On target Lurk] -1 FBP


    [Purchase Accepted "[Slightly Evil] Block outside interference" On target Sala] -1 FBP


    [Purchase Accepted "Pure Ogre Power" On target Sala]


    After confirming that if both he and Sala had these traits, then it would be a 100% chance of their kid to also get it. Even during this phase where the kid should technically already having had been given traits, as long as it was still in the womb when lurk bought the traits and if he had not confirmed a name/gender yet. It would carry over from his side too. Lurk bought it without looking back. He had never liked the notion of greater grander powers, holding sway over people in such a way giving them some kind of forced debt that they cannot escape.


    ("So this is what designer babies would be like.. I can mold my future offspring and their offspring on a whim.. This is a lot to take in.. Am i not myself becoming one of those grander powers that manipulate others according to my own whim?..")


    Lurk thought about it for a while, looking at Sala and her stomach.


    ("Nuts to that, i just want me and mine to be safe, strong and able to cope with what is thrown at us, so we will not be alone...")


    _____________________________________________


    [Progenitor Menu]


    [Race : Goblin (special)]


    Class :


    Name : Lula


    Sex : Female


    Age : 0


    Status : Firstborn Daughter (Goblin : Special)


    Father : Lurk the Goblin Progenitor (Goblin Progenitor 100% ¡ï)


    Mother : Sala the Headbonker Goblin (65%, 25% Human, 10%Ogre)


    [STR] : 2 (1+1)


    [AGI] : 0.5


    [STA] : 2


    [WIS] : 0


    [INT] : 0


    [LUK] : 20


    Health : 4/4


    Mana : 0/0


    - Abilities -


    [Speech : Goblin]


    [Crafting Blacksmith : Strong] *New ability learned!


    [Brawling : Medium] *New ability learned!


    [Stealth : Weak]


    [Wind Magic : Normal]


    - Traits -


    [Goblin Soul]


    [Slightly Evil : Blocked]


    [Night Vision]


    [STR Boost Medium]


    - Elite Traits -


    [Pure Ogre Power]


    Titles : Firstborn of the Progenitor


    _____________________________________________


    "Hi Lula..." Lurk said as he gently caressed Sala''s stomach..."

 Back to work.

    Lurk wondered why he had not gotten FBP from his mother, guessing that the menu only took things into account from his own actions. But if his daughter would go out and have children of her own, he would still collect FBP, then their children would also give points and so on.


    Lurk also worried about something else he saw in her Menu.


    _____________________________________________


    [Goblin Body]


    She was a goblin after all. But he had seen the various types of goblins, they all looked extremely varied like they all had different mutations and were not uniformed except for a few details like they all shared a short stature but their various traits would varied wildly.


    Thinking on the new trait he had only seen during her neonatal state, the menu opened up its description.


    [Goblin Body]


    Goblins are a base template that all humanoid monsters originate from. Goblins will over time eventually evolve after having been subjected to sufficient stress over time. This evolution would cause them to adopt new traits and become a new species with entirely new abilities and potential.


    This evolution will continue in the new species until a stable form has been achieved.


    Stats (Average base adult -without any class / stress additions)


    [STR] : 5


    [AGI] : 10


    [STA] : 7


    [WIS] : 3


    [INT] : 4


    [LUK] : --


    Health : 10 / 10


    - Abilities -


    Chance for random 0-2 random natural skills : Low


    - Traits -


    Chance for random 0-1 random natural talent trait : Low


    Night Vision


    [Goblin Soul]


    _____________________________________________


    ("Hmm. a basic template.. So all goblins can suddenly change depending on how they are stressed?. I do remember that Vrek was slightly larger than the other goblins, he was clearly stronger than them by far.)


    Lurk also brought up the new traits he had collected of Frel. But there was nothing of particular note he was a standard Goblin 75%/Human 25%. But he did have one very odd ability modifier down the list that made lurk chuckle a bit.


    - Abilities -


    [Dagger] - [Slice] *New Skill!


    [Intimidate] : Strong


    [Crafting - Clothier] : Exceptional


    - Traits -


    Lurk would have to try that [Slice] skill later, apparently it was a weapon skill? Much like how spells were a part of the magic traits. But it was clearly a magical ability! no one could move like that suddenly.


    The skill that made Lurk chuckle was the clothier one, Frel could have become a extremely talented tailor, if only he had not been born a goblin in a cave. His talents was never realized, instead he became a evil boss leader that dominated his subordinates with violence and threats. Lurk knew he could see peoples best talents and guide them to their "perfect" job or lifestyle choices.


    ("I can even change them if i have FBP points for others too, am I born to be the Cheat Job Consultant.. Why yes mam i can tell you would be the very best cow farmer ever. BUT if you act now i can change that Cow farmer to a glorious Movie Superstar instead!")


    ("These traits... Who puts them into living beings to begin with. I cannot rule out gods, since magic is now confirmed to be real. But what would they gain? I have not been told to worship anyone. Unless..")


    [Slightly Evil] Blinked in front of him in the menu.


    ("this was not in the [Goblin Body] so its not part of it naturally... So Evil and Good.. is a thing and someone/something must be judging or categorizing it. I i began to do only good deeds would this trait fade away? Or is it a locked curse. It seems to vary in potency from Slightly Evil to Beyond Evil. Even Frel was only [Evil] just like Aurk. They must be easily effected by the urge that comes up when the chance to act evil is there... But why would they ever resist it? Even Sala would have no real reason to resist and just go with it.")This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    Lurk rubbed his head getting a headache over this annoying metaphysical trait that was imposing its will onto him and his friends.. Yeah he would have to say they were his friends.


    Lurk got out of the furs leaving Sala behind, he had been casting his regeneration spell ever since he woke up, wanting to get his hand back was a priority after all. He moved over to the many items that was stored at the wall. All of Frels things were here including the gear he had worn. Leather gloves, Leather boots, Pants (child size), Fur Armor and pouches with various things in it.


    Strings, Small hooks, carving knifes, axe and then two small vials with green liquid in them. Lurk could guess this was the poison he was subjected too. Lurk wanted to clean and fix all of this gear especially the pants since they had been sliced along with the bottom of the fur armor.


    Spending some time making some makeshift tailor tools, and recovering material from some of the things stored here he managed to fix the pants up.


    [Crafting : Clothier] Raised to 0.5


    [Pants] Durability restored.


    He just knew how to do things, but he was still clumsy and the urge he had in his mind when he began working was vague, but he could feel how he should be doing the tasks to make the pants.


    Clearly the stronger the modifier was the better he could imagine what needed to be done. It got easier the more he worked but it was still amateur work at this stage.


    But if someone had told Lurk to sit down and then fix the pants without this skill. He would have been here for a much longer time trying to fix it. It just came to him naturally. The skills all seemed to raise when ever he used them. But it did get slightly rarer the more he used a skill before it increased. Especially his magical skills, they had thresholds that were not easy to pass. But abilities did not seem to have that issue. He had raised skills up much faster than with the magical ones.


    Finishing up the pants he worked on the fur armor, he had seen a lot of armors from his role playing days and knew this was a very crude armor. It would not help a lot against most attack types. Now that Lurk had inherited Lula''s [Blacksmithing] he also seemed to be able to remember those notes and pictures he had studied back when he did a lot of roleplaying. Was the skill itself pulling on information i viewed a few times making them more clearly? He would never be able to suddenly recall the facts of the armors, he once read about on a whim as he could now.


    Now all he needed was a smithy... He doubted the raided town had one.. But he would have to ask Aurk later if he had seen something like that there.


    [Crafting - Primitive] Raised by 0.2


    [Fur Armor] Durability Restored.


    Now he only needed to clean them, his nose was not offended by the blood or the smell. But he just wanted to get it cleaned. His old life nagging on him.


    ("Hmm.. I wonder if i can use magic.. But what kind of "element" would cleaning be under?")


    Lurk tried to focus on the blood stain on the pants, wanting to slowly make it vanish. But he could not picture it in his mind how either Holy, Wind or Earth could make a stain vanish.


    Lurk vaguely remembered back when he was out from the poison he had that dream, he could not remembered the specifics with perfect detail. But he recalled working with runes and how they resembled the ones that appeared when he used a spell that the system had created.


    He refreshed his regeneration spell, in front of his hand a green glowing circle with rune symbols floating around in it. So designing spells would be easier if i had the runes and how they were constructed would maybe make it easier. Having terms that was connected to actions and being able to target and give the spell limitations and options to optimize it.


    ("It reminds me a lot of coding, making a specific task that needs done. Hmm I will need a Element that can do this... Wait... Cleanliness is next to godliness. Being clean is a sign of spiritual purity or goodness. That is a saying at least.. Focus on holy.. Come on Lurk.. Use this Holy power as a Laundry machine...Remove the filth, clean it, remove the taint. Target dead cells, grime and dust.")


    Lurk could feel something happening, he was affecting something at least. Looking at the stain there was a slight glimmer appearing making the stain shine it began to fade and then vanish. His mana burning out fast, since casting spells he did not have a foundation on seemed to burn through mana fast.


    [Clean Cantrip] Has been created!


    ("hah.. That burned a lot of mana.. I better stop for now and save the rest for emergencies and my regeneration spell")


    Lurk was getting dresssed, when he heard a voice from the main corridor.


    "Where is Frel!" a loud voice that Lurk could identify as Vrek, the goblin that took him off his mother and also got his arm severed.. Sala woke up looking at Lurk, she also got up putting her rags on and the nodded to Lurk with a "Go get em champ" smile.


    "Hey... at least i will have something to bond with him over.." Lurk looked at his arm giving Sala a weak grin, covering it up before he walked around the corner to face the music.

 Wrecked

    Vrek had been having a bad month, ever since he had been granted the task to take care of the breeding sows of Chief Xarn, making sure no one touched them. Taking care of the spawns and putting aside those that showed the potential that Xarn was looking for.


    Xarn had moved his current special sows to the largest cave in the area. This cave Vrek was told had a special connection to the magic in the area. All running just through a cave room that Xarn had prepared with more magical runes and placed minced corpses around, to create the dark miasma that would form around such an area.


    Vrek had been taught how to check on the sows health, if they could carry enough spawns. But he also learned to differentiate between the spawns. He was told to be on the look out of spawnlings that had the same traits as Xarn himself. These were of the out most importance, but none had been birthed ever since Vrek had been on the job, clearly they were extremely rare.


    Then Xarn had sent a special prize to the cave, A elven whore that he had already mated with, she was to be placed in the prepared chamber and her spawns were to be closely examined for the traits. She only got to birth the first one, one of the goblin types that was able to walk under the sun without problems. Vrek was disappointed at this, but even more horrified to find out that the elf had somehow managed to cast spells and secure herself from harm. Vrek knew that magicians could pull all kinds of tricks and knew she had to be destroyed as fast as possible.


    But then came that wooden horror, it ripped his team apart and took his arm. Then it disappeared taking the valuable elf with it. Vrek knew he was in trouble the instant that happened, now the enemy knew where this cave was, Xarn had lost a prized sow and his mana dense cave''s hidden location.


    Vrek quickly moved all the important resources out of the mana cave, leaving only a few goblins behind to take the hit if any reprisals were to occur. All the special spawns were secured, the goblin bosses divided up to go to their own locations and wait for new orders once Xarn had returned from the dark lords missions.


    Vrek was fortunate that Xarn was away on tasks for his master. If he had been here Vrek would have been killed instantly, if he was lucky... But now he had a small chance to regain some clot with Xarn before his return. After securing his own groups new cave. He took the majority of the goblins out and traveled to the other side of the mountains. Near the city that had been destroyed by the dark masters during his last conquest, also the same place where he got the elf sow from.


    He planned to search through the area around the city for farmsteads and villages that now would have little to no defenses since the major city hub was destroyed. It was a risky gamble but villagers would have no where to go, and would stubbornly try to defend their meager lands.


    Vrek hoped he could find new sows to gift Xarn on his return, to lessen his anger against him he had no chance of escape ever since Xarn had marked him with a dark rune that allowed him to contact him when he desired and keep track of him. Luckily he had not done so, or Vrek would have been doomed.


    Taking 70 goblins with him out along the mountains till they reached the giant fallen human fortress that had been destroyed and was a utter wreck. This once glorious fortress city covered a split between the mountains. It was filled with many routes to get through it and to pass into the humans side. Humans did have adventure camps here for when they decided to go to the dark kingdom to raid for monsters and materials. But now there was none due to the last invasion that occurred that took the city out.


    This was the time to move out and perform small raids, while the humans were still recovering and picking new safe locations. Perhaps they were even focused on reclaiming the city, pulling resources from far away demanding even more attention away from the outlying villages that Vrek had his sights on.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    They managed to scout out 3 villages, but 1 of them had a adventurer group in it to defend against goblins. They steered clear of that village, Vrek could tell when it was time to back off. He would have lost to many goblins to make it worth it compared to the amount of loot they could get. Plus he was not sure in his own abilities since he lost his arm.


    Something he could feel from the other bosses. They were practically salivating at the thought of killing him to take his place, but they were most likely restraining themselves. To make sure that once Xarn got back he would take out his anger fully on Vrek and not the new leader of the group.


    Vrek had to focus on being the dominant boss constantly to suppress the urge, of those that wanted to try and kill him. They were the ones that thought killing Vrek and giving him as a gift to Xarn would be the correct choice.


    Luckily Vrek was still able to hold the killing urges of the gobs in check. Even a brief moment of weakness and they would pounce at the chance. Vrek managed also to use the raid to distract the goblins killing urges away from himself onto something else.


    They managed to assault the two villages, Vrek spent most of the time not fighting but capturing women and pounding it into the head of the goblins to not violate a single woman. He needed to capture prime speciments for Xarn, if they had been used Xarn would sometimes say they had lost their potential as prime sows.


    He was in luck at the second village..


    He found a prize that would surely make up for the loss of the elf woman, but it was almost lost. He was directing the goblins around in the village they had stormed into. Ordering them to kill and capture the correct targets. When suddenly a fire blast exploded over near a house. He instantly regrouped over there with the other bosses, Inside was a woman guarding a younger woman.


    Her hands had fire flying out of it roasting any goblin that came inside trying to capture them.


    Vrek held the goblins back from the house changing their orders to kill the woman casting the fire spells in front, he witnesses the girl behind also casting a spell but looked exhausted afterwards.


    The sudden lull in the battle inside the house baffled the woman, but it was short lived as suddenly from every window and door goblins all burst inside at the same time. Even the roof was being attacked to create new openings for them to attack in.


    The side that the woman targeted with her fire caused fire to cover the area, burning the goblins to a crisp screaming all the way to their doom. But from the other sides the goblin bosses leaped in. The woman fought bravely but was torn apart by the sudden onrush of goblins, Vrek captured the girl while the other goblins tore the flame caster apart alive in front of his evil stare and laughter.


    Vrek quickly took out the small charm that Xarn had given him. He cracked it against the girls body and a dark shadow fell over her and she collapsed from mana exhaustion. These charms would last for months and could hold a spell caster or warriors spirit down making them almost helpless.


    He administered the crying girl a poison that then paralyses her, making her only able to make the smallest of movements.


    Vrek was sure of his safety now. He had lost one spell caster in exchange for another, plus a new haul of many other women. It had cost him 30 goblins but it were easily replaced once they could get back to the cave. Gathering the spoils of their raids they made their way back to the dark kingdom and the new cave.


    When vrek entered the cave he divided the women up into the groups he thought would be interesting to Xarn, giving the rest to the goblins. That instantly threw themselves on the poor women in mass. Vrek had noticed that Form the goblin boss he had left behind to take care of the cave was standing by looking at Vrek.


    "Form. What is it you useless gob.. And take that helmet off!.."


    Vrek had left this gob behind, his weird fascination with the helmet Form was wearing made him weird. He never took it off, but Form did not relent. Instead he told Vrek what had occurred in the cave...


    "Gege.. Frel is dead... The new spawnling was a shaman... He is the new Sun soaker boss.."


    Form said to the now stunned Vrek who looked at him like he was crazy.


    "What?!!" Vrek exclaimed in surprised anger, this was not what he needed to have happen!


    The new spawn made by that elf sow, had in such a short time shown enough strength to kill a boss?? That elf had delivered such a potent spawn? This made it look even more of a loss for Vrek that the elf was rescued.


    Grinding his teeth in anger he called the other bosses. Then walked over towards the crack in the wall. Two sun symbols on either side.


    Meanwhile.. Back in human lands a farmer was telling a group of adventurers the horrid tale of the one armed goblin wielding a odd crystal club, that came to their village and destroyed everything, including their village chief that was a former adventurer.


    A extremely pricey bounty was put up on the one armed goblin leader, to retrieve the crystal club, making the low level adventures salivate at the thought of killing this goblin.


    *Achoo!*


    Lurk felt weird after he sneezed, like someone was talking about him... Nah it must be a misunderstanding.

 Deception

    Lurk stepped around the corner looking at Vrek who was standing in front of Aurk, looking at him angrily. There were three other goblins with him, each of them wore equipment and decorative items and seemed much like Frel had. They were all bosses of their own group. Lurk sighed as he would not be able to take them all on at once, but the one he needed to handle right now was Vrek.


    "Frel is dead, I killed him"


    Lurk said as he walked forward to stand near Vrek, who turned his hideous goblin face to look at him. Vrek was a head higher than Lurk despite being a proper hunched over goblin, he had clearly evolved more than any of the others. Lurk recalled Vreks menu information, but it was mostly locked off, saying something about Vrek being too distant on the bloodline.


    Lurk tried to recall the menu info, and it was brought up before him.


    _____________________________________________


    [Progenitor Access!]


    Race : Goblin (100%)


    Name : Vrek Bearslayer


    Sex : Male


    Age : 5 years


    Status : Different Family - Too distant bloodline connection.


    Father : Unknown


    Mother : Unknown


    Stats : -Unable to Open-


    Traits/Abilities : -Unable to Open-


    Titles : Bearslayer


    [Progenitor Access : No access to abilities or traits!]


    _____________________________________________


    Lurk was unable to determine how strong he was, though killing a bear was a good hint. Plus staying alive for 5 years as a goblin must be a feat onto it self. Plus he had seen Vrek punch another goblin breaking its jaw, then kicking its head in on a wall. When he fought against the Girl covered in wood he also moved fast and was able to block attacks from her.


    Vrek looked at Lurk, he was standing there in a fur armor and pants, looking awfully clean and sure of himself. Behind him came the female goblin, after taking a single sniff, Vrek sneered and got angry. He moved up fast and grabbed Lurk by the throat, his anger could be felt by everyone like a massive weight on them all. Fear pushing its way up every ones spines. Each of them reacting differently.


    [Progenitor too low level to open up to distant bloodline]


    Vreks group reacted by simply grinning and laughing, the sensation empowering them, this was how the trait [Evil] influenced goblins, they would either be on the receiving end or the giving end of this trait. Normally Vrek would show his domineering power and it would show a clear scale of where everyone was on the hierarchy. It worked wonders to keep this disorganized species together.


    But what happened next was not something that had happened before. Lurk had grabbed Vreks wrist and was tightening his grip preventing him from choking him. This gob was strong, but even worse. The fear in his eyes was not there at all. This clear show of strength also effected the Sun Soakers, They too were not phased at all by Vreks anger. The [Evil] trait connected them all together in a way. Vrek being unable to dominate Lurk through fear had prevented it from taking hold in them as properly, they too were grinning and waiting.


    This caused both groups to suddenly tense and stand ready to fight. Once a impasse happened like this, it would only be solved by blood shedding. Lurk had quickly cast Lesser status clear to block the fear the moment he felt Vrek trying to effect him. But Lurk knew that it would be an almost impossible fight to win in this crowded corridor, even if he won it would be with heavy losses, plus he would be completely out of mana to handle the rest of the nest.. Lurk thinking back to Sala standing near him and he flinched slightly.


    Lurk did the only thing he could think off, and after moving Vreks hand away from his throat he bowed down, causing the other Sun Soakers to blink and then followed quickly.


    "I took what is mine from the weak gob Frel. I simply intent to take his place."


    Vrek sneered at Lurk giving him a evil glare, he noticed Lurks hand too, he had clearly fought against Frel and been severely wounded. A goblin wounded like that would normally not last long, something Vrek knew all to well. He too had been struggling hard too make up for his injury to keep his supremacy. He kicked Lurk causing him to be knocked back, the chances of Lurk remaining alive would normally be low but....


    "..You are a shaman?" Vrek growled putting his foot on Lurks chest pushing down.


    "Yes. The winds serve me"


    Lurk held up his hand and sent a wind blast upwards that caused the room to become windy, he simply let a air bullet go before forming it properly causing a good wind gust to blow. But Lurk also noticed how Vrek was looking at his severed arm, he should have known when the fight was. It would be unlikely that Lurk had recovered so much naturally from this wound.


    "And blood does not leave a body, if I do not will it to do so."


    Vrek cursed inside his mind, Lurk was now almost unkillable. The goblins he had brought with him all gave nodding approvals, A goblin healer shaman was an incredible gift, but he was also a wind user at the same time. Now that the goblin bosses knew this, he could not kill off Lurk without a proper reason, lest Xarn would know of how Vrek killed a potent goblin like this off. Especially since their only other healing shaman was in another cave at the moment.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Why did you dare mate with that sun gob? Do you not know the rules?" Vrek pushed hard down on Lurk making lurk give out a groan, Vrek was trying to reach for a reason maybe even force Lurks hand to attack, he could easily smell that Lurk and her had mated. But unfortunately that did not work as Sala stood up quickly.


    "Sala told him Shamans can pick any two breeding sows!! Lurk is strong enough to give Sala Spawnlings" Sala quickly got back down as Vrek stared at her angrily with a vein popping out on his forehead.


    Vrek cursed even more in his head now. He removed his foot from Lurk and turned around to the exit. The mood in the room calmed down completely as Vrek pulled back his domineering anger.


    "Follow us now, you worthless gob." Vrek made a gesture at the crack in the wall for Lurk to get up and follow them out.


    Lurk sighed, he had hoped that maybe Vrek would leave him here, if he had gone through the crack were only one person could leave through. The odds of a fight being won increased substantially, since Lurk could lob Tempest disks down the narrow place and cut the goblins apart. Plus preventing them from attacking out. Clearly Vrek was no fool.


    Lurk got up and nodded to Sala, Aurk and Vorm. He followed behind the first three goblins and Vrek came in behind him. They moved out into the main room, Lurk heard women''s wailing and goblins cheering as the goblins were in the middle of having their way with 6 women in the middle of the room, the cave had a lot more goblins than before, at least 80 goblins including some that were incredibly large. Lurk gritted his teeth in anger as he followed the goblin bosses back to the throne (dinner chair) that Vrek sat on. The other goblin bosses sat down around in front of the throne (dinner chair) on rocks placed for the purpose.


    Vrek motioned for Lurk to sit down and suddenly yelled out.


    "Quiet you gobs!!!!"


    The goblins stopped assaulting the women, and dragged them over into a secluded area, before they all returned to sitting along the walls or on large rocks, all of them looking up at the throne (dinner chair) and the bosses, some looking at Lurk questioningly. The Sun Soakers also came out from the crack and stood over at the entryway.


    Vrek stood up and raised his arms up and with a loud voice he began declaring.


    "We have killed human scum!!"


    All the goblins cheered and cackled loudly throwing taunts over at the women in the corner being secluded away.


    "Burned their nests down!"


    The goblins cheered even more and stood up unable to contain their joy of hearing suffering happening to humans.


    "We captured many sows for our master Xarn!!"


    """""""" Xarn! Xarn!! Xarn!!!!"""""""


    The goblins all began yelling Xarns name, cheering again pounding their chests and jumping up and down from excitement. The cave was abuzz with killing intent and pure malice, the women were crying loudly shaking uncontrollably from it. Lurk sat still he could feel his brain being filled with thoughts of malice and sense of superiority hearing the goblins cheer. The evil trait was having a field day with him. He was unable to withstand the urge to grin widely and tightened his fist.


    "When Xarn returns! We will go out with him again! Destroy even more nests! Capture sows not just for him! But for all of you gobs!!!"


    Howling and cheering bursts out from the goblins, even if they knew they would never be able to get to the women, since the stronger goblins kicked the weaker ones away if they tried. They all felt like this time, it was the time. Dying in battle was not even a consideration with the current amount of blood lust in their system and sense of how strong their nest was.


    Vrek stopped talking holding out his hand as if to calm the crowd. But the goblins continuously cheering and some even foaming at the mouth from excitement, some even launched them self over towards the women in the corner but the giant goblins standing there squashed them into the ground before they could get close. Which just caused more excitement to occur as the goblins began kicking and taunting the goblin that tried that.


    Vrek holding his hand still, not happy with how the goblins did not take his cue, yelled out loudly once more.


    "Quiet you gobs!!!!"


    Normally with this rowdy situation Lurk would expect this group of goblins to run amok any moment soon, but instead they all followed the order and began to quiet down. The evil trait had completely quelled them down again, but their faces were a lit with enthusiasm and murderous grins.


    ("This trait is such a cheat.. Without it these goblins would have all torn themselves apart. But at the same time the trait itself is what is causing them all to act this way... My grin still has not gone away either, I feel like I am superior to everyone here, sitting here at the -round table- of bosses, while the other gobs sit there waiting.")


    Lurk was indeed still grinning a wide murderous grin just like everyone else.


    "Now we also have another Shaman! New boss of the Sun Soakers Lurk!" Vrek turned and pulled Lurk up to stand and look over the gobs. They all immediately started a mix of cheering and yeering and some would even have begun throwing rocks, if it was not because Vrek was up there. Clearly the Sun Soakers were not well liked. Lurk gritted his teeth, anger flaring out of his eyes getting increasingly angry.


    [Intimidation] Raised by 0.2


    "Humangob scum!"


    [Intimidation] Raised by 0.2


    "Sun lickers!"


    [Intimidation] Raised by 0.1


    "Eat your own eyes!"


    [Intimidation] Raised by 0.2


    The goblins cheered at the curses thrown, Vrek just grinned as Lurk was not set in a good light in front of the goblins. Instead of throwing rocks at Lurk, one instead decided that if they could not throw a rock at Lurk they picked someone else. One goblin decided to pick a rock and throw it right at Sala.


    But before the rock hit Sala, it bounced off too the side before hitting her, as a gust of wind blast through the cave, sending loose items flying. All the goblins stopped in their places from the sudden turbulence in the cave. the cave becoming completely silent.


    They all looked at the goblin that had thrown the rock, as he slowly slid into two pieces having be bisected down the side his body collapsing into pieces..


    [Intimidation] Raised by 4


    The goblins all looked up at Lurk, His eyes were glowing purple, his hand had a gust of wind rushing around it, as he looked from the goblin corpse pieces and turned to scan across the room at the goblins. The wind on his hand increasing in potency. Even Vrek was stunned.


    ...


    """"""" LURK LURK LURK! """""


    The goblins erupted into to laughter and cheering his name, being a sun soaker was forgotten instantly. Goblins near the sliced corpse began to pull and rip it. Lurk grinned widely as his eyes glowed with a powerful glare at feeling the goblins all cheering him on.


    Vrek standing to the side of him silently managed to utter to himself.


    "...Shit!.."

 Retrouvaille

    Vrek tried to calm the crowd down with a loud "shut up you gobs!" but this time it did not take right away Lurk noticed, he took notice of this and turned around out of sight of the goblins all cheering him. Then Vreks next shout was obayed.


    (".. They were briefly to obsessed with my acts to ignore Vrek.. because I was riding high on the goblins mind because of my violent acts, I think i am beginning to understand this evil trait. Its almost just as bad as drama in high school. One bad misstep for a student even if that student was high on the pecking order, would result in the other students collectively disliking that person, shunning them even.. ")


    Lurk sat down on the rock, Vrek coming back to his throne (kitchen chair), staring at Lurk as he moved to sit. He began telling how the raid had gone, what they had lost and gained. Mostly this was aimed at the bosses that were not brought along in the raid.


    Lurk listened and learned a bit more of the outside world, the recent raid on the fort city nearest the southern entry way into the dark kingdom. How Vrek had moved from their old cave, which made him stare angrily at Lurk again, Lurk wondered why he was angry at Lurk during this moment. But moving to this cave that was closer to the exit out into human lands, had brought this next great success with this raid. The bosses all nodded and grinned at this.


    They did not seem to consider the risk or retribution, maybe they did and just did not bring it up in order to not appear weak. But Lurk wanted to check something now that he was in a position of power, seemingly Vrek could not just kill him, Lurk thought that being a shaman was a pretty strong position.


    ".. What will we do, when they move to retaliate for this raid?.. Is it wise to kick a hornets nest right after its been disturbed and gotten angry?"


    The bosses all stopped with their approving nods, breaking the talking of the good Vrek had accomplished. They all turned to look at Lurk questioningly, Vrek stared daggers at Lurk clearly angry at breaking the talk up when the bosses were giving him praise and acknowledgement.


    "The Spawnling should be quiet, it knows nothing of the humans" Vrek said angrily towards him, the bosses all sneered too as Vrek admonished Lurk for speaking of things such a young spawnling would know nothing of. This actually made Lurk think how did goblins learn so much information to begin with? They all spoke goblin from birth, they seemed to pick up things pretty fast. No one in the Sun Soakers team bat a eyelid, except Sala because she wanted to teach Lurk and feel wise and stronger than him, over the fact that Lurk already was a functional member of their group right away.


    Lurk decided to press on, since goblins seemed to be either born with information or just adapted extremely quickly.


    ".. I am just thinking from my own point, if some kobolds suddenly came and attacked my nest, while I was away. When I got back, would I not hunt all the puny kobolds down for this?"


    The bosses nodded looking at each other, clearly Lurk could understand a little bit. Vrek tightened his lips leaning back in his throne (kitchen chair). Internally he was cursing this upstart of a spawn.


    ".. But.." Lurk said briefly, the bosses turning to look at him again.


    "I cannot deny Vrek accomplished a great deal with this daring raid, he must clearly have a good plan for when the humans come out here to hunt us down."


    The bosses looked to Vrek as Lurk had acknowledged him and waited for Vreks next command.


    Vrek blinked, he had not suddenly expected Lurk to praise him, even suggest that Vrek knew of a plan, for when the humans would come? But the humans might or might not come, this was not important at all!. It only became important because Lurk brought it up!! Vrek had planned to just lay low here, waiting for the time when Xarn was to return and build his numbers in this nest.


    "Yes ..Shaman.. Lurk..." Vrek made a point out of saying Lurks name and title in a mocking way, while leaning forward staring at him.


    "We are staying here, waiting for the arrival of Chief Xarn... Then we will meet him at the location he pointed out..The humans will not dare enter the Demon kingdom in their weakened state.."


    Vrek said simply and straightforwardly, the bosses looked at Vrek then Lurk. Clearly they wanted Lurk to say more, they did not seem to mind that discord was building up between these two, some of them were even hoping for Vrek to weaken more, so maybe the small chance of them being able to win a challenge against would occur.


    ".. And?.. Are we putting out scouts near the direction of the entry point in the mountains?..to give warning if the humans appear?"


    "That! Is your job as Sun Soaker boss" Vrek immediately retorted before Lurk could say more, Lurk shook his head and spoke again.


    "We are only out there for brief moments of the day, I presume the night is properly scouted, but I say we move some goblins out in directions of the entryway, if they see humans coming they return to give warning. The gobs will just have to endure a little light in their eyes"


    Some of the bosses nodded at this, but the Goblin with the Helmet did not seem to approve. He quickly spoke up.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    "My gobs are not leaving the cave, they are best here for defense.."


    This caused the other bosses to sneer at the Helmeted goblin they began to argue, that they had all been on raid and lost gobs from their groups, even Vrek joined in on this and without trying Lurk managed to get them to send goblins out of the cave, plus sow discord between the bosses.


    After handling that bit of logistics, if you could call logistics, with the shouting and threatening each other. It was decided that Lurks group would find places for the helmeted goblins gobs to set up scouting camps during the day.


    Vrek then called Lurk to follow him after the meeting was done.


    "We need your healing to handle the sows we are holding, and for Xarns personal sows too."


    Lurk gritted his teeth, following behind Vrek they walked over to the corner where the women were still huddle up closely together, boxed in by three giant goblins, even bigger than Vrek or humans even. Their bodies were massive but their eyes were dim. They did not seem interested in the women at all and just sat there picking at their weapons and food or simply sleeping.


    While walking over there Lurk made a point out of trying to touch as many goblins as possible, Vrek thought it was odd, it did look odd since Lurk had to wait till the Menu popped up informing it had collected any new info. Since a gentle touch was not enough. Most goblins thought it was weird, but lurk burned a few tiny points of mana making a gentle wind gust at the ones that protested, saying it was a boon he was bestowing them. This made them excited, or scared out of their wits. But there were not a lot of new additions to his menu and he could only touch so many in one go.


    [Progenitor Menu]


    - Abilities Collected -


    [Dancing: Weak]


    [Writing: Normal]


    [Spear: Weak]


    [Husbandry: Normal]


    - Traits Collected -


    [Long Breath]


    [Nimble Fingers]


    [Small time Collector Title Earned!]


    ("What the hell is it with these random abilities and traits... Oh gee thanks Menu I am a collector now??.")


    "These gobs sure are big..." Lurk said to distract his thoughts once they got over to the women, he moved closer to one of them and put his hand on the shoulder of one waiting for the Menu to pop up, then following it up as sturdy shoulder pats to acknowledge the strength of the big goblins.


    _____________________________________________


    [Progenitor Menu]


    [Race : Hobgoblin]


    Class : Brute Level 5


    Name : Gorka


    Sex : Male


    Age : 11 Months


    Status : Son / Father(12)


    Father : Xarn


    Mother : Clara Summerfield


    Children : (goblins): Derk, Soon, Vrok, Voom, Lark - [Open Full list? Yes/No]


    (Hobgoblins : Zerk)


    [STR] : 50 +30


    [AGI] : 20


    [STA] : 40 +30


    [WIS] : 5 (Penalized -6)


    [INT] : 4 (Penalized -6)


    [LUK] : 10


    Health : 90/90


    Mana : 15/15


    - Abilities - (only New abilities shown)


    [Speech : Goblin]


    [Cooking : Medium]


    - Traits - (only New Traits shown)


    [Hobgoblin Soul]


    [Beyond Evil]


    [Night Vision]


    - Elite Traits -


    [Physical Boost - Evolved Goblin : Active/Locked] Cost 5 FBP


    Titles : Metal Cruncher


    _____________________________________________


    ("hobgoblins huh..")


    A intensely deep growl came from this hobgoblin, as Lurk managed to touch it just long enough for the menu to pick up the information. Pulling his hand back the Hobgoblin reverted back to not caring. but he did get Cooking: Medium and a Elite trait that apparently had turned this goblin into a hobgoblin.. So goblins will accrue these points themselves?.. Something that happens to them naturally?


    "Stop annoying the hobs... Now heal these sows.."


    Lurk looked at the beyond scared women, huddled up into a corner trying to be as far away from the goblins and hobgoblins as possible. They were covered in scratches and bruises, they had been tortured and raped, but never enough to cause any serious damage. Their legs especially were targeted. Lurk gritted his teeth in rage, he carefully stepped forward towards the women that all began increasing their sobs and pleads. This caused the nearby goblins to cheer from feeling their fear, which caused the women to panic even more.


    "Shut up you gobs!" Lurk said behind him and the goblins all quieted down, Vrek looked annoyed at Lurk. The women jumping in fright from Lurk yelling, some of the older ones were trying to calm the other women, but Lurk could not understand what they were saying. The Menu did not give him access to this language? Maybe they needed to have some sort of bloodline Connection first Lurk pondered.


    Moving closer looking over them he pitied these women, he wanted to heal them from their wounds, but it would also prolong their hellish life here. He was trapped in a awful position.


    He began healing them one by one, until they all were healed. Vrek seemed to grow increasingly more annoyed the more Lurk kept healing. Luck only saw their name and race everything else was locked in his menu for these women. When Lurk Finished Vrek looked at Lurk angrily thinking to himself.


    (".. How much mana does this gob have.. He healed them all?..Normally the other shaman would heal them a little.. spreading it out... What is this gob??...")


    "Good.. Next are Xarn''s Sows. Keep these Sows confined and out of hand till they birth."


    Vrek nodded to Lurk and then gave the Hobgoblin orders, they acknowledge him with a grunt or two. Lurk followed Vrek, sighing inwardly, thinking that atleast the women would not be raped or tortured while they were presumably pregnant. Vrek seemed to know not to cause significant loses this way.


    Following Vrek over into a different corridor that lead downwards in a almost spiral. They came down to a cave room where 5 women were held captured. Lurk recognized one immediately.


    Emily, the human that was lying down next to Mercia back when Lurk was born, she also was reaching out towards the girl covered in wood back then. Perhaps this girl knew about Mercia, Lurk thought to himself.


    "Make sure these are always healthy, if they die Xarn will punish you harshly!" Vrek said to Lurk intimidatingly


    "Punish us both... Harshly" Lurk pointed out, causing Vrek to growl and posture in front of Lurk angrily.


    "You shut your trap you gob!.. Now heal these sows!" Vrek sneered at Lurk and pushed him towards them, Lurk simply looked at the females, they were now covered in rags, had some food it seemed. They were not kept in the same horrible conditions as before being placed in a room filled with blood. They still looked incredibly haggard and worn out from their ordeal, they did not resist as much as the women upstairs. Little energy remained in them.


    Lurk moved over and checked them one by one, making sure to leave Emily for last. He healed those that needed it, when he got to Emily he leaned in and said quietly to her in elvish as he healed her.


    {"...Mercia..Emily.."}


    Emily blinked, her surrendered look in her eyes vanished a little she looked into the eyes of this goblin. Those purple eyes. They reminded her of her best friends calming eyes, but she noticed it was a goblin that was staring at her. She gritted her teeth not understanding what this goblin was doing, trying to move away.


    Lurk stood up and turned to face Vrek and with a demanding voice.


    "I will claim this one as my second sow"

 Fire

    Vrek snorted in disdain at Lurks demand to take that woman as a sow.


    "Xarns personal sows are not on the table unless he says so. If you had not been a shaman. I would squash you right here."


    Lurk sighed inwardly, he had hoped he could secure Emily from further harm away from Xarn. Also to talk with her hoping she knew more about Mercia and the world in general. Lurk gave a nod showing he understood towards Vrek.


    Vrek grinned because he knew that Xarn did have exceptions for access to which women could be used by others. Shamans especially would be allowed to pick women that had magical powers, since Xarn had said specifically to allow such bonds if Xarn himself was not expected to return within a specific period. But as far as this woman who had no magical power, but only physical powers.


    "Now let''s check the new potentials for Xarn."


    Vrek motioned over towards a blocked entryway, a ramshackle door was build covering a hole in the wall. Undoing the locks and removing pins that held it in place. Women cries could be heard from within that grew more agitated as the door was unlocked.


    When the door was opened fully, Vrek was suddenly blasted by a ball of flame that hit him in the chest, causing him to stumble back slightly. He struggled to put the fire out for a moment. Lurk quickly took cover to the side of the door, peeking inside. He saw several women sitting huddled up together weakly. One young woman with red fiery hair and slightly pointed ears had moved a bit away to be seated in front of the doorway with a clear view of it, she was struggling to keep her hand lifted and looked incredibly stressed doing just this little.


    In her hand was a glowing red ball, mana being charged into it. Ready to lob a new ball out, which she was about to do when Lurk peeked inside. But Lurk quickly dodge back out of sight as the ball blasted against the door frame that caught fire.


    Vrek had gotten rid of the flame on his chest, he looked more annoyed and angry than wounded. Clearly, this fireball was not enough to cause him any major distress. He took his crystal club off his belt and began to walk towards the entryway snarling out as he did.


    "Grrr... Stupid Mana Blockers did no work?!"


    "Wait?.. did you make sure she had no mana, to begin with?"


    Lurk questioned Vrek making him stop in his tracks, Vrek was puzzled, he did not think that was how they were used. He had been given some trinkets to use on the appropriate women he was holding at specific times to make sure the spells were renewed. But the trinkets only blocked the target from receiving mana, if they still had mana in their body to cast it would not matter.


    "Urgh... Xarn never told that was necessary.."


    Vrek snarled, he had taken some of the extra trinkets he knew he could spare, to go out and capture more women, hoping some could use magic. He never expected that the trinkets did anything but stop spell casting. But instead were focused on just mana collection. Xarn would deliver most of these women with the spell already applied. Clearly, he must do other things to drain them of mana.


    "Let me handle her, you can only kill her."


    Lurk said, as his hand began being wrapped in wind. He focused his senses inside the room, he could feel exactly where the next ball of fire was held in her hand without looking due to his trait [Heat Sense] that he inherited from Aurk. He unleashed his spell [Wind shield] right on the hand, he felt the Heat become severely unstable as he hoped would happen. He leaped forward yelling out.


    [Flash Light!]


    The completely dark cave was suddenly flashed with a bright light, Vrek leaped back in surprise covering his eyes, he stumbled back once more in shock. The girl inside was also briefly shocked but nowhere near as bad as a goblin would be. He jumped inside to the side of the girl knocking her over while grabbing her arm she was holding up. His body sitting down on her holding her other arm in check. He was sprawled onto of her, his face near her elegant looking face, that despite her dirty circumstances was looking cute, when he noticed her ears up close and proper.


