《I Became a God》 1 Karl Becomes a God? Karl looked at the black window that was in front of him. [Your God has chosen to transcend, leaving this universe without a god. Due to this, the system will pick someone to become the new god.] Karl rubbed his eyes, checking to see if he was hallucinating. It was still there. Karl reached out and tried to touch the window, but his hand went through it. "I''m going crazy. I must''ve read too many system novels, and now this is happening," Karl said, staring at the black window. After a while, the window disappeared, and a new one appeared in front of him. [Congratulations! Out of the numerous sentient life forms in this universe, you were picked to become the new god. You will now be transported to your console.] Karl laughed. "I really must be going cra-" As he was talking to himself, a white spot appeared in the middle of the window. Karl squinted his eyes, looking at the white spot that wasn''t there before. The spot grew bigger, and bigger until the window was all white. It was bright, but his eyes adjusted to it. The white window started leaking white, covering the whole room in white, except Karl. "What.... the.... fuck..." Karl said, looking around, and seeing his room turn white. Eventually, his whole room was white, and he was sitting on the floor. Or was there even a floor? Everything was so white it blinded his eyes. He stood up, looking all around him. [Welcome to your console. It''s quite empty right now, but this is where you''ll manage your universe. Every aspect of the console can be controlled by you. You can create anything you want in the console, but bringing it into your universe will cost points.] "Am I a god?" Karl asked, looking at the window in front of him. [Yes you are. The universe that you knew is gone now. Whenever there''s a new god, the universe is reset. As the new god, please name your universe. Choose carefully as fellow gods will be able to see this.] It finally sunk into him that he was a god now. Everything that has happened can only be explained if this is all true. Now that he was a god, he had to name his universe. He was going to make the best universe, better than the universe the old god made. He thought long and hard about the name. He wanted the name to be cool. His eyes lit up, realizing what name he wanted. "I shall name my universe, Nui," Karl said, confidently. [You are naming your universe, Nui. Are you sure?] Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Yes, I am." [Universe Nui is being created, please wait for a moment. Nui has been created. Now that your universe has been created, it''s time for your first world. Please select a name for your world.] "That was fast." Karl thought of another name for his first world. "How about, Tua." [Your world will be named, Tua. Are you sure?] "Yes," Karl answered, nodding. [Your world has been named, Tua. As this is your first planet, everything will be free, and the size will be locked to medium. Please choose the world type from the list below.] [Garden] [Island] [Desert] [Inferno] [Glacier] [Snowball] "Ooooh, cool! What''s the garden?" [Garden is a world with lots of large landmasses called continents. These continents are surrounded by water, making the ocean. Earth was a garden.] "Well, I want to make it similar to Earth, so garden it is." [Tua will now be a garden world. please choose the theme of Tua from the list below.] [Fantasy world. Can choose a magic system.] [Futuristic world.] [Game-like world. Choose a system to give to the inhabitants of the world. The inhabitants can use the system to improve themselves. Can choose a magic system.] [Custom world. Not recommended for beginner gods.] Karl looked at the options below and considered his choices. He didn''t want a futuristic world, and he didn''t want to make a custom one, at least not right now. In the end, he chose the game-like world. It was the fantasy world, but everyone had a system. "Game-like world please." [Tua will now be a game-like world. Since Tua is a game-like world, you are required to choose a system from the list below.] [The people, and creature system.] [The people system.] [The creature system.] [Custom system. Not recommended for beginner gods.] Karl raised an eyebrow looking at the people, and creature system. "What''s the people, and creature system?" [It''s a system for monsters, and people. Monsters can evolve, so a normal rabbit could become the strongest, or even create a new species. Meanwhile, normal people can''t evolve, but they have access to classes.] "Alright, that sounds pretty cool. I''ll choose that one." [The people and creature system has been chosen. Would you like to give this world a magic system?] "Yes please!" Karl said, with no hesitation. He always wanted magic. [Please choose a magic system below.] [Imagination.] [Symbols.] [Runes.] [Custom magic system. Not recommended for beginner gods.] "Hmm, what is imagination?" [The Imagination system lets inhabitants of the world use their imagination to use magic. But this comes with a downside. Their attacks are usually weaker than other systems.] "Alright, what about symbols?" [The symbol system allows the inhabitants of the world to draw symbols with magic. Different symbols have different effects. Since you have to draw the symbols, this kind of system is usually stronger than other systems.] Karl rubbed his chin, thinking which one would be good. In the end, he chose the symbol system. "Symbol system please." [Tua''s magic system is now symbols. Please choose the first species for your planet. This will be your main species, but if they ever go extinct they will be replaced, or if they ever become weaker than other species.] "I guess it wants me to make a species?" Karl rubbed his chin. He didn''t want to make humans, as frankly, they''re quite boring. An imaginary light bulb appeared above his head. "I got it. I shall call it "The Ancient Ones." Right after he said that a window appeared, with options. [Species:] The Ancient Ones [Lifespan:] _____ [Strength:] _____ [Constitution:] _____ [Intelligence:] _____ [Dexterity:] _____ [20 points to distribute.] [Appearance:] _____ [Racial Traits:] _____ Karl spent a great deal of time editing the race. He wanted powerful magic users that could live up to 1000 years. When he was done, it looked like this. [Species:] The Ancient Ones Lifespan: 1000 [Strength:] 2 [Constitution:] 4 [Intelligence:] 8 [Dexterity:] 6 [Appearance:] They are humanoids, and can grow up to 7 feet. Their skin is gray, and they have very lanky limbs. They have 10 fingers and toes altogether. They have bright white eyes. Their faces are human, but grey. They have no hair. [Racial Traits:] -Magical Affinity III Karl submitted it, confirming his choices. [The Ancient Ones has been created. Adding random creatures and monsters to your world. Speeding up time to the first Ancient One. Would you like to see it?] "Yes please!" 2 Afterlife Karl gasped and turned around, finding himself in a forest. He couldn''t help but be amazed at the forest, after all, he made this. After looking around, he noticed a small grey humanoid. This should be an Ancient One. "Hello there little guy," he said, waving at it. [Currently, nothing can see you.] "Oh. Can I make myself shown?" Karl asked, hoping he could. [Yes, but you will be required to take the form of the various creatures in your world. What would you like to be?] "An Ancient One," Karl answered. The window disappeared, and a bright light covered him. It shaped him, turning him into a full-grown Ancient One. It was a weird feeling being in a different body, but since it was humanoid, it didn''t take a while to get used to it. Now with a body, he looked at the first Ancient One and waved. "Hello." It was cautious, looking at the being that suddenly appeared in front of him. It copied him, waving back. It was still primitive, not even knowing a language. Karl tried walking up to it, but it immediately ran, probably thinking he was bad. Seeing it run, Karl facepalmed. He was sad that his creation ran away from him, but it made sense. Not wanting to scare his first creation, he went back to the console. Remembering that the system told him he could control every aspect of the console, Karl turned it into his room. The console instantly changed, becoming his room. "Alright, that was cool. System, what other things can I do now that I''m a god?" [Anything you want, do note that depending on the action, it could cost points.] "Alright, what are my points anyway?" [You have 1000 points.] Karl nodded, looking at his points. "Well, for the next thing that I want to do, can I add more Ancient Ones? You know what they say, the more the better." [You can, but increasing the population when they haven''t progressed yet is not recommended. A better approach is speeding up time. This will let the population increase, and let them improve. Be careful, as when your creatures have become strong enough, universal rifts will appear, connecting your universe with another god''s. They could be friend, or foe.] "Alright, how about fast-forwarding 100 years into the future?" [You are fast-forwarding 100 years into the future. This will cost 100 points. Are you sure?] "Yes." [You have fast-forwarded to the future. Here are the things that have happened in the last 100 years.] [The Ancient One''s population has increased from 1 to 213.] [The Ancient Ones have discovered the system, and are using it to their advantage.] [The Ancient Ones have made a crude language, granting you 10 points.] [The Ancient Ones have completed their language, granting you 10 points.] [The Ancient Ones have discovered mana, and started experimenting with it, granting you 10 points.] [The Ancient Ones have made a city above the trees of the jungle, granting you 10 points.] [The Ancient Ones have begun using wooden tools, granting you 10 points.] [The Ancient Ones have begun using stone tools, granting you 10 points.] [30 Ancient Ones have died, and their soul stays in the land of the living, unable to pass on. It''s recommended to get an afterlife system, or something that clears out the souls, as if they stay for too long the land they were in slowly becomes cursed, killing everything in it.] [Monsters and creatures have begun evolving, using the system to their advantage.] [You now have 960 points.] "Wow, a lot happened. I guess I should create an afterlife. What should it be though?" [These are the most popular systems for the afterlife.] [Heaven, and Hell]: 2 new dimensions are made. Heaven, and Hell. Both dimensions are fueled by their inhabitants. A judge looks at a person''s life and determines if they are to be sent into Heaven, or Hell. In Heaven, they can do whatever they want, being rewarded for their good deeds. In Hell, they are punished depending on what they did for the rest of their lives. 3 judges are required. This will cost 500 points. [Valhalla:] Warriors who die in battle will be sent to a new dimension called Valhalla. A land for the strong, anyone who is sent here can battle to their heart''s content. Spirits that are not sent to Valhalla are used to fuel it. This will cost 100 points. [Reincarnation:] After a while, the spirit reincarnates. This will cost 50 points. [Create your own. Not recommended for beginner gods.] "Hmm. None of them interests me, and Heaven and Hell is quite expensive. It''s probably because of the 3 judges. Can I create my own?" [You have chosen to create your own afterlife. Think about it in your head, and the system will create it for you.] Karl thought about the afterlife he wanted. It was going to be an afterlife where if you did good, you would get reincarnated sooner, and if you did bad, then you would have to wait a while to be reincarnated. He also wanted Grim Reapers. That''s right, multiple. [The system has built your afterlife.] [Your Afterlife:] A new dimension is made. This new dimension grows bigger by the population of its inhabitants. A new species leads the souls of dead people to this new dimension, and a judge decides when they reincarnate. A new species is required. A judge is required. This will cost 300 points. "Wow, that sounds perfect. It is a little expensive, considering I don''t have many points. I choose that, but change the name to, Fair Afterlife." [Fair Afterlife has been made. Please create a new species that will transport the soul of the dead.] Karl spent quite a great deal of time creating this new species. He wanted it to be cool. After a few minutes of editing the species, he was finally happy. [Species:] Kaitera [Lifespan:] 100 [Strength:] 4 [Constitution:] 4 [Intelligence:] 8 [Dexterity:] 4 [Appearance:] They appear as a cloud of black humanoid smoke. They have black wings, and their eyes are bright red. Their face vaguely looked like a human skull, and smoke was constantly emanating from them. [Racial Traits:] -Spiritual Awareness -Flight -Spiritual Body -Dimension Traveller [Are you sure this is what you want?] Karl nodded, happy with what he''s created. [Kaitera has been made and has been assigned as the caretaker of the dead. Please make a judge.] "Can I make a god? And if I can, can I turn that god into a judge?" Karl asked, curious if he could even create another god. [Yes you can. Creating a god will cost you 200 points. Gods you create are below you, and can never be better than you. Do you want to create a god?] "200 points? Ouch. Well, whatever, I can afford it. I should probably find a way to earn more points. Yes, I want to create a god." [Name:] _____ [Level:] 1000 (Minimum. Increasing will cost points.) [Species:] _____ (God) [Gender:] [Lifespan:] Immortal (Locked) [God Type:] _____ [Strength:] _____ [Constitution:] _____ [Intelligence:] _____ [Dexterity:] _____ [You have 10000 points to distribute.] [Appearance:] _____ Karl looked at the options. Their minimum level was 1000? That sounds pretty strong. He definitely wanted male, but he was planning to make a beautiful female goddess as soon as he could. So they''re immortal, but immortal only means they live forever, meaning they could still die. God type was definitely death. He filled in the stats, and appearance, and took a look at the sheet. [Name:] Adum [Level:] 1000 [Species:] Kaitera (God) [Gender:] Male [Lifespan:] Immortal (Locked) [God Type:] Death [Strength:] 2000 [Constitution:] 2000 [Intelligence:] 4000 [Dexterity:] 2000 [Appearance:] Adum looks like a normal Kaitera except his eyes are a bright white, and a divine aura surrounds him, indicating he is a god. [Are you sure this is what you want?] Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Karl looked over it again, making sure he didn''t make any mistakes. He nodded. "Yes." Right after Karl answered, a bright light filled the room, making him squint his eyes. The bright light slowly condensed into a humanoid shape, then disappearing. "Greetings, Master. What can I do for you?" 3 Anhur Karl was surprised that Adum called him master. He waved his hands in front of him. "Ah, just call me Karl." Adum nodded. "Ma- Karl, what is it you require me to do?" "You''re gonna be in charge of the Afterlife. You''re the God of Death. You will command your fellow Kaitera to guide the souls of the dead that are still in the living world, to the Afterlife. Once there, you." Karl pointed to Adum. "You will inspect the things they did while they were still alive. If they did good, then they don''t have to wait a while to reincarnate, but if they did bad, then they will have to wait a while, maybe even years." Adum nodded, accepting his orders. "As you wish." ''This is really cool. I''ve always wanted to do this before.'' Karl thought to himself. [All requirements have been met. The Kaitera will be the guide to the dead, and God of Death, Adum will be in charge of the Afterlife and the judge. Fair Afterlife has been made.] After the notification popped up, Adum disappeared, sent to the Afterlife. "This is so cool! Can you show me what''s happening to the dead spirits?" A screen popped up in front of Karl. The screen showed a dead spirit slowly corrupting the land when suddenly a rift appeared next to it. A cloud of smoke exited the rift. It was a Kaitera. It looked ominous as it approached the spirit, its eyes glowing a bright red. The spirit, scared by the Kaitera tried to run away. But it was no use. The Kaitera extended its hand out at the spirit, and it disappeared with a ball of light. Karl looked at the Kaitera, his mouth wide open. The scene was kind of anticlimactic, but he thought it was really cool. He looked like a kid seeing his first magic trick. The Kaitera took flight, using its black wings, probably in search of more spirits. [Congratulations! For completing the cycle of life and death, you have been awarded with 100 points.] ''Yay! The more points the better.'' Karl remembered the city that the Ancient Ones built and tried to change the screen to it. The screen changed into a bird''s eye view of the city. The city was very big and sat atop the enormous trees of the jungle. In the middle of the city was a big statue of an Ancient One with a plaque. He zoomed in on the plaque, and read it, "The founder, and the first." ''This must be the first Ancient One. I wonder if he''s still alive. He should be, considering they can live up to a thousand years.'' He scanned the city, watching its inhabitants. He felt like a dad watching them move around. Some were building new houses, and some were creating tools. There was even a person with a robe, practicing magic. "Show me the status of the Ancient Ones," Karl commanded, not even sure if this would work. [Ancient Ones] [Cities:] 1 [Population:] 215 [Average Level:] 21 [Highest Level:] 54 ''The average level is 21? I thought it would be higher. Well, it''s only been 100 years. I guess it makes sense. I can''t expect too much of them when they haven''t even discovered how to use iron.'' "Show me the status of Tua." [Tua] [Cities:] 1 [Population:] ??? [Natural Species:] ??? [Custom Species:] 1/10 [Average Level:] 26 [Highest Level:] 102 Karl raised an eyebrow discovering that something or someone on Tua was level 102. "Show me who has the highest level on Tua." The screen changed, and it looked like they were in a savannah. It looked quite far away from where the Ancient Ones were. In the middle of the screen was a creature that resembled a lion, but it was very different. It might''ve started as a lion, but it certainly wasn''t now. It stood on 2 feet eyeing its prey. The next thing that happened shocked him. It used mana and drew a symbol. When it was done, a spear made of fire appeared. ''It could use magic? How? Even the Ancient Ones haven''t progressed this much.'' Karl suspected that this was probably more instinct. It grabbed the spear of fire, seemingly unaffected by it. It seemed like the fire didn''t hurt him. It roared and threw the spear of fire at the gazelle looking creature. The spear was so fast the creature couldn''t even react and was pierced at its stomach. It walked to its prey. It grabbed the corpse of the creature, and the spear vanished. Karl continued watching as it carried the corpse to its brethren. Karl was surprised. This... The lion was definitely going to make a big impact. Seeing how strong the lion was, he tried to think of a way he could help his creatures out, so they don''t get annihilated. ''No. I don''t need to help them. They''re still developing.'' Karl looked at the lion. Focusing on it, a screen popped up. [Name:] Anhur [Level:] 102 [Species:] Werelion (T3) [Gender:] Male [Age:] 78 [Strength:] 429 Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. [Constitution:] 224 [Intelligence:] 121 [Dexterity:] 356 Karl inspected the screen. ''It''s definitely strong. So Werelion is its race. Does T3 mean how many times it evolved? So has it evolved 3 times?'' [Yes it has evolved 3 times. If it ever has children with another Werelion, then the child will be a Werelion.] Karl nodded his head. "Wait. Are you saying there could be multiple of him? And they could even have a civilization?" [Yes. If the Werelions ever make a civilization then they will be considered intelligent, and they will be given a choice to lose their monster status, and take on classes, but giving up evolution.] "I see. By the way. Is there a way for me to experience the world down there? Within a mortal body? I''ve always wanted to use magic, and it''s no fun being overpowered right away. Getting strong then destroying everyone is more fun." [Yes, it is possible, but going down in a mortal body makes you susceptible to death. If you die in a mortal body, then you are dead. Your spirit is destroyed, and the universe is reset once again with a new god.] ''So if I die, then I die for real? Then maybe I should make myself, just a little bit OP.'' Karl thought for a bit and considered if he should go down. He really wanted to, as just watching was no fun, but what if he died? [Also, living in a mortal body comes with an upside. The more you affect the world, the more points you get.] Seeing that, Karl made up his mind. He just had to not die, right? "Prepare a body for me. Make me an Ancient One." 4 Life as an Ancient One After he decided to live in a mortal body, the system asked him for some more details. Like if he wanted to go through childhood, or if he wanted a parent, his name, etc. Karl looked through his options. He didn''t want to go through childhood, that sounded like a pain. Having a parent would be weird, so he chose not to have one. He had to think about his name though. He didn''t want to use Karl, as it definitely didn''t sound cool. But he didn''t want to go too cool, as it might be kind of cringy. After much thinking, he named himself Kigai. He was pretty proud. It sounded cool, but not too cool. After making his gender male the system asked him if he wanted bonuses, cheats basically. He wanted the cheats, but getting cheats would lower the points he got with this life by 25%. Karl did the math, and even though he would lose some points, it''s better than dying. Speaking of dying, he wondered what would happen if he died of old age or a natural death? [The system will inspect how you did in that life, and give you points accordingly.] Karl nodded. He was thinking about the chea- bonus he wanted. He had to think carefully, as a bad one wouldn''t really help him. Maybe unlimited mana? But he didn''t want to be a pure sorcerer. He also wanted to use his body. Maybe he could be an Assassin? Assassinating people sounds fun. Deciding to be an assassin, he thought about what would help him. "I got it!" Karl yelled out loud. "System, give my mortal body the power to control shadows, able to become one and bend it to his will." [Avatar Kigai has been created. You will now be transported to your body in 10... 9... 8...] Karl prepared himself. He didn''t know if this would be uncomfortable, or not. It probably would be, as he''s entering a body he wasn''t familiar with. With a bright light, he was transported and is now Kigai. He stretched his limbs not used to being so tall. He moved around to get used to his new body. It didn''t take long, as it was basically just a tall, ashen grey human, with no hair. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. It was weird. He already had clothes, and it looked identical to the clothes the other Ancient Ones wore. Guess that was the system helping him out. Karl thought if he should add hair to the Ancient Ones. The male looked fine without hair, but the females didn''t. Sure, their bodies looked perfect and very curvy, but then the lack of hair turned him off. He made a mental note to give the female Ancient Ones hair. Remembering that he was in a mortal body, and were just like everyone else, albeit a little different, he brought up his status. [Name:] Kigai [Level:] 1 [Species:] Ancient One (Avatar) [Gender:] Male [Age:] 18 [Strength:] 2 [Constitution:] 4 [Intelligence:] 8 [Dexterity:] 6 Karl looked at his status and noticed that he was only level 1, and was literally as strong as a baby, maybe even weaker. "What the hell? System? What''s the meaning of this? Why am I only level 1?" [Everyone starts off as level 1. Your physical body is 18, but this mortal body hasn''t absorbed any essence. Essence is something that everyone has. The higher level you are, the more essence you have. There are numerous ways to gain essence, but the most effective one is absorbing another creature''s essence.] Hearing the explanation, Karl calmed himself down. ''So this essence is basically XP from games. Interesting.'' Karl looked around, trying to figure out where he was. He saw a gate being guarded by two male guards. They were holding crude stone swords. At the top of the gate was a sign. He found out that he could read what the sign said with no problem. "Sweet, I don''t have to bother with languages." "Ulyvathas," that was the name of the city. Karl walked up to the guards, waving at them. "Greetings! My name''s Ka- Kigai, yes Kigai, and I wish to enter the city." The two guards looked at him suspiciously. They had never seen or heard of him before, and they practically knew everyone in the city, with there only being about 200 people. "Kigai? I''m sorry, but I have never heard of you before, and I''ve been around for a while," one of the guards said. ''Crap, I should''ve known trying to get into the city when their population is so small would be weird.'' "Ah, well... You see..." Karl tried to think of something so he wouldn''t get in trouble. "I fell from the city, all the way to the ground. After I woke up, I found out that I lost my memories, and only knew my name." [Persuasion learned.] ''Oooh, cool. It''s just like a game, except I could die at any moment.'' "You fell from the city?" The guard stared at Karl suspiciously. "If you fell from the city, and lost your memories, how do you remember falling from the city?" ''Fuck. Why''s he so smart? Oh yeah, it''s because I made them smart.'' "Well, I don''t remember falling from the city, but I made a logical guess." Karl crossed his fingers, hoping the guard would let him go. The guard nodded. "Alright, you''re free to go, but my friend here will lead you to Dilya. She''s the city teacher and the second born. She''ll teach you everything that you forgot." Karl sighed, thanking god that his lie wasn''t exposed, which was weird, because he is god. "Thank you. I''m in your debt." The guard waved his hand. "Don''t worry about it. It''s my responsibility as the first guard to help my brethren. Now go follow this guy." He pointed at the other guard. Karl nodded and followed behind the guard as he was being led to Dilya. They walked through the city, and he looked around seeing the tall humanoids. There were also some short ones, but they were all children. ''They really are tall. I guess they''re the elves of my world.'' After much walking, they finally arrived at a building. Apparently, this was their school. The guard led him in front of Dilya''s room. He knocked on the door. "Dilya? There''s someone here who forgot their memories. Alwin said that you have to teach him everything he''s forgotten." The door opened and a tall female Ancient One greeted them. "Forgotten their memories? Come in, come in." 5 Dilya Dilya led Karl into the room, and the guard left shortly after. She patted a wooden chair, telling him to sit down. He sat down and looked at her. She looked like all the other Ancient Ones, but different. It was weird. It wasn''t even that she looked amazing, for a woman with no hair, she just had a certain... aura. Dilya sat down across from him. She also looked at him, but not in the same way that he did. She was wondering how he lost his memories. She had never heard of someone losing their memories, so this was very peculiar. "So you have lost your memories? How much have you lost?" Karl nodded. Since he lied, he might as well go with it. "Yes, I have. I lost all my memories, I think. The only thing I knew when I woke up was my name." Dilya nodded, listening to him. "I see. Well, there is a way that we could find out more about you, speaking of, what is your name? I am named Dilya." "My name is Kigai, and if you could recover my memories, or find out more about me, then that would really help me out." Of course, there were no memories to recover. He was just going with the lie. "It is nice to meet you, Kigai. Just sit still and let me inspect you." Dilya extended her arm towards him, her open palm pointing at him. "Inspect." [Dilya is trying to inspect you. Will you let her? If she inspects you, she will have no idea that you are a god, and can only see the status of this avatar.] ''There''s also an inspect ability? Well, if she can only see this avatar''s status, then I guess it''s ok. I''ll allow Dilya to inspect me.'' Dilya inspected him and saw his status. Everything was looking good until she saw that he was only level 1, and he was 18 years old. The average 18-year-old in the city was level 20. It''s practically impossible to stay at level 1 as growing up will give you enough essence to reach level 10. She had no idea why he was level 1. "Umm, Kigai, I''m looking at your status here and it says that you are level 1. That should not be possible considering you are 18, unless..." "Unless what?" "It should be possible, but my theory is that someone purposely attacked you and stole your essence. We already take essence from dead creatures, so what''s to say that we can take essence from living ones? This is only a theory though, but it would explain why you lost all your memories, and you''re level 1." Dilya explained. Karl nodded. "I see. That does make sense. But who would attack me?" Of course, he knew the truth. No one attacked him. He didn''t get his essence stolen. This was just an empty body with no essence. Dilya shrugged her shoulders. "I don''t know. The person who attacked you might still be in the city, heck, the person might not even be a person. It could be a monster. There are dozens of monsters out there and we keep discovering new ones every day. There could be a creature that steals essence. But there''s really no use worrying about that. I''ll teach you everything you forgot so you can get back to being at whatever level you were." "Alright, so what are you going to teach me first?" Karl asked, excited about going onto his journey. "Alright, so the first thing I''ll teach you about is the system. The system is..." Dilya taught him for the rest of the day. There was quite a bit of information and he had to remember each and every one. After a few hours of Dilya basically teaching 10 years worth of school into him, they were finally done. "Wooo, that took a long time." Karl sighed in relief, thanking god that it was finally done. He hated school and still hates it to this day, but it was important as the wrong information could get him killed. "Yeah, that did take a while." Dilya looked out the window and noticed it was night. "It''s getting dark, you can stay the night if you''d like. I''m going out, I have some business to attend to." "Thanks, Dilya. Be safe, I guess." Dilya left the room soon after. He learned a lot of things, some things he didn''t even know about. Apparently, to first get a class, you have to be level 10. You''ll get a class upgrade at level 50. So far, only one person has reached level 50 and that was the firstborn. Karl was very excited for his first class. Dilya told him that when you reach level 10, you''ll get 3 class choices. One of them is a class that everyone can get, the second one is a random class, and the third one is a class that best suits you. Needless to say, he definitely wanted the assassin class, or if there is one, the ninja class. Maybe he could be like Naruto? And ninjas and assassins are pretty similar. Dilya also told him that classes would grant him skills and abilities. Some skills/abilities are locked until you reach the required level. They even grant some passive bonuses too, like Dilya''s class which gives her more intelligence. Karl looked at his skills/abilities list and found that he only had 2 skills and 1 ability. His skills were Persuasion I, and Studying II. His only ability was Shadow Manipulation X. He assumed that X meant the max level, which was good if he was going to be OP. Getting tired, Karl decided to go to sleep. He didn''t really know where to sleep, so he just grabbed a random blanket and slept on the hard floor. The floor definitely wasn''t comfortable, but he lived. Just like that, he was softly snoring and sleeping. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. The next morning, he was woken by Dilya. "Wake up, sleepyhead. It''s time to get your levels back." Karl stretched his limbs and woke up slowly, still tired. "Now? Can''t we do it later?" "We have to do it now. Being at such a low level is dangerous. A child could probably beat you up." "Fine, Fine." Karl slowly got up, looking at her. "So where to?" "The armory, we need to get you a weapon," Dilya answered. 6 Level Up! Dilya led Karl to the armory and he followed behind her. He thought about what weapon he was going to use. A dagger would fit an assassin. Small, light, and fast. They soon arrived at the armory. It was a pretty small place. He thought it would be bigger. "This guy needs a weapon," Dilya said to the man. The man nodded and opened the door, letting the two in. They walked down a set of stairs and eventually entered a room. The room was completely made of stone and there were numerous weapons hanging on the walls. "Choose any weapon you like," Dilya told him. Karl nodded and looked around the room. There were quite a few weapons here. Of course, all of them were made of wood and stone. Looking around the room, he saw swords, axes, bows, and finally, a dagger. He picked up the dagger. He turned it in his hand, getting a look from every angle. He swung it a few times, getting a feel for it. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. It definitely wasn''t the best, but it would do. "I''d like this one," Karl told Dilya, holding the dagger up. "Alright, get yourself a scabbard and armor. We''re going hunting to get you your first class," Dilya said, pointing at the scabbards. Karl looked at the scabbards and picked one for his thigh. The scabbard would be on the side of his thigh and hold his dagger. It was pretty smart and it made getting the dagger easier. As for the armor, there was only one kind. Leather. He grabbed a pair of leather armor for his size and went up to Dilya. "I''m ready!" Karl said excitedly, ready to fight some monsters. "Alright, alright, follow me. I''ll only help you until you are level 10. Remember that." Dilya reminded him as she made her way out of the armory. Karl nodded and followed behind her. Dilya led him outside of the city and to the jungle floor. He looked around. There was green everywhere. They were surrounded by big, and towering trees. The chitter of insects could be heard. The sounds of monsters could be heard around them. "Stay close to me and stay close to the ground. You want to hide your presence as much as possible." Dilya said. Karl followed her instructions. He moved quickly and quietly, sticking to the ground. "So... What are we looking for?" "We are looking for a Tulipie. They are small furred creatures, reaching up to your knee. But they are still dangerous. They have very sharp claws and teeth. Not to mention they are pretty fast. If anything goes wrong, I''ll be there to help you, but don''t rely on me." Dilya replied. They kept going through the jungle, keeping an eye out for anything. As they were looking for the Tulipie, Karl saw some weird creatures. There was a thing that looked like a butterfly, but its wings were like a bat''s. After walking past some gigantic leaves, they finally found what they were looking for. At least, that''s what Dilya told him. The Tulipie was on its four legs, walking. All four paws had large claws, about half as long as Karl''s dagger. They really looked like they could cut anything. It continued walking, unaware of Karl and Dilya. "The key is to surprise them from behind. One quick stab to the head should do it." Dilya whispered. Karl nodded and slowly snuck up behind it. Even though Dilya told him a quick stab would do it, he wanted to try something out. He wanted to use his shadow powers. After all, what''s the use of having them, if you don''t use them? Switching his dagger to his left hand, Karl, with his left hand, pointed his palm towards the Tulipie. He found that he could control the shadow of the Tulipie and the shadows around it perfectly. He didn''t even have to practice, it was like he''s had this ability for all his life, when it''s only been 2 days and this is his first time using it. Manipulating the shadow of the Tulipie, Karl found that he could turn the shadow into a solid. This would definitely be very useful. He made shadow tentacles come out of its shadow, wrapping around the Tulipie. The Tulipie was stuck. Black tentacles wrapped around it, making it unable to move. He walked up to the helpless Tulipie, and with a quick stab to the head, he killed it. [You defeated a level 5 Tulipie. You have absorbed its essence.] [You leveled up! You are now level 2. 10 stat points gained.] [You leveled up! You are now level 3. 10 stat points gained.] Karl looked at the notifications. He was happy that he reached level 3, now he only needed 7 more levels. If he keeps going at this pace, he only needs to kill about 2 or 3 more. He was also surprised that the shadow tentacles worked so well. He didn''t know it would work that well, but as expected of a cheat, it was OP. He checked his status, planning to distribute his 20 stat points that he gained. While Karl was busy spending his points, Dilya was shocked. He did something that she had never seen. He seemed to control the shadow and she didn''t even detect any mana being used. Which means that was his natural ability. She walked up to him. "What was that? What were those weird tentacles? It looked like you were controlling the shadow." Karl finished spending his stat points. His status looked like this. [Name:] Kigai [Level:] 3 [Species:] Ancient One (Avatar) [Gender:] Male [Age:] 18 [Strength:] 12 [Constitution:] 4 [Intelligence:] 8 [Dexterity:] 16 He spent all his points on dexterity and strength since that was what he needed right now. Karl turned around, seeing Dilya. "I controlled its shadow. When I looked at my abilities list, I found that I had the Shadow Manipulation ability. As for the tentacles, I made them using shadows," he explained. Dilya listened to his explanation. "I think I know why you were level 1 and lost all your memories. The Goddess blessed you with this powerful ability, but it cost you your essence and memories. Yes, that must be it. The Goddess is truly wonderful." Karl tried to hold back his laughter. Well, she was right about one thing, he was blessed by a god, it was him, he blessed himself. "What is this Goddess you are talking about?" He asked, curious about who it was they made up as their god. "Right, you don''t remember. The Goddess of Magic, Aphy. She is the reason why we have mana, She created mana. She must''ve blessed you and given you that ability," she said, convinced that was what happened. Karl sighed and decided to go along with it. "I see, that makes a lot of sense." Dilya asked some more questions about his ability. As Karl was being bombarded with questions, they were unaware that something was watching them. It was attracted by the smell of the dead Tulipie. It was a natural-born predator. It stalked around them, quietly growling. It watched them carefully. Finding the right angle, it bent its limbs, ready to pounce. 