by Dakota Krout
Now, from his study, Luke had realized that the different markings on the goats seemed to indicate herd affiliation. They didn't attack their own herd, only those with different markings. For some reason, whenever he was seen, all of that went out the window and they attacked him together. Over the past couple of weeks, Luke had started testing something.
When he killed off the goats now, he tried to target one herd exclusively. All of them ran whenever twelve died, but the practice was starting to impact the population in a very minor way. Each day, the left herd - as he called them - gained a quarter-inch or so of territory. The right herd was getting beaten down more often, since they were outnumbered. With the sheer number of goats, it was hard to tell if you weren't looking for it, but still… Luke needed a hobby, so he made this his goal.
*Crack*.
Luke joined one of the fights, killing the goat and grabbing it in one fell swoop before legging it. As always, the goats screeched and started to follow him. A tide of tiny goats galloped through the long grass, mimicking a wind blowing through the area. He knew better; in the entire two weeks Luke had been here, there had been no wind, or rain, or any sign of weather patterns at all. Simply light… or dark. There also didn't seem to be a sun, so the light was strange and flat.
He finally reached the rock that he used as a fighting point and got into position. Luke tossed his first goat to the side and started punching small creatures gleefully. He tried to focus on the right herd, but one or two of the left herd was always in the way. They were really fragile, if hit correctly. Just a few minutes later, a squeal rang out and the remainder of the herds galloped off.
Luke sighed and stepped off his rock. “That’ll feed me for a day or two. Good… on to the next part!”
After cleaning the goats, he added the horns and pearls to his growing collection. The pouch he was storing the pearls in was starting to get pretty full, so… Luke frowned as he realized that it wasn't as full as it should have been. He opened the pouch and looked inside, finding that a full fifty pearls were missing. With today’s haul, he should have had an even eighty-four, but instead he now had… thirty-five? So, he wasn't missing fifty exactly… wait.
One of the pearls was… different. It wasn't much, but the pearl was slightly brighter, more… pearlescent. Luke winced as he had that thought. Puns were not his strong suit. “All right, little guy… where did you come from? I have thirty-four regular pearls, then you. I know you weren't here before…”
It took two more days, but Luke finally gained his answer after his next hunt. Since he had lost forty-nine pearls and one had seemed to become brighter, Luke assumed they had done something magical. Instead of taking his normal twelve goats and retreating, he attacked again. This had apparently infuriated the goats, and he had to kill off another twenty-four before the shrill cry came again and made them retreat.
Luke had honestly thought that they were going to keep going until either he or all of them had died, so he nearly kissed his fighting rock when he stepped off of it. “I know, Rocky! That was dumb, I get it. But at least I know that I’ll need to kill a full thirty-six if I attack twice in one day. Twelve plus twelve times two? Does that mean if I go further, I’ll need to kill eighty-four, or seventy-two? Does it double, or is it only an addition of twelve?”
Trying to understand without testing to see for sure was a fool’s game, so he made his way to the campsite and poured all of his pearls into his pouch. Having nothing to do beyond watch it and clean goats, he got to see when the reaction began. The cluster of pearls started to shine, and what he assumed to be forty-nine of them melted and flowed into the fiftieth. That one became brighter and fractionally larger than it had been.
“So now we know for sure that these aren't just pearls.” Luke muttered to himself as he inspected the new version with slightly still-bloody hands. “But what are they? Should I… what should I do with them?”
Not having an answer, and not too desperate to figure out the mystery, he simply decided to hoard them as originally planned. Now that he had a goal, it only took another week of his routine for him to consolidate his pearls into four of the better versions. That night was also the first where he had trouble during darkness since arriving.
He awoke to a soft bleating, and was careful not to move as he opened his eyes. A small herd of goats had invaded his camp, and he realized that his fire had gone out. Luke cursed himself for his complacency, and jumped to his feet as he heard something tear. A goat had chewed through the side of his pack and currently had its head inside. Luke shouted and started goat punting, and the creature in his pack scrambled back.
One of Luke’s pearls was in its mouth, and it panicked as Luke killed more of the goats. He started toward it, and it bleated a challenge at him. Then it stumbled and fell over. “I’m going to skin and eat you-”
*Pow*!
The goat exploded into meaty chunks, and Luke fell flat on his back as gore rained down on him. What was left of the goat was a smoking ruin, and when Luke went to check… there was no sign of the pearl. “There’s one question answered… don't eat the pearls. Go full hoarder mode. Keep in storage device far away from mouth.”
By his third month in the world, Luke was getting sick of goat meat; but no matter how he tried, he couldn’t get through goat territory. He had attempted it a few times, but once he was inevitably seen, the goats didn’t stop swarming until he was out of their area. Since all he could see for a huge distance was swaying grass… he had to turn back, time after time. He was getting better at killing them, and he knew that progressing was only a matter of persistence.
Luke had stopped hunting for meat alone out of sheer boredom, and was now starting to attack the goats either just to train his reactions, or to kill time and goats. Luke remembered how that had been taboo back home, as slaying creatures for no real purpose was a way to send creatures into extinction, and also removed a food source. Here, though, on Murder World, there was no other way forward. There was also a seemingly endless number of goats, and if he made them go extinct… “Good.”
