Stardust imposed harsher rules to control his NPCs, especially the evil karma NPCs. He also abolished the freedom for NPCs to hide their skills and stats. Skill privacy was no more. Everyone will be able to know what the other NPCs could do. Peace and cooperation returned to the party. Authoritarian rule has been established.

The current party was not strong enough to overcome the endless sand elemental monsters or pass through the giant cactus monster at the border of desert area 3 so they grinded for more sand elemental cores.

Over the week, 13 male NPCs were created with 1000 sand elemental monster cores each. They ranged from extreme evil to extreme good, extreme disloyalty to extreme loyalty. All the troublemakers were quickly assimilated into the party without any issues due to Lily’s evil team making sure they will obey Stardust. All the good NPCs assimilated into the good NPC team without problems. Pretty much all the NPCs followed Stardust, and any newcomer will have no choice but to join their group for the best of their well-being. In the early days, it was chaotic because there weren’t many members but now there were 26 NPCs all following Stardust.

The male NPCs weren’t exactly much different from the female NPCs, most of them weren’t romantic. Or rather they all wanted to survive and escape the shitty desert lifestyle and have a permanent base. Yano was not able to find a soulmate among them even though she influenced Stardust to create male NPCs.

There was never a name for the party until now. The new name for their group that Stardust had chosen was ‘StarLily’. It served as a constant reminder that Stardust and Lily’s love was eternal. It was going to be the name of their new empire that they were going to build together.

Then another week of grinding. StarLily grew to 54 NPCs with a balance between the genders. The karma, loyalty, and personality range among them were quite interesting. They were able to increase their grinding speed dramatically with every new member helping the battle.

The overall strength of the party was rising sharply. But the food supply situation was becoming grim. They were more nomadic than before in Desert Area 2. If they were to keep increasing their numbers without finding an ample supply of food, it could be disastrous for them. Unless StarLily decided to split into smaller groups over the vast area of Desert Area 2 but it wasn’t a popular opinion to split up.

Even though the food supply was becoming grim and there were 54 NPCs following Stardust now. The quality of life went up for everyone. Division of labor played a key role in making everyone more specialized in certain things. It also enabled other NPCs to do other things than find food to make their lives much easier. One of the NPC specialized as a herbalist and was able to find many more uses for the desert plants other than eating them. Another NPC specialized in building things, and there were many more improvements made to their tents and other structures. It wasn’t only their physical skills improving their life. Magical skills improved their life greatly too. Most of the NPCs were able to learn the common types of magic with some of them learning rarer types.

NPC #44 Ester was the first NPC to learn the sacred [Water Magic]. Nobody expected an NPC to learn water magic in their current environment. Also how she was created using sand elemental cores, which was a sand-type monster. The water magic was truly a game-changer to their survival situation, no longer were the days that they had to drink animal blood to quench their thirst. Or use Monica’s [Blood Magic] to clean off their bodies. Ester was able to convert her mana into water for everyone to drink and clean themselves. Most importantly, everyone can now clean their ass with clean water after they have taken a shit. She became extremely important to the party and her status rose close to the top, everyone respected her.

Without a better food supply, growing their numbers further could put a strain on the party. Funnily enough, Remi’s 2 adopted wild cats Emi and Mi also had a litter of 8 as well. StarLily had to feed the 10 wild cats roaming around in their party. During the nights, they mostly ate small lizards and insect pests from coming inside the camp but it wasn’t enough food for them anymore. The desert cats don’t usually live in bigger groups like this and the new generation of wild cats was friendlier than their parents. The NPCs that love cute things wanted to keep them and didn’t want to banish them to the wild. A few of the asshole NPCs wanted to eat the cats but they were quickly apprehended. And so StarLily was 54 NPCs and 10 wild cats strong.

A few days later after the last NPC was created. Stardust stood on an elevated platform created with [Rock Magic]. NPC #8 Violet was right beside him as she was the vice leader of StarLily.

