The Land: Predators

by Aleron Kong

  Greetings, Dungeon Master! You are about to leave the safety of the Entrance Chamber. Know This! The dangers of the Dungeon of Bloody Chaos have been strengthened by your choices. At level one, the bonuses are:

  The Harbinger’s primary trait, Camouflage, is extended to all monsters and traps. At Dungeon level 1, they are 10% harder to detect.

  The Item of Power, the Chaotic Bloodstone, has increased the health of every monster in the Dungeon. At Dungeon level 1, they receive a 10% bonus to Health.

  The Item of Power, the Chaotic Bloodstone, has made the internal structure of the Dungeon ephemeral. There is a possibility of the Dungeon’s layout changing each time someone enters it.

  Know This! All Dungeon bonuses increase as the Dungeon gains levels.

  Richter’s eyes widened. Had he basically made the deadly dungeon of blood and chaos supersized? If he didn’t know better, he would have thought that Hisako had conned him. She was the one that had convinced him that making the Dungeon as powerful as possible was somehow a good thing. Having the Chaotic Bloodstone as the Item of Power was admittedly kind of his bad, but he had wanted to choose a squirrel or a chipmunk as the Harbinger. Richter still had no idea why the Hearth Mother had convinced him to choose an insanely powerful creature instead. It was a moot point though. There was nothing he could do about it now.

  He was about to cross the energy field into the Dungeon proper when a voice rang out. One of the guards had entered the Dungeon and come down the winding ramp to find him. The slightly haunted look on her face was all Richter needed to see to know the Doubt debuff was in place. Still, she snapped a salute and relayed her message, “My Lord. The guards are assembled as you commanded. They are ready to bring our people home.”

  For a few minutes, the excitement of exploring the Dungeon had distracted Richter. Now reality came crashing back. He still had to get his people back to safety. He still had to figure out what to do with hundreds of war refugees and… he had to bury his dead. Richter drew his hand back from the energy field. Exploring the Dungeon would have to wait. He sent the guard to let the warband know he would be there soon. As the woman ran off, the two Masters started walking back towards the surface.

  When they reached the top, Richter turned to Hisako. He had seen something on the Dungeon interface that he thought might solve the Doubt debuff. It was similar to the option he had to give people immunity to Confusing Mists. He added the Hearth Mother’s name to give her immunity to the Doubt effect.

  Once that was done, he told her about his discovery and asked her to drop whatever enchantment had inured her to the effect. She didn’t see any real downside. They had already left the Dungeon and, even if they hadn’t, she had come to trust this human. After she dismissed her spell, Hisako considered for a moment and then smiled, “Well done.”

  He started smiling as well, but it froze when the Hearth Mother’s expression turned serious, “There is much left for us to discuss, Lord Richter. I must tell you, a feeling has been growing inside of me. I have a premonition that the trials we will soon face will make what we have been through before seem paltry in comparison, and we will need all of our strength and friendship to survive.”

  She sighed heavily and then forced a faint smile onto her face, “That can wait for the moment, however. I will attend to the freed prisoners and ensure that they are free of disease while you bring our armies home. You have led both our peoples through war and blood. Now you will lead them home, and tonight you will lead the loved ones of your fallen through sorrow. Travel fast and return quickly so that we may bury our dead.”

  CHAPTER 3 – Day 141 – Kuborn 31, 0 AoC

  Richter left the village immediately, leading his small band through the forest and the mists. They moved at a fast clip. His War Leader Badge, Movement Speed II, provided a 20% boost to their travel as long as they remained in the trees. He was anxious to reconnect with the survivors of the goblin raid. The allied forces of the Mist Village and the Hearth Tree had utterly crushed their enemies. Still, Richter wouldn’t feel comfortable until everyone was safely behind the village walls. The goblins might not be able to follow them into the mists, but dangerous monsters still prowled his domain.

