Rome is freaking epic. I'm loving the sights and art exhibitions. And I'm getting all sorts of ideas for future books and things I've been doing wrong. Coming here will really improve my work in the long run. I never realised palaces could be so common. Anyway, I got back early from an art museum today and realised what was wrong with this chapter. I've tried to write it 5 times over the past few weeks, and it finally all came together, so here's a new chapter. Sorry, there isn't more.
I'm not going to claim that inspiration will have me adding a lot to the story, but I'm happy this is out there.
Chapter 39
Goblins. Goblins. Goblins.
Have you ever had one of those days where the stars align, and everything comes together perfectly, only for Karma to bitch slap you back to the life you know? Count yourself lucky if you haven't. Going from the adrenaline rush of success to the adrenaline rush of combat will make your head spin, and no amount of charisma will help you.
I was explaining how combustion engines worked to the system while blazing like a Christmas tree at the beginning of October, when a flash of light appeared before me. A goblin stood only a few feet away, causing me to stop speaking midsentence, as I doubted my own sight. My body went into overdrive, despite that doubt.
I'd spent so much time in my barns that I'd rewired my nervous system to react without thinking. My heart rate exploded, and my pupils dilated before I was even sure what was in front of me.
I took in everything before me and around me during that next fraction of a second, going through my checklist for dealing with monster threats instinctively.
Its skin was deep green, and its nose took up half its face, with the tip dropping below its chin. Its beady little eyes weren't half as concerning as the leather armour or the shortsword in its hand.
Goblins didn't know how to craft. They didn't understand warfare. Pointy sticks and clubs were the extent of their crafting ability, and they had to find those sticks and clubs in a usable form to arm themselves that well. So, if you ever saw one with an actual weapon, it had always found it on a corpse, but these looked like custom jobs. The designs even contained runes reminiscent of enchantments.
The goblin lunged the moment we recognised one another.
By the time it had moved an inch, Farentine was behind it, moving faster than either of us could follow. She had its head firmed between her hands, squeezing so hard I heard its skull crack. She gave a violent twist before it could react, turning its gaze 180 degrees so it was looking up at her. She pushed, and there was a loud popping sound from its neck, and then she let go.
As its body fell limp at her feet, her gaze landed on me, and an annoyed expression crossed her face. "What the hell did you do?"
"Ahhh."
My eyes dipped to the body at her feet as I tried to understand what had happened. I'd been expanding lore all morning and afternoon, and nothing other than discovery beacons had come from my actions. I honestly didn't know what had just happened. How anything I'd done had led to a goblin appearing before us.
Farentine dashed to the window when she didn't receive an immediate response.
I instinctively followed her movements, another skill I'd picked up from working in my barns, so I saw the look of surprise on her face when she reached the window. "They're everywhere."
"It's not my fault." It came out reflexively, even though I didn't know if it was true.
Farentine glanced back to reply, but then blurred towards me and kicked the couch I was sitting on across the room. I always knew Farentine was powerful. I'd seen Torvac, Misk, and Durg'un in action, so I knew her flirty, fun self was hiding a lethal weapon beneath. I never expected that lethal weapon to be turned on me, so I didn't react.
It wouldn't have mattered if I did. She was too fast. Too strong for me to keep up. I rode a flying couch across the room, and there was nothing I could do about it. The couch hit the wall first, and my momentum continued, bouncing me off the wall and dropping me to the ground beside the couch.
I landed on my back staring at the ceiling, still as bright as a Christmas tree and wondering what the hell was going on. Too many strange things had happened too quickly, and I was already trying to suppress an attribute high for me to be able to bounce back. The adrenaline rush was still surging through me, but without a target for my instincts to focus on, they were going in every direction.
"What the fuck are you doing in there, Arnold?" Quilly shouted from the other room.
"Don't come in here!" Farentine shouted back. "The city is being attacked by goblins."
"What hell are you talking about?"
I lifted my head as my thoughts solidified and saw a blob of red goo the size of a football floating above the goblin's corpse. It was inside a transparent barrier.
A tendril suddenly shot from the blob towards Farentine. It bounced off the barrier, and the blob reformed into a blob before trying to hit her again.
I had no clue what the hell was going on.
"What's that?" I muttered to myself, not expecting an answer.
Farentine looked over. "I have no idea. It came from the goblin's body and lunged for you when you weren't looking. Sorry for kicking you across the room. My instincts were screaming at me that it's dangerous."
Farentine turned back to the red blob and raised her hand. A bolt of lightning struck the blob. It didn't seem to harm it, because it sent another tendril after her. Farentine began going through a series of spells, performing an elemental test on the blob. It was a technique wizards used to figure out weaknesses when they encountered unknown monsters.
