It was another Dark Goblin that triggered the lock-out by pushing one of the big entrance doors open. As he passed through the thin demesne that filled the door’s space, I was able to inspect him. He was level 2, dressed in simple clothes and carried a knife. It seemed that he was another scout.

I unfroze for a moment then froze again as a second goblin passed through. Again, this one followed the previous pattern– a spear-wielding hunter (also level 2). It seemed the goblins like to travel in groups with similar compositions (either that or they preferred to use weaker members as cannon fodder). I was feeling pretty good.

But then the third goblin passed through the entrance. This goblin was level five and was clearly dressed for a fight. He wore a leather armor vest, a leather cap, and wielded an iron mace and wooden shield. While he looked similar to the previous leader, his higher level meant he had more experience. So far, I had not seen a significant difference between a level 2 and a level 4, but that was largely because the bridge trap had been extremely effective. But, a level 5 against level 2 skeletons?–I was worried.

I used the small window of opportunity where he was in my demesne to inspect his sigil array to see what the Dark Goblins’ fourth and final skill was. What I saw shocked and appalled me.

As I expected, the sigil array was full, each of the four “nodes” that represented skills were filled in with their own sigils. As with all the goblins, the three skills were exactly the same (perhaps, then, these sigil nodes were more ‘traits’ and less ‘skills’). However, now I could also see the fourth sigil.

It was hideous.

Previously, when I had looked at sigils and sigil arrays, they appeared as shapes and lines of golden glowing light. For the goblin’s array and the first three nodes, this was still the same. However, the fourth node was filled with pitch black, viscous, tar-like lines that swirled up and over and into each other, like a mass of undulating snakes consuming themselves.

But that wasn’t the worst part. The wrongness and disgust I felt as a result of perceiving the skill was in tandem to a deep feeling of familiarity, a resonance that spoke to a similar power that resided in my very core and my soul. This black power was the same as what I used when connecting the portals. It was Tenebrous Portal.

Interface agreed with me.

[Sapiophagia] [Skulk]

Dark Goblin (Level 5)

[Brave Hearts] [Darkvision]

Just like my skill, the Dark Goblin’s skill showed up in a deep black.

Sapiophagia - Consuming Essence with bestowed sigils grants a fragment of one sigil.

Oh–I did not want to think about that. I didn’t have time to process it either because another level 5 goblin entered through the portal just afterwards. He was dressed similar to the previous fighter, but his outfit was not uniform. The details of the leather armor were different, and he sported unusually large blue leather gloves. He also had a sword sheathed at his belt, but didn’t carry any shield with him. If the goblin fighters were part of a larger group, they must get their armor and weapons on an individual basis. If those gloves were any indication, some of it may have even been procured through the old five-fingered discount.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Another Goblin entered through the doorway. Another level 5’er.

I started cursing a blue streak. This, this was not good–not good at all! These three guys could mop the floor with my dungeon. And at any moment, one could enter the portal and lock-me out. Shit–I also did not have any mana!

I needed to act fast.

They say desperation is the mother of all invention, and I went to my status, focused on my DP, and spent one on one of the most wasteful, stupidest things there was . . .

. . . mana refresh.

A wave of mana flowed into and through my core that felt like I was suddenly in an invisible hurricane that threatened to launch me off the ground while tearing me apart on the inside. My mana reservoir soaked in all the mana it could, but I could feel more mana escaping than being captured. I desperately tried to seal myself up, to capture a bit more mana than was possible, but it was barely working. No, I had to spend the mana right now!

Units! No, big unit! A big counter unit!!

I spent half my mana on a new skeleton unit, envisioning what I had been thinking of for a boss unit during my downtime. The system obliged.

A tough fighter, one that could fight another warrior (or two). I gave him a steel helmet, a steel cuirass, steel sword, and a wooden kite shield. But that would only make the new unit roughly on par with the goblins. I had originally thought that darkness would be a good counter to delvers, but the Dark Goblins’ Darkvision was a counter to that. So I had my own counter to their counter, something that could use their racial abilities against them. I had thought of using the bioluminescent moss as an additive to a skeleton so I pushed the system to add it to the armor and shield. The system resisted. It seemed it didn’t want to mix template types. But I wasn’t mixing; I was synergizing! I slammed my will against the system and we fought in a tug-of-war until my concept won out.

In the dark basement, my new unit came into existence. A large skeleton with armor, shield, and helmet covered in black moss.

[Shine On+] [Bone Dense]

Skeleton Warrior of Light (Level 6)

[Bone Bash] [Inexhaustible]

My quick expenditure emptied my mana storage of a whopping 60 mana, but allowed me to catch just a little bit more of the mana hurricane. Just after the Skeleton Warrior appeared, the mana stopped flowing through me. I had 67 mana.

I could do a lot with that much mana, but I didn’t have time. So, I did the most efficient thing I could think of–I created a second Skeleton Warrior of Light on the other side of the basement.

7 mana left.

I hastily began making adjustments to the basement, deleting a stone spike or two to make room for the warriors to move, adjusting the moss. My mana ticked down one. Then, the portal activated and my work was done.

I could only watch as the goblin group entered the first room.