I desperately wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. I wanted to vomit some more, but sadly my stomach has run empty on everything it can muster up. A good thing too, as I couldn't afford to do either of those things and I could only focus on one at a time.

The goblins were all lined up, children and all, some of the young tots sniffling and cowering behind their mothers. I wanted to apologize to them, but I know that wouldn't mean much from the man that organized all of this. A quick headcount gave us a census total of…forty-two. Including the women and children. Twelve if we're talking able-bodied, seventeen if the remaining ones manage to recover from their wounds. And that's if they're not crippled for life. We'd effectively cut their tribe in half with this mess. That pulse to cry again came up, but I had to stomp it down as I marched with a straight posture and arms held firm behind my back like some kind of general.

"Today was a less than fruitful day for all parties involved. Both sides have lost, and yet we both still stand. While I know we are nothing less slavers to you, understand this; those adventurers would have likely wiped you out had we not intervened"

They probably would have actually wiped us out too. I hadn't expected to actually win that fight at all. Either my Patron was watching today, I got lucky, or they got really unlucky. I really don't want to dwell on which was which, but at the very least we were still standing. Barely.

I clutched the adventurer tags I'd pulled off of their bloodied corpses with renewed vigor.

"I do not expect you to like me. I expect each and every one of you to hate me, and my fellows for what we have done to you," I continued, getting that same fearful stare from them. "But in the end, I do not regret my actions. For now, despite your losses, your people will have much to gain from this situation, even if it means being dragged kicking and screaming. Because as much as I know you and yours likely deserve much less than that, I see a chance in you all. In truth, mostly due to your children"

I eyed one of the youngsters, who cowered desperately behind their mother. I couldn't identify gender for certain, the children were admittedly difficult to do so with.

"Children are the future. They are the ones that decide our futures, for better or worse. As such, it is our duty to ensure that they are given all the opportunities and paths to persevere beyond us"

Something I wish mom believed in sometimes. I knelt down in front of the mother and cowering child, and extended a hand. In my hand was a chunk of hardtack, just soft enough that I knew it wouldn't give them too much issue to chew. One of the many facets of goblins, as I learned over time with Yulg, was their ability to eat solid foods almost immediately after birthing. It was one of the many reasons why they could breed so fast.

The pair stared nervously at my extended hand, before I sighed and motioned to the mother instead. She was slightly more willing, reaching out shakily before snatching the food from my grasp and sniffing it over. Finding it satisfactory, she broke a piece off and handed it to the youngling, both of whom started chowing down on the snack. I found my spirits lifting slightly at the sight, oddly endearing.

I stand back up as tall and proud as I can, looking over the goblins. "Know this. We will take care of and protect your women and children. We will do what is necessary to ensure their childhoods are enriching. In exchange, we expect your men to work and fight alongside us, to death if needs must. We hope that such events will not come to pass, but as the saying goes, 'you can wish in one hand, and-'... ah, 'crap, in the other'"

My urge to censor my cussing around children peaked through, something that made me scoff lightly to myself. They were scarred by far more than words like 'shit' to really matter to them at this point.

I caught sight of movement at the corner of my vision, and spotted the Will-O'-Wisp team hopping over the gates with practiced ease. They took in the surroundings, of simmering ruins and a slushy of blood and ice near the epicenter. Rekushio stepped forward and gave me a nod, something I returned. I waved my fist in the air, platinum tags still jingling in my grip.

"Alright everyone, finish up and move! Keepsakes, food, medicine, goods, anything that you can carry you will carry. Leave not a scrap, so that any more humans that try to come won't have anything left to pick over!"

There were words of compliance, and everyone prepared to move. As we did so, I motioned to Rekushio to hopefully share a couple of words before we advanced back to home camp.

"Your group deal with the runaway?"

I was simply given a nod by the lizardman, making me sigh. "Good. Kinda second-guessed myself there letting you guys take care of him, especially after the fight his friends gave us"

I peered over the group of our own, as well as the corpses they slung and prepared for burial back in the village. We had only a couple dead, but even if the amount of dead didn't rise from the wounded succumbing to their injuries, it was unacceptable.

I looked back to the lizardman with tired eyes, both magical and physical exhaustion setting in. "I don't think I'm fit for a command role, Rek"

The lizardman narrowed his eyes, peering over the bloodshed and the wounded himself. He shook his head, turning away to follow the others. But not before giving his parting words.

