The spawning pool looked like how he expected it to look: a great, jagged pool of black tar with thick bubbles drifting up and popping every few seconds. 

It was the second pocket space—the first with Aseri—that they had dug to. With Aseri’s help, the process had taken a few hours, about as long as it had taken to reach the first pocket. They’d dug faster, together, but this pinprick had been further than the first; he had, of course, set off for the nearest, the first time. 

He stood, staring down at the pool, with his arms crossed. How does it work? He didn’t bother voicing the question to Aseri; he knew what the answer would be. ‘How would I know? You’re the Avatar.’

He figured it would work like his other unnamed abilities. Logan quested out with his senses toward the core, then seized the mana he felt vibrating at his senses. Extracting the energy, he poured it into black pool in front of him. Pink ribbons obeyed, flowing through the walls and into the tar-like substance.

“Go ahead and use it all,” Aseri said. “Nothing better to spend it on. No risk of incursion, either, not so early. But later, keep some in reserve.”

Logan did as instructed. He trusted Aseri’s opinion, and certainly more than his own. His was completely uninformed, and while Aseri had said she’d never been an Avatar—that she could remember—she radiated competence. Whether it was deserved or not, he couldn’t know. Some people swaggered around with total assurance and were actually useless, and it could be hard to tell the difference right away. But Logan didn’t think Aseri was one of those. She seemed capable, and genuinely so.

Even if she wasn’t, an incompetent local to this world would probably make better decisions than him, a foreigner. The only wise decision Logan could make was to listen to his betters.

So he emptied out the mana core—leaving just a tad in reserve—pouring it all into the spawning pool. The surface of the thick liquid started to bubble.

A green hand shot from the pool, and it slammed down at the edge of the shore. A second joined it, then a head, pulling up thick strands of black. The liquid clung to them, as if trying to drag the creature back into its depths, refusing to yield the life escaping from it.

A goblin? Aseri had mentioned the race when discussing ‘possible’ grunt-types. Each spawning pool created something different. Further could be unlocked by expansion. There were dozens of the tingling lights, indicating places of interest, but only a few near him. The ones far away would take a while to get to. Hence, the need for grunts, and setting up an excavation force.

The green creature struggled from the pool and rolled over onto the stone. Logan considered helping them, but Aseri hadn’t, and they were doing fine on their own.

She, Logan corrected, studying the creature. The black liquid was sloughing from her body, revealing her. The goblin woman was only—at a guess—three and a half feet tall, but her body was curvaceous and plush. Can’t say I’m surprised. What had he expected from the dungeon? Obviously the goblin woman was … well, busty.

More hands were sprouting from the pool. Since he’d poured his entire mana reserve into it, it had created the largest force he could muster. Two, then four, then six. Pairs of hands stopped sprouting at nine. They clambered from the sticky depths, each rolling onto the shore and heaving. Being born is an exhausting process, I guess, he thought amusedly, watching the creatures (people?) catch their breath.

They all spawned with the same white clothes he and Aseri were wearing, which he thought odd. At least it meant he didn’t have to supply them, and spared everyone their modesty.

The first to arrive was also the first to gather her wits about her. She staggered to her feet, and Logan appraised her in better detail. Her ears were large, long, and pointy—even more than his and Aseri’s—and she was short and plump, in a good way. Her ratios weren’t quite human, with a squat torso and wide hips and bust. She had a wild mane of orange hair, coming down to her shoulders. Red eyes watched him impassively behind errant locks that ran down her face. 

Aseri had claimed grunts were people, but not fully formed; that hints of their personality existed, but they couldn’t be called ‘people’, not like Named. Despite that, her eyes were intense and inquisitive. She didn’t seem ‘half-formed’. It reaffirmed Logan’s decision to treat these people as if they were people, not that he’d been having second thoughts.

“Alright, pipsqueak,” Aseri said, holding her shovel forward. “Get to it.”

The goblin stared at her, but didn’t move.

“Give me command privilege,” Aseri said.

It was a bit of a demanding, assumed instruction that Aseri sent his way, but Logan wasn’t annoyed. He’d learned early on that Aseri was opinionated and bossy. Those were hardly the worst flaws a person could have. 

He did as requested.

“Go dig,” Aseri said, waggling the shovel again. This time, the goblin girl walked forward and seized the tool. 

But after grabbing it, she stared expectantly. Logan waited for her to say why she hadn’t moved—to explain what she needed—but Aseri had told him that grunts didn’t speak, not until a higher level.

“Oh,” Aseri said. “You need to assign a tunnel.”

“Like, tell her?”

“I guess you could do that. But I meant … I don’t know. You have a way to designate tasks, in bulk. So that you don’t need to give instructions to each grunt. That’d be a headache and half.”

Huh. 

Like always, Logan listened to his instincts. And honestly, partly guided by his experience back home on Earth. If there were to be a way to designate tasks, it’d be like this.

Logan activated [Ethereal Form] and separated from his body. He floated up, sinking into the ceiling, and putting distance between himself and the rest of the dungeon. It sprawled out beneath him, clearly visible against a backdrop of black void. Like I’m looking down at a bisection of an ant colony. Only two tunnels radiated from the center chamber—the core room—but eventually, he suspected, there would be dozens. Hundreds. A whole catacombs, with several floors.

He mapped out where the third closest point of interest was, then mentally designated an ‘excavation’ order for a long, thin tunnel to it. Far beneath him, he saw the goblin girl set off in the direction. It would be branching from his first tunnel, about halfway down. It worked, then. The goblin had had a work order assigned by Aseri, and once Logan had designated the task, she’d set off to accomplish it. Practically a hive mind. Well, not really, but certainly a more efficient system than could be hoped for through mundane means.

He stepped back into his body, and, having expected it from the first time, managed not to stagger. Though he did sway. Rejoining his corporeal form was an odd experience.

Aseri was sorting through the goblins, who had each stood and walked over. Logan started to understand what she meant. Though their eyes were intelligent, the way they stood quietly and waited to be tasked was unsettling. People, but … only halfway, like Aseri had said.

Still. They would be treated right. Any living creature deserved that.

“Alright,” Aseri said, clapping her hands once she’d finished commanding the last of the green creatures. “We’ve got a tunneling force going. They’re gonna get crammed just digging a single, though. Not enough space, they’ll get in each other’s way. You’ll want to assign—three or four to a tunnel? We have nine, so let’s do three by three. And make more wheelbarrows. And pickaxes, instead of shovels. They can use their hands, even, since they’re dungeon-bound, but pickaxes work best. They’re not as strong as us.”

Logan nodded, then got to it.