The butchering Multilimb Larks eyed each other with their giant singular eyes, pausing with mutilated monster parts in hand. Gi was frustrated at The Faithful for demanding the tithe and Elizabeth for making him responsible. His patience was very thin.

"Bring Slice Slice now."

Gi slammed a fist into a dead goblin strung up on a meat hook. It flew through the air and slapped against the red stone brick of the space. The display of Strength was finally enough for one of the six armed Larks to fly off to a backroom.

A larger blob of fur, arms, and wings returned. This one matched the other seven Larks in the room with the exception of its size and a small horn atop its head. Its giant eye glared at Gi.

And who are you to be disturbing my business?

"I'm the monster that took out Ferra. I'm coming to claim my new branch clans and my tithes."

Slice-Slices's eye widened and he bobbled in place in a way that was definitely mirth. You? Really? Why would we pay a tithe to a jobbie?

As much as Gi hated being weaker than others, he hated it even more when a weakling thought that. He'd chosen the Knives Clan first on purpose. Their techniques were midrange which fit Gi's current fighting style perfectly. As pissed off as he was though, it was better if he could get this working amicably.

"Because my clan killed Ferra. We're strong enough to protect you, and Danna willing, we can all grow stronger together."

Who the fuck is Danna?

Gi's anger, which had already brewing beneath the surface all day, ignited. The only thing he hated more than failing Danna was others blaspheming her. "Watch it."

Slice-Slice bobbled in place again, his eye squinting humorously. Maybe you should watch what you say to me, little jobbie, or I'll take this Danna and have her work in Ferra's bordello.

"Then I guess this will be a lesson."

Oh ho, are you going to teach us something, little jobbie?

"You? No. This is a lesson for the others." His anger was fully in control. It felt odd, but for the first time, he said a small prayer directly to The Father. It was a simple one:

Make them suffer.

Pointing his palm towards Slice-Slice, he let loose a volley of [Divine Bolt]. As the bolts landed, the other Progenitor went flying through the door he'd come in through. It wasn't enough to kill a classer, but Slice-Slice also wasn't a defensive specialist like Yom or a true elite like Ferra. There was a reason the Knives Clan fell below Ferra's in the hierarchy.

Three of the Lark jobbies flung knives at him and Gi danced backwards, his training helping him keep his feet while batting away their attacks. Four others Larks had flown right at him surprisingly quickly to engage in melee with their bare fists. Compared to Doyle though, they were slow.

Gi sidestepped, slamming his elbow into one of their eyes and providing a little space from two of the others. One threw a flurry of punches, but instead of trying to block or parry them all, he took a step back and churned his Aether.

A [Divine Bolt] from his palm pierced its eye, exploding like a bloody meatball. A mist of blood squirted all over its fur, but Gi had already stepped towards the next Lark. Training with Doyle had taught him to slow his burst attack, allowing for a brief moment to reposition between shots. The second shot and third shot blew open the two melee attackers on his left.

The three jobbies who'd thrown the initial knives had charged forward, keeping one knife hand, but they paused as their other clan members died in an instant. That might have held, but an angry bellow sounded in Gi's mind as Slice-Slice flew back through the door. Blood dripped out of his eye like red tears, but it didn't seem to impair his vision at all. He took in the dead jobbies at a glance and his eye narrowed further.

I'll kill you.

"No, you won't."

Slice-Slice activated an area of effect ability, a power similar to what Ferra and Elizabeth had used against each other, but this was much less powerful. Knives exploded out of Slice-Slice's hands and a force seemed to slightly push Gi back and pin him down. It wasn't strong enough though.

Gi grabbed the Lark he'd elbowed and jumped, making himself as small as possible to use the other jobbie as a shield. The knives slammed into the Lark forcing Slice-Slice to kill his own clan member. Another scream of rage launched as Slice-Slice called the knives back using the same force as before.

That was the Classer's weakness.

