The fragile peace rapidly degraded between goblins, dwarfs and druegars as many battles broke out for either food or strategically positioned caves.

Right now, the sides were at an impasse. The battles were mostly between 2nd-rank soldiers from the Army of the Abyss and 2nd-tiers goblin troops, often led by 3rd-tiers and on the rare occasion, a 4th-tier. The battle seemed balanced, while goblins had large numbers, the dwarfs had better equipment and better skills.

The Myceliars had begun paying attention to the warring sides, directing their influence towards them, sensing the disruption in their territories. They gathered the left corpses with a new level of speed and efficiency that seemed to dwarf their usual habits.

The scorched corpses of his fellow dwarfs… This level of power was higher than anything a mere Myceliar could create and fire magic was unheard of and frankly nigh-impossible.

There was something odd about them too. He could feel it and from a quick look at his fellow captains, they could sense that something was extremely wrong as well.

And the aggrieved master Baelgin was in the middle of this mess. 

He had long since returned from his bodged hunt and delivered a report to Forward Camp Site #25, where he exchanged Intel of the war’s general status and the casualty count.

Needless to say, his first assignment was deemed a failure. He had lost too many soldiers under his command.

When Harkon Boomhammer himself yelled at him for this, he could only grind his teeth.

He was no goddamn soldier, but a pampered <Runemaster>! 

His uncle was fortunately in the outpost at the opposite side of the mountain range, fighting off the Lich Kastan, a former human king. Otherwise… A suicide mission… His uncle was draconic when it came to failure.

Not only had he found Dafur, who seemed to be… hairless. He shrugged, knowing it was the damn blight. He had a druegar appearance, but those three merged mana crystals with his chest… It was extremely jarring, but he also found it fascinating. 

He knew that he would have to kill him, but maybe a few swift experiments. Though the Rockcarver clan would probably quarter him and throw the pieces to hogs as dinner if they knew about it.

Then he remembered. There was a fierce, bloody competition in the Rockcarver clan’s line of inheritance. 

Therdreag wanted his prized apprentice Tafur to acquire some worldly experience and live through a true battle of life and death. And to give him some reprieve from his family, Baelgin would be the right nut on it. Not necessarily his, though...

Baelgin smirked. Whatever would have happened, Dafur’s death seemed inevitable. If not at his hands, Tafur would happily dispose of him by himself. He would just have to find an opportunity to set it up.

Therdreag would be more than happy to ‘lend’ him to Baelgin.

First for Tafur to gain some experience outside of a laboratory and second to show him how dangerous the world can be. Arn’Dul was a relatively safe city. 

He shook his head and looked down.

He frowned at the map before him, showing the contested areas. They had underestimated the Goblin forces. Heavily. It was too dangerous to travel more than a few hours from the outpost even for him and his unit. His last encounter could attest to that.

That peculiar rock… He had sensed the refined mana. Greed swelled in him, but he had long since learned how to subdue these urges. 

They brought the druegar shaman to the camp. He said he was a prisoner and he had to fight with them, otherwise they would kill his love, some Jarka. He knew who the pale-skinned shaman was referring to. He had seen her on Dafur’s shoulder, alongside Do… No, Lucifer. 

He still had to tell Therdreag about his children. He already had to kill Eriv or whatever was left of her and Dori was being possessed by an Ethereal… 

Strangely, Therdreag trusted the druegar shaman and allowed him to return to his village. 

General Boomhammer did not care much as he had different problems and said that a grateful 4th-rank shaman with a strong village behind him could be useful in the long run.

Baelgin could ask how a 4th-rank druegar shaman was caught by mere low-tiered goblins, but he did not. 

He could tell the shaman was their agent.

“Captain Baelgin!” A soldier saluted with a raised fist.

“Soldier,” Baelgin half-heartedly saluted back, “what do you want?”

“War was declared! Orders’re issued!” He handed him a missive.

