Roar!
Elijah saw a bear was charging toward the group from the north. Using his Supreme Eyes, Elijah saw the bear’s brown fur was covered in multiple wounds and it had dark energy coursing through its body. Most importantly it was a beast at the first tier.
Dark Bear Lvl 53
When the bear entered the goblins visual range, they all immediately charged at it. Elijah was speechless when he saw their reckless behavior. None of the goblins bothered to glance at their weapons or make an attempt to pick them up. However, it didn’t take long for the goblins to prove that their weapons weren’t needed.
Goblin Frenzy was used as the goblins charged toward the dark bear. The bear was stunned by the goblins’ ability and the goblins quickly grabbed on to the bear. The goblins began to enthusiastically feast on the bear’s flesh.
Of course, the bear didn’t share their joy. The bear roared in pain and anger when it felt the goblins tearing off pieces of its body. The stun was broken, and the bear immediately began to rampage. What followed was close to an exact replay of what happened to the panther.
During the goblins initial charge Elijah was very alert but he wasn’t too worried. Although the goblins actions could be called reckless and barbaric, Elijah was confident in his own ability to deal with the situation. He could heal the goblins injuries and he could freeze the dark bear with one shout.
After Elijah saw that the goblins had things under control, he allowed himself to relax. Of course, he was still paying attention to the battle. Like before, the majority of Elijah’s attention was on the beast that the goblins were fighting.
For the remainder of the battle, Elijah mainly saw darkness and felt a slight chill when he tried to observe the bear with his Supreme Eyes. However, Elijah would occasionally be able to pierce through the darkness and predict the bear’s next movements. The battle quickly ended, but Elijah was satisfied with the minor improvement he made.
“Leave him alone,” Elijah commanded with his Supreme Speech. “Everyone, come here and take a seat.”
As soon as the bear was killed and the goblin’s finished feasting on its body, all the goblins started looking at Goblin One again. Elijah quickly spoke up in Goblin One’s defense before they could start fighting again. Naturally, some listened, and others did not.
“No!” Clink roared with his yellow eyes glued on Goblin One. “His meet is mine. He needs to hand it over now.”
Supreme Will
“I won’t repeat myself.” Elijah calmly commanded.
Clink managed to resist the pressure from Elijah’s Supreme Will for two seconds before he bowed his head and walked toward Elijah. All the other goblins bowed their heads as well and looked extremely timid. Once Elijah was confident the goblins had calmed down, he stopped actively using his Supreme Will. Multiple goblins let out a sigh of relief once the pressure they felt disappeared.
“Looks like my Supreme Will works just as well as a slave contract.” Elijah thought to himself as he observed the goblins. “But the threat of the slave contract is probably a helpful bonus. Plus, everyone in the village can’t use my talent to control the goblins. I don’t want to fuck around and find out that the goblins are willing to devour humans like they devour beasts.”
Before Elijah continued speaking to the goblins, he took a few seconds to observe his surroundings and study the goblins. He used his Supreme Astral Sense and Supreme Eyes to make sure no beasts were approaching them. Once he was done, Elijah continued to observe his surroundings with his astral sense but focused his eyes on the goblins.
Elijah observed the goblins for a few seconds and attempted to discover why the goblins started behaving like, well, monsters. He hoped to see a buff, debuff, or some other explanation to their unique behavior. He found nothing.
“Forget it,” Elijah muttered to himself before he addressed the goblins. “I want to talk to you guys about the fights we just had. First, I want to know if this is how you guys usually hunt for food?”
The goblins looked at Elijah then they turned to look at Clink. “Of course, how else would we do it?”
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“Well for one, you can try fighting with your weapons. Also, you didn’t even bother trying to command your people in battle. If you thought of a basic plan, then the battle would have gone a lot better.”
“Hmph, you still sound like that useless goblin. Why waste time thinking when we are strong and can easily win. Hmph, all that thinking, and he still died.”
“Okay, it looks like the goblins that actually used its brain is dead,” Elijah thought to himself. “No, there should be more than one goblin capable of thinking and creating battle plans.”
“What about you guys?” Elijah said to the other goblins. “I’m sure a few of you should be interested in creating a plan before attacking.”
The goblins looked at Clink, then looked at Elijah, then looked back at Clink. “All of them agree with me. As long as we attack together, we’re invincible.”
Many goblins quickly voiced their agreement to what clink said. Unhappy with the lack of independent thought, Elijah immediately rained on their parade. “If you’re real invincible then you wouldn’t have been defeated by me.”