"That remains to be seen, Nolan. That remains to be seen"

I was left alone, both physically and mentally. All I could really do was busy myself at this point, so I started by helping the goblins pack things up.

The camp was reorganized. Room was made as goblins now scurried to and fro, adapting quickly to appease their new masters and ensure the safety and well treatment of their females. Some of the lizardmen seemed rather disgusted by them, so they were delegated to dirtier tasks like digging latrines or cleaning up trash. They were surprisingly good at it, actually.

Of course, that wasn't why we were gathered up in the headquarters tent now. The reason for that was how to proceed after the situation we just went through with the adventurers. Sadly, that meant I had to be involved in the talks, instead of getting some much needed rest.

"Scouts suggest that the fires point to another goblin encampment to the east, and two additional encampments to the west further out," Rekushio stated, nodding to one of his cloaked soldiers. "Caution is advised when traveling from this point onward"

"Figures that Yulg's tribe weren't the only ones that got spooked by the adventurers," I muttered. "Do we a have a solid head count?"

He shook his head at that. "Reports indicate that the east tribe has already suffered some losses, but there's no word on how badly, or how many left there even are. There's enough to at least indicate a sizeable fighting force, though thankfully nowhere near as large as what we just fought earlier"

"I see… and the western groups?"

"Unknown at this time, they're a little further out from us. We're still waiting on the reports"

I relented to that. "How confident are we in facing the eastern group then?"

Zuko crossed his arms, glaring at the map on the table. "We've already got more than a few wounded, even if they were half the size of what we just dealt with I wouldn't like our odds. And to top it off, we only have a week and a half before the Shell Festival begins. We'll simply be waiting around for nothing, I can't afford to risk my men on another mission"

I chewed my cheek. He had a point, but we couldn't come back with scraps, even if we still had some of that goblin loot to sift through. I looked at the map carefully, weighing my thoughts in my head and carefully considering what options we had in front of us. As I considered what we should probably do next, a thought came into my head as I considered what we had in our resources.

"I say we rest a bit," I spoke with caution. "One or two days at most. We're ahead of schedule, since my overestimations left us with some room to play after barreling through their fortifications. We heal our wounded, stay warm by the fires, and decide what to do then. Traveling a couple of days with our injured might take a bit longer and overall be far more painful"

Zuko snorted at that. "We'll still be heading home after that, especially with all of our wounded"

"And we'd be returning with only a handful of what we expected," I replied. "I'm not saying we stay past our dues, and we won't need to. Because one or two days will all I and a few others will need"

The warrior chief raised a brow ridge in curiosity. "Do you have a plan? Go on, because I can't wait to hear how you're going to do this, since I don't plan on giving you any of my men for this mission"

This was going to be a risky maneuver, but it weighed very carefully on a couple of things. I already knew the paladins would likely have my back, as well as Todone and a couple of the Small Fangs I'd helped train. That easily gave us an eight man crew including ourselves. However, there was one factor I had access to that they didn't know about.

Now that I'm level twenty, I had access to the NPC features of {Humble Beginnings}. This was going to turn the tides for us, but I also needed to know just what I could summon that would bring us our much needed help. I'd yet to access the actual feature and experiment with it, but I would have all of tonight to do so.

"I have access to an old ritual from my homeland," I began, getting ready to bullshit my way through this. "Now, sadly, this ritual only works on the select few that were involved with it at the time of its creation and initial casting, and the resources needed in order to recreate such a ritual is incredibly costly and takes years of preparation. With that said, once the ritual is cast it can bond certain… individuals should I beckon for them"

The group of demihumans seemed to carry varying degrees of suspicion and disbelief. There were shared looks among one another before Zuko nodded to me.

"What kind of… individuals would this ritual summon?" He asked, looking me over.

This was… going to be a hassle to explain. Considering the fact that even I didn't fully know what I had access to until I could fiddle with the book, I was going to have to bullshit my way through this.

"Well, that depends on a few things," I deflected. "I can at least confirm their loyalties to myself, or they would have never agreed to the ritual in the first place however. Of this, you have no concern. And, at the very least, I could realistically only summon one tonight at the most"

Now this was somewhat true. I genuinely wasn't sure if I could summon two tonight, one likely being my only means of skimming through this whole mess. As such, I'd have to put my ideas of a magic caster on the back burner in lieu of something more dedicated to stealth.

