Nameless King

Wain decided to jump down and explore the bottom of the canyon. It was a vast area with many different enemies. He wanted to find the Dungeon and clear it, then climb to the top from the other side.

In this way, Wain would collect a great deal of Soul Essence, purify the area, increase Last Light's influence and get to the western part of the city.

Whooosh.

Wain waved his hand, and a dark sword appeared next to him, which he plunged into the wall. Thus Wain descended smoothly. He was strong, but he could not withstand the fall from a height of several hundred meters. Moreover, Wain was on guard as he could be attacked at any moment.

...

After a while, Wain landed and looked around. All around him, he saw massive rocks, boulders, and cobbles. It was like a stone valley.

There were also several trees with stone bark. Many yellow crystals on their branches lit up the area around them.

The area was rather deserted. Wain saw no monsters or any natural phenomena. Unlike the lava lakes, there was nothing but a few trees among the rocks.

'The Cave Werewolf has definitely come from here. I need to explore this area more thoroughly.' Thought Wain stepping forward.

Werewolf was a First Chronicle creature, and that was the main reason why Wain decided to spend his time searching for monsters.

About two and a half months had passed since the apocalypse began, and that was enough time for First Chronicle monsters to start appearing everywhere. Wain needed a large amount of Soul Essence, and only strong opponents could provide it.

Wain wandered the canyon floor for about two hours but found nothing.

"Damn, I wasted my time here. It was almost past sundown. This was a bad idea. I should have climbed the west side of town right away." Proclaimed Wain and headed for the wall.

Wain didn't know the future ahead, and he, like others, could be wrong. Most of the time, Wain acted on analysis of the situation and his own wishes, but sometimes he failed.

Wain was upset that he had wasted several hours, but nothing could do about it.

After a few minutes, he reached the other side and was ready to climb the wall, but suddenly the rocks beside him began to move.

Wain became alert and prepared to fight. Usually, nothing good would happen after that.

Crackling.

Anthropomorphic tall creatures gradually crawled out from under the rocks. They were about three meters tall.

They had bright red skin, thick black hair on their heads, and a muscular body. They also had massive fangs protruding from their mouths, perfect for tearing flesh and long noses.

It was Cave Trolls, and they lived in this area.

Wain wanted to attack them, but suddenly he realized that the monsters were not looking at him. The Cave Trolls yawned, warmed up, and headed to the left.

'Were they asleep...?' Wain thought to himself.

Wain was surprised, but he realized there was nothing strange about it.

Monsters, like humans, needed food, sleep, and water to survive. They also needed suitable conditions and some kind of occupation.

Of course, the physiology of monsters and humans was radically different. Most monsters were stronger, tougher, and faster. Monsters didn't have to sleep every day like humans to stay awake, but that didn't mean they didn't need sleep.

Also, many monsters had a lot of things they had to do, just like the Fire Goblins. Not all monsters stood in one place and waited for an enemy to come to them, in which case they would gradually stagnate and degenerate. This was not the case with the born predators, however.

'These monsters look like Trolls... I wonder where they are going?' Thought Wain and quietly followed the Cave Trolls.

Wain had originally planned to attack the monsters he would meet at the canyon's bottom, but the Cave Trolls were unsuitable targets.

Wain felt that these monsters were close to evolving to become First Chronicle creatures, but they had yet to take that important step.

The cave trolls were not strong enough to be of any value to Wain. He would have passed over in most situations in that case, but not now.

...

The cave trolls didn't notice that anyone was following them. Wain kept a fair distance from them and moved entirely silently. He wasn't afraid of these monsters, but if they spotted him, he wouldn't know where they were going.

'Looks like something interesting awaits me...' thought Wain as he watched the Cave Trolls he had been following be joined by others.

Gradually there were more of them until they reached ten.

After a few minutes, the trolls approached a massive cave that went deep down.

Along the way, some of the Trolls were even talking to each other like humans.

Among the Cave Trolls, there were not only men but also women. They also had red skin and a muscular build. Some of them looked even more formidable than the male Trolls.

Wain followed them and looked around. It looked like an ordinary cave, but in time he realized it wasn't. The cave looked strange, with many small holes in the walls and debris on the floor. Wain realized that it was probably a mine, which meant something of value in this cave.

After a while, the Trolls entered a spacious room. When Wain saw what was inside, he was stunned.

He watched as dozens of Trolls used pickaxes to extract yellow crystals from the cave walls. What's more, they had carts on which they were taking these crystals somewhere.

'What the hell is going on here?' Wain exclaimed to himself.

This was the second time he had encountered something like this. The Fire Goblins also lived in the cave and practiced their craft.

There were many Trolls inside, but each of them was busy, so Wain could walk stealthily into the next room. He followed a Troll who was carting away a cart of yellow crystals.

'Hmm, judging by the energy fluctuations, these crystals are similar to those growing in my Void. However, these are much weaker, with much less energy in them.' Thought Wain walking on.

He saw an even more amazing scene in the second room than before.

A troll with a cart approached the underwater river and raised one hand high. The next moment two Trolls approached him with a massive net. The troll bent the cart, and all the crystals fell into the net.

Then the two Trolls lowered the net with the crystals into the water, thereby clearing them of dirt, dust, and other impurities.

'Are they really monsters? Why are they so smart?' Thought Wain standing in a dark corner.

After a while, the Trolls pulled the net out of the water and moved the crystals to another cart. They headed for the next room, and so did Wain.

He didn't expect to see something like this. He had planned to go into the Dungeon and kill hundreds of monsters, but he ended up in a more amazing place. At that moment, Wain wondered about the origin of these monsters.

'As far as I know, monsters, Dungeons, and Nests appear because of a large accumulation of Soul Essence in one place. However, these Trolls are a whole species. They have their own language, distinctive appearance, and skills in certain areas. Perhaps they previously inhabited some small Void or something similar?' Wain thought.

In the next room, Wain saw the final stage of crystal processing, and it amazed him.

The rinsed crystals Trolly carried to the massive crusher. It worked by brute force, several Trolls used levers to twist the mechanism, and the crystals were turned into small debris.

These debris were then moved into a massive container, which was placed in a furnace. When the crystals melted, the Trolls would pull the container out and take it to the next room.

Whooosh.

Wain followed the Trolls. He was quick and neat enough that no one would notice him.

...

"I see... Here's the thing." Wain muttered quietly as he entered the last room.

Most of the Trolls were there, but they weren't using molten energy crystals. They were doing it all to give the full containers to the Cave Werewolves.

There were about twenty Cave Werewolves, and that was a small fraction. About a hundred Cave Werewolves slept behind. They had already taken their dose of energy crystals and were gaining strength.

Among them was one huge Cave Werewolve. He was about one and a half times taller than the others and looked more menacing and intimidating. This monster was their leader.

The Cave Trolls also had their own leader. He was about four meters tall and had many tattoos all over his body. He directed the process and carried out the commands of the Cave Werewolve leader.

It was not a symbiosis or mutually beneficial cooperation. The Cave Werewolves dusted First Chronicle creatures, and they forced the Cave Trolls to mine crystals for them.

Since the Cave Trolls were Primary Chronicle creatures, they could do nothing to resist their usurpers. They had to be their slaves to stay alive.

Trolls were not happy with the situation, but they had no other choice.

When Wain realized the situation, a devilish smile appeared on his face.

"Hahahahahaha." Wain chuckled, looking at the Werewolf leader.

'Great, that's the best option possible.' Thought Wain.

He would kill the Cave Werewolves and free the Cave Trolls from slavery. They had to obey him, not some overgrown dogs.