“What did he do, Urseon?” Kalmond asked. Urseon looked away.
“It is better not to speak of it,” Molly said.
“The ogre will be back. The town must be ready to fight,” Kalmond said.
“I am not sure we can,” Molly replied.
“Why not?” Kalmond demanded.
“It is not our way,” Molly said.
“Then you have to find a new way,” Kalmond said. “Molly, take care of Urseon. While I go on this next quest, OK?” Molly nodded.
“Hell! I almost forgot!” Kalmond said, slapping his forehead. He reached into his inventory and took out some of the honeycombs. Urseon lifted his head. “That’s right buddy, I got this just for you, but you have to stand up on two legs to take it.”
Urseon sniffed the air with flared nostrils and a small glob of slobber collected beneath his chin. Kalmond took a step back and held out the honeycomb, and Urseon’s snout followed it up until the rest of his body followed. He took the sweet, waxy glob from Kalmond’s hand and held it in both paws. Both Molly and Kalmond beamed at him as he devoured the honey.
“I suspect you’re supposed to walk on two legs,” Kalmond said. “You look better that way.”
“Friend,” Urseon rumbled with a mouth full of honeycomb.
“I’ll be back soon,” Kalmond said, and headed back out into the the village square.
He passed the scene of the fight where the bodies of the troll henchmen had faded back into the Realm. Runecaster and McCrushin stood chatting with Arnold, who pantomimed some battle past. Kalmond was too far away to clearly see the chat windows above the two adventurer’s heads, but by the size of the windows and the size of the text blocks, he guessed they had a lot to say to Arnold, who seemed so real precisely because he was. Suspicions gelled into certainty that the villagers were the very specific expressions of human minds blending into an engineered world.
He hiked a while back up the mountain trail where the badger attacked him while he was trying to find a hiding place for the bear. The air grew colder, and as he climbed, snowflakes began to fall. It was just a few days ago since he walked this trail, but it seemed so far back in time, as if time was measured by events and their results. So much had happened. So much changed, and so much needed to be done in the realm. Kalmond paused, then spent his single teleport credit.
Chapter 12
The teleport brought him to the middle of the clearing just south of the ruined town of Darkwell. Kalmond kept his axe ready in his strong hand and the water spell active in the other. If the kobolds of Darkwater really were the townspeople, he didn’t want to kill them. They might also be fish. Calling them fish was certainly better than calling them disembodied human brains being reanimated with emergent scraps of their former human personalities while locked inside the Realm. Fish it was. No fish killing if it could be helped.
A short walk brought him through the woods and into the hollow where the ruins lay. There was no sign of the kobolds. That, he did not like. He would rather they show themselves so that he could deal with them as a known quantity.
He approached the vine-covered well-head slowly, turning left and right, waiting for signs of attack. Nothing happened. He walked a little faster with the only sound a light breeze rustling dead leaves among the ruins.
He turned in a slow circle, looking for anything out of place. When he realized what was missing, he cursed a lusty oath. None of the gray forms that once littered the clearing remained. Those gray forms that resembled stones were Kobolds.
Kalmond struggled to remember how many gray lumps there were. Fifty, sixty, at least, and at least twenty or thirty had mobbed him before Urseon came to rescue him. Another thought tumbled on behind that one. If Urseon wasn’t scared of thirty or more Kobolds, why was he scared of the Ogre with the leash? But then Kalmond remembered the trees, and how the kobolds blended into the treeline. He forced himself to remain alert.
“Shit,” he said. The trailhead leading to the hollow was blocked by three kobolds. Turning in a slow circle revealed that the entire town was ringed with shambling, gray forms converging slowly on the well.
Last time, the kobolds seemed to focus on the well, and not him. If that were true this time, he was in luck. That wasn’t true. He wasn’t in luck. Moving a distance out from the well made all the kobolds turn in his direction.
Well, Kalmond thought, at least that demon thing isn’t here.
