[Year 12 Month 3: 1 month has passed]

  It was now firmly into fall, and with the cold came a surprise.

  Having activated [Dormant] a few days ago, I was abruptly woken, having registered the distant sounds of yelling and panic.

  What is it this time?

  Doing a quick headcount and confirming there were no new notifications, I was assured nobody had died. It was when I saw what had happened at the gate that I understood why there had been screaming.

  There was a small party of six individuals running for the walls. One of the people was covered head to toe in heavy armor while also carrying a much smaller figure in their arms.

  I watched as I saw a giant bear came bounding out of the forest. A man dressed in a robe that was certainly not meant for running shouted, “It’s a dire bear!”

  The beast-kin seemed hesitant to let the adventurers in, but it wasn’t like the walls would stop much anyway; they were a meter and a half high, which most people in this world could jump without breaking a sweat.

  Nobu had obviously heard the commotion and ran out past the adventurers, who were running the opposite way. The man who shouted yelled at Nobu’s sprinting form, “Thank you for your sacrifice!”

  While I was a little concerned for the Chief, if he felt he could take on the beast solo, then he probably could.

  With the bear in close pursuit, it didn’t take more than a few seconds for the two to meet, and I watched as the beast-man released a surge of mana which traveled through his body. Enhancement Skills.

  Leaping at the beast, which had opened its maw to chomp down on the man, I watched him stab it through one of its eyes, not entirely through the skull, but causing the dire bear to roar in pain, causing it to miss its own attack completely.

  For a moment, I was still worried that the bear flailing would manage to randomly hit him, positive that even a single blow would be fatal; however, I watched a large bolt zip across the terrain and slam into its belly, the tip poking out the other side.

  Taking a few stumbling steps back, the Dire Bear struggled for a few moments, its rage obviously blinding it to its imminent death. Having fallen to the ground, Nobu spared no hesitation in stabbing it through the same eye he pierced seconds ago; this time, it pierced through, ending its existence.

  That man who had bid Nobu thanks for his sacrifice? He was stuck staring at the beast-kin. “So that just happened.”

  Ignoring the visitors, I looked to see the Chieftess from earlier stowing away an enormous crossbow that seemed far too large for her. She was chatting with Osbert at the same time.

  “Osbert? What happened?” I addressed the [Blessed Guard]

  “Well, the Chieftess asked me to use one of my buffing skills on her, and I obliged.” I appreciated the matter-of-factness, but I knew his skills weren’t that upgraded. The chieftess was strong.

  Nobu had returned, leaving the sword used to kill the bear embedded into it’s skull. Taking one offered by another guard, he sheathed it.

  Approaching the group of six, he spoke calmly, “So, what are we going to do with you?”

  Safe to say the adventurers were very wary of Nobu.

  [Year 12 Month 3: Continued]

  With one of their members, a short woman, being severely injured, the adventurers refused to answer any of our questions. For now, I decided not reveal my presence, and while all my pillar slots were used, I just used a few totems to obscure myself.

  Once we brought them to the infirmary, they had settled down considerably, although they were still warily watching the beast-kin around them. The armored figure spoke with a hint of wonder in their voice, “Does this village have a restoration field? I am recovering much faster.”

  Rolling with their assumption, Nabu merely nodded, “Yes, your friend will be fine in a few days as well.” While their face was obscured, their body language showed relief. “That’s good, we need to get back to an adventurer's branch. We found-” They were cut off by their friend in robes. This guy looks like a larper.

  “We found nothing of interest.” He said, meaning they found something of tremendous interest. Nobu’s eyebrow rose before he sighed dramatically, “Ah, well, I guess there is no need for us to keep you here. I will escort you out of the town now.”

  ‘Woah woah woah.” The robed man stood abruptly, “There is no need for that. We don’t have any heals on us, you would be killing her!” He gestured at the woman lying in a cot.

  Nobu simply shrugged. “Oh well. If only you shared.” He began to walk toward the door before one of the silent party members cut him off with a sigh.

  Dressed in leather armor, the man spoke. “It’s fine, Ralph, they would know by the time we got here earlier.” He turned to Nobu, “It’s a dungeon, about eight kilometers to the west, look for a large boulder. We didn’t get too far into it before Dendra took a solid hit, but I would rank it as a Tier 3 dungeon.” The others nodded in agreement.

  Nobu paused, “Two of you can stay with her during your stay; the others can follow me to an empty house.”

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  While the party took a minute to establish shifts of who would or wouldn’t stay, I asked Osbert what he knew about dungeons.

  He was hanging around the walls and momentarily had someone take over his watch, “Dungeons? Sure.” He found a large rock to sit on. “Dungeons are natural formations, similar to Blessing Stones. They are created when ambient mana reaches a tipping point, and boom, up pops a dungeon. I don’t know more about how they are formed. Cities do spring up around them, though. Adventurers love’em, and adventurers need a lot of supplies.”

  He sat straighter. “Why are you asking about them?”

  “Apparently, there is a ‘Tier 3’ dungeon about eight kilometers to the west. The adventurers say it's near a large boulder.”

