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"Not bad. Nice level ups, and status increases. Should be able to do some damage to their plans." Baris stretched and yawned. He looked down at Alea who just opened her eyes.

"You should head back to Noobville, Alea, like we discussed." His stomach growled. "The animals should have moved on, which means I might be hungry for a bit."

"What are we going to do about this place?" She said as she stood up. Her seven foot figure was a bit overwhelming, as she was in complete proportion everywhere. Huge breasts when compared to a human, and thick muscled limbs that made him feel small at times. If he didn't know that his goddess somehow made him physically stronger, he would feel even smaller.

"I'll plug it up with a few big stones, things that bears and wolves can't move, and even high leveled humans can't touch. They won't even be able to tell the dungeon is here." He said with a smile. He rolled his head to remove the stiffness in his neck and looked around.

"I'm definitely going to have to make a bed. Stone sucks when it's trying to be a cushion." He walked out and waited for her to stretch as well.

"Strange human." She said softly. "Full Body Cleanse."

* * *

"Her sister will be quite happy to see the change."

"She needed to grow up." Baris said quietly, as he sat on a stone. "Thanks for the meat." He had started a fire and began to roast the haunch of a wolf.

"It smelled the lack of goblins, and investigated. The repulsion stones will begin to absorb the manna again now that the dungeon core no longer drains away the ambient manna in the land. However...."

"Yeah, the groups came from different directions. There is another damned dungeon out there. I'll go to Steepbell, help to cull the horde, get supplies, and see where to go. Any idea?" He asked. He didn't look at the elf hidden among the only remaining trees around, or question how she was able to throw her voice like this. It was magic, so why ask questions about a person's abilities when it wasn't necessary?

"North west of Steepbell." She didn't talk again, as Alea came out of the dungeon. She saw the wolf being roasted, and a clean flat stone holding a large raw section for her.

"You went hunting?" She asked.

"A gift from someone. I don't question gifts, especially when it was meant for us." He said and cut some roasted meat off the front shoulder and sighed as he bit into it. "Jerky is alright, but freshly roasted is better. I do envy your people a little, Alea."

"Why is that? Oh, this is so good!" She ripped into the rear shoulder with relish. She didn't question that the organs were already gone. She was just grateful for fresh meat to eat.

"The gifts of the gods are obvious. Physically strong, magically inclined, attractive, horns that can take a hit and protect your head, and able to eat raw and cooked food. Your people can preserve your kills for lean months, and have fresh if you go out to hunt." He said and took another bite.

"Yeah, we can."

"However, with all the gifts you've been given, you've gotten lazy." He pointed at her. "You haven't been on a hunt in a while, have you?"

"Not for over a decade." She frowned. "It seems that humans have been able to alter our way of thinking. They don't believe it's civilized to be as wild as we are."

"Why?" He asked.

"I don't know. Their civilization...what?" She frowned when Baris snorted.

"You misunderstand me. Why do your people care what the humans think? Your people were here first. The gods brought humans here for their own reasons, but elves, dwarves, fairies, and the other races were here first. The ways of humans have a short history on this world. So why do you allow their thinking to invade your culture?" It was a direct question that left Alea speechless.

"Now that you put it that way, I don't know why we care. At first, I think it was because we had to be the role model. Then there was the war. Now, is it because we don't want to endure their disdain?" She asked, and became quiet.

"Disdain? You know what others on their previous world would do if they showed disdain openly like that? They would get a beating. It would happen enough until the humans learned to control their outward appearance or suffer the consequences." He growled. "It looks like enduring their condescension hasn't done you any good. It's only made them bolder." He stood up, took the rest of the meat off the fire, and wrapped it in leather.

"I'm off to see if Steepbell still has survivors. You should head back to Noobville and make sure your mare is alive and well. Send out a party or two to cull the goblins before they form another nest. One dungeon down, but they can reproduce. Don't forget that."

She watched as he placed large stones that would take over a dozen humans to move, and sealed up the dungeon. When he ran off, she sighed and looked at the sky.

"Why do we care what they think? And why haven't I beaten any of them for those looks they give my mare?!" She growled. "Looks like I've forgotten what it means to be an elf." She stood up and dusted off her bottom. She picked up her sword, and the rest of the wolf meat.

Her hidden guard appeared near the entrance to the dungeon after she left, and picked up the organ meat Baris left for her.

"Who was he talking to?" She whispered and ran after her charge. A tall figure in red leather appeared, her sharp teeth bared.

"His goddess, little elf. You better remember your heritage, like he said. I am not happy with you little ones acting like humans." She smiled as she felt some fluctuations to the west.

"Ah, battle. I must watch him kill a bit more of these things. His instincts for battle are like those old warriors I admired. What were they called again?" She pursed her lips a bit as she pondered her memories.

"Norse men, or north men? Ah, what does it matter? To fight, to drink, and revel in the glory of battle, that is to live." She smiled as she smelled the scent of battle, and turned into a black mist that dispersed.

She wanted to watch him kill those soulless monsters, and get into that battle haze again, but she promised to visit her sister. She also had to look in on the cities to the west.

Something dark had spawned over there, and she wasn't happy.

* * *

"Did you feel your home collapse?" Baris said after he smashed an orc to the ground. "Did you feel your core shatter? Poor piggies!" Bang, and another head popped like a melon.

"I thought you guys would go mindless, but even if the core is destroyed, you still act like you were programmed to." Baris said after he smashed a tenth orc to the ground.

"At least you aren't those advanced variants. Just some normal everyday piggies with a manna crystal inside you. Too bad you weren't like a video game, with weapon and armor drops." He picked up the ten crystals, put them in a small sack on his hip, and continued on.

"Still a few kilometers from Steepbell. I wonder why you turned around."