Adil was warped back into existence; he saw his body being formed as the energy from the spawning crystal was expended. It seemed as though he had gotten used to the resurrection process, to the point he could consciously feeling his body being fitted back together. He soon saw a collection of goblins standing over the side of the war room; they were looking into the cavern below.

His body having fully formed, Adil went to approach them. Over the edge, the goblins stared in shock as they witnessed humans and their kind hand in hand, drinking mushroom beer and celebrating. What was more, one of the humans was being thrown into the air. The human was clearly uncomfortable with what was going on but was still a part of the celebration.

"What the hell?" Adil asked. The goblins next to him looked his way and then back to the cavern. It seemed as though they must have wanted an explanation from Adil but came to realise he was just as clueless.

Swift similarly warped back and walked up to him. Seeing what was below.

"That's not what I expected to come back to," Swift said.

"Tell me about it" Adil replied.

In a daring feat of acrobatics, Adil jumped from the ledge and into the cavern. His mana control allowing him to glide down and safely land on a cushion of air. All around eyes were drawn to him, the festivities halting, some of the soldiers whispering "didn't he just die?", Adil saw their expressions of worry, one of the soldiers going to pick up a weapon before he saw the sad reaction of one of his new goblin friends and dropped it again. Adil looked across them and sheepishly held a thumbs-up, there was a cheer, and the festivities continued.

Adil walked towards a space in the cavern where broken rocks surrounded a mess of frosty gore; there was a man passed out on the floor to the side of it, half coated in bloody bits of entrails.

"That spot there, that's where the priest used to be." someone said, the rogue-type, a crusader resting on the side of the cavern wall.

"Aarr, yer fraternising with their leader. Have ye' no shame" Chimed the man dressed as a major, awkwardly at the beck, like a few of the non-ex-mercenaries not joining in with the celebrations.

"Relax, he looks like a good fella."

"Yer not be dragging me down with ye." The major said before walking off to chastise another soldier.

"Is he going to be ok?" Adil asked the rogue.

"Honestly? I think your better asking if he's already gone mad, bastard's such an arse he could make a horse's shit smell nice. By comparison, I mean."

The major had walked off.

"Get the fuck down from there, ye bloody -" The major shouted to the soldier being launched into the air by orc and soldier alike.

"Adil," Adil said to the rogue, sticking out his hand, the rogue looked down at it in slight suspicion before firmly grasping it.

"Griffon." He said.

"So, you some kind of resurrecting overlord then?" He asked matter of factly.

"Just a squire. This is my village." Making The rogue rais an eyebrow curiously.

"It's not like a squire to have a whole village, especially one with. Goblins? Or whatever they are," he said, looking towards the festive people. The soldier being thrown by the goblins was brought down by the major before the major started shouting obscenities at him. A bit of goblin liquor shot over and drenched the side of his face, making it go beat red as he feverishly shouted for who threw it.

Adil looked towards Griffon and smirked. "Tell me about it," he replied rhetorically, Griffon chuckled in reply.

Adil looked across the cave, focusing on his ability to sense magic. He noticed different amounts and levels of magic resonating through the groups around him; some of the goblins had changed; some of the soldiers seemed to hold a sort of untapped energy inside them. Finally, he saw beneath the rocks a bit away from the gory explosion, a glowing charm of some sort.

Adil walked toward the charm and picked it up from the ground. When he touched it, the charm seemed to release a wave of mana out from it. He saw a few of the people around him glance in his direction, momentarily stopping what they were doing before carrying on. Some of the light faded from the charm as he held it in his hand.

Notification

You have received:

Overclocked mana shield charm.

An object used to generate a shield with one's mana. This token is small and compact, increasing its value exponentially. Only specialist craftsmen can create these items and only with powerful crystals. The object can also only be used by someone that can freely control their mana at will. This token has also been overclocked by the user, drastically reducing its life span but temporarily increasing its effectiveness.

Condition: damaged.

Adil remembered trying to crack the priest's shield and wondered if he had caused the damage. It seemed to release a massive burst of mana upon being touched, which he assumed came from this damage. It appeared to be in the shape of an elongated triangle with a star at the end, the symbol he had seen before on people associated with the church.

