Chapter 5: Making the first soda ash.

Chavu crushed the trona ore he had mined carefully. The system had told him that he first needed to crush it in small chunks. Marcellus was yet to return. Chavu was worried that the vampire had deserted him.

The gnomes were doing push-ups around him. They were huffing and puffing, but not stopping. Chavu had to give it to the little buggers. They knew how to work. It was their best quality.

When the ore was crushed into dust, Chavu poured some water from the pond into the mortar and mixed it well. Then, he placed it in a bowl with the rest of the soda ash he had made so far.

The water needed to evaporate, in order for all the impurities to go away. The ash would become a nice, white, color. Still, it must be ground again, in order for it to become soda, or so the system had told him.

With nothing else to do, Chavu went to the pond and got in. Then, he began to lift his tail up and down in the water. He wanted to exercise, but he could only do so as a Naga. As most of the things that were common for muscle building, such as push-ups and sit-ups, were out of his reach.

The Naga was not going to wait for some adventurer to come and bag him. He knew for a fact that Naga flesh was sold freely in the markets, when some unfortunate Naga ended up captured.

Chavu was not going to end up as snake kebab, thank you very much! He was going to defeat all the adventurers that came his way!

Chavu stopped his movements to stare at a new screen.

Begin training session number one?

Reward: A badge.

Penalty for failing: A hit with a sandal over the head.

Yes/No?

Chavu clicked the yes. How hard could it possibly be?

A new screen appeared, and he saw his mistake for what it was.

Slither to the entrance of the dungeon in two minutes or less.

Chavu scrambled to get out of the pond. Then, he all but ran over some gnomes.

 There was no denying that he had no idea what strength would be used for the hit. Knowing his snappy auntie, it would be severe.

Chavu took a couple of shortcuts, including a tunnel only he knew of. It was just a second before his time ran out when his tail touched the vibrant grass outside the cave.

Chavu was too busy catching his breath to retort. His right hand was on the dungeon's walls, and his breath was coming out ragged.

Still, even in such a state, he couldn't help but think on what he had experienced.

The entire dungeon, from its farthest point, the pond cavern, to the entrance, could be covered in just two minutes! This was a disaster! How was he going to protect himself if there were just two minutes' worth of trap skipping for the adventurers? Why was this cave this tiny?

"Thank you, system. We have much work to do," Chavu managed to get out once his breath calmed down.

the system cackled.

Chavu shook his head. He slithered back to the pond cavern. He clapped his hands to get the attention of the gnomes.

"Dear colleagues," Chavu began. The gnomes stopped what they were doing and then sat opposite him. They had discipline, he had to give them that. "We must expand the dungeon! Once you get your pickaxes, you are to dig around and make tunnels that don't lead to anywhere."

A gnome raised his hand. Chavu pointed at him.

"What if we get lost in the new tunnels?" The gnome did not look like he believed that there would be safety measures taken. Chavu did not blame him.

"You won't. The system will guide you out," Chavu assured the gnome. He felt like a liar but did not back down from his words.

 Chavu rubbed the back of his head. He hadn't known. When he had found the secret pathway in the dungeon, the system had had to lead him out with a little light wisp.

"We can't afford to lose any gnomes," Chavu argued. "I don't care about how much mana it costs!"

Some gnomes teared up at that. A couple of overly excited ones jumped from their seats and went to hug Chavu's tail.

"That was the nicest thing someone has ever said to a gnome," a small gnome woman spoke between sobs. Chavu bent down awkwardly and patted her back with his thumb.

"I value you all," the other gnomes rose to their feet, and then did something Chavu had never seen a mob do. They placed their fists on their little chest and began to give him a pledge.

"We, the gnomes of the Still Pond Dungeon, do hereby pledge to keep Chavu the Naga safe and sound. For he works alongside us and cares about us. So mote it be!"

Chavu stared at the gnomes, and he felt touched. He heard footsteps. Turning around, he saw Marcellus. The vampire took out a small pickaxe from his backpack and waved it around.

"The blacksmith couldn't make them smaller," the vampire told the Naga. Then, much to his amazement, the gnomes lined up with determined looks on their faces. Hands reaching out.

Chavu was by Marcellus's side in an instant. He took the pickaxe the vampire was holding and gave it to the first gnome.

"Here you go. Make sure you take breaks," Chavu said, as the gnome hugged the pickaxe to his chest.

Then, the small being ran to the trona ore vein and began to chip at it as if the ore vein owned him money.

Marcellus blinked at that. All the dungeon cores before Chavu had driven away their mobs.

Maybe, just maybe, Chavu would be different?