Season 2: Chapter 59: Bombshell.
Empty.
Sitting in the palms of a miniature Slimey who had yet to fully recover, I squeaked, confirming what I already knew.
The treasury was completely empty.
I had hoped upon hope that something would remain, but within the broken down and desolate vault, nothing remained, not even cobwebs amongst the ruined pillars and shattered displays.
Sigh. At least the armory was located next to the treasury, cutting my run time short and scratching another quest off my list. Well, a personal quest.
I still had the system Quest which was telling me to create an add-on for my mana heart, something called a mutator.
Problem was, the DAMN THING COST TEN THOUSAND MANA CYST! WITH FOUR ZEROS! Did the system think I was made of manacysts? How the heck am I supposed to upgrade under these conditions?! Did every dungeon have to do this? If so it was a wonder anything got done at all!
Ehem. Anyway, I did get a few new construction options. Mainly some things to alleviate the bloat of manacyst cost increases.
[Dungeon Management Panel]
[Active Dungeon Heart LvL 2]:
HP: 1000/1000
Manacyst: 1,275
Anima: 773
Holy: 23
Dark: 479
Supercyst: 0
[Manacyst Production]
Dark Manacyst Culture: 20/20(40/24H)
CONSTRUCTION OPTIONS:
Dark Manacyst Culture REQ: 50 Dark Manacyst
Anima Manacyst Culture REQ: 50 Anima Manacyst
Dark Gestator(Recommended!) REQ: 100 Dark Manacyst.
Graveyard REQ: 50 Dark Manacyst, 10 Anima Manacyst.
Guardian Room REQ: Any Manacyst 50. (1/1)
Composter REQ: 20 Dark Manacyst.
T2: Dark Manacyst Farm REQ: 500 Dark Manacyst
T2: Summoning Pit REQ: 500 Dark Manacyst. 3 Dark Supercyst
T2: Forced Strengthening Pit REQ: 200 Dark Manacyst, 200 Anima Manacyst, 200 Holy Manacyst. Any Supercyst.
Looking over my dungeon manager, it seemed as though my composting had paid dividends, giving me access to Anima type construction options.
More importantly, the Anima cultures which could be used to build up my meadow.
There was also a new “recommended” tab on my screen, something that caught my focus, but ultimately I discarded.
Gestators were… ugly. And hard to look at. Ya know those eggs from that one movie with the face wrappers and the extraterrestrials versus the Hunters?
Yeah, pretty much those things. I had made one to test it out but immediately destroyed it on account of how gross, sickly, and vile it looked.
Shooting myself in the foot?
Perhaps.
Did I care?
No.
I was trying to clean the place! Not pervert it! Anything unclean like that deserved to be destroyed!
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Eem. Anyway, moving on.
I’VE GOT WEAPONS AND ARMOR NOW!
The armory was fully stocked! We're talking steel plate, iron mail, chainmail, bronze swords, copper spears! The room lined with rows upon rows of weaponry untouched by time.
All I had to do?
Knock down the door.
Thanks to Zorin who was finally being useful for once, my military was able to breach the vault, kicking down the entrance to reveal the treasure trove inside.
Odd that the armory was so locked up, there were even faint magical traces on the doorway that were no doubt remnants of some kind of barrier.
There were even traps, trip wires, and pressure plates physically set up and left behind.
The treasury didn't have that, but the armory did… which was weird.
Still, my entire army had dozens of new suits of armor and weaponry. Proper arms for a proper war.
Most of the armor didn't fit my regular goblins though, and they were a little big on the goblin bosses. But if It were equipped to an orc?
A game changer.
There were even suits of heavy armor in here!
But, despite the discovery a question plagued my mind.
Why?
After pondering for too long and searching every nook and cranny for a hidden secret, I sadly found none.
But, Zorin now had a set of steel armor, Slimey also had a suit for herself, and I equipped Hector with better daggers.
