The morning sun did little to warm the damp air of the ravine. Minoru stood at the entrance of his expanded fissure, stretching his new, dense muscles. The recovery from the Demon Slime battle and the subsequent evolution had left him feeling powerful, yes, but also strangely restless. His Magius hovered at a comfortable 650, a reservoir of energy that felt like a coiled spring in his chest.
He had pants. He had a safe cave. He had a dragon egg incubating in his basement. By all metrics, his reincarnation was going better than his corporate career ever had.
"Status report," Minoru muttered, cracking his neck.
"Biological integrity: 100%," True Appraisal responded smoothly. "Prismatic Egg condition: Stable. Hatch progress: 5.1%. Current objective: Unknown. Suggestion: Breakfast."
"Breakfast sounds good," Minoru agreed. "Let's see what the forest has to offer a Hobgoblin."
He stepped out of the ravine, his heavy leather boots—stolen from the adventurer Garen—crunching on the gravel. He didn't activate Hunter's Stride. He wanted to walk, to feel the ground, to test his natural senses.
He made it fifty yards into the treeline before the forest went silent.
It wasn't the silence of an empty room. It was the silence of a held breath. The birds stopped singing. The wind seemed to die down.
"Ambush," True Appraisal warned, but the tone was different. It wasn't analyzing data; it was stating a fact too late.
From the shadows of the ancient oaks, eyes appeared. Yellow, burning eyes. Low growls, vibrating at a frequency that rattled the bones, emerged from every direction.
They stepped out of the brush in unison. Wolves. But not just any wolves. These were Fangjaw Wolves, the same species as the Alpha he had killed, but slightly smaller. Their fur was a matted grey, their teeth dripping with the same greenish corrosive saliva.
"Count," Minoru commanded, dropping into a combat stance.
"Fifteen," True Appraisal replied. "These are the Betas. The remnants of the pack you orphaned. They have tracked the scent of their Alpha's killer. They are not here for territory. They are here for blood."
Minoru scoffed, though his heart rate spiked. "Fifteen against one? I killed your boss. What makes you think you can take me?"
The largest of the wolves, a scarred male with a missing ear, let out a sharp bark.
The pack moved. They didn't charge blindly like the goblins. They flowed like water. Three lunged from the front, their jaws snapping. Minoru reacted instantly, his agility far surpassing his previous limits. He sidestepped the first, backhanded the second with a Magius Armament gauntlet, and kicked the third in the ribs.
CRACK.
The kicked wolf yelped and rolled away, ribs shattered.
But the attack was a feint. While he dealt with the front three, four more struck from behind.
Minoru felt heavy weight slam into his back. Sharp teeth tore at his calves and thighs. The leather pants offered some protection, but the corrosive saliva burned through instantly.
"Gah!" Minoru roared, channeling Magius Armament into his legs to shatter the grip.
He spun, sweeping his arm in a wide arc, his claws extended. He caught one wolf across the snout, blinding it, but two more clamped onto his left arm. The weight was immense. They were dragging him down.
"Strength disparity noted," True Appraisal analyzed calmly while Minoru struggled to keep his footing. "Individually, they are weak (Magius 250). Collectively, they are exerting force exceeding your physical limits. You are being overwhelmed."
"I noticed!" Minoru gritted out.
He couldn't use Hunter's Stride to run; he was pinned. He couldn't use Void Cloak; they already had his scent and blood. He had to brutalize them.
He focused his gaze on the scarred male who was hanging back, barking orders. The tactician.
"Cut off the head," Minoru snarled.
He ignored the wolves chewing on his arm. He activated Magius Armament over his entire body, a full-body suit of black, crackling energy. The wolves biting him yelped as the energy burned their mouths, forcing them to let go for a fraction of a second.
That was all he needed.
Minoru launched himself. He didn't run; he exploded forward, the ground beneath him cratering. He plowed through two wolves standing in his way, his shoulder checking them into oblivion, and landed directly in front of the Scarred Beta.
The wolf's eyes widened. It tried to snap at Minoru's throat, but Minoru was faster. He grabbed the wolf's upper and lower jaws with his armored hands.
"You should have run," Minoru whispered.
He ripped.
With a sickening wet tear, he unhinged the wolf's jaw and slammed the beast into the ground. He didn't stop. The Devourer skill pulsed in his gut, a hungry, black void demanding tribute. He needed to show these beasts true dominance. He needed to be a monster they feared more than death.
Minoru buried his face in the Scarred Beta's neck and activated Devourer.
[Target: Fangjaw Wolf (Beta Class).]
[Magius Recovered: +150.]
[Skill Extraction Initiated...]
The rest of the pack froze. They watched, trembling, as the green giant consumed their leader in seconds, his body glowing with a terrifying, dark aura.
[Skill Acquired: Shadow Stomach (Unique).]
[Description: Creates a sub-dimensional pocket within the user's shadow. Capable of storing non-living matter and, with high mastery, willing living subjects. Capacity scales with Magius.]
