Stone ignored him and watched as another five goblins rushed inside of their camp. They fervently searched for the enemy. Needless to say, the search was not fruitful as their enemy was an inconspicuous little white pebble, laying near their compatriots’ bodies.

“I want you to kill two of them and let the rest run away."

"Why?"

"We will follow them, so kill only two. Two!"

“Yeah, yeah, I heard you for the first time,” Stone replied, a bit annoyed.

“Don’t be cheeky with me, you wretched mineral,” Lucifer hissed.

Stone waited until they settled.

After the goblins carefully searched the whole cavern, even with their expertises and found nothing, they walked to the corpses. Stone observed with interest as they skinned and gutted them. After that, they threw the innards to the kettle, resting within the campfire, while salivating.

<Your heat is at 36% of maximum capacity>

While distracted, Stone formed a <Mana Point> with 10 normal mana points and the heat as far from himself as possible, in this case, 5 metres away. It detonated into a deafening noise and a brief, but intense flash of light.

The goblins jumped into the air from shock and fervently rubbed their eyes.

They shortly argued in gruff voices and two of them left to the area where the flash exploded.

‘Swish! Swish!’

Two refined mana arrows pierced the goblins’ spines. Stone was gradually getting more proficient in the usage of spells and as the system didn’t count this as a ‘battle,’ he was able to utilize the <Meditation> technique, increasing his casting speed by 10%.

<You have killed a 1st-tier goblin 2 times>
<28.65% experience is split according to talents Subordinate and Parasite>
<Lucifer gained 2.87% experience>
<Stone gained 25.78% experience>

Their bodies collapsed like a rotten tree. A knife slipped from the goblin’s hand, loudly clanging on the ground. The three survivors rapidly turned to the sound, gazing upon the two fresh corpses. They shot a glance at each other with an understanding. They ran as if the ghosts were following them.

“Hehe, no ghosts. Only a pebble,” Lucifer smirked. “So? When are you going to follow them? They will lead us directly to their camp,” he smugly inquired.

“Camp? Oh, it was your plan all along… Okay!” Stone happily replied, finally understanding his partner's plan. He ordered the ants’ souls to quickly follow them. They rushed at around twenty kilometres per hour, barely able to keep up with the goblins.

After an hour and a half, they reached a huge cave. Stone could not even ‘see’ the other side.

The whole cavern was crammed with tents constructed from bones and scarlet leather. On the other side of the cavern, across them was located a two-storey huge tent.

Stone quickly examined his surroundings, the inside of the cavern was full of screeches and odd, loud noises. He stubbornly refused to enter such a place.

“We need to…” Lucifer was mercilessly interrupted before he could even say his piece; “No!”

“But…”

“No! Loud!” Stone issued.

“No, no, no! I completely forgot! That stupid Subordinate talent! Damn!” Lucifer internally swore, not daring to say another word. He did not want to Stone know he could order him as he wished… He shivered, “Fine!” Lucifer capitulated. It was for the best for now.

The camp was brimming with goblins, doing their stuff; some were sleeping, while others bet on dice or took part in some other festive activities.

Stone observed the encampment for two hours, seeing many goblins leaving and arriving through the several shafts and learning their habits. Meanwhile, Lucifer taught him what he knew about the goblin race. He had heard plenty about them as his past was filled mostly with goblins running towards his hosts.

<Your intelligence had risen by 1>

“This looks like a small encampment. I wonder why it’s here. They are close to the druegars’ village, and a few days away should be at least one outpost belonging to the Army of the Abyss...” Lucifer muttered as he observed with Stone. “Enough observing! Let’s commence our happy party!” Lucifer proclaimed without a speck of mercy for these creatures.

“Happy… You mean murder?” Stone deadpanned. He was a master of deadpanning. It was his most used expression, after all.

“Yes. Let’s go! Kill the goblin!” Lucifer wanted compensation for the ‘mercy’ he showed to those three goblins.

“Luci, I want to ask... Do you have something against them? Whenever I killed one, you chuckled”

“Yea, I have. I am not ready to talk about it…” Lucifer’s good mood disappeared like steam above the pot as he recalled the past.

“Sorry,” Stone apologized.

