Two hours later, Dafur's limp body was thrown into the tent by goblin slaves. He was drenched in water, sweat, and blood.
Annoyed Lucifer examined him and sighed. The dwarf was a mess. He let him be for a moment and turned to the siblings.
Eriv and Dori still slumbered but became paler and paler every hour. Their breath had become slow and shallow and they even stopped shivering.
He did not care for them and was actually even glad. He still desperately needed a body… More fresh corpses meant more possible bodies to choose from and their time was quickly running out.
Lucifer slowly shifted towards the helpless Dafur and shaped a [Flux] wall over his face. The dwarf rapidly sat up as he suffocated, confused but fully awake.
Lucifer dispelled the skill and wrote, "did you obtain it?", before him.
The dwarf ignored the question, still looking confused by his location. So Lucifer formed a baton and poked him in the head to gain attention.
"Dornus ass! That hurt!" Dafur's eyes cleared up and he massaged the sore spot. "No, but I found it. After they'll go to sleep, I'll try to snatch it…"
"When?"
"I don't know! Ya know t'at higher-tiers need less sleep!"
"Shit!" Lucifer returned to his [Weak Fluxkinesis] training without answering.
Meanwhile, Dafur tended to his fellow dwarfs.
"Can ya help them?" He asked the training [Devilish Sorcerer].
"They're dead, unless a 5th-tier or above helps them," Lucifer wrote the reply. Dafur did not know how, but he could feel an irritated aura emanating from the writing.
"Dornus ass… What about mae Crystallizer talent?"
This question actually halted Lucifer in track. "What does it exactly do?"
"I can connect to low-grade crystals and somewhat control their flow of mana. It's extremely hard to do so. However, I cana easily drain their mana. I think I can even infuse them with elements, even though I never tried to. These crystals" he touched the crystals fused with his chest with right hand, "are like part of mae body. I can draw mana from them and I think they're regrowing. They also function as batteries. I first thought I became a Monstar, but the Universum says I am the Crystal-Augmented Dwarf."
"Well, damn… Regrowing mana crystals? Sounds like you're in for a life of pain. And augmented races… I have heard about it. Though, only in legends," Lucifer was interested but not baffled. After all, he had seen even more peculiar things in the last few weeks than this, not to say anything about the hundreds of years before. "Keep it a secret for as long as you can…" He added.
"Yea, I'm naet an idiot… However the shaman already… you know… kinda… knows…"
Lucifer inwardly frowned, "why did you tell him?"
Dafur deadpanned. "What do ya think? Maybe I just wanted! Or it was a mixtur of unfiltered fear, truth serum and fuckin torture!" He yelled.
"Did you tell him about Stone?" Lucifer was unfazed. Bigger and more powerful beings had screamed at him in the past.
"Of course! But he dinna trust me…"
Lucifer inwardly sighed in relief. The Stone's unusual origin came to the rescue once again!
"Do you have some mana crystals?" Lucifer shifted the conversation.
Dafur frowned and shook his head.
"Well, when you go for the ash, grab as many crystals as you can. I have an idea…"
A plan formed in Lucifer's mind; not a plan to steal the needed material, heal Stone or gain some experience in the process, but rather a plan to acquire a new body.
First, he ordered Dafur to lure some weak goblin inside the tent.
Dafur used the token and returned with a whole unit of five goblins, their leader on the verge of becoming a 2nd-tier.
Lucifer hastily ambushed them with [Flux Missiles], not giving them even a chance to scream. The power was just enough to stun them, but not kill them. Two of the lowest level goblins died anyway. Lucifer did not think it was too big of loss.
[You have killed 1st-tier goblin 2 times.
[Due to the level difference, you have gained no experience]
"The Ghost! The Ghost!" Their leader silently mumbled, his eyes full of fear. He gazed at a perfect ellipsoidal white pebble and gaped.
The last two goblins were pretending to be dead, not daring to move a muscle. Needless to say that Lucifer was not fooled.
"What ghost?" Lucifer wrote with blood before stumped Dafur who was surprised by the sheer speed of the brutal ambush.
A purplish stick hit in the head awakes him from his stupor. He read it and shrugged.
Lucifer slowly levitated before the eyes of the goblin group leader and asked, "Ghost?"
"Rock…" he focused on Stone's body, "Talking. Rock," a simple words from a simple creature inaudibly flowed out. "Ghost. Killer. Fear. Kill?" The goblin asked, wondering why he was not dead yet. Why he could converse with a writing mineral, eluded him.
"Me, Lucifer! You serve me!" Lucifer wrote with big bloody letters. The goblin nodded in acceptance, happy he was not going to die. He slowly sat and asked, "orders?"
"Swear!"
"Gsae! Gulub! Rarto! Gho… Lucifer!" The goblin whispered in the tent. He kicked the two still-pretending goblins and commanded them to vow too.
[Three 1st-tier goblins swore allegiance to you as slaves]
[As a [Subordinate], you cannot own slaves without the direct approval of your master, entity Stone]
[The allegiance mark is transferred to entity Stone]
"Gods dammit!"
Meanwhile, the goblins stood up next to Dafur and observed their new master. As they were simpletons, they did not care much for the form of their new master; he beat them, he rules. Nothing else mattered.
"Listen to this dwarf!" Lucifer shaped a [Flux] stick and pointed it at Dafur.
They simply nodded.
"Yes! Good, they listen!" Lucifer was delighted as he still held some authority over them.
Everything went according to plan and Dafur picked up the Stone's body. He conjured a fiery rune and let the heat cut a small tablet for Lucifer to write on.
They went around the camp, with Lucifer explaining the situation. He even painted a simple map. They slowly walked to the renovated leader's tent.
According to Lucifer's estimation, it would take at least a 4th-tier spell to destroy it.
Dafur left for his duties. A decision was made. It was time to enact the second part of the plan.
The three goblins, now renamed to Moron, Idiot and the ugliest as Tafur, at Dafur's request. Moron, their leader, carefully carried on his back Stone's body, encased in thick leather.
They entered one of the main shafts, leading to the agriculture area. The shaman had to teach them how to properly grow and harvest mushrooms and moss… Was it him who had gathered the army? Lucifer was extremely curious about this.
The first part of the second part of the plan was to create disturbances all around.
Lucifer murdered every single guard and gatherer while madly chuckling. Even though he did not gain any experience from it… The process was therapeutic, a sort of release for the trapped Lucifer.