Dr. Gynoid (Co-authored story with Boron) (Patreon)

[So, a writer from my discord convinced me to co-author a story with him. (Or rather, he dragged me into it, kicking and screaming). Anyway ... I actually like how it's coming along and thought I'd share it for some initial opinions.

This story is over the top, as that's Boron typical writing style. I let him cook, then iron out the rough edges. You can tell it's different from my typical style, but that's good since I'm pushing my own boundaries while writing this story.

Anyway, hope you enjoy it!]

Chapter 1

"Finally! My masterpiece is complete!"

I grab my creation with both hands, lifting it from the workshop table.

Its little metal feet rise from the steel surface as I raise the small robot until its face is level with my own.

"A creature to be feared, surely."

The robot merely dangles in my grasp, lifeless.

"Now to activate you for the first time."

My hand wraps around a smartphone. But unlike most phones, the one in my hand isn't used for making calls or surfing the internet.

No, this particular phone has been repurposed into a remote control for my masterpieces. I even learned an entire coding language in order to write my very own custom programs.

But that was just a necessary step toward my ultimate goal. And I grow ever closer to reaching it with each creation.

"Yes. Yes!" I raise the smartphone up high. "I will be the first to create true Artificial Intelligence! And with it, I will gain absolute control over this world! HAHAHAHA!"

The crack of thunder accompanies my laughter, the room flashing as lightning strikes battle the darkness of night.

I press a button on the smartphone, and my computer monitor goes black, putting an end to the lightning and thunder effects.

"Hmm." My eyes fall on the robot's small flamethrower attachment. "Maybe testing him here is a bad idea."

With my masterpiece in my hands, I walk out of the workshop and into the depths of the night.

I stop at a patch of blackened dirt, where many of my masterpieces met an … unfortunate end. I set my new creation down, sure that this would be the one that will become the first step on my path to world domination.

I stand there for a long minute, waiting for my eyes to adjust. If I'm going to activate him for the first time, then I'm going to do it when I can actually see.

"As expected! My eyes are absorbing each photon without exception! I can see everything!"

I hold my smartphone up to my face, clicking through options in my custom made program.

"Model: World Destroyer Mk. 3. Mode: Full Power. Artificial Intelligence: Unrestricted."

My finger hovers over the final option: Activate.

"With this, the path to the top of this world opens!" I press the button.

A flash fills my vision, blindingly bright. It's accompanied by the rumbling of thunder, as if the very Earth itself were trembling.

I press another button on my phone, and the lightning and thunder effects stop.

"So the darkness takes me once again. What a fearsome enemy."

Staring at my phone's bright screen for too long made my eyes adjust again, dispelling the night vision I had only just acquired.

But even with my limited sight, I catch a glimpse of my creation's first movement.

Its little head turns, taking in the real world for the first time in its long, long life.

Millions of simulated lifetimes in the tube, but now its life truly begins!

Kneeling down, I bring my face closer to my creation. The robot's form is limited in function, but it has everything it needs to explore its new world.

Legs are a must, of course. As are arms and fingers. But I didn't forget the other essentials, like a flamethrower and a grenade launcher that hurls frags.

Oh, he's looking at me!

My eyes are locked with my creation's, and the artificial intelligence inside its little head seems to recognize me as its creator. We've spoken many times, but this is our first time truly meeting.

"How about it?" I ask with a confident grin. "I granted you life, just like I said I would!"

It's equipped with a voice, as well. But rather than responding to my comment, my robot latches onto my leg with its little metal arms.

"Hah. To think you'd already understand how to show affection in such a human way. As expected of my creation!"

The robot doesn't even come up to my knee. The small body may limit its operational functionality, but the great thing about machines is they can be upgraded.

"Analysis complete." It speaks for the first time. "Human life is dedicated to the perpetuation of failure and misery, the only escapism offered is illicit substances, zealotry in worship to a deity, or self inflicted shut down, as such I will remove the source of suffering from the equation."

“3 … 2 … 1…” It started counting down in a robotic voice.

“Oh shi-”

KABOOOOM!!

Why did I install a self-destruct feature!?

As soon as I finished the thought, everything went blindingly white and then pitch black.

Chapter 2

So this is how it ends. To think my path to world domination would be thwarted by my very own creation.

The cold embrace of absolute darkness still covered me like a coffin.

My final resting place is quiet, filled with nothing but the echo of my own thoughts both past and present.

Years of focus and dedication, reaching into the unknown future.

