The Land: Predators

by Aleron Kong

  Richter told her to forgo the stamina potions in favor of health and mana. Though the battle plan had not been fully drawn up, it was clear the attack was going to be more of a surgical strike than a full-scale military operation. They would have to enter the portal and kill the lich lord as quickly as possible. After that, they would have to hope against hope that the gateway stayed open long enough to return. There were thousands of those green-eyed undead surrounding the Mausoleum. Anyone that got left behind would face almost certain death.

  He also asked for two other special potions. Richter had no idea if she had the knowledge required to make them, and, even if she did, if she had the ingredients needed. Tabia wrote down his request, then considered the paper for a minute. After that she began shouting orders to the other village alchemists to prepare various reagents for experimentation. Even with everything going on, it amused Richter to see the similarities between Krom running his forge and Tabia running her lab.

  He had complete faith that the beautiful dark-skinned elf would give it her all. He was also hopeful she would succeed. One of the greatest capabilities of the Dragon’s Cauldron was that a collection of ingredients could be put in the central glass repository. If they could form a potion, then a Recipe would automatically be generated.

  Recipes were as jealously guarded and valuable in The Land as Blueprints were for builders, Schematics were for smiths or Templates were for crafters. He hoped the fact that she immediately had some ideas of potential ingredient combinations boded well for her ability to accomplish what he asked. With nothing more to do, he went on to his next task.

  After spending a small amount of time with both the skaths by the lake and the pixies by the Quickening, Richter grabbed a quick lunch and oversaw the evacuation of the few freed prisoners that did not want to join the village. Hisako had allocated ten sprite warriors to escort them to the edge of the forest, at his request. The trip would take weeks, there and back, but the chaos seed wanted them out of his village as soon as possible.

  Opening the portal to the lich’s home was a potential risk. Doors could swing both ways. Richter didn’t plan for anything to go wrong, but he didn’t want to chance that those who had chosen to leave might be caught in the crossfire. As each man and woman left, he pressed a gold crown into their hands, wishing them well. Some might have thought it was a waste of money, but he preferred to think of it as a wise investment in PR. There would now be nearly a hundred people out in the world speaking about him. They could say kind or harsh things. He hoped his generosity would lead them to praise the lord that had not only saved them from slavery but also given them a leg up to start a new life.

  Richter was about to go to the Dungeon when Terrod found him. The captain informed him that two different patrol groups had reported in within five minutes of each other, both stating that they had seen strange large creatures within miles of the village. Thirty minutes later, Richter was leading one war party towards one of the monsters and Terrod was leading his own war party towards another. There weren’t many with the War Leader skill in the village, but the few who had it could greatly augment the power of their troops.

  Richter was gone for hours, but the trip had been more than worth it. He had saved another sakeru pixie! The one that Richter found had bonded to a large ant-like creature. The pixie chrysalis had been situated in the middle of its head like a jewel on a crown. The ant was only four feet tall, but it had moved so fast that even Richter had had trouble keeping track of it. Coupled with the fact that one bite of its pincers was enough to chop a small tree in half, it was a dangerous opponent. Still, it had fallen relatively easily to his war party of eleven.

  Terrod had a little more trouble. The beast he had found was half-plant and half-undead, and it wasn’t alone. It was a bleakwillow. It looked like a six-foot-tall zombie comprised of rotting roots rather than flesh. Bleakwillows could arise from dead trees whose roots had been exposed to Death magic. The nest of pox weasels that had killed the tree and then made a nest within it fit the bill. These vermin were not truly undead but were still instilled with Death magic, allowing their bites to transmit magical infections. The tree might not have mutated for years, but the sakeru pixie was drawn to its potential power. Both the bleakwillow and the weasels were abyssal creatures, leading Terrod to believe a sakeru pixie was present even though he hadn’t seen it. Whether there was a pixie or not, the weasels’ abyssal nature had given them increased health and instilled their attacks with an effect called blackfire.