"And why haven't you done as such so far?" Zuko asked. "For what reason were you holding back on this?"

"Because it's a one way summon," I responded. "I didn't want to have to pull someone in unless I absolutely had to and had the means to do so without interruption. And if I'm going to have to summon them, I needed to make sure that we'd be in a position where we could organize and push forward together. I don't want to have to pull one of my own out of my homeland out here, when we're god knows how far out from the place. If I did pull them here, they aren't going to be back home for some time"

A bullshit answer, but a sound one. Especially to hide the fact that what I was actually going to do was create life from scratch. Zuko hummed in thought, seemingly weighing the options of the strange human's idea. He sighs, shaking his head at me.

"Fine, volunteers only. And try not to summon someone that's going to go off the chain because we're demihumans"

"Sir, I wouldn't have suggested if I thought there would be issues. Hell, some of the people linked in the ritual aren't human themselves," I placated. "I doubt they'll cause any problems"

He looked at me with a strange gaze, before nodding. "We'll stay here for three days time. Either you return with goblins in tow, or we're leaving your group behind. And make sure they know that before you take them with"

"Sir, yes sir!" I proclaim with a nod.

"Right then… dismissed," The warrior captain ordered, sending me on my merry way out of the tent.

As tired as I was mentally, I knew there'd be no rest for the wicked and weary. At least I still had that Ring of Minor Fatigue keeping me afloat. I needed to hit the book and try to plan out how the hell I was going to pull this off. Considering my current plan was to sneak some of us into the camp, I was probably going to have to make a stealth build on top of the wizard I was planning. I thumbed into my pocket and pulled out a stamina candy, popping it into my mouth and suckling its' nectary existence for everything it was worth.

I scan my eyes over the camp and realize I'm not going to have much in the way of privacy for this, and I grimace. My only option was to gather up {Humble Beginnings} from my things and lay a framework out in the woods. I nodded to the lizardmen and goblins as I did my thing, reaching for my bag and pulling it with me over my tattered form. I was probably going to need some data crystals as well depending on what needed done. I vaguely recall needing them to 'alter appearances', which might be nice for making my NPC's look a little unique.

{Data Crystal: A thaumaturgical information medium, used in the-

Yeah yeah yeah, shut your trap, I know. I slip through the bushes, waving off to the patrols with a cautious glance my way. Probably mentally preparing on the off-chance that I flashbang myself again. Shouldn't happen this time though. Hopefully.

I find a spot to nestle myself among the litter, dropping my coyote pack to act as a seat from the forest floor. Reaching in, I pull out just the book I was looking for, and flip through the pages. As I do so, I notice the things I've done over the months, and I've realized I've been almost nothing but work aside from the rare one or two days off in between weeks. I thought I was taking more time off than that, but thinking back I realized that nope, I was in fact pushing myself. Really feel like a hypocrite with Crusch right about now.

Er, right, NPC making. Uh… how do I make an NPC?

{Notice: You have met the necessary level requirement to unlock the following system; NPC Creation Menu!}

About time I unlocked this damn thing. Shit, maybe I'll dig my way out of this mess yet. Still, one thing at a time. How do I access the NPC creation screen?

My face is flooded with windows, and my vision blurs to a black out. Despite this, I'm still aware and conscious, before I'm greeted by what feels to be a third person view of my area. Looking at my own body relaxing as it stares into the book is a little… off-putting.

{Welcome to the NPC Creation Menu! Here you have access to a variety of tools necessary in creating and saving NPC templates to apply and use as you wish! Do keep in mind that once you create an NPC however, you will be incapable of deleting its creation from existence barring its own death. Currently, the area is under the effect of {World Item Time Dilation}, and as such you are free from the effects of time and space as you create! Do note, that this screen cannot be opened while in combat/hostile territory to avoid abusing this feature}

Huh, that's… actually really fucking cool. At least it ensures that I won't be bothered while I plan and pluck at what I'm creating. Speaking of, let's look at what we have… a plain-faced puppet of a human, naked as can be, with average uh… 'equipment'. At least I know that this one is male. I peer through the different windows along my vision, and notice I have a few options pertaining to species and classes.