7 Class It stared at them, ready to pounce at any moment. As Karl was trying to answer Dilya''s questions, the monster pounced on Karl. He landed on his back, the predator on top of him. The monster resembled that of a tiger, except it had two pretty long horns on its head. It was probably one and a half feet if he had to guess. The monster let out a growl and slashed Karl''s chest, ripping through his leather armor and cutting his skin. "Fuck! That hurts!" Karl yelled as the tiger monster slashed him with its claws. He grabbed his dagger and tried to stab the monster, but it swatted away his dagger with its paws. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Opening its mouth and showing off its very sharp teeth. It leaned down, aiming to chomp off Karl''s head. "Oh no you don''t," Dilya said as she started channeling mana. She used her mana and drew a symbol. The symbol turned green and a gust of wind came out of the center of the symbol. The gust of wind was aimed at the tiger monster. The gust of wind hit the monster and sent it flying, hitting a tree and landing on its side. Dilya walked up to Karl and helped him up. "Are you ok? If you can, use your weird ability on it." Karl nodded. "Yeah, I''m ok, just bleeding a little bit." There were big claw marks on his chest with a lot of blood dripping from it. It stained the ground as it fell from his wounds. "I''ll try." Doing the same motion again, Karl pointed his palm at the tiger monster. The monster stood back up on all fours and charged at Dilya, enraged by what she did, but before it would arrive at her, it was wrapped around by black tentacles. The same ones that wrapped around the Tulipie. The monster couldn''t move as the tentacles were tangled around its limbs. The tentacles were even wrapped around the monster''s snout, preventing it from biting them. Seeing that they were safe and the monster couldn''t do anything, Karl sighed. "What is this thing?" Karl asked Dilya. "It should be an evolved version of a tiger, but I''ve never seen one with horns, so I''m clueless with this one. You should kill it. If it''s evolved, then that means it''s at least level 10," Dilya replied. "Level 10? I wonder how many levels I''m gonna get with this." Karl tried to find his dagger, but he couldn''t find it. A lightbulb popped up as he got an idea. He opened his palm and gathered the shadows around him into it. The shadows spiraled into his hand, taking the shape of a dagger. The shadow dagger plopped into his hand and he took a look at it. It was definitely way better quality than the stone dagger, and it looked really cool, so that was a plus. He actually didn''t know if he could do that, but now that he knew, he didn''t need any more weapons as he could just create them. Karl walked up to the monster. It was growling at him, trying to get free from the tentacles, but it was no use. The tentacles stood strong, unbroken and unmoving. With a quick and hard stab, using his new strength, he pierced through the monster''s skull, piercing its brain and killing it instantly. [You defeated a level 19 Horned Tiger. You have absorbed its essence.] [You leveled up! You are now level 4. 10 stat points gained.] [You leveled up! You are now level 5. 10 stat points gained.] [You leveled up! You are now level 6. 10 stat points gained.] [You leveled up! You are now level 7. 10 stat points gained.] [You leveled up! You are now level 8. 10 stat points gained.] [You leveled up! You are now level 9. 10 stat points gained.] [You leveled up! You are now level 10. 10 stat points gained.] [Congratulations! You have reached level 10. You may now pick a class from three choices.] [You leveled up! You are now level 11. 10 stat points gained.] "Wow, that''s a lot of stat points. I finally reached level 10!" Karl yelled, celebrating his achievement. "You reached level 10? What level was the monster?" Dilya asked. "It was at level 19." Dilya raised her eyebrows. "Level 19? What was it doing here?" "Why? Is that weird?" "Yeah, usually, once monsters are strong enough, they find stronger prey to level up, but this place has only weak prey." "Hmm, that is weird." "Quickly distribute your stat points and we''ll head back to the city. You can choose your class there." Karl nodded, distributing his newly gained stat points. When he was done, his status looked like this. [Name:] Kigai [Level:] 11 [Species:] Ancient One (Avatar) [Gender:] Male [Age:] 18 [Strength:] 36 [Constitution:] 12 [Intelligence:] 24 [Dexterity:] 48 He was going for a glass cannon build. He would strike fast and hard, dodging any attack, but he would be in danger if he got hit. He also checked up on his skills and abilities. He noticed he had gained a skill. [Skills] -Persuasion I -Dagger Mastery II He had gained Dagger Mastery II. He swung his shadow dagger a couple of times and noticed he was more efficient with his strikes, wasting less movement. Speaking of his shadow dagger, he found that if he wasn''t using it, it would disappear. That was good as it meant he no longer needed to carry around a scabbard. With everything distributed, they made their way back to the city where Karl will choose what class he wants. After a few minutes of walking and climbing, they finally arrived at the treetops, where the city was. They went back to Dilya''s house, tired from what they did. "Choose carefully, you can''t take back your choice." Dilya told Karl. "Alright." Dilya left the house, leaving him. "I want to choose a class." three options appeared in front of him. [Villager] [Knight] [Assassin] 8 Assassin Karl looked over at his options. He wasn''t going to be a normal, boring villager, so that was out of the question. His build wasn''t really a knight, as a knight was supposed to be tough and he was a glass cannon. The third option was perfect as that was what he wanted to be anyways. Making his decision, he chose the third option, gaining the assassin class. [You have become an Assassin.] [You have learned the skill Stealth.] [You have learned the ability Night Vision.] Now that he was an assassin, he looked at his status to see if there was anything different. [Name:] Kigai [Level:] 11 [Class:] Assassin (+10 to Dexterity) [Species:] Ancient One (Avatar) [Gender:] Male [Age:] 18 [Strength:] 36 [Constitution:] 12 [Intelligence:] 24 [Dexterity:] 48 (+10) Wow, he gained a buff for dexterity. He also learned a really useful skill and ability. The stealth would help him with sneaking around and night vision would help him when he''s in the dark. He was overjoyed. He expected more stuff, but Dilya did tell him that some skills and abilities have a minimum level requirement. Karl left the house to inform Dilya about what class he chose. He looked around the city and eventually found her, talking to some people. "Dilya, I''ve chosen a class. It''s called the assassin class." Dilya raised her eyebrow. "Assassin class? I don''t think I''ve heard of anyone having that class. Most people here choose Magician as their class. What does it give you?" Karl smirked, proud of his class. "Well, it gave a buff on dexterity. I learned stealth and I can see in the dark better." "That sounds good. Well, I''m a bit busy right now and now that you have a class, you should level up. You can''t waste the blessing you got from the goddess." "Alright." Karl nodded and left the city, heading down to the jungle floor. He wanted to use more of his shadow powers. He felt that he could do more. He manifested his shadow dagger, but this time, he made two, one for each hand. It seemed like he could control the shadows forever, he didn''t feel tired when using it. As expected for a cheat. Trying something out, he gathered the shadows around him and covered himself with it, making a shadow cloak. The cloak covered him and made him harder to see, blending into the dark. "Cool." Ready to fight some monsters and level up, Karl used his new speed and stealth skills and began hunting for monsters. He felt invincible, he felt like he could kill anything. Of course, that wasn''t the case. There were plenty of monsters that could kill him, even with his shadow powers. As Karl was dashing around the forest, he found a Tulipie. He wasn''t scared of it, seeing how weak it was. He dashed behind the monster and stabbed its head, spurting blood everywhere. [You defeated a level 6 Tulipie. You have absorbed its essence.] ''Sweet,'' he thought to himself. He searched for more monsters in the jungle. He left a trail of corpses behind him. It really looked like he was a crazy psychopath. After killing a bunch of monsters and absorbing their essence, he began to feel tired. He had managed to level up to 17, but he was starving. He hadn''t eaten anything yesterday or even this morning. Killing one last monster, he went back to the city. He looked around the city, searching for a restaurant. There weren''t any, but he did find a place that would give out free meat the soldiers brought back. It was only one meal per day for each person. He wanted more than one meal, but as he was starving, anything would really be fine. He got some food and began walking to Dilya''s house. He ate his food on the way. It was really delicious. Turns out, they''ve discovered salt and pepper. There was even a weird sauce that made the meat taste even better. It melted in his mouth with each bite. Sure, it wasn''t the best, but it was pretty damn good. He wanted more, but he has already had his one meal per day. Arriving at Dilya''s house, Karl closed the door behind him and called out, "Dilya? Are you here?" Dilya came out of her room and went downstairs to meet him. "Yes? What do you need?" She detected that he had grown stronger. "It seems you''ve gotten stronger?" "No, I don''t need anything. Yes, I have grown stronger. I''m level 17 now. Also, where can I sleep? Last night, I just slept on the floor." "Level 17? That''s pretty fast. What did you do? Kill a bunch of monsters? There''s an empty room beside mine. There''s no bed, but there are blankets there." "Yeah, that''s exactly what I did. I killed a bunch of monsters. Now if you don''t mind me, I''m going to sleep, goodnight." "Of course that''s what you did. Goodnight." Karl went to the room Dilya was talking about and saw the blankets. He tidied the room up a bit and laid down. "System, can I go back to console?" [Yes, but doing so will render your avatar vulnerable. If your avatar is killed when you''re not using it, nothing will happen to you, but your avatar will now be dead and all progress with the avatar, lost.] "Alright, bring me to the console." [You are being transported to the console in 10... 9... 8...] After the countdown ended, Karl found himself in his familiar room and back in his human body. "System, can I change the appearance of a race that I''ve already made?" [Yes, but it is recommended to alter their memories if the change is significant.] "Alright." Karl began altering the appearance of the Ancient Ones. It''s not really significant, but they would freak out if they all suddenly had hair. He double-checked, seeing if he had done anything wrong. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Make these changes and alter their memories so they think they''ve had hair for their whole life." [Please wait a moment... The Ancient One''s appearance has been changed and their memories altered.] "Nice. Show me what my avatar looks like now." A screen appeared, showing him what his avatar looked like. He had short wavy hair. It didn''t look that bad, considering he just got it. Karl changed the view, looking at other people''s new hair. Some people had short hair, some people had long hair. "Wow, they all look attractive now." Their perfect bodies, and their perfect hair, made them look beautiful. Karl wasn''t interested in men, but even they looked pretty fresh. But the females looked even better. Their curvy bodies, paired with perfect hair, made them even hotter. "Bring me down into my avatar." [You are being transported in 10... 9... 8...] The countdown ended and Karl was back in his avatar. He rubbed his head, feeling his hair. "Yes! I have hair!" 9 Monkey? Karl ruffled his hair a few times. He truly enjoyed having hair. As much as he wanted to enjoy it. He was really tired. Fighting all those monsters really tired him out and he hasn''t even spent the points he got from them. How much did he get again? Yeah, that''s right. He got 60 points for killing all those monsters. He brought up his status and spent the 60 points that he got. [Name:] Kigai [Level:] 17 [Class:] Assassin (+10 to Dexterity) [Species:] Ancient One (Avatar) [Gender:] Male [Age:] 18 [Strength:] 54 [Constitution:] 18 [Intelligence:] 36 [Dexterity:] 72 (+10) Karl had 72 dexterity and together with the passive he got from becoming an assassin, he has 82 dexterity. That was pretty fast. He might even be one of the fastest people in the city. Having spent his points, Karl closed his eyes and slowly went to sleep, tired from the events of today. The hard floor definitely didn''t help, but the blanket at least provided some cushion, albeit only a little bit. As Karl was sleeping, a certain lion was talking to his brethren. That''s right, the creature that had the highest level, Anhur. "Attention! The system has blessed me. I am close, I can feel it. Once I reach my next breakthrough, the system will bless us all. You will all stand on two feet, just like me!" Anhur bellowed at his people. They cheered, at least the ones that could, most roared for their king. "This morning, I found a place. A place I had never seen before. It was full of trees and weird creatures. Everywhere I looked, there was green. I believe the system has given us this land to take!" The lions roared for their king. The lions, being apex predators, had all evolved, with only the cubs, not evolved. Some were of the same tier as Anhur. They''ve evolved three times, but Anhur was the strongest. He was close. He predicted that he would evolve another time in a few years, and that was when the system would bless his people. That''s what he believed. It was true somewhat. As he evolves for the fourth time, the system will ask him if he wants his people to be "enlightened." This is a one-time question. Being enlightened means that his people will lose the ability to evolve, but gain classes. There are also some more things that will happen, but that''s the main one. In the world of Tua, a certain creature just evolved. This was its third time evolving. It started off as a little reptilian creature, covered in scales. It slowly grew, becoming bigger and bigger. At its third evolution, it turned its arms into wings, becoming a wyvern. This was the first wyvern in Tua, and it''s still growing. It used its new wings perfectly like it was born with it all its life. It flew over its territory, becoming the strongest creature in the sky. Eventually, the night passed. Karl woke up, rubbing his eyes. It has been two days since he was here and he needed a bath. While he didn''t stink too much, it was beginning to build up. He had to deal with it soon. He stretched his limbs and went downstairs and saw Dilya. "Good morning, sleepyhead," Dilya said. "Morning." Karl looked at Dilya and just like all the other people, she also had hair. She had white hair, going all the way down to her waist. It was pretty attractive. Now, as much as he wanted to bed her, that wasn''t his goal. Maybe in the future. "Is there an easier way to get essence?" Karl asked. "And is there a place I can wash myself?" "Well, just living your life gives you essence, but it doesn''t give you enough for it to be a good option. As for washing yourself, there''s a river that surrounds the jungle floor. Just go in one direction and you''ll find it." Dilya answered. "Hmm, alright. Well, I''m heading off. Later." Karl waved goodbye and left Dilya''s house. If the only reliable way to get essence was just killing random monsters, then it would get boring real fast. As he was making his way down the city, he thought of a way to improve it. ''What would a game have? Well, it has quests, dungeons, and bosses.'' Karl had no idea how he would add quests, but dungeons and bosses seemed easy enough. Maybe even a special reward for the people who complete the dungeons and the people who kill the bosses. Arriving at the ground floor, Karl walked in a random direction, following Dilya''s orders. He manifested his shadow daggers and his shadow cloak just in case, although he doubted that there would be much that could challenge him, he still had to be careful. After some walking, he arrived at the river. It actually wasn''t that far. Karl was about to take off his clothes to take a bath when he realized. What if he gets ambushed? Taking some precautions, he gathered the shadows around him and made a dome. He was once again surprised at the versatility of his shadow powers. The dome was transparent, but everything in the dome looked darker. It also didn''t seem that weak, so something couldn''t just break the dome. Feeling safe, Karl took off his clothes, throwing it to the side so it doesn''t get wet. He jumped in the river and was surprised at how cold it was. "Damn, I can feel my balls shrinking." Karl washed himself thoroughly. There wasn''t any soap or deodorant, but at least he wasn''t as stinky as before. As Karl was washing himself, unknown to him, there was a group of monkeys watching him. They looked at his shadow dome, curious as to what it was. They had seen his kind before, but the king told them to stay hidden and not bother them as they had a pact. They whispered to each other. "It''s in our territory. What should we do?" One of them asked the other. "Nothing, remember what the elders and the king said. Don''t bother them." "But why? I''m going down." The monkey began its descent to meet with Karl. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "No, you must not. You''ll be punished." "I''m not going to bother it. I''m just going to talk to it." The other monkey sighed, frustrated. "Stupid." 10 Dungeons The monkey made its way down to the ground. It approached Karl, looking at him through the shadow dome. "Hey! What are you?" Karl turned around, surprised. He looked at the monkey and realized he was naked. He gathered shadows around him and covered himself, hiding his precious part. "Why are you asking me that? What are you?" "I asked first and what are these weird black things anyways." "Yeah, but where I come from, you have to introduce yourself first. These black things are my power." Karl looked at the monkey. It stood on two legs like humans and it had a tail. Judging from its long arms and big hands, they probably moved around by swinging on the trees. The monkey scratched its head. "That makes sense. My name''s Sheridan. I don''t mean any harm, I just want to ask you a question." "Nice to meet you, Sheridan. My name''s Kigai. What question did you want to ask me?" "Well, what are you? You''re not like us. You don''t have hair, except for some parts," Sheridan said, pointing at Karl''s hair. "Me? I''m an Ancient One. What about you?" "Well, we are monkeys. At least that''s what we started out as. I''m still a monkey, but my parents said I''ll be able to evolve soon. Then I''ll be super strong," Sheridan said with a smile. "Really? Well, that''s pretty cool." "I know right. Look, I was even blessed with the system." Sheridan opened his palm and a golden ball of light appeared within it. "See, the system calls it Light Manipulation." Karl looked at the ball of light. This kid had the polar opposite of his power. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "It''s only level one, but I know it''ll get stronger in the future," Sheridan explained. Karl sighed. ''Well, it''s a good thing that he has to level up his power. I didn''t. System, how come Sheridan has Light Manipulation?'' [Every once in a while, when a being is born, it''s blessed with a power or a special trait. These blessed beings will more than likely affect the world in a big way.] ''Hmm, it makes sense.'' Karl thought. Another monkey arrived, it seemed like a female one. "Sheridan, what are you doing? You can''t just reveal your powers like that. The elders have big plans for you. Now come on, before we get in trouble." Sheridan dispelled the ball of light and turned to look at the other monkey. "Alright, fine, fine." He turned to look at Karl and waved goodbye. "I''m sorry. I''m not supposed to talk to you. Hopefully, we can talk again." Karl waved goodbye to the monkeys as they climbed the trees and slowly disappeared in the distance. "Well, time to head back and add dungeons." Karl dried himself off and got dressed. He made his way back to the city, grabbing some food and eating it for lunch. "I can never get enough of this." After finishing his food, Karl went back to Dilya''s house. He looked around and found that Dilya was nowhere to be found. He went to his room and closed the door, sitting down on the blankets. "System, bring me back to the console." [You are being transported to the console in 10... 9... 8...] Karl was transported to the console and quickly got to work on adding dungeons. "I want to create a dungeon system." [Please think of the dungeon system in your head and the system will create it.] Karl began thinking of the dungeon system he wanted. He wanted there to be multiple dungeons dotting the whole world. Some underwater, some on land, and even some flying. The dungeons will have multiple levels, a hundred to be exact. Each level can be described as its own ecosystem with different creatures living on it. The deeper the level, the stronger the monsters. There are also various materials in the dungeons, getting rarer as you go deeper inside. When you reach the last level of the dungeon, you can ask the system for something. There is a limit to the things you can ask, but things like powers, riches, knowledge can be easily granted. The dungeons come in different shapes and sizes. The shape and size of the exterior do not reflect the size of the interior. [The system is creating the dungeon system. Please wait... Done.] [Dungeon System:] Various dungeons of shapes and sizes dot the landscape of the world. Each dungeon has a hundred levels. The deeper the level, the harder it gets, but with difficulty comes better rewards. Each level is an entire ecosystem consisting of numerous monsters and valuable materials. When you reach the last level of the dungeon, you can ask the system for something. The system will consider it and grant it if it''s within the limits of the system. This will cost 100 points. Karl nodded, looking at what the system made. That''s exactly what he wanted. "How many points do I have?" [You have 3560 points.] "3560? How come I have so much?" [Everything you create is placed in the marketplace for other gods to buy. ten gods have bought your [Fair Afterlife], giving you 3000 points.] "Wow. I''m so rich! Buy the dungeon system and apply it to the world." [Affirmative. Please wait a moment... [Dungeon System] has now been applied to your world.] "Nice." Karl took a look around Tua, trying to find some dungeons. It didn''t take long as he found a huge tower, reaching all the way to space. "That''s massive." The top wasn''t even visible as it was atop the clouds. It was also pretty wide, about as wide as a small forest. It had a spiral pattern running along its side. There were four doors. One of the north side, west side, east side, and south side. They were massive, able to fit giants and probably even dragons. After a few minutes of admiring the massive dungeon, Karl closed the screen. He took a look at his points. He already knew that he wasn''t the only god and that sometime in the future, he would meet another one. He only hoped they would be friendly. He didn''t want his children to die. Karl decided to see what other gods have made. "Show me the marketplace." A screen showed up. It was kind of like a shopping website. It was the Amazon, for gods. There were a lot of categories. There were species, entire worlds, items, precious materials, and even other systems. Karl didn''t really want to use another god''s creation, but he could take some for inspiration. Just like that, he spent the next few hours looking at other god''s creations. 11 Bosses After a few hours of looking through the marketplace, Karl thought about the things he saw. He still had 3000 points to play with so he didn''t have to go cheap. Karl wanted his world to be more like a game. Maybe he would even isekai someone in the future. That sounded fun. So he thought about what a game had. Games had dungeons and bosses. His world already had dungeons, so he decided that he would add bosses. Karl started thinking about how he was going to add bosses. They obviously have to be strong and drop valuable stuff. He thought about how the bosses would appear. Maybe the bosses would be chosen at birth? Yeah, that seemed right. The bosses would also have special advantages, like being stronger, a special power, etc. "System, I want to create another system. Call it the Boss System." Karl said, thinking about all the details the boss system would have. [Confirming, please wait a moment... The [Boss System] has been made. Please check over it for any corrections.] Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. [Boss System:] Limited to monsters, the system will choose a monster at birth to become a boss. The system will give the monster special advantages like special powers. When the boss is defeated, it will give the killer significantly more essence than normal, and a very low chance of it dropping its special power. This will cost 100 points. Karl double-checked to see if there were any memories. As far as he could see, there weren''t any. He bought the system, bringing his points down to 3360. [Boss System] has been applied to your world.] Karl was about to head down to the world and explore a dungeon when a notification appeared in front of him. [Congratulations! The Ancient Ones have discovered the four basic elements of magic, granting you 100 points.] "Sweet, I''ve been wanting to get into magic." Down in the world, everyone was in quite a panic. A lionfolk came running down into the den. The lionfolk kneeled down to its king, Anhur. "Our King, Anhur. I have great big news for you." A/N: So, I decided to change the humanoid lion race from Werelion to Lionfolk. So Anhur is now a Lionfolk. Anhur turned his head, raising his eyebrow at the lionfolk. "Speak." The lionfolk raised its head to look at Anhur. "A gigantic thing appeared in our territory. The system calls it a dungeon. It is massive, reaching all the way to the top of the sky. We inspected the so-called dungeon and the system told us it brings unimaginable treasures inside." "Hmm... The system would never lie. Cancel the expedition to the jungle. Me and a group of lionfolk will explore this... dungeon." Anhur replied, getting up from his seat. Anhur began making his way out of the den to take a look at the dungeon. In the jungle, another dungeon appeared. This dungeon went down to the world''s core. Sheridan was happily swinging in the trees, practicing his powers when he saw a weird building. The building wasn''t overly big, only a few trees wide. It had four doors, each facing a different direction. Curious, he opened the door and found himself in another jungle, but he knew that this wasn''t the same jungle that he lived in his whole life. A window popped up in front of him. [You have entered the 1st level of the dungeon. Reach the last level and the system will reward you with something you desire.] Sheridan was very intrigued. He definitely wanted to go to the last level, but he wasn''t that dumb. Although he had a special power, he was still weak and hadn''t even evolved yet. Deciding that leaving and telling the village about this would be better, he turned around and went to the door, leaving the dungeon. Turning to look at the dungeon one last time, he went up the trees, heading to his village to inform his elders and the king about what he found. As all that was happening, Karl was in his room, practicing magic. He found out how to channel his mana and draw symbols, but nothing was happening. Symbol after symbol, it would just fade away, nothing happening. Frustrated, Karl left his room and went downstairs. Dilya was downstairs in the kitchen making some food for both of them. Dilya heard his footsteps and yelled from the kitchen, "Kigai, come here. We''re celebrating today." Karl heard the yell and went to the kitchen. "What''s up? What are we celebrating?" "You haven''t heard? The Magic Committee, which I''m the leader of, has had a breakthrough. We''ve found the symbols for the four elements. Earth, fire, air, and water. I discovered the air symbol and my colleagues discovered the other elements," Dilya said with a smile, proud of herself. "That''s pretty cool. That does necessitate a celebration. Congratulations. What are we eating anyway?" Karl asked. "Tiger. It tastes really good." Dilya grabbed the cooked tiger meat and placed it on two plates. One for her and one for Karl. She took the two plates and placed them on the dining table, grabbing a wooden utensil and giving it to him. "Eat up." Karl sat across from Dilya. He looked at the cooked tiger meat. There was once again the weird sauce that seemed like barbecue sauce. He took a whiff of the meat, smelling it. "Mmmm, that tastes good. I didn''t know you were such a good cook." "Haha. I might not look like it, but I was the secondborn. I had to take care of a lot of people and cooking was one of my jobs," Dilya said with a proud smile. She sat down and took a bite of the tiger meat, enjoying its taste. "Quick, eat. It''ll get cold." Karl nodded, grabbing the piece of meat and taking a large bite. It tasted so good. For primitive cooking, it was good, and it was only going to get better. They ate their food, letting out moans of delight as they finished their food. 12 Air Magic Karl finished his food, placing his plate in the sink. "Wow, not only are you beautiful, but you''re also a good cook." Dilya blushed, hearing Karl. "Oh, shut up." Dilya finished his food soon after and placed it in the sink. "Oh yeah, can you help me out with magic?" Karl asked Dilya. "Magic? Yeah, what do you need help with?" "I need help with the symbols. I found out how to use my mana to draw, but I don''t know the symbols." Dilya nodded. "Ok, I''ll teach you the wind symbol for now. Let''s go to the living room." They made their way to the living room, sitting across from one another. Dilya channeled her mana to her pointer finger, making it glow a bright white. "Ok, watch." Dilya started drawing with mana and drew a spiral. She started from the center, circling to the outside. The spiral changed color, turning from white to green. A small gust of air went towards Karl, making his hair blow upwards. "The shape doesn''t actually matter that much, as long as it resembles air, it''ll work. Now, you also have to think about air when you''re doing it. If you think of fire and try to use air magic, then it won''t work. Go ahead, try it out," Dilya told Karl. "Alright." Karl channeled his mana to his pointer finger and started drawing, making the same spiral that Dilya made. This time, he thought about making air, and it worked. The spiral turned green and a gust of wind went towards Dilya, making her hair sway with the wind. "Wow, it worked." [Learned Air Magic.] Dilya clapped. "Good job, you did it." "Thanks, but if it was that easy, how come it took you guys so long to find the symbols for the four elements?" Karl asked in a curious tone. "Well, it''s because we only found out today that the symbol didn''t matter that much. What really mattered was just thinking of the element you wanted. It''s also because we''re still new to this magic thing." Dilya said plainly. "Hmm, well if it''s that easy, then have you guys tried out other elements?" "Oh, we have, but we''ve had no luck so far. We suspect that we either need a class upgrade or increase our intelligence." "That makes sense. So now that I learned air magic, what can I do?" "A lot of things. Here, look." Dilya channeled her mana again and drew an air symbol, but this time she surrounded it with a circle. The symbol turned green and disappeared. Air started to gather to the area where the symbol was. A ball of wind was made, constantly spinning. "By having a circle outside the air symbol, it made a ball of air. As usual, you have to think of what you''re trying to do." Karl looked at the ball of air as it began to disappear, amazed. "Cool, what can you do with it?" Dilya laughed, seeing Karl''s amazed face. "Well, since it''s made from my mana, I can control it." She moved the ball of air around before it disappeared. "Let me try." Karl did the same thing Dilya did, drawing an air symbol, then drawing a circle around it. The symbol turned green and the air started to gather, making a ball of air. "Alright." "Good job. You can also channel your mana into it. More mana means its faster, stronger, etc. Be careful though. Even though it looks small, it''s pretty powerful," Dilya warned. As Karl was looking at the ball of air, he got an idea. He gathered the shadows in the room and channeled it into the ball of air. The air making up the ball began to change, becoming darker. It also spun faster and became a bit smaller. The ball was still made of wind, but now shadows were circling it, making it look very ominous. Dilya looked at the ball of shadows and air. Her jaw was hanging as she looked at it. "Every time I see you, I keep getting amazed. You must''ve added your shadow powers into the ball of air. It also looks like it''s more powerful." Karl was also amazed. He didn''t expect it to work. "I didn''t even expect it to work, I just tried it out." In another part of the jungle, Sheridan was in his village and went to talk to the elders. "Sheridan, what is it you want?" One of the five elders asked. "Elders, I''ve come to inform you something. While I was exploring the jungle, I found a strange building. The system calls it a dungeon. I went inside and I found myself in another jungle, only it wasn''t the jungle we live in, it was a different one, inside the dungeon. The jungle inside the dungeon was also unusual. It was bigger than the building it was in," Sheridan replied. The elders talked amongst themselves, whispering. "That is unusual, but why does this concern us?" "When I went inside the dungeon, the system told me that the jungle was only one of many levels in the dungeon. It also told me that if someone reaches the last level, the system will reward them with something they desire," Sheridan explained. Hearing this, the elders began whispering to themselves again, before turning to Sheridan again. "Sheridan, it''s good that you informed us of this. Tomorrow morning, five of your brethren will join you, and you will lead them to this dungeon. You will explore the dungeon and find the last level, understood?" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Sheridan nodded. "I understand." "You may go now. At first light, you will come here," the elder said. Sheridan left and told his parents what he found. They were very proud of him. In the savannah, where the lions lived, Anhur arrived at the dungeon. He looked at it, seeing how massive it was. Anhur opened the door of the dungeon, heading inside. [You have entered the 1st level of the dungeon. Reach the last level and the system will reward you with something you desire.] Anhur smiled at the alert. "Another blessing from the gods." Anhur looked around to see where he was at. He was in a grass field, seeming to go on forever. There was a forest nearby. He walked to the forest, making sure he didn''t forget where the door was. He channeled mana on his body, making it glow white. Drawing with mana, he made a lava symbol, surrounding it with the outline of a body. Moving the symbol, he applied it to his body. A few moments later, lava started to gather around Anhur''s body. The lava covered him head to toe, except his eyes. Parts of the lava cooled, making it very hard. He made himself lava armor and wore it. Intense heat came off of it, burning the grass around him, but it didn''t seem to affect him whatsoever. Anhur arrived at the forest, setting it on fire. 13 Firstborn Anhur walked through the forest, burning it down. He was wearing the lava armor he created from magic. As he walked, the grass burned around him, setting the trees on fire. The trees and grass slowly turned to ash as they burned. As Anhur was walking through the forest, a bear was watching him. The bear was quite angry as Anhur was burning its territory down. As the apex predator of the forest, it had to do something. From behind the trees, the bear charged at him. Anhur saw the large bear charging at him, but he wasn''t scared. He was the king, the strongest. Anhur stood his ground and charged at the charging bear. Lifting his arm, he swung his fist, hitting the bear''s forehead. The heat and strength of the fist killed the bear instantly. Its corpse fell to the ground, its head melted off. His fire soon covered the corpse, turning it into ash. The peaceful atmosphere of the forest is now gone. It was replaced with a hellish atmosphere as all the trees disappeared, burned to ashes by the fire. The inhabitants of the forest were also burned along with it, giving their essence to Anhur. Anhur kept walking through the forest, trying to find the entrance to the second level. He looked around, looking for any sign of the second floor. It didn''t take long, but eventually, he found a floating crystal. The crystal was green and was floating up and down, unaffected by the fire. He went up to the crystal and a window popped up. [Would you like to go to the second level of the dungeon, or leave the dungeon?] Naturally, Anhur wanted to head to the second level of the dungeon. "Take me to the second level of the dungeon." As soon as Anhur said that, a bright light enveloped him and he disappeared. At Dilya''s house, Karl was experimenting with air magic. He had managed to figure out a way to apply air magic on his body, making it lighter and faster. Karl looked outside the window and saw the bright moon shining down through the window. "It''s getting pretty late. Thanks for teaching me magic. I wasn''t expecting to have such a beautiful woman as my teacher," he said with a smirk. Dilya''s cheeks blushed red as he looked away from Karl. "You''re welcome. When you wake up, I won''t be here. I need to do some stuff. Good night." "Good night." Karl went upstairs to his room. He laid down on the blankets, looking up at the roof. Karl thought about some stuff as he was laying down. What was the Kaitera doing? He should also check up on Adum. Tomorrow morning, he was definitely going out to explore a dungeon. He was planning to stay in the dungeon until he reached level 50. That was when he would get a class upgrade. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Karl closed his eyes and slowly went to sleep, lightly snoring. As Karl was sleeping, someone knocked at Dilya''s door. Dilya went to the door and opened it. "What? What is it? Can''t you see it''s nighttime?" The person who knocked at Dilya''s door was a male guard. He bowed to Dilya. "I''m very sorry, but the firstborn would like to talk to you." Dilya scratched her head, ruffling her hair. "Aghh, what does he want that can''t wait until morning?" The guard stopped bowing and looked at Dilya. "I don''t know. I was only told to bring you to him." "Fine, fine. Give me a second, you can go now." Dilya closed the door and grabbed a cup of water, drinking it. Dilya fixed herself up a bit and left her house. Dilya made her way to her brother''s house, the firstborn. She wondered why he called for her so late. Dilya arrived at her brother''s house and opened the door, not caring about his privacy. "Why''d you call me! It''s nighttime!" she yelled. "You didn''t hear?" the firstborn asked. "Come, come. Sit down." Dilya sat down across from the firstborn. She looked at him, wondering what it was. "What is it?" The firstborn leaned forward. "The scouts came back this evening and they found something in the forest." "Well? Tell me," Dilya said, nodding up and down. "They found a building called a dungeon. It was small from the outside, but when one of them went in, they found themselves in a different jungle. The system also said that this was only one of many levels, and if someone managed to reach the last level, then the system would grant that person something they desire." the firstborn told Dilya. Dilya raised her eyebrows hearing this. "Kerym, if this is true, then we need to get to the last level. Think about what we could do. We can help our people with this." Kerym nodded. Like his sister, he also wanted what was best for his people, especially since he knew that while he was the strongest, it was only to his people. The monkeys of the jungle were much stronger than them, with the strongest being double his level. "I was thinking that we would leave tomorrow morning." Dilya nodded back. "Tomorrow morning sounds good, but are we the only ones going?" Kerym shook his head. "We might be one of the strongest, but this dungeon is completely unknown to us. I''ll be bringing a level 30 guard named Aien. Do you have anyone you would like to bring?" Dilya smiled. "Yes, I do. He''s a person blessed by the Goddess of Magic, Aphy. His name is Kigai and he can control the shadows." Kerym raised an eyebrow. "Blessed by the Goddess of Magic? Why have I never heard of this guy?" "I''ve also never heard of him until a few days ago. You see, he lost his memories and I helped him out," Dilya explained. "I see, that makes sense. Well, if he''s truly blessed by the Goddess, then bring him along. There''s only one problem." "What?" "Well, the dungeon is located in the territory of the monkeys." "What? It should be fine, right? We have a pact with them so they don''t bother us." "We should be fine, but if they also know of the dungeon, then they''d also want to explore it. We might not be hurt outside of the dungeon, but inside it, that''s a different story." "That''s true. The system recognizes them as monsters, so it''s not unusual if they act like monsters and ambush us." "Mhm, indeed. Well, it''s getting dark. Get some sleep, I have an idea that tomorrow''s going to be crazy." "Alright, I''ll see you tomorrow. Good night, Kerym." Dilya left his house and waved goodbye. She went back to her house to get some sleep. 14 Heath The morning sun shined on Karl''s eyes, waking him up. He stretched his legs and let out a loud yawn. It was pretty early in the morning, which was rare for Karl. He rubbed his eyes and left his room, going downstairs. Dilya was already awake, sitting at the table. "Hey, what''s up? I thought you would be gone when I woke up?" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Dilya was eating some leftovers from last night. She looked up at Karl. "Some things came up and now I need you to come with me. Here, eat." She smiled at him and grabbed a plate and a piece of meat, placing it across from her. "Come with you for what? Thanks." Karl sat across from Dilya and started eating the leftovers. Even though it was leftovers, it still tasted good. He wouldn''t waste food, just because it was leftovers, that was nonsense. "Well, my brother told me that the scouts have found something really useful. It''s a dungeon," Dilya said, finishing her food and placing her plate in the sink. Karl paused for a second when he heard her say it was a dungeon. "Dungeon? What''s that?" Of course, being the creator of the dungeons, he knew what they were, but he had to act like he didn''t know anything. Dilya sat back down across Karl. "I only know what my brother told me, but... how do I explain this? It''s bigger on the inside than the outside. It has multiple levels and if you reach the last one, the system will grant you something you desire." "Something I desire? What would you want?" Karl asked, finishing his food. Dilya tilted her head to the side and thought about what she would want. "Well, something to help our people. We are still weak and every little bit counts. What about you?" Karl placed his plate in the sink and sat back down. "Helping is just like you." he smiled at Dilya. "What would I get? To be honest with you, another power. I know it''s kinda selfish." "It is selfish, but I''m sure you''re not the only one that would do that. Anyways, we have to go. My brother said to meet in the morning." Dilya got up and pushed the chair in. She left the house and started walking. Karl nodded and followed beside her. They walked to Kerym''s house as the sun shined on them. Every so often, the sun would peek out of the clouds, blinding Karl''s eyes. Eventually, they arrived at Kerym''s house. Dilya opened the door and let themselves in. "Kerym! We''re here!" Dilya yelled inside. "Follow me," she said to Karl. Karl followed her as they made their way to Kerym''s living room. Inside the living room was Kerym and another person. "Dilya, must you yell?" Kerym asked her. Dilya didn''t answer and sat down. "This is Kigai, the one blessed by the goddess." "Hello." Karl waved at Kerym, extending his hand for a handshake. "Thanks for having me." Kerym shook Karl''s hand. "Hello, my name''s Kerym, the firstborn. It''s a pleasure to meet someone blessed by the goddess. Please, take a seat." Karl took a seat and looked at Kerym. He was wearing plain clothes, but you could see his strong and built body. With those muscles, he is probably a fighter. "This here is Heath," Kerym said, introducing Heath. "He is a level 30 guard and he will be joining us." Heath waved at everyone, nervous. He was surrounded by important people and he was just an ordinary guy. There was the firstborn, the secondborn, and the one who was blessed by the goddess. "H-hello, my name''s Heath and my class is Knight." "Alright, now that we''re all acquainted, I have something for everyone. It''s a new invention from the craftsmen." Kerym went to another room and came back, holding iron armor. "What''s that? It''s so shiny." Dilya asked, looking at the shiny iron armor. "Honestly, I don''t know, but the craftsmen said it was much stronger than our current leather armor, but it is heavier." "Well, I don''t want it." "I know you don''t want it, but Kigai or Heath might. I know I do." "Yes, I would definitely like one," Heath said. "Alright, one for Heath. What about you, Kigai?" Kerym asked. "Umm, I focus on dexterity, so having a heavy armor would just slow me down. Thanks for the offer though." "Alright." Kerym walked over to Heath. "You can have this then." He passed the armor piece to him. Kerym walked out of the room and grabbed the rest of the armor, giving it to Heath. "Oh yeah, I have another thing for you." He walked back and grabbed an iron sword. Kerym went back to the living room and showed Heath. "This is the sharpest and strongest sword the craftsmen have created, take care of it." Heath''s eyes went wide when he saw the sword. It was the prettiest sword he''s seen and it looked strong. He grabbed the sword as it was passed to him. "I''ll take care of it with my life." Kerym chuckled. "You don''t need to be so serious. Now, get ready. We''re leaving as soon as everyone is ready." Karl looked at the iron armor as Heath took off his leather armor and wore it. Karl was amazed. They already knew how to use iron and it''s been only a hundred years. Very impressive. After a few minutes of fiddling around, Heath finally got the armor on. It wasn''t built for looks, but performance. Heath looked like a real knight with his new iron armor and sword. "I''m ready," Heath said, admiring his new armor. "Alright, let''s go then. Follow me." Kerym said as he left the house. The group followed behind Kerym as they went in the dungeon''s direction. Kerym waved at the guards as they left the city and went on the jungle floor. They kept walking and walking. It was weird because they didn''t even try to hide, and nothing attacked them. After a lot of walking, they arrived at the dungeon. "If the scouts weren''t lying, this should be it. Are you all ready?" Kerym asked them. "Yes!" they responded back. 15 Into the Dungeon Kerym opened the door of the dungeon and went inside. The rest of the group followed behind him. When they entered the dungeon, a window popped up in front of each of them. [You have entered the 1st level of the dungeon. Reach the last level and the system will reward you with something you desire.] They read the window and looked around, finding themselves in another jungle. There was a sky and even a light source inside, comparable to the sun. "It really is bigger on the inside," Kerym said. "Are we inside the dungeon?" Dilya asked. "I believe we are." Karl pointed at the door behind them. "Look." "How do we get to the next level?" Dilya asked, looking around for any information. "I don''t know. We''ll probably have to go deeper into the jungle to find out." Kerym grabbed his weapons from his bag and wore them. They were iron brass knuckles that the craftsmen made for him. "Everyone, be careful. This is unknown territory and we''re probably not alone." They started walking deeper into the jungle, being careful not to make too much noise. Karl manifested his shadow daggers and cloak. Heath unsheathed his sword and was holding it. Dilya was in the middle as she was the weakest in terms of defense. As they were walking, something in the sky was watching them. It was massive, casting a giant shadow on them. The creature had two giant wings and looked like a prehistoric bird. Its giant wings flapped loudly as it flew above them. Karl looked down at the ground and saw how dark it was. He looked up, trying to find out why it was so dark and saw the giant bird. "What the fuck is that?!" Everyone turned their heads and looked up and saw the giant bird. "I''ve never seen anything like it," Kerym said. "Don''t let your guard down, we don''t know if it''s hostile." "That thing''s massive, I hope it doesn''t see us," Heath said while gazing at the bird. The giant bird looked down and stared at the group. Heath raised his sword. "It''s not looking at us, is it?" The bird cawed loudly and dived down at the group with incredible speed. "I''m afraid it is," Karl said. "Everyone! Run!" The group ran in different directions, trying to get away from the bird. Luckily, they were able to get far enough away to not get hit. The bird landed on the ground with tremendous speed, sending dust everywhere. "Is everyone ok?!" Kerym yelled, coughing. "Yeah, I''m ok!" Heath replied. "Me too!" Karl answered. "I''m here!" Dilya yelled. The dust began to clear up, revealing the gigantic bird. The bird looked at them and let out a loud caw. "What the hell do we do?" Karl asked. "Fight it. That thing is clearly the boss around here, we have no choice," Kerym replied. The bird charged at them and was surprisingly fast, considering it was on land. It left a trail of dust as it charged at them, opening its beak and cawing again. The bird was truly gigantic, standing at 18 feet (5.5 meters). "Let me try something." Karl gathered the shadows of the area and made his signature shadow tentacles around the bird. The tentacles wrapped around the bird''s limbs, stopping its movement and falling on the ground, rolling for a few seconds. "Is that the power that the goddess gave you?" Kerym asked, looking at Karl. Karl nodded. "Yes, but I thought it would pose more of a challenge." The bird tried moving, but the tentacles wouldn''t let it as it restricted its movement. The group walked towards the bird but stopped when the tentacles were suddenly cut, letting it free. "What happened?" Heath asked. "I don''t know," Karl said. This was the first time he saw his tentacles cut. The bird stood up on its two legs, cawing again. Karl and the rest of the group got to their battle stance. Dilya was behind everyone, ready to cast a spell. Karl, Kerym, and Heath were in the front. The bird charged at them, furious. "I''m the toughest here, I''ll distract it," Heath said as he raised his sword to block the charge. Karl and Kerym nodded, hiding behind the trees and waiting for the right moment. "Come on!" Heath yelled at the bird. "I''m right here!" The bird stared at Heath. It charged into him, knocking him back into a tree. Heath coughed and groaned as he stood back up. "That''s all you got?" he asked, before falling down. Heath was winded. That hit was really strong, and if it weren''t for his armor, he would''ve died. The bird slowly walked to Heath, unaware of Karl and Kerym. Karl was the first one to make a move. He applied air magic on himself, making his body lighter and faster. Running as fast as he could, he ran to the bird and got on its back. It noticed something was on its back and tried to shake it off, but Karl wasn''t going to let that happen. He stabbed his daggers into its body, keeping himself from falling. The bird cawed as it was stabbed. It kept trying to shake Karl off, but Karl just kept climbing, stabbing its body. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Kerym came out from the trees and charged at the bird. He lifted his arm and with a powerful swing, he punched the bird''s body, making it groan in pain. In retaliation, the bird swung its arms at him, but its big body made its movements easy to predict. He continued punching the bird''s body and dodging its attacks. "Finish it off!" he yelled at Karl. Dilya channeled her mana and cast a spell at the bird. Wind came out of the spell and was heading for the bird. Only it wasn''t normal wind. The wind was very fast and was as sharp, maybe even sharper than a sword. It hit the bird and cut its body up, making it bleed from the cuts. Karl finally climbed all the way up the bird''s head. He was only holding one dagger, as his other hand was used to hold onto the bird''s neck. With a swift motion downwards, he stabbed the bird''s head, piercing its skull and stabbing its brain. The bird stopped moving and fell to the ground. [You defeated a level 38 Quetzalcoatlus (Boss). Its essence has been shared with other people that attacked it. You dealt the 2nd most damage and the killing blow, increasing the essence you absorbed.] 16 Air Manipulation [You leveled up! You are now level 18. 10 stat points gained.] [You leveled up! You are now level 19. 10 stat points gained.] [You leveled up! You are now level 20. 10 stat points gained.] [You leveled up! You are now level 21. 10 stat points gained.] [You leveled up! You are now level 22. 10 stat points gained.] [You leveled up! You are now level 23. 10 stat points gained.] [You leveled up! You are now level 24. 10 stat points gained.] [You leveled up! You are now level 25. 10 stat points gained.] Karl fell to the ground with the bird. He stayed on the ground and let out a sigh of relief. "I have a feeling this dungeon isn''t gonna be easy. If this is the first level, then what''s the last level like?" Kerym also sighed. He sat down beside Karl, breathing heavily as he tried to catch his breath. He considered what Karl said. If they struggled with the first level, then would they even be able to reach the last? He shook those thoughts away, he would never give up just because it was hard. "Harder than this, but who cares? The harder it is, the better the rewards." Karl nodded. He should''ve known that going into this, it wouldn''t be easy. Taking deep breaths, he calmed himself and caught his breath. As he was laying down, something weird happened. The bird''s corpse became bright green. He turned to Kerym and yelled at him, "Get away from the body!" Karl and Kerym quickly got up and backed away from the body. They carefully watched the bird''s corpse, wondering what was happening. "What''s happening?" Kerym asked. "How should I know?" Karl replied while holding his dagger tightly. Dilya approached the two. She also carefully watched the glowing green corpse. "I thought we killed it?" The bright green corpse slowly disappeared, leaving a glowing green orb on the ground. "What is it?" Karl asked, approaching the orb. Dilya motioned for Karl to stop. "Wait, let me inspect it." "Alright," Karl replied. Dilya walked up to the orb and inspected it. [Orb of Air Manipulation:] This is a rare drop from a boss. Absorbing this orb will give you the ability to manipulate air. Dilya gasped as she read what the orb did. If it was anything like Karl''s ability, she should be able to control air without using mana. Kerym watched from the side, looking at the orb. "What? Is it anything bad?" Dilya shook her head and grabbed the orb, holding it in her hand. "On the contrary, it''s very good. I inspected it and it said that if I absorb this, it''ll give me the ability to manipulate air. I would like this for myself, but if you want it, you can have it." Karl raised his eyebrow hearing this. ''Air manipulation? Did the bird have that?'' "Wow, that sounds really good, but you know me. I don''t like using magic. You can have it, but Kigai might want it," Kerym said. Karl waved his hands in front of him. "No, you can have it. It suits you more than it suits me. Plus, I already have a good ability." "Yay, thank you!" Dilya jumped with joy. "But how do I absorb it now?" A screen popped up in front of Dilya. [Would you like to absorb the [Orb of Air Manipulation]?] [Y/N] Dilya extended his finger and pressed yes. The orb disappeared, turning into a green mist. It covered Dilya and disappeared, a window popping up. [You have learned Air Manipulation.] "Do you feel any different?" Karl asked Dilya. "No, but it says I''ve learned air manipulation. Let me try it out." Dilya extended her hand out and tried to control the air. She found out that it would listen to her command, but only to simple ones. More complex commands would need more practice. She flicked her hand to the left and a gust of wind appeared, blowing everyone''s clothes and hair. "That''s really cool. What else can you do?" Karl asked. "Well, right now, only simple moves. I probably need to practice and get better to do the things you do with your ability." "That makes sense." Karl fixed his hair that was blown by the wind. "Wait, what happened to Heath? We totally forgot about him." "I''m right here. Don''t worry," Heath said as he walked over to them. "I''m guessing we killed it since I leveled up a few times." "Yup. Thanks for reminding me, I need to distribute my points." Karl opened up his status and spent his points. It now looks like this: [Name:] Kigai [Level:] 25 [Class:] Assassin (+10 to Dexterity) [Species:] Ancient One (Avatar) [Gender:] Male [Age:] 18 [Strength:] 78 [Constitution:] 26 [Intelligence:] 52 [Dexterity:] 104 (+10) "No problem. So, what''d I miss?" Heath asked. "Not much. The big bird dropped an orb that gave Dilya the ability to control the air," Karl answered. "Couldn''t she do that anyway?" Heath sat down on the ground. Dilya''s ears twitched as she overheard their conversation. "I could, but that was magic and magic couldn''t be used indefinitely. This new ability allows me to control the air without it using my mana." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Heath nodded. "I see." As they were talking, Kerym was looking around. He looked up at the sky and saw a weird beam of light. "Hey, guys. What''s that?" he asked as he pointed to it. They looked over to where Kerym was pointing and saw the beam of light. The beam of light then disappeared. "I think that''s how we get to the second level," Karl said. "Do you think so? Well, there''s only one way to find out and we don''t exactly have other options." Kerym looked at the direction of the light. "Are you all ready? Let''s go." "Yes." "Yup." "Yeah." The group started making their way to the beam of light. As they were walking, Dilya was practicing her new ability and managed to level it up to level 3. She could now use it offensively, but she still needed more practice, so she continued training. Karl made sure to apply a shadow cloak on everyone so they would be harder to detect. With Karl''s shadow cloak, the group managed to get to the place where the beam of light was without getting attacked. The group saw a floating crystal, moving up and down. "Stay here," Karl said as he approached the floating crystal. He extended his hand out and touched it. The crystal was cool to the touch and stopped moving as soon as he touched it. [Would you like to go to the second level of the dungeon, or leave the dungeon?] 17 Second Level "So? What is it?" Kerym asked. Karl read the words. "This crystal is how we go to the second level, but it also gives us the option to leave the dungeon. What should we do?" "I don''t mind going deeper, but what about you guys?" "I''m fine with going deeper. I need to be strong enough to protect everyone," Heath said, placing a fist on his chest. "I also don''t mind. What about you, Kigai?" Dilya asked. "Yeah, I want to go deeper." "Alright, well it''s decided. Do we just touch the crystal?" Kerym asked. "Yup, I''m going first!" Karl chose to go to the second level and a beam of light came upon him. The light slowly disappeared, bringing him with it. He is now at the second level and it is very different from the first. Looking around him, he found himself on an island, but it wasn''t a normal island. The island floated in the air, several hundred feet off the ground. As Karl was looking around, beams of light appeared and the rest of the group appeared. "Ughh, where are we now?" Dilya asked. "Well, as far as I can see. We''re on a floating island," Karl answered. "Floating? What do you mean?" "Just come here." Karl walked over to the edge of the island. Dilya followed behind Karl and looked over the edge. She quickly moved back, tripping on some rocks and landing on her ass, as she saw how high they were. "How are we so high in the air? And how is this island floating?" Karl chuckled as he saw Dilya fall on her ass. "I don''t know, but this isn''t the only island. Look over there." He pointed to an island in the distance. "That''s the only way we can go." Dilya looked to where Karl was pointing and gulped. "I probably shouldn''t ask this, but how are we going to get there?" Kerym and Heath walked over to the two and looked over to the island that Karl was pointing at. "This is amazing. If we find out the reason why these islands float then we could use it in the city," Kerym said. "So where do we go from here?" Heath asked. "Good timing. I was just about to tell Dilya. We have to go to that other floating island over there," Karl answered, pointing at the island. "So how do we get there?" Kerym asked. "Simple, see those vines? It''s attached to the other island and we can use that to reach the next island." "WHAT?!" they yelled at Karl. "Look at that vine. It doesn''t look strong at all." Kerym said. Dilya nodded. "Yeah, and what happens if we fall? It''s a long way down and I don''t know if any of us could survive that." "You guys are forgetting about one thing. I can use my shadows to reinforce the vine and even make a crude walkway that we can walk on," Karl said with a proud face. "Hmm, I don''t know. We don''t know if your shadows are strong enough to hold us," Dilya argued. "Jeez, watch, I''ll go first." Karl walked over to the vine that connected the island they were on, to the next. He placed his hand on the vine and channeled his shadows into it. The vine changed from its natural green color to black. Shadows appeared on the vine and started making a crude walkway. Once it was done, Karl took a deep breath and ran across the walkway, being careful not to lose his footing and fall into the abyss below. He was pretty fast, so it didn''t take long to arrive at the other island. "SEE! SIMPLE!" he yelled over to them. "Simple, my ass," Dilya cursed. "I mean, it did look pretty simple," Heath added. "Oh shut up." Kerym chuckled. "I didn''t know you were afraid of heights. I can carry you if you''d like." Dilya rolled her eyes. "I can do it by myself." "If you say so." Dilya walked over to the vine and carefully placed her foot on the shadow walkway. Unlike Karl, she didn''t run across and took her time. She had a few close calls where she screamed, but Karl was there and saved her with his shadows. Slowly, but surely, she arrived at the other side where Karl was. "That wasn''t scary at all." Karl smirked, knowing she was lying. "ALRIGHT, NEXT ONE!" "I''ll go next," Kerym said, walking over to the vine. He was a little bit scared that he would fall, but he trusted Karl to save him. Moving faster than Dilya, he made it across and to the other side safely. "You looked like you were so scared," Dilya said to Kerym. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "I''m not the one who screamed." Dilya became red from embarrassment and softly punched Kerym. Seeing Kerym get to the other side, Heath started making his way across the shadow walkway. It wasn''t easy as he was wearing armor that was heavy, and restricted his movements. He almost fell a few times, but Karl saved him. It took him a while, but he safely made it across. He took off his helmet and wiped the sweat off of his head and let out a sigh of relief. Karl removed his shadow walkway and went to the group. "Alright, everyone''s here. Good job for making it across safely." "Yeah, you too. Other than the floating islands, is there anything else at this level we should know about?" Kerym asked Karl. "Uhhh, well, this island looks like it''s the biggest one. It''s mostly plains of rock, but there are trees and vegetation here and there." Kerym nodded, taking in the information. "We should get going before it gets dark, if it even gets dark." The group started walking, keeping an eye out for anything that would help them. Unknown to the group, something was watching them below the ground. It wasn''t technically watching them, but feeling the vibrations of their footsteps. The creature followed under them, excited of its new visitors. 18 Enlightened In another dungeon, something else was taking place. A massacre of fire was taking place. Anhur had reached the 13th level and he was getting tired. The monsters on the 13th level were, on average, level 130. Anhur managed to kill quite a bit of them, reaching level 147. He was very tired. His muscles were sore, and he was slowly running out of mana. Chunks of his lava armor were destroyed as Anhur was attacked. He didn''t give up, he was so close to reaching level 150, he was sure that something special was going to happen. Using magic, Anhur repaired his armor and made a lava spear. He pushed through the monsters, leaving burning corpses behind him. Blood dripped from his wounds, but he didn''t care. Using fire, he stopped the bleeding and continued on his way. Anhur took a deep breath and looked behind him, seeing the trail of corpses behind him. He turned back around as he felt the ground shake and a loud roar in front of him. A monster looked at him. It was covered in red scales and had a pair of wings. It looked down at Anhur, puffs of smoke coming out of its nose. Opening its mouth, it roared as fire came out of its mouth, threatening to burn him. Anhur rolled away from the fire breath. While he had pretty good resistance to fire, he could feel that he would definitely be burnt if that hit him. As the monster was breathing fire, he charged at it with his spear. Holding the spear with two hands, he stabbed it into the creature''s stomach. The monster roared as it felt the pain from the lava spear. Its body was covered in hard scales, but its insides weren''t. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Looking at Anhur, it raised its wings and swung it at him. Surprisingly, it came down fast, considering its large and heavy body. He knew that he wouldn''t have enough time to dodge the attack, so he created a lava dome around him, hoping it was enough to stop the attack. Its wings came down, hitting the lava dome. It only slowed it down as the lava dome broke. Anhur placed his arms in front of him as the wing impacted him and sent him flying. He coughed as he rolled on the ground. Slowly standing up, he coughed and made a prayer, "God Hoemis, give me the power to defeat this beast." Anhur bent his knees and watched the monster. It was bigger than him and was covered in hard scales, but he had a plan. He was going to use the monster''s size to his advantage. The monster charged at him and he charged back, but as the monster opened its mouth, he threw the spear inside of it. It tried to roar, but it couldn''t with the spear stuck in its throat. The spear was burning the inside of its mouth, making it scream. While it was distracted, Anhur jumped with tremendous force and landed on its head. The monster tried shaking him off, but he wouldn''t budge. Creating another spear, he held it in his hand, and in a quick motion, he stabbed through the monster''s head, piercing through the other side. The monster fell as it died and Anhur jumped off of its head, landing on the ground gracefully. He breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the monster''s corpse. [You defeated a level 142 Wyvern. You have absorbed its essence.] [You leveled up! You are now level 148. 10 stat points gained.] [You leveled up! You are now level 149. 10 stat points gained.] [You leveled up! You are now level 150. 10 stat points gained.] [Congratulations! You have reached level 150. You can evolve one last time and make your people enlightened, or keep evolving by yourself. Choosing the second option will lock your people from becoming enlightened.] [You leveled up! You are now level 151. 10 stat points gained.] Anhur''s eyes widened as he read the options. "What does becoming enlightened mean?" [Becoming enlightened will let your people choose classes, but will lose the option to evolve. Becoming enlightened naturally, your people will gain a bonus.] Anhur considered his options. "If they can''t evolve, will they stay as lions?" [No, you will evolve one last time to a tier 4 species. All of your people will change to this new species.] Hearing that, the choice wasn''t hard. This would benefit his people as they would become stronger. "I choose the first option." [Affirmative. You are now evolving.] Anhur was covered in bright light. His appearance changed as he evolved. He became taller, his mane grew longer, his claws and teeth became sharper and longer. The light disappeared as it revealed his new form. It didn''t change much, but he knew he was stronger than before. [You have evolved and are now a Lloleon] [Please choose a class.] [Hunter] [Dragon Knight] [Pyro Spearmage] Anhur looked over the list. He didn''t exactly know what a class was, but he knew this would help him. Hunter sounded boring and he wasn''t exactly a knight. In the end, he chose Pyro Spearmage, as he used fire and the spear. [You have become a Pyro Spearmage.] [You have learned Flame Affinity V.] Wanting to test his new form, Anhur made a lava spear and found out it didn''t take a lot of mana to make. It was also a lot stronger than before. He swung the spear a few times, becoming used to his new strength. After Anhur was done, he spent his points and continued walking forward, trying to find the next crystal. He was very tired and would probably leave the dungeon and head back to the den to rest. His body wasn''t tired, but he was tired mentally. A lot happened today and there is always tomorrow. As he was walking, he experimented and found out he could turn parts of his body into lava. This was never possible before, but this would be very useful in a fight. After much walking, Anhur finally found the crystal and left the dungeon. He was transported outside of the dungeon, his territory. Taking his time, he made his way back to the den. 19 Lolleon As Anhur arrived at the den, a familiar face greeted him. It was the person who informed him of the dungeon. The person approached Anhur, bowing down. "My king, I have something to tell you." Anhur motioned for him to raise his head. "Raise your head, tell me while we walk." He started walking, looking up at the night sky. "Yes, yes." The person followed Anhur, walking beside him. "Just a while ago, everyone''s species changed, even the children who were less than a year old. The system told us that we have been enlightened and that we are now Lolleons. We have lost the ability to evolve, but apparently we have access to something called... What was it again? That''s right! Classes!" Anhur nodded, hearing him. He looked around and confirmed what he said. Everyone now walked on two legs. Some of the people who were once four-legged had a hard time getting used to their new bipedal body, but they were fine with it. They knew that only the strong walked on two legs. "It really did change everyone. It''s alright, you don''t have to worry. I was in the dungeon and I managed to reach level 150. Instead of evolving normally, the system gave me the choice to enlighten my people. As the king, I chose the one that would benefit the pride. We cannot evolve anymore, but the system made us stronger and better than before." "Level 150? Who would expect less of a king?" The person bowed down again. "I will inform everyone of your achievements." Anhur turned towards the person. "Don''t bother. Gather everyone, I will tell them myself." "As you wish, my king." The person quickly left and started to gather everyone. "Everyone! Gather around, the king has an announcement!" Anhur watched as his people began to gather around. There were already quite a bit of people as they came outside of their homes to look at him. He looked over them. As the king, he had to at least look strong. Opening his mouth, he let out a loud roar, catching everyone''s attention and turning to look at him. They looked at their ruler with admiration, quiet as can be. "As you might have noticed, your species have changed. Previously, it was only the strong that could walk on two legs, but now, everyone walks on two legs. You have been enlightened, and it was because of the dungeon." Anhur looked around, looking at their faces. Some wondered what a dungeon was. "A dungeon is a place given to us by the system." They still didn''t know what Anhur was talking about, but they listened closely. "It''s a place where you can train and improve yourself. It''s because of the dungeon that I am now level 150. It''s filled with monsters and places I have never seen before. I have reached the 13th level and there are many more. I don''t even think I''m halfway through the dungeon and the monsters could already harm me." A few people let out a gasp, hearing something could hurt their king. To them, he was the strongest, no one except the gods was stronger. "Even if you''re not interested in getting stronger, you should still go in the dungeon, especially our craftsmen. While I was traversing through the dungeon, I saw materials that would be beneficial to the pride." Anhur looked around once more, before finishing up his announcement. "That''s all and I hope the future generations will take advantage of what I''ve done." The crowd roared for their king. The warriors were very happy, hearing the dungeon would give them a challenge. The scientists, smiths, and other craftsmen raised their eyebrows as they heard about materials in the dungeon. Anhur smiled at the roaring crowd. He made his way home, tired from the events in the dungeon. It wasn''t that far away and he arrived at his front door, shortly after the announcement. Opening the door, he went to his room, changed out of his clothes and laid down on the bed. Anhur''s mate, Reiko, came inside the room. She laid down beside him, caressing his muscled chest. "What did you do this time? My species has changed." Anhur placed his arm under Reiko''s head, letting her use it as a pillow. "I''m very tired, why don''t I tell you tomorrow?" Reiko pouted, punching Anhur playfully. "Tired? You''re always tired." Anhur laughed. "No, I''m not." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Well, there''s another way to give you energy." "Reiko, not now. I really am tired." He gave her a kiss on the head as he closed her eyes. "Aww, you''re no fun," Reiko pouted. "I''ll let you off... For now." The couple closed their eyes and slowly fell asleep as the night passed. Meanwhile, with Karl, the group were still walking on the floating island. Some monsters had tried attacking them, but they were way weaker than the giant bird so they made quick work of them. Dilya was still practicing her new ability, generating a gust of wind here and there. She had gotten to the point where she could levitate a few feet off the ground. Karl sighed as they walked. It was slowly becoming night in the dungeon as it became darker and darker. "Maybe we should set up camp? It''s becoming darker and I think we all deserve some good rest." Heath nodded. He was the heaviest out of all of them and all this walking made him quite tired, with his heavy iron armor. "Yes please." Kerym looked at the group. He was also tired. "Alright, we''ll set up camp here. Luckily for us, I brought two tents." Heath raised his hands in relief. "Yeah! Thank you." "No problem." Kerym unpacked his backpack and set up the two tents. "Now, who sleeps with who?" "I''m sleeping with Kigai!" Dilya blurted out. Her face turned a bright red as she realized what she said. 20 Rabbi Everyone burst out laughing as they saw Dilya''s bright red cheeks. "I''ve never seen you so embarrassed before," Kerym said. Dilya turned her head and looked away from embarrassment. "Shut up!" Kerym chuckled. "Well, that''s fine. You can be with Kigai and I''ll be with Heath." "That sounds good," Karl said. He rubbed his stomach as it growled from hunger. "Hey, uhh... Did you happen to bring any food?" Kerym shook his head. "No, I didn''t, but this place is filled with rabbits, we should be able to catch some to eat." "Hmm, alright. I''ll go look for some." Karl stood up and walked around the camp, trying to find some rabbits. "Here, let me help you. I''m also pretty hungry," Kerym said, standing up and catching up with Karl. Karl nodded and looked in the dark to find some rabbits. He was using his night vision ability and it was working pretty well. Although it could have been better, it was good nonetheless. Kerym walked beside Karl, keeping an eye out for any rabbits. Unlike Karl, he didn''t have anything to help him see in the dark, but his hearing was pretty good. His ears twitched as he heard the scuttling of an animal. He turned to the direction of the sound. "Right there." Karl looked to where Kerym was looking and saw a rabbit. "Alright." Using the darkness, Karl wrapped the rabbit with his tentacles. "Got it!" "Nice, that power of yours is really helpful." The two walked up to the rabbit and killed it, making sure it didn''t suffer. Kerym grabbed it, placing it in his bag. "Let''s catch a few more," Karl said. Kerym nodded and they went back to looking for more rabbits. The next few rabbits weren''t as easy to find as the first ones. It was dark and they were in their burrows, hiding from predators, but there were some on the surface. They made their way back to the camp when they caught their fourth rabbit. Kerym arrived at the camp and placed his bag with rabbits down. "Where''s Dilya?" he asked Heath. "In the tent," Heath answered, pointing to the tent. "Alright." Kerym turned to Karl. "I''ll make a fire and cook the rabbits, why don''t you get Dilya?" Karl nodded. "Ok." He went into the tent to get Dilya. Kerym watched Karl head into the tent. He grabbed some firewood nearby and piled them up. Channeling his mana, he drew a fire symbol and set the firewood on fire. Usually, he doesn''t use magic, but he had to agree, it was very convenient and helpful. Taking out the dead rabbits, he stuck them on some sticks, placing them over the fire. As Karl entered the tent, he saw Dilya sitting, practicing her power. "Wow, you don''t take a break." Dilya turned her head and looked up at Karl. "Uh, yeah. I''m probably the weakest one here, so I want to help out as much as possible." Karl nodded. "Well, Kerym and I caught some rabbits to eat. He''s cooking them outside right now. Want to join us? You have to be hungry." "Yeah, I am hungry, but Kerym is cooking the food? He''s not the worst cook, but you should''ve called me. I''m a better cook." "Next time." The two left the tent and sat around the fire. "Are you done? I am huuuuuuuungry," Heath asked Kerym. "Yeah, yeah. I''m almost done." Kerym turned the rabbits over, making sure it was cooked evenly. After a few minutes, the rabbits were done cooking. Kerym passed the rabbits around. "Ok, one for each of us." They grabbed the rabbit on a stick, smelling it. "It smells pretty good," Karl said, looking at it. "Of course it smells good, I made it!" Kerym said with a proud expression. Dilya rolled her eyes as she took a bite of the rabbit. "Do you not remember who taught you how to cook? If it wasn''t for me, this would be burnt to ashes." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Kerym rubbed his head. "I wasn''t that bad before, was I?" Karl chuckled as he bit a mouthful of the rabbit. "Don''t eat too fast, you''ll choke," Dilya told Karl. "It''s ok, I''m not a kid." Heath patted his chest as he finished the rabbit. "Man, that was tasty." "You''re already done?" Kerym asked. He hadn''t even eaten half of his own rabbit. "Yeah, I eat fast. My mum''s always telling me to enjoy the food, but I just can''t help it." "Well yeah, you should probably eat slower, but you do you," Kerym replied, taking another bite of the rabbit. "I''m gonna go ahead and sleep, I''m tired," Heath said, yawning. "Alright, I''ll join you after I''m done eating." Heath nodded, stretching his legs and heading to their tent. Getting rid of the load on his body, he took off his iron armor, placing it on the side. It took a while, but it felt so good having the heavy load off of him. He sighed and laid down at the right side of the tent, covering himself with his blanket. Closing his eyes, he drifted off to sleep. The group finished their food soon after. "I kinda wish we caught more," Karl said, licking his fingers. "Yeah, me too." Kerym cleaned his hands and went over to his tent, yawning. "I''m going to sleep, you guys should too, we''ll be waking up at first light." Kerym entered his tent and saw Heath was already asleep. He laid down on the left side of the tent, across Heath. Covering himself with the blanket, he yawned and closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep. Karl stood up and walked over to their tent. He turned to Dilya to ask her a question, "I''m going to sleep, what about you?" "Yeah, go on ahead. I''ll join you in a few," Dilya replied, smiling at Karl. "Ok, don''t stay up too long." Karl entered the tent and laid down. He pulled his blanket up, covering his body with it. Staring at the roof of the tent, he sighed as he closed his eyes. ''System, take me to my console.'' 21 Dwarves In another universe, a group of gods was having a meeting. They were in a white marble room with a golden table in the middle, where ten gods sat. One of them was a small, brown humanoid, wearing simple, white clothes. "Hello everyone! Thanks for coming to the meeting." A gigantic green-skinned humanoid, resembling that of an ogre, slammed his fist down on the table. "Get on with it. You say this every time we come here." "Kazug, calm down," a male human said. He was wearing a white robe, embroidered with golden lines. "Calm down? My people are having a war and I''m missing it right now. Gison, you know how exciting wars can get." Gison slapped his forehead, hearing how dumb Kazug was. "You know you can pause your universe, right?" Kazug''s jaw dropped. "You can do that? How come no one has ever told me this?" Gison sighed. He knew that Kazug was dumb, but how could he be that dumb? "We have! Last time, we told you, and the one before that, and the one before that one." Kazug was confused. "You did?" The small humanoid stood on the table and walked to the center of it. "We did, now, who would like to start?" A female human child raised her hand and waved it at him. "Crel, Crel, can I go first?" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Crel looked at her and smiled. "Emily will go first." Emily raised her hands, smiling. "Yay! Well, I found out that there''s a new god." Crel raised his eyebrow. "There is? Good job, what was his id?" Emily looked up, trying to remember what it was. "Hmmmm, I... I think it''s somewhere around 99,000." "We''re already so close to reaching 100,000 gods. Anyways, is there anything special with this new god?" "Uhhh, he made two things in the marketplace. I bought one that adds dungeons to your world, but I changed it a bit because there weren''t enough cute monsters." "Anything else?" "No, should I send him a message?" "Not now, we don''t even know if he''s a good god. Anyone else?" "My people are having a war," Kazug said with a proud face. "You already told us that." "But I wanted to say it again. It''s not a normal war, it''s with another god." "Another god? Who is it?" Gison asked. "A random who''s apparently ranked 43 on the leaderboard." "I hate to break it to you, but that''s not a random. Anyone who is in the top 100 is in there for a reason." "Random or not, I''ll still crush them." "Yeah, I don''t doubt that. I almost lost a world to you once." "Ok, anyone else?" Crel asked. A male cyborg raised his hand. Every part of his body was mechanical, except his head. His mechanical body pulsated a blue color from its power source. "Yes, Axel?" "Can I leave now? The people in my world are close to inventing a way to use black holes, and I want to see it." "Ughh, fine." A beam of light surrounded Axel, disappearing and taking him with it. Crel sighed, "Anyone else?" The room was silent. Crel was tapping his foot, looking around at everybody else. "Well, since there''s nothing else, we''ll end the meeting. Goodbye and don''t die." Everybody said their goodbyes and left to their consoles. Crel sighed as they saw them leave. Meanwhile, Karl was transported to his console and a notification popped up in front of him. [The Lionfolk has become enlightened, becoming the Lolleons. You have been granted 100 points.] [The Ancient Ones have discovered a way to use metals, granting you 100 points.] "Lolleons? What''s that?" Karl muttered. [Lolleons] [Cities:] 1 [Population:] 437 [Average Level:] 52 [Highest Level:] 151 Karl read the information about the Lolleons. He concluded that this was the species of Anhur. Sitting down on his bed, he closed the window. He stared at the ceiling. "System, I want to create a new species." [Confirmed, think of the species in your head and the system will create it.] Karl thought about the species he wanted. He always thought that dwarves were cool, so that was what he wanted. Great blacksmiths who could create weapons of unimaginable strength. Weapons that could even rival the gods. Of course, like a typical dwarf, they had to be small and love alcohol. [The system is creating your species.] [Species:] Dwarves Lifespan: 350 [Strength:] 10 [Constitution:] 9 [Intelligence:] 9 [Dexterity:] 12 [Appearance:] [Racial Traits:] -Enhanced Crafting V -Enhanced Endurance V -Enhanced Strength V -Thermal Resistance III -Cave Adaptation III -Alcohol Empowerment III [Due to the enhanced starting stats and racial traits, this will cost 300 points.] Karl looked over the sheet. It was exactly what he wanted and he had more than enough to buy it. "Buy it." [Confirmed, as a completely new species, where would you like to place your first dwarves?] Karl opened up an overhead view of the world and looked around for a good place. If they were going to be smiths, they needed to be in a place with a lot of materials and maybe a dungeon nearby. After a few minutes of looking around, he found a long mountain range and a dungeon not too far away. "Place them here." He pointed at the base of the mountain range. [Confirmed.] Karl watched as ten dwarves appeared. five males, five females. They were naked and had no clothes. The dwarves looked at each other with a curious expression. They were all level 20. "They''re only level 20, not to mention there are only 10 of them, what happens if they go extinct?" [Do not worry. As a completely new species, the system has given them a tutorial.] "A tutorial? That sounds good." One of the dwarves looked at the others. "Ello!" "Ello! What be ye?" one of the males replied. "I think yer like me." "What do you mean like ye? There''s only one me." "Aye, but you look like me." He turned to one of the females. "Doesn''t he?" 22 NPC Looking at the dwarves one last time, Karl closed the screen. He sat down on the bed and took a bird''s eye view of his world. It was fun being in a mortal body and all, but he felt like fast-forwarding time of about a thousand years. The only problem was his avatar, Kigai. If he fast-forwarded time, his avatar would just lay there and eventually die. Karl thought long and hard about a solution for this. Eventually, after brainstorming a few ideas, he came up with the perfect idea. Games have NPCs, so what if he created a system just for himself, to turn his avatar into an NPC? "System, I''d like to create a system for myself." [Confirmed, think of the system and the system will do its best to make it.] Karl closed his eyes, imagining the system in his mind. The avatar would only have memories it experienced, so it wouldn''t know that it was just a shell for him. It could do anything a normal person could. If he ever wanted to take control of the avatar, the avatar''s memories and everything it experienced would be given to him. Karl opened his eyes, satisfied with what he came up with. [NPC System:] An artificial soul, infused with the avatar''s memories and personality will take control of the chosen avatar. Everything the avatar does is with its own will, and will not grant you points, unless you are controlling it directly. If you choose to control the avatar, its memories and everything it has ever done will be given to you. The system is limited to you. This will cost 100 points. Karl looked over what the system made and nodded. This was exactly what he wanted, and it was pretty cheap. "I''ll buy it." [Confirmed. NPC System has been bought and ready to use.] Karl took one last look at Kigai. Although he wanted to live as Kigai for a while, he was a god. He can''t just get attached so easily, especially when he''s technically immortal. "System, make Kigai an NPC." [Confirmed, Kigai is now an NPC.] Karl watched Kigai startle awake, waking up Dilya. "What is it?" Dilya asked Kigai. Kigai turned to Dilya. "Nothing, just a bad dream." "If you say so." The two went back to sleep, closing their eyes. Karl watched them through the screen before closing it. "Alright, I''m ready. System, how much will it cost to fast-forward a thousand years?" [Fast-forwarding 1000 years will cost 1000 points. Would you like to do this?] "Yes!" [Confirmed, please wait a moment.] [You have fast-forwarded 1000 years.] As soon as Karl read that, he was bombarded with notifications. [The Ancient One''s population increased from 215 to 2976.] [The Lolleon''s population increased from 437 to 4326.] [The Dwarves population increased from 10 to 1546.] [The Apelings has become enlightened, becoming the Samian. You have been granted 100 points.] [The Dwarves has discovered a way to use metals, granting you 100 points.] [The Dwarves have made a city inside a mountain, granting you 10 points.] There were other notifications, but these were the ones that caught Karl''s eye, but there were four other notifications that were really important. [The Ancient One''s belief in the Goddess of Magic Aphy, has grown so much, you can make her for free. Would you like to make Aphy?] [The Lolleon''s belief in the God of Destruction Hoemis, has grown so much, you can make him for free. Would you like to make Hoemis?] Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. [The Dwarves'' belief in the God of Crafting Mutyx, has grown so much, you can make him for free. Would you like to make Mutyx.] [The God of Death Adum bred with a mortal, creating a demigod.] Karl looked at the gods that the different species believed in. They weren''t real, but he wouldn''t mind making them real, as they didn''t cost anything. "Create all the gods." [Confirmed, please wait.] Karl watched as three bright lights appeared. They became bigger, taking the form of three humanoids. The light slowly died out, the three new gods in its place. "Master! What can we do for you?" each of them said. Karl looked at the three gods. One of them was a female Ancient One wearing a white robe, embroidered with gold lines, this must be Aphy. The other was a shirtless male Lolleon, only wearing baggy, gold pants, this must be Hoemis. Last but not least, there was a shirtless male Dwarf, wearing brown pants and a leather apron. Karl sighed, looking at them. "I am the Supreme God, Karl. I made you to look over your species, but that doesn''t mean you shouldn''t take care of other species either. Don''t get involved unless you really have to, understand?" "Yes!" "Aye!" "Yup!" Karl made the console bigger, adding a living room. "Alright, you can chill here, or go down in the world. Off you go!" The three gods nodded and left Karl''s room. All of them decided to head down to the world and experience it for themselves. Karl went to the newly built living room and laid down on the couch. While laying down on the couch, he remembered that Adum apparently bred with a mortal, creating a demigod. "Bring Adum here." After a bright light, Adum appeared in front of him. He quickly kneeled down as he saw Karl. "Master, what have you called me here for?" "What is this about you breeding with a mortal?" Karl asked Adum. "After spending a couple of hundred years in the afterlife, I went out to experience the mortal world. Don''t worry, I made sure that everything was fine in the afterlife. When I left, I fell in love with a mortal. She unfortunately died, but she did bear me a child," Adum explained. Karl nodded, understanding his reasoning. "I understand, and I won''t punish you, but please, tell me if you are planning to have a child. Your child is a demigod, and too many of those running around could cause chaos." "Thank you for understanding. I also realize how reckless I was, but I have learned from it." "You''re dismissed, go back to managing the dead." Adum disappeared in a flash of light, returning to the afterlife. ''Hmm, I wonder what Kigai is doing? Is he still alive? He should be, considering he can live up to a thousand years.'' 23 Hoemis A lot has happened to the world of Tua in the last thousand years. For Karl, it only felt like a few seconds, but the inhabitants of the world lived those thousand years. In the last thousand years, the four main species met each other. The Ancient Ones, Lolleons, Samians, and Dwarves. At first, none of the races liked each other, but they eventually came together. It wasn''t rare to see a Lolleon sorcerer in the city of the Ancient Ones to practice magic. Most people were ok with the other races, but inevitably, other people thought they were better, superior. The most reclusive race was the Samians. Not much is known about them, except that they were generally strong. Their king was a Samian called Sheridan. Sheridan could control the light, bending it to his own will. Through the use of mana, he lived a very long time, still alive even today. The Samians weren''t the only ones that had someone powerful. The Ancient Ones had the great four, Kigai, Kerym, Heath, and Dilya. These four are the strongest Ancient Ones. Kerym is one of the strongest Ancient Ones, is the king and is still alive, but he is preparing to pass down his crown to his eldest son. Kigai is mysterious, but everyone knows one thing about him. He founded the Assassination Guild and is ranked first on the leaderboard. Heath is the commander of the king''s army. He trains them in the case of war and is the strongest in the army, second only to Kerym. Dilya is the wife of Kigai, but is also the strongest sorcerer of the Ancient Ones. Over the course of a thousand years, she dedicated her life to only two things, her family, and magic. These four were the first group of people to reach the end of the dungeon. Reaching the end of a dungeon, they were each granted something they desired. The dungeon was rich with exotic and valuable materials, making it a priority of all the races to secure their own. One such material was something called Magnonite. It was a blue crystal that was slightly transparent and absorbed the mana around it. The mana it absorbed wasn''t significant enough to be dangerous, but if enough mana was absorbed, it would start floating. The Ancient Ones discovered that more mana equals more power. They have attached large pieces of Magnonite to their cities and are constantly giving it mana, making the city float. None of the species used the resources of the dungeons better than the Dwarves. They were the world''s best craftsmen. If one wanted a powerful sword, they would go to the dwarves, if one wanted to learn how to craft, they would go to the dwarves. They built an iron fortress in the mountain, making their defense nearly impenetrable. Dwarves were also the first people to realize they could carve symbols into items, enchanting it with magic. While the dwarves weren''t that strong, their weapons made up for it. But the most dangerous out of the four races was the Lolleons. They were the strongest physically and used the dungeons to train themselves. Most Lolleons didn''t care much about magic, but they still used it, knowing it was still useful. Anhur, their first king, is still king. He was the second person to beat the dungeon, but he did it with no help. Like Kerym, he''s planning to pass down his crown to his son and retire. It wasn''t only them that grew stronger, some monsters were also feared by the four races. Myrdinth, Champion Of Dragons was a dragon that instead of enlightening, chose to evolve. He kept evolving, becoming stronger. Currently, he resides in a dormant volcano, only leaving when he gets hungry. There are many other things that happened, but these are the most important. Meanwhile, Hoemis, the god of destruction, was in the city of the Lolleons. He walked through the streets, looking around. A divine aura was coming off of his body, indicating he wasn''t normal. Hoemis was looking for someone to fight, but everyone he saw was weak. Even the people who were supposed to be strong didn''t look strong. He approached a woman to ask her a question. "Excuse me, but who is the strongest around here?" The woman turned her head to look at Hoemis. She couldn''t help but stare at his strong muscles. "Are you not from around here? Well, it should be obvious, but it''s the king." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Hoemis rubbed his chin. "The king? Where can I find him?" The woman pointed to her right. "Keep going this way, then you''ll see a big building. That''s where the king lives." "Thank you." Hoemis followed her instructions and eventually came upon a large building. There were two guards holding a spear on both sides of the front door. Hoemis approached the guards. "Can I see the king?" The guards tightened their grips on their spear. "What business do you have with the king?" "I heard he was the strongest, so I wanted to have a spar with him." "The king doesn''t have time to spar with someone as weak as you." "Weak?" Hoemis extended his arms, grabbing the guards and lifting them up in the air. "I''ll have you know that I am not weak." The guards struggled in the air, flailing around. "Put us down, or you''ll be arrested!" The commotion attracted the nearby citizens, forming a crowd around Hoemis and the guards. One of the guards tried to stab Hoemis, but the spear bounced off of his skin and fell on the ground. In retaliation, Hoemis smashed the two together, knocking them out, but not killing them. He let go of them, making them fall to the ground unconscious. The door opened and a Lolleon came out. As soon as everyone saw who it was, they kneeled down, except some people from a different race. "What is all this commotion! I''m trying to sleep!" "I''m sorry, but I''m looking for the king," Hoemis explained. The Lolleon raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Why are you looking for the king?" "I heard he was the strongest around here, so I wanted to have a spar with him." "A spar? It''s been a long time since I sparred with someone, but you look strong enough. I''ll let you spar with me." "You''re the king? You look so old." Anhur let out a laugh, hearing Hoemis. "Age is just a number. I let my strength speak for myself." 24 Hoemis vs. Anhur "As long as you''re strong." Hoemis inspected Anhur, looking him up and down. Anhur had a lot of white hair and looked old, but he also exuded an aura of strength. "Let''s not spar here. Follow me, if you can." Anhur bent down and used his overwhelming speed to disappear. To normal people, Anhur disappeared in the blink of an eye, but Hoemis had no trouble seeing where he went. Hoemis followed behind Anhur, catching up next to him. After a few seconds, Anhur stopped in an empty field and Hoemis stopped beside him. "You''re pretty fast, maybe even faster than me," Anhur said. "You''re also pretty fast. I''ll let you make the first move since you''re the oldest among us," Hoemis said. "That''s a mistake." Anhur charged at him, leaving shockwaves with every step. He raised his arm and swung his fist at Hoemis''s face. Hoemis watched him swing his fist. He knew that Anhur wasn''t trying his best, so he would also bring down his strength. Instinctually tilting his head to the right, as Anhur''s fist passed by his ear, making a whoosh sound. "Is that all you got?" Retaliating, Hoemis leaned closer to Anhur''s body. With great speed and force, he kneed him on his stomach. Anhur coughed as he was sent back, rolling on the ground. His legs quivered as he stood up, struggling to hold himself up. "I underestimated you alright." Channeling mana, he made the symbol of a star. The symbol turned a bright yellow, before disappearing. Suddenly, a yellow pillar of fire came down on Anhur. "Just for you, I''ll use this form." Anhur absorbed the pillar of fire, making him stronger. His eyes turned a bright yellow and he was shrouded in a yellow fire. Holding his hand out, a fire spear appeared. Hoemis stared at Anhur''s new form. It was strong, he could feel the heat even from where he was. Anhur approached Hoemis, taking his time. With every step, he left a trail of fire. Tightening his grip on his spear, he lifted it above his head and threw it at Hoemis so fast, it looked like it disappeared. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. The spear was faster, faster than Hoemis had expected, but he would be lying if it didn''t look weak. As a god, he was strong, very strong. He caught the spear with its handle and threw it back at Anhur, but it disappeared before it made contact with him. Anhur''s eyes widened. This was the first time he saw someone catch his fire spear, let alone one empowered by the stars. It didn''t even look like it damaged him either. "Who are you? No, what are you? There''s no way you can hold my fire spear without even getting damaged." "Who I am, or what I am is none of your business, but I''ll give you a hint. Every one of you knows who I am. Now, less talking, more fighting." Taking the initiative, Hoemis charged at Anhur, leaving cracks where he stepped. Anhur thought about what Hoemis meant, but he had to react quickly as Hoemis charged at him. Anhur generated another fire spear and swung it at Hoemis as he charged at him. Hoemis ignored the fire spear and let it hit him. Clenching his hand to make a fist, he swung upwards, uppercutting Anhur''s head and lifting him off the ground. Anhur let out a groan, blood coming out of his mouth as Hoemis''s fist impacted him. Grabbing Anhur by the neck, Hoemis slammed him down to the ground, creating a loud shockwave and shattering the ground. Hoemis was about to punch him in the face when he remembered that this was only a spar. Hoemis let go of Anhur''s neck and stood above him, looking down on him. "I won." Anhur coughed as blood came out of his mouth. He had never been so utterly defeated before, he had to know who Hoemis was. "Yeah, you did. Now that you won, can you tell me who you are?" Anhur''s transformation began to fade away. The flames around him disappeared, his eyes became its normal brown color. Hoemis cocked his head to the right. "I guess I can tell you." Anhur tried to sit up, but his body wouldn''t let him. Using the transformation that he used drained his stamina to the max, but increased his power in return. "I already said that you all know me. My name is Hoemis," Hoemis revealed. Anhur''s eyes widened as he began to realize who Hoemis was. "H-Hoemis? God of Destruction Hoemis?" Hoemis gave him a toothy smile. "That''s me." "It''s an honor to fight with you. To be honest, I didn''t even know if you were real. I''d kneel, but I can''t really do that right now," Anhur chuckled. "If I may ask, what are you doing here?" "It''s simple. I wanted to explore the world and fight along the way, but it seems I''m too strong," Hoemis chuckled. "Indeed you are. I expect nothing less of the God of Destruction. How was it fighting me?" "Please, stop being so formal, just call me Hoemis." Hoemis thought for a moment. "I wouldn''t really call it a fight, but it was alright. You''re strong and I think you can get stronger, but I don''t think you have long until your age stops you." Anhur nodded, agreeing with him. "You''re right. I''m over a thousand years old. Some of my closest friends and even my mate have already left me. If you''re looking to fight strong people, go to the city of the Ancient Ones. They have a group called ''The Great Four'' and they''re supposedly the best of their species." "Don''t worry, I''ll put in a good word when you die to the God of Death. I''ll look into this, ''Great Four''." "Thank you." Anhur sat up, finally regaining part of his strength. "There''s a God of Death?" "Yeah, there is. I''ve never met him, but I know that he''s there." Hoemis looked at Anhur. "Need any help?" Anhur waved his hand in front of him. "No, it''s fine. The view looks nice here, I want to see the sunset." 25 Mutyx An old male dwarf walked through the gates of Vomlodahr, the dwarves'' iron city. The old dwarf looked at the walls of the iron fortress, admiring the quality of it. There were magic symbols carved on the walls, strengthening and fortifying it. As the old dwarf walked through the iron city, he noticed that almost everything was made of metal. There were street lights powered by mana. A map was even on the ceiling of the city, a blue light making it glow in the darkness. The old dwarf was Mutyx, the God of Crafting. He was shirtless, showing off his short but muscular frame. Mutyx wore a leather apron, going down and reaching to his knees. As the God of Crafting, Mutyx had a golden hammer strapped to his back. There were intricate and complex designs carved on the golden hammer, showing it wasn''t just a normal hammer. Mutyx''s white hair and beard shook as he walked through the streets of Vomlodahr. The city''s quality was amazing, so he wanted to see who made it. Mutyx walked through the city, garnering some attention from the residents. They were focused on his golden hammer and knew how valuable that would be. A group of three thugs approached Mutyx, unaware that they were about to make the biggest mistake of their lives. They were all dwarves and wanted to steal the golden hammer that Mutyx had. "Old man, be ye lost? Do ye need any help?" one of them said, staring at Mutyx''s golden hammer. Mutyx turned his head to look at the thug. "Aye, I be. Help be appreciated. Do ye know who made this city?" "Who made this city? I dinna know, but whoever it was, they be probably long dead." Mutyx stroked his beard. "Hmm, that does make sense. Well, thanks for your help, I''ll be going now." "Old man, wait! I was wondering where ye got that golden hammer on your back." "This?" Mutyx pointed behind him, pointing at the hammer. "I made it an'' it isn''t made o'' gold if ye thought it was." The thug raised his eyebrows, making a signal to his friends. They saw this and got in position, surrounding Mutyx. "Really? Ye made that? tha''ss''a pretty impressive, but if it isn''t made out o'' gold, ''en what be it made out o''?" Mutyx watched the other thugs surround him, he had realized what they were trying to do. They were trying to steal his hammer. "It''s nae made out o'' a standard material. Yer too young ta understand what it''s made o''." "Why dinna ye try us? We might be smarter than ye think." "Fine, I''ll tell ye. Youngsters these days. This be made out o'' divine mana, tha mana o'' tha gods." The thugs burst out laughing. "We''re nae dumb, there''s only one type o'' mana, an'' even ''en, ye kinna turn mana into a solid." The thugs stopped laughing. "Now hand tha hammer over." "Nae, i dinna think i will." Mutyx grabbed his hammer and held it in his right hand. "What be ye gonna do? Ye shou''''ve just stayed at home an'' let your kids take care o'' ye." The thugs laughed again, but Mutyx wasn''t laughing. Tightening his grip on his hammer, he swung it at the thug''s jaw, breaking his jaw and sending him flying. Mutyx laughed. "Well? What''s so funny now?" The thugs looked at their boss before turning to Mutyx and swinging their fists at him. "Ye were just lucky." "Was I? Well, I guess lady luck be helping me today." Mutyx laughed again, before moving out of the way and dodging their fists. Mutyx swung his hammer, striking one of the thugs'' sides, making the thug groan in pain. The thug was sent flying, rolling on the ground and arriving at his boss, who was knocked out cold. The other thug became pale as he saw his friend sent flying. He knelt on the ground in front of Mutyx. "P-Please, dinna hurt me. It wasn''t me idea." His body shook from fear. Whoever this old man was, he wasn''t normal. "Wasn''t your idea? It might nae be your idea, but ye went along with it, right?" Mutyx raised his hammer on top of the thug''s head, ready to bring it down at any moment. "A-Aye, but..." The thug looked up and saw Mutyx''s hammer above his head. "N-Nae, please dinna. I have money, I can give ye all o'' mine. Please, I''m still so young." Mutyx laughed. He looked like a demon, holding his bright, shining hammer above the thug''s head. "Ye think I need money? Tha''ss''a nae good enough." He swung the hammer downwards, aiming for the thug''s head, but stopped at the last second when he heard someone shouting. "Oi! What''s happening here?!" yelled a dwarf guard, wearing iron armor and holding an iron sword. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Wou'' ye look at that, it seems yer pretty lucky yourself," Mutyx told the thug. He turned towards the guard, placing his hammer on his back. "Ah, guard. These thugs tried stealing me hammer. Can ye imagine that? They tried ta steal from an old man? Anyways, I beat them up for ye." The guard approached Mutyx, but made sure to keep a good distance, in case he was dangerous. "I see." The guard didn''t know if he should believe Mutyx. He looked behind Mutyx, seeing two dwarves unconscious and another dwarf kneeling down, a puddle of piss under the dwarf. The guard took a closer look at the dwarves'' faces and recognized them as wanted criminals. "Sir, do ye know what ye just did?" "Nae? what did I do?" Mutyx asked. "These thugs ye be talking aboot, ain''t just normal thugs. They''re part o'' an underground organization that has a base everywhere." The guard bowed to Mutyx. "If there''s anything ye want, I''ll try me best ta do it." "These guys be important?" Mutyx laughed again before calming himself down. "A glass o'' beer be all I need. This fight got me thirsty." "Beer? Tha''ss''a simple enough. Let me handle this an'' I can lead ye ta a bar. Dinna worry, I''ll pay." 26 The Great Mug The guard called some guards over to take care of the thugs. After that was all done, he walked up to Mutyx. "Thanks again." The guard held his hand out for a handshake. "Me name be Koleas." Mutyx shook Koleas''s hand. "Thank me by buying me a beer. Me name''s Mutyx." "Aye aye. Follow me, I know tha best place for beer." Koleas led the way to the tavern, following beside him was Mutyx. As they were walking, Koleas turned to Mutyx. "Your name be Mutyx? So yer named after tha God o'' Crafting?" Mutyx let out a laugh. Obviously, Koleas didn''t know that he was the God of Crafting. "Aye, ye cou'' say that." "Be ye a smith by any chance?" "Aye, I be, but I''m nae just a smith. I work with other stuff too." "Alright, we''re almost there." After a few minutes of walking, they arrived at their destination. "This place has tha best beer, it never fails ta get me drunk," Koleas told Mutyx. Mutyx looked at the sign. It showed the name of the tavern, ''The Great Mug.'' "This be where I had me first drink an'' it''ll be where I have me last," Koleas said. The two walked into the bar and sat by the counter. "A nice an'' big glass o'' beer for both o'' us," Koleas told the bartender. The bartender nodded and grabbed two glasses. He filled them all the way up to the brim, a layer of foam at the top. With the glasses full of beer, he gave one of them to Koleas and the other, to Mutyx. "Place it on my tab, I''ll pay for it later," Koleas said. Dwarves were always alcoholic creatures and slowly developed a resistance to alcohol. So over time, alcohol became stronger and stronger, until dwarves were also known for their alcohol. It was often said that if a normal person drank beer made by dwarves, they would pass out immediately. Mutyx brought the glass to his lips and took a big drink of the beer. He let out a sigh, tasting the familiar flavor of the beer. As a god, he had a very high resistance to alcohol, but he could still appreciate it. "Nothing be better than beer if yer thirsty," Mutyx said, taking another drink. "Aye, indeed." Koleas took another drink of beer. Mutyx laughed, a layer of foam on his mouth and beard. "Koleas, was it? Ye weren''t lying when this place had good beer." As they were drinking, Koleas looked at the golden hammer on Mutyx''s back. "Did ye make that hammer? It looks very valuable." "Aye, I did." Mutyx chugged the rest of the beer, finishing it and letting out a burp. "It be valuable, might be tha most valuable thing in tha world right now." "Most valuable? I know gold be valuable, but there be tons o'' other metals that be stronger an'' better than it." Koleas turned to the bartender. "Another glass for him." The bartender nodded and got to making another glass of beer. "This isn''t gold. This be made out o'' Divine Mana, tha mana o'' tha gods." Mutyx grabbed the glass of beer the bartender made and took a sip of it. "Divine mana? I''m sorry but I''ve never heard o'' that. Even if it was a thing, how do ye have access ta it?" Mutyx chuckled. "Tha''ss''a me secret. If yer smart, ye''ll figure it out sooner or later." Mutyx wiped his mouth. "By tha way, who be tha best crafter in this city?" Koleas thought about what Mutyx said, but he couldn''t make anything out of it. "I''m nae a craftsman, but I do know someone that everyone calls tha best crafter. His name be Kimmer, why do ye ask?" "I just want ta see if tha best crafter be any good." Mutyx said, drinking his beer. Koleas nodded. He was on his third cup and he was feeling drunk. Unlike Mutyx, he wasn''t a god, so he just had a dwarves'' natural resistance to alcohol. The two drank the night away. The shop was about to close and Koleas was very drunk, he couldn''t even form proper sentences. Mutyx, on the other hand, was only beginning to feel the beer. "What shou'' we do aboot him?" Mutyx asked the bartender while pointing at Koleas, who was laying his head down on the counter. "Dinna worry aboot him. He''s a regular an'' we have rooms at tha top, ye shou'' be worrying aboot yourself, do ye have a place ta go?" the bartender asked. "Aye, i do. Well, I''ll let ye close tha shop." Mutyx left the shop and went inside an alley. A beam of light enveloped Mutyx and it disappeared, taking him with it. He was transported to the living room in the console. In the living room was Karl, laying down on the couch and watching anime on the tv. "Master, what be ye doing?" Mutyx asked Karl. Karl turned towards Mutyx, realizing he was there. "Mutyx, you''re here? Nothing, just watching shows." Karl had recently found out that as long as it was in his memory, he could recreate it in the console, so he recreated one of his favorite anime. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Mutyx sat down on the couch opposite Karl. "Aye, I just recently arrived. What be this show ye be watching an'' what be they doing?" Karl laughed at Mutyx''s stereotypical accent. That''s a dwarf alright. "This is called an anime and they also have magic, only it''s different from the magic in this world. They use something called a chakra, I might add it." Mutyx watched the anime, seeing their fight and weird way to use magic. "They''re so fast, an'' what''s that weird hand sign they do?" "They''re called ninjas, and the weird hand sign is how they use their magic." Mutyx watched as a ninja perform a hand sign and the ninja breathed out fire. "Do you want to watch? You can if you like," Karl told Mutyx. "Aye, I wou'' like ta." 27 Kerym In the floating city of the Ancient Ones, a person was passing through, hidden by the shadows. It was Kigai, and he was paying his good friend Kerym a visit. Using the shadows, he snuck into Kerym''s house and saw him on the couch, playing with his youngest son. "Long time no see," Kigai said. Kerym turned to the voice and saw Kigai. "Haven''t you heard of privacy?" "Yeah, but I''m an assassin." "You''re not just any assassin. You''re the founder of the assassination guild." "Yeah, yeah, whatever." Kigai sat down across Kerym. "I was just passing through. So, how''s it been?" "Eh, so and so. I''m planning on retiring and giving the crown to my eldest, but..." "But what?" "I don''t know if he''s ready for it. How about you? How has it been?" "Dilya gave birth to another child, but this time, it''s a girl." "Congratulations, what are you naming her?" "I don''t know. To be honest, I di-" Kigai was cut off when the floating island suddenly shook and a loud explosion could be heard. "What the hell was that?" Kerym asked. "How should I know?" Kigai peeked through the windows and saw a large smoke cloud in the distance. "Stay here, daddy has to take care of something, ok?" Kerym placed his son in his crib and went to Kigai. "We better check it out." Kigai nodded and the two left the house, heading for the smoke cloud. Kigai arrived first and Kerym arrived shortly after. It didn''t take long as the two were very fast. Kigai watched as the smoke started disappearing, a silhouette of a person appearing inside it. "There''s someone inside there." Kerym nodded, looking at the silhouette. He didn''t know what the silhouette was, but if it was an enemy, he was ready to fight. Guards appeared as the smoke cleared up. Archers drew their bow, aiming at the silhouette in the smoke. Eventually, the smoke disappeared and a shirtless male Lolleon was in the smoke; it was Hoemis. Hoemis looked around, seeing the guards. Some held shields, while some had weapons. He looked at the archers aiming at him. Looking around, he saw two people catch his attention, Kigai, and Kerym. "Who''s that?" Kigai asked Kerym. "I don''t know. It''s not Anhur as he doesn''t look old," Kerym whispered to Karl. Kerym turned his head, looking at Hoemis. "Who are you? Why have you destroyed a part of our city?" Hoemis started walking to Kigai and Kerym, taking his time. "My name''s Hoemis. I didn''t mean to destroy your city, but I didn''t know how to get up to it, so I just jumped. I jumped a bit higher than I thought and crashed." Kerym was shocked. He had never heard of anyone jumping all the way to the city, that was simply impossible. "Stop right there, don''t come any closer. It''s hard to believe that you jumped all the way up here." Hoemis stopped. "You don''t have to believe me. I''ll be out of your hair soon enough, I just came here for one thing." "And what is that one thing?" "Someone told me that there are four strong people here. ''The Great Four'' or something. I came here to have a spar with them." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "They are busy and don''t have time for you," Kerym lied. "Leave, or we will be forced to take action." "I don''t think you understand. I''m not taking no for an answer." Hoemis began walking towards Kerym and Kigai again. "Tsk. Well, this is your fault." Kerym raised his hand. "Archers ready! Fire!" Kerym said, bringing his hand down. Numerous archers fired at Hoemis, showing no mercy. The arrows were fast and strong, but that didn''t matter to Hoemis. They bounced off of his skin harmlessly, not even leaving a mark. Hoemis continued walking, not bothered by the arrows. "He''s a strong one alright. Do you need any help in taking him down?" Kigai told Kerym. "No, I got this." Kerym motioned for the guards and archers to stand down. The guards and archers backed away, making sure they wouldn''t get caught in the fight. They knew just how powerful Kerym was. "You said you wanted to fight the great four? Well, I''m one of them. I''m Kerym, The Firstborn." Hoemis continued approaching. "You''re in the great four? Well that makes things a lot easier." He motioned for Kerym to attack him. "Come on." "Tsk." Kerym didn''t like it when people told him what to do, and he especially didn''t like it when they looked down on him. Kerym took off his shirt, throwing it to the side. He closed his eyes as a red aura even lopped him. Red markings appeared on his skin, as two pairs of arms appeared on his shoulders. Opening his eyes, it became a glowing white, staring at Hoemis. Kerym took a deep breath, his chest rising. He held his breath and charged at Hoemis. Hoemis didn''t react and only watched Kerym, waiting to see what he would do. Kerym was annoyed once again. Hoemis didn''t get into a fighting stance and only stood there. Lifting his arm, he swung it, trying to punch Hoemis. Hoemis tilted his head to the side, but another fist came flying at him, making him duck. He had to react fast as another fist came flying at him. Using his forearm, he redirected the fist and punched Kerym with his other hand. Kerym moved his six arms to block the punch, making sure to plant his feet on the ground, but he was still moved back. Kigai watched from the sidelines, amazed by the fight. He knew how strong Kerym was, so it wasn''t an easy feat to move him back, especially when he was using all of his arms to block. "You''re pretty strong, but what''s the use of six arms when you can''t even hit me?" Hoemis said, taunting Kerym. This made Kerym even madder than before, the red aura around him glowing brighter. 28 Aphy As the fight continued, someone else was watching from the sidelines. It was a female Ancient One, wearing a white and golden robe. She was adorned with gold jewelry. This woman was Aphy, the Goddess of Magic. Her robe wrapped around her body, showing off her curves. The gold jewelry that she wore matched her golden eyes. Aphy didn''t know what Hoemis was doing. Their master specifically told them not to get involved too much and fighting the king of an entire race was definitely too much. She definitely had to stop this. Hoemis was about to uppercut Kerym when he suddenly disappeared without a trace. Kerym looked around with a confused face, wondering where he went. Karl and the guards also looked around, but they couldn''t find Hoemis anywhere. Hoemis looked around and found himself in a completely white room. "What the? Where am I?" Aphy appeared in the completely white room soon after. "What do you think you''re doing?" Hoemis turned to look at Aphy. "Fighting. Why''d you bring me here?" Aphy sighed, shaking her head. "Don''t you remember what master told us? He said, ''Don''t get involved unless we have to.''" Hoemis looked to the corner of his eyes and rubbed his chin. "Hmm, come to think of it, I do remember him saying that. What''s the big deal? I''m just fighting." "Fighting a random person or thing would be ok, but you''re fighting the king of an entire species. Do you think our master would want you to do that?" "That does make sense, but I just wanted to fight someone strong and also test the strength of the world right now." "What''s the point of fighting? You''re the God of Destruction, no one except another god could beat you. It''s better to learn and teach. Right now, I''m a teacher at a school. Why don''t you become a teacher, but teach people how to fight?" "But teaching sounds like such a hassle," Hoemis sighed. "Well you won''t know until you try it out." "Ughh, fine. Take me out of whatever this is. I''ll teach, but if I don''t like it, I''m quitting." "This is my own pocket dimension. I made it with magic." With a wave of her hand, Hoemis started disappearing. Aphy waved goodbye at Hoemis, smiling. "Good luck! I know you''ll like teaching." Hoemis was transported back to the place where he and Kerym fought. Kerym saw him appear and transformed again, growing his extra arms. The guards also took out their weapons, the archers drawing their bows. "Calm down. I''m not here to fight anymore. Someone told me that I should become a teacher." Hoemis said, looking around. "Yeah, like I''d believe that, and what do you mean by becoming a teacher?" Kerym asked, getting into his battle stance. "Listen, I''m becoming a teacher and start teaching people how to fight. Put down your weapons and let''s stop the fight." "Put down our weapons? Then what? You backstab us from behind. Yeah, it''s not happening." Hoemis stared at Kerym with a serious face. "I don''t have to surprise you, if I wanted to, you would all be dead right now." Kerym was about to say something when Kigai came over to tell him something. "I think we should believe him. Look at him, there''s absolutely no damage to his body, but look at you, you''re covered in bruises," Kigai told Kerym. Kerym was mad, but he could see Kigai''s points. If he, one of the strongest people in the world, couldn''t even make Hoemis bleed, then what could he do to Hoemis? "I see your point, but what if he''s an enemy?" Kerym argued. "Do you really think he''s the enemy? You couldn''t even scratch him. If he was the enemy, you would be long dead," Kigai explained. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Ughh, fine." "Think about this, he said he wanted to teach people how to fight. That''s good for us. Having someone as strong as him on our side is also very good." Convinced by Kigai, Kerym turned to Hoemis and ordered the guards to stand down, reverting back to his normal form. "Fine, you can be a teacher, but there''s one condition. If we need your help, you will help us." Hoemis looked at Kerym. "I don''t think you''re in any position to make demands, but I''m ok with your condition. I won''t help in any wars though unless I feel like it, or my master tells me to." Kerym was shocked when he heard Hoemis had a master. That meant there was someone stronger than him. "Alright, we have to fix this part of the city first, but after we''re done, we will get you a place where you can have your dojo." "Don''t worry about fixing this, I have someone who can fix it like it was never destroyed." "And who is that?" Kerym asked in a curious tone. "Wait, let me find her." Hoemis closed his eyes, trying to sense Aphy''s divine aura. Eventually, he sensed her aura. He disappeared, heading to where Aphy was and sitting beside her. "What are you doing here?" Aphy asked, sipping her cup of tea. Aphy was in a restaurant when Hoemis went to her, eating some food. "Oooh, you have food." Hoemis reached over to grab a piece of meat, but Aphy slapped his hand away. "Hey, this is my food. I paid for it with my own money. Now, tell me why you are here?" "Remember when I destroyed part of the city? Could you fix that?" Aphy grabbed a piece of meat with her fork, placing it into her mouth. "Yeah, give me a second. I''ll meet you there." Hoemis nodded and went back. "She''s eating right now, but she said she''ll meet me here." "Ok..." Kerym said, wondering if Hoemis is lying. After a few minutes of waiting, Kerym became impatient. "When is she coming here?" "I don''t know. Don''t worry, she''ll come," Hoemis reassured Kerym. Just then, the streets started fixing themselves. The shattered road went back to how it used to be. It was as if someone was rewinding time. The broken lamp posts went back to how they used to be and it didn''t take long before everything was fixed. Hoemis looked around at the now fixed streets. "See, I told you." 29 Dojo Aphy went back to the restaurant. She had been waiting for the dessert and decided to fix the streets while she was waiting. It wasn''t hard for Aphy, but for a normal mage, a feat like this would be impossible. Aphy used one of the highest tiers of magic, time magic. She rewound the time on the broken streets to the time when they were fine. Kerym was shocked. This was the first time he saw something like this. He knew it was magic, as he could sense the enormous mana in the air, but he didn''t know how this was possible. "How did you do that?" Kerym asked Hoemis. "I didn''t do that, my colleague did this," Hoemis clarified. "Who is this colleague of yours? If I may ask." "She probably wants to keep her identity hidden. Unlike me, she doesn''t like attention. Anyways, where can I have my dojo?" Kerym nodded and turned to Kigai. "Can I have a personal request?" he whispered. "As long as it''s reasonable," Kigai replied. "As the best assassin, can you keep an eye on what Hoemis does? See who he talks to and where he goes." "You know, I would, but Dilya just gave birth. I want to spend time with my family. Don''t worry though, I''ll send a request to the assassin ranked second on the leaderboard." Kerym nodded. "Hmm, that''s ok. Spend time with your family, we''re already so old anyway." Hoemis coughed. "Hello? Can you answer my question?" Kerym turned to Hoemis. "Oh, yeah. I believe we have a few spots at the edge of the city. I can have someone show you them if you''d like." "Yeah, that would be good." Kerym nodded and ordered one of the guards to get him a lot manager. The guard nodded and went to find a property manager. After a few minutes of waiting, the guard came back with a lot manager beside him. "My king, what did you need me for?" the lot manager said, bowing. "I need you to find a place where this man." Kerym pointed to Hoemis. "Can build a dojo. Don''t worry about the payment, I''ll pay." The lot manager nodded and walked over to Hoemis. "Hello, my name is John and I''ll be showing you around properties for your dojo." Kerym watched as John took Hoemis around the city, showing him possible places for his dojo. Kigai watched Hoemis from afar, making sure he didn''t do anything he shouldn''t. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. John showed Hoemis the lots he could buy. There were lots of different shapes and sizes of lots. Some were big and some were small. Hoemis didn''t want one that was too big, but he also didn''t want one that was too small. He wanted one that was just right. After going through a lot of lots, Hoemis finally found one that was perfect. It wasn''t too big, and it wasn''t too small either. Another plus was that it was in the same street as the magic school, which was where Aphy taught. After filling out a few paperwork, Hoemis finally owned the lot. It was empty right now, but it will soon be his dojo. The only problem was, he didn''t know how to build a dojo. Hoemis felt Aphy''s presence and approached her, asking her for help, "Aphy, I have a lot, but it''s completely empty and I don''t know how to build, or construct anything. So how do I get my dojo built?" "Don''t call me Aphy, call me Leena instead. Anyways, congratulations on getting your lot. I personally just applied as a teacher, but I guess starting your own school works too." Aphy looked to the corner of her eyes, thinking. "Oooh, I got it. Ask Mutyx to build your dojo, he''s the best craftsmen." Hoemis nodded. "You''re right, why didn''t I think of that? Well, thanks, I''m going to go find Mutyx." "No problem. See ya!" As Hoemis left to find Mutyx, Kigai watched them from afar. He couldn''t hear what they were talking about, but he made sure to make a note about Aphy. Deciding that he did enough, Kigai sent a letter to the assassin ranked second on the leaderboard, giving him the assignment to watch Hoemis. Hoemis tried to detect the presence of Mutyx, but he couldn''t. He decided to ask his master for help, as he would probably know where he was, so he went back to the console. Hoemis appeared in the console and found Mutyx and Karl watching an anime on the television. Karl looked at Hoemis, who had just appeared. "Hoemis, what are you doing here?" "Master, I came here to ask you to find Mutyx, but it seems I don''t need your help as he''s already here." Karl nodded and went back to watching the show. "Take a seat, you can watch with us if you''d like." "So what''d ye need me for?" Mutyx asked Hoemis. Hoemis sat down on the couch, facing Mutyx. "You''re the God of Crafting, so I was wondering if you could build me a dojo? I''ve decided to teach people how to fight." "You''re going to teach people how to fight?" Karl asked, overhearing Hoemis. Hoemis nodded. "Yes, Aphy suggested it after she said that I shouldn''t fight the king of an entire species." "Wait, you fought the king of an entire species?" Karl asked, turning to look at Hoemis. "Yes, I''m very sorry, but I promise it won''t happen again." Hoemis bowed to Karl. "We all make mistakes, but you should think something through before you do it. I''ll let you off this time, but if something like this happens again without a reason, you will be punished." Karl said with a serious tone. "Yes, I understand. I won''t let you down." Karl nodded and went back to watching the fight in the anime. "I dinna mind building ye a dojo. When did ye want me ta build it?" Mutyx asked Hoemis. "Well, I want it to be built as soon as possible, but I also wanted to watch the show that you and master are watching. What is it anyway?" "It''s something called an anime," Mutyx replied. 30 Chakra "Whoah, that''s so cool," Hoemis said, watching the anime. Karl, Mutyx, and Hoemis have been watching the anime for a while, and it didn''t take long for Hoemis to like it. "Master, what are these creatures?" Hoemis asked. "They''re like the Ancient Ones, but different." "They''re humans. It''s what I used to be." Karl replied, recalling his human life. Remembering his human life, he was a bit sad. He wasn''t the most popular in school, but he still had quite a bit of friends, not to mention his best friend. Karl also remembered his parents. They were very strict, but even then, they were his parents. He loved them, even though sometimes he hated them. Karl wiped a tear that was forming in his right eye. He was a god now, and he was going to make the best of it. "You were a human? They must be very great if you were one. Why don''t you add them to the world?" Hoemis asked. "Well, humans really weren''t that great. We made a lot of stupid mistakes. I''m probably going to add them, but I don''t know when." As the three watched their anime, a female Ancient One was in her home, doing a prayer. "Father, can I talk to you today? I understand if you''re busy," the female said, laying down on her bed. Suddenly, a voice came through the female''s mind. "Ayda, why did you call me?" The voice in Ayda''s mind was Adum, the God of Death. Ayda is the child of Adum and is a demigod. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Father, I just wanted to know how my mother is doing? I''ve also spread your religion around. More and more people are believing that you''re real." "Your mother is doing fine, but she is quite an old soul. She has told me that she wants to be reincarnated soon. You''ve been spreading my religion around? What was it called again?" "Mother is reincarnating? When mother reincarnates, can you tell me who she reincarnates to? The religion is called ''Cult of Adum.''" "Ayda, you know I can''t do that. When someone reincarnates, they aren''t the same person. Their soul stays the same, but they don''t remember anything. So what have you been teaching the people in the religion?" Ayda was sad, but she knew her father was right. "I''ve been teaching them stuff that you''ve told me. The Afterlife, Reincarnation, the Kaitera, and even Death Magic. It''s not as strong as the power I inherited from you, but it''s very useful." "That is very good, but be careful about teaching people Death Magic. It can do good, but there may be some people who''d want to use that power for bad." "Yes, I understand. Also, I saw a weird person today." "Hmm? What is it?" "It was a Lolleon, wearing white and gold pants. I wouldn''t have thought much of it, but the lolleon gave off a divine aura, like you, father." "Ahh, that must be Hoemis. Don''t worry about him, he''s a god, the God of Destruction. Do tell me if he bothers you." "Alright, I understand. I didn''t know there were other gods." "Well, there weren''t before, but more will probably be born as time goes on. Anyways, I have to deal with some stuff right now. Call for me when you have time, and I''ll see if I can talk." "Bye, father." Ayda waited for a goodbye, but didn''t get one. She looked out her window and saw the moon shining brightly in the sky. Yawning, she closed her eyes and went to sleep. "Ok, that''s enough anime for today," Karl said, grabbing the remote and turning off the T.V. "But master, I want to see what happens next," Hoemis said. "Don''t worry, I''ll tell you when I start watching it again, for now, I want to add something to the world." The first thing that Karl wanted to add was humans. He made them exactly to his memory with a few improvements here and there, like greater intelligence. It only cost him 100 points, and he placed the first humans on a continent not connected with the Ancient Ones, Dwarves, Lolleons, and Samians. Just like the dwarves, they were given a tutorial. With the humans added, he thought about what to add next. He wanted to add new energy, but what should he add? Chakra sounded good, so he decided to add that. "System, I want to create a new energy." [Confirmed, please think of this new energy in your mind and the system will do its best to create it.] Karl thought about the energy in his mind. Chakra would be an energy that would help people who didn''t focus on magic. He spent some time thinking about the energy, making sure it wouldn''t be useless. [Energy confirmed, please wait a moment as the system creates it.] [Chakra:] Chakra is an energy that every living thing has. Although everyone has it, that doesn''t mean that they can use it. One must practice using Chakra. The stronger the person, the more chakra they have. Chakra can be used in a variety of ways. It can be used to strengthen one''s body over its limits. Chakra can also be infused with an element, becoming Elemental Chakra. Elemental Chakra behaves just like a normal chakra, but with the added element. This will cost 50 points. Karl looked over it, seeing if he needed to add anything else. It was just what he wanted, so he bought it and applied it to the world. [Would you like to notify the inhabitants of your world about the new energy?] Karl wondered if he should tell the inhabitants of his world about Chakra. More people would try to use it, but it might be better if they discover it naturally. In the end, he decided to notify them about the new energy he added. "Yes, notify them." As soon as Karl said that, all around the world. Everyone got a notification, informing them about the new energy. [A new energy has been added to the world. It''s called Chakra.] 31 Zeno A lot of people were curious about this new energy called, chakra. Most people couldn''t sense it, but people of a higher level could sense it. Kigai tried to experiment with chakra but found himself unable to use it. People all around the world tried experimenting with chakra but found that they couldn''t. Some people gave up, deciding to leave it to other people that would find a way to use it, but some people didn''t. Jiro is a male lolleon, and he''s one of the people that didn''t give up and continued experimenting with chakra. As a little kid, Jiro always dreamed to be strong. Unfortunately, he was born with a rare condition that made it impossible for him to use mana. He still had mana inside him, but it was impossible for him to access that. Jiro had heard about the dungeons and how it would grant him anything he desired, so he thought that maybe he could beat a dungeon to cure his condition, but without mana, he was stuck on the tenth level. He tried his hardest, but his physical strength wasn''t enough. So when Jiro heard of a new energy that could make him stronger, he immediately tried using it. It took him a couple of hours, but he managed to channel the chakra inside his body and use it to strengthen himself. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Jiro was overjoyed. Finally, he had been given another chance to be strong. He still needed more practice, but he knew that if he kept training, he could be as strong, if not stronger than mana users. Jiro continued training his chakra control for the rest of the night, not caring about the time. Back in the console, Hoemis was talking to Mutyx about his dojo. "So, what did ye want your dojo ta look like?" Mutyx asked Hoemis. "Hmm, I don''t really know. I just want a place where I can teach people and a place for people to spar." Mutyx asked him a few more questions like how big Hoemis wanted it, or if he wanted anything special. Hoemis didn''t want anything special, but he did want the dojo to be indestructible as a lot of fighting will happen there. After asking a few more questions, the two went down to the lot where the dojo would be built. "How long do you think it''ll take you to build the dojo?" Hoemis asked. Mutyx stroked his beard. "Soon." After saying that, Mutyx quickly got to work on building Hoemis''s dojo. Hoemis watched as Mutyx spent the next couple of hours building his dojo. All the materials that Mutyx needed were made using divine mana, making it the most expensive thing in the world. Eventually, after a few more hours, the dojo was built. "There ye go. It''s all done," Mutyx said. Hoemis looked at the dojo with amazement. It was majestic and looked very good. Even if one was not a craftsman, they would see the quality of the dojo and praise the person who built it. The dojo was made out of wood and looked like a traditional Japanese dojo house. Made with durability in mind, the wood it was built with wasn''t normal wood. It was enchanted to be almost unbreakable, but in the chance, it does break, it will slowly repair itself by using the ambient mana in the air. Above the entrance of the dojo was a sign that read, ''Hoemis''s Dojo'' in gold letters. Going inside the dojo, the interior was lit up with mana lightbulbs, also enchanted to be almost unbreakable. The floor was made of softwood. On the left side of the dojo was a row of training dummies that were enchanted to repair themselves when enough damage was dealt to it. On the right side, there was a room filled with any weapon one could think of. There were spears, swords, staves, etc. The students could use the middle of the dojo to spar, or Hoemis could use it for teaching. "Wow, this is amazing. Thank you," Hoemis thanked Mutyx. "Dinna worry aboot it," Mutyx said. "If ye need anything else, just ask me. Now if ye''ll let me, I''ll be going now." "I will, and goodbye." Hoemis waved goodbye as Mutyx disappeared into the console. Hoemis took another look around the dojo and found another room with a bed for him to sleep in. There was also a bathroom in case someone had to use it. Hoemis finally had a dojo. Now all he needed was students to teach. He made a paper sign and hung it in front of his dojo to attract potential students. ''Do you want to be strong? Do you want to be taught by the strongest? If so, come over to Hoemis''s Dojo. Here, I will train your body and train you in the way of martial arts,'' the sign read. As Hoemis waited for students, he decided to experiment with chakra. It was similar to mana in a way, but very different. As a god, Hoemis''s chakra wasn''t normal. It was something called Divine Chakra, something that only gods or people comparable to gods were worthy of. Using Chakra felt like second nature to Hoemis. He used it flawlessly, already mastered it in a short amount of time. Hoemis channeled his divine chakra and used it to strengthen his body, a purple aura surrounding him. Testing out his strength, Hoemis punched a couple of times and found he was way faster and stronger than before. He was strong enough to scratch the almost indestructible wood the dojo was made of, but it repaired itself shortly after. As Hoemis was experimenting with his chakra, someone knocked on the door. Hoemis went to the door and opened it, finding a small child. "Hello, little one. What are you doing here? Are you lost?" "I''m not lost, I''m here to get stronger like what the ad said." The child pointed to the ad. "Really? Well, come on in then." Hoemis opened the door all the way, letting the child inside. "So why do you want to be strong?" "My dad died because he wasn''t strong enough, so now it''s only me and my mom. I want to be strong so I can protect her." "That is a good reason. Well, since you''re going to be my student, what''s your name?" "Zeno, my name is Zeno." 32 Fantasia "Nice to meet you, Zeno. My name''s Hoemis." Hoemis extended his hand for a handshake. Zeno shook Hoemis''s hand. "Nice to meet you too." Zeno was a pretty small child. He is an Ancient One with short white hair. His body was very skinny, and he looked like he hadn''t eaten for days. Zeno''s family was very poor. His dad had died from a local gang, forcing his mom to work for the family. She was working three jobs, but every day, the gang that killed Zeno''s dad, stole most of the money that his mother earned. That was why Zeno wanted to get stronger, much stronger than his dad. He tried to venture into the dungeon to get stronger, but he was told that he had to be at least level 10, and even then, it was still very dangerous. Hoemis inspected Zeno''s condition. He was a child and looked severely undernourished, but he would make it work. The first thing he had to do was feed him. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "The first thing you need for your training is food. Let''s go, we''re going out to eat," Hoemis told Zeno. "Why? Food won''t make me stronger, leveling up will," Zeno said. "There''s a lot more to being strong than just levels. Plus, look at how skinny you are. You need food to build muscle." "I don''t have money for food though." Zeno looked down at the floor. "I don''t either." Hoemis laughed. "I''m friends with the king, so don''t worry about it." Zeno looked up at Hoemis. "Really?! You are?! What is he like?!" "Follow me, I''ll tell you while we walk." Zeno followed beside Hoemis as they walked to a restaurant. "So, what''s the king like?! I heard he''s super strong." Hoemis looked at Zeno, chuckling at how excited he was. "Well, he''s strong, but if you ask me. I''m way stronger," he said, flexing his arm and showing off his big biceps. "I don''t believe you. Everyone knows the king is the strongest." "I''m not lying. I even fought the king." "Really?! Who won?" "Me of course," Hoemis said, smiling at Zeno. "Sure you did," Zeno said in a sarcastic tone. "Fine, don''t believe me." Hoemis crossed his arms, looking away from Zeno. After a few minutes of walking, the two arrived at their destination. It was a restaurant called ''Fantasia'', the restaurant that Aphy was eating at. The restaurant looked fancy and was expensive. Only the rich ate at this restaurant because of its ridiculously high price. "Whoah, this place looks expensive," Zeno said, looking at the fancy restaurant. "It does? I don''t know, I just saw my friend eating here and the food looked good," Hoemis said. The two walked inside the restaurant and were met by a man in a black suit. "Good morning, welcome to Fantasia. My name is Ron, and I will be your waiter today." "Good morning, Ron. Me and my student are here to eat breakfast," Hoemis told Ron. Ron looked at Zeno with disgust. Eating at Fantasia was very expensive, so most people who looked poor were kicked out unless they showed money. The two would''ve been kicked out if it weren''t for Hoemis, who was wearing white and gold pants that looked expensive. "Alright, please follow me to your table," Ron said, finding an empty table for the two. The two followed behind Ron, sitting down at the empty table Ron led them to. At the table was a napkin, spoon, fork, knife, and a menu. "In front of you is a menu. I''ll give you a few minutes to look over it and then I''ll come back to take your order." Ron left the table, letting the two look at the menu. "Order whatever you want," Hoemis told Zeno. "Are you sure?" Zeno asked. "They''re so expensive." "Positive." The two looked over the menu and after a few minutes, Ron came back. "Are you both ready to order?" "Yes, I would like the Basted Moon Cougar and a glass of water," Hoemis ordered. Ron wrote down Hoemis''s order on a piece of paper. "And you?" he asked Zeno. "Ummmm, I''d like the Cooked Ethereal Tiger and also a glass of water," Zeno replied. Ron wrote down Zeno''s order and read them, making sure he didn''t miss anything. "So one Basted Moon Cougar, one Cooked Ethereal Tiger, and two glasses of water? Will that be all?" "Yes, that''ll be all," Hoemis said. Ron nodded and went to the kitchen, giving the order to the chef. "I''ve never eaten a tiger before, I''m so excited." Zeno drooled at the thought of meat. Growing up, Zeno didn''t have the luxury to eat meat. The only time he had eaten meat was when his dad was still alive. "I am too." Hoemis could smell the food in the kitchen, making him drool. After about 30 minutes, the food was finally done. Ron came back with the food in his hands. "Basted Moon Cougar, and Cooked Ethereal Tiger." Ron placed the food in front of the two. "If you need any help, or when you are done eating, please call me." Ron left, leaving the two to eat their food. Hoemis and Zeno drooled looking at their food, Zeno especially as he''s been eating bread his whole life. Zeno''s stomach grumbled as he grabbed a fork and knife, cutting a piece of his Cooked Ethereal Tiger and placing it into his mouth. He moaned with delight as he ate the food. "Mmmm, this is so good! How''s yours?" Hoemis also grabbed a piece of his food and placed it into his mouth. He let out a moan, closing his eyes as he ate the cougar. "Really good." They both took another bite, enjoying their food. Bite after bite, their food slowly disappeared, and before they knew it, they had eaten the whole thing and they were full. Zeno sighed, patting his stomach as he finished his food. "I''ve never been so full before. Thinking about it, I don''t think I''ve ever been full." Hoemis chuckled, patting his stomach. "Yeah, now I understand why my friend was eating here." Ron saw that the two were finished eating and went over to them. "Would you two like dessert?" "I''m ok, but what about you, Zeno?" Hoemis asked Zeno. "I would love dessert! If it''s allowed," Zeno said. "Here''s the menu for dessert." Ron handed Zeno the menu. Zeno looked over the menu for a few seconds before making up his mind. "I want the Unicorn Ice Cream." 33 Training After a few minutes of waiting, Ron came back with the Unicorn Ice Cream in his hand. He handed it over to Zeno, along with a small spoon. "Here you go." Zeno looked at the Ice Cream and licked his lips. This would be the first time he tasted ice cream and it was all thanks to Hoemis. He held the spoon and scooped the ice cream, placing it into his mouth and tasting it. Zeno''s face was full of bliss. The ice cream was sweet, but not too sweet and it was also cold. He grabbed another bite and another, and before he knew it, there was no more ice cream. Zeno wanted more ice cream, but if he asked for more, he would just be a bother for Hoemis. "Would you like the bill?" Ron asked Hoemis. "Yes please," Hoemis replied. Ron nodded and came back with a bill, handing it over to Hoemis. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Hoemis read the bill and looked at the cost of everything. In total, it cost: 7 gold coins. That doesn''t sound like a lot, but it is. There are three coins used by the people of Tua. Gold, silver, and copper. One gold coin is worth 23 silver coins, or 4,917 copper coins. One silver coin is worth 211 copper coins. The average citizen earns about 13 gold coins a month, so seven gold coins is a lot of money to most people. Hoemis didn''t have money to pay, not even a single copper coin. "Ron... You see... I don''t have any money to pay." As soon as Ron heard that, his smile turned into a frown. "What?! Did you come here to eat, but didn''t bring any money?!" Hoemis nodded. "Yeah, it''s exactly that. Don''t worry, I know the king." "The hell you know the king. I should''ve known you couldn''t pay from the moment I saw this dirty kid. I''m going to get a guard and get the both of you arrested." "Don''t insult my student." "What are you gonna do?" Hoemis stood up and grabbed Ron by the collar of his suit, lifting him up. "Hey! Put me down!" Ron struggled, but he couldn''t get free from Hoemis. Outside of the restaurant, a female was watching the whole scene through the window. It was Ayda, the daughter of Adum. She had overheard everything they were talking about, as she had been keeping an eye on Hoemis just in case something bad happened. Ayda went into the restaurant to stop Hoemis. "Put him down." She pulled out her wallet, placing seven gold coins on the table. "There''s no need to get guards involved, I have money to pay for the food." Hoemis stared at Ayda with a curious face. He could sense that she had divine mana, albeit not as strong as a god''s, but it was still divine mana. He placed Ron back on his feet, letting him free. Hoemis turned to Ayda. "Thanks, you really helped me." "You''re banned from eating here ever again!" Ron grabbed the gold coins and ran to the kitchen. "Ughh, follow me before you get in trouble," Ayda said, heading out of the restaurant. Hoemis and Zeno followed behind her as they left the restaurant. "So what are you?" Hoemis asked as they were walking. "An Ancient One, what else would I be?" Ayda replied. "Don''t try to fool me. You might be an Ancient One, but you aren''t normal. You have divine mana surrounding you." "Well, it should be fine to tell you. I''m a demigod, and my father is Adum. Do you know him?" "You''re a god?" Zeno asked Ayda. Ayda shook her head. "No, I''m the daughter of a god." "I do know him, but I haven''t met him yet. If you''re a demigod, then it makes sense why you have divine mana," Hoemis said. "I also know who you are, Hoemis, Go-" "Yeah, yeah. I''m trying to keep my identity a secret, so try not to mention that, especially when someone is watching us right now," Hoemis interrupted. "What do you mean?" Ayda took a quick look around and saw a mysterious figure on the roof of a building. The figure disappeared as soon as it noticed Ayda looking at itself. Ayda used her mana to find the figure, but the figure was either long gone, or concealed itself. "Who was that, and how did you know someone was watching us?" Hoemis spotted his dojo in the distance and started walking towards it. "That''s a secret. Maybe if you become my student, I''ll maybe tell you." Zeno and Ayda followed beside Hoemis, as he approached the dojo. "I''m a mage, so I doubt you could teach me anything useful," Ayda said. Hoemis opened the door to the dojo, heading inside and letting Ayda and Zeno in. "You never know, you might learn something new." Hoemis turned to Zeno. "Zeno, I will now train you." In the next couple of hours, Hoemis made Zeno do countless exercises that would increase his strength. Hoemis made Zeno do hundreds of pushups, making him collapse, only for Hoemis to use Chakra to reenergize Zeno and make him do more pushups. Ayda watched as Zeno collapsed and Hoemis revitalized him. Zeno was covered in sweat, but he didn''t stop. He had to get stronger and he would not give up just like that. After an hour of even more exercises, Hoemis told him to stop as he was now going to teach him how to fight properly. Zeno listened closely, making sure he remembered everything his teacher said. Hoemis told him that when fighting, you must never waste energy, so everything you do has to be efficient. Wasting energy on unnecessary movement will make you tired, and being tired makes you weak. Hoemis also said to rely on your own instincts. If you have a bad feeling about someone, then trust it. As Zeno''s final training for the day, Hoemis made him punch the training dummies for a whole hour. Hoemis gave pointers as he was punching the dummies, showing him how to properly punch, as to not waste any energy. By the end of the day, Zeno fell on the ground. He was panting, trying to catch his breath. His whole body was covered in sweat as he let out a sigh of relief. "Take this time to rest as you''ll be training just as hard tomorrow," Hoemis told Zeno. 34 Crippled Monster A lot of things are happening in the world, but there was one really important thing, the addition of humans. Just like when the first dwarves were placed in the world, they were also given a tutorial. The humans have been following the tutorial quite nicely. The humans have started building houses for themselves, and some have even claimed a mate. Some humans became farmers, and some became hunters. These humans were in charge of gathering food. Overall, the humans are pretty safe and are not in any danger, but the same can''t be said for the Ancient Ones. In a mountain not too far away from the floating city of the Ancient Ones, three monsters were having a meeting. "Why did you call me here? You know I hate being on land," a female humanoid reptilian said. She has gills on the side of her neck with fins along her body. "I''ve called you here to ask for your help in attacking the Ancient One''s floating city," a male humanoid reptilian said. His body was covered in scales and there were two wings on his back. "No thanks, unlike you, I have no quarrels with the Ancient Ones." The female reptilian crossed her arms. "Now, if that''s all, I''d like to take my leave." "I also don''t have any quarrels with the Ancient Ones," a male humanoid that resembled a tiger said. "On the contrary, they have helped me and are staying out of my territory." The three monsters were the strongest. They stood at the top. One ruled the beasts of the sea, one ruled the beasts of the land, and one ruled the beasts of the skies. These three monsters were called the Beast Lords. The male reptilian stomped his foot, shaking the ground and cracking it. "You call yourselves monsters? Fine, leave, but just know that if you ever ask for my help, you won''t get it." "We don''t need your help." The tiger humanoid and the female reptilian left, heading back to their territories. In the city of the Lolleons, a person was practicing in the way of chakra, it was Jiro. Jiro had progressed with his chakra control and could now use it to strengthen his body. To test his new strength, Jiro went into the nearby dungeon. As he fought the monsters in the dungeon, he noticed that he was stronger than before. The monsters that used to threaten his life were getting massacred. Jiro left a trail of corpses behind him and he was covered in blood. The people in the dungeon that saw what he did gave him a nickname, ''The Crippled Monster''. This nickname made him popular as it was rare for anyone to get past the tenth level without mana. By the end of the day, Jiro managed to reach the 13th level of the dungeon. This was very good as he was only level 100, and the 13th level had level 130 monsters. Jiro was exhausted, but when he was experimenting with chakra, he found that meditating and circulating chakra all around your body will increase your body''s recovery rate with the bonus of strengthening your body. It only strengthened it a little bit, but every little bit counts. Jiro meditated and the small cuts that were on his body started healing slowly. He got so caught up in meditating, he lost track of time. When Jiro opened his eyes, he saw the sunrise which meant that he had meditated for the whole night without any sleep. Despite not getting any sleep, he didn''t feel tired and was ready for more action. Jiro walked to the entrance of the dungeon and noticed that a lot of people were looking at him. This was weird as no one paid him no mind, but now, he was the center of attention. The people were whispering about him, "That''s the Crippled Monster?" "It''s probably exaggerated." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "He doesn''t look strong." Jiro paid it no mind. He was used to people making fun of him because he couldn''t control mana, so that was what he thought everyone was whispering about. Walking to the entrance of the dungeon, Jiro was confronted by a man. "So you''re the Crippled Monster?" Jiro looked at the man. The man was a male Lolleon that was noticeably bigger than Jiro. "Crippled Monster? What are you talking about?" he asked, confused. "You know what I''m talking about. Everybody''s been talking about you." "I''m sorry, but I don''t know what you''re talking about." "Don''t try to play dumb. You think you can just suddenly show up and say you''re the strongest?" "I never said I was the strongest. Now, can you let me pass?" "Not before I beat you up and show everyone that I''m the strongest." The man raised his arm and swung his fist at Jiro, aiming for his head. Seeing the man''s fist coming his way, Jiro channeled his chakra throughout his body, enhancing his physical abilities. On instinct, he tilted his head to the side, watching the man''s fist go by in slow motion. "So you''re not all talk." The man moved his hand, grabbing ahold of Jiro''s shoulder. Using his overwhelming strength, which was amplified with mana, he held him in place. Jiro tried to escape from the man''s grasp, but he couldn''t and before he knew it, a fist came and punched him in the stomach. He groaned in pain as he was sent flying to the ground, coughing out blood from his mouth. ''It won''t end like this, I''m tired of people looking down on me.'' Jiro thought to himself. Jiro''s legs shook as he stood up. Doing whatever he could, he began channeling all the chakra inside his body to empower himself, a red aura forming around him. He could feel that his strength must''ve multiplied by five. Jiro felt like he could defeat anything, but such power came at a cost. Blood dripped from his mouth and nose, his eyes going bloodshot. He was in great pain and if he stayed in this form, he could die. Jiro knew that staying in this weird form longer than he needed to could kill him, so he had to finish this fast. "What''s that? It doesn''t feel like mana," the man said. "Whatever, I''ll still beat you." 35 Chakra for Zeno Jiro had to end the fight fast, so he took the initiative. He disappeared, the ground cracking and making a shockwave. Appearing behind the man, he punched him in the back, sending the man rolling to the ground. The man couldn''t even react. He saw Jiro disappear and then he was struck on his back, sending him rolling to the ground. The people who saw what happened stopped questioning how strong Jiro is. They started to realize that all the things people said about him might be true. Jiro coughed out even more blood. He was really straining himself as he maintained his form. The man tried to get up, but as he was getting up a fist came flying at his fist, making him fall on his back. His nose was broken from the punch, blood coming out of it. Some of the bystanders wondered if they should get a guard, but they didn''t. The Lolleon culture was based on the strong, the weak followed the strong. The man tried to get up again, but Jiro once again struck him in the face with enough strength that it knocked him out. Jiro saw that the man was unconscious so he released his form. The red aura that surrounded him disappeared. He coughed out blood as he fell to the ground unconscious. By this time, a group of guards came. They had heard of the commotion and came to check it out. The guards saw the two people unconscious and asked the bystanders questions. Both Jiro and the man were sent to the hospital. Strangely enough, Jiro was in a worse condition than the man. While the man suffered a broken nose and a concussion, Jiro''s condition was much worse. Although Jiro''s condition was worse, he was recovering faster. The weird form that he used in the fight seemed to be some sort of awakening. His body became used to chakra and started passively using it, boosting his recovery speeds. Meanwhile, in the floating city of the Ancient Ones, Zeno was hard at work with Hoemis. It was another day, another hellish torture. This time, Ayda wasn''t watching the training. She had matters to do with her dad''s religion and there was a rumor of an evil necromancer. Zeno finished his daily exercises for the day and was once again being taught martial arts by Hoemis. Right now, Hoemis was training Zeno with his speed and reflexes. Hoemis would attack Zeno, lowering his speed and strength so Zeno could still react, but not too slow that it wouldn''t be a challenge. Zeno would try to dodge these attacks and Hoemis would speed up as Zeno became faster. It was good training and Zeno enjoyed it much more than doing over a hundred pushups and situps. They continued training for two more hours before Hoemis stopped for a break. "Alright, you have a 30-minute break. You can do anything you want," Hoemis told Zeno. To Hoemis''s surprise, instead of taking a break, Zeno continued training, attacking the training dummies. Hoemis smiled as he saw how dedicated Zeno was. "Do you like training that much?" Zeno continued punching the dummy, his fists a blur. "No, but I need to be strong." "Thinking about it, I never asked about what happened to your dad. How did he die?" Zeno paused as he heard the question before going back to punching the dummy. "He died at the dungeon." Hoemis nodded. "I''m sure he''s in a better place now." "Maybe, my only memory of him was giving me a hug as a baby. All my life, I''ve grown up with my mom." "You said you wanted to be strong because of your mom. Is there a more specific reason?" Zeno paused. "No, that''s just it. I want to be strong." "Are you sure? You can tell me anything. I am your teacher after all." "Nope, there''s nothing else," Zeno said, lying. He wanted to tell his teacher about the gang, but he didn''t want to bother him. "Hmm... Alright." Hoemis knew that Zeno was lying, but he didn''t want to press farther. "Do you think I''ll be as strong as you in the future?" Zeno asked, trying to change the subject. "Maybe not as strong as me, but I''ll make you stronger than the current king." "Really?" "I don''t lie. Here, I have just the thing to make you stronger. Remember the new energy that was added?" "Yeah, it was called chakra if I remember correctly." "Yeah, that''s what it is. You see, unlike mana, it''s focused more on the physical aspect of the body." Zeno cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean?" "People who use mana will usually spend some, if not most of their points on intelligence and dexterity, because intelligence strengthens their mana, right?" "I think? I''ve never been to school." "Same, I''ve also never been to school, but don''t worry about it. The good thing about chakra is that it doesn''t rely on intelligence to be stronger. It is strength-based, meaning the more strength you have, the stronger your chakra is. It doesn''t end there, chakra can also do most, if not all the things that mana can do." "So does that mean chakra is better than mana?" Hoemis shook his head. "Not exactly. None of the two are better than the other, they are just alternatives, as someone who uses mana can still use chakra. Personally, I prefer fighting close and not far away, so chakra would be my thing." Zeno was a bit confused, but he got the general gist of it. "So chakra if you want to fight up close and mana if you want to fight far away?" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "For most of it. Mana can still be used to fight up close and chakra can still be used to fight far away." "Then I want to use chakra." "Good, because I was planning to teach that to you. By the way, what level are you?" Zeno checked his status. "I''m level 9." 36 Basics "Level 9? You should be able to get a class soon then. Come over here in the middle at the mat. I''ll teach you the basics of what I know in chakra," Hoemis said. Zeno did as Hoemis said, going to the mat and sitting down cross-legged. Hoemis sat down across from him cross-legged. "Close your eyes and focus on yourself. You should be able to feel two energies." Zeno took a deep breath and closed his eyes, focusing on himself. At first, he couldn''t feel anything, but then he felt two energies just like what Hoemis said. "I feel them." "That''s good. The two energies inside you are chakra and mana. Chakra is the one that feels warm and kind of looks orange. Mana is the one that feels cold and kind of looks blue." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Zeno inspected the two energies and it was just like his teacher said. The chakra was warm and orangish, while the mana was cold and bluish. "Whoah, they are." "The first thing I want you to do is to completely forget about mana. Disregard everything about it. You''re solely focusing on chakra." Zeno nodded and disregarded mana. He was focusing on chakra and only chakra. "I want you to feel the chakra inside you. Try to channel it throughout your body. Do whatever you can to get used to chakra." Zeno felt the chakra circulating inside his body. It felt small, but it would soon grow over time. It was weak, but it would soon become stronger over time. He tried to channel the chakra, but it refused to follow his commands. "I can''t channel it," Zeno said. "That''s fine. It''s perfectly normal. You can''t control it right now, but with practice, you will be able to. For now, I just want you to get familiar with chakra." Zeno experimented with his chakra, his control over the energy growing. He still couldn''t use it to strengthen himself, but he was slowly gaining control. "Be calm. Relax your mind and forget about everything, focusing only on your chakra." Zeno followed the instructions his teacher said. He took a deep breath and relaxed his mind, forgetting about everything. Nothing was on his mind except chakra. The gangs, his mom, his dad, his teacher, and food were all out of his mind. Hoemis smiled as he looked at his student. "This is called meditating. I want you to meditate until you feel like you should stop." Zeno heard his teacher, but he didn''t reply. He just kept on meditating. Hoemis stood up and left his student alone. He knew from meditating that the first time would take a while, so he went to the console to let Zeno meditate by himself. Hoemis looked around and saw Karl sitting down on the couch, watching the world. "Master, what are you doing?" Karl turned to look at Hoemis. "Nothing much, just looking and seeing what''s going on in the world. Want to see?" Hoemis nodded and sat down beside Karl. "So what has happened in the world?" "Not much, but something big is happening soon. The Lord of the Skies, which is the strongest dragon, is planning an attack on the floating city of the Ancient Ones." "What?! I need to inform them." "No, you will not," Karl said in a serious tone. "The Ancient Ones have lived for over a thousand years. They have suffered many casualties through the years and will find a way to get through this as they always have." Hoemis nodded. He wanted to help the Ancient Ones, or at least tell them what is happening, but he understood what his master said. "When is the Lord of the Skies attacking?" "That I do not know. He plans to gather an army of dragons and when he has enough, he will attack." "How strong are these dragons?" "Let me check." Karl brought up a screen showing the details of dragons and read it. "They have an average level of 150, but their numbers aren''t as numerous as the other races." "I hope everything will be alright." Karl chuckled. "You know, for a God of Destruction, you sure aren''t happy about destruction." "I still enjoy destruction, but I enjoyed my time in the floating city, even if it was only for a few days." "Don''t worry, I don''t want the Ancient Ones going extinct, so if their numbers go below a certain number, I''ll let you help them." Hoemis nodded. "I understand. Is there anything else that has happened in the world?" "Yeah. Remember chakra? A lot of people around the world are experimenting with this new energy, even humans." "Yes, that''s what I would expect most people to do." "I know, but do you know that most shocking part? It isn''t the Samians, Ancient Ones, Dwarves, Humans, or Lolleons that are having the most success with chakra, it''s monsters." "That is interesting. Surely it must be intelligent monsters like dragons?" "Well, surprisingly, it''s monsters that are not as intelligent. You see, they rely more on their instincts, so chakra comes naturally to them, but intelligent beings will always be better." "I see. That does make sense. Master, did you know that Senior Adum has his own religion?" Karl nodded. "I have heard of that, I believe they''re called the Cult of Adum." "I kind of want my own religion," Hoemis said, slightly jealous of Adum. "Thinking about it, I already do. Maybe I should teach my followers Destruction Magic?" "Go for it, just make sure you choose someone good." "Yeah, I will, but it probably won''t happen in a while. I have a student you see, and I need to make him strong." Karl already knew that Hoemis had a student from watching the kid training. "Why don''t you teach your student Destruction Magic?" "Why didn''t I think of that? Master, you are truly a genius." Karl slapped his forehead. "I''m not a genius, I was just thinking logically. Now, shouldn''t you head back down to your student?" 37 Immortality Hoemis waved his hand in front of him. "Don''t worry about it. It''s his first time meditating and he''ll probably meditate for a couple of hours, so I don''t have to worry about him for now." Karl nodded. "Since you''re gonna be here for a while, do you want to watch an anime?" "Yes, I''ve been wanting to continue the anime that we were watching." Hoemis looked around. "Where''s Mutyx? Is he not watching with us?" "Nope, he said he had to do something." Karl pointed at the other couch. "Go over there, I want to lay down." Hoemis nodded and laid down on the other couch. "So what are we watching?" "It''s a different one about pirates," Karl replied. "Pirates? What are those?" Hoemis asked, wondering what pirates were. "They''re criminals at sea. It''s better if I let the show explain it." Karl turned on the T.V. and the first episode of the anime started. As the two watched the anime, Mutyx was in the iron fortress of the dwarves. He had gotten inspiration from Hoemis and decided that he would also teach people about crafting. Mutyx didn''t have any money, so he made his own. Using magic, he made a bar of gold. Usually, anything created by magic would usually disappear, unless it was made by Divine Mana. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Using the bar of gold, Mutyx bought a plot of land near the middle of the city where it would gain a lot of exposure. There, he built himself a workshop where he can sell the weapons he made and teach any apprentices. Mutyx named the workshop, ''The Eternal Flame''. It''s named that because there''s only one flame in the workshop. The flame is the hottest thing in the world, even surpassing the fire of a dragon. It''s a bright white and the only way for it to go out is if its creator wishes for it to. Overall, the workshop looked luxurious and attracted quite a bit of customers. Due to this, Mutyx had been very busy. The average price he sold the swords he made was 1 gold and 10 silver. Of course, it was just a plain iron sword. There wasn''t anything special about it, except that it was good quality. Some more wealthy customers asked him for a custom sword. These custom swords were either enchanted, made with better materials, or were just for looks. On average, these custom swords were sold for 10 gold. Word spread around about Mutyx''s workshop, ''The Eternal Flame''. It had good swords for a low price, at least compared to other workshops. Mutyx''s business was booming and he had accumulated a lot of money. Mutyx''s main focus wasn''t money, but he didn''t mind it. What he really wanted was a student, but there was no one that wanted to be his student. It wasn''t because they didn''t want to be his student, but that they just assumed his requirements would be tough. Other businesses didn''t like The Eternal Flame. Day by day, they lost more and more customers. The king didn''t commission weapons from them and has started exclusively buying from Mutyx. As Mutyx was cleaning up and preparing to close the workshop, a mysterious man with a cloak came in. Mutyx turned to him and motioned for him to leave. "Go, I''m closing, ye can order whatever ye want tomorrow." "Please, it''s very urgent. I''ll pay whatever you want," the cloaked man said with a scratchy voice. Mutyx sighed. "Fine, be quick." "I''m not asking for a weapon. I want an item that will let me live forever." Mutyx laughed, slapping his knee. "Listen here, ye dinna have enough money ta afford that." "But you can make it, right?" "Aye, I can, but as I said, ye kinna afford it." The cloaked man coughed. "Please, how much will it cost. Tell me." Mutyx stroked his beard, thinking up a price. "Probably aboot four thousand gold." The man''s eyes went wide when he heard the price. "I can''t afford it as you said, but is there anything I can do? I''ll do anything." Mutyx chuckled. "Ye really want ta live forever, huh. How do ye feel aboot this? I''ll make ye an item that will make ye live forever, an'' even make ye young again, but ye have ta serve me until tha end o'' time." The man had to consider his choices. Don''t be a slave, but die, or be a slave, but live forever. In the end, he wanted to live forever and he would do whatever it takes to not die. "I''ll do it. I''ll serve you." "Perfect. Follow me." Mutyx went to the forge, the man close behind him. He turned up the heat and took out his golden hammer. "What will you create it out of?" "Life." Mutyx started hammering at something invisible. "What do you mean?" Mutyx didn''t reply and kept hammering. After a while, a green ring started to form. He hammered it a couple more times, making sure it was perfect. Once he was satisfied, he channeled his divine mana and started enchanting the ring. The enchanting didn''t take long and Mutyx was soon finished. "All done." "That fast? Are you sure it works?" The man was skeptical. "O'' course it works. This thing be made o'' life, tha concept o'' life. As long as ye wear this ring, ye will never die. It''ll also turn ye back ta your prime. Try it." The man grabbed the ring, being careful not to drop it. Slowly, he placed it on his right index finger. As soon as he did that, the ring started glowing a bright green. The man''s wrinkly old skin changed, becoming younger and smoother. His scratchy voice changed to a soothing and melodic voice. The man''s weak and frail body became younger and became invigorated with energy. "Wow! It really worked!" the man exclaimed. He took off his cloak, revealing a male Ancient One. "Thank you! I will serve you forever. My name is Garrik." 38 Garrik Garrik kneeled before his new master. "How is this possible? I''ve been scammed numerous times and expected to be scammed again, but it worked." Mutyx laughed. "Since yer going ta serve me until tha end o'' time, I guess I can let ye in on a secret. I''m a god, tha God o'' Crafting." Discovering Mutyx''s identity, Garrik now knew how making an item like this was so easy for him. He didn''t even question if Mutyx was telling the truth as he was his savior. "It''s an honor. I will do whatever you need me of." "Dinna be so formal." Mutyx motioned for Garrik to stand up. "I need ye ta help me around tha shop. Dinna worry, ye can do whatever ye want on tha weekends, any questions?" Garrik stood up. "I understand. Master Mutyx, I do have one question. I''ve been around for a long time and heard of the different gods here and there. You of course, Aphy, the God of Magic, and Hoemis, the God of Destruction. Are they also real?" Mutyx nodded. "Aye, they be. I know Hoemis be in tha floating city, but I have nae idea where Aphy be." Mutyx cleaned up the shop, turning off the lights, closing the doors and modifying the enchantment so Garrik could lock the doors and open it freely. He walked up to Garrik, who was admiring the green ring on his finger. "Do whatever ye want for now. I''ve made it so ye can lock tha door. There''s an empty room upstairs, ye can sleep there if ye want." Garrik nodded and Mutyx disappeared, leaving him alone. Being alone, he wanted to test out something. He grabbed one of the swords that were hanging on the wall and held it above his arm. Garrik wanted to test if he was really unkillable. He switched arms, realizing that the arm he was about to cut was the one that had the ring. With a swift motion, he brought the sword down on his arm, cutting it clean off. Garrik screamed at the top of his lungs as his severed arm dropped to the floor, spraying blood everywhere. It hurt, he didn''t expect to hurt that much, but the pain soon disappeared. Suddenly, the bleeding stopped and Garrik''s arm started to regenerate. Bones appeared, then muscles, and then his skin. His arm was back and there was no trace of it being cut, except for the blood on the floor and the severed arm. "It worked!" Garrik was thankful. Having his arm cut off was painful. If it wasn''t for the ring, he would''ve probably passed out. He touched the new arm all around, seeing if there was anything wrong. Everything was alright, but Garrik made a big mess. On the floor was a pool of blood, and a severed arm, he had to clean it up or his master would be mad. When Garrik was young, he was a pretty successful mage, so now that he was back in his prime, all he had to do was cast a water spell that would clean the whole shop. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. It was pretty easy and it didn''t take Garrik long to clean all the blood on the floor and burn the arm. After he was done, he went upstairs to the empty room to rest, but there was a problem. The empty room was just that, empty. There wasn''t even anything in it. Since the room was empty, Garrik decided that he would just sleep at an inn. He left the shop and made sure to lock the door behind him. Meanwhile, in the console, Karl, Hoemis, and Mutyx were all watching the anime. Mutyx had come not too long ago and joined Karl and Hoemis. Hoemis and Karl have been watching the anime for a couple of hours before Mutyx joined in. "That''s right, beat them up," Hoemis called out as he watched the fight scene. "You like the anime, don''t you?" Karl asked Hoemis. Hoemis nodded. "It''s very interesting and the fighting is good." As they were watching, Hoemis realized that he spent far too long watching anime and completely forgot about Zeno. "Oh no! How long have we been watching?" "I don''t know. A while," Karl replied. "Sorry, I''m going to have to go. I forgot about my student," Hoemis said, disappearing shortly after. Hoemis appeared in his dojo at the perfect time. Zeno had finally finished his first meditation and was getting up and stretching his limbs. Zeno saw his teacher and made a quick bow. "Teacher, how long have I been meditating?" Hoemis didn''t know how long his student was meditating, so he looked outside and saw that it was morning, which meant that Zeno had meditated for a whole day. "It seems that you''ve meditated for a whole day." "A whole day?!" Zeno asked, surprised. "I don''t even feel tired." Hoemis chuckled. "That''s normal. You see, meditating is a way to charge your chakra and improve it. It also increases your recovery rate, so make sure to meditate if possible when you''re injured." "I understand." Zeno''s stomach grumbled, reminding him of his mom. "Ah, I forgot. My mom must be worried sick. Teacher, can I please visit my mom and have a quick breakfast?" "I don''t mind, just make sure you come right back for training." Zeno nodded and left the dojo, making his way home. Hoemis was about to sit down and meditate, but he was interrupted by a knock on the door. He went to the door, opening it. "Hello? The ad at the front said I could be strong?" a man said, looking up at Hoemis because of the difference in height. Hoemis looked at the man. He appeared to be an ancient one that was an adult, but Hoemis knew that the man wasn''t what he looked like. The man was using magic to disguise what he really looked like. Hoemis didn''t really care that the man was hiding his identity, as he was just happy that someone was interested in becoming his student. Hoemis smiled at the man. "Yes, are you interested by any chance?" 39 Lionell Hoemis smiled at the man. "Yes, are you interested by any chance?" The man nodded, his magic disguise flickering a little. "Yes. I asked around the city for a dojo, but they all said to either join the military or go to the city of the Lolleons as they focused more on close combat. I looked around and managed to find your dojo." "Hmm, I don''t mind being your teacher." "That''s wonderful!" the man said, overjoyed. "When can I be taught." Hoemis put his hand out in front of himself. "Wait for just a second, I have one condition. Get rid of whatever this disguise that you have cast on yourself." The man''s eyes went wide as he realized that Hoemis knew he was wearing a disguise. "What do you mean? I''m not wearing a disguise." He pinched his fake skin trying to show it was real, but it made his disguise flicker a bit. "Oh come on. Your disguise isn''t even that good. Look." Hoemis grabbed the man''s hand and waved it around, making his disguise on his hand disappear for a second. "I''m surprised you haven''t been reported to the guards with how bad your disguise is." The man pulled his arm away. "Fine, you got me. Can I take off my disguise inside?" Hoemis nodded and moved out of the way so the man could enter. As the man entered the dojo, Hoemis closed the door behind him. "Give me a second." The man''s appearance started glowing before disappearing, revealing his real appearance. He resembled the appearance of a human, with some differences here and there. His skin was tan, and his arms, which were long and great for swinging on trees, had hair running along its topside. The man was shirtless and had a tuft of hair on his chest above his abs. The man fixed his hair, which was blonde, and introduced himself, "Hello! My name is Lionell and I''m a Samian." Hoemis looked at Lionell. "That was quite a change. My name''s Hoemis. Samians, isn''t that the mysterious race that lives in the jungle below?" Lionell nodded. "Yes, we are. We evolved from monkeys and for some reason, our elders have made a law to not have contact with any other race." "Really? That''s a weird law. Well, what are you doing here then?" "That''s what I thought too. As you can see, I''ve broken the law and have been exiled. They''ve deployed assassins to kill me, so I came here to become stronger and protect myself." "That is bad. Don''t worry, you''ve come to the right place. Here, I''ll make you as strong as the gods, well... Maybe not as strong as the gods, but the ones below them... And the ones below that... Whatever just know that I''ll make you strong." Lionell bowed. "Thank you, teacher." Just then, the door opened and Zeno came into the dojo. "Teacher! I''m back." Hoemis turned to look at Zeno. "Zeno, welcome back. I''d like to introduce you to your classmate, Lionell." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Lionell also turned to Zeno. "Nice to meet you." Zeno looked at Lionell, looking him up and down. He had never seen Lionell''s kind, so he was completely new to him. "Umm, what are you? You aren''t like teacher or me." Lionell laughed. "I''m a Samian. We live down below in the jungle, living in the trees." "Samian? I still don''t know what that is." Hoemis interrupted their conversation. "Don''t worry about it. Now, you need to do your daily exercises." Zeno nodded and got on the floor, starting with his pushups. Hoemis turned back to Lionell. "As for you, just do pushups until you collapse." "That''s it?" Lionell asked. Hoemis nodded. "Yes, now quickly do it." Zeno watched as Lionell started doing his pushups. He smiled a little as he could finally see someone else suffer the same torture that his teacher made him do. After a few minutes, Lionell collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily as he tried to catch his breath. He looked at Hoemis. "Now what?" "Do it again," Hoemis replied. "How? I can''t do any more pushups." "Not with that attitude." Hoemis approached Lionell and used magic to return his strength and stamina. "How did you do that?" Lionell didn''t feel tired and his strength was back. "You don''t need to know. Now, do it again." Hoemis replied. Lionell followed his instructions and went back to doing pushups again. After about two hours, the two were finally finished with their daily exercises and were now ready to do their real training. Zeno and Lionell were laying on the ground covered in sweat. Their mouths were open as they panted. Hoemis used magic on the two, revitalizing them. "Zeno, go practice the moves I taught you on the dummy. Lionell, come here." Zeno nodded and went to the dummies, practicing the moves and making sure he wasted no energy with every move. Lionell stood up and walked up to Hoemis. "Yes?" "You use a weapon, right? I was looking at you and figured you use a weapon," Hoemis said. "Yes, I do. It''s something called a Bo Staff." "I don''t know if we have that, but follow me." Hoemis went to the armory where there were dozens of weapons everywhere. "Look around and tell me if you find it." Lionell took a look around the room. There were a lot of weapons like swords, gauntlets, claws, and daggers, but those weren''t his weapon of choice. He used a traditional weapon that his father and his father''s father used. The Bo Staff was one of the first weapons that the Samians used, due to its simple shape. After looking around the armory, Lionell eventually found a bo staff. It was made out of steel and was very high quality. "Found one," Lionell told Hoemis. "Perfect." Hoemis took a look at the bo staff. "I don''t know much about the bo staff, but I''m very good at fighting." Hoemis left the armory and went to the mat, Lionell right behind him. "I don''t fight with weapons, but all of them have one thing in common." 40 Even More Training Hoemis explained to Lionell that even though he doesn''t fight with a weapon, there''s one thing that ties them together. "Just like fighting barehanded, you have to be efficient with your movements. Don''t waste energy." Hoemis punched the air a couple of times, demonstrating completely efficient punches. "All those punches wasted no energy. Now, I want you to try to hit me with your staff. If you somehow manage to hit me, which you won''t, I''ll reward you with something valuable," Hoemis ordered. Lionell was a bit angry that Hoemis looked down on him, so he would try to prove him wrong. He held his staff with a firm grip and without hesitation, he brought it up and swung it down at Hoemis. Hoemis moved to the side, dodging the staff with no effort. "Go up and put all your strength into it when you go down, don''t add anything else." Lionell twirled the staff, the other end of the staff heading for Hoemis''s chest. "Good effort, but that isn''t going to cut it." Hoemis ducked, the staff missed him and went past his head. "Remember what I said, make the minimal amount of movement with the most strength." Lionell started to become angrier. Hoemis was just toying with him and didn''t even take him seriously. He tightened his grip around the staff and thrust the other end at him multiple times. Hoemis sighed as he dodged the staff. "Don''t let anger affect your judgment. Use it to make you stronger and listen to what I''m saying." Lionell placed the other end of the staff on the ground and used it to propel himself towards Hoemis, trying to kick him. "I am listening." "No, you''re not." Hoemis moved to the side, dodging Lionell''s kick. "That was very creative using the staff to push you forward, but you need to be more efficient." For the next hour or so, it continued like this. Eventually, Lionell did listen to Hoemis''s instruction and he did get better, but no matter how hard he tried, Hoemis would just dodge and instruct him on how to get better. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Good, but stop spinning your staff like that, you''re not even trying to hit anyone," Hoemis instructed. Lionell tried to hit Hoemis, but just like always, Hoemis dodged his attack without even breaking a sweat. "Alright, that''s enough for today. Continue practicing on the dummy," Hoemis ordered. Lionell nodded and went over to the dummies. He was sweating buckets, but Hoemis didn''t even sweat, not one little drop. "Zeno! Come over here," Hoemis yelled from across the room. "Huh?" Zeno was startled by his name being called. "I said come over here." "Ahh." Zeno wiped the sweat off his forehead and went over to his teacher. "Yes?" "I''m gonna teach you some more moves, but as you do them, I want you to use chakra to enhance yourself, alright?" Zeno nodded before saying something, "I don''t know if I can do that. I still don''t have a lot of control over my chakra." "That''s alright. I''m not expecting you to master chakra in a day. Just try your best." Hoemis showed Zeno the moves, telling him what he should do and not do and when these moves should be used. "Alright, try them and make sure you try and use your chakra." Zeno nodded and bent his knees, replicating the moves that his teacher showed him and trying to circulate his chakra in his body. It wasn''t perfect, it was nowhere near perfect, but he was getting there. "Is that good?" "It''s ok, not good. Remember to be efficient. Every movement must have a purpose. You''re staying here until you can go from ok to good. Do it again." Nodding, Zeno tried the move, listening closely and doing what his teacher instructs him. He blanked his mind and focused solely on copying the move. "Alright, here''s the next move." Hoemis performed the next move and just like last time, he told Zeno what he should do and not do. "Move with your fist as you punch, increasing its power. Alright, try it." Zeno took a deep breath and replicated the move. This went on for the entire day. Once Zeno was good at a move, Hoemis went to the next move and taught him it. As Zeno was being instructed by Hoemis, Lionell was hitting the training dummy with his staff and doing what Hoemis told him. Be efficient, everything must have a purpose, your moves must be simple, but still unpredictable. Hoemis looked outside and saw the moon high in the sky. He clapped his hands, making a loud sound and attracting the attention of Zeno and Lionell. "That''s enough training for today. Zeno, you can head home now, make sure you meditate before going to sleep. Lionell, you can keep the staff and head home now." Zeno bowed and made his way out of the dojo, heading home. "Goodbye teacher!" he said, waving. Hoemis waved goodbye. "Make sure you come early tomorrow!" Lionell walked up to Hoemis, a bit embarrassed. "I... Uh... I don''t have a place to sleep, and I also don''t have any money." Hoemis rubbed his chin. "I figured that. You can sleep on the mat, are you fine with that?" Lionell nodded. "Yes, I am ok with that. We Samians don''t like sleeping on really soft surfaces, so the mat is perfect." "You Samians are weird. You look like Humans, but you have more hair." Lionell cocked his head to the side. All his life, he had never heard of a species called Humans. "Humans? I don''t think I''ve heard of them, which is weird if they look like us." "Don''t worry about it. You''ll probably meet them in the future, but right now, get some rest." Lionell was still curious, but he dropped it as he was really tired. "Thank you." Lionell closed his eyes, yawning and when he opened them, he found that Hoemis had disappeared, nowhere to be seen. 41 Ari In the console, Karl was looking over the world and admiring his creation. He looked at what the different gods did. Adum was in the afterlife, doing his job like he always did. Hoemis was in his dojo, teaching his new student. Aphy was a teacher and enjoyed her job. Last but not least, Mutyx made someone immortal. Karl enjoyed his world. It might not be perfect as with anything, there was still evil. In fact, as Karl was looking over the world, a hundred dragons have gathered and are planning to attack the Ancient Ones'' biggest city. Even with all of that, it was still his creation. As Karl surveyed his world, he suddenly got a notification from the system. [You have received a PM.] Playing games basically his whole life, he knew what PM meant, it stood for private message. This was the first time he had received a PM, and he didn''t even know if it was possible. "Open the message," Karl ordered the system. [Ari:] Hello! My name is Ari, a fellow god. Please respond as soon as you get this. Karl figured that there were other gods like him, but he didn''t know that you could contact them. A virtual keyboard appeared in front of him as he thought of replying. [Karl:] Hello, Ari. This is a surprise. To be honest, I didn''t even know you could contact other gods, but I never tried. Why did you contact me? With the press of a button, the message was sent. After a few seconds, Karl received a reply. [Ari:] That''s ok. The system doesn''t really help you after the starting tutorial. I am contacting you because you are one of the new gods that have joined recently. I am a pretty old god and have done a good job surviving thus far. I''m inviting you to my club, which helps new gods. [Karl:] You''re not wrong about that. I am interested, but how do I know you aren''t lying? And even then, what do I gain from joining your club? [Ari:] You won''t know that I''m lying, so you''ll just have to trust me on this one. There are a lot of things to gain from joining my club. You''ll have allies that will help you out in wars with other gods, we can help you if you''re running low on points, if you''re ever confused, we''ll help you out in the club chat. What about this, you can ask me one question, and I''ll give you some info about it. Karl considered whether he should join the club. It seemed like it would be a good choice if he joined, and he did want to know about some stuff. He considered what question he should ask, before making up his mind. [Karl:] Hmm, what is this war with other gods? [Ari:] Oh! That''s easy and that''s one of the first things newbies ask. You see, once a planet becomes strong enough, dimensional rifts will open that lead to other gods'' worlds. Don''t worry, rifts won''t happen all the time, and you''ll get matched with other gods of the same ranking as you. If you want more info, you''ll have to join, so will you? In the end, Karl chose to join, as it would benefit him now and in the future. [Karl:] I''ll join, but I have one more question. Can I leave whenever I want? [Ari:] Yes, of course. You can leave whenever you want. I''ll invite you now. [Ari has invited you to the club, [New Gods and Gods Community].] [Will you join?] [Y/N] "Yes, I will join," Karl replied. [You have joined the club, [New Gods and Gods Community].] [You now have access to [Club Chat].] Right as Karl joined the club, he received another message from Ari. [Ari:] Nice, you joined! Welcome, and we''ll do our best to help you with anything. If you''re confused about anything, PM me, or ask people in the club chat. [Karl:] Can you tell me about the additional info about wars? [Ari:] Of course! Even though it''s called wars, you don''t have to go to war with the other god. You can befriend the other god and you can send some of your people to their world and they can send their people to your world. [Karl:] Alright, that makes sense. What about the rifts? Do they stay there forever? [Ari:] It depends. If you go to war with another god and you win, you will now own their world and anything on it, and the rift will forever be there. If you befriend the god instead, you and the other god can either choose to keep it open or close it. If no one wins the war and you don''t befriend the other god, the rift will eventually disappear. Is that all? [Karl:] Yes, that''s all, but I''ll probably ask a bit more questions when I get confused. [Ari:] That''s fine. Ask as much as you want. If I don''t respond, ask someone else as I''m probably busy. Karl closed his PMs and wondered about some stuff. He wondered about what he would do if he was in a war with another god. Obviously, he would try to befriend them, but if that didn''t work, then it would be kill or be killed. Karl looked over at Mutyx, who had been watching the anime about pirates. "I just had tha greatest idea," Mutyx said. "Oh yeah? What''s that?" Karl asked. "Tha ships in this anime be for water, but what if I create one for tha air? It''s genius, isn''t it?" "It''s genius alright, but would you even use it? Aren''t you occupied with your shop and now you have a new assistant." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Yer right. I probably wouldn''t even use it. Aha, maybe I can hide it somewhere an'' bury treasure in it for someone ta find?" Karl nodded. "It sounds good. Whoever finds it will be a very lucky man. This floating ship would probably be a legendary artifact." 42 City in the Afterlife "Aye, it definitely will be, but where shou'' i hide it?" Mutyx asked. "Well, why don''t you hide it close to the humans? They''re quite far from everyone, so a big floating ship would help them out," Karl suggested. "Great idea, master. I shall also put me name on tha ship so that they will know me name." "Sounds good." Mutyx waved goodbye as he descended into the world and got to work on building the floating ship. Left alone, Karl decided to do a checkup on the afterlife. Instead of watching it from the console, he felt it would be best to descend as an immortal. With a snap of his fingers and a simple request to the system, he appeared in the afterlife. To make sure that races don''t think they''re superior, Karl descended as a golden figure. Karl was a bright and golden humanoid figure who exuded an aura of divinity. He looked around in the afterlife and saw how dark it was. The afterlife was a perpetual night. There was a bright moon in the night sky, but it did little to nothing in brightening the afterlife. Souls of dead beings roamed the afterlife, waiting for their time to reincarnate. To Karl''s surprise, there was a city in the afterlife. Everything in the afterlife is made by something called Spiritual Mana. Spiritual Mana is something that can only be accessed by spiritual beings, or beings that have suffered a near-death experience. Spiritual Mana is essential to spiritual beings, as it''s directly related to how long they''ll live. The Kaitera, reapers of the world and responsible for bringing the wandering souls in the mortal plane to the afterlife, rely on Spiritual Mana. The strongest Kaitera is also the oldest. For rational beings in the afterlife, they don''t have to worry about their spiritual mana, as the afterlife will supply them with the minimum spiritual mana to live until they reincarnate. Spiritual Mana is also different in a way that it can be used to shape the afterlife. Using this, the residents of the afterlife have built the only city in the afterlife. Of course, there are laws. Changing the afterlife on something that isn''t their land will have their waiting time for reincarnation lengthened. Karl walked through the city in the afterlife, trying to find Adum. He was a walking beacon, attracting attention wherever he went. The residents of the afterlife had never seen anything like him before, and the closest thing is the Kaitera with their black, smoky bodies. Just like all cities, this one had guards. The guards were Kaiteras, who was assigned to guard the city and punish anyone breaking the law. Karl has attracted so much attention that the guards were confronting him. Three guards approached Karl. With each step, they left a trail of black smoke behind them that slowly disappeared. The guard at the front looked at Karl with its glowing red eyes. "Who are you? Sorry, let me rephrase that. What are you?" Karl smiled at the guard, his golden eyes staring into the guard. "You do not need to know what I am. I''m here to talk to Adum." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Why do you need to talk to our master?" the guard asked. "Do I need a reason? I''m his master. I''m just going to ask him how things are going," Karl replied. Although it seemed absurd that their master, the God of Death, had another master, for some reason, it sounded believable. Karl gave off the aura of a god, just like Adum, only way stronger. "I don''t know if we can believe that. Our master is a god, and there''s nothing else above a god." "It doesn''t matter. I will meet with Adum either way. I assume he lives in that big building?" Karl let out an aura of dominance, making the residents that were watching the whole commotion go down on their knees. The three guards somehow managed to keep their ground and manifested their weapons. A sword appeared for the guard at the front, a spear for the guard at the side, and a bow for the guard at the back. "What did you do?" the guard asked. It was indeed a sight. People were down on their knees, kneeling to Karl as a force pushed them down. The guards'' legs were shaking as they tried to resist the power and stay standing up. Karl didn''t reply and started walking towards the big building that he suspected was Adum''s home. Seeing that Karl ignored them, one of the guards charged at him, its sword headed for his head. The other guard was right beside him, thrusting his spear at Karl''s stomach. An arrow flew through the air, shot by the other guard, aiming for Karl''s foot. Karl didn''t even care and kept on walking. Before the situation could escalate further, the guards'' weapons disappeared, reduced to dust. The sword, spear, and the bow and arrow became dust. "Stand down!" a Kaitera with glowing bright eyes said. This wasn''t a normal Kaitera. This was Adum, the God of Death. He had detected his master''s presence and went to check it, finding him attacked by the three guards. Immediately, he ''killed'' the guards'' weapons, turning them into dust. Karl turned to see Adum. "Adum, thank god you found me. That big building looks far away, and I don''t know if I could walk that far." "Master, what are you doing here?" Adum looked at the big building. "Did you think I lived there? That''s a school." "School? What''s taught there?" Karl asked. "It''s for the new Kaitera. The teachers teach them the dos and don''ts of transferring a soul to the afterlife. There''s also a few more, but that''s the main thing. Now, can you tell me why you''re here?" "Hmm, interesting. Instead of calling you to the console, I decided to come here and meet with you to see what has been happening in the afterlife." "I appreciate that you came here, but next time you do this, please inform me before you come. I''ll tell you about what''s been happening in my office." 43 Demon The residents of the afterlife were shocked at hearing that Adum had a master. Adum having a master meant that there was something above a god. Adum told the three guards to go back to what they were doing. The guards were shaken, the mysterious force that was pushing them down, and trying to make them kneel was powerful. They would remember Karl for the rest of their lives. Karl listened to Adum and followed him to his office. As they walked, Adum asked Karl a question, "Master, what is that form you''re taking?" "Well, I couldn''t take a form of an existing race, or else they''d think they were superior, so I chose this form. Why? Do you not like it?" Karl explained. "No, it''s not that. That makes sense, and I like it. I think it suits you very much, master," Adum replied. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Adum greeted two guards as he entered his office. "So, this is where I do my work." Karl looked around. It was very white. It looked as if everything was made out of marble. "Did you create all of this? It looks good." Adum nodded. "Yes, I was the first to discover that you could shape the afterlife with spiritual mana." He grabbed a chair for Karl. "Please, take a seat." Karl took a seat, and Adum sat across from him. "So, what would you like to know?" Adum asked. "Anything. Good or bad, I don''t care," Karl replied. Adum nodded. "Well, some of the souls are becoming reapers like the Kaitera." "How does that work?" Karl asked, curious. "They go to school and are taught everything that a Kaitera knows. This is a temporary job, as the more souls they transport to the afterlife, the less time they need to wait for reincarnation." "That''s pretty smart. So is that what the bad people are doing to shorten their waiting time?" "Ehh... Not exactly. Some people have done a lot of bad things that I''ve sentenced them to over a thousand years in the afterlife. As you can expect, they didn''t like this very much. A small, evil group of spirits has gone around, recruiting the evilest beings in the afterlife, and they''re trying to find a way to break out of the afterlife." "That''s bad. Have they made any progress?" "Unfortunately, yes. They call themselves demons, and they''ve managed to corrupt spiritual mana to create their own type of mana that only they can use, Demonic Mana." "Demonic Mana? How different is it to the other types of mana?" "Very different. It''s an evil power that will corrupt the user no matter what, at least that''s what we''ve seen. Using Demonic Mana, they''ve made themselves a physical body and have managed to change their species." "Let me guess. Their new race is called demons?" "Yes. Demons come in many shapes and sizes. Sometimes, the user wants to look as they were before, or something completely different. Whatever the form, all demons have black eyes, if they have any. Their mana is a deep crimson, and they all have horns." Although Karl knew that they were evil, he couldn''t help but like them as they sounded badass. "So how many demons are out there? And have they managed to break out of the afterlife?" Adum shook his head. "Thankfully, they haven''t broken out of the afterlife, but they will eventually. I''ve been finding small rips in the afterlife. They''re small enough that nothing will escape, but that means that the demons have found a way to escape. It''s only a matter of time before they perfect it and escape." "And for the demons'' numbers, there aren''t that many, only about 24, but we found out that anyone can turn into a demon as long as they accept the demonic mana, they''ll turn into a demon," Adum continued. "Hmm, so I could turn into a demon?" Karl asked. "That is highly unlikely. You are my master, the Supreme God. You''ll only turn into a demon if you wish to be one." Karl laughed. "You''re right. Can I see one of these demons? If it''s possible." Adum nodded. "Yes, we have one in prison, but please be warned, it''s repulsive." "That''s fine, but it does make me wonder. If it can choose what it can look like, why''d this one choose to be ugly?" "Our theory is that it was originally a monster, probably a slime. You''ll see why, follow me." Karl nodded and followed Adum out of his office and to the prison. The prison looked pretty good, and looked nothing like a prison, but on the front were six big, and bold letters, P-R-I-S-O-N. As Karl entered the prison, he passed through a secure gate and followed Adum down a set of stairs. They kept going down until they arrived at the basement of the prison. "Only the worst are kept here. The good thing is, there''s only one being here, the demon," Adum told Karl. "That''s good," Karl replied as Adum led him to the demon''s cell. Karl saw that the entire cell was made entirely with transparent material, showcasing the demon in its full view. The demon was repulsive, alright. It looked to be a massive blob of flesh with eight horns atop its head. Black eyes dotted the sides of its body as it moved across the cell. "It is repulsive. What if it breaks out of this glass cell?" Karl asked. "Don''t worry, the chances of that happening are close to none. I made this cell myself with my spiritual mana, and the only thing stronger than that is Aphy''s and yours," Adum replied. "Ok, that''s good." Karl scrutinized the demon. "It does resemble a slime. Do you think it can shapeshift?" Karl asked. "Maybe. I know that when a mortal slime gets strong enough, it can shapeshift, so this demon slime probably could." The demon looked at the two with its many eyes. It made its way towards the two, pressing itself on the glass. "It doesn''t seem very smart," Karl said. 44 Demon King "It''s not, but it is strong." Adum looked at the demon with disgust. "The demons know that we''ve taken one of them, so they''ll definitely try to help it out." "How did you even capture this demon?" Karl tapped on the glass, making the demon move. "The residents of the city were reporting what they called a ball of flesh that was alive. At first, we didn''t take it seriously, but we were forced to when it started devouring people." "It devoured people?" "Yup, it just absorbed them, making itself stronger." As much as that was evil, Karl thought it was badass. Meanwhile, far away from the city of the dead, eight demons were having a meeting. These eight demons are the strongest demons, with each one of them sentenced to over ten thousand years in the afterlife. A male demon covered in rock-like scales spoke first, "When can we escape this hell?" This wasn''t an ordinary male demon. It was the one who created demonic mana and the first demon, The Demon King. "Ssssoooon," a female demon said. Her lower body resembled that of a snake''s, and she had a long tongue. "We are making big progressss. The dimensional ripssss are almosssst big enough for ussss to crossss." The Demon King nodded. "That is very good, Sthise. When do you think we''ll be able to escape?" Sthise blushed, her tail wagging back and forth. "Maybe in a week? It''ssss hard to ssssay." "Good, we''ll finally be able to go back to the mortal realm." The Demon King looked around at the other demons. "Does anyone have something else important?" A male demon that resembled a tiger spoke up, "My king, I have something important." "What is it?" the Demon King asked. "We didn''t think it would be possible, but we''ve found a Kaitera that wants to be a demon," the tiger demon replied. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Interesting. Are you sure it''s not a spy?" "That is unlikely as even if it''s a spy, the demonic mana will corrupt it, turning it to our side." The Demon King laughed. "Good, good." Back to Karl and Adum, they were back in Adum''s office. "So, anything else?" Adum asked. "No, that should be it," Karl replied. "Master, can I ask you something?" "Go for it." "What should we do about the demons? They''re evil and will cause a lot of chaos in the world. If you want, I can go and eliminate them right now." "NO! You mustn''t interfere. Let things happen, and I''ll tell you if you can interfere." Adum nodded. "I understand." "Good. Now, I''m gonna go and explore the world." Karl waved goodbye at Adum and disappeared. Karl changed his form, appearing as an elderly human. He had a long beard, and he wore white clothes. For his first destination, he went to the floating city of the Ancient Ones. Karl laughed, looking around. "A lot of things have changed." Karl walked through the streets, following the crowd. He didn''t have a set destination; he just wanted to walk around and see everything. A lot of things have changed in the city of the Ancient Ones. What used to be a city on the rooftops of the jungle, was now floating and looked over it. The discovery of mana and dungeons was like the industrial revolution. As the race that was most proficient with magic, most items were based on mana. People''s houses were enchanted that so long mana was supplied, it would be just the right temperature. Of course, the city charged people with how much mana they used, and that was their mana bill for the month. Houses weren''t the only thing that has changed in the past thousand years. Weapons have changed significantly. The dwarves discovered enchanting, and the Ancient Ones soon after. Enchanting usually paid very well, as good enchantments were very expensive. People used enchantments in a variety of ways. Making a sword sharper, or sturdier, or even give it the power to wield fire. Using enchantments, the Ancient Ones made something called a mana battery. These were bright crystal orbs that held a certain amount of mana, depending on the quality of enchantment. These mana batteries were very popular with mages as a backup in case they ran out of mana. Mana is an essential resource to the Ancient Ones, but there was one thing everyone knew about mana. Everything mana creates, would eventually disappear and transform back to mana. There were exceptions to that rule, like Divine Mana, but only gods and the descendants of those gods would have access to that. Since everything that mana created turned back into mana given enough time, people couldn''t just make wood out of mana and use it to build something. They had to gather the resources physically. People still used this rule to its advantage, though. Let''s say if someone washes with water that was made by mana, the water will eventually disappear. There is something that stays the same with mana though. Anything mana does, won''t change. So if a fire created out of mana burns down a forest, the forest would stay burned down, but the fire will disappear no matter what unless someone made it with divine mana. Using his divine mana, Karl created a gold coin. He was walking around the streets of the floating city when he saw someone selling street food. It looked very good, but he didn''t have any money, so he just created one. Karl approached the street vendor and looked over the list of food he could order. "Good morning sir. What would you like?" the street vendor asked Karl. Karl stroked his beard. He enjoyed it quite a bit. All his life, he never had a beard, and it felt pretty nice. "Hmmm, can I have the rabbit nuggets? Ten pieces." "Why yes, you can." Usually, the street vendor would ask the customer to pay before he made the food, but Karl was an older man and looked nice. The street vendor got to work. He had already prepared the rabbit nugget pieces, and he just had to fry them. "Thank you." Karl nodded his head at the vendor and watched him cook his food. 45 Visiting Hoemis The street vendor smiled and turned on his mana deep fryer. He filled it up with oil and placed the ten rabbit nuggets inside. It didn''t take long, and after a few minutes, the street vendor finished cooking the rabbit nuggets. The street vendor placed them in a small bag and gave it to Karl. "That''ll be a hundred copper." "Thank you very much." Karl grabbed the bag and looked inside at the nuggets, making his stomach growl at the sight of them. They looked delicious. Reaching in his pocket, he grabbed the golden coin and gave it to the vendor. "I don''t have a hundred copper coins, so take this." The street vendor let out a gasp as he grabbed the gold coin. "Are you sure? One gold coin is a lot of money for something only worth a hundred copper." "Yeah, don''t worry about it." Karl turned around and began walking again, walking with the crowd. "Thank you!" the street vendor yelled at Karl as he walked away. As he walked, Karl grabbed a piece of his rabbit nuggets and took a bite of it. "Mmmm." The rabbit nuggets tasted very good and reminded him of a certain fast-food that he ate all the time. Karl kept eating and eating. It didn''t take long for him to finish the whole bag in disappointment. "Noooo, I wanted more." Karl wanted to buy more, but he was lost and didn''t know where the vendor was, so he just kept on walking and looking around. He saw many different places - clothes, shops, shoe shops, basically anything related to fashion. After walking for so long, Karl stumbled on something familiar, a dojo. On the front was a sign that read, ''Hoemis''s Dojo'' in gold letters. Karl approached the entrance of the dojo and knocked on the door. He waited for a few seconds before the door opened, and Hoemis greeted him. "Hello, do I know you?" Hoemis didn''t know why, but this older man seemed familiar, but he didn''t know why. "It''s me, don''t you recognize me?" Karl released his divine aura that was much more intense than even Hoemis''s and Adum''s. Hoemis smiled as he realized who the older man was. "Master! What are you doing here?" Hoemis moved out of the way so Karl could enter. "Come in, come in." Karl entered the dojo and saw two people training, Zeno and Lionell. "Just exploring the world, I guess." "Well, I am honored that you came to visit my dojo." Hoemis turned to Zeno and Lionell, who were training and didn''t even notice Karl. "ZENO! LIONELL! Come over here. I have someone to introduce you to!" The two were broken out of their concentration when Hoemis yelled at them. They stopped what they were doing and made their way to Hoemis. "Don''t be so loud," Lionell said, scratching his ear. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Who is this, teacher?" Zeno asked. Hoemis smiled at the two. "This here is my master. His name is- wait, master, can I tell them your name?" Karl laughed and nodded. "Yes, go ahead." "His name is Karl." "Whoah, you have a master? Does that mean he''s stronger than you?" Zeno asked. "Yes, way stronger," Hoemis replied. "He looks weird. Like me, but he doesn''t have a tail, and he doesn''t have as much hair," Lionell commented. "That''s because I''m a human," Karl told Lionell. "Human? What are they? Are they all strong like you?" Lionell asked. "Humans are like Samians. They evolved from monkeys. Maybe not as strong as me, but I''m sure some are strong," Karl replied. "Weird, I''ve never heard of another race that evolved from monkeys." "Alright, that''s enough of a break, go back to training," Hoemis told Zeno and Lionell. The two nodded and went back to the training dummies to continue their training. "They look like they''ll be strong," Karl said. "That''s what I''m planning to happen," Hoemis replied. "Oh yeah, I have something to tell you. Remember the Lord of the Skies?" Hoemis nodded. "Yeah? He''s planning an attack on the Ancient Ones, right?" "Yup. There''s another problem. Demons from the afterlife are planning an escape, and Adum says it''s inevitable." Hoemis cocked his head to the side. "Demons? What''s that?" "Evil beings that died and were sentenced by Adum in the afterlife for a long time. They are very powerful and have access to mana called Demonic Mana," Karl replied. "So what should I do?" Hoemis asked. "Should I just stay put?" "Keep an eye out. They can look like anything, but they''ll always have black eyes and horns. Also, their mana will always be a deep crimson." Hoemis nodded. "Ok, I''ll keep an eye out." Hoemis watched his students train, their faces and bodies covered in sweat. "So what are you going to do, for now, master?" Karl shrugged his shoulders. "I don''t know. I want to relax right now." "Hmm, well, I''m going to go and train my students, ok?" "Go ahead, and you don''t need to ask for my permission." Hoemis went back to his students and watched their training, giving them pointers whenever he saw they needed help. Karl sat down cross-legged, watching the training session. It was quite relaxing, and it made him feel like an older man. It also felt cool that he was a god and he was disguised as an old man. In the workshop of Mutyx, Mutyx was busy selling and forging weapons. Fortunately, Garrik was there to help him out, his assistant. As Mutyx was forging a sword, he called Garrik over. "Garrik, come over here." Garrik heard his master call his name and immediately went to his side. "Yes, master?" Mutyx continued hammering the steel as he spoke, "We''re leaving tonight once we''re finished with today''s sales." Garrik was surprised. "Leaving? Why are we leaving? What of the shop?" "I want ta build something ye see. A floating ship. Dinna worry aboot tha shop, and it''s nae going anywhere." Mutyx finished forging the sword and got to work on the next one. "Floating ship? What for?" Garrik was confused. What was a god going to do with a floating ship? 46 Leaving the Dwarven City "It''s ta help a race that me master has recently brought into this world, humans," Mutyx explained. Garrik''s jaw just about fell to the ground, hearing this. His master, a god, had a master? "Master, what do you mean you have a master? Aren''t you a god?" Mutyx nodded. "Aye, I be a god, but I wasn''t just born. Someone created me, me master." "Then what''s your master? What''s greater than a god?" Garrik asked. Mutyx grabbed another piece of steel and started working on the next sword. "Hmmmm, I guess ye cou'' call him a supreme god. If ye had ta label him, he wou'' be tha supreme god o'' creation. He created everything." God of Creation. Garrik had been around a long time, roughly a thousand years, and he was close to the end of his lifespan until his master saved him. Throughout his whole life, he has heard of a lot of myths about gods, the God of Destruction, Magic, Crafting, and even the God of Death, but he has never heard of a God of Creation. Thinking about it, it made a lot of sense, but it was still a bit crazy. Garrik thought about what his master said. The boat was to help a new race called humans. "So this boat is for helping a new race called humans? How come I''ve never heard of this race?" Mutyx laughed as he hammered away the piece of steel. "Because they''re new, an'' they''re on a different continent." "On a different continent? I always thought that there was only life on this one," Garrik said. "Yer thinking too little. It''s kind o'' weird that your kind has a floating city, but your kind never bothered ta leave tha continent." Mutyx heated the piece of steel so it would be more malleable. Garrik rubbed his chin in thought. "Yeah, that is weird. Wait, we tried to leave the continent, but every expedition we sent out would never come back, so we never bothered to leave again." Mutyx laughed as he hammered the steel. "What do ye expect? Your people be predators on land, but your people have never bothered ta even set foot in tha ocean, except for fishing. Tha ocean be a big and dangerous place. Did ye know there be more water than land in tha world?" "I''ll be sure to let the king know about that then," Garrik replied. The Ancient Ones are some of the apex predators on land, and they''ve done so well on ground that they''ve never once considered the Ocean. The Ocean is filled with dangerous creatures, some big enough to eat a city. A lion might be strong on land, but it''s defenseless in the Ocean with sharks and vice versa. "Ye know tha king?" Mutyx asked. "I dinna know ye were popular," he joked. Garrik chuckled. "I''m not. I only know him because I was one of the earliest ancient ones to be born. Back then, everyone knew everyone." The day went on just like that. Garrik would help Mutyx, asking questions whenever he was curious about something. Mutyx finished his orders, and eventually, it was nighttime. "Finally done!" Garrik exclaimed as he swept the shop, cleaning it. "So how are we going to get to the humans? Didn''t you say they were on a different continent?" Mutyx grabbed a broom to help Garrik clean the shop. "Dinna worry. I know a guy, well... I shou'' say. I know a girl. Whatever, just know that she can take us there with a snap o'' her fingers." Garrik waved his hands in front of him. "Don''t worry about cleaning. I don''t need help." Mutyx placed the broom where he took it. "If ye say so." "It''s the least I can do for you helping me." Garrik continued sweeping the floor at a fast pace. It wouldn''t take him long to finish. "So, where is this girl?" "Tha''ss''a tha problem. She''s located far away in your homeland, tha floating city o'' tha ancient ones." To help out, Mutyx decided to close the windows and lock them. Garrik nodded. "Tsk, that is a problem. I''d say it would take us a week to get there, but that''s on a decently fast mount. Walking would take us a long time." "Dinna worry aboot tha mount. I have an idea, just point me in tha direction o'' it." "Alright, but whatever we do, we have to go properly. Going into the city illegally can get us arrested, which can slow us down." Garrik finished cleaning and put his broom away. "Alright, all done." "Good, follow me." Mutyx left the shop, with Garrik following beside him. He closed the doors and locked them so no one could break-in. "Where are we going?" Garrik asked. Mutyx walked through the streets of the iron fortress, making his way to the gate. "Leaving tha city." The two arrived at the giant, iron gate where the guards asked them a few questions about where they were going, and why they were leaving. After answering the questions, the guards allowed them to leave. As soon as they left the city, Mutyx looked around, trying to find somewhere flat and empty. "Master, what are you looking for?" Garrik asked. "A place tha''ss''a flat an'' empty," Mutyx replied. Eventually, after looking around, Mutyx found one. It was flat and empty, just like he wanted, and the ground was hard rock. "Move out o'' tha way." Garrik moved out of the way and watched his master channel his divine mana. Mutyx channeled his mana into a solid, solidifying it. He now had solid divine mana. Mutyx grabbed his hammer and got to work. He hammered on the piece of divine mana, changing its shape. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Garrik watched his master in confusion. The solid divine mana broke into many different pieces, and to Garrik, it just looked like a mess, but he knew that his master knew what he was doing. Mutyx solidified more divine mana as he ran out. He turned the new solid divine mana into many different pieces. 47 Alpha "Master, what are you making?" Garrik asked. Mutyx wiped the sweat off of his forehead. "Something that can take us ta tha city." After about ten minutes, Mutyx finished. Around him lay at least a thousand little pieces of divine mana and some significant parts. "Finally done." Garrik looked at the numerous pieces that lay around his master. "Master, what do you mean? How are these pieces going to take us to the city?" Mutyx let out a loud laugh. "Watch. I haven''t assembled it yet." Mutyx started grabbing the pieces and started assembling the machine. The machine started coming together. Pieces turned into four legs, then a body appeared, and then two massive wings. Garrik gasped. "Master, is this what I think it is?" Mutyx didn''t answer and kept on assembling the machine. It didn''t take him long, and Mutyx finished assembling the device. In front of him was a massive mechanical dragon. Garrik looked at the mechanical dragon with awe. "Amazing. I''m sure that you''re the only one that can make this." The mechanical dragon gleamed in the moonlight. Its mechanical body looked like it was made out of gold, but it was made of much valuable material, divine mana. It had deadly sharp teeth in its mouth and equally sharp claws on its legs. "Ehh, I dinna know aboot that. Right now, probably, but given enough time, someone will be able ta make something like this." Mutyx still wasn''t finished. He made the body, but he wanted it to move by itself, he wanted it to be alive. Using enchantments, he enchanted the mechanical dragon, giving it an artificial soul. Mutyx also enhanced its body so it could be almost indestructible. Only a god could destroy this dragon. Of course, Mutyx made a few rules when he created the artificial soul. It would always try to do what''s best and protect its master, which would be Mutyx. To help out the artificial soul, he implemented the necessary knowledge and language of the world. He also made it so the soul would instantly know how to control its new mechanical body. When Mutyx finished enchanting, the dragon came alive. Its wings started moving, its tail wagging. It moved around, its massive body, leaving footprints on the rocky ground. "Wou'' ye look at that. It worked," Mutyx said. The dragon heard Mutyx and turned to look at him. "A-are you, my master?" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Mutyx nodded. "Aye, I be. Me name be Nutyx, tha God o'' Crafting." Mutyx pointed at Garrik. "This here be Garrik, me assistant." Garrik waved his hand. "Hello." The dragon looked at Garrik, then back at his master. He lowered his head to the ground to show his thanks and loyalty to his master. "I am thankful for you creating me. I will serve you forever." Mutys was proud of his creation. "Good. Oh, I almost forgot ta name ye." Mutyx stroked his beard as he thought of a good name. "Aha, I got it. Your name shall be Alpha." Alpha was happy that he got a name. "Thank you, master. My name shall now be Alpha." Alpha moved his body around as if he was born with it, even though he had just been born. His wings raised, a small gust of wind appearing. "Alright. Alpha, for your first task, ye shall take me an'' Garrik ta tha floating city o'' tha ancient ones," Mutyx ordered. Alpha moved his head up and down, nodding. He had never nodded before, but for some reason, he knew that it meant saying yes. "Understood, but I don''t know where this floating city is." "Don''t worry about that. I''ll lead the way. I just need you to fly us there." Garrik said. "I can do that. Master built me for this reason," Alpha said with a proud expression. He lowered his metallic body to the ground, so Mutyx and Garrik could get on. Suddenly, mechanical sounds were heard, gears turning, and Alpha''s back changed. Alpha''s usually sleek and aerodynamic back changed into a saddle for two people. The seat was even soft, so the riders'' would have a comfortable ride. "Wou'' ye look at that, it worked." Mutyx made his way over to Alpha, climbing on his back and sitting down on the saddle. The saddle was brown, decorated with golden features. Garrik was once again amazed at what his master did. His mouth was open with awe as he looked at Alpha. "Come on! What be ye waiting for?" Mutyx asked. "Oh! Sorry." Garrik approached Alpha and climbed on him, being careful not to fall. He sat on the second saddle, right behind Mutyx. "Ok, where do I go?" Alpha asked Garrik. Garrik looked around as he rubbed his chin. Outside of the mountain range, he saw a vast green forest. "Hmmm, go that way," he said, pointing at the forest. Alpha looked at the forest and nodded. He lifted his body, standing on four legs. Gusts of wind appeared as Alpha flapped his wings, trying to fly. His big and bulky body lifted into the air as he waved his wings. Alpha flew upwards at a fast rate. Very soon, he arrived at the clouds. Even though this was his first time flying, it was like he had this body for many years. He turned his body to the forest and started heading in its direction. Mutyx let out a loud and long laugh. His creation worked, and there were no problems. He looked down at the ground, the trees so small because of how high they were. Unlike Mutyx, Garrik couldn''t laugh. Even though he knew he wouldn''t die, it was still scary to be so high up. If he fell, he would regenerate everything, but he would feel all the pain. After a few minutes of flying, he began to enjoy it. He was still a bit scared, but he was getting used to it. Garrik''s hair, and Mutyx''s hair, and long white beard flapped in the air as they flew over the forest with high speed. "If we keep going at this speed, we''ll arrive in the city in no time," Garrik commented. 48 Mutyxs First Time in the Floating City Garrik and Mutyx enjoyed the ride, Mutyx, more so than Garrik. The fresh air hit them, making their hair flow with the wind. They kept continuing in a straight line above the clouds, looking over everything. Flocks of birds flew under them, landing at a lake to drink water. Large herds of animals roamed the ground below, eating away at the grass. Just like that, half an hour passed. Mutyx fell asleep, snoring away on top of Alpha. Garrik, on the other hand, was wide awake. Unlike his master, he couldn''t sleep. Garrik looked around and saw some familiar landmarks. "We''re almost there." Garrik pointed to his left at the savannah. "Go that way." Alpha jerked left, changing his direction and heading for the savannah. The savannah is the Lolleon''s territory. The savannah is where the Lolleon''s built their first city. As they flew over the savannah, they saw buildings in the distance. They were mere dots because they were so high up, but Garrik had an excellent vision, partly because of the ring, and Alpha had perfect mechanical eyes. Threats rarely came from the skies, so the residents of the city didn''t bother looking up. They just continued going by their day, unaware that a mechanical dragon was flying right above them. Even if they did look up, all they would see was a golden streak in the night sky, comparable to a shooting star. Thankfully, they flew right above the city, undetected. They continued flying through the savannah, Mutyx still asleep. After flying for some time, they finally saw a jungle and something floating in the sky. The thing floating in the air was, of course, the floating city. "Go land under the city, but not directly under it. A few several meters away would be perfect," Garrik ordered Alpha. Alpha nodded and turned his body downwards to the ground. "Hang tight!" Alpha started plummeting downwards. He brought his wings closer to him so he would be more aerodynamic. Garrik held on tight as they gained more and more speed. The speed and air together lifted him from his seat, which scared him even more. Somehow, Mutyx was still sleeping and showed no signs of flying out of his place. Alpha smiled as he plummeted downwards. "Whooooo!" Garrik watched as they got closer and closer to the ground. "Alpha, stop!" "Don''t worry. I got this." Alpha got lower and lower, but he knew that if he got any lower, it would injure his passengers, so he raised his wings last second. The wind caught under his wings and gently brought him down for a soft landing. "That was fun!" "I... don''t know... about that..." Garrik jumped off the saddle and started puking on the ground. He groaned as he wiped his mouth. "Ughhh." Mutyx finally began waking up. He opened his eyes, looking around. There were trees all around him. "Be we finally here?" Mutyx got off Alpha and saw Garrik. "Ye dinna look too good, what happened?" Garrik coughed. "Don''t worry about it. I just got a bit motion sick. That''s all." "If ye say so. How do we get into tha city?" Mutyx asked. "We can''t bring Alpha. He would attract too much attention," Garrik replied. Mutyx nodded. "I have just tha thing for that." Mutyx went up to Alpha. "Storage Mode." "Confirmed," Alpha said in a robotic voice. Alpha''s body started changing. His massive body turned into a golden ball, just the size of a marble. Mutyx grabbed the golden ball, placing it in his pocket. "How is that possible? He was big, and now he''s small. That shouldn''t be possible." Garrik asked, confused. "Shapeshifting enchantments. So, how do we enter tha floating city? We''re down here, an'' it''s all tha way up there." "I''ll tell you while we walk." Garrik started heading in the direction of the floating city, Mutyx, right beside him. "You don''t have to worry about that. On the ground, there''s a teleport pad that you can pay to use. It''ll take you up to the floating city." Mutyx nodded. "So how much is the fee?" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "Last I checked, five silver coins, but there''s a chance they raised the cost. Either way, we have more than enough money to pay for it," Garrik replied. The two arrived at their destination, under the floating city. There was a big platform with magic symbols, five guards around the platform, and two guards sitting down, taking money. One of the guards that were sitting down waved at Garrik. "Hey! Are you going up?" "Yup, how much? Is it still five silver?" Garrik asked the guard as he walked over with Mutyx. The guard shook his head. "No, they lowered the price. It''s four silver now." "Great." Garrik took out four silver coins and gave it to the guard. "There you go." The guard looked at Mutyx. "Is he coming with you?" Garrik nodded. "It''s per person, remember?" the guard reminded Garrik. "Ah, sorry." Garrik took out four more silver coins and gave it to the guard. "Thank you! Go stand over there on the platform, and enjoy your time." Garrik and Mutyx walked to the platform and stood in the middle of it. The symbols started glowing a bright blue. A blue light surrounded them, and the two disappeared. Garrik and Mutyx reappeared on a similar platform, but this time, they were in the floating city. A woman greeted them in blue clothes. "Hello, and welcome! Is it your first time here?" Garrik shook his head. "No thank you, I was born here." Garrik knew who the woman in blue clothes was. They''re a group of criminals that targeted unknowing tourists. They would take them for a ''tour'' but rob them by the end of it. Garik turned to his master. "Master, do you know where the person we''re looking for is?" Mutyx shook his head. "Nope, I''ve nae idea," he said. "Dinna worry aboot it. Me an'' tha person have a connection so ta speak." 49 Krofora Garrik didn''t precisely know what Mutyx meant by that, but he trusted him. "Ok, lead the way." Mutyx started walking, trying to feel the Aphy''s presence. It was weak, but it was there. He made his way to her presence. Mutyx knew he was getting closer and closer as the presence was becoming stronger and stronger. He also felt other familiar presences like Hoemis, and his master, Karl. Mutyx knew why Hoemis was in the city, but why his master? It didn''t affect him, so he just ignored it and kept following Aphy''s presence. Mutyx kept following Aphy''s presence, Garrik behind him. It eventually led them to a big school that was walled off. The school only had one entrance, a large steel gate. He looked up at the sign above the gate. ''Krofora, School of Magic,'' the sign read. The gate of the school was open, and there were many students in the courtyard. Some were practicing magic, studying for their next tests, or just relaxing under the bright moon. "Master, is this where the person that can help us is at?" Garrik asked Mutyx. Mutyx nodded as he fixed his beard, which had been flapping around in the wind. "Aye. I think she''s a teacher, but I cou'' be wrong." Mutyx garnered some looks from the students, as for many of them, this was their first time seeing a dwarf. They''ve studied about them in the textbooks, but reading about them is different from seeing them. Mutyx paid the looks no mind and approached the front door of the school. The door was a big wooden door with intricate designs carved on it, and there were even some enchantments on it. He turned the door handle and opened the big door. When he opened the door, students and even staff members looked over at him. Mutyx looked around, trying to find Aphy. A man dressed in a fancy robe came up to him. "Hello sir, how can I help you?" "I''m looking for someone. Her name be Aphy, do ye know her?" Mutyx asked. The man looked at Mutyx with a weird face. "Aphy? Do you mean the Goddess of Magic? As far as I know, there''s no one here named that." "Master, is this person who I think it is?" Garrik whispered to Mutyx so that the man wouldn''t hear. Mutyx nodded, confirming what Garrik thought. "Hmm, do ye mind if I look around ''en?" The man shook his head. "No, of course not. Although we do have a rule, visitors can only visit for two hours a day, and they can''t participate in any classes." "I''ll keep that in mind. Thank ye very much," Mutyx said. The man left Mutyx and Garrik alone, going back to what seemed like the school office. Mutyx went back to following Aphy''s presence, Garrik behind him. Her presence was becoming stronger and stronger. He went up a set of stairs, going to the second floor. Mutyx followed Aphy''s presence, walking through a hallway. He kept walking, but suddenly, he stopped in front of a door, room 208. "Ah, this be where she be." Mutyx opened the door and saw a woman sitting down at a desk and writing something. The woman, named Aphy, looked over to the person who opened the door. "Mutyx? What are you doing here?" "Me an'' me assistant need your help," Mutyx replied. Aphy stood up and walked over to Mutyx, leaning down and hugging him. "Well, as long as it''s reasonable," she said. "What do you need help with?" "Do ye know tha humans? Tha new species that master made? They''re on a different continent an'' it wou'' really help us if ye took us there." "Come in first." Aphy moved out of the way, letting the two enter the room. "I know the humans. I know every race that uses magic." "Tha''ss''a good. So, can ye take us there?" Mutyx asked. Aphy nodded. "I can definitely take you there with no effort, but why do you want to go there?" "I''m thinking o'' building a big ship, but instead o'' it being in tha ocean, it''ll be flying in tha air," Mutyx replied. "Umm, ok, but why do you need to go to the humans for this?" Aphy asked. "Can''t you just build it here on this continent?" "I cou'', but I''m building tha ship ta help humans. They''re far from everyone an'' a big ship wou'' help them," Mutyx explained. "If yer wondering if master will allow it, he already said that he''s fine with it. He''s tha one who suggested tha idea." "Alright, since master allowed it, I''ll help you. Where do you want to go? Anywhere on the continent?" "Take us ta a place close ta tha humans, but nae too close." Aphy nodded. "Alright, get ready." Just before Aphy was going to transport them, Garrik interrupted her. "Wait! I understand you''re the Goddess of Magic, right? Well, could I get an autograph or something?" Aphy giggled. "Sure, honey." She grabbed a pen that was on her desk. "How come ye never asked me for me autograph?" Mutyx asked, feeling betrayed. "Uhhh, well..." Garrik rubbed the back of his neck. "Don''t worry about it. What do you want me to sign?" Aphy asked Garrik. "Oh, umm." Garrik opened his bag and searched around in it. He took out a small wooden wand. "Could you sign this?" "Definitely. I''ll even make it better." Aphy grabbed the wand and signed it. It wasn''t a regular signature, as she signed it with Divine Mana instead of ink. On the wand was Aphy''s signature, inscribed with golden letters. Garrik grabbed the newly signed wand and inspected it. "Thank you very much!" Aphy giggled. "This is actually my first time giving someone an autograph, so treasure it well." Garrik nodded. He placed the wand back in his backpack. "I will!" Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Aphy looked over to Mutyx. "I like him, where''d you get him from?" "Dinna let his appearance fool ye. He''s over a thousand years old," Mutyx revealed. "Master! I''m sensitive about my age," Garrik said. 50 Tim Aphy giggled. "If that''s all, I''ll happily send you guys over." Mutyx laughed. "Shou'' be. Need anything else, Garrik?" Garrik shook his head. "No, I don''t need anything else." Aphy smiled at the two. "Well then, off you go." Aphy channeled her mana. Usually, when she would teach at the school, she would use normal mana instead of divine mana. Since divine mana was very pure and distinct, but transporting people to a whole different continent takes a lot of mana, so she had to use her divine mana. "Have a safe trip!" Aphy drew a symbol with her mana and snapped her fingers. Garrik and Mutyx disappeared with a snap of her fingers, appearing on the continent of the humans. Mutyx appeared safe and sound with both of his feet touching the ground, but Garrik, on the other hand, fell a few feet off the ground, landing on his back. Garrik groaned as he stood up, wiping off the dirt on his clothes. "Ughh, how come I''m the only one that fell on my back?" Mutyx slapped him on the back. "Dinna be such a baby. Ye kinna die, remember?" "Just because I can''t die doesn''t mean that I don''t feel pain. And what happens if the ring comes off my finger?" Garrik asked. "Dinna worry aboot that. As long as tha ring be touching a part o'' your body, ye will be immortal," Mutyx reassured Garrik. "If you say so." Garrik took a look around. There was grass everywhere with a forest in the distance. He could see smoke rising from the forest. "So, we''re here now. What do we do?" "Talk ta tha locals an'' rest. It''s still night an'' i dinna want ta work at night," Mutyx said. Garrik nodded. Like Mutyx, he was also tired and would like to rest. "But master, wouldn''t the locals be scared of us? They''ve probably never seen anyone like us." "You are right." Mutyx stroked his beard, wondering what he should do. As Mutyx was about to reply, the two heard a scream from a human child, "AHHHHHH! Mother, mother! There''s a monster! There''s two!" The child dropped the stick that he was holding and ran into the forest towards the smoke. Mutyx let out a sigh. "Do I really look that ugly?" "No you don''t, master... You look... I''m sure every dwarf lady would want a piece of you..." Garrik said, trying to make his master feel better. The child arrived at his village, screaming. "Mother! I saw two weird monsters!" The child''s mother went to her son and hugged him. "What is it? What''s wrong?" The child hugged his mother back. "There are weird monsters. They look like us, but one was really tall with grey skin, and the other was really short and had a really long beard." "Maybe you are just seeing things. It''s dark, and you know what I told you about being out in the dark." "But I know what I saw. What if what I saw was bad?" "Bad? Who''s bad?" a man asked. The man was the child''s father. "I''m here, and no one''s harming anyone in this village as long as I''m here." "Our son was out even though I told him he wasn''t allowed to, and he apparently saw ''monsters,''" the mother explained. "Tim, could you go and check it out?" Tim nodded. "Definitely." He walked up to his son and bumped his fist, smiling at him. "Don''t worry. Father''s got this." Tim wasn''t the strongest in the village, but he was one of the guards. Having a healthy body with big and strong muscles worked to his favor, and that was how he earned the love of his wife. Tim left his house and made his way to the forest to search for the ''monsters'' that his son found. "Tim? What are you doing? Didn''t your shift end a while ago?" a man asked. "Yeah, but my son apparently saw a monster. I''m just going out to show that he''s safe," Tim replied. The man laughed. "Alright, be safe." "I will." Tim walked into the forest. It was dark, and there was nothing that gave off light except the moon, but Tim saw just fine. For some reason, he could see at night like it was day, but it wasn''t night vision. It was something else. Tim could feel the energy of things. He didn''t know this, but subconsciously, he had been using chakra to enhance himself. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. As Tim yawned, he suddenly heard voices. He hid in a bush, making sure he was hidden and didn''t make any noise. "I think we''re getting close to the village," Garrik said as he saw a light in the distance. Mutyx nodded. "Hmm, we better be." Tim watched the two walk towards the village. He had never seen anything like them before. Just like his son said, they looked similar to him but different. Whatever they were, Tim didn''t know their intentions, and they could be evil like his son said. Deciding to go for the one that was the strongest, Tim popped out of the bush and pushed Garrik down on the ground. He placed his weight on him and wrapped his hand around Garrik''s neck. "Don''t move, or I crush his neck," Tim ordered, tightening his grip on Garrik''s neck. "What are you, and what are you doing here?" Garrik groaned. Although the humans spoke in a different language, Garrik could still understand them as the system was translating it. "We''re not here for trouble. We just need a place to rest." Mutyx let out a loud laugh. "Dinna even try, he''s unkillable." "Nothing is unkillable. Only the gods are unkillable," Tim said. "A place to rest? I''m sorry, but I don''t buy that." "Please don''t crush my neck. That would hurt a lot." Garrik glared at Mutyx, making Mutyx chuckle. "I know we''re very suspicious, but just trust us. In return for giving us a place to rest, we''ll help you with anything." Tim still didn''t trust Garrik. Unconsciously, He sensed Garrik''s chakra and felt that it was good, with only a little bit of impurity, so he wanted to believe Garrik, but what if he was wrong. 52 Res "We live pretty long, but they usually die soon once they reach my age. The only way they can keep on living is by using mana, but even that won''t keep them alive forever," Garrik replied. Lydia nodded. "I see. Well, since I''ve read your future, how about I read your friend over there?" Mutyx laughed. "Nae, thanks. I dinna want me future ta be read. Probably won''t even work." "It''s just to make sure. It won''t hurt you," Lydia said. "I said nae," Mutyx said while releasing his divine aura. Lydia fell back from her chair, landing on her back. That was the strongest mana she had ever felt, and she knew it was strong enough to obliterate the whole village. Feeling the aura, she was terrified. She started sweating, but she kept her cool, standing up. "A-alright. S-so, what did you say you needed?" Mutyx didn''t like to be bossed around. He only listened to Tim because it would benefit them in the long run, but if he didn''t want to do something, he would not do it. "Just a place ta rest an'' food." "In return, we''ll help your people out." Garrik smiled at the terrified Lydia. Lydia grabbed the chair, making it upright again and sitting back on it. "S-sorry, but we don''t have many places to rest. Well, there''s our storage. It''s better than nothing. For food, we only eat three times a day to save resources. You''ll have to wait till morning for the next feeding." Mutyx nodded. "That''ll be fine. Where be tha storage?" Lydia smiled. "Follow me." Lydia left her house, leading the two to the storage. The storage was pretty big since it was used for storing stuff. She opened the door and let the two inside. "It''s nae that bad. Though it cou'' use some fixing up," Mutyx commented. "I''m sorry about that. If that''s all, I''ll be taking my leave." Lydia left the storage, going back to her house. She sighed a sigh of relief as soon as she arrived at her house. Feeling Mutyx''s powerful aura was terrifying for her. Garrik closed the door. "So much for rest. This hard floor will have my back sore when I wake up." Mutyx laughed. "Don''t ye remember who I be?" "Ah, right. So are you going to build some beds for us?" Garrik asked. "Obviously, now move out o'' tha way." Mutyx quickly got to work on building two beds. One for him and one for Garrik. Although he was tired, he couldn''t be lazy about building something, especially when it was something he was going to sleep on. After about ten minutes, Mutyx finished building two beds. The beds were very soft. Mutyx even made a pillow and a blanket. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Garrik yawned. "Finally, some good rest. Thank you." He didn''t bother changing and laid down on the bed. The bed was perfect. It wasn''t too soft to where he would sink in, and it wasn''t too hard where his back would hurt, it was just right. "Nae problem." Mutyx didn''t get on the bed instantly. His clothes glowed yellow as it changed from his working attire, to his pajamas. Garrik didn''t expect for Mutyx to wear pajamas. Mutyx was wearing white pajamas with gold stripes. "I didn''t realize you wore pajamas." Mutyx laid down on his bed, getting under his blanket. "I do an'' it''s very comfortable." "Can you make me one?" Garrik asked, joking and expecting him to say no. "Yer a grown man. Make your own or get your own. Now shut up, I''m trying ta get some sleep." Mutyx turned to his side, his back facing Garrik. Garrik did the same, pulling up his blanket to his neck. The two closed their eyes and fell asleep in the storage. The storage was dark, with only the light from outside being the source of light. Shortly after they closed their eyes, they quickly fell asleep. The night passed by like that. Mutyx was still snoring as the sun rose and lit up the storage. Garrik was also snoring, his blanket on the floor. The door of the storage burst open, making a loud sound and waking up Garrik. "Ahhh! What''s happening?" "Rise and shine. We need you for some help," Tim told Garrik. He was hesitant in asking them for help, but he had to trust his gut, and his gut was telling him to trust them. It also helped that Lydia found nothing wrong when she read their future. Garrik yawned, rubbing his eye. "Can I get some food first?" He didn''t need food, as the ring that Mutyx made for him would keep him alive forever, but he still felt hungry. "Sure, but you need to do your job first. Everyone has to earn the right to get fed, except the children. Now, wake up your friend and meet me outside." Tim closed the door and waited outside. Garrik stretched his limbs and stood up, approaching his master. He tapped Mutyx lightly, who was still asleep and snoring. "Master! Wake up!" Mutyx didn''t wake up, so Garrik tapped harder, but he still wouldn''t wake up. The tapping turned into shaking, and after a while, Mutyx finally woke up. "What be ye doing? Yer going ta ruin me pajamas." Mutyx fixed his pajamas, which had been wrinkled. "Come on. That Tim guy is asking us for help. Remember, we said we would help them," Garrik reminded Mutyx. Mutyx stroked his beard as he tried to remember if he did say that. "Hmm, I do remember it, but I have something better ta do, tha ship. Go an'' help them. I''ll go by tha shoreline an'' build tha ship." "But master, if you don''t help them, they won''t feed you," Garrik said. "Hmmm, that be a problem. It''s alright, tha ship be more important." "Are you sure?" Mutyx nodded. "Aye, now go on ahead o'' me." Garrik nodded and left the house to meet up with Tim. Tim needed Garrik''s help for hunting, as he noticed that Garrik was pretty strong. Mutyx yawned and changed into his work attire. "Time ta get ta work." 53 Designing Mutyx left the storage, ready to work, his trusty hammer on his back. Just like yesterday, he attracted attention from the locals, but they quickly went back to work, because slacking off would get them less food, or worse, no food. Mutyx asked around, asking the locals where the ocean was. Some laughed at him, wondering if he really didn''t know where the sea was, but the rest were helpful and pointed to the direction of the ocean. Following the directions the locals gave him, Mutyx arrived at the shoreline. In the distance, he could see fish jumping out of the water and going back in. Before Mutyx could build the floating ship he wanted, he needed to design it first and figure out what materials he''s going to need for building it. He didn''t just want the boat to be made of impossible materials and impossible enchantments that only him, the God of Crafting to be able to make, he wanted people to learn and hopefully recreate the boat. The first thing Mutyx needs is something that allows something to float, like the floating city. Being the God of Crafting, he was born with the knowledge of all the past, present, and future materials in the world. With the addition of chakra, new materials appeared in the world, utilizing chakra in one way or another. One such material is something called, Chromosium. Chromosium is translucent gold material that acts similarly to the material that makes the floating city of the ancient ones float. Chromosium, like Magnonite, which is the material used to make the floating city float, also floats, but only if it is powered. Unlike Magnonite, Chromosium absorbs the chakra in the nearby area instead of Magnonite, which absorbs mana. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Mutyx chose Chromosium instead of Magnonite because it would be a better fit for humans. While inspecting the humans, Mutyx felt that they were more sensitive to chakra. The ancient ones were born with great affinity to mana, and the humans were born with great affinity to chakra, so he chose Chromosium instead of Magnonite. Mutyx started designing the ship. In the design, the large Chromosium crystals were hidden inside the boat, so the ship''s hull would protect them. There were four large Chromosium crystals, One in the front, two on the left and right side of the boat, and one at the back of the ship. The crystals weren''t small either. Looking at the measurements on the design, it was about the size of a small to a medium house. Since it would be bad if the crystals were to be destroyed, they had to be well protected, so the hull of the ship needed to be strong. Mutyx looked around at the database of materials in his head, looking for suitable material. Being a ship, he wanted it to be wood and not metal. Eventually, after much looking around, Mutyx found just the material he needed. It''s wood, but harder than the average steel. As a bonus, this wood can also be strengthened even more either by infusing it with chakra, or mana. Unfortunately, this type of wood only comes from one tree, something called The Golden Tree. The Golden Tree is just like its name. It''s golden. Its wood and leaves are golden, but there''s only one problem. Golden trees are scarce and expensive. They''re also very selective where they grow, only growing in places that have lots of sunlight, rain, and moonlight. This won''t affect Mutyx, though, as he can create the wood. The only thing that will be hard is building the boat. Even then, it''ll just take time, a lot of time. Mutyx wanted the boat to look good, so he spent a considerable amount of time designing the hull of the ship. Once he finished designing the hull, he had to think of what else to add to the boat. He added various rooms on the boat, the captain''s chambers, sleeping quarters, kitchen, workshop, bathrooms, and a sickbay. He made sure to make some empty rooms, so the people who find the ship can choose what those rooms will be. Mutyx drew two big masts on the ship so that it could sail in the sky and water. One of the masts was in the middle of the boat, and the other was at the back, which would be used to steer. Since the ship would float high up in the sky, the winds would be powerful, and the masts would need to be equally or stronger, so it doesn''t break. Mutyx needed a fabric that was strong enough to handle winds way stronger than on the ground. It took a bit of searching, but he finally found the fabric, something called steel fabric. It wasn''t a naturally occurring fabric, but if someone practiced hard enough, they could make it. It''s made of steel and is very durable, and also very expensive. Every good ship needed a figurehead, but Mutyx didn''t know what he should put as a figurehead. Going with the flying theme, he chose a dragon as his figurehead, complete with wings and all. Obviously, the dragon wouldn''t be as big as a real dragon, but it would be big enough to be seen from far away. Mutyx didn''t want to add cannons, as he didn''t want to make a warship. If someone wants a warship, then they can build it themselves, and he didn''t have a problem with that. Now that he was done with the ship design, he needed to choose a color scheme. Mutyx went with a white and gold color scheme, making the ship look holy and divine. Once he was done, he looked over the design. He liked it, but it could be improved. He spent the next few hours perfecting the design and making sure it looked good. After a few hours, Mutyx finished the design. He sighed a sigh of relief as he finished the design. The sun was high up in the sky when he was done. Mutyx was sure that he missed breakfast. "Ahhh, finally done." 54 Escape In the floating city of the ancient ones, Karl startled awake, feeling an evil and mysterious presence. He had been watching Zeno and Lionell train, when he dozed off, snoring. Hoemis saw Karl startle awake. "Are you okay, master? Is there something wrong?" he asked, continuing to train Zeno and Lionell. "Can''t you feel that? That dark energy in the air?" Karl stood up from where he was sitting and opened the door of the dojo, looking outside. Hoemis didn''t know what Karl was talking about, but he tried to feel what his master felt. He closed his eyes and felt the same ominous energy that his master felt. "You''re right. What is that?" Karl tried to think of what it could be. He remembered about the demons and what Adum told him. Demons twisted spiritual mana to their own, corrupting it and turning it into something evil. Feeling the energy, he recognized that it was the same energy that came off of the demon slime. Then that meant that the demons have broken out of the afterlife, escaping into the mortal world. Karl and Hoemis weren''t only ones that felt the dark energy. Other people also felt it, but most of them just went back to what they were doing, not caring about the energy. "It''s the demons I was telling you about. They''ve escaped the afterlife," Karl told Hoemis. "What should we do?" Hoemis asked. "Nothing. I''m sure Adum has already ordered a bunch of Kaiteras to hunt the demons. They''ll probably catch a few, but it''ll be almost impossible to get every one of them. Especially when I told Adum that he couldn''t get involved, at least not directly." "I understand, but what if one of them attacks me? Or my students?" "Oh, then that''s fair game. They attack you. Then you can react." Karl stroked his beard. He now understood why Mutyx loved stroking his beard so much. "I''ll give you an exception for your students, but only interfere if they are going to die." Hoemis nodded. "Yes. Thank you very much." "Yeah yeah. Now go back to training your students. I''m going to check out these demons," Karl said, shooing Hoemis away. Hoemis went back to training his students. "Be careful, master." Karl laughed. "Aren''t you forgetting something? I can''t die, at least not right now." Karl left the dojo and started following the evil energy. The average person wouldn''t be able to detect the evil energy, but the stronger someone became, the easier it is for them to detect the energy. The energy led Karl through the streets of the city, before arriving at a dark alleyway. "Isn''t this a bit cliche?" Karl muttered to himself. "A dark alleyway is where the evil thing appears." The alleyway was dark, but it was surprisingly clean, with only a bit of garbage lying around. This was because the alleyway was in the rich part of the city, so cleaners came weekly, and the city paid them for their work. In the alleyway was a demon. "HAHAHAHHAHAHA! Finally! Freedom!" It seemed the demon chose its body to resemble an ancient one, as it had grey skin and a tall body. It had a black horn on its forehead, pointing up. The demon also had an extra eye right below its horn. In total, the demon had three eyes, all pitch black. Karl waved at the demon, which was naked with no clothes. "Hello there! Could you put some clothes on? This isn''t the red light district, and you would get arrested if you get caught." The demon laughed at Karl. "Well, I guess I should look decent. It''s been a while since I''ve been alive you see." The demon snapped his fingers, clothes appearing on his body. "People still wear suits, right?" Karl nodded. "Yes, they do. Although it''s usually only worn on fancy occasions." "I like you, but sadly, I''m gonna have to kill you. King told us to cause as much havoc, and that''s exactly what I plan to do." the demon said, laughing. "Ah, that''s a shame. Don''t waste your time trying to kill me. Just go somewhere else." The demon looked at Karl plainly before bursting out laughing. "What is this? Are you a comedian? Old man, you must''ve gone crazy with age." The demon released his aura at the Karl, trying to frighten him and make him pass out terrified. Karl didn''t react whatsoever and kept looking at the demon. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. "It''s a bit windy in here, isn''t it?" Karl commented. The demon was angry. How could Karl not even react to his aura? The king even complimented him on how his mana was one of the evilest of all the demons. "You will not look down on me." "Look down on you? You''re pretty tall. I don''t think I can look down on you." Karl laughed, angering the demon even more. "I was originally just gonna kill you, but I''ll just torture you now." The demon disappeared, appearing behind Karl. The demon smirked and swung his fist at Karl, empowering it with demonic mana. "You asked for this." "Did I, though?" Karl jumped, landing on the demon''s fist and standing on it. "Can''t get the clothes dirty, you know?" "Aghhh!" The demon tried punching Karl again, but just like last time, Karl dodged his fist. The demon kept trying to punch Karl, but whatever he did, nothing landed. Karl would dodge everything and toy with him. "Youngsters sure are feisty," Karl said, which was a bit ironic, as he was technically a teen mentally, and only looked old. "I''ll get you!" A crimson substance began appearing on the demon''s body. His veins popped out of his body and his horn became longer. "Looks like you''re getting serious. How about we stop this here? Unnecessary damage is unnecessary," Karl said. With a snap of his fingers, the demon was now laying down on the ground, unable to move. "What did you do to me?" the demon asked, trying to move his body, but failing to do so. "Don''t worry. It''s only temporary. You demons sure are interesting," Karl told the demon. 55 Why I Didnt Upload Today @@I''m very sorry guys, but I could not write or upload today. For unknown reasons, my computer broke, and I''ll have to wait until it is fixed, so please bear with me. I''m writing this on my phone. I don''t know how long it''ll take. minimum it is a week, but probably more. Please be patient, Your Author, KrisSirk