As John and his Goblins walked back to their tribe, he thought about his future. He wasn't particularly strong, he seemed rather average for a goblin. But his magic put him at a major advantage. Most Goblins never learned magic, or if they did it was as a Sharman, using nature spirits instead of classical Wizard magic like he was using. However, he needed more mana to get stronger. While his burning hands did a solid three damage a second, with a two-mana a second cost, it was very dangerous to use. If he tired it on a bear or boar, it was instant death for him.

Once they got back to the tribe, John would have his Goblins build them some shelter. He knew nothing about construction, so it would be up to his stupid Goblins to do the hard work while he directed them. Some lean-tos against the cliff face should service for a few days. Then, tomorrow they would head out to collect some water. If they were lucky, there would be clay deposits and John could make something to hold water for a few days, cutting down on the need for water trips. If not, Half-Blood Rabbit blatters it was.

The journey back to the tribe was uneventful. John was tempted to look at his status but decided against it. It would only be mostly errors. It also greatly hindered his vision, and that wasn't a good idea while walking in a forest. His Goblins couldn't talk yet, they were still classified as children until they leveled up and evolved. They were roughly half of John's height, and that wasn't saying much.

Upon entering the village, it felt like every eye was on them. It wasn't a lot, only ten or so Goblins were in the village at this moment. But it was enough to make John very uncomfortable. The small clan wandered over to an unoccupied spot on the outskirts of the village, against the cliff face. It was too close to the trees for John's liking, but he had a feeling that if he built closer to the cave, everything would be knocked down the moment they were gone. Such was the life of the weakest clan in the tribe.

"Alright Goblins. Leave the meat here. We need to build shelter and a storage hut, err, lean-to." John ordered. The Goblins dropped their food, which was easy enough to understand, but they looked very confused after that. It seemed their primitive baby minds didn't know what a lean-to was. John saw some older Goblins snickering to themselves as they watched John's futile efforts. John ignored them as best as he could, but that seemed to only encourage them to be louder.

With a shake of his head, the mage knew that he was going to have to get more hands-on with this project. At least until he had a few evolved Gobs under his command, the younglings seemed to be only good at whacking things with a stick. "Alright. You three, stay here and guard the food. If anyone tries to take it, wack them with your sticks until they go away." John turned around to leave, taking two Goblins with him. But at the last second, he turned back to the three and added "Unless it's the Cheif or one of the three Clan Heads. They can and will kill you."

With that, John took his two remaining Goblins and went back out into the forest. This time he didn't go very deep, just far enough to gather some long branches. He got the Gob younglings to carry the long sticks. He meanwhile carried a large bundle of smaller sticks for firewood. It was easy enough, he only had to stop them from chasing squirrels three times. Though while collecting the wood, John wished he had grabbed that hatchet from the strong Goblin he had killed. If the Chief hadn't come up to him right away and distracted him, he would have had a belt and hatchet.

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Upon reentering the tribal grounds, the Goblin mage instantly noticed two of his Gobs had bruises all over them, and another was blooded, however, the food was still all there. Rushing over to them, John quickly inspected them.

Child Goblin 2/12 Common A Common Child Goblin. Extremely weak and easy to kill, even in groups. However, where you find one, you find hundreds.

John felt rage bubble up inside of him. They were weak, stupid, and all-around pathetic, but they were his. They were his Clan, his subjects. And he was going to fucking kill whoever hurt them. John said only one word to his Goblins. "Who"

The bloodied Goblin was the one to answer. He lifted his hand and pointed at a snickering group of Adult Goblins, all with the mark of a bloody hatchet on their arms. John in his rage began walking over to them. As he did, he felt something bubbling up inside of him. It wasn't rage, no, it was a feeling he had long ago. His mana felt his need and reacted. The mage moved his hands instinctually, much like the first time he cast First Flame. Though this time, it was much more interesting.

Spell Unlocked! Cone of Fire Fire shoots from the hands of the caster, forming a cone of flames. The more mana pushed into the spell, the larger the cone shall be. Mana 5/sec, Base

John knew that it would hit them all from this distance, so he let loose with the Cone of Fire. The stupid Goblins widened their eyes at this show of power. However, before he could burn them all to ash, he ran out of mana. The damage seemed to be on the lower side since it was an AoE spell, but it served its purpose. The Goblins were cowering in fear of his flame. With heavy breathing, John warned the Goblins.

"Ever touch my people again, and I will burn until you are nothing but a stain on the ground. I will make an example out of you that fire should be feared and respected, or else you get burned." John growled, his ugly yellow teeth showing. The Goblins nodded the fear, one of them pissing themselves. As the mage turned away, he noticed the Chief watching, with a smile on his face. It didn't seem like he was planning on doing anything, so long as there wasn't a death.

With one last guttural growl, John retuned to his Goblins. He now had a headache so bad it felt as if a Dragon had landed on him. Unable to think properly, he told the two unhurt Goblins to lean the sticks up against the Cliff. It was a rudimentary shelter, but he put the injured under it and waited a few hours for some mana to come back so he could think properly. After three hours, he felt like normal again.

Stacking some sticks in a pile, he used First Flame to light the campfire. He then personally gutted the animals. Goblins ate everything, but he needed the intestines to make twine. He had read in a book once that animal intestine if dried properly, made for great twine. Thus began the slow process of running the intestines over the fire to dry them out, tieing the sticks together, and using some rocks to make sure that the shitty lean-two didn't fall over. With all that finally done, and an entire afternoon spent making a single shelter, the Clan all ate the Half-Blood Rabbit together, saving enough for the next day.