image [https://i.imgur.com/DygRomy.jpg]

The territory near the lake looked familiar. Fabulosa and I had combed it for quarries weeks ago, but soon, we penetrated new areas on our interface maps. The terrain grew hillier the further we traveled, and heading downwind surprised several animals. They usually scampered off after spotting us, but Charitybelle’s nature magic rank got high enough to acquire another Familiar. She found and tamed a badger she named Bruno.

I couldn’t eavesdrop on their telepathic link, but the animal sniffed in apprehension about something. It sounded like mini-sneezes.

Charitybelle fed her pet pieces of meat. “Don’t worry about Bruno. He’s just excitable.”

The badger ambled alongside us at a moderate pace, looking up at Charitybelle every few seconds to ensure it followed the right person.

“He wants to fight something. I keep telling him to wait for a monster, but he isn’t very patient. He’s fidgety because we’re heading into kobold territory—and he hates kobolds. Although it seems like he hates everything—including other badgers.”

As much as Bruno the badger longed for glory—he wasn’t swift. We walked for only a mile before lagging.

Charitybelle looked annoyed.

Fabulosa glanced at her friend. “What’s wrong?”

“Bruno is being rude. He keeps calling us fat-butts. I told him it’s not nice, but he doesn’t care. Bruno says we’re faster because we walk on two legs. Badgers walk long distances, but apparently, they take their time.”

Bruno disappeared in a puff of green smoke when he fell too far behind.

“I’ll summon him if we get into a fight. He’s too cranky to put up with.”

Her annoyance with the animal amused me, and it distracted her from worrying about Hawkhurst.

Charitybelle wanted to tame a stag but had reached her pet limit. “I have to rank up my nature to 24 to get a new pet. Fab, when are you going to take Familiar?”

“I don’t know, hon. I’m hankering over a few melee abilities. You’ll have to ask Patch—he’s the one with all the power points.”

Charitybelle glanced at me but said nothing. She’d given up trying to get me to spend anything I didn’t need in a pinch. Hearing them discuss powers made me yearn for a chance to show off my new Charge and Imbue Weapon opening.

We encountered a van-sized bear called an ursalon destroyer. While it shook the earth, its musky smell impressed me more. It exuded a perfume that might have been sweet-smelling in small doses but it overpowered me up close.

Charitybelle nuked it with Scorch and Shocking Reach while Fabulosa and I took turns fending off its attacks. The three of us could out-heal its damage output, so the battle settled into a regular tank-and-spank affair. The level 26 beast dropped a yellow-rarity hide called Ursalon Pelt, which promised to be a potent armor component.

Charitybelle punctuated the battle with upraised fists. “I dinged to double-digits!”

Fabulosa gave my girlfriend a high-five. “Conga-rats, C-Belle. Whatcha spending your power point on?”

“I took Rally. It heals everyone at once, so it would be good for everyone.”

“Good job, babe. What’s your dodge rating now?”

“It’s 12. Why?”

“When you hit 14, you’ll want to snag Anticipate. It’s a must-have. Saved my bacon many a time.”

“I don’t think my dodge will increase if I stay back and heal.”

“Don’t worry. You’ll raise it when we get the battle college.” A group heal sounded wonderful, but its long cast time made it situational. “Does Rally unlock anything?”

Charitybelle shook her head. “Not that I know. I probably need a higher rank in light magic.”

We ended our day after a 3,000-foot climb up the foothills of the Highwall Mountains. Charitybelle saw nothing of consequence through Chloe’s birdseye view. Her lackluster report troubled me because we seemed to be within the circled area of the kobold map. But nothing here except scrub covered the hilltop. Why had the kobolds marked it?

Even though our destination disappointed me, the hike had worn me out enough to be grateful we didn’t need to fight anything. Even after regular patrols around the settlement, my legs felt sore. We pushed ourselves to arrive before sundown, knowing that kobolds were crepuscular, not nocturnal hunters.

We didn’t make a fire and ate leftovers in the Dark Room. Rocky had prepared jerky with biscuits and a small salad of berries, nuts, and spinach. Salads stayed fresh in inventory slots, so the spinach tasted crisp.

The Dark Room looked more worn than I remembered, and I tidied up before bed. I found a wool blanket I didn’t recognize, and the disheveled bunks needed making. Of the eight beds, only three had pillows and two missed covers. It annoyed me that the visitors, recruits, dwarves, or whoever hadn’t taken better care of things.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Perhaps my aunt’s constant reminders that she owned the house I slept in made me overprotective of the Dark Room. My dorm in Belden felt temporary, making this place my first bedroom. Either way, prioritizing a second roundhouse resolved the issue of people messing up my sanctuary.

After breakfast in the Dark Room, we emerged to get our bearings. Above the tree line, we had a commanding view of our surroundings. Hawkhurst Rock barely made a visible impression in the misty atmosphere. I could dimly see the ring of the motte and bailey nestled into the grass. As the only discernable structure from this distance, I wondered if kobolds were as nearsighted as the goblins. Thankfully, the dwarves kept the fires hot enough that they didn’t produce smoke.

The morning bit us with the coldest air I’d experienced in Miros. Winter and high altitudes made a bitter mix, and the frost covering the ground attested to the temperature. We shivered and hoped the clouds would go away soon.

Our search of the area proved fruitful, uncovering evidence of activity that we missed the evening before. An assortment of crude weapons littered the ground, along with a single pick and shovel. But the digging tools weren’t small. They looked too big, even for humans or dwarves.

Fabulosa picked up the pickaxe with a long handle. “This is too big for kobolds. There are gnolls in the Highwalls, but what gnoll works alongside their slaves? I don’t see any kobold tools.”

