Chapter 12

Holding the new spear Hana had made for me just this morning, I felt conflicted. Formed entirely of dense hardwood, the spear was a little taller than me and had a long thin leaf-blade style head. Combined with the swirling pattern of the wood-grain, it was objectively beautiful. What left me feeling conflicted was the underlying motivations for the gift.

Hana had insisted that her reasons for gifting me the spear were not related to our impending date, but it was difficult not to think it was related in some way. The only consolation I could really find in the situation was that Hana had grown another half foot taller during the night. Although rather curiously her ears had become more rounded and human-looking.

Directing my thoughts towards something more productive, such as developing the Settlement. From what I remembered being told by Nadine and Hana before things got more complicated. The original plan was to ring the Settlement’s boundary with thick thorn bushes or some other form of vegetation. At the time, I had thought something on that sort of scale would take months of continuous work, but I now realised that it would take Hana only a few days at most. The combination of the mana font effect from the Grove and a steady supply of manastones gave Hana a seemingly limitless supply of mana. It was actually a little terrifying.

If I understood the basic principle of Hana’s class ability, it gave her direct control over any form of vegetation. That control seems to take the form of directing the plant’s growth as well as allowing puppeteering the plant’s movements. What made the ability rather unsettling was the fact that plants were literally everywhere. I was starting to suspect Nadine had far more pragmatic reasons for pushing my relationship with Hana. Having an emotionally unstable powerhouse capable of single-handedly killing anyone of us or perhaps even all of us, at any given moment, was a tough pill to swallow.

I don’t think Hana was capable of cold-blooded murder, but I also hadn’t thought myself capable of becoming acclimated to killing either. When it had come down to it, my scruples had folded in preference to my survival. It was honestly rather depressing when I stopped and thought about it. Assumedly, the one person I should know best is myself. However, the more time I spend in this place, the less certain I feel that I know myself at all. I suppose that is what happens when your comfortably established preconceptions are meaningfully challenged for the first time.

When we had fought those adventurers on the second floor, I was aware that at least one of them had died. Each night since, I had waited for something to happen. I had expected the guilt of killing another human being to eat away at me from the inside. But it didn’t. Reflecting on the memory, all I felt was a vague sense of relief. Relieved that we had managed to escape. Relieved that none of our group had been badly hurt. Relieved to still be alive. If I really stopped to think about it, I was sad that someone’s son or daughter had died, but it was the same level of empathy I felt for the adventurers who died defending the first-floor foothold.

Trying my best to leave such thoughts behind, I prepared to head out and walk the boundary of my demesne. Hana had already drained all but the largest bodies of water, so the ground was actually rather solid now and the odour of rotting vegetation had decreased substantially. Even so, I still decided to test the ground every so often with the butt of my new spear. It was something I had seen done on T.V to avoid sudden pitfalls and quicksand. Even though I was confident that Hana would have eliminated those hazards, it still seemed like a good habit to get into.

The more I walked along the boundary of my territory, it became obvious that Hana’s terraforming was more extensive than I had initially realized. The somewhat flooded swamplands beyond the border allowed for all manner of ambush points for amphibious predators. The sections of land tall and wide enough to walk on were still within a couple of seconds striking distance of the water. It made our arrival at our current location seem rather miraculous when I considered the fact that we had not been attacked until progressing the mandatory quest. The only reason I could think of to explain it was that perhaps the swamp monsters were largely nocturnal.

However, I could clearly see a few monsters moving about the periphery of the boundary. They would engage in short brutal skirmishes before one of them would flee or be eaten by the victor. My walk also gave me my first look at the giant blood-sucking mosquitos the status alert had labelled Scourge. Honestly, I wish I hadn't. The grotesque abominations were the size of a baseball and largely resembled a flying leech. Before completing a full circuit of the territory, I was unfortunate enough to witness one of the six-legged croc’s get swarmed by a couple of dozen Scourges and turned into a desiccated husk in under a minute. The Scourges did not seem to care about getting wet and could dry their wings within a second or two, quickly flying away to find their next meal.

I had to assume that Clarice, Emelia and Tobi were taking precautions, or that perhaps the Scourges were only ambushing isolated targets. Even so, it was not a particularly pleasant train of thought, so I did my best to concentrate on the positives. The most notable of which was the mostly invisible barrier surrounding the limits of my territory. Attuning to the Totem allowed me to see the barrier, although it was still rather difficult to notice unless I actively made the effort to do so. Identical in core function to what I had seen from the foothold barrier, it was impassable to any and all wild monsters not explicitly given an exemption.

It made me curious how the adventurers Guild established their footholds in the first place. Nadine had explained it as a matter of course that the Guild had done so, but that raised far more questions. What if the Guild had its own pet monster, someone like me? Or...what if the reason the Guild managers were Slavers was not for enforcing Guild contracts, but to enforce ownership of the footholds?

Despite the warm swamp air, I couldn’t help but shiver.

Was that what they had actually intended for myself and Toofy?

Taking a moment to calm down, I realised that it didn’t make much sense and that I had just been working myself up. It was far more likely that the Labyrinth had offered the first adventurers to a new floor a quest in a similar fashion that it had done for me, That adventurer was then likely given a cushy salary by the Guild or something so they could use the territory. I had no real way of knowing and could only guess.

Finishing my walk, I was not surprised to see Hana eagerly forming the first segment of the wall of thorns. For some reason, I had expected thin blackberry bush vines. So seeing the gnarled roots as thick as my arm, with thorns the size of my thumb ripping out of the ground was quite a shock. Hana did not appear to be taking any chances either, layering the thorn wall roughly teen feet deep as she began making her first pass around the Settlement limits.

On the one hand, Hana’s work ethic was inspiring. She was showing no signs of attempting to cut any corners just to receive her ‘reward’ sooner. On the other hand, it was really driving home the fact that I was currently using her for free labour...

Besides the date, the only other thing I knew Hana wanted was killing ‘The Destroyer’. Even though she had not asked for my help, I kind of felt a vibe from Hana that she intrinsically expected it in exchange for her services and loyalty. Perhaps it was a bargain she had somehow struck with the Labyrinth? No, that didn’t feel right. Assuming the Labyrinth could be bargained with, it would be the one dictating all terms.

Trying to put the prospect of tacitly agreeing to Hana’s bargain with the Labyrinth, I began walking back to the Grove. The remaining twenty-two Daemon eggs would be hatching sometime in the next couple of days and we still lacked anything close to the amount of food needed to feed the freshly hatched Daemonlings.

Even though Clarice was more than willing to get stuck in and assault the local wildlife, that would not really solve the problem. The biggest problem was the climate. The high levels of humidity were making the prospect of storing food for any meaningful length of time very difficult. Without salt, sugar and saltpetre, we didn’t really have any options besides replacing our food stores daily. Well, nothing I could think of anyway.

To make the most of what we have, I had decided to allow Gric, Qreet and Dar to begin consuming manastones in the hopes of increasing their growth. The trio of Daemonlings had been only too eager to obey but was ever so slightly disappointed about my restrictions to prevent mana addiction. The idea was to get them into a position to meaningfully help around the Settlement as soon as possible. Three extra pairs of hands could make all the difference when looking after twenty-two starving Daemon hatchlings.

Emelia and Tobi did not seem willing to work with Clarice again just yet, so I decided that I would take their place. That didn’t mean that they wouldn’t have anything to do. In fact, they would be responsible for catching fish from the large shallow pond on the west side of the Settlement. The three Daemonlings would then be in charge of gutting, cleaning and cooking them since Toofy would be coming with me. Nadine would keep an eye on everyone while I was gone and try to keep them on task, or so she claimed.

Letting Toofy ride Beaky, I did not expect her to contribute much to any fighting and would in fact prefer if she actively avoided combat altogether. I was only bringing Toofy along because she would be incredibly upset if I deliberately left her behind. In all likelihood, Toofy would run off to try and find me, putting her in more danger than bringing her along in the first place. So, here she was.

Apparently, Hana had made spears for Clarice as well, because she had a full brace of them tied to the sled. They did not look nearly so detailed as mine, but it was kind of nice to see that Hana was making an effort to fit in with the others.

Clarice was forgoing her large sword in favour of one of the spears. “Much rather have the reach,” she admitted with a grin, “Besides, it’s way easier to use a spear like this on Thunder!” Clarice smiled broadly as she hopped up into the saddle, “This is gonna be fun!”

“Do you have any sort of cavalry training?” I asked dubiously, already suspecting I knew the answer.

“Nope!” Clarice replied cheerily.

I shook my head and sighed, “At least try and be careful?” I insisted, already regretting my decision to come along.

Clarice shrugged, “We’ll see,” she grinned cheekily and flicked Thunder Thighs’ reins.

Pulling my new and crudely sewn bandana up over my nose, I hoped that it would make the swamp air more tolerable. Made from the empty food parcels cloth, I had smashed some of the lilies into the fabric to try and infuse their scent as a buffer against the smell of the swamp. Following Clarice out into the swamp, it became obvious that I had only a middling level of success at best. I could still smell the rotting vegetation, but it was more tolerable than when we had first arrived a couple of days ago.

“So what do you think of Hana?” Clarice asked bluntly as she scanned the immediate area for threats.

I had assumed she would ask at some point, so Clarice did not get the flustered reaction she was no doubt hoping for. “I don’t know,” I admitted, “But I don’t think she has a crush on me,” I pointed out calmly.

“Hrm? Really?” Clarice glanced back my way for a moment before returning to her vigil, “Why would you say that?”

I sighed and shook my head, “I have a lot of experience dealing with things like this,” I replied a little sourly.

Clarice was quiet for a while and then brought Thunder Thighs to a halt. “I...Nadine told me about what happened, that you are...like us, human I mean,” she explained awkwardly.

“I thought she might,” I admitted.

“Sorry,” Clarice apologised with an irritated sigh, “I’m not good at this touchy-feely shit y’know?”

