by Han Yang
“I’m all for trading with allies. I also just cracked open a new portal map and am fresh from the battlefield. I need a few minutes to organize and prepare,” I said, but she didn’t let up.
“And the upgrades?” Nessio asked. “I saw the portal was bigger.”
“We can move a hundred and fifty through the portal. If we’re trying to do things as a group, we need to split costs,” I said, and then I inhaled a deep breath. “We need to become one. The two groups will continue to induce strain unless we come together. There are just some heavy upfront costs we need to figure out.”
“And that is why I was trying to trade the dwarves. Some of my dwarves are at zero Ostriva points. They can trade with any human city. If we can generate a few good trades, we can split the cost of the portal and give you five hundred Zorta. Then we share rotations,” Nessio said. “Eventually, we can form a government of sorts, but even combined, we’re less than a thousand and most of those are goblins.”
I pointed to the building that Delsy chanted in, Asha helping her with her incantations.
“She’ll have a portal soon too,” I said. “I think if we link to the dwarves, we’ll get an influx of immigrants.”
“Well shit, that changes things,” Nessio said.
“Look, Nessio, your heart is in the right place. There is going to be some growing pains. Hopefully, when the enemy is at the gates, we defeat them as one people, not two,” I said and meant it.
She smiled with a nod, heading back into her estate to likely go to bed. I returned to the church, knowing that was one less problem to worry about.
Each step felt heavy, and before I entered, the moon shaded sun darkened. I knew it was magic. The crackling of darkness enveloped my cavernous home, and I had to stop mid-walk. I waited patiently, feeling a wash of power spread out, followed by a cry of joy a few minutes later.
Asha stepped out of Tesana's church with a big smile on his face.
“Desly has the basics. The rest is up to her now. She is already level two,” Asha said, heading into Caitlyn's church before me.
“Good, those were decently leveled humans,” I said.
“Yeah, she tried them all and the seventh one unlocked for her on the first try,” he said with a shrug. “Probably one of the loyalists.”
Bell, Jark, Yermica, and Tarla stood around the map as we entered.
“What do we have on the map, High Priestess?” I asked.
“Another island chain,” Bell said.
When I viewed the table, I folded my arms, seeing a few big islands available for adventuring on and said, “Can’t win them all. Alright, we have gear to sort. We’ve had a long day, and there have been some unique developments. All these orders are for the morning.
“Bell, I want you to settle in Delsy. As in, find her a room, appropriate supplies, and whatever else she needs. You may need to have her wake you because her revivals take precedent. She’ll need help creating her church too.
“Tarla, you need to go down to the wagons and sort our gear. Jark, help Kerny get situated, and show him the animal pens. Oh, and I’ll badger the Clydesdales. He told me he doesn’t know the mythical language that they’re used to.
“Asha, battle gear. Re-sharpen, repurpose looted supplies, and line up our soldiers for a morning departure. Either we use the island and hunt with my new jenix cats, or we go and clear the way to the dwarves. I’m undecided, but I want the troops ready. Questions?”
We went over a few minor items. Tarla was staying behind - Charlie and Bell also. Did we want to rent the portal or rent out space? I said no for the moment. We debated the merits of earning more Zorta to trade for gold or clearing a trading route.
All this turned back to the one central question.
“What do we do with the five thousand Z?” Bell asked. “The next portal upgrade is… shocker, five thousand Z.”
“What does it do?” I asked.
“The interface actually tells me. It goes from one fifty to one seventy-five,” Bell said.
“Pass,” a few of us muttered at once.
“We can invest it,” Tarla said. “As in getting our trade going.”
“Here is my issue. We can start trading, but I won’t always be able to go into either Ostrivia or Nordan held cities. Just because I have before doesn’t mean I always will. Nessio though…” I said, my voice drifting off.
“Ah, you want to add her to your inner council as your trader?” Tarla asked, dancing her fingers on the map table. I nodded, knowing it was a smart decision. “With a limit of a hundred and fifty, we can always send a team to scout and then adjust.”
