CORE Vol. 3 pt. 14 (Patreon)

((Well, I ended up being super late with this. Ended up sleeping basically the entire day away yesterday, which I guess was me catching up on not sleeping much at all lately, and then got extremely distracted by finding out that we might be getting a direct hit from a hurricane in a few days. Had to go and get some supplies and come up with an emergency plan for my mum and grandma just in case. We're all good for that now, though. When I wake up later today, I'm going to check the latest forecast and hurricane models, then close everything except my writing software to go on a writing marathon and get chapters done.))

The next step was igniting the bombs we made to blow a hole into the volcano’s center chamber. Hmm. Is that the right thing to call it? The center chamber? The giant tube in the middle full of lava? Regardless of what it is called, I am sure you get the point. We were to blow a hole in it so that it would connect to the new tunnel we mined out to fill the empty rows we dug with lava. Once those rows were filled, the kobolds would be able to begin growing more of those seed-bearing plants within them.

While all of the kobolds stood by to watch, Corra offered to go and use her flames to set off the bombs.

But I stopped her.

“My – my lord?” Corra asked me. “The bombs will not go off on their own. I have to—”

“I said you are not allowed outside of my sight,” I said.

To get to where the bombs were, one would have to first go into the trenches that were dug out, crawl through a small hole, and then fire flames up at the bombs set against the wall. Whoever set the bombs off would then have to hurry and crawl back before they were flooded with lava.

Corra was: one, not allowed to leave my sight; and two, I was worried that she was too big to get out of the way in time.

So, why choose her when I had my pyre emperor available to do it? My pyre emperor was both smaller and faster, making her easily capable of safely accomplishing the task.

Now, you may be asking, “Why don’t you use a trail of slime to set that on fire and cause a chain reaction of explosions leading up to the bombs so that nobody would have to potentially put themselves in danger?” If you aren’t asking that – well, Lucia asked something similar. Unfortunately, a great amount of slime would have been needed to cause enough of an explosion to set the bombs off as secondary explosions. We did not want to damage the tunnel more than necessary, so we played it safe.

Somewhat safe, that is. Lucia was sure she could figure out a safer alternative, but I was impatient and the kobolds needed work to do! Furthermore, I had absolute confidence in my pyre emperor to accomplish the task without harm!

When I looked at my pyre emperor who I already had standing by, I realized… I had not yet come up with a name for her. That was why I ended up standing there staring at her for a few moments without saying anything while everybody wondered what I was doing.

“You need a name,” I told her.

My pyre emperor flicked her tongue out at me.

“A name befitting of a serpent that will one day grow to put the former emperor to shame!”

She flicked her tongue again, her slit eyes staring directly into my own.

“Hmm…”

“Why not Empress? Her species may be called pyre emperor, but she is a female, and empress is the female version of emperor,” Deiti suggested. “I think it would make a fine name. Empress. Though, perhaps a bit redundant. Empress the pyre emperor.”

“Empress.” I said it just to test out how it sounded. While there was potential there for it to make a fine name, I was not entirely happy with it. I also wished to give her something at least slightly more original than that. “Emper.” I still wasn’t happy, but I felt like I was getting close. “Emp… Empra. Empra! Yes, from now on, you shall be known as Empra! It is a fine name, is it not?”

My pyre emperor – my Empra flicked her tongue out at me once more before nodding her head up and down.

“Well then. I must admit that you are getting better at this,” Deiti told me. “At the very least, you did not simply take a word and split it off into smaller parts this time.”

I knew that she was mocking me for my decision to name Sidi and Dian after obsidian, but punishing her would have to wait for later in my dreams. For the time being, I focused my eyes on Empra and delivered her first order for her to satisfy underneath her new name. “Empra, bring lava to these trenches!”

With another nod of her head, Empra slithered down into the nearest trench and positioned the front half of her body into the tunnel. That was another benefit of using her over Corra, for example. Corra would have had to practically put her entire body into the tunnel. But Empra? Empra was more than capable of extending only a part of her body into the tunnel, allowing her to quickly pull herself back and to safety.

We were able to tell when Empra unleashed her flames given that they were bright enough to light up the hole she was in.

After a few seconds of that—about as long as it took to detonate the first test bombs—Empra pulled her head back out into the trench and quickly slithered back up onto safe ground by my side.

And after a few more seconds of waiting, the bombs blew up. A cloud of dust blew out from the tunnel we made as lava poured through it! Well, if you know anything about lava, it does not exactly pour. Now, had it been water, I am sure it would have been a more impressive site as it rushed to fill the trenches and the tunnel. Instead, it – well, it moved as quickly as lava usually does, which is not very quickly at all. It did, however, slowly seep into the trenches and fill them to their brim. Then, because the top of the passage into the tunnel was just below the ground level of the room, the lava stopped before overflowing the trenches and filling the room.

“Good,” Deiti said. “Now, turn around to face your new followers, hold your arms out with your head high, and – I do not need to tell you what to do then, do I? I have enough confidence in you at this point to believe that you will not mess up the obvious.”

Of course it was obvious!

I turned to face the kobolds with my arms held out and my head held high! “Behold, the combined efforts of my monsters! They have cleared these trenches for you and filled them with lava so that you may work together and grow the food that you will need! You may be under my protection now, but I expect each and every one of you to contribute toward our united survival! That is why you will start with growing your own food. Next, in the coming days, you will be granted the tools needed to expand and grow your new home. You will hollow out this volcano with new tunnels to call home! Expand our territory, gather resources, create new fields for growing, and prepare yourselves! I have no doubt that we will be attacked again, but we will be ready when we are. We will be more ready than we ever have been before.”