“Haaah, fine,” Lucifer sighed. “Anyway,” he said after a moment of awkward silence, ”from the size of this cavern, I would say that there should be around 200 goblins and several tens of second-tier guards. In the big tent will probably be a 3rd-tier leader or someone with a class. I would bet everyone here are Monsters,” he explained. “Now, find sleeping goblins and kill them, but do not raise any attention,” he explained to Stone his battleplan.

After that, Stone was carried by his ants’ souls from tent to tent, killing goblins with arrows, needles, or dagger made from refined mana.

<Your skill Mana Carving gained a level>

<Your spell Mana Point, technique Ambient Mana Refinement, skill Mana Carving, will be able to evolve after meeting conditions>

<You have killed a 1st-tier goblin 12 times>
<160.80% experience is split according to talents Subordinate and Parasite>
<Lucifer gained 16.08% experience>
<Stone gained 144.72% experience>
The addictive pleasure of levelling washed over Stone as he grew, amplified by another wave of the feeling enveloping him from levelling up twice. It was more powerful than ever before and he was left with a craving for more.

Stone reached the maximum level for his current stage with glee. At least, that was what he and Lucifer thought.

“What do you mean you STILL HAVE TO GAIN EXPERIENCE ABOVE LEVEL 10!?” Lucifer’s voice jumped to a high-pitched tone, similar to the Stone’s voice.

“LOUD! And I don’t know! How could I know? I am just saying what I see!” Stone defended himself, not caring much about this situation.

“Gods! Save me from this insane piece of… What are you again? Oh yea… MANA CRYSTAL!” Lucifer prayed with steadfast devotion, but no answers came. “Fucking gods! Where are they when you need them? Lazy bums! Help!”

“Luci? Are you good? Do you want to go and kill the goblin to calm?” Stone offered, seeking to appease his friend.

“Me? Kill a goblin?” Lucifer's brain halted by this preposterous offer. In fact, it had never occurred to him that he could kill the green shits too. “Kill a goblin…” A small smile crept upon his non-existent face. “Yes!”

“Good, one 1st-tier goblin is right in the tent nearby. I will weaken him, you put him down.”

“Good plan! Come on! Can’t wait for it…” Partner enthusiastically cheered on Stone.

On the bed made from smelly leather scraps was lying a deeply slumbering ugly goblin. He snored like a saw and as Stone shuffled through the leather scrap, he turned on the other side while scratching his nethers.

Stone made a mana wall from as much refined mana as he could muster and covered the goblin’s mouth. He quickly carved out a mana dagger and opened a wound on his neck. “Now!” He signalled as the awakened goblin silently trashed around with uncontrollable fear.

Lucifer hastily materialized a purple stick and forced it through the wound.

<Due to your difference in level, the experience efficiency dropped>
<You have drained 6.96% experience from Lucifer>

“This was fun!” Lucifer excitedly commented as he heard the ‘kill’ message. “Status! Expertise!” He ordered as he desired to see the progress again. Two weak ‘thuds’ echoed over his mind.

Stone silently peeked over too. He still thought his tablets were nicer, however, from time to time, change was not bad. Was it cheating? For Stone definitely. Even though Lucifer's Universum appeared to be ruder.

Meanwhile, a small thought occurred to Lucifer; if he did not have a sub-race, how could he evolve!? And the small thought became a big thought.

The excitement he was feeling for the first time in hundreds of years was suppressed by the notion.

“Next!” Lucifer impatiently commanded.

A pack of goblins was gathering the corpses that they left behind.

“Luci, what are they doing?”

“Goblins hates wasting food and especially the meat,” Lucifer answered, compelled by the Subordinate talent. “Gods! I hate this talent…”

“Oh… And what are those two are doing?” Stone pointed at another couple of goblins rolling around the place nearby in the puddle of muddy blood dripping from the gutted carcass.

“Battling.”

“It does not look too efficient.”

“Different kind of battling. And now stop talking! Let’s go kill!” Lucifer hurriedly interrupted Stone as he really did not want to explain to him about the birds and the bees.

“Fine…” Stone answered, sulking.

They left for another tent containing another snoring goblin. “I wonder why they didn’t raise the alarm. We killed quite a few of them…” Stone muttered.