“We won’t always get these nice islands that are likely great jenix hunting grounds, and therefore, I will likely have Nessio scouts work the surface while we strive for our ten thousand Z mark. Sorry, I’m rambling. Again, more in the morning. At least we’re halfway until we return Asha or Jark to the living,” I said proudly.
“Jark,” my friends said, creating an echo.
“See you all in the morning. Have a good night and great work in Lind,” I said, tucking my arm into Tarla’s crooked elbow. She puckered her lips, and I planted a kiss on them. “Ready to go home and bathe?”
“Finer words have never been spoken,” Tarla said with a joyful giggle.
CHAPTER 49
Town of Seqa
“I have just the troll for the job,” Yermica said, trying to sound convincing.
Nessio rested her hand on a gnome's shoulder. The small tinkerer wore camouflage gear and carried a spyglass. “This is Ukarl. He’ll also be scouting the surface while you're away.”
“Excellent news, and thank you, Ukarl. I take it you have no problem working with Tarla to figure out a balance between our groups?” I asked.
Tarla patted my armor and said, “We’ve already begun the creation of a charter. Enjoy the week on the jungle island.”
“Thank you, everyone. Be safe. If you need me, and I’m not near the portal, killing a minion is the best way to reach me. This island is the size of a small continent, so who knows what we’ll find,” I said, selecting a shoreline on the largest island.
The portal swirled, generating from the power of the gods. A pulsing light stabilized, and I sent Mini into the unknown. The lidka swarmed behind him, followed by the trolls. The dwarves and gnomes - the ones from the Tela fight - were all living minions who waited patiently with a few trolls and goblins.
Lumpy and his team of animals went next. I had converted four of the six cats, giving Delsy the other two.
Tesana’s champion stood at my side, and I nudged the young hybrid. She had been distracted with one of her skeletons trying to talk to her.
“You’re up, princess,” I said, pointing to the portal.
“I'm not a princess,” she grumbled, sending her minions in. She eyed me with displeasure, her yellow eyes squinting. Delsy jogged into the portal, following her minions before I could comment.
“This oughta be fun,” Asha said with a snicker.
I shook my head with a grin, leaving him and Jark to bring all the camping supplies and wagons in a half hour. I walked up to the gooey portal and stepped in.
∞∞∞
Chop, chop, chop.
The rhythmic sound of minions cutting down trees rang loud in the nearby space.
A thick humidity hung heavy in the jungle, and unlike the jungle near Stri, this one was mostly green, blue, and earthy browns. I saw a bright morning sun above the canopy. A few birds dotted against clouds high in the sky.
The temperature warmed my armored body. The scent of fresh vegetation being unearthed hung heavy in the jungle air. Our immediate surrounding was a dense jungle, something that changed by the second.
Stepping away from the portal, I found Delsy helping clear bushes. After walking across a firm jungle floor, I grabbed a fern of some sort, yanking the roots out of the rich soil.
“So, I started a church, I have ten minions, and a home,” she said with a grunt.
Her skeleton that clearly had memories helped her free the bush she pulled on. “Why am I in a jungle?”
“Necromancy four,” I said, slinging the bush into the portal.
Our teams worked rapidly to clear a camp. Even the palm trees with fruit in the branches had to go. Mini and the lidka heaved a chain that wrapped a tree at the base, felling it quickly and causing the soil to tremble slightly.
“Okay, so I get to necromancy four. Then what? I can do that without coming on a camping excursion,” she said. Delsy and the skeleton shooting me concerned glares. Well, his body language said as much.
“Former lover?” I asked.
“Talked about feelings, the most I was allowed as a young lady. His were stronger than mine, but no. He was devoted to the peace,” Delsy said. “I’m worried.”
“Trust me, your virtue is safe,” I said with a chuckle. I proceeded to move slightly further from the portal, bending down to scrape off soil from around a small bush’s roots. I shook the bush, seeing some insects falling. “Really, really glad the bugs don’t count.”
