Synthetic Survivor: Machine Age

The goblinmancer was not a goblin but a human. A human mage who had managed to breed his own army of goblins. 

A feat such as monster breeding was considered to be tier 10 magic. But the magician in question could only cast spells from tier 1 to 6. If he was to go against Stacy, Stacy would obliterate him in just one move. 

But he was about to go against a mere human, an inept human! Any magician could sense another's magic as long as they were near the said person. Or, if said person was strong but wasn't using any concealment spell, a magician could detect his or her magical energy from far away. 

But even so, when he used his magic to take control of the goblin temporarily, he sensed no magic from the man in black. In fact, he sensed no magic from the surroundings at all.

For the brief second that he controlled the goblin, it seemed as if his magic power was being s.u.c.k.e.d from him even though he was kilometers away. 

And where was his magic getting s.u.c.k.e.d into? It was being s.u.c.k.e.d by the man in black. His purple eyes gave him an foreboding aura.

As if he was being assisted by the god who all gods call their enemy. Not even the dark gods wanted to mingle with him because of his nature. 

Maybe, just maybe, the man in black was that  god's champion?

If so, then it would explain why magic disappeared from their surroundings. Only one God had the ability to suck magic from its surroundings passively. 

The God of the Inept and the God of Death, two  titles but one holder. 

"I dare not speak his foul name," The goblinmancer told himself as he walked back and forth in his room. He made his cave inside a magical monster's lair which he wasn't bothered to kill himself and so sent hundreds of goblins to deal with it. 

As he sat down on his throne of wood, he pondered. 

"Did I offend that god?" 

Maybe he did. 

Breeding these goblins went against what the God of Death stood for, if so, then he must be his latest target. 

And he couldn't expect the God of Creation to help him, not even he could stand up against the forsaken god alone. 

He would need to muster all the forces of the heavens but what is he, a goblinmancer, going to do?

"No!" He told himself. 

"I am a talented mage who has surpassed event those of the Imperials, I will rise through the ashes with my goblins and build my own kingdom! That's my plan and I must follow through," He announced to none but himself. 

Nobody was there to listen to his babbling since he locked himself up inside that room, which was inside the monster's lair. 

His goblins were outside doing menial tasks such as cleaning, repairing, building, farming, and guarding. 

Maintaining an army of thousands of goblins was a tiresome task that he gave to his trusted hobgoblins.

As long as he controlled those monstrosities, none of the goblins would dare to abandon him or they risked getting squashed by their bigger and heavier brothers. 

The monster's lair's entrance was barricaded by a makeshift wooden wall. It was not as sturdy but what else did he expect from the engineering skills of puny monsters such as goblins who specialized in nothing but hunting, killing, and breeding.

 Speaking of breeding, the goblinmancer ordered a specific section of the cave to be turned into the goblin's breeding chamber where eligible goblins of both s.e.xes could engage in their breeding activities. 

It took only a month for a new batch of baby goblins to be birthed and then two months to gain maturity.

The lifespan of normal goblins were two years at best but since these goblins were bred especially by the goblinmancer, they could live up to 5 years but more than that, he found out, would just cripple the goblins. 

As the goblinmancer pondered, the dead bodies of several women laid on the floor of his room. Clothes torn and defiled. 

In respects and purposes, the goblinmancer would not taste any sort of mercy from his eventual challenger. 

The challenger, had already pointed out his location and he was unaware of it. 

He could sense his goblins but only for a short time as long as he was focused on that specific goblin troop. The only reason he found out about the goblin being interrogated was because that when he was trying to sense the goblin's troop, he only found one and so, decided to see what was happening to it. 

One had already deduced how far his ability could go and so, made sure that on his way, he would kill all the goblins as quick as possible.

As the knights marched on down the dirt road that connected three more eastern villages, the same would greet them each time. Dead villages with dead and alive goblins. 

One was sparing no time, each goblin Hailey detected he would pursue and kill before they could alert more of their brethren.

One and his knights were essentially paving a path with the blood of their adversaries. 

As they drew nearer to the monster's lair, they reached the end of the dirt path. 

"Beyond this is the forest of death," Toby said.

"Then onwards, it is," One said, not caring about the perils the forest would have. Why would he fear the forest of death if all of what it could offer were just goblins and hobgoblins? 

Numbers may have a quality of their own but only if they have reserves. No more reserves? Well good luck with overrunning someone who has more area-effect weaponry to spare. 

One then entered the forest with his knights. The forest was devoid of most life, should it even be called a forest at this point?

Fewer birds, fewer insects, no wild animals. 

Just the stench of goblins on all directions. 

[They must have hunted every living creature in the forest] Hailey said. 

One agreed.