As it turns out what they finally decided on, after hours of debate and several days of trial and error, was a combination of two ideas. They would use the colored ribbons to indicate friendly groups or to point out a potential ambush site when they need to react fast. Other than that, they will use messages tied to rocks. They tried to disguise the message as bird poop, but the message was too hard to read afterwords. They should be able to get low enough to drop them fairly close to the ground team. It wouldn't do to have a message go unread after all. This does mean that they are stuck with one sided communication for the moment. They had briefly considered having someone on the ground throw a rock message straight up, but in order to catch it both the thrower and recipient would have to be extremely accurate with both their movement and timing. In the end, they decided it just wasn't worth it since there was likely nothing they could report that those in the sky wouldn't already know.
Logan did note that although they've never been ambushed, they recognized that it was a possibility. Perhaps they had been ambushed trying to escape before. He isn't sure but it would make since given the low number of groups he's found. Now that he thinks about it, he is certain the number of escapes far exceeds the number of groups found. After all, if the goal is to capture them alive, you'd want to catch them off guard, so they don't have time to react. He was curious what life was like before they found him, or he found them, but he also feared that it was a touchy subject. As much as he wanted to know he didn't want to ask them to relive their trauma by delving into memories they had tried to bury.
His thoughts on the subject were interrupted by the feeling of the team returning from the lost human city. He couldn't help but notice that they took longer to return each time they went. He also noticed that this time their packs appeared to be full of more than just books. This was confirmed moments later when they gave their report to Siobhan. Along with a bunch of books, which were apparently the last of them, they also brought back several pieces of human art. This included several sculptures and even a few paintings. According to them there were a few more pieces but almost everything else was too big to fit into the packs that they had. Logan had already decided to start expanding that direction once he was sure the current town was claimed and secured but this just reinforced his decision. Once again, the recon team was allowed to rest for a few days, since they had been away for so long, and the other flying recon team was sent back to the human city for what would probably be the last time for a while.
While all that was going on he had built up enough mana to expand again and once again he expanded north. He wasn't sure how much of the town was left but it also didn't matter. He was going to claim all of it even if it took another four years. Still, he couldn't help but be frustrated by the snail's pace at which he appeared to be growing. That, he had to admit, was partly his own fault. He was now killing humanities enemies long before they got to him which meant he didn't get mana for killing them. He briefly considered luring them in, but that would mean using the humans as bait. Something he was not prepared to do even if the humans were on board with the idea. Short of that though he just had to accept the slow and steady pace.
He had to admit that every little bit counted, so he couldn't be to upset as long as he was still able to expand. He was still relatively small after all, or at least that's how he saw himself. You see he had never forgotten about the other dungeons, and he knew that even if they grew at a tenth of his rate, they were still massive compared to him. That is even assuming that they started off as just a core which isn't likely since one of the few historical texts, he was able to find specifically mentions that the other races spread out from the dungeons and the humans had apparently never encountered members of their species before that time. This meant that they were at a minimum large enough to house several members of those races inside them before they even got here. which meant that they had a head start on top of the thousand-year head start.
Before he can think himself any further down that rabbit hole however, he notices that something is happening with Allyson. She is hurriedly making her way to the makeshift throne room carrying what Logan assumes is a new potion of some kind. Once she gets there it takes her a second to catch her breath before she can speak. After a few minutes she notices that everyone is staring at her, and she immediately becomes self-conscious and begins to straighten herself. "Can we help you" asks Joel with a mix of amusement and curiosity. "Actually, you can" replies Allyson timidly. "I just created what I believe is an agility potion, but I need a volunteer to test it on." For the first time they all notice the potion she is carrying as she is no longer holding it behind her back. Siobhan, seeing the value in such a potion, wastes no time in ordering Joel to go out and find a volunteer. It doesn't take long for him to find a volunteer and he soon returns with a young warrior in tow. Allyson to her credit does make sure she thoroughly explains the risk. "It will probably do exactly what it's supposed to, but it could also do nothing, have the opposite effect or even have unforeseen side effects." She explains as she hands him the potion. just before he drinks it, she reiterates that she can't guarantee anything since it's an original, and as yet untested, creation and wasn't made following any established recipe. This causes the young warrior to hesitate but only for a second. Once he drinks the whole thing she asks him to spar with Joel so that he can tell her if the potion work and how well. She also needs to establish how long it lasts and rule out any possible side effects. As the sparing match begins, he reports that he can already feel a difference. His body is moving as if the armor isn't even there despite him wearing heavy iron armor. He soon clarifies it by saying he can still feel the weight of the armor but it's no longer affecting his movement. Joel too notices a change as he is barely able to keep up despite being the one who trained the young warrior. Unfortunately, it only seems to last about five minutes. It also seems to leave the person feeling extremely sluggish afterwards. She will of course need a few more volunteers to verify anything, but it would appear that the new potion has limited usefulness. That doesn't mean Allyson's just going to stop there though. In fact, after this proof of concept she tasks herself with figuring out how to either reduce or hopefully even eliminate that side effect. She also wants to find a way to make it last longer. Reducing or eliminating this pretty series side effect takes priority though. Her apprentice is tasked with conducting more trials to confirm the results. Logan is excited because while not ideal it could still make a difference if used correctly. Anything that could potentially turn a death into a victory is worth celebrating as far as he is concerned. He's also excited because he understands that this is only the beginning.
