The Land: Swarm: A LitRPG Saga (Chaos Seeds Book 5)

by Aleron Kong

  Name: Sion

  Age: 34

  Level: 18, 58% to next level

  Health: 243 Mana: 373 Stamina: 192

  Strength: 20

  Agility: 18

  Dexterity: 66

  Constitution: 20

  Endurance: 16

  Intelligence: 34

  Wisdom: 23

  Charisma: 15

  Luck: 17

  Abilities:

  Wood Craft

  Concealment

  Know Thyself

  Meidon

  Skills:

  Herb lore Lvl 12, 8% to next level, 63% affinity

  Alchemy Lvl 8, 7% to next level, 77% affinity

  Archery Lvl 43; 64% to next level, 72% affinity

  Enhanced Imbue Arrow Lvl 31, 32% to next level, 87% affinity

  Focus Lvl 26, 78% to next level, 81% affinity

  Double Shot Lvl 8; 82% to next level, 87% affinity

  Drill Shot Lvl 6; 61% to next level, 90% affinity

  Stun Shot Lvl 5; 51% to next level, 95% affinity

  Tracking Lvl 14; 74% to next level, 76% affinity

  Small Blades Lvl 19, 82% to next level, 72% affinity

  Light Armor Lvl 26; 48% to next level, 81% affinity

  Air Magic Lvl 13; 12% to next level, 100% affinity

  Marks:

  None

  Resistances:

  Types of Magic

  Life 10%

  Earth 10%

  Light 10%

  Schools of Magic

  Enchantment 50%

  Race: Wood Sprite (Meidon)

  Reputation: Lvl 1 “Who are you again?”

  Alignment: +3

  Language: Sprite, Common Tongue, Pixie

  The first thing that Richter noticed was that his friend was close to level twenty. Soon he would be going for his own Trial, as long as the sprite could level his archery skill to forty-five. The next was Sion’s new ability, ‘Meidon,’ and also that his race had been modified with the word as well. Looking down a bit further, Richter saw that his friend’s Alignment had increased one. That sent Richter’s eyes back up to his Companion’s stats. He confirmed that the the sprite had indeed received the extra +5 to Charisma, Intelligence, and Luck from having a +3 alignment. The chaos seed smiled when he realized that also meant that his friend’s spells would cost 5% less mana in the future!

  Looking at Sion’s overall build, it was clear that it was starting to be weighted toward mana utilization. When they had first met, the sprite hadn’t been able to cast spells though he had always wanted to be a caster. Sion had always been able to use the racial sprite skill of Imbue Arrow but had never been able to cast spells until Richter had awakened Air magic in him. It appeared that ever since that moment, all of his free characteristic points had gone into Intelligence.

  There still remained two large questions that Richter needed answered. What exactly did the Meidon Ability entail and why was Sion’s Imbue Arrow suddenly ‘Enhanced?’

  The answer to the first, was a resounding, “I don’t know.” His friend was unable to access any more information. Apparently, examining the Meidon ability just gave the prompt, “The manifestation of the realization of destiny.” Richter couldn’t think of a more useless tagline.

  Sion said that his mother might know more, but also said it might remain a mystery. He reminded Richter that pixies had not been present for countless years in The Land. Furthermore, celestial pixies had never before graced The Land, at all, so discovering what it meant to have undergone meidon would most likely be a matter of trial and error. The only thing that Sion had discovered so far was that the Air magic his pixie was attuned to had increased his own affinity back up to 100%!

  The second question, what ‘Enhanced Imbue Arrow’ meant, Sion did not have an answer to either. The sprite smiled so broadly, though that Richter smiled in response. “I have a plan to figure out exactly what ‘Enhanced’ means,” the sprite said.

  “What is the plan?” Richter asked. Sion looked so happy that he was sure this would be an awesome idea.

  Sion picked up his bow and set an arrow to the string, “Well depending on your perspective… this is the easiest part!”

  Richter’s smile slipped.

