Klik sat upon the slag-crater, his throne of self-inflicted victory, and endured.
His world was a narrow, 35-Intelligence-wide tunnel of pain, logic, and itching.
The [E-Rank Acid-Burns] were a permanent, living hell. His new, raw-pink skin, fused with the [Fused E-Rank Armor] he had stitched into his own flesh, was a prison of agony.
His new debuff was a constant, burning reminder of his vulnerability:
[DEBUFF/BUFF ACQUIRED: [Fused E-Rank Armor] (Unique)!]
Effect (Buff): +70 Physical Defense, +20 Acid Resistance.
Effect (Debuff): -2 Agility, -2 Strength.
Duration: Permanent.
This was his reality. He was Lvl 15, a creature of god-like intellect, but his 17 Strength and 19 Agility were shackled, reduced to 15 and 17. He was a cripple, but a fast, strong, armored cripple. He was, he reflected, the most dangerous, pain-fueled, skinless thing in this entire mountain.
And he had a Quest.
He looked at the goldennotification from the System, the firstrealguidance it had ever offered.
[The Logic of the Lair].
Impose his Logic upon this Chaos.
He loved that.
He hobbled out of his Workshop for the lasttime, his new [Iron-Sharded Mace (Common)] in one hand, his [Volcanic Gastropod Core]bomb clutched in the other.
The Great Cavern was a pit. The fire was dying. The stench of ash, tar, and rotten-meat was thick.
His tribe was huddled by the fire, gnawing on the ratsSnarl'sparty had brought.
His hierarchy was set.
[SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT: [Tribe Quest] objective updated!]
[Objective 3: [Establish a Hierarchy]... COMPLETE!]
[3/3] Task-Masters Appointed: [Grik (King's-Hand)], [Bruk (King's-Guard)], [Snarl (Hunt-Master)].
[10/10] Goblins have learned a new [Primitive-Skill]: [Primitive-Crafting (Lvl 1)] x 12, [Primitive-Cooking (Lvl 1)] x 4, [Primitive-Skinning (Lvl 1)] x 3.
[Processing... Objective Complete!]
Klik allowed himself a moment of cold, painedsatisfaction. His 35 INT approved.
One down. Two to go.
Objective 2: [Establish a Larder] (0/20 creature-corpses).
Objective 1: [Establish a Barricade] at the Main Tunnel Entrance.
He knew, with the cold, hardlogic of a King, that the Barricadecame first.
"You cannotstorefood if youcannotstop thethiefwhocomestostealit."
He stalked to the Main Tunnel Entrance.
This was the problem. This black, gaping, 10-meter-widehole in his kingdom. The Formian-Highway.
He looked at the wallsaround it.
He neededmaterials. Massivematerials.
He activated his new, Lvl 10Class Skill.
"[Analyze Structure (Lesser)]!"
Mana-Cost: 5.
His 31 Perception scanned the tunnel-mouth.
[Scanning... Target: [Main Tunnel Wall]...]
[Analysis: [Solid Granite (Common)], [Quartz Vein (Trace)], [Structural Integrity: 100%].]
[Note: This rock is ancient and unbreakable by F-Rank or E-Rank tools. It is a corefoundation of the mountain.]
He couldn'tbreak it. He couldn'tmake a cave-in.
His 35 INT snarled in frustration.
He looked at the otherwall. The wall that housed his Workshop-Crawlspace.
He [Analyzed]that.
[Scanning... Target: [West Cavern Wall]...]
[Analysis: [Limestone (Common)], [Water-Seepage (High)], [Structural Integrity: 45%].]
[STRUCTURAL WEAKNESS DETECTED: [Unstable Fault-Line]!]
*[Note: A moderate [Bludgeoning] force here... would collapse this section of the wall. (Risk: Cave-In). This is a prime source of [Rubble (Junk)].
The answer!
He neededrocks for his Barricade. He would harvest them from this wall.
He turned to his tribe.
He pointed at Bruk, who was moaning by the fire, his burnscrusted with Glow-Cappaste.
"BRUK!"
The crippled, Lvl 5brutelooked up.
"MACE!" Klik commanded, pointing at the [Iron-Sharded Mace] in Bruk'sone good hand.
Bruk held it up, confused.
"HIT. WALL. HERE!" Klik roared, smacking his ownmaceagainst the [Unstable Fault-Line].
THUD.
Bruk understood. King-Godwantednoise.
He dragged his ruinedbodyover. He raised his mace with his goodarm.
"FOR... KLIK-GOD!" he roared, and smashed it against the wall.
WHAM!
His 7 STR, plus his Lvl 5weight, plus a [Common]weapon...
...was enough.
A massive, web-likecrackspider-webbedup the wall.
Dustrained down.
The tribescreamed.
"AGAIN!" Klik hissed, his eyesgleaming.
WHAM!
The crackwidened. A groan, deep and terrible, shook the cavern.
"AGSDFG- AGAIN!" Klik roared, his voiceripping his throat.
Bruk raised the maceone last time.
He smashed it.
KRRRRA-KOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The worldended.
The entireWest Wallimploded.
A thousand tons of rock, dust, and limestonecollapsedinward, crashingdownin a thunderous, deafeningavalanche.
The bonfire was snuffed out by the wind-gust.
The cavern was plungedintoabsolute, choking, suffocatingdarkness.
The sound was apocalyptic.
And the crawlspace...
HisWorkshop. Hissanctuary. Hisescape-route...
...was buried.
Gone.
