After a moment of visible hesitation, the runt guide pointed toward a narrow side tunnel. I stepped into the gloom with Morkish walking at my side, while the other four goblins followed closely behind us, their spears held at the ready.

  "You didn't even ask what the mission was for this trip," I remarked to Morkish, my voice echoing slightly in the cramped space.

  "It is not my place to ask, my King," Morkish answered smoothly.

  "Not even a little curious?"

  He shrugged, his old skin creaking with the movement. "I will not say no... but your orders are as sacred as the god’s commands."

  I felt a surge of irritation at the mention of the "Gods." It was frustrating, being constantly reminded of that bastard Varkas and the way these goblins viewed him. Before I could respond, we arrived at an intersection where the tunnel split into two identical, jagged paths. The runt stopped, looking back and forth between the options with a look of total doubt.

  I sighed. It seemed our "guide" had reached the limit of his memory. From here on out, we were searching on our own. But just as I was about to choose a path, a bright, shimmering window snapped open in front of my eyes.

  [Mission Received: Rescue the Runts]

  Description: A new batch of runts has just clawed its way out of the dirt! You’ll need to hurry, my little champion, if you want to add more soldiers to your playground. Time is ticking! :D

  Objective: Save the Runts (0/5)

  Reward: New tribe members and Experience.

  My eye twitched. It was obviously Varkas. The mocking tone and that stupid emoticon were his signatures. I looked around, ready to curse him out, but I stopped when I saw the rest of the group. Every goblin was staring at the empty air in front of them with expressions of absolute awe.

  Before I could react, Morkish had already dropped to his knees, his forehead pressing against the cold stone.

  "Our God... He has sent us a command!" he shouted, his voice cracking with emotion as he raised his withered hands toward the ceiling.

  A second later, every single goblin in the party was on their knees, except for me. They stayed there, trembling in the presence of a message they clearly considered a divine miracle.

  "Thank you, our mighty God!" Morkish cried out. "We shall follow your command and rescue the runts alongside your chosen champion!"

  I stood there in awkward silence, waiting for them to finish their prayer and stand back up. I was just thankful that, in their religious frenzy, no one seemed to notice, or care, that their "champion" was standing there with his arms crossed, looking thoroughly annoyed by their deity.

  "Morkish, I assume you received a mission notification as well, didn't you?" I asked.

  "Yes, my King, I have seen it," Morkish replied, his voice filled with a reverence that made my skin crawl.

  A sudden question popped into my mind. I wanted to see just how much Varkas was messing with me personally versus what he showed the others. "Could you please read exactly what the mission states for you? Word for word."

  "Of course, of course," Morkish whispered, closing his eyes as if he were reading a sacred scroll inside his mind. "The mission is titled 'Rescue the Runts'. It says: Your God commands you to rescue the young runts for your tribe. They are the future of the Black Hand, and failing them is failing the heavens."

  I stared at him for a moment, waiting for more. "That’s it? Nothing else? No jokes?”

  Morkish looked at me with genuine confusion, his green brow furrowing. "Jokes? My King, the words of the Almighty are grave and serious. There is no room for humor in the commands of a God."

  I turned away, my jaw tightening. So, it was just as I suspected. Varkas was sending the goblins a holy mandate while he sent me cheeky messages and smiley-face emoticons. He was treating my life like a joke, a little game for his own amusement, while everyone around me thought we were on a divine pilgrimage. It was a lonely feeling, being the only one who knew our "God" was actually a sarcastic jerk.

  "Alright, let's keep moving," I said, glancing at the trembling runt. It was clear our guide was useless now. "Morkish, do you have any idea which way we should go to find these runts?"

  Morkish nodded and began a low, rhythmic chant. A moment later, his eyes glowed with an eerie green light, and he pointed down the left tunnel. Before we set off, I took out my knife and carved a deep mark into the stone wall. I wasn't taking any chances; in these twisting passages, one could never be totally sure of the way back.

  With a new sense of purpose, we followed the path. After walking for about ten minutes, we spotted a pale shape leaning against the cavern wall. As we drew closer, I realized it was the upper half of a human skeleton.

  He had clearly died here a long time ago. Whatever had killed him hadn't left much behind, and they certainly hadn't been interested in his legs. I quickly checked the ribcage and the surrounding dust for loot, but there was nothing, not even a rusted coin or a scrap of leather.

  I shook my head and gestured for the group to keep moving. Just ahead of us, the tunnel took a sharp turn, making it impossible to see what lay around the bend. A few meters before we reached the corner, a faint, rhythmic ticking noise reached my ears.

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  Instinctively, I raised my hand in a flat palm, the universal military signal for 'halt.' I had never been a soldier, but in the heat of a mission, it felt like the most natural thing to do.

  Of course, my tribe had no idea what I was doing. They completely ignored the signal and kept walking right past me.

  "That means STOP, for fuck's sake!" I hissed in a loud, harsh whisper.

  That finally did the trick. They froze in their tracks, looking back at me with wide, confused eyes.

  I didn’t have any scouting skills yet, so I glanced at Morkish, who nodded and raised three fingers to indicate that three spiders were waiting just ahead. I nodded back in confirmation, my grip tightening on my weapon.

  "Be ready. We charge and kill them fast," I commanded. As I spoke, I felt the familiar pulse of [King’s Spirit (E)] activating. The passive aura took hold, and I watched as every goblin gripped their spear with renewed determination.

  Adrenaline began pumping through my veins. My heart hammered against my ribs, and I felt a wave of nerves wash over me. This was the first time I was actually looking for a fight, rather than simply reacting to something charging at me out of the dark.

