Lord Of Goblins

"Thrust!" Lev yelled.

Causing more than twenty armed with blunt wooden spears to try and thrust them in unison.

Two weeks had passed since Rak's announcement and today was supposed to be the day they would be sent off to the expedition, but fortune was on Lev's side as the expedition was delayed for another additional three weeks four days ago. It seems that the Jiira had to repel an attack by the Kur a week ago. They were successful, but as luck would have it, the leader of this expedition was among those heavily injured so they need time to assign his replacement and for their warriors to recover.

'Thank god for small miracles.' Lev thought as his forces weren't ready yet for combat. It takes time to train a military proper force and two weeks of training consisting of a few hours after work aren't enough to make a formidable fighting force, that would need about 5 to 6 months without any distractions at the least. It took a week and a half for Lev to teach them how to follow basic commands and stand in formation. The end result was shoddy at best, as the bogeys easily broke from formation when they attempt a march. So Lev decided to teach them to fight in three-man groups consisting of two spear wielders and a shield-bearer. The shield-bearer would draw the enemy's attention and block their attack, then one of the spear wielders would thrust at the enemy's feet while the last would thrust at a vital point such as the c.h.e.s.t or head. It wasn't the best formation and it would cause military experts to frown, but it was simple enough to teach them in time for the expedition. He would've improved it if he had more time, men, and resources. Sadly, all of the above are finite, especially men as his group has just recently gained its thirty-second member three days ago.

Lev looked at his left arm 'More time would also help with this.'. The wound was healing properly and looks like it would need just another week for it to heal completely, leaving behind a nasty scar.

He looked back at his men and sighed. 'If only I had more time and I could get some archers'. Lev wanted to add ranged support to his forces, but archers are quite rare underground. Most greyborn hunters rely on traps, javelins, and melee weapons to hunt as they lack flexible wood and fletching to train in archery. Most archers either belong to the nobles or are goblins.

"Gher-I mean sir!" Volker, one of the younger trainees call out to Lev. He was one of the first to join him as he and his brother were some of those targeted by Vyrga's men back then. He was loyal to Lev and saw him as a hero, sadly Volker's brother didn't share the same feelings and chose to not join Lev's group. He surprised the other recruits as in just a week and a half he managed to gain Lev's respect despite his timid nature. It was mostly because of his honest nature and that he worked the hardest amongst all the recruits.

"What?" Lev asked the youth in an agitated tone. Nothing was going according to plan and he has a feeling that he wasn't going to like what he was going to hear.

"U-Uhm…" The youth stuttered.

Lev sighed "Get on with it, Volker. It's not like it can get worse than-".

"Ow! What was that for!?" Cried one of the recruits as one of his comrades accidentally hit him as he was turning around. He was trying to see what Volker wanted to tell their leader.

"Sorry!".

'And that's why I chose to first use blunt spears' Lev shook his head.

"Um… Mister Gherm- I mean Sir?".

"Yes, Volker?".

"I never fought before, but I've seen some guards taking care of hivelings. Wouldn't it be better to get some ranged support?".

"Of course it would be better to get some ranged support. Concentrated volleys are deadly. But we can't get archers. The f.u.c.k.i.n.g upper class and the goblins have a monopoly on them." Lev growled.

"Please remember not to insult them in their face, sir." Volker reminded Lev for the twentieth time since he joined Lev's group and then he asked: "And what's a Mono-poly?".

"I'd never do something that stupid, and to answer your question, in simple terms a monopoly means that only a single person or a group of people have full control over a resource, so they decide who can get their hands on it and who won't. Sadly, according to Rak; that piece of shit Vyrga got four archers, while us and Rak get squat. Hence, the wooden helmets and c.h.e.s.t guards." Lev used all the merits that he gained the past week and a half to get some equipment for his troops. It wasn't enough to supply everyone, but he managed to convince Rak to donate his old equipment for free.

"Why not use slings or javelins?".

"rocks shot from slings are too weak to harm a hiveling's body while how many javelins can the average grey bogey carry? eight to ten?".

"That's something I keep wondering about, why is it rocks? If we tweak them, can't slings be attached to a wooden body and used as bows to shoot arrows?".

'Slingshots... Nice idea…' Lev grinned as he thought of Volker's idea. But then his face slackened as he realized some problems with the idea.

"W-What's wrong sir?" Asked the young lad nervously.

"We can't make f.u.c.k.i.n.g arrows because we lack f.u.c.k.i.n.g fletching…" Lev sighed. "Not to mention that we can't make slingshots because we don't have f.u.c.k.i.n.g rubber, Lucky us!" he declared in mockery with a sneer.

