Mash killed the last wolf in his pack, turning to face the others who had just been sitting around and waiting. The monsters seemed deranged and hadn’t fled no matter how many they had killed, and it had been a lot. Another wave of the monsters had arrived while they were fighting. This was one of the longest fights he had been in, and it wasn’t enough to get his hunt skill to trigger. It seemed like he would need to use his transformations and magic to use enough energy to get the bonuses from the skill. He was the last one to finish by a large margin.

“Took you long enough. How about testing the hot spring before going back?”

Staringly longingly at the water, Jill spoke while walking towards it. Red started walking with her calling back to the others as she did so.

“I guess that means we get to go first, you guys can clean up the corpses.”

That was distinctly unfair to Mash. Instead, he used some of his excess energy to make a walled building around the water, leaving the top open to let the steam out.

“Give me a few minutes, and I can just separate it in half.”

It took a few minutes, but the others waited while he set it up. They didn’t take the opportunity to clean up the corpses as none of them wanted to deal with them. Mash considered just consuming them all, but he didn’t know if there was anything valuable on them. Once he finished making the makeshift building, Mash and Luke went to one side, while the other two went to the other side.

Mash approached the water, using his foot to test the temperature. It wouldn’t be hot enough to harm him, but he just wanted to know what to expect. He heard a splash on the other side. It sounded like they had not taken his caution. Luke just stepped in casually, and Mash joined him soon after. The water was hot, and he felt it warm his body. With his domain, he noticed how the mana in the water flowed into him and saturated his already heightened regeneration. Most of his injuries were light burns, and they were healing fairly quickly from the water.

As he let himself relax, he noticed that Luke’s eyes were closed like he was thinking about something. Seeing him, Mash remembered to check his own status and focused inward.

Name: Mash Stellumbra Class: Draconic Thunder-wood Imitation

Level: 86 → 92

Health: 1547 / 2090

Energy: 1109 / 3560

Fortitude: 209 → 210

Endurance: 136

Strength: 171

Agility: 171 → 173

Intelligence: 220

Wisdom: 102

Charisma: 96

Free Stats: 15 → 45

Skills: Hunt, Thunder-wood Creation, Inhuman Hibernation, Monstrous Transformation, Thunder-wood Imitation, Draconic Domain, Adaptable Monster Core, Monstrous Humanity, Wooden Body, Mimic’s Avarice, Golden Body

Mash opened his eyes and saw Luke staring back at him with wide eyes. Mash had gained six levels from where he was at, and Luke was several levels lower than he was. Not to mention Jill and Red who were even further behind. Curiosity winning over all else, he yelled his next words aloud, loud enough that the others could hear it too.

“How many levels did you guys get? I got six!”

His permanent stats were probably from the wolves that the imitation had eaten, but the levels were the really strange thing.

“I gained eight levels from the fight.”

The fact that Luke had gained more than Mash didn’t really surprise him, but it was still a lot of levels. Although it was Jill’s and Red’s response that really surprised him.

“I gained thirteen, and Red got fourteen. We’re both at eighty-six now.”

It shouldn’t be this easy to level and he knew it. People typically spent years, maybe even decades trying to go from level 60 to 100. Yet, here they were, clearing that span in a few months. Weeks if they only considered their time-fighting. The class system must be letting them increase their levels more rapidly for some reason. Even if it was a new dungeon, gaining over ten levels in a fight like that should have been unthinkable. Especially with how high level they already were. Now, he was certain. The invasion or war was probably making the world owner more eager in developing its people.

Mash would reap the benefits, even if he had no intention of helping their world invade another. He would do what he had done here, and help the natives avoid conflict. Hopefully, set up more peaceful interactions with other worlds. Also, he wanted to learn what he could from them as well. Within the past week, he had begun dabbling with magic item creation.

He wasn’t trying to learn anything fancy or complex, but instead something he could incorporate into his wooden creations. He imagined making magic weapons instead of just normal ones. He didn’t need anything complex either or had been studying some of the basic symbols that Aifell used. She was glad to teach him, and he could tell that it was her favorite subject. Her lectures were far more detailed than he wanted, but he had listened well enough. Although he still hadn’t been allowed to actually try anything yet, as his writing was imperfect by her standards. Well, he would learn more today.

She was close to finishing the translation item too. Well, the plans for it at least. The item’s purpose needed to be general and encompass a lot of complex ideas. He didn’t even know if it would be possible, to begin with, but she seemed determined to figure it out. They spent a little longer in the hot spring, before leaving and storing the wolve bodies in his storage space. Even after filling his up, there were still dozens of corpses lying around. After gathering as many as they could, he left a few imitations of Priscilla to eat the remainder.

