Chapter 9: A root, a web and a panther’s head.

Waking up in the void without intentionally going to sleep was disorientating. The last thing I remembered was feeling the buzz from the stamina potion ware off while I sketched my plans for the top floor of the fort and then I was there, staring at the shining orb in the distance. Since I was there, I figured I might as well rank a few skills up, if I remembered correctly I had enough to rank up two skills, however the question was what two. With a thought I tested a theory I had.

Architecture (Novice)

Double bass (Novice)

Drums (Novice)

Clarinet (Novice)

Guitar (Novice)

Piano (Novice)

Trombone (Novice)

Trumpet (Novice)

Singing (Novice)

Violin (Novice)

Calling up only my novice ranked skills gave me a much clearer view of my options. It was hard to believe that I had been stupid enough to go almost three days without sleep and the novice rank Architecture skill sitting at the top, made me want to bang my head against a wall. The amount of times my poor planning had stalled construction, wasted hours that could have been solved by a twenty-minute nap and the expenditure of some XP. Not wasting any more time, I poured light into my skills.

Architecture (Novice) Rank up (Expert) Int 2

Trumpet (Novice) Rank up (Expert) Char 2

I wanted to scream at myself for loosing focus on my stat gains, when I realised, I was sitting on a potential sixteen points of charisma. I knew that I couldn’t really blame myself for my tendency to hyper fixate but knowingly taking a drug that let me indulge in my fixation for days on end, was pretty much the stupidest thing I had done since entering the system. It would be fine though, I only had to poke nine boars in the eye to get my skills up and in the meantime, I could finally play more than the itsy-bitsy spider on the trumpet.

When I opened my eyes, I discovered what shit felt like. Turning my head made the room spin, lifting my arms was like pushing mud and well, when I tried to sit up, I gave up all hope. I lay there realising that I was on the sofa Berlioz had crafted, covered in the orcish blankets we had liberated and interestingly enough, wearing only the Anansi silk under armour. I accepted that Berlioz must have removed my clothes and tucked me in, but the oddest thing was, that I could hear the party still going on outside. Did he come up to check on me during an intermission. Deciding that I didn’t have anything better to do, or much of a choice really, I closed my eyes and enjoyed the smooth sounds of the Alleycats’ playing.

When I heard Mingus singing, something occurred to me, hadn’t I heard the show rap up while I was sketching the designs for the offices. Opening my eyes, I tried to get up again and the only thing I managed was a pained moan. Something moved in the blurry distance of the ceiling, and I realised it was Anansi when a wave of relief rolled over me. Why did he feel that way. My throat was dry and the only things to drink in my inventory were the healing or stamina potions. I almost went for the stamina potion, but Anansi spiked my revulsion levels causing me to gag. Healing it was then. One sip soothed my throat, the next cleared my headache and the third sip turned into a chug as I sat up finally feeling myself again.

I was starving, was that an effect of the potion misuse as well. Moving to the kitchen area of our little studio apartment, I placed my hand on the counter and called up the inventory. It was weird that one reed lined drawer could store everything we needed, but hey, who complains about infinite kitchen storage. Bringing out a few cuts of meat that I had cooked earlier and some fruit I was sure wasn’t there before, I noticed a couple of wooden mannequins that I know weren’t there before. Was someone fucking with me. my mantis armour was displayed on the human mannequin, while a set of spider silk chef whites were displayed on the Panthera mannequin. When I reached for my armour, I realised I was so distracted by the perfect rendition of the chef’s whites I had designed before falling asleep, that I failed to notice that my armour had been altered.

Admiring the changes, I asked. “Anansi, what’s going on?”

There was no emotion bending answer, in fact there was no spider. Shrugging I gave my armour another look. The coat, trousers and shirt were still pretty much the same leaf green fabric as before however now the thick shoulder pads on the coat were now black and there were red buttons on the shirt. I pressed my hand against the thick black knee pads and noticed that there were a pair of green and black boots beneath the trousers. Shocked at the speed that Berlioz must have worked, I took a step back and selected the eye symbol floating above.

Blade-Mantis armour set.

Scarcity: Epic

Damage Resistance: Piercing 100%, Slashing 100%, Acid 100%.

Effects: High defensive bonus, Danger sense, Piercing x50, Slashing x50, Pockets of holding.

Abilities: None

I was pretty sure the armour didn’t have danger sense or acid resistance before and again there were those multipliers, The boar hide armour that the Panthera were wearing had blocking times twenty but what that meant was still a mystery. The work that Berlioz put in couldn’t have been easy, how did he get it done while I slept.

“You’re a wake.” Berlioz’s grinning face popped up from the floor hatch. “We were starting to worry.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. I was feeling a bit iffy and came up here to clear my head, I must have passed out.” I noticed Berlioz stifling a laugh. “What’s so funny.”

“You haven’t realised yet have you?”

“Obviously not.” I gave him the mean eye.

Berlioz sat down and pulled some meat out of his storage. “You’ve been sleeping for an entire day.”

While my brain went blank with disbelief, Berlioz stuffed his face with boar meat. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe my little cat bro, I think I just didn’t want to think of the time I had wasted. If I had slept all day, what had I missed, was everyone ok, was the fort still standing. My chest felt tight, and it was hard to breath. Was it hot, it didn’t feel hot earlier. I couldn’t think at all. Suddenly my heart stopped racing, and I let out an exhalation, thanking the spider god for intervening.

“What did I miss?” I asked nonchalantly, acting as if I wasn’t just saved from a panic attack.

Berlioz put his feet up on the table. “Not much.” He said with that shit eating grin. “We found the spider monkeys’ nest, the fort is finished and as you know, I upgraded our armour.”

“The fort is finished.” My regret was visible. “but it was just sketching up new ideas.”

“I know. I gave all the sketches to George, and he got it all sorted.” The Panthera pulled out some parchment. “I played around with a few of your designs as well. The adhesive filled reed in the arrowhead worked by the way.”

“Wait, really how quickly did it dry?”

“I don’t really like alchemy, you’ll have to ask Chef and his little brothers.” We heard a splash. “Not now though, unless you wanna get wet.”

“I’m good, I think I’ll go have a look at the fort.” I moved towards the hatch and paused. “You coming?”

“Fuck that, I’ve been taking care of shit while you slept off your substance abuse, I’m getting some sleep.” He climbed into his hammock. “Oscar.”

“Yeah bud?”

“I’m glad you’re ok.”

I made my way to the fort and my heart warmed at the sight of the Panthera splashing around in the basin before I ascended the spiral staircase attached to the central support tree. I wanted to inspect the work that had been done while I slept, starting with the first floor I admired the bunk beds that had been added and noticed something that was particularly touching. On their first day of freedom, when the fort was just an idea that rolled around my busy mind, I had each of the Panthera craft a floorboard in order to gain the carpentry skill, now I saw each of those floorboards laid out beneath me. Each one had a unique claw mark scratched into it indicating who had made it and at some point, the Panthera that I had named, returned to their board and scratched in their name. Other than the bunk beds, resin cast windows and the piles of blankets that waited by the central staircase the huge hall was pretty empty. Making a mental note to talk to George about adding some more furniture, and maybe even a pool table or two, I ascended to the second floor.

The next floor up was the mess hall and kitchen, and boy was I impressed. The floor had been divided into two areas, with the spiral stairs ending at the spacious mess hall. As I walked the length of the dining area my pride in the Panthera swelled. The southern and eastern walls had huge double doors that opened inwards and would eventually lead out to rope bridges, once we sourced a material for sturdy enough rope. The rest of the hall was comprised of more dinning tables and benches than we needed, and I figured that the work crews must have spent an entire day crafting the benches and tables alone. Each of the tables had intricate patterns carved into them and at the bottom of the table legs were perfect little carvings of cat paws, claws and all.

