“One that almost killed me. It had several tentacles, but Sandro blew them off when it caught him.”
“So he’s dead?”
I nodded and looked away as I dropped to the ground. He had it coming, though I didn’t feel proud of it. He’d been doing things the best and only way he thought possible, so I could feel a sliver of sympathy for the man.
“I don’t even feel like skinning or butchering this thing now.”
“If you don’t do it, I will.”
“Really? You want to steal my kill?”
“Hey, I helped.” He smirked. “Share the wealth.”
I snorted and shook my head. “Alright. How about we get killing grazlitaurs? I made a deal with the military to provide them with weapons and armor.”
“Oh, shit,” he cursed.
“Shit indeed. I hadn’t thought too much of it since we have an infinite supply here, but the things we’re getting from outside are worth far more than a week or two doing this shit.”
He shrugged and got to his feet. “Sure, whatever. I’ll start the killing and butchering, then.”
I jumped back on top of the monster and started carving, rotating the beast whenever I cut a piece up, but strangely I didn’t fall through or off the monster until only the bones remained. Even then I managed to pull it up on the riverbank and stash the rest away.
Notification:
ITEM RECEIVED:
Cortonoth Bone x 44
Cortonoth Skin x 15
Cortonoth Tooth x 85
Tyranitaur Scale x 103
Cortonoth Core x 1
Enma Crystal Rank 2 x 34
The number of ingredients the cortonoth gave was pretty generous, but without blueprints, we wouldn’t be able to make anything out of them. At least I had the core, but what would I be able to do with it?
I pushed the thoughts aside and joined Mark butchering the grazlitaurs. Once we were almost done with the first spawn, a job notification popped up.
Notification:
QUEST COMPLETED:
Butcher Level 2
REWARDS FOR QUEST COMPLETION:
+30 Physical Attack, +80 Health
Quest Received: Butcher Level 3
DESCRIPTION: Butcher 50 Monsters.
COMPLETION: 20/50
“How far in are you for level three Butchery?” I asked as I closed the window.
“I’m near level four already. See, I’ve been doing this every day, trying to get the tyranitaur to spawn so I could rip it a new one with my lance.”
“You’re fucking with me, right?”
He shook his head and grinned. “No, but it hasn’t come out yet. Who knows why?”
“Then we’re pretty good with grazlitaur ingredients?”
“I have no idea. They don’t show in quantities for some reason. Maybe it’s an error of sorts? As tends to happen in games?”
“We’ll ask Veles when she’s back to get Scar.”
“Where is that wolf, anyway? Why didn’t he help you earlier?”
I shrugged. “No idea. I can’t feel him, but it’s not like he’s a slave or servant or something.”
“No, he makes sure to tell us whenever he’s around.” Mark laughed. “It’s like having a nagging wife, you know?”
“Oh? You have one just like that?”
He scowled and then narrowed his eyes on me. “I’m not the one who has to make sure two women are… taken care of.”
“Now that was a low blow, man.” I laughed, throwing a piece of bone at him. It struck his shoulder, and he dropped over on his ass, laughing out loud.
“How is it going with them, anyway?”
“I don’t know. I’m trying to become friends with Lana, and she’s trying to keep her distance. Other than that? I do all I can for Melina so she’s happy. And so I’m happy.”
“If you say so, but don’t make the mistake of trying to keep both around as your… wives? I don’t think that would work out.”
I let out a deep sigh and closed my eyes, resting them for several seconds. It wasn’t like I didn’t have any time to sleep over the last few days, but it was one thing after another. I needed some days off to just rest and lounge about doing nothing. Waging war was good and all, but it took its toll.
“Maybe Kang and the others will come to join us over here. I met someone close to him when we were fighting the Green Dragons.”
“Oh? Will you take them in if they choose to do so?”
I shook my head. “No. I thought about it at first, but now I don’t want to. They made their decision, but I’d let them stay and work in this place. Of course against payment in whatever way we agree.”
“See, that would be a great way to handle things. They aren’t bad people, but they made a bad choice, at least for us.”
“Whatever. Come on, let’s go back. I think we need to start organizing this place.”
We walked back and found everyone milling about around the fountain, doing nothing. I stopped right next to Melina and pulled her in a hug, then slid the ring on her finger, the one from Sandro. She looked up at me, confused by what I was doing, but I put my finger to her lips and shushed her.
“What took you so long to get him?” Sarah asked as Mark pulled her in an embrace.
“We just fought a rank eight boss that crawled out of the water.” He chuckled. “I had to save his ass and all.”
“You what?” Lana snapped.
“Yeah, we just killed a lamprey-like creature. Anyway, that’s not what’s important. Listen up. I got a lot to tell the others, Lana.”
I proceeded to tell them about the arrival and the army’s involvement, then about the deal that we struck and the raid on the Green Dragon base. Finally, I told them all about our return and the promises the general and I made to one another.
“I’ll go out to take care of the other grazlitaur spawn,” Lana finally said when I was done, and ran out into the outer zone. I didn’t say anything, as I didn’t want to. There was nothing to say regarding that matter, but Melina, who was still shaking, did need my attention.
