The party of five Goblins slowly approaches their three napping cronies with snobby arrogance, in the way a bratty bully would approach his nerdy junior. Goblins being Goblins, all three currently naps in bliss even through the approaching clamors, until one of the five comes forward and clanks his metal bat onto the post's metal pole in glee. The nappers woke up screaming, I betcha they got a Taunt skill or something..

For a while, several typical scenes of how the big bad superior employee would talk down to his/her junior can be seen, which includes shouting, cursing, and more clanging topped by the occasional apologies. Though, I couldn't care less, all eight of them are my enemy, invaders!

This new party of five Goblins seems more developed, sporting slightly larger physiques and better equipment. One carries a small bow and a quiver of arrow on its back, while another wears a cloak with two daggers attached to its hips. The other two have several missmatching armor, each holding a different weapon, a very familiar metal bat, and a clever & trash-lid shield combo. The last Goblin wears nothing but a loincloth but sports overinflated muscles. 'Inspect!' X5.

** DING **

Goblin Scout lv 11

Goblin Bandit lv 10

Goblin Warrior lv 10

Goblin Warrior lv 11

Elite Goblin Berserker lv 12

Holy~, I don't think my current level of strength is quite enough to take them on. Well maybe if I disregard my life and go all out, so, no thanks.

The hazing ended soon enough, the three Goblins are left afraid and very alert. While their seniors continued south cackling in jest. South is where I came from and there was nothing... I made to follow them while Sneaking, whatever a party of high leveled enemies plan on doing, I want to know.

The party didn't travel much further, stopping by the abandoned mall and through the broken entrance of a Burger King. I decided to lurk outside around the overgrown bushes for a while, rather than go in blind. Is this their base of operation? Their nest?

The glass walls prove to be very helpful, despite being in its abandoned state and having parts of it covered by tarpaulins, including signs that say temporarily closed. My eyes managed to follow the Goblins further inside through the uncovered parts for a while, I take it they only use this door as an entrance then. Focusing on Mana Sense allowed me to get a feel of their position, only to once again lose them as they move further in. A scouting spell, something like a drone would be very useful right about now.

A drone, huh… I'm sitting ducks out here, so I decided to Sneak into the fast food joint and carefully make my way up to their second floor. Finally finding an acceptable spot to hide inside what is probably a cleaning closet, it has signs of one despite being empty. I made sure to carefully apply Soften on the upper-mid areas of the door to leave a bit of space for my disks to come through.

Now then, Magico Disk v.2… I increase the amount of Latent Mana surrounding the disk by about fifty and wish for it to connect with my sight in a way that doesn't obstruct my own eyes, a wireless connected drone, an extra pair of eyes in the sky. The saws join up into a blunt outer edge, making it look like the common UFO designs.

The effects took hold almost instantly, my vision suddenly shifted as though wearing 3D glasses the wrong way, but while having two pairs of eyes instead of one. My Mana Sense added to the confusion, when I noticed the effect didn't even use a third of what I provided. To not waste the mana, I command them to further reinforce the disk and prevent loss of control due to impact. The tiny bit of Latent Mana left I used to shroud the disk in darkness.

A few minutes of practice later, including maneuvering the disk out of the hole I made higher on the door… I have determined that to prevent overloading my brain, Mana Sense needs to be off, and that I can also close my disk-eye as though my regular one and vice versa. All set, I close my actual eyes to better control the disk and set forth as the disk-drone, while keeping close to the ceilings to remain less visible. Fortunately, none of the building's lightings are on, allowing the sun to create shadows on the ceiling and against the walls or furniture big enough to hide in.

The party of five stayed on the first floor during their entry, whereas I decided to keep to the second floor. I know for a fact, gossip facts, that the mall in question has a balcony-like second floor that overlooks the first. Which proves to be true.

The building is in ruins. Where parts of the second floor have crumbled down and the walls are brittle and falling apart, I might~ have lent a hand in some of that. A flaw in design made itself known during the scouting, that is I can't hear a damn thing through this, tis' sights only.