All of the NPCs standing in front of them gave a bow to Stardust. Most of them respected Stardust as their creator and leader. All the NPCs arranged themselves in numerical order of creation. Even Lily was among the audience. It is from NPC #2 to NPC #54 except Violet.

(Lily) >

“We have a traitor,” stated Stardust. “ I never expected an NPC would break the rules after knowing about the punishment. Bring NPC #54 up here.”

He was called by his number and not his name as if Stardust didn’t even see him as one of his NPC.

NPC #54 had his arms tied up and was being escorted up onto the platform by four of the stronger NPCs in the party. He appears to be in perfect condition without any injuries. He tried to speak up but one of his escorts used [Sand Magic] to stuff his mouth full of sand so he couldn’t speak.

Stardust continued, “the crime that he had committed was in killing one of StarLily's wild cats last night. So now only 9 wild cats remain alive.”

Most of the NPCs loved the cats and started booing the perpetrator.

“His punishment will be permanent death. The first NPC to break the rules… I hope you all won’t ever think of doing something so vile,” said Stardust.

NPC #54 freaked out like crazy, he was struggling to break free and escape from Stardust’s unfair trial. He still wasn’t given the chance to speak up for himself. He tried attacking his escorts with his sand magic but it was completely futile. His sand magic was quickly neutralized and his escorts subdue him onto the ground.

(NPC #54) >

“Do it Remi,” ordered Stardust.

“Yes master Stardust,” acknowledged Remi.

NPC #4 Remi took out her bone sword as she walked up to him without any expression or sympathy for this rule breaker. The four escorts forced NPC #54 to kneel onto the ground while sticking out his neck. He was crying uncontrollably and wetting his pants as he was frantically trying to escape. Remi raised her bone sword and made a swift downward motion, smoothly separating his head from his body. Normally the blood from his headless corpse would splatter everywhere but [Blood Magic] was being used to not let any blood splash anywhere.

NPC #54 soon died with his body vanishing into white light, his NPC core was left behind. Since he was created with the sand elemental special ability [Sand Life], he was trying to revive himself with the sand from the ground but the other NPC’s skills stopped it. Remi stepped towards his NPC core and slashed it with her bone sword, destroying it completely, it soon too disintegrated into white light.

This was the first time that Remi had to kill an NPC and it probably won’t be the last. Remi resolved herself into being an assassin for Stardust. Next time, he will order Remi to just kill them directly rather than doing an execution show for everyone.

There was a mixed reaction among the NPCs. Good karma NPCs wondered if NPC #54’s punishment could be something else like years of imprisonment or community service. Neutral karma NPCs had fully accepted Stardust’s decisions. Evil karma NPCs were happy with his decision.

“Listen up everyone,” said vice leader Violet. “The time has come for us to conquer Desert Area 3! Lately, we have been getting stronger, and grinding for sand elemental monster cores is too boringly easy. The entire party will make a march into Desert Area 3 in search of more food and better resources. Our advanced battle parties have no problem with dealing with the stronger monsters that lurk further within. If there is any question, please tell the party officers your concerns. Meeting dismissed!”

(Stardust) >

Everyone began making preparations for their departure. They were used to it as the entire party had been moving around in Desert Area 2 trying to feed all of the NPCs in the party.

The dynamics of the party had changed greatly from the early days of the party. Stardust’s inner circle consists of 7 members and 6 party officers.

***** Stardust’s inner circle *****

Stardust - Leader

#8 Violet - Vice Leader

#7 Rainbow - Stardust’s Assistant

#2 Marla - Stardust’s Bodyguard

#4 Remi - Stardust’s Assassin

#5 Lily - The Leader of the evil NPCs and Stardust’s wife.

#6 Queen - Stardust’s Coordinator

***** Stardust’s inner circle end *****

***** StarLily’s party officer *****

#3 Luna - officer of the support NPCs

#10 Monica - general officer

#11 Talian - officer of the evil NPCs

#26 Klaus - officer of the fighting NPCs

#38 Arch - officer of the specialist NPCs

#44 Ester - officer of the resource NPCs

***** StarLily party Officer end*****

The 3 new NPCs that became party officers had proven themselves to Stardust, unlike his inner circle who got there by being created in the early days. Even then, the early NPCs still worked hard to keep their position.

