NOVEL NEXT [Vol-1] Ch.35 Action and Reaction
Well, I haven't spotted anything in the cavern, so today I'll venture outside. I eat my morning meal, and gather my spear and buckler, and begin the slow ascent to the surface. As I get closer, I walk near the edge of the wall, and am extra careful not to make noise as I try to sneak towards the surface.
When I finally get there, I only spot one thing out of the ordinary. There seems to have been a camp set up close to the entrance, where they had a campfire at one point. Although it seems to have been out for a while, as there isn't any residual heat. I carefully scout the nearby area, and again I spot nothing. One thing I do notice though is that it is very hot out. I'm a little confused by this, considering there was an abundance of snow only a few weeks ago. I spend so much time down in the cave though, that I really don't know how normal or abnormal this heat is.
I'm fairly confident that the goblins have left, having checked the nearby area and found no evidence of them. I'm stuck with a new problem now though. I'm certain they spotted me, but I didn't notice them returning at any point. Have they fled? Will they come back? There are a lot of unknowns. One thing I have going for me now though, is that I'm much stronger than I used to be. Maybe it's time to fully claim the whole cave for myself. Honestly, it's not a bad idea, I'm actually too large to get down into my storage room now, so claiming the whole space would allow me to make use of the whole cavern, and at some point I could open my way back down to the storage area to bring everything out. Plus I could make stairs and a railing so I won't have to stumble on my way up and down when I go outside.
The cave entrance is fairly large, it's a little over twice my height, and about three times as wide as it is tall. Closing it off will end up being quite the long task. I suppose just closing it off isn't quite enough either, I should actually make the space useful. Since I need water now, I could modify the area to collect water. As I think through the logistics of everything, I'm going to be busy for a while. That said, I just need to close the cave for now. I think that maybe the best thing to do is go down a little ways back from the entrance, and seal that area off with a vertical wall, and then deal with any other additions later.
I make my way back into the cave to where the light has started to dim from the entrance, but not by much, and mark the floor. Then I head down to my room and get my supplies for construction, namely, the hanging weight for making vertical walls, and bring it back up before getting to work building a wall to close off the cave.
Six whole days to complete the wall. It took much longer than I initially thought. The main issue was that I had gotten used to using crystals to recharge my mana, but this close to the surface I can't use crystals to recharge my mana. Thankfully the natural rate that my mana refreshes is much higher near the surface. I'm also confident that my sleep cycle is currently synced up with the solar cycle now, since I've been working where I can see daylight the whole time. The first few days I was getting up a few hours before sunrise, but now I'm getting to the entrance just as the suns rise, and I head back down just as the suns set.
The wall I've got set up is pretty sturdy and thick. It's not much to look at, just a plain surface made from the same rock as the surroundings. I hollowed out some of the space behind where the wall was built to get the extra stone I needed, so now it's a little more spacious right behind than it was before. Although you'd be hard pressed to tell, given how it is now pitch black. I can't even bring the crystals up here to light up the area, so for now it'll just be dark.
I think next I'll flatten the area before the wall, then I'll attempt to build a proper stairway down to the cavern. To make that stairwell proper, I'll need to figure out some way to bring fire along to light the way as well. Oh shoot, I almost forgot. I need to also make some gaps near the top of the wall for air to get through. I don't want to completely stagnate the airflow down there, so building some grates near the top, and maybe near the sides should allow both air, and some light through. I should do that before I actually go down to sleep again. Which means I'll be working by moonlight for a little of the time tonight...
Well, it took fifteen whole days to finish the front floor flattening and the stairwell. The good news is that now that I have a stairwell with a railing, it's easy for me to go up to the entrance and back down to the cavern. I've also set up a small flat area behind the wall as well where I've stashed extra buckets full of water. It rained a few times while I worked, but it was all mild rain, which was a nice compliment to the hot weather.
I have yet to see any hint of the goblins returning, but just in case, I'm taking extra precautions. I'm fairly certain my internal clock has changed from when I was an imp, and that my days are longer now than they were before. As a result, I'm not really sure when the goblins will be back. Just in case, I think I'll make a spare spear and shield, and keep one set in my room, and one up by the wall.
Between getting a good piece of wood, and making the buckler and spear, I spent four days toiling away. Of course, I also gathered extra wood as well in that time, which was probably part of why it took me as long as it did. I've gained a couple of levels, and as always, I mark all the info down on tablets for analyzing later.
<LESSER EARTH DEMON>
Level: 4
HP: 901/901
MP: 299/299
Traits: Mana Affinity, Earth Manipulation
When I wake up, I spend the morning at a little bit more of a relaxed pace. I eat my morning food and relax by my fire for a little bit. There is always something I could be working on, but I think it's important when you finish a lot of work to just sit and relax for a little while. Plus, I don't really have anything that I'm currently working on, so having the time to just think is nice.
After sitting for thirty minutes, I decide I should probably at least be doing stone separations while I relax. I've done it so much that at this point it's almost therapeutic to do. Obviously, the light stone is also a nice bonus from the work.
I finished a bucket of stone separations after a few hours, and decide that I should go check on the wall for a bit. I can also do more stone separations up there as well if I want to.
As I make my way up to the wall, I hear noises that I wish I wasn't hearing. It sounds like rock hitting rock. As I get closer to the wall, I slow my pace and quietly sneak up to the wall. I'm quite glad I left a spare spear and buckler up here now. I make my way to a grate on the far side to peer out the cave entrance.
On the other side of the wall are five goblins, including the familiar leader goblin that I've seen a few times now. Two of the goblins are hitting rocks against the wall while the other goblins are watching. The goblin leader also appears to be either perplexed or frustrated based on his expression.
I move back from the grate for a bit, and just listen. I hear repeated chipping, and then, after a few minutes, I hear a small tapping of pebbles. I peek back out, just in time to see the goblin leader say something to the two goblins who aren't hitting the wall, and for them to join in on the rock bashing. I wish I understood their language right now, but I can pretty much guess what he said.
Despite how thick the wall is, I have a feeling that if they're determined enough, it won't last through the evening. Which means I'll have to take matters into my own hands here. I line myself up against the wall near where the goblins are chipping, and use a five foot tectonic sense. Through it, I can just barely make out where two of the goblins are standing.
I unleash an earth spike from beneath where I detected one of the goblins. Just as soon as I do, I hear a visceral sound of bones and flesh being torn, and the panicked yells of goblins. I make my way over towards the grate, and peek out again. I only see four goblins, and they've backed up from the wall somewhat.
I have just enough mana left to unseal an area as a door, so I grab my spear and buckler, and begin unsealing the door. As I press the door open with my shoulder, I ready myself. With spear and buckler poised to attack, I step out. The goblins notice me almost immediately, as I notice the split asunder body of the goblin hit by earth spike not far away from myself. One of the goblins charges me as soon as it sees me. I get into a low stance, and pull my spear back to stab forward.
Before I can though, a fireball flies out from the back lines. I pull my shield up to protect myself, but never feel the fireball hit, or a goblin for that matter. After a second, I start to lower my shield and I see a charred goblin laying a few feet from me. I move my gaze upwards towards the other goblins, but what I see there astounds me even more.
The leader goblin is prostrating itself on the ground, while holding the remaining two goblin's heads down as well. This was... unexpected.