To him, it was beautiful.
"Floor Three," he said, tapping the central square. "Their base of operations. Sniv's reconnaissance indicates a large chamber here—high ceilings, multiple columns, two entrances."
The Guard Team—three goblins who had earned the position by being marginally less incompetent than the others—stared at the wall with expressions ranging from confusion to terror. They understood the word "Floor Three." They understood "danger."
The concept of "tactical planning" was somewhat beyond them.
"South entrance," Victor continued, drawing a line. "East entrance. Narrow corridors connecting both to the main chamber."
"Choke points," Sniv said, testing the phrase. He had been picking up Victor's vocabulary at an alarming rate. "Sniv heard Boss use word. Means... small place where many cannot fit?"
"Correct. A corridor only allows two or three goblins to fight at once. Numbers become irrelevant."
Victor surveyed his assembled strike force. Five bodies total—himself, Sniv, the three guards, and one volunteer from Food Team who claimed to know the tunnels. They would be facing somewhere between fifteen and twenty hostiles, depending on how many the Alpha had kept as a core fighting force.
Direct confrontation is a resource-intensive failure mode. We will opt for a non-linear acquisition strategy.
He laid out the weapons on the chamber floor.
Three rusty shivs—remnants of past adventurers who had died poorly. Eight sharpened sticks—Labor Team's first construction project. An unlimited supply of rocks—free, abundant, surprisingly effective.
And three acid sacs, their membranes straining with caustic death.
Victor picked one up, feeling the weight of it. He had tested these on stone. He knew what they could do.
"Prototype grenades," he announced. "Untested in combat. Don't use them unless I give the order. Anyone who wastes one answers to me personally."
The goblins nodded rapidly. They had learned what "answers to me personally" meant.
[ARMI - INVENTORY CHECK]
Weapons Deployed:
- Shivs: 3 (Slashing, Lv. 1)
- Sharpened Sticks: 8 (Piercing, Lv. 0)
- Acid Sacs: 3 (Chemical, EXPERIMENTAL)
Status: SUBOPTIMAL (recommend equipment upgrade)
Note: Current arsenal suitable for ambush tactics only.
Victor distributed the weapons. Guard-Lead received the best shiv. The others got sticks. He kept two acid sacs for himself.
"We move in one hour. Eat now. Check equipment. Relieve yourselves before we leave—I don't want anyone distracted mid-combat."
The goblins scattered to prepare. Victor remained at the map, running calculations.
Fourteen versus twenty-eight. But only half of theirs can fight. And they don't know we're coming.
Surprise. Choke points. Superior tactics.
It might be enough.
The descent to Floor Three took fifteen minutes.
The tunnels grew darker here, older. The fungal glow that illuminated the upper floors faded to nothing. They moved by the light of a single torch—Labor Team's second construction project, and arguably their most useful.
Victor led from the front. Not because he was the best fighter—he was demonstrably the worst—but because leaders who led from behind never inspired loyalty when things went wrong. And things always went wrong.
Sniv walked at his elbow, clipboard clutched to his chest like a talisman. The Guard Team followed in a loose formation that might charitably be called a column.
The sounds reached them first. Goblin chatter, echoing through stone corridors. The scrape of claws on rock. The wet gnashing of something being eaten.
Victor raised a fist. The team stopped.
He peered around the corner, using the shadows for cover, and watched.
The hostile tribe was exactly where Sniv had reported. A large chamber, roughly circular, with columns of natural rock breaking up the sight lines. Twenty-three goblins by Victor's count—more than expected—clustered around a central cooking fire.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Their Alpha sat on a raised stone, gnawing on what appeared to be a rat larger than Sniv.
Victor activated [Performance Review].
[TARGET ANALYSIS]
Subject: Feral Goblin (Alpha)
Level: 6
HP: 45/45
Morale: LOW (pack is starving)
Loyalty: TERRITORIAL (pack-bonded, not individual)
Weakness: Unorganized, no tactical training
Note: Eliminate Alpha to break pack cohesion.
Victor Kaine | Level: 1 | EXP: 135/500
Level 6. Five levels above me. But levels aren't everything.
He pulled back, gesturing for the team to huddle.
"Change of plans. Too many in the main chamber for a direct assault."
Guard-Lead looked relieved.
"We split them. Sniv—take two and make noise at the south entrance. Loud noise. Draw attention. When they investigate, we hit from the east."
"Sniv makes noise," the goblin confirmed. "Sniv is... distraction?"
"Diversion. You're a diversion."
"Di-ver-sion." Another word for the collection. "Sniv likes. Sniv is important."
They separated. Sniv took the two smallest guards—less useful in a fight anyway—and circled toward the south entrance.
Victor and the remaining two waited in the eastern corridor, pressed against cold stone, listening.
Three minutes passed. Four.
Then: screaming.
Not pain—not yet. Just noise. Sniv's voice, high and piercing, echoing through the chamber. The clash of rocks against stone. The deliberate chaos of a distraction done right.
Victor watched as a dozen hostiles broke from the main group, charging toward the sound. The Alpha barked orders—guttural, commanding—and stayed on his throne, surrounded by a core guard of eight.
