After that, he helped Bread to manage the camp. It got quite rowdier as the goblins gathered even from other hideouts. New tents went up, while there were a number of clashes over a meal or a place, they were quickly subdued by the raging Bread, with Goulash menacingly cracking his joints behind her.
Goulash left them alone to train newbies, but only after he threatened Vlad to not as much as scratch her. Vlad had to promise he would protect her.
Vlad acquired a tent for himself and even got some soup from Bread. She was slowly warming up to him. Mostly because he had to impress her with how good he was with the kids. She never hated humans. Za’Dek showed himself as a somewhat decent hobgoblin when it came to raising his wards. She was still shy around him but she enjoyed the human companionship and help.
Vlad learned that she had grown up as a free goblin. She was taken by Za’Dek as a baby from the hatchery when he ran away. He raised her alongside Goulash as brother and sister. Goblins never cared about family but she was different. Bread loved her people. Her dream was to take care of kids so she could teach them how to be good, smart and strong.
When the night came she joined him in the tent. Strangely, she trusted him enough to sleep near him only after one day. Maybe it was because when she had slapped him, she half-expected to Vlad hit her back but he didn’t or it was because Goulash was out with Sou’Rek and Za’Dek on the hunt again and there were plenty of newly incoming unruly goblins who would not take no as an answer. Well, he would never hurt her. She was way too cute for that and he was still trying to be a decent human being.
The goblinette pulled her cot behind his head and fell asleep without a single word, she looked at him with her cute eyes.
He fell asleep a few minutes after her.
After another dreamless night and several attempts of drunk goblins to get into his tent, he woke up. He almost did not sleep and was more tired than rested.
Luckily, the orders from Za’Dek and protection from Sou’Rek were enough to deter the stronger and wiser goblins.
Of course, the little goblinette slept like a baby, happily snoring the whole night.
She thanked him by making breakfast for him. After that everything went in a flash and soon the screen blinked before his eyes.
[Hbb technique successfully adjusted for Goblin race]
The system did even asked and gave it [Gbb technique] name. Vlad was glad. He was never good with names.
He skimmed through the effects as he slowly walked to the Sou’Rek's tent. He absendminedly opened the curtain. He was shagging two goblinettes so he decided not to disturb him and went to find Za’Dek near the tent that was declared as the camp mess hall. It was another memory to his mind palace dungeon. He safely locked it away. He was never fan of blissful ignorance, however... Some thing were better left sleeping.
“Za’Dek, the technique is ready,” he said to the eating hobgoblin.
The hobgoblin spluttered the soup out of his mouth in surprise, “that fast?”
“Yes. It will work for attributes below 10. There should be no damage to the body and effectiveness is much higher,” Vlad explained.
“That…” Za'Dek was flabbergasted for a moment before he gathered his wits. “I will send you a few goblins. Teach them everything and your debt will be paid off,” the hobgoblin said with happiness crept into his gruff voice. “Can you also draw and write?” Za’Dek asked after a bit of contemplation.
Vladimir deadpanned. What kind of question was that? But he realized where he was and to whom he was talking. “Yes,” he answered flatly. He still felt offended.
The revolutionary leader gave orders and assigned them a safe space behind the camp.
Six young goblins promptly arrived at the clearing accompanied by Bread, Goulash and a number of heavily armoured guards. They surrounded the area, scanning the forest with ever-watchful eyes hidden behind green, magnifying goggles.
The teaching was actually pretty easy. The encyclopaedia and the [Analyser] were god-send and he could easily correct the errors of his students. They were all smart, especially Bread and Goulash. They learned everything in an hour. The black filth covered their body.
Both were extremely happy as their attributes jumped quite a bit. They happily jumped around, comparing their attributes. Before, they had the levels but raised the attributes through rigorous training with overextending their bodies. The miracle of breathing techniques was that it activated the Essence in the body so you could skip the long and rigorous training, not to say anything about MPA, which required special techniques to which even orcs did not have access. Except a select few who were chosen by the devils.
