Survival Life as a Goblin Chapter 15 (Patreon)

Hey friends and fans! I got another Tier Reward asking for more Goblins! My Original Writing has fans and that makes me smile! I do wonder how long this story in particular will be. There is still quite a bit to go just from my plans alone, not to mention what I might work in later.

The conflict with the Orcs continues! Will the next Orc Tribe be smarter than the first? Will they have more intelligence or better weapons? Let’s find out!

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-Day 153-

Over the last week since the Koh Tribe had dealt with Graf and his Tribe of Orcs, things had gone back to a sense of normalcy. They hunted in groups of no less than five members for safety now though. Gathering resources was going well, both food and firewood was being stocked up on well, more oil bombs had been made too. Morning training had seen an increase in intensity due to the threat of the Orcs, but beyond that the Koh Tribe was operating as they normally did.

“Hmm,” Gobkoh sat with his eyes closed at the edge of the spring-fed pond. He was using his ‘Spirit Communication’ Skill to try and get a better understanding of what he could do with his magic. The Earth and Water Spirits were unable to communicate via words, but they could leave vague impressions while Gobkoh used this Skill.

‘To make the most out of my Spellcraft Skill, I need to figure out all of the things that I can do with my magic and build off of that foundation.’ Gobkoh reasoned as he communed with the small spirits.

Letting the vague impressions of the spirits lead him along, Gobkoh’s mental focus was drawn to the very edge of the pond. Seeing the area with ‘Spirit Sight’ brought into focus the intermingling of the Earth Spirits and the Water Spirits at the water’s edge. The Goblin Shaman reached out with his mana through the ‘Spirit Unification’ Skill and imparted his will upon one of the small clusters of intermingled spirits. What rose from the watery ground was mud. Almost a ball of the wet dirt was suspended in the air under the effect of the magic.

“That should’ve been obvious,” Gobkoh grinned at the mud ball. Of course wet dirt became mud that was simply a fact. As he rotated the ball of mud slowly with his magic, Gobkoh wondered what the little spirits were trying to tell him.

“What’re you up to, Chief?” Gobtay asked as he approached the pond with his fishing pole. The other male had taken up a distinct love of fishing ever since he’d first tried it. Fish had become one of Gobtay’s favorite foods and even when the other goblin didn’t catch anything, he still seemed to enjoy the time spent.

“Just trying to understand what the spirits are saying,” Gobkoh directed the mud ball back into the water with a small splash. “They don’t use words, so I have to try and guess what they’re attempting to tell me most of the time.”

“They were trying to tell you something about mud?” Gobtay cocked his head slightly in confusion. “The only thing I need to know about mud is to not step in it when it’s deep. I almost got stuck when I was pulling in a big fish a couple days ago. I had to wash off mud that was up to my knees!” He shook his head with a huff.

“True, it can be difficult when it’s deep.” Gobkoh chuckled at the annoyed look on his tribesman’s face.

Gobtay moved several paces away and sat on the bank of the pond. He baited his bone hook with what looked like some smoked meat. With a practiced flick of his fishing pole, the bait and hook went sailing into the water. The male Goblin sat back and relaxed while waiting for something to bite.

‘I’m glad that my tribesmen can enjoy themselves with what I’ve taught them.’ Gobkoh smiled at the fishing Gobtay before he turned back toward his own thoughts. ‘Now, what are you trying to tell me, little ones?’

Gobkoh spent the next several minutes moving mud around with his magic. He still wasn’t sure what the spirits were trying to tell him, but they seemed to enjoy being stirred up and mixed. Making a pile of mud with magic, Gobkoh wondered further on the little Earth Spirits and Water Spirits that were so active as they were brought together like this. Looking at the pile of mud in front of him he poked it with his index finger. The digit sank into the mud easily, but pulling it back was a little harder as the suction of the mud stuck to it.

‘Wait a minute…’ Gobkoh almost felt the epiphany happen as he finally connected the points together. “Mud is hard to walk through! I can use mud to change the terrain against the Orcs and bring them to a standstill!” The Shaman almost felt like face palming at the simple idea. It was such a common knowledge thing that he hadn’t even considered it. “Is that what you were trying to tell me, little ones?” He questioned the tiny spirits as they continued to mingle within the mud. “Mud Magic, not something I thought I’d be using, but it could prove incredibly useful.”

-Day 155-

“Chief, look at this!” Saelin smiled as she approached Gobkoh with a small leather pouch in her hands.

