Ogre Tyrant: Chapter 10 - Do or die - Part Two {Rewrite}

Afforded a rather impressive view of the surrounding area, especially now that I had removed all of the smaller trees, I nervously kept an eye out for signs of movement. Noticing a number of logs in the lake a fair distance away from our camp, I was not fooled by their innocuous appearance and quickly pointed them out to the others, “We have monsters approaching from across the lake,” I called out for Clarice’s benefit since she was watching the opposite direction.

Clarice quickly glanced back to see where I was pointing and scowled, “You're sure?” She asked, turning back to cover her position.

“Very,” I insisted, “Those are almost definitely monsters pretending to be logs. After all, how many floating logs did you see on the way over here?” I asked rhetorically.

I could picture scaly crocodiles sluggishly swimming towards us in the murky water and was glad that I had insisted on a crude platform to be lashed together in boughs of the Totem tree. Confident that Toofy would be safe from most dangers up there, I could devote the rest of my attention to spotting threats the others might have overlooked.

“Fuck...” Clarice cursed, “You’re right, I saw one move!”

“Crawlies!” Toofy shrieked excitedly pointing at the far bank.

Large crab-like crustaceans the size of large dogs were scuttling into the water and headed our way. Similarly, I noticed more than one telltale s-shaped ripple in the water heading towards us as well.

“Snakes and crabs!” I called out in warning.

“Uh, some sort of big plant thing over here!” Tobi called back.

I quickly glanced back towards Tobi and saw a shambling humanoid shape emerging from the water. With Shady, Emelia and Beaky to serve as backup for his flank, I was confident that they would be alright.

I was more worried about myself, but that was only because I was the only one protecting an entire flank on my own. Even Clarice had Nadine and Thunder Thighs for support.

Each flank was basically determined as the space between two of the three bonfires, with the Totem being in the centre. If anyone was badly injured, it was agreed that they should fall back to the Totem and quickly eat as much of the food left in our packs as they needed before returning to support the others until Nadine could help tend their wounds.

With no mana potions, Nadine was currently limited to four uses of her Ability, but would hopefully finish regenerating the fifth point sometime during the night.

A fight broke out from the other side of the camp and I had to stop myself from turning around to investigate. It was a good thing too because the suspicious ‘logs’ were growing dangerously close.

*Crunch* *Splosh*

[Toofy has slain {Scourge Swarmer: 2 } +200 Exp]

“The hell was that?!” I asked, having heard a stone whoosh through the air somewhere behind me.

“Flying blood parasite monster!” Nadine called back, “Good job Toofy!”

I shivered involuntarily as I considered a monstrous version of a mosquito.

Ugh, no thanks! I’ll take the giant crabs!

Watching my first enemy dragging itself up out of the water, I tuned out the sounds of combat behind me and focused on the thick-scaled and six-limbed crocodile quickly ambling in my direction. Thankfully, the crocodile monster was somewhat small by crocodile standards. Unfortunately, it was still a monster, so I had no idea if it had any special Abilities not hinted at by its appearance.

Curiously, the undersized monstrous crocodile didn’t slow to try and lunge at me. Instead, it just barreled straight towards the tree.

*Thump Crunch*

I had swung my morningstar down into the crocodile’s body, temporarily stunning it. Pulling my weapon free again, I stabbed it in the face as it tried to bite at my shins. Very aware of a crocodile's bite strength, I was very careful to keep my legs out of its reach as I lunged to deliver another body blow.

*Thump Crunch*

The blow didn’t kill the croc but seemed to have knocked it unconscious. Unwilling to take any chances, I sighed, steeled my nerves and brought my morningstar down on its head.

*Crunch*

[You have slain {Swamp Lurker: 1 } +300 Exp]

Swamp Lurker huh? Yeah, that’s an appropriate name for an ambush predator...

Keenly aware that I would not have the luxury to continue spending so much time on each opponent, I readied a powerful double-handed blow for when the next Swamp Lurker would come within reach of my morningstar.

I was still vaguely aware of the grunts, cursing and shouts of the others as they engaged in fights of their own. Without our group Synergies, the quest objective would probably have been outright impossible. But for now, it seemed like we would be able to hold our own.

*Crunch*

I disabled the next Swamp Lurker by caving in half its skull and with a second blow, killed it. Unlike hunting the Vrabbits, I felt no hesitation in attacking the obvious predators.

*Thwack* *Splash*

I sent a brightly coloured snake flying back down the hill and into the water. I didn’t really know much about monster biology, but I was pretty sure the bright colouration meant it was poisonous.

[You have slain {Swamp Moccasin: 1 } +150 Exp]

I was pretty sure I hadn’t hit the snake that hard.

Seeing that I had a few moments before the next croc would make landfall, I concentrated on where the snake had fallen into the water. Seeing the water growing increasingly agitated, I realised that there had to be another type of monster in the water.

Since whatever it was had not tried leaving the water, I suspected that it must be some sort of fish. It was obviously carnivorous and vicious, having killed the wounded snake in a matter of moments.

Oh no...

I made a mental note to avoid the water at all costs.

“Bastard!” Clarice cursed loudly.

