Above the lake in the early morning, several prisoners were filling their waterskins for the day. They were discussing the changes made in the exchange. They looked up to see a group of succubi, approaching from in the air.

 

Between them, they were carrying what looked like a rock. It was suspended on various vines and was dropped into the lake by the succubi. They did this in a single pass, only slowing briefly before dropping the load.

 

The prisoners clutched their coins tightly until they saw the succubi leave in the direction of the exchange. They didn't see the little girl among the group, she seemed to be the leader among them.

 

Splash!

 

They were interrupted by a worm-shaped creature, covered in vines bursting out of the water and inching its way to shore. Its body was short and deformed, even for a worm, and the vines slithered over each other.

 

A maw appeared at the front of the worm, and a boy's face pushed out. He continued to struggle violently forward. Shoulders, a back, and soon his whole body emerged. The cocoon of vines deflated, and the boy stood up proudly, although slightly wet.

 

“Sorry to bother you, the succubi were just... dropping me off” The boy smiled sadly.

 

He seemed kind of pale, and malnourished. He had sandy blonde hair, messily placed on his head like a nest. His eyes were vibrant green but were constantly shifting as if he was some prey animal looking for predators. He seemed on high alert, and his eyes even revealed a hint of madness, that couldn't be seen on his face. He had a confident smile as if everything was in his control and an almost arrogant demeanor.

 

“I won't disturb you any longer.” The boy adjusted his wet clothes, before casually walking into the forest, as if out for his morning walk.

 

Rex walked into the forest, as he tried to rein in his frustration.

 

“I can't believe they flung me into the lake. All I wanted to do, was just ask some questions about the island before we left. It would have only taken a few minutes...” Rex mumbled. “What if those prisoners had attacked me?”

 

The sisters were even less tolerant of him than the mamas, at least they let him stay dry.

 

From now on Kira would come with him to drop him off. He had made this firm decision, as it would guarantee a minimum level of treatment.

 

Today, Kira would begin introducing new products to the prisoners. It had been a week since he had reformed the exchange. The first product was coconut cheese, it was an okay product with a long shelf life. Rex had been carefully going through the forest, and flagging down plants. He had also been collecting seeds and mapping the island.

 

“The resources here are incredible, volcano's truly brought out the earth's treasures.” Rex mumbled as he crouched down, and checked the earth in a valley. He pulled out his map and immediately began scratching with a pencil.

 

“This is the third tungsten vein I have found, I even have Antimony veins on this island.” Rex wasn't surprised anymore by the sheer amount of rare earth was here.

 

This wasn't counting all the other ores he couldn't identify. The closer he got to the east side of the island, the more mountainous it got. He was finding ore all over the place. While irons were the most common, he found tin, aluminum, and zinc as well.

 

There was no doubt an island like this would have been warred over in the modern world. A conservative estimate, just on what he had seen would make it worth 5 or 6 trillion USD. This wasn't even considering the dark iron inside. He did not doubt that the properties of that metal would have made it a miracle metal in the modern world.

 

“The engineer in me just wants to say to hell with it, and burn everything down. I would strip this place to the ground, and see just how much it is worth, but I have to live here. If only I hadn't found rubber plants, I would have no qualms burning it all!” Rex was frustrated by this.

 

The amount of edible food was disgustingly low. The conclusion was that 90% of the plants were poisonous by volume. For every non-poisonous plant, you had 3 poisonous plants, with 2 offspring each. They just bred so prolifically, compared to the non-poisonous plants.

 

Walking up to a coconut tree, he tied a flag around it. It was a bleached strip of cloth. Today the prisoners would get the option to start working for the succubi. He wanted everything poisonous removed. The south of the mountain would be where people lived. It was the second least affected area by the storms and would be close to the lake.

 

The lake in time would become a reservoir, and he would build a desalinization system to supply water to the island. The forest would be replaced for a farm, to provide food for the town. This was his plan for the south side of the island. Seeing the east side with his own eyes was beginning to change his mind on the dock location. The east side was a sheer cliff that seemed to plunge into the water. This was why a dock was never constructed here.

 

The water was deep enough, that you could see the sharks coming right up to cliffs.

