Throughout the remainder of this last month, Zeb has been quite busy cutting trees, and I've been helping him to maintain the cave area, and helped him haul wood up when it was necessary. As such, any day now Zeb's going to cross the threshold to level 100. Right now, he's at level 99.
Level: 99
HP: 1109/1109
MP: 292/292
Traits: Mimicry, Mana Affinity
Magic: Stone Shaping
My own levels have barely moved since the siege, which makes sense considering how little killing of anything I've been doing. I only killed a few ground birds for food while I was in the second valley, and other than that, it's been mostly vegetarian meals of small plants. I cut a few trees down while we were finishing the path, but even trees don't give me all that much in terms of levels anymore.
Level: 82
HP: 2525/2525
MP: 1203/1203
Traits: Mana Affinity, Earth Manipulation, Improved Dexterity
Magic: Improved Stone Shaping, Tectonic Sense, Improved Earth Spike
After seeing our stats side by side, I remember something, and go back to check my notes from when I was an imp. Compared to what I had at the time just before I turned into a Lesser Earth Demon, Zeb only has about half the traits and magic. He's missing Earth Manipulation, Tectonic Sense, and Mighty Imp, but otherwise, his stats are higher than mine were. I'm actually intrigued whether he gets the option to turn into a lesser earth demon or not. Knowing that might provide some valuable insight into how evolution and prestige works. I suppose I'll have my data point soon enough. Of course, I can't rule Mimicry out as influencing everything as well.
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Well, Zeb became a Lesser Earth Demon two days after the envoys left, although he stands almost a head shorter than me currently. I obviously can't say for certain what played a role in this, but I'm starting to get an idea for how some of the evolution stuff might work. The basic premise that I have is that Imp based creatures seem to have the option to become more powerful creatures when certain criteria are met. For an imp, they seem to be able to become a goblin pretty much right away. However, if certain criteria are met, they can become something else, like how I became a Lesser Earth Demon directly.
Given that Zeb also became a Lesser Earth Demon, and he'd already became a Goblin, this means that the path of evolution here isn't necessarily linear, as Zeb re-converged on what I already had become. I also have seen Goblins turn into three different things now. The Demon Gorilla that Kaga was, the Lesser Earth Demon that Zeb is, and Hobgoblins like what Zaka and the other two goblins in the village became.
After talking to Zeb and marking down his two stat blocks I decide that, for clarity, I'll go ahead and write in a parenthetical name.
Level: 100
HP: 1116/1116
MP: 294/294
Traits: Mimicry, Mana Affinity
Magic: Stone Shaping
Level: 0
HP: 1116/1116
MP: 294/294
Traits: Mimicry, Mana Affinity
Magic: Stone Shaping, Earth Spike
Zeb also got Earth Spike upon evolution, and his stats are in a pretty good place. After talking with Zeb for a little bit, he said he also had the option to become a hobgoblin, but decided to become a Lesser Earth Demon instead. Which, honestly, makes things easier for me. If he was a hobgoblin, we'd potentially need extra water up here, and I didn't pay much attention to whether the other hobgoblins ate a particularly large amount of food.
Another question has arisen in my head. What are the requirements to evolving into these various creatures. For Lesser Earth Demons, it seems to be at least Stone Shaping, and possibly Mana Affinity. I'm not sure exactly what it might take for hobgoblins, although I'd be willing to bet that all goblins can turn into them when they grow strong enough. As for the Demon Gorilla, one of the few things I could guess is either strength or endurance or both play some role in that.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
For the next few weeks, I'll let Zeb gain some additional levels cutting more trees down, but I'd like him to put leveling on hold after he's gained around thirty.
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We spent the remainder of the month focused mainly on Zeb. He cut trees, we hauled them, and then I made charcoal up at the cave, and expanded the storage area inside. The storage area has really grown quite a lot at this point. There are large bins full of charcoal, powdered ore, copper, and wood. Since we'll need it once we're snowed in over the winter, I've also made a new water tank indoors to store water in, and have started filling it with water.
Level: 22
HP: 1336/1336
MP: 391/391
Traits: Mimicry, Mana Affinity
Magic: Stone Shaping, Earth Spike
When the goblin envoys saw Zeb had also turned into a Lesser Earth Demon, there was a mixed response. The goblin that represented the group that wanted me expelled because I represented a bad omen to them seemed upset that Zeb had also become a Lesser Earth Demon. The other goblin wasn't bothered by it however.
Next month will be the envoy's last visit of the year before the mountain is covered in snow, so I requested that we trade something for smoked meat. After some discussion, it seems I'll be making a bunch of lightstone bowls and plates to trade for food. It seems that the handful that I traded for rope impressed the other goblins that saw them, and many goblins have interest in them. I feel bad for the potter, but Zeb and I need to eat, so I'm afraid he has competition this year. They also requested a bunch of lightstone spearheads be made, to which I agreed as part of the trade.
When they return, they'll be bringing a few more goblins up with them to haul all the meat we've requested, and then they can carry all the goods we're sending back with them. The carts are useful for hauling a very large amount of stuff, but it'd take a few days to bring stuff up and down, and there isn't that much stuff this time.
There is apparently a new carpenter, or at least someone dabbling in it, which is good. Having someone who can work with wood is a necessity based on their lifestyle right now in the goblin village. They do a lot of hunting, and their gates and doors are mostly made from wood, so having someone who can work with wood is important.
Even though they'll be bringing us food for winter, I still want to make sure we'll have enough, so next month, I intend to do some hunting of my own with Zeb. Now that he has a bit of combat potential, it seems less likely something bad would happen, even if we ran into a giant lizard. That said, it seems that the village hasn't seen any giant lizards since the siege, so I'm starting to wonder if the crystal attracted all of them on the island, or at least most of them. I suppose only time will tell on that one.
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I've been hunting with Zeb quite a lot in the past two weeks, and what we've found is that we have to go down closer to the goblin village to have much luck. I would normally expect that the areas closest to the village would be the least populous, but instead, it seems that the animals all prefer to be there. Which thinking back, before the siege, a lot of animals started to gather around the village before all the lizards showed up. They must have some instinctual drive to live in an area with abundant mana.
That said, it's not like it's the only place with animals to hunt, we did have some success in other areas as well. We even made a five day trip over to the other valley to hunt for a bit, and caught some ground birds. With more than half the month used up now though, we'll have to focus the remaining time on making the dishes, bowls, and spearheads for trading with the goblins when the envoys return.
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Well, we made our trade for meat for the winter, and put all of it in our smokehouse with the meat we caught for ourselves. I think that as long as we don't gorge ourselves, it'll last us even through an exceptionally long winter. Spuds only last about fifteen days after harvest from what I remember, so we'll want to eat those for as long as they last. I'm wondering if I leave them out in winter if they'll freeze and last longer. I might try that, since we should have some extras that would spoil anyway otherwise.
With the trade taken care of, now it's just a matter of waiting for the snow to come. It usually doesn't come until close to the end of the month. As always though, the weather can be unpredictable, so we're making sure to not be more than an hour's trip away from the cave, in case the weather suddenly shifts.
Once we're trapped inside, it'll be months before we're able to leave, so getting everything we want done outdoors is important. It's been a few years since I stayed in the cave through winter, so I'm actually not sure what I want to work on, or for that matter, what Zeb will work on. I've told him he's free to work on whatever he wants, as long as he asks first. The last thing I want is a cave-in because of some new project that I'm unaware of. I trust him independently to not cause one, however, information sharing is important. I'll also tell him what I'm working on for that reason as well.