After a long night spent holding the line against a seemingly never-ending horde of beasts, Rick and his Royal Guards were genuinely tired.
Particularly the Tier Three members of the group. Meegra’s rest rotation helped to stem the exhaustion they felt, but it didn’t stop it altogether. They still maintained their sharpness and fought admirably, but tiredness was tiredness.
So, when night finally turned into day, and Rick finally gave the call for a tactical retreat, all of them felt extremely thankful — but that wouldn’t be a thought they would give voice to.
On the outside, everyone was stoic and maintained a visage fitting of the King’s Royal Guard.
Once the retreat was successfully over and the waiting Goblin forces had taken their place on the front, Meegra got the Guard in order.
“Sha’torr!”
The Royal Guard quickly organized themselves into ranks and snapped to attention.
Rick then began talking.
“Well done. You all fought well and stayed organized despite it being your first large-scale battle together as the Royal Guard. I’m sure you will all get better and improve as we continue to do this… and we will continue to do this.
“We will rest for one day, then enter the fray once more. All good swords must remain sharp, and you are no different.”
Rick then looked towards Meegra and simply nodded at her.
She took that as her cue and began barking out rest and rotation orders for all 10 groups.
All of them needed rest, including her, but the King couldn’t be left without a guard — especially not this close to an active battlefront.
While she was giving rest and guard rotation orders, Rick had walked off into the nearby camp, where Chief Grul and even Chiefess Jluug were waiting.
Both of them bowed deeply and respectfully in greeting, and by the time they looked up, Groups 1–5 of the Royal Guard had spread throughout the camp. Commander Meegra had opted for a half-on, half-off approach.
Rick nodded at the bowing Chiefs to acknowledge them.
“We will continue this rotation until I reach the Sixth Tier. Use them this time wisely to ensure enough Goblins on all fronts are getting rest. I expect all the Chiefs to come together on this and come up with a battle and rotation plan taking this into account.
“And once I reach the Sixth Tier, then we will convene a Council. It’s time for Goblins to enter a period of growth, and it will start right here and now. Sounds good?”
“Yes, My King.”
“Yes, My King.”
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Both Chief Grul and Chiefess Jluug gave their replies.
“You look like you have something to say, Chief Grul.”
“…Forgive me, My King. I’m just a bit worried about the danger you are facing with only your Royal Guard to back you up. I believe having more Goblins on standby would help to ensure your safety.”
“Do you feel this way too, Chiefess Jluug?”
“…I do, My King. Your safety is paramount.”
‘…Hm, I think I’m going to have to disappoint them, Velora. This is one thing I don’t really plan on backing down on.’
[Why is that?]
‘Like I said earlier. It’s time for the Goblins in the Dark Lands of Mir to enter a period of growth. Having a large force on standby means they aren’t resting or even relieving Goblins on other fronts to rest. This is why I’m here. To bring prosperity to my people.
‘And I will do it from the front. Plus…’
Rick then looked around for a moment.
“I believe in my Royal Guard. I believe in you, the leaders of my Clans. I believe in every Goblin living here in the Dark Lands of Mir.
“I ask of you now to believe in me. Your King.”
Chief Grul and Chiefess Jluug were ready to drop to their knees right then and there, but Rick waved them off.
“Stay standing. We have things to do. Pass that message and my previous orders along to your fellow Chiefs. Remember. I’m not leaving until I reach Tier Six — then it will be time for a Council. Dismissed.”
Chief Grul stayed behind to keep an eye on the front should he be needed, while Chiefess Jluug went to carry out her orders as directed by Rick.
Meanwhile, Rick found himself a place to sit down and catch a breather.
[You’re getting better and better at being a King.]
‘I’m glad you think so. I wouldn’t want to have to spend a few more months under the eye of Chiefess Hugala. I’m pretty sure she broke at least five different rods from slapping me with it.’
[She was indeed very thorough with everything she did. But it clearly worked, so it’s hard to disagree with her methods.]
‘Can’t argue that… how’s my status looking?’
[Bringing it up now.]
{Status}
{Name – Rick}
{Age – 21}
{Race – Goblin King}
{Tier – Five}
{Strength – 340}
{Agility – 210}
{Dexterity – 215}
{Intelligence – 130}
{Endurance – 285}
{Mana Pool – 1200/1200}
{Essence – 1760}
{Evo Points – 540/12960}
{Skills}
{Velora}
{Ruknar}
{Will of the King}
{Khaal’drez}
‘This is going to be a long grind, isn’t it… how much of that Essence is from the Tier Six wolf thing I fought?’
[Exactly 1440 Essence came from the ‘wolf thing’.]
‘So unless we just keep getting attacked by Tier Six beasts, this is going to take quite a while to happen.’
[Which makes sense. It has already been confirmed you ascend evolutionary Tiers much faster than your Goblin counterparts, so even though this Tier will take a bit longer than others, it will still be much faster than how long it took the current Chiefs to reach the same Tier.]
‘Yeah, I know. Can’t and won’t rush the process. Are you still unable to scan any of the beasts?’
[Yes. No matter what I try, I can’t even scan the Tier One beasts. It feels like something actively dismissing my scan. Something alive. It’s hard to figure out the reason for it, especially since Tier Ones should not have the ability to dismiss my scanning at this level.]
‘Yeah, it’s weird. But I have a feeling we’ll get answers to that the deeper we push into Mir.’
[Very likely.]
‘Alright, let’s absorb this Essence, rest a bit, then jump back into the fighting. Got a long road ahead of us.’
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