Nameless King

Wain crushed the blue soul of Imps' leader, and several messages appeared in front of him.

[You have acquired the Soul Essence of Fire Imps' Head level 17.]

[You have leveled up to level 16. You get 3 status points to distribute freely]

[You have acquired Rare Rating Skill Book]

"Great, I've leveled up and increased Energy. This fight was definitely worth it. I didn't expect to get so much Soul Essence to increase the level. It was unexpected..." Mumbled Wain.

At that moment, he realized how different the First Chronicle monsters were from the Primary Chronicle monsters. To increase his level, Wain needed to kill at least a thousand regular imps.

However, one soul of a powerful monster like Fire Imps' Head was enough for him.

A person's amount of Soul Essence after using a soul depended on several factors. This was influenced by the level of the monster, the Rating of its soul, and its actual strength.

The last factor was difficult to determine accurately. However, this meant that even if two monsters had the same level and Rating, their strength could still be significantly different. This also affected the amount of Soul Essence contained in their souls.

But, the most important factor was which Chronicle the monster belonged to. This was the main parameter on which most of the Soul Essence in a monster's soul depended.

'I also got the Skill Book. Today is my lucky day, it's the first First Chronicle monster I've killed, and I got such a valuable thing right away.' Thought Wain, and a blue book appeared in his hands.

He placed his palm on it, and the book turned into hundreds of characters that flew into Wain's glabella.

[Heat Resistant Flesh (First Chronicle Passive Skill, Rare Rating)

Your skin and flesh become altered and become more resistant to the element of fire. Your cells have rebuilt and can now withstand higher temperatures without harming your body.

This power has a certain limit, beyond which your structure will be disrupted, and you will suffer serious wounds.

Your resistance to the element of fire is increased by 25%]

'Not bad. At the moment, this is my only passive skill since Fencing the Last Knight was destroyed due to my additional soul change. My body will now withstand higher temperatures, which is good.

Moreover, the higher my Stamina and Vitality will be, the more effective this effect will be.' Thought Wain.

At the moment, Wain had no shortage of active skills. He had a weapon for almost any occasion. He was pleased that it was a passive skill that he got rather than an active one.

"Hmm, getting passive skills proved to be quite difficult. It wasn't surprising, though. Unlike passive skills, active skills can only be three. There is no limit to the number of passive skills. Maybe I should hunt weak monsters and get some passive skills from their souls?" Mumbled Wain.

'No, that doesn't make sense. I'd only be wasting my time. I need powerful skills, gear, and souls. Otherwise, my progress will be stunted.' Thought Wain and headed on his way.

Wain wanted to get the halberd, but as the flames tried to heal the monster, even the halberd began to melt. The weapon was no longer fit for combat.

There was one wide passageway behind in the cave where Imps' village was.

...

"I seem to have found the cause of the rising flames in the crevice." Proclaimed, Wain was looking at the massive monster in the center of the deep hole.

This monster had four long paws of stone, something resembling tall pillars. The monster's body was a narrow head with small teeth and a massive torso in the form of a magma sphere.

Several stone pipes from which fire came out on the monster's torso, which slowly rose upward.

Wain wanted to attack the monster and deal with the cause of the fire in the crevice, but suddenly he noticed something strange.

"Hmm? Are there Imps here, too? What is this place?" Wain muttered, looking at several small huts on the left side of the cave.

Wain thought that here were the remaining monsters who, for some reason, did not take part in the battle at the main base.

Moreover, Wain saw several ovens and, oddly enough, Imps near the huts. However, these Imps were quite different from the last.

They had dark red skin, almost brown, had two short horns on their heads no longer than the length of a finger. Their hands had no claws, but four fingers, almost like human hands.

These monsters posed little danger. They didn't look strong or deadly. Nor were their mouths toothy, and most of them had big noses.

'Are they Imps, or are they some other monsters?' Wain wondered.

He slowly approached the village, and a plasma sword appeared in his hand. He wasn't going to feel sorry for these monsters just because they didn't look terrible or dangerous.

