Frontier of Blades and Walls

Ken took the paper up to the giant marble desk. A receptionist tended to him and looked through the job paper he was holding.

"Do you have a party?" She asked.

"No, but I've fought a Forest Goblin, so I should be fine, right?" Ken responded.

The receptionist sighed. She didn't like the fact that Ken wanted to take the job solo, but ended up giving in. She let him take on the job if he accepted some tips from her.

"Follow me," the woman said, almost exasperated, but still polite. She had pointy gray ears, and Ken assumed that she was a lycanthrope, a type of therianthrope with wolf-like ears, bushy tails, large canines, and round, stunning eyes.

"My name is Kamisho, by the way," she said, walking out from behind the giant marble desk. She led Ken to one of the many backrooms of the guild.

Ken just followed her, silent.He was mesmerized by the rhythmic sweeping of her tail.

"If you didn't know already, you can join in on adventuring lectures that happen here nightly, for a small fee." She sighed. "Nobody really does that, though. They'd rather rush off into battle and gain knowledge from experience, but I guess that's the spirit of adventure, isn't it?"

Ken wasn't listening, and still stared at her tail. He had always been a dog person.

Kamisho unlocked a door constructed of pitch black wood that Ken had never seen before, but he didn't notice. All he was thinking of was touching Kamisho's giant, fluffy, gray tail. He held himself back, but started to sweat. It was just too fluffy.

Kamisho opened the door to a rectangular room. Ken followed her inside. She grabbed some materials from a bookshelf and laid them on a table in the middle of the room. She sat at the table and Ken sat directly across from her. Sprawled out on the table were diagrams, papers, and a bestiary that was open to a section on goblins. Kamisho sighed out of habit.

"I'm tutoring you for free, so you'd better pay attention," she said.

"Understood. I'm all ears," said Ken, glancing at Kamisho's. He was incredibly serious and no longer spaced out, since Kamisho's tail was hidden from view under the table. He peered over some of the papers that were in front of him.

Kamisho told Ken of the basic types of goblin that were found on the frontier. As she talked about each one, she slid Ken the respective diagrams. She started with Forest Goblins, since he had already encountered one. She claimed that they were known for their sharp, claw-like fingernails, green skin, and seemingly useless talons. They were of average goblin height, about a meter tall, and were feared for being incredibly quick on their feet. Forest goblins were rarely ever seen in groups, but were incredibly dangerous when you face two or more. They liked to use weapons salvaged from adventurers, like hatchets and knives, and also weapons made by smarter goblins, like clubs and spears. Forest Goblins were introverted hunter gatherers, but were sometimes recruited by other goblins for protection.

The next type of goblin that Ken was likely to encounter were Cave Goblins. Cave Goblins can't survive out in the wilds like Forest Goblins can, so they inhabit ruins, caves, and anything else they can huddle under. A Cave Goblin's strength can be measured by the shade and texture of their skin. The darker they are, the more effective they are in combat, gray being the weakest. But, inversely, anything lighter than gray, from light gray to pure white, are much smarter. These smart goblins can set traps, make weapons, or even practice mysticism or druidism. Cave Goblins are also unique in that they have many irregulars, or unique individuals. Pitch black goblins with white stripes or pure white goblins with black stripes can effectively use both fighting spirit and magic. Goblins with fur also show up once in a blue moon, and have troll-like strength, but insanely low intelligence.

Kamisho wrapped up the lecture with hobgoblins. Hobgoblins were fully grown goblins of any kind, and were the height of a very short human, with the intelligence of a particularly stupid human. However, goblins rarely make it to adulthood and reach hobgoblin level, since they didn't evolve to grow up, but solely to reproduce. White hobgoblins were as smart as humans, and black hobgoblins as effective in combat.

Reproduction was the goblin race's main strength and weakness. When goblins mated, which they did often, the female typically gave birth to a litter of four or more. Pregnancy only lasted a month or so, and the pups grew fast enough to be ready for combat in a few weeks. Because of all this, goblins grow at an insanely fast rate, but because of their stupidity, they often bred too fast and starved because of it. A constant state of starvation lead to goblins pillaging, stealing from, and killing anybody they can, even other goblin settlements.

But much like humans, the most powerful goblins are the ones with experience, since they've survived attacks from people and have gained knowledge. Once they even start to slightly understand the behavior of people, they gain the ability to reason, predict, and strategize. These goblins often become leaders of settlements, and its also not rare to see an experienced goblin be black, white, an irregular, a hobgoblin, or even all four, since normal goblins die quickly.

Ken prayed that his job would be quick and clean, in and out.