“And you build another one… why?”
“I might not be able to take the original with me, but this one will be inside of my Realm, so it will be with me, when I finally be back to the former World.”
“And the real reason, Null?”
“...I was bored…”
Snow looks at my new creation. Our Castle, but inside my Realm. The outline is similar, but not fully the same. I even made a place for the Labyrinth, but right now it is only an empty plot… How do I get Sun inside to bring them to bloom inside?
“It looks nice. Especially I am not floating around anymore.”
“Yeah, I found out how to make my Realm have some Gravity. Well it works a bit differently, but otherwise it is fully functional.”
Creating a law like that was rather easy, when you understand how to work this plane. While creating the Castle I just locked the Dimension on the most points to not move from its place. With that I have a fully transportable Castle!
… Well not quite, as it needs still to be connected to my Portal, but I am working on a way to make another entrance right now with the help of my Teleporter Project. Still they do not connect, but I have a few different approaches which might work.
“My Playroom is not finished?”
“No, I need a bit more time for that. The Structure itself was already hard work. Be patient.”
“Aw… Okay…”
You already have one, you want another? Well I would build it anyway, so…
…
“So, we are locked in for now Lord Null?”
“Yes Annette, there are many Monster scratching at the wall where the tunnel was. While Snow and I could eliminate all of them, there is nothing to gain from it. The peddlers will not come until the Stampede is finished.”
“As we do not go out anyways, there is no demerit except the missing necessities, we mostly buy from the peddlers.”
“What do you need anyways?”
“Mostly yarn to repair torn clothes and wooden bowls, which sometimes break.”
“With the bowls can I help, the yarn though…”
We have some grazing animals from the Steppe, but nothing with wool. Wasn’t there a way to create string from plant fibers?
“I might ask the Villagers to create string from plants, will that help?”
“If they know how, yes. Those strings are mostly coarse, so maybe it would be fine for now, but they will not be good for the long term.”
I need to look into how the Beastkin create their strings. Theirs were fine and really smooth. There is definitely a way to use the hay we get from the wheat.
…
“This is Black Three. If you need anything from me, she knows how to contact me. Any other questions Katie?”
“...Many. First of where does she come from and why does she wear a mask?”
“I made the masks on a whim, and somehow they liked them and just love to wear those rat masks when they are with others. I just let them.”
“Them? Her name and number… Better not asking, so you are Black Three? You will work under me like the others for now, so be up early and work diligently.”
“Of course. Do not worry, I will not disappoint fa… Lord Null.”
Whew! That was close, but she got the corner on the last second. Better not make some strange rumors for now.
“So Snow and I are of to the Steppe. We might be gone for a longer while, so take care of yourselves. If there is anything missing in the medical room, go to Misha, she knows their whole stock of salves and bandages by heart. When there is danger, just send a message and we will rush back if possible.”
“This will work for me. Is there any other order?”
“Just keep the children out of trouble. Some of them start to challenge each other to walk the chaotic stairs or visit the Jail. I do not want them hurt, so keep an eye on them. Annette already knows about it, but better have more eyes on those troublemaker. Nothing else comes to mind.”
“Understood. Please have a safe travel.”
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And with that Snow and I start to go to the Tunnel. Right now I created multiple gates out of massive rock. The movement of them is even for me hard, but should hold them all in.
The Villagers also have a rat girl living with them. Black Two is living in her own House and can be visited at the morning and evening. Otherwise she either cleans her own house, makes tea or kills some snakes in the sewers. Seriously not even I can get all of them. Miss one nest and they are back to their numbers real quick.
Well they keep the population of Mice and Rats at bay, so they are only a nuisance. Because they are not Monsters anymore they are again poisonous, but acts rather slow in a human, so antivenom is also with the healers inside the Village.
“And here we are. Now I just have to lock the walls in place… And the last wall will be melted by me. Get ready outside is cramped.”
“Sure! We just need to run right away, right?”
“Yeah, the faster we get away the better. Just ignore the ones we already have behind us.”
“’Kay!”
The wall starts to turn into sand and after a while we could almost escape.
“Get ready… Go!”
And we are off. Slashing left while Snow claws right we get out of the chaos right away and run for our… well their lives, as we just can’t be bothered in killing useless copies, which have no real parts worth looting.
The farther we go, the less of them are there. They seem to have come especially for the cave, so their originals knew the whole time of it. Could have visited already, I would love to dissect one of those real Rocky Bears. Maybe I could make him a good armored body for the next invasion. Oh well…
…
Fighting, fleeing an fighting some more. We work our way to the Steppe with a rather large ball of Monsters behind us. After entering the Steppe we just eliminated the followers and started exploring the Steppe in the direction of the bovine Tribe.