*Schwick Splat*

[Clarice has slain {Bull Bufo: 3 } +900 Exp]

My curiosity got the better of me and I quickly glanced over at Clarice’s flank. Unsure what I was seeing at first, due to the mess of bodies, I soon recognised what had to be the source of Clarice’s cursing.

A pair of bull-horned amphibians with bristly manes running down their backs were attempting to lash Clarice with their tongues. However, Clarice was viciously counterattacking with her sword and by the looks of it had already killed four of that monster already.

Startled by a familiar hiss, I turned my attention back to my designated flank just in time to avoid the snapping jaws of a large Swamp Lurker. Vigorously pounding away at its head and neck, I didn’t stop until I received the kill notification.

The last thing I needed was a croc regaining consciousness mid-fight and breaking my leg with a death-roll.

Seeing another snake coming up the hill, I wanted to try something different in order to confirm my earlier suspicions.

*Crunch*

I smashed the snake's head into the ground, killing it instantly. Grabbing the end of its tail, I swung the snake around a few times to build momentum, then hurled it at one of the approaching crocs in the water. Unsurprisingly, I missed it. However, just as I had expected and feared, the water around the dead snake quickly became disturbed and the snake’s body was pulled under.

What I hadn’t expected was for the water around the croc to become disturbed as well. Within moments, the croc was thrashing and biting at hidden assailants in the water. The other crocs began detouring towards the commotion as well, but I doubted they were intending to provide assistance.

With fascinated horror, I watched the scale of the violence grow exponentially larger with each passing minute. If it weren't for the snakes actively avoiding the conflict, I honestly wouldn’t have anything else to do. Judging by the monsters diverting from either side, I could only assume that our situation overall was very likely improving.

“You alright over there Tim?!” Clarice called out a little raggedly.

*Thwack*

I sent the latest snake tumbling down the hill and straightened my back. Bending over so often was actually starting to tire my back out. “Mostly!” I called back, “Why? You want to switch?” I glanced over at Clarice’s flank and saw that she was looking very tired. The frogs and plantmen had not diverted to the murderfest in the lake, so she had very likely been fighting constantly this entire time.

“Y-yeah...” Clarice called back tiredly as she noticed how calm my area was in comparison.

Making sure there were no snakes in the immediate vicinity, I hurried over to change places with Clarice, while she and Thunder Thighs Took a short breather. The Desert Raptor actually looked to be in high spirits and seemed uninjured thus far. Not a bad achievement, given that I had assumed the Desert Raptor would be weaker than most of the monsters on this floor. As best I could figure, it was because of Clarice being so aggressive and holding the attention of the monsters.

I didn’t have much time to think before a shambling plantman came stumbling at me with open arms. I now realised that there may be a problem with switching places with Clarice. I was not so sure my morningstar would do all that well against a monster apparently made of clumps of mud, reeds, branches and other rotten vegetation.

*Splat*

Okay...

Apparently, I knew nothing about monster anatomy, because my first strike against the plantman obliterated its arm and a good chunk of its chest, sending the rotten detritus flying.

The plantman staggered and clumsily lunged at me, ripping apart its midsection in the process and causing it to miss, badly.

*Splort*

[You have slain {Mud Doll: 1 } +100 Exp]

The plantman fell apart as it hit the ground.

Well...that was far weaker than I thought it would be.

*Thwap*

One of the dog-sized frogs’ tongues smacked my shoulder and I felt a faint scraping sensation. As the tongue retracted, I spotted small spines on the end of the frog's tongue.

[Tim - HP: 44/45 - Normal ]

Quickly glancing at my status, I was relieved to find that I hadn't been poisoned. Deciding to be more proactive, I rushed at the frog and made a swing for its centre mass.

Unfortunately, the frog easily dodged the attack, leaping up and over before suddenly leaping straight at me in an attempt to gore me with its horns.

*Thworp*

I barely managed to backhand the frog away, receiving a shallow cut across my forearm in exchange. The monstrous frog’s stomach was torn open, spilling its guts and entrails around the immediate area. Even so, the frog still didn't die immediately, weakly attempting to crawl back towards me for a final attack.

*Splat*

I put the frog out of its misery and was spattered with blood for the effort. An hour hadn't even passed, and I was already beginning to feel the onset of mental fatigue. Even so, I had no other choice than to keep fighting. If we failed this quest, at the very least, I would die, but there was also a chance that the others would be killed by the Labyrinth as well.

If the Labyrinth was able to so effortlessly kill adventurers, why did it even bother with spawning monsters? It didn’t make sense to me.

*****

Hana fled through the forest as fast as her short legs could carry her. Supported by her intuitive understanding of the flora, and strengthened by her magic, Hana ran like the wind. Yet it was not enough. The Destroyer was always just a handful of seconds behind her, one mistake, a single lapse in concentration, would mean her death.

The Destroyer had already slain Hana’s mother and sisters, burning their Heart-Trees and cackling in glee as everyone Hana loved writhed in agony and was burned from the inside out. Hana had wanted to fight, to protect her family, but they had insisted that she flee, buying her the precious seconds now keeping her alive with what had remained of their own.