I cast Mineral Communion. I watched scenes of a large werewolf-looking creature with hyena features like sandy-blond fur and dark brown spots. It carried digging tools, but the gnoll worked alone. I saw other scenes of kobolds in armor and carrying crude weapons, but no battle scenes. Each had camped atop this hill, but the images conveyed no clear timeline of who had been here first.

Small animal bones and shallow sleeping holts testified to the hillside’s inhabitants, but nothing looked recent. My rank 13 survival skill gave me a sense that kobolds abandoned the hilltop weeks ago, but no clues foretold where or what they hoped to achieve by digging. It made no sense. I couldn’t understand why we couldn’t find any excavation. Rains might have washed away their tracks, but the tools hadn’t yet rusted. Erosion couldn’t have covered holes, especially on a hilltop.

I compared my position on the interface map to the kobold drawing. The in-game map confirmed the location, leaving only one conclusion—the careless little creatures marked the wrong spot.

The wind hadn’t picked up, but the altitude’s chill cut straight to my bones. I rubbed my arms to keep them from going numb. Daylight would quickly raise the temperature, and as the sun rose, we walked around, hoping the exercise would warm us.

Fabulosa pointed something out to Charitybelle. “There! Do you see it?”

I looked to where Fabulosa pointed but saw nothing until I refocused my eyes. A faint cloud of vapor rose from a group of boulders—looking like someone’s breath on a chilly day. Even a few yards away, I found it difficult to see.

Charitybelle wrinkled her nose. “Good one, Fab. But why would rock be warm?”

Fabulosa cautiously approached the group of boulders, circling them as if they might jump out at her. “If the rocks were round, I’d wager they’re dragon eggs, but these look like normal rocks.”

Charitybelle tossed a pebble at them. It disappeared. She threw another, and it, too, vanished. “Odd and odder.” She grabbed a handful of sand and threw it at the biggest boulder. The sand disappeared with a faint scattering sound, and none bounced off the rocky surface.

I poked the stone with my spear, making me feel somewhat like a primitive cave dweller investigating a modern artifact. The spearhead sunk into the rock without resistance.

I cast Detect Magic and laughed at the glowing boulder. “I’ve seen this effect before, on a statue outside the temple dungeon. It’s an illusion.”

My companions relaxed their postures as I walked toward it and touched the visible surface with the tip of my boot. Feeling no resistance as it slipped into the rock, I extended my toe forward until I felt solid ground. I activated Presence and continued stepping into the immaterial boulder. Not seeing the other side of the rock felt like wading into muddy water and not knowing the bottom’s depth. I shuffled slowly, careful not to lose my balance or slip.

We cast our Heavenly Favor buffs, and I crept forward to investigate.

Once my eyes dipped below the faux stone surface, I could see a dusty tunnel dropping sharply into the earth. The dry and rocky hole curved as it descended. The layout limited how far I could see ahead, but the air inside felt warmer than outdoors.

I poked my head back above the rock illusion. “It’s a tunnel spiraling downward.”

Fabulosa and Charitybelle grinned and stepped forward to follow.

Our footfalls in the crumbling dirt and whispers echoed in the space. The undisturbed topsoil had dried, containing no fresh tracks. Someone excavated the tunnel at least a few weeks ago.

The tunnel’s eight-foot tall and wide dimensions allowed us to move without crouching. I took the lead and let Presence light the way. We spaced out enough to swing our weapons and descended in single file.

Fabulosa whispered. “Not that I’m complaining, but isn’t it weird kobolds dug a tunnel so tall?”

I switched my vision to Mineral Communion. “The only scenes of kobolds showed them carrying weapons—the only one digging was a gnoll.”

Charitybelle cocked her head. “That doesn’t add up. Gnolls aren’t subterranean, nor do they do their own work. Why would a gnoll excavate by itself in a land infested with kobolds? It could have easily grabbed a few tunnel rats to do it for them.”

I shrugged. “I’m not sure. The gnoll’s wearing robes, so maybe it isn’t capable or willing to use forced labor.” My explanation made no sense—even as the words left my mouth. This gnoll looked neither feeble nor pious.

As we progressed downward, I nearly jumped out of my skin as a creature hissed at my ankles. I lurched to the side with the Prismatic Shield upraised—half expecting to see a kobold attacking from a concealed burrow.

Instead, Bruno, the badger, ambled past me, sniffling as he went.

If he wanted to go first, I wouldn’t argue.

Charitybelle and Fabulosa giggled as I recovered my footing and followed the animal.

Not too soon, we came across a wooden grate reinforced with thick, crude bars—a haphazard barrier that could only be kobold handiwork. Redundant nails, brackets, and grills wrapped around wood frames, yet the grill formed a formidable barrier. It had no door, lock, or way to get past it. The anchors holding the barricade fell to our side, indicating the grill’s purpose involved keeping something in, not out. The spaces between the bars opened wide enough for Bruno to squeeze through, which he did without hesitation.

Charitybelle hissed a sharp rebuke to her pet. “Stop, Bruno. It’s not safe without us. Wait until we can all get through.”

She wasn’t concerned for the animal’s well-being, for she could re-summon him again in ten minutes. If Bruno went ahead, he’d only announce our arrival. The badger was no scout. He’d sooner throw himself into combat than sniff out the situation.

Charitybelle frowned. “He smells something. That’s why he’s being so difficult.”

Bruno sat on the other side of the bars. His ears flattened back like a cat, and I couldn’t help but chuckle at the animal’s visible display of disgust toward us. While the badger stopped moving deeper into the dungeon, he refused to return to our side of the bars.