And with that thought, the sound of persistent gurgling reached his ears from the well. A putrid invisible cloud followed on a clammy breeze. An instant later, a geyser shot up from the wellhead forming a mushroom-shaped head, before spreading out into ribbons. It descended like tropical rain over Kalmond’s head, instantly turning the hollow into a mud pit. Not only that, but the water dripping through his mustache and into his mouth tasted like an open sewer.
Something heavy splashed down behind him. Kalmond whirled just in time for the water demon to slash its four, razor sharp claws across his chest. The new armor took most of the damage, but Kalmond’s return swing caught nothing but air as the demon darted away. It scooped up hands full of mud as it went and shoved the muck into its mouth.
Kalmond charged after it, axe raised. When he was within striking distance, the demon whirled again, vomiting sticky black goo into Kalmond’s face. The blinding filth choked him, burned his nostrils and set his sinus cavity alight.
The only thing he saw was his glowing health bar, and it dropped rapidly. Swinging his axe blindly only brought him pain. The demon slashed away at his arms and chest. Kalmond brought his hand up in front of his chest and activated his water spell, then turned in a slow circle.
When he was able to see again, the demon was tumbling away across the muddy ground. Kalmond lunged towards it, and something held him back. He turned just in time to witness a kobold sinking its teeth into his axe arm. Kalmond screamed and punched it in the forehead with his free hand. The move made him especially glad he had the one-hand ability, but this didn’t solve his problem. The kobolds were faster than they looked. Slow and steady was about to win them some dwarf meat.
Kalmond retreated while he still could, shoving his way through the gathering crowd by way of punches and kicks. To do that, he had to turn his back on the demon, who took the opportunity to attack. It landed on Kalmond’s shoulders in a sick parody of a piggyback ride. It sank it’s teeth into Kalmond’s neck, scoring critical damage. That, in turn, gave the Kobolds time to catch up. Kalmond suddenly realized he was losing this fight.
He reached behind his head with his free hand and grabbed the demon by whatever he could, which turned out to be the moldy leather vest it wore. With a mighty pull, the demon came off his back, and he slammed it to the ground. More kobolds latched on to Kalmond’s legs, and he had no choice. To keep himself from getting piled on again, he swung his axe against the nearest kobolds, taking the head off one and burying his axe into the head of another, killing both.
He used the spike of his axe handle to actively discourage the kobolds latched to his legs. They seemed responsive to pain, and they both disengaged, screeching and palming the bloody scalp wounds. Kalmond didn’t want to kill any more, but that became more difficult, for the more he slowed to fight his way free, the bigger a mob he had to deal with. That was where the water jet spell came in handy yet again. He used it to spray a path through the crowd where it was thinnest, then he activated his sprint and ran until the endurance bar was empty.
When he whirled to face the mob again, he discovered he’d earned a significant distance, giving him enough time to down a health potion while the water demon charged after him. The demon spat his filth again, but Kalmond ducked and charged forward to meet it.
The demon ducked the first swing of Kalmond’s axe and blocked his follow-up punch. The last water jet spell took all his mana, and it had not regenerated enough to do much, so Kalmond backed up a few paces to buy some time. The demon stopped.
Kalmond backed up a few more paces
, and the demon held his position. The dwarf charged in again and took a fast, dirty swipe at the monster. He scored no damage but learned what he needed to know. The demon stayed a certain distance from the well. That’s when Kalmond came up with a plan.
He ran in a half-circle around the well, leading the slower Kobolds until they formed a long line. The demon followed the arc of Kalmond’s circle but maintained the same distance from the well. Then the dwarf charged in again, swinging hard with his axe. The demon scored a few hits with his claws, but nothing significant. Kalmond went in with a punch, scoring a clean hit to the demon’s nose. That seemed to anger it, which was just want Kalmond wanted.
The dwarf dashed, then stopped. He’d successfully baited the demon beyond its previous range. The move paid off because the demon was markedly slower. Kalmond activated his power attack, this time, with both hands on his axe. The blade struck home on the demon’s right shoulder, crippling its arm. A backhand return swing crippled the other arm.