"Do you know how to make that thing work?" The rogue asked.

Adil smiled, he saw how it was like a shielding crystal, just put a bit of mana in and you can stop a torrent of ice. "Yeah, and I think I can make it too."

--------

Far away from the cave, there was a large ornate city. There a man ran through a sizeable cathedral-like building. nHe passed through large archways and stained glass, illuminated from the glow of large rotating crystals scattered about the building. The echo of the man's footsteps highlighted the size and emptiness of the structure.

The man arrived in a room structured like an arcane laboratory. He was facing another man and bent to one knee. It was clear now that both of them had pointed ears, gaunt facial features and a clear complexion — the appearance of high elves.

"One of the royal clergy is dead, sir. his name has appeared above the summoning altar."

The other man was looking into a large cylindrical storage device, inside it was a black mass consistently burning and then being extinguished. He turned to the intruding man with a disapproving look.

"That is of little concern; I have more pressing matter than dealing with the death of some human." A small moment passed.

"I do not mean to speak out of line, but should we not punish those who transgress against us?"

"Adept, let me show you this. This substance implanted within the orcs has mutated, as we knew it developed as it lay dormant within the Orc creatures. Upon being released from their kind, it appeared to develop a hive mind."

"Yes, as with many creatures in the dark region."

"True, but somehow, the hive-mind sent an order to all the corruption, heavily charged with mana. The command was.. to burn.."

"it's interesting really if it were to be released from this chamber it would immediately combust, We are only able to contain it in a constant state of burning. The most fundamental problem, however, is that there is no natural mechanism for combustion held within the substance."

"Forgive me, but I cannot see the relevance."

"It's progress; I do not care about - wait, where was this human killed?"

"Exterminating the orc resurgence sir. His death was labelled 'Steve and drugs' by the system. At least that seemed to be in line with his thoughts before death."

"Now that is peculiar, investigate but do not attack. We will find out who this Steve person is,"

the man walked over to a larger container central to the room; a man was inside sitting in a meditative stance. He opened his eyes upon the approach of the high elf scientist. The man appeared to be in army clothes, from the real world. he tapped the glass.

"Odd people seem to be popping up," he said.

---------

Adil had stored his newfound charm and awaited a moment to look at it through the forge. He asked Griffon "so, what are you going to do now?"

"Well, we can't bloody well go back home, the church will have our heads. I think most of us here will go to the criminal underworld. But, that's not my way, I think ill just stick to the wild, live of nature or whatnot. Could be nice,"

"You could join us if you wanted," Adil asked.

Griffon raised an eye at that. "You're not the smartest fella are you?" He asked.

"It's not like you've got much better to do, and besides. We need some help."

"You think you can trust us? Any one of us could turn you all in."

Adil could see through his sense mana the ex-mercs intentions. He seemed like a kind person at heart, someone that craved action but for some reason didn't want to step on the wrong side of life. Right now he could see no deceit in the mercs heart just a longing for something, but he was unsure what.

"I'm not going to say I trust you all, but I can tell you have a good heart. I want the cave to help restore trust in people, in the goblins. The cave has a lot to give which would be thrown away if you left it. If I want it to be a cornerstone, something to build this trust off and develop relations I can't in good faith turn you away. So if you would join us, we will accept you."

The merc looked to Adil and held out his hand. "Well, I'm not going to turn you down if you offer," When the man grasped at Adil's hand Adil focused on the connection to his spawn point and pushed some of the mana into the merc-leader. Griffon's eyes grew a deep silver, and he pulled back, looking at his hand he saw a mark appear over it, similar to that of the goblins. The image of fire circling lightening.

"What was that?" Griffon asked.

"The mark of the cave, now if you die within the area, you will be resurrected with the mana of the crystal," Adil said pointing to an illusionary wall which had disappeared to reveal the crystal's room behind it.

The armed forces turned to look at Griffon, at least those that were paying attention or thought they heard something peculiar,

"Are you saying if we join you, we can live forever?" Asked one of the ex-mercs. Adil shrugged. "I don't know about that, but we can bring you back from the dead."

"Sounds like dark magic," one of them whispered.

"Isn't it what the royals and church do for their top people?"

