“Why do we start by killing goblins?” Meyun asked as two custom made floating drones took down another goblin patrol in the Dungeon tunnels. Currently, the entire party was being shepherded by Eve to ensure positive teambuilding camaraderie. Meyun continued, “They seem like a knock-off version of ugly human children. Evil ones.”

“Because it is easier to kill something that isn’t really human.” Eve said her figure blurring as the ten goblins attacking her turned into mince. There was a crunching noise and the minced meat vanished into the maw of a small shrub that was handling the body cleaning for the dungeon dive. Kudzu’s ability to separate his consciousness into many pieces was a wonderful bit of eldritch alchemy. “Admit it, you feel nothing for the little green guy’s dying. They are bloodthirsty monsters who feel no hesitation at stabbing a sharp object into your soft body.”

“We’ve killed before though. When you fire the guns of a spaceship, casualties occur naturally. Our group, following Iantha, is responsible for the direct genocide of an entire race. It feels like you are starting us out in the kiddie pool.” Mishka said with a sigh as another goblin died of cancer from being healed to death. Soft crunching noises accompanied the departure of the flesh into an unending shrubby maw. Mishka shuddered as she glanced at the tiny form of Kudzu that accompanied the party.

“Look, nothing personal, ok perhaps a little personal, but you’re all below Tier Two. We have to start slow, and ease you into it. Granted I’m not the most stable person after being cast away from everything and everyone I know and love. However, I have the basics down pretty well.” Eve said flicking the blood off her Jian. “Did you start shooting spaceship guns before you learned how they worked? Of course not! The same principle applies here.”

“We can handle more though, these things are pathetic.” Meyun said with a grimace.

Eve’s smile grew wooden before she finally turned to Iantha and said, “What would you like to do? These are your people. I can accelerate the pace, but it won’t be safe, and it won’t be easy. Speed kills.”

Iantha looked at Eve’s expression cautiously before she asked, “Is there a reason we aren’t rushing to kill higher Tier creatures?”

Eve said, “Yes.” Turning to Meyun and Mishka, Eve continued, “Currently, you have gained a taste of the System’s power. Skills, Spells, Traits, and so forth. You might feel on top of the world. It’s common to think you are a thousand times stronger than before. Rare exceptions to this exist.” Eve gestured to Bennie who hadn’t said a word and continued to kill goblins.

Eve didn’t pull her vitriol and said, “You are strong, like a baby chick is strong against a worm. Against anyone three Tiers below me, you are cannon fodder. Two, gnats. One, amoeba that die from air pressure changes. This path is safe, easy, and practical. There are people who would give their souls to me on a platter to get personalized training.” Eve continued in glacial tone, “However, we can go at a different pace. Stronger. Faster. Harder. I just won’t be able to guarantee that none of you will suffer irreparable loss of sanity, dismemberment, or death.”

Mishka and Meyun both looked at each other before Meyun said, “Slow and steady wins the race.” Mishka nodded in agreement with the engineer’s statement.

“Excellent! I’m willing to accept we might be slightly slower than the optimum.” Eve said with a bright smile before she minced a few more goblins that attempted a sneak attack. “However, I don’t mind letting you see where you stand. Here, I’ll give you a shot.” A yellow-skinned goblin the same height as Meyun appeared with a confused expression in the cavern.

Eve pointed and said, “This is the upgraded form of a goblin, a Tier Two. They are called, hobgoblins, aptly enough. If both of you can defeat him we’ll move straight to the next Tier of opponents.”

Mishka and Meyun glanced nervously at each other as Eve gave them a bright smile filled with kindness and empathy. “This isn’t some unbeatable master of mortal combat that you keep on hand to school ignorant yokels is it?” Mishka finally asked as she watched the hobgoblin give commands to the goblin brigade attacking them.

“No. I’m training you, not killing you.” Eve said with another saccharine smile.

“Wait, why are the goblins suddenly acting like elite troops?” Meyun asked sharply.

“Oh, hobgoblins buff their lesser kin. You would have encountered that later, but it’s a good lesson now too.” Eve said nodding sagely. A few of the now-organized goblins attacked her but she dealt with them in the same manner as before. As the shrub-copy Kudzu cleaned up more corpses the hobgoblin’s eyes narrowed before a gnarled finger ending in a hooked talon pointed towards Mishka and Meyun. It was a clear signal to attack the weaker individuals.

Without delay, Bennie, Iantha, Helsted, and Eve moved out of the attacking goblin swarm’s path. Eve wore an evil grin, Iantha was smirking, Bennie looked like a priestly pious lady of a cruel deity, and Helsted suddenly took interest in the ceiling’s natural beauty.

“Bastards!” Meyun screamed desperately throwing out more drones from somewhere.

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“I’ll remember this betrayal when someone needs healing.” Mishka said giving a cold look at Iantha and Helsted.

She can’t threaten Bennie because I wouldn’t let my own High Priestess die so that threat is useless against her. Eve thought as her evil grin widened to epic proportions and a maniac cackle burst out. At least there isn’t a Goblin Hero here. If I ever find the Deity that thought that was a good idea I’ll have to pull out the blunt and rusted spoons to express my displeasure.