Viewing around the second floor and what's visible on the first floor bore no fruits, guess the Goblins are at least smart enough to build their nest somewhere somewhat secure. Or I'm totally wrong and they're just passing through.

Another check to find that the coast is clear and I find myself exiting the maybe-closet to Sneakingly make my way deeper inside. Collecting my second pair of eyes along the way, where I had it land on a table and closed its eyes, into my pocket. Speaking of pockets, I've been wearing these same pairs of blue jeans, T-shirt and undies, cleaning them and myself with Unsoil every night before bed and during the occasional need, sometimes Disinfect too. Mend to repair the rips and tears, it's one way magic has improved my life, no laundry and baths!

Sneaking in carefully, I pass another broken entrance, the Goblins probably broke open a few ways in and out. Eventually I found myself a little precariously standing by the balcony among rubbles, ruins and parts of a collapsed floor, looking down onto the first floor. This time, very unlike the drone, the raucous presence of a Goblin tribe is unmissable, generally coming from my left, definitely first floor.

It is bugging me how depilated the construction is, the floors feel fragile on each step, it didn't feel like this back at the housing or hospital. The Burger King seems to be in slightly better condition, while the flyover has collapsed… is something causing the material to deteriorate faster? The second floor and flyover are both above ground level with only the occasional support, while the burger king has walls and large beams to support its whole side.

I took out the disk-drone and had it hover in place while I carefully made my way back into the safety of the fast food closet. The short journey was uneventful besides noting, through the windows, that the light of the sun is upon its golden hours, maybe about 4 or 5 pm. So, I sat down and closed the eyes on my face, opening the extra eyes outside and driving it towards where the sounds were coming from. I like how this disk is always available anytime the need arises.

The going was slow on account of having to check every room and remain undetected. Alas, all bad things, thankfully, come to an end. The tedious search ended at the furthest left room, a broken sign says hype art above a wide door with two Goblins on guard at each side. There is an oppressive loom over the area.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

I stuck close to the roofs and walls, maneuvering my disk-drone to a position somewhere above and slightly behind the two guards, before carefully lowering and passing through the entrance. The place is a massive mess, the large room is maybe about the size of five basketball fields. What used to be supermarket racks line the outer walls, along with anything inedible and unusable as a tool.

The tools, weapon-ish and armor-ish objects are stacked haphazardly in a pile nearby the entrance. While further inside, about fifteen Goblins can be found in various states of rest. And in one corner, a makeshift jail of sorts can be seen. Foods, and drinks are strawn about everywhere, part consumed, part smushed, part getting shoved down a throat. They take sharing is caring to a whole new level, though maybe less the caring part.

The party of five can be seen sitting near a bonfire talking with a taller, more human-like version of the Goblins. Betcha all my Creds that's a Hob. They partake in what seems like human flesh, if I guessed what that thing on the BBQ spit is correctly. Damn it!

I approach the jail like construct out of curiosity, not liking my hunch on where this is going. The jail is made of a wide variety of things, including golf sticks, tent poles, clothes racks, cleaning tools and lots and lots of rope. Very creative these brutes and very deserving to die.

Unfortunately, as predicted, the jail houses a few women. Undressed and very much unclean, worse yet their injuries and the visible bulge on their stomach. Damn it!

What I couldn't predict is the lack of anger beside the first few spikes at seeing the women. Wrath does not find itself home within me as I look at the dead expressions on their faces, the faces of all five women. Only the cold determination to see these green skinned shits extinct.

I set the drone on one of the higher parts of the fence, facing outwards overlooking their den, and had it close its drone-eyes… My real eyes open in the small dark room, a grim night is close.

In cold fury, I Meditate. Magico Disk. Compress… compress, and solidify. Assimilate ambient mana. Latent Mana framework, everlasting control, malleable form, mana imprint.

An average looking disk took form before my eyes, still three centimeters in diameter, still one millimeter thick, still chakram-like. But something feels different, which is easily enough differentiated through Mana Sense where the tiny thing shines like a halo surrounded by a coat of tiny fireflies. Just this one disk cost me a hundred mana to manifest and form into matter, for just the disk, twenty times its previous cost.

