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An Otherworldly Scholar - 175
🕑 Added 2024-11-09 17:22:07 +0000 UTCFar into the forest, the mysterious tree stood like a silent colossus dominating the valley. The canopy stretched wide, casting a massive shadow on the mountainside. It wasn’t a species I’d seen before but it looked vaguely like an oak. The leaves were green despite the winter season, with strong secondary branches that could host a whole village.
I glanced in awe. The tree was far behind the hills, yet it rose over everything. It was hard to guess its size without a known landmark, but it easily exceeded four hundred meters. At first, I just stared, letting [Foresight] run the trigonometric calculations, but my brain slowly realized something wasn’t right. Trees didn’t just spawn out of thin air and didn’t spawn in the direction the System Avatar had sent me.
Hallas and Pyrrah appeared out of nowhere. They were out of breath, and their faces were dangerously pale. I smelled terrible news.
“We have to move, Robert. The Forest Warden isn’t just nurturing Chrysalimorphs. It is creating a true body,” Hallas said, his voice agitated. “We have to burn it down before it’s complete.”
Pyrrah fidgeted nervously.
“Please,” she said.
I shook my head. “We are not ready,” I said.
Despite working long hours, we were still far from our ammo goal.
“This is not a matter of readiness. When the Forest Warden obtains its true body, none of us will be able to face it and survive,” Hallas retorted.
“If we enter the wilderness unprepared, we are also as good as dead,” I replied.
Hallas continued with his diatribe, but I ignored him. I headed toward the outer camp. There was no sign of a monster attack, but I wanted to ensure Ilya was safe. The elves followed me, but my silence discouraged further pleading. The answer was final. I wasn’t taking the kids into the wilderness before we had enough ammo to survive a long stay.
The Greyfangs watched us go through.
The outer camp was paralyzed. The orcs had stopped their work and glanced over the horizon, trying to make sense of the colossal tree. As they saw us approaching, they greeted us with a polite bow and to pass without opposition. After pushing out several monster incursions, we were moderately famous among the outer camp, and every time we stepped out of Umolo, they tried to load us with gifts and offerings.
Orcs had a strict karma system. They avoided trade, yet they seemed to have a sixth sense to measure and repay favors. The same happened in the Teal Moon tribe. It wasn’t Dassyra’s goodwill that bought us time inside Umolo but the fact we safely escorted Wolf back home through a Monster Surge.
It was a strange system, but it worked well for them.
We were walking toward the center of the camp when Ilya’s [Spirit Animal] landed on my head. The girl appeared a moment later, followed by Zaon and a short orc warrior. I wondered if their escort was a half-orc. The warriors of the outer camp wore cheap linen and leather armor. However, this one wore a mail coif that covered their head and shoulders, chainmail armor, pauldrons, a helmet, and a human-size arming sword in his belt.
I could barely see his eyes through the coif and helmet.
“Did you see the tree?” Ilya asked.
“I think everyone saw it,” I replied, looking at the half-orc. It was strange to see an orc wearing head protection. “What’s the situation in the camp?”
“There is no sign of monsters, but I think it’s too early to tell. That thing has to be about two days of travel from here,” Ilya said, leading the way back toward the gate.
[Foresight] had reached the same conclusion. If my calculations weren’t faulty, the Forest Warden tree was about sixty kilometers northwest of our position, near the location of the Lich’s true body.
“What do we know about the tree?” I asked.
“I already told you. The Forest Warden is a spirit, yet it has a true body. That tree is the medium to grow it,” Hallas grunted. “We will not just have to face the Chrysalimorphs but the spawns of the Warden’s Tree!”
“So, monsters are coming,” I asked.
“Most probably,” Hallas replied. “And we should be going before this place is overrun.”
“We should help the outer camp,” Zaon interrupted him.
I grinned. A wave of monsters might be what we needed. The kids needed levels, and the enchanted guns were almost ready. I reached level twenty-one during the last attack, but the kids were still around level ten. No matter how many monsters we killed, the Greyfangs seemed to leech our experience. If we wanted the experience, we might need to intercept the wave before the Greyfangs could engage.
“Let’s return to the tent first,” I said. “Our decision will depend on Ginz’s progress.”
The elves nodded, and we hurried toward the gate.
