Raze (The Completionist Chronicles Book 4)

by Dakota Krout

  Do you want to deactivate Ritual of containment targeting creature: Creeping Death Squirrel? Caution, this will fully deactivate the ritual. To reactivate the effect, the ritual must be completed again. Yes / No.

  Joe hit ‘yes’. *Clang*. Had he been too late? Cheers filled the air, and though the paladin seemed confused, he raised his arms in victory. He started walking toward the exit but was met with the grim visage of a butler on the other side of a closed gate. The arena was not allowing him to exit, which could mean only one thing: his opponent was still alive.

  The Paladin blazed with light, coating himself in protection as he walked around. There was no sign of the squirrel, and he eventually looked up at the crowd and shrugged. The man coughed, and blood came from his mouth. He spat on to his hand, and somehow, Joe’s balcony view zoomed in so he could see what was happening. A mouthful of teeth was in his hand, but only for a moment, as they transformed into acorns a moment later.

  As the Paladin ran around looking for something to fight, more and more of his body fell apart. Only a minute after the start of his degradation, his body collapsed into a pile of acorns. The squirrel appeared on top of the pile and picked up a nut, adorably nibbling on it.

  “Ohh, that’s going to hurt!” the announcer told the crowd. “We know that he had just reached level twenty, dropping to the start of level nineteen is going to be rough! Well, time to move on!”

  A bubble appeared around the squirrel, and it appeared to freeze in place. “We’ll bring this little guy back sometime soon. Make sure you come back often so you don't miss when it is finally defeated!”

  Reward gained from continuous quest: No, I’m right! You gain 100 reputation points from your deity and 1000 divine energy for your deity!

  “Must have been an indirect attack on him?” Joe grinned as he watched the next round of combat begin. That was an unexpected boost, and he had even managed to drop the guy a full level. A regular fight couldn't do that, as PvP caused no experience loss. No wonder Tatum had reached out when Joe ‘used’ his daily query-prayer. It was nice to see that he was still watching.

  Skill increase: Query (Pray) (Novice II). About time you used this skill again. Weren't you told to focus on the skills you had?

  Joe looked at that message—a friendly message—and knew that the last part must have come from Tatum. Joe was so lost in thought that he completely missed the next battle and only perked up when he heard the announcer talking about what would be for sale. “From this Variant Winged Terror, we were able to retrieve an Uncommon Greater Core! The bidding will start at five platinum and increase from there!”

  Joe knew he needed to get this, and he also knew that showing too much enthusiasm would cause these filthy-rich people to make it impossible for him to do so. So, he waited as the bid slowly climbed, peaking at seven platinum. This might be a more common item than he was expecting if it was only going for this much. Joe raised his paddle, and his room flashed. That was the signal that he was bidding, and he continued until he got the Core for nine platinum.

  Yikes. Well… the flawed version had given him five thousand experience. How much would an Uncommon be worth? The butler gently coughed and handed Joe the Core as it dropped out of a chute. “Here is a return ticket, Sir. As you have spent the required minimum, you are welcome to return again.”

  You have gained an item: Uncommon Greater Core. Would you like to convert this into experience? Experience value: 10,000. Yes / No.

  Joe slapped ‘no’ and stored the Core in his ring to get the temptation out of the way. He pulled bank notes out of his codpiece and stacked them on the table next to him. When he looked over again, the butler had left change for the remainder. “Keep that as a bonus for doing such an excellent job.”

  “My thanks, Sir.” Joe watched the other fights, but there was nothing else that demanded his attention. Anything else that he would have wanted was at a price that he simply couldn't manage to make happen. The evening started to wind down, and Joe was given a spectacular meal as the fights ended and a light and firework show began. He shook his head; those were all spells, not fireworks. Still, by the time Joe was full, the show wasn't even close to being over.

