Dafur left the tent completely baffled. He could not believe his luck. Of all the goblin’s camp, of all the tents, he had found Lucifer’s one.

Was it luck? Was it something different? Who cared anyway?

He absentmindedly knocked down two goblins who walked by him.

They snarled and attacked him, but Dafur hastily pulled out a token, a small smoothened elliptical bone engraved with a big eye, very much like the one belonging to Shul-Gahat, the lake octopus-like Monster.

“Bring mea to shaman! Now!” He barked at them. He had a certain standing now... at least with the goblins.

They abruptly stopped and started to profusely perspire as they stared at the token. They growled an apology and one of them grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the big tent.

A fire of passion returned to Dafur’s eyes. For the first in many days, he had hope! He had to get rid of the Tropa Snake’s poison, but there should be some antidote. 

Somewhere. Maybe. Hopefully.

Dafur realized he should not have the hope written all over his face. He had to pretend for now. And when the time came, he would rip the shaman apart, limb by limb.

The fiendish emotions written on his face were quickly hidden behind a facade of servitude.

The central tent was being slowly reconstructed by the many goblin slaves. They had stripped the first floor to its frame, removing most of the leather walls. The staircase in the middle was enlarged and straightened. 

The tables overflowed with meats of ‘unknown origin’, mushrooms, moss, and kegs of grog. Dafur refused to even think of the meats’ source.

Several 1st-tier slaves served their 2nd-tier masters who sat on leathery blankets, fitted to comfort them. Some of them smoked moss while laughing, stuffing their mouths with the meat between puffs

The second floor gained another layer added to the wall, this time from much more sturdier black leather. Dafur estimated it was from a swarm of 3rd-tier Monsters.

The goblins swarmed like ants onto the top floor, building up the third floor.

Dafur and the two goblins trudged through the ‘bar’ without anybody even raising their eyes. 

The two goblins halted before a 3rd-tier elite goblin, guarding the staircase. He was around 1.8 metres tall, had massive muscles, tattooed arms and a mean expression. The guard scrutinized them, snorted, and did not move an inch. 

Only after Dafur showed him the token, did he let him go up, disgruntled.

The two goblins wanted to follow him, but a heavy kick from the guard sent them flying towards the table with several broken bones.

The second floor was very clean... At least by goblin standards. Anyone else would contract a few diseases from a mere glance.

The floor was compartmentalized into three similar-sized rooms plus a small landing around the staircase.

The first room was tightly guarded by two 3rd-tier elites, almost identical to the one Dafur had met downstairs, with the same tattoos on their arms. 

One of them grabbed Dafur by his shoulder and pinned him to the ground, while the second one went to inform their leader.

“Rel… release mea! I’m her for Shaman-Ganra!” He struggled to free himself, but the large goblin ignored him. “Dornus ass! Release mea!” Dafur yelled and squirmed until the second guard returned. He simply nodded at the first one, and they let him go inside.

“Bastards…” Dafur could only hatefully look at them. 

They laughed him off and one of them harshly pushed him towards the second room. Dafur stumbled and face-planted himself before the door.

“Slave! Right on time! Bring us some meat and water! Then we’ll proceed with yar ‘lessons’,” the shaman ridiculed Dafur. 

The dwarf secretly grimaced, but as he slowly stood up, he put up an expression filled with despair. It visibly pleased the shaman.

“This is the one you were talking about?” Dafur heard a coarse, impassive voice. 

A goblin sat near the shaman at a wooden table. He was thin, appearing almost malnourished, but had a powerful aura around him.

Dafur gasped. That was clearly a 4th-rank! A Monster that abandoned evolution! What was happening here?

“Yea, little friend! This is mae new experiment! He’s able to connect to mana crystals. Imagine that!” The druegar shaman excitedly boasted. 

Dafur eyes twitched with the words ‘slave’ and ‘experiment’. A wave of humiliation washed over him, but he suppressed it, keeping an expressionless face. 

“I cannot afford to lose my temper again! Calm yarself!” He inwardly repeated to himself like a mantra. The last time he lost it, he was forced to drink something disgusting. He didn’t know what it was, but he had felt incredible pain for hours.

“Yea, master. I’ll be right back,” Dafur obediently replied and jogged for the meat and water.

