The Land: Monsters

by Aleron Kong

  The bonuses from the skill weren’t bad. He wouldn’t be able to use the improved mana regen in battle, but it could really help him when he was training his magic. Meditation also increased one of his Secondary Attributes. That didn’t happen too often. The Exhausted debuff had illustrated just how important Concentration was. It was the difference between successfully casting a spell or getting an axe to the face because your spell failed. His base Concentration was already much higher than the average person thanks to Alma. The modifier from Meditation could really add up over time.

  It took several more rounds, but the scorpion finally gave up the ghost. While he’d been slowly reducing its health, Richter had experimented with a few things. He’d used the monocle of Niclewis to see if he could trace the magical energy of the monster, but all he saw was a diffuse glow. Using Harvest had been similarly useless. The bloodline power wouldn’t trigger on a living creature.

  Neither of his new capabilities could be used in battle. That was okay. His old spells worked just fine. It had stopped moving several minutes ago. Richter made sure to cast Soul Trap before the end. With a final gout of flame to its scorched face, rainbow light swirled through the air. The ribbon of spirit disappeared into his makeshift satchel, filling one of the empty soul stones. Its tail went limp and Sloth let it collapse lifelessly to the ground.

  Notification windows appeared in his vision.

  You have slain a Level 41 Ironspine Scorpion. You have gained 1,283 XP.

  XP deficit remaining: -3,842,559

  Richter looked ruefully at that line. The high-level scorpion had given him more than a thousand experience, but it barely made a dent. He valued Alma for many reasons, but her Brain Drain attack was one of the biggest. Having to rely on battle to progress was a slog.

  The experience he’d gained from the fight would have been enough to launch him up an entire level when he first came to The Land, but now his high level was working against him. Also, as his level was higher than the scorpion’s, the XP he’d gained had been reduced. He examined his combat log and saw that there was a second reduction due to the scorpion being a tier lower than him.

  He realized it was just another one of The Land’s checks and balances against rampant power. His high level made him formidable, but it also slowed his growth to a crawl unless he killed higher level enemies.

  On the plus side, Richter checked and saw that his golem had gained the same amount of experience. It wasn’t great news, seeing as how it needed more than half a million XP to level up, but it was something. The next prompt was a lot more satisfying.

  You have captured:

  Soul of an Ironspine Scorpion

  Durability: 20/20

  Item Class: Common

  Stone Level: Common

  Soul Level: Common

  Status: Filled

  Weight: 0.3 kg

  Soul Flavor: This soul contains notes of metal and corrosion

  Most of the prompt was the same as any other notification of a captured soul, but there was something new. The last line reflected his new Talent, Soul Flavor. From what he could see, it hinted at extra effects that might appear if he used it to fuel an enchantment. Only time would tell if it was actually useful.

  He was just happy it was a common-ranked soul, not stronger or weaker. A weaker soul wouldn’t be too useful, and he didn’t have a soul stone that could capture a stronger one. Not only couldn’t he cast that level of magic, but to create a luminous-ranked soul stone, you needed precious jewels.

  There was another benefit to his continued use of magic. Two of his skills leveled up.

  Congratulations! You have reached skill level 9 in Dark Magic. New spells are now available.

  Congratulations! You have reached skill level 2 in Spirit Magic. New spells are now available.

  Before continuing on, Richter used Harvest. Walking for the past couple hours had let him regen another sixteen BPs. Ten of them went into the scorpion’s body. The beam of purple-and-green energy shot toward the dead monster and played over its body. The bloodline power struggled to sink into the remains and serve its function.

  Attempting to Harvest… Failure!

  Well crap, Richter thought. Then he threw up again.

  CHAPTER 32 – Day 151 – Juren 2, 0 AoC

  The good news was that the debuff from the poisoned water elapsed not long after. The bad news was that he’d lost another one hundred and twenty points of health. Not from the horrifying giant scorpion. Nope. It was because he suckled at a poisoned stream like it was a tit filled with Hennessey. He glared at the trickle of liquid angrily.

