Chapter 44: Fortress

*Time remaining: 290 days, 15 hours, 15 minutes, 3 seconds.

Sairal’s arms are folded over each other, one finger tapping angrily against his bicep, “Tell me again why the two of you thought it was wise to delve into the World below when you knew that the Cave crawlers were rising up from it.”

His narrowed gaze shifts between Cobalt and me, thinking which to address first. The tension grows until he sighs, “What you two did was utterly, completely, foolish,” Cobalt raises her hand up in the air and opens her mandibles but gets silenced with a glare, “Yes, you two did gain levels, a sizable amount of mushrooms and who knows what else, but is that really worth it? You two could have died in the darkness.”

I want to roll my eyes, though he’s right. Instead, I settle on rebutting the statement, “It was a calculated risk. We all know how dangerous this event will be. Those levels might just be the difference between surviving and, well, not surviving. You said it yourself, Sairal. We need everything we can get.”

Cobalt gives me a side-eye, warning me that this won’t end well. I turn back to Sairal whose face has taken on a deeper green tint as if a blush has risen to his face, “Do you think that I don’t know that?” he snaps, “But if we take risks unnecessarily, we will end up dead.”

“We succeeded in the end, Dryad Sairal. In hindsight, it indeed is true that our escapade was rather foolish, yet it has borne fruit. In the future mandrake Green and I will prepare to the best of our abilities before taking such risks again,” Cobalt says.

It draws the anger out of him while he digests the words, the angry flush fading from his face as quickly as it came. “...just don’t do it again. I will drag the two of you back to the surface by myself if I have to.”

He shakes his head and turns away from us. His fists clench, nails digging into skin and I’m reminded of the time when I first met him. He said that he met plenty of Second-lifers like Cobalt and I. Though, none seem to be around anymore. Did they all die; vanishing like us only to never be seen again?

I trade another look with Cobalt and gaging from her sour face, she’s realising the same thing. We scared him. He thought we died.

Giving everyone a break from the conversation, I dig all the jars out of the backpack, doing my best to sort them by the types of mushrooms that are in them. It draws his attention back to us and a smirk tugs at the edges of his lips, “At least you got the good mushrooms.”

I nod, “Yeah, we kind of grabbed everything we came across.”

Cobalt clicks her mandibles together in agreement. “Dryad Sairal, on another note, will you reveal your plan to us? I think you have kept us in the dark for long enough.”

He nods, “Yes, it’s about time. I wanted to become a (D) grade before this but that wasn’t meant to be,” his fist clench once more before he continues, “Anyway, the first step is to build a safe haven of a sort. I’ve thought about it and it is essential that we have all the space we need to set up defences later on. We’ll build a wall around the lake so that we have a steady supply of water for my guardians and my tree.”

The dryad snaps his fingers and around the lake a line of mushrooms light up, blinking a dull crimson among the grass. The line traces around the lake unevenly. He points to it, “That is where the wall will be. It may seem like a lot of space but trust me, it won’t be.”

Sairal focuses on me and I feel a chill crawl over my skin, “Green, You will be in charge of setting up the permanent wall. We’ve all seen what you can do with that bindweed of yours. Making a wall out of it shouldn’t be beyond your capabilities.”

I turn back to the mushroom circle that spans around the entire lake…does he want me to do the impossible?

I shake my head, “I can’t do that.”

“Not for now,” he agrees, “Though, as your skills grow, and your level will rise? In a month or two you’ll be able to keep up something that big with your resources.”

Sairal turns to Cobalt with a smile on his face. He’s actually liking this; a challenge perhaps where failure means death. It horrifies me, thinking of whatever will happen soon enough but as I look at where that wall should be and imagine being strong enough to create something that big, excitement begins to bubble in my chest.

“Cobalt, you have experience leading large groups so you’ll be in charge of most of the mushroom guardians for now. Keeping most active will already be a strain on me.”

He continues to discuss his plan with us for the better part of an hour, telling us what each of our roles will be and what to do when certain problems arise. He’ll spend most of his power on keeping mushroom guardians active to defend the walls and take on threats that Cobalt can’t handle on her own. She, on the other hand, will be acting as a commander from what I can tell. And I? I’ll be on defence.

Cobalt rapid-fires questions, asking how intelligent the guardians are, how well they’ll understand her, and their weaknesses. I drift away from the conversation as it turns to magic and the creation of mushroom guardians.

