Day 21

While in the middle of their regular morning training, a question suddenly popped up in Marx's mind.

He has been in this world for 20 days yet all of the Demi-Human monsters he has encountered possesses some intelligence in one form or another.

Geezer did once say that when a Demi-Human dies, he/she gets teleported somewhere else and live his/her life as a random faceless mob. Yet Marx has yet to see a single monster with AI characteristics. More specifically, Marx has yet to see the 7 gremlins that were killed by his party a few days ago.

With that in mind, Marx went to Geezer and inquired about it. The answer he got was quite interesting.

Based on the rules of the world since time immemorial, when any monster with intelligent dies, they are teleported to some random area very far away from their point of death.

Apparently, Marx misunderstood how far away is very far away. Based on Geezer's knowledge, those who have died usually ends up in a different continent than where they first died.

Why does this happen?

Geezer simply answered that it's just the way it is.

Not a very convincing answer that simply made no sense, but then again, when did this world ever follow common sense?

Back to the topic.

The reason why there are no mindless monsters in their area is because this place was originally sealed off from the outside world. Aside from the monsters and People of the Land that originally lived here, there are no other living things came from anywhere else.

This powerful seal seems to only go one way. It allows the inhabitants of their area to leave but does not allow anyone to enter. This seems to apply to the AI monsters where not one of them have been teleported into this area.

Apparently, the reason why there are no other gremlins aside from them is because the generation before them was able to find a way to exit the island. No one knows how they did it, but the entire gremlin community left their young in Geezers care and went on a journey.

What a bunch of irresponsible parents.

While the isolation of their area seems to be absolute, there have been a sign that it is not the case.

A Wyvern, something that is not a native to this region, was spotted in the mountains about 20 days ago. While it was killed by other monsters, it does not change the fact that this island's isolation maybe coming to an end.

From what Geezer has told Marx, he could clearly understand what is the current state of affairs.

Quite simply, their area is a new map of the Novasphere Pioneers Expansion.

The reason why they havent met a single Adventurer is mostly because, just like Marx, they are trying to figure out how to live in this world. Exploring new horizons is very much at the bottom of their priority list.

At the very least, Marx can have some peace of mind that encountering Adventurers are still a long ways off. This gives him a lot of room to maneuver, thus he begins planning for the next phase of his world domination plans.

For now, Marx has Riz, Adra and about 6 more gremlins head for the Black Ant lair in order to mine for high grade ore. His plan is to constantly mine ore in order to boost the gremlin's overall gear level.

On the other hand, He and Janette proceeded to evaluate the path from their HQ to the mine, assess the monsters along the path and their threat level along with other details involved with making a supply chain.

The ore mine is an extremely valuable resource and Marx plans to exploit thoroughly. And because of its value, Marx has to carefully plan out how much manpower is he willing to invest in its security and operation.

After scouting around a bit, he returned to the cave and proceeded to brain storm with Janette, Rashid and Dor for a tentative plan. Eventually they came to the verdict that they simply dont have enough manpower to keep it under their control, but they can send a fairly large force of about 10-15 to exterminate any Black Ants that might appear and dig up the ore.

It's a plan on the drawing board so they wont implement it hastily. For now, Marx will be leading the mining group until a better plan is formed.

Later that night, dinner was another fine feast thanks to Lisa and Dor.

After practicing and failing on barrier magic, Marx went to bed.

-:-

Day 22

Today, 2 very good events transpired.

First is the result of Rashid's smithing.

As promised, he made a few Production Class Items with performance that rivals that of an Artifact Class. The old man was truly skilled at smithing and Marx is pleased that to have such an asset on his team.

On the down side, due to the fact that Rashid's smithing is on such a high level, the amount of ore he used was astronomically high compared to the number of items he has produced.

At the moment, Rashid has produced 1 Obsidian Full Plate, 1 Heavy War Bow, 5 Black Gladius, and 1 Demon Hammer.

These are all top of the line items that would make any Adventurer drool in envy. Naturally, Marx wouldnt have settled for anything less, considering how Rashid went through all of their ore in one sitting.

All in all, Marx was pleased of the result.

The next pleasant news of the day was Adra's evolution to the Orc race. If one considers how much monsters Marx forced him to kill, it was only a matter of time.

Surprisingly, Adra looked like one of those guys in a shoujo manga. He is an exceedingly handsome young man in his late teens with shoulder length brown hair and sharp eyes. He seems to be one of those prince charming type of characters, befitting his role as a shield wielding knight.

To reward him for his efforts, Marx bestows Adra with the Obsidian Full Plates and 1 Black Gladius. While his shield is still an a metal buckler that they looted from the Nagas, it will have to do until Rashid can craft newer armaments.

As for the rest of the items, Marx distributed them as follows:

Riz gets the 2 handed Demon Hammer and a Black Gladius

Janette gets the Heavy War Bow and a Black Gladius

Marx gets a Black Gladius

Dor gets a Black Gladius

In regards of Dor, Marx originally wanted him to have the Heavy War Bow, but Dor persuaded him otherwise.

From the looks of it, Dor wanted to spend less time hunting and more time in improving his crafting skills.

Naturally, Marx wasnt pleased with this because this would undermine Dor's growth. But since he could see that Dor was much suited for crafting, he decided to compromise.

If Dor promises to hunt atleast half a day, Marx will not stop him from doing what he wants. This agreement ensure that Dor will continue to grow in strength while improving his craft at the same time.

Sure, it's in a slower pace than going all out with the others, but Marx hopes that it will pay off someday.

Naturally, Dor agrees to the terms and promises not to let Marx down.

Marx cant help but regret the loss of his 3rd most powerful piece, but this gamble could pay off big time, thus he allows it.

With that said and done, Marx heads to the mines along with Riz, Adra, Janette and the 6 gremlins that he brought yesterday. Along the way, they destroyed 6 Rhino Boars, 3 Blade Shrews and, for the first time in a while, 9 Plague Ravens.

