Huxley barely had enough time to pull himself free of the dead chieftain and sit up before the first troglodyte fishers came back with “something to eat”. Instead of bringing him fish, several of them were dragging one of the dead fighters over the loose black soil.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Huxley barked as soon as he saw them.
The troglodytes dropped their load and scattered, stopping a good distance away. Gathering himself, Huxley rose to his feet, pointing at the dead fighter.
“Is that how you treat someone who fought and died for you?”
Huxley wasn’t so soft that he would show active enemy combatants mercy, not until they surrendered at least, but he was absolutely merciless towards anyone who thought it was a good idea to desecrate bodies for any reason. Cannibalism took that instinctual revulsion to another level entirely and Huxley briefly considered killing the rest of these little monsters out of hand. He discarded that idea while watching them cringe, but as more fishers started arriving with fighters in tow, he knew that he had to do something. If any of them actually started eating the fallen fighters in front of him, he probably wouldn’t be able to hold back.
He let the fishers continue gathering the dead but commanded them to carry the bodies instead of dragging them, even if it took more time and effort, and he made it clear that he didn’t want to see any bite marks on the corpses.
Huxley also got them to bring him enough sticks for him to supply them all with clean fishing spears, ones that weren’t teeming with bacteria and god-only-knows what other kinds of filth. By the time he got a fire started, the fish started trickling in. It was quick work to gut and de-scale the fish, then skewer them, and finally roast them over the open flames. Having the Troglodytes throw the entrails back into the water was an unpopular command until it became clear that the bait made fishing much easier.
Watching the trogs learn “Fire hot!” for the first time was amusing. Hux didn’t stop them from learning the important lesson from the best teacher he knew, painful personal experience, but he also watched them carefully to make sure that they didn’t do anything dumb enough to start a forest fire.
None of the watching fishers took warnings from the burned ones seriously, apparently thinking that they were being overdramatic. Trying to prove their own toughness, they all had to claw at the fire for themselves only to run off squealing. After each of them learned their lesson though, they kept themselves at a respectful distance from the flames. After eating, the stamina regeneration from meals kicked in and Huxley got to the real task at hand.
Sending half of the fishers to scour the island for deadwood, Hux started felling trees. His improved strength didn’t let him chop them down any faster, but swinging his axe didn’t tire him out nearly as much as it did before. He suspected that it made hauling the logs easier too, but he didn’t have anything to compare his current performance to.
After stacking up his lumber with each successive layer perpendicular to the last, stuffing the spaces between with smaller sticks, and finally piling all the fighters on top of the crude pyre, he called the fishers back. While several went running down the footpaths leading away from the cave to spread the word, Huxley stopped to consider the notification that popped up when he moved the shaman’s corpse onto the pyre.
Troglodyte Shaman Lv6 has dropped items!
You may choose one of the following
Mask of the Owl
Defense: 0
Durability: 10/10
Special Effect: +10 spiritual perception
Staff of Warding
Attack: 1
Durability: 25/25
Special Effect: Single-target spells channeled through this staff cause knockback
He had no clue what the mask would be good for, but he did know that he didn’t have any interest in the other item. Hux could always make a baseball bat if he really needed to knock anyone around. When he selected the mask, the shaman’s feathered headdress appeared in front of him, bobbing in the air and slowly spinning just like when he used any of his homemade pouches.
Trying the mask on, his surroundings went from vibrant and colorful to a washed-out sort of greyscale, almost like he was wearing thermal goggles. Several bright patches of green moving behind the nearby trees caught his attention, quickly drawing closer. Several troglodytes came around the trees and into view soon after, their chests glowing brightly with that hazy green light.
The mask might look funny, but it seemed to work kind of like a set of thermal goggles, even letting him see right through solid objects. He just couldn’t bring himself to turn down such a useful tool no matter how dumb it made him look. Huxley pushed the mask up onto his head, bringing color back into the world before he turned to the notification about the tribe's previous chieftain. He had to chop down his baby sapling which had grown its roots through the chieftain’s body and into the ground before he could put the monster on the pyre, but he wasn’t about to leave it sitting in the middle of the clearing. Even without his hangups about respecting the dead, the corpse was just too ghoulish with tree roots visibly bulging under its skin in snakelike patterns. Not to mention that creepy, leering grin, only made worse as rigor mortis set in.
Troglodyte Chieftain Lv7 Elite has dropped items!
For defeating this enemy in a duel, you may keep all of the dropped items
Ancient Short Sword
Attack: 15-18
Durability: 42/100
Ancient Breastplate
Defense: 7
Durability: 129/250
Special Effect: -3 concealment (does not apply when in jungle or forest terrain)
Huxley selected both items and equipped them. The breastplate wasn’t too restrictive. It was almost as good as the old plate carriers he was used to. He wouldn’t trust it to stop a bullet, but he could see how the green corrosion could help to keep him concealed in the forest when compared to something that was shiny and new.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
He was even happier with the sword. It was one thing to make do with an axe, but going up against the chieftain really showed him the limits of fighting with something that wasn't designed for war. His axe was just too top-heavy, too slow, and too predictable. Huxley never trained with swords before, but his new weapon wasn’t that much longer than a good combat knife, it was exquisitely balanced, and even though it did less damage than his axe it was a definite upgrade. It didn’t come with a sheath though so Huxley kept the green sword in hand while the troglodytes streamed out of the woods, gabbling to each other, clearly curious about the pyre. When they all assembled, Huxley held a very short and simple funeral.