  Osbert jumped up with a concerning lack of care for his older body. “That’s what that was all about?! One second.” I watched with amusement as he ran off to a few of the hunters who were in charge of that area.

  Seems like things are going to change around here.

  [Year 12 Month 4: 1 month has passed]

  The adventurers left a week later. They were happy with the hospitality of the village, but were focused on getting back.

  When I asked Nobu about their rush, he simply shrugged. “Dungeons are valuable; there is a finder’s reward.”

  Oh, that would make sense.

  Fortunately for me, Osbert had rushed to gather a small group to investigate the dungeon entrance, intent on claiming it. I had him take a totem to place nearby so I could monitor it while the beast-kin prepared to set up a small base around it.

  While we wouldn’t claim the finder’s reward, the outpost was too valuable for the beast-kin to give up. Nobu said it would probably be a year before a caravan sent to establish an outpost arrived, so we prepared.

  [Year 12 Month 5: 1 month has passed]

  [5 Blessed have died]

  [You have leveled up]

  [You are level 20]

  [Congratulations, your race has evolved.]

  [Blessing Stone -> Holy Obelisk]

  [All previous abilities are upgraded.]

  [You have gained the skill Obelisk Network]

  [Totem Pillars has been folded into Obelisk Network]

  [Blessing of Warding -> Mark of the Blessed]

  [Ambient Mind -> Zone of Influence]

  So level 20 was a milestone for me. Humanoids are just a little different than non-humanoids, I guess.

  After the eye bleeding number of notifications passed, I was hit by a wave of nausea and pain. So much pain. Whatever had happened affected me to my core.

  Several excruciating minutes later, it vanished as quickly as it came, and my perception had a momentary blip.

  In that blip, I had grown four meters taller, bringing my height up to a whopping 6 meters, and was about half as wide, now towering over the other buildings. Originally, I had only taken up a small section of the hill, but now I was taking up almost twice the space. Fortunately, the stone bench made several years ago had stayed intact, only being shoved out of the way.

  Also, the pillars I had placed grew a meter taller while fortunately only increasing a little bit in diameter, otherwise several would have gone through nearby buildings or possibly hurt someone.

  While I had been busy growing, the Beast-kin had obviously noticed, with those who saw the whole thing calling out for the others.

  Cautiously, Astrid approached my main body. “Gol? Are you okay? There was a flash of light, and you- your runes went dark for a moment.” My runes went dark? Did the system just turn me off and turn me back on?

  I replied after a moment, “Yes, I am fine. I evolved.” Astrid winced when I spoke to her, massaging her temple, “That’s good, but could you please be a little quieter? Whatever happened made your voice louder.”

  I quickly brought up the only thing that would have caused that change.

  [Zone of Influence is a direct upgrade to Ambient Mind. It allows almost complete awareness within your influence and allows for interaction with those inside. Your resistance to mental attacks has dramatically increased.]

  Nothing about the skill specifically increased my telepathic ‘volume’, but it did, so I would have to make do with it. Probably going to get worse the higher level I am. I will need to figure that out.

  Doing my best to tone down my ‘loudness,’ I had Astrid reapply the blessing, now being called [Mark of the Blessed].

  When she touched the runes carved into the central obelisk, I felt a small surge of energy leave and enter her palm.

  Pulling back her hand, she quickly turned it over to see a small rune tattooed right where her wrist began. Her eyes glazed over as she read a notification. She gasped, “Oh my. Gol, you need to read your notifications.”

  I obliged.

  [Mark of the Blessed is a direct upgrade of Blessing of Warding. Leaving a small mark on the Blessed individual, there is a stronger connection to those with this mark. You may still choose to bless Individuals, rather than mark them. However, on top of the benefits of the status Blessed, Marked gain the ability to use you as a mana storage device, allowing both parties to use a small portion of each other's mana. Marked receives a moderate resistance to all magics, and a major resistance to mental and spiritual attacks. Marked cannot be influenced by divine power. You receive a small percentage of experience from actions performed by the Marked.]

  [Blessed: 346 -> 345]

  [Marked: 0 -> 1]

  Oh boy, this is a long one, and I still have one more read.

  Astrid was murmuring to herself while pacing back and forth. “They are gonna kill him. Oh, we are all so dead. What about my kid?” She had begun to bite her nails.

  “Astrid,” I spoke.

  “What are we going to do?”

  I amped up my voice a little, breaking her from whatever panic attack she was beginning to devolve into, “Astrid. Nothing bad will happen.”

  She looked at me, “Promise?”

  “I promise.”

  She tentatively nodded before hurriedly walking away. I don’t understand why she got so worried.

  Pushing it off, I returned my focus to my final skill.

  [Obelisk Network allows for secondary obelisks to be summoned. They act as focal points that have a large radius. Anti-detection can be set to target individuals, and all allies in range receive a health regeneration boost. Secondary obelisks can be a skill foci, meaning skills can be cast through it. You have 10 Obelisk slots, 25 Pillars, and 50 Totems.]

  Oh. Oh, I could work with this.