“Is that how you managed to survive? By keeping your thoughts so simple?” Delsy asked with a smidge of sass.
I stopped after tossing in the bush.
“What worries you?” I asked sharply, not liking her attitude.
“You are supposed to instruct me. So far, you told me to revive the dead and your minion taught me how to do that,” Delsy said, throwing a hand in the air. “Then, we end up going camping when we could be slaying centaurs and getting to sleep in a bed every night.”
“Look, being a necromancer isn’t rocket science.” Her face contorted in confusion, and her whiskers flicked in annoyance. The word either translated wrong or the meaning sucked, and it didn’t make sense. “You pick up the dead and they fight for you. If you’re feeling bad, you resurrect them. Which, sorry for your boyfriend, but he has to stay a skeleton until more of the dwarves and goblins have recovered their revives.”
“So, you have nothing to teach me?” she asked, calming.
“Alright, here's a few tips. Connect to all your minions, as in, heal them as one, or try to revive them as one. The process is like absorbing Z in a clump. Next, when we slay something higher level than you, don’t expect to be able to claim the orb. Instead, concentrate and attempt. That’s a long and hard way to get cultivation gains, but they do happen. When you’re not actively fighting, you should be cultivating from the land,” I said.
“There was never any Z in the lands around Lind,” Delsy said.
I nodded. “You’re not in Ling anymore. I get the adjustment will be tough. I’m not some all-knowing, all powerful, necromancer. We will help you settle in and hopefully find a home in Seqa. If not, maybe Zozo will take you.”
“Yeah, that is the other part of my disappointment. I feel we should be blazing a trail for our trading partners,” she said, returning to work.
“Here’s the deal. Yes, I want to do that. I’d like to have it thoroughly scouted first. Spoiler, this jungle is giving our city far richer soil than we would get from Seqa Valley. We will be able to fish, acquire new minions, and harvest additional trade goods,” I said.
“So, when do you expect to cleanse the valley?” Delsy asked, helping me unearth another bush’s roots.
Asha and Jark arrived with the wagon and camping supplies, the mares grunting from the strain of the laden cart beds.
Asha heard her words and said, “Lord Damien, or Boss, is being cautious. Here, in this jungle, if trouble overwhelms us, we hop back into the portal and then play defense. If we open the main gates up top of Seqa, there is no stopping a massive army.”
I huffed and said, “Centaurs are incredibly fast. You rarely defeat the whole group or herd. When they retreat, they’ll tell the others what they saw. That could be them running into a minotaur force, the great herd, or even being captured by Toneba. As of right now, the great herd will be spreading the word that we hid in a dwarven mine. If that’s me hearing that, and I know it's an infested region, I may just assume we died to the terrors of the underground.”
Jark scoffed and said, “No sense in getting upset about about it. We’re here for six days, and there is a whole lot of prime jungle to send back to Seqa. If we pilfer the island of the jungle, we could get close to ten thousand Z!”
“A lot of this won’t survive transplanting,” Delsy said, not sharing his excitement.
Asha shook his head. “I’m an elva, and you missy, are ill informed. We have vegetation mages. A boon of having two hundred plus goblins and a few hundred dwarves. Once you nurse them to adapt, most will recover fine.
“Also, Selma has more mages than us, and clearly wants more and more of the soil. I think she is expanding down, away from the dwarves, but who knows.”
“What’s the end goal?” Delsy asked.
I walked over to the mares, scratching each of their necks. The girls were despondent, lacking much of the character I’d grown used to from our mounts.
“It depends on the day. Tarla is pregnant, Yermica too. We have a nice home, and we can improve it. Each of these trips brings risk, but far more reward,” I said. “I guess what I’m saying is, I’d rather not rush some winner-take-all conflict. The end goal keeps adjusting which is why the short term is easier to focus on.”
“No ascending?” Delsy asked, her confusion evident.
I paused. “Nowhere near ready. Even if you died, were unable to be revived, and I netted all your Z, it wouldn’t fix all these fine folks,” I said, gesturing to the dwarves and gnomes who had been revived. “Hey Tarno.”
