“Goblin, I told you: I don't know how to drive. During that whole car chase, I never pushed a pedal and I barely touched the wheel!” exclaimed Mike.
[G: But you are the wielder, Mike. I am only a weapon. I can't actually do anything without you. The tire shred contains the essence of the sports car. That essence imbued me with the extraordinary ability to cause the machine to function in the way you required it to, through physical and magical interaction with it's engine and component parts. You were essentially wielding the car. I was causing the car to function, but I was following your instructions... you gave me many verbally, but you gave me many more mentally.
Mike thought back to the car chase. If he had known he was actually giving Goblin instructions he would have frozen up in terror. They'd both be dead for sure.
[G: It's the essence of the things you choose to place in my slots that will develop extraordinary abilities in both of us. But you are the wielder, Mike. You must grasp that.
Mike wasn't sure how that made him feel. He had always felt like life happened to him. Was Goblin suggesting... he might now have... a responsibility? A role to play?
[G: Also, the sports car tire shred is buffing your speed. The kraken hook and the spider fang are both buffing the fear you cause to your opponents, as well as your speed. That number next to the buff is a multiplier, so your speed demon buff is making your effective speed fifteen times better than your speed stat. That's exceptional for level three, though like I said, you won't be making the most of it unless we can also level or buff your read. The hook has also given you a low magic resistance, and the spider fang has now given me an electric-poisonous edge. Just wait until we find a hobgoblin guard. We'll be able to one-hit any hobgoblin under level five, easy. Hobgoblin guards aren't very good at anything except overwhelming with numbers.
As if on cue, Mike stopped running as they came to a large set of closed doors. The smell of stale urine, rotting garbage and worse was extremely strong here. The doors were heavy, old timber, studded with black wrought iron rivets with two large ring pull handles.
Mike pulled at one of them. The door hardly budged. He adjusted his grip and pulled harder, eventually feeling it give way with the loud metallic squeal of old hinges. He wasn’t going to be sneaking in now.
He looked in. The Throne room of the Hobgoblin King was surprisingly bright, lit by cauldrons of flames in each corner of the large square space. There was a raised stone dias at the other end, on top of which was an enormous throne. Along both side walls there were rickety, wooden stadium-style bench seats. They were smeared with filth, discarded and rotting food, bones, blood stains, shit, and worse. They probably could have accommodated five hundred of the smaller hobgoblins on each side, but they were all completely deserted. It felt, and smelled like some sort of abandoned animal den.
Next to the throne, hanging from the far away stone ceiling, was a human sized gibbet cage with a slumped body inside it. The cage seemed to glow faintly green as if it was radiating some sort of foul aura. Behind the gibbet cage, hung up on the wall were a number of trophies. Some were gruesome, like the bloated rotten head of a creature mounted on the wall on a rough wooden spike. It might have been a giant rat… or a wolf… it was hard to tell due to it’s state. There were also some random items, treasures maybe, armor and weapons. One of the weapons was a beautiful, ornately decorated golden bow with a quiver full of matching golden arrows.
Selphie. thought Mike.
Under the gibbet cage, in front of the trophy wall, was a single, small hobgoblin guard.
[HOBGOBLIN GUARD | LEVEL 3 | SPEAR 3 | SHIELD 3 | CHAINMAIL 3
[G: Hobgoblins have a bit of troll in them. The higher their level, the bigger they get. This one's tiny. Go get it, Mike. We can take it down with a single stroke. Don't mind it's armor saves, just go for the neck!
The horrible little beak-faced creature jumped as it noticed Mike at the other end of the hall. It seemed to be shivering with fear. Mike approached, carefully, sword held out in front of him. It raised its spear defiantly, but couldn’t hold it still, it was shaking so much. It squeaked.
[M: How can I kill that thing... it's basically just a scared little kid.
[G: Mike, right now, hundreds of these are invading your world, trying to slaughter and ravage everything you hold dear. Show no quarter! Get it now, before it calls for help.
The hobgoblin guard’s teeth started chattering.
There was a moan from the gibbet cage above it, causing it to jump again in fright. It squeaked a second time and looked upwards, pointing its spear uncertainly up at the cage now.
Suddenly Mike recognized who was in the cage.
“Jay?” he said.
There was another groan.
“The hobgoblins… the King… couldn’t stop… warn.. the…” Jay’s voice trailed off. He was obviously in bad shape.
“Jay, I’ve got something for you, hang in there.” Mike called up to him.
[G: Poor turn of phrase, Mike. He can't do anything but hang in there. Get the guard first. I'm telling you, you don't want to let it escape. He might have some help lurking around somewhere.
The closer Mike got to the guard, the more it shook and backed away. Its whole body was trembling now.
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“Don’t hurt me!” it squeaked, tears in its eyes.
[G: Mike, it's playing you. Hobgoblins are disgusting, tricksy animals. Cut its head off, Mike. Now. NOW. NOW!
Mike couldn’t do it. The hobgoblin guard fled, skittering away behind the dias.
There was a metallic clank, then a squeal of rusty hinges. A gate opening. Then a growl. Then a huge, snarling wolf-dog, like the ones the hobgoblins had been riding in the passageway, leaped out from behind the throne with the tiny hobgoblin guard sitting on its back screaming and cackling with triumphant, exhilarated delight.
[HOBGOBLIN RIDER ON WARG | LEVEL 15 | CLAWS 14 | TEETH 14 | INFECTED DROOL 12 | SPEAR 3 | SHIELD 3 | CHAINMAIL 3
[G: DAMMIT MIKE! RUN!
Mike didn’t run.
