I let out a sigh and started eating as well through more conversation. We came up with a plan on how to proceed, so we went back out, and I unloaded all the building materials from yesterday. The soldiers got busy, but only after I relented and felled ten trees for them, then bound them together using vines and Enma to hold it together better, and finally made their bridge.
I busied myself opening the first meridian for all of the soldiers, but with Lana’s help, as there were twenty of them. Once they were boosted with Enma, the group started with flattening the patch of ground they’d be building on and then laid out the steel plates for the floor. It was going to be a portable steel-frame building, one that wasn’t as large as I thought it would be, but I didn’t care. They had their patch of land, so now they had to work on it.
Several hours passed as I rested on the balcony, and the four specialists practiced drawing in Enma from the provided crystals, when Mirna broke through naturally. I could tell from the way she absorbed the power and it swirled around her, but I didn’t say anything, wanting to wait and see how the others would do. Two hours later, the rest had broken through as well, but with a hint of my help as I guided the Enma around and prodded at their second meridian.
They were drenched with sweat and throwing up black muck, just like we had, and the power was steadily processing inside their bodies. I wanted to put them to use right away, but if they were going to become an elite unit, I needed them properly built from the ground up.
I jumped off the balcony and landed on my toes, not even disturbing the dust or grass on the ground beneath my feet. They looked up and got to their feet hurriedly as I approached.
“How do you feel?” I asked. They flashed me what passed for their versions of grins and smiles.
“Great!” Mirna said excitedly. “I feel like I can finally take him on now!”
“Who? Your husband?”
She nodded. “Yeah, Sebastian.”
“Really? You want to go at me, love?”
“Not now. Do that in your free time.” The smiles faded quickly, but I put up my hand. “No, I’m not mad or anything, on the contrary. I’m pretty happy that you guys are doing so well, but there’s this one important thing we need to deal with.”
“And what’s that, sir?” Jason asked.
“You four will be a single unit, right?”
They nodded.
“In that case, you need to have at least one person who will serve as a sort of tank and will get in close to draw the enemy fire. You’d do best with one or two more melee fighters, and one or two ranged dealers.”
“Isn’t what you’re saying what those kids used to do in games? Make perfect parties where everyone had a certain role?” Samantha asked. She was a quiet one, but now I understood why. The woman was most likely a geek of sorts and probably embarrassed by the fact.
“Exactly. See, they modeled this ‘game,’” I said, air-quoting the word, “after games that we used to play as kids. Or the ones our kids used to play. Every world has something that passes for a game, and they differ from ours, I’m sure.”
“So in the end it really is just a game?”
“It is, Samantha, but for us, it’s so much more than that. It is our right to live.”
“What can you offer us, sir?” Sebastian asked. “Are there any weapons we can choose from?”
I shook my head. “No, I mean, I do have a small stockpile of weapons, but they only have—never mind. I just remembered we have a stockpile I could let you use under a condition.”
He frowned, obviously not expecting me to set up any kind of condition. “Which is?”
“When you’re out there, you can belong to Kade, but in here, you’re mine. You hunt for me, you protect this place for me, you do whatever I tell you, and in turn, you’ll get a set of armor and a weapon that best fits you.”
“We can’t do that!” Jason said, his voice carrying stronger than he must have intended.
Sebastian put up his hand and kept eye contact with me. “What would that mean?”
“That half of the time you would have to be here and work your debt off. See, what I did with you guys and me opening your meridians, the only two people who know how it really works are Lana and me. If you want to get stronger, you need to earn it.”
“But what about the deal you made with the general?”
“Oh, I already delivered by opening your meridians and investing rank two crystals into getting you to the second meridian. See, nothing is free. I gifted five of them to the general, and what you guys got together was more than he did.”
“I think he’s right in asking us to do it,” Mirna said before any of the others could protest. “We’ve now jumped in power, and quite a lot at that. Just imagine what one of the weapons or pieces of armor we’ll be getting is worth outside? Would someone just throw around millions as if it were nothing?”
“No, you’re right,” Sebastian muttered.
“And keep in mind, I’m not asking you to betray the general or to cause any harm to Sylmar. All you need to do is be loyal while in here. That’s all.”
“Say that we agree, what then? Do we sign some kind of contract?” Jason asked.
“No, we don’t need to. I’ll find you even if you flee to the end of the world. I’ll find and kill you if you do anything to harm me or my people, or even this place. That’s my contract.”
They whispered for several seconds and in the end agreed. If someone had given me that choice when I just came here, I would have taken it with both hands. The world had changed, and the sooner people got over the fact that nothing was the same anymore, the better it would be for them. Power was what mattered most, but not to the point one would get lost in it.
“Follow me,” I finally said and turned toward the storage building. All four of them fell in line as we made our way to the left building. I glanced over my shoulder to see what the soldiers were up to, and was surprised to see the second metal construct was almost done as well, but it was taller than the first. The building wasn’t quite on two floors, almost one and a half, so it wasn’t going to be used as more offices. It was going to be storage, then, most likely.