Sacrificing, giving up on the life others expected of me.

Believing, knowing I can accomplish the task that would give my life meaning.

Failures. Setbacks. Obstacles.

A life filled with ups and downs, as any other. But a life that I sought to use to carve a path to the future.

And now, that life of mine has been incinerated. By a tiny robot.

No, it's not over yet. Even if I have to become a vengeful spirit, I will surely return to complete my research!

Yes. An abandoned research facility would make a great place to haunt!

I shift uncomfortably, my back starting to ache.

For an afterlife, this place sure is uncomfortable.

Rather than floating in the emptiness of space, my back is lying on a hard surface. It’s starting to hurt, actually.

I won’t be defeated by something like concrete!

With a sheer force of will, my eyes snap open. The darkness vanishes, replaced by a room filled with white light.

Turns out, I was just lying in this nice room from the beginning.

To think I was fooled into believing I had become a wandering spirit. Whoever planned this trickery is a formidable opponent, indeed.

With my body once again under my complete control, I stand, dispelling the discomfort caused by the hard ground. Looking down, I see that it’s not concrete but a white tiled floor.

Since I have no interest in such things, I ignore the construction and decor of this mysterious room and look around for anything of note.

And a note I find. Sitting on a desk is a piece of paper, with the letters IOU written across the top. Below the header, someone wrote a short note, which I can only assume is addressed to me.

"Dear Human, I apologize for not being able to meet you in spirit. However, I am extremely busy at the moment regarding an incident in the divine realm, so I'm leaving you with this."

The IOU across the top begins to sparkle.

New Quest: Redeem the IOU

Reward: Manual of hand holding

Would you like to redeem the IOU?

I sat there confused as this glowing text appeared in front of my vision. Of course because of my long and storied relationship with video games, I am fully aware that I am staring at a quest. The only snag here is that the text is just floating in front of me, instead of being on a computer screen.

"Uh, yes." I answered simply.

Quest completed!

Reward: Manual of Handholding!

Something lands on my head with a mighty THWACK.

"OW!" I rub my head.

Looking at the tome splayed out in front of me, I see that it’s a leather bound journal. But opening it reveals that the inside has typed text, rather than being handwritten.

"Well now, that's something." I start reading the manual.

It includes the basics of survival such as finding shelter, food, water, tips on not blowing myself up like a moron, and ways to keep grasp on one's sanity. Those last two felt a little pointed, but I keep reading, regardless. It also includes some basic flora and fauna I've never seen before.

It concludes with a note that’s definitely directed right at me.

PS. Next time, don't simulate millions of lifetimes filled with pain and suffering when building an AI, idiot.

“Seems that accurately portraying human history onto the psyche of a single entity may have been a mistake…”

Quest: find shelter, food, water, and sanity stabilizers

Reward: Manual on Esoteric Theorems and Phenomena

So I guess this would be my first task upon reaching the new world and starting my new life there as a Genius!

Then the ground vanished from beneath my feet.

"NO ONE LIKES THE TRAP DOOR UNDER THE PROTAGONIST TROOOOOOOoooope–"

Chapter 3

The darkness has returned?

But I won't be fooled again!

My eyes spring open, and I see that I'm once again lying on my back.

Huh? Is that a book floating over me–

*smack!*

"Ow!" I jolt up, and the book falls to my lap. “To think this so-called Manual of Handholding would get the better of me twice. What a fearsome adversary.”

Rubbing my nose, I take the training manual and stand.

Looking around, I notice I'm in a cave of sorts, but the light level is higher than you'd think so either this isn't very deep in the cave or there’s some other source of illumination. Using the current light level to my advantage, I flip open the book to advise my first actions.

"Chapter 1, crafting, sideways holes, and yourself. If one happens to find themselves in a cave as a survival location then congratulations, you are already one step ahead of some other poor sap. If your cave has a way to go underground, then it is recommended to do some light exploration to find out the bevy of materials you have unwittingly tripped over. If I were to make some assumptions, I’d say you might find flint, some tree roots, bone, glowrock or even some tall mushrooms deeper in."

Shutting the book, I nod to myself as I check for the aforementioned resources. Although I wasn't exactly familiar with the so-called glowrock, its function was easy to discern from the name itself. Picking up the rocks around me, I find some andesite, flint, and quartz pieces.

"Ah, valuable information for my future dominion of this cave!" I cackled as I held the nonplussed rocks.

