"What do you mean you STILL HAVE TO GAIN EXPERIENCE ABOVE LEVEL 10!?" Lucifer's voice jumped to a high-pitched tone, similar to the Stone's voice.
"LOUD! And I don't know! How could I know? I am just saying what I see!" Stone defended himself, not caring much about this situation.
"Gods! Save me from this insane piece of… What are you again? Oh yea… MANA CRYSTAL!" Lucifer prayed with steadfast devotion, but no answers came. "Fucking gods! Where are they when you need them? Lazy bums! Help!"
"Luci? Are you good? Do you want to go and kill the goblin to calm?" Stone offered, seeking to appease his friend.
"Me? Kill a goblin?" Lucifer's brain halted by this preposterous offer. In fact, it had never occurred to him that he could kill the green shits too. "Kill a goblin…" A small smile crept upon his non-existent face. "Yes!"
"Good, one 1st-tier goblin is right in the tent nearby. I will weaken him, you put him down."
"Good plan! Come on! Can't wait for it…" Partner enthusiastically cheered on Stone.
On the bed made from smelly leather scraps was lying a deeply slumbering ugly goblin. He snored like a saw and as Stone shuffled through the leather scrap, he turned on the other side while scratching his nethers.
Stone made a mana wall from as much refined mana as he could muster and covered the goblin's mouth. He quickly carved out a mana dagger and opened a wound on his neck. "Now!" He signalled as the awakened goblin silently trashed around with uncontrollable fear.
Lucifer hastily materialized a purple stick and forced it through the wound.
[Due to your difference in level, the experience efficiency dropped]
[You have drained 6.96% experience from Lucifer]
"This was fun!" Lucifer excitedly commented as he heard the 'kill' message. "Status! Expertise!" He ordered as he desired to see the progress again. Two weak 'thuds' echoed over his mind.
Name: Lucifer
Race: Ethereal
Level: 1
Experience: 98.11%
Host RM: 40
SuperFlux: 181 / 184
Strength: 0
Dexterity: 0
Intelligence: 23
Talents: Ageless, Parasite, Subordinate, Stone {wielder}
Resistances: None
Expertise: Flux Bubble T1L2, Refined Mana Drain T1L3, Flux Shaping T1L3
[Spell: Flux Bubble
Same spell as the Mana Bubble, except 4 times more powerful.
Harder to train and higher evolution requirements due to flux base.
Skill: Flux Carving
Again, same skill as Mana Carving, except 4 times more powerful. I hate repeating myself…
Technique: Refined Mana Drain
8 RM / min (Base: 5)
Gods! Another weirdo! This technique at the first level… Thankfully, not 'that' rare technique.
As you are not able to connect to the mana leylines or gather ambient mana due to your… creation? Birth? System bug?... This technique has been classified as your technique for flux regeneration.
You will always drain a fixed amount of refined mana as you increase in level from your host due to Parasite talent: level / 2.5
Be wary! Your host does not have an endless supply, even if it looks like it!
Unable to evolve, however, the level limit is unknown. Do you know why? Parasite again!]
Stone silently peeked over too. He still thought his tablets were nicer, however, from time to time, change was not bad. Was it cheating? For Stone definitely. Even though Lucifer's Universum appeared to be ruder.
Meanwhile, a small thought occurred to Lucifer; if he did not have a sub-race, how could he evolve!? And the small thought became a big thought.
The excitement he was feeling for the first time in hundreds of years was suppressed by the notion.
"Next!" Lucifer impatiently commanded.
A pack of goblins was gathering the corpses that they left behind.
"Luci, what are they doing?"
"Goblins hates wasting food and especially the meat," Lucifer answered, compelled by the Subordinate talent. "Gods! I hate this talent…"
"Oh… And what are those two are doing?" Stone pointed at another couple of goblins rolling around the place nearby in the puddle of muddy blood dripping from the gutted carcass.
"Battling."
"It does not look too efficient."
"Different kind of battling. And now stop talking! Let's go kill!" Lucifer hurriedly interrupted Stone as he really did not want to explain to him about the birds and the bees.
"Fine…" Stone answered, sulking.