“It’s fine Clarice, I understand,” I shrugged even though I knew she wouldn’t see the gesture.

We spent the next few minutes travelling in silence.

Coming to a halt, Clarice pointed her spear at a suspicious-looking log submerged in a nearby body of water. “We need to throw a branch or some mud at it to piss it off,” she explained while looking at me expectantly.

Sighing and shaking my head, I grabbed a fistful of mud and loosely packed it into a ball, “You know I have almost no chance of hitting it, right?” I threw the mudball at the ‘log’ and waited.

*Sploosh*

As I had predicted, I missed quite badly. However, the camouflaged croc did not seem to like the sudden disturbance and thrashed wildly for a moment before propelling itself towards us.

“I got this!” Clarice grinned manically and rolled her shoulder, levelling her spear at the oncoming croc.

On the off chance that Clarice did not have things as well in hand as she assumed, I readied my spear as well.

The moment the croc crested the shallows, Clarice eagerly whipped Thunder Thighs reins and leaned forward in the saddle, “LET’S GO! THUNDER!!!” She roared excitedly.

Thunder Thighs immediately sprang into a charge, closing the distance between themselves and the croc in less than a couple of seconds.

“TAKE-” Clarice thrust her spear at the exposed body of the croc.

*Shunk*

“-THIS!” Clarice roared in triumph as the shaft of the head of her spear drove into the croc’s back and Thunder Thighs veered off and away.

Not actually dead, but no doubt mortally wounded, the croc appeared to be pinned to the ground, thrashing its head and tail in an attempt to free itself.

Feeling a little pity for the creature, I gripped my spear tightly and moved forward to finish it off.

*Chunk*

To my surprise, Hana’s spear proved far deadlier than I expected. I had aimed for the croc’s right eye socket, intending to kill it quickly with a blow to the brain. Naturally, I missed, managing to spear through its spinal column instead. With how wildly the croc had been thrashing, I should have aimed there in the first place.

Pulling my spear free of its now twitching body, I noticed that I had not yet received a kill notification and felt even worse for the creature. As violent as the croc was, it was only acting according to its nature and I did not want it to suffer. Preparing my spear to strike again, I took a moment to line up my strike properly this time.

[You have slain {Swamp Lurker: 2 } +600 Exp]

Just as I was about to strike, the notification appeared at the bottom of my peripheral vision.

The croc’s legs and tail were still twitching a little, but the head was completely still.

“Did you see that?!” Clarice crowed, “First try!”

I nodded but didn’t revel in the kill. I was doing this to keep us all fed, not for sport. Gingerly planting one foot on the croc’s back, I pulled Clarice’s spear free and then returned it to her. Whatever Hana had done to make these spears, she clearly knew what she was doing. Neither Clarice’s spear nor my own showed any signs of stress damage despite the forceful impacts against the croc’s tough hide and bones.

“We should get a few of those snakes now,” Clarice pointed out cheerily, “They get drawn in by the blood, I think.”

Dragging the croc onto the sled, I wondered if it might be from the noise instead. “Is this what you usually do with Tobi and Emelia?” I asked suspiciously.

Clarice snorted and shook her head, “Hell no!” She grinned and shook her spear a little, “I figured since you're out here that we could really cut loose you know?”

“I’m really not that good at fighting, Clarice,” I reminded her.

Clarice shrugged, “It’s the synergies!” She insisted excitedly, “You have no idea how much easier it is fighting with these overpowered buffs! Going without them was close to torture.”

I supposed Clarice had a point there. The combined offensive and defensive synergies from myself and Toofy were pretty strong, particularly since humans normally didn’t have access to them. “I guess,” I agreed. It was still weird how the Labyrinth was able to manipulate everything like that. Artificially inflating or deflating the amounts of ’damage’ being dealt and taken and what the numbers even objectively mean...

“Uhh Tim, we might have trouble!” Clarice called out warningly.

Following her line of sight, I was surprised to see three people wearing bone armour slowly walking towards us. As near as I could tell at their current distance, they looked human, but so would just about anyone at this distance. They were carrying weapons that looked like they were fashioned from bone as well, clubs and spears as near as I could tell. However, unlike the Orcs and Goblins from the first floor, they showed no signs of overt aggressive behaviour.

“Do you think they are from a nearby settlement?” I asked warily.

Clarice fidgeted nervously, “Dunno, maybe?” She glanced back towards me without letting the trio of strangers out of her sight, “What do you wanna do?”

Feeling just as nervous as Clarice, I tried to quickly evaluate our options. They did not appear to be hostile, but that could change once they drew close enough to attack us.

As if hearing my thoughts, the stranger in the middle of their formation made a show of waving its companions down and stowing their weapon. A few moments later, the other two strangers stowed their weapons as well. While still hanging off their waists and within easy reach, it was obviously intended as a gesture to demonstrate their peaceful intentions. After all, if there was one brutal lesson I had learned in this world, a couple of seconds advantage for an enemy could easily prove fatal.

“Let’s see what they want,” I decided, “If things go to shit, we run back to the Settlement.”

Clarice nodded grimly, “Gotcha.”

My initial thought in referring to them as strangers rather quickly proved to be rather appropriate. Briefly stopping a short distance from us, the stranger in the middle approached while their companions remained behind.

The stranger appeared, ‘mostly’ human, but the minor differences were very noticeable and impossible to ignore once you had seen them. The first thing I noticed was his eyes. Like Toofy, the pupils were slit like a snake, although his sclera was jade and not amber. The second thing I noticed was the pair of large yawning scars running either side of his mouth and along his jawline. Besides these two bizarre traits, the stranger looked like he was a scrawny teenager. The bone armour bulked these strangers out far more than I had initially realized.

The strange teenager bowed awkwardly, his cumbersome armour greatly impairing his movements.

The two strangers farther back bowed deeply as well, managing the feat with far more grace.

“Greetingss of Lord!” The teenager exclaimed, still bowing deeply, and rather curiously lingering on the s. “Happinesss and ssun to your kin.”

Although initially quite confused, I quickly realised that it must be a sort of formal greeting and should probably make a reply of my own, “Uh, well met and, uh, good fortune?” I replied a little awkwardly.

Nailed it...

The strange teenager stopped bowing and smiled in what was probably intended to be an approximation of happiness. However, it quickly revealed that my assumption regarding his face being scarred was wrong. The teenager’s mouth was in fact about four times bigger than I had expected, given his mostly human appearance. “Thiss one iss Ushu, sspeaker of Bleak-Fang tribe,” as he began speaking again, it became painfully obvious as his mouth continued past his lips, separating just a little too far.

“I am Tim, and this is Clarice and Toofy,” I motioned to each in turn.

The strange teenager, Ushu, nodded.

I just realised that his name was the one thing he had spoken clearly and recognised why. We weren’t speaking his language...

“Perhapss Ushu and Lord Tim talk ssafe another plasse?” Ushu asked, warily eyeing the nearby swamp.

I could appreciate the cause of his nervousness but had to think about it for a moment. Looking to Clarice for advice, all I received was an uncertain shrug in response. Well, whatever Ushu was, he did not seem particularly threatening, but there was a distinct possibility that was deliberate to encourage them to lower their guard. However, returning to the Settlement would drastically stack the odds in my favour if a fight actually broke out. I dismissed the possibility of them scouting the Settlement pretty much immediately. Everything outside of the grove had been visible for a couple of days and would continue to be for at least another couple more. So if they wanted to see the open land Hana had cleared, there were easier ways to go about it.

“Alright,” I agreed a little reluctantly and motioned back in the direction of the Settlement.

Ushu seemed to understand my intent and waved to his companions, “*****! ** ** *** **** ** ***** **** ****!” Unlike the language he was using to communicate with me earlier, this new language made full use of Ushu’s large mouth and apparently hyper-developed throat muscles to communicate with what sounded like a protracted and alternately clipped series of sharp hissing noises.

Ushu’s two companions quickly rushed to his side and bowed respectfully towards me again before falling into step behind Ushu and heading towards the Settlement.

“We should probably get moving ourselves,” I insisted, taking hold of Beaky’s reins and leading him back towards the settlement, making sure not to upend the sled.

Curiously, Toofy was opening her mouth wide with her hands and trying to hiss like Ushu, but she mostly just kept blowing sloppy raspberries.

Shaking my head, I wondered if whatever Ushu and his companions were would find that sort of thing offensive. I hoped not, because I found it pretty damned funny.

“What do you think they want?” Clarice asked bluntly.

I shrugged, “I don’t know. Maybe they are just trying to establish diplomatic relations? We might be neighbours and just haven’t seen their settlement yet.” I observed optimistically.

Clarice gave me a funny look, “You don’t really believe that, do you?” She asked incredulously.

“Well...No, but everything else I can think of is pretty depressing,” I admitted.

Clarice nodded and shrugged, “Guess we will find out soon enough,” she said with an edge of eagerness to her voice.

I hoped for Ushu’s sake that he and his two companions had peaceful intentions.

When we arrived at the settlement a short while later, I was not really surprised to see that Hana, Nadine, Tobi and Emelia were all rather anxiously waiting for us. While Hana’s Plant Sense, as she called it, allowed her to receive information from nearby plant life, I had no real idea of what range limits there were on the ability, if any. Evidently, it must be quite large for her to have noticed us coming and manage to gather the others so quickly.

Thankfully, Ushu and his two companions had the good sense to stop a short distance into the Settlement barrier. Far better not to risk provoking anyone.

Joining the others, I quickly updated them on the little we knew so far. Unsurprisingly, Hana seemed to know more than we did.

“They are Serpent-Kin,” Hana explained warily, “I have not heard of the Bleak-Fang tribe before, or of their kind willingly entering the swamplands...” She gave me a somewhat apologetic look, “This land is somewhat notorious Lord. Few that enter ever manage to leave.”

Given the number of ambush predators, I was not surprised, “What do you think they want?”

