[Smag’s POV]
The next day, I explain to Asaru and Axi what I need from them. Two goblins from before awakened, and they seem normal. Asaru gives them a speech, which I’m pretty sure is her standard one. The goblins don’t like me and hide behind Asaru as I approach them. Ungrateful bastards! Even though I so kindly experimented on them! Regardless, it’s time to start awakening goblins on a mass scale.
Axi is strong enough that restraining a regular hobgoblin is no problem. Most of the hobgoblins here know how to control mana, so Asaru is forced to stab them lightly with the end of a rib to put her mana into them. The wound is small, and I don’t need to spend any mana to heal it, unlike a wound after drilling a hole in the scull. Asaru's fake hole is quite excellent, and given that she can reclaim mana from fakeness, she can do it all day.
Hobgoblins have sturdier souls, but this just means I need to spend a bit more time and not more mana. This is great, since the bottleneck of the whole operation is my mana.
I experiment a bit with how much mana I need to initially provide. It’s a bit annoying, since I never fail. When I see the hobgoblins are going to die, I just give him more vitality. But, maybe he would pull through? I can’t kill them, since giving them a bit more vitality is more economical than restarting the process. Sure, by experimenting, I could permanently reduce my expenditure, but I need an army now. Besides, any savings won’t be that great. I already have a good baseline.
The first day, I awaken ten hobgoblins and twenty goblins. Hobgoblins need a bit more vitality, likely because of their bigger bodies. All of them wake up the next day, similarly, without any mental problems. I try to impress hobs, telling them it’s me who helped them. My position within the tribe is somehow going down. Axi is stronger than me, but I can somehow control her. I mean, she is a loyal wife. Asaru? She is both stronger and has her own goals.
We need to awaken the shaman soon, and then the chieftain, who has finally spawned today. Both will probably try to step on me. I’m not so worried about the chieftain, Axi can just beat him up. My main concern is the shaman. Can a tribe have two shamans? Even if there is going to be rivalry or at least competition.
It’s nearly certain. How could that shaman be smarter than me? His ideas will likely be idiotic. Even if he has some qualities his original had in life, he is a newborn otherwise. However, his position dictates that his words have some weight. I will need to suppress him asap. Unfortunately, we desperately need his skills, or I wouldn’t awaken him in the first place.
The process goes like this for any other hobgoblin, and then we go after the chieftain. Asaru knocks him out with a single punch. I shrug. Good enough. The orc has an even sturdier soul, forcing me to condense vitality for over an hour. At this point, I’m a bit worried that the high amount of vitality in my finger would cause cancer to develop. I can always kill it by isolating it from vitality, but it’s still going to be a bother to remove it and reheal.
I awaken twenty more hobgoblins after that. The subject zero is dying, so I kill him and give his body to meat storage. His soul recovered a bit more, but nowhere near regaining consciousness.
The next day, the shaman and the chieftain—not for long—wake up.
“I’m Rike’grak. Who are you?” He asks Asaru suspiciously. I guess he doesn’t like the presence of another orc in his tribe.
She smiles. “I’m Asaru, chieftain.” She bows with a smile. “It’s good that you awakened.”
He frowns in confusion. Shaman wanders near as well, and Asaru explains the situation. She doesn’t lie much, explaining to them that they were recreated by the dungeon and enslaved. Then, I expedited the process of freeing them. I stand straight and try to look like an extremely competent person. When Asaru finishes, Rike’grak starts giving a speech about how he is going to conquer his enemies in the name of Invitar, the God of Conquest. The fact that only half of the tribe has been awakened and the remaining half don’t listen to him at all makes it a bit hilarious.
“You should challenge him.” I tell Axi.
“Why? I’m fine taking a vacation.”
I scowl. “How many females do you see here? Rike’grak will want to fuck tonight. Unless you are going to betray me, it’s going to be either Anastasia or Asaru.”
She shrugs. “Don’t worry. Asaru seems charmed by him. And if Anastasia wants to be a proper goblin, she should go with the chieftain.”
“Like you?” I challenge her.
She scowls. “It’s because you don’t want me to.”
I roll my eyes. “We had an agreement. Don’t tell me you actually want to have sex with that guy.”
“No, but he is attractive. He seems strong.”
“Pff… You could kill him easily. Honestly, I’m not even afraid you will cheat on me. Even if you try, it will end in you killing him, just like before." Axi scowls at me. "Asaru has children, so she is probably accustomed to very rough sex in which her partner doesn’t care about her at all. You and Anastasia? I don’t think so.”
“It’s not like we never do it rough.”
“Yeah, but you can always stop. This guy won’t listen. He will punch you in the face, so you stay silent. If you don’t believe me, peek at Asaru and him having sex.” I tell her. “Actually, let’s go together tonight. That’s assuming he will actually listen to you and won’t try to force you.”