  I was eager to test my new skills, [Slam] and [Shield Block]. Holding my hammer high and keeping the crude chitin shield steady, I was the first to charge around the corner.

  The first thing I saw was two spiders frantically digging at something in the loose soil. I paused for a split second, wondering why they were so distracted. I expected their senses to be far better than ours, especially since, in any normal situation, they were the apex predators of these tunnels. Also, Morkish had specifically signaled three spiders, yet I could only see two.

  Ignoring the thought for now, I lunged toward them. I hadn't actually practiced using my new abilities yet, so I relied on my instincts to mentally trigger the skill [Slam]. A dull, powerful glow enveloped the head of my hammer as I brought it down in a wide, crushing swing toward the first spider’s head.

  The impact was devastating. With a sickening, loud crunch, the spider’s carapace shattered, and it died instantly.

  [You have killed Spider – Lv. 2]

  Immediately after the first spider collapsed to the ground, the rest of the squad appeared, charging toward the second spider with their [Pointed Sticks]. Three spears struck the creature simultaneously, but only one hit close enough to the head to deal any significant damage.

  The spider shrieked and retaliated with a violent thrust of its legs, sending two of the goblins flying over a meter back.

  Suddenly, a bolt of green energy hissed through the air, striking the spider’s flank. It staggered, the magical impact giving us just enough time to regroup and circle it with more spears.

  At that moment, the realization hit me again: one spider was still missing. A high-pitched scream from above gave me my answer. I spun around, my heart dropping as I saw the third spider clinging to the ceiling, its mandibles clamped firmly around the head of our runt guide.

  "Shit," I muttered, my feets skidding on the stone as I sprinted toward the wall.

  With a sickening, loud crunch, the runt stopped struggling. His small body went limp, dangling in the air like a discarded toy.

  The ceiling wasn't very high in this section of the tunnel, so I tried to time a desperate jump, hoping to strike the spider and bring it down to our level. I hadn't fully accounted for my own height or the awkward weight of my new shield, so the only thing I accomplished was a glancing blow against one of its legs.

  The spider didn't fall. Instead, it hissed down at me in pure annoyance, its many eyes glowing with a cold, predatory hunger.

  "Morkish, bring this thing down for me!" I commanded, my voice echoing through the narrow tunnel.

  I didn't even turn my head to look at him, keeping my eyes locked on the predator above us. I watched the spider's many eyes track my movements, its legs tensing as it prepared for its next move.

  "Of course, my King," I heard Morkish answer from behind me.

  I heard the distinct whistle of a green energy bolt flying over my shoulder toward the ceiling, but before the magic could strike its target, the spider launched itself directly at me. It moved with terrifying speed, a blur of black bristles and sharp legs.

  Acting more on instinct than practiced skill, I threw my arm up and activated [Shield Block]. A faint, shimmering glow appeared around the edges of the chitin plate just as the spider slammed into me with the force of a falling boulder. The weight was immense, and I was thrown backward onto the stone floor. As I hit the ground, I made a mental note to invest more points into Strength as soon as possible, since my current stats barely kept me upright.

  I rolled with the impact and scrambled back to my feet, surprised to find that I didn't have any serious injuries. More impressively, the crude shield was still in one piece, though my arm throbbed from the vibration of the hit.

  The spider landed in front of me and paused, tilting its head in what I could only describe as an expression of shock. It wasn't used to its prey standing back up after a direct pounce. It didn't hesitate for long, however, and charged at me again with a frustrated hiss.

  I gripped my hammer with my hand and met its charge head-on. We began to exchange blows, the heavy thud of my hammer clashing against its hard legs. In the background, I could hear the rhythmic grunts of my goblins and the frantic stabbing of spears as they finished off the other spider.

  I knew I didn't need to kill this one on my own. I just had to hold my ground and keep it busy, letting the clock run down until my squad could surround it and end the fight with sheer numbers.

  I managed to land a few heavy hits on the spider's front legs, eventually shattering one of them with a well-aimed swing of my hammer.

  The creature seemed to realize that attacking my left side was useless, as I blocked every strike with my shield. However, I could feel the durability of the crude chitin plummeting with every impact, and I noticed several deep cracks spiderwebbing across the surface. I knew it wouldn't hold much longer.

  To break the stalemate, a ball of green energy hissed through the air and slammed into the monster's flank, forcing it to stagger back. Simultaneously, a spear from one of my goblins pierced its side, further distracting it. I seized the opening and lunged forward, bringing my hammer down on its head with [Slam], just as I had with the first one. A dull, heavy thud echoed through the tunnel as a massive crack appeared in its carapace, and the spider's body finally slumped to the floor.

  [You have killed Spider – Lv. 3]

  I took a long, shaky breath, letting the tension drain from my muscles now that the fight was over.

  I quickly checked on my team and saw that, miraculously, we had only lost the runt guide. The rest of the goblins were covered in dust and small scratches, but they were all standing. A few of them even had wide, toothy grins on their faces, which made me suspect they might have gained a level from the encounter.

  "Good job, Alpha Team. If any of you leveled up, assign your new stats to Constitution," I reminded them, my voice firm.

  In the future, I planned to have them invest points into Intelligence to make them more versatile, but for now, I simply needed them to stay alive long enough to finish this mission.

  I gave my hammer a sharp shake to hurl off the thick, black ichor clinging to it, then walked toward the spot where the spiders had been digging so frantically. Poking out from the dark soil, I caught the glint of something shiny and metallic. It was already mostly unearthed, so I crouched down and finished digging it out with my hands.

  "Now, this is quite interesting," I muttered, pulling the object into the light.