  CHAPTER 35 -- Day 119 -- Kuborn 9, 15368 EBG

  Sion’s experiment involved a half drawn bow, a minimally-imbued arrow and a shot center mass to Richter’s chest plate. Initially, of course, Richter told his friend to fuck off, but Sion used a two part counter-argument of how it was Richter’s turn to do the stupid part of a plan and that the chaos seed was being a youn’da. Richter was completely confused at first because the word translated into goat hoof. Sion gave him a smarmy look and then deliberately looked at Richter’s crotch. He finally got what the sprite was saying. The son of a bitch had just called him a camel toe!

  With typical guy logic, that guilted him into agreeing. Even though it was as weak as his Companion could make it, Richter still fell backwards, and the boom of the arrow exploding set his ears ringing. Before he had even gotten up, he was healed by his familiar who mentally called him a gyoti.

  The reason he took a bit longer to get up wasn’t just because the arrow had rung his bell. He also discovered what ‘enhanced’ meant. Binding to the celestial Air pixie had given Sion’s imbued arrow the capability to stun his target! Richter was able to shrug off almost all of the secondary effect with his 50% resistance to Air magic and because of the weakness of Sion’s imbuement, but he realized it could still be a game changer!

  Sion helped him up, congratulating Richter for ‘taking it like a man’ in the asshole way only best friends can pull off. Richter told him real men wear pants and looked at the tattered remains of clothes that the sprite was wearing. Before Sion could retort, his pixie, Sapir, flew up to Richter’s face and gently said, “I sawry, Lord Wichter.”

  Richter almost told the flyer to cut off the baby talk, until he realized that the pixie was a baby. Instead, the chaos seed just tapped Sapir lightly on the head with one finger and said, “It’s okay, little buddy.” Richter kept looking at the pixie, though and was confused by something. The flyer looked just like his brothers and sisters. He had no sharp claws, and all the pixie was wearing were the same silver pants he had been born with. How had Sabir cut him?

  “How did you cut me when you attacked, Sabir?”

  “I so sooo sawry!” the pixie boy looked entirely remorseful.

  Richter smiled to put the small youth at ease, “I’m not mad, but I want to know how you were able to cut me. Can you show me without actually hurting me?”

  Sapir just shook his head, “I do not know how!” The pixie was almost wailing in distress, thinking he was going to be punished. It was clear that the kid either wouldn’t tell him anything else or couldn’t tell him anything else. He used Analyze again.

  The pixie was still level one, and his stats seemed the same as all of the other pixies he had seen. Sapir’s outside appearance seemed relatively the same as the other pixies as well. There was only really one difference that Richter could see on the stat page. There was a new ability called, Battle Form.

  Looking at the ability didn’t give Richter any more information. Asking Sion about it proved similarly pointless, and Sapir was too distressed to give him a clear answer. Richter was sure that the ability was the answer to his question, though. He thought about it for a moment and remembered that Sapir had looked normal when emerging from the meidon. Whatever had happened, had only occurred when the pixie had thought Sion was in trouble. Maybe there was an unconscious trigger…

  Richter clapped both hands suddenly near Sapir’s hovering form and shouted, “Shark!”

  Sapir shot back several feet. While he darted back, he changed! The celestial pixies normally had fine features and slightly pointed ears. Despite their silver skin, though, they looked like a simple mix of elf and human, albeit on a much smaller scale. Cute and pretty were the words that came to Richter’s mind when he was looking at th
em. Now, however, the first word he thought of was fierce.

  The celestial pixies face had grown gaunt and sharp teeth could be seen behind his half-snarl. Sapir’s ears were more pointed, and his silver fingers now ended in sharp talons. Perhaps the biggest change were his wings. Pixie wings always seemed delicate to Richter. It was easy to see the tracings of vessels flowing through the thin membranes. Now, however, the wings looked like metal! They were moving too fast for Richter to be sure, but he thought they had a sharp edge!

  Sion rushed up and let the agitated pixie land on his hand, “My meitu’meidon is not a toy, Richter!”

  “Says the man who just shot an arrow into my chest,” Richter said.

