I nervously sit down and motion to Asaru to do the same.
“Talk? We can always talk. Go ahead.”
She nods. “What should I start with?”
I shrug. “From the beginning, probably.”
“What’s my role here?”
“Role?”
“Yes. I… I don’t know.” I raise my eyebrow. “I’m somehow lost after all of this.”
“You mean after leaving the dungeon?”
She nods. “What should I do next?”
She came to me with it. That’s… great! Should I just tell her to serve me and our tribe? No. That may work for me for a while, but it will only backlash later. It also seems she don't know anything about my plans.
“From what I see, you lost your meaning of life and are now searching for a new one. Am I right? Is it your problem that you don’t know the meaning of your life?”
She thinks for a moment. “I think so.”
“From my experience, the meaning of life is synonymous with your goal in life. Until your goal was to escape, that was the meaning of your life. You need to find a new goal in life.”
She frowns. “Just like that?”
“Just like that.” I nod. “I get it that your previous goal has been forced upon you. You can still choose for yourself, though.”
“What’s your life goal?”
“Mine? I suppose my main goal is to be happy. I do that with a bunch of lesser goals, like having a nice and sexy wife, having a lot of servants, being rich and immortal, and so on.”
“That’s…”
“Quite an open goal, I know. What about your own group?”
“They no longer need me. They want to grow stronger and then challenge Axi or Rike’grak. They want to see this new world.”
“So they left you behind.”
She frowns. “I’m not sure if this is correct.”
It is. I shrug. “You have two options. Pick a goal for yourself, like reaching the next tier or something, or concentrate on relationships. Become friends or lovers with someone and live for your community. That’s how I see it.”
“Do you live for Axi?”
That takes me aback. “A little?” I think so, but that’s untrue. “No. I suppose I do, actually.” That’s quite embarrassing. I suppose everyone needs someone close.
“I see. I will think about it.”
I stroll around the camp as the evening draws in. I need to find a goblin suitable to be my disciple to trick Zerenek into also accepting one. I have cores for all the basic elements, and I plan to give my disciple one of these. Other than that, should I consider this relationship serious or just invest enough to trick Zerenek?
I can’t give my disciple my core, and he may want it. In a way, it may be better to kill him. Maybe I can blame Zerenek for that later. Now, who do I choose?
I search for a candidate, but ultimately give up. I need to first decide on the plan, only then will I know who I am looking for. Who is to rise? I want them to be weak, but somehow useful for the tribe. Alternatively, they need to be strong but easily killed later. I grimace. Both options are hard to realize.
I figure it out after giving it some thought for several hours. Formation Master! I will teach the goblin about runes and let him create permanent enchantments on earth to act as large scale formations. This will give him significant power within the formation, but as long as I monitor him and install a few fail-safes, it won’t be dangerous to me. On the other hand, this will dramatically increase our ability to defend.
I frown. Enlightened people are using such means openly. Their technique is likely incomparable to mine. Small towns like Roheb may not have grand formations, but I should watch out for them if I ever decide to assault a bigger city.
Anyway, this plan is quite good. My disciple will be useful to the tribe, while his combat ability will be limited to earth magic. I’m planning to give him his earth core. I may even learn something from him, especially if he picks path centered on formations and enchantments.
The next day, I once again search for a candidate. I need someone smart, preferably with high magical talent, though that’s less important. High talent would help him level up Mana Sense easier and notice merged mana types easier, maybe even use those mana types in the formations. I’m not sure if I want him to be powerful, though. If he is too weak later, I can always pick another disciple.
After an hour, I finally find a goblin that seems to be drawing on the ground. I don’t recognize anything in it. I guess this is his hobby or something. It seems like a good enough candidate to me. I move neutral mana around him and seek a reaction. He raises his head. Perfect.
“You there!” The goblin looks back at me. “I decided to take you as my disciple! Follow me!”
The goblin follows, but I think he is a bit scared. I totally understand. I bring him back to my house.
“You like drawing, right? Here. Draw this on the ground.” I show him a rune carved on a piece of wood. It’s effect is to gather earth mana inside. Rune is very weak, though.
The goblin observes the carving for a while. I start to consider if I should have picked a hobgoblin in the meantime. After he finally starts to draw, I observe him intensely. When I notice he actually copies the carving, I sigh in relief. My plan seems to be working. Considering the rune's simplicity, the goblin finishes it in a few minutes.
