CHAPTER 80: To capture a monster
A dathrod hey? Why did monsters always choose a time to turn up when I was immersed in some river, minding my own bloody business? Stripped down to the waist I had no weapon on me. If I opened my pocket dimension storage to retrieve my sword or spheres, the creature might become aware of me and attack someone.
Was the only thought I had. Ara, bless her soul if she had one, immediately inferred my intent and superimposed a circular red reference line above the dathrod to indicate where I should direct the transfer storage. Since the creature stood about a meter above the water level, I couldn’t see where I should place the transfer storage underneath the dathrod, but as if understanding my predicament, Ara created a vertical red line running down from the middle of the red circle into the ground. The line steadily turned from red to orange to green as my planned storage placement fell directly under the monster. Once the reference circle turned green, I knew I could activate the storage.
Activating the transfer storage skill, I watched the monster disappear into the storage event horizon with an almighty roar. At the last second, just before closing the hole, I caught site of the massive black creature, then uncloaked, clawing out towards the edge of the hole, as if trying to hold onto it. It’s brutal teeth and claws reminded me that no one would survive a direct attack from a creature like that, we simply didn’t have the means.
Both ladies, armed with their swords, carefully approached the area where they heard the roar. They too noticed the creature’s legs clawing at the edge of the storage before I closed it. Only a round earthen patch remained in the grass, a reminder of where the creature stood only moments before.
“Shane, what was that?”
Asked Elle nervously.
“It’s called a Dathrod. I’ve never seen one before. But we’re lucky that it didn’t notice me in the water, and I could capture it.”
“That thing’s in your storage?”
“Yes. I think I can show you on the core what it looks like.”
Once the core absorbed the Mustite bar, a 2D image rose on the surface of the core. It depicted a muscular, black creature, looking a bit like a humongous panther, but it’s face gave away its alien nature. Sharp white teeth stuck out of its mouth like a mutated bull terrier with too many canines. The strong, sharp looking nails on its paws completed the picture of a brutal killer.
“How did you see the thing?”
“I don’t know. These days I subconsciously use air and earth sense skills and I suspect I detected its movement. It was bloody well camouflaged, there was no way we would have seen it coming, even if we walked directly into it. The dathrod was totally focused on you two, which was why caught it off guard and ambush it so easily.”
For some reason the creature missed me in the water, if it arrived a bit earlier or later, that story could have ended a lot differently. I could see the range of emotions run through Hana and Elle’s faces as they processed the events in their minds.
“Thanks Shane. I’m not sure what we would have done if you hadn’t seen it and sorted it out.”
Yeah, I didn’t know how to answer that really. But I said,
“I couldn’t do less. We look after each other. I’m sorry I couldn’t warn you in advance, I was concerned the creature would attack if I suddenly surprised it.”
Hana shook her head.
“You did the right thing. Under the circumstances, I’m glad we could get it here and not somewhere in the forest, where we may have been under a severe disadvantage.”
That the golems missed the creature told me we needed to upgrade the golems.
I didn’t know about that. Devoid of a monster to hunt, we stayed vigilant nonetheless because there was possibly two of the creatures and not just one. We decided to remain for another fifteen days while things returned to normal for the village and to make sure there were no further attacks.
On the news of our success the villagers held a large feast with food galore. There were roasted boar and vegetables, with a dessert of sorts made from caked fruit and honey. I suggested to them that they try experimenting by blending that with roasted grains and seeds. Who knew, we may have started the first fantasy muesli.
There was a sticky moment when one of the villagers asked to see the subjugation evidence of the creature. In yet another emergency meeting with Ara, she told me she could remove one of the dew claws from the creature’s back foot without hurting it. The creature would be none-the-wiser anyway. I made an excuse to the villager about getting from our temporary accommodation, later returning with a claw to which everyone oohed and aahed, exclaiming amazement at the huge claw. I couldn’t blame them because the razor sharp, sickle shaped claw fitted the length of my hand. That creature made the ogres look like cute koala bears.
Since we resolved the looming threat of the dathrod, I moved on to the development of the village. The next morning, the villagers looked on in amazement as I showcased the mobile wood milling machine. I left them to make as many planks as they wanted during the week, telling them I would leave the milling machine with them in return for a trade agreement between Goldcastle and their village. The next moment I was whisked in front of the chief and with Elle’s assistance, I negotiated the first partnership with Goldcastle Trading Associates, with our new trading company based in Obon with a depot in Camp Endeavour. Our little woodcutter camp just became an important trading link between Obon and that village.