"Rubber?".

Lev realized that he slipped. How could these primitives know what rubber is? How could he who should be a greyborn slave know what rubber is? He had to come up with an answer that would satisfy the curious lad without revealing his true identity. He looked left and right and pretended as if he was hiding a great secret while whispering into the young man's ear "I heard a rumour that an exiled shaman created a wondrous and flexible material that he called rubber. It's extremely powerful and resilient. From what I know, after the discovery, the nobles hunted him down and once they caught him, they hid his invention from public eyes to keep it for themselves and killed him. We shouldn't take about this any further, agreed?".

Volker nodded immediately as nobody wants to end up on the bad side of the nobles.

"Good." Lev nodded. He was relieved that the lad believed his lie as he wouldn't believe it himself. Lev doesn't know much about rubber, but due to his origin, he knew that despite its elasticity, as long as the rubber cord was thin, it wasn't a good material for large ranged weapons such as bows. The rubber band would rip.

"So slings it is, sir?" the lad tried to change the conversation.

"Yup. There's nothing wrong with them as a ranged weapon. They're deadly, their range is good, they can be used with a wide variety of projectiles, and best of all they're easy to use, but they're a bad match with hivelings and heavily armoured creatures. If only we had something better than rocks for ammo, it would be a great weapon. Some form of metal projectiles, but the goblins and the nobles prevent us from using metal, so we only have stones and if we want to be creative, clay bottles.".

"Clay bottles?" This is the first time Volker heard of people using clay bottles as weaponry.

Lev replied with a grin "Sure. We can fill them with all kinds of nasty surprises. From paralysis causing poison to sleeping powder, you name it. We can even fill them with oil and set our enemies on fire." He smiled at the thought of setting those who stand in his way on flames, but that smile didn't last long "Sadly, there's only so much poisons and powders we can get our hands-on. They cost a lot of merits, which we don't have, and Cyfrac oil is the most expensive of them all." Cyfracs are a family of rare red plants found on the fifth floor and beyond. They look like some form of red rye and they're easily combustible. Their oil has many uses from ceremonies to smithies, but it's most valued by shamans and healers due to its ability to allow flames to spread fast, but last for a long time.

"Amazing!".

"Yes, it is amazing, but we can't get it. Even if we can, the supply would be finite. The best thing for a rope sling would be metal rounds, but we can't get those either.".

They both stood there in silence while overseeing the training recruits, but Volker broke the silence "Maybe we can…".

"How so?".

"Would lead rounds work?".

"They'd actually be great for sling projectiles; a good lead shot could pierce a bronze helmet. But I checked with Rak and other sources. Though lead can be used by greyborns, we can only get it in ore. There're no weapon masters or smiths who deal with greyborns, only the lowliest of craftsmen. And they can't forge for themselves, instead, they request smiths to do most of the work and they just assemble it, decorate it, and sell it." Lev sighed and shook his head as he remembered how he kept searching in all the possible places allowed for greyborns in vain.

"I know someone...".

"What!?" Lev nearly shouted, shocking his nearby troops.

"He's an exile that my dad saved a long time ago. I can get him to help us, but knowing his personality, he won't do it for free; the only thing I can assure you is that it won't be expensive either.".

"That changes a lot of things," Lev said in relief as he found what could be a solution to his problem.

"B-but there's one problem." Spoke Volker nervously as he knows how much Lev hates the word 'But'.

"Which is?".

"That he refuses to reveal his identity to anyone but my dad and a select few, so only I can see him. Sorry, sir.".

"Let me guess, he used to be some great and arrogant smith but he pissed off some nobles who want him dead, not just exiled; so he hid in the only place they wouldn't suspect that someone of his calibre would go, the slave quarters. Right? And the reason he doesn't want anyone to know who he is isn't just because they're after him, but also so that no one recognizes him thus harming his already damaged ego any further.".

"H-how did you know, sir?".

"I have a gift when it comes to these sort of things."

'And it's a common scenario in games and novels.' Lev thought to himself shamelessly. He wasn't a fan of wasting his time on frivolous activities such as gaming and reading fantasy stories, but Brutus was. He kept telling him about the plot of his games, novels, and comics, despite Lev not being interested in such things. He now wishes he was, a few of those reincarnation scenarios would've actually helped him right about now.

"Anyways, after training, go and get us a decent deal. Getting our hands on lead projectiles would be a game-changer!".

"Really?" The boy was once again confused.