Minoru stood up, wiping blood from his chin. His Magius was overflowing, his aura radiating a crushing pressure. He looked at the remaining fourteen wolves. They were cowering, tails tucked between their legs, ears flat against their skulls.
He focused on one wolf in particular. A sleek, female wolf with intelligent eyes who stood slightly apart from the others. She hadn't attacked blindly. She had watched.
Minoru pointed a clawed finger at her.
"You," he growled, his voice deep and resonant. "Submit."
The female wolf hesitated only a moment. She stepped forward, lowered her head, and exposed her throat—the universal sign of absolute surrender. One by one, the other wolves followed suit, dropping to their bellies.
"Analysis," Minoru thought.
"Pack hierarchy restructured," True Appraisal confirmed. "By killing the Alpha candidate in a dominance display, you have inherited the pack. They are yours."
Minoru approached the female wolf. He placed his hand on her head. He felt a strange connection form, a thread of Magius linking his core to hers.
"You're smarter than him," Minoru said quietly. " You waited and you thought before acting. That's the kind of judgment I need in a lieutenant, not in a pet.
He poured Magius into the bond. It was an impulsive decision, fueled by the surplus energy he had just eaten.
"I'll name you Artemis."
The moment the name left his lips, the forest seemed to darken. The shadows under the trees stretched and warped, rushing toward the female wolf. She howled, a sound of pain and ecstasy, as her grey fur turned jet black. Her body elongated, her muscles condensing.
[Named Monster Created.]
[Entity 'Artemis' evolving...]
[Species: Shadow Fang Wolf.]
[Magius: 450 / 450.]
Artemis stood up. She was larger now, sleek and terrifying, her fur seemingly made of smoke and shadow. She looked at Minoru with eyes that glowed a soft, loyal violet.
"Boss," a voice echoed in Minoru's head. It wasn't True Appraisal. It was a simple, rough telepathic link.
Minoru blinked. "You can talk?"
"Pack link," Artemis replied, her mental voice sounding like gravel crunching. "Hunt? Kill?"
"Not now," Minoru said, grinning. He looked at his new skill: Shadow Stomach.
then glanced at the wolves circling him hopefully. "I can't have a whole pack trailing behind me. Kind of defeats the purpose of being sneaky."
He focused on his shadow, which stretched long in the morning light. He willed the Shadow Stomach to open. The shadow seemed to liquefy, becoming a dark, deep pool.
"Get in," Minoru ordered.
Artemis didn't hesitate. She stepped into Minoru's shadow and sank, vanishing without a ripple. The other wolves followed, yipping nervously but obeying their new Alpha. Within seconds, the clearing was empty, save for Minoru.
He checked his status. He could feel them in there—fifteen distinct points of life suspended in the darkness of his shadow, waiting for his call.
"Portable army," Minoru mused. "I like it."
The forest was not enough. Minoru realized this as he sat by the river washing the wolf blood off his armor. He had power, he had minions, and he had a base. But he was ignorant.
"I need a map," he told True Appraisal. "I need to know where I am, who runs this place, and how likely I am to get nuked by a wizard if I step out of line."
"Oakhaven is the nearest settlement," True Appraisal reminded him. "You have already interacted with its denizens. The probability of finding cartographic data there is 99%."
"Then we go back," Minoru said. "But this time, we don't kick down the door….. We'll sneak in."
Nightfall found Minoru standing at the edge of the Whispering Woods, looking down at the town of Oakhaven. It was a quaint place, glowing with the warm light of lanterns and hearth fires. Wooden walls surrounded it, patrolled by bored-looking guards carrying torches.
"Magius: 650," Minoru checked. "The Cost of Void Cloak is High, I'll need to be fast."
He activated Void Cloak.
The world blurred instantly. Light bent around him, rendering him invisible to the naked eye and dampening his thermal signature. He moved like a phantom, crossing the open field between the forest and the walls in seconds using Hunter's Stride.
The wall was twenty feet high. Minoru vaulted it in a single leap, landing silently on a thatched roof inside the town.
The town smelled of roasting pork and woodsmoke. He crept along the rooftops, his Hunter's Sense filtering the noise of the town below. He heard arguments, lovers whispering, and the clinking of glasses in the tavern.
"Target identified," True Appraisal guided him. "It's the Structure ahead, Signage indicates 'The Quilled Scroll'. It is a bookbinder and map shop."
Minoru dropped into the alley behind the shop. The back door was locked. He placed a hand on the lock and activated a tiny, localized pulse of Magius Armament—not to destroy, but to vibrate the tumblers. With a soft click, the door opened.
He slipped inside. The shop smelled of old paper and ink. He moved to the shelves, his Hunter's Sense allowing him to read the titles in the pitch dark.
History of the Aethelgardian Monarchy.
Herbalism of the Lowlands.
The Great War: Myth and Reality.
He grabbed a large, leather-bound cylinder from a rack labeled "Navigation."
"This is it," he whispered. He unrolled it on a table. It was a detailed map of the continent.
"Appraisal," he commanded. "Scan please."
"Scanning..." True Appraisal hummed. "Integration complete. Geographical data stored. Political boundaries updated. Historical context accessed from footnotes."
