Chapter 13

Pushing myself up off the ground, I slowly began walking away from the Grove, taking long deep breaths to focus on the present. That momentary slip in control had shaken me to my core. So far as I was aware, that had been the first manastone I had ever consumed. However, reflecting on the sensation, the experience felt disturbingly familiar. I had taken addictive medication before, but they had not felt nearly so intense as the effects of the manastone. The strength of the manastone high had me very worried about the inevitable withdrawal. If the intensity of withdrawal was anything close to the high, then I would seriously need to consider a treatment plan to wean myself off of it...

Initially intending to visit the Daemonlings at the fishing pond, I changed my mind and headed for the garlic field to speak with Hana instead. I had walked off rather abruptly before and wanted to congratulate her on training her first disciples.

The three newly trained Serpent-Kin Druids were eagerly growing the garlic field under Hana’s instruction and supervision. For the most part, it seemed simple enough, and they were making notable progress in slowly expanding the field. However, that did not seem to be the entirety of what Hana was trying to teach them to do.

“-need to control your mana,” Hana insisted, “The greater your degree of control, the lower your level of mana spillage will be. So concentrate! Focus on the plants you want to invigorate and do your best to ignore the others!”

The Serpent-Kin Druids nodded and seemed to redouble their efforts. Similar to Hana, they were each cloaked in a faint emerald aura of their own. Understanding that the size of an aura roughly correlated to the amount of mana that the individual had remaining. It was a rather safe bet to assume that Hana was easily five to six times stronger in terms of mana capacity and perhaps three times stronger in terms of her aura’s intensity, although I didn’t know what that intensity meant if it meant anything at all.

Deciding that Hana and her students would probably make better progress without me looking over their shoulders, I Slowly wandered over to the fishing pond. As I had suspected, it appeared that all of the piranhas had been fished out and the children were now sitting around the cooking fires and hungrily eating their breakfasts. There were more adults visiting to collect food as well, but most of them did not linger long which made me curious.

Following one of the groups back through the Settlement, I soon found a rather large gathering of Serpent-Kin adults outside of the barrow occupied by the egg chest as well as Toofy and her new friends. Unsurprisingly, Ushu seemed to be the focus of the crowd's attention and was engaged in an animated and rather positive conversation with some members of the crowd. Unfortunately, the crowd of Bleak-Fang tribesmen were far too excited and I couldn’t hear a single word of what he was saying.

However, that ended rather promptly when my presence was discovered and the Serpent-Kin began prostrating themselves in deference with proclamations of, “My Lord!”

“My Lord!” Ushu bowed deeply before hurriedly making his way through the prostrated crowd of his fellow tribesmen. “Is there ssome way I can be of asssisstansse?” He asked nervously, his forked tongue heavily accenting the final syllables.

Curious about what they had been up to, I nodded, “What is it that you were doing just before I interrupted things?”

Ushu looked a little taken aback, “Oh! No Lord, you were not inter-”

“I did,” I interrupted, shaking my head and smiling a little at the irony, “I am just curious, please indulge me,” I insisted lightheartedly.

Ushu gulped and nodded, though he seemed much less nervous, “I wass jusst organissing hunting partiess for food. While the bounty of the lake iss great, we are too numerouss to rely upon it alone,” he had seemingly chosen his words with great care to avoid potentially insulting either Hana or myself. Honestly, I hadn’t expected the teenager to be so politically adept, but I suppose Ushu was probably trained at least a little by the tribe's previous Speaker before taking the mantle himself.

I nodded to show my approval, but I had some conditions of my own before they departed. The last thing I wanted was a bunch of dead or injured tribesmen when it could otherwise be avoided. “I want everyone who is going to participate in hunting to requisition a proper weapon from my Overseer Hana first. Furthermore, I don’t want any hunting parties leaving viewing distance of the briar wall and I want at least two five-man teams on standby in case something goes wrong.”

A little surprised by my requests, Ushu was only too eager to obey, “Of coursse Lord!” He then set about reorganising the planned hunting parties and sending the groups off towards the garlic field, one by one.

When it was just the two of us, I couldn’t resist my earlier curiosity and decided to inquire about the Shaman class. As Ushu was a sort of leader and Hana had stated that all monster Settlements had them, I hoped that Shaman might prove a viable alternative to the Slaver class down the line. “Ushu, I hope this isn’t trampling on any traditions of your people’s culture, but I was hoping that you could tell me more about your class and specifically how you unlocked it. Is that okay?”

“Of coursse Lord!” Ushu grinned happily and took a few moments to collect his thoughts. “The Shaman classs is very important! It iss our duty and privilege to commune with sspiritss and guides our people. Shamanss can empower wardss to help protect their people from the ssoullesss-” His enthusiasm flagged a little, “-asssuming they have the sstrength of will and nessesary mana.”

“So you can make smaller versions of a Settlement barrier?” I asked curiously.

Ushu seemed a little uncertain for a moment, taking time to think on it before nodding, “Yess, weaker and temporary, but mosstly the ssame. Larger protectionss and higher numberss of excluded ssoullesss both require more mana in upkeep.”

That was pretty interesting. So theoretically, Shamans could establish and propagate these settlements by power levelling their class, rank and evolutions in order to pay the assumedly high mana upkeep costs. “What about the Grove Overseer Hana created?” I asked curiously, “Would that be enough to sustain a ward?”

Carefully considering the question, Ushu’s eyes turned grey and he was briefly cloaked in his smoky grey aura, “Not ass grand ass my Lordss great barrier, but I believe a ssmall ward could be maintained,” he agreed thoughtfully.

The prospect of being able to set up smaller outposts was an interesting concept, but I wanted to confirm something else as well. “Can the wards be moved?” I asked bluntly. I fully intended to honour my arrangement with Kirk and Rose, so at some point, myself or a representative would need to get in contact with them at the foothold. Given the ever-present dangers of the Labyrinth, I would feel much better if that representative was protected.

Ushu nodded but somewhat reluctantly, “Movement weakenss the ward, dissruptss ssoullesss thoughtss but doess not deny entry. Wardss magic needss time to take root, to grow sstrong.”

That made sense in its own way I suppose. It also explained why the Bleak-Fang had survived as well as they had in the swamp without real weapons. The Scourges alone would have taken a devastating toll without the wards to provide some sort of disruption. It also explained how easily the monsters were dealt with on the return trip to the Settlement. I had been quite puzzled by that at the time. Obviously, the wards had to be difficult to maintain in their flight from the Black-Maw, but at the same time, an established tribe must be capable of maintaining them as well. Otherwise, how would they live long enough to procreate and replenish those lost to the soulless?

“Are your apprentices able to make wards?” I asked, despite already guessing the answer.

Ushu nodded but looked a little uncomfortable, “My sucssesssorss lack the raw power nessesssary to maintain a ward for long and needss demanded manasstoness harvessted from ssoullesss fuel my ward.”

I nodded, understanding what he meant. Apparently, the wards could be charged using the manastones, and rather than risk the ward going down entirely, they must have been charging it directly to give them the necessary edge to survive. That really only left one question, “Can you show me how to become a Shaman?” I asked eagerly, hoping that this would be a viable career alternative.

A little surprised, Ushu nodded vigorously, “Of coursse Lord!” He declared eagerly, “Pleasse follow me!” He motioned for me to follow and disappeared into the barrow.

Following Ushu inside, I saw Toofy and the other teenagers playing some sort of game with what looked like knucklebones. I gave her a small wave and a smile, but left her to her game.

Toofy flashed me a toothy grin in return and waved back while her friends nervously bowed, “Tim play?” She asked excitedly.

“Maybe later,” I agreed, “You will need to teach me how okay?”

Toofy’s grin widened and she nodded her head eagerly, “Yes! Toofy do!” She agreed excitedly, grinning broadly at her friends as she tried to contain her excitement.

Ushu had withdrawn a large steel key from a small pouch at his waist and unlocked the ironbound chest, revealing a large number of grey black-veined oblong eggs and strikingly vibrant turquoise bell petalled flowers. The flowers were rather withered, but a faint aura cloaking the flowers lent a sense of unnatural vitality to them. Nestled on top of the eggs, there were only seven flowers and I wondered how rare they were.

“Have you considered asking Overseer Hana to grow more of the flowers?” I asked, feeling a little bad for commandeering part of a scarce resource.

“...” Ushu stiffened and stared blankly at me for a few moments before shifting his attention to the withered flower in his hand. Mouth opening and closing a few times without making a sound, Ushu looked back to me and appeared to be in a deep state of shock. “R-really?!” He cried suddenly, accidentally crushing the delicate flower in his hand.

I was a little intimidated, despite Ushu being less than a quarter of my size, the manic intensity in his eyes was unsettling. “I think she can do it...” I agreed, somewhat regretting raising the subject so abruptly.

Appearing to take on a fresh wave of vigour, Ushu smiled excitedly and rushed out of the barrow and off in the direction of the garlic field.

Taking a moment to close the chest, lock it and hand the key over to one of the awed teenagers, I then rushed off after the overexcited Speaker.

Expecting Hana to be more than a little annoyed, perhaps not at me, but definitely at Ushu, I was quite surprised to find that she was just as excited as he was. “You had Manabell seeds and you didn’t tell me?!” Hana demanded, snatching the dishevelled and dried flower from Ushu’s open hand. Before he had the chance to say anything in his defence, or even at all, she quickly rushed off towards the Grove.

