The party forced Roge to take it easy for the next day or so, mainly just going around town and seeing the sights. He wasn’t allowed to do anything with his hoard, and after the pain he’d had at the start of the weekend, he was thankful for the forced break. At the very least he was able to experiment with his new kobold form, finding it to be a bit lackluster. The smaller size apparently increased the effects of his dexterity, though he didn’t have a lot of practice with it due to not being able to craft. He was chunkier than he was expecting, though, the small proportions of the kobold form making him look like he worked out regularly. ‘Or pumped up my strength I suppose,’ he thought to himself when he was examining it. At the very least, the smaller form still let him use his wands due to having hands, which might come in handy for dodging.

  Once Monday arrived, however, Roge frowned as he looked at his hoard. He’d been buying meat from the local stores to feed his animals, as the kobolds couldn’t just survive off of fruit and the fairies only ate meat. He needed to find a better way to feed them at some point. Other than that, though, his fertilizer stores had just dropped due to it being a Monday, leaving him with only nineteen units left. ‘I was able to store a lot. I wonder what the-‘ His thoughts froze as he looked at the screen, his eyes going up to the fairy lines of his hoards.

  Focusing on the now expansive area, he found that the additions were all puppies and kittens, his fairies apparently having made a bunch of babies. ‘That’s… okay then.’ He wasn’t expecting for the creatures to be able to reproduce, though once he thought about it, it made sense. Everything in his [Farm Hoard] was designed around getting as many diverse things as possible and then letting them grow. Though that did mean that he was going to have to watch out for spontaneous growth.

  “I’m assuming the new additions means that you’re going to try and grow your skills today?” Alton asked, the minotaur sitting comfortably on the desk chair in Roge’s room at the inn. “We need to try and level up the hoard after all, and I wasn’t let out all day yesterday.” Roge winced at the complaint, sighing as he looked his [Status] over.

  “You’re right. Though, I am going to try out the kobold butler as well, if that’s okay with you,” Roge replied, wincing at the [Analogue Hoard] skill being stuck at rank two. “Hopefully we get something at five? But most likely we won’t get it until ten. Hang on…” Roge searched through his inventory until he found the trinkets he’d ripped out of the snake from before. Hops had given them back the previous day, and Roge thought it was a good time to use them.

  He felt a bit bloated for a few seconds after using them, knowing that he’d only be able to add one of each every day. He was wary about trying to add the class coin, deciding to skip it and see if he’d still get a level at rank five. If he didn’t, he knew he was supposed to absorb it. If he did, he wasn’t sure what he was going to do with the class amber.

  He then summoned his new effect, the kobold butler. This one had golden scales like the ones Roge had in his hoard, unlike his shapeshifted form which had his sapphire and emerald colors. It also had the stocky look that Roge’s form had, the dragon feeling a bit worried that he wasn’t feeding the kobolds enough. Roge was also worried about how he’d jumped straight to the fifth version of the effect with how many kobolds he let in. The thing’s intelligence and wisdom were off the charts, being even higher than his own. He also realized he needed to get it some clothing, as the butler was just as naked as the wild versions.

  “How may I assist, Master?” the kobold intoned, bowing at the waist.

  ‘At least it seems… subservient,’ Roge thought, getting up out of the bed and stretching. “Your job is to figure out the best ways for me to use you to the fullest extent. And to serve Alton here whenever he is in charge of the main body.” Roge was under no assumptions that he could manage the butler well, and so making his first task figuring out what tasks it should have seemed obvious.

  The kobold looked up in surprise at that, tilting his head to the side. “Are you… sure Master?”