  It had occurred to him that although it was poison to him, toxic metals might have been downright tasty to a scorpion covered in metal. The fact that he’d been attacked right when he found the water wasn’t an accident. Any location with reliable access to resources had to be prime real estate down here. If he was going to get what he needed, he should expect to fight for it.

  He had fought though, and he’d won. As the saying went, to the victor goes the spoils. After all, there had been one other amazing benefit from killing the scorpion. Meat! While he’d been attacking it with spells, the smell of roasting flesh had filled the air. If he wasn’t so dehydrated, then his mouth would have filled up with water.

  Now that it was dead, he wasted no time ordering his golem to rip apart its metal carapace. Starting at the hole in its side, Sloth cracked it like a lobster. The racket of having a stone golem tearing metal was something Richter hadn’t been prepared for, but his eyes remained glued on the body. As soon as the hole was widened, the chaos lord reached in and pulled out a mix of blood, guts and muscle.

  Staring at the messy glop, Richter wasn’t disgusted. He was as excited as a kid on Christmas morning. He dropped his feast on the ground and cast Weak Flame. Moving the fire this way and that, he started to cook it. After a couple minutes it looked less runny, and he flipped it over. Doing that burned his fingers, but he didn’t care. He just started bathing that side in flame as well. The dirt and small particulates were seared into the meat. If Richter had noticed, he would have just shrugged. Who didn’t like extra flavor?

  A few minutes after that, Richter greedily shoved the “cooked” mess into his mouth. Any other time it would have tasted burnt and disgusting, but in that moment, he couldn’t care less. All he wanted was to fill the needs of his newly ascended body. The fact that it was only partially cooked in some places and charred in others didn’t bother him at all. It was so good! While he scarfed it down, he realized that Red Lobster had nothing on his own brand of BBQ claws with Ravenous-debuff sauce. His eyes closed and an involuntary croon slid into the air. He wanted more!

  Richter reached his thick fingers into the scorpion’s body three more times. Each time, he used Weak Flame to kill as many microorganisms as possible. The truth was, he would have eaten it raw if he’d had to. After his second helping, his Ravenous debuff improved.

  You are Hungry! Stamina regeneration decreased by 15%. Emotional control decreased by 10%.

  After the fourth, the debuff disappeared altogether. Richter felt his mind clear and his shoulders loosen. A satisfied belch echoed lightly in the cavern. “Lord baby Jesus god, that was nasty.” He said it with a smile on his face though. After the third helping, his hunger had faded enough for him to experience the actual flavor. He consoled himself with the fact that it still wasn’t the nastiest thing he’d ever put in his mouth. Besides, all that really mattered was that at long last the hangry demon had been banished.

  While he’d been eating, he’d thought, “I really hope this isn’t poisonous.” That thought hadn’t slown him down at all, but thinking about it had answered a question he’d had since childhood. Richter had always wondered how people originally figured out if something was good or bad to eat. Apples were red after all, and red was usually a danger sign in nature. How could they have known that if you squeezed those red fruits you could make a golden juice that was akin to the nectar of
the gods? Answer: they couldn’t have known. There had probably just been a hungry dumbass like him eating whatever he came across like a sad man at a nude beach.

  Now that he was fed, Richter looked at the large carcass. In an ideal world, he’d be able to take it with him. Such a large creature could feed him for days. Unfortunately, it was already starting to stink. One thing any Georgia hunter knew was that raw meat didn’t last long without salt or cold. He didn’t want it to just go to waste, but even carrying some of it with him would mark him with the scent of a fresh kill. He’d bring every monster within miles running to him.

  Without another option, Richter used Harvest. The past couple hours had let him regen twenty-two Bloodline Points. Ten of them went into the scorpion’s body. The beam of purple-and-green energy shot toward the dead monster and played over its carcass. The bloodline power struggled to sink into the remains and serve its function.

  Attempting to Harvest… Failure!

