Two weeks later, Faust sat in the main room, deep in thought.
"I think there are enough runes on the right. It took quite some time to power them all with mana, but it's finally done."
Over the past days, Faust had engraved several detonation runes along the floor and walls of the right pathway. During this process, he learned more about how they worked. They were like balloons—mana could be injected gradually. The more mana he added, the stronger the explosion. Of course, there was a limit. Each rune could only handle up to fifty percent of his total mana.
Mana worked like breathing. When you exhaled, you could use it freely—shaping it however your skill allowed. When you rested, it was like inhaling; the mana naturally returned to your body, flowing back into your mana circle. But just like lungs, there was a limit—you couldn't inhale more than they could hold, nor exhale more than you had.
After awakening his first circle, channeling mana into runes had become incredibly easy—like breathing. But using mana for complex tasks was still a challenge. The more intricate the spell, the greater the mental strain and experience required. Injecting mana into objects or forming a simple ball was easy. But shooting a mana bullet? That was like trying to draw different pictures with each hand simultaneously—and it consumed a lot more mana.
At his current level, Faust could fire three mana bullets before his mind began to tire. Each shot consumed about ten percent of his total mana, and it took a full day for his mana reserves to fully recover.
He stood up and gathered a few more rocks—one of the only resources this cave had to offer. Wrapping glowing moss around them, he crafted a few makeshift glowing balls.
"This should be enough…" Faust mumbled.
"Should be," Red replied quickly in his mind.
Faust entered the right pathway and, after some time, arrived at the edge of the goblin camp. He observed from a distance, calm and focused.
His mind was much quieter and serene now. He was already quite patient to begin with, but the awakening had changed his perception of time.
He waited for hours. Eventually, two goblins left the camp and began walking around the outskirts.
They were dark green, with protruding teeth and a twisted face, their arms almost dragging along the ground. They wore only cloth wraps around their waists and carried no weapons.
"They're far enough," Faust muttered, tossing one of the glowing rocks in their direction. He missed. The rock landed on the ground nearby.
The goblins approached it curiously, poking at it before one attempted to eat it.
"Wow…" Faust whispered, surprised. They were even stupider than he thought.
He threw another rock, this time hitting one goblin in the head.
They turned toward him. Faust stepped out of hiding and waved.
The goblins shrieked and charged.
Faust turned and ran.
The goblins weren't particularly fast—slower than him, in fact. So Faust slowed just enough to keep them on his trail. They followed him down the right path, shrieking and flailing their long arms.
"Almost there," Faust thought, glancing over his shoulder. Despite his confidence, he couldn't ignore the fear. One mistake could mean death.
After several more minutes of running, he reached the rune-covered zone. The goblins were still in pursuit. Faust sped ahead and thought, "Detonate."
BOOM!
Two runes on the ground lit up and exploded simultaneously. The goblin closest to the blast had its legs obliterated and collapsed in a heap. The second goblin froze in terror, then turned and tried to flee.
"Too late," Faust thought and whispered, "Detonate."
This time, two ground runes and one wall rune glowed faintly before discharging a much weaker explosion. The goblin was knocked down and scratched up, but not seriously hurt. It howled in pain.
"If I charge a rune to its limit, I can blow limbs off. But if I just use the minimal mana amount, I can at least cause pain… I think I'm getting the hang of this."
Faust hadn't tested the exact damage a detonation could cause—no test subjects, and he wasn't about to try it on himself.
Faust sprinted toward the injured goblin, slamming a rock into its head and knocking it unconscious.
The legless one was bleeding heavily, its dark-green skin growing pale, but its eyes burned with rage.
"Hm. Yeah, no—I'm not risking it." Faust thought, coldly gazing at the goblin. A small blue sphere formed at the tip of his finger. "Shoot."
The mana bullet struck the goblin in the head, causing it to squirm and thrash.
Faust observed the goblin. It was alive, but barely. There was no point in leaving a threat behind.
"Shoot," he said again, firing another projectile. This one pierced the goblin's skull. It died instantly, blood pooling beneath it.
