An entire week had passed since Noah had begun work on the house. Of course, thanks to the help from the system, Noah didn’t have to be a genius builder. All he needed were the supplies, and when he selected the process, the system completed the rest of the work for him.

However, it was anything but easy.

Building the foundations for his house was the easy part. Chop down the basic trees on the island, find some big rocks, and thankfully, jungle vines were substituted for nails.

Noah didn’t know how that one worked, but he wouldn’t complain.

Then there was the wall. It required too many rocks. Noah ended up having to dig up a large portion of one side of the island. But Krall was happy. It seemed that the Mole King evolution had rewired his brain slightly. Krall had a deep grin on his face as his strong limbs smashed the rocks, and devoured the earth.

He was a one man… mole excavation team.

While his mole-kobold companion got to work on the quarry, Thraz received an unexpected Profession. Well, it was expected, but the rarity of it caused Noah to spit at the dragonborns luck.

Epic - Axe Chopper.

It was a woodcutting profession that was designed for a warrior to use. For Thraz, it was perfect.

Honestly, Noah was rather perplexed as to how the lizard hadn’t received a profession already. But it turned out he had. A lot of them, to be exact.

His reason for not using them summed Thraz up perfectly. He didn’t learn any of them because they didn’t directly enhance his fighting prowess. In fact, Noah had to explain to the dragonborn how it would help him fight by increasing his stats.

For hours.

Noah worried that he would throw the Epic profession stone away, but in the end, the stubborn dragon relented. And it turned out that it helped him in combat anyway. So yay, wasted time.

The profession: Axe Chopper, boosted the speed at which he could swing his axe. It also covered his weapon in a dim green light. When he struck a tree, the dim light turned out to be like a vibrating saw blade. It not only protected the blade from unnecessary damage, but made chopping the ironwood palm trees easy work.

Even from a distance, Noah could hear the dragonborn shouting out warcries here and there as they echoed throughout the jungle. It was like he had discovered a new enemy.

Instead of hungry flesh eating hallowed, they were trees.

And that moved him to Noah’s job. To fight the hallowed on the island, clearing them up with the help of Gluttony.

The island wasn’t too big. From one side to the other, it took around three hours of hiking. However, it had taken him around six hours. Most of that time was spent clearing the weaker hallowed.

Up until he found a little cove that had a huge shipwreck crashed into the rocks. That was where he found a tough opponent.

A Hallowed Captain.

Even after a devastating surprise attack from Noah, the fight continued on for five minutes. It didn’t seem like long, but when every strike from the captain could easily be the last, it made the fight perilous. Because of that, the short time felt like an eternity.

Thankfully after defeating the strongest of the area, clearing out the rest was an easy job. In under a week, Noah, and Gluttony, had terminated any threats on the island.

Noah also paid close attention to the waters during that time. The bloodthirsty fish still remained, but now there was a new addition to the oceans. A kraken. Or that’s what it looked like with miles long, black tentacles barbed in spikes.

And numerous eyes that peered back at him as if he was an insect. To the monster, he absolutely was.

It only made him work harder. It was evident the south side of the island was impossible to cross without the use of his tunnels. Of course, then there was the north. Well, Noah didn’t really know his north from his south, but it was just a way to orientate himself.

The north was where the larger island was. The main island. It was completely clear of any monsters that wanted to tear him apart. But he didn’t dare step a single foot into that murky water.

Noah shivered as he recalled the sensation of that black and green monstrosity coiling around his legs. It was only made more eerie by the fact that Thraz couldn’t see it.

Trying to get the feeling out of his mind, Noah returned to the small cove that he had now made into his new home.

The main building stood there, like a bastion from evil. But it was no longer just a basic square construction with one room, and a small taming sanctuary. There was a new extension to his home now.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Krall’s bedroom was now extended further. The room was half the size of his entire house, and to his surprise when he had finished building it, it was now akin to a biome. Like a new world within his home. There was tall grass, a pond, trees, and of course, a sleeping area for his tamed companions.

It looked just like a jungle without the stifling heat. Honestly, if he had to deal with any more humidity, Noah would have changed his mind about the whole taming room. In fact, he was dreaming that it would be a tundra.

If it was, he could simply leave the door open and let the cool air sweep around his house. But alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Damned luck.

Apart from that, there was now furniture in the house. From couches built of basic jungle leaves, to… well that was about it.