With better condition weapons and gear, I started organizing my goblins into squads. Sergeants, goblin bosses leading each squad that reported to one of two Lieutenants who then reported to Captain Gobledo who then reported to me.
Well, Slimey who had begun delegating tasks with my approval while I tried to figure out ambush points, trap areas, and plot out the defense and balance a war on two fronts.
Mold from below, humans from above.
It turns out, burning the mold in the sewers only kept the infestation at a barely manageable status. It was still spreading, albeit in the opposite direction but still.
There was also the issue of toxic smoke, several goblins being infected by the poison produced by burning mold with some even being consumed by mold spores.
Soldiers mercifully purged.
So I was forced to switch to skeletons, the monsters immune to toxic mold inhalation but unable to be used for anything else once they began their jobs.
Acceptable losses. Each skeleton consumed by mold, replaced with another raised from my graveyards.
Sigh.
Tch.
We aren't ready. Three days left until the enemy invasion and we just weren't ready.
Having to split my attention like this was dangerous, especially against devious humans. My map of the entre domicile also wasn't complete and many hallways were left unexplored.
Areas where enemies could come through.
Or… maybe we were ready and I was just being too cautious?
No. Never. There was no such thing as being too cautious when it came to war.
Slimey.
“Yes my Lord?”
Connect to your other half, it's time to have a chat with our guests.
*****
Lhikan paced around his cage, the man rubbing his trembling hand to try and steady it.
The bone door opened, Natalie entering the room with a soft smile on her face. In her hands, she held a familiar rubber duck as an armored green scale woman who he had come to learn was named Zorin escorted her in.
“Lord Hiro,” Lhikan dropped to one knee. “I greet thee.”
Natalie blinked.
“Rise Sir Lhikan.” Natalie said, placing a hand on the paladin's shoulder and helping him to rise.
“Ah, thank you. How… how may I be of assistance… my Lord?” Lhikan said carefully.
Silence settled.
“Tell me about the outside world.” Natalie said, strolling through the room.
“The outside world?”
“Your home. Where you're from, Senior Paladin.” The woman said, picking up a bowl of tainted sewer sludge and purifying it into actual drinkable water.
“I've told you this before. Sixteen times already.” Lhikan said, taking the bowl as his eyes latched onto the rubber duck orbiting around the woman.
“Indulge me, one last time. Please?” The woman said, her voice, so alike Natalie's it made Lhikan's jaw clench.
“Bastonia. A city east of the Eldorum lake.”
“That's located in the Miserni region of Lizerneen, yes? Formally a fishing village on the Eldorum river?”
Lhikan replied with the exact same response he had given the last five times.
“Yes.”
The door closed, Natalie and the lizard guard gone.
This process repeated. Hour after other hour. No rhythm to when his captors would return. And when they did, sometimes it was the same question, other times not.
“That's located in the Miserni region of Lizerneen, yes? Formally a fishing village on the Eldorum river?”
Lhikan blinked, standing at attention at another repeat.
“As… I've said before, the Eldorum river is now the Eldorum lake.” Lhikan said, tracking the woman placing around him as the heavily armored lizard lady passed out on his bed. “Why don't we skip this and get to what you really want to know.”
The woman with Natalie’s cadence raised a brow.
“Oh? And what would that be?”
“What became of the world you left behind.” Lhikan said, staring directly at the rubber duck.
“My Lord has some insight on the machinations of current society. Thanks to your memories, remember?” The woman said, her form visibly wiggling. A sign that she was displeased.
Lhikan decided to chance it. A gamble.
“You are only aware of what you saw.” Lhikan countered. “Not what I know.”
“Oh, and what is it you know?” The Slime in disguise asked, almost seeming to tower over the paladin with bloodlust in her eyes.
Lhikan raised his head and met the gaze that held no light.
“What happened to Lyndis Skyshot and your original team that survived,” Lhikan doubled down. “What happened to your wife and the child she had.”