He opened it and groaned; he was supposed to go on the front-line in just an hour. Fortunately, as a support... not as a blitzkrieg ‘suicide’ squad. Though, assassins usually put supports on top of their kill-list… 

“Uncle… Ya fuckin’ bastard!” He roared, his mana flared as he tore the parchment asunder. 

The other captains ignored him and were happily chatting and drinking their share of Khazad-Dum Beer.

The young soldier looked spooked so he beckoned him to leave. Needless to say, he scrambled out of the tent.

After he calmed, he frowned. He could either run into a self-imposed exile or risk his life in a clearly fake war.

Therdreag… it all came to him. The laboratory, sudden appearance of mana crystal deposit, missing Dafur, his sudden fall from grace, which was frankly too fast as if somebody prepared it.

Somebody was meddling. He could feel it in his bones. Assembly? But why? He wasn't too important. Church of Paragons? Maybe… It was not like he had a good standing with them… 

Or gods? That would be… Fate.

And there was that… entity that could cast spells using refined mana. He wanted it. If he would present a curiosity like this to the Assembly… Plus it was accompanied by an Ethereal who could make use of the freaking Darkness. He had to use half of his stock Holy Water to dispel it… So much gold…

Fortune favors the prepared.

He did not tell anyone about it and ordered his men to not say anything either. Not yet. 

He would have to be careful.

☁☁☁☁☁☁

“Luci, do you see any other platypuses?” Stone asked. He tried again and again to send Lucifer some refined mana, however, it was not possible.

Lucifer's body rapidly degraded too. Now it looked like a rotten zombie; large black spots all over his body, an eye and an ear completely missing.

“Nope! All the platypuses are gone!” Lucifer chuckled, sitting on a smoking corpse. To whom the corpse belonged would remain a secret forever. But it was definitely a humanoid.

“Dafur? Are you good?” Stone turned his attention to the dwarf who was holding his head. The brief respite from the shaman’s mind-control ended. Now he was bound by finally-awakened Jarka, who still could not remember anything from her past.

“Where's mae master?! Release mea, Monstar!” He yelled and struggled against the rope.

Gorash was floating above Stone, royally amused and barely suppressing laughter. He hadn’t been wrong; the eerie rocky... entity... always found himself in an amazing mess!

Stone did not know what to do next. Frankly, his latest battles were grating on him. He was forced to ru… no... to tactically retreat from the strong Stone-Breaker! That bastard! How dare he survive! 

He decided. The Stone-Breakers were going to die. All of them!

They break and break, stopping at nothing. 

Though… that marble gate had been nice. That would require more research.

He shuddered and put his mind on something else. He examined his party as Lucifer had taught him during his lessons; when you don't know what to do, look at what you have at disposal.

Then, make a plan that would not kill him or Lucifer.

Jarka, The Forgetful. A naked druegar female without a single hair armed with double-axe and clad into a simple plate armour. No memory of herself or her past, but submissive. She did not even wonder about the rock talking to her. No need to kill her! For now...

Dafur, The Strange. A blighted dwarf, who was looking like a druegar with three mana crystals embedded in his chest. His attempts to attack Stone with the <Crystallizer> talent were easily deflected. Stone decided to help him. He was a useful meatbag. Plus, he was the only chance for Lucifer to transfer into another body. Cannot kill!

Firey, The Lazy and the Stone-Breaker! Stone would dispose of him at the first opportunity. He did not like fire much anyway. It was useful, but it did not resonate with him… almost like flying. He could also sense through their contract the elemental did not have good intentions. Kill with extreme prejudice! 

Luci, The Friend… Stone did not understand what was happening to him. It scared him a bit. It was different than before when Lucifer slept. Stone was more and more curious about what the platypus could be. He wanted to find a way to help him but did not know how. He had tried to help out but had only succeeded at making the situation worse. 

He sighed and read his journal.

His experience efficiency had dropped. He had to kill a large number of meatbags to be even able to level up once. He did not like it, but now he understood that it was just how the Universum was.

