Hogo's assault began with a scream. A roar of hundreds of monsters crashing through the underbrush. Daggat's smile widened. Tips had spotted them nearby. The enemy was circling the village, looking to attack from all angles. Though they would only be able to effectively attack in two directions.

"Hold fire until you see green. Fire squad, light them up." Daggat commanded.

A few key warriors lit and fired arrows at specially prepared bonfires. Their oil caught, bringing light to the battlefield.

"Ooh," Anath winced, "I just killed like… five humans. Oh! And a goblin."

Daggat hummed. Hogo, as he last remembered, was a bugbear. If he were anything like the bugbear he knew, he would attack fast and hard. Using telekinesis, he dribbled his new poison over the blade of his spear.

He was standing on the ramparts, well, on a barrel at the ramparts, watching. Most of the humans had bows ready. Anath, Klaw, and Zuss were together, each ready. Hunter stood by the gate, pacing.

"How's it looking on your side?" Daggat boomed. Ketil, Pote, and the Silver Wolves defended the other side of the village. The latter used their speed to rush in and out of combat, keeping the enemy scattered.

"Nothing yet, but the Forrest is moving" replied Pote, equally as loud.

"Another goblin. Another goblin. Oh, an orc. A human…" Anath listed off.

"Gotta say, those webs are more deadly than I expected," Daggat said.

"Ivory cast something on them-" Anath began before Zuss cut her off.

"There, I can see them."

Daggat squinted. His vision wasn't as good as Zuss's, but still, he could see humans running from the wall of trees and webbing. They had made sure to funnel them, give them a route of least resistance, so the archers could pick them off as they came in.

As expected, Hogo had sent the mind-controlled humans first. How DID he control them? Was there another tablet or something? It didn't seem like a bugbear thing to do. Though he did have a lot of monsters with him. And Daggat knew how weird monster evolutions could get if you tried.

"Zuss, see if you can spot anyone giving the humans orders." Daggat said, then he called out to his own humans, "Remember, no killing the humans. I know it can be tempting."

"Now?" Hunter asked.

"Not yet, big guy."

They were agonizingly slow. Sure, it was a big field. As they came closer, he could hear their cries of help. Obviously, a trick to get them to let them into the village.

"Above us!" Zuss cried.

Just then, a human cried out as a dark figure dropped on it. A winged goblin. It stabbed the man half a dozen times before he stopped screaming. More flying goblins were dropping in, cackling in excitement.

Klaw was the first to react. He slammed his palm against its back, then lifted it. It had already gone limp; he must have cut the spine. Then, he threw it into another of the winged gobs.

Daggat eyed one not far from himself. He pointed with his spear and simply released it. Turns out, tactile telekinesis worked wonders when throwing objects. He didn't even need to wind up to throw the spear with the full might of his intelligence.

It pierced through the goblin and continued to soar. Daggat guided the weapon towards one, trying to slice the throat of an archer. He used Lunge. Another discovery of his, spear skills worked when telepathically using the weapon. He couldn't activate the spear's magical properties, but he could live with that.

A goblin dive bombed Anath, who simply caught the idiot with the points of her spider legs. She cleaned them off with the back of her swords. Anath had managed to track down three extra blades to use.

Zuss tossed dagger after shadowy dagger, then switched to her rope-dart when that wasn't working.

The goblins could be seen speeding from the trees, now.

"Alright, Hunter. Time to eat." Daggat called. The flying goblins were retreating, fleeing the arrows that now flew to meet them.

Daggat braced himself mentally, trying to hold onto his essence as Hunter drew in a deep breath. The sound was like a great, hungry whirlpool. Essence flowed from the humans and the surrounding area, funneling into Hunter. He had spent some time earlier that day practicing his spell, using it to drain his core. Since then, he had been complaining about being "empty".

The humans, who were previously charging, came to a halt, tripped, or began to break down in a panic.

"Humans recently under goblin control, please remain calm and make your way into the village currently under goblin control. Thank you." Daggat called out. Hunter opened the gate, allowing humans in. That likely was the goblins' plans, but now they were no longer controlled.