  He was finally ushered out of the room and brought back to Ardania via the person-drawn cart. A strange night but very interesting. Joe had really thought that he was going to have a bad time, but the arena had been interesting. It was a gladiator pit, yes, but it doubled as an amazing auction hall as well. He was looking forward to his next visit, though he wasn't as excited to spend more money. The fourteen platinum spent this evening translated into fourteen thousand dollars. For six small items.

  Still… he had a great time and got a few much-needed items. For that alone, the night was worth it. As he arrived in Ardania, he was surprised to find himself in the main square. Transport from the arena to the nice part of town? That was handy. Joe accessed his own travel system and appeared a moment later in the guild’s town. As he walked out of the temple, two messengers caught him.

  “Mr. Joe? Message from Lord Mike!” The first was cut off by Joe’s rapid-fire question.

  “Does he ask you to call him that?”

  “Ha!” The second messenger laughed, and the first flushed. “He totally hates it. That's why we do it. Message from Aten, this one takes priority.”

  “Go ahead then.” Joe motioned at the second.

  “Aten says that they have what they need for the wall around the guild area proper. Something about how it was easier to get rock hard than processed wood?” The messenger had a smug grin on his face, and it didn’t take long to figure out why.

  “Seriously?” The first messenger took a swing at the other. “I had the same message. Why didn't you just tell me we were supposed to say the same thing?”

  “Hey, I didn't want to wait around all alone!” The messengers walked off, so Joe ignored them and went off to do his own thing. It appeared that he would be raising more than one building today.

  “Wonder if… hey!” Joe called out to the messengers before they got too far away. “Tell Aten that I’ll get to that in the morning! It’s late, and I want to sleep!”

  “Okay!”

  Joe didn't want to keep running off to do stressful things as he arrived back from other stressful things. He found a bed and lay there thinking about the amazing things that he could do with a Greater Core converted into a Mana Battery. He would need to upgrade the material making the ritual circles before he attempted it with something like this, as a ten thousand second conversion process meant almost three hours of spinning ritual circles. His current version would melt to slag well before the process completed.

  When he drifted off, he didn't even realize it. When Joe woke up, it was to the amazing smell of potent coffee waving under his nose. His coffee elemental was bubbling happily, and as he opened his eyes… the tiny voice came into his ears.

  “Drink me! I’m delicious!”

  “You sure are, little dude.” Joe opened his mouth and allowed the coffee to pour in. Bliss. Total bliss. Much reduced, the elemental poured itself back into Joe’s ring to recover. Now it was time to gather his people and make the magic happen. Joe went about his schedule, taking three hours to get his stats to increase. All but luck, karmic luck, and charisma once again. Too bad there hadn't been a potion for sale last night to boost his intelligence. He might have gone for it.

  During this time, he had messengers going to Aten, Mike, and all his Coven and party members. Today was going to hurt in terms of mana expenditure. Finally caught up in what he felt he needed to do, Joe started toward the guild hall area.

  Aten had decided that it was going to be much more important for them to have a food source in the most highly-protected area of the guild than to have yet another spare housing space. To that end, the space originally set out for the final blocky barracks was allocated to the greenhouse. Right now, there were huge piles of dirt and the like that were around the area, to the point it looked like the
guild was building a berm around their back area. Today’s activities would fix that.

  First, Joe needed to deal with some minor inconveniences. “Hi, Aten, quick thing?”

  “What’s up, Joe?” Aten looked over and saw that Joe had a certain look on his face. “You did something that is going to cost me money, didn't you?”

  “I got a Greater Core that will work. It’s stronger than strictly needed, but I double checked and it is still within tolerances. In fact, it will make the building stronger, faster.” Joe looked at Aten straight on, preparing himself for what he felt needed to be said. “It cost nine platinum to get this. Not only that, but I infused all of the one thousand required glass chunks after buying them myself.”