With my inspection of the admirable mess hall done, I turned my eye on the doors that lead to the kitchen. Next to the doors, the long wall that divided the two rooms had a short but wide opening in it used as a service counter. The counter gave me a glimpse of what the kitchen held as I walked towards the doors but when I entered the room, I still couldn’t believe my eyes. I know I had described a human kitchen to Chef, but I couldn’t comprehend how he managed to cover the room in stainless steel sheets. Every counter, wall and storage space was gleaming in the light let in by the port hole windows and when I scanned one of the counters, I discovered that the steel was actually comprised of blade ant carapaces. The other thing I noticed were the ovens and spits the Panthera had constructed, the oven looked just like an oven from my home planet, and I guessed that it was just ornamental, while the spits were framed in the ant steel and made up a portion of the back wall, just before another set of doors.

Where the stairs ended at the central tree in the mess hall, they began again in the kitchen, leading up to the top floor that held the offices. The pentagonal landing at the top of the stairs held five doors, each door had a name carved into its Chef’s was closest to the stairs then it went round to Kali, Lachi and then Berlioz’s door was next to mine. Entering my office, I felt tears well up in my eyes. The space was fantastic, I had a drawing table set before a window that looked out to the basin, a set of doors that faced my tree house, a desk in the centre with a weird carving of an empty hand reaching out of it, a set of sofas that faced each other and, in the corner, next to the doors there was the orc shaman’s strange table. The table may have been a conundrum to me before but now I knew exactly what it was, and my scan confirmed it.

Enchanting Station

Quality: Fair.

Materials: Mahogany, Orichalcum, Glass.

The table itself was made entirely of wood but it held green stone tools that I assumed were orichalcum and plenty of glass vials, some empty and some filled with shimmering liquids of differing hues. Exited to learn a new skill I sat down at the table. It took me all of three minutes to realize no matter how much I pissed about with the enchanting table, I didn’t actually know how to enchant. I did however discover that the tools I thought to be stone were actually made of a very dull, pretty heavy and coarsely casted metal.

Throwing my dreams of enchanting aside, for now, I took to using a skill I was already an expert at. My Panthera came through again, when I discovered the small drawer of holding in my drawing table I found out that the thing held not just parchment but rulers and pencils. Every time I drew with the charcoal, I cursed the brittle substance and every smudge I made using it. I even went as far as drawing out the plans for making pencils and I guess that Berlioz had taken his artificer skill to the task of seeing my dreams come true. With my dreadwood pencil in hand, I peered out the window for inspiration. While I drew, the joyful Panthera partied on and by the time I was finished, they were all making their way up to the first floor of the fort. The architect skill pushed me to spend time and effort on every line, ensuring nothing but accuracy and attention to detail. My first sketch was of houses in the surrounding trees, all linked with a system of rope bridges and when I was finished admiring it, I started designing individual homes.

I had drawn for a few hours and felt tired enough for a nap, so I hopped on one of the sofas and closed my eyes. With nothing to do in the void, I wished it away and opened my eyes to see the names ones. A thought occurred to me as I sat up and with a spout of verbal diarrhoea, I addressed the surrounding Panthera.

“What should I call you guys?” I asked, my sleep laden eyes set on Lachi.

The tiger’s face screwed up in confusion. “Umm, our names will do. Won’t they?”

“No, I mean as a group.” I gestured to Berlioz. “I’ve been calling Berlioz’s team the Alleycats, Chef and his brothers the kitchen brigade, and well I can’t really think of you guys as the named ones anymore.”

“You have been throwing out names like they’re free.” Said Berlioz.

I shook my head. “Which they are.”

“Don’t let my brothers hear that.” Said Chef. “They’ve only worked this hard because they want to earn a name for themselves.”

“How about Oscar’s four?” Suggested Lachi.

Kali grimaced. “That makes us sound like servants.”

“Elders forbid the notion that you come across as a common core holder.” Jibed Berlioz.

When did he go from flirting to straight up dismissing the lioness.

“That’s not what I meant Berlioz.” Pleaded Kali.

I wondered what had happened between them, but it wasn’t the time for settling disputes.

“What did you call the leaders of your people back home?” I asked, breaking the tension between the panther and lioness.

“Elders.” Said Lachi with a shrug. “but we’re not elders.”

“Didn’t you have a governing body?” I retorted.

Berlioz turned his ire on me. “Yeah, the elders.”

“What about earthlings?” Asked Chef.

Berlioz corrected him. “Humans.”

“We had a lot of different styles of governance, but I guess we could follow my birth places system. That would make me the president, and you the cabinet.” I said liking the sound of their new moniker. “So, why are you all here so early?”

“You keep cancelling the meetings and this lot don’t want to act on my advice without confirming it with you.” Explained Berlioz.

That caused me to wince. Being out cold for an entire day must have set the Panthera on edge, although I hadn’t really been contributing to the decisions they were making during the building of the fort, so I wondered why they were so desperate for my guidance now.

“Fill me in then.” Said pulling out a chunk of meat.

While I snacked, the cabinet burst out into chatter, and I had to tune out the argumentative noise around me. meditating I let them biker and ignored every syllable that floated my way. After a few minute the room went silent, and I opened my eyes to see each of them had realised that I wasn’t happy with their behaviour.

“Shall we try that again.” I said sternly. “Starting with Chef, I would like an explanation of what his concerns are. If anyone has anything to add they can raise a paw, and they will be heard.” I looked Berlioz in the eye. “There will be no arguing in our meetings.”

Chef spoke. “Due to the demon root’s suddenly escalating activity, we’ve been venturing in a more north easterly direction when XP farming. Now, thanks to Berlioz’s new arrows we don’t need the support of Anansi to capture the boars on mass, however we believe that we may be exhausting the zones spawners. Each day, we’ve had to journey further away from the root and deeper into the northeastern corner and yesterday morning we travelled so far that we came across a new sub species of boar.”

Berlioz raised his hand. “The fire tusk boars are easier to kill, but far more dangerous and their environment is devoid of trees or any plant life in general.”

“They also travel in packs of up to thirty boars.” Added Chef.

“Fire tusk, you say.” I said, thinking of the crafting potential.

Chef clarified. “Yes, their tusks burst into flames as they charge, the heat they produce is quite intense.”

“So, what’s the problem?” I asked.

Berlioz raised his hand again. “They want to head towards the root’s source in hopes to find a way to be rid of it once and for all.”

“Not happening.” I said with finality. “Lachi, what’s your issue?”

“But how will we forage for vegetables if we can’t hunt in a vegetation rich environment.” Cried Chef.

I gave him my best angry dad look. “Chef, you’ve said your piece now it’s Lachi’s turn.”

“It’s not really as important as everyone else’s.” said Lachi, shyly. “But the Panthera that stay behind while Berlioz, Chef and Kali go out all feel like they aren’t doing enough.”

Kali raised her hand. “They’re building our home and get to stay safe while they’re doing it. what do they have to complain about.”

“You wouldn’t understand.” Snapped Berlioz, before remembering to put his hand up. “We’re Panthera we were born to drop down and kill not cut wood and build. The common cores have a right to hunt too.”

Kali’s arm shot up, but I interrupted her before she could bite back.

“Alright, you two can stop.” I huffed. “This is bordering on an argument, and I don’t care if you need to fuck or fight but once you sort your shit out, you’re going act like you’re peoples lives depend on you. Because, if you didn’t notice you’re all they fucking have.”

