The dagger’s design was extremely simple. It was entirely made of metal which seemed like plain iron, there wasn’t even any leather on the handle. The blade was wavy and curved, and the only decorative feature on it was a hematite cabochon as the pommel.

Interface Vorpal Vortex Dagger This is an experimental artefact of no renown but great power. This dagger’s magic comes from a mysterious hematite gem. The dagger itself is enchanted with supreme sharpness and longevity. Item Skill This skill can only be used while the item is equipped. Rain of Daggers Conjure a ferrous cloud in the sky that constantly rains magically propelled daggers. The cloud can be shaped and warped according to the user’s will. The cloud cannot be shrunk below the size of a fist. The amount of raining daggers depends on the size of the cloud. The cloud can travel anywhere within the user’s vision. Once cast, the rain cannot be stopped. The daggers are produced at the same rate as normal rain. The daggers can only fall downwards. Cast time: 5 Minutes, Cost: 2 Mana/Dagger, Recharge rate: 4 days, Non-persistent.

The skill was versatile. I could strike down anyone with a rain of daggers in my sight. Yet, the only issue was the rate of consumption. It consumes 2 mana per dagger, which seemed reasonable. But the rate at which the daggers fell was equal to normal rain. I could cast around 200 hundred daggers, but my mana would dry up. Whoever made this dagger, had created it for a legendary wizard with bottomless magic reserves. Yet, one sentence in the description intrigued me. It said a gem was powering the dagger, thus I inspected the hematite pommel.

Harrowing Hail Hematite Conjure a ferrous cloud in the sky that constantly rains magically propelled shards of hematite ore. The cloud has a radius of 1.2 metres. The cloud can travel anywhere within the user’s vision. The rain of hematite can be stopped at will. If the cloud is not raining, mana is still consumed at the normal rate, but the cloud can be moved faster. The shards are produced at the same rate as normal rain. The cloud can be directed to fire the hematite crystals in any direction, and the trajectory of the projectiles and be slightly influenced. Cast time: 3 Minutes, Cost: 1 Mana/Dagger, Recharge rate: 2 days, Non-persistent. Removal Cost: Your entire stomach and intestines will become filled with hematite.

The gem had its advantages and disadvantages compared to using the dagger. The [Vorpal Vortex Dagger] had greater power and versatility, but it wouldn't last long. The [Harrowing Hail Hematite] was flexible since it could be controlled more precisely. That meant using the cloud over my own troops without hurting them. Not to mention the reduced mana consumption.

After a bit of consideration, I decided to absorb the gem. Its lower cost of use was too significant to pass up. The removal cost was dangerous, but with enough preparation, I could circumvent it. If a weapon like this could exist, I was sure that there was a form of surgery magic, or something related.

Upon absorbing the gem, the skin on my arms bubbled, materialising into a dark metallic sheen. Upon touch, it still felt like normal skin, but it had the appearance of a bar of iron. The darkness of my forearms contrasted beautifully against my bright yellow skin.

Despite my absorbing the power source of the dagger, it was still usable.

Vorpal Voided Dagger This is an experimental artefact of no renown but great power. This dagger can be powered by a magical power source to produce a unique skill. The dagger itself is enchanted with supreme sharpness and longevity.

The dagger’s name had changed, and it had no item skill now. The description implied I could use another gem to power the dagger. The dagger was still a useful tool, it cut my foot off with no effort. It would have been a shame for a blade like this to go to waste.

Now with all the spells, classes and items handled, it was time to turn my attention to domestic affairs.

Interface Domain Congratulations, now that you have claimed more land and have raised your population, you can now see things in more detail. Holdings Fortified Mine [Unnamed], Small Cave [Unnamed] Forest [Unnamed], Bog [Unnamed] Stance: [None] None Population: 63 Military Squads: None Relations Woodwick: Trade and labour agreement Bog Frogmen: War

You have choices available for Stance. Select one. Peaceful You declare yourself peaceful to outsiders, you will receive more migrants who wish to join you. You will receive more agreements with other factions. Opportunistic factions might try to exploit you. Neutral You declare yourself neutral to outsiders. You will receive some migrants who wish to join you. Other factions will be reluctant to approach. Hostile You declare yourself hostile to outsiders. You will receive little to no migrants who wish to join you. Other factions will be plotting around you.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

There was no mention of being able to switch my choice. [Neutral] was the obvious option. I had my hands full with my own goblins, and now the humans, inviting more outsiders would be difficult. Yet outright hostility was well… too hostile, a random raid on us would be crippling.

My [Interface] showed that the frogman war was still happening, yet their territory was listed as mine. Did that mean they were occupants or rebels? Regardless, I wanted to put a definitive end to them. I put on my best garbs, picked up a stick for a crutch, and made my way to the throne room. The goblins saw me walking with difficulty and rushed to assist me but I gestured to them to not approach. I sat down on my throne on my own.

The goblins bowed down to me, and I swept my gaze across them. Soon spring would come, and it was time to kick things into high gear. A devious smile appeared on my face.

“Voglo. Do you still have the poison from the snake?” I asked.

“Yes, we still have a large quantity of it, but it’s far too potent for hunting.” He said.

I grinned. “Dump it all into the swamp. We’re going to get rid of those freakish frogmen for good.”

During the night, Rugum and his hunting party exported all the poison we had and carried it to the swamp. They lived on the other side of the swampy lake, in little houses made from rotten driftwood and vines. Alongside each house slept 1 to 2 giant frogs. The goblins poured the poison into the lake, and after a few minutes, a couple of dead fish surfaced. Once they used up all the poison, they retreated without alerting anyone.

The following days the goblin patrols found no signs of any frogmen squads in the forest. After a week of no activity, the goblins went to inspect the swamp. The frogmen had gone sick from the poison, they were laying in the water unmoving, staring at the sun. The only thing giving away the fact that they were alive was their blinking eyes. Yet, there were plenty of frogs floating randomly, unblinkingly. The poison had decimated the frogmen and the giant frogs. Their meat was unusable as food, the only choice for disposing of their corpses was cremation.

Interface Domain Relations Woodwick: Trade and labour agreement

The interface did not show their faction anymore. I had annihilated them. I felt no pity for them, it was either us or them. We gathered and stored their ashes to use as fertiliser for when spring came.

The goblins had explored the remains of their village and discovered a crude statue of a large humanoid frog in the centre of it. Their god I presumed. Knowing what I knew about gods, either their frog god was dead or dying after this incident. I destroyed the statue personally, I did not need reminders of these frogs.