《Spiritual guardian》


 Chapter 1

    Steve Falch has definitely had some bad experience being a tattoo artist next to a biker bar. Usually nothing more extreme a guy throwing up or passing out drunk mind session under the needle but he didn''t think it would have all ended like this. Two rougher men from the club stumbled in demanding I put a spider on the taller man''s face. With a shake of my head I tried to deny the guy knowing that letting him get that drunk would mean getting my ass kicked once they sober up. That''s when the gun came out of the short mean looking one''s pocket.


    At gun point I worked trying to control the shaking in my hands when disaster struck. My hand slipped jabbing in and causing a curse and sharp flinch from the guy I was working on. His intoxicated friend lost his cool pulling the trigger and put a round into my side. Panicking the men ran out letting me bleed out on the floor. The color faded from my vision and I started floating from my body.


    I honestly can''t remember how far or for how long I floated, years or seconds I couldn''t tell until I heard something. "Well I don''t seem to have much choice so you''ll have to do" an ethereal voice shattered the silence like an explosion. Suddenly a massive shape of swirling energy was before me in the vast gray expanse. It had no form but looking at it gave off the feeling of vast power and primal intelligence. "my realm is in need of guidance and shepherding if is to stand against the both the horror and wonder of the greater universe " the great being shouted yet some how whispered. "You will be that shepherd " as it finished a small whisp of energy flowed from it into my body before everything faded once again.


    When I regained awareness my mind was flooded with arcane knowledge and well as basic knowledge about my new world? Steve stopped in his tracks because when he thought about his new "world" he knew that somehow that definition wasn''t correct. The realm he was in was actually three planets twisted together with spacial tunnels intertwined them. "Stop" Steve shouted trying to halt the flow of information. Getting control over his mind once again Steve went over what he knew to keep himself sane.


    He instinctively knew that he needed to stabilize the realm so they wouldn''t collapse into each other. Why he knew that he had no clue but he did know how to solve that problem. He had to create dungeons to help stabilize the space and wild energy having the planets intertwined was causing. Latching onto that thought a forth dimensional map popped into his head showing hundreds of possible dungeon locations but there was a problem, he could only currently place three dungeons or one on each world.


    Frustrated and seriously confused Steve selected a random location for each world. Seconds after a new pop-up asking for dungeon type appeared above each location on the map. With a mental curse Steve didn''t see any options. A feeling in his mind was screaming at him that the realm was becoming unstable the longer this took so Steve thought of his early gaming days and entered goblins for all three. With rising panic a new pop-up asking for a primary and secondary path to power almost made him cry. The primary had four choices the physical abilities, energy control, universal mystery and an option to make your own path. Steve set each dungeon with a different primary path before looking into the secondary path options. Thankfully the second option had the three previously none selected choices but right before he randomly chose a stroke of inspiration hit Steve and on impulse he entered tattoos.


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    With a flash of light calm washed over Steve as the scene of doom hanging over him vanished from his mind. Now that his new realm wasn''t literally collapsing in on it''s self he could slow down and try and absorb the torrent of information locked inside his head. After taking his time over the next couple of hours Steve started to get a grasp on what was happening around him. He was the guardian of the realm giving him some control over the reality he''s found himself in. The purpose of the dungeons is to first stop this this artificial subspace from destroying itself and using the energy produced to better the residents of the realm grow. All life in the subspace will naturally grow more powerful from exposure to the energy but the dungeons will increase the process exponentially.


    Knowing all this Steve was excited to check out his new dungeons. The dungeons are supposed to be fully autoimmune but Steve will able to control or change them if needed. Looking at the first dungeon he noticed that it was the physical abilities dungeon. Looking in he saw muscled gray skinned humanoid creatures with various types of tattoos covering their bodies. Focusing on a particularly strong looking goblin with tattoos of his own skeleton a window pop-up with information about him.


    Grug goblin dread fist level 5 , a strong and resilient fighter for his basic species his bone tattoos make his skeleton extremely difficult to damage.


    Looking around all the goblins were between level 2 to 5 and each of them had a tattoo that physically enhanced them in a different way from making them quicker or stronger to the stranger abilities like being able to hold his breath for 15 minutes without any side effects.


    Flashing over to the energy control dungeon the levels were similar but the goblins were all different colors. I focused on a blue goblin with two ice cubes on his forehead.


    Null goblin frost touch level 3, dangerous but fragile his very touch causes frost energy to flow into his enemies.


    Moving on to the universal mystery dungeon I was surprised to see regular green goblins. Besides a few strange tattoos I couldn''t tell anything interesting about them until I looked at a goblins window


    Ash goblin mystic level 2, this goblin mystic can summon his tattoos into the physical realm be it the dagger on his arm or the snake on his back.


    Despite being a lower level than the other two goblins I investigated he somehow seemed the most dangerous. I''m extremely curious to see what they can do.

 Chapter 2

    Looking into the location his dungeons were placed Steve had to admit they were each well placed. His first dungeon was in a small valley with a cave system running through the hills. It gave room for his little tribe to move around the valley unseen and pop out from any direction. The tribe was only around forty or so goblins but was quickly expanding. Goblins naturally spawned every hour and this number depends completely on how many Goblins already occupied the dungeon at a ten to one rate.


    Opening his dungeon information settings Steve saw he could limit or increase this number depending upon how much energy the dungeon has filtered into dungeon energy. Each monster helps filter energy but to a lesser extent magical plants or materials will as well. Having people or beasts fight in the dungeon also filters a small amount of energy to dungeon energy. At the moment his first dungeon seemed completely empty so Steve looked into filling the valley with some plants and tried to make his first magical plant.


    Focusing on a large tree that carried a blue apple like fruit he got a pop-up.


    Gogy tree , this trees fruit is extremely sweet. No current magical properties, would you like to infuse a primary or secondary path?


    Thinking it would be interesting I picked the secondary path and saw the tree mutate. Swirling patterns appeared on the trunk and small stars manifested on the blue apple like little tattoos. Once again focusing on the tree had a far more interesting pop-up.


    Gogy ink tree, infused with the path of tattoos eating this fruit with enhance anything that uses the path for a short time.


    Excited I tried to infuse another tree with the physical abilities path but found I was almost completely out of dungeon energy. That one tree used as much energy as spawning twenty goblins yet only filters as much energy as a single level 5 goblin. The effect sounds cool but at least for now it''s definitely not worth it. With no more dungeon energy to play with I moved on to my second dungeon.


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    The second dungeon was placed on a large island or maybe small continent would be a better direction? Maybe a third of the size Australian was back on earth the dungeon was set in a jungle inland from the coast. As soon as I focused on the dungeon it''s self I found a massive problem. Out of the thirty ish goblins I had left only eleven remained. See the frost touch goblin I inspected before I brought up his information.


    Null goblin frost touch level 8, though fragile this goblin uses his cold attribute to thrive in this dangerous environment.


    It''s level was so high and looking at the remaining goblins they had similar levels with the lowest being a fire goblin at level 6 to Null''s level 8. By the look of it the energy in the air had enhanced the location jungle predators to the point where they could pick off a solitary goblin at a low level. Hoping into the dungeon settings I marked a set location for the goblins to spawn instead of being randomly scattered around the dungeon. Using up all the remaining dungeon energy I went to spawn as many Goblins as possible when I got a pop-up.


    Spawn random goblin type, spawn specific goblin type?


    Looking into the matter I could spend some additional dungeon energy to get a goblin with a specific element or even design the tattoo myself. This was an extremely expensive option and no matter how much I wanted to flex my artistic muscles I knew it''s better that I spawn the maximum number of goblins. With a sigh I selected random spawn and thirty five little multicolored goblins popped into existence. The majority were frost and fire goblins with a handful of wind, earth or lightning goblins mixed in. I set them in groups of three and had them wander the area. "Hopefully they will be able to handle themselves " I muttered before leaving for my final dungeon.


    The universal mystery dungeon was placed on top of a mountain range. The strange thing was it was right next to a fold in space so on of the mountains didn''t end in a peak but entered a portal and touch the ground on the other side. This was a place where if you kept climbing you''d eventually hit land on the other side.


