by Aleron Kong
The chaos seed walked in silence for a moment while he digested what he had been told. As they got closer to the camp, he asked, “Are there more guards down in the tunnels?”
The troll shrugged, “Normally, there are. I don’t know if Heqht-jo emptied the mines before coming to battle, but even if he didn’t, there are normally only a handful of goblins to watch the slaves.”
Richter nodded, and the inklings of a plan started to form in his mind. Looking at Vulzal again, he asked, “How much to employ you for ten minutes?”
The grin that came over the troll’s face made his visage truly ghastly.
CHAPTER 46 – Day 141 – Kuborn 31, 15,386 EBG
“They are coming!” Vulzal shouted at the top of his lungs. His goblin-speak was not as fluent as his common, but it should be more than up to the task. He ran down into the cave with Ttarmok in tow. The troll had his blade out, and it was smeared with dark red blood.
“Who is that?” A goblin grinder looked around a bend in the tunnel. “You are not supposed to be down here.” The guard hefted his crossbow while he stared at trolls suspiciously.
“And what does it tell you that we are?” Ttarmok said aggressively. “The enemy forces outnumbered us, and we had to retreat back to the inner wall! Heqht-jo wants everyone up to man the walls and fight back the attackers.” The troll may have quailed slightly when faced with the murderous human, but he was in no way intimidated by a mere goblin.
“Why aren’t one of our people down here?” the goblin asked, still suspicious. The trolls had kept walking, though, and he hadn’t fired, so their deception was at least partially effective.
Vulzal shook his head in distaste, “Many of your people were slaughtered by sprites. Even my men took serious losses. We don’t have any more time.” He held up his bloody blade. “There is more sprite blood to spill. Your commander wants all ten of you up top. Now!” The trolls stopped right next to the grinder. Two other goblin scouts had walked up.
The goblin lowered his crossbow and looked at Vulzal in confusion, “What do you mean ten? All of the other guards were already taken for the battle. We are the only ones left.”
Ttarmok sighed, “That should not have been that easy. They really do breed you goblins dumb, don’t they?”
The grinder was about to respond angrily to the insult but found it very hard to speak with Vulzal’s blade through his throat. The two trolls had fought together long enough that Ttarmok had distracted the grinder without even having to be asked. The dead goblin slid to the ground as Vulzal withdrew his blade. Then the trolls started advancing on the goblin scouts that looked at them, wide-eyed in fear.
As they stalked the scouts, Vulzal thought about the enemy commander. The dark-skinned human’s plan to kill the last remaining goblins inside the encampment had been simple, but effective. Vulzal had been especially impressed when Richter suggested stabbing a dead human body to put blood on their swords and make the deception more realistic. It was exactly the kind of cold and brutal logic that trolls valued. One of the sprites had predictably objected, but Richter had just asked if the remains of the dead were more important than the lives of the living. After that, there had been no more dissent.
Vulzal swung his blade at a scout, easily powering through the small goblin’s defense. The blow wasn’t meant to kill so much as wound. The troll had never liked goblins and causing the scout pain was improving his mood. He stabbed the small green creature again, enjoying its squeals, and reflected that Richter was indeed a human he could work with.
CHAPTER 47 – Day 141 – Kuborn 31, 15,386 EBG
The trolls came out of the cave a few minutes later. Richter was in the process of recharging his enchanted weapons with weak and poor soul stones.
“The goblins are dead,” Vulzal said simply.
“And the prisoners?” Richter asked.
“Further down in the cave. I thought you’d want to check on them yourself.” The troll waved a hand near his face. “If they saw me coming out of the dark, they might shit themselves to death,” he said with a chuckle.
Neither Richter nor any of his comrades joined in the laughter, but the chaos seed did reach into his bag. He pulled out two silver pieces and tossed one to each troll. Ttarmok looked at him curiously, “I did not expect you to actually pay us for killing the goblins. You know that we would have done that just to preserve our own lives.”