  Sion didn’t have an answer for that, but he still wasn’t pleased. Richter sighed and said, “I’m sorry Sapir. I was just trying to help you change. Let me say that you did a great job! Your battle form is amazing!”

  Richter thought he was laying it on a bit thick, but Sapir did calm down. Speaking softly now, Richter kept speaking simple platitudes as he plucked a piece of grass from the ground. He moved closer to the pixie that started quivering at his proximity, but Sapir stayed still. The chaos seed brushed the grass clipping against Sapir’s wing and smiled as even that light contact caused the grass to shear in half. The pixie’s wings were razor sharp. Richter suddenly felt a great deal better about the race’s chances for surviving in The Land. After that, he and Sion simply spoke comfortingly to Sapir. What fully calmed the pixie down was Alma landing on Richter’s arm and then licking the pixie’s face.

  The boy predictably said “Yuck!” as he wiped off dragonling droll. Alma playfully blew a light gust of air at the pixie who giggled and transformed back into a simple pixie child. Alma took off through the air with Sapir in pursuit. Soon the air above Richter and Sion was alive with blurs of color and the shrieks of small children as they played with the beautiful ignorance of youth.

  CHAPTER 36 -- Day 119 - Kuborn 9, 15368 EBG

  A few minutes later, another meidon dissolved. As opposed to revealing a pillar of yellow stone this time, Richter saw what looked like a statue covered with a shining gold cloth. A moment later the cloth lifted into the air, disappearing as it did so. Underneath were the sprite guard and his bonded Life pixie.

  The sprite guard went through the same antics that Sion had had to deal with. The two Companions were able to get his armor off in short order, though. Luckily, Sapir helped this time, and neither of the Companions were attacked by a Life pixie in battle form. The two friends looked at each other and had the same thought, ‘Remove your armor BEFORE you bond. Important safety tip.’

  Not much later, a third meidon disappeared, and Sumiko was brought back to the village. The Life mage didn’t have to go through what the warriors had, seeing as how she was only wearing a simple robe of gold and white. When she stood, Richter could see that she had gained the same height as Sion and the other sprite meitu’meidon, but that wasn’t the only change. Sumiko had always had long white hair, and while her face still had the childlike smoothness of all sprites, her crotchety nature had made him think of her as a grandmother.

  That wasn’t what Richter thought when he saw her stand now. She threw out her hands to shout her rebirth in conjunction with her pixie. Then, Richter was never sure if he had imagined this or not, but she did the slow, head shake thing hot girls with long hair did when they were walking out of the ocean! Her hair had changed to blonde-white, and no longer looked aged, but instead appeared slightly exotic. She reminded him of someone that he couldn’t place, but either way, she was looking… good!

  Sumiko turned toward him and picked up the cane that had been trapped in the meidon with her. She walked towards Richter with an ease in her step that she hadn’t had before, and her white linen shirt stretched out in two very key places that he didn’t remember being so interesting before. She walked without support, but when she got close to Richter, she put the cane to good use. Gently placing it under the chaos seed’s chin, she pushed up slightly and said, “My eyes are up here, Lord Richter.”

  Then she walked, almost sashayed past him, and very deliberately threw her cane away. Sion coughed as Richter continued to stare at the youthful transformation the Life mage had undergone, but the chaos seed paid it no mind. He just absently scanned his vision to see if another prompt would appear promising an increase in population growth.

  CHAPTER 37 -- Day 119 -- Kuborn 9, 15368 EBG

  After Sumiko had walked away, trailed by her pixie, he walked back down to the village. The only thing that held him up was that the meidon sprite wanted to speak with him. Richter finally learned his name and that of his pixie.

  “Lord Richter,” Disote said. “I know that Curia, and all of her people, have sworn fealty to you. I am bound to my pixie for life. If you will have me, I will pledge my bow to your service. I only ask that you allow me to continue to man my post protecting the Quickening until I am relieved by the Hearth Mother.”