"Yeah, really. Now go!".

"Yes, sir!" Volker saluted before running back to his snickering companions.

"You find this funny!?" Lev roared.

"No!" the now pale trainees replied.

"No what!?".

"No, sir!".

"Good! Then straighten your backs, get into positions and run five l.a.p.s around the mining quarters!".

"Yes, sir!" The men shouted with all their heart. More than a week under Lev taught them how to respond to his orders and what kind of punishment they'd receive if they defied him. One time, a former recruit who turned out to be working for Vyrga tried to take over as leader considering he was larger, stronger, and was a known fighter among the mining slaves, but he ended up in a sorry state after taking on Lev. He ended up weeping on the floor with his face bloody, a couple of his teeth knocked out, and his right arm broke. How could Lev take him out while he was injured, nobody knows, but what they now know is that he isn't someone that people can easily mess with.

"And don't forget your spears!".

"Yes sir…!" They answered back, about to break in tears.

Lev smiled as he loved playing the role of a sergeant from hell.

As the men began running, He joined them. He needs to get his body fit as well after all.

---

"So how was your day?" Ghorza asked Lev during dinner. It was insects, porridge, and turnips.

"It was good. I managed to get a few problems off my back." He replied.

It really was a good day due to what happened about a while ago.

…

He couldn't wait for tomorrow as time was of the essence so he let Volker leave immediately after he finished the l.a.p.s. Volker contacted him as he was waiting for Lev outside his home and showed him a few samples from the smith. They were masterfully crafted lead bullets of various shapes and they were the size of his thumb. They mainly came in either the form of flat elongated bullets with sharpened ends or peach-like oblong ones with one end having sharpened edges while the other end is round. They were all adorned with the symbol of the war god Jorm and artistic carvings in a way that wouldn't hamper their performance.

He liked their design, but looks wouldn't win him a battle so he proceeded to test them. He took out from his room a spare wooden helmet that he kept in the house and put it on the ground a distance away from any of the homes. The last thing he wants is a broken pot.

He took a sling that he recently prepared for the occasion. He created a slipknot and fit his middle finger into the slipknot, then he pinched the handle between his forefinger and thumb. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath clearing his mind of any distractions. Then he opened them and placed an oblong bullet into the pouch and drew the missile back into a wide vertical orbit. He raised his arm and swung it down behind his head, tightening the first orbit then taking a pitcher's step. As the missile reached the top of its second orbit, he completed a step forward and released the handle as his wrist snapped forward! The bullet was released!

Volker gasped as the speeding bullet raced forward, ready to pierce through the helmet with all its might, and then he heard a loud bang!

They looked at the helmet, but alas the bullet missed by a margin, hitting a large stone a few feet behind it instead.

They frowned but not for long, for the stone was cracked where the bullet hit. It managed to crack a part of the stone!

They ran towards the bullet and it was still in one piece but slightly deformed from the front.

"Volker.".

"Yes, mister Gherm-I mean sir!?".

"Tell him that we'll need a lot of bullets, but without the decorations," Lev told him with a smile.

"Y-Yes, sir!" The youth replied with vigour before marching towards the smith.

…

"Gherm!".

"Huh?".

"You're getting lost in your thoughts a lot recently," Ghorza said with a worried expression.

"Sorry, I've just got a lot on my plate recently. You know, due to our current circ.u.mstances.".

"I know that. Just… stay out of trouble okay, brother?".

"Don't worry about me. You should worry about yourself more, you look like you're gonna fall asleep right here.".

"You're not the only one working hard, and someone needs to save some extra credits because an ambitious bloke keeps spending all of his." She tells him with a glare.

"Sorry, but not sorry. It's for a better future.".

"I hope. Anyways, now that we're done eating, let's go to sleep early. We both need it.".

"Sure, but wash your hands first.".

"I got it already! Sheesh." She replied before going to wash. She started getting used to Lev's antics and actually accepting him as also being her brother.

They both cleaned the dining room, washed and went to their beds early.

Lev started getting used to sleeping on the uncomfortable impromptu bed and fell into a deep sleep.

But he didn't sleep as much as he liked as early in the morning he was woken by a scream. It was from the dining room and it was Ghorza!

He immediately grabbed his knife and rushed towards the room to find a teary-eyed Ghorza kneeling and looking at the dining table with her hands covering her mouth as she resisted the urge to puke.

He couldn't blame her for on the table, there were three heads.

It was the head of the fat thug and what looked like 2 young boys, their expressions twisted in pain and anguish…

'Looks like I need to secure the house after all…'