34 Chapter 34

After inspecting his hand Aerwyn turned to the smaller spiders and thought up an idea.

"I need ten of you, climb on that tree in a row. I want you each to make a single string of web and connect it to the other tree. Do it as quickly as you can."

The spiders climbed the aforementioned tree lining up like a totem pole on the trees trunk. They connected the spider silk to the trunk before jumping in unison like something out of a nightmare. The whole process only took a few seconds, meaning he would be able to use them reactively in a fight to trap an enemy or even direct an enemy to where he wanted them to be by blocking off their paths.

He could even use them to create a type of secondary wall around Ardin by having them paint the surrounding forest in webs. That idea would have to be put on hold for now, he worried about his Fae'Laran friends getting trapped in the webs if he started his plan without warning them first.

"Perfect..." Aerwyn mumbled.

"Does that mean we can go hunt, master?" Erit spoke using her voice magic.

"No... Actually, fine you can go hunt. However i am commanding you to avoid people unless your life is in danger. Everyone who knows me should be able to tell that you belong to me by your eyes but either way, you should do your best to avoid people. You can go southeast but stay in that area and go no further than a few hours away... Also stop doing that with your voice." Aerwyn decided to let her go after thinking it over for a moment. They would just be sitting around the city if he denied her. Plus he was planning on visiting Frakki in three days time and he was severely lacking enough souls to turn his entire tribe into undead.

"Thank you master! I'll show you that this little spider can earn her keep!" Erit spoke excitedly still using her voice magic. She began to turn her massive frame to leave but Aerwyn stopped her.

"Slow down, you need to take some goblins with you to harvest the mana cores."

Ignoring the fact that Erit seemed to refuse to listen to him regarding her voice, the group headed back to the city. He assumed it had something to do with how he was wording his commands, which allowed her to find clever ways around it. Since it wasn't anything more than a minor nuisance and she seemed to enjoy getting on his nerves by using it, he decided to just leave it be.

After returning to the city and sending Erit off to hunt, Aerwyn went to gather up the remaining eight vosk. They had already finished digging the trench for the wall long ago and they had been sitting around with nothing to do ever since. He brought them to the underground passage before explaining their new project.

"I'm aware that this is going to take a very long time but i want you to make this passage big enough for Erit to fit through, ten by ten meters should give her enough room to maneuver. For now pile the dug up earth over there, we'll be getting more goblins soon and they'll be able to move it... Ah, that's right you all worked in mines before, right? Can you differentiate ores and put them in a separate pile?"

"Yes, masta'. Can do as you says." One of the vosks spoke. Aerwyn wasn't entirely sure but it sounded like the one he had spoken to the last time so he decided to give it a name and have it act as the leader of the vosk.

"Do you have a name?"

"I no 'ave name masta'."

"Hmm... From now on you'll be called Gebb, you'll be the representative of the vosk."

"Gebb t'anks da masta'." Gebb bowed happily before beginning his work.

Aerwyn stayed near and watched them work for a bit. Their claws cut through the hard stone like butter and only after a few minutes, the entire entrance way to the underground was unrecognizable. Aerwyn left heading back to the city square, there wasn't much for him to do today other than wait for more souls to come in from the hunting parties so he decided to practice his spearmanship.

In the blink of an eye three days passed and it was time to hear Frakki's answer. Last night he had called back the hunting parties as he was planning on bringing every single one of his undead to the meeting. This display of force should stop any last minute second thoughts Frakki might have, at least Aerwyn hoped.

Aerwyn paused all construction at dawn and left the city of Ardin with his nearly two hundred undead. Rorik led the group since he was the only one that knew where Frakki's settlement was. They traveled for a few hours before reaching the settlement which was built up against a cliff face on the side of the small mountain to the south of Ardin.

As they drew closer Aerwyn could see that there were no signs of life inside the settlement which left him worried. It meant that either Frakki had set a trap for him or he had left with his tribe, willingly or otherwise. The undead stayed fifty meters away from the settlement awaiting Aerwyn's decision.

"It doesn't appear they were wiped out by Crik or whatever the hobgoblin's name was."

"...Trap.." Velk growled.

"I think so too, that or they left. It's even possible they joined with the other settlement once they saw my power. Hmm... Teek, send a single goblin in, have them check every building. I want to know if anyone is still there. Everyone else keep an eye out, make sure no one is sneaking up on us."

A single goblin trekked across the open field before entering the shabby wooden gate. Fifteen minutes passed before he returned, signifying that the place was empty.

"Send ten goblins in and search the buildings for any treasure. I don't like this situation, we'll be leaving once we're done here." Aerwyn commanded and Teek obliged.

"Surely a few goblins wouldn't dare plot against you master. Even if they did what could they do? They're even smaller than me. Hmph!" Erit bragged.

"Kabba think goblins ran too!" Kabba added trying to emulate Erit's bragging tone.

"I believe master is aware that they can do little in the wake of his power but if the goblins have joined forces then the victory will come at a cost." Bon attempted to cool the hot headed Erit and Kabba before Aerwyn spoke.

"Bon's right, i don't want to lose a single one of you. That's why this is a problem."

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Another fifteen minutes passed and the ten goblins returned empty handed.

"Let's go back to Ardin for now, we'll return another time to deal with them."

In hindsight Aerwyn regretted allowing Frakki to live, it was a mistake he wouldn't allow himself to make again. The small chance of doubling his army without losing any of his troops was just too desirable for him to pass up. His mistake meant that now there was a chance that Frakki's tribe had joined the larger one this meant he would have to fight a much larger battle and unlike when he fought Velk, this enemy would be prepared for him.

They got back to Ardin without incident and Aerwyn sent Rorik to go and scout the remaining goblin settlement before sending everyone back to their duties. The next day Rorik returned and made his worries reality, the goblin tribes had combined and now there were almost five hundred goblins and at least two hobgoblins in the final settlement.

"Ugh... Go and take your hunting group out for now and continue collecting souls. Go south but not too close to their base, i just want to keep eyes on them in case they plan on marching north. We'll deal with them in a week after i get the rest of the weapons from Setrhyn."

A week went by with Aerwyn spending the majority of his time practicing his spearmanship and attempting to put some muscle on his scrawny body. His efforts were garnering fruit as he had gain a bit of muscle, no doubt his diet that consisted mostly of meat was helping in that regard.

The walls were finished two days ago and the goblins had shifted their focus to clearing out the rubble inside of the city. The vosk had made surprisingly fast progress on the tunnel and if they kept digging at this rate they would be done in a few months which would give Aerwyn another hunting ground to exploit. It also opened up the possibility of mining which could help pay for the things he needed from Setrhyn and allow him to use more mana cores on his undead.

Aerwyn had called Erit and the spiders back the night before as they would be his escort this time. He didn't want to risk taking too many undead and leaving Ardin undefended. He left Bon in charge once more and headed off to Setrhyn that morning.