  Alma flew ahead with a message in her claws. The last thing he needed was to be attacked by his own forces. Richter had to imagine the nerves of both armies were frayed. If they saw another force speeding towards them they might panic. He would not allow a simple mistake to result in further loss of life.

  While they passed through the forest, Richter felt as if something was off. It took a while, but he realized that this was the first time in a great while that he was in a combat situation without either Alma or the shale adder by his side. Caulder and Sion were both still with him, but the chaos seed had come to rely on his pet and familiar more than he had realized. It felt… strange to be without them. He pressed on.

  It wasn’t long before he also wished there had been time to clean off the blood and gore. Even to him, he smelled like a day-old slaughterhouse. Richter could only imagine how his aroma was offending the others, but he wouldn’t relax until his people were safely home. Even though the sun was up, his domain was full of dangers. The chaos seed had briefly considered jumping in the river before leaving. Then he’d figured the only thing worse than wearing armor covered in blood was wearing wet armor that was still mostly covered in blood.

  Several minutes later, he decided to distract himself from the stink and itch by addressing the prompts still waiting for him since the battle. As he read the first notifications, his eyes grew wide.

  Congratulations! By slaying 100 goblins, you have advanced your Title to Goblin Slayer II.

  +8% attack and defense bonus when fighting goblins.

  Kill a total of 250 goblins to reach next level.

  Goblins will feel that your aura is soaked with the blood of their brethren.

  +5% chance for goblins to mistrust, dislike or attack you.

  +5% chance to intimidate goblins.

  Congratulations! By slaying 250 goblins, you have advanced your Title to Goblin Slayer III.

  +15% attack and defense bonus when fighting goblins.

  Kill a total of 500 goblins to reach next level.

  Goblins can sense the hundreds of their kind you have slaughtered.

  +10% chance for goblins to mistrust, dislike or attack you.

  +10% chance to intimidate goblins.

  Congratulations! By slaying 500 goblins, you have advanced your Title to Goblin Slayer IV.

  +24% attack and defense bonus when fighting goblins.

  Kill a total of 1000 goblins to reach next level.

  Your soul has been bathed in the black blood of goblins. How could they not recognize a mass murderer of their kind?

  +20% chance for goblins to mistrust, dislike or attack you.

  +20% chance to intimidate goblins.

  Congratulations! By slaying 1,000 goblins, you have advanced your Title to Goblin Slayer V.

  +35% attack and defense bonus when fighting goblins.

  Kill a total of 2500 goblins to reach next level.

  Your name will be whispered in fear, loathing and respect by goblins. That one person could have butchered so many is something even a black-hearted goblin could admire.

  +30% chance for goblins to mistrust, dislike or attack you.

  +30% chance to intimidate goblins.

  Had he really killed so many? The chaos seed had to search his feelings as he jogged through the trees. Richter had had no issues with taking lives during the last battle, but now, seeing it on the blood-red prompt… The sheer number of goblins dead by his hand was numbing.

  The analytical part of him knew that he had only earned these titles because of the Bloodstone. While he had been possessed by the sentient item, the relic had harvested the blood of an entire army. Controlled or not, Richter couldn’t help but wonder exactly how many lives he had taken.

  He didn’t have to wonder long. In response to his int
ernal musings, another prompt appeared:

  SLAYER COUNT

  ENEMY

  SLAIN

  TITLE

  Goblins

  1, 134

  Goblin Slayer V

  Bugbears

  42

  Bugbear Slayer I

  Richter almost cursed. His time in The Land was even bloodier than he’d thought. He had forgotten about the bugbears! It was true that they had attacked his village, and they deserved exactly what they’d gotten. It was also true however that more than half of the bugbears he had killed had not been in battle. After the mists had returned, the invaders had been more or less helpless. The fighting had turned into a slaughter. Even once the bugbears had been in full retreat, that had not been enough. He, along with Yoshi, Sion and Daniella, had killed dozens more. When they had finally returned to the village, all four of them had been drenched in blood and looked like monsters themselves. He looked down at his gore-covered form. In fact, he’d looked exactly like this. Was this what he was? A “Slayer?”