I pushed myself to my feet and walked over to the dining room doors, leaving her to deal with it. I needed to make sure the others were alright. I stuck my head inside.
Jeric, Ranic, Quilly, and Mara were still sitting around the table playing Monopoly. However, Jeric had both hands on Quilly's shoulders and was actively restraining her from coming to investigate.
They all seemed to be fine.
"There's a dead goblin in here," I explained. "It's got some sort of blob goo creature inside it, and it teleported into the room wearing leather armour and wielding a shortsword. I think there are more of them outside. And that's everything I know."
Quilly stopped trying to leave her seat and glared at me instead. "Are you fucking serious?"
"That's Arnold's serious face," Jeric replied. "He's not joking."
"He looks constipated."
Ranic chuckled. "You're right."
There was another flash of light. This time it was from the corner of the dining room. I began moving the moment the flash appeared, reacting rather than making a conscious decision. I ran forward two steps, drawing on every ounce of movement speed I had, leapt onto the table, kicking aside the game, and dove for the goblin before it had time to react.
Farentine was behind me, and there was no time for me to get her attention. My adrenaline surged again as my shoulder collided with the goblin's armoured chest and my hand caught its bicep, pushing away the arm wielding the shortsword. A goblin didn't have a lot of mass, so we both went flying. It collided with the wall behind it at nearly full speed, which meant my head hit it at nearly full speed.
There was a dull thump, and I saw stars, but I had so much health to soak up the damage that it was little more than a momentary shock. We landed in a heap with me on top, and I moved my arm down its bicep to pin its wrist. Ranic was beside me a second later, bringing his heel down on its head. Once. Twice. The third time did it.
The goblin went still.
Not dead, but too dazed to react.
Ranic kept stomping on its head.
"Where the fuck did that goblin come from?" Quilly shouted.
Farentine was behind me before Quilly finished her sentence, yanking me away. She raised her hand, and the goblin was surrounded by a barrier before bursting into flames. "No one goes near the bodies. There is something inside them, controlling them. It's susceptible to fire."
"You mean the red blob?" I asked as I scanned the room for additional threats.
My mind was going a mile a minute, and it was getting harder to control my attribute high. The burning goblin's fire cast a harsh red and orange light, giving the room a sinister edge.
Farentine nodded. "I don't know what they are or where they come from, but I managed to analyse the other one. The system didn't classify it as a monster or a beast. It gave it a name."
My heart hammered at the implications. "Name like the way the system gives people names?"
Farentine gave me a hard look. "Exactly like that. Now, is this somehow related to what you've been doing?"
I thought for nearly ten seconds before answering. "I don't see how? I've just been discovering new branches of lore. That shouldn't have triggered the introduction of a new sapient species. It could be related to the king going through his threshold."
"Why wait until now? It's been thirty days since that happened."
"He only leveled this morning."
"Why wait for the afternoon?"
"I have no idea."
"Then it's likely not related to the king leveling."
Mara had been inching towards us the entire time we were talking and chose that moment to leap on me. Her lips met mine, as her arms circled my shoulders, and she wrapped her legs around my waist, grinding certain parts of her anatomy against certain parts of mine.
A notification appeared while this was happening.
You have charmed Mara.
I dismissed the notification, and a second one appeared.
Well done, you have successfully charmed a level 99 human with your looks. You have acquired a new skill, Tamer.
Skill: Tamer
Level: 1
Effect:
+2% to charming ability
+2% to controlling charmed creatures
"Damn it," Farentine snapped as Mara went limp against me. "This is the worst time for you to be charmed, girl."
I caught Mara as her lips left mine and she began to fall, while staring at the second notification. So much had happened in the past minute that I didn't really register Mara's actions. They weren't a threat and didn't explain what the hell was going on. "There's a charm-based class?"
Farentine scowled at me. "What are you talking about?"
I dismissed the notification before answering. "I unlocked a new skill. It's for the tamer class."
Another notification appeared as I sent up another discovery beacon.
Farentine accessed my interface and dismissed it the moment it appeared, which I didn't know she could do without me giving her access "Stop sending up beacons. You're painting a target on yourself and everyone in this building." Farentine turned to the others. "Follow me to the sitting room. If the goblins keep appearing, it's best we stay together."
Farentine turned and marched to the sitting room. Quilly walked behind her, scowling at her back, while I carried Mara and Jeric and Ranic followed behind. No one mentioned Mara or what had happened, because they had come to the same conclusion I had. It wasn't important.