“Ha! Obedient! I like that! Want to sell?” He hears the goblin’s muffled. He did not hear the answer but hoped that the shaman disagreed. He doubted he would survive for long under the goblin's care.

For the first time, he realized that the situation could be even worse. This single thought scared him to hell, making him shiver. He’d rather ponder on more hopeful things… like Stone and his Partner. 

“Lucifer, right?” When he thought about it, it was quite strange for a Partner to control the body. At least he never heard something like this happen. Even though there was not that much Unclassified information about Partners, it seemed odd. 

The 3rd-tier goblins stared at him with derision and disgust, reserved only for slaves and inferior trash. 

Dafur ignored them, but he reddened from another wave of shame. “This can’t go on! I need to run or die tryin! Soon! Gah! But first the ash from mana-ashwood… But how?”

He served them and silently listened to their quite interesting conversation.

“We still do not have enough. A few bands refused to bend, so we had to eliminate them. Further areas are guarded by the Army of the Abyss. What about your village?” The goblin swiftly changed the topic.

“Hmm!” The shaman gulped, then continued, “I am trying to pull the villagers to mae side. More and more come to mea or show some kind of support. The chief’s fightin core already betrayed him for mea.”

“Jarka?” The goblin pointed in the way of the Jarka’s tent.

“Yea. I sent her and two of her team members on a hunt with one of yar elite warpack to the below-floor.”

“Good. How long until you will be able to subdue the whole village? Why don’t you kill the chief directly anyway?” The goblin inquired. 

The shaman’s face contorted, “because he’s strong! He’s a fuckin 5th-tier warrior! And he still has wide support! And for the control of the village... Don’t ya worry, just increase yar own strength and numbers. I will try to silently send some architects to help ya make a fort out of this place!” His aura swelled up, “but don’t forget! Ya owe me yar life and everything ya have! I can take it back whenever I wanna!” The shaman’s aura exploded with mana, rattling with vials and apparatuses, while he calmly chewed another bite.

“Yes, yes… Of course, boss!” The goblin hastily replied as he perspired. 

Meanwhile, Dafur’s head spun from the amount of information. Especially the last word. “Boss! Did he just say boss?! But that means… Dornus ass! Fuckery! There is much more at play!” He inwardly swore.

As they conversed, Dafur carefully scanned the room. Flasks, vials, tubes, and other tools from glass and porcelain that an alchemist would require were neatly positioned on a large table on the other side of the room. 

The table itself was engraved with a simple celestian alphabet, arranged into a circle, on top. 

The left wall was lined with crates, refitted as crude cabinets. They were packed with herbs, distilled waters and a few vials with differently-coloured liquids. This… This was exactly what he wanted.

On the farthest cabinet, he saw labeled small pouches. It was too far for him to read it. 

So he quietly shifted step by step towards it. He eyed the shaman and goblin, praying to Paragons for his actions to be unnoticed. 

His prayers were listened to. They did not even register him moving and he successfully read the description written with blood. 

“Mana-Oakwood ash, naet! Mana-Irondust, naet! 2nd-tier heart, 2nd-tier bone dust, the skin of Tropa Snake, dried Glowing Mushroom, unknown moss…” he slowly went over each of the pouches. The last was the right one, “Mana-Ashwood ash! Yes!”

“Oh, you have a curious one!” The goblin exclaimed right behind him. 

Dafur’s heart skipped a beat.

“I… I’m sorry!” Dafur shrieked in fright. He had to play it right. Otherwise, they would catch that something was wrong.

“Ah, sorry about that. He’s a new one. I still didn't learn him proper manners.”

“Should I take care of it?” The goblin sadistically grinned. Dafur knew that the crooked smile did not spell anything good for him.

“Naet. Do ya have a sturdy table here?”

“ Yes, boss. Guards!” The goblin yelled and the guards immediately entered the room. “Take him to the laboratory!”

The laboratory was nothing more than a room with a massive, steel table in the middle and a small table near it with crude iron tools smeared with dried blood. 

The guards strapped Dafur and the shaman leisurely walked next to him. The dwarf shivered. He hated these… lessons.

“Where do we start?” The goblin impatiently questioned as he grabbed a rusty knife.

The shaman infused his dagger and poked around the embedded crystals, drawing blood.

Dafur sharply inhaled as the pain shot from the wounds to his whole body. 

The shaman commenced his lecture. They had to put a gag on Dafur’s mouth after he bit off the guard’s finger. 