    After gaping at the view for a while Steve turned his attention to the dungeon. It was absolutely overflowing with goblins. Bringing up the dungeon information the current count sat at three hundred and twenty six goblins. "What?, why are they so many?!" Steve shouted in surprise. At that moment a pop-up opened in front of him.


    Do to unstable subspace wild energy floods the dungeon causing increased filtering efficiency.


    "With the flood of energy I''ll have a ton of dungeon energy to to play with" I thought. Right as I was about to get started I heard a horrible shriek of pain coming from one of my goblins....

 Chapter 3

    Ash the goblin is having a bad day and everything had started out so well. He''d been wandering the mountain when he noticed some shiny pebbles and Ash LOVES everything and anything shiny. It was on the side of a cliff edge surrounded by a ring of sharp rocks and long white sticks. Such a good thing left alone must mean that it belongs to Ash so of course he did his duty in stealing no not stealing but appropriating yeah.


    What was Ash thinking about? Ah the shiny pebbles yes, so Ash appropriated the pebbles and made to leave when he stumbled over the white sticks on the ground. With a yelp Ash realized the white sticks were actually old bones. That''s when he saw ''it'', a massive ant like creature with an armored head twice Ash''s height. Scrambling to his feet Ash summoned his snake spirit and flead as fast as goblinly possible up the mountain straight past his fellow goblins.


    "Sreeeeeeh" Ash howled feeling his spirit summon get annihilated. Looking back Ash almost turned gray from the sight of three massive ant monsters chasing him down and trampling the handful of goblins in their path. Yup Ash is most definitely having a bad day.


    Focusing Steve saw a small mass of ants rampaging after the little goblin he''d inspected earlier. It seemed to be carrying a handful of crystal balls glowing a faint green. Quickly forcing on them brought up a pop-up.


    Mountain scourge ant egg, dangerous individually and a disaster in larger numbers this species eggs can grant power to anyone who has survive long enough to consume them.


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    "Of course he had to kick a literal ant hill" Steve groaned slapping his ghostly hand into his forehead. With a sigh Steve directed the hundred or so goblins in the surrounding area to attract. The goblins responded by either summoning a spirit weapon or animal to fight the eight foot tall ants. All types of ethereal animals from a tiger with glowing claws to a fish swimming through the air trying to take bites out of the ants swarmed them. They seemed to be doing some damage but a single hit from the massive ants would destroy the summoned creatures.


    Two of the quickest goblins holding a misty spear and hammer reached the leading ant when there was only a dozen or so spirits harassing them. With a scream the spear plunged into the joint of its front leg. Snapping at the first goblin his partner took advantage of its distraction and used his summoned hammer to crush the front leg on the other side. Losing balance the leading ant crashed to the ground. Jumping on the monster the other weapon holding goblins hoped on and started smashing and hacking at the ant.


    The small victory of killing the first ant didn''t last however as the other two ants smashed into the mob of frenzied goblins. A short and brutal fight of swinging weapons, goblins getting crushed and the sole surviving spirit animal a bird clawing the antenna of the monster raged. By the time all the ants were dead only four of the thirty or so goblins with weapons stood.


    Looking over the bloody mess Steve was surprised that he wasn''t horrified over it just annoyed that his goblins died. Speaking of goblins where did that little goblin carrying the egg go?

 Chapter 4

    Breathing heavily back pressed against the wall of his little hideaway Ash listen to hearing if the nasty bugs were still out there. It seemed safe but Ash definitely didn''t plan on checking. Turning to a crudely made stone shelf covered in all manner of treasures from the green feather he''d found yesterday to the handful of tiny bones he''d collected. With a grin Ash once more added to his loot shelf placing his new shiny pebbles in the center of his growing collection.


    "There you are " a voice came from behind Ash. Turning in shock he got an incredible sight of a ghostly giant almost three feet taller than any goblin Ash had ever seen. "I''ll be taking those" it muttered and with a pop his shiny pebbles disappeared. Looking at the empty spot on his loot shelf Ash was stunned. Turning once again to shout at the giant spirit it had vanished.


    Finally locating the little troublemaker Steve quickly put the eggs in his dungeon storage to inspect and deal with later, currently had bigger problems like being down almost thirty goblins and the minor fact the now ants were starting to slow flow out of the tunnel Ash had found. Three was enough to take on almost a hundred goblins and managed to kill a third of them but now a second group of three was heading towards the earlier battle with two more solo scourge ants chasing small groups of goblins down the side of the mountain.


    Diving into the dungeon information Steve found he had a few things going for him. Firstly the ants that died supplied the dungeon with a lot of energy and secondly all the goblins in the fight had gained at least one level. Looking their information over the lowest level in that group has a level 4 and the highest was the summoner with the surviving bird spirit as well as the Spearman the took down the first ant tide at level 8. Sadly his hammer using companion didn''t make it but we''ll just have to work with what we have Steve thought. Leveling didn''t completely heal his minions but stopped the bleeding for all but the worst wounds and restored whatever helped them summon so he had the goblins send them out to buy time.


    Setting the dungeon to spawn only spirit animal summoners he selected to immediately spawn fifty goblins behind the group of fresh monsters having their spirits join in from behind. Seeing the higher level summons doing slightly more damage to the ants and finally having the numbers to overwhelm the group Steve had the four remaining melee goblins to hunt down the two solo scourge ants rampaging after his other dungeon monsters. While carrying out his order Steve looked at the Spearmans pop-up.


    Zig goblin spirit Spearman level 8, quick and lucky the spirit Spearman is abnormally precise with his weapon.


    Forcing harder Steve got the scene the the spear the goblin was holding gave the ability to naturally pull its user towards weakness in the ants armor. Curious Steve looked into each of the weapons the melee squad had noticed that each weapon had a different ability. An axe that could increase in weight mid swing,a two handed sword that improved the user''s balance and a massive club that for some reason increased the hearing of its user. Some useful some less so since the increase was minor yet the effects seem to grow with level. "If they manage to keep leveling I wonderful how strong those effects will get" grinning Steve watched the melee squad hunt down the remaining stragglers.


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    Assigning twenty or so melee goblins who weren''t close enough to take part in the battle to guard the tunnel along with the fifth new summoners Steve made sure to have Ash the trouble maker to join them. Steve was kinda hoping more ants would come and level his goblins for him. Like magic this thought seemed to summon a a wave of them, Thankfully the tunnel entrance was only two ants wide. While ferocious and tough the goblins were able to hold the mouth of the tunnel only losing the occasional goblin to the scourge ant swarm.


    Surprisingly besides an initial cowardice Ash was one of the strongest fighters at his level being one of the few goblins who has spawned with more than one tattoo. He was only able to fight using one tattoo at a time but he could quickly switch between the two and even stabbed an ant the turned his dagger into his snake to creativity poison his foe.


    No matter how good his goblins where doing and how fast the first few levels came the waves just keep coming and coming forcing Steve to both use most of the energy gained in spawning new troops of mostly melee goblins to replace the losses he had to endlessly cycle the summoner goblins since not only did taking damage destroy the spirit temporarily by even fighting cost the summoner power.


    After what could have been weeks but was probably only a day or two the scourge ants slowed yet not fully stopped the attack. Every few minutes or so a single ant would charge out only to get torn apart by a group of spirits and tired yet powerful level 8 plus goblins. After inspection all of the ants they fought had been between level 8 to 12. Steve originally thought that they''d be higher level since the first three were so powerful but it seems that the power increases sharply every ten levels with the first group being all above level ten.


    His goblins tattoos seemed to improve from the half dozen summoners who have reached that level as well as Zig and Ash being the two melee goblins to get to level 10. The goblin summoners seemed to get to choose some aspect of the spirit animal to improve like increased damage from the claws, increased speed to more dramatic options like having him tiger leaving spirit flames the weakness the target over time. Zig''s upgrade decreased his weight for a short time when activated allow I''m to float around like the old kung fu movies Steve used to love as a kid.