Just like usual, his comrades cringe at the sight of Marx eating the Plague Ravens.

New Skill Acquired: Decay

As expected of the Plague Ravens, they are so weak that Marx needed to eat 9 of them to get one skill.

Decay is a Water type single target spell that continuously damages the target. A fairly straight forward DoT skill. Marx can expect good things from this one due to his Viper's Aspect skill

The group eventually arrived at the mines and began clearing the ever present Black Ant population with little difficulty, especially if you consider that 4 of them are on their second evolutionary state.

However, their peaceful mining trip turned into chaos 1 hour later.

Without warning, an earthquake shook the mine.

Fearing for the possibility of a cave in, Marx quickly gave the order to abandon all of their belongs and run for the exit.

Unfortunately, instead of the usual ceiling collapse, the ground opened up and dragged Marx, Riz and 2 of the low level gremlins down the hole. It was a sudden 50 foot drop, but this was nothing thanks to their naturally durable body.

Sadly, it was nearly impossible for them to climb back up due to the damp cave wall.

To make matters worse, a massive 10 foot humanoid hulk made out of earth was there to meet their acquaintance.

This monster is called an Earth Golem and it clearly didnt view Marx's group in a favorable light.

Without further ado, the battle began.

The Earth Golem throws its massive fist, but as you'd expect of a magical construct, it was slow and predictable. Never the less, one clean hit from that thing will most likely result in an instant death.

Marx hates fighting something that he has no knowledge off, but there are times like this where it just cant be helped

It's just like what Grandmother used to say

"When life gives you lemons, you give life the middle finger, bash his balls in and steal everything in his pockets. That will teach life to never mess with you"

While that didnt really make sense in Marx's current predicament, it does mean that one does not simply accept the crap life is giving to you.

With that in mind, Marx began giving out orders

Adra is to return to HQ and secure some rope in order for the ones trap in the hole to get out. While normally Adra is to act as a tank and take hits, Marx understood that the Earth Golem was out of their league. Making Adra fight it is plain stupidity.

Janette and the other 4 gremlins that didnt fall into the hole are to provide long range distraction to the ground team. Since they are out of the Earth Golem's range, they can shower it with arrows and rock with no consequence.

Unfortunately, the Earth Golem's armor is quite resilient, thus their long range support has little effect

Riz is to do what she does best and flatten any enemy within reach. Due to her high offense specs and greatly improved weapons, Riz capable of somewhat damaging blows against the Earth Golem.

Marx is tasked with the stressful jobs of defending the 2 gremlins that fell into the hole, commanding Riz and finding possible weak points in the Earth Golem's extremely durable armor (which they soon discovered that it had none).

First Marx fired multiple Icicle Blades at the Golem's stomach. While it didnt do much damage, it did rapidly decrease the temperature of that certain part. He then followed through with multiple Flare Arrows in order to quickly increase its temperature.

He repeats this process 5 more times.

Since an armor made of rock is not an effective heat conductor like metal, the rapid change in temperature compromises its durability, resulting in a brittle structure.

After one last Icicle Blade, Marx casts Thorn Bind Hostage to immobilize the Golem. He then commands Riz to use both hands in wielding her Demon Hammer and hit the stomach of the Golem with all of her might.

With a loud bang, the Golem's stomach shatters, causing its entire body to give way due to unable to hold the upper body's weight.

It was a tough 1 hour battle but they eventually took down the Earth Golem. Surprisingly, this feat was accomplished thanks to a very simple application of science.

Yey science!

He checked the condition to 2 gremlins that he protected. Aside from the expected trauma that they suffered, they are more or less in tip top condition.

Marx then checked on Riz who received the most injuries. The damage was mostly concentrated on her arms due to the fact that she had to use full power in order to parry the Golem's punch. As a result, both of her arms are broken.

He healed her wounds and told her that she did a good job.

The second her arms could move her arms, Riz suddenly hugs Marx.

Well, it was one of the toughest battles they had experienced, thus he allowed Riz to do what she wanted.

However, he soon realized that he misunderstood Riz.

Riz suddenly began rubbing her voluptuous breast at Marx chest. Her face was red and her breathing is seductively ragged. Her usually emotionless eyes were telling Marx to push her down and violate were not signs of relief, but of a sexually aroused woman.

"Why?" Marx wondered.

They were not in a situation where such arousal was a result. If anything, this was a life and death situation with Riz as the one who received the most agony.

Marx has one theory as to why Riz is acting like that, but he decided to keep it to himself. Since there was no evidence, then his theory is baseless... Atleast that's what he tells himself.

Marx asked Riz to let go of him, which the girl complied without fuss.

Riz returned to her usual emotionless self, yet for some reason, Marx could feel that she was violating him with her gaze.

... Marx decided to ignore this for now...

Marx searched the Earth Golem's corpse for something edible. Despite its rugged exterior, the Golem's internal parts were as soft as clay. It didnt take Marx long to find a green nut within the center of the Golem's chest.

Marx uses his Item Identification Skill

Item Name: Seed of Life

Item Level: Artifact Class

Item Type: Consumable/Crafting Material

Item Description: All Golems have cores that powers them and define their elemental affinity. In the Earth Golem's case, the Seed of Life is a commonly used core because it can be found almost anywhere.

The Seed of Life is the size of a golf ball, thus Marx expected that it wont fill his stomach. Never the less, the Earth Golem was an opponent above their league, which makes it a perfect prey for skills.

Without further ado, Marx ate the Seed of Life

New Skill Acquired: Earth Armor

New Skill Acquired: Negate Damage

New Skill Acquired: Leach Seed

New Skill Acquired: Earth Cannon (Blessing of the Earth Upgrade)

New Skill Acquired: Earth Shaper (Blessing of the Earth Bonus Skill)

He certainly hit the jackpot on this one.

First and foremost, Marx finally understood why the Earth Golem was so tough.

