Epic Of Caterpillar

[Day 18]

When I woke up, I found the Wyvern family preparing for the trip down, they all seem to have Item Box too.

"Ah, fellow Kireina, you have finally woke up. I think we are all ready, let's not waste time"

"Oh! Yeah sure, let's go"

They were packing more Lower Eldritch Octopus on their Item Box until it was full.

Using the incredible speed of the Wyvern's wings, we all went down the Peak, and I said my farewell to such an amazing view like the Astral Road.

"I hope one day, I can cross such a mysterious place…"

"Master, I am sure you will! And we will be there with you!"

"Guuuu…!"

I told the Wyverns about the little wolf family waiting for us so we had a quick stop around the cave and brought them all with us. The Wyvern's backs were quite broad so they were able to carry every wolf with ease.

"Master Kireina, this is incredible, I have never thought that one day I would go to the Forest down below that I always admired since I was a little pup"

"Is that so? Well, do not think that you will have an easy time! I will work you all to the bone! Laziness will not be tolerated! (Except for me of course!)"

"Ah! Y-yes…!"

"Hahaha! Don't worry, Yuki. If you work hard master will surely reward you, he's a benevolent Master!"

"W-what are you talking you stupid dog?! I am trying to look tough! Sigh…"

"Guuuu… gehehehe…"

"What are you laughing at you brainless blob?!"

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After around 2 hours of traveling, we finally got to our cave.

"Haahh, home sweet home!"

"Master! You are back! I became strong, just as you said!"

Just after entering the cave, I was greeted by an adorable and girly voice, it was no other than Milim, who has changed a little in her appearance, having double her size, with a stronger pink color and bigger horns and tail.

"Are you Milim? So you evolved…"

When I inspected Milim's status window, she seemed to have increased her stats incredibly fast, almost three times the speed of Rimuru growth based on stats per level up, her new race was "Higher Pink Illusion Being". This type of being specializes on Illusion Magic and strong dark spells.

"You grow really fast Milim, well done"

Pat pat

"Ahhhh! Master! It's an honor to be patted by you!"

Milim was so happy that she suddenly extended her whole body and wrapped me in a strong hug, just as Rimuru does some times.

"Gaaaahhh! Let me go! You stupid blob!"

Squish squish

My minds inside my head could only suffer with me.

"Haahh… Slimes are a pain in the ass"

"Indeed…"

"Hahaha! Shes got… quite the energy…!

After checking on every monkey in the cave, I found out that quite a lot evolved, some even twice!

The leaders were not able to evolve, but some changed to new and stronger classes, even the non-combat leaders were able to evolve and become stronger.

"This training was indeed very useful! Even the little Chokumotsu got stronger!"

After checking on every Squad Leader's strength, I found out that some already were as strong as Wagyu stat-wise. Especially Kekensha, the most experienced wolf, he seems like a very reliable Leader now, I am tempted to add him to the main party, but the Wyverns should have priority for now.

I introduced Yuki and the Ice Wolves to the community, they all were very welcomed by everyone, it seems that after being forced to train together so much both wolves and monkeys left out their differences, making this whole community quite open minded with new introduced members.

Afterwards, I told the Crimson Wolf mothers to take care of the Ice Wolf pups, which they were happy to oblige. They seem like very experienced mothers. In addition, in the time I was out, the pregnant Crimson Wolf gave birth to four beautiful and adorable puppies!

"Ugh, wolf puppies are so adorable, they remind me of my previous life dog when I raised him…"

When the Wyverns were introduced to the group, their size and appearance amazed everyone, calling them "Divine Beasts" or "Legendary Creatures". Even for the strong and confident Wyverns, such praise and attention made all of them blush in embarrassment.

Finishing all the introductions and stat checking we started a little feast to celebrate the new members, I specially ordered the Cooking Team to cook all the different creatures we found in the mountains, including the Lower Eldritch Octopus.

Before eating I went to a separate room to speak with the Wyverns about something important.

"What's going Kireina?"

"Why the sudden reunion?"

"Okay, I will just be straight with you guys… Do you want to become my servants?"

"Wha?!"

"Ah…"

"…"

"Eh?"

"…"

"I am pretty sure you all have checked all my skills already and even my blessing given to me by that mysterious god and after seeing my servants you all were already sure that I can pass such blessing to any servant"

"I… yes we have seen that"

"I have also noticed that even though you were born this strong, after so many years you guys have barely become stronger, you all are pretty much just using the power your father just give to you"

"Hahaha, you are quite sharp, Kireina, it is true, Wyverns grow incredibly slow, even after leveling multiple times, our level cap is too big and evolution is still too far, even after so many thousands of years"

"Kireina, do you want to help us by making us your servants?"

"Yes, that is the plan, but you guys will be an exception, I won't threat you as actual servants, you will be my equal comrades, I won't rename you guys either, you will benefit more than me on this"

"Is it really possible to share your blessing with us? Can you make us grow faster? I… Have always wondered how long it would take me to get stronger and evolve…"

"Yes, father left us on the Peaks because it's a relatively safe place for us to hunt easy meals, barely any predators inhabit that place…"

"Brothers, we may seem strong to these beings now, but they will surely outgrow us in the long run…"

"You guys are the last Wyverns, becoming part of this community will help your race grow again, with my blessing, even fertility will be higher"

"Kireina… Why are you doing this? I mean, yes father give you our blessing, but that doesn't really mean that you have to come this far for our sake, we barely met yesterday…"

"I… I mean… Why not? It always feels nice to have strong comrades to relay on"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"(Did I say something wrong…?)"

"Pffft! Buwahahahaha!"

"Hahahaha!"

"Geez Kireina, you are such an interesting being… hahaha"

"Hehehe"

"Hahahaha, alright then! We will become your brothers!"

"Eh? Really?"

"Yes! It is decided! Right guys?"

"For sure, our father was indeed correct when choosing you"

"I cannot agree more with my brothers, Kireina"

"Hahaha, you are so funny! I like you!"

"Hmm! Kireina, we have already seen your whole family, can you even call them your servants? They are more like a warm and close family to our eyes"

After such praises, I couldn't resist to blush in embarrassment!

"I-I… guys, haha…"

"Very well, do it Kireina!"

[The Wyverns: Abellona, Aine, Adena, Titus and Eshne have offered to become your Minions]

[Do you accept?]

"Ah! I-I never thought it would work in the first try… I accept!"

[You have won five new Minions! 16/40]

After we finished the meeting, we all went to have a nice meal in the big feast.

In the middle of the feast, the Wyverns started to freak out when they saw their rusty skill window finally gaining new skills!

"Th-this! It's true!! For the love of the Wyvern Gods!"

"Impressive… such potential… I am thrilled to go train now…"

"I cannot believe that a muscle head like me would learn magic some day! Hahaha!"

"Ahhh! Are these the Lower Eldritch Octopus skills…? No way…!"

Even Yuki was surprised when seeing her little skills increasing massively!

"Such power, I am not worthy, Master Kireina… snif snif"

"Gah! D-don't cry! Sigh…"

The meals for today were quite varied, I ate so much that even my little vacuums stomach created by my belly related skills felt full.

[Snow Rabbit King Meat And Veggies Soup: A delicious soup made with the tender meat of the Snow Rabbits and forest veggies. Goes good with some beer.

Effects: Grants +4 to Defense and Resistance for the next 24 hours. Restores 70 MP and 60 Stamina]

[Roasted Snow Rabbit Beef: A big slice of a snow rabbit leg roasted and spiced to perfection. Goes good with beer.

Effects: Grants +5 to Strength and Speed for the next 24 hours. Restores 50 MP and 90 Stamina]

[Icy Storm Bird King Karage: A special variant of Karage using the Icy Storm Bird, crunchy and juicy.

Effects: Grants +4 to Magic and Resistance for the next 24 hours. Restores 80 MP and 40 Stamina]

[Crunchy Eldritch Octopus Fried Tentacles: Tender tentacles spiced and deep-fried for the perfect crunchy texture.

Effects: Grants +6 to Magic for the next 24 hours. Restores 90 MP and 60 Stamina]

[Forest Blessings Soup: A special soup for special occasions using different types of meat from monster all around the vast forest.

Effects: Grants +4 to every stat for the next 24 hours. Restores 80 MP and 100 Stamina. Special effect: Auto stamina regeneration for the next 24 hours.]

"Ooooh! This Forest Blessings Soup is really something else! It's incredible! I can taste the River Walking Fish, Dark Squirrel, Swamp Alligator, Gale Birds, Flame Salamander and even Hairy Spider! So many flavors are melting on my mouth!"

The day was still young so after everyone had a fulfilling meal we all went to the training grounds and used [MP Share] to summon more dark beings.

This time I also connected my MP to the five Wyverns who had an amazing quantity saved, they got [MP Share] after drinking loads of Forest Blessings Soup.

I quickly summoned more than 400 beings this time, increasing the level of the skill to 7, and just as before, a stronger and rare variant came out too!

"Guuuu! Hello master!"

"Is this… some kind of gacha game… Hello little one, you seem quite interesting…"

I quickly checked the new members stats and race, he was blue colored this time with a big demon tail on his back but no horn like Milim. The race name was "Higher Demonic Water Being".

"Haha you kind of remind me of Rimuru when he just was summoned, haaah… such nostalgia"

I ended up calling him Ranga, he was quite the energetic fellow and didn't even mind killing his fellow Dark Beings like Milim did.

[You gained one Minion! 17/40]

"Haah, I already can see that this one is quite the muscle head"

I introduced Ranga to Milim and Rimuru and they all got along quite fast, I then told them to start training immediately.

"Hmm, should I summon more? Now that we have Wyverns training…"

I quickly summoned 244 more Dark Beings, maxing out the skill level, this time I didn't got a strong variant sadly.

[Summon High Elemental Beings: Level 10] > [Summon Lower Demonic Beings: Level 1]

"Demonic Being? What is that?"

Using the new skill, I discovered that every being summoned would be red colored this time, having way higher stats too, and stronger skills by default. I found this interesting for the others to eat, so I summoned 100 of them and ordered them to stay still and let themselves be killed.

"Hmm, that should be enough… Ugh, using so much MP is quite tiring…"

I left the training teams and wyverns training for the meantime, the wyverns seemed to be excited about their new power and already started leveling up at a fast pace.

"Hmm, the Wyverns told me that their level cap for each of their next evolutions is around 60, that's so much… The worst part is that they need big amounts of EXP per level, and the amounts needed increase a lot for each level. I hope my shared blessing can help out in this as much as possible"

I headed inside the cave to check on the activities teams, it seems like Shokunin and Tsuchimizu have teamed up on remodeling the inside of the cave and have successfully extracted tons of precious minerals.

"Ah, Master Kireina! We were waiting for you"

"Master, please take a look"

They showed me all the new rooms they were able to create, including a big wide space made exclusively for the Wyverns.

"It is indeed very large; it even has a pool for them to bathe? Did you do this Tsuchimizu?"

"Ah, yes Master. Using my new powers I have been adding new water canals around the whole cave that connects directly with the Western River, so we can get fresh water and even some fish from time to time"

"Amazing work! You are indeed a big asset to this community, well done you two"

"Ah, Master Kireina, about the next plans, we have planned to remodel everything even more, from the kitchen to even a better training ground, including private bathrooms"

"P-Private Bathrooms?! But you are a monkey! How do you even know about that?"

"Ah, you see, it's all inside my "Global Construction and Architecture Book" skill, its indeed amazing, it grants plans from about hundreds of different buildings constructed by advanced civilizations through the years"

"Is that true…? That's crazy, to think that there are such useful skills out there…"

"Yes, as we grow larger and larger as a community, we will need larger and more efficient spaces for all of us, that includes separate rooms, a better kitchen and bathrooms, with the help of my fellow comrade Tsuchimizu, it will be easy"

"I-I see… so that means that in the future this place will be like some kind of castle or something? That's too cool! No way!"

"Hahaha! Well, yes that's indeed the in the long run, but for now we should concentrate our energy on private rooms and bathrooms, and advance further from that point, even expanding through the entire mountain, making it entirely our house"

"Oooh! I always thought that you were a boring Carpenter but you really dream big Shokunin! Ask me for anything you need, from wood to rocks to water! I will immediately command a team for that!"

"Thank you very much for your support Master, we will do! ...(Boring Carpenter…?)"

Afterwards, I wanted to check on Kusuri, maybe he had some new accessories for me to devour.

"Hey Kusuri! Eh?!"

"Hello, master!"

When I got into Kusuri room I found a big cauldron inside, it was almost five times the size of his old one!

"Where did you got this cauldron? Its massive!"

"Ah! Hahaha! Senior Shokunin helped me craft a new one, you see, after changing my class to "Elemental Alchemist and Crafter" we needed a bigger cauldron for my synthesis experiments"

"Using my new skills I can even synthetize materials and immediately craft weapons and armor. But I still think that an actual Blacksmith would be more useful than me in that regard"

"Hmmm that is true, even if you can do they job, someone who specializes on it will surely be better, do you know about someone with some blacksmith talent?"

"You are indeed very sharp, Master. We have this little monkey here who was born with a blacksmith related skill, but it still doesn't have a class yet, come here!"

"Y-yes Senior Kusuri…"

A little and shy monkey came from the back of Kusuri, it seems like it was hiding behind him.

"Hmm, let me see your stats then"

After checking on his status I immediately realized that this monkey wasn't ordinary at all, he had a special skill named [Novice Forgery Affinity].

"Oh, it's true! Why did I never noticed you? I guess you really like to lay low, don't you? Alright then, you will receive a name and will go straight to the training grounds!"

"Y-yes Master…!"

I named the future Blacksmith, Kajiya (Blacksmith or Metallurgy in Japanese).

"Very well then Kajiya, go straight to the training rooms and tell the Leaders to instruct you and help you on leveling up"

"Y-yes, Master! T-thank you very much for my new name…! I… will not disappoint you!"

When Kajiya went to the training grounds, I started to check on Kusuri craftings and potions.

Kusuri started to add countless materials inside the cauldron and then activated the skill         [Synthesis] making the cauldron shine with a bright green light, until an item came out of it floating.

"So that's how you do them?"

"Indeed, here Master I made this for you"

Kusuri handed me a strange black colored ring with a crimson colored gem encrusted on it.

"Hmm? Is this…"

[Blood Pact Ring: A special ring that grants the user with the skill [Blood Pact] Additionally, it grants +3 to all stats while equipped]

"Blood Pact? For what is it?"

"You see Master, according to my Alchemy and Crafting skill, it seems to be a slavery skill, and you can create a Blood Pact with anything weaker than you as long as both of you share and combine your blood while activating the skill, it doesn't work with stronger or equal powered being unless they agree"

"Hmmm, I see… so Slavery exist even in this world…"

My minds started to speak in my head.

"Indeed, slavery is a normal product of intelligence, slave the weak with strength, and use them for your own benefit, but isn't this not so different than your whole minion system?"

"It is indeed quite similar, but not so much, this slavery seems to be more forced and with bigger rules… minions usually follow you on their own…"

"Hmmm, this might come quite useful when some monster don't want to become your minions no matter what"

"Forcing them to join me, hahaha… It is indeed quite fucked up by itself…"

Kusuri quickly noticed me and started to inform me about the benefits of a blood pact that normal minions or servants don't have.

"You see Master, Blood Pacts comes with advantages to the Slave too, like for example, sharing some of your power with them through this blood connection, also increasing their gained EXP and their evolution choices will be greater, they will also obtain the skill [Blood Affinity] and [Blood Control]"

"It might come in very useful then, especially with these upcoming Troll's army, I wonder how strong they are… (And of course I would be able to enslave sexy human girls!!!)"

After I finished fantasizing about enslaving cute girls, I decided to eat the ring whole. It tasted just as I imagined, very bloody and bitter.

[You learned a new Skill: Blood Pact Ring]

When I finished everything I had with Kusuri I headed to my room and started to fuse some skills.

"Ah… my old Water Shield skill is already level 10? I should had evolved it before"

[Basic Magic Water Shield: Level 10] > [Sturdy Magic Water Shield: LEVEL 1]

[Big Bird Binocular Vision] + [Crimson Wolf Emperor Strong Senses] + [Hairy Spider King Powerful 8 Eyes] = [Dark Moon 8 Senses]

"Eight senses…? Isn't the basic senses 5? No point trying to figure it out, it's better to just try it, activate skill: [Dark Moon 8 Senses]"

FLASH!

"Ehh? Guaaaah!"

After activating the weird skill, something strange happened to my perception of the world, as if I could see in different colors. When I started to concentrate, I found out that I was able to see from every direction, as if I had eyes on my back and my sides, I also was able to smell things very far away, and even see through the walls.

"So it's just powers up all my senses to the limit… Wait… What is that?"

Just before me, was a strange lump of light floating around.

"Is this… a spirit?"

The spirit noticed that I was able to see it and it came close to me.

"G-get away…!"

I scared the little spirit and it went far away.

"So one of the extra senses is being able to see spirits? What was it planning to do with me?"

After more inspecting, I could not sense anything else and deactivated the skill.

"Hmm, this is indeed very useful…"

I continued with my skill fusions.

[Sturdy Magic Water Shield] + [Basic Illusion Shield] + [Scorching Adamantite Strong Shell] = [Dark Moon Elemental Illusion Shield]

"Oh? Let's try this one… Activate skill: Dark Moon Elemental Illusion Shield!"

Just as I finished my command, a strong magical shield covered my entire body, after some testing I discovered I was able to infuse it with different elements, but I could only combine up to three elements in the elemental shield, it worked exactly like the previous ones, reducing damage while taking MP to regenerate itself.

[Water Bullet] + [Water Spear] + [High Water Magic] = [Fusion Magic: Gate Of Bjarmia]

"Eeehh?!!! It's my fusion spell! No way! It became an actual skill?"

After some testing I found out that, it worked just like the old Gate of Bjarmia I used when I was an Undine Butterfly, but without costing so much MP, I was even able to make the other two variations when infusing the other elemental based spells, without the need to cast             [Mana Zone] beforehand.

[Basic Fire Ball] + [Dark Fire Ball] + [Dark Squirrel King Dark Flame Core] = [Demonic Dark Flame Magic Core]

"What is this…? Activate skill: Demonic Dark Flame Magic Core!"

Flash!

Just in front of me, a big dark flame ball formed out of thin air, and then it fused inside my body.

[You have successfully created your first Magic Core]

"Magic Core…?"

My Cocky Mind quickly explained something to me.

"I have read this on the original skill [Dark Squirrel King Dark Flame Core], it's a temporary buff that creates a magic core. What is a magic core? Well it's supposed to be like a second heart but instead of pumping blood it pump magic through your entire body, which increases your affinities and cast speed. But this one seems to be different, it's actually permanent"

"Ah! So that's what it was…"

"You should read your skills a little bit more you dumbass, don't leave everything to us"

"But you guys are literally me, so it's fine, right?"

"I… Sigh…"

[Basic Earth Formation Magic] + [High Wind Element Magic] + [Basic Spirit Magic] = [High Dual Spirit Magic: Earth and Heavens]

"Oh, this should be the last one, quite the fancy name… Activate skill: High Dual Spirit Magic: Earth and Heavens!"

FLASH!

"Guaaahh!"

Suddenly a big flash of light almost blinded me, and then countless spirits started to gather around me, earth and wind ones being the majority until a big circle of magic finally formed.

After some testing, it seemed to give me power to manipulate and create stronger earth and wind spells, but with the help of the spirits, the cost of MP reduced a lot.

"That should be it, I will go train for now, and I shouldn't be slacking off after all. I am the Leader of all this"

I trained with the rest of my servants until the sun settled down.

[You've gained 12395 EXP] [The rest of your party gained 6197]

[You've gained three levels!] [Level 24/30 EXP 2517/3600]

[Party Member: Servant Wagyu gained one level!] [Level 25/25 EXP 2593/0000]

[Rimuru level 20/20 EXP 7697/0000]

When night finally fell, I went to meet the Wyvern group; they seemed happy and cheerful about their new leveling speed.

"Kireina, it is true, I am able to level up with such fast speed! In some many years that have passed I have never won so many levels consecutively!"

"Hmm! Indeed, such leveling speed, I wonder if we will be able to evolve soon."

"I am glad you guys can catch up with us leveling-wise, hmm by the way, don't you want to go look for your father…?"

"Ah! We have thought about that… But we made a decision, we will go look for him when we get rid of the menace of that Mad Mage from the Dark Nation"

"Yes, we need to get strong enough to be able to break father's seal and free him from his draining prison"

"We were too weak back then; father did everything to hide us, even going as far as leaving us on the Peaks"

"So your father left you guys on the Peaks because of the danger that the Human Champions brought?"

"Yes, the Humans were absurdly strong, we couldn't even scratch their armor…"

"Humans are incredibly strong beings that rule half the world, this is indeed true…"

"It is not a legend neither a myth, it is indeed a fact"

"Sigh… I never expected Humans to be such a big threat on this world… (Especially because they're always depicted as the weaker side in some novels and manga)"

"They indeed are, the Human clan is the clan with the most God existences, which grants them countless blessings at birth, making incredible monsters with high base stats, they own half the world, and plan to conquer the other half"

"If it wasn't for the other different humanoid races nations alliances, Humans would had taken the entire world for themselves already…"

"Hahaha, if they are so strong… I wonder how these Humans taste…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Buwahahaha! This little fellow is indeed interesting! Buwahaha! He wants to eat Humans?"

"Hahaha, you are very brave Kireina, I like you even more!"

"If that's what you plan to do then, by any means, let us help you!"

"We will help you defeat this human mage, and then we will fight versus half the world!"

"It is decided then, brothers!"

"Gah! R-really? Would you guys really help me after the mage?"

"Yes, our grudge against the Humans cannot be calmed with just one"

"We will show humans that we also want a piece of this world for us!"

"Y-you guys sure dream big… But for now let's go eat…"

After the big training session, I made sure that everyone killed every single Dark and Demonic beings left. It seemed that all the training recruits leveled to the max and most were ready for evolving, including our new Slime servant, Ranga, was ready to evolve too.

"Oh right, Wagyu and Rimuru also maxed they levels already, didn't you?"

"Ah Master, I am glad you noticed, indeed we are ready to evolve this night, I am excited on what choices I will get!"

"Guuu! I hope… I can talk better… After evolving!"

"I hope so too Rimuru, even those rookies talk better than you, you must not lose to them!"

"Guuuuu! I will… Do my best!"

After having a nice meal with my Servants, we went to sleep.

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