Chapter 20: First Recruits

The familiar red walls of rocks surrounded us. Shiki slid his hand on a tiny crack and pushed a fake wall aside, revealing another hidden room. The Goblins scrambled to enter. That had been their usual routine after a hunt. I sighed. Another failure.

We’d been hunting for the past few days. Be it Nighthowls, Three-fanged Vipers, and there was even an occasion of meeting Goldhorn Rams. The main goal was to subjugate them and create a bigger army. However, they merely added to my body count. 

Despite the lack of success with subjugation, I managed to increase my level once. My status now looked like this.

However, Rihoku, the Goblins, and Nighthowls reaped more in terms of experience.  All the Nighthowls, including Rihoku, were now at level 20. The stronger Goblin, which I had decided to call G1, had reached level 19, while the other two, which I also named G2 and G3, were both at level 18. Even though I didn’t have a huge leap, our strength still grew, albeit still far from actually being a match with the humans.

While we were grinding, Bria had been keeping tabs on Castel. The Golden Sun had arrived two days ago, and the entire town held a grand banquet in his honor. They so honored him that the banquet only finished yesterday. This morning, he had announced a recruitment summon that would be held in a few days. Fortunately, they weren’t in a rush, which was the only thread of hope keeping me sane.

“This isn’t working!” I cried, my voice echoing across the room. “It’s been a few days, and I still haven’t subjugated anything. We need to change our plans if we’re to even stand a chance against them.” 

“I do agree, my liege. A change of course may indeed be necessary,” Shiki agreed.

I turned to Bria, expecting her to come up with a new plan, and she didn’t disappoint. She propped herself on the stonewall and said, “I cannot figure why you’re having a hard time subjugating even Nighthowls and Three-fanged Vipers when you managed to subjugate those four outside. What are we missing?” Bria asked, seemingly to herself. But without receiving an answer for a few long seconds, she continued, “Anyway, if we are to increase our forces, then we must hunt those you can subjugate.”

“And those are?” I asked, propping my head forward.

Bria glanced towards the three green figures inside the hole. “Goblins and, perhaps, Kobolds.”

Then, Bria briefed us regarding our targets using a stick and the land.

***

“Is everyone in position?” I tilted my head towards Bria, who was ever so plainly standing his ground.

Her eyes glowed white for a moment, then she nodded. “Yes.”

I sighed. The plan was that the Nighthowls, Goblins, Bria, and Shiki would encircle the Goblin settlement, sealing all possible escape routes. I, again, would charge and get us more soldiers. When I tried to object to this obviously unfair plan, I was met with the typical “This is your training, my liege.”

At this point, I even wondered why I bother to ask. I drew Gale and stepped in front of the village. With a help from Bria’s amplification spell, I announced, “Goblins! I, Kaito, have come to be your new ruler. Come out and I will spare you of bloodshed.”

I stood there, my face burning from embarrassment. Multiple green heads bobbed out of the leather tents, countless red eyes glared at me. I can’t believe that worked!

Then, arrows rained from the sky, and a mob of Goblins armed with swords, daggers, spears, and other dastardly weapons. 

Crap! A burst of giggling laughter erupted beside me. When I looked towards it, I found Bria laughing her hearts out. “Bria! You tricked me! You’re the one who told me that would work!” 

“It did!” She gasped for air, still couldn’t stifle her laughter. “My trick worked!”

I could feel my face flushing red.

“It’s your fault for falling for such a foolhardy trick, my liege,” Shiki commented, adding insult to injury.

Damn it! I ran to meet the crowd in an attempt to hide my embarrassment.

“Remember not to kill them, Kaito! We need them to fight for us!” I heard Bria shouting behind me, relatively calmed down.

Gathering my thoughts, I kept my eyes on the charging mob. Just as I was to clash with them, I used Wind Walk to decelerate and side step after grabbing the Goblin in front. With their momentum, the mob wasn’t able to follow me and passed by me.

Subjugate! I shouted in my mind, then a screen popped up.