Earth Armor is simply an armor that is made out of pure magic, thus bypasses the Arcane Spell Failure problem. It is fairly heavy (just about the same weight as a heavy armor), but the added protection is more than enough to make up for it.

By the way, it seems that it is affected by the Increase Heavy Armor Proficiency skill, thus he can move at acceptable speeds.

Negate Damage automatically cancels out a certain amount of damage.

By combining the thick protection of the Earth Armor and Negate Damage, the Earth Golem blocks out a fair amount of damage before it could reach the core. A very good combination if Marx says so himself.

Next is the Leach Seed. It is an Earth Based DoT spell that also acts as a life steal mechanism. It is exactly like the ones you see in Pokemon.

Earth Cannon seems to be an upgrade for the Stone Spear spell. Quite simply, Earth Cannon hurls a heavy rock at high speeds.

Earth Shaper on the other hand is a non-combat magic which is normally used to manipulate earth into whatever shape Marx wishes. With this, Marx created a simple stone stairs that leads back up to the Black Ant mine.

Adra's efforts of bringing back a rope was wasted.

By the way, it seems that the Blessing of the Earth skill that Marx received in the past may be activated whenever Marx devours something that has high earth affinity. If that's the case, then Marx would seriously hunt for those types of opponents to increase his skill set.

Marx is really pleased at the result of their conquest.

However, now that Marx is not under the threat of being squashed like a bug, he realizes that the hole that they fell into leads to a massive hallway. He wasnt sure what exactly have they stumbled on, but he decides to explore it at a later date.

One climactic battle has sapped them with a lot of strength. They need to rest for now.

Marx told his minions to carry as much ore as they can and head back to base.

This day was a grueling yet fulfilling one.

-:-

Day 23

Today it rained heavily in their area.

With that in mind, Marx decided to take it easy.

After their usual morning practice, Marx joined Dor and began crafting.

It seems that the ore that Marx's group has brought from the mines had some hidden gems mixed in with them. According to Dor, this were not pretty stones but something called Mana Stones which are normally used to imbue items with additional power.

With that in mind, Dor began a project of creating a robe for Marx.

Apparently creating a mages robe is not as easy as producing a leather armor. Based on Dor's research, a mages robe is an intricate art of weaving thin mana threads into a piece of cloth. The material used must also be considered carefully so that mana can move freely through the apparel.

Mind you, Dor's explanation made little sense to Marx, but he did understood that this is no simple project. It could take days to finish and a large amount of materials is bound to be used up.

Well, since they have a relatively large stockpile, materials is not a pressing issue.

They used a white cloth that they found among the Naga's loot as the base of the mage robe.

As for weaving the mana threads into the robe, Marx could only do so little to help Dor. It required precision finger work, a fairly large amount of Spirit Stones and a master artisans knowledge to pull it off.

The only thing he could do was crush the Spirit Stones into fine powder and soak the thread into it.

At some point in time, Lisa Bristof joined in and began helping out. As you'd expect of a domestic wife, Lisa's needle work rivaled Dor's in every turn. Thanks to her cooperation, the robe could be finished in a day or two.

As for Marx, since he has outlived his usefulness in the project, he left it to the 2 and went to Rashid.

The old Naga was also in high spirits thanks to the continuous influx of ores.

At the moment, he decided to craft a staff for Marx. Using the ore and spirit stones that they gathered, Rashid envisions it to be extremely durable without sacrificing its ability to strengthen a mage.

With a robe and a staff to look forward to, Marx cant help but be happy. He is a gamer after all. New equipment will always make him happy.

Next up, he meets Janette and began putting the final touches in their plan to create a supply route from the mine to their HQ.

As far as from what they have observed, the monsters enroute are comprised mostly of Rhino Boars, Blade Shrews, Red Rabbits and the occasional Plague Raven. Most of these are monsters that the gremlins have been eating on a daily basis, so there is little threat on their path.

Assigning about 6-10 gremlins to mining duty should do just fine.

Their main concern is the hole that opened up yesterday. They werent sure where it leads and what opponents lie within. For now, they decided to explore it at a later date.

After discussing that, Janette then began to tease Marx about his unclear relationship with Riz.

In contrast her serious demeanor, Janette seems to be the Tomboyish Older Sister type of person. She makes vulgar jokes while locking Marx in a headlock. Marx decided to go with the flow and pretend to be the unwilling younger brother victim.

Marx likes to think of this exchange as a sign that Janette has finally began to trust him.

While the 2 continued their horsing around, a powerful arm pulls Marx away from Janette.

The arm belonged to Riz as she wordlessly pulled Marx, but not before shooting a death glare at Janette.

Scary...

Riz then brings Marx to the entrance and then... Well... They just stood there.

When Marx asked what was the matter, Riz remained silent.

When Marx tried to leave, Riz simply held his hand and followed silently

Marx may have seen his share of romances in his life, but he doubts even a professional skirt chaser could make sense of Riz's actions. Even a brick wall would have given him more info.

With no means of reading his ever loyal second in command, Marx headed back into the cave. Naturally, Riz didnt let go of his hand.

At some point, they bumped into Lisa who has just finished dinner preparation.

Without warning, the temperature suddenly plummeted.

Marx thought it was just his imagination, but was 8 people present in the vicinity and all of them could sense that there was something going on between the two ladies.

There was no killing intent or hate within their gaze. It's more like the two are sizing up their opponent.

... This could be bad...

-:-

Day 24

Marx, Riz, Janette and Adra leads a group of 8 gremlins towards the Black Ant Mines.

The 8 gremlins were to mine ore until their backpacks are full and return to HQ as soon as possible. After that, they are to return to their daily routine

On the other hand, the Marx quartet went down the hole and began exploring.

Their formation and responsibilities are as follows.

Adra is to take the vanguard position and is to act as a sort of scout.

