Goblinkin a deckbuilding.., p.1
Goblinkin: A Deckbuilding LitRPG, page 1
Goblinkin: Goblin Summoner Book 5
A Deckbuilding Litrpg
Tracy Gregory
P.W Hillard Fiction
Copyright © 2022 P.W Hillard Ficiton
All rights reserved
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Cover Art Provided by Getcovers.com
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-One
Goblin Summoner – The Rules
Wake the Dead- Preview Chapter
Chapter One
Gareth stared up at the looming statue before him, stone eyes staring back at his own. He knew that the pharaoh was going to send some of her people through to the tower, but he hadn’t expected the dragon to make good on her promise so quickly. It was an impressive display of her control over her people. The living jackal statues that populated her pyramid held great disdain for organic beings and to make things worse the passage through the teleporter caused them an incredible sensation of sickness. That they had overcome both of these problems to fulfil Neferure’s request was proof of their dedication.
“Right, so, you’re going to want somewhere to stay, I assume?” Gareth said. He had no idea why he had been foisted into the role of ambassador. It had only been a week since his return from the great desert that statues called home and he had been expecting to prepare for a trip through a third platform, not babysitting the envoy and her entourage. Magda had sequestered herself in Henig’s chambers as she scoured the lich’s books for more information, whilst Imelda had taken to helping the hunting parties stock up the various larders that were springing up around the growing town. Sarkuran had been a rare sight, disappearing somewhere in Henig’s tower as he worked on some kind of secret project.
“That would be a good idea, yes,” Mariska said. The Golden had been the first to make contact with Gareth and his friends and had acted as their liaison inside the pyramid so it made sense that she would have been sent through the teleporter. Even without the ability to move her face, it was obvious that the High Scribe wasn’t pleased with her new role. “Standing out here in all this…forest, I think it’s called? Seems like a bad idea. However, do you cope, isn’t all this unspeakably dirty?”
“Not unspeakably, no, not really. This is just nature, it’s how most of the world is.” That wasn’t exactly true. Acamida was proving to be a place of startling variety but even then, Gareth doubted that endless jungles filled with dinosaurs were common. He knew that wasn’t what Mariska meant. The Golden were used to life within their city-sized pyramid, free from the grime and grot of organic life. “You’ll get used to it.”
“I hope not.” Mariska’s head made a faint grinding noise as it swivelled about in its socket. The Golden were an artificial species, the first of their kind forged from stone by Neferure to ease the pain of the death of her culture. This origin was unknown to the Golden themselves, simply believing that the dragon was a god who had breathed them into life one day. It wasn’t a million miles away from the truth. “Perhaps we can take residence in one of these buildings, there’s maybe one that hasn’t been tainted by the occupants?” Mariska realised what she had said and rapidly backtracked. “Not tainted. That’s the wrong word.” She was trying hard to hide her disgust of the organics around her and she knew that her role was to forge an alliance between her people and the group around the tower. Her usual prejudices would have to take a backseat.
“What do you want?” Tax said. She skittered across the ground as she spoke, her arachnid body moving to create the words. Whilst the refugees from Wildermount were the most visible members of the town the crystal spiders were the most populous by far. They had taken up residence within large columns they had woven with their solid webbing, though they had initially wanted to cling to the side of the tower. The spiders had spent their lives in a chasm underground and it was only Henig’s insistent refusal that had caused them to grow their spires into the sky. “We can do anything.”
“Anything?” Mariska’s tone was noticeably different when talking to Tax. The Golden had immediately recognised the spiders as creatures of a kind, non-organic beings in a world dominated by skin and flesh. “Truly?”
“Yeah sure. You let my people know how you want it, and we’ll have it made for you.”
“And what do we do in the meantime?”
Tax’s abdomen wiggled, the motion signifying confusion. Gareth understood what the motion meant but he had spent a lot of time around the spiders. All Mariska had to go on were Tax’s words, the chimes translated by a rune carved into the bottom of the spider.
“In the meantime?”
“Yes, it takes significant time to construct a structure does it not? At least so I’m told.” Whilst most Golden never left the pyramid there were a few small outposts on the edge of the desert to watch for invaders to trade with the neighbouring nations.
Gareth let out a chuckle. “Not for Tax and her people. You’ll be amazed.”
“Well then, a building like that one should suffice.” Mariska’s robe made a rustling noise as she lifted a stone arm and pointed a finger at the nearby tavern. “It seems large enough and with plenty of rooms, though the see-through nature of the walls is a concern.”
“Not a lot we can do about that,” Gareth said. It was a notable downside to the spider crystal, the substance bright pink and transparent. The people of the town had taken to covering the walls with massive leaves plucked from the rainforest though the dangerous nature of the surrounding environment meant that there weren’t as many as people would like.
“Right, give us a few hours and we’ll have that done for you,” Tax said happily. She liked to know that her people were helping others. The spiders had spent as long as their culture could recall hiding in the chasms and tunnels beneath Wildermount in fear of the people above. It was an understandable thing to do, the duellists of the world would have considered them monsters and not hesitated to slay them. It was only Gareth’s ability to speak any language that had revealed them to be fully sapient creatures. The people of the town had received runic tattoos that did the same and they had surprised both Gareth and Tax by embracing the spiders wholeheartedly. It helped that the creatures had proven vital to survival.
The spider turned and scuttled off towards the nearest spire. Already her kin were pouring out from within. Tax hadn’t said anything, but Gareth and the others had long suspected that communication between the spiders themselves was more than just verbal. The moved swarm moved in unison, travelling to an empty patch of grass and beginning their work.
With incredible speed, they began to lay out the building layer by layer, the spiders working in unison to complete each thing slice quickly and easily. Gareth thought it was like watching a 3D printer forge something, though on a much bigger scale. It was a comparison he had never bothered to explain to the others. He often found himself having to explain something about Earth after making an offhand reference and 3D printing was just too complex for Gareth to bother. He would have to explain computers, plastic and a whole host of other things.
“I know, impressive, isn’t it?” Gareth said. “It’ll still take them a few hours though. You want to see the rest of the town?”
“I suppose,” Mariska said. She wasn’t keen to expose herself to the organics if she could help it, but a tour was to be expected when she was there for diplomatic reasons. This place was to be her home for the foreseeable future and Mariska had no intention of disappointing her goddess.
“We’ll start with the tower, shall we?” Gareth said. He knew that would please the Golden and the half dozen bodyguards she had brought with her. With the prospect of free custom houses tempting them people had moved out of the tower, leaving only Gareth, his friends and Henig occupying it. There was going to be much less contact with organics within it. Gareth wasn’t entirely sure how the Golden would take Henig, he had been an organic once long ago, but now he was a walking talking skeleton and whilst that was still technically his body it wasn’t like he was shedding skin everywhere.
“That would be good, yes.” It didn’t miss Mariska’s notice that Gareth was trying to be accommodating to her. It was appreciated, even if it wouldn’t matter in the long run. Her stone was already contaminated with bits of skin and sweat. After her last visit, she had spent hours in the cleansing baths and Mariska was certain that she had eroded a decent layer of her stone away.
Gareth nodded and turned towards the tower. The massive structure dominated the horizon, an enormous spire jabbing into the heavens themselves. The building was ancient, dating back to the time when Magda had last walked on Acamida in her previous incarnation. The planet itself was even older than that, the first reality in all the multiverse if Gareth believed what he had been told.
The size of the tower was deceptive. In truth, it was bigger on the inside, an impressive feat beyond just the magical power of it. The tower was already huge. Henig claimed that there were hundreds of rooms waiting in some pocket dimensions waiting to be summoned forth and swapped out if needed, though the majority of them were simply empty, hollow shells waiting for a purpose. Considering that it took a considerable toll on the lich to change the layout of the tower and that it was barely being used as it wasn’t something deemed necessary.
“This place dates back to the earliest days of your nation,” Gareth said, feeling the need to say something as the group walked towards the tower. He felt like a tour guide.
“The Golden are eternal, our goddess has existed since the dawn of time,” Mariska said. He voice was monotone like she was simply repeating a phrase she had heard a thousand times before.
“Well, of course.” It didn’t seem like a good idea to contradict the Golden on their beliefs, even if he knew that they were wrong. Their god, their pharaoh, was a dragon that had bonded with one of the powerful relics known as a Godsword. The monolith had fused with the great beast, dragons naturally changing to fit the mana of the world around them. The town’s draconic defender Luthor had a snakelike body, his shape a more primitive form of dragon thanks to the primal magic of the jungle. Neferure had developed a rocky body and considering that the Godsword was a direct link to the vast and unfathomable mana deep within Acamida the two becoming one was perhaps inevitable. The Pharaoh was ancient and powerful, but she was no god.
That was perhaps for the best. The gods were not what most people thought. Rather than benevolent overseers, they were capricious unfeeling beings that drove conflict across the infinite worlds both for their amusement and to accelerate the deaths of the beings that lived there to fuel their insatiable hunger for the spark of the divine that formed the core of all beings. Once they had stripped that vital mote of life from deceased souls the shrivelled husks were tossed into the void between worlds where they would ultimately transform into the eldritch horrors known as nightmares. It was those horrors that had forced the refugees to flee from their homes, crossing half the world in the blink of an eye thanks to a runic item the party had in its possession.
