It was night. Everything I had experienced seemed like it had never happened. I was sitting in a car, trembling. Sirens and noisy voices sounded nearby.
My body was trembling, aching, burning, and I was crying even though I didn't want to. I was alone; I had no control. The only feeling haunting me was panic.
The screams and shouts still echoed incessantly in my ears, breaking my mind into pieces and I tried, at all costs, to rebuild it, but it was in vain.
I had lost control. Ahead, the reflection of the boy in the rearview mirror. A single tear falling down his face and a vacant, gaunt, sideways look.
It looked like a Renaissance painting. Lucifer expelled from heaven and sent to hell by his father. Absorbed in his hatred and sadness.
Alone and out of control.
And then... I woke up.
Gleen was looking at me with concern. The white wolf was sleeping under my feet. From the way his ears were still up, it looked like he had just fallen asleep.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Master, you passed out. I was taking care of you until you woke up."
"I'm fine now. How long has it been?" I questioned.
"Just a few hours. I've been watching over you since then."
"Ah. I see. Thanks, but you can leave now. I'm okay." Gleen had huge dark circles under his eyes, so I dismissed him.
Before leaving, he made sure another dozen times that I was okay. When I threatened him, he finally left.
I sighed in relief and slumped into the throne, looking at the messages that echoed from the day before. Crystal didn't evolve.
I wasn't too worried about it. Within Vangloria, the chances of evolution were very low. It was even surprising that so many had evolved.
Are the chances higher here or am I just lucky?
I kept sitting. The dream I had brought back memories that I thought I had forgotten a long time ago. Memories that I didn't want to touch.
A distant and bitter past.
I looked at the she-wolf. She was still asleep, but she was always alert to everything. A great job. She must have fallen asleep from exhaustion.
I decided to let her rest for now. I began to organize my next steps. With the threat eliminated, we were back to square one.
Investigating the area was essential. I knew I couldn't go north because of the increasing number of rabbits.
Other than the rabbits, there was nothing else there. Investigating them was also of utmost importance, but I couldn't do that now.
The number is too absurd.
I quickly reread the books found in the goblin's cave. The tale was useless for my current situation, but the other one was useful. According to the notes, this was the Forest of Black Luck.
However, it had only the name. No size, boundaries, structures, or dangers. It was enormous, and that was all.
"I need to analyze the area."
I began to build a mental map. The system helped me create a screen where I could store this information.
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North and Northwest: Large number of rabbits. Too dangerous to investigate. Wait until I obtain a monster capable of investigating without being discovered.
Northeast: Goblin's Cave | 30 minutes from the Dungeon.
South: Unknown
East: Unknown
West: Unknown
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Strangely, the northeast had no rabbits. At least, I didn't see any on the way there. This could be good or bad news.
I think I'll start there.
Before setting out on the investigation, I needed to straighten things up in the dungeon. The goblins would soon give birth, and I needed to make sure the babies would be well-raised, as they are my future servants. I also needed to protect and create new defenses.
Suddenly, Crystal opened her heavy eyes. She saw me sitting up and well and jumped on me. I didn't scold her this time. After the slight comfort, I returned to my plans.
"We have some long days ahead of us, Crystal," I said.
She listened, prepared for the work.
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"Master, how many days will you be traveling?" Gleen was nervous.
"I won't be gone long. We'll find an outpost and return," I said.
"Are you sure just the two of you will be enough?"
"I'm sure," I nodded, smiled, and put a hand on the hobgoblin's shoulder. "Take care of everything."
"Yes, master! I'll take care of it with my life if necessary!"
It had been exactly one month since the day I was summoned until today. I was heading towards the forest to investigate.
I spent the last few days organizing everything for my trip.
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Dungeon
Name: None | Type: Tower
Rarity: Unique | Grade: 1
Servants: 530
Floors: 5 | Subsidiary Floors: 0
Points: 10,500
Requirement for Next Grade: 1,000 Points | Uncommon Monster | Monster Grade: 2
[Bonus]
Dominant and Tamed Monsters have a chance to receive the Calm Mind ability.
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I built three more floors. They all had a forest aspect. Goblins lived on the first and second floors. The village was placed on the second, which was safer.
The third floor was where the skeletons were. I summoned about thirty of them for extra protection. Since they were stronger than newly created goblins, they could provide better security.
I calculated that it would take about a day and a half for someone to go from the first floor to the throne if they didn't know the exact path. The magic circles could be moved, so I made it a bit more difficult to climb. If someone invaded, I would be able to sense it from afar.