“They are goblins. Stupid creatures and used to death,” the reply came fast. “Now, is your refined mana full?”

“Yes!”

“So, what are you waiting for?”

“You!”

“You little insolent!”

Stone would stick out his tongue if he could.

The goblin smacked his lips in his sleep as he turned over. Stone proficiently conjured a bluish mana wall and proceeded to wholly cover the goblin's face. But before he could do so, the goblin’s eyes twitched, rapidly sat up and directly impacted into the Stone’s mana wall with his head, cracking it. He slumped back, unconscious.

Lucifer could not hold it and almost died laughing.

“Loud! Ah… Why should I even bother…” Stone sighed as his complaint was ignored yet again.

“Did you see that? Hahaha!”

“… You are weird.”

“Hehe…” Lucifer darkly chuckled. “You, telling me I am the weird one?” Lucifer shot back.

“Yes!” Stone countered Lucifer’s counter quite efficiently.

“You little…!”

The goblin woke up again and looked around in daze and confusion.

“Luci?” Stone interrupted Lucifer’s cursing.

“What?!”

“Shouldn’t you kill him?”

“Oh… Right!” Lucifer symbolically facepalmed and immediately conjured a flux needle directly before the goblins glabella. It swiftly pierced the goblin's brain without much problem, making a mush out of it.

<Due to your difference in level, the experience efficiency dropped>
<You have drained 5.77% experience from Lucifer>

“Aaah!” Lucifer moaned in pleasure as he levelled up. “No… no wonder! This feels so good!”

After a brief moment, he settled down with embarrassment written all over him. “Ehm… well… this was unexpected. Sorry about that,” he whispered.

“About what?” Stone asked, utterly oblivious. He already knew that levelling felt good.

“Ehm… doesn’t matter.”

“Do ya wanna keep on?” Stone’s dwarven accent returned. And stronger than ever.

“What did I tell ya? Drop that accen’t!”

“But now you are talking with it too!”

“Oh… no…” a certain realization struck him. Whenever Stone, his master, changed his language or accent, he was forced to talk with it too. “Better not to explore this. Celestian language, way to go! And no dwarven accent…” He thought. “Yes, you impudent Stone, let’s go kill more. We should be safe with killing around ten more. After that, we will have to wait or go hunt to other caves.”

They skipped to another tent with yet another gleefully sleeping goblin. This went for another nine boring times.

<Due to your difference in level, the experience efficiency drops>
<You have drained 47.51% experience from Lucifer>

The experience was flooding both of them in large quantities and Lucifer levelled up for another 5 times. He almost passed out from the pleasure every time.

Lucifer found out an interesting thing about himself; his intelligence rose by 5 for every level. He examined himself with the same technique he used to examine Stone’s body; his own ‘body’ was getting sharper and more complex every time he levelled up.

He also understood that his limits for intelligence were non-existent, but he still had to increase the level to be able to evolve his expertises. “Gosh, what did I turn into… It seems that my abilities are not as simple as the explanations said…”

“Luci? What is wrong with this goblin?” Stone cut off Lucifer’s train of thoughts with an inquiry as he pinpointed a large goblin in the next tent.

The said goblin was about a head taller compared to the goblins before, had bulging muscles and dark green skin. Otherwise, he was ugly as his fellows. He slept at a king-sized-bed with two goblinettes on his sides. He was snoring and something long and hard protruded from under the leathery blanket.

“Stone… That’s a 2nd-tier goblin. We need to very slowly and quietly leave,” Lucifer’s ecstasy was overtaken by a dread.

“What if I use refined mana?”

“No. He will be able to survive long enough to call for help. Also, he should be able to find you. These goblins are smarter, faster, and stronger. Don’t mess with them until you reach the next tier. You also need to raise your attribute.”

Stone did not argue and slowly backed out. “How do I raise my intelligence? You said that learning mundane things won’t help anymore.”

“Studying about magic, divinity, warriors, and other useful stuff. Even a miner needs to learn and exercise when he is young to grow his stats.”

“And you don’t know anything about it?”

“No!”

“Why?”

“Because of you! You miserable stone!”

“Why are you swearing at me?”

“Because you are asking me things I don’t want to answer!”

“But you answer them anyway.”