 

“I have so much glycerin, I can carve a ramp for an elevator. I can then enchant the entire dock to float, and sink thick steel cables into the ground. The advantage is that I can just detach it if it becomes a problem.” Rex said as he looked around. “Just let my enemies float away with the dock, then I can make the rest of the island a death trap for small ships.”

 

This was also why Rex wanted to survey the island. Kira could find him easily, she could see life force through the foliage. Because he was the youngest on the island, he stood out. The only other big thing he had seen was a type of squirrel, some rabbits, and small birds.

 

Fishing for the succubi had changed as well, Rex made Kira push them much harder. He learned these were mid-tier magic stones he was using. The sharks were quite fierce monsters, however, Rex only wanted their stones. They pulled 60-70 last fishing trip, it was a nice surprise. Rex had them chum the waters near the beach, and the mama's just lead one group after another to death.

 

The meat of the sharks was disgusting. Rex had them dump them all in a part of the marsh. He planned to turn them all into nitrates. All this work would have normally been too much to convince the succubi until Kira proclaimed she would turn their enemies into gunpowder. They were quickly cut into pieces and carried away.

 

Kira's ax was given a new purpose, to split up shark bodies. Rex had the fat collected to make soap. This was for the prisoner's and future residents, he would sell it in the exchange with toilet paper. He doubted the prisoners would use this, but he wanted to use the slaves to reform them.

 

“At best they can retire as farmers, but at worst, they will just cause problems.” Rex muttered.

 

“And if they keep causing problems?” A rough voice answered him.

 

“They can just stay in the mines.” Rex answered as he turned slowly.

 

He knew that sooner or later this would happen. It was a dogman, standing 10 paces away. He looked like a werewolf with a gray beagle head. With his flat expression, he looked adorable, even though he was middle-aged.

 

Rex immediately felt conflicted inside. It looked like he had been a brown color, but he had streaks of gray.

 

I want to pet him...

 

“You are the boy that succubi have been carrying around?” He asked patiently.

 

“Of course, I am the only child here after all.” Rex said sadly.

 

“You are the one who came up with the exchange, aren't you? The 12 who ran that place before, didn't care before you appeared.” He said simply.

 

“That's right, let's hear it? Why did you find me, as soon as you heard?” Rex asked with a slight smile on his face, standing with his arms behind his back.

 

Behind his back was the tonfa, Kira insisted he carried it when he was alone like this.

 

“I want to make a deal with you.” He said simply.

 

“Oh, so the second type.” Rex said calmly as he relaxed.

 

“What's the first?” He asked with a slight look of interest.

 

“The type who thinks that kidnapping me would benefit them in some way.” Rex said sadly.

 

All it would do is lead to a lot of prisoner's deaths, and maybe the extinction of the succubi. The walking beagle seemed to laugh at this heartily. Rex noticed he had a slight limp on his right leg.

 

“I made spirits for the army, I was unfortunate enough to get caught up during a delivery. When the army was losing, I happened to show up. I was hit by a stray arrow in the thigh, and wasn't able to run.” He said this flatly, clearly not seeking pity. “I've been here for 10 years now. I am getting old, and I had a family before I came here.”

 

He was explaining his circumstances, and Rex already knew what this old dog wanted.

 

“I'm guessing you can help me, to make the prisoners no longer a problem. In exchange you want me to help find your family?” Rex asked.

 

“The succubi are exclusively spies, while I wasn't a warrior, I knew what to look out for. I originally just planned to spend my life avoiding war, and trying to live in peace.” The dogman simply stated.

 

One of the most important reasons for the survey, and the show at the lake, was to find people like this. In the off-chance that someone special was hiding among the unremarkable.

 

“What's your name?” Rex asked simply.

 

“It's Canabus.” The dogman said with some pride.

 

Rex's expression froze briefly for a second. His name sounded so similar to something else.

 

“And how will you make the prisoner's no longer a problem, Canabus?” Rex asked as he paid careful attention to the dogman.

 

“I would start a worker faction. The main reason the factions exist is to protect against each other. A lot of the prisoners want to go home, even if they don't have one.” Canabus said simply. “I will make a faction to pull these people in, I have a way to do it.”