Hana shifted uncomfortably, “Well...If they truly are living out here in the swamp...It would explain why things have been so quiet...”

“What do you mean?” I asked warily.

Hana glanced briefly at Ushu and his two companions, “The Labyrinth concentrates the soulless against interlopers. So the reason there have been so few monsters around the settlement and even upon your arrival-”

“-Is because it was spawning most of the monsters to fight them instead?” I interrupted, guessing her train of thought and grimacing.

Hana nodded, “Even assuming that they managed to erect a barricade in a defensible position, the soulless would form inside beside them as well. Each night would bring more of the Labyrinth’s attention and increase the intensity of the soulless’ attacks until there is no one left.”

I was reminded of the mandatory quest and how much of a gruelling slog that had been. The prospect of reliving the experience every night was a tough pill to swallow. “So their tribe is probably seeking shelter?” I asked, strongly suspecting that would be the case.

Hana nodded.

“Well,” Nadine interjected, “That isn’t such a bad thing for us is it? So long as their tribe is willing to join your Settlement, we would have that many more hands to help out gathering food and protecting the place. For a space as large as this, twenty-five Daemons really wasn’t going to cut it. Even once Hana finishes with the briar wall and installing a gate, we will still need guards and a garrison.”

“This is true,” Hana agreed, “However, there may not be as many of them left as you think,” she stated pointedly to curb Nadine’s budding enthusiasm.

Nadine winced a little and nodded, “Right...” She agreed.

I motioned for Ushu to come join us.

Ushu waved his escorts down and approached alone, “Lord Tim,” he bowed and then repeated the gesture to Hana, albeit to a lesser degree of deference.

Not really sure how I should respond, I gave Ushu a nod in return since Speaker was probably a title that normally afforded respect. “What did you want to talk to me about?” I asked directly. The language barrier between us made exchanging pleasantries a waste of time anyway, so better to get on with it.

Ushu nodded gravely but seemed only too eager to be shifting focus to the heart of the matter. He took a deep breath to calm himself, “Lord Tim, Bleak-Fang iss in dessperate need! We are dying! Ssicknesss and ssoulesss sstalk our camp, death iss ssertain,” Ushu clasped his surprisingly long fingers together as if in prayer, “I beg, pleasse acssept our young and unhatched to sserve you!” He fell to his knees and prostrated himself on the ground, “For thiss we offer anything!”

Ushu’s escort had similarly prostrated themselves, “****** ****!” they hissed, sounding somehow both aggressive and pitiable at the same time.

Having expected Ushu to bargain for his whole tribe to be allowed sanctuary inside the barrier, I was a little thrown that he was offering me his tribe's future instead. I had honestly expected something like a none too subtle attempt at being made an Underlord or disposing of a rival. Feeling more than a little bad about my assumptions, I looked to Hana to see what her thoughts were on the subject.

Hana seemed deeply conflicted and so did Nadine. Meanwhile, Tobi and Clarice appeared to be glad they weren’t the ones being expected to make any decisions.

“Um,” Emelia fidgetted uncomfortably as I shifted my attention to her, she gulped hard and made a visible effort to look me in the eyes, “Why don’t we just take all of them?” Emelia asked timidly, “I mean, someone has to look after the kids right? And besides, it’s like Nadine said, we need more help.” Her cheeks flushed a little but she didn’t back down, “So I think we should take them all in!” Emelia insisted.

“M-me too!” Tobi agreed, tightly squeezing Emelia’s hand.

Clarice smirked and nodded, “Yeh, me too. A Lord needs subjects right?”

Nadine nodded in agreement as well, “We need all the help we can get at this point. You never know, the next group of strangers may not be so friendly.” She pointed out pragmatically.

“I support whatever you decide is best,” Hana stated, “However...Your minions have raised valid points.”

“Alright,” I agreed, “Ushu, I want to ask a few questions before making my final decision.”

“Anything!” Ushu grovelled, making me feel incredibly uncomfortable.

“Why are you and your people in this swamp if it is so dangerous?” I asked, trying not to sound as suspicious as I felt.

Ushu stiffened for a moment and cringed, “Exssiled Lord...” He replied bitterly, “Driven from the foresstss by Black-Maw raiderss...”

Hana looked somewhat shocked for a moment, then became incredibly angry.

“Fleeing our home, we had nowhere elsse to go. The Sspeaker before me, my masster Armu and our bravesst warriorss held them back ass I gathered thosse I could and fled...It wass another trap...We had no choice but to flee into the deathlands...” Ushu’s voice trembled, tears streaming from his eyes, “I beg, Lord, pleasse, ssave my peopless future...”

Judging by Hana’s reaction, I could assume the Black-Maw were bad news and the Bleak-Fang tribe probably hadn’t initiated the conflict. Even so, it would be all but guaranteeing the Black-Maw would be an enemy in the future. The fact that Ushu had only been bargaining for the children and unhatched eggs, innocents, was rather telling. Perhaps he was aware of the danger he would be bringing down on all of us if the adults were taken in? If that was true, then the Black-Maw must be a real threat. However, without the remaining adults to take care of the children, myself and the others would be forced into an incredibly unstable position ourselves. So really, this was an all or nothing deal to begin with and I had to decide if it was worth the risks.

On the one hand, Ushu had already admitted that they had sick tribe members, and we currently had no medicines to treat them with. Perhaps Hana could grow some medicinal herbs, but it was not a good idea to just assume that would fix the problem. Depending on their numbers, providing adequate shelter could prove similarly difficult. While it had not rained yet, the gathering storm clouds in the sky made it clear that it would very likely begin raining sometime in the next twenty-four hours. Without shelter, the condition of the sick and healthy alike would deteriorate and generate further illness.

On the other hand, I now felt responsible for them...Without my intervention, they would almost certainly die. Whether it is from the ravages of disease and fever or the hungry jaws of wild monsters. Saving the children would be a hollow victory if it meant raising an entire generation of traumatised orphans.

I had reached my decision, “All of you,” I stated clearly, “That is my counter offer Ushu. Young, old, sick, healthy, doesn’t matter. All of you will join my Settlement, or none of you will.” It probably came across as more callous than I intended, but there was not a lot I could really do about that. I wanted to make my position clear. I am willing to give them shelter, but I need help in exchange.

Ushu gulped hard, fresh tears streaming down his cheeks, “Lord! On behalf of my people, I sswear loyalty and sservice to your will!”

Still noticeably upset, Hana materialised her emerald aura and placed her hand on Ushu’s head.

[Settlement Alert {Tim’s Settlement}: {Ushu - Serpent-Kin} was recruited by {Overseer Hana} as an Underlord.]

Expecting the status alert, I was surprised to see that Hana had decided to recruit Ushu at a higher rank than minion. The Underlord rank was the bridging gap between my own rank as Lord and minion, while Hana’s position as Overseer was unique and occupied only a slightly lower authority than my own. The primary benefit at the moment was an increased effect received from the Settlement Totem. In the event that Ushu was injured, he would heal faster from the Iron Gut effect than if he was just a minion. If the number of minions in the Settlement grew high enough, Ushu would be able to issue quests as well. Annoyingly, that number was five times less than it was for me. Depending on how many of his fellow tribesmen survived, Ushu would be my Settlement’s first quest giver.

“Where are the rest of our people?” I asked Ushu, pulling him to his feet.

Ushu took a moment to collect himself and let out a deep sigh. An aura similar to Hana’s faintly formed around him, only far fainter and a pale shade of grey rather than emerald. Even though his eyes now appeared clouded as if by advanced cataracts, Ushu pointed back into the swamp in the rough direction we had returned from, although slightly further ‘south’.

That was one of the weird things I noticed after interacting with the Totem. I now knew with absolute certainty where I was in relation to my Settlement and what the Labyrinth had determined to be true north.

Hana nodded in agreement, still cloaked in her own emerald aura, “I can sense a faint ward,” she explained, “If they hurry, they might make it through the barrier before nightfall.”

“Best we help out as much as possible then,” I decided, “Hana, do you think you could make this sled bigger? Make some railings or walls around the edge?”

Hana gnawed at her lip and nodded a little reluctantly. At her direction, new roots erupted from the ground and began twining themselves into the existing framework of the sled, increasing the surface area slightly while also forming a three-foot tall lattice railing around the edges of the sled.

“We should probably bring more of them,” Nadine suggested, “The sick and wounded probably won’t have the strength to keep up otherwise.”

Without saying a word, Hana began weaving a small stack of sleds one on top of the other. Bearing a striking resemblance to storage pallets, the sleds had three thick runners underneath the robust woven floor and a shallow half foot tall rim around the edges. Since they were woven from tree roots, there were plenty of anchoring points to tie on ropes, but we were starting to run short on that.

“I don’t suppose you could make some rope?” I asked Hana, feeling a little bad for relying on her so much.

Contrary to my feelings, Hana smirked a little and began wiggling the fingers of her right hand, causing the nearby swamp grass to begin growing and coiling into thin lengths of cord. Twirling her left hand, Hana caused the braided cords to form into thick lengths of rope. Within a couple of minutes, she had managed to make more than enough rope to suit our needs and more besides.

Now I kind of feel like an idiot for not asking Hana to make some clothes for the Daemonlings...even if it was just some diaper loincloths or something, it would be better than what I managed to make.

“We should probably leave Clarice free to scout ahead and support,” I suggested, testing the weight of the stacked sleds.

Clarice grinned, “Fine by me!” She agreed excitedly.

“So with Emelia riding Beaky, we can probably get away with myself, Ushu and Toofy riding in the sled,” Nadine suggested thoughtfully, “So long as Tobi and Shady are fine making the trip on foot, we should probably be able to travel reasonably quickly assuming Clarice does a good job keeping the monsters off of us.”

“Just wait!” Clarice jeered, “I’m gonna show you what Thunder and I can do!”

Nadine didn’t look convinced.

I sighed, “It may have been just a lucky hit earlier, but she is pretty good,” I admitted.