“Uh-oh! Don’t be cheeky with me! Instead, go find something to kill!”

Before Stone could give the command, the 2nd-tier goblin woke up and walked outside with a canteen in mouth, gulping some strange dark-brown liquid. His foot grazed the Stone’s body, chipping off a little bit of talc gravel.

“Wuci, i duwu nowt feew too good,” Stone’s terrible feeling from the lack of lifeforce returned, reminding him of the injuries he suffered in front of the marble gate, but still could not help to mess with Lucifer.

“i towd uwu tuwu weave by side, nowt the fwont!”... Luci’s heart skipped a beat… “pwease no, stone… pwease stowp with the accents''

(A/N: Thank Editor-God Blanc for this! :-D)

“Sorry.”

“What’s your lifeforce?”

“11.9.”

“Again, please?” Lucifer could not believe the number. This should not have damaged him that much.

“11.9,” Stone obediently repeated.

“How and when did you get so damaged?” Lucifer inquired.

“There was a strange marble gate I told you about in the black casket where I was changed to Mana Crystal.”

“Don’t tell me…”

“I opened and closed the gate a few times, a lot of ants died. I felt bad. It was the same feeling when the ant Queen damaged me with those bubbles. When I checked my lifeforce, the number was down by a lot.”

“Shit! Couldn’t you say something sooner?”

“I forgot.”

“Forgot you say… haaah,” Lucifer sighed in frustration. “Does it never end?” He thought to himself and continued aloud, “Well, this is a problem… You do not heal the same as other lifeforms. For normal beings, if it would not directly kill them, they would regenerate. I knew that having tool properties would have repercussions like this sooner or later!”

“…” Stone patiently waited for Lucifer to finish his .

“We need to find or create new expertise for you. That means you need to learn a lot!” Lucifer paused, “or get incredibly lucky.”

“Can’t you give me your flux?”

“Do you want to explode?”

“… no.”

“Thought so! Hehe…” Lucifer chuckled and he devilishly added, “you need to go to that big tent.”

“No!”

“Yes!”

“It’s loud there! Even more than here!”

“There is a chance there will be some books!”

“But!”

“Again with but?!”

“But loud!”

“I am getting tired of that ‘loud’ of yours! Get out of the way!” Lucifer screamed in horror as another foot was falling on them.

Luckily, Stone reacted fast enough. The souls carried him to the side of the cavern where he looked like a part of the surroundings.

A goblin spotted the strange movement under his foot and saw a piece of rock, perched on two light-blue coloured, translucent figures that appeared to be ants. He blinked, looked at his canteen filled with grog, then back at the now-unmoving pebble. He shook his head, threw away the canteen and continued on his way.

“Phew! That was close!” Lucifer exclaimed, relief filling him up.

“What now? Kill more?”

“Yeah… We need you to level up. And me too for that matter! This time you will do exactly as I say! Really, one bad move and we are dead…”

“I don’t want to die.”

“For that matter, next time, don’t be so goddamn stupid.”

“I won’t.”

“That would be nice.”

“… Why do you have to have the last word?”

“And why you?”

“…”

“Now move your ass to the next tent!”

“I have no donkey… only ants!”

Another two napping goblins had their souls rescued from their bodies by Lucifer and the lurking goblin pack took them away.

<You have drained 23.09% experience from Lucifer>

“Luci? They came fast this time,” Stone remarked while observing the butchering.

“We need to stop for now. Even though goblins are idiots, they are not that big idiots,” Lucifer replied with a voice filled with pleasure as he levelled up.

“Oh, and I gain full experience from you.”

“Hmm, the level difference is not so large anymore. Good for you,” Lucifer grumbled as the exhilarating feeling left him. “No wonder he is addicted to this! This feeling is truly… How to even describe it?”

Thankfully, their murder spree did not alert anyone important and Stone stealthily slipped into the two-storey tent that was 11 meters in diameter. Each storey was two meters tall. On the first storey were two 5-metres long tables and seats made from stone slabs. In the middle was a simple rotary staircase 2.5 metres in diameter. There were around twenty 2nd-tier goblins, some were eating or fucking all around the place, not caring for the world. Most of them surrounded a small cockfighting arena, chanting and cheering in gruff voices, while one 2nd-tier battled against two 1st-tiers to the death.

