Unfaltering in his decision to claim this hidden gem as his own Eric now needed to figure out how he was going to go about that objective. He could of course take the easy route by killing all of the little monsters, but somehow that left a bitter taste in his mouth. Frowning at his own indecision he concludes to form an opinion of them after first contact.

"For all I know the beasts could be vicious little killers, or they could be relatively passive in nature. I really really really hope its the second option. I don't think I have enough fire power to take down alot of creatures at once if they decide to swarm me." Quietly Eric steels himself for what he may have to do while looking for a way down into the valley below.

Looking off to his right he notices a small edge they could use as a trail to scale down the mountain side. Nodding to himself as if this were an everyday occurrence Eric fails to notice the goblin huntresses indecisive behavior when she realized they would be using a three foot wide ledge to scale down the 80 feet to the caverns floor. Her body trembling she looks to Eric for some form of consolement only to see him absentmindedly walking along the edge as if lost in thought. Shaking her head while sighing in defeat she realized she didn't want to be left alone here, and began to follow Eric across the deadly precipice.

Walking purposefully Eric looked as if he knew what the hell he was doing, but to an outside observer it looked like he was constipated, and confused more than anything. Pride aside he was lost in thought one mechanical step was taken after another, as if he was running on autopilot. His thoughts a tidal wave of emotion, and indecision.

"How the hell am I going to be able to do this practically alone, I mean the goblin girl is tagging along with me, but neither one of us know the others language so how the hell am I supposed to subjugate 25 living beings? I don't even know how far above that their actual numbers are, because the quest prompt said something like killing 50 of them to win."

Pulling out his Quest Journal he elects to skim the objectives of the quest once more, instead of running in blind fists blazing.

'Someone could get hurt that way namely me. *He shudders at the thought.* I haven't been in enough fights in this world to determine whether or not I could stand a chance against one let alone fifty or more.'

They were twenty feet or so from the bottom of the gourge like cavern, when Eric noticed a small figure shuffle through the bushes in his peripheral vision.

He makes an effort to pretend he didn't see whatever it was in hopes of being able to sneak up on it to get a better look. He knew how stupid that sounded in his head, I mean who tries to sneak up on some unknown unknown, but he knows he doesn't have a choice.

'I have to take them by force if necessary, but this is a safe place that will give me some peace of mind. I could build a small home here, and if I find any fruit seeds I could plant them the giant quartz pillars have seen to that much. Beyond being a night light they act as the perfect spectrum of light to promote growth, not only in the plants, but something tells me that these giant monuments to nature would also promote the growth of living beings.'

Even as he was lost in his thoughts he could feel the vibrant wild mana filtering through his body in any way that it could. This brought a smile to his face, because he could smell an exploit.

"If I can conquer this place I could grind my non combat skills faster, if I am right those pillars will give me a greatly needed boost to my experience gains."

'At the very least thats what I would gain, but I stand to gain even more if I can do this right.' He chuckles to himself. Stepping off of the small ledge at the end of the crooked pathway that led him to edge of a jungle. Towering Banyan Trees stood imposing loftily dotting the cavernous landscape. The only difference was that these trees had blue leaves, and green bark with a hint of grey sprinkled around its outr edges for good measure. Woven between the meter thick roots of the mighty banyans were all types of plants, and flowers. Making good use of his appraisal skill he found some ingredients for health, and stamina potions among the cornucopia of bushes, and flowers.

The plants used in health potions were a blood red root roughly two to three meters in length. This ropelike root needed to be finely diced, and then crushed in a mortar and pestle. Sadly he had yet to find the purple shrew lock clover to finish off the minor health potion recipe. So he began again with renwed vigor appraising every flower, and bush in sight for the violet prism like petals. Appraising at the moment was his most useful non combat skill, he'd even managed to gain a level in Appraisal, and he even unlocked the herblore skill.

Amidst his search through the wild flowers he came across peculiar looking holes in the ground that appeared roughly one by one meters in diameter. Suspecting this may be where the legendary Gnomosapian make their homes he felt slightly disturb, because they already live in this cave why would they need to live further underground. Checking behind him to make sure the little green huntress had followed him he flashed her an 'I got this' smile, and jumped into the makeshift entryway.

Stuttering Hyowai could only muster a look of indignation at the things this man does. Not only does he drag her into this god forsaken cave, but he started the forest fire that put us in danger in the first place. Now he was just diving headfirst into giant holes in the ground. Shaking her head she was at loss for what to do here.

