After my rather crude display of force we ascended the levels virtually unchallenged. Either there were no more guards or they all flee'ed. Either way that worked for us. Eventually after about 25 minutes the gang and I reached the top floor. It was virtually the same as it was a few hours ago , just a lot more empty . Thinking about our options it occurred to me that we needed more information about the floor.

  We didn't know anything about the leaders of the factions nor where the gate door was or the general power level of this floor.

  Turning to my bird companion , oh wait after all we’ve been through I still didn't know her name yet .

  Looking at the taller more delicate birb I gazed directly into her eyes and asked "What exactly is your name, Mines is Alioth, the dragon is Zhilsiza and our lovely goblin is Gabla."

  "Hai hai" said Gabla supposedly welcoming of our new party member. Zhil refused to acknowledge her existence.

  Gazing over our team of misfits she said " oh I guess we do have to get acquainted don't we ,I am Oolia. I am not your friend. The only reason I'm here is because Alioth told me that I would be able to leave the floor if I followed him."

  "Hai Hai '' Gabla sung blissfully unaware of Oolias undisguised hostility.

  Good enough I thought "OK so Oolia before we got head first into the outside world tell me what we can expect."

  Right now she had key information about the nature of this floor. If we plan strategically we should be able to quite a bit of reaping.

  Looking at me a little confused she said "uhmmm there are 3 factions [name] , [name] ,

  [name] and at the moment they're warring for the sacred ground AKA the most elevated ground. Since you know water level rising and all .Uh ,Uh ,Uh…"

  After her third Uh I interrupted her saying "is that really all you know about the floor you've been living on since you were born? What's the average power level of the monsters of this floor and where is the dungeon gate."

  Putting her face right in front of mine she said audaciously" I'm not a God damn encyclopedia Fucker how do you expect me to know that. Also I'm not telling you where shit is , first off tell me how to leave this floor.”

  Sheesh, that was a honeymoon period of about 10 minutes .Besides that , I may have told a little lie. I had no idea if I could really take Oolia with me to the new floor but wanted to use her knowledge about the current one. I debated in my mind on doubling down on the lie , but it occurred to me that Oolia regardless , no in fact because of her personality may indeed prove useful in the future. I better just ask Gabla to see if I actually had a shot at making some type of contract with her.

  You know I was starting to notice that even though I was generally “crueler” , that really didn't mean I was emotionless and still had the last vestiges of empathy and compassion in me. I don't think its because I'm special but simply due to my majority human upbringing. I wonder if in the future i would lean more into the darkside so to speak really-

  “Ah Hem!” Oolia interrupted my train of thoughts , right , I couldn't just start a whole introspection. I had to think about my change later so much had happened in just a few days that I'm really still trying to process it all. I really needed some time alone but now was not that time.

  Bluffing confidence I said "of course " while turning my attention towards Gabla. If anyone knew if I could bs my way out of this it would be her.

  Motioning her to come to me , I made some distance between us and the rest of the group. Entering a huddled stance I asked or at least tried to ask when Gabla interjected, smugly might I add.

  " I already know " the leering smile on her face unnerved me a bit.

  "You already know?"

  " bro , it's obvious you two have a thing "

  ACK , I almost thought she was going to say something intelligent .I wanted to strike her but that would be unfair, can’t blame Gabla for being Gabla.closing my eyes I took a deep breath and -

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  "Hahaha bro I'm fucking with you, not really trust me womens intuition. Also I'm pretty sure you were going to ask about the contract right?"

  Phew I guess she did have an iota of intellect buried somewhere deep down.

  " That's exactly what I wanted to know about, is it possible to bind her even though she's not a goblin.?"

  The Gabla chuckled to herself

  "If we can find a golem core I should be able to do it. But keep in mind I'm not a professional like pops , the past history effects how much you guys bond , along with intentions of who's doing the ritual"

  This is news to Me. I feel as if Gabla is one of my best friends and our history was rather friendly so I guess that checks out.Actually with something like a soul binding ritual it's better safe than sorry.