Stone impassively observed the moving experience packs, thinking about how to kill them all.

“Don’t even think about it. You are almost dead!” Lucifer warned Stone, before he would do something stupid. “Go up. Slowly, patiently and carefully. Don’t let them notice you.”

After half an hour of lurking around and searching for a way up unnoticed, they ended up on the unusually silent second floor.

“I like it here! It’s so silent,” Stone cheerfully proclaimed as he stood before the stairway.

“Odd…” Lucifer muttered, surveying. He noted a few active blood-coloured magical circles painted all over the place and muffled noises.

The place was divided into three rooms, including the one they were in.

“So… Where are you, you little snotty brat?” An arrogant, rough voice rumbled.

“Oh, crap… Stone, let me introduce you to a 3rd-tier goblin. A Monster that even veteran warriors have problems with,” Lucifer declared while desperately trying to leave Stone’s mind and body.

“What are you doing?”

“Leaving.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want to die.”

“Oh… hmm, the exit is closed,” Stone highlighted the exit that was covered by a translucent mana wall.

“Where are you? Stop playing around like a dead mouse!” The 3rd-tier Monster ordered in a perfect celestian language.

“What now?” Stone inquired.

“Pray.”

“For what?”

“Riches and fame! What do you think?! That we don’t get noticed. Don’t move, don’t breathe, don’t think. Be a stone.”

“I don’t breathe and I am Stone!”

“So, why are you talking?”

“… You know, it was your idea to come here. Oh… Oooh…” Several dots connected in the Stone’s mind.

“What did you mean by that?” Lucifer squinted his imaginary eyes.

“Nothing.”

“So? Show yourself!” The goblin emerged from the room, annoyed and scanned the room. His body was extremely skinny and covered by a full-body tattoo. It was no work of art, only lines and dots tattooed seemingly randomly all over his body.

“Luci, what is that?” Stone highlights the tattoos.

“That is a natural technique for 3rd-tier goblins. From what I know, it allows them to gather and store mana more efficiently. If he doesn’t die, this one will probably acquire a class.”

“Class?”

“Later…”

“Hmpf! Coward!” The tattooed goblin snorted and conjured a little ball of mana. The ball rapidly expanded, hitting everything in its path, including Stone. Fortunately, it did not hurt him at all.

“It’s a basic scanning spell. It’s similar to your perception sphere but much weaker.”

“What is this?” The goblin’s sphere briefly flashes with red colour.

“Uh-oh,” both Lucifer and Stone exclaimed.

The goblin bit by bit stepped towards them.

Stone hastily dissolved the souls as the goblin shaman neared to them.

“Hmm?” The goblin stood directly above Stone and looked around in confusion as his spell was flashing red.

“Don’t look down, don’t look down…” Lucifer chanted with devotion.

“Why should he not look down?”

“Because he will be able to see the convergence of mana around you as you constantly regenerate.”

“I can disable it, you know.”

“So do it!”

“There is a slight problem. When I disable it, I will not refine mana and you are constantly draining me. I will be able to hold for…” Stone silenced himself as he attempted to do the math, “18 minutes?”

“Oh… shit… Do it anyway, but when you are close to three points, activate it again.”

“Okay!”

Stone disabled the technique and the mana around him dissipated. And just in time, as the goblin glanced down at the inconspicuous rock, resembling a drained low-grade mana crystal.

“How did it get here?” He wondered for a bit and picked Stone up. He was even more confused when his spell turned back to translucent. He shrugged, trusting his ability to find the hidden thief or assassin and took back Stone to his workroom.

The room was filled with glass apparatuses, bubbling with liquids of different colours, put on bony tables, crates, and chests. All around the leathery walls stood racks with herbs, vials, and innards of various animals and Monsters.

The goblin placed Stone nearby and began working on some liquids.

After five minutes, Stone was curious as he watched the goblin mixing herbs.

“What is he doing?”

“Alchemy. But what kind, I don’t know…” Lucifer observed the procedure with interest too.

“Hmm, we don’t have much time,” Stone checked his disappearing mana.