When the monsters saw Wain, they scattered to their huts in fear. They were afraid of Wain, a powerful aura emanating from him. They were not capable of dealing with such an enemy.

Wain reached the center of the village and looked into one of the huts. He spotted one of the monsters through the window and was about to attack when suddenly one of them emerged from another hut.

Wain turned around and prepared to attack, but he had no desire to fight when he saw the monster.

'It looks too pathetic...' thought Wain looking at the monster in front of him. It had a dagger in its hands, but the monster was trembling with fear. It struggled to hold the dagger in its hands. It was ready to run away at any second.

Wain shrugged and walked toward the monster. Wain was not going to spare the monster, even if it trembled with fear.

Any monster was a soul that made Wain a little stronger. He couldn't pass up such an opportunity to get some Soul Essence.

The monster was short, about one meter tall, but it wasn't going to give up no matter what. It ran towards Wain and tried to wound it with its dagger.

But, it was too slow. Wain just took a step back, and the monster fell because it tripped over a rock. The dagger fell out of it's hands.

"Honestly, you seem so harmless and pathetic that I don't even feel like killing you. In any other situation, I would have spared you, but your death would do me good." Coldly Wain said and swung his plasma sword down.

At the last moment, however, Wain stopped the sword. The blade was an inch from the monster's skin. Wain stopped the sword not because he decided to show mercy or pity, the reason was different. Wain looked shocked at the monster.

"What the hell...?" Wain muttered.

He stopped his attack because, at the last moment, the monster knelt down and placed a dagger in front of him as if it offered this weapon to Wain.

Wain was stunned. He knew that some monsters were quite clever, but this was something out of the ordinary. The monster in front of him decided not to run away but to offer to redeem his life. It was a real bargain.

Wain shook his head. He had no reason to spare the monster because of some dagger. He decided to discard unnecessary thoughts and swung his sword again. However, he stopped again.

Wain's gaze fell on the dagger, then on the furnace in the distance, then on the dagger again, and then on the furnace. This went on for some time. Wain frowned and took the dagger in his hands.

'It's not a bad dagger, it's not a spiritual weapon, but it's pretty good too. It takes good skills to create such a weapon...' thought Wain. At that moment a crazy, but a great idea came into his head in his opinion.

"Hey, do you understand me?" Smiling, Wain said.

Unfortunately, there was no reaction from the monster. Wain frowned but decided to try again.

"I'm talking to you!"

Then the trembling monster raised its head and looked at Wain.

"Do you understand what I'm saying?" Wain asked again.

The monster nodded uncertainly. It didn't expect Wain to decide to talk to him.

'Fuck, what am I doing anyway?' Thought Wain but decided to continue the unusual conversation with the monster anyway.

"Have all your friends come out. I want to talk to you." Proclaimed Wain.

The monster looked around but hesitated to do as Wain said.

"Hurry up, or I'll kill you all," Wain said coldly, and an eerie aura began to emanate from him.

The monster shuddered with fear again and shouted something several times. It didn't sound like a roar, but it also couldn't be called a full-fledged language of communication. It was something in between.

Then the doors of the huts opened, and about thirty monsters came out into the center of the village. Among them were both men and women, which was clear from their appearance and clothing elements.

They were afraid of Wain and trembled with fear, but they chose to believe their kin anyway.

"I hope you all understand me as well as he does. Right?" Wain asked.

The thirty monsters immediately nodded their heads.

"Okay, I have one straightforward question for you. Did you make this dagger and furnace, or was it here originally?" Wain asked.

Suddenly each of the monsters started nodding their heads but in a different direction. Moreover, some of them tried to shout something. Some even waved their hands, trying to explain something.

Wain was puzzled, but he realized he had asked the wrong question.

'Shit, it's not like they can answer me. I have to ask short, simple, and specific questions.' Thought Wain.

"Okay, let's start again. Did you make this dagger?" Once again, Wain asked.

The monsters nodded.

"Did you make these forges?"

The monsters nodded.

"Can you make anything other than a dagger while still maintaining high quality?"

The monsters nodded again.

Wain smirked and said, "You guys and I will be friends. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA."