"Stone… That's a 2nd-tier goblin. We need to very slowly and quietly leave," Lucifer's ecstasy was overtaken by a dread.
"What if I use refined mana?"
"No. He will be able to survive long enough to call for help. Also, he should be able to find you. These goblins are smarter, faster, and stronger. Don't mess with them until you reach the next tier. You also need to raise your attribute."
Stone did not argue and slowly backed out. "How do I raise my intelligence? You said that learning mundane things won't help anymore."
"Studying about magic, divinity, warriors, and other useful stuff. Even a miner needs to learn and exercise when he is young to grow his stats."
"And you don't know anything about it?"
"No!"
"Why?"
"Because of you! You miserable stone!"
"Why are you swearing at me?"
"Because you are asking me things I don't want to answer!"
"But you answer them anyway."
"Uh-oh! Don't be cheeky with me! Instead, go find something to kill!"
Before Stone could give the command, the 2nd-tier goblin woke up and walked outside with a canteen in mouth, gulping some strange dark-brown liquid. His foot grazed the Stone's body, chipping off a little bit of talc gravel.
"Wuci, i duwu nowt feew too good," Stone's terrible feeling from the lack of lifeforce returned, reminding him of the injuries he suffered in front of the marble gate, but still could not help to mess with Lucifer.
"i towd uwu tuwu weave by side, nowt the fwont!"... Luci's heart skipped a beat… "pwease no, stone… pwease stowp with the accents''
(A/N: Thank Editor-God Blanc for this! :-D)
"Sorry."
"What's your lifeforce?"
"11.9."
"Again, please?" Lucifer could not believe the number. This should not have damaged him that much.
"11.9," Stone obediently repeated.
"How and when did you get so damaged?" Lucifer inquired.
"There was a strange marble gate I told you about in the black casket where I was changed to Mana Crystal."
"Don't tell me…"
"I opened and closed the gate a few times, a lot of ants died. I felt bad. It was the same feeling when the ant Queen damaged me with those bubbles. When I checked my lifeforce, the number was down by a lot."
"Shit! Couldn't you say something sooner?"
"I forgot."
"Forgot you say… haaah," Lucifer sighed in frustration. "Does it never end?" He thought to himself and continued aloud, "Well, this is a problem… You do not heal the same as other lifeforms. For normal beings, if it would not directly kill them, they would regenerate. I knew that having tool properties would have repercussions like this sooner or later!"
"…" Stone patiently waited for Lucifer to finish his .
"We need to find or create new expertise for you. That means you need to learn a lot!" Lucifer paused, "or get incredibly lucky."
"Can't you give me your flux?"
"Do you want to explode?"
"… no."
"Thought so! Hehe…" Lucifer chuckled and he devilishly added, "you need to go to that big tent."
"No!"
"Yes!"
"It's loud there! Even more than here!"
"There is a chance there will be some books!"
"But!"
"Again with but?!"
"But loud!"
"I am getting tired of that 'loud' of yours! Get out of the way!" Lucifer screamed in horror as another foot was falling on them.
Luckily, Stone reacted fast enough. The souls carried him to the side of the cavern where he looked like a part of the surroundings.
A goblin spotted the strange movement under his foot and saw a piece of rock, perched on two light-blue coloured, translucent figures that appeared to be ants. He blinked, looked at his canteen filled with grog, then back at the now-unmoving pebble. He shook his head, threw away the canteen and continued on his way.
"Phew! That was close!" Lucifer exclaimed, relief filling him up.
"What now? Kill more?"
"Yeah… We need you to level up. And me too for that matter! This time you will do exactly as I say! Really, one bad move and we are dead…"
"I don't want to die."
"For that matter, next time, don't be so goddamn stupid."
"I won't."
"That would be nice."
"… Why do you have to have the last word?"
"And why you?"
"…"
"Now move your ass to the next tent!"
"I have no donkey… only ants!"
Another two napping goblins had their souls rescued from their bodies by Lucifer and the lurking goblin pack took them away.
[You have drained 23.09% experience from Lucifer]
"Luci? They came fast this time," Stone remarked while observing the butchering.
"We need to stop for now. Even though goblins are idiots, they are not that big idiots," Lucifer replied with a voice filled with pleasure as he levelled up.
"Oh, and I gain full experience from you."
"Hmm, the level difference is not so large anymore. Good for you," Lucifer grumbled as the exhilarating feeling left him. "No wonder he is addicted to this! This feeling is truly… How to even describe it?"