“Oscar it’s, I, I’m sorry.” Said Berlioz.

Kali’s eyes watered and she whispered. “You’re right.”

“Good.” I said. “Now, as for the Panthera that are left behind how about we build a gym next.”

“What’s a…” Lachi started.

I face palmed. “It’s a training ground. They can battle each other and Lachi can take out the ones that do best for more risky endeavours and focus on the strengthening the weakest.”

“That actually sound like a good idea.” Agreed Lachi.

I nodded. “I’m full of them, mate.”

“You’re definitely full of something.” Laughed Berlioz.

I nudged my little pain in the ass and said. “I was gunna give Kali the floor next but seeing as you can’t shut up, why don’t you fill us in Berlioz.”

Berlioz stood to address the cabinet. “I need help with an extermination of monkeys.”

There was an air of awkward silence and then Chef spoke up. “Are you going to expand on that or…”

“Say too much and I get told off, say too little and everyone gets testy. Nothings ever enough for you people.” Complained Berlioz feigning outrage. “Alright here’s how it is. We went out yesterday morning and when the terrain changed, and the trees got smaller we climbed to their tops. It turns out the spider monkeys live in a kind of community of web nests and their main food source is the mana restoring mojopaya. We haven’t been able to find where the fruit grows but the fuckers have a tonne of them piled up.”

Chef raised his hand. “I could really do with some extra mana. Alchemy drains my mana gauge pretty rapidly.”

“I’m interested in this too.” I agreed. “How many Panthera do you need? Could Lachi’s lot help out?”

“I would prefer to go with my Alleycats, Chef’s brigade and you of course Oscar.” Explained Berlioz.

Kali raised her arm slowly. “What kind of experience do they give?”

“Wrong question mained one.” Said Berlioz sticking out his tongue. “The correct question would be what can we craft from their bodies.”

“The danger sense came from them didn’t it.” I queried. “Oh, and the web organ.”

“Not to mention their meat is quite exquisite.” Added Chef.

“Chef.” I said seriously. “Never feed me monkey meat.”

“Why not? It really is a fine meat.”

Berlioz laughed. “Oscar’s a monkey.”

“Oh, I didn’t know there was a relation between you, but now that you say it…” Chef started.

“Ok, that’s enough of that.” I finished. “Berlioz, I think we should go out in mass, as long as we have enough projectile weapons and the skills to use them, we can clear the treetops quickly. You all have four Panthera in your teams right.” I looked at Lachi. “Pick four out of your lot and get Berlioz to arm them with bows.”

“We’re using crossbows now.” Said Berlioz.

I nodded. “Even better. Does everyone have the skills for that?”

“Everyone except you, monkey man.” Grinned Berlioz.

“I’m good with my machetes.” I grinned back. “Ok, we have our first action of the day. Kali your turn.”

“I just wanted to say that I really think you should activate the settlement stone.” Said Kali, with an uncharacteristic shyness. “There’s a lot of benefits to them if you have the right buildings, apparently.”

“The orcs did say that.” Agreed Lachi.

I had completely forgotten about the settlement stone. “I’ll do it when we get back from the eastern zone.” I slapped my knees and stood. “Right, get ready everyone. We’ve got some monkeys to kill.”

We broke off with Berlioz and Chef entering the black panther’s office, Kali finding her group waiting in the mess hall and Lachi and I approaching the theatre. It was early in the morning, with the sun low and the largest of the three planets still vaguely visible overhead. The Alleycats were on the stage, cleaning and retuning their instruments, while the majority of the Panthera were beginning to take seats on the benches. Mingus perked up at the sight of Lachi approaching and the two exchanged a few words before Lachi took his position on the stage. There was excited chatter at first but the second Lachi stood with his paws behind his back, the crowd adopted a respectful silence. Suddenly there was a running bassline from Mingus and Simon stood with her violin at the ready.

Lachi spoke to his congregation. “My people, it is with great excitement and the smallest, most insignificant amount of fear that I bring you this news.” He threw out gestures with every other word, like an overly dramatic politician. “Oscar, our leader, our saviour. Needs you.” He paused, pushed out with one finger extended and then painfully slowly, he gestured from left to right. “Four of you, with the most skills and the bravest of hearts, will accompany Oscar and his cabinet east.” The violin finally kicked in. “For the threat there may be weak, but they are many. They live above the trees and their mere existence is a mockery to our saviour.”

He went on for a while more, but I zoned out, wondering if the Panthera present thought I was taking an actual cabinet out with us to fight, like my linens would drive back the monster hordes. Either way the crowd went wild, and I half suspected that Lachi was using some kind of public speaking skill to be able to affect them all so easily, either that or he had become a celebrity from his nightly shows. When he was done speaking, the Panthera jumped to action and I joined Lachi on the stage while the crowd bickered, discussed and then calmly agreed which four should have the opportunity.

As the four chosen ones approached, I heard Simone say behind me. “Pick up the revelry, he’s about to name them.”

Pressure much, I thought looking down at the four before me. My head was a blank, each of the Panthera looked pretty similar in the fact that they were jaguars like Simone and if I was being completely honest with myself, and I felt racist just thinking it, but I could hardly tell the four apart from each other. Cat features are not easy for a human to tell apart, the whole reason I was naming the Panthera so frequently was so I could give a quick scan and get their names right, and if I didn’t name them the scan would just read, Panthera. Feeling pressured by the building music behind me and the four eager jaguars in front of me, my brain screamed what the actual fuck. Could I do that, they would never have to know. The drum rolled and I took the first Panthera’s paw, pulled him up to the stage and spoke his name.

“Whisky.” I pulled them each up, saying their names and hearing the crash of symbols with each name spoken. “Tango, Alpha, Foxtrot.”

Lachi addressed the crowd. “These four brave Panthera are about to embark on a dangerous mission for the good of our people. There will be no morning congregation, instead I would ask that each of you take this time to celebrate their naming and reflect on what you can do to earn yourselves the right to a name.”

I whole heartedly disagreed with the sentiment that their names should be earned, however it was their culture, and I had no right to step on that eggshell. With the crowd rejoicing and the band picking up where Lachi left of I sent the jaguars up to Berlioz’s office. Lachi followed me to find Kali and as we walked, I conveyed my pride in the work he was doing to keep the Panthera’s’ spirit high.

“It’s not nothing Lachi.” I said stopping in our tracks and patting the four-foot tiger on his head. “You guys have been through hell over the last decade or so and with your influence I haven’t seen a shred of PTSD in any of them.”

“PTSD?” asked Lachi.

“Post traumatic stress disorder, you know it’s a decline in mental health after some form of suffering.” I wasn’t sure how to explain it to him. “Like being near death and surviving by the skin of your teeth or seeing something so horrible that you don’t want to ever open your eyes again.”

“Why would that be a problem?” Lachi’s brows furrowed. “We’re Panthera, most of us have died at least twice back home, granted we had a respawn point, so it wasn’t really an issue. The Elders taught us from the moment out ears could hear that our place in the system was to suffer for our dungeon.”

“That’s pretty morbid.” I booped his snoot, to break the tension. “There won’t be any suffering here, just hard work and a comfortable future.”

“I’m sure we will be making those monkeys suffer enough soon.” He pulled out a pair of black and white-knuckle dusters with silver spikes on each knuckle. “That reminds me I sort of got Berlioz to make these for me and ranked up unarmed fighting, but I can’t figure out the technique you used to fight the shaman.”

“The stance was boxing but I winged most of it.” My mind raced with ideas. “Lachi when we get back, I’m going to teach you every unarmed fighting style I know.”