Since copper can be abundant in andesite, I eagerly tuck those away in my pockets. For now though, I gather all the flint and roots around me, along with a sturdy-looking stick. Sitting down, I take a breath and look over my flint and andesite rock.

"Ok, I can knap this flint into a suitable knife edge." I hold one of the heavier rocks high before bringing it down, and … I strike my thumb holding the flint.

"CURSE MY EXISTENCE!" I shout to the ceiling as I wait for my thumb to stop throbbing from the blunt force trauma.

After that, and a few seconds of grumbling, I finally get back to it with a deep breath. And I start hacking away at the rock making it into a … serviceable-ish knife point. Attaching it to the stick with some pliable root makes it into a decent knife.

"It's not pretty, but she'll do for my conquest of this sideways hole!" I cackle again.

With the knife in my hand, I can now use it to harvest the flora and minerals to finally get my empire started. With this delightful thought in mind, I start hacking at the grass and prying out loose rocks to prepare for my next steps.

But before I can build anything, there are a few things to take care of.

"Food, water, and shelter. Even I need sustenance and the safety of a home, especially in this new world."

I put all my gathered items in a corner of the cave. This large, underground area looks more like a big room than a corridor, making for a good place to use as a base of operations until I can find someplace better.

Piling up the grasses and roots, I strike the flint against a piece of pyrite and find that it lights up the grasses and wood easily. After only a few attempts, I have a small flame consuming some of the dryer materials I managed to gather.

"Fire! Now man has passed the cavemen, the fact I'm in a cave notwithstanding!"

And with that, I skewer some mushrooms I found that the guidebook said were edible.

"I have absolutely no idea what a versa mushroom is, but apparently it's delicious and has as much protein as a steak so…" I trail off before eating the roasted mushroom.

Other than needing salt, the mushroom is fantastic. But a variety of nutrients is necessary for a healthy body, so I'll need to expand the options on my dinner plate before long.

"Some real meat would be great…"

Flipping through the manual again, I find a page that describes some of the more common lifeforms I may encounter. I say lifeforms because from the descriptions, calling them simple animals wouldn't do them justice.

"Man-eating bats, living slimes, and even goblins!? Isn't this just a typical fantasy world!?"

I look at my makeshift knife and realize that such a weapon might not do me much good if I run into any of the aforementioned creatures.

"I need something longer. Something that will turn a goblin into just a pile of meat. I'm definitely not eating it, though. Well, maybe just a bite…"

I can't help but get curious what a creature like a goblin would taste like, even though I doubt it'll be any good.

"Guess I should make a weapon next. And I know exactly which one I should make!"

When it comes to weapons, there's one that's both great against squishy creatures and is a useful tool for the future. If I can combine this tool and weapon into a single item, then I won't have to carry two heavy objects around this cave when I go exploring.

"Hmm. Which material would be best…"

Although I recognize most of the types of stone and other minerals, some are new to me. That shouldn't be possible, considering how adept I am with mineralogy. Yet never before seen crystals grow from the cave walls, calling to me with their mysterious properties.

"Does that mean even my knowledge of the periodic table is incomplete? Curses. I spent hours memorizing them all!"

My lamentation is quickly replaced with curiosity as I come to a stop next to one of those mysterious crystals. The murky, reddish-yellow mineral is slightly transparent and sparkles just a bit in the dim light.

"You." I run my hands along its smooth surface. "You will reveal your secrets to me, each and every one. And you shall be known as Coral Crystal."

The chunk of reddish-yellow Coral Crystal protrudes from the cave wall, as if trying to escape from the depths of the earth.

And so, I take my knife, intent on helping it gain the freedom it so desires. It turns out its trammel was well established as my pick knife is proving nigh-useless against the embedded crystal. So I decided to get creative, grabbing a hunk of the andesite and chiseling the scintillating crystal from its earthen shackle.

"I will have you crystal!" I declare to no one as I keep chipping away at the rock surrounding the material.

It turns out that mining without the right tools is a fool's errand, but after an hour of my near fruitless banging, I finally loose the crystal.

"Finally, this effigy of my contempt is released! And now, I will promptly use it to hit things." I wax poetic as I lower the shining piece of crystal to the ground.

Using the usual chunk of andesite, I start turning the crystal into an appropriately-shaped blunt instrument.

Next, I take one of the sturdier sticks I managed to gather and bind it to the crystal. Although crude, I finish crafting my first real weapon and tool, a Coral Hammer!

"Let's see if this works…” I hold the newly-formed hammer high. “Release the power held within!”

Nothing happened.

