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Homesteading II - Bonus Chapter
🕑 Added 2025-03-31 18:57:20 +0000 UTCFor a week after the repairs of the well and the arrival of the first orc colonists, I had nightmares involving the Sunken Wraith. Sure, the damned thing was only Lv.12 but having an undead monster suddenly grabbing your ankles in a confined space left more psychological scars than physical—at least to a high-level Sage.
Elincia found the whole situation hilarious until I used [Mirage] to jump-care her one night. I wasn’t sure she had learned anything from the ordeal because, after calming down, she asked me to play the same prank on Astrid. It was safe to say that everyone at the orphanage walked on their toes for a week until we agreed to tone down the tomfoolery.
Astrid was a Wolf-spirit Beastfolk, but she could jump like a cat.
The orc colony at Whiteleaf Manor grew by the day. The old, the young, and the infirm gathered at the settlement not with hopes of safety and an easy life but with the desire to be of use to the clan again. The orcs’ semi-nomadic culture made their upkeep relatively low. The river supplied irrigation for the crops. The well—now commonly called the Wraith Well—provided drinking water. We had enough food until the harvest of the crops, not counting game and foraging. The tents would be enough shelter until we figured out permanent constructions.
Our next step was safety. Black Wolves, Wendigos, Stone Golems, Blood Eagles, Slimes, Woodcutter and Stonemason Ants, Roc Harpies, and Iceshard Boars were only a few of the usual dangers of the Farlands. There were a few dangers I hadn’t met yet. Verdant Wraiths, Gryphons, Basilisks, and Ghost Elk weren’t as common as Black Wolves and Blood Eagles but were as dangerous as Wendigos. Then, there was a whole bestiary of underground creatures that were much harder to detect.
My initial idea was to clean out any monsters in the two or three valleys around Whiteleaf Manor to create a cushion between the wilderness and our settlement. My plan was met with mockery. Monster safety in Farcrest wasn’t about eradicating monsters but about knowing what to kill and how much to kill.
Elincia told me I was talking like the movie's old army generals. Lately, I have been organizing private film screenings for Elincia and me. It was a great way to chill after a long day of work. Tragically, Elincia was too involved in the movies to jump to the kissing part.
Abei’s Scholars were tasked to figure out the monsters' migration habits. Killing too many Black Wolves would cause the deer population to skyrocket, attracting bigger predators such as Wendigos, Basilisks, and Gryphons. This, in turn, caused small Monster Surges by displacing Roc Harpies and Blood Eagles away from their territories into Farcrest.
Killing every monster in the vicinity was out of the question, but we couldn’t let Black Wolves and Iceshard Boars roam freely around Whiteleaf Manor.
“We should rename this place,” Elincia said as we left the orc camp and entered the forest. She wore her adventurer’s clothing, with a quiver of arrows strapped to her belt, and a newly enchanted Wind-shot Hunting Bow hung from her back.
Brambles, ferns, old deciduous trees, and Warden roots covered the valley, and a minute later, every sign of civilization had disappeared entirely. Elincia’s eyes gleamed with mana as she guided us deeper into the forest.
“I like the sound of Whiteleaf Manor, though,” Risha replied, like an older brother whose opinion was orders of magnitude less important than his sister’s.
Elincia raised an eyebrow.
“Where do you live? Oh, I live at Whiteleaf Manor, which is located at the end of Whiteleaf Road, inside Whiteleaf Valley,” she mockingly said. “Would you like to have some Whiteleaf Tea someday? We can have it with a side of Whiteleaf Bagels if you want.”
Risha laughed.
“That might be a bit over the top,” he conceeded. “Which one do you want to change?”
“First of all, a road this small has no business having a name, so we should scratch Whiteleaf Road. Whiteleaf Manor can remain, so the white oaks make sense, but Whiteleaf Valley has to go,” Elincia said.
“And what would the new name be?” Risha asked.
“V8 Engine Valley,” Elincia replied, stone-cold serious.
“Elincia, no,” I said.
“V12 Engine Valley? Maybe?”
“Even worse.”
“USS Enterprise Valley?”
Risha looked at me over Elincia’s head and winked.
“What if we put it up to vote back at the orphanage?” Risha said. “Each of us will propose a name, and the most voted will be picked.”
Elincia grinned. “None of you will come up with anything cooler than me.”
“That remains to be seen,” Risha replied with just enough defiance to kickstart Elincia’s competitive side.
