Reborn as the First Boss, Chapter 93

Chapter 93 – Taking Flight

We set camp and kept watches, because there was no way we’d be able to haul our client’s wagon into the [Spiritual Retreat]. Definitely made me appreciate the magic item more, having to ‘rough it’ for a night. There were no inns between Eshiari and Crystalshield, after all.

Fortunately, I had [Magic Touch (Remove Fatigue)] and [Magic Touch (Replenish Stamina)] to help those who were going on watch. Being Tier 2, now, none of us needed to sleep as much as we used to, but it was still good to have a ‘pick-me-up’, since I had yet to find a decent pot of coffee in this world. At least being reborn meant I wasn’t getting the headaches from quitting caffeine, and even a passable fuck did more for me than a full pot of coffee ever did back in my old life.

At any rate, having a night watch proved prudent. Another group of goblins tried to attack us in the night, adding another thirty sets of ears to our tally for when we eventually got to Crystalshield. More importantly, Jewell managed to incapacitate one of them, and I just happened to speak Goblin.

Praaz

Goblin Male

Level 34 Fighter / Scavenger

Titles: Tough, Survivor

“So, little greenskin. This is twice your people have attacked us. Going out of your territory, aren’t you?”

I could see in his eyes that the goblin was thinking something defiant, despite the fact that he was bound with his feet together and his hands behind his back, and had been stripped of his weapons and armor. However, setting the flat of [Pureheart’s Dragonslayer] against his thigh, changed his tone quickly, with the weapon’s flames scorching his skin, and the damage being increased by the [Goblin Bane] property. With a yelp of pain and a curse that quickly turned to fearful yammering as my blade began to slide up, closer to skin that was far more sensitive, and tender.

“I expect you to speak truthfully, understand, greenskin?”

“Yes! Yes! Praaz understands! No lies, no lies!”

“Good. Now, why have your people moved out of your territory, and started attacking so close to Eshiari?”

The goblin scowled, and tried to weasel out of things, but the flames licking his balls always brought him back to a more talkative state of mind. Eventually, the whole story came out. Not long after the Crystalshield militia conducted their last raid on the goblin territories in the woods, another large group of humans attacked. These ones were more powerful than the militia, and had better weapons and armor. Their front line shrugged off all the goblin attacks, and their priests healed any wounds from the ballista or the spells the goblin shamans cast.

In the end, it had been something of a massacre. Fifty humans had killed over five hundred goblins, and forced the survivors to flee in different groups. Maybe one hundred in total escaped, and almost half of that number was goblin children with one of the few surviving matrons watching over them. The warriors had split up, to raid for supplies and draw attention away from the matron’s group.

If what the goblin said was true, and I didn’t doubt that it was, that meant we had just eliminated the last of the adult goblins to escape the slaughter. Unfortunately, it also meant that there was a group of fifty humans who had high-level weapons, armor, and skills, and had probably gained a few levels from killing so many goblins. Which was definitely a problem.

Thankfully, there was also a solution. If we left the main road just after breakfast, we should reach the border fort to the north shortly before nightfall, giving us a place to safely leave Ayen and his goods while we went to the goblins’ former stronghold, and saw to the bandits. Ayen agreed that a delay of a couple days was preferable to such powerful bandits attacking us on the road. This clearly wasn’t a group that could just be left to their own devices.

According to the prisoner, other than the children, the goblins had ranged from level 25 to level 40 for the elites. For the bandits to defeat so many foes of that level, despite having only a fraction of their number, they had to have top of the line gear. More worryingly, they might actually be on the cusp of Tier 2, or even already into the Tier.

That was concerning because there were no reports of massacres in Bikar, and no active wars going on. Since most of the people on the continent were level 30 or lower, with the real elites getting into the 40s, you would have to take down entire cities to get from level 30 to 40 the ‘natural’ way. Per person. There was no way that would be covered up, so not hearing about a slaughter meant that they had gone the normal route, and delved into dungeons.

Which led to the concerning bit. There were only three known dungeons which could let someone get to Tier 2 on this continent. Two were in Bikar, and the third was in the dwarven kingdom of Khaz Teldath. It was highly unlikely that former Crystalshield militia exiled for sympathy to the Theocracy would gain access to those dungeons. Which meant that either they had traveled to another continent, or there was a hidden dungeon on the Eastern Continent.

The chances of them sailing to one of the other continents wasn’t zero, but it wasn’t great, either, primarily because Eclana, while sporting a good bit of coastline, lacked anything that could be considered a proper harbor, with most of the coastline being rocky cliffs. There were a few small beaches that were just large enough for fishing villages, but a seafaring ship would not be able to dock there. And getting the bandits through the ports of Crystalshield or Ravenharbor would have been noticed. If not as they left, then certainly as they returned. No, they had almost certainly found a hidden dungeon, somewhere in the Theocracy.

As for our goblin prisoner, I naturally executed him and took his ears as proof once the questioning was done. It wasn’t like we had any means for hauling prisoners around, after all. And, even if the goblin was delivered to the fort, he’d just be executed there, anyways. When morning came, we had a quick breakfast, and then hurried on the road. None of us felt like hanging around or baiting in more attacks.

