After he finished talking with David, Chris returned to the Immortal World, a thoughtful look on his face as he mulled over David's suggestion. Could he really be a mascot against genetic determinism? His parents weren't exactly weak, but they weren't strong, and their marriage had been vehemently opposed by the Monteros. However, Chris didn't think it'd be a very persuasive argument. No matter what, he was still related to the Monteros. Could he really say their genetics didn't have any influence on his ability?

But… Why did they need to argue against genetic determinism in the first place? Wasn't the whole point of this to create stronger and stronger ability users to beat the Maze? What was he if not the perfect result of that process? As long as he beat the Maze and reached the surface, wouldn't that mean nothing else was necessary?

Chris frowned. The problem was that the election was in November, and it was already March. He'd only have sevenish months to make it to the surface, six if he wanted it to actually have any real impact on the election. Could he really manage to beat the Maze in that amount of time? Chris sighed. "Maybe it'd just be easier to leave with Beth." He muttered to himself. "Of course, if I'm living in the Maze, I might as well beat it anyways… eh, whatever, let's at least try. No harm in making the attempt, and it isn't like I don't have the time for it."

Now… where to start? Chris considered it for a bit and decided he still needed to take over the kobold tribe. He was going to need a lot of subordinates anyways. Just finding the path to the surface alone would take a lot of manpower, let alone facing the creatures on the higher levels. The higher you went, the more populated the Maze became, until every step would be taking you through some creature's territory. Only with numbers could he push through and explore in any sort of reasonable amount of time.

Unfortunately, he couldn't do anything until he found a hunting party, and none of his teams had managed to find one yet. Dyrdek and the combat team were busy hunting, while T'ka and the capture team were wandering around the outskirts of the kobolds territory, having yet to actually run into any hunting parties. As for Sidulpek, she'd managed to reach the tribe, waiting for any hunting parties to exit, but so far none had.

*Any updates?* Chris asked, sending Sudulpek a mental message.

*There have been no signs of activity yet, Chief.* Sidulpek sent back. *It is strange. The kobolds almost seem to be… scared of something. The guards are alert, looking around nervously, as if they're expecting to be attacked at any time.*

Chris frowned at her report. What could have made the kobolds so nervous? He sent a message to T'ka. *Have you noticed any abnormal activity while you've been patrolling? Anything that might cause the kobold tribe to go on the defensive?*

*No, Master, everything seems normal.* T'ka sent back quickly.

"Huh…" Chris's frown deepened. What was causing this? Why would the kobolds suddenly become defensive, before he'd even done anything? Was it related to him at all? "Fuck." Chris groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. It didn't matter why. Now that the kobolds were on the defensive, this was going to be much, much harder.

Chris brought the other two teams back to the Immortal World, before opening a portal to Sidulpek's location and stepping through. He quickly shifted into his other form, before creeping forward to study the kobolds guarding the entrance to the cavern the tribe lived in. There were three tunnels that led into the cavern, and according to T'ka and Ka's memories, they were usually guarded by two tribe members each. However, today, there were a grand total of five kobolds guarding this tunnel. The tribe only had thirty-seven members, so if each tunnel was equally guarded, that would be almost half their forces. What could have scared the kobolds so much that they felt the need to dedicate that much manpower to their defenses?

Chris considered the problem for a moment, wondering how to deal with this. He could try to lure a few of the guards away, isolating them before subduing them, but he wouldn't be able to pull that off multiple times and it'd only cause the kobolds to turtle up even more, or possibly even cause them to scatter and flee, which would ruin everything. It was the same with a full on assault. He'd only be able to grab a few before they began to run. He didn't have enough subordinates to actually contain the tribe.

Chris wracked his mind, looking for a solution, when suddenly it hit him. Why not ask? Obviously the kobolds were terrified of something. If they were that scared, wouldn't they jump on the opportunity to become his subordinates? As long as he could talk to them and make a convincing argument, maybe he could take the entire tribe without having to force anything! Chris turned to T'ka and Ka. *Come with me.* He ordered mentally, leading the two towards the tribe.

The guards jumped as Chris approached, getting into a defensive formation and watching him warily. However, the moment T'ka stepped out as well, still in her human form, their eyes widened, and expressions of pure terror appeared on their faces.

[A human!]

[It's true!]

[They're back!]

