“Holy shit, that’s… I knew how many it’d be, but still!” Jordan exclaimed as he looked at what was a whole pile of Advancement Crystals. He’d ended up meeting with Haje in a random spot of forest a couple of miles away from his base, after heading back from the edge of his territory while a drone had been leading Haje that way as well. Considering the nature of this meeting, it was perhaps for the best that they were a fair distance away from the base itself and the people who were resting inside of it.

  Jordan quickly stashed the 20 whole new Advancement Crystals into his personal inventory space. It did leave a small lump in his stomach, knowing where they came from. The way it had been described to him, the way the group of those four had come from had died was not… pretty. Between them dying as a side effect of being transported to this world, and then the Elemental Lord that came by soon after.

  He could only imagine that after the last few days of their corpses being out, the scene Haje himself had come across had only grown worse as the bodies had surely been rotting. But at least now their bodies would no longer be just out in the open like that, so hopefully that was at least a small consolation to the dead.

  To put his thoughts away from it, he turned to his still new friend. “Thank you, by the way. Letting me take the kill and reward from that Lord… I don’t know if I can ever repay you for it, Haje. Especially with getting these Advancement Crystals for me too. And then this other thing too…” Jordan trailed off as he pulled the item in question out.

  Name: Crystal of Earth

  Grade: E5

  Description: This rare but naturally occurring crystal has potent energies associated with the concept of earth. So long as the crystal remains connected to its concept, the energy within it will continue to slowly increase. If left alone, this built-up energy will lead to the occasional spawning of an Earth Elemental.

  “We’ll need to see what it means by occasional… but it sounds like we just need to dig a pit or something into the earth, make it so the elementals it spawns aren’t a threat, and then we basically have free Experience Points. Even if the elemental is only Level 1 when it spawns or it’s at a pretty slow rate, I don’t even want to guess how valuable it’ll be in the long term. Actually, speaking of items like this…”

  “This is more of a metal. Any chance it could be useful for you?” Jordan put down the earth crystal and pulled something else out of his pocket space, which he then presented to Haje.

  Name: Lesser Infernum

  Grade: E1

  Description: This common metal has potent energies associated with the concept of fire and heat. So long as the metal remains connected to its concept, the energy within it will continue to slowly increase.

  Haje took the piece of fire-infused metal, and as he inspected it, it looked rather small between the six fingers of his much larger hand. His second pair of arms remained crossed for a few moments as he seemed to be thinking, but then he handed the item back to Jordan.

  “No, I do not have any use for this. Few things are compatible with my people’s cores. For one of our own to find such an item was a rare day. But it also made them greater targets to the beasts of our world, who would consume that strengthened core,” he explained, though Jordan couldn’t help but pick up something in the giant’s tone. It was different, like there was a bit less passion in it, compared to his usually boisterous way of speaking.

  “Is something wrong, Haje?” Jordan asked with a frown, as he put the Infernum away as well. “You just sound a bit… off. If you don’t want to talk about it, it’s fine. But I’m willing to listen, if you don’t mind sharing.”

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  The Jabelite did not answer immediately, instead remaining quiet for several seconds. Long enough that the silence began to feel awkward, and Jordan started to consider if he should just apologize for asking and then change the topic. But just as he was about to do so, Haje sat down onto the ground with a loud and heavy thud.

  “Mmm. One is either the hunter or the hunted. That was my clan’s belief. But that Lord, as it was called… that was not a hunt, not a battle, not a challenge. I ask now if my ancestors fear me, or if they disown me for such a display. I do not know, and it troubles me. I thought it a second Lord of the Mountain, but found only a newborn beast.” As he spoke, Haje had crossed all four of his arms. Even without a neck to twist, his whole body was angled downward in a way that made it seem like he was sadly looking down at the ground.

  Well, that’s not what I was expecting. He’s upset that the Earth Elemental Lord was… too easy? Is that what he’s referring to? I mean, the thing was supposed to be nearly Level 20, damn. I knew it must not have been that difficult if he was able to afford delaying the final blow, and let me take it instead. But for him to be this beat up about it, it must have been a real smackdown. Or at least that’s what Jordan assumed; the intricacies of the personality and culture of someone he’d known for less than a full day weren’t something he would claim to understand.

  Jordan scratched the back of his neck. “Sorry, I’m not really sure what to say to that. Except that if you want a better fight soon, you just need to wait a few days. You got that System notification too, right, that everything on the planet’s going to get a boost in power soon?”

  “I did, and perhaps then, I shall have a proper hunt. For now, I wish to think. So until you have need for me, I shall sit here and think.”

  “Right… well, my base is just over that way.” He pointed in its direction. “So if you do need something, I should be just staying there until the monster upgrade triggers. In the meantime, the Guild’s shared inventory is at your disposal.”

  Haje did not verbally respond to that, but did slightly tilt his body further forward, before moving back. Perhaps it was just Jordan making an assumption that could be wrong, but he went ahead and took it as an equivalent to an affirmative nod. Otherwise, as far as he could tell, Haje really did seem to have the full intent to stay fully still in that spot for perhaps even the next few days. Not that anything could currently threaten him, of course, so he doubted that the Jabeline would ever be in any danger by himself like this.

  For now, Jordan waved goodbye to the first citizen of his Kingdom and began to head back to his home base. The morning was still freshly young, and there was plenty left for him to do. A day on this planet being 16 hours meant only so much time to prepare. So even though he was feeling tired, the rejuvenating air in his base should fix that up and let him keep going without sleep.

  He didn’t know what the limit on that would be, physically speaking, before he simply collapsed. Nor did he know if prolonged use of that effect would be the healthiest thing in the world, even taking into account how different his body was now than it was just a few days back on Earth. But what Jordan did know was one thing. Time was now of the essence, and every minute awake and doing something productive counted.

  27 Advancement Crystals now, enough to gain a new Skill, or evolve one. And I still have that pending choice for that Skill Evolution that came with being D Grade now. Could go the route of getting both Summon Land Drone and my new Skill to D1, cause of that. Or I could min-max, and focus on immediately getting one of them to D2. Or I guess I could spin the wheel and hope for a jackpot on a new Skil… but, nah. Just got the new Skill, don’t think gambling on an even newer one being good is the right move, at least not for now. Hmm, Jordan thought to himself as he closed the distance between himself and his little fortress.

  But before either of those upgrades, it was time to settle something. Something that would be the determining factor of how he’d proceed. When Jordan arrived at his base, it seemed like his other new citizens, the grand total of four fellow humans, were still fast asleep. Which meant that with nothing else to distract him…

  It was finally time to give Build Advanced Drone a test drive.