“Hah, looks like my uncle’s 40th birthday party,” Trig said as he pointed to the great tree in the center that had been charred to a crisp. The entire great tree had shriveled up, having transformed from a beautiful red tree reaching high into the sky to a thin, black twig that wouldn’t support even a bird’s nest.
On the ground were thousands of pools of murky green liquid and burn marks. Deep circles were scorched into the dirt, remaining as the only testament that this place had ever been a hatchery for monstrosities.
“Looks like the darkness was the only thing keeping this place intact,” I said, running my hand across the ground. The scorch marks were dry as if the flame had come and gone in an instant, a heat so intense it almost perfectly annihilated all life in the area. “Grab some of the liquid and put it in a bottle,” I said. “Maybe the nerds back in the Breach will learn something interesting from it.”
“Ew, no, you’re the fearless leader,” Trig said. “You touch the gross green liquid. I’ll uh, watch for monsters.”
Chapter 46
The journey home was long and exhausting. The Shadewood villagers were unaccustomed to the concept of travel and they could not handle walking very far without the need for constant breaks. Fortunately, the Overseer’s new pod was more than capable of standing guard, shocking the hell out of any monster that came remotely close to us. Their bursts weren’t lethal enough to kill anything, but it caused enough of an annoyance to discourage anything else from getting nearby.
Brimley ultimately decided upon staying in his shop. The sudden influx of people had soured him greatly, for he had enjoyed the peace and quiet of living in the mountains. Turns out that when you’re alone for so long, you start to relish it far more than other people. It was a shame to leave him behind, but we rewarded him with a few monster carcasses as a way to thank him for being so hospitable. And of course, I let him know that I’d be returning soon, as I was certainly not about to leave that city to the north unexplored. Now that the passage was clear and the Shadewood was safe to move through, the journey to this great city would only be a few weeks at the most.
I wish that I could say our journey home was free of casualties. But that was simply not the case. I don’t know if I had ever believed truly that we’d get home without losing a few. Out of the ninety people in the village, we lost five. Three to sickness and two to accidents. They had been unaccustomed to the hills and while many fell down, much to the laughter of their compatriots, two who had been in sore shape were greatly injured from the falls.
These losses did not seem to bother the Shadewood people, however. 41 kept their spirits high and soldiered them on, taking on the de facto role of the village elder. She used her relationship with Trig as a means of control, often threatening his action should they fail to heed her words. How strange to see my friend become a boogeyman to whip people into line, but above the surface, discipline was necessary for survival.
Halfway home, we met up with the hunter group who had been dispatched to escort us. They had hit an unfortunate snag on the road and their numbers were decimated. In a way, our group escorted them back more than they escorted us. But it was nice to see some familiar faces and soon enough, spirits were lifted once more. We returned to Hunter’s Hope within the month and were promptly put through our decompression program. Well, everyone except for me.
While I would have loved the opportunity to become a civilian again, get out of my armor and just rest in my husband’s arms for the next hundred years or so, there was still the matter of handling the Masara to attend to. And that matter could not wait.
The Vessel and I arrived to the outer walls of Hunter’s Hope, where the other Masara had been staying, gathered up in a strange crystalline box they called a Hibernarium. This large blue box was where they would bunch themselves up at night and apparently sleep for days at a time, emerging only when they had some kind of mission.
But now that the Vessel had arrived, all of the Masara were assembled. I tried to speak to Brain a few times, but he ignored me, now fully in line with the rest of his people. The Overseer had asserted full control over them, and the pod was unified once more. Part of me felt kind of sad; I had liked Brain and his constant rambling observations. On the other hand, I was excited to hear what kind of secrets they would reveal to us.
The memory fusion process was relatively quick. The Overseer entered the Hibernarium for an hour, then returned, its body much larger than before.
This is much better, it said to me, voice so strong that it echoed in my mind. I feel whole once more. And many secrets have been revealed. This planet is dead. There is no more of a purpose for us to be here.
“Dead?” I repeated. “What do you mean?”
