[Slimy Slime] Chapter 38: A [Goblin Captain] reflects and a Slime prepares for war.

Krrrgg walked outside the small fort, along with all the Goblins under her command. Facing them, was over fifty goblins. The sight almost felt a little funny to her. Not that long ago, she was taller than them, but now, she was almost double their height.

Still, her heart burned with… something.

She had chosen a new master, a new chieftain to follow. And yet… she hadn’t warned him ahead of time of what was coming. She knew the chieftain would come for the [Dungeon Core] but she thought it would take time. Slimy Slime was strong but… he was still an [Acid Slime]! She hadn’t thought it would be a concern, all [Dungeon Masters] are unique. He’d get strong super fast. Telling him more about the Goblin Chief… she had been worried.

Worried he’d kill her.

It wasn’t based on anything, there wasn’t even a reason for it. But she’d lived all her life underneath the [Goblin Chief]. Often literally, though those were the best parts. She was the only [Hob-Goblin] out of everyone. All the others had been… eaten. And now it was coming back to bite her. She had even planned to surprise Slimy Slime. She was going to make as many goblins as possible and produce an army! She was already very hard at work on that. She had taken in the smartest and least awful goblins to help her. The ones she knew could be like her, but would never evolve because they’d be killed.

Not all goblins were made equal. Most were dumber than dumb. Which only made things worse. She was probably right. If she had just stayed here and did nothing, fifty goblins wouldn’t have shown up. The [Goblin Chief] wouldn’t have cared unless a few hundred suddenly died all at once. The goblins she took must have been seen leaving.

She’d gotten so much smarter with her evolution into a [Goblin Captain] and yet she still felt like she was a stupid goblin all the time. Her chieftain felt she had betrayed him! He had already made it clear. If she didn’t need him, he’d probably kill her despite his easy going nature. She had to kill as few goblins as possible and recruit the rest. She didn’t have time to deal with these fifty. She was a [Goblin Captain]! She wouldn’t let a mere fifty goblins slow her down.

There would be no battle.

The small group of goblins saw her and ran. They weren’t in lines, they had no training, they were just a small horde. She snorted and simply stood there, her arms crossed. The horde got closer and closer, running towards her with almost no hint of intelligence.

Closer.

Till their eyes opened wide and they fell, trying to stop, tripping over themselves, causing the others to trip over the fallen ones, till all of them were skidding across the dirt and grass. It was embarrassing. They all stared up at her with wide eyes.

She smirked. [Leader Markings] wasn’t just a skill. It was a status. The [Goblin Chief] was not normal. Usually, goblins evolve into [Hob-Goblins] and form squads. Then, when there’s enough and someone gets lucky, you start getting more advanced goblins. She knew them, instinctually somehow. [Goblin Captain], [Goblin Craftsman], [Goblin Sneak], [Goblin Archer], and many more. The [Goblin Chief] had killed all who showed promise.

And now it was coming back to bite him in the ass.

A [Hob-Goblin] is envied and feared. A [Goblin Captain] is respected. If there were no evolved goblins, all she had to do was exist and they’d fall under her command. Getting over a [Goblin Chief]’s command would normally be hard but…

Krrrgg grinned and began to yell out in goblin.

“New Chief! Food! Evolve! Serve! New Chief! Food! Evolve! Serve!”

The other goblins by her side weren’t chosen for no reason and soon began to chanting with her.

“””New Chief! Food! Evolve! Serve!”””

The fifty goblins gaped at her in awe, the first and only [Goblin Captain] they’d ever seen. Soon, their brains nearly imploded at the ideas being thrown their way. A new chief? Food? Evolving? Soon, they got excited, and began chanting it back at her.

“”“”“New Chief! Food! Evolve! Serve!”””””

“”“”“New Chief! Food! Evolve! Serve!”””””

“”“”“New Chief! Food! Evolve! Serve!”””””

Krrrgg smiled and then it disappeared. She had to do better. Otherwise her new master might get rid of her! She wouldn’t waste any time.

“Forward!” She yelled and suddenly, what had been an attack became her new troops. She’s scour, looking for as many Goblins as she could. She wouldn’t be able to get all of them, especially not those who live closer to the [Goblin Chief] but they were near the edges of their town. She’d get as many as she could, as fast as possible.

*****

I changed my mind half way through. I wasn’t so at ease that I could just go and ignore fifty goblins at my door step! What if Krrrgg died?! She was my roommate after all! That’d just be bad etiquette. So imagine my shock when I saw her somehow cause all fifty to join her growing army! My slimy mouth hung open and my general hat drooped. What the heck?! And what’s with this new chief thing?! Wait, no, that’s exactly what I need. Hell, I even ordered it! I got to stop being a pansy, I’m General Slime now! And a General needs an army.

Still, feeding hundreds and hundreds of goblins is going to suck… thank god I can make more mana fountains. You fools! You think I’m creating the food for you, but you’re actually making it all yourself! I wonder if I can install some form of automation for that… making food for everyone every day is going to be impossible. The cost will be there, but not the time.

Which revolves right back to my biggest problem. This is half shit fort at best. It’s positioning also isn’t great. It’s a somewhat flat area with a cave in the side of a small overhand or hill. The worst part is terraforming costs. Reducing a cubic foot of dirt or simply a tree is pretty annoying. I need to think this through. My dungeon map shows a 15 mile radius. Well, as long as I’ve been there. So what I need to do is:

1. Clear all the trees in a fifteen mile radius
2. Set up massive walls covering that entire area, preferably made out of steel.
3. Have guard towers and patrols of Goblins, maybe even scouts, to watch out for Hordes or attacks.

