Magtha rolled her eyes, she felt like she was back in the city, teaching young orclings about the tattoo. However, she gained plenty of experience and patience doing so and answered promptly, “When you create a dungeon, it appears in your territory tab. The difference between a dungeon and territory is that a dungeon can expand and grow, unlike a territory which is static.”

  Magtha began to pace back and forth in front of them, her chin slightly raised, “When you open up the information panel of the dungeon, you’ll see a map of the surrounding geography. If you’ve set up a territory before, you should be familiar with this feature.”

  They recalled the 3 dimensional hologram that appeared when they set up their territories in the past, “Yep.”

  “Good,” Magtha nodded as she continued, “this map is sort of the same, it will be color coded. Green signifies the land controlled by the dungeon. If there are enemies within the green zone, they will be the color red.”

  She paused briefly before turning to look at Ace, “Now, the answer to your question is quite complicated. If the dungeon is on a planet with a lot of trees, foliage, plants, etc, then the destruction of those will cause the land owned by your dungeon to expand.”

  She gave a deep sigh as she looked around them, her eyes growing dim. She pointed at the dead tree that Ace found earlier, “My planet used to have plenty of those things, but after the destruction of our planet thousands of years ago, all life that grows in the soil dies. I’m afraid that to expand your dungeon this way would be impossible here.”

  Ace and Vincent found this to be a little unbelievable. With their eyes enhanced by hundreds of agility points, they looked around, but all they found was dirt for miles. Vincent frowned as he said, “How is that possible?”

  “We don’t know.” Magtha shook her head, “The only thing we know is that this started to happen after the destruction of my planet.”

  Ace scratched his head, looking questioningly at Magtha, “Then what do you eat? On our planet, we grow food in the soil. Isn’t it the same here?”

  Magtha’s eyes lit up as she glanced at the portal behind them, wondering just what a planet full of wildlife would look like. A moment later, she shook her head, returning to the moment at hand, “We purchase food from the rewards shop, that’s the only way to acquire nutrients on this planet. I heard that years ago, our planet was much like yours. We had giant forests, and even life in the water. However, that’s all in the past now, I’ve never seen it.”

  Ace and Vincent grew quiet, they had stumbled on quite the interesting planet. For all plants to die before they could grow, what was the cause behind that? And Magtha even said an enemy in the past had destroyed the planet, what did that even mean?

  “Ahem,” Magtha noticed the atmosphere had grown a little depressing, so she continued to explain, “To begin with, a dungeon will expand slowly over time. A higher tier dungeon expands faster, and even grants you income based on the size of the land owned by the dungeon.”

  “Hm?” Ace and Vincent looked at each other. They didn’t know dungeons had this option. Apparently you could earn passive income from both dungeons and territories.

  Magtha paused briefly, she looked at the ground as her eyes became unfocused, “The best way to expand a dungeon on this planet is to either kill or cause others to submit to your rule. If they submit, they will become servants under your dungeon. This will cause the dungeon to expand faster. Right now, the four clans each control a dungeon, and are constantly warring with each other.”

  “Ugh,” Ace blanched at her answer. The one thing he wanted last was to become some tyrant, slaughtering and enslaving others to his will.

  At Ace’s side, Vincent nodded in understanding, “Thanks, that clears things up.”

  Ace and Vincent continued to discuss with Magtha, asking any questions they had. Magtha was happy to oblige, and time passed quickly. Not even 15 minutes later, figures appeared on the horizon.

  “Hm?” Vincent squinted his eyes, looking closely into the distance. He spotted hundreds of green figures of varying sizes. All of them were equipped in leather armor, and none of them carried weapons. As they got closer, he saw that the orcs were a mix of males and females. All of them were muscular, and scars lined their bodies. As he sensed their vigorous lifeforce, he figured their stats were over 250. He guessed they were battle hardened veterans. His eyes narrowed as he sensed one orc in particular, he was in the lead and had stats on their level. He spoke to Ace telepathically, “Be prepared to flee. This isn’t a battle we can win.”

  “I know.” Ace was able to tell their strength as well, because each and every orc used qi. The one in the lead had just as much qi as him.

  They got into a battle stance and prepared to flee at any moment. Magtha turned around and spotted the army, her face blanched as she muttered, “Already?”

  “Don’t move, I’ll speak with them,” Magtha said to Ace and Vincent before running towards the leader.

  Vincent and Ace glanced at each other, wondering what she was planning. The orcs landed on the ground a few hundred feet in front of Ace and Vincent. The leader looked closely at Vincent and Ace before glancing at the portal behind them. Suddenly, his body quivered as his eyes turned bloodshot. A moment later, the orcs around him shook as well, all of them realizing what two humans appearing in front of the portal meant. One of the orcs broke from the line and ran forward, roaring as their body grew larger.

  “ENOUGH!” The leader roared as he pointed his hand at the enraged orc. A massive hand made out of qi shot out of it, shooting through the air. It reached the orc and clasped around him. The orc tumbled to the ground and tried to break free, but to no avail. The hand made out of qi was too strong. A few seconds later, the orc calmed down and realized what had happened. The leader recalled the qi holding the orc, the hand made out of qi flew through the air and reentered the leader’s body.