What about Anastasia? I suppose I could try to protect her, but I’m not sure how effective it will be. In the worst case, I just need to delay a few days. Ultimately, I just need to use this group to escape. Adding Asaru to my tribe could be great, but it’s not worth it if I have to be subservient to Rike’grak.
I also need to establish Axi as one of the decision-makers. People who contribute to the tribe the most are deciding things. This means me, Asaru, Rike'grak, and the shaman-priest. This gives a 3-1 ratio against me. I need to show them how strong Axi is, so she has a vote as well. Asaru is old and experienced, so it shouldn’t be too hard to convince her to actually do smart things. This will also help me suppress the shaman, especially if I manage to establish myself as his enemy and he starts to oppose all my proposals. This will make him a fool.
Again, it’s not like the tribe is a democracy, but social pressure still exists. The chieftain will have a hard time doing something all others oppose. If the chieftain decides to keep with tyranic decisions, the tribe can always rebel. Cheftain is the strongest, but it's not like he can suppress the entire tribe on his own.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“Human!” The shaman shouts. Anastasia looks at me worriedly and steps closer to me.
“She’s mine.” I declare calmly.
“She is out of bindings!”
I scoff. “Maybe in your times, goblins used such primitive methods. The times have changed. Now, human females willingly desire our seed. Right?” I lightly elbow Anastasia.
“Right,” she says hesitantly.
Shaman smirks. “Chieftain will have a fine lady, then.”
I sigh. What do I do? I can go along, but that would be an open betrayal of Anastasia. She will never trust me after this. Can I even prevent her from becoming a Rike'grak plaything in the first place? Probably not without sabotaging our chances of escaping. I suppose I should just delay for now.
“I suppose so, but only after we escape. She can actually fight.”
The shaman scoffs. “Do you actually trust her?”
Do I? Certainly more than you. “Yes. Tell our current chieftain that he should keep his dick in his loincloth until we are out.”
He frowns. “The chieftain is the chieftain because he is the strongest. Your tricks are useless.”
I smirk. “We will see.” I suppose the first part of the plan went well. He definitely thinks I’m his enemy.
“Thank you.”
I shrug. “We need to keep together. Don’t thank me yet, though. The matter is not solved, and everything will depend on the Rike’grak.”
Anastasia nods to this. I peek at Axi, who is wisely keeping silent. I hope this gives her something to think about.
I spend the next few hours awakening more goblins until I’m out of mana. At this point, the remaining dungeon goblins are few enough that I will be able to awaken all of them tomorrow. Asaru persuaded Rike'grak to go along with our plan, and we ambushed and bound the remaining goblins over the next hour. I’m going to awaken them tomorrow, but they won’t get in our way today.
We direct goblins to dig into dungeon walls and build the wall to close the exit. Half the tribe should be able to do it overnight. After establishing initial order, the chieftain takes Asaru to his hut. Axi actually goes closer to listen. Rike’grak isn’t a gentle lover. Asaru is going to have bruises.
Axi leaves as well, without commenting. I shrug and go back to directing the building process. When I decided to marry Axi, I also decided to trust her. It’s not like it’s trust from years spent together, though it is in a small way. Mostly, I simply chose to trust her. I know it’s a weakness. If she were to betray me, I would find it hard to recover. But… I want to have someone I can trust. Not because I know everything about them and control them in every way,
Later, Axi went to Asaru, I guess, for a talk. I don’t know what they talked about, but next day it seems Asaru is fangirling Rike’grak less.
“Dungeon mana is stirring.” Asaru comments. Now, I just need to wait for the outcome.
[Adam’s POV]
“Welcome!” I invite the grumpy old man to sit. He scoffs in obvious displeasure, but sits down. I don't confront him, but I endure the humiliation. Maybe I should be more assertive. But again, I can’t force those people to do my bidding. I need their cooperation. I suppose this requires some concessions. In the grand scheme of things, being uncomfortable for a few minutes is a small price to pay.
“So? Why drag us here?” Another asks me with hostility.
“Didn’t I tell you? I have a solution for us. A way out of the forest.” I start.
“Bullshit. If you really do, why are you still here?”
I chuckle. “It’s a way, not a miracle. A way with quite a few thorns and meanders, I would say, but possible to traverse. Frankly, I need your help. I can’t do it on my own.” I say with a sigh.
“Our help?” The guy spits on the ground. His group is the closest to mine, and we had a few skirmishes in the past. Two hunters from his group died in that skirmish. His name is John. We all migrated from our initial position in the spring, but there’s only so much forest without going into 2nd tier zone. Kingdoms have taken most of the 1st tier zone, only leaving a strip as a buffer and for training.
I shrug. “If you can’t trust me, then it’s fine. Not having you will decrease our chances a bit, but it’s not like we need you.”
“Quit those games and tell us your plan.” An older and more stoic guy admonish me. “We may as well listen since we are already here.”
