The Land: Founding (Chaos Seeds Book 1) (13 page)

 “What is it made of?”

 “This is
elementum
.
Not quite as hard as
mithril
, but extremely durable
nonetheless. It also has properties to resist almost all forms of magic to a
large degree.”

 “Well open it
Futen
.”

 “I cannot my Lord.”

 “You said you had exciting
news.”

 “Yes, my Lord. The news is that
I had found the treasury.”

 Richter glared at the floating
grey orb. The orb just floated impervious to his stare.

 “It would be a lot more
exciting if you could open the door!”

 “That is why I was going to leave
this door until the tour,”
Futen
said.

 Fighting the urge to create a
neck for the orb so he could strangle it, Richter said, “Are you telling me
that I have a treasury but I can’t get into it?!”

 “No, my Lord.”

 Richter glared at the orb again,
waiting for it to say more. He stared at it until he realized the futility of
having a staring contest with an eyeless orb. Meanwhile Sion had fallen to the
floor rolling on his back laughing. Transferring his stare to the sprite, it
seemed to have about as much effect as it had on the orb.

 “Then how do I get in!” His
voice was nearly a shout.

 “Oh, simply hold your Mark in
front of the clear circle on the door, my Lord.”

 “Why didn’t you tell me at
first?”

 “I was going to cover it during
the tour, my Lord.”

 One eye starting to twitch,
Richter said, “If I ever find out that you’re messing with me, I will find a
way to turn you pink!”

 “Of course, my Lord,” the
remnant replied in his
almost
deadpan voice.

 Walking up to the door, Richter
raised his left arm and held his Mark up to the glass circle. A soft voice
spoke inside of his mind, “Do you wish the door to open Master?”

 “Yes.”

 “As you wish.”

 A sound came from behind the
door like the withdrawing of bolts. It then swung open, and Richter was greeted
by the sight of an octagonal room with shelves lining the walls. Empty shelves.
Sighing heavily, he swallowed the greedy lump in his throat, and moved into the
room. As he stepped in, he realized that shelves were not completely empty.
Three small items were on shelves against the right side of the room, near the
door. He hadn’t been able to see them until he was inside the room. Moving to
the first item he opened it, and a mix of copper, silver and gold coins were
greeted his gaze. Even though the chest was only the size of a loaf of bread,
hundreds of coins inside. There had to be dozens of gold coins present which
were worth a hundred dollars each by themselves! Doing a little internal jig,
he moved to the second chest. It held a scattering of gems which might be worth
more than even the coins. Yup! His mouth was
definitely
watering now.
Almost unable to tear his eyes from the second chest he moved on. The third
item was a book. Picking it up, he attempted to read it, but the words swam in
his vision. Examining the prompt associated with it,

You have found: Magic book

 Groaning in frustration,
Richter said, “
Futen
, identify this.”

 The orb flared, and Richter
looked again.

You have found: Book of Charm. You
can convince an enemy that they are your friend. In battle they will fight for
you. Casting this upon a creature lowers they regard for you after the spell
wears off.  Requirements: Intelligence 16, Charisma 18

 Definitely a useful spell!
Plenty of melee battles in games that Richter had played had been won by taking
control of enemy units and making them fight each other. Turn your enemy’s
strengths against them! He was pretty sure he had heard that in a Tarantino
movie. It was a shame that he hadn’t met the requirement level yet. It was
certainly a priority though! It also showed that Charisma was more versatile
than he initially thought.

 Despite the somewhat threadbare
status of the treasury, this was certainly a start! Putting the book in his
pack, he then picked up both chests carrying them under his arms. Leaving the
treasury, he walked back to the center of the chamber. As he walked away from
the octagonal room, he heard the door closing again and the locks snapping back
into place. Laying both chests down in the central chamber, Richter asked
Futen
, “What else should I know?”

 “The armory is this way, my
Lord.”

 Following the orb, Richter and
Sion made their way into another hallway. Again he was greeted by a door,
though this door was only wood banded with iron. It also possessed a clear
circle at head height. Raising his wrist he thought, Open. No voice chimed
inside of his head this time, his intent was apparently clear. Moving into the
room, lines of swords, axes and bows sat under massive amounts of cobwebs.
Definitely the armory that time had forgotten. He closed the door and walked
back.

 “I am sure there are many
things to explore, but is there anything crucial that I need to know?”

 “I have followed your
instructions my Lord, and have had the workers gathering raw materials and
working on basic physical defenses. I would advise caution however, that you
have not instituted any of the magical defenses.”

