They eventually turned back, and Dave was able to join the rest of his group. When he landed, he saw Eisuke and the rest of his team were back. “Did you get it done?”

  “Yes, it was easier than I expected. You really made quite a spectacle of yourself.”

  Dave grinned. “I did get a bit carried away, but it is something I’m working on. I will do my best to be more reserved in our future attacks. We have to assume that we won’t ever be able to be this successful in an attack again. Whoever their leader is will figure out better ways to get his key troops into place to attack us.”

  “I agree,” Sir Mun Hagen said, “unless they eat the dosed food. If they do, then we may be able to slaughter many of them.”

  Dave looked at the alchemist, Naiku. “By the way, thanks, your health potions came in handy. They are superpowerful.”

  “You used both? The second one would have had diminishing returns if you used them both that quickly,” the elf asked.

  “No, one was destroyed as I was trying to drink it. Sorry about that. The second one I managed to drink on my way back here. Now before we stop and talk too long about this, we should probably put a few more miles between them and us. It isn’t that I don’t trust Kuleen’s veil, it is just too risky.”

  “Agreed, but we can’t go too far. We need to rest up and be ready to strike in the middle of the night. If they eat the food, then I guess that their warlord will keep them working all night, as that is the natural time for goblins to be awake,” Eisuke said.

  “And you are sure that this poison won’t kill them?” Dave asked.

  “Maybe some who are very old, very young, or very weak, but to most it will just give stomach cramps that are so severe they will wish that they were dead,” Naiku answered.

  “Couldn’t happen to a nicer group of monsters,” Dave said.

  “Wait. You think they are nice, m’lord? They aren’t like Krinnk at all. I thought you understood that,” Sir Mun Hagen said.

  “No, it is just an expression from where I grew up. It means that they deserve what they get,” Dave replied while chuckling.

  “Okay, so we move an hour away, then rest for three hours—try to restore our health and mana—and then we need to head back and see what the poisoned food pots have wrought,” Eisuke said.

  “Do you think it will affect the ogres and other monsters?” Dave asked.

  “The ogres it may. They actually had a pot full of mountain elephant, so it depends on how many trips they make to the elephant pot. The trolls will be immune, as they are to virtually any poison, and the mountain giant I expect it will have very little impact on unless they are much softer on the inside than the outside. The fiends don’t truly eat like we do. They only consume living or very recently killed prey because they subsist on the life energy not on the actual flesh,” Naiku answered.

  “Thanks for the tutorial. Eisuke, lead the way?”

  “Yes, Baron Murkwood, and Naiku, please get him two new potions. That man is entirely too reckless, and I don’t want to return to face Lady Emiri if I don’t bring him back alive,” Eisuke said. Dave swore the normally solemn elf winked at him.

  From there the party discussed how many goblins they had killed. The best guess was that they had killed almost all their livestock, more than half of their pack animals, maybe as many as two thousand goblins along with a number of hobgoblin shamans, and a few ogres. No one was sure what had come of the encounter between the enlarged rhino and the trolls. The rhino with that added power would have been a force to reckon with, but trolls were virtually impossible to kill without magic.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  “A serpent with two heads is a dire warning of treachery and no natural matter.”—Batzorig, orc priest of Bal Zar

  Goblin War Camp—Dave Nelson

  The period of rest went by quickly, but for Dave with his enhanced Endurance, it left him feeling physically rested. His mana stores were full, as was his health. The one thing that couldn’t bounce back so quickly was his emotional state.

  He tried to focus his thoughts. He had hoped by going on the aggressive that he would stem the voice within his mind, but instead it had sought to push him further. Dave also couldn’t deny that while what he did was reckless and there was no small matter of luck in having survived the mountain giant’s blow, that it had still been one of the most intense rushes of his life. He could still remember the pulsing intensity in his mana and muscles as he had laid low his foes all around him.