  Richter grimaced slightly. His attempt had failed. It had also turned the scorpion’s body into a foul-smelling pile of runny slag. He tried to use Harvest again, but a prompt told him the remains were too degraded. Not seeing the harm now, he tried to get Sloth to use its Weak Absorb ability. Another red prompt showed that all relevant energy had already been expended. The chaos lord shrugged. It looked like harvested remains couldn’t then be absorbed. At least his hunger was gone now. He felt a faint burble in his stomach, but it quickly passed.

  He sat down and meditated again, restoring his mana. He also had to heal the golem, which slowed him down further. It was great that he could heal it, but the 5MP/1HP conversion was garbage. Sloth had suffered several hundred points of damage. Just fixing it put him back another hour.

  The whole time, he never lost sight of the fact that there was a hidden clock counting down the seconds until his remaining debuff worsened. He didn’t know when the count would reach zero, but when it did, it would mean his death. Richter was relieved that his hunger had been sated, but there was no doubt that thirst was a deadlier enemy. That was why he was so eager to hurry on. Even pressured, however, he didn’t lose himself to panic. Without Sloth, the scorpion would probably have killed him. He couldn’t travel again until his golem was back in fighting shape.

  When they were both finally ready, Richter tried to decide on his next path. There were several exits from the cavern he was in. He was about to pick the one that seemed to go roughly in the direction of Xuetrix’s marker, but then his Tracking skill triggered. Small points of light appeared in his vision, showing the steps the scorpion had taken. It led down another tunnel, a bit to the right of the one he had originally chosen.

  Richter looked at the large monster. It made sense that it had been drawn to this water source, but would that trickle have been enough for this gargantuan creature? Looking around, the cavern didn’t have any signs of being its lair. If his theory of monsters congregating near natural resources was right, then if he followed these tracks, he might find its nest. If he found that, there might be water!

  His reasoning was thin, and he knew it. Truthfully, it was downright anorexic, but it was better than nothing. Even if he didn’t find water, at least following the tracks might lead him to his next meal.

  The only problem was that he couldn’t just let the golem take point. Its heavy footfalls could destroy the tracks. Instead, Richter adopted Stealth and cast Darkvision. He and the golem started walking again, this time with Richter in front. Following the faintly glowing trail, the duo moved through the darkness of the earth.

  CHAPTER 33 – Day 151 – Juren 2, 0 AoC

  Warning! Your Dehydrated status will progress to Severely Dehydrated in 3 hours! At that time, you will continually lose 10 HP/sec! Any lost health cannot be restored.

  Well that’s not good, Richter thought grimly. He’d been following the scorpion’s trail for an hour when the prompt appeared. That had been an hour ago. He only had two left. While he walked, a mantra had been on loop in his mind. All living things need water. All living things need water. All living things need water. He had to hope that wherever the scorpion had chosen to nest would have access to the precious resource. He continued to walk and crawl through the dark tunnels, his golem trailing behind.

  Less than half an hour later, Richter’s prayers were finally answered. He started seeing more tracks like the scorpion’s. They crossed to and fro, and after examination, he could tell that many were older. That meant one thing. He was getting closer to its lair. He refreshed Darkvision. Five minutes after that, he found the nest.

  He was in a tunnel that was only two paces across. In front and to the right was a black hole that had countless scorpion tracks in front of it. Richter stalked forward while still stealthed. His MP was full and he had eight BPs. His stamina was down by about seventy thanks to his intermittent use of Stealth. There was still plenty left.

  In an ideal world, he’d buff himself, but the magical flash of light would give away his position. Instead, he crept forward and looked inside. What am I going to find, he wondered? A massive cavern filled with monster scorpions? Nope, he discovered with a smile. Just a bunch of scorpion babies.

  Of course, “babies” was a bit of a misnomer. Every one of the scorpions was the size of a full-grown Doberman. They were scuttling around, sleeping or pulling pieces of rotting meat into their maws with the creepy small mouths that shot in and out of the bigger ones. There were about twenty-one in all.