"Seriously ugggghhhh, How am I supposed to help my people following this man I feel like he can do amazing things, but has yet to reach his potential. It's like an instinct I can feel it in my bones his weird hands that glow with the light of the sun, and the heat of a dragon's breath." She mutters to herself well letting out an audible sigh.

Climbing down the edge of the hole slowly she did her best to not slip and fall. She refused to let a hunter like herself be swayed down from a challenge so easily. How many suitors tiny henchmen had met the cold edge of her dagger for their brazen attitudes. Yet here she is climbing down into a dark hole that may contain something that could hurt her, and the strange man that now found herself enamored with. Eric blissfully unaware of the goblin following him right now he was emitting a soft glow to help them see through the dark, and gloomy haze of shadow that seemed to seep from the walls. A pungeant moldy smell wafted up from the loamy soil beneath their feet. The smell was rank, and made Eric crinkle his nose in extreme disgust. Spitting out he lets his distaste for disgusting smells be known.

"Awwe what in the regurgitated rice milk is that stank! It smells like someone bottled a fart, and then did their very best to finely age it, but in the process the jar fell one day breaking causing the owner of said jar to die, and rotted away from the heinous smell." Choking back a wad of stomach bile Eric sees a gleam of red eyes in the distant a faint spark of intelligence glistens on the outer edges. This site sobers Eric quickly he cannot be indisposed while something sneaks up on them. Determined Eric begins to channel fire mana into his hands for use at any moment. The tension building in the air was palpable. Preparing himself for whatever may come from the shadows he takes a ready stance the eyes begin to shuffle forward slowly.

As the figure breached the cover of its ethereal hiding spot a naked mole rat looking creature is shambling towards them wizened eyes seem to tell of ages that had long passed in the old creatures lifetime. Faint whisps of facial hair seemed to dance off of his face like smoke from a freshly killed fire. A skirt woven from the local foliage draped itself elegantly acoss the mans waist as if to dignify the creature to that of someone noble in birth. A headdress adorned with the many roots, and flowers from the area hung loosely from his head like the crown of a wild king. A tiny walking stick made from some form of giant root cradled the old mans crumbling physical prowess, it was this walking stick that made Eric laugh in his head.

'AHAHAHAH hes got a little fucking walking stick...I can't breathe....AHAHAHA. He looks like Rufus the molerat from an old tv show he had seen as a kid whose name currently escaped his memory, but the little molerat never would.'

Eric laughed until the wizened creature was a meter away from him, he noticed the strange scratch like markings that adorned the walking stick looked purposefully carved into the wood, though dated, and ancient a small amount of energy could be felt leaking from the fragile lifeline of the monster standing before them. The creature attempted to communicate with the duo, but realized its folly all too late, as neither had a way to understand the other. Eric mentally remarked about deja vu, and almost missed the creature stare listfully into empty air almost as if listening to someone. Suddenly the old monsters eyes lit with understanding as he nodded his head turning around to walk back the way he had come. Before leaving though he turns to Eric, and puts up one of 4 fingers as if to say 'Just wait here for one second I'll be right back.'

Completely caught off guard, and dumbfounded Eric plopped his ass down on the soft smelly dirt in contemplation of the events that had just transpired. While he sat he figured he was wasting time by doing nothing, and he was super bored waiting on the geezer to return so he decided to practice circulating Earth Mana. Two hours they sat there in the stench filled dirt the smell of rotting eggs wafting around the enclosure in the almost non existant breeze. This smell had caused him to gag on more than one occasion, but he managed to contain himself. How you may ask did he go about this? The answer is simple really anytime he felt sick he'd look to the goblin girl without a name on the edge of passing out from the pungent, and thick fumes of methane slowly filtering it's way through the moldy dirt below them. When this tactic didn't work he focused on the slowly progressing Earth affinity, and the slightly faster skill of Earth Mana Manipulation. Starting to hallucinate from acrid fumes drifting up from Hade's bathroom Eric turned to the now unconscious girl, and began to mutter his enthusiasm for Earth Mana in a fanatical way.

"Why Earth Mana you may ask? Listen closesly my dear as I spin you a tale of a failure most brilliant in it's downfall. You see there once was a man from Kathmandu who stood near cows when they poo. I can't remember the rest, because my head is starting to hurt, but the danger is there! A shiticane of unnatural proportions will seek to destroy us if fire shows itself in the domain of the Earth's gassy bowels." His crazy gas induced soliloquy not enough to fuel his now raving lunatic levels of delusion he lets out a sharp enigmatic cackle looking like the villain in a cheesey 1980's action movie villain. Laying back into the soft embrace of the soil Eric didn't notice the 2 levels gained from his practice of Earth Mana, but a slight bonus was gained from the minor god of Earth for his delusional escapade only moments ago. Laying there Erics head pounded with the beat of his heart like a gigantic 808 drum pulsing in his ears, the gases still messing with his head he thinks to himself that he needs to ditch this party. Staggering up to the unconsious girl he grabs her by her limp arm without notice, and slurs out that Mr. Red needs to beam him up. Without skipping a beat Eric jumps into the air flailing girl in tow as he gracefully soars through the air like an epileptic penguin. Somehow managing to land on his feet he receives two prompts from purple nurple as he has decided to call him in his altered state of mind.

