by Eric Ugland
Huzzah! Against all odds, you have reached Level 24! You receive 3 attribute points to distribute in the next 36 hours or you lose them. Dare to believe you can survive, and achieve greatness. Or don’t.
Immediately I put four points into Luck. I had to. It was the only thing I could do. And then I put one in strength, because that was what I did, and one in constitution, because I’d been coming too close to death lately.
Rolling off the wyrm’s head, I hit the cave floor with a thud. I lay there and rested for a few minutes before I began the really unpleasant task: killing all the wyrmlings.
It took a lot longer than I’d anticipated, but once done, I thought about resting. Instead, I started skinning all the wyrmlings.
That took a lot longer than I’d anticipated. The rest of the day. And most of the night. But, by the end of it, I’d gotten a skill.
Cool beans, you’ve learned the skill Skinning. Now you can use a blade to remove the hide of an animal with minimal damage to it. +5% value to skin. +5% chance of undamaged skin.
Then, I got the specialized version of the skill, Skinning Wyrms.
Skin over a hundred and sixty five (I’d killed 112 after killing the mama, the rest were from before mama attacked, and likely any the wyrms had killed themselves) wyrms of various states, and you’ll get to about level 10 in skinning. At least, I got to level 10. And that’s when I started on the Ancient Wyrm.
A day and a half later, I had the skin. It wasn’t perfect, there were definitely a few more holes in it than should have been, but I had it. And I could roll it up and shove it in the bag. Then I knocked out her teeth and cut off her claws. I thought about taking her eyes, but I was starting to get grossed out. Plus, I’d spent enough time away from the holding, and I had quite the walk to get back.
One last thing to do in the cave: I put all the treasure, the entire wyrm’s hoard, into the bag.
You have found a quest:
For the Hoard
After killing a wyrm, you knew it left a hoard of treasure somewhere. Perhaps in the cave where you first met the beast. Retrieve the treasure and refill your loot.
Reward for success: Treasure
Penalty for failure (or refusal): None
Yes/No
It took a long time. There was a ton of stuff there. Literally. Gold coins, a lot from the Empire this time. Silver coins. Chalices. Mirrors. Art. Weapons. Shields. Armor. Most of the armor was damaged, but, you know, I figured we could melt it down or something. There were chests full of bizarre things I couldn’t name, and a bunch of books. Grimoires, spellbooks, and otherwise. There was even a table, and all the trappings thereof. It was in the back of a broken wagon. I even broke the wagon down and took it. Mainly because we needed the nails. But once it was in pieces, it seemed silly to leave the wood behind. That took another day.
Outside the cave, it was dark. I was tired, but still, it was time. I started. And I noticed that my poison immunity had gone. Typhon had chosen a new companion for me. That meant any monsters I saw I had to let live until I’d made sure they weren’t my new buddy. It was turning out to be quite a stupid night.
I heard the snapping of branches.
Dropping into a crouch, I pulled out a shiny new shield I’d liberated and put it in front of me.
A deer sprang into view, stopping to looked at me.
I stood up straight.
It bounced away with a quickness.
I shook my head, and started the hike.
I walked through the night, took a brief nap during the day, then resumed my walk.
It took quite some time, multiple days, before I got to the river. But there I was greeted by a welcome sight. There was a bridge across the river, and, in the mountainside, a tunnel. Wide. Welcoming. Perfectly flat inside. It was beautiful. And there was the start of a road going along the western bank of the river, leading south towards the main road and the farms.
The trip through the tunnel was rather dark, and I had the feeling we’d need to do something about that in the near future. Too easy for nasty things to hide in the tunnel if we left it as it was.
On the far end of the tunnel, there was a small gap, then a big gate. The wall wasn’t quite built yet, but someone called out for me to stop.
“State your business,” came the cry.
“Coming home,” I replied.
I saw a face peek over the wall, and I waved. It was one of the battenti.
“Oh,” he said. “’Tis you. Might as well come around the gate, then. Not workin’ yet.”
I smiled, and walked around the gate.
The town looked mostly the same. A bit more polished. There was an additional building, something that looked very much like the barn, but with smaller doors. My guess was a storehouse. My people were busy working, small projects here and there. A well was being dug, skins were being cleaned, meat was being smoked. There was a spot where the felled trees were being debarked and cut into lumber. It was a proper little town.
Chapter Fifty-Six
Nikolai walked out of the barn carrying a bucket of milk. He stopped, and set the bucket down. Immediately, someone else picked it up and took it into the longhouse. Nikolai walked over to me.