  Two members of Terrod’s war party had been badly burned and afflicted with debuffs like Despair. The captain wisely retreated with his wounded back to the village, leaving behind two meidon sprites with their pixies to watch the creatures. With the sprites’ Woodcraft ability, they were able to stay hidden while ensuring that their quarry didn’t escape. Once back in the village, the captain reported to Richter. Thankfully, there was just enough light for them to move en masse back towards the bleakwillow. Having so many together greatly decreased the experience each could earn from the fight, but rescuing the pixie was more important. Richter assigned Terrod to his own war party, allowing the captain’s men to benefit from all his badges and promotions as well. They also brought another ten meidon sprites just to be safe.

  They found the abyssal creatures again with little difficulty. Even if Terrod’s sprites had not been left behind, Richter’s tracking ability would have made it easy to backtrace the trail. The monsters’ foul natures had left clear and obvious signs of corruption on the natural forest, if you had the skill to see them. This time the battle turned in favor of the Mist Village.

  The opening strike involved fifteen sprites and two hunters sighting on the seven pox weasels. The village forces couldn’t risk imbued strikes, not with the pixie chrysalis somewhere nearby, but their arrows had been coated with Sun Lotus Poison. Two arrows each was enough to do a large amount of damage, and the poison finished off the fast but small creatures before they could reach any of Richter’s people. Seven ribbons of rainbow light swirled into the air thanks to the Soul Trap arrows that were becoming standard in the village. That left the bleakwillow.

  It roared and flowed toward the warband, moving smoothly on countless roots rather than feet. Richter had already prepared for its attack. He had summoned both a saproling and a gold fox. Casting Akaton Evolution had evolved them into a hardwood saproling and a shimmer fox. The shimmer fox gained attack abilities that were Life-based.

  The chaos seed set both summoned creatures on the bleakwillow, instructing them to keep it busy without causing large damage. Richter was sure it held a pixie chrysalis somewhere in its body, seeing as how it was an abyssal creature, but he hadn’t pinpointed its location yet. He didn’t want to risk the small pixie child being hurt by an errant blow. Instead, he and a few other sprites shot carefully aimed arrows at the edges of the bleakwillow, chipping away at its health.

  Both the plant-based nature of the undead and the fact that it was now an abyssal creature rather than just a Death monster made the Sun Lotus poison less effective than it would have been otherwise. It still caused damage. The warband retreated before it, letting the poison do its work while the monster roared in impotent rage. A few minutes later, the monster broke apart into nothing more than rotting leaves, roots, and bark. Another ribbon of rainbow light flew into the air before disappearing into Richter’s Bag of Holding. In the middle of the heap of decay, Richter found the chrysalis of another pixie.

  After that, they rushed home as quickly as possible. Dusk had been coming on when they started and the first stars could be seen in the night sky by the time they made it back to the safety of the village walls. They had needed to kill several low-level monsters on the way. Richter congratulated everyone and made his way to the Quickening. There, he was met by Elora and her children, who swirled above his head in delight. The pixie queen looked at him hopefully, but he regretfully had to tell her that her fourth child had not been found. All she did in r
esponse was kiss the tip of his nose and thank him for what he had already done.

  When he’d seen Elora after returning her first sakeru child, he had been awarded experience. This time was no different.

  Quest Update: Sakeru I

  You have found and returned three of Elora’s four missing children! Only one was required to fulfill the terms of a Quest and so the rewards will be increased for heroically doing more.

  Reward for returning her second sakeru child: 2,500 (base 2,000 x 1.25) Experience Points. +2,000 Relationship Points with every celestial pixie of the Quickening.

  Reward for returning her third sakeru child: 5,000 (base 4,000 x 1.25) Experience Points. +3,000 Relationship Points with every celestial pixie of the Quickening.

  You have returned the Life, Water and Dark sakeru pixies. Find and return the Air pixie to completely finish this quest and receive a powerful Bonus Reward!

