The goblins that carried the boars trekked through the forests without knowing that they had two tails. The goblin with the staff couldn't stop hurling insults at Gu'Smashka, promising him and his clan destruction when his master found out about his insolence.
In truth, Shmeija wasn't particularly fond of the peace that they had with the orcs. He wasn't too supportive of the idea of having to live with the orcs at their side even if it was temporary but there was little they could do when the orcs were naturally stronger and had other clans to back them up in this region.
Sure, the goblins had other clans for support, but Shmeija's master had told the goblins to not be hostile until he was ready.
The current arrangement between the orcs and goblins was built on resource exchange.
Or rather, that was the case on the surface.
At first it was a peaceful arrangement enacted a year ago when the goblins first settled in this place. They were weaker than the orcs yet they had the numbers. Their master saw that it would be a losing battle and thus decided that it was best to form a peace agreement.
The leader of the orcs had agreed as he was threatened by the presence of the Shaman. He was intelligent enough to know that it would be mutual destruction if they fought, unlike his fellow battle hungry mates who wanted to go to war with the goblins immediately.
Fortunately, his strength and intelligence were enough to allow his clan to survive this long.
However, the spectrum was changing, the goblins beginning to lay more and more absurd demands on the orcs while continuing to amass their strength, becoming a larger threat to the orcs.
Because of this growing strength, the pink-skinned beasts found that couldn't refuse these infuriating demands. Gu'Smashka decided not to.
Therein laid the friction.
Skullius and Red Rage followed under the cover of the night, hiding behind every sufficiently large piece of greenery they could find.
To cover the light from their cores, Skullius made makeshift covers from the barks of trees and long tufts of grass.
These were hideous to be honest.
He didn't like the look and even Red Rage had given a -1 Favourability, disapproving of this fashion but Skullius knew it had to be done. They would have to get better gear later on as for now, they could only travel in shame.
It was very convenient to have something other than the aura of undeath. He would have probably been noticed already if he was still a kin of the dead.
Well....
He had been told by VOW that Null Life meant being without presence, but he hadn't known how powerful it could be. Others couldn't sense anything from him, which helped with the stealthy travel.
The Nullmancer and his Apostle walked a great distance, the world darkening as they journeyed.
After a few hours, the goblins reached their settlement.
Skullius and Red Rage stopped and hid.
The goblins' home was up ahead where the land was abruptly cut off, making way for a particularly large ravine.
Quite a few unsightly huts could be seen below with a lot of goblins wandering around. They dressed poorly, each doing their duty.
There were weird assortments of houses and huts for the regular goblins while one larger one built with decent mix of mud and wood was planted in the middle.
There was an ample amount of land beside the river that flowed.
More than a hundred goblins populated the area, their presence having eradicated the plant life as they took advantage of the river that created the ravine to sustain themselves.
Skullius and Red Rage hadn't seen this view yet as they were forced to stop before the slope into this ravine.
Danger was ahead.
The goblins led by Shmeija were talking to a few other strong looking goblins that held spears.
These goblins could be seen all around, patrolling around the forest on this side, away from the ravine.
Skullius spotted around 12 of them, most of them spaced out over quite a bit of distance. They looked muscular, some of them with paint on their green skins that formed obscure tattoos. They donned animal skins, looking better than the goblins that carried the boars.
Soon Shmeija and company were allowed to descend down into the ravine using a surprisingly intricate set of steps.
Skullius watched the goblin scouts with a steady flame.
He checked their stats - the ones of those close enough - finding that they were just a little bit shy of the Shmeija's level.
'This may be a problem. I don't have much fighting experience but I don't think I'll lose. What bothers me is if I can kill a goblin without attracting the others,' he thought.
He also considered what would be the best possible option when it came to grooming his strength. For him to level up, or to prioritise Red Rage.
In the end, he decided that getting Red Rage stronger was the best way to go as the Apostle was pretty weak at this point. He didn't want dead weight.
Besides, Skullius doubted that 900 experience points could be reaped from all twelve of this guys.
Could it..?
It was unlike the situation with the Dead end apocalypse boar (Red Rage) that had given him 400 experience at one time. At least that was what he thought. But then again, there was a full 1 Tier difference. Perhaps a miracle could happen.
As for how he would kill these guys, he decided to use a skill that he had tested out before.
~~~
[Static Limbo]
Suspend a target at the corridor of life and death. The duration is dependent on the level and overall strength difference between the user and the target(s).
Mana Requirements: 50 Mana Points
Duration: Dependent on level difference
Cooldown: 5 minutes
~~~
Skullius thought this would be the best skill to use in this situation and as he looked at the goblin he wanted to kill and smiled, his flames landing on a crooked bone knife and a steel rusted dagger at its waist.
'Should be easy enough,' Skullius thought as he looked to Red Rage who was eyeing the goblins with no particular emotion.
He held the Bone Boar's shoulder.
"I'm counting on you bro. We can get stronger," he said. Red Rage clenched his tiny fists and the light in his sockets became brighter.
"Let's get to the killing."
Skullius and Red Rage stealthily crossed a distance to the goblin that was patrolling at the very end. They were a bit of a distance away so any small noises they made didn't attract much attention.
They hid behind a cover of closely packed trees and Skullius decided to enact his plan. He grabbed a hold of a fist sized rock and threw it a distance away.
As the rock landed, it produced just the right amount of sound in the silent forest to alert his target.
The goblin turned, placing its hand on the dagger at its waist.
Skullius tktktktkted.
He stepped on some branches with a great amount of force, the sound making the goblin turn his head once more but in his direction.
It slowly approached and Skullius continued producing the sound that he believed would be just enough for the goblin to want to check it out on its own instead of calling for the rest.
The goblin narrowed its eyes and cautiously stepped walked over to the cluster of trees.
As soon as it reached within a meter's distance, Skullius jumped out and extended his hand, Red Rage following behind him.
The goblin took the dagger from its waist and was about to call out with a terrified expression when...
[You have activated the skill 'Static Limbo'. The target has been afflicted by Serenity. Due to the level and Tier difference, effect lasts for 15 seconds]
As Skullius extended his hand, a hazy blue energy wrapped around the goblin and before it could scream, it suddenly froze!
Its black beady eyes turned light blue and its green skin turned a few shades lighter!
It just stood there, looking neither dead nor alive!
Skullius wanted to marvel at this scene, but he saw the time that the skill was supposed to last and signalled towards Red Rage hurriedly.
"Now!" he gave a hushed exclamation.
The Apostle responded immediately, grabbing the dagger in the goblin's hand and instantly piercing the goblin's throat!
"Ohooo!"
Skullius gaped as he saw his bro go for the kill splendidly!