Gi fired off another burst of [Divine Bolt], this time letting all three launch towards Slice-Slice instead of holding back. The other Progenitor couldn't catch his knives and block so he dropped to the floor, dodging both. Gi hadn't wasted the opening.

A quick pulse of [Celerity] closed the distance between himself and one of the remaining jobbie Larks who tried its best to stab him. Gi slammed his palm into its eye, stunning it, and he channeled his Aether into [Bishop]. Two all white otters appeared at his side and immediately launched [Divine Bolts] at the remaining two jobbies.

They both blocked with their six arms, but even his summons did damage against a jobbie at this point. Gi flung the stunned Lark across the butcher's block where a monster body lay and then ducked behind the block himself. It was shadowed in the room and his summons were out so he couldn't drop into [Concealing Light] but regular old sneaking was good enough.

From behind the block, he heard his summons fire off another burst of [Divine Bolt] and the wet sound of solid light puncturing flesh. The butcher's block shook as Slice-Slice released his domain again and Gi felt the connection with his summons halt as assumingly they were punctured by knives.

As soon as they died, he started overcharging [Divine Bolt]. He waited until he felt the domain rescind as Slice-Slice returned his knives and then Gi leaped over the butcher's block.

Slice-Slice's eye widened in shock at Gi's sudden appearance but he barely had a chance to catch his knives and overlap his six arms into a block. It might have been enough if Gi did a regular [Divine Bolt], but that wasn't his aim.

His leap took him within arm's reach of Slice-Slice and he slapped his palm against his guard. Fractured light exploded outward and eviscerated the Progenitor's arms. A wail sounded in Gi's mind as the six armed furry blob dropped to the ground. It's bottom two arms flexed and curled in pain as his wings tried to push him away from Gi.

I'm sorry. We'll pay! We'll pay the tithe!

Gi didn't respond to dead monsters. Three beams of light pierced his eye easily this time and then the Progenitor lay dead. Aether swirled around his body and for a moment, Gi was afraid it would encompass him like it had after the Dragon Pike, but this coalesced solidly on top of Slice-Slice into a dagger with a strangely furred hilt.

Slice Slice, Multilimb Lark defeated!

10 Soul Orbs received. Current Soul Orbs: 26.

He picked it up, but turned to the last jobbie in the room. It looked wounded, but not in life threatening danger. The monster flew backward in fear as Gi's gaze fell on it, bouncing against the wall.

"Tell everyone what happened here and you get to live."

I- I will. I promise.

"Then go." The jobbie bounced against the door as it flew out of the butchery. Gi turned back to the knife and examined it until the inventory system kicked on.

Dagger of Minor Telekinesis - Returns to the user after being thrown

Primary damage type - Piercing; Secondary damage type - Slashing; (Innate/Catalyst Stable)

He didn't quite understand what it meant, but surely Rocky or someone knew more. He slipped it into his belt for now beside the simple dagger that he'd gotten during his first Dungeon Run from the failed stealther.

A quick pat down made Gi realize that he hadn't even gotten injured. That had been even easier than the Dragon Pike Progenitor and he'd only been a jobbie with a Unique Constitution. Either he'd grown vastly stronger or Slice-Slice was really weak. He looked down at the bleeding corpse of the Progenitor. Maybe both.

He checked his notebook for the name and direction of his next branch clan and then picked up his foe's corpse. He doubted he'd be so lucky to get uninjured again, but a dead classer would put some weight to his words.

That night he returned to the Underbridge with twenty four gold, most of it in silver. Unsurprisingly, a dead Progenitor made them at least wary enough to accept. Gi might have issues actually protecting them until his clan expanded with the Dungeon run, but it felt good to be in control for once.

He found Tiria and Poe then the three of them swam towards the Encampment together. Tiria busied herself with taking stock of their inventory while she put a pot of her soup on the stove. Gi found he liked the spice of her recently dubbed, Hotroot Soup.

Gi read through his notebook, starting a new section for accounts. Mirroring Gi, Poe also read his book , kicking his dragonfly legs as he stared at the page.