“I always pay my debts,” Richter said quietly, keeping eye contact. “In every sense of the word. Remember that.”
“We will not be forgetting you, Lord Richter,” promised Vulzal. There was something in his voice that Richter could not quite place. The chaos seed asked a few more questions, then he dismissed the trolls, both from his presence and his consideration. He couldn’t stomach being around his former enemies any longer. They may have just been hired hands, but they had also killed his people. He would not be forgetting that, and he would most certainly not forgive.
“Sion. Terrod. You’re with me,” Richter said. “Caulder, take the trolls over to their strongbox and get what we are owed and nothing more. I trust your judgement. This is not a negotiation, however. If they give you any trouble, take their heads.” He didn’t bother looking at the mercenaries as he said it. “Once they pay, cut them loose, but without their weapons. I won’t have them coming up behind our people armed. I want you to take half the men with you. The rest of you, sweep the encampment in teams of five. If there are any more goblins or prisoners hidden here, I want to know. Kill the former, save the latter, no exceptions.”
Everyone clapped a fist to their hearts and said, “Yes, milord.” Ttarmok looked bothered by what Richter said, but Vulzal just smiled slightly. Sharp teeth poked past the troll’s lips, but not as a threat. The troll sergeant just nodded in respect towards the chaos seed and walked off.
Richter looked at Alma, *Fly high, my love. If the trolls are right, the goblin forces will be coming from the entrance at the end of the valley. Watch the whole valley and let me know what you see.*
*Are you sure you’re feeling better?* she asked him. Concern was evident in her tone, and she sent him a mental image of when he had been kneeling in front of the Druid, choking on his own blood.
*I’m fine,* he snapped back with irritation. *And please god never show me that again!* Living through it had been terrible enough, he didn’t need the replay! He took a breath and realized that she deserved better than that, *I’m sorry, love. I will be fine. I still haven’t thanked you for saving me. Thank you. I would be lost without your love and support. I need you flying reconnaissance, though. I’m sure whatever might be down there is something I can handle. Besides, I have Sion, Terrod and the adder as backup. Please be my eyes in the sky.*
Alma sent her assent. She flew close and licked his cheek, bringing a slight chuckle to his grim face. Finally feeling better, she flew up to keep watch on the valley. Richter looked at his Companions and said, “Let’s go.”
The three men walked down into the cave. The trolls had said it took a few minutes to get to where they had seen the goblins, so Richter dealt with some of the sea of notifications waiting for him. He chose to address the ones dealing with Alma first.
You have been awarded 52,972 experience (base 605,398 x 0.07 x 1.25) from Brain Drain against Level 27 goblin Druid, Radg-or; Station: Rikker.
Congratulations! Your familiar has reached level 38!
It was great seeing how his familiar was advancing, but the next prompt almost brought a tear to his eye. He had no idea how much he had missed that sweet sound.
TRING!
You have reached level 32! Through hard work you have moved forward along your path. As a Chaos Seed, you gain 6 points to distribute to characteristics instead of the usual 4. You also receive 15 Talent points instead of the usual 10. +15 Talent points from your Profession and Specialty for having a 100% affinity in Enchanting. You also get 25% advancement to the skill of your choice! Crush your enemies, honor your allies, LIVE!
Talent Points Remaining: 61 Talent Points.
Even after living through the horrors of the battle, and suffering the pain of the Bloodstone’s spell, Richter felt a thrill. He had progressed! The chaos seed couldn’t wait to invest his new Characteristic points. This was also the first time he had leveled since obtaining his Essence Specialization. Getting the extra ten Talent points to go along with the ones he had gotten before was amazing.
Richter dismissed the prompt dealing with his Talent points, but couldn’t wait to invest his new stat points. He pulled up his abbreviated status page.
