[Hollow King] Chapter 8: Accursed Second Chance (Patreon)

Lucas felt nothing except anticipation as he squeezed the life out of the goblin. Its eyes bulged as it uselessly tried to claw at Lucas's forearm, but as a living creature, it needed oxygen to survive.

"You should have stayed in the trees slinging rocks," Lucas said in his ancient-sounding voice while tightening his grip. "But it's not your fault this happened, as I doubt you've fought many Elder Liches before."

Lucas didn't hate the goblins, but he didn't have much empathy for them either. They had happily invaded the tomb, tried to steal his crown, and these three had hurled rocks at him without even starting a conversation.

Not that he would have talked to them... he had ventured out of his tomb for a single purpose: to harvest souls and level up.

The goblin's desperate snarls turned to gasps as its movements gradually slowed, then stopped. In the end, suffocation killed it before Lucas's Death Touch managed to kiss its brain.

[Death Touch (II) -> Death Touch (III)]

[Soul of the Goblin Slinger harvested]

Lucas released the goblin, letting its corpse drop to the ground. Its soul quickly departed, leaving behind a resentful ghost that Lucas would raise as an undead in a moment. But first, he had to deal with the other two.

Or not... they both look quite dead already.

Tusky had managed to pulverize its target against a tree, while the last one lay a few paces back along the road with a smoking hole where its ribs should have been. The Mana Bolt had punched clean through it and splintered a tree behind.

Lucas felt a tug from both dead goblins, and when he pulled, mana poured into him.

[Soul of the Goblin Slinger harvested]

[Soul of the Goblin Slinger harvested]

[Your Soul Level has increased to 4]

The markings along his forearms blazed with violet light for a moment, then settled into a steady glow deeper than before.

My mana pool has expanded, but even after killing three goblins, it isn't full. I'll have to rest in the tomb to replenish it once I go back. He looked down at the corpse at his feet. The question is, should I bother raising them?

Tusky had already shown his worth, but the last goblin Lucas raised hadn't lasted long.

His gaze drifted to the rock sling and pouch half-filled with rocks, and he got an idea. Deciding to raise the one he had just strangled to death, as it was the least damaged of the three, Lucas used Raise Dead, and he had Tusky stand guard while he finished the process.

Moments later, another undead stood before Lucas, awaiting orders.

[Goblin Slinger has risen as a Lesser Undead]

It had cost a little more mana to raise the goblin than he had gained from harvesting its soul, but he was hoping it would be worth the investment.

"Pick up the rock sling and pouch," Lucas commanded. The goblin obeyed, its hands just as dexterous as they had been in life. "Now, sling a rock at that tree just like you did before."

The goblin put a rock in the sling, began spinning it over its head, and released it with a satisfying whistle. The rock impacted the tree and bounced off.

Hmm, not quite the same force as before, but that's to be expected, since my undead goblin lacks muscles and moves on mana alone. But this proves my theory that some capabilities carry over.

The first undead Lucas had raised had been a Goblin Scavenger. For an undead, it was surprisingly good at holding many things at once, like the tower of books, but it had been hopeless in combat and scouting.

His new Goblin Slinger looked up at him with hollow eyes, awaiting its next order.

It almost reminds me of Sophie asking for praise after she learned how to tie her shoes, Lucas thought bitterly. God, I miss her and Anna so much.

His gaze swept the silent, frozen forest where there was nothing but him, two undead, and corpses.

You know, now that I take a moment to think about it, this fucking sucks. All of it. Leveling up feels amazing in the moment, but whether I'm level 1 or level 100, I'm still a skeleton stuck in a foreign land, inhabiting a dead Archmage's bones, deathly alone, and with nothing but the faint hope of seeing Sophie and Anna again one day.

He looked up at the night sky.

Are you out there somewhere, God? Is this all some kind of sick game or an experiment? Maybe even an error that's granted me an accursed second chance?

He clenched his jaw.

Well, if you were hoping I'd lie down and go quietly, you picked the wrong soul to mess with. I have simply too much to live for to give up now or ever. He began walking down the frosted dirt road toward a column of smoke. To escape this hell I've been dropped into, I'll do anything it takes.

"Follow me," he said to his two undead, and they wordlessly fell in behind him like drones. Even a robot vacuum had more personality than them. eThey simply obeyed his orders, which is all he needed from them. The goblin wasn't his precious daughter, and Tusky wasn't his childhood dog. They were reanimated bones, bound to serve his will, no matter how much they despised him.

They were tools, and he intended to use them as such.

***

Goblins were warm-blooded monsters. They needed oxygen to breathe, food to eat, and in a frozen forest like this, they needed heat to fight off frostbite.

The Elder Lich creeping up on their camp needed none of these things. Even the lazy haze of smoke rising into the sky from a fire would have been invisible to most, but for Lucas with night vision, it was like a beacon.

It didn't take long to find the goblins' camp after that, which made sense, as the three goblins he had encountered were likely guards or scouts.

The camp sat in a hollow where the mountain folded in on itself, three sides walled by rock and the fourth open to the forest. Lucas crouched behind a boulder at the edge of the trees and looked down into it, his undead waiting behind him.

I don't know why, but I was expecting a bigger camp. He counted five tents in total, six if you included the larger square one at the back that looked like a wooden carriage without the wheels. The tents at the forefront were crude things made from animal hide stretched over bent branches and clustered around a fire pit that produced far more smoke than heat.

They are trying to burn wet logs, Lucas realized. Either they weren't smart enough to know that frostbitten wood burned badly, or they simply had no alternative. He leaned toward the former theory as he inspected the camp. The more he looked, the more it resembled an abandoned human campsite overtaken by primitive monsters. Clothes that could help fight the cold lay on the ground, caked in frost. An oddly dented iron skillet was nowhere near the cooking fire, and the most obvious example was the goblin wearing a coat many sizes too big, sitting before the flames and poking the fire with a stick.