I frowned at that last one. No, I couldn’t trust goblins with that. I’d create some more Dungeon Monsters for that. They’d be 1000% better sentries, since they don’t get tired or bored. I’ll have to install bells for them to ring.

1. Houses, plenty of houses, each with a much smaller mana fountain in them. And an auto food dispenser. There’s got to be something like that in this damn menu.
2. Reinforce, reinforce, reinforce.

Now… how the hell am I going to get all these trees out of here?

“Slimy Slime?” I blinked, hearing the voice of Michael.

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, what’s going on?” I asked.

“That’s what we’d like to know. Could you tell us what’s happening?”

I took a few minutes to explain. I expected despair and horror to appear in their eyes. After all, their whole village was destroyed and now their being thrust into a war between monsters. Hell, there’s no where safe to go. Once the goblin war machine gets rolling, they’ll need to either escape the forest or die. That’s really the only two choices.

And that was what I got… but not the only thing. I was taken aback when I saw the hard look appear in their eyes. I had kept explaining, telling them my plans, hoping they might have some insight. After all… I’ve never built a sand castle, let alone a city and fortress before!

“Slimy…” Michael started. I was almost regretting my name. It’s really better when you say the whole thing you know?! But still, I paused, noticing the absolute fire in Michael’s eyes.

“You need all the trees chopped down right?”

I nodded.

“Then I’ll help.”

Suddenly, Michael got down on one knee. For a brief terrifying moment I thought he was going to try and marry me or pledge allegiance to me. Both would be horrible! Goblins are one thing, their like really stupid malicious creatures, but humans thrown into that future meat grinder would grate on my soul!

Luckily, neither happened, as Michael seemed to very slightly glow for half a second.

“What was that?”

“I changed my class to [Lumberjack].” Michael said, a grinning smile on his face.

What the heck?! You can just do that?! Don’t you need a crystal or some nonsense? God damn overpowered humans. Wait, right, I remember Order’s lessons. He can’t just do that, he has to meet the requirements and it’s not like he gets anything for it at first. Even the stats pale to just advancing one class. Still, I’ll take it.

Focusing, I summoned a new shiny axe, but not one meant for war. Well, not war with people at least.

Michael’s eyes shined as I gave him a lumberjack’s axe. If I had a nickel for every time I gifted someone an axe, I’d have two nickels. But it’s weird that it happened twice.

“I’ll get started right away!” Michael said, running off to cut the ones on top of the hill. Oof. He’d quickly learn he’d have to take the long war around to get to those ones.

Sandra looked at me, a smile on her face, holding Tilia. That struck me as odd.

“Aren’t you guys worried?”

“Yes but…” Sandra mulled it over for a minute before speaking. “I want somewhere safe for Tilia. I want her to grow up strong. Not like us. A random low level monster wiped out our village. It… it killed everyone I knew and loved, except two. Our best hopes before meeting you were getting to the Capital and living in slums. We might not have survived the journey there.”

I felt myself choked with emotion. That had to be absolutely horrible. Damn wolves.

“Slimy Slime… you want to build a City right? I’ll help you plan it. In exchange… you’ll take care of us right? As long as we pay, you’ll keep us safe?”

Suddenly, the funny General hat on my head had never felt so… heavy. This is why I knew I had to but didn’t want to be a king. The moment I got the [Crown] I knew I had to be one to ascend. It was in my very soul itself, how could I not know? Heroes had to overcome themselves. Crowned Monsters, Demon Kings, had to overcome everyone. It was like my mind was split in two.

The old human me, who I’d been all my life, who was in way over his head. Who was bawking at all of this. Who thought this was some crazy dream, at most.

And Slimy me, knowing what must be done. Knowing that this was real, at least to me. That I had killed, would kill again, and just by doing that and wanting to become a God, knew I’d have to become a Ruler. A King. An Emperor. Hell, I’d even charted that path before getting the crown thrown on top of me. When I’d just seen the evolution choices. I’d even risked total blindness for it.

I may hate dungeon building… and even kingdom building can suck it… but…

Truthfully, I was probably going to be one of the worst kings imaginable. The type that wanted to be one. Woe to all who follow me. A brief prayer for all those who do.

“Of course.” I said. I focused, summoning my crown for a moment, Michael turning around to look at me. I morphed my slime, showing my expression of determination. My words carried, even as quietly as they were said.

“I am a King. A Ruler. So long as I wear the crown, I will defend all who serve me.”

It was like a part of myself I’d been trying to bury had finally been unleashed. It was ridiculous in a way. I was a slime in a forest, I had no citizens or city, I could barely manifest my crown for a few seconds.

And yet it was true. Had been true… even before I got the crown. I wanted to rule. I wanted to dominate and control. To have citizens in the billions, to have a civilization stretch across the globe, to be on top of a thrown I’d built with my own two hands. The Crown had cemented it, made those idle day dreams have actual weight on reality itself. I felt…. I felt…

[Leadership Skill Gained!]

Complete.

My crown dissipated and Sandra and Michael stared me in awe. Respect shown in their eyes.

I clapped two of my hands together, reforming my General slime hat.

“There’s no time to lose! We’re at War! Michael, cut down those trees. Sandra, I’ll summon a pencil and paper, help me design a city.”

She nodded and Michael ran off, back to cutting down the trees.

“What will we name it… King Slime?” Sandra tried out. I smiled wide, nodding. There, that was much better than calling me ‘Slimy’ all the time.

“Good and I think we’ll call the City…”

“Slimetopia.”