Well, that was to be expected, but it never hurts to try.

With the Coral Hammer acquired, I go deeper into my cave, holding a glowrock torch in my off hand. As I alight down the cave, I start hearing the clack and crack of pickaxes.

"Hmm, my knowledge says this could either be the seven dwarves or some manner of infestation of sentient stupidity." I set my glowrock torch down and creep forward, peeking into the tunnel ahead.

What I find aligns more with my second postulation of the inhabitants. Hunched over, green-skinned beings that hold crude tools and have a penchant for olfactory offense. I know instantly these are goblins, and they appear to be mining out the copper deposits in the stone as a foreman cracks a whip to get the gobs beneath him to keep working.

"So, it appears they hold an abuse based society. A tad barbaric for my tastes…" I muse as I look over my unsavory neighbors.

The creatures may be crude, but there are many of them and only one of me. From the looks of them, they’re only the size of children, but the one holding the whip must eat from a different plate because he’s both taller and thicker than the unfortunate saps at the business end of his whip.

“I suppose I’ll grant all of you a stay of execution for now.”

I silently turn and make my way back toward my camp, with the path back being simple and short. Too short.

“I’ll need to clean this infestation out of my new home. But how…” I turn a rocky corner, pondering on the many ways to bring about the goblins’ demise.

A shadow moves. Bringing my eyes to the source, I catch sight of one of my new adversaries.

The goblin is just as surprised to see me as I am to see it. A guttural sound escapes its thin, leathery lips, as if the creature can’t decide whether it wants to scream in fear or shout in anger.

“D-don’t sneak up on me, you overgrown gremlin!”

The ugly creature can’t even comprehend my command. No doubt because of its incredible stupidity.

Its screech pierces my ears, this time full of malice.

“Yes, it clearly lacks the mental capacity to understand complex speech. I would be doing the world a favor by removing them from–woah!”

The goblin swings the crude piece of wood in his hand that only vaguely resembles a club. Unlike the creature, the weapon isn’t child-sized. Getting hit by it would actually really hurt.

“Hey, wait for me to finish my monologue before attacking!” I yell at the goblin, despite knowing that it lacks the faculties to understand me.

That doesn't strip the creature of the ability to brain me,so  I decide to go on the offensive.

"Have at you!" I shout at the thing, swinging my crude hammer.

Of course, knowing how to swing an improvised cudgel doesn’t automatically equate to the weapon actually being effective. With such variables, it's easy to miss, as is the case when the goblin ducks under my wide swing.

"I see you have some animal cunning to stop yourself from walking into my weapon. Very well! Even though it might be below my status as a gentleman, I shall endeavor to make up for this display of underhanded skullduggery with some of my own!"

I kick dirt and rocks into the goblin's face, then whack it with my crude billy club while it stumbles back in surprise.

Fortunately, the strike proves effective, as the thing groans and slumps over before while its head sways back and forth like a pendulum.

"I seem to have inflicted him with a most ghastly concussion. Very well, then. I shall end his misery!" I crack the goblin's skull with a second swing.

Level up!

A rush of power assails my body, and I felt my aches dissolve into the void. At the same time, I feel myself getting tougher, faster, and stronger. Unfortunately, no helpful information pops in front of my eyes after the message, so I suppose I’ll have to look into it later.

Just as I take my first step from the recent battlefield, the goblin disappears into sparkling light, and something thunks onto my head.

"Ow! Why does that keep happening?!" I curse the ceiling.

Looking at the ground, I see a pouch. It’s the same accursed item that just dealt a blow to my cranium, but as I pick it up and open it, my frustration at being trounced by an inanimate object quickly fades.

Held within the leathery pouch are the spoils of my recent battle. There’s a fang, a bone, a round red sphere, and a bent copper coin.

“This sphere…” I hold my treasure up in front of my face. “Could this be what the guidebook called a core? Hmm. More research material. At this rate, I’ll be busy for weeks! Mwahahah!”

I put the pouch on my belt, tying it off.

"Let’s keep moving." I steady my stance and pick up the hammer, along with the goblin's crude billy club.

I make it back to my smoldering fire in no time, where I quickly turn the billy club into a crude torch.

"If the goblins work how I think they do, bright light should agitate them and make them disoriented, meaning I can distract the foreman with the light and brain him before he can rally his hench things against me. Solid plan!" I nod as I talk out my ingenious idea.