“What’s that?” Gobkoh questioned the new Herbalist. It was a great benefit that Saelin had acquired both the ‘Herbalism’ Skill and the ‘Herbalist’ Class not too long ago. They now had two Healers in their Tribe and one of the new males from the former Mak Tribe seemed to be interested in learning too.

“Poison!” Saelin smiled brightly even as Gobkoh took a step backwards from the pouch.

“What now?” Gobkoh asked again as he looked between the little leather pouch and the smiling Saelin.

“It’s a poisonous powder made from a plant called Asterweed,” Saelin informed as she opened the pouch slightly and showed him the yellow-green powder inside. “The pollen isn’t really poisonous except in large amounts, but if you process it and collect a lot of it then it makes it hard to breathe. The more you inhale the worse it gets until you can’t breathe at all. I thought we might be able to use it on the Orcs if they try attacking our wall again.” The female Goblin had bright eyes as she looked at her Chieftain. It was clear she’d put a lot of thought and effort into making this and was hopeful that she’d been helpful for her Tribe.

“That could be useful,” Gobkoh looked at the small pouch thoughtfully. “I was planning to try a new tactic on the next Orc Tribe that tried to attack us. Your poison could be a great help if you can make a lot of it.”

“I can!” Saelin assured him with a bright smile and a nod. “Asterweed is pretty common, so I can get lots of it! I’ll have as much as possible made by the time the Orcs come again!”

“Just be safe, Saelin.” Gobkoh cautioned the excited girl. “I wouldn’t want you to have an accident and end up poisoning yourself.”

“Yeah, that wouldn’t be good…” Saelin agreed as she visibly calmed down. “I’ll be careful, Chief. I should be able to make enough of these pouches to throw at the Orcs to really ruin their charge.” She gave a fanged-grin before heading back towards the cavern turned room that had become the Herbalists’ workshop.

“I should probably find a way to ventilate that room. I already smoothed out the walls and floor with Earth Magic. Maybe Wind Spirits could help?” Gobkoh pondered as he looked at the black and silver feather hanging from his Shaman Staff. The small Wind Spirits still swirled around it as they’d done ever since Rialin had found it. ‘Maybe I can make something like an exhaust fan?’ He wondered as he watched the little spirits swirl around the feather.

-Day 157-

“Do you see it?” Amalin questioned as she gestured towards the forest.

“I see it,” Gobkoh nodded as he spotted what she was pointing out. “It’s watching our home, trying to collect information on us.”

Indeed there was an Orc hiding amongst the trees and bushes of the forest. It was wearing a pelt that appeared to be covered in leaves to hide. The distance it was at was safe for it to watch without being noticed. Or it would’ve been, if the Koh Tribe didn’t have their lookout towers. It seemed that the next Orc Tribe had found them. The fact that they’d sent a Scout ahead to gather information -rather than charge headlong at their wall- proved that whatever Battle Orc controlled this Tribe was more intelligent than Graf had been.

“I’m not sure our arrows will reach from this distance.” Amalin looked towards her bow and then back to the Orc.

“None of the newer bows are ready yet, either.” Gobkoh mentioned as he thought about the bows that he, Rialin, and Gobwren had taken the time to carve. The wood was still going through treatment and drying at the moment.

Upgrading their bows would be a massive boon for the Koh Tribe, allowing their arrows to fly faster, farther, and more accurately. The only thing they needed was time to make proper bows. Carving, drying, and treating the wood to make a real bow, instead of the more primitive versions the Tribe had been using, couldn’t be rushed. It was only thanks to having both the Weapon Crafting Skill and the Bowmanship Skill that the knowledge of making proper bows were known to the three of them. World Knowledge was definitely something Gobkoh planned to take advantage of to increase the Koh Tribe’s chances of survival.

“Should we send a group after it?” Amalin asked as she kept her eyes on the Orc Scout.

“No, they wouldn’t be able to get close enough to the Orc before it noticed them and had a chance to escape.” Gobkoh shook his head. “Let’s just let the Orc watch. I’ll post two Goblins per lookout tower for the rest of the day and tonight. I want eyes on that Orc until it leaves. We won’t give their Scout much information at all if we control what it sees.”

“So we’re going to let it take back wrong information?” Amalin questioned confused.

“That’s about it,” Gobkoh gave a fanged-grin to the girl. “Bad information can be worse than no information at all. So let’s just let that Scout think we’re completely unaware of the Orcs. We might have some visitors in the dark of night though. If the ones on watch notice anything suspicious we’ll have them sound the alarm.”

“I get it,” Amalin had a grin of her own now. “They’ll think they know what we’re capable of, but we’ll surprise them and take them out!”