    _____________________________________________


    [Progenitor Access!]


    Race : Half-Elf (Human 50% / Wood Elf 50%)


    Name: Resti Firewarden


    Sex: Female


    Age: 19 years


    Status: Unknown


    Father: Unknown


    Mother: Unknown


    Stats: -Unable to Open-


    Traits/Abilities: -Unable to Open-


    - Effects -


    [Mana Locked]


    [Paralyses]


    [Progenitor Access : No access to abilities or traits!]


    _____________________________________________


    ("A half-elf!, Maybe she could help me instead.. ")


    {"Do not struggle! He will kill you if you do! Pretend that you are out of mana!"}


    Lurk hissed it quietly at the girl in Elvish, hoping that maybe she had learned the language. Her eyes looked shocked, she was unable to resist anymore her body could not move. She could hear a goblin outside shouting in anger and confusion. Looking into the eyes of this goblin angrily she would not give these horrid goblins an inch, they killed her mother and looted her village, but then...


    {".. Please.."}


    The goblin just did something very odd, it asked with a begging look, its eyes filled with concern and also a hint of desperation. Of course, the main reason Lurk was acting a little desperate was he was sprawled onto of her body squeezing against her ample bosom, he was worried that his ravenous trait would begin flaring up and the girl would get to feel something increasingly hard between them.


    She nodded giving in, a tear running down her face. She had no hopes really when she launched her fireball. She would not be able to escape and she had readied herself to die, she just wanted to take some of the goblins with her. It was only now her body had begun to show a little bit of ability to move since the poison was weakening.


    Lurk stood up, letting the girl go. She did not suddenly fling a fireball at him. So Lurk hoped she understood he wanted to help. Maybe she really was out of mana, he did not know of a way to see without the progenitor menu. Which did not have access to her stats!If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    "Its safe now, she has been drained of magic."


    Lurk called out to Vrek who was angrily complaining about the sudden light burst, He came inside still holding his club. He moved over towards the girl and swung a hand giving her face a vicious slap. He angrily looked to Lurk and asked.


    "Cursed sow... Are you sure she is drained?"


    "Not completely no... But her eyes do look dimmer than before.."


    Vrek snarled tightening his grip on his club. Lurk could tell he was hesitating about if he should kill this troublesome girl. Lurk did not know but Vrek was not even more worried about Xarns return. He had used the trinkets to capture a magic user and brought it home to a nest, but the trinkets were not supposed to be used in this fashion.


    "Had Xarn put a claim on this one then?"


    Lurk asked Vrek as he sat down examining the woman with an interest and a grin as he tried to look sinister and lusty.


    "..Hmmm... No... "


    Vrek said quietly, could he get rid of the potential threat? maybe this girl would still have a little mana and she could blast Lurk with a fireball... He knew that Lurk was still a new spawn, he would not have fared very well getting hit by the same fireball Vrek had been hit with. He would lose a gift to Xarn... But If Xarn knew he used his trinkets recklessly...


    "Well, then I claim this one as my second sow."


    Lurk said as he also cast a healing spell on her, he moved over to examine the other women that had been crying huddled up together. They had also managed to move a little. Lurk wondered why they were kept paralyzed, the women upstairs in the main room were not. But they were kept on constant guard. While these were confined away from goblins. It was definitely not healthy, but it was mostly also to keep them from trying to commit suicide he surmised... He gritted his teeth angrily again..


    He wanted to do something, save them somehow. He did not like the thought of mercy killing them. Plus he would never be able to get away with it. For now, he healed the women. Hoping he could figure something out before the deadline of Xarns return.


    ".. Hrmf. Granted then... Xarn has said shamans could claim magic sows... She is your headache now... Just be sure to make a lot of spawns or kill her if she is useless."


    Lurk had forgotten that bit. He wanted to save her, yes, but mostly to get information. But that he also had to breed her... That was a bit harder to accomplish...


    "Uhm. Yes, Xarn is indeed wise. Thank you boss Vrek"


    Vrek growled throwing a key to Lurk "You handle their health, only mate with that one nothing else.-" and he left the room and was heard walking up the spiral corridor outside.


    Lurk sighed and began finishing making sure the women were alright, he cast a light spell on the ceiling giving a gentle light in the room. Then he cast Clean spell several times on the women and Resti. His mana reaching its near limit.


    {"Are you ok..."}


    Lurk sat down after making sure she was somewhat comfy. She looked at him through her tears. He pulled out a piece of cloth from his pocket moving to dry her tears if she allowed it. She stared in disbelief at the goblin, she asked quietly as he began wiping her eyes.


    {".. Why are you doing this.. how .."}


    Lurk sighed and he was unsure how to answer, but he tried


    {"I do not want to harm anyone of you. I am not exactly a normal goblin. But I managed to get him to not kill you..... What is your name?"}


    Lurk knew her name of course. But he decided to ask her nicely instead, hoping to have a normal conversation for once. Not that he had ever really had a normal conversation with women, due to his nervousness, but right now that seemed far away.


    {"...Resti.."}


    Lurk stopped wiping her eyes and sat still and nodded.


    {"My name is Lurk... I am the healer in this nest, just been born actually... So it''s my job to care for you and the others... When I am not out scouting.."}


    Sitting down and calmly talking back and forth with her, he learned about how suddenly the goblins had stormed into their village, killing her mother and capturing the women. Lurk sighed and try to express his condolences, it was awkward for him. He also said he hoped he could somehow save them... If not at least make it better for them... He just did not know how. But he told her that the women down here were safe, for now since they had been set aside for the chief that was away.


    Lurk did scratch his back while saying the last bit, he was unsure how to tell her he had claimed her so he could talk to her.


    {".. Why are you so different.."} (Resti)


    {".. Heh... I am not sure how to explain it... My mother was a high elf. I also seem to have memories of my old life.."} (Lurk)


    {"... High Elf... Wait you are a traveler??.. But it''s only been humans that have returned in new bodies... I have never heard about a goblin being one.."} (Resti)


    {"Oh? Its happened before?... Like heroes being summoned to save the world or something?"}


    Lurk asked curiously since he knew about this too well. He had even been struck down by the harbinger of all reincarnators ''Truck-Kun''


    {".. Uhm well not all the time. Sometimes it happens to other people, but they tend to always be important or needed for something, their old knowledge or powers helped with something. My mother... She had talked about it, she knew someone that had once met one a long time ago."}


    Lurk was told about a general that had died just a few decades before the second calamity hit the world. When the world was rocked by this news and demons began appearing in coordination instead of random encounters which could be handled somewhat. A boy appeared before the nation the general had served. He explained he was the old general reincarnated, he knew why he had been reborn to help the nation fight back once more. He knew too much about the royal family and was accepted in to help the kingdom once more.


    Apparently, he helped that kingdom from collapsing against the demons armies that sometimes would spill out from the demon kingdom. Lurk was also informed about how the demon kingdom was formed, how goblins suddenly appeared and became a blight on the world.


    {"Sigh... That is horrible. I think I better get going soon.. Eh... I cannot stay this long.. I am supposed to only be here for...ehm...Well... I am supposed to take care of all you girls who are Xarns to uhm.. mate with... but... uhm"}


    Lurk scratched his back again trying to find out a way to broach the subject. His cheeks flaring up.


    (" Oh sure! just tell her, you need her to become preggers! or she will get killed off!.. ") Lurk rumbled in his head about how can you calmly tell her this without sounding like a forceful creep.


    {"..What?.."}


    Resti noticed Lurk looking flustered even his cheek darkening, why was he acting so weird. He had been calmly talking with her now, asking her questions even being considerate when she talked about the goblins killing her mother. But now suddenly he was acting weird. But he had been a weird being, to begin with. Goblins do not talk to other species. At least not from what she knew. She was thankful he was helping and even been told some goblin name Xarn was away... So she still had a chance of not being raped.


    {"Cough..Emh. Well. Cough!.... I wanted to have a chance... To talk with someone to learn from and also try to figure out a way to save you from Vrek killing you... But i could not think of anything but..."}


    Resti nodded slightly, how much more could his cheeks darken he is also scratching his neck off if he keeps it up like that.


    {"I am only allowed down here... Cough.. because I told him I would claim you as ehh.... ehm... my.. Wiiiife?..."}


    Lurk managed to figure out a way to say it in a way that did not sound as horrible he felt, but he did draw out the last word trying hard to lie.


    Resti immediately turned red in her face, a fireball forming in her hand that she tried to lift up.


    Lurk was shocked and quickly held up his hands shuffling away.


    "Whoa! whoa! It was the only thing I could think off to save your life!! Be careful with that!"


    "You do not want a wife! you just want to make goblin babies!!" The fireball growing bigger Lurk waving his hands back and forth trying to calm Resti down from launching that fireball at him, he quickly moved to hold onto her hand the ball was in to make sure she could not aim it directly at him.


    "You are misunderstanding what I am saying!!"


    "I do not want to give birth to some goblin!"


    She looked angry now, lifting her arm weakly to aim it at Lurk, but he could gently move her arm a little out of the way so she could not shoot it straight at him. When he suddenly seemed to have an idea, that even made her pause and gently stopped holding onto her too tightly.


    "... Uhm...if it comes to it, I can make it so it''s not a goblin?..."


    From outside of the cave a suddenly a flash of a flame bursting could be seen and Lurk yelping out in shock.

 Scorched Earth pt 1.

    Lurk had managed to dodge by spreading his legs at the last moment, the ground having a small sizzling mark, clearly, she was aiming for something very specific, Lurk sighed and collapsed being happy he did not lose any important bits.


    "Haaah... Ok, lets calm down... It is just what I told him I wanted, so I could talk to you, but I forgot that he would expect baby results... I will try to save you before that even becomes relevant, i really do not want to see someone die because of this..."


    Lurk said to Resti, who had collapsed again, looking annoyed at Lurk, sulking a bit she was reacting a bit temperamental, but Lurk gave her a bit of leeway due to her situation.


    "Why are you doing this..." Resti asked again.


    "Its hard to explain, but the goblins are not supposed to be like this... We all have a curse on us, something is manipulating us to act in evil ways. Normal goblins do not question this at all. I want to change it somehow... Giving in to this curse will make it worse, atleast after what i could gather from examining the goblins here..."


    "But... i have an ability to change my -ahem- young... I think over time I will be able to remove the curse somehow... One day maybe."


    "...What do you mean... You can change your young?..." Resti looked at Lurk quizzically


    "Hmm... Well, you know how goblins evolve?... I think it''s like that, but I have the ability to pick their evolution. My first born at least will be slightly guarded against the curse. "


    "... Your first born?... You are already putting goblins in a woman!!!" Resti said, her hand giving a few sputters of fire, but the ball did not form.


    "Hey hey!!, Its a goblin woman!! Ah wait, are you out of mana?... You will go unconscious if you keep that up... Here.." Lurk moved closer and grabbed her hand gently.


    [Elven Soul Link]


    "Ah good, it works... Was unsure if High Elf, Wood Elf link would work..." Lurk said as he gave Resti some mana so she would not go into mana shock and lose consciousness.


    "... You know I am a wood elf ?..." Resti said the fires in her hand vanished, as she calmed down.


    "Yes... I can see your species with my ability. Human / Wood Elf... Uhm... Is something wrong?"


    Resti was looking a little upset, a tear appearing.


    "Nothing... I was just reminded of my mother..." Resti said Lurk looked at her Menu again.


    "Let me try and remove this poison... But you have to fake being paralyzed if anyone else comes down here..."


    "[Lesser Poison Clear]"


    Lurks hand glowed with a gentle golden light, his spell coursed through her body, she seemed to be able to move better. She sat up. Covering her body up. Lurk had been all this time trying his best to not look at her naked form, she did have ripped pants but her shirt was torn to shreds.


    "Can you explain this to the other women also?... I am low on mana right now so ill try to come down later and remove their poison too. As long as they know to fake it... I will also try to bring some clothes down...The light I put in the ceiling will not work for very long... Sorry...you are separated from some other women, but they have already been, well..."


    Lurk explained as he got up and moved to the exit.


    "...How will you save us all?..." Resti asked Lurk as he exited the room.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    "... I guess I will have to kill all the goblins that resist..." Lurk said looking back with an intense stare, as he stepped outside and closed the door.


    Lurk headed upstairs, making sure to not go near Vrek, in case he might smell that he had not mated with the woman. Walking inside the Sun Soakers cave, Aurk, Vorm, and Sala came over to greet him.


    Lurk looked at them, he had their full attention.


    "I am gonna need your help..."


    ---


    A few days passed, the nest was stirred up as the Sun Soakers began to guide goblins out into small groups to put up scouts camp network. Making sure to hammer into the goblins put there on their tasks.


    Lurk also used some of the tools and things he had acquired from the town and Frels stash to make some snares. He could put up a good deal of excellent traps, the wire was a good strong mesh that any small prey could not easily escape.


    He got Sala and Auck to help him, making not so good traps made of tough string made from the clothes they had looted. Showing them how to make a simple Snare he had once looked up when he was roleplaying a ranger in a game. He liked to look up things to sit and explain in details during a gaming session how his character would make things.


    [Trapping] Learned!


    This helped catch a lot more rabbits and small critters. But they had to check them often. Lurk also helped with hunting, as they were able to take down bigger/faster Prey than normal.


    Killing a Boar and deer on occasion. Lurk began to gather more food since Sala after just a few days had already grown a big belly, which she smiled nonstop over. But she also seemed to being drained incredibly fast, but once she got enough food she recovered fast.


    Clearly, the goblin women were built to this sudden demand of nutrients for the baby. But it was still way too much for it to be ''natural''. Lurk surmised that mana was also involved. He recalled hearing that the cave he was in was mana-rich. So he began filling Sala with extra mana, casting a few regeneration spells on her after she had eaten. To try and saturate her properly.


    Of course, Sala was now expecting to get proper sexed up, Which Lurk did not mind at all. Though he felt bad for Aurk and Vorm, hoping he was not stressing them too much.


    The women that were being bred also began to show bigger bellies, they were completely dejected and broken. Lurk pitied them immensely and tried his best to make sure they did not get drained too much, but their bodies were simply not built to handle the quick growth of the goblin inside them. He did not have a good amount of luck getting them proper amounts of food. The night scouting goblins did bring in a lot more food but they never shared extravagantly to the women.


    Lurk made clothes for all of the Sun Soakers, along with Aurk all their gear got properly fixed up, their gear had now increased significantly in quality, everyone had a good dagger and Vorm had begun training with the bow alongside Aurk.


    In order to also stretch the food supply, he began trying to dry the meat, using his new cooking skill. Which at first was an issue, since he had to make it outside the cave any fire inside the cave would just cause everyone to choke.


    He kept healing his hand, but it was slow going. He was unsure how long it would take, but he had hidden his stump beneath a leather covering he managed to make that was strapped to his arm. He put a small hook on this leather piece. So he had some utility form from his hand.


    But on the third day when they were getting ready to leave.


    One of the goblin bosses were standing outside their cave entrance, with a couple of his gobs. Looking at Lurk from underneath his full helmet.


    "We need to talk you worthless gob!" The boss said loudly


    Lurk activated his [Pure Ogre Power] and moved over to the Boss, giving him a sudden punch in the gut that completely floored him, his gobs behind him drew their weapons and so did the sun Soakers. The cave beginning to become active with goblins laughing and cheering as they got to see some violence.


    There was a pause as Lurk stood over the boss.


    "Talk then..." Lurk said looking down at him with disdain.


    The boss was coughing up blood, gasping trying to recollect himself, he looked up at Lurk, red glow from his eyes under the helmet staring hate at Lurk.


    "... You are taking to many of my gobs out to scout!!!" He managed to say out as he got up.


    "... Ah so the other bosses are picking on you now?... Go talk to Vrek about it... Next time you want to talk, you will call me Shaman..."


    The boss snarled as he backed away. His gobs looking at him oddly, looking back and forth between him and Lurk. They followed their boss as he left.


    Lurk looked over to Sala after they were alone, the goblins in the cave booing from the lack of violence, but they were laughing at the boss for being decked.


    "So... Like that right?" Lurk smiled at Sala


    "Yup! Sala thinks Lurk is learning to be a proper boss!" Sala smiled as she had been trying along with Aurk to teach Lurk the finer diplomacy and inner group workings of goblin society were. Mostly was a mix of - How strong are you, how strong are your gobs? Have you made your point through violence in front of a lot of goblins.


    "Well you make it easy to be an angry boss" Lurk grinned at her.


    "What does that mean!!!" Sala said angrily and before Lurk could react


    *BONK*

 Scorched Earth Pt. 2

    At the edge of a forest overlooking the ruined city Lurk had recently had his fight in, sat a goblin looking extremely bored, it was supposed to keep an eye out for any humans or interlopers that would approach from this direction. The sun was just rising, early morning was beginning to cover the land in light, the goblin had already begun grumbling from the light.


    It clearly hated this task, back in the cave there had been fights breaking out now and again. Watching the women get assaulted. All this goblin normally considered as its daily entertainment was now cut off from it.


    A bit further away from it were its other goblin comrades waiting in a temporary safe camp, guarding the supplies they needed to remain out here. It had been three days and nothing happened except they managed to capture a rabbit from one of the weird traps the new shaman had placed near their camp.


    It was alive so they had a bit of fun ripping it apart slowly. But other than that they had no fun, all work, and no play. But that gave them a headache as when the Sun Soakers came to check on them during the day, they got angry over them ruining the trap and taking the wire from it. So Goblin named Aurk beat them up till they returned the wire.


    "Pff... Stupid Sun soakers... They could not even do their normal routine of throwing tiny rocks at them when they saw them leave the cave, not after seeing the new shaman bisect a goblin that dared try it. The goblin shivered thinking about that shaman, It felt a dark pressure in its mind and it tried to focus on the task it had been given by the shaman. purely driven by the fear of what would happen.


    The city had not had any traffic going through it, only wild animals had at times wandered inside and gone out. The sun Soakers also went into the town when they arrived daily, but they always left after a while. The goblin pondered what in the realm they wanted in the ruined town.


    Just as it had shaken off the boredom out of fear from being reminded of the shaman, it noticed something moving down in the city, very briefly it was like it saw something move down at a building. The goblin stood up to look better. But nothing moved.


    It was just about to turn around to alert the camp behind it when suddenly a small wind gust blew around it.


    The goblin slowly collapsed as it was cut into two pieces, the wind died down around it. Out from behind a tree came a robed figure that waved a glove covered hand down towards the city. From the building that the goblin had seen movement came three people running out.


    At a small camp nearby sat a group of ten goblins, hidden behind some fallen trees out of sight from anyone who did not approach from the other side. The goblins were picking apart some meat from their food bag getting ready to eat. One of the bigger goblins suddenly perked its ears and motioned to the goblins to be quiet, the goblins began to listen intently and look around in the forest from behind the logs.


    But only bird sounds and a gentle wind blowing through the forest was heard.


    But suddenly out of nowhere came a large spear flying through the air skewering two goblins to the ground, they were standing near each other at a log, only one of them survived it trying to free itself screeching in pain as it fell down unable to keep the weight of the other goblin and the pain away.


    Two wind blasts blew into the camp and decimated 4 goblins that had been fighting near the bag with food.


    The big goblin quickly ducked down just as two arrows hit right where its head had been. It gave out a few commands and shrieks towards two of its goblin comrades that immediately took off underneath one of the logs that were resting on a rock, giving a small way out back towards the cave where they were told to run to alert the others.


    But they did not get far as an ax flew into its side of one of them sending it crashing onto the ground. A giant man wearing green shaded armor and clothes, his body bulging with muscles holding a shield, stepping out from behind a tree on the side the goblins had been running too. He had a new ax ready already and slammed it into the chest of the other goblin as he intercepted it.


    They had managed to sneak up so close to their camp! The large goblin leaped out at the new enemy alongside the last goblin, they stabbed their spears at the human, he blocked one of their attacks with his shield. The big goblin managing to give a tiny scratch on his leg just above his boot drawing blood.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    A gust of wind came blasting out from the forest bursting one of the goblins open. The large goblin panicked and quickly ducked past the giant man that was guarding himself and backing away when he got wounded, making sure to keep to the side, away from were the arrows and that magic came from!


    Just as the goblin jumped into the brush of the forest and took off, an arrow came flying between the trees and pierce into the goblins head impaling it onto a tree.


    The giant man cursed as he moved to the camp to check if there were any goblins hiding. When he saw it was clear he checked the wound on his leg, grumbling as he calmed down, the spear did not seem to be poisoned and the cut was not very deep.


    "You should have let Garren handle that goblin instead of coming out like that Alex...." Came a voice from the forest as a man also clad in a shaded green colors robe. Pulling his hood and mask down, a young looking man with black hair and a goatee, stern looking eyes staring at the giant man named Alex.


    "Shut it!... Bellie had just shot her arrows...and you had thrown your spear." Alex kept a look around checking the camp. Taking his own hood and mask down, he had a grizzled face, with scars aplenty on his face. A heavy brown beard. He was at least two meters tall giving him an imposing look. He knelt down to examine his wounds


    "Get that damn healer here.."


    "You heard him, go fix him." came a woman''s voice, as two women came walking out from further behind in the forest. A woman with darker clothes but in a green cloak, holding a bow, giving a push to a girl also covered in a green cloak, but normal looking green shaded clothing. The girl headed over slowly kneeling down to put her hand on the wound, a weak shimmering light appearing and disappearing, the wound closing up.


    "Such a steal we got this slave so cheaply, her healing is not that bad as they claimed hah!".


    "pff... That is just a scratch you got there... if that spear had skewered you, her meager healing would have been useless..." answered the woman named Bellie, picking her arrows back up.


    "If she had the same amount of control over her healing magic like Granvir did his wind magic, she would not be a pathetic slave.." smirked Bellie, looking with disdain at the girl who had finished healing Alex, she merely kept her face down.


    "Dammit!, we need to hurry! Look!" said the man in the robe pointing over some trees, everyone turned to look seeing a smoke collum appearing from in the forest a bit deeper inside. The adventurers had easily spotted the goblin scout and camp, surrounding it and killing all the goblins quickly, but the real scouts had been even further back, keeping an eye on the forwardly positioned goblins waiting for someone to take the bait.


    Lurk had set it up, with the forward goblins being sacrificial pawns for any adventures to take out. Keeping a second group behind that had hidden much better. With a prepared pile of wood and leaves to cause good smoke to rise from the forest. That an even deeper in the forest group of goblins that were closer to the cave would be able to see easily and then run to the cave and give warning.


    "Dammit! arent these goblins a little too clever!." Alex pulled his ax out of the dead goblin and began to follow the robed figure along with the two women following behind.


    ---


    The adventurers had rushed towards the pyre, thrusting in Bellie''s keen eyes from any waiting goblins or traps. They found a place goblins had been hiding, with a perfect hidden view over the front goblin came. a burning pyre was hidden further yet behind again, now burning with fervor sending a thick smoke collum up.


    The robed man held out a rod that had two crystals on either end of the points. The crystals glowing and wind suddenly built up surrounding the pyre spinning faster and faster. The fire died down.


    "The goblins here ran that way... eight or ten of them. But there are tracks showing they also moved back and forth over here in a different direction" Said Bellie as she was looking around the camp her bow drawn with an arrow ready.


    "They must be moving away from their main camp..." Alex said, looking at Bellie then turning towards the robed figure.


    "I think these goblins are a tad too clever... Should we retreat? Granvir?" Alex moved up next to the robed figure, as he asked him.


    The robed figure took his hood and mask down too. His grey colored skin being shown, a calm-looking demeanor on his very angelic looking face, his ears with pointed tips and neck long white hair.


    "They are just goblins... And we need that crystal club... Bellie and you go to the main cave... I''ll take care of the goblins from this camp..."


    "... You are ok alone?" Alex squinted his eyes, he had not been with this Granvir on too many missions, but he had shown incredible control over his wind magic, cutting down foes left and right. The dark elf had handled single targets and bunched up targets fine, but going alone without someone to block for him... Normally a mage would require someone to intercept for them.


    "I will be fine." The dark elf had an evil grin on his face as he ran off following the tracks, leaping a bit further than what would be normal for a human to be able to do.


    "Right. Bellie, and you girl!. Come"


    Alex and Bellie and the robed girl headed towards the tracks leading right towards the cave.


    ---


    Lurk was walking with Aurk and Vorm making their way to the central scout location before they would split up. When they saw goblins coming running.


    "Shaman! Intruders! the pyre at the town is burning!"


    "Good, go warn the cave. Aurk, Vorm... let''s go..." Lurk turned with a stern look, and headed out into the forest.

 Scorched Earth Pt.3

    Nine goblins were lying in wait between the cave and the scouting camp, in an area that the interlopers were most likely to approach them from since the goblins from forward camp would lead them straight through it. Lurk had placed them here to intercept any adventurers once any of the forward bases would see incoming. Just as they saw someone breaching through the brush, a group of goblins number six came sprinting across the clearing, but once they hit the middle point two of the goblins collapsed as each of them had an arrow in the back of their head.


    The hiding goblins stayed hidden, they had been told by Lurk to not reveal themselves until the interlopers were in the clearing, so they could bombard them with their spears and send out their main melee group.


    The goblins shrieked and kept on sprinting, just as the sound of an ax spinning through the air took out one more goblin. The last goblins ran across the clearing and jumped past some medium sized rocks and back into the forest once more.


    "Hurry! three left! We can stop them!" Alex commanded out, he leaped into the clearing his shield raised and a new ax at the ready. Just as he reached the middle point goblins appeared around in the clearings edges and threw their spears at him. Alex opened his eyes wide and quickly shouted out.


    "[Shielded Aura!]"


    His shield began to emit a slight glow and the glow expanded out to cover a much large area in front of him. Then most of the spears struck the glow being deflected off, the other spears not hitting his shield he dodged as he flung his ax out and split the skull of a goblin.


    Then six of the goblins sprinted out with their makeshift weapons hollering and shrieking in anger all converging on the Warrior as he was flipping out his last ax from his back. Moving in close to his location.


    "[Steady Shot!]"


    Two more arrows flew right past Alex into two of the goblins, they were extremely close but also hit right into the goblins skulls as they collapsed in front of him. Alex slamming his shield out towards the most concentrated group of goblins, the wide glow slamming against them sending three of them flying back, the glow dissipating as the effect wore off. The last goblin jumped into the opening and struck its club down onto his hip, but Alex seemed to barely notice it.


    The goblin swung out again, but Alex had already readied his shield towards it, and it was futile to try and penetrate the shield. The goblin barely managed to shriek before a heavy ax blow slammed into its shoulder and split its left side almost in two, Alex shook the ax free from the goblin corpse and faced the goblins that had stayed behind at the edge just as they threw more spears that he blocked easily.


    The goblins were simply not equipped well enough to handle these adventurers. Their skill was on another level entirely compared to the easy pickings of peasants, and they lacked the proper swarm numbers to take on such a beast of a human easily. Plus the light of the sun was now lighting up the forest, making it even worse for the goblins.


    The spear throwing goblins managed to ready more spears but then one of them collapsed just as he was about to throw as Bellie came out launching an arrow into its chest. She was unable to shoot the other one as they were not close together and had to come out to get a proper shot. She was still turning when the goblin threw its spear at its new target, shrieking out in hate. It might not be able to hit that man but it would be able to hit the woman since she was now out from behind the trees.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    "[Rapid Fire!]"


    Suddenly Bellie moved a lot faster and quickly managed to turn and launch several arrows, in a blur she fired three arrows that were not as precise as the usual shots, but it managed to hit two of the arrows into the goblin that fell back shrieking in pain.


    Alex slammed his ax down onto the goblins he had pushed down with his shield, they were sprawling to get back up but only one managed to get up the other two getting crushed beneath the solid ax blade.


    The last goblin made a run for it, panic filled its eyes but it heard the sound of a heavy object being flung at it, barely managing to turn its head before seeing Alex''s ax fly into its body sending it flying from the heavy impact.


    Alex grabbed one of the axes he had thrown, ripping it out of a nearby goblin. Looking around the edge of the clearing. turning to look to Bellie''s direction.


    "Come out here and heal me!" He looked angry, he managed to get hit, it had hurt him but barely. He was more annoyed he was not fast enough. If the goblin had been better equipped it could have been dangerous.


    The girl in the robes came running out, seemingly trying her best to keep up, but she had ragged breath, clearly not being in proper physical condition and having to keep up with the two adventurers.


    "Hurry up will you!" Alex growled keeping an eye on the edge but he turned around annoyed to look at the girl.


    Meanwhile, a goblin had been hiding in the rocks, it had simply not dared to go out, it was staring at the adventurer''s eyes wide. when it saw its chance to cause pain and death, Bellie was retrieving arrows from bodies and Alex had turned his head away, its instincts were overridden and it came out from behind the rock, and threw a spear, this spear was a javelin with a new metal tip.


    Bellie managed to just spot the goblin about to throw the javelin, so did the girl in the robes. But Alex was oblivious and to slow to react from the shock in the girl''s eyes to turn.


    "Block the arrow Sylvie!" Bellie shouted out, the girl suddenly jumped in front of Alex and the javelin pierced into her shoulder. She cried out in pain and collapsed. Aled turned around and flung his ax into the skull of the goblin.


    "Phew!... That was a close one! Thanks, Bellie! id never had thought of that!" Alex sighed as he gave thanks towards Bellie instead of the robed girl strangely enough.


    "You are too kind it''s all." Bellie pulled out an arrow.


    "Well! are you alive! Heal yourself Sylvie!" He pulled the javelin out of the girl''s shoulder giving her a rough command, a pained cry came from her as her hood fell off. A pretty but dirty face of a human, with shortcut curly blue hair, and a pair of fluffy cat ears from her head. She was in terrible pain but her body almost moved on her own as her hand was put on her shoulder, and she began to heal herself, tears streaming down her cheeks as a collar around her neck was glowing faintly, compelling her to move regardless of what her body might or might not want to do, upon hearing her name and a command.


    "Good, we caught all the runners, they might know the direction, but not our numbers. If Gavrin handled his group as well we should be a lot safer now to approach the nest." Alex said as he kept watch til Bellie had retrieved her arrows, then she began to watch as he picked out his ax''s and also to dig into the goblins skull, looking for something.


    "Hmm these goblins all seem to have some good magic stones!, they must have been in a mana-rich area for a while!" Alex popped out a small round transparent rock, these magic stones were the bread and butter of the adventurers as they could be sold for a good price depending on their quality.


    The girl in the robe cried as she healed her self, the wound had stopped bleeding but was not entirely healed.


    "Pff... Pathetic, she is almost out of mana... Here... Too soon to already be using these... I told you she was not worth it... That slave dealer did say she did not have a lot of mana and her healing was sub-par." Bellie said as she took out a small blue vial forcing the drink into Sylvies mouth making her drink it.


    "Bah he also said she could recover her mana fast though!, she just does not have a big pool of it is all!" Alex shrugged, he ''helped'' Sylvie up on her feet, and they began moving, "That''s enough healing, for now, the wound is closed enough, save the rest for us, Sylvie", Alex said to her, ignoring her tears that were silently flowing, as she pulled up her hood once more and followed in behind the two as they left the slaughtered goblins behind in the clearing, her mouth in a pained angry grimace.

 Scorched Earth Part. 4

    lex and Bellie were puzzled, they had encountered another piecemeal of a goblin group. This was extremely strange, goblins would always use swarm tactics if they had these numbers. Ambushes like this normally implied that the nest was not a very big nest.


    But all the dead goblins in their wake now implied that the goblins had willingly spread their forces out to soften the blow from an invading party. As an alert system and a delaying system, this would be fine. But goblins simply did not do this, they would either move in a horde, or in tiny individual groups of four, not setting up ambush chain camps like this...


    Alex was concerned by this, he had killed plenty of goblins, even in large numbers. He had special skills that could handle the swarms if he had the support behind him that is, he could fend off plenty of goblins.


    Ever since the great calamity began and humanity began awakening their powers and skills. Normally magic and warrior skills were rare between people, but when the first calamity began, the number rose greatly.


    If the great kingdom had soldiers with the powers and magic support of today. The goblin threat would not have broken it and caused the kingdom to implode in on itself, paving the way for the second calamity, the demon lord. The researchers and magicians knew that the rifts were responsible for the sudden increase in magic to permeate out into the realm, before that the most magically gifted of the people in the realm was the elves that lived protected underneath the might of the World Tree.


    "I do not like this... something is wrong... The goblins are lining themselves up for the slaughter. If these three camps had all piled onto us we would have been in trouble" Alex commented as he retrieved his ax from the skull of a dead hobgoblin. They even had hobgoblins! This nest must be massive Alex thought if they have goblins outside like this to man such a perimeter.


    "You are giving the goblins to much credit!... Come on the tracks are increasing, I think we are near their main camp now." Bellie said as she drank a mana potion. Giving the girl named Sylvie a firm push as they began to move once more.


    ---


    Meanwhile, Grandir was running full speed, sweat dripping down his forehead, he was headed back towards an area where he knew he would cross their path, so he could intercept his friends. He was running faster than normal giving up on stealth, he reached a point where he could track his friends and their path forward into the forest, and their bloody path through a few goblin camps, his face got more worried seeing the dead goblins. He sped up once more to reach his friends faster, hoping to catch them before they reached to far ahead.


    As he sped past some trees, three goblins that were hidden, waited till he was gone, before they followed behind him trying to remain stealthy. Lurk smiled beneath his hood seeing the dark elf speed up towards their cave.


    Alex looked at the cave entrance down inside a rocky pit in the forest ground. The path down towards the cave was completely empty of goblins. Bellie looked at the forest path at the top where the goblins would exit from into the forest.


    "... A lot of goblins have left there recently... but they went a different way than towards us?... They went an entirely different direction... Are they fleeing?... Or moving to flank us when we go inside?..."


    Even Bellie was showing concern now, what were the goblins doing... In fact, if the goblins would walk that direction they would perhaps run into Grandir, as that was the direction he went.


    Alex noticed Bellies face frowning. "Maybe we should give up this heist... can you tell if they had humans with them?... "


    "No... they do have a hobgoblin though... This is weird... " Bellie looked at the tracks and then looked down into the rocky cut in the ground leading into the cave. Just when she was about to say something she turned and put an arrow on her bow. Grandir came running out into the clearing, gasping.


    "... Something is ... Wrong..." Grandir breathed hard... "I came across some goblin camps... But they were already dead... I think someone else is here fighting them... someone had fought them with wind magic." He walked over to them looked at them sternly.


    "I think this is our chance... We can move in and take the real prize while others are fighting the swarm..." Grandir smiled at Alex and Bellie, that also smiled in return. Sylvie lowered her head slightly looking away from them.


    Well hidden and a bit away from them, Lurk, Aurk and Vorm were sitting observing the adventurers. Well out of hearing range, But Lurks enhanced senses could hear a little of what they were saying, and saw that the adventurers looked happy now that they had realized that the goblins were out and fighting ''something''. He had made this plan mostly out of desperation. He needed to somehow make it easier to save the women, and also make it safe for himself and his chosen few goblins.


    During their time sending out the groups of goblins, Lurk had checked each off them, handpicked the ones that had Low [Evil Trait], and sent them to specific places where he did not intend to set his plan in motion. The moment that any of the pyres would be lit. Lurk had given the camps special commands to stay put and ambush the intruders. Whilst he and the sun soakers went off to kill off the other camps.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    It was not something he felt good about doing, the goblins that he slaughtered were not expecting it at all, bunched up as he lobbed a tempest wind disk into them, the survivors being taken out by Aurk and Vorm, with little to no problems. He even gained a new threshold on his Wind Magic learning a new Wind spell.


    He had instructed the goblin at the watchtower to send the cave goblins and Vrek and two of the bosses way in another direction, into the camps that he had sun soaker team had destroyed. Giving the adventurers time to get inside and secure the women.


    He hoped that Aurk''s surprise that they left at their camps would distract Vrek and his team for long enough when they reached them, or whittle their numbers down sufficiently.


    While they were out scouting and placing goblin camps. Lurk had queried Aurk about any nasty critters in the area. There was a big bear that the goblins had long evaded its territory off, a Shock bear of giant proportions. They had spent some of the days finding it and then putting food down to lure it closer to their camps, hoping that it would handle some of the outlying camps. Which luckily it did at the right moment.


    Vrek should be involved in some manner with the bear since he was sent right into the path where the bear would be. He had also moved Sala out of the cave along with the other few goblins he had hand-picked to other camps. So the adventurers would not murder her thinking she was just another murder hobo goblin.


    He watched as the adventurers headed down into the cave, smiling and nodding to Aurk and Vorm. When he had explained what he had planned, he was worried they would flat out deny him. But they nodded and agreed. Clearly, they did not approve of the goblins at all since their entire life had been filled with scorn from the others. This would give them freedom of a sort away from Vrek and all the other goblins. The only issue they were worried about was Xarn, that was the only point they were worried about it. But Lurk said they would be able to be free of him too. Since Xarn would not know where they were due to the sudden split of the goblins did from the main cave.


    It would take to long for Xarn to find out about the fate of Vreks cave, but it would rely on Vrek also dying with the rest of the goblins. Lurk had also checked out the ruined town once more. Finding the place the kobolds and gnoll had looted from. A workshop underneath a building with a hidden floor leading down into it. It was fixable but the kobolds must have stumbled over it by accident, leading to them looting it of anything not already looted by the former owners.


    Lurk thought this place would be a good hiding place since the workshop had runes on the walls that he could surmise were magic dampening fields, that would prevent magical searches. Whoever owned this workshop was clearly not on the correct side of the law, and worked with a lot of different materials, from cloth to metal. Which was why they found all those bags with clothes and odd tools.


    There were a lot of empty containers that showed that the placed had once held a lot more materials and items, but were long gone. Only one chest remained. It was stuck in the floor completely immovable and locked. It looked like the kobolds had been trying to smash it open but not made a single dent or scratch in it.


    During his planning of how to do all of this, he had also in detail gone through his Menu while sleeping. He noticed a new line had segmented off. Linking him to Sala who had a similar Magical Circle network around her. And then two connections between them leading to the child inside her.


    But what shocked Lurk was that the body in Salas Menu was not her normal body. It was slightly larger, and she had two horns on her forehead. It looked like an evolution was about to occur, turning Sala into a proper Half-Goblin/Ogre. She looked more monstrous, but still had the same face but longer arms. Lurk hoped the evolution would not happen too soon because he examined the Ogre options seeing the [Remove Ogre Curse] that cost a whopping 10 FBP, seemed to change the evolution from Ogre to Ogre Magi. When Lurk opened that option up to see how Sala would look she suddenly looked like a human, with elegant delicate shapes and curves, an extremely beautiful woman with the two horns on her forehead. Of Course, she would not be as tall as the original ogre magi but the looks were almost the same.


    Lurk had none of those evolutions, regardless of how he put it in the menu, he would not transform the same way. Which confused him to no end. But the biggest shock when he was digging into the menu and examined Vorm and Aurks, he saw that their Evil trait had slightly lowered. So it was possible to change it, it was not much. Them becoming his minions, not just because of the Evil trait, but because they truly wanted to do so had given a tiny cut in the Evil trait.


    Lurk was just glad his gamble here had paid off... If it had not been adventurers attacking, it could have gone entirely different, but now the plan was afoot. But then women''s shrieks were heard down from the cave, and Lurk gritted his teeth.


    "now what?!... Come... Quietly!" Lurk said as they hurried down the path, sneaking into the winding cave corridors... peeking inside they could see the adventurers had killed off the goblins in the main chamber and the last hobgoblin that was guarding the women in that room. The helmeted goblin was splayed open on the ground with arrows in his head and arm and leg cut off.


    But instead of saving the women, the Dark elf was putting collars on them he was pulling out of a backpack, grinning evilly as he did so. Bellie, Sylvie and Grandir were the only ones here, Alex was off in another room. Small glowing lights were floating around them illuminating their surroundings so they could see properly inside the dark cave.


    "This is a big haul! We will get a lot more for these women as slaves than that crystal club from that one-armed goblin! It''s a shame they are already goblin-mothers but there''s a fix for that."


    The dark elf had kicked one of the women in the stomach harshly. The women were crying trying to avoid being collared, one of them had already been killed. The ones with collars already on were silently sitting without moving much.


    Lurk gritted his teeth, this was not something he had thought would happen. He stared at the adventurers his eyes glowing fiercely purple. When he saw the one named Alex dragging Resti out into the main chamber.


    "Oi! this one could do magic!, nearly burned my beard off!!" He dragged her over in the middle of the room next to Bellie and throwing her onto the ground.


    "Hah.. ¡äThis one will be worth a lot more than Sylvie here," Said Bellie as she put her foot onto Restis head briefly before kneeling down clamping a Collar onto her neck, her eyes dimming instantly giving up resistance.


    The girl in the robe was gritting her teeth Lurk noticed she also had a collar on.


    Lurk eyes glowed purple staring hate at the three adventurers...

 38. Scorched Earth Pt. 5

    Lurk hinted towards the man in armor with the axes, towards Vorm. Vorm nodded as he was suddenly clad in a shade of darkness. He moved out along the edge of the room away from the glow of the floating lights each member of the adventure party had swirling gently around them.