If the threat wasn't eliminated within a few hours, I would return immediately to the dungeon. I hoped there wouldn't be too many casualties, but it was inevitable.
A shame, but they would fulfill their duty.
On the fourth floor, I placed about a hundred wolves and some rabbits. Their stats were lower than those of the skeletons, but they were by far the best in combat.
The rabbits reproduced so quickly that letting them share territory with the wolves was the only option to control their population. It was almost like they underwent cell division. They multiplied to twice the population in just three days.
It took almost a month to do everything right: organize a provisional chain of command, summon the monsters, recover the lost points, and make sure there was no other nearby threat.
It was hard work, but security was guaranteed. Even if ten champion goblins attacked, it would still be easy to deal with them.
I also received another use of the cauldron and another beast emblem.
Now, my real work began.
I took a pair of common spears, a dozen healing potions, some auxiliary items, and a compass with me. I was equipped with some basic protections and also brought, for emergencies, the bow and arrows I bought in the early days.
I decided to bring Cristal with me. Our joint training had yielded results and she was a hunter and tracker.
She was also stronger and faster than any monster I had encountered. Her stats grew extremely fast.
[Information]
Name: Cristal
Race: White Wolf | Level 4/10
Rarity: Rare | Grade: 1
Emblem: Bestial
[Stats]
Strength: 13/31 | Speed: 16/32 | Stamina: 12/26
Dexterity: 14/32 | Intelligence: 14/31 | Mana: 13/31
❂❂❂
My power also grew in a strangely uniform manner.
[Information]
Name: Kayn
Race: Superior Nephilim | Level 5
Rarity: Unique | Grade: 1
Class: Dungeon Master | Emblem Unknown
[Stats]
Strength: 15 | Speed: 15 | Stamina: 15
Dexterity: 15 | Intelligence: 25 | Mana: 45
❂❂❂
It wasn't entirely bad to have uniform growth, but it was still quite strange.
In addition, I didn't receive a single new passive ability. It was common for physical training to unlock abilities such as Enhanced Strength or Enhanced Senses.
Even weak goblins received these abilities, but I understood the reason behind it.
Unlike them, I didn't have racial limitations, so an ability that increased the limit of power I could receive was useless.
All passive enhancement abilities had this capacity.
Enhanced Strength, Enhanced Speed, Enhanced Stamina, Enhanced Dexterity, and Enhanced Intelligence all increased the stat limit by exactly 1 point per level.
Enhanced Senses increased the limit by 2 points in dexterity and speed and was an uncommon ability, unlike the others which were common.
Magical Talent was also uncommon and increased the limit of mana by 2 points, and there were other abilities of this genre and their evolutions.
Well, concluding the material check, we set off.
My speed was already three times faster than that of an average human, so I could maintain a constant running pace without losing my breath.
Cristal had an even faster speed than mine, so keeping up with me was not a problem for her.
Her steps were light. She moved through the trees like a river flowed. It was calm and fast, especially fast. Her stamina was lower than mine, but she made up for it by not making unnecessary movements.
The Forest of Sort was calm. There was a lack of diversity in the plants and trees. They were all very similar, and getting lost was easy.
Luckily, I brought the compass.
We continued on our way and reached the goblin cave in a third of the previous time. I checked if there was anything else there, but I didn't find anything relevant.
So, we continued to head northwest.
Another hour passed, and finally, I understood why no monsters were coming from the north to the northwest. There was a huge river that ran in both directions.
The current was powerful and destructive. With a few tests, I found out that the depth was also a big problem.
I couldn't figure out how deep it was. In addition, strange fish lived in the water. They had an emerald green color and swam against the current.
The river came from the north, flowed south, and cut a little to the west, avoiding the Dungeon.
"The current probably decreases in that area, so that's why the rabbits can get close to the dungeon."
This was not good news. In fact, it was terrible. I was already scared of the numbers that were reaching the dungeon, but knowing that the river blocked the danger...
How many were there really? Thousands of rabbits? It wasn't impossible. And, the way they multiplied, they would become even more numerous over time.
"Crystal, come with me."
We continued our journey. If everything went wrong in that region, I could try to move to the northwest, using the river as a shield.
After some more traveling, we finally encountered a living being that wasn't an emerald fish.
To the northwest, the environment had changed quite a bit. The trees had larger roots and were thinner, and the ground was damper.
