Day 2
Dawn was cold, red, and cloudy. The weak sunlight poured over the mountains, but heavy storm clouds were already cresting over the horizon. The old Demon Kingdom had been built in a great valley created in a bowl-shaped depression between a circular ring of mountains, and the Overlord's Citadel sits upon a flat plateau overlooking the vast plains below to the south.
But the Imp woke up feeling quite refreshed, and his eyes snapped open easily this time. There was no oppressive darkness to weigh him down this time, and his body felt good, as well.
So he set about having breakfast, only eating five of the Glow-Worms this time, before going about the great hall, looking things over. Time, weather, vandalism and obvious pillaging had left the place a great mess, and very little remained of what once was. Not that it mattered to him.
He was too small to wear any clothing or wield any normal weapons. And being so small made scurrying around the large room an issue. Especially when he wanted to get up higher to get a better view.
Eventually he figured out that he could use his long fingernails to grip into the cracks on the walls the pillars, and climb just about anything. Other imps probably knew how to do that, but this was a hard thing for him to grasp, at least at first. Afterwards though, he was able to bound around with a great sense of freedom.
But he doesn't neglect to find whatever he could, digging through piles of scrap and garbage; pulling out bits of string, leather, and bits and pieces of metal. Most was rusted, but some were pristine; and one broken part of a sword was useful as a mirror; one side still brightly polished and shining after all this time.
His pale body was bare, and with his over-sized head, he looked rather odd. Most imps have bodies that are properly proportional, but his head was still nearly twice that size. This also took him a bit to figure out.
It was because of his Magic Crystal. It was larger than a regular imps.
The Magic Crystal is basically a crystal of condensed mana. Every being in Asteria has one; from animals to beasts to monsters to people. It resides in the back part of the head, and part of it is always buried in the brain. Its what allows a person to use magic.
It is also used in crafting and forging to instill magic power into weapons and armors and alchemy.
The bigger the Magic Crystal, the more power it has, and the more magic a being can use. When taken from killed monsters, they also have a rather nice price, and even the most meager of adventurers can make a decent living off of them.
His was probably three or four times bigger than a regular imps; and thus his head was bigger to compensate.
It was probably a leftover remnant of his previous life. At the time of his -death-, he'd been told before that the soul partially resides within the Magic Crystal. But that was only conjecture, and there was no way to really prove it.
Especially given the perchance of the demon race to eat the Magic Crystal of those they kill in order to increase their power.
Most of the other races are unable to expand the size of their Crystals, and can only maximize their mana and magic usage with study and practice. Thus their limits were set almost from birth. But a few of the races could. And the Heroes could as well.
This was done mainly by eating the Magic Crystals they collect. The crushed powder, Magic Powder, which is used in alchemy and crafting, enters the bloodstream and overtime is converted in the materials used to expand the existing Magic Crystal in the head. The demon race gained a big reputation for this in the past.
But he set it aside for now and goes back to his foraging, returning to his nook every time he became loaded down. About noon, his growling stomach made him stop and go back to eating the Glow-Worms.
This time he ate another ten of the things, and patted his full belly and let out a burp.
*DING*
+1 Endurance
+Glowing Eyes – 2 Meter Dark Vision.
It was a status update! He was surprised, but gives himself a toothy grin. It was a nice upgrade, but after a moment the grin disappears and he starts to think about it.
It was nice that simply by eating he could get stronger; but it was too slow and weak to help him at this point. His stats are horribly below average.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
But there's not much to be done about it at this point. But it did give him an idea.
He scurries back to his resting place, where he'd set all the foraged materials, and starts pulling out the small bits of string and metals he'd found. Basically the most useless pieces.
Sitting down, he soon starts to chew the things with a grimace. But even the rusted metal doesn't taste too bad, and all of it breaks with his teeth; even though he wouldn't have been able to break anything even with his hands.
Soon enough he's eaten ten pieces of string, five pieces of leather scrap, and five rusted pieces of metal.
*DING*
+1 Flexibility
+1 Sewing
+1 Metalworking
+4 Endurance
+1 Strength
+1 Intelligence
+1 Consumption Skill – Iron Stomach
Wow! It was a great many new skills and even increases to his stats! That was rather unexpected, and he almost jumps to the ceiling.
“Status.” Chitter.
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STATUS
Name – Unknown
Age – Unknown
Gender – Male
Level – 1
Class – Overlord (Pre-Up)
STR: 6
DEX: 7
AGI: 4
END: 8
INT: 6
MAG: 1
MAGIC and ABILITIES
Imp Fire – Level 1: A small flicker of imp fire. Can be controlled mentally when cast, similar to fox-fire.
Glowing Eyes – Level 1: By consuming Glow-Worms, a light shines from your eyes, allowing you to see even in utter darkness. Similar to Dark Vision. Range: 2 Meter.
Absolute Command – Level 1: By slaying a monster or beast, you are able to command one such creature absolutely as long as their level is lower than your own.
Overlord's Power – Level 0: ######
Consumption – Level 1: By eating creatures and items, you can gain increased states and abilities and strengthen them with additional consumption.
Iron Stomach - The added ability to eat almost anything, including corrosive, poisonous, or corrupted materials.
Flexibility - Level 1: The ability to bend and stretch in ways the body normally doesn't do. Provides a small bonus to speed, reflexes, agility and dexterity. Can be used to wiggle out of tight spaces.
Handycrafts - Level 1: The ability to craft various things. Used in conjunction with crafting skills
Sewing - Level 1: The ability to sew clothe and leather objects.
Metalworking - Level 1: The ability to craft small metal objects.
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It wasn't a bad take, and the handycraft skills would definitely come in handy. In fact, looking around at his pile of scraps, he could already imagine actually making some clothing. Clothing on an imp might sound strange, but he was dreadfully tired of going about his business in the nude.
So he starts grabbing the rest of the string, strips of torn cloth, and the few meager pieces of leather and that piece of keen-edged blade and gets to work.
It takes several hours, and the light was already fading as the sun dips toward the far horizon; but he finally stands up and lifts the finished garment he'd made. It was basically a robe that cinches closed around his stomach, sleeveless. But he'd also managed to make a small leather pouch, which he figures he could stuff a couple of the Glow-Worms into or bits of other stuff. It wasn't a bad haul for his second day.
Thinking about the time only made his stomach growl again, so he goes back to eat some more of the worms, this time also tossing a few into his new pouch he'd set into the thin leather belt that holds his robes closed. There's enough room for three of the things, which makes a decent meal should he get hungry while exploring.
By then, night had fallen, and he activates his Glowing Eyes skill to get back to his 'camp'. The pile of stuff he'd foraged is almost all gone, but that's fine as well. He does check himself out on the shiny piece of blade, and nods his head in satisfaction. With the robe on, his body doesn't seem so small or scrawny as it was.
He does pile up some of the softer bits into something resembling a mattress and lays down. This time, its definitely more comfy.
He's asleep within moments.
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