Five hours and one level in [Weak Fluxkinesis] technique later, Lucifer had had enough.
Kretin slowly recuperated in sleep. It would take at least a day to completely regenerate.
Dori and Eriv stabilized a bit, but their skin paled even further. Their fat and muscles were nowhere to be found. They were dying. Lucifer grinned at that. Soon…
His thoughts were interrupted by the body of Dafur, wrapped in bloody bandages, being thrown in.
Lucifer scanned him and his wounds. He grabbed another clear red bottle with the [Weak Fluxkinesis] from the Kretin's pouch and poured it into his mouth.
Kretin grimaced at that, but a menacing [Flux Missile] floating around his head cooled him.
The potion stimulated the body and rapidly increased the regeneration of the damaged tissue. Small wounds, like scratches, can heal in a matter of minutes, while more serious wounds in only a day or two.
Dafur coughed and slowly sat up with a massive headache. He opened his eye, and before him crouched a goblin. A high-tiered one to boot. He blinked as the goblin stood up and lay elsewhere, closing his eyes.
A baton hits him in the head, "Auch!"
"Good, you are awake. So?" Lucifer wrote before him.
"Could ya naet do that?" Dafur objected.
"No. So? How does it look?"
"I overheard them before the hopefully last 'lesson'. If the hunt won't be successful in a few hours, they'll join. Their place'll be empty, bar the guards."
"Sounds good. They won't be successful for sure."
"Also… They wanna enslave mea," Dafur sobbed. "They concocted a special potion… That's why we came here. It just takes quite a long time to prepare. Please, Lucifer, don't let them!" Dafur pleaded, tearing up.
"Fine, but you will owe me your life!" Lucifer took pity on him… And he still needed him. The [Crystallizer] talent could awake Stone.
"Agreed! Better than be a fuckin slave…" Dafur's hope gauge broke.
"As you see, I was able to subdue 3rd-tier," Lucifer bragged.
"Did naet ya plan a 2nd-tier?" Dafur was pleasantly surprised. 3rd-tier greatly increased their chances.
"Yes. He is newly promoted. Otherwise, I would be dead," Lucifer wrote. "They are hunting us for five hours already. They should give up soon. Bring me outside," Lucifer commanded.
The sphere showed him that the first party had already returned, closely followed by another two parties. All of them seemed beaten up and missing members, including one 3rd-tier, but the rest seems cheerful.
Lucifer was bewildered. What the fuck happened?
One of the 2nd-tiers ran towards the main building and brought back the camp boss. According to the report, they fought with the other three groups. Thanks to that, two of their 3rd-tier were on the verge of evolution.
Still, they weren't able to find the predator, Ghost. Lucifer chuckled at that.
The boss fumed at that and grabbed a glass vial filled with a green liquid. He swiftly threw it at the 2nd-tier. It broke on contact, the green liquid hissed and he slowly melted, screaming. The rest shuddered and the boss skipped to his quarters.
He returned yet again, this time accompanied by Shaman-Garza.
"Fine! This one time, I'll go with ya! I'm bored anyway… Where's Jarka?"
"Thank you, boss!" The camp boss bowed, the rest perspiring goblins joining him. "Now, you bunch of green shits, reorganize into two groups. One is going with me, the other one with the Shaman, who you will listen to. Understood?"
"Yes, boss…" the goblins tentatively replied.
"What did you say?" The 4th-rank alchemist raised his thick eyebrows.
"YES, BOSS!" A thundering answer reverberated.
"Let's go! Master, please choose," he pointed at the two 3rd-tiers who puff their chest and levelled their shoulders.
Shaman-Garza disinterestedly pointed at one of them and entered one of the shafts.
"Nice, all of them gone. Time for the last part! The heist!" Lucifer wrote.
Kretin picked him up and strapped him on his back.
Twelve 2nd-tier goblins patrolled around the headquarters, guarding the whole place with sharp eyes. The open basement was empty; only the 3rd-tier guard stood guard over the staircase.