Following along behind her, I watched Hana reverently lay the flower down on the ground near the edge of the inner wall of the Grove and cloak herself in deep emerald light. Under her watchful gaze, the flower took root in the soil and began to recover its vitality.

A few minutes later, Ushu arrived with the remaining flowers from the chest containing the Bleak-Fang’s eggs. “Overseer! I have more of the sacred flowers!” He bowed low while offering Hana the wilted and withered flowers.

Hana wordlessly snatched them from his unresisting fingers and proceeded to plant them around the boundary of the grove. In no time at all, Hana managed to grow hundreds of much smaller flowers circling the inner wall of the Grove. The collective turquoise light emanating from the flowers cast a myriad of wavering shadows over the Grove and gave a distinct impression that the Grove was truly alive. Having accomplished all that she was able, Hana sighed contentedly and smiled wistfully at the changes made to the Grove.

“My Lord,” Ushu said quietly and presented me with a single dried Manabell flower, “Forgive my impudensse,” he bowed low twice in succession, “I wass excsited,” Ushu appologised.

“It’s fine,” I replied somewhat dismissively. Obviously, the flowers were important, so it was understandable that he would act a little crazy. The fact that Hana had as well was rather telling and made me more than a little curious. “So what do these flowers do exactly? What makes them so special?”

“They allow visssionss of the sspiritss Lord,” Ushu replied reverently.

So they were hallucinogenic?

“How?” I asked while trying not to sound overly judgemental.

“Conssuming the ssacred flower exsspandss the mind to ssee the flow of magic and entirely magical beingss like the sspiritss,” Ushu explained patiently.

“Wait, you mean like your grey aura when you use your class ability or Hana’s emerald one?” I asked curiously.

Ushu looked shocked and nodded, “That iss part of it,” he whispered, “You can truly ssee aurass of mana Lord?”

I nodded. It was a little surprising to find out that it wasn’t considered normal.

Ushu gulped a little nervously, “Lord, it may be posssible that you posssesss innate mana ssight, which givess you immense potential with magic!”

I frowned a little at that, recalling how the Druid class had been deemed {Incompatible}. “So to become a Shaman, all I would need to do is eat the flower?” I asked somewhat apprehensively, uneasy at the prospect of embarking on some strung out spirit quest after my poor experience with the manastone.

Ushu shook his head, “No Lord, that iss no longer nessesssary.” He insisted and cloaked himself in grey mana. “My sspirit beasst will be able to guide uss to a wild sspirit!” Ushu exclaimed excitedly as a shimmering grey scaled serpent the size of a small car materialised in the air above us.

The mottled grey-scaled serpent showed no immediate signs of hostility, seemingly content to undulate and coil itself lazily through the air while patiently staring at Ushu.

Ushu, knelt down on one knee as he prepared to address the snake spirit, “Mighty sspirit, I besseech you for a boon!”

The serpent grew agitated, baring its six-fanged maw wide and letting out a deep hiss.

Ushu gulped hard but did not back down, “My Lord hass presserved our people, dragging uss back from the brink of annihilation! Mighty sspirit! If my Lord is not worthy, then none of uss are!”

Visibly angry now, the great grey serpent hissed and thrashed its body violently while looming closer and closer.

Refusing to be intimidated further, Ushu scowled and his smoky grey mana flared briefly before dissipating entirely, taking the giant snake with it.

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

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

[You have qualified to unlock the {Summoner} Basic Class.]

[You have qualified to unlock the {Warlock} Basic Class.]

[You have qualified to unlock the {Pact Binder} Advanced Class.]

Distracted by the sudden appearance of the status alerts, it took me a few moments to realise that Ushu was attempting to apologize.

“-no way of knowing our tribess great sspirit would be sso dissresspectful! I am sso very ssorry my Lord!” Ushu had prostrated himself on the ground.

I blinked away the status alerts and tried not to look too pleased, “It’s fine Ushu. I think it still worked.”

“Really?!” Ushu looked incredibly relieved, “You have unlocked the Shaman classs after all?”

I sighed and shook my head, “No, I seem to be incompatible with that class as well. But I managed to unlock two others which I hadn’t known about, so it could have been much worse.”

Ushu was a little disappointed that I hadn’t unlocked the Shaman class, but seemed pleased overall for having been helpful.

“Have you heard of the Summoner, Warlock or Pact Binder classes?” I asked curiously, but kept my expectations low since the Bleak-Fang only had the Shaman class unlocked.

Ushu shook his head but looked quite impressed, “No Lord...” After taking a few moments to work up his nerve, Ushu cleared his throat and was about to say something else when I interrupted him.

“If I find out how I did it, then yes, I fully intend to allow others to learn them too,” I agreed without needing to be asked, “Assuming they aren’t dangerous of course.”

Ushu beamed happily, “Thank you Lord!”

“Summoner? Warlock? Pact Binder?” Hana had broken free of her reverie and seemed confused.

“We tried unlocking the Shaman class, but I only managed to unlock those three instead,” I explained a little sheepishly.

Hana seemed surprised, “Really? Wait...you didn’t manage to unlock the Shaman class?!” She demanded somewhat incredulously.

I nodded, “I assumed it was one of two different incompatible class notifications I received just earlier.”

Hana looked shocked and took a few moments to think, “Is...Is that why you rushed off before?” She asked, tentatively, “Were you incompatible to become a Druid as well?”

I let out a deep sigh and nodded again, “Yeah...and those aren't the only ones. Despite being the one who taught Nadine her classes, I seem to be just as incompatible with them as well and another besides. It’s the same with Clarice too. I taught her the Advanced Class she is using now, but I am incompatible with learning it as well.”

More shocked than before, Hana gulped hard and turned more than a little pale before she turned to Ushu, “Leave us!” She demanded, motioning to the entrance to the Grove.

Ushu was only too happy to obey and hurriedly saw himself out without making a single complaint.

“You’re an Awakened!” Hana stated coldly.

“I am,” I agreed, knowing it would be stupid to deny it. There was probably a mess of evidence for it at this point anyway.

“Were you going to tell me if I didn’t figure it out?” She demanded.

I seriously considered her question before answering and tentatively nodded, “I think I was,” I answered honestly, “The talk Nadine wants us to have...It wouldn’t make much sense without it.”

Hana looked surprised, “Others know?”

I nodded, “Besides you, Nadine and Clarice both know, I’m not sure about Toofy, but I think she does in her own way.” I withheld information on Jacque to respect her privacy.

Hana was visibly conflicted, “Mother said the Awakened were not to be trusted...” She stated flatly with a mildly accusatory tone, “When will you show your true face?” Hana demanded, “When will the killing start?”

I paled and took an involuntary step back, “True face? Killing?” I choked out incredulously.

Hana’s expression hardened further, “Awakened are killers! It’s what you do! So stop pretending!”

“I don't do that!” I snapped back defensively, “I haven’t killed anyone! And I have no other face than my own!”

“Liar!” Hana hissed, “Even mother couldn’t restrain herself entirely! You are no different!”

“Wh-what?!” I stammered, unable to process what I had just heard.

Hana just glared at me accusingly, “Is that the true reason you have the Slaver class? To make others do the killing for you?!”

I felt physically ill at the suggestion. Partly because I had similar doubts regarding myself, but also because of how morally repugnant it was. “No...” I croaked, feeling weak at the knees as bile rose up in my throat. “Bleurgh,” I was unable to keep it down and vomited a torrent of bile onto the ground.

“What the hell is going on?!” Nadine called out, rushing into the Grove.

“You lied to me!” Hana accused.

“W-what?” Nadine stammered, understandably confused. “I haven’t lied about anything-”

“He is an Awakened!” Hana hissed angrily, pointing viciously in my direction.

“Oh...” Nadine shifted a little uncomfortably, “Is that what you call it?” She asked curiously, “There are more like Tim? Is it common?” Nadine sounded more curious than offended.

“Huh?...” Apparently, that had not been what Hana expected.

“So why is Tim being an...Awakened?...Why does that change anything?” Nadine demanded.

Hana’s face scrunched up in anger, “Awakened are KILLERS!” She shouted in exasperated anger.

“AHAHAHA! Are you fucking serious?!” Clarice demanded rubbing the tears from the corners of her eyes, apparently having returned to the Grove for whatever reason and finding Hana’s assertion hilarious. “Do you have any idea how hard it was to get Tim to fight those wild monsters? Let alone kill them?” She barked and shook her head, “Add on top of that the fact that we were treating him like shit under a slave bond that he could have broken out of at any moment and killed us in our sleep...You understand how stupid you sound right now?!” Clarice joked incredulously.

“Clarice is right!” Nadine agreed, unsurprised by her sudden appearance, “No offence to Tim, but until we forced him to, he wasn’t able to even hurt a fly. I had never met someone so averse to violence in my life.”

Hana deflated somewhat and looked confused, “Y-you’re lying,” she insisted weakly, “He’s just making you say that!”

“Because of the slave bond?” Nadine asked curiously and shook her head, “We have the bond for something else. Tim disabled the Command feature right afterwards. Like I told you before, the slave bond was for camouflage so Tim can shield Toofy from enslavement.”

“Gives some amazing buffs too!” Clarice added with a grin, “Synergies are fucking overpowered!”

Hana didn’t seem to know what to do, just staring at us all with an incredulous and confused expression on her face. “It’s impossible...” She muttered, shaking her head as tears ran down her cheeks, “Even mother...So how...How can you be so different?!” Hana demanded angrily.