  “Very. Also, make sure to get some clothing for yourself. Budget up to a silver for it. That way people know not to attack you.” He then sighed as he noticed Alton’s antsy look, focusing on his hoard ability to shift into the minotaur. “If you need me, Alton can summon a phantom of me so I can give you commands. Honestly? I need all the help I can get, and you’re a good addition to that.”

  ~~~

  Once Roge finished the shifting into Alton, he instantly found himself back in the hoard. The space that the plains area took up was much bigger than before, stretching out to almost two football fields. ‘Must have been the rank ups…’ Roge mused, knowing that his cap for the total amount of plants he could have most likely went up. ‘According to Hops’ math, I should be able to do… thirty of each?’ He cringed at that, knowing his party would not allow him to add that many plants all at the same time. ‘This is going to take a while…’ At the very least, he now had a cave system attached to the one side of the area, the kobolds happily chattering inside. ‘At least they look healthier…’ he mused, noticing that none of them had exposed ribs anymore, though they all still looked pretty skinny.

  At the very least, he could get started on the various recipes he’d unlocked after he finished his backlog. He got started on the last of the tier zero arrows he’d been stuck not working on, setting them up to finish in about an hour. He really wish he’d made more of the custom flasks so everything could go faster, but…

  ‘Wait…’ he thought to himself, looking back over the verbiage of his new skill, grunting as he noticed it had gone up a rank when he wasn’t looking. ‘It just says crafting… so…’ He then went to his alchemical crafting area, noting that the setup had everything on tables made from the familiar blue wood. There was even a chair, to which Roge slapped himself on the forehead for not noticing. The skill was apparently designed so that he could manually craft items in his hoard as well as automating it. So he could do the tedious process of handling all of his crafting while also giving Alton some time outside.

  Looking over his inventory, he decided on making an additional eight molds for the arrows, that way he could make ten potions and arrows all at once. That decreased the hour-long crafting for the eight arrows to just fifteen minutes, Roge smiling as the last of them crafted themselves and went into his inventory. He then started working on one of his new potions, deciding on the flaming spark one to start out with. He still cringed at the a hundred and fifty petal each requirement, wondering how exactly that was going to work. As the process started its automation, Roge saw the petals all slowly dissolve into the hot water, barely reaching the full line of the cauldron. ‘Going to need to get a bigger one…’ he mused to himself, watching the process go on as it used up? ? five units each of topaz and amethyst dust. Half a unit was prepped in each bottle, Roge fascinated at the process.

  Once each one was done settling, the bombs looked spectacular, each one sparking like the electric bombs, but with the orange glow of the fire bombs. These ones also felt a lot more powerful than the others he’d made, [Inspecting] one of them to see how good it was.

  Roge nodded at the increase in damage, having noticed that the healing and damaging potions seemed to go up by a factor for two and a half. Healing went from four to ten, and the bombs went from two to five. It would be even better when he could increase the cap on his non-bonded items. He then set each of the potions to make them into arrows for Marge, feeling glad that the upgraded arrows didn’t require any extra materials to make.

  ‘Maybe I should check on everyone…’ he mused to himself, looking at his clock and noting that only a half hour had passed. ‘I’ll pop in and see what’s happening.’ At the very least, he set for his cauldron to be cleaned out and set up for one round each of the tier zero potions. ‘Can’t have too many of those.’

  ~~~

  “So… what exactly is your normal function?” Alton asked the kobold, mostly paying attention to the soft feel of the sheets he was sitting on after not feeling anything for a whole day.

  “I’m supposed to help manage the functions of my Master’s hoards,” the kobold said, tapping claws against his muzzle. “Unfortunately, this Master seems to want a more hands-on approach with it, and I can see why. He has way too many variations of things, when he should be building everything up before getting something new.”

  “I mean… he’s apparently been leveling really fast. So I can see why the management would be a mess.” Alton hummed as he stood up, the minotaur stretching some before giving the kobold a smile. “In the meantime, let’s get the party and get you some clothes. Maybe you can find ways to be useful out here too?”

  “One problem at a time…” the butler muttered, opening up the door and showing the minotaur once and for all that Roge had summoned a flesh and blood creature. Alton had dreams as a kid of doing something similar, but when his talents for physical strength came into effect, he’d needed to spend all his energy on that.

  The inn they were staying at only had single rooms, so Alton and the butler went down to the tavern area to get started on the day. Of course, the elf, Hops, was already sitting at a table. He or Roge had been the first up almost every day, as Marge and Sean seemed to like to sleep in.

  “Morning,” Alton grunted, sitting down opposite Hops while the kobold took one of the seats between them.

  “Roge doing some alchemy I presume?” the elf asked, his gaze locked onto the butler with fascination. “And you must be the effect Roge talked about. A… butler, yes?”

  “That is correct sir. I have no name yet, as I was not able to ask my Master for one. May I have yours?” The butler looked between both of them, the minotaur realizing he hadn’t given his name before.

  “Alton.”

  “Hops. A pleasure to meet you. I’m one of Roge’s party members and specialize in intelligence and runes.” Hops showed off the book he’d been reading when the two had walked up, showing off the complicated runic patterns in it.

  “Indeed,” the butler mused, making his own book appear as he started writing in it with a quill. “Can you tell me more about my Master’s party members?”

  Hops went over each person in the party and their strengths, while also making sure to give the kobold the information on what Roge was doing to benefit each person. The kobold frowned after the explanation, looking over the notes he’d taken. “He’s only done one or two things for each of you?” he asked warily, giving Hops a confused look that the elf mirrored. “With what I can see on his frankly massive list of plants, he should be able to do a lot more. Wands of [Earth Magic] to shape stone. Adding [Protection] and [Transport] to all of the clothing and armor. Even a [Wind Magic] item would help the deer companion a lot with her affinity to the magic…”

  “Okay… how about we make a list for him?” Hops asked, pulling out his journal and writing wand. “You list the things you think he could do with each ability, and we set up a plan for him. That way we can all get geared up for it.”

  “Splendid,” the kobold said, whittling away at his quill-tip with his claws. They then spent the next twenty minutes going after each way Roge could improve the party with what he had, Alton feeling a bit bored. He had a splendid breakfast, though, idly wondering if he should try some cooking to improve his skill. He’d already gotten it up to eleven, and it was something he could contribute to the party. ‘I wonder if I could cook inside the hoard…’

  Alton perked up when Roge’s specter form showed up, the minotaur grinning at Hops and the butler as they instantly locked onto the dragon. ‘This is going to be fun.’