Behind us, the orc’s chainmail jingled.
Ilya turned on her heels.
“Enough, you can return now,” she said, annoyed.
“I must ensure Honored Ilya returns safely to Umolo,” the warrior replied. His voice was juvenile. He must be a young half-orc like Wolf. Size matched. He was barely taller than me and not much more muscular.
Ilya grunted, but no matter how many times she rejected the company, the young orc kept his word. Honored Ilya had to return safely to Umolo. I softly elbowed Ilya with a grin on my face.
“A fan?” I whispered.
“A nuisance,” she replied.
I wondered what happened during the negotiations.
“Ilya took your words to heart. She knocked their socks off,” Zaon added, only to be shot down by a single glance from the girl.
The young orc warrior bowed and returned to the outer camp as soon as we reached the gates.
“I’m still waiting for a mission report,” I said, giving Ilya a mischievous smile.
The girl returned an irritated grimace.
“Everything turned out fine. Orcs seem to have a favorable view of us despite our Classes, and we should be focusing on that damned tree,” Ilya said.
“I’d love to hear the details.”
Zaon nodded.
The orcs had greeted them with suspicion. Those orcs who hadn’t seen Zaon and Ilya in action assumed they had weak physiques and doubted their capacity to protect the camp. The elders of the camp proposed a friendly sparring match. Zaon was paired with a young orc, and Ilya was paired with the armored half-orc because there was no adult closer in size to the gnome girl.
Ilya had been astute enough to order Zaon not to use any skills. It had been a smart call, and the elders were surprised when both won their respective matches. After the fight, Ilya even went full-on pedagogic mode and scolded the armored warrior. Footwork wasn't the orc's forte. They relied on their powerful arms and backs to cleave their opponents.
Ilya gave quite the show and even taught some swordsmanship basics. By the end of the reunion, the elders understood that, unlike most System users, Ilya had earned her skills through her own effort. However, before they could reach an accord, the bright explosion cut short the reunion.
As Ilya had succinctly said, everything turned out fine.
“Good job, you two,” I said, proud. “Did you find out why they refuse to become part of a tribe of the pact and gain access to Umolo?”
“Strong tribal identities,” Ilya said. “Orcs are pragmatic, but becoming part of another tribe is like asking them to move into another person’s living room and play by their rulebook. They would rather maintain their autonomy, traditions, and norms. Did you know tribes have their private language, which they use only to talk to other tribe members?”
I didn’t know that.
The outer camp wanting to maintain distance from Umolo’s tribes might be advantageous. I didn’t trust the Greyfangs, and my relationship with Dassyra was still strained. There had to be a thousand orcs in the outer camp. Befriending them would give us a powerful ally as long as they could tolerate the traces of the System. I felt like I was starting to understand them. After all, the warrior’s trance was just a fringe usage of Fountain Mana and it created Corruption in a controlled manner. Much like elves, they didn’t oppose the System's usage.
Firana and Wolf were waiting for us outside the tent. Wolf spoke first.
“I’m sorry for the scene my mother made, Mister Clarke,” Wolf said.
I gave him a firm hug.
“Parents always make a fuss,” I jokingly said.
He laughed, ashamed.
Ilya pushed us inside the tent. “Let’s leave Wolf’s mommy issues for later. We have a monster tree growing in our backyard,” she said.
“Good call, Small-time Mathematician,” Wolf replied.
Firana and Zaon laughed, but unlike the kids, Hallas and Pyrrah were pale and jittery. [Foresight] told me they still had a secret regarding the Warden’s Tree. No. Hallas was keeping the secret. Pyrrah was just playing along. Too bad for him, [Foresight] made me highly sensitive to facial and body cues.
I’d have to ask her when Hallas was away.
Ginz sanded a wooden stock—a doppelganger of the M1 Garand—with a mana cloth. On the workbench, there was already an assembled rifle. The advantage of enchanted guns was that we saved the pain of designing and producing a firing mechanism. No moving parts meant we needed only a barrel, a chamber, a stock, and a few screws.
“With a coat of varnish, these will look sleek,” Ginz greeted us.