Name: Richter
Age: 24
Level: 32, 58%
Health: 664Mana: 504Stamina: 350
Strength: 33 (base: 25 + items: 8)
Agility: 32
Dexterity: 38 (base: 23 + items: 15)
Constitution: 56
Endurance: 35
Intelligence: 46
Wisdom: 45
Charisma: 34
Luck: 21
Abilities:
Limitless
Gift of Tongues
Fast Learner
Bounty of Life
Psi Bond
Qualities:
Resolute
Honorable II
Implacable
Skills:
…
Marks:
Master of the Mist Village
Blood Oath of Vengeance
Forge of Heavens
Dragonkin I
Resistances:
Air 50%
Earth 20%
Fire 10%
Life 50%
Mental 55%
Spiritual 5%
Race: Human (Chaos Seed)
Reputation: Lvl 4 “You are a man worthy of respect.”
Alignment: Neutral
Languages: All
Richter glanced through his page, but it was just an indulgence. The main reason was that he had wanted to see his new level. He already knew where his points were going to go. The chaos seed invested five points into Intelligence, and keeping with his esoteric personality, one point went into Luck. As always, he wondered if he had actually gotten smarter after investing in Intelligence. The stat wasn’t the same thing as intellect, but increasing his Intelligence was supposed to have a marginal effect on his brainpower as well as deepening his mana well. Of course, he couldn’t tell.
He invested the 25% skill bonus into Enchanting without a second thought. Gone were the days of his playing fast and loose with the perk. When all of his skills were low level, it hadn’t really made a difference which he invested in. It had seemed like he leveled a different skill every day. Now that he was advancing higher, though, skill progression was harder to come by, even with his Limitless ability. The bonus finally got him a specific prompt for the first time in a month.
Congratulations! You have reached skill level 47 in Enchanting. All enchantments 1% more effective and increased chance of enchantments taking hold.
Receiving the notification was more than satisfying. After closing his status screen, part of him did want to open his Profession page up, but by then, he could see firelight dancing against the tunnel wall. They had gotten to the bend. The trolls had said that was where the bodies of the goblins were. Once they turned the corner, the sight of three mutilated bodies greeted them.
Terrod cursed. The trolls had not been kind. One body had black smears on the ground, showing where the scout had tried to crawl away. The trolls had not taken long, but they had extracted as much pain as they could in the time allotted. Richter just looked at the scene dispassionately, taking it for what it was. A message… and maybe an advertisement.
They were standing in a small cave, the ceiling only ten feet high. The tunnel continued at a downward angle on the other side of the cavern. Richter took point. He had a small magical light floating near his head, but it couldn’t penetrate the shadowed depths of the tunnel. The chaos seed cast Far Light and a ball of white light shot away from his fingers. It stuck to the floor of the tunnel where it leveled out again. He didn’t see anything but more tunnel. Nodding to his Companions, he started walking.
All three of them had their weapons out the shale adder slid along the ground beside them. Richter kept his eye out for traps, but nothing lit up red. Soon they were at the bottom of the ramp. They kept following the tunnel. The walls were rough-hewn grey rock, and pebbles were scattered across the ground. Not everything he saw was benign though. Along one stretch of the cave wall was a smear of dried blood. An awful scent had started to build as well, worsening the deeper they went.
Soon the tunnel opened into another cavern, this one much larger. It stretched forty feet high and countless thin stalactites hung from the ceiling. The shape of this part of the cave system was more like a hallway, with the sides sloped almost straight up. The cavern was about twenty yards across, but very deep. The far end was lost in shadow. Richter cast Far Light several times. What he saw made his heart seize in his chest.
Figures lay on the ground like forgotten trash. As he cast the spell again and again, he saw more bodies in various stages of decomposition. The Companions now knew where the horrible stench was coming from. Some had wounds, some broken bones and more than a few had their heads stove-in. Richter’s blood pressure began to rise. The trolls were definitely lucky they were no longer near him.
