The Wastes

by Alexey Osadchuk

  When it came time for the silvers, I took a heavy sigh. I looked at the gremlin’s enamored little snout and just kept handing him tablets. I advised him to invest five into Agility and Strength, then pull Butcher up to the ceiling. After all that, I had seventeen more silver tablets left over.

  I took another close look at Mee’s characteristics and came to the conclusion that a hundred per supply would be enough for his body to take activating the tablets just fine.

  “Here,” I said to the gremlin, extending him seven silvers. “Five into life and two into energy.”

  He nodded silently and the glimmering sheets in his hands dissolved into thin air.

  So then, let’s see where that got us.

  — Steppe Gremlin.

  — Name: Mee.

  — Level: 3 (0/9000).

  — Status: Loyalty to elder family member (permanent).

  — Mind: 6/6

  — Strength: 10.9/30

  — Agility: 10.9/30

  — Health: 8/30

  — Accuracy: 2.8/30

  — Speed: 2.8/30

  — Observation: 0.2/30

  — Endurance: 7.8/30

  — Life supply: 100/100

  — Energy supply: 98/98

  — Skills and abilities:

  — Butchery: 30/30

  — Herbalism: 2/30

  — Hunter: 2/30

  — Fisher: 2/30

  — Rider: 0.1/30

  — Hiding spot maker: 0.2/30

  His energy supply was exactly two points short of where I wanted it, but it wasn’t critical. As we’d seen, Endurance tablets dropped fairly often. It was a matter of two clays or one stone tablet.

  In total, I had ten silvers left and I decided to hold onto them just in case.

  “Thanks!” the kid squeaked happily and pressed his whole body up against me.

  “No problem,” I smiled and stroked his head. Gorgie joined in too, licking the little guy’s face a few times in approval.

  Then a few instants later, Mee lost consciousness. And his body started to change.

  * * *

  It’s been four days since we used the tablets. The kid spent two of them unconscious. All that time I was sitting next to him and, when necessary, feeding him a potion of satiety. Gorgie was keeping an eye on the surrounding area and reported there were no creatures nearby. So he had to go out onto the steppe to find prey. Yesterday he even dragged in a dead steppe antelope.

  On day three, the kid came to his senses and immediately threw himself on what was left of the meat. After that, he rested until he got hungry again, filled his belly another time and, on the morning of the fourth day, woke up totally refreshed and sprightly.

  Because the downpour had shifted to a very fine drizzle, we decided to go down to the golem carcass and test out Mee’s new ability.

  As expected, nothing had disturbed the ice giant’s body. Despite the rain, there was a nauseating smell of rot emanating our way from the foot of the cliff. We had to wrap rags around our faces just so we could stand being near the creature’s corpse.

  We decided to start with the claws. They weren’t all that big or as valuable as the horns. Gorgie and I crouched next to him and hunkered down to watch.

  Mee opened his little knapsack in concentration and began taking all kinds of butchery implements out of it. To be honest, there weren’t that many things. A thin piece of twine, a scraper, a narrow little knife and a bigger knife, which Mee picked up back at the orc camp.

  After that, he spent a few minutes walking around the carcass and examining it. Utterly silent, we were watching his every move. First he hunched over one of the golem’s paws and felt one of the claws. Then he turned around and started looking for something on the ground. A moment later, he picked up a small stone and returned to the creature’s paw. Within an hour, we heard the crunch of breaking bones, and the banging and huffing of our little laborer. At the end of all the careful manipulations, he delicately extracted a Gray Ice Golem Claw. The kid extended it to me victoriously, himself crouching wearily on a stone. I glanced at his supplies. His energy was down thirty points.

  “Tired?” I asked compassionately.

  “A bit,” Mee nodded. “I’m gonna take a rest now before I start on the next one.”

  “No rush, rest up,” I reassured him. “And it’d be nice if you also had a good tool instead of these rusty hunks of scrap.”

  “I’m not high enough level for a good tool yet,” the gremlin objected.

  “Well, experience is no problem,” I answered with a wave of the hand. “What matters is squeezing every level for all it’s worth.”

  “Speaking of that,” Mee said, taking a handful of esses and tablets out of his bag. “Here’s what I got for extracting the claw.”

  — Experience essence (1000).

  — Bronze tablet of Strength.

  — Bronze tablet of Agility.

  — Bronze tablet of Endurance.

  — Bronze tablet “Knife Proficiency.”

  “Great!” I exclaimed. “Because of the level difference, the system rewarded you handsomely!”

  “I think so,” Mee said. “But I shouldn’t use them yet.”

  I thought for an instant and answered:

  “You know something? You’re right. I don’t know how it’ll go with the horn, but you can handle the other claws as is. And I hope that Random will bless you with even more loot!”

