Chapter 67 - Gnomes

The sensation of flying was hardly overrated. Jake had always wanted to fly and now he was. However, he quickly realized how difficult it was to balance oneself midair.

Even though he had been given the information about how to use this skill, he had no practice. Jake flew erratically and almost crashed on the walls at times.

As he climbed the floors, the monsters looked at their Dungeon Master hovering in the air, going in all six directions without an aim.

After flying for an hour, Jake finally learned how to balance himself. He could fly linearly with ease as long as there was not something ahead.

Reaching the 14th floor, Jake noticed that some ogres were fighting with swords for the first time.

Clang! Clang!

They had great strength and these weapons meant for humans were actually lacking. Likewise, orcs and giants could not use human weapons either.

Their swords needed to be bulky and heavy. Precision and techniques were not their forte. Jake wanted to have a blacksmith among the few giants he had bought.

That would solve the problems of specialized weapons. For now, they had to deal with human weapons.

He remembered that there was an iron mine on the 15th floor. Jake planned to let the kobolds take care of it. They were great miners.

While checking the monsters and the state of his dungeon, Jake ascended the floors.

Eventually, he reached the 1st floor. Jake suddenly sensed that there were monsters outside his dungeon.

He exited through the large hole on the ground and actually saw gnomes. It was night and the stars were shining in the sky. Jake didn’t need the moonlight to see them. Likewise, the gnomes also had dark vision and could see that what stood in front of them was a demon.

”Welcome to my dungeon. Were you planning to enter? Where did you come from?” Jake asked.

These gnomes were intelligent and didn’t speak so fast. When dealing with a demon, they instead backed away.

Jake titled his head and pulled one gnome using [Demonic Grasp]. The little man cried as Jake carried him by his head.

”If you don’t stop, I’ll squish his head,” Jake casually said.

The gnomes who were about to flee stopped. One female gnome had realized that they couldn’t outrun this demon.

”We came from that hill.” One of them pointed behind them.

There was a vast forest in that direction as well. Jake hadn’t explored the area behind. He’d only gone to the front which had villages ahead. Near the volcanic mountain, there had to be some monsters living.

”We heard a dungeon had spawned here… So we c-came to check,” said the gnome Jake was holding.

”I see, so more of you live there?” Jake put pressure on the gnome’s head.

”Yes, yes!” The little man panicked.

”Lead me there,” Jake put him on the ground and said.

As the gnomes began walking, Jake informed Lena that he would be going outside for a while using [Mana Communication]. He then hovered in the air and flew behind the five gnomes who were running quickly.

The trees on this side of the forest were not red. They were taller and bigger. Jake looked at the path ahead.

After half an hour, they arrived at the base of the hill where the valley ended. Jake could see small round structures made up of stones and thatchets.

A gnome came outside and suddenly exclaimed seeing the others running over. A tall demon was chasing them or so the female gnome thought.

She ran inside to inform others, but Jake increased his flying speed and came before her hut in a flash. Before she went underground, he used [Demonic Grasp] and caught her.

”All of you come out,” he ordered, using all of his strength.

His voice thundered through the underground tunnels they lived in. One by one, the gnomes came out with their mechanical weapons which looked crude in Jake’s opinion.

There was a chieftain among these gnomes who came forward. He immediately recognized the rank of the demon hovering above and crouched in submission.

It was also because Jake had equipped his title “Demon Viscount.”

The others followed their leader. Jake only had to exert pressure from his mana core to let them know he could easily kill them.

“Pack your things.”

An hour later, he brought all the gnomes with him. Jake didn’t understand how Erin missed a tribe living so near to his dungeon. He had made her scout the surrounding area more than thrice already.

It could be because they always lived underground and hardly came out.

After the dungeon’s expansion, it sucked a lot of mana. By now, it had created a vacuum in this valley. The gnomes told him that this was the real reason they sent some of their kinsmen to check.

Almost all of the monsters in this valley had relocated to Jake’s dungeon. The dungeon was an enticing choice, after all. With its rich evil mana, hardly any monster will avoid it.

Jake and the gnomes reached the dungeon at around midnight. Just like him, the darkness did not bother them.

He was surprised by how they didn’t try to run away or even attack him. They were all unranked gnomes who only knew basic magic.

However, their tinkering skills were the real deal and that was why Jake brought them. They were valuable servants who could reinforce traps and create unpickable locks for him.

After reaching the lower floors, Jake informed his cute fairy to show these little people around.

Lena came flying from the 18th floor as fast as she could after learning about the visitors in the dungeon.

That meant new people for her pester and boss around. When the 30 or so gnomes saw Lena, they talked to themselves in fascination. They had never seen a dungeon fairy.

Still wearing her light green dress, she looked a bit bigger than her previous self.

“Take them to Irene,” Jake said.

Lena nodded and suddenly used mana comnunication.

‘Master, the Spider Queen was calling for you.’