[Decay Timer: 79 Hours, 42 Minutes, 13 Seconds]

You know, I used to think waking up to an alarm clock was the single most miserable way to get out of bed. I used to think that. Now? I’d say the flashing notification burning at the back of my eyelids that only served to remind me that I have a few short days left to live really takes the cake.

Oooh. Cake.

With my [Thirst] and [Hunger] debuffs active I really wanted some of this world’s euphoric H2O and some grub. I couldn’t actually eat anything since my food was just sunlight, but damn I really just missed the act of eating. The tickle of something sweet on my taste buds, the allure of a bit of spice over my tongue. I imagined my stomach growling as I thought of pizza… tacos… spicy chicken pad Thai…

I opened my eyes, yawned, and let my food dreams fall flat like morning wood. It would be a busy morning, followed by a terrible hike back to the setting of my real life horror movie.

Real life, huh? Funny how things change.

I sat up a bit straighter, tangled in the same blanket and chair set up as I had the day I arrived while listening to the rhythmic thunder of Fogwarth’s snores. I thought about getting up and heading out without him, possibly finding Ak-Lol then picking up my sword from H’Acur in the hopes that he was able to fix it even with a damaged forge. But, I supposed I could wait a little longer for the big inch worm and instead focused on my skill tree.

I won’t lie to you, I did the thing where I rubbed my hands together in excitement. I’m not proud, but it happened. Anyway, Rank 4 skills here we come!

[Venus Snap Trap - Active. Type: Nature. Cost: 72 Mana, 7 Mana per second. Cooldown: 90 seconds. Effect: Summon a three foot by three foot carnivorous plant that lays prone until activated via pressure. Once pressure is applied, the Venus Snap Trap closes, trapping the target using its adhesive mouth and sharpened teeth, inflicting 11X damage on closing and siphoning 1X Mana per second for the Angiomancer, where X is equal to the Angiomancer’s current rank]

[Pillar of Pyracantha - Active. Type: Nature, Fire. Cost: 205 Mana. Cooldown 240 seconds. Effect: Summon a rotating pillar of firethorn berries at a targeted location. Firethorns burst over a period of 10 seconds, damaging foes in a 10 foot radius for 1X damage per second, where X is equal to the Angiomancer’s rank. 13% chance to inflict a 3 second Burn debuff for an addition 1X damage per second]

[Radiant Harvest - Passive. Type: Nature, Light. Cost: N/A. Cooldown: N/A. Effect: Adds a 21% chance that a fallen for or ally within 10 yards of the Angiomancer will yield a temporary Life Stem. All allies within a 5 foot radius of the Life Stem gave 2X health per second, where X is equal to the Angiomancer’s current rank]

I had been hoping for six total skills with the option to choose two of them, but it looked like I could only grab one from this rank then an additional from the next. Oh well, not the end of the world. These were prime options that would really add some diversity to the build. Well, as diverse as flower and fruit based abilities could get. I didn’t want to spend too much time on the choices, but it was damn hard to decide.

Healing was staring me right in the eyes again. It was begging to be picked, practically screaming in my face to be picked, but I wasn’t incredibly fond of this one. It would be useful, especially if we were in a massive battle like the one with Icaraz where a Life Stem could pop up pretty regular and give the edge. Still, it relied heavily on us killing just to gain some healing advantages, and it didn’t sit well with them.

The other two were equal. The fly trap one was an obvious one to expand on my current armory of abilities that immobilized a foe. Not to mention its passive Mana stealing effect, which could make it a perfect skill to end a rotation of attacks with before kicking it up again. However, the fire berry pillar thing could affect multiple enemies all at once, making it a major benefit to my allies if we were ambushed again. It didn’t have the immediate damage output, but over time it would build up if that [Burn] debuff landed.

Ehhhhh, fuck it then. Fire pillar thing it is. It would give me another element to spice up my skills with, and I needed to add something that wasn’t just another immobilizer. I selected it and watched the others fade to gray, then three more options illuminated to usher in my Rank 5 tree.

And Rank 5 decided it was going to throw me a wild curveball.