Nadine didn’t seem to find that any more reassuring.

“Lord?” Ushu asked timidly, “Are we not bringing Zecis and Hraga with uss?” He asked, now speaking the same language as the rest of us as if born to it, yet still lingering on the s sound.

Glancing briefly at the two serpent-kin in question, I could tell that they were close to exhausted already. Just the brief respite they have had here in the Settlement was enough for their accumulated fatigue to nearly overwhelm them. “I do not think that they are in any condition to fight,” I stated tactfully, “And we would make better time with less weight.”

Ushu deflated somewhat and nodded, hurriedly walking over to his companions to inform them of the decision to leave them behind.

“And someone needs to stay with Hana and the Daemonlings,” Nadine added diplomatically.

Hana nodded, “There is still a lot I need to get done,” her expression soured a little, “Even more now,” Hana groaned, likely having realised all the refugees we would be bringing back needed somewhere to sleep.

After giving Nadine a couple of minutes to grab some supplies and for the others to pull on their armour, we were now ready to set off into the swamp.

*****

Watching the Overseer hastily erect large domed shelters from the hundreds of thousands of interlocking roots spanning the territory of the Settlement, Gric was a little annoyed that he was given no change in orders. Worse still, that Serpent-Kin, Ushu, had been recruited directly as an Underlord. That thought did not sit well with Gric, nor with his hatchmates Qreet and Dar. Both of them were in agreement that Gric should have been next in line for a promotion, shortly followed by themselves, of course. To their collective reckoning, Ushu was a distant fourth at best, perhaps even fifth.

Even though the Goblin Toofy held no official rank, it was obvious that she held a position of authority close to that of the Overseer. If she had been promoted to Underlord, Gric would have been able to accept that. At least Toofy had earned it! She was the first of them all, even preceding the Overseer, Gric had overheard one of the Lord’s human minions conversing with the Overseer and confirmed as much.

Boring his clawed hand through the eye socket of the dead Swamp Lurker, Gric rooted about in its brain until his claws made contact with the mana stone and ripped it out. Seeing little point in cleaning it, and that it would waste precious nutrients, Gric gulped it down as is and appreciatively licked his hand clean.

Feeling the sudden rush of mana within, he eyed the Swamp Lurker corpse hungrily. Different from his normal hunger, Gric was driven by a need to become stronger and there was still much he could gain from the body of the Swamp Lurker. What he needed most right now, was strength from larger and more powerful tendons and muscles, and the Swamp Lurker would give Gric both of these.

Baring his teeth hungrily, gric rolled the Swamp Lurker over and onto its back. Qreet and Dar had both taken their allowed manastones as well and were filled with the same hunger. Latching his jaws onto the hole in the Swamp Lurker’s underbelly, Gric viciously tore at the scaly hide and meat underneath. As Leader, he was expected to be strong enough to lead the others in everything that they did, which meant clearing a way for them if needs be.

Ripping the Swamp Lurker’s guts wide open, Gric grinned triumphantly around the large chunk of meat in his mouth as he motioned for the others to eat. Qreet and Dar grinned eagerly in return before setting upon the breach themselves.

Struggling to swallow the Swamp Lurker meat, Gric decided to adapt some of the Swamp Moccasin’s physiology next, after all, the faster he could eat, the faster he would grow stronger. Recalling that there was still some of the cooked meat left in the storage room, Gric prematurely halted his adaptation and growled for the others to do the same.

Qreet and Dar obediently stopped their feasting and waited to see what was required of them.

Gric pointed back to the Grove and motioned for them to follow. The Swamp Lurker’s corpse was far too large for them to carry easily, so instead he waved at them to leave it, they would just return later.

Roughly dividing the remaining meat between them, Gric pantomimed eating a piece of large meat and gulping it down, pointing at his throat as he repeated the motion and then back to the Swamp Moccasin meat. As the leader, Gric felt he had given them the best advice he could to accelerate their growth, and hungrily wolfed down the roasted meat.

The moment the delicious mass of proteins reached his stomach, Gric began instinctively guiding his growth towards what he wanted. The pain blossoming in his throat brought a smile to Gric’s upper lip, the pain meant he was becoming stronger. This latest spurt of growth would delay developing speech somewhat, but it was a worthwhile exchange. As near as Gric could tell, the Lord already had a powerful enemy and gained another in accepting Ushu’s tribe under his benevolent and just rule. The Lord did not require Gric to be able to speak right now, what he needed was powerful lieutenants. And that was a role Gric and to a slightly lesser extent, Qreet and Dar, were bred for.

With the pain abating, Gric sighed wistfully and began counting down until the next time he would be allowed to consume another manastone. The Lord, in his infinite wisdom and benevolence, had given them a far more gruelling and equally rewarding training regimen than the Daemonlings could hope for. In warring against his primal nature, Gric had already managed to improve his Willpower stat twice. Muscles and Bone were easy for the Daemonlings to develop, the mind was far more complicated and difficult.

Leading his hatchmates back to the Swamp Lurker, Gric felt more than ready to indulge his more mundane but nonetheless intense hunger. The manastone had increased his rank and Gric had more growing to do.

*****

Staring at the sprawling camp of the Bleak-Fang tribe, or what remained of them, I realised just how badly I had underestimated how many people we were coming to rescue. In my mind, I had envisioned the tribe of Serpent-Kin originally numbering in the hundreds at most. Then, after factoring in a gruelling battle that would cost them close to half their number and a hellish rate of attrition for spending who knows how long in the swamp, I had expected perhaps a hundred people at absolute most.

As it turns out, I was half right. There were only about one hundred Bleak-Fang tribesmen adults still alive. However, nestled deep in the middle of their encampment, there were as many children.

At first, the sheer number of surviving children had not made much sense to me, but then I remembered Ushu’s initial request. Ushu’s insistence on taking in the Bleak-Fang tribe’s future, the implied sacrifices they must have made to keep so many of them alive in spite of the ever-present danger. However, the haunted look in the children’s eyes made it clear that the sacrifices of their parents was not always enough.

Leaving Ushu to organise his people, I did my best to try and exude an aura of confidence and reliability. This was rather difficult because I didn’t feel particularly confident in protecting nearly so many people. Most of the children were being directed to the sleds, primarily those who were smaller or notably weak. However, one sled was reserved and occupied by some of the older children and a very large ironbound chest. Easily half the size of the sled, it took me a moment to figure out what must be inside. The literal incarnation of the Bleak-Fang’s next generation, the otherwise vulnerable and unaccounted for eggs.

The more I thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense. With wild monsters capable of spawning in amongst your defences, a sturdy reinforced chest had probably been the safest place in the entire encampment.

The surviving members of the Bleak-Fang tribe had few personal possessions, so it did not take long for Ushu to quickly organise them for travel. It was a rather grim reminder that they were refugees, not settlers. Every adult was armed with makeshift clubs, spears and hammers, most of them were of questionable quality. It was obvious that they had been in desperate straights and made weapons of anything and everything they could lay their hands on. I was pretty sure I even saw one woman holding a very human-looking femur.

All told it took a half-hour before the refugee train was on the move. The seven of us were interspersed throughout the column, with Clarice and Tobi roving up and down the sides of the formation to keep an eye on things and assist the Bleak-Fang when they were attacked.

Partly to demonstrate my commitment to their people, partly because there was nothing else I could really do to be useful, I was pulling the sled carrying the older children and ironbound chest I assumed was storing the remaining eggs of their tribe. Ushu had tried insisting that some of the healthier tribesmen would do it, but I had refused. After pulling the sled for close to an hour, I was glad that I had stood my ground, so to speak, the sled was quite heavy.

Toofy had started the trip on my shoulder but had since migrated to the sled itself and was pestering the teens with all sorts of questions. At first, they had tried ignoring her. However, after a while, a couple of the girls warmed up to her and began asking questions about the Settlement and the remaining boys joined the conversation as well.

Listening to the nervous teenagers discuss the promised safety of the Settlement and the horrors of what they were leaving behind...It was heartbreaking. The tribe had spent a week fleeing through the forest to the east, the warriors of the Black-Maw tribe nipping at their heels. During a third and final bitter stand, the Bleak-Fang hastily constructed rafts and fled westward across ‘The Great River’. A river so wide that it had taken a full day to cross it. After all that, they had spent five full days in the swamp awaiting the deliverance Speaker Ushu had promised was coming. The tribe had very nearly been annihilated, roughly nine in ten adults had died during the initial ambushes, later fighting stalling actions to allow others to escape, and finally desperately fighting the wild monsters of the swamplands.

A death toll like that was almost impossible to get my head around. For the Bleak’Fang to have such absolute faith in Ushu, a teenager by appearances and temperament, I wasn’t sure if it was because of desperation or faith. The teenagers guarding the egg chest seemed convinced that Ushu had known I was coming, and that was unsettling. Did this world really have people who could see the future? If it did, what did that mean for free will? I couldn’t think of a satisfying answer and resolved to confront Ushu about it later.

Somewhat disappointed, and glad for it, attacks by wild monsters against the column had been few and far between. For the most part, Clarice had been able to intervene before anyone was badly hurt, and in those instances where she hadn’t. Nadine had been able to stabilize their injuries.

When the Settlement had finally come into view ahead, it had an immediate invigorating effect on the Bleak-Fang and they began hurrying forward with renewed strength and vitality. It was for the best too. I had been experiencing a mounting sense of dread that had only grown worse as the day wore on.

I just felt like something was about to happen. To be proven wrong and cross over the barrier into the Settlement was an immense relief. Even more so when I saw how busy Hana had been in our absence.

The mostly flat and open ground had changed into rolling hills of gnarled roots that formed ‘natural’ caves. Well, Hana’s solution may not be as elegant as the tree fort, but at least it looked like there would be enough housing for the refugees. Considering Hana had no advance warning of how many refugees to expect, she had done a truly impressive job and still somehow found time to shape an impressive fountain a short distance from the entrance to the Grove.