Taking the opportunity, I immediately look through, and realize there are a lot of options. Most of them locked, sadly.

"Alright," I murmur to myself. "What kind of options are available?"

Immediately, that list was shortened down to… a very pitiful amount. I still had choices, but compared to what was once available, I realized that there were clearly more than a few things I'd need to do. Curiously, Toadmen and Lizardmen were among the unlocked options. Huh, what unlocks things for me?

{Notice: Race options are unlocked through one of three methods; by making contact, by discovering a 'Codex, or by questing}

A… Codex entry? My text boxes seemed to warble with static for a moment, before a new box popped up.

{Codex: Though the appearance varies, one thing is certain. A Codex contains all the knowledge and histories of a given particular species and it's subraces that can be provided. Incomplete data often requires multiple Codex mediums to meet requirements for an unlock}

Holy shit. If I'm reading this right, then if I dig through player ruins and get lucky, I could probably find a way to create NPCs with their races originating from Yggdrasil. Automatons, Djinn, Angels… there's so much I could work with here. But just the thought makes me realize how high risk, high reward that is. Player ruins left by the Six Gods and the Eight Kings will probably be way too dangerous for me to take at my current level, not to mention stuff left behind by anyone else. I'm going to have to prod carefully to weigh my options against those.

In the meantime though, I continue plucking through and weigh my options… hmm, how many of these options are undead?

{Notice: 1 option(s) available}

Yeesh, just one? I scroll to the highlighted option, and I feel a slight degree of disappointment.

{Shade: An amalgamation of negative energy and spiritual remnants, the Shade is both a parasite and a predator. Constantly seeking life energy to fuel it's form, the Shade hunts other lifeforms out of necessity and oftentimes sick pleasure as well. The Shade is an amorphous horror, capable of utilizing several techniques to blend in with the shadows to stalk and drain it's prey. Do note that any living creatures killed by this method may result in an undead themselves under the temporary control of the Shade}

Fuck that's… that's not good. I guess I should've expected that from an undead, but still. Other than the sadistic remark, this thing is positively broken. Well, kind of. Needing to suckle on the life force of living beings isn't really something I can stably support… unless it could subsist off of anything? Like, rats or something? Hmm… that's a thought.

As I sift through the stats and abilities of the Shade, I realize it's built more like an assassin than having any prospects of being a caster. Not that it couldn't, it certainly has some abilities leaning that way, it just isn't going to be the easier option. And sadly, I need easy right now.

I sigh, accepting that I'm probably going to have to make a Shade instead and consider a name for him… or, it. There's not really a gender identifier for this particular race, so It's not as though that matters all that much I guess. Still, I'm a little disappointed that it might come to this, but sifting through the list shows me that I don't have many other dedicated options for a stealth build. I guess I'll have to save that for something else.

Before I returned focus on the Shade however, something in the list caught my eye in all of my sifting. What the hell was a 'Ewefolk'?

{Prerequisites met, race 'Ewefolk' unlocked by the side quest 'Shepard of the Flock'. Quest requirements met, 'Convert a minimum of five followers to a faith of your own making}

I am… ashamed, surprised, and glad all rolled into one, happy that something else other than followers of a faith I kinda made up in order to not explain Christianity came up from this. Still embarrassed I did it, but at least it provided something to me in this situation as a bonus.

{Ewefolk: Ovine humanoids resembling fluffy sheep, these beastmen are surprisingly well padded with the thick wool that layers over most of their body. Regardless, they are capable of keeping their bodies somewhat shaved in order to don more useful armors that would better protect them while retaining the ability to stay warm in colder climates}

… I may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I may have an idea. First things first, I think I speak for everyone when I say I'm getting a little tired of the sausage fest that is our war party. I mean, I still talk with Crusch and Kika, as well as some of the other ladies back home, but there's not a single damn warrior chick in the whole group. That's something I want to change here and now. Plus, it'd fit in real well with the 'Wolf in Sheep's Clothing' trope.

I touch the slider icon for gender and- ah I don't know what I was expecting but holy shit those are some honkers. Why can't she be wearing a bra or something?

