The border wall was almost complete.

  The ants had dug the holes for the foundation, and the dwarves had cut large blocks of stone from the iron mining site.

  Then these stones had been set in place with the Roman concrete. The wall was made of two walls made of logs lying down.

  They were treated with heat, and with one of the carpenters gaining level 15, they had gotten a skill called [Wood Reinforcement] that could make the logs more resistant to the weather as well as gain physical resistance.

  Inside of the wall there were a lot of different materials, wood pulp and gravel mostly, mixed with concrete, as Mafu had discovered a deposit of limestone nearby that he could extract slowly with his mycelium.

  It made no sense for Mafu that he could extract it, but it seems that around the deposit the dirt was interspersed with bits of limestone that could be extracted.

  The solid deposit would need to be dug up manually, but so far the extraction had been enough. This had solved some of the issues about obtaining volcanic ash.

  Of course, a volcano was high up on Mafu's list to find, as that would allow him to rank up his central firecap. Fire crystals had not appeared in the fire-type dungeon, and Mafu had not found them elsewhere either.

  On top of the wall, two orc males could pass each other walking with some space still being available in between them.

  It had been a massive undertaking, but the people of the settlement had time to spend now that the Hollow was less of a threat.

  The basic wall was done, but now they had to make outposts along it. Places to stock arrows, torches, and food. A beacon system would be used to warn of danger in case telepathy would prove inadequate.

  The ants were also digging a moat on either side of the wall, about four meters deep. So far there were no plans to put spikes in the moat, but with the ants being avid diggers, the moat was quickly taking shape.

  The blacksmiths had not stopped the forges since they were made, and new forges had been made in an expansion to the smithy. They had worked tirelessly to make arrows, swords, axes, and spears.

  The carpenters had been tasked with making the arrow shafts, and Mafu was hopeful that one of them would unlock a [Fletcher] job as they hit level 50. If they did.

  Or maybe they would unlock [Bowyer]. Either would be good. They were crafting bows as well, of course. However, most orcs that used bows knew how to make their own bows. So the scope of the bow-making in the carpenter's workshop was quite small.

  Akro had become level 23, and Tenia was level 21.

  Tenia seemed to gain experience faster, as she had technically been much lower-levelled than Akro due to Mafu taking her levels away.

  Now they both had their niches. Tenia was crafting more of the construction materials. Nails, rebar, hinges, tools, and other similar items.

  Akro was focusing on the weapons, and both of them had their own small, dedicated teams of blacksmiths working with them on each of their specialties.

  In the system, you were granted choices and skills based on what you do, so it would be bad to not have them specialize to some extent.

  When an important project happened, they would all, of course, focus on that. Such as the grenades used in the fights against the Hollow.

  As it stood, Akro and his team would probably become some sort of weaponsmiths. Tenia and her team would become some sort of tool/support blacksmiths.

  Akro had an idea that he wanted to speak with Mafu about.

  "So, the grenades are good, but they suffer from not being able to be thrown that far. They are also quite unstable, so they pose a danger to our own people." Akro started saying after greeting Mafu. He was sitting next to the central fire cap. This was, of course, entirely unnecessary, as they could talk from anywhere in the kingdom.

  But people seemed to like to visit Mafu when they needed to talk.

  "So, if we make arrows with some kindling as an arrowhead and place a bit of the dried fireslime further back, I think we can make exploding arrows. This would solve those issues."

  "That is actually a great idea! However, make sure to place the slime quite far back. It is very volatile after all."

  "So then we have another issue. We are running out of the slime fluids. We are using it for many purposes and need more of it. Can you expand the floor with the slimes in the dungeon?"

  "Hmm. I have never tried, but I do not see why I would not be able to. I will tell you when I have tried."

  "Alright, thanks, Mafu." Akro said as he stood up and hurried back to the smithy.

  Since he had started blacksmithing, Akro had lost some of his earlier timid demeanor and was now very enthusiastic about his work. However, that was only about his work. He was still quite silent and awkward in social gatherings.