I waved at the dwarf who dragged supplies out of the wagon to establish our camp.
I continued, “I used Tarno to fight in a cave system. If I leave without returning him to the living via a god’s fee, he’ll die forever, and I’d feel bad.”
“To do that someone else has to die,” Delsy said, and I groaned.
“Yup,” I said puckering the ‘P’. “They certainly do. No debate about morality. You’re a necromancer. You deal in the dead. The best you can be is semi-good. You’ll accept it or sit in your church. Now… Ah, hello there my little friend,” Lumpy arrived, crashing through underbrush while carrying a dead…something. “What is that?”
“Shit, brownies,” Asha said with a grumble. “They are prolific breeders and a big threat to those of us with flesh.”
I twisted my face in confusion. “They’re green…and is that a dart gun?”
I bent down, studying the being that Lumpy carried in his jaws. I saw it was two feet tall, had four arms, and a wooden mask over its face. The other skin was soft, a few shades of green that matched the underbrush.
With care, I plucked the mask off, seeing pus filled boils coating an angry face.
“Indeed, it is, Boss. They poke a boil, load a dart, and then fire the poisoned projectile into foes. The masks help the toxins ferment. One second,” Asha said, closing his eyes to focus on the dead brownie. “Four Zorta. These are part of a tribe which means brownies are going to be everywhere on the coasts.”
“Extrapolate please,” I said.
“Islands tend to have unique ecosystems geared toward sustaining off the oceans. Brownies are capable of magic and are moderate builders. Mind you, this is all knowledge from a book. However, they can build rafts and can live at sea for weeks.
“They occupy an island’s edges until they run out of room and the next generation sails out for a new island. For reasons unknown, they never leave the sound of water,” Asha informed us.
I stared down at the little critter and sighed happily. “That is terrific. A bunch of small beings with good Z rewards is about the best news we could get.”
“Yes, but… that means there is likely something capable of eating them in the interior of the island,” Jark said, playing the sour advocate.
“Exactly what scouts are for. How does the book recommend killing the brownies?” I asked.
“Oh, it said, and I’m phra
sing here: avoid at all costs. They have fantastic smelling and can use their skin like a shifting lizard. The adventurer who wrote the book had his hound die to them, so he may have been biased. My best guess? I would send in the heavy infantry. Skeletons are resistant to poison. Acid, not so much, but it should be a clean win.”
“And the bodies?” I asked.
“Burn them. I mean, you could sell them. But Selma may buy them for the poison, and that would mean dead dwarves,” Asha said, and I didn’t fault his logic.
“Burn them it is,” I said. I snapped my fingers, having an epiphany. “Delsy, you get to become your boyfriend.”
“Okay, I’m interested, and at the same time, he’s not my boyfriend,” Delsy clarified defensively.
“Come,” I ordered, heading to the wagon. I sat on the driver’s bench where the feet went and patted to the upper spot. “Lay down. I get to teach you something.”
The top set of ears on her head twitched, spinning to give me their full attention. The orange and black were too colorful for this jungle. Her yellow eyes and long whiskers clashed with her otherwise very human face.
After she laid down, she asked, “What next?”
“I want you to focus on a minion. You can whisper to a minion from anywhere. You can also control them from a great distance. Close your eyes, chant your incantation, and then project your power outside your body. You will only be able to go toward an inhabitable minion,” I said.
When she nodded, I saw a smile. I had finally impressed her with something.
I closed my eyes, chanting, “Death is power, and I demand obedience. Death is power, and I demand obedience. Death is power, and I demand obedience.”
Her words echoed behind mine as the two of us concentrated.
I ejected out of my body. I scanned the minions without prior thought as to who I would use. Not wanting to risk one of my big skeletons, I selected a human from the ambush fight and dove into his body.
His body shuddered from my occupation. The bones calmed, allowing me to return to the wagon until I stood by the confused boyfriend.