Ogre Tyrant: Chapter 12 - That settles it - Part One {Rewrite}

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

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

I directed my thoughts towards something more productive, developing the Settlement. From what I remembered being told by Nadine and Hana before things got more complicated. The original plan was to ring the Settlement’s boundary with thick thorn bushes or some other form of vegetation.

At the time, I had thought something on that sort of scale would take months of continuous work, but I now realised that it would take Hana only a few days at most. The combination of the mana font effect from the Grove and a steady supply of manastones gave Hana a seemingly limitless supply of mana. It was actually a little terrifying.

If I understood the basic principle of Hana’s Class Ability, it gave her direct control over any form of vegetation. That control seemed to take the form of directing the plant’s growth as well as allowing puppeteering the plant’s movements. What made the Ability rather unsettling was the fact that plants were literally everywhere.

I was starting to suspect Nadine had far more pragmatic reasons for pushing my relationship with Hana. Having an emotionally unstable powerhouse capable of single-handedly killing anyone of us or perhaps even all of us, at any given moment, was a tough pill to swallow.

I wasn’t convinced Hana was capable of cold-blooded murder, but I also hadn’t thought myself capable of becoming acclimated to killing either. When it had come down to it, my scruples had folded in preference to my survival. It was honestly rather depressing when I stopped and thought about it.

Assumedly, the one person I should know best is myself. However, the more time I spent in the Labyrinth, the less certain I felt that I knew myself at all. I supposed that was what happened when your comfortably established preconceptions are meaningfully challenged for the first time.

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

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

The more I walked along the boundary of my territory, it became obvious that Hana’s terraforming was more extensive than I had initially realised.

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

However, I could clearly see a few monsters moving about the periphery of the boundary. They engaged in short brutal skirmishes with one another before one of them would flee or be eaten by the victor.

My walk also gave me my first look at the giant blood-sucking mosquitoes the status alert had identified as Scourges.

I wish I hadn't.

The grotesque abominations were the size of a baseball and largely resembled a flying leech. Before completing a full circuit of the territory, I was unfortunate enough to witness one of the six-legged croc’s get swarmed by a couple of dozen Scourges and turned into a desiccated husk in under a minute. The Scourges did not seem to care about getting wet and could dry their wings within a second or two, quickly flying away to find their next meal.

I had to assume that Clarice, Emelia and Tobi were taking precautions, or that perhaps the Scourges were only ambushing isolated targets. Even so, it was not a particularly pleasant train of thought, so I did my best to concentrate on the positives. The most notable of which was the mostly invisible barrier surrounding the limits of my territory.

Attuning to the Totem allowed me to see the barrier, although it was still rather difficult to notice unless I actively made the effort to do so. Identical in core function to what I had seen from the foothold barrier, it was impassable to any and all wild monsters not explicitly given an exemption.

It made me curious how the adventurers Guild established their footholds in the first place. Nadine had explained it as a matter of course that the Guild had done so, but that raised far more questions.

What if the Guild had its own pet monster, someone like me? Or...what if the reason the Guild managers were Slavers was not for enforcing Guild contracts, but to enforce ownership of the footholds?

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

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

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

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

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

Besides the date, the only other thing I knew Hana wanted was killing ‘The Destroyer’. Even though she had not asked for my help, I kind of felt a vibe from Hana that she intrinsically expected it in exchange for her services and loyalty.

Perhaps it was a bargain she had somehow struck with the Labyrinth? No, that didn’t feel right. Assuming the Labyrinth could be bargained with, it would be the one dictating all terms.

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

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

To make the most of what we have, I had decided to allow Gric, Qreet and Dar to begin consuming manastones in the hopes of increasing their growth. The trio of Daemonlings had been only too eager to obey but were still ever so slightly disappointed about my restrictions to prevent mana addiction.

The idea was to get them into a position to meaningfully help around the Settlement as soon as possible. Three extra pairs of hands could make all the difference when looking after twenty-two starving Daemon hatchlings.

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

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

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

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

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

“Nope!” Clarice replied cheerily.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I thought she might,” I admitted.

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

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

We spent the next few minutes travelling in silence.

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

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

*Sploosh*

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

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

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

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

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

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

*Shunk*

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

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

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

*Chunk*

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Following her line of sight, I was surprised to see three people wearing bone armour slowly walking towards us. As near as I could tell at their current distance, they looked human, but so would just about anyone at that distance.

They were carrying weapons that looked like they were fashioned from bone as well, clubs and spears as near as I could tell. However, unlike the Orcs and Goblins from the first floor, they showed no signs of overt aggressive behaviour.

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

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

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

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

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

Clarice nodded grimly, “Gotcha.”

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

The stranger appeared, ‘mostly’ human, but the minor differences were very noticeable and impossible to ignore once I had noticed them.