☁☁☁☁☁☁

Two hours later, Dafur’s limp body was thrown into the tent by goblin slaves. He was drenched in water, sweat, and blood. 

Annoyed Lucifer examined him and sighed. The dwarf was a mess. He let him be for a moment and turned to the siblings.

Eriv and Dori still slumbered but became paler and paler every hour. Their breath had become slow and shallow and they even stopped shivering. 

He did not care for them and was actually even glad. He still desperately needed a body… More fresh corpses meant more possible bodies to choose from and their time was quickly running out.

Lucifer slowly shifted towards the helpless Dafur and shaped a <Flux> wall over his face. The dwarf rapidly sat up as he suffocated, confused but fully awake. 

Lucifer dispelled the skill and wrote, “did you obtain it?”, before him.

The dwarf ignored the question, still looking confused by his location. So Lucifer formed a baton and poked him in the head to gain attention.

“Dornus ass! That hurt!” Dafur’s eyes cleared up and he massaged the sore spot. “No, but I found it. After they’ll go to sleep, I’ll try to snatch it…”

“When?”

“I don't know! Ya know t’at higher-tiers need less sleep!”

“Shit!” Lucifer returned to his <Weak Fluxkinesis> training without answering.

Meanwhile, Dafur tended to his fellow dwarfs. 

“Can ya help them?” He asked the training <Devilish Sorcerer>.

“They’re dead, unless a 5th-tier or above helps them,” Lucifer wrote the reply. Dafur did not know how, but he could feel an irritated aura emanating from the writing.

“Dornus ass… What about mae Crystallizer talent?”

This question actually halted Lucifer in track. “What does it exactly do?”

“I can connect to low-grade crystals and somewhat control their flow of mana. It’s extremely hard to do so. However, I cana easily drain their mana. I think I can even infuse them with elements, even though I never tried to. These crystals” he touched the crystals fused with his chest with right hand, “are like part of mae body. I can draw mana from them and I think they’re regrowing. They also function as batteries. I first thought I became a Monstar, but the Universum says I am the Crystal-Augmented Dwarf.”

“Well, damn… Regrowing mana crystals? Sounds like you’re in for a life of pain. And augmented races… I have heard about it. Though, only in legends,” Lucifer was interested but not baffled. After all, he had seen even more peculiar things in the last few weeks than this, not to say anything about the hundreds of years before. “Keep it a secret for as long as you can…” He added. 

“Yea, I’m naet an idiot… However the shaman already… you know… kinda… knows…”

Lucifer inwardly frowned, “why did you tell him?”

Dafur deadpanned. “What do ya think? Maybe I just wanted! Or it was a mixtur of unfiltered fear, truth serum and fuckin torture!” He yelled.

“Did you tell him about Stone?” Lucifer was unfazed. Bigger and more powerful beings had screamed at him in the past.

“Of course! But he dinna trust me…”

Lucifer inwardly sighed in relief. The Stone’s unusual origin came to the rescue once again! 

“Do you have some mana crystals?” Lucifer shifted the conversation.

Dafur frowned and shook his head.

“Well, when you go for the ash, grab as many crystals as you can. I have an idea…” 

A plan formed in Lucifer’s mind; not a plan to steal the needed material, heal Stone or gain some experience in the process, but rather a plan to acquire a new body. 

First, he ordered Dafur to lure some weak goblin inside the tent. 

Dafur used the token and returned with a whole unit of five goblins, their leader on the verge of becoming a 2nd-tier.

Lucifer hastily ambushed them with <Flux Missiles>, not giving them even a chance to scream. The power was just enough to stun them, but not kill them. Two of the lowest level goblins died anyway. Lucifer did not think it was too big of loss.

<You have killed 1st-tier goblin 2 times.
<Due to the level difference, you have gained no experience>

“The Ghost! The Ghost!” Their leader silently mumbled, his eyes full of fear. He gazed at a perfect ellipsoidal white pebble and gaped. 

The last two goblins were pretending to be dead, not daring to move a muscle. Needless to say that Lucifer was not fooled.

“What ghost?” Lucifer wrote with blood before stumped Dafur who was surprised by the sheer speed of the brutal ambush. 

A purplish stick hit in the head awakes him from his stupor. He read it and shrugged.

Lucifer slowly levitated before the eyes of the goblin group leader and asked, “Ghost?”

