"Luci, do you see any other platypuses?" Stone asked. He tried again and again to send Lucifer some refined mana, however, it was not possible.
Lucifer's body rapidly degraded too. Now it looked like a rotten zombie; large black spots all over his body, an eye and an ear completely missing.
"Nope! All the platypuses are gone!" Lucifer chuckled, sitting on a smoking corpse. To whom the corpse belonged would remain a secret forever. But it was definitely a humanoid.
"Dafur? Are you good?" Stone turned his attention to the dwarf who was holding his head. The brief respite from the shaman's mind-control ended. Now he was bound by finally-awakened Jarka, who still could not remember anything from her past.
"Where's mae master?! Release mea, Monstar!" He yelled and struggled against the rope.
Gorash was floating above Stone, royally amused and barely suppressing laughter. He hadn't been wrong; the eerie rocky... entity... always found himself in an amazing mess!
Stone did not know what to do next. Frankly, his latest battles were grating on him. He was forced to ru… no... to tactically retreat from the strong Stone-Breaker! That bastard! How dare he to survive!
He decided. The Stone-Breakers were going to die. All of them!
They break and break, stopping at nothing.
Though… that marble gate had been nice. That would require more research.
He shuddered and put his mind on something else. He examined his party as Lucifer had taught him during his lessons; when you don't know what to do, look at what you have at disposal.
Then, make a plan that would not kill him or Lucifer.
Jarka, The Forgetful. A naked druegar female without a single hair armed with double-axe and clad into a simple plate armour. No memory of herself or her past, but submissive. She did not even wonder about the rock talking to her. No need to kill her! For now...
Dafur, The Strange. A blighted dwarf, who was looking like a druegar with three mana crystals embedded in his chest. His attempts to attack Stone with the
Firey, The Lazy and the Stone-Breaker! Stone would dispose of him at the first opportunity. He did not like fire much anyway. It was useful, but it did not resonate with him… almost like flying. He could also sense through their contract the elemental did not have good intentions. Kill with extreme prejudice!
Luci, The Friend… Stone did not understand what was happening to him. It scared him a bit. It was different than before when Lucifer slept. Stone was more and more curious about what the platypus could be. He wanted to find a way to help him but did not know how. He had tried to help out but had only succeeded at making the situation worse.
He sighed and read his journal.
His experience efficiency had dropped. He had to kill a large number of meatbags to be even able to level up once. He did not like it, but now he understood that it was just how the Universum was.
He asked to change it, but after a brief laugh from the Universum, silence greeted him. It was a nice greeting, however he wished for an answer.
So he pestered the Universum. For quite some time. He gave it up after Lucifer coughed a bit of blood. And blood should stay inside.
So, next, he wished for his skill list. 'Thud'
Spell Book: Mana Point T2L10 Healing Bath for minerals T1L7 Ants' Souls T1L14 Mana Shield T1L31 Mana Missile T1L27 Mana Expulsion T1L15 Techniques: Ambient Mana Refinement T2L25 Meditation T1L45 Weak Manakinesis T1L5 Skills: Mana Carving T2L10 Tracking T1L1> Stone nodded. Well, he would if he could. This was all that he had. He was in the Abyss. Surrounded by disgusting Stone-Breakers and experience packs, alias Goblins. Not to say anything about Myceliars and their drones. From which he could not get any kind of reward. He was also hunted by the Strongest Stone-Breaker. Now, the plan. … … ... He wanted Luci back. He would know what to do. "Luci?" "Yea?" Lucifer hazily looked at him. "Luci! You are back!" "Platypuses are coming." "Damn!" Then an idea occurred to him. Dafur could connect to him! "Dafur!" "Monstar! Release mea and ya won't suffer! Master! Shaman-Ganra! Where're ya?!" He cried out on the whole shaft, his gruff voice echoing. "Damn it! Jarka? Do you know something?" "Hmm…" She contemplated for a moment. "Nae! Still can't remember a shite! Only…" She closed her eyes. "..." Stone waited. Patiently. "..." five minutes went by and she began to make odd sounds. He had heard them once before. "..." another five minutes. The sounds began to be louder. Much, much louder. "Loud!" Stone yelled, frustrated, and Jarka jerked as she woke up. "So?" he asked. "So what?" She blinked, clearly confused. "Where're we? And who're ya?" Frustration was a loud emotion. He thought about it. The only one who could help him was Dafur. He pondered and pondered… In the end, he could think of only one way. He created a wall and slapped the staring blighted dwarf. "What're ya doin'?! That hurts!" He yelled. And again. His cheek turned red as the mana wall cracked. "Ya… ya… Stop it!" Again and again, the slaps echoed in the cavern. Stone had to conjure the wall several times as it dissipated against the dwarf's hard face. The poor Dafur with swollen cheeks first profusely swore so harshly, it couldn't be written down. Stone did not know it before, but apparently, even he could be insulted. After ten minutes, Dafur began to sob like a child, however, Stone was too angry to