[Warn the tribe! We must flee!]

The kobolds scrambled, four of them rushing forward to attack while another ran off into the cavern, shouting to warn the rest of the tribe of the imminent danger.

[Whoa, whoa, hold on!] Chris waved his hands, trying to calm the kobolds down. Thankfully his other form's mouth was more suited to the kobold language, so he could actually talk to them. [T'ka, change into your other form!]

T'ka immediately changed, and the guards froze. [T-T'ka?] One asked hesitantly, looking at her strangely, before noticing Ka as well. [Ka!?! You- what are you doing here?!? What happened to you?!? Who is this creature!?! Why- why did you look like that!?!]

[We are here to offer you the most wonderful opportunity!] T'ka explained. [This creature is our Master, and he holds the ability to grant you safety, food, and even stronger forms such as the one you saw earlier. As long as you are willing to submit and serve him wholeheartedly, you will want for nothing! My brethren, rejoice, for your salvation is at hand!]

Chris got a weird look on his face as he watched T'ka preach at the kobolds. [Uh… yeah, what she said. Whatever danger you're facing, as long as you join me, it won't be a problem anymore.]

The kobolds glanced at each other nervously. [You- you can save us from the humans?]

[I can promise you, if you join me, you won't need to worry about humans at all.] Chris replied with a bemused expression.

Suddenly more kobolds rushed into the tunnel from the cavern, looking ready to fight, before they all froze, confused by the lack of battle. The lead kobold stepped forward. [What's going on here? Where are the humans?] It asked, when one of the kobolds following it let out an exclamation.

[It's you! You're the one who attacked us the other day! What did you do with-] The kobold froze as it noticed the two kobolds next to Chris. [Ka? T'ka? You- you're alright?]

One of the guards rushed over to the lead kobold. [Chief, T'ka brought this creature here to help us survive the humans attack! She says if we follow it, we can be saved!]

The kobold chief's eyes widened in surprise, turning to Chris. [Is this true? You can help us survive the humans? How?]

[It's simple.] Chris began. [As long as you are connected to my world, nothing will be able to harm you. Even if you die, you'll simply be sent to my world, where you will be healed and returned to perfect condition, like so.] Chris lashed out with his tail, stabbing Ka in the back of the head. Ka's body vanished, before moments later, a portal opened and he stepped through, perfectly healthy. [If you can't die, the humans can't really do much to you, can they?]

The kobold chief's eyes widened even further, before narrowing in suspicion. [Why would you do this for us? What would you want in return?]

[I would simply ask you to fight for me, to help me climb higher in the Maze.] Chris replied. [My goal is to reach the surface, and to do that, I will need many powerful subordinates to support me.]

The kobold chief frowned. [We are not so powerful. Why would you want us?]

[Well, first of all, even if you aren't particularly powerful, there's strength in numbers. As we move up the Maze, we'll continue to capture more and more powerful creatures, building our own strength as we go. You are useful even if you're simply the stepping stone to the next more powerful creatures I will subdue. Secondly, even if you aren't strong now, as long as you follow me, you will become stronger.] Chris turned to T'ka. [Show them.] T'ka nodded, changing into her human form and approaching a large rock. She grabbed it, lifting it up with a groan, before letting it fall back down with a loud thud, as the kobold chief watched in amazement. She then returned to stand by Chris's side. Chris turned back to the kobold chief. [See? And she's only been with me a few days. Imagine how strong you can get over a few months, or even years?]

The kobold chief gulped. Even their strongest warrior wouldn't be able to lift that rock! If the creatures under this person's control were so powerful, why did it even bother negotiating with them? Couldn't it just order its subordinates to take them? Would it do so if they refused? How could the tribe withstand these powerful, undying creatures? Their only choice would be submission or death. [Why- we- It would be our honor to serve under you!] The kobold chief exclaimed, bowing nervously.

[Good, then just-] Chris began, before pausing. [Uh, really? That's it? I haven't even threatened you yet…]

The kobold chief broke out in a cold sweat as his suspicions were confirmed. [That won't be necessary! Please, we will submit!] It bowed again, doing everything it could to assure this strange, powerful creature that they would do nothing to resist it.

[Chief, no! We cannot just give in to this monster!] The kobold who'd recognized Chris earlier, the one who could teleport who had been with Ka and T'ka when Chris grabbed them, exclaimed in outrage.

[Shut up!] The kobold chief roared, lashing out and slamming the kobold to the ground! [You will submit, or I will kill you myself!] It growled fiercely. The kobold's eyes widened in fear, trembling under the kobold chief's threat, nodding profusely in understanding.

Chris raised an eyebrow, before shrugging and opening a portal. [Alright, if you're serious, just have everyone head through there. You will feel a bit of pressure, but don't resist it. Just let the connection form and you'll have access to all the benefits of the Immortal Tribe.]

The kobold chief nodded and bowed again. [Yes, Lord, we will do as you say!] It groveled, before turning on the rest of the kobolds. [Get in there and don't resist! Move it!] It roared fiercely.

The kobolds eyed the portal nervously, but as the kobold chief ordered them inside with increasingly vehement orders and threats, they stepped through the portal. As they entered, Chris began to exert pressure to connect them to the Immortal World. Some resisted, but most quickly gave in, the connection forming without a hitch. The teleporting kobold was particularly resistant, until the kobold chief smacked him upside the head, and he finally relented, accepting the connection. Once all the kobolds were connected, the kobold chief led them off to get the rest of the tribe, quickly bringing everyone over to get connected to the Immortal World.

With the kobold chief's almost feverish proactivity, Chris didn't even need to do anything, so he left it all to her and began to wander around the cavern, examining the tribe. Of course, with Ka and T'ka's memories, he already knew everything about the tribe, but there was a difference between things he'd seen in other's memories versus his own. There was a certain level of detachment when he went through another creature's memories, almost like watching a very detailed movie rather than actually experiencing it himself. It was informative, yes, but there was a little something missing that made it clear the memory wasn't his own.

As he wandered, Jello and T'ka joined him, while Ka joined the other kobolds in gathering the rest of the tribe, and his remaining subordinates left to continue hunting, having little to no actual interest in the kobolds. T'ka followed him because she was resolute in her determination to always be available to serve Chris, ready to do anything and everything he desired. As for Jello, the slime seemed to have missed Chris after being away for most of the day, hopping happily around him, occasionally jumping into his arms to be held for a moment, before leaping away to eat some random bit of food, or even some tools the kobolds had left out, and returning.

Chris meandered towards the back end of the cavern, where the kobolds had their most sacred site, a small altar decorated with the bones of deceased kobolds. A few fresh, bloody bones decorated the altar, signs of a recently completed ritual, causing Chris to frown distastefully. Kobolds practiced ritual sacrifice, offering up their kin for protection and favor from their ancestors. They would perform the sacrifice at least once a year, and if they ran into a particularly dangerous situation, they would perform the sacrifice to increase their odds of survival. Of course, this only decreased the amount of people they had to fight for them, but the religious customs of the various tribes living in the Maze weren't subject to common sense.

Chris tsked as he saw the altar, deciding that he would end this practice immediately, before realizing that he essentially already had, since the kobolds couldn't sacrifice each other if they couldn't actually die. He turned to leave, when Jello suddenly vibrated excitedly, jumping out of his arms and leaping towards the altar. The slime quickly hopped onto it, circling a few times as if looking for the perfect spot, before settling down and beginning to exude a strange substance that quickly hardened as it formed a rock-like cocoon around the slime.

Chris, who had been wondering if he should stop the slime from eating the 'sacred' bones of the kobold sacrifices, or just let it happen since he despised the practice in the first place, froze as he saw this, his eyes widening. *Huh… so it can mutate on its own.* He thought to himself, approaching the slime cocoon to examine it carefully. Besides the difference in material, the cocoon of the slime looked the same as the cocoons he formed when he mutated his subordinates. Chris was about to send the cocoon into the Immortal World to study it even closer, when he paused. If there was no difference between his mutation and the slimes, why had the slime refused his mutation? Why did it wait until now to do so? When it started, it had been very particular about mutating in this location. But why? Chris hesitated for a moment, before deciding to leave the slime where it was. He didn't want to do anything that might ruin the slime's mutation.

Chris called over two of the kobolds who had already submitted, commanding them to guard the slime while it mutated. They looked vaguely uncomfortable at the idea of something strange using their sacred altar to do who knows what, but they couldn't go against Chris, so they quickly bowed, before taking up positions on either side. Chris then went to find the kobold chief to see how things were progressing.

When Chris had first arrived, the kobolds had panicked when they saw T'ka, so about half the tribe had fled to another location while the other half stayed behind to buy them time. This was a common practice among kobolds and something the Scouts relied on when thinning their numbers. The strongest kobolds would always stay behind to buy time while the weaker kobolds would run, allowing the Scouts to kill off the dangerous kobolds, while still leaving a tribe to manage the area and keep it from becoming overrun with wild, unintelligent creatures.

By this point, the kobold chief had made sure all the kobolds that had stayed behind were now connected to the Immortal World, but once that was done, she hesitated on what to do next. She wasn't sure whether she should chase down the remaining half of the tribe and bring them back, or wait for Chris and take him to the rest of the tribe. She was worried that if she left, that Chris might misunderstand her, thinking she'd fled, but she also worried that if she didn't go and get the other's, Chris would think she was trying to protect them and keep them from being taken by him.

Chris returned to find the kobold chief pacing by a tunnel nervously as her thoughts went in circles, becoming more and more anxious as time went by, paralyzed by indecision. [Is there a problem?] Chris asked as he approached, frowning at the kobold's obvious distress. Were some of the kobolds resisting?

The kobold chief jumped as Chris arrived. [M-my Lord! No- all the kobolds that have stayed behind have submitted to you, Lord, but… when we heard there were humans coming, we sent a portion of our population away. I- would you like me to go retrieve them, Lord?]

[Ah, right, you guys do that, don't you?] Chris nodded along. [How about we all go get them then? There's no point in going all the way there and coming back. It isn't like you're going to be staying here anyways.]

The kobold chief nodded, relieved that Chris didn't have any issues with her, before pausing. [We- we won't be remaining here, my Lord?] She asked hesitantly.

Chris shook his head. [Nope. I'll be moving you into my world. We'll be moving up the Maze, never staying in one area for very long. My world will move with us, but this place won't.] Chris had originally planned to leave the tribe mostly intact, leaving them alone and only taking the most useful members with him, but now that his plan was to climb the Maze, he was going to need as many powerful subordinates as he could get. If he just left the tribe here, they could control the area, but their growth would be limited. He could already see it with Dyrdek, Sidulpek, and the rest. After the first mutation, this level of the Maze barely provided any challenge for them. Maybe the elite in the imp tribe might be able to give them a little trouble, but otherwise, they really didn't need to worry about anything and without a challenge, there was no push to grow. He needed to take them high, pit them against stronger and stronger opponents. Only then would his subordinates continue to grow. He reflected on a truth he'd realized earlier: if they weren't dying, they weren't trying.

The kobold chief nodded hesitantly, looking around the cavern with a slightly forlorn expression. This cavern had been her home for a long, long time, ever since the last time the humans came to cull their population. The kobold chief had made a life here, had children here, worshiped the ancestors at the altar here. She'd been holding out hope that being under Chris would mean that she could remain here, in her home, but now that hope was dashed. Either way, it looked like this home she'd grown so fond of would be lost to her forever. [My Lord, if possible, may- may we take some of our belongings from here, into your world?] The kobold chief asked nervously. She didn't want to lose everything from this home, if possible, but she still didn't want to offend Chris.

Chris shrugged. [Sure, no problem. Jello is mutating on the altar, so we'll be in the area for a bit longer anyways. I'll leave a portal and a few guys here to pack everything up while you lead me to the others.]

[Thank you, Lord!] The kobold chief exclaimed excitedly, before pausing as she registered something Chris had said. *There's Jello mutating on the altar?* She thought to herself, before shaking her head. Best not to question the Lord. He'd already been gracious enough.

Chris left the majority of the kobold in the cavern, ordering them to pack up everything there and move it into the Immortal World, before following the kobold chief down one of the other tunnels, towards the location of the rest of the tribe, followed by T'ka as always. They walked in silence for a bit, before Chris began to get bored. He turned to the kobold chief. [So… what's up with all this fear of the humans?] He asked. Ka and T'ka hadn't had any memories related to humans, so they didn't have any particular aversion to them. Chris wondered what had happened in the past few days to suddenly make the rest of the kobolds so terrified of them. He guessed he could go through the kobold chief's memories and get the answer, but then he wouldn't be able to have the conversation, would he?