Wiping the drying bile from my lips with my arm, I unsteadily got back to my feet, “I don’t know,” I admitted, “The last thing I remember from my old life was being thrown off a rooftop by someone I thought was my friend...”

“And that doesn’t make you angry?!” Hana demanded, “That someone killed you?! Threw you away like useless garbage?!”

I flinched a little but shook my head. “Why would it make me angry if I already believed I was worthless to begin with?”

Hana froze, “W-what?”

“I was suicidal long before I was thrown off that rooftop...” I answered dourly, “Where I am from, looking like this-” I half-heartedly gestured at my face, “-no one wanted anything to do with me if they could help it. Even my own mother threw me away like I was garbage, if my Mum hadn’t found me, given me a home, then maybe I would have turned out like those other Awakened...But I am not like them!” I insisted adamantly, “If my being an Awakened, something I have no control over, is such a problem, then I can remove you as Overseer and Promote someone else instead.”

Hana staggered as if I had struck her.

“The choice is yours, Hana,” I stated bluntly and made my way out of the Grove. Losing Hana would make developing and defending the settlement much more difficult, but the decision was hers to make.

*****

Gric couldn’t help but grin as he read through the status announcement for the umpteenth time.

[Your Lord has unlocked the {Pact Binder} Advanced Class. Your soul has been bound to {Tim’s Settlement} Totem. Accepting a {Summon} will allow your projection to accumulate EXP and award MP based on your contributions in assisting your summoner. Refusing a [Summon} will require a contest of {Willpower}.]

Judging by the similar grins on the faces of his hatchmates, Gric was incredibly pleased that they understood how important this was. Of course, there was still the small matter of convincing their Lord to change Classes, but surely someone of his profound wisdom would see the benefits?

“Stay,” Gric rumbled at Qreet and Dar, “I find Lord,” he explained and headed off towards the residential barrows. Gric didn’t need to check on them to make sure his command was being followed, he already knew that they would follow it implicitly unless ordered by a higher authority.

Guided by his mana sense, Gric found his Lord in discussion with his Underlord, Ushu.

“-you don’t know how we unlocked them?” The Lord asked tiredly, “They just suddenly appeared when you dismissed that giant snake spirit.”

“Ssorry Lord,” Underlord Ushu apologised unhelpfully, “I do not undersstand the causse for thiss either.”

Gric felt a sudden surge of happiness as he realised what a truly amazing opportunity had been presented before him. “Lord,” Gric rumbled, bowing low as he made himself known and entered the barrow. “Underlord...” He bowed less deferentially to Underlord Ushu as he drew closer. As much as Gric may dislike the favouritism the Overseer had exercised in elevating Ushu to Underlord, authority was to be obeyed regardless.

“Gric?” The Lord asked, looking more than a little surprised, “What are you doing here?”

Gric smiled, or tried to, doing the best his altered body would allow, “To serve you, Lord.” He bowed low again.

“To serve? How?” The Lord asked curiously.

“Pact Binder, Lord. It is a class well known to my kind,” Gric explained, barely able to contain his excitement.

The Lord was somewhat surprised for a moment before nodding slowly to himself and muttering, “Of course, it had to be related to demons didn’t it?”

“Would you like to know more about the class, Lord?” Gric asked eagerly.

The Lord nodded but had visible reservations.

Knowing he would change his Lord’s opinion on the matter soon enough, Gric proceeded to explain how a Pact Binder was able to summon Daemons or Angels by name, provided he knew of it. As opposed to the Summoner class which was only capable of summoning soulless clones, a Pact Binder’s summoned monster would have all the cunning, intelligence and most of the strength of the original monster itself. A Daemon such as himself, summoned by a Pact Binder, would be compensated in concentrated mana similar to a manastone and retain all EXP earned while summoned.

“But what happens if you die or are fatally injured while summoned?” The Lord asked pragmatically, demonstrating his profound wisdom and mercy.

“The summoned monster is only a projection lord,” Gric explained, “While it borrows some of my essence, it would do me no lasting harm should it perish.”

“So the caster, the Pact Binder, makes a weaker copy of you out of mana?” The Lord asked curiously, demonstrating his profound wisdom yet again.

Gric nodded emphatically, “Yes Lord. The body is but a construct made of mana. So long as the summoner and summoned monster have sufficient force of will, it would be possible to sustain the summoning indefinitely barring catastrophic injury.”

The Lord seemed quite impressed, demonstrating his immense intellect, “So what is the conditions for unlocking the Pact Binder Class? Could we teach it to some of the Bleak-fang?”

Gric was stunned for a moment and didn’t know how to respond. The Lord was truly a genius. Even one as powerful as he, would only have been able to sustain perhaps Gric and one of the soon be hatched Daemonlings at most. Furthermore, as Gric continued to grow, the more mana it would take to construct the copy. But the Lord’s brilliance would curtail this problem by dividing the load! More summoners meant that the required pool of mana could be shared!

“Yes Lord!” Gric exclaimed excitedly, “So long as they possess the required Willpower, I can teach all the minions you require!”

The lord was taken slightly aback for a moment, but then he smiled, “Find one candidate to teach first,” he ordered, demonstrating his profound wisdom yet again, “We will determine if it is a viable Class option after seeing what it can do. After all, it’s already competing with Druid’s for the required stat.”

“Of course Lord,” Gric bowed low and knew that his chance had come, “Lord, it would be fastest if I had permission to access the minion stats through the Settlement Totem.”

The lord was quiet for a few moments, causing Gric to worry if he had overstepped. “I was planning on promoting you anyway,” The lord sighed and shrugged, “This will help with recruiting the Daemonlings when they hatch later and I still have one more slot free anyway.”

Gric could hardly believe his ears and began shivering with excitement.

*****

Conversing with Gric had been a real test of patience, but I was glad for it in the end. Despite the incredible sluggishness of his speech, the Daemon had proven far more knowledgeable than I would have realised. There was another shocking development as well, apparently, Gric could read. Less than three days old and the bloody Daemon could read! The crude sigil pictographs the Serpent-Kin of this floor of the Labyrinth used for written communication apparently didn’t qualify as a real language, so none of them could read their status screens or any of the alerts and notifications.

If the Daemon’s had not been a direct reward from the Labyrinth I would have suspected something seriously dodgy was going on. Well...Dodgier. I did not trust the Labyrinth for a second, since it seemed to be going out of its way to mess with me. However, Gric being literate was an unexpected windfall. I needed someone to make sure the small Daemon horde would be kept in line, and Gric seemed perfect for that. Furthermore, as loath as I am to admit it, his rigid adherence to hierarchy all but guaranteed his loyalty and that could not be overestimated in value. All the more so after my confrontation with Hana.

Since I had conferred the promotion to Underlord, Gric had been standing in a near trance-like state, only his eyes darting back and forth as he worked his way through the immense piles of information from the Settlement Totem.

Technically, I could do it too. However, the last time I tried gave me an immense headache. Besides, as an Underlord, Gric had far less information to slog through to find what was important.

Passing the time watching Toofy and the teens play their knucklebones game, I had encouraged Ushu to return to organising the hunting expedition. Since Hana was likely indisposed, I gave him permission to take weapons from the storeroom if he needed them. They were just the extras we had taken from the adventurers from the second floor anyway. Hopefully, Hana had already made most of the weapons they needed.

“Lord,” Gric rumbled, drawing my attention from my musings, “I-have-found-my student,” he declared triumphantly.

That was faster than I had expected, “Who is it?” I asked curiously.

Gric’s upper lip drew back in a smirk as he pointed towards Toofy and the small group of Serpent-Kin teenagers, “Asra,” he declared, his finger directed at one of the boys.

The Serpent-Kin teen in question looked up in surprise, no doubt from hearing his name spoken aloud.

“His-base-Willpower-has-the-greatest-potential,” Gric rumbled happily.

Gric’s choice gave me pause. Even though Ushu hadn’t said as much aloud, it was heavily implied that these teenagers were either already trained, or intended to be trained to become Shamans. He had referred to them as his apprentices, I think. It’s hard to remember with so much happening so quickly.

“I’ll need to confirm this with Ushu first,” I apologised. Shamans sounded quite useful in their own right, so I didn’t want to poach Ushu’s next-generation unnecessarily.

Gric bowed respectfully, apparently not put out in the slightest, “There-are-others-though-not-as-promosing,” he explained happily. Gric had been rather upbeat since his promotion, so he probably wouldn’t mind if his student wasn't the creme of the crop.

Heading off to find Ushu, I found him seeing off what looked like the last group of hunters.

“Lord, how may I asssisst you?” Ushu asked, apparently in quite a good mood himself. Seeing what remained of his people doing so well was no doubt a great source of positive motivation.

“Gric has selected his first student, but I wanted to make sure you are alright with his choice,” I explained.

Ushu nodded understandingly but was a little surprised, “Who iss it?” He asked curiously.

“Asra, I think it was. Some of your names are a little difficult for me to remember, but it was one of the boys left to guard the chest,” I explained somewhat sheepishly. To be fair, Serpent-Kin names had complicated inflections and it was difficult for me to approximate the right sounds. Apparently it wasn’t one Gric shared, which was interesting in and of itself.

To my surprise, Ushu seemed quite pleased by Gric’s choice, “Yess, Asra will make a dutiful sstudent,” he agreed happily.

“Wasn’t he meant to be one of your apprentices?” I asked, more than a little confused by how well he was taking the whole situation.