Three months and twenty-five hundred goats. That was lowballing the actual amount he had slain, as he had gone on a rampage a few times deep in their territory, trying to break through. Luke’s legs were armored with layers and layers of goat skin, which he had hardened and stitched together, to the point that he took off the top layers and used them for pillows at night. By now, he had killed at least that many goats for a very simple reason: after the last fifty pearls had melted together, the upgraded pearls had all melted together and created an even larger, shinier, more beautiful version. He rolled it in his fingers, “You’re a beauty.”
It was useful in a few ways. It now gave off enough light that he was able to use it instead of a torch of grass, and he had found that the goats really, really wanted to eat it and blow themselves up for some reason. Luke had been forced to relocate his camp all the way back to the sky-waterfall pool area. The goats were now seeking him out whenever he was near, and no amount of stealth allowed him to sneak up on them. They could apparently feel the third-tier pearl, as he had started calling it.
In fact, Luke could feel it, too. It was a presence similar to having his back to an open flame. It felt hot, and he could always point at it perfectly, no matter where it was. Not that he often let it out of his range: the goats might get it. “Then I’ll have to kill enough of them to replace my pearl! The goats can’t have my pearl!”
Luke’s hand was shaking so much from rage at the thought… that the pearl slipped out of his hand. Normally, it wouldn't have been much of an issue, but he was at the edge of the pool. The pearl fell into the edge of the water and vanished. Both from sight and feel.
“No! No!” He screamed and dived after it, coming to his senses as his face hit the water. What was he doing? He could still see it; the light that it was giving off let him know that it still existed. Why had he thought it vanished? It took him a moment, but he realized that it was because
the constant warmth and direction that it had always emitted had vanished. He pulled it out of the water, and the feeling returned. He dunked it back in, and the feeling vanished, except where his hand was clenched around it.
“Well, that solves the stealth issue,” Luke muttered, already planning on making a new waterskin out of goat hide. “Ha! It will be my goat hide! I’ll hide the pearls in it! Ha, ha!”
He broke down into laughter, and after a while, felt that his cheeks were wet. Luke touched his face, still laughing. That was odd… water didn't stay wet… wasn't it just supposed to vanish after a few moments?
Chapter Thirteen
- Andre -
Andre munched on an apple as he listened to Xan’s lecture. The last month and a half since he had entered this world - unimaginatively named ‘The Grove’ - had been… informative. He had been doing nothing but twice-daily multi-hour exercises and reading the massive volumes of information that Xan provided him. Andre wasn't allowed further than the shadow of the tallest tree in the grove, and the forced limit was grating on him. Not that he would complain about that out loud. Though it had taken a while, he had learned better.
After spending his first night pinned tightly to a tree, Andre had been completely silent for days, one hundred percent terrified by the man that seemed ready to kill him for literally no reason. He had followed all instructions as well as he could, and on his third day in ‘The Grove’, he had managed to connect to the apple tree and feed it mana. That was good, as he was literally beginning to starve by that point. Xan had kept his word and hadn't fed him even a single time.
The apple tree seemed to like him, pleased by his gifts of blood and mana. He hadn’t yet managed to bind to the tree, but his teacher’s lectures had shown him that was likely going to take a long time. Still, he could make good, nutrient-packed apples. But as a human, he needed a variety of food, and after a long month of constant exertion, he could feel his shrinking muscles begging for meat.
So, when Xan had told him that it was time to learn to hunt, Andre had nearly cried with happiness. Then Xan had clarified that he had meant it was time to learn how to make a weapon that he could hunt with. Not that there would be meat on the table. Andre’s mind had nearly shut down at that point, but it drove him to use every single second of his free time practicing binding to a single chunk of dead wood. It would be his staff, and once he had bound to it, the staff could be whatever weapon he needed. Well… so long as he had enough mana control.
Say what you will about the brutality of Xan’s methods: they were effective. It only took a week for the staff to suddenly come to life in Andre’s hands. The dead wood gained strength and elasticity, and a few leaves even sprouted on it. The young Druid was shaking as he felt his connection to the wood; it was a piece of him now. The living chunk of wood could be his arm, such was the strength of the bond he had just made.
Xan appeared by Andre’s side in an instant. “Ah… you succeeded. Without an ability, even. Congratulations. You now understand the depth of what we do, and I can start treating you like an actual person, instead of what you came in here as. Come up and have dinner.”
Andre looked up from his staff, the mention of food breaking through his fugue. “You… what? Dinner?”
“C’mon, kid. Now that you’ve made a bond with a thing that was dead and brought it back, you’ve created what will likely be the most difficult bond you will ever make.” Xan helped the lad to his feet and marched him along. “Record time, too. I told the Circles that they were too soft with Initiates. You’ve helped me prove my point; now this is going to be standard training. Took me this long just to make my first apple.”
Andre’s mouth fell open. Despite wanting to scream and rant, he nearly collapsed when Xan tried to make him climb the rope. Then the rope composed of vines wrapped around him and lifted him in, where somehow Xan was already waiting; though he had been behind Andre on the ground. “I’m sure you have questions. First, drink this, and eat this.”
