Chapter 46: Hobgoblins (7)
"Charge, attack!"
"Kerk!"
At my command, four goblin spearmen swiftly thrust their spears.
Whizz!
Thunk!
The piercing blows of the wooden spears moved into thin air. Since there were four of them, a single command led to four attacks.
Of course, the attack didn't end with just one strike.
"Kerk! Kerk! Kerk!"
"Kerung!"
The spearmen thrust their spears at the air as if something was in it, channeling all their anger and making their imaginary foe into a honeycomb.
"Kruk!"
"Kerk! Kerk!"
In front of the spearmen stood the shieldbearers. With utterly serious faces, they clenched their teeth and held up their shields, building a solid wall.
Slam!
Spearmen thrusting the air and
Thunk.
The shieldbearers protect in front.
"Perfect!"
Ever since the other day, when the hobgoblin scouts were skewered to death, their understanding of spear techniques had dramatically increased. Training became much smoother now that they knew how to use the tool.
"If it continues like this, we'll be able to defend the dungeon perfectly! Well done, my soldiers!"
"Kerk!"
Buril responded to my praise with a salute.
Honestly, the fact that Buril diligently explained to the young ones while feeding them techniques to make imaginary honeycombs was very helpful. I couldn't have proceeded with the training like this on my own. It was all thanks to our ace, Buril. With the youngsters being this skilled, I believed the next batch of goblins would also train well on their own.
"Halt the attack! Regroup!"
Thunk! Thunk!
The squad members united their movement at the command.
"Now, advance! Forwarddd march! Left! Right! Left! Right!"
"Kerk! Kek! Kerk! Kek!"
The goblins marched forward.
"Ugh."
Their steps were still out of sync. But if they could maintain the formation while walking, maybe it was not a big deal.
"I'll handle this next time. Now! While advancing! Charge! Attack!"
"Ke, Kerk?"
This seemed a bit challenging as they looked back at me in confusion.
"Look ahead! Attack as you advance!"
"Kerk!"
Buril, seemingly frustrated, demonstrated the spear thrust and lightly slapped the back of the shieldbearer in front of him. Watching this, the goblins seemed to get the hang of it, nodding their heads, slowly advancing, and thrusting their spears.
It was a bit clumsy, but they understood.
"Maintain formation!"
That was good enough.
Anyway, I carried out the training very diligently and persistently. Even when I was in the military, I didn't receive such systematic training.
What did we do?
Train basic skills and localized provocation. What else? Quickly gather equipment and supplies, march swiftly to the trench, occupy the trench, and then just waste time. That was it. Most of the training, except for the initial part, was utterly pointless.
However, military training with cold weapons was different. Every member must give it their all.
"All, retreat!"
"Kereuk!"
Swiftly!
At least they were very good at retreating. They responded quickly to the command of retreat. After watching them all retreat…
Sigh.
I took a deep breath.
"Everyone, get in position! Maintain formation!"
I shouted.
Then.
—Whoosh!
"Giggle!"
"Hehe!"
My goblin soldiers rushed over and quickly formed a tight formation!
"Grrr!"
I loved it! I had trained them so well up to this point! Look at those adorable guys effectively blocking the pathway! The ends on both sides were a bit precarious, but it was a very solid wall!
"Great formation. Now, let's start the next training. Guys, make way for me."
"Hehe?"
So, I went over to the opposite side of the goblins and thrust with a wooden spear held upside down. In this scenario, I was the enemy. Of course, the goblins handled it superbly.
And like that, the training ended.
"Whew! Good job on the training! Everyone, take a break!"
"Hehe!"
Hearing the command to rest, the goblins dropped their equipment on the ground and sat down. Seeing them sprawled out like that reminds me of my military days. It was the same feeling everyone had when they took a break after marching.
Everything, down to the green hue, was identical.
"Sharan, come over here!"
"Sha!"
Upon my call, Sharan, who was enjoying the breeze outside the dungeon, hurriedly came to stand before me.
"I'll infuse you with mana now."
There was no need to use the domination spell anymore. I decided to use all the recovered mana to strengthen my subordinates.
"Now, infuse."
"Shaat…!"
Sharan flinched as usual as I infused the mana, then clung to me with a pleased expression.
"Shaasha."
"Hehehe, do you like it that much?"
I really did give a lot of my mana to Sharan. Would she also be affected by the domination spell if I continued to increase my power? But there was really no need to cast the domination spell. She was already showing so much affection towards me.
