The rest of the night went quickly. Alex hunted. Most were too low, but he still considered it good practice.
I would have gone into the dungeon, but Korgrith's people are taking turns to keep it going all night in shifts. Good on them for fighting to survive. Better than most of the humans I've met so far. I really need to find a teacher for this new reality. Someone to teach me how the Universal System works, magic, swordsmanship, I need to get better with it all.
Morning came, and Alex returned to camp for breakfast. He had worked up an appetite, causing wholesale slaughter of the local wildlife.
I’m close to level 9, I can feel it. I should have that this morning. But I don’t think I can hit level 10 before the event begins tomorrow morning, there just aren't enough monsters around my level to fight. If I had more than 24 hours, I would venture farther and see what I can find, but I can’t take that risk right now.
Alex looked around the camp. The people seemed a lot more relaxed, even the humans. Some were laughing and smiling; most were just relaxing and eating; only a few looked downtrodden or distraught.
Well, that’s a quick turnaround for most people.
The defenses had changed aswell. The earth mages constructed large stone walls, about ten feet tall, throughout the night along the perimeter. They encircled the clearing in front of the cave entrance. The clearing was also extended, flattened, and cleaned up after so many new people arrived. It was now a relatively large area. There was one area cut out of the wall where a gate would go, if they actually had gates. The entrance had two guards keeping watch.
Alex chuckled. Everything looks like shit; it definitely wasn’t professionally built. We just threw some walls up, the best we could with earth magic, and the guards don’t even have armor, not to mention they're only level 3 right now. But having someone keep an eye out to shout a warning is helpful enough, I guess.
Breakfast ended, and Alex got to work. Time was running out to prepare, and he planned to spend the day getting stronger.
The camp is as defended as it’s going to get. The only choice now is to kill shit and gain more experience.
He did just that. He ventured out into the forest again, but he didn’t want to risk the goblins, so he went a different direction. He hunted and slaughtered throughout the morning. Before lunch time, he had leveled to 9, but decided to save the points to use during the event.
And then he continued, fighting anything he could, looking for more substantial challenges nearby. The day flew by him, and the next thing he knew, evening had come. There just hadn’t been enough high-level monsters nearby, though. Disappointed he couldn’t get level 10 before the event began, he returned to camp.
While there is still a little daylight, I want to double-check all the camp defenses, maybe add some defensive spikes or something? I really have no idea what I’m doing. But they always have spikes in the movies. Too bad I can’t build a moat, too, and maybe throw some alligators or sharks in there. Better yet… Sharks with freaking laser beams attached to their heads. Dr.Evil would be proud. He chuckled, resisting the urge to bring his pinky up to his mouth and laugh, as he grabbed some meat to eat for dinner.
Everyone was in the camp, as far as Alex could tell. He saw Sarah, Sam, and Derek, all level 7, and even Korgrith and Rykos, both level 6 and 7.
Not bad, everyone leveled up a bit. Some of the Beastkin seem to have gained a level or two as well; they must have gone into the dungeon. Everyone who leveled also has at least one piece of gear from the dungeon.
Either tonight or in the morning, he wanted to gather his team and the Beastkin leaders for a meeting.
I’m glad I don’t actually have to lead or micromanage everything here; they’re doing a good job, not that I actually think I could be a good leader. I’d rather just be out stabbing monsters with my sword. He patted the sword's grip on his waist. He loved his weapon.
Many people in the camp are starting to look nervous as the day wears on. They must be worried about the event in the morning. I can’t blame them. I'm scared, but I’m also… excited. And most of my fear about it isn’t directed towards me; it's for them. I don’t want to see any of them die. But deep down… I know I won’t be able to stop what's coming. These events, this tutorial.. So many are going to die before it ends. Alex felt the pain of his thoughts. He wouldn’t consider himself too empathic, but even he could feel their fear. It hurt to think about how many of them might die in the coming days or weeks.
I’ll do my best to protect as many of them as I can. They’re my responsibility now. I made them my problem when I offered to protect them.
Even I could die, though. But strangely… I don’t feel the fear of it anymore like I did inside the dungeon that first day. In the first few hours, my emotions were all over the place. But now? I feel… in control.
Evening came and went, nightfall descending upon them all. Many went off to try and sleep, but they all knew it wouldn’t be restful for most. Alex planned to give it a try, too. He wanted rest for the event, and the night before, he had hunted all night. The announcement said there was no end time for the event, so he couldn’t count on being able to sleep regularly after it began.
Countdown until first event begins: 89 minutes
Alex woke early, right before sunrise. They had under 90 minutes before the event started, so he went out to get food, then planned to inspect the defenses for the one-hundredth time. He spent the whole time trying to improve them, looking for weaknesses, and worrying it wasn’t enough.
Until finally the time was up.
The people around looked extremely nervous and tired from lack of sleep. He waved to Derek and the others, who were all eating. More people had left the cave while he had been busy. As Alex walked over to them, the countdown struck zero.
**ANNOUNCEMENT**
--
Day 6 has come. The first event of your tutorial begins now.
The goblin hordes have been assembled, as the Five Great Goblin Generals have convened their council. They have agreed on one thing: war. The generals will take their armies and march upon the outsiders invading their lands. They will kill, loot, and pillage anyone who stands before them.
This event has no time limit. The event will continue until the Five Generals and their armies have been defeated.
Sponsors will award rewards after the event ends.
This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
The Goblin Surge event has begun.
Good luck, gain power, and above all, survive.
___
“Shit,” Alex said aloud.
An army might come down on us, I’m glad we got some defenses… but I don't know if they’ll help much.
Derek, Sam, Sarah, Korgrith, and Rykos were all coming over to him.
“It's a lot worse than I thought it would be,” Alex said first when they all arrived. “We’ll need to prepare or watch out for an army.”
Korgrith nodded. “I’ll send out scouts immediately to look for goblins and report back anything.”
“I actually know where the closest goblins are. There is a settlement a few hours' walk from us. I’ll go there myself and check whether they’re moving. Send your scouts in different directions.”
“I can do that,” Korgrith nodded.
“Derek, I want you, Sam, and Sarah to stay close to base for now; you’ll act as a quick response to defense or offense.”
“Got it,” Derek said. Sam and Sarah both nodded in agreement.
“You can count on us, boss,” Sam added with a thumbs up.
“Korgrith and Rykos, you guys know your people best. Arrange them however you want. But we will need groups for both defense and offense. People who can permanently stay here and defend, and some people who can help us fight outside the camp if needed.”
They both nodded in affirmation. “It will be done,” Korgrith replied.
“Thanks, guys. I’ll leave immediately and head to the goblin camp. I don’t know if it's one of the places with a General or an army, but it looked potentially big. So maybe.”
So Alex left, with all his equipment, minus his staff. The weapon no longer benefited him as much, since he now used so many different elements. He lent it to the earth mages who were in charge of defenses.
Channeling his Wind Magic, he enhanced his speed to inhuman levels and blurred through the forest. Alex remembered exactly where he had seen the goblins and headed straight there.
It took him almost an hour to get there, even with his wind enhancement on, and when he got close, he slowed down and kept alert. His mana was low after using his magic for the run, so he took his time moving forward to let it recover.
Waiting in the forest, he kept low and slowly crept on. He didn’t hear anything yet, but he knew he was close to the forest edge.
When his mana regenerated enough, he activated stealth and sped up a little bit. Once the forest edge came into view, he was very thankful to have stealth activated. Looking out towards the goblin encampment, he had seen… he could barely see it now. There were so many goblins between the forest and the camp, it looked like a large lake made of green heads.
Goblin Warrior (Level 6)
Goblins are a race considered to be the scourge of any planet. Basic goblins are aggressive and not intelligent. They only care about killing, looting, and breeding. This specific goblin variant is a Warrior type, their most common fighting force.
Goblin Raider (Level 8)
Goblins are a race considered to be the scourge of any planet. Basic goblins are aggressive and not intelligent. They only care about killing, looting, and breeding. This specific goblin variant is a Raider type. They are faster than a standard warrior and specialize in harassing, pillaging, scouting, and raiding.
Goblin Skirmisher (Level 7)
Goblins are a race considered to be the scourge of any planet. Basic goblins are aggressive and not intelligent. They only care about killing, looting, and breeding. This specific goblin variant is a Skirmisher type. The skirmishers specialize in archery, focusing usually on quantity over quality, raining down arrows on their enemies.
Goblin Assassin (Level 7)
Goblins are a race considered to be the scourge of any planet. Basic goblins are aggressive and not intelligent. They only care about killing, looting, and breeding. This specific goblin variant is an Assassin type. They are quick, cunning, and agile, specializing in stealth, poisons, or assassinations.
Goblin Shaman (Level 9)
Goblins are a race considered to be the scourge of any planet. Basic goblins are aggressive and not intelligent. They only care about killing, looting, and breeding. This specific goblin variant is a Shaman type. The shamans are intelligent and serve as spiritual and magical leaders, specializing in spellcasting. These spells are typically curses, debuffs, or fire and earth magics.
This is… so many more than I expected. There are thousands of goblins and many different variants. I can't even inspect some of the new ones I see because they're too far or hidden by others. If this army comes to our camp, we’re screwed. We wouldn’t last an hour.
I don’t even see a General out there. Is this one of the armies or several mixed?
Alex wasn’t sure what to do; he could go back and warn the others, but they wouldn’t be able to defend against an army.
As much as I hate to admit it, I can’t solo this many either. Their levels are too close to mine, and that’s just what I can see from here. I would bet there are some over level 10. I don’t think I have any choice; I have to return to the camp for now, maybe they’ll have another idea.
Alex sat and watched another thirty minutes, waiting to see if there was any movement to the army or to catch a glimpse of a General. But nothing changed, so he went back to tell the others and decide their next steps.
The journey back to camp was faster for him. He pushed himself, knowing time was of the essence. He also didn’t need to worry about running into goblins or other monsters, since he had just come through this way.
All the leadership was still there when he returned to camp. Gathering them up, Alex told them what he had seen.
“Thousands…?”, Sarah said in bewilderment.
Korgrith looked troubled. “You say the lowest you saw was a level 5?”
Alex nodded. “Yes. And many were higher. I didn't see any above level 10, but it would be stupid to think there weren’t any. I also didn’t even see any Generals. Who knows what levels they would be? “
“We do not stand a chance against such an army,” Rykos said.
Derek nodded his agreement. “He’s right, even if we had more people and a stronger base for defense, that's too many of them.”
“What do we do then? I don’t know if that army will come our way, but ignoring it sounds like a bad idea. And even if the army doesn’t initially, patrols or scouts from their forces will find us.” Alex said to them.
“Then we fight them guerrilla style, man, it's simple.” Sam said, speaking up for the first time in the conversation.”The army is too big to attack head-on and too big to bring back to base. So we attack it with hit and run tactics, set traps, lead them onto terrain we want, etcetera.”
Everyone turned and stared at Sam, like he had two heads. Everyone was quiet for several seconds.
“What?” he said.
“We’re just surprised you had a brain in there,” Sarah replied with a smirk.
“Ha ha, so funnyyy. Screw you guys. I think sometimes!” Sam flipped everyone off with his middle finger.
Alex laughed. “Sam’s idea isn’t bad. That might be our only option here unless we want to run and hide, avoiding the fight, which I will not do. The rest of you can, if you’d like. None of us will think poorly of you, if you don’t want to fight.” He eyed each of them.
Korgrith looked to be in thought, and looked at Rykos, who nodded to him. “We agree with his idea. Those tactics would be the best option for fighting an army like this. We will join you, Alex.”
“Samesies,” Sam said with a goofy grin.
Derek and Sarah both nodded their agreement with Sam.
“Alright then, that's the plan. But we need to come up with some specifics.
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