The Land: Predators

by Aleron Kong

  The static enchantments, unfortunately, were not susceptible to the Forge’s ranking ability. The three that were known by the Forge were +1 Damage, +10% Durability, and +2 Defense. The only way for the Forge to learn more was to find more enchanted gear unless Richter found a way to gain more through his Specialty. Hopefully, Hafiz’s sons would be back from their trading trip soon with more enchanted items. In the meantime, it was nice to have the option of adding another light to the elementum anvil.

  Enchantment levels were completely different than ranks. All the enchantments he knew were level one, or weak. They apparently followed a similar progression to spells: weak, minor, inferior, improved, strong, potent, superior, powerful, and grand. He was currently investing mana into his Essence Specialty to unlock his first minor enchantment, the second level of Sonic Attack. Gloran had told him that higher level enchantments could manifest in any number of ways, but they were almost always powerful. They came with greater requirements but were worth the cost.

  While the cleaver would be useful, the Shield of Rust also piqued his interest. During the goblin raid, Caulder’s training of the guards had saved many lives. Forming a shield wall had let them withstand a numerically superior force. Richter was already envisioning a line of shields enchanted with the Rust enchantment. If his people held out long enough, the weapons of their foes would literally fall apart. Even if the enemy’s swords and maces were not completely destroyed, a loss of durability would lower the damage they could inflict considerably.

  It was the third item that really caught his attention. Despite the fact that it was only uncommon rarity unlike the unusual rarity of the shield, it had an enchantment that he had wanted for a while: Soul Trap. As an Essence Enchanter, he could purchase the enchantment of any spell he knew. That cost precious Talent Points though. Now, with any luck, he wouldn’t have to spend them!

  Randolphus told him that no other worthwhile object had been found, but this wasn’t a surprise. It was the understatement of the century, but they had left the field of battle in a hurry. Yoshi had laid claim to the gear of the goblin commander Radg-or as a prize, something that Richter didn’t begrudge him. The Warrior half-sprite had slain the Barbarian in single combat.

  It had been physically impossible to loot many of the goblins’ bodies as they had still been cocooned in the web traps when the allied forces had quit the field. The second goblin army that had been rushing towards them had been even bigger than the first one they had defeated. The priority had been to protect the freed prisoners, not to strip the dead of anything valuable.

  Richter handed the weapons and armor summary back to Randolphus, telling him to bring the enchanted items to the Forge in the morning. With any luck, the Forge of Heavens would learn three new enchantments. The chamberlain took the paper back and promptly handed Richter another. It was a list of sundry items that had also been recovered: a few potions, some trash jewelry - none of it was noteworthy. The one saving grace was that a small chest had been found under a collapsed bit of wood. The thorough chamberlain had already counted and assessed the contents. Richter’s eyebrows rose. “Is this right?”

  Randolphus sniffed as if affronted by the very possibility that his figures would be off. “Undoubtedly, my lord.”

  Richter looked back down at the page, slightly amused at the chamberlain’s miffed attitude. It showed the actual contents of the chest and then converted them into gold pieces for ease of understanding.

  RAW CURRENCY

  VALUE IN GOLD CROWNS

  472 copper coins

  4.72 gold

  305 silver coins

  30.5 gold

  14 silver bands

  14 gold

  2 silver weights

  5 gold

  68 gold coins

  68 gold

  4 gold weights

  100 gold

  Richter had only seen bands once before when trading with Hafiz, the grandfatherly merchant in Law. He had later learned that the sweet old man act was, well, an act, and the white-bearded bastard was actually a Professed Trader. Richter had ground his teeth at the time. He’d thought he’d done well at the bargaining table, but the truth was that he’d probably been taken to the cleaners. What made it worse was that he hadn’t even realized it. It was kind of like bragging about sleeping with a hot chick and then discovering you were only her third stop of the night.

