The fortress was huge. Zen wasn’t expecting the new stage to have such a huge spawning area compared to the second stage. It was massive enough to get lost in the fortress. The spawn village on the first floor had many NPCs compared to the second floor’s spawn. However, neither could be compared to the number of NPCs in this fortress. Zen saw how every soldier here had a name and unique appearance. It was as if they had been modelled after real people and not simply created using the character creation RNG generator. There had to be at least a hundred people in the courtyard alone. Zen didn’t know if there would be more or less people inside the castle or marketplace. However, at least a hundred more sentries were on these walls, watch towers and guarding the drawbridge gates.
“Hey, do you know where the garrison commander is?” Zen asked a sentry guard on duty.The soldier was wearing chain armour and blinked at Zen. He stared at the adventureThe noble in charge of the fortress was a wimpy-looking young man who had only recently accepted the title of baron from his father’s unfortunate death. According to the page serving this young baron, the original owner of this fortress was a brave and commendable general. Under the old Baron’s command, the troops defended their borders for years with minimal casualties. However, the young son of the baron had no interest in swords. Instead, he went to the capital to pursue his interest in literature. Now that he was a Baron, everyone suffered under his poor leadership.Gunter did everything he could to assist the young lord, but the young man was only interested in furthering his studies. If anything, he still insisted on increasing diplomacy with the goblins instead of exterminating their race. Needless to say, Gunter and his liege did not get along well. If not for the commander’s sense of loyalty to his previous master, he would have left the foolish young
Venedict might not be the smartest person alive. However, he couldn’t understand why this young adventurer thought food was the key to victory in a war against barbaric monsters.Goblins could not be reasoned with. If anything, they were usually low-levelled monsters that adventurers slayed for some pocket money. There had been no history of a friendly goblin. They robbed merchant caravans like petty thieves and plundered villages, killing whatever they saw.More importantly, he didn’t know adventurers were skilled in potion-making, first aid and basic blacksmithing. Where did such a person hail from? This kid was a jack-of-all-trades. His knowledge of little knick-knacks comprised almost every occupation. With Zen’s helping hand, the severely injured troops recovered. They had almost eighty percent of their forces ready for battle again after Zen distributed diluted healing salves and applied first aid.However, Zen refused to take command of
It didn’t matter if it was the Baron or the commander holed up in the tower. Everyone within sight could smell the delicious meat grilling on the open fires. The goblins were as undisciplined as Zen expected them to be. They pelted rocks at the gates until they ran out of rocks. Then, they started camping outside the side gate to see if they could rush into the stronghold for a taste.The birds worked hard and collected the spoils of war with the cover of night. Zen found the daggers he needed and other items such as arrows, belts, and slingshots. He rewarded the birds for their effort while distributing the roasted pork among the soldiers inside.“What’s the situation at the side gate?” Zen asked the approaching scout.Nervously, the scout reported that the goblins had stopped concealing their presence. The guards were nervous as the number of goblins lurking increased.Nodding, the gamer handed a pork sandwich to the scout and than
Thankfully, Zen was a fast learner. No, it wasn’t simply thanks to the reincarnation perk that Celine — God, gifted him. Goblins weren’t the smartest monsters. Everyone knew that across every universe. There were no instances when a goblin was depicted as an intelligent or fearsome final boss. Hence, their language reflected this simplicity.Gobo.That was the basis of all words in the goblin tongue. The gamer could understand why the royal scholars rejected the Baron’s research. Even Oritha would be able to figure this out in a matter of two days. It wasn’t very difficult to understand goblin words.“Gobo, gogo bogo, gobobo bo,” Zen rehearsed in front of the shady merchant, who stared at him incredulously. He knew that it was his job to drop hints for players. Zen was a special player from the moment he set foot in the dungeon. However, he didn’t think the kid would be serious about learning a fictional language f
After parading around the courtyard with his new outfit, Zen and Venedict disappeared to fund Gunter. The hardworking commander was still keeping an eye on the goblins camping outside their side entrance.Once away from prying eyes, Zen humbly asked Venedict for a lift to the top floor. The warrior said nothing. He wasn’t even the slightest disgusted by the filthy appearance Zen had. The strong man lifted Zen over one shoulder and carried him like a sack of potatoes. The blood rushed toward Zen’s head, and his face burst into flames when his arse was held in a very visible position. Somehow, this way of getting carried gave him déjà vu.Gunter didn’t bat an eye when Venedict entered the strategy meeting room with Zen on his shoulder, wearing goblin armour and covered in filth. The commander only asked how the investigation with Stoneberry Keep was progressing. It made Zen feel bad he wasn’t prioritising the special quest, but he had a
If Zen thought the Shady Merchant was creepy when he was happy, he changed his mind after turning in those shields.“It’s a miracle you managed to rob them of their shields! These things are so fragile that it was impossible to collect any without scratches. You’re a rare gem!”Seeing the Shady Merchant grinning from ear to ear, Zen tried not to think about the nerdy Baron’s reaction to the shields. More importantly, he needed to collect the new quest, visit the kitchen and report the goblin numbers to Gunter. The only thing stopping Zen was that lengthy flight of stairs. Thankfully, he caught sight of Venedict and hitched a hike to the top floor.Although Gunter wasn’t grinning from ear to ear, he also had an extreme reaction, in Zen’s opinion. From behind, Venedict swore his commander had never been this shocked in all his time working together. The soldiers had to work hard on the battlefield, but even they couldn’t d
“Quickly! Over here!” the goblin leader hissed when he saw a figure hobbling clumsily, looking lost on the forest trail.Thanks to the alcohol, the humans on gate-watching duty were drunk. However, the goblins knew better than to climb over that and infiltrate with their numbers. They were adept at ambushing with their upper hand in terrain knowledge and stealing resources for the camp. However, a head-on confrontation was an entirely different thing.Zen hobbled over, pretending to look beaten up as he carried the heavy sack with a broken smile, handing it to the impatient goblins.“I managed to get some leftover food from the kitchen!” Zen announced enthusiastically as the goblin leader opened the sack.Instead of delicious meat, they saw a sack of stale bread as hard as rocks. Seeing red, the goblin leader grabbed a loaf and threw it at Zen’s head. The bread hit the helmet with a loud bonk and bounced off. Zen fell backwards and u
After turning in the slingshots, Zen expected to receive a quest requesting goblin helmets or chain mail. However, the Shady Merchant presented him with the most puzzling request.“Are you sure?” he asked in disbelief. “I’d never seen them carrying staffs.”Honestly, it wasn’t all that surprising. Unlike the other players, Zen had a different method of collecting his war spoils. He only encountered the lower levelled goblins in the forest. Naturally, the sight of a staff was unfathomable to him.“Yes, they do. You can ask your goblin friends about them. Due to the difficulty of the request, we only need 5.”Zen completed the first three missions and received new skills. However, he had questions about the staff.“Won’t it be useless in the hands of a non-magic user?” Zen asked the quest-giving NPC.He understood the appeal for daggers, shields and flimsy slingshots. Those were