Hana had been running for over two days straight and was slowly succumbing to mana fatigue. Even though the forest was generous and lent her what strength it could, Hana was too immature to contain the mounting impurities.

At best, Hana expected that she would be able to continue running for maybe another day before her inevitable collapse. But all was not lost, Hana knew she may yet survive if she managed to reach the Orc Settlement of the Stone Tree tribe. They had an alliance with her mother and would render aid against The Destroyer. Hana was close now, no more than an hour away at most.

Resolved to see The Destroyer pay for their crimes, Hana felt a fresh wave of strength well up within her and redoubled her efforts. Hana would not fail, not when she was so close!

Hana grinned fiercely as she passed a stone Totem that marked the boundary of the Stone Tree tribe’s territory. But that smile wavered as she sensed something was amiss.

Pulsing her consciousness through the surrounding trees, Hana nearly lost her footing as the scene unfolded in her mind. The Stone Tree tribe were no more, the butchered remains of men, women and children scattered throughout their territory. The only solace Hana found in this tragedy was that a number of the tribe had possibly managed to escape the slaughter.

The wanton violence was doubtless orchestrated by The Destroyer or one of its many servants. Hana had no doubts regarding The Destroyer's depravity and ruthlessness.

Knowing that there was no longer any assistance to be found with the Stone Tree, Hana almost lost hope. There was no one else she could reach with her remaining strength. But fighting The Destroyer was suicide and hiding had proven similarly impossible.

Somehow, The Destroyer always knew where Hana was trying to hide. It was hardly surprising though since their Grove had been incredibly well hidden in the first place. So naturally, The Destroyer had to possess a special Ability or item that assisted them in hunting her.

With no other options left, Hana continued to run, desperately hoping that a miracle would save her or slay The Destroyer. Unfortunately, as the hours passed and Hana’s strength continued to fail, no such miracle presented itself.

The Destroyer was right behind her now, growing closer with every passing second.

Limbs numb from overdrawing so much mana, Hana tripped and fell to the forest floor.

“Ah! Are we done playing this little game?!” The Destroyer cackled.

Knowing there was no escape and too weak to stand, Hana faced her enemy with silent defiance.

The Destroyer was an unnatural creature of metal, fire and hate, its aura exuding a disdain for all life. “Awww, nothing to say little one?!” The Destroyer cackled, its voice like crackling flames, “Well, I suppose this is it then!” Azure flames coalesced in its outstretched hands as The Destroyer slowly began walking towards her.

Seeing her death approaching, Hana nearly broke down in tears. This was how it would end, in spite of her mother and sisters’ sacrifice, this was how Hana would die.

“Any last words?!” The Destroyer hissed, the buffeting heat from its flames scorching her skin.

Gathering the last of her mana, Hana willed it into a final desperate attack, one way or the other, this would be the end of her. Glaring into the pitiless mass of metal that formed The Destroyer’s head, Hana was ready to face the end, “DIE!!!” She screamed, releasing all of her pent-up rage and fury.

The forest itself bent to Hana’s will, branches from nearby trees sharpening to stakes and driving through the weak gaps and crevices of The Destroyer's metal body, impaling and pinning it to the ground.

Amazingly, The Destroyer lay immobile, the azure flames guttering and then becoming extinguished.

Barely clinging to consciousness, Hana could barely believe her eyes.

Somehow, she had actually managed to kill The Destroyer! Perhaps his arrogance had left him vulnerable or-

“AHAHAHAHAHA!” The Destroyer cackled and the branches impaling its body turned to ash, “The look on your face! Priceless!” The Destroyer got back to its feet and briefly regarded Hana with its head tilted slightly to one side and shaking in mock disappointment, “Don’t tell me you actually expected such a weak attack to kill me?!” The Destroyer snickered, “I barely even felt it!”

Hana slumped in defeat, there was nothing left to do now except wait for death. Even now, her vision was fading and Hana could barely keep her eyes open.

“It isn’t so bad,” The Destroyer said in an almost comforting tone, “The struggle is over. All you need to do now is accept the inevitable,” the azure flames enveloped its hands again and The Destroyer reached out to end it all.

[Congratulations {Hana}! You are qualified to receive the opportunity to serve a Lord of the {Hurst Labyrinth}! You will be expected to serve the role of {Settlement Overseer}. Complimentary {Relocation} and {Promotion} will be provided should you accept this opportunity! All glory to the Great Plan!]

[You have been selected for {Relocation} and {Promotion}. Accept? (Y/N)]

Tears welled at the corners of Hana’s eyes. The miracle she had hoped for had arrived!

“Accept!” Hana croaked.

[As compensation for accepting {Relocation}, all negative Conditions shall be cleansed and your body restored to prime condition. {Mana Fatigue}, {Despair}, {Marked} Conditions {Removed}. As compensation for accepting {Promotion}, you shall receive an upgrade to your class. {Druid} Upgraded to {Arch Druid}]

A blinding flash of golden light erupted from Hana’s body as she was empowered and restored.

