Chapter 61: The Citizens of the Bastion

After conferring with each other, the three new forest dwellers are let in and quickly become much happier. They don’t break down like Zillindial, flopping out on the grass. They do grow more at ease as they watch the mushroom guardians lumber about, still staying more than clear of the lake after the incident with our other inhabitant of the Bastion.

The insectile creature doesn’t remove his robe but sheathes his needle-like sword. “It’s a nice place,” the words are hesitant as if unbelieving that things like these can still exist here between the marching insects and hunting humans.

I shrug, “It’s mostly thanks to Sairal. Without his guardians, we wouldn’t be able to keep the walls.”

The dryad ignores the remark, continuing to gaze at the new forest dwellers like he can see every secret they are hiding.

The panda nods sagely, “The dryads often are powerful.”

The chameleon scoffs at the comment and turns away from the group, strolling along the walls. He leans closer to some spots, poking and prodding to observe their strength. When he reaches the bindweed parts, he lets his stubby fingers trail along the strands, gently pulling at them.

He marches off and I turn back to the conversation that has shifted into an entirely new direction. Panda is bowing to Sairal for some reason, pulling the most annoyed look he has ever had out of him.

The waspish creature, on the other hand, is staring up at Cobalt. The wasp, with its smaller mandibles, splits them open in a grin. “Fight me! I challenge you to a duel!”

Cobalt ignores him, walking away, likely thinking that the high (G) grade isn’t worth the time.

“So,” I say loud enough to draw everyone’s attention. “How did you find us? The walls do stick out now that more of them are being replaced by bindweed. Luxia is large, though.”

“We saw the hives the Undergrounders built explode. We tracked down the arc of the arrow and found this place,” the panda says fast enough that she’s stumbling over the words. While she does so, she continues to look at Sairal in awe.

I knew that destroying the hivelands would draw attention. Never did I think that attention came in the form of forest dwellers.

Sairal and I share a glance, likely thinking the same thing. He clears his voice and sets aside the annoyance of them using mind magic. Temporarily. “How did you survive outside of the Bastion? Did the three of you have a hideaway?”

The panda swings her head up and down in an energetic nod, “It was difficult and the Cave crawlers tried to find us. Then we killed them and hid again. Oh, right! Chaco is an illusionist so that’s how we hid. He doesn’t fight much. Hornet always takes on the scary Cave crawlers. With my skills, I can make him really strong!”

What follows is a lengthy discussion where Sairal extracts every scrap of information from the panda who’s all too willing to answer the dryad’s every question. In short, the chameleon has some nasty mind and illusion magic that they used to hide from most things. The smaller insectoid creature, Hornet, is a pure fighter that they boosted with magic, bringing him up to the capabilities of an (F) grade. And Panda? Panda is the supporter at the back, hiding behind her teammates while buffing the shit out of them.

Together the three of them form a solid team, that hid in plain sight as they slowly whittled down the insects while searching for shelter. I’m curious if Panda's abilities are that strong, or if Hornet has had a high rarity evolution.

The Chameleon which I presume is called Chaco, fully rounds the walls and joins back up with us. “Nice walls you made, mandrake,” he says the words with some curiosity.

It’s enough to draw a confused 'thanks' out of me, which he takes as a question to elaborate on.

He shrugs and his skin takes on a green tone, slowly becoming more difficult to separate from the grass and sky, “You don’t see mandrakes often in Luxia, that’s all. And if you do, they are always a part of a dryad or court member’s retinue. Just like Zerzia used to be.”

I take a page from Sairal’s book. Confusion paints my face and the Chameleon continues to talk, “You don’t know? Hm, maybe if you have stayed in the Outskirts all your life you aren’t familiar with the inner workings of the forest. Anyway, she followed a dryad around all day, providing the treekin with her skills," he turns away from me to glare at Sairal. "They do that often, pick out the ones they like, you know. We are like pets to them. Did that dryad do the same?” He says going as far as to point at the dryad in question.

We’re still standing within hearing range. Sairal seems to be focused on his own conversation with the Panda. However, when his eyes flick towards us for a fraction of a second, I realise that he’s listening.

I ignore the condescending tone in Chaco's voice and try to come up with a proper answer that doesn’t piss off the new forest dweller that seems to be on a warpath.

Hornet is still pestering Cobalt for a spar and I’m forced to deal with the Chameleon, which I like less and less with each question he asks. Somehow, Zillindial has been left out of the conversation but not out of the unrest.

The smaller mushroom guardians that watched me play tag, have decided that the poor bear is their unwilling playmate. Around him, the five mushroom guardians try to box him in. I’d laugh at it if I didn’t need to deal with the current matters at hand.

I give Chaco a shrug, “I just met him while wandering through the forest and we became friends. I don’t think that I’m part of his retinue or a pet. I don’t follow him everywhere and rather go my own way.”

Somehow the reaction both makes his face light up with joy and twist in confusion. “Really? He looks like the kind that loves having servants. Do you think that is why he picked having guardians as a part of his skill set? Most of the dryads who have skills in that field love playing around with them,” he leans closer to me as if whispering. Yet, somehow, his voice grows louder. “They love to use them as pieces to throw away. I hope you aren’t in the same boat as them.”

The forest dweller continues to talk about my mandrake heritage, my skills, and how I’m likely more valuable than his mushroom guardians. He moves on to ask about my class and if I have a death wish. I answer each of his questions with fewer words, growing more annoyed with him until: “-I’m really sorry. I need to work on the walls. My Stamina pool is full and we can’t be wasting any of that, can we?”

He clearly knows what I’m doing, seeing his irked expression and his forehead crinkling as he lifts his scaly eyebrows. It’s hard to read his face. “Hm, yes, it would be inconvenient to weaken the walls.”

Without a second word, he stalks off towards Cobalt who has climbed up the walls like an angry cat, evading the humanoid wasp who’s calling out for duels.

The mushroom guardians, having lost interest after catching Zillindial for the fifth time, crowd around me, eager to be of use. In seconds the wall made of wood and patches of dried mud, is taken apart, revealing the landscape beyond.

There isn’t a single Cave crawler in sight. It’s strange after weeks of their constant testing of the walls. Maybe the bugs finally got it through their carapace that the bastion isn’t to be trifled with. It only took the destruction of several hives to do the trick.

I stretch out the bindweed from the green wall, filling in the gap. Still with wonder, I watch the vines move and thicken in the repeating patterns that have proven to be more than ideal for the walls.

And to my shock, between my increasing Stamina pool and my newly gained skill levels, I find that I have more than enough Resources to continue building the bindweed walls. Again the walls are replaced with the proper battlements any invading force will shatter on. Thirty metres of battlements later, my Resources drop down to the halfway point and I call an end to it. For now.

I turn around and move on to the skills I want to practice. Talking with the new forest dwellers is fun and all. Even so, it doesn’t make me stronger. In the past few days, I devoted most of my time to using Stamina Surge and Bindweed of Nature in conjunction with a few other skills. It has netted me some nice levels in both skills, dangerous as they are.

And I might want to push them further. In all the games I’ve played with the guardians, I’ve never set Stamina Surge to the highest mode it can go. Even pushing the boost to the second level is dangerous. My bindweed starts to bruise visibly as if something pushes down on me with the weight of a mountain, my body crumbling like a wet sugar cube.

Claw Infusion was nasty in that regard. The bruising, the bleeding from just clawing something once painful, but survivable. However, with the skill upgraded to include my entire body, I have to be more careful with it.

I shift my thoughts to the bindweed walls, wondering how each subsequent skill level in either my creation- or manipulation is speeding up the construction, making it more efficient with each point of Stamina. I should focus on that, working with models again, tying bindweed in strange formations, each more convoluted than the last. It wi-

“I challenge you to a duel!” Hornet yells from right behind me.

I press down on the shock and look at the high (G) grade. I’m hesitant to accept. Levels, especially the level a forest dweller has, doesn’t say much. Beings with high intelligence can refine their skills outside of combat, making Identify less useful to gauge strength.

I haven’t seen him fight, yet, surviving in the outskirts for this long demands a certain amount of skill. I size the wasp up again, comparing him against other (G) grade monsters I’ve fought in the past.

“You’re a (G) grade,” I say after a few seconds.

Hornet is quick to reply, his words buzzing with energy, “So? I’ve defeated an (F) grade before. Stabbed it through the face and everything!”