Risha wore a similar attire: riding pants, sturdy boots, a padded linen protective cap, and hardened leather armor. Instead of a bow, he had a bag of javelins, a spear, and a round shield—I have seen him carry a half-tonne log, so his current loadout was considered ‘light’ in comparison.
Risha was the only orc I knew who gladly used head protection. I wondered if that was one of the reasons he survived almost a decade of combat in the Deep Farlands. As much as he told us about his life in the army, I suspected he was telling us a tame version of the actual events.
“Monster ahead,” Elincia said, quickening her pace and disappearing between the tall weeds.
“Hey, be careful!” Risha said.
Elincia’s head popped up between the weeds. She put a finger over her lips.
“Relax. I’m Lv.40.”
“You are a crafting class, not a combatant!”
I touched Risha’s shoulder before he could rush behind her.
While Risha was fighting monsters, Elincia had been traversing these lands as a Lv.20 Alchemist to acquire supplies. She knew the risks better than anyone. Besides, I had enchanted her gear down to her socks. Unless we had a Wendigo sleeping under our very noses, no monster would be able to get her.
“Elincia will be fine. Half her skills aren’t even Alchemist skills,” I said.
“You are right,” Risha sighed. “Maybe she was meant to be a Ranger all along.”
“Maybe.”
We followed her path, but the trail of disturbed weeds stopped suddenly.
“Up here, you dweebs,” Elincia whispered, crouching on top of a bus-sized Warden root. “Don’t move. There’s a pack of wolves ahead.”
I wasn’t expecting to find any monsters so close to the settlement—barely a mile away. The truth was that we were understaffed in the security department. Very few warriors had arrived with the first wave of settlers. It wasn’t hard to figure out why. Orcs found honor and respect in serving the clan, and Whiteleaf Manor wasn’t the best place for a warrior to thrive.
I cast [Mirage] to make us invisible and [Dome of Silence] to muffle our footsteps. Then, we crouched past a gap in the twisting Warden root and trailed Elincia from the ground. Like shadows, we followed Elincia’s silvery hair until the rich soil turned into the rocky riverbed. Near the riverside, a pack of almost twenty ‘small’ wolves—small like Great Danes—advanced cautiously into the water. The younger ones were barely more than pups.
“Those aren’t monsters,” Risha said.
“Gray Wolves,” I replied.
The people of Ebros draw a line between monsters and ordinary animals. Like regular System Users, monsters leveled up by killing other creatures, making them extremely vicious. They were smart enough to understand that killing made them stronger. Animals were easier to deal with. For starters, they avoided large settlements, unlike monsters, who seemed to be attracted by them.
Regardless of our invisibility, we huddled behind a cluster of ferns.
Suddenly, all the wolves except the younger ones raised their heads and looked towards the north. [Foresight] pinged my brain.
Elder Black Wolf Lv.26. Corrupted Magical Abomination. Man Eater. Kin Eater.
“When I first arrived at Farcrest, that thing seemed the most dangerous thing in the world,” I whispered, looking at the rabid creature.
“Same. I almost got mauled by a Lv.17 Embermane Wolf on my first day in the army,” Risha whispered back.
Behind the Elder Black Wolf appeared five more specimens. The Gray Wolves retreated, showing their fangs. It was a territorial dispute. Whiteleaf Valley wasn’t large enough to house more than one pack of carnivores—twenty thousand acres, or thirty square miles, was on the smaller territory range for Gray Wolf packs. Farcrest’s Scholars knew a whole lot about monsters.
The Elder Black Wolf had thrice the mass of a Gray Wolf. Regular Black Wolves were twice as big. Even with a three-to-one advantage, I didn’t see the Gray Wolves winning the fight.
“What now, boss?” Risha asked.
“I don’t know. I’m not the captain of this ship,” I replied.
I had no desire to harm animals, but I couldn't guarantee that Gray Wolves wouldn't see us as enemies amid battle. We could try snipping Black Wolves from the sideline, but neither Risha nor I were ranged combatants.
“Maybe try a wall of fire?” Risha said.
“I have [Minor Pyrokinesis], emphasis on minor. I don’t have enough range,” I replied.
The Black Wolves approached, and against all odds, the Gray Wolves jumped on the attack—probably to protect the pups. A shiver ran down my spine as Elincia siphoned mana from my pool. The process was usually seamless unless she pulled a sizeable volume. I knew she was preparing a big spell.