    Ash was so far the most interesting if not necessarily an upgrade. He''d actually be given the option to fuse his two tattoos into a single one or be able to use both after hit level ten. Deciding to keep his existing tattoo he was able to fight as melee with support for his spirit. Steve was absolutely fascinated with all the different possibilities and powers his goblins have developed.


    "Speaking powers I should probably check out those eggs Ash stole". Looking at them and strongly forcing on the scourge eggs pop-up he got a scene of deeper information like he did when inspecting the spirit weapons. They would be able to grant experience like when killing this or you could channel an ability, power or energy or some type for it to slightly enhance. It was a permanent increase as well so whomever or whatever it was used on would always be slightly stronger than someone with the same power at the same level. Steve was excited to test them but with only six eggs he decided to hold them until he really needed them.


    With that thought in mind he set the dungeon back to autonomous spawning and went to check out his other dungeons.

 Chapter 5

    Checking in on his second dungeon not a lot had actually changed, some of the goblins he''d spawned had died but the rest had gained a level or two. It seemed that keeping them in groups kept most of them alive yet slowed the level growth compared Null''s original group fighting solo. "Speaking of Null let''s see what he''s up to" Steve found Null bringing up his pop-up.


    Null goblin frost touch level 9, though fragile this goblin combination of frost energy and ambush tactics makes him incredibly deadly when in close range.


    "The status messages seem to adapt not only to the goblins powers but also focus on the personality or actions to some degree " Steve marveled at the discovery. Sending a mental prod Steve sent Null to try and hunt down as many of the jungle cats and snake around since he was the closest to hitting level 10. It will likely take some time since the highest level non dungeon creature is a level 6 jungle panther.  Focusing to get a pop-up Steve noticed an interesting effect the dungeon might be having on the monster.


    Jungle panther level 6, this Jungle panther has absorbed small amounts of water aspected energy causing it to have increased flexibility.


    It seemed like on top of gaining a small level boost for the wild energy in the air the filtered dungeon energy allowed it to develop special powers related to the dungeon. Diving into the dungeon information settings it seemed Steve could spend some of his dungeon energy to infuse the area in his dungeon with a larger amount making it more likely to cause this effect. It was already doing this to a small degree when autonomous so Steve didn''t play with it yet and decided to use half of his current dungeon energy to expand his influence to more of the jungle adding a small chunk of river and a few more acres of land for his goblins to roam.


    His goblins could leave the dungeon but if they killed anything or died his dungeon would lose any energy from the process. They could still level but for now he needed all the information he could get. As he was admiring the river Bank under his influence he was startled to find a crudely made boat drifting down the river with what looked to be elf like creatures. Thinner than humans with white hair and six fingers on each hand they were a strange sight floating down the river completely unaware of his nearby dungeon. Excited Steve spawned three goblins to try and get there attention.


    Douglas was so bored sitting in the boat all day while his servants looked for herbs on the shoreline. Why did his father insist on making him come along with this menial assignment. With a grunt he guzzled his wine skin and lamented his poor fortune. A shout from beside him brought Douglas out of his half drunkin stupor. Looking over one of the young men saw a little red monster standing on the shoreline. With excitement Douglas commanded his servants to bring him a shore. Monsters where extremely rare and being one of the few ways Douglas knew to level up. Being from a rich family Douglas''s father had bought him monster meat and herbs to raise his level to 4  high for anyone who wasn''t a professional guard or hunter but not even close to being able to pick his level ten perk.


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    Hesitating the older man running the boat spoke up " young master that monster looks dangerous plus if your father found out we let you be in danger he''d". Letting that hang in the air all the members or the herb gathering party sweated thinking what might happen if they let a monster hurt jacoby Canes son die to a monster attack. "If you don''t take me there I''ll hop out and swim over myself then you''ll have to explain to my father why you were to cowardly to protect me ". With a nervous chuckle the old man steered the boat a shore hoping out to keep himself between Douglas and the monster. The two other young men in the boat grabbed their small herb shovels and protected each side of the young man.


    Steve watched the party approach the level 2 fire goblin with interest holding the the lighting and earth goblins just out of sight wanting to test both his goblin and these new elf creatures. The old man stepped forward and clumsily swiped his paddle at the goblin missing. Seeing an opening the goblin rushed forward grabbing the older man''s wrist. The older man let out a scream having to contact burn his wrist causing him to fall backwards into the important looking elf in the center. Alarmed the two other young men stepped forward and connected with their shovles.


    Quickly killing the little monster they turned around to help their injured companion. With a growl the young man shoved the injured elf off him getting to his feet and yelling at him. Before the two elf could tend to his injury or the angry one could really start going Steve sent the remaining two goblins rushing at the sorry looking group. Rushing forward the lightning goblin through himself at the leader with his back turned tackling him in a burst of electricity stunning him. The two holding shovles were less surprised and fought with the little goblin whose knuckles turned into stone. Despite being injured the old man did his best to hold off the goblin trying to kill his leader swinging one handed barley keeping it at bay.


    Douglas''s head hurt and he could barely move after being zapped by that little basterd. Rolling to his side and reaching for the knife in his jacket he pulled it out and plunged it into the side of the goblin fighting his servant. Capitalizing on that his servant smashed its head with the paddle before stumbling over to finish off the Last monster. Douglas just caught his breath watching a strange ball of energy form about the creatures head before dropping to the ground rolling to him. Touching the ball caused a pop-up in his vision.


    Elemental lightning tattoo, would you like to equip? Yes or no.


    Shocked Douglas Selected yes thinking that this seemed a lot like how a perk should work at level ten. A flood of energy filled him causing his white hair to turn to a yellow with blue highlights and a lightning bolt to appear on his neck just like the little monster had. He felt like he could control an energy inside himself and turning it on would let him zap something like he was zapped. With a start he ordered his men to look for glowing stones around the monsters. After ten minutes of searching it seemed they didn''t drop anything so they loaded their enemies corpses in the boat and quickly left.


    Tending to their injures the servants exclaimed about their gained levels, despite only being level one or two when they left this morning the old man had hit level 4 while the two boys hit level 5 along with their young master who by the looks of it somehow gained a perk early. They had to get back and tell lord Cane about this.

 Chapter 6

    "Well that was somewhat less impressive than I''d hoped" shaking his head didn''t know what to think about that encounter. On the one hand one on one his goblins could possibly take out an elf of the same level that''s only if they landed the first strike. On the other hand they were killed in basically a single hit or two from makeshift weapon. "I guess the fragile part of the description was accurate".


    Shifting thoughts to the leader elf gaining tattoos Steve was pleasantly surprised. It seemed the dungeon had its own loot system that had a chance of triggering for all goblins when an sapient creature killed one of his creatures. At the moment Steve had little control over it but got a feeling that once he gained more power both in the specific dungeon and the realm as a whole he''d have more influence. Eventually his power would expand allowing for the control of more dungeons as well as greater control over them.


    Have sapients discover the dungeon was exciting but Steve felt that he was completely un prepared for more visitors. He needed to find a way to balance the growth of his dungeon while still challenging those who enter. The fight earlier had actually drained slightly more energy than the dungeon gained from the elves fighting because of the loot drop triggering. "Maybe if I find a way to prolong their stay they''ll filter more wild energy for me" Steve slowly nodded to himself slowly an ideal standing to form.


    Spawning a fresh trio of goblins Steve ordered the to grab as much mud, branches and rocks they could gather. Once they started piling them up Steve used a small amount of dungeon energy to form a goblin sized mud hut. It definitely wasn''t pretty but the fact he''d used dungeon energy made it a lot sturdier than it''s appearance would lead one to believe. Constructing a wineding path and adding a hut or two every now and again gave them a reason to follow where he wanted them instead of just sticking to the shoreline. Steve planned to continue building but he''d run out of energy to spawn more goblins so he could only play in his head dreaming on jungle pyramids with goblin tribes roaming the chaotic jungle paths.