  The problem was that not everyone else on the team was as durable as he was. He needed to find a way to protect them. He needed to be sure that he could control himself. The only way that he could think of to do that for now was to try to keep to the rear. He would need to play more caster and less tank. It wasn’t that he didn’t get revved up casting, it was just that he didn’t feel the same rush as he did once he was in the thick of things, swinging away with his sword.

  As they were traveling back to see what the poison had wrought, Dave asked Naiku for two mana potions. The elf looked as though he was going to ask why, then thought better of it and simply dug them out of his bag of holding. It made Dave think again about how much easier this mission was with every member having a bag of holding. Eris’ Rise was going to be so rich once he got to a point that he could start selling those. The key was going to be releasing them at a slow enough pace to keep their value up.

  He thought to himself that maybe the ultimate key to winning in Eloria was going to have less to do with killing monsters and more to do with mercantile might. He had mixed feelings about that but already saw it as inevitable. He had personally killed hundreds of monsters and hadn’t gotten any XP at all. He had hoped he might have earned some for one of the ogres or the ghouls, but apparently they were all Tier 2. The mountain giant would have been worth some XP, he was willing to bet money on that, but it was going to take some doing. That reminded him that he needed to cast Assess Enemy on one of the mountain giants.

  They were within about half an hour’s walk of the monster camp when Dave hit himself upside the head, figuratively at least. “Everyone stop.”

  “Is something wrong, Baron Murkwood?” Eisuke asked.

  “No, I’m just being an idiot. I need to cast Wizard’s Eye; then we can check on the enemy without them seeing us. No point in risking a scout.”

  The others nodded, and Dave sat down to focus on the spell. It was a bit disconcerting to be standing up while getting visual input from another source. The others formed a perimeter around him. As he completed the spell, the transparent eye formed in the air right in front of him. He immediately closed his eyes and sent it off racing towards the enemy camp.

  The ground beneath the eye raced by like on one of the treadmills that has video landscapes. There was no sensation of movement, but still he could see everything around him. He had yet to use one of the other aspects of this spell, but he meant to remedy that now.

  As the eye reached the camp, there were goblins strewn everywhere by the thousands. For every goblin who was still on its feet, there were at least five on the ground, moaning. Dave was glad that the spell only gave him visual and auditory sensory information. The smell of the camp had already been staggering, but now with almost every goblin covered in its own vomit and that of its kin, the place was practically a vomitorium.

  The eye spun around, and sure enough, most of the ogres were down. Even as sick as they were, one of them was crawling back to the elephant pot and trying to reach in for another piece of the poisoned food. The eye whisked past.

  He saw the ghouls moving around the camp, killing goblins. The screams of their victims were only slightly more awful and piteous than the groaning of the sick goblins. This would be a perfect opportunity. He began casting Assess Enemy through the Wizard’s Eye and got data for the first ghoul.

  Ghoul

  Level 19

  Health: 470

  He directed the eye to look at another of the ghouls and prepared to recast the spell, but to his surprise, the spell was still in effect.

  Ghoul

  Level 21

  Health: 690

  Everywhere he looked now, he got information on each of the creatures. The goblins were all Tier 1 except for a few hobgoblin shamans who were Tier 2. The ghouls were all high Tier 2 or low Tier 3, while the shadow fliers were all level fifteen to eighteen. It seemed as though the spell stayed in perpetual effect once cast through the eye.

  Dave thought he would need to experiment with that in the future, but for now it worked well. He sent the eye flying over to check out the trolls. There were three dozen of them lounging around. They seemed to have eaten but were put off by the effect the food was having on the rest of the camp.

  He focused on the largest of the trolls.

  Troll Chieftain

  Level 29

  Health: 2940

  The other trolls all ranged between level eighteen and level twenty-three, with most of them being low Tier 3.

  After the trolls, he looked at the mountain giants. There were five of them. They were all sitting down with their backs against one another. He was looking at their faces. They were humanoid but with more square features. Dave stared at their expressions. If he had to describe it, he would say that they were nervous, but he couldn’t be sure about what the expression on a walking mountain’s face was.