  After the gremlin took a rest and got started in on the next claw, I decided to ask him a question:

  “I’ve heard the orc chieftain is amassing a horde. Is that true?”

  “Yes,” Mee answered. “The orcs have long been discussing a raid on the western lands of the humans. It will be a Grand Campaign!”

  “And is it also true that it will start after the rainy season?”

  “Yes,” the gremlin nodded. “The shamans say this winter will be a long one. That is the best time for a campaign.”

  “Hey, speaking of shamans. How many are there?”

  “That all depends on clan,” Mee answered. “The Elder Clans have more shamans.”

  “What about the Clan of the Gray Mountain?”

  “It used to be one of the strongest clans on the steppe, but many of its warriors died in a war with its neighbors.”

  “Okay, perhaps the war weakened their chieftain, but you still haven’t said how many shaman’s they have.”

  “The Clan of the Gray Mountain has one shaman and his five apprentices.”

  “What level is the main shaman?”

  “Thirty-seven,” the gremlin answered.

  “Ahem... We’d better keep our distance from an enemy like that. And what level are his apprentices?”

  “The lowest level is twenty-three.”

  When I heard that, I scratched the back of my head, mystified.

  “Then we definitely have to avoid an encounter with the local warlocks,” I muttered.

  When the gremlin heard that, he added:

  “As a rule, humans shouldn’t let orcs see them at all. Especially in orcish territory. As a matter of fact, the orcs look on all other races as potential slaves. So any orc that sees us on the steppe will be honor-bound to take us captive.”

  “All the worse for them,” I chuckled. “By the way, how many clans are there on the steppe in total?”

  “I don’t know an exact number,” the gremlin responded. “But there are a lot.”

  “Okay then, we need to somehow get in front of the horde.”

  “True. The strong rains will be over in a week’s time. Then the cold will set in. And as soon as the earth is firm, the horde will march west.”

  “So that means we have a little over a week after the rains end to get moving,” I voiced my conclusion.

  * * *

  Getting out the golem’s horn and remaining claws took the gremlin almost two days. Beyond the important ingredients, he also ended up with a few thousand esses and more than twenty bronze tablets. And rem
oving the legendary horn was enough for the Great System to reward him with a generous five silvers!

  To say Mee was happy would be to say nothing at all! Until very recently, he could only dream of loot like this! And I could understand. I myself am sometimes taken aback by the generosity of the gods.

  All this time, Gorgie had been patrolling the area around the Black Hills, providing us with food. Once I tried to accompany him but the downpour and mud made me slow as a turtle. In the end, as not to be a burden to the harn, I had no choice but to turn back.

  But I didn’t waste time sitting idle, so I gathered some zero grass the gremlin pointed out to me.

  When Mee finished up with the Ice Golem, he walked up to me with a question:

  “Rick, what do you say to me heading out on scout duty with Gorgie?”

  I squinted and asked:

  “What scheme have you cooked up now? Tell me.”

  Smiling, Mee lowered his eyes then took a fleeting glance at the harn, who was lying down near the wall.

  “You see, Rick, when I think about the fact that there are two firepaw fangs somewhere out there, my heartbeat just takes off!”

  I chuckled glumly.

  “Something the matter?” Mee asked, noticing my state.

  “No,” I shook my head. “Everything is fine. You just reminded me of an old friend.”

  So he wouldn’t ask any questions, I quickly turned the conversation back to his idea.

  “Well, you understand that the hiding spot we put it in is a bit farther away than Gorgie is going, right?”

  “Yes, it’s approximately two days away from the Hills. But Gorgie could make it faster than that. Even with me on his back. Beyond that, I wouldn’t mind rummaging around in the orcs’ stuff a bit. I think there could be something else I need.”

  I considered it for a time. Hm, the Epic firepaw fangs would not hurt. Heh... Plus I just can’t seem to get rid of them. And the kid could use some more good loot. I have to admit — Mee is right. The harn could make it much faster.

  With a heavy sigh, I looked at my friends. Two crafty pairs of eyes were staring at me with hope.

  “I see you two have already made up your minds about this, eh?”

  “Hrn,” Gorgie answered affirmatively.

  “Don’t worry about us, Rick,” Mee said reassuringly. “We’ll be back before you can even blink an eye.”

  “Ugh! If it’s what you want, go ahead.”

  The gremlin gave a delighted squeak and ran over to Gorgie, taking out some intricately woven rope construction as he went. Nimbly tying it around the harn’s neck and chest, he jumped up onto his scaled back. I scratched the back of my head. Looks like we’re gonna need a proper saddle soon.