He pulls out an ivory white piece of chitin. Having seen thousands of the bugs by now, it's easy to recognise this piece as the tip of a mandible. Assuming how large the piece is, the Cave crawler it belonged to must've been monstrous.

Sparring with Hornet might also be good practice if I focus on the skills I want to practice. Fighting helps skills develop and the guardians won’t be much use in pushing my creation and manipulation skills further. I keep the grin off my face, knowing that I’m getting more out of this than the forest dweller.

My eyes scan the insectoid creature, noting the blade, and how he seems to practically be abuzz with energy. “What’s your fighting style?" I ask the forest dweller noting his size and how he seamlessly flows with motion. "Agility focused? Your sword isn’t that heavy, so you jab it into a monster?”

The humanoid wasp reels away as if poked with a burning, iron rod. “You know? That’s not fair! There goes my advantage!” He makes an angry buzzing noise deep in his throat. “And it isn’t a sword. It’s a stinger,” the forest dweller says and clicks his mandibles together in a sigh.

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“I think I see it now,” I say. Forest dwellers rarely are the same. There are a myriad of animals in a normal forest. Evolution paths, nature-related elements and special skills make any creature able to head in a dozen different directions from its inception at either (I) or (J) grade.

I’m somewhat hesitant to accept. Even if I’m only two levels into (F) grade, it means that I have a lot more Resources at my disposal for my skills. I just have to hold back, I guess. “Fine,” I say. “But you’ll help me with training some of my skills. I’ll even let that Panda buff you.”

I explain the conditions of the spar to him. It’s simple, he only needs to stab me with that stinger once for him to win. I win if I trap him with my bindweed.

Hornet nods happily and unsheathes his needle. “Do you have any weak points for me to avoid?”

I give him a shrug, “Don’t go for my head and I’ll manage.”

The waspish forest dweller jogs over to the panda and gestures at me. She nods and moves closer as she casts her skills to strengthen Hornet. He stretches out under the weight of his increased agility, “Ready?” he asks. All the childish joy faded from his voice.

I nod at him, my bindweed already spreading out under the ground. I won’t use any thorns or anything lethal, it's a spar after all. However, I won’t play fair in the slightest. Besides, the Panda's abilities are a wildcard. Anyway, I need to win. Cobalt will speak about it for ages if I somehow manage to be defeated by a high (G) grade.

Sairal begins to count down, getting in the mood. It’s the first time he’s seen this tactic up close. Then again, he’s likely more interested in Hornet and Panda. One is an excellent fighter and the other is a support caster that might change the tide of battle.

The world slows as Sairal counts to zero and Hornet blurs. It takes me off-guard, surprised that a (G) grade can even be that fast.

I let the bindweed burst out from the ground around him, columns of green reaching to the sky. Vines split off, streaming in Hornet’s wake as they loop around the battlefield.

Walls rise and my Stamina ticks down violently. I’ll finish this up in two minutes.

Bindweed moves like an ocean, the grass is overtaken by the vines. It is a living thing with me as its heart. I Imagine the bastion itself, the outer edges the walls and everything between under my control. It’s far in the future, the area I currently control not even having a radius of twenty metres.

The vines explode in greenery, coiling nets darting towards the forest dweller. He slices through one effortlessly, leaps over a wall, dodges under a vine the width of a human torso and uses the vine growing under his feet to kick off the ground.

He’s stronger than the Chimera’s vestiges.

My mind can’t keep up with the growing number of vines under my control. It’s like playing chess on ten different boards at once, keeping track of each piece and coördinating attacks between them.

Stamina Surge is turned on. I bend the skill to only speed up my mind. Everything slows down and grows blurry as I get to experience pain bloom in my mind as the System reprimands me at a speed greater than thought.

The bindweed responds faster and the waves and patterns that try to catch Hornet grow more complex. Instead of pushing him back and boxing him in, I have enough time to calculate where he might end up, and which routes he will take if I place a wall in his path.

Vines respond and the bindweed columns grow longer and thicker as they burst with more Stamina for the attacks. The skills react faster and the vines move with a dexterity I lack.

Hornet is beaten back, unable to find a path towards me. The needle in his hand swishes through the air while he takes everything in for a split second, his head swivelling from left to right watching my domain.

His mandibles split open in a wide grin and he engages with my living world. Vines are split apart, sap falling to the ground as they are mowed down. He bursts through a wall and gains sight of me before another wall can block me off.