    While he lost himself Null was the first in the dungeon to reach level 10. His opinions were a lot more varied than most of the goblins from the third dungeon but all just as interesting. The most basic options were to either condense his energy making his frost energy more potent or increase the amount of energy he could contain. The first was basically a damage increase letting him quickly dispatch his opponent while the second let him use his power for longer. The other options added versatility like adding a permanent cold aura around him slowing enemies, shooting icicles and most interesting in Steve''s opinion freezing a small patch of ground within line of sight.


    Null ended up picking the icicle shooting ability quickly testing it out on some nearby birds. Impailing the unsuspecting bird put a massive grin on Null''s blue goblin face. Steve was very glad he was a spirit right now.


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    Douglas proudly walked into his father''s office pushing the large double doors apart. He''d rushed to him as soon as he got back. Eagerly he told the story of the strange little monsters in the jungle. "That''s not all Father I gained a perk" Douglas released a bit of lightning from his palm causing the tattoo on his neck to flare. "You hit level 10 from three little monsters " jacoby said said surprised tinting his voice.


    Jacoby Cane had a right to be surprised since even he had only reached level 12 from his time working as a mercenary before starting the Cane merchant house. Even with all his connections he only had a handful of guards that had gotten their perk. "No father I only reached level 5 but the one of the monsters I killed dropped a crystal that gave me this" Douglas said excitedly pointing to the lighting bolt tattoo on his neck and flared the sparks in his palm for emphasis.


    Leaning back into his chair with a thoughtful expression he spoke as if to the air "if we could find more of these monsters we could potentially gather an unlimited number of perks to use or maybe even sell". With a greedy and almost manic expression "gather the house guard were going monsters hunting"


    Setting the goblins spawn points from the center of the dungeon to the mud huts and surroundings the area slowly started filling with goblins ranging from level 2 to 4. Steve could use more energy to increase their spawn levels but this was the noob area of the dungeon as well as it being more cost-effective to slowly hunt for levels. Steve set it that once any goblin hit level 8 they''d venture deeper into the dungeon. He thought it would be a clever way to balance the fights and reward his goblins. Right now Null could be considered the dungeons boss being the only dungeon to reach level 10 but hopefully some of the other first generation goblins catch up soon.


    With some down time and a little remaining energy Steve dived into the custom tattoo option. It seemed like he could create a tattoo that represents an element or complex form of energy from level 1 to 9 and then choose a perk at level 10. It seems ten was his limit since that was this dungeons highest level monster. Steve was disappointed he couldn''t spawn a level 1000 goblin overlord but that was probably for the best.


    Testing out the limits of complex energy Steve designed a clock and trying to give this goblin the power over time. The system seemed to actually except the design but when I tried to add it to a goblin it didn''t work. The system was weird because instead of just telling him in exact details he got the vague impression that he didn''t have enough dungeon energy to spawn even a level 1 time goblin. Currently he had just enough energy to spawn another level 10 goblin if he let the system randomly allocate the tattoo yet that still wasn''t enough.


    Experimenting with different concepts from healing to kinetic force to poison energy the amount of energy depended mainly on complexity of the concept and the effects it had on reality. Healing and poison are something cost roughly twice as much as a basic element per level while kinetic force was actually the most expensive at roughly five times as much as a basic element. Making each of them at level 1 cleaned out a lot of Steve''s energy stores so he set the group of three patrolling th jungle together around one of the back huts. With nothing left to do Steve went to check out his first dungeon. "I wonder what there up to"?

 Chapter 7

    The physical abilities dungeon wasn''t a lot different from when Steve left it. Checking the dungeon info none of the original goblins had died yet and with new goblins spawning in the numbers and reached one hundred and twenty six goblins. The small part of the valley under dungeon influence must have gotten crowded because a good number of goblins wandered the great valley area. Using his dungeon energy Steve actively expanded his dungeon instead of the slow autonomous spread. While he did that Steve checked out the gogy ink tree to see if anything had changed.


    It turned out some of the goblins had been harvesting the tree before going out to hunt. Unlike the jungle the valley didn''t have many predators but did have large Buffalo like creatures roaming the mostly grassy hillsides. They ranged from level 1 to 4 but never traveled in groups less than five making them a challenge for most goblins. Some goblins seemd to naturally formed groups while some of the higher level goblins or those with more offensive tattoos would use an ink fruit before ambushing the smallest herd member. Escaping before the others could retaliate the goblins slowly grew in not only level but skill as well.


    "It seems that tree wasn''t a waste after all" nodding in satisfaction Steve used as much energy as possible increasing the area of influence hoping to capitalize on his industrious little hunters. A positive he noticed was that even if the goblins tattoo didn''t increase the goblins defense in any way choosing the physical abilities path caused each goblin to be more durable than either of his other dungeon types goblins. Though he doubted that they could handle a hit from an eight foot scourge ant without a defensive power enhanced by the fruit that was still impressive for a four foot tall goblin.


    So far most of the physical abilities seemed like passive or buffing abilities ment to improve what a goblin already possess. The energy control dungeon seemed to focus on an active effect on the environment. the universal mysteries spirits seemed like a combination of passive abilities from the weapon or spirit and a passive or active choice at level 10.  Steve wasn''t expecting sure if it will stay this way at higher levels but he was starting to get the hang of things when it comes to how the different types influenced the goblins.


    Hoping to increase the leveling speed of his goblins Steve spent the energy to grow two more ink trees and tried creating a physical abilities plant with a small bush. After infusing about half the energy the trees cost Steve got the pop-up he''d been waiting for.


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    Power Thorne bush, the leaves of a power Thorne bush are valuable for grinning up into a powder or tea to temporarily increase all physical characteristics but watch out for the razor sharp needles that sprout from the base.


    "It seems like we''re going to need some kind of goblin alchemist" with a thoughtful expression Steve wondered if the two plants could be combined somehow. Diving into the custom tattoo option Steve designed a brain tattoo imbuing the ability for increase memory and spawning his would be alchemist. It worked yet it could the same amount as a level 5 with a simple physical ability at level 1 Steve had high hopes for his newest minion. Crafting a few simple stone tools from memory of DnD books he half remembers Steve set his goblin to testing and experimenting.


    Knowing that it might take some time and wanting to check on his other two dungeons Steve tried something a little bit different before he left. Focusing on his new alchemist Steve tried giving him authority over his fellow goblins to make sure he didn''t need to waste time gathering his own materials. It seemed to work in some degree being that he could only influence goblins that within a few levels of him. The higher level goblins simply just ignored him but that was fine seeing as his job was to make consumables for the hunters Steve left to check out the situation with the ants.


    Ash was once again having a bad day. He''d left his shift guarding the tunnels like normal and started walking towards his loot cave now filled with different ant shells polished up to look shiny. Half what there however He''d heard a crash and a scream coming from his left. Ash was confused since the ant tunnel was behind him. Right before Ash could jog over the ground in front of him exploded outward a scourge ant launching at him out of nowhere. Rolling out of the way and tossing his snake at it Ash quickly summoned his dagger cutting it''s joints and slowing it enough for his snake to sink it fangs into the massive ants eye.


    Turning Ash found another ant coming out of the new tunnel with more behind it. The sounds of fighting from every direction told ash that new tunnels were popping up all across the mountain and he''d have to hold them here. Yup Ash was definitely having a rotten day.


    Zig was having an amazing day recently hitting level 16 passing Ash and becoming the highest level goblin on the mountain. He had just been thinking that the ants had been way too easy to kill and he had been getting bored with them. The guardian spirit must have heard his prayers and rewarded his efforts with more ants, a few even being larger, faster and stronger than the normal ants. Zig was overjoyed thinking about how many levels he could get from them.

 Chapter 8

    It was absolute chaos with tunnels popping up everywhere with goblin either trying to plug up and hold them or hunting the ants already swarming over the mountain side. With all the chaos the dungeon still running on automatic randomly spawned low level goblin around the dungeon just to be immediately crushed in most cases. Steve was shocked that things could have changed so quickly in the few days he''d been gone.