“Rock…” he focused on Stone’s body, “Talking. Rock,” a simple words from a simple creature inaudibly flowed out. “Ghost. Killer. Fear. Kill?” The goblin asked, wondering why he was not dead yet. Why he could converse with a writing mineral, eluded him.

“Me, Lucifer! You serve me!” Lucifer wrote with big bloody letters. The goblin nodded in acceptance, happy he was not going to die. He slowly sat and asked, “orders?”

“Swear!” 

“Gsae! Gulub! Rarto! Gho… Lucifer!” The goblin whispered in the tent. He kicked the two still-pretending goblins and commanded them to vow too.

<Three 1st-tier goblins swore allegiance to you as slaves>
<As a <Subordinate>, you cannot own slaves without the direct approval of your master, entity Stone>
<The allegiance mark is transferred to entity Stone>

“Gods dammit!” 

Meanwhile, the goblins stood up next to Dafur and observed their new master. As they were simpletons, they did not care much for the form of their new master; he beat them, he rules. Nothing else mattered.

“Listen to this dwarf!” Lucifer shaped a <Flux> stick and pointed it at Dafur. 

They simply nodded.

“Yes! Good, they listen!” Lucifer was delighted as he still held some authority over them.

Everything went according to plan and Dafur picked up the Stone’s body. He conjured a fiery rune and let the heat cut a small tablet for Lucifer to write on.

They went around the camp, with Lucifer explaining the situation. He even painted a simple map. They slowly walked to the renovated leader’s tent. 

According to Lucifer’s estimation, it would take at least a 4th-tier spell to destroy it. 

Dafur left for his duties. A decision was made. It was time to enact the second part of the plan. 

The three goblins, now renamed to Moron, Idiot and the ugliest as Tafur, at Dafur’s request. Moron, their leader, carefully carried on his back Stone’s body, encased in thick leather.  

They entered one of the main shafts, leading to the agriculture area. The shaman had to teach them how to properly grow and harvest mushrooms and moss… Was it him who had gathered the army? Lucifer was extremely curious about this.  

The first part of the second part of the plan was to create disturbances all around.

Lucifer murdered every single guard and gatherer while madly chuckling. Even though he did not gain any experience from it… The process was therapeutic, a sort of release for the trapped Lucifer

In just two hours, Lucifer butchered dozens of guards and workers across the three caverns.

An ugly, small goblin arrived at Lucifer’s last slaughter. His status as a 3rd-tier was shown by his elaborate attire; a mix of skulls, bones, and treated leather. The weapon on his back was a looted druegar crossbow and from the lack of a bolt quiver, he had to use some kind of elemental mana. 

Lucifer had expected him, having left false tracks for him to follow. They would not confuse a smarter hunter, but for the goblin intelligence, it was enough.

The goblin picked up an olive-green leg, drenched in blood, and smelled it. Then he looked around, clearly activating the <Tracking> skill. He slowly and carefully strolled, picking up more limbs and examining them, searching for clues.

Lucifer observed the 3rd-tier goblin, buried under rocks. The minions hid on the other side of the cavern and waited for Lucifer's signal.

The goblin walked in a spiral, slowly but surely nearing their carefully prepared ambush point, like a complete moron, to Lucifer’s immense amusement.

As the goblin stood on the big, bloody X, confused, the three minions pulled the rope. It wrapped around his leg and made him fall directly on his face.

“Ahh, the comedy!” Lucifer laughed.

Now, the second part.

Moron, Idiot and Tafur leapt to him and helped him up while bawling and wailing their ‘sincere’ apologies. Their hands manhandled him, touching him everywhere.

The 3rd-tier goblin hit them several times to vent and then questioned them as they kneeled before him.

At that moment, a powerful <Flux Missile> hit him in the neck. The crimson blood sprayed all around, adding another ‘flavour’ to the already stinky cavern. The goblin was completely frozen, not able to comprehend the situation.

Another purple missile struck, bruising his chest, breaking his ribs with multiple loud cracks.

At that moment, the goblin finally cast a weak <Mana Shield>, just in time as another purplish missile hit the wall created by the shield, causing the shield to flicker,

He grabbed his neck wound to stop the bleeding and touched all around his waist as if searching for something. He furiously looked back up at the three goblins, but they were long gone. And with them the crossbow and pouch containing the life-saving potions from their leader. 

