● Social I: Increases the Social attribute of all creatures in the zone by +1. Cost: 100 FP
● Tainted Water: All free-flowing water becomes tainted with darkness. Drinking gives a buff to Shadow-Touched creatures while causing mild disease to others. Cost: 300 FP
● Eternal Night: The zone of influence will be covered with perpetual darkness. Cost: 1,000 FP
FP Available: 10
Since I hadn’t purchased any blessings for Storg before, I only got the basic list of upgrades. I didn’t have nearly enough faith points available, but with the amount of energy at my disposal, that was hardly an issue.
I accessed the Energy Options and converted 20,000 EP to 2,000 FP. I returned to the Zone Blessings list and purchased Eternal Night for 1,000 FP then selected the ‘no upkeep’ upgrade for another 1,000.
Darkness spread from the temple like a cloud of billowing black smoke, washing over the entire town and blotting out the sun. I could feel the revitalizing dark energy entering my body, nourishing me.
“Chief.”
I turned to see my goblin general bowing deeply, with the adept I’d sent a few steps behind him.
“You asked for me?”
“Yes, Savol,” I said. “As the town closest to Everance, I want you to recall all our troops here. I’ve blessed the town, so the soldiers won’t require food while they’re within its limits.”
“Savol will do this at once, Chief,” the goblin said. “Portals will make it more quick.”
“Right, I haven’t enchanted new portals for every new settlement, have I?”
“Maybe great priest Bek can do that?” the general suggested.
“Great priest Bek, eh?” I cracked a smile. “That would be helpful, but you need Expert-ranked Runecraft skill to do that. No, I’ll do it myself soon.”
“Yes, Chief.”
“I also need you to assign 40 soldiers to each of the caravans we’re sending out,” I continued. “Yeshy, the clan’s trade minister, will let you know where to send them.”
“Of course, Chief,” the general replied.
“See you later.” I winked at him and stepped back through the portal.
The clan was now optimized for maximum food generation, and I had enough food stored up to summon even more. It was time to test out the new summoning option that had opened up.
I teleported directly to the Breeder’s Den, accessed its controls, and summoned a single bonetis.
A few moments passed with nothing happening, then a single goblin hauler came running in, carrying a pile of white stone bricks. He quickly loaded the limestone into the building and stepped back.
The Breeder’s Den started to churn and groan, raising the cacophony it normally did when summoning new creatures. Only this time, the noise was accompanied by a penetrating long screech.
A few moments later, the leather covering was flung to the side, and a single small white object that looked like a pebble came rolling out.
I stared, dumbfounded, at the white ball at my feet. It looked nothing like any bonetis I’d encountered before.
I was left wondering for only a few seconds before cracks appeared on the surface of the pebble, making its nature clear.
“It’s an egg!” I said.
<Your skills of observation are astounding,> Vic said dryly. <It’s round and white, therefore it’s an egg. You gotta stop thinking with your balls, Boss.>
The cracks widened and a creature wriggled out from the thick white egg, which I realized was made of limestone. The small creature was about double the size of a normal mantis, and its soft-looking shell glistened with moisture. It skittered on sticklike limbs around the cracked eggshell.
All in all, it was a disappointing display. The creature was a far cry from what I’d imagined a bonetis mount to look like.
<Give the little creepy puppet some time, Boss,> Vic advised.
The small bonetis skittered toward me and ran up my leg, over my arm, and into my open palm.
<Oh, how touching. It thinks you’re its mother.>
The small creature nibbled at my fingers.
<Or that you’re its food …>
The creature leaped out of my hands, landing among the broken pieces of its eggshells, and started devouring them at an alarming speed.
I stepped back as the bonetis rapidly grew from the size of an apple to that of a cat, and then to that of a large dog. It shoved the last piece of egg into its mouth, but its growth didn’t stop. A few moments later, a fully grown bonetis was standing in front of me.