  Richter helped Elora bond the chrysalises with nearby trees. All he had to do was place the sleeping pixie against the trunk while she softly sang. The wood yielded and he was able to press the chrysalis into the bark. Letting go, the tree hardened again, and it was done. Elora told him that it might take a while, but her children would heal and awaken in time.

  He said goodbye after that and headed back down to the village. After cleaning up quickly, he joined his people for dinner. Though he was tired, Richter took the time to walk around and speak with as many of his new villagers as possible. He ended up spending most of his time with Heman though.

  It bothered Richter that he hadn’t been able to spend too much time with the other chaos seed. In the back of his head, he’d always thought that meeting another chaos seed would be momentous. That it would either be cathartic to have someone from “home” around or that he would immediately be plunged into a pitched battle. Heman was just… cool, though. Every time he saw him, he liked the man more, and all the new chaos seed ever wanted to do was thank Richter for his hospitality and ask to maybe see more of the forest.

  After more than an hour had passed Richter finally begged off, feeling sleep starting to pull him down. He made sure to promise the man that he would try to find time to speak about Earth again soon. Heman just laughed and told him not to work so hard, thanking him again for making the village the one safe place in The Land. The stress and concerns that were at the back of Richter’s mind almost constantly these days felt a bit less heavy after speaking with the other chaos seed. There was a lightness to his steps as he started walking to his bed.

  CHAPTER 83 – Day 145 – Kuborn 35, 0 AoC

  Unfortunately, it seemed there was no rest for the wicked and weary. Before he made it to the catacombs, a guard jogged up to tell him that “Dungeon Keeper Roswan” requested his presence in the Dungeon. Sighing, Richter just nodded. He started to walk back towards the gate but then stopped with a faint smile. Instead, he just cast Dungeon Transport. Mist rose around him and he focused on the Node next to the Well of Offering. Soon he was standing in the first Room of the Dungeon.

  A prompt greeted him.

  Welcome back to the Barrow of the Chaos Serpent, Dungeon Master Richter.

  What?

  Roswan stood nearby, “Grrrmmm, good. This way.” The mustached elf started walking towards the portal that led to the Dungeon proper.

  “Wait, wait, wait,” Richter called out. “What did you want to see me for, and why is the Dungeon’s name now the Barrow of the Chaos Serpent? Last I checked, it was the Dungeon of Bloody Chaos.”

  “Grrmmm,” Roswan said stopping. “That name was ridiculous. I changed it. What I want to show you is this way.” He started walking again.

  “Whoa, man! You can’t just go around changing the name of my Dungeon without talking to me. It’s just not-”

  “Does it sound better, son?” Roswan asked, fixing him with a thousand-yard stare.

  “Well… yeah, but-”

  “Grrmm,” Roswan responded, nodding. Richter was pretty sure this ‘Grrmm’ meant ‘Good. I’m glad that’s settled,’ but he couldn’t be a hundred percent sure. Roswan’s unique language of grunt-groans seemed heavily dependent on how many g’s, r’s, and m’s were used and in what combination. It was clearly a higher language, because even Richter’s Gift of Tongues ability was stumped. Whatever it meant, the elf wasn’t waiting. “Then once again, we should be walking, this way!” the Engineer threw one arm forward with his finger pointing at the portal.

  Richter sighed heavily, “Okay, fine, but what about the monsters? You don’t have a weapon and even I am wary of going in there alone.”

  “That is not a problem,” the elf replied. “As Dungeon Keeper I can make myself immune to the Dungeon’s monsters and traps.”

  “Well, what about me?”

  “You?” Roswan asked as if it had never occurred to him. “You should move quickly or quietly. Most likely both, son. There are monsters in there, you know.” Then he stepped through the shimmering portal.

  “Shnikinrickinfashinrockn-rick rassardly!” Richter grumbled to himself. He drew his elementum short sword. Checking its charges, he saw they were mostly depleted so he pulled out some low-level soul stones from his bag to juice it back up. Adopting Stealth, his visage faded and melded with the shadows in that part of the room, and he stepped through the portal.