    Lurk then motioned to the woman with the bows to Aurk, Aurk already having his bow ready, he aimed at the woman from his hiding spot. Lurk then turned his attention to the Dark elf, who was about to clasp another collar onto another woman.


    Alex gave a shocked cry of pain, as Vorm suddenly leaped out from the shadows that literally followed him as if stretched out from the darkness. Alex was stabbed in his leg, where his armor had been damaged from the battle with the goblins inside the cave, they had had a fierce battle in here with the remaining goblins, Alex had taken the brunt of the goblins charge, something he was used too.


    Bellie was about to react when suddenly an arrow flew out from the entrance of the room, piercing into her shoulder of her dominant arm. Causing her to yelp out in pain. How did she not see the goblins coming! Her eyes looked towards the entrance seeing now that there was a subtle disturbance, someone had used Dark magic! to shield goblins from view! She was wounded but she still managed to ready her bow and fire off arrows into the darkness in a spray.


    "[Rapid fire!]"


    Aurk got hit by one arrow in his leg, the other missing thankfully due to the darkness making it impossible for a proper aim. But the robed girl behind Bellie suddenly rushed closer to her and a gentle glow went into Bellie.


    Grandir flipped around from his focus on the women seeing that they were being ambushed, he lobbed off two wind shearing spells towards the darkness in the entryway, they rushed forward causing everyone in the cave to feel the wind blowing past them. But then suddenly they slammed into a different gust of wind that caused them to dissipate into different directions. Everyone''s hair and clothes were blown about from the explosive burst of air coming from the two air spells hitting each other.


    Alex now reacted turning around swinging his ax at the assassin, but the assassin was grabbed onto his back following behind his turn. Alex tried to get the goblin off, in a brief panic, feeling another attempt of a stab against his back but his armor deflected it this time!. He managed to focus and called out his shield skill.


    "[Shield Wall!]"


    His shield got the gentle glow around it expanding the width of his shield greatly. He swung his shield back behind him, the extra width surprised Vorm and he got knocked off with taking a violent strike to his body sending him flying off Alex that wasted no time to spin around, slashing out with his ax, Vorm was lucky that he had been hit as hard as he was. The ax missing by a hairs width.


    Grandir now suddenly felt immense danger as an explosive burst of wind happened from the shadows, A goblin with one arm came bursting out directly at him with a sword in its other hand.


    "[Burst!]"


    Lurk had cast his new spell, Burst would propel him forward at immense speed, he was about to strike out at the Dark elf mage, when he called out another skill.


    "[Slice!]"


    His arm moved rapidly, striking the mage multiple times across his body, but the mage had managed just barely to cast one of his own spells.


    "[Mage Armor!]"


    His body was covered in a small field, each of Lurks strikes caused ripples to spread out from each location. It was just like the stasis spell Mercia was under. But it was already breaking, as opposed to Mercia''s that could take several goblins constantly striking her for a long duration. But it was enough to save the mage from the strikes.


    Grandir grinned wickedly, having been unharmed by the sudden attack. He waved his arm rapidly at Lurk, sending out a violent gust of air.


    ["Shockwave!"]


    Lurk and the women near the mage were all sent flying away from him, Lurk spinning in the air, he managed to focus and call out another burst.


    ["Burst!"]


    It stabilized him sending him back onto the ground, he leaped towards Grandir, as he flung his own spell at Grandir.


    ["Wind Bullet!"]


    Grandir quickly held up his hand using the quick wind spell to knock the bullet out of the way! This goblin was tenacious! It had been a while since he had seen such an adept goblin mage! And it was the one-armed goblin! They would now get the bounty too! along with all the slave women! Grandir was already counting the money in his head, a grin on his face. He was clearly feeling on top of the situation.


    Meanwhile, Bellie was having a rough time, another arrow had struck her, if not for the healing of the girl behind her she would have been unable to return fire due to the pain in her shoulder, but the useless healer was already at her limit.


    "Shield me from him Sylvie!!" Sylvie immediately leaped in front of the woman, the arrows suddenly stopped coming, surprising Bellie, who quickly took aim at something she could see without a doubt and aim true at. Her bow turned to face Lurk who was flying towards Grandir.


    Alex leaped forward into the darkness, the light swirling around him, but the darkness that was flowing around the goblin would not accept the light to pass through it. It made it incredibly hard to aim his ax as he swung wildly into it, Vorm struggled madly to get away from the fierce warrior. When suddenly Alex began to feel a painful throb from his leg. It got increasingly worse and suddenly it increased tenfold as his pain exploded, his leg felt like it had just been flayed open, he collapsed onto the ground screaming out.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    Just as Bellie let her arrow fly, Lurk quickly held up his hand to block the arrow with his own wind shield cantrip, the arrow flying right through it, but still diverged away from hitting him in the upper part of his torso, the arrow sinking into his side, causing him to gasp out in pain, gritting his teeth.


    Grandir laughed out using both hands about to send out flurries of wind shears into Lurk and slice him up. When an arrow flew from the entryway into the cave right at him, past Lurks head, Grandir was shocked and in the midst of his attack spell casting turned to shield himself, but the arrow went past it, striking right into the lower part of his hand and into his arm even!


    Grandir cried out in pain, seeing Lurk coming right at him, the sword moving straight for his head. But Grandir used his free arm to cast a spell creating a small shielding surface in front of it, causing the sword to be knocked out of the way.


    Lurk followed up by suddenly lunging his hook arm up into Grandirs Chest, slicing him through his robe, but only a slight scratch was all he felt from the desperate attack.


    ["Shockwave!!"]


    Lurk was once more sent flying away from Grandir, slamming into a wall hard. Causing him to drop his sword, collared women were lying all around him.


    "Grab that goblin!!" Grandir yelled loudly at the women, his unwounded hand having grabbed onto the Rod with two crystals on either end of it, The women all ignoring their wounded state scrambled to grab onto Lurk who was suddenly tackled by them.


    Bellie saw Alex completely incapacitated on the ground, screaming out madly in pain his mouth frothing. He had dropped his shield and ax and was completely unable to help anymore. She knew the assassin was in the cave somewhere but he had pulled back into the darkness. She moved as Sylvie followed her being her shield. But the swirling lights did not uncover the dark covered goblin.


    "Sylvie! Light!"


    Sylvie cast a large ball of light up above her. The cave briefly turned bright, a Dark mass being shown near the crack running through the cave where water was running down below, Bellie smirked and sent several arrows into the Dark mass, each arrow passing right through it, bellies eyes widening in shock! There was nothing in the dark mass!


    From the crack in the ground Vorm suddenly leaped out, now not covered in shadow, he had left the shadow floating as he himself jumped down into the crack hiding. He wanted the woman to shoot at it so he could close the distance between them.


    Bellie struck a defensive pose as Vorm sliced at her manically. She had to avoid getting hit! or share Alex''s Fate!. Grandir quickly turned to see Bellie being assaulted in close combat, Alex on the ground frothing at the mouth screaming madly rolling on the ground. He lobbed a large wind shear at the entryway where the arrows had been coming from. Causing rocks to spray out and a pained howl coming from the darkness.


    Lurk was being grabbed by naked women in the meantime struggling to escape them without hurting them. Grandir turned to stare at the goblin being grabbed. he pointed at the goblin.


    "At least you die in the embrace of many women! you lousy goblin!"


    "[Holy Aura!!]"


    Grandir covered his eyes as suddenly Lurk had a Bright halo burst into being behind him, Grandir had never seen this before. A Goblin that knew both Wind magic at this level! And now Holy magic!!!


    He had to fire everything at this goblin, regardless of what would happen to the slave women he wanted to sell. He began charging up a wind spear to throw into the sprawling mass of women.


    ["Roar!!"]


    But the women suddenly cried out and fled away from Lurk, who stared right at Grandir, his eyes flaring up violently in purple light. Grandir was shocked hearing the roar from the goblin, he hesitated and stumbled back. But still charging the spell. When he felt a stab in his side. The scratch from Lurk felt like it suddenly had a rusty dagger sticking inside it.


    Bellie was struggling to defend herself from Vorms frantic assault. But she had trained for this. But suddenly she was tackled from behind, Aurk had rushed out from the entryway. Knocking Sylvie aside, his body was bleeding from many locations as he had dodged the wind shear Grandir had thrown at him, but the rocks thrown around like fragments had peppered him in multiple wounds.


    Bellie shrieked out in horror as the two goblins tackled her down.


    "Sylvie! help me!" But Sylvie had fallen over, her mana burned out, having been pushed aside she had collapsed on the ground unable to stand up anymore, despite the insistence of the collar around her neck.


    ["Wind Spear!!"]


    Grandir managed to launch the spear right at Lurk, just as the pain exploded in his side, he had not been able to put all his full power into the spear. But it would be enough he knew! He just had to kill this goblin, Take the antidote potion he had in his pouch and this fight would be over!!


    ["Wind Shield!!"]


    Lurk held up both his arms facing towards Grandir, the spear crashing into the wind wall in front of him. The cave turning into a torrent of wind as the two spells slammed into each other. Lurk poured enormous amounts of mana into the shield. The spear pushing forwards but only a small amount of wind made it through, causing only a tiny would to appear on Lurk.


    Grandir recoiled in horror. The goblin stared at him its purple glowing eyes filled with hate and disgust, he was already grabbing the potion with his unwounded hand. This was not how it was supposed to happen! How can this goblin be this strong! that shield had so much mana in it!!


    Lurk gritted his teeth, his eyes flaring up once more and he waved his hand violently towards Grandir who was preoccupied with the potion in his hand.


    "[Tempest Disk!!]"


    Grandir screamed as the disk of wind blew forward towards him. Seeing this goblin standing in front of him, A Halo of light behind it, the purple glowing eyes, its rage it could barely contain. This goblin... No ! This monster!!!


    Grandirs arm was sliced off easily by the disk at it blew past him. The potion falling onto the ground along with his arm. Grandir could no longer hold himself up. The pain from his arm being severed, only but a gentle tickle compared to the sudden explosion in his side. He screamed out in horrible pain as he doubled over. Blood spurting out from his shoulder. He could only barely make out the monster goblin standing over him through his manic eyes.


    {"You are a monster"}


    Grandir could barely comprehend, this goblin had just called him a monster. He screamed in pain, Alex was barely conscious as his body could simply not take it anymore, but he was still screaming. Bellie was struggling to fend off Vorm and Aurk grabbing her and holding her down onto the ground, her eyes panicked seeing her comrades down on the ground.


    Lurks purple eyes stared at the Dark elf, but Lurk did not kill him. He waited, and watched as the dark elf screamed out in pain.

 39. Scorched Earth pt. 6

    Lurk breathed hard, he was staring at the still spasming body of the dark elf, he was unable to scream anymore. The poison that Vorm had applied to his sword, that Lurk dipped the tip of his hook into, had claimed two people. Alex and Grandir had died screaming in agony. Lurk did not care at all.


    They had no excuse, they were not tainted with [Evil], or maybe they were Lurk thought briefly. But he doubted it, the dark elfs actions against the women did not seem to be the same?. It was hard to put into words. But he felt that these humans were not cursed with the [Evil] trait.


    Lurk picked up the rod the dark elf had held onto, Instantly he could sense the location of the women that had the collars on. The rod was the control tool for the collars Lurk surmised. Lurk looked at the women that had returned to normal, even Restia was sitting up looking over at Lurk holding the rod with an intense stare.


    Lurk hurried over to Aurk and Vorm that were holding Bellie down that began screaming as Lurk kicked her in the face knocking her out. Vorm and Aurk stood up looking at Lurk.


    "We need to get out of here, Vrek will be back soon. Loot them quickly, Resti..."


    "[Light Heal], [Light Heal]"


    Lurk healed Aurk and Resti, she had received a severe blow to the head with the blunt side of the ax.


    Lurk helped her up.


    {"We have to get out of here... I need your help with the women... My plan failed I''m sorry. "}


    Lurk said to Resti as he moved over to the women taking Resti with him. He hinted at them wanting Resti to explain it to them. Aurk and Vorm taking items off from the corpses and Bellie in the meanwhile.


    {"...Yes, Master..."} Resti said she grimaced as she suddenly seemingly was forced to say the word master. She looked at Lurk then at the Rod, her hand holding onto the collar around her neck. Her eyes showing a distinct sense of anger but her face unable to show it.


    "Oh.. Umh hmm I wonder how this works..."


    Lurk thought scratching his head, looking at the rod, the crystals had a faint glimmer inside them, multiple runes covering the rod.


    "I am not sure... But you have control over all the collars it''s connected to... that much I know..."


    Lurk noticed something as Resti explained it to him, he could understand her, she even understood him when he questioned himself out loud in goblin...


    "Ok.. Act like you normally would as if the collar was not on, this is a command to all of you." Lurk said out loud to the women in the cave. They changed how they acted, tears beginning to flow again, they looked at Lurk with scared eyes.


    "do not worry, I will not hurt you, we need to get out of here, So please help each other up. " Lurk said calmly, the women looked at Lurk shocked, they all began to get up, helping each other. They were not wounded especially except a few of them that the dark elf had kicked hard. Lurk gave them a few cantrip heals, he hurried down below taking Resti and the Dark elfs backpack with him.


    Resti explained to the women inside the locked room, Lurk hurried over and cured the poison on the group of women with Emily, but they were all very weak having been in their poisoned state for a long time, and laying still without much food or light. Lurk told the women to help, Resti informing them Lurk was trying to get them out of there.


    Lurk told some of the women to pick up the bags of food that the goblins had looted from their village, unable to carry all of it. They hurried out of the cave, Lurk being the last to leave.


    He looked behind at Bellie who he had tied down, staring at her and the robed girl, who sat up but did not do anything but look at Lurk. Bellie slowly came too seeing Lurk standing over her and Sylvie.


    "I will not hurt you... Do you want to come with us?..." Lurk said, Sylvie opened her eyes wide, she was expecting to now be forced to serve a goblin for the rest of her life, being raped and used to heal the goblins. She had not had a single kind word ever since she had been captured and sold to these adventurers. A single tear ran down her cheek as she nodded meekly. Bellie looked back and forth at them. Scared out of her wits.


    Lurk helped Sylvie up and walked towards the cave entrance, Bellie suddenly realized she was being left behind, the strange goblin was not staying. What was going on?!


    "Sylvie!. Tell him to take me with you!, Do not leave me here for the other goblins to take!!"


    Bellie screamed out in panic, Lurk could not understand her human language, Sylvie stopped in her tracks, turning to look at Bellie who was panicking on the ground trying to get out of the ropes around her legs and arms. She looked at Lurk, who calmly waited for her.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    "... Master... She wants to be taken with..." Sylvie said in a meek voice.


    "..." Lurk looked at Bellie with a cold glare...


    Sylvie tugged on her collar.


    "you can put a collar on her... Force her to serve you..."


    Bellie opened her eyes wide in shock, panicking she tried to think of what to do... But she could not think of anything...


    "I think she should remain free... For however long that will be...I do not want to force anyone to do my will..." Lurk said as he turned away, Sylvie following behind him after giving Bellie a brief look, a smile on Sylvie''s lips.


    They could hear Bellie scream as they left the cave. Lurk and Sylvie caught up to Vorm and Aurk leading the women towards the ruined city.


    Bellie struggled to get free of her ropes, she was lying in complete darkness now, the light from the spell Lurk had cast that was floating in the air had gone out, she was frantically trying to run the rope at her arms back and forth over a sharp stone she found, but it was hard to do with her arms behind her back.


    She suddenly heard footsteps and goblin shrieks and cackles. She turned to face the entryway, seeing many red glowing eyes staring at her, She gave a manic smile and laugh, tears pouring down her face, the goblins throwing themselves over her as the laugh turned into a shrill scream.


    ---


    "Can you cover the tracks Aurk?" Lurk asked out to him, as they were walking towards the city.


    "Somewhat... we can take a few paths that will cover our trail Chief..."


    "Chief?..." Lurk quirked an eyebrow.


    "Yes, you have freed us from under Xarns rule, I will follow you as chief till the end..." Aurk solemnly said. As he began guiding the group, doing his best to diminish their tracks left behind.


    Lurk was trying to think of what to do now. They would head back towards the city, and the workshop they had found, initially, he wanted to keep just himself, the sun soakers and the few goblins he had hand-picked there. He had guided them there as the first goblins to be put out as camp guards. Sala was there waiting with them.


    ("I wonder if the workshop is big enough... It should be, but it will be crowded with goblins and women close together... Ah this is gonna be a headache...")


    They hurried as much as they could with the women, Lurk and Vorm keeping an eye out for anyone following them. He was happy he decided to take Vorm aside and tell him about his Dark Magic skill while they were out together. He and Vorm had trained when they were resting, Lurk had managed to learn the spell [Shape Darkness], due to his extreme mana he could train a lot, he taught it to Vorm who then began to use it to cover himself when he was trying to sneak up on someone.


    It really complimented him well, it was fortunate he had done so, he could not see them fighting the adventurers and winning if Vorm had not been able to cover himself in shade and Lurk covering the entryway in unnatural darkness to shield Aurk.


    "Chief... uhm... Lurk... What do we do now?..." Vorm asked meekly, Lurk was still not quite used to Vorms quiet voice, he did not talk a lot. Lurk turned to him and answered as best as he could.


    "We hide in the city... Then we need to find a way for the humans to be returned..."


    "... Do we have to return them?... Will we not need more gobs?" Vorm asked, a certain glimmer in his eyes.


    "You have to resist that urge I talked about... " Lurk told Vorm, as he himself felt the urge to just capture the women and keep them as his personal slaves. The Evil trait pushing his worst desires to the surface.


    Vorm looked at the women then Lurk, Vorm had a harder time of it. Lurk thought it would be impossible to truly convince him in a normal way, so for now, he had to do it roughly.


    "It''s my will Vorm, we cannot risk it."


    Vorm nodded hearing Lurks stern voice. They followed the group as they finally reached the town, with no one following them.


    They headed into the broken building that housed the workshop basement. Lifting up the hidden latch that they had tried their best to hide its damaged state. The women squirmed and looked reprehensively around, but Resti calmed them down and they all headed down into the basement.


    "Haha! Sala knew Lurk would be a great Chief! so many women under him so quickly!!!"


    Sala was standing in the main room arms crossed looking proud, her belly had grown considerably, during these short four days. Behind her were three goblins wielding clubs and bows.


    "... Sala... I did not claim these women... I said we had to return them to the humans..." Lurk said as he helped guide the women into the basement, there were 12 women in total. and Emily and the two women with Emily were extremely weak and were laid down on some bedding, along with five women who all had big bellies too.


    Resti, Sylvie came over to Lurk who was trying to talk Sala down from her ideas of Lurk as the big women breeder chief when he decided to introduce them to each other.


    "This is Resti I told you about, and this is? Sorry i did not get your name..." Lurk had heard Bellie scream her name, but he wanted to be properly introduced. The girl pulled her hood down revealing her cat ears. Lurk opened his eyes wide, and opened his mouth agape.


    "Hah! that''s the look Sala wants to see!" Sala exclaimed seeing Lurk suddenly staring at Sylvie


    "My name is Sylvie master" Sylvie bowed to Lurk slightly, Resti beside her was stunned, she had been told to not act like the collar forced them to do.


    "Why do you call him master! he told you not to follow the collars commands?"


    "I do not mind... He is kind and saved me..." Sylvie turned away meekly from Restis slightly angry voice questioning her.


    "uhm... ok lets uh... your a catgirl ?" Lurk managed to stammer out


    "I am a beast kin, yes of the cat tribe." Sylvie nodded to Lurk.


    ("...Catgirls... are real...") Lurk thought he was struggling really hard with his [Ravenous] Trait... Long had he dreamed of cat girls but now, one was standing in front of him. Resti and Sala noticed how he was staring at Sylvie with those eyes.


    "Hey! Don''t you dare think of commanding me.. Ehh.. Her to do lewd things!"


    "Oi! you can breed her but you can only like me!!"


    *BONK*


    *FOOM*


    "Ow!! Careful with the fireball!" Lurk exclaimed as he snapped out of his thoughts. Seeing Resti and Sala staring at him angrily, with Sylvie smiling behind them as she realized it was not so serious as it first felt like.


    ".... What am I gonna do now..." Lurk sighed out loudly..

 40. Trapped

    It was silent in the ruined town of Gerfrost.


    This mighty trade hub of a city was once connected to the southern kingdoms, exporting the great kingdoms food surplus out to all the other kingdom and pulling in luxury goods and necessities from all around the realm.


    Now it was a wreck, not a single building was left intact, the tall wall surrounding the city and segmenting each of the different sections of the city off was also a sad excuse for a defense structure, as multiple locations on the wall were simply gone, as if a great force had picked up segments of the wall and strewn them all over the area.


    Pieces of the wall were everywhere both outside the side as far away as 500 meters and inside the city crashed down randomly. Whatever had done this to the walls had done so violently and quickly on multiple locations on the wall.


    Now the only occupants of this once great city are now vermin and crows, and inside a single buildings basement, several human females and a group of goblins. All sitting quietly as in expectation. The goblins having stacked up rocks and other piles to give a defensive half wall towards the only entry point, a few steps leading up to a hatch that was closed.


    The women were all sitting in the back of the room. Three of them standing guard, facing towards the hatch as well. One of the women wielding a short sword and shield was standing at the front. Though most of her attention was aimed at the goblins. Not the hatch.


    Emily had regained some of her strength from being incapacitated for the long duration of her capture. She was "rescued" by these goblins, though she did not feel that way. She had ignored the goblin named Lurk and its attempts at trying to talk with her through Resti, the woman standing next to her holding a staff.


    She seemed to trust the goblin and conversed with it eagerly, but she did have a slave collar on, so Emily did not trust her conviction of the goblin assistance. Though the goblins here had not done anything to harm them, despite one episode were one of the more "regular" looking goblins had been staring intently at the women for a while before it suddenly tried to grab at one of the women, its eyes mad with lust.


    Lurk the apparent leader of the goblins, had promptly arrived and punched the goblin so hard it did a flip slamming against the nearby wall. Lurk yelled at the goblin, but she did not understand what he was saying. Lurk dragged the goblin over in front of the woman it had grabbed. He forced it to say something that it hurried to say.


    Resti had come over and Lurk grabbed onto the Control rod for the collars and asking Resti to translate. What she said was that Lurk was sorry his men had succumbed to his instinct and that he was now sorry for his actions. She was flabbergasted by this action. The women too all looked at Lurk and the kneeling goblin in shock and confusion.


    No goblin had ever done this before, most of the women here had suffered and lost loved ones, being captured and raped. Though some had not been raped and merely "stored" for the leader that Emily herself had been raped by. Lurk had bowed also an apology and then got the goblin to stand up as he guided him over to the other goblins, he then sat down with them all and began talking to them for a while.


    Emily was not convinced, she refused to be convinced. It must be a trick was something she told herself. But Lurk kept being persistent and helped the women as much as he could, he healed them and made sure they had food. He helped the women that had been raped and were pregnant from the goblins. Asking each of them if they would be willing to give birth to the goblins, as he would do his best to change them to be different from the normal goblins.


    Some refused, and he was sad but did not press the issue and helped them abort the offspring inside them. What was odd about the goblins that were born, that three of them were girls. Even the pregnant goblin female that hung around Lurk, but the pregnant goblin named Sala did not give birth yet, why was her pregnancy so long... All except two of the newborn out of six were all very human looking as opposed to the ugly deformed goblins.


    Lurk had spent time with these newborn teaching them things and even tried at a time to involve the women, he seemed to want to bridge the gap, as Resti told her, between goblins and humans.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    But Emily was not convinced... When she was well enough to move five days had passed in total. Lurk had kept the women informed of their intent to try and get them all out of the Great kingdom back to their kingdom, or at least the human lands. But the other cave goblins were scouting around frequently making it hard for Lurk and the other goblins to leave.


    Now they were all sitting at guard, as the skinniest goblin named Vorm had come in and informed them that goblins were once more looking around through the city. Lurk had given Emily weapons in case they were found and had to fight. He looked into her eyes as he asked her to help protect the basement.


    Her first thoughts were to agreed and then take the chance to flee, but the way Lurk had looked at her, and Resti''s asking for Lurk while also looking at her. She decided to simply agree... She did not have any means to escape anyways afterward. Lurk then left along with Vorm while the rest stayed down in the basement.


    She believed she could handle most of the normal looking goblins. Even the ones named Aurk, and Sala. But not all at once... Maybe if the other women helped, but she was unsure if they would. But if Lurk was here it would be impossible... That goblin was a monster compared to a normal goblin...


    Holy, Earth, Wind and adept at fighting all at the same time... Clearly more intelligent than any normal goblin. She was scared out of her wits thinking of trying to fight this goblin. If she was in her prime before she had been captured and with all her gear... Then she might have had a chance... If her friend Mercia was by her side... Then it would be an easy match.


    Being reminded of Mercia made her grit her teeth, she was angry that Mercia was saved but she was left behind... But she knew that the high elves would not care about humans. The only High elves that cared were Mercia and her human support group. Lurk had wanted to talk about Mercia, but he never got far into asking about it, and he was busy most of the time, either experimenting with magic while talking with Resti and the Beastgirl Sylvie or cleaning/fixing up weapons and armor and making proper clothes for all the goblins and women.


    He even knew how to do tailoring! He asked the women to help if they knew how to help, even to prepare the food they had brought from the cave to make it rationable and last as long as possible. But they did not have a lot of food, they were hunting to make up for it, but they were being careful not to drag too much attention from the goblins they escaped from.


    The workshop they were in had a lot of tables and one of the tables were able to make a fire. Resti had surmised it would be an alchemy location with inbuilt magical runes to create heat for brewing potions. It worked to cook food and also at the same time did not cause smoke to fill the room either. Lurk had been very interested in it and spent a lot of time examining the runes on the tables and the runes that were lined along the top of the walls all around the room.


    But now the focus was on the hatch, she was staring at the goblins right now though, still calculating the hopeless risk of trying to defeat them and escape... But she would only be able to escape alone... She would not escape alone, she wanted to save the other women... She did not want to leave anyone behind and feel the same as she did back when Mercia was saved.


    Suddenly one of the goblins collapsed in pain, it was the Female Goblin name Sala. The goblin named Aurk quickly brought her back, to rest on the beddings that her and Lurk shared. He talked with Sala for a while before he got punched in the head by her. He nodded at her and went back to guarding the hatch.


    Resti looked at Sala as if she wanted to go help her, she had bonded a bit with the female goblin. Since Resti had been translating for Lurk and Sala when she held onto the control Rod when Lurk was not here.


    Emily sighed as she gave the ok for Resti to go over and help her. At least she needed to get her to be quiet as much as possible. Sylvie also went to help and cast a few holy spells she had learned from Lurk, Salas pain went away a bit much like the other females had been having during their births.


    Emily did not care. She focused on the hatch, trying not to be distracted by the activity. Though a lot of the goblins and even some of the women were looking over now and again at the commotion made by Sala.


    But suddenly their attention all flipped to the hatch and they readied their weapons pointing them at the hatch as a sound of shuffling was heard, a click and the hatch slid open by its own force. If the hatch had not been damaged slightly she was sure no sound would have been heard. But it had a slight crack in it. Disturbing whatever magic was in it.


    Lurk and Vorm came down looking calm. Everyone sighed and calmed down, but Emily only became more nervous... Now it was once more hopeless to try to escape, regardless of all the apparent good this goblin was trying to do, she still felt hopelessly out of control of her own situation. She stared at Lurk with her full focus, as he made his way through the makeshift fortifications they built as he talked with Aurk, Lurks eyes widened up.


    But then her focus was broken when she heard a brief cry from the side, she turned to look seeing Resti holding up a goblin baby with two small blunt horns on its forehead.


    "Its a girl!" Resti said smiling at Lurk, that looked a tad flustered as if not sure how to act. Emily looked at Lurk as he stepped over slowly to Resti, he was still slightly stunned, but then he smiled and laughed. Emily felt another chip of her resistance towards this odd goblin fade away as Lurk gave Sala a kiss and grinned.


    "... what should I do... " Emily mumbled to herself.

 41. Safe

    Sylvie was standing next to Emily and Resti, They were all standing in front of the women huddle behind them, looking towards the hatch leading down into the workshop they were using as their current home.


    She had finally felt safe, it being a long time since she last felt at ease like this. Despite the potential danger they were in at the moment. The moment that all the adventurers that had bought her of the slavers that capturer her and killed her brother had been defeated by Lurk. She had given up and ready to break down due to her probable fate of becoming a toy to the goblins.


    But that did not happen, instead, the goblin Lurk treated her with kindness and understanding, even saving other people who had suffered under the goblins. The sheer shock of suddenly being saved by someone, let alone a goblin had made her happier than she had ever felt. The constant pressure of the collar forcing her will, all the commands that the dark elf had placed on her, constantly pushing her forward regardless of what she wanted.


    But now the collars effects and the commands were all but gone. Only the general feeling of knowing that Lurk was the current master was all the collar inforced on her. But she was more than happy to listen to this feeling. Lurk had made her happy and safe, broken her hopelessness she had been feeling for months now.


    He never forced her to do anything, even clearing all the commands she had received. He did ask her a lot of questions but told her she was not forced to answer about the collars and how the dark elf had used them. He was mostly interested in the design and workings of it, studying the runes on the collars intently as well as all the other runes inside the workshop he could find.


    He even helped her learn a new spell to remove pain with her holy magic, he had other spells to teach her but her max mana did not allow her to learn them. His own mana was clearly superior as the spells he had learned were advanced and costly. When she informed him of her low mana but high recharge of said mana. She was expecting him to be disappointed, even her own family and her village elders were a little disappointed if not directly at her but at the misfortune of the mana fault she had.


    Lurk did not seem to care, he was just curious. He had spent a lot of time asking her about how she had learned magic, she would tell of her time with her elder in her village as he would describe runes she should picture internally and form before her using her mana. Once the proper sequence of mana shaped runes had formed an effect would occur. Lurk seemed to know the runes being mentioned. But he himself had learned differently. Simply by using imagination and forcing mana into shape and function.


    Sylvie could not even imagine how much mana that would cost, she would never be able to do that, let alone picture how a body could heal itself or light formed out of nothing. She had to be lectured how to picture this in her head. Lurk knew somethings he said, but could not really go into detail.


    The adventurers would use her for spot healing until she suffered mana collapse but she would recover fast from it, but it was always a horrible sensation to collapse from it only to get back up and once more experience it. Normally spellcasters would do their best to avoid this since it gave them splitting headaches and made them feel horrible, she had no choice and was forced to heal if the adventurers had received many wounds.


    Lurk when he heard about it simply nodded, he tried to examine her by touching her, as he said he had the ability to see peoples abilities and disabilities sometimes. Which caused a fireball to fly out from where Resti was, causing him to dodge right into Sylvie, both of them collapsing on the ground. Sylvie was stunned at the time but when she saw the wide eyes in Lurks face as he was lying down on top of her she smiled for some reason, causing Lurk to be even more flustered as he quickly got up apologizing to her.


    Apparently, that counted as enough "touching" but he could not see any external influence and guessed it might be a natural trait. He thought he might be able to change it, but he began being extremely flustered when he was talking about it. Sylvie insisted that if he could change it she would do anything!. He was stunned and seemed to be struggling internally with something but in the end he said, he would think about it, as Resti was once more looming over them with fireballs in both her hands the topic moved onto something else.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    Sala had grinned when seeing this and gave Sylvie a gentle elbow nudge saying she was doing a good job. Sylvie was unsure what Sala had meant at the time, mostly because of her not holding the control rod at the time, so she could not understand her goblin-speak.


    Sala was kind enough to her, but Sala seemed to struggle with Resti''s aggressive nature towards Lurk, but mostly over how much Resti seemed to care about Lurks actions as much as Sala did. To the detriment of Lurks hair or head from getting blazed or bonked. She could tell it was not anything serious that the both of them threw at him, and it made her giggle.


    Lurk was always kind to them and the women, helping them to be as comfy as they could. He made them clothes and arranged tasks for them if they wanted to help him, he even punished a goblin for suddenly grabbing at a woman. The women that had been stored were warming up to him and helping with the requests. Some of the hurt women were more il at ease, but when Lurk gave them the option of what they wanted to do with their goblin offspring inside them, asking them if they would consider giving birth to them, or he if he should spare them the experience. They warmed up to him a bit more.


    But the ones with Emily were still a hard shut off group, Emily herself was apparently a fighter, Lurk having given her some armor from one of the adventurers after he fitted it to her. Sylvie did not like seeing Emily in Alex''s armor as it gave her bad memories. But Emily was still projecting cold intent. Even now as they were standing here watching the hatch, Sylvie could sense that Emily was looking at the goblins more than watching the entryway.


    Sylvie could understand her a little, She was the same way towards the adventurers. The way they mocked her, discounted her as useless or not even as a thinking being... And when the dark elf would at night make her do things to please him... She could understand Emily''s feelings. But Lurk was doing his best, even trusting her with a weapon and armor. Sylvie could see when Emily looked at Lurk she was afraid, but she was also perplexed seeing Lurks responses and talks with the women and how he acted with Sala.


    Sala... She was clearly the mother to Lurks child, Sylvie could see how Lurk and Sala cared for each other, though Sala was a bit clumsy at expressing it. She too was confused at times. But when they slept Sylvie was sleeping closer to Lurks "room", a small storeroom they had hung a piece of cloth down to block vision but not the sounds... And she could hear the two of them enjoying each other. Which caused her cheeks to flush and body to warm up.


    She was really thankful for Lurk saving her for her hell, and he was kind towards her. He even looked nice despite him being a short goblin but with a normal looking body and kind face... Sylvie had slapped her cheeks briefly to knock her thoughts out of her head, and focus back at guarding the hatch.


    When Sala suddenly collapsed in pain in front of them over by the hatch. Aurk helped her over to the room, asking her something as he got a punch in response. He simply seemed to understand and go back to guarding the hatch.


    Resti was the first to voice her worry and wanted to go help Sala, Resti herself also gave her support with her meager healing she could assist Sala not be in too much pain. They came in giving her some help in sitting upright. Resti had some knowledge apparently from her village in women giving birth. After getting Sala to pick up the Control rod they could communicate easier since the collars prohibited slaves from picking up or touching the rod in any way.


    But knowledge of how normal birthings happened did not really apply here with Sala, she was in pain, but it went very fast compared to what was expected by Resti, Sala smiled getting the pained numbed by Sylvie, she even thanked Sylvie which seemed to surprise her when she did.


    The goblin baby came out but its skin was slightly darker and its forehead had two small blunt bumps, not quite horns but it looked like the beginnings of them. Resti and Sylvie were amazed and Sala beamed proudly proclaiming she had given birth to an evolved goblin grinning proudly.


    The baby looked around curiously, hissing at them as Resti picked her up causing Resti to be a bit shocked. But she gently picked it up making the baby look odd for a moment as if it was expecting something else. Sala was also acting weird looking at Resti holding the baby.


    "She is kind of cute," said Resti smiling at Sala, handing her over to Sala that accepted her into her arms looking at the baby confused. Sala was acting weird looking at the baby as if she did not know what to do. They heard a commotion from outside and Resti pulled open the cover from the door out into the main room. Calling out to Lurk.


    "Its a girl!" as she smiled at him, he looked inside being stunned. Sylvie looked intently at him as he was unsure how to act too. but he made his way over to them, sitting down, he smiled happily when holding the girl. Giving Sala a kiss, which made Sylvie''s heart jump a bit. Even Resti seemed affected by the happy looking scene in front of them.


    Sylvie smiled at Lurk and Sala, the goblins looking inside, the one named Aurk nodding to Lurk with a grin. Sylvie noticed Emily in the background looking conflicted. Even she had been affected by the happy looking scene occurring...


    But Sylvie was smiling, but she was also feeling something else... Jealous at the happy scene...

 42. It is getting worse!

    Lurk was smiling, holding Lula in his arms. Sala sitting next to him poking Lula while grinning.


    "She sure is strong! Sala cannot wait till we can fight and train!" Sala said as she continued to poke Lula, Lula immediately gave a sneer and hiss at Sala making clawing actions at her. Sala laughed and smiled looking at Lurk.


    "See! This is how a proper strong goblin acts!" Lurk murmured as Sala made a snide comment. He did turn Lula to look at her. Looking into her eyes that were purple, they were also filled with intelligence. This was not a common baby that would start out learning slowly. She already possessed intelligence of a sort and was able to understand goblin, Lurk also checked her stats and saw that she had indeed added Goblin to her language.


    {"Hi Lula can you understand me ?"} Lurk bounced Lula a bit and spoke in elvish at her. Sala tilting her eyebrows next to him. Lula doing the exact same move with her eyebrows. But nothing was added to her skills showing she learned the language.


    "Ah well, it was worth a short..." Lurk said. He also gave her two small horns a rub, she seemed to have gained horns from the ogre trait early. Lurk examined the advanced menu briefly looking at her shape. It had been changing slowly the more mana he had been dumping into Sala during her pregnancy, so Lurk began to surmised that evolution had something to do with mana. But it would also have something to do with using skills and fighting and being stressed. Thinking back to the prepared cave that he was born in that apparently had a high amount of ambient mana. His father had clearly prepared for this exact thing. To soak the goblin offspring in as much mana as possible to enhance their evolution chances.


    "What did you say?" Sala asked as she poked Lula again, getting her finger almost bit by the active Lula. Lurk handing Lula over to Sala.


    "I thought she would maybe learn elvish if I spoke it to her..." Lurk said as he looked at Sala struggle playing with Lula, it was a tad to aggressive play but Lula did not seem to mind exactly. Lurk noticed that Lula was trying to go for Sala''s chest and he quickly pointed it out.


    "I think she is just hungry." Lurk pointed to Sala''s chest


    "huh''?... Oh, let''s get her some meat! I could eat too!"


    "Uh ..Well... She would maybe prefer this instead. " Lurk hinted at Sala''s slightly increased chest size. But Sala still stared at him oddly. But Resti who was sitting near them quickly interjected.


    "He means she wants milk from you... Though looking at her teeth I think she could eat meat" Resti said looking at the odd flailing baby. She shivered thinking of getting that mouth with sharp canines near her own chest.


    "Huh?..." Sala looked down and it kinda dawned on her slowly, she quickly lifted up her shirt Lurk had made to her and Lula latched onto quickly making Sala squeel from surprised.


    "Oi! gentle now Lula!" Lurk said giving the goblin a gentle *bonk* on her head. which caused her to be more careful, and then slowly turned into a normal looking baby feeding she even closed her eyes looking content. Lurk told Sala to try and be gentle and caring with her. He wanted to try and stop the aggressive behavior in its tracks... But he had little hope for the Bonk dealer that was Sala.


    Sala was confused as Lurk showed her, as he stroked Lula''s head and smiled. Sylvie also came inside with some cloth that could be used to wrap up Lula. She quieted down and just seemed to be feeding.


    "So uhm... She also has that curse you have been talking about Lurk?" Resti asked as she looked at Sala feeding Lula. Sala had also calmed down and looked down at Lula with a strangle calm look.


    "Yes... I am afraid so... But it is very low..." Lurk had a grim face again, thinking about the Evil trait always made him scrunch up his face.


    "I never knew goblins were -forced- to act in a certain way..." Resti said playing a bit with Lula''s tiny hand. She had only heard of the horrors goblins would do, but thinking that this cute looking tiny goblin could do such things were far away...


    "She is cute though..." Resti said while contemplating on the implications of all the goblins being controlled by some greater power.


    "I agree... I also want one..." Sylvie had also sat down as she also wanted to pet Lula, Lurk nodding at her when she did, so he allowed her to do so. Now Lurk who had just sat back and relaxed suddenly along with Resti gasped out at Sylvies statement. If he had been drinking anything he would have spurted out water everywhere. Resti had frozen completely staring at Sylvie.


    ""whaa?? wait"" Lurk&Resti


    "I Agree! Sala allows it!"The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ""Huh?!"" Lurk&Resti


    "Oh.. uh... uhm I didn''t...but..." Sylvie also jumped back a bit. she had spoken her mind a bit, and she squirmed a bit looking at Lurk and Sala shyly. Resti''s mouth was opened in shock, she wanted to object but she was unable to do so.


    "No buts! Sala knows Sylvie likes to look when Sala and Lurk are having fun when we mate!" Sala proclaimed loudly and proudly. Resti almost fainting as she was unable to absorb this information, she too had -heard- Lurk and Sala''s night activities and had lambasted Lurk for it the next day. She would have rushed into their room and stopped it but she was to shy to do it at the time. Would she have seen Sylvie peeking?!! Sylvie did sleep near the room entrance, saying she wanted to be closer to her master.


    "That..! That is just your collar speaking!" Resti manage to utter out words and get out of her frozen state. "You too must resist the urge of wanting to serve your master!" Resti angrily said.


    "uhm... But master had canceled all the regular commands from the collar... So we should not have any urges..." Sylvie said quietly, Resti once more stopping dead in her tracks.


    "... I ... I did not mean i had such urges!!" Resti''s face was burning up, as she recoiled from the words from Sylvie.


    "One way to find out!" Sala said as she grabbed the control rod that way lying next to her.


    "Sylvie and Resti you should act out like you want with Lurk!" Sala said proudly as if she had just thought of the best solution ever. Lurk Resti and Sylvie both looked at her dumbstruck. Lurk himself had been trying to get a word in but it was impossible at the rate the girls were shouting back and forth. When suddenly there was a dead stop in the room. Sylvie and Resti slowly turned to look at Lurk.


