Now that Crassus had left to see Thea, Luca was in charge of the apple grotto. Well, him and Darion the gremlin. The gremlin was busy making a house by the lake, so Luca had full control of the rest of the builder ants.

Which was good because Luca needed them for a project of his own. He was sure Theanore wouldn’t mind. He had been thinking. He missed being a dungeon core. Not being imprisoned in his crystal, but the early days. When he had plenty of stingrays and had them swim in circles as if they were dancing.

There were numerous enchanted items lying around, and the sea was a stone’s throw away. He just required an unoccupied cave, hopefully on an island, and then he could become a dungeon core again.

He still had his life-extending ring. He itched to create. So, he had the builder ants make him a boat, and he took off in the water. He rowed until sunset and he found an island. It had impressive caves lining its shore and no mermaids in sight.

They wouldn’t be able to come in the dungeon if he made it inland and if he registered for the peaceful list, which he would do, then he was sure that no one will bother him.

He had tried to register when he was still the dungeon core of the dungeon of stingrays, but then his system had captured him. He had tried to plead with Alba to register him, but she hadn’t wanted to listen. She had wanted him dead and gone.

He understood her, he had taken her freedom away by calling her to him in hopes she could free him. And now, Alba was dead. He didn’t know how to feel about this.

On the one hand, he was sad. She had been a constant for him during his 100 years’ worth of imprisonment. On the other, he was angry at her for never helping him. He petted the ant Queen and the three builder ants he had in the boat.

He hadn’t had the space for more ants. He anchored the boat and laid on the sand. It didn’t matter if he got sick, he would be a dungeon core soon and these things would be foreign to him again soon.

The next morning, Luca ventured to explore the island. He needed a cave, preferably. But a grove would do too. He wanted to avoid getting the dungeon in the water. He gripped the silk band with a fire enchantment that was level 9999 on the scale. A gift from Elmar.

It would be enough to have this band and become a dungeon core, but he needed to figure out how to produce wealth too. He could enchant, but that felt like he was competing with Theanore and Marinus. He owed them a lot. He couldn’t take this from them.

The waters were rich in resources. Perhaps he could get some otters, humanoid ones, and have them collect pearls? He had 500 mana to work with. Not much, considering he had been a dungeon core before, but he had been imprisoned, and his system had taken all of his wealth. Even if she couldn’t use it.

Luca envied Theanore then. She had Tania, who doted on her like a mother. Luca hoped he got someone like this for himself. He didn’t know what he would do if he got imprisoned again.

He heard screaming from deep in the forest, and he went to investigate. He kept to the shadows, and he used the tree as cover. He found the source of the noise. It was a small goblin with a bear trap around its leg.

The boy rushed to the creature, and he took out his Yule gift from grandpa Thinker, a special, never ending, potion that dulled pain. He went and approached the wounded goblin slowly, to not startle him.

“Who is there? Don’t eat me!” Screamed the goblin. Luca was startled by this. For a goblin, this one spoke too well. Something was afoot.

“My name is Luca. I am here to free you and take away the pain.” Said Luca, and he stopped before the goblin. The goblin had on manacles around his wrists and there was blood dripping from his forehead.

“Glob hadn’t done anything! Are you with the pirates?” Asked the goblin. Luca shook his head.

“No, are there pirates in this area?” Perhaps this place was not a good spot to make a dungeon after all.

“Yes, Captain Gideon Razortooth and his crew. They left me here to attract bears. I told them, wizard Garagast doesn’t let bears on the island, but they didn’t listen.” Said Glob.

“Who is wizard Garagast, Glob?” Asked Luca. If there were mages involved, then he needed to get off the island as soon as possible before he became a mana crystal battery.

“Wizard Garagast is my adoptive father. He saved me from slavers. But he died and left me by myself. I miss him. He was a great goblin, he was.” Said Glob.

A goblin mage? Luca had heard of goblin shamans who could throw fireballs and nothing else, but a full-fledged mage? That was unheard of. He had to concentrate, though. The trap needed to be removed from Glob’s leg.

Luca took the brooch that was holding his cape together, and it fell on the ground. He took it and unclasp it and used the pointy end to pick the lock on the bear trap. Soon, Glob was free and hugging him.

“What were you and Garagast doing here on this island, Glob?” Asked Luca as he returned the hug. This goblin must be around two to three years of age. He was too small to be older. And yet, he had been used as bait. Unforgivable.

“Wizard Garagast found magic black crystals here. Whatever you wish, they will grant. Even if its more crystals.”

And just like that, Luca found his source of wealth. But first, he needed to rid the island of the pirates. But how would he do it with only a couple of builder ants and a toddler goblin?