In return, we received a lot of foodstuffs the villagers made because they were only too happy to offload them in exchange for the many goods they received from us on our arrival. Since the travelling merchants never turned up at the village for many moon cycles, we received a lot of treated skins, processed leathers, small gold bars, preserved fruit, vegetables, and meat. Elle naturally dealt with all the bartering and both the villagers and the Goldcastle team were pleased to leave with good results. In return for their goods, I offered them metal goods they couldn’t make themselves. With the creation core I even produced numerous bolts, hammered nails and self-driving nails. When I showed them how to use a carpenter’s drill the men were fascinated. I even produced a version that fitted the square head of the self-driving screws and left them enough screws to build a small house with.
As a parting gift, I left a small surprise for them one morning, when they woke up to discover a large building on a raised earthen plinth inside the village. It was the size of four houses and could only be accessed via a side staircase leading to the roof. Small ventilation shafts penetrated the walls near the top of the roof and when the chief and some of the villagers entered, they discovered they were in a giant freezer. They looked visibly stunned when they discovered that not only could they keep processed carcasses frozen there for many moon cycles, but they could also freeze certain vegetables and even make ice.
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To keep the milling machine and the cold-room charged, I handed the chieftain two small metal bars and told them that in future they could recharge both the milling machine and the freezing works as often as they needed with one bar. A rider from Camp Endeavour would visit them every forty days and replace both bars on arrival for a small fee and exchange of the goods so that they had a renewable charge.
I put in place a guarantee from the palace that if the village wanted to store their gold, they would vet the surplus gold the Goldcastle team held in trust through the adventurer guild. There was unfortunately a ten percent deposit fee, however the chieftain could then issue coupons as legal tender for free which was a much safer option. I assured the chief we would sort that out with the guild representative at Camp Endeavour before the rider arrived at their village for the next transaction. Then I dropped another small bomb on them. I needed the village chieftain to come up with a name for the village which they promised to think about.
Following those issues, there was the issue of Antonella’s house we still needed to sort out. I discovered that technically the house was mine, since adopting Antonetta and because of the lack of any extended family, their property naturally defaulted to me until Antonetta was old enough to claim it. Since only the chief held all the land rights in the village there was thankfully no land ownership issue. During the discussion I realised there was a bit of disappointment because some folks had wanted to divvy the inside items amongst the villagers, a gift of sorts to the community. The house would have probably gone to someone needing a place to stay. Not to leave any bad feelings, even if they weren’t entitled to anything including the house, I decided to leave a small gift of three hundred silvers to the chief to hand out to the villagers as compensation. They could decide how best to divide it.
We left for Camp Endeavour two weeks after our subjugation of the dathrod. Before we left, I stood on the cart in the presence of all the villagers that came to say farewell and gave a short speech.
“Today marks an important occasion for the people of Dathrod village. Not only have we signed a new trade agreement with you, but you will become the first village of many to enter into that agreement with Goldcastle Trading Associates, creating a new era of cooperation and prosperity for your community. I know you have many questions about some of the happenings here, and I cannot promise you answers other than to say I enjoyed gifting them to you. All I ask in return is that you enjoy the fruits of what you have received and if someone demands from you an explanation of how these things came to be, there’s no need to explain, just tell them I gave them to you and if they want answers, to come and see me. That should be answer enough. Farewell, until we meet again.”
After the villagers of Dathrod waved us goodbye at the village entrance and returned they discovered a vacant lot where Antonella’s house once stood as if a giant had picked up the entire house in the night and walked off with it. Considering my impassioned speech, they simply shook their heads and walked away without saying a word about it. By the third corner down the dirt track the last of the running kids dropped to the rear due to pure exhaustion. Hana then asked me a question.
“Hey Shane, what's the story with the village name?”
“Don't look at me, I’m surprised as you are. They apparently wanted a name that was unique and for some reason they couldn't think of anything else to name it but after that monster, deciding it was unique name and part of their history.”
She didn't say much else after that. I didn't blame her I didn't think it was a fantastic name either, but then my naming conventions were not that much better.