  "What do you mean " I asked her

  “Ok so here's the thing and trust me on this ima expert. The level of the crystal and element affect the type of contract , while the intention of the ritual maker affects it as well.

  Interesting … then that begs the question of why the goblin chief wouldn’t make his daughter equal. A master slave contract would seem rather counter productive for him.

  “Hey gob why didn’t your dad make us equals in our contract”

  “Ehh he probably did” she said without giving a second thought

  Facepalming, I realized why I trust him so easily. Of course he did , I really couldn't even blame him because of it. Its my fault for being that na?ve in the first place. I wont stress the issue .

  "Anyway that's all I can really tell you. You'd be lucky if there's a golem on this floor level though , I've only seen birds and more more birds."

  She was right most likely there wasn't a golem on this level. I would ask Oolia but according to what she said earlier she didn't have as extensive of a knowledge of the landscape as I previously thought. I'd only seem incompetent if i ask her myself. Mhhh

  "Can the golem core be substituted with anything? "

  "Uhmmm possibly but that might lead to a completely different outcome, I don't think it's worth it to risk it."

  Mhhh should I just tell her I lied or just order zhil to - actually what was I scared of, was I going to spend the beginning of this new life as a coward? To hell with safety.

  "What can be used as a substitute for a golem core " I asked the goblin

  A" something of equal or more power I assume, but i really think that you shouldn't do this"

  Ignoring the cautionary Gabla , I proceeded with my mental plans. So something with enough magical energy to mimic or surpass the golem core. OK that's not a lot to go by but that would be good enough. We probably would need a piece of some type of magical beast and -.... wait wait wait

  What was the difference between a golem core and some random monster tooth? Nothing , nothing is the difference. They're both pieces of a monster that contain magical energy, I had to stop looking at this like I was a dungeon raider. Looking at my charcoal like appearance I had to accept that I was one of them. Placing my hand in the hole in my chest I closed my eyes.

  I needed to adapt to the severity of my situation. Right now I am some descents plaything and I wouldn't stand for it. The politics , lives and petty dramas were all arbitrary at best to the denizens of this town. I would get to them much faster than some rising sea levels will. My only goal is the conquest of this dungeon and these “monsters” only served as sacrificial pawns to elevate my own status . If they want to be worth considering then survive me. No more timidness about what I really wanted.

  power . Power to control my fate

  Change of plans kill everything

  When The big baddy shows up, kill him too and Use his heart as a substitute.

  I knew the perfect way to start things off.

  “Thanks for the advice Gabla ” i said while we headed back to the crew

  When we made it back I rested my eyes upon Zhilsiza. Just his very presence was enough to be awe inspiring. While standing beside him I questioned “ Zhilsiza if we really are as linked as you say we are can you feel what im feeling?”

  “Quite” His voice resounded throughout the city.

  Gabla, Oolia come here … it's for your own safety

  “Okie” Gabla said

  “You don't tell me what to do” Oolia responded while being pulled by our happy Goblin friend

  With that in order I began gathering every last drop of my mana , and channeled it into my scaly equal. I could see his eyes glow a perfectly vibrant purple , while from his horns crackles of black lightning originated . I was still a step below C rank but from the race change I could feel my natural affinity towards mana was deepened. I couldn't tell exactly where my energy limits laid but my new reserves put my old pool to shame.

  Raising my hand I pointed upwards and dark clouds began to gather. At this point even the cracks between the scales of Zhilsiza were emitting a purples hue , he looked like he might explode from the inside out but looks can be deceiving.

  “Ehh what exactly are you doing?" asked Gabla. In a normal situation I'm sure the question would be phrased out of concern , but she had a glint in her eye that only could be recognized if you had a screw loose. The thing is I didn't just have one screw a-wire , I was that loose screw.

  “I'm doing what i should’ve done the moment we escaped that prison” All said while my hair was raised from the pure energy in the air alone

  “Accepting my dark impulse”

  Not even a millisecond after Zhilsiza let out a crazed bellow and an Enormous beam of black flame engulfed all that the eye could see. My vision ranged from black to white to black again tuning the whole world silent