“We can only wait and pray. If you turn it on right now, we are… probably not dead, but something bad will happen. Trust me on this,” Lucifer assured Stone with a slightly shivering voice as bad memories resurface on his frustrated and stressed mind.

The goblin poured the mixture into a large vial and the orange liquid turned viscid. After another seven minutes, the liquid settled, turning yellow and the goblin took a sip. Satisfied, he smiled and quaffed it, not a drop leaving his big mouth. “Garug! Karka!” He shouted and two large, muscly 2nd-tiered goblins with tattoos depicting chains on their foreheads arrived into the workshop.

“Stand guard!” He commanded. They left and stood right before the entrance, their bodies completely blocking it.

The 3rd-tier goblin kicked away a few crates, revealing a nasty bed. His tattoos and eyes were emitting a dull aura of colour of magic. He staggered and collapsed directly into the bed.

Stone enabled the technique again. Lucifer sighed, relieved that they won’t die by overdrain.

“Luci, can we kill him?” Stone asked, voice full of hope. The experience points would bring him a lot of levels.

“Definitely not. How many times do I have to repeat it to you?”

“But…”

“No! It will take him at least twelve hours. Hopefully. We need to find some books. Fast.”

“How does a book look?”

“A square thing that can be opened. Inside it’s full of letters, pictures, and runes.”

Stone conjured 13 ant souls and sent them all over the crates. After a while of squandering around, a dozen books towered before him. The glowing goblin was still unconscious and the guards were not able to hear them.

<Your spell Ants’ Souls gained a level>

“Let’s look,” Lucifer mumbled as he went through the books’ names; “Hmm… this one is about basic alchemy, this one is some child stories and this one is the bible of Marakan, Orbisia’s god of thunders…

“Will you read it to me?” Stone interrupted him with a voice full of hope.

“What? The bible or the kid stories?”

“Kid stories!”

“No.”

“Please!”

“No.”

“Please!!”

“What are you? A child?”

“Yes?” Stone answered according to his understanding of the language.

“… Read it yourself,” Lucifer groaned.

“Okay!”

The quiet rustle of turning pages and peaceful breathing of the transforming goblin were the only sounds in the room.

“Finally, a little bit of peace and silence,” Lucifer was glad for it.

<Your intelligence had risen by 0.5>

A few of the books were unreadable for them as they lacked the needed requirements to even open them. Still, one was an apprentice wizard spellbook. From the materials it was made of, Lucifer judged it belonged to a drow apprentice warlock. It contained a few basic spells from the School of Evocation. The spells would require some kind of reagent, like fireball would require explosive powder or a talent like Heat Accumulator.

Refined mana, or in the case of Lucifer, superflux, was able to reduce the requirements, however, it was still a great problem for them. They lacked even the ability to have a bag. The best would be spatial storage… However, such things were incredibly rare.

“Found some spells. Stone, stop reading. Time to learn!”

“I don’t want to! The story is getting good now!”

“Fine… you have half an hour. I will go over the rest of the books…” Lucifer hesitatingly agreed while enjoying the peace. They had time and Lucifer was glad that Stone showed some interest except for levelling up and murder.

☁☁☁☁☁☁

During Stone’s assassination of sleeping goblins, almost four days after their meeting with their father, Therdreag, the blighted siblings, Eriv and Dori, were fighting for their lives.

“Eriv! Behind ya!” Dori warned his sister.

She rapidly rotated and countered the incoming short spear held by a muscly, olive-green hand with her bare palm. She madly grinned, making the 1st-tier goblin flinch and broke his head with a large club. His head cracked like an egg, splattering her with blood, brain tissue and skull splinters.

“I’m sorryyy!” She erratically sobbed as she smeared the crimson liquid mixed with her tears all over her face even more, ironically, in an attempt to clean.

“Gulbu! Gulbu!” The goblin language echoed from the nearby shaft as the goblin reinforcements rushed at them.

“Yar turn!” Dori shouted as he stretched his arm towards the goblins.

“Yeeessss, maaasteeer,” the purple fire answered the call. A same-coloured flame poured from Dori's palm, creating a wall of fire and burning the frontline to ash. It painfully burned his arm in the process too.

“Buuurn! Buuuuuurn!” Dori madly laughed, consumed by the beauty of the purplish fiery hell and the goblins’ painful screeches.

