Capítulo 12: Chapter 12
>>>>> Goblin Worker's Status <<<<<
Health: 5/5
Mana: 0/0
Strength: 4
Agility: 4
Stamina: 10
Will: 2
Spirit:
Experience: -
Abilities: [Tools of Goblin Worker]
Skills: -
Title: -
Tolir was contemplating the status of the strange goblin that Alyn had found. Alyn had been wandering around the forest for days without discovering another one, until she captured it in extremis, mistaking it for a goblin recruit. When Tolir had seen him he was confused about his usefulness and now that he had his status in front of him, he was even more circumspect.
"What good is a goblin worker? Especially considering his stats... It's even worse than a goblin recruit...
- And the ability doesn't help?
- Usually, it doesn't help, but it's worth a try...
[Tools of Goblin Worker] : Tools of the Goblin Worker so that they can accomplish all the tasks his Master wants
Tolir held his head in his hands... He had hoped for a more powerful unit, but this time it was a failure. Dejected, he went to the forest core he had upgraded to rank III the day before and had a free slot. He had chosen to specialize each core in a particular type of goblin. This one for archers and the other for fighters.
This way, if they discovered new units, they could still assign them to a core without reducing the range of units available. Indeed, with the two cores at rank III, he had a capacity of 80 creatures plus the survivors from the previous world and the one that was personally linked to him.
He added the knowledge on the core which was updated:
>>>>> Aethereal Core III <<<<<
Aether: 0/200
Knowledge Points: 5/5
Aetheric Bond: 0/40
Summoning: [Goblin Recruit] (1 aether), [Goblin Bowman] (3 aethers), [Goblin Worker] (5 aethers)
The cost of the worker made him more desperate. Now he had spent his last slot on a useless unit. He sighed and returned to his waiting. With the nearby sources of aether drying up and his strategy set, all he had to do was wait for the cores to accumulate enough aether.
He had hesitated to deploy a third one further away, but it would be too far and he was afraid to spread himself too thin. Unoccupied, he watched the surroundings, pacing back and forth. At first, he had gone on a reconnaissance mission, but once he had gathered all the interesting information, he was left with nothing but idleness.
To keep himself busy, he imagined a network of fortifications around the core in order to defend it in case of a counter-offensive or if it was ever discovered. Although at first, the project was only a vague concept, as he thought about it, its relevance became more and more obvious. Until he gathered all the goblins in his possession.
It had been a full day since any of them had found an orb, which freed them for his new whim. Facing him, he ordered them to dig a trench to build a fence. The goblins looked at him in confusion. None of them had understood his order.
He repeated the order with endless patience, but they never got down to work. When he ran out of patience, he sent them away. Just as Tolir was about to throw in the towel on his idea of fortifications and return to his idleness, he heard the sound of shovels at his back: the goblin worker was digging.
This discovery shocked him. Not so much the sight of the creature obeying, but the fact that it was its purpose... His semi-failure in taking Lafin had frustrated him so much that he had forgotten that there was more to life than raw power. Delighted, he thought for a few minutes before changing his initial plan. He would delay his assault on the city, but only by a few days, but he would now have a line of defense in case of retreat.
He used a significant amount of the aether he kept on him to summon ten workers to speed up the process and support their colleague. Over the next few days, the network of fortifications took shape, moving from his head to reality. Sometimes he had to change his initial plan because a rock was blocking the road or a depression in the ground gave him a new idea.
The goblin workers worked quickly and efficiently, carrying out all the orders related to the construction without difficulty, even if from time to time they had their own way of interpreting the instructions, which forced Tolir to keep a constant watch.
In just two days, the workers erected a one-meter-high fence that encircled the core. The fence was about 40 meters on each side and had a two-meter wide entrance in the center of each face. In each corner, there was a five-meter observation tower on which a goblin could stand.
Tolir chose this seemingly modest size for several reasons. First, it allowed his goblins to fight unhindered, as the spears of the fighters and the arrows of the archers could reach the enemy directly. More than preventing him from entering the camp, it was to make this task as complicated as possible.