Skill unlocked: Acrobatics Due to your genetics an innate talent for acrobatics has surfaced due to your extreme show of tenacity, and apparent skill. Due to genetics this skill starts off at beginner level 5. *Enjoy it you lucky bastard*

Eric scoffed at Mr Arrogance on the other side of the video game like interface that communicated with him whenever the boxes decided that they deem him worthy of their attention. Brushing it off he congratulates himself on his amazing luck, and checks the rest of his notifications as his head slowly began to clear.

Due to your unparalleled luck the god's shine favorable on you!

Youv'e Gained +2 to your Luck attribute, and +1 to your Ingenuity attribute.

*I say god's, but what I really mean is your one loyal follower in the pantheon.*

This added bonus made Eric leap in joy, after all it was almost the greatest reward he could receive. Stat points he had the feeling would be way more important in a fight, then level alone. Intuition from playing games has taught him that skill will always mean more then muscle alone, and what are attribute points other than a reflection of a persons hard work, and dedication. His moment of elation was cut short by shuffling sounds coming from the mole hole as he had decided to call it. Walking over to the border of the hole Eric looked down to the scene below, little did he know this little mole-like Gnomosapian would blow his mind very shortly, and he would remember it for the rest of his life. A lesson in never judging a book by its cover.

The Gnomosapian waddled slowly towards the wall of the hole. His journey seemed laborous but fluid as he begins to stretch his old, and weathered muscles. Lifting his walking stick it began to glow a sickly green color for a short while, before the light began to pulsate then as suddenly as it had come it was gone the staff was now like the still ocean at night. The Gnome on the otherhand had seemed to stand taller as if age no longer weighed down his ancient body. Bending his knees he presses his staff to the point where the floor, and the wall meet a look of calm determination conceals any emotion from the gnomes face as he propels himself from the floor. A tree root hanging on the adjacent wall met the brunt of this little mans staff as he brought it down on the top of the root. Grunting the tiny being propels himself yet again while maintaining perfect balance he twists, and turns landing firmly on his feet gracefully shifting his weight, and spinning to meet Eric once again.

Currently he was at a loss for words, the tiny and ancient creature just flew from wall to wall like Diogenes from that getting over it mobile app he used to play on his old Optic Receiver. Eric wore a bamboozled appearance as the old gnome seemed to have glided up to meet him extending his odd little hand wrapped around a carved bone necklace coated in runes. The macabre necklaze had six teeth on both sides of a rat skull with fangs painted green. This centerpiece in particular held the most runes out of the whole piece of tribal jewelry. Jolting slightly from the gnomes elegant movements he decided to inspect the new present via his appraisal skill.

Macabre Necklace of Minor Translation. (Master) A necklace made from the bones of great shamans from the Gnomosapian race. This necklace was engraved with great care by a master Bone Artificer. The runes, and energy from shamans past grant the wearer the ability to learn language at an excelerated rate depending on the quality of the item. Since this necklace was crafted by a master the wearer is granted 150% increase to the speed of learning a language. As a minor bonus this necklace also grants the wearer a +3 to Int.

This present baffled him as he had no idea that a race he assumed was primitive would have access to not only body enhancement magics, but also have craftsmen of this level. Theidea of it all swam around violently in his head as he tried to wrap his mind around the concept of the world being way more different than it seemed.

'I have to stopped holding everything up to the standards I am used to on Earth, because as I have seen time, and time again things are never as they appear at first glance. No that would be too simple in this death game that has been thrust upon me. Hopefully with this necklace I will be able to make some headway into my new life instead of grasping at imaginary straws hoping to be handed presents from the goddess he had met. You can only rely on yourself.'

Taking the jewelry from the gnomish elder he immediately lifted it over his head as it fell down to his chest in an ethereal movement that seemed as if the pendant was posessed by a phantom. He could feel the thrum of power as his mind began to understand simple words at first of both Gobbledy glook the language of the Goblins, and Sinerac the language of the Gnomosapian tribesmen that inhabit Gnoram's Hollow. He knew however that just allowing the passive effect to take wouldn't be enough he needed to converse with native speakers to better understand the context of what was filtering through his mind. Turning to the Gnomish Elder since the girl was still unconscious he needed to understand what exactly was currently at play.