 

“Alright, if you can truly do it, I will help you.” Rex said with a slight smile. “ I should warn you though someone else promised me the same 3 days ago, they failed and were killed in the commons by the faction leaders.”

 

“I'm aware, I was there when he tried.” Canabus said flatly.

 

I want to pet him when he shakes his head with a serious look...

 

The last one who claimed he could do it was an elf. Rex saw him off with a sneer. It was almost a joy when the elf had failed.

 

He was too arrogant, I doubted we could work together very well...

 

The elf had been a sergeant, some noble who paid for a rank. This rank bankrupted his family, so they naturally couldn't afford the bastard's ransom.

 

“It's up to you Canabus, otherwise I can only see them as burlap.” Rex muttered.

 

He noticed a pause in Canabus' steps, and he looked back, with a horrified expression on his beagle face.

 

Rex was equally shocked, this face was even more adorable than the stoic one. He smiled back at Canabus with a broken smile and began waving at him. Canabus felt a chill run down his spine and began to wonder, what if this little creature was more dangerous than the succubi.

 

“Kera should have begun executing our plan. The elves won't know what hit them until everything starts to just fall apart. If there is one emotion humans have an intimate relationship with, it is greed.” Rex stated as a wicked smile appeared on his face.

 

-

 

Inside a newly opened store, an old elvish woman stood behind the counter. The store was called “Kill All Beastmen,” and was run by the elven lady. She had 2 daughters with her but they rarely appeared.

 

They came in leading 3 carriages filled with weapons. The woman's husband was a skilled blacksmith, delivering a few decade's worth of wares. This was very common for elves, but the husband hadn't shown up. Since then this woman had been running this store selling weapons. She was selling everything in hopes it would lead to fewer beastmen surviving, it was quite a touching story.

 

The weapons were of incredible quality, all a fine steel. The elves had never seen so many steel weapons before, and this lead some to believe the wife's husband had been specifically targeted. She had been open for 3 days but was already the talk of the city, and bards had begun singing of her.

 

The door to the small store was swung open and a tall muscular elf walked in. He wore colorful cloth strips backed with leather, woven into a colorful vest. He had a long blonde and straight beard, that proudly reached below his chest. It was bound in a gold chain. His right eye was maimed, and replaced with a white glass bead. He had to duck slightly to fit under the door, a tine on his glass crown, snapped off.

 

His arms were twice as thick as a normal elf, and even with the white glass crown on his head, you could almost forget its presence. The crown looked dainty, compared to how fierce the elf seemed. His wrinkles showed, a fierce scowl seemed to be his typical expression.

 

The shelves had the weapons just placed lazily, it looked like the owner was more concerned with opening their doors. The woman offered no greeting or bow, but the elf king took no notice of this. As a warrior who deeply valued weapons, how could he pay attention to her?

 

Walking straight to a sword, he drew it with a practiced air. The blade was long and straight, a true bastard sword. The elf swung it around a few times, testing the weight and feel. The blade had a spring to it as if it was eager to be swung. It was a feeling he had never experienced before.

 

He had a serious look on his face as he reached out a hand and called roughly.

 

“SWORD!” He barked.

 

An armored elf came running up, with a straight blade in a decorative sheath. The elf king immediately drew it, revealing a steel sword that was about 6 inches shorter. This sword seemed to have no spring to it and was a bit stiff.

 

The king had no change in his expression, as he violently smashed the two blades into one another, bringing the blades against each other directly. Sparks scattered as his decorative blade shattered. It left only a slight nick in the blade of the bastard sword...

 

“Such softness, yet such a profound hardness in one...” The way he looked at the steel bastard sword changed slightly. “I was born tall, and my sword always felt short. I could never get the grip I wanted, I can also feel that the balance is superb.”

 

He walked over and saw another 6 identical ones. He assumed what anyone without knowledge of casting would.

 

“He removed every tool mark and pushed for absolute uniformity in his works. So many blacksmiths are like artists, it is more common that their rendition of a perfect sword, will have flaws. A perfect weapon can be used, even with no experience. In making it art, you take away what a weapon truly is, a weapon.” The elf king was speaking to himself as if he was lamenting the loss of a dear friend.