He asked to change it, but after a brief laugh from the Universum, silence greeted him. It was a nice greeting, however he wished for an answer.

So he pestered the Universum. For quite some time. He gave it up after Lucifer coughed a bit of blood. And blood should stay inside.

So, next, he wished for his skill list. ‘Thud’

Stone nodded. Well, he would if he could.

This was all that he had.

He was in the Abyss. Surrounded by disgusting Stone-Breakers and experience packs, alias Goblins. Not to say anything about Myceliars and their drones. From which he could not get any kind of reward.

He was also hunted by the Strongest Stone-Breaker. 

Now, the plan.

…
…
...

He wanted Luci back. He would know what to do.

“Luci?”

“Yea?” Lucifer hazily looked at him.

“Luci! You are back!”

“Platypuses are coming.”

“Damn!” Then an idea occurred to him. Dafur could connect to him! “Dafur!”

“Monstar! Release mea and ya won’t suffer! Master! Shaman-Ganra! Where’re ya?!” He cried out on the whole shaft, his gruff voice echoing.

“Damn it! Jarka? Do you know something?”

“Hmm…” She contemplated for a moment. “Nae! Still can’t remember a shite! Only…” She closed her eyes.  

“...” Stone waited. Patiently.

“...” five minutes went by and she began to make odd sounds. He had heard them once before.

“...” another five minutes. The sounds began to be louder. Much, much louder.

“Loud!” Stone yelled, frustrated, and Jarka jerked as she woke up. “So?” he asked.

“So what?” She blinked, clearly confused. “Where’re we? And who’re ya?”

Frustration was a loud emotion.

He thought about it. The only one who could help him was Dafur. He pondered and pondered… In the end, he could think of only one way.

He created a wall and slapped the staring blighted dwarf.

“What’re ya doin’?! That hurts!” He yelled.

And again. His cheek turned red as the mana wall cracked.

“Ya… ya… Stop it!” 

Again and again, the slaps echoed in the cavern. Stone had to conjure the wall several times as it dissipated against the dwarf’s hard face. The poor Dafur with swollen cheeks first profusely swore so harshly, it couldn’t be written down. 

Stone did not know it before, but apparently, even he could be insulted.

After ten minutes, Dafur began to sob like a child, however, Stone was too angry to listen. So, the slaps continued. 

Jarka observed it while chuckling, amused and slightly concerned for the dwarf. And Lucifer? He still mumbled about the platypuses. Stone had even started to worry about them. What were those platypuses? Lucifer clearly hated them, so they had to be formidable opponents...

After another five minutes, the dwarf pleaded, promising riches and that he would do anything. His face was red and swollen like an apple.

“Help Lucifer!”

“Y...Yes… Mast… sob… Master Stone!” Dafur whispered. He was a hardened apprentice runemaster. Yet… Stone broke him. To be fair, the poor dwarf was not in his best mind. Brutal torture, enslavement, brainwashing, potions mixed with lack of sleep, alcohol and malnutrition had taken a heavy toll on him.

After Stone released his anger, the dwarf quickly connected to Lucifer, who still had some crystals in his body and Stone. The mineral pushed the refined mana through the link.

Lucifer ceased to mumble. His eyes cleared and the muddle-headedness retreated.

“Luci?”

“What… what happened?” The Devilish Sorcerer massaged his forehead. He had a killer headache.

“I don’t know. You suddenly fell on the ground and began to talk about ‘platypuses’, whatever they were.”

At that word, Lucifer froze. A certain memory emerged. A bad memory. 

“Platypuses, huh…” he muttered. He felt something about that word. Fear. Wrath. Humiliation… 

“Luci? Are you okay?” Stone worryingly asked.

“Yea, yea… So? Where are we? What happened? I remember only the running and a brief struggle with the runemaster… Oh shit!” Lucifer went over his status. Half of his current <SuperFlux> was missing. Forever. 

So this is what would happen if he suddenly loses a second body… He thanked the gods that he did not have a damaged soul. Well, at least he did not feel pain.