Elijah nodded in satisfaction when he saw the defeated expression on the goblins face. Clink looked like he wanted to argue, but he shut his mouth and bowed his head after making eye contact with Elijah. Elijah didn’t dwell on the small victory and started thinking about his next steps.
“It looks like I won’t be able to lead the goblins like I did with the village warriors.” Elijah thought to himself. “I should probably treat them like a gun. Aim them at enemy and give the command to attack.”
Elijah smiled at that thought. “No, that would be the easy way. I’m sure I can get the goblins to fight more strategically, I just have to put in more effort. My biggest problems are the goblin’s instincts and Clink. It looks like the goblins’ instincts are telling them to follow the strongest goblin. Sadly, Clink is a shitty leader.” Elijah sighed. “This is annoying. It would be great if I could just choose-”
Elijah froze before he finished his last thought. His eyes lit up and he immediately began examining the goblins before his gaze stopped on Goblin One. Elijah stared at Goblin One until he began to squirm and then asked him a question.
“Why did you collect the beast meet instead of eating it immediately? Don’t look at Clink.” Elijah commanded when he saw Goblin One turn his head. “I’m asking you.”
“I, I planned to cook the meet when we returned to the village.” Goblin one replied with a guilty expression.
“Idiot it’s better to eat it now.”
“Don’t waste it, give it to me.”
“Oh, so now you all know how to talk,” Elijah thought to himself. He was surprised by the collective outcry against Goblin One’s actions.
“Alright, alright, calm down,” Elijah told the goblins. “Tell me, what’s wrong with him cooking his food?”
“Meat from something freshly killed has more energy,” Clink said. “The faster you eat it the more energy you get.”
“Okay, so you’re saying he should cook the meat here instead of waiting to get back.”
“No, cooking is a waste of energy.”
Elijah frowned. “Are you sure? I think cooked meet should be better than raw meat. Also, I remember seeing some goblins cooking food before.”
“We only cook bones and poison meat. Everything else should be eaten fast.”
“Wait, were you planning on bringing back bones for the other goblins to eat.”
“The ones that hunt get to eat meat first. The rest can eat after we’re satisfied. Sometimes, they won’t get bones either.”
“Yeah, I definitely need to choose a new leader,” Elijah thought to himself. “This explains why the goblins immediately started fighting over the opportunity to hunt.”
“Alright, there’s going to be some changes,” Elijah spoke to the goblins with his Supreme Speech skill active. “First, I will be personally leading you all in battle.”
Ruler’s Presence
“As some of you are aware, my leadership can increase your strength. That means we can safely hunt stronger beasts and bring back a lot more meat.” Some of the goblins had already experienced the benefits of Elijah’s Ruler’s Presence skill, but that didn’t stop them from being excited about the buff they received. However, all of the goblin’s excitement vanished when they heard Elijah’s second change.
“Second, after we kill a beast, nobody is allowed to eat it. We will store its body and eat when we-”
“What!”
“No way!”
“That’s!”
Supreme Will
“Shut up!” Elijah shouted. “I wasn’t making a suggestion. This is what’s going to happen, and I will personally deal with anyone that dares to disobey.” Elijah brandished his spear. “Now, does anyone have anything else to say? Good, then let’s continue.”
Under the pressure of Elijah’s Supreme Will none of the goblins were willing to continue complaining. If Elijah was dealing with human NPCs, he would have been willing to hear their complaints. However, Elijah wised up and realized that he would have to adjust the way he interacted with his followers depending on their race.
“Not all sentient creatures will behave the same,” Elijah thought to himself. “Heck, not even all humans behave the same. Bart and Clink certainly have a lot in common though. As the supreme ruler my goal is to a source of growth for my people. To help the goblins grow I should rely less on my words and reason. Instead, I should use my might, will, and threats of violence.”
Elijah spent the next few minutes talking to the goblins and explaining what he expected from them. After that he conducted a short practice session so that the goblins could get familiar with listening to his commands. Once Elijah was satisfied, he led the goblins north to continue the hunt. Initially, Elijah was a bit worried that the blood on the goblins from the two beast they killed, might make the hunt a bit difficult. Elijah didn’t need to worry.
At night, the forest was a very, very, bloody place. Slaughter was the name of the game, and everyone was playing it. The birds, beast, plants, and insects all joined in on the nighttime blood bath.