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A week later and he bought another expansion. He was finally starting to see a pattern. At first, he thought the open fields were left on purpose for training areas and for gathering the army in one spot. While that could still be true, at least for a few of the fields, he is starting to see a lot of wide-open areas in the northern parts of the town leading him to believe that they prioritized houses over other types of buildings. It also means that the town was never officially finished. This did not bode well for the chances of their being a wall around the town he could simply repair. He didn't give up on that idea though as maybe a wall was the first thing they built. Either way he'd find out eventually.
He couldn't linger on the idea of possible futures for too long though. He had things to deal with in the present. Deciding it was past time the last of the nearby threats were dealt with he sent an army of 75 swarms of dire rats to finally start to deal with the goblins that remained in the area. He still had the dwarves to worry about but they didn't seem to pose a threat. At least for the moment. That was when it struck him how sparsely populated everything was. The area his creatures could reach, while still small compared to the size of a continent, was not insignificant even if he himself was tiny. Yet he had already almost cleared it of any threats. It also occurred to him that the fact he has a different race on each side of himself probably wasn't an accident. The humans probably chose this area because it was the furthest from all of them which consequently put it exactly right in the middle of all of them. As for the attack itself he didn't bother trying to hide where it came from. In fact, he wanted them to retaliate, he could use the mana boost from killing them within his boarder.
That done there was nothing left to do but wait. He did eventually get confirmation that the dire rat army had been defeated. That was to be expected after all they were never meant to win just thin the goblins numbers which they managed nicely. The recon team reported that they weren't showing any signs of retaliating. Not wanting to let replenish their numbers he sent an army of large normal rat swarms. They couldn't do as much as the dire rats obviously, but they could help keep them from replenishing their numbers. Once again, he didn't bother disguising where the attack was coming from. Goblins were not smart, and he had faith that eventually they would take the bait and retaliate.
He bought yet another expansion as he waited for news of how the rats had faired. As expected, the rats inflicted a fraction of the casualties of the dire rats. The recon team also confirmed that the goblins were on the move. Not heading straight here but they did seem to be searching in this general direction, possibly looking for the rat nest. This was promising because it meant that they would soon find him. Not long ago that would have been cause for concern, but he is much more powerful now than he was the last time he fended of a goblin army attack. Still, it was a strange feeling, hoping to be attacked. Eventually he sent a few large rat swarms just to get their attention and point them in the right direction. He knew from experience that once the scouting party found him a few goblins would be sent back to inform the others. He was counting on this however. In fact, he was already making plans for how to lure in a second, third, and even fourth wave of attacks.
His plan worked and the recon team reported that the goblins were now heading directly for him. As he waits for them to arrive, he remembers how it felt to be so small that a handful of orcs almost wiped him out. It seems like an eternity ago when in reality it's only been around four years. It took the goblins just over another week to finally make their way to him. They were allowed to get well inside of his territory. Once Logan decided they had made it far enough the goblins were met with a wall of fur in the form of his massive wolf army. Thanks to his two fully upgraded wolf spawners he had plenty of wolves to throw at them. Three headed wolves and the two headed arctic wolves made up the bulk of the front lines. Dire and stone wolves circled around the outside trying to keep them all bunched together. Meanwhile the feral boars, Stormbringers, and two headed snakes hunt down any goblins who manage to make it outside of the encirclement. He knows this is just the scouting party and he shouldn't get cocky, but having twice as many wolves makes this feel a lot easier than it was the first time. It could also be that he's starting to get better at using what he has as Giga boars join the front lines to replace a few of the Arctic wolves that have fallen. During all of this he has had the slag slime slowly surround the goblins and they are almost in position. They aren't exactly known for their speed though, so he does his best to keep the goblins both contained and unaware that they are in a rapidly closing trap. He wants to keep some stuff for the main group, but he does decide to send a third of his various wasps to keep the distracted and disoriented. Nightmare gophers also do a great job of keeping them in the circle by making them afraid to go anywhere else. Something Logen only recently learned they could do. It also seems far more effective that just disorienting them. Fear gophers don't seem to have that ability, but that is to be expected seeing as nightmare gophers are basically a more advanced version of fear gopher. Eventually the circle is finished. Logen orders all other monsters except the nightmare gophers, who can operate from a distance, to disengage and fall back. By the time the goblins realize something is happening it's too late. The slag slimes begin to project a ring of heat just ahead of the circle as they slowly march forward shrinking the circle. Now panicked the goblins try desperately to escape but the slag slimes haven't left a single opening. It still takes a while for the last goblin to fall due to how slow the slag slimes are and how big the initial circle was. Soon enough though the last goblin does fall. Logen is forced to admit that things went a lot smoother because he wasn't just brute forcing his defense. The extra wolves helped sure, but he is finally starting to understand he needs to think more like a general and less like a self-defense coach.
He can ponder the particulars later though. Right now, he has to prepare for the major offensive that he is certain will be coming in a few weeks. Last time it nearly wiped him out, so he wants to make doubly sure he is ready. To start with the goblins, thanks to their sheer number, gave him enough to grab five more norther expansions. This will allow him to engage them even sooner. He even has Yangus hold off on any projects in the newly expanded area until after the goblins are dealt with.