He definitely wouldn’t be trying to become multi-bodied again anytime soon. Or ever... but, knowing his luck, he would become a cluster of germs… 

He went over his memory. Nothing seemed to be missing. Except for the apparent giant gap before his life as a Partner and the last few hours.

“Journal,” the tablet rolled out and it was… empty. Completely.

He wished for everything. His mind was swarmed by tablets. 

Except for his main status screen, everything was blank.

“Universum?”

<...>

“Hey?! You here?”

The Universum did not reply.

He tried a few times again, but nothing. The Universum did not communicate with him at all. 

Maybe he had a damaged soul after all? Again?

Stone peeked at them too. A pure stone tablet… No numbers, no writings… just pure stoneniness. He loved it.

Even though they were in two separate bodies now, Stone still could peek at his screens.

Lucifer left it open for Stone to watch after an equivalent of puppy stare from him.

The Universum’s silence worried Lucifer a lot, but there were more pressing concerns.

He conjured a <Flux Bubble>. It went surprisingly easily. <Flux Missile>, <Flux Expulsion>... No problems. His magic was fine.

Was his soul damaged or not?

Also, when he thought about it… The Universum acted peculiarly the whole time.

There was a memory… A long-forgotten memory. However, he could not grasp it. It always evaded his mental grasp, leaving only a sense of urgency.

Still, he exhaled, relieved.

He quickly established the <Refined Mana Drain>, his <SuperFlux> finally regenerating properly.

“Luci, you are taking too much!” Stone’s reserves plummeted.

“Dafur! Close the connection!” Lucifer barked and shot a dirty stare at him. The wall still menacingly floated before his eyes. He paled and the golden strings retreated back to his chest.

Stone told him about what happened afterwards. The shaman, Dafur’s unusual behaviour, Jarka losing her memory, how he was smart and amazing for using Stone-Breaker… 

For Lucifer, this story was not only worrying but also interesting. He could feel that something was happening. An opportunity. He still needed to find the Lich Hen’Tai in the second or third layer.

“Good… In that case…” Lucifer closed his eyes, attempting to formulate a plan. He gathered what he knew.

“Goblin camp. I would bet there would be more than one. Plus there was at least a 4th-tier Orc alongside the 4th-tier camp leader with a production <Class>.

Then there are the Druegars. Their shaman was clearly working with Goblins. I am missing something… A Druegar working with Goblin… These two races hate each other to the bone… 

Dwarfs… we know nothing about them, except for what is regarded as common knowledge for example, the fragile ceasefire between them and the sapient goblins. However, that the 4th-rank runemaster, Baelgin, attacked a goblin camp with a druegar 4th-rank shaman is saying something about the situation. Also, the Druegars, Goblins and Dwarfs know about you,” he mumbled under his thinning beard.

Then, he finally noticed the black spots on his hand. Necrosis. 

“Stone?” Lucifer tiredly asked.

“Yes, Luci?”

“Why has my body degraded so much?”

“I tried to put more refined mana into you, but it did not work.”

“Of course, you did…” Lucifer did not know if he should laugh or cry, so he went with both. The whole week of this body's functionality expectancy had been reduced to a day... two at most!

Stone was happy. He knew that his teacher would know what to do! He was proud of himself for coming up with this plan. 

“Mistar Stone, we shoulda leave,” Jarka suddenly said.

“Why? It’s quiet here.”

“Ya’ll be hunted down! Master Ganra’ll find mea and punish ya!” Dafur yelled.

“Loud!” Stone put a <Mana Bubble> in his mouth, effectively silencing him and Jarka threw him over her shoulder.

“Oh… Luci! Do you know where we are?”

“No. Let’s find a goblin or a dwarf…” 

Lucifer picked up Stone and their little party lurked in the shafts and caverns.

☁☁☁☁☁☁

“Isn’t it too silent here?” Stone suddenly said, breaking the silence.

Even Jarka stopped and everyone looked at the small boulder held by blackened Lucifer’s hand.

