[Your skill Tracking gained a level]
"Somebody is gathering a goblin army. Another problem on the pile…" Lucifer sighed in frustration yet again as he lurked around a convenient shaft.
A group of goblins interrupted Lucifer's stream of thoughts. The 2nd-tier leader of the group had a tattooed face and several knives in a bandolier over his chest. Three 1st-tier goblins followed closely behind him. They were mostly naked bar the short spears hanging on their backs by straps of leather. It was a training patrol.
Each of them held a canteen, swigging from them with a satisfied expression. This was exactly what Lucifer was searching for.
The patrol walked by him and went inside a small shaft with the 2nd-tier in front. Lucifer devilishly smiled, marked for the challenge and followed them. He knew that this shaft was narrow and very long from his quick exploration.
[[You have tagged 4 beings. Challenge accepted!]
The goblins were lazy and took it slowly. They often stopped to relax, drinking the strong grog. Soon, the goblins were drunk and tottered around, 'rhythmically' shrieking, which in some ears, could be even considered singing.
The 2nd-tier leader's constitution was much higher; he had only a slight buzz. Still, it wasn't long before he joined them too…
Singing Monsters… Lucifer shivered and had to hold himself back from blasting them on the spot.
After another hundred metres or so, they took another pause and Lucifer decided it was time for the ambush. He felt trepidation as he conjured one [Flux Missile] after another.
Six purple [Flux Missiles], each of them for 5 [Flux] points, bombarded them in quick succession, taking the lives of the 1st-tier goblins with ease. The brutal assault left their bodies riddled with holes and blasted off heads.
The 2nd-tier frantically searched for Lucifer. His tattoo on his face slightly glowed and a [Mana Shield] spread from it. He unsheathed his daggers but still couldn't see the ambusher. So, he threw one of them to the place from which the missiles came.
It flew far above Stone's body and as the goblin saw it hit the wall, he rapidly spun and threw another dagger in the opposite direction.
Lucifer observed the goblin's muscular, olive-green back and grinned. He conjured a deep-purple [Flux Missile] using as much flux as he could muster, 20.5 [Flux] points in total and shot it directly at the goblin's spine.
After the brief voyage, the missile directly smashed at the shield with a loud crack as it broke through.
A hole, the size of a dwarven fist, appeared in the goblin's stomach. He looked down with a question in his eyes and collapsed, his mind frozen, unable to comprehend his invisible assailant.
The goblin attempted to activate a life-saving skill in his panicked frenzy, but another well-aimed [Flux Missile] impaled his head, effectively ending his life and dreams of ruling over the world.
Lucifer madly laughed. The sheer happiness he felt when he massacred them with extreme ease was something he wanted to repeat.
[Challenge cleared!]
[76.1% experience is split according to talents Subordinate and Parasite]
[Lucifer gained 49.47% experience]
[Stone gained 26.64% experience]
[You have levelled up!]
A mechanical voice resounded in his mind, but he ignored it.
He found another problem; his [Flux] pool was thinning every time he levelled up. The math behind it was annoying as he figured it out. He waited a few minutes for Stone's refined mana to refill so he could recharge his flux.
"I need to wake up Stone as soon as possible and raise his intelligence. Or find another way to store flux or gain an autonom…" a certain talent again worked its magic. His thoughts reset without notice, "but the good thing is that my perception sphere is increasing in diamet…" He mentally frowned, "didn't I think of something else now? Hmm, no matter… Status!"
A weak 'swish' echoes in his mind, it was a pleasant sound, almost like a breeze would rustle a satin blanket; the translucent tablet appeared.
Name: Lucifer
Titles: Former #!Hidden!#
Race: Ethereal
Level: 9 [Max: 25]
Experience: 21.93%
Host RM: 42.5
Flux: 5 / 59.5
Strength: 0
Dexterity: 0
Intelligence: 63
Talents: Ageless, Parasite, Subordinate, Stone {wielder}, Hex Master
Resistances: Curse T1L5, Hex T1L5
Expertise: Flux Bubble T1L5, Refined Mana Draining T1L18, Flux Shaping T1L6, Weak Fluxkinesis T1L7, Flux Missile T1L4, Flux Expulsion T1L3, Life-for-Life Hex L1, Tracking T1L3
His [Flux] was dependent on his level, Stone's refined mana pool, aka SRMP and intelligence. After a moment of musing over it, he came at the formula. While his regeneration was fully dependent on his technique [Refined Mana Draining].
(A/N: Luci's INT x ( SRMP / (Luci's LVL x 5)) )
As said; annoying!
While he remained, he looked at Stone's flickering golden matrix, and it seemed that the experience was able to stabilize it a bit. That was a good sign. Enough experience could wake him up… Though… Why should he do that?
Lucifer's mind froze again and reset to the 'helpful' state without noticing.
However, very deep inside him, his psyche and the Subordinate talent were battling for control over Lucifer's mind.
Another search did not take long, the whole shaft system around was bustling with activity. Hunting parties, scouts, warbands and freshly recruited goblins were coming and leaving seemingly randomly.
He discovered another convenient group; only three members, but of which two were 2nd-tiers.
The 1st-tier goblinette had a slave tattoo imprinted on her ample bosom and a chained collar her neck, held captive by the 2nd-tier.
A little, greedy smile formed on nonexistent Lucifer's face while he followed them. He had to acknowledge that he enjoyed the hunt immensely.
Lucifer lost them on a few occasions as they were too fast for his [Weak Fluxkinesis], but he knew that the shaft was narrow and with the help of the skill [Tracking], he located them again.
He entered a small cavern with thick mushroom patches, separated by poorly maintained pathways, in the centre lay a small fountain, providing water for the shrooms. There was only one exit.... A perfect place for an ambush. Secluded, silent and hard to find.
The goblins were already in the middle of a three-way path, near an especially thick mushroom patch. Their olive-green muscular, thick bodies were… they were… there was a reason why Lucifer didn't want to tell Stone about the birds and the bees...
The small, thin 1st-tier goblinette shrieked in pleasure and pain in the middle of them.
Lucifer rolled up his eyes as he inwardly gagged in disgust. Still, he was glad for the easy experience. Well, he already saw them as sources of experience, just waiting to be harvested, instead of living creatures anyway.
He tagged them and conjured a deep purple [Flux Missile].
[You have tagged 3 beings. Challenge accepted!]