The goblin invasion of Einhard County alarmed and frightened the senators of the Valkian Federation. For centuries, we have tried to exterminate this plague from the face of Altaria, without much success. After successive failures, we changed our strategy from extermination to containment, sending expeditionary forces to hunt down and kill any goblin that makes its lair near the Federation's borders... So it was with great astonishment and disbelief that we received the news that Valen is under siege by an army of 2 million goblins.
There are many threats to human life in Altaria, the most hated of which are the goblins. A weak, unintelligent and unsociable humanoid race... but with an inexplicable reproductive capacity. Any humanoid that falls into the hands of these creatures can become an 'incubator', generating 6 to 20 goblins in a few weeks, and in a few more weeks, these newly generated goblins can be sent off to war.
It is not known how many lives have been lost during this invasion, but some estimates claim that around 40,000 people have been enslaved... In just over a month, the goblin army could be reinforced with around 800,000 slaves... If this plague conquers Valen, and turns it into a lair, we will have to face tens of millions of goblins before our armies even begin their march.
I reinforce this information in the hope that the council will not underestimate this threat.
A letter sent by Senator Percival Solvir Aurelius to the Valkir war council.
—---
Robert had been living through hell for the last few weeks. The village he was supposed to protect was in ruins, and it would take months to make it even remotely defensible again, so the men the baron had brought would be an invaluable help.
22 trained soldiers, each of them stronger and better equipped than Robert himself... No, for a few days, Robert had not only become stronger than them, but he had a good chance of defeating all of them in a fight.
The abilities he received when he became a hero's champion were something he had never even dreamed of. And just like a dream, it all disappeared.
'Apart from being a coward, I'm still a traitor... but if I had that weapon...' Robert sighed, looking at his hammer. 'Damn Sandro and that bastard baron! Damn my greed and my stupidity!
"It was only thanks to the hero's skills that the village managed to resist. Without that speech, the militia would have turned their backs and fled, without his magical fire, the improvised weapons would have been practically useless, without the promotion that some soldiers got, it would have been impossible to face the wolves and shamans... and yet"
"Yet you were poisoned by Sandro's words... But I don't blame you. We've all taken the easy way out..." Igor said as he approached "How is your daughter?"
"Barely... removing the arrow was complicated, and recovery is proving difficult. The baron's doctor believes that she will no longer be able to use the bow..."
…
…
"Do you think the baron's men will be able to find the hero?" Igor asked as he watched a cloud of dust rise in the distance.
"And what would that change? He may be young, but he's not stupid... Sandro thought that by turning the whole village against him, including his cousin, he would give in... Sandro is dead, what's left of our soldiers have lost all their skills, levels and morale. And we've lost the bloody hero who saved our lives."
"We still have your cousin"
"And what will we do? Slit his throat if the hero doesn't obey us?" Robert observed a group of horsemen heading towards the village. "Is it just me or has the number of riders decreased?"
"... Let's go and see the baron."
…
…
"My lord, the false hero is heading south, into the goblin forest... We followed the trail until we found him in the early evening. We delivered your message, but..." The soldier swallowed and looked away. "He burned it without even reading it, when we tried to capture him, he used one blow from the hammer to kill five soldiers... and said that if anyone else from Terhi goes after him, he'll come back here and kill every single person in the village, starting with you..."
—---
Humans are complicated creatures, and I still regret choosing this class... Son of fire would have been much more persuasive when dealing with idiots... Well, there's no going back on that kind of choice, I guess. So, I just need to become more persuasive, which of course means leveling up.
Before I start the epic and grueling journey of farming, I need to fully recover... I also need clothes, water, food and information... Luckily, I should find almost everything I need in one of the many abandoned properties in the area... as long as I find one before I starve to death.
Basic needs aside, I need to get stronger and faster. I don't know who Nargoth is, (maybe an orc?) but he controls that annoying plague of goblins, and although most of them aren't a threat, those shamans are catastrophic. What would happen if they had sacrificed a thousand slaves to cast a spell? I certainly don't want to find out.