“You have returned,” he said, looking me up and down.
“That I did.”
“You were gone longer than I thought you might be.”
“It was further than I thought, and—”
“Fritz?”
“He, uh, didn’t make it.”
“Oh?”
“He sacrificed himself so I could win the fight.”
Nikolai shook his head, but I saw a hint of a smile there.
“Your hirð is quite angry with you. They feel you left them behind on purpose.”
“I did. Someone had to stay and guard this place. Did they?”
“Stay? Yes. And guarded. No others have been abducted. Nor have we sighted any of those goblins. But that is something we must discuss.”
“I know, just—”
“Was your trip a success?”
“Yes.”
I reached into the bag and thought about Imperial coins. I felt leather in my hand, and pulled forth a very heavy pouch.
“Here’s one of many,” I said, shoving it into his hands.
There was quite obvious relief on his face.
“We will send out a merchant today,” he said.
“Nice job on the tunnel, by the way,” I replied.
“It is all due to Essie and Mercy.”
“Good investment, I think.”
“Yes. Also, there is someone here to see you.”
“Shit, Northwoods?”
“Yes.”
“Ah crap.”
“She approaches behind you,” Nikolai said, hiding a smirk. “Perhaps you should limit what you say.”
I turned, and saw Eliza Northwoods striding through the camp. Despite the rather austere living conditions, she managed to look flawless. Her hair was perfect, her skin clean, her eyes clear. She smiled at me, and I couldn’t help but smile in return.
“Duke Coggeshall,” she said with a slight curtsy. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance again.”
“And you,” I said. “As well. Or, uh. It is nice to, I’m going to shut up now.”
“Excellent job, your highness,” Nikolai said softly.
I glared at him.
Eliza Northwoods just smiled.
“I am quite excited to be here,” she said. “I have never seen something like this before. Bringing forth a city from out of the wilderness.”
“Yeah, me neither.”
“My father mentioned to me that you might not be familiar with the governance of a holding. Is that true?”
“Very.”
“Have you claimed this land?”
“Uh—”
“He has not,” Nikolai answered for me.
“Do you know the ritual for that?” she asked.
I shook my head, and to my surprise, Niko
lai did likewise.
“It is quite simple. Would you like me to perform it with you?”
“How about you walk us through it,” Nikolai offered in return, “and then we will do it?”
She smiled at the slight, and nodded. “Of course. I meant nothing by saying I would participate in the ritual. You need a dagger, or a blade of some kind, a flag post or pole, and a patch of ground.”
I looked around the area, and picked out a spot in front of the longhouse. Sure, putting a flag there would make it look like a trumped up summer camp bunk house, but it was the only good spot for a flag.
“Does the flag matter?” I asked.
“It is more the act of putting something into the ground,” Eliza replied. “It is symbolic really. Once you have completed the ritual, you can remove the flag if you like.”
I pulled a spear from the bag of holding, and held it up.
“Blade and pole ready,” I said.
Again a smile. She was definitely a smiler. I wasn’t complaining — she had a great smile. I shook my head and focused back on the task at hand.
“Cut your hand,” she said, “or rather, anywhere you’d prefer. Let the blood fall upon the ground, and then plant your flag pole, or spear in this case, in the blood. Then, you will be given the prompt to claim this land.”
“Sounds easy enough,” I replied, and promptly cut along my forearm.
Nikolai opened his mouth, seeming like he was going to say something, but then he frowned.
I let the blood drop onto the ground, and then I jammed the spear down into the earth through the blood.
You seek to claim this land. Do you claim this as a holding, an estate, a town, a barony, a county, or a dukedom?
Seemed like an odd question. I was a duke. So I claimed the dukedom.
The Dukedom of Coggeshall has been claimed by Montana, the Duke of Coggeshall.
“Done,” I said.
“You have claimed the holding?” she asked.
“No,” I said, looking from her to Nikolai. “I claimed the dukedom.”
The blood drained from her face.
“Oh, no,” she said. “That was unwise.”
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About the Author
Eric Ugland ran away from Seattle to join the circus. And then he came to his senses, and moved to Manhattan. Now he's a novelist in Oregon, trapped by trees and snow and bears. Mostly bears.
The Good Guys is a continuing LitRPG series I’m writing in the world of iNcarn8. Join my reader group and be the first to know when new books come out.
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Contents
Also by Eric Ugland
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
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