Deft Golems - Mercantile

Cave Goblins - Bricks

Gluttonous Slugs - Cleaners

Leaf Elementals (Independent) - Spies

Charging Rhinos - Tunnels

Miniscule Wolves - Runners

Each of his newly conquered branch clans would provide two gold a week. With the six he still had, twenty four he'd just gotten, and the money for the next three weeks, he'd have sixty-six gold. That still had him short thirty four gold, not including whatever he'd need once his clan was up and running.

Poe let out a long suffering sigh over where he read his book. "I wonder if I'll ever find my other half..."

Gi looked up from his notes. "What?"

Before Poe could respond, Tiria dropped a bowl in front of Gi and Poe before sitting cross legged with her own. The three of them dug in and the Hotroot Soup really hit the spot. It was best served with some greasy meat, but there had been a shortage by the end of the day after Gi's beheading of the Knives Clan. Hopefully, another clan took over and Gi could step in as their protector.

After Tiria took a sip of her soup, she started giving Gi a rundown on her own day. "So there was a Brain Goblin at the Bordello today called Plums. Apparently, Plums used to run the place for Ferra after some incident that caused him to become Independent from his clan."

"Brain Goblins are another Ground Clan, right?"

Tiria shrugged. "That's what he said and Poe confirmed."

Poe pulled his tongue mouth out of his soup. "Oh yeah, Rocky gave the full scoop on the Ground Clans weeks ago. He's a big gossip, you know."

Gi took another bite of soup and Tiria continued. "Apparently, the bordello is in a bad way. There are two main businesses that sell the more 'perverted arts'." She said the last part with exaggerated air quotes. "Ferra's bordello and the Illusory Goblins."

He nodded. "The Illusor Clan. The ones Jax's team pretended to be as part of the infiltration."

Poe popped his head back up out of his soup. "Is it still an infiltration if you kill everyone there? Or is that more of an invasion?" The dragonfly didn't seem to be looking for an answer to the rhetorical question as he dove back in his soup. Tiria looked thoughtful for a moment, but moved on.

"Yes, the Illusor Clan can make a monster see or even feel things for some of their classers. Ferra took the more realistic approach of getting slimes shipped in."

"Like infant stage slimes?" Gi said with more than a little disgust.

Tiria shook her head. "No, that's impossible as infant stage slimes don't manifest at this level. Only Child Stage and above. While there are grown monsters that are still considered slimes, these are actually some type of evolved plant and aren't fully sentient. Plums didn't have any idea where Ferra got them."

"Okay, so what's wrong with the bordello?"

"Two things. The slimes themselves are severely dehydrated, but should survive. However, it will probably take a week before they're 'of use' again."

"I really hope Ferra had someone washing these things."

Tiria made a slight gagging motion. She didn't seem very fond of their inherited business which Gi agreed with to be honest. At this point, money was money though. "The second issue is that with the bordello not being open since Ferra's death. Many of her customers have been getting their 'needs' met from the Illusor clan."

"Okay, so let's say we get them back up and running and we somehow lure the perverts back. What kind of coin does that make a week?"

Tiria leaned over to their inventory which was just a pile of items in the main dome of the Encampment and plucked a sheaf of papers from it. "Plums wasn't sure, but these are the papers that you grabbed from Ferra's study before it exploded. It has detailed accounts here and they were doing almost twenty gold a week."

Gi did some quick math. "That puts us just over the amount we need if it takes a week to get back up and running."

"Seems tight. Think we can manage that?"

Gi shrugged. "If our option is leaving Igna, then we may as well try first. Worst case scenario we flee the city with a bunch of gold."

"Not a bad way to leave if need be."

"All right then here's what we'll do. You work with Plums to get the bordello up and running. Borrow some of Jalx's clan if you need to. Poe and I will prep for the target Elizabeth is preparing for me. With any luck, we'll have the tithe ready with a clan at our back before the Assembly."

Poe let out a long exhale as he finished draining his soup. "Whew! This is getting spicy!"