The four stared at the bags filled with riches when we stood inside. They were neatly arrayed along the wall, with dozens of extra weapons sitting around on the ground or hanging on the wall. Swords, hammers, spears, a bow, and even a shield sat around not doing anything.
“Would you recommend a shield?” Sebastian asked.
“I would. Coupled with a hammer or sword. Maybe even with a spear or an ax, one-handed of course. I’d also suggest the bow to one of the girls. One of you should specialize in support and the last a kind of melee as well. Pure damage dealer.”
“I’ll take the bow,” Mirna yelled, running to the far wall and grabbing the beautifully crafted piece of wood. She wrapped her hand around the quiver next and put it over her shoulder. “I’ve done some shooting when I was younger.”
“No one would have taken it from you,” Samantha murmured. “You’re behaving like a twelve-year-old.”
“So what? You are the support.”
“And with what? Cheerleader pom-poms?”
“No, it has to be a real weapon, but one that uses the intellect more. Or is rather an accessory,” I replied for her. “My wife uses a war fan and has superb support skills.”
“A war fan?” Samantha asked curiously. “What’s that?”
“This,” she replied from the entrance. “I can use the Enma in my body and around us to attack our enemies without having to get in close, though it’s far from anything really strong.”
“It’s good enough for self-defense, and since you support, you’ll never be asked to go fight,” I added.
She nodded and stared at the fan. “How would I go about becoming something similar to your wife?”
“Oh, he’s not accepting a second woman.” Melina laughed.
Samantha gasped and put her hands on Jason’s shoulder.
“What? Just joking. Why so taken aback?”
“I—yeah, sorry. You’re his wife, yet his ex lives here? It’s all sort of… strange. Especially since she looks like a lightning elemental with all the tiny crackles and all.”
“Yeah, that’s none of your business for now. You can have Melina try to instruct you while I help the guys with melee combat. We can have Mark instruct you with the bow as well since it’s long-range fighting. He’s probably of more help than I am. If you need it.”
Melina pulled Samantha out into the front yard and was followed by Mirna, who winked at me for some odd reason. Sebastian seemed to catch it as well but didn’t say anything, though I could feel a slight shift in the Enma around us.
“Go on. Pick your poison. We still need to turn them into bone rank.”
“Bone rank?”
I pulled the spear from my pouch and showed it to him. “Something like this. If you want it, you can have it,” I said, offering it to Jason. “I looted it from a dead Green Dragon Gang member. Or an officer or something. Whatever they’re called.”
“Bastion?” Jason asked. “What do you think?”
“Don’t call me that,” he hissed and then looked over at me. “Viktor might think us crazy.”
“Why? What’s wrong with Bastion?”
“He used to be the first to enter whenever we stormed a place, carrying his big-ass riot shield. That’s why we started calling him Bastion instead of Sebastian.”
“I see. Not a name you should be embarrassed by, right?”
He shrugged and sighed, leaned down, and grabbed the shield, then a battle hammer. It was barely three feet in length, but with a mean head. One side had a long spike while the other had multiple short ones each an inch long.
“I’ll take the spear, then,” Jason said and held out his hand.
“Come on. I’ll need to upgrade the other weapons as well. We can’t start fighting unless you have bone gear.”
The two followed me out toward the area I’d come to think of as our smithy. It still needed a lot of work, but the anvil was there, several benches, a worktable, and a place to sit while we were upgrading.
“Give me the hammer first.”
I held out my hand and waited for him, then initiated the upgrade window. I was again met with the same strange bug, or whatever it was, that I couldn’t see the grazlitaur bone count. I knew I had a lot, or were they made that way on purpose?
I sighed and completed the upgrade, then handed it to Sebastian. The shield was next and turned out like a masterpiece worthy of the name Bastion. The shield sat on the ground, and as I got up to measure it against my body, the top point almost came up to my neck. I checked the stats, just in case, to see what kind of beast it was and if there was any sense for me to get one as well.
Notification:
ITEM RECEIVED:
Bone Shield Rank 1
PHYSICAL ATTACK: 20
DEFENSE: 110
HEALTH: 200
BREAK: 50
NOTE: Stat values only apply when the item is equipped and being used. The stats go up with every new enhancement and upgrade.
I was rather surprised by the stats, if I had to be honest. For a bone-rank item, the defense was quite high, as was the health stat. Even better was the break value, which if paired with another item that did high break damage, then the tank role was something quite spectacular. All you had to do was survive and break the shield down.
“Can you show me the hammer again? I want to check the stats real quickly.”
“Yeah, sure,” Sebastian replied and handed the hammer back.
Notification:
ITEM RECEIVED:
1H Bone Warhammer Rank 1
PHYSICAL ATTACK: 40
ENMA ATTACK: 30
BREAK: 40
NOTE: Stat values only apply when the item is equipped and being used. The stats go up with every new enhancement and upgrade.
I handed the hammer back and whistled. He had ninety break points with a one-handed weapon, which was quite something. Not to mention that the speed at which he should be able to attack was much higher.
“I’m going to need to make one for myself as well.” I chuckled, nodding at the hammer and then at the shield.
“Oh? Aren’t you already extremely powerful?” Jason asked. The tone wasn’t condescending, but I could feel a hint of jealousy in there, or was it even mockery?