  The kid wasn’t sitting too confidently, so I suggested he invest a couple of tablets into the Rider skill. Beyond that, I gave him a few Potions of Satiety and a couple Blots just in case.

  After those couple tablets, Mee was gripping his improvised saddle fairly capably. When all the preparations were finished, they said their goodbyes and got underway. And I was left on my own.

  For the next twenty-four hours I was on tenterhooks and constantly cursing myself for agreeing to the risky venture. Honestly, around ten hours after Mee and Gorgie took off, I did get a message saying the hiding spot had been dug up. That served as a brief update and slight reassurance. I hope Mee won’t take too long with the fangs and they’ll be back soon.

  Trying to somehow distract myself, I concentrated on searching for zero resources. I combed through all accessible caves and scoured every corner. That was exactly what I was doing when my friends came back the next day and caught me off guard.

  I must admit, I couldn’t remember the last time I was that happy! I went out to greet the travelers. They were also happy, but also badly shaken up.

  “There’s a group of people coming toward the hills from the north!” Mee told me right away.

  “Blood. Tired,” Gorgie added shortly.

  Chapter 9

  “ARE THEY FAR?” I quickly asked.

  “No...” Mee turned his head. “I think they’re at the foothills already.”

  “How many are they?”

  “I saw three, but I didn’t see their levels.”

  “Gorgie says they’re tired and he smells blood,” I said. “Do you think it could be the runaways your former master was tracking?”

  “No,” Mee answered. “I definitely remember a tracker saying some an unknown beast had torn the runaway slaves to shreds. And that most likely it came from the direction of Dread Cliff.”

  “Dread Cliff?” I asked.

  “Yes, it’s off to the east. Where the monsters live.”

  Hm... That means Master Chi’s Hive has been christened Dread Cliff by the natives.

  “Curious,” I said thoughtfully. “Then who are they?”

  “Captives often flee,” Mee answered with a shrug.

  “Sure,” I said. “Let’s not panic. There are plenty of caves here. Let’s just hope they don’t come into ours. We’ll just hunker down quietly and then decide what to do next.”

  I understood that the people were above all potential allies, but who could say what they had in mind? In any case, we have to prepare for an encounter. But we also aren’t going to stick our noses out of this cave. First let’s just take a closer look. Maybe we won’t have to even meet them. We’ll just sit them out, they’ll go their way and we’ll go ours.

  But my hopes were dashed. An hour later, when we’d started thinking they weren’t going to notice us, the harn told me one of the three strangers was hiding near the entrance to the big cave. Then an instant later, we heard a firm male voice.

  “Hey, there in the cave! How about we do this with no bloodshed? What do you say?”

  Our silence didn’t give the man even a second’s pause. Calmly, he continued:

  “A boy and a gremlin make strange company for a walk in the heart of the Wastes! Something is telling me that you fled orcish captivity just like us! Am I right?!”

  The stranger spent a bit of time in silence and continued:

  “By the way, I noticed fresh tracks from some predator! I think it’ll be safer for you to join up with us! Together we’ll have an easier time taking down the beast! I, Randelph Larsen, do solemnly swear that if you are kindly travelers we will do you no harm!”

  After receiving confirmation from the Great System, the gremlin and I exchanged glances.

  “Looks like they aren’t just gonna leave us alone,” I whispered with only my lips.

  Mee took a heavy sigh, quickly dug in his knapsack and started taking out all his tablets and esses.

  “Here,” he whispered. “Hide these in your magic pocket.”

  I nodded and immediately transferred his stuff into my ephemeral backpack. That way, we’d have nothing but junk in our knapsacks.

  “I’m coming in!” the redheaded middle-aged man cautiously stepped into the cave without waiting for a reply. He was level seventeen, which put me on guard.

  Veiny, medium height. His movements smooth like an animal’s. A few scars on his face. He could easily read our tracks, probably a scout or ranger. But despite his martial appearance, he had an open and likeable face. Although that may have been high Charisma. I’d seen that before.

  The stranger’s clothes were badly tattered, but he was carrying an orcish bow and the handle of a scimitar peeked out over his shoulder. They clearly were not able to escape without a fight.

  “Where are you?” he asked. “Or was my oath not enough for you?”

  We had to come out, otherwise this doubtlessly dangerous warrior might have taken our silence the wrong way. Using my amulet, I recalled the harn. Mee’s eyes looked like saucers when I did, seeing the summoning amulet in action for the first time.

  Slowly walking out from behind the stone, I raised my hands and as plaintively as I could said:

  “Please sir, don’t kill us!”

  Mee was standing behin
d me, embracing my leg with both arms.

  An open smile of relief dawned on the redhead’s previously tense face.

  “So you are a boy,” he smiled. “I’m glad we were able to reach an understanding.”