Chương 17: Chapter 16

[+3 Strength!] [+2 Endurance!] [+2 Dexterity!] [10 [Dexterity] reached! Granting Reward...] Another day, another skill. She'd finally gotten something for [Dexterity], and Sobelle believed this one to be so much better than all the others... Which in truth was a pretty hard thing to achieve on account that her latest skill had made it so that she filled the village's outskirts with Palisades in a shorter timeframe than the village's men.

What she expected for the skill to do was low, but she also wanted it to be useful in combat. That was all she wanted for this reward, and the gods blessed her with just that. [Loose Joints - Some humans can train themselves to bend at unnatural angles, you are now much of the same. Your joints have loosened to the point that you can bend your body in ways most people could not.] Although it sounded weak, Sobelle had experienced what it was like to not have enough reach.

At some point in the past, she'd tried to bend her back in hopes that it'd let her reach a fruit hanging from a branch but instead got her body broken. If the skill did what it said, then it solved all the issues she had when it came to her range of movement.

'The goblins shouldn't be an issue thanks to this. Or I hope they aren't an issue.' Sobelle worried that even with all the gifts the gods provided her, she'd still lose from fighting greenskins. People often talked about how dangerous they could be due to their numbers and how even a single scratch would lead to death and how the ideal way to fight them was by not doing so at all. According to her father, burning down their dens was the best method of killing goblins.

No one in the village had this luxury, as the forest the goblins lived in was vital to their survival. Not to mention, they couldn't even fight the greenskins from far away because not a single person knew how to wield the bow. Sobelle herself wanted to fight in melee, and that got her up close and personal with the greenskins. This was not a good thing, as it would only make her more susceptible to contracting some type of sickness from them.

Getting sick from fighting goblins was by far the most dangerous thing about them, but Sobelle also possessed something that no one else had: a blessing from the gods. She fully believed that the gods would not forsake her if she were to ever get sick. That they'd care for her in such trying times, and she knew that she wasn't wrong. So she was confident in actually coming into contact with the greenskins, even if it could potentially make her sick. Completely unlike her sister.

Sobelle heard a scream, and she turned to see Efree and her new guy leave the forest in panic; one of them was severely injured and had a metal sword stuck to his back. It wasn't an animal attack; at the same time, if they were being chased by goblins, then the greenskins should be running after them since Efree was a woman. Nothing came out of the forest, and Sobelle watched it carefully.

She noticed movement in the bushes and caught sight of a long nose, but that was it; the Goblins disappeared, nowhere to be seen even after attacking Efree. Sobelle kept her eyes on the undergrowth regardless, for she knew the greenskins could be biding their time. They'd already acted patient with the merchants, so who was to say they wouldn't do the same here? She heard her name being called and turned away to go back home. Once she was there, her father hugged her. Her expression barely changed.

Efree probably got this and more; supportive words may be added even.

"You're okay; Efree was attacked by a goblin, and I thought you'd also..."

"Yeah, I'm fine." Sobelle didn't need to put on a brave front; she was confident she'd be able to outrun the greenskins should they chase her.

"I heard a scream and just saw Efree rushing out of the forest, then I looked at the bushes and saw one lone goblin. I don't know if there are others with it." Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

"I think that's our Nogg," the chief stopped tying the makeshift wooden gate the villagers built. He patted the stone wall in worry, like he was afraid the goblins would be able to breach through, "they didn't rush after Efree so one of them was capable of thinking beyond satiating their lust."

"They have a Nogg. So they're preparing with the stuff they got from the merchants, so our fight is going to be hard and we may even get injured." One of the guards did not look like he wanted to do this at all.

"They may even be strategizing against our walls; it isn't unheard of for them to use fire as a tactic."

"So that's why they're taking so long?" Sobelle joined in; she did not falter even when the men glared at her for stepping over her station.

"But if they're just preparing with gear, why haven't they attacked already? I don't think goblins even know how to train themselves."

"That is a good question..." The chief murmured. He looked at the ground thoughtfully, and for a few seconds, he stayed like this. Then his eyes widened, and he ran to the merchant's son; he grabbed the boy by the shoulders and punched him.

"Did your wife get taken?! Did you lie to me?! You said she left you!" Everyone knew why the chieftain was so angry, and they all paled because of it. Sobelle saw her father walk to the merchant, who hid behind his wife. That didn't do anything, and Saltor pulled him away and started beating on his face. She could only stare for a few seconds before she had to look away. She felt pity for the man, but also not entirely.

"Is there something else you're hiding from us?" The chief pulled on the man's shirt so hard that it started to tear.

"What else are you hiding! Say it! You are going to die if you don't!"

"I-it wasn't just Reese," the merchant's son bawled. He wiped his face.

"They also took Liif. So two. They have two women on top of the wagon full of weapons they got."

"A wagon full of weapons—" The chief stopped and punched the boy so hard he fell unconscious. He wiped his hands and looked at everyone.

"They've already been here for a day; they've established themselves. They have a Nogg. Running is not an option; we just need to prepare for the worst." Quite frankly, Sobelle didn't agree with this decision. An army of goblins equipped with bronze and iron weapons was heading over to their village, and they were growing in number with each day that passed.

If they sit here and do nothing, then they'd give the goblins the advantage of preparing, and who knew what those things would do with so much time to breed, grow, and fester?

"They have two women..." Sobelle did the calculations in her head. What was the rate of birth for women and goblins?

"And they've already had them for a week? More than that? They've already turned into sows... How many children is that?"

"Goblin sows can birth up to 4 goblins every week, and that's not counting their females, which can get pregnant but take months to actually birth a healthy greenskin," the merchant's daughter answered Sobelle's self-directed question.

"It can be more than that," the chief muttered in fear.

"To goblins, miscarriages are just a quicker army. Their children do not need to be fully developed in order to live; the resulting offspring is weak, yes, but alive and capable."

"And how many goblins can they give birth to every day?" Because if miscarriages can happen and sows can get pregnant easily because of how they morphed to be easily fertilized, then...

"At least 12."

"That's triple the number of her estimate." The merchant's daughter's eyes widened when Sobelle pointed at her.

"If we were to make a guess and say that goblins get their sows after having them captive for a day, then they'd have at least a day to breed the women since two days passed before the merchants got here, and now we've another two days preparing for war against them..."

"Wait, let me get my abacus—" The woman was about to run when Sobelle stopped her.

"No need, that's at least..." So that was possibly 12 goblins per day, and they had 2 sows. Double that number and she got 24 per day. And multiply that by three...

'I split it in half and get twelve each; 3 times ten is 30. Add another pair of threes, and that's 36.'

"12 goblins every three days is 36. Double that because of their sow, and we have 72." Sobelle clicked her tongue.

"Their numbers have grown that much since we started preparing, and they're still growing. Every day we waste means we have to deal with 24 more goblins that come out. And they only take 3 days to grow into something resembling a fighter. Great."

"Their growth is dependent on their food," the chief said.

"And are you sure you're right? 72 goblins seems a bit... too much, don't you think? There's only 63 of us here, including the women and not counting the merchants."

"... She's right." The merchant's daughter gulped. Everyone watched as she messed with the abacus for another count, only to end up seeing her cry in years.

"She's right." She repeated this again.

"No— that couldn't be—""Hey. We can deal with a few Goblins." Thetras comforted the girl and rubbed her back when she leaned in to cry on his chest.

"I'm sure Sobelle has an idea on what to do, she's smart, after all, just like her mother."

"I don't." Sobelle was going to be blunt. She didn't dare give these people false hope. She turned to the chief.

"What about you?"

"I can come up with something," the man muttered; he didn't sound confident.