by Charles Dean
“Well . . .” Lee looked at the remaining group. “I said we needed to recruit able-bodied people, but I’m just a stranger to these lands. I know that the others I’ve rescued are probably with their families or sleeping, and they’ll bear witness to my story, but it’d be better if you all went out ahead of me. Before I have to say anything tomorrow, I’d like it if you all can go door to door and recruit the best warriors and hunters so that we can put an end to this blight before it reappears. Tell them to meet here an hour after sunrise tomorrow. We’ll serve breakfast and make sure everyone is well geared before we head out. After you’ve done everything you can, just try to prepare yourselves. Try to say goodbye to anyone you meet tomorrow,” Lee finished.
“I’ll get my brother. He’s the best swordsman in town,” Porter said.
“What about your brother, Bock? Isn’t Eim supposed to be a hunter?” Amber asked, looking at the man who had reservations about torture earlier.
“Yeah, he is. I’ll go find him. You should come with me, Brandi. He’d jump off a roof if you asked, so it’s a sure thing with you along,” Bock answered.
“Okay.” The oldest woman still remaining, around forty at the least, nodded. “But I need to also talk to my father and sister. They’re both great at fighting.”
The five girls and two guys talked about who they were going to recruit and then eventually left. One of the two men carried Ramon along with him to ensure that he wouldn’t escape while they went out. The town didn’t have a jail, and even if they did, no one wanted to trust someone else to watch over him. Even the people they had talked about recruiting were either friends or family of victims, so it was obvious that there was still some real concern that one of them might betray them just as Ramon had done.
Miller went into the kitchen to mess around with the food, leaving Lee and Ling alone. She turned to him as soon as the Firbolg was out of the room, and with the same sharp tone she had earlier, she said, “I don’t want to drag my dad into this.”
Why is she so terse? Did I do something to make her mad? “I understand.”
“Good.” She scrunched up her face and went back to staring at the beer glass in front of her.
Lee looked at her, then looked away, trying not to stare as he wracked his brain for what to say. This all felt more awkward than a blind date with a vegan at a steakhouse. “Do you want to at least see him before you leave? I’m sure he’s worried about you.”
Her voice seemed even tenser when she answered. “No. I’m not going home.”
“Okay . . .” Lee looked to where Miller had disappeared into the kitchen, hoping to be rescued from this. They had been just fine in the mine shaft and even on the road back to the town. He wasn’t entirely sure what had changed, but something was definitely different. “Mi—”
“You’re going to go out again. You’re going out killing again, aren’t you? That’s why you want me to leave.”
“What?” Lee was starting to see why she was behaving the way she was. “Well, yeah, but just some wolves around town. We need food for breakfast, we need practice and . . . experience.” He was constantly lost about what was and wasn’t an okay topic for NPCs, so he didn’t just say EXP.
“Invite me to the party then,” she said. “We’ve been traveling together for a while. Invite me.”
“I can’t . . . It’s technically Miller’s party,” he admitted. And I’ve been stuck in it without a choice for a while, and I’m not even sure how to leave.
“Miller! Invite me to the party right now, or I won’t let Lee cook you any fried chicken! And I’ll bust every beer keg in here until you have to go to the tavern next door for your drinks!” Ling demanded.
Miller popped his head out of the kitchen, a giant drumstick between his teeth and a mystery barrel in his hands. “Can do, boss lady,” he said—or at least that is what Lee thought he said. He couldn’t be certain since it was hard to make out anything with the food blocking most of the sound.
“Good.” Ling’s stern face cheered up a little. “Now, don’t leave me when you go training.”
“Me or him?” Miller asked, his voice now clear as he had somehow managed to devour the entire drumstick in that incredibly short amount of time.
Ling looked over at him, rolled her eyes, and then looked back to Lee. “So, are we going now, or are we resting first?”
“Well, I think we’ve all pulled all-nighters before, so let’s head out now and then come back to get some rest before the sun sets. We’ve got a long day ahead of us.”