He angrily screeched and proceeded to chase them. Normally, he would be much faster, but the wounds slowed him down by a lot. His curses won’t be repeated down onto paper, they were enough to send shivers down Luci’s spine.

The third 20-FP <Flux Missile> landed on his already flickering shield. The <Mana Shield> gave up and shattered like glass.

He staggered back on another carefully prepared spot with a big, bloody X. The three minions tried to use the goblin’s crossbow, but… well… they were idiots. They missed by a large margin, large enough to make Luci doubt his decision to make them his slaves...

<Your spell Flux Missile gained a level>

“Oooh, nice!” Lucifer’s focus wavered as he heard the message. That was a mistake as the 3rd-tier finally gathered his wits and located his nemesis.

As the heavily injured and bleeding 3rd-tier goblin arrived near Lucifer, the three minions pulled another rope.

Even though he was prepared and even evaded the rope, Lucifer was prepared too and shaped a wall at his feet. He fell on his face once again. The Devilish Sorcerer, living inside the unconscious, living pebble had to hold himself from erupting into hysterical laughter.

Another <Flux Missile> hit between the eyes of the incredulous goblin, sending him  flying backwards, some may have awarded him for the number of flips he completed.

Lucifer had to calm down first. He had not had such a good laugh for a long, loooong time.

The three morons quickly bound the 3rd-tier hunter with a rope like a caterpillar. It should be enough to hold him down, Luci hoped, as it was from a 3rd-tier Monsters tendons.

Lucifer even envied the 3rd-tier a bit. He was still bleeding, but his natural regeneration was able to keep him alive and relatively kicking. What he would give for that… 

“Kraaaakh! Bast… ards!” The 3rd-tier goblin gnarled at the three goblins and struggled to free himself. 

The ropes started to tear, but then he felt something inside in his neck wound. It was a <Flux> stick. The goblin remembered the rumours about the so-called Ghost. He had never believed them. It was a mistake.

Idiot, the tablet goblin, stood above him and shoved the tablet before his face shivering in fear and excitement. He defeated a mighty 3rd-tier! His superior! As a mere 1st-tier!

“If you move, you die. Blink if you understand!” The hunter read the crimson letters on the table while he felt the flux stick twitch. He blinked. Several times. Just to be sure.

“Good. Me, Lucifer,” at that, Moron, The Stone Bearer, showed him Stone. “Swear allegiance or die.” 

The goblin began to laugh, his spit flying around, but his spine slightly cracked as the deep-purple stick penetrated deeper, wiping off his crooked smile. 

“Last chance! Swear or die!” New celestian letters appeared on the smooth tablet.

“Gsae! Gulub! Rarto! Luc… Luci… Lucifer!” The gruff, unwilling voice echoed in the cavern.

<3rd-tier goblin swore allegiance to you as a slave>
<As a subordinate, you cannot have a slave without the direct approval of your master, entity Stone>
<The allegiance mark is transferred to entity Stone>

“Tche! Luckily, in our small hierarchy, I am still above them. I want to be free…” his thoughts froze for a nanosecond and his mind reset. Did his subconsciousness lose? Who could know?

“Success! The second part finished! Too bad I don’t have time for more. Having a proper army to command… Should have realized this sooner. I was such an idiot back then, Luci said reminiscing. Have to hurry though,” Lucifer thought about the urgency of his situation the whole way back to the still-growing camp. 

Only two and half days were left to his untimely death.

The camp became much more silent. It was half-empty with just the necessary guards patrolling and weak drones hiding in tents.

The 3rd-tier hunter, renamed by hateful Lucifer to Kretin, inquired about what was happening; their big boss had ordered a full sweep off the tunnels and caverns to smoke out and kill the predator. 

Lucifer counted the six groups each containing one 3rd-tier, four 2nd-tiers and twenty 1st-tiers. Lucifer shivered. So many experience packs, lined up… His imaginary mouth watered… 

Lucifer inwardly smiled. Well, he could not smile otherwise. The plan proceeded as planned. 

Kretin refused to join, showing the wounds and explaining that he was ambushed by the Ghost, but after realizing he could not kill him, the Ghost ran away. The 4th-tier boss crooked mouth curved, possibly into a grin, and ordered to move out.

They returned to their ‘headquarters’, the tent formerly owned by Jarka. 