More balls of light flew from his hands, showing more than a hundred bodies, until the spheres stuck to the bars of a cage. Hundreds of eyes weakly reflected the faint light. Men, women and children were pressing themselves against the far side of their cage. Terror was etched onto all of their faces as they wondered what new horrors their goblin captors would inflict. Richter kept casting Far Light and five more cages were revealed. The bodies of both the living and the dead were inside them.
Richter ran up to one cage, and the people began wailing in fear. He skidded to a halt, “Good people! My name is Lord Richter, and I am here to free you. All of the goblins have been killed. I will get you out!”
The wailing did not abate for some reason. Then Richter realized that he had run at all of them with his blade out. To make matters worse, he was splattered with blood, mud and small specks of flesh. He might as well be a monster as far as the abused slaves were concerned. Luckily, Sion came to the rescue.
“Lord Richter speaks the truth! I am a sprite of the Nadrian forest. You know I would not be standing here if your oppressors had not been slain.” Sion’s voice was pained, and he still favored his shoulder. His tone was also calm, though. “I cannot even imagine what you have had to endure, but Lord Richter has killed the goblins that have been tormenting you. I am sure you are scared, but we do not have much time. More goblins are coming. We are going to open the cages. Those of you with strength, please help those who are too weak to walk. Lord Richter will see you to safety, but we must move quickly.”
As the sprite was speaking, the cries of fear fell silent. The slaves just stared now, but it was still a marked improvement. Luckily, the padlocks were only simple iron. Richter could have picked them, but smashing them with the pommel of his short sword was easier. The chaos seed wrenched each door open. He retrieved every remaining health and stamina potion from his Bag and handed them to his Companions. Then Richter moved on to the next lock. Sion and Terrod ushered the prisoners out, distributing the potions as needed. It wasn’t until the last cage was opened that one of the prisoners spoke to him.
A human woman stepped towards him. She had Asian features and olive skin. He guessed that her hair would have been blond it hadn’t been so dirty and matted. She wasn’t wearing clothes so much as rags, and bruises dotted her body. One eye was swollen shut. Despite all that, Richter could see that at her core she was a beauty. Her chest was small, but it tapered to ample hips, and her features were fine. He could only imagine what she had suffered at the hands of the goblins. It made the fact that she still had a fierce gaze even more shocking and impressive.
; “You are Lord Richter?” she asked in common-speak. Her tone was sure. It contrasted completely with the broken appearance of most of the other prisoners.
“I am,” he replied.
She bowed her head, “I imagine that you did not come here merely to free us. Still I thank you from the depths of my heart, and will do whatever I can to repay this debt.”
“You’re right,” Richter said. “You do not need to worry about any of that now, though. This isn’t a trick. Just go with the others.”
“No,” she said firmly. She stepped in his way as he tried to walk past. “I am honor bound to repay this debt to you.”
Richter blinked in confusion. Who was this woman? Who would voluntarily stay in these caves after having been used for slave labor? He used Analyze and found that her name was Enalise. He also found out much more.
Name: EnaliseRace: HumanDisposition: Admiring
Humans are one of the shortest-lived, but most prolific breeders in the Land. Humans have a broader affinity for skills than other races. No special bonuses to race. Humans get four points to distribute per level. Profession: Miner. Profession: Crafter.
Level: 17
Health: 126/190Mana: 130Stamina: 177/350
Strength: 22
Agility: 18
Dexterity: 22
Constitution: 19
Endurance: 35
Intelligence: 13
Wisdom: 11
Charisma: 18
Luck: 19
She was the first person he had ever met with two Professions! Richter took another look at her. He had initially been distracted by both his anger at her treatment and her beauty. There was probably a lesson in that, but he was too busy reassessing her to really pay attention to such a trivial matter. Now that he was paying more attention, he could see that her arms were extremely well toned. She didn’t have the giant muscles of a warrior, but her biceps, triceps and deltoids were well-defined. Enalise just returned his gaze as he studied her.