Ushu nodded apologetically, “Yess Lord. When the tribess future wass unssertain, sso many apprentissess wass...pragmatic.”

That made sense, in a depressing sort of way. Without the Settlement barrier, they would have needed as many potential Shamans as possible to create and maintain wards against the wild monsters.

“Two apprentissess iss more than adequate,” Ushu insisted.

I shook my head, “Shamans are important too. We will need as many different classes as we can get to make the most of our situation,” I insisted. “Asra will make a good test to see whether the Pact Binder is a worthy addition and whether we should encourage others to learn the Class.”

Ushu bowed and nodded in agreement, “Ass you will.” Straightening again, he gave a small start in surprise, “Ah, Lord, I wass assked to inquire if further lesssonss in the healing Classsess would be held today?”

I had forgotten about that and nodded a little sheepishly, “Yes, I will be giving the more in depth training today,” I agreed.

Ushu’s mood improved considerably, making it obvious which of the classes he personally valued.

I couldn’t blame him though. If I had lived through so much death and destruction, healing Classes would be my first pick too. But that reminded me of something else that had been bugging me. “Ushu, your apprentices had seemed convinced that you knew I was coming to save your tribe. You were already here in the swamp before I was. Why is that?”

Ushu visibly deflated, “Oh, that...” He shifted uncomfortably, “My people were defeated...Broken and without hope...We were doomed and everyone knew it...Sso I lied. I knew that we would all die without a purposse to unite uss. Sso I ssaid the great sspirit had ssent me a visssion, that our ssaviour would appear within ten dayss.” Ushu drew himself back up somewhat defiantly, “I do not regret it. Without the lie, my people would be dead. The lie rekindled hope, gave them the sstrength to fight through their desspair. The lie bought uss the time we needed to find you!”

I sighed in relief. I was thankful that he couldn’t see the future and had just gotten lucky. The last thing I needed right now was an existential crisis regarding free will... “It’s alright, you’re not in any trouble or anything Ushu, I was just curious.”

Despite his initial candour, Ushu looked relieved.

Leaving Ushu behind, I headed back towards the Grove. Glad to find Nadine and the students waiting for me outside, I sent Nadine to fetch my satchel from the storeroom and then I led them off to the barrow where the most critically ill Serpent-Kin were recuperating. With the intent of teaching them a more robust and nuanced series of lessons, I decided that it would be best if my prospective students advanced to having the Surgeon class first. It would reduce the burden on Nadine if members of the hunting party were wounded or in the event of some other disaster.

“You want them to cut themselves?!” Nadine asked incredulously, “Would that even work?”

I nodded and pulled down the collar of my tunic to expose the pair of sutured cuts on my chest, “It does work,” I confirmed before pulling my tunic back into place, “The cuts don’t have to be particularly deep and waiting for someone to become injured might cause more problems than it avoids,” I explained patiently, very much aware that I was encouraging self-harm as my condition to unlock a Class. Objectively, there was very little difference from Clarice’s lessons in terms of general principle.

Nadine didn’t seem particularly thrilled at the idea that I had tested the theory on myself, but after taking a few moments to think it over, she sighed and nodded in agreement, “You’re right, I can’t really think of a reason not to. Besides, they can always heal their injuries immediately afterwards.”

“That was my general thoughts as well,” I agreed. Unlike Nadine, the Serpent-Kin could renew their MP and expand it further by consuming manastones if necessary. In terms of raw healing output, Nadine would probably have them beat on immediate levels of healing, but any one of them would likely have Nadine beat on the quantity of ability use,

Already understanding what was required of them, the prospective Surgeons each took turns cutting themselves as I had done, creating a pair of parallel cuts on the upper left side of their chest. It had a far more cultish vibe than I had initially intended, but it was too late now. Within a few minutes, all four candidates excitedly confirmed that they had unlocked a Class. Since they could not read their own status alerts, Nadine and I had to do it for them.

Rather curiously, I noticed that Serpent-Kin was a base species template like Goblin had been for Toofy. So assumedly, they were capable of evolving into more advanced types of monsters, which was pretty interesting given their similarities in human appearance. Then again, I suppose the Orcs and Goblins were too, in their own way. Another surprise had been how Serpent-Kin were ‘inferior’ to what I had assumed was the human standard in almost every stat. Averaging roughly eight in every stat except Agility, which was eleven, I was even more impressed with their ability to survive the swamp as long as they had done.

Confirming that they had unlocked the Surgeon Class, I moved on to teaching my altered lessons that I had prepared for Nadine and Millie. With the added ‘benefit’ of sick patients to provide context to certain aspects of my lesson regarding diagnosis and treatment of bacterial and viral infections, it really seemed to help them understand better than just having the descriptions I was able to provide.

What I had not expected, was near the end of that first lesson for two of my students to suddenly interupt my explanation for the importance of strict hygiene standards.

“Lord! I have unlocked another Classs!” The first student, Mina, exclaimed excitedly.

“Lord! I have also unlocked another Classs!” The second student, Unqis, joined in.

Quickly looking at their Class Qualifications, I had expected to see Field Surgeon, but was surprised to see something else.

[Class Qualifications: Surgeon, Hospice Surgeon. ]

“Are you seeing this?” I asked Nadine, wondering why these two students had unlocked this class but the others hadn’t. “Nadine?” I asked again when she didn’t respond immediately.

“Oh! Uh, yeah, I unlocked a new Advanced Class too,” Nadine replied in something of a daze, “Hospice Surgeon right? I wonder what it does?”.

“Well, where I am from at least, a hospice is a long-term care facility. Usually for the terminally ill or those recovering from serious illness or injuries. So assuming that is the case here?-” I looked curiously at Nadine, who nodded, “-Then this Class probably has that as a focus right? Field Surgeon is focused on getting people back into the fight as quickly as possible, so Hospice Surgeon probably focuses on a more protracted but effective healing method.”

“Well, that makes sense,” Nadine agreed, seeming a little relieved, “I was worried I had chosen the wrong Advanced Class for a moment there,” she admitted sheepishly.

With the memory of Nadine's small emotional breakdown yesterday still fresh in my mind, I decided it would be best not to point out that many more people probably would have died if she had not been able to keep throwing fighters back into the meat-grinder.

“Sshould I take the Classs Lord?” Mina asked excitedly, apparently more than eager to serve as a proverbial guinea pig.

“We need to find out what it does at some point,” Nadine added with a smirk.

“You heard what I think is involved in this Advanced Class. I stand by what I told Underlord Ushu, I will not force anyone to take a class they do not want. It’s your choice,” I insisted, doing my best to remain impartial despite wanting to know what the new Class was capable of.

Mina and Unqis both grinned and declared, “Acssept!” Near simultaneously.

Doing my best to keep a straight face, I quickly perused their Statuses to see what had changed. Just like with Surgeon and Field Surgeon, Hospice Surgeon provided one bonus point of Intelligence and five MP. unsurprisingly the only real change was the Class Ability.

[(Class Ability: Palliative Care {Rank 0}): Expend MP to provide accelerated {Healing} of adequately treated injuries and illness over time. {Intelligence} increases duration of effect.]

Glancing at Nadine, I could tell she was just as blown away as I was. Reading aloud the Class Ability for the benefit of the others, I quickly turned my attention to Mina and Unqis, “I want you to use your new Class Ability on as many of our patients as possible.”Between the two of them, they would have more than enough MP, but since they couldn’t read and I had no idea what their status screens looked like from their point of view, I kept it simple. In a way, this would be another sort of test. I already knew Ushu could apparently use class abilities without being able to read what they said, but it was possible that he had undergone significant practice or dedicated training to do so.

To my immense relief, Mina and Unqis seemed to have an intuitive understanding of their Class Ability and bestowed faint golden light onto their first patients.

[Mina has initiated healing a {Moderate Illness} +?? Exp {Pending}]

[Unqis has initiated healing a {Extreme Illness} +?? Exp {Pending}]

“EXP pending?” Nadine muttered aloud, “That’s new.”

I had just been thinking the same thing and remembered that we had not explained that part to our students. Taking a few minutes to explain how EXP worked and how forming and maintaining a party was important for efficient personal and group progression, I then continued our lesson where we had left off. The notification of one of the patient's condition being determined as Extreme was a little worrying, but there was not really anything more I could do about it. I just had to hope that the Palliative Care ability would be enough for the time being and check on them again later.

Just as we were breaking for a late lunch, a cascade of golden alerts streamed into my lower peripheral vision.

[Mina has cured a {Minor Illness} +150 Exp]

[Unqis has cured a {Minor Illness} +150 Exp]

[Mina has cured a {Minor Illness} +150 Exp]

[Mina has reduced the severity of a {Moderate Illness} +150 Exp]

[Unqis has cured a {Minor Illness} +150 Exp]

[Unqis has cured a {Minor Illness} +150 Exp]

Carefully looking through the first wave of notifications, I read them aloud for the benefit of the students. The prospect of receiving EXP for every stage of improvement in the patient's condition seemed a little bizarre at first. But the more I thought about it, the more it seemed to make sense. Nadine earned EXP based on the total severity of injuries healed and this ability seemed to be doing the same, in a fashion. The ability determined a total severity level and incrementally rewarded the EXP as it was successfully treated. This was probably because of the duration component of the ability itself. Unlike Nadine's Field Surgery ability, which gave the EXP upfront in exchange for as much as it could manage, Palliative Care was far riskier in terms of being rewarded at unpredictable intervals over a fixed duration.