“JAY, I NEED YOU TO CATCH THIS!” he yelled, and threw the epic health pill the other Guardian had given him up at the gibbet. The pill sailed through the air towards the cage, but Mike didn’t have time to see the outcome of his throw. There was a savage warg bearing down on him.
He assumed the underarm guard. He thought about spiders. Taking inspiration, he jumped forward into the face of the oncoming beast and cut diagonally up with all his might. The animal hadn’t been expecting that, the slash caught it across the throat, and blood gushed out in a gurgling fountain. Its eyes bulged with surprise but it was too big a beast to stop, and its momentum carried it straight into Mike. It caught him on the shoulder, jaws wide and snapped down hard. Mike's collar bone crunched and his own blood spurted out, but Mike had already turned Goblin to be pointing at its chest, and the sword plunged deep, straight through its heart.
[M/+3READ
[M/+6FIGHT
[M/+6SPEED
[M/AFFECTED BY INFECTED SALIVA
[M/HEALTH 47:180
[M/SAVE 2
[M/HEALTH 49:180
[M/ENERGY 37:40
[G/VOLTPOISON DEALT
[G/+2FORCE
[G/LEVEL UP. GOBLIN IS NOW LEVEL 4.
[GOBLIN | LEVEL 4 | STATE 10:30
[SOULBOUND SWORD | ARMING SWORD
[FORCE 9:16 | GRADE 23:16
[WORMWOOD SPRIG | SPORTS CAR TIRE SHRED | KRAKEN HOOK SLIVER | ELECTRIC CAVE SPIDER FANG | SLOT
[MIKE | LEVEL 3 | HEALTH 49:180 | ENERGY 37:40
[SOULBOUND SWORD WIELDER | FIRST INHERITOR | LEATHER JERKIN CLAD
[READ 16:20 | FIGHT 16:20 | POWER 12:20 | SPEED 19:20
[FEAR 15 | SPEED DEMON 15 | RAZOR SHARPNESS 5 | POISON DEALER 2 | SLOT
[SAVE 2 | MAGIC SAVE 2
[INVENTORY[-]
[G: MIKE! EPIC!
The beast was heavy and hot, but dead. A dead weight that Mike couldn’t shift. His shoulder burned with agony. He took his last minor health pill.
[M/HEALTH 139:180
He felt his shoulder knitting back together and couldn’t stop himself screaming out in agony. He now noticed the hobgoblin guard also screaming and screeching, but in rage, tears streaming down its face.
Is it crying about the dead wolf? thought Mike.
It had been thrown off when the warg had crashed into Mike, and had now picked itself up and was advancing on him vengefully. It broke into a run, levelling its spear at Mike’s face. Mike was pinned, and even if he could get out, Goblin was still embedded in the warg’s heart.
Seriously? I kill a level 15 warg only to die to a level 2? Dammit Goblin, why don't I listen to you?
[G: You really should.
A bolt of blue power slammed into the hobgoblin guard and it exploded in a spray of red mist and clumps of gore, splattering Mike’s face. He retched.
The body of the warg was dragged off him, Goblin sliding out of its heart with a wet slither.
Jay stood over him, arm outstretched, radiating health and power.
“Thanks for the save, man, that was gutsy. And a good throw.” he said with a grin, pulling Mike to his feet. Mike winced and touched his shoulder gingerly. There was a huge jaw sized chunk of his leather jerkin missing, and a ring of healed but visible and bruised bite marks around his shoulder.
[G: Serves you right. Always kill the hobgoblins.
[M: Okay, okay, I get it.
“You’ll get used to it.” said Jay urgently, waving at Mike's bruised shoulder, “Come on, we’ve got an invasion to stop.”
Mike glanced up at the gibbet cage. The green aura was gone, and the bars were busted and bent outwards like something had exploded out of it. Jay had exploded out of it. Mike suspected he may need that kind of power for the next part of his plan.
“Wait,” he said to Jay, “with your help we can free up some reinforcements.”
“Reinforcements? What do you mean?” Jay asked in confusion, looking impatient, wanting to to get back to the rift.
“Have you ever heard of the Grandma Divers?” asked Mike.
“Beryl, Gwynne, Val and May?” he answered in surprise, “The legends? Of course I have! Everyone has!”
“That’s Selphie, there.” Mike pointed to the bow on the wall. He ran towards it, clambered up on a treasure chest, and pulled the bow and the quiver from the hook it was hanging on. As soon as he touched it, a warm, powerful sensation ran up his arm. The bow seemed to vibrate and hum, like it was trying to communicate with him. He looked at it closely, in amazement. It was beautifully crafted out of a strong, golden metal, with ornate patterns running up the stave inlaid in rose gold. It didn’t feel heavy though. It felt stong, and fast, agile and… dangerous. Mike saw five slots around the handgrip, all full. He knew this was it.
Mike looked back at Jay who was watching him in surprise.
“Selphie?” Jay said, seemingly in awe, “But the Grandma Divers and their legendary soulbounds were lost with Jed and Goblin…”
Mike raised Goblin up, still dripping with warg blood, to his forehead in salute.
“This is Goblin. My Grandpa recently died and I’m the Inheritor.” said Mike quietly.
He motioned to Selphie, “They’re alive and in here somewhere… wherever you think the Hobgoblin King might have locked them up.”
“HELLO! HELLO?!”
A desperate but muffled shout came from the throne. Mike looked around confused, but then he saw it. In front of the throne was a heavy metal grille. The shouts were coming from the grille, from some sort of prison… in the dias, underneath the throne!
HELLO, IS SOMEONE HUMAN UP THERE? MICHAEL? MICHAEL IS THAT YOU?!”