Winter is interesting in the Steppe. While it is rather cold, the whole place is still a bit warmer than the Forest. How that is possible is another mystery, but not my problem right now.
Traveling through, we encounter ever so often a crazed copy we just removed right away. The whole travel is otherwise silent, as we trudge through the really tall grass.
After two days we came to a small tribe which at first attacked us, but we did not retaliate. I gave the bovine Tribe my word to not attack without reason, even if they attack first. They were some kind of Mongoose by the way.
While they attacked we tried to talk to them but they just said either ‘kill the Beast/Unbeing’ or ‘we will never surrender’ in different words. They never really listened and just thought of us as some evil invading their place of living.
“Red Horn had told the truth.”
“In what way Null?”
“I would have eliminated them, if I had not promised to not kill them, if they are just scared. Their attacks were horribly annoying. The brave idiots who noticed we did not attack back needed a beating though. Coming to us and fighting in close range… They were really suicidal.”
“Yeah, I had my own problems keeping my temper. They just did not listen. If we had met them first, they would be gone. Still we might have overdone it with their frontal attack, don’t you think?”
“They would have become even more brave, if we did not at least give them that lesson. And we just took two of them for us. Later I activate the latest prototype Gateway and see if we can push them through. I hope they come into the Cell alive and in one piece, but if not I have more Data to work on the principle.”
The night came and the second day is gone too. After a few screams of fear in the dark we were resting for a while to get our strength back.
…
“Welcome Null! We did not expect you to come to us. The beast flood is at it right now.”
“Hello Hoof. What do you mean ‘beast flood’?”
“You do not know? The Monsters in the Forest flood out like a tide into our direction. They mostly dissipate the further in we are, but they attack any Tribe they find, even if they have no chance.”
“Oh the Stampede! Yeah, I know about it. We have another Name for it, I did not know your term, sorry.”
“Nothing to be sorry for. We have all our own little titles. How are you? Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, we had a slight incident on our Crater with the Stampede, but no one was injured. The Crater is sealed and nothing gets inside. I have some ways to get a message if something happens.”
“Then that is good. Come, I will lead you to our Elder. Snow… Never mind she seems distracted with Spot for now.”
“Sorry, that is how she is. Just let those two bond, I can go to the Elder alone for now.”
The Elders tent is still the biggest, but has new furniture. His resting place has more blankets and it looks like there are more vials of… Medicine? He seems weaker than before. I wish I could help him, but age is something everything has to challenge… and later lose to.
“Ah, you have returned. I have seen your visit coming, but did not think it would be so early. Have you been well?”
“Yes, Elder Red Horn. We have been well. How are you feeling? You seem to have some challenges with the Winter? Do you need something I can help you with?”
“Courteous as always. No, I am just old. The Steppe is not a good place for people my age. I might be one of the oldest still living, if you ignore the elves of course.”
He laughs a bit, but has a slight coughing fit. While it hurt me a bit to see his health deteriorating in not even a year, I still hold my smile and wait for him to get his breath back.
cough cough “...You came at an opportune time. We have heard of an old ruin not far from here. It is closed for who knows how long and might be dangerous. If you want, some of our hunters can you bring into the vicinity.”
“That would be a great help. Thank you Red Horn. Also Snow brought with us some Vegetables. I hope you will eat a healthy soup, while we are going to that place. I would like to see you in good health, when we come back.”
“Thank you, we appreciate your present. I must tell you I am sorry for what you might find inside and later outside of the Ruins, as I can only see vague shadows of danger. What you might find will have to be fought for. We can only close our eyes to that, so please excuse our inability to help.”
That sounds rather ominous. I just nod, as the hint of danger is already helping with the whole endeavor. What we find will be fought for, so we need a battle plan.
…
“Please be careful. Grandpa Horn did say we can not go further than the red rock with you, so keep straight and you will find the ruins.”
“Thank you Spot. When we are back we talk more. There is more about I want to tell you about the one who wants to court Anna. He is such a dunce, as she would already say yes, if he would just ask.”
“Also thank you from me, too. Please take care of your Grandfather, it hurts to see him rather fragile like that. I wish I could help him somehow.”
“I would love to hear about it, and thank you Null, but you can not do anything, he just needs some rest, the wild is starting to call him.”
The wild… The believe of them going to a place after their life where the grass is always green and everyone is living peacefully. A nice story, maybe it is even true, as different Worlds exist.
“Good bye, and we see us later.”
“Later Spot!”
“Have a nice travel. Take care you two.”
And with this we are off. The way should be easy to find, if what they said was true.