{Would you like to enable censorship?}

God, yes, why the fuck wasn't that the default in the first place? I'm pleasantly surprised to see her now wearing an actual bra and panty get-up, though it was still slightly uncomfortable to me. Maybe it's been a hot second, but when you're surrounded by a bunch of flat chested lizards and you suddenly get a face full of… what are those, E-cups? Point being, it really doesn't do well for one's inner horny.

As much as I fight the urge to try and squeeze those things with my ghostly hands, I meditate on actually molding her body. She looks mostly animalistic now, but all it takes is a few adjustments and she looks… kinda cute actually. Shit, this doesn't make me a furry, I'm just… admiring a female when I see one. Yeah, that's it.

The curly white 'hair' on her head is made significantly shorter, her ears now poking out proudly. Her rectangular brown eyes are made to be more of a shining bright red, almost as bright and stunning as her ivory coat of wool. Adjusting her height, I set her to be almost as tall as me, her supple bosom jostling slightly by the adjustment.

Speaking of, let me shrink those down to something a bit more modest. Thankfully, those distracting doingers are shrunk down to a far more acceptable and modest size, going down to a size more akin to grapefruits rather than melons. Which is still a little on the big side, but anything's smaller than those boulders she had. A part of me was saddened to see them shrink, but I wasn't making her to be a sex doll for Christ's sake, I was making a warrior. And big tits don't fit well in armor.

With a few more twitches and touches, I more or less got the gist of what I was looking for. Now… she just needed clothing.

{Data Crystal cost required}

Yeah, I was afraid of that. Still, It's kind of necessary since I don't want her coming into the world buck naked. I mentally thumb one of the Data Crystals in my bag, feeling a connection to it from here. Huh, guess I have my Patron to thank for that too. Hmm, let's see, what if I imagine her in… a Shawl?

A simple, flowing red shawl materialized and draped itself over her body, a portion of the Data Crystal withering away. Yikes, so no take backs. Now what would go good with a shawl…

I am mentally exhausted, but I think I've sorted everything out at this point. The shawl was adjusted to take a more cloak-like shape, with a hood and everything to cover her form. Sucking down a painful amount of Data Crystals, she was now the proud wielder of a waxed set of leather armor, including a skirt and leggings to allow freedom of motion and still protect her lower half. Boots donned her cloven hooves, probably an unusual choice but at the very least they were tailored to fit them appropriately so she could trod over rough terrain without issue. Lastly was the simply oaken bow and quiver full of arrows, having forced me to cheap out when it came to getting her set up with equipment. She also carried a blister steel knife at her hip, something I had to drag from my inventory to give her. Using a Data Crystal, I even adjusted it to more appropriately resemble a brush-hook like my own. Overall, she was a little reminiscent of the 'Red Riding Hood' fairytale, not so much as to raise questions though.

Of course, that was just her physical appearance. The background was… a lot more work than I'd wanted it to be. Taking into consideration that an NPC's background defines them as they are, I designed hers to give her a more 'good' aligned backstory, though I'll admit that it's probably not going to work out as well as I'd want. If there's one thing I am anticipating, it's that my NPCs are going to look at me with godlike wonder. At the very least, I'm going to try and institute a little bit of control to keep things from going off the deep end here. The long and short of it is, that according to her backstory, she was a young girl when she was inspired by heroes like King Arthur or Joan of Arc when she decided to train all her childhood to become a knight.

Now, mixing in some history and knowledge with back home, and I've made her the equivalent of a renaissance fair nut with a penchant for theatrics. Which is just a renaissance fair nut. Eventually however, we had met one another at one such fair, and through chitchat over a shared meal became fast friends for years. Now with that said, I've tied her backstory in with the Shade, since I plan on these two being a package deal. One athletic ranger, one stealth killer. Combined with me, the magic caster slash whatever the fuck I needed to be, and we made a pretty decent team dynamic covering eachother's bases.

As for the Shade itself… It was given a barebones backstory. I wasn't really sure on what to put in there to be honest, other than that due to happenstance and luck, both it and her were bound together, working alongside one another out of begrudging acceptance. Thus, what sealed the deal in both of them swearing loyalty to me was that I'd help protect and hide their situation as a friend to one, and sympathetic to the other, providing any kind of aid I could to them in order to separate them from each other. Of course, as an insurance, I secretly put down that the Shade was willing to retain loyalty to me should such an event come to pass. I had doubts that it would split off, but I've been wrong before.