Meanwhile, Eriv took care of the remaining goblins, brutally smashing them with the oak-wood club she found before they embarked to the Abyss. Her incredible regeneration was taking care of any wound caused by these mundane weapons with ease. Yet, whenever she killed she cried and sobbed, losing concentration.

Suddenly, a short spear penetrated her shoulder. Her veins on the forehead bulged as she roared, paralysing the goblin with her <Battle Cry>. She grabbed the goblin by the neck and smashed him onto the ground. A slight crack echoes in her ears, signaling the broken spine. Then she rushed to the last panicking goblin, who attempted to hop through the purple fires. It was a critical failure, proved by a handful of ash joining his ashen brethren.

“Hehehe, t’is was fun! Com’! Com’! Gre’n trash-gobbl’rs! Com’!” Profanities poured out of the bersekering former miner.

“Tika! Tika!” Goblin language reverberated again. The goblins retreated.

“Com’ back!” Eriv shouted behind them and was already a few steps in their direction.

“Eriv!” Dori was out of his pyromaniac episode quickly and caught his fretting sister.

“Graaaaah! Releas’ mea!”

“Dornus ass!” He cursed and released a little bit of purple flame, sending it into her mouth.

“Gah!” She gasped and the lack of oxygen calmed her down.

“They’re gon’,” a druegar scout came to them from behind. “Ye two passed. Ye can join the guards. Also, the gems and gold ye gave was enough. Welcome!”

“Eriv! We've got home!” Dori joyfully exclaimed.

“Yea, heard it too,” she replied, her mind still in a daze. Her wounds already healed, but the blight she suffered had harsh repercussions. One of them was that she could not drink alcohol. That was a painful realization in more ways than one.

“We’ll go to the village now. I’ll introduce ya two to the chief and shaman,” the druegar said.

In two hours, they arrived near the village, meeting a returning shaman.

“Ah! Shaman-Garza! Bringin’ proven newbies!”

“Don’t bother mea!” The shaman annoyedly disregarded them and hurriedly left into his refit and now-constantly guarded temple.

“Tche!” The scout spat on the ground as his fake smile faded and gestured to the siblings to follow him.

When they went through the square with a freshly bloodied altar, they saw someone in the hanging silver cage, gleefully napping—someone who Eriv did not expect at all.

“DAFUR?!” She shouted in surprise and several pairs of eyes glanced at their group.

“Ya know this druegar?” The scout turned to her.

“Yea… kind of… He’s no druegar! He’s a blighted dwarf who just looks like one,” she answered truthfully.

The scout frowned, relaxedly walked to the hanging cage and rattled it.

“What?! What?!” Dafur nervously jerked as he was suddenly woken up.

“Are ya a dwarf?” The scout squinted at him.

“Dafur! Why dinna ya tell them ya're dwarf?” Eriv cheerily asked before Dafur could react.

“Eriv?! What in the Dornus ass’re ya doin’ here?” Dafur eyes bulged at her.

“I asked first!”

“So, are ya dwarf?” The scout impatiently repeated the question.

“What… what’re ya talkin’ about?” Dafur nervously replied, visibly perspiring.

“What’re ya talkin’ about? Ya remember, right? Or did ya hit too hard in the head?”” Eriv curiously asked, not noticing Dori gesturing her to shut up.

“So, are ya dwarf or what?” The scout rattled the cage again. Then he pulled out a bolt from his pouch and poked Dafur in the ass a few times.

“Auch! Are ya insan’? Auch! Stop it!”

The siblings’ faces contorted as they quelled their laughter with difficulty.

“Help mea!” Dafur pleaded, his voice rang clear for all to hear.

“Are ya fuckin’ dwarf or no?! Answer!” The scout was his patience running out.

“Yea! I'm a dwarf! Blighted! Thanks, Eriv! Now they’ll sell mea to Arn-Dul!”

“Does sham’n know?”

“Yea! He knows!”

“Good! Ha!” The scout victoriously grinned. “Come ya two! I’ll introduce ya to the chief!”

They left Dafur in his cage for the chief’s house that was guarded by Jarka. She examined them and asked, “Newbi’s?”

“Yea.”

“Dwarfs?”