While we searched for Kali, I described the different forms of martial arts my stepdad had taught me when I came under his care and how even though I hadn’t mastered a single one of them, the unarmed combat skill had somehow dredged the information from my subconscious and made me an expert. We eventually found Kali with her group, off to the west in a little camp of their own. The secrecy confused me, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt and assumed they were using the camp as a forward base for hunting the ants. I didn’t enter their campgrounds instead I called Kali over and for some reason, Lachi chose to leave.

“Nice place you’ve got here.” I said eyeing the orcish tents they must have gone back for.

Kali brushed off my leading statement. “We are ready when you are.”

In the camp stood Cid the red lion, the cheater foreman George and two white tigers, who I suspected were female, but I couldn’t confirm as we hadn’t formally met yet. They all stared at me as if I were a visiting celebrity and when my eye’s fell on George he excitedly jumped up and began waving.

“How’s your team getting on?” I asked.

Kali shrugged. “We’re doing well. Berlioz provided us with some experimental weapons, and they really make a difference against the Ants.”

“Experimental you say.”

“He has made crossbows for each of us to save time on fletching and some pretty peculiar swords.” She turned to her group. “Pride, form up and display your melee weapons.”

On inspection Berlioz really did get experimental with his designs. Cid had a huge sword that looked just like the buster sword from final fantasy seven and when I looked at the other weapons on display, I realised that each of them were from games I had described to the black panther. George had an honest to goodness set of small gun blades, well more like long daggers with revolvers that could fire up to five crossbow bolts each. One of the white tigers had a pair of bladed tonfas and it took me a while to remember the game they came from but when I saw the other tiger’s long blade fall apart into a bladed whip, I remembered that it was soul calibur.

“Talim and Ivy.” I said to myself remembering the characters names as I admired the weapons.

The tigers both looked at me with eyes wider than dinner plates.

“Are those names.” Asked the whip blade baring tiger, with a feminine voice.

Hearing her voice, I was glad the names would fit, so I reached out and grasped her shoulder. “Ivy.” I whispered before doing the same for the one with the tonfas. “Talim.”

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After that I nodded to Kali and scarpered before the two newly named tigresses could react to the honour of gaining a name. “I’ll see you all in Berlioz’s office.” I called back as I headed away.

We probably shouldn’t have met in Berlioz’s workspace. The office was, for lack of a better phrase, a pigsty. He had monster parts strewn about the place and half-finished weapons discarded in the corner. There was no furniture except for a few tables haphazardly placed in the few areas that were devoid of crafting materials. When I had entered, I saw chef and his brothers stood with Berlioz and Lachi’s lot. My little cat bro had outfitted the kitchen brigade with chef whites made mostly of spider silk but each of them had a little flair to tell the mountain lions apart from each other. Chef had a stunning wide brimmed chef’s hat while each of the brothers had coloured collars and I realised, with them standing together, that they were the colours of the ghosts from Pac man. Did Berlioz want me to name them after those ghosts or did he just take inspiration from my description of the game. I felt like I could do one better, so I came up with some kitchen inspired names on the spot and made physical contact with each of them as said their names.

“Slicer, Dicer, Knifer and Clyde.” I said trying to fill my voice with authority.

Berlioz held back a laugh and said. “I see what you did there Oscar.”

It was nice to be recognised for my wit, however childish it was. The jaguars were all outfitted with an upgraded version of the boar armour that had a set of weapons in their pockets of holding ready to be equipped at will. We went over everyone’s capabilities while we waited for Kali and her pride. Berlioz wasn’t joking when he said I was the only one in the oasis that didn’t have the requisite skill for a crossbow, but that really didn’t bother me, the small but powerful contraptions were much slower to load, and my bow was made of superior materials anyway. When Kali arrived, there was a brief discussion about the role her team would take, and I noticed that Cid looked a little peeved at the idea of them staying at the back. With all our preparations done we took off.

Traveling through the no longer swampy swamp lands, I saw that there were a lot more reeds growing in the second waterfalls basin, however most of them were too young to lower the water level by much and the river the basin it fed into still rushed with a considerable current. While we travelled, I opted to use my acrobatics skill, instead of zipping around with the help of my friendly neighbourhood spider god. When we arrived at the edge of the changing terrain, I held my breath at the sight. Ahead of us was a darkness I hadn’t experienced in the forest so far, and when I looked up, I saw why. Webs, wide branches and even wider leaves, blocked the sun’s rays from reaching the ground. From where we were in the trees, there were more vines and webs than branches and the horizon disappeared into an inky blackness that chilled my bones.

“We should climb up from here.” Said Berlioz.

We followed his direction and made our way to the top of the much shorter trees. The treetops were a completely different environment. The wide leaves that made up the canopy were pulled taut by spongey webbing that spanned as far as the eye could see. It was a little obvious that the system had generated the terrain as it would have been pointless and unlikely for a semi sapient creature to waste their time doing so, but I wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth. We casually walked until we came across what looked like a cocoon jutting out of the canopy and Berlioz stopped us.

“This is as far as we can go without them sensing us.” Said Berlioz.

Mingus added. “Last time ten of them showed up sprinting on all fours from that direction.”

“Ten?” I exclaimed. “That’s a fair amount for a probing force.”

“Yep, to top it off boss man, they threw their own shit at us.” Explained Armstrong.

Berlioz laughed at that. “I think they would usually drop down to the forest floor and gather rocks to throw but with us up here they’re out of options.”

“They still have teeth and nails.” I said.

Berlioz nodded. “And that’s why you all need to be ready for a fight. We all have danger sense in our armour, it will feel like a wave of anxiety. Actually.” He got closer to my wrist and whispered. “Hey Anansi give em a taste of it.”

I had to exhale at the quick shock of overwhelming fear I felt. “That was nasty.”

“I almost ran home the first time I felt it.” sighed Kali.

Cid spoke up. “And for the black one to provide our Kali with such a thing without warning was just reckless.”

What the fuck was that I thought looking to Berlioz with a frown. My cat bro rolled his eyes and shrugged, like, what you gunna do. I gave him a nod signalling to lead on.

“You’re right Cid, giving her the ability to sense when an enemy is near was stupid of me.” He shook his head and turned his back on the red lion. “Now, the second you feel that fear, knock your arrows or ready your cross bows, these guys are fast, and they leap.”

We moved on, seeing the green and white ground before us begin to turn into a white and grey lumpy horizon. The lumps and bumps in the distance must have been more cocoons but if we could see them from where we were they had to be massive. While I fixated on the shapes in the distance, everyone else concentrated on the ground around us. A few tense moments passed, and Berlioz stopped ahead of us, withdrew his strange crossbow and took aim. Seeing this, the rest of the Alleycats copied without hesitation and then I felt it. I trembled with fear as my fingers went numb and my throat dried up for just a second and as soon as the fear was gone the ground began to tremble in my place. I equipped my bow and aimed ahead, Chef was to my right and Clyde to my left, the rest of the brothers were on the outside of our twenty-one strong strike team, with Kali and her pride at our backs we had every direction covered, but that still felt like it wasn’t enough.

The ground around us felt less like the top of a tree and more like a green and white dessert with nothing but sky above us and colossal trees behind us. We heard an eery howl that was echoed over and over. Ahead of us black dots appeared in mass and the ground rumbled beneath our feet.

“Oscar.” Said Berlioz with urgency. “You might wanna put on your mask.”

“What mask?” I asked confused.

“Elders tail, do you ever check your inventory.”

I checked, and he was right there was an item labelled Mantis mask, and I put it on. The dots became silhouettes as they rushed towards us and soon, they were close enough to count.

