NOVEL NEXT B2 – Lesson 38: “Step Up.”
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The Next Morning.
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The goblin village square was bustling with activity. Adventures and goblins rushed back and forth, stepping over those individuals still passed out from last night’s festivities. Near the longhouse, Boarslayer yelled out orders in her booming voice. Several goblin scouts rushed by carrying the tools and equipment they would need for that morning’s excursion into the forest.
Unseen and unnoticed by most, a dozen tiny wasps perched on boxes and bags, hid in the folds of clothes, or just roosted on the sides of buildings. Each recorded what they saw and heard among the dozens of conversations taking place at any given time.
For Alpha, most were worthless. Just idle gossip about the weather or family matters. Even the conversations between the Adventurers were rather mundane. Most talked about the party last night or complained about heading into the forest only a day after arriving in the cavern.
Others speculated about the treasures they would find in the forest. Information about the dungeon and what had — according to their knowledge — happened to the bandits hadn’t spread past the expedition party leaders yet, as far as Alpha could tell.
Said leaders were gathered to one side of the square, surrounding a map ‘generously’ provided by Alpha. The goblin’s own maps of the area were sorely outdated and incomplete.
At over 500 square miles, the cavern was absolutely massive, and even the goblin hunters had yet to explore even a fraction of what it contained. Mostly because of the powerful spirit beasts or dangerous environmental factors common in what the locals called ‘The Deep.’
Alpha had no such concerns.
Both [Wasps] and MUD slimes made perfect scouts into these dangerous areas. As such, his map was far more complete, at least from a geographical standpoint. Identifying useful resources proved more difficult. Alpha’s attempts to build equipment capable of detecting Spirit Energy had shown moderate success recently, but the technology was still new and very flawed. Thus, he still relied heavily on the goblins to help spot areas with potential for further exploitation.
It helped that Alpha’s map was specifically tailored to distract and direct the Adventurers on their little ‘safari.’ With plenty of help from Antchaser and Dr. Maria, of course.
“When you want to hide something from common folk, you make it seem dangerous and unpredictable,” the old doctor told Alpha the day before while they planned their next move. “You create ‘danger zones’ or forbidden areas and let people know the doom that awaits them if they wander carelessly into such areas.”
Dr. Maira drew large Xs through several areas on the map. “When dealing with Adventurers, however, things are different.” She pointed to the quarry’s location on the map as she spoke. Alpha had marked the area as off-limits, noting unstable ground and dangerous pitfalls. It wouldn’t do their story any good if some of the sharper Adventurers started questioning why the goblins needed such a robust and advanced quarry.
“To Adventurers, danger means opportunities. If you want to hide something from Adventures, then you need to make it as uninteresting as possible.” With a wave of her hand, the section of the map detailing the area had faded and was replaced with thick shrubland, two roads splitting off to either side. A small, hastily scrawled note to the side marked the area as a suitable location for a possible quarry in the future.
Alpha had instantly seen the wisdom in the woman’s edit. If the Adventurers assumed the area had already been scouted beforehand, they were far more likely to pass over it. While a quarry was an important resource for any growing settlement, it wasn’t particularly… exciting. And ultimately, not one they personally would have to worry about. They would make a note of the location for the Guild and move on to areas more likely to contain treasures or more immediately valuable resources.
If and when the Guild did eventually send prospectors and more specialized land surveyors, they would find the goblins had ‘already started work on a quarry.’
It was a rather devious misdirection on the old doctor’s part.
Alpha loved it.
Now, several of Alpha’s more important locations were marked on the map similarly. When the Guild got around to ‘claiming’ the area, they would find the goblins already hard at work. Much of the infrastructure needed to support the influx of expected explorers would already be there. That would also give the goblins more influence, making it harder for the Guild to simply push their way in and take over.
Back in the present, Alpha chuckled to himself as he watched Antchaser pace back and forth. Every so often, he would glance toward the huddled Adventurers and frown. Alpha had found the young man to be intelligent and quick-witted, but he had the bad habit of needing to micromanage to the smallest detail.
“Oh, calm down, boy,” Dr. Maria said, not bothering to look up from the small creature she was dissecting at a nearby table. “Pacing around like an expecting father will do nothing but garner suspicion.”
Antchaser froze. He turned to Dr. Maria and sighed. “I know… but what else am I supposed to do?! They arrived quicker than we were expecting. What if one of them wanders off? Not all the —” he said, only for Dr. Maria to cut him off;
“Trust in the plan, child. We’ve done everything we can at this point. Between you, Alpha, and me, we’ve poked at every fault point we can find. If something sneaks up on us this late in the game, there’s nothing we can do about it. That’s just life sometimes.”