  The orc stood up and lowered his head with shame, “Sorry, Moggul.”

  “Hmph.” Moggul pointed his head in the direction of the line. The orc nodded and ran back towards the other orcs and stood in his previous place.

  At this time, Magtha reached the army and ran to Moggul. She slapped her chest with her fist as she shouted, “Magtha greets Moggul.”

  “Hm, I’m glad you’re still alive.” Moggul nodded towards Magtha, his eyes turning softer as he looked at her. He glanced at Vincent and Ace as he asked, “They came from that portal?”

  “Yes, I’m afraid that Mogtar…” Her voice trailed off, she was unable to finish the sentence.

  “Damn fool,” Moggul said as he spat at the ground, “He got himself killed in some foreign world, and as a result brought two invaders to our planet. He has truly doomed our clan!”

  He raised his fist as he shouted, “Prepare for battle!”

  The orcs grew solemn as qi rose from their bodies. The qi followed the contours of their bodies and no ripples could be seen. Ace shook as he saw this, these orcs were more skilled in qi manipulation than anybody else on earth. Even he was only better than them because of his higher stats, allowing him to forcefully control qi.

  Just as Moggul was about to give the command to begin the battle, Magtha shouted, “Wait!”

  “Hm?” Moggul lowered his head and looked at Magtha, wondering what she wanted. Usually he wouldn’t listen to such a weak orc telling him what to do, but Magtha was the youngest orc to be appointed onto the council of elders.

  Magtha took a deep breath before she began to speak with Moggul telepathically, “I don’t think these humans came seeking war. Their planet has only had the tattoo for 3 years, and they didn’t even know about the mercenary system. I don’t think they know what they’ve gotten themselves into. We’ve just lost Mogtar, and they said they were the ones who killed him. If we can ally ourselves with such strong warriors, then our goals are the same. We can work together to unite the clans.”

  “3 years? Mogtar died to them?” Moggul was shocked to hear that they only had the tattoo for so long, but he shook his head after listening to Magtha, “You are too naive, their goal is to conquer the planet. They are our enemies.”

  Just as he raised his arm again, Magtha continued, “At least speak to them before making them our enemies for good. Technically you’re the clan leader now, think about the clan!”

  His arm froze in place as he considered her words. He was now the strongest warrior of their clan, and that made him the clan leader. He realized now that Mogtar was dead, their clan truly had no hope. He looked over at Vincent and Ace and figured it wouldn’t hurt to speak with them first. He lowered his arm as he said aloud, “Fine.”

  Chapter 85

  “What do you think she’s saying to them?” Ace asked Vincent as they watched the army closely, if there were any sudden movements they were prepared to flee.

  Vincent glanced at Ace and shrugged, “Who knows. Honestly, she may be nice and welcoming of us, but others might not be. We did kill their leader after all…”

  “Ugh.” Ace felt bad but it couldn’t be helped, he couldn’t just let Mogtar take over their planet. Thus, he was put into an awkward situation.

  “Oh? She did something.” At this time, the orc in the lead separated from the others and flew over to them with Magtha in tow. A moment later, the two groups faced each other. They were only ten feet apart.

  They inspected the orc, finding him to be thinner than the others, but still a bit larger than Ace. The orc’s hair was shaved, and his face was angular and sharp. One thing Vincent noticed was that this orc had no scars like the others. Whether that was because he regenerated them or because he was never wounded, he didn’t know. One thing was for certain, their strength was on par with each other.

  On the other hand, Moggul looked closely at Ace and Vincent, comparing the differences between their species. The only humans he had seen were in the challenges, he had never seen real ones before. He didn’t dare underestimate them just because their physical forms were smaller, but he couldn’t believe that such weak humans killed Mogtar. Mogtar had stats over 400, yet these humans before him were on par with him at most. He could sense Ace’s qi and could easily compare himself, but for Vincent it was a little foggy. Even then…

  “Ahem, ahem.” Magtha let out a few fake coughs from the side. These three were staring daggers at each other and it had caused her to get anxious. They weren’t even introducing themselves, jeez, do I have to do everything?

  “Moggul, this is Goliath and Demon. Goliath and Demon, this is Moggul, my clan’s chief.” Magtha pointed to each person as she introduced them.

  “Mm.” Moggul responded, saying not even a word.

  “Uhh, nice to meet you.” Ace held out his hand, asking for handshake. However, Moggul only looked at it, wondering what Ace was doing. A moment later, Ace realized that Moggul didn’t know what a handshake was and embarrassingly pulled back his hand.

  A heavy silence descended once more, causing Magtha to inwardly shake her head. They are behaving like kids, sheesh. She said, “Ahem, so Goliath and Demon, why did you come to our planet?”

  Ace felt a little anxious, but the two years of experience being the leader of Northrock quickly calmed his nerves. His face grew solemn as he stated, “After we defeated Mogtar, we learned that a portal was left open on our planet. Not knowing if more strong opponents would come through, we decided to take the initiative. Unfortunately, we didn’t know that we can’t return home until we conquer this planet. This put us in an awkward situation…”

  Moggul’s eyes narrowed into slits as he tried to determine the veracity of Ace’s story. He wasn’t absolutely certain, but he figured that if such weak humans thought they could return home at any time, they would feel confident in scouting out what was on the other side of the portal. If they knew they couldn’t return home, there was no way they would invade the planet after knowing how strong Mogtar was. After all, even he himself wouldn’t go through the portal if that was the case. However, there was one thing that still annoyed him to no end, “How did you two kill Mogtar? Frankly, you two are too weak to do so.”

  Vincent looked at Ace, wondering how he would respond to this. They were in the negotiation stage, and it was best to gain the upper hand. The one who held the advantage would get a better deal. However, Ace’s next words floored him, “Honestly, we nearly lost. It was down to the wire, and even I still can’t believe we won. Mogtar was truly strong, he was better than me in every aspect, especially qi manipulation. If it wasn’t for a heavy sacrifice, we wouldn’t have won. I admire Mogtar’s strength.” Ace let out a sigh as he remembered the tough battle just over a week ago.

  “Mm.” Moggul nodded slightly, finding this answer satisfactory. He looked at Goliath and Demon in a new light, raising the level of strength he assumed they had. Somehow, they had been able to kill Mogtar, and it was probably something he couldn’t sense with his qi. In that case, he had to be wary. He raised his hand and clenched it, “Honestly, I want to fight you two to the death right now. You killed our chief, and that would usually deserve death.”

  Moggul paused briefly before lowering his hand, “However… as a result, my clan is now the weakest on the planet. As the Clan Chief of Baugh, I have to set aside my personal desires and ensure the survival of my people.”

  His voice became quieter as he spoke until it became mere mutters at the end. He was speaking more to himself than to Goliath and Demon. At his side, Magtha nodded, finding Moggul’s behavior to be satisfactory. In her opinion, if it wasn’t because Mogtar was so much stronger and older, Moggul’s personality was much more suited to being clan chief. He was able to keep his calm, and yet he could be cruel and callous as well. Unfortunately, he was born decades after Mogtar.

  Moggul raised his head and looked Goliath in the eye, “Your goal is to return home, yes?”

  “Yeah, we are the strongest people on our planet. If we are gone for too long, I’m afraid of what might happen.” Ace nodded as he explained sincerely.

  “Mm.” Moggul closed his eyes and consulted with Magtha through telepathy. On the other side, Ace and Vincent were doing the same. A few minutes passed before Moggul opened his eyes and nodded, “If you will help my clan defeat and conquer the other three clans, then we can share ownership rights of our dungeon. If we do that, it will count as you conquering the planet, and my clan will become the rulers of this planet. When you leave, you will relinquish the administrator rights of the dungeon. How does that sound?”

  “Hmm,” Ace rubbed his chin as he made sure that everything sounded right, “and we’ll be using a contract for this?”

  “Mm.” Moggul grunted in response. A contract made sure that no parties would betray each other, so it was the perfect option.

  Moggul, Magtha, Goliath, and Demon spent the next ten minutes drafting a contract that both parties were satisfied with. This was an important contract, so they made sure there were as few loopholes as possible. As both parties signed the contract, the tension in the air finally dissipated. After all, they were now comrades that would battle together through life and death.

  “Come,” Moggul turned around and began to fly into the distance, “I’ll show you our headquarters.”

  Chapter 86

  Hundreds of figures flew through the air, heading north. In front of them were Goliath, Demon, Moggul, and Magtha. As they flew, Magtha explained the geography of the planet in more detail. She said that the planet had been severed into four massive continents, with a clan occupying each one. Each clan had a dungeon spanning the entire continent. The bigger the dungeon, the more points the clan would accrue. As a result, along the borders of the dungeons, battle broke out all the time. Each clan was trying to expand their dungeon to get more points. The clan leaders almost never moved, they always sat in their headquarters, prepared for any unforeseen circumstances. If a clan leader did move, it was when the others did.

  What surprised Ace and Vincent the most was that every clan specialized in qi. The specialization changed from clan to clan, and Clan Baugh specialized in qi manipulation. This was completely different from how Earth was ran, as every ability under the sun could be seen on Earth. Vincent glanced at Magtha as he asked, “Why does every orc use qi?”

  “Aha, good question.” Magtha’s eyes lit up as her chin tilted slightly upwards, “You probably aren’t aware, but most planets specialize in one thing. This is because the experts of that planet can easily teach their skills and knowledge to others, allowing the entire planet to raise in strength together.”

  “Planets that try to learn everything at once are fools,” Moggul added from the side.

  “Yep,” Magtha nodded as she continued, “this is called heritage. A planet like ours has a long heritage, and thus has accrued a lot of knowledge on qi. Unfortunately, when the planet was destroyed, a lot of our experts and knowledge was lost forever.”

  Vincent and Ace looked at each other and grimaced, they swore to never tell them that their planet was trying to hold too many eggs in one basket. At this time, Vincent looked over at Ace and frowned, “Why does it feel like I’m flying through something thick and heavy, but you are flying just fine?”

 

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