The kobold chief glanced at Chris, before sighing. [The humans are our greatest threat, a disaster that befalls our tribe every generation, destroying everything, leaving only a scant few of us to survive. I suppose you wouldn't fear them as we do, considering your great power, but for us, they are a threat that cannot be resisted. Even if they are defeated, they simply return, in greater numbers, more powerful than before. When I was just a young one, before my scales even hardened, I witnessed their coming, the destruction they bring. It has haunted my dreams ever since. When we spied their traces the other day, the corpses of creatures cut or pierced by their strange, sharp weapons, the traces of strange movements in the tunnels, as if they were moving back and forth, retracing their steps over and over, I knew the time had come again.]

[Huh.] Chris frowned as he listened to the kobolds explanation. He'd never thought of how the creatures of the Maze might view humans. Were they really that scary? Chris went over it in his mind. Creatures with advanced technology, appearing seemingly out of nowhere, killing everything they come across, before disappearing just as suddenly… yeah, that would be terrifying. If something like that happened to the City every generation, they'd probably be pretty terrified as well. He then glanced at T'ka. [Why didn't she know anything about the humans?] He asked.

[We try not to tell the young ones, until they need to know. There's no point in letting them live in fear of a foe they'll never be able to defeat.] The kobold chief replied in a depressed tone.

Chris nodded. [I suppose that's fair… moot point now though. You won't need to worry about the humans ever again. For various reasons.]

The kobold chief hesitated. [Are you certain you are capable of facing them, my Lord? The ones who come first may not be able to stand against you, but they have even stronger forces to bring to bear once they are defeated. You cannot underestimate them based on their initial attack.]

Chris paused. [Facing them? I'm not sure… I'm certain they couldn't do anything to me, but I don't think I'm at the level where I could actually defeat them yet. Maybe once we get up past the ninth level… but that's besides the point. We won't need to face them at all.]

The kobold chief frowned. [How is that possible? The humans despise any force that grows too powerful, raining their fury down upon it! If you plan to do as you say, then you are bound to attract their ire!]

[Well… promise not to freak out?] Chris asked. The kobold chief eyed Chris doubtfully, but nodded. She wasn't sure what would possibly make her freak out, but now that she was connected to the Immortal World, she couldn't resist Chris even if she did. No matter what he said, it was already too late for the kobold chief. [You see, the humans are going to have an issue with me, or you by extension, because, well, I am human. Going against them would be going against themselves.]

The kobold chief froze mid-step, stumbling as she turned to Chris in shock. [You- You're human!?!] She asked incredulously.

Chris nodded. [Yup. Born and raised.]

[But- but- but- why- why would you come to us? Why would you give us power?!?] The kobold chief asked, completely confused.

Chris shrugged. [Still the same reasons as before. I want to climb the Maze, and I need subordinates to do that. Also, it isn't that humans hate you guys. If we did, you wouldn't even have the few survivors we leave you. Your entire tribe would be wiped out. The reason we attack you is the same reason you guys attack growing packs or smaller tribes. If we let you grow too much, you might grow enough to threaten us. However, now that you're under my control, there's no way you can threaten us, so what would we care if you grow? Hell, we'll encourage it, because your growth will now help us.]

The kobold chief frowned as she considered Chris's words. Was it really that simple? The nightmare she'd been forced to endure was simply to keep their population in check? To keep them from growing too powerful? As if they were beasts to be managed? The kobold felt a wave of anger, denial, and helplessness wash over her. She couldn't accept that her tribe was being looked down upon, as if they were nothing but pests, yet she couldn't help but acknowledge that there was nothing they could do to resist. If the humans saw them as pests, then pests they were. They weren't strong enough to have a say in the matter.

Chris reached over to pat the kobold chief on the shoulder. [Hey, don't look so down, huh? Remember, you don't have to worry about that anymore. You don't have to worry about anything anymore. From now on, you're mine, and I take care of what's mine.]

The kobold chief's eyes widened, surprised by Chris's attempt to console her. Why would he care? Once she was connected to the Immortal World, there was nothing she could do to resist him. Even thinking of resistance was impossible! Chris had become the most important individual in her life. No matter how he treated her, she would have to do everything she could to support him. There was no reason for him to console her, or to even care about what she felt. The kobold chief nodded hesitantly after a bit, still not quite sure why Chris was comforting her, but accepting his words anyways. She had to admit, the benefits of being under him were amazing. She truly didn't have to worry.