It tilted its T-shaped head, raised its scythelike arms, and took a step toward me.
“Easy now.” I held up my hand and channeled a bit of dark mana toward the creature. It instantly stopped moving and lowered its head submissively before me.
“Impudent specimen.” Kaedric’s voice came from behind me, full of contempt. “I beg your forgiveness, my lord. This … creature is somewhat resisting my authority, but I have it well in hand now. Future bonetises will be more obedient from now on.”
“Good.” I stared back at the creature. Analyze.
Bonetis
Level: 20
HP: 240
Attributes: P:24
Skills: Scythe Flurry 11
Traits: Non-Magical, Mount
Description: This sharp-limbed beast can carry troops on its back as it carves a bloody path through enemy lines.
It was quite the addition to my budding monster army. The creature’s level of 20 put its starting level before the capital bonuses at 7. I quickly queued in 27 more, the maximum I could summon with my current stock of limestone. Goblin haulers appeared, each one depositing a stack of white bricks into the Breeder’s Den which quickly began spewing out new eggs.
“Send the newly summoned bonetises to Storg once they’ve hatched and grown,” I instructed, noting that the new eggs were starting to crack. “Inform the general I want the soldiers to begin training in mounted combat immediately. There will be a lot more of them coming.” Especially considering the relatively low cost of the creatures.
“Yes, my lord.” Kaedric bowed. He turned to the lone monster and gestured at it.
The creature took two steps forward, then something flashed toward it at incredible speed. The bonetis exploded in a cloud of sharp bones and insect gore, leaving behind only an intact head, rolling on the ground.
I turned, fire burning in my eyes and a spell charging in my staff, and spotted a familiar group of people with their weapons out.
“Oops.”
5 - Warm-Up
“Sorry, Chief.” Malkyr rubbed his neck in embarrassment. “We saw that bonetis running around and thought one of them slipped through the portal somehow.”
I sighed. “I understand, but please don’t attack any of the new ones.”
The large man looked at me in confusion. “The new ones?”
I pointed at the cracking eggs around me, the shells peeling away as tiny white needles pierced through. Malkyr and the rest of the players quickly drew back as a host of baby bonetises swarmed out of their eggs.
“Holy crap!” he bellowed.
“Easy,” I said. “These are gonna be our new mounts.”
“Mounts?” Jaelon squeaked. “I’m not riding on something that looks like … that!”
“I think they’re rather cute.” Raystia bent down, offering her arm for a small bonetis that quickly climbed on top of it. “You know, when they’re not trying to kill you.”
“What happened to that huge black wolf you used to ride?” Fox asked.
“Tempest?” I winced. “He could only stay while I supplied him with mana; the connection didn’t survive the VI uprising and my subsequent ejection from the game.”
“Too bad,” the bugbear said. “He was a beauty. Especially compared to these.” He pointed at the group of bonetises that gathered around the dead one, eating its remains.
I accessed the Resurrection Interface, but it was empty. I wasn’t surprised. The dead bonetis was an
unnamed mob. It looked like I was going to have to renew the naming ceremony.
<Sorry, Boss, but that won’t work,> Vic said. <Aside from their broodmothers, bonetises are incapable of self-thought.>
“Shadow-crap,” I muttered. Suddenly, the low cost of the bonetises didn’t seem all that out of proportion.
Once they finished with the remains, the 27 new bonetises ravenously consumed their own eggshells and rapidly grew before our eyes.
“Damn, that’s crazy,” Misa said.
“Wha’ tha hell ya’ gonna do with them beasties, fugly?” Ragnar demanded.
I shrugged. “As I said, we’ll use them as mounts.”
The perplexed players looked at each other, then Kyth chuckled. “I’ll go for a ride.”
“Kyth, the terrible bonetis-riding gnomblin,” Malkyr said dryly.
The older player winked at him.
“So I gather you successfully cleared out the bonetises’ lair?” I asked.
