It was about noon when we made our way back to the village, the guards giving Thorn and myself a bit of a side eye. They didn’t say anything, just kind of stared at us unsure what to say. We continued walking until we reached the hunter’s lodge. I was about to excuse myself when Thorn noticed me preparing to leave and invited me in. Seeing no reason to refuse, I joined him.
The inside wasn’t what I was expecting. Smooth wood walls and tables adorned with maps, bows, and quivers of arrows. A counter where there were swords, daggers, and sharpening stones. A cabinet where there were potions of various kinds and a small room off to the side that looked like some sort of office. I was expecting some kind of tavern but no, this was more like a garrison.
Thorn started putting his swords, daggers, and potions away on the walls, counters, and cabinets. I’m assuming that all of the equipment here was for community use. He then put his bow up on the wall too. I was kind of taken aback by that. He didn’t even have his own bow. Where was his money going?
Not willing to guess, I decided to ask him, “Hey Thorn? Do you get paid for this or do you all just share equipment as a community?”
Looking at me quizzically for a moment understanding dawned on him and he replied, “Oh no. The bow is issued to me as well as one of the daggers. But we can take what we think we’ll need when given an assignment, within reason of course. The hunt chief told me to take as much equipment with me as I could for this assignment thinking it was going to be far more difficult than it was. And it would have been if not for you. Thanks again for that by the way. You really helped me out. As for getting paid. Yes, I do get paid though not much. I get a bit more per deer than you though because I trade in the horns too. Payment for this job was 30 silvers. As soon as I hand over this memory crystal to the elder to verify the completion of the job, I’ll make sure to get you your cut. How do you want me to get it to you or did you want me to hold on to it until your next visit? It’ll take about two days before they verify it.”
Thinking for a moment about it I responded, “I live in a cave not far from here. About 2 hours south. You’ll see a large patch of green and purple mushrooms in front of the cave entrance. That’s how you’ll know it’s mine. Whatever you do, do not touch the mushrooms. They explode on contact. You’re welcome to visit me anytime. In Fact, when you get paid come see me. We can chat and hunt together.”
Waving goodbye, I set off for home, excited for my new projects.
When I entered my realm the first thing, I did was open my Dungeon Creature Management interface and got to work. I started by summoning two Goblins Crafter, four Goblin Workers, and one Goblin Mage bringing my total defenders to 7 out of 25. I instructed the workers to start cutting down a specific tree from outside the dungeon. It's a good thing they had stone axes and daggers when I summoned them. Then taught the goblin crafters Stone Shape, Wood Shape, Control Plants, Harden Earth, and Soften Earth spells. Once that was done, I had the goblin crafters start making arrowheads from softened then hardened stone and using the wood the workers brought it made full arrows. The goblin mage was to guard the workers while they were out collecting wood. I taught it the Wind Blade spell and ordered it for use instead of its fire spells to prevent a forest fire. I also gave it an order to shoot down any birds it finds so we can collect the feathers.
While they were busy doing that, I collected some wood and started making another pagoda on one of my islands for the goblins to live in. Complete with an outhouse and a bath. With my control plants, Move Earth, Wood Shape, and Stone Shape Spells it took roughly 5 hours to finish a 2-story pagoda complete with 50 rooms and a small storehouse off to the side for food and equipment. Once that was done, I summoned a goblin chief, shaman, four warriors, and 12 rogues. Each came with stone equipment suited for their role. The chief was to observe and maintain equipment and supplies, giving orders to the rogues to hunt deer and rabbits. The shaman was a healer. It was their job to heal any injuries, so I didn’t have to summon more. The two of the warriors were sent out to help protect the workers and one each to protect both the chief and shaman.
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They had a standing order to use the outhouse for bathroom needs and to bathe at least once a day. I couldn’t stand the scene from the last goblin cave I was in and wouldn't tolerate it in my home. With that I sent the rogues to collect water and fill the washrooms. They also had a standing order to avoid contact with bipedal creatures unless directed otherwise. Under no circumstance were they to attack them unless I gave them the ok to do so. With only 6 hours in I decided to open my book on rune magic and got to reading.
It didn’t take long for me to understand what the book was trying to teach me and with a smile on my face I collected my staff and engraved the Wind blade Spell and Poison Wind Spell. With just a thought and none of my mana the Wind Scythe extended and was maintained by the runes engraved in the emerald. Excited for the future, I decided to play around with the runes and see what else I could do with them.
I’d been engraving runes for what felt like hours when the goblin chief approached me. They could all speak any language I could. So, communicating with them wasn’t hard.
He said to me, “My lord if I’m not mistaken, you’ll have a guest here in about 10 hours. You’ve been inscribing runes for over a day nonstop. Don’t you think you should rest a little so you will be alert and attentive when your guest arrives? And no need to worry about us. We’ll all be inside resting while your guest is here. We also made a stone pathway to your home to help with guiding your guest to your home. So please get some rest.”
Looking around I saw piles of neatly stacked rune works and once I realized how long I’d been here the tiredness washed over me. I’d been doing this for 32 hours now and I did need some rest. Thanking the chief, I went and washed myself and headed to bed.
“My lord has decided to hear my word and get some sleep.”, a rough voice said., “Start bundling up his work and keep it pleasing. We all know how he likes things to look nice. It wouldn’t do to have this place a mess when he shows up.”
I must keep things in order. To be a servant of the supreme one is an honor very few have the pleasure of participating in. We all must ensure that all is to his liking. Creatures such as ourselves very rarely get to live in such luxury. Though we never thought about hygiene before, it has shown its worth in our hunting and in the speed and quality of our crafts. Such a simple thing has such a major impact on all aspects of our lives. I’m sure the supreme one has much more to show us. I must pay close attention to his needs to keep him happy with us.
I woke up 2 hours before Thorn was supposed to show up. I’d spent quite a bit of time making him a gift in thanks for bringing me to the dungeon. I was about to start preparing it when I noticed it neatly set aside by one of the walls in the corner of the room. Looking far more elegant than I would have done. Now that his gift is complete, I’ll probably have the workers and crafters work on plumbing and heating the water within our little home.
Standing up I stretched, got dressed, and made my way outside my house. I saw the goblins scurrying around the islands with brooms and buckets. Cleaning the surfaces of everything. Impressed, I thanked each one. Grabbing my scythe, I made my way to the cave entrance where I was planning on meeting Thorn. It didn’t take long for me to get bored, and I started pacing around the entrance until I decided to just meet him outside. I had been wondering about the dungeon and where I could find more and planned to ask him. Opening my Dungeon Creature Management interface, I noticed that my dungeon had leveled up to level 2 and my maximum total defenders had doubled to 50. Stunned, I didn't even see when Thorn arrived.