  He saw something interesting as he noticed the assessment. Four of them were identical with one who was slightly larger and registered differently to Assess Enemy.

  Mountain Giant, Elite

  Level 29

  Health: 9575

  Mountain Giant Chieftain, Elite

  Level 39

  Health: 17350

  Those health totals were insane. For the first time, Dave was really worried about what this army could do to his town. Eris’ Rise was much stronger than before, but those things would be like tanks rolling over the houses if they were able to get past the walls. He couldn’t let himself worry about it now. He needed to focus on what he could deal with.

  From there he moved on to the command tent. It was the only part within the camp that was still organized. There were hobgoblin warriors covered in tattoos that reminded him of Balayria’s artwork. He scanned the eight hob warriors, and they were all level nineteen, as were the four hob shamans standing outside the tent.

  The eye weaved around the guards and flitted in through a tiny opening in the front of the tent. Inside he saw the largest hobgoblin he had ever seen. The thing was actually wearing mithril armor and waving a hooked sword around as he was emphatically gesturing while speaking to the other two in the room. One was a hob shaman, and the other was the tall fiend that Emiri had described as the stalk fiend. Its slender robed body had no arms visible through the robes.

  Hobgoblin Warlord, Thelan the Basher

  Level 29

  Health: 1490

  Class: Warlord

  Hobgoblin Shaman

  Level 29

  Health: 580

  Class: Summoner

  Stalk Fiend

  Level 36

  Health: 2410

  “How? Neither of you have told me how this has happened,” Thelan howled. He turned and looked at the shaman specifically. “What happened? What enchantment did they work to ruin the entire army?”

  “Nothing, great Basher. I have detected no magic. Nothing since the attack earlier,” the shaman replied. His body language said that he was clearly afraid of the warlord.

  “As if he could detect his own bum. It was poison in the food. The attack earlier was a diversion. Think about it with that tiny thing you call a brain. It was meant to scare the goblin hordes, to put doubt in their heads. Then they destroyed most of the food and pack animals. The goblins then became desperate for the remaining food and ate as much as they could as quickly as possible. Whatever poison was in the pots didn’t act very quickly but has made them all sick. If a force comes against us, then your goblin army will be done for,” the stalk fiend said in a raspy voice.

  “What are you going to do about it? Seimion gave you to me to serve me.”

  Dark wheezing laughter erupted from the stalk fiend. “Gave me to you? As if. I don’t work for Seimion. I bargained with him. I don’t serve any mortal, not even his self-important master. I act for myself. My needs, my desires are all that matter to me. If I serve anyone, it would be the dread Bal Zar.”

  Thelan sputtered in rage while the shaman asked in a halting voice, “You serve the orcish god?”

  “Oh, that always amuses me so much. He loves it when he is called a god. As if you mortals could tell the difference. Bal Zar is a prince amongst the fiends. If I serve him, it is only because I fear him and hunger for his power.”

  “You can’t speak to me like that. I will end you. You will go back to your burning home in pieces,” Thelan finally managed to say. As he reached out for the fiend, a red beam shot from one of its three eyes and burned his hand, causing him to drop the hooked sword.

  “Don’t dare lay your meat upon me, or my deal with Seimion will be ended. I will keep my pact with him, but I am leaving you now. Oh, and you should know that we are being watched,” the stalk fiend said as it turned toward Dave’s spell construct. The last thing that Dave saw was a flash of green light, and then he felt a stabbing pain through his head as the feedback of his shattered spell hit him. It was as though a rubber band had been snapped against his forehead but with enough force to rock his head to and fro.

  When he was able to shake the headache off, Dave said, “They know we are coming. Ninety percent of the army is down, but the trolls, some elite hobs, and their warlord are all up and about. I think we can handle all of them as long as the trolls are stupid. What I worry about are the mountain giants. They are elite monsters. The amount of their health will be overwhelming, and I’m not sure how we can wear them down without them killing any of us.”