Riz is also a vanguard though she lies closely behind Adra and is responsible of eliminating the enemy as quickly as possible.

Marx stands in the middle and acts as the commander. He is also tasked of backing up both the front and the back with heavy firepower if the need arises. He also acts as the teams navigator thanks to his Automatic Terrain Mapping skill.

Janette stands in the very back and acts as a rear guard who supports the front with long range fire. Since she is the fastest and most versatile in their group, she can quickly change her role from a sniper to a vanguard if the need arises.

It's a fairly basic straight line formation, but it doesnt change the fact that it is effective.

As they moved through the tunnels, Marx noticed 2 particular things.

First. Despite being underground, they can see fairly well. There wasnt a single visible light source yet they could see as if they were underneath the sun. This actually leads him to the second particular thing: the tunnel that they are in is man made.

It wasnt clear at first due to the overgrowth and a few cave ins, but there are partially intact statues every 10 or so meters. The floor is also made of square shaped concrete-like blocks.

This isnt a tunnel... It is hallway of a castle.

And just like any castle, there are bound to be guards roaming around.

The first monsters they encountered were 8 Hell Hounds. It looked like a Doberman that reached the height of a full human adult. To top it all off, they moved quickly and in a coordinated manner.

And just when Marx thought it couldnt get any worse, the Hell Hounds could cast flare arrow while moving.

While it looked bad for them, Marx always had a trick or two up his sleave.

Marx lets loose an Intimidating Roar, effectively paralyzing the Hell Hounds.

From that point onward, it was a one sided beat down.

Riz and Adra quickly closed the distance and introduced their steel to their targets.

Janette fired off an Arrow Shower and took down 3 at the same time.

Marx blew apart 2 with a single Rock Cannon.

Unfortunately, it seems that the Hell Hounds have high resistance to disabling effects. Barely 7 seconds after being paralyzed , those who were still alive quickly retreated.

Marx counter acts this by casting Thorn Bind Hostage on one, Astral Hypno on the second and Decay on the third.

This is the first time Marx ever used Decay before and its effects were quite terrifying to watch.

The Hell Hound violently spasms in pain, its skin began to age with great speed and its legs snapped as if it could no longer hold its own weight.

While Marx expected something like this, it is never easy to watch a living thing die in absolute agony.

They eliminated any remaining stranglers and feasted on their remains.

New Skill Acquired: Increase Debuff Resistance

New Skill Acquired: Combat Casting

Another set of skills that have limitless potential.

Increase Debuff Resistance is self explanatory.

Combat Casting is a phenomenal skill in every sense of the word. This allows Marx to move and attack with no fear of spell interruption. This also increases Marx's resistance to interruption when receiving an attack, though it is advised not to receive an attack at all.

This allows Marx to still effectively wield his mage spells while fighting melee.

Satisfied with development, Marx and company continued on with their journey

They eventually exited the long hallway and the sight the greeted them was awe inspiring. It was a massive labyrinth of stone bridges that extended as far as the eye can see. If you look downwards, there are innumerable stone bridges and tunnels.

While Marx wasnt sure, there might be a river of sorts at the very bottom of the endless maze.

He has no clue what this place is, but it reminds him of that one scene in Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring. This seems to be where that fire demon Balrog would appear.

Would Marx have the opportunity to say YOU SHALL NOT PASS?

Maybe

Either way, Marx cant helped but be excited of the things to come.

They continued on the long maze of intersecting bridges, stairs, ladders and vertical drops until the bridge in front of them was destroyed by a powerful Water Ball spell. It was so powerful that not even the Adventurers could cast a similar spell in such a magnitude.

They moved closer to the edge of the bridge and spots a monster called Demon Frog about 1 level below them. The Demon Frog is simply a gigantic frog the size of a house.

Despite it's size, it was actually weak.

Riz jumped over the edge and killed the Demon Frog with a single gut busting hit from her Demon Hammer.

The rest of them jumped after her and began eating the Demon Frogs remains. Despite its disgusting appearance, it actually tastes good.

New Skill Acquired: Mana Overcharge

New Skill Acquired: Water Ball

Apparently, Mana Overcharge increases the MP requirement of a skill/spell by 3 times, but increases its effectiveness by 6 times. Unfortunately, this is only limited to offensive skills/spells, thus cant be used on spells like Rock Armor or skills like Increase HP Regen.

Never the less, Marx clearly received one hell of a skill.

To demonstrate this, he fired off an Overcharged Water Ball and achieved the same result as the Demon Frog.

Quite impressive if he says so himself.

After that, they decided to head back before they'll lose sight of their original entry point. Though this is impossible due to Marx's Automatic Terrain Mapping Skill, it is better to be safe than sorry.

It didnt take them long to return to the surface and head back to home base.

After that, Marx and Janette began drawing maps in order for future explorations to be done without Marx as the lead. He wasnt sure if gremlins could read maps, but that is another problem he needs to solve.

Dinner was great as usual thanks to Dor and Lisa

At night, Marx finally pulled off the Purification Barrier that he has agonized to acquire for so long

New Skill Acquired: Purification Barrier

Thanks to that, Marx went to bed completely satisfied.

-:-

Day 25

After training, Marx decided to hold off hunting for today and implemented a plan he has been working on since he entered this world.

As much as he wants to fulfill his ambitions as the ruler of the world, he is but one man/monster. Taking all the responsibilities of every sector of a kingdom to himself is not only idiotic but also inefficient.

A true ruler is not someone who knows everything, but someone who knows how to use human resources to maximum effect. To understand what makes a person tick and to place him/her in a place where his/her talents are most effective is the most basic yet most important skill that a ruler must posses.

With that in mind, Marx began assigning other people to positions of power. Sure, his kingdom is extremely small at the moment, but he decides to build up his foundation as early as possible in order for his minions to get used to their roles quickly.

However, he cant just simply place his trusted subordinates in key positions due to the gremlin society's might-makes-right form of governance.