“That’s the plan.” Gobkoh chuckled at the girl.

“When do you think they’ll attack?” Amalin asked as they both watched the Orc Scout.

“If the intelligence to send a Scout isn’t the limit of their strategic planning, they might attack in the middle of the night or even at dawn. That’s why we’ll have two Goblins in each tower until they attack. One Goblin will sound the alarm and the other will start defending the wall immediately.”

Gobkoh descended the tower to inform the rest of the Tribe about the situation. Three more Goblins quickly climbed up the lookout towers to join the watch. It would be a tense time until the attack, but Gobkoh wanted everyone to act as normal as possible to throw off their enemy.

Just as the Shaman had expected, the Scout had left just as the sun was setting. Reports from all three lookout towers confirmed that there had only been the single Scout. Now it was time to wait for the Orcs response to the false information that the Koh Tribe had given them. Whether the attack came in the dead of night, or if it happened at first light, the Goblins would be ready.

-Day 158-

Gobkoh and Rialin had just awoken as normal. They stretched and woke up from the grogginess of early morning when it happened. The loud clanging of the alarms as they were beaten. This was called by the shouts from the lookout Goblins about Orcs attacking. Both Gobkoh and Rialin quickly donned their clothing and armor, grabbed their weapons, and were rushing out of the cave in minutes.

“What’s the situation?” Gobkoh demanded after he climbed the middle lookout tower next to the gate.

“They’re coming through the trees and all of them have large shields to block out arrows!” The lookout Goblin informed with a grimace as he let another arrow fly at the approaching Orcs. Gobkoh and Rialin both watched the arrow hit one of the large shield and stick. The Orc behind the shield kept moving forward without pause.

“What’re they doing?” Rialin questioned as she noticed the Orcs slowly grouping up together.

“They’re making a formation.” Gobkoh realized when he saw the Orcs start forming rows. The shields of the second row were held above the heads of the first row, the third row held their shield over the heads of the second row. They were protecting each other from the incoming arrows as they headed for the gate.

“With that many Orcs they must think they can force open the gate!” Rialin realized as she saw the Orcs’ path.

“The gate is barred from the inside, it’ll buy us time.” Gobkoh reassured her. “Rialin, get some help and get Saelin to gather up all of her poison pouches. We’re going to need those shields out of the way.”

“Okay, but what are you going to do?” Rialin questioned her male with a look of worry.

“I’m going to slow down their formation.” Gobkoh gave her a grin and Rialin nodded before descending the lookout tower.

Gobkoh raised his Shaman Staff while he closed his eyes and focused on his magic. Activating ‘Spirit Sight’, ‘Spirit Guide’, and ‘Spirit Unification’, the Goblin Shaman reached out to the water flowing in the stream from the pond. Unifying his mana with the Water Spirits in the water, he dragged the water towards the gate and the Orcs. The waves, only about a foot high, flooded over the flat area between the wall and the forest.

“Hey!” One Orc in the formation cried out as his feet were submerged.

“Water?!” Another Orc bellowed at the unusual happening.

“What’s going on?!” A different Orc demanded.

Gobkoh didn’t care for their concerns or exclamations of surprise. He reached out to the Earth Spirits that covered the forest floor. Guiding them along with his mana, he quickly had the Water Spirits and the Earth Spirits mixing together in the flooded field. Mud formed unnaturally fast beneath the advancing Orcs’ feet. Soon the formation was slowed to a crawl as each step sank their feet into the muck. Watching the Orcs struggle to take each step brought a grin to Gobkoh’s face.

“Gobkoh! We’ve got the powder!” Rialin called up to him from the platform that was built into the wall.

“On my signal dump all of it over the wall!” Gobkoh called back and watched as four Goblins, Saelin being one of them, hefted up four large leather bags of the poisonous powder.

Leaving the mud for now, Gobkoh shifted his focus to the Wind Spirits around him. Waving his Shaman Staff the silver and black feather seemed to glow just slightly in the light of the early morning sun. Feeling the air shift as more and more Wind Spirits heeded his call, Gobkoh prepared a gale that would spread the poison across the formation.

“Now!” Gobkoh declared and watched as all four bags were upended and the yellow-green powder fell down in a cloud. With a jab of his Shaman Staff a strong wind caught the cloud of powder and blew it into the formation of Orcs. Nearly twenty Orcs were covered in the powder as it was blown over them and hung in the air after the gale died down.

“What’s this stuff?” One Orc questioned from beneath the shields.

“Ack! I don’t know!” Another Orc coughed before responding.

“I can’t -Ack- smell anything!” The next Orc to speak up also gave a harsh cough.