  He had asked Randolphus about it once, quoting the prices he had paid for certain items. Afterward, he had asked if the chamberlain thought those had been fair prices. The man had opened his mouth, then slowly closed it and, after a bout of extremely fake-sounding coughing, had walked away, claiming he needed to get a glass of water.

  Still, Richter had made his peace with it… mostly. The point was, the finger-length strips of metal called “bands” were worth ten coins of the same amount. He hadn’t seen “weights” before, but Randy’s calculations let him deduce that each weight was worth… Richter looked up quickly, “A weight is worth twenty-five coins?”

  “Yes, my lord,” Randolphus said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

  “Then that means-” Richter said to himself as he looked back down at the paper. He flipped to the next page and whistled softly, “We gained two hundred and twenty-two gold?”

  “And two silvers and two coppers, my lord,” Randolphus corrected, exacting as ever.

  Richter blinked. His village had just gained the equivalent of twenty-two thousand and two hundred dollars! That didn’t even include the value of the loot they had obtained. Most workers only earned four to five silvers every fortnight. Put another way, they only made fifty bucks every two weeks. That was if they were lucky. He had just gained a fortune! His heart started beating faster and his excitement soared.

  That was when he remembered that the money had not been free. It had been paid for in blood. More than a hundred lives had been spent to gain this wealth. His mood fell, but he didn’t fall into the trap of self-recrimination as he once might have. Richter just reminded himself to never forget the “human” cost of progress. Alma nuzzled his hand, bringing a faint smile to his face and a small degree of lightness to his suddenly heavy heart. He focused back on Randolphus. He had responsibilities, and there was work to be done. With a somber voice, he asked, “What is the overall state of the treasury now?”

  Randolphus handed over another sheet of paper. While Richter read, the chamberlain recited from memory, “Not including the spoils from the raid, the treasury now stands at two thousand seven hundred and fifty-one gold coins; two gold bands; four thousand three hundred and eighty-six silver coins; eleven thousand three hundred and six copper coins; eighty-four iron bits-”

  “Iron bits?” Richter interrupted.

  “Yes, my lord,” Randolphus answered absently. When he saw his liege’s questioning glance though, he clarified, “Iron bits are a form of currency used by commoners. As much of your money came from selling jewels, you would most likely not have come across them. The coins are too small a denomination to normally be seen outside of rural areas or the poorest ghettos of the cities. Ten iron bits are worth one copper coin.”

  Richter nodded in understanding and the chamberlain continued, “The treasury also contains five thousand two hundred and thirty-four kobold silvers. The kobold silver should be able to be traded at a one-to-one ratio for gold. With that and including the spoils from the raid, the Mist Village has the equivalent of eight thousand seven hundred and fifty-eight gold; nine silvers and seven coppers in hard currency.”

  The chaos seed’s eye widened at hearing how much wealth he had amassed. It was more than most workers would ever earn in a lifetime. Back in the game, it would have been the equivalent of almost a million dollars! He was sitting pretty, but he also knew how quickly that wealth could vanish. While the village was doing fine right now, there would inevitably be expenses as they grew.

  Even low-level spell books could cost a dozen gold or more. The blood that had bee
n used to make his Dragon’s Cauldron had cost him over six hundred! Richter would have to purchase resources that weren’t available in his area, buy devices that they couldn’t make themselves and plan for the likely hundreds of other expenditures that would arise. The village economy wasn’t something he could ignore any longer.

  Randolphus continued, “We have forty-seven pieces of Tefonim jewelry which we should be able to sell for between fifteen and thirty thousand gold. We also have thirteen duplicate Dark Khan coins that could be sold, but I would advise against it.”

  Richter nodded in agreement. The Dark Khan coins were also kobold silver, but were vastly more valuable due to the fact that they were part of a quest. Supposedly, finding one of each Dark Khan coin would lead to an ancient kobold treasure or power. According to Randolphus, murder and torture were a common part of the history of such coins. Best not to reveal he had them unless absolutely necessary. At least, best not to reveal it again¸ an error that the chamberlain had no problem reminding him of at that very moment.