[Rank 5 achieved. Class ultimate unlocked: Flight of the Dragon Fruit. Class ultimate may be forfeit and three previously locked abilities will be chosen at random to select from. A new ultimate will available if class is upgraded or at Tier 10 of current class]

[Flight of the Dragon Fruit - Ultimate. Type: Nature, Fire, Chaotic. Cost: 50% of Maximum Mana. Cooldown: 48 Hours. Effect: Summon the ultimate Dragon of the Angiomancer class. Dragon lasts for 30 seconds and targets all available foes. If 30 seconds expires and the Dragon is not defeated then all allies restore 10% of maximum health pool. If the Dragon is defeated within the 30 second all allies restore 15% of maximum Mana]

Holy shit. Dragon? A whole dragon? Damn, with a whole dragon I would be draggin’ these berries all over the battlefield, if you know what I mean. It was an epic choice, a once in a lifetime choice. And yet… I paused. I just stared at the option for some time. Could I potentially gain a more powerful ultimate ability if I waited? And I’d gain three options I passed on before to pick from, which could give me access to a healing ability that would be crucial for the entire party.

Plus there was that cooldown… at this rate I’d use it once and then be dead, dying, or decaying before it was even available again. No, this was too big of a decision for right now. I needed Fogwarth on this one, or maybe someone higher up the food chain like Fogwen. Or… or maybe the strange Lord siblings.

I swapped that screen for my newest one, deciding that I would make the decision before we left today but I’d consult some people first. The new screen popped up, showing me my expertise options. I saw the words that popped up and focused on them.

[Combat Expertise:

* Melee: 0%

* Projectile: 0%

* Magical: 0%

* Defensive: 0%

* Supportive: 0%]

[Profession Expertise:

* Construction: 0%

* Resourcing: 0%

* Smithing: 0%

* Mercantile: 0%

* Tailoring: 0%

* Cooking: 0%

* Alchemical: 0%

* Medical: 0%]

That was a lot of 0s, and I didn’t even fully go through the list. There were others like [Entertainment Expertise] and [Social Expertise] but it didn’t seem as relevant for the time being. Even the [Profession Expertise] weren’t really my style at the moment, I just couldn’t help checking anyway. So, with all of my expertise out in the open, what should I do?

I honestly would like to get to a point where I could do something with a profession or maybe expand on entertainment, but none of it would help me get to the next path. No, it was obvious by my first path that I’d have to focus on combat until this stupid [Decay] debuff went away. Knowing I was sticking to combat for now, I decided to distribute my pool among the ones that made the most sense.

First up was melee. I wasn’t the most skilled with a sword, but it has saved my berry ass a few times now. Plus there was my tiger form to consider, which was all melee. I decided to add 3 points to it, and watched as it grew to an astonishing 4.5%. I didn’t get the math on that one, but that’s what it was. I expected 3%, or maybe 30% if it went by a factor of 10. But 1.5% per point? Hm. Needed more testing.

I decided to add 3 points to defense as well, and saw the same 4.5% added. Not sure what it would do, but I hoped it meant I was 4.5% less likely to be squeezed into a sour juice.

Last up was magical. My class indicated I was mainly a spellslinger style of fighter, and my abilities were my go-to when in a fight, unlike Foggy who preferred to get up close and dirty with a sword, or Ak who stuck with the bow. Supportive was probably more for healing or buffs, both of which I lacked, and I have 0 projectile weapons at the moment. In the future maybe I could afford to be more well-rounded, but for now I was going as a main dish mage with a side salad of physical fighting. 4 points later I was 6% better with magic or whatever.

With the points allocated, I wanted to move back to the skill tree for a second review of my options, but Foggy was yawning and stretching, indicating our day was kicking off.

“Oh my, sir berry,” Foggy stirred, rustling through his mounds of blankets like an earthworm. “I say, I slept like a larva last night. I do hope my snoring has not ruined your own well-deserved rest. It is an untreatable disease, or so they say.” Fogwarth sat up, rubbing at his eyes with his pudgy hands before pulling something out of his magical pouch that sat on his nightstand. In his hand was an entire softball sized cupcake, and he vanished into his mouth as quickly as it had appeared. “They call it the apnea of the sleep. An interesting name.”