    "Sala... quick... Cancel the command!..."


    "Nope!." Sala said and hid the control rod. Sylvie''s face flushed as she slowly moved towards Lurk, Resti seemed to be struggling not moving from her spot. All her mental focus on not acting on the command.


    Lurk slid back towards the wall. Sylvie slowly crawling over towards him, her cat ears wiggling and tail, whom her clothes Lurk had made now was able to be free, swaying back and forth. Lurk saying it looked better that way.


    "You can''t force them to act against their wished Sala!" Lurk said angrily as Sylvie reached him. She was larger than him as he stared into her lusting eyes. Her hands trapping Lurk on either side of him. Her face leaning in close towards his.


    "Sylvie and Resti! Please do not do anything you do not want to do!.... but do act according to your feelings towards Lurk!" Sala grinned waggling the control rod at Lurk with a grin.


    Lurk held Sylvie at bay, who now looked a bit sad.


    "Does master not like me..." She looked at him with sad kitty eyes. Lurks heart cracked a bit and he let down his guard. Sylvie pushing in closer giving his lips a lick.


    "Uh, no... it''s not that its jus.." Sylvie licked him again. "I... I do but... You are not yourself..." Another lick as Lurk was struggling to handle the beastkins way of kissing when suddenly Sylvie was shuffled a bit to the side. Resti suddenly was up close alongside Sylvie, Lurk was worried now! she had been lobbing fireballs left and right at him whenever things got any kind of awkward between them like this. He was worried that Sala''s command would finally cause her to flip a fireball at him with proper killing intent!!


    "I... I... Me too... I like Lurk..." Resti was struggling her face the only thing burning from her cheeks blushing madly.


    "... Wait ?... What?..." Lurk was stunned, when a new lick came in from Sylvie, Resti to leaned in giving Lurk a kiss.


    "Sala knows best! Sylvie and Resti! if you want too you should get out of your clothes!" Sala said grinning as she looked on while holding Lula in her arms gentling rocking her back and forth.


    Lurk stared as Sylvie lifted her shirt off exposing her body to Lurk, she had dark skin colored stripes on her back like a feline would have, but Lurk did not notice as he was now looking at a pair of breasts on a cute Catgirl, Resti was hesitating still.


    "Lurk... Should you not say something to Resti?" Sala said grinning.


    Lurk managed to look to Resti who was squirming, she was not lifting her shirt off or making motions to do so... She had just proclaimed she liked him... Sala''s words rang in his head.


    "... I like you too Resti..."


    Resti''s eyes widened up. Looking at Lurk looking at her gently with a smile.


    "Oh.. I..." Resti paused, but then seemed to stop struggling, her shirt coming off. her ample breasts also becoming visible to Lurk as she moved closer along with Sylvie.


    ---


    ---


    Lurk was lying on the beddings with Sylvie and Resti next to him. Sala''s naked form sitting on him having just finished her turn, grinning at Lurk as she laid down on him.


    "Seee... Sala was right!" She said between her heavy breaths. Lurk looking slightly worn out. She gave Lurk a kiss, she had begun to like being this affectionate with him.


    "Yes... but using that to force them to act was still a bit..."


    "It''s fine master... I''m happy she did it..." Sylvie said quietly looking at lurk with a happy smile, she was also rather worn out. Lurks stamina had been quite more than she expected. Lurk turning to look at Resti who looked conflicted.


    "... I ... I was happy you worked so hard to save us... And I liked how hard you tried to make everyone happy... But I was not quite ready for my resistance to just melt..." Resti huffed at Sala who had made her ignore that voice in her head about whether it was right or wrong to be liking a goblin.


    "Pah! Sala knew how it was. Goblin Females can tell such things!" Sala grinned, resting on Lurk with a proud tired smile.


    "... Huur... Just do not let it become a habit too..."


    But Lurk did not say anything more. as he suddenly stopped dead. He began shaking a bit, Sala sat up looking worried.


    "what? whats wrong Lurk?!" She said as Resti and Sylvie also sat up looking at Lurk who had a terrified look on his face, he turned to look at them. Their naked bodies were covered up by the Menu in front of him.


    [Please pick a name for your First Spawn Via Sylvie]


    +2 Family Bloodline Points


    [Please pick a name for your Second Spawn Via Sylvie]


    +1 Family Bloodline Points


    [Please pick a name for your First Spawn Via Resti]


    +2 Family Bloodline Points


    [Please pick a name for your Second Spawn Via Sala]


    +1 Family Bloodline Points


    [Fire Magic: Strong: Resti] Absorbed


    [Mana Resonance: Strong: Sylvie] Absorbed


    [New options in Elite Traits: Woodelf - BeastKin"cat"]


    "Wha..."


    "Whaaaaa..."


    "... Whaaaaaaaat?!?!...!"

 43. Happy place

    Lurk had decided to retreat into the advanced menu.


    It was, of course, the most logical place to go to, since his more emotional side of him had shortcircuited. Now he could look on with a sage and calm demeanor. Of course, he was alone here inside the Advanced menu, the mana circles ticking along around his avatar in the middle of it.


    "Ah, such a soothing rhythm, and order that does not suddenly leap out at you and crush your world with too heavy demands and responsibilities...But it cannot be that bad can it?..."


    Lurk quickly peaked out of the advanced menu, seeing himself still being utterly shocked and being shaken back and forth by Sala as his dim eyes stared ahead. He quickly retreated back to the advanced menu.


    But unfortunately, he caught a glimpse of four runes wiggling around him as if demanding his attention. The four runes all seemed to be collapsed Avatar states that all were connected to his own. They were dancing around his head but he did his best to ignore them.


    "Ahh.. so soothing this calm place..." One of the runes bonked him on the head. Or it might have been outside influenced that was being translated into this calm happy place inside his mind.


    Lurk released a sigh, and brought the four runes to a halt in front of him, opening each one up, he saw the four goblin avatars still not locked down, their body indistinct and their faces merely basic templates and not defined as much as his own or Lula''s.


    "Please enter a name." Each rune said towards him, waiting to be integrated into the system properly, the name seemed to be the most important thing before the form of the avatar could take place...


    "Why is the name so crucial..." Lurk pondered over this but he could not ignore reality much longer, he sighed and steeled himself mentally and closed down the advanced menu, reality returning once more to his senses.


    "Lurk?! Sylvie what happened to him? can you heal him?" Sala''s voice was the first thing that he heard she sound desperate after her usual head bonk did not stir Lurk to react.


    "Uhm I do not think so... oh look he is awake now!" Sylvie was unsure but her eyes lit up seeing Lurk being aware again.


    "What happened Lurk?? You kinda blacked out there for a while??" Resti asked looking slightly worried, she had seen him meditate like this before. Of course, it looked more gracefully than the shocked look on his face and then him going half unconscious.


    "I forgot that the real enemy was not the evil curse... damn ravenous trait..." Lurk said to them, the last bit mumbling it quietly to himself. The evil trait was more obvious with how it was pushing his will to act, but the damn ravenous trait just seemed to flow perfectly with him. And of course, combined with the Fertile trait they combined into the true strong enemy that was now crushing him down.


    "Huh?." "what?" "Sala does not get it" The girls all looked at each other and then Lurk.


    "... Haaahh... Right, so you are all pregnant... Sala somehow is again... Thought that was not possible..." Lurk said in a rather flat tone as he rubbed his chin, he was actually not sure on how soon a woman could be pregnant RIGHT after having given birth. But this did not make sense.


    "Ooh! Great!" Sala said grinning widely, nodding to her self feeling great for forcing the issue Sylvie and Resti were having.


    "Huh...?... uhm.. how do you... oh.." Resti was a tad dismissal but she did remember that goblins were extremely fertile... they would make children even with the most barren of women... Regardless of the time...She looked down at her stomach and kinda froze, it was one of those moments where she had not really thought that far.


    "... I''m glad, master." Sylvie smiled sweetly at Lurk sitting up straight, Lurks flat and strong facade that he was trying to hold up, melted when he saw Sylvie smile and her tail whipping around happily.


    "Oh, that''s good... You actually have two kids, so I guess its twins." Lurk smiled now Sylvie''s smile infected him and calmed him down. He turned to look at Resti who was holding her stomach.


    "Are you ok Resti?" Lurk said with some concern.


    "I... I''m just... a little scared... " Resti said quietly, she had after all been living a normal life with her mother in the village, though she was ostracized a little due to her elven nature, she had not really been around many of the boys in the village and mostly kept to studying with her mother and doing her chores... She suddenly remembered her mother and a tear came to her eyes.


    "... I... What would mother think of this..." She gave a quiet sob to herself, she suddenly felt Lurk hug her and she cried into his shoulder. She also felt Sylvie hug her. She cried for a while. When Sala who had been looking on feeling awkward, she was not used to this way of acting but she did feel sad, which was odd for her, plus normally having a -parent- focus on a child like she had been doing.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Normally goblins would just ignore their young, the chief deciding where and how they would be placed in the tribe, she just felt she needed to make strong offspring. But meeting Lurk now her way of living had changed, and Lurk had definitely wanted Lula to be with Sala and him as much as possible.


    The mood in the air from Resti was affecting her somehow, she was not used to this as she could somewhat relate. even her eyes became misty, causing her to wipe her face.


    "Sala thinks that is silly!" She reacted like she normally would, and projected frustration or anger and try to take back control of the situation.


    "Sala thinks that your mother would be happy if your mate was strong and there to protect you!" Sala said out rather loudly, as she kept wiping her eyes that kept getting misty.


    "If you feel safe and... Happy with your mate..." The misty eyes turning a lot wetter.


    "... I want to be with Lurk and I know it''s ok! So know that if your mother wanted you to be happy and safe too! then she would approve!" Sala wiped her eyes and seemed to strengthen her resolve a bit more and finally look determined at the group.


    Lurk and Sylvie smiled looking at Sala, Resti sniffed her tears running down her face looking at Sala, their hug opening up as Resti moved for them to do so to make room for Sala, Sala once more had a tear run down her cheek and she moved into the group hug with her cheek against Resti. and they all hugged in a tight embrace.


    Lurk could barely contain the sensation in his heart, his emotions feeling first sad then immensely happy due to Sala calming down Resti and how Sylvie had been happy too all hammered him with emotions. But still, no tears were there. He wondered if goblins simply could not cry, but Sala just had. He did not mind crying when it was like this... Maybe he had dried up his tears from his first life. He had never had such a moment like this, multiple girls who all liked him sharing their worries and opening their hearts in this fashion.


    Lurk simply smiled stupidly as he hugged tightly before letting go, as he looked at the girls that also broke up the hug, smiling at him.


    "So... What do you want them to be named..." Lurk said to them, and then confusion seemed to hit the girls and they looked back and forth between each other.


    "What do you mean?... We should know their name once they are born right?" Resti said tilting her head slightly?


    "Yes? Just like Lula! Sala really liked that name!" Sala smiled looking over at Lula that was in a basket wrapped up and sleeping.


    "Uhm... What do you mean master?... Names are something you are born with?"


    Lurk looked at them dumbly, he had thought initially that it was only goblins that were given a name by the system since they also seemed to be controlled by something and even given memories and knowledge to make them functional almost right away from birth.


    "... How do you know the name?" Lurk looked at Sala questioningly


    "Well, its like when you train hard! and then you get a feeling that you have become better at something! I just felt it right as Lula was born her name coming to me!" Sala beamed as she explained.


    ("... That sounds like my menu... but it''s not the same... Does everyone have this menu but its different for everyone? Sala''s menu seems to be on an instinctual level without numbers or lists...")


    "Well when I train and I improve I can see runic symbols that my mother taught me during magic class, so I am able to see how far I have come, it differs from person to person but if you have been taught a special way to observe your inner self it will be able to give greater details. Some of the friends of my mother were extremely talented and could see minute differences when they trained." Resti said looking to Lurk who stared back with an intense look.


    "... Can you get an understanding of how your fire magic works when you think on it?... Like a description of it coming to your mind?"


    "Uhm... No?... I can feel the magic element flow and sense its strength? Like some runes will be shown to properly give a reflection of how well I have trained and improved. But that kind of details I do not have?" Resti said as it slowly dawned on her.


    "Can you see that much detail with your powers on your inner self?!?!?" Resti said as she leaned forward eagerly, realizing that Lurk must have been able to understand a lot more from his inner self which was how he could become so strong so fast in all his abilities!


    Lurk opened his eyes wide, he was again reminded that they were all still naked and she just leaned forward, causing her mountains to wiggle from the sudden motion, he quickly focused on the conversation and did not give the ravenous trait an inch to advanced.


    "Ah.. eh... Yes, I can see when I have learned something and what its purpose is and I can also see that I have gotten you pregnant, and have an option to chose their names..." Lurk decided to not get too much further into the Menu as it might be too overwhelming this early on. Plus it would take forever to explain to them. Sala was already getting ready to clock out from this much.


    "That''s amazing..." Resti said looking at Sylvie who also seemed to be impressed. Sala just beamed with pride over having picked such a strong mate, when it dawned on her and she quickly asked.


    "Wait?! so you picked the name Lula??" She looked at Lurk intensely and also leaned forward


    "ah uh yes?!" Lurk tried really really hard to keep focusing on the current topic, but the ravenous trait was howling in his head to skip the talky talk.


    "Why did you not ask me then! I would have said she should have been named... Destroyer! Smasher! The Great One!" Her eyes beaming with ambition as she started naming off names... That more sounded like titles.


    "Uhm... Well, I went with my first two letters of my name and your last two... Lu and La" Lurk said calmly to Sala, as he simply thought the name sound cute like that. But this caused Resti and Sylvie to both lean forward. Lurks eyes widening again as they were now hastily moving around trying to take it all in.


    "You can see your names?! In letters?! You can read it?!" Resti burst out, she seemed more and more impressed. She had only heard of a few people being able to make a concise and properly defined Inner self like this. One was an archmage that said he had a great list of details before him that he could preview all at a glance.


    "Ah... Eh yes...." Lurk was trying to answer and fight the ravenous trait at the same time, it was seriously dimming his ability to hold a proper conversation. His body had long since given in and his soldier was standing at attention once more. But he saw the menu flashing and examining it the names seemed to be on a countdown before a random name would be picked.


    "Oh... It''s is a limited time before we cannot pick our selves anymore." Lurk managed to say as it calmed him down.


    "So... What do you want our kid''s names to be?" He smiles at the three.

 44. Exploit ?

    Lurk looked over the four avatars in his advanced menu as they began to settle into the selection mode for skills and abilities. He had talked with the girls briefly about their names and out of nostalgia or simply just tradition Lurk and the girls mostly decided for the names to follow the four letters, so far. Save for Resti who wanted a special name. Sala had been discouraged from the names "Destroyer, WorldEater, Crasher, Smasher", Lurk managed this by saying a name without an accomplishment would not be as good. Sylvie thought of four names from her tribe she liked as well. As they needed to put in the names for either gender.


    Starting with Sylvie''s Lurk moved the two avatars in front of him and their magic circles expanded out showing all the options to be picked for each of them. He noticed that they already had a special option waiting to be filled out. He looked over Sylvies menu first, opening the important options to view.


    ____________________________________________


    [Progenitor Menu Access!]


    [Edit Options] : Costs FBP points to alter


    Race : (100% Beastkin - Feline)


    Class : Healer LVL 1


    Name : Sylvie


    Sex : Female


    Age : 19 years


    Status : Second Consort


    Father : Danicor (100% Beastkin-Feline)


    Mother : Silva (100% Beastkin-Feline)


    Children : *Unknown - two waiting for edit*


    - Stats -


    [STR] : 7


    [AGI] : 20 (10+10)


    [STA] : 7


    [WIS] : 12 (Broken Soul Link)


    [INT] : 14


    [LUK] : 30


    Health : 34/34


    Mana : 10 / 10


    - Abilities -


    [Speech : Beastkin]


    [Climbing : Small]


    - Traits -


    [BeastKin Soul]


    [Night Vision]


    [Holy Magic - Strong]


    [Mana Resonance]


    -Elite-


    [Soul Twin Link] - Disabled (Mana damaged - WIS negated)


    [Feline Agility Boost]


    Titles : Slave, Second Consort of the Goblin Progenitor


    _____________________________________________


    [EDIT OPTIONS FOR SPAWN]


    -Natural Abilities-


    [Beastkin Soul]


    [Goblin Body]


    [Beastkin Body addons - not active]


    [Night Vision] (disabled in favor of Darkvision)


    [Dark Vision]


    [Balanced] (requires physical tail - unable to learn)


    [Strong Holy Magic] *


    [Slightly Evil] (Reduction detected, unable to go lower due to Progenitor Limit)


    -! Special !-


    [Soul Twin Link - Cost 1 FTB]


    (Current Soul Link -Sylvie- is missing Soul Twin Link - Access can be granted - Would you like to accept? Cost total 1 FTB)


    -Elite-


    [Feline Agility Boost] 0 FTB (ability learned)


    [Feline Claws] 1 FBT


    [Feline Agility Power] 2 FTB


    _____________________________________________


    Lurk needed to think about the elite traits, as they would be carried onto the next generations and seemed to be important to create stronger evolutions. But one option he saw that made him grin was the [Beastkin-Feline body add-ons] He tried to flip it to active, and the avatars gained cat ears and tails, and a lot more hair on their head and ankles.


    Beastkin body also seemed to have an increased chance of the gender being female, the Beastkin must have more females than males. Lurk could only picture such a wonderful society. The dream of many a nerd out there. He would definitely examine this dream society one day!


    But before he could come down to the elite traits, he saw a flashing option on a new tab.


    [Soul Twin Link], it was possible to learn as an elite skill? but Sylvie had it already? but it said it was no longer active.


    Lurk had a hunch what had happened now to Sylvie''s mana, he expanded the [Soul Twin Link]...


    _____________________________________________


    [Soul Twin Link]


    A special trait only few of the chosen uplifted races has.


    It is a rare ability that is shared between twins born under a special mana influence of the [Abjuration Magic] type. Their souls are forever linked, sharing mana and many special abilities and spells if they are able to traverse through the soul link. Regardless of positive or negative.


    "For better or worse we are together forever."


    Great Khan Garoon to his sister the Great Priestess Faroon


    (Warning! this soul link has been disrupted due to Waroon - brother has died - Causing mana damage to the current link and mental disturbance during spell casting)


    _____________________________________________


    ("So Sylvie had a brother at a time, and they shared a soul link that would be a great assistance to them both. But when did he die? Sylvie seemed to have hinted she has had this mana problem since she was young. Well... I can see a great deal of benefit with this skill... But wait it says i can restore the link?... So she would be linked to me?...")


    [Elite power Activated - Soul Twin Link - Link established]


    Lurk could suddenly feel his mana pool gain some extra mana as his and Sylvies pool was linked together, along with the current ability he had learned [Soul Resonance] his mana now recharged extremely fast. Sylvie would also now have access to this massive mana pool, Lurk wondered how she would feel about it. He thought she deserved it since she had been suffering for so long without the ability to properly use her Holy magic, never learning advanced spells. Now she would be as strong as him with holy magic.


    Right now though she was sleeping along with Resti and Sala and himself. After the naming debate, they couldn''t help but notice his soldier that he had with pure willpower kept at bay from assaulting them. So after one more group round, they all fell asleep except for Sala who went out to brag and show Lula around. Lurk deciding to sleep and go into the advanced menu to set up the new kids and their abilities. Whilst also overviewing his own.


    He opened up the two twins. setting their names for each gender the system would then use the name that was selected with the correct gender. Lurk looked over the Avatars in both their genders how they looked, Goblins with cat ears and tails... He had to say they looked way too cute. Who in their right mind would call this barbarous evil goblins? They also seemed slightly taller and more slender, the back of their bodies had darker coloration stripes on their skin just like Sylvie. Lurk had examined those stripes while having good fun with Sylvie and found the patters just like a tiger running down her back extremely nice looking. He could modify the gender selections process again, deciding that for the betterment of the world this demanded to be catgirl goblins. so he maxed out the female % chance as much as possible.


    [Pick a Gender and name for each gender]


    [85%] Female (+10%) Name : Mauti - Hana


    [15%] Male (-10%) Name : Kuo - Rugry


    _____________________________________________


    -[Inherited Potential Traits]-


    [Holy Magic] : Chance to learn (Small, Medium, Strong)


    [Wind Magic] : Chance to learn (weak, normal, small)


    [Fire Magic] : Chance to learn (weak)


    -[100%]-


    [Speech : Goblin]


    [Speech : Beastkin]


    [Darkvision]


    [Goblin Soul]


    [Goblin Body] + [Beastkin Feline Addons - ACTIVE]


    [Minor Evil] (tiny random chance of increased potency due to outside interference)


    -Special-


    [Soul Twin Link: Boon of the elders] 100% chance


    -[Elite]-


    [Feline Agility Boost: Beastkin] 100% chance


    [Feline Claws: Beastkin] 0% chance (Female parent has potential but is not unlocked)


    [Feline Agility Power: Beastkin] 0% chance (Female parent has potential but is not unlocked)


    [Chance for a random number of traits to appear] : 0 to 2


    _____________________________________________


    He put the rest of the elite powers aside for now since he now had a lot of FTB to spend he wanted to examine the rest of the kids before buying any more. He kept the 5 FTB for now before activating the two twins and locking them down.Stolen story; please report.


    He turned his attention to Restis baby, the other two avatars, now with a lot more complex runes and magic circles swirling around them. A glowing soul link rune between them showing that they also had the same link due to Lurks manipulations - despite the link being rare and required mana called abjuration mana type - which he was not sure what meant exactly, but clearly they had the soul link already. Maybe the menu was abjuration? He had no way to find out for now.


    Restis Avatar came up along with her baby''s avatar as they both unfolded showing their runes and magic circles.


    ____________________________________________


    [Progenitor Menu Access!]


    [Edit Options] : Costs FBP points to alter


    Race : Half-Elf (Human 50%) - (Wood Elf 50%)


    Class : Mage LVL 1


    Name : Resti Firewarden


    Sex : Female


    Age : 17 years


    Status : Third Consort


    Father : Fenner Greenvine (100% Wood Elf)


    Mother : Alicia Firewarden


    Children : *Unknown - one waiting for edit*


    - Stats -


    [STR] : 7


    [AGI] : 12


    [STA] : 7


    [WIS] : 18


    [INT] : 20


    [LUK] : 20


    Health : 20/20


    Mana : 48/48


    - Abilities -


    [Speech : Elf]


    [Speech : Human]


    [Caligraphy]


    - Traits -


    [Elven Soul]


    [Fire Magic - Strong]


    [Bow] : normal


    [Stealth] : normal


    -Elite-


    [Light Step] : Wood Elf 1 FBP


    [Eagle Eyes]: Wood Elf 1 FBP


    [Barkskin]: Wood Elf 2 FBP


    [Elemental Spirit : Fire] 4 FBP


    Titles : Ancestor of the firekeeper, Slave


    _____________________________________________


    Once more Lurk saw an elven temple, now he had both High, Dark and now wood elf. He wondered how many there were, he had discusses with Resti getting a proper History lesson from her as he needed to know a bit more about the world at large. He had only learned about the viewpoint of the goblins and some small bit of information about the Great Kingdom and the current situation with the nearby town being destroyed by goblins.


    Her kid would have a good chance at Strong Fire magic. He thought about spending some FTB points to make sure it would learn the same level of magic. It would cost two FTB though. But he noticed something about Restis Elites. She had a nonracial Elite trait.


    _____________________________________________


    [Elemental Spirti]


    The great human archmage once tempered the mana flows within a volcano - he absorbed the massive left over fire mana creating a special link to fire mana. Becoming one with the element. His family would sometimes inherit the ability apon the death of the former Keeper of the elemental spirit


    (Spirit is unclaimed at this moment)


    [+400% Fire Magic]


    [Resist Fire strong]


    "I have tamed nature itself to my will! Feel the burn!!!"


    Arch Mage Will Danister


    _____________________________________________


    ("... That''s stupidly OP... How hard must it have been to stop a volcano? So magic is capable to do things on that scale? Wait... If I could get this ability... Then the kid would most likely also get it. No, wait it is only one spirit at the time?... So if I activated it in Resti... She would get it... But... What would happen to me...")


    Lurk tried to check it active, luckily nothing was permanent until he accepted the choices. But spirit seemed to stick to Resti. But he could see a list of people that could inherit it, where he was the second one on the list after the kid. But it kept skipping back and forth between first and second. So clearly something was messing up how the Spirit was supposed to skip to the next person upon the bearers death.


    Delving deeper into the runes he could see the Spirit would be connected specifically to the soul of the bearer, and it would not allow transferring like the other abilities he would learn. There was clearly only "one" spirit so it would not suddenly double because he learned it from her. He would just become an inheritor of it.


    Taking it off Resti and then checking the Elemental spirit list once more it had several people lined up to inherit it... So the archmages family still exists... But none of them had managed to inherit it... He could only picture that the family would lose their minds if they found out the spirit had actually picked someone else. From the list of the names, they were clearly nobility. But Resti had lived in a quiet village with her mother... And a half breed between a Wood-elf... It did not take much imagination to see that Resti''s mother had been exiled or perhaps even worse fled. So if the family knew her kid suddenly inherited the spirit...


    Lurk suddenly had a flash of inspiration. He examined the spirit if it was attached to Resti''s soul once more. He then did a simulation of his soul doing a soul link with hers. The fire spirit''s benefits would carry over!!...


    ("... I think I can do this if I am a bit clever about the sequence... This is so weird to do... but the benefits are too good to not do this...")


    Lurk quickly looked over Sala''s kid and saw that all the old benefits he picked for Lula were already in place since the upgrades he did to Sala would give the new kid the same chances of abilities. Plus the more interesting ones of Sala''s upgrades were extremely expensive... He would have to do that Ogre Magi curse unlock...


    [Sala offspring Locked down - Name picked]


    "Luke" Male Goblin/Ogre


    After making sure that what he wanted to work actually was possible... He activated Sylvie''s kids and locked them down. He inherited all the abilities he had purchased for her. Including the soul link.


    [Sylvie offspring Locked down - Names picked]


    "Mauti" Female Goblin/Beastkin


    "Hana" Female Goblin/Beastkin


    He then purchased [Soul Twin Link] for Resti, and then unlocked the [Fire Elemental Spirit] on her. Her Avatar suddenly had an intense Flame rune hovering around. Her magic circles increasing in seriously complicated runes and potent pulses from the Spirit rune. The rune itself was imposing and large. Lurk tried to examine the rune system built around the spirit rune, but felt it was way beyond anything he had ever seen or done.


    Plus when he was looking he felt this nagging feeling that something was looking back at him. The spirit must be aware, the runes keeping it in check as he could see the runes absorbing and directing the energy from the main core of the rune. He attempted to activate his Soul Twin link with Resti. His mana expanding even more, and he could feel the connection to the fire spirit was indeed there. But it did not convey its ability over. It required an active choice from the current user to give up the spirit.


    Lurk thought that the soul link itself to Resti was worth it. Giving access to her mana and other potential benefits it would give. The fire spirit itself was a boon that Resti could give him if she wanted too. He checked how the soul links worked, but they were only between himself and the girls. They themselves were not connected. Though they both shared his mana pool. Any effects he would have would split out to them, while if they had any effects they would only traverse over to him, strangely enough without carrying over. Checking the runes there clearly was something odd going on with the connection issue. But it was way too advanced for him to understand at the moment.


    ("I hope it does not accidentally create the great Goblin hivemind in the future because of this link") Lurk thought to himself as he sealed down Restis kid too and locked it down.


    [Sylvie offspring Locked down - Name picked]


    "Euric" Male Goblin/Wood-elf


    "Hey there kids..." Lurk said to himself as he looked at the three avatars in front of him as the runes and magic circles sped up upon activating their connections to him strengthening and their bodies begin to form properly within the girls. The avatar closing down to become symbol runes instead they fly over to his own avatar spinning around his, alongside Lula''s rune. His own magic circle enveloping them and connecting them to himself. Lurk focused and returned the real world awakening in the arms of Sylvie and feeling Resti lying next to him.


    He sat up, looking over at Resti, he opened his eyes wide. Her hair had begun to glow a fiery red and was gently shifting in fire colors. He suddenly remembered something horrible...


    ("I sure hope that she will stop lobbing fireballs at me... I do not think she will get away with tiny scorches on me anymore if she actually hits me... What have I done")


    Lurk feared for his future life as he began to ponder of ways to calm Restis quick instincts to lob friendly fireballs at him. When somewhere entirely else.


    ---


    ---


    ---


    In a great mansion inside the capital city of the kingdom of Fire Mountains. An old man with a long white beard, countless wrinkles, and stern looking eyes. His white hair was wild and unkempt. He was studying a Staff he was working on with a magic tool in his hand. Runes expanding in front of him which he altered before he sealed them onto the magic staff in front of him. The rune itself searing into the staff creating a permanent mark on the exquisite golden ring on the top that was supporting a red crystal that was glowing brightly red.


    The room was messy and filled with books and many odd devices that look super fragile and their purpose was beyond obscure. Many portraits on the walls showing each an individual person whose hair was like a flame and their demeanor was of high nobility and imposing power behind their glowing red eyes.


    In the back of the room was a device much larger than all the others, this one was like a clock, slowly ticking away. In the center of the device was a large red crystal. The device suddenly clicked in new gears and runes began to light up all along the device until it reached the center crystal that lit up brightly, glowing a furious red. The room was suddenly bathed in the light from the crystal. The man stopped working on the staff from shock, he actually managed to fail the rune cutting a ugly line on the staff.


    He quickly turned around his eyes turning red from the light in the room.


    "...Finally!!! Our family will become great again!!!" A massive grin appearing on his face as the machine ticked on in the room. The crystal pulsing, deep within the crystal was the face of Resti looking back.

 45. Firekeeper

    Resti was sleeping quietly, her hair was shifting colors still back and forth, making it look like her hair was the color of burning fire. Lurk thought he had better get Resti involved in his idea of latching an Immense volcanic fire spirit to her soul. So he gently shook her shoulder. Resti yawned and opened her eyes, it was comfortable and warm in the workshop as Resti seeing Lurk trying to improve everyone''s comfort had also helped with her fire magic to place down small heating spells that would last a great deal of time. But they did cost a lot of mana. She was a bit jealous at Lurks seemingly large mana pool as he had also cast Light spells and renewed them regularly. She had used a lot of her mana to help Lurk, keeping enough for usual emergencies as her mother always taught her.


    She stretched and sat up with the furs she had wrapped around her, feeling extremely wellrested. It had been a long time since she had felt this way. But she could tell the heating spell in this room had already gone out, the warmth she had right now was from sharing the furs with Lurk and Sylvie.


    As she thought about that her face reddened as she looked at Lurk. He was looking a bit odd at the moment. Was he still acting weird around her despite them having shared such a passionate night?. Resti sighed as she decided to put the heat spell back in place and talk to Lurk, whos face just got a tad more odd, as she did her fire spell aimed at the place in the corner for the rune.


    "Yawn... Morning Lurk... ["Lesser Heat"]...wa?.....Waaaahhhh!!!"


    Lurk stared with wide panicked eyes as Resti chanted the usual spell she had done countless times during their stay here. Place small glowing runes on surfaces that would then begin to emit a gentle warmth. Lurk thought it was a clever spell that took the place of a room heater. But this time the spell was suddenly several times more potent. The corner having a pulsing rune, the room quickly turned hot, as waves of heat came out from the corner. It was not painfully hot it was just the sudden change in temperature that shocked Resti and Lurk.


    Clearly, the fire spirit was supercharging the spell, and Resti had poured in a percentage of mana as she usually does, but her mana pool had just multiplied several times over since she was now connected to Lurks larger mana pool. Lurk thought this was still way more than what the description of the fire spirits bonuses said. Perhaps the fire spirit was giving out way more power right now since it had not been used in a while??


    Lurk grabbed Sylvie who was still sleeping gently and pulled her out of the furs as they leaped out of the room. Resti following right behind. The glow from the rune lighting up behind them. Normally it would be a gentle glowing dull red, but now it was a pulsing fiery color.


    "What in the realm! Lurk! What happe...." Resti said loudly as they stood outside of the small room Lurk had claimed as his own bedroom, when Resti was about to scold/ask Lurk what in the world was going on. She froze midsentence as she noticed a lot of eyes on her and Lurk standing there.


    Naked.


    The women and Emily looked over with an odd look, especially Emily. The goblins all looked extremely pleased, Sala included looked like she was beaming with pride and glee, now grinning as she joined the others staring at the naked trio, Lurk holding the sleeping catgirl, so easily despite his size.


    "Eeeeee!!...."


    ---


    ---


    ---


    A bit later Resti was sitting back inside the bedroom, with clothes on this time. Sylvie had not woken up to full consciousness and went back to sleep pretty quickly once they returned inside the bedroom after Resti had calmed down and turned the heat spell off. Resti was looking judgingly at Lurk, petting Sylvie''s hair and large fluffy cat ears. As Sylvie had chosen to lay her head in Restis Lap, looking extremely lazy.


    "So... You somehow awoke or -activated as you said- the great fire spirit of my mothers family... And attached it to me during my sleep..."


    Lurk had filled her in on the activity he had been doing while she slept, she had been told that Lurk had some form of influence on the child in her belly, and he had managed to figure out how to activate the spirit''s connection to her blood.


    "... More or less ..." Lurk said sitting across Resti, looking at her as she sat with closed stern looking eyes and an angry frown.


    "More or less?!! Our family has been trying for the last couple of generations too -Activate- the fire spirit! You did it while I slept on a whim?!" Resti exclaimed in a stern but not to loud voice, her eyes glowing red as she expressed herself. Though she was reined in by the fact Sylvie having suddenly laid her head on her thighs before dozing off saying "soft". So she was holding back her frustration and anger she had due to the ludicrousness of this goblin in front of her.


    "Yes!, I could see you had a connection to a fire spirit! so I expended some energy to form the connection back up!" Lurk said quickly startled by Restis intense aura and stern voice, as her fiery hair and glowing red eyes now made her look that much more intimidating.


    "... hah... You are just too much... How can you just do something like this... That fire spirit is an ancient legacy of my ancestor... I should not be able to have it due to my... Father and mothers connection it needs his pure bloodline... My mother had to flee her country because of her involvement with my father... My family is very strict on the mingling of bloodlines...I hated them for it..." Resti said as she somewhat calmed down as remembering her mother and father arguing one day where they thought she was not home.


    But she heard her mothers frustration and anger over being discarded from her family, she clearly had a lot of pent up feelings and the fight with her lover allowed her to suddenly vent out. Resti had run away hearing her mothers anger at basically her having decided to run off with her father. Resti felt her mother was disappointed having had Resti as a child, her being brought up in a family where finding the best potential mate to carry the bloodline and reignite the fire spirit in their family. Restis mother had rebelled in her youth after meeting the charming and dazzling wood elf adventurer and it had cost her family.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "It''s that bad huh?... They were hunting your mother?" Lurk said gently as the mood had calmed down, Resti''s hair had even returned to normal along with her eyes, so clearly the fire spirit was something you could pull out, and now it had apparently pulled back during the somber remembrance of a bad moment in Resti''s life.


    "Yes... Feverent parts of my family kept the family close, trying their best to not get splinter off families that could potentially awaken the fire spirit, the family was built around the potential power the person could wield for the family. My mother going off could invite others to do the same, or even worse suddenly lead the fire spirit away from the main family if it decided to appear in a -bastard- offspring" Resti said the color in her hair once more whipping up a fiery color as she began talking in detail of her mothers family.


    "My mother managed to flee when they realized she was pregnant, they managed to avoid being found for many years, until one day when they stumbled across us, my father held them back while my mother and I escaped... Mother was very careful after that and began to live a more quiet life traveling further and further away from the family. Until we came to a quiet village where she managed to live a normal life, helping the village prosper from her knowledge."


    Lurk nodded listening to Resti tell her tale, her mood was easily discernable from her hair as it would shift in color as she brought up memories. He gently put her hand out on hers that was petting Sylvie''s hair.


    "I am sorry to hear that... also sorry I accidentally awoke your fire spirit..." Lurk said somberly and added in a little joke, in the end, to try and liven up the mood, giving Resti a gentle smile. He had just seen the Fire spirits description and thought the bonus it would give would be helpful, clearly, there was a bigger weight attached to it.


    "hehehe... You are so weird... But I am worried what my family will do if they find out I have the fire spirit..." Resti said as she smiled at Lurk as he tried to comfort her. But she remembered the way her mother had spoke of the fervor the family had around the fire spirit.


    "Why exactly are they so adamant about it?, do not get me wrong, it is a pretty big boost the fire spirit is giving you I can tell. Do they just want the ancestor''s power?" Lurk questioned Resti, as he joined in on petting Sylvie''s fluffy ears.


    "I think so... He was very powerful apparently, but my mother had mentioned that no one ever reached his potential despite even when they had the fire spirit. They were merely the main spokesperson of the family. It is a lot of nobles, after all, they were all extremely competitive to get the fire spirit, the one group in the family that had it would lay claim on the leadership after all..."


    "I guess you do not want to go back and claim the family leadership mantle?" Lurk said jokingly to Resti.


    "Definitely not! I hope they never find it." Her hair blazing up once more.


    "Well I think we can make that happen, can you feel this?" Lurk smiled at Resti, as he tried to activate the new soul link her had between her and him. Resti''s opened her eyes wide feeling something connecting to her spirit.


    "Yes?... what is that?... Is ... Is that you?" Resti stared wide-eyed at Lurk who smiled back nodding.


    "Can you see this here?" Lurk focused on asking for the fire spirit to switch over to his soul via the menu. Resti suddenly shifting her eyes to something entirely different in front of her eyes.


    "waa...what is this!??" Resti looked amazed as in front of her she could see the words hovering in front of her and the sensation of a yes or no answer to be given.


    "User [Lurk], Requesting access to [Fire Spirit]"


    ---


    ---


    ---


    Meanwhile in an entirely different part of the realm. In an extremely well-decorated room, sat a group of people around a large table, in the middle of it sat complex looking rune machinery. Above it floated a Red crystal. One of the men rose up as the person entered the room, the chatter and murmurs between the group of eight people quieted down.


    "Ah good Shamus you have arrived... Then we are all here... Take a seat and then Calman please begin..." The man at the head of the table state to the newcomer, He was the current voted in spokesperson of the great Firekeeper family, his hair was a strong red, in fact, every person''s hair in here was a strong red color, except the last person who entered who had dark black hair. The disdain clearly is seen in some of the people sitting at the table as they saw Shamus entering the room and making his way to the table.


    "I would never ignore a call from the current leader, ah sorry I mean spokesperson of our family Lord Hamel," Shamus said as he sat down, looking around with a smirk at all the people in the room, he was clearly the youngest in the group, his clothes were rich and he had a striking form. compared to other old people sitting around he was clearly the odd one here. Even if you ignored he was the only one with dark hair instead of red.


    "Myes.... quite... Calman..." Hamel said nodding over to Calman the old wizen wizard that was responsible for the device on the table.


    "Lords and ladies of the Firekeepers family, the fire spirit has chosen a new host!" Calman exclaimed triumphantly to the table. He himself was not seated as he was merely a retainer of the current head of the family Lord Hamel, the people all had different reactions but they all instantly began to talk"


    "Who?!" "When did this happen?!" "Oh, I hope it''s my new niece!"


    "Quiet quiet, I will show you the new chosen one that will once more propel our family to greatness!" Calman said as pointed towards the device on the table.


    "Through my hard study of our ancestor I have designed this rune device to sense when the fire spirit has connected to someone, using the very Ley Crystal he once used to capture the spirit in before absorbing it into his glorious blood!"


    "Behold! our new hope for our family!!!" Calman made a gesture again towards the rune device and a red piece of energy left his hand and activated the runes as they began ticking and glowing with energy. The crystal lit up showing a brief moment of a girl''s face before it suddenly switched. And the picture of a goblin was now shown before all the head family members.


    "..." Calman stopped dead in his tracks, he had planned to begin questioning the family members if they knew who the girl was in the crystal... But now she suddenly shifted over to the look of a goblin male.


    A deadly silence was hanging in the room no one said a word or moved a muscle only the spinning crystal with Lurk''s face was mobile... the silence was broken by the laughter of Shamus, the dark-haired man had thrown his head back and was laughing loudly. The table then erupted into clamoring and loud yelling between all the members. Calman sunk his shoulders in despair as he stared at the crystal.


    ("... What in the name of the Firekeeper is this travesty!!!")

 46. The Old Ways

    Lord Hamel began trying to calm down the table, He too had been shocked by what he had seen happen, when Calman had approached him he had shown him the crystal beforehand, and it had a womans face.


    "Gentlemen! ladies!... Shamus!! Please! Order! Order!" Lord Hamel used a minor fire blast from his hand to cause a flash in the room, people stopping from the sudden flash, only Shamus kept giggling, he was still causing incredible strain on the people here in the room.


    "I am unsure what we are looking at, but! I can guarantee that this... Goblin... was not there earlier... Calman?" Lord Hamel explained himself, causing some of the anger to lower as he turned to look at Calman that had been silent and staring at the goblin in the crystal ever since it turned on.