Returning to the idiot humans, I may have made a mistake in demobilizing the army, since the only way to update [Foundation] is through my soldiers... fortunately, this mistake is easy to correct, I just need to name 200 soldiers... and luckily, there's a war going on somewhere in the east. And I can also get some information while I'm at it.
The top priority now is to disappear from the radar, at least until I reach a reasonable level. The last thing I need right now is to attract the attention of someone strong, or may the gods protect me, another hero, and end up being made a slave or something worse...
A plan begins to form as I list the things that need to be done.
—---
Nargoth watched the stone walls of Valen being dyed red with the blood of his slaves, and yet he could do nothing.
Day after day, night after night, he sent thousands of slaves against the fortifications and was not one step closer to conquering this city than on the first day.
The city had been under incessant attack for seven days, half of his army had died within those walls.
And when the mighty human army appeared in the hills to the west, he understood that his mission would fail. Yet he didn't back down, quite the opposite.
Nargoth sent the slaves of his army against his enemies, watching carefully as the human army faced them in the field. After a significant number of them had been killed, he sent in his elites, goblin rides, shamans and mutants.
His elites meant nothing against the order and discipline of the humans, and when the tactics began to be used, what had been an unequal battle became a massacre.
Nargoth raised his axe towards the battle taking place, the runes on his body lighting up in a crimson hue.
"I offer them as a sacrifice!"
The goblins who were still fighting began to scream, their bodies being swallowed up by a red mist as they began to transform into creatures reminiscent of spiders and scorpions.
The sudden change took the humans by surprise and their formations were broken, and finally the goblins managed to do some real damage. However, as the minutes passed, these mutated creatures lost their vigor.
[Their sacred mission failed]
"Two million goblins weren't enough, huh... maybe twenty million will get the job done next time," Nargoth said, as he mounted his wolf and laughed. "Spread out! Destroy! Multiply! THAT IS THE ORDER OF YOUR KING!!!"
Only the goblins who were on Nargoth's side were spared the suicidal attack and the sacrifice, and it was they who received this last order. As soon as 'Spread out' was said, they ran in all directions. As soon as 'Destroy' was said, a set of runes was marked on each of the goblins. As soon as 'Multiply' was said, the runes lit up. And with the end of the order, around a thousand goblins disappeared from the siege of Valen and were scattered throughout the county.
—---
Year 987 of the new era, goblin forest, five years after the siege of Valen.
[You killed a superior dire wolf nv 27]
[You killed a superior goblin rider nv 32]
[You leveled up!]
[Spear Mastery reached lv 36]
[Riding reached lv 59]
[Mounted combat reached level 29]
"Finally." Jon grumbled as he saw dozens of bodies around him. Without wasting any time, he turned his steed north and began the long journey to civilization. During this time, he distributed the two new points.
Status
Name: Jon
Species: Human (Mythical Hero)
Class: Lord Commander
Talent: Indomitable spirit
Level: 20
HP: 89%
Stamina: 49%
MP: 41%
Attributes:
Strength: 10
Agility: 08
Vitality: 10
Vigor: 06
Magic: 25
Mind: 06
Will: 06
Class Skill:
Foundation (nv 11); black fire (nv 05); arcane shield (nv 23); regeneration (nv 28); aura of speed (nv 08); animal companion (nv 17).
Skills:
Sword mastery (nv 50); summon familiar (nv 21); spear mastery(nv 36); mace mastery(nv 07); hammer mastery(nv 13); horsemanship(nv 59); mounted combat(nv 29); silence(nv 14); stealth(nv 16); heavy armor mastery(nv 07); shield mastery(nv 02);
Equipment:
Scourge of fire (sacred)
Blackfire battle banner (mythical)
Space ring (rare)
Armor of the moonless night (mythical)
Shield of the moonless night (mythical)