We were searching for safe harbor. I have collected hundreds of years of data. And sifting through that data, I find that the effort to reform this place to keep us safe and secure would be too much. We would all die through the process.
I sighed at that. “It took you hundreds of years to learn that? I could have told you that day one of meeting you.”
Do not be disappointed. The Masara pods have very specific needs. From my observations, however, I can determine that humankind, if it maintains its current course, should be able to make a living on the surface. It will take time. Longer time than you have as an individual. But your race values passing along gifts to your offspring. If your people continue here, Avery, I have estimated a 70% chance of retaking a livable portion of the surface.
Those were exciting words to hear! Not for my own sake, of course, because I had been determined as possible to reclaim this world. But if Higgins, Verna and the rest of the leadership heard such a calculation, would they be willing to abandon our world so easily?
We will bestow some tools to accelerate the process, the Vessel continued. The first are the extraction tubings we use. A simple process that augments the blood harvesting ritual. Attaching the tubings to a corpse and using the proper techniques will extract all Bloodpoints from it. Not only will this allow your people to gain more power from each body, but you can also now split up harvests.
“What?” I gasped. “You mean it?” This was huge! We could send veterans out and begin harvesting like crazy, giving all the points to the weaker ones…this would effectively triple our growth rate. We wouldn’t have to lose greenhorns every other hunt this way! At least, not to foolish mistakes.
Indeed. The Sogorn taught us how to take Bloodpoints. But we improved the process. I shall infuse these ideas into the minds of your engineers and scientists so that all may know.
Tears welled in my eyes. I knew Trig was wrong about the Masara. They might not be sticking around to help us out, but hot damn, did they just give us a huge tool.
Hold your sodium water leak until I have finished with our offerings, the Vessel instructed. Such a reference made me think of Brain. Perhaps he was still in there, in a way. We have a functional map of your world, with current standings of all Titans registered. We shall impress this also upon your cartographers. This will make it easier for your kind to clear Titans in the surrounding region. It will also reduce surprises, as the list of Titans will highlight known attack techniques and affiliations.
A full map of all Titans? With something like that, we could seriously begin planning on taking the world back. Not an entirely breathtaking offering, but still, could anything top the first gift?
And…the last thing we will give you is but a single musical note. It is our greatest weakness, this note, for when played, it shall permanently destroy the bodies of any Masara present, regardless of its strength and power. Few vessels can play such a note, but your race actually has an abundance of them, referred to commonly as flutes. You are to regard all red Masara as permanent enemies and destroy them with this note. Show no mercy as they are corrupt and must be annihilated. If not for your sake, for ours.
I bowed deeply to the Vessel. Giving me such a note was a true sign of cooperation. For granting us th
e power to destroy any Masara meant that we could use it against this pod as well. But they knew our intentions were noble and good.
“I thank you for these gifts. You are truly an ally to mankind,” I said.
The Overseer blankly looked at me. We are leaving this place, immediately. I have spent a great deal of time procuring a method of returning home. Now that I know of it again, we shall be using it. The trip is one way. Your kind will not see us again. You will escort us back to the mountains, yes?
“Of course,” I said, wiping a tear away. “Let me just check in with my husband.”
Understood. Meet with your brood mate and convey all I have to him, as well as to the rest of the leadership. They must know that there is hope for your race. That much, I know full well. With people like you around, Avery, humanity will certainly survive.
Epilogue
The message of hope had echoed deeply in the halls of both Hunter’s Hope and New Olmstead. Any talk or discussion of leaving this world behind faded as these new gifts gave the leadership a clear idea of just how much faith the Masara had in us. Personally, I did not need the approval of strange foreign beings from afar to know that our world was worth saving. But the rest of the council? They ate the 70% chance up as if it had been spoken by a god.
With the new extraction method, our recruitment numbers would increase. Even if we couldn’t elevate members with these ‘Bloodpoint bags’ as Dette called them, we could still transfer a great deal of power to each individual with ease. Greenhorns would become veterans overnight. And the greedy eyes of the Stonecutter village would turn our way, willing to barter loyalty in exchange for the secrets we had learned. This would give us a tremendous amount of power over them for now. Enough so to dissuade them from trying any foolish power grabs at the Breach.