"So why did you give me this gift?" Not knowing the mans name he decided it best to wait for it to be given.

" I am in need of help young broodling, for I remain the only sain one of my kind at this time, and do not thank me for the necklace the spirits of elders past told me I would never get help from you without first helping you to understand me. The runes were quite troublesome, and I ran out of mana several times in the process, but I believe that it was worth it in the end." The old man smiled softly, but there was no joy there only unease, and doubt. Knowing this would lead to some ridiculous task he knew he had to deal with it, after all he needs to establish his base of operations here.

'With the world so chaotic, and dangerous out in the open a cave system like this would help keep me safe at least.' He thought to himself. Before this got any deeper Eric decided that he needed to know the man's name otherwise this conversation will be really awkward to work through.

"Excuse me old one, I do not mean to interrupt our chat, but before you continue I think it prudent that I know your name. Otherwise it would be quite rude to continue with all of this. I know you need help, but it would be nicer if we could do this on equal terms. Maybe even as friends." Smiling inwardly to himself he knew he laid it on a bit thick, but he needed to earn all the brownie points that he can to help win over the elder that stood before him.

'His magic would be a blessing to learn if thats possible, but even if it is not having him as an ally could only help me finish the quest I have already been given to take over this place of wonder.' Sighing the old one seemed to stare off over Erics shoulder as if he were remembering something from long ago, before the silence could stretch on too long the Gnomish Elder smiled amicably as he began to speak.

"I see young one though we are of a different species you wish us to be allies. Very well I see a way for this to work out for everyone in the end. I only ask you to help me free my kind from the influence they've been put under for angering our god Impiere. For mocking the God of Fools, they were cursed to regress until they were all mad primitive beasts foraging for berries, and rancid meat. Even I was slightly effected by this curse this is why I have the visage of a bald rodentasaur. I ask of you young one help me make the Draft of Dionysus, it is a close to rotten liquid made from a minor health potion, and Grapes of Clear Mind. Together they make a potion that may cure minor curses, and poisons." Seemingly satisfied that he had managed to find someone to ask for help, but still conflicted that he had to lower his head to someone he knew not to settle a problem for his tribe. The spirits however told him to behave, or he would have problems in the future that he could not contend with.

Eric ran the benefits through his mind as if there was a chance that he may decline.

'Chyeaaah fat chance I'd ever refuse this, not only will I learn a bit of Alchemy, but I may be able to convince the Gnomish people to join me in make a successful village. With my knowledge of advanced technologies I might have an upper edge on anything we could come across, and I could even powerlevel myself, and any who choose to live in the village. I can't be the only one here on this planet who has knowledge of these things so I have to take advantage of the situation as fast as possible.'

Nodding his head agreeing to the Elders request, he didn't even bat an eye as a new quest prompt appeared into his point of view.

'Huh, I must be getting used to this new, and strange life I am living.'

Lift the curse placed on the Gnomish people.

You have agreed to help the Gnomosapian Shaman Elder to rid his people of their mental, and physical affliction.

Items required: Blood Woad Root. (15)

Mana Infused water. ( 1 gallon)

Merelia's Cradle (10)

Grapes of Clear Mind (25)

Rewards

Recipe for the Draft of Dionysus. (Rare)

Recipe for Minor Health Potion (Basic)

Alchemy Skill + 2 levels for Quest completion.

Since this Quest, and the previously received one to subjugate the Gnomosapians have overlapping goals the two quests will be combined into one. Doubling the experience reward based on how fast you cure the locals. *Also you never got the name which you saught, but worry not all good things come in time.*

A wicked grin fused itself to Erics face as he received some of the best news he has had since he ended up here on this ragged death march.

'This Quest combines with the old to make itself even easier to complete my original goal! Hell yeah! Even the experience rewards will be doubled, but since it doesn't show me on the prompt I can only guess at how much I will gain. I also need to learn to be less greedy, but what can I say I want to have my cake, and eat it too. Alchemy will be a huge boon for me this early on, and especially for those who follow me. I'll be one of the only ones who can make health potions, as far as I know my scope of the world is pretty miniscule at this point in time.' Sighing he might as well get this show on the road, the faster he could make the potion the faster he could start work on building up a small base of operations. The thought of starting the worlds first town, and Adventurers Guild made Eric's smile appear even more brilliant than before. He after all enjoyed being the first to do something, and in this world it would almost be considered cheating with what he could possibly make reality.