Thankfully, the guards at the fort were understanding, and willing to let Ayen stay for a couple days. They had noticed the change in the goblins’ movements, of course, since some of their patrols had caught clear sign of goblins in the area, despite their territory normally being further west, but the goblins always fled before the soldiers spotted them directly. That didn’t surprise me, because the goblins were clearly desperate, but they weren’t idiots. They had to know that attacking the soldiers wouldn’t end well for them. Hells, if I hadn’t put Rastran and Frostmaw under an invisibility spell, the two would have definitely scared off the goblins on the road, and if Frostmaw had been sleeping in his full size rather than as his more compact form, they would have never attacked our camp at night.

At any rate, the interrogation had given us a good idea of where the goblins’ former stronghold was. Namely, it was a fortress built into the side of Graymount, a lone mountain in the woods to the south and east of Crystalshield. Technically part of Bikar, but no one lived in the area other than Goblins and other monsters. The fortress, named Bonerot by the goblins, was clearly visible from the air. Sure, there were defenses, but the important part was that we could see it from the air.

It was just before the evening meal when we got to the fort. We stayed long enough to eat, and ensure that Ayen would be fine, and then I unsummoned Rastran and Frostmaw grew to his full size once we were outside the gate. Zazriel and I revealed our true forms, while the others all climbed atop Frostmaw’s back, and found good spots to hang on. Sure, Astruth’s new form gave him wings, but he had not practiced flying enough, so was still like a newborn deer in the air, which meant he needed to ride, with the others who didn’t’ have wings.

The guards gaped at the display, and, for once, their eyes weren’t glued to me. Not that I minded. I knew full well that, for common soldiers, ‘some weird angel thing’ lost out to ‘holy shit there’s a dragon’. Dragons just had that effect on people, thanks to their [Frightful Presence] racial ability and the [Draconic Presence] skill, both of which were suppressed when Frostmaw was in his smaller form.

At any rate, we did not stick around to answer questions. Instead, we took to the air, flying southwards, towards the forest, and the mountain. By the road, this would have cost us at least a day’s ride, just to get to the forest. Two days, if we were going at cart speeds. Riding across the country would have taken even longer, due to the terrain. Not that there were any impassible obstacles, but there were enough hills, rivers, and so forth that you would not be able to get any real speed. And none of that counted monster attacks.

On the other hand, flying allowed us to bypass all the terrain difficulties. As for monsters? Well, the few nocturnal fliers saw a dragon, and even animal intelligence told them to try their luck elsewhere. The only reason beast-type monsters would ever attack a dragon was if they were cornered, or were defending their mate, or young. A Tier 2 avian creature might consider challenging for territory, but there were none of those around here.

Thankfully, the moon was near full and the sky was clear, giving us great visibility. As the moon moved past its peak, the mountain came into view. [Mindnet] kept us connected, so communicating was no problem, as I directed everyone towards the mountain, and then placed [Mass Invisibility] on the entire group. Yes, that meant that monsters wouldn’t immediately start fleeing from us, but without seeing us they were a lot less likely to be in our path to begin with. More importantly, any lookouts at the fortress would likely miss us, until we were far too close.

Beyond just ensuring we got a proper surprise attack, there was a reason for going invisible. Bonerot did have defenses, including defenses that could target airborne creatures. And while I doubted the defenses could do much, if any, damage to those of us who were flying, most of the party were currently clutching the spikes on Frostmaw’s back, so he couldn’t really maneuver without risking throwing them off. So, invisible it was.

“Mistress, I see the goblin stronghold. Roughly one third of the way up the mountain, just above the tree line. Just as the goblin said. There’s torches on the walls.”

Frostmaw was the first to spot our target. Unsurprising, since dragons were known for their keen senses. Soon after, I saw the torches, as well. As we got closer, I saw that the walls of the goblin fort were mostly intact, and there were four guards on duty, each with a torch in a crude sconce nearby, and a drum of obvious goblin make. I didn’t need [Fortifications] to understand that the drums were a simple alarm system. Guard sees trouble, they smack the drum, and the sound carries further than a shout would. Which would likely alert those inside.

Tibby

Human Female

Level 45 Ranger / Hunter

Titles: Zealot, Executioner

Flying close enough for [Long-Range Appraise], my expectations were confirmed. A level 45, in this area, was all but unheard of. She was even higher level than the Warpriest and his minions that had forced the weres to start attacking merchants. Clearly, the Theocracy had some way of ensuring that their people were able to move up in levels, despite there not being a war on. That said, there couldn’t be too many people they’d let into the secret dungeon (since that is what it had to be), because someone would have talked before now.

Well, we could try and take one or two alive, for questioning, but we weren’t being paid to take prisoners. 10gp for each head, with the foes being level 45+, was chump change, even with 50 bandits in total. But the salvage rights just from the gear would be worth a great deal of coin. And that was before we considered any trade goods or treasure that was kept here.

“Jewell, you and Frostmaw focus on the two on the right side. Zazriel, you take the one on the far left. I’ll take the one on the left side of the gate. Don’t let them hit the drums. Wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise.” I smiled as I gave the mental orders, and heard affirmative replies in turn. The boss of the dungeon had pushed us to Level 5 in Tier 2. We all had some skills we really wanted to test, and it was clear that I wasn’t the only one eager for test subjects that were actually a threat.