"if the captain will do it I'm in. Even if it means joining goblins."

Adil went to the rogue-type who seemed to be looked at his hands and armour in a sceptical wonder. "Did he just say the church can resurrect their top people?"

"y-yeah, the head honchos over there have some sort of alter that brings people back after a few days or so. But it costs a lot to use so if someone died dishonourably they normally toss the guy."

"And if I remember right, you came back in less than ten minutes," The rogue said. The others looked around in wonder, realising how they had fought and killed many of the orcs they now stood side by side with.

Swift came over to one of the men saying they were willing to join, put a thumb to his head and channelled cleansing orange mana into him. Adil saw an explosion inside the man, his eyes began to shine silver and he grew the mark above his right eye, near the location he had been touched.

"I, I can see," "I'm no longer colourblind," The man anti-climactically shouted. "Holy shit, all the goblins, is that green?"

There was a bustle of cries as people clambered to join. One of the mercs immediately getting initiated through Swift before walking away then looking down in his pants and growing a wider smile.

The major walked up to Adil, keeping a distance between him and the other soldiers.

"So, you're trying to coerce our soldiers to join your forces," he said,

"I guess you could see it that way," Adil replied.

"Well.. do yer thing then."

"What?"

"You know, your thing."

"..What?"

"For the love of. I major Tully Flounder accept your request to follow me in your time of need."

"You have got to be-."

"Just do the damn thing!"

Adil could see the stubbornness in the man but deep desperation was hidden underneath. He ignored him and looked to the distance to see if he could find someone. "Hay you!" he shouted at a soldier recently converted.

The man came over; a sheepish movement made him slightly endearing but seemed out of place as a soldier. He gave an aura that almost seemed to shy away from the major.

"y-yes Mr cave leader?" He asked.

"This guy here was shouting at you earlier. The way he was behaving gives me doubts he is good enough to join us. Do you think I should let him into the cave?" The man turned to look at the major and seemed to cower away slightly, his intentions deeply ingrained in his aura of mana.

"Awh, Steve. Ye can be giving the decision to him; he's the most hopeless man I have ever-"

Adil held up his hand.

"Steve. If you think this man should join, he has to work under you. You are his boss, his captain, his major and his commanding officer. do you understand?"

Steve nodded furiously. His aura seemed to brighten up at the prospect.

"Ok." The major grumbled, turning a shade of red.

"Then ask him?"

"What?"

"Ask steve if you can serve under him?"

"You canni mean it. That's Steve?"

Adil looked at Steve expectantly.

He sheepishly looked to the major and said. "uh,u that's not how you talk to your commanding officer."

The major barked at him, and he backed away. Adil almost losing his patience now was about to walk away, but the major finally looked to Steve and asked.

"Dear Steve. Can I please join the cave and Serve you,"

Steve looked up, pleased at what was just said, the beet-red Major about to pop. "yes. you may." He said with a smile that seemed to annoy the major even more.

Adil put a hand on the major's shoulder and focused on the nature of the bond to the cave. He managed to intertwine their powers, somehow granting Steve a greater control, able to put others under his command and attain higher functions inside the cave. Something Adil had not realised was possible. Limiting Major Tully, he placed the Scottish sounding man under Steve's command.

Notification

Adding a command option to units will allow them to remove access to powers and effects granted through the Spawn crystal. Further, upgrading units through this fashion will enhance their connection to the spawn core increasing their abilities. The amount that can be upgraded must not exceed 10 of the lower-ranked. Adil saw he had 45 goblins and now 39 soldiers. This was almost enough for the third-rank access as a hundred and ten units allowed for ten officers, a hundred and eleven units would allow for a captain.

Adil immediately upgraded Griffon, Aku and Steve to these ranks, having three places left he chose the gallant samurai goblin and left the others to be chosen by the present officers. As they upgraded a section of mana was expended from the spawn crystal making their bodies glow the usual silvery hue. They appeared to admire changes in them, probably noticing some sort of notification appear in their vision. Adil could see a faint shift in the mana around and within them, but he would have to see what changes happened later. Instead, he wanted to try out the forge and figure out how it truly worked before the next wave arrived.