But in his lust for the kill, the dwarf got careless. When he raised the axe over his head. The demon spewed out a massive stream of poisonous vomit. Kalmond’s power swing went in blind, missing the target completely and leaving the blade stuck in the ground. He just managed to hang on to his axe and pull away.
The reeking monster hit Kalmond hard, knocking him to the ground. Even without the use of its arms, it did significant damage. It took a few seconds rolling around on the ground with razor-sharp teeth gouging his flesh for Kalmond to regain his sight and break free. But then, the Kobolds caught up. It was all the dwarf could do to get away, and he did so in the direction of the well.
The demon shrieked, an obvious expression of rage and anger that made Kalmond grin as he charged through crowds of Kobolds. The gray creatures tumbled down like bowling pins as the dwarf plowed into them at full force. He might have walked the rest of the distance to the well, as the kobold mob and the demon were far behind.
Kalmond removed the antidote from his inventory and held it above the well opening, then looked back at the demon as he tipped the vial, spilling its contents into the poison water. His smile faded when the demon reared up in anger and screamed. As it did, it grew twice as large, and its once-crippled arms rose up over its head.
“At least the antidote worked,” Kalmond said out loud to reassure himself. The kobolds turned instantly back into villagers, then ran away shrieking into the woods. Kalmond took the opportunity to down the potion alchemist gave him. It restored his hit points and gave him a little edge to his stats.
Knowing that edge would not last, Kalmond put both hands on his axe and ran forward screaming. He ducked the first swing of the demon’s claw, which was now nearly as large as his torso. Kalmond swung for the legs, scoring a critical, then rolling away.
Another massive claw caught nothing but air over his head. The enemy was much larger, but also much slower. The dwarf was not eager to discover what a hit from one of those claws did. Because he wasn’t quite fast enough with a return attack, he found out quickly.
The hit sent him flying through the air like a skydiver. He flew so high that he had enough time to take in the demon clearly. Kalmond hit the muddy ground on his belly and slid a few body lengths before coming to a stop. He scrambled to his feet and planted himself firmly in front of the charging demon.
Just before the monster reached him, he blasted it in both legs with the water jet. The demon went down on its face and slid, just like Kalmond did moments before.
“How do you like that!” Kalmond bellowed. He waited for the thing to come to him before executing an overhand power attack that sliced a good chunk of meat from the demon’s arm. He was aiming for the neck but took what he could get.
Kalmond ran across the demon’s back, chopping as he went. He scored two critical hits, taking its health bar down by half. The monster was weakened. It rose slowly to its feet bleeding black blood from numerous cuts and gashes.
The dwarf wasted no time. He brought the axe above his head and threw it hard with both hands. The blade struck home dead center of the demon’s chest. It looked down at the weapon protruding from its clavicle with a quizzical expression as Kalmond hauled himself up to its body by the axe handle. The dwarf wrapped both hands around the demon’s throat and squeezed.
The enemy clawed at the dwarf hanging from its throat, but Kalmond refused to let go. Just when Kalmond thought he couldn’t squeeze any harder, the demon staggered, stumbled, and fell flat on its back. He was only glad the massive creature did not fall on him even as the XP bubble announced he’d just earned 604 points.
A gong and a flash of light also told him he’d reached level twelve.
Kalmond the stone dwarf
Level 12
XP 12174
STA 31
STR 29
INT 28
AGI 29
CHA 29
MAN 26
MLVL 635
Hit Points 10743
Kalmond retrieved the axe from the body with great effort. It took several hard pulls to get his weapon back. As he stood wiping the nasty black gore from the blade, he caught sight of motion in his peripheral vision. The villagers approached slowly with wide eyes and gaping mouths.
“Who are you?” one of them asked. He was a human dressed in moldy, rotting cloth.
Kalmond leaned on his axe and smiled. “I’m just a friendly dwarf on a mission to save the Realm. Who are you?” he said.