Without a comprehensive study, it was difficult to determine if one ability was actually ‘better’ than the other. However, the split focus of Palliative Care made it likely that Field Dressing was probably more effective at healing most forms of accessible injuries. There was still the distinct possibility that Palliative Care would pull ahead in terms of treating internal injuries though. In either case, I was just glad that we had something capable of combating disease. With the general impression that this world had a medieval level of technology, I was dreading the inevitable encounter with a pandemic level disease. There were certain steps I could take to reduce my risk of exposure, but ultimately it would become a numbers game. Living in a swamp had not been in my favour. Although, the relative isolation would help in the event of an outbreak.

“I bet Clarice is freaking out right now,” Nadine chuckled.

“Probably,” I agreed happily before grimacing a little as I realised something, “You don’t think she has her students beating the crap out of each other because she expected you to heal them, right?”

Nadine nearly tripped, “...” She glanced worriedly at me for a few moments and gulped hard, “I want to say she wouldn’t do that...but...”

“She totally would,” I sighed and rubbed at my face tiredly.

As I had expected Clarice’s ‘students’ were far worse for wear than they had been yesterday. Almost all of them had a multitude of bruises and were limping to one degree or another. Contrary to my initial expectations, it did little to curb their enthusiasm. Unsurprisingly, it magnified their appetites and thankfully Ushu’s hunting expedition had been regularly returning with food since earlier that morning.

No less injured herself, despite the racial synergies, Clarice quickly made her way over when she saw us coming. “So you are just about done training the healers right?” She asked excitedly.

Nadine scowled and narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

“Partly,” I admitted, “Why?” I asked neutrally, wanting to give Clarice the benefit of the doubt and hoping I was wrong.

“Well, I have been putting my troops through conditioning to bring their Toughness up,” Clarice explained rather excitedly, “Have you seen how low some of their stats are? No wonder they have been getting their shit kicked in.”

“Wait...You have been training their Toughness stat by making them beat the crap out of each other?” I asked incredulously.

Clarice grinned and nodded, “Works too, most of them have ten Toughness or more now, but that’s probably their limit.”

“Their limit?” I asked worriedly, unsure I wanted to know where this was going.

“Yeah, most people can only improve their pain tolerance by so much before it gets counterproductive and you start improving Willpower instead, avoiding the pain rather than enduring it,” Clarice explained matter of factly.

“And how do you know this exactly?” I really didn’t want to know the answer, but couldn’t help but ask the question.

Clarice grinned lasciviously, “Family secret, can’t tell ya,” she laughed and shifted her attention to Nadine, “So how about healing my troops so we can work on Strength training next? I mean, I could make them do it without it, but it would be more efficient if they could run properly.”

“Clarice...” Nadine rubbed at her temples with one hand and shook her head, “You can’t just do something crazy like this without telling anyone...What if the Settlement was attacked and all of your ‘students’ were left in their current state?”

Clarice frowned a little and shrugged, “Attacked by who? The swamp is a deathtrap, anyone who made it even close to our base would be in worse shape than we are,” she knew she had a point and refused to back down.

To be fair, I didn't really see much of a problem with Clarice’s logic, although her methods left much to be desired.

I let out a deep sigh, “What’s done is done and I don’t hear anyone but us complaining about it,” I gave Clarice a loaded stare, “But in future, you will be upfront about your methods, to me and any potential students. Agreed?”

Clarice grinned again and nodded, “Sure, I mean, I gave them multiple chances to back out, but no one took me up on it.”

I shook my head and tried to keep the fanatical fervour of the Serpent-Kin from my mind, “Nadine, could you round up Clarice’s students and get them to use cold compresses on their worst bruises? Dawnmoss soaked in water from the Grove fountain is the best we can manage for now.”

Nadine nodded and hurriedly set out to do as I asked.

I would have asked her and the other Surgeons to heal them, but that would leave us in a precarious position if something went wrong and we had exhausted all of our healers MP. There was always the possibility of giving the Serpent-Kin manastones to forcibly restore MP, but my recent experience with using manastone was more than a little troubling and I still needed more time to process it.

After lunch, I continued teaching Nadine and our students while keeping a close eye on our patients. As I had suspected, EXP was awarded for every degree of severity reduced from an illness and most were now entirely cured, with only the most seriously ill now remaining bedridden. Unsurprisingly, most of those who had recovered were now very interested in learning to become Surgeons themselves. So I agreed to give them an introductory primer later in the evening and have Nadine give them a condensed version of today's earlier lesson as a form of revision for her.

As the sun began to set, I was heading towards the cooking fires for dinner when I was intercepted by Toofy and the Serpent-Kin Asra.

“Eggs hatching!” Toofy declared ecstatically, grabbing my hand and pulling me in the direction of the Grove.

Asra nodded emphatically but said nothing.

Hurrying to the treefort, I awkwardly lingered for a moment on the stairs when I saw Hana sitting alone by the fountain. I had a distinct impression that she wanted to be left alone, so I kept moving and entered the storeroom. Standing on the side of the room opposite the pack containing the mana stones gathered up until this point, I nervously tried to put them out of mind.

Gric, Qreet and Dar had apparently been waiting for us and had laid out the remaining twenty-two eggs around the floor, roughly a foot apart from one another. Similarly, they had surrounded each egg with a small pile of food and left a much larger pile in the middle of the room.

Noticing my curious focus on the food and strange positioning of the eggs, Gric waved at Asra and gave him a telling look.

Apparently understanding what that meant, Asra gulped and nodded, “Ah, Lord, the food and possitionss of the eggss iss to disscourage Daemon hatchlingss from fighting one another,” he explained nervously, “Apparently, they are quite violent,” Asra shuddered and backed slightly away from the closest egg, or tried to.

Toofy apparently didn’t agree with Asra and wanted to move in for a closer look. Since she was firmly holding Asra’s hand, it left him with little choice but to move closer instead. “Just babies,” Toofy giggled, giving the egg an experimental poke.

Asra looked like he was seriously contemplating gnawing off his arm.

Toofy apparently didn’t miss this either and grinned wickedly at Asra, “Asra try run, Toofy tell Urzhas you cry!” She threatened warningly.

Asra paled further, his cheeks flushing a little with anger, “Y-you wouldn’t!” He stammered.

Toofy grinned wider and pulled Asra down to her eye level, “Toofy will!” She confirmed eagerly.

The fight went out of him and Asra submitted.

Toofy cackled and dragged Asra’s arm forward, “Touch egg! Feel baby move!” She insisted excitedly.

With the faintest glimmer of fight left in his eyes, Asra seemed to briefly consider making a break for it, but quickly relented and hesitantly touched the egg.

Unfortunately, it was at that moment that the egg wobbled violently and cracked.

Recoiling from the egg in terror, Asra tumbled backwards and very nearly sent Toofy flying. He probably would have if Toofy didn’t have his wrist in a vice-like grip.

Toofy squealed excitedly and was back on her feet again in moments, dragging Asra back towards the eggs again.

Asra gave me a pleading look, but I initially pretended not to notice. If Toofy tried taking things too far, I would intervene, but for now, it just seemed like she was getting over-excited about the eggs hatching. However, upon hearing Asra whimper a little, either in pain or fear, I decided it would be cruel to just let it continue. “Toofy, why don’t you let your friend go? I think you are hurting him.”

Toofy looked surprised and glanced down at Asra’s wrist, the minor movement revealing her pointed nails had broken the skin, causing him to bleed slightly. “Oops!” Toofy quickly let go and tackled Asra in a hug, “Toofy sorry!”

Winded and left in no position to be able to reply, Asra desperately turned to me for help again.

I was just trying to think of how best to deescalate the situation when the egg that exacerbated most of the problem began violently rocking too and fro as it cracked open. “Toofy, the egg is hatching!” I declared with exaggerated excitement.

“Egg!” Toofy yelped, shoving herself off Asra and diving headfirst towards the egg, her eyes wide as she watched it wobble and continue to crack.

Gric had slowly made his way over as well and had gathered a faint nearly imperceptible amount of azure coloured mana around the tip of his right index finger.

All at once, the egg’s shell was pushed apart and a small daemon tumbled out and onto the small pile of food. Before it even had time to so much as breathe, Gric poked it with his finger.

Almost immediately, the status alert announced that the Daemon hatchling had joined the Settlement. This process was repeated another twenty times over the course of the next couple of minutes, a few occurring near-simultaneously, proving Gric’s preparations prudent as the hatchlings very quickly acted upon a primal hunger and tore into whatever was in their immediate vicinity.

In the wake of the hatching frenzy, there was one unhatched egg remaining, and so far as I could tell, it had made no signs it was going to hatch.

Initially distracted by patting the babies, it didn’t actually take Toofy long to notice the abnormality either. “Egg no hatch?” She asked curiously, wandering over to take a closer look.

Gric gave a low rumbling growl to Qreet and Dar before moving in to take a closer look. Lifting the egg and holding it up directly in front of his face, Gric stared at the egg for over five minutes before putting it back down again.

“What is it?” I asked, already suspecting the worst, “Is it...Not going to hatch?” I awkwardly changed my words as I was unsure how Toofy would take the news.

Gric scratched his chest slowly with the claws on his larger right hand, “Perhaps,” he rumbled thoughtfully, “Hornless-take-longer. Can’t-gather-mana-fast-enough-to-compete.” Gric motioned to the voracious horde of recently hatched Daemonlings that were in the process of ripping, tearing and chewing their way through a mountain of eggshells and assorted meats.

