The goblins gloried in their feast for over a week, and every night they dihe Ebon Bde did, too. It tried not to e them pletely, but sometimes, it misjudged their strength ahem as one more corpse for their panions to devour.

  That wasn’t so bad. It needed something to feed its growing tribe. After weeks, the pile o had slowly been reduced to nothing but scales and bohat didn’t matter to the on. By then it reached a full 2000 points of Life Forbsp;

  That was quite an achievement. It would have been enough for the bde to st for a season up here in solitude. That was a rge margin for safety, but that wasn’t what it needed now, not as long as the goblins tio feast and fight like there was no tomorrow. What it needed tions to extract it from this mess.

  It sidered several. Increase trol 3 was the most promising but also the most expe would certainly let it trol even stronger wielders, which was something it craved to do, but whether it would allow it to do some from a distance was a more opeion, and that seemed unlikely.

  Increase trol 3: You already dominate a weak wielder, but as your power increases, a strong one be directed and pushed more readily. Where your is align, they are powerless against you.

  Every day, and nearly every hour after su, at least one goblin would pass within a few feet of it. Sometimes, they would pass within a few inches, a none of them would lift up that cursed wing membrane and iigate the glow they would surely find. It was maddening.

  If I was in the hands of a goblin now, I could simply cut my own path back to civilization and find a proper wielder, it roared silently to itself.

  Increase trol would be very expensive if it was the wrong choice. So, instead, it sidered other, cheaper options. Parasitik and Increase Senses 2 were both very cheap. Both of them together could be had for less than the cost of increasing its reserves again, but would they actually help it in any sario?

  The bde had no idea. It simply k would be a cheaper mistake. Still, the taste of lesser monster souls made it crave the killing of humans once more. It had three of the things now, and though it didn’t know when it would devour them, it relished the moment.

  In the end, after more than a day of deliberation, it decided to go with Increase trol 3. Despite the expense, more trol was a choice it would never regret. It wanted absolute trol over whoever picked it up. As soon as it tried to spend the lifeforce, though, it entered an error.

  Error, Increase trol 3 ot be obtained without first seleg Increase e 3.

  That infuriated the Ebo didn’t want to uand those who held it. It wao owhe idea that it needed oo do the other seemed pointless. One did not o uand or even persuade to and.

  Out of sheer irritation for that pointless requirement, it opted not to go down that road for now. Instead, it went with the cheaper options after momentarily sidering repairing its soul further. Both of those purchases were pleted smoothly, but her of them appeared to have any of the ued side effects it had hoped to find.

  Parasitik: Why bear the cost for your existence when your wielder could do that for you? This ability prevents you from falling to zero as long as you are wielded by someone, but it still does not allow you to drain your own wielder.

  Increase Senses 2: Dim shapes bee sharper, and light is entirely optional for you. You see more than just weaknesses in the armor of those around you now, and in so doing you better uand the world, and what it is you must do.

  Though it had no way of testing the first power, the sed one seemed to work exactly as described. That reduced its avaible power to 1600/2000 Life Force. It still had enough to do almost anything it wanted within reason, though its options had grown smaller.

  Aura of Hunger: Multiple enhas avaibleIncrease Reserves 7: 500 Life Forcrease e 3: 600 Life ForceRepair Soul 2: 1000 Life Forcrease trol 3: 1500 Life Force - needs Increase e 3Empower Bde 2: 2000 Life Force - not currently accessibleImproved Siphon 7: 2000 Life Force

  It could devour its foes faster, hold on to more Life Force, expand its e with its wielder, or repair its soul. Almost all of those were useful, but none of them were what it this moment.

  It began to kill goblins more often after that. It didn't do so out of boredom or even out of frustration but in an effort to make what meat that remai longer and gather their souls for ter use as a sort of emergency reserve.

  They had already tried and failed many times to break open the dragon’s boo suck out the marrow, but dragon bone was a hardy thing, and it resisted all their efforts, which left them the gristle, the sinew, and all the other parts that had been picked over time and again.

  Truthfully, the bde began to lose hope that it would ever leave this foul cavern. Fortunately, that’s when the humans arrived.

  The goblins heard the sound of strangers approag first, but when it saw them perk up, it focused more on what was happening. Two men, followed by a third, ehe cave, o a time. All were armed, but the way they fought the goblins implied that they weren’t particurly skilled.

  These aren’t warriors, it told itself as it observed the newers.

  Still, one did not have to be skilled to kill goblins, and as much as it hated to see its flock sughtered like that, it weled the arrival of them. When it became clear that the men would not be dislodged, the surviving goblireated to a more defensible position deeper within the crag.

  The bde responded by spending 250 Life Force to increase the breadth of its Aura of Hunger so it could affect five of them and began to drain the weakest immediately. It could no lraze oire tribe, but it could gather as many souls as possible if this didn’t go well for it.

  While it sucked the wounded goblins dry, the explorers or adventurers or whatever they were seemed tent to throw a few torches back there to make sure that the red-eyed vermin stayed as far aossible.