“NO!!!” The destroyer howled in fury, desperately reaching for Hana but unable to find purchase as her body began to disappear. “I WILL FIND YOU! I WILL BURN YOUR SOUL TO ASH!” The Destroyer howled in impotent fury.

As The Destroyer’s voice and the golden light faded away, Hana slowly became aware of her new surroundings. Tentatively extending her consciousness into the surrounding area, she very nearly recoiled in horror at the amount of death she detected in the immediate vicinity.

With the golden light no longer impairing her vision, Hana could see a hulking brute towering over her, covered head to toe in blood, mud and gore.

Instinctively, Hana understood that this was her Lord and whom the message said she would serve. Very nearly driven to despair, the only solace Hana could find in the situation, was that she was still alive and might be able to one day seek revenge for her murdered sisters and mother.

*****

It had been one hell of a slog initially, but after about an hour, the immediate area seemed to have been depopulated of monsters. That had given us a few hours to rest before all of the monsters respawned again at midnight.

However, we knew what to expect the second time around and despite a few non-threatening injuries, we made it through to the following morning without any real problems. Then it just became a matter of waiting for the quest timer to run down while we took turns recuperating and sorting through the bodies and disposing of the most mutilated carcasses.

[Mandatory Quest: Conquest! {Completed}]

[Conquest! {Stage 1}: {Success} Totem has been established]

[Conquest! {Stage 2}: {Success} Your {Totem} has now been successfully imbued with {Iron Gut} and will impart its effects to nearby {Minions}.]

[Conquest! {Stage 3}: {Success} chain quest Conquest! {Completed}]

[Determining degree of success...]

[Acquiring rewards...]

[Congratulations! You have completed {Conquest!} and will now receive x1 {Settlement Overseer} and x10 {Minions}. Standby for immediate delivery! Ownership of {Tim’s Settlement} confers upon you the rank of {Labyrinth Lord}!]

Blinking away the quest notification I was surprised to find that a small girl, no bigger than Toofy had appeared in front of me. With weird grass-like hair, deep green eyes, pale olive skin and tapered ears, she seemed quite strange. However, the fact that she was at least wearing some sort of short dress woven from plant fibres had been both interesting and a relief.

Looking down at the strange little girl sitting on a small wooden crate filled with bizarre black and technicolour eggs, I was somewhat worried by her frightened expression. Taking a moment to look myself over, I realised it was actually a rather reasonable response, given the situation.

A monster she may be, but that didn’t mean she was without common sense.

Glancing briefly at the others, who didn’t look much better than myself, I sighed and knelt down to bring myself closer to her eye level. “Uh, hi. I’m Tim,” I said with as friendly a tone of voice as I could manage to compensate for my horrific appearance.

The strange girl looked up at me, seeming somewhat confused, “I am called Hana, my Lord. The Labyrinth has decided I will serve as your Settlement Overseer,” she replied quietly.

“It’s nice to meet you, Hana,” I responded warmly, “You can just call me Tim if you like.”

Hana nodded warily and looked around our surroundings. “Lor-erm, Tim...This is your Settlement?” She asked somewhat dubiously, her attention lingering on the mound of monster corpses before halting on the Settlement Totem.

I sighed and nodded, “I know it isn’t much, but we just finished the quest you see?” I tried to explain.

Hana glanced briefly at me and nodded before approaching the Totem and running her hand across the surface of the tree. “At least you have good taste,” she murmured quietly, nodding in approval.

“Euf,” I couldn't help but groan as I got back to my feet. The constant fighting had really done a number on my back and I was feeling more than a bit stiff. Taking a closer look at the eggs, it only just occurred to me that these were meant to be my aforementioned ‘minions’. “Anyone know what kind of monster eggs these are?” I asked optimistically.

Nadine shook her head and moved in for a closer look.

“Do you know if we have to keep them warm or something?” I asked Nadine nervously.

Nadine shook her head again and now had a thoughtful expression, “I don’t know anything about this sort of thing,” she admitted curiously as she picked one of the eggs up to take a closer look.

“Eggs need mana to hatch,” Hana explained, returning to the crate and taking a look for herself, “You can inject the mana directly, surround them with mana stones, or rely on ambient mana,” she explained somewhat stiffly as if reciting a lesson from memory. “You should probably avoid hatching them until you have a nursery and suitable defences Lo-Tim,” Hana insisted somewhat nervously, “Newborns have trouble fending for themselves and make prime targets for predators.”

Eyeing the pile of dead predators nearby, I nodded in agreement. “I guess we should focus on making some sort of shelter,” I sighed and began taking stock of the reduced number of trees in the general area. After all, we had burned most of them in order to last through the night,

Hana fidgetted a little uncomfortably, “If I might suggest something?” She offered.

“Please,” I nodded and smiled reassuringly.

“While I may not be very strong, I can shape plants to serve as shelter. If you are able to transplant some trees, and...and provide me with mana stones from nearby monsters, I could reshape the trees to serve as shelters from the elements and monsters alike,” Hana offered, although seeming somewhat reluctant in reference to the mana stones.

Perhaps she thought we wouldn’t trust her? Or maybe she knew how valuable they were?