A patchy wall of what looked like bedsheets strung between wooden stakes shielded the camp from the chilling winds, but judging by how the goblin shivered, it wasn't helping much.

Lucas swapped to Mana Sense. The mundane world darkened, and the fireflies of mana came out. He counted a dozen in total. Most were weaker than the Goblin Slingers he had encountered earlier, so they were probably Scavengers. Half were asleep, while the others moved about the camp. They were likely on night watch but doing a bad job of it, as they kept returning to the fire for warmth.

Besides their sheer number, none of them worried Lucas.

Except for the one occupying the wagon-turned-tent. Its mana wasn't a firefly—it was as dense as the boar's, but far larger.

That must be their leader, Lucas reasoned. And so long as it's there, I can't charge in and wipe them. I'll have to bait the weaker ones out of the camp somehow without alerting the boss.

Lucas retreated behind the boulder and considered his options.

Mana Bolt is out of the question. It's ranged, and if I put in enough mana, it can one-shot a Goblin Slinger, but it's as loud as cracking a whip. There's no way the leader will sleep through that. Which leaves me with Death Touch and my risen undead.

He sighed and peeked from behind the boulder again.

"I must be the first Lich in history to fight with such underhanded tactics against mere goblins," he muttered. "Goblin, follow me. Tusky, you stay here."

He crept forward, using the trees for cover as he approached the camp. The fire's crackling helped mask his footsteps, though he was glad he'd left Tusky farther back. Stealth wasn't the boar's forte.

He stopped behind the makeshift wall, crouched, and instructed his goblin.

"Sling a stone at the one sitting by the fire."

His goblin did as instructed. It stepped out into the camp entrance, the smoky firelight not quite reaching it. A whoosh sounded as it spun the rock overhead, followed by a whistle and a confused yelp as it hit the goblin on the shoulder.

Not strong enough to break bones, but that should cause a nasty bruise.

The struck goblin slowly rose to the height of a human teenager, its elongated limbs a stark silhouette against the campfire. Its pointed ears twitched as it turned and glared at the entrance. Narrowing its cat-like yellow eyes, it rubbed its arm through the oversized farmer's coat.

"Why?" it snarled and approached the undead goblin standing in the shadows.

These goblins clearly have night vision. Otherwise, they couldn't have pelted me so accurately with rocks. But it doesn't seem good enough to make out details.

"Grunt. Answer me," the goblin demanded. "Why attack..."

It trailed off as moonlight shone through a gap in the cloud overhead, exposing its brethren for what it had become. Its eyes widened in shock, and it opened its mouth to yell a warning, but Lucas reached out from behind the curtain and grabbed its neck with both hands—letting nothing but a gurgle escape its lips.

If the sight of the undead had surprised the goblin, coming face to face with Lucas made its beady eyes tremble with fear. Using Death Touch to weaken the goblin and his Soul Level 4 strength, Lucas managed to snap the goblin's neck, killing it instantly.

[Soul of the Goblin Warrior harvested]

A Goblin Warrior? Lucas quietly set the corpse behind him. It wasn't worth the mana investment or time to raise.

"Target the next one," Lucas said to his undead, pointing past the plume of smoke. His undead obeyed and slung a rock that carved through the smoke and struck a goblin.

"Ouch!" it hissed in pain. "What grunt dares?" Its voice never rose above a forced whisper, as if it feared waking their leader.

Perfect for me, as I want to eliminate as many as possible before they catch on that something's not right.

A goblin taller than the first, wearing leather hide for armor and brandishing a spear, stepped around the fire with an angered expression. The rocks Lucas's undead launched weren't strong enough to count as a real attack, but they were certainly enough to incite anger.

Swapping to Mana Sense, Lucas confirmed this melee fighter possessed a mana core equal in size to the Goblin Slingers, but was taller and felt more threatening.

It grew suspicious when it noticed the goblin that had been sitting beside the fire was missing. Gripping its spear, it squinted at Lucas's undead and approached cautiously.

"Name?" it asked, keeping its distance.

The undead, once again shrouded in darkness, offered no answer, and Lucas stayed crouched behind the awkwardly small cloth wall, wondering what to do.

"Name," the goblin repeated, snarling. It was growing impatient, yet refused to get closer.

Just three more steps and I can grab its neck, but it won't move another step! I could round the corner, but that risks discovery. Lucas's Mana Sense picked up movement beyond the smoke. The goblin's snarls were rousing their interest. I need to make it come closer. Telling my goblin to back up would expose me... wait, what if I pulled it closer?

It was a gamble, but he had no other idea.

Activating Unseen Hand, he reached through the cloth wall and wrapped his spectral fingers around the goblin's pointed spear. The goblin squinted down at its spear, perhaps sensing the foreign presence.

Lucas pulled. The goblin grunted as it stumbled forward, refusing to let go of its trusty weapon.

A mistake.

Before it could get its footing, Lucas's bony fingers, wreathed in chilling necrotic mana, were around its neck. It let out a gasp of horror before its neck snapped with a crunch, and the monster was dumped onto the other corpse.

[Soul of the Goblin Warrior harvested]

[Unseen Hand (II) -> Unseen Hand (III)]

[Your Soul Level has increased to 5]

Lucas basked in the thrill of the level-up as his mana pool jumped in size again, and he felt more power crackling through his bones.

Unfortunately, the kill hadn't been as quiet and elegant as he hoped. The camp was well aware something was wrong now, and multiple goblins were approaching the camp entrance.