After the tremors felt from Adil's base construction, only a few of the goblins wished to investigate. But after a few words form Adil and the direction of Aku they were lead inside. They progressed through the entrance huddled together, nervous to any slight movement. A chattering sound echoed from the depths before what appeared to be a sizeable silvery creature came out of the darkness. It was one of the drones, a goblin fighter panicked and swatted it with his mace. The splattered remains of the thing ended up like a silvery goo along the floor. It seeped through cracks in the rock, slowly dissolving away until it was no more.

Notification

One of the drones has been killed, mana reaccumulated.

Replace drone?

yes/ no

Adil replaced the drone, knowing it would come back again but he was unsure why it was this far out in the first place. Navigating the system of caves they came across illusionary wall after illusionary wall. Adil easily led them down the right way through the directions of the map on his interface.

As they went further in the occasional drone was found scurrying around the cave, their silvery mandibles rubbing along the walls. Upon inspection of the creatures, they seemed to be engineering the tunnels to create the deceptive illusionary walls that Adil had set out to design before. As the creatures worked, it was as though their mandibles reached out and changed shape into whatever form helped for the situation — even melting into a silvery paste that enveloped places, glowing slightly to imbue the walls with magical illusionary properties.

Eventually, the group walked towards the ledge, a space that housed the forge, anvil, spawn crystal and enchanting table. The plethora of scurrying silvery insects was challenging to avoid, and as they peered towards the pit, they were like shimmering silver veins coating the walls beyond. Bits of rock would be chipped away and then carried off to the Spawn crystal, where the terraforming properties of it would absorb the matter as if it was an afternoon snack.

Adil reached towards the spawn crystal, his mana connecting, his eyes glowing brightly. The drones around the group dispersed, leaving the forge empty and open so that they could move around freely.

Aku had come with the group, and as a leader of the goblins, Adil thought it would be best to involve him in whatever plan he had set out.

"You ready?" Adil asked.

Swift nodded in reply, and they both connected back into the Spawn crystal. Using their combined powers Adil opened up a table in the centre of the room, it pulled out from the surface connected to a tangible string of mana that was pouring from the crystal.

Eventually, it was as though a large stone circular table with many chairs was in that part of the space. A temporary base of operations until the expansion was complete. The table itself appeared to hold an ethereal, ghostly layer over it as though there was a layer of mana imbued to its surface. On Aku's direction, a group of armoured, crossbow-wielding, and fighter goblins stepped forward to gather around the table.

Adil reached down, the knowledge imbued from the crystal connected his mana to the table as he did that the ethereal layer over it began to warp and change shape. The goblins started staring into the changing mist on the table; each one of them focused on a different area and having their sight zoom in. It was as though they had to physically will themselves to separate from the sight to see the rest of the room.

The smoky layer over the table began to form shapes build in consistency and then turn into bushes, trees and pathways. A raging storm was turning the ground into a paste, horses riding through this splashing the thick mud as their powerful hooves scooped it up.

A bright light shone through the darkness as another explosion burst through the rocks and trees, allowing the horses to carry on along their straight path. One of the goblins was so shocked by this mind focusing magic he backed away from the table in pure terror, looking around the space in a panic, sweat trickling down their face. A few others had broken away, refusing to accept what was happening as usual.

Adil pushed a bit of his mana into the table and brought everyone's focus to a view, raising the image on the table so all could see.

"This is just the first wave," He said,

Showing them the breadth of the battalion. Their long formation, galloping through the maze, the Crusaders rode in blocks of two by two, the first group would blast away rocks and debris before others came in to spread the path, swapping out when a group grew tired, other mages moving in to take their place. The back section appeared to be more of an escort, pulling a carriage and storage wagon. A sort of blue-green shield buffeted occasional lightning hitting the battalion. Adil could see the distances how far they were away, the speed of their travel and how long it would take for them to arrive. It was only in a few hours.

As another bolt of lightning struck their magical shield, it echoed throughout the cave, many of the goblins jumping at the sound.

"Hey, Adil. The kids" Swift stated. A few of the smaller goblins now shifted to one of the corners, dashing their eyes between the images, the scurrying drones in the distance and the Giant glowing crystal rotating above them.

