Disciple of the Liga Umbrei Pt. 02

I spent some of the silver on refurbishing my new home, while I upgraded my brothel and invested in a few other shops. Magna taught me even further; I learned the paralysis spell. Another month had passed when Caitlyn, who patrolled the area around our cave every morning, returned with peculiar news.

"Knights from Acacia, Master. At least twenty of them, and they are marching towards Magna's home."

"Acacia knights?" I wondered. "Let's go, Caitlyn, we must warn Magna."

Caitlyn and I turned into bats and raced towards Magna. I saw the knights, clad in shining armor. Behind them were a small group of novice mages with their grey tunic.

"Magna!" I warned. "Acacia knights!"

To my surprise, Magna emerged in her full panoply of war. On her left hand, a shield of enhanced turtle shield. On her right hand, a staff of rubies. She wore a mask and a cloak. Hidden beneath the cloak is a full set of enchanted armor made of steel.

The knights arrived soon, and Magna stepped forward to meet them. "Who are you?" she asked coldly.

"So you are the infamous Masked Witch. The people behind you must be your disciples," the head knight said. He was bulky and muscular, standing almost two metres tall. The dark skinned man had short, black hair. He bowed slightly.

"Indeed," Magna said. "Yet you have not answered my question. In case you're lost, Acacia's that way."

"We're not lost," he said. "I am Conrad Kray, a major general in Acacia Royal Army."

Magna nodded faintly. "And the reason you came here is?"

"We're establishing a camp in this forest."

"And you're trying to get rid of me?"

"No. And please, could you be not so hostile?" Conrad asked. "We came to ask for help."

"Help?" Magna muttered.

"Yes. According to Mr Karpov, you are stronger than he is. If this is true, you may as well be the most powerful mage in the realm," he said. "So we figured out that you'd be a formidable ally."

"Hold up there," Magna said. "Who are you fighting?"

"A master necromancer. His name is Cawl," Conrad said. "He has amassed many liutenants and armies; at least sixty thousand strong. We suspect that one of his liutenants, the demon summoner Pohan is nearby with an army of about five thousand. Not sure where he's going, but it could very well be this area."

"Cawl?" Magna curled her fist up. "I'll help you. What can I do?"

"The King's forces are dispersed and badly outnumbered. We need you to help set up a defence here."

"Yeah, I can do that," Magna said. "Anything else?"

"If any of us sees anything suspicious, we should report to each other," Conrad said. Magna nodded, agreeing. Both sides shook hands at last, and the Acacian knights went away.

"Fuah, Magna, you didn't have to be that cautious."

"Better safe than sorry, Karl," Magna said. "I know that man Cawl."

"Cawl? Who is he then?"

"If he is really the Cawl I know, he's the one who sent me to coma," she said bitterly. "He's one of Morgana's most trusted liutenants."

I gasped. "He's stronger than you?"

"In the past, no," Magna said. "Did I mention that he brought a dragon to our battle? No? Well turns out a dragon can bridge the gap between me and him."

Magna sighed. "But that's hundreds of years ago. I was in a coma while he roamed out there. He must be more powerful than I am now." She was silent for a little while.

"What about Pohan?" I asked.

"I don't know him," Magna admitted. "Karl, you should mingle with the knights. Seek as much information as possible. Also, from now on, you can study any magic you want from my collection. Just understand your own limits."

"Understood."

And mingle with them I did. Caitlyn and I visited my brothel, where I was welcomed by Petra. "Boss!" Petra said as I entered the brothel. She was flooded by customers. Petra swiftly serviced them and sent them to their rooms.

"Boss, have you heard about the soldiers?"

"Yeah, I have."

"This is a great opportunity!" she declared. "We should expand, Boss. We can purchase more slaves and the house across us."

"I agree," I said. "What a golden chance."

I watched as the soldiers entered and left their pleasure rooms. I unmasked myself. The mask's purpose was to conceal myself as I was branded a criminal, but now that I had been 'released', I saw no point in it. "Hey, Karl! Is that you?"

I turned my head. A bald young man was before me; he was tall and had light brown skin. Next to him was an equally tall girl, her skin rather pale. She had long, brown hair. They were siblings, Jason and Angel; my former classmates.

"Oh, hey, Jason, Angel."

"We heard you went missing. So you've been hiding here?"

"Yeah, more or less," I said. "What are you both doing here?"

"They're cancelling the final exams and replacing it with practical apprenticeship," Angel said. "So we're posted here."

I nodded understandingly. "By the way, who's she, your girlfriend?" Jason asked. "She's a vampire, right?"

