Ashes from the forest fire, that I didn't cause, were carried on the wind for miles. It wasn't quite a dust bole but close. I managed to find a deep grotto and stationed Thunder in the entrance. When the ash cloud passed over us and the sky went black, I sealed the entrance with a heavy rock. Inside the cave, I lit a lamp I took from the pavilion.

Perhaps, I'd taken more than I needed from the pavilion. Along with the lamp, I had three bags of holding full of spirit stones, five bags of spirit herbs, and a flying sword of great quality. I could use such a sword and show it off like an idiot or not. Instead, I took out my cracked pill furnace and began melting the blade.

I had plenty of time. Wind continued to spread ash all around the forest. It could be days before it was safe to leave the grotto. With that in mind, I watched the silvery metal of the blade begin to liquify and fall. At the bottom of the furnace was a catcher for the metal. It was for creating pills, technically I was making a pills. Mine happened to be made of metal.

Dao Skill Discovered Alchemy lv1; passive; +1INT/WIS

Just like that I gained a new Dao skill. It gave me ten times the returns my wyrmling skill granted. The dragon hitching a ride in my body grumbled under its breath.

Instead of causing a fight, I took out a large pot and began crushing most of the spiritual plants into slurry with a rock. This was wasting an untold amount of plants worth more than I could possibly gain. If I was caught with them, I was dead.

What better excuse to use them all up on my first opportunity? When the plants were crushed into a fine liquid paste, I was ready to quench the metal pill. When I opened the furnace, I heard a blood curdling scream from within. I looked around trying to figure out where the scream came from. Then I noticed the sound came from the melting sword.

"Help me, get me out of here. This fire it's too much, I don't," I shut the lid after taking the catcher out. I quickly quenched the pill then tossed it in my mouth.

Iron diet lv5; passive; +50CON

Constitution has surpassed milestone 100

Next milestone 1000

Power skill discovered: Monster Flesh lv1; passive; +10CON

There was no enlightenment of Monster Diet nature. This skill settled in my mind as a mystery. Most of my skills were mysterious in some way. There was only one factor to this skill. I needed to eat monsters to make it grow. Instead of worrying about it, I turned back to the pill furnace.

While the catcher was out, I let the fire inside the furnace cool. I opened the door to a panting sword. After I returned to catcher to its rightful place the flames returned. The furnace was practically buzzing with joy. This was perhaps the most use it had gotten in a long time. That or it was vibrating from the sword's screams. Either way, I would continue to level my skills as much as possible.

I lit my pipe and opened the furnace again to retrieve the catcher. "Can't we talk about this?" The blade begged. I retrieved the catcher quenched another liquid metal pill before downing it. What was there to talk about. I'd already melted a lot of the blade. It would be criminal to stop now.

Iron diet lv7; passive; +70CON

It seemed diminishing returns would be a problem. The steel could also be too poor. That was funny. I'd stolen a sword made of cheap metal. It was a sword of cheap metal that had sentience.

I heard a snap somewhere in the grotto. Turning away from the pill furnace, I tossed a few balls of fire in the air to illuminate the room. "Pig shit," I heard a voice whisper followed by the sounds of feet slapping cold stone.

I looked over to Thunder who seemed content to munch on the fodder I laid out for him. Taking a calming breath, I slowly made my way deeper through the grotto.

Once away from the smell of ash and smelting steel, I let the scent of the cave fill me. Besides the smell of earth, moss, and mold, I smelled something filled with spiritual energy. My eyes couldn't cut through the darkness. There was no light to aid my eyes, so all manner of sight was out.

In Sight had reached a bottleneck. I couldn't stretch my senses any further through the darkness. It had something to do with this cave.

From the second I arrived, there had been spiritual energy everywhere. That energy was denser in some areas than others. In this cave that energy did something I hadn't seen before. It flowed up and out of the cave at a constant rate. It was less like background noise and more like thunderous music.

"Get out before its too late. Ooh, this cave is haunted by the terrible green dread. Get out while you can." The voice said and continued to ooh and howl. Taking a deep breath, I turned towards the voice and lit the room with fire.

On the edge of a tunnel was a green skinned girl with tusks that jutted up from her bottom jaw. She was dressed in leathers and held a spear in her off hand. Her eyes dilated and for a second, she was blind by the sudden light. A smile washed over my face seeing her. I held my hands up in the air.

"Listen I'm unarmed, and I don't want any trouble. Now you're clearly deadly with that spear of yours. Why don't you come over here and take me prisoner?" I said in a calm voice. "Please do so quickly, my fire is about to go out then I'll be trapped here in the dark." I said. I let my fire wain to add credibility to my story.