I realised what he meant and felt a little sick. His confirmation of my earlier theory regarding the Daemons horns was overshadowed by the very real probability that Gric, Qreet and Dar would have very likely murdered their way through the other unhatched eggs if they had been entirely left to their own devices and very possibly turned on one another soon afterwards. After suppressing that horrible train of thought, I noticed that the recently hatched Daemonlings did in fact only have a single horn protruding from their forehead.

Unlike Gric, Qreet and Dar, the newly hatched Daemonlings horns were not placed symmetrically and seemed to be anchored at random anywhere on their forehead. In most cases, it was probably fine, but a couple of Daemonlings had lost some level of vision to an unfortunately placed horn and its surrounding bone and muscle encroaching over an eye. Of those few, I felt relatively certain that they would outgrow the worst of it. Like humans, the Daemons would likely grow enough that the obstructing bone and muscle would migrate slightly farther from the eye and restore most of their vision in the process. Not that the Daemonlings seemed to mind all that much.

“Is there anything we can do to make it hatch faster?” I asked, aware that Ushu would very likely begin asking for similar access once his people were better situated and I didn’t want a potentially cannibalistic Daemonling going on a murder spree.

Gric shifted uncomfortably for a moment before replying, “Yes,” he replied flatly.

I waited a couple of minutes before realising a further answer was not forthcoming, “Which is?” I prompted, using a firm tone to make it clear that I was not going to just let the issue go.

Gric shifted uncomfortably again, “Injecting-mana-directly,” he rumbled, sounding profoundly uncomfortable, “It-is-not-the-Daemon-way,” Gric rumbled.

Toofy picked up the egg and pressed her ear up against it, squinting her eyes tightly shut as if she was trying to hear the Daemonling moving around inside.

“Why not? What's the problem with that method?” I asked warily, somewhat certain that it had to be pretty serious for Gric not to seriously consider it an option.

“It’ss a paternal imprint Lord!” Asra interjected timidly, “It’ss how hatchlings recognisse their parentss.”

Despite his momentary annoyance at being interrupted, Gric seemed content to let the issue go and nodded.

“Wait, Daemons don’t do this?” I asked, more than a little concerned by the potential reasons for such a practice.

Gric hissed in aggravation before quickly gaining control over his emotions again, “Family-breeds-weakness,” he stated coldly and both Qreet and Dar nodded in agreement.

They were serious...

It was probably my own bias of spending my early life without parents, just a government recognised carer, but there was no way I was going to let this slide. “I want to be very clear. If anyone in my Settlement is responsible for...making an egg, they will damn well look after the life that hatches out of it! Understood?”

The three Daemons nodded with near comical looks of existential horror on their faces.

*Crukcrik*

Drawn to the sudden cracking sound, I was relieved to find that Toofy hadn’t smashed the egg open out of impatience.

“Egg hatch!” Toofy declared proudly, “See?!” She thrust the violently shuddering egg up towards me so I could take a closer look.

However, just as Toofy did so and I leaned down, the egg suddenly exploded, sending eggshell and goo splattering in all directions, which was mostly my face at that point.

Adamantly standing my ground through force of will, since I could hear Daemonlings scurrying around for food and didn’t want to crush any of them by mistake. Instead, I hiked up my tunic and used the lower portion to wipe my face clean while making a mental note to thoroughly wash it later to prevent salmonella poisoning and conjunctivitis.

“Cute baby!” Toofy squealed excitedly.

Looking back down at Toofy I could see that she was cradling an albino skinned Daemonling with transparent crystal-like horns. Unlike the others, this Daemon had a veritable crown of horns ringing its head, beginning at either temple and looping around the back of its head. It also had a larger horn protruding from the centre of its forehead like Gric. Much to my surprise, the Daemonling was making no attempts at attacking Toofy at all, seemingly content with greedily licking off the egg gunk spattered on her face.

“Heehee baby tickles!” Toofly giggled while gently stroking its back with one hand. Judging by the absence of a second tail, I assumed it was a girl. So that and the knowledge that it was less than a couple of minutes old left me feeling far less weirded out than I would have been otherwise given the circumstances.

“Are you going to recruit her?” I asked Gric pointedly.

Gric looked stunned and took a few moments to react, “Yes...” He agreed reverently, gathering mana to his forefinger again as he approached the albino Daemonling to recruit her.

As if sensing his presence, the albino Daemonling stopped what she was doing and turned to face Gric, her eyes emitting a faint ruby light as she stared the larger Daemon down with the dismissive arrogance of someone considering something normally far beneath their notice.

“Pretty eyes!” Toofy exclaimed, turning the Daemonling around so she could get a better look.

Surprisingly, the albino Daemonling didn’t put up a fuss, instead taking the chance to release a dismissive sniff and turn away from Gric entirely.

Gric staggered as if he had been struck by a mortal blow. “Not...Worthy...” He hissed defeatedly.

Recalling what Hana had stated regarding Daemon hierarchy, it was a little funny to see a situation play out like this. Assumedly, because the albino Daemon has more horns, Gric believes that she is his superior, in the same way that he is superior to Qreet and Dar, who are in turn are the superiors of all the other Daemon hatchlings. It kind of made sense, that of the original trio, Gric was noticeably ‘bigger’ overall than the other two, so could be assumed to be stronger. But Gric easily had close to a couple hundred pounds on the newly hatched albino Daemonling, so there was an obvious artificially inflated component to their strength hierarchy. It was more of a competitive caste system than a true meritocracy driven competition of strength.

Letting out a deep sigh, I looked back at Asra, who was safely located by the doorway and keeping a wary eye on the Daemonlings. “Could you please fetch Underlord Ushu? I need him to recruit a Daemon.”

Asra looked taken aback for a moment, gulped hard, nodded then turned and ran down the stairs.

Technically, I could probably gather enough mana to do it, since I had consumed that manastone, but I really didn’t want to risk something going wrong. Like going on a manastone fuelled bender and murdering everyone...I needed to talk to someone who knows more about this, like Jacque...

“Baby hungry?” Toofy asked, pulling out a piece of meat from her pocket and offering it to the Daemonling.

The albino Daemonling bared its teeth and whined pitiably, a far cry from its prideful persona of a moment prior.

“Aww, hungry baby eat,” Toofy cooed, holding the piece of roasted meat close to the Daemonling so she could get stuck-in.

Warbling her thanks, the albino Daemonling began tearing into the meat with ravenous abandon, ripping, tearing and swallowing as fast as she was able.

After a few minutes, Ushu came hurrying up the steps and very nearly tripped over one of the Daemonlings roaming the floor. “Ah! I mean, You ssent for me Lord?” He asked somewhat awkwardly as he worriedly kept an eye on the hungry Daemonlings.

“I want you to recruit the last Daemonling to the settlement,” I explained, pointing to the albino Daemon in Toofy’s arms.

Ushu nodded obediently and very carefully made his way across the room, making sure to stay as far from each of the Daemonlings as possible.

“Gric, can you organise some more food for them? And make sure they understand the rules too,” I suggested for Ushu’s piece of mind. I was reasonably confident that the little terrors would not do anything without being explicitly told to by one of the older Daemons, Ushu, Hana or myself, but it would be better to be safe than sorry.

“Of-course, Lord,” Gric rumbled deferentially before turning his attention to the Daemonlings, “Follow,” He growled in a decidedly menacing tone.

The Daemonlings scrambled to form up behind him, even going so far as to abandon a scrap of food that was about to go in their mouth.

Taking the lead, with Qreet and Dar close behind, the Daemonlings streamed after them down the stairs.

[Settlement Alert {Tim’s Settlement}: {Ril - Lesser Daemon} was recruited by {Underlord Ushu} as a minion.]

“It iss done Lord,” Ushu declared and stepped away.

The albino Daemonling, Ril, looked directly at me for the first time, revealing that she had no pupils or iris, her eyes were like solid rubies. Even so, I still had the distinct impression that she could see me.

“Baby’s name is Ril,” I told Toofy, knowing that she couldn’t read and would likely appreciate it.

Toofy grinned and turned Ril around to look her in the eyes, “Hello Ril! Me Toofy!” She smiled wider and revealed her teeth.

Ril copied Toofy and opened her mouth in a wide toothy smile.

Toofy giggled happily and hopped around in excitement.

“Ah! Toofy, don't be too rough!” I warned, “Babies get hurt easily!”

Toofy suddenly stopped and looked surprised, “Really?!” She asked in a panic.

I nodded sombrely, even though I was quite sure Daemons were supernaturally tough compared to a human child, it was still a good idea to exercise caution and establish a precedent.

Toofy hugged Ril gently, “Toofy Sorry Ril, Toofy be careful.”

Surprisingly, Ril hugged Toofy back, chittering something unintelligible but obviously intended to be supportive.

“Maybe we should go get some more food for Ril to eat?” I suggested trying to brighten the mood again.

Toofy grinned, “Kay!” She agreed eagerly.

“You can show Ril to the others too!” I encouraged her as we left the storeroom, feeling far less on edge once I was halfway down the stairs.

To her credit, Toofy took the stairs very seriously and made sure of every step before taking the next.

“Tim?” Hana called out quietly, just as I was about to leave the Grove, “Could you stay? I want to talk.”