Dafur was nowhere to be seen, so Lucifer commanded Moron, Idiot, and Tafur to find him. He graciously allowed Kretin to quaff his potion after part of it was poured on Stone. To Lucifer dismay, it did not work.

In another twenty minutes, the minion trio returned with a report instead of the dwarf; Dafur was with the shaman and the leader. 

“Idiots! Fine… Not your fault… I have a new order for you!” Lucifer wrote on the tablet.

“Bossa?”

“Push Moron to the second tier! Do not return until that!”

“Understood, bossa!” The goblins were exhilarated. They ran out of the tent, leaving only a trail of dust behind them. 

Lucifer was bored of the wait and decided he would fill the time with training. He was content for now. Everything went well. 

However… Somewhere back in his mind, even deeper than the battle between his subconsciousness and <Subordinate> talent, he waited for the major problem to arise.

Five hours and one level in <Weak Fluxkinesis> technique later, Lucifer had had enough.

Kretin slowly recuperated in sleep. It would take at least a day to completely regenerate. 

Dori and Eriv stabilized a bit, but their skin paled even further. Their fat and muscles were nowhere to be found. They were dying. Lucifer grinned at that. Soon… 

His thoughts were interrupted by the body of Dafur, wrapped in bloody bandages, being thrown in. 

Lucifer scanned him and his wounds. He grabbed another clear red bottle with the <Weak Fluxkinesis> from the Kretin’s pouch and poured it into his mouth. 

Kretin grimaced at that, but a menacing <Flux Missile> floating around his head cooled him. 

The potion stimulated the body and rapidly increased the regeneration of the damaged tissue. Small wounds, like scratches, can heal in a matter of minutes, while more serious wounds in only a day or two.

Dafur coughed and slowly sat up with a massive headache. He opened his eye, and before him crouched a goblin. A high-tiered one to boot. He blinked as the goblin stood up and lay elsewhere, closing his eyes. 

A baton hits him in the head, “Auch!”

“Good, you are awake. So?” Lucifer wrote before him.

“Could ya naet do that?” Dafur objected.

“No. So? How does it look?” 

“I overheard them before the hopefully last ‘lesson’. If the hunt won’t be successful in a few hours, they’ll join. Their place'll be empty, bar the guards.”

“Sounds good. They won’t be successful for sure.”

“Also… They wanna enslave mea,” Dafur sobbed. “They concocted a special potion… That’s why we came here. It just takes quite a long time to prepare. Please, Lucifer, don’t let them!” Dafur pleaded, tearing up.

“Fine, but you will owe me your life!” Lucifer took pity on him… And he still needed him. The <Crystallizer> talent could awake Stone.

“Agreed! Better than be a fuckin slave…” Dafur’s hope gauge broke.

“As you see, I was able to subdue 3rd-tier,” Lucifer bragged.

“Did naet ya plan a 2nd-tier?” Dafur was pleasantly surprised. 3rd-tier greatly increased their chances.

“Yes. He is newly promoted. Otherwise, I would be dead,” Lucifer wrote. “They are hunting us for five hours already. They should give up soon. Bring me outside,” Lucifer commanded.

The sphere showed him that the first party had already returned, closely followed by another two parties. All of them seemed beaten up and missing members, including one 3rd-tier, but the rest seems cheerful.

Lucifer was bewildered. What the fuck happened?

One of the 2nd-tiers ran towards the main building and brought back the camp boss. According to the report, they fought with the other three groups. Thanks to that, two of their 3rd-tier were on the verge of evolution. 

Still, they weren’t able to find the predator, Ghost. Lucifer chuckled at that. 

The boss fumed at that and grabbed a glass vial filled with a green liquid. He swiftly threw it at the 2nd-tier. It broke on contact, the green liquid hissed and he slowly melted, screaming. The rest shuddered and the boss skipped to his quarters.

He returned yet again, this time accompanied by Shaman-Garza.

“Fine! This one time, I’ll go with ya! I’m bored anyway… Where’s Jarka?”

“Thank you, boss!” The camp boss bowed, the rest perspiring goblins joining him. “Now, you bunch of green shits, reorganize into two groups. One is going with me, the other one with the Shaman, who you will listen to. Understood?”

“Yes, boss…” the goblins tentatively replied.

“What did you say?” The 4th-rank alchemist raised his thick eyebrows.