I was invited to escort the Masara back to their mountain laboratory, not to protect them, but to witness the ‘world traversal’ method they utilized. Bloodpoints, the Overseer had explained, can perform many miracles. Things beyond what any laws of physics could possibly dictate. With Bloodpoints, one can grow a claw to cut open a tree. One can then use that tree to build a door. Or one could simply grow a claw capable of cutting through the air, opening an entirely new kind of door. That is how these monsters travel. And it is how we’ll get home.
Standing within the dark, metal building of the lab, my eyes widened as I watched the Masara begin their ritual. Six of them stepped into the center of the room, their jagged arms stretching upwards then slowly coming down. As their arms moved inch by inch in a downward slope, little sparks of energy appeared while a hole was cut into the air itself, just like the Overseer had said.
I gasped a little as I watched, surprised to see that there was something behind the air itself. As the arms pushed down, cutting some invisible film, I could make out a swirling vortex of blue and green energy within this hole. Was this what their world looked like? A realm entirely composed of light? Or was this just the doorway leading to the world and I was marveling at the equivalent of a hallway?
They continued working as the rest of the Masara all hummed in unity, vibrating at such a high-pitched frequency that I found my own heart beginning to race from anxiousness as to what would happen next. Would I be able to get a glimpse of this world? To think that I, a humble nurse from some unknown village deep below the ground, would perhaps be the first human to see an entirely new world… I had already experienced so many historic moments in my life, but this seemed to eclipse all of them right now. I bit my lip hard as I watched the film continue to peel open.
The hole grew larger as the Masara finished the ritual. It was soon big enough for anyone to pass through. Strange sounds of hissing and popping energy from within echoed throughout the lonely mountainside laboratory.
“Well,” I said, taking a deep breath. “I guess this is goodbye. It was really nice seeing this, thank you for inviting—”
Before I could finish my sentence, something struck me from below. My danger senses didn’t even trigger. I glanced down in shock to see that two long crystals were now encasing my legs, sprouting from the ground. What the hell? I struggled to get free, but the crystals rapidly crawled up my legs, to my stomach, to my chest, completely paralyzing me. I tried to summon all my strength, to break free, but this material was too strong.
I apologize for the deception, the Overseer said as I fought in vain to break out of this crystal prison. I wasn’t in any pain, but my limbs were completely locked into place. It was as if I were simply frozen, but without the ice freezing me to death. The gifts given to your people will grant humanity a fighting chance. This much is true. But our own fate is still very much up in the air. It was my observation, Avery, that you are the strongest of your kind. While the Sogorn were great beasts imbued with the mightiest of talents when it came to hunting, they had not the inner strength that mankind holds. Humans seem to be driven by much more than a mere desire to survive or a hunger to hunt for sport.
“Stop…this…” I hissed as the crystals covered my head, slowing down and being cautious as to not injure me in any way. In seconds, I was completely frozen in place, still able to breathe but unable to do anything else. My Quiverling couldn’t even respond to my mental commands. A strange pulsing warmth overtook me, a gentle, kind sensation that began to ease me to sleep, try as I may to fight it off. As my eyelids sank downwards, pulling me into a long, dark slumber, the last thing I heard was the Overseer continuing to explain its actions.
It is unfortunate, but one of my missions was to collect anything that could aid us in our own fight for survival. You are a prime representative of the best of humanity, at least from what I have observed. It is my belief that your mind, your body and what you refer to as your heart make up for an excellent warrior, one that can turn the tide in my own world. With some time and dedication, we should be able to replicate you. Or at least, beings that function as exceptionally as you. Forgive me, Avery, but I must do what is right, not just for my own pod. But for all Masara. That is what you have taught me. I sincerely hope that you will survive the replication process. It would be a shame to lose a specimen as fine as you.
Monster Hunting 401: A LitRPG Fantasy Adventure Page 25