I frown. Not precise enough. I correct it a bit and show the goblin the effect. “See? Eat this as a reward. This rune next. If you can make it work without my help, I will give you something even better.”
I train him a bit like a dog, but it has an effect. He completes a few runes without my help. After that, I let him kill a few monsters in the evening during the kill-resurrect farming session.
Next day, I got a strange notification.
You have earned a name: Smag the Warlock (Common)!
What? I trigger the rest of the suppressed notifications and check my status screen.
You have killed 37 1st tier monsters! You have earned 3420 Experience Points!
You have killed 42 2nd tier monsters! You have earned 38800 Experience Points!
You have reached level 11.
Your Strategy skill have reached level 35.
Your Vitality Bank skill have reached level 23 → 24.
Your Sword Fighting skill have reached level 33 → 34.
Your Dodging skill have reached level 19 → 20 → 21. (Perk Available!)
Your Mana Sense skill have reached level 49 → 50. (Perk Available!)
Your Mana Manipulation skill have reached level 49.
Your Soul Perception skill have reached level 27 → 28 → 29.
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Your Rune Basics skill have reached level 44 → 45 → 46.
Your Leadership skill have reached level 26 → 27 → 28.
Your Plotting skill have reached level 26 → 27 → 28.
Name: Smag the Warlock (Common)
Age: 0
Race: Hobgoblin Grand Shaman
Level:11/20
Strength: 18
Vitality: 37
Endurance: 12
Dexterity: 34
Intelligence: 68
Will: 68
Affinity: 44
Health:190/190
Stamina:126/154
Mana:436/460
Traits
Iron Stomach 25 (Uncommon) – Resistant Stomach, Efficient Stomach
Vitality Mana Affinity 16 (Legendary) – Poison Crusher
Combat skills
Spear Fighting 28 (Common) – Strength I, Strength II
Sneaking 28 (Common) – Silent Walk I, Silent Walk II
Hiding 27 (Common) – Temperate Forest Monster Lore I, Silent Breathing
Tracking 14 (Uncommon) Intelligence I
Strategy 35 (Rare) – Will I, Lieutenants I, Command Range I
Sword Fighting 34 (Common) – Basic Sword Moves, Deflecting I, Grounded Style
Dodging 21 (Common) – Strong Legs I,
Magic Skills
Mana Sense 50 (Uncommon) – Inward Perfection, Resolution I, Vitality Mana Sense, Master of Own Body
Mana Manipulation 49 (Uncommon) – Mana Flow I, Mana Lock I, Rune Casting, Mana Insulation
Vitality Buff 28 (Epic) – Gates I, Gates II,
Vitality Clot 29 (Very Rare) – Sails I, Bigger Clot,
Vitality Bank 24 (Very Rare) – Stealth, Auto-Destruction
Soul Perception 29 (Very Rare) – Decay Sense, Remaining Time
Move Soul 18 (Very Rare) - Grip
Rune Basics 46 (Uncommon) – Basic Runes, Basic Earth Runes, Basic Air Runes, Ambient Mana Runes
Transplant Soul 23 (Epic) – Borrowed Vitality, Store Soul
Vitality Mana Control 32 (Legendary) – Vitality Flow I, Vitality Runes, Healer
Crafting Skills
Wood Working 27 (Common) - Mana Wood Reinforcement I, Rune Carving
Fortification Construction 13 (Rare) – Intelligence I
Trap Making 22 (Common) - Will I, Will II
Leadership 28 (Uncommon) – Will I, Loud and Clear
Rune Scribbling 38 (Uncommon) - Rune Scribbling Specialist I, Rune Scribbling Specialist II, Wood Expertise
Bone Working 17 (Common) – Dexterity I
Plotting 28 (Uncommon) – Acting I, Relationships Analyzer I,
Flesh Working 24 (Rare) – Anatomy I, Addons
Titles
None
Skill levels are a bit low, but that’s because I have yet to earn enough EXP to fill them up. The fact that the very rare Soul Perception skill leveled three times already suggests I learned a lot. My cap should be high. Lower rarity skills usually level first, most likely due to lesser requirements for experience.
I take a look at the name. The whole reason I’m checking my system right now. I kind of expected to be granted a bad-ass name by the system, but it actually just confirmed the name Axi gave me. Why now?