However, when I thought about it…
"Shaa?"
Whenever I looked at Sharan, I got this feeling that she was assimilating something similar to my energy. Perhaps, as I continued to infuse her with my mana, my energy settled in Sharan?
Would Sharan become capable of using mana?
And you never know.
Maybe after receiving all that mana and getting strengthened, Sharan might be able to speak.
But for now, I really didn't know. I did understand that my mana helped in recovering and enhancing the monsters' powers, but the specifics were still unclear. There was still too little data. I needed to keep experimenting.
"Next, Buril."
In any case, Buril was next.
"Hehe!"
Buril quickly stood up and prepared himself to receive the mana. Being a platoon leader, I should take good care of him.
"Infuse!"
"Heh!"
Buril also seemed to enjoy it.
If I kept infusing him with mana, Buril would grow, right? I was not expecting anything dramatic, but I hoped he grew to the size of a Hobgoblin. You never know. He might grow even bigger in the future.
"Hey, hey! The rest of you, line up!"
At that command, the goblins stood up, and Imsoong and Gyuil, who were fiddling with a rope in the distance, rushed over.
Now, I was going to infuse these guys with mana as well.
Due to my diligent use of mana over time, I had become able to control it with great precision.
Previously, the minimum amount of mana I could infuse was 1, but now I could even fractionate that, making it possible to infuse as little as 0.2.
I wish I could properly infuse magic into these brats, but as it is now, it's even hard to take care of Sharan and Buril. Let's just give them this and tell them to manage with it.
"Okay, okay. I'll infuse it one by one. Stand still."
One by one, as if giving them a vaccination, I released the magic into them.
"Keurek…!"
"Kkeureok!"
It was a very small amount of magic, but they seemed to really enjoy it. Wow, really. If I was a truly powerful demon, this task would've been done in a snap.
"Low-tier demon, damn it."
But didn't my mother come from a noble family? Wasn't there something like a bloodline advantage?
"Hey. Prepare yourselves now. Let's go hunting in a bit."
"Keurek."
And so the days went by.
A few days later.
Finally, the Hobgoblin army revealed itself.
"Geurak. Geurarak!"
"Geurarak!"
A properly armed squad of Hobgoblins was on the move. They got caught in my surveillance network. It's good that they came out in the open.
"Geurak!"
It looked like they were on a mission to find the missing and also for revenge. Their scouts didn't return. That meant that they were dead. So, they probably brought the army to investigate and eliminate the cause.
"Sha-a."
Sharan grabbed my shoulder.
"Hey. It's okay. I won't act rashly."
I replied succinctly.
Facing a Hobgoblin squad with just Sharan and me? That's crazy. We wouldn't provoke them. These creatures were dangerous. Controlling them was difficult; allowing direct combat? Absurd.
"Let's retreat."
I now knew that they had come this far.
The only way was to wait inside the dungeon. I immediately retreated to the dungeon with Sharan.
"Keurek?"
"Buril, be on your guard. We're on the brink of war. Take the kids and stay inside. If I give the command, come out immediately."
"Keurekruk!"
Buril, understanding my words, led the others deeper into the dungeon.
"Sha-a…"
"Sharan, stay by my side."
And so, I took a spot inside the dungeon where I could see outside, and with Sharan, we lay in ambush.
From here, I would keep an eye on the Hobgoblins.
Compared to the bright outdoors, the inside of the dungeon was pitch-dark. We could unilaterally observe them from here since they wouldn't see us from outside.
ㅡ…
I'd put away the fireflies used for dungeon lighting. They were stored in a jar, and I had entrusted Imsoong with managing them. Imsoong would release the fireflies into the dungeon if I made the command.
We might need lighting at some point.
As we kept our ambush and watched,
Finally.
ㅡCheoreok.
The Hobgoblin army appeared.
"…"
ㅡGgulp.
The tension was palpable.
My heart felt like it would burst.
The Hobgoblins who came this far stopped a bit before the dungeon entrance. They probably knew that hostile neighbors resided in this dungeon. That was, they had come with an army, after all.
They would probably launch an attack.
The war was about to start… Huh?
Then,
"Geurakrak."
A slightly bigger creature appeared. A bit larger than the other Hobgoblins, it looked muscular.
A leader?
Perhaps a chief of sorts?
"…"
Damn it.
Things might get a bit tricky.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone