Deadmeat Saga

Chapter 48 – Instant Army. Slave Legion.

After the trio finished improving, Gerhart looked at them.

Calvin was essentially unchanged, but his race changed.

Race: Human(Evolvable)

Like other races, Humans could also evolve into higher forms, usually into Noble Humans. Noble Humans lived longer and were relatively more powerful.

Although one's true abilities heavily rely on Base Stats, Talent, Skills, and Level, there were more deciding factors. Age, Gender, and Race also decide the actual ability.

One would not expect a child to rival an adult. A male Human is usually physically more muscular than his female counterpart. A canine can smell much better than a human.

When one evolved into a Noble Human, the effectiveness of all stats went up by a grade. That meant a Noble Human with overall F-grade stats was like a regular Human with overall E-grade stats. It might not seem like much, but that was a significant improvement!

That's not all. The children of Noble Humans had a chance to be also born as Noble Humans, and they were usually born with excellent talents.

To become a Noble Human, one needed to be at level 50 and have an A-rank talent, IE, three A-rank base stats. Using elixirs and precious natural treasures, a human can evolve. Once the evolution finishes, the human becomes a Noble Human and changes on a fundamental level.

Similarly, Goblins also evolved in such a way, but their evolutionary conditions were much looser. They only needed to consume large amounts of high-level meat, increasing their level to the point they evolved.

Either way, Gerhart didn't evolve either of them. Instead, he focused on the flawless beauty kneeling before him.

Name: Havre Elkington
Race: Human
Age: 18
Sex: Female
Level: 11(Incomplete)

Skills: (+)

Base Stats:

Secondary Stats: (+)

Talents:

{Unique Talent - Initial Sword Saint(Upgradable): The peak talent of the sword! Swift as lightning, arms of tempered steel, flawless body control, and highest mastery of Aura! A newborn Sword Saint with overwhelming potential. Upgradable.}

Havre only had one singular talent, Initial Sword Saint. However, it was so powerful that it was better than all his absorbed talents combined. Just as his previous masters told him, her base stats reached the minimal standard of a Sword Saint. But even if he calls it minimal, she was so overwhelmingly powerful it sent shivers down his spine.

"Fucking monster..." Gerhart thought.

"Congratulations, Havre, for becoming a Sword Saint! However, your level is now low, so I shall raise you to an appropriate level." Gerhart said.

"Yes! Thank you, my lord!" Havre said, still kneeling.

With that, Gerhart gave her the energy needed to reach lvl 50.

Energy: 102,516

Gerhart turned pale as he saw over 100 thousand points go to the drain in one go. It was close to four times what Calvin and Ray needed.

"Fucking monster!" Gerhart cursed in his mind.

However, he also knew that the more points he needed to level someone up, the better it was. Havre's stats were not too different from Calvin and Ray's. What took the most energy was specifically her talent! That meant her talent improved along with her level!

"Perhaps I should go with a one-man-army plan?" Gerhart contemplated. "As a level 50 Sword Saint, she should be able to charge over and kill the Goblin Lord. But, just in case, perhaps I should reinforce her more?"

With that thought in mind, Gerhart started consulting with Hope.

"Giving her a few talents to improve strength, defense, stamina, and instincts would greatly improve her combat effectiveness." Hope agreed. "However, please reserve 50,000 points to improve the villagers' combat effectiveness and 20,000 for healing or reserves."

"Oh? What's your plan?" Gerhart was intrigued.

"Skills are cheap, and Beginner Talents are also inexpensive. We can mass-produce an instant army with points. Blessing 500 converted adults with Intermediate skills, Beginner talents, and Beginner skills and Initial talents should drastically improve their combat power!" Hope said with a confident voice. "It would only cost 60 points each, which should be within budget."

"That could work." Gerhart nodded.

"I am not adept in military tactics, so perhaps it would be better to leave it to Calvin, Hannes, and Thomas." Hope added.

Calvin was born to a knight family. Although he was the fourth son, he received some military education. Hannes was a veteran soldier, and Thomas was a mercenary leader. Hope, being a novice in military affairs, would leave it to the experts.

"Leave it to me!" Calvin stepped forward and thumped his chest.

"I will call Thomas and Hannes," Asher said and left.

"Hah... It will be a long night." Gerhart sighed.

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Calvin, Thomas, and Hannes had a conference with Gerhart and decided on three soldier archetypes.

Infantry: Weapon(Sword, Axe, Hammer, Spear) + Shield + Aura Control +  Intermediate Skills and Beginner Talents. In addition, they will receive the Strong Arms, Tough Body, Aura Recovery, and Tenacity Beginner Talents, along with ten additional supportive Beginner Skills and Initial Talents.