    Trying to get a hold of the situation he rapidly formed stone spawning huts so his goblins wouldn''t instantly die. Checking the status of his goblins he has down to about ninety or so goblins the lowest level 11 and Zig sitting at level 18. Zig was currently jumping from ant to ant stabbing and preforming acrobatics utilizing his weight manipulation power to evade counter attacks. Marveling at his abilities and effectiveness Steve set the dungeon to spawn level 10 goblins in order to get them access to an extra their first perk. Steve really didn''t want to have to do this since a level 10 cost five times what a level 9 did but he didn''t have much choice.


    Slowly the reinforcements started coming into the battle having some effect. Steve directed them to guard new tunnels slowing the swarm but every time Steve''s goblins started gaining control over the battle field a new whole would start spewing more scourge ants and he''d scramble to to send his troops to cover the break through. Steve started to notice that a new type of ant had started to accompany the regular scourge ants. It was maybe six feet tall and built for speed instead of power and durability like the regular scourge ants. They seemed to be slightly more intelligent than the big ones circling and trying to ambush goblins from behind instead of charging at the first goblin in sight.


    "Why couldn''t they just be dumb bugs" shouting and cursing Steve sent Zig and Ash being his highest level goblins to hunt the new variety down. "We''d already be completely overwhelmed if they didn''t take the time to retrieve the dead ants".  With a frustrated growl Steve released that this wasn''t likely to end quickly so he slowed down his reinforcements spawning so he could have a small reserve. He had to be smart and hope he could last long enough for one of his goblins to hit level 20 and hope that will be enough to hold the tide.


    Jacoby Cane had gathered every single guard and servant he could spare. They packed as much tools, food and weapons they could loading them onto a small merchant vessel his his house owned. With a grin Jacoby looked over his twenty or so guards three of which had a perk like himself. The guard captain had his two lieutenants cost as much and fifty ordinary elves but they were well worth it.


    His captain Cole had a perk allowing him to regenerate from injuries at a rate visible to the naked eye. The first lieutenant Derek had the perk increasing his reflexes the same as lord Jacoby himself. The second lieutenants perk was a lot more rare than this one or Coles however. He could see the heat of a creature whe he focused and while in most situations it wasn''t too useful Tracking and fighting in jungles made it extremely valuable.


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    "Gentleman you may have heard that my son has recently obtained a perk but what you don''t yet know is how it happened" The troops before him watch their master in silence. "He had won it in battle yet not in the traditional way by reaching level 10 but as a reward for slayings his foe". The troops erupted in confused muttering. "It seems this type of monster has a chance of dropping a shard of its own power when slain allowing him to obtain his first perk at level 5" at that moment Jacoby signaled and Douglas proudly walked out onto the deck. Thrusting his hand in the air so everyone could see he summoned a small arc of lightning to dance on his palm.


    Shocked the guards started shouting questions rapidly. Captain Cole who was in charge of discipline just gaped at the boys hand. "This expedition is to find those monsters lair and obtain those very power shards" looking at his men with a wild grin " the Cane merchant house is about to become the most powerful house on the continent". With a glint in his eye Jacoby watched his men cheer with anticipation of what was about to come.


    When hours they had arrived on the opposite bank of the river setting up camp and sending the first group of guards over lead by captain Cole and the second lieutenant scouting the area. The found a small trail leading deeper into the jungle and followed it. Rounding the corner the second lieutenant waved everyone to a hult spotting a a small hut with two small blue monsters that fit Douglas''s description. Focusing on these little creatures didn''t show up in his heat vision but he did spot a handful of little forms roaming around in the jungle near by. Informing the captain they carefully approached the little monsters with the two regular guards facing outward to the jungle letting the captain and first lieutenant take the blue ones alone.


    Catching sight of them the blue little monsters screeched charging arms out. An echoing reply came from all sides as half a dozen multi colored monsters popped out of the brush. Stepping forward captain Cole swiftly kicked the first goblin swiping his axe and the second killing it instantly. As he turned to finish of the second it had scrambled to its feet and longed gripping into his leg. Ignoring the pain Cole slammed his axe into the goblin''s back partly hitting his own leg. Paying no attention to his leg Cole watched as his squad took care of the remaining six monsters when he saw it happen.


    Out of the corner of his eye he caught a blue shimmer over the first goblin he''d struck down. Testing his leg it had seemed to be completely healed so he collected this so called power crystal and got an offer to equip it. Selecting no he gathered up his squad heading back under orders of his lord to return as soon as he obtained a power crystal.

 Chapter 9

    Tang the greatest of all goblins and high alchemist was on the edge of a break through he could feel it. His first accomplishments of grinding the power leaves was a miraculous achievement provided his superiority in the tribe. The fact that his first two test subjects might have collapsed vomiting blood before he''d gotten the dose correct was of little consequence. His newest project was almost complete. He''d taken the ink fruit and pressed them for it''s juice mixing in the powdered power leaf to create the ultimate goblin potion.


    It would be his masterpiece, his life work if only it didn''t turn into black goo every time he''d mixed them together. A big flash of heat and he was left with another mess to scrape off his tools. Moving to his dumping pit tang grumbled to himself about how it should have worked this time. "I''m mixing it in as slowly as I can but once to much powder mixes it turns to goo" growling under his breath tang did his best to think of a way to add the powder without it instantly reacting. He''d tried using a little water to slow the reaction and it helped some but in the end it''s always black goo.


    Getting to his spot but the stream tang the greatest of all goblins started scrubbing his tools. The black goo just stuck so hard and took forever to scrape off. After about an hour or so of scrubbing he was about ready to leave when a hunting party returned dragging a furry mountain across the ground heading to clean and prepare the skin, bone and tendons for use in tools. The hunting of the great herds had been progressing with increasing ease since the arrival of myself and the many miracles he produces. Tang must admit however that no matter how many they seemed to kill the herd only increased in size and to a lesser extent levels over time.


    None could challenge grug dread fist the current highest level goblin in the tribe at level 11. Since hitting level 10  he gained titanic strength and with the help of tangs power powder he became almost unstoppable for a short time. Yet another sign of tangs greatness and with a sigh tang went to turn but noticed a small puddle of blood right beside the the beast being carved up. A wonderful idea so brilliant only tang himself could of came up with hit him. Shouting orders carrying all the authority the spirit guardian bestowed apon tang greatest of all goblins and high alchemist he had the surrounding goblins collect as much blood as possible. Rubbing his hands together tang would show the tribe once more how he earned his titles.


    It had been three days since Jacoby Cane had hit shore and started developing his outpost across the the monsters territory. Goblins the men had started calling them and for some reason that name just fit the brutal little creatures. Jacoby had sent in squads over on four separate occasions and with orders to return once they obtained a power crystal or they''d taken to many injuries. Despite having at least one person with a perk with each squad he''d already lost two men to the goblins. Jacoby wasn''t bothered overly much by the death themselves but the fact that it''s slowed down the rate in which he acquires power crystals. So far he had two in his possession that of a frost and fire crystal.


    He Hesitated to use one himself yet since it seemed that experimenting with his son you could only have one at a time and swapping them out would destroy the equipped tattoo. He had also hoped that the abundance of monsters would level his troops a lot faster than they were. Not that they didn''t improve but despite how dangerous those goblins are their levels were relatively low. Making his mind up Jacoby decided he''d had enough probing and decided to organize a larger scale assault on the monsters. With all that decided he gave his first and second lieutenants the fire and frost crystals respectively in preparation for tomorrow''s attack.


    In the morning everyone gathered checked their weapons and leather armor before shuttling over in boats to land in goblin territory. Moving down the path clearing the occasional ambush from the odd pare of goblins we swiftly reached the huts where the squads always encountered a mob of goblin. Just like the reports said Jacoby layed eyes apon a small group of goblins milling about in front of shabby mud huts. A bark from his captain had half of Jacoby''s troops face the flanks as they marched forward cutting down the multi colored monsters with little trouble.