Waving to Toofy and Ushu to go on without me, I turned back towards the fountain. It was probably for the best that we spoke in private. Slowly making my way over, I sat down by the fountain and waited to hear what Hana had to say.

Hana didn’t say anything or even make a sound for over a few minutes, then quite suddenly she turned to face me but was unable to look me in the eyes, instead averting her eyes to the side, “I’m sorry,” she said stiffly. “I was wrong about you, you aren’t like them, like him!...” There was a brief flare of anger in her voice, her expression darkening before turning lax again. “I just wanted you to know that I wouldn’t have left...Just because you are one of them I mean...I...” Hana balled her hands into fists so tight that they began to tremble, “I actually wanted you to be one of them! I want him dead! I want my family back! I want him to suffer for what he stole from me! I wanted you to kill him for me! I would have given you everything you asked for...” She unclenched her fists and tried to wipe away the tears that began streaming down her face.

I didn’t know what to say, so the silence just continued to drag on between us. Hana hadn’t really apologised and my opinion of her hadn’t exactly improved after being informed that she would have been fine with me being a murderer on the condition that I murder someone for her.

“Say something!” Hana demanded, “ I can’t stand it! Just say something!”

I guess I could now see what Nadine had meant when she insisted that Hana needed someone to talk things through with. “Tell me about your family,” I suggested.

“W-what?!” Hana stammered, “Why?!”

“Because you miss them,” I replied bluntly, “Because you are terrified at the prospect of the last part of them disappearing forever.” It was just a guess, but it was how I felt when my Mum died. It was the only thought that kept me going sometimes, that the final piece of her was living on inside of me and I would not be the one responsible for extinguishing it.

The silence dragged on again, but Hana seemed to be thinking over what I said, so I gave her all the time she needed.

Hana took a deep breath to steady herself before speaking, a weak melancholic smile on her lips, “Sakura was mother’s eldest. She was so much like her too, strict, disciplined and wanting things to be just so,” she motioned her hands for emphasis, “But she was kind too, always helping us when we were in trouble with mother...” Hana sniffled and laughed a little as she wiped away a fresh tear, “I still remember when Tsubaki and I left home on our first great adventure and got lost. Mother was furious when she found out, I had never seen her so angry...But Sakura lied, she said she was the one who chased us away from home for annoying her...” She shook her head and quietly laughed again, “We still got in trouble because Tsubaki didn’t realise Sakura was trying to cover for us and gave us all away. She was always doing things like that, acting first without thinking, equal parts reckless and brave...” Hana was quiet again for a short while, “She was the first of my sisters The Destroyer took from me. It was only because of Tsubaki that I managed to get away at all...For whatever demented reason, The Destroyer concentrated his efforts on chasing her...It didn’t seem to matter how much magic Mother and Sakura threw at him, The Destroyer just ignored them and kept yelling things at her.”

Hana stopped talking and a haunted look took hold in her eyes.

“We kept screaming at her to run, to leave it to mother, but she refused,” More tears ran down Hana’s cheeks and she made no attempts to wipe them away, “That’s not what a hero does,” she sobbed brokenly, “That was the last thing she told me...right before he killed her...” Hana growled and clenched her fists in anger, nails biting deep enough into her palms to draw blood, “That sick fucker laughed as he tore her heart out and burned her heart-tree to ash. He knew the entire time, he had just waited until she was completely helpless to finish her...”

“He killed Hanaye and Reika while fighting Mother...He didn’t even do it on purpose, their heart-trees caught fire and nothing we did would douse the flames...” Hana began rocking back and forth, “I can still hear them screaming for us to help them!” She broke down and continued crying for a long time before she managed to pull herself together enough to talk again, “They never deserved that! Reika was so kind and gentle! She took care of all the flowers in our home! And Hanaye was always ready to listen to you, no matter how petty or stupid you had been to her...I always thought she was the most beautiful after mother, she was the one who looked most like her and had her delicate features...” She went quiet for a moment, but sobbed and shook her head, “You know, I spent what felt like most of my life hating my sister Kohana. She was always such a bitch to me, always trying to get me into trouble and telling me how stupid I was and how I would never be as beautiful as her. The last time we spoke, I...I told her that I wished she was dead...Kohana died buying time for me to escape...I fucking hate her!” Hana wailed helplessly, making it clear she meant the opposite.

I didn’t know what to say. I couldn’t think of anything that would trivialize what she had and was continuing to go through. While my Mum had been my whole world, she was still only one person. Contemplating losing her six times, on the same day, my brain refused to process it.

“What am I supposed to do?” Hana demanded, her voice raw with conflicting emotions, “I miss them all so much, and I hate that bastard for taking them from me! But I can’t fight him! He is too strong!”

“Live,” It took me a moment to realize I had spoken aloud.

Hana stared uncomprehendingly at me, likely just as surprised as I was.

“Live,” I repeated, inspired by the words of my grief counsellor, “Live on knowing that the best of those you love lives on inside of you.”

Hana just continued staring at me for a while, but eventually, she snorted softly and shook her head, “Mother would have liked you...You aren't like the others. The ones that hurt her, that made her angry all the time...”

A lengthy silence passed between us before Hana spoke again. “Tell me about your family, the one you had before. Mother didn’t speak of the other world often, only when she was angry...”

I nodded slowly and tried to organise my thoughts, but it quickly proved quite hopeless, so I just decided to start speaking instead and figured the words would fall where they may. “I was alone in the beginning. My own mother threw me away, I was told later that they found me in a dumpster, it's where you throw away garbage, trash, things you don't want,“ I explained awkwardly, flinching at each description, “I was raised by someone more interested in being paid by the government for the service than any thoughts about what was in my best interests. One day, I ran away from home. I had always wanted to see the ocean. I had seen so many pictures, but my foster parents never let me go. I had decided that even if it was the last thing I did, I would go see the ocean with my own eyes.” I smiled wanly as I recalled stumbling over the dunes and tumbling down the embankment, “That was where I met my Mum. She said it was her favourite place in the whole world and that she would be happy to share it with me if I wanted to.'' I let out a deep sigh and shook my head, “Mum didn’t adopt me right away. She couldn’t. There were a whole bunch of legal hoops she needed to jump through, I didn't understand any of that at the time and I thought that she had abandoned me. But after a few months, there she was, standing at the door and telling me I was coming home-” I couldn’t help but choke up a little recalling how I had felt in that moment, “-I had never felt so happy, to know that somebody wanted me, that I was loved.” I shook my head and smiled, “I had never been so happy, I felt so many things I hadn’t even known existed or had forgotten about just to try and make life more bearable. For the first time I was truly alive. Just the thought of my Mum being there for me was enough to make it through each day with a smile on my face. No matter what people said or did, I could ignore it so long as she was there waiting for me...”

Cupping some water from the fountain in my palm, I drank it down to wet my throat and give myself a moment to prepare for what I had been dreading most.

“One day, I found out that my Mum was sick and was not going to get better. I decided that I was going to look after her, it was the least I could do after all she had done for me. Mum wouldn’t hear of it, and made sure I kept going to school to prepare for University. She kept insisting that I plan for my future. But each day she remembered a little less and took longer to recognise me. Day by day she continued deteriorating until I barely recognised her anymore. It’s hard to remember what she looked like before...But I still hoped that there would be some sort of miracle, that in spite of everything, I would just wake up one morning and she would be good as new again. Only, when I woke up one morning and went to check on her, she was gone. I knew there was only one place she would go, so I ran out of the house to find her and bring her back. Even though I knew it was already too late, following the doctor's advice was the only thing really holding me together at that point. So I needed to bring her home. Only, when I found Mum, she was just about gone already. She looked at me like I was a total stranger, smiling as she explained why this was her favourite place in the whole world. This is where I met my fiance Ryan and found my boy Tim...” I broke a little inside repeating Mum’s final words aloud. It forced me to remember holding her while I waited for the ambulance to arrive, the despair I felt upon realizing she was already gone and I would never be able to speak with her again...

A long silence passed between us.

“Sorry...” Hana said quietly, “I had thought your family would be more like mother’s...I...I’m sorry Tim.”

I nodded but said nothing, the pain was just about all I could feel and I didn’t trust myself to say or do anything right now. After a while, I got up with the intention of heading straight to bed. I wanted to try and sleep through the worst of the pain, as long as it would take for it to recede back to a dull and manageable ache.

“W-wait!” Hana stammered, “Where are you going?..”

“Bed,” I replied numbly, doing my best to distance myself from the pain, before it was able to overwhelm me again.

“Can’t you stay? Just a little longer?...” Hana pleaded, “I...don’t want to be alone...”

I hesitated, glancing over my shoulder to look back at her. I wanted to say no, stumble into bed and fall asleep forever. But the familiar pain I saw in Hana’s eyes sapped my resolve. She was foundering and was looking for something to hold on to. Anything that would keep her from drowning. “Fine...” I croaked and sat down by the fountain again. Even though I had agreed to stay, I was still doing my best to distance myself from the pain of the reawakened memories.

I wasn’t sure when she had done it, but at some point, Hana had moved in beside me and was now leaning against my arm.

Staring vacantly up at the sky, I tried to remember what Mum looked like before she became sick. There was no real way for the pain I was feeling to get any worse, so I revisited them all. Some were nearly forgotten, most were innocuous and boring, but a treasured few actually made me feel strangely happy in spite of the pain.