A swampy region, but nothing too excessive. What caught my attention was a creature in the distance.
The creature walked on two legs and carried a long wooden spear with a stone at the tip. It was about my height and had green scales covering it from head to toe, in addition to a large lizard head.
Its physique wasn't strong, but slim. I easily recognized its race; it was a Kobold, the most distant relatives of dragons.
Monsters of the lowest rank that were compared to goblins. They had the body of a bipedal lizard and lived in swamps.
"Crystal, do you want to hunt?" I asked with a creepy smile.
The newly named wolf wanted to test her body and show off a little for me, so she went into battle. She moved quickly and stealthily.
The small guard lizard didn't even realize it was being hunted. It might not have been able to do anything, but I didn't care.
Kobolds were more intelligent and much less aggressive than goblins, but they were still a good source of experience.
When he realized that something was wrong, he pulled his spear, raised his guard, hit the air, moved from side to side, but it was too late.
Crystal leaped from a bush that I didn't even know was there. She grabbed the spear from the small one's hands, throwing it with her mouth in my direction and throwing its owner to the ground.
The small lizard soon realized it was its end, but to my surprise, and terror, it pulled a small whistle from its chest and blew it.
A sharp sound echoed through the trees and made me lower my head because of the irritating noise. Apparently, this annoyed Crystal, who quickly attacked and decapitated him.
She was about to devour the body, but I quickly stopped her. I took the whistle and spear from the body and hid behind some nearby rocks.
The wolf stared at me angrily. I ignored her fury and made her stay quiet. Soon a group approached carefully from where we were.
I could see about ten of them in the distance. All armed with spears and swords made from the bone of some monster.
They were carrying the body of a creature much larger than them with skin in a pinkish tone, but the distance didn't allow me to identify it.
"He called for help. Stay quiet; I don't want to have to fight ten of them in the middle of unknown territory," I murmured.
The group had mixed expressions of anger and sadness for the loss of their companion. They put their hand in the still warm blood and searched the area.
Finding nothing, they left, taking the body with them. Perhaps it was possible to fight them, but there could be more of them, and besides, unplanned combat wasn't for me.
Strangely, I felt an attraction to the blood spilled on the ground. My throat dried as I approached, but I decided to ignore my desires.
I put away the whistle and took a good look at the spear.
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[Item]
Name: Stone Spear
Type: Light Spear
Rarity: Common
Durability: 100/100
Ability: None
Description: Spear made from Ming tree wood. Forged by an inexperienced Kobold. The tip is made of a very sharp stone.
❂❂❂
The quality of this spear was strangely superior to the ones I had. The wood was resistant and flexible, the grip was good, and the size fit me perfectly.
Now, I had three spears to use in combat.
Crystal was annoyed by the fact that she had lost her prey, but I promised her compensation. Only a few hours had passed, so the journey was still long.
"Let's go, Crystal."
❂❂❂
During the rest of the journey, we didn't encounter many other incidents. Some wild goblins here and there.
The only unusual things were dry bloodstains following the direction we were going and my throat drying up at the sight of blood.
It got dark quickly. I gathered a pile of sticks in a circle to create a fire. Crystal sat in front of me and watched the whole process with her tail wagging.
"What are you looking at?" She had a strangely arrogant expression.
It shouldn't be that hard, right?
I tried to light the fire. I spent hours and hours rubbing two sticks, but it resulted in nothing. I forced it a dozen more times until the branches broke for the tenth time.
Enraged, I threw the broken remains against a tree and made a slight tantrum to show my frustration.
The wolf kept looking at me.
"You think it's funny?"
She turned around, threw some dirt back, and lay down on her back.
What a damn dog.
Then I looked at the palm of my hand and remembered the game. There was magic too, but it wouldn't be like in the game.
Right?
"Fireball!" Nothing happened. Not even a spark.
With nothing to do, I threw myself on the ground against a tree. As it wasn't too cold, I could spend the night without a fire.
When I closed my eyes, I felt warmth under my arms and a comfortable feeling. Then I looked at the wolf.
She lay next to me and comforted me a little. It was a moonless night, and darkness was all around. Having that closeness helped a lot.
"Good night, Crystal," I affectionately stroked her fur.
My eyes were heavy, but I needed to keep watch. I was in a dark and unknown forest, after all. But that comfort didn't help.
At some point, I gave up trying. The nightmare I had before wouldn't haunt me again. Now I was in reality, and it couldn't be more wonderful.
I fell asleep under the night dew.