random.wip.fantasy

pt. 4

"You do this training for SIX hours?" Belhar moaned as he picked himself up.

"Yup." I nodded. We were currently doing buddy carries through the swamp water. Then we would go through a simple body weight exercises with the added weight of their partner's weight. Afterwards, we would drill fighting techniques in the soggy clothing for another hour. Then do pyramid sprints across the fighting pit. Afterwards, we would do one on one sparring for another hour. Then we would drill procedures. The last hour would consist of training for me. I would have them all attack at once and I would fend them off for an hour.

They lasted for an hour.

Afterwards, after cleaning up and getting cleaned up, I walked over. I was dressed in a simple shirt and shorts instead of my armor. I only had a knife on me, instead of all my weapons.

"Are they holding back?" Belhar asked, having recovered from earlier.

"No. They really want to beat me. If they do after all, they get to take my place." I answered.

"So, you're saying that if I beat you, I get your spot?" Suhnan asked.

"Rule only applies to goblins." I grinned.

"That's not fair." Nahe pouted.

"It is." I answered. "Ruler of goblins be goblin."

"Well, it's time for your next shifts. You're going to have to report to the captains to find out your schedules." I pointed at the Council building. "Get an appointment and be there on time and then you can get your approval then."

"You can't fast track us?" Belhar sighed.

"There's a system here." I grinned. "That I created."

"And it's a brutal one." Belhar answered.

"You can always leave your job. But going and leaving constantly would make the captains dislike you. And then they can bring complaints to me. And then I get to fine you with community service." I mauwhahahed as I walked away and headed towards the tavern.

"He's crazy."

"He is a great goblin. I don't think any of those are sane."

"Better than the town."

"Agreed."

The next week was filled with peace and quiet. The village was becoming a town and the population was growing at a steady rate. I had decided to school some goblins in basic everyday math and literature. Soon, we set up a tutoring system where goblins would attend to learn. Their parents would often be willing to pay large sums to have their children educated.

Farming in the swamp went like this. In the caves under the swamp, there were large fungal plants and thick juicy stalks that grew. The mushrooms and plants were often bioluminescent and the water from the swamp above would drip down through the drip and small cracks in the rocks. We had fortified the larger caverns with timber and bolts and harvested them. They were tasty and could be made into several dishes. The caves were naturally formed around the tree roots. Around the swamp, there were fishes, however, the made it hard to see them. The fishers would often stand on poles for hours and wait until they could see them and then hunt them. Mining occurred in the caverns where the plants didn't grow. Precious ores for jewelry would be mined here. Often, the minerals were also luminous and ranged from a light blue to a mint green.

Relations with the frogmen and lizard folk were good. The lizard fold gradually accepted up more and more. They began to visit the tavern often and even took on quests they found on the bulletin board. Alnus was a tough fighter, using a spear and shield. His tough defense was hard to break through. When I did manage to slip past his spear, I would find the shield in the way and he would make a quick lunge to knock me off balance and reset his stance.