The blue Imp approached me as the goblins moaned and cried about their pain.

"So what do you think of them?" Blue whispered to me.

"They seem broken, arent imps better? And why are you whispering?"

"Goblins are better fighters than imps if treated well and I am whispering because if they listen to what I will tell you, they might think you are a weak pawn." Blue kept whispering.

"You tell them to... and say that.... demand that... and give..."

Once again he told me how to do things in a Heart Core way.

"Got it?" (Blue)

"Yeah, I think so..." I whispered with my eye looking at the blue imp.

After our conversation was over, with a smile, Blue's possessed imp with his hand on his back, took out two daggers, dropping them on top of the altar and finally descended the stairs, standing beside his orc Krogar.

Silence fell in the room, but it did not last, as it was interrupted by the goblins moaning.

I looked at the little creatures with my eye.

"DO YOU WANT TO LIVE?" I shouted, so the goblins could clearly hear me.

Goblin:

(Hurts! Body hurts much!)

Goblin Boss told this dungeon simple, crushed by big orc, 30 goblin, only 4 live, but die soon, to big red eye Boss.

(Don want death!)

Scared, scared and pain.

"DO YOU WANT TO LIVE?" Tha Big Red Boss told me.

(Me want to live!)

Red:

I waited, waited for an answer from the goblins, but all that I got was more moans of pain as they used whatever was left of their energy to face me.

"I will allow you to live, under three conditions." I informed the imps. "The first one, is to climb the stairs in front of you and reach the top!"

While it normally would be just a few steps for any race in this Realm, it proved difficult for the wounded goblins.

The goblins moved slowly, as one had both of his legs broken and the second goblin had one leg and one arm broken, so both had to crawl their way up.

(Thats it, keep coming.)

As I stared at them, for some reason, I was enjoying seeing their efforts, but then, they suddenly stopped in the middle of the stairs.

(Giving up already?)

"Do not stop, if you want to live, you must move at once!" I told the goblins, but in vain as they did not move, their deaths was imminent.

(Maybe they need more encouragement like Blue said?)

"Don't think you can quit that easily, either you climb to live or the orc behind you will make sure you suffer a slow painful death!"

It had half the result, only the goblin with working arms was pushing forward, it seemed that his fear for the orc was higher than the will to die.

The little goblin finally reached the top.

"Little goblin, you did well, the second condition, swear loyalty to me and you shall be healed!" I told the goblin.

Slowly, the goblin used his mouth, screaming while spiting a portion of its black blood from his mouth.

"YESSHH!"

A goblin wants to become your minion, it will cost 50 mana to do it so, do you wish to accept him?

Yes? No?

(I choose yes.)

The loyalty of the goblin is higher than 80, you may name him for the upkeep of 25 mana.

Do you wish to give him a name?

Yes? No?

(Yes, do it before he dies dammit!)

Suddenly, while Blue's Imp made a huge smile, two fire spirits left my eye, rushing into the goblins mouth.

"Ahhhhk!" The goblin felt massive pain from his bones, as he swallowed the spirits, their effect was immediate, his body started to heal while a red tattoo appeared on his left shoulder, morphing into an 8.

Goblin has reached level 2!

Goblin loyalty has increased to 82!

"From now on, your name shall be Robur!" My voice was heard by everyone in the room.

With his name, more pain came to the goblin, as his new tattoo grew colored red, releasing hot steam, spreading tribal marks throughout his arm, chest and neck.

Once the transformation was done, the tattoos turned black and the steam dissipated.

Goblin Robur has reached level 3!

Goblin Robur loyalty has increased to 84!

Slowly the goblin rose up as his pain was gone.

"Boss, tell me third condition!" The goblin roared, awaiting for my command.

First goblin has been recruited!

Goblin added to minion tab!

Named Minion tab is now unlocked!

Sleeping chamber and food storage rooms are now available!

Extra Object tab is now unlocked!~

Extra Object Door available!

"The third condition is for you to kill the goblin that wasted the same opportunity that I gave you!"

With a nod, the goblin had his order. He turned around and picked the two daggers.

Meanwhile, Blue's Imp turned his head to the right side, making a surprised face for a second and then giving one huge smile as he was to break in laughter.

Suddenly Robur jumped to the second goblin, decided to kill him.

The second goblin tried to defend himself with his working arm as Robur used a dagger to hit him.

Instead of reaching the neck of his target, Robur's dagger perforated the goblins hand, but that was the last chance the goblin had, with his hand stuck on a dagger, he could not defend aggainst the second one, wich went straight into his forehead, spilling black blood everywhere.

Goblin Robur loyalty has increased to 85!

Finally, Robur with a kick, threw the goblin's dead body off the altar.

Now with the goblin recruited, Blue's imp moved closer to me.

"Wait for me at the entrance!" I told Robur, wich responded with a nod.

"I did not expect for you to kill the second goblin." Blue whispered to me.

"Well, you didn't say I couldn't."

"True, but you even named the other goblin!"

"Was that wrong?"

"Well, not really, it is your choice, but do keep in mind that while named minions are stronger and level up faster, they eat a bit of your mana."

"Yes, I noticed, but compared to the Imps, its not much."

"Just make sure to always have a good quantity of free mana, now, why don't you check your minions tab?"