  “You want us to pay you for them, then?” Aten rolled his eyes, a touch of resentment appearing. “I can make it happen–”

  “No, Aten. I’m saying that I want to make sure that I am more tightly tied to the guild.” Joe maintained his stare. “I need a promise from you that the guild will always have my back. I’m not going to make a power play, you know that better than most, and Mike has promised that I’d be an ‘Elder’. I just want to make sure that I am always going to be welcome and respected by not only you but the guild as well.”

  “I’m putting a lot of myself into what I am doing here, more than you’ve heard yet. My team almost got deleted for these plans, and I need you to know that we are risking our actual life for the guild. Permanent deletion qualifies as an actual threat to all of us now that this has become our world.” Joe was trying not to get emotional, but he needed Aten to realize what was on the line here. “We’ve had problems in the past, and I want those behind us. I’m committed to the guild now, and I just want the same in return.”

  Aten didn't break eye contact, still nodding heavily. “Joe, you are my friend. I swear that we’ll do right by you and your team. I swear it as a friend and as the Guild Commander.”

  Guild Commander Aten has made an oath to take your side when you are actually in the right! This is a binding promise and will result in negative repercussions if broken! Not very cool of you to have your friends make this sort of promise, though.

  “Good enough for me. Let’s make some magic!” Joe cleared his throat and changed the subject; sharing emotional moments was uncomfortable. Out came the ritual blueprint of the building, and Joe worked with the city planner to get everything set up in the correct spot. This was going to be an interesting addition to the area, as the greenhouse would be shaped like a curved, seven-pointed star when built. There was only one entrance and exit, which would make it easy to control what went in and out but make it harder to protect the building itself.

  Joe glanced at the people showing up and decided that it was time to get everyone involved. “Alright, we are going to need as many people as we can possibly get on this one. High powered building, high-powered magic needed. Or just a lot of it.”

  Chapter Forty-two

  “How many people do you think we need, Joe?” Mike pulled out a clipboard, quill in place to write out a requisition order.

  “At least another three dozen. The cost is a combination of Rare and Special at the Expert rank, one hundred ninety-two thousand minus–” Joe was going to explain more, but Aten cut him off.

  “I’ll handle it, throw me into the ritual.” Aten stepped forward, and Mike looked at him with concern.

  “Are you sure? That's a once-a-week skill!” Mike’s words failed to sway Aten. “That’s supposed to be the last line of defense–”

  “It’s a skill that needs only one more use before ranking up.” Aten dismissively waved away Mike’s concerns. “Is everything else ready?”

  “Just need your blood, a scale from a green Wyvern for coloration, and… and the placement of Jelly Slime to increase the building’s self-healing goes in this slot. I’ll physically place this specialty glass after, but a thousand chunks of Imbued Glass goes here…” Joe was moving around the illusion of the seven-pointed-star building and leaving nodes of reagents and stabilizing goo’s where the ritual dictated.

  Aten, following along with Joe, listened to the mumbled words and paled. Items kept appearing wherever Joe went, and some of the things he casually placed had a value no less than the glass he had supplied. Joe knew that Aten was listening and watching and took his time so that he could really showcase his sincerity in maintaining good guild relations. Eventually, there was only one last item that Joe had and was hesitating to add.

  “This is optional…” Joe waffled back-and-forth, debating over the benefit of using this here. “I do only have ten…”

  “What is it? What does it do?” Aten quietly inquired, leaning in closely to see what Joe was debating about.

  “Condensed Ectoplasm.” Joe held up the barely substantial component, letting the misty, mysterious nature showcase itself. “If I added it in, there is a chance that the building just ignores certain physical attacks. The Imbued Glass will make it hard to damage in the first place, but with this added, there is a thirty percent chance that a physical attack does nothing to the building itself.”

  “Really?” Aten leaned in to observe it more closely. “One item can have such a drastic effect?”

  “Oh, absolutely.” Joe made his choice, and he placed the Condensed Ectoplasm next to the iridescent Core. “Alright, if I’m gonna be all in, I need to be all in. Let's hurry and get this done. A thief would have an amazing time here right now. He could buy a town with all this. A crap town, but still.”

