William grabbed the handle of his sword and pulled it away from the entranced runesmith.

  “What are you doing?” Nobby asked in dismay. “I need to study the runes.” He reached for the weapon as Will went to sheath it.

  William chuckled. “It stays with me, Master Nobby. Maybe I’ll return one day and let you examine it further.” He planned to return to pick the gnome’s mind in the hope of learning more about the runes he no longer understood.

  “No, that won’t do.” Nobby looked to the blacksmith. “Grukk?” For a moment, he looked like a sad puppy who’d had his favourite chew toy taken from him.

  The half-orc bowed to Will. “I’m sorry, Sir Knight.”

  Will waved it off, not caring about etiquette. He was enjoying the normal interaction with the quirky runesmith.

  “Wait,” the gnome called. “At least show me how you use the self-repair runes. I’ve never seen such an intricate design.” He gestured for William to return the sword to him.

  William’s eyebrows furrowed. “Oh, yeah. Self-repair.” He unsheathed the sword from his back and placed it back on the workbench. “Show me.”

  Nobby smiled and began to examine the sword again.

  A minute passed. Is he messing with me to spend more time with my sword? Will gave the gnome another two minutes. “Nobby! The self-repair runes?”

  Nobby looked up. “What? What do you want, can’t you see I’m busy?”

  William sighed. “Show me how to use the self-repair runes.”

  The runesmith nodded. “Fine. Put your hand on the pommel of the weapon and will some of your mana into the blade.”

  “How do I do that?” Will asked. His weapon, before the realism update, had no self-repair runes. After a fight, he’d go to any blacksmith’s forge, pay an amount of gold based on how much of the durability had been reduced, and within moments, it would be restored like new.

  “He is a simpleton,” the gnome muttered. Fred stifled a chuckle. With a smirk, Nobby said, “Put your hand here like this.” He held the handle of the sword in his tiny hand. “Now think of repairing the weapon.”

  Will gave the gnome a dirty look, but still followed the instructions. Repair the weapon, he thought. To his surprise, he felt a trickle of his mana drain as he noticed some of the runes on the weapon light up with a golden hue. As he watched, the small scratches on the blade melted away.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “Amazing.” Nobby looked at Will with pleading eyes. “You have to allow me to examine it further.”

  William sheathed the weapon. “Sorry, Nobby. I can’t be without my sword, but I’ll be back.”

  As they left the blacksmith and a disappointed runesmith behind, Will smiled as he checked his broken interface; he’d felt something change.

  [SYSTEM ERROR: Incomplete Interface]

  Mana: 138/140

  Hmm, Mana, not the Holy Runesmith profession. William had hoped it was his profession, but the Mana stat was more useful for a Holy Paladin. 10% again. He smiled as he imagined all his stats, skills, and titles recovering at random.

  Closing his interface, he examined his new dagger. Only 5 gold and 25 silver for all that gear. They’d left Grukk’s smithy with a set of leather armour, a sword, two daggers, a shield, a mace, and a vicious-looking polearm. He shook his head at the low price. Although it was this cheap when I first started playing the game.

  It wasn’t until a player levelled up that weapons and armour began to cost thousands of gold. For early game content, a few silver would buy a basic sword.

  ***

  William and Fredric followed the trampled path left behind from the night raid. The ground was still scarred with gouges of clawed feet and smeared with dried goblin blood. Ravens and crows were still gathered, cawing as they picked at scraps of green flesh.

  Fredric kept glancing around, white-knuckles on his drawn sword. “Do you think they’ll come back, my lord?”

  Will scanned the treeline. “Not tonight. Not with all the losses they took. But goblins don’t usually attack in organised bands like that, not this far east from their warrens at least, and that’s what concerns me.” He crouched near a patch of mud where the tracks converged. “They shouldn’t be this far away from the Western Wastes.”

  Fredric leaned close. “What is it, my lord?”

  The ground showed the prints of goblins—narrow feet and thin claw marks—but among them were deeper impressions. Larger clawed feet and staff marks where something had walked and dug its staff in the ground with every step.

  Will frowned at the discovery; it confirmed his suspicions. “Could be an orc shaman controlling them.”

  Fredric’s eyes widened. “What?”

  “Goblins don’t get this coordinated on their own.” William pointed to the markings. “See here? One set of larger prints is always behind the rest. That’s someone herding them, and they’re smart enough to stay out of the fighting.” He glanced at the treeline. The orc must’ve escaped into the forest.

  The boy swallowed hard. “You mean magic, my lord?”

  “Yes. Dark magic.” Will removed the talisman from his spatial storage. Bone bound together with the sinew of a deer or other animal. “And these are the proof, mind control runes, Nobby said.” He held the talisman up to the light, trying to recall the long-forgotten game memory. There had been an event. Low-level goblins started fighting in formations, armed with better gear than they should have. He scratched the back of his neck. What the hell was it? Something important.

  As he racked his memory, William’s vision stuttered, and for an instant, the treeline around him seemed to pulse, as though the shadows had jumped forward a frame too soon. A faint tone, like a bell struck underwater, reverberated in his skull. Across his vision, words bled through; they were jagged and too bright, as if burned into the air.

  [Questline Triggered: Shadows of the Goblin King]

  Stellar Vessel Draconis, interesting take on a dragon story. I'm enjoying it, so If you like dragons and spaceships, give it a try.

  Chapter 017 [Questline Triggered: Shadows of the Goblin King]