Two hours of mining had passed uneventfully, and Thane was awarded with a nicely timed rank-up.

Profession Skill Rank Up: Miner (Novice 3)

Changes: 490% increased effectiveness when mining with an equipped pickaxe (up from 460%)

The dopamine hit greatly helped to keep him motivated. In excessive force, he swung and dislodged a hunk of pale-yellow rock. He stowed his pickaxe and began hauling the sack filled with a nice round 80 Gold Ore. This load—and the last thirty loads—wasn’t going to be smelted in the Homestead Hall, instead stockpiled near the Spring where the Smithy was to be.

As Thane emptied the sack onto a pile, the Fiend Worker approached, grinning. “Master, I learned a new profession. Surveyor.”

Lucky. Thane whistled. “Nice. Do you see anything?”

“Rich coal.” The Fiend pointed with a bony finger. “Two hundred yards from the Quarry.” He pointed in the opposite direction, across the Spring. “Rich iron.”

These weren’t ore veins. These were magical focal points that buffed Mines; ore capacities were greater and nodes spawned more often. Coal Mines were beneficial at Homestead tech, improving Smithy efficiency, but Iron Mines were Hamlet tech and cost an unreasonable Gold sum.

Thane asked, “Anything else?”

The Fiend pointed down the cavern. “Dense magic, but my profession rank is too low.”

“Alright, good work, and mark the locations with a few Stone Blocks.”

“Yes, master,” the Fiend said, staying with an expectant look on its face.

Thane’s eyebrow lifted. “I guess you want a reward?”

“Next meal. When?”

“I’ll get you something later, after sundown. I saw an Antelope herd a few miles west by a Spring. That lion also probably has siblings around. Don’t worry, you won’t starve.”

The Fiend nodded, then ran toward the stone stockpile.

And left of the stoneworks, a lone building stood on elevated ground—the Builder’s Hut. It was round and thin, like a miniature castle tower, with a hexagonal cross section, and its steep, conical roof was beveled to a spike. Small fins extended from the six corners, as though the structure required extra bracing, and webbed cracks on the walls gave the Hut a dilapidated look. Gutters overhung an empty arched window frame. A single crystal lamp post flickered blood red, haunted.

Thane rapped knuckles on the open wooden door. “Larac, are you in here?”

“Upstairs, master.”

The ground floor was empty, but atop a stone ladder, parchments and scale buildings models were haphazardly thrown about. A dozen fist-sized crystals shone around a central dais where Larac sat cross-legged.

“How goes the meditation?” Thane asked in a soft voice.

Larac’s black voids for eyes opened. “I have the Elite Hovel plan.”

An interface box popped up.

Elite Hovel

A livable dwelling for one World Elite

Style: Haunted

Minimum Area: 10X10

Recommended Area: 30X30

Requires: Settlement Hall

Cost: 2050 Gold, 250 Stone Blocks or Lumber, 30 Glass, 5 Crystals

2050 Gold. Something new. Usually, Elite Hovels cost around a thousand gold, half the price of an Elite. This difference surely was the game hinting that Vampire Elites were extraordinarily powerful, that massing an attack force of Fighters wasn’t the intended strategy for this race—invest in fewer, stronger, smarter units. But four thousand gold total for an Elite was a hefty cost at Homestead tech, at any tech level, and he had to first build one for himself and one for the new test subject due to arrive soon. A back-breaking eight thousand gold total.

Ninety Glass wasn’t cheap either, also requiring a Smithy.

The big problem, however, was obtaining a Human Elite corpse and then performing the ritual before the corpse disintegrates due to respawn mechanics. Human corpses were the bottleneck—by design. Vampires were all about quality over quantity. Magical quality. A coven of few sleepless Elites to rule over an underclass of Fiend Workers. Yes, that surely was Synaptic’s intended design.

And Cade was still offline.

Thane slowly said, “It will be many days before we build one of these, but when the time comes, we will build five for a full Elite party.” This was one of the most expensive strategies. Expensive and least wasteful.

Larac only nodded, his face unreadable.

“Try visualizing an anvil and a furnace,” Thane suggested. “It slightly boosts odds in our favor. By five to ten percent. Did you know?”

Larac’s head shook.

“But you know about blood law when I don’t,” Thane plainly stated.

Larac subtly frowned. “You are my creator, and my purpose is to serve you. Refusing will bring Misfortune upon me. This knowledge was written into my mind. ” Misfortune was a debuff.

“I see.” Thane walked to the window frame. The Spring was deep, like a pool of blood in the settlement’s red lights. Gray crystals glittered among rocks and stalagmites, sparser toward the cavern’s far side. The ground over there was bumpy and streaked with wide parallel cracks. A rat scurried along the wall, squeezed into a crevice. A second rat followed.

Thane sniffed, and their putrid scent wrinkled his nose. Fishy, sweet, tangy, like lemons on week-old salmon. That didn’t fit rats at all. He sniffed again, and the scent was stronger. His gaze bounced left and right, focusing on the Spring, as he asked, “Larac, do you smell that? Something fishy and sour?”

“I do, master.”

“Have you seen anything move in the Spring?”

“I have not.”

White bubbles surfaced on the water.

“Stay here.” Thane rushed to the ladder, kicking aside a building model. In seconds he was running out the door, wand drawn. He was thirty yards from the Spring when three humanoids jumped onto the shore on webbed feet. Their green underbellies and scaled backs dripped slime. Bulbous, yellow eyes twitched. The smell was overpowering.

Amphin Shieldbearer (Level 3)

Sentience: 52

Health: 68

Stamina: 107

Mana: 102

Amphin Ranger (Level 4)

Sentience: 56

Health: 53

Stamina: 127

Mana: 106

[World Elite 1] Amphin Swordsman (Level 4)

Sentience: 79

Health: 56

Stamina: 132

Mana: 112

The Shieldbearer and Ranger noticed Thane, but the one with a bronze sword went straight for the pile of Gold Ore. One by by one, Ores disappeared into its inventory. A fourth straggler pulled itself onto land, also going for the pile.

Amphin Worker (Level 1)

Sentience: 32

Health: 17

Stamina: 49

Mana: 16

Dodging a Sonic Arrow, Thane skidded behind a boulder into a low crouch, then flung a minimum-power Mana Bolt.

The Shieldbearer’s moss-covered buckler shone clay tones, and the Bolt swerved mid-path toward the buckler. Mana sparked harmlessly against moss.

The Amphin croaked, “Stupid Human!” They laughed like frogs, their throats bulging with every breath.

Thane was counting. Three. Four. Five.

A Sonic Arrow cracked, thudding into the boulder.

Six. Seven.

“Gold, gold, gold! Free gold!” the Swordsman cheered. “Stupid Human!”

Eight. Nine.

“Free gold! Free gold!”

Ten. As the buckler dimmed, Thane stood and whipped his arm, shooting a maximum-power Mana Bolt.

Blue blood and pink brains splattered. The Swordsman tumbled over, dead in one critical hit. Laughter ceased. The Amphin Worker screamed.

Crack, an arrow punched into Thane’s shoulder. The pain was nothing to him, but the impact sent his lanky frame stumbling backward. He tripped and fell onto his behind.

Gurgling a ridiculous war cry, the Shieldbearer charged. Its buckler glowed.

The Ranger knocked an arrow.

Thane rolled left as the sonic crack went off. The arrow grazed his leg.

“Human, die!” The Shieldbearer pulled a bronze knife.

Thane caught its slimy wrist. Up close, the stench was eye-watering. His Orcish character hadn’t been this sensitive to their odor, and could easily snap their twig arms. Thane bellowed through his teeth, whacked away a frail left-hand punch, and stabbed it in the neck with his wand’s point, unable to shoot a Bolt, his mana bar shining bright blue at the bottom of his sight. Sour blood squirted onto his face.

Crack! A Sonic Arrow pierced through the Shieldbear’s back, impaling the dying overgrown frog onto Thane’s stomach.

The Amphin Ranger knocked another arrow.

Then Larac and the Fiend Worker tackled the Amphin. They struggled in a mess of kicking and punching and biting until the Amphin head butted Larac into the Spring. The Amphin stabbed an arrow into the Fiend Worker’s eye.

Thane had drank a mouthful from his Enchanted Flask. He watched in red fury as the Fiend’s health bar vanished and its body turned to stone. “Fucking die!” he roared, shooting a max-power Bolt. The Amphin’s neck exploded in a shower shower of blood. Its frog head rolled.

Boxes sprang up.

Congratulations! You are now level 3. You have 5 unallocated stat points. 21/3000 EXP to level 4.

Skill Rank Up: Mana Bolt (Novice 3)

Change: Deals 115% (up from 110%) weapon damage with full Mysticism multipliers.

He quickly dumped three points into Mysticism, one into Dexterity, and one into Vitality. And Novice 3 on Mana Bolt? He had missed the last two rank-ups during combat.

Larac flopped onto land. “Where is—”

“Dead. Turned to dust.” Thane took a deep breath, his head shaking. He noticed the Amphin Worker was dead from a head wound—a brick to the skull. “Nice kill, by the way.”