Adil pulled his mana from the table and stopped the image from showing to the group leaving silence in the room.

"What do we do," Aku asked.

"We can't beat them yet; we need to hold them back until the defences are ready. They won't be able to break through the cave without risking collapse. So we rely on the fake walls until dawn." Adil replied.

"You think a fake wall will stop them?" another goblin said.

Swift seemed frustrated at his lack of ability to understand them. a glow erupted from the spawning crystal; it seemed to connect to Swift and Adil

Notification

Unlock area translation ability

yes/no

Adil chose yes, and there was a sudden change in the air.

"What just happened?" Swift asked.

Aku looked towards him with a small amount of surprise; he was sure Swift couldn't speak goblin. However, what he had recently seen greatly outweighed this.

"We are about to be attacked. Did you not see the army approaching?" He asked, almost angry.

Swift was taken back by his clear speech, how the goblin language appeared to be a simple way to convey the same words.

Adil put his hand in the way to silence the two.

"If they go the wrong way, then they will fall into swift's dungeon," Adil explained.

Swifts eyes grew large.

"Wait. No... I'm not going to let my dungeon creatures be your cannon fodder," Swift said stubbornly.

"They are monsters, of course, we should use them," Adil said in exasperation.

The goblins appeared uneasy at that remark. Were these the small animals they had just been playing with? The meerkats and their electrical abilities may have been, surprising. But The goblins were a mostly vegetarian race that had built up a long friendship with the wild, especially since their corruption had been removed.

"I agree with the man of fire," Aku said.

"If they are to find these creatures, we will just be feeding their ambition, delaying the inevitable and sacrificing what little we have for moments of peace; we cannot leave it just up to them."

Adil rubbed his hand over his head; somehow, these giant greenish brutes had become virtue signalling pc assholes who would risk their lives for a wild flaming bunny he joked to himself.

"Ok. So we can build more traps and fight them off if anything with the help of the dungeon.

Swift and Adil began highlighting a plan; they designated choke points, sent the drones to build pitfalls. They created secret passages to run away. I might not have been built in time, but at least they could try. In the presence and with the connection to the spawn crystal, it began to glow again. Swift turned to the crystal.

"I know what I can do," He said — focusing on the crystal.

Notification

unlock function

spawn other

The spawn crystal can respawn select beings through the use of mana.

costs: 1000 essence/experience

They chose to accept, and automatically many of the goblins present appeared to resonate with the crystal, a mark of lightning surrounded by a dust devil of fire appearing on parts of their being, shoulders foreheads, arms. Notifications flooded through.

Creature: Aku has been added to respawnables

Creature: Massa has been added to respawnables

Creature: Sumi has been added to respawnables

"There has to be a manual for that thing," Adil said, looking towards it. Swift seemed to fidget on something. He had to get the ideas behind Swift's crystal side; more focused on creatures then buildings.

"I could have done it earlier, but I was trying to figure out how to make things fly."

"We live underground."

"So what?." Swift replied defensively.

Adil facepalmed, part of him thought Swift had a point, but it just seemed too disturbing for now.

"This should be easier," Adil said to the goblins, as they felt the new power rushing through them, they remembered once again who they were talking to, that it might just be better to rely on their strength and direction. He then shimmered open the map on the new war table, showing a layout of the cave system, hidden walls included for every goblin, drone and, Swift to see.

He carried on building up the plan. Choosing locations to send the drones, areas to fight. The goblins were going to resurrect if they died and there would be continuous fighting across the caves. Part of Adil seemed to flow at this moment; he saw points for an exact concave, where his archer team would get the most significant damage against them. He saw points in which the armies could be lead down narrow pathways, forcing them to get trampled by the largest of the goblins and even areas of steep terrain where the goblin horde could siege up, letting them assault and take apart the slow-moving troops.

notification-

tactician level 1

You feel an intuitive understanding of micromanagement overcome you, able to understand the basics of combat the knowledge of army movements will always be in the back of your mind, ready to be retrieved and acted upon for the fastest actions and directions.

This new mental enhancement let him see the areas of the highest effectiveness glowing on the map, stored and taken from the back of his mind in a way that was now second nature.