#26 Klaus is currently the strongest NPC in the party. The 2nd strongest would be #2 Marla and she loses quite badly against him in a 1v1. He was in charge of all the party’s fighting types of NPCs.

#38 Arch is an enigma. There were only 3 specialist NPCs including him. They have very unique skills compared to the others. Stardust describes them as having broken skills. As in they are insanely powerful but have insane drawbacks. No other NPCs will be able to copy or learn their unique skills. Stardust had given the specialist NPCs special treatment within the party. Unfortunately, the 3 specialist NPCs do not obey Stardust and are defiant against him. They only listen to the vice leader (#8) Violet.

#44 Ester obtained her status with her [Water Magic]. She became an idol among the party members. She was mostly in charge of managing the NPCs to collect resources for the party. Whether it be food or other precious loot. Ester also created enough water with her mana for everyone to drink and clean themselves with. Water was stored in leak-proof containers that the support NPCs had made with [Clay Magic] and [Fire Magic].

And the 3 older NPC officers.

#3 Luna was in charge of all the supporting types of NPCs, mostly NPCs who stay at the base and do things like crafting, building, and cooking.

#10 Monica was a general officer for everyone.

#11 Talian was responsible for making sure none of the evil NPCs broke any of the rules set by Stardust.

As the party grew bigger, Stardust would need to increase the NPC hierarchy levels to properly manage all his NPCs.

*****

Once the preparations were complete, the entire party marched together into Desert Area 3. They were 54 members strong including Stardust. Scouts were up ahead with most of the fighting NPCs enclosing the party. Since they didn’t want Stardust to be exposed to any danger, he was at the back of the march. Vice leader Violet was leading the march at the very front. All the fighting NPCs were very capable of dealing with any monsters that they would encounter. But since the entire party was marching with them, the overall fighting strength increased greatly even though most of the NPCs didn't take part in much fighting, they still had their magical and physical skills to rely on should the need arise.

Countless Sand elementals spawned before the party but they were quickly annihilated. Even if StarLily decided to make camp in the middle of the sand elemental spawning area, they had enough military power to fight them non-stop without any issues.

Hours go by as the party marches forward annihilating all the sand elemental monsters in their path. The mana density in the deeper area was also steadily increasing albeit slowly. Now they were facing sand elemental monsters that were much larger compared to the earlier ones. But they still stood no chance against the military force of StarLily. The party was also no longer collecting any more sand elemental cores as Stardust didn’t want to make any more NPCs with them anymore.

They encountered other monsters like underground sandworms that were 20 to 50 meters in length. They were large enough to swallow NPCs whole if they were able to. Most of the NPCs were created with the sand elemental cores so they had [Sand Magic], [Burrow], and [Vibration Detection] to help deal with underground foes. The fighting NPCs already established an unbeatable fighting pattern to deal with these monsters before the march forward.

The loot for the SandWorm monsters was,

X1 SandWorm Core

X1 SandWorm Meat.

X1 SandWorm Tooth

X1 Sandworm Hide

And a rare one time drop that they got from it was,

X1 SandWorm SandMagic Book LVL 1

It was an item that can be used to instantly learn [Sand Magic LVL 1]. Which would later be given to an NPC without sand magic.

So far they collected 85 SandWorm cores and Stardust was only willing to make NPCs with 1000 monster cores. The sandworm meat was used to help feed the party.

Desert Area 3 also had the monster version of the wolf, tiger, and ape. The monsterized versions of them were that they were much larger and stronger than their animal counterparts. They were also able to use low-tier magic and some of them even had more colorful bodies. They were too easily defeated as the NPCs were all strong due to being created with 1000 sand elemental cores combined with safe training in Desert Area 2. The fighting NPCs also displayed unparalleled teamwork when fighting against these low-tier monsters. Many new types of monsters were found here as well, including giant sand eagles, giant snakes, giant armadillos, and sand golems. Once again with all the fighting NPCs were able to defeat them with ease before bringing the entire party with them into Desert Area 3.

