‘What are these goblins thinking?’ Logier thought to himself as he swiped away Signa’s notification window. His plans were ruined thanks to these pesky green bastards. His nose flared, and crunchy noise filled the hall as he ground his teeth.

Traveling between floors was forbidden. It was a law established by the Keeper whose words were considered absolute. There were even floor guardians appointed to stop anyone from breaking this law. Those who dare to disobey will get punished. Death was the only outcome.

No monster has ever tried to travel between floors due to the fear induced in their hearts by the guardian.

Logier thought he was the first and took pride in this fact.

However, he discovered that it was the imps who successfully broke this iron-clad law first. The presence of Alex on the first floor was a glaring proof. Everyone thought imps went extinct due to the bloodvores, but surprisingly some had managed to escape the calamity.

It confused the orc chieftain that a weak race like imps managed to bypass the floor guardian where stronger ones failed. Many had attempted before since the start of bloodvores’ rise, but none succeeded.

Even he, a Lv 1 Orc Chieftain with more than seven battle-oriented titles, had to use all his strength and only barely manage an escape from that scary creature. He experienced firsthand just how horrifying the guardian could be.

Logier had gone toe to toe against powerful invaders who came to hunt them and had even killed many before. Yet, in front of that bizarre creature, he was but a child who only learned how to walk.

Logier’d shiver whenever he recalls that horrifying battle. He’d thank his ancestors for managing to escape it with his life intact.

Now the goblins were going to try the same stunt.

Logier held no illusion that they’d succeed. He had already gotten a feel of these goblins’ prowess. Aside from their poisonous spit, the only thing scary about them was their numbers. Such things were nothing to the guardian. It could easily steamroll through hundreds without breaking a sweat.

‘Why did signa give me this task? The guardian could easily snuff them out.’ He sighed to himself and stood up to his full height. His body made a satisfying popping sound which pleased his very soul. He felt relaxed.

Sticking close to the wall, he slowly walked in the direction where he assumed the exit was.

“Little imp!” He called out for his new friend. He had never expected to find friendship in an imp. If anyone from the second floor knew about it, they would surely laugh at him.

But, Logier didn’t care.

Orcs respect strength, courage, and loyalty above everything else. Alex had shown him enough of those in that short battle.

He might be weaker than even the children of his tribe, but he had displayed enough to win him over. He blocked the fatal strike from the sneaky goblin at the expense of his own body. That attack would’ve definitely killed Logier had it succeeded.

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Logier believed that the little imp would grow much stronger if he trained in the ways of his tribe.

XXX

Have you ever tried playing with clay? It is very addictive, mind you. The idea of shaping a block of malleable substance into any form you could imagine is quite fun. Back on Earth, I used to have a kit. In my free time, I’d spend hours modeling structures taken out of my imagination.

Often I’d make bones out of clay and tease Coco with it. Her face when she licks the clay bone was a priceless sight. The sheer disappointment she would display would make me laugh for hours. I had framed a few snaps of her squinted snout and hung them in my bedroom. She was such a precious darling.

I miss Coco….

Anyways, as I was saying, playing with clay is fun. That’s true with the skill [Shapeshift] as well. It makes my whole body a giant clay block, ready to mold into any shape of my wish.

I lost myself in playing with [Shapeshift] as twenty-four points of stamina gave me a lot of freedom. Turing my hands into various shapes was a surprisingly fun activity. It also helped me get over the awkwardness of seeing my veins and muscles wiggle like maggots.

From happy feet to Edward Scissor-hands, I tried changing into all sorts of characters from movies and cartoons.

Unfortunately, none of them seemed practical.

What would I do with a penguin's feet? It's not like the monsters will die if I dance for them. Scissor hands? Don’t even get me started on it. The only things I found useful were knife claws, pike hands, and finally, shield arms.

There were a few other things I wanted to try, but those required a certain level of understanding before implementation. I could only shelf them for later.

“Little Imp!”

I whipped my head and saw Logier coming closer, holding the walls for support.

Seeing him struggle in the darkness, I wondered what kind of environment the second floor had. Does the visibility there better than here? From the stories he told, it sounded like there was an expansive world with many factions inhabiting it. I pictured a small town with many lanes. I might be wrong, though.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, getting close to him. My breathing was a bit labored from repeated usage of [Shapeshift], resulting in stamina depletion. I wasn’t worried about the consumption, though.

Turns out, Shade Spawn also improves recovery speed of health and stamina in dark places. While the effect was not that outstanding, it was enough for me who only had little HP and stamina. No wonder I always felt full of energy these few days.

“I’m going to hunt those disgusting things. Let’s go! I’ve things to show you.”

I raised one of my non-existent eyebrows.

What is this orc thinking?

I couldn’t comprehend his motive.

Does he think he lived too comfortably? Why would he go and provoke those disgusting fellas? Did he say he had something to show me? What could that be? Curious, I asked, “what do you want to show me?”

“A way to make you grow powerful.” His reply was curt and lacked enough explanation. But it successfully gained my full attention.

“Do you really have a way?” I asked for confirmation. It sounded too good to be true, so I was a bit skeptical.

Logier nodded his head. “It’s a way we orcs use to train our younglings. It’ll be useful for you.”

My frown deepened. Would a training method for orcs work on an imp? Orcs and imps were fundamentally different creatures. Orcs are born warriors, and their vitality was off the charts. Their physical traits were beyond any other monsters. How could an imp, who was one of the weakest races, could compare to them in this regard?

“I am an imp, though,” I reminded him, in case he forgot. “Will it really work for me?”

“It worked for those Riverland offshoots.” He shrugged. “It will work for you too.”

His confidence nearly convinced me.

To be honest I was more than a bit interested in his proposal. I understood my shortcomings quite well.

When Stalker attacked, Logier, who couldn’t see anything in the dark, fought better than me, who had clear visibility. Moreover, he did all that while being plagued by a potent curse.

I lacked experience.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

Ding!

Quest triggered!