"Okay."

Imp (2)

Cost: 100 mana

Upkeep: 50 mana

Max level: 10

Basic Info:

Minion worker that can claim territory.

Does not require food or sleep. Goblin (1)

Cost:50 mana

Upkeep: 1 small bed and food

Max level: 10

Basic Info:

Weak Creature, that can evolve at level 10.

Cannot be summoned with mana like the Imp.

"It says it required a small bed and food? Does that have something to do with the new rooms that I got?" I asked Blue for his help.

"Yes, you can build them, but first, you have to mine out space for them!" Blue explained while sending orders to Krogar's mind.

The orc then walked outside the room, passing by the first two claimed tiles and stoping at the third.

"Order your Imp to dig to the left side of Krogar's position." Blue told me as he pointed at the Imp who was doing nothing but standing there like a statue.

Immediately the Imp ran towards the orc and started mining to the left, meanwhile my first Imp returned with another back full of gold.

(Show Heart Core info!)

Name: Red

Race: Heart Core

Level: 1

Mana: 23/125 (-125)

Mana Regeneration: 1 per minute

Gold: 100

Minions: 3

Rooms: 0

Spells: 1

My gold was now 100, while my mana dropped to 125.

Blue gave me more instructions, about building rooms and their requirements.

It seemed that if the rooms were connected directly to each other or had less than the required tiles, they would consume mana.

And if I wanted to, in the future, I could simply change the already existing rooms position as I desire as long there is no enemy near or if I am not using an active spell like possession.

"I wonder, what about loyalty?" I asked Blue.

"Loyalty sometimes takes a while to build, but the higher the better for you, I advice to only recruit those who have above 60 loyalty!" He informed me.

Suddenly Blue's imp made an angry face as he reminded of something.

"Don't recruit pink skins, even if they are above 60 loyalty, for them, the requirements should be at least 85 or higher, as those obnoxious creatures have crappy loyalty that can drop easily for any stupid reason!"

"And what are pink skins?" I asked blue about the seemly annoying creatures.

"They are most the most hypocritical racial group that I have ever encountered until now, they are divided into three races, wich are humans, elves and dwarves."

"Uhhh" I was surprised at his answer, I had no idea that Blue could held such hate towards a race. "Very well, I shall be very careful with them!"

"And you can only see the loyalty of your minions and those who do not belong to a Heart Core, there is also another restriction, you cannot see any info from those who are ten levels higher than you or your highest minion."

We both stood in top of the altar talking, as we both could see throughout the eyes of our minions, the first room was ready, while the second was being dug out and soon to be claimed by the Imp.

Both rooms for now would be 3 by 3, having each a total of 9 tiles.

"How much gold you have?" (Blue)

"100 gold, is that much?" (Red)

"No, you need more, Ill order a few of my Imps to bring you a bit of gold."

(Show me the room tab!)

Sleeping Chamber

Cost: 20 gold or 50 mana per tile.

Basic Info:

Room where Minions sleep.

Each bed will spawn with no cost.

If less than 4 tiles, the room upkeep increases by 50 mana.

If another room is connected, the room upkeep increases by 50 mana. Food storage

Cost: 20 gold or 50 mana per tile.

Basic info:

Storages food.

Allows a Heart Core to use Food tab.

If less than 4 tiles, the room upkeep increases by 50 mana.

If another room is connected, the room upkeep increases by 50 mana.

"Thanks again, you really are helping me alot!" I thanked Blue.

"Speaking of wich, I do have to tell you some of the rules of our race."

"I would like to hear them!"

"You need to know that there is one law that we have, while we have the choice of helping younger Heart Cores, we are not to attack those of our kind that are less than 1 month old!"

"What happens if I do that?" I inquired Blue.

"First you will get a warning, and if you don't listen to it, you permanently lose 90% of your total mana..."

(Ouch, that sucks!)

"And what if he is more than 1 month?"

"Then its free for all, you can do whatever you decide, some fight for fun, others trade and help each other, and while rare, from time to time theres some really crazy Heart Core who enjoys killing their own kind!"

"So that means we can die?"

"Yes, but when we die, we only lose our body and return to the Void, we can reborn again, but we would have to rebuild everything, wich can be annoying."

"Do you know how many of us are on this Realm?"

"No, I only know of you and two others, but I am sure there are plenty of unknow Heart Cores!"

"Two others?"

"Their names are Brown and Green, but I got no idea where they currently live, Oh and here comes the gold!" Blue's Imp made a smile as he faced the tunnel.

Seven Imps appeared, Blue had ordered six of his Imps to bring gold, while mine was following behind them.

One by one, each dropped 50 gold, and returned to their tasks.

"I am really grateful, now I got 450 gold!"

"Right, now then, make the rooms!" Blue suggested out loud to me.

At my thoughts, the first room was prepared.

Building 9 tiles of a Sleeping chamber will cost you 180 gold.

Do you wish to finish construction?

Yes? No?

(Yes!)

At that moment, tiny changes happened to the room, four torches, each at the corners of the room were placed and a small bed appeared.

Goblin Robur loyalty has increased to 86!

"Sleeping Chamber is done!" I informed Blue.

Day 1, 1st Month of the Winter Season, 600.AC