    "...Yes... Yes, Lord Hamel, I am afraid something horrible has happened to the chosen one... It was a woman after all... I am afraid that... That... The woman must have been captured by a goblin and... bred... Now... This goblin is the host..." Calman was looking at the crystal, he had made a hand gesture and cast a spell at the machine, as runes began to drift out along the machines spinning armatures and spinning cogs. Calman''s eyes looking the runes over, some of the people at the table were also looking over the Runes, some of them were also gifted in the arts of magic.


    "... Y.y.you cannot mean that..." Lord Hamel stuttered as he heard Calman speak and examine the machine.


    "... I am afraid so... This goblin has a perfect connection with the Firespirit... I... I do not know how this is possible... It is like it was almost like the archmage himself..." Calman was staring at the runes, the machine he had kept running for years and that the family had used to read and detect their own bloodlines matches with the old archmage was showing perfect connections on all the vital points for the fire spirit. His mind was racing to try and understand how this could be..."


    "So perhaps now it is finally time for the family to acknowledge what a hopeless cause it is to fight over the fire spirit, now that the fire spirit is mingled in with goblin blood... Once that one goblin mates with anything then the Fire spirit will never find its way back to our bloodline." Shamus suddenly interjected and sat with his hands in front of his face. Staring at Lord Hamel with an intense look in his eyes.


    This caused the table once more to descend into a rabble most of them were now cursing at Shamus for his heresy, some were demanding Lord Hamel to find a solution, and then there were a few that went with Shamus and yelled back at the ones calling him a heretic.


    "Calm down! Calm down!... Calman... This is clearly an issue... But is there something that can be done... Can we find this goblin...?" Lord Hamel raised his hands and raised his voice to quell the table from turning into a religious battle site.


    "... It is possible... But it is a very vague search... If... If I was allowed to utilize pieces of the Ley Crystal I could create a portable search item... But... It would be incredibly hard to utilize and set up."


    "You... Want to carve pieces of the Ley Crystal?? You will have to find another way! It is one of the Archmages greatest accomplishments!" Lord Hamel and a great deal of the members around the table were shocked.


    An old woman sitting at the table, who also had been silent throughout the whole argument suddenly spoke out, the entire room of people stopped everything and turned to look at her. Her Name was Charlotte Firekeeper, she was one of the few people in the family that everyone respected. Her brother was the last person that had the fire spirit as a host, and she had guided her brother well back in the day. It was long past of course, but people still respected her since her tremendous work to gather wealth and fame for the family.


    "Could we see the woman you saw in the picture one more time please?" Her voice was gentle and wizen, but everyone took special attention to hear her out.


    "I ... Yes of course..." Calman adjusted some of the cogs on the machine, as it shut down. A new projection appeared to the side of the machine as he brought up a list of faces that were all connected in an incredible mesh of runes. He sifted through them until he came to the end of it. First, a picture of a young man with a smirk on his face, The old lady had a visible change on her face as she saw it, the face turning into a young woman.


    The crowd murmured once more as they now looked at the girls face and the runes spinning around below her. Shamus himself was also quiet and looking with intent at the information.


    "Her connection to the crystal is also perfect, it is extremely odd and it has also caused the way to identify her bloodline impossible via the runes as the normal tracking points are reverted to being that of the archmage... It is quite impossible... Since she does not look like a male at all..." Calman explained as he brought up the runes for people to examine, they all corresponded to the second set of runes perfectly.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    "So you cannot see her connection to which of our families?" Lady Charlotte asked looking at the face and ignoring the runes.


    "No Lady Charlotte... I am afraid not... " Calman bowed his head towards Lady Charlotte.


    Charlotte looked with intense eyes at the face of the girl, taking in every detail. when she spoke.


    "She reminds me of Lady Carlys... Her eyes and curly hair... The way her cheeks look..." Calman opened his eyes and lifted his head to look at the face. He put a hand to his chin and stared.


    "Does anyone else see a resemblance from that family line?" Calman asked the people at the table. The old people sitting around started to examine the face. But no one interjected new information... until one of the men raised his hand.


    People were stunned. In the last decade, this man had not involved himself in any important family business... They were even surprised he was here today. But it was required whenever a fire spirit host was here for the leader of a house to arrive. People looked at the man whose hand was shaking slightly as he looked up with sad eyes at the face.


    "... She looks like my sister Restral..."


    "The traitor..." "Blood polluter" The man cringed as he heard some of the people around the table made remarks about his sister, she who had escaped with an elf she had fallen for. The family had sent out many groups to hunt her and her child down to bring it back to the fold...


    The old woman looked at the face of the girl, she nodded and looked to Lord Hamel with intense eyes.


    "How is the hunt for her going?..." She said in a cold tone, the room all turned its attention to Lord Hamel.


    "Last known location was during the fight that claimed 10 of our men and the Elf that had stolen the girl from our family... The last guessed locations were the Kingdom of Sandalsong and the Kingdom of Astoria, and with what I have heard the kingdom of Astoria has just suffered a major attack from the Dark kingdom...Perhaps there is a chance she was captured during this event..."


    People murmured once more.


    "I believe we should once more refocus on sending out our search parties and goto the kingdom of Astoria and follow up on all goblin attacks... Until that time... I would suggest we wait with any involvement with the Crystal... This is the best way forward for our family..." Lady Charlotte said quietly.


    Lord Hamel nodded.


    "I agree, we will do this for now... Calman, continue to study for any other options and le..."


    "This is absurd... I say let us stop this foolishness! This fire spirit is destroying our family as it is currently!" Shamus stood up from the table and slammed his hand into the table.


    "No more! Give up on this foolish attempt at trying to usurp control of the family and gaining access to the treasures of the Archmage! Stop being trapped in your old ways!" He said and turned to look at Lady Charlotte.


    "Even your brother died a horrible -pointless- death at trying to reclaim the treasure, in the end, did he not? It does not matter how much we try to -tailor- our bloodline to match with the archmage. None of us will be able to gai..."


    "Silence Lord Shamus!." Lord Hamel yelled angrily. Causing Shamus to stop and face Hamel. Lady Charlotte''s face was shocked and then saddened as Shamus reminded her of her brothers final moments.


    "You are not the one giving the orders here, once you have the proper votes for the leadership you can voice your pathetically heretical ways... But as long as I am the current leader you will silence your mouth and not cause my grandmother distress!"


    "I only tell the truth... This pointless way we try to claim leadership over some fire spirit... Then when we -feel- that the host is strong enough we send them to a pointless death in the Archmages tower to try and unlock its powers for us... Only to then see our loved ones burned to ash screaming and dying pointlessly..." Said calmly, as he looked to the Lady Charlotte as he described what her brother had experienced when he was the host.


    The council would overview and ponder on the time it was the best for a host to try and unlock the archmages tower since it required mastery over the fire spirit to accomplish. But if one failed the tower would launch out its overpowering defenses and one''s body would slowly and surely begin to burn as their spirit burned along with their body. Their last moments on the realm filled with anguish and suffering.


    Lady Charlotte looked away from Shamus and the room was quiet as many of the old people of the room can remember the time when her brother had been brought back from the tower, his body cracked and hot, as if a fire was burning inside him causing only damage to him.


    In the end, the brother killed himself to avoid suffering, but his body kept burning until nothing remained.


    "We will not do it your heretical way! We will do our best to become like the great Archmage, once we are strong in will and filled with power can we guide our family forward for the ages! we need but to have patience, that we will one day have a strong candidate that matches well with the archmage!" Calman suddenly interjected, Shamus stared at him as he spoke, when his eyes opened wide at something Calman had just said. He put both his hands on the table.


    "I say we do it this way then... Find that goblin... And use it to open the tower..." Shamus said turning to look at Lord Hamel who stood back in shock, as well as the table all began to contemplate what he had said causing him to exclaim out loudly in defense of the family''s ways.


    "You... You cannot mean you would give up on our heritage! Abandon our grand goal!" Calman exclaimed in horror at the suggestion.


    "Oh do not give me that droll! We all know we are in it for the treasure and the power for the family! This nonsense with the fire spirit is just to make a key that can open a tower... Well, there we have the key. And even better we have an endless supply of potential hosts that could keep attempting to open that tower... So no one of our own should suffer that fate..." Shamus said coldly as he turned to look at Lady Charlotte once more who had met his gaze as his own softened when it met hers.


    "This is the best way forward for our family..." Shamus said with a calm voice.

 47. Promise

    Lurk sat with Resti and experimented with fire spells for a bit, he managed to raise use in his [Fire Magic] considerably when someone was guiding him. But something about the menu was beginning to nag him slightly. It came about when he was talking with Resti about the text she saw when she accepted to transfer the fire spirit over to him. She thought his menu was amazing and wondered how he was able to make it so specific. Which he had no easy answer too. Was it his knowledge of coding? Knowledge of countless fantasy games and similar systems ? or was some outside force making it clearer for him.


    [Fire Magic] Raised to 1.5


    [Fire Cantrip] Learned


    [Fire Bolt] Learned


    Lurk stared at the menu and the numbers out in front of each of his skills.


    "Why is it when I reach a specific threshold on one of my spells, I learn a spell... But others do not give me a spell when hitting a threshold?... I''ve automatically learned spells from Holy and Wind but not from Fire." Lurk said to Resti as he tapped his chin staring in front of himself at the menu. Resti was trying to cope with him saying so easily he had these magic abilities.


    "Well... I am not entirely sure, but some people learn things easily, when they reach a special threshold.. or when they goto a guild to train their abilities to see if they can unlock them. Like people who fight with swords can learn special abilities they might not normally learn on their own. I do not know myself how as we could not go to a guild to train or unlock our abilities... I learned what I could from mother"


    Lurk nodded listening to Resti pondering over what it was guilds did to unlock abilities.


    "Hmm so how do you unlock abilities in a guild? Do you know?" Lurk asked gingerly as Resti was reminded of her mother again, and he was feeling it was a tough subject to bring up. He put his hand on hers briefly to give it a squeeze, Resti smiled and shook it off and answered quickly.


    "Well Ahem.., you have to register at a guild to receive membership and then you would be allowed to check your abilities with a special item they had at each guild house. It would show you things you could unlock and how to improve yourself. But it required that you had put in work and had experienced how to use your skills. My mother could use fire bolts and fireballs, and was almost ready to learn a special fire shield but could never quite learn it on her own, but she said it was because she did not go train it in proper situations like real combat."


    Resti spoke of what her mother had told her when she herself wanted to learn more magic once she began to first be able to cast magic.


    "Hmm... So... me learning all these spells is unusual?... But it is only in some areas... I have not learned any special skills for instance in weapon use or shield use... But that human adventurer with the shield seemed to be able to make a magical shield appear... And that... Woman... could shoot arrows really fast..."


    Lurk became quiet suddenly and looked away from Resti, she took notice and wondered what was wrong. Lurk had left the girl alone in the cave. At the time she was too distraught over the slave collar and having been hit by Alex, all she wanted was to get out of the cave and be safe. But Lurk seemed to delve on something.


    "What is wrong Lurk?..."


    "I... Its just I am just regretting something... I feel like I did not resist the curse I told you about. When we were back in that cave and the slaver woman wanted to come along... My first thought was... Why should she be free when she has enslaved people... And I just went with my initial thought... Now I am worried that it will happen again..."


    Lurk lamented to Resti, looking back at her.


    "It really felt natural back then, I was angry and pumped up from the fight... So it did not even enter into my mind to bring her along... Did she deserve to be left alone to suffer?..."


    Lurk sighed and hung his head, Resti could tell he was struggling with regret and fear over it happening again. She could understand it, Lurk was incredibly dangerous especially with his fast learning abilities. But.


    "I do not think you want to hurt anyone unless you have too. If the curse forces you to do something it is not your fault...I can tell you are doing your best against it, even for all the other goblins here... " Resti said calmly putting her hand on his. Lurk lifted his head and smiled at Resti.


    "Thank you. Right... Let''s try this here again..." Lurk shook the subject off like Resti did and tried once more to form a flame in his hand he spray forward. He focused his mind thinking about what he knew about fire, how it required oxygen and how flamethrowers would spray a liquid out that would ignite. Could he do the same imagining mana spraying out as it felt like the fuel.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Resti looked on as Lurk tried several things, she could feel their unified mana pool sink considerably as Lurk was manipulating mana in a raw and brutal way, this required absurd amounts of mana and she had never seen her mother do this before. Eventually, he managed to shoot out a stream of fire that he could focus on and eject further away. Resti marveled at his control and Lurk tried to teach her this spell that he managed to get working once he hit the next threshold.


    [Fire Magic] Raised to 2


    [Flamerthrower] Learned


    Lurk could not see Resti''s number at her magic skill. She could only describe how she felt the flames burn hotter or brighter within her. Her system was a lot more intuitive whereas his was logical and numbered and ordered. But seeing as she could cast the same spells as him and he had already surpassed her in this short amount of time. Resti tried to follow Lurks advice and now he could show her the runes that his system had aligned from his experiment. He was struggling though to show her, but then he realized that when people cast spells the arcane symbols appeared at their hands or at a target location. So magic was able to project images somehow, and it was a requirement for the spells to project runes to make the magic appear.


    Lurk burned a lot more mana as he tried to fiddle around with his new idea.


    [Light Symbol Cantrip] Learned


    "Ah, this will be useful." Lurk said as he cast the spell and projected the arcane symbols and circles required for the new flame thrower spell so Resti could see it.


    "Oh that is clever, that saves a lot of scrolls !" Resti said looking at the runes and seeing the moving circles. Despite how different their systems were, once they had either force learned a spell these symbols were universal to them when they had to manifest the abilities. Showing that there was a common system everyone used. But they had different ways of either feeling/observing the system.


    But the hard forced way Lurk had done the spell made it complicated and not at all trimmed to perfection. Lurk began to trim of unnecessary parts, making it easier on himself and Resti when they were going over it. Resti was inspired and kept trying when it suddenly fell to place inside her head and she shot off the fire just like Lurk had done. She grinned and Lurk smiled.


    "Great!, I need to go out with Vorm and look around for the goblins or humans... We need to find a safe time we can move everyone out of here." Lurk said as he turned off the projected light. He had already dressed long ago but he began to ready his weapon and outside gear. He noticed Resti was fiddling awkwardly with her hair once he finished putting on his pouches and backpack he had made for himself.


    "Something wrong?" Lurk asked gently as he squatted down in front of her.


    "Uhm... I was just thinking about what I should do... I do not have anyone else back in the kingdom... I know some of the women here... And now I got this baby..." Resti touched her stomach and looked away from Lurk.


    "Well... If you want to stay I would be happy... But whatever you want to do I will help you in any way I can." Lurk said as he ran a hand through her hair and touched her neck as she turned to look at him. He smiled at her and she leaned into his hand.


    "Thank you..." Resti said her eyes slightly more damp as she smiled back at him, she received a hug from Lurk and he got ready to move out.


    Lurk got up from where he and Resti had been training, Emily was the first one he noticed, she had been staring at him and Resti all this time. Her stern looking eyes surprised Lurk a bit, but he moved over to Vorm and patted him on his shoulder and Vorm got ready with his gear as well. Lurk went over to Emily while Vorm was getting ready. Emily looked away looking annoyed.


    "Are you ok over here?... Do anyone need anything?" Lurk asked Emily, she had become the spokesperson for the woman group. He had normally come over here with either Sylvie or Resti to translate for him. But this time he went over there and spoke to her in her tongue. This startled her as she looked at him angrily.


    "You could speak human all this time??"


    "Oh...Ah no I learned just tonight... Uhm... It''s difficult to explain..." Lurk wondered how he could explain it, but because he had gotten a proper human connection to his bloodline he suddenly learned the human language when Resti spoke some, just like when he heard his mother speak in front of him back when he was born.


    "..." Emily just stared in disbelief before answering


    "No... We are all fine, some are still scared and worried you will betray us on your promise... I personally think you will eventually once something dangerous occurs..." Emily stared at Lurk with a cold look.


    "I will do my best to get you back to human lands... I have been looking into the slave collars... But they are difficult to grasp... " He looked at the collar on Emily''s neck, she had hid it as best she could but it was noticed in the end by Lurk. Alex had seen her and the women outside of Resti''s locked cell and had put the collars on her he was carrying with him.


    "Yeah... I am sure... " Emily kept a cold front not wanting to be reminded by the collar and the fact she was completely in the control of this goblin if it wanted...


    "Ok, I will be leaving out to scout, I hope you can give your aid to Aurk and the others if anything bad happens while we are gone... I hope we can talk later..." Lurk nodded to Emily, he knew he could not convince her of his good nature with words so he would keep showing good intent instead.


    Lurk went over to Aurk, Emily stared at his back as he left, gritting her teeth. She saw Lurk cast a spell on Aurk, a holy spell, that he also cast on himself. He was showing his own wounded arm to Aurk that over the days they had been down here in the workshop it had grown a few inches out almost reaching the wrist.


    Lurk examined Aurk''s that seemed to be mangled a bit from a bad bone set as the healing magic was working on both of them. Emily was perplexed, she had seen this goblin been helpful and caring for both goblin and human... It even managed to sleep with Sylvie and Resti. She had no doubt it was something he had ordered with the slave collar... Learning the human language, yeah right, she heard them learning all night along with the rest of the workshop. But the two girls simply did not show signs of resisting any control... She herself had not felt any commands pushing her down or stopping her... She was angry... But also confused...


    Would this goblin follow through on its promise to free them...?

 48. Free Will

    Vorm and Lurk moved quietly and quickly from building to building, keeping a keen eye on the forest and hills outside the city in the direction of the goblin cave. They had both been scouting around seeing if they could spot any of Vrek''s goblins to perhaps even take some of them out.


    Lurk estimated there to be around 40-50 goblins still left. Vrek and two bosses included. But they had been unlucky to not spot any groups and were cautious to not go too near the cave. But today they had to go Lurk had decided, He needed intel on the goblins and what they were doing. He was still worried about traveling with all the women towards human lands if the goblins suddenly came in from behind and attacked them.


    It would be a bloodbath in such an open environment with too many goblins to handle. Lurk wanted to whittle the goblins down in numbers, but he also had another motive. He was feeling guilty about leaving Bellie behind due to his failure to notice the [Evil] trait that had given him a suggestion he did not ignore. It was nagging him in his head constantly about this decision he took.


    But he primarily wanted to kill more of the goblins and see if he could get rid of Vrek before Xarn would return, which he saw as an even more dangerous development. From what he understood of Xarn he was powerful and able to wield magic, and he seemed to be intelligent.


    Vorm leads the way through the city, using as many locations to hide behind out of sight from the forest. Lurk had to give it to Vorm that he was incredibly good at behind hidden and observant at his surroundings. Lurk had better vision due to the trait he had that improved his senses. So he kept a keen eye on the forest as Vorm moved them to the edge of the city, hiding near the broken down walls.


    Having not seen any onlookers Lurk decided it was safe and they made the move from the walls across to forest. They made their way past the camp setups Lurk had delegated seeing signs of remains as nature had cleaned away the dead goblins, Today they were going closer than ever to the cave in hopes of getting a feel on what Vrek was up to. If he was simply hiding and not doing anything Lurk might change his plans and try to leave with the women towards the nearby canyon city that blocked entry into human lands.


    They got near to the cave when Lurk noticed a group of goblins hiding, there were at least 15 of them spread out hiding behind trees and rocks. One of the bosses was with them. Vorm had stopped and waited out of sight along with Lurk.


    ("They have guards outside of the cave... Its way to close to the cave and they are spread out...")


    Lurk looked around and saw a path to get past them without disturbing any of them. It was a bit of a trek but it was easy enough. Lurk thought it would be impossible to kill all of them before they managed to get away, and that would alert Vrek to the fact he was still in the area and had not fled long ago.


    ("Maybe I should have fled long ago with the women... Maybe it would have been possible if not for the damn collars...")


    Lurk had noticed that the women wearing the collars would suddenly become filled with pain if they went too far away from the control rod. Basically binding them to stay within range of it... This was just one problem with the collars. What would happen to the women if they went back to civilization with the collars on? Would someone take them off for them?.


    From what he could gather it was a possibility. But there was a chance someone would take the chance and capture the women. They would have no one to protect the control rod since all the women without collars on were not powerful and were simple peasants. Lurk had begun examining the collars and as many runes as he could find in the Workshop. He had gained many ranks in his new skill.


    [Magic Knowledge: Runes] 1.7


    [Crafting: Runes] 0.2


    The crafting skill was incredibly hard to do, he tried writing on some leather bracers but it was clumsy and slow work and despite making many of the runes it never worked with any effect. Her had basically turned a bracer into a carved up piece of scrap leather in his experimenting.


    ("Maybe we should just move towards human lands now... Hope the women can handle themselves...")


    Lurk thought to himself as they snuck past the perimeter guards and headed to the cave. After a short while, they reached the rocky deformation that leads into the ground down to the cave. Lurk and Vorm saw goblins standing guard around the area as they got near.


    Vorm put a hand on Lurk shoulder and pointed towards a lanky goblin with very long arms.


    "This is not one of our gobs boss..." Vorm said quietly.


    "What??" Lurk stared at the goblin, he had to admit he had not seen any goblin with that body type before... But as he thought back he recalls sitting back in the basket looking out at the goblins gathering equipment he had seen that goblin after all...


    "It is one of Shaman Boor''s goblins... One of the other caves has sent a boss here..." Vorm said quietly to Lurk, he gritted his teeth now that reinforcements have arrived, and it was the shaman that could heal...


    "Let us go back..." Lurk said quietly as he and Vorm fade into the forest and began their trek back home to the workshop, Lurk pondering constantly on the trip back


    "... What should I do now..."


    ---


    Managing to slip back to the town and not seeing any goblins in the vicinity of the town. Lurk was faced with a dilemma. Try and escape now, Risk the women to handle themselves with the collars on.


    Or spend more time trying to examine the collars to try and free the women from them...


    Lurk stepped down into the Workshop with Vorm, he went over to check up on the goblins, he had a schedule with them every day to explain to them how he wanted them to act and resist the trait. If they did not know what was "wrong" to do the trait would just make them do it without any hindrance. But right now he wanted to see if Aurk''s wound was healing or not. Vorm took the boar they had managed to hunt on the way back over to be treated and cooked.


    "Boss, how did it go?" Aurk asked putting a hand on his chest, the other goblins nearby also did the same and nodded to Lurk with reverence. Lurk responded in kind, this was one of the acts he had imposed on them to secure an order of such, and creating a more advanced group system than, I am the loudest and strongest. All the goblins had proper clothing on and did look a lot more civilized compared to them being half naked fighting each other over small slights and tiny disagreements.


    "Not good I am afraid. How are your arm and eye doing?" Lurk looked Aurk over and could easily see that the eye socket around Aurk''s wounded eye was slightly red and with the same veins gathered around it, like with Lurks own hand that was regenerating.


    "Sore, but I have not regained my vision as of yet boss. My arm has not had any change yet."


    Lurk opened up Aurk''s eye after making a motion that he wanted to examine it. And a bulbous mass had grown inside the before sealed up wound, but it did not look like an eye yet. Lurk nodded and held out his hand as Aurk undid the wolf fur bracer on his arm to reveal his mangled arm, the bone was slightly crooked and it had clearly been set badly. Lurk examined it closely but nothing seemed to have healed. The spell clearly ignored the lack of a proper wound or a missing limb or it was simply moving infinitesimally slowly because of the bone had already been set and healed long ago.


    Lurk rubbed his chin and thought about how to fix his arm, but he could only come to one conclusion that he was not quite ready to do yet. He had a few changes he wanted to make to his spells first.


    "I might need to break your arm later Aurk, it is not changing from the spell... But not until we are safe... A new boss has joined up with Vrek. Apparently, it is Boor the shaman."This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "Boor??.." Aurk nodded with a tense look.


    "Vrek must have sent out gobs to gather the other parties from their hiding spots... There will soon be a lot of goblins here in this area... This is bad boss." Aurk said after pondering for a while.


    "I know... We might have to leave soon, be sure the teams are ready to move out Aurk" Lurk nodded as Aurk stated his thoughts and patted Aurk on the shoulder giving his order, he made his way over to Emily who seemed to be sleeping, another woman was wielding the shield and sword Lurk had given her. As Lurk approached she prodded Emily that sat up startled and took the sword and shield, moving over to stand between Lurk and the women, something she had been doing ever since she had been put in charge. She stared at Lurk


    Lurk thought she was still very defensive but he could not blame her. She had been through a hellish ordeal, it was actually the first time he had seen her sleep since they had been freed. Lurk approached and nodded to her. She simply stared back into his eyes. Though from her sudden movement from getting up and taking the sword now she seemed more calm and ready.


    ("She sure is ready fast..") Lurk thought to himself before beginning to inform Emily of the situation.


    "We have been scouting the cave, and I am afraid we might have to leave soon, more goblins have gathered and they seem to be rejoining into one force. We might have to drop you off at the humans before getting the collars of you..." Lurk said plainly and calmly, Emily staring at him as he gave her the news, she gritted her teeth hearing that.


    "I thought you said you could remove the collars," Emily said with a harsh tone.


    "I was hoping for that too, I can understand how the arcane runes function to a degree, but my attempts at changing or influencing them have failed, I was hoping to study it more but time has run out I am afraid... We might need to get ready to move soon." Lurk was telling Emily what he had gathered so far from his brief study of the collars, he could tell that the women nearby were getting distraught hearing that the collars could not be taken off. The women that were not collared though seemed slightly more elated, some had argued they could handle the control rod and try to get them all the way back to a city to find someone that could cancel out the rods effects.


    But Emily said it was unlikely such a person was to be easily found, putting the women in a precarious situation since slavery was allowed in the kingdom and they had no proof except the control rod in their hands was used to entrap them. Normally proper collars did not require a control rod and this one was not one Emily had ever heard about.


    "I will redouble my efforts in the time we have left... Scouts will go out here to check the path towards the canyon city and when they get back we will leave." Lurk nodded looking conflicted, Emily stared at him as he went over to the storeroom where he instantly yelled out to Sala.


    "Don''t train Lula yet!!"


    "What! Sala is just fighting her with her fingers!"


    "I was gonna stop her but honestly Lula seemed to like it"


    "Hello, master welcome back."


    Hearing Lurk giving Sala an ear full and Resti''s calm demeanor followed by Sylvie''s response, Emily clicked her tongue and sat back down staring at the doorway.


    "I knew we could not trust him..." Emily gritted her teeth.


    Meanwhile, inside the storeroom, Lurk had picked up Lula and said hello, the small goblin smiling back at him, making his heart melt a little inside. He handed Lula back to Sala who was also grinning.


    "Are you all doing alright?" Lurk asked them as he went by to check them individually.


    "I do not know about the others but I have been having a starving feeling, despite having eaten" Resti responded first, Lurk nodded as he knew their bodies would be requiring a lot of food.


    "Master, Sylvie has also been hungry. But also..." Sylvie also responded but then looked away.


    "Yes?" Lurk''s eyebrow lifted slightly as he waited for Sylvie''s response.


    "Uhm, Thank you for removing my curse... I have never had so much mana before." Sylvie bowed her head slightly towards Lurk.


    "Ah, you are welcome... I merely found a way for us to share our mana with each other" Lurk said as he sat down over by a collection of items and books he had collected in one corner of the room on an empty box there was in here.


    "How, did you do that exactly" asked Resti who along with Sylvie shuffled over to look at what Lurk was about to experiment with, something he had been doing on and off since they had been here, he had looked over potions and the items the adventurers had with them, and staring at the books that none of them could read.


    Lurk pondered if he should explain how he copied Sylvie''s twin link ability. He began rummaging through the many knickknacks he had collected in from the kobolds and the workshop looking at them to discern if they had any use. While he also readied the Control rod and a couple of unused collars.


    "Well... When I saw Sylvie''s children with my ability I saw the potential to link souls, the twins you are carrying have this connection, I managed to make a version of it that allowed you to use my mana."


    Lurk explained it somewhat, but did not go into detail about the fact that it was actually Sylvie''s own Twin link ability that was severed that allowed for it to work, otherwise he would not have had enough points to do the change.


    "That is amazing that you can do that Lurk, honestly its also scary... With that much mana between people to share you could do a lot of powerful effects. The great guilds use large magical circles where spellcasters combine their abilities to make items and cast huge spells. But they require a lot of resources and you can just do it by making a connection to us??. That the twins had this ability is amazing in its own right too..."


    Lurk nodded and looked the Control rod over once more in his hand, he could understand the runes but they were lacking a lot of detail and nuances. Compared to the runes he saw in his mental system this rod had way too simple runes, there was a lot lacking like it was hidden from view.


    When he thought about it, it would make sense, when he was looking at runes in his menu they had subgroups and several layers of runes making up the structure of the rune itself, he was just able to somehow perceive them all depending on how much he focused... But how would you do that on a solid object with runes already applied?


    Focusing on these runes did nothing, but allow him to feel they were magical in nature as he could sense the mana within them, but only at this close of a range when holding it. Lurk stared at the rod getting annoyed, after a while, Sylvie also leaned in to look at it too.


    "I am sorry I do not know much about magical crafting master... All I know is you need tools and materials and a lot of mana to do it."


    "Hmm... Oh, wait... I have an idea, Sylvie would it be alright if I give you a command with the rod?"


    "Oh yes, go ahead master." Sylvie sat up straight and waited.


    "Right Sylvie, hum a tune for me." Lurk held onto the rod and watched the two crystals at either end glow briefly, Sylvie began to hum a tune Lurk had not heard before.


    "Good... " Lurk closed his eyes and opened up his mental menu.


    Lurk shifted his avatar out to the side and took a look at Sylvies. He looked through the runes dancing around her within their different magic circles until he found one connected to her mind and mental faculties.


    ("Hmm... There is the control [Slave] Rune... ")


    Lurk focused on the rune and its connected parts on Sylvie. He could not glimpse a part of the control runes effect and its runes in great detail since he could see them in effect when used.


    But the longer he began to examine the runes the more disturbed he became.


    He quickly brought up Resti''s Avatar and looked through her runes as well under the same magic circle in the area of her mind. The same signs were there. Lurk blinked as he returned to normal looking at Sylvie that was gently humming to herself, Resti smiling at the scene.


    "I... I... Uhm... Sylvie, you can stop humming if you wish..." Lurk said as he looked at Sylvie then Resti with a disturbed look.


    "What is wrong master?"


    "Lurk? Sylvie is right you look like someone stepped on your grave" Sylvie and Resti both voiced their concern over Lurks demeanor.


    "...Girls... Do... Do you really like me?"


    "Uhm what do you mean master? Yes, I like you for treating me well and saving me" Sylvie said looking confused.


    "Uhm... I did say that last time when we... " Resti looked away a bit shy. her cheeks getting rosy.


    "I... I just took a look at the Runes around the [Slave] function... It is eerily similar to the [Evil] traits basic form..." Lurk said as he looked a little sad.


    "What do you mean master?" Sylvie said tilting her head, Resti stared at Lurk also looking confused, but then something struck her and she blinked looking at Lurk then down at her stomach.


    "I do not think you were... thinking these thoughts of your own volition... The collars made you do it subconsciously... I am ... Sorry" Lurk gritted his teeth, the collars had basically made the girls ignore vital steps of resistance they would have had suddenly begun liking him so much in such a short span of time. Lurk had thought it was maybe a kind of coping mechanism, Sylvie had suffered so long at cruel masters and suddenly was saved, it kinda made sense she would be responsive to kind treatment. But Resti...


    Resti had just lost her mother to goblins and seen her village burn down... It was fresh in her mind and should have caused a lot more issue... She even had a moment when she realized she was pregnant, but it was explained in a somewhat sensible way. But would someone really leap like this at a kind person... Lurk could see the runes were actively doing something to their minds, especially around their perception and memory. It was not as bad in Sylvie''s case but it was with Resti.


    "Wha.. What?" Resti said looking at Lurk as he tried to explain it. Doubt crossed her face as a tear ran down her cheek, and memories of her mother would appear again.


    "It is like the [Evil] trait I deal with... If I do not focus on fighting it, it can effect me...


    "... I might not like you... Is this fake?" Resti said stammering it out.


    "... Did I sleep with you because the collar told me too?... I thought you told us to do what we wanted..."


    Lurk nodded


    "Yes... But the collar also was doing subtle changes and effects, the commands work entirely different... That was what I saw when I noticed the humming command Sylvie was under..."


    "... It''s fake?" another tear ran down Resti''s cheek

 49. Fixing whats broken

    Lurk moved over to Resti, who had begun crying in earnest, he put a hand on her shoulder. Resti sobbed but leaned towards Lurk as he gave her a hug. Lurk closed his eyes, he brought up his mental menu looking at it seeing Resti''s mental framework reacting speeding along in its amazing complexity, and at the edge of it he could see the [slave]rune sending out its own small pulses of magic signals and runes that would either increase the effect of some of Resti''s own occurring mental effects, or disable some of them.


    ("Even now her reaction when I wanted to comfort her is causing the [Slave] rune to make that mean more to her trying to make her ignore her own true intentions.") Lurk gritted his teeth as he tried to translate what the rune was doing when he had tried to comfort her. The rune was trying to temper her bad reaction from the people that had given her commands. But exactly what precisely it was empowering or depowering was not easily understood as the runes in the mental part of her avatar was incredibly dense and complicated. Lurk focused and returned his own senses.


    "I am not sure exactly how much of it is -fake- but I can feel the collar is strengthening some of your thoughts about me, and dismissing some others... But now... Focus Resti on your intentions.." Lurk talked to her as he let go of her and took hold of her shoulders and looked into her eyes.


    "What do you want yourself, focus on it" Lurk said to her in -a matter of fact- voice trying to bring her own reasoning and ideas to the surface. As he did he focused on his mental menu again. Keeping a keen eye on what the [Slave] rune would now attempt to do as Resti''s true intentions and thoughts would appear.


    "... I ... I want to be safe... I want to..." Resti shook her head a bit as she began to struggle with something.


    Lurk saw some of her inactive mental stats mostly pertaining to memory were being heavily suppressed now the [Slave] rune focused its attention towards it, Lurk soaked in all the functions the rune brought into action trying to discern how it functioned.


    "I.. I.. I want to go home!... I want to be with my mother!" Resti broke out into heavy tears and sobs leaning into Lurk again for a hug.


    Lurk saw the [Slave] runes grasp on her memories slip and the rune retracted all its attempts away as Resti''s mental strain was impossible for it to contain when Resti was focused on the traumatic event it had blocked out of her mind as much as it could. This had definitely changed her mind and decision making Lurk knew, anyone would react differently if they had stopped thinking about something horrible that had just happened to her. The [Slave] rune clearly was designed to lessen and cancel out traumatic mind influences automatically on top of the whole command system it had implemented... Whoever designed the collars knew that happy slaves are better slaves... Lurk tightened his hug keeping an eye on the mental menu to see when the [Slave] rune fired back up when Resti lost her focus.


    "I am so sorry for your loss Resti, I wish I could do something about it... " Lurk held her Resti grabbing onto Lurk and crying into his shoulder, her mind was free now and she was able to process her loss, the rune having locked it away had caused it to pile up to a damaging degree, if she would not vent it this would definitely lead to dangerous future problems if the collar was ever to come off , Lurk speculated, which caused him to sigh internally as he turned his head to look at Sylphie who was also looking sad at Resti''s situation.


    ("Sylphie has had her collar on for a lot longer... Her reaction might be several times more intense... It could be dangerous to her mind...")


    Lurk allowed Resti to cry properly her avatar mental strain seemed to lessen, it was still in a bad way. But it was not looking as strained as before, the [Slave] rune was beginning to send out runes again to try and effect Resti.


    "Now focus again Resti... I know its hard... It''s ok... I am here... So is Sylvie... We will not abandon you... Your mind might have been blocking your memories... But I won''t stop liking you, and I will not give up on you..."


    Lurk spoke normally to Resti first to remind her to focus, once the rune retracted he spoke softly with his own heartfelt feelings, wanting her to take in his words without a [Slave] rune filter to make her ignore facts her own mind wanted to perhaps bring out.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    Resti tried to calm her crying, a hand coming up to wipe her own tears. She looked at Lurk''s face, locking eyes with him.


    "I... I don''t know what I want... I am tired... It feels... hopeless... But... I am happy you are trying... I might have... Acted a bit fast..." She looked away but Lurk held a hand on her chin and made her look back to him.


    "But do you like me..."


    Resti hesitated as she was working through her feelings with the unfiltered effect of the collar, but it had caused her to think about Lurk in certain ways and those thoughts were still there despite their false initial appearance.


    "I... I know you won''t hurt me... You are not like the other goblins... You care about others a lot... I feel... I do... I do!" Resti was examining herself, Lurk just looked on allowing her to figure it out while keeping an eye on the [Slave]rune and its inability to affect her current mental state. He blinked hearing Resti last few words.


    "Yes!. I know that... if I was sad before... I know that you would try to comfort me! The collar it just... prevented me from seeing Lurk comfort me earlier..." Resti let a tear go.


    "I am sorry I did not notice... I will get this collar off you as quick I can... " Lurk smiled at her, feeling a bit of shame, that he did not notice or think that Resti was in a bad place.


    "If you need anything I will do my best to help." Lurk said hugging Resti again. She leaned back into his hug and cried for a bit longer, Lurk allowed her to feel her feelings uninterrupted while being comforted. After a while she calmed down and was tired, Lurk let her lie down and rest, Though now the Collar had once more begun to affect her. Lurk quickly went back over to the box and items next to Sylvie.


    "I will help you too Sylvie... But..." Lurk gave her neck a quick caress.


    "... I know master... You can''t take off the collar as easily with me... I could feel it, that you realized something when you looked at me..." Sylvie looked a little sad but smiled at Lurk in the end. Lurk nodded to her and smiled back. He began to go through all the items again, examining or trying to manipulate all items that had any semblance of having runes on them.


    "No... This one... no just a piece of scrap... No idea what this was a part of... Whoa..."


    Lurk put his hand on the weird pen like an item, when he noticed the runes and tried to manipulate them with mana, the tip suddenly lit up, condensing the mana. Lurk stared at it as he felt his mana flowing into the tool.


    "This... This is what I need!" Lurk held the tool looking at it intently, this feeling was the exact same one he had when he was in the mental menu when he was changing the clear status spell to clear poison.


    Lurk picked up a piece of leather and held the pen like tool, he focused his mana into it as he began to put the tip of it onto the leather, focusing his mind on a rune.


    His mind could sense the mana forming, he could pack the tool with information in the shape of runes. In a matter of way making runes within runes.


    This was how magic crafting worked... The items would not show the magical circles and runes clicking on in a clockwork. If you just drew one rune it would do nothing. But using this tool he could pack a rune with all the information and systems he knew off in the mental menu. He drew a tiny rune on the leather piece. It was shoddy work and he was sure the leather was not up to par for what the rune needed to properly bind too. As he could feel the rune slowly collapse upon the moment he stopped applying mana to it.


    [Magic: Crafting] increased to 0.1


    [Leather Scrap]: Tough (rank 1) (unstable)


    The rune slowly fade and the leather scrap was ruined, he tried to write a new rune on it, but the piece was now filled with all kinds of jumbled mana that he could not make sense off... So you only had one attempt at making something... Perhaps it was easier with better materials... But for a brief moment, the leather piece had been strengthened.


    "I can do it now Sylvie" I can work on the collars!" Lurk turned to Sylvie with a smile, Sylvie smiled back.


    ---


    ---


    ---


    Lurk sat up awake for hours as he was experimenting on the various items and pieces of cloth or leftover weapons, grinding the [crafting] skill up as high as he could. He was worried about manipulating the collars as there were definite signs of some kind of security measure to prevent tampering with them. Until finally...


    [Magic: Crafting] Increased to 1.0


    [Read Item Learned]


    Lurk tried to pick up a short sword, and used his new skill he had learned.


    _________________________


    [Damaged Short Sword]


    Common


    Rune Slots: 0


    Durability 10/20


    Iron - Wood - Leather


    _________________________


    Now he could see more information. He now knew any attempts to make runes on this sword would inevitably be a hopeless cause, it was not made well enough for the mana to flow easily. Any rune added would be temporary at best. If it was even possible. The better the item was made for it, the more complicated the runes could be. Specific effects and spells could be added to an item that way.


    He picked up a collar and focused on it.


    ________________________________


    Collar "Gathering Slave Collar"


    Rare


    Rune Slots: 4


    Durability 10/10


    Silver : Steel : Gold


    -Slots-


    [Enslave]: Rank 3


    [Lock]: Rank 1


    [Pain]: Rank 3


    [Open Slot]


    ________________________________


    "Got you..." Lurk gave a wide grin.

 Free your mind

    Lurk sat still staring at the Collar in his hand. He activated his [Read Item] Ability and poured in mana into the collar, Runes appeared before him projected out from the rod. He could now see the runes and the deeper magical runes that someone had arranged into it back when it had been made just like when he looked at his Avatar in the Mental menu, it was, of course, nowhere near as detailed and only had a few amounts of runes to work with.


    He could see the runes in greater detail now that he had leveled up the crafting skill, but it was still very complex. There was a complex inlaying of runes and connections between them to prevent tampering with the collars. The collars would fire off their pain effect at the max setting which he is sure would be more than enough to kill the person wearing it, or if they were extremely strong cause them to be completely incapacitated.