Thankfully, their murder spree did not alert anyone important and Stone stealthily slipped into the two-storey tent that was 11 meters in diameter. Each storey was two meters tall. On the first storey were two 5-metres long tables and seats made from stone slabs. In the middle was a simple rotary staircase 2.5 metres in diameter. There were around twenty 2nd-tier goblins, some were eating or fucking all around the place, not caring for the world. Most of them surrounded a small cockfighting arena, chanting and cheering in gruff voices, while one 2nd-tier battled against two 1st-tiers to the death.
Stone impassively observed the moving experience packs, thinking about how to kill them all.
"Don't even think about it. You are almost dead!" Lucifer warned Stone, before he would do something stupid. "Go up. Slowly, patiently and carefully. Don't let them notice you."
After half an hour of lurking around and searching for a way up unnoticed, they ended up on the unusually silent second floor.
"I like it here! It's so silent," Stone cheerfully proclaimed as he stood before the stairway.
"Odd…" Lucifer muttered, surveying. He noted a few active blood-coloured magical circles painted all over the place and muffled noises.
The place was divided into three rooms, including the one they were in.
"So… Where are you, you little snotty brat?" An arrogant, rough voice rumbled.
"Oh, crap… Stone, let me introduce you to a 3rd-tier goblin. A Monster that even veteran warriors have problems with," Lucifer declared while desperately trying to leave Stone's mind and body.
"What are you doing?"
"Leaving."
"Why?"
"Because I don't want to die."
"Oh… hmm, the exit is closed," Stone highlighted the exit that was covered by a translucent mana wall.
"Where are you? Stop playing around like a dead mouse!" The 3rd-tier Monster ordered in a perfect celestian language.
"What now?" Stone inquired.
"Pray."
"For what?"
"Riches and fame! What do you think?! That we don't get noticed. Don't move, don't breathe, don't think. Be a stone."
"I don't breathe and I am Stone!"
"So, why are you talking?"
"… You know, it was your idea to come here. Oh… Oooh…" Several dots connected in the Stone's mind.
"What did you mean by that?" Lucifer squinted his imaginary eyes.
"Nothing."
"So? Show yourself!" The goblin emerged from the room, annoyed and scanned the room. His body was extremely skinny and covered by a full-body tattoo. It was no work of art, only lines and dots tattooed seemingly randomly all over his body.
"Luci, what is that?" Stone highlights the tattoos.
"That is a natural technique for 3rd-tier goblins. From what I know, it allows them to gather and store mana more efficiently. If he doesn't die, this one will probably acquire a class."
"Class?"
"Later…"
"Hmpf! Coward!" The tattooed goblin snorted and conjured a little ball of mana. The ball rapidly expanded, hitting everything in its path, including Stone. Fortunately, it did not hurt him at all.
"It's a basic scanning spell. It's similar to your perception sphere but much weaker."
"What is this?" The goblin's sphere briefly flashes with red colour.
"Uh-oh," both Lucifer and Stone exclaimed.
The goblin bit by bit stepped towards them.
Stone hastily dissolved the souls as the goblin shaman neared to them.
"Hmm?" The goblin stood directly above Stone and looked around in confusion as his spell was flashing red.
"Don't look down, don't look down…" Lucifer chanted with devotion.
"Why should he not look down?"
"Because he will be able to see the convergence of mana around you as you constantly regenerate."
"I can disable it, you know."
"So do it!"
"There is a slight problem. When I disable it, I will not refine mana and you are constantly draining me. I will be able to hold for…" Stone silenced himself as he attempted to do the math, "18 minutes?"
"Oh… shit… Do it anyway, but when you are close to three points, activate it again."
"Okay!"
Stone disabled the technique and the mana around him dissipated. And just in time, as the goblin glanced down at the inconspicuous rock, resembling a drained low-grade mana crystal.
"How did it get here?" He wondered for a bit and picked Stone up. He was even more confused when his spell turned back to translucent. He shrugged, trusting his ability to find the hidden thief or assassin and took back Stone to his workroom.
The room was filled with glass apparatuses, bubbling with liquids of different colours, put on bony tables, crates, and chests. All around the leathery walls stood racks with herbs, vials, and innards of various animals and Monsters.
The goblin placed Stone nearby and began working on some liquids.
After five minutes, Stone was curious as he watched the goblin mixing herbs.
"What is he doing?"
"Alchemy. But what kind, I don't know…" Lucifer observed the procedure with interest too.
"Hmm, we don't have much time," Stone checked his disappearing mana.
"We can only wait and pray. If you turn it on right now, we are… probably not dead, but something bad will happen. Trust me on this," Lucifer assured Stone with a slightly shivering voice as bad memories resurface on his frustrated and stressed mind.