"Uh, No. No, don't do that. Actually. Yes, do that. But… violently." Another voice called out, just as loud. Seriously, did everyone have hypervocal cords?

Daggat squinted and saw the other goblinoid, a nilbog, standing atop a fence in the field. It had large, glowing eyes that swirled into themselves. He could feel his attention being pulled into it, but was able to look away.

Essence began to spin around the eyes, spiraling like drills. He was attempting to take over the humans again. Daggat couldn't let that stand. He summoned one of the mundane bombs and lit it on his thumb.

He balanced it on his palm and aimed. He had to line it up juuuust right. There! With a telekinetic shove, he sent the bomb hurtling towards the enemy.

It missed. But it did bounce off the head of a particularly sturdy goblin, arched in the air, and exploded.

[You have slain three goblins, level 13. Experience gained. You have gained one monster level. One Biotrait point awarded. Note: Level 15 monster reached. Seek a mark of a spirit beast to progress.]

Ooh! That was a nice surprise. He wasn't sure how close the party was to another level, but he didn't expect it so soon. The crone must have been worth a lot.

He was going to hold onto the point for evolution, but they had decided that it was okay to spend it if need be. Daggat simply couldn't wait to grow stronger.

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"Oh, FUCK yeah!" Klaw said. His eyes went blank for a moment, seeking the upgrade Daggat knew he was after. He was free to upgrade. Then, he held up his arms.

When he unsheathed his claws, his new armor vambraces tore loudly. On each of his arms, two massive sword-like claws extended from his forearms, breaking through the metal. One curved over the back of his hands, the other to the side. He laughed while inspecting the new weapons. They flexed in and out, growing and shrinking as if alive.

"Hell yeah, Klaw. Ready to test those out?"

"Yeah. But… we've got to wait until the goblins get a bit closer. Don't want to get hit by arrows."

"Oh, right," Daggat said, remembering. He cleared his throat, "FIRE!"

Arrows flew and goblins fell. After the first volley, humans leveled. As per the plans, they chose archery skills. The second volley was mixed in with powerful shots and target-seeking arrows, and the third, even more. Arrows snaked through the air or slammed into the enemy with the strength of a ballista.

Daggat was impressed. The power of just a few skills.

"Pote? Update."

"A few goblins, but not as many enemies as we'd expect. The orcs have begun their charge." He called back.

"Silver Wolves, handle the orcs. Ketil, toss those traps. Pote, it's story time."

On his side, the goblins had rushed. Many had died, but many more remained. They crawled over their humans, slaughtering the ones they could catch. Daggat tossed another bomb and a couple of death root bombs. That slowed a couple of them.

Suddenly, the barrel he was standing on kicked up, nearly knocking him off balance.

"I AM RISEN!" Screamed a voice from inside.

"Elyndris? You shouldn't be awake!" Daggat jumped off the barrel. Hunter had her around the hearth fire quite frequently… did that speed up her transformation?

"My metamorphosis ended earlier today, but… It's exhausting. I was napping. That level up woke me up. That reminds me, did you spend that point yet?"

"I was going to in a moment. Why didn't you come out earlier?"

"…I got stuck."

Daggat laughed, "Great! Well, you're just in time. The battle has started."

"Throw me at the enemy! With my new might, I will feast upon them all!"

Daggat grinned at the barrel and lifted it. It was heavy, weighed down by Elyndris's will. But with his new abilities, he was still able to lift it.

"Allow me," Klaw said, taking the barrel from him. He easily hefted it over his shoulder and threw her.

The barrel soared through the air, landing a good ten yards away, right at the edge of the goblin-human divide. Then, it exploded.

Both goblins and humans were thrown from the blast. Bits of wood flew like bolts thrown from a crossbow. In the remains of the wreckage stood Elyndris. Unharmed and eager. She rested on two legs. Her body was round and bulbous, with a large mouth. She was mostly mouth.

Immediately, she hopped away, landing on a nearby goblin and biting its head off.

"Well, I didn't know what to expect," Klaw said, "But it wasn't that."

