"The goblin king will undoubtedly make a move to defend his city and that's when our king will step in and make his own move".
Lorath continued explaining.
"So the goblin kings inside the city?"
"No, he will attack using his characteristic not swords like us.
Only when he makes his move will our king be able to respond"
Lorath talked fluently and quickly as if I would understand his every word. I in fact did not.
"Attack using his characteristic?"
Lorath gave a light huff as if this was basic knowledge that I should know.
"Great Lord below, you do know nothing do you".
It annoyed me that everyone expected me to know information that they themselves had not reached me but I decided not to raise a fuss and instead just do a light shrug.
"A creature can mobilise its characteristic to use a portion of its power. Like earlier our king prevented you from seeing him by devouring your sight of him. Therefore you would have only seen blurred lights"
So that explains the blurred effect he had. Devouring my sight itself. It sounds about as deadly as it is. To be able to devour the very idea of someone's sight.
"This my fluffy friends is the world we live in, no longer does a simple sword suffice, there are far more dangerous beings out there with far more concentrated characteristics.
Now shoo I have research to do and I'd rather not have you shedding fur everywhere"
I was about to protest when Lorath picked up a broom he had hidden in a corner and used it like a spear to cordon me out. I'm starting to not like these human fellows.
Wandering back through the camp my mind still hung on the information I had learned. So this is how I get stronger. This is my path.
I paused when I realised that while I knew about the existence of characteristics I'd forgotten to ask exactly how one would raise their concentration of characteristics.
I'd have to ask the next day if I can seek out Lorath again.
After a while, I returned to our part of the camp.
"Welcomes back sir"
Sniffer walked up to me with renewed vigour. I hated how he called me sir yet all attempts to prevent it had ended in abject failure so it seems like something ill just have to accept.
"Dids the kings rewards yous for your fine works"
He seemed even more vicious in his subservience today. It seems my visit to the king has further raised my place in the hierarchy around here. They see me as their object leader.
"He paid me through information, Thassius, sniffer and twig I would need to fill you in"
Protests were heard among some of the other rats at this but I silenced them. It would be too long to inform all of them together. I can handle the questions from three rats, not 40. I will inform them later down the line.
Taking Thassius and the others into my tent, I told them about the day's events. I left out no details. It did not seem imperative to hide me containing some of the devourer characteristics since Itch had already given it away earlier. Furthermore, it would become evident later on. It was better to curry favour by appearing to trust the three rather than them finding out themselves later down the line.
I would have them teach this information to some of the other rats in our troop. This time emitting me having part of the characteristic. It would be better to keep this among a smaller group.
After the discussion our whole troop was taken off for training with Itch it felt not dissimilar to the old times in the clan hole.
My trust in Itch is beginning to waver. Since the village, I have acknowledged that I will find few allies among the rats. Even my clan are out to kill us. Itch would not be unlikely to follow suit.
I should have known about these characteristics beforehand. It would have reduced the risk of the village attack massively if I had known prior.
Nevertheless, if there's one thing Itch is good for its training.
Time began to fly by. Hours turned into days and eventually, 7 full days had passed without activity.
Life in the camp was peaceful. Lorath was still teaching me more about characteristics.
It turns out that one can increase one's characteristics by killing others with the same characteristics.
Upon death, the characteristics inside them will materialise to form a small ball shape like the orb of flame Lorath had. Upon ingestion of the orb, the corresponding concentration will be siphoned.
The only other way is to find these orbs elsewhere. Like the fire orbs, Lorath had been mass-produced in a lake infested with fire characteristics. The concentration however of these orbs was so incredibly minor that you would have to ingest hundreds of thousands to get anywhere.
However, occasionally in ancient ruins or landmarks, you would find orbs or landmarks infested with high concentrations of characteristics.
I asked the obvious question of why does our king not just kill all others with the devourer characteristic. Apparently, higher concentrations of characteristics can be harder to control. Often needed copious amounts of time to bond with the body properly. Ingesting too much would simply lead to death.
Outside of Lorath's teaching, Itch's training has seen further success. He had found me a new sword similar in length and weight. I was still far from being able to weaponize my characteristics, so swords would still be my only method of fighting.
Hunting trips remained a staple for the 4 of us. We became far more proficient at it over time even catching some large mutated boar we had found while exploring the deeper parts of the woods.
Twig had almost been stomped on but me and thassius managed to put it down between us.
I tried drinking some of its blood to find very little effects. It seems I would have to hunt larger game if I was to want to become stronger.
On the 8th day, I awoke to a start. Horns blared through the camp. Briefly, a shock ran through my veins preparing for another goblin ambush but soon after came shouts ordering for everyone to prepare for a skirmish. The goblins in the nearby city had tallied out to come and push us back long enough for reinforcement to arrive. It seems the wait is over.
I took my time putting my armour on and gently washing off some of the dirt that had amassed on my fur over the last few days.
I left my tent and convened with the others.
"Line up in triple file"
Itch was shouting commands.
I headed our troop as we marched through the camp reaching the rest of the army.
The dispersal of the camp and the presence of the warrens beneath had hidden the true size of the force from me thus far.
Thousands of rats stood varying from very organised to very disorganised. Each was coated in a different colour and a different set of arms waving above their heads. It truly was a sight to see.
Off just the view I got there was at least 30 - 50 thousand rats. Each of the 9 clan lords headed their own troop. The king was nowhere to be seen. Lorath stood close to the red baron a small bag hung to his side spewing out a deep glow of several different colours. A small blue orb now rested within the tip of his staff.
We joined the Red Legion with Itch staying with us rather than leaving to join the party at the front and stand alongside the red baron.
We waited for what felt like hours until finally, all the rats had joined the ranks. I could no longer get a good view but I assumed at least another 20 thousand had joined.
A force to be reckoned with.
We marched for around 5 minutes before arriving at a large clearing. Far ahead of us stood two tall mountains which seemingly watched over the clearing above. Cowering beneath the mountains was a sprawling city made from wood and leather. From our distant view, even the largest buildings looked like nothing more than ants.
Closer to us however stood a wall of green. Goblins of all different sizes and shapes were arrayed in a single file. While our army was large, there's was larger. I tried to guess their numbers but struggled due to the immense size of their lines. While they clearly outnumbered us many of the goblins looked far smaller than even the smallest of rats. Only around 30,000 of their horde seemed properly armoured. This fact was easy to see even from a distance as they were the only ones that had armour on.
I along with our small cohort stood to the side of the lines. Our job was to harass the flank of the goblin horde.
From our position, it was satisfying to watch the intricate approach to combat the rats took. Charge and kill both sounded like a strategic genius. Many of the clan lords still headed their troops however characters like Lorath took a back seat and were instructed to attack from behind.
Finally, all the preparations had been completed.
Now silence had blanketed the several thousand creatures now stood waiting in the clearing.
They waited for the battle horn.