The first thing I noticed was his eyes. Like Toofy, the pupils were slit like a snake, although his sclera were jade and not amber. The second thing I noticed was the pair of large yawning scars running either side of his mouth and along his jawline. Besides these two bizarre traits, the stranger looked like he was a scrawny teenager. The bone armour bulked these strangers out far more than I had initially realised.

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

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

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

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

Nailed it...

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

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

The strange teenager, Ushu, nodded.

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

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

I could appreciate the cause of his nervousness but had to think about it for a moment. Looking to Clarice for advice, all I received was an uncertain shrug in response.

Whatever Ushu was, he did not seem particularly threatening, but there was a distinct possibility that it was a deliberate act to encourage us to lower our guard. However, returning to the Settlement would drastically stack the odds in our favour if a fight actually broke out.

I dismissed the possibility of them scouting the Settlement pretty much immediately. Everything outside of the Grove had been visible for a couple of days and would continue to be for at least another couple more. So if they wanted to see the open land Hana had cleared, there were easier ways to go about it.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“What do you mean?” I asked warily.

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

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

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

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

Hana nodded.

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

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

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

I motioned for Ushu to come join us.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Judging by Hana’s reaction, I could assume the Black-Maw were bad news and the Bleak-Fang tribe probably hadn’t initiated the conflict. Even so, it would be all but guaranteeing the Black-Maw would be an enemy in the future.

The fact that Ushu had only been bargaining for the children and unhatched eggs, innocents, was rather telling.

Perhaps he was aware of the danger he would be bringing down on all of us if the adults were taken in?

If that was true, then the Black-Maw had to be a real threat. However, without the remaining adults to take care of the children, myself and the others would be forced into an incredibly unstable position ourselves. So really, this was an all or nothing deal to begin with and I had to decide if it was worth the risks.

On the one hand, Ushu had already admitted that they had sick tribe members, and we currently had no medicines to treat them with. Perhaps Hana could grow some medicinal herbs, but it was not a good idea to just assume that would fix the problem.

Depending on their numbers, providing adequate shelter could prove similarly difficult. While it had not rained yet, the gathering storm clouds in the sky made it clear that it would very likely begin raining sometime in the next twenty-four hours. Without shelter, the condition of the sick and healthy alike would deteriorate and generate further illness.

On the other hand, I already felt responsible for them...

Without my intervention, they would almost certainly die. Whether it was from the ravages of disease and fever or the hungry jaws of wild monsters. Saving the children would be a hollow victory if it meant raising an entire generation of traumatised orphans.

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

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

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

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

Expecting the status alert, I was surprised to see that Hana had decided to recruit Ushu at a higher rank than minion.

The Underlord rank was the bridging gap between my own rank as Lord, and the lowest rank of minion. While Hana’s position as Overseer was unique and occupied only a slightly lower authority than my own.

The primary benefit at the moment was an increased effect received from the Settlement Totem. In the event that Ushu was injured, he would heal faster from the Iron Gut effect than if he was just a minion. If the number of minions in the Settlement grew high enough, Ushu would be able to issue quests as well. Annoyingly, that number was five times less than it was for me. Depending on how many of his fellow tribesmen survived, Ushu would be my Settlement’s first quest giver.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Nadine didn’t look convinced.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

*****

Watching the Overseer hastily erect large domed shelters from the hundreds of thousands of interlocking roots spanning the territory of the Settlement, Gric was a little annoyed that he was given no change in orders. Worse still, that Serpent-Kin, Ushu, had been recruited directly as an Underlord.

That thought did not sit well with Gric, nor with his hatch mates, Qreet and Dar. Both of them were in agreement that Gric should have been next in line for a promotion, shortly followed by themselves, of course. To their collective reckoning, Ushu was a distant fourth at best, perhaps even fifth.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The moment the delicious mass of proteins reached his stomach, Gric began instinctively guiding his growth towards what he wanted. The pain blossoming in his throat brought a smile to Gric’s upper lip, the pain meant he was becoming stronger.

The surge of growth would delay developing speech somewhat, but it was a worthwhile exchange. As near as Gric could tell, the Lord already had a powerful enemy and gained another in accepting Ushu’s tribe under his benevolent and just rule. The Lord did not require Gric to be able to speak right now, what he needed was powerful lieutenants. And that was a role Gric and to a slightly lesser extent, Qreet and Dar, were bred for.

With the pain abating, Gric sighed wistfully and began counting down until the next time he would be allowed to consume another manastone. The Lord, in his infinite wisdom and benevolence, had given them a far more gruelling and equally rewarding training regimen than the Daemonlings could hope for.

In warring against his primal nature, Gric had already managed to improve his Willpower stat twice. Muscles and Bone were easy for the Daemonlings to develop, the mind was far more complicated and difficult.

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