"Yeah, same. Hey, Hunter, how's it going down there?"

"We're moving humans in… but the goblins are getting closer. I'm going to have to shut the gate soon."

So far, the only goblins that have fallen have been the idiots and the weak. Those who didn't have any useful biotraits in defense. The remaining goblins were a colorful mix of archetypes. Speedy, dodgey types. Large, tough guys. Weird magical-looking ones. And… not as many as he would have expected.

He did a quick count, "Hey, Assistant."

The assistant floated into view, "What can I do for you, great general?"

"I reckon there's only forty or so goblins out there."

"Indeed."

"There should be double that. We didn't kill that many."

"So, where are they?"

"That's what I want to know."

As if on queue, the ground shook. He felt his stomach drop, then turned around.

At the center of the village, the earth exploded outwards. A large, vaguely goblinoid figure rose from the earth. It was the size of Hunter with large eyes and shovel-like hands. The monster's skin was stone-like and sparked with the occasional gemstone.

"Stone trolls," said the Assistant, "A third-tier monster, likely evolved from kobolds. Uh oh."

The beastiary he had purchased was worth the money. It detailed many common monsters, where they could be found, their common tactics, abilities, and so on. It did not describe how to BECOME these creatures, but that information could be inferred.

"Zuss, Anath, deal with the outside folk with Elyndris. Klaw, you're with me. Time for potions."

"Kay," Anath said, then she jumped over the wall.

Zuss seemed to slither away, skating on shadows.

The trolls immediately began the slaughter. Each swipe of their massive paws slew one or two. From the hole, several smaller goblinoids skittered out like ants from an ant hill.

No wonder the goblins were chewing their way through the countryside so easily. With tactics and abilities like these, what could stop them? Come to think of it, these sorts of abilities weren't actually that hard to come by. A few levels spent wisely can overcome many obstacles. What kind of defenses did the larger cities have?

Daggat summoned his Nightmare Form Potion. He admired its dark, swirling colors. Before he drank, he appreciated the battle. It was exhilarating. Not the death and the destruction. While that was fun, it was the sheer… chaos of it that intrigued him. It was calming in a way. His mind, always racing with ideas, suddenly had a dozen things to keep up with. The remaining flying goblins who occasionally swooped down, the encroaching goblins, the panicking humans who were causing more harm than good, and more.

This was his element, he decided. Where he belonged. Amongst such excitement. Then he noticed the haze building from the battle. Raw mana is flooding in from the void left by Hunter and changing into a faint green mist. Not the bright green of the crone's terror, nor the forest green of Bobby's forest magic. This was good, goblin green. Chaos essence. He wondered if the color meant it was related. Fear, chaos, and life were all similar, in a sense. And it had the… shape he was familiar with in fire essence.

It had been his goal for a while now. To gain control over something so wild. Ever since he learned about its existence, which felt like years ago.

He drank the potion and savored its worrisome, bitter flavor. It tasted like hesitation with a hint of the dark. Cold dread washed over him. The sinking feeling that he shouldn't be there. That something terrible was going to happen. But he pushed those thoughts aside. Something terrible WAS going to happen. He was.

Bolstering his voice, he laughed deeply and as creepily as he could, for effect. His body changed. His skin and clothes blackened to near void. Shadows seemed to seep from him, reaching out like tentacles. Large antlers grew from his head, reminiscent of the dread stags.

The only part of Daggat that hadn't become as dark as the night was his impossibly curved, perfectly white smile.

Plus two constitution, charm, and dexterity. Dark Visage. But, most importantly, Aura of Terror and its beautiful synergy with beguiling presence. Awe-Inspiring Presence. Blending an aura of fear and the beguiling aura, it would entice all within the aura to either love or fear him, depending on which they would be more inclined to do.

"HEADTAKERS! WELCOME TO HARROWPINE!" Daggat screamed. He circled his spear around his head telekinetically for added effect.

Goblins shrieked and humans roared. With that, the tide of battle tipped back into his favor, and he leapt into the fray.

Stats will be posted at the end of the battle!

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