  Richter also found out why they were called ironspines. It looked like only an adult scorpion would get a full metal covering. The back of each of the scorpions was plated in dark iron like their slain parent, but the rest of their bodies were just covered in a pink exoskeleton. The chitin probably still offered some defense, but not nearly as much as the metal skin of the adult. Lower defense meant this had just gotten a whole lot easier. It’d also be easier to eat that meat!

  While still in stealth mode, Richter sent a mental command to his golem. It activated its Hidden Earth ability and walked closer. He thanked the gods of luck that he’d upgraded Sloth with the slime core. The original construct would have made enough noise to wake the dead. As a flowing rock golem, it made much less noise, and the scorpion babies remained completely unaware. He watched for another couple minutes, but didn’t see any more monsters. Richter didn’t know if this species was all about the one-parent household or if other adults would be coming back soon. He wasn’t planning to wait.

  The chaos lord ducked out of sight and dismissed Darkvision. Blackness blanketed him, the only sounds the air moving through his lips and the squabbling scorpions. Richter breathed out two firm breaths as he prepared for battle. Whoooo. Whoooo. His mind was calm. He was ready to eat. Right before he formed a spell he thought, sorry kids, but your mama tried to eat me. Now she’s dead and you’re dinner… it’s hakuna matata.

  Purple-black light formed around his fingers. That light alarmed the scorpions in a way that the golem’s footfalls hadn’t. They all started hissing and turned toward the cave opening with stingers raised. They couldn’t see what was causing the light yet, but the juvenile scorpions were prepared to defend themselves. Of course, Richter had known his spell would alert them. It just made what came next even easier.

  A disc of death magic appeared on the ground and five level-six bile rats rose into existence. Richter made eye contact with all of them at once, forming a mental bond. Then he sent two into the cave, running in opposite directions for all they were worth. The scorpions’ hissing filled the cavern as they attacked en masse. He listened to the panicked squeaks of the rats and heard the sizzle of acid hitting rock.

  The acid was what Richter feared most. The small scorpions’ defense was almost definitely lower than their parent’s, but that didn’t mean their corrosive venom was any less deadly. Riddick and Indiana both agreed the small ones were the worst. That meant he wasn’t about to put his life, or his golem’s body, at risk. At least not without drawing fire first.

>   The rats’ squeaks turned into piteous death cries. First one, then the other, were slain. A couple seconds after the first two rats died, Richter sent in a third. Once again, it was a rat tragedy and more acid hit the ground. The fourth went in and a minute later the fifth. With the last one, he heard barely any sizzle. He hoped that meant their guns had run dry. As soon as the last rat died, Richter cast another spell, this time of Light.

  A white glow surrounded his fingers before three balls of light flew into the cave, providing faint illumination. Another Light spell summoned a mirror. The reflective surface appeared floating in front of the cave. It hovered at a forty-five-degree angle in front of the entrance. The mirror was insubstantial, only a trick of the light, but it served the chaos lord’s purposes.

  First, it let the scorpions see him.

  In response to his mocking grin and cocky wave, the dog-sized arachnids hissed like tea kettles. One or two shot acid from their stingers, but it was little more than a dribble. That was the second reason for the mirror, so that Richter could assess the situation and make sure they’d run dry. All fourteen rushed toward his image, clacking their pincers together. And lastly, he thought with satisfaction, they were now bunched together.

  The cavern the scorpions called home was about the size of a Waffle House. Too big to fully cover with any of his AoE spells. If he somehow managed to get them bunched together though, well that was a different story.

  As soon as Richter saw they were out of venom, he began his third casting. The spells so far had all been low level and he’d only spent forty MP. That, coupled with his wide array of low-cost spells, was great news for him. Not so much for the monsterlings.

  A ten-by-ten-foot area of the ground was soon covered in brown sludge. A few of the running monsters wiped out, but most kept their feet. Grease was a great spell for crowd control, but it wasn’t so effective if the target had more than two legs. That wasn’t why he’d cast it though. While the spell was still manifesting, Richter began another incantation. A gout of orange flame shot from his hand and the entire patch caught ablaze. The scorpions’ hisses turned to screams.