Putting her attention back to the two intrepid youths Eve watched as Meyun took the path of an endless army of minions to dispose of the goblins attacking him. Mishka took a similar method of spreading a fast-acting disease among those attempting to swarm her. Eve nodded noting how both had instinctively developed methods to counter swarm tactics.

Only when numbers are meaningless and only quality can compare will they be safe. Eve thought with a flash of worry. Better they learn now, than in the thick of a Hive minded opponent. Her eyes flashed as she had a burst of insight.

Hive minded creatures had to have a method to communicate among the swarm. Eve took that thought a step further Nota added her own input from the vast library she was becoming. Both of them agreed that energy transfer would be most efficient through a metallic medium. Nota pointed out that mimicking the transmission method of computers from Eve’s home would work as a decent start. That concept segued into a discussion of fiber optics which branched into a quick discussion of effective transmission pathways.

Metal is more flexible, but slower in theory. Nota posited.

Slower compared to pure light, yes. But it doesn’t have a plethora of problems like light does. I mean just off the top of my head I can’t think of how to create a light pathway. It would require extensive testing and theory. Metal just requires a few samples and then constant iteration improvements. I don’t think I could enchant light pathways as easily either. Eve replied.

If we do this right it will open up a massive amount of bandwidth to work with. Nota commented. How will you deal with the world being permanently in a frozen moment?

That won’t be a problem. We’ll cheat and use the familiar link to create sub-Nota forms that are not truly sentient or sapient as control nodes. Eve thought in glee. Then can each take a portion of the bandwidth while my humanity remains intact on a tiny bit. When something requiring a higher reaction speed occurs I can devour the amount of data transmission bandwidth required to meet it by taking over from them.

This is going to hurtto do though. Nota warned. Replacing every single nerve…

Eve frowned before she replied. I can do the brain at the same time. In theory the process wouldn’t hurt because my pain receptors wouldn’t have anything to transmit to as the brain wouldn’t be awake.

I don’t suggest that. Nota replied with firmness. The possibility that something will go wrong amplifies without you being conscious for the procedure. No pain, no gain.

Eve paused as she watched the hobgoblin get double teamed by Meyun and Mishka. The duo had cleaned the clock of the normal goblin swarm leaving only the Tier Two one left.

Agreed. It will be ungodly suffering, but the benefits are immense. Eve finally stated.

When would you like to proceed? Nota asked.

After we push Iantha and company to Tier Five. I don’t want them to meet the kids before they are tough enough to take care of themselves. Eve replied with a firm mental voice.

Understood. I’ll talk to Felix and the Hut about making a room for this. Nota sent. What type of metal will we be using?

Silver of course! Eve replied. Mana-Silver to be exact, enchanted sheathing, and properly aligned atomic ions for perfection!

Zing! Nota sent as her presence reduced once more into the background of Eve’s mind.

Turning her attention fully back to the fighting, Eve watched as the hobgoblin effortlessly beat both Meyun and Mishka into the ground with the superiority of Stats. Stepping forward Eve intercepted the claws that were about to rip the heart out of both Tier Ones.

“Do you understand now?” Eve said as her cold silver eyes glowed with nigh demonic brilliance. “This is not the world you left. Here the tyranny of Tier holds sway.” Eve glanced at the hobgoblin that had attempted to shatter her kneecap. The idiot’s attempt had crushed his own right tibia, and she saw no reason not to provide a matching pair. As the hobgoblin crumpled to the ground Eve stepped in to cripple it further leaving only one arm functional.

“My interference counts as your loss, agreed?” Eve stated. Mishka and Meyun both nodded with pale faces. Nodding, she gestured her High Priestess over before saying, “Finish the creature.”

Bennie gave an assenting nod before moving to the crippled hobgoblin. Slowly with care she started to bombard the one remaining functional arm heavily while keeping a chain of continuous damage on the three crippled limbs. The power flowing through the High Priestess contained a simple blessing that prevented Regeneration or other such shenanigans from occurring. As the screams of the desperate hobgoblin grew more frantic Eve continued her lesson.

“Stats are just the easiest form of superiority to understand. Yet when he first appeared, this specimen was barely above you in might. Do you wonder then, how he gained such strength to utterly crush the combined efforts of both of you?” Eve asked.

“He gained a buff, somehow, something made him stronger in the time between when he arrived and when we fought him.” Mishka said as her eyes narrowed.

“Correct.” Eve said pointing to the corpses being devoured by the shrub sized Kudzu clone. “You all made him stronger. For each of his weaker kin that fell before him the hobgoblin’s power grew. This effect is a basictrick that most upper tier monsters have. Many species that are not monsters have learned a duplication of the trick making commanders of armies and such extremely dangerous. Numbers can kill with more than just exhaustion around here.”

“Could we do the same?” Meyun said as his eyes slowly lit up. Mishka’s pale face grew rosy as she realized the implications. Both of them used minions to fight. What heights could be reached in personal power if every minion downed made them stronger?

Eve smiled a crystal clear piece of glee as she said, “Why not? Nothing stops you, except the fact that you are only Tier One at the moment.” She nodded as the expression of fiery motivation appeared in both their eyes.

It was good to see the rise of those she considered decent possible allies.