Better odds. Still not good.
"Now."
They hit the flank hard and fast.
Victor's goblins slammed into the remaining defenders from the east entrance while the bulk of the hostile force was still chasing Sniv's noise. For three critical seconds, it was four against eight—still bad odds, but survivable.
Guard-Lead buried his shiv in a hostile's throat. The goblin dropped without a sound.
Victor grabbed a rock—there were always rocks—and threw it at the nearest enemy. It connected with a satisfying crack, sending the creature stumbling.
Then the Alpha saw him.
The massive goblin launched from his throne with a roar that shook dust from the ceiling. Easily twice Victor's size, moving with the speed of a predator who had killed a hundred times.
Oh. That's problematic.
Victor reached for an acid sac as the Alpha charged.
No time to aim. No time to think. He threw.
The sac arced through the air, spinning end over end, and struck the Alpha directly in the face. The membrane burst on impact.
The Alpha's roar became a shriek as the acid found flesh.
The Alpha's hands clawed at his own face as the acid ate through skin, dissolving muscle and the soft tissue of an eye. He crashed to the ground, thrashing, the charge completely forgotten.
The hostile goblins froze.
Their Alpha—their strongest, their leader—was writhing on the ground, his face a melting ruin.
Panic followed.
The eight defenders scattered in every direction, self-preservation overriding any loyalty they might have felt. Victor's goblins cut down two more as they fled. The rest vanished into the darkness of side tunnels.
[ARMI - COMBAT RESOLUTION]
Engagement: Hostile Acquisition (Phase 1)
Hostiles Eliminated: 4
Hostiles Routed: 19
Allied Casualties: 0
MVP: Victor Kaine (critical strike, morale break)
Lesson Logged: Chemical weapons > conventional combat
Victor stood over the dying Alpha, watching the acid finish its work. The goblin had stopped screaming. The acid had reached his brain.
[ARMI - PERFORMANCE BONUS]
Target Terminated: Feral Goblin (Alpha)
Target Level: 6 | Victor Level: 1
EXP Awarded: +850 (Solo Kill: Level × 100 + Diff × 50)
Total EXP: 985/500 (135 + 850)
STATUS: LEVEL UP (1 → 2)
Stat Points Allocated: +5 (INT+2, CHA+2, WIS+1)
Note: Universal Level increased. Job Level unchanged (requires GP).
Force multipliers negate labor-intensive numerical advantages. Efficiency is the ultimate weapon.
It took twenty minutes for the survivors to emerge.
They came in ones and twos, creeping from the shadows like beaten dogs. Starving. Defeated. Looking for someone—anyone—to tell them what to do.
The first to approach was small, old, covered in scars. He moved with the careful shuffle of a creature who had survived by knowing when to submit.
He knelt before Victor, pressing his face to the stone.
"No more fight," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "You strong. We serve."
Victor looked at him. Then at the shadows, where more yellow eyes gleamed in the torchlight.
"How many of you?"
The old goblin glanced back. Gestured.
Twelve goblins emerged from hiding. Not the fighters—those had fled too far, too fast, too terrified to return. These were the old ones, the sick ones, the small ones. The ones who had been lowest in the previous hierarchy.
The ones who have the most to gain from new management.
[ARMI - ACQUISITION ALERT]
Hostile Takeover: SUCCESS (Partial)
Territory Secured: Floor 3 (Central Chamber)
New Employees: 12 (Probationary Status)
Previous Employees: 14
Total Workforce: 26
Resource Access: +1 Mushroom Patch, +1 Water Source, +1 Copper Deposit (Small)
Note: Recommend integration protocol. New hires require orientation.
Victor looked at his new employees. Half-starved. Traumatized. Waiting to see if they would be killed or fed.
He picked up a loose chunk of copper ore near the wall.
"Nova," he muttered. "Liquidate."
The ore vanished in a flash of digitized light.
[ARMI - ASSET LIQUIDATION]
Item: Raw Copper Ore (0.5 kg)
Market Value: 2 GP
Liquidation Offer: 0.8 GP (40% of Market Value)
Transaction: COMPLETE
Balance: 0.8 GP
Daylight robbery, Victor thought. Sixty percent loss for instant processing. I'll need a better supply chain, but it's good to know the option exists.
"Sniv," he called.
The small goblin appeared at his side, clipboard ready, eyes bright with barely contained excitement.
"Yes, Boss?"
"Process the new hires. Names, skills, health assessment. Anyone too sick to work goes on light duty until they recover. Everyone else reports tomorrow."
Sniv's grin was predatory.
"Sniv handles onboarding. Sniv is HR."
End of Chapter 7
[ARMI - SESSION SUMMARY]
Day 2 | Evening
Balance: 0.8 GP
Employees: 26 goblins (14 veteran, 12 new)
Territory: Floors 1-3 (consolidated)
Combat Record: 1 Engagement, 1 Victory
Hostile Alpha: TERMINATED
Remaining Hostiles: ~11 (scattered, leaderless)
Equipment Lost: 1 Acid Sac
Equipment Remaining: 2 Acid Sacs
Status: EXPANSION SUCCESSFUL