The Land: Founding (Chaos Seeds Book 1) (10 page)

 Impressed by the versatility of
the workers, Richter nodded. “Have them begin separating the bodies from their
items. But put those two aside,” he said gesturing to the chief and hobgoblin.
“Now, we need a safe place to rest.”

 “This room will be safe my
lord. The workers, though not strong, will delay and alert any attack from
above, and no creatures of ill intent from the depths can cross the Great seal
in the floor you are standing upon.”

 Nodding wearily, Richter sat
down against the most comfortable surface in the chamber, which happened to be
the body of the dead bear, just not the liquefied part of course. Sion sat
heavily beside him, the least graceful he had ever seen the sprite. Closing his
eyes, Richter’s second to last thought was, ‘this is one messed up teddy bear,’
followed quickly by him verbalizing, “Wait! What creatures from what depths?”

A heavy bladed axe plunged out of the
dark as he fought a losing battle. Stabbing and swinging his sword, he fought
as hard as he could. Again and again the axe gouged into his skin eliciting
blood and pain with each blow. He collapsed. Looking up the goblin chief’s face
that was peering down at him, the monster raised its axe to strike one last
time, and sever his head…

 Gasping, Richter stood swiftly,
knife in hand, blinking away the terrors of his dream. After a while he was
able to slow his breathing but his heart still hammered wildly. He may have
done what was needed the night before, but he was still a twenty four year old
man from a modern world. Until last week he hadn’t done anything more violent
than punch the occasional frat boy that had gotten
handsy
with his female friends. As he became more aware of his surroundings, he
realized Sion was also up with an arrow nocked looking for the threat. Closing
his eyes for a moment, he collected himself, before opening them again and
looking at Sion. “There is no danger my friend. None outside of my own
nightmares.”

 Sion looked at him, relaxing
the draw on the bow. “Yesterday was a dark day, and I think better of you that
it could not be so easily dismissed.” With a pause of his own and then a small
smile, he added, “My friend.”

 Judging by the weariness he
felt, they had only dozed for a few hours. The torch had gone out while they
were sleeping, but some faint grey illumination filtered down from an unknown
source in the ceiling. Richter heard the sounds of activity outside of the
cave. There was no way he could go back to sleep right now so he turned to Sion
and said, “Let’s see what we have.”

 Richter walked over to the
goblin chief’s body. He felt his gorge rise at the mix of smells: copper and
nickel from the blood, sour stench from body reek and the nauseating reek from
the feces that had escaped in death. Though he had ignored these in the heat of
battle, faced with the harsh reality after a night’s rest he was doubly glad
for the workers who would clear the other bodies.

 Searching the goblin he first
picked up the single headed axe.

You have found: Magic Iron Axe.
Damage 15-20. Durability 33/35. Item class: Uncommon. Quality: Average. Traits:
Unknown. Requires Strength 17.

 Richter had not seen a requirement
for weapons before. He could only assume that was because no other items he had
acquired had requirements. Or maybe he had met the requirements so they hadn’t
been shown. Either way it did explain why the axe had seemed to resist him the
night before. He also did not know how to identify the axe. He set it aside for
now. Stripping the rest of the armor he looked at each before setting them
aside.

You have found: Wooden Buckler.
Durability 8/30. Item class: Common. Quality: Average. Defense +4.

You have found: Iron mail shirt.
Durability 16/50. Item class: Common. Quality: Poor. Defense +9. Weight 9.1 kg.

You have found: Hardened leather
pants. Durability 8/20. Item class: Common. Quality: Poor. Type: Light Armor.

You have found: 28 silver and 41
copper.

You have found: poor quality garnet.

 Moving over to the
hobgoblin, Sion had already stripped it of its belongings, and had laid them
upon the ground.

You have found: Novice black mage
robes. Defense + 5 (additional +7 vs magical attack). Durability 2/20. Item
class: Common. Quality: Above Average. Weight 3.5 kg.

You have found: Magic staff: Attack
13-16. Durability 19/20. Item class: Rare. Quality: Above Average. Weight 4.2
kg.

You have found: Magic bracelet:
Durability 10/10. Item class: Uncommon. Quality: Above Average. Weight 0.3 kg.

You have found: 11 silver and 24
copper.

You have found: Unknown potion x 2.

You have found: Unknown potion

 “I’d be a lot more excited if I
could identify any of this stuff.”

 “I can help with that,” said
Futen
, materializing just to the side of Richter’s face.

 “
Aggghh
!
I swear to god I’m going to put a bell on you if you keep surprising me like
that!”

 “It was not my intention to
frighten you, Lord Richter.”

 “I’m not frightened. Nobody
said frightened. I’m just, startled! When you are approaching me become visible
a couple feet, let’s say twenty feet, away! Understood?”

 “Yes, Lord Richter. Would you
like my help?”

 Thinking he heard a bit of
attitude in its flat voice, but then assuring himself that was impossible,
Richter replied, “How can you help?”

 “Normally to identify an item,
you must use a spell or item. Alternately you can take it to a magical college
or temple to have a magician or priest uncover its true identity for you. I
have the ability however, to identify all but the most powerful of items. I can
do this now if you wish.”

 “Can you teach me,” Richter
asked eager to have this power.

 “I am aware of your Limitless
ability my lord, but that can only be applied to skills. As this is an ability
it would not apply, and I know of no way to teach abilities.”

 Trusting that if there was a
way to teach abilities, the remnant would have at least heard of it over the
thousands of years of its existence, Richter let the matter drop. Before asking
Futen
to use his ability however, a thought occurred
to him. “How do you know about my Limitless ability?”