“Alright let's do that,” I agreed, “I’ll uproot a few trees while you guys keep an eye on things, maybe introduce yourselves too?” I suggested pointedly, more than a little surprised that I was the only one who had done so.

Judging by Hana’s appearance, I assumed that she was some sort of wood sprite, especially since she claimed to be capable of ‘shaping’ trees. With that in mind, I carefully uprooted the first young tree and brought it back to our camp.

Hana had already cleared a hole in the ground a short distance from the Totem and had also dumped a good deal of ash into the hole as well.

The moment I put the tree in the hole, a green aura began emanating from Hana’s body and the transplanted tree’s roots began aggressively burrowing into the ground. Raising her hands high, the tree’s trunk began growing taller and wider. Within a matter of seconds, Hana had multiplied the tree's size enormously.

Slumping slightly, the green aura dissipated and Hana removed a mana stone from a small pouch at her waist. Raising the stone to her lips, Hana hesitated for a moment, seeming conflicted. But the moment passed and was replaced by a look of grim determination as Hana placed the mana stone in her mouth and swallowed. A few moments later, Hana was once more surrounded by the green aura and continued accelerating the growth of the tree.

Over the next few hours, Hana demonstrated that she could make good on her claim, and had grown the tree to a truly impossible size. It was easily more than fifty feet wide and who knew how tall. She had even formed twisting stairs from the tree itself and hollowed out a section roughly twenty feet off the ground to serve as our shelter for the night.

After cooking what we could and allowing the Desert Raptors to eat their fill, we dumped the remaining bodies into the water for the carnivorous fish to take care of while Hana caused the vegetation underfoot to absorb what remained.

Over the course of ‘shaping’ the tree, Hana had consumed no small amount of mana stones and was now a full head taller than Toofy. After we shifted all our supplies inside, Hana removed the lower steps, making it impossible for anything other than the mosquitos or frogs to reach us.

With how gross my clothes had become, I had few qualms about stripping off my tattered tunic and pants. It was a sentiment shared by the others, although they at least had spare changes of clothes to change into afterwards. Painfully aware of what I had to assume were some form of monstrous piranhas in the water, There was no real way for me to clean my soiled clothes either.

Toofy had stripped off her padded armour pants. Not because they were particularly dirty, but because of the humidity. Tobi followed my lead and seemed to be taking the opportunity to flex a little. I couldn’t really blame him, Tobi’s a decently attractive guy and the girls were objectively in really good shape themselves.

Leaving Tobi to his ‘peacocking’, I decided that I should probably try to find out more about Hana. She seemed rather tense and I was almost certain that she was in pain. “Hana? Can I speak with you for a moment?” I asked gently.

Hana stiffly regarded me for a moment before crossing the room and waiting to see what I wanted, her face an unreadable mask. However, Hana’s frosty wooden demeanour did not extend to her eyes. They were fixed on somewhere, something, I couldn’t see, windows into the turmoil of emotions clashing just beneath the surface.

“Hana, is there something you want to talk about?” I hoped I was wrong, that I was misreading the signs.

Hana’s facade lapsed for a brief moment, exposing her intense fear, anger and sorrow. But just as quickly, her mask was fixed securely in place again. “No,” she replied quietly, turning to leave and sit on her own again.

“Hana wait,” I insisted, “I...I’m sorry if I have done something to upset you. I didn’t mean to abduct you from your home. I had no control over the quest rewards, but if I can, I’ll try to make it up to you, alright?” I offered earnestly.

Hana paused, her resolve faltering, “You didn’t steal me away,” she replied quietly, “I chose to accept the summons and posting as your Settlement Overseer.”

“Then...is there something else that is wrong?” I asked warily, “Have we done something to offend you? I know you seem to like trees, but we only burned what we needed to survive,” I assured her.

Hana stared at me for a short while and I could tell she was weighing a difficult decision. “I am the only one left...” Tears began welling in her eyes and Hana’s facade came crumbling down, “Sakura, Hanaye, Tsubaki, Kohana, Reika...M-Mother...” Her slender fingers closed into fists as tears streamed down her cheeks, “The Destroyer killed them all! My entire family! Burned them alive...” Hana shuddered and stifled a whimper, her eyes flashing dangerously, “I’ll kill it, no matter what! Even if it takes the rest of my life! I will never forgive! Never forget what was taken from me!” She hissed bitterly, “My...my family...” Hana shuddered and weakly fell to her knees, cupping her face in her hands to mask her grief.

Before I even had a chance to do anything, Toofy had leapt forward and wrapped Hana in a tight hug, pressing the relative stranger comfortingly against her chest and rubbing her back reassuringly, “Hana sad, is okay, Toofy sad too, Tim help Toofy, Tim help Hana too,” Toofy insisted.

Hana made no real signs that she had even heard Toofy, just letting out deep racking sobs and pitiable wails into her tunic.

Unsure of what I should or even, could, do, I was grateful that Toofy was demonstrating such emotional maturity and empathy

After some time had passed, Toofy gently guided Hana over to me and the both of them huddled in close by my side. Toofy looked up at me with a pleading look, glancing briefly at Hana before shifting back to me again.