“Runaways. Family issues apparently. Already paid, and I tested them.”

“Good?”

“Good. Took care of thos’ sniveling goblins’ scout bands. Even though underleveled a bit. Accepted them as guards. Problem?”

“Not with mea. Go to the chief,” she impassively nodded at him and hisses to the two dwarfs as they walked around her, “don’t make a mess or I’ll cut ya in half and roast ya.”

The chief welcomed them with a piercing glare and a few questions. They relaxedly answered them with half-truths and blatant lies; that they ran because of family constant battling over resources and how their father had killed their youngest sibling.

Chief-Tadra nodded a few times with understanding and even a little bit of respect. But he was not stupid and knew that those two was hiding something. However, right now, he needed new blood and talented warriors were hard to find. “Fin’, no problem with me either. What shaman says?”

“He’s in a bad mood… So nothin’. But I have a great piece of news,” the scout told him about Dafur.

“So… He messed up again! Hehe… Sacrifice went terribly and many of durs died. His support’s at the lowest,” the chief contentedly banged into the wooden table.

“What’ll happen to Dafur?” Eriv warily inquired. She finally figured it out; her loose tongue put him in danger.

“If ya two and Scout-Durza vouch and he pledges to help the village… I have no problem to leave him here,” Chief-Tadra slightly smiled. “They’re assigned to yar group. Show them around. Paid enough for a house?”

“Yea, for a smaller one.”

“There's plenty of room now… Let them choose. After they settle, come back with that… blighted dwarf.”

Scout-Durza nodded. “Come ya two. Plenty of work. Tomorrow, we’ll go huntin’. Need ya two level up… Goblins’re restless lately.”

☁☁☁☁☁☁

Encyclopaedia Stonia

Colour of magic
It’s a colour that I cannot describe. No, truly, I can’t. We have not invented the words to truly describe it… but if watered down imagine a rainbow. Mana is translucent, refined mana is blue. If you add different elements to it, you get different colours. But in certain situations, the colour of magic shows itself.

One of those situations is when the Monster chooses to abandon evolution through devouring and choose a higher Path (in this situation, a class).

Some say it’s actually the colour of true divinity when the Universum interferes with the Monster. Another says it’s another spectrum mortals cannot perceive. It’s one of the favourite themes in theology lectures and drunken rambling (very often held simultaneously).

Ants – addendum
It must be clarified; the animals, even the smallest ones, are stronger than their siblings on the Earth. Why? Mana!

Goblins
Half-feral inferior orcish breed that is barely considered sapient. Weak and disgusting creatures with cannibalistic tendencies. They are conceived and born fast, 'blessed' with rapid growth. Some of them cast away their ‘heritage’ of Monsters and became full-fledged sapiens with classes. These ones are truly dangerous, as they are leaders and shamans with relatively strong expertises.

They mostly inhabit the first layer of the Abyss and above, including the surface. They are often used as training dummies by adventurers’ guild, mercenaries, and soldiers as their numbers, fast replenishment, and ability to handle weapons makes them ideal practice for newbies.

Be wary of the goblin army! Hazardous even for fifth rank wizard-type-classes! If you find one, run away and contact the nearest government, wizard guild, or military!

Grog
Favorite alcohol of goblins. It’s made from… you know what? I would rather not say…

Many other races consider this beverage as poison. A few brave individuals, read idiots, tried to drink this after they got provoked into taking a bet. No need to say that they collapsed to the ground and the priest had to save them. The survivors gained a level of poison resistance. Too bad that when they learned from what it is made of, they committed suicide.

Third-tier Monsters
This stage is also known as the full-sapience stage. No matter what a Monster wants, they will learn the celestian language, and as they go through the third evolution, they fully awaken. Some of the Monsters throw away the Monster evolution and gain access to the Paths, otherwise known as Classes.

Of course, the Universum nor the gods won’t provide them with the needed knowledge. It’s much rarer to happen than a person throwing away a Class to become a Monster.

Do not mistake Class, Profession and a specialization. Class and Profession are Universum acknowledged, having their own tabs.

If the Monster decides to stay a Monster, nothing much changes for them. Except they are smarter and more easily bored. Only gods know what that Shul-Gahat is doing in that lake…