The fountain was less than a half-foot deep but was easily more than a hundred feet in diameter. It had a number of smaller spouts of water ringing the periphery and driving water towards the raised roots of a large tree in the centre. The large tree had a myriad of luminescent fungi sprouting from its trunk shedding faint golden light over the rippling water.

Many of the Serpent-Kin had already begun making their way over to the fountain for drinking water and were surprised by how clean it was. The fact that they had very likely been resorting to drinking boiled swamp water was probably why so many had become sick.

“Tim?” Nadine stepped up beside me and began vigorously washing her hands with water from the fountain.

“Yes?” I replied a little anxiously, guessing that this would be something important.

“Some of the Serpent-Kin are really sick and...I don’t know what to do. I know you talked about managing fever and things like that before, but not what we should do when it gets this bad,” Nadine explained, taking my arm and pulling me towards one of the root-formed barrows.

Even though Hana had made the insides of the barrow quite large, I still had to crouch down a little to clear the entrance. Similar to the fountain, there were smaller luminescent fungi growing in small alcoves around the periphery of the burrow. Less well illuminated than what was possible with an electrical light source, it still did a rather impressive job.

Thirteen Serpent-folk men and women were laid out on the thick moss floor. Evidently in pain, suffering from intense fever and rattling coughing fits, I strongly suspected that advanced treatment would be all but impossible. Even though dawnmoss had antibacterial properties, it was toxic if ingested directly. But antibiotics were exactly what was needed. “Could you go find Hana?” I asked Nadine warily, “We are going to need much more dawnmoss for the next few weeks at least.”

Nadine raised an eyebrow at me curiously but quickly hurried off.

Carefully taking a closer look at one of the sick tribesmen, I held in a weary sigh. It could be much worse. Legionnaires' disease was potentially fatal, but there was still a good chance that most of them would survive just by having access to clean drinking water. However, it was very likely that more people were sick but hadn’t progressed this far yet. So it was important to try and figure out what our options were before leaving it to chance.

After a short while, Nadine returned with Hana in tow.

“You asked for me, Lord?” Hana asked a little eagerly.

I nodded and left the barrow, motioning for both of them to follow me outside. “Is there a limit to what you can grow?” I asked rather bluntly, “I mean, can you change what a plant is? Or do you just alter its shape?”

Hana paused to think for a moment and glanced towards the burrow of sick tribesmen, “You want me to try and grow medicine?” She asked warily, dodging the question.

“Yes,” I agreed, “Dawnmoss already has antibacterial properties, but the problem is-”

“-Everything else,” Hana interrupted, nodding with understanding, “I can...” She admitted hesitantly, “But it is very complicated and takes a great deal of trial and error...”

“Well, that’s about what I expected,” I admitted, still feeling a little disappointed, “I don’t suppose wild garlic grows around here?” I asked somewhat hopefully.

“Not that I have seen,” Clarice replied, but became thoughtful for a moment, “I think Tobi has some cloves of garlic for keeping his boots clean,” she added helpfully.

I grinned, “Go find Tobi, we need that garlic!” I insisted, feeling much better. Short of having actual medical grade antibiotics, garlic was probably the best we would be able to manage for a proactive treatment regimen. Like dawnmoss, garlic was another plant with antibacterial properties, but thankfully in this case, it was edible and non-toxic.

Fortunately, Tobi did in fact have a few unspoiled cloves of garlic in a small pouch in his pack. Within minutes, Hana created a sprawling field of garlic and was working on growing more. Even though she was unfamiliar with the plant, she seemed to have little problem in accelerating its growth, splitting the cloves apart and repeating the process over and over again. As impressive as industrial farming was on Earth, I don’t think it really held up against the capabilities of a motivated Arch Druid.

“I want everyone to eat at least one raw well-chewed or diced clove of garlic before bed,” I told Ushu, “It will help with fighting off the swamp sickness. It will probably cause indigestion but that is far more preferable than the alternative. Also, make sure everyone washes their hands regularly with dawnmoss sap to avoid spreading the sickness. Everything will need to be thoroughly cleaned over the next few days, but things are looking up,” I advised encouragingly.

Ushu bowed in deference and raced off to spread the word, leaving myself and the others to speak more privately.

“Will it really help?” Nadine asked anxiously.

I nodded, “If I diagnosed the infection correctly, then it should help them fight it off. It should also help those with much milder symptoms recover quicker as well,” I sighed and grinned a little, “It is very lucky that Tobi had those cloves of garlic for his foot fungus.”

Tobi blushed self consciously but Emelia seemed quite proud of him and so he was not particularly upset.

“But why garlic?” Nadine asked curiously, “I thought it was just something for making other foods taste better.”

“Well, it is,” I agreed, grinning a little wider, “But it also has a special chemical that makes it useful for helping fight off certain bacteria and fungi. That is assuming you don’t cook it too much.”

“Rather deal with garlic breath than getting sick,” Clarice agreed appreciatively, “But feeding so many people is going to get really tricky.”

“Hana could make more fishing ponds?” Tobi suggested helpfully.

Hana shook her head, “I could, but that would only divide the number of ‘fish’ between them. The Labyrinth has limits on the number of soulless of a certain type within a certain area,” she explained confidently.

“Is there perhaps another food you could grow inside the Settlement to supplement our diet?” Nadine asked, “Like maybe berries or some sort of tuber?”

“I think I saw some of the kids eating stuff like that,” Emelia added helpfully.

Hana shifted uncomfortably, “I could...” She agreed reluctantly, “But there is only so much I can do and the soil will need fresh nutrients...” Hana really did not seem to like the idea, but I suspected I knew the real reason why.

“Have you considered teaching some of the Bleak-Fang to become Druids?” I asked Hana rather bluntly.

Hana seemed stunned, “W-what?!” She demanded incredulously.

“Well, assuming you can teach a few of them the Druid class, you would have that many more helpers,” I explained.

“Can she even do that?” Clarice asked dubiously, “No offence, but before Hana joined, I didn’t even know Druid was a class.”

Nadine nodded in agreement, “Are we sure it isn’t a class restricted to Dryads? No offence Hana.”

Hana grinned, “It kind of is,” she agreed grinning wider, “But not like you think. You just need to be able to sense the plants around you like I can.” Hana was practically trembling with excitement at the prospect of drafting so many of the Serpent-Kin into service to complete the Settlement.

“Before you go too crazy,” I waved for Hana to calm down, “It would probably be a good idea if we knew more about what classes the Bleak-Fang already have and decide on a more balanced approach,” I insisted.

Hana settled down a little and nodded, but it was clear that she was doing some quickfire calculations in her head as she left to find the Bleak-Fang Speaker.

“I didn’t think you were that eager for your date,” Clarice leered suggestively.

“A necessary sacrifice,” I sighed wryly.

Tobi snickered quietly, likely enjoying the fact that I was receiving my comeuppance for publicly outing his foot fungus.

Emelia was similarly amused but said nothing.

“I don’t see what is so wrong with it,” Nadine insisted icily, “Besides, you could hardly say she still looks like a kid.”

After a few minutes, Hana returned with Ushu in tow.

“Tell him,” Hana insisted eagerly.

Looking a little confused, Ushu bowed, “Uh, my Lord. Your Oversseer requested that I inform you of the classsess amongst our warriors...erm, well...I am ssorry Lord, but bessidess mysself and my apprentissess, there are no others who have unlocked a classs.”

Hana grinned with wolfish glee.

“Hang on,” Nadine rested a restraining hand on Hana’s shoulder, “We should really think things through before teaching people classes willy nilly. Besides, we don’t know what Ushu’s class is yet.”

“Shaman,” Hana replied quickly, evidently quite prepared for this eventuality, “It’s a basic class that allows them to sense and manipulate mana. Just about every village and tribe has them.”

“Clearly they need strong fighters to start bringing in food!” Clarice insisted, eagerly joining the conversation, “I could teach them!”

“Hang on!” Nadine growled, “They need healers too!”

“And Druids!” Hana agreed eagerly.

Ushu seemed at a loss for a few moments before realising what was going on, “You will teach uss classsess?” The shaken teenager gasped in astonishment.

“Uh, yeah?” Clarice replied uncertainly.

“Really?!” Ushu exclaimed, more than a little shocked.

Nadine and Clarice shared an awkward glance with one another.

“Monsters don’t normally get to ‘learn’ classes,” Hana pointed out a little smugly.

Ushu nodded in agreement.

Feeling another argument coming on, I raised my hand for silence. “Look, we can sort out who will learn what classes tomorrow. It’s been a long day for us, but it has been far worse for them. We will need warriors, healers and Druids to make it through the next few days. To say nothing of somehow feeding two hundred or so people. We will decide on the specifics tomorrow morning,” I insisted with finality, making my retreat and heading for the fishing pond to check on the Daemonlings.

Hana had really not been joking when she said the Daemons would unquestioningly follow orders. Apparently, it even extended to the necessary steps to fulfil those same orders.

While Gric tended a large fire with an alarmingly impressive array of skewered fish, Qreet and Dar patrolled the edge of the pond with thin barbed spears fashioned from bone and branches.

As it turned out, baiting the carnivorous fish was far easier and less dangerous than I would have expected. Qreet and Dar would simply splash the edge of the water with their spears until a fish came to investigate, then one of them would spear the fish and wait for a second fish to be drawn by the distress of the first. The duo would repeat this process over and over again, grinning all the while and occasionally grunting or growling at one another encouragingly.

Having seen me coming, Gric stood up from his position by the fire and motioned to the large baskets of roasted fish. In the time since I last saw him and the others, Gric had grown well over four feet tall and taken on rather substantial amounts of muscle as well as growing a small crocodilian tail. Gric’s neck seemed to have gotten slightly longer and thicker to the proportions of his body as well.

“We...do....good?” Gric rumbled, struggling to form the words, garnering the immediate attention of Qreet and Dar, who were now headed over as well.

