Hilda rushed over to Gobber… I forgot she was even here. Wait a second, I don't remember her fighting at all… I wonder what that's about. Why isn't she wearing her armor? She looks fatter… OH GREATER GOD!

“ARE YOU PREGNANT!”

I shouted without thinking what I was saying. Everyone turned to look at me… I guess I was the only one who hadn't noticed… I'm a fool sometimes. I was too busy paying attention to everyone else fighting, I didn't notice Hilda in the wings. With fourteen other humanoids plus pets to worry about, some people just go unnoticed… This is going to be far worse once I have to control two hundred soldiers… I still should apologize…

“I'm sorry… I didn't realize, I w-was paying attention to the fights… Congratulations.”

Hilda was holding Gobbers head… I understand why he's tired now. He's been worried about what might happen. Worried about his future children. I can't believe Gobber is going to be a father. It feels like my brother is going to be a dad.

“Hilda, if you want we can leave. I'm sorry for dragging you along, you should be resting.”

“No, it's fine, I still have a month or two before I have to worry about that… With goblin births the pregnancy cycle is very quick. I just found out recently that I was even pregnant… I didn't realize that it was so obvious though.”

We move on from that conversation… As awkward as it was, I'm kind of glad it's happening. It feels nice to finally see some new life after all this death. I'm not even thirteen yet and I'm already a grizzled veteran when it comes to fighting for my life. We go to sleep for the night, I had to fix some of the dents the shields Gear uses had. To swing hard enough to dent this extremely strong metal is beyond impressive. I also noticed a few notches made in the totem sword Gobber was using.

With everything we've been through I sleep like a log that night. When I wake up, Brick is sitting next to me in the rare tent. I wonder who was on guard duty… I hope Gobber didn't take it. I look around and see him though. Hopefully he got a good nights sleep like myself. Brick motions for me to leave the tent. Heading outside I see the sentry we placed was Lance. He was starting to fall asleep so I sent him to bed. Brick asked me.

“Can you teach me a class that will help my elementalist abilities?”

“Sure, just depends on what you want to learn. I'm not sure you can learn every class I can teach. Also why are you asking now? You've had weeks to ask.”

“The reason is Epieoth... To get so strong in such a short time... It's incomprehensible to me... The other reason is I'm the last elementalist on this side of the continent. I can't disappoint the people the army killed after we crushed the demon tribe… I still regret it, I wont say I'm innocent… I've killed my share of demon tribe.”

“Well you have three choices, black mage, nature mage and aqua mage. I'm not one hundred percent sure you can even learn any of them though.”

“Nature mage would suit me the best.”

With that I taught Brick… The only one missing a job now is Leaf… I'm still not sure which job to teach her. She could use every magic class exceptionally well. I would hate to set her up with a class she didn't want. I'll talk with her about it. Looking for her I didn't see her… Where did Leaf go? I guess I can hold off on teaching her. It is honestly better to for now since she's already so strong. Picking the wrong class for her would be worse than not teaching her anything yet.

Leaf returns from wherever she was. She's covered in sweat… Was she training?

“Leaf, before everyone wakes up. Do you mind teaching me that secret skill of yours?”

“Not at all.”

Wiping the sweat off her face with the sleeve of her heirloom robe. She teaches me it for a few hours. Everyone is up and either sparring or collecting ingredients from the local area. Except Lance who we have to wait until he gets some sleep to continue. Raid areas have a good collection of rare plants and other items. The wood here is also high in mana compared to normal trees. It would make good enchanting paper.

Maybe after we clear the raid, I'll send some of the woodworkers back here to collect some. It would be nice to have a raid under my armies control for leveling purposes… Maybe I should build another base at entrance to the area? Perhaps once my army gets bigger. Finally learning the skill Leaf has been teaching me.

Secret Summoner skill gained Minion power- Can now sacrifice fatigue points as well as mana points to increase the strength of familiars.

Finally! What an amazing skill! I wont use it very often since my familiars aren't nearly as big as hers. Also familiars can't level, so it would just be a waste of experience. I've spoken with my other generals about their hidden skills. Lance and Brick both have one but they're not willing to teach me. I guess they want some things to remain to just them. Greed speaks up.

“You should have made them teach you as payment for teaching them!”

“No Greed, I wouldn't force my friends to do anything they wouldn't want to do.”

“That attitude is going to keep you weak. If you're weak then I'm weak!”

“The decision isn't up to you Greed. Aegis what do you think?”

Aegis spoke up.

“Well, I can see it from both your points. They shouldn't feel indebted towards you for helping them. Since they are your friends… I'm just not sure why they would hold the skills back from you. Because they are your friends, they shouldn't need to horde skills for themselves either.”

Once Aegis finishes talking I answer him.

“There must be a reason for both of them to not want to teach me. Brick is probably because it is a tribe thing, maybe to get the skill you have to go through a right of passage or something… I can't figure out why Lance would hold back. Maybe he just wants to have a special move all to himself...”

Greed immediately speaks once I'm done.