“Hey, if I throw a wolf on top of a sword you’re holding, and that counts as the finishing blow, would Augustus give me or you the credit?” Miller asked as he put away the mystery barrel. “I mean, it’s a serious question. I need to figure out what counts as a good sacrifice to Augustus, and since I’m your first Paladin, does that mean I need to worry about a crest? A symbol of sorts? Are there some fancy colors you want your order of Paladins to wear?”
Lee had little to no talent in artistic design despite apparently being the heir to the God of Alcohol and Crafts, so he had no idea what to do for the symbol. Colors, on the other hand, he could actually do. “Are dyes cheap around here? Is it easy to dye armor?” he asked, wanting to pick colors anyone could use.
“Oh, yeah. Dyes come in from the city of CowTip all the time. I want to dye every piece of armor I have. BLACK! Just really black. Super dark black. Then, when I stab people, the blood will wash over my armor, and I’ll look awesome.” Miller went full goth for a moment, making Lee cringe.
Ling pouted. “No, that won’t do at all. Black is a very expensive dye. I can’t afford it.”
Well, that’s two reasons not to use black. I’m from the modern era where we specialize in war, and no one uses black unless they’re sneaking in somewhere at night or starring in a spy thriller. Instead, they’d always wear the color of their surroundings. “Green. That’s my color,” Lee said.
“But you’re supposed to be the god of burney burney—”
“And rebirth. And what burns better than leaves or symbolizes life more than nature? The colors of nature are my colors, but green specifically.” He knew Miller really wanted black, but he’d also probably accept red, yellow, white or even blue since they all were related to flames, which he no doubt thought were ‘very cool.’
“Green is cheap.” Ling nodded her approval while doing the math on her fingers. “Green is very cheap.”
“Do they make the dye from local grass and leaves?” Lee asked, hoping it was the case so that it would act as the perfect camouflage.
“Yeah, they use a lot of the local grass and leaves to make the dye,” Ling responded as she continued to go through some numbers on her fingers.
Lee watched her go from a frown, to normal, to pouting, to a deep frown, to normal and then back to pouting in the course of two minutes while counting on her fingers. “Miller, check around the bar for Ramon’s cash stash. Give enough of it to Ling so that she stops worrying about the money.”
“Sure, and if she doesn’t have enough, it won’t matter. I know a good spot near here with dozens and dozens of wolves. We’re going to be swimming in blood! There are big wolves too! Dire wolves! And I’ve heard there is even a Gan Ceann King near there too. It’ll be a blast, and we’ll leave swimming in cash and blood and blood and cash!” Miller’s grin was ear to ear as he rambled on for another few minutes. He seemed to be incredibly happy with himself as he made hand gestures and used his spear as a prop to talk about all the butchery they’d be able to do.
Lee laughed, cutting him off after a few minutes. “I’m sold. Let’s head out now.”
“Wait, wait. I haven’t even told you about the best way to kill a—”
“Just show me,” Lee chuckled. Even Ling seemed to be amused by it all.
——-
The entire process was a lot easier than before. Whereas previously Lee had struggled to kill a single wolf, the swords he had obtained as loot were much hig
her quality, and the shield provided a lot of defense, so he barely took any damage while still being able to deal it out.
One thing he noticed about the fights was that armor made the importance of hitting weak spots far more valuable as it got better and better. The armor seemed to create a flat reduction and not a percentage. This meant that, when a wolf went to bite him for six damage, his armor, which had seven points of armor, completely canceled out the damage. On the other hand, his natural armor was very low, so if a wolf ever bit him on any of his skin, he’d take the full damage. Even with the regular starting sword that only did four damage, he was able to do nine more damage than when they started. Armor was a flat increase, and so was damage. Each point of power seemed to offer exactly one more damage to his weapon, regardless of what the weapon was. Lee knew that this meant skill with how to take a blow and where to strike would become increasingly important as he gained levels in this world.
