● Social I: Increases the Social attribute of all creatures in the zone by +1. Cost: 100 FP
● Tainted Water: All free-flowing water becomes tainted with darkness. Drinking gives a buff to Shadow-Touched creatures while causing mild disease to others. Cost: 300 FP
● Eternal Night: The zone of influence will be covered with perpetual darkness. Cost: 1,000 FP
FP Available: 10
Since I hadn’t purchased any blessings for Storg before, I only got the basic list of upgrades. I didn’t have nearly enough faith points available, but with the amount of energy at my disposal, that was hardly an issue.
I accessed the Energy Options and converted 20,000 EP to 2,000 FP. I returned to the Zone Blessings list and purchased Eternal Night for 1,000 FP then selected the ‘no upkeep’ upgrade for another 1,000.
Darkness spread from the temple like a cloud of billowing black smoke, washing over the entire town and blotting out the sun. I could feel the revitalizing dark energy entering my body, nourishing me.
“Chief.”
I turned to see my goblin general bowing deeply, with the adept I’d sent a few steps behind him.
“You asked for me?”
“Yes, Savol,” I said. “As the town closest to Everance, I want you to recall all our troops here. I’ve blessed the town, so the soldiers won’t require food while they’re within its limits.”
“Savol will do this at once, Chief,” the goblin said. “Portals will make it more quick.”
“Right, I haven’t enchanted new portals for every new settlement, have I?”
“Maybe great priest Bek can do that?” the general suggested.
“Great priest Bek, eh?” I cracked a smile. “That would be helpful, but you need Expert-ranked Runecraft skill to do that. No, I’ll do it myself soon.”
“Yes, Chief.”
“I also need you to assign 40 soldiers to each of the caravans we’re sending out,” I continued. “Yeshy, the clan’s trade minister, will let you know where to send them.”
“Of course, Chief,” the general replied.
“See you later.” I winked at him and stepped back through the portal.
The clan was now optimized for maximum food generation, and I had enough food stored up to summon even more. It was time to test out the new summoning option that had opened up.
I teleported directly to the Breeder’s Den, accessed its controls, and summoned a single bonetis.
A few moments passed with nothing happening, then a single goblin hauler came running in, carrying a pile of white stone bricks. He quickly loaded the limestone into the building and stepped back.
The Breeder’s Den started to churn and groan, raising the cacophony it normally did when summoning new creatures. Only this time, the noise was accompanied by a penetrating long screech.
A few moments later, the leather covering was flung to the side, and a single small white object that looked like a pebble came rolling out.
I stared, dumbfounded, at the white ball at my feet. It looked nothing like any bonetis I’d encountered before.
I was left wondering for only a few seconds before cracks appeared on the surface of the pebble, making its nature clear.
“It’s an egg!” I said.
Vic said dryly.
The cracks widened and a creature wriggled out from the thick white egg, which I realized was made of limestone. The small creature was about double the size of a normal mantis, and its soft-looking shell glistened with moisture. It skittered on sticklike limbs around the cracked eggshell.
All in all, it was a disappointing display. The creature was a far cry from what I’d imagined a bonetis mount to look like.
Vic advised.
The small bonetis skittered toward me and ran up my leg, over my arm, and into my open palm.
The small creature nibbled at my fingers.
The creature leaped out of my hands, landing among the broken pieces of its eggshells, and started devouring them at an alarming speed.
I stepped back as the bonetis rapidly grew from the size of an apple to that of a cat, and then to that of a large dog. It shoved the last piece of egg into its mouth, but its growth didn’t stop. A few moments later, a fully grown bonetis was standing in front of me.
It tilted its T-shaped head, raised its scythelike arms, and took a step toward me.
“Easy now.” I held up my hand and channeled a bit of dark mana toward the creature. It instantly stopped moving and lowered its head submissively before me.
“Impudent specimen.” Kaedric’s voice came from behind me, full of contempt. “I beg your forgiveness, my lord. This … creature is somewhat resisting my authority, but I have it well in hand now. Future bonetises will be more obedient from now on.”
“Good.” I stared back at the creature. Analyze.
Bonetis
Level: 20
HP: 240
Attributes: P:24
Skills: Scythe Flurry 11
Traits: Non-Magical, Mount
Description: This sharp-limbed beast can carry troops on its back as it carves a bloody path through enemy lines.
It was quite the addition to my budding monster army. The creature’s level of 20 put its starting level before the capital bonuses at 7. I quickly queued in 27 more, the maximum I could summon with my current stock of limestone. Goblin haulers appeared, each one depositing a stack of white bricks into the Breeder’s Den which quickly began spewing out new eggs.
“Send the newly summoned bonetises to Storg once they’ve hatched and grown,” I instructed, noting that the new eggs were starting to crack. “Inform the general I want the soldiers to begin training in mounted combat immediately. There will be a lot more of them coming.” Especially considering the relatively low cost of the creatures.
“Yes, my lord.” Kaedric bowed. He turned to the lone monster and gestured at it.
The creature took two steps forward, then something flashed toward it at incredible speed. The bonetis exploded in a cloud of sharp bones and insect gore, leaving behind only an intact head, rolling on the ground.
I turned, fire burning in my eyes and a spell charging in my staff, and spotted a familiar group of people with their weapons out.
“Oops.”
5 - Warm-Up
“Sorry, Chief.” Malkyr rubbed his neck in embarrassment. “We saw that bonetis running around and thought one of them slipped through the portal somehow.”
I sighed. “I understand, but please don’t attack any of the new ones.”
The large man looked at me in confusion. “The new ones?”
I pointed at the cracking eggs around me, the shells peeling away as tiny white needles pierced through. Malkyr and the rest of the players quickly drew back as a host of baby bonetises swarmed out of their eggs.
“Holy crap!” he bellowed.
“Easy,” I said. “These are gonna be our new mounts.”
“Mounts?” Jaelon squeaked. “I’m not riding on something that looks like … that!”
“I think they’re rather cute.” Raystia bent down, offering her arm for a small bonetis that quickly climbed on top of it. “You know, when they’re not trying to kill you.”
“What happened to that huge black wolf you used to ride?” Fox asked.
“Tempest?” I winced. “He could only stay while I supplied him with mana; the connection didn’t survive the VI uprising and my subsequent ejection from the game.”
“Too bad,” the bugbear said. “He was a beauty. Especially compared to these.” He pointed at the group of bonetises that gathered around the dead one, eating its remains.
I accessed the Resurrection Interface, but it was empty. I wasn’t surprised. The dead bonetis was an unnamed mob. It looked like I was going to have to renew the naming ceremony.