They left for another tent containing another snoring goblin. "I wonder why they didn't raise the alarm. We killed quite a few of them…" Stone muttered.
"They are goblins. Stupid creatures and used to death," the reply came fast. "Now, is your refined mana full?"
"Yes!"
"So, what are you waiting for?"
"You!"
"You little insolent!"
Stone would stick out his tongue if he could.
The goblin smacked his lips in his sleep as he turned over. Stone proficiently conjured a bluish mana wall and proceeded to wholly cover the goblin's face. But before he could do so, the goblin's eyes twitched, rapidly sat up and directly impacted into the Stone's mana wall with his head, cracking it. He slumped back, unconscious.
Lucifer could not hold it and almost died laughing.
"Loud! Ah… Why should I even bother…" Stone sighed as his complaint was ignored yet again.
"Did you see that? Hahaha!"
"… You are weird."
"Hehe…" Lucifer darkly chuckled. "You, telling me I am the weird one?" Lucifer shot back.
"Yes!" Stone countered Lucifer's counter quite efficiently.
"You little…!"
The goblin woke up again and looked around in daze and confusion.
"Luci?" Stone interrupted Lucifer's cursing.
"What?!"
"Shouldn't you kill him?"
"Oh… Right!" Lucifer symbolically facepalmed and immediately conjured a flux needle directly before the goblins glabella. It swiftly pierced the goblin's brain without much problem, making a mush out of it.
[Due to your difference in level, the experience efficiency dropped]
[You have drained 5.77% experience from Lucifer]
"Aaah!" Lucifer moaned in pleasure as he levelled up. "No… no wonder! This feels so good!"
After a brief moment, he settled down with embarrassment written all over him. "Ehm… well… this was unexpected. Sorry about that," he whispered.
"About what?" Stone asked, utterly oblivious. He already knew that levelling felt good.
"Ehm… doesn't matter."
"Do ya wanna keep on?" Stone's dwarven accent returned. And stronger than ever.
"What did I tell ya? Drop that accen't!"
"But now you are talking with it too!"
"Oh… no…" a certain realization struck him. Whenever Stone, his master, changed his language or accent, he was forced to talk with it too. "Better not to explore this. Celestian language, way to go! And no dwarven accent…" He thought. "Yes, you impudent Stone, let's go kill more. We should be safe with killing around ten more. After that, we will have to wait or go hunt to other caves."
They skipped to another tent with yet another gleefully sleeping goblin. This went for another nine boring times.
[Due to your difference in level, the experience efficiency drops]
[You have drained 47.51% experience from Lucifer]
The experience was flooding both of them in large quantities and Lucifer levelled up for another 5 times. He almost passed out from the pleasure every time.
Lucifer found out an interesting thing about himself; his intelligence rose by 5 for every level. He examined himself with the same technique he used to examine Stone's body; his own 'body' was getting sharper and more complex every time he levelled up.
He also understood that his limits for intelligence were non-existent, but he still had to increase the level to be able to evolve his expertises. "Gosh, what did I turn into… It seems that my abilities are not as simple as the explanations said…"
"Luci? What is wrong with this goblin?" Stone cut off Lucifer's train of thoughts with an inquiry as he pinpointed a large goblin in the next tent.
The said goblin was about a head taller compared to the goblins before, had bulging muscles and dark green skin. Otherwise, he was ugly as his fellows. He slept at a king-sized-bed with two goblinettes on his sides. He was snoring and something long and hard protruded from under the leathery blanket.
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Encyclopaedia Stonia
3rd-tier Monsters
This stage is also known as the full-sapience stage. No matter what a Monster wants, they will learn the celestian language, and as they go through the third evolution, they fully awaken. Some of the Monsters throw away the Monster evolution and gain access to the Paths, otherwise known as Classes.
Of course, the Universum nor the gods won't provide them with the needed knowledge. It's much rarer to happen than a person throwing away a Class to become a Monster.
Do not mistake Class, Profession and a specialization. Class and Profession are Universum acknowledged, having their own tabs.
If the Monster decides to stay a Monster, nothing much changes for them. Except they are smarter and more easily bored. Only gods know what that Shul-Gahat is doing in that lake…