Chapter 19 – A Scouting, We Will Go

I woke up early as I did every morning. Last night after checking in on Alice to make sure she was okay; I came down to the third sub-level. There was a cot in the corner of the office. I imagine Paul put it down here in case the surface wasn’t safe for some reason. As my bed upstairs was occupied with Alice, I didn’t want to disturb her, so I came here.

The office was cozy for how big it was. The fact that no one else was allowed down here helped me get some much-needed rest last night. It wasn’t that I was physically tired but rather mentally and emotionally drained. I had people depending on me and I would not shirk my duties. It was just nice to get some time to myself, even if it was for a few moments.

Deciding it was time to start my morning exercises I headed to the giant chamber that took up much of this floor. I first did some light stretches before running through some forms and katas I knew. Some were from past studies and others I had found in some older documents Paul had stored in the office. That guy sure collected a lot of random stuff.

After going through several forms, I shifted to my magic spells and abilities. Every fiber in my being called for me to master these wonders. I mean I could literally do magic. I have been dreaming about this practically all my life.

The power to directly influence the world around me and use my power to make it better for more than just me. This allowed me to further my goal of being meek. This required mastery of my gifts so when I needed them to help people I could.

I was focused on the nature of my magic when a wave hit me. The whole world shifted and when I finally focused, I was somewhere else.

“This is the town. How did I get here?” I said to myself.

There were hundreds of goblins and undead. They were milling about doing one job after the other. It was clear they couldn’t see me. “So, am I having a vision? I must be.” I told myself hoping my system would answer me back, but no response ever came.

I saw people in jail and other makeshift cages. There had to be about a hundred of them. They were all in various states of health. None were void of at least one mark or bruise. The goblins hadn’t been kind.

That was when I came upon what I presume were their cooks. They had pots and various cooking pits. I could see animals and body parts that were clearly human on roasting pikes cooking over a fire. If I didn’t have control over my stomach, I might’ve just lost its contents.

Then I felt drawn to these circles filled with dead bodies and a few undead inside. I could see the death magic swirling in the massive circles. Goblins were chanting and moving in complex patterns as the magic continued to move. One goblin stood out above the rest, literally. He was the tallest goblin I’d ever seen, at least head and shoulders taller than the rest. He wore loose-fitting black robes, but I could see the muscles underneath. This goblin was strong and powerful. He had a large scar across his face. He somehow had control of the magic flowing through and around the other goblins.

My focus changed from the brute of a goblin back to the magic circles. The undead began to merge with the flesh of the dead bodies contained within the circles. The new masses undulated and shifted about in the magic circles. They began to morph and take shape into a new form.

Standing in each of the magic circles stood a massive undead abomination. Each easily stood 4 meters tall. Some had two heads or an extra arm or leg sticking out of it. Some had other faces in their skin stretched in permanent horror. These were true monsters and they let out blood-curdling roars.

RAWRRWRRR!

“Yes! My new minions rise and bring utter destruction to my enemies!” The large goblin caster proclaimed.

Then I felt myself shifting again. Abruptly, I was back in my body on my hands and knees panting. I took a few moments to re-center myself and just breathe, concentrating hard not to throw up. I had dealt with episodes of vertigo for a good part of my adult life, which I believe now helped me regain control of my senses.

“Was that a vision of what is happening now or later?” I said to myself.

Query Accepted

You experienced a temporal anomalistic event. Not enough data to provide an answer. Time magic tends to operate on a different set of rules than most other magic types.

Well, that was good to know, but it still didn’t answer my question. Deep down the only way I could get that answer was to go see the town with my own two eyes.

Stopping by the second floor to check in on the residents, I see Ann, one of the ladies in the cage with Alice.

“Good morning, Ann. You’re up early.”

“I was just about to say the same thing.” Ann replied in greeting.

“How is everyone settling in?” I asked.

“Many are still shell shocked. Some stare at the walls. Others wake up screaming from nightmares. But all in all, most of us are doing much better now that we are out of those nasty cages.” Ann explained.

“We help those we can, but there is no such thing as a free lunch. I expect everyone to contribute. If we can help those lost in despair we will, but in time I expect them to help too.” I stated.