“Ah… I am glad to know that having you practice speeches every single night was an excellent decision. However, CORE, you are missing something. Look in their eyes,” Deiti said.

I did as she said and looked into the eyes of the kobolds listening to my speech. They were previously excited, but when I looked into their eyes now… they were worried.

It happened as soon as I brought up being attacked and preparing for it.

After so many of them were killed against the ancients, what could they hope to do? They knew they were weak. They witnessed it with their own eyes. Even the strongest among them fell against the ancients.

If they were to truly become confident in themselves, they needed more than growing food and digging tunnels.

“Dian! Sidi! Ahti!” I shouted.

The three gnomes came running as quickly as they could.

I returned my attention to the kobolds. “Starting tomorrow, those of you who are not injured and are ready to move on will be trained by Ahti. She is the greatest hand-to-hand fighter you will meet. She will train you in techniques to defend yourselves should you ever find yourselves without another method of defense. However, Ahti’s training will only serve as your foundation! The Obsidian Guard will train you in the use of weapons and shields! The ancients that once killed so many of your friends and family – we will use their bodies against them! We will make armor and shields from their shells! Spears from their legs! Should you ever find yourself facing the ancients once more, then not only will you have myself and my monsters to defend you, but you will be able to defend yourselves with pride and courage!”

Once more, I looked into their eyes. Many of them still looked afraid and worried, but some – some were motivated. Some were inspired.

They desired revenge and the fire in their eyes proved as much.

There was only one problem.

What I said implied that I would be equipping as many of them as possible with armor, shields, and spears. However, I had only a single blacksmith and he would not be able to properly forge them all equipment within a soon enough timeframe. There was no telling when we would next be attacked. Either the humans or ancients could have attacked us at any moment. I was confident that we would be able to defend them even if they did not help us, but the more trained fighters we had, the better the chances for all of us.

But they needed equipment.

And I needed more blacksmiths.

I looked at Novla, who was standing by to make sure that everything went smoothly, and said, “Pick as many of them as you need to help you. You cannot continue doing all of the forging on your own, so we need more monsters trained in your craft.”

“You… sure about that Elder CORE?” Novla asked, wearing a concerned expression on his face. “I’m not exactly on the best terms with them. I doubt many of them would be happy to work under me.”

“That doesn’t matter. However they felt about you before coming here is in the past. They have been born anew underneath me and, if they cause you any trouble, they will be punished. Besides! I am sure that you will find at least a couple of volunteers. If they truly wish to protect their future, then they would not allow petty feelings to get in the way of that. I am sure they would be happy to work with you for a better future!” I turned back around to face the kobolds. “Isn’t that right?!”

There were a good few kobolds who looked at Novla and then either looked away or looked intimidated, but several of them stepped forward. Two aurbolds and one kobold. They looked at Novla and nodded their heads, ready to serve.

I could not help but to feel a little bit smug as I turned to face Novla once more. “What did I tell you?” I asked him.

Novla even looked a little bit flustered from seeing the three ready to serve him. “I apologize for my doubt, Elder CORE.”

“Good. Now, do you believe that these three will be enough, or will you require more assistance?”

Novla looked the three over. “Those two,” he said of the aurbolds, “look strong enough. But the little one,” he looked at the kobold, “she… will have to make herself useful in some other way. Like bringing us tools and materials. If she can do that for us, we’ll have more than enough use for her and save time.”

“But are they enough on their own?”

Novla smiled and crossed his arms over his chest. “As long as they try their best to keep up with me, we should be able to craft enough equipment for every kobold here within the next… two months.”

“Two – two months? But it usually takes you a day at most to make a new spear or shield.”

“We’ll have to either work in small batches to get them slowly equipped over time, or break up the process to try and get them all equipped at the same time but take longer to finish. It’s up to you, Elder CORE. But whichever option you choose, to make enough for everybody here… is going to take time. I’ll probably have to spend a couple of weeks getting these two up to a high enough standard to work with the ancients, too.”

“Deiti,” I thought, “is there a trait I can unlock for boosting their speed and skill in blacksmithing?”

“No,” Deiti answered. “At least… I do not think there is. Even if there was, these new aurbolds are not technically members of your dungeon, so they would not benefit from such a trait. Yet… I am curious now. If you have acquired traits to enhance their skills as a result of their training in combat, why would it not be possible to acquire such traits for craftsmanship and art? Perhaps it is possible. Besides, even if it should not be possible in the first place – well, let us not forget that you were once a rock. It would certainly not be the most impossible thing you have done, nor would it be a match for your most impossible dreams.”

That reminded me.

If something wasn’t possible, then all I had to do was make it possible.

It also gave me an idea.

“You three,” I said to the two aurbolds and kobold, “will become official monsters of my dungeon, should you accept. As for the rest of you – those who display the greatest effort will be rewarded with becoming a part of my dungeon and will benefit from its power!”

If the new arrivals were not inspired yet, they were after they heard that.

((Also, you know, after writing for all this time, the hardest part of writing for me is still coming up with names. When it came to naming Empra, I literally paused for like... four or five hours just because I had no idea what to name her that entire time and couldn't bring myself to put a placeholder name to continue writing the rest of the chapter. I wish I didn't have horrible writing habits like that. Also, this chapter was just a little bit shorter than the usual, but that's because it's more or less wrapping up this arc and I was out of things to write without starting a whole new chapter. So, new arc starting next week!))