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    Like it was scripted six goblins popped out of the tree line only to die just as quickly. With a cry of delight the men watched not just one but two power crystals drop. Picking them up Douglas ran back to his father''s side handing them over. Inspecting them Jacoby was pleased to see they were one''s he hadn''t seen before. According to the description they were Earth and wind type. Placing them in a pouch around his waist Jacoby ordered his men deeper into the jungle following the trail.


    Over the next couple hours the men advanced occasional engaging in brief fights only sustaining mild injuries. Collecting a half dozen more crystals along the way lord Jacoby urged his men fast and faster disregarding any scouting or preparation in order to maximize the profit he could collect. So when the troops turned the corner seeing a group of thirty or so goblins he immediately ordered a full charge. Enthused with easy victory the man charged right into them captain Cole cutting them down completely ignoring all defense crushing all the goblins standing in his way. Lord Jacoby had completely stopped seeing the goblins as anything but walking power crystals so he was utterly shocked when captain Cole was knocked six feet in the air slamming into the line of men behind him with an indent in his chest.


    The battle field seemed to pause every elf gapping at a little gray brown goblin standing where the captain was just standing. The goblin made eye contact with Jacoby and changed the remaining goblins following behind. Laying on the ground slowly regenerating the men formed up around captain Cole trying to by him time to get to his feet. The powerful little goblin thankfully must have used up most of it straight on the captain because instead of caving in chests it was only able to brake a bone or toss an elf a few feet. Stabbing and hacking at the little monster they were able to inflict deep wonds but each time they were about it kill the little nightmare a white goblin following behind would touch it on the back healing the worst of it''s injuries.


    Seeing the despite state of his men lord Jacoby jumped forward slashing out with his sword. Sliding just past the little monster his sword cut though the healers neck. Quickly retreating to avoid the powerful strike of the little monster captain Cole who had recently made it to his feet stepped forward cutting down the goblin who nearly killed him. Turning to servay the battle field he heard a shout from his side. Douglas was reaching out palm arcing towards a green goblin he hadn''t noticed. With his perk enhancing his reflexes the goblin was barely able to touch his before Jacoby cut off it''s arm and head there after.


    The battle had some ended Jacoby looking around a all the power crystals form about the battlefield. It was enough to make him weak in the knees seeing how much all those were worth. It was around that moment Jacoby''s vision started to fade and his legs gave out. Douglas watched his father collapse in horror and confusion. "Father " running up Douglas checked his father for wonds and found a black pach of skin where where that green goblin had touched his father.  His breathing was ragged looking around for anything that could help. By chance he saw a white crystal forming above the healers corpses. Acting without thinking Douglas snatched the crystal.


    A pop-up asking him if he wanted to unequip his current tattoo on replace it with the one in his hands appeared. Agreeing without hesitation Douglas''s hair faded to white and a tattoo of a white dove manifested on his chest. Placing his hand on his father''s side Douglas pushed as much energy as possible. Slowly painfully slowly his father''s breathing started to stabilize. Douglas could hear captain Cole shouting at the surviving men to do something but he was just too worn-out to care.


    He didn''t remember how but the remaining troops and himself made it back thought the horrific jungle and across the river to the outpost. Of the twenty or so of us that went out eleven returned all wonded aside from captain Cole and Douglas himself.

 Chapter 10

    Steve infused the rock he''d spent the last three weeks shaping when he had a sufficient dungeon energy to spare. A spiked walks loomed twenty feet tall in the shape of a pentagon with battlements across the top. Steve was by no means an architect, hell he''d barely remembered the few pictures he''d seen on the internet back before all this. It was crudely placed at the top of the mountain the dungeon sat on overlooking the chaos of ant on goblin warfare.


    He''d have made fortified the entire mountain in the scourge ants couldn''t just rip through normal stone like it wasn''t even there. Without a choice Steve was forced into reinforcing the walls and ground underneath with enough energy to keep the ants from just tunneling in. One of the few reasons they have lasted so long was a strategy Steve had came up with sending spirits or the occasional sacrificial goblin to collapse a section of tunnels where possible.


    Looking out another small patch of mountain shifted imploding apon itself with a scrape of rock. Once a great howling of triumph would have leaped from his goblins throats but now it was simply ignored. Being dungeon creatures the goblins didn''t require food or sleep yet still required rest to restore energy and healing. Being in essence completely surrounded with an enemy who could pop out of the ground at any moment made it almost impossible to get any relief aside from leveling restoring some of the Stamina,health and whatever magical process fuels their powers. For the most part they held the ground around the reinforced spawning huts dotted around the dungeon with more powerful goblins or those with unique abilities roamed from from hut to hut helping where they could.


    A strong core of level 20 plus weapon welders were constantly on patrol hunting for a new type of ant called a scourge commander. Those nasty bugs started appearing about a week or so after the Steve had arrived at his third dungeon. It seemed to have the ability to coordinate the scourge ants to fight if not exactly tactically then more efficiently. They were always a priority target since the longer it was in the fight it would gain levels depending upon the kills of those it controlled. The first one had hit the level 20 threshold giving a boost in defense to the few hundred closest ants. If Zig wasn''t able to find it and take it out quickly after it would have probably been too late thankfully it was extremely physically weak for it''s level and had red marking on his head to spot.


    As he worked Steve watched Zig dash from battle to battle eliminating the ants with ease escaping all counterattack by weightlessly floating away with a small hop. His level 20 choice gave him many different options from new powers, additional tattoos or what Zig ended up picking being a weapon enhancement. No exciting new attacks or world shaking powers like some of the later level 20s got but a simple increase in sharpness and quality.  No longer needing to aim for joints and openings Zig could peirce all but the highest level ants armor with a lazy stab.


    Being so mobile and deadly Steve planned on sending him a a small strike team to hopefully find and destroy the queen at the head of the swarm.  Steve would have already done so if he was confident enough to hold out without his strongest fighters. "Now that the stronghold is almost complete I should be able to spare him" with a final push of energy the stronghold was ready. Ordering a withdrawal Steve watched as his goblins pulled back spirit animals holding off the ants. Only sustaining a handful of casualties among the recently spawned level 10s the goblins all reached the fortress slamming the gate behind them.


    The ants still relentlessly assaulted them but with the spiked walks slowing them the goblins had enough time to properly rest and rotate their fighters. Steve did have to designate most of the dungeon energy spawning fresh goblins to constantly reinforcing the walls repairing minor damage he was still gaining power faster than it was spent for a change. Turning his attention to his highest level troops Steve started planning for an assault on the scourge queen.


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    He had decided to send only melee goblins since fighting in tunnels favored them over the spirits. Zig would lead them with his spear, Kobo a goblin with a set of mace and shield tattoos as his second. Adding a few of the other strong melee fighters brought the team up to twelve creating a strong and quick moving team Steve could count on handling anything they''d likely run into. Steve had thought about sending Ash but with so many of his strongest fighters gone he''d need someone to handle the fortress.


    Watching Ash''s evolved spirit fighting on the wall Steve marveled. At level 20 Ash was able to evolve it causing it to become a goblin like creature with a shake head and tail. It was able to use  a copy of Ash''s summoned dagger increasing its fighting capability in exchange for using energy at an astonishingly pace.  As horrible as the scourge ants have been Steve had to admit seeing a ghostly snake goblin stab, bite and throw giant ants off a a castle wall was pretty cool. Giving them the time to rest he planned to send this strike team out in the morning.


    Douglas was absolutely wiped out from the past few weeks. Between healing his still bedridden father, managing matters of the outpost and greater trading house beyond he was completely ready to to collapsed. With the deaths of most of the house guard including both lieutenants under his father''s command he his position was extremely weak. Douglas never really cared for house politics much preferring to drink and relax but even he knew that which his father mostly out of the picture the other house''s would sooner or later start knocking on their territory. His only hope to secure his family''s future was the exact same thing that caused the problem in the first place.


    He had just over thirty power crystals from the previous battles across the river after giving the surviving guards one as a from of payment for to ensure they wouldn''t leave his service. In addition each member beside himself had reached level 10 gaining a perk. It was arguable that he had a stronger force that before or at least that''s what his father seemed to think when he''s lucid enough to advise his son.


