This is going to be a problem.

Belsebas watches as two customers leave the shop. They bought several of their healing lozenges — but they visibly cringed when he offered to make them Lifesavers™. He hadn’t even gotten to the part about requiring half a cup of blood when they vehemently said it wasn’t for them.

He only had two orders of Lifesavers™ ever since Siege gratuitously advertised their product. If only the dwarf kept his drunken mouth shut — or at least excluded some of the more graphic details of his ordeal.

The two adventurers who ordered them seemed to grasp them bitterly when they received them. As if it was a bitter pill to swallow. He was so engrossed in their conflicting feelings — he forgot to tell them it was indeed similar to a pill that they could just swallow. He hoped the two would come back before they had a chance to use the Lifesavers™. They might have mistaken his silence as confirmation of how they were used.

Rumors fly faster than the truth. Now every adventurer in Bountiful thinks Lifesavers™ are administered in a very unconventional manner. Certainly inconvenient in a battle — and definitely uncomfortable.

He stops his pondering to check the time.

“Timex.”

Detect Time * Basic Cantrip * Divination * Time

Effect: The caster detects the flow of time relative to his native or chosen plane. He can estimate how fast or slow time is moving inside a constructed realm or a given plane. The spell also provides the exact time of day, relative to the caster’s mode of tracking time.

The spell was one of the first ones he learned — every butler needed an impeccable sense of time. Knowing if time flowed fast or slow was also convenient if one’s master tended to host otherworldly guests.

A few more hours to go.

He is scheduled to meet up with his master in the Great Forest of Dun, but he worries about the trip. Shelby didn’t mind hauling a cart — he probably doesn’t even feel the weight. The snail glided on land like skating on ice and riding on top of her was fairly comfortable. However, the trailing cart behind her still felt every bump in the road.

As absurd as it was, he would have to ask the snail to slow down.

He didn’t think he would take a liking to the enormous snail. However, it was well behaved and seemed to understand his words. At times he was pretty sure it was attempting to communicate in its own way. Shelby had these clicks and whistles — some of which was probably his name. Every time he greeted the snail, it would repeat the same odd clicks in return.

The door opens to reveal three potential customers. It seems his days were becoming busier.

I wonder how Master Jeremy is faring?

***

“Noooo!!!” the wizard continues sobbing.

Siege wanted to wail with the wizard — especially if was the end of those Lifesavers™. He forces his way into the heart of the action, bashing and slicing kobolds in his way.

They could hardly hurt him, armored as he was. Even if they tried to rush him, it would take a whole lot of kobolds to pull a dwarven warrior down to the ground.

The dwarf was methodical in his attacks. He had none of the flair of elves or the tactical strategy of humans. He was simply going through the motions of cutting and stabbing with his sword and blocking and bashing with his shield.

He stares at the battlefield, noting the position of every kobold around him. He raises his sword above his head and grits his teeth.

“Atlas!”

Weight of the World * Dwarven Racial Ability * Alteration * Earth

Effects: Gravity within 10 steps from the dwarf activating the ability is magnified. Creatures within range double their weight, suffering encumbrance penalties and taking bursts of 10 damage.

Duration: Concentration or up to 10 breaths.

The ability was what made dwarves a bane of hill giants. It’s also quite effective in dealing with weaker creatures like goblins and kobolds, giving the dwarf some semblance of battlefield control.

Several kobolds drop to the ground. Their measly strength all but doomed them to the effects of increased gravity. The ones remaining standing were pierced by arrows arcing high from above.

It was a tactic their party honed through practice and experience and it certainly proved its efficacy in this battle.

Siege was not immune from his own ability. Even now he feels his weight doubling, but he was prepared for it. With measured steps the dwarf closes in on a few upright kobolds, using short thrusts of his sword to make precise and lethal cuts.

A few kobolds manage to pass his gravity well, but Dallarath would make quick work of them soon enough.

A blast of force hits the dwarf squarely on the chest, sending him crashing into the ground. Gravity returns to normal, but most of the kobolds would never rise again.

“Shaman!” he warns the others before scanning the battlefield. He didn’t like spellcasters — particularly the ones not on his side.

There.

Siege rises from the ground, readying himself for another round of combat.

***

Gwindin sees Siege fall and hears his warning. A shaman on the battlefield complicates their situation — it was best dealt with quickly.

She had to wing it as none of her usual rotes would reach the shaman. She digs deep into her connection to the earth, crafting a spell with an extended reach by supplying it with an abundance of mana.

“Quagmire!”

Base Spell: Rock to Mud * Complex Casting * Extended Range * Earth

Effect: Alters natural ground in a 10-feet diameter circle within the caster’s range, transforming it into mud. Creatures within the area of effect will sink and have their movements restricted.

Instead of letting the spell run its course, Gwin holds it in transition, waiting for the shaman and the kobolds around it to sink to their knees before letting the spell fizzle.

She sees Siege rush the shaman — now trapped with most of its legs encased underneath the ground. A quick stroke of his sword splits the shaman in two. The trapped kobolds shared the same fate. Trapped as they were, there was little they could do to escape the dwarf’s sword. Siege briefly raises his shield to acknowledge her help before rushing towards another group of kobolds.