I nodded to show Toofy I understood. I would do what I could for her. “I’m proud of you,” I whispered, tousling her hair affectionately.

Toofy gave me a small smile and nodded, hugging Hana a little tighter.

I could already tell I wasn’t going to be able to sleep tonight, so I did my best to make sure that at least the two of them would be comfortable. I knew from personal experience that a good night's sleep could do wonders for improving your ability to cope with life's bullshit.

Watching the pair of them sleep, I couldn't help but snort derisively as I recalled a particular argument I had with my Mum when I was fifteen years old.

I had adamantly insisted that I would never be a parent, on the basis that no one would ever willingly consider me a viable partner. Yet Mum had insisted that I was wrong and would have more kids than I knew what to do with. In a way, we were both right.

I wonder what mum would think if she could see me now?

Thankfully no monsters attempted breaking into our refuge during the long night. One of the stranger aspects of this world, or the Labyrinths specifically, was the lack of ambient noise. Without the various insects and small wildlife, the nights, in particular, were disturbingly quiet. I could only assume that the atmosphere in a swamp on Earth would be so lively you would need earplugs just to stand a chance at sleep.

At least the long night had given me a chance to look at everyone's stats. After killing so many monsters, everyone had gained a level up. My level up gave me another point of Willpower, Nadine’s gave her another point of Intelligence, Clarice got another point of Strength and Toofy gained another point of Agility. Toofy was actually the highest level member of the party, now at level five.

Toofy’s new class ability was actually rather interesting.

[(Class Ability:Desperate Strike {Rank 0}): Expend MP to deal additional damage with {Primitive} and {Improvised} weapons. {Willpower} increases the amount of bonus damage.]

At first glance, it seemed rather generic, which I supposed was. However, when you factored in Toofy’s preferred choice in weapons and that her progression towards her next Evolution would also be increasing her max MP, Toofy could very well turn a fight in her favour by burning through MP, which I supposed was the point of the ability in the first place.

As I had hoped, Hana seemed to be doing much better by the time she woke up in the late morning. Although more subdued than she had initially been last evening, I believed that this was healthier for Hana than putting up a strong front.

“Breakfast?” Toofy asked eagerly, dragging Hana along behind her like a lost puppy.

I was trying to decide if eating croc meat was worth the risk or not. While I had no shortage of barbecuing experience, I had very little experience with cooking meat directly over the coals of a bonfire.

Deciding it would probably be best to avoid food poisoning, for the time being, I figured we could always leave the ‘cooked’ meat for the Desert Raptors and Shady. Fishing out a parcel of roasted meat, I handed it to Toofy before retrieving another and hesitating.

“Uh, Hana? Are you alright with eating meat?” I asked worriedly. It was pretty much gospel in most modern literature that elves and other mystical forest creatures were strictly vegan or at worst vegetarian.

Hana gave me a curious look, “Yes, I eat meat,” she agreed and took the parcel of roasted meat, “What else would I eat?”

“Ah, I don’t know, maybe a salad made from vegetables or something?” I replied lamely.

Hana looked disgusted, “I would sooner eat my own arm,” she stated, curiously watching Toofy to see how to untie the knots.

That hadn’t been the reaction I had expected, “Do you mind if I ask why?”

Hana shifted a little uncomfortably, “I can sense the thoughts and feelings of nearby plants by activating my Ability,” she explained a little hesitantly, “The idea of eating something I have shared experiences with, or could accidentally share experiences with during consumption...it is not pleasant...”

“Oh...” Yeah, that made sense, “Ah, wait, are you sure that it won’t upset you when we use wood to make fire for cooking food?” I asked warily.

Hana considered it for a few moments and shook her head, “No, it is fine. You do not burn the trees for the sake of destruction, and so long as it is for constructive purposes, I will continue to support the practice.”

‘Well, that’s very considerate and well-reasoned of you to say,” I replied appreciatively.

Hana shrugged, greedily removing a piece of roast meat from the open parcel and stuffing it in her mouth, “MMM! SHO GUD!” She rubbed her cheeks appreciatively and squirmed in delight.

Well, I guess that settled it, Hana was a carnivore.

“Oh, right. Hana, I have been meaning to ask you, what kind of monster are you?” I asked curiously.

Hana seemed surprised, like the answer was obvious, “I am a Dryad,” she replied with a shrug, “Although I am still a sapling...” Hana admitted sheepishly.

Assuming that being a sapling was a reference to age or Evolution, it seemed like she was telling the truth. “Is the tree shaping part of your abilities?” I asked.

“No,” Hana shook her head, “That is from my Class.”

“Oh, what Cass do you have? If you don’t mind me asking?” After seeing what she was capable of, I was more than a little curious.

Hana nodded, apparently quite aware of how impressive her Ability is, “I was a Druid before accepting the promotion, so now I am an Arch Druid,” she replied matter of factly.

“WHAT?!” Nadine cried, spilling her own breakfast and rushing across the room, “Are you really an Arch Druid?!” She demanded, equal parts incredulous and excited.

“Yes?” Hana replied, warily edging away from her.

“That's a Master Class!” Nadine declared excitedly, “No wonder it is so powerful!”