  “My lord, I know you showed the coins to Abbas and his brothers, but I must remind you that wars have been fought over what is in this village. The Core buildings, the Quickening, the Dark Khan coins… we must be wary of others finding out about the treasures located here. I believe you will find that the five-foot wall around the village is a poor defense indeed against a determined army. To that point,” Randolphus put his papers down and looked his liege in the eye, “is that a Dungeon on the hill?”

  Richter didn’t really know why his chamberlain was being so intense, “It is. Is that a problem? Hisako told me that Dungeons were special, but it’s not as powerful as the Forge of Heaven or the Dragon’s Cauldron, right? And there’s was no way that it could be as special as a celestial tree like the Quickening.”

  “You make a valid point, my lord,” the chamberlain responded. The concern in his voice belied the statement, however. “As I have already said, this village has a quite frankly mind-boggling amount of treasure. Core buildings are mostly spoken of in the abstract. Everyone knows that they exist, but no commoner, and even most lords, would ever imagine they could possess one. The Quickening is even harder to believe in. It is a legend come to life. I doubt there is another such tree in all The Land, and I am almost completely certain there are no other celestial trees in the River Peninsula.

  “Dungeons are something altogether different, however, and may bring us notoriety that these other wonders have not. Every boy and girl is raised on stories of adventure and treasure. While they could never conceive of seeing, let alone owning, a Core building, almost every denizen of The Land will fight and kill to reach a Dungeon. And every Adventurer will have heard the Call.”

  With that pronouncement, Randolphus did something that caught Richter completely off-guard. He stood and lifted the bottom of his shirt. Under the black tunic, the chamberlain was sporting washboard abs. Richter was about to awkwardly compliment him and then ask what the hell was going on, but after a moment, a silvery square appeared in the center of his chest. It was a maze, and as Richter stared at the symbol, the lines shifted as if he were seeing deeper and deeper into a confusing network of tunnels without end. The chaos seed had seen a mark like it before, on his own chest. Both he and Randolphus had the Mark of the Adventurer. There were slight differences to the chamberlain’s tattoo, but there was no mistaking the similarity.

  “You’re an Adventurer?” Richter asked. Over the past several months, it had become abundantly clear to him that his proper chamberlain was more than just a valet. He hadn’t forced the matter though, because… well, honestly because Randolphus was invaluable and Richter doubted he could run the village without him.

  Randy hesitated for a moment, but then answered strongly, “The Kingdom of Yves has more than one Dungeon. The strongest is in the middle of Law. I gained the Mark the first time I entered.”

  “There is a Dungeon in the capital city?” Richter asked incredulously.

  “Yes. The palace is built directly above it. The Dungeon having been built atop the royal family’s Place of Power is one of the secrets to their longstanding power and success. For centuries, members of the royal family have risked the dangers of the Hall of Elemental Hunters to gain wealth and power. It has made them strong and healthy and given their lives unnatural longevity. The King would disappear for days at a time occasionally. He required that I accompany him now and again.”

  Randolphus had been the personal advisor to the old King. The ruler asking him to stay by his side was a perfectly plausible explanation for having the Mark. Still, Richter looked at the man’s nonplussed face for a few moments, then just replied, “Uh huh.”

  Randolphus didn’t so much as twitch an eyelid, “As such, I can provide valuable information about the inner workings of Dungeons. I would appreciate it if you would grant me access to this Dungeon, my lord. In that way, I will be able to serve you in the same way as the old King.”

  “Not a bad idea,” Richter responded slowly, continuing to stare at the Randolphus’ almost remarkably passive face. “I am sure you know that Dungeons can be dangerous for a noncombatant though.”

  “I do have some skill defending myself, my lord,” Randolphus replied levelly.