He did this to clean the area, but also to see if the stat gain had range limitations. Normally fights were close things, so he never tested it before. If it worked, it might be a good idea to drop some imitations in an ocean or something.

The trip back was fast, and he felt when the stat boosts had stopped. The connection was limitless, and he could tell that the imitations were still eating, but the benefits had stopped coming. Either there was a limit to how much the wolves could give, or more realistically, there was a limit to the range of his skill. He couldn’t get the exact distance, but he was probably over a half-hour away from them. The range wouldn’t be a problem in a fight, but he couldn’t just drop them somewhere to feast on weaker monsters. His first plan for unlimited power had failed.

They used the moving platform to get up to the city, as it was the only way to announce their arrival. If they just flew in, they could cause a commotion. Kirk met them upon their arrival, and Jill began telling him of the hot spring. Since there were strangers listening in, one of the others had been the ones to update Kirk. That way the crowd could actually understand what was being said. If Mash spoke, then only Kirk would understand.

“We have a ton of monster corpses as well. What do you want us to do with them?”

Luke added that part. Continuing when Jill finished talking about how the hot springs were safe now.

“Yeah, follow me. We will collect what we can, and I can show you what we do with the bodies.”

Kirk turned leading them away while speaking. They were led to another of the tall buildings, but instead of entering the main entrance, walked around to the side of the building. There was a staircase that went to a room beneath the building. Walking in, they were hit with the stench of blood. It got Mash to clench his hand around his staff. It was just a normal staff, but his knuckles bulged as he squeezed tighter. Although the reaction had been automatic, the place wasn’t dangerous. To him at the very least. It was a large empty space, and there were several people working on cutting through various monster corpses. It looked like they were collecting valuables from the monsters, and he saw one person pull out a crystal from one of the monsters. The monster had been a lizard of some kind, and he wondered what the gem was about.

“What’s that?”

Mash asked kirk while pointing towards the pile of crystals beside one of the tables. The crystals glowed faintly, and he hadn’t noticed any from the wolves they had killed.

“They are monster cores. Only special or powerful monsters will generate one. Usually, one in ten to twenty will have one. They are pretty useful for magic item creation. Oh, speaking of, Aifell wanted to see you about the communication thing.”

That drew Mash’s attention away from the crystals. He was very interested in getting that item and wanted to leave immediately. However, he needed to deposit the monster corpses first.

“I’ll go see her right away. Where should I put the bodies?”

Kirk pointed towards a section of the room that was obviously slanted slightly downwards. It was probably meant to let the blood drain more easily. There were dozens of tables set up, though only about half were in use. He began dumping his bodies, the others joining him as well. Kirk’s eyebrows rose before they were half-finished. By the time they finished all of the workers had stopped to look at the piles. One of them spoke to Kirk, who just nodded slowly. He was staring at the pile disbelievingly.

Mash didn’t stick around to answer Kirk’s questions and left in a half sprint. After spending a few days in town, he knew how to get to Aifell’s workshop. The run only took a few minutes. He left the collection of materials and rewards to the others, not really caring much about it at the moment. Once he arrived at the workshop he went in smoothly and slowed down as he entered. He didn’t want to startle her after all.

As he arrived, he saw Aifell working on something. While he wanted to interrupt, he knew better than that and waited for her to notice him. That ended up being a mistake, and she jumped in surprise when she noticed him for the first time.

“Sorry, but I was told to find you.”

He made sure to keep his voice level, rather than revealing his excitement. He assumed she was done with the item, but her words ended up surprising him.

“No, it's fine. I wanted to tell you that I’m going to need a powerful monster core to make the item. If you give me your map, I can mark some down for you, but we do not have the strength to hunt the monsters needed. Though you might be able to.”

Her tone shifted a little as she spoke, and Mash guessed there was more to this than just making his item. She didn’t seem like she wanted him dead. He wasn’t sure what she was thinking about, but it sounded like the perfect job for him. More levels and completing the item that he wanted were the best possible situation.

“Sounds good. Also, I don’t really mind killing strong monsters if your people are having trouble with them. Honestly, it is something that me and my friends want to do.”

He seemed to have said the right thing, as she relaxed a little. She must have noticed something in his own expression as she explained herself.

“We have been having trouble with the monsters for years. I was hoping to free us of their threat while also getting something for the item. I was just worried about taking advantage of you.”

He waved his hand dismissively in response. After all the magic items they had taken, killing a few monsters seemed like a reward rather than a cost. Plus, he was learning about magic item creation from her, and that alone would be more than worth it. He was close to level 100 too, and was glad to hear about stronger monsters that he could fight.