[Subjugate Goblin Lvl 12

(yes) (no)]

I immediately chose yes and the screen changed.

[Subjugating Goblin Lvl 12…

Target is resisting subjugation…

Subjugation success]

A smile crept to my lips. Finally, I managed to subjugate something.

The goblin grabbed its spear, confusion plastered on its hideous face. “Go to Bria and Shiki already!” I shouted.

With the help of the invisible force, the goblin strugglingly heeded my order. Watching my little show, the mob of Goblins was unamused. They changed their course and tried to encircle me. But before they could surround me, I used Wind Walk to break through their enclosure, grabbing another Goblin along the way.

Just like the first one, I immediately subjugated it. It was level 11, but was also quickly subjugated. I repeated this again. But just when I was getting the hang of it, a sharp shout came from the Goblin settlement. The goblins broke their formation and stepped back. Confused, I shifted my gaze back to the settlement.

At that moment, a tent in the middle ripped. A big wooden club stuck out of the hole, then a big, green hand appeared. 

Another ear-piercing roar came from the settlement, and a big Goblin, the size of three ordinary Goblins, appeared. As soon as it saw me, it grabbed its giant club and charged.

“That’s the king, my liege! Kill him and the goblins will follow your lead.” Shiki’s metallic voice pierced the air.

The king, huh… I gripped Gale tighter and positioned it in front of me, anticipating the Goblin King’s attack.

Despite its big size, it was swifter than the ordinary Goblin. Within a few seconds, it was in front of me, swinging it’s gigantic club down my head. Coupled with my reflexes and Wind Walk, I dodged the attack unscathed. But the Goblin King wasn’t about to leave me be, it was already unto me. 

I grinned. Got ya! I quickly used Wind Walk to cover more distance, and when I did, I used Wind Walk again to charge at it. Then, I ducked, stepped in, and used Pseudo Slash. A rough, green hand flew, spraying green ichor as it went.

I smiled. The Goblin King roared, but its eyes weren’t in despair. Rather, it became more enraged. The smile on my face vanished. The Goblin King abandoned its club and went for a flurry of scratch and bite attempts. I managed to evade all of the attacks using Wind Walk and my heightened reflexes. I tried covering more ground with Wind Walk, but the Goblin King’s speed also increased with its berserk state. I grit my teeth. 

Knowing that my earlier strategy wasn’t going to work the second time around, I decided to take a risk. I stepped back using Wind Walk, then used Gale to block its bite. Gale got caught by its razor sharp teeth, emitting a sharp metallic sound. With my free hand, I used Wind Cutter and tried to cut its head off. That barely cut its flesh, but it let go of Gale. I quickly used Wind Walk to step back twice, and on the second step, I flew forward. I channeled a huge amount of mana on Gale, and a black static wave ripped through the air. The Goblin King’s head flew, leaving its body limped on the ground.

I exhaled loudly, releasing all the tension in my body. Huwew, so I did manage to beat him.

A metallic clapping sounded behind. When I looked back, Shiki’s black figure was clapping as he approached me.

“Well done, my liege,” he said. “After vanquishing the leader of this village, you have rightfully replaced him. Naturally, the others shall follow your commands without resistance.”

I tilted my head in his direction, confused as to what he just said. “I don’t have to subjugate all of them?”

“Subjugate the whole population?” Shiki echoed. “You may if you wish, but it may be a senseless effort.”

I scratched my head. I wanted to refute him to defend myself, but ended up just sighing in surrender. Instead, I figured I’d vent my frustration to my recently “vanquished foe.” I picked up the decapitated head and showed it to the village. Even though I hated talking to people, I found it surprisingly easy when it came to non-humans. “Listen up, Goblins! I have killed your king in a fair combat. From now on, you shall follow my orders!”

The Goblins cheered. I scanned the area, trying to see if any of them was about to rebel. To my surprise, Shiki was correct. All of them obediently surrendered. 

“However,” I continued, “he will be your new king.” I pointed to G1, who almost stumbled in surprise.