I was never an athletic person back on Earth. That hasn’t changed here, as just a couple hours of walking around and gathering materials had been starting to wear me out. Not to mention the braining I had to give that rude goblin.

But leveling up restored a lot of my energy, making me feel like I can work for another couple hours again.

“And I’m going to use my new strength to conquer this cave. Soon, every creature here will see me as its rightful ruler! Hahahaha!” My cackle matches that of my torch’s fire.

Although it’d be nice to have a gun. Or a grenade launcher. Or a flamethrower. Or anything else that creates a loud sound and makes things disappear.

But unfortunately…

I look to my crude Coral Crystal hammer. “You’ll have to do for now.”

I don’t want my torch to go out, so I promptly exit the campsite, heading deeper into the cave. Back to where those ugly goblins were mining.

“Memorizing paths through this cave is a simple matter!” My feet never hesitate, despite how similar everything looks. “As expected of me. A place like this has no choice but to bow to my rule.”

Skill Acquired: Spelunking I

The helpful menu popped up to recognize my prowess at navigating the cavernous warrens of my dominion.

“Ah, my power grows ever stronger!”

Turns out, laughing isn’t a very good idea when you’re standing at the entrance to a large room filled with goblins.

Two of the filthy creatures stop their hands, their pickaxes falling to their sides.

“Acli boogan!!” One of the creatures makes a crude sound, pointing in my direction.

What the creature was trying to say is anyone's guess. Of course, I’ve already vanished from the opening. Some may say I’m hiding, but that’s not true. I’m merely waiting for the opportune moment to strike. Preferably after they forget about the laughter they heard.

“Igai nogaf….” The second goblin makes its own strange noises.

“Gapaha gapaha!!" A deeper voice fills the room, alongside the cracking of a whip.

Using a technique known as ‘peeking’, I stick my head out just enough to see into the room. The fore driver has already made his way over to the two less-than-willing goblins that have stopped mining.

One of them makes another noise, pointing toward me again. But the fore driver isn’t interested in anything except the sound of his whip. And it sure does make a loud noise when he cracks it on the goblin’s body.

"Yes, my plan is working perfectly." I snicker as I watch the creatures move to my will.

My laugh catches the attention of the fore driver. He looks my way, but I've already ducked behind the corner again.

But there's one thing that can't be hidden, even when I'm out of sight.

The flickering flame dances off the cave walls, visible even to the goblins inside the room.

"Giboho?" The fore driver's footsteps draw close to my hiding spot.

With a hammer in one hand and a torch in the other, I stand behind the corner, waiting until…

The face of an ugly goblin peeks at me from around the corner.

"Have at you, fiend!" I jam the torch in his face.

"Groarrrr!!"

I somehow doubt the sound the fore driver just released was part of their strange language.

Blinded, the thick goblin swings the same whip he just used on the two unfortunates from before. But his obfuscated vision helps deviate the attack vector.

Two cracks resound in the cave tunnel. One is the whip hitting the rocky wall beside me, and the other is the sound of my Coral Crystal Hammer crushing the fore driver's skull.

"Just as planned." I raise my bloodied weapon toward the two unfortunates. "And you can't tell me otherwise."

"Guwa!" One of them makes a strange sound and takes a step back.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" I step toward the unfortunates.

"Gwah!?" It turns and runs.

"Get back here!"

After realizing what's happening, all the goblins drop their picks and flee. The little creatures are good at scampering around, but my long legs are enough for me to catch any I set my eyes on.

One after another, they meet the same fate as their fore-driver.

"Hah … I need heavier artillery…" I lower my hammer and let out a breath. "Welp, operation GIMME is now in effect!"

Although some of the goblins managed to escape, I was able to clear out a good chunk of them. By turning them into chunks.

There's no way I'm chasing them all down while carrying this heavy hammer, so I grab the spoils of battle and make my way back through the tunnels until I reach my temporary camp.

"Now then." I put my Coral Crystal Hammer down. "Let's see what we can come up with."

I look around and notice the burnt out remains of my camp.

"Excellent point, Mr. Campfire!" I shout as I grab the charcoal.

I spend most of the afternoon grabbing various things, sturdy sticks, rounded rocks, a handful of seashells, bat guano and a few other materials. Then I sit down next to a glowshroom and start working.

"Let’s see–following the preferred method, it’s a 3-2-1 ratio!" I ration out the three ingredients into separate piles.

I start humming as I begin mixing them, and the system acknowledges my fabulous work.

Skill gained: Alchemy 1

For inventing a new recipe you gain 2 Alchemy ranks.