Faust felt no remorse. Killing goblins was simply necessary. It was either them or him, and he was a survivor.
"Alright," he said, dragging the unconscious goblin and the remains of the other back to the main room.
Faust stripped the cloths from their hips, learning that both were male, then he used the fabric to bind the surviving goblin's wrists and ankles. Then, he dragged the captive into the lit area for easier observation.
Once done, he returned to retrieve the corpse as well.
"Remember the plan," Red's voice echoed in his mind.
Faust said nothing. He picked up a sharp stone and began carving practice runes into the corpse's skin. It was much harder than etching into solid surfaces—skin shifted constantly, making precision difficult. A few minutes passed.
"That was just practice. I can't afford to mess up now," he said, turning toward the captive goblin. It had already awoken but lay still, trying not to attract attention.
As Faust approached, it began writhing and thrashing against its bindings. Without hesitation, Faust hurled rocks at its head until it was dazed, then knocked it out again.
He had only a few minutes. His real objective was the obedience rune.
Red had instructed him: goblins were perfect for testing this rune—weak, stupid, and easy to restrain.
Holding his breath against the stench, Faust pried the goblin's mouth open with two rocks, just in case it woke and tried to bite him. Then he began carefully etching the obedience rune into its chest.
He was utterly focused. But just before finishing, the goblin's eyes snapped open and it started thrashing. Faust struck it again, knocking it out, and completed the rune.
"Alright… now it's all or nothing."
He hovered just before pushing mana in. His hand trembled—only slightly, but enough to notice. If the rune was faulty, it might absorb mana without activating, reject the mana entirely, or collapse. If this happened, it would cost him a lot of time. If it worked… it would be a huge payoff.
But this one absorbed it—and a lot of it. While detonation runes maxed out at fifty percent of his mana, this one demanded eighty.
He waited.
Eventually, the goblin stirred. As soon as its eyes opened, Faust commanded:
"Obey."
The rune glowed, Faust's heart pounded. Failure wasn't an option.
Then, the glow faded. The goblin calmed, its body going slack. Faust tested it, willing it to stand.
The goblin stirred. Slowly, it rose.
Faust didn't move. Sweat prickled his forehead, forming beads. He didn't even breathe.
The goblin stood still.
It obeyed.
Faust stared for a long moment. Then he exhaled—and grinned.
"First try!"
It was the first time he'd succeeded at something on the first try since falling into the cave.
He spent the next two days experimenting. He discovered the goblin only moved when commanded—it behaved like a puppet. Without orders, it remained still, even when unbound. He didn't need to micromanage its every movement; general commands were enough. If he commanded it to walk, it would walk.
Unlike the detonation runes, Faust felt a strange connection to this one. It tugged at his mind, subtle but constant—like a weight slowing his thoughts.
He ordered it to dismantle the other goblin's body. After several hours, the task was complete.
"I can probably use the meat as bait, it should be better than glowing balls. The skin's too damaged, maybe enough for protection. But the bones…"
He handed the goblin a few bones and had it sharpen them. A day later, Faust had fashioned a crude set of arm guards from skin-wrapped bone and used the longer arm bones to make makeshift swords. They weren't nearly as good as steel, but they'd suffice. He gave both to the goblin and made himself a knife for future engravings and dissections.
"Now I just need to deal with the camp. I counted thirteen goblins in total. Took out two, so eleven remain. Hm…"
He wondered how they'd survived in the cave. The only edible thing was moss—and he controlled its access. If a goblin had tried to take some, he would've noticed. It wasn't particularly important now, but it made him curious. It meant they had another source of food.
"A few days should be enough. I'll reduce their numbers down slowly. But eventually, they'll notice. When that happens… it'll be a frontal assault."
With that, Faust returned to the right pathway and began carving more runes into the floor and walls. He also started training with the goblin, trying to ease the strain on his mind and improve his control over it. He had armed the creature with swords, but it was under his command, and he clearly didn't know how to use them.
Faust would prepare with everything he had. No chances would be taken.
He'd come too far to die.
The goblin camp would fall.