  Mafu went over to the flame dungeon and started using his dungeon management skill to try to expand the first floor. It was surprisingly easy but quite slow to expand. It also messed up the flow of mana around the floor, so Mafu called Athena in to help him tweak it.

  While he was in the dungeon, Mafu checked in on the other floors as well. The floor with the gnolls was the same as always. It was a floor that often was not cleared, as higher-level warriors were required to clear it.

  The last floor, the floor with the weird spear-thrusting golems, had been locked off. Mafu decided to check in on it anyway.

  And there was something strange in there. At the deepest part of the floor, where Mafu often tried to force mana to stagnate, there was a smooth stone chest. It had no lock or anything; it looked almost like a grave.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  A perfect rectangular stone chest, about two meters wide. It was made of the same stone that the golems were made of, but it was as if someone had polished it.

  Mafu tried using his mycelium to lift the lid.

  [Dungeon floor not cleared. Access to chest restricted.]

  Oh, this is straight out of a game.

  Mafu wrote it off as some sort of system shenanigans. He then went around the floor and inspected the golem rocks.

  They had evolved. They now were more humanoid in form, and some had two of the black spears inside them. The tips of the spears were also white hot in color inside their bodies.

  Mafu called Jod and Parek and told them about his findings.

  In less than ten minutes, both of them were outside of the dungeon, ready to delve into the golem floor.

  Parek and Jod were, after all, dungeon addicts at this point. The promise of some sort of treasure only amplified their desire to clear the dungeon.

  The added challenge of evolved enemies also made them thrilled.

  It was harder for them to clear the golem floor; the new enemies required more caution. Even Jod could take some serious damage from the new spears.

  He would not die easily, but if he took multiple wounds, he could be in a sticky situation.

  As they cleared out the last of the enemies, a shrill sound reverberated to the floor. It sounded like someone striking a spoon against a wineglass, only higher in pitch and louder.

  Jod and Parek went towards the sound, and the space between the lid of the stone chest and the chest itself was now slightly glowing with a golden light.

  Straight out of a game, Mafu thought.

  Jod opened the chest, and inside was a spear. It was made out of the same material as the spears inside the golems but looked more like a normal spear that humans would have made.

  The spear blade was shaped like a broadleaf spear. It was a spear that could cut as well as penetrate. The handle was grooved in a spiraling pattern, making holding the spear easier.

  Jod lifted the spear, and as Mafu looked at it, the system told him, Jod, and Parek what the spear was.

  [Lavaleaf Spear]

  Upon insertion of mana, the spear blade will quickly heat up, reaching high temperatures within seconds. Grants the wielder heightened fire resistance and creates a barrier around the wielder, burning up arrows made of wood, as well as most ice-type attacks.

  Mafu was speechless. He had seen a lot of weapons since coming to this world but had never seen a weapon that technically had abilities. Even Jod's sword was just a regular sword. The templar that he had killed had a normal shield.

  Both Jod and Parek were excited about the reward.

  "Look at that, never thought I'd find a named item in here!" Jod exclaimed.

  "It is indeed great. We once had a few of our own, but they were lost over the generations." Parek nodded along.

  "Excuse me, but what is this? I have never seen an item or weapon with abilities." Mafu asked.

  "It is something skilled craftsmen can sometimes manage to make. It is also sometimes found in lairs of high-level monsters and sometimes in dungeons. It is just like you see; it has abilities and will often outperform its original materials." Jod explained.

  "A stone weapon that is named would outperform an iron weapon that is unnamed." Parek continued.

  "Sometimes a high-level person can also 'make' a weapon named by using it for a long time and achieving feats with it. Among the Templars, the one named Faithful has a staff called [Devotion]. I do not know what it does, though." Jod finished.

  They soon left the dungeon, but as they were leaving, both Parek and Jod curled over as if to vomit.

  Mafu felt a similar feeling, although not to the point of "vomiting."

  Something was very, very wrong. It was on the other side of the border wall, and Mafu hurried over to the wall to see what it was.

  It felt as if his very soul was tainted, and Mafu had a primal fear that was almost impossible to hold back.

  As he arrived, he saw what was causing this feeling. All the people in the settlement were vomiting and lying on the ground, and some people had already fainted.