“An easy kill, and I almost killed the Ranger.”

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Thane calmly said. “You know I have a secret spawnpoint, but you don’t. That could’ve been your end. You should’ve just hid and waited for me to respawn. It not like the Amphins had anywhere to run. Now we’re down a Fiend Worker, and it’s a real shame too. He just learned the Surveyor profession.”

Larac’s triumphant posture weakened. “I apologize, master.”

“It’s fine,” Thane sighed. “Just don’t make this mistake again.”

“I will not.”

“Good. Let’s get these corpses to the—” A muscle at the back of his skull pinched as it occurred to him that the Amphin Worker and Elite had stolen quite a number of Gold Ore. The pile was half the size. They had stolen over a thousand.

Larac helpfully said, “Master, they are Amphins. Unlike us, they can stack Gold Ore in their inventories. Look at the stockp—”

“I know, and get back to meditating.”

“Yes, master.”

Thane placed a palm on the Amphin Worker’s chest. “Loot,” he growled.

Gray mana shredded the corpse. Gold Ore piled onto the stockpile by the dozen, and items appeared in his inventory: Bones, Oak Fishing Rod, three Fillets of Fish Meat. The Strips of Snake Meat from last night were still fresh, his inventory’s magic slowing their decay. There wasn’t any reason to keep meat stored; he simply had a hoarding habit.

He dragged the Amphin Elite to the stockpile and wordlessly looted it. The process took ten seconds longer than usual, and the gray mana gleamed with silver flecks. Thane held a breath while hundreds of Ore lumps emerged before items occupied inventory slots: Elite Bones, Amphin Scales, five Fillets, Bronze Shortsword, and an Amulet of the Seas. He examined the necklace’s coral-shaped sapphire, praying that it was the right one.

Amulet of the Seas

Durability: 82/100

Quality: 721 (Legendary)

+2 Mysticism

Grants profession skill: Fisherman (Advanced 1)

Not the right one. Of course, it wasn’t the high-level version. It had dropped from a level 4 Elite 1. The Fisherman profession was worthless in a desert; however, fresh water fish, which seldom spawned in a Spring, had blood in them, not really drinkable raw but plenty of blood to distill per fish. Thane equipped the amulet, happy with the drop.

He dragged the remaining two Amphin corpses to the Vampiric Altar. He shoved the Shieldbearer onto the table, and the three obelisk crystals lit up, recognizing the corpse as humanoid. “Stonecutter, please.” Compulsion guided his hands, arranging seventeen stacks of five gold coins. The grotesque black cocoon formed, beat ten times, before long nails tore through. Its facial features were like the first Fiend’s but uglier, fatter with a double chin.

Fiend Worker (Level 3)

Professions: Stonecutter

Sentience: 55

Health: 42

Stamina: 23

Mana: 11

Hunger: 39%

“Welcome to my coven,” Thane said. “Your job is to maintain a stockpile of at least five hundred Stone Blocks by the Quarry. Allocate points into Mysticism.”

“Yes, master.” It lumbered off.

Next up was the Ranger’s corpse. The head was detached, but it was a full corpse. This should work. He placed both parts on the table. The three crystals flickered… and lit up. He exhaled in relief. “Builder.” The same process repeated, but this time the black cocoon beat for over a minute. Shorter nails ripped through. This Fiend was skinny with a thin horizontal scar on its neck.

Fiend Worker (Level 3)

Professions: Builder

Sentience: 57

Health: 31

Stamina: 26

Mana: 30

Hunger: 52%

It was level 3, but the Amphin had been level 4. Thane reasoned the Fiend's level was limited to his own, otherwise he could create a max-level Vampire Elite, which would be the definition of overpowered.

Thane smiled. “Welcome to my coven. Allocate points into Mysticism, and show me your building plans.”

“Yes, master.”

Thane glanced over the boxes. Six boxes—the usual six for new Builders, no extras. Homestead Hall, Hovel, Graveyard, Dining Hall, Blood Distillery, and Builder’s Hut. No smithy. Terrible luck again. Thane drawled, “Until Larac needs your assistance, your job is mine Gold Ore and dump it at the stockpile by the Spring. Grab a pickaxe from the Quarry office. Any questions?”

“Yes, master.” Its voice was barely above a whisper, its voice box permanently scarred. It briskly walked off.

With that all done, Thane hauled himself to the Homestead Hall for a much needed rest. The arrow wounds in his shoulder and stomach were still aching at the back of his mind, refusing to heal at a decent rate. The upside was he had bled less than a couple ounces. Suddenly he felt a lot like a walking corpse.