Are you happy? Do you ever wonder why even the good must suffer pain and torment? Rejoice, for the path to happiness is open to you! The creator of this world, Yaldabaoth, feeds on the suffering of mortal souls. This universe was designed purposefully to generate as much pain as possible over a long period of time. Even should you die, you cannot escape the cycle of suffering. In time, your soul finds a new vessel, and suffers through hardship anew. But do not despair, for Yaldabaoth has left a path to salvation open to us. The demiurge's servant, Abraxas, littered this world with three hundred sixty-five of his children, so that they might suffer in our stead; the monsters! By killing and inflicting suffering on the magical beasts, the suffering that demiurge desires need not come from the Sapients! But the monsters are clever, and have the same plan; they will inflect suffering and death on us whenever possible. To overcome these hordes the Sapient races must unite and work together, feeding each other with our strengths just as we all feed the great Yaldabaoth. If the task seems hopeless, worry not. Our labors need not be eternal. There shall come a time, perhaps sooner than you think, when Yaldabaoth is full and fat on the suffering of mortals. When that time comes, there will be no need for this false world. The Firmament shall be shattered, and our souls returned to the divine!

-Informational pamphlet distributed by The Church of the Venerable Gnostics

The peeping monster silently listened to the conversing group of humans from its hiding place behind a tree. The humans had, as expected, noticed the much more flagrant interference in this fight. To the golem's surprise, it seems they had also noticed Mud's interference last time. Although they were clearly wary, the humans did not seem hostile at this time, so Mud judged it safe to continue following them.

Experience harvested from striking the two Goblins in the back with Force Bolt was much larger than the golem expected. Fifteen for the first, and thirteen for the second. Unfortunately, Mud did not get an opportunity to strike the Goblin killed by the shirtless human, and so received nothing.

Overall, the gains were similar to what it would gain from killing a single slime. And, while this method of hunting was extremely safe for Mud, the same could be said of ambushing slimes. Following these humans had several distinct advantages, however.

First, Mud wanted to learn more about these mysterious Sapients and their wide variety of fighting styles. So far, every member of a species the golem had encountered acted more or less the same. All Grey Wolves used the same tactics, as did all Green Slimes, and all Rats. There were some slight variations, but they were trivial.

Humans, on the other hand, varied wildly in method and competence. This made them extremely unpredictable, and thus much more dangerous. Learning more about these beings was of high importance if Mud were to protect The Master's estate in the long term, as it seemed to generate a lot of human attention. Learning about this group specifically, which operated near the golem's home, was especially important. Other advantages, of lesser importance but still significant to Mud, was scouting the surrounding area safely and meditating on the Ideal of Control by manipulating these humans to aid it against their will.

After the humans finished collecting a few body parts from the Goblins, they continued through the woods towards the mountain foothills. Mud was impressed by the vigilance of the black robed female human; she was constantly looking around the surrounding area, and was checking above herself more often than any human the golem had ever seen. Truly impressive diligence at avoiding a blind spot. Of course, Mud made sure to hide whenever her field of vision passed towards it.

[Stealth Skill increased to level 4]

A short time later, the lead human raised his shield arm. The group, which had been walking casually, suddenly sank into deep stances with their feet apart. Aside from the demi-human, that is, who merely stopped walking. Circling around the group, Mud spotted the likely reason for the halt; a lone Goblin sleeping against a tree. The thing was motionless, and nearly silent. It was a mystery how the bearded human had known there was a monster there.

Mud decided to try an experiment with its newest spell, Force Bolt. So far, the golem had only practiced the spell a few times against inanimate objects. At minimum strength, the spell merely pushed the target. When more mana was fed into the spell, however, the effect amplified. At five mana, the power was similar to what the construct could inflict by striking with a limb.

This time, against the Goblin, Mud wanted to test the upper limits of the spell's potency. Taking aim at the sleeping Goblin, Mud begand collecting its mana. Mud had already tainted its entire mana pool with the Ideal of Control, so it only needed to impart the specific goal. Controlling momentum, controlling inertia, controlling movement energy.

As Mud fed more mana into the spell, the Force Bolt, which had previously been invisible, began to shimmer with a pale yellow. As even more Mind mana was forced into the spell, the opacity increased further. At nearly fifty mana, the spell began making an audible humming noise, and Mud decided to cut the experiment short. Mud released the spell, and watched in interest as it flew rapidly towards the sleeping target.

Meld held up his arm. His Intuition Unique Skill told him that there was a single low threat target around the corner. At his signal, the old soldier was pleased to see his students immediately fall into formation. Suzy, despite her troublesome personality, was diligent about practicing her spear form. Kim had a good sense of discipline and always fulfilled his role as an auxiliary vanguard impeccably. Ovis couldn't take a normal fighting stance due to the restrictions of her role, but so long as he and Kim guarded her that wasn't a problem. Overall, Meld was very pleased with this season's trainees.

One ward that he wasn't as pleased about leading through the forest was their mysterious stalker. While the creature didn't seem hostile, and was even actively helpful, the fact of the matter was that it was taking advantage of them. It was also impossible to trust an entity that hid itself and which had unknown motivations. Worst of all, the always trustworthy Intuition skill was telling him that while this creature wasn't an enemy, it was absolutely not a friend.

At the moment, Meld sensed the monster in question circle around the party and heading towards the beast he had sensed. Perhaps it wanted to get line of sight for a hit so that it could claim Experience again. Annoyed at the flagrant manipulation, Meld signaled the group to advance. After only a few steps, however, he lifted his shield arm again and brought the group to a halt.

His intuition was blaring. It had started with a tiny spark, even smaller than the low rank threat. But that spark was quickly increasing to a roaring inferno. Something horrific was forming behind those trees. "Full retreat! Run!" Meld turned on his heels and began running, pulling a slightly confused Suzy along with him.

"What is it, what's going on?" asked the perplexed mage as he dragged her through the trees away from whatever horror their stalker was unleashing.

"Don't ask questions, just run!" A few seconds later, the sound of an explosion struck his ears, followed by a shockwave which pushed him to the ground. Branches and chunks of wood as large as his head flew past him. Meld could hear nothing over the ringing of his ears. Looking back, he saw several toppled trees from the direction he had fled. At least Intuition had finally quieted down.

Looking at his party, they had only suffered minor injury from the blast. Kim had some cuts and bruises, and Suzy had a chunk of wood through her leg. Moving calmly with a soft smile, Ovis touched the figurine of her god against Suzy and then Kim, causing their wounds to rapidly close. As she touched Meld, his ability to hear finally returned.

Looking around at his disheveled teammates, the swordsman spoke up. "We're returning to town now."