All the monster loot drops were collected. Monster meat was used to help feed everyone. The monster parts could be used in weapons and armors. And the monster cores were being stored to be later used to create more NPCs.

Occasionally the scouts will find desert mole monsters and they would be swiftly hunted down as their meat tasted the most delicious out of everything they ate.

*****

A distance far away from the march of StarLily. Takki was shaking in fear that the worst had come.

(Takki) >

Takki burrowed back underground and began retreating to her base with the tunnel she had made while collapsing it behind her. Then suddenly a strange humanoid monster appeared in front of her. His hand was touching her face.

Takki shrieked, "EEEEEEEEEE!” as she fell back on her bum.

“Stop looking at me with your fearful eyes. Everyone should stop looking at me. It only makes me want to crawl in a hole and die,” said #38 Arch.

Takki could not understand what it was saying and quickly dug another path to escape him. Her vibration detection skill detected no vibrations coming from the direction of the humanoid monster. But it was useless, there was no escaping #38 Arch. He was one of StarLily’s specialist NPC. He was the only spatial mage in the StarLily, a rare type of class and magic.

Arch’s magic [Spatial Magic].

Arch’s physical skill [Awareness].

Arch’s Special skill.

[Spatial Eye LVL 1]

-If any entity/being is watching them, the user will be notified and can instantly teleport to their location regardless of distance. This special skill requires [Spatial Magic] and [Awareness]. This special skill can never be turned off and the user will always be aware of everyone watching him at all times.

-Drawback, one of the user’s eyes will be permanently disabled. Any attempts to heal your disabled eye will result in grave pain.

The vibrational detection that Takki was using on #38 Arch counted as watching him so he was able to instantly teleport in front of her once again. Then #38 Arch stabbed Takki with a sharp knife coated with NPC #29 Kiki’s blood. Another specialist NPC.

Takki screamed, "EEEEEEEEE!” and ran away again. This time Arch let her go and walked back to the party.

******

“Good work Arch,” said #8 Violet.

“Can I crawl in a hole so I can die,” asked Arch although he began burrowing into the sandy ground?

“Yeah it’s fine,” sighed Violet.

“Violet! Please let me touch Stardust! I did my job for you!” begged #29 Kiki.

“I’m sorry Kiki but Stardust will not allow you to touch him,” replied Violet. “You should seriously stop asking me this every day. Perhaps if you contribute more to the party, Stardust would approve of your skill on him.”

“Aww but that’s only because his stupid wife Lily is not letting me do it!” cheered #29 Kiki. “But I’m already contributing lots to StarLily!”

Kiki’s Special Skill.

[A touching Reunion LVL 1]

-Anything that the user touches will be remembered forever.

Kiki had touched and used her special skill on every single NPC in the party. The only person she never touched was Stardust. She can forever know the location of every single thing she has touched. She believes that her special skill will even persist through resurrection if she were to die and become an NPC core. Kiki’s role in StarLily was pretty much to keep track of where everyone is. She can only know the general direction of where things are. Her skill range is believed to be infinite which shouldn’t be possible but it is.

Kiki giggled happily. >

“No! You can’t trust Stardust! He’s the most terrifying existence I have ever seen!” shouted NPC #41 Blank. The 3rd and final specialist of the party. He was always telling everyone that they should never trust Stardust.

Blank’s special skill.

[Nothing is the same LVL 1]

- Will always be able to tell the difference with everything.

#8 Violet and #29 Kiki ignored #41 Blank as he was always talking about his pointless rabble about Stardust. All NPCs pretty much ignore Blank when he keeps talking about revolting against Stardust. Normally any talks of revolting against Stardust will result in the death penalty but since Blank was a specialist… Stardust gladly allowed him to openly defy him.

(#8 Violet) >