Reborn as the First Boss, Chapter 35 (Patreon)

Chapter 35 – Loot?

I remembered the blue box the Voice of the World had given me after the win. According to that, Goblin Lord had three pieces of loot on him, a sword, a necklace, and some kind of piercing. As some of the knights brought out a cloth wrapping the items to lay them on the table, I saw that several of what looked like the goblin’s teeth had been added to the mix.

Roland chuckled as I looked his way. “The fangs from a Goblin Lord can be used as a reagent by a properly skilled Enchanter to strengthen some pieces of gear. I’m no Enchanter, myself, but I’ve been around enough to learn some things.”

Fangs of Pikx the Violator

Type

Ingredient

Rank

Unique

Price

10000 GP

Weight

0 kg

These fangs were pried from the jaws of Pikx the Violator, a Goblin Lord who earned both names and titles before being named a Hero by the Voice of the World. A portion of his power is infused into these fangs, which can be used to strengthen existing enchantments. The type and scale of the strengthening depends on the compatibility with Pikx’s nature and the existing enchantment. The fangs will be consumed in the process.

That was fairly straightforward, at least. The price was so high because the fangs were unique, and would be lost when used. On the other hand, I had to be careful of what enchantments I used them on, since compatibility was a concern. Getting something to boost my STR or DEX would probably do well, while enchantments that boosted my INT or made me more diplomatic would probably see only a small boost, if they weren’t twisted in some way. Of course, I’d have to find an Enchanter to talk with first, and see what could be done.

Big Goblin Cleavah

Type

Two-handed Sword

Rank

Rare

Price

8000 gp

Weight

3.5 kg

Damage

1.5STR plus 1.5STR

Critical

x2

Range

N/A

Damage Type

Slashing / Bludgeoning

This weapon began as a simple slab of metal with something resembling an edge for a goblin to swing about. The poor quality of the craftsmanship means that the damage done is split between Slashing and Bludgeoning damage, but the brutality of this weapon cannot be understated. When its wielder was elevated to a Hero by the Voice of the World, this weapon took on new properties.

Requires Large Size or STR 100 to wield.

+50 Attack

x2 damage to creatures smaller than wielder

Maiming – All attacks by this weapon have a (Wielder’s STR – Defender’s CON)% chance of causing crippling wounds, including broken bones and other serious afflictions.

Unwieldy – This weapon is large, and cumbersome. Wielder suffers a 25% miss chance on attacks against creatures half its size or smaller, in addition to other penalties.

Flameblade – This blade burns with its own fire when held. The flames do not harm the wielder or their equipment, but are otherwise normal flames. All attacks deal extra Fire damage equal to 50% of total damage dealt.

Cleaving – This blade cleaves through foes like a knife through butter. By spending 3x the SP of a normal attack, the wielder can strike all creatures within 1.5 meters of the target.

As expected, the massive sword was, well, a massive sword. Completely unusable by me, as I currently was. Moreover, the whole two-handed sword thing didn’t really work with my fighting style. I was a guns and spells kind of fighter. Sure, I’d picked up some melee weapons, but that was mainly because I knew that sometimes a knife was better than a gun, especially since knives were quiet weapons. This thing, however, was useless to me.

Humie Teef Necklace

Type

Throat

Rank

Uncommon

Price

3000 gp

Weight

0 kg

This necklace is made of a leather cord and the strung up teeth of slaughtered humans. This traditional goblin craft item has been enchanted to give the wearer substantial boons in combat against humans.

+50 Attack vs Humans

+50 Defense vs Humans

Intimidation – All attacks cause the Intimidation skill to activate on humans who can see the attack.

The grisly necklace was everything it appeared to be, as well. Goblins, it seemed, were not fans of subtlety. The necklace was actually a decent piece of gear, if you were going to be fighting against humans. However, I was also pretty sure that wearing it openly would cause a whole lot of problems, as well. Generally, anyone who looked human, and went around wearing a necklace of human teeth was going to be looked at as a serial killer, or worse. Another useless item.

Big Boss Nevastoppin Piercing

Type

Tool

Rank

Uncommon

Price

1000 gp

Weight

0 kg

This crude steel piercing is designed to be pierced through a male’s genitals. When so placed, it gives the user enhanced stamina, as well as other benefits.

+100 SP per level

Violation Recharge – Engaging in acts of passion can increase MP and HP regeneration. More involved acts may transfer MP and HP from your partner to you. Unwilling partners grant you a bonus of 10% to all abilities for 24 hours. Each partner can grant this bonus only once per 24 hours.

And this is probably what helped Pikx get the [Violator] title. He could fuck his way back to full health, just like I could with my Greater Succubus heritage, but anyone who was unwilling, which was pretty much anyone a Goblin Lord fucked, would give him a stat boost. And it looked like the boosts would stack. If the Violator violated ten people in a 24-hour period, he’d have a 100% boost to his stats.

Unfortunately, this was yet another item that was utterly worthless to me. I lacked the equipment to make use of it without engaging in some [Shapeshifting], and even if I did take on that equipment, most of the benefits were copies of what I already had, thanks to my race, except for the SP boost, and my SP was already twice that of my HP or MP, so I didn’t need more of that right now. In other words, out of all the loot, only the Fangs were worth anything to me, personally, but some of the items I didn’t feel comfortable selling, since there was nothing good that would come of those things being out in the world, and I had a reputation as Baroness to upkeep if I didn’t want to draw suspicion.