Waking up early, I was surprised by how much better I felt. Even though some of the pain still lingered and was still fresh in my mind, it was far more manageable than it had ever been. I snorted and shook my head as I considered what my grief counsellor would think of that development. Being transported to another world or very likely a different dimension had not been one of his recommended steps for bereavement. Although I guess that says more about me than him, that something so radical had been necessary.

There was still a significant problem, I didn’t know how to help Hana with her pain. Even though we had both lost people we care about, it was obvious that our pain was not the same. I lost my Mum to illness, Hana’s family was murdered in front of her and to make things worse, the murderer was still assumedly running around unchecked.

Obviously, the thing Hana would want most is for the murderer to be killed for his crimes. But I had no idea if I was even capable of something like that. Putting aside my not inconsiderable moral qualms regarding coldblooded murder, I didn’t think I had the actual capability to make the attempt itself.

Just because The Destroyer was assumedly here on the third floor, did not mean that he was a third or even fourth-tier monster. Jacque had demonstrated herself capable of moving through the different floors with near impunity, so why would he not be capable of the same feat?

The only way I could think of being able to fight someone like that with any real chance at success was to begin regularly consuming manastones...

I continued trying to think of alternatives, but everything just left me with the impression of my own profound cowardice. I had a very real idea of how addictive the manastones were, but refusing not to use them was not a sign of strength, but a reflection of my own fear and weakness. I had already demonstrated that I was capable of walking away at just one and even Jacque had heavily implied that avoiding them entirely was a bad idea. So I had to decide whether the risk was worth the potential benefits.

Staring up at the last of the glimmering stars in the slowly brightening sky, I realised that I had already made my choice. I wasn’t going to let people fight my battles for me anymore, this was my life and there were people I wanted to protect. In order to protect them, I needed to become stronger and make hard choices rather than just avoiding them.

Gently laying Hana down by the fountain, I slowly but determinedly made my way up the stairs to the storeroom. It was to my immense relief that I felt no artificial pressure or other telltale signs of addiction driving me forward. I was not eager either, just determined to do what was necessary.

Reaching into the pack, I searched for the largest manastone and carefully pulled it out. It was so strange that monsters were able to have these objects lodged in their brains without serious side effects. Even stranger that all monsters seemed capable of consuming and digesting them like some sort of sugar rock candy.

Dropping the manastone into my mouth, I tested myself one final time, leaving the manastone on my tongue and letting it sit there for a full minute before eventually swallowing. That was another bizarre aspect of the manastones, assumedly you could absorb their mana over time through direct proximity, but it was so slow you wouldn’t even notice it. In direct contrast, the sudden warmth and euphoria flooding through my system made me doubt the passive osmosis was even viable.

Unlike yesterday, I did not lose myself so easily. In a way, the lingering pain helped, somehow stubbornly persisting despite the cascade of endorphins flooding my mind.

Dropping the pack back to the floor, I tested my control by heading for the stairs. In spite of everything going so well thus far, I was still surprised when I realised that I had made it to the bottom steps without incident and feeling no more inclined to head back for a manastone now than when I first left.

After less than a minute, the artificially induced high faded and I was glad to find that I felt just as I had before taking the manastone. It was weird to feel thankful for pain, but it was how I felt regardless.

Finding a small gathering of Serpent-Kin gathered outside the entrance to the Grove, I was not surprised and felt a little guilty upon realising that they were Nadine’s Surgeon students, including those I had unintentionally stood up last night. In a far better mood than I had been in...I can’t even remember how long, I decided to start teaching them all over breakfast.

When Nadine joined us later that morning, I could tell she was aware of what happened last night and was wearing a grin that all but screamed equal parts, “I told you so!” And, “I’m just happy you are happy!”

To get my own back at her, I had Nadine teach a revision class from yesterday and ruthlessly nitpicked her curriculum in the name of ‘best practices’ and ‘improvement’. To her credit, Nadine took it in stride and didn’t seem to mind all that much. Our students didn’t either, the more informal and lighthearted atmosphere encouraged them to ask more questions since it was Nadine who would take the fall and not them if something had been unclear.

Our lessons really did drive home the need for a formal and universal written language to record information. The Bleak-fang’s pictographs were not even close to robust enough for the purpose and I would have to invent just about every other word I needed to use, so it would be far too much work and was frankly something I was not good at. This left us with two real choices, learning a native human language, or that of the Daemons.

As I saw it, each would have its own advantages and disadvantages. One of the primary benefits of choosing a human language would be the ease of facilitating trade and negotiating with the humans later. One of the more worrying downsides would be that any stolen documents would be readily understood by parties with malevolent motives. Using the Daemon language seemed like a more secure option for keeping secrets and stopping information from being stolen, but I didn't know all that much about it either.

I suppose it would be possible to do both, but the prospect of learning both languages myself was a little daunting, particularly given how busy I was going to be for the next week at least. But a formal language for the Settlement would make it much easier for future students to learn these Classes. So much of what I was teaching was so basic that it would take a quarter of the time to just read it and ask questions to serve as quality control later...

I mean, Clarice’s lessons probably wouldn’t benefit all that much from academic instruction, but it’s obvious that the more magically inclined Classes have a boatload of theory requirements and complicated details that would make far more sense if you knew about them first before requiring a practical demonstration.

That did raise an interesting question though, If Gric and the other Daemons already had access to a robust language imprinted into their minds since before they hatched, why didn’t they begin life with access to the more theoretical oriented classes? Or for that matter, the knowledge on how to acquire them?

Feeling like a complete idiot, I realised that I had never checked them in the first place!

*****

Gric felt quite proud of what he had managed to accomplish thus far. Only a little over two days old, he was already well on his way to leading a Daemonic host! Well...The start of one at least. Every Daemon Warband had to start from somewhere. Besides, the Lord had no shortage of minions, and although they might be weak, squishy, prone to debilitating illness, functionally illiterate and susceptible to emotional fatigue, Gric still saw great potential in their younger and more impressionable offspring. Weaknesses could be driven out if given the right incentives!

There was of course one minor problem, Gric was no longer at the top of the heap. That position now rightfully belonged to Ril and it was only a matter of time before she would come to claim it. That left Gric with a serious problem and he was unsure of how exactly he was going to solve it.

Gric could theoretically accept Ril’s inevitable challenge and perhaps best her, but that was both unlikely and incredibly unwise. Ril had already been claimed as the offspring of the Lord’s favourite servant, so harming her in any way was likely to be met with vicious reprisal and demotion. So Gric needed to be clever and think of something else to help him keep his rightful position as Underlord.

There was an idea! Gric grinned, Ril would have no need for his title, if she already had one of her own! Now he just needed to think of a way to ‘encourage’ the Lord to promote her without demoting him in the process.

Sensing the Lord was headed his way, Gric snarled a warning at the newly hatched Daemonlings. Any of them who embarrassed him in front of the Lord would pay for it dearly later.

Qreet and Dar returned to their customary positions at his flanks and were careful to demonstrate the correct level of deference. Gric and they both knew the score and understood that a demotion for Gric was against their own best interests.

Gric bowed his head as the Lord approached, “Lord,” he growled respectfully and was echoed by Qreet and Dar a moment later.

“Gric, I want to ask you something,” the Lord said impatiently, deliberately skipping his official title and causing Gric to flinch. “Well, I want to ask you a couple of things actually. You know how to read and write, yes?”

Gric was confused, this was not the demotion speech he had been expecting. Eager to please, he quickly rallied and nodded, “Yes, Lord!” Gric hoped he was not courting disaster by adding a slight emphasis to the title as a reminder of his own being absent in the discussion.

“So you would be able to teach this language to others?” The Lord asked thoughtfully, apprently not upset with Gric overstepping.

Gric sighed and nodded again, “Yes, Lord!” He repeated. Even though Gric had never taught the Daemon language to anyone before, he did not think it would be hard. After all, the Lord was a genius and would probably learn something so simple in a matter of minutes if he had the desire to do so.

The Lord nodded and rubbed thoughtfully at his chin, “Good. We don’t really have any writing supplies at the moment, but I want the three of you to start teaching the younger Serpent-Kin how to read and write. Once we have better supplies I want you to teach the adults too. You think you can do that?”

Gric swallowed hard, “Yes, Lord!” He repeated mechanically, suddenly panicked at the prospect of trying to teach the young minions something as complex and nuanced as the Daemon language. This was not going well at all. “Lord?” Gric croaked desperately trying to best think of how to salvage the situation.

“Yes?” The lord asked somewhat distractedly.

“Who will teach you?” Gric asked, trusting in his strong instincts to guide him through this nightmare, “Perhaps, Ril?” He suggested slyly.

The Lord frowned, almost certainly having seen through Gric’s gambit. However, after thinking on it for a few minutes, he nodded slightly, “I suppose that could work, someone needs to teach Toofy anyway, so why not her? Yeah, alright, that’s not a bad idea.”

Gric did his best to keep his smile neutral, “Of course, Lord.”

The lord’s expression suddenly changed, “OH! Right! Gric, do Daemons hatch knowing about any classes?” He asked bluntly, his eyes boring into Gric’s very soul, “I remembered you talking about the Pact Binder. So I want to know if you know about any others.”

Gric was not sure why the Lord was so driven to know about such mundane topics, but he was more than happy to oblige, “Yes Lord!” Gric replied cheerily, “Would you like me to tell you about them?” This would be the perfect opportunity to ‘encourage’ the Lord to change classes! Gric could barely contain his excitement over how well this day was turning out so far.