“Lioz, there’s a lot more this time.” Remarked Armstrong.

Berlioz stepped back into our semi-circular formation. “looks like a hundred or so.”

“More like two hundred.” I corrected. “How many do you need for your project? Maybe we should get through this lot and retreat.”

“They have the mojopayas in that settlement.” Spat Berlioz. “We’re not going anywhere till we get them.”

“Ok bud, we got this.” I said hearing Cid murmur something under his breath.

The dark shapes ahead of us grew into black creatures with wiry frames, sprinting flat out on all fours. “Nock” Called Berlioz. They came close enough to see in full and he roared. “Loose.”

I fired arrow after arrow, each one taking down a monkey but doing nothing to decrease the horde. Berlioz’s crossbow fired at a rate that surpassed mine and next to him his Alleycats echoed his rapid fire. Behind us the Pride let loose volleys of arrows and either side of us the brigade and Lachi’s lot did the same. That estimate of two hundred was debunked as the spider monkeys fell and were trampled by their rushing brethren.

“There’s too many.” Screamed Tango.

“We are the claws that cut.” Roared Lachi. “and we shall rend their flesh.”

The spider monkeys drew closer. Berlioz switched his crossbow for two serrated short swords.

“Those look nice bud, you trying to copy me?” I joked equipping my machetes. “bet I kill more than you.”

“I’ll take that bet.” Said Mingus, pulling out a spear and shield.

Armstrong held a hefty axe and grinned. “I’m siding with Lioz. Winner gets to headline the show tonight.”

“If that’s the case.” Said Simone gripping two daggers. “Put your bets on me.”

Monkeys crashed into our front line, falling to our blades with barely any resistance. Blood soaked the webs beneath our feet and each time we felt a corpse make contact with us we willed it into our inventory, keeping the battle ground clear. If the spider monkeys were supposed to be intelligent, they didn’t show it, their feral actions of rushing in and slashing at us while their kin behind us fell to our arrows, displayed nothing but a senseless drive to defend their territory.

“Everyone fall to melee and push forward.” Directed Berlioz.

Cid responded. “That is insane.” I turned to see him glare at Berlioz as if he were a piece of shit. “We should retreat, this fight is pointless.”

“Chef, take my place” I called, entering our circle and turning my back on the enemy. “We do not question the words of our commander.” My entire attention fell on the red lion, and I spat my words with venom. “if you wish to flee then flee, but you will not have a place amongst the brave souls that fight here today.”

“I, I, but he’s a...” Cid tried to say.

I griped him by the collar. “We are a unit.” I dragged him to the front line. “Equip the sword that Berlioz thoughtfully made for you and dig in.” I threw him forward and yelled. “into them.”

I may have shoved the lion past Chef and into the thick of the fight, but I recklessly joined his side. Cid swung his massive blade, bisecting at least three monkeys and I defended his rear. Soon enough we were swallowed back up by the Panthera’s formation and as one, we marched. The mass of spider monkeys surrounded us until we saw nothing but black bodies and sanguine blood, spraying out in every direction. My stamina bar fell bit by bit with every stab and slash I performed. The sounds of suffering screeches, growling Panthera and blades on flesh went on for what felt like a lifetime, until suddenly there was silence.

“They stopped.” Panted Kali. “They finally stopped”

“Are we sure?” Questioned Ivy.

Talim answered. “Do you see any.”

“How’s everyone’s stamina?” I asked.

“low.” Came the chorus of everyone present.

Berlioz pushed Chef into the centre of the tight circle, saying. “Hand out the potions.”

We drank up and our bars filled. The break in the violence was a complete shock to the system. Had we exhausted their forces or just survived the first wave. Widening our formation and reverting back to ranged weapons we drew closer to the cocoon like structures. When we got there it was creepily silent. All around us stood what looked like silos made of thick solid webbing and I tested one of the structures with my machete.

“Cuts easy but it’s strong.” I remarked.

Berlioz adopted his signature grin. “We have more than enough web glands to craft those bridges you want.”

“Is that what you’ve been planning?” I asked, giving him a smirk.

“Nah,” dismissed Mingus. “He wants us all to have these.”

The lynx pushed out his forearm and a web shot from his wrist attaching to the top of one of the cocoons. a heartbeat later he had zipped to the top. I had to pat Anansi as the spider pushed the feeling of abandonment my way.

“No gear will ever replace you buddy.” I whispered, receiving a warm fuzzy feeling in my gut.

“let’s find those fruit and get the fuck out of here.” Commanded Berlioz.

We spilt up to search each cocoon in groups of five. with me as the odd one out, I joined Lachi’s side. We chose a sealed cocoon, and I pried the door off with ease only to be violently greeted by a stray spider monkey. The thing shot a web from its tail and pounced on me. the webbing hit my mask, blocking my vision but the creature couldn’t penetrate my armour with its nails and its savage attack felt more like a kid throwing a physical tantrum than anything truly threatening. Lachi took care of the insane beast with a single punch, his spiked knuckle duster shattering its skull instantly.

“What was it guarding.” I asked.

But before anyone could answer I saw. From floor to conical ceiling the interior of the cocoon held nasty looking grey egg sacks.

“What should we do with them?” asked Lachi.

Foxtrot ripped one off the wall. “They don’t look edible.”

“Why would you even think about that.” Winced Alpha.

Tango laughed. “When doesn’t he think with his gut.”

I scanned one.

Spider monkey egg

Hatching: 32 hours.

“Well, that explains why there are so many of them.” I said remembering that I was the only one who could scan them I added. “They hatch pretty quickly”

“Stick’em in your storage boys.” Ordered Lachi.

I furrowed my brow as the eggs disappeared. “I thought you couldn’t put living things in your inventory.”

“They aren’t living yet.” Said Whisky, giving me the same look.

Lachi patted my back. “A monster core only forms once the egg is ready to hatch, until then it’s considered an item.”

“How many have we got here?” I asked.

It turned out that there were ten more silos filled to the brim with over a hundred eggs more at differing states of gestation. After all of us had finished searching the home of the spider monkeys we regrouped in a centre of the place.

“Is this the fruit.” Asked Berlioz holding out a weird grey papaya. “It’s glowing blue but I need conformation.”

“isn’t it listed in your inventory?” I asked, receiving a Mexican wave of face palms. “My inventory is linked to my skills, and the gods eye skill displays the names for me doesn’t it.”

“just scan the thing for me.” said Berlioz with a sigh.

Mojopaya

Alchemical benefits: Mana restoration.

Uses: chemical reagent, poison.

“It’s the one.” I said. “what else did we find?”

The Panthera gave a listing of what they found and nothing else had any alchemical benefits, however there was a massive stockpile of fruits and nuts. Each cocoon silo was filled to the brim with foraged food that the monkeys had gathered and separated, and we finally found out how much our varied pockets of holding could carry. We had to leave an entire silo of strange cashew nuts behind but that was after collecting over four hundred monkey corpses and an untold amount of mojopayas. While we swung back to the oasis, Berlioz theorised that the monkeys needed the mana recovery fruit to fuel their web usage and explained that with some time he would be able to craft a tool that would allow us to build with the webs the same way a 3D pen works. The webbing wasn’t as sturdy as wood but if we lacquered it in sap resin, I was sure the bridges we build would stand the test of time.

Entering the fort, our strike team broke up, with only my five cabinet members opting to follow me to my office while the rest took to a bunk bed and rested their heads. Before entering my office, we all popped into Berlioz’s pigsty and deposited everything we had gathered into reed lined boxes I hadn’t noticed for the amount of crap that was strewn about the place. Once in my office my cabinet lounged on the sofas while I took my place behind my desk.