To remedy this, Marx announced that on that day, the position of leader belongs to no one. They will have a simple round robin tournament to decide who the next leader is.

It took nearly all morning but the result are as expected.

The ranking are as follows: First is obviously Marx followed by Riz, Dor, Adra and then everyone else.

As much as Marx wants Janette to join in the ranks, he prioritized the unity of the gremlin community in order to avoid future conflicts. Janette understood this and decided to hang back.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand.

Since Marx is once again the undisputed leader of the gremlin community, he began giving positions to those who he deemed worthy.

Dor gets second overall command of the gremlin community which mostly entails logistics and day to day decision making. Since he clearly was smarter than the rest, he was clearly the only one qualified for the position. He has also proven his worth when Marx left him in charge a few days ago, thus no one complained.

Riz is assigned as the second in command when it comes to military matters. This includes training, security of their home base and leading the vanguard.

Someone actually objected to this. While it is true that Riz has the best track record when it comes to mowing down the enemy, the gremlin stated that she lacked the flexibility to take command.

Marx was surprised and pleased with this objection. It was correct in every sense of the word which means that there was another gem hidden within the pile of brainless idiots.

Before Marx answer the gremlin, Riz rushed in and landed a spinning heel kick into the poor thing, nearly killing it in the process.

Marx quickly used Heal on the gremlin.

He then scolded Riz for her unnecessary show of force. He would have done his best to defend his decision and quell the unease of their gremlin brethren, thus there was no need to hit anyone.

Riz apologized to Marx and the gremlin she nearly killed, then she returned to where she was standing.

Marx then made sure to remember the unconscious gremlin that made the object. It was a female with short blue hair, and based on her friends, her name is Hali. Apparently, she was one of the gremlins that Marx defended when they fought the Rock Golem a few days ago.

Satisfied with this information, Marx continued on with the meeting.

Despite not joining the round robin tournament, Geezer was given the task of teaching the gremlins the basic knowledge needed to survive. While he has tons of stock knowledge, Marx specifically wants Geezer to teach the gremlins how to read.

Being literate can save one's life

After that, its mostly a rundown of the stuff that the gremlins already know. It's mostly focused on Marx's rules and regulations so its really not necessary but its good to do a refresher.

With that said, Marx adjourns the meeting and commands them to resume their hunting activities.

Since there wasnt much time remaining, Marx decided to put off exploring the labyrinth for today and concentrate on hunting food.

-:-

Day 26

Before their group could head out for the labyrinth, Marx finally received his long awaited gear upgrade.

Rashid presented him with a jet black staff made of pure metal. At the very end of it is a large dark blue spirit stone that was shaped like a blade.

Rashid named it the Mage Edge which is capable of functioning as both a staff and a spear. He also boasts that it wont lose to Riz's Demon Hammer in terms of durability.

Marx was so happy that he hugged Rashid out of reflex.

No gamer can resist the allure of new items.

Next up, Dor and Lisa presented him with a white and black overcoat which they named Robe of the Saint. It boasts high magical resistance and defensive capabilities rivaling that of a leather armor despite being a robe.

Not only did it have great functionality, it also made him look cool.

Overcome with sheer joy, Marx hugged Dor and spun him around a few times.

He then hugged Lisa and kissed her on the lips, causing her entire body to stiffen. He knows that suddenly kissing a married woman is bad and all, but he was simply too happy to give a damn of the consequences.

Fortunately, Riz didnt witness the scene, thus Marx avoided unnecessary injuries

He quickly donned his new equipment and led his usual party towards the mine.

As per usual, Marx, Riz, Janette and Adra are to explore the labyrinth while Hali and 5 other gremlins were to mine for ore. Just like last time, Marx told the 6 gremlins that they only needed to fill their back packs with ore once, then they are free to hunt whatever they wanted.

The 4 went down the labyrinth and made decent due to their previous exploration.

Marx experimented on the effects of Mana Overcharge when used in conjunction with his other spells. The effects where quite pleasing to the eyes.

Earth Cannon received an upgrade on the size of the projectile from 3 inch diameter to 8 inch.

Icicle Blades now fires multiple projectiles at a single cast, which happens to be similar to that of a standard shotgun bullet. It's quite devastating since each projectile explodes on impact due to the Viper's Aspect upgrade.

Slicing Wind also receives a shotgun like upgrade

Flare Arrow now burns the target

12 Hell Hounds and 7 Demon Frogs were the unfortunate test subjects of Marx's upgraded spells. Thanks to that, they ate like kings

New Skill Acquired: Increase Fire Resistance

New Skill Acquired: Increase Water Resistance

These were the last skills that Marx could learn from the Hell Hounds and the Demon Frogs respectively.

Despite the awesome power Mana Overcharge has granted Marx, he decided to not use it all the time. While his status screen doesnt display his HP and MP, he is pretty sure that he has limits. He'd rather not run into a situation where he ran out of mana because he used Mana Overcharge excessively.

They continued on.

Thanks to Marx ability to make bridges using his Earth Shaper skill, they easily traversed through many areas that are originally unaccessible.

After going down a few more levels, they are greeted by 50 Zombies. Just like the name states, their new adversaries are mostly rotting human corpses.

Due to their undead nature, Zombies boasted considerable physical strength and endurance, making them a challenge to engage in close quarters combat. To make matters worse, they also have an ability to poison anyone within close proximity to them. Truly a nightmarish enemy for the melee class

On the other hand, they are considerably slow, thus are easy prey for long range attacks.

With that in mind, Marx had his group execute a simple attacking-while-moving strategy that the great riders of the Mongolian Empire are famous for. Quite simply, they keep themselves out of the Zombies range while Marx and Janette rain down hell on them.

It took the four a fair bit of time but they eventually exterminated every last one of the Zombies.

Marx tried to eat the Zombies but gained no skill in return.

Maybe all Undead beings are considered dead? Or maybe it is some other reason entirely?

