When I woke up again, I quickly learned one important thing, eating Cores would give you a hangover. Or at least something similar as I woke up with the mother of all headaches and my stomach was not in the mood for any breakfast. Hopefully, the effects would fade before long.

. Well, there is the answer to that. Now, how long would I have to deal with this searing poker behind my eyes? … Great, just awesome and of course the Records failed to mention this possibility before I ate them. The smug little… I dismissed the thought. It would not do me any good, anyway.

I forced myself out of the Core room and double-checked my stats again. Which, despite the splitting pain, made me chuckle, 49EP, 45TP and 40M, and also maxed out Essence, this was worth the headache, decidedly so.

First things first though, I took to the skies and, somewhat unsteadily, flew over to the Kobold Village. I had promised to check in on them when I woke up, after all. Upon entering the village, the Kobolds quickly ran over and gathered around me, their worry clear on their small scaly faces. “Great One are you unwell, should Ssatassha call for a healing ritual?” I shook my head.

“There is no reason for alarm, I just have a headache due to power overflow. It will work itself out in a while” the little ones seemed to relax a great deal from my reassurances. They eagerly led the way as I bade them show me around. They had been prolific in their work while I slept, as they had improved and expanded nearly every aspect of the village I had put down.

That reminded me, shouldn’t the village cause some form of a bonus for the monsters that lived here? . That was decidedly worth it.

. Even better! That would take years though, since they were Pact Monsters and not just part of the dungeon. But then I was playing the long game here. It would probably come in handy someday down the line.

Besides, even if it didn’t, the elated and happy expressions on their little faces made it all worth it, anyway.