“You, Stone, the Silence Loving Freak, are telling me that it's too silent here?” Lucifer thought he would not be surprised ever again after what he went through. He was wrong.

“But it is, isn’t it? It's a loud silence.” He liked silence as any other respectable mineral should. Despite that, this silence was all wrong.

They all listened to the stillness. He was right. There was no other sound except for them.

“Jarka? Are you sure you don’t remember anything at all?” Lucifer whispered. He had a very bad feeling. Only, he didn’t know if it was for this suspense or his apparent problem with the Universum.

“Naet,” she shook her head, “everything is hazy. I have some flashes, but I donna know what they mean,” she sighed.

They resumed their slow search for anyone to question.

Still, they were tense.

Hours went by… and nothing happened. At all. 

They were walking and walking, one step after another. The only thing they could hear was themselves.

Their minds became empty. Their eyes were blank. 

They walked and walked. Hour after hour.

Occasionally, they stumbled into a rocky formation, ignoring it.

Except for Stone.

Everything he liked was happening; steady movement, no loud sounds, tablets floating in his mind…

Still, he could not help but be anxious. Something was wrong. Even he could tell it.

He wanted to ask Lucifer, but the Devilish Sorcerer completely ignored him. So were the others.

Instead, Lucifer dropped him on the ground, alongside with his whole hand as it rotted away.

Stone conjured ants’ souls and proceeded to move on his own.

Until, a new tablet opened in Stone’s mind. ‘Thud’ He literally quivered in happiness.

<You know, Lucifer was given an important technique as a reward for you not to use tablets…>

“And?” Stone flatly asked, bloodlust seeping from his tone. Nobody could take away his tablets. Nobody!

<Nothing, nothing… Just saying.> Even for Universum it was not worth it. It could not take away the <Multitask> technique anyway. Stupid Prime gods… 

Stone was getting worried now. The meatbags and Lucifer behaved too abnormal. Plus, he wanted to brag to Lucifer about his new resistance.

“Luci! Jarka! Dafur! Heeeey!” Stone shouted. 

They did not respond which worried Stone a bit. They were always loud and bothersome… Now they just dragged themselves around.

He still could not understand why they were walking in a circle inside a cavern full of those odd stones, shaped as Dwarfs and Goblins… 

When he focused on them some more, he had to admit that whoever did this was amazing… Sculptor! He found the proper name in his memory.

They could not hold a candle to the marble gate, still, he could appreciate their craftsmanship.

He especially liked their expressions. It was like they were extremely scared. It made him even sadistically chuckle a bit.

“Heeeey!” He even enhanced his voice with mana, but the group ignored him. 

Now, he noticed a certain lack… of something that was there from the very second he awoke. It was slightly disconcerting, but not as much as this situation.

After no one replied again, he decided he needed help. The lazy elemental could be of some help. It was not like he just remembered him now...

“Firey?” 

The stupid spark did not reply. Stone had gotten annoyed and sent the loudest thoughts he could think off through their link.

“Yes, master?” The spark growled, brutally awakened by Stone’s mental assault.

“Talk! What happened to them?” Stone barked. 

Gorash quickly scanned them with a small pulse of a fiery wave. “They are poisoned. Now, can I go back to sleep?” He did not wait for permission and entered Stone.

“Hey! Can you help them?!” Stone shouted at the lazy elemental. 

“No. And I want to sleep!” After this brief exchange, Gorash did not reply anymore.

Stone thought about it hard.

Poison. What was poison? A harmful substance. Well, for meatbags. 

How were they poisoned? They did not eat or drink as other meatbags needed for hours… That left only one option: Air!

He made a deduction by himself! He was proud of himself. He was smart and amazing!

Now… How to stop them from breathing. Luckily, he trained that with the goblins. 

He carved a mask from refined mana and put it over Lucifer’s face.

At first, the Devilish Sorcerer did not notice, but when the air quickly depleted, he made several interesting choking noises and collapsed, while frantically trying to get rid of the mask.