Either way, Marx's effort of shoving down the 10 rotting corpses down his throat was wasted completely. While he wont get sick from eating such putrid meat, the after taste made him puke a few times.

With that in mind, Riz insisted that they called it a day and returned to HQ

-:-

Day 27

Today Marx is confronted with a crisis he has tried to ignore for quite some time now. The issue itself brings no harm to anyone and it doesnt get in the way of their day to day activities, thus Marx thought that time would eventually solve this one.

Apparently, he was naive to think so.

Just when dawn was about to break, Marx and Geezer was forced into a meeting with Dor, Lisa and Janette. Marx had a vague idea why their meeting was held when everyone else was still asleep, but he decided to listen to the three's words.

The topic of their concern was Riz, or more specifically, her subtle yet evident change in character. The change was so subtle that only Marx, Dor, Lisa and Janette were able to sense it.

The first one to sense the change was Dor.

About three days or so after Riz evolved into an Orc, Dor noticed that she developed some unconscious body language that are strangely erotic by nature.

One example of this is her way of walking. Originally there was nothing worth noting in this department, but after evolving to an Orc, Dor noticed that she began walking in a manner that caused her hips to lightly sway. Since Dor was still a gremlin at the time, he usually forced to watch her erotic behind for hours at a time due to his height.

Another example was Riz's way of standing. In the past she would take a neutral stance where it is near impossible to read her body language. Nowadays she would place one hand on her hip while leaning ever so slightly to one direction, which places further emphasis on her curvy hips and large breast.

Marx was quite shocked that he never noticed such a big change. Dor said it was only natural that he overlooked it because Riz normally stands behind Marx, thus away from his field of vision.

The next one to notice the change was Janette.

During training, Riz is normally charge with teaching those who specialize in melee combat. While she normally keeps her emotionless persona during this time, Janette spotted a few times where Riz would smile erotically while beating down her gremlin brethren.

Janette emphasized the fact that Riz smiled not in sadistic glee but in sexual pleasure. Janette thought this was Riz's normal reaction, thus she ignored it for now.

However, one particular event made Janette doubt her own hypothesis.

This again happened during training, but this time Riz faced of with Marx. Since he was the only one who can match her full strength, their sparring tends to be slightly more violent compared to the norm.

Janette never really thought much about it, until she saw Marx winning with a painful straight punch that made Riz hit the floor face first. Since Riz was facing away from Marx, he didnt notice her facial expression. But from where Janette was standing, it was a face of a woman that just underwent a powerful orgasm.

Janette could accept someone who found pleasure from inflicting pain, but she found it disturbing for someone to experience ecstasy from receiving pain.

Marx just found out about this particular quirk of Riz when they faced the Golem, so he wasnt really surprised by Janette's report.

Last but not the least is from Lisa's perspective.

In the few days the two have known each other, there was a certain level of caution between them. In this past few days, both have successfully probed each other for strengths and weaknesses, thus in a sense, they know each other surprisingly well.

However, the usually emotionless Riz suddenly changed 2 days ago. During dinner time that day, Lisa noticed how Riz licked her spoon in a very suggestive manner while staring at Marx.

At the time, Marx wax busy thinking of which person was best for a commanding role, thus he didnt notice that Riz was already violating him with her eyes. Apparently this behavior has caused quite a bit of unrest within the gremlin community.

Quite simply, the male population got horny just by witnessing Riz's display.

Marx already foresaw the problem with pent up sexual urge a long time ago, thus he allowed the male gremlins to sleep with the female gremlins as long as both sides have mutual consent.

While Marx did have a guilty pleasure of enjoying erotic material with forced sexual relationship themes IRL, he is a firm believer that rape is bad. That is why if he ever hears that one of the male gremlins forces themselves on the female, that gremlin would experience the full joys of the Naga's torture chamber.

On the flip side, Marx just recently realized that female gremlins had stronger sexual drive than males. There have been times that the females have forced themselves on the males, but Marx decided to ignore this since both sides are happy.

FYI: Male gremlins are like altar boys or something. They rarely get horny as long as they can kill something... Seriously how simple minded can they be?

Got a bit off track there. Let's return to the topic.

While the females actually welcomed the increased male sex drive, Lisa expressed concern that Riz never performed the fine arts of burning of her urges. Lisa fears that Riz might suddenly explode and Marx will most likely be the target of the blast.

With their statements presented, Marx realized how little he knew about the gremlin society and the gremlin physiology in general. He then decided to ask Geezer for his input.

Geezer then began explaining how the gremlin society normally works.

Normally, the gremlin society is matriarchal in nature, thus females are the ones that call the shots. The males normally function as either seed bags for future generations or as sacrificial pawns that protect the matriarch.

This is why Geezer said to Marx in the past that he is an abnormal existence.

Marx asked why Geezer never told him about it.

Geezer replied that because it was interesting to see what a male leader could do to, thus he let them be. So far, Marx has exceeded Geezer's expectations, thus he had no reason to stop him.

On the topic of the matriarch, it seems that Riz is the prime candidate for the position. She is relatively powerful and will not hesitate to use it, while at the same time, wielding a stunning beauty that is strong enough to keep the males in line. Such characteristics are typical of a Matriarch.

Next up is the gremlin physiology.

Generally, males have considerably inferior brain power compared to the females, but as a trade off, they are born in large numbers and a physically superior.

Exceptions to this are people like Dor who normally end up as the matriarch's favorite toy.

How is this related to Riz?

Simple.

While it is earlier then the norm, Riz has began to awaken her characteristics as a matriarch. However, due to the fact that it was ingrained into her that Marx stood on top, her leadership and thinking skill growth might have been greatly hampered.

How about Riz's abnormal reaction to pain and strange obsession with Marx?

Maybe she is simply just like that from the very beginning. Everyone has different preference after all.

With that said, Marx was convinced and decided the next course of action.

