As Coro stepped out of the portal he took in his surroundings. He was in a fort, next to a vibrant forest on the northern side and a giant lake on the south. The world was called Syndor. Huts lined the street heading out of town where the adventurers could stay the night in safety.
The group made their way towards the office to get rooms for the night. Coro and Mox headed for the city exit. He had no desire to spend the night in comfort. He can't get better if he doesn't challenge himself constantly.
Colby watched them leave, taking a mental note to go follow them when he got the chance. It was rare to see a warlock in action and he had no desire to miss the opportunity.
Coro stopped at the gate and looked at the guard.
"Any information on the landscape around us by chance?" he asked.
The guard gave him a curious look. "There have been stories of goblin raids, about a mile north. Level one's from the stories. To the west there have been some problems with groups of golems defending the valley, they seem to be level 2 to 3. The only somewhat peaceful side is east."
"Thank you."
Coro and Mox headed north. They walked through the forest for about a mile stopping here and there to look at a plant. After that the feeling of being watched began to crawl over Coro. They saw a clearing up ahead and made their way towards it. Mox sniffed the air counting the different goblin scents.
When they reached the center the goblins sprang their trap. They rushed them from all sides. Mox waited until one was close then lunged for it. Caught off guard the goblin flailed at Mox, but there was no stopping the hellhound. He grabbed it by the throat, broke its neck and flung it at another goblin.
In the meantime Coro had been focusing the energy around him into an aura around his hand. The aura was called Demonic Flames an ability that all warlocks were capable of. As far as how strong it could get, that depended on the warlock who was using it.
As the first three goblins got close enough, he made his move punching one in the chest. It caved in under his attack, the aura burning everything it came into contact with. No longer able to move, it spasmed on the ground. The other two didnt hesitate, one went high one went low. Forced to choose Coro knelt down and took the lower attack head on, completely dodging the other as it soared by.
He struggled with the goblin that he fought with. It bit and clawed at him, but could not even scratch the armour he was wrapped in. Coro channeled what aura he had left and finished the goblin off before he could escape his grasp.
As he turned around the last goblin was mere feet away from him going in for the kill. Coro had gotten careless and now he was going to pay the price.
But Mox tackled the goblin right before he reached Coro. He had finished the two that approached him and had come to Coro's aid. After quickly dispatching the last goblin he approached Coro.
"Thank you Mox, I will be more careful." he sensed the concern from the hellhound.
He looked at his palms, he had accomplished the technique that he had studied for years but he was far from a master. Much more practice was needed to fully unlock the technique.
He looked at Mox getting ready to consume a goblin. "Do you mind if i have the other bodies?"
Mox grunted his consent, then focused on his task.
Coro was excited. He had planned on using the first few cores he found over the next few days to summon some imps, but he never thought he would have four within a few hours!! Now how many should he summon?
Imps could be both a blessing and a curse. They had a wide range of evolutions with the most common being demon soldiers. Demon soldiers were good to begin with but bad later on in a warlocks life. Cannon fodder. They never evolved again once becoming soldiers, leading many warlocks to find meaningless tasks for them.
Warlocks were forbidden from having any demons killed that they had summoned. If they did then the demons that served them would all rebel at once, many warlocks have perished from trying to get rid of demon soldiers that they had no use for.
Luckily for Coro the guild he planned on creating would always need help so he decided to summon as many as he could. He had four level 1 goblin cores. Each core could get him five imps.
'20 total eh.' he thought. 'If just one evolves into something else ill be in a great position.'
He opened his bag and pulled out the materials he needed. Carving a star in the ground he placed one goblin core at each point. He then sliced his finger and dripped five drops on each core. After that he sat at the fifth point and began his incantation.
Colby had just arrived at the clearing. Observing his surroundings, he saw the signs of a bit of a scuffle. Mox sat 15 feet from Coro finishing the goblin corpse he had started consuming. Coro was sitting on the ground chanting.
He debated on going over. As he stood up to stroll over, purple lightning hit the ground five feet from Coro. Colby watched wide eyed as a baby demon sat up where it struck. The lightning struck again. Another imp arrived. Twenty imps were summoned one after another.
Colby was awestruck. Here was a man worth partnering with for raids! Colby decided to wait to see what happened next.
Coro opened his eyes slowly. Twenty imps surrounded him. They were about the size of a 7 year old, with razer sharp teeth, and small wings coming out of their backs. Alone they were weak but together.....
"My children! I am Coro, over there is Mox. We will be taking care of you from now on." said Coro. "I have prepared some food for you kids it's over there next to uncle Mox, eat up now we will be going hunting soon."
The imps looked over at the goblin bodies lying next to the hellhound. "Thank you father!" they said, leaping up to go eat.
It was at this time that Colby decided to go check in. As he approached the imps were startled and looked at him hungrily. In an instant Colby knew he made a mistake as 20 demons were smiling at him with their razor sharp teeth.
"Kids that is a friend of mine please focus on the goblins for now i'll get you more soon." said Coro.
He grinned at Colby, "Sneaking up on a warlock is dangerous you know?"
"I can see that."he said smiling. "Why do they call you father?"
"It's the closest thing in this language that I am to them. I'm promising them a life under my care, one that I will risk my life to protect." he said. "To me they are as precious as kids, and to them I brought them into this world, will guide them, and protect them to the best of my ability."
"Ah."
"Do you mind if i join you on your hunt?" asked Colby. "I'm an excellent tank. I won't slow you down."
"If you can handle them at their worst then that is fine with me" said Coro motioning towards the imps. They were ripping the bodies to pieces as they ate.
"It will take some getting used to, no doubt, but I will manage." he said, trying not to think about it.