  Eisuke ordered everyone to start moving while Dave continued to give a report on what he had seen. “Blade dancers, storm mages, fel harvesters, and AoE mages—you are to work on killing as many of the immobilized goblins as you can. Kuleen, I need you to try to distract the trolls and lead them off. Naiku, I want you to stay back out of harm’s way. You are too valuable to go into this fight. Paladins and druids, you are to protect the goblin slayers from any of the fiends that attack. Healers, try to make sure no one goes down, but it is critical that we kill as many of these goblins now as possible. We won’t get another chance like this.”

  “Leave it to us, m’lord,” Dalton said. “Our skills are made for this. The more we kill, the stronger we will become, and the faster we will be able to slay the rest.”

  “And what about the forest wardens?” Eisuke asked.

  “You are all with me. We are hitting the command tent. We will have to deal with Thelan, their warlord, twelve level nineteen hobgoblin warriors or shaman, a Tier 3 shaman, and a Tier 4 fiend. Leave the fiend to me. Eisuke, you focus on Thelan, assign three to take the shaman inside, and the other six are going to have to take out the Tier 2 hobgoblins.”

  Everyone’s face was taut, but they all knew their jobs. As they hit the edge of the camp, Dave was right, the smell almost made him retch. Then he watched Dalton, Sieg and Fritz go to work. They were each wielding pole arms that had long scythe-like blades. They began mowing down the sick goblins. Most barely raised a hand to protect themselves, and even those that did were unable to put up any type of defense. They all just got cut down.

  Black and gold energy began to swirl around the three harvesters. They all activated an ability as though they were working in tandem. Twelve-foot-long blades of golden energy erupted off their weapons. They began spreading out and reaping life after life.

  Overhead, storm clouds gathered. Rain poured down and wind began whipping around. Lightning blasted down from the sky and hit the ground, and filthy goblin bodies were ripped apart and hurled into the air. Fireballs flew out from mages, erupting all around them. The blade dancers moved in a fluid form. Unlike the harvesters, they made the most minimal cuts with absolute precision. Blades opened throats, and goblins bled out before they could even cry for help.

  The paladins had erected golden auras of radiant energy. If there was one thing they were good at, it was slaying fiends. Their class was especially made for it. The healer cast a cascading field of energy that empowered all around her. Even the druids had spells at the ready, with scimitars in their right hands.

  Yet no fiends were found. The ghouls and shadow fliers were all gone, and none came at any of their party. Off to the far side of his vision, Dave saw Kuleen with their beast master and his flame lynx pets busy leading the trolls away from the others. He could only guess at what illusion she had woven to so entrance them all.

  All of this and more Dave witnessed in passing as he ran full tilt towards the command tent. He only slowed himself enough to make sure that he didn’t outpace any of the forest wardens. As they got closer, the tent doors opened, and out walked the hobgoblin warlord. His skin was covered in the same tattoos that covered his warriors, but not much of his skin was visible, as he had a heavy set of mithril plate armor covering most of his body.

  The forest wardens, all master archers, were loosing arrows at the hobgoblins in front of the tent as they raced in. Their focus was all on the casters and their arrows so effective that not a single spell was successfully launched at them. One of the shamans was able to cast a spell, but an arrow through his hand wrecked it to such an extent that the jet of flame shot not out at them but engulfed the tent in fire.

  Dave couldn’t find the stalk fiend or the third-tier shaman anywhere, so he redirected his fury at the lesser warriors while Eisuke moved to engage the warlord. He cast Ablative Armor instinctively and then followed it up with a lightning bolt. He wanted to jump in and start hacking away but managed to control himself. The bolt forked once, twice, and then a third time as his will controlled it, and four of the hobgoblin warriors fell to the ground, convulsing from the charge that ran through their bodies, and they took 793 damage each. The impact of Dave’s increased Intelligence was no longer just about faster processing speeds but now more about the damage his spells could deal out.