I look at the second part. The Warlock. That’s how humans in Robeh know me. Is this some kind of popularity contest? Essentially, does that mean I have a name in the system because I’m commonly known by that name? Can I change it? What would happen if I changed my image into that of a good guy who helps everyone? Would I then be Smag the Saint?
Then there’s the common description. If I were to guess, my name just reached minimal popularity for the common designation. Making myself more famous should elevate the rarity of my name. Will that give me any benefits? Maybe being able to detect everyone uttering my name or something like that? I shake my head. If that’s possible, it’s probably reserved for legendary and mythical names, or something like that.
Who would get the name next? Rike’grak is probably the most famous of us. Actually, it's possible he already has a name in his system. I didn’t show Axi too much. While she probably made an impression, she didn’t give her name to many people. Adam? He learned all our names. Maybe he is disseminating that knowledge.
Anyway, this doesn’t seem to influence my life in any way. I go back to my parts for the Soul Blade, and keep tinkering. After another infusion of Exp in the evening, I continue training my new disciple the next day. He is making some progress, so I give him his earth core. The process is similar to what I saw in Axi, and my disciple successfully becomes an earth mage. I teach him then to use his earth magic skills to draw runes.
I pick up my new perks in the meantime.
Strong Legs II
When trying to dodge, do so as like you have 60% more Strength.
Balance Control
Learn how to dodge while keeping yourself balanced.
Should I keep getting direct benefits for my dodging, or should I try to learn how to dodge? The second option is better in the long term, but I’m not sure if I have time for this. I’m already busy. Sure, I could spend less time with Axi and relax and actually work all day like those protagonists in manga and books, but I know I won’t be able to maintain such a lifestyle for more than a week. I need breaks. Strong Legs it is, at least for now. I suppose I will reset the skill some time in the future.
Mana of the Body
Become capable of sensing various mana types of elements that constitute a body with significantly greater clarity.
Three-merged I
Become better at recognizing three-merged mana types.
Two-merged Proficiency
Become capable of differentiating all two-merged mana types in nature.
Wow. As expected of a skill at level 50. There are only 60 different two-merged mana types in the world, at least according to the most popular theory. Sooner or later, I will be able to find them all. I should already have capacity; it’s just that I don’t know what I’m looking for. The fact that some of them are only in specific places (like lava mana) and others are everywhere in very small quantities (like heat mana) is not helping.
Elements that constitute a body, like bones, blood, and flesh, should all have at least three merged mana. So, it’s a choice between huge boost to mana types that govern bodies versus all three-merged mana types.
Mana of the Body is an attack. It will allow me to better understand my vitality mana and how to use it. Three-merged I is defense. I don’t want to be killed by magic I can’t even notice. I pick Mana of the Body. The chances that someone will have a three-merged mana type in 2nd tier zone are negligible, at least by forgetting about me and Asaru.
I pick the perk and observe my soul. Nope. I hoped it would also affect soul mana, but it doesn't. Still, I notice new mana types in my body. It will take me some time to better grasp the feeling, not to mention figure out how all those mana types work with each other.
Time passes. After a week, my disciple can create some easier formations only by using his magic. I smirk. It’s time to start the challenge. I have already waited too long. Who knows what ideas went into Zerenek’s head? For all I know, he may be trying to kill me as well. I need to seize the initiative as soon as possible.
“Zerenek!” I shout at his house. I went there once, soon after our victory. I wanted to look through kobolt's shaman's belongings. Nothing new to me appeared, though I think he may have hidden something from me. I doubt it’s something dangerous, though. That stuff Asaru stole before the battle.
“What? What do you want?”
I smirk. “I come to inform you about changes in our tribe. This young, talented man begged me so much that I decided to accept him as my disciple. He is quite powerful. This means you are now third in the hierarchy of shamans.”
“Bullshit! Do you think you can bully me like this?!”
Some goblins around start to gather to observe the commotion. Great. “What bulling? It’s the truth. New generations come and exceed the old. This young goblin may be even become as strong as me in the future.”
“Then why do we need you?”
I frown. This guy really wants to kill me. “Obviously, since I’m planning to live a long and happy life, the tribe doesn’t need another me. He has a different specialty. As you can see, my knowledge is so great that I can teach ten goblins, and each will learn something useful and powerful. I even wanted to teach you before, but you refused.”