Asking Elder Bismar Tarfoot the gnome that almost didn't want to part with his name where he could find the water, and what the various ingredients look like.

Herblore skill has leveled up to Beginner level 5! You will now see a soft aura around plants that can be used for potions, and various other things.

This skill may be toggled on and off via mental commands.

This skill bonus gave Eric a huge advantage as he seemed to dance through the dense foliage gathering the plants he needed to finish this quest. It allowed him to find the Blood Root Woads faster than he would have with his eyes alone, and searching through his inventory he found that he already had all of the Merelia's Cradle that he needed earlier when he first got the Herblore skill. The mana infused water was much easier to find than he would have imagined as he rounded a corner he had walked right into the pond as he was way too busy sorting his inventory to pay attention to his surroundings. Now soaked to the bone in chilly waters of the lake he could feel the water helping his mana regen to increase from its latent energy.

The rarest of the ingredients seemed to be the grapes no matter how hard he looked he couldn't find them. That was true till he was rinsing scrubbing the muck from his body he saw a silvery pearl like object lingering in the shallows of the magic lake. Picking one up he used his appraisal skill to indetify this strange new plant.

You have discovered the Grapes of Clear mind! Knowledge of plant has been added to your herblore skill increasing the effectiveness of your aura sight.

Cheerfully Eric made his way back to Elder Bismar to get a brief lesson in alchemy. Eric could be considered a genius at most skills given enough time to learn about the sudject due to his ever increasing Intellect state. Taking him only five minutes to learn how to brew this potion even caused Bismar to become a little awestruck at his rate of growth. To Eric however once he learned how to make the potion the rest seemed like child's play. Step one chop the Blood Root into fine pieces, after that was done he had to start a fire and lightly boil the contents for 35 minutes to infuse the properties of the root with the magic binding water. The third step was to mince the cradle, and dehydrate it by placing it near the fire. Once the leaves were properly crunchy he used a homemade pestle and mortar to grind the leaves into a fine silvery powder, then the grapes were juiced over the powder. Grabbing any type of utensil to channel mana through a stick will work for now, but Elder Tarfoot said he is particularly partial to silver. He says that it allows for a better consolidation of the mixture.

Eric shrugs his shoulders at the ridiculous elder, and his odd proclivity towards siler tools. This stopped him in his tracks as he was writing it off as stupid mutterings of old coots.

'He said he likes to use silver tools, but that shouldn't be possible unless they are smarter than I have been giving them credit for they would have no way to know how to refine silver into anything. Afterall silver is a very malleable metal, which makes it very easy to fuck up when smelting it. I'll make a point to ask him later about all of this, if I take too much longer to finish this potion it will go bad, and my hard work will be for nothing.'

"Pshh as if I'd let something stupid like that happen." He stated smugly to noone in particular causing the others to stare at him like he was losing his mind.

He mixed the grape juice with the powder until it formed a thick paste in time for the water infusion to reach a soft rolling boil. He added the paste to the boiling mixture after five minutes had passed turning the light pink liquid even paler with flakes of silver dotted throughout the mixture. This last process took the longest out of it all, but was the most vital the mix had to steep for a certain amount of time, and then had to be left to cool for another hour before it would be ready to use at maximum effectiveness.

As the potion finished its aging process it was time to dilute it into multiple bottles to help the other Gnomosapians to return to their normal state of existence. Upon finishing an exuberant smile was plastered on his face as a new notification gave him exactly what he wanted. He would still help with the subjugation of the people, because he believed they could learn to cooperate quite nicely together.

New skill Unlocked: Alchemy (Beginner): Level 2 (20%)

Alchemy (Beginner): lvl 2

The wonders of the universe will be in the palm of your hands as you advance your skill in the magical craft of Alchemy. This skill allows you to craft potions, make tinctures, as well as carve through your enemies with strong poisons, and cure allies with life saving antidotes. Noone is doted on more than the mighty Alchemist through fire, and brimstone you make the world your tavern wench. *Or you brew liquor, and start a nonstop party! Cmon dude you're really boring to watch! have a little fun!*

Rolling his eye's once again at the strange being behind the interface he could only sigh, and do his best to gain power, and influence. 'Making friends along the way would be great too.' He chuckled to himself.

"A few days ago this would have all made me think I was nuts, but as I cannot seem to wake up from this dream I've become excited for the future, and have gradually accepted my inability to return to Earth. Why would I want to anyway things seemed to just start looking up for me I want to find out what else there is to this world, and become the strongest mage in the entirety of my new existence. I will do what it takes, and noone will ever be able to make me do something I don't want to do anymore."