“I assume that Master comes after Advanced?” I asked curiously.

Nadine nodded, “They are exceptionally rare! Even amongst monsters! Although I suppose it would only make sense that a Dryad would unlock the Druid Classes. Even so! It is still incredibly impressive!”

Realising that she was being praised, Hana squared her shoulders and straightened her back slightly, “Of course!” She preened, “In the wilds of the Labyrinth, the strength of a Druid is largely without equal!”

Toofy distractedly watched the exchange briefly before noticing the scattered remains of Nadine’s breakfast and quickly scurried over to claim them before Shady or the Desert Raptors had the chance.

“What sort of limits do you have with the Ability?” I asked, already thinking of a few different things we could try.

Hana shrugged, “So long as the plants have access to sufficient nutrients and sunlight, just about anything is possible. Only, encouraging significant growth requires a lot of mana,” she stated pointedly.

“So we need to kill a bunch more monsters is what you're sayin?” Clarice noted.

Hana nodded, “Depending on the size of the Settlement and defences desired to surround it,” she clarified.

“Well, I would rather be hunting monsters than uprooting and planting trees,” Clarice admitted, making it clear where her preferences for the day’s labour lay.

“Me too!” Emelia added hastily.

“Me as well!” Tobi joined in.

Why did this feel like a game of not it?

It wasn’t like Tobi or Emelia could uproot even the smallest trees without spending a great deal of effort. So I wasn’t sure why they thought I would suggest they do it.

“Nadine, do you think you could chat with Hana and come up with some sort of plan for the Settlement while I try sourcing some more trees?” I asked as I got to my feet and began to stretch.

Nadine nodded emphatically, “Sure! This is such an exciting opportunity! I've never had the chance to design a Settlement before!”

“Alright, well I guess that leaves manastone harvesting to the six of you,” I motioned to Emelia, Clarice and Tobi before repeating the gesture with Thunder Thighs, Beaky and Shady. Talk about overkill, at least they should be safe with those numbers.

Lastly, turning to Toofy I decided to give her a choice, “Do you want to stay here and keep Hana and Nadine company, or help me pull up some trees?” I asked neutrally.

Toofy considered both choices for well over a minute, “Toofy stay,” she stated grudgingly.

I smiled and tousled Toofy’s hair, “You're being so responsible! Such a good girl Toofy!”

Toofy grinned and leaned into my hand, “Toofy good girl!” She parroted.

“Yes, you are!” I agreed.

With everyone now assigned their duties, we each began preparing to set out to get to it. Unfortunately for me, this meant I would be uprooting trees in my underwear.

Letting out a long sigh, I picked up my morningstar and spent a few minutes limbering up. My back was still a little stiff from yesterday and I hadn’t gotten any sleep last night, but rather surprisingly I was doing pretty alright all things considered. Descending the steps, I still couldn’t shake the feeling that I had forgotten something. Only vaguely aware that it was something important, I wracked my brain as I tried to think of what it was.

Then it hit me, it was the stairs! Hana hadn’t replaced the lower section of stairs again yet! I really wish I had remembered that little tidbit BEFORE falling face-first over the edge...

*****

Hana released a deep sigh as she felt the latest wave of mana leaving her body and invigorating the recently transplanted tree. Under her guidance, the tree’s roots grew thick and strong, anchoring deep into the earth and securing the nutrients the tree would need to grow still further in the coming hours. The altered composition of the tree would also begin syphoning mana from the ground and dispersing it into the immediate area.

This was the single most important aspect for a Dryad Grove and Hana assumed it would prove very useful to a more traditional Settlement as well.

The modified trees would begin concentrating the ambient mana and would both increase the rate of mana regeneration of monsters in the vicinity, as well as increasing their maximum capacity over time as well. Although it wouldn’t be nearly so effective for Lord Tim’s other minions, Hana herself would see substantial benefits in the coming days.

In particular, the mana syphons would provide the levels of ambient mana required to begin hatching the unknown monster eggs.

Popping another manastone into her mouth, Hana hesitated for a moment before swallowing. Consuming manastones was a practice her mother had strictly prohibited, and for good reason.

Already attuned to the natural world of the Labyrinth and the plethora of flora that inhabited it, Hana could have slowly continued her own growth by filtering mana from her surroundings alone. After all, it was the path Dryads were intended to take.

However, it would have taken far too long for Hana to obtain the power she needed for her revenge.

Recalling her mother’s Grove set ablaze, Hana grit her teeth and swallowed the manastone. Feeling the fresh wave of power spreading through her body, Hana knew she was close to reaching her Evolution and was fairly certain that a second Evolution was likely within reach as well.

Obtaining such power would have taken Hana more than a decade to accumulate on her own through passive absorption. Even though the price for cutting corners would likely come due sooner rather than later, Hana didn‘t care. If it meant she was able to kill The Destroyer, she would pay any price.

Hana’s corruption from consuming the manastones was a price she could live with.

Her transition from a Dryad to Corrupted Dryad had only one notable change in that the soulless would no longer ignore her presence. Effectively, they would treat Hana as they would any other monster of a different Species. Meaning they would attack her on sight.