Lirian stepped forward. “Yes, Father. It was not difficult.”
“What?” I exclaimed.
The goblinette nodded gravely. “It was a fierce clash. Ragnar saved me.”
“He did?” I stared at the ant-player with disdain.
He returned my look with a smirk. “Looks like ya’ owe me another one, fugly.”
“We’ve already got our first reward from Sullivan,” Hoshisu said, brandishing a set of magical throwing knives strapped around her forearm. “Time for you to pay up as well, Chief.”
“Of course,” I said. “Did you find any interesting loot?”
“The broodmothers dropped this.” Nero moved forward and dropped a bunch of white, somewhat triangular bone plates. “Bonetis ears.”
I counted eight pieces and raised an eyebrow. “You killed four broodmothers? That’s impressive.”
“Actually, there were eight of them,” Aly said. “Normal mantises have a single ear at the center of their chest. I guess NEO emulated that feature when it created the bonetises.”
I inspected one of the ears.
Bonetis Broodmother’s Ear
Type: Ingredient, alchemical
Rank: Magical
I smiled broadly as I read into the metadata behind the description. The ears were a unique food that could be consumed by the Breeder’s Den to produce unique creatures. “Excellent.”
“What’cha gonna do with them, Chief?” Malkyr asked good-naturedly.
“Stick around and find out,” I said. “But first – your rewards.” I counted the players; 14 of them in total, including several I hadn’t spoken with before. I accessed the Settlement Interface and marked each player in turn to purchase them 10,000 XP.
“Hell, yeah!” Riley cheered. “I just gained four levels to level 21!”
The other players mirrored his excitement. The highest-level of them, Nero, only gained three levels, but he too seemed elated like the rest.
I couldn’t target Lirian like the others, but my daughter had already raised her level by three to 48.
With 140,000 less EP, I turned back to the Breeder’s Den and fed it the eight ears. There was no description of their function, of course, but I could read through the information tendrils. Whatever unit I summoned using the ears would have formidable slashing abilities and unsurpassed hearing.
With upkeep no longer a major issue, I didn’t have to be frugal in summoning new soldiers, but I had something special in mind first.
One of the many benefits my settlement had gained by upgrading to a city was that it could now support a lot more bosses, so I brought up the city bosses’ screen.
Goblin’s Gorge has reached Level 5: City
● Tier 4: max 1, current 1
● Tier 3: max 3, current 2
● Tier 2: max 8, current 4
● Tier 1, max 24, current 40
I couldn’t promote any more tier 1 bosses. Exploiting the Ogre Mage loophole made sure of that. But there was still room for another tier 3 and four, tier 2 bosses. I opened the population tab and filtered out everyone except non-Ogre Mage bosses. It was time for some promotions.
Tier 1:
● Ashlazaria, level 29
● Zia, level 29
● Kroakar, level 29
● Ryker, level 29
● Tenragan, level 29
● Blemtoff, level 28
Tier 2:
● Kilpi Shīrudo, level 32
● Yulli, level 33
● Kuzai, level 32
The choice for promoting someone to a tier 3 boss really came down to either Rhyno or Yulli. The Ogre gladiator had proven himself a force of destruction. The scout boss Yulli, on the other hand, was more subtle, though no less formidable, and she could accompany me on missions that required finesse. It depended on what I needed more: a powerful force in an open battle or one more adept at stealth. It was pretty clear that we were going to take Everance head-on, so I decided to promote Rhyno.
For a moment, I thought I heard a triumphant roar in the distance, though the Ogre gladiator was stationed far away in Storg with the rest of the army.
With Rhyno promoted, I now had five openings for tier 2 promotions. I had six contenders for the upgrade: five veteran soldiers and Tenragan, the arena master. The math was simple. I promoted all five veterans, leaving Tenragan at tier 1. He didn’t need the upgrade since he always stayed in the clan, and my already combat-tested veterans would be able to bring new levels of terror to the battlefield.