Sadly, I couldn't really do much to make the shade look that different, though his eyes twinkle blue like stars on occasion if he wants them to.

Finally, all that had to be done was summon them, for that was all I had to do now. Didn't expect to make this a two-for-one deal, but at least the Shade didn't need a whole lot to cover itself up. It could easily hide under her cloak if it needed to, so that wasn't much of an issue.

Alright, so how do I do this, do I just find a button that says accept or-

My vision blurred into darkness again with a woozy sensation, before my eyes open back in my own body. I retain a poker face, even as I stare down at the sudden circle that appeared before me. I snap the book shut and stand upright, even as the shapes before me slowly grow out of the center of the pentagram like some kind of terminator regenerating.

Eventually, I was greeted by the sight of my first two ever NPCs. The Shade wisped like smoke from under her cloak, peering out very faintly. Meanwhile, she made to say hi, but sneezed loudly, sniffling her face. I couldn't help but chuckle, already glad to see her lining up with some of the mannerisms I'd planned out. I'd planned several names for them, originally considering the Greek alphabet for inspiration. However, I realized that would probably draw attention, so I settled for going original instead. Well, original-ish. And quite frankly, they were fitting.

"Arise, Rose of House Merino, arise Sobriquet. I beseech thee, for I am in a time of need"

They both stared at me for a second, before Rose snickered and responded with a voice rich and melodic, while maintaining a certain depth to it that made her sound a little on the lower end for a woman's voice. "Really, my Lord?"

I smiled, a weight off my shoulders. They may have been born from nothing, but at least I didn't feel like they were going to treat me different because I was human. However, that quickly narrowed as I realized what she called me.

'My Lord'. Ah shit. Whelp, I'm not surprised, but I'll have to train that out of her.

Rose of House Merino and Sobriquet have joined the party!

Nolan Potts, Human (Karma: 70 [Neutral]) [22/27 Spell slots used]

Classes: Brawler (6), Ranger (3), Druid (6), Clothier (3), Translucer (1). Total Level (20), Unspent Levels (1).

Spells (Druid): Frostbite, Entangle, Create or Destroy Water, Guidance, Jump, Cure Wounds, Dust Devil, Protect from Poison, Hold Person, Spike Growth, Lesser Restoration, Water Breathing, Darkvision, Sleetstorm, Ice Knife, Lightning Arrow, Torchlight, Slow

Spells (Ranger): Animal Friendship, Speak to Animals, Ensnaring Strike, Conjure Animals

Items of Note: {Humble Beginnings}

Party Members are as follows…

Member One: Todone, Son of Kodrotti, Toadman (Karma: 0 [True Neutral])

Classes: Toadman Warrior (9), Brawler (9), Martial Artist (1), Total Level (19).

Member Two: Yulg (Karma: 50 [Neutral])

Classes: Goblin Marauder (1), Brawler (8), Warrior (4), Cleric (1), Total Level (13)

Member Three: Rose of House Merino, Ewefolk (Karma: 100 (Neutral Good)

Classes: Ewefolk Bard (1), Warrior (12), Ranger (7)

Member Four: Sobriquet, Shade (Karma: -100 [Neutral Evil])

Classes: Shade (10), Assassin (10)

AN: I just realized that I hadn't updated a couple things in the last couple of chapters. I'll have to sift through and figure out what, but in the mean time enjoy this little snippet. And oi, Reaper200851? You inadvertently made me realize that a ghost sounds like a hell of a choice. Well, ghost-ish at least.

MairoGleon: I play a lot of DnD, so I'm actually mentally stuck in playing things through like encounters when it comes to writing fights. And unfortunately for my DM, I tend to get creative if you put pressure on me

UndyingSmiley: Hmmm, we'll just have to see about Kukri. However, what I completely forgot about was the Elder Champion path. I haven't done many Oath of Ancient Paladins, none of which have ever seen completion to level twenty. That is most certainly a thought for the far off future.

Soulbow109: Y'know, I didn't really think about making such a comparison until you did, and I can kinda see it. Other than that, I suppose you oughta be glad I ended up not going for a magic caster actually, was originally thinking about naming him Omicron too before I realized that might be leaning on crossover territory. I mean, Rose probably is too but not as blatant XD