Lucifer had enough and broke the mask apart with his own <SuperFlux>.

“What are you doing, you idiot!?” His voice echoed all over the cavern.

“Because you are poisoned. And because I am amazing I deduced it’s in the air!” Stone proudly bragged.

That halted Lucifer. Now that he knew about it, he noticed a certain haziness in his brain. He quickly conjured and adjusted his own mask to let only needed gases inside, silently cursing. He felt pretty embarrassed to be caught up in such a trap.

“... thanks…” he whispered, gritting his teeth.

“Say that I am amazing!” 

“You are amazing…” Lucifer spat out, out of reflex. However, he noticed the natural <Subordinate> urge somewhat weakened. It was feeble, more like a suggestion than a compulsion.

“I am! What now?”

“First, where is my hand?”

“There!” Stone pointed with a shaped stick at the rotted hand in the middle of the cavern. 

Lucifer hastily collected it and tried to rejoin it to his failing body.

Lucifer angrily threw it away after several failed attempts to return it back to its rightful place, but the body he now owned was too far rotten. His <SuperFlux> and the Stone’s <Refined Mana> seemed to degrade it on a cellular level… He would need to be a <Necromancer> to save it. 

The body was in such bad shape that he was beginning to leak <SuperFlux> with increasing pace.

The hand landed on a rock formation, slapping something very similar to a face.

It began to shake and move. Gravel fell off as it unfolded into a human-sized gargoyle. Its ugly face with a devil-like, teethy, stony smile turned to Lucifer, Jarka and Dafur.

Stone watched the moving stone. A moving stone… If he would have eyes, they would pop out.

“Luciiiii! Loook! Moving rock! It's… it’s…” Stone ecstatically shouted, but could not find proper words. It was beautiful; The watery droplets that were slowly dripping on the ground from its coarse, grey hide. The jerky movement of its limbs with long, spiky fingers. It wore a smile that would scare a troll so hard, it would scream for it’s daddy. The blue rays coming from the <Mana Bubble> slowly materialized near Lucifer’s head.

Lucifer’s fright did not slow him down and he blocked the Myceliar spell with his own. That forced him to drop the <SuperFlux> shaped mask that protected him from the poisoned air, but he just held his breath.

“Luci! Don’t hurt it!” Stone screamed as he saw Lucifer attempting to retaliate with <Flux Missile> aimed at its torso.

“Idiot! It’s trying to kill me!” 

He yelled back as he was forced to jump back to evade a sweep of the Myceliar.

“It’s stone! Don’t! Hurt! It!” Stone commanded and began to conjure his own <Mana Missile> to aid the Monster.

“You cretin! It’s not a true rock! It’s just a mimicry! Look!”

Lucifer fired the <Flux Missile> and the stationary Myceliar’s chest exploded in gore. Violet blood sprayed all over and the Myceliar screamed in immense pain.

“See!”

Stone was stumped. It deceived him! Deceived! How dare it!

“Liar! Fake stone! Even worse than Stone-Breakers!” He yelled, wrath filling him up, and flung one <Mana Missile> after another at the dazed Myceliar, mixing ambient mana and refined mana together.

Lucifer used the distraction and pulled the duo of an e-amnesiac druegar and a brainwashed augmented dwarf away from the battle.

Stone’s 55 mana per second and large reservoir made him a true spell slinger. As the Myceliar still did not notice its ambusher, Stone was not considered in battle. So the <Meditation>’s insane 450% casting speed reduction took effect.

However, the wounds closed almost as fast as they appeared on the Myceliar’s body. It even conjured an azure <Mana Shield> that surrounded it.

Lucifer just sat back on the other side of the cavern with a clear view on the unfolding battle, putting his legs on some poor, petrified dwarf who was stupid enough to be caught here. And no, the irony of this thought wasn’t unnoticed, however, Lucifer just decided to ignore it while he snorted.

Stone mentally frowned as his spells did not work. That was something he was not used to.