“Well,” I said, after I finished using [Appraise] on the items. “These are all ‘interesting’ pieces of loot. Unfortunately, it seems only the fangs are of use to me. But I do not feel comfortable allowing some of these items to go out in the world. Roland, what is the normal means of dealing with situations like this?”

The Guildmaster chuckled. “This kind of thing is actually not uncommon with loot from monsters, my lady. Especially not goblins. Monsters have items which cater to their needs, obviously, and those needs are not the needs of other people. And only criminals or worse can make use of those in civilized society.

“Thankfully, even a low-level Enchanter has the ability to break down items and retrieve magical components from them, which can be used for other enchantments. Higher-level Enchanters can even transfer or alter enchantments. For instance, that necklace’s effects could be moved to another item, and then changed to be a boon against goblins, though it would lose some of the enchantment’s power in the process.”

“Well, at least there’s that. I shudder to think what my reputation would be like if I had anyone that I was associated with use that piercing. The rumors would be ghastly!”

Captain Lunet chuckled, and said, “Before you were appointed as Baroness of Windwater, my lady, the old Baron was rumored to use items like that. He was… not well regarded by the people, which is why no one was terribly surprised when he ‘fell on a knife’ one night when he was indulging himself. It is one of the reasons people were so pleased, initially, to have you as Baroness, though your actions since is what cemented your popularity with the people.”

I raised an eyebrow at her, questioningly, and she simply shrugged. “I was just a lieutenant back then, my lady. Part of my duties was keeping abreast of the attitudes in the barony, in case discontent turned towards rioting or worse.”

That brought a question to mind that I didn’t have an answer for. How had Mhyrsha managed to get herself named Baroness? Such a title (and responsibility) was not handed out on a whim. The answer didn’t matter, so long as I stayed in the barony, but if I went into the wider kingdom, I’d probably need to know the truth. But that was something for later.

“At any rate,” I said, to shake the uncomfortable air that had descended with talk of the old baron’s degenerate ways, “is there an enchanter in Stonebreak who can handle these things? I’d prefer to deal with these disturbing items here, rather than back at Windwater. Especially that piercing.”

Roland laughed, and said, “There’s a reason everything was being carried in a bundle, my lady. No one else wished to touch the thing, as well. The only reason anyone did that much with it is because a [Detect Magic] spell made clear that it was magical. The men drew lots and the loser had to extract it.”

“One of ours, or the locals?”

“One of the adventurers, Valter, who has the Fighter class with the Hunter profession. Good lad, but is unlucky as it comes when anything involving games of chance come up.”

I chuckled, and said, “Tell Valter that his first drink when we get back to Windwater is on me. Something strong, most likely, so he can send that memory to the abyss where it belongs.”

“I’ll be sure to let him know. As for any enchanters? Unfortunately, the only people with the Enchanter profession in Stonebreak were one of the men who died on the wall and the former priest.”

“Only two in the whole village? For a village devoted to crafting?”

“Well, most of the village is devoted to the mines, or the fields, and there are the blacksmiths and carpenters and the like. They make up most of the population. Most dedicated crafters invest a skill point in [Basic Enchantment] as a General Skill, since that lets them do reinforcement on their tools, and so on, which is all most people in a village like this need, or can really use, with their attributes typically giving them more SP than MP.”

“I see. And I guess that the materials needed to actually make a go of enchanting would cost coin that could be better put towards their own craft. That’s unfortunate, but I guess there’s nothing we can do about it.”

“Well, if the Church of Yton is sending another priest, then they’ll likely be an Enchanter. Most of the ones who become Priests are Enchanters. At least in these parts.”

“Really?” I asked. “I would have thought that the God of Craftsmen would have a wider range of those jobs in his clergy than just Enchanters.”

Lunet smiled as she answered. “The Church of Yton attracts everyone with a crafting profession, it is true, but with the church’s resources and libraries, professions that are more expensive to get into, like Enchanter, are more likely to go that route, than a Blacksmith or Tailor, who can apprentice themselves to a local master, working with low-quality materials until their skills progress. Even the lowest-quality enchantment materials are expensive, once you get beyond simple reinforcements.”

“It is as the Captain said,” Roland nodded. “Though it varies by region. Here in Dascora, the materials needed for enchanting are rarer, so Enchanters outside the clergy are rarer. In an area with few metals to speak of, but plentiful magical resources, you’re more likely to see a Blacksmith in the role. The Church generally does a good job of ensuring that established clergy are sent to the areas that need them, and not just for prayers. Priests of Yton that roam about as adventurers do exist, but they almost always are some form of Alchemist or Artificer, of the more ‘experimental’ sort.”

“And they become adventurers to find new ingredients and get out of town after one of their projects blows up in their faces, right?”

“Exactly, my lady. Common problem with some professions. Madness and genius are a hair’s breadth apart.”

One of the soldiers entered the warehouse, and saluted. “Captain Lunet! Private Blaive reporting. Sergeant Madlyn sends her regards from the wall, and wishes to let you know that a party of riders and a wagon approaching from the Coldpeak Road. They look like adventurers, she says.”

Roland nodded. “Only reason adventurers would be coming down that road, now, as just a party, with a single wagon, would be on an escort mission. I know the guildmaster in Coldpeak, and the leader of the local office in Granite Pointe. They’re no fools, so the only escort they’d be willing to allow, until word of the goblins’ fate spreads, would be escorting the new Priest to Stonebreak.”

I took a breath, and said, “Invite the adventurers and priest here. May as well greet the new priest, and see if he has any ideas to help the reconstruction. Also, send word to our new village headwoman that she may want to come and meet the new priest, and work out what he’ll be needing to get the casualties back on their feet.”