A bowl of honey and what appeared to be meat that had been pulverized were handed over. Andre wasted no time, pouring them together and licking the bowl clean. Spoons and manners were never even considered. Xan nodded approvingly. “Good. You are finally starting to get it. Efficiency is your best friend. Listen. This was a trial training method, and if you had gone much longer without success, I would have reverted to the standard practice.”
Xan kept talking as more food was carried over by vines. “Also, that was a compound that will make your body and metabolism function at ten times the normal rate. Eat everything you can get your hands on; we have almost two months of starvation to fend off. We can fix it all right now.”
That was all the encouragement that Andre needed, and he dove into the food. Xan lectured as he ate. “All right, listen. The breakthrough to your Druidic powers can only be done in an incredibly meditative state. The normal practice is to teach you to reach this state, running through forms and positions that would help you clear your mind. I theorized that sudden trauma, followed by starvation, while forcing intense physical activity, would let you reach that state ten times as fast.”
“I was right.” Xan was deadly serious, and Andre was too busy shoving food in his face to attack the man like he wanted to do. “You did in two months what normally takes three to five years to achieve. Now, you still need to learn all of the other things, but we can start with the practical applications of your power years before it is normally possible. Even though it seems terrible, it was all done to benefit you.”
Xan stopped talking, because Andre had fallen asleep. “Ah… the medicine is as effective as advertised. Right on schedule. See you in the morning. Sleep well.”
Hours later, at the exact moment when the sun touched Andre’s new staff, his eyes popped open. He stretched and felt good for the first time since before he had arrived on this cursed world. “Master Xan?”
“Ah, you are awake!” Xan leaned over and looked at his charge. “Tell me… how much of your time here do you recall clearly?”
“All…” Andre’s brow furrowed. Most of his time seemed like a damaged dream. Well… more a sleep-deprived nightmare. “Not… much, actually?”
“That’s fine. I didn't expect that you would. Your mind needed to find a way to make you stay sane, after all. The Sigil even helps with that when you get proper food and rest. It balances you forcibly. It’s a touchy subject, that. But, it keeps people from going off the deep end.” Xan took a bite of an apple and tossed Andre his new staff. “Don’t leave that lying around. It’s an object of power now, and can be used to badly hurt you. Now, about the properties of the staff.”
“This is your connection to plants.” Xan explained seriously. “All plants. Though you don't need it when you are binding to plants, the fact that you turned a dead stick into a Livingwood Staff means that all plants will resonate with you through it. It will make your life a lot easier. We are going to start the practical applications of what we can do soon, but just know that the bond you have with that staff will be the same with everything you bind. It will all feel like your body.”
“That’s why you were so mad at me when we got started, then?” Andre nervously questioned.
“You wanted to ‘blast people’.” Xan scoffed and clapped his charge on the arm to put him at ease. “A Druid is the ultimate defense. We don't go on the offence except in person. We bind the land and everything in it to ourselves, which means our Kingdom literally becomes our body. We’ll talk on that more later. Now, I want you to say ‘status’.”
“Status?” Andre repeated in surprise. “Why-”
Contribution Activity Log is online! Scanning…
CAL Scan complete!
Level: 0
Current Etheric Xenograft Potentia: 130/100 to level 1!
Body: 2.45
Mind: 3.65
Presence: 2.25
Senses: 1.35
Health: 71
Mana: 127.8
Mana
regen: 1.4 per second
You are able to increase in level! Do so now? Yes / No.
Xan asked for the numbers, and nodded along. This was roughly what he had been expecting. “Good… creating and connecting to a Livingwood Staff gives a full one hundred exp. The rest must be from the apples, you lucky dog. There’s no more Potentia in those for you now, I bet, but it was nice while it lasted. You came here with a crazy high Capacity for a newbie, but that’s expected as a Druid. Choose ‘yes’ to leveling, and put the point into ‘Mind’, sub-characteristic ‘Talent’. I’ll explain after you’re done, but you need to do this. If you put the point anywhere else, I’m going to kick you out as a failed Initiate. That means death.”
“Sheesh, Xan!” Andre selected ‘yes’. “I thought we were past this.”
Xan only bothered to reply with a flat glare and, “Just make sure to speak out loud.”
Level up Initiated! Integrating Etheric Xenograft Potentia into host! You have one level to use, where would you like to add the bonus? Body / Mind / Presence / Senses.
“Mind.”
‘Good, that’s the first one you need.” Xan snarked at Andre, getting only a glare in return.
Mind selected! Select sub-characteristic. Talent / Capacity.
“Talent?” Andre’s voice was questioning, thrown off by Xan’s attitude.
Increasing sub-characteristic now!
Andre’s world went black, and when he came around… everything was different. Xan’s words floated into his ears, and he understood exactly what the man meant when he stated, “Congratulations. You now process thoughts nearly six hundred percent faster. That won't translate into ‘thickheaded’ like you might think; quite the opposite. You will likely be much more on board with my training, and I’ll need to know if you would recommend this harsh training for others. Also, say ‘sub-status’.”