The Land: Alliances (Chaos Seeds Book 3)

CHAPTER 5

Before he could put his foot on the first step, his body froze and a prompt appeared.

Welcome Master of the Mist Village. Currently you have access to: Level 1 of the catacombs. Would you like to start the journey to: Level 1 of the catacombs? Yes or No?

Richter chose ‘Yes’ and his foot fell to the step. He felt a small tingle pass over his body. It reminded him of when he left his hidden glen that had the Pool of Clarity. He paused for a moment, but nothing else happened so he just kept walking. The stairway seemed to be a natural tunnel that had been augmented in the past. The entire thing was formed of grey stone. The roof of the stairwell was a natural formation of rock, but on the walls were too regular to be a natural formation. He didn’t see any sign of chisel or hammer marks, but then time would have worn those irregularities smooth. Indeed, the steps were only half the length of his foot and had smooth edges, making his descent somewhat precarious. Richter just thanked his lucky stars that the stairway was dry and non-slippery.

As he journeyed, he thought about his game plan. Richter didn’t really plan to do anything other than scout around this first trip. Despite his recent successes, he wasn’t cocky enough to think he was a one-man army or anything like that. Even though there was potential danger, Richter just couldn’t stay ignorant as to what was right beneath his feet. Worst case scenario, he would be killed and lose some skill points if he ran into some horrible, high level monster. He could live with that, but couldn’t live with having others die to satisfy his curiosity. That was why he needed to go alone. Richter had asked Alma to stay behind as well, but the stubborn little dragonling was having none of it. When he had pushed the issue she had hissed at him, so he resolved to just keep her as safe as possible.

The stairway continued down at a steady forty-five-degree angle, without change, for the first twenty minutes. According to his map, he was moving both down and North, completely contrary to City Slickers logic. He wasn’t exactly claustrophobic, but he also didn’t really enjoy the idea of millions of tons of rock being just above his head. What was it with dungeons in The Land always needing to be so damn deep, Richter thought with irritation. Hadn’t anyone on this planet every heard of a basement?

The only break in the monotony of his travel was a short hallway that led directly forward. The floor of the hallway was a different color stone than the walls, more brown than grey. Richter assumed that the only reason for the break in the stairs was that the rock under his feet was too hard to tunnel through. After the short hallway, the stairs led down again for at least another 30 minutes.

He had initially cast Night Vision when he started down the stairs, but as he went deeper, there wasn’t enough ambient light for the spell to be able to work. After that he had cast Simple Light. Richter hadn’t been wild about advertising his position, but he also didn’t want to start falling down a mountainside worth of stairs. He had to cast and renew his Light spell several times during the trip.

His Traveler’s Map clearly showed his progression, but unfortunately wasn’t quite like google. He had no way to accurately measure how far he had come. His best guess was that he was a quarter to a third of a mile down. He just really hoped that he didn’t have to make a speedy retreat. The narrowness of the stairway should keep him from being surrounded, but it would still be a harrowing fight having to climb the short steps backwards.

Finally, the stairs came to an end at an open archway. Not knowing what dangers lay ahead, Richter dismissed Simple Light before reaching the bottom and activated his Stealth ability. He didn’t know if he would be able to cloak himself in shadow with Alma on his shoulders, but thankfully it wasn’t a problem. Richter was concerned that he would be plunged into complete blackness again, but as his eyes adjusted, he could see the faintest of blue lights coming from the archway. He cast Night Vision, and thankfully his vision lit up in shades of green.

Looking through the doorway, Richter didn’t see anything but an empty courtyard. He listened intently for a full minute, but heard nothing. Richter tried to cross into the room, but another prompt came up and again his body froze.

You are about to cross into: Level 1 of the catacombs. Do you wish to proceed, Yes or No?

Choosing ‘Yes’ he crossed into the dungeon. Looking around, he saw a faint blue illumination coming from some moss on the walls. He examined it more thoroughly.