“That is a bit harsh don’t you think?” Ann retorted.

“Not at all. Those of us left are a fraction of the population before. Many of those survivors are turned into undead or like yourself enslaved by others. If all of us do not contribute to fighting back the ever-creeping darkness, then we will all end up lost. I for one made a choice to help those that wanted help and would be letting them down if I ignore this issue.” I gave in rebuttal.

Ann seems to ponder my words for a moment before signing. “Uh, I don’t like it, but your point is well made. I’ll keep you informed of those that seem lost and you can decide what to do, but that is the extent my conscience will allow. I was a nurse before the apocalypse, and gained a healing perk, I’ll offer to help in that way. That suit you?”

“Most definitely. We will need healers. Please coordinate with Jebediah. He can be a bit crass and hot headed, but he means well.” I replied as I patted the older woman on the shoulder before walking away.

I peeked in on the different living quarters. ‘Man, all of this must’ve cost Paul a fortune.’ I thought before my eyes picked up on one of the people Ann mentioned.

The young man just sat on a cot, staring at the wall. From what I could see on his face, it appeared to have a mix between a vacant stare and the look of being utterly lost. I’d seen something similar in my ex’s face when our son had drowned. It’s like your brain gets stuck, trapped between the trauma of the event and having any clue about how to proceed from that point forward.

My heart did go out to the young man, as it did with the other dozen or so I saw in a similar state. ‘I’ll give them some time. Right now, everything is so fresh and new. Hard to deal with the cold hard facts of how things really work when the infrastructure you depend on collapses.’ I thought before heading up to the ground floor.

“It’d be great if we had someone who could heal the mind.” I commented to Gr’ex as I saw him up already, sitting at the table in a pose that screamed ‘feed me’.

“What was that? My stomach was growling too much to hear you.” Gr’ex replied.

Shaking my head, I started to prepare some breakfast. “I said it would be nice to find someone with a gift for healing the mind. We have over a dozen people down below that seem lost in their trauma.”

“Oh, that.” Gr’ex just waved my explanation off with his hand.

“What do you mean ‘oh that’?” Suzie asked as she overheard the conversation while walking into the kitchen.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Gr’ex turned back to her. “It happens on newly integrated worlds or large countries where many people live a different life in the city far away from the front lines. They don’t understand how everything they were taught about entitlement or the rules on being a good person growing up don’t work when the Dark comes for them.”

“I could see that. Competence and working together are going to matter far more to our continued survival.” Suzie commented.

“I agree there. I was just talking with Ann, one of the ladies we rescued yesterday. She is going to keep an eye on the people that seemed lost. I hate the idea of just tossing them out, but we can’t afford to waste limited resources on dead weight. Man, I wish we had someone who could heal the mind.” I said again, frustrated that I currently did not possess such an ability.

‘Note to self: get a mind healing ability, spell, or skill.’ I thought.

My system once again answered me.

Query Accepted

Notes have been added to your reminders and to do lists.

I mentally thanked my system.

Gr’ex chimed in after a moment. “You know, I could turn them into my undead minions. At least that way their dead weight would make a nice meat shield against me and any danger.”

“Absolutely not!” Suzie quickly snapped back.

I raised an eyebrow at her and just stared as I cooked.

Gr’ex smiled at the display. “Though you are very capable for a Wood Elf... you are not the one in charge.”

Suzie deflated. “You can’t be seriously considering his proposal?!”

“Not at the moment no... buuutt, I will not outright dismiss anything. I appreciate the teamwork and you are very capable Suzie, but Gr’ex is right, you are not the one in charge here. Now in the future, I will most certainly delegate responsibilities, but in war, we must always have a clear chain of command. Make no mistake, we are at war for our survival.”

“I do agree there. I will do my best to back your plays Shadowalker, but don’t expect me to be silent if I disagree.” Suzie sighed.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way. Though I have final say, I required and welcome feedback and input. We are all stronger working together, but it is okay to talk through the issues and make counter proposals. That is how we end up with the highest chance of the best outcome.” I replied.