She blinked and edged closer. By the bend in her knees, she was ready to bolt at any moment. I let her get closer her spear pointed towards me ready to strike at any moment. Eventually, she was close enough to jab me with the end of her spear. I let her tap me a few times. The point was sharp, but my skin was tough. To drive that spear through me would take a lot of strength. She drew even closer as my fire became little more than sparks.

She was dressed in leather armor and held herself like a fighter. From head to toe she was lean as a bow string. She had a face that could belong to a mature 14-year-old or a well-aged 20-year-old. Her youthful appearance was hardened by life in this cave. Scars covered her face and skin. In a swift move she knocked my feet out from under me and watched as I scrambled about in the dark.

As if fought to regain my footing, I felt her hands on me. They were callused from life here and then I saw her cultivation base. 8th qi condensation. She was only a step away from reaching the full circle of qi condensation then rising to palace building. "You're weak but I can feel your spiritual energy." She said.

"My name I Melchior Nimrod. What's yours?" I asked in a hushed breath."

Orc BP 108,923

She spat on my foot. It was warm and sticky to my bare skin. "Hertha be my name weary traveler. I don't mind if you stay here but I demand compensation. That mixture you keep quenching your pills in. I have a ladle and want a slurp." Hertha said. She struck a pose keeping her spear ready and pointed at me. I had no doubt she had the strength to break my skin. If the spear held up.

"So long as your ladle isn't made for a giant, I could give you some. Just don't complain when some centaurs come looking for their herbs." She took a step back spear up.

"You stole from the centaurs. Foolish, no one steels from the black moon sect and lives." Shouted Hertha.

"They were busy trying to **** their own. I'm sure the hot ash would have ruined it anyway. Why don't you take that sip you wanted?" I asked Hertha. She looked at me conspiratorially.

"You agreed to more than a sip. With the amount of trouble, you come with, I might as well down it all. She pulled a ladle from her bag and dipped it in the pulpy liquid. Then the ground began to shake.

Stalagmites fell like rain shattering and sending shards of rock everywhere. Something was coming its presence was thick in the air. The spirit energy that once flowed up out of the grotto flowed down. Something was rising out of the grotto. The light from my pill furnace dimmed and the grotto shook. A group of eyes opened in the shining cutting through the dark. Something had come out of the grotto; it was here with him.

HP 7830/7830

SP 3245.44/3245.44

MP 42614/42614

BP 17,896.48

STR 60 CON 130.5

DEX 46.1 END 70.4

INT 298 PER 214

WIS 143 CHA 4

Skills:

Crush lv1; active cost 1SP; +0.5 STR/CON

Bullshit lv1; passive; +0.1CHA/INT

In Sight lv40; PAS; +15 INT/PER

Conditioning lv4; ACT cost 1SP; +0.4 STR/END

Pain Resistance lv20; passive; +15CON/END

Shock Resistance lv13; passive; +13CON/END

Struggle lv30; A cost 1SP; +3STR/END

Bellow lv1: A cost 15MP; +1INT/CHA

Claw lv1: A cost 1SP; +0.1 STR/DEX

Riding lv20; passive; +20DEX/END

Leap lv1; active cost 5SP; +1DEX

CAC (Compare and Contrast) lv3; PAS; +3 INT/WIS

Movement lv20; passive; +2DEX/END

LOL lv3; passive; +1CHA/WIS

Eating lv1; passive; +1CON

Mana Manipulation lv10; passive; +5INT/PER

Lasso lv1; active cost 100SP; +1DEX

Knott Mastery; passive; +1WIS

Drag lv25; active cost 1SP; +25STR/CON

Sword Mastery lv10; passive; +10STR/DEX Power Skills

WCS (Worst Case Scenario) lv2; PAS; +10 INT/WIS

Dream lv10; passive; +50INT/PER

Compress lv20; passive; +100INT/PER

Dominate lv1; active cost 500MP; +10INT

Iron Diet lv7; passive; +70CON

Analyze lv1; Active 1000mp; +10INT

Focus lv1; Active 50sp; +10PER

Detect lv1; active 100sp; +10PER

Lone Star lv1; passive; +10END

Grapple lv2; active cost 100sp; +10STR/DEX

Haymaker lv1; active cost 500sp; +10STR

Plan Establishment lv5; passive; +50WIS

KISS(Keep It Simple Stupid) lv1; passive; +10WIS

Abstract skills

Set A Course lv2; passive; +20INT/WIS

Dao skills

Wyrmling lv500; active cost 500MP; +50INT/WIS