The needle in his hand quivers with a skill. He points at me and the world screams in danger.

“Thrust.” The skill is simple in name, likely not even being above uncommon rarity. Though, as a blast of pure force leaves the tip of the rapier, ripping right through every strand of bindweed in its path, I swallow around a lump in my throat.

More than a hundred points of Stamina are pushed into the bindweed, conjuring three walls between me and the blast of air. It tears through the first one and blasts against the second, ripping away vines in a shower of fibres and sap.

I should’ve thought twice about this.

Another net of vines is cut apart, and I find myself pushing more and more against the limits of my skills. The patterns I use for the walls aren’t strong enough, and my tactics and the use of bindweed are simply too weak.

I grin, as I push harder against the skills in my brain. Stamina Surge is pushed to the second level, all that coursing energy devoted to enhancing my processing speed.

Hornet vaults over a wall and I see my chance. It’s the perfect opportunity to test and stretch my understanding of bindweed. It can do everything, only I need to come up with the possibilities.

The forest dweller’s hand is caught on the wall, a section of vines wrapping around his hand. It slithers upwards like an infection.

Quick to react, with a simple swing of his stinger, he breaks free and is on the move again, whipping past a net of bindweed, and leaping over a writhing tentacle that sprouts in a dozen smaller ones.

I take control of everything in my domain, letting the skills only fulfil the menial tasks such as supplying Stamina to the correct vine. The small vines Hornet parries, come alive as he shoots past them. They turn around in the air going for his exposed backside.

One snags around his knee and the others quickly catch on, wrapping around him, tying him to the ground. He shouts in protest and calls out the name of another skill, “The Swift Stinger.”

The bindweed retreats under his assault. The wasp grows slippery as if my vines can’t get a hold of him. His entire body thrums with power, hairline cracks growing in his carapace.

I call out to him, to stop. This is just a spar, but Hornet doesn’t listen. He motions to Panda who happily pushes his stats to the limit. That temporary power, like any given by the system, has side effects. The hairline cracks in his body spread like rot, growing along his arms, and spilling over his body.

This isn’t a spar anymore. The skills in my head react, watching me perform the movement as if I’m the director, the boss, their king.

My finger aims at him and I speak, “Capture him.” The world moves again, though this time is different. Everything, literally everything comes alive under my command. The bindweed under the ground pulls itself above, crawling towards him like a forest on the move.

I pull the stocks of Stamina dry, seeing the cracks on his body worsen by the second while he vaults over another wall. The chitin on his face breaks apart and the left side of his mandibles literally falls off his face.

The vines crowd around him. The ground rises as if he’s drowning, being pulled under by the greenery. His stinger is wrenched out of his hand and the vines cocoon him, wrapping him up like a gift. All while he continues to struggle, kicking at the vines, his enhanced mandibles ripping through several. He screams in lost rage, angry chitters, muffled by the bindweed, pushing out of the green cocoon.

I turn to Panda who’s watching with shock. “Turn the boost off. I’ve won,” I demand.

She almost broke him with her strength.

Panda complies and Hornet grows weaker immediately as the exhaustion catches up to him. The vines unwrap and he doesn’t even have the power to stand.

For a minute, he matched not just a bottom (F) grade but something higher.

Sairal seems to be impressed too, with both Panda and Hornet. He watches Panda with a smile on his face as she heaves out deep breaths as if she were in the fight too. I can almost see the thoughts spin behind his eyes, wondering if she can boost his guardians or even himself.

I ignore their conversation and stroll over to Hornet. A wince draws itself on my face. Those last seconds were painful. Solar Storage isn’t meant to give me 400 points at once. And now I’m feeling the effects.

I reach out to Hornet, offering him a hand which he gladly takes. “Don’t ever do that again,” I say.

With his fighting rage gone, he smiles at me. “That domain…you’re strong. Stronger than the blue one?”

“Cobalt?” I wheeze out a dry laugh and shake my head. He almost killed himself with his skills and now he wants to put things into perspective? “No, she’s stronger. Far stronger than me.”

I leave him behind, walking away from everyone and open my System menu, checking the progress of my skills.

*Bindweed Manipulation (R) lvl 36/40 -> Bindweed Manipulation (R) lvl 38/40.