This led to an interesting question about Za’Dek, the hobgoblin. Was he just an evolutionary lucky stroke? Or did he somehow evolve from a goblin? How did it work? Vladimir was full of questions and his inner scientist worked overtime trying to find the answers.
After the rest of the goblins saw the success of their brethren, they tried even harder and everyone was able to do it according to Vladimir's teachings in the next few hours.
Vlad then took some papers and charcoal from the nearby fireplace. He wrote everything down, hoping they would understand. Well, the technique was not that complicated and goblins were a smart bunch. He passed the finished instructions to Za’Dek who instantly ordered to make copies and distribute them.
The debt was cleared and Vladimir was a free man. He sat down, slowly eating a roasted and seasoned steak and letting it all sink.
The night came soon and Za’Dek called his army. Hundreds of goblins gathered near the camp, waiting for orders.
Bread and Goulash stood on the sides of a large stump where their leader was calmly standing. Sou’Rek was nowhere to be seen.
“Today!” Za’Dek’s gruff voice reverberated over the clearing, silencing the group. “We will kidnap the prince, Gorash! He is young! Inexperienced! And he will be outside of the city on the hunt, here in the Greenery! It won’t be an easy fight… There will be guards with Ki! But! We are many!” The goblins started to cheer, “We are strong!”, the cheering got louder, “And we have the breathing technique!” He showed them Vladimir's transcript.
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The goblins roared! Vladimir saw he underestimated the significance of the breathing technique for goblins… He wondered what kind of effect it will have on this world.
The army went on their outposts as Za’Dek’s lieutenants handed the orders.
Goulash, Bread and him would stay behind. Vlad would stay because he was way too weak according to Za’Dek. The siblings in all but blood were to lead the remaining forces and guard the children.
However, Vladimir had different plans. He wanted to finally leave. This little revolution had almost no chance to succeed even if they would acquire the prince successfully.
He will also need to somehow lure Sou’Rek with him, then enter the city to find the Cure Disease potion he so desperately needed. The inability to level up and train was driving him crazy. Well, he guessed he could level up, but who knows what problems would arise from it. Better not to tempt Lady Fate.
He long asked the goblins about the city outline, the temple of steam and where they keep the potion. It was somewhat guarded but could be done. One of his grateful students even taught him the secret greeting, so the person in charge would know he was sent by the revolution.
In a few hours, the camp became almost empty, and Vladimir decided it was time to go. He mixed some non-toxic herbs into an odour-free paste with the help of his system.
When Bread, along with the kids, saw him jumping around as he tried to spread the paste on his back, they fell down laughing while Bread sheepishly chuckled too.
In the end, Vladimir was able to persuade her to help him. She changed the recipe a little bit, added a few herbs and slowly spread it all over him. As she slowly moved her hand she brushed on his nether area. She smiled at the sight of slowly hardening member but did nothing. As a goblin, she was no newbie when it came to sex. Even though she only did it with Goulash.
Vladimir shook his head. Now was not the right time. He controlled himself and soon she was done. Now he smelled like a proper orc. And even looked like one. Though he would be considered sickly, it would go well with what he had in mind.
“Are… Are you… sure?” She asked, shyness radiated from her big, brown eyes as she gazed at him.
“Yes,” he nodded and touched her head. She flinched a little bit but let him lightly stroke her hair.
“Fine… Should… Should I ask Goulash?” She raised an interesting question.
Vladimir thought about it that he could use some help. Goulash would be a perfect guide, after all, he knew the city as his own… He was not sure if he would agree to something like this with his duties.
“Run! The city guards are coming! A whole platoon!” His thoughts were interrupted by a shouting guard. He ran into the middle of the camp and collapsed, blood pouring out of a bullet hole in his back. The alarm went off soon later, bells ringing while dwellers grabbed their most important things. In just a few more seconds they were able to discern the sound of combat.