If he wanted real couches like fancy people had back on earth, he had to kill monsters for their leather. Fifteen hides, to be exact.

Noah made a mental note to obtain some in the future as he gazed beyond his house. The result was all from Krall’s handiwork. Paw work. Whatever they were considered now.

Bypassing the questions of Krall’s evolved anatomy, Noah admired the wall that closed off the entire cove. It wasn’t a simple wall, of that Noah made certain of.

He had made use of some unique buildings granted only to him because of his tamer class. From spear-like thorn bushes branching out of the wall battlements to deter any beasts, quick sand pits thanks to Krall’s mole evolution.

However, that wasn’t what Noah was most interested in.

Noah entered his house, and headed to a new door that he had created. It came with the most unique building that he had earned.

Unlike normal doors, this one was a double door planted into the ground. Technically it was a cellar, but it was actually the beginning of Noah’s great plans.

He swung open the doors, and descended into the darkness. It was a long way down. In total, it took him fifteen whole minutes until his feet hit dirt.

There weren’t any lights as apparently only those with a crafting profession could create lanterns.

Besides, not that he really needed them anyway. Maybe it was better this way as he gazed into the seemingly never ending tunnel that crawled into a deep, dark abyss.

Krall stood next to the entrance with a wide smile on his face. As if he was telling Noah how proud he was of his creation. And it was his creation.

Unlike the house where the building process was magically automated through the world's mana. The tunnel was all Krall. Well, that wasn’t entirely correct. Just like the skills that Noah, and the Otherworlders could obtain, Krall received one of his own when Noah purchased one length of the tunnel system.

It had given him the knowledge, and the method of using the earth as a building material for support. Not only that, but his speed at which he dug out the tunnel had increased a lot.

Because of that, the tunnel to one side was complete.

Noah had debated for a long time during the week of work. Would he make Krall dig a tunnel toward the mainland where Declan and the others were, or forge a path toward the main island?

He was torn. To help the others, or attempt to find that legendary spear that the inhabitants were hunting after?

In the end, he made a cold, calculated decision. He would go after the spear if possible. It wasn’t an easy one, but it had already been a week since the hallowed had attacked.

If they had managed to get back to the castle, then they would be safe. But if they had died, then it wouldn’t matter if Noah used extra resources to go to the mainland in hopes of finding them.

And he couldn’t go now, even if he wanted to. Noah had run out of Grace Coins. To create the tunnel all the way to the main island had cost him over six thousands coins. If the distance was further, then it would cost even more.

Noah had to be pragmatic. He just hoped that the kids managed to survive.

Shaking his head, Noah looked into the distance of the tunnel once more. His house was ready, protected, and all the threats on the island were defeated.

It was time he made a move.

Calling Thraz with a booming shout, Noah stood with his back leaning against the wall as he waited. He was under no pretence. This mission was going to be dangerous.

From the harrowing scream deep within the main island, and the mysterious sea creatures hiding in the depths of the water, and the mysterious disappearance of the inhabitants who were searching for the spear relic. Noah was aware he was once again entering a fight for his life.

But was this not what he wanted?

Putting his life on the thread of life and death. Would he come out on top, or would he fail, succumbing to whatever monsters that he would face?

Noah grinned as he looked at Krall.

Am I batshit insane?

Krall didn’t understand what he was saying. The mole-kobold tilted his head with a silly smile on his face.

Perhaps I am.

Noah could feel it. Ever since he had connected his mind to Krall, and then Gluttony, Noah felt that his mind was undergoing a great change. At first it was difficult to make out, but during this week, he had a lot of time for self reflection.

Ever since he had arrived on this god forsaken land, ever since he had made the mental connection to Krall… Noah would have never jumped head on into danger like what he had done for the past weeks.

It was like he had a primal urge to grow stronger. To fight. Just like any beast had. A natural desire for self preservation.

Throwing caution to the wind, he only wanted to grow stronger. To hunt longer, to fill his stomach, to ascend to high realms.

Noah shook his head with a wry chuckle.

I must be bored.

Thankfully, he didn’t have to wait for long. Thraz was descending the ladder. He brought along a deep smell of wood, and the sap that came with it.

As the dragonborn stepped on the raked earth of the tunnel, his sharp eyes swept over Krall, then landed on Noah. WIth a smile, he asked, “is it time?”

“It’s time.”