“Well, that went better than expected.” I commented.

Kali raised a fury brow at me. “We were expecting a lot less monkeys. How was that better?”

“We got a fuck tonne of materials and food.” Said Berlioz baring his paws. “How was that not better?”

“I am excited to see what I can pair the new ingredients with.” Smiled Chef. “And I can get started on a man potion as soon as possible.”

Lachi stood. “I think I might prepare a tale about our battle.”

The tiger left and Kali shrugged. “He’s always thinking about the next show.”

“You would be too if you were everyone’s only form of entertainment.” Added Berlioz.

Chef got up too. “I’m going to wake my brothers and get lunch started.” Before he left, he turned to Berlioz. “Can I grab some bits from your office?”

After Chef left there was an awkward silence, with a pressure of unaired tension between Kali and Berlioz. I sat there watching the two Panthera looking anywhere other than at each other and wondered what they were waiting for.

“Why are you guys still here?” I asked.

They finally looked at each other and together they said. “The settlement stone.”

How many times was I going to forget about the weird stone in my pocket. I scrolled through my inventory and willed the thing into my had.

Congratulations, you have brought a settlement stone to your zone of authority. New settlement options will be added to your settlement stone.

It would have been nice to know what options were new, but when did the system ever provide more than the most basic information.

Would you like to activate your settlement stone?

I thought yes.

Please generate settlement sheet.

Select a settlement name.

I was not prepared for that. A thousand names flew through my head, and I was surprised that the system didn’t land on the last thought that I dismissed, I had to admit I would have liked to name the place pride rock but copyright infringement aside, that was too close to Kali’s group and Berlioz seemed to have a problem with them. A Naruto reference would have been sweet but hidden tree village was a bit too long for me. Sanctuary was nice but far too welcoming, it needed to be something that sounded tough, or at least it had to be some obscure reference. Ooh, actually, that’s perfect.

Settlement name: Shumi village.

Select Public or Private.

That was easy.

Shumi village set to private.

Select an inheritor.

Berlioz Hollow may now access settlement system.

I didn’t need to think about that one.

Select residents 0 of 29

Residents selected Panthera 29 of 29

Requisite authority found; would you like to generate a dungeon.

“Um guys, should I generate a dungeon?” I asked.

Berlioz leapt from his chair and raced next to me. “Fuck yes, you should.”

“Hold on.” Said Kali but it was too late.

Please select location for dungeon mouth.

Mountain selected.

Please select shape of dungeon mouth

Dungeon mouth will generate upon completion of settlement sheet.

To continue please provide an amount of monster cores.

Rare 0 of 106

Uncommon 0 of 65

Common 0 of 425

Rare 100 of 106 sacrificed.

Please select Dungeon master.

“Who would make a good dungeon master?” I asked.

Berlioz sneered. “Oh, for fuck's sake.”

“Cid would be your only real choice next to me.” Explained Kali. “And i’d rather not.”

“You, would say that.” Sighed Berlioz.

I nudged my cat bro. “Why would she say that, Bud?”

“Because she’s right.” He rolled his eyes. “He has the core knowledge for it.”

Cid Selected as dungeon master.

Generating settlement sheet.

Screams sounded from outside and I rushed to the window by my writing desk to see what was going on. The mountain was changing from behind the waterfall a huge square block of stone protruded, causing the rushing water to split and fall either side of it. Then the stone began to round off and gain form and features. The lower portion opened up, while the upper portion cracked and creaked as a face took shape. The opening was set just above the water line, it looked like an impossibly black abyss, reminiscent of the void space inside my mind. When it was finally done, there wasn’t a single Panthera that didn’t have their eyes on the mighty dungeon mouth.

“Why does that dungeon look like me?” Queried Berlioz.

I laughed. “So, everyone knows that this place is as much yours as it is mine.”

“Wasn’t making me your inheritor enough?” Asked Berlioz.

Kali’s jaw dropped. “He did what?”

Before Berlioz could respond with a snide comment there was a knock at the door and Cid walked in with a certain glint in his eye.

“Oscar, sir. I wanted to thank you for appointing me your dungeon master.” Said the red lion fidgeting with his main. “I’m still young but I promise not to let you down. With that said would you like me to start working on managing the working on managing the dungeon’s facilities right away?”

“Wait a minute Cid.” Spat Kali. “Are we just going to gloss over the fact that you set Berlioz as our second in command?”

“But he’s a poor.” Spoke Cid, visibly shocked.

I was completely taken aback. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

“Oscar it's fine.” Said Berlioz, trying to calm the situation.

I wasn’t having it. “Fuck that noise, go on Cid explain yourself.”

“It’s our way. The poor ones, those that look like Berlioz are the least of us.” I felt my rage build as Cid spoke.

Kali tried to placate me. “I understand that he is different, he wasn’t a part of the nameless.”

My fists were clenched as I responded. “Yet you still treat him like a second-class citizen, you know what.” I had to do something rash. “We’re going on a hunt.”

I stormed out, with the three trailing behind me. My blood boiled in my veins, my jaw was clenched so tight that my teeth threatened to shatter, and my heartbeat thundered, daring me to take reckless action.

Exiting the spiral staircase I heard Chef say. “We’ll prepare a glorious feast to commemorate the spawning of our dungeon.”

But I ignored him, crashing through the kitchen door with the three Panthera in tow, refusing to meet Chef’s eye. The dinning hall was much the same, voices calling out to deaf ears and when I walked out onto the first floor, I paused to scan the two white tigresses. Epic cores, the elite, just like earth they were the problem.

“You two on me.” I commanded continuing my furious march.

Ivy and Talim joined us, falling into silent tow and ignored their fellow Panthera’s cheers of communal achievement. We walked on, down the steps and away from the oasis. When we entered the forest, the epic cored membered of the Pride took to the trees but Berlioz stayed on the ground behind me. We walked for a few minutes before Kali realised, we weren’t taking to the tree line. Soon enough she dropped down behind Berlioz and her Pride followed suit. I walked on, outwardly I was showing a stoic appearance but inside I was a wreck.

How could they cling to such classist, or should I say coreist ideals. He saved them, Berlioz not me. We worked together to achieve his goal and if it wasn’t for him and Anansi, I’d have probably died on my second day here. This whole time I though Berlioz was being a dick because of some kind of unrequited romance between him and Kali. When Cid came in the picture, I assumed he was a rival of sorts, but bigotry, fucking bigotry, Berlioz could shit in their dinners, and I’d say his actions were justified. How long was he going to keep me from finding out his people saw him as lesser.

The thought made me want to scream. Not one of them showed him the deference they directed towards me, sure his Alleycats respected him, and everyone understood his role as a mentor, but it was like they just couldn’t comprehend that he was their leader.

“Oscar wait.” Shouted Berlioz snapping me out of my reverie. “Fuck that mask makes you look like a monster.”

“This isn’t the time for jokes.” I huffed.

“Well, we’re heading out of our zone of authority, and no one knows what your plan is.”

“Oh, that’s simple. We're gunna go see what the big deal is with the root.”

“That’s absurd.” Gasped Kali. “I watched that thing violate seven dead boars at the same time.”

“Berlioz made us watch it do awful things to a wounded boar our time out with him.” Added Talim, shivering.

Berlioz shrugged. “I didn’t believe you until that last time Oscar. I figured seeing is believing.”

“Right and you’re going to lead us on the hunt.” I said, my voice portraying finality.

“He cant.” Began Cid.