Gwin falters, almost falling. She channeled excessive amounts of mana to craft the spell — leaving her drained but exultant. She was growing in power and soon she would be able to manage a horde of kobolds on her own.

“Are you feeling well?” Rem suddenly asks. Gwin could hear the concern in her sister’s voice.

“I’m fine.”

“You had this strange look on your face — it was as if you were another person.”

Her sister’s words make Gwin pause. She had indeed overdrawn mana. Even now she could feel the draw of holding power in her fingertips and using it to unleash hell.

“The pull of the power was strong this time — but I have it in control,” she lied. Her recent instances of overdrawing mana gave her an understanding of how to harness power. It would not shape her — she believed she was strong enough to overcome the pull.

***

Jeremy stares at the serpentine creature in his arms — it was all that was left of his poor Lenny. Why would the kobolds do such a thing? And how in hell’s name did those pesky critters even manage to pull it off?

How could he possibly draw enough regenerative juices from a single head — especially one not attached to a body? All the profits he envisioned, all his planning, all the preparations and toiling in his lab — everything went up in smoke.

Now he would have to rely on Project Dandelion — a venture that required a myriad of things to line up in his favor. Even Sebas believed it would be hard to pull off.

Damn those kobolds!

He could have eliminated every one of them with his ward but there would be unintended casualties — namely his five escorts.

Over the past months, he was careful in dealing with the kobolds — making sure to avoid them whenever he could. As far as he knew, they could have been a vital part of the swamp’s ecology — or maybe even snacks for Lenny.

But now they crossed the line. He couldn’t forgive them for what they did to his golden goose.

Jeremy’s rage unconsciously connects to the infernal conduit in his soul — unleashing a palpable blood lust. It sweeps through the battlefield, terrorizing every kobold and stopping them in their tracks.

Most of them flee to whatever direction they were facing, but more than a few drop to the ground lifeless — either dying from fear or crippling despair.

Even his escorts were reeling from the infernal blood lust. The wizard reminds himself to keep his anger in check, especially when there were witnesses.

He places the Lenny-serpent on the ground. Its remains should still have some regenerative fluid left or maybe he could harvest its organs for study.

Determined and hopeful, the wizard decides to enter the swamp.

***

Aven’R trails the wizard, albeit hesitantly.

His outburst of rage shook her to her core. It was anger given a physical form — one that burned and promised eternal torture.

Siege dismissed it as dragonfear, probably like a Red’s — but Rem said it was pure evil seeking to devour and destroy everything in its path.

She wondered about that, remembering how the wizard lovingly caressed the serpent he called Lenny.

While Jeremy’s emotions seemed out of control, his actions spoke otherwise. He didn’t raise a hand against the kobolds — aside from scaring a few to death — and he didn’t lash out at his companions.

His wailing also proved he valued something deeply — even if it was just gold. Greed she could understand. A greedy man wouldn’t want to destroy the world, he’d just want more out of it.

He was despondent, then angry — and then he stopped.

Now he even seemed jovial as he walks across the swamp.

“If you wanted to follow me, you could have just said so.”

“How?” she blurts out.

She was being careful, there was no way the wizard could have detected her.

“You followed my trail all the way from the camp,” Jeremy starts. “but you only approached me around 5 minutes ago.”

He wasn’t going to tell her that he was repeating the words over and over during the past half hour — and it was only now that he got a response.

“I have my secrets,” he continues. “Against any other person I know, you probably would have stayed undetected.”

Aven’R sighs. The wizard didn’t even turn to look back when speaking to her — as if her presence was plain to see.

Might as well come out.

She steps away from a tree to approach the wizard. “What exactly are we doing?”

Jeremy raises an eyebrow at her choice of words. He didn’t really consider himself as part of their party — he was just a client who needed their services.

“I’m looking for Lenny, or at least what’s left of him,” he explains. “I need him for my experiments. Without him, I won’t be able to make any more Lifesavers™.”

“He’s some kind of snake creature?” Av guesses.

Jeremy tilts his head thinking. “In a way, maybe?”

He was unsure if Lenny was a reptile or an amphibian — but he certainly had some snake-like features.

The two walk in silence, going deeper into the swamp. Water rises to their knees, and patches of bog slow their progress.

They soon reach a clearing — with trees seemingly bent or cut. Sure enough, there was a body — but it wasn’t entirely dead.

At least he wasn’t lying. It definitely isn’t a dragon.

It was a three — now two-headed hydra.

Aven’R notices embers in its mouth, as if it had a breath weapon of sorts. This wasn’t just an ordinary hydra.

Jeremy runs to the creature, giving it a hug. “See it’s perfectly safe! Lenny is nocturnal and she sleeps like a log.”

Aven’R frowns, noticing the creature shivering from the wizard’s touch.

“She even frolics in his dreams — like a kitten.”

It was too much for the elf. She had seen both wonders and absurdities in her short stint as an adventurer — but this one trumped them all.

The hydra was obviously awake — the poor thing was just doing its best to feign sleep.