Mind Flayer’s Legacy

Lucian hovered silently above the ground, his tentacles rising and failing gently in the air as his psionic energy kept him in the air.

The cave stretched before him, its shadows deepening as he ventured further. The faint sounds of movement reached his ears—tiny noises, like the movement of small feet. His new sharp senses picked up on the presence of life nearby.

As he rounded a big rock, he saw them: a nest of goblins. But these were no ordinary goblins—they were young, barely more than infants, their greenish skin still soft and their eyes wide with curiosity as they woke up from their sleep. They were small, fragile, and utterly defenseless.

Lucian's mind raced. This is my chance, he thought.

 If he could enslave these goblins, they could serve him, protect him, help him navigate this strange new world. But how? He had never used his psionic powers before—not consciously, at least.

He focused, reaching deep within himself, searching for the source of the energy that allowed him to float, to sense the world around him in ways he never could as a human. It was like flexing a muscle he didn't know he had. 

Suddenly, It hit him as a hecould now control the psiconic enegry of his own.

The goblins noticed him then, their tiny eyes widening in fear. They let out high-pitched cries, scrambling over each other in a desperate attempt to flee. But Lucian was faster. He extended his will, his psionic energy lashing out like an invisible net, wrapping around the minds of the goblins.

At first, it was chaotic. He could feel their thoughts, their fear, their confusion. It was overwhelming, like trying to hold onto a handful of cries. But then, something clicked. His instincts took over, and he began to assert his dominance. His psionic energy pressed down on their minds, bending their will to his.

One by one, the goblins stopped struggling. Their eyes glazed over, their tiny bodies going still. Lucian could feel their minds now, like faint sparks connected to his own. They were his.

"Rise," he commanded, his voice a low, resonant hum.

The goblins obeyed, their movements stiff and mechanical as they got to their feet. They stared up at him, their expressions blank, waiting for his next order.

Lucian felt a surge of triumph. This was power—real power. He had taken these creatures, these potential threats, and turned them into his servants. But he knew this was only the beginning. These goblins were weak, barely more than infants. If he was going to survive in this world, he would need more—stronger minions, more resources, a place to call his own.

For now, though, this was a start. He looked down at the goblins, his tentacles curling with satisfaction.

"Follow," he said, and they did, trailing behind him as he floated deeper into the cave.

He had taken control of a total of 50 infant goblins, which would mature in 3 to 4 days. Once grown, they would serve as decent frontline warriors—perfect cannon fodder for his plans.

While inside the goblins' nursery, which now served as his temporary shelter, Lucian decided to test something. He called over one of the goblins and attempted to merge his consciousness with it. It wasn't a full merging of his Mind Flayer body with the goblin; instead, it was more like creating a clone of himself within the goblin's form.

To his satisfaction, it worked. The goblin's eyes glowed faintly with psionic energy, and Lucian could feel a secondary presence in his mind a connection to the goblin clone. This discovery gave him a new trump card: he could now keep his main body safe in the shelter while sending his clones out to explore the world.

While his main body remained in the nursing room, Lucian, along with his newly formed team of goblins, stepped outside the cave. After merging with the goblin, he quickly learned that from this day forward, they would have to hunt on their own if they wanted to eat. This was a core tradition of goblin culture—only the strong survived, and the weak were eliminated.

Lucian, however, had no reason to fear. With his abilities, his goblins would grow stronger simply by being under his control, making them his greatest asset. As he surveyed the cave's surroundings, his eyes landed on something crucial for his small army—weapons. These would be the key to their survival and his ultimate strength.

Lucian's true form, a Mind Flayer, required the utmost protection. Mind Flayers were inherently fragile, highly vulnerable to both physical and magical attacks. Their true strength lay not in direct combat but in controlling others to do their bidding. They remained hidden, observing the world through their minions—whose minds were all linked in a hive-like network. This mental connection made it nearly impossible to rescue anyone who had fallen under a Mind Flayer's control, as freeing them would require battling thousands of enslaved minds at once. The only way to break their grasp was to kill the Mind Flayer directly—an incredibly difficult feat.

Now, Lucian had located the armory, but it was heavily guarded by five Hobgoblins—an evolved form of goblins. Monsters in the wild could evolve upon meeting certain conditions, with combat and killing being one of the primary ways to trigger their transformation.

After assessing the situation, Goblin Lucian decided to abandon his initial plan of capturing the armory. He simply didn't have enough forces to take on the entire goblin camp. Instead, he considered two possible strategies:

Capturing the Hobgoblins one by one—bringing them back to his main body, where they would either submit to his hive mind or be destroyed. Strengthening his small goblin force—growing their power quickly so they could eventually seize control of the entire goblin cave.

Though the second option would be more difficult, it was also the most rewarding. The larger Lucian's army became, the stronger his Mind Flayer form would grow. He could absorb psionic energy from the minds under his control, further enhancing his abilities. And if his minions perished in battle? Their deaths would not be in vain—Lucian could devour their consciousness, claiming their mastery, knowledge, and experience as his own.