  The two men continued to stare at one another and a feeling of disquiet began to grow in Richter’s chest. Questions that he had willfully ignored for months came flooding into his mind. He trusted Randolphus, or at least he always had, but hairs were rising on the back of his neck. Just what was it that the chamberlain was hiding? What was in his past that had given him skills like Code Breaking? As he stared into the chamberlain’s eyes, the weight of the battle, the deaths of his people and the responsibilities he carried all combined to make him feel like he had a boulder on his shoulders.

  His jaw began to clench. He needed to know. People lived and died based on his decisions every day. How could he make those decisions well if he didn’t even know the truth about the man he relied on the most? Randolphus had been amazing and indispensable, but the time for blissful ignorance had passed. Alma picked up on his mood and stalked forward on the bed. Her tail switched back and forth as she looked at the chamberlain.

  *Don’t do anything, my love,* he thought to her, *but be ready.*

  When Richter finally spoke, it was in a slow and steady tone. His voice was weary but sure. “Randolphus. I know that I could not have done all this without you. I am thankful, but I also know you have secrets in your past. You have more power in this village than anyone save myself. To be clear, I have no complaints as to how you have used it, but I have the lives of hundreds of people in my hands. Men and women have died because of my orders. Our list of enemies is growing, and I cannot afford to keep giving you my trust if you won’t give me yours in return.”

  Randolphus’ drew in a breath as if to speak, but Richter didn’t stop, “I have never really questioned you, but it’s obvious you were more than just a servant to the old King of Yves. You were more than just a valet. One thing has become clear to me since coming to The Land: the choices you make sculpt you in a very real way. After walking through halls of power, there is no way you remained untouched.” He said the next three words, slowly and deliberately, “Who are you?” His face remained impassive, but inside, he hoped and prayed that his newly risen relationship with Randolphus would keep this conversation from descending into violence.

  The chamberlain blinked twice. Then in a low voice he replied, “I do trust you, my lord. If you truly want an answer, however, my words are for you and you alone.” His eye flickered to the guard standing just outside of the room. The meaning was clear. If Richter wanted an answer, the guard would have to leave.

  It was Richter’s turn to blink and consider. Did he send away his only support in a potentially dangerous situation? Did he send away the only witness to what might turn into an… unpleasant situation? The chaos seed looked at the secretive man in front of him and went with his gut. Secrets or no, Randolphus
had been loyal and true to him. And he remembered his own words. How could he expect the man to trust him if he didn’t extend trust himself? Raising his voice, he called out, “Guard.”

  The man stepped smartly into the room, and with a last glance at Randolphus, Richter gave an order, “Go check on my weapons and armor. Bring them if they are ready, but don’t have anyone replace you at your post. I need to speak to my chamberlain alone.”

  His guard clapped a fist to his chest in salute and moved off at a jog. His chainmail armor jingled as he moved and soon the sound faded away. While the two men waited for privacy, Richter’s hand inched towards his pillow. Ever since his murder and castration at the hands of the assassin Sonirae, he was never far from a weapon. A high steel dagger enchanted with Freeze lay sheathed under his pillow. As they looked at one another, Richter took a moment to Analyze the man sitting across from him.

  Name: Randolphus

  Race: Human

  Disposition: Trusting

  Level: 19

  Active Effects:

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  STATS

  Health: 210

  Mana: 140

  Stamina: 350

  ATTRIBUTES

  Strength: 12

  Agility: 22

  Dexterity: 23

  Constitution: 24

  Endurance: 23

  Intelligence: 21

  Wisdom: 17

  Charisma: 16

  Luck: 14

  DESCRIPTION

  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.

  Randolphus was only one level shy of gaining a Profession. Richter had checked in the past, but the man had come far since then. This wasn’t a surprise, as everyone in the village had leveled with the growth of the Quickening and the reemergence of the Celestial Pixies. There was nothing to make Richter suspicious of what he saw. Even the chamberlain’s stat points seemed to have been distributed equally across all of his characteristics.