You have found: Creeping Blue Lichen. This plant will provide illumination for a short while even after being picked. It makes a vivid blue dye and will also provide hearty, if unappetizing, nutrition.

Well at least he wouldn’t starve as long as he could find more of this, and it certainly seemed abundant in this first room. Richter took a look at the rest of his surroundings.

The large room he was standing in looked like nothing so much as a dilapidated cathedral. Large open windows were evenly spaced on the walls high above his head, though only a few shards of clear glass still stuck out from the frames at odd angles. Richter couldn’t see anything through them except pools of darkness.

Lining the room were rows of stone that looked perfect to serve as pews. The entire room had a sense of gravity and heaviness. Richter felt like he was intruding somewhere that he was not welcome. Since there wasn’t any other direction to go however, he started walking forward. Alma picked up on the serious feeling of the place as well and stayed huddled on his shoulders.

At the front of the room was a ruined statue. All that was still standing was a pair of feet. Strewn on the floor around it, were the broken pieces. The head still seemed intact, but when Richter picked it up he saw that the face had been smashed in. His initial assumption seemed correct. This must be a forgotten temple of some type. More important than the stone fragments, were the doors leading off from this first room. Two doors led to opposite sides of the room perpendicular to the central aisle and a third led straight on.

Richter checked the side doorways first, curious what the windows were looking out at. Both just showed ruined courtyards and one had a dry and lichen covered fountain in its center. This building must be insanely old, he realized. It couldn’t have been built underground. It just didn’t make any sense. Why would anyone build windows that looked out at nothing? Some earthquake must have swallowed the building whole. He supposed that the passage of time could account for what he was seeing as well. It had happened on Earth that one generation built over the structures of previous generations. Whole buildings could be found deep underground, just like this.

He realized it was a moot point though and that he was wasting time. He wouldn’t find any more information just standing around in this room. He took the last doorway and walked forward out of the ruined temple.

The next room was a natural cavern with multiple tunnels leading out of it. The most interesting thing was that the tunnels were of varying sizes. The smallest was only two feet in diameter. The largest was wide enough to drive a wagon through. Having no desire to be stuck in a small space, he decided to go with the flow. He walked down the largest tunnel. There were rocks randomly strewn along the floor. As he walked his footsteps sounded muffled and faint even to him, proof that the magic of the sprite shoes was at work. Even so, he moved slowly so as to not break his Stealth.

The tunnel twisted and turned like an epileptic snake. The curvature was so severe that Richter could rarely see more than ten yards ahead of him. As he turned what must the fiftieth bend, a flash of red caught his eye. A two-inch circle glowed under the dirt of the floor. Richter froze, even his breath catching in his chest. He focused on expanding his senses, checking each in turn.

He heard nothing except his own heart beat and steady breathing. He saw nothing except the hallway and the red glow of the trap. He tasted only the dry dust in the air. The air was slightly warm on his skin, hotter than what he thought it would be underground. He smelled nothing except for a slight sour smell like an old sponge.

Moving forward, he examined the trap closely. He gently brushed the dust away around it until he revealed a pressure plate. It seemed to be of simple construction, just an iron circle welded to a bar on a spring. Disarming it was easy, but he couldn’t figure out what it would have done if he had stepped on it. The mechanism was short and didn’t connect to anything else. His wand showed that the mechanism underneath was not magical. He stared at it for another fifteen minutes with no further insights. He ultimately had to just keep going.

As he walked down the hall, traps became more and more common. Even more common were the tributary tunnels that randomly sprouted off of the main vein he was walking down. Richter decided not to follow any of the smaller branches since they all seemed equally viable.

As he walked, the wet mold scent grew stronger. It was more than a little unpleasant. He had figured out what was so strange about the first trap he had disarmed because he had found several more like it. It was a dummy. It was connected to absolutely nothing. Whomever had set the traps must have laid those just to delay or distract. It was a level of deception that Richter hadn’t seen before, and it made him even more cautious. It occurred to him, as he slowly creeped down the hall, that maybe slowing him down was the whole point.