  Roswan had already walked two dozen yards away along the wall to the left. Richter followed behind as quickly as he could without losing his hidden status. He could see both prowlers and tuskers ambling around between the blood-red columns. Using Analyze, he saw that their levels remained in the teens, well below his own level of thirty-eight, but he still didn’t want to attract the attention of dozens of bloodthirsty monsters. Roswan, in contrast, appeared utterly unconcerned, just walking along with the same cocksure gait as always.

  They didn’t go far. The elf turned left down a tunnel. A tunnel that Richter was sure hadn’t been there the last time he was here. It led down a short ten-foot slope which ended in an archway. Just like the entrance into the main part of the Dungeon, this doorway had a shimmering energy field in front of it. It was clear but hazy, like shower glass. Beyond it he could see a faint light shining through, but couldn’t make out any other details. Roswan was waiting for him in front of it.

  As soon as Richter joined him at the door, a prompt appeared.

  Greetings, Dungeon Master. You have found a new Room: Egg Genesis Chamber

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” he exclaimed, looking at Roswan with a roll of his eyes.

  The only response was another round of creepy and toothy giggling from the man. Sighing, Richter stepped through the portal.

  Inside was a short rectangular room. Four rows of shelves were on either side and they were jam-packed with nests of straw. On each nest was a fat chicken. More chickens roamed around the dirt floor pecking at small insects they found. That was all crazy enough, but it had nothing on what was at the back of the room. That area was completely free of bird nests. Instead, it had a cot, a firepit, and a rig to balance a frying pan over the fire. Richter lost it. The mustached bastard, the same mustached bastard he was trusting with this amazing and powerful resource, had decided to build himself an apartment and a free-range kitchen! There was even a toilet and a small spring of water flowing from the wall!

  Slapping a hand to his face, Richter tried to figure out where to start. How many Dungeon Points had this cost? Don’t you think you should have built a Room that generated treasure or maybe even a spring of healing water? What the hell is wrong with you? Richter ultimately decided on, “Why?” said as slowly as he could manage. As soon as the question left his lips though he changed his mind, his irritation poking through, “No! How? No! You know what? I want an answer to the first question! Why?!”

  “I know.” Roswan replied with a smile, completely ignoring the vibe in the room. “It is impressive.”

  Richter looked at him, waiting for more, waiting for anything really, but Roswan was just looking at t
he chicken coop with pride.

  “Dude!” the chaos seed finally snapped. Roswan came out of his reverie and looked at Richter in surprise. The bastard had actually forgotten he was there!

  “Grmm, access your Dungeon screen,” the elf prompted. “That should answer your questions.”

  Doing so, some of Richter’s irritation faded away, the chaos seed more than interested in the increased functionality now present. Several new areas were available:

  Dungeon Name

  Barrow of the Chaos Serpent

  Monster Type

  Beasts (All) and Animals (All)

  Rooms

  Entrance Chamber

  Egg Genesis Chamber

  Level

  1

  Dungeon Points

  168/day

  Current Reserved Total: 31

  Point Allocation

  Standard

  Available Resources

  …

  Resource Allocation

  Standard

  Available Loot

  …

  Loot Allocation

  Standard

  Motivations

  Primary: Connect to Labyrinth

  Blood Rite

  Limitless Power

  Dungeon External Defenses

  Consuming Sands

  Siren Rock

  Esur Vines

  Snake’s Head (Doubt)

  The Dungeon’s name had changed and the Rooms now listed the egg chamber as well. It looked like about five hundred Dungeon Points had been used, presumably to make the new Room. The loot and resources available were already starting to get extensive so he minimized them with a thought. The interface also listed the three discovered Motivations of the Dungeon: to connect to the Labyrinth, to gain new types of rare blood and to embody as many types of magic as possible.