Minoru rolled the map back up. He decided to take it anyway. He dropped a small, raw Magoi crystal he had chipped from his cave onto the counter. It was worth ten times the map.
"Payment," he muttered. "I'm a monster, not a thief."
He slipped back out into the night, vanishing over the wall before the town guard even finished their shift change.
Back in the safety of his cavern, Minoru spread the map out on the rock shelf. The glowing crystals provided perfect reading light.
"Okay, break it down," Minoru said, tracing the lines on the parchment. "Where are we?"
"You are currently in the Kingdom of Aethelgard," True Appraisal began, highlighting a large, central territory on the mental map overlay. "It is one of the Six Human Kingdoms. Aethelgard is a mid-tier power, known for agriculture and dungeon resources. Oakhaven is a frontier town on its southern border."
"Six kingdoms," Minoru noted. "Who else?"
"To the West, the Valorian Empire (Militaristic). To the North, the Frostfall Union (Trade). The others are minor states. However, the true power lies centrally."
True Appraisal highlighted a massive, golden territory in the center of the map.
"The Holy Church Nation of Sol. It is the theocracy that dictates religious law for all human nations. They possess the 'Paladins'—human warriors capable of using Holy Magic. They are the natural enemies of all monsters. If they discover your existence, or the Egg, they will send a Crusade."
Minoru shivered. "Note to self: Avoid church."
"Surrounding the human territories are the Three Non-Human Nations," the voice continued. "The Elven Enclave in the Great Western Forests. The Irondeep Dwarf Holds in the mountain ranges. And the Marshlands of the Scaled Ones to the South."
"And the bad guys?"
"The Demon Lord Territories." Four dark splotches marked the corners of the map, eating away at the edges of civilization. "There are Four Demon Lords. They are the peak of the evolutionary food chain. Each commands a nation of monsters. They are catastrophic threats. Even a Hobgoblin Variant like you is an insect to them."
"Comforting," Minoru dryly remarked.
"But," True Appraisal paused. "There is a power above them. The True Dragons."
Minoru leaned in. "The egg."
"There are only three known True Dragons in existence. The Scorch Dragon (Volcanic), the Frost Dragon (Northern), and the Storm Dragon."
True Appraisal projected a red line from the map to Minoru's current location.
"The Storm Dragon
Archnelogoia, disappeared four hundred years ago. Legend says he was sealed. Now, look at the dungeon entrance you discovered in this cave system."
Minoru recalled the monolithic archway and the Golems. He recalled the Appraisal text: Draconic Nest.
"The dungeon next door," Minoru whispered. "It's not just a random dungeon. It's a prison."
"Correct. The dungeon likely houses the sealed Storm Dragon, or his remains. And the Prismatic Egg you are bonding with? It shares the same Magoi signature. It is likely his offspring, or a reincarnation vessel."
Minoru sat back, rubbing his temples. "So, let me get this straight. I am babysitting the child of a missing god-dragon, living next door to the prison where said god-dragon is locked up, in a forest bordered by a Kingdom that hires adventurers to kill me, and a Church that wants to purify me."
"Succinct," True Appraisal agreed. "Also, you are currently too weak to survive any of these factions if they find you."
"I have 650 Magius," Minoru argued. "And I have a wolf pack."
"A Paladin of the Holy Church averages over 2,000 Magius," True Appraisal countered mercilessly. "A Demon Lord averages above 100,000. You are a big fish in a puddle, Minoru. You need to get out of the puddle."
Minoru looked at his hands. He looked at the sealed entrance to the Golem room.
He then stood up.
"I need to evolve again," Minoru stated. "Hobgoblin isn't enough. If I want to survive this, if I want to protect this egg and myself, I need to reach the next stage. What comes after Hobgoblin?"
"Ogre," True Appraisal replied. "Or, given your Variant status, High Ogre or Kijin. To trigger that evolution, you need a massive catalyst. You need Magoi density that doesn't exist in this forest."
"It exists in the dungeon," Minoru said, turning toward the fissure that led to the Golem room. "That archway... it was leaking high-density Magoi. And the maze behind it is full of high-level monsters."
"Entering the dungeon is high risk," True Appraisal warned. "The Golems are 900 Magius each. The monsters inside will be stronger."
"I have Artemis," Minoru said, his shadow swirling as the wolf poked her head out. "I have Void Cloak and I have Shadow Stomach to carry supplies. I'm not going in to fight the Dragon. I'm going in to grind."
He began to pack. He tossed the map, the dried meat he had scavenged, and his waterskin into his shadow.
"We go in," Minoru declared, his voice hard. "We kill the monsters in the tunnels. We eat them. We level up. And we don't come out until I'm strong enough to look a Paladin in the eye."
He walked to the entrance of the fissure leading to the Obsidian Chamber. He took a deep breath.
"Ready, Artemis?"
The Shadow Wolf growled in affirmation.
Minoru stepped through the crack, leaving the safety of his sanctuary behind, walking straight into the dark maw of the ancient prison.