Dar had grown and was very similar to Gric, except he lacked the powerful lower jaw and instead had more robust claws and a thicker tail.

Qreet was far more different than either of them, now standing a full head taller with a long sinewy neck, arms, legs and tail. Her head had slightly elongated as well and looked suspiciously serpentine.

Evidently, all three Daemons were taking their personal development very seriously and altering themselves at every opportunity.

“You have all done very well,” I praised and was pleasantly surprised as the trio growled, hissed and grunted at one another with pleased expressions on their faces, or as near as I could tell anyway. “There are far more people joining the Settlement than I expected, so I will be relying on you three to keep up the good work alright? I might need you to show them how to fish too.”

Gric nodded and the other two Daemonlings did the same.

“Hana will probably begin sending people over for food, be nice alright?” I encouraged them.

The trio of Daemonlings nodded in near-perfect unison before returning to their tasks.

In much better spirits now that I knew everyone was not going to immediately starve to death or die of complications from eating too much garlic, I began looking around for Toofy. Rather surprisingly, she was still where I had last left her, chatting away with her new friends. More than happy to see she was enjoying having more people to talk to, I gave her a small smile and wave before heading back to the Grove.

“-so we are agreed?” Nadine insisted, “Those with high Intelligence are to be trained as Surgeons-”

“-Those with high Willpower I will train to be Druids!” Hana agreed enthusiastically as she interrupted Nadine.

“And I get to train the rest!” Clarice agreed, rubbing her hands together excitedly.

The trio of schemers were sitting on the stairs to the tree fort and hadn’t seen me coming apparently. “You aren’t forcing anyone to do something they don’t want to do!” I stated flatly, “Just to be clear.”

Clarice and Nadine jumped a little in surprise, but Hana remained calm, likely having already known I was there.

“Of course!” Nadine agreed guiltily, “I just meant those who volunteered...”

“Yeah!” Clarice agreed shamelessly, “But let’s be serious, who wouldn't want to learn how to be a Grappling Pugilist? Brutal Momentum is awesome!”

I sighed and shook my head, Clarice was right, sort of. Any class was better than none. Shaking my head disappointedly I began heading upstairs to go to bed.

“Uh, you probably don’t want to go up there right now,” Nadine called out nervously.

Clarice grinned and chuckled.

I frowned and was about to ask what they meant when I heard the muffled moans coming from higher up the tree. Slowly walking back down the stairs, I turned my attention to Hana, “We need doors,” I insisted before leaving the Grove to find something else to do.

I returned to join Gric by his cooking fire. Eating a small meal of roasted fish, I watched the trio of Daemons go about their tasks. They each took a great deal of pride in what they were doing and genuinely seemed to enjoy it. After having a rather slow conversation with Gric, I think I figured out why. In the same way that the enslavement commands stimulated the pain centre in the brain, Daemons seemed to receive stimulation to the pleasure centre of their brain when following orders. It would definitely explain Hana’s insistence that they would follow an order that would otherwise kill them.

Somehow, I found that more unsettling than forcing obedience through pain.

In the end, I settled down and decided to sleep by the fire rather than waiting to sleep in my room.

Waking up early, I was a little surprised to see the three Daemons were already up and about. More surprisingly, they were not alone. A small horde of Serpent-Kin children were patrolling the edge of the water of the large pond with fishing spears of their own. They were not alone either, escorted by a few very anxious-looking adults. Not all of the children were fishing, some of them were cleaning fish and tending fires. All of this was taking place under the direct supervision of Gric, Qreet, and Dar and they appeared to be rotating children through the different jobs at regular intervals.

This was not exactly what I had in mind when I brought up the issue last night, but I couldn’t really argue with the Daemons results either. Fishing like this was going to be an important skill for these kids and adults to learn. I briefly considered joining them, but the number of fish seemed to be growing thin already. Considering the size of the pond, it was already rather impressive and a little terrifying that there had been so many of the eyeless piranha in it. Maybe Hana had dug a water well beneath it? Staring at the water, I could just about make out what appeared to be a web of thick roots below the water, but that was hardly conclusive.

With the smell of roasted garlic and fish heavy in the air, I wandered off to look for Toofy. I was a little disappointed when I found her a short while later already eating breakfast with her new friends. Feeling the familiar sting of rejection, I decided against confronting her, Toofy deserved friends around her own age. Besides, I had been wanting her to get more socialized and this was the best opportunity for it.

Wandering over to the Grove, I found Ushu and a rather large gathering of the healthier Serpent-Kin excitedly milling about a short distance from the entrance. Upon seeing me, the crowd quickly fell to their knees and prostrated themselves in deference as if I were some kind of god.

Nope, not having that...

“Please stand,” I insisted, trying to keep the discomfort from my tone so they wouldn’t do anything drastic.

Looking a little confused, the gathered Serpent-Kin cautiously got back to their feet. Dressed mostly in roughspun sarong-like wrapped cloth around their waist and another around their chest in the case of the women, it was painfully obvious that they were all in desperate need of food. Even though their bone structure seemed a little more refined and slight than that of a human, I was fairly confident that protruding ribs and sunken eyes were a rather universal indicator of starvation.

“Lord!” Ushu bowed low at the waist, despite having prostrated himself just a few moments earlier. Free of his bulky bone armour, he was noticeably healthier than the surrounding adults, just like most of the other children.

“Is there something that you wanted?” I asked, trying not to feel intimidated by the intense expressions of gratitude and expectation practically radiating from the gathered Serpent-Kin.

Ushu straightened and smiled nervously, “Lord, I have gathered our sstrongest and most capable tribess men and women to be judged for their worthinesss to be besstowed a classs!” Despite his nervousness, he was still very excited.

Consisting of both men and women in their early twenties to late thirties, the Serpent-Kin tribesmen were just as excited as Ushu. I wondered if humans were like this outside of the Labyrinth’s. The general impressions I had gotten from speaking with Nadine and the others was that only the Guilds and military had access to learning the classes. It made sense that ‘commoners’ would become excited to be offered such tangible increases in capabilities that were previously denied to them.

I nodded and glanced towards the empty yard of the Grove, “Did Nadine or Hana explain how they would be selecting students?” I asked somewhat warily, afraid that I already knew the answer.

Ushu looked a little embarrassed, “I am not ssure Lord. I was ssent to sspread word amongsst m-your people. When I returned, I found that they had retired for the evening...”

I sighed and took a moment to rub my neck, “Alright..” I took a moment to consider my options and decided that being more proactive was probably a better idea. “Okay, there are a few different classes that I think we will be able to teach you,” I began explaining, “But I want to be clear that I will not force anyone to train in a class that they do not want, even if your stats would fit one class better than another. Is that understood?”

“Yess Lord!” Ushu and the tribesmen all replied with excited deference.

I spent a few minutes roughly explaining what the different classes were capable of and how I thought they would be useful to the Settlement, taking particular care not to overemphasise any one of them over the others. It was a little tricky because strictly speaking, I didn’t know how Hana’s Druid class abilities actually work.

Under Ushu’s guidance, the volunteers divided into three different groups according to their preference. To my surprise, most wanted to be trained in fist fighting and wrestling techniques for close combat. Given the current food shortage and what they must have been through, I should have known better. Of the twenty volunteers, only three wanted to try and become Druids, and four to become Surgeons.

Since basic first aid was important for everyone to know anyway, I decided to start with that. Everything went fine for the most part, despite the Serpent-Kin being initially hesitant to ask questions. The first real problem arose from trying to practice CPR. While the muscles and tendons of a Serpent-Kin’s jaw would keep their large mouth shut more or less on their own. The problem was that their mouths were not able to form an effective seal due to small gaps, so trying to force fresh air into another Serpent-Kin’s mouth was all but impossible. This was not a big problem for training purposes, but it could be in a life or death situation where someone's life hung in the balance.

A couple of the more eager volunteers even attempted opening their mouths to full distension to try and form a seal that way, but it just raised another problem. Serpent-Kin had a large pair of retractable fangs on their upper mandible and behind their front row of teeth. It seemed to share a group of tendons related to opening and closing their mouths, so it was impossible for the volunteers to open their mouth past a certain point without their fangs being deployed as well. To make things worse, they were venomous and not immune to their own venom, just ‘resistant’. The venom was explained to cause muscle weakness or even paralysis, depending on the hardiness of those afflicted.

Armed with this new knowledge, I made a mental note to steer clear of their mouths from now on if I could help it.

“Hey!” Clarice practically leapt down the remaining dozen steps, “Are these my new recruits?!” She asked excitedly while squaring off against one of the larger male Serpent-Kin.

“Some are,” I agreed, feeling a little amused, “I was just teaching them basic first aid.”

“Like how to bandage and stuff?” Clarice asked distractedly.

“Pretty much,” I agreed, unwilling to debate the details since that was probably what she wanted.

Clarice’s attention flickered towards me for a split second before returning to the volunteers, confirming my suspicions. “Well, now that you have taught them that boring stuff, it’s time I showed them some of my awesome moves!” She boasted, flexing her biceps and then punching the air a few times in an old-timey bare-knuckle boxing stance. “You will probably want those Surgeons ready soon too,” Clarice grinned like a predator as she brazenly sized up the volunteers, “Brawling probably costs some HP to guarantee the unlock.”

To their credit, no one who volunteered for learning classes from Clarice showed signs of being intimidated, a few even grinned back at her in an open challenge.

This only made Clarice more excited, “Okay! Everyone who wants to learn how to fight! Follow me!” She pushed her way through the crowd and headed off towards the southern side of the Settlement where there were still open areas of relatively soft soil.

“HEY!” Hana shouted, effortlessly keeping her balance as she sprinted down the stairs, “You better not be running off with my Druids!”

Clarice didn’t even bother looking back, walking off with her thirteen trainees.

“Ah, no, great Oversseer these humble volunteerss dessire to learn the Druid classs,” Ushu explained placatingly, gesturing to the trio of volunteers.