*Bindweed Conjuration (R) 36/40 -> Bindweed Conjuration (R) 37/40.

*Solar Storage (C) lvl 15/20 -> Solar Storage (C) lvl 18/20.

Good for a spar, even if I won’t ever practice with him again. He can’t control himself.

All of the new forest dwellers seem off in some way. Hornet is batshit crazy. The Panda, whose name I’ve forgotten complies with everything someone asks of her and Chaco seems to think that every conversation is a chance to verbally stab someone in the eye.

And right on queue, the chameleon comes into existence. The green of his scales that blended him in with the grass fades to take on an ash-grey tone. I don’t wait for him to get the first jab in, rounding on him and barely keeping my voice low enough for the others not to overhear us. “What is up with him?” I demand.

Chaco, mouth already open for the first quip, pauses, sighs and shakes his head. “Hornet?” he asks as if he doesn’t know who I’m talking about.

“Yes,” I hiss.

He shrugs and there is a fakeness to the motion. “It’s what war does to a kid.”

Anything I want to say is cut off by that sentence and pressed back with enough force down my throat that I choke on the sentences for a second or two. “What?” the question is all I’m able to get out after several moments.

Chaco looks down at the ground, his feet still having the same colour as the grass. And for once, he sounds sad, “I found him wandering alone in the outskirts right after the event broke. He didn’t even have a single level after his evolution that brought him sentience; it’s how forest dwellers are born since you likely don’t know,” he says casually.

I can’t get a response in as he waltzes over me and continues, “I tried to get us to one of the cities. The Undergrounders messed everything up when they flooded out of the Depths. I somehow found Zerzia wandering alone, not knowing what to do after her dryad left her behind. And well, he was forced to fight. He doesn’t know anything other than going all out. He’s used to feeling his body break as he takes down enemies,” Chaco says like he’s discussing the weather.

"You forced him to fight for you?"

The Chameleon shrugs, "Yes-"

My fist slams into the side of his face. His teeth cut into the inside of his mouth and he spits out purple blood. “How dare you force him to fight?” I say, my fist clenched for another round. It's one thing to harry everyone today with deeply uncomfortable questions. This, plainly admitting to force a kid to fight.

The forest dweller carries on as if I didn't bury my face into his cheek seconds ago, “We only have a limited amount of skill slots. Neither I nor Zerzia could’ve sacrificed any of our skills. Without my mirages, they would've found us and without Zerzia's boosting abilities we weren't strong enough to fight back.” He walks away from me silently. “Do you think I wanted it that way?” he says as he fades into the background. The statement, again, is a jab to the face. However, this time there is an undertone of sadness hidden in it.

I'm unable to get a reply out before he has faded away into the background.

It’s another thing this war wrought. First starving forest dwellers and now child soldiers. I’m really getting into the mood of dishing out some revenge on a few groups of humans.

They wanted this. It wasn’t us.

***

I join up with Sairal, Zerzia, and Cobalt. After Hornet passed out Cobalt decided it was time to come off the walls, the threat of getting challenged to a duel now gone. Sairal and the Panda, animatedly discuss tactics and how to incorporate her skills into our defences.

Zillindial, oddly enough, is getting his fur combed by Sulli and Cinella.

I do my best to pay attention to the ongoing discussion of skills and possible combinations. The topic shifts from Cobalt and I to Hornet and how much his abilities were boosted during the spar with me. My attention grows thin and my eyes wander over to Hornet.

It isn’t fair that most of what he knows are the Cave crawlers and the humans. If I’m correct, and I hope I’m not, he should’ve gained awareness barely a week before the insects decided the forest was up for grabs.

He doesn’t know any different than this.

It should be different than this. I know I'm not strong enough to change this war, or this event in any meaningful way. Not yet. However, there are still things I can do. The walls will continue to be replaced by the better bindweed battlements. This place will welcome any forest dwellers, even if they do not want to fight and instead rebuild in this place.

Together with Cobalt and Sairal, we'll protect the citizens of the Bastion. I will hold up the walls for the ones who cannot. I will keep the Cave crawlers away, drawing a line in the sand they'll never be able to cross. And finally, I'll extinguish the fake glory of the humans.

I'll bear the walls.

Bastion citizens:

Dryads: 1

Forest dwellers: 5

Mushroom guardians (Hibernating): 1244