    He figured the rank of the rune meant it was equivalent to a rank 3 spell. Looking it over he saw the spell was part of the magic domain [Dark]. He was just shy of being able to learn the spell, and when he was trying to examine it in greater detail he had a feeling it was too complex for him. But it did give him ideas to make lesser versions of the spell. But he needed all his mana right now for the task in front of him.


    The enslavement runes were also very complex and powerful. and focused on many connection points, as opposed to the pain one that just focused on various nerves and fewer mental locations. It would be easier to stop the pain versus trying to figure out which of the mental connections did what. Especially since the runes belonged to a school he had no access too [Enchantment]. The only reason he knew they were connected to mental points was he had his mental menu system to compare to.


    That was a very helpful tool for him to compare and examine the collars functions, but it would take a long time to figure it out, how the runes were set up in the collar itself, just knowing which part of the mind it was connected too was a big help though but a misstep could cause the collar to fire off its pain function at its highest setting.


    The lock was only rank 1 and that had given him hope that the easiest point of attack was simply to remove the collars locking function. But as soon as he began to examine it he was puzzled as the rune focused completely on making an anti-tampering system focused on making sure all the runes were connected and functioning constantly, the collars locking mechanism itself had runes that if it was opened the connection would be severed.


    The collar could be removed quickly, but the collar itself had already placed its spells inside the mind of the target, the spells were requiring the collars input to prevent it from releasing the pain spell at maximum. So speed was no issue in how fast one could severe the lock and remove the collar.


    Lurk pondered if his status clear spell was high enough level it could remove the pain spell and he could remove the collar at the same time, but the timing was very tricky to pull off... And he did not have a rank 3 clear status spell, he would need to craft one of those first. He considered that as a potential solution as he could create a stronger version of the Resist Pain but make it at rank 3 instead but even then it would be a heavy ordeal to suffer through it.


    Lurk furrowed his brow and scratched his chin pondering over how to attack the collars weaknesses, when he put down the collar in his hand and picked up the control rod. He began to examine it and his eyes opened wide.


    ______________________________________


    [Wand of Dark Impulses]


    Very Rare


    Rune Slots: 5


    Durability 40/40


    Mithril : Silver : Gold : Exquisite Ruby


    -Slots-


    [Collar Link]: Rank 3 (16 collars linked)


    [Tough]: Rank 3


    [Empower: Enchantment]: Rank 6 (defect)


    [Empower: Dark]: Rank 6 (defect)


    [Open Slot]


    ______________________________________


    ("What is this... how can these adventurers have this? This item is way to powerful... and none of them had the abilities to use it properly... Except to use as a slave item... but wait its broken? ")


    Lurk examined the runes seeing the two empower runes made his head hurt from just trying to cope with them. This wand was clearly made to empower dark and enchantment spells initially. But the runes also had some telltale signs of not being made by the same people. The Link and tough rune were all made by the same person. The empower ones were clearly beyond the skills of that person.


    It felt like staring at the Mona Lisa with a flaw on it, and someone had doodled a stick figure onto it to try and fix it. Completely ruining the original intent. It must have been a salvaged item, Lurk could see that some of the runes in the empower had been repaired and then spliced with the link. Someone turned this wand into a slavery item to empower the collars instead.


    ("someone with skills in [Dark] and [Enchantment] could use this wand to empower those spell types. But the two runes were broken, and no one could fix it, so they must have hobbled it together to make this...")


    Lurk looked at the collars, and shivered slightly. If this was just some random hobbled together piece of equipment someone had thrown to the side only for someone to pick up and turn into a slavery tool...


    "Sylvie... How many magicians in human lands?" Lurk asked as he examined the links between the collars and the wand.


    "Around 1 in 1000 are born with magical skill. Some can be awakened to them if they join guilds after showing signs of having abilities during an exam since they won''t notice their abilities on their own... The ones born with it begin to show signs of their magic early on depending on what type it is. But if you train hard at magic under someone you can learn it. It might just not be powerful enough to warrant the training.


    In my country 1 in 10000 is born with magical abilities. but its always extremely strong once its confirmed... Which is why I was a disappointment to my family..."


    Sylvie informed Lurk of what she knew about the country she had been held as a slave in, then thinking back to her own village and her life she had always seeing people look at her and talking about her magic not being useful. But she always led a quiet life with her grandfather being the one trying to keep her training up despite her detrimental flaw.


    "Hmm... I am not sure it was disappointment aimed at you, Sylvie..." Lurk looked at the rod pushing mana into the rod. the runes appearing as he began to try and experiment on different ideas he had for them. He cast the spell to project light and the runes he was working on were projected out to be visible even to Sylvie now.


    "What do you mean master?" Sylvie tilted her head. She could see Lurk focused on the runes appearing and shifting around, Lurk manipulating the mana construct he had formed to see how the runes would react if they were burned in to be permanent. The construct either collapsing or seemingly continuing on until another hitch hit and Lurk had to change another rune. Lurk was testing and making revisions. Sylvie could feel their combined mana pool depleting fast as Lurk worked.


    "Were you an only child Sylvie?" Lurk asked gently as he kept his focus on the rod. The speed of the runes shifting and new circles appearing with new runes in it beginning to take form next to the already in place runes. Lurk suddenly began forming an entirely different set of runes to appear next to the first projection. Sylvie was slightly startled when he asked.


    "Uhm... Yes... My mother and father died around the time I was born... So my family could not expand further... My grandfather would argue with the other heads often about it, they would use arguments that the only heir being me had no skill or power and that my grandfather should relinquish the resources under him to them instead. I never knew the details, but my grandfather always looked at me sadly and everyone else was angry often..."Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    "I see... How were you captured if its ok I ask?" Lurk said as the runes tried to merge and failed, Lurk making new adjustments to his simulation and everything returned to normal - More mana was sucked out of their pool, Sylvie was astonished... The amount of mana being burned off for whatever it was Lurk was doing was way more than she could ever hope to have had access to in her normal life. But she could also sense that the mana was pooling back in. Just like it always had been for her. Her mana would drain instantly from the few spells she could cast but would refill again fast. But now the speed the mana was forming it was much faster.


    "I... I... I do not remember... I was taken from my village by rough men, they put this collar on me and was then taken to a rich family where I helped around at a mansion. I spent a very long time there... They were nice to me at first but then they suddenly sold me to another noble when that house ran into money problems... Then due to the civil war happening the noble house sold me and I was picked up by the dark elf in an auction." Sylvie lifted the collar she had on, it was different from the other ones Lurk was examining and made of an entirely different metal.


    "Hmhm" Lurk nodded keeping his eyes on two projections he had been working on. Every time he made a working revision he changed a little something in the new project, it became more and more complicated as he built onto it, while he kept going through different examinations of the wands runes.


    "I am sorry to hear that Sylvie... I think I might be able to help you though... But it will be very hard for you... Are you ok with it?... Your collar has removed your memories just like these collars did"


    "I... I will let master decide it... But I would be happy to remain with you like this" Sylvie blinked at Lurks sudden statement, but reverted back to her normal self and answered Lurk gently. Their mana pool reached a dangerously low level as Lurk focused on the runes as they sped up shifting around in front of the both of them. Until the first set of projections vanished and Lurk looked to the newly created rune that then collapsed down into a single rune onto the wand, Lurk put the crafting tool to the wand, and the tip lit up and a new rune was seared into the wand. Their mana pool collapsed at that point when he was finished.


    Lurk held up the wand and looked it over. A glimmer appearing inside the two rubies when Lurk spoke next.


    "[Freedom User Resti]"


    Resti woke up looking over at Lurk, her eyes were a lot more clear than before, though red around her eyes from crying. She put a hand up to the collar on her neck. But it was still attached around her neck.


    "Wait... What just happened?... I can remember everything fine now... I forgot it again?..." Resti was puzzled, Lurk sighed with relief.


    "I disabled the collars from affecting you anymore."


    "Wow... That''s amazing?!. Can you do that for the others too?" Resti said as she came over to Lurk leaving the furs sitting next to him.


    "Yes... The rod was actually only used as a tool to collect and keep the collars strong and powered up all the time, even a mild or weak slave collar would be empowered by this wand if it was joined to it. It is able to attach itself to more collars and control them even"


    "So we are free??" Resti said smiling.


    "Yes... We just need to wait for the magical spell in your head to run its course. It will not be refreshed anymore by the collar, it will instead focus on the fake one I created for it. Once it''s gone we can just cut the collar"


    Lurk said as he reached out to examine Resti''s collar. Then closing his eyes as he examined her avatar in the mental menu, her [Slave] rune was indeed not receiving outside input anymore, and what he had identified as the mana supply for the spell in her head was already ticking down.


    "What did you do exactly?" Resti asked curiously her and Sylvie both looking at Lurk.


    "I made a dummy avatar on the rod." Lurk said as he showed the new rune on the wand. The rune was glistening as it seemed to be very active and mana was running through it.


    "Basically I examined all the outputs the collars had to manipulate the target with, combined with the rods outputs. So I made a perfect counter for it that would intercept all new signals once a collar had been designated as the current link. This fake "mind" would then take all the signals and resend the all ok back to the rod making it ignore the collar. Of course, it can only do it with one collar at the time." Lurk explained to them as he used his newly recovered mana to make tiny symbols in the air with his project light spell.


    Showing how Restis name was replaced by a new [Fake Resti] that then took all the signals away from the collar and rod. Giving Restis mind freedom from the stronger impulses and the emplaced pain effects would begin to stop working slowly running out of mana. He thought back to the rod on the menu.


    ______________________________________


    [Wand of Dark Impulses]


    Very Rare


    Rune Slots: 5


    Durability 40/40


    Mithril : Silver : Gold : Exquisite Ruby


    -Slots-


    [Collar Link]: Rank 3 (16 collars linked)


    [Tough]: Rank 3


    [Empower: Enchantment]: Rank 6 (defect)


    [Empower: Dark]: Rank 6 (defect)


    [Avatar Dummy 1.0]


    _____________________________________


    "How long does it take?" Resti asked pulling at her collar again with an annoyed look.


    "A few more minutes then the spell runs out. We need to get ready to move out, by the time we arrive back in human lands all the collars will be off. So we can move out now. Would you mind helping packing up in here? I''ll go inform the others." Lurk said as he packed up all the tools and bits into sacks. Sylvie nodded and began to help with packing up the items instead of Lurk, Resti nodded and went to pack up the furs.


    Lurk headed out and called over Aurk and Sala giving them the same orders. He headed over to the women and stood before them.


    "I will be bringing you all home now... I figured out how to disable the collars." The women all looked around and some smile back at him, some cried. Emily stared at Lurk, she was sitting on a flat chest in the corner that the women had begun using. Lurk had tried to open it before but it was impossible, Emily had used it to sleep on as it was quite big and his own height. But his initial attempts at trying to get inside it had failed and he had simply not had time to go back to it. It even looked like the gnoll had been trying with a piece of twisted iron.


    "So do it then," She said coldly to Lurk


    "It is complicated... But I can only do it one collar at once. Resti''s collar is being turned off right now"


    Emily jumped off the chest and walked over to Lurk and leaned down.


    "So you are letting your own women go first? We need to sleep with you to be first in rank to be free?" She looked angrily at Lurk.


    "She was there when I finished, I can do a lottery to decide the order you are let go in from now on for it to be fair if you want it." Lurk said back at her, not flustered at all by her anger. Which just made her angrier.


    "I do not believe you! You can''t take them off!" she sneered at him.


    "I can but... Wait..." Lurk looked at her... The way she had said it while angry at him...


    "... You do want it off right?" Lurk asked gently. But Emily blinked and looked shocked.


    "...Y..Yes of course..." She grit her teeth.


    "Ah I see...." Lurk looked away.


    "You see what!!" Emily angrily questioned Lurk standing up at her full height. The women looking back and forth between each other.


    "... You do not want to remember what happened..."


    "Shut up!" Emily roared out before Lurk could finish saying what he had on his mind. Emily had also been forgetting slowly what had happened to her. But she was also sitting around the women who had been captured alongside her... Some of them had collars on, others did not. The ones without collars had been crying about their situations, some had the strength to try and console them from their bad memories they were suffering from. Every time someone brought it up she would get stings of memories back that would fade back into nothing. But she knew it was beyond unpleasant. It made her want to give up on everything, every time the memories came floating back... It made her weak and unable to stand tall with all her strength. Emily was a warrior adventurer that had been beaten and seen her city and friends fall, only to be captured and raped by goblins alongside her best friend. Her eyes began to tear over as the feelings surfaced again over that which made her feel even worse.


    "... When Mercia escaped and you didn''t..." Lurk said quietly.


    "Shut up!... She ... She didn''t leave me!! She would never abandon me! In a dark cave! Alone with goblins!..." Emily cried, but her former strength and trying to stand tall was beginning to falter. She slumped down and rubbed her eyes trying to stop the tears.


    "I will let you think about it, it is your choice..." Lurk said to her quietly, Emily cried more Lurk held out a hand to her.


    "You can rest up before we pack up and leave..." She took his hand and he helped her up, despite being only 2/3rds her height he easily helped her up. Walking over to the chest lurk walked with her. As she leaped up onto it. Lurk looked at her, as he put a hand on the chest to steady himself a little and he sighed as he wanted to say something more to her before she returned to her "repressed state" but then.


    "What!!!" Lurk stared at the chest when his hand touched it. he immediately cast [Project Light]. and a Rune appearing out [Space] and then following more complex runes began expanding out in gigantic complex circles that filled up the corner of the room, and along the walls of the entire workshop lighting it all up brightly, making all the women and goblins look around shocked.


    "What the hell is this chest?!" Lurk stared at it wide-eyed.

 51. Getting rid of Burdens

    Lurk stared at the runes on the chest, his eyes twitched, the women around him looking at the runes in the air he manifested so he could observe them all at once proper. Even Emily had snapped out of her stupor looking around, she turned her eyes to look at Lurk.


    "What are you doing??" Lurk looked flustered as he blinked and looked back at Emily


    "This chest... It''s just nuts... I''ve never seen something so complicated... Well ok, I have but... This is impressive." Lurk looked at the place were a lock should be, he saw several complicated security runes. But it was not tied into any lock, this chest should not be locked. But it was completely shut tight. Lurk tried to focus his attention on the runes, as he began to sift the security runes out and see where their main connection points were.


    The women were looking back and forth between them. Some looking slightly worried, Lurk had never really moved into the area they had for themselves, he always respectfully stayed out of their corner, only briefly in the start of when they were setting up camp did he look at the chest but he never got the chance to properly examine it, and he never got back to it since he did not want to disturb the women. And he was also busy with scouting and making items for everyone and also keeping the goblins in check trying to teach them how to behave around humans. He was stretched thin and his attention was simply divided too much.


    "Please continue preparing to leave, I have to examine this" Lurk said as he could feel the unease around him. He kept sitting in front of the Chest as the workshop got busy with people getting ready loading up items into the sack slings lurk had made and distributing items. Aurk worked with Resti to make sure everyone was set up for a long trek as the right people carried what they could.


    The women were a lot more worried around the other goblins. Especially Aurk was a sinister looking goblin. He had reclaimed the Wolf pelt stolen from him and his new clothes all fit him nicely, If he had followed the normal look of goblins with rags and blood and trophies from dead humans on his body he would look utterly terrifying.


    Vorm had returned and he was dressed in dark colors and a proper cloak and mask. He had collected many of the daggers they had claimed, he looked sinister when you could spot him. He sat at the entrance watching everyone moving around. Sala had also geared back up, her gauntlets were replaced by Alex''s metal gauntlets, they had some nice spikes and Sala was giddy when she had them strapped on her the first time. She had also put Lula into a backpack that Lula sat in able to look out behind Sala.


    The runes slowly began to make sense to Lurk, he was looking for the weakest link in the security as he was slowly singling in on the main runes that centered around the central magical circle. His eyes widened when he saw one rune in front of him.


    [Elven Soul] : [Link]


    ("... This is an elf item?... Why would the elves have an immovable unopenable chest here?...") Lurk touched the area were the rune was located on the chest, and he put in some mana and saw it swirl around. But the rune did not accept it the mana, clearly, it was designed to link with something else.


    "Ah I See" Lurk closed his eyes and tried to Link his soul with the rune that was connected to the [Elven Soul], the [Link]


    He felt his soul poke at the link, the rune accepted him inside, the runes unlocked and the security measures pulled back and Lurk could feel his soul energy flow through the system in the chest till it reached a circular mark on the chest. The energy pooled into the circle and seemed to be waiting for something.


    ("Hmm the chest is -unlocked-... is this a button that has been unlocked?") Lurk put his finger on the circle, and a light flashed from the circle.


    [Space Ring] equipped


    [Chest Coordinates] Locked


    [Beacon] Locked


    The menu appeared before his eyes, the circle extended its light around his finger forming an amazing looking delicate looking ring made of tiny thin strands that interweave in complicated patterned around each other as if they were all made of vines. A tiny white gem appearing with the final flash of light in a small socket the vines grasped around tightly.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    [Storage] : now available.


    [New owner reconized] : Lurk


    Lurk looked at the ring with a dazed gaze. It was beautiful and shimmered slightly in the light of the runes that all slowly faded away as Lurk pulled his attention away. Emily had stayed on the chest looking at Lurk as his eyes focused and darted around looking at the runes when she saw the ring forming she gasped at the sight of the gem and vines shape.


    "That... Is an elf ring... I''ve seen one before..." Emily said as she also looked at the ring intently.


    "... Is it not weird a powerful elf magical item is here in the former great kingdom? from what I understood they never left their kingdom back in the day." Lurk said as he took his eyes off the ring to look at Emily.


    "Yeah... The elves almost never leave their forest... Only... Mercia managed to do it... She was the only one that wanted to help us humans against the Dark Kingdom..." Emily gritted her teeth as her memories began to stir again thinking about Mercia.


    "From what i gathered there were not many magicians either back in those days?... Only the elves had a majority of mages... This explains why they have this magic craft shop here... But i bet it was not for selling items... They must have had a spy ring here to observe the kingdom..." Lurk said as he stood up. He looked at some items belonging to Emily next to the chest. He focused on the ring and suddenly a shimmer opened before him. It was as wide and deep as the chest. A dimensional pocket with the exact dimension of the large chest.


    Inside were several pouches in one corner, along with six different colored ingots, and in 1/3 of the chest was a built a 3x6 grid out of wood that did not match the chest. The looked like they had been placed inside to organize easier. two of the grids had several small packages tied with strings. Looking inside he saw a ration of fine meat and berries and nuts. It was still fresh so at least now Lurk knew that time did not run inside the chest... Or these rations were extremely longlasting...


    He looked into the other grids but only two more had items, he pulled out a delicate looking dagger. It was decorated with amazing patterns of gold and silver with an eagle at the end of the handle. It was also an amazing looking dagger.


    _________________________________


    [Eagle Strike] Dagger


    Very Rare


    Mithril, Gold, Silver, Ironwood


    [Fast] Rank 4


    [Deep strike] Rank 4


    [Tough] Rank 2


    [Elf Soul Link] Rank 6


    [Disable] =connected Elf Soul Link


    _________________________________


    "whoa..." Lurk exclaimed as he held the dagger. Emily looked annoyed at Lurk, she did not like seeing a goblin wielding an elven item, but she knew from her friend that most elven items were impossible to wield except if an elf used them. To the dismay and annoyance of many humans that had sometimes managed to get their hands on these items.


    "You won''t be able to use it... the blade will be blunt to anyone but an elf" Emily smirked at Lurk. Lurk looked at it and tried to cut a piece of string from his pocket without using his elven soul. And as Emily had said the blade did not cut the string at all.


    "Well now you at least know its a strong magic item," Emily said, she sat up as she had been feeling better she jumped down looking at Lurk who held the dagger out as he let the string fall onto the blade with its own weight, but this time he activated the soul link, and Emily looked shocked as the string fell past the blade into two pieces. The blade was extremely sharp.


    "What... How..." She looked flabbergasted at Lurk


    "Well... As I have been trying to say... Mercia is my mother...I have an elven soul just like her." Lurk said looking at the dagger before he sheathed it back into its sheath and tied it to his belt. Emily looked at Lurk stunned.


    "And I am sure she did not mean to leave you behind... The timing of the goblins storming inside just as help arrived... It was impossible to get anyone else but her out... She did not have any say in it..." Lurk looked at Emily with gentle eyes as he tried to explain what happened back then. He was not sure how aware Emily had been back then. But she had been stuck in the darkness and the sudden flash of light from the teleport had blinded not only the goblins but also her. Only seeing flashes and hearing violent noises from the battle and screeches, she could maybe tell someone was there where Mercia had been. But she would not have been able to see it properly.


    "Mercia was in a Stasis spell, she could not have a say in what happened... The elf girl that appeared in Vine armor who slew the goblins inside looked around methodically and when the door was bashed in she vanished with Mercia."


    Emily looked down, her memories were back again, but they were slowly being explained away by the goblin in front of her.


    "... Why are you doing this..." Emily said as she looked up at Lurk


    "I just want everyone to be safe... When I return you to human lands... If you meet Mercia I would ask you to tell her something..." Lurk said solemnly.


    "Tell her I am thankful she gave birth to me." Emily looked at the goblin in front of her, she just could not see it as an evil goblin anymore. All her instincts and thoughts of what goblins had done to her and would do if they caught her. Simply did not apply to the being in front of her anymore. She nodded to Lurk.


    "I will." She said and smiled at Lurk.

 52. Onward!

    Lurk picked out the rest of the items from the storage chest. his eyes glimmered as he picked up a book and finally he saw what he had been waiting for in the menu once he looked at the title of the book.


    [Elven Writing learned]


    __________


    [Book - Understanding Runes]


    (Elvish)


    common


    paper


    0 slots


    __________


    "huh... a book can get a rune slot too if it''s made of good paper?... " Lurk muttered to himself. He had now gathered enough attention from Resti and Sala who came over to look at what he was picking out of the weird dimensional hole in front of him.


    "Wow! This looks amazing! What is it?" Sala looked above and below the flat glowing square floating in front of Lurk, seeing just a glowing field beneath and the chests contents from above. Lula making noises seemingly also wanting to see unable to see from the back of Sala.


    "It is a magical chest, so far as I can gather from it... The chest here in front of us can be accessed anywhere via this ring" Lurk showed the new ring on his hand. Sala and Resti''s eyes shined on seeing the amazing craft and the pretty looking gem.


    "This is amazing Lurk! Such items are extremely rare! Only the elves and some of the greater mage kingdoms have these... I never knew they had a chest placed down somewhere though..."


    "Yeah, that is a requirement for this ring. This entire room seems to have a beacon spell to allow certain things to connect to it here... I am not sure if the chest itself is a part of it... I would have to examine it a bit closer. But why would the elves leave it here unattended..." Lurk said picking up another book also written in elves, following by some scrolls that did not seem magical in nature, but merely contained some drafts for various items. The book though when he opened it had elvish words and numbers but it was not making sense in the slightest.


    "Huh... that''s weird..." Lurk turned a few pages trying to make sense of the contents of the book when the menu suddenly popped up with a new message for him.


    [ Cryptography ] Learned


    "Huh, it''s encrypted... Well, this should be fun to try and crack..." Lurk turned a few more pages before putting it back into the chest. He opened some of the pouches and his eyes glimmered as he saw several coins in each of them.


    "Wow, this is a lot of gold... It all the great kingdom coins too... They are still useful even today" Resti looked over Lurks shoulder as he opened up the pouches. Sala started drooling seeing the glimmering gold. Apparently, goblins knew the value of gold, which made Lurk ask her a question about it.


    "Where would you use coins, Sala? You seem to know they have worth?" Lurk tilted his eyebrows


    "Well strong goblins will collect things like these, some wear amulets and charms on their armor to show how strong they are at being able to keep it. Sala saw back in the old cave once when the big chief was visiting he had several of the coins placed down for everyone to view, and he collected them from the bosses that had taken them from raids. So goblins were told these were to be collected for the bosses. Along with a lot of other shiny items like rings and necklaces."


    "Hm so its purely a sense of pride and strength holding onto pretty things..." Lurk pondered on it but it seemed to easy of a solution. Since Xarn had connections to the dark kingdom it might be because they took gold currency there. Or that someone else took the coins in turn from Xarn. Lurk held up a gold coin and examined it.


    ______________________________


    [Gold coin - Great Kingdom]


    common purity


    ______________________________


    "Yeah... Gold can be used to make magical items... If someone can remove the impurities I bet it will become more potent..." Lurk examined a few more coins til he found one that had slightly better purity. Lurk put all the coins back into the pouches to the dismay of Sala who wanted to hold them more.


    "Right bring over the heavy cumbersome items, also the bags from my room with several bits and pieces. Also the books, this chest should make our travel easier." Lurk had worried about leaving some items behind here. But now he was beginning to worry about something entirely different also.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    Could he return here and use this place as a base? the chest was after an important item. The workshop itself had many different tools built into the tables used for crafting many items. But now that he had begun on the path of saving these women, the location would, in fact, be easily found if someone asked the women where it was located. Luckily none of the women except Emily had heard his thoughts on the chests function and its importance... At least as far as he knew... He began to get a smidge of paranoia worrying what would happen if the women actually returned home and began to tell of the goblin with the treasure of a lifetime in its hands. His eyes turning slightly cold as he looked around at the women gathering bags to carry.


    Resti noticed his look and tugged on his ear, snapping him out of his weird stare, making him blink several times.


    "Eh, what?" He rubbed his ear looking at Resti.


    "You had a weird look in your eyes, it was not a very nice look... What were you thinking about?" Resti had seen Lurks eyes become extremely serious and slightly sinister. Lurk rubbed his ear then sighed as he realized that the [Evil] trait had actually begun to whisper ideas of maybe forcing the women to not reveal anything, even the small thoughts of maybe getting rid of them slowly forming in his head. He quickly focused his mind to think clearly and tried his best to ignore the [Evil] traits input.


    "Ah... Dammit... Thanks, Resti... The curse was giving me stupid thoughts..." Lurk gritted his teeth and looked upset at himself, tightening his fists as he began to accept the various items from Sylphie and Sala as he began to organize them into the chest. Resti looked on as his eyes remained the same after his realization, she decided to make sure to keep an eye on Lurk to help him notice when he would slip up on his focus, at least it was somewhat visible on his face since his normal calm friendly look would turn sinister. She decided to also ask Sylphie to help out.


    Lurk finished organizing the various items and food into the chest severely reducing the weight and load on everyone, the chest was filled up properly now instead of being nearly empty from before. He made sure to put quickly needed items into the slotted shelves so he could quickly pull out vital items.


    He tried also to see just how quickly he could pull out an item he needed, he stored a sword into one of the slots and readied himself to quickly summon the chest, and reach inside to pick the sword out. After trying a few times he noticed that he could actually summon the opening at an angle and then pull out an item without any of the chest contents spilling out.


    The chest itself and its gravity were not translated through the opening. This caused a few ideas to boggle his mind. But the opening did not form instantly so it would be hard to maybe use the opening as a shield, which he could do but at the risk of harming the items inside the chest. Any item hitting the -bottom- of the spell-opening would pass through unharmed or unhindered without disturbing the items inside the chest. Which looked extremely weird and defied a lot of common sense.


    Also closing the opening while an item was half inserted simply closed and left the item unharmed. So that left another heavy kill weapon idea out of his reach... Maybe it was just the chest itself that had this function... As he could picture a lot of spells using this [Space magic] in a lot of grisly and dangerous ways. But it was out of his reach currently.


    Lurk closed the chest and went over to the goblins that gathered around him, he spoke loudly enough for the women to hear him as he addressed the goblins.


    "Right... We will now be going to the human lands, our mission is to ensure these humans safe travel there. You must continue to keep this in your minds and do your very best to help them get where they are going! We have to do this to make up for the horror our people have inflicted on them. I know you have thoughts inside you that think this is wrong... But focus! I know it will be hard! But I trust you all to do this!"


    Lurk looked the goblins in the eyes as he spoke, even putting his arm on the goblin, that had succumbed to his lust and tried to assault one of them women, and giving him an affirming pat on his shoulder.


    "We can be better goblins and secure our lives and purpose in this world. Once we have delivered the humans back home. After this, we will search for a place we can live safely and hidden. I look forward to working with you all to ensure our survival and draw out our potential!" Lurk put his hand on his chest doing the salute he had taught all the goblins.


    They all quickly repeated the action and their eyes were fired up from the speech Lurk gave them. Sala grinning widely, Aurk looking solemnly at Lurk as he also put his hand on his chest. Vorm sat over at the entrance clad in his dark clothing and even he stood proudly and gave a salute back over to Lurk. The goblins were all well armed and equipped with clothing and a few of them had fur armor and one goblin had even claimed the helmet the formed goblin boss had been wearing.


    "Let''s move out!" Lurk said as he turned to the human group and gave a quick nod to them all. They all looked with disbelief at the goblins formed in front of Lurk and having heard Lurks speech. Sylphie smiled back, Emily even smiled a little as her view of Lurk had slightly changed her outlook on him.


    Resti though was slightly conflicted but smiled none the less. As they all began their journey.

 53. Revenge

    Lurk took out his elven dagger and held it up to the neck of a woman. He pushed the tip of the dagger into the connecting point between the collar and gave a slight twist with it. The collar came off easily. The woman nodded at Lurk and quietly stated to him.


    "... T.Thank you" Lurk blinked at the woman and smiled back with a nod, as he put the collar away into the ring on his finger.


    "You are welcome. Right... Who is next?" Lurk said to the woman who rubbed her own neck as she picked up the bag she had put down. Lurk had steadily been removing the collars as they traveled. All but 5 of the women had gotten their collars off. Emily had not yet stepped up to have her collar removed. Lurk felt sorry for her as she had apparently silently decided to keep it on. Since it was effectively making her forget her trauma. She was not willing to face herself having been weak and captured.


    Lurk waited till a woman came up, some of the women were with her holding her hands and one of the women also covered her mouth, he then activated the rod towards a new woman and her mind immediately seemed to clear up, she began to cry but the other women were already there to comfort her, and letting go of her mouth right away since she did not seem to react badly. They had to take small breaks whenever they would pick a new collar to be undone as the person in question would instantly relive their memories returning to them in full. Even when they had been prepared and guarded some would still not be able to cope easily.


    Lurk went over to Sala who was looking out over the grass plains that was covered in jagged rock croppings here and there spread out over it. She was keeping a keen eye like the other guards for any following them. Lurk poked Lula who was on Sala''s back who gave him a grin as she whapped his finger.


    "Good girl." Lurk grinned, as he looked over Lula, she had grown slightly, it was disturbing to him still how fast goblins would grow. The other goblins also showed the same amount of growth and Lurk had made sure that the girl goblins had been taken care of and were taught properly. He had plans for them once they would grow up. Sala turned briefly to Lurk grinning the same grin as Lula before returning to her guard duty.


    "So no one following us I take it."


    "Well yes?? Sala would have told you. Geesh Lurk..." Sala rolled her eyes briefly. Lurk ignored the comment and made a note to work on Sala''s ability to tell sarcasm properly. He looked out over the plains and looked at each of the large jagged rocks jutting out from the ground. He could clearly see them far away his enhanced senses catching all the details.


    "Good... Aurk said it should take us a couple of days to get to the valley city." They were traveling towards the valley following the old road that sometimes would appear from under the grass and rock croppings. So no major travel hiccups had occurred except for their occasional stopping once they felt a person had been prepared properly to activate the rod on the person with a collar. Which was a harrowing experience since they had to talk to the woman and remind her of her memories. Lurk found it was not a pleasant experience if all the bad memories flooded back all at once. As one woman completely collapsed after screaming out loudly becoming completely unresponsive. This delayed them for a long while as the woman was catatonic and the women were very scared after that to have their collars taken off.


    Lurk tried to examine the woman and saw her mind guessing that she simply was too distraught beyond what someone could cope with. Lurk felt bad for the woman that must have experienced something horrible to have happened to her. Asking the women Lurk found out that she was also very quiet before she had the collar off but she was not catatonic. During her time living in the village, she had three children and a husband that all got killed, most likely in front of her.


    Once the collar was on her she started to act more normal. So clearly it was not a permanent condition. Lurk could see that her mind still worked in places but others were not doing much. They made a stretcher and carried her with them as they traveled. Lurk was unsure how to fix her though he tried to cast his various healing spells and status removal. but nothing changed her mental state. The mental runes showing a persons brain and mental activity were simply to complex to directly understand beyond the surface runes.


    So Lurk had asked the women to talk to the next person and help them remember as much as they could. Lurk felt it would lessen the sudden withdrawal of the collars effect on their minds with too many memories suddenly assaulting them and reminding them all at once of their losses and experiences. It delayed the timing he had for their removal of the collars but he was sure by the time they were at the valley they would all be off. Emily had taken her distance from the group of women during these moments and had offered up to help with the front guard when they traveled.


    "We got a monster!" Emily said out quietly, Lurk quickly went over there and looked, seeing a large lumbering tall humanoid creature, it had a large underbite with large teeth from it two horns on its forehead. and a large malformed head. Its arms were very long and its hands were big. It was dragging a big piece of wood as a weapon.


    "Is that a orc?" Lurk asked Emily.


    "No its an ogre. It has not spotted us yet... They are normally not alone so we should keep an eye out if we are gonna attack it." Emily tightened her grip on her sword, Aurk, Vorm, and Sala came over.


    "You stay here Sala. use a bow if you have too" Lurk advised, telling the other goblins who had bows to get ready for them to fire.


    "Vorm can you sneak up and try to get in behind when he comes at us. " Lurk said as Vorm immediately headed out keeping a rock or other blockage in between him and the ogre as he hid between where it was gonna come from and the group.


    "Get ready here gobs and when I say fire give it two volleys then ready your swords and spears." The goblins readied up.


    [Leadership] Learned at 0.2


    "Ah thats neat. Ok Aurk and Emily you are with me"If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    "Sala also wants to come!" Sala looked huffy but Lurk wave his hand up to stop her.


    "Not this time. Stay back if you get hit you might lose the baby" Lurk reminded Sala who still looked huffy despite Lurks warning and reminder.


    "Two ogres now!" Emily said, Lurk saw the other ogre but it was further away they were both steadily walking in a direction not towards the group and had not yet noticed them. They did not seem to be very observant.


    "I will focus on the other ogre" Lurk said as he stared at both the ogres."


    ("Is this what Sala and Lula would become if they evolved? I need to check their stats later if they actually gain too much of the bad stats")


    Lurk Aurk and, Emily all headed forward and waited behind a rock. Vorm was father ahead, Lurk gave the motion to the goblins behind to move up and start shooting


    [Leadership] at 0.4


    "Go!" Lurk gave the command and the goblins started to fire at the ogre nearest to them, the arrows raining down around it, only a few of them hitting it. It roared out loudly causing a nerve-wracking effect on the group, some of the bow goblins looked like the might panic. The ogre had the [Roar] Ability that could cause panic in targets!


    [Mental Resist] 0.2


    "Steady!" Lurk said, as he cast a [Clear Status] on one of the goblins that looked much worse for wear off from the roar the ogre gave off. The other goblins were still shocked some fumbled with the bow but they shot more arrows at the now stampeding ogre that was making a straight line for them. Lurk also cast the [Clear status] on himself as he still had time before the ogre made it up to where they were.


    Lurk and the front party jumped out to face it, Lurk fired off a [Tempest disk] at the ogre its left arm flew off and a deep slice cut into its torso, but the ogre swung its wooden log still with its other arm but the group quickly dodged it and then struck all their weapons into it. Emily yelling loudly as she made several well-aimed strikes that cut the ogre deeply. Aurk stabbing into the ogre''s thighs causing it to stumble down on the ground. Lurk following up with a stab with his elven dagger into its skull that despite its thickness did not much, the blade sinking into the ogre and it collapsed taking the dagger with it onto the ground. Lurk quickly pulled out his shortsword and readied himself for the next ogre that was charging towards them also.


    The ogre charged past where Vorm was and he leaped out onto its back and sunk his sword into its back. Lurk quickly bombarded it with [Wind Bullets] causing holes to explode on its chest. It began spinning madly trying to grasp behind it. But Vorm held on tightly. Aurk and Emily charged ahead, the goblins behind following up behind charging the Ogre as they began to stab at it with their weapons, it was slowly whittled down as it collapsed, Emily, stabbing her sword into the ogre causing it to stop moving. Only one goblin got knocked away by the ogre''s massive arm. Lurk hurried over and started to heal the goblin that was completely out cold.


    [Holy Magic] 5.0


    ("Finally.. that last decimal was hard to get..") Lurk thought as he kept healing the goblin its eyes opening up as it got up.


    "Thank you chief!" The goblin saluted Lurk and grabbed its weapon.


    "Be careful next time, but good work everyone!" Lurk said to the goblins that all cheered.


    Emily took out her ax and slammed it into the head of one of the ogres. splitting it open. She began to crack open the skull and then pulled out a small crystal from its head.


    "Ah, it had a good crystal this one." Emily said coming over to Lurk who was staring rather shocked at Emily, she handed the bloody crystal to him. He cast a Cleaning spell on her and the crystal as she had been covered in blood from the hit.


    "What is this for?" Lurk said as he examined the crystal


    ________________________


    [Magic Crystal]


    Uncommon


    25 raw mana


    "Forms in all living beings and grows over their life time, the more ambient mana they are in the bigger these grow"


    ________________________


    "Guilds pay a lot for these as they can be used by mages and churches to create items I''m told"


    Emily went over to the other ogre but Lurk quickly followed and observed where she cut so he could learn it. She pulled out a smaller crystal and handed it over to Lurk. Aurk and Sala along with other goblins had also begun to cut the ogre up.


    "Remember to keep that meat separate from the other meat," Lurk said to them, as he did not want the women or himself for that matter to eat that meat.


    ________________________


    [Magic Crystal]


    common


    5 raw mana


    "Forms in all living beings and grows over their life time, the more ambient mana they are in the bigger these grow"


    ________________________


    Lurk grew curious and decided to check his avatar menu and tried to find his own crystal. It was clearly connected to his mana, and he opened up its information and opened his eyes wide.


    ________________________


    [Magic Crystal]


    Epic


    600 raw mana


    "Forms in all living beings and grows over their life time, the more ambient mana they are in the bigger these grow"


    ________________________


    "Jeesh... If someone sees this I will be hunted down by everyone..." Lurk exclaimed as he closed the menu down. Sylphie who came up next to him tilted her head.


    "Oh did you not know master? but the humans that came here with me were hunting a one-armed goblin. I thought it was you?" Sylphie put a finger on her chin thinking back.


    "What? Oh... No that must be Vrek....." Lurk said but then looked at his own hand that had grown a lot since his mana recovery was not extremely fast he had the regen spell on all the time. It was almost time for the hand to start growing. Lurk was rather annoyed at the spell as it was so slow. But he looked worried now as he now realized that he was basically a big target by any humans seeing him.


    "Damn... Vrek really keeps making my life miserable..." Lurk gritted his teeth, Sylphie looked worried and looked down


    "Sorry master I did not think to mention it..." Lurk noted she was upset over her error, but he quickly shook his head at her.


    "It''s ok. I had no intention to be in eyesight of any adventurer or human anyways. But now we know." He gave her a pet on her head and played with her ears a little which caused her to cheer up a little.


    Giving the goblins time to proper loot the ogres, the group got moving once more the raw meat being packed and then put into his ring. Lurk then cast his clean spell on everyone and the scent of blood vanished from them all.


    "Well, I think that went well... We can handle a couple of ogres without to much problem... Still need to hold back the other goblins maybe" Lurk said to Aurk who came up to him and walked by his side.


    "Indeed Chief, But the gobs need to learn. With your healing, I think we can risk it." Aurk nodded as they walked, the goblins were quite happy and high on their win.


    "Good thing we did not lose any" Lurk said when suddenly a shrill scream was heard from behind. Everyone turned to face it and Lurks eyes widened.


    The catatonic woman had awoken, and she had grabbed a dagger from one of the goblins and jammed it into his back, still holding the bloody dagger she raised it up and prepared to slam it back into the goblin, her eyes mad and she was still screaming.


    "You killed my kids!!" Lurk stared in disbelief at the screaming woman, the women grabbed her and the goblins leaped at her, tackling her to the ground, but one of the goblins had drawn his sword and moving to strike her.


    "Stop!!" Lurk yelled out at the goblin, the goblin stopped just before it was gonna stab the woman, it looked at Lurk angrily, then its eyes cleared and it looked at the sword and the woman, shaking its head as if it realized what was happening. It looked in fear at Lurk. As he hurried up to heal the goblin that had been stabbed.


    "Dammit... Stabbed in the heart..." Lurk stared at the dead goblin and then at the frantically crying woman. Everyone gathered around them.


    "... Ogres we can handle..." Lurk looked dejected at Aurk.

 54. Forgiveness

    Lurk stared at the woman, he could feel everyone staring at him with mixed emotions. His eyes turned serious and he gritted his teeth in anger. The women suddenly becoming afraid, the woman that had stabbed the goblin was crying and trying to flail the goblins having let go of her and moving away while they looked at Lurk, their eyes also seemed to have an intense look as if waiting for something. The women were now holding the woman, Lurk made a motion for his dagger when Emily suddenly stepped in front of him holding her arms out.