He was disarming yet another trap when he heard something. Richter immediately left the trap alone and faded back to side of the tunnel. He waited silently while the noise resolved into a language that sounded like a yipping dog. His Gift of Tongues ability translated the high pitched barks into understandable words.

“Why do we have to come down this tunnel?”

“Because we need to check the traps. You know that. Why do you keep asking?”

“But we haven’t caught anyone down this tunnel in more than a hundred years! Almost all of the side tunnels are either blind alleys or capture traps. Even if someone was down here, they would have to come by us.”

The figures finally came into view. Each was about three to four feet tall. Their heads looked like a long snouted dog, but they were covered in fine scales. He couldn’t tell their color with his Night Vision spell. They weren’t carrying any means of illumination with them, so they either could see in the dark or were using a spell similar to Richter’s. Each had a tail that trailed behind them and their legs were had two joints, the lower one bending backwards. Both of the creatures wore scraps of clothing that looked like rags. Analyze provided their identity.

Name: Tri’ulon. Kobold Level 6. Health 110. Mana 170. Stamina 140. Disposition: Distrust. Kobolds are small reptilian humanoids. Most adventurers can best a kobold in one on one combat, but you will seldom find such a fight. They highly favor traps and ambushes. Kobolds shy from bright light and make their homes underground. It should be a wary adventurer that enters a kobold warren. Kobolds get two points to distribute per level, and each level gives +1 to Intelligence, Dexterity, and Agility.

His stealth skills seemed like they were up to the task because the two kobolds came closer still arguing between themselves. One had a crossbow on its back and the other carried a short spear. They walked over to the trap Richter had been about to disarm when one of them froze and dropped down into a fighting stance. The other kobold immediately unlimbered its crossbow and looked around. They weren’t more than a few feet from where Richter was hiding.

“What do you see?” Tri’ulon yipped.

The other responded, “There are tracks in the dirt. Something was here.”

Tri’ulon sniffed the air and said nervously, “I think I smell human. We should run and tell the others.”

Richter shifted slightly to put his hand on the hilt of his new short sword. Just that small amount of movement was enough to alert the kobolds. With a cry Tri’ulon fired his crossbow at Richter. The bolt caught him in the middle, but thankfully was only a graze. Despite having avoided a direct shot, and with his armor, he still lost five health.

The other kobold immediately turned to flee. Richter knew he had only seconds. Hoping that his new 50% boost to Life Magic was enough, he cast Charm. His arm shot out and the kobold stopped its flight. Tri’ulon looked first at his compatriot and then at Richter in abject fear, the discharged crossbow held impotently in his hands.

Richter raised his other hand and shouted a word of Power. Then a gout of flame shot from his fingertips into the kobold’s face. He screamed, both from the pain of the flames and the intense light searing its eyes. Alma launched herself from Richter’s shoulders and latched onto the kobold’s face. The scream cut off and Tri’ulon’s head rolled back into his head as he dropped to the ground. His arms and legs shook with violent seizures.

Richter quickly cast Soul Trap before Alma finished her work. In just a few seconds, she detached herself from the kobold’s head, but no ribbon of light streaked towards his bag. Either the spell he had was not strong enough or the kobold counted as a sentient like humans and elves. Richter resolved to ask Sumiko about it later.

The dragonling finished her psychic meal and was about to launch herself at the charmed kobold when Richter stopped her. She hissed in irritation, eager for another snack, but obeyed her master. He checked the prompt that appeared.

You have been awarded 873 (base 17,455 x 0.04 x 1.25) experience from Brain Drain against Level 6 Kobold.

Richter dismissed it and then looked at the kobold. He had never had the opportunity to slowly examine someone after he had charmed them before now. He still lacked the ability to differentiate colors because of Night Vision. He shook his head in irritation at the limits of the spell, then canceled it. He cast Simple Light. The light made the kobold’s eyes shine brightly in the tunnel. Despite the orb not being overly bright, the kobold immediately hissed in displeasure and started lowering its spear towards the light. Afraid that the pain from the light would break the Charm enchantment, Richter cancelled that spell as well. He then cast Far Light on the wall behind the kobold. The reptilian creature still didn’t appear happy about the light, but he relaxed. Richter used Analyze.