 “I possess a skill called
Analyze. It allows me to know in depth information about creatures.”

 “So that is something I can
learn! Do you have any other skills?”

 “At this time I am only aware
of the one ability and one skill that I have told you about Lord Richter. As I
have only recently been awakened by your claiming of the village, my memory is
highly fragmented, however. It is entirely possible that as time goes on I will
remember more. Also if the village raises in level, then I may have access to
further powers.”

 Nodding Richter said, “Let’s
identify these items then. Afterwards you can teach me your skill.”

 The light within
Futen
flared white, and suddenly the information was given
to Richter in a series of prompts.

 “How is it I suddenly have this
information, when you are the one who has the skill,” Richter asked.

 “You are the Master of this
village. As long as we are close to one another, I can give you information
without verbalizing. As the village grows, the distance we can interact over
will grow as well.”

 Impressed again at the
versatility of this unasked for helper, Richter focused on the item
information.

You have found: Staff of Decay:
Attack 10-12. Durability 19/20. Item class: Rare. Quality: Above Average.
Weight 4.2 kg. Traits: +4 Death damage. Has 5% chance to cause rapid decay upon
target from direct strike or when channeling Death magic. Requirement:
Alignment -2 or below.

You have found: Bracelet of Health:
Durability 10/10. Item class: Uncommon. Quality: Above Average. Weight 0.1 kg.
Traits: Increase maximum Health by +50.

You have found: Minor Mana Potion x
2. Taking this will restore 40 mana points over 6 seconds.

You have found: Minor Health Potion x
1. Taking this will restore 40 health points over 6 seconds.

You have found: Iron axe of Strength.
Damage 15-18. Durability 33/35. Item class: Uncommon. Quality: Average. Traits:
+3 to Strength.
Requires Strength 17
.

 Remembering the black sludge
that had come off the bear from one Death spell, Richter shuddered thinking of
what would have happened if the staff’s special ability had struck him. Telling
Sion the properties of each, the sprite spit on the floor upon hearing of the
staff’s true identity. “We should destroy this evil thing. For some reason I
can’t stand the sight of it!”

 “How,” Richter asked. “Do I
snap it over my knee? I somehow don’t think that would work.”

 “Unfortunately we most likely
do not have the strength, and even if we did, it is not wise to tamper with the
inner working of magical objects without the proper knowledge. Will you bring
it back to the Hearth Tree so that the Mother can dispose of it?”

You have been offered a Quest:
Destroy Evil’s Weapon. Sion has had an extreme reaction to this staff.  He
hates it so much he can only think of destroying it.  He wants your help
carrying it back to the Hearth Tree so that Hisako can destroy it. 
Reward: Unknown. Yes or No?

Richter barely gave it a thought
before nodding his assent. Though he and Sion had a rocky start to say the
least, the sprite was a comrade.  He would trust his Companion’s
judgement.  Focusing on what was in front of him, Richter looked at the
axe wondering at the strength requirement. He had already used it to sever the
chief’s head. It just didn’t make logical sense to him that a simple item had a
requirement. Picking it up, he took a practice swing, and felt immediately off
balance. Taking a few more, he stumbled disoriented. The last swing came
dangerously close to cutting Sion. In the face of the glare he received from
the diminutive man, he sheepishly placed the axe back down on the floor. Well,
no point arguing with the facts. This axe was just not for him.

 The sprite had shown no
interest in loot, but Richter remembered the large amount of damage the thrown
warrior’s dagger had caused. Picking up the bracelet he handed it to Sion. The
sprite initially looked like he would refuse, but Richter said “You are a great
warrior my friend, but I seriously doubt this will be the last battle we are
in. You have to grow stronger and survive. This will help.” After a small
protest, the sprite thanked him and slid the bracelet on his arm up to his
bicep. He immediately stood a bit taller, and it seemed he had somewhat greater
tone and definition than a moment before.

 Placing the money in his pouch,
Richter took a second pouch that had belonged to the hobgoblin and slid the
potions into it. Picking up the staff, he felt revulsion. It was like holding a
writhing snake. He dropped it quickly. Cutting a length of cloth from the
hobgoblin’s clothes, he wrapped it around the staff, which greatly lessened the
feeling of revulsion. Turning to
Futen
he said, “Have
the workers collect all of the other items and lay them aside. I will review
them upon returning from the Hearth Tree.”

 “Is there anything else you
would like to have done, my Lord?”

 “I need to know what other
resources there are available. I need to know what we can use to build the
village.”

 “I will search the boundaries
of the village and this level. I can go no further than what you have laid
claim to my lord. You will need to explore and vanquish any enemies in the
lower levels if you wish to know what other powers, and riches may exist in the
catacombs.”

 That had been the answer to
Richter’s question before sleeping. Apparently, the Place of Power was home to
monsters. Through the millennia, creatures of various types had filled the
underground levels. It was unclear if the Place of Power had created the
monsters or if there were other entrances to the underground levels and they
had moved in. What was clear was that the catacombs under his feet were not
safe. The chamber they were in, which
Futen
had
called a “Great Seal” stopped any monsters from coming up from the catacombs
below.

 “Well then the only other
obvious point,” Richter said, “is that it’s a bit grandiose to call this pile
of rocks a village? Can the worker’s build some houses, and clear away some
rubble?”

 “The workers are only the most
basic of creatures, my Lord. They will follow any direction, but only exactly
as it is given. They lack any real intelligence. Complex tasks, such as
building a house will be beyond them.”

 “Very well, have them gather
stones and sort them by size and type into different piles. Also have them chop
down trees that have grown inside the boundaries of the village and stack them.
Finally have them dig a trench around the area outside of the boundary of the
village.”