I examined the first-ever enchanted rifle. The weight settled in my hands, and a strangely comforting feeling encroached on me. I wasn’t a gun nut. If anything, loud noises weren’t my thing, yet the weapon felt reassuring. I shouldered it. The stock was comfortable. The only weirdness was the lack of a trigger, yet Ginz had carved the stock with a grip and a resting spot for the finger.
“You have to enchant the firing mechanism, but otherwise, it’s ready,” Ginz said. “I’d have the next one in a minute.”
“Thanks, Ginz. You are the best,” I said.
“Oh, yeah? Tell me more. I’m sure the true Elincia will be thrilled when she hears you compliment me more than her,” he replied.
The mere mention of Elincia stung my chest.
Despite the imminent danger, the kids laughed. We may be so used to dangerous situations that we were utterly desensitized. The elves, at least, didn’t share our mood. In times like these, it was better to keep them busy.
“Can you two watch over the outer camp? I don’t think monsters will come soon, but I want an eye on them just in case,” I said.
The elves nodded and left the tent.
I sat at the workbench and disassembled the rifle to access the shooter. Ginz helped me extract the shooter, a metal piece detached from the barrel. Then, I outlined the enchantment. It was short compared to the Wind-Shot boots, so that it wouldn’t require much mana.
“I need blood,” I said.
“Whose blood?” Firana replied.
Her willingness to answer my request was nothing short of worrying.
I enchanted the Force-User-Direction-Bind string. I poured my mana into the enchantment. It didn’t require much, as I purposely underpowered the Force rune. A minute later, the enchantment brimmed with mana, but it didn’t close.
“I need your blood to bind the weapon to you,” I explained.
Firana pulled her knife.
“Just a drop!” I quickly added as she raised the weapon with a glint of madness in her eyes.
Firana pricked her thumb. A drop of blood fell on the metal shooter, and the circuit closed. Only Firana could use the weapon, but unlike the Aias Sword, the enchantment wouldn’t harm people trying to trigger the spell. I still hadn’t figured out how to do that.
“Shu would’ve loved this,” Ilya pointed out.
“She’s a natural-born cultist, isn’t she?” Wolf added.
Speaking about the orphanage made me feel nostalgic.
Firana grabbed the rifle and shouldered it.
“Look me in the eye and tell me I don’t look cool,” she said.
“You look very cool,” I said.
“Please don’t stroke her ego,” Ilya sighed as Firana grinned, lost in her thoughts.
I examined the weapon.
Clarke&Ginz Smoothbore Blaster. [Identify]: A bound enchantment-triggered weapon designed and fabricated by the Craftsman Enzio Ginz of Farcrest.
“Ginz is your surname!” I pointed out, ignoring the System’s naming convention.
The revelation came as a shock.
“Yes, name’s Enzio, but there was another Enzio in the orphanage already, so everyone called me Ginz,” Ginz replied nonchalantly.
Nobody had called Ginz by his first name in the seven months I lived in the orphanage. At least the kids were right to call him ‘Mister Ginz’ during the crafts lessons. The situation reminded me that I still had much to learn from the residence of the orphanage.
That wasn’t, however, the last surprise of the day.
“I have something for you all,” Firana said, jumping behind the wooden screen.
I glanced at Wolf, looking for a hint about Firana’s surprise, but the boy diverted his eyes. I couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous. Firana thrashed behind the screen, casting wind gusts that pushed the tent’s walls. The girl jumped out a moment later, wearing the finished Ghoul leather armor.
“Nice pecs, dude,” Ilya giggled.
Firana struck a pose, flaunting the muscled cuirass with faulds down to the knee. The design was elegant and intimidating. The male pectorals seemed out of place against Firana’s beaming face, but it was better than the alternative.
“I should’ve asked for boobs,” Firana said.
“Boob armor is no good,” I replied matter-of-factly.
We tried the armor. Despite its hardness, it was surprisingly comfortable. The lack of pauldrons made moving easy, and the faulds weren’t as cumbersome as I expected. The armor came with a set of padded linen gambeson to use underneath, as well as Ghoul leather braces but no helmets. I wondered if the lack of headgear was an honor thing or if orc skulls were just that resistant.