“I must admit it is an impressive structure, though it’s no pyramid.”
“Of course not,” Gareth conceded. Nothing much was. There were pyramids on Earth, but they were nothing compared to what the Golden had built. It would be like building another pyramid at Giza that could cover Cairo next to it. “I suspect very little is.” Some flattery never hurt.
“Perhaps not, though, maybe if these spiders found a more suitable home, say amongst their own non-organic kind, they could create something with just as much splendour,” Mariska said.
Gareth smiled wide as the Golden followed behind him. “Maybe.” It didn’t escape his notice that Mariska had already subtly suggested that the spiders should move to the pyramid. He didn’t expect it to be the last time either. It was going to be a long hard road convincing the jackal-headed statues that the spiders didn’t have the same hang-ups about organic life that they did. “Come on, we’ve got a skeleton to meet.”
***
Magda leant over Gareth with her hands on her hips, her golden hair flowing down across her shoulders. She had a sly grin across her face, one that betrayed the sarcasm of what she was about to say.
“Have fun?” she said, poking Gareth in the chest. He was laying on his bed in his room, a pile of leaves acting as a makeshift mattress.
“Not really, no. You know what the Golden are like. Picky about every little thing. This isn’t as good as the pyramid, that isn’t what we would do in the pyramid. If I have to hear about the damn thing again, I will scream.”
“Well, at least it won’t be your problem for much longer. Not like you can babysit them when we head through the next teleport platform.” Maga straightened herself to allow Gareth to sit up on his bed. “I reckon I’ve found our next destination as well.” She proudly produced a dusty tome from behind her back, the book swiped from Henig’s collection. The lich had long ago given up actually reading them, or if he had the contents had long been forgotten. Living forever had come with significant drawbacks. “Look at this.”
Gareth reached up and took the book from her hands, his eyes glazing over as he looked at the page. It seemed like an endless description of an arid wasteland. Hardly the most exciting thing.
“I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be looking at? Reads like some boring textbook about whatever place this is.”
“Exactly!” Magda said, snatching the book out of his hands. “This is a book about the lands past the northern teleport platform. A big empty wasteland. Nothing of note there aside from animals and plants. Sounds perfect right?”
“Your idea of a holiday is a bit weird.”
“No, I mean it’s somewhere that has a Godsword and is just this vast empty region. No weird zombie-driven society or pyra-”. Magda caught herself before she could finish the word, Gareth’s glare making it clear he meant what he said. “Big stone triangle thing. We can get this one done easily, in and out, no one to make trouble for us.”
“I mean, sure, maybe. This is how many years out of date though? There could be big cities there now.”
“Who would build cities in a wilderness?”
“I mean, you saw glimpses of how many worlds?” Gareth said. “There’s dozens on Earth alone. You could argue that the Golden live in one. Wasn’t Sark’s empire in one?”
“Ok, fine, there’s lots of cities in weird places, but I don’t think anyone would build one here. If the book is right, there’s nothing worth it. No resources, no fertile ground, nothing. Maybe a river here and there but nothing big enough to make it worthwhile. The book even says so, it lists a whole bunch of reasons why it’s a bad idea.”
“Any of those reasons anything we should worry about?” Gareth said. The idea of an easy win was appealing to him even if he was understandably suspicious of the prospect. “Like you know, a big monster, or acid rain, or something else dumb and dangerous.”
“Not that I can tell.”
“I guess we need to pick another teleporter anyway and this is as good a reason as any. We’ll have to work out way through them all at some point. We’ll even have to go back to Wildermount eventually. Have we heard anything from Jack?” Gareth’s rival had vanished through the portal to Wildermount to scout the region and see what had become of it, but he hadn’t returned yet and it had been a worrying amount of time.
“Not yet.”
“Not looking good, is it?” Gareth said. He wasn’t Jack’s biggest fan, but he didn’t wish him any harm. Even without the personal issues between them losing a duellist was a blow to the safety of the town.
“No, but we’ve got to trust that he’s not come back for some good reason. Or well…”
“Yeah, well indeed. Nah, I don’t think Jack’s dead, he’s one of those guys who always seems to pop up. Besides, is it really in our best interests to go back there just yet? We know that place is dangerous, so it’s better trying places like this wilderness where there probably isn’t like, you know, nightmares.”
“This place will be safe, you’ll see,” Magda said with a smile, snapping the book shut as she did. “Besides, the last portal worked out for the best, didn’t it? Some of us got to win a tournament,” she said smugly. “And everyone else earned some decent experience, plus we got some new allies out of it, right? I mean we need all the ones we can get, considering, well, you know.”
