“You thought I couldn’t pull my weight?” Darya said.
“Well, I uhm-” I started to say.
“I saved you.”
I smiled. “Saved each other really.”
I re-opened the portals and Darya left to find Amelia so that she could heal me. Finn came out of the barracks, glanced from one dead body to the next, scratching his beard. He looked at me with a hint of fear in his eyes, gnawed at his lip, hesitating to speak. “You know-” he finally said, clearing his throat. “This won’t be the end of it.”
“Well aware, thanks,” I replied in a snappy tone.
My body ached, and every movement sent throbbing pain. I had removed my battered chestplate that felt constricting, making it hard to breathe. I didn’t think I’d be sleeping tonight at all. I felt energized, wound up and anxious all at once from another night of slaughter and mayhem. I had fresh corpses to dispose of, blood to mop up.
“Give a week, two,” he said. “Within a month another bounty hunter will arrive.”
“And what do you suggest I do? Hmm? I didn’t exactly ask for all this trouble,” I said, pointing at the corpses neatly arrayed shoulder to shoulder.
He shrugged. “If you want this place to be safe, leave Moorhaven and take the trouble with you.”
I sighed. “You may be right, but it’s not all that simple.”
“No, I never said it was.”
“What are you going to do now?”
He narrowed his eyes. “I reckon I can’t leave, can I?”
“No, and you can’t have your weapons back.” I turned up the light in the Nexus, pointed to the planting beds. “But you can make yourself useful. There’s weeds to pick.”
“Weeds, eh? What is this place? How did you find it? Did it-”
“The fewer people know, the better.” I gestured toward the barracks. “Pick a bed, get some sleep, it’s late.”
He nodded. “That’s an awful lot of beds there, are ya raising an army?”
I chuckled. “Nah, we’re just trying to get by.”
After he went inside, I brought up my forearms and examined the new symbol that had lit up. The infection had spread, joining together with the black tendrils of the previous symbols. Combined, they nearly encircled my forearm in black ink.
I stared at my forearms with disbelief.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
I sighed.
Having felt what I had every time I killed someone, I didn’t know if Bob had it right about the symbols. Maybe they meant something else entirely? For the time being, I filed away the problem in the future Kevin’s folder. Right now I had a bloody mess to clean up.
Ronkor’s Rattler was vastly better than my two-handed sword and the Sunforged Blade I got from the last pair of raiders. Light as it was, carrying it proved much simpler than I thought it would be. A simple leather loop at the belt was more than enough to hold it. I hung it next to my Petrified Wand which was too big for the holsters.
Getting rid of the bodies was easier than ever before - I dumped them over the edge into the Void. But first, I took their gear.
* [Exalted Relic] Graceful Silk Sash
* Item type: Belt
* 20% Increased Action Speed
* + 33 Agility
* [Exalted Relic] Ronkor’s Chain
* Item type: Amulet
* +43 to Strength
* 15% Increased Area of Effect
* Set bonus: +30 to All Attributes
* [Exalted Relic] Ronkor’s Seal
* Item type: Ring
* +19 to Strength and Agility
* 20% Increased Area Damage
* Set bonus: +30 to All Attributes
* [Exalted Relic] Ronkor’s Emblem
* Item type: Ring
* +20 to Strength and Agility
* 20% Increased Area Damage
* Set bonus: +30 to All Attributes
* [Mythic Relic] Ronkor’s Rattler
* Item type: Two-handed mace
* Weightless
* 43% Increased Stun Effect
* Set bonus: +30 to All Attributes
Edward’s gear offered some insight into how the fight had played out. His five relics fit my needs. The rest I stashed away as they had to do with healing, buff duration, lightning damage, mana and mana regeneration. Besides, I couldn’t wear more than two rings, or a second amulet anyway.
Darya returned with Amelia by the time I finished looting. I gave Amelia the healing relics as a thanks for healing me up once again. Plus, I had little need for this type of relics myself, while she could put it to use every day. I stashed away the rest of the armor in Bob’s Void Pocket in case I ever got a chance to come across a decent market.
“How are the girls?” I asked Amelia.
“They are- … they’ll need time.” She sighed. “I healed what I could.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I arrived and brought nothing but misery to you and this village.”
She grimaced. “The Great Mother tests us all.”
I didn’t know if I believed any of this gods nonsense. I didn’t see any of them around, and I certainly didn’t see this Great Mother of hers helping us either.
“Let’s hope that’s all that it is,” I told her.
Even though the night was exhausting, I didn’t want to waste a single minute of [Measured Savagery] and decided to try hunting a Goliath Turtle. Ronkor's relics pushed my attributes to new heights: 1,848 in Strength, 1,715 in Agility. I felt confident, I felt like a monster unleashed. And the mace was exactly the weapon I needed for this hunt.