Season 3: Chapter 71: Progression
“Interesting… very interesting…” The short stack knife-ear pointy nose gnome mused through cracked goggles.
Deep in my chambers, I sat alone atop my throne for once, nestled on my stone chair observing as Zorin dragged in a fresh batch of corpses underneath each of her four arms.
Another group of humans slayed and brought back as fleshy bundles of experience.
Zorin dropped the corpses, the reptilian woman grunting before walking off as my clean up crew goblins went to work sorting the procured goods.
Omitting the blood leaking everywhere, the humans made for good eats and provided my minions with new traits and even evolutions.
Gobledo was now a Goblin Holy Knight, a variation of Goblin Knight that I didn't think at all was possible! Even Lhikan and the others were amazed at the transformation.
Along with him, I had twelve new goblin knights, but unlike them, Gobledo stood out from the others by way of his golden irises, darker skin tone, and the air of holy energy wafting off him.
He wasn't a paladin, at least not yet, so he didn't have the skills of a paladin. But, what he lacked in holy skills, he made up for with stats and potential.
Name: Gobledo Goblin Holy Knight LvL: 2
Species: Holy Goblin
HP: 400
MP: 60
Skills: Warcry LvL 3, Rally, Prayer, Shining Blade LvL 1, Mend LvL 1, Judgment LvL 1, Holy Body. Aura of Mending. Fortitude.
The goblin had gained four new skills, as well as it’s species shifting. Shining Blade, a skill that imbued one’s weapon with divinity. Prayer, an ability that allowed the user to strengthen themselves and their ally’s bodies temporarily by… well… praying to me. Mend, a basic first aid skill, and finally Judgment, a targeted debuff that lowered a foe’s resistance. The last two skills were passives, one augmenting nearby healing while the last was a feature of all knight classes to improve their defenses.
He had less HP than the goblin knights by a hundred, and also didn’t receive the challenge skill or oath, but if I could turn him into a full-fledge paladin…
Spooderman had also undergone some metamorphosis as well, the red-eyed tarantual was now another blue phase spider, giving me one that cut out the middleman of having to ask Ayaka for teleports.
Name: Spooderman: Phase Taruntual LvL: 2
HP: 350/350
MP: 150/150
Skills: Spin Silk LvL 3, Paralytic Bite LvL 3, Pouce LvL 4, Poisoner LvL 2, Blend LvL 2, Dark Vision LvL 2, Acid Shot LvL 1, Phase Port LvL 1, Threat Detection LvL 1, Shift LvL 1
Admittedly it was nice seeing my troops grow, unfortunately, not everyone benefited so much from the dead humans. Zorin was growing slowly and Slimey dissolving humans didn’t seem to have much of an effect. In fact, it seemed that once a monster ate a human, their benefits from doing so again were diminished. And there was also the fact that none of my skeletons could eat…
Which… kinda sucked.
Fortunately, at least for Slimey, I had a solution. A solution that had been months in the making and revolved around working my capruxas around the clock to dig out a massive pit.
What was in that pit? Well I’m glad you asked.
It was Slimey.
Oh, and roughly about two hundredish? purified slimes.
A project of mine that I had been working on since season one, right around the time Ayaka took me captive. A plan, that involved filling an entire pit full of slimes and repeating the process as to how I made Slimey but on a grandscale.
Every slime within the dungeon that could be found had been gathered save for a few under my direct command that I would still need for regular maintenance on my home.
As for the others, however… Well, the great plan waits for no one.
In the HOLE as Jesse and The Gnome dubbed it, lay a vortex of blue glowing liquid.
“Hmmm. Hard to tell without a soul monitor...”
Slimey wasn’t a big fan of the process and disliked being spun around, but she was slowly absorbing the other slimes and improving her stats as she lay within. Proving that the merger was working.
“Hmm. Doesn't feel rubber…”
Suicidal? That I would empower a mentally ill monster with an unhealthy obsession with me that made me terrified in her presence?
Oh definitely! But Slimey was my champion, and most loyal follower and if this could augment my fighting force, well… bit of a no brainer.
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….
….
I hope.
“Made out of some kind of polymer…”
Anyway, so far, I had lost seven goblins, two tarantuals, and six skeletons from my trusted to the human’s probing. Fortunately, they seemed keen on tripping every trap I set as well as stirring every single dungeon core and horde that resided in the castle.
In fact, there were about forty corpses give or take, mostly mercenaries judging from their gear and tactics.
And here I was, worried for nothing. At this rate I could wipe out an entire modern day army! Back in my day adventurers ran through dungeons like this with ease! Turning them into profitable farming machines!
“Interesting, definitely a soul form. Perhaps like a golem. But a perfect one?”
Now these humans were being picked off by low level scrubs!
Well… my low level scrubs, but still!
This was the current status of the adventurer's guild… A GUILD! I HELPED FORM MIND YOU! An organized system to hire and employ people to fight monsters.
And! To make matters worse, according to the dog tags(my idea by the way) recovered, these were bronze, steel, and even a few silver teams!
All dead by my hand.
“Definitely need to bring to a Tower Mage for analysis…”
Embarrassing. Utterly embarrassing.
I wasn't sure if I should be happy that they died so easily or sad that my legacy was tarnished by these second-rate hacks.
“I wonder if Master Gizmo would know more...”