  The chaos seed kept looking at the prompt. It was only a three-by-three grid, but it said so much. It did not even take into account all the enemies he had killed. The humans, undead, monsters and beasts he had destroyed apparently did not merit inclusion in the list. Richter wondered what that said about The Land, if anything. He was fairly sure what it said about him, however. He was a killer.

  Richter looked at his hands. They were dirty, but they weren’t stained black with the blood of his enemies like the prompt seemed to suggest. He had to hope that the prompt was just being poetic about his soul being “bathed in black blood.” A nagging part of him said that was not something that could be taken for granted in The Land though.

  Richter called for a halt, letting the warband catch its breath. Richter closed his eyes and visualized his magical field, his aura, as Hisako had taught him. It still looked the same to him. With his eyes closed however, memories of screaming, pleading and crying enemies were recalled to his mind. Many of the goblins had not died well, and his blades had cut through countless hands that had been outstretched in futile pleas for mercy.

  Richter firmed his will. He opened his eyes and dismissed the prompts. After a few deep breaths, he started to feel better. He was able to force the images of battle to the back of his mind and examine them analytically. He didn’t take any real joy in the slaughter, but it also didn’t bother him overly much. What was done was done. He would kill again, and it probably wouldn’t be long before he did. As he centered himself, he realized what was really bothering him: the fact that all the lives he had taken didn’t actually make him feel bad. His internal questions felt almost vestigial. They were remnants from his earlier life on Earth and didn’t serve a real purpose for who he was becoming. He had killed hundreds, literally hundreds, of sapient creatures. All he was really thinking though was that the boost to his attack and defense would make it much easier for him to advance his Title to “Slayer VI.” A small part of him was screaming from the dark that it wasn’t okay for him to be so cold, so apathetic. But it was a very, very small part of him.

  Richter decided to just move on. It was done. Guilt and self-doubt were only useful if you intended to let them change your behavior. Good or bad, right or wrong, he planned to protect his village. He would forge a kingdom that was a beacon of light in The Land. He pushed aside the existential musing. There was work to be done.

  The chaos seed got the war party moving again and started thinking about the practical implications of his new prompts. The increased likelihood to be mistrusted or attacked by goblins was somewhat problematic. On the other hand, it was a percentage boost. If he was able to form a positive relationship with a goblin, the base likelihood for being attacked would probably be quite low. Though with goblins he couldn’t be sure. He had only met one goblin so far that hadn’t tried to kill him on sight so maybe it wasn’t a big deal. He also had a fairly high Charisma thanks to the pixies and that might make up for it. All in all, the 35% bump to attack and defense against goblins was worth any drop in sex appeal as far as he was concerned. Richter had a feeling he’d be putting his new slayer title to work all too soon.

  The warband was moving through the forest at a rapid clip. Caulder jogged along beside his liege, and he had kitted the guards for quick movement. Everyone was wearing leather armor. They had left their metal armor behind. The reason was not simply because the metal weighed more; chainmail was considered medium armor while leather was considered light armor. In addition to the extra energy it would take to move around in metal, the natural laws of The Land decreed that anyone wearing medium armor would have their speed decreased by 5% per piece. This meant that anyone wearing a full set of armor would be 30% slower than if they were completely unencumbered. Wearing the light armor only slowed them down by 3% per piece, even less if they had moved past novice rank in the Light Armor skill. The bottom line was that they were making good time but of course the trade-off was less defense. Richter just hoped they wouldn’t run into anything… big.

  Even though they weren’t sprinting, they were moving at a steady jog. Richter was impressed that his guards were able to keep up. The training exercises they were doing with the sergeant each day were clearly starting to pay off. The chaos seed turned his attention back to his prompts.