Idly, my eyes drift towards the trails of smoke reaching up to the sky far in the distance. There must be thousands of tiny little fires burning in their camp. “What about them?” I ask.

Sairal follows my gaze and rolls his shoulders in a shrug, “The Zulissian forces? We can’t do much about them. We can throw everything we have at one of their high (D) grades and still lose. However, we shouldn’t be worried about them. The brunt of their forces will move into the central forest where most of the points are to be gained while the weaker groups might scout the outskirts for scraps. Perhaps later when we are strong enough to pose a threat or when the forces deeper in the forest have reached an equilibrium their attention might settle on us.”

Something isn’t right here again. How does he know all that? He’s an outcast, no one will trade with him be it goods or information so how? I ask the question and am rewarded with a polite smile and a warning stare.

He opens and closes his mouth several times, deliberating with himself if he should share. The dryad nods to himself, “Both of you desire to rise through the grades, even with all the problems that come along with it, so it is fine for you to know,” he leans closer, “Don’t tell this to anyone else, be they a forest dweller or a dryad. This is a secret not meant to be shared carelessly.”

Sairal waits for us both to nod before continuing, “Politics are everywhere, even in Luxia. Never is everyone satisfied, and you’ll easily realise that when you visit one of the forest cities. There are gaps between the roots and holes in the canopy. There are many who take advantage and leak information or sell it at a low price for the sake of their own agendas. If you are at the Courts, do your best to find the Songbird and become friends with them. Anyway, we should get started. It is only a matter of time before Cave crawlers grow too numerous or when Zulis advances and sets their eyes on everything that is to be gained.” He claps his hands together and we split up.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

***

Standing next to the red line of blinking mushrooms, I once more look to my left and right, staring at how they loosely circle the lake. This is going to be a pain to build and an even bigger pain to keep up. I open my menu and stare at the two skills that I’ll be using the most in the upcoming weeks or even months.

Bindweed Manipulation (R) lvl 11/20: Allows the being to manipulate bindweed at the expenditure of Stamina. Expenditure scales with range.

Bindweed Conjuration (R) lvl 10/20: Allows the being to conjure bindweed at the expenditure of stamina. Expenditure scales with range.

The higher level the skills get, the more I can change to bindweed and the less Stamina I need to expend. Even with a pool in the thousands, I don’t think I can keep up a wall that size. More skill levels are needed. And while you can gain a better grasp on skills while fighting, you can also come a long way by testing their limit and doing new things with them.

But before that, I have six open skill slots and a lot of new skills I can choose from thanks to my recent feats. Most of them are just so bad that they end up being funny.

Breathe (B) lvl 0/20: Allows the being to breathe better, taking in more magic of the world with each breath. Boosts regeneration of Stamina, Health and Mana marginally.

I don’t know why I suddenly unlocked it while being in the caves since I’ve been breathing the air since I came to this world, you know. When I asked Sairal he said the system can be like that. Some skills, especially the most basic ones, have a chance of unlocking when performing an action. What’s even stranger is that some skills overlap. For instance, now that I unlocked the skill Breathe, it would be far more difficult for me to unlock let’s say, Inhale.

According to the book I bought from the Wandering Bazaar, most beings end up picking weak skills like this but through relentless practice and endless upgrades, something as simple as Breathe can end up growing into something that lets you resist poison more efficiently, or allow you to inhale air through your pores. Perhaps even pulling all the oxygen out of the air, suffocating your opponent might be possible.

Skills are still a bit strange to me. Picking up a stronger skill later on might grant power, but it’ll make it less flexible in some instances. Not that I can pick strong skills from all that are available. Most are just jokes.

Strong soles (C) lvl 0/20: Toughens the soles of the being’s feet, therefore making damage to them less unlikely.

I want to laugh at it, calling it stupid, but when you can improve skills and upgrade them this might become something like Strong body that makes every part of your body more durable, though, how much work will that take? And what if a skill upgrade doesn’t have the thing you were aiming for among the options? So, it might be wise to keep a few slots open for when something fun comes along. Not that you are stuck with the skills you pick endlessly. But, uh, even the book heavily implied that throwing away one skill for another can have adverse effects.