By now the Orc formation had stopped completely, both stuck in the mud and now having trouble breathing as the poisonous powder went to work on them. The hacking and coughing continued until some of the Orcs began to collapse as they held their throats while they tried to breathe through their coughing fits. These Orcs were quickly picked off by the archers on the wall or in the lookout tower by the gate.

“Where is the leader?” Gobkoh wondered as he used ‘Analyze on each of the Orcs in the formation. None of them were Battle Orcs, so the leader wasn’t among them.

Shifting his gaze to the tree line Gobkoh looked for more Orcs. Behind the trees a bit further into the forest he spotted them. Five larger Orcs, one more massive than the others, were watching on from the safety of the trees. All of them wore what looked like properly made Shellcoon shell armor as cuirasses over their torsos. The biggest one even had a helmet made of another shell and what looked to be a sword handle over his shoulder. Using ‘Analyze’ on him he found what he was looking for.

[Tarrus, Battle Orc, Level 6]

[Skills: Club Lv. 6, Sword Lv. 8, Shield Lv. 5, Fire Making Lv. 4, Martial Arts Lv. 3, Durability Up Lv. 3, Power Up Lv. 4]

[Race Specific Abilities – Accelerated Healing, Consumption]

[Class – Beast Warrior]

“He’s stronger than Graf was and has a different Class too.” Gobkoh noted as he used ‘Analyze’ again.

[Beast Warrior – Requirements Demi-Human Heritage, Sword Lv. 5, Shield Lv. 5 – Increases bonuses from ‘Martial Arts’ Skill, ‘Sword’ Skill, and ‘Shield’ Skill by 25%, increases Power, Durability, and Speed by 20%]

“Argh!” An Orc cried out as it was filled with arrows after dropping its shield to hack and cough. The Orcs in the formation only had lighter armor that seemed to be made out of bone, furs, and leather. The lack of helmets and the obvious gaps in their armor left them vulnerable to arrows.

‘The formation is done for, over half of them are already dead and still Tarrus does nothing? What is he waiting for?” Gobkoh wondered as he saw no reaction from the Battle Orc to the death of his Tribe.

“More Orcs!” The clacking of the alarms from both of the other lookout tower alerted Gobkoh to the Battle Orc’s plan.

“He’s trying to pincer us!” Gobkoh nearly swore as he saw primitive stone-tipped spears being thrown at the lookout tower facing the mountain and at the one overlooking the forest beyond the pond. “Archers! Leave the trapped ones to die! Reinforce the lookout towers under attack!”

The Goblins at the main gate quickly did as told and split up to beat back the two-pronged attack. Gobkoh jumped from the lookout tower and landed on the platform. It was a little jarring, but he was fine. He wasn’t taking his eyes off of Tarrus and his elites.

“What’re they doing?” Gobkoh blinked as he saw Tarrus and the four other armored Orcs pick up their own large, wooden shields. They all picked up their weapons too. Large stone battle axes for the elites and Tarrus drew his sword from his back. “That’s a metal sword…” Gobkoh realized as he saw the weapon in the Battle Orc’s hand. “Where the hell did her get that?”

Tarrus and his elites formed a simple shield wall as they charged forward. Gobkoh couldn’t comprehend the move though. The mud was still thick in the flat ground between the gate and the forest. They’d only get stuck just like the formation Orcs.

“Wait…the formation Orcs!” Gobkoh looked down and saw the dead and dying Orcs trapped in the mud. They were sprawled out and covering a good amount of the muddy field with their bodies. Tarrus’ plan quickly made sense to the Shaman. The Battle Orc was going to use his dead and dying kin as footing to try and break through the gate in one powerful attack!

“No you don’t!” Gobtay yelled as he ran over to Gobkoh’s position with an oil jar in hand.

“Like we’d let you!” Gobyog declared just behind Gobtay with his own oil jar in hand.

“Take this!” Gobmyr had two oil jars as he ran to join his Chief from the opposite end of the wall.

All four oil jars were tossed at the charging shield wall of Orcs. They simply raised their shields and the jars smashed, splattering oil over the wood. That was more than enough for Gobkoh though. The red and gold feather on his Shaman Staff glowed in the light of the rising sun and a wave of fire was unleashed upon the five Orcs with a wave of the Medium.

“Arrgh!” The Orcs howled in pain and rage as everything around them was doused in fire.

