The Land: Forging (Chaos Seeds Book 2) (22 page)

She looked at him with a serene expression, “Thank you,
Richter. I know well the pain and guilt you must be
feeling
because I have felt it myself too many times. All I can tell you is that over time the pain will lessen. What do you plan to do now?”

“I need to be stronger. So does my village. I plan on clearing a dungeon, and unlocking another one of my powers. I will leave as soon I know my village is safe. Before anything
else
though, I offer my time and my strength to you. You may ask for anything. I will never be able to repay the debt I owe you.”

“Shush,” she lightly admonished. “You are the Master of a Place of Power. You should have learned by now, the danger of idle words. I asked
you
to take up arms against the bugbears. We are allies against a common enemy. It was always an unfortunate reality that some of us would die. Do not apologize again, just continue to stand and fight with us.”

“That I can promise you,” Richter said with some steel in his voice.

“Good,” she said, matching him in intensity. “I have information for you. When my people were sweeping you’re the area around the village, we found one bugbear that had been hiding. He was captured and questioned. I know why you were attacked. As my people have been looking for the main bugbear encampment, it appears that they have been looking for us as well. Apparently they had greater success. We were followed by one of their scouts after leaving the Hearth Tree. He trailed us to the boundaries of your domain. Because of the mists, it could follow no further. The scout retreated, found reinforcements, and then returned to the edge of your defensive enchantment. They were waiting for the express purpose of laying an ambush once we exited the mists again. Then, two things happened.”

Hisako held up a finger, “The first was that the Quickening was planted and it sent the beam of green light into the air. It was as good as a beacon giving them a fairly specific direction to move in.” Richter nodded as this had been what he had already surmised. “The second was the drop in the village’s enchantment. With the disappearance of the mists, they moved forward in a broad
line
and found the village after only a few hours. At that point, it was the simple matter of creating a
make shift
bridge to span the trench around your village. The only thing that saved us was that they sent a scouting force into the village first as opposed to sending their entire force at once. Bugbears are adept at stealth, so under the cover of
night
it is not surprising that they made it by whatever guards you had posted, and then killed them before they could raise an alarm. One of your villagers must have seen them however, and raised the alarm. It made them attack prematurely and you know the rest.”

“The point is Richter; we all share the blame for this attack. This is a war. And though you are only now just joining it, this is a war that has been raging for millennia on countless fronts. You do not owe me anything. I only ask that you do what you have already resolved to do. Grow stronger, follow your conscience, and oppose evil as you come across it.”

The perspective he gained from Hisako’s recounting gave him some peace. He turned to Yoshi, “Where is the bugbear?”

The sword adept pointed down the hill and past the village wall, “Waiting to be put in the pit. I had to
asking some of my questions… forcefully.”

There was no ambiguity to that. Richter could not muster any criticism of Yoshi’s tactics. He and Sion had done the same to a goblin in the past. Even if he hadn’t, the invaders put themselves in harm’s way when they attacked. They got what was coming to them.

“Understood,” Richter said. “Well you know my plans,” he said to Hisako, “What are yours?”

“I will stay here for a time if that it is alright with you. I wish to spend more time with Elora. She will bond to the tree soon, and I will want to be there for that. Besides, Yoshi doesn’t want me leaving the protection of the village until there are more guards to escort me back.”

“I trust that is not an issue,” Yoshi asked. Of course, he wasn’t really asking.

“No. You are all welcome here for as long as you wish,” Richter said. “I need to go take care of certain matters.”

Before he could walk away,
though, Yoshi stepped in front of him. “You are overdue for a sword lesson. You skipped the lesson yesterday completely.”

“We were attacked! I got enough practice!” Richter’s voice rose a bit.

“I’ll be the judge of what constitutes practice,” the adept said. “Tonight, practice will resemble… our very first lesson.”

Richter’s eyes widened and all of the fire went out of him, “Th-the first lesson?” His voice rose again, but this time in a most undignified manner.

“Yes, Lord Richter,” a thick and quite hard looking length of wood had appeared in Yoshi’s hand.

“Yes, well… as I said, I do have quite a few duties to attend to, and people to speak to.”

“They will wait,” the sword adept said advancing.

Richter looked to Hisako for help, but she seemed to be finding something completely engrossing in the exact opposite direction he was standing in. Yup, this
time he was sure she was smiling!

When Richter looked back, Yoshi’s face was only inches away from his own. The half-human lowered his voice and said softly, “Why don’t we get started?” A toothy grin was on his face, and a manic gleam had made its way into his eyes.

Richter said the only thing that came to mind, “Derrrrrrr…”

“Goddamnhalfbloodsadistsunuvabitch!” This was the first utterance Richter made to the collection of skilled people that Randolphus had gathered at his request. More than a hundred people were crammed in the chamber of the Great Seal. He was sitting at the head of the table that his chamberlain had brought out of one of the larger rooms on the first floor of the catacombs. Alma lay curled in a ball on the table in front of him. After his training with Yoshi, standing during the meeting was out of the question. Even sitting would have been beyond him if Hisako hadn’t taken away the worst part of his pain with a spell. He was still left with minor to medium aches and pains, however, which had elicited the aforementioned expression when he had turned too fast and felt a painful spasm in his back. There wasn’t even any point in casting another healing spell. His health was full; he was just sore.