I stared. I chuckled. I nearly full on lost it.

“Alright, Foggy,” I said, letting my laughter fizzle out. “Come on, let’s get going. Busy morning ahead of us.”

He sucked off the pink frosting that lingered on his fingers, gave me his chubby grin, and then promptly fell back into the bed and began snoring.

After another ten or so minutes Foggy woke back up, which was followed by another five minutes of refusing to be his alarm clock while he tried to snooze again. Then there was twenty minutes of… well, loud bowel movements from his bathroom before we finally set off to start the day. We put together a tight schedule for the morning, ensuring we knocked out all that we had to so that we could get on the road and to the southern border wall before it got too late in the evening. We didn’t even know where this God’s corpse was, and looking in the dark would only make it even more difficult. Not to mention the possibility of lingering mushroom-infested creatures.

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Fogwarth, being Fogwarth, acted as if I should know how the expertise system worked, clearly forgetting I pretty much was born yesterday. He explained there is a 0.1x multiplier on the points based on my class rank, and he seemed astonished at the fact that I was already rank 5, commenting that he was only rank 5 himself; he also checked Ak-Lok’s information from our companion tab and noted that the Golem was Rank 4. When I checked I also had the addition of Fogwen on there and could see she was rank 7, and also had apparently achieved her Tier 2 evolution which explained her slightly altered appearance the night before. She was now considered a [Sacred Lunar Noble] as her evolved race, and her class had changed from the [Sacred Lancer] to the [Sacred Harpoonist]. I had to wonder if this was due to something with their heirlooms, but unfortunately I couldn’t ask Fogwarth.

For whatever reason he was not linked as her companion. I decided not to unpack that right now, and instead moved on to my other question.

“A dragon, you say?” Fogwarth said as we strolled up to the smith’s forge. Or, what was left of it anyway. Foggy rubbed at his rolling collection of chins. “An interesting conundrum indeed, my friend. You see, I too have recently been met by my ultimate ability. Yet, I had no choice in my matter and had to pass by it for now. While it saddens me to see such a valuable ability slip through my robust fingers, it would obscure me from the path I am now on. Dear Aspenoc warned that it would render me unable to pursue my Pearlescent path, and I dare not sully the memory of my father and…”

Fogwarth trailed off, clearly still having trouble facing what had happened with Foghurdt. I didn’t pry, I knew what he was getting at anyway. Instead, I just carried on ahead, causing Foggy to let out a relieved sigh.

“See, that is my problem. I want the move, don’t get me wrong. It summons a fucking dragon. But… I already am flying blind here with my evolutions. If this one choice cuts out even one option, then I am screwed. Not to mention that the old Oracle claimed my class could be way more powerful if it upgrades when I evolve. I’d hate to miss out on something like that.”

Foggy gave a nod, folding his arms in contemplation. “And yet, I feel this ability is a powerful boon just before a dangerous journey. Perhaps we do as you suggested and we consult others. Though, it is intriguing that-”

“You boys gonna get yer damn gear and get out or what?” H’Acur said, slamming his hammer down and glaring at us.

Whoops.

“Sorry, man. Got a little caught up there,” I said, approaching his work area and looking around.

It wasn’t even close to one of the more damaged buildings, but the place wasn’t spared. Remnants of ash and soot painted the stone walls and charred the wooden roof. Most of the interior had been wrecked as Icaraz looted the place, leaving smashed crates and weapon racks, battered unfinished armor, scattered tools, and destroyed furniture. H’Acur didn’t even bother trying to fix it, instead moving right back to smithing more weapons and armor with a rage-fueled fever. I wanted to tell the smith that it wasn’t healthy to bury himself in his work, but then again who was I to make that claim? I didn’t really have a life before that didn’t revolve around my own work.