Kali turned and slapped the red lion saying. “Oscar is right. We are not our elders, and Berlioz is not a nameless traitor.”

“Ok, I hear all that.” Said Berlioz, his eyes going blank for a second. “and thank you for saying that, Kali, I mean it. But if we’re going out to fight that thing, you’ll need some of the gear I’ve been working on with the Alleycats.”

He handed me a pair of gloves that matched my coat and on inspection was made of the delicate skin of the mantis’ wings. He gave Kali a cape that had a cowl made of the same material and I felt just a little jealous that she got such an elegant piece of equipment while I received a pair of this gloves. To the two tigresses he handed helms that matched the silver and red of their ant armour. Cid couldn’t look Berlioz in the eyes when he handed him a red boar skin cape, but his eyes did go wide when he described its effects. With our gear equipped Berlioz led on.

“Everyone has danger sense.” Said Berlioz halting. “I know Oscar wants us to stay on the ground but if you get a sudden sense of intense anxiety leap to the closest tree and most importantly, keep the squad informed.”

“Yes, sir.” Spoke Kali and the rest of her pride echoed.

“Ok, we’ve got maps now so before we.” Berlioz stopped speaking and noticed my confused look. “Oscar think about seeing your map and it will appear.”

I did so and I was delightfully surprised. There was a sudden silence and I the world had changed. I went from looking at the bemused look on my cat bro’s face to seeing a top-down rendition of the forest with Shumi village just out of frame. If this were a city, we would be able to see roads, and streets however the rainforest’s canopy obscured any path we might find along the way. I wondered if I could zoom out and the mind map expanded, showing the forest in full, or at least the parts of the forest we were familiar with. Most of the map was blacked out but it did have the neat feature of designating little map markers above known locations. Above our village was a little house and where we fought the orcs was a tent with a red cross through it. enemies were shown too, with a red ant heads, silver ant heads and even a little flaming boar head for the fire tusk boars.

It seemed as though the map contained the shared knowledge of every Panthera in the oasis, but I wondered why it only showed the camp I had found them in and not where they had come from, was it to do with the privacy setting. I was about to close the map when I noticed a spec of white on the furthest corner north of Shumi village. Zooming in I saw a town, with buildings made from a mix of stone and wood, hovering over the town made its name pop up above it. Firston, like first town, was this where I was supposed to spawn.

“Oscar, from the look on your face you’ve seen the town.” Said Berlioz, like he was talking to a child. “We can turn back now and form a dungeon gate there, or we can commit to hunting the root, but you’ll have to focus, bud.”

“You’re right.” I said, suddenly remembering why I was angry. “Let’s go.”

“Isn’t that Berlioz’s line.” Smiled Kali.

Berlioz sighed. “let’s go.”

We stepped through the boundary of my authority and out into the elemental boar’s zone. It had been less than a week since I first tripped over the evil root, soon after that the forest floor felt more like a mine field, with the roots stalking us. Now, we walked crunching twigs and immature plant life under foot. It was an eery experience to travel through the once boar filled section of the zone, with our focus on ranking up as many skills as possible it became evident as we travelled without sight or sound of the large grunting boars, that we had over farmed the area.

Twenty minutes into our journey north-west of Shumi, we made our first contact. We were organised into a spilt formation with at least fifteen feet between each of us and when the ground rumbled it was Ivy that shivered from the intense emotion brought on from danger sense. The white tigress, leapt to the nearest tree, called out a warning and awaited the roots arrival. Kali, Cid and Talim mirrored her actions, but I stayed on the ground and Berlioz came to my side. I wanted to learn more about the root’s behaviour, did it attack mindlessly or with determination and forethought.

The rumble intensified and I felt that pang of anxiety. “It’s coming.”

“No shit, Charlotte.” Jibed Berlioz.

“It’s Sherlock. No shit, Sherlock.”

Before Berlioz could retort, three root tentacles burst from the ground. The root hadn’t been this active so close to the oasis before and I understood why Chef wanted to be rid of the thing. Two tentacles went for me, while Berlioz went for the third. Once out of the ground, they were fast and reactive. I flipped out of the way of the first whipping root and slashed at the second as it tried to spear me, but it pulled back quickly. Berlioz had already severed the long tentacle that he faced but I wasn’t trying to put mine down, no I wanted to see what its capabilities were.

“We should help him.” Called Kali from above me.

Berlioz held up a paw. “Hold your positions and watch him work.”

I backed up, swapping my machetes for my club and blocked the spearing root. The acid turned the skin of the thing black, and it recoiled. The whipping root reacted in kind by dropping low and changing its approach. It was faster on the ground than it was in the air and now I had to split my focus. The snaking root slithered around my feet as I danced back, evading it’s attempts to trip, or bind me. one attacked from the ground the other switched between chaotic lashing and precise stabbing. Over and over, I danced and blocked, testing their speed and versatility. Each successful block damaged the attacking root and made the snaking one ramp up its violent approach.

“They feel pain.” Shouted Berlioz. “Do you see how they flinch from the sting of the acid.”

I was beginning to get tired and a quick glance at my stamina bar showed that I had been wasting vital energy. Deciding that I had learnt enough, I left myself open in an attempted to trap them, with a weapon switch, but the stabbing root didn’t go for my chest. Either it didn’t fall for it, or they couldn’t actually see me. I tried another tact, switching back to my machetes and slashing low at the snaking root, severing it made the thing retract back to where it came from and played into the trap they were trying to set for me.

It was obvious that once I focused on attacking one the other would go for a finishing blow, and I could have taken the hit with my piercing proof armour, but I felt like keeping my defensive capabilities as a surprise. The second the stabbing root went for me, I turned with its motion, dismissed one machete and gripped its veiny form. It lifted me and tried to bind me, but I cut myself free. With its vampiric thorn severed, the root began to retreat but I still hand it gripped and as my feet touched the ground I pulled.

As hard as I could pull, the root pulled harder, and I yelled. “Berlioz, adhesive arrow.”

Berlioz reacted instantly, equipping his crossbow and firing a bolt into the root where it came up from the ground. The black adhesive dried within a second and the root couldn’t pull back due to the blockage.

“That’s why he’s, our leader.” Cried Berlioz.

Realising it couldn’t pull back or push forward, the root began to flail wildly, and a strange puss started oozing from it’s severed tip. I stood back and watched it squirm in the air, then when it fell to the ground, I watched it struggle like a smushed worm until it fell still. With the lack of notification, I all but confirmed that these roots were merely the limbs of a main body further ahead. After I conveyed my confirmation, the Pride dropped down from the trees and joined us.

“So, this is the first root tendril we’ve actually disposed of.” Commented Talim.

Berlioz dropped to his knees near the roots visible end. “I wanna see something.” He started digging and I joined him. “look its really dead.” He said finding an inert portion of the root underground.

We excavated further finding that the root had indeed come directly from the north westerly direction and that this tendril was likely to be dead from here to its source. We also gained a very welcome notification.

Congratulations, you have successfully excavated guardian root (corrupted) and have gained the following: digging.

The skill made up for the lack of XP gains and the look on my cat bros face when he realised, we had ignored such an easy skill to gain, was priceless.

“Do you think there’s a cleaning skill?” he asked.

Cid spoke up. “There is I gained it when I tidied up our forward camp the other night. Its Intelligence based.”

Putting aside the thought of Berlioz fervently cleaning his office in pursuit of the skill, we discussed our plans going forward. The roots never came back for us while we spoke in that spot, and it wasn’t until we ventured for a further thirty minutes that the roots made another appearance. This time there were more, seven roots in total sprang up from the ground almost faster than we could react but with the shock of danger sense and our rapid evasion, we took to the trees and trapped the roots that had laid in wait, with the adhesive arrows and quickly severed their tips. After the root tendrils expelled their puss and preformed their pathetic death throws, Berlioz took Talim aside and explained the position he would prefer her to take.