“Oversseer,” the tribesmen bowed respectfully.

Hana seemed disappointed, “Only three?”

I shrugged apologetically, “There will be the chance to teach others the class later. It is probably for the best that we aren’t trying to teach everyone at the same time. Securing food is going to be a big enough challenge as it is. So many of the first volunteers becoming fighters should mean that you will have a better chance at teaching a larger group next time,” I suggested placatingly.

“I...I guess so,” Hana agreed reluctantly. “Alright! You three will be my first disciples! Don’t let me down!” She passionately motioned for them to follow her as she headed off towards the garlic field.

Unlike the other two, Nadine took her time walking down the stairs and tying her hair back into its usual ponytail. “Four volunteers? I hadn’t expected so many,” she mused happily, “Uh, right, how are we going to do this?” Nadine asked curiously.

“Do what?” I didn’t quite understand what she meant.

“Are we going to teach two each or?...” Nadine shrugged, making it clear that she wanted me to decide.

“Hrm, well, I have already gone through basic first aid with them. So, how about you help them practice the suturing techniques on some spare cloth, and afterwards I will try and bridge the remaining basics,” I offered.

Nadine grinned and nodded, “Alright, I’ll just go grab something to eat first. That fish smells incredible!”

Garlic as a primary seasoning wasn’t really my thing, but it definitely won out against the lack of alternatives.

A few minutes later, Nadine returned and began teaching.

It was a unique experience to listen to the same lessons told from someone else's perspective and experiences. Which, to be fair, our experiences were very different. Nadine began retelling her first-hand experiences with triage, which differed greatly from how I had initially tried to prepare her for it.

“-You can’t afford to stop. Even when your arms are caked in blood and your patient is screaming in agony, you just need to buckle down and do what needs doing.” Nadine stared meaningfully into each of the Serpent-Kins eyes before moving on, “Every second matters, every decision you will make matters. If you freeze or hesitate, people will die.”

Nadine didn’t sugarcoat it and proceeded to give a brutal retelling of her own personal experiences defending the foothold. Specifically, how she was not able to save three patients and why they had died.

“-I...I didn’t tie the tourniquet off tight enough, the knots slipped and she bled out on the table before the magic had a chance to take hold. It was a stupid mistake. I was tired, hungry and suffering from mana exhaustion, but that mistake could have been avoided if I had conscripted help,” Nadine’s mood had soured and she glanced guiltily at me for a second before looking away, “I should have asked for help sooner!” She insisted adamantly, “Just because I was a Surgeon and had a healing ability, I thought I needed to do everything on my own...and Susan died for my mistake...”

After recounting her experiences, Nadine demonstrated how to suture a wound and then set her students to work. Thread, cloth and needles were all sparse, so they would not have much opportunity to practice further unless Hana and her Druids were able to make more supplies.

Sending Nadine’s students off to lunch, I knew that I should say something to Nadine, but I wasn’t really sure what.

“I don’t blame myself,” Nadine stated, clearly guessing what was on my mind, “I mean I do blame myself, it was a stupid mistake, But it doesn’t haunt me, not like you are probably thinking anyway.” She sat down on the steps beside me and sighed, “I have thought about this a lot Tim. I was just one person, one person doing the work of five or more. I did the best I could and I learned that sometimes...sometimes I am not going to be good enough and people will die...” Nadine’s voice was trembling slightly and her hands had begun to shake and all at once it was like a dam burst inside of her, “I should have listened to you...You said that I would need extra help...but I was doing so well and...and Susan died because of me...” Her eyes grew unfocused and the shaking in her hands intensified.

“Nadine!” I took her hands in mine and tried to draw her focus.

Nadine stared at me uncomprehendingly for a few moments before shaking her head, “I know it isn't my fault but...I just...I keep thinking about her, about them, what I could have done differently, how they could have survived, how they would be alive right now...”

“I know,” I gave her hands a reassuring squeeze, “You did your best. Sometimes that won’t be enough. There have been people far more qualified in far more controlled conditions who have done far worse. I think you are grossly underestimating just how well you performed under the circumstances and with so little training...” I shook my head and snorted a little derisively, after all, I was the one who should have trained her better. “How many people are alive because of what you did? How many people did you manage to save in spite of all of the odds stacked against you? Susan died because she was viciously attacked and wounded, not because you didn’t save her...We can’t save everyone...” I tried to keep my voice steady as unwanted memories began surfacing and clamouring for attention.

“I...” Nadine’s expression softened and she smiled weakly, “Thanks Tim, I guess...I just needed to hear someone else say it,” she rubbed at the corners of her eyes, “Absolving myself of sin just made me doubt myself even more, you know?”

I nodded, “I know. Whenever you need to talk, just come find me, alright? It’s better not to just bottle it up inside.”

Nadine nodded and sighed a little despondently, “I still wish that I could have saved them though...”

“I know,” I agreed supportively.

A long silence passed between us.

“Tim?” Nadine asked somewhat timidly.

“Mmm?” I noticed a subtle change in her mood and could tell something else was bothering her.

“You really need to talk to Hana,” Nadine explained slowly, “She is getting worse and...she won't talk to me about it. I can tell that she is in pain, but I can’t help her.” She stared at me determinedly for a moment before looking away, “I am worried about her, heh, as ironic as it sounds, I fear Hana is close to falling apart...”

I didn’t know what to say. Or to put it bluntly, I knew what Nadine wanted me to say, but I was reluctant to say it. Years of therapy had barely made the pain tolerable, a wound scabbed over but not nearly close to having healed.

Nadine frowned disapprovingly at my silence, “Why won’t you talk to her?” She demanded, her expression making it clear that she was confused and more than a little disappointed, “Is this because of her appearance? Hana wasn’t lying Tim, she is growing and-”

“It’s not about that!” I snapped without meaning to.

Nadine looked shocked.

“Sorry,” I apologised and rubbed tiredly at my brow, “I just...I can’t.”

“Why?” Nadine pressed, concerned but determined to know.

I sighed deeply and grimaced. “Because I can’t help her,” I admitted bitterly.

“What?” Nadine seemed confused, “You just need to listen. Is there a reason you can’t do that?”

I flinched and felt more than a little ashamed.

Nadine noticed my reaction and seemed concerned, “What is it?” She asked softly.

I briefly considered lying, but I didn’t see the point. “Because it will hurt...” I admitted dourly.

“What? Why?” Nadine asked, becoming noticeably more concerned.

I shook my head, “I just...It’s something I can’t help her with. I don’t have any answers! Sometimes people die and there is nothing that will ever fix that! Bad things happen to good people, that’s just life!” I snapped angrily.

Nadine was taken aback, no doubt shocked at my sudden outburst. However, she quickly got over it and her expression became grimly determined, “This is what I was talking about Tim! You need this just as much as Hana does!”

It was obvious that she was right, but I chose to say nothing. I don’t want to remember. I began walking away but stopped when I saw Hana lingering by the entrance to the Grove. How long had she been there? How much did she hear?

Conditioned by T.V and movies, I expected Hana to turn and run away. But she didn’t. Instead, Hana cautiously entered the Grove proper and slowly made her way over towards us. “I...I just wanted to let you know that I...I failed,” Hana stated quietly, avoiding eye contact and gnawing at her lip in frustration. “I thought that the group synergy would be enough...But it isn’t.” She hissed bitterly.

Nadine gave me a weighted look and nodded her head slightly towards Hana expectantly.

“I don’t know what I am doing wrong!” Hana growled irritably, “It should have been enough!” She balled her fists and clenched her jaw, hissing angrily through her teeth. After a few moments, Hana seemed to calm down, “I’m sorry Lord, I will figure this out, I just need more time. I promise that the Settlement will be finished by the end of the day, one way or the other!”

I felt like a jackass, “Hana?”

“Yes, Lord?!” Hana looked worried.

I sighed and shook my head, “It’s fine, the Settlement I mean. It will take as long as it takes.”

Hana appeared disappointed and deflated somewhat, “I can do this!” She insisted weakly, “I just have to figure out what went wrong and-”

“Hana,” I reached out and took hold of her shoulder.

Hana nervously glanced up at me, wincing in anticipation of a stern rebuke.

“I mean it Hana. It’s fine. You have already done so much...” I cringed a little from the guilt of setting an arbitrary deadline through conditions. “We can work out the teaching problem together...I am sure we will be able to figure it out.”

Hana nodded but still seemed uncertain.

Leaving the Grove, Hana and I walked over to the garlic field and joined Hana’s prospective Druid trainee’s.

Knowing that she expected me to take the lead, I had prepared a few questions to try and learn more about how Hana was expecting her students to unlock the Druid class.

For their part Hana's three students looked just as dejected as she was, no doubt blaming themselves rather than her.

“Alright Hana, invite me to the group and try teaching from the beginning,” I suggested, holding out my arm to receive the party invite before realising that it was unnecessary.

Since Hana was my Overseer, she didn’t have to clasp my arm to issue the invite, but she still chose to do so anyway, “Party invite, Lord Tim.” Feeling her stress through the tremors from her hand, I felt even more guilty about how I had been managing the situation.

“Accept invite-” I accepted the status prompt and was immediately bombarded with a host of sensations that I was completely unprepared to handle. Similar to an extreme sense of vertigo, I staggered and would have fallen if Hana had not quickly moved to support me. An immense quantity of information was pouring into my mind and I wasn’t sure how to process it. I could feel so much more than what I had known only a few moments ago and felt my predefined boundary of self slipping. It felt like I was only now becoming aware of pieces of myself that had been missing until this moment and my mind was desperately trying to reconnect to them.

Unsure of how much time had passed, I slowly became aware of my core self again. “That...was weird...” I croaked, shaking my head and trying to clear my head. I could still feel the presence of those other senses but was able to more or less ignore them for the most part. “Was it the same for the three of you too?” I asked, directing the question to the three Serpent-Kin.