Obliterated.
The cavernfellsilent.
The onlysound was the pattering of fallingpebbles.
And the sudden, unified, terrified shriek of thirty goblins realizing they were trapped.
Klik stood in the pitch-black, choking dust, covered in powder.
His 35 INT froze.
He had his [Rubble (Junk)].
An entire mountain of it.
But…
"The monkey that tries to break one branch ," his 35 INT whispered, "sometimes fells the wholetree… on top of himself."
He hadn'tjustsealed his escape-route.
He had sealedhimselfIN.
Withthem.
With the Formians.
His kingdom, his cavern... was no longeralair.
It was a box.
It was a tomb.
The onlywayout... was now the [Main Tunnel].
The onefull of Ants.
This wasn'taQuest-Objective.
This was a catastrophe.
"FIRE!" he roared, his voicehoarse with dust and rage. "LIGHT! THE! FIRE!"
Scrambling. Panic. Sparks. Clicking.
A flamecaught on a roach-husk.
The bonfirere-lit, a dim, orange, smokyeye in the choking, dust-filledroom.
The tribe was pale-green, covered in white-dust. They looked at the mountain-of-rock that used to be a wall.
They looked at Klik.
He wasn'taGod.
He was thedemonwhohadjustburiedthemalive.
"BARRIER!" Klik shrieked, pointing his maceat the Main Tunnel. "BUILD! NOW!"
Thistime, the tribemoved.
Notout ofobedience.
Out ofpure, abject, existentialterror.
If theydidn'tblockthatlasthole... theyalldied.
The Questwason.
Part 2: The Logic of Fear
The nextfour hours were chaos.
Klik was a God... a God of Fury.
He hobbled (16 AGI) and roared (35 INT), his [Fused-Armor]creaking, his raw-pinkskinbleedingunderneath.
"LIFT!"
TwoLvl 3goblinsstruggled to lift a single, medium-sizedrock. They dropped it, crushingone'sfoot. He screamed.
Klik slapped him. "WORK!"
The goblincried, but he worked.
"Pain is thebestteacher forstupidchildren."
He forcedthem.
Objective 1: [Establish a Barricade] (0/100%)
They draggedrockafterrock. They piled them high at the mouth of the Main Tunnel.
It wasn't a wall. It was a pile. It was pathetic.
"NO!" Klik roared. He smashed the pileapart with his Mace. "LOGIC!"
He showed them. Bigrocks on the bottom. Smallrocksin the gaps. Weave it. Lock it.
His 35 INT saw the physics. Their 3 INT sawamad-godstackingrocks.
But they learned.
[Subject [Goblin (Unnamed)] has learned [Primitive-Construction (F-Rank) Lvl 1]!]
[Subject [Goblin (Unnamed)] has learned [Primitive-Construction (F-Rank) Lvl 1]!]
The wallgrew.
Objective 1: [Establish a Barricade] (30/100%)
It was low. It was crude. But it was a wall.
Objective 2: [Establish a Larder] (0/20)
They were starving. The Rat-Meat was gone.
"SNARL!"
The Lvl 6 Hunt-Masterflnched.
Klik pointed at the Main Tunnel. Past their half-builtwall.
"HUNT."
Snarl stared. Out... there?
She smelled it. [Lesser Scent-Hunter]flared.
Metal. Chitin. Ozone....Ants.
She shook her head, whimpering. "No... King-God..."
Klik raised his mace.
"GO. HUNT. OR. WE EAT YOU."
The threat was stark. It was goblin-logic.
Snarl looked at the starvingtribe. They werelooking at her... hungrily.
She chose the Ants.
She grabbed her spear. She took her hunting-party (the othersixbravestgoblins).
They slippedover the half-builtbarricade and disappearedinto the Formian-infesteddarkness.
Klik turnedback to the wall. "BUILD!"
The workresumed.
Hourafterhour.
Objective 1: [Establish a Barricade] (70/100%)
The wall was head-high.
Suddenly, a scream.
Snarl'spartyburstout of the darkness, scramblingover the wall.
"ANTS! ANTS! ANTS!"
They were carryingsomething. Three[Giant Cave-Rats].
And...
Oneoftheirparty was missing.
AndSnarl... Snarl was holding...
...an [Iron-Tipped Spear (Common)].
Click-click-click-CLICK-SKRAK!
The Formiansemerged from the dark. Three of them.
They saw the wall.
They clickedangrily.
(Translation: "...Anest. They arebuildinganest...*")
The leadFormian[Appraised]Klik. It saw the cripple.
It tossedsomethingover the wall.
It landed with a wet, greenthud.
The head of the missinggoblin-hunter.
The tribescreamed.
The Formianleaderraised his spear.
Click-skrak!
(Translation: "...This... isHive...territory...")
They turned.
Click-clack-click...
They vanished.
They weren'tattacking.
They were patrolling. They were testing.
They knew the goblins were trapped.
Klik looked at the head. He looked at the rats.
He looked at Snarl'snewspear.
His 35 INT processed it.
We are at war.
[SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT: [Tribe Quest] objective updated!]
[Objective 2: [Establish a Larder] (3/20 creature-corpses)!]
[Objective 1: [Establish a Barricade] (90/100%)!]
He grabbedGrik.
"FINISH. THE. WALL."
He grabbed the threedeadrats.
He limped to the fire.
He beganto cook.
He had to feed his people.
He had to prepare his tribe.
Because the Ants... wouldbe back.
And next time... they wouldn'tbetesting.