After a successful and fruitful quest, our return to Camp Endeavour was met by Karato, Antonella and the old man, standing there to greet us we rolled up the boulevard towards the fort. Our return journey went largely uneventful except for the unfortunate crossing of paths with some careless silk rabbits, unfortunate for them that is. When I handed my spoils over to Grenfell, he seemed particularly happy at their inattentiveness. I wanted a word with Karato following our run in with the dathrod.
“Can we have a chat a bit later, I have something to ask you.”
Karato slapped me hard on the back.
“Ha, busy planning things again I see. I like that, you rascal.”
Yeah, and his hand still didn’t feel any lighter. Because the dathrod was technically not dead, only subjugated, Olivia faced something of a dilemma. If the dathrod managed to escape from me and injure or kill people again, the creature was then never subjugated in the first place. If the guild discovered that the previously subjugated animal was the cause, not only would I face harsh penalty fees, but I could also be severely demoted in rank. The penalty fees would include the original subjugation payment plus any reparations to injured people or their families. Olivia asked me to sign a guild document stating that I would be responsible for the creature in future, which I then signed.
When we delivered evidence of the dathrod subjugation, Olivia faced her next new challenge. A dathrod was an unclassified creature, with an unknown subjugation fee. When Karato sponsored three gold coins for the subjugation he unknowingly set the lowest limit for future subjugations for a dathrod. However, Olivia also took into consideration my description of the creature’s abilities and intelligence, even asking me of my opinion for a subjugation fee which I put at twenty gold. Although an ogre general paid out a good subjugation fee of ten small gold coins, the power and insidious nature of a dathrod made it far more dangerous in my opinion. She would later submit the proposed subjugation fee to the guild for consideration. Olivia made an odd comment.
“It’s unusual, you know?”
“What is?”
“In all the history of adventuring, no-one ever encountered a dathrod before.”
I could understand that, but I didn’t give it much more thought. With that all sorted, we prepared our surprise for Antonetta. When we found her, she had soot all over her hair and face, but she still beamed a white, toothy smile. We found that in our absence, Grenfell took Antonetta under his wings. Teaching her how to tend the forging fire in the absence of Elle and myself. It turned out she loved the work and when she wasn't doing that, she helped the ladies prepare food in the kitchen. Everyone had a good report about her, and I could see she was a vibrant girl with a good heart. We took her to see the surprise we prepared for her. Soon Antonetta stood stunned in front of the small house, her eyes just blinking.
“Would you like to have a look?”
I encouraged her to enter. She carefully stepped into the house while slowly looking around. Everything lay precisely as she left it when she walked out of her village for the last time. When she entered her bedroom, she sat down on her bed and held a rag doll to her chest. Tears streamed down her sooty face as she released pent-up emotions in sobs. Hana sat next to her and hugged her close.
“When I left… the village, I couldn’t… take anything with me… I never thought I would… see my home again.”
Antonetta said, hiccupping between sobs. Her family no longer existed, when she last walked out of that house, it was to get married or sold off to some unknown stranger, anything relating to her being a young girl, her entire life, her memories, were all left behind in that house. She put up a brave front, but sitting in her room once more, she couldn’t carry that façade anymore.
Later, after she recovered from the raw emotion, we sat with her in the dining room of the house, drinking some tea, as I explained the situation to her.
“We wanted you to keep being the daughter your parents wanted you to be, but it would also be rash of us to expect you to live in the past. It wouldn’t be good for you anyway. I believe your parents wanted you to be brave, and to learn new things while keeping the pleasant memories you have of them.”
At that she paid more attention to me, looking up from the cup of tea. I looked around at the house as I explained further to her.
“We’ve kept these pleasant memories for you, while giving you the option to learn amazing things. Although I cannot replace your father, I can be the best adopted brother you ever had.”
I felt better with being an adopted brother. That way, I could be more of a friend and less of a master to her. Besides, trying to be a father figure that was hardly ten years older than her didn’t make sense while putting too much pressure on me.
“Brother?”
I nodded.
“In future when people ask me who you are, your name will be Antonetta Karosaki, my sister.”
Well, there you had it. I now had both a wife and a sister in my new fantasy world.
“Oh, by the way, anyone that joins my family must do one thing…”
I chuckled as I pictured Antonetta wearing blue dungarees. Hana and Antonetta both looked at me with concerned looks.