Is it ever that easy?

…NING
WARNING
Hostile presence detected

The moment your eyes snap open you hear the tingle in your head and already know what you are reading, at your side Alyanne has already moved to sit and took a glance at the same message that you are reading so it does not take long to be fully equipped and out of the door. As if on instinct you leap and start gaining altitude while in the corner of your eyes your companion vanishes in the shadow of a broken column, no doubt moving in your same direction.

It’s just half a minute and you are far above the sources of your disturbed rest, and it seems that is not what you initially thought to be. Instead of the group of attackers intent on seeking to topple the new “boss” all you can see is a rather large hunting party of goblins intent on finding something that does not seem to be you.

It does not matter however, seeing as with a simple look at their stats you immediately get the impression that you have no way convincing them with words, and since they seem intent on trashing your domain in their search, you don’t have such intention either.

???? Level 6 Goblin Brute
Monster, Goblin, Explicit

Level 2 Goblin
Monster, Goblin, Explicit

Level 1 Goblin
Monster, Goblin, Explicit

Level 3 Goblin
Monster, Goblin, Explicit

…

After observing for a few moments, you finally get the gist of the situation when you spot a slightly larger figure intent on hiding in the foliage of a three just over the heads of the intruders. As you start moving in a descending spiral, counting your enemies, you somewhat know where to look to notice the flickering of a familiar shadow in the light of their torches and not a moment later a thick layer of fog surrounds most of the surprised goblins.

As the fog extends, you plunge on your victims guided by the weak flickering of light coming from their hands and in an instant two of the 20 goblins you counted are no more, one impaled by your great sword and the other crushed by your boot.

The only one you had noticed being somewhat worth taking note of was the slightly bigger axe wielding brute that is however on the outside of the fog and certainly seriously wounded if not dean after the flash of darkness that you sow just before descending into the fog.

The battle is not long, seeing as the sounds you make instantly attracted the dumb goblins and just as easily you dispatch each of them with a little help from your blade before another comes into range. As you reach the count of 13 slain foes, the thick cover is lifted allowing the light of the moon to reach you once more and allowing you to see the forms of the remaining six normal goblins impaled by arrows outside of what you thought being the limit of the fog cloud. The only still alive being the brute that is attempting to crawl away with an arrowhead sticking out of his back, as you take a single step his way, from the opposite direction you can see now Alyanne emerging from the shadow of a three wearing a smile on her angelic, pun intended, face while she approaches.

“This new Shadow Strike and Stalker are really amazing, Raz. Must have something to do with Explorer too. I can simply jump back in a shadow and be on the other side of the fight in an instant,” she says while practically hopping at each step before stopping just in front of the still crawling invader. “I thought we may need some info from them, so I left the one who seemed to be in charge. But do you think you can make out something of what he says?”

A truly valid question you squat on the side of the monster trying to listen to what seems to be a plea and then he notices you and speaks more clearly “Kaar ghaan huun tec draalkuuc. Gulk taar duun khraagaar shuulkaan rhan” as you imagined communication seems impossible, but what surprises you more is the fact that even not knowing what he said you know he lied. After a moment of looking at the disgusting three and a half feet brute, he seems to notice the problem and tries once more in a broken variant of Common “Sky devil let Gulk away. Me no come ever” again the twist of your stomach warns you of a lie and again you stare disgusted at the pleading enemy before your companion speaks, noticing your discomfort.

“Why come here… didn’t you see it was a boss territory while entering the gates?” Her words are lacking almost all emotions, but still surprise can be heard. In her eyes, it’s obvious that a level 5 goblin should know not to mess around in the domain of a boss, even with a group as numerous as his.

“Squiggles at gate? Gulk no know means” as he pants for the effort of speaking you don’t get any feeling so it must be the true but seeing as neither of you seem convinced he tries to rise to seating and speaks once more with a devious grin on his face “Me come to follow enemy. Dangerous gob, she stole tribe treasure, Gulk just want treasure, sky devil can have her, she not like gobs she like bow lady, good for riding in be…” you don’t even let him finish before swinging your weapon and decapitating the disgusting-looking foe whiteout second thoughts.

“Raziel?” Comes the voice of your companion from a few feet back. “Are you alright?” As you look back, you see the concern on her face and calm yourself, realising you lost it for a moment there.

“Yeah…” you say planting your sword in the ground before closing the distance and embracing her “He was lying, and each time was like a needle in my brain, that besides him being a disgusting little creep” you say as you try smiling weakly.