“I am, but what kind of leader would I be if I led from the back, right?”
He nodded and dropped his gaze to the ground. “I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t mean it like that.”
“Oh, you did, Jason. I don’t care, though, as you’ll be the one who has to prove himself to me now. Come on, let’s go out so you can practice on live targets.”
“Live targets?”
“Oh, first we need to take all the job quests. I’ll explain later.” I turned from them and searched for Melina. “Babe, can you have them accept all the job quests?”
“Sure! We’ll be right there!” she called back from across the front yard.
Several minutes later, we stood outside near the grazlitaur spot. I held a rock in my hand as the two men stood there waiting. They were quite nervous, but they were soldiers, specialists from what I knew. I had no doubt they’d manage to hold their own.
“Alright. First things first. Reset your skills and learn them anew. That way you’ll have skills suited for your class, so to speak.”
“Done. I got two,” Jason said first.
“Me too,” Sebastian added. “They’re quite good from what I can see.”
“You should see mine.” I laughed. “Anyway, I’ll do the first grazlitaur, so watch carefully. I pulled my hand back and hurled the stone at the closest creature. It struck the side of its head and sent the monster staggering back a step, but then it found me and charged. I pulled the halberd out and held it over my back, leaning the shaft on my right shoulder.
The grazlitaur’s charge diminished as it tired out, but it kept on moving. I charged in turn, still holding the halberd with only my right hand, and stopped several steps out, grabbed hold of the weapon with both hands, and swung it downwards. The edge dug into the shield and bounced off once, but I stopped it in mid-flight and brought it down again a second time. It went through and cut the creature’s side.
I stepped out of the incoming attack and swung the halberd in a wide arc, then brought it down again on top of the head. It dropped from a single critical blow and lay there, dead. I turned to face the two and grinned as they looked on in confusion.
“It’s that easy?”
“Yeah, it’s that easy.” I smiled. I pulled my hand back and hit a second grazlitaur. It came running seconds later. “Take it down.”
Sebastian took up a position directly between the creature and me, and just as it was about to hit him, his body appeared several steps ahead, slamming into the beast, and then it was back again. The grazlitaur reared back and let out a screeching noise as it shook its head, but it didn’t move. Instead, it swayed from side to side.
Jason rushed in, stabbing the spear at its neck as Sebastian started hammering the same spot from the other side. The shield cracked, and the spear passed through, piercing the neck just as the hammer struck the side of the grazlitaur’s head. It dropped to its side and thrashed around, but another spear jab later, it lay there unmoving and dead.
“So? How was it?”
“Much easier than I dared hope,” Jason muttered. Beads of sweat had formed on his brow, and Sebastian looked the same. Tired beyond words from just a single battle.
“Only thanks to Bastion’s skill,” I said. “What was it? A stun type of skill?”
He nodded and stared down at the dead beast. “Yeah, it was. Three seconds at level one and some damage. It’s pretty good if you have support.”
“Speaking of support, you need to butcher the beasts, but you can’t do it without a sharp weapon, so use the spear. Once you’re done with it, give it to
him so he can butcher his monster. It will give you bonus stats.”
Jason didn’t need to be told twice. He knelt beside the grazlitaur and started carving the corpse up. It took him twelve minutes before he was finished. Much quicker than me the first time. He held the spear out to Sebastian, who followed suit, doing it the same way his friend had minutes before.
“Are you guys hunters or something?”
“We used to hunt big game for meat and cut it up ourselves,” Jason replied as his friend kept on cutting and slicing. “Why?”
“Nothing, just curious. Speaking of which, are you happy with the bonus stats?”
He nodded excitedly. “I guess all of the jobs give bonus stats?”
“They do. Some more, some less. Anyway, your job for today is to keep on killing these things until you’re familiar with each other’s fighting style. Once your ladies join in, make sure to include them in the process. Make them feel valuable, and don’t hog all the glory.”
“Right,” Jason replied as he frowned. “What then?”
“Nothing. You’ll do any job quest you can, starting with hunting, survival, butchering, and then make your way up, doing whatever you can here in this zone. If a big monster appears, run. Don’t go over into that cave,” I said, pointing at the cavern where the snake monster almost killed me, “and don’t try to go into the water. I killed a big water monster earlier.”
“What about you?”
“Me? I’m going to make sure the soldiers don’t do anything stupid, for one thing, and then work on my own cultivation. Keep clearing this spawn point and the other near the forest. Once you’re done, use the crystals you got from the grazlitaurs to cultivate, and spar each other if you’re bored.”
“So we can keep the loot?” Sebastian asked as he got up, finished.
“You can keep half of it. Half is the payment to the inn. You’ll need lodging, food, somewhere to shower, take a dump, basic hygiene, and so on. All of that costs.”
He put his hands up in defense and took a step back for some reason. “Don’t even go there, please,” Sebastian said hurriedly. “We’ll abide by the house’s rules. You’re the master; we’re the muscle.”
Crafting Death: A LitRPG Cultivation Series (Towers & Rifts Book 2) Page 22