  Joe and Aten stood just a few feet apart, the Coven spaced equally around them. “Alright, everyone ready? Aten? Don't use your stat-absorbing skill too soon. It still only lasts for a minute, correct?”

  “One minute and six seconds now,” Aten told him proudly.

  “Gotcha, wait until I say go, okay?” Aten nodded, and Joe continued the setup. “Starting in three, two, one… Nos pascat: nos pascat: nos pascere!”

  With the first few phrases of the ritual out of the way, mana began to flow like a river. First, the outer members of the Coven were coated in mana; then it stretched between them. The energy started to change form, becoming blue chains that then reached out and wrapped around Joe and Aten. Shackles formed on ankles, wrists, and necks. As the third circle lit up, the group was pulled into the air like marionettes, and by the fourth circle, they were rotating in a strange dance.

  “Is this supposed to happen?” Aten managed to shout.

  “Different…” one of the new Ritualists shouted as he spun in place like a ballerina, “every… time!”

  “Good work remembering that, Hannah! Aten, pretty sure the chains are a reminder of what I did to get the Condensed Ectoplasm!” Joe barked between chants. “It seems that the reagents used impact the ritual and are a small throwback to your experiences!”

  Skill increase: Ritual Lore (Apprentice II). Learning while doing! Dangerous, yet effective!

  Skill increase: Teaching (Beginner 0). You can teach in many situations! People you are teaching now have a chance to start with an additional 2% of your skill level when learning a skill from you!

  The notifications took Joe off guard, and his control nearly slipped. He pulled himself together but not before wasting fifty mana by missing his cue. With a motion and a wave of power, the rings began gyrating. Illusions of ritual circles were covering the area, and it seemed that a black hole was forming in the center. Not due to a lack of light but because the land around the area seemed to be ignoring gravity and collecting into a single point.

  Dirt, loam, sand, compost… all the things that had been collected over the last ten days began lifting and swirling. Soon, nearly ten metric tons of earth was in the air above the guild hall in a giant ball. The next stage of the process began, and Joe spat blood as his mana was pulled on sharply. Splitting apart into seven identical shapes, the land was hidden behind flying, now-green glass. “Aten, do it!”

  Aten closed his eyes for a moment and began to swell. Not in physical siz
e but the aura of danger that always lightly coated him. Mana exploded out of him, mostly captured by the ritual. Some went to waste, as he was intentionally pouring out everything he could for the full minute that his skill lasted. Joe wasn’t immune from the effects of the guild-draining skill; he felt all of his stats get reduced to their closest threshold.

  He struggled to maintain control of the ritual, holding on just barely, like holding a heavy-yet-fragile glass as you were spun in a circle. Actually, exactly like that. The final stage of the ritual began, and Aten was still going strong. The last time Joe had seen this, Aten had managed to get all of his stats to around two hundred. That would put his mana capacity at twenty-five hundred and his regen at a fifty a second. The glow faded as Aten’s skill ended, and Joe’s attributes returned to normal.

  The last of the needed mana was added just as Joe felt his ear get torn off. He screamed, seeing a massive ballista bolt missing him as the ritual spun him away. Unfortunately, Aten was spun into place and took the tree-sized bolt in the chest. “Urk.”

  You have created an Evergrowth Greenhouse! This building provides a necessary service; it allows for the production of food! You are also able to grow herbs and other plants within, but be cautious! When the mana density of the building reaches a certain point, it will grow. After the first growth cycle, Weeds will begin to spawn. If the weed problem is ignored for too long, this building will revert to a dungeon. This will increase output of all cultivated goods by up to 1000% but increase the danger of taking them by the same amount!

  To grow, the building will require the same resources that it was given to be created. Upon reaching the first growth, the Evergrowth Greenhouse will begin to absorb from the ground in the surrounding areas, functionally acting as a sewage system. If there are not enough ‘deposits’ in the area, plant growth may be stunted as resources are pulled from the area.