In the case of Riz's unhealthy personal tastes, he decided to let it be. They just had to accept the fact that this is one of Riz's quirks and trying any action to correct it might backfire. Everyone has one or two weird characteristics about themselves, it just so happens that Riz possesses a particularly weird one.

Reluctantly, Dor, Janette and Lisa agreed with Marx's reasoning

They concluded the meeting and began the day.

After training, Marx then began implementing a leadership training program.

Riz, Dor and Adra were all tasked to lead their own party of 5 gremlins for the next 4 days. Marx told them that this is to for him to properly gauge their ability when taking command.

Janette, who had tons of military experience, was to oversee them and give advice in what they can improve.

There was also another objective hidden in this exercise.

Marx placed the female gremlin named Hali in Riz's team with the task of observing her. She was to take note of any reaction that felt out of place and report them to Dor or Janette.

On the other hand, Marx would lead a group of 5 gremlins into the mines in order to get some ore.

It was a particularly boring day for Marx since he was mostly mining.

-:-

Day 28

The leadership training continued on through today.

However, unlike last time, Marx decided to go down the labyrinth for some solo adventuring.

What can he say? Hitting rocks all day is boring as hell.

Leaving behind his minions, Marx jumped down the hole and proceeded to do a speed run through the places they already explored.

Since he no longer has anything to gain from the staple monsters in the current floor (Hell Hounds, Demon Frogs and Zombies), he decided to jump over a bridge and went 3 floors down.

If he ever wanted to go back up, he could always use his Earth Shaper skill to form a flight of stairs. The problem is that Earth Shaper is a channeling skill, thus he must not be interrupted if he wants to make anything. Well, as along as he slaughters all the monsters in the vicinity, it shouldnt be a problem.

Barely 5 minutes into the new floor, Marx encounters his first adversary.

It is a minotaur-looking monster with jet black skin that stands at 6'5" to 6'8" in height. The most notable aspect of it is 4 set of powerful looking arms. It is called a Lesser Demon and before Marx could even make a fighting stance, it has already introduced 2 of its fist into Marx's face.

Marx was blown back due to his carelessness but he quickly turned the fight around.

He quickly casted Thorn Bind Hostage, activated Mana Overcharge mode and fired off an Earth Cannon that blasted 2 of the Lesser Demon's arms off its hinges.

Seeing how it didnt die from that, he followed through with a Water Ball which blew its body into several pieces. It was a bloody mess in every sense of the word.

He ate the Lesser Demon which tasted like congee. Chicken congee to be precise.

New Skill Acquired: Blink Strike

Blink Strike is the ability to teleport within melee range of the enemy and land a strike with no delay.

Now that explains why Marx got hit before he could even react. He could have sworn that there was a fairly decent distance between him and the Lesser Demon when they spotted each other.

With Blink Strike, the range advantage of a mage is quickly reduced to zero. This is a very powerful skill if Marx say so himself.

A few minutes later, while walking in what seems to be a vacant hall, his Threat Detection and Detect Living skills act up.

He could see it but he had a fairly good idea that there was something hidden on the ceiling about a few meters from his location.

Unsure of what it was, Marx decided it was a good time to test a spell he hasnt used yet.

He took aim and fired off Decay into the spot where he felt the presence of the enemy. And as expected, a thin grayish humanoid silhouette falls to the floor. This monster is called a Stalker Fiend, and like its name states, it seems like it has the ability to turn invisible.

Marx prepared to fight but soon realize that it was unnecessary.

The Decay that he casted landed on the Stalker Fiend's leg and proceeded to work its gruesome magic. The leg began to age considerably fast, blood vessels pop and wounds suddenly open up without warning.

Marx was used to blood and gore so the sight was nothing to him. Unfortunately, the Stalker Fiend's high pitch screams of agony, coupled by its violent twitching, made scene particularly unbearable to watch.

Taking pity on his foe, Marx ended its suffering with an Earth Cannon to the head.

Thanks to this battle, Marx realized that Decay was probably the strongest spell he has on his current arsenal. High DoT while able to keep the opponent rooted on the spot with crippling pain, and this was done without using Mana Overcharge.

Decay is truly a fearsome spell.

He felt sorry for the Stalker Fiend who had to experience something so horrible. After offering up a prayer, Marx ate the Stalker Fiend's remains... And boy was he shocked.

It tastes like chocolate! Everything from its flesh to its blood tasted like Belgian chocolate!

How in gods name does a monster taste like high class chocolate?!

This world is as mysterious as it is messed up.

As a sucker for sweets, Marx's completely forgot his guilt and devoured the Stalker Fiend until not a single drop of blood was left.

New Skill Acquired: Shadow Run

New Skill Acquired: Hiding Proficiency Increased

Shadow Run temporarily grants the user invisibility and a massive increase in movement speed for 5 seconds. Clearly this is a skill that was made for escaping, but Marx can think of many ways to use it.

Hiding Proficiency Increased is simply reducing the chance that the enemy can detect them while they are hiding. It wasnt particularly useful since Marx and his gremlin brethren were skilled in stalking their prey, but a power up is never a bad thing.

After that, Marx decided to head back. He doesnt want to press his luck and end up in a situation where he might not be able to return.

-:-

Day 29

Heavy rain met the gremlin community today, thus Marx decided to call off any outdoor activities.

First on Marx's agenda was to hear Hali's report on Riz's overall behavior the past few days.

As expected, Hali's report cements the fact that Riz is both a Sadist and a Masochist, though she leans more to the M side.

Mind you, Riz has consistently performed her duties well, but there are times that a certain feeling of sexual elation can be felt from her despite not in a situation that called for it.

Since there is no impact in her efficiency, Marx decided to leave it be for now. Never the less, he told Hali to continue monitoring the situation.

Hali agreed but under one condition. She simply asked to borrow Marx's right hand for a few seconds.

Unsure of what it ment, Marx simply allowed Hali to do what she wants.