    Sending captain Cole back into civilization with ten power crystals he had instructions to recruit as many mercenaries companies willing to swear oaths of service in exchange for power crystals. To make sure he could impress apon them the power of the power crystals Douglas had him equip the crystal the gray brown goblin that was able to toss him around like a child. Between that and his regeneration perk captain Cole should easily be able to handle almost anyone under the level 20 threshold. From what his father had told him most great houses only have a dozen or so members each and us them to keep each other in line so a minor house like them having captain Cole is an amazing show of strength.


    A new discovery also made the power crystals more valuable. It seemed that each of them seem to be rank 1 meaning that after level 10 you could equip a second rank 1 tattoo. It stands to reason that if they could find and take down a goblin whose passed the level 10 threshold they would drop more powerful crystals. Excitement and fear ran through him thinking about a level 10 plus goblin. Until reinforcements could arrive Douglas had his men clear jungle and build more permanent buildings to replace the tents of the outpost.


    As always tang was the greatest, most brilliant and amazing goblin to have ever live. He''d completed his masterpiece and handed the ultimate goblin potion to his waiting assistant. Downing the potion the eye tattoo glowed on his forehead while his muscles swelled within power. He looked around body giving off a feeling of great power before taking a step forward and promptly exploding. Giving a shout tang summoned two more assistance to drag the corpse away. Quickly turning back to his alchemy table tang the greatest of all goblins and high alchemist shouted "next" at the scared line of goblins waiting in a line behind him.

 Chapter 11

    With dawn Steve gathered up his strike team lining them up and granting the six highest level members a scourge ant egg glowing with a soft light. Consume them caused a wash of energy rush to the tattoo on the goblins. Looking at the tattoos it seemed to be more solid and for lack of a better word real to Steve.


    Manifesting there weapons the difference of a single egg was minor but at this point every little bit helps. Ordering them forward Zigs group hopped from the wall doing their best to quickly make it to the nearest tunnel opening doing their best to only kill the ants when absolutely necessary. In no time at all the strike team filed into the tunnel vanishing first out of sight and soon out of the dungeon influence entirely. "Goodluck" turning to look at the view of the mountain range with the mind bending portal he felt both worried about the mission and sad knowing that he''d likely just sacrificed goblins that he''d grown extremely attached to over the last few weeks of depending upon them. With a sigh Steve handed authority to Ash setting the dungeon to autonomous to check on his other dungeons but if he was being honest with himself he really just ended a break from the madness of ant attacks.


    Popping over to the first dungeon Steve immediately checked out how his alchemist was doing. Inspecting him out he discovered that the little goblin had been extremely busy and not necessarily in a positive way. At first Steve noticed that his little alchemist tang had hit level 9 and was just on the threshold of reaching level 10 and being able to choose his first perk. Steve was excited thinking that he had been able to raise his level by simply crafting and improving themselves without having to battle. The pleasant day dream was quickly shattered after watching a few of Tangs experiments. He''d been gaining levels by poisoning his fellow goblins. Going through the dungeon logs that his little "alchemist" was actually responsible for each and every death of a goblin since the dungeon was founded.


    Ordering a complete hult to all this experiments something happened that had never happened before. Simply ignoring the order tang continued to mix ingredients and tested his concoction on the next freshly spawned goblin in the line. Shaking and glowing with power the level 1 goblin rolled around on the ground flailing. Thankfully his insides didn''t burst like the others but he was left unconscious next to tang who grumbled something and began a new. "He completely ignored my orders " panic tinted his voice as he proceeded what had just happened.


    Diving into the dungeon information and the knowledge that was shot into his head Steve desperately looked for something that could explain exactly what just happened. Eventually he stumbled upon a piece of information that might explain what was happening. Apparently an exceedingly stubborn, powerful or intelligent creature could disobey an order that goes to far away from its nature. In rare occasions even a low level creature with a strong enough goal can disregard all dungeon influence in pursuit of achieving the set goal. Short of killing tang Steve had no more power over his alchemist not even able to take back the authority he had bestowed apon tang when he was first made. "Seems like I''m stuck with the little narcissistic psychopath " with a huff Steve went to expand the dungeon trying ignore the dying goblins on the ground.


    Working on covering the massive area of the valley Steve thought about just how vast his new realm truly was. Three planets intertwined each larger than earth a few times over leaving him struggling to grasp how titanic the distances are from each other. The complex terrain of warped space made it difficult to tell how to get from one place to the next but he truly wanted to travel the vast realm. Steve promised himself that once he was confident in leaving his dungeons unattended for a prolonged period he''d make a trip to explore his new realm. In the meantime Steve watched the massive herds of Buffalo like creatures roaming in ever increasing numbers. It seemed like being exposed to the dungeon energy had vastly increased the reproduction rate causing the population to explode despite the hunting from the goblins.


    With the access energy from the hunting and increasing levels the dungeon had spawned hundreds of goblins over the past weeks. "It''s be over a thousand if tang hadn''t killed so many " sighing Steve looked at the small group who had reached level ten in his absence. Grug had built off his original skeleton tattoo adding muscle like in one of those old biology textbooks he''d studied in school. Unlike the textbook however everything was layed out to that of a goblin. I guess that should have been obvious but for a while examined it for an embarrassingly long time before I figured it out. "If he keeps following this path he could enhance his skin or circulatory next? " Steve mused to himself.


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    Examining a goblin that had a tattoo of a spine with spider webs branching out from it Steve dived into his information. It seemed that those spider webs were the goblin nervous system with the tattoo giving enhanced reflexes. Apon hitting level 10 instead of enhancing a second part of the body the goblin doubled down allowing him to move and react like everything around him was moving in slow motion. Curious Steve sent him on a hunt in order to observe him and wasn''t disappointed. Lazily walking up to a group of six Buffalo holding a bone knife at his side he easily sidestepped their charge stabbing two of them in the neck as they passed. Running for a few hundred feet before falling behind the herd and collapsing the low level Buffalo were basically defenseless against the little goblin.


    Each of the goblin''s enhancement tattoos seemed to give them super goblin abilities in a special area while each level gave a minor boost in every category from eyesight and sense of smell to bone density and strength. It wasn''t like in a video game when you add strength points but making a goblin a slightly better goblin in every way. A level 10 goblin might only be twice as strong as a level 1 if the tattoos didn''t give physical strength in some way. Steve wondered if those elves who stumbled across his energy dungeon were similar or any other races for that matter. Thinking that seemed to unlock another small package of information locked inside his head.


    Each race gets roughly the same increase in ability per level as any other but is distributed to different aspects. Elves reflexes and speed of thought increases fast that it''s strength meaning a level 10 with no perk is roughly fifty percent stronger and one hundred and twenty percent faster than he was a level 1. It seemed to slightly vary on the person as well as maintaining good physical condition but it was extremely fascinating. It seemed like for an elf the increase in reflexes would be a larger increase than it would be for a goblin yet on the other hand a physical strength and defense ability would be slightly underwhelming. "Speaking of elves I should probably go check on my other dungeon"


    It took a lot of work and almost all of the coin his young master had sent him with but Cole was able to arrange a meeting with the commander of the battle wolves mercenary company. They were the second largest company operating in the southern region. They had possession of a perk inheritance that allowed them to train their members to obtain a rare perk at level 10. This perk allowed them to create a creature out of earth and stone to fight alongside them in battle. Their leader Klaus founder of the battle wolves and reason for the company''s name sat in front of Cole flanked with two earthen wolves. "I understand you might have something worth my time so be quick about it" Klaus said in a clip tone.


    Tossing him a glowing brown power crystal Cole instructed Klaus to inspect it. Facial expression changing from annoyed to blank then surprised he Klaus locked eyes with Cole "is this real" with a ting of confusion and hope in his voice. "Yes sir Klaus I myself have obtained a perk from one of these crystals " rolling up his sleeve to expose his swirling tattoo on his bicep. "The Cane merchant house has discovered a method in which to obtain additional perks yet we find ourselves in need of additional manpower". "With such a miraculous discovery every merchant house, warlord and clan would rip the Cane house apart from this" Klaus pointed out. "That''s why my house as sent me to negotiate with you and a handful of other companies for retainer oaths " pulling out a handful of crystals Klaus''s eyes locked onto them. Cole smiled knowing that he''d already won the battle wolves over and only need to bicker over the price.