Foggy retrieved his incredibly heavy armor and then stuffed it in his tiny little burlap pouch, which looked fucking hilarious. The little sack gobbled up the massive slabs of armor like they were appetizers, then it was my turn. I could tell my H’Acur’s expression that he wasn’t exactly thrilled to be handing over my sword. I almost took it as an insult. Then I could see why he didn’t want to hand it back.

“I did my best, boy,” H’Acur said, passing over the sword that now sported a wavy, uneven blade. Shit looked more like a Ruffles potato chip now. “Obsidian is a damn hard thing to craft. Damn hard indeed. Any more refining and I would have disconnected the connection between the runes. Perhaps ya could find the one who smithed it first, they seem to be well-versed in the ways of obsidian.”

I thought back on the very, very dead body of Daiki and shook my head. “I don’t think that’s gonna be possible. But, thanks anyway, H’Acur. I appreciate the effort.”

“Don’t mention it, lad,” he answered, preparing to return to his raw, red metal before pausing. “Say, I think I have something for ya, blueberry. Got a rush job commissioned this morning, and they said I’d know who it was for. Thinkin’ ya might be that someone.”

H’Acur moved away, rummaging through a chest that was missing a top right beside his forge. A moment later he returned, carrying what looked like…

“A tiara?” I said. “That a damn tiara in your hands?”

“Tiaria?” H’Acur answered. “This? No, not at all. This is a rune crown, boy. Made of Mothric steel, carved with an enchantment rune, and powered with a topaz chip. Not my usual, but she had the material and the money. Here, check it out.”

He handed me the… crown, and I inspected it closely.

[Barrier Rune Crown. Type: Armor, Head. Rarity: Uncommon. Defense: +1% Slash Resistance, +1% Blunt Resistance, +3% Elemental Resistance. Effect: Creates a barrier that absorbs up to 92 damage before collapsing. Charge may be restored at the cost of 25 mana after a 60 second cooldown. Description: Rune Crown forged by H’Acur, Forgemaster of the lost Beetloid race, crafted of shining Mothric steel, etched with a Barrier enchantment, and powered with topaz. This crown was made to resemble that of a princess tiara]

“Oh, God damn it…” I said, looking down at the crown. I mean, it was incredible. Of course I was going to wear it, and of course I appreciated H’Acur for it. But I officially knew exactly who this was from, and it pained me that she was able to one up me one more time before we parted ways. The thing was basically a shining circlet with some intricate spikes on the front that were laid in an elegant pattern, all with a yellow gem right at the center. I put it on, feeling like a real princess for a second, then adjusted it over my natural blueberry crown thing so that it would stay in place. “Well, it is definitely useful and well made. Thanks, H’Acur. But, if Fogwen comes by asking, just tell her I was pissed and refused to wear it, alright?”

The smith harrumphed and then returned to his smithing duties. We shrugged, Fogwarth left a small stack of coins on what was left of his counter, which was very little, and we made our way out of the shop. I had my sword in hand again, a barrier crown tiara thing on my head, and some gloves and boots made of sewn gray flesh from some creature that would be very mad if they saw me wearing it. I was as ready as I was going to get as we proceeded to make our way back to the castle entrance to meet with the Lord siblings, both of whom had been making their rounds through the castle and were now holding a meeting of some kind with a gathering of people.

Foggy and I made our way to the group but paused at the back, allowing the conversation to continue.

“What of the Queen?” A concerned moth guy asked in the front.

The two siblings were standing next to one another, which was a kind way of saying they were holding each other like prom dates and lazily looking out over the gathering. Gross.

“The Queen will be found,” the platinum guy, Fogpeter, said. He casually combed his fingers through his sister’s hair; I shuddered when their eyes met one another. “We have sent our sister, the powerful Fogwen, and a contingent of guards to aid her. Rest assured, we will stop at nothing to uncover the truth of Azreet’s deceit.”

“And our homes? Our lands? What are we to do, your lordships?” An older female moth person chimed in next.

This time the stone sister, Fogmary, was the one to answer. “As we speak we have forces marching for Icaraz. At noon we shall meet them, and we will purge them of their resources to rebuild our own home. The remaining people of Icaraz will have a choice…” Her voice carried off as she trailed her brother’s face with the tip of her finger. “They may work to rebuild our homes and our lands, or be met with death.”