As Hana continued to evolve, the aura of corruption would intensify and her presence would begin driving the soulless berserk. However, so long as she remained within the Settlement, then it wouldn’t make much of a difference.

Hana smirked ruefully as she continued her efforts in guiding the growth of the tree.

The disadvantage of the corruption didn’t actually mean much in her current situation. As Lord Tim’s Overseer, Hana had access to the Settlement’s management options, and she had already enabled the protective ward to drive out soulless from the territory.

Most of them anyway.

The human minion known as Nadine had requested the carnivorous fish be allowed to stay, so the other minions could ‘farm them’ for food and manastones. The idea had merit, so Hana had agreed and planned to establish a sizeable pond later.

Lord Tim’s minions were not what Hana had expected.

For so many of them to be human was a true surprise. From all her mother had told her, Hana had been under the expectation that human minions were exceptionally rare. Their natural bigotry, greed and tendency towards violence, made them difficult to control, and yet Lord Tim had four of them.

They were obedient as well, following his every command without needing to be threatened or otherwise coerced. What had made it all the more surprising was Lord Tim possessed an Enslavement Class but showed no signs of actively using it.

Nadine had explained that he was using it to shield his minions from the Enslavement of others.

For an Ogre, Lord Tim was incredibly strange.

Besides asking Hana to help establish the Settlement, which was one of her new duties as Overseer anyway, he had seemed content to leave Hana to her own devices. The only order Hana had been given was to pace her consumption of manastones to avoid what had been explained as a form of mana addiction. Hana had never heard of such a thing but didn’t see much of a problem following the order either. It just gave her more time to adjust to each incremental increase in strength.

“I wish I could grow plants like that,” Nadine sighed wistfully, “It’s truly impressive.”

Hana smiled and graciously accepted the compliment. After all, It was only natural that a minion would complement their Overseer’s abilities. As Nadine had explained earlier, her own Class involved the healing of injuries through binding and stitching flesh back together. Perhaps not as valuable as it would be in other Settlements that lacked the Lord’s Iron Gut recovery aura, it would still prove useful enough under the right circumstances.

“Oh!” Nadine gave a start, “Do you think it would be possible to grow some flowers?”

Hana nodded, “It shouldn’t be too hard,” she agreed.

“Do you think you could grow some flowers next? The smell is pretty bad around here,” Nadine explained somewhat apologetically.

“Hrm,” Hana didn’t particularly like the idea of delaying the establishment of the Settlement. Even though it would not technically require that much mana, it would still set Hana behind her self-imposed schedule.

Getting the last of the required mana syphons to the requisite size and potency before evening would be difficult.

“You know,” Nadine leaned in and shielded her mouth conspiratorially, “Tim has complained about strong smells like this before. I bet he would appreciate it if you took care of it,” she suggested slyly.

Hana carefully considered the new information for a moment and approximated the amount of mana it would cost. Weighing the loss in productivity against the potential goodwill from her Lord, Hana eventually agreed that Nadine’s suggestion had merit.

With a flourish of her hand, Hana caused a wave of verdant green vegetation to erupt from the ground and spread through the area. After a few moments of rapid growth, thin petalled flowers began to bloom from long elegant stalks and released a pleasant but not overpowering fragrance.

The lilies were actually native to swamp biomes but were normally devoured by the soulless for the trace amounts of mana concentrated in their bulbs. Or at least that is what Hana figured must have been happening because she had not seen any such flowers in their vicinity despite the faint traces of the immature bulbs beneath the ground.

“Wow!” Nadine exclaimed in wonderment as the flowers rather quickly overran the Settlement.

Hana patiently counted down the requisite time in her head until she could take the next manastone.

Although she had not found the rotting smell of vegetation disagreeable, Hana did have to admit that she preferred the sweet scent of the lilies more.

“Pretty!” The Goblin, Toofy, raced headlong into the field of lilies, hopping around excitedly as she took in the sights and smells of the flowers.

Curiously watching Toofy play amongst the flowers, Hana smiled a little and decided to join her.

Seeing Hana approach, Toofy’s smile widened, revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth, “Look! Look!” She insisted, gesturing frantically at the surrounding lilies, “So many pretties!”

“Do you like the lilies?” Hana asked, already convinced that the expended mana had been worth it.

Toofy nodded emphatically, “Pretties look pretty, smell pretty!” She explained, as if Hana was not able to tell for herself.

Rather than being offended, Hana was rather amused.

Is this what it had been like for her older sisters? Hana wondered wistfully.

Toofy’s energy level dropped rather suddenly, her expression becoming concerned, “Hana sad?” She asked worriedly, “No sad Hana,” Toofy insisted, and before Hana had a chance to answer Toofy wrapped Hana in a tight hug.

Hana’s first reaction was to push Toofy away.

Being the Lord’s Overseer required her to maintain a strong, confident and authoritative presence in front of the minions.

However, the earlier reminder of her lost family had unsettled Hana somewhat and she could use a little comfort. Besides, the Lord often seemed to indulge Toofy’s eccentricities, giving the little Goblin close to free rein, so Hana decided she could do the same until told otherwise.