 Richter looked blankly at the
orb wanting clarification, until realizing that yet again, an eyeless orb might
not be so good at picking up facial expressions.

 “What defenses,” he asked.

 “You have access to the village
interface, my Lord. You simply need to focus upon the options which are
available.”

 Richter selected the icon for
his village. A sprawling list of pull down menus filled Richter’s vision.
Realizing how long this might take, he closed the menu in a fit of annoyance.
“Can I get a chair?”

 A short time later, both he and
Sion were settled into the barracks. Really just a line of stone bed in a long
room. There were no creature comforts, but it would serve. The ponies were
tacked outside where they could graze. Sion settled down for the night, while
Richter laid back and browsed through the interface. He first looked into
defenses. It simply showed the status of current defenses. Next he checked
Enchantments. This showed a host of options. Most were greyed out, but two at
the top were available: Concealing Mist and Confusing Mist.

Concealing Mist: Cost 400 mana.
Upkeep 200 mana per day. Generates a thick mist field at the borders of the
village which extends to the boundaries of your domain. You may grant immunity
to this effect to those of your choosing. Attacking or taking hostile action
against a creature will negate the effects for a short period.

Confusing Mist: Cost 800 mana. Upkeep
400 mana per day. Generates a thick mist field at the borders of the village
which extends to the boundaries of your domain. Causes disorientation that will
lead affected creatures in random directions. You may grant immunity to this
effect to beings of your choosing. Attacking or taking hostile action against a
creature will negate the effects for a short period.

 The enchantments were passive,
but he could easily see the power of them.

 “What does it mean by the
boundaries of the domain,
Futen
,” Richter asked.

 “You are Master of more than
just the village my Lord. Your power also extends ten miles in all directions.
The boundaries will extend as you increase the village level.”

 “You have mentioned increasing
the village level several times. Just how do we it?”

 “There are multiple
requirements my Lord. You can see them on your interface.”

 Letting his eyes
unfocus
again he began searching.  Ultimately, he
found the tab, Settlement Level.

Level 1: Total Mana: 1000. Mana
regenerates at (Total mana/24) per hour. Boundary of surrounding lands 10 miles
from Great Seal. Requirements for level up: Increase population to at least
100. Build ten free standing buildings. Master three levels of the catacombs.
Finish four quests of the Mist Village.

 “Where do I get quests from?”

 “I am tied to this Place of
Power, my Lord,”
Futen
said. “As such I can read the
needs of this land. There is one quest that is available now. As time goes on I
will tell you of other needs of the village.  You may also find
information on quests in your Master’s interface.”

You have been offered a Quest: Unlock
your Power I.  Your village will increase your power, but you must care
for it in turn.  Currently there is a local dungeon that needs to be
cleared out.  Reward: Unlock one of the Powers. Yes or No?

 As if there was a
question!  If Richter was right, this quest would increase his magic
immensely!  Choosing yes, he looked at
Futen
.
“Any idea how I can find it?”

 “I can move freely within the
boundaries of the village. I will guide you.”

 “How about it,” he asked Sion.
“Ready to kick some monster butt?”

 “That’s what I do,” his friend
answered with a grin.

 “In the morning then,” Richter
responded with a grin of his own.

Awakening early, Richter told
Futen
not to summon the workers today. This was somewhat of
a sacrifice though a short lived one.
Futen
had
continued his report until Richter had fallen asleep. One of the items was that
an iron mine had been found. Richter agreed with
Futen’s
assessment that defenses should be put in place to protect the village,
however. Summoning the workers could wait until an enchantment was cast. They
walked outside and stood near the earthwork wall.  Richter opened his
interface.  Prior to casting the spell however, a thought occurred to him.

 “The purpose of the Concealing
Mist and Confusing Mist spells are to hide the village. If there is a
well-defined border of magical mist though, won’t people be able to figure out
the location of the village by just mapping the boundaries?”

 “The mist slowly builds along
the boundaries of our territory, my Lord. Have you ever been able to mark
exactly when and where mist starts? I assure you the enchantment is quite
effective, but it is not fool proof. Also to map the boundaries of the mist
would mean walking for about one hundred miles. The enchantment is not fool
proof.  It is a possibility that a master mage, or someone with a strong
item, could dispel the enchantment, at least temporarily. Or a being with high
magical resistance might be able to ignore its effects. So while I advise that
you not put all of your faith in the enchantment, my Lord, I assure you that it
is very useful,”
Futen
replied.