“That way of thinking is going to get more of Brick's and Lance's friends kill. Imagine the usefulness of both skills. Brick would be perfect for you. Going from a complete weakling to a strong fighter instantly.”

“Yea… I hope he changes his mind and wants to teach me.”

This entire time I was talking with myself Leaf was watching me…

“Sorry! Discussing some things in my head with Greed and Aegis. Speaking of which. If you could pick your class, which would it be?”

Leaf turned away when I started talking. I guess she is still afraid to talk to me about anything not related to getting stronger… The only human to break the class limit is afraid to talk to the person who can teach her a new class… She finally speaks up.

“Well… The group is lacking a warden and a warlock when it comes to magic… Warden will be needed far more in the future. You also don't have an illusionist high level either. The invisibility spell will be a huge boost to bypassing threats… Umm… Any of those would be fine… You decide though...”

I think about it. Gizmo has two of those classes. I think I could even bring Gear and as long as I didn't activate him, the bosses wouldn't get stronger... If not I could replace Methodis if needed.

“Gizmo is a warden/illusionist so we could start bringing him. I could teach you warlock if you want… I don't think it would be a good fit for you though… I have a feeling like you should hold off on learning a class from me for some reason. Like you're so special you'll unlock a new class all by yourself.”

When I said that she ran away… I can't even compliment her without her running away… If a relationship starts between us, I'm definitely the person who would have to initiate it… It still feels too soon, I'm only twelve. Greed speaks up.

“You should be with her. No one is stopping you, she likes you, she is strong. Why not be with her now?”

“I feel like if we get together too early we won't last long as a couple.”

“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! I married my first wife when I was thirteen! We stayed together for ten years!”

“What happened too her?”

“Nothing you want to here about… I don't want to remember it myself...”

I feel bad for Greed now… I wonder what happened. I'll have to go through his memories before we travel on the sea. Greed speaks up again.

“The first time I mention something I don't want you to know you think about going through my memories… You're a freaking hypocrite trying to see me going through pain!”

“Relax Greed I'll need to know more about the oceans anyways and going through your memories will help with that.”

“...I guess… Just don't judge me for what I've done too harshly… It still hurts me to think about all the bad times I've had.”

After the conversation we pick up the tent and start to move on. We brought a carriage and the only thing on it right now, is three void bags full of several hundred pounds of ingredients... Zergnar is returning from his scouting trip with Trice. Leaf looks slightly disappointed for some reason once they get back. Maybe she wants to fly?

“Hey Zergnar, can Leaf fly on your griffin for air support? I think having a mage with you might help think up new strategies.”

“Sure, Bloodyclaw can handle three people at once. She's a strong girl.”

He pats Bloodyclaw as he says that. Leaf looks embarrassed but still climbs on. Trice jumps off Bloodyclaw in a hurry to make room. They take off into the air with Leaf letting out little screams of excitement… I hope I wasn't wrong… It could end badly if she is afraid of heights or something.

Side story: Leaf's point of view

I'M FLYING! I'M ACTUALLY FLYING! I yell out.

“This is amazing!”

“Yea, I had the same feeling you do right now my first time flying! The other girl sure had a different feeling flying… I don't know if Kite knows this but Trice couldn't even open her eyes up here.”

“I wish I could live up here. Make a little house and just stare out the window every day. The view is so beautiful…”

“...I guess you didn't have the same exact feeling I had my first time...”

...What I just said was pretty embarrassing. I don't care, it feels so amazing up here. We're leading everyone else to the next boss. There it is, some type of… Plant thing.

Main story: Kite's point of view

We follow Zergnar's lead, him leading us to a big clearing. We see what it is. It's a living growth monster. I wait for Zergnar and Leaf to land near us. Then I whisper to everyone around what this boss is about.

“This plant can continue to regrow. It can grow other different plant monsters like mandrakes, treants, poisonous plants, anything harmful that is a plant, this monster can make. Do not set it on fire! Then we have to deal with a permanently on fire living growth monster. Ice attacks work best against it. You can cut the plant life but the boss will just regenerate it. We're going to need the mages to focus the boss while everyone else kills the plants growing so they don't overwhelm us.”

I make some spider silk and drench it in water.

“Put this in your ears. It will deafen the mandrakes once they start screaming… Please be careful with the mandrakes, they can be made into a very potent hallucinogen… Be careful with all the plants if you can, we can use them all for ingredients.”

We slowly approach the boss. This is the first one I don't want to prematurely kill, the more ingredients we get the better so I'm playing the defensive role again. I'll cover the area in water so anything grown will be more effected by the ice attacks. The living growth finally sees us. It's long vines planting themselves in the ground. The monster itself isn't difficult to kill, you can get overwhelmed by plant creatures if you can't kill it fast enough.

The mandrakes start popping up, some treants are also being formed. I see a few poisonous plants being sprout… I rush over breathing in the poison… Nope already have this one. Casting freeze on the barely audible mandrakes. Screams so loud, I wouldn't even be able to move if I didn't put in makeshift earplugs first. Freezing them whole.