“Want to lie down?”
She nodded, so I picked her up and carried the woman in my arms up to the bedroom. I laid her on the bed and then sat next to her, leaning on my left elbow as I caressed her face with my right and then kissed her forehead.
Melina was quiet the whole time and just lay there with her eyes closed, breathing steadily and sobbing in silence. I wanted to say something that would make her feel better, but I didn’t, not knowing any better.
We fell asleep sometime later and lay like that until someone shook my shoulder.
“Hey, get up,” Scar said as he nudged me with his snout. Sparks of lightning jumped around on my arm, pricking my arm like needles.
“What?” I muttered as I rolled over and stared at him.
“It’s early morning. The day after.”
I shot up like an arrow, shaking the drowsiness off as my heart started racing. “Are they here yet?”
He shook his head. “No, they aren’t, but you should let Melina sleep some more while we go out to decide on the plot of land we’re giving to the military.”
“Yeah, I thought about doing that last night, but we slept in,” I muttered as I got up and stretched. I ran into the bathroom, freshened up, then put on a clean tracksuit, and just as I was about to walk onto the balcony, Melina spoke.
“What’s with the hurry?” she asked weakly.
“We slept all evening, night, and morning. The military should be here soon, so we need to go prepare some things.”
She nodded and lay back down. “I’ll sleep some more,” was all she said before I felt her breathing steady, and she drifted off to sleep again.
She must have been mentally exhausted to sleep so long. It wasn’t all exhaustion, though, her body had gone through rapid cultivation, which must have hurt her more than I thought it would. It was easier to repair her than cultivate anew, I guessed.
I jumped off the b
alcony and met Scar downstairs. Rita and Donald were already busy cooking and arguing about something I didn’t catch. I put my hand up and waved as we passed the two. There were two ways I could do this. The bank across the stream was about fifty feet wide and ran ten times that in length until it finally exited the safe zone. On this side, there was more than enough space for several inns, and there was all that grassland that was unused.
“What are you thinking?” Scar asked as I stared first at one plot of land and then the other.
“I’m going to give them the land across the stream. It’s impractical for whatever we might do.”
“Yeah, just my thought. We need a bridge, though. Do you want to wait so they can make it themselves?”
“Yeah, they can do so. I can help, but I’m not gonna waste my time on—”
I was stopped by a loud chirping noise. I glanced over my shoulder and back at the portal. It shimmered and exploded outward. I jogged back over to the inn and stood there as a group of four soldiers in black tactical gear walked out, holding their rifles trained on… something that might have greeted them in here.
“Guns down,” one of the men snapped. He lowered his rifle and was followed quickly by the three others. His eyes met mine, and realization flashed in them. “Are you the man called Viktor?”
“I am. And you are?”
“Sebastian Lane. This is my wife, Mirna,” he added, pointing at a short blonde. “These are our other team members Jason and his wife, Samantha. We’re the four specialists General Kade promised.”
I offered him my hand, and he took it gladly. Though it might have been a shitty move on my end, I squeezed much harder than I should have, breaking his hand. Sebastian’s face turned white and red at the same time as pain flashed across his eyes.
“Sorry, but I want to show you something right away,” I whispered and pulled a rank two crystal from my pouch, then handed it to him. “I’ll pour some energy into your hand and heal it, alright?”
He nodded weakly as the three others shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably. Kade had probably briefed them about my power and that attacking me would only end in their deaths, but seeing one of theirs getting hurt in front of their eyes, that wasn’t something any man or woman could take.
“Sir?” his wife asked, in utter confusion.
“Don’t worry. He’ll be fine in a second.”
I pushed a stream of Enma into his broken hand and then used the damage to burn in the first meridian. To my surprise, I found it working at least ten times better than it had while trying to burn tiny holes into their flesh and then to open veins up.
“Wh-what is… what are you doing? It feels so good!” Sebastian hissed through his teeth and then almost dropped to his knees. “Sir, please forgive me, but I’ve never felt anything like it!”
I nodded and held my hand out to the man, then pulled him up as he took it. “I just opened your first meridian. It’s one of the secrets behind my power, and over the next day, I’ll break you all apart to the point you’ll want to die, but first, how many are coming in after you?”
“Twenty, sir!” Sebastian snapped and stood at attention.
The three others snapped to attention as well, standing straight as the rifles dangled to their sides. Most of their faces were covered by the black glasses and part of the helmets, but I could see through it mostly. They were in their mid-to-late thirties.
“Will there be a commanding officer for the group?”
“Yes, sir! Colonel Herrion will be commanding the group.”
I wanted to groan and hate the idea, but then I thought better of it. If he saw how this place was, he might respect me more. And with him around and our new start, we just might get off well this time.
“Yeah, I know the guy. Will his family come over as well?”
“No, sir. He doesn’t have anyone but a wife, and she will be one of the twenty.”
“When will they be entering?”
“Thirty minutes, give or take. At least that was what we planned on, sir.”
The three others remained silent, which meant that Sebastian was in charge more or less. I could work with that. The man radiated pride, and to be honest, he did look like a tough soldier.
“Then we have enough time to get to know each other better. Follow me.”