  A tall creature was standing outside the wall. It was maybe ten meters tall, and Mafu struggled to call it a humanoid. It was shaped like a human, with arms, legs, a face, ears, eyes, and everything else. However, what disgusted Mafu most was that the creature was made up of leeches.

  Thousands, if not millions, of leeches were constantly wriggling around, contained in some sort of purple outline that forced them to make up this abominable creature.

  Its eyes were glowing purple, and Mafu knew that who he was looking at must be the peak of the Hollow. If not a god, then it was their champion.

  Then it spoke.

  "Ah, greetings, mushroom. I am Tarlyeeh, god of parasites. You seem to have managed to murder one of my minions recently."

  Mafu tried to gather his courage, failed, and then responded anyway.

  "H-hello. I did do that, yes. Why have you come to visit me?"

  The god bent down closer to the "spirit" of Mafu, where his vision was centered. It felt like the god saw him clearly and inspected the entire mushroom kingdom in a split second.

  "To assess your strength, of course. This world is mine, after all. I forced the last god into exile and claimed this world for myself. However, as of the last millennium or so, my homeworld has been under attack by another god." The leeches on the Tarlyeeh's face gradually dropped off as he spoke but were instantly replaced by new ones.

  "I suspected you must have been sent by this invader to this world and came to investigate. However, you seem to have no connection?" The god's eyes narrowed, and Mafu felt a pain run through his entire network.

  "No, ehhh. I was summoned by another god that is in exile. I just so happened to end up here."

  "Will you leave?"

  "No" is all Mafu managed to say.

  "Why?"

  "I am tied to this world now. Leaving would only mean certain death."

  The god looked as if in thought for a few moments. He then stood up straight and continued.

  "Then make a deal with me. I can no longer support my forces in this world, but they are still numerous. It will take you decades if not centuries to rid this world of my children. I can withdraw them from this world for the right price."

  Mafu could not believe what he was hearing. All the Hollow would leave? This sounded too good to be true.

  "What do you want in exchange?"

  "For a god, owning worlds generates divine mana. It is a higher form of mana, about a hundred times as effective as normal mana. I can, of course, convert normal mana into divine mana, although it loses a minor amount in the transference."

  Tarlyeeh scratched his right chin, and a lot of leeches got squashed. Blood ran down his side, and the rest of the leeches went berserk trying to get to the blood. His form slightly changed so that his right side was now thicker than his left side.

  "I will withdraw my forces, but you must pay mana in exchange for the next 50 years. I'd say about 30% of your normal generation. This will not be enough to begin with, but with my children gone you will grow fast."

  "30%? That will cripple me. And 50 years? That is not feasible. I can agree to 20% for 25 years."

  "Not enough. You attempt to bargain with a god?"

  "Yes, you and I are both in trouble. If you do not withdraw, I will chase you through the portal and attack your homeworld when I get the chance. It does not matter whether it will take me longer; 20% for 25 years is as high as I go."

  "After bargaining, you turn to threatening? Do you have no fear of death?!" Tarlyeeh was now enraged, and his eyes shone with a hateful glare.

  "I do not think you can attack me. If you could, you would have done so instead of making a deal with me. The system must have some rule restraining you." To be honest, Mafu had gambled on this point, but it felt like the only explanation for the sudden offer of a deal.

  "You are quite smart for a mortal. If I agree to this deal, I will retain the area around my portal. About a city-size plot of land around it. It will gain me some divine mana at least. You will have to promise to not attack this area."

  "That is acceptable. How do we sign this contract?" Mafu asked.

  Tarlyeeh waved his hand, and a system window popped up with all the points they had discussed. The system stressed that this was an unbreakable pact and that if any part was broken intentionally, a heavy punishment would be incurred.

  Mafu did not plan on finding out what that punishment entailed. He signed it, and Tarlyeeh looked at him again with hateful eyes and said.

  "Well, mushroom, congratulations on your new world. Hopefully you squander it."

  All the leeches burst at the same time, and blood sprayed onto the ground and flooded into the moat.

  And just like that, Mafu's first meeting with a god in this world came to an end.