We repeated the capture and extermination of the roots three more times, with each encounter leading us closer and drawing out more and more root tendrils. A few times we came across entire sounders of boars that had been bound and violated; their bloodless bodies elevated in a morbid display. In those instances, destroying the roots was as simple as fireing upon them from a far and rushing in before they could retract from the boars’ corpses. Further and further, we travelled, exterminating more roots than we could count and each time we finished an encounter, Berlioz tighten up our form and planned for the next. At some point after I had given up on keeping time, the terrain changed from the lush green and brown rain forest to a gloomy place, with dry cracked ground and nothing but widowed trees, petrified from the lack of nutritious soil around us.

“They may be dead, but they can still hold us.” Said Berlioz, holding up a paw to halt our advance. “Time to take to the trees, it might know we’re coming but it won’t see us up there.”

We did as instructed and Berlioz made us wait for him while he tinkered with a few things from his storage. Moments later, he presented the five Pride members with little wristbands. Everything made sense when I noticed that there weren’t any vines dangling from the towering, petrified trees.

“My wisdom stat isn’t very high, Lioz.” Explained Ivy, giving the wristband a concerning eye.

Berlioz patted her on the helm. “As long as you will the web back to you, the web shooter will use minimal mana.” He sneered at me and addressed the team. “If we had time to prepare, I would have made sure you guys practiced first but we have a few potions spare so…” He paused to think for half a second. “Hey, Oscar. What was that phrase you used about doing things in the spur of the moment.”

I grinned. “Fuck it, we’ll do it live.”

On my word, we zipped through the dead trees. Occasionally thick twigs would snap as we landed upon a branch and when they fell to the ground a few roots would erupt from the barren soil in search for potential sustenance. With the amount of roots, we had taken out I hoped that we had weakened whatever creature they belonged to, but honestly, I didn’t see us being that lucky. We zipped on, keeping each other in sight but ensuring we were spread out enough for danger sense to give an off an accurate direction.

Berlioz felt it first, then Kali a moment later but Cid was off to the right and felt nothing. We adjusted our direction and moved slowly through the trees in a tighter formation. With the spider monkeys the danger sense went of the second they ran for us with murderous intent and when we stumbled upon the roots that hid in the ground waiting for us, the feeling struck us once we were within fifteen feet of them, this time it activated early as if just being in that part of the forest was a danger in itself. A minute or two later we saw why.

Forest guardian (corrupted)

Monster type: Sentient tree

Species: Guardian spirit.

Level: 75

Attributes.

Strength: 724

Dexterity: 0

Constitution: 937

Intelligence: 812

Wisdom: 666

Charisma: 0

Luck: 0

Status conditions: Corrupted, root decay, blood lust.

Resistance: none.

Weakness: fire, light, core casing.

Core quality: Epic

I scanned the huge monster before I saw it fully and when I laid my eyes on it, danger sense had nothing on the fear I felt. The thing was a tree in the same way that a shark was a fish. There was no canopy, its sharp widowed branches rose out of a gnarled black trunk that was almost as thick as a dread wood. On its sides were long arm like branches that grew downwards digging into the ground and in its centre was a face shaped out of jagged bark. The most unholy thing about the tree demon was its bleeding eyes. They weren’t used for seeing, they were just wells of bubbling blood that overflowed leaving the rest of the face stained in sanguine snarl.

We packed together tightly, and I whispered its stats to everyone before we split up. from where we were it didn’t seem to sense us, but we knew if we got any closer the demon tree would react with all it’s might. No one wanted to test it, but Berlioz swallowed his fear and went in first. From up high and far away from any of us he fired his crossbow, emptying the revolving chamber with rapid accuracy. His move wasn’t to damage the tree but to cover the floor with the quick dry adhesive. With the ground covered in the harder than rock substance the roots wouldn’t be able to burst up beneath us, but that didn’t stop the corrupted guardian from reacting.

The tree had been bent low with its branches reaching into the ground, however those branches tore through the ground with ease and tendrils of wood reached out towards Berlioz with a speed that none of us could match. I begged Anansi to save him, but he refused to move so I did the next best thing and summoned my bow. Three succinct shots fired into the branch that aimed for the fleeing Berlioz and the tree turned its attention towards me instead. This time both branch arms aimed for me, and I gulped as the tendrils shot my way. Picking up on my thoughts, Anansi climbed onto my back and pulled me away as I loosed more arrows into the tree’s centre mass. The tendrils missed me by an inch, but the other branch raised up and this time the tree tried to spear me, the tendrils thrusting forward and forming into, well giant fucking spears.

From above Cid fell with his mighty bastard sword and severed two of the spears. The red lion was the image of heroics until the rest of the spears fell slack, twisted round and gripped him by his arms, legs and tail. Cid screamed in terror as a spiked tendril made for his open mouth. I fired arrows into one of the tendrils, but the tree barely reacted. I needed to do something but there was no time. I blinked and the tendril was gone. Berlioz had come out of nowhere and removed the thing from the branch with his serrated swords. Me and the girls were using our bows to no effect so far, so I switched to melee and withdrew my machetes. The two mantis mandible blades could slice through a dread wood branch like butter, so level seventy-five or not they were going to make short work of this big bastard.

With Anansi back on my wrist I shot a line and swung in. landing on the branch arm that held Cid, I joined Berlioz in his tree surgery and soon enough the lion was free. I saw to my side that Ivy, the crazy tigress, had taken to the ground and was whipping at the tendrils that came for us. Although her blade whip was deadly it didn’t have the cutting power that our swords had. The tendrils were close to overwhelming her when Berlioz zipped to her side, grabbed her and zipped away. I heard shouting in the distance but had to see to the fallen Lion.

Cid was almost up when a tendril came for him, and I dropped down severing it. three more came at us I deflected one, severed another and then Cid bisected the third after finally retrieving his sword. Our breaths were shallow and laboured, our stamina bars were dropping low, and I wanted to fucking cry when the remaining branch arm lifted higher and even more spiked tendrils came rushing out. We hacked and slashed as we defended ourselves, cutting tendril after tendril, feeling like they would never end and having no idea what was going on with the rest of the Panthera. A feminine scream sounded from behind me, was it Kali. A yell in response, definitely Berlioz. Celebratory cheers, from Talim and Ivy. The tendrils stopped and I fell to a knee, pulled out a stamina potion glugged it down and ran for the central trunk. The five Panthera dropped down behind me and joined my cause.

Danger sense triggered, which should have been confusing had I thought about it, but I just ran on. I heard what sounded like the shattering of glass, and then fighting behind me. the trunk was thick, but somewhere inside was this monster’s core. I cut and cut, hacked and slashed, a root hit me, and the force made me fall but gripped my machetes tight, rolled with it and went back in. the root was cut the second time it came for me, and I returned to my quarry. I don’t know how long I was at it, or how long the Panthera defended my back, but after what felt like an eternity I was inside the tree. It was hollow, animal blood circulated around the walls of the cavity and in the centre was a core, held by the thinnest tendrils the tree demon had made so far. Honestly, I actually felt calm upon seeing its core, my friends may have been fight for their lives outside but with two quick steps and a slash from my blade I freed the core and ended the root problem once and for all.

Congratulations, you have slain forest guardian (corrupted) and have gained the following: immense experience, block.

Warning: the corruption has fled to another zone.