Missile Men: Archery or Throwing(Spears, Slinging, axes) + Secondary Weapon(Any) + Aura Control Intermediate Skills and Beginner Talents. In addition, they will receive the Strong Arms, Swift Feet, Hawk Eyes, and Aura Recovery Beginner Talents, along with ten additional Beginner Skills and Initial Talents.

Water Magicians: Magic Control(Intermediate skill + Beginner talent) + E-grade Water Affinity + 3rd-circle Water Magic Skill + Deep Magic Reserves and Magic Recovery Beginner talents.

The infantry were no-brainers, the second line of defense after the walls broke. They had to be tough and competent with a weapon and shield. Also, they needed to have sufficient Aura and Aura Control.

Missle Men were the support troops, pelting the enemy with arrows, spears, stones, and whatnot behind the walls and the infantry. They needed powerful arms to shoot better and swift feet to move. When they ran out of ammo, they would also be light infantry to support the front lines.

And last but not least were the Water Magicians. Not only were they to shoot magic along with the Missle Men, but they also needed to put out fires. The goblins might shoot fire arrows and fire magic, which would be bad for the wood-built village. Although the roofs in this village were not thatched, instead having decked and oiled wooden teals, they might still catch fire.

The price for Infantry and Missile Men was 110 each on average, and Water Magicians was 70. Of course, some villagers had more talent, while some had less, which forced Gerhart to spend more on the weaker units to counterbalance things. Either way, they tried picking the most suitable villagers for each role.

As for the children, they were to either hide or provide support, such as bringing supplies, sending messages, or clearing corpses.

It took Gerhart and Hope several hours to give the villagers these talents overnight. And when Havre woke up, they also gave her three talents- Gerhart's Goliath's Physique, Hope's Intuition, and Calvin's Battle Instincts.

Gerhart could give her his talent, while Hope used her statue as a medium. As for Calvin's talent, they did something that surprised him. They temporarily switched ownership of Hope's statue and gave Havre ownership, allowing her to acquire Calvin's talent via reverse blessing.

Surprisingly, giving her these talents did not improve her stats or change her appearance, but they did make her stronger. It made Gerhart speculate that talents that were not previously there were only unnatural add-ons, which explains why these talents could not evolve.

After everything was over, they allowed the villagers to rest while keeping twenty villagers as watchmen, giving them the Night Vision and Hawk Eyes talents.

And so, the night slowly passed until before dawn.

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Zora stayed on the western watchtower, overlooking the surroundings. They already expected that the goblins would likely strike before dawn, so they placed her as a night sentry.

"This talent the lord gave me is fantastic..." Zora mumbled as she looked at the night forest with a clear vision, able to see several dozen meters further than usual. Thanks to the improved eyesight, they also didn't need torches, which allowed her to hide from enemy vision and see better.

The sky was still dark, but hints of brightness were on it. It would be an hour before daybreak.

While looking around, she suddenly spotted movement from afar.

"Hm?" Zora narrowed her eyes as she spotted hundreds of goblins quietly approaching.

"As expected..." Zora muttered.

Looking back, she motioned to a sentry on the ground, who nodded and headed to wake everyone up.

"Hehehe... Oh, you will get one hell of a surprise, you shitty goblins." Zora muttered as she eyed the slowly approaching goblin army.

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Sometime earlier-

A massive goblin army slowly and quietly marched through the night forest, driving away the nocturnal monsters by their sheer numbers and the presence of the hundreds of wolves under their command. Unimpeded, the army stopped about two kilometers away from Elkington Village.

Eighteen sizable Goblin Commanders riding giant wolves led in the front. Goblin Lord Crird, the Wolf King, wearing a white hide coat made from hegemon fur, rode an armored alpha wolf while holding a giant bow close to the size of a small ballista. The female alpha was left behind with four Goblin Commanders and thirty Hobgoblins to guard the tribe and maintain the territory. If he fell, they would raise another Goblin Lord to enact revenge in the future. The rest of his forces were on the dirt road, blocking any chance of escape.

"Warchief! What are your orders?" Tivnirx, a heroic-looking and pretty female Goblin Commander with large antlers, wearing chainmail armor covering her curvy body and a two-handed war hammer asked.

Regular Goblins had almost no difference in their appearance regardless of gender, all being small and ugly things. If one didn't look at their disgusting wart-covered genitalia, one wouldn't see a difference. However, as they evolved into professional goblins, Hobgoblins, Goblin Commanders, and Goblin Lords, they slowly gained human-like beauty and more pronounced sexual features and distinctions. With their higher evolution, they also had better control over their instincts.

Goblin Commanders could almost pass for Orcs, with only minor details between them, one being that Goblin Commanders were much more powerful on average and had longer and floppier ears. Some even argue that Goblins and Orcs are distant relatives.

The Goblin Lord glanced at her and spoke. "Follow the plan and let the slaves sneak in first. We will see how things go from there."

Although from the same species, highly evolved goblins did not view regular goblins as kin. Anything below a Hobgoblin did not register in Goblin Lord Crird's mind as a tribesman but rather a useless slave whose sole purpose was to serve and die as cannon fodder. They had some use at the start, but now, with the growing superior Hobgoblin Population, they had become obsolete. It was time to let them perform a last service.

In any case, even with the element of surprise, he doubted the mere 1,000 regular goblins would annihilate the humans he feared so much. If, by freak chance, they did, he would raise the survivors to become Hobgoblins and their Hobgoblin leaders as Goblin Commanders. Although uncaring for their lives, he gave rewards when it was due.

"Yes, Warchief." Tivnirx thumped her chest and rode her Giant Wolf steed to the slave legion.

Although slaves, they were not under-equipped, having state-of-the-art Hobgoblin-Crafted weaponry and armor. Also, they were not weak regular goblins. Despite being treated like dirt, they especially received meat from inner forest monsters! After eating enough E and D-rank monster meat, they naturally evolved into Goblin Professionals! They even received strict training and learned military tactics.

They were also led by 23 Hobgoblins leaders. For every hundred goblins, they were led by a Hobgoblin Centurian and Hobgoblin Deputy. The entire 1,000-strong legion was commanded by a Hobgoblin general and two deputy generals who were comparable to C-rank monsters.

Four centuries were infantry, two centuries were archers, one century were javelin throwers, one century were slingers, one century was Wolf Riders, and the final century was composed of shamans!

Perhaps because of their racial antler heritage, one of every ten professional Antler Goblins developed magical talent. From the legion of 1,000, an entire hundred were trained shamans! They were not potent magicians, but they could still shoot several first-circle spells. 

However, this army of 1,000 E-rank goblins was trash in the eyes of Goblin Lord Crird and his Goblin Commanders. It was merely quantity over quality. Even the hundred pups he gave them were considered inferior in the pack.

Tivnirx soon reached the slave legion general and gave a simple cold order. "Go. You know what to do. Don't disappoint the war chief."

"Yes, Commander." The Hobgoblin general, Krozz, thumped its chest and bowed.

The Goblin Commander and the Hobgoblin were half-siblings, but their relationship was cold and distant. Goblin hierarchy was absolute, and the strongest goblin, which was also the most evolved, could dictate the life and death of his peers. It could only blame itself for being less talented and not being chosen by its father, Goblin Lord Crird.

Krozz gave the order, and soon, the legion started to mobilize. Using the darkness of night as cover and the element of surprise, it ordered its men to sneak toward the west of the village. The village gates faced toward the south, while the forest faced the north and west, with a 500m clearing from the forest.

As Krozz examined the village, one of his deputies, a female Hobgoblin called Nuq, voiced, "It seems quiet."

The other deputy, a male named Wrurx, also spoke, "Yes, and no torches. I can barely make out the village."

Goblins were not renowned for their eyesight, and unlike Cave Goblins and Dark Goblins, Antler Goblins did not need night vision, being daylight hunters.

Krozz frowned and remained quiet. Somehow, he had a bad feeling he couldn't understand. Usually, he would send an elite unit to probe, but he knew orders were absolute.

"Quiet. We advance. Stay light on your feet." Krozz ordered.

The order was soon relayed as they slowly advanced under the cover of the still-dark skies with hints of daylight.

As they reached 150m away, Krozz couldn't help but think, "Perhaps I worried for nothing..."

However, his worries were soon proven right. Too right.

Tak* Tak* Tak* Tak*

Soft noises were heard from the other side of the wall.

"Hah?" Krozz couldn't help but look up as he saw a black blanket cover the already dark sky.

Woosh* Woosh* Woosh* Woosh*

"RAISE YOUR SHIELDS!" He called out, but it was too late.

Thud* Thud* Thud* Thud*

"Ah!"

"Gya!"

"Uwa!"

Dozens of goblins were hit, injured, or killed before the goblins raised their shields.

As he looked through the gap of the shield, he saw dozens of Missle Men climb the ramparts.

Krozz realized that not only did the ambush fail, but the humans anticipated their attack!