“YES, BOSS!” A thundering answer reverberated.

“Let’s go! Master, please choose,” he pointed at the two 3rd-tiers who puff their chest and levelled their shoulders. 

Shaman-Garza disinterestedly pointed at one of them and entered one of the shafts. 

“Nice, all of them gone. Time for the last part! The heist!” Lucifer wrote.

Kretin picked him up and strapped him on his back.

Twelve 2nd-tier goblins patrolled around the headquarters, guarding the whole place with sharp eyes. The open basement was empty; only the 3rd-tier guard stood guard over the staircase. 

The perception sphere with <Tracking> skill proved its incredible usefulness and potency once again. Lucifer saw even the entrance room on the second floor with two 2nd-tier sadly sober elites. “Seems like most of the 3rd-tiers were ordered to hunt. Dafur, who controlled you up there?” Lucifer asked to be sure.

“Two 2nd-tiers,” Dafur whispered. They were hiding in a tent nearby. The former dwellers were bathing in a pool of blood.

“Good. Now, how to get up. The two upstairs are no problem. But at the bottom… Drug? No time… Kill? Possible, but it would raise ruckus… Grog? Doubt he would… Woman! That would do!” Lucifer devilishly smiled. He did that a lot lately.

He questioned Kretin what his gender was. Unfortunately, he was a man. 

“Master, why wanna, you know?” Kretin asked with broken celestian.

“I want to distract the guard near the staircase.”

“Oh. No problem,” he drew a knife and leapt towards the guard. Kretin punched him in the face and scratched him with the knife enough to draw blood. The Challenge was issued!

“Well, that could work too,” Lucifer sighed. Meh… Who cares…  

The bored, patrolling goblins gathered and made a simple arena. A battle ensued, and Dafur, with Lucifer, entered the second floor.

Lucifer easily killed the two 2nd-tier guards, replacing their heads with two full-powered <Flux Missiles>. They now held a considerable power, each carrying almost 30 points of <Flux>.

<You have killed 2 2nd-tier goblins. You have gained 19.84% experience. Stone drains 6.94%. You have gained 12.90% experience.’

<You have killed a 2nd-tier goblin 2 times>
<19.84% experience is split according to talents Subordinate and Parasite>
<Lucifer gained 12.90% experience>
<Stone gained 6.94% experience>

The rapid loss of experience depressed him. Sucks to be so powerful....

“Status!” He decided to rearrange his screens a bit. In the end, it was only in his mind. 

They sneaked into the room with cabinets. The rest was easy with only one hiccup. There were a few alarm runes, guarding the reagents. However, it was not too complicated and mostly created to guard against goblins, not a sentient stone.

Lucifer flexed his <Weak Fluxkinesis> and hovered everything they needed on a small pile before them. Dafur quickly packed it into a pouch and they hastily left.

As they went down, Lucifer shook his head... Kretin was clearly enjoying himself in battle, so he left him there. Not like he cares for a dirty trash-gobbler anyway.

With the heist successful, they returned to their tent.

Lucifer painted a small circle with a triangle inside and put the ash, 2nd-tier Monster’s heart, and Kretin’s blood inside. 

After a quick chant and pouring his <Flux> into the circle, the <Life-for-Life Hex> spell activated with purplish clouds rising from the ingredients as they burned.

It took a while to activate and Kretin was able to return just in time. He was beaten up, looking more like he lost the challenge. He quaffed a potion and collapsed on a free bed, already snoring the moment his head hit the ground.

The clouds enveloped Stone’s body and Kretins body.

<Kretin was hexed with Life-for-Life Hex. Any kind of healing or damage is projected into the body of connected creatures>

The effect was immediate. As it said, any kind of healing meant even the natural <Lifeforce> regeneration that any other species had, would help!

He saw as the red <Lifeforce> flooded every molecule of Stone’s body. 

The flickering golden matrix began to pulse with mana as before as it stabilized.

Lucifer observed a shift as a few lines rearranged.

“Hi Luci! I am baaa~ck!”

☁☁☁☁☁☁

Encyclopaedia Stonia

Abyss - addendum - Dwarfs

0.5 to 50 kilometres deep is underground.
50 – 60 kilometres is the first floor.
60 – 80 kilometres is the second floor.
There are more floors but about them later.

Below-floor (or above-floor) is a description of the levels inside the floor compared to your own position.