 

He grabbed every bastard sword, as if an elf possessed, searching for any imperfection he could find. The more swords he looked at, the more desperate, and crazed he became.

 

“What kind of peak were you seeking, I have found not a single flaw. It is like a swordsman, whose foundation is as firm, as the earth. This was a blacksmith who was on the verge of reaching the heavens... “ The elf had tossed his crown to the ground, as it was getting in his way.

 

Tears were coming out of his remaining eye, he looked like the world had truly suffered a loss. He was holding another sword in his right hand, observing it. Under his left arm, were 30 identical swords. He was holding them tightly, it was clear he was buying them all.

 

All of the other elves had retreated to the walls of the building, they hadn't seen their king act like this when his firstborn son was killed by the beastmen. King Invagor was known for one thing, and that was his love of battle. He would be the first elf into the battle, and the last out. He was an absolute psycho, who only pursued his power. It was said he told his son he only became king, as it gave him access to bigger wars.

 

Many of the elves were frozen, holding the weapons they had been about to purchase. One of the armored elves walked up to a customer and held out their armored hand. The customer immediately relinquished the bastard sword they were holding. The armored elf took it stoically and presented it to the king. The king took it and added it to his pile.

 

These were Invagor's Royal guard. Their armor completely covered them and was completely enchanted. They were walking fortresses, as they had to keep up with their king who went into the deepest part of the battlefield. They were all hardened veterans, with decades of combat experience.

 

One of them immediately walked forward and picked up the king's discarded crown. It had shattered, and the elf just tossed it in a bag. Another armored elf had another in a box, and removed it, and placed it on a pillow. Their king always did this in battle, and his ponytail was also wrapped in a chain. They switched to a crystal crown, as he was using the metal ones, as throwing weapons.

 

The Leader of each settlement was the strongest elf, and they assigned a prime minister. The ministry tended to be what ran the place.

 

The King walked up to the counter and looked at the angry graying lady. It was clear she had been quite a looker in her day. She was about his age, or a bit younger, giving him more ideas about the fabled blacksmith.

 

“I lost a friend, and maybe a brother. I have dedicated my life to perfecting my martial prowess. I can say I am the strongest King.” King Ivangor lamented, “None of the other elves were ever like me, I feel like I finally found someone similar. This is a feeling, I have never experienced before, this anger and grief.”

 

It was said when his son died, his wife had fainted, and the other children had sobbed. Ivangor had just continued eating, then went to go train. Some claimed he was heartless, but they would never say it to his face. He went on as if it never happened. He then declared his regular decennial war on the beastmen.

 

“MONEY!” He called out.

 

Two armored elves walked a chest in side by side and slapped it onto the counter in front of the elf woman. They opened it up, but she showed no reaction, and just looked back at the King.

 

This had been a test to the King, her expression didn't change in the least, she got more annoyed when she saw the chest.

 

Her hatred must flow, to the bottom of the oceans...

 

“You have this king's vow, I will buy all these weapons, and spill beastmen blood with them.” The King promised solemnly, bringing horror to the surrounding elves.

 

This made the woman behind the counter smile for the first time, she looked truly happy.

 

“A Weapon to a warrior is like his hearth, Someone who has sold me so many homes is deserving of this King's vow!” The King announced.

 

The elves in the store dropped the weapons they were holding, they were now the property of the royal guard. It was clear Ivangor was furious about the death of this blacksmith, and blood would flow for it.

 

-

 

The store had been cleaned out, and the door was bolted closed. The elven woman walked over to the chest and struggled to lift it. A tail extended from out of her shirt and helped her stabilize the chest in her arms, making the grip less awkward.

 

She struggled to carry it up the stairs, cursing angrily.

 

Reaching the door at the top, a thin film of sweat could be seen. Her tail snaked forward and opened the door. Inside were 2 succubi impersonating elves. 3 female elves were laying at their feet, covered in wounds. Several beastmen were also on the ground with weapons in their bodies. It was hard to tell their genders.

 

The succubus carrying the chest dropped it loudly on the ground, it burst open, and large silver coins spread everywhere. The elven succubus looked at the other two angrily.