Another reason was discretion, he did not want to be spotted because a construction exceeded the forest, as well as the chopping of trees around to obtain the necessary wood compromised their position for a regular, as much not aggravated their case.
Last element, it counted to slow down the enemy even more with a network of ditches and successive stakes which would make it vulnerable to the shots of the archers that it could produce if necessary on the spot.
When the goblins had completed the second line of defense, after five days of work, he wanted to expand the central camp with a cottage to house him and Alyn. Then, he would go to reinforce the core of the cave which will also have to have its own defensive system! He was swarming with ideas, imagining to take again the works around the first core to transform it into impregnable fortress!
The evening when he presented his next projects to Alyn, she asked, skeptical:
"Not that I wouldn't dream of a little comfort, but do you really believe that a house is essential to take the city? As for the cave, given its hiding place, I doubt anyone will find the core for a long time... I feel more like we're wasting our time on this than anything else."
"No, defense trumps offense!" Tolir said indignantly. "Don't forget that as long as the cores are not destroyed, we have all the time in the world! So, with the help of these defenses we can't lose, it's the perfect plan!"
"All right, then, how long will it take you to get your perfect defense? Do you think the Cult will let you play architect? No, as soon as they spot you, they'll send in their army and believe me, you may have all the defenses in the world, but they'll sweep you off your feet as is!"
"Of course, not behind my ramparts, they won't be able to reach me since that's their purpose!"
Alyn shrugged before swallowing the rest of his meal and going to bed without a word. For her part, Tolir was fuming. How could she question this plan? It was perfect because it was not based on their abilities but on the time that would pass. With every hour that passed, he would amass a little more aether and turn it into creatures!
Angrily, he went to bed, imagining all the improvements to come. That night he slept poorly, the argument with Alyn having affected him more than he cared to admit. The next day, the atmosphere remained heavy, with Alyn again patrolling the forest more out of habit and envy than real interest, while Tolir prepared the ground for the house.
However, the heart was not in it, the words of the girl remained in his memory and worked him all day. Every time he gave an order to a worker, a small voice asked him what use it could be in the fight against the cult. He tried to brush them off, reminding himself that their comfort was important, but he knew deep down that once the house was finished, he would find a flaw to compensate for in an endless cycle.
When evening came, the foundations of the house were laid with a distraught Tolir. When he had explained to a worker the pattern he wanted for the floor, he realized the absurdity in which he had sunk. Since then, convinced by Alyn's argument, he realized how much precious time he had lost.
When he spotted Alyn walking back, a rabbit in his belt, he leapt at her, exclaiming:
"I'm sorry, you were right! If it weren't for my foolishness, we would have been able to attack the city earlier..."
"I... I see..." She said surprised by Tolir's sudden and unexpected apology. "I'm glad to see you've come to your senses..."
"I don't know what came over me, I felt like I was doing the right thing but... In the end, I refused to stop, I wanted to have something to do all the time... "
Alyn was about to ask something, but then paused as if she was thinking about her next words. Finally, she said:
"As if you wanted to keep your mind busy all the time?"
"Exactly!"
"Like me..." She sighed. "I admit that these previous days, I was in the same state to traverse the forest without ever wanting to stop me... I remember all the time what happened in Lafine... I wonder what would have happened if I had been more persuasive..."
Tolir's eyes widened, struck by the revelation:
"But yes, that's it! I was dreading the risk of attacking the city! I was always putting off that fateful moment for fear of what would happen again..."
He paused for a moment, then remembering Alyn's last words, he took her in his arms:
"Excuse me, I spent all day wondering what had taken me... I did not know that for you... I should have suspected that for you too, the situation is not easy... I'm sorry... Next time, do not hesitate to tell me about it..."
She nodded as tears streamed down her face, she began to tell him her nightmares haunted by the memory of the faces of the inhabitants heading to the temple to drink the vial.
Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder