NOVEL NEXT Chapter 10: The goblin camp
The cold detachment he felt to this whole situation had Ethan a bit worried, he felt so distant to it all and the smile on his face only grew when he heard the goblins scream. A stray thought made his way to the front of his mind, asking if it was the tutorial or the blessing of his new patron that kept him away from a mental breakdown. At this point he knew that multiple things were influencing him on a base level. Not only Nora, which he was prepared for, but also the system did something to keep him sane. It sounded somewhat logical because people from earth would otherwise freak out completely. Ethan banished those thoughts and focused back on the action in front of him.
He slowly crawled to the hilltop and looked over the edge, curious how much chaos he managed to inflict so far. The goblins weren't that intelligent and even if they were stronger than expected he was confident it could work. Ethan had emptied his mana pool multiple times over the night to cover the camp in caltrops, even then it only covered half of it at best, the area was just that large to be covered completely by his meager pool of mana. His eyes wandered over the camp, a grin creeping on his face, he shouldn't smile but those fucks had it coming.
In the camp itself chaos was spreading like a wildfire, the guards that were on their way to relieve the night shift the first to encounter Ethan's little surprise. Stepping from their makeshift tents with their crude weapons lazily over the shoulder, still half asleep they stumbled through the camp and towards the palisade wall. Some of them got lucky so far and didn't even step on one caltrop during their drowsy walk, but most of them stepped at least in one of not multiple of those small sharp surprises.
From his vantage point it was easy to see how the ice spikes penetrated their feet, the reaction afterwards would wake up the whole camp in a few minutes. They screamed in pain, falling to the ground and impaling more caltrops in their backs. Small hands tried to pull them from their flesh, leaving nasty wounds behind that leaked pale blue blood, the icy poison already at work.
Some goblins were alarmed by their screams and tried to reach them, not to help but just to see what was the commotion. Anybody could guess what happened next as those goblins also stepped in caltrops themselves. Soon the whole camp was in turmoil, guards ran around looking for attackers that weren't there and none of them had the idea to check the ground even if most of their injuries were on their feet. Only those that were actually wounded and managed to pry them from their feet picked up caltrops and inspected them, grunting and snarling in their language with each other.
Ethan nearly giggled when some inflicted wounds on each other when fighting over a caltrop to look at it themselves. It seems a goblin couldn't live with the thought that others had something they don't possess. I know they're stupid but this…? He looked at Nora and smiled, she had woken up from the noises the goblins made. The white snake watched with him and scoffed. I'm glad that I was born a snake and not as one of those creatures, are you ready for part two?
Ethan nodded and closed his eyes, he tried to concentrate on the magic he was about to cast. What he tried now was hard but not as hard as creating the caltrops because the magic he used was supported by a skill. Even with a skill handling the technical side it was still mana intensive to use. Pointing his palm to the sky he focused his efforts into the skill and willed his energy to become reality. The feeling of molten metal in his veins spiked for a moment but he gritted his teeth and continued, one thick vein pulsed on his neck and he felt the headache drill its way into his skull. With a long sigh he opened his eyes again and smiled.
It's done, let's hope that works I haven't used that spell before, with anticipation he looked to the sky and saw the clouds growing darker by the second. While waiting Nora had a devious idea, with the middle of the camp covered in caltrops his damage was focused there, but what else would it do? Attracting the other goblins to his trapped area of course, the guards followed the screams, to his surprise even the crafters got called to remove the caltrops from the goblins and to bandage them with dirty rags.
The clouds now gathered above the goblin camp. Like huge dark structures full of magic they prepared themselves and suddenly it started to snow, gently at first but it soon increased in intensity. The snowflakes transformed, becoming toothpick size spikes that shot straight down to the ground and inflict minor wounds on the goblins, even killing some of them when they looked straight up and the ice needles pierce their eyes, making them rupture and drip from their sockets while the tiny spikes lodged themselves in their brains.
Ethan shivered, I'm glad you're on my side Nora…I didn't think that would even work, but snakes have some awful ideas huh?. He looked at her for a moment before watching the camp again. At this point goblins were running around, screaming and shouting, their little arms waving around to signal others to flee too. Small fights broke out when rival goblins tried to gain leadership over the rest. In the end that only helped with Ethan's plans even more. The ice rain continued for a while longer before it petered out, leaving the goblins camp in utter chaos.
Satisfied with his plan and feeling lots of notifications waiting for him he could only smile. His scheme worked better than expected but only some level 1 goblins died so far. The guards were too tough to be killed by the ice needles, still he felt his poison in almost all of them, working away at their bodies in silence before finally reaping their ice cold toll. How long would it take to kill them? Ethan wasn't sure but that's why he came here in the first place. For some experience but also to learn how his skill actually worked. After an hour he noticed something, the poison from his skill wasn't very impressive so he was confused why it was still active in all of them even after such a long time. Magic was strong but the body could still heal wounds and status effects. Curious, he asked Nora about it.
You have an intelligent head on your shoulders but you really ask me why your poison is still active? You remember the patron you accepted, right? Ethan looked at his stats and his eyes looked at the new line on his status.
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Patron: Ouroboros, the Eternal Serpent
The concept of eternity influenced his abilities, he groaned internally, why didn't he even think about asking his patron about the blessing? He looked at his snake companion and never thought a reptile could look this disappointed. I'm sorry, I didn't think about that, so it just keeps going forever? He asked Nora and looked back at the camp. Having a truly eternal poison could win every fight for as long as he managed to stay alive through all of it.
I think that would be a bit much for someone on your level but maybe one day with enough time? When you reach godhood maybe but that is far, far away. For now I would say it keeps up for a few hours, maybe half a day in the weaker ones. Nora's long tongue tasted the air and she wrapped around his arm and dozed off into sleep.
Ethan kept watch, feeling his poison working on the goblins' stamina, over the day some of them collapsed and got carried away. He felt that they were still alive but drained of stamina they couldn't move any muscles, in the afternoon the first of them died from the poison, one of the small goblins that looked like he already had injuries before Ethan attacked them camp.
The moment it died he felt the experience settle into his body and he tried to hold this feeling of euphoria when it strengthened his body. He was almost giddy when the next goblin died, because it meant he would soon receive a lot of levels for his efforts. It felt wrong but right at the same time, it was exhilarating but left a bad taste in his mouth. Killing was frowned upon in his old world and something punishable but here there was no law, nobody to stop him. He could think about the moral implications but for now he was just glad he could fight back.
With nothing else to do he worked on his ice spikes, summoning them, compressing them, expanding them and transforming them into snow in the blink of an eye. This spell was rather basic and he understood it well now. The flow of magic felt a lot smoother than before, his increase in level and his training showed it's worth already. While doing that his aura was activated at the same time, the ground around him was frozen when the night finally came again. The first thing he noticed was the sudden increase in guards, the goblins posted twice the amount than before, making sure nothing could get into their camp. To him that meant he had the goblins where he wanted them, scared of a possible invader.
He was curious why nobody was posted on the hill he was so casually sitting on but why should he complain, maybe they thought patrols were enough to keep it safe or they're just stupid, Ethan believed it was the latter of the two. So he repeated his strategy, throwing caltrops into the camp like he was handing out candy on halloween, watching them drift to the ground as snow and transform into ice again. The kind of assistance was very welcome to increase his range. Skills were good for everybody that wanted something quick and easy to use and while he wanted to be more than just a skill user he couldn't deny the usefulness of it all. Despite all the crazy things going on in his life right now, he still thanked the system in silence and waited for the rising sun.
The next day was mostly the same, the first few goblins still stepped into the caltrops like idiots but most of them avoided them altogether . During the evening and night more goblins died from his frost poison, but even then the camp was still mostly intact. He needed something else, a plan to bring them down. His eyes wandered over the camp and pointed out a lot of different things that might work but in the end Ethan had the perfect plan.
He pointed his finger to the middle of the camp and Nora understood what he meant, in the middle of the camp was a big tent filled with their food but even more important, their supply of fresh water. Nora gave him a mental nod and suggested an idea. Drop some ice spikes into it and wait, they should infect the barrels with poison in no time.
That was exactly what he did now, with some concentration and the burning pain he managed to lodge multiple ice spikes into the water barrels, stuck between the walls they didn't float up and the clear ice wasn't visible in the water. It was the perfect hidden trap that nobody would suspect, especially since his poison took a long time to even take effect.
If it would really work was something he just had to wait for and see, the poison wasn't invading a wound this time but got consumed and hopefully absorbed by the bodies of the goblins. Only time would tell.
A few hours later one of the cooks collapsed, coughing up blood before dying right there in the field kitchen. Nora, looking all smug, just nodded her head. Told you it would work. Ethan rolled his eyes and watched the camp, it was kind of funny, even if he spotted it his white-scaled companion decided to take the credit. When Ethan looked down at the camp felt like a conductor that fabricated his own concert only with his screams and coughing instead of instruments and singing.
When night once again claimed the tutorial Nora vanished, saying she needed to do something. What she had in mind Ethan didn't know, only when he saw the first lamp at the edge of the camp drop did he realize it. Nora was killing the guards, her poison even stronger than his because, well it was a natural part of her body and no skill. Her ruthless ambushes were quick and it didn't take long until the last torch dropped to the ground and the camp was undefended from the outside, the patrol too far out.
Only on the next day did he notice his mistake. I think we have gone too far Nora, those aren't goblins…, he looked at the brown mountains of muscles and fat that came from the cave in the hill. They sat down in the middle of the camp and started snacking on goblins like they're roasted chicken, while the goblins they grabbed complained none of them tried to rescue them. Ethan crawled back a bit so they wouldn't spot them that easily and identified one of them.
[Ogre - Level 7]
[Ogres are large hulking beings, those brutish creatures are blessed with strength and armor like skin. They have exceptional regenerative abilities and can withstand most attacks. Ogres eat everything to satisfy their enormous hunger, their keen sense of smell allowing them to find prey almost anywhere.]
I think we're kind of fucked here, right? He sent it to Nora but before she could answer one of the three ogres lifted his head and sniffed around, his eyes locking onto Ethan's position. The thing screamed, pieces of goblins and saliva flying from his mouth as he slowly stood up and lumbered with heavy steps towards the hill, the others following him after they smelled Ethan.
Oh we're so dead right now… That was the last thought he had before running down that hill, how could he have known that the goblins had ogres?! This was only the first part of the tutorial after all! After laying in ambush all this time he was a bit unsteady on his way down the hill but his will to live kept him going. Time to make an escape!