Victor stabbed the nape of the wolf he just killed. Then he ate the wolf, not in a literal sense, but by opening his mouth from the ground and sucking it dry. The pages of his book immediately turned, and the ink on paper swirled and changed.

[1 Soul Gained]

[Affinity: Predator]

[Skill unlocked: Trap Creation]

He wiped the sweat off his brow. It was ironic how he killed the wolf with a trap in the first place. It was almost a two months since the old man first took him out of the crystal, and he have been learning ever since.

He grabbed his blade and started skinning the hare he caught before. That won’t be for him. Alzan has grown more and more weaker with each passing day. Now he could barely even stand. And even though Victor never knew him very well, he was still the man who taught him all that he needed to know. Victor treated him so he could repay that gratitude, not because of respect.

Once the job was done, he looked around at his dungeon, or him. He managed to create four strong walls around the crystal, and now the basic security implications were in place. He also managed to create a little tunnel like entrance, but with no doors. he let nature take care of it. Surely enough, within a few weeks there were shrubs on the floor and vines on around the walls. It looked more like a cave entrance that was shrouded in the woods.

But with the skill of trap creation he could effectively add some traps of anyone who dared to approach him.

His journey up to the old man’s cave gave him a nice view of what was going at the sea. The fleet of ships were now divided. A part was moving east, and the others were still positioned a few hundred feet from the shores. He had seen a boat being lowered to the water from time to time, but so far, his side of the forest had been clean.

“Alzan,” he cut a chunk of meat and placed it on the pan above the fire. “It’s time to eat.”

“Cursed bones,” the old wizard sat on the bed, a process that took a lot of time. “I hate this! Why don’t I just die already?”

“It’s your curse that you don’t have healing magic as a mage.”

He frowned. “Dumb boy, do you think mages are doctors? Just like your affinities we have our own paths that we improve. Healing, is a path for the people who hate war. And I love war.”

Victor let the roasted chunk of meat drop into a bowl, and then poured Alzan some hot water.

“I can create traps now.” he said, serving him his breakfast.

“Good, lay a few on the entrances. Have you thought about expansion yet?”

“Yes, I have a plan.”

The mage gave a weak nod, and grudgingly accepted the meal. Despite being on bed he still had his pride. He spent nights mostly speaking about his victories of war, or how he slept with some war maiden who looked prettier than some queens. They were the same stories, but those were the only way Victor could learn about the outside world.

Because he had a big problem.

Since he was the dungeon itself, the places he could go were very limited. If he moved more than a hundred steps from the last position of his dungeon then he would get nausea. He would throw up at times, or get paralyzed in worst cases. So his only way to reach the kingdom was to expand his area till the walls of the kingdom.

When Victor stepped out, he looked around him. With the knowledge from Alzan, he could clearly label what he saw. On the north, positioned at the base of the mountains and rising till the top was the Yegin Clan - a clan of cultivators with a leader who could summon storms out of the sky. In his left, was the kingdom Dula. It had three cities within it, all managed by an old monarch.

The naval fleet on the right was the Black Company - a set of sea pirates who had their own dominion at the sea. They had their own sea creatures as well as assistance of mermaids bound to them by blood.

Three strong forces, all vying for him. Or the crystal - which was his heart. The one who gets it first will finally have enough power to overpower the other. But Alzan has stolen it from god knows who, and used the lasts of his strength to personify him to a living person. he was his own entity, and his objective was to kill all three forces. Or else, they kill him.

Victor shivered, and as he turned his eyes suddenly caught a boat heading towards the shore. The Black Company had sent boats before, but none of them had ever come closer to the shore.

“Uh…Alzan…”

He told him what was happening.

The mage coughed, splattered the meat on the bowl, then lied back. “Impossible! The Black Company has made a pact with Dula on not to set foot on the shores. The forest belongs to the kingdom! Even if they wanted to enter the kingdom they will find a way to sneak in, not openly declare war.”

“That’s only one boat.”

“And the shores are guarded. There is no way they could enter through it.”

Despite his words, the boat was clearly edging close.

“Alzan-”

He sighed. “I know what you are about to say. Go. If they ever reach this side of the forest, you know what to do. Better put your trap creation to good use.”

Victor grinned. He didn’t know why, but he got a sudden thrill. Like a tiger waiting for the hare to come to its den.

When he turned to leave, Alzan called him. He looked at him with an expression Victor had never seen before.

“Boy,” he muttered. “Good luck.”

*

There was no possibility that the crew in the boat would reach the dungeon. If Alzan was right they would already be dead the moment they keep foot in the shore. That would be job already done for Victor. But there was a nagging feeling behind him that something wasn’t right.

Alzan had mentioned guards at the shore, and at nights he had seen smokes rising to the sky from the shore, but there have been few and few lately. Besides, if there were guards on the shore he should have at least encountered one of them crossing the forest over the past two months. Yet, he found none.

I should be focusing on the traps.

He summoned his trusty book. It was something he got used to over the past few weeks.

He focused on trap building and the pages turned.

[Trap Building - Basic Level - 5 Traps available]

Victor’s options weren’t looking good. He had none of those abilities, even though they sounded a lot cooler. That limited his options for the first two, which both looked pretty much the same. He currently had five souls in his possession from his last week’s hunting session, and he was glad he kept a reserve.

He focused on the eastern entrance of the dungeon, and started building his traps there. It had the most chance of the crew entering. And in that case, he needed to be ready.

He created four Arrow Gauntlets. One right at the entrance, and the trigger for it was a pedal on the floor, effectively covered by the overgrown vines. The second was a few steps later of the same structure, but more angled to the side. The entrance was a narrow one, and in case two people walked in side by side, there needed to be a way to eradicate them both.

The third one was in the form of a lever. he had created a door to the dungeon core, and if anyone thought the lever was the solution to opening the door, then they would get an arrow flying from the back at hitting their spine.

The last was the one he placed on the Northern entrance, just in case the crew decided to choose the harder path of the forest and approach from the North. He used his last remaining soul in a dart trap as well, just for effective measure. If they attacked from the North, he’d have to rely on the traps to scare them, but if they hit from the east, then they were at the palm of his hand.

And then he stayed, deep within the core. Because that’s where he felt secure the most.