It was only then that they seemed to notice the giant elephant, or rather the giant wolf.
“What—sir? What is that wolf doing here?”
“Him? He’s a part of me, so don’t worry. If you follow orders and don’t cause trouble, you have nothing to worry about.”
Chapter Nineteen
I sat in my usual spot in the main dining room as Sebastian and Mirna sat to my left but on the far side of the table. Jason and Samantha sat to my right, also at the far end of the table. I didn’t want to give them any cause to think I was their best friend, but letting them eat at the same place I did was a good start.
They remained quiet and nodded their thanks at Donald and Rita as they brought out several trays with drinks and some roast cuts. I remembered just then that such a thing as vegetarians existed, but decided not to give a shit. They’d better not disrespect my hospitality, or they’d be sent back out the next day.
“So the way we’ll be doing this is—”
Melina interrupted us as she walked in on us and sat in my lap, not even seeming to notice the others. She wore that short yukata I loved so much, but this wasn’t the damn time to do so. I sighed inwardly and kissed her cheek.
“What are you doing here by yourself?”
“What do you mean by myself? You don’t see our guests?”
She looked up and around the room, then opened her mouth to speak but decided to sigh instead. “Sorry, I’m still sleepy,” she muttered.
“Yeah, I think it’s because we overdid it with the crystals. Your body will need a while to get accustomed and to process all the energy.”
“I do feel stronger, though. It’s just that I’m so tired.”
“Rita!” I yelled. “Please bring a tray for Melina as well!”
“Coming!” Donald yelled back instead.
I turned back to the group, but no one was eating or drinking. It caught me off guard, to be honest, since I knew just how good the food and drink were.
“Eat, please,” I said with a slightly stronger voice than I intended. “We don’t let anything go to waste here.”
Sebastian was the first to do as I said, and he picked his fork and knife up, then cut a piece of the meat and ate it. His eyebrows rose as he sliced another piece off and then started chewing it. “This stuff is good!”
“It is. It’s a local cowlike creature that lives in the zone next door.”
“Creature?” Mirna asked as she looked over at her husband.
He shrugged and took his third piece. “Everything is a creature to someone, isn’t it?”
I nodded, knowing how it felt. I’d thought the same way when we got here, but now? Now all I could think of was how to get my teeth into a piece of tyranitaur meat to pay the bastard back for wanting to eat me.
“Who’s next? I need to open your first meridians before we proceed.”
“Do you mind if I go?” Jason asked.
By the time the second group under Herrion arrived, all four of them had their first meridians open and were stuffed with grazlitaur roast. The second group, which consisted of twenty-two people, was met by the four, Melina, and myself. Herrion saluted me as if I was his superior, but I didn’t hold it against him. It was tradition and the way the military did things, so I promised myself I’d try to accommodate them as much as I could.
“Colonel,” I said, offering him my hand.
He shook it with a big grin on his face. “You have no idea how happy I am to be here and make sure no one repeats the same stupid mistake of disrespecting you. Trust me, I regret it.”
“Good, good. Now, to show you my thanks, I’m going to do something that’s going to hurt a lot, but no one
had better get any stupid ideas and try to shoot me. It won’t work, and you’ll die.”
“What do you—?”
Before he could even ask the question, I did the same to him that I’d done to the others. Several minutes later, he was jumping around like a kid, full of energy. We set up two tables outside while Donald and Rita made sure there was enough meat and drinks for everyone as I sat inside again with Herrion, Melina, Lana, and the four. Mark came in just as we were about to start, so he took his position to my left along with Sarah and the kid.
“So, ladies and gentlemen, this here is Melina, my wife.” I started by putting my hand on Melina’s knee. “This is Lana, my ex-wife. I know, don’t ask, as it doesn’t matter.”
The two women looked at me as if I was about to do something stupid, while Jason and Sebastian smirked.
“And I’m Mark, his right-hand man. This is my wife, Sarah, and this is my kid, Laney. I’m a sniper and a spear user.”
“Right, so—” Herrion said and stopped, unable to continue as his mind raced visibly. “You kind of caught me off guard there, sir.”
“Drop the sir, please,” I replied as I took a big gulp from my glass. “Call me Viktor or Vik. As for catching you off guard, there’s a whole lot more that will catch you off guard. First off, we need to make a bridge for you guys. Then you need to start building your… well, buildings.”
“Bridge?” Sebastian asked.
“Yeah, I’ll be giving you the plot across the stream. That way I have my privacy, and you guys have yours.”
“How can we make a bridge, though?”
“Fell some trees and tie them together with vines. See, I’m giving you the land, but I don’t intend to make shit for you. The reason why you’re here is to help with the production effort and to establish a presence. That’s all.”
Herrion chewed on a particularly large piece of the meat but nodded all the while. “And we respect that, Viktor.” He paused before saying my name, but then did so almost naturally. “The lone nonmilitary man who joined us is a contractor who came here to see what you guys need. He’ll go back tomorrow morning and have all of his people come through so they can start building.”
Crafting Death: A LitRPG Cultivation Series (Towers & Rifts Book 2) Page 21
