Goblin King: My Innate Skill Is OP-Chapter 309: Stronghold

I had sixty-five available points that I could freely distribute, and without overthinking it any further, I committed all of them to Intelligence.

If mana was the fuel behind authority, then Intelligence was the reservoir.

The numbers shifted the moment I confirmed the allocation.

[Stats]

Strength: 112

Stamina: 132

Agility: 114

Intelligence: 100 + 65

Perception: 95

(Available Points: 0)

The change wasn't just numerical.

It was physical.

A faint pressure built behind my eyes before spreading inward, not painful, but dense, like my thoughts had gained weight and structure. My awareness sharpened further, not in the sense of spotting distant movement, but in processing speed—connections forming quicker, calculations settling cleaner, distractions fading faster.

And then I watched my MP adjust.

It surged from 1335 to 2203.

A massive jump.

For the first time, my MP exceeded my HP, and Intelligence now stood as my highest stat. That felt appropriate. My strength was no longer just physical. It was structural. Conceptual.

With this increase, abilities like Absolute Lock and Absolute Phase no longer felt like reckless expenditures. I could layer skills. I could afford mistakes. I could maintain pressure.

And going forward, I knew where my priority lay.

More Intelligence.

More mana.

Because the greater my reserves, the longer I could dictate the pace of battle. And the longer I dictated the pace, the closer I moved toward becoming truly untouchable.

With that done, I closed the window and shifted my focus to the faint seal I had placed on Gork before sending him away.

I locked onto it.

Warped.

Space folded.

I reappeared behind him, high up in a tree a safe distance from where the behemoths had been.

Gork jolted violently at my sudden presence, nearly losing his footing on the branch before catching himself.

He spun around, eyes wide, only to relax the moment he recognized me.

"You're alive," he breathed, relief flooding his expression.

I raised a brow.

"Were you expecting otherwise?"

It looked like he was about to say something, his mouth parting slightly as if words were forming, but then he stopped himself. Whatever he had intended to say was swallowed back down, and instead he simply turned his head away.

"Let's get going," I said calmly.

He nodded without hesitation. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

He didn't need to speak for me to understand what was running through his mind. He had felt the shockwave of that fight from afar. He had seen the herd. He had sensed the level of that matriarch. And now I stood here without a scratch.

There were some realizations that didn't require words.

With a few measured warps—shorter distances this time, careful not to disorient him—we covered the remaining stretch of forest.

And then we arrived.

Right ahead of the base.

The sight of it made me inhale sharply.

The first thing that caught my attention wasn't the buildings inside.

It was the wall.

A massive defensive wall constructed from dark red bricks stretched across the entire perimeter, easily ten times my height. It wasn't hastily assembled either; this was deliberate construction. The bricks were uniform, tightly set, and reinforced with thick mortar that had hardened into a near stone-like bond. The surface bore visible signs of reinforcement—metal braces bolted across stress points, stone plates embedded at intervals to absorb impact, and faint lines along the structure that suggested layered strengthening techniques.

This wasn't some hastily thrown-together barricade built out of panic and mud.

It was engineered.

The brick wall didn't end in a simple vertical edge, the way most crude fortifications did. The entire top had been reinforced and flattened into a continuous stone walkway that ran along the perimeter. It was wide enough for several goblins to move shoulder to shoulder without crowding, which meant it had been designed with coordinated defense in mind, not just height.

The outer edge rose slightly higher than the inner platform, forming a thick defensive lip that allowed defenders to crouch behind cover while maintaining sightlines over the surrounding wilderness. From below, it presented the image of a solid, impenetrable fortress wall. From above, it functioned like a military rampart.

I could see goblins patrolling along the platform, their movements disciplined rather than idle. Some scanned the treeline with spears resting against their shoulders. Others stood beside mounted ballista-like contraptions constructed from reinforced timber and salvaged metal brackets. The machines were crude but functional, their arms thick, torsion cords tightly wound, bolts stacked in organized bundles beside them.

Crates of javelins, arrows, and spare weapons were arranged neatly along the inner side of the walkway, not scattered carelessly. Someone here valued preparation.

"We should be careful when we approach," Gork murmured beside me, keeping his voice low. "If they sight us, the entire clan will be on alert."

"That doesn't bother me," I replied calmly.

Alert or not, it wouldn't change the outcome. It would only change the order of events.

Without waiting for further debate, I warped upward, placing myself high enough to get a clearer vantage without immediately breaching the barrier's threshold.

The air bent around me, and in the next instant, I hovered high enough to see over the wall.

A faint shimmer stretched across the sky above the entire base, and at first it looked like heat distortion, but when I focused, the shape became clear.

A barrier.

A translucent dome arched over the settlement, shaped like half an oval placed over the entire base. The surface hummed faintly with energy, ripples of pale blue light flowing across it like slow waves moving through water.

Even from where I floated, I could feel the magic, and it wasn't weak.

There was density and structure to it, pressed outward, stable, and layered.

No doubt an effect of the Garnets I sought.

The barrier wrapped completely around the settlement, sealing it from above and merging seamlessly with the brick walls below to form a full defensive enclosure that fended off aerial threats as well.

My gaze then dropped inside, and I gasped on seeing the settlement.

Rows of brick buildings spread across the interior in organized clusters, connected by dirt paths that looked worn from constant traffic. Smoke curled from chimneys, drifting lazily toward the barrier above before dispersing along its surface.

Goblins moved everywhere.

Some hauled lumber across the pathways. Others carried baskets filled with ore and monster parts. Groups of goblins worked near construction sites, laying bricks and reinforcing structures as if expanding the settlement even further.

The entire place felt alive.

Compared to our base…

This was an entirely different level.

Near one corner of the settlement, I spotted something else.

Mounts.