Lord Of Puppets-Chapter 197 – New Thauma – Part 2.

<<It has been exactly 1 year and 8 months since the attack by the elves was launched at my dungeon.>>

<<The elves stopped the war with me and fought with both the kingdom of Garmfon, who they then destroyed, before then the 3 kingdoms fought a war between themselves and the elven kingdom to win everything.>>

<<The entire thing apparently lasted between 8 to 9 months.>>

<<Afterwords, the empire started their "occupation".>>

<<For the passing months the empire was busy dealing with the remains of the elven kingdom as well as dealing with rampaging monsters.>>

<<Then there also came the restoration period.>>

<<Still, even though they had dealt with some major left problems, there are still problems popping up left and right, meaning that the empire isn’t yet properly build, since they are dealing with a lot of difficulties.>>

<<Specifically the wild monsters problem which elves caused. This problem seems to straight up not die down at all.>>

<<This is information I’ve had gotten from the adventurer party that I’ve caught.>>

<<Honestly, I wanted more information from them.... But it seems I broke them.>>

<<I’ve used my potions to keep them alive, but I guess the torture was too much for them.>>

<<It is quiet annoying that they were resisting so much.>>

<<Did they not cared if they die?>>

<<Did they thought somebody would rescue them in time?>>

<<Idiots.>>

<<Truly idiots.>>

<<Still, I was able to obtain some information.>>

<<In short.>>

<<This empire isn’t able to operate at full power because how big their nation has become.>>

<<If I understand the situation correctly as well, there is also good chance that the adventurers are not able to operate at their full strength.>>

<<If they could, why wouldn’t they be able to call over enough people to launch attack?>>

<<My guess is that they were stalling for time until enough reinforcement would gather.... They wanted to save lives.>>

<<Humans.>>

<<They will endanger lives, but if possible they want to make sure that the casualties are kept to the minimum.>>

<<Their plan was probably to call enough people or high ranking adventurers in order to make sure that the casualties are kept low.>>

<<They are aiming to overpower me.>>

<<...>>

<<And honestly speaking, I don’t want that.>>

<<I mean, I don’t want the whole fight to happened AND the whole war to begin anew.>>

<<I wasn’t lying.>>

<<I did wanted peace.>>

<<Honestly speaking?>>

<<If there was no need to protect this place, I would just run around.>>

<<I want to see outside world.>>

<<I want to experience it.>>

<<I want to learn it.>>

<<...>>

<<But I can’t.>>

<<I’m bound to this place.>>

<<To my dungeon.>>

<<And if dungeon dies, so I will.>>

<<Dungeon master can get revived thanks to the dungeon core.... But that is only IF dungeon core is still alive.>>

<<If it ends up getting destroyed, it will be end of dungeon... And me.>>

<<It doesn’t matter if I’m still alive when the core is destroyed. It dies, I die.>>

<<And they want me dead.>>

<<They see me as monster.>>

<<Or as source of money.>>

<<Either die or be slave.>>

<<...>>

<<I don’t want either.>>

<<I want peace.>>

<<I want to be free.>>

<<Yet, they won’t leave me alone.>>

<<Honestly, I was able to improve my golems active range AND I was able to improve my control range as well.>>

<<Maybe I could create myself a golem that would allow me to go beyond this forest?>>

<<Maybe I could create a golem that would be like "human" and allow me to go into their settlements in order to see how they live?>>

<<Maybe I will be able create something that will allow me to feel the so called "sexual pleasure" or "sense of taste"?>>

<<I want to see!>>

<<I want to experience world!>>

<<I don’t want to be stuck here for all eternity!>>

<<If I could at least create a golem!>>

<<If I could create a golem that can make everything I wish possible!>>

<<Then I would truly be the happiest!>>

<<...>>

<<But I guess this is impossible.>>

<<Only way forward is with force.>>

<<Honestly, I wanted the peaceful option to be possible... But they were straight up making demands that would just turn me into slave no matter what.>>

<<Not only that, "hand over golems"? They would fucking

<<For over a year, me and my dungeon have noticeable evolved.>>

<<Many of my research ended up evolving my dungeon!>>

<<And myself.>>

<<Currently my army consists of the of two generation of golems.>>

<<The new generation and old generation.>>

<<The adventurers fought the old generation.... I used them for one simple reason.>>

<<Information.>>

<<I wanted data.>>

<<I wanted to see how much they would struggle against the old generation.... And the results are quiet good.>>

<<If they struggled this much, then me in my prime should be able to somewhat put up a fight.>>