"Why aren't you running off to deal with this threat?" Quilly asked indignantly.
"There are eleven high-level armies in this city," Farentine replied. "They can deal with goblins no matter how well armed they are. I'm waiting for orders in case there is something worse."
As I entered the sitting room, I placed Mara in an armchair and went to the window. Farentine had begun casting some sort of communication spell, trying to get in contact with someone who knew what was going on, so I was the first to see the barrier forming over the city.
It was made from some sort of blue energy and looked as thick as the city's outer wall.
"Ah, Farentine. You need to see this."
Farentine was beside me in a fraction of a second, causing my hair to blow with her passage. "What the hell is that?"
"I was hoping you could tell me."
Farentine stuck her head through the open window and looked around. "The mana requirement to create a barrier on that scale is absurd."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, if you had every wizard in the city working together, they wouldn't have enough mana to create this even if they drew on the city's mana reserve."
In the distance, a comet streaked towards the barrier from the direction of the wizard's academy. It moved like a missile, appearing and disappearing in a flash, before exploding against the barrier. The barrier remained unscathed, still climbing higher to form a dome.
A crack of thunder followed a few seconds later.
"What was that?" I asked.
"The king's hammer. It's an anti-dragon weapon that the wizard's academy developed. It's insanely expensive to use, and the material components aren't common. They only have three shots."
"Two now."
A notification appeared.
Kingdom Announcement
The Capitol is under attack by hobgoblin wizards and goblin warriors that are being teleported into the city by the system.
The hobgoblins and goblins are behaving like they are capable of intelligent thought and are being teleported to random locations across the city.
The hobgoblins are charming anyone they encounter and using them to attack those around them.
A feral tide is breaking out.
All individuals with a combat class and a trained Mental Resistance mark must engage the hobgoblins as quickly as possible.
All individuals with a combat class and an untrained Mental Resistance mark must flee the area if they encounter a hobgoblin.
Do not allow the red blobs inside the hobgoblins and goblins to enter your body, or you will turn into a zombie.
All escape routes out of the city are being blocked by the barrier.
Farentine was already purchasing weapons from the system by the time I finished reading. She was tossing them on the floor to purchase more. There were already ten crossbows with boxes of crossbow bolts.
She looked over as I turned to her. "Crown's Champion Arnold, I order you to message Noblewoman Isabelle as many times as you can, requesting a Captain's mark immediately."
Her words overrode my thoughts, and my farm manor interface was open before I realised what I was doing. I was composing the letter faster than I'd ever written before.
Farentine then stepped in closer while still summoning weapons and dropped her voice to a whisper. "The king has ordered me to keep you safe. I'm not allowed to leave your side when you are under threat."
I finished the message and began spamming send. "Why are you telling me this?"
"I can't defend this city. I can only protect you. So, I need you to go somewhere that I can make a difference."
Jeric had grabbed a crossbow and was stuffing bolts into a quiver with a look of determination on his face that I couldn't help but recognise. I knew what he was thinking, where he was going and why he needed a weapon.
"Jeric. I'm going for Emily. You won't be able to keep up. I need you to stay here and protect Mara for me."
Jeric lifted his gaze, and for a moment, it looked like he was going to protest. That he was going to make the emotional choice instead of the rational one. He didn't exactly think rationally when his family was involved.
Jeric gritted his teeth and nodded. "I'll make sure no harm comes to Mara, just bring my daughter back safe."
"You can count on me."
Farentine stepped away and looked out the window again. "Do you have farming equipment?"
I felt my eyebrows rise. "You want me fighting in overalls and a straw hat?"
"We work with what we have, not what we want, and the buff will help."
"Give me a moment to change."
I turned to head for my bedroom, and a notification appeared before me.
The mayor of Blackwood is trying to deputise you. Would you like to allow this?
Yes/No?
I selected, Yes.
Congratulations, for protecting Blackwood from a Primitive Giant, you have earned the right to be deputised and join Blackwood's guards. You have received the Captain's mark.
Some fight for honour. Some fight for glory. You fight to protect your home. Standing against all those who would harm it.
Captain's Mark
Effect:
+199 Strength
+199 Dexterity
+199 Agility
+199 Endurance
+199 Constitution
Strength swelled through my body as my attributes rose, and the control that I had over my attribute high vanished, scrambling my thoughts and replacing them with raw emotions.
The walk I'd planned turned into a mad dash towards my bedroom as I moved faster than I'd ever moved before, with greater control than I'd ever had. The only thought going through my head was that my best friend's daughter was in danger.
And I had to save her.