Right now I need skills that help me with creating Bindweed or conserving Stamina. I scroll through the endless list, rolling my eyes at several skills like Smash, Grab and Punch. They might get pretty strong later on but the focus is on the present.

My forehead wrinkles as the list goes on until I find an interesting skill.

Greencast (C) lvl 0/20: Let Stamina flow out of the pores of your body, enhancing the area with life.

I did this in the Depths before without the skill, so why would I need it? Did I get the option to choose this skill because I did it on my own? If so, shouldn’t I be able to do most of these things by manipulating resources in one way or another?

A question for another day.

Noticing that I’ve somehow gotten off track, I turn to the skill window again. To be frank, there isn’t much in the way of regenerating Stamina, outside of Efficient Movement, and Breathe.

Efficient Movement, well, does what the name implies. It’s another passive that will help me later on when the Cave crawlers will come for us. I add the two skills to my list and continue searching for more interesting things.

There are plenty of things that are interesting but with four skill slots remaining, I force myself to close the windows hanging around me and focus on my new skills. Breathe is weird. It’s like I grew more tastebuds on my tongue, though, these are for something else than food. Perhaps to take in the energy of the world. I frown now that the air tastes charged albeit slightly. Efficient Movement isn’t that noticeable on the other hand. Everything is just less exhausting.

Finally focusing back onto the line of mushrooms that continues to blink, I take a deep breath, pulling the energy out of the air and lower to the ground. The grass tickles my palms as I push past it, claws digging into the earth. In my mind, Bindweed Conjuration snaps on and guides Stamina through my body into the ground. The green vines dig into the earth, providing a foundation for the needed wall.

Resources tick down steadily. I close my eyes and focus on the streams of Stamina that flow into the skill construct and somehow find the exact pattern to twist in, bringing forth the bindweed.

After a few minutes, I’m satisfied with the foundation and focus above the ground where bindweed sprouts in seconds, knitting together to form the base of the wall. My breathing grows deeper, pulling as much energy out of the air as I can. The gods know that I need it after all.

My hands leave the ground and meet the base of the wall, guiding it upwards to my height. The wall slows down when it reaches two metres, the structural integrity slowly failing as the weight grows. It’s enough for now.

Pulling in another gulp of air and hearing the skill gain its first level, I walk along the red line, my hand staying on the wall that rises in my wake. Every shred of energy is torn out of me by the ravenous bindweed. Black spots bloom in my vision, spreading like spilt ink with each step I take. The world tilts to the left, and the grass beneath my feet grows wobbly and uneven. My skin is feverish and the leaves in my crown ache as energy is literally pulled out from them as they photosynthesise.

I count my steps, finding each one a small victory on its own. The world grows light and I feel like I can fly…and that is when my legs collapse under me, my Stamina pool in the single digits. I roll onto my back, staring at the sun for a while, taking in that sweet sunlight.

My eyes slowly fall shut. When I’m about to drift off a shadow looms over me. “Excellent work,” Sairal says. He reaches out with his hand and I grab onto it. He lifts me onto my feet, giving me the space to observe what my entire stamina pool amounts to.

Sairal nods to himself, extremely satisfied with himself for some reason. “Yes, excellent work for a first attempt.”

I stare at him, turn back to the wall, and finally turn to him again. I snarl looking at the wall, “That is my entire pool and it’s barely five metres long.”

His attention shifts from my attempt at a proper fortification to me, “Don’t worry about it. You’ll become better at it with practice. Did you think I expected you to build the needed fortifications in a single day? A week? Green, this is something that will take months. You have the time, there isn’t a need to worry,” he consoles.

“In the meantime, Cobalt and the guardians she is in charge of will build and defend a temporary wall.” He points over his shoulder where off in the distance Mushroom guardians are busy cutting down trees that are in the way. Cobalt is standing on a pile of logs, pointing and gesturing at the mushroom guardians while shouting out commands one after the other.

“You’re fine with cutting down the trees?”

Sairal shrugs, “They would be felled sooner than later. Now, we can at least make use of them.”

I give him an absent nod, my focus already drifting back to the meagre wall of bindweed. The longer I look at it, the more mistakes I see. The vines that are haphazardly coiled around each other don’t offer much support. What’s worse is that there are actually arm-sized holes in some places.

“I’m going to have another go at it,” I crack my knuckles and go back to work.