For this reason, while Miller just went about his usual carnage with seemingly little care for grace or style, Lee spent the entire time focusing on his sword skill and doing his best to direct blows he couldn’t dodge onto the armored parts of his body. He went three fights in a row without even taking damage due to this.
During this time, Lee was also focusing on how to tap into Ethan’s senses and movements more finely without breaking concentration. It was at this point that he got a full understanding of the area they were going to. It was a stone fort in the middle of an open field by the river. The stones were placed in such a way that the whole thing completely lacked any mortar. While the size of the fort wasn’t exactly up to castle standards and didn’t tower more than twenty feet off the ground, it was easily as large as a small mansion. Considering the fact that it had been built in the last 2 weeks, Lee knew without a doubt that the Herald had to have been using slave labor or have a ton of people working for him. Neither case was particularly good news.
Before Ethan even got a chance to scout inside the fort, he noticed a few of the guards on the wall pointing at him. One of them even shot an arrow, which missed horribly, but the attempt was still made to let Ethan know that his encroachment wouldn’t pass, and that they had guards on the walls. They had five to be exact: one on each wall and two at the main gate. The gate was large and wooden, and Lee hoped it was made as cheaply as Ramon’s bar, but he doubted it.
The only good news to come from the whole stealthy venture was that there weren’t any traps leading up to the fort. The little autonomous golem had been incredibly thorough, and he couldn’t find a single booby trap.
Lee had the rodent return home once the report was done, which didn’t take long at all considering how fast the winged golem flew. The mouse wasn’t the only one being productive and making great headway. Thanks to Ling’s arrows never missing a vital weak spot, Miller’s shout continuously causing incredibly tough and coordinated beasts to act like drunken idiots at the start of each fight, and the general fact that Lee was no longer running around with the worst gear imaginable with no idea of how to fight, they were able to slaughter their way through several mobs of enemies without a problem. At one point, it was even going so smoothly that Miller stopped using his weapon altogether and simply ripped the arm off of a giant, twelve-foot-tall corrupted sloth and beat it to death with its own arm. When Lee asked what he was doing, he only replied: “Practice.”
Chapter 11
Name: Lee
Race: Human
Class: Herald – None
Level: 10
Health: 200/200
EXP: 1333/2000
Primary Stats:
Power 20(21)
Toughness 20(21)
Spirit 20(21)
Secondary Stats:
Charisma 8
Courage 20
Deceit 2
Intelligence 61(64)
Honor 1
Faith 26
Personal Faith 39
Skills:
Unarmed Combat Initiate Level 3
Swordplay Initiate Level 5
Sneak Initiate Level 4
Cooking Initiate Level 1
Trap Detection Initiate Level 1
Divine Skills:
Golem Sculpting Novice Level 1
Appreciative Drunk Novice Level 1
Faith Healing
While the rest of the stat increases didn’t matter much, Lee couldn’t stop staring at the change as both his Golem Sculpting and Appreciative Drunk had both finally leveled up to Novice Level 1 at the exact same time.
Your mastery of Golem Sculpting has progressed from the level of an Initiate to the rank of Novice Level 1. Golem Sculpting now allows for the sculpting of two golems instead of one. Current Combat Bonus: 71.03%. Golems created by Golem Sculpting may now take up an additional 5% more space. Current Max Space: 3.41 fluid ounces.
Your mastery of the Drunken Appreciation skill has progressed from the level of an Initiate to the rank of Novice Level 1. Appreciative Drunk now adds +1 additional Power for each level of mastery past the novice phase.
Under Drunken Appreciation, your inebriation penalty has been changed from -50% Intelligence, -30% Coordination, -30% to -39% Intelligence, -19% Coordination, -19% Reflex. You also have received an additional +1 to Power, +2 to Courage and +1 to Charisma until your inebriation fades.
He couldn’t believe his eyes. Both of the bonuses were incredible. The +1 Power would be a flat damage boost to any weapon he used, but the real coup de grâce was the boost to Golem Sculpting. The ability to form a second golem of identical proportions to the first was nearly unbelievable. The shock on his face must have been evident because both Ling and Miller stopped to look at him. They had been moving farther into the beast land, but now they were at a dead standstill as he studied the bonuses.