  For slaying 432 Goblin Scouts, you have been awarded 864 War Points.

  For slaying 372 Goblin Fighters, you have been awarded 1116 War Points.

  For slaying 169 Goblin Grinders, you have been awarded 676 War Points.

  For slaying 38 Professional Goblin Grinders, you have been awarded 760 War Points. (War Points multiplied by 5 for slaying a Professional)

  For slaying 1 Specialist Goblin Grinder, you have been awarded 40 War Points. (War Points multiplied by 10 for slaying a Specialist)

  For slaying 3 Specialist Goblin Rikkers, you have been awarded 150 War Points. (War Points multiplied by 10 for slaying a Specialist)

  For slaying 11 Professional Goblin Ortai, you have been awarded 660 War Points. (War Points multiplied by 10 for slaying a Specialist)

  Total War Points Gained: 3150

  Richter’s mouth fell slightly open as he saw the War Points stack up. He was on cloud nine again! Any concerns he had about slaughtering his enemies faded away when compared to the sweet point spendage he was about to do. That feeling lasted right up until he read his next prompt.

  Scheisse!

  Know This! As a Battle Sergeant serving beneath a Battle Leader, you are only entitled to keep 50% of the total War Points earned. Total War Points Gained (Adjusted): 1,575

  Know This! At your initiate rank in War Leader, War Points gained in a given engagement are capped at 1,000. Total War Points Gained (Adjusted): 1,000

  Total War Points: 1051

  The cap was a pain, but he still had another thousand to spend. Definitely nothing to sneeze at. Richter planned to put them to good use soon, but for now there were still more prompts to deal with.

  Congratulations! For killing 1023 enemies that were a lower level than you in a single battle, your Promotion Weakness Equals Death I has advanced to Weakness Equals Death V. Champions in your War Party have +25% attack and defense vs lower level opponents.

  Congratulations! For butchering 128 enemy noncombatants in a single battle, your Promotion Slaughter the Innocent I has advanced to Slaughter the Innocent II. Killing noncombatants will increase the Fighting Spirit of your War Party for one hour. +10 Fighting Spirit for each life claimed.

  Bile rose in Richter’s throat. Noncombatants? He remembered from history class that every army had support staff. Before that moment though, it hadn’t occurred to him that the Bloodstone’s spell had harvested goblins that weren’t even fighters or casters. Despite his earlier resolve, this did bother him a bit. He spat to the side in an attempt to remove the taste from his mouth. Unconsciously, the chaos seed’s speed picked up, as if he were trying to outrun the past. Caulder asked if anything was amis
s, but Richter just motioned curtly with one hand for the rest of the warband to keep up.

  The next series of prompts dealt with field promotions. Since he had gotten to the rank of initiate in his War Leader skill, those serving beneath him could earn perks if they distinguished themselves in battle. It was limited unfortunately by the fact that Richter’s war party could only include eleven people, not counting his Companions. It was nothing compared to the thousand people Yoshi could lead as a journeyman war leader, but every little bit helped.

  In the last phase of the battle, while the rest of his army was fighting off goblins, trolls, and two gigantic monsters, Richter had formed his war party. It had included Terrod, Sion, Caulder and nine other allied soldiers. Four of them had died, something else that hung heavily upon him. He was pleased and surprised though that the remaining six had earned field advancements. Rushing through the forest, he couldn’t administer them, but he had already thought of a good moment to do so in the future.

  His next prompts showed that there were clear benefits to butchering hundreds of people. The Land did not judge.

  Know This! In this new Age of Chaos, all beings of Chaos will be awarded Chaos Points as they level commensurate to their alignment.

  A cascade of prompts appeared before him showing his leveling from the last battle. Even to Richter, it looked jumbled. To his surprise, right after he had that thought, the information realigned into table format. Why didn’t I do this before, he bemoaned. The sadness only lasted for a split second though. He had more points to spend!