Chris continued to ask the kobold chief questions as they walked, mostly looking for her opinion on the various tribe members, what they were skilled at, what sort of duties they should perform, etc. Her recommendations tended to skew female, which he supposed made sense given the kobolds matriarchal culture. Their dimorphism skewed in favor of the female sex, so they were generally bigger and stronger than the males. Abilities were equal, not favoring either sex, so dimorphism still played a role, since a stronger body meant a stronger ability. Chris paused as he remembered that, considering his mutated subordinates. No wonder they didn't have any issues on this level anymore! All their physiques had been upgraded, boosting their abilities as well! They were way overpowered for this level. And his ability was still bullshit.

Once they reached the area the rest of the kobolds had retreated to, the kobold chief stepped forward and explained, or rather yelled and bullied, until the rest of the kobolds got the message, and they began filing through the portal Chris had opened. *This must be the benefit of going after these top-down, dictatorial type tribes. Once you convince the leader, the rest is easy as pie.* Chris thought to himself, appreciating how little work he actually had to do once he'd gotten the kobold chief on board. It was like he'd been playing on hard mode, having to struggle to subdue each creature individually, through threats, torture, or plain mental force, but now, he'd found a bot that would do it for him!

*What if I made a… persuasion team?* Chris pondered to himself. All he'd have to do is throw creatures into the Immortal World, and he could just let the persuasion team worry about getting them to submit! That way, he wouldn't need to give himself a headache every time he wanted to connect a creature to the Immortal World. Besides, now that he had a decent amount of creatures under him, he wasn't exactly in a hurry to subdue more and more creatures. He could afford to be a little patient. He probably wouldn't put the kobold chief on that team though… Her methods worked on her tribe, but they weren't the most sophisticated for convincing other creatures.

Thinking of teams, as he waited for all the kobolds to enter the Immortal World, Chris began to consider how he was going to organize his new subordinates. So far he had three team captains, Dyrdek, Sidulpek, and T'ka, for combat, recon, and capture respectively. Even after adding a captain for persuasion, he still had a lot of kobolds to assign. He didn't want to let the teams get too large, keeping them around five per team, so he'd need about five more captains. Most of his focus would be on combat and recon, so he'd make two teams each focused on those roles, and make the last a capture team.

As Chris was thinking through his teams, he frowned. Should he really be splitting different types of abilities up like that? What if a combat team ran into a creature he wanted to capture, or a recon team ran into something that needed to be fought? Maybe he should mix the teams more… Chris rubbed his temples, sighing. He didn't even have a full list of all their abilities yet! He should probably save the strategizing until he actually knew what he was working with.

Once all the kobolds were in the Immortal World, Chris brought the kobold chief and T'ka in as well, before opening a portal back to their original cavern, sending the newly subdued kobolds to help with moving. He then went to his desk, creating a pen and paper, before going through the kobold chief's memories and getting all the kobolds abilities, before beginning to assign them to teams. He kept Dyrdek, and T'ka's teams intact, leaving them as pure combat and capture teams, but he mixed the rest together to see what worked. He made three teams with a three-one-one set up and three with a two-two-one, leaving seven extras to act as reserves to reinforce the others when necessary, work on persuasion when creatures were captured, or whatever else needed to be done around the Immortal World. He gave Sidulpek the three-one-one recon team, and the kobold chief got the three-one-one combat team, before following the kobold chief's memories to assign a few seemingly competent kobolds as captains of the other team, including the teleporting kobold. He could be stubborn, but he usually had a fairly decent situational awareness that helped him make smart decisions.

Once he'd finished assigning teams, the kobolds had finished moving all their belongings, with the exception of the altar which Jello had claimed, into the Immortal World, but they seemed to be lost as to where to actually put it all. Besides Chris's little house and a few random beds he'd made for his subordinates to sleep on, there was literally nothing else around in this area. For creatures used to living in the Maze, this much openness made them nervous. "You guys okay?" Chris asked as he stepped out carrying his list, raising an eyebrow at the nervously milling crowd. The kobolds turned towards him, before jumping in shock and fear as they saw his human form for the first time. Even the kobold chief, who knew, had to stop herself from yelping when she saw him. "Oh, yeah, right, I'm human. Don't worry though, you're safe." Chris assured them. It didn't actually do much to calm them down, but under the pressure of his authority, they quickly pushed their concerns to the back of their minds.