A short giggle comes before her words and she looks you in the eyes gratefully “You are right, and you even defended my honour, my knight in shining armour.” You both laugh at the remark and the tension vanishes as you do so. As the contact prolongs, you find yourself, whatever **** drove the two of you, to cross paths and build this relationship.

Eventually you separate from the now just slightly shorter woman with a coy smile in remembering the short make-out session that just finished and go to your sword extracting it from the ground and fixing it to your back before moving close to a nearby tree and starring at the branches over your head waiting. As you simply look to the position, you know the last of the intruders to be a message from the system interrupts your concentration.

Loot detected do you wish to sort it?

“Yes, thanks. Just warn me if you find anything worth the bother,” you say dismissively as the message disappears. At that moment, you finally have a glance at the not so stealthy tree dueller as a pair of eyes shows looking back at you.

“Ehm… do you want…the treasure in exchange for my life, Lord of the domain?” Comes a timid voice that makes you move even closer, trying to make out everything.

“I will not kill you… goblin?” You stammer as you now realise the lack of any kind of information about her apparently inoffensive foe. As you speak, a sudden rustle makes you squint as a minute figure flashes in front of you, reaching the base of the tree that she previously occupied.

??? Level 5 Goblin Necromancer
Monster, Goblin(?), Explicit

She is definitely taller than even the Brute standing now at almost 4 and a half feet while the brute was almost one foot shorter, you also notice her clothes, a mix of witch attire that resembles the exclusive Halloween events drops such as pointy shoes and stripped stockings, and classic goblin accessories, namely bones, a lot of them. Most of her body seems to be hidden by a short dress with jagged hemlines and a long beanie that covers now the majority of her face in tandem with the ruffled hair.

As the two of you stare at each other Alyanne has moved to your side and still in high spirits speaks, breaking the tension. “Ooh, and who are you, cutie?” And indeed you can’t deny the comment, the slightly tallish goblin lady is indeed a really cute sight, her face most certainly leagues apart from even the most attractive goblin, if you can even dare use such a word to describe them, and the proportions a much more pleasurable sight compared to what little you have seen this night and what you vaguely know them to be normally. “Don’t be scared by the big oaf, he’s really nice if you don’t lie to him” once more her voice and giggles break any attempt at seriousness you put up.

“I’m Nyx Lord of the domain” as she speaks she finally moves both the hat and her hair from her face and you can finally see her lilac eyes gaining some hope in noticing that there is no threat coming from you. “I was chief of…the tribe before the voice of the sky told us of…the new will of the gods” her speech seems quite stiff, almost as if **** to some degree of grammatical correctness but you don’t give it much importance right now.

As she stops you can’t refrain from asking uncertain of her circumstances “That sleazy gob tried to take your place because he was higher level?” As you speak, a flash crosses her face and then slightly bowing her head as she speaks again.

“Yes, he was the best at fight…ing. After the voice, he transforms into Brute and has new weapons, but still dumb as rock. He wants to be chief, to take tower where I live and want…s me for riding…” as you listen, you can’t refrain from voicing your indignation and she seems to think that is directed at her stopping the narrative.

“Sorry…” you almost sigh as you massage the bridge of your nose “Let me guess. You didn’t want to and so you ran with the treasure, he followed you and knowing there were adventurers here you took your chance” as you speak she simply nods along making you continue “Then at the gates you saw the warning and knowing he couldn’t read you hid in a tree hoping for the boss to take him out” this time her nod seems nearly ashamed so after a mysterious elbow to the ribs you rapidly try reassuring her “Good thinking, it shows why you were chief” as you speak you see the small female reach slowly to the hems of her beanie and pull on it covering again most of her face in the process, after the initial shock you are ready to once more apologise thinking you said something wrong but a not so well refrained chuckle makes you look to Alyanne inquisitively.

“What? Can’t a girl have some fun?” She asks you defensively as she notices you looking her way before moving toward your, apparently, guest “Look at her, she is just so cute when she’s embarrassed. And you… you are just you” this time she simply speaks in the kind voice that you found she reserves for moments in which she is completely at ease so you don’t question anymore and simply continue to observe the woman as she reaches her objective “Say sweetie. What would you say about going to camp and eat something?”

As your companion speaks softly, you just barely notice a weak nod from the much smaller Nyx and with a shrug simply start walking in the direction of the ruins, sure that the two women followed you.

Notice
After surveying the domain, a potential follower has been detected
Nyx’s relationship towards you is optimal and can now be invited into your domain as a follower
Suggesting direct verbal invite for best results in relation to the observed interaction

As you read the window, you rethink of your prior exchange and decide to take the words of the message into consideration, not like there was any occasion in which these suggestions brought a bad outcome.