<<Ah, I don’t mean this form.>>

<<This is my workshop body.>>

<<This body whole purpose is crafting, researching and what not.>>

<<My combat body is pretty much based on its previous design somewhat.>>

<<But obviously it has been tremendously improved.>>

<<Not only that, I’ve also evolved in more than one way.>>

<<Magic.>>

<<My [Earth Magic] and [Arcane Magic] reached the stage of [Advance].>>

<<And as soon as it did, I could feel the different.>>

<<The flow, the energy, the shape.... It feels... Way easier.>>

<<Still, the main downside is time.>>

<<It took noticeable longer amount of time to level one of them even once.>>

<<It may take years for both of them to reach max level and possible evolve again... But I could also try to evolve it by focusing only on one specific elements for months and only practice it, without doing anything g else. Just entire day for magic.>>

<<...>>

<<Still, it would take a while... But beside having somewhat master the earth and arcane magic, I’ve also managed to raise my other basic elements rank to the [standard] tier.>>

<<And not only that, I’ve also finally MANGED to bring that fucking [Space Magic] to the [Standard] tier as well.>>

<<The first spell I’ve learned?>>

<<[Pocket Space].>>

<<Or more exactly, a skill?>>

<<According to Ariava notes, with the space magic you can create a skill called [Pocket Space].>>

<<"Tear open a space with magic. Control the tear and don’t let it close.">>

<<"Repeat the process several times nonstop.">>

<<"Once you learn how to naturally do it, force the tear to obey you. Change its form and function.">>

<<"Create space within.">>

<<Ariava did gave me perfect explanation about the whole thing.... BUT DAMN! IT WAS HARD!>>

<<The whole learning process devoured a lot of my mana AND I need to do that many times over.>>

<<But still! I’ve made it!>>

<<I’ve created a skill [Pocket Space].>>

<<Still... There is really not I can put inside of that thing.>>

<<Not only that, this skill can’t be leveled up by just using it.>>

<<I need to "expand it", myself.>>

<<Honestly, using this skill after learning it isn’t really hard.>>

<<Or more exactly, I use up bit mana to keep the space open and whenever I try taking out something.>>

<<According to Ariava notes, the early stage of the [Pocket Space] is very unstable, meaning that mana will be used up whenever you try to put in or bring out anything.>>

<<Maybe bit problematic in combat, since opening up this space isn’t instant, it takes few seconds.>>

<<Now.... Leveling up this skill.>>

<<IT IS FREAKING HARD!>>

<<Not only you need some proper mastery over space magic AND a lot of mana.>>

<<...>>

<<And that is pretty much.>>

<<I can’t do anything with space magic.>>

<<This was.... Bit disappointing to say the least.>>

<<I mean, I’m thankful for the [Pocket Space] skill, but beside that I straight up can’t do anything with space magic.>>

<<I can bend space around, but it does nothing. Only visual effect really.>>

<<I can’t use it defend myself or attack my enemies with it.>>

[P.S]

["Just warning, Space Magic still sucks at even [standard] tier. You can only really use it for the [Pocket Space] and beside that, nothing else."]

["Only at the [Advance] tier the space magic becomes incredibly good."]

["Teleportation and stuff are possible."]

["Unless you have monstrous amount of mana, you can only just wish to open space with [standard] tier. You need the stability and control that [Advance] trier provides you with."]

["-Ariava"]

<<...>>

<<Why the hell you written this on the last page?>>

<<Did she forgotten this most important detail? Did she forgotten to write it down and remembered after finishing the book?>>

<<...>>

<<Still, the [Pocket Space] is more than good enough... I can see many uses for it.>>

<<It may even come a time when it would save me...>

<<But I wonder about something.>>

<<I know I can’t physically leave the dungeon core connection range... But what would happened if I were to learn how to teleport?>>

<<If I were to teleport far away, would I just die instantly the moment I forcefully leave the connection range?>>

<<...Yeah, not risking it.>>

<<What else.... Hm....>>

<<My familiar range was noticeable increased and all of my crafting skills ended up leveling up a lot or evolving.>>

<<I’ve even obtained special skill that is related to all of my crafting skills.>>

<<[Master Of Craft Of Many – Level 1].>>

<<This skill has simple effect.>>

<<It boost ALL of my crafting abilities, in any categories.>>

<<Be it alchemy, tailoring, blacksmithing or golemancy.>>

<<And here is funny thing.>>

<<This thing somewhat helps me out in my magic and golemancy hybrid attacks.>>

<<This skill is STRONG!>>

<<Beside them, I’ve also improved noticeable my other forms of magic.>>

<<And at this point, I’m even wondering about learning new forms of magic or affinity.>>