Name: Tri’yerin. Kobold Level 6. Health 130. Mana 170. Stamina 120. Disposition: Charmed (Hatred). Kobolds are small reptilian humanoids. Most adventurers can best a kobold in one on one combat, but you will seldom find such a fight. They highly favor traps and ambushes. Kobolds shy from bright light and make their homes underground. It should be a wary adventurer that enters a kobold warren. Kobolds get two points to distribute per level, and each level gives +1 to Intelligence, Dexterity, and Agility.

The kobold’s skin was indeed covered in fine scales. They were a soft brown in color. Richter had Tri’yerin open his mouth. The kobold had a single set of sharp teeth lining his jaws, but the back teeth were flat like molars. Richter sat on a nearby rock, well away from the still glowing red trap, and began to ask questions.

The kobold was a wealth of information and eagerly shared whatever he knew. The tunnel they were standing in was only the barest speck of an immense underground system. An entire subterranean civilization existed here. Apparently, ten different clans, with thousands of kobolds each, constantly vied for power and dominance. The only common factor between them was their greater hatred for other species. Under the level of the clans, the kobolds had a complex caste system. Now that he had cast Simple Light, Richter could see that Tri’yerin had paint and tattoos covering his body in odd places. The kobold told him that those markings coupled with the specific configuration of clothing he was wearing signified his place in the kobold hierarchy. The charmed creature then started explaining how the system worked, but after a minute, the nonsensical rules started giving Richter a headache and he stopped the recitation. The main point he took away was that status was everything in kobold society.

Even the kobold’s name had special significance. The first part of the name identified which caste they belonged to. ‘Tri’ translated as ‘worker,’ and it denoted that these two were the lowest caste level. The kobold further shared that he belonged to the Long Fang clan.

As soon as the kobold talked about the clans, a prompt appeared.

Know This! You have come to the first level of the catacombs of the Mist Village. As Master of this Place of Power, you can also master this level. To do this, control the territory of one of the clans of kobolds.

You have unlocked the Quest: Power in the Dark. Many are the paths and pitfalls to power. Choose your path wisely or suffer the consequences. Will you become Master of this level of the catacombs? Reward: Advancement to level 2 of the catacombs. Yes or No?

After Richter read the prompt he stopped the kobold’s talking and started walking back and forth. He shouted in the near darkness and swung his arms angrily about in his best Joe Pesci, “What the hell! So to master the very first level of the catacombs I just have to kill thousands of monsters and take over a clan of kobolds. Of course, THEN, I’ll be surround by thousands and thousands of MORE monsters and I’ll probably have to fight those off too! Figlio di puttanta! Questo dungeon puo mangia merde e morte!!!” That Italian chick he had dated had been buckets of crazy, but she had at least increased his vocabulary… not to mention her other attributes. Apparently you can learn a lot when you grow up slurping pasta!

Richter let himself rant and rave for another few moments, but then chose ‘Yes’ and accepted the quest. He had to handle business and time was running out. His Charm spell only lasted an hour, and he didn’t know if it would work a second time on the same creature.

“What else do I need to know to survive down here?” Richter asked.

“There are many traps here, master,” Tri’yerin replied. “Kobolds are the best trap makers in The Land. It is one of our racial abilities. You must be careful as there are often traps within traps. Avoiding the first, may place you exactly in line to be caught by a second. The entire Depths are riddled with traps of all types.” The Depths was what the kobolds called this level of the catacombs.

Great, Richter thought, tens of thousands of kobolds and probably millions of traps! “Do you have a map to help me avoid the traps?”

“No, master. I have memorized many of the traps and tunnels in our section of the Depths, but I have almost no knowledge of the other clans’ defenses.”

“Can you draw them out?” Richter asked.

“