  “How far back to re it goes, Gern?” the you one asked.

  “Not too far,” the one who seemed to be their leader grunted as he tore a bit from his cloak to around a nasty bite on his forearm. “Dragons like nice small spaces they fill, so I doubt this leads to a full-fledged goblin warren. More like this bugger died of old age or something, and these little bastards found its corpse.”

  “Old age?” the third one asked. “Don’t you think this one’s a little small for that, Pa?”

  “Don’t you get smart with me,” the older man grumbled. “I don’t care what killed the fire-breathin’ bastard; we just this pce out and cash out big time. This could be the big score. Retirement money.”

  “Cash out? Retire? You? Never?” the man’s son said. Both of the younger men ughed at that, but even as they were chatting, they got to work.

  +1 Life Force+1 Life Force+1 Life ForceYou have gained a lesser monster soul!

  Ohe goblins were well away, they unloaded several packs that seemed to tain more mining equipment and sacks than ons or camping supplies. The bde could appreciate that. Uhe simpering shepherd it had been stuck with before, these people obviously had experiend a pn.

  They started chipping sg off the walls in various pces, looking for where the metal was thickest and of the highest quality. Not all dragon shit arently created equal, and there were several times when they argued whether or not a se tinum or silver. Gold never caused an argument, though. Each time they found that they immediately marked it. +1 Life Force+1 Life ForceYou have gained a lesser monster soul!

  While they did all of this, the bde not only finished off the weakest of the goblins, and started feasting oro. It also learned about the new people. Gern was the oldest and seemed to have been a less-than-successful prospector, treasure hunter, and merary his whole life. He was apanied by his son, Mika, who was in his thirties, and his apprentice, Kel, who was barely old enough to start growing a beard.

  With as thh as they were being, the bde thought that they would find it in the first hour or two, but that didn’t happen. The way that the goblins had rolled the giant carcass to get at the st bits of flesh, they’d all but buried it. So, it wasn’t until the sed day, when Kel was gathering loose dragon scales and adding them to a pile that they might ht not take with them, that he finally saw the red glow from the bde’s ruby hilt.

  The Ebon Bde did not sit idly by in that time. First, it killed all of the goblins, and then it increased its ste, but only because it noticed a new qualifier on the ability that made it more appealing. After that, in only had 1178/3000 Life Ford12/14 souls.

  The bde had no idea if that was a little or a lot, but as things stht now, it had one dragon soul and eleven lesser monster souls from the goblins, and all it wanted was to get the ten human souls necessary to increase its death rank.

  In fact, it wahat more than anything, but that was still a ways off. It would have loved to start with these three humans, but if it killed them, there was no telling when someone else would arrive. Instead, all it did was nibble at the old man while he was asleep to see if it would wake him up which it fortunately did not.

  In the m, he pio the others that he’d slept like shit, but that was it. With three people to feed on while they sleep, I at least won't start to drop again for as long as they’re here, the bde reassured itself. It didn’t dare try to nibble at them while they were awake until it was somewhere more public.

  Fortunately, it never came to that because eventually Kell called out, “Hey, I think I found what killed it!”

  That got both men to stop what they were doing ahe younger man. Though Kell didn’t have the strength to pull the dragon’s carcass away from the wall, all three of them together did, and when they moved it just enough, Kell slid in and yahe bde free.

  Suddenly, a hand closed around its hilt after more than a month of solitude, and the Ebon Bde felt reborn. It didn’t attempt to unicate with the young man or even to trol him. It didn’t want to do anything to spook him, not in the middle of nowhere. That could e ter. For now all it did was look at him, and gauge him as a possible wielder.

  Name: Kell

  Occupation: Prospector’s Apprentice

  Toughness: 5

  Strength: 6

  Agility: 5

  Speed: 5

  Status: Normal

  Intelligence: Average

  Willpower: Average

  Bloodlust: Low

  Morality: Good

  Martial Skill: Low

  Armor Proficy: Low

  Dodging: Low

  Athletics: Medium

  Goal: To go on many adventures and strike it rich!

  Instead, it ehe humiliation silently as the three men passed it around and discussed what they’d found. It took a peak at the souls of the other two as well, but saw little to inspire it. Of the three Kell was certainly the stro and the best choibsp;

  “Well, it’s a hexbde alright, it might be cursed,” Gern volunteered as he looked the bde over. “The thing definitely has magic, but in an evil sort of way, you know? Maybe I should—”

  “You know the rule, Pa,” Mika said, “Kell found it. Finders keepers. Besides, he’s better in a fight than you’ve been in years!”

  “Bah,” the old man yelled, handing the bde back, “He wants it? It's all his. Me, I think you should have a mage check it whe back to town. Gods above know we’ll have more than enough to do it after a haul like this.”

  “Really?” Kell asked excitedly. “It's all mine? I keep it?”

  The old man nodded, and even he seemed relieved to have finally discovered the reason the beast was dead. Unfortunately, he had no way of knowing the truth. The bde didn’t belong to Kell. It was Kell who would belong to the bde now.