She wiped a bloody hand on her apron and gestured in the air with the others, manipulating unseen screens. Dr. Maria had taken to her personal HUD well. Alpha wasn’t sure if such flexibility in thinking and accepting such new concepts was part of her personality or if the woman’s late-stage [Golden Spirit] adapted mind simply made learning new things easier.
She turned around to look Antchaser in the eye. “The Dungeon Core might be flighty and unfocused, almost to an irresponsible degree, but nothing we’ve seen so far suggests it’s foolish. The plan we’ve developed is the village’s best shot at surviving. Maybe even thriving in the long run. Even if Alpha’s end goal may not be so…intentionally altruistic.”
Antchaser’s eyes went wide, and he glanced around. “H-hey now. I’d not go that far… I’m… sure Mr. Alpha —”
Dr. Maria cackled. “Oh, pish posh boy, don’t be a fool. We’re tools. A means to an end. He knows very well what I think of him. Don’t pretend like you don’t know that paranoid Core doesn’t watch and listen to everything that happens in the village,” the doctor said as she glanced toward one of Alpha’s nearby [Wasps]. The drone waved at her.
She turned back to Antchaser and continued, “Alpha moves with his best interests in mind. Right now, his best interests include ensuring the village survives and thrives. If you need to trust in anything, trust in that.”
Alpha mentally grinned. He knew he liked Dr. Maira for a reason. The woman was never afraid to say what she wanted, yet she always knew how to say just the right thing. It wasn’t a surprise to him at all that the woman had not only survived in the harsh Halirosa underbelly but, from what he understood, thrived — all while maintaining a rather clean and respected face to the general public.
The goblins, on the other hand, were becoming far too… reverent for Alpha’s taste. Alpha needed to maintain the idea that he was the one running the show, but at the same time, he recognized he wasn’t leadership material.
He had people for that, dang it!
After a moment, Antchaser sighed and nodded. “I know…” he said with a shake of his head. “I still can’t help but worry. It’s not just the Adventurers we have to be wary of. Icefinger’s men are undoubtedly on their way as we speak. If something goes wrong…”
Dr. Maria stared at the young man with a frown, then sighed and crooked her finger, beckoning him closer. Antchaser frowned but walked forward. Dr. Maria reached her hand up, as if to pat the young goblin on his shoulder… then socked him in the jaw.
The busy town square went silent as everyone froze and turned in their direction, staring wide-eyed. Dr. Maria turned and glared at the gawking crowd as if to say, ‘Mind your own business!’ And to their credit, those watching quickly turned away and returned to what they were doing.
When the crowd had dispersed, Dr. Maria turned back to Antchaser, who was sitting on the ground, rubbing his jaw and giving the doctor a look of consternation.
The doctor folded her arms and scowled down at the goblin. “As for you. Pull yourself together, you fool. Whether you like it or not, you’ve found yourself in a leadership position here. Start acting like it. Worrying about everything that could go wrong will only distract you from what you must do now. We’ve done what we can to plan for the future. What your people need now is action. They need confidence. To know that things will turn out right. That there will even be a tomorrow to fuss over. If you can’t give them that, step away and make room for someone who can.”
Antchaser stared at the old woman towering over him, his eyes wide and mouth gaping. After a moment, the goblin’s eyes narrowed, and he stood, wiping away the small bit of blood from the corner of his mouth. Though his frown deepened, he nodded to the old doctor and turned away, walking with determined steps toward where the Adventurer leaders were gathered.
Dr. Maira watched the young man walk away and smirked before returning to the small creature on the table.
A moment later, a [Wasp] landed on the table and waddled close.
“Was that smart? Antchaser isn’t entirely wrong to worry. We have little to no actual information yet about what to expect from Icefinger. Nor have our scouts on the surface reported seeing any new groups coming our way,” Alpha asked the old doctor with a hum of the drone’s wings.
Dr. Maria scoffed. “It’s not about whether the boy’s right. His type gets themselves too wrapped up in the details. They’re so thoroughly tangled in plans and counterplans that they never see the noose forming around their own neck. Sometimes, the best thing one can do is act. Even if they need a good smack in the head to do so.”
Alpha nodded to himself. “Touché. I bow to your wisdom, oh great sage!”
Dr. Maria cackled. “Ha! As you bloody well should, insect! Now, hold this,” the doctor said, pushing a flap of skin back with one of her fingers-turned-forceps.
Alpha laughed and moved the [Wasp] forward, clasping the offered flap in its mandibles and holding it in place. Without another word, Dr. Maria got back to work.
After a moment, the drone buzzed. “So… flighty and unfocused, huh?”
Dr. Maria paused, then turned and silently stared down at the drone, one eyebrow raised.
“… Ok, that’s fair…” Alpha responded.