“Firey!”

“Yea, master?” The elemental chuckled. He knew he would be called now. In the end, the Myceliars were weak against fire. He emerged from Stone and began to cast a spell <Fireball of Purple-Fiery Hell>. He loved his names…

The Myceliar noticed the sudden source of light and recognized the aura of a fire Elemental. Its devilish grin deepened. It had a perfect counter for these pesky elementals.

Then, the Myceliar activated its talent <Gaze of Fossilization> on Gorash who screeched in pain, part of his fire turning grey and retreated to his momentary home. The fireball spell collapsed and fizzled into nothingness.  

The myceliar’s gaze easily followed the path of the violet spark to Stone.

“That tickles!” Stone giggled, his anger fading away. “En… hehe… Enough! I SAID ENOUGH!” Stone screamed.

The Myceliar did not know what to do. It was confused by Stone’s existence. He had never met something like this ever before. His most powerful weapon did not work. The poison apparently didn’t work either.

The Myceliar spat an <Acid Blast>, but it was its weakest attack. It only used it on critters with meat and blood.

<You know, your math is so fucked up… I even prompted Archi, but he was too drunk… Hopefully, you will get patched soon, you… you… BUG!>

Stone was confused for a brief moment, but he had to focus on the opponent before him.

Lucifer facepalmed on his little podium and bitterly laughed. He even felt sorry for the Myceliar now.

“Still, you are going to die! Pretending to be stone! Disgusting! Firey, fire it up! Burn the pretender!” Stone ordered, vivid from anger. Even though Firey was a Stone-Breaker, he was useful. 

“Sure, master!” The purple spark flew out of Stone’s body before him and asked for mana. A lot of it. Also, he pleaded with Stone not to send him refined mana.

Stone agreed. He took all of his whopping 670 points of ambient mana and gave it to him.

Gorash swelled up with the sudden surge of ambient mana. 

A large, smoking hot fireball slowly formed.

<Heat capacity: 1%... 2%... 5%... 25%... 75%... 99%>
<Your heat is at maximum capacity. Release or explode!>

Stone took all of that and put it into Gorash too, who swiftly transferred it to the fireball, increasing the already high temperature to a point when it began to melt the rock around. Gorash thanked his ancestors that the idiot was too livid to notice it and fired it towards the panicking Myceliar.

The Myceliar could not move, silently cursing his own stupidity. Its roots were too deep after such a long slumber.

The fireball slowly moved forward, melting rock around as Gorash and Stone gleefully cackled like mad.

<You cannot tag one being!> 

The message turned Stone’s mood down. No increased reward… 

The Myceliar said its last prayer and the intense fireball exploded at him. It put everything it had to its defences. <Mana Shield> flared. Hide hardened. 

The fire engulfed its body, melting the sculptures around.

Then it exploded.

It was no normal explosion either.

Stone snuck some refined mana into it, unbeknownst to Gorash.

The Myceliar’s <Mana Shield> dissipated as if nothing. The rocky hide turned black and melted off in a stream of magma.

It could not even scream in pain as the explosion created a vacuum, making its lung implode inside its body.

The heat wave washed over him and even Lucifer received second-grade burns all over his limbs as he wasn’t fast enough to hide behind the statues.

He was very glad to not be able to feel pain.

<You have killed a 3rd-tier Myceliar>
<Stone gained 32.72% experience>

That was not bad.

“Luci?” Stone called him over.

Lucifer took the two deadweights by their ankles and dragged them near Stone.

“Yea?” 

“Did you get experience?”

“No. And from the question I can tell you did not tag it, right?” 

“I couldn’t! It refused to give me more experience! Stingy Universum… It said I can’t because there was only one being… But I am not complaining! You cannot leech off my tasty experience anymore! It’s all mine!” 

“... oh… what?” Lucifer frowned as he heard a very familiar sound. 

Sounds he had learned to hate from the bottom of his heart.

‘Crack!’ ‘Crack!’ ‘Crack!’