“Very well.” I nod. I learned quite a few tricks on how to manipulate people while ruling over the village, but it seems those guys are more perceptive. I suppose I should have expected this. They climbed to the top of their communities. “There are too many of us to hunt. Not unless we go into the 2nd-tier zone, which is suicide. We don’t have enough money to buy food, while farming is impossible with riders abound. To survive, one of the three has to change. My plan is about the last option.”
“Farming in the forest is impossible.” An older man tells me with a tired voice. “Removing trees is too much work. And there are monsters as well. Maybe we could defend ourselves and our harvests from them, but not at the same time as creating fields.”
I smile. “Indeed. Not only that. The moment our situation is manageable, the town will tax us, and riders will come back.” All of their faces became way gloomier at my declaration. It seems most of them didn’t consider this. “My plan is somehow simple and daring. I have a plan to eliminate, or at least deter, riders.”
“Impossible.” Two of them say it at the same time. The rest seem to share the sentiment.
The older man from before, I think his name is Lucas, takes a voice again. “I admit, there’s quite a lot of us, and maybe we could even win a battle against them if we were to unite. They won’t give us that. They are riders, for gods’ sake!” He raises his voice. “Moreover, most of us will die anyway. Is this your plan? I admit. Killing most of us will solve the food situation.” He scoffs.
The rest look back at me with hostility. John, the leader of the nearby camp, is the angriest. “I knew it! This is all a setup.”
I sigh tiredly, not letting myself grow agitated. That’s actually quite hard. I would love to yell at them that they are stupid and should just do as I say, but I know that is a way to nowhere. “You are mistaken. Everything you have said is true, but that’s not my intention. I will love for you to evaluate my actual plan, though.” I quickly make a concession to calm them down.
Among them, my people are the strongest here. However, there is power in quantity. All of them combined could wipe out us, albeit with quite a few losses. If I can unite all camps, my army will more than double. Maybe even triple in strength if I can truly unite us and achieve good teamwork. Something I don’t even try, but still. All those camps represent people who survived the winter by hunting.
“Have you heard about a hobgoblin shaman, called Smag? He is a former warlock.” They frown at that.
“I heard he is in Roheb, and will soon be killed.”
“I heard something different. They closed the dungeon because of him, and the town have a big problem.”
“Exactly!” I interrupt before their discussion goes off topic. “I managed to have a bit of discussion with him.” That’s not true, but close enough. We communicated with messengers, after all.
Their faces tell me they either don’t believe, or they think I’m an idiot for that. I scoff internally. If you can’t walk on your own fast enough, you need to jump on a horse. Smag is not the best possible horse, but it is the only one available. I don’t want to stay in the forest. I want to achieve something in my life, so I need a horse to get me out of here. Among all the refugees, I’m the person with the greatest achievements, but that’s not enough for me.
I continue. “I don’t plan to fight riders with my own or your people. I’m planning to hire Smag to do it for me.”
“In exchange for what?” Lucas asks. “We all know what goblins want.”
“That’s the crux of my plan. Nobody says it’s got to be our girls. We will give him the town’s people.”
“What?”
“It’s simple. I don’t want you to join me to fight riders. I want you to join me to take the town. I will be the new governor, while all of you will get government positions. Our people will live in the town or on farms just outside of it. The current inhabitants can go to hell, for all I know. Hadn’t they refused to help us? Where is the justice? We spend nearly half a year in the forest, hungry, dirty, and often injured. They stayed behind their walls, happy and making money on the furs we sold them.”
I walk in the center and place my hands on my hips. “That’s my plan. It’s time to say enough. Enough. It’s time for our people to live in peace. Will you join? Or will you stay here? I don’t mind you delivering furs for me when I’m the governor.”
Nobody says anything for a while.
“Madness. It’s madness.” One of them mumbles, but we all hear it.
I respond. “Why? Even if you have wealth, there will be others who will try to take it from you. What’s so wrong with us doing the same? It’s not like we can build up from here or create a new city. We are suppressed. Our situation is not the same.”
“How would you take the town?” Lucas asks. “Roheb has quite a few guards and adventurers. Maybe even regular citizens are going to form a militia. Riders didn’t loot the town because they couldn't.” Lucas says it calmly. “Neither can we.”
I smile, full of confidence. “This is where you are mistaken. The whole town is now observing Smag. They don’t care about us. When the Smag breaks out, and he will, mark my words, this will be our chance. He may not be the strongest person around, but he is certainly a cunning one. Anyway, when he breaks out, it will be our perfect chance to strike. We don’t even need to win a battle. Just scare them enough to surrender.”
As I explain, I notice that their faces change. Annoyance and distrust disappear, while greed appears. Hate remains. They are bad about hiding their feelings. Good for me. Now, I know which of them I will need to kill first. After all, I just need their people.