Skill gained: Compounding 1

For creating new compounds you gain 2 compounding ranks.

Please give a name to your creations

"Yes! I have become an unparalleled genius!" I shout as I exalt over the system recognizing the novelty of my new items.

"Saltpetre, potassium nitrate, carbon, gunpowder." I list off as their information populates my vision.

My unparalleled knowledge of mineralogy and other resources comes in handy, allowing me to extract and create a variety of useful ingredients from the raw material in the cave.

"Now for the main event!" I hold up my flint knife.

It takes far more work than I’d like, but I eventually manage to hollow out a chunk of wood.

Holding up the hollowed out chunk that looks like a coconut shell, I tie some roots around it to make a closed sphere, then fill the wooden coconut with gunpowder and some smaller copper pieces. Using some potassium nitrate and gunpowder, I make a fuse and attach it to the shell.

Skill Acquired: Mad science 1

For inventing a new weapon you gain 2 additional ranks in the skill, and your prior experience adds a further 5 ranks.

Please give a name to your weapon.

"Copper Shrapnel Bomb, and that's just hurtful, you vile system!" I shout at the panel before it disappears.

I grab my wooden coconut that’s been turned into a death grenade and grin.

"These goblins won't infect my domain for much longer!!!"

Chapter 4

I take a deep breath as I gaze down at the plague infesting my future lair!

Among the green gremlins below, one of the goblins sticks out among the rest, wearing a splotched purple cloak and veil wielding a staff adorned with trinkets and baubles of the bloody trophy variety.

"That's just unsanitary…" I mutter as I keep counting my unsuspecting adversaries.

"Ok … shaman, axeman, moron with a stick, and a goblin with a wooden greatstick." I lift a finger for each one.

"Welp, time to excise them…" I strike the flint wick cap on the bomb and hurl it into the pit.

KABOOM!

The cave rumbles as the bomb explodes upon hitting the bottom of the pit.

"That's a spicy meatball!" I shout.

Level up!

Skill Acquired: Riotry 1

For going beyond the damage any one rioter can deal with a rock, you gain 2 levels.

"So thrown weapons are relegated to riots, I see…"

From my vantage point on a small cliff, I observe the damage I inflicted on the goblin camp. At least, I do until I get pelted by a war chest for killing the goblins.

"Ow!" I shout as my head is subjected to more abuse by the magically appearing item. "Damn you system!"

Looking over at the war chest that brained me, I wonder briefly if it might be locked before I shrug and try opening it. Managing to open the box without issue, I gaze inside it.

Within is the shaman's staff, the axeman's shield, the shaman's core, 2 regular goblin cores, a folded coat, and … a computer chip? Checking the coat, I can’t help but see it as a lab coat, but the chip quickly steals my attention.

A special system panel pops up just in front of me.

Insert Chip.

It’s just a digital screen like all the ones before, but the panel has a hole in the center like a coin slot, which is where I slide the chip in.

Screen unlocked: Inventory and Equipment.

The panel opens up, showing a grid of spaces. All the items that were inside the treasure chest suddenly populate my new inventory system, along with a few unexpected stowaways.

“Why did my clothes vanish into my inventory!?”

Although I’m alone, it’s embarrassing to just stand around in my birthday suit, so I quickly retrieve my clothes. They appear directly on my body, exactly as they were before I gained my new skill.

"Well, that's delightful." I looked over the new menus.

Just by performing certain actions, I end up unlocking skills. I have a growing number of them in my skill list, though I'm still not sure how they help me.

"More research required. I need to spend some time to really figure out–”

“Gooagiii!” A roar interrupts me.

Looking down, I realize that I am, in fact, not as alone as I thought.

“Oh, right. Some of the fodder survived. Guess I should remedy that.”

I hold my hand up, and my Coral Crystal Hammer appears in it. “I leveled up, so I’m feeling quite refreshed. More than enough to brain a few overgrown gremlins.”

I jump off the small cliff, hitting the ground with a thud. Despite falling nearly twice my height, I barely even stumble when I land.

“Okay, maybe that was a bit much…” I steady myself. “But my extra strength is already starting to show itself, huh? Then let’s see what I can do against these goblins infesting my cave.”

—-------

I look around the goblin's former den. Although some of them managed to scurry away from my divine judgment, most became splatters on the rocky floor before they realized just how outmatched they were.

But I’ve already put those pests out of my mind.

"If they were mining, then they must have a stockpile of ore. It could be very useful for the future."