listen. So, the slaps continued. Jarka observed it while chuckling, amused and slightly concerned for the dwarf. And Lucifer? He still mumbled about the platypuses. Stone had even started to worry about them. What were those platypuses? Lucifer clearly hated them, so they had to be formidable opponents... After another five minutes, the dwarf pleaded, promising riches and that he would do anything. His face was red and swollen like an apple. "Help Lucifer!" "Y...Yes… Mast… sob… Master Stone!" Dafur whispered. He was a hardened apprentice runemaster. Yet… Stone broke him. To be fair, the poor dwarf was not in his best mind. Brutal torture, enslavement, brainwashing, potions mixed with lack of sleep, alcohol and malnutrition had taken a heavy toll on him. After Stone released his anger, the dwarf quickly connected to Lucifer, who still had some crystals in his body and Stone. The mineral pushed the refined mana through the link. Lucifer ceased to mumble. His eyes cleared and the muddle-headedness retreated. "Luci?" "What… what happened?" The Devilish Sorcerer massaged his forehead. He had a killer headache. "I don't know. You suddenly fell on the ground and began to talk about 'platypuses', whatever they were." At that word, Lucifer froze. A certain memory emerged. A bad memory. "Platypuses, huh…" he muttered. He felt something about that word. Fear. Wrath. Humiliation… "Luci? Are you okay?" Stone worryingly asked. "Yea, yea… So? Where are we? What happened? I remember only the running and a brief struggle with the runemaster… Oh shit!" Lucifer went over his status. Half of his current So this is what would happen if he suddenly loses a second body… He thanked the gods that he did not have a damaged soul. Well, at least he did not feel pain. He definitely wouldn't be trying to become multi-bodied again anytime soon. Or ever... but, knowing his luck, he would become a cluster of germs… He went over his memory. Nothing seemed to be missing. Except for the apparent giant gap before his life as a Partner and the last few hours. "Journal," the tablet rolled out and it was… empty. Completely. He wished for everything. His mind was swarmed by tablets. Except for his main status screen, everything was blank. "Universum?" <...> "Hey?! You here?" The Universum did not reply. He tried a few times again, but nothing. The Universum did not communicate with him at all. Maybe he had a damaged soul after all? Again? Stone peeked at them too. A pure stone tablet… No numbers, no writings… just pure stoneniness. He loved it. Even though they were in two separate bodies now, Stone still could peek at his screens. Lucifer left it open for Stone to watch after an equivalent of puppy stare from him. The Universum's silence worried Lucifer a lot, but there were more pressing concerns. He conjured a Was his soul damaged or not? Also, when he thought about it… The Universum acted peculiarly the whole time. There was a memory… A long-forgotten memory. However, he could not grasp it. It always evaded his mental grasp, leaving only a sense of urgency. Still, he exhaled, relieved. He quickly established the "Luci, you are taking too much!" Stone's reserves plummeted. "Dafur! Close the connection!" Lucifer barked and shot a dirty stare at him. The wall still menacingly floated before his eyes. He paled and the golden strings retreated back to his chest. Stone told him about what happened afterwards. The shaman, Dafur's unusual behaviour, Jarka losing her memory, how he was smart and amazing for using Stone-Breaker… For Lucifer, this story was not only worrying but also interesting. He could feel that something was happening. An opportunity. He still needed to find the Lich Hen'Tai in the second or third layer. "Good… In that case…" Lucifer closed his eyes, attempting to formulate a plan. He gathered what he knew. "Goblin camp. I would bet there would be more than one. Plus there was at least a 4th-tier Orc alongside the 4th-tier camp leader with a production Then there are the Druegars. Their shaman was clearly working with Goblins. I am missing something… A Druegar working with Goblin… These two races hate each other to the bone… Dwarfs… we know nothing about them, except for what is regarded as common knowledge for example, the fragile ceasefire between them and the sapient goblins. However, that the 4th-rank runemaster, Baelgin, attacked a goblin camp with a druegar 4th-rank shaman is saying something about the situation. Also, the Druegars, Goblins and Dwarfs know about you," he mumbled under his thinning beard. Then, he finally noticed the black spots on his hand. Necrosis. "Stone?" Lucifer tiredly asked. "Yes, Luci?" "Why has my body degraded so much?" "I tried to put more refined mana into you, but it did not work." "Of course, you did…" Lucifer did not know if he should laugh or cry, so he went with both. The whole week of this body's functionality expectancy had been reduced to a day... two at most! Stone was happy. He knew that his teacher would know what to do! He was proud of himself for coming up with this plan. "Mistar Stone, we shoulda leave," Jarka suddenly said. "Why? It's quiet here." "Ya'll be hunted down! Master Ganra'll find mea and punish ya!" Dafur yelled. "Loud!" Stone put a "Oh… Luci! Do you know where we are?" "No. Let's find a goblin or a dwarf…" Lucifer picked up Stone and their little party lurked in the shafts and caverns.