A stray bullet went right between Vladimir and Bread. Vlad’s old instinct took over and he grabbed her, covering her with his body as another bullet went by. She fell completely crimson in his arms, creating a nice contrast on her skin.
“Grab the kids! It seems we are all going to the city!” Vladimir said, agitated, as he released her. He noticed that the combat came closer.
Bread found all of the kids and they ran with the rest of the non-combatant people. Goulash was probably fighting off the attackers and Bread was too meek to lead. So the burden of leadership fell on his shoulders.
“We will go alongside the Greenery. Who knows the way around here?!” He shouted the question. A few arms rose up, mostly adventurous young goblins. He put them as the scouts and they hastily left towards the city. It should be the safest place right now, especially if they find some old hideout. The sewers were out of question as the orcs scoured them. Fortunately, Bread knew a few Staumaz priests who would be willing to help.
Bread was constantly looking towards the battle, clearly wanting to go find Goulash, but Vladimir forbade it. He would not be able to take care of the kids alone and frankly, he knew that the survival chance of Goulash was at best miniscule.
“Where the hell is Sou’Rek?” He asked himself as they scurried towards the city. Then he saw a single armoured goblin equipped by a bloody spear battling a young orc, surrounded by at least 20 corpses of guard-goblins.
[Orc Savage Warrior
Level: 12
VIT: 180 (CAC x (11+1)) {Racial bonus + 1st-tier class}
CAC: 15.0
ISS: 15.0
NSS: 15.0
MPA: 2.5]
The orc warrior was somewhat weaker than Sou’Rek but he was fresh. On the other hand, the fallen inquisitor visibly bled from bullet wounds.
Vladimir stopped the party of around 35 goblins and goblinettes and observed the fight.
He nodded and crawled forward, trying not to notify the orc. He arrived at the closest corpse and searched for a pistol. Lady Luck really wished him well today; a loaded pistol was laying under the still-warm corpse.
He hoped that his skill was enough and aimed at the orc, waiting for an opportunity.
Meanwhile, Sou’Rek was battling with the last of his reserves. The fight with the group took a lot from him as he was riddled by bullets. The sole reason he survived for so long was thanks to his powerful body.
However, the young orc was a skilled fighter and soon was overpowering the exhausted goblin. Sou’Rek landed a few hits, but they glanced from the orc sturdy, metallic armour.
Sou’Rek slipped on the ground, his spear fell from his hand. He was prepared to die.
This was the opportunity Vladimir waited for. As the orc slowly moved towards the fallen inquisitor, showing his superiority and arrogance, he stopped raising his spear above the neck of the goblin.
Without due, Vladimir shot the bullet and it went off with a bang. It entered the orcs eyes and brain with ease.
[You have gained 150% Essence]
[You can increase skill or level up]
“Level up!” He felt reinvigoration as the essence flooded his body.
Vladimir was happy about this unexpected boon but he decided to train with the 1-H firearms; he aimed at the neck.
“Sou’Rek!” Bread shouted as she jumped from their hiding spot. She ran to him and examined his wounds.
“Will he be okay?” Vladimir asked as he arrived nearby.
“Yes… If we get him to a priest!” She yelped as she examined the wounds. Sou’Rek was delirious, saying something about “Not the church!”, but everyone decided to ignore him.
The rest of the way went without a hitch. The orc’s party was probably waiting in advance for escapees.
They arrived before the city wall, made from large granite cubes. The goblins knew a few hidden entrances, long ago made by their predecessors. Not like the orcs did not try to discover them, however, they were too lazy and often gave the job to goblins.
They went through a small passage inside the wall, where Vladimir had to crawl like a dog, for a great amusement of his fellow revolutionaries. Even Bread barely-visibly giggled.
On the other side was a bustling city. They entered a hidden side-valley filled with heaps of trash. There were even a few fresh goblin corpses showing signs of abuse.