  To say that Richter had been shocked would have been an understatement. It wasn’t like he would turn up his nose to the service of an experienced sprite archer, but he didn’t want any problems with Hisako. The wood sprites were his strongest, and only, ally. The Hearth Mother was generous, but she might feel a certain kind of way if she thought he was poaching her fighters. He answered somewhat carefully.

  “I am honored, Disote. I would be lucky to have your strength on my side. I am worried, however, that I would offend Hisako by taking one of her strongest warriors.”

  Disote looked confused, and answered as if what he was saying was common knowledge, “Every sprite has the right to choose his own path and follow his own destiny, Lord Richter. My path has led here, and my destiny will forever be tied to Curia. If you do not wish me in your service, I will accept that, but I then beseech you to allow me to stay near the village so I can be close to my meitu’meidon.”

  Richter looked to Sion for help. The sprite seemed to understand and simply said, “We all follow the will of the forest.”

  Richter rolled his eyes, thinking, thanks Yoda. He thought he understood what his friend was trying to say, though. The chaos seed was distracted for a moment by the sound of a tinkling bell heard up in the canopy followed by laughter, but when he looked up, he saw nothing. Turning back to Disote, he formally said, “Speak the words.”

  Disote went down on one knee and intoned the words of fealty, “I formally swear allegiance and loyalty to you, my Lord Richter. From now, unto my very death, I will protect you and your interests, to the best of my ability and without deceit.”

  Richter rested his hand on Disote’s shoulder, “I accept your oath of fealty, and swear to honor your pledge with the same gravity in which it was given.”

  After that was done, Richter suggested that the two sprites go to the forge and see about being outfitted with armor that fit or at the very least trying to fix the straps on their old gear. Sion just smiled and said that it wouldn’t be an issue. His Companion walked off to the Dragon’s Cauldron to brew some potions. Disote affirmed that their armor wouldn’t be a problem and then followed Richter’s next set of instructions to go and put himself under Terrod’s command. When the chaos seed asked why neither of the sprites were concerned by the fact that their armor didn’t fit anymore, Disote just shrugged and said, “The Hearth Mother will be here soon.”

  Richter decided that if they weren’t worried, then he wouldn’t be either. Besides, something exciting was happening in the village. The construction crew was finishing the workshop! Richter rushed back down to the village and reformed his small construction crew under Roswan’s direction. The increase in village Productivity had let the crew power the construction through and get a great deal of work done over the last ten days. Richter was also able to learn more about construction. In a rare occurrence of communication, Roswan strung an entire sentence together, remarking they could have finished the project earlier if they had simply used wood as opposed to stone. Richter had
asked him why they had gone with stone then. Surprisingly, the elf’s answer was clear and concise.

  “Grmm, already been attacked once and had the longhouse burned down. Don’t want the same thing to happen here. Also wanted to build a proper workshop. If we had built using only wood, then the best we could have made would have been a workman’s shed. This here is a true level one workshop.”

  Richter had decided to push his luck and asked, “What is a level two workshop?”

  Roswan had fixed him with a glare and said, “Grrrrmmmmm. The next level.”

  Richter had then decided to quit while he was still ahead and had gotten back to work.

  That hard work was about to pay off. After getting back the to build site, he asked Roswan where he could be useful and went where he was instructed. Several hours later, the last stone was set!

  The workshop was built like a capital T. The primary building material was marbled quartz, but well polished wood could be seen through the construction as well. The white stone gleamed dully in the mist light. Windows had been installed at regular intervals in the walls, ensuring that air could freely circulate. Each window also had stout wooden shutters that could be battened shut against the storms Sion had promised him would come in winter. A small fireplace was situated in the back wall, and a chimney peaked up over the wooden roof. The building had a beautiful simplicity. As Richter gazed at it in appreciation, prompts appeared.

  Know This! You have built a fully functional Workshop (Level 1). Your settlement will now enjoy the Building Bonus of increased Production and Durability from having such a building.

  Know This! Up-to-date information is now available for your village buildings.

  1) Longhouse (wooden). Durability: 1272/1272. Houses 30/60/90 people (luxuriously/ comfortably/overcrowded) Quality: Well built. x 5.