“Warriors assemble! To the swamp!” I cried out.

The goblins gathered, and I led up while riding Dodge. Our footsteps thundered through the camp, and people waved us out as we left. In a matter of hours, the scummy water and rotting trees were in our vision. I had almost forgotten the sounds of croaking frogs and buzzing flies. Life had returned to the swamp.

As we reached the end shore of the dirty lake, we spotted the migrants. I felt sick to my stomach. Enormous slugs stood on two legs. They carried closet-sized shells upon their backs. Every slow step they took produced a trail of ooze and a sloshing sound.

They huddled together in the centre of the lake, upon a small patch of land. Their eyes stalks twisted around their bodies, looking around the swamp for danger. Upon spotting us, a snail with facial tentacles resembling a moustache waved at us, and let out a slimy burp.

My face paled. I held in the urge to throw up. But before I could escape, a group of red-skinned humanoids emerged on the other side of the swamp. They were goblins!

Their skin was a pure shade of crimson, they had razor-sharp facial features. They wore rags and furs, armed with simple clubs. The snail men shuffled as fast as they could from their pursuers.

“Kill these shelled svoloks!” An elderly red goblin, shrouded in blood-stained robes, cried. His minions screeched and charged, flailing their weapons with reckless abandon.

The red ones spoke in a language similar to ours, but some words were indecipherable to me. Their thick and strange accents didn't help.

The terrain was not suitable for melee combat at all, the reds would have a tough time hunting those snails. But fortune smiled upon us, they hadn't noticed us yet.

“Don’t attack the snails, and capture as many goblins as you can,” I ordered.

I used [Obsidian Offensive] on their spears and arrows. Black energy flowed from my hands and covered their weapons in a glassy, onyx sheen. The goblins rode off, charging at the enemy with their enchanted weapons. The enemy force was small, only 20 red goblins. As soon as they realised that there was another enemy, it was too late for them.

The hunters launched a volley of arrows, each piercing the poorly armoured enemy.

“Yellow svoloks!? You’re still alive! Get them!” Their shaman yelled, and the feral red goblins rushed at us. But the terrain was swampy, they kept slipping and falling into ponds. The swampy ground made them easy targets.

“Useless!” The hooded figure yelled. “Blood Berserk!” It raised its hands in the air, summoning a red liquid sphere. Fluid tendrils extended from the orb into, grasping the bodies of the goblins. They began to shake, their eyes rolled back, and spat out foam from their mouths.

The enemy lept forward with unnatural vigour and fearlessness. They wailed with clubs and flags against our shields, pushing us back.

“Deal with the minions, I’ll get the spell caster,” I commanded. “Crystallisation Ray!” I cast.

Pink crystals sprouted from my palms and proceeded to cover my hands. They pulsed with light. The spell description mentioned that the target had to be in sight. That meant I could hide away from danger, and still be able to attack. Far away from the melee skirmish, I used a log as cover. I raised my hands in front of me and launched a wavy pink beam towards the red shaman.

Their mage saw the spell coming, but his feet were quickly imprisoned in the pink crystal. In a panic, he tried smashing at the crystals with his hands, but instead, his hands crystallised as well. He fell to the ground, completely unable to fight back. I froze him up to his neck.

I redirected the spell towards some rabid goblins. Their magic-induced madness couldn’t do much against crystallisation. With their feet frozen, they were quickly tied up and immobilised. In a flash, we had incapacitated a force of 20 goblins, capturing a fair few of them.

The snail men clapped their gloopy imitations of hands together, celebrating the victory.

Interface You have raised your Obsidian Offensive (Beginner) to Obsidian Offensive (Novice) You have raised your Crystallisation Ray (Beginner) to Crystallisation Ray (Novice) You have raised your Command (Novice) to Command (Initiate) You have gained 200 experience.

Despite not killing anyone, I still received experience. It was not as much as one would gain through killing. But it was reassuring that this world had some options for mercy. Not that I was particularly compassionate.

Some of the enemy goblins had died to their wounds, others were collapsing, the energy from their mages spell visibly dissipated. I approached the hooded goblin, who was struggling to get out from his crystal coffin.

"You yellow svolok! Release me at once, and I might spare your heretical existence." He screamed.

I rolled my eyes. "Are you from the Bloody Bones tribe?" I asked, pointing my spear at him.

"Wow, you really are a dibik! Do I look like I could be from anywhere else?!"

I nudged Dodge to move forward, and place his hoof on the goblin's head, slowly crushing it.

"Argh! What are you doing!" He screamed. "Stop!" The goblin kept yelling obscenities at me in its language. It was clear to me it wouldn't say anything of value.

I took the butt of my spear and smashed it into the mage's face, knocking him out. I sighed. "Get these bastards back to camp, and imprison them. I have a few questions I need to ask." The hunters saluted me and began tying them up in rope, making sure if any awoke, they wouldn't be able to escape.

"I'm going to meet with those snails," I said to Rugum. "Stand guard here." He nodded. I used [Disks of Stone] to summon 3 rock slabs. I morphed them into a rock throne, and I levitated myself across the murky swamp water to the snails’ small island.

The moustachioed snail approached me. The creature had a beige body, with a striking purple streak running along its side. Its shell was covered in moss, and it had a crack in it. Most of these snails had cracked shells. The snail spluttered and spat slime, in an attempt to communicate.

After a few minutes, it realised that its words did not reach me. From its shell, it retrieved a glass vial, containing a golden glittery slime. It imitated a drinking motion and gave it to me.

I was reluctant to drink it, but the snail’s eyes blinked innocently at me. “If they wanted to kill me, they would have swallowed me by now,” I joked to myself. I popped open the vial and drank the golden slime. A rich and sugary nectar poured down my throat, and I felt a gentle heat in my stomach and brain.

Interface You have consumed Slime of Speak. You have learned Gulk Language (Competent)

I have not seen that rank before. It must be above [Budding]. I cringed to myself, thinking about how my greatest skill was speaking to snails. Yet I was puzzled as to why I didn't have skills relating to speaking Goblin or Human.

“Hello,” I spoke in their language. I automatically spoke in pops and other weird noises. “To think there are skills like this.”

“Greetings, Yellow Chief!” I understood the spluttering of the snail. “I am Umlau Purplesewer. I am the leader of our Humblefoot Tribe. We thank you for saving our lives.”