With the promotions part over and 45,000 EP lighter, it was time to make use of the bonetis ears.
I considered what would be the best addition to the army. We already had several types of heavy-hitting hobs and Ogres. Adding an additional eight, even though unique, individuals wouldn’t be a game-changer. Another option presented itself as I scanned the list of units to summon.
Kobold assassins.
I had close to a hundred of the sneaky creatures in the army already, all level 16, but none of them were bosses or unique. Bringing in eight special ones appealed to me. The seven kobolds who’d accompanied me on my mission to conquer Akzar had proven their loyalty till the very end. Even after their deaths, they served me as Swarm. Bringing in unique individuals of their species felt like honoring their sacrifice.
“Ready?” I asked the players. Without waiting for a reply, I queued in eight new kobolds and added a broodmother’s ear for each one.
The Breeder’s Den churned and screeched, then the first kobold stepped out.
It looked like a nightmarish version of a kobold. Instead of hands, its appendages ended with sharp scythelike blades. The reptilian head looked to have been flattened, making its muzzle even longer than usual. Instead of ears, it had two funnel-shaped holes on the sides of its head. The kobold moved in a series of quick, jerking motions, and its bladed hands crossed in front of its body, seemingly eager to attack. More kobolds streamed out of the building, joining the first one.
“They look like tiny reptilian grim reapers,” Misa pointed out.
Ragnar chuckled. “Now tha’s a face only a mother can love.”
I raised an eyebrow as I turned to look at him. In my eyes, the ant-person didn’t look much better than the insectile-kobolds.
Ragnar caught my stare and his eyes narrowed. “Somthin’ ya’ wanna get off yor chest, fugly?”
“Oh, nothing.” I smirked at him knowingly and turned back to examine the new addition to the army.
Thanks to the capital bonus, the kobolds were all level 22 and had superior mobility and detection abilities compared to their ‘normal’ counterparts. They would make a fine addition to the army, especially since they came out already named.
“Welcome to the GreenPiece Clan,” I greeted them. “Report to the general at Storg; go through the portal at the cathedral. Soon, your scythes will reap the lives of our enemies to the gl
ory of our clan.”
They all nodded mutely and moved in an orderly line toward the cathedral.
Malkyr shook his head. “That was something else. So you can just mix in monster parts with any creatures you like?”
“Only creatures I can already summon,” I explained. “And it can’t be just any monster part; it has to come from something powerful.”
“Ah.” The big man pondered my words. “Got it.”
“I’m going to the inn to grab a bite,” Riley declared. “Anyone else coming?”
The players quickly vacated the area, merrily walking toward the three-story building, leaving Lirian behind.
“Father, when will we be ready to march on Everance?”
“We’ve got about two more weeks before our vassals’ militias recover and can be mobilized,” I said. I ran some quick calculations in my head. With the current food gain, I’d be able to summon about 50 hob lieutenants every day. Meaning it’d take nearly three weeks to reach the minimum 1,000 units Sullivan had determined we needed before we could move on our enemy’s capital.
That was too slow. Taking Everance was only the next step. I still needed to locate David Tenenbaum, decipher the rest of the tablet, and move on the VIs’ anchor to this world.
“Damn it,” I said, realizing I had misjudged the amount of food we needed.
Lirian noted my frown. “What’s wrong, Father?”
“We need more advanced food,” I muttered.
“I thought you just set up trade routes to import a lot of it.”
I shook my head. “I did, but it’s not enough. Food is expensive, and I need to conserve the clan’s gold to be able to afford other things later on.”
“Can’t you just import the ingredient directly? It’ll be cheaper, I think, and Gandork can cook anything.”
I shook my head. “It won’t work. We don’t have the recipes or the facilities to produce sausages or pickled fish ourselves.”
“Does it have to be these exact dishes? Gandork knows how to make an excellent seasoned fish.”