Still, their incompetence was a blessing for me. With each death, my weaponry grew, and materials gathered, giving my miniature blade-eared tinkerer items to create more tools and weapons.
Fortunately, the gnome was very forthcoming in offering her aid, an easy persuasion thanks to her scholarly desire to study me and what I had built.
Hmm… maybe I should refer to her by her actual name…
Dipsy?
Topsy?
Tipsy?
Tissy?
Something more akin to a dwarfs name than an elf's if I recall.
Anyway the tiny woman was leering over me as Ayaka sat on my head, my de facto bodyguard seeing as Slimey was busy gaining weight.
I reached out to Ayaka, informing the spider to relay a message to the tinkering humanoid. Without Slimey here, I couldn't communicate with humans without severely injuring them, forcing me to use Ayaka.
Ayaka waved at the gnome, the woman raising a brow.
“So have you made a prognosis?” Ayaka asked.
“Well, your master seems to be made of synthetic vinyl polymer. A material unobtainable save from old demon ruins. Very sturdy, magically enchanted with imbuements to make him almost indestructible and a bunch of curses I can't make out.” Lipsy frowned, pausing her writings. “Yup, it's just as I've thought.”
“What? Tell me?” Ayaka asked, her tiny hands waving in the air to convey my urgency.
“Your master is a rubber duck.”
For fu-
“Is there anything else? Or anything you can do for him?” Ayaka asked, ignoring my words as Lhikan looked on, the man fidgeting with his silk eye patch.
“Welp, nothing I can do here! I'm a tinkerer, not a soul weaver. What ya need is a Tower Mage, Grand Exorcist, soul weaver, and a High Saintess. Oh! And the demon who did this to you to break the curses on you.” Ditsy replied, stroking her chin.
“HE’S DEAD!” I let out, my voice high pitch as I took over Ayaka’s tiny body.
Wow. This is weird. I'm seeing like quadruple. What? Huh?! Wait! Focus! Focus!
“Well… squeak?”
“Ok! Hold up! What about the other things? How do-wow this voice is annoying- wait, do you know people like that?” I pleaded, falling sideways from my weight shifting.
HOW THE HECK DO DRIDERS STAY UPRIGHT?!
“OH, that's the neat part. You don't.”
“Wha?!”
“They don't exist! Not anymore. Most of the high vocations were lost after the Hiro Clan disappeared. I mean, there is Master Gizmo, but good luck finding him and talking to him and the only other high vocation bearer is High Saintess Nobara Yamamoto and shes like ten and-”
Wait.
“Hold up. Stop. Yamamoto?”
The gnome blinked. “Yeah?”
“That's… Japanese?”
“Sure. I have no idea what that is.” The Gnome replied, taking out her journal again. “Care to elaborate?”
“Right…no.” Ayaka’s face twisted with confusion, my inward feelings displaying on her small face.
Japanese… why was the high priestess's name Japanese? Confusion. Did Adam send another otherworlder?
No, that couldn't be right, the child was ten years old…
“Hold. Tell me about this Yamamoto?”
“She's the scion of a traitorous House. A puppet of the Archbishops.” Lhikan cut in, taking a knee from the bottom of the throne and yelling upwards.
“Elaborate Paladin.” I ordered, crawling up my rubber shell using Ayaka's legs whilst trying to steady my body. Piloting the drider was like having two spinal cords but one was turned a hundred and eighty degrees and attached backwards at the end.
“House Yamamoto is a splinter group of House Hiro. Regrettably, a group of traitors that aided in hunting down and dispersing the Hiro sect.” Lhikan reported, head down.
Wait.
“Are… are you telling me that… My own descendants. Have been…”
“I… given the nature of the subject. I found it prudent not to weigh your mind with-”
“Silence.”
With one word, the entire chamber fell quiet.
No sweeping. No cleaning. No movement. Every being save for the gnome kneeling.
“My own children…”
This could not stand. WOULD not stand.
“Where is my grandchild?” I asked, my eyes boring into the gnome's.
“Ah…” Kipsy let out before Lhikan answered.
“At the Grand Temple of Destrus in Lizaria. The Center of the World.”
Right. Of course they're still calling it that. Thousands of years later and it's good to see humanity’s hubris still on display.
Lizaria wasn't even a quarter at the center of the world. It wasn't a trade hub, it wasn't a port city, hell it wasn't even the capital of the Human Alliance!
Unless something changed of course.
X to doubt.
“So you mean to tell me one of my own descendants is a puppet of the government body?”
“Yes, Milord.”
“Alright. Cool. Once I murder all these humans here, we’re taking a trip to the Grand Temple.”
Lhikan looked up, the gnome Gipsy sharing a worried look with the paladin.
“Then I’m going to burn the temple down and create a giant statue of a duck out of the rubble.”
“S-sir. If I may, that is a bit-” Lhikan began before multiple flashes began to light up on my dungeon screen and distract me from the worried man.
[YOUR MINION HAS DIED!]
[YOUR MINION HAS DIED!]
[YOUR MINION HAS DIED!]
[YOUR MINION HAS DIED!]
[YOUR MINION HAS DIED!]
[YOUR MINION HAS DIED!]
[YOUR MINION HAS DIED!]
Ah… so the real adventurers have come out.
“One moment. Gobledo.”
“Yes. My Lord?”
“Gather your men. We have guests to go greet.”