27. The Ferryman
I waited at the portal to the Slums, caught between summoning Sunder or not. I decided that instead, I would wait to see how many people Thwain came back with. As I waited next to the pile of bodies, watching Slimey eat his fill of his smaller counterparts, I grew less and less confident with my plan. My eyes kept drifting towards the pile of corpses. I was pretty sure one of them winked at me. I shook my head, realizing the plan wasn’t going to work. The moment they stepped through the portal and saw the pile of bodies, the people Thwain brought through would panic. Sighing, I ordered Slimey to feast on the corpses of my enemies. I would have to make time to summon Sunder again soon. If we could get her to drain Thwain during a few more sessions, her soul strength might increase enough to unlock more of her capabilities.
After another half hour of waiting, the first newcomer popped through the portal. It was a man with familiar features. He had the same light brown hair as I did, though his hair was much thicker than mine. He had brown eyes to my green, but he had our family’s large, unmistakable trademark nose. It was my cousin Jean! I wrapped him in a hug, but soon moved out of the way as more people arrived. In total, seven new people showed up, plus Thwain.
“Milos is standing guard on the other side,” Thwain informed me. “We have to make this quick.”
“Any trouble?” I asked.
Thwain shrugged slightly. “It’s chaos, Théo. Had to scare a few people off, but nothing a few gunshots couldn’t fix. Now, go bring the first wave, I’ll help stand guard.”
I called Slimey over, instructing him to assume his usual defensive position around me and three of our new Floor 1 settlers. We walked the ten minutes to the base, discussing plans and Floor 1 safety protocols. They mostly consisted of not aggroing too many slimes or creating any new avenues for slimes to reach the base. When we arrived, Jean and my two other escortees froze. I couldn’t blame them. What had started off as a dip between two hills, gently covered in relatively peaceful green monsters, was now a chaotic moshpit of swarming slimes, all of them scrabbling to climb two stone towers or throwing themselves down a chasm in an attempt to reach our base.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
We walked right up to one of the towers, stopping in front of it and letting Slimey munch on the accumulation of tiny green XP blobs in monster form.
“PYRO!” I yelled out, hearing my voice echo slightly. After about a minute, a section of stone lowered, revealing a set of stairs.
“New settlers,” I announced, moving Slimey so that he surrounded the set of stairs. “In you go!” With that, I dropped off my charges and headed back to the portal, the stone staircase sealing up again as I left. I made two more trips to the Slums and back before exhaustion started creeping in. It was mostly mental, but I still hadn't found a way to relax while being periodically attacked by slimes.
“Ok,” I told Thwain, wiping sweat from my face. “One more trip and I’m beat.” He nodded stoically, jumping into the portal one last time. I sent Slimey rolling over swaths of monsters while I waited, collecting a few pieces of loot. I found nothing fancy, just a few knives, a pair of ostentatious green pants and a few handfuls of copper.
Just as I was on another loot tour, three people staggered out of the portal, followed by Milos and Thwain, the latter's wings on full display. I rushed over.
“Trouble?” I asked, looking them over. The entire group looked haggard.
Thwain shook his head wearily, wiping his face with his palm. “It’s a mess. Chaos. We need to get out of around the portal. People are going to be coming through soon. We made a scene as we were leaving. They tried to stop us and shake us down for loot, it didn't go well."
I hastily brought Slimey over and escorted the group back home.
As soon as I returned to the base with the last group of the day, I sent Slimey around the base one last time to clear the backlog of accumulated slimes. I couldn't wait to go to bed. My head was pounding and it wouldn't get any better until I dismissed my monster pal and curled up in a dark corner away from everyone for a while. Once Slimey was finished, I found a nearby nook carved into a wall, dismissed my summon, and slept until my back couldn't take it anymore. Really, we’d have to invest in some comforts. You could only make dirt and a pair of pants so comfy.