Gear is still active. I rush over to a treant and he cuts it apart. This wood is going to be so helpful later on. Maybe I should hold off on killing this boss? The more materials we get the better… As I think that I see something very worrisome. The remaining raid boss was drawn in by the sounds of the mandrakes!

Shit! It's a golem! Around the same size as Rock. We all have earplugs in! No one will be able to hear me call for help or switch to the golem… I'm going to use my new trump card! I haven't gotten to use yet. It is the perfect time to test it out…

While it takes an extraordinary amount of time to make it, it should work perfectly and this will be its first test. I throw a void bag into the air over the golem. Pulling back an arrow I fire at it, ripping the bag and destroying the rare. The bag was filled with poison vials with all six of my different poisons… Including the acid which should work against him… WHAT!? Why is Purple there!? Shit! Purple just got hit by the explosion of poison!

Pulling out a healing scroll, I rush towards Purple. The golem was beaten instantly by the explosion. That single bomb had taken weeks of preparation to use. Hundreds of vials wasted, a rare enchanting bag and more mana that I could have used for other things might have just killed my pet! While running I chant a dispel. Using the scroll to heal Purple… Purple is still alive… That was scary.

The bottoms of my boots have been eaten through by the poison. The ground where the golem was melted down into a giant hole. I jump out holding Purple in my hands to see the aftermath of the battle between the rest of the group and the living growth monster.

I turn around the see the battlefield with the living growth is completely destroyed too. Huge portions of it are frozen, other parts covered in corpses from the melee. The boss was defeated too. I pull out my earplugs just in time to hear the last mandrake's death wails. We just beaten two raid bosses at once.

Speed run challenge beaten- Please pick a reward

100 gold | two rares | achievement

Summoner secret skill gained Summon plant- can summon a single random plant monster to help fight for you

Blue mage skill upgraded Thick skin--> Thicker skin- Skin more resilient against arrows and slashing attacks

Level increased to 31

Level increased to 32

Darkclaw “baby griffinling” evolved into greater unique variant young griffinling

Morpheus “lesser changling” evolved into changling

Purple “dartwing bat” evolved into rare variant poison dartwing

Wow that is a lot of things that just happened. I say.

“Gobber pick the achievement, see if it gives a stat boost of some kind.”

“It gives a movement speed boost while in raids.”

“Everyone pick that then.”

Achievement gained Speed runner+- Kill two raid bosses within twenty minutes of each other (speed run challenge unlocked, kill two raid bosses within ten minutes of each other) ten percent movement speed bonus in raids

Damn the rewards aren't cumulative, we would have easily just unlocked the next speed run challenge if they were. While getting over one thousand gold would have be-. Greed cuts me off.

“YOU FUCKING IDIOT! THAT WAS OVER A THOUSAND GOLD!!!”

“Yea, think about the future though. Tier five and six raids, we can make a thousand gold very single time we clear it.”

“That doesn't matter! One thousand gold is so much money! Imagine all the protection you could have bought for your army with that!”

“We need the boost for harder raids later on. I also have a plan… We know where the four bosses are now. In a month or two after the bosses respawn. What do you think would happen if we killed all four at the same time?”

“...Still… I would've liked you to pick the money.”

We'll head back now. Once we get out of the raid we can take the portal back to the fortress and have the new troops return home the long way. Advertisement Support "Master of Learning (Color coded)" PayPal Patreon Previous

Chapter Fiction

Index Next

Chapter RSS About the author 2 Fictions 2 Posts 0 Threads Raigner Follow Author Monday, January 25, 2016 4:20:01 AM Wednesday, February 17, 2016 2:35:30 AM United states

Bio:

Achievements Comments(14) Set Compact Log in to comment

Log In Load Comments Please enable JavaScript to load the comments! Log in to comment

Log In Settings Theme (Entire Website) Dark Light Dim background 0% 20% 40% 50% 60% 80% 100% Font Size 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 20 22 24 28 32 Reader Width Max 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% Font Family Default ————— Open Dyslexic Atkinson Hyperlegible ————— Arial Roboto Open Sans OS Default Comic Sans Lucida Verdana Ubuntu Ubuntu Condensed Franklin Gothic Garamond Caslon Minion Font Color Indent Color Scheme Theme Default OLED Black Royal Road Dark Dark Gray Gray Light Gray Sepia White Paragraph Spacing Close × Give Reputation to User: Points You can specify how many points you want to give (minimum: 0, maximum: 0). Comment (optional) Why are you giving this user reputation? Give Reputation Close About

Royal Road® is the home of web novels and fan fictions! In our amazing community, you can find various talented individuals who write as a hobby or even professionally, artists who create art for them, and many, many readers who provide valuable feedback and encouragement.

Amazon Affiliate Royal Road® is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. Theme Select Dark Light

Follow Us On Need some help? Create a support ticket

Contact Contact Us by Email

Advertising Ads for Authors

Programmatic Advertising Royal Road® © 2013-2022 Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | Blog | Status Tap again to scroll to the top!