I didn’t like the sound of that, even if the citizens all seemed to accept it with overwhelming glee. Granted, I didn’t lose anything here, but I still didn’t find it right to give the bees the option of servitude or death. My mind already raced ahead to a time when they are treated as second class to others and scorned as monsters. The king may have done all of the horrors that they claimed, possibly more, so these people were only rallying against what they deemed to be a colossal threat. Now they would be treated as the villains for decades or centuries to come.

But, what could I do about it? For now there was nothing. Instead I just watched as the crowd dispersed, giving me room to approach with Fogwarth at my side.

“Brother, sister,” Fogwarth said to each with a nod of respect. “I see the plans to restructure and rebuild our Kingdom are going well.”

Fogmary laughed. “Our kingdom he says, dear brother.”

The platinum lord chuckled along with her. “Be kind, sister. Fogwarth is merely the runt of our litter. Let him have his time among the sun.” He turned and faced Fogwarth, a lucid expression painted on his face. “Yes, as the first Heir of the throne I have assumed command of Mothric operations with our dear sister at my side. Nothing to fear, Fogwarth. All is well. Now, run along to your quarters and have another snack, yes?”

I grunted, feeling my tiger rage fill up my berry like a gas tank. They have the nerve to disrespect Foggy? The dude who helped save this shit hole from the bees? I shoved it back down, bottling it up and saving the anger for later. This wasn’t my fight. Not right now.

“Ah, I appreciate your concern, dear brother. However, I am both well rested as well as well nourished, I assure you. No, I come only to say my goodbyes as we head to our southern border to locate Fogdahn,” Foggy answered, seeming to also bury his feelings. “And, my Companion has a question we were hoping you both would be of some assistance with!”

The two paused their laughter to look down at me. Their dull eyes felt cold as they studied me, lifeless like a corpse and hollow like a forest of dead trees. I didn’t like these two, not one bit. They were uncaring and frigid; the exact kind of leaders we feared back in my own world.

“Companion? This?” Fogmary asked. “This being is food, Fogwarth. Sour food at that. Come now, dear little brother. Can you not capture a Companion more suited of nobility?”

“Oh, sister, how your own mind evades you. Fogwarth does not have Companions! No, he is merely our kingdom’s reminder that our king was a reckless, lustful fool,” Fogpeter said, stumbling over his own laughter. “Run along, little bastard. Find our brother if you may, or do not. It makes little difference.”

“Hey! Cut the shit,” I said, finally having enough. “Real bold of you both to show up after we do all the work saving this place, just for you to take the Goddamn glory and castle. Have some fucking respect, huh? How about treating Foggy here better? Quit acting like a couple of spoiled brats.”

The siblings gave their full attention. Their calm facade dropped, leaving only two pissed off Lords glaring down at me. They untangled themselves from one another, deciding to stand a bit more imposing and showing off their weapons in full. I didn’t care, I didn’t back down. Fuck these people.

Foggy placed a hand on the top of my head, calming me and cutting my rant short. I looked up at him but he had moved on, looking at his siblings.

“Forgive the words of my Companion. He is not of our world, and he lacks the formalities of our own people. He will be accompanying me on our journey south and will not be a bother to your kingdom, my lords,” Foggy answered them, going fully formal and even offering a bow. I didn’t like it, he should not have to bow to these people. “We shall be off now, siblings. I wish you luck in your endeavors and offer you my aid when I return. Come now, sir berry. We must make haste for our destination.”

I had more I wanted to say, especially when the two twirled new smiles on their stupid faces when Fogwarth apologized for us. They quickly wrapped themselves within each other’s arms again, and I walked off with a pit of burning fire in my stomach at the thought of those two. Screw it. I didn’t care. I don’t need their help with my skill anyway. I opened my skill tree, looked at the option, then chose the No option to indicate that I didn’t accept the ultimate. Three new abilities popped up and I closed my window, too angry to browse at the moment. They could wait until later.

Now to meet up with a Golem and head back into the bowels of my personal Hell.