    "Stop! You can''t punish her! She is completely out of it!" Emily said with a stern look matching Lurks eyes. The goblins began to sneer, Aurk and Vorm began to circle around the women, Resti and Sylphie looked on with shocked looks at what was transgressing in front of them, Sala also seemed to begin to move forward towards the women.


    "It is not her fault!" Emily began to look around her slightly panicked the goblins seemed to be rilling up over the atmosphere in the air, some of them even drew their weapons. The women began to cry. Lurk was holding his hand on his dagger staring at Emily. When he drew it, Emily''s hand moved to her own weapon, but her collar began to cause pain to her, some of the women who still had collars on who also seemed to panic could feel their collars begin to sting them slightly. Resti moved forward to get in between Emily and Lurk also, but then Lurk suddenly turned around and knelt down at the goblin who had died, he cut open his clothes and remove his shirt and furs quickly, he began to yell as he took off the goblins shirt.


    "We have done everything for you to make sure you return! The goblin here had no way to be involved in the village attack! He was back home in the cave when it happened!" Lurk held his hand on the wound and began trying to heal it, The goblin had lost a lot of blood and the heart was pierced right through which caused him to go down almost instantly. Lurk cast his spells with yells.


    "[Lesser Regeneration]!"


    "[Heal]"


    "[Heal]"


    The goblins wound was closing, but Lurk needed to see if the heart was healing first, so he cut the wound open and expanded it to keep looking at the heart as he tried to focus his healing at one location. But this was not how the healing spells worked, it was also one of the reasons why his arm was so slow to regenerate, it was not focusing all the energy of the spell into the singular wounds.


    "Goddammit!" Lurk said cutting the goblin looking at the heart as he could see it slowly knitting together. Blood leaking out of the wound, Lurk began to worry about what would happen even if the heart healed up in working order - it was not beating? Would a heart even begin to beat if it was magically repaired?


    "We do not want to hurt you! We have made this clear! Again! And AGAIN!" Lurk stared at the heart his voice increasing in volume, the goblins had begun backing away even they could feel the rage that was brewing, but they were also confused about what they should be doing, their eyes had cleared up once more, Resti had her hands up to her mouth as she was looking on, Emily staring her hands slowly lowering down as she saw Lurk feverishly trying to heal the goblin.


    "WE CANNOT CHANGE IF WE HAVE TO FIGHT THIS CURSE!" Lurk gritted his teeth breathing hard, his instincts and the [Evil] Trait was screaming in his ear to not show weakness in front of his tribe, to kill the woman for hurting one of his goblins and to make sure the other women would know it. All he could do was focus on trying to heal the goblin as now the [Evil] Trait was in high gear forcing his mind towards revenge.


    He pumped the healing spell more into the goblin but it was to slow, He began to try and manipulate the healing spell, but the thoughts coming up in his head from the evil trait was distracting him, his breathing going more ragged his body beginning to shake. He tried to change the spell to focus on one location and not spread out, even to limit it to a tiny area even would be enough for him. His mana burning up fast since this method always caused ludicrous amounts of mana.


    "NOW IF HE DIES DO I HAVE TO KILL HER? HOW LONG WILL THIS KEEP GOING!" Lurk shook his head back and forth violently grabbing his forehead with as he suddenly stopped healing and trying to make the spell. When he suddenly felt two arms going around him and someone kneeling behind him.


    "We trust you... Save him" Resti had hugged around Lurk, he had stopped shaking but his breath was still ragged and spittle formed on his mouth, his eyes flaring but it began to cool down slightly. He tightened his hand in front of him and put it down onto the back of the goblin. All the women and goblins stared in silence, even the woman that had stabbed the goblin had snapped out of it and was looking on. Emily looked dejected into the ground fearing how this would turn out. The collars had all stopped giving shocks to the women.


    Lurk closed his eyes as he calmed down, his mana began to plummet once more as he began to change the spell he focused the healing into his hand till it became a tiny glowing point instead of a glow that covered his hands. He could feel the healing begin to focus on a tiny area, healing a lot faster than before. He opened his eyes and began to heal the heart only. The wound around the heart also slowly closing up but had his fingers into the wound.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    He felt the spell stop working as he slowly withdrew his hand, the spell began to heal the outside wound instead. As it closed up Lurk stared at the goblin and his hand that was covered in the dark-reddish blood. He flipped the goblin around on his back and put his head down on his chest. Resti had her hands on his back as he moved out of her hug. Women were crying in the background now, the goblins were looking back and forth between each other the mood was entirely different.


    Lurk got up and began to push down on the goblins chest. And give the goblin air with mouth to mouth. Everyone looking on confused.


    "Come on dammit!" Lurk yelled again as he was compressing on the goblins chest. But after a short while, he stopped. Instantly the mood once more turned back to how it was initially, Lurk gritting his teeth once more as he sat up, Resti tried to hug him again but he resisted it.


    "HOW CAN WE CHANGE IF YOU WILL NOT CHANGE TOO!" Lurk stood up violently and fast yelling it at the woman, Resti being knocked back, Lurk had the dagger in his hand as he stared at the woman who met his eyes and froze from fear.


    Lurk was about to take a step forward when Aurk put a hand on Lurks shoulder to hold him back.


    "Chief..." He looked at Lurk trying to find the words, but he did not know how to express it. Lurk stared down at the woman, dagger in hand, tightening his grip. The [Evil] Trait had removed all his regular ideas and hopes he had for how to try and become goblins that were not monsters since humans would always see them as such, and they would have to answer for all the horrible deeds all goblins had ever done to humanity.


    "Cough!..." A raspy gasp was heard from behind, Lurk spun around and everyone''s eyes looked down at the goblin that was breathing weakly, his eyes looking around confused and his body was weak when he tried to get up he could not. Lurk instantly collapsed onto a knee.


    "... hah... We have... To change... But so do you..." Lurk said in a shaky voice as he could now fight back the [Evil] Trait better with the death of the goblin removed. He was still angry that it had happened but he now knew had the power to change things, He could fix the pain and suffering that goblins and humans would cause. He needed to find a way or his heart would turn into evil and darkness and he did not wish to become a monster.


    Lurk looked at the goblin... As he turned to face the woman as he stood up.


    "He was not the goblin that killed your family... Apologize to him... And never ever do this again to my people... Any of you..." Lurk said calmly but with a stern look, as he turned his eyes to face the other women.


    "We cannot help you... If we do not trust you... We cannot forgive each other if we keep killing each other." Lurk said quietly as he looked into the eyes of the woman. The woman looked at him as she cried once more thinking of her family. She slowly went down with her head to the ground as she cried harder.


    "... I am... Sorry...." Her tears were flowing as she managed to say it through her sobs. Everyone looking at the woman as something that had never happened in the realm before happened, a woman apologizing to a goblin.


    ...


    ...


    ...


    Lurk sat with the goblin that had been stabbed, his name was Grom. He was still incredibly weak from blood loss, something the healing spell apparently did not do well with. Which confused Lurk, but examining the spell he saw that it would stimulate the body to produce blood faster but it still had a limit that it could basically create the required things in the body for it to produce it. Basically creating something out of nothing. Lurk pondered how to create a spell that would focus on that... Could he make a spell that would produce blood faster?


    "Did you bring me back from the dead chief?" Grom asked Lurk with utter reverence, even the other goblins and the women were looking at him differently. The girls were also sitting nearby, ears perking up at the question, as they had made an early camp after walking a bit further when Aurk decided they needed it.


    "It''s hard to explain... You were still alive but... Your heart was just damaged so it did not work... If I did not heal you right away I could not have done it as the healing would not work." Lurk wondered if the regeneration spell he had cast fixed some damage he had not noticed since the spell was localized. He was not even sure if the CPR he did was necessary, he merely did it in a panic hoping it would work doing his best to stave off the [Evil] trait with any other action that spinning around and slitting the throat of the woman. Maybe some nerves had not healed yet so the body could not instruct the heart to beat. Whatever happened he was just happy it went the way it did... But he was still upset over the woman''s reaction.


    ("... She would have been declared insane in the moment of the murder if it was back home... She was not herself... ") Lurk tried to justify it, but it was incredibly hard to just accept it with the fresh emotions still boiling in the back of his head from what the [Evil] trait was about to make him do. Or if it even was the [Evil] Trait at all... Sure it was a part of it... But he could tell he would have done something himself if Grom had died... What he could not be sure of.


    "I hope you can forgive her for her actions Grom..." Lurk said quietly looking out over the plains.


    "I can Chief! It is your goal! I will do my best!" Grom said eagerly, Aurk perked his own ears hearing the word forgive. As he realized that was what he wanted to say that Lurk should do... He had felt Lurks intense struggle like all the goblins could, the [Evil] Trait was basically linking their moods and would ramp up their emotions, Aurk could tell Lurk was struggling and knew how Lurk had been trying hard ever since they had been hiding in the workshop to instill the ideas of changing themselves away from the path. But Lurk was about to forget it and fail the mission he had laid out for the tribe.


    Lurk looked shocked at Grom, looking at the eager face of the goblin that was utterly awed by Lurks ability made Lurk smile once more.


    "Maybe I can too then..."

 55. Medivac

    *SNAP*


    Aurk looked on with an uncomfortable look in his eyes as Lurk broke Aurk''s arm right at where his arm was slightly bent and mangled. He could not feel any pain as Sylvie was sitting next to him and channeling a new version of [Lessen Pain] Lurk had created for her. Sala held Aurk''s arm looking at a Spell image that Lurk had cast that showed a cross-section of Aurk''s Arm. Lurk told Sala to hold the arm in place and he was pleased with how this would make the process of healing it a lot faster than before. Aurk''s body was accepting the old regeneration spell fine but the progress made on slowly shifting the bone in place was unbelievably slow.


    Lurk had now made specialized focus healing spells. He was sure that with these spells he could perform any kind of surgery as long as the spells were in effect with almost no chance of a person dying. He realized that all the healing spells would try to put a person''s basic body structure back into place, but it did not disclose that information in any way, it merely had a function that would heal a body back to normal.


    Lurk cast his new spell [Lesser mend bone] and the bone knitted itself together and the bone that was too much off began to separate from the rest of the bone. Lurk took out his elven dagger and cut into Aurk''s arm and removed the rejected bone pieces, and then focused his healing spell on the wound as it all closed up neatly. Lurk cast his new [Regeneration] spell that was faster than the old one by quite a few stretches. Aurk''s arm was steady enough to hold itself together, but Lurk put a splint on it as he could see on the magic image that the bone was still weaker than normal for the moment, to make sure it was steady.


    "Right... How''s that?"


    Aurk looked at his hand as he flexed his fingers and bent his arm, a surprised look on his face as he did so easily. He looked to Lurk, his wounded eye had also healed up during their journey, and they were almost near the valley. They had found a place surrounded by jagged rocks to camp in as Sala, Resti, and Sylvie was ready to give birth. So Lurk decided to also fix everyone else''s health issues now that they had the time to relax before the last stretch of travel. He began with devising the spells that he needed to fix the problems that he and Aurk had.


    ____________________________________________________


    [Pause Pain]


    Halts any pain of a willing target as long as the spell is kept active with constant mana.


    ____________________________________________________


    [Lesser Mend Bone]


    A focused healing spell that only works on one bone at the time.


    ____________________________________________________


    [Mana Blood]


    Restores blood in a target at an increased rate.


    ____________________________________________________


    [Project Image - Body]


    Reads the targets body stats and damage and projects it in a visible image or projects it to a compatible system menu.


    ____________________________________________________


    "It''s amazing chief. I can feel my fingers properly now before they were kind numb sometimes, it tingles in my arm a bit now though" Aurk stated to a satisfied Lurk who nodded looking pleased with himself.


    "That''s the healing spell working on your bone. Try not to stress your arm too much today and it should be good tomorrow" Lurk said as he cast the cleaning spell on himself and Aurk. He then looked to Sylvie and nodded to her


    "Thank you for the help Sylvie," Lurk said giving her head a pat and scratched one of her ears briefly, she smiled wide to him and nodded back.


    "Yes. Thank you" Aurk nodded to Sylvie and got and gathered his weapons and went over to rest up.


    "I am quite amazing how you are using those spells... I have not seen anyone do that before... " Emily said as she had been looking on along with Resti who also nodded at the statement. Emily had been an adventurer for a long time and she had been healed before and it was always a rather slow affair but it was good in emergencies and the various churches did have long term treatment but it was expensive if it was not a dangerous case as they would be cheaper if it was a very strong detriment to a personal health, at least it was like that in the Quant Church she was a follower of. Other churches were different on this, and it was not all the churches that had a person able to cast the strong spells needed.


    Lurk looked at his own arm and began to cast the [Lesser Mend Bone] alongside the [regeneration] spell, the fleshy veiny sack on his arm had been healing a lot faster than normal, now that the most difficult thing to heal the bone was healing on its own with a special spell to take care of that one task. He expected it would only take a couple of days more of healing without going too far down in his mana to reserve mana for emergencies and battle that might occur. But thanks to the increased mana gain that Sylvie and now he had made their combined mana pool recover incredibly fast, allowing him to cast the spells a lot.


    After the success with Aurk, even some of the women stepped up with some of their older injuries that some had gained during their life. A hurt ankle and an extremely sore back, The back being the most complicated one Lurk had to heal but he figured it out with the [Project image] that showed all their injuries allowing him to use his focus spells in the right locations. They even smiled once their age-old pains vanished with a slight tingle from his spells.


    "That spell that shows the body for instance. I''ve never seen it... How did you think of that?" Emily said looking at the spell image fading as Aurk left its range.


    "Well... I could just tell from when I was healing people it was possible..." Lurk lied, he was not gonna talk to much about how he could see his own bodies runes and pick off the most important ones that showed their status, then translate it into a spell light spell he created. Only someone that had a ready to read body rune template as he did would be able to do this feat. It did feel like a massive cheat, but Lurk did not complain. Since he was unable to open anyone''s body menu without them being part/or connected to his bloodline he needed that tool to fix Aurk''s arm and also be able to see issues in other patients.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    Clearly, he had a secret access pass to the internal workings of the world and the creatures living in it. All he needed was data to view inside his menu and he could gather something from it with enough time. Lurk sad down next to Resti but was suddenly knocked back into the ground when out of the blue suddenly someone pounced on him knocking him flat on the ground.


    "Chief! I learned how to punch from Mother Sala! I saw it in my head!" Lulu the recently fully grown goblin sat on Lurk that was looking dizzy from the sudden onrush and impact onto the ground. His daughter had during their journey grown to adult and besides her slightly blueish hint skin color and the two very small bumps on her forehead, she looked completely like a normal goblin with bright purple eyes. Her strength though was incredible as she had inherited the [Ogre power] and had a strong base stat for it.


    Lurk rubbed his head as he sat up on his elbows looking at the beaming Lula sitting on him waiting to be praised for her hard work. He actually knew already as the menu gave a message earlier while he was healing the group.


    [Lula: Goblin/Ogre] - learned skill [Brawling]


    "Good work Lula..." Lurk patted Lula on the head her grin was wide and big as she got up and grabbed lurks arm and effortlessly lifted him up standing. Both these goblins had more strength than any baseline human could ever hope to have without special skills or stats. Lurk worried for his future if Lula would continue with the same physical language she clearly was picking up from Sala.


    "That''s is Sala''s Spawnling!" Sala looked on proud rubbing her belly that was big and looked ready to burst, she sat down near the small fire that Resti had cast on the ground that was burning gently giving off plenty of heat but little light or smoke. Lula bounced over to her easily and sat down grinning at Sala.


    "hi hi hi hi! Lula knew Chief would be pleased!" Sala and Lula both gave the same grin to each other. Lurk had to say they did look like each other slightly despite that Lula seemed to have slight ogre traits beginning to show. Lurk wondered if this was signs of Evolving or a side effect of the Progenitor system.


    "Sala do you know how and when a goblin evolves?" Lurk sat down after dusting himself off, pulling out some food from his storage ring, setting up a way to fry the meat over the [Lesser Heat cantrip] Resti had cast on the ground. A spell she herself researched in the same way like Lurk did after they tried to experiment if she too could do it. At first nothing happened and Lurk tried to ask what she was trying to form within her mind. But she was not very imaginative or thought of specific scientific terms like how energy and mass was a thing.


    She had the simple idea of the hotter the better and to try and force it onto a point. It did produce something but it was not sustainable. She did not think along the same line of thinking Lurk did as he had a very good idea of how runes would function and how he could group it together in his head to form patterns and a pattern that the energy would flow through much like his computer programming.


    But trying to teach all these things to Resti was not something easily done. He tried something simple at first talking about how some things would retain heat after a while, how did the heat transfer between things, like cold water or a cold pot becoming hot. Then tried to make her think of a closed off space that the fire would be contained within and would slowly become cold, the heat leaving it bit by bit, then use the runes she knew to fit that within the thought construct in her mind.


    She burned almost all their safe to use mana, as they still remained above half mana pool before they would stop any experiments but in the end, after several attempts she made a simple point in space that would be filled with compacted fire magic that would only be allowed to release slowly. The more mana she put in the longer it would burn, but her skill determined how much she could put in it at once. Lurk pondered over that briefly how her way of thinking versus his was the reason his spells were more refined since she had a lot more world knowledge since he had a good concept of physics and a strong ordered mind learned from programming allowing him to think up complex rune formations.


    "The big goblins in the cave evolved after many fights and having lived in the large cave for a long time," Sala interjected bringing Lurk out of his thoughts on magic. He nodded as he remembered that monsters would -Evolve- after being stressed enough and that apparently ambient mana was a big part of it. Hence why the cave he was born in was important, since apparently a lot of mana was located there... He did want to go back there one day to find out how this worked. He looked at Lula who interrupted Lurk''s question to begin talking with Sala about her metal gauntlets and Sala then offered up that Lula could have Sala''s old gauntlets which made her extremely happy.


    Lula had been bathed in mana a lot since Lurk would heal and put mana through Sala when she was pregnant to see how it would improve her. But her Menu Avatar never did change. Lurk was worried though that if she evolved now, she might turn into one of the ogres they fought... And they were severely impaired intellectually.


    Strong yes. Dumb as bricks yes.


    Right now Lula seemed quick and smart. Her goblin side was still dominant despite her half ogre nature. Lurk brought up his progenitor menu looking over the [Ogre Magic Curse Unlock] that cost a whopping 10 FBP... He would need to get 10 more children... And not spend any points on those children in order to improve only one child...


    Lurk sighed to himself, putting that problem aside for another day. He did not like that some of his children would need to be less talented only so one would be more talented... Especially if he had to be the one forcing the choice... This is supposed to be naturally decided... It was a lot of responsibility.


    Resti could see Lurk was dealing with something as he had that same ponderous look when he was thinking hard on how to teach her his magic research tricks. She was about to ask him when she suddenly grabbed her stomach with a yelp.


    "Lu. Ow!... " Everyone froze looking at Resti, Lurk got up slowly moving over to her.


    "... I think I might be ... Ow!... Yes.." Resti looked slightly worried but Lurk came over and held her hand, he gave some orders to gather the things needed for a birth, most of them he could handle with magic though. Just as he was helping Resti becoming comfortable, Sylvie came over with some water in a pot when she also yelped out in pain. She also gave a look towards Lurk hinting that she was also getting ready. Lurk began to sweat slightly.


    ("Come on! both at the same time?!") When he looked over to Sala who did not yelp but instead had a gigantic smile as she felt her stomach giving an affirmative nod towards Lurk.


    (" ALL THREE AT THE SAME TIME?!!??!") Lurk panicked as all three went into labor at the same time.

 56. 2nd Generation

    Lula looked on as Lurk and everyone all hustled around slightly panicked, save for Sala that just grinned and padded Lula on her shoulder.


    "You can go practice with someone else! Then come see your siblings later!" Sala grinned towards Lula, that smiled back and nodded to her eagerly as Sala joined the others with Lurks frantic actions to try and make everyone comfy and to begin casting spells on them en mass. Lula headed off from the part of the camp that was in surrounded from all sides but one with the jagged rocks as she came out to the larger area where everyone else was camped out.


    Lula looked at the women that were situated near the entryway into Lurk''s camp area. When the human named Emily noticed her and decided to go over to her with a puzzled look.


    "So what''s going on in there? Lurk sounds agitated.." Emily asked Lula that smiled up at Emily, Emily had begun to warm up to the goblin girl as she was friendly and eager spirited with her combat training, which reminded her of herself when she started her training as a fighter.


    "Chief is handling all the births right now! Lula will get a lot of siblings soon" Lula grinned and stood proud with hands on her side. Emily looked shocked.


    "Wait, all of them at once?" Emily looked amazed, wondering how that seemed both unlucky and unlikely. scratching her head she looked towards Lurk''s camping area. One of the slightly elder women, Lise was her name Lula remembered, seemed to have heard the discussion and stood up.


    "I think I could go help... It is the least I can do after they... Helped us so much..." Lisa looked towards the camp with an odd look, but then seeing Lula smile at her thankfully she smiled back. She was also one of the women that had been healed of a longtime ailment she had been suffering from for a long time.


    "Thank you! Chief will be thankful for that! So is Lula!" Lula jumped a bit and grabbed Lise''s hand shaking it as Lurk had been showing them all how to greet and thank people when they had done a deal. Lise closed her eyes and grinned smiling at the energetic goblin, though the grip was slightly strong, just how strong was this tiny goblin girl Lise thought. Lise headed into Lurk''s camp to help out.


    "... I never thought that would happen..." Emily said quietly, the thought of a human helping goblins with labor, let alone anything at all was still weird. But most of the women and even Emily had slowly begun to accept the kindness and sincerity of Lurk and the other goblins. But Emily could not understand why the other goblins were all completely willing to be this friendly. One Goblin like Lurk, yes that was maybe possible. But all the goblins went along with it and seemed to put all their effort they could into acting properly in front of the human women.


    "What?" Lula looked up at Emily with a curious look in her eyes. It slightly stunned Emily as Lula looked innocent and carefree. Emily shook her head as she answered.


    "Ah... It''s nothing!... " Emily felt she did not want to disturb Lula''s worldview of how the goblins were evil and everything happening right now was extremely unlikely. Which made her think how odd it was she was actually trying to spare the feelings of a Goblin.


    "Ok! Lula will go practice a bit more! You should come if you want!" Lula grinned and headed over towards Aurk, Emily almost went along but it was still too weird for her. So she simply said no thanks to Lula as she ran off, Lula waving back to her as she did.


    Lula jumped down next to the sitting Aurk in a fast sitting motion, causing Aurk to be slightly startled by the energetic goblin. He was restringing a bow at the moment and the bow bounced out of his hands as he was in the middle of forcing it closer together so he could string it. He felt angry and was about to yell at Lula when he felt the pressure to be mean and he managed to remind himself of how to act.


    "Hi, Aurk! Can you train me! Sala is busy giving birth so she can''t train me right now!" Lula smiled at Aurk that looked flustered as he picked up the bow and began to force it back down the wood creaking as he did. He was struggling with it slightly as he did not want to force his arm too much as Lurk had warned him.


    "Not right now Lula, also be more careful with your jumping around... I am sure the chief has mentioned it too you..." Aurk tried to push on the bow slightly more as he almost put the string on the other end. Lula looked at him and decided to help, she grabbed the bow and bend it like Aurk was doing and easily enough the string was put on. Aurk looking on amazed at the feat Lula managed to do.


    "There you go! It''s all finished! - Can you train me now?" Lula grinned, blinking with her eyes in a begging way at him, causing him to pause slightly looking into her purple eyes.


    "Uh.. Yes ok... Since you helped with this bow..." Aurk managed to stutter it out, as he and Lula got up and went out of the camp area and over to a bigger area to train. Aurk cracked his neck as Lula followed him. Aurk taking off his leather armor and his wolf pelt, Lula looking on at how careful Aurk seemed to be with his pelt. Aurk having gotten ready now only wearing his vest and pants turned to face Lula.


    "So how will we begin trai... Ouuuf!" Lula asked Aurk as he suddenly swung a punch sending her down on the ground.


    "First off.. Always be ready for someone to attack you." Aurk said as he stood ready waiting for Lula to get up. Lula rubbed her chin from where she received the punch and grinned she got up quickly and took her stance.


    A few moments later Lula was getting up once more from another hard landing on the ground she grumbled out having barely managed to hit Aurk yet. Who simply stood there waiting for her to get ready once more.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    "Argh.. Unfair! I am stronger than you!" Lula got up once more, staring at Aurk, he seemed to read her easily and dodge her blows before returning a blow easily.


    "Yes indeed, but you need more than just strength. You need to plan your blows out and be ready for my counters..." Aurk said as Lula once more launched herself at him, she actually did do a series of punches this time but he managed to dodge once more, and he gave her a light slap on her neck as she passed him.


    "If that was a sword you would be dead now... Now try and calm down and focus." Aurk said calmly, he had changed his way of training lately since Lurk picked them up. Normally he would not be this forgiving towards new recruits. Just like how Sala trained Lurk she would go all out.


    "Ill come at you now this time... Defend!" Aurk leaped at Lula that quickly rose up her arms to block the punch, receiving it excellently as she felt another skill being made for her. Her own menu was not at all as detailed as Lurks and all she knew is she could feel a way to absorb the blows better.


    [Block] Learned 0.2 - Progenitor informed.


    The symbols she saw gave her no meaning but she was thrilled when she saw it pop up. She grinned at Aurk who quirked an eyebrow as she focused and launched a counter punch at him, he dodged it as an attempt at blocking her monstrous strength would only be a bad idea. He was about to give her another slap when she suddenly followed up swinging her arm out wide causing aurk to have to dodge again but having a much harder time at it, he had to block it somewhat to deflect it, but he dared not use his bad arm for it. He was still at a disadvantage from this. It sent him sprawling back but he did not fall onto the ground.


    Lula grinned and kept up her attacks when Aurk chose to feint and instead of dodging her he grabbed her arm and twisted it around and using her own momentum slamming her into the ground as he laid down on her holding her arm behind her back.


    "Ah! unfair!" Lula Struggled and shook Aurk around, but he simply tightened his hold causing Lula to stop since it hurt when she did his grip holding her firmly in place. He let go and got up quickly. Lula turning around sulking as she noticed Aurk looking around oddly.


    "What?" Lula said tilting her head. Aurk simply scratched his hair and motioned her to get up.


    "Nothing go on. Get up." Aurk said looking flustered, having held her down he was suddenly reminded by the fact of her female form and her pushed against him like that suddenly flustered him.


    Lula still having tilted her head in a puzzled look, slowly got up. Now she was focused on Aurk and any of his tricks. He looked like he was not at all focused anymore.. But Lula knew better.. She readied herself and launched at him once more. Aurk barely managing to stop her from connecting hits on him.


    ("He is clearly up to something! What is he even looking at... Wait... Aha!") Lula grinned as she figured it out, she suddenly took a step back at one of Aurk''s swings and swiftly lifted off her shirt. Causing Aurk to pause completely. As she swung out and connected a blow right into his stomach. As he collapsed hard onto the ground gasping for breath. Lula raised her hands in triumph jumping on the spot grinning.


    "Urgh... What on... That is cheating... Urgh" Aurk barely managed to look up but frozen when he saw Lula bouncing around. Lula simply grinned at him and put her arms at her side, her ample bosom presented to Aurk in their naked glory as she simply laughed.


    "Anything goes! You should focus! haha!" Lula smirked and also felt slightly flustered now as she saw Aurk staring at her like that. She was in fact quite happy with Aurk''s skill and ability he was after all a wise goblin. Aurk got up and dusted off, collecting himself he gave her a stern look, as he took off his shirt too. Lula''s eyes widened slightly seeing the goblins scarred body and toned body. He was definitely much more experienced than her.


    "Right then... Here I come then!" Aurk jumped forward punching into Lula''s quick block and followed up with another one, Lula decided to tank both hits but the second block broke her defense and Aurk send a punch into her side causing her to spill over. Aurk grabbed her and slammed her into the ground in a bearhug as he managed to get behind her. They both struggled on the ground, Aurk quickly lost the close combat as the bearhug was not properly locked, and her strength was more than enough to force out of it. She was not pushing him down as they were facing each other her strong grip keeping him pinned. Lula breathed hard as the strugged was intense.


    "Good.. You got out of that..." Aurk paused as he could feel Lula pushed again him, and her eyes were entirely different compared to before.


    "Uhm... Are you..." But Aurk did not managed to say anything more as Lula suddenly let go sliding her hands up to his chest in a seductive way, her breathing ragged and cheeks darkening.


    "..." Aurk paused for several seconds. And joined Lula in her exploration of his body.


    ...


    ...


    ...


    Meanwhile Lurk had been struggling, and all but Sylvie had given birth fine, She did have twins after all so it was a slightly bigger ordeal. But along with the anti pain spells and cleaning spells, and in general the whole ease of which goblin births tended to be. It was over finally.


    "Thank you, Lise, for helping." Lurk huffed out in exasperation looking at the girls holding their kids in their arms smiling happily at him. As he smiled heavily.


    "You are welcome sir Lurk. I think you can handle it from here." Lise nodded, she was amazed at the spells used by Lurk, The girls were completely fine having recovered already, and not a single drop of blood anywhere from the spells Lurk used to clean them up. And when she saw the twins she almost gasped from an overdose of adorableness. Those cute looking goblin/catkin looking at her sleepily made her gasp.


    Lurk sat down in front of them all smiling at them.


    "Thank you all for these wonderful kids, I really..." He smiled at them as Resti,Sylvie and Sala smiled back, but he suddenly stopped talking and the girls all looked at him then each other back and forth. Lurk got suddenly distracted as his vision was blocked by text from the Progenitor menu and he froze... Before suddenly leaping up


    "AAAAUUUURRRKK!!!!" Lurk said loudly his hair turning bright red flaring up as he turned to face out of the small encampment. Everyone looking at him shocked.


    [Progenitor Level up!]


    [Congratulations on first Second Generation! you have earned a bonus 6 FBP]


    [Lula Goblin/Ogre has gotten pregnant!] Pick a name for the spawn. +1 FBP


    [Aurk Goblin/Lizardkin has joined the bloodline] +1 FBP


    Spawn will be a Goblin/Ogre lizard Kin


    [Special option!!]


    ______


    [Create new species Goblin/FireLizardkin]


    Requires. Ogre bloodline, Lizardkin Bloodline, Access To Fire element of rank 3 or above.


    (Warning - this will require the Element to be in use and locked off until the process is completed)


    New species effects


    [Hard Scales]


    [Flame Breath]


    [Rending Claws]


    [Ogre Power]


    [+STR,+STA,+AGI]


    [Ogre Magi Curse] (cost 10 FBP to dismiss) - Special option to upgrade to (FireDrakeKin)


    [Riding]¡ï Skill learned. From new unnamed spawn


    [Craft : Pottery] ¡ï¡ï Skill Learned. From new unnamed spawn

 57. Family Planning

    Lurk sneered as his fists clenched, his eyes were glowing red, his hair was changing color in all the colors of flames. Everyone looked at him slightly worried. Sala put down her new kid and got up over to Lurk who had begun to stomp out.


    "Lurk wait! What is wrong?" Sala inquired grabbing Lurks hand, he turned his face and looked at her.


    "Aurk just impregnated Lula!!" Lurk almost roared, Resti and Sylphi tilted their heads looking at Lurk, Sala blinked as Lurk stomped out speeding up.


    Lurk burst through the outer camping area - all the goblin and the women looking at Lurk as he stormed past, quickly followed by Sala trying to keep up.


    "Aurk!! Where are you!" Lurk roared, and he saw Gorm standing guard who pointed out to the side of the camp around behind some of the jagged rocks. Lurk stared at Gorm and hurried over there - his glowing eyes made Gorm cower as Lurk ran past him. Sala quickly following up behind as she had almost caught up with Lurk when he yelled out.


    Lurk leaped around the jagged rocks, an angry sneer on his face as he stared at Lula and Aurk standing up. Lula was helping Aurk putting on his leather armor, the both of them slightly flustered, Aurk himself even more so as he saw Lurk looking right at him.


    "Chief I..." Aurk tried to say something but quickly backed up as Lurk stomped forward, Lula stepping in front of Aurk.


    "What did you do Aurk!"


    "Aurk did nothing Chief!" Lula said catching Lurks attention his eyes snapping to hers, causing her to pause slightly, but she stood firm again.


    "If he hurt you, I will utterly destr..."


    *BONK*


    "Finally... Sala Caught up... Haah... What is Lurk thinking?" Sala said having done a *SS* Class bonk on Lurks head, both his hands rubbing his head as the red glow in his eyes fade out along with his hairs fiery colors vanished.


    "What was that for! Aurk just impregnated Lula! She...!" Lula sneered angrily.


    "So?" Sala tilted her head looking at Lurk.


    "Really???" Lula beamed, Aurk peeking out from behind her at Lurk that had been disarmed by Sala, he was still slightly worried about how Lurk might react so he was still on guard.


    "What?" Lurk heard Lula''s enthusiastic voice and turned to look at her. He slowly began to realize something and internally sighed as his mind began to calm down.


    ("... Haah... I thought that Aurk had forced himself on her... Because he was a ... Goblin...") Lurk looked down at the ground.


    "... Right... Sorry I was just surprised... " Lurk gritted his teeth feeling slightly ashamed from leaping to conclusions. When he thought about it who here in the camp could even -force- themselves on Lula. She was just as strong as him almost.


    "How did you even know?" Lula asked curiously.


    "... Right... " Lurk quickly looked at the Menu that had faded out of his vision due to him being agitated to not block his vision or interfere with his abilities.


    ________________________


    [Progenitor Level up!]


    [Congratulations on first Second Generation! you have earned a bonus 6 FBP]


    [Lula Goblin/Ogre has gotten pregnant!] Pick a name for the spawn. +1 FBP


    [Aurk Goblin/Lizardkin has joined the bloodline] +1 FBP


    Spawn will be a Goblin/Ogre lizard Kin


    [Special option!!]


    _________________________


    "I said I had some control over out spawn Sala, Well it appears i also have that over others in our... clan? Family?" Lurk said as he looked at the message. The [Special Option!!] being available was new.


    [Progenitor Level up!]


    New options are ready for greater control over the Progenitors bloodline.


    [Create New Species] Unlocked


    [Elemental Mixing] Unlocked


    Lurk asked Lula and Aurk to follow him back to the camp, he took Sala''s hand as they walked back into the camp and sat down near Resti and Sylphie that looked at Aurk and Lula, after Lurk came in looking still slightly out of sorts, Sala going over to her newborn who had been wrapped up in some cloth and picked it up grinning at it. Lula came over and made faces at the newcomer.


    "Thank you for giving Lula Siblings!" Lula said enthusiastically at Resti and Sylvie grinning widely at them. They both smiled and then Lula noticed Sylvie''s twins. Two tiny goblins slightly smaller than normal goblin spawns. But they had Black hair and a pair of cat ears and one of them yawned slightly making an utterly cute noise and Lula jumped over with hearts in her eyes staring at the cute twins absolutely fawning over them.


    Lurk had to agree, their cuteness level was way over 9000. He held his head as he realized they too would grow up in 6-7 days and end up impregnating their way through the tribe. Lula had not even gone to College yet!! Lurk shook his head trying to stop his silly thoughts. He was shocked as he barely took his eyes of Lula and bam. A new member of the family on the way.


    ("This is gonna spiral out of control...") Lurk opened up the [Special Options - Create species] to examine it.


    ______________


    [Special Options - Create species]


    This option allows the progenitor to create a standardized template for all future offspring of this bloodline - All future spawns will be of the new species type -despite if parents have evolved yet.


    New species will replace "Goblin" and become a new species in its own right! Congratulations on finding a new combination never seen before!


    Special options when upgrading a template to be retroactive on the entire species. (FTB cost varies)


    ______________


    ("Ah that is nice... Instead of using FTB on individuals if something becomes available I can add to the species it can be added to all in the species?... So this new species will require the fire elemental I have from Resti to go offline for a while?") Lurk looked over the message informing him how the new species [Fire Lizardkin] required the Elemental to be used to upgrade the species. Clearly thanks to the new upgrade [Element mixing] he could add an element type to his bloodline now.


    "Chief... What did you want to say?" Aurk asked standing just outside of their area." Aurk was looking at Lurk as he was staring into space.


    "Right... Sit Aurk... This will take a while... I think you need to know about -our- bloodline now..."


    Lurk then began to inform everyone how he had insight and control into the family members of his bloodline and the ones that -joined- the bloodline. Whenever someone joined or newborns were added he would gain power that he could use to augment the bloodline even further. He did not go into full details but explained it as best he could.


    "There are some things we need to handle right now before we lose the option too" Lurk looked at the naming option of Lula and Aurk''s new spawn - there was a timer slowly ticking away and when that was over he lost any ability to manipulate anyone involved in creating that spawnling with FTB points. Lurk explained how he could upgrade Lula, Aurk and their yet unnamed child.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    "This would mean that I would spend this power which I have so much off to upgrade. How would you like to do it?" Lurk decided to no longer keep this part to himself. He looked over the options for the current situation.


    ____


    [Current FTB: 8]


    [Create Species] Costs: 1 FTB + Special Requirements


    Creating the species itself also cost FTB, Lurk opened the options for the new spawn.


    ____


    Name and pick skills for the spawn!: (expanded options due to level up)


    Randomly 2 Skills learned -picked by !"#%!"#¡è- :


    [Riding] =(E) ¡ï


    [Crafting : Pottery] =(D) ¡ï¡ï


    Selected Slot Options Available ( 2 free ) Insert any skill from Progenitor :


    1 : ---


    2 : ---


    Chance of gaining up to (0-4) some of these next skills and abilities randomly that pass on - The higher the # of ¡ï the higher chance of the trait/skill being included at "some" level. Use FTB to secure maximum ¡ï option. Adding any other trait from the progenitor list costs varies.


    Skills :


    [Crafting Blacksmith] = (B) ¡ï¡ï¡ï¡ï


    [Brawling] = ? ¡ï¡ï¡ï


    [Stealth] = (E) ¡ï


    Traits :


    [Wind Magic] = (D) ¡ï¡ï


    [Viper Spit/Bite] = (E) ¡ï - Locked (requires +75% Scalekin)


    [STA Boost] = (D) ¡ï¡ï


    [STR Boost] = ? ¡ï¡ï¡ï


    - Elite Traits -


    [Pure Ogre Power] 85% chance free (due to one parent and grand parents already owning trait


    Fire Lizard Kin Options (If species created) :


    [Hard Scales] = 3 FTB


    [Flame Breath] = 0 FTB


    [Rending Claws] = 1 FTB


    [Pure Ogre Power] = 2 FTB


    [+STR,+STA,+AGI] = 2 FTB (for each)


    __________________


    Lurk sighed - it was getting complicated to find the best option. He could still utilize the option to augment the parents with any FTB so the spawn was guaranteed them. After talking to everyone, both Aurk and Lula wanted the best for their Spawn - but ultimately left it in the hands of Lurk to decide all the options. When they heard about all the options Lurk had to work with and how he did not have quite enough points to add enough abilities or skills and even how he was sitting with the [Ogre Magi Curse] high-cost problem, it was one of the more worrisome of the issues since that eventually Sala/Lula and their future kids could eventually evolve into brutish ogres losing their intellect.


    Lurk began to think about it as he did he did not see Lula and Sala move together to start whispering together. Lurk had a lot of points now from the "bonus" that was awarded because of the 2nd generation. But it was still shy of the points needed to unlock the Ogre magi curse AND give Aurk and Lula''s new child guaranteed abilities that he could pick for it. Lula meanwhile headed outside of the camp while Lurk pondered - Sala looking awfully psyched and happy.


    ("Right... I need to give them the [Fire Magic]... That''s 1 point each... But I could just give the spawn [Fire magic]... Is it worth it to give Aurk [Pure Ogre Power] ? to ensure the 100 %? Yeah, he would also get stronger... and the elite trait would propagate down the line much stronger... But it is a lot of points...")


    While Lurk pondered, Sala leaned over to Resti and whispered with her - she grew flustered and quiet, Sala was curious over it but shrugged and shuffled over to Sylphie and whispered to her again. She also was flustered and Sala once more got confused and annoyed even!.


    "Why do you guys not want more of Lurks spawnlings??" Sala said out loud now enough for Lurk to hear.


    "Uh, that is not what I sai..." Resti said, Sylvie was blushing and tried to play with her twins to distract herself.


    "Wait, what?" Lurk stopped pondering, what was going on here.


    "Weeeeeell, Sala thinks you need more of that power yes? Well! Lula and Sala had a thought!" Sala pointed towards the entry point of the camp area - Lula coming inside dragging the three Female goblins that were part of the six goblins born from the women they rescued. All of them looking flustered and slightly on edge if not right out -eager-


    Lurk opened his eyes wide, he looked at the female goblins and the proud nodding Lula giving him a thumbs up. He quickly looked to Aurk for help but even Aurk was looking on as if this was a given. Lurk panicked slightly and turned to look at Resti and Sylphie and Sala. But instantly froze.


    "... Why is everyone alright with this!!" Lurk exclaimed


    ---


    ---


    ---


    After having calmed down Sala and Lula that had decided that Lurk was about to impregnate all the females again +the three female goblins. He sat them all down trying to explain how this would only aggravate the situation. But Sala and Lula did not understand/care.


    "I think I get it..." Resti said she had along with Sylphi put the kids to sleep.