That seemed to perk Suzie right up. “Sounds good. And that smells good. Is it almost ready? I’m starving.”

“Oh, thank God you’re cooking. Fix me a plate would you son.” Jebediah said as his nose led him to the kitchen.

“That’s an odd reaction.” Suzie commented.

“Do you remember my friend Chuck?” Jebediah asked.

“You mean Mr. Cast-iron?” Suzie replied.

“That’s not his actual last name. He used to be a cook in the army. The man could turn anything into a meal, with one caveat.” Jebediah answered.

I was curious so I spoke up first. “What?”

“You rolled the dice on whether it’d clear out your digestive track. He always had a cast iron skillet and we stopped asking what was in it. We started calling him Cast-iron.” Jebediah explained.

“Oh yea, he was the cook at the high school for a bit. I remember all the cheerleaders lost a lot of weight that year.” Suzie chimed in.

Gr’ex looked at the two in horror before turning to me. “Please promise me I’ll never have to eat his cooking!”

“Well now I know what to threaten you with.” I teased.

“You wouldn’t?!” Gr’ex said with concern.

“Be a good little goblin and you won’t have to find out.” I replied before asking Jebediah a question. “Why did you bring up Chuck?”

Jebediah answered between bites of eggs and bacon. “He is one of the ones you rescued and scared the literal crap out of him, his words.”

“Oh yea, tell him sorry about that but Gr’ex and I had a bet to win.” I replied has I high-fived Gr’ex.

Jebediah laughed. “Ha! Poetic justice to me. I can tell you how many times his cooking did that to me. Anyway, Chuck is cooking food for the survivors down below. He offered me breakfast, but I said I had to give you a status report. I noticed yesterday how you dumped the coordination of the survivors on me sunny-boy.”

I looked at Gr’ex in confusion. “Weren’t you coordinating them through the other goblins?”

Gr’ex kept eating. “That? I got bored so I just told Jebediah that you wanted him to do it.”

“You little green-skinned bastard! You’re lucky it gave me an excuse to get out of eating Cast-Iron’s food or we’d be having words.” Jebediah said as he too cleaned his plate of any trace of food.

“Well, can we figure out an alternative cooking option than Chuck... one that doesn’t involve me doing the job. I don’t mind cooking for my party, but I have zero interest in that being my post-apocalypse career.” I commented.

“Awe, but you do such a good job.” Suzie teased.

“Don’t make me cut you off with Gr’ex.” I teased back.

“I’ve had Mr. Cast-Iron’s cooking... the horror. I’ll be good.” Suzie smiled.

‘I like that he dishes it back. You can’t trust someone in a crisis if they can’t handle some back-and-forth barbs.’ Suzie thought as she considered Shadowalker.

“Now that you all have shoveled your food down. I wanted to talk about today. Gr’ex and I are going to do some scouting and investigate the town.” I explained part of my plan for the day.

Jebediah spoke up first. “Seems risky my boy. You should take back up.”

I waved his concern away. “Gr’ex and I can blend in, the rest of you can’t. Besides I have some things I need you both to do.”

“Like what?” Suzie asked.

Looking at Jebediah I say, “Jebediah, Gr’ex might’ve dumped the responsibility of organizing the survivors, but I ask that you keep it up.” Turning to Suzie, “I’d like you to help him. Plus, I’m hoping you can work with Melody and Ann to keep an eye on Alice.”

Jebediah grumbled. “Fine, but I might do some delegating of my own.”

“I can do that. She’s a little cutie. More than happy to help.” Suzie replied.

“I’m fine if you two delegates. Just follow up and keep an eye out for issues. Try to get a gauge of what we have to work with. You know, things like skills, spells, abilities, and what they might be interested in doing.”

“It’ll take some time, but we can get the process started.” Suzie answered.

“When we get back from scouting. I’d like our party to get together and go hunting.” I explained the last part of my plan.

“Sounds fun. I’ve been itching to shoot something.” Jebediah said as he pointed at Gr’ex. “Must be all these people I have to deal with.”

Gr’ex smiles back at him, no shame in his voice at all. “Better you than me.”