"Slave," I said. Jason and Angel gasped. In the past, slave traders often hunted vampires down to enslave them. This backfired very badly as the elder vampires destroyed many kingdoms. With the war slowly grinding to a stalemate, Acacia and other kingdoms made peace with the vampires. Since then, vampire hunts were banned, out of fear that retribution would once again crush the civilized kingdoms.

This meant that vampire slaves were, for the most part, non-existant. "I defeated her in a sacred duel, I didn't hunt her down or anything," I said, anticipating their question. Jason and Angel observed Caitlyn closely.

"Cool," Jason said. "Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"Uhh," I muttered. "I-I own the brothel?"

"Wow!" Angel gasped. We talked and chatted for a while before Jason and Angel went inside one of the rooms. I hung around for a while.

Jason and Angel came out an hour later and asked to see my place, so we rode our horses (they lent one to me) and ventured into the jungle. I sent Caitlyn ahead to prepare my house. "You live in a jungle?" Angel asked.

"A cave," I said, matter-of-factly. "Are you guys staying the night?"

Jason gulped down his spit. "Uhh ... we'll see. Anyway, don't you have a horse? It could be really useful."

"I fly, usually."

"You what?"

"I fly."

I smirked playfully as Jason and Angel lost their words. "I formed a blood pact with Caitlyn and earned some of her powers," I explained. "Including turning into a bat."

"Really? Can you show us? Angel asked enthusiastically.

"Hmph!" I groaned, morphing into a bat. I returned to my human form soon after. "Satisfied?"

"Holy shit that's cool!" Jason said.

"Hey, maybe we can make a blood pact with Caitlyn too!" Angel suggested, probably as a joke.

"Hell no!" I gasped. "Caitlyn's still young. She can't handle having more than one blood pact. Or at least, that's what Magna said."

"Magna?"

"The Masked Witch. I'm her student now."

We rode until we reached my cave. To my surprise, the entrance was surrounded by goblins. Goblins were vicious creatures, slightly shorter than a human. They had green skin and wielded rudimentary, but effective weapons.

"Uhh, Karl?" Jason asked. "Your guys?"

"Certainly not," I grumbled. Noticing our presence, the goblins turned on us. "Damn it!"

Angel and Jason took their wands out and began hurling arcane bolts at the goblins. I extended my palm, generating a blazing trail of black fire. The remaining goblins scattered and fled. "Are there usually goblins in the area?" Jason asked.

"No," I answered.

"Indeed there was not. Was."

"Magna!" I gasped.

All of us, Caitlyn included, gathered in the main room of my cave. "Your friends, Karl?" Magna asked.

"Ah, yes. Jason and Angel," I said. "Meet Magna, my teacher."

They shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. "Alright, I'll get straight to business," Magna said with a cough. "I have detected a large goblin tribe in this forest."

"A goblin tribe?" I wondered. "How large?"

"At least 1500 warriors," Magna answered.

Angel cursed. "More enemies."

"No, not necessarily," Magna countered. "I suspect they are driven out from other forests by Pohan's forces."

"But they did attack us," Angel pointed out. Magna looked at her somewhat angrily.

"Can I speak a few full sentences without being interrupted?" she snarkily asked. "See, the goblins don't have any malicious intent. They're just hunting for food."

"See, my teacher was a goblin queen," Magna claimed.

"A goblin queen?" I gasped. "She's a goblin?"

"No. Which is fascinating," Magna said. "That means there's a way to become the goblin leader even if one were not a goblin. Unfortunately, my teacher never passed that knowledge unto me. Fortunately, I had a contact who may help us with it. He will be joining us in about a week, and I hope he can stay in here, Karl."

"Of course."

"Angel, Jason. I need you to deliver the message to Conrad; let Karl and I handle the goblin situation."

Magna, Angel, and Jason scattered off. Caitlyn chanted a few defensive spells to ward off goblins before answering my summon. "Master," she addressed me with a sultry smile and a skimpy dress. "What do you desire, Master?" She licked her lips.

"This time I want you to use your feet, Caitlyn."

"Of course, Master." With a slight touch from Caitlyn's feet, my cock became erect. She sat opposite me on the bed, using her two feet to skillfully massage the bulk of my member.

"Yeah, good, slut," I said. "Keep on doing that."

Caitlyn blushed furiously. "Yes, Master." Caitlyn's silky smooth feet clenched the tip of my penis, and I ejaculated, covering Caitlyn's feet with my cum.

"Come here, Caitlyn!" I ordered. I seized Caitlyn's arms and began grinding my cock on her pussy from behind. I played with her perky tits by pinching her nipples.

"Ahn, Master, you're so rough!" Caitlyn moaned playfully. "Will you mark me with your seed again, Master?"

"Beg for it if you want, bitch," I said, slapping her bouncing ass.

"Yes, Sir! Please inject your precious cum inside this bitch's lowly womb!" I shoved my cock into Caitlyn's tight cunt. Her walls engulfed my cock as it streched to acomodate it. There was nothing except my groans and her moans and the occasional slap on her butt.

"Ah Sir! Your cock is turning me into a mindless slut!" Caitlyn moaned.

"Then turn into one, bitch!" I broke through Caitlyn's womb, implanting my mark inside. The silver-haired vampire climaxed, and she collapsed to the bed.

"Do you enjoy it, Master?" Caitlyn asked as she dragged her body to sleep next to me.

"Very much so," I answered while patting Caitlyn's head. We slept soundly throughout the night. The next day, an exalted guest came to us. He was a youthful man with glasses.

"Ah, I'm Nawal," he said, shaking my hand. "In the letter, Magna told me I would find quarters here."

"Of course. I'm Karl, Magna's student. Caitlyn, show our guest here his lodges and ... his 'refreshments'. If you'd allow me, Mr Nawal, I'll notify Magna of your arrival." Caitlyn whistled faintly and emerged an elven whore I had commisioned from my brothel.

"Yes, Master." I flew to Magna's house, passing through trees and animals. I met Magna outside; the witch was tinkering with a machine. The machine was suspiciously human-like, its breasts strangely realistic and finely made.

"Uh, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Building an army," Magna answered absent-mindedly.

"Where-where do you get all this?"

Magna grinned. "These are my teacher's creations," she said. "Although she designed them as sex dolls."

"Sex dolls? That's interesting."

"Yeah, well, a few of them malfunctioned and let's just say more than a few men lost their genitals that day. Luckily, I am able to transform them into combat puppets," Magna commented. "Anyway, why do you come?"

"Ah, Mr Nawal has arrived."

"Oh, I see," Magna said, dropping her tools. She and I hurried back to my cave. The elven whore walked out of it; she acknowledged me with a small bow.

"Hello, Nawal." Mr Nawal emerged from his bedroom, hastily zipping his pants.

"Hello, Magna," Mr Nawal replied. "What is it that you need of me?"

"Please, let us sit." We sat down on a round table. Maids served us food and drinks, a candle was lit.

"I need your help, Nawal," Magna said. "Something to do about goblins." A passionate fire entered Mr Nawal's eyes.

"Nawal, how do a non-goblin become a goblin king?"

Mr Nawal smiled a little. "It's not easy. Doable, but not easy," he said. "How large is the goblin tribe?

"At least three thousand," Magna answered.

"Good. That means the king is not that powerful," he said. "You have to challenge the king and win to be new king."

"And how does this challenge work exactly?"

"The challenger has to carry a special banner. Unfortunately, few people have one," he said. "Luckily, I happen to be one of them. Still, I wouldn't provide such substantial aid without compensation."

"What do you wish?" Magna asked.

"Merely that I am allowed access to the tribe once it's conquered," Mr Nawal said. "I wish to know more about goblin society. It's really fascinating."

"Really?" I asked. "How is it fascinating?" Magna groaned and excused herself from the room.

"Oh, there's so much!" Mr Nawal said. "First, do you know they have some sort of a caste system?"

"Caste system?" I wondered. Among civilized peoples, such practices were outlawed long ago.

"Yeah, but the divide is more on occupation, not class," Mr Nawal explained. "The first class is the warrior class. They hunt and protect the tribe. The second one is the common folk, who produces goods and maintains their lairs. Of course, there is the king and his aide, a shaman. The final class might be the most interesting, though."

He stopped for a while to catch his breath. "The breeder class. Only they are allowed intercourse; well except the king and his chosen people, of course. Many goblins die during childbirth, but a pregnancy cycle only lasts a few weeks so it balances out anyway. The breeder class consists of many more females than males; ten to one ratio, I suspect."

"Anyway! They don't even have the concept of husband and wife. The breeder class' existence is geared towards producing more goblins. Except the king, of course; apparently the monarch is allowed to keep a small harem for themself. And-and!"

Mr Nawal rambled on and on about goblins; their shamans, their magic, their culture ... really, I hoped I could just tear off a piece of meat and stuff his face with it. At last, however, he became exhausted and he excused himself.

The next day, an unwelcome guest barged in my home. "Heretic!" a screeching, banshee-like man shouted from the outside. "Dark witch! Come out here!"

I ambled towards the door, my blade on hand. Caitlyn was looking from the peephole. She gasped. "An inquisitor from the Church!"

"VAMPIRE SCUM, GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE NOW!"

"Fuck off!" I shouted back.

Caitlyn sweated heavily. "I thought vampires are not considered dark creatures!" I muttered.

"Some radical elements of the Church think otherwise."

"What on earth are you doing here?" I heard Magna's cold voice.

"You-witch! What foul magic do you wield?" I opened the door and saw Magna and the inquisitor nearly trading blows. A few acolytes surrounded the elderly inquisitor.

"None of your concern, Inquisitor," Magna said. "We are not necessarily enemies."

"Inquisitor Grey, stop! They're our allies!" Conrad and his men stormed out of nowhere. Now a dangerous three-way broke out as the inquisitor pointed his rapier at Magna and Magna her staff at the inquisitor. The acolytes and Conrad's men brandished their pikes.

"How-how can you say so?" Inquisitor Grey barked. "Have you not felt the magic they wield?"

"Inquisitor, there's no need to create new enemies. Not now, when we are outnumbered."

The old inquisitor lowered his rapier. "You're lucky, witch."

"No, you are lucky, Inquisitor."

Inquisitor Grey and his acolytes left in huffs and puffs. Magna was not pleased. "Conrad, why are the Church's men here?" Magna questioned brashly.

"It seems like the Neummans invited them here to bolster defences."

Magna spewed more than a few silent curses as Conrad as his pikemen left. "We have to act fast," Magna said. "There are too many factors here, and the situation may turn the tide against us. I will build my machine army and you should take control of the goblin tribe. Talleyrand will show the way."

"Okay," I said. I owed my life to Magna; this was a chance to pay her back. So I took the blade I stole-ehem, captured-from the lich earlier. Mr Nawal gave me the special banner. Caitlyn stalked me from afar to protect me. Talleyrand guided me.

Soon I saw the goblin settlement, Caitlyn flying in circles over my head. I brandished the banner high above me, surprising the goblins. Their warriors, with their crude axes, spears, and shields, gave way. "Human have banner!" one of the goblins barked.

I walked slowly on broken roads until I reached the "palace"; a hut double the size of others. Two goblins came out; one was absurdly tall, perhaps two and a half metres tall. He was large and armed with a massive club. I, a sane person, would prefer to not be hit by that.

Next to him was a regular-sized goblin with a staff. His eyes jolted when he saw my banner. "Shaman, human cannot be goblin king!" a goblin protested.

The goblin shaman whipped out an old scroll. "Here says who beat king becomes king, don't say have to be true goblin!" he said in broken language. The large goblin puffed his chest.

"Gorlak king! Gorlak kill!" He pointed his club at me. I drew my blade.

"Come."

I threw a hail of fireballs at the goblin king, who surprisingly shook it off. He swung his club onto the ground, creating quite some cracks. I flooded him with black fire. "Kahh! Hot hot!"

He swung his club wildly, forcing me to duck. I parried another blow, yet its impact blew my blade away. His club was ready to clobber me when I extended my arms. "Paralysis!" The goblin king stopped on his tracks.

"Heah!" A dark fire eagle charged at the king, pushing him back a few metres and badly scarring him. I hastily grabbed my blade. The king charged again, forcing me to raise my sword.

As if it had a mind of its own, a force field appeared from the blade. The club was broken as it faltered against the shield. I paralyzed him once more and drove the blade into his stomach. I pulled out the sword and prepared to attack again. "Gorlak-Gorlak loses."

The shaman rushed into the "palace" and took a crown of leaves. "Human name?"

"Karl."

"Malkith says Karl new king!" the shaman, Malkith, declared while putting the crown on my head. He clapped loudly.

Soon most if not all goblins clapped, too. "Hail new king! New king!"

I was escorted to the "palace" while a few goblin healers dragged Gorlak to the infirmary. I sat down with Malkith the shaman. "So, Malkith, you're my shaman, right?"

"Yes, Malkith shaman and advisor. King wants to know something, ask Malkith!" Malkith boasted.

"Alright, Malkith. I need to know a few things," I said. "Why do the goblin tribe move here?"

A shadow seemed to have fallen over Malkith's face. He banged the table in anger. "Sorry, king. Skeletons! Skeletons cast us out! Kill our people, burn our huts! We move here to survive."

I was startled. "I see, I see. Malkith, what do you think we need to do?"

"First should have food, king!"

"Food? Doesn't the tribe have enough food?"

"Enough, enough! But more food mean more goblin from other tribes join us. Food attract more goblin!"

"Okay, okay. What else?"

"Breeders have problems. When skeletons attack we evacuate females first, so many males die. Now gender imbalance between breeders."

I lost myself in thoughts. So there were many vacant breeder females ... and the tribe needs more food ... hmm ....