    An upfront payment of six crystals and ten more every six months had twenty official members and another fifty trainees under the full control of house Cane. This was a sizable force since each full member had reached level 10 and had the perk to create their own earth wolf. With a handful of crystals left Cole hired a minor company who only had six level 10 members with varying perks to give an oath to his house in exchange for his remaining crystals. With a sizable force Cole quickly returned to the newly minted outpost.

 Chapter 12

    Howling range throughout the jungle rasping like stones being rubbed together. All a cross the trails and mud huts the figures of nervous goblins searched for the figures that had been popping out of cover and snatching anyone alone and unaware. Scud the goblin''s eyes darted around getting glimpses of rocky nightmares roaming just out of sight. He spent the early hours hunting as part of a trio down by the river like he had done every since he was spawned. Everything was seemingly normal and Scud had hoped to reach level 7 today but just when he was thinking that two stone figures pounced out of the jungle landing on his companions. Scene of their power and being outnumbered Scud ran to the huts for help only to find ripped apart goblins in his path.


    The arrival of the battle wolves was an absolute blessing for the Cane clan and the yet to be Westbank outpost. Apon arriving and swearing an oath Douglas and the much diminished Jacoby Cane briefed the battle wolves vice commander Helen on the nature of the goblins and the encounters they''ve had so far. With the earth wolves running through the jungle the goblins didn''t have the chance to ambush or closing the distances. Unable to use their abilities at range the battle wolves harvested crystals at a rapid pace. The battle wolves were able to clear the entire dungeon village up to and including the final village the held the battle in which nearly killed Douglas father without injuries.


    While the low level power crystals were no doubt extremely valuable Douglas was keen on getting his hands on a higher ranked power crystal. Having such a large and high level group also made Douglas''s level stagnant still just shy of level 10. He''d come along since healing perks were extremely rare but underestimated his new subordinates efficiency in dealing with the troublesome creatures. They pushed on deeper into unexplored territory unknowingly stepping through into a higher level zone.


    Null was irritated, he''d found a new creature made out of earth and stone kinda like how some of his fellow goblins with earth powers advanced when hitting level 10. He''d ambushed it blasting to with multiple icicles eventually using a third of his energy pool to to take the beast down but for what? The beast didn''t even grant Null even the smallest bit of experience. After killing it he heard a shout of pain and anger then half a dozen more just like the first chasing him through the jungle when he''d tried to flee. Shaking them one minute only to get spotted again soon afterwards null was revealed to run across a few high level goblins like himself.


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    Before him was a trio of goblins two of them being earth goblins with the ability to cover themselves in stone armor similar to the very beasts that chased him now. The final goblin and the only one that Null would consider a rival was colored red and black with a mountain spewing fire. Null remembered his as on of his original group yet back then he was a simple fire goblin by the name of Flare. Apon reaching level 10 instead of picking a ranged choice or building Apon the basic ability like his earth goblin companions he evolved the energy creating his magma element. When he fought he produced magma on his hands that stuck to and melted anything that it hit.


    Linking up Null stood behind the two earth goblins holding the pace at bay while he and Flare would attack at any opening. The battle wasn''t one sided however both front line goblins took multiple wonds one eventually collapsing and bleed out. Spearing the last earth wolf with an icicle Null saw a crystal forming above the fallen goblin. Stepping forward he was just about to touch the strange object before another set of howling forced him and his remaining group of goblins to flee. Running battles were taking place across the section of jungle the battle wolves where exploring. Unlike before however the goblins weren''t defenseless pray like the previous batch of opponents the battle wolves had to constantly use their abilities to create replacement wolves. It was far from free to do so since the toll on the body and mind only increased each time they had to replace a wolf.


    Douglas watched a the battle wolves pushed themselves hunting for the goblins. To his left a young battle wolf members collapsed after creating his forth earth wolf in the last hour. Rushing out and placing his hand on the man Douglas found that his power had no effect "its exhaustion and bottoming out my magic reserves" the man said with a cough "nothing a low level healing perk can handle". Seeing that his powers were useless all he could do was hand over his water skin and watch.

 Chapter 13

    Popping into the elementle dungeon Steve got a view of a full campaign being waged on his jungle goblins. A large group of elves were gathered around a clearing at the end of his little mud village. Every so often they would summon a wolf out of the ground and send it rushing off after the few remaining goblins in the level 10 zone he''d set up. It seemed that word about his dungeon has begun to spread bringing power people over. Steve was very intrigued by the earth wolves they could create but they seemed a little bit too powerful against his goblins. Just letting them sit there infinitely spawning minions to fight was a dungeons job wasn''t it?


    Diving into the spawning menu Steve used a large chunk of his energy spawning ten level 10 earth goblins and fifty level 1 goblins of all types to rush the group of invaders. His goal wasn''t to wipe them out but to simply push them back and out of the dungeon with the hord. Acting as a tank the high level earth goblins took the limited amount of ranged attacks charging in an trying to engage the summoners. The sight of the earth armored goblins followed by the rest of the hord made the elves flee ordering the few wolves cover their retreat.


    "It''s good I was able to chase them off without killing anyone " Steve said observing the elves as they fled his dungeon. One of Steve''s largest worries was that all his dungeon creatures getting whipped out and basically having to start from scratch. It could easily end up like when the scourge ants instantly killed spawning goblins draining energy. A sense from the knowledge stored in his head made it seem like that could cause problems or possibly dungeon collapse if things lasted long enough. He''d have to think of a way to keep his dungeon from getting overwhelmed while still letting the world''s inhabitants grow with him.


    Taking the idea of his fortifications in his universal mysterious dungeon Steve planned out a series of small bunkers, forts and tree houses he''d place across his level 10 plus zone. He only had the energy for a simple tree house but he had to start somewhere at that would keep Null and a few of his level 10 goblins from getting ambushed by those stone wolves. Directing his goblins gather around and patrol the area of his very first tree house Steve started set out level 5 and level 10 spawn points around his higher level zone. With a sigh Steve also set twenty percent of the dungeon energy to infuse into his level 10 zone boosting the growth of plants, animals and passively enhancing materials. Since his local core was basically empty nothing had changed but over time it should help level his goblins while making the environment charged with elemental energy. Cracking his spiritual knuckles Steve got working on refining his dungeons layout.


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    Zig breathed heavily limping back to their barricaded camp. It had taken him much effort and scouting but he''d gotten a glimpses of the scourge queen, a towering bulbous creature five goblins tall and twenty long. It was was tended by ants Zig hadn''t seen before small as him with goblin like fingers on long arms attached to a round torso that floated off the ground. He had was lost gazing at the strange creature when he was ambushed by one of the floating creatures he had missed. Normally ants couldn''t hurt him since he had reached level 30 getting a set of spirit armor but the monster must have had an upgrade similar to his spear allowing its hand to easily part through his defense and peirce his side. Shaking his head at the thought Zig entered the camp seeing Kobo gazing over towards the battle happening on the planet above.


    Their camp was on the outside the the mountain going into the portal. They didn''t sit on a cliff but flat rock the gravity of both plants holding them at a right angle. The two remaining strike team members watched the ant hord roll endlessly against the goblin fortifications. They discussed plans to attack the queen as soon as Zig recovered knowing that if they failed the scourge ants would never stop.


    Somewhere in the void :


    A wounded beast floated though endless space blood dripping out of rents in its scales. Vinte''s mind was hazy her pack killed or captured and her left alone and defenseless. She was a young dragon barely level 600 not even strong enough to play without one of her parents watching over her. Fretting about what to do she felt a strange feeling wash over her and she froze. "A spacial ripple " vinte''s head snapped to her left as if she could see something in the distances.  "A newly formed plain?!" Hopefully and excited Vinte rushed towards her possible salvation.