The Goblin Nation

Spat, Cossack, and Horder arrived in one of the passageways leading to the water producing machine hidden beneath the castle, and just as Shuja mentioned, the lower levels were flooded, preventing them from entering. Fortunately, the three of them were excellent swimmers. Spat learned to swim during his time at the Red Plateau, swimming against a raging current while Pagasa continuously threw boulders at him, and Horder learned to swim at a young age to prepare to raid the riverside towns and villages from the northern lands.

Cossack was the outlier among them. Spat has never seen or heard of Cossack's exemplary swimming skills, and unlike Horder, there's no history of him needing to learn how to swim. But Cossack not only knew how to swim, but that he was the best in his tribe. "I don't think it is that difficult to be best when your tribesmen are herders that have no business in the water," Spat said.

"Oh, the contrary!" Cossack puffed out his c.h.e.s.t, "During spring and winter, the rivers we cross become dangerous as raging waters and thin ice make herding harder. And when a lost lamb get carried by the current, we have to swim ourselves to bring it back. The water's violent currents could have killed them, but I the great," Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click <a href="#%!d(string=15079306606810405)/the-knight-of-the-underground-waters_%!d(string=51373082643852477)">#%!d(string=15079306606810405)/the-knight-of-the-underground-waters_%!d(string=51373082643852477)</a> for visiting.

"Ok, I get!" Spat splashed water on him and threw a waterproof cover to them. "Cover your bags and feet with that, and follow the light." Spat flicked his fingers, and a small light ball appeared behind him and dove into the water. "Let's go!"

They swam across until they floated above a staircase, then they dove and they crawled using the stair handles deeper underwater. Once they reached the base of the stairs, Spat looked for the white wings and followed them, occasionally resurfacing in the small air pockets created by the large holes on the ceiling. The light ball started fading, losing power, they swim.

The cramped space enveloped them the further they swam, and the darkness did not lag behind. The jagged rock pointed at them as the tunnel seemingly shrunk each stride they take. Finally, they reached the end of the tunnel, where another staircase leading to higher ground waited for the goblins.

Spat shot a new ball of light up, pushing out the darkness above them and which revealed the waste hiding from them. The bodies of dead goblins floated around them, and the dark, murky floor reached for their legs like tentacles. The goblin's lifeless eyes seemed to follow them as they swim pass their corpse. Bones of goblins and animals and large chunks of metal littered the river floor. The disturbing scene nearly made Cossack vomit, but Spat quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the stairs. Horder quickly followed. Although he was not alien to death, it was still off-putting for Horder to see so many dead bodies in the river. Almost as if this underground river led to the afterlife.

The three reached the surface and crawled out of the water. Cossack crawled away from them and vomited in the corner. "Are you going to be ok?" Spat asked.

"Yeah!" Cossack. "I trampled goblins on the way here, but that scene in the water was far more disturbing."

While Spat made sure Cossack was ok, Horder crawled away and to a large door. He could smell precious metals behind the door, and he could not contain himself and opened the door. The room was a treasure trove, filled with all kinds of precious jewelry, mechanical parts, and ceremonial pieces. Horder's mouth started watering at the sight of the bountiful mountain in front of him.

He jumped to the mountain but Spat caught him in the air. "What are you doing?" He asked Horder.

"Nothing,"

"Come on. We're close to our target." They continued following the white wings path until they reached a large room with other doors on the walls and tiny holes with green light emitting from it on the dome ceiling. And on the center was a giant white spherical machine with two large pipes, as gigantic as a troll sticking out of it and towards the dome ceiling. Another large pipe hanged above it, disconnected from the machine.

The pipes were transparent, and the gang could see water being transported from the left pipe. "That pipe is probably the one feeding the first section of the river." Cossack pointed at it.

"Then which one is for the second section?" Horder asked.

"It's obviously the one with no water moving through it." A goblin with a blue feather walked out from behind the machine. "And if you want to use this, then you'll have to go through me." Knight fist-bumped his c.h.e.s.t, covered by a thick wool jacket.

"Who the hell is that?" Cossack asked.

Horder hid behind Spat, "It's Harriman Knight, the knight of the city. The five tribes that make up this city have different roles. Knight is the King's third commander and is in charge of things outside the city. Although, he hardly showed himself outside the city when I became the Chief of my tribe. And now it seems he's in charge of guarding the machine."

Cossack walked in front of Spat and Horder, "Well, it doesn't matter!" Cossack took out a short spear, and he unfolded it, extending it by two arm's length. "I will beat him because I've faced many knights before, and I have bested all of them." Cossack's long nose began to twitch, "In fact, my name is known far and wide as the strongest rider in Venusia! Everyone, from the city-states of Baron Isle to the marches of the Church, knows of my name!" Cossack got on a sprinting stance, "And you'll remember the name well too."

A blue flash of light exploded on Cossack's feet, and he flew straight to Knight and stabbed him with his spear. Knight's body flew back and slammed against the wall. Cossack pointed his spear at the dome ceiling, "Time to end this!" Blue light began to shine at the tip of his spear.

While Cossack was giving his speech to Knight, Horder snuck out from the chamber and ran back to the treasury. A cowardly move, but Horder rationalized his actions reasonably well. What can he do against Knight? He could barely face Olhos in his normal form due to phobia, and Cossack's boasting seemed to be true. In Horder's perspective, Cossack is as strong as Sun. So what could go wrong?

Horder opened the room and dived into the mountain of treasures. He laid on his back and stared at the ceiling, happily surrounded by the valuable trinkets the city pillaged from the north. On the ceiling was a giant map painted with acrylic. The map showed a supercontinent with two smaller continents below on each end. And two mountain ranges dividing the continent into three. And on the western side, a giant inland sea divided the north and the south. Horder could tell that the western peninsula is the Venusia continent.

It was tiny compared to the other continents, but the size did not matter. What mattered for Horder was the treasures one could get from the land and those who live on it.