I decided to chime in on Gr’ex’s lazy behalf. “Well, it is probably better a human work with them. I doubt they would like to take orders from a goblin after being in prisoned by them.”

“Fair enough. Though I’m still going to figure a way of getting the little green skin back.” Jebediah answered.

“Seems fair. Now let’s get moving. As much as I want to check in on Alice. I’d rather get this scouting mission over with.” I answered as I headed to grab a few guns.

———

I used the ring Gr’ex gave me to take on the visage of a goblin necromancer. We encountered few patrols north of town. It made no sense to me. “Gr’ex, why are there so few patrols north of town? You would think the Bone Marrow clan would leave the south to the Sleeping Willow and focus north.”

“Ah. That’s because you’re not thinking like a goblin. Tek’tar won’t trust Jek’jon. Their clans’ dislike for each other is well known among goblins. Though my clan didn’t care for the Bone Marrow meat heads either. Tek’tar will keep a contingent of his men south just in case Sleeping Willow betrays them.”

“Well, that creates a problem for when the full assault comes.” I said with concern.

Gr’ex shook his head. “Not really. Just because a goblin anticipates betrayal doesn’t mean they are ready for it or that it still can’t be used at the right time.”

“Okay, I can see what you mean. But back to my point. I can see why there are less patrols, but this seems intentionally negligent on their part.” I commented.

“You are not wrong. The only reason for it would be to guard something closer to town. Wait do you feel that?” Gr’ex spoke the last in concern.

A few seconds later I felt something. “It feels like when I use Death magic but off somehow.”

“That’s because you are also sensing Eldritch magic mixed in with the Death magic. I only know that because of the spell Kit’erak taught me twisted Dark and Death magic. Eldritch magic is from outside the inner realms. It can be very powerful but also tends to corrupt the wielder if one is not careful.” Gr’ex explained quietly as we stalked towards the direction, we felt the large amount of mana coming from.

Crouching in the bushes, my mind reeled at the sight. My vision proved true. There were many goblins in the northern clearing in town. I counted five ritual circles straight out of some horror movie.

In each circle were dozens of corpses and undead zombies. Blood was everywhere and runic symbols were carved into the ground and wooden stakes positioned around each circle. The symbols looked wrong to my eyes for some reason. The barest of trickles of blood flowed from the goblins in armor as mana poured from the goblins in robes, both moving rhythmically through into the runes and then into both the zombies and dead bodies.

That is when I saw the goblin from my vision. He was rather large for a goblin, standing over one and a half meters tall. He wore a black robe without any sleeves, and it was clear the goblin was ripped with muscles all over.

I used my System to scan the goblin. I did not like what I saw.

Tek’tar (Goblin Chief)

Level 40

Class: Necromancer (Eldritch Corrupted)

Description: Chief of the Bone Marrow clan goblins. Reluctant servant to Kit’erak. Bone Marrow goblins territory borders Orc lands. This clan has adopted many of the Orc beliefs and tendencies to focus on physical attributes. Due to physical power being so prized among their clan, even magic casters will have several points in Strength. This goblin has dabbled both in demonic and Eldritch magics causing increased power but loss of all sense of morality. All previous beliefs have been corrupted beyond recognition.

“Why did I get so much info when I inspected Tek’tar?” I whispered to Gr’ex.

“Two reasons. You stared much longer, which gives your system more time to collect information. Second, he is considered the boss for your contested portal. The longer it remains open the more intel allowed for defenders” Gr’ex explained.

“What’s with the corrupted status on his class?” I asked.

“It means everything he was as a necromancer has been corrupted. His spells etc. can be twisted or different. It also means he’s going to be a pain to take down.” Gr’ex further explained.

After a moment Gr’ex spoke up. “As scary as that guy is, those circles worry me more. That is a lot of power they are feeding them. They are using blood magic to slowly drain the life force while also supplying the ritual with large amounts of mana and materials. This is bad. My guess is they are making Undead Abominations.”

“Giant deformed monstrosities, with extra limbs and body parts? About four meters tall? Super tough to kill?” I absentmindedly asked.

Gr’ex turned to me with a surprised look on his face. “Yes! How did you know that?”

“Educated guess.” I replied.