The oil burst into flames and their shields quickly became painful to hold. Oil that had splattered on the Orcs below them also ignited and Tarrus and his elites found themselves burning. The Battle Orc left his panicking elites behind as he charged out of the flames and raised his sword with both hands. The metal blade was swung with all of Tarrus’ strength, backed by all of his related Skills, but it made little difference. The weapon never reached the gate.

“Mudslide!” Gobkoh declared and his Shaman Staff appeared to have green lights glowing in the eye sockets of the Capra Horn skull. A wave of mud shifted and blasted Tarrus off his feet. Gobkoh pulled more and more mud from the flat field and piled it on top of the struggling Battle Orc.

“Graagghheeee!” Tarrus didn’t even use words, merely bellowing out his rage at the situation.

“Just die already!” Gobmyr yelled down at the large Orc.

“Stay down!” Gobyog demanded with a growl.

“Kill him Chief!” Gobtay roared as the mudslide covered the Battle Orc more and more.

“Damn Goblins!” Tarrus cursed, speaking his first words in the conflict.

“Mudslide.” Gobkoh intoned again and another wave of mud piled on top of the struggling Tarrus.

The Battle Orc might be physically powerful. He was definitely stronger than any Goblin could hope to be. But he couldn’t grab the shifting, flowing mud. He had no footing to grant him leverage to use his strength. He was flat on his back and being buried alive by the thick muck. The more he struggled the deeper he sank into the soaked field. The mud covered his face, making him cough and spit to try and clear his snout and mouth. Eventually it was too much, the watery muck covered his nose and mouth as he sank in to the swirling mud. Almost four minutes later Gobkoh was forced to end the spell as he hit his knees from the drop in his mana.

“Chief!” Gobyog kneeled next to his Chieftain.

“Are you alright?” Gobmyr questioned as he looked over the panting Gobkoh.

“Can we help?” Gobtay looked worried at seeing the weakened state of the Shaman.

“I’m…alright,” Gobkoh breathed heavily. “Just used up a lot of mana…for that.”

“Gobkoh!” Rialin was charging across the wall platform towards her male in panic.

Almost an hour later and Gobkoh was at least more awake than he had been. The drop in his mana had been substantial and had made him sleepy. After getting a bit of food, he was now awake enough to hear the reports from his tribesmen.

“We killed all of the Orcs on the mountain side of the wall, Chief.” Neylin reported with a fanged-smile.

“All of the Orcs were slain on the pond side of the wall as well, Chief.” Gobwren nodded to Gobkoh.

“We finished off the armored Orcs with arrows while you killed the Battle Orc.” The two Goblins from the gate lookout tower -Gobtuk and Amalin- smiled brightly at their success.

“In total, we killed forty-five Orcs in this attack.” Rialin summed up the total number of enemies slain. “We had a few minor injuries from the spears the Orcs threw in their pincer attack, but Yualin and Saelin have already patched them up.”

“No losses?” Gobkoh looked at his female.

“Not one.” Rialin shook her head with a smile.

“That’s the best news then.” Gobkoh smiled at his tribesmen. “You all did excellent!” He was greeted by a wave of smiles on all of the Goblins’ faces. “Today we celebrate with a feast!”

“Yeah!” The Koh Tribe cheered happily.

“We’ve got plenty of fresh meat too!” Neylin laughed at all of the Orc meat they now had.

“Someone bring me that metal sword Tarrus had, I want to look it over.” Gobkoh called out and two Goblins ran off to pull it out of the partially dried mud.

It was a good day for the Koh Tribe. Another Orc threat dealt with and no loss of life. They had plenty more food to add to their stockpile for winter once they prepared it. Hopefully they could get a respite from the Orcs for a bit to relax.

“I’m glad you’re alright, Gobkoh.” Rialin leaned against her male with a smile.

“I’m glad you’re safe too, Rialin.” Gobkoh returned the sentiment with a kiss on her cheek.

“I might eat a whole Orc by myself.” Rialin grinned as her stomach rumbled.

“Make that two.” Gobkoh’s stomach cried out its hunger as well.

The two laughed as they leaned against each other and watched as the Tribe set to work. The Goblins looted the dead Orcs for equipment before moving them over to the processing area to be butchered for meat.

It would be the biggest feast that the Koh Tribe held so far.

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Boom! Another fledgling Orc Tribe falls to the Koh Tribe!

Tarrus was smarter than Graf, had better equipment and even tactics!

That would be a rather worrying trend if it keeps up among the attacking Orc Tribes!

Gobkoh is very curious about the metal sword that Tarrus had. Where did the Battle Orc get such a weapon in the Silua Forest? Are Orcs capable of metallurgy and blacksmithing?

We’ll find out eventually!

Until I can update this again, later!