“I am called Welford,” the human said. Despite his emaciated form and ragged clothes, his eyes held to Kalmond’s firmly, and his voice held steady. “You strangled that demon to death. I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
“Well,” Kalmond said, slinging the axe across his back and bending down to the demon, “if you’ll excuse me, I have a demon corpse to loot and a quest to redeem.”
The demon yielded 480 circs, a potion of water breathing and a spellbook for level two of the water jet. He also found another speed enchantment scroll. Kalmond read the book immediately, and the arcane language flowed from his tongue automatically. His skin tingled and sparkled with blue static electricity as the knowledge worked in him. When the words stopped flowing, the book turned to ashes and flowed through his fingers.
“Wait,” said Welford. “Will you help us? Our town was destroyed by the water demon who enslaved us.”
“I can see that,” Kalmond said as his eyes rolled over the grassy lumps that gave the impression of building foundations. “I really must be going.”
“If you help,” Welford said, stepping closer as Kalmond turned to go, “we can make it worth your while. The town was once a great place of trade for adventurers traveling into the valley below.”
Kalmond stroked his ginger beard and arched an eyebrow. “Trade, you say?” So focused was he on leveling up by fighting and questing, he never considered trade. He wasn’t expecting to find towns and earn reputation with them so early in his progress. “I’m listening,” the dwarf said.
“You have done so much for us already, but if you help us rebuild, we will set aside ten percent of all our circs to you.”
Kalmond liked the sound of that. “You have a deal,” he said.
Text faded in before his vision and floated from left to right across the Welford’s chest.
New Quest: help rebuild Darkwell
Kalmond didn’t have to wonder too long on how to build things while immersed in the Realm. He concentrated hard on his desire to make it happen, and it did. Casting eyes over the scene showed the golden outlines of items that might be used to build structures in the town.
For buildings, he could make bricks from straw, water, and earth. He could also harvest eligible trees from the surrounding forest, which included most of those standing around the clearing. Likely foundation sights showed up as green outlines on the ground. A quick survey showed he could build seven structures right away, assuming there was enough material present.
Since he’d already collected st
raw from the field outside Darkwell, and the demon had so graciously provided him with wet earth, he set to work making bricks. The dwarf walked around to the puddles of mud. Scooping up a handfull added a single unit of mud to his inventory. He scooped at each puddle until it was depleted, going around the entire clearing.
It wasn’t long before his inventory was nearly full, so he went back to the largest green outline and dropped all the mud beside it. A pile of mud appeared that rose to his knees. Then, he offloaded all the straw. That’s where he’d start this build.
Next, Kalmond collected wood. It wasn’t immediately obvious how to do so. First, he tried simply concentrating on the trees, squinting hard at them. Then he muttered “collect wood,” as if it wood collecting was some sort of spell.
“Damn,” he said when neither of those two things worked. “Well, how many stands of trees can I collect?” He asked himself “One,” he pointed at the closest gold-highlighted trees, and they shivered as if viewed through a heat mirage, and disappeared.
20 wood added, announced scrolling gold text. To add wood, all he had to do was point.
He added wood until his inventory was maxed out, then deposited it beside his pile of mud and straw. Kalmond repeated this until he had three massive piles of resources beside the foundation. Now, it was time to build.
Kalmond positioned himself by the first foundation and added all the piles to his inventory. The weight made his knees bend and his limbs heavy. As he struggled to move around the foundation to find where to place the first wall, he left deep footprints in the soggy ground. As he worked, the villagers gathered around, looking on with haunted eyes.
He was never the best builder. Instead of crafting and building, Kalmond always concentrated on questing and some trading rather than development. He’d built a hideout or two in an isolated area, but this was the first time he’d tried to build a village. As he chose between wall designs and door and window placements, then flicked through different roof designs, he wondered why he didn’t do more of this sooner. By the time he picked a high-peaked thatched roof, he already had several more ideas for his next build. It also helped that the building gave him another 115 XP. Building seven more structures gave him another 540 XP.
Realm of the Nine Circles: The Grind: A LitRPG Novel Page 15