“Sorry about that,” Richter said. “I have gathered you all here because I want us to be working in the same direction. First, we need to speak about rebuilding the longhouse and finishing the smithy. The smithy will take priority.” There were a few murmurings at that, but Richter held up his hand until they died down. “We were woefully unprepared
during
the attack. We have a very small amount of guards and fighters when we examine our entire population. That will be fixed, but in the meantime, we will balance it out with better
equipment and training. So we get the smithy finished as quickly as possible, and then the longhouse. After that, I want a switch to building with the quarried stone as opposed to just wood. Let the chamberlain know if you need anything else.” He asked the builders and carpenters if they had any questions. They merely said they would need a great deal more stone and more Mist Workers. Randolphus made a note of it and they moved on.

Next he turned to the hunters, “You need to range a bit more afield. I don’t want the hunting grounds near the village to be depleted. But the bugbears are out hunting for us so be especially careful. No one hunts alone for the
foreseeable
future. If you find an enemy, and can make a kill safely then go ahead. If it is a larger
force
send one person back to notify us, while the other follows from a safe distance.” The seven strong force just nodded. He went on to the next item on the agenda.

For this next question, he addressed the entire room, “Why aren’t there more enchanted weapons?” No one spoke, they all just looked at one another.
Finally,
a high elf spoke. Analyze showed:

Name: Gloran
. High Elf Level 14. Health 210. Mana 320. Stamina 150. Disposition: Friendly. …

The elf’s stats were normal for his level, but he had the Profession of Crafter. Richter really had to learn more about Professions, but now was not the time.

“Without getting into specifics, Lord Richter, it is expensive and not many have the expertise to enchant. It also requires specialized items that are rare and difficult to acquire.” Several people around the table nodded in agreement.

“Do any of you have skill with enchanting,” Richter asked.

“I cannot speak for anyone else, but I have some experience,
my Lord. I made enchanted jewelry in the past,”
Gloran replied.

“So what do we need specifically,” Richter asked undaunted. If there was one thing that his years of gaming had taught him, it was that the right gear was crucial. Even more than training, enchanted items were a force
multiplier
and really could turn a person into an army of one.

“First you need a captured soul, my Lord.”

“Someone needs to give up their soul?!” Richter couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

Gloran
laughed, “No, my Lord. The souls of most sentient humanoids cannot be captured. For instance, none of the races in this room could be captured. All creatures have souls, however. If a spell like
Soul Trap
is cast prior to a creature dying, then its spirit will be captured if you have a soul stone.”

Richter sighed, “Well then how do you get a soul stone?”

“They are made, my Lord. It is a relatively simple process. Any stone can be made into a soul stone, even simple rocks.”
Well,
that’s good news, Richter thought happily. “Those soul stones would only be sufficient to catch the souls of simple
animals,
though, like rabbits or deer. Even the soul of a large bear could not be contained in such a
low-level
gem.”
Well, that news is not as good, Richter thought sadly.

“So how do we make better soul stones,” Richter asked afraid that he already knew the answer.

“Gemstones are used sir. The higher quality of gem used, the stronger the soul that can be trapped.”

“And I’m guessing that stronger souls make stronger enchantments?”

“Yes, my Lord,” Gloran
replied. He must have seen Richter’s crestfallen look, because he added, “Even cheaper
semiprecious jewels can make soul stones strong enough to trap most basic monsters.”

Richter nodded at the Gloran’s
last statement. That was helpful information, but he was just adding up how much outfitting his people was going to cost him. This world seemed dedicated to bankrupting him. The chest of jewels that was his nest egg just didn’t seem like that much anymore. He really needed to sell those Potions of Clarity. He told Gloran he would need some soul stones made later that night, and the man assured him it wouldn’t be a problem.

Not wanting to get bogged down in his own economic woes, he continued, “Okay so that covers the soul stones. Does anyone know the spell Soul Trap?”

Zarr, the Earth Master mage spoke up, “Every branch of magic has a version of that spell, but it is well acknowledged that of all of the Basic Elements, Life and Death have the strongest versions.” The other casters in the room nodded.

Richter looked around confused, “Basic Elements?”

“The ley lines which cross under the earth are ribbons of Power, Lord Richter. There are eight different types of ley lines: Life, Death, Water, Fire, Earth, Air,
Light
and Dark. These are the eight Basic Elements. Each has different strengths and weaknesses,” Zarr said.
“Earth, for example,
is excellent for defense and construction. Dwarves have a natural affinity for Earth which is why we build such strong citadels and craft the best weapons and armor. Mountain dwarves in particular.” He said the last with a
smirk
and the comment was answered by some grumbling by the other races present. It all seemed in good
fun
though. From the back of the
room someone yelled, “Gnomes rule!”

Richter was happy that his people could smile with each other. It meant that the attack had not broken their spirits. “Alright, I will ask Sumiko to teach me the spell. So if we are able to capture a soul, what’s next?”

A dwarf from the back of the room spoke. His beard was black but well threaded with silver and white. Despite these signs of age, he stood straight and muscles bulged from his arms, “This is all well and good for making cute baubles
to look at as you sit for afternoon tea, but what you need for a strong enchanted weapon is
good metal and a better smith. The iron that has been harvested here is good enough quality to make steel, perhaps even a bit of high steel. What we want though is quicksilver, cobalt, or mithril. THAT is how you make a quality weapon!”