The words weren’t as important as the feeling behind them and having an audience, even one made of little monsters, made him feel more comfortable saying them aloud than he would have if he was alone. Huxley spoke of honor, bravery, and sacrifice. He spoke of the value of fighting, win or lose, and he finished by touching a burning branch to the pyre.
Burning the bodies wasn’t the smartest move. He could have just dumped them into the river and let the wildlife take care of them, but that wasn’t the kind of man Hux was. Even if the billowing smoke attracted players, dying in the game wouldn’t be nearly as bad as carrying around the guilt he felt gnawing at him from just thinking about the easy option.
The simple ceremony was oddly cathartic. While Huxley was stuck in his hospital bed he ended up missing the funerals for his men. Seeing these recklessly brave little fighters off, the weight he had been carrying lessened ever so slightly.
After the funeral, Huxley fixed meals for all the fishers. Even without any seasonings, the little monsters went mad for the simple fire roasted fish. Clearly, cooking was a revelation for them.
Eating another steaming fish on a stick himself, he finally set about curing his infection. Finding and collecting Sphagnum moss wasn’t a problem. His new mask let him spot the river slimes easily. They showed up as red blobs slowly moving up and down the riverbank. The mask clearly had its limits though, only detecting… whatever it detected, when creatures came within 10 meters.
Unfortunately, curing his advanced infection required a lot of moss, and he ended up with two different diseases as a result.
You have contracted a disease
Allergies
Severity: 2
-2 perception
20% chance to sneeze every 10 seconds (-50 concealment when sneezing)
This disease does not heal over time
You have contracted a disease
Influenza
Severity: 1
-1 Endurance
10% chance to sneeze every 10 seconds
-1 severity for every hour spent resting
The two diseases ganged up on Huxley, making him sneeze more often than he would have liked, and while the game was squeamish about simulating pain it didn’t back away from congestion and headaches. As much as he appreciated the game’s realism, they really didn’t need to take it this far. Huxley still hadn’t found a plant that could cure diseases and was starting to regret ignoring so many of them in the name of making better time on his way upriver.
This close to his goal, Huxley couldn’t justify taking a break or going looking for more plants though, so he picked up his axe and started gathering timber in earnest. For a time, Huxley just let himself sink into the mindless rhythm, felling one tree after another. After constantly running and hiding and fighting for so long, he could finally just revel in the sensations. His muscles hummed with vitality and power, every strike against the base of a tree sent vibrations shivering up his forearms, and watching his steady progress filled him with a sense that he was actually accomplishing something.
Making a notch in a tree, widening it into a wedge, and finally toppling it felt so much more real than fighting monsters. The growing field of stumps stood as clear evidence of his effort and ability to personally change things to his liking. Even the aches brought on by his low-level flu constantly reminded him what it was like to just feel things, a simple luxury that he had missed terribly. The allergies, he could do without, but that’s life. The thought made Huxley smile.
Huxley didn’t get bored. It would be a long time before he could be bored by anything in this game, even if he was just sitting around and breathing under his own power, but watching the fishers gabbling to each other as they went about their work made him feel a little lonely. He probably wouldn’t admit this to himself of course, but he found himself calling up Pauline and he didn’t spend too much time wondering why.
“Oh. Hiya Hux! How’re you doing this mornin’?”
Her perky tone was just as chipper as ever. Huxley actually surprised himself with how easily and honestly he replied, but he was even more surprised with how good it felt.
“I’m doin’ fine, Pauline, just fine. Got myself into an invigorating little life-or-death struggle, and finally found a place where I can build a settlement. How are you and the boys holdin’ up?”
“Well ain’t you a bright spot on a cloudy day? The Ancient Harbor is officially rat-free now, so we thought we’d run through a dungeon, but the guilds are doing their best to ruin it for everyone. We had to pay a toll just to get in, and they’re going to make us hand over anything we find inside. It’s just…”
Pauline caught herself getting worked up and calmed herself back down, letting out a frustrated huff.
“Not that I’m judging, but you’d think these people never heard of charity before. But it’s best not to dwell on evil lest we catch it’s attention and it catches us. Why don’t you tell me about your settlement, help me take my mind off things here?”
“I could tell you about it, or you could just come and see it for yourself. It might do you good to get out of town for a bit. Didn’t you say something about some kind of rapid transportation system the other day? How does that work?”
“If you ain’t gettin’ sweeter by the second… I’d love to come visit, and the transportation network is easy as pie. All you need to do is build a permanent structure and clear out any monsters in the surrounding land. Once you’ve done that, your settlement will get automatically linked to the teleport network. That’s how the NPC settlers can get out to you even if you’re in the middle of nowhere. Just let me know when you’re settled and I’ll pop on over!”
“Hmm, I don’t know if I like the sound of that. It would be a real pain if I spent all that time getting away from the other players just to invite them all out here.”
“Well, from what I hear, you can set your settlement to public, letting anyone visit, or keep it private, only letting players that you specifically invite teleport to you.”
“Alright then Pauline, I’ll see how fast I can knock a house together. I'll let you know as soon as I’m ready for some guests.”
“Great! I’ve already got some ideas for a housewarming party. This will be so much fun! By the by, do you know how to access your settlement menu?”
Huxley didn’t, but Pauline fixed that. The menu was very sparse, indicating that he hadn’t claimed any land yet, and that he didn’t have any citizens, but it did include a single blueprint. The simple log cabin in the image could house up to ten people, required a whopping one hundred logs to build, and was about as basic as a structure could get.
Pauline expected that he should be able to unlock more advanced blueprints later on and there were even rumors that you could improvise new blueprints if you knew what you were doing, but if he wanted an official settlement recognized by the game system Huxley would have to start with this basic design.