“We are under attack!” Another man yelled! The goblins sprang forward to combat the enemies.

The people around the campfire got up drawing their weapons. Before they could advance, I launched my stone disks towards them, striking at their hands and legs, causing 2 of them to stumble and drop their weapons, one dodged by leaping and rolling forward.

“Bombarding Cannon Beryl!” Gatrom launched the crystal cannonball into the centre of the campfire, not hitting anyone directly. But the force from the explosion knocked the enemies to the ground, with the magical shrapnel piercing their armour and flesh. The goblins rushed in to execute the downed enemies. From atop the valley, shadowy figures emerged from small huts.

“What’s going on down there?” One asked, their drowsiness evident in their voice.

“We’re being attacked, you git!” Another yelled in a gruff voice. “Burning Rain!” He cast a spell above the valley. A small cloud appeared from thin air and swirled around the valley, crackling with fire. The burning cloud shot down a rain of fast embers, causing the grass to catch fire.

“You’re gonna kill the goats!” A feminine voice protested. “You idiot! This entire valley is going to burn!”

“The boss ain’t gonna be happy about this, let’s get out.” The gruff man said. Quickly, the trio fled, leaving us, the goats and the valley to burn.

Interface You gained 340 experience Experience 426/729

Before the fire could spread any further, I knelt to the ground and touched it. “Ground-Shaker!” I cast. The earth began to shift and crack, creating a magical trench preventing the fire from approaching us any closer. Luckily the fire hadn’t reached the goats.

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The goats were in a panic due to the fire and noise, but I kept casting the spell and upturning the soil to put out the fire. As the chaos subsides, the goats' nerves were settled. We explored the loot left behind by the bandits. Unexpectedly, the crates were filled with some sort of dark blueish-green moss. Perhaps this was feed for the goats? Other crates had basic supplies with them, food, cloth, drink. The only equipment available were the ones on the dead bodies. Their armour and weapons were too big for us, but we could potentially melt it all down. The food consisted of typical rations such as dried meat, dried fish and bread. But there wasn't any goat meat, which meant these animals weren't being raised for food. Still, I could not complain about the extra supplies.

Zotnik's skill could be useful for dealing with these goats. He took a piece of moss and gave it to a male. Initially, the goat was pretty nervous and tense, but eventually, it went in for a nibble and soon calmed down. These goats were very large, their height reached up to our necks, they were like goblin sized horses. The goblins began mingling with the goats, in awe of their beautiful fur and crystal-like horns. The goblins were petting and hugging the goats’ soft pelts, even I became slightly enamoured with their fur. Touching their horns gave me a similar feeling to when I first found a gem. The goats were generally quite docile and friendly.

One goblin recklessly jumped onto one goat’s back, yet the goat didn’t flail around or try to knock its jockey over. It remained docile. A bandit wouldn't have the temperament to domesticate a goat this well, they were clearly stolen. Another goblin wanted to test the goat’s strength, so he placed a crate filled with supplies onto one’s back, the goat did not even react.

All the goats were rounded up for a total count of 11, 5 horned males, and 6 ewes. All the equipment was loaded onto the goats’ backs, the random armour, the moss, everything, and they carried it with no problems all the way back home.

The tribe was elated by our new hoofed residents. The goblins stroked, petted and offered a piece of food to the goats, I expected their behaviour to be more... ravenous. The mystery was what to do with the crates of moss. The goats seemed to really enjoy eating it, but they were also satisfied with grazing. I tasted the moss, and it was extremely bitter, Voglo's experiments didn’t result in much.

“It looks like this is some sort of special moss, I’ve never seen anything like it. It seems like it got more mana than usual moss, but I need more time. Equipment made from clay is limited… to say the least.” He explained.

Over the next few days, the goats became a significant target of adoration. The women of the tribe began combing the goats, extracting strands of silvery hair. Single hair on its own wasn’t anything useful, but one could shave these goats for their cashmere. However, we don’t have the equipment for that. A few of the craftsmen, including Olma, weaved the small strands of hair into some string, which they made into some bracelets and necklaces of string. Quite useless things, but I did not disapprove, it was good training for their skills.

Much to my surprise, the goblins took to milking these goats effortlessly, apparently, some had milked wolves before. I did not press for details. Regardless, these goats were producing an astonishing amount of dairy. The one ewe that I milked half-heartedly produced approximately a litre of milk, and it could definitely produce more. The flavour of the milk was earthy, but with a tinge of sweetness compared to typical goats milk.

Voglo experimented some more with the goats' milk, I gave him a rough approximation of what cheese was, and he eventually figured out how to make basic cheese. It was soft and had a more pronounced earthen flavour, which the goblins adored. But I was more impressed by the shaman's ability, rather than the actual cheese.