 Nodding assent, Richter
activated his the interface bringing up the enchantments available. He had
thought about it last night, and decided the longer his village remained secret
the better. Even though using 400 mana was a steep upkeep it was worth
it.  It was also worth noting that that the village mana
regenerated.  At a rate of the total mana divided by the hours in the day
(1000/24) the 400 would be replenished after ten hours.  Also, he didn’t
really have another use for the mana right now.  He selected Confusing
Mist and activated it.

 Richter felt a pressure build
within his body, feeling like he was being filled with cool wet wind. It
reminded him of standing on the boardwalk watching a storm roll in from the
ocean. The feeling built until it seemed to press against the thin boundaries
of his skin. All of a sudden a roiling sea of grey mist exploded from his body
in all directions. It flowed and flowed, building in speed, obscuring all
sight. As suddenly as it started, the flow from his body stopped. The mist
continued to rollback until it reached the edges of the village. There it hung
like a grey curtain, making any visualization beyond five to ten feet from the
edge near impossible.

 What happened to my immunity to
the mist, Richter thought. What good is this spell if I blind myself too? Just
as he was thinking that the spell might be more trouble than it was worth, his
vision suddenly sharpened and he could see just as well as before the spell was
cast. Strangely he could also see the mist, though it in no way inhibited his
vision. Now satisfied with the results of the spell, he nodded happily to
himself and told
Futen
to the lead the way to the
dungeon.

 As the three of them moved west
out of the village they crossed into the mist, pulling the ponies behind them,
though they emptied the saddlebags first. After ten feet they were completely
surrounded by a walls of grey. The mist posed no problem for Richter, or
Futen
apparently. It was only a few minutes more, however,
when he heard Sion call out to him. “Richter, where are you?”

 Looking back Richter saw him
clearly only six or seven feet away. Taking a step closer, he saw Sion’s eyes
orient on him sharply. “It is like you just appeared out of thin air,” the
sprite said.

 “That is so strange, I could
see you clearly. Let’s test this for a moment. Try to follow me.”

 Stepping away, he moved
forward, but in less than a minute Sion called out for him to stop again.
Looking back, the sprite once again seemed to be scanning his surroundings.
Richter walked towards him and became visible once he was within a few feet.
“What happened?”

 “I was following you. First you
became indistinct and then I could not see you at all. I would have sworn that
to find you I would have gone well to the right of the direction that you just
came back from. Did you move to the side after I lost you?”

 “No,” Richter replied. “I came
straight back. This new enchantment is more powerful than I thought! Wait a
moment.” Opening the village interface, he worked through the options until
reaching Confusing Mist. Focusing upon the tab he found the section for
Immunity. Thinking of Sion, his name appeared under the drop down list.
Glancing at his Companion, Richter saw the sprite’s eyes widen.

 “With this magic, none will be
able to stand against us. We will see them from a distance while they will
constantly be confused and separated,” Sion exclaimed. Richter nodded happily.

 They both followed
Futen
deeper into the forest.

 They walked along the base of
the mountain that the village was nestled against for half a day. Their pace
was slow in light of the thick undergrowth of the untouched forest. The rocky
prominence lowered in elevation until it turned into a series of wooded hills.
They noticed a fair amount of wild life as they made their way forward, but
despite the mist concealing them from sight, many bounded away as soon as they
came in sight.

 “
Futen
,
why does it seem like the animals can see us,” Richter asked.

 “Spells like Confusing Mist
target a specific level of consciousness. Much like your Charm spell, the
Concealing Mist will work on
humaniods
, but not
lesser thought forms such as in animals or vastly different thought patterns as
with certain monsters. Higher beings would also probably be immune.”

 Definitely good to know,
Richter thought. He wasn’t as safe as he had thought he was. “How much
further?”

 They were just cresting a small
hill. At the trough between the
hill
they were on and
the next, were two large slabs of stone leaning against one another. The dark
entrance of a cave could be seen between them leading into the interior of the
hill. Of greater importance were the two skeletons aiming arrows in his
direction though.

 Immediately dropping to the
ground, both arrows flew well over his head and neither seemed particularly
well aimed. Raising his head he saw each skeleton had knocked another arrow and
was scanning the hill he and Sion were lying upon. Thankfully, the mist seemed
to be concealing their position. It was only his talking that had given away
their general position. They backed down from the top of the hill until the
cave entrance was once again hidden from sight. They pulled the ponies back
further tying the lead ropes to a tree a hundred yards further into the forest.

 “
Futen
,”
Richter said in a furious whisper.

 “Yes, my Lord,” the orb said in
its normal voice.