 

“Why did you make me old! I am a young succubus lady! I hate having gray hair, and saggy boobs. Can we leave now?” She said angrily.

 

“Yes, it is time to enact phase 2!” One of the other succubus' responded.

 

The other succubus pulled out a chest, inside was a jug filled with chloroform, and leather clothes that looked like rage.

 

All 3 woman quickly stripped off their clothes, as their bodies began to change. Their bones were like clay, as they began to softly rearrange. There weren't any popping, or cracking noises. Their skin and muscles seemed to just stretch with the changes. They quickly took the physical form of a hairless cat, a wolf, and a monkey.

 

Once their bones had rearranged, their teeth seemed to retract, as their hair also seemed to suck into their skulls. Fur began to slowly push out, as the three approached the trunk, now that they were steady on their new feet.

 

They dressed quickly, as the fur finished growing, and new sharp teeth poked out. This was a succubus' transformation ability. This was an innate ability that couldn't be countered with enchanting easily, or at least that was known.

 

They took rough sacks and split the silver between the three. The entire room already looked completely ransacked.

 

One of the succubus' grabbed the clay bottle of chloroform.

 

“This Coralform is amazing. You can knock people out with it!” She pulled the lid off the jug and began liberally spraying it all over the room.

 

She had a proud look, as she inspected her work.

 

“Alright it is time to regroup with group 2.” She reported.

 

All three quickly grabbed a bag of silver and hoisted it over their shoulder. As they were leaving one of the succubi stretched out her tail, and grabbed a candle.

 

The fur swiftly ignited, causing the succubus to quickly toss it at the chloroform. This was completely unnecessary as even the vapor was flammable, but she didn't know that.

 

She put the fire out on her tail quickly, leaving a smell of burnt fur. She looked angry at the roaring fire that had started before she left.

 

-

 

Rex was standing sadly in front of the exchange, above the commons hung Canabus' dead body. They had used a pickaxe to stake him to the cliff face.

 

When the succubi closed the exchange Canabus was one of the starving prisoners trying to survive. He stumbled onto a cave filled with mushrooms and ate some. The experience showed him a path to power, and he began fermenting spirits with the mushrooms. He even fed them his bread and dined on them exclusively.

 

He prepared a giant batch of wine that had similar properties as the mushrooms. He thought this was the path to starting a faction. When he began to convince his fellow suffering prisoners who were bored. They weren't happy with him, they were pissed.

 

“He had been hoarding so much good shit, this entire time. That's what they thought, before they dragged him out here, and killed him.” Rex concluded.

 

He would sell alcohol in the exchange now and call it “Canabus Cup” in honor of the brilliant fellow.

 

This is how he would control the prisoners in the future.

 

He had discounted alcohol because he wasn't old enough to drink it. He couldn't make whiskeys, but he could make fruit wine, and distill it.

 

“Thank you Canabus, you were right, you did have a method. It was just better in my hands.” Rex concluded.

 

Rex walked into the exchange, It felt like an empty convenience store. He had finished early today and walked back to the exchange instead. Behind the counter, he saw Kira and the rest of the succubi. There were 19 of them in a group, and she was quizzing them on the ore. She placed it on the table and they had to determine what it was on sight.

 

“This is a wonderful sight.” Rex smiled happily.

 

Looking past the counter he saw a poster on the wall in pencil. The paper was a shiny white making the picture more striking. He was standing proudly, and every detail of his gaunt frame was captured. It perfectly matched him, and what he was wearing.

 

“What the hell is that!” Rex muttered loudly.

 

The succubus behind the counter that had been watching him intently since he entered answered monotonously.

 

“If lost, will slaughter the island. Per Mistress Kira.” She answered automatically.

 

Rex was horrified at this discovery and looked at the little girl. No wonder he hadn't been harassed at all!

 

He looked at the little girl who was stoically going about her duties. She had changed drastically since she almost killed him. He was beginning to think he needed to do something about it.

 

She looked over and noticed Rex. Her face transformed instantly into joy.

 

“Are we going home?” That smile filled with happiness, and expectation.

 

Oh no...