The bow snap reached my ears just as a bright white arrow hit the Elder Black Wolf. Sparks showered the river stones as [Piercing Shot] shattered the Black Wolf's magic resistance. Three more arrows flew over the battlefield, turning like homing missiles around the Gray Wolves and hitting their targets without a miss. Elincia’s secondary spell. [True Shot].
My [Mirage] quivered. It wasn’t the amount of mana Elincia was drawing. If I had [Piercing Shot] and [True Shot], I could spend the day shooting arrows and still have mana for more. The mana transfer wasn’t a perfect process, which made me wonder if the System Avatar had put it together on the fly to convince me to join his side. Getting Elincia’s passives fixed my lack of mobility options, but the selling point was giving her enough mana to protect herself.
The Wind-Shot Hunting Bow and Elincia’s archery skills cut the battle short.
Only the Elder Black Wolf remained on its feet.
Elincia jumped down from her hiding spot with the grace of a cat. Her hands moved faster than my eyes could follow. She nocked another arrow, more mana was ripped from my pool, and she shot. Risha and I jumped from the bushes as the Elder Black Wolf turned to Elincia. Mana surged through the beast’s body, channeling into its eyes. [Stun Gaze]. Our barriers rose simultaneously, one bright like polished steel, the other blue like lapis lazuli.
The Elder Black Wolf’s [Stun Gaze] hit our barriers in a spectacular multicolor shower of sparks.
Elincia drew the bow and shot. The arrow dug deep into the Elder Black Wolf, piercing its heart. The monster fell into the shallow water, and the combat was over. The Gray Wolves, however, closed ranks, showing their teeth.
“This is my turf,” Elincia said, striking a pose like she was in a bad action movie. “You better start running.”
Elincia pulled a potion from her pouch and uncorked it with her teeth like Rambo pulled the pin of the grenade. Then, with a broad hand movement, she spread the contents on the ground before her. At first, nothing happened, but then the wolves retreated slowly, then at full race a moment later.
“That’s what I thought,” she said, putting the empty vial back in the pouch.
The combat was over.
“That was kinda sexy,” I pointed out,
“Don’t call my sister sexy. That’s disgusting,” Risha replied.
“But she is, though.”
Risha nudged me, almost sending me to the water.
As the wolf pack disappeared behind the trees, I noticed one of the pups had been left behind. No matter how hard it tried to follow the pack, it could barely move. I saw the trail of blood just as the little wolf collapsed and the deep gash on the side.
Elincia approached with caution.
Risha wasn’t happy with the scene.
“Shhh, good boy, I won’t hurt you,” Elincia said, pulling out a blue potion.
The wound sizzled, and the wolf whimpered, but a couple of seconds later, the wound was replaced by tender pink skin. The pup jumped on its feet, but instead of following the pack, it nuzzled against Elincia’s leg. Ebros animals must be way more intelligent than I expected.
“Can we keep it?” I asked.
Elincia giggled as the pup licked her fingers.
“This fellow belongs to the forest,” she said, clapping her hands. “Enough. You pup, get out of my turf too.”
The pup playfully shook its head and ran north, following the pack.
We pathed north for the rest of the day, pouring Elincia’s repellant potions every few miles. The pack of wolves was always a few hundred meters ahead of us. When the sun set behind the mountains, we reached the valley's northern edge, where two mountainous ranges almost met each other. The path wasn’t even a mile wide, with thick Warden roots almost blocking it completely.
“A natural wall,” Risha said. “If we mark this place, monsters will avoid it.”
“The repellant will not work with Black Wolves. If they managed to move through the roots once, others would enter back again,” Elincia said, turning towards me. “Unless we had someone with geokinesis and a pouch of Mana Potions.”
I wrongly assumed that getting away from Lyra would ease my workload. I couldn’t be so wrong. Still, a natural wall wasn’t all that different from what Farcrest used to control the Monster Surges. If we could funnel the entrance to a single point, we could defend it with a reduced detachment of orc warriors.
“If I secure the valley, would you agree to bring the kids to the valley?” I asked.
Elincia gave me a quizzical look.
“I don’t like that expression,” she said. “What are you up to, darling?”
I needed a place where I could practice Runeweaving away from the prying eyes of the nobility.
“I want to move the orphanage here,” I said.
“Are you asking us to abandon Lowell’s manor?” Risha asked in disbelief.
“No,” I cut him off. “I want to bring the manor into the Valley. What do you think?”
_____
AN: This is February's Bonus Chapter. This month's bonus chapter should be online later today. I apologize for the delay.
Comments
Nitr0Sage
Kinda wanted to know their reaction to that lmao