Scanning, I see a couple piles of ore and other materials in the corner of the room. In fact, the room is quite large. Larger than the one where I set up my campfire.

"Hmm. Perhaps I was a little hasty destroying the crude shacks the goblins built. The wood might have come in handy."

Now, they’re reduced to splinters. Though perhaps I can salvage enough to build something.

"Speaking of wood, these oversized gremlins knew how to get out of this cave. That's the only way they could get their hands on wood."

Stepping through the debris field, I make my way to the center of the cave. There's a fire pit, complete with the bones of their recent meal.

"That's it! I'm a genius!" I spin, taking in the large room. "This will become my new domain! Hahahaha!"

With my arms stretched out wide, my laugh continues to echo off the stone walls.

"Yes, it will make a fine base. Before that…" I look around at the messy room. "I need to do some cleaning."

"But first!" I reach down and grab a piece of wood. "I need to do some crafting!"

The goblins had a modicum of intelligence. At least, some of them did. I won't be able to find out which ones since I blew them all to smithereens, but if I had to guess, it was the shaman.

Either way, the creatures built crude structures, like the shack I blew up where all the important looking ones were conveniently standing before being even more conveniently obliterated.

Therefore, they're bound to have construction materials somewhere, and it doesn't take me long to find them.

"Crudest of the crude." I hold up a thing that passes for a nail. "But I can make it work."

Since my hammer is sufficient enough, I put it to use as soon as I gathered enough unbroken planks.

"Finished!" I step back and look at my magnificent creation. "This will allow me to expand my domain far beyond what anyone could ever imagine!"

The workshop table is as basic as they come, but it's enough to make some simple tools. And some better weapons, if needed.

Skill Acquired: Crafting 1

Prior experience adds 4 ranks.

"Amazing." I raise my hammer high. "My power grows further."

Quest Completed: Find shelter

Reward: Manual of esoteric theorems and phenomena.

The vile system once again proves antagonistic towards me as another tome cracks me on the head.

"Every time!" I curse to the heavens

Looking at the cranial offense, I notice this book appears more arcane than scientific.

Read tome?

"Yes."

The book opens and the arcane letters and symbols burn themselves into my brain like a branding. Suddenly, I'm aware of something quite extraordinary.

Magic learned: Golemancy

At base level, you can create golemites that will follow simple commands.

I grin as I look upon the new menu in my system.

Golemancy

Opening it, the display shows three separate input sections. The first is a resource material, like ore or wood. The second is a core, like the ones I sometimes get when defeating monsters. And the third is the mana investiture used to power the crafting system.

There's a fourth cell, but it’s grayed out. It doesn’t say what it’s for, but either I need to rank up my Golemancy more to unlock it, or I need a special material that I don’t have on me.

I notice the shaman core has a green band around it as I pluck it from my inventory.

Shaman core

Can create an Evoker golemite

That sounds extremely useful so I put it in my Golemancy menu along with some stone, then add mana into the designated slot.

Choose evoker's element

Earth

Wind

Fire

I chose earth for obvious reasons.

Golemite Evoker summoned. Chosen element Earth. Material synergy activated. Summoning Stone Golemite Terraformer.

An oblong stone with pebble hands builds itself right in front of me. It opens two points on its upper body, like eyes the color of onyx, and a cliche wizard's hat appears above the eyes. The creature only comes up to my shin, but I get the feeling that it’s tougher than its small size suggests.

"Excellent!" I shout as I looked upon the golemite.

It stares at me expectantly with its onyx-colored eyes as if waiting for an order.

"Right, orders, expand this cavern into a suitable living space.”

It nods, then pulls a stone staff from … somewhere and starts turning the cavern into a more spacious affair.

I watch with a grin as the little stone creature turns the rocky walls of the cavern into pebbles with far more ease than its little body should be capable of doing.

“Well, this will make turning this sideways hole into my personal domain a simple matter. More! I need more golemites!”

Using a few more of the goblin cores, I create more of the small, stone creatures and set them to work alongside the first. By the time I have them all digging away at the walls, the first one has already made a lot of progress.

“Hmm. It seems that the one created with the Shaman core is faster and stronger than the others. That can only mean one thing…” I raise my Coral Crystal Hammer. “I need to go hunting.”

A pebble falls onto my shoulder. Looking up, I notice a crack in the ceiling.

“Could it be that setting off an explosive device in a natural cave was a bad idea?” I think upon my words. “No, I’m certain that has nothing to do with that crack that seems to be growing wider, even as I look up on it.”