They shifted a little uncomfortably and nodded.

A little relieved that I wasn’t the only one who had to go through that, I was actually beginning to understand why Hana was probably having so much difficulty teaching them anything. The surrounding area was too...alive? I couldn’t think of a better word to describe it. There was far too much going on around us and it was incredibly difficult to concentrate. “I think this is the problem,” I told Hana, waving expansively at the surrounding area, “It’s too busy, there is so much going on that I nearly lost myself in it.”

Hana paled a little, “Oh...” She carefully regarded the area and slowly nodded. “Follow me,” Hana motioned for us to follow her and headed to the south end of the Settlement. Only a short distance from the low section of the briar wall, Hana cloaked herself in emerald light and held out her hands to either side in a slow deliberate motion.

I saw the grass wither and the ground ripple like water as the tangled mass of interlocking roots beneath us receded. More than that, I felt it happen and was shocked by the relative clarity I now felt with their absence. Even though Hana had only pushed the majority of plant life back a couple of dozen feet, it made ignoring the extrasensory input infinitely easier now that I had a clearly defined sense of where I began and ended.

“Better?” Hana asked quietly.

“Much better,” I replied.

The trio of Serpent-Kin nodded vigorously in agreement, “Yess Oversseer!”

“Stupid mistake...” Hana muttered bitterly. “Wait here,” she told us and briefly walked back over to the garlic field before returning again with a large bulb of garlic.

It was more than a little disturbing to feel the sensation of slight pressure and comparatively rapid movement from the bulb of garlic as it entered the circle. As the closest and most distinct form of living flora, it stood out like a small sun. Similarly, it was a wholly unique experience to feel the bulb of garlic being divided into cloves.

“We will try this exercise again, “Hana explained while handing each of us a clove of garlic.

I had never really thought about the internal processes of plants before, so the miniature hive of activity in my hand was fascinating.

“Just concentrate on the process, beginning to end,” Hana insisted.

Almost immediately the clove of garlic was split open by three different shoots and a mess of thin roots searching for sun and soil to fuel its growth. I felt the garlic plant’s desperate struggle for survival, churning through its stored reserves until they were exhausted. Slowly, it began to wither and die. It had nothing left to give and eventually succumbed.

“Druid’s don't make life,” Hana explained a little coldly, “We nurture it,” her tone softened, “Under our care and guidance, life is given the chance to flourish in accordance to our will,” Hana separated a clove of garlic and dropped it to the ground. With a wave of her hand, the clove erupted into motion, shoots springing from the skin as roots dragged the swelling garlic plant into the ground. In under a few seconds, a fully mature garlic bulb had taken the place of the clove. “But growth is just one part of what we do. Where there is life...there must also be death...” She curled her hand into a fist and I felt most of the garlic plant begin to wither and die. “Entropy is part of the balance between life and death...nothing lives forever...” Hana stated dourly.

I noticed that Hana had left the seeds untouched and I think I knew why. It was part of the lesson. A cycle of life. Birth, growth, entropy, death and then rebirth. The constant cycle of nature in balance.

[You are not qualified to unlock this Class. {Incompatible}.]

What?

I stared blankly at the black status screen with growing anger and incredulity. That had not happened before.

Momentarily distracted by the exclamations of surprise and excitement from the others, it became obvious that the problem seemed to be isolated to myself.

“Status” I muttered and frantically began skimming through the screen.

[Group Synergy: {Agile Reflexes: - }, {Vicious: 1 }, {Underfoot: 1 }, {Sense (Plant Life): 7 }, {Venom Resistance: 2 }.]

[Class Qualifications: Taskmaster. ]

Staring at the Group Synergy and Class Qualifications, I tried my best to stay calm. “Leave Party,” I grunted and sighed with relief as the surrounding ocean of senses disappeared from my mind.

Hana had been celebrating with her students’ newfound success and now looked worried, “Is something wrong?”

I shook my head and began making my way back to the grove, “I just need to test something,” I lied, not wanting to drag her mood down again and hoping that the suspicions taking form in the back of my mind were wrong.

Retrieving my sewing supplies, I took one of the knives from the storage room, stripped off my tunic and held the knife up against my chest. To qualify for the Surgeon class, I needed to suture two wounds... Filled with nervous energy, I hesitated, a mental block disrupting my attempt at self-harm. “I need to know!” I growled irritably and slowly pressed the edge of the blade against my skin. I hissed as pain began shooting outwards from the shallow cut. Pressing harder, I clenched my teeth and dragged the knife a short distance before making another cut slightly lower down than the first.

Ignoring the pain and rush of endorphins, I took up my prepared needle and thread and got to work. At first, the pain made me hesitate before pushing through the needle, but by the end, I was just about able to ignore it. With the first cut fully sutured I turned my attention to the second.

[You are not qualified to unlock this Class. {Incompatible}.]

[You are not qualified to unlock this Class. {Incompatible}.]

[You are not qualified to unlock this Class. {Incompatible}.]

Fingers sticky with my own drying blood, I glared furiously at the black status alert. Taking a few minutes to calm down and clean my cuts, I pulled my tunic back on and stalked purposefully towards Clarice’s training field. I refused to accept this.

“Oh hey, Tim! Come to see how real people fight?” Clarice laughed, motioning to her students. Some of them were practising beating the heck out of one another with their fists while others were practising break falls and wrestling chokeholds. “Heh, or maybe you wanna let me show these wimps how it’s done and have a match?” She suggested with an eager grin.

“Alright,” I agreed.

Clarice just stared blankly at me for a moment, “Huh? Wait?! You’re serious?!” She demanded.

I nodded.

Clarice grinned wickedly and wrung her hands together excitedly, “Alright!” She turned to her students, “Stop what you’re doing!” Clarice shouted, bringing them to a near-immediate halt, “The big guy and I are gonna have a match!” She declared excitedly, “So make some room!” Clarice waved everyone back.

Her students were only too eager to obey, some excited by the prospect of the competition and others seemed to enjoy the prospect of seeing Clarice taken down a peg or two. Given the brutal method of Clarice’s hands-on training, it was hardly surprising.

“You ready?” Clarice asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet and raising her fists.

I raised my own fists and nodded.

Clarice was about to say something and stopped, “Wait a sec,” she muttered something and frowned before hurriedly making her way over, “You aren’t in the party,” Clarice whispered accusingly, “That’s cheating a bit, don’t you think?”

I rolled my eyes, more than a little annoyed at the delay. “Party invite, Clarice,” I growled irritably.

Clarice grinned, “Accept Invite!”

*Thump*

Even as she accepted the invite, Clarice had ducked down and thrown a right hook to my gut. After it landed, she bounced back and away out of reach with a mischievous grin on her face. “That’s for trying to cheat!” Clarice crowed as she brought her fists up again.

The blow barely hurt at all and I needed her to hit me as part of the test anyway. Edging forward towards Clarice, I was not surprised when she knocked aside my guard and delivered a jab to my chest. This time the punch hurt, but only because she managed to strike the recently closed cuts on my chest.

The idea of deliberately harming myself extended to letting Clarice hit me, but it was necessary, so I grit my teeth and bore through it. I weathered blow after blow while slowly chasing her around the practice area. After a few minutes, Clarice began to slow and I landed a few half-hearted punches on her guard.

[You are not qualified to unlock this Class. {Incompatible}.]

Lowering my guard, I glared at the black status alert with barely contained fury.

*Crack*

“Fuck!” Clarice swore and cradled her wrist as she pulled back.

Judging by the pain radiating from my cheek, I assumed that Clarice tried for another cheap shot while I was distracted. “We’re done,” I growled and stomped back towards the Grove. Stalking up the stairs of the tree fort, I threw myself down onto my bed and tried to calm down. I felt physically ill at the prospect that I would not be able to get rid of the Slaver class and its derivatives. Why was I deemed incompatible with those other classes? Feverishly scouring the information implanted by the Settlement Totem, I came up empty.

Surgeon I could understand, I am not particularly clever or intelligent and my stats reflected that. But I would have thought that Hana’s insistence for candidates with high Willpower would have made a transition to Druid perfect for me. At worst, the brawling classes should have worked, even though I am not that nimble, I am not that much of a clutz either! The only thing I could think of was what Jacque had told me close to a week ago now. That the Labyrinths would mess with me to try and get the reaction that they wanted...

Brooding in the relative darkness of my room, I had to agree with her, the Labyrinth really seemed to know how to piss me off! Before I fully realised what I had done, I was downstairs in the storage room and had swallowed something rough and porous. Looking down at the open pack containing the majority of the manastones we had collected while doing the mandatory quest, I panicked and made to stick my finger in my throat to try and vomit what I had swallowed back out again.

However, a sudden rush of euphoria flooded my system and left me feeling warm and fuzzy all over. Staggering backwards, I tripped over my own feet and fell heavily to the floor. Bracing against the expected pain, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it didn’t seem to be coming. For one reason or another, that seemed hysterical and I began to laugh. It just seemed like the right thing to do. Pushing myself up and getting back to my feet, I swayed unsteadily and braced myself against the wall.

After a while, the sense of euphoria began to fade and it left a keening sense of loss and emptiness in its wake. Leaning back down to the pack I pulled out another manastone and brought it up to my mouth. As the pain of the present began reasserting itself I became transfixed on the manastone. I needed it...

It would be so easy to just let go...

“No!” I threw the manastone away and staggered out of the storeroom. I needed to put as much distance between myself and the temptation as quickly as possible. If Jacque were here I was not sure whether I would thank her or strangle her for the warning. Calling manastones addictive was a drastic understatement...

Every step I took away from the harvested manastones made me hate myself a little more. To go from a complete cessation of all forms of pain, back to...reality. It was torture! Reaching the bottom step of the stairs, I was just about ready to collapse. Halfway to the fountain, I tripped and fell to the ground. Nearly paralysed by pain, I just decided to lay there to wait until it became more bearable...