“I don’t need teaching! I’m better than you!”
I theatrically sigh. “Then why contribute to the tribe so little? Not only are my blessings better, I even teach a future shaman.” Some goblins observing us look back at Zerenek curiously. It’s true that I’m the more popular shaman. Even Zerenek should know this in his heart. This means there’s only one way for him to show his superiority and keep his face.
“I can teach a better disciple than yours will ever become!”
“Oh? Will you ordain another priest?”
“Sure! Fine!”
“Ok!” I need to bind him to his words before he can change his mind. “Let’s give up on the ranking for now. We can decide after comparing our disciples.”
Zerenek smirks. “What if my disciple will be stronger?”
“Do you want to make a bet out of that? Sure. If your disciple is stronger, you will be our main shaman. Otherwise, you will come obediently to me for lessons for the betterment of the tribe.”
Zerenek scowls but nods. “Fine! Let’s do that. Don’t bother me for now!” He goes back to his house.
Mission accomplished.
Another week passes. Zerenek picked another goblin, but he keeps him in his house. I need a chance to meet him and then bribe and indoctrinate him to be loyal to me. Otherwise, nothing happens. The second-tier zone is calmer than the first-tier zone. Everyone is keeping to their hunting grounds and mostly avoiding conflicts with equally powerful neighbors. On one hand, this is smart, but how will they get their achievements?
Goblins can evolve easily up to 4th tier ogres. The rest of the monsters don’t have this advantage. They need sufficient achievements to evolve, like killing something stronger. Or maybe kill enough humans. Wait! They won’t.
Monsters here don’t know about humans. Even if they know about humans, they don’t know where they are. A monster looking for achievements won’t go back to the 1st tier zone. I ask the system: What do I need to have to evolve to the 5th tier? Answer: Achievement. What kind of achievement? What constitutes an achievement?
The system tells me a few things. Kill something powerful. Kill a lot of entities equally as powerful as you in one battle. Survive something you shouldn’t have. Conquer something. Bonus points for conquering enlightened. Becoming a leader of your community is also a small achievement, so it makes sense that kobolts’ leader was in the 3rd tier.
Nothing on this list would cause monsters to return to the first tier zone unless they are aware that humans are present beforehand. Humans are clever. Most monsters won’t ever go their way.
Days pass. A 3rd tier cat, probably a lynx evolution, entered our territory from the 1st-tier zone side. Most likely a newly evolved monster. A hunting party killed it. It was a waste; they didn’t capture it.
Asaru enters my house. “Asaru? What can I do for you?”
“I want to talk about something.”
“Sure. Sit down. Tea?” It’s not a true tee, but it seems kobolts used these leaves to prepare a drink for themselves. The taste is better than water, and if it’s poisonous, then it’s not strong enough to affect goblins’ stomachs.
“Ok.”
I turn on formation with a fire core as a mana source, then place a pot on this stove. “Neat, right?” I throw a few leaves inside. “So what do you want to discuss?”
“I want to ask about your marriage with Axi.”
“Why? Did you find someone for yourself?”
“No. I just want to learn about marriage.”
“Ok.” I pick up the pot and pour tea into two cups. “Here you are. I don’t have magic to remove heat yet, unfortunately.” I sit with her. “So, what do you want to know?”
“I heard that marriage makes you and Axi only have sex with each other. However, I know you are breeding two human girls who live in this house.”
Is that an accusation? Hm… “I would rather tell you that marriage is an agreement that we won’t have sex with others without approval. Axi don’t mind me breeding those two girls.” Basically, I only have sex with them every two weeks. Did Asaru come here now because I bred them yesterday? That was the only time since our tribe settled here, actually. I have Axi, and I spend most of my free time having fun with her.
“I see. Does that mean someone else can have sex with Axi?”
“Nope! I do mind.”
She frowns. “That’s a bit unfair.”
I shrug. “If Axi thinks it’s unfair, then she can tell me to only have sex with her from now on. I will comply.”
Asaru thinks for a moment. What’s that about? “But you didn’t stop her from having sex with two human girls that live with you two.”
I smile sheepishly. “I suppose it’s true. I don’t mind her having sex with other girls.”
“Then, do you mind if I were to go for it?”
Oh. So that’s what this is all about.