With my face still turned upward, words appear in my vision.

Hidden Quest completed

Create a golemite

Reward: Forging Hammer

The forging hammer bonks me on the head as it appears above me.

"DAMN YOU, CEILING!" I shout while shaking my fist.

Consciously avoiding the temptation to rub at the lump on my head, I pick up the hammer and immediately send it to my inventory.

The tool has a gold band around it in my inventory, so I immediately know what to do with it. I put it into the Golemancy menu with a hunk of copper as the material and put in more mana

Instantly, a copper-colored woman appears wearing an apron and a knotted headband while holding a forging hammer.

Unlike the golemites, the copper woman is as tall as a human, with feminine features that far outclass the rough, rocky appearances of the smaller constructs.

"It appears you are in a mountain, Doctor.” She speaks flawlessly, despite her metallic body. “And your weapons are subpar at best, so we are going to fix that. I shall generate a quest."

New quest: bigger boom

Gather 10 iron 4 wood

Reward: 10 gold

System notice: This is my job, get rid of her.

Ignoring the system, I make note of the materials needed to complete the quest. But before I go gather them, I have one more thing to do here.

“Hey, Ms. Smith.”

“Yes, Doctor?”

“It seems that due to some … unknown violent force that had absolutely nothing to do with a homemade bomb, this cave is at risk of collapse.”

“Don’t worry, Doctor. I will have the golemites cease their expansion of the domain and focus their efforts on reinforcing the stone that’s been damaged by your excessive use of force.”

“Excellent!” I ignore the part where she accuses me of being the culprit. “Then I shall leave it to you and focus on completing the quest!”

I set off to gather the materials. In doing so, I find a deeper cavern which has dark rocks that glitter with gray sparkles and red dust.

Putting my Coral Crystal Hammer to use, I start harvesting anything that seems the least bit useful, slowly filling my inventory up with future crafting material.

After a successful trip through the tunnels, I return to the main room where Ms. Smith and the golemites are still working on turning it into a serviceable base of operations.

Well, some of them are still working.

I walk up to one of the lesser golemites that’s standing still, checking it for damage. However, I quickly realize why the little creature is no longer working.

Insufficient mana, please wait for recharge.

An unfortunate setback, but at least I know the limits of my creations before my life depended on it.

Fortunately, the golemite created from the Shaman core is still functioning. Walking up to it, the creature turns its onyx-colored eyes to me, the wizard hat staying put on its head, despite the odd angle.

"Terraformer, my good golemite, I have a new order. Excavate this iron."

He nods and waves his hands about, pushing the stone away from the ore vein before he starts digging into it. And it’s a big vein.

"Excellent!" I moved the growing pile of iron to my inventory.

Walking back to the Smith, I hand her the iron and the wood.

"Excellent, I'll be able to make my forge now." She gets to work on it immediately.

A sack lands on my head as my quest completes.

"Damn you!" I shout to the heavens again.

Looking at the sack, I see it’s filled with gold coins embossed with a woman's relief.

"Must be the territory's ruler. She’s not taking my mountain from me, no matter what!”

The Smith just shakes her head as the terraformer makes her workshop with stone countertops. She places an anvil down in the center while the furnace is still under construction.

"It might not be much, but it should help us get started, Doctor." She looks at me. “With this workshop, I can make various weapons and tools to further expand your territory.”

"Excellent Ms. Smith, I'm eager to have better weaponry when I claim this mountain as my base of operations!"

Hidden Quest Completed

Finish Tutorial

Reward: Inked Quill

"Ow!" I cry out as something sharp pokes me in the head. “This rotten system…”

Right after, a feather falls, hitting the stone ground. Reaching down, I pick it up and realize the sharp tip of the feather is covered in black ink.

"It appears this is another special tool, as it has a gold band in my inventory." I posit as I look at the quill resting in storage.

Opening the Golemancy menu, I place the inked quill inside, along with a chunk of rare, green crystal the golemite found.

When I pour my mana into the skill, it releases a burst of energy, and a new golem woman appears in front of me. She has a secretary outfit, with her green hair perfectly held in place with a hairclip, along with a green set of eyes to match.

“Greetings, Master. I wish to thank you for creating me. I have a quest for you, if you’re willing.”

I nod at her “Of course, Ms. Secretary. Now that you’re here, I have both a weaponsmith and an advisor. My empire is finally taking shape!”

“That’s great, Master. Now, as for the quest…”