I enchanted the armor with a Reinforcement-Insulation spell while we waited for Ginz to finish the stocks. The Ghoul armor had such a high enchantment threshold that it felt terrible to waste enchantment space with a simple Reinforcement rune. Not that I had any other runes to add to the mix. I silenced my inner perfectionist and continued enchanting.
“The armor doesn’t do me justice. I’m more ripped than this,” Wolf joked.
Despite my plight with Dassyra, the orc boy seemed in a good mood. I expected everyone to be more nervous, considering the Warden’s Tree appeared out of nowhere, but the spirits were high, and even Ilya was playing along. The kids had a good synergy in and out of combat.
Finally, Ginz finished with the wooden stocks, and after a few enchantments, every kid got a rifle. They looked like a proper fire team. A part of my brain complained about arming kids with more guns, but it was that or risk death. The rifles were much safer than the shotgun, so I convinced myself it wasn’t all that bad.
Ginz prepared a few practice bullets, and we went to a remote part of the base camp, where the wall hit the mountain, to test the weapons. They already mastered gun safety, but only Wolf and Ilya had experience shooting.
I used [Mirage] to cast an illusory wall around us to keep the practice a secret.
Even without my explicit input, Ginz had added an iron sight, and after an hour, the kids started hitting the illusory targets consistently. Ilya was the best shooter by far, followed by Wolf, Zaon, and Firana. Illya’s bow skills translated to guns to a certain extent. Combat would be different, but at least I had an approximate measure of their proficiency.
“Halt!” I yelled, and the kids lowered their guns.
Pyrrah dropped from the wall. Her boots shone white with Fountain mana, and the fall slowed until she graciously touched the ground. [Mirage] worked better than I expected. She was less than a hundred meters away but couldn’t see us.
I cut the skill and called for her.
“Monsters are coming in our direction! We have a few hours before they arrive,” she announced agitatedly. The attack arrived faster than I expected. “The orcs are already informed, but it seems Greyfangs have no intention of fighting outside the walls anymore. Dassyra’s warriors seem eager, but I don’t know if Warchief Callaid will allow them outside the wall without Greyfang's support.”
Pyrrah took a deep breath, her eyes wide open in fear.
“What should we do?”
A couple of hours was enough time to put together a defense.
“Do you know what kind of monsters are coming?” I asked as I started walking back to the Teal Moon camp.
“Chrysalimorphs, most certainly. Saplings, Spriggans, and Gloomcrawlers, maybe. They are not as scary as Chrysalimorphs, so they shouldn’t be a problem for you,” Pyrra said.
“What about the orcs?” I asked.
“A group of Spriggans and Gloomcrawlers can kill several orcs. A big group can wipe the outer camp, but they can’t break the wall,” Pyrra said.
It wasn’t Umolo that was in danger. Depending on the Lich’s forces, I could endanger the kids if I took them outside the walls. No matter our equipment or levels, if the monsters outnumbered us, we would be in a losing position. Not even the best swordsmaster could defeat three opponents at the same time.
“We are ready to fight. We drew this here, so we should help the outer camp.” Ilya’s voice brought me back to the present.
Zaon nodded. “I agree. They can’t do it on their own. I’d say we help them… if it is a vote.”
“I’m in, but Wolf has to ask his mom for permission to go out and play,” Firana grinned.
“I think I’ll just disobey curfew. You will need me in case you scratch your knees,” Wolf replied.
I wondered if that was Wolf’s admission of wanting to keep his Class.
As we walked back to the tent, I felt ashamed. I’d been treating the orcs of the outer camp as a means to an end. My father would’ve been disappointed. I was disappointed in myself. Luckily, the kids had shown me the right thing to do.
“We will go to the outer camp to prepare the defenses. Ginz, you stay here and continue crafting. Firana will come to collect any extra ammo before the attack,” I said. Then, I turned and grabbed Wolf’s shoulders. “I have a mission for you. I need you to convince Dassyra to help us.”
Comments
Ben Bass
TYFTC! It looks like Rob has a pretty good strike team with the kids now. I do wonder what the elves are hiding, or at least keeping from Rob. I have a feeling that everyone will be finding out what that is sooner rather than later. Rob and Ginz have a named item together, now if only Rob told Ginz that… Now let’s see how much damage Rob can do with setting up the battlefield.
bcd051
I love Ilya, her being second in command just tickles me