Hali holds Marx's hand, then suddenly inserted his middle finger into her mouth and licked it.

Marx instinctively pulled his hand away and asked Hali what the hell was that all about.

Hali simply smiled innocently and went on her merry way.

Marx knew that her action ment something but he wasnt sure what it was. He decided to consult Geezer about it and the answer he received was most unsettling.

Apparently that action signifies that the female has allowed the male to have smexy time with her at his convenience. This is considered a great honor for a male since females normally are the once to decided when and with whom they will sleep with. This literally means that Hali considers Marx as more than a mere sex toy.

As flattered as Marx is, he finds having smexy time with ugly creatures the size of a 5 year old child extremely disturbing.

He decided to set this matter aside for now.

His next agenda is to talk to Dor about the possibility of crafting accessories. In the days when Elder Tale was still a game, the basis of a character's strength lies in his equipment.

Accessories in particular normally offers a wide range of effects despite their relatively small size.

Dor actually has plans to make accessories, however, there was a big problem that hindered him. Compared to weapons and armor, decent accessories required ingredients that were much harder to obtain.

An example of these ingredients are dragon's teeth, a basilisks eye, a water from a magical lake, etc.

Essentially, Dor requires drops from fairly strong monsters in order to make a half decent accessory.

Dor suggest that they put the idea on hold for now until they have the proper tools for the trade.

Next, Marx visits Rashid to check on his progress.

The old naga presented Marx with a bunch of new items. 1 Kite Shield, 10 Black Gladius and 1 Mage Edge.

The Kite Shild was given to Adra for obvious reasons.

The 10 Black Gladius was kept in storage for now. Marx decided that these would be given to those who are able to successfully evolve.

Marx asked Rashid created another staff/spear.

Apparently, the old naga could spot a few gremlins who might be capable of magic in the near future. Since staffs are much harder to make than swords or armor, Rashid decided to start early before he gets swamped by orders.

When Marx asked which gremlin did Rashid think were capable of magic, the old naga instantly pointed out Hali.

Indeed she does exhibit a high level of intelligence and is a bit weak on the combat side. While Marx is a bit reluctant to even talk to her, he decided that it is within his best interest to build up a good relationship in the future.

Last but not the least, Marx proceeded to learn the last spell available from his book Introduction to Magic.

New Skill Acquired: Thunder Shock

PIKACHUUUUUUUUUUU!

He was curious of what it looked like, thus he decided to test it out.

Marx went to the entrance of the cave and fired off a Thunder Shock at some random object outside.

Unfortunately, the Thunder Shock of this world is not as flashy as the ones you see in Pokemon. The lightning is pure white and it happens so fast that Marx could barely catch a glance of it

As for the damage, he wasnt entirely sure how strong the spell is. He will have to wait for tomorrow to test it out.

At some point in time, Riz stood beside Marx and forcefully held his hand. It was a sweet gesture if it wasnt for the bone crushing force that she applied in her grip.

Marx asked what was wrong.

Riz simply replied that she misses him.

True enough, the leadership exercise forced their tightly nit group apart, but it was a necessary action in order for Marx to realize his ambition.

He is a bit guilty of making Riz sad, so as punishment, Riz demanded that both of them sit in front of the cave and watch the rain.

With Riz leaning on his arm, the two passed the time peacefully.

-:-

Day 30

The day began with a pleasant surprise.

Hali evolved into an Orc.

Just like a standard Orc, Hali's body is that of a girl in her mid teens with short light blue hair and an energetic pair of eyes.

The difference between her and Riz is that Hali is on the slim side. She is about half a head shorter than Riz and her proportions are that of a marathon runner. It gave her an energetic sports minded tomboyish childhood friend vibe.

And just like Rashid stated, Hali had an aptitude for magic.

After teaching her a few spells, Hali proved that she is most capable at using fire based spells.

Not only could she cast Flare Arrow with relative ease, she also somehow knows how to use the stronger AoE Fire Ball as well.

When Marx asked when she learned this, she replied that she just knew how to use it after learning Flare Arrow.

Pleased with her evolution, Marx rewarded her with a Mage Edge staff. It was a bit oversized for her due to her lolita body, but she found no problems wielding it.

Hali forcefully kissed Marx in the lips in thanks.

Fortunately, no one was able to witness this scene, thus Marx was unharmed.

Marx cant help but fear for the future. He was never the one who could deal with Genki Girls .

Once again, the day goes by with Marx soloing the labyrinth while the others continue on with the leadership training.

He was starting to feel a bit lonely but he decides to endure it. Something just cant be helped.

He goes through the labyrinth with relative ease thanks to his Earth Shaper skill.

Today his target is to hunt another Stalker Fiend simply because it tastes like chocolate. Unfortunately, there was no Stalker Fiend in the places where he has already discovered, thus he was forced to search some unknown territories.

This was a big mistake.

After an hour of exploring and battling with monsters, Marx stepped on a trap.

It was a one way teleportation trap and it sent him in a garden of an impressive yet evil looking castle floating in the middle of a dark sea.

He quickly looked around for an exit, but it seems that the only means to escape was going up to one of the bridges above him. Unfortunately, due to the distance between him and the bridge, it would take him atleast 20 minutes of non stop Earth Shaper casting in order to create a long enough passageway.

And to make things worse, his Threat Detection skill suddenly warned him of an enemy standing right in front of him. Not a second later, a massive entity appears out of nowhere.

It was a humanoid covered in pure white cloth that stands 7' to 7'5" in height. It glowed with divine light as if it was an angel from heaven. In contrast to that, it wields a decently sized scythe and its face is that of a skull made out of pure silver.

It didnt take Marx long to understand that the one in front of him was powerful beyond words. Not even the Earth Golem could probably match it.

Marx wanted to escape but he was trapped in the castle.

There was really no other option.

He had to fight with no thought of preserving his strength.

And so, the battle began between Marx and the Angel Of Death

-:-