The kobold chief stepped forward. [My- my Lord, we- where should we make our new home?] She asked, looking around the desolate void that was the Immortal World.

Chris glanced around, before frowning as he saw her point. The Immortal World was a little inhospitable. Even if the Maze was a dangerous, gloomy place, there was a sense of life to it that simply didn't exist in the Immortal World. Comparatively, the Immortal World just felt dead, which was rather ironic considering it literally wouldn't let anything die. "Huh… let's see." Chris muttered, waving his hand and reshaping the nearby terrain, raising it up and forming small caves. It looked slightly better, but the material itself was that same unreactive material that made up the entire Immortal World, which just made it feel weird. "I could use up some mass to make the caves out of rock, but that just seems like a waste… ugh, if only I could make rock instead of thi-" Chris muttered to himself, before freezing as suddenly, the caves turned to stone. "Huh… of course I can make stone. Obviously." Chris groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was honestly getting sick of not knowing he could do something until he actively tried to do it.

Chris looked down at the ground, and suddenly, it changed, the floor of the entire world turning to stone. Then, in the next moment, it changed to dirt, then wood, then glass, before changing back to stone. "So, anything I've analyzed, I can make… neat. Actually, I probably should have figured that out earlier, at least as a possibility. I mean, I find out I can randomly make things out of this weird substance that seems to be the only thing in the world, which seems almost like a blank substance, just a placeholder for whatever is supposed to be there, then I figure out I can actually analyze other substances, and I don't think they might go together? Man I can be dumb sometimes."

Chris looked around the now stone Immortal World, which he had to admit did look better, but still looked really empty, when something occurred to him. He could make rock, and he had literally memorized a large section of the Maze, including the area the kobolds used to live in. Why not just remake their home? Wouldn't that be the best place for them to live? Suddenly, the world changed, the ground rising up, twisting into formations as Chris's memory was copied exactly, forming the sections of the Maze he and his subordinates had seen. The kobolds eyes widened as their old home formed around them, all the belongings they'd brought in disappearing and reappearing in their proper places. "So… this should work, right?" Chris asked, turning to the stunned kobold chief.

The kobolds were ecstatic, quickly moving into their new, yet familiar home, rearranging the few things Chris hadn't actually known where to put. Once they were done, Chris lined them all up and sent them into the mutation state, switching the kobolds guarding Jello out for two of the imps instead. He then focused on his own living area. The first place he made was the Richardson Orphanage, the place he had the most intimate knowledge of, but… it didn't feel like home. Not the way the cavern did to the kobolds. Chris couldn't help but wonder if he had anywhere that felt like home. The home he'd lived in with his parents before their death? No, he'd barely even remembered the place before his connection with the Immortal World had deepened. He hadn't even lived anywhere else though… Was he just not sentimental?

Chris shrugged. Whatever it was, it wasn't like he could force himself to feel attached to a certain place. So, where would he like to live? Chris thought about it, and he really just liked the little home he'd built. A small, two room place with everything he needed right there. He returned to the kobolds cavern, heading to the area where the altar had been in the Maze, before waving his hand, remaking his home, with the only difference being the materials, opting for wood instead of the strange substance.

Chris nodded, satisfied, falling onto the couch, considering his next move. Currently he had Dyrdek, Sidulpek, and the others working on finding the path to the sixth level. From the memories of the creatures he'd subdued, he knew there was a path somewhere by a nearby goblin tribe, stronger than the one in this area, led by a small group of hobgoblins that'd come down from the higher levels due to weaker abilities. Hobgoblins were very similar to goblins, but with stronger physiques, making them natural mid-tiers. Usually they'd be found in the third tier, but occasionally the ones with weaker abilities would descend to lord over their weaker cousins. If Chris could subdue these hobgoblins, he'd be able to find the path to at least the sixth level, if not higher levels. The only issue was that he wasn't sure how strong these hobgoblins actually were. Then again… Chris's attention went to the thirty six cocoons slowly doing their work in the cavern, a grin slowly spreading across his face. Did it really matter?