Knowing what was happening, I quickly returned to the core room. As soon as I got there, my functions returned, and I was able to use my status screen again.
During invasions, I was unable to use my Dungeon Master functions in the invaded floor, meaning I couldn't modify terrain or summon monsters in that floor.
I rushed to the throne and sat in front of the bright blue core. I put my hand on it and activated one of its functions.
A map of the first floor appeared on the screen. Green dots were monsters under my control, yellow dots were named monsters, and there was only one red dot.
"That's him...the invader!"
I made a gesture to zoom in with my hand, and I was able to see images of the invader. He was a small wild goblin, moving cautiously through the dungeon, but something else caught my attention.
He had a huge scar on his back. It was the mark of three cuts that went from top to bottom. It was a very old scar, possibly from birth.
"Hm. This could be interesting."
The mark he had indicated that he was a servant of some stronger monster. By the age of the scar, I could figure out when he received it, which also demonstrated the power and intelligence of his master.
"If he uses the marking method to demonstrate power, he's probably still a Goblin, but if he's a Goblin King, I may have problems..."
I hate Kings.
I clicked my tongue, discontented because another ruler was walking on my territory, and that was unacceptable.
I needed to find out the enemy's strength as quickly as possible before attempting to attack. For that, I had a simple plan. There was a perfect item for this situation.
I searched for it in the store and, after a short search, found it. However, the price was not pleasing to the eye.
"10,000 points for a grade 1 mana transmitter."
The in-game price was 1,000 points, although I didn't have that amount of points at that time, it was still reasonable, but 10,000 was too much.
The transmitter would act as a locator and could transmit real-time images of the target. The original plan was to attach the mana transmitter to the invader, expel him, and follow his movements through the core, finding out where he lived.
Without that option, I tried to think of another solution. I couldn't think of anything immediately, and another problem caught my attention.
"He's getting closer..."
Near the intruder, there was a pair of distracted goblins approaching. If something happened, I wouldn't be able to reach in time, so I decided to just observe.
The intruder noticed their approach and hid behind a tree, pulling something from his back.
Unaware of the danger, they approached the tree carelessly. However, the intruder did not attack and just remained still.
He was much more intelligent than I thought. This surprised me. I looked at the whole situation from the first floor and realized there was no one else around.
The goblin circled the dungeon area a few more times and then left. Then, a message rang out.
❂❂❂
[Intruder expelled]
[50 points received]
[Achievement]
Name: First Defense
Grade: Common
Reward: 100
Description: The Dungeon Master successfully defended his dungeon from an intruder. Don't let this small victory get to your head.
❂❂❂
I almost laughed out loud because the system considered it an expulsion. Nevertheless, I remained somewhat worried.
The intruder was intelligent and stealthy, but he did not attack. Goblin kings usually focused only on the attacking power of their servants, so that small one served another monster.
I searched my mind for monsters that gave goblins the opportunity to become intelligent. It could be a "Demon Lord," but it was unlikely that such a powerful monster was nearby.
Besides, the marks still showed me that the leader might be even dumber than the servants.
So... who's behind the little one?
Other options would be a Goblin Shaman, a Mutant Goblin King, and...
"It must be... a Goblin Champion," he said.
Within the Goblin species, champions were recognized as the strongest and most corpulent, sometimes even larger than humans.
They weren't great leaders due to their selfishness, but they could still build nests and proclaim themselves as chiefs.
As dumb as any other common goblin, they ended up threatening the lives of their own servants who had to adapt to them or die.
"That must be the case with that little one. He must have learned to survive by force," he continued.
After discovering what it was, I calmed down a bit. If it were a Goblin King, it would have been much harder to deal with, but a Champion wasn't as problematic.
With that in mind, I went down to the first floor where I met a goblin and sent him to call Glenn.
Then, I returned to the core room to make sure everything was alright. I planned a way to deal with the future enemy.
Still, I gave Glenn an order.
❂❂❂
"We'll probably be under attack soon. It's also likely that a powerful enemy will accompany this attack," I said briefly and then got to my point. "I want you to handle this."
The hobgoblin looked at me with bright eyes and soon kneeled down, saying:
"Leave it to me, Master Kayn."
"I believe we still have a few days, so relax. In the meantime, I'll provide resources and help."
Glenn thanked me a dozen more times for the trust I had given him. After getting tired of hearing him, I gave him a random task to make him disappear from my sight.
Still, I was satisfied with his loyalty and commitment. Giving him a name seemed like a great idea now.
"Well... my plans to investigate the area will have to wait. I need to prepare for this."
Even though it wasn't that dangerous, a Champion was still too much for a novice player to face in Vanglory.
"About 3 months..."
That was the time it would take for a player to even think about facing a Champion.
"On the other hand, I have at most a week. I better start."
I proceeded with the plan. Still on the same day, I collected the mana stones and turned them into points.
Each stone yielded a small amount of points, about 25% of the monster's original value, which wasn't much, but it was great.
The next day, I went on a hunting trip with a group. This time, we all walked together so that nothing could happen.
I still had my bow on my back and, with the points I had, I bought some tacos for some Goblins.
The dense forest still gave me chills and the trauma I suffered two days ago still shook my soul, but I needed to move forward.
In a short time, we found another horned rabbit. I took advantage of its distraction and hit it with an arrow.
Luck was on my side, as the rabbit didn't even react. The arrow hit deep into its body and killed it instantly.
I had one of the little ones carry the corpse and we continued the hunt. After a short walk, another one appeared.
I picked up the arrow to shoot, but this time I chose to aim at one of the animal's legs. I wanted to injure it and give another the opportunity to kill it.
Killing creatures also helped with the performance of monsters. They would receive experience to level up and consequently their stats would grow.
I had already killed some rabbits and that goblin, so giving another the chance to kill wouldn't be a problem.
One of the goblins ran and hit the rabbit in the head with the taco. After three more hits, the creature's skull cracked into a disgusting mixture of ground meat and liquid.
I held back my vomit when I saw the goblin covered in blood and guts, and I had them collect the corpse. Thus, we continued the hunting process.
The number of horned rabbits increased considerably as we headed northwest. There were so many of them in the forest that I gave up trying to count.
Other areas still had rabbits, but the number was not as alarming, although still more than usual.
And one detail did not escape me: they were always eating.
As a way to help with strength development, I made a plan. As soon as we found another rabbit, I ordered:
"Surround him,"
Following my command, they surrounded the small one in all directions. I looked at one of the goblins with a bat in hand and said,
"You, fight."
The goblin looked at me in confusion, but I didn't give him any other words. He continued to look at me and also at the rabbit that was already pointing its horn in his direction.
You could call me cruel, but the world was crueler.
Soon the goblin understood what was going on and, trembling like a kitten, raised the bat against the opponent.
"If you win, you can have all the meat just for yourself."
Hearing this, the goblin stopped trembling and looked at the rabbit with greedy eyes.
A wise man once said, "When you reward your men with the benefits that your enemies enjoyed, they will fight with their own initiative, and thus you can take the power and influence that the enemy had before."
There were two normal ways to create good soldiers and two abnormal ones; discipline and reward. Balancing the two was essential. The abnormal ways were very situational: desperation and selflessness.
Desperation was created in life and death situations. When the only option is to fight or give up; at this moment true warriors were revealed.
Selflessness was similar, but even more powerful. A soldier who gives up everything for the slightest hope of being able to protect those he loves would not only become a warrior, but the ultimate berserker in battle.
If a soldier had all four, he would no longer be just a warrior, but a brutal war machine without restrictions.
Yesterday, I built discipline; today, reward. The two missing ones would come with time.
The battle between them began!