<<One magic I’ve had learned was [Magic Alchemy].>>

<<The [Magic Alchemy] and [Mana Alchemy] are both the same and different form of alchemy.>>

<<The art of mana alchemy is about using magic as form of process, fusion or infusion within alchemy.>>

<<And the magic alchemy on the other hand is a form of using alchemy on the spot.>>

<<Usually using alchemy requires special tools, be it regular form of alchemy or mana alchemy.>>

<<However, magic alchemy creates a "fake" yet "real" process of alchemy.>>

<<This form of alchemy can be used to improve art of alchemy by itself.... And it can also be used on the spot.>>

<<Meaning in combat.>>

<<...Why?>>

<<Well, simple put it all tracks down to back then when I was almost killed and just single push would had killed me.>>

<<I needed some ways of repairing some serious damage on the spot, even by a little bit in order to increase my survivability.>>

<<Honestly speaking, the magic alchemy is both... Completely old yet completely new to me.>>

<<It is.... Weird.>>

<<What would be the best description.... Mud and water?>>

<<No...No, no.... Not this... Or maybe?>

<<....>>

<<Nutshell.>>

<<It feels like I’m learning alchemy from the scratch, while also trying to use old alchemy at the same time, resulting in me realizing I’m using two different form of alchemy at the same time, while only using one form.... Weird explanation, but that is the only thing I can think of that would describe the whole thing.>>

<<What else.... Well, I’ve learned how to different kind of weapons much better and I’ve also gotten way better at combining crafting with magic.>>

<<And that is pretty much it.>>

<<This is pretty much the basic overview of my current strength and dungeon.>>

<<Now.>>

<<Final verdict.>>

<<Am I strong?>>

<<....>>

<<Em....>>

<<No.>>

<<It is not like I’m looking down too much on myself.... But it is pure fact.>>

<<You would think that being able to work 24 hours a day would make me grow at way faster speed compares to the average human? About 3 to 4 times faster, right?>>

<<...>>

<<Yes...It would.... But there is a small... Problem.>>

<<There is a lot of things going on and stuff, but I think nutshell version will be the best option to explain things.>>

<<Originally, my dungeon was extremely weak and the only real and proper way to evolve the dungeon was for my to learn how to craft and construct golems.>>

<<In other words, the dungeon whole growth is fully based on me alone.>>

<<And because how I sucked at crafting in my early days, I was straight up dragging the whole dungeon down.>>

<<However, after I’ve got better at crafting, the growth speed of the dungeon could be finally be properly felt.>>

<<HOWEVER! After that I need time.>>

<<Experiment and what not took time. Often months before I could make a single form of progress.>>

<<Bigger projects need more time.>>

<<But each big one would give me a lot of stuff.>>

<<...>>

<<Now....>>

<<Here is a question.>>

<<What is my current experiment?>>

<<...>>

<<That is.... Actually the massive problem.>>

<<I lack materials.>>

<<To be more specifically, a variety.>>

<<Better materials, different materials.>>

<<I need a lot of stuff.>>

<<...But here is problem.>>

<<Dungeon research?>>

<<It will take time and DP before something good shows up that I’m looking for.>>

<<Not only that, I’m continuously using DP to create monsters and expand the dungeon.>>

<<And it is not like I can stop. I never did.>>

<<I knew that the peace may not be possible. I’ve braced myself for this possibility and that is why I’ve never stopped making monsters or expanding dungeon There was also no telling when this place would end up getting attacked. What if I were to stop doing either of those things and at the worst possible timing an attack would came? Couldn’t risk it.>>

<<I’m also using DP to produce object and materials for my own research as well.... But here is the problem now.>>

<<I have barely enough DP to do the dungeon research... And that barely enough is nowhere near good enough.>>

<<I need to put large amount of DP into it.>>

<<But I just can’t.>>

<<Dungeon and monsters are not producing nearly enough DP.>>

<<The situation completely changed.>>

<<Before it was me holding back the dungeon alongside me.>>

<<But now? The dungeon is holding both it and me down.>>

<<I can still do some stuff, but not some big important researches.>>

<<The only way to move forward is to either secure enough specific materials from the outside world.... Or obtain enough DP.>>

<<If I don’t do that, the dungeon will not be able to evolve anymore.>>

<<And if it stops evolving, it means my death.>>

<<...>>

<<With that being said... There seems to be only single logical conclusion to move things forward.>>

<<Unleash the golems and have them hunt down anything they can find.>>

<<Commit an act of genocide and plunder.>>

<<Pretty much, show no mercy whatsoever to my foes."