 “Softer,” he hissed. “Speak
softer when we are around enemies!”

 “Yes, my Lord,” it responded in
a more subdued tone.

 “In the future,” Richter said
in clipped tones, “let us know well in advance that enemies are close by.
Specifically before we are shot by them!”

 “Yes, my Lord.”

 “Wait here a moment Sion.
Futen
turn invisible and come with me.” Richter walked back
to the hill, and then circled to the left of his previous approach, making his
way back to the top as silently as he could. Neither skeleton had moved far
from its position in front of the cave. Looking down at the one on the right,
he used his Analyze skill.

Skeleton: Lvl 6. Health 160. Mana 0.
Stamina 120.

Moving his gaze to the one on left,

Skeleton: Lvl 5. Health 140. Mana 0.
Stamina 110.

 A bit disappointed about the
lack of information, he shrugged. Analyze was only level one, and he assumed
that as it leveled up, he would gain more information.

 He backed the hill to Sion.
“There are only two,” he whispered. The mist will hide us unless we get too
close. Let’s make our way up, and use Imbued arrows to destroy them. You take
the one on the left, I’ll take the one on the right.”

 They crawled up to the top of
the hill, and knocked arrows. Building power around his arrow it began to glow
golden while Sion’s glowed blue. As the glow intensified however, the skeletons
oriented on them and began to prepare arrows of them own. Knowing they were out
of time he released his arrow, Sion’s streaking away right after. Richter’s
arrow struck the skeleton’s shoulder. It spun away to collapse against the
hill.

 Sion’s arrow struck his
skeleton center mass causing it to be knocked down. The skeleton Richter had
struck was back on its feet in an instant, minus its right arm. The first shot
had knocked the entire appendage free. It had drawn a sword from a scabbard at
its waist, and was running towards him. He took quick aim and shot again. In
his hurry, he lacked the focus to properly imbue the arrow. The normal arrow
only caused the skeleton to miss a step before it started charging up the hill
again. A second imbued arrow from Sion struck it in the hip causing it to flop
back onto its chest. It struggled to rise, its remaining arm bracing against
the hill.

 An arrow struck Richter in his
chest. The simple arrowhead was not powerful enough to penetrate his Chest
Plate of the Wood Sprite, thankfully, but it did knock him off balance and
removed fourteen health. As he recovered he looked at the skeleton shooting at
him, and saw it in already had drawn another arrow and was attempting to line
up another shot. He dove to the side, an arrow whistling by only a foot to the
right. He was immensely glad that his increased Agility granted him better
dodge! Having no time to orient himself for a counter attack, Richter picked
his head up to look at the skeleton and hopefully dodge the next attack. What
he saw was the wonderful sight of Sion’s imbued arrow striking a critical blow
to the skeleton’s head. The skull was not only removed, but it shattered the
facial bones as well. The bones of the body collapsed into a pile.

 The second skeleton was back on
its feet, and was unsteadily moving towards them with its sword in hand.
Drawing his short sword, Richter feinted causing it to slash at him, but he had
already bent down to strike it in the knee. The skeleton’s blow missed
entirely, but Richter’s did not. It’s already weakened magical bonds could not
withstand Richter’s strike and its lower leg flew off causing it to fall on its
face again. One more strike to the back of its neck caused its head to fly off
and ended the fight.

Both he and Sion stood with arrows
drawn and pointed at the cave, waiting to see if the noise of the fight brought
more enemies out, but none came.  Richter eased the draw on his bow and
examined the opening.

You have found: Seasoned Cave

 “
Futen
,”
Richer said.

 “Yes my Lord,” a disembodied
voice answered from somewhere in front of him.

 “Stay invisible. Scout ahead
into the cave, let us know what you find.”

 “As you wish.”

 The two of them waited for a
few minutes. As they did they gathered the weapons of the skeletons they had
destroyed as well as whatever arrows could be salvaged. The skeletons’ gear was
all common and poor quality, but there might be a use for it later. Not needing
to sit long, the remnant appeared back in front of them. “There are two caverns
inside the cave, one after another. There are three skeletons with blades in
the first cavern. A short tunnel connects the two. In the second chamber, there
are five more skeletons. There is a stairway leading down at the back of the
chamber, but that is as far as I could go.”

 “Why couldn’t you go further?
Was there a barrier you couldn’t pass?”

 “I am bound to the village. It
is only because you have absorbed the Heart Crystal that I can go so far
afield. Normally I cannot move more than half a mile from the village borders.
Now that we are past that point, I cannot be more than one hundred yards from
you.”