** DING **

Even without looking at The System notifications. I know this is it, Peak mastery of my first original spell. This time, I even know what changed. Firstly, the disk is now made of matter, some kind of mana-steel. It also absorbs ambient mana to maintain itself, this includes its flight, an auto-repair, and to passively replenish its coat of Latent Mana overtime. Of course anyone may inject mana into it through the bond created by the mana imprint to help boost its function for any of the three features, the bond also provides permanent control and a more advanced homing feature that may aim at specified body parts. Last but not least, the disk may shift form according to its owner's instructions. The whole disk and Latent Mana coat took me 150 mana. With my reserves, I summoned another one. Both shifted into a thick ring and slotted themselves onto both my thumb fingers.

Coming out of Meditation. 'Updates, thank you.' I decided to check while I had a quick dinner from my repository.

** DING **

Skill level up, Visualization 7 > 8

Skill level up, Meditation 5 > 6

Skill level up, Artificial Infusion 1 > 2

Skill level up, Visualization 8 > 9

Skill level up, Mana Manipulation 11 > 12

Skill level up, Mana Sense 6 > 7

Skill level up, Inspect 8 > 9

Skill level up, Sneaking 5 > 6

Spell mastery rank up, Magico Disk Advanced > Peak

Please update the store

Do you wish to modify the archive?

Skill level up, Mana Manipulation 12 > 13

Skill level up, Mana Sense 7 > 8

'Peak costs 1200 Creds.'

I set a price above the usual range for Apprentice ranks spells, but believe the spell to be worth such. It's one that will be readily available for almost no cost after the initial cast, while further investments in mana will only serve to boost its superiority. Done with dinner, I re-engage Meditation to replenish my resources and write up a thing or two for the archives. Cold furious promise of revenge gently coursing through my veins.

'When two is insufficient, make six. When that too falls short, feed into it your desire for power. Lastly, find for yourself forever with an eternal companion. Three options available to suit your needs.'

… Approval

Entry logged

'Thank you.'

** DING **

Just a ding. My wrath-calmed mind confirms that The System really does reply to my inner monologues, once in a while. But still deemed it unimportant to current affairs.

Meditation boosts my regeneration to about fifteen a minute, which means only twenty minutes are necessary to replenish the 300 I spent on the two V3 disks. It has definitely taken a little more than that to check my updates.

To complete my preparation, I cast Conjure Trilattic Swarm Armor. A slight tweak on the mana usage of the spell, It now summons merely half a meter cubic of the swarm, in exchange, I redirect half the initial mana usage to further reinforce its durability by an approximate fifty percent and the swarm now has a Latent Mana framework built in, and with similar functions to Magico Disk regarding its ambient mana usage.

The now halved swarm successfully forms a light armor over me, I can feel the Latent Mana build up as it absorbs the ambient mana. This is no mere armor, but should instead be multipurpose. Being a suit of armor ceased to be the dominant concept of the spell, it is now armor and possibly any tools I need it to be, its rubbery property finally put to good use. I observe the glove over my hands forming into sharp pointed claws, before shifting back, then turning into a katar and back again. Then a dagger, a hammer head, a shovel, a shield... 'Updates.'

** DING **

Conjure Trilattic Swarm Armor - Early, mastery expanded

Spell mastery rank up, Conjure Trilattic Swarm Armor Early > Basic

Please update the store

Spell renamed, Conjure Trilattic Swarm Armor > Conjure Trilattic Swarm

'Currently no change to the store for this one. Please inform all buyers of the change to Early mastery and freely update theirs if they so wish, thank you.'

Acknowledged

As I've said, what an awesome System. Now then, I slowly stand up, infusing more mana into the framework to instantly summon more of the swarm and create a lot of Latent Mana. As I made my way out the closet door, I took the concept of an invisibility suit, one made using optical technology. The armor now magically records anything it sees before it and transmits the image to its counterpart on the opposite side that projects said image to render the suit and anything within it invisible to the naked eyes. The optical illusion shifts to calibrate before settling on a smooth transition with a mere millisecond delay during movements.

Those snot colored little shits won't even see what killed-em', It's splatter-in time!