Kneel!

Once Astaroth unlocked his lightning magic, he rushed down through the portal doors until he reached the first floor.

After walking through the door, he was a little surprised to see that the first floor was a vast plains biome, with a few trees dotting the landscape.

After taking it all in he rushed over to the scene of the fight as fast as he could while he was running, he decided to reinforce his body with a thin layer of mana that would protect him from the goblin's weak attacks.

[Congratulations! the skill (Basic Mana Reinforcement Lvl 01) has been unlocked!]

While he was running e saw the notification and nodded in approval, after another few minutes of running he finally came upon the battle, right now Lapis was still fighting the 3 goblins that were left, although it couldn't really be called a fight since all she could do was evade.

Although she is a Demon Duke, she's still too weak to even try to fight in hand-to-hand combat against the goblins, so instead, she kept evading hoping to tire them out so she can blow them to hell with fireballs.

When she saw Astaroth get to the area, she felt a little relieved but also anxious since she still thought he was defenseless, as she was thinking that a goblin saw him and rushed after the newcomer for an easy kill.

Once the goblin was about 2 meters away from Astaroth, he conjured an arrow made of lightning and launched it at the head of his foe, by the grace of the goblin goddess, the intruder managed to evade the arrow's initial target and only got grazed on the cheek.

Seeing that his aim was a little off, Astaroth conjured two more arrows and launched one at the head and another at the stomach of the goblin.

While the goblin may have gotten lucky the first time, this time around he wasn't so fortunate, right as he was within a meter of Astaroth, the two arrows hit their mark, killing the foul creature instantly.

Without so much as a squeal, the goblin's lifeless body fell limp on the ground, and with that, an alert sounded in Astaroth's head.

[+10 DP]

Once he realized he would get DP for killing other things, even though it was a small amount a crazed smile spread on his face as he dashed towards the remaining goblins.

Since Astaroth entered the fight and killed the first intruder, Lapis was left alone by the other two who went to fight Astaroth instead, as she watched her lord fight, she was amazed.

First, he'd punch the goblins using (Basic Mana Reinforcement) to stagger them, then he would conjure a couple of lightning arrows and fire at the stunned goblins, while this worked on the first of the two, killing him with an arrow to the abdomen, and gaining another 10 DP, the third goblin learned from his friend's deaths.

The third goblin would stay an arm's length away from Astaroth since it had a club that was a meter long, first, it lures Astaroth in, and when he tried to punch it the goblin would dodge to the side and swing with all his might at Astaroth.

While this would be a good strategy against an enemy who was careless, Astaroth saw this and would focus his Mana reinforcement at the area the goblin would strike, effectively nullifying the attack.

After another few minutes of going back and forth, Astaroth decided to finally end this little charade, he leaped backward a good 2-3 meters away then launched 3 lighting arrows.

Although the first two arrows missed, hitting the ground and creating a small hole, the third arrow pierced the goblin's thigh, shocking and subsequently paralyzing the goblin while it tried to escape.

Once he saw the goblin was down for the count, Astaroth walked up to the goblin who was wailing in pain, and to his surprise, the goblin even talked...

"Gahh! please spare me!" the goblin said in a raspy voice

"Who said you could speak to the lord like that you filthy mongrel!" roared Lapis

Before Lapis could end the poor goblin's life with a fireball, Astaroth put his hand on her shoulder and stopped her.

"Hold on Lapis, I might have a use for this goblin," spoke Astaroth with a smile

"But- I mean, sigh, yes my lord," said Lapis dejected

"Good, now back to you, my little "friend" how would you like to work under me as my subordinate?" said Astaroth with a smile

"Never!" yelled the goblin

"How dare a mere goblin refuse the lord!" yelled Lapis with a fireball in her hand

"Stop!" commanded Astaroth

To get Lapis to back down, he used some mana in his voice to amplify the sound and to suppress Lapis.

After that, the goblin mustered all of its strength and stood up and tried to confront Astaroth.

"You may have bested me in combat but that's not all it'll take to make me submit." said the goblin

"You said it's not enough, hmm, I see, how about this," said Astaroth calmly

When the goblin heard that, he felt a shiver run down his spine since he didn't know what was going to happen to him.

"KNEEL!" bellowed Astaroth

Once the goblin heard what he had said he soon felt an immense pressure bear down on him and push him to his knees, Although Lapis was standing behind Astaroth, she too felt the powerful aura push her to the ground.

What the two didn't know is Astaroth used his innate skill (Aura of a Conqueror Lvl 01) and once he did a powerful aura washed over the immediate vicinity about 10 meters all around Astaroth.

"First of all, Lapis you overstepped your bounds questioning my judgment, do it again and I'll have your tongue, and you! how dare a lowly "thing" like you refuse me, now I'll give you one last chance, Submit or die!" roared Astaroth

"Please forgive me my lord!" said Lapis on all fours

not being able to withstand the pressure the goblin was on all fours with its head on the ground but then he felt the weight lift off of his shoulders.

"I-I, sigh, I submit to you... my lord." uttered the goblin in total defeat

"Good."

After that whole ordeal was over Astaroth got a series of notifications on his status screen.

[the skill (Basic Mana Reinforcement) has leveled up, Lvl 01 -> Lvl 03]

[the skill (Basic Lightning Magic) has leveled up, Lvl 03 -> Lvl 05]

[the skill (Basic Mana Manipulation) has leveled up, Lvl 05 -> Lvl 06]

[You have gained a new subordinate; would you like to give him a name?]