“What is it?” Miller asked. “Do you hear something? Did we forget to kill something? It might just be twitching, you know. Some of the bodies will continue to twitch even after they’re long dead. But don't worry, they’re harmless, and it will go away soon enough.”
“No, that’s not his ‘prey is near’ face,” Ling said, holding her chin as she examined Lee’s face as if it were a clue to a murder mystery on a crime drama. “This is the ‘something good is about to happen’ face.”
“How can you tell?” Miller asked. “I mean, aren’t those the same? Prey being close by would be something good, right?”
Lee felt the blood rush to his cheeks as he realized that Ling’s face was only inches away from his own as she studied him with eagle eyes. He gulped once and shook his head to free himself from awkward air. “No, I uhh . . .” Lee paused. Do I tell them more about my power? People must have clearly seen the winged rat saving the day earlier even if no one explicitly said anything about it after the fight. It’s already been seen, and—
Lee lost himself in the mesmerizing trap that was Ling’s beautiful brown eyes. No, no keep your thoughts straight. We have killing to do. He pinched his own hand to break the spell and regain his concentration. “I just leveled up a very important power. Come on out, Ethan.” He gestured to the mouse that had only recently returned. With a small squeak, Ethan jumped into the air and flew down out of one the trees, landing on Lee’s shoulder a moment later.
“What in the blue goblin taint of Alkasim is that thing?” Miller asked, his eyes and mouth opening wider than the time when he discovered fried chicken. He extended one of his giant fingers toward the creature and asked, “Is it friendly? Have you always had it? Does it wage tiny wars and kill giant snakes near green walls like the legends say?”
Miller wasn’t alone in his excitement. Even Ling’s eyes had turned into saucers as she stared at it. The happiest one of all, however, seemed to be Little Ethan. Lee felt the mouse’s desire to do a little dance coming through loud and clear as its gaze bounced between the two curious people. The tiny rodent even stood on its two hind legs and bashfully stroked out its tiny clay whiskers with its front paws.
“It’s n
ot just friendly . . .” Lee bent over and picked up a piece of dirt, removing a few bits so that it was almost the exact same size as Ethan. “It’s also practically a part of me.” He watched the curiosity bloom on their faces as he began to mold the dirt in his hand to be the same shape as Ethan, injecting his spirit into the clay and letting it fill up the earthen vessel. When he was finished, the newly created golem stared up at him from the palm of his hand with a pair of beady eyes. While Lee was trying to think of a name for the second mouse, he realized the tiny new creature was standing in the same posture and looking at him in the same way that Ethan did.
Wow, you two are so similar, he thought to Ethan. Both of the mice simultaneously shook their heads, and moving in perfect unison, they held up their tiny fingers. They moved closer so that their paws touched briefly, only for one to pull away with no fingers up and the other with two.
Wait, that’s too ordered, is this . . . is this some sort of hive mind mentality? Lee asked, getting a nod from both mice. You’re not just two identical mice? he pushed for clarification, but the mice shook their heads. Hive-minded mice. The thought took a moment to process.
“Woah, that is so cool,” Miller exclaimed, and then he began rapidly firing questions at Lee while he was still trying to figure out what was going on with his rodents. “Can they kill something? Since they’re practically a part of you, can they shoot flames? Can they carry a coconut? Do they eat cheese?”
“Uhh . . . They don’t eat . . . I don’t think. Anyway, let’s hold off on questions. The only thing I’d like is for you two to keep this a secret. It’s one of my special talents that I’d rather not share with others.”
“I understand,” Ling answered without pushing the issue further. She simply reached out and extended a few fingers so that she could pet the original rodent’s head. When her fingers came in contact with it, both he and the other started twitching their hind legs like dogs getting their belly rubbed. “I won’t say a thing.”