The perception sphere with [Tracking] skill proved its incredible usefulness and potency once again. Lucifer saw even the entrance room on the second floor with two 2nd-tier sadly sober elites. "Seems like most of the 3rd-tiers were ordered to hunt. Dafur, who controlled you up there?" Lucifer asked to be sure.
"Two 2nd-tiers," Dafur whispered. They were hiding in a tent nearby. The former dwellers were bathing in a pool of blood.
"Good. Now, how to get up. The two upstairs are no problem. But at the bottom… Drug? No time… Kill? Possible, but it would raise ruckus… Grog? Doubt he would… Woman! That would do!" Lucifer devilishly smiled. He did that a lot lately.
He questioned Kretin what his gender was. Unfortunately, he was a man.
"Master, why wanna, you know?" Kretin asked with broken celestian.
"I want to distract the guard near the staircase."
"Oh. No problem," he drew a knife and leapt towards the guard. Kretin punched him in the face and scratched him with the knife enough to draw blood. The Challenge was issued!
"Well, that could work too," Lucifer sighed. Meh… Who cares…
The bored, patrolling goblins gathered and made a simple arena. A battle ensued, and Dafur, with Lucifer, entered the second floor.
Lucifer easily killed the two 2nd-tier guards, replacing their heads with two full-powered [Flux Missiles]. They now held a considerable power, each carrying almost 30 points of [Flux].
[You have killed 2 2nd-tier goblins. You have gained 19.84% experience. Stone drains 6.94%. You have gained 12.90% experience.'
[You have killed a 2nd-tier goblin 2 times]
[19.84% experience is split according to talents Subordinate and Parasite]
[Lucifer gained 12.90% experience]
[Stone gained 6.94% experience]
The rapid loss of experience depressed him. Sucks to be so powerful....
"Status!" He decided to rearrange his screens a bit. In the end, it was only in his mind.
Name: Lucifer
Titles: Former #!Hidden!#
Path: The Devilish Sorcerer
Tiered Rank: 2
Level: 10 [Max: 26]
Experience: 94.26%
Host RM: 42.5
Flux: 126.5 / 185.3
Strength: 0
Dexterity: 0
Intelligence: 218
Talents: Ageless, Parasite, Subordinate, Stone {wielder}, Hex Master
They sneaked into the room with cabinets. The rest was easy with only one hiccup. There were a few alarm runes, guarding the reagents. However, it was not too complicated and mostly created to guard against goblins, not a sentient stone.
Lucifer flexed his [Weak Fluxkinesis] and levitated everything they needed on a small pile before them. Dafur quickly packed it into a pouch and they hastily left.
With the heist success, they returned to their tent. The challenge battle was still in full swing, so Kretin was missing.
Lucifer painted a small circle with a triangle inside and put the ash, 2nd-tier Monster's heart, and Kretin's blood inside.
After a quick chant and pouring his [Flux] into the circle, the [Life-for-Life Hex] spell activated with purplish clouds rising from the ingredients as they burned.
It took a while to activate and Kretin was able to return just in time. He was beaten up, looking more like he lost the challenge. He quaffed a potion and collapsed on a free bed, already snoring the moment his head hit the ground.
The clouds enveloped Stone's body and Kretins body.
[Kretin was hexed with Life-for-Life Hex. Any kind of healing or damage is projected into the body of connected creatures]
The effect was immediate. As it said, any kind of healing meant even the natural regeneration of [Lifeforce] that any other species had, except Stone, would help!
He saw as the red [Lifeforce] flooded every molecule of Stone's body.
The flickering golden matrix began to pulse with mana as before. It fully stabilized.
Lucifer observed a shift as a few lines rearranged.
"Hi Luci! I am baaa~ck!"
☁☁☁☁☁☁
Encyclopaedia Stonia
Abyss - addendum
0.5 to 50 kilometres deep is underground.
50 – 60 kilometres is the first floor.
60 – 80 kilometres is the second floor.
There are more floors but about them later.
Below-floor (or above-floor) is a description of the levels inside the floor compared to your own position.