    "The more you add the more points you might get - but you worry about the points not being enough for the new kids... And also..."


    "Overpopulation," Lurk said with a stern tone.


    "If there are suddenly too many goblins here, we will begin to run out of resources quicker. Also, there is the [Evil] Trait to consider... The more goblins there is, the less control and overwatch I will have over everyone before I can solve or limit its spreading somehow... It could spiral out of control really quickly... Suddenly we would have a camp of hungry/angry goblins that would perhaps even leave or lose control to their [Evil] trait." Aurk nodded as he could remember when the goblin tribe would run out of food - how goblins would resort to simply eating each other or go to war against other goblins if they had no easy route to easy prey.


    "Hmpf... The females here would be more than happy to just carry your spawn!" Sala huffed, taking some pride in almost having the chief claim all the current females to make the tribe stronger and to -solve- the power points problem Lurk seemed to be having.


    Lurk peeked at the three females sitting slight away from the camp - when they heard Sala talked about them they suddenly peaked their ears and stared with expectations. Just how much do these goblins want his spawn! Lurk shook his head.


    "I do not just want to create an endless swarm of goblins... It would go really bad really fast... The humans would come through and murder us all if we stand out too much..." Lurk tried to explain - as he looked at the countdown in the menu ticking away - the time before he had to pick the abilities before he would lose the option to augment Lula Aurk and their kid.


    "Also I know that not -everyone- wants to keep having my spawn" Lurk looked at Resti.


    "Not everyone is like you, Sala." Lurk already knew that Resti was not planning to go all out like Sala had been. Which he had been pondering over for a while how to handle, since well. He was [Fertile]. And every single time he had sex so far - they all got pregnant.


    Lurk quickly opened up the Advanced menu as he got an idea he had been working on and off in the back of his head. He did not want to constantly impregnate Resti and Sylvie.


    He expanded the reproduction options rune aspects of himself but it was impossibly complex. Checking up on Sala it was much more straightforward. He looked over the top runes to look for anything he could identify or manipulate to perhaps "pause" someones ability to become pregnant. He did have a good idea but it was impossible to -change- the hardcoded runes in the avatar menu.


    But then the progenitor menu popped up.


    _____________


    [Rune Insight gained]


    [Reproduction On/Off] = 1 FTB to unlock on a species at will that is part of your bloodline. (1 gender)


    _____________


    ("Ah... Well, that solves the overpopulation issue... I can stop anyone bloodline from getting pregnant, wait I need to unlock it per gender?... Urgh great double point cost...")


    He snapped out of the Avatar menu no time having passed meanwhile.


    "Lurk, I think it is ok for you to collect the points..." He heard Resti say, he quirked an eyebrow at hearing it.


    "You need to change the goblins for your plans and to make them friendlier with humans... I do not mind sharing you with more... Well... A little..." Resti looked like she had -some- trouble with it.


    "Bah, this would just be for the spawns for the other goblins here right?!" Sala said knowing that she had a much more personal connection like Resti and Sylvie had with Lurk but she knew the Female goblins just wanted the -honor- from it. She turned to look at the 3 females that nodded eagerly.


    "Sala, Resti and Sylphie are Lurks special females!" Sala beamed looking proud, Resti blushing and Sylvie smiling with blush too.


    "We still have resources enough to handle more goblins, I will leave it to you Chief" Aurk nodded and got up, Lula jumped up and leaped onto the back of Aurk giving a cheer. Aurk almost stumbling from the sudden assault from Lula.


    "Have fun!" Lula grinned hanging off Aurk''s back.


    Lurk looked at Sala, Resti, and Sylvie - they all agreed. He looked at the three female goblins that seemed to be slowly realizing that everyone was reaching a positive conclusion for them. The goblins born from the females were all Sun goblins just like the others. They were not deformed so it was not that, which was holding Lurk back. They all looked rather normal but with the added goblin traits that he himself had. The females look at him hungrily having a hard time from restraining themselves.


    ("... I could finally unlock that Ogre magi curse at least...")


    Lurk managed to think, apparently showing some form of acceptance on his face, before he got swarmed by females. Resti and Sylvie decided to retreat out of the camp area. Resti carrying the baskets with the newborns blushing madly, Sylphie was holding her cheeks feeling they were almost burning and had a flustered look in her eyes as they both reacted to seeing the initial onslaught that Lurk was put under by Sala and the three other Goblins.


    -1 FTB [Unlocked On/off Reproduction - Goblin Females] was the last sane thought Lurk managed to get off before [Ravenous] took the helm since he needed to do at least "1" test... He hoped he remembered...

 58. Rise of the Drake Clan

    After a few clean spells and some introspection Lurk had come to grips with his situation, he had to do something about his way of thinking from his old life. He did feel slightly frustrated when the goblin females left mostly to the fact they were all but high fiving each other when they left. Being more than thrilled to be informed that they were indeed pregnant now. Sala grinning as she had her arms wrapped around him, she claimed the right to actually be proper affectionate with him, the other females were submissive to Sala so they accepted it. They were after all more than happy with what they got apparently. There was no sweet connection between them like he had with Sala, Resti, and Sylvie.


    Clearly, his old world mindset would just not apply for goblins, he accepted it as best he could. It was not that bad after all... He just had to be sure it did not get out of hand. He did manage to check if the purchase he did right before the -fun- began had worked and kept a clear head while checking before the ravenous trait decided enough was enough and time for experimentation was over with.


    He turned off Sala''s ability to conceive and indeed she did not get pregnant, he tried it also with another goblin the one name Keri and she also did not get pregnant until he turned it back on for both of them. So One problem had been solved. But in the end, he still ended up looking at the Menu once more with a list he had seen before.


    _______________________


    [Keri (Goblin) has gotten pregnant!] Pick a name for the spawn. +1 FBP Male (Golo)


    [Keri (Goblin) has joined the bloodline!] +1 FBP


    [Sadi (Goblin) has gotten pregnant!] Pick a name for the spawn. +1 FBP Female (Sara)


    [Sadi (Goblin) has joined the bloodline!] +1 FBP


    [Eina (Goblin) has gotten pregnant!] Pick a name for the spawn. +1 FBP Female (Anna)


    [Eina (Goblin) has joined the bloodline!] +1 FBP


    [Sala (Goblin/Ogre) has gotten pregnant!] Pick a name for the spawn. +1 FBP Female (Lisa)


    [Congratulations on impregnating 5 females personally] +1 FBP - Title added: Harem Knight


    _______________________


    Lurk''s eye twitched.


    ("What is up with this menu... But I wont object to extra FBP right now") Lurk thought to himself as he looked at the title [Harem Knight ] He quickly looked over the new kid''s avatars and saw no issues with their information. They would all become the same goblin type as himself and did not have any other species added to them. They also had skills that he already had in his list so he gained nothing new from them. He also quickly gave them names but he did not lock them down yet as he would see if he could save any points -maybe- he would have enough. He looked at the [FBP] Rune and saw the swirling symbols, each of them pulsing with power.


    [FBP total] = 15


    "haah... This should be enough..." Lurk said as Sala was rubbing her cheek on his chest still giddy from her -status- of being the lead female with a virile male like Lurk. She stopped and smiled at him.


    "Oh? So you can make Lula and Aurk''s kid strong too?"


    "Yes, in fact, lets get them in here, there is still time for me to change up their abilities." Lurk got up and quickly cast a few [Clean] spells, which he had already done on the female goblins as they left. He got dressed as Sala headed out already having slipped into her skimpy clothes that she prefered.


    Lurk brought up the menu and sat down as he looked over Lula and Aurk''s Menu.


    _______________________


    [Species Creation - Fire LizardKin] 1+ FBP creation cost.


    Extra Costs/Requirements : (Ogre) bloodline


    Extra Costs/Requirements : [Fire Element will be locked down for 7 days]


    [Extra Option]


    [Species Creation - Fire DrakeKin] 1+ FBP creation cost.


    Extra Costs/Requirements : [Fire Element will be locked down for 7 days]


    Extra Costs/Requirements : (Ogre) bloodline [Requires Ogre Magi Curse unlocked]


    _______________________


    Lurk quickly looked over the benefits the species itself would grant. Along with the Elite skills that could be unlocked at any time.


    _______________________


    [Fire Element = +1 to [Fire] Abilities]


    [Cold Weakness] : 25%(magic) 50%(normal) (progenitor not effected)


    [Fire Resistance] : 25%(magic) 75%(normal)


    [Hard Scales] = 3 FTB


    [Flame Breath] = 0 FTB


    [Rending Claws] = 1 FTB


    [Pure Ogre Power] = 2 FTB


    [+STR,+STA,+AGI] = 1 FTB (for each)


    _______________________


    But he could not see the Ogre magic stats - Lurk concluded it was because it was not yet unlocked Since he had already decided on unlocking the Ogre magi he promptly brought the option before him.


    The avatar menu suddenly froze briefly before all the runes around his avatar began speeding up considerably as the [FBP] runes quickly joined up with the increasingly fast runes. Lurk could barely comprehend what was happening. But the speed and slowed down as he saw what had happened.


    [Integration of abilities - working]


    [Conjuration Magic] Added to Abilities (lowest rank)


    [Updating rank to 4.0]


    [Integration of new spell]


    [Ogre Magi "Restore Ritual"] Added to spell list - Ritual has been cast to cleanse Progenitor Body.


    [Ogre Magi Curse] Unlocked.


    [Ogre Magi BloodLine Released]


    Lurk froze seeing all the things in the menu, the avatar effects had indeed been too complex to comprehend or understand -how- it did it. But the system logs showed clearly how the system had upgraded his understanding of [Conjuration Magic]


    _____________


    [Conjuration Magic]


    The core magic skill used for a broad range with no specialization, mostly focused around rituals and large scale spells - bending the world''s laws to the users will


    _____________


    ("So the system required my understanding to be at this level?... So I wonder if I had already learned conjuration or had a powerful conjuration bonus it would have been cheaper FBP wise?... My system does not just work from what bloodlines I have collected but also the skills I have learned? But it does not inform me of the options... Maybe it does not see the options till they are part of the system...")Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    Everyone had entered back into the small secluded area of the camp that gave them visual cover around them. They all sat down in front of Lurk, his eyes were closed and he seemed to be focused on something, his body not moving his hand on his chin in a thinking manner sitting cross-legged quietly.


    Everyone sat around him, waiting patiently, Sala, Resti, and Sylvie were taking care of their kids. Aurk had sat down in front of Lurk with a solemn patient look not moving an inch. Lula meanwhile poking Aurk now and again giggling at the serious goblins way of acting. He gave her a slightly annoyed look while not turning his head, her finger poking his temple, but she grinned when she got him to look at him and sat down right beside him, taking the same serious pose. Except grinning. Aurk sighed just as Lurk opened his eyes and looked at the both of them.


    Aurk doubled up on his solemn pose and sat up straight, elbowing Lula slightly as she also jerked up. Lurk looked to the side seeing his women handling his newborn kids, then looking at his oldest girl before him, sitting next to his friend and mentor.


    Lurk held out his hand, a gentle blue light began to glow around his hand as he cast the [Project Light spell] - Runes began to appear around Lula and Aurk on the ground they were sitting on. Lurk began to create a Ritual ring around them, they both remained still within. Lula even stopped fooling around taking a serious pose too, feeling that something important was happening.


    After a glowing ritual ring, with many runes around it, had been formed a small blue orb flew out from Lurks hand and flew over towards Lula and Aurk.


    "[Ritual Circle]" Lurk said out loud and clear.


    It enveloped them both and vanished without causing them any harm. The runes on the ground lighting up in a brief flash of blue light. The ground had been seared with the markings causing dark markings to replace the Light on the ground.


    "Ready your selves." Lurk said to them as he held up both his arms - though missing one hand still more intense flame appeared, the light from it flickering brightly and they could all feel the heat pulsating from it. Resti''s hair and Lurks hair both turned into the same color and flowed as if it was fire. The globe of fire floating towards the ritual circle landing on a Rune and the Ritual Lit up even more intense than before and new symbols made of fire began to spin around Lula and Aurk. Lurk had released the Fire Spirit Element from his body - using the Conjuration skill along with the progenitor system. He could see that the time period of 7 days could be reduced to 5 days if this ritual was performed - it was a basic ritual he knew instinctively. The fire element slipped through the runes as its light faded until it was spread out into the runes swirling around Aurk and Lula. They both sat still. The runes began to enter Aurk and Lula one by one until none were left. Resti and Lurks hair stopped glowing and turned back to normal.


    "That takes care of the first bit..." Lurk said smiling to them.


    "now what do you want to call my grandchild?"


    ---


    ---


    ---


    Meanwhile in the Fire Mountains. Back in a familiar lab. An old wizen wizard was staring at the Fire Spirit Apparatus in utter helpless frustration. His lab was completely dark now, the apparatus had complete stopped and lost all its fiery glow. Only the most basic spell runes where swirling around in it, the ones mostly used to lock onto the signature of the Fire spirit that had nothing to do with the fire spirit itself. But the Fire spirit was simply gone. Its energy had been snuffed out.


    "WHAAAAAAT!!" he yelled out loud as his head nearly exploded from the blood veins appearing on his red angry face.


    ---


    ---


    ---


    "Aula." Lurk nodded as Aurk and Lula discussed it with him briefly until they came up with the name, having to pick both versions of either female or male names initially until Lurk saw that due to his Level up in the progenitor system he could actually pick the gender 100% certainty now. Aurk and Lula agreed they wanted a daughter. They then settled on the name Aula. They had wanted to use the same system he did with Lula. Her name becoming Aula. The first letters of Aurk''s and the last name of Lula''s. If they had done in the other way around it would have become Lurk but they rather wanted to name her Aula.


    Lurk then proceeded to use the option to alter Lula and Aurk''s Avatars.


    _____________


    [Fire Magic] ¡ï¡ï Added to Aurk -1 FTB


    [Fire Magic] ¡ï¡ï Added to Lula -1 FTB


    [Species Created [Fire DrakeKin ] Lula -1 FTB Special Requirements are available


    [Species Created [Fire DrakeKin ] Aurk -1 FTB Special Requirements are available


    [Pure DrakeKin Power] added to Aurk -1 FTB (drake option available) (Lizardkin species removed)


    [Pure Ogre Power] Lula Converted to [Pure DrakeKin Power] Free change.


    [Aula Species changed to Fire DrakeKin due to parental changes]


    Aula Inherits [Fire Magic] ¡ï¡ï 100%


    Aula Inherits [Pure DrakeKin Power] 100%


    [Progenitor Abilities/Traits have been added] (processing - once fire process is finished)


    [Pure DrakeKin Power] [Ogre Power is a lesser version and is replaced as Main STR boost]


    [Flame Breath]


    _____________


    Lula and Aurk felt their bodies warming up as Lurk locked down the process. The last FBP had been spent and their species had been changed. Lurk was worried at first if he could effect Aurk, but he was able to replace his already existing bloodline along with Lula''s. Their species now read as Fire Drake Kin(Temporary Goblin). But Aula''s Species was locked as [Fire DrakeKin] so she would not be born as a goblin. He looked at her avatar.


    She was a dark-skinned human form, with pointy ears and with large horns jutting out from the back of her head along with spiky dense short hair, all her scales were red. The red scales running down from the back of her head and shoulders down her back to a prehensile tail. Her legs were also covered in Scales down to her Digitigrade feet that had four toes with large claws on them. Her face was striking and beautiful, her eyes were fierce though glowing with power. her teeth pointy and sharp. Her body was a lean but powerful musculature. She had extra organs that were indeed filled with elemental fire that seemed inexhaustible. Her forearms were also scaled and ended in normal hands but with fierce claws much bigger than normal goblin claws. with dark spikes on her elbows.


    ("Amazing...") Lurk thought to himself seeing his granddaughters form. Lula and Aurk were still goblins, but he was sure their evolution would be forcing its way soon enough. Lurk then saw a new message from the system appearing in front of him. Everyone noticed that his eyes widened out before relaxing with a smile. Everyone looking at him when he suddenly looked at Lula and Aurk intently.


    "... Aurk, Ice Wolf Killer..." Lurk said firmly but quietly a resonance could be felt from him as the air around the camp took on a solemn feeling. Resti and Sylvia looked around and seemed to know what this was, but the others were perplexed.


    "Chief!" Aurk said proudly, sitting up straight looking into Lurks eyes firmly


    "... Do you vow to keep the female beside you safe and happy and to protect your bloodline..."


    ".. Chief!.. Yes! of course!" Aurk answered quickly.


    "...Lula, Firstborn of the Progenitor..."


    "Chief!" Lula actually looked serious at her father this time.


    "... Do you vow to keep the male beside you safe and happy and protect your bloodline..."


    "Father! Yes!" Lula nodded eagerly.


    "I hereby form the Clan [Fire Scales] May your clan live, long Matriarch Lula and Patriarch Aurk..."


    _____________


    [Progenitor Menu]


    [Clan Fire Scales formed]


    [Clan options now available...]

 59. Causality

    Lurk looked over the new setup inside the menu. after having said his congratulations along with everyone else to Lula and Aurk, Lurk had said that Lula and Aurk should go declare it to the other goblins that they now had formed a clan under Lurks (tribe), much like how the various bosses were underneath a chief.


    But looking at the menu he saw a new "family" tree had appeared showing him at the top, connected to all the various women and then off to the side but ultimately still connected to him was a new tree with the [Fire Drake Clan]. Showing Lula at the top connected to Aurk.


    ("This would help organize things, but I also think that there are other benefits to it... Lula clearly has some form of -control- over this [Fire Drake Clan] much like I have over the [Evil] trait to affect all the goblins under me... Wait?... Is the Evil trait a subdivision group just like how I made a clan?... Someone or something made a [Evil] Group and put goblins and monsters into it...")


    Lurk tried to examine the [Evil] trait deeper, but he was simply unable to go (up) what he identified as the branch leading outwards away from himself. But it simply faded out and he could not see any info. All he could see was the goblins connected to him underneath him through the [Evil] trait.


    The evil trait was a lot more advanced than his new [Fire Drake Clan], it had several undecipherable connections that reminded him of how magic items had spells/effects attached to them, which he then surmised were perhaps the various commands and influences that the trait would enforce on everyone in the group.


    ("Well... If someone made the group, there might be a way to leave it, or break the connections.")


    Lurk looked over the only link he could effect so far with his purchase to block the [Evil] Trait to grow its influence over him, he then compared it with the [Fire Drake Clan] trying to find something similar. But whatever it was, the function was not -installed- into the [Fire Drake Clan].


    [Progenitor Menu]


    [Would you like to install a Loyalty effect in the Fire Drake Clan] -20 FTB


    Lurk nearly cursed out loud looking at the price, was the rune really so hard to make?? Clearly, he must be lacking in the necessary abilities required to make it/understand it. But now at least he saw a potential way to handle the [Evil] Trait. Overpowered it with a similar effect and make sure to raise each individuals strength in that effect. Since the system did not give an option to -delete- the trait it was clearly impossible to even comprehend a potential solution that the system could present for him.


    He began to look through other (tags) in the menu to see if there were other similar groupings. Which he quickly found underneath the first tag in the menu.


    [Race]


    ("... But this rune is way more complicated, and it also looks a lot more... Organic and not (forced) into the system. So the [Evil] is? Artificial ? or simply not remotely as well designed as the other core runes of the system... Someone/something is manipulating the core system by making these additions.")


    Lurk gave a sigh of relief since that meant the true core of the system did not seem to be involved in the building blocks that made up life in this world. Lurk did not want to picture going up against some super grand deity/deitylike being. But he did not have time to think about that anymore.


    "Chief! we got monsters incoming!" Aurk yelled out, as Lurk heard a commotion in the camp. He quickly jumped up after grabbing his weapon belt/shoulder satchel.


    "Everyone stay calm! Fighters to the edge of the Camp, Range units to the heighten position!" Lurk exclaimed as he slung his weapon belt on, watching the goblins quickly react, A few of the goblins with bows jumps up onto the rock that partitioned his minor camp and the main camp apart and readied their bows. Resti also began to climb to higher ground, up with a little help from the goblins.


    "Ladies please go back to the back of the camp" Lurk said to the group of humans not able to fight, though they did have primitive spears with them just in case. They hurried back, carrying the baskets were the children had been placed in. Emily ran up to the edge of the camp alongside the other goblins gritting her teeth as she looked out onto the fields of tall grass and jagged rocks piercing the ground as far as the eye could see.


    "Aurk! Report!" Lurk jumps up effortless onto a tall rock at the edge of the camp, looking out also, he did not need to hear Aurk''s report after all as he could see a lot of various beasts approaching fast. But they all came from different directions. His enhanced senses could easily spot them as they did not seem to be attempting to hide in the slightest.


    "What are they doing?? It is three groups... no, wait! its four groups of different monsters??"


    Lurk could see four groups charging full speed at their camp from far away. The goblin guards could easily spot them because of this, despite the small size of some of them.


    The first group that was gonna hit the camp and the fastest was five Black/gray striped oversized rabbits, the size of dogs, with crackles of electricity running down crystals sticking out of their backs, their eyes complete white and opened in fury, their mouths foaming as they charged with reckless abandon towards the camp.


    "Get ready to take them on!, Aurk Vorm Sala Emily! Take one each! Goblins attack them once we got them on us!" Lurk said as he began casting spells.


    [Leadership] Increased


    "[Holy Aura!], [Wind spear!]"


    A bright glowing rune circle appeared behind Lurk''s back, its effect washing down over the group as they all braced to take the charge, Lurk focused on one of the rabbits and launched a wind spear out at it, the spear flying through the air and slamming into the rabbit, it was sent sprawling through the air as dust and dirt blew up around it.


    [Target has rank (D) wind/shock resistance]


    "Dammit! not a clean hit! [Tempest Disk!]" Lurk jumped down to the ground alongside the others, sending a burst of air into the rabbits as they charged into close range. The rabbits leaped or dodged the disk causing Lurk to stare wide-eyed at them.


    [Target has rank (D) wind/shock resistance] x 4


    ("Just how fast are these rabbits? and that damn resistance!") Lurk thought to himself as he readied his weapon, the arrows from the group behind on the large flat rock began to hit around the four rabbits, one of them getting hit in its flank, it also stumbled and crashed into the ground rolling as it landed right in front of Vorm who leaped onto it and stabbed his daggers into its body causing blood to spurt out, Vorm suddenly getting shocked by the rabbits excess energy that crackled across its body as his weapons made contact with his target. Making him stumble and unable to keep attacking to deliver the killing blow.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Aurk slammed his shield into his rabbit, its body energy discharging onto the wooden shield, and Aurk followed up by striking out with his sword, the strike leaving a deep cut on the large rabbit, but the energy had already discharged and was apparently a one time effect. Emily too slammed shield into her rabbit, her ax swung and smashed the rabbit into the ground its front leg was severed from the strong impact.


    "Don''t touch them with metal weapons!" Aurk and Emily said out loud at the same time.


    Sala was unfortunate and not able to respond to the new knowledge fast enough and did an overpowered punch into the face of her rabbit her metal gauntlets caving in the rabbit''s skull, but she also received all of the energy from the rabbit. She spasmed and fell onto the ground as she was stunned, sparks running off her body. Though her target had been killed. She flailed on the ground trying to get back up.


    Lurk held out his hand and focused on Vorms rabbit that was regaining its stance, it was wounded but was still able to move. "[Flamethrower!]" A burst of flame flew out of his hand from a spinning rune dousing the rabbit in flames, but it was significantly weaker spell than normal since the fire element was no longer accessible to Lurk, The flames caused the rabbit to spin and flail and kick around randomly as it was on fire. Lurk followed up by kicking the rabbit sending it crashing into a rockface where it stopped moving, its burning corpse splattering against the rock.


    The rabbit his wind spear had made, stumble out further, had recovered during their clash and it leaped forward and ran through, jumped over, where Sala was downed and sprinted into the camp slamming into one of the other goblins, who had rearguard position, sending the goblin flying and crackling with energy. Lula who was back with the rearguard tried to strike out at the rabbit but it sped past her before anyone could hit it.


    "[Firebolt!" Resti yelled out as a firebolt slammed into the rabbit that had jumped into the middle of their camp and showed no sign of stopping, the firebolt causing a small burn on its back, arrows also launched from the other goblins struck down across the rabbit but only one of them hit its back/stomach. But the rabbit seemed out of control and able to ignore the pain. It sped towards the back of the camp in a mad dash.


    "[Light heal!] Lurk! It made it into the rear camp!" Sylvie yelled as she healed the goblin that had been sent flying.


    "Try to use status clear to stop the shocking effect!!" Lurk managed to say as he spun around after making sure that Aurk and Emily could handle the rabbits that had not been killed yet and looking out to see that the next enemy group was still far enough away for him to leave the front line.


    [Leadership] Increased


    "Hold the front!" Lurk sped towards the back camp, seeing Resti sending another firebolt into the back camp presumably towards the rabbit, he heard the women shriek out just as he made it to the back of the camp, Where he saw something very odd. The rabbit was burning from the two, slightly smaller blasts, and had more arrows had struck into it. It was standing right on top of the burned ritual mark, and a dark fog was seeping out of the air around the campsite and soaking into it. Lurk quickly jumped onto the rabbit and stabbed his Dagger into it that slid easily in all the way to the hilt, his body getting shocked by the rabbit''s body energy, it then collapsed finally and the black fog faded away out of sight once more. The women had backed away and were unharmed, the rabbit had ignored them completely as Lurk stood back up shaking off the shocking energy released into him from the rabbit''s death throes.


    [Shock Rabbit] Killed


    [Shocked] Status Ailment in effect


    [Light damage received from shock/wind element]


    "What on earth was it doing... [Lesser Status Clear!]" Lurk pondered as he quickly made sure the women were all ok along with the babies. He decided to quickly use the skill to see magic and what he saw startled him. A fog of dark ominous magic flowed all over the rear of the camp, it was crawling up along everyone on the ground seemingly appearing out of thin air. But it was all contained to the rear camp.


    [Miasma taint] Detected


    Lurk looked at the rabbit and its single-mindedness to come here to the fog "miasma" and quickly decided to call out to the women.


    "Quick! follow me!" Lurk guided the women back into the large camp area with the many rocks surrounding all but the front. and told the women to step over to the side and up against the rocks as far as possible, leaving a clear route from the entrance towards the rear camp.


    "Rearguard! move back to guard the women!" Lurk yelled out as he sprinted back to the front just to see a group of six normal wolves being fought off by everyone. Lula and the other goblins moved to stand in front of the women facing out towards the front, alongside the other women with spears.


    "We got it, father!" Lula said and nodded to Lurk.


    [Leadership] Increased.


    Lurk jumped into the fray as the wolves were trying their best to push past the front, his dagger sinking into the side of a wolf that whimpered and collapsed, Sala sending a fist into its face for good measure, as she had recovered and had been ready to catch the wolf. Two wolves sped past the front, being pelted by arrows and firebolts as they chased right into the back of the camp, ignoring the women off to the side. Lurk helped the others focus down the Wolves at the front.


    [Earth Wolf] Killed x2


    Lurk looked back at the rock and saw that everyone was shooting arrows back into the camp, Resti waving back to Lurk to show they had the two wolves under control. Lurk quickly assisted Sylvie with healing the others that had received wounds from the wolves and rabbits.


    "Why are they ignoring us..." Aurk said as he looked at the dead wolves and rabbits, before eying the next group out at the distance, three boars with large crystal tusks running straight for them, and further out four humanoids made out of rocks the size of humans, slowly stumbling towards them.


    "There is something called Miasma gathered in our camp... They seem drawn by it..." Lurk said catching his breath, as he got ready to send out another spell towards the nearby charging boars.


    "Miasma?? I heard about that! its something that happens in areas where a lot of monsters have gathered or near the rifts where it is everywhere?? What is it doing here?" Emily said out loud as she took a stand ready to receive the boar''s charge. Sala and Aurk on either side of her and Vorm had moved just out of sight of the boars ready to pounce on them. Lurk lobbed a spear of air out at the first oncoming boar.


    "[Wind spear!]" The spear flew straight into the side of the boar causing its left part of its body to explode from the burst of air. The other two boars crashed into the group. Emily deflecting the boar and pushing back trying to make it fall, sending her ax into its flank at the same time, giving it a severe wound. Vorm leaping onto the stumbling Boar and sink both his daggers into its lungs causing it to wheeze out a pitiful oink, Aurk and Sala allowed the Boar to go between them as they both attacked it, Aurk''s sword stabbing into it as Sala slammed her fist into it pushing it deeper against Aurk''s sword skewering it. It flailed around before everyone struck it and killing it.


    [Gore Crystal Boar] Killed x 3


    Lurk quickly activated his skill and saw that the boar that had been killed by the spear had the faint traces of wind element magic fading, but at the same time the magic also left small whiffs of miasma magic floating around that began to drift along the ground towards the back of the camp. Even Sylvie''s magic as she healed Sala had tiny whiffs of miasma being generated. He could also see very faint specks of miasma leaving the dead bodies now that he was focusing on it.


    "... It is a by-product of magic?... " Lurk looked at the camp as he realized that the ritual he had cast and sent the [Fire Spirit] into Aurk and Lula and then the ritual itself that must have caused a major influx of magic that all evaporated and turned into miasma!


    ("But this does not make sense... I have used a lot of magic... Wait... No the most magic I have used was back at the town basement... Maybe that place was shielding or stopping the miasma?? So I never saw the effect?. The other times must not have been enough magic used to create this miasma gathering effect... That was all inside a cave... and a heavy forest...")


    "We need to move camp quickly!" Lurk looked out over the rocky fields and saw more stirrings out far on the fields.


    "Get ready for a lull in the action! then gather what you can and move out!" Lurk gritted his teeth facing the incoming foes rushing madly towards them.

 60. Into the sunset

    A disk of air flew out and sliced across the center of the large humanoid shaped compilation of rocks that seemed to be held together by nothing. The hit blasted the rocks apart and sent them flying back strewn out across the area behind the dense elemental.


    [Target Vulnerable to wind] Extra damage inflicted!


    "Ok! get ready to move!" Lurk yelled out to the whole of the camp, everyone including the archer group in the rear had begun to collect the gear as fast as they could. As Lurk looked at the remaining Rock elementals stomping their way slowly forward.


    "[Wind spear!] [Wind Spear!]" Lurk cast out two spears at the other elementals causing their rocks to scatter far and wide, though still the first elemental he had scattered was slowly beginning to pull its rocks back together again, it was a slow process. Lurk had no problem delaying the elementals at the very least. At the same time, he put his hand on Sala and Aurk to collect mana from them as he was beginning to strain his reserves, even with both his and Sylvies faster mana regeneration.


    "The next group is incoming Chief!" Aurk launched an arrow, that went over the pile of moving rocks slowly rolling together, the arrow struck into the eye of a large wingless bird, causing it to collapse and roll down right on top of the rocks, causing the rocks to violently smash against it and pile onto it, the poor bird getting pummeled by the few rocks trying to form a body. It was a group of bipedal wingless birds with blue feathers and a large rounded beak, now charging past the collapsed elementals and towards the camp, squawking loudly as they leaped and jumped.


    "[Firebolt!]... are those dodos? " Lurk launched a firebolt onto the next bird, and now that looked at them, he thought they looked a lot like very large dodo birds, causing it to screech and stop its approach for a second, its feathers catching fire. causing it to run around in circles in a panic.


    The rest of the dodo''s numbering five charged right at the camp, when two of them instead of running through the front entrance they jumped up and over the rocks, the other three clashing into Emily, Aurk and Lurk. Emily smashing her ax into the neck of the first dodo slicing its head off the body, it began to flail around on the ground despite its headless state. Lurk on the other hand suddenly had an idea and leaped out towards one of the dodos body, catching it before the bird reached the front. he grabbed its neck and locked his other arm around its neck swinging up on it choking it causing it too to stop and buck underneath him. IT had no trouble carrying his weight as it jumped on the spot and tried its best to throw him off, giving loud angry Squawks as it bucked underneath him.


    [Riding] Increased!


    Sala seeing what Lurk did decide to do the same, leaping up onto the next dodo as she grabbed onto it and got onto its back, she grabbed its neck too but instead of trying to hold it she began to give it some Sala styled [BONK]''s on the head.


    Aurk and Vorm, followed by Emily went back into the camp to handle the two birds that jumped over the rocks, that began to cause some amount of chaos as the other people were now running around in the middle of the camp, the birds screeching and charging through it, flailing their beaks and small wings around, squawking at people that were near them, the goblins trying to stab at them with the spears, the birds bouncing back away from the spears, the chaos in the camp increased.


    "Try and catch them if you can!" Lurk yelled out as he tightened his grip on the bird''s neck and yanked it to turn the bird away from the camp. Sala was about to do a proper punch to the skull of her dodo but instead gave it a lesser Bonk hit, the bird squawking loudly as it jumped and bucked to get rid of her.


    Lurk and Sala''s dodo¡äs were not pleased with having extra weight to carry and did their best to throw them off, Sala¡äs dodo much less so as it was getting walloped in the head now and again causing it to see stars, making it look increasingly dizzy.


    Lurk tightened his legs onto the bird, while it ran around with him on it in seemingly random directions."[Wind Spear!]" Lurk managed to blast a spear into the first elemental he had hit as it was beginning to stand back up, causing it to once more scatter the rocks around.


    [Wind magic] Increased to 6!


    [Small Barrier] Learned


    [Riding] Increased!


    "Weeeee!!" Sala had gotten a proper grip on the bird and seemed to be having fun with the birds flailing and trying to get her off, Lurk tried to calm the bird down and force it to ride as he wanted. But it was hard as it kept wanting to go towards the camp.


    "These birds are almost harmless! it''s only because they are charging like this they cause problems!" Emily shouted from the camp, holding onto one of the birds that Vorm had climbed onto, it stomping its feet in indignation over being held from its goal. and Squawking loudly, but it did not seem to "attack" in the slightest, though it had zero sense of what was happening and was still -pushing- to get to the camp.


    "Let them get to the camp!" Aurk yelled from the rear of the camp, Lurk heard Aurk and began instead to allow the dodo to ride towards its target and its speed increased and jumped over the rocks landing inside the camp. Lurk made sure to guide it away from people, as Sala also came riding in with her slightly frazzled dodo it''s head feathers quite ruffled up from a few bonks to its head, not running in quite a straight line, Emily had stopped restraining the bird and it too charged into the rear camp.


    Lurk rode the dodo back to the camp and saw Aurk sitting on his dodo that had a stupid look on its face just looking around randomly, sometimes it did try to get Aurk off it but it seemed to ignore him mostly. The bird was simply standing right there in the middle of the weird fog that was seeping out of the air.


    [Riding] Increased!


    The other dodo''s also came to a stop in the fog and began to Squawk and snap their beaks a few times at each other before they just came to a rest, sometimes bucking a bit to try and get rid of the extra cargo, but they did not put much effort into it. They seemed completely clueless to the fact they were in "danger".This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    "Now that I think about it... dodo''s did become extinct because of their complete lack of fear towards humans... maybe this is similar?..." Lurk pondered to himself, grinning slightly and looking with pity at the dodo Sala had given it some more Bonks to its head now and again every time it tried to buck under her.


    "Ok! leave them here, back to the front!" Lurk said and everyone jumped off their bird and ran back to the camp, the dodos Squawking loudly as they had victoriously sent their enemies fleeing, they then promptly forgot that they had ever met the goblins and just stood there.


    The two elementals were up, but one of them was busy smashing its rocks into the poor dodo that stumbled onto it. the last one stomping its way forward. A few of the rear guard goblins threw some spears at the elemental, but it did little if anything to them. Emily stood ready at the front and slice her ax into the golem as it reached her, causing some of the rocks to fly away from its body. It then slammed its shape into her shield sending her flying backwards from the force, despite her best to try and deflect it. The elemental seemed aggressive and not just focused on getting to the miasma, so it reared up and was about to slam its two arms down onto Emily, arrows, and spears being thrown/shot onto it deflected off it.


    Lurk came running and he took notice that even the rocks that Emily had knocked away also seemed to be moving back towards the elemental, he looked at the elemental with his magic sight and saw that one particular rock in the center mass had magic flowing back and forth between all the other rocks.


    ["Wind Spear!"] Lurk sent the spear flying right into the center of the rock, causing the blast to scatter the rocks out, but they all stopped moving and just settled on the ground. Lurk quickly sent another spear into the Elemental that was wrestling down the one-eyed dodo causing the rocks to scatter and the dodo stumbled out and began to slowly move towards the camp, quickly overtaken by the dodo that had been hit by the firebolt, now with a lot of burned feathers, but the small fire it received had been put out.


    [Lesser Rock elemental] Killed x2


    "Careful! dodo''s incoming!" Lurk warned the camp as they allowed the two dodo''s to pass into the camp.


    "Thanks," Emily said as she got back up, and looked on as Lurk sent another wind spear into the last elemental causing it too to scatter and collapse. Just as he as about to turn and give the order to leave he heard multiple loud Squawkings behind him.


    "Your welcome, now what is the next incoming, are we ready to move out?" Lurk answered and asked Aurk who was just about to answer but then stopped as they heard Resti shout.


    "The Dodo''s are beginning to move around Lurk! the fog is clearing!" Resti shouted from the rock she was up on along with the bow goblins. He turned to look and yes he could see the Dodo''s walk around looking and pecking at things randomly, turning and tilting their heads with, curious, but dim looking eyes seemingly not worried about the humans and goblins near them.


    Lurk focused back out onto the field looking at the next incoming group, it was another group of boars, but the group had slowed down and begun to run a different direction, seemingly away from the camp.


    "ah... phew... it stopped..." Lurk said quietly and relaxed, everyone else also giving a sigh of relief. "Keep watch to see if anyone approaches... Some might still come here to check out the miasma effect..." Lurk said to Aurk as he walked back into the camp giving out orders to now take their time to collect the gear instead of grabbing what they could.


    Helping out healing the ones needing it and organizing the camp to leave Lurk suddenly felt a dodo near him as it gently bumped into him, it tilted its head down to look at him only to then ignored him. "These birds are utterly fearless!" He heard a goblin say, "... Or very very stupid, but I can work with stupid..."


    Lurk went back to look at the rear camp, looking for the fog, and only miniscule tufts of it was floating around, slowly drifting away out of camp outwards toward the open plains.


    "What are you looking at Lurk?" Resti had come down from the firing position and had seen Lurk look at the camp, tracking something as it went through it. Despite nothing being there.


    "The fog we saw, it is still barely registering with my magic sense" Lurk knelt down and waved a hand through the tiny whiff of fog, that had dispersed more and more becoming even harder to see as it drifted outwards. it simply went through his hand only slightly disturbed. "It seems to be drifting out into the plains..."


    "I wonder what it is... I have never heard of it before..." Lurk nodded to Resti, "I think it is a byproduct of magic, and perhaps energy from monsters... I saw it leave out from the ones we killed..." Lurk responded as he could no longer see the fog, it had spread out to thin now to be seen.


    "Something else must be drawing it in, The ritual I did, released a very heavy load of magic in one spot, and that was just to ease the transfer of the fire element into Sala and Aurk... A requirement of the process..." Lurk suddenly opened his eyes wide and brought up his Menu. Resti saw him have a shocked look on his face.


    "Crap..." Lurk looked down and kicked a small rock.


    "What? is something wrong?"


    "yeah, you could say that... The curse I mentioned about Sala''s ogre magi race... It was not yet applied to anyone, except for Sala and Aurk''s new child... The menu converted that into a new template... But... It did not -cast- it on Sala or Aurk, but they will receive the drake power once they change into their new species... So they are in the clear... But..." Lurk cast the light spell to project a part of his menu to be visible to Resti.


    [Remove Ogre Magi Curse Ritual]


    Cost: 10000 Mana. [Average local mana ambient area, the denser area will lower the cost]


    The subject must remain still inside the Ritual Circle, with at least 1 caster channeling mana inside the circle at all times until all the mana has been channel into the circle if contact with the circle is broken the spell is reset.


    [New updated information from learning about Miasma!]


    The circle will project it''s mana as if it is a miasma pulse until the ritual is complete.


    "... Oh..." Resti said quietly looking at the menu.


    "... Oh indeed..." Lurk grumbled looking over at Sala, who was trying to threaten her dodo to stand still, but it was ignoring her completely. "That ritual is 10 times my max mana capacity... and that led to this... -small- miasma pulse... because of the much smaller ritual for the fire element. What will that ritual pull in..."


    Sala had given her Dodo a heavy push guiding it over to the others, she noticed Lurk and Resti looking and gave a wave with a big grin. As her dodo walked back behind her causing her to look away and leap up onto the Dodo giving it a weak bonk to its head for defying her, Earning her a Squawk in her face, causing a stare down between her and the dodo.


    "We are gonna need somewhere safe to do that ritual... It would take days to channel that mana If it is even possible..." Lurk sighed and Resti nodded solemnly. "We will figure something out Lurk!"


    The dodo''s had eventually been wrangled in by tying a small piece of rope around their necks and then being gently pulled along, they just followed along with the gentle tugs, while Lurk and his crew had each taken a dodo to sit on, to make the dodo used to someone riding them while they were slowly being led by Emily.


    The camp had gathered everything and continued its journey onwards toward the Valley city in the distance. Their journey to humans lands almost complete.