"Huh? hey goblin, do you have a name?" asked Astaroth

"No, my lord, I do not, low ranked monsters like me don't have names, only once we reach F rank do we get a name from the chief, I am currently at peak G rank." responded the goblin

"I see, well would you like to name you instead?"

"..."

"Are you sure my lord, I mean I'm a lowly existence compared to you."

"Well, why not, you're my subordinate so you need a name, what do you think Lapis," asked Astaroth

"I will support whatever decision you make my lord, however, I feel inclined to tell you what it means to name a monster, especially for a demon lord such as yourself."

"Wait, the lord is a demon lord, forgive me Lord for my earlier impudence." said the goblin while kneeling

"Sure, go on and tell me Lapis."

"Well, you see, when someone names a monster, they are bestowing some of their mana to the monster in question, however, it goes even farther for a demon lord, when a demon lord names a monster, they not only get some of their lord's mana but are also granted the blessing of their demon lord.

"So that's why it said I gave you my "blessing" when I named you, I'll still name you, I mean, most of my subordinates will be named by me anyways, besides, is it really such a big deal?"

"Thank you, my lord, I'll serve you for the rest of eternity!" said the kneeling goblin

"Yeah, I'm sure you will, anyways what should I name you?"

As Astaroth went deep into thought, Lapis was standing off to the side and was quite surprised, from the info that was put in her head, most demon lords just call their subordinates by their race, they only name the truly powerful ones, however, Astaroth is different than most demon lords.

After being stumped on what to name the goblin, Astaroth started scanning the body of the goblin for any prominent features, but to no avail, but then he noticed the goblins had a particular eye color, most goblins he had seen as a human had brown or black eyes, however, this goblin had bright red eyes that looked like two rubies, and so he had the perfect name for him.

"I'll name you... Volcanis!"

once he entered the name into pop up in front of him a series of notifications came, and the goblin now named Volcanis was engulfed in a blinding light.

[your subordinate has been named Volcanis]

[your subordinate was given your blessing]

[your subordinate is undergoing a change due to being named by a demon lord]

After 10 minutes the light that engulfed Volcanis finally dissipated and revealed the goblin.

The first thing Astaroth noticed was the goblin who once had green skin now had dark jet-black skin, and his red eyes now burned brightly like two fireballs, and on his forearms were two red tattoos that resembled a raging fire, although these new tattoos only reached from his fingers to his wrist... for now.

Volcanis also seemed to have grown from 157 cm to 165 cm, once the goblin was aware of its surroundings, he kneeled down and spoke with a more dignified and deep voice.

"I Volcanis, greet and thank you, my lord, for rebirthing me in glorious flames."

Although Astaroth didn't know what was happening, he sure as hell wasn't mad about it, after that, he checked Volcanis's status and was shocked.

[Name: Volcanis]

[Race: Goblin (Dungeon variant)]

[Magic tier: mid 1st circle]

[Aura tier: mid 2nd tier]

[Rank: early F]

[Innate Skills: (Basic Fire Resistance Lvl 05)

[Skills: (Basic Fire Magic Lvl 01) (Strike Lvl 01 - uses mana to deliver a powerful blow to your enemies)]

[Blessing of Demon Lord Astaroth: Makes evolution 50% easier as well as gives a boost to exp for skills]

(A/N after some thinking I've decided to combine passive and active skills into one category to make things easier)

After looking through Volcanis's status, Astaroth was left speechless, but who could blame him, no mere goblin should have a status like this one.

Once he saw that Volcanis could use fire magic as well as his innate skill, he remembered that Lapis said it was different when a demon lord named a subordinate, at first, he didn't think it would be that big of a deal but now, it most definitely is.

Astaroth was deep in thought thinking about what would happen if he named another goblin something related to the water element or any other elements, would they also take on characteristics of that element like Volcanis?

After he was finished thinking and snapped back to reality, he realized something.

"Wouldn't Volcanis know where the goblin encampment is? I mean, that would be a perfect spot to get some subordinates right out the gate."

and so, with that thought, he went up to the goblin and asked.

"Hey Volcanis, can you lead Lapis and me to the goblin encampment, I want to make the rest submit to me," asked Astaroth

"Of course, my lord, whenever you want to go, I'll be ready to guide you there," responded Volcanis

"Hmph, those lowly "things" should feel honored the great demon lord Astaroth wants to take them over," said Lapis in a snarky tone

Astaroth found it really weird how any mention of goblins and Lapis would act all high and mighty, just two hours ago, she was fighting with her life on the line against these "mere things."

Before they leave the dungeon Astaroth at least wants to reach the 3rd circle, so he went back to the shabby castle to meditate, however, once he got to the throne room, he realized he never placed down the dungeon core so he decided to put it right on the throne, if anyone can get through all of the floors and Astaroth himself then they deserve to break the core.

And so he sat on his throne in lotus position once again and started meditating, although he's most proficient in lightning magic, he thought he might as well unlock the fire element since both of his subordinates use fire magic.

As he sat there, he started spreading his own mana around him trying to differentiate between the rest of the mana for fire mana, and after 30 minutes of meditating he finally felt it, he let the mana enter him and surround him.

he soon felt a wave of warmth wash over his body, this warmth felt very familiar to him since the fire element was his second-most proficient element.

once the fire mana completely assimilated with him, he finally got that wonderful notification.

[Congratulations! a new skill was unlocked! (Basic Fire Magic Lvl 01)

[the skill (Basic Fire Magic) has leveled up Lvl 01 -> Lvl 3]

And with that, Astaroth was ready to take over the goblin encampment.