Chapter 61 Goblins and expansion
It was another goblin break. Dozens of goblins rushed out of the dungeon to steal the food they could see and smell. Things went differently this time for them. They had only made it halfway before their first resistance fought back. A brown skinned blur slammed into the side of them as she began tearing through their ranks like a knife through butter.
It was only a moment later when several other powerful female adventurers slammed into the line of goblins as well. A pink-haired beauty pulled out two hammers from her belt as every swing was a goblin's head caved in. A thick female with cow ears pulled a two-handed axe from nowhere as every cleave killed multiple goblins at once. Even the dwarven woman who was visiting got to work; she wasn’t doing nearly as much as the others, but every kill she claimed was another goblin someone else didn’t need to take care of.
Each cleaving through them as if they weren’t even there. Dozens of goblins were slain while only two had made it to the fields to attempt to steal the food. Not a single goblin managed to make it to the fruits or vegetables and get away with anything before they were all slain outright. It happened so fast that the guards couldn’t even help. The farmer was loading up a crate full of produce, and before he got back from taking it to the merchant, the fight was over.
The fear of goblin hordes diminished dramatically with the clear show of force. Eight guards were required to stay active at all times because of the goblins, but those numbers clearly weren’t needed, which would allow them to enter the dungeon more often and increase their level, which would lead to the village having stronger guards.
The snowball effect had already started; at the same time, no one else noticed the oddity that had just happened. All of the goblins rushing out purposely avoided trampling the flowers grown along the border as if they couldn’t touch them for some reason.
…
“Why are there a bunch of dead goblins here? I didn’t even hear anyone call out a warning.” Tems and Sarah were dragging the goblin corpses out of the field while Olivia and Delilah were starting a fire to burn their corpses. Killing goblins outside of the dungeon will slow their respawning, as the dungeon has to build back up the biomass that left it.
Most dungeons got around that by having plenty of other biomass farms. The leaves falling off the trees in fall might give them several hundred pounds alone, let alone if a tree is felled. The few goblins we burnt instead of letting the dungeon absorb was only a drop in the bucket, but for whatever reason, it was known to slow down the process.
It was almost as if the dungeon could only create a certain number of goblins over a period of time, but by absorbing them, that timer is reduced. No one knew why; we just all knew because dungeons were dangerous and interesting. People loved to talk about dungeons, so most people knew the basics about them. Delilah wiped some sweat off her brow as she said. “Damn, with a bonfire like this, it almost feels wrong to not have a wee bit of a drink.”
“Well, I’ve been trying to make my own moonshine, but I’ve got wine, vodka, and whiskey I’ve also been working on for the dwarven luxury bundles.” We all sat down with our preferred beverage (Sarah and Olivia picked a non alcoholic one) and started drinking as we took a break to watch the fire. I couldn’t help but ask again. “You know we have other things to drink, Delilah. The whiskey is pretty much the same as that moonshine, but it doesn’t taste like a burning carcass.”
She just rolled with it. “Oh yeah, this moonshine is straight up poison. If anyone else drank it, they’d get really sick. Thankfully, I’m a dwarf.” I had only aged the whiskey for a month, but the short time and lower proof made it dramatically better tasting than the moonshine. I was still dialing in how to make the moonshine, but so far, I couldn’t make anything that my wives or I could drink without spitting it out.
Delilah sipped at the shine as she shook her head like someone had slapped her. She spoke with a raspy voice. “Got a kick tae it.” We sat just staring at the fire in silence. I was the first to break it as I asked. “So, how are the house renovations going?” Olivia had moved in but still worked and sometimes slept at her shop in town.
“Almost got the frame in place, then we’ll have to run the piping for the toilet and tub. Someone will have to pump the tank on top of the house up in the morning, but we’ll have running water after it’s done.” I smiled as I couldn’t wait to not have to wash with a rag and bucket. That was why I also asked. “What about the piping that will heat the water?”
Delilah spoke up. “We haveaint got tae that part yet. Need tae finish the flooring fore we can even start.” Having a hot bath once the wood boiler was in would be amazing, and it was also helping Delilah's level as doing new things gave more experience than making the same thing over and over again. We found out with Olivia that crafting classes leveled naturally faster after they slept with me.
Even if she was making the same thing she always had, the stats allowed Olivia to make it better/faster than she could before, which increased the experience she’d gain. Unlike myself, most people were limited by their stamina for what they could accomplish in a day. That was a much smaller problem for her now, especially if we had sex midday to give her a quick stamina boost.
I was looking forward to it, and the tub had a removable partition that would allow more people to fit inside. My mind immediately went to dirty thoughts as I imagined my wives naked, soaping themselves up across from me as we cleaned ourselves. Who knew what would happen after that? Well, I could guess sex, and that’s what I hope would happen.
The house was slowly expanding into a mansion as plans changed again, and we started talking about adding a second floor to it, almost doubling the rooms we had, and before, I would have thought it was unnecessary. But three of my wives were pregnant, even if I stopped having them right now, there would be at least six children who would all need their own rooms once they grew more.
All the changes shouldn’t take more than a season to finish, but we were still planning on expanding even further now. Every time we got a good idea of what we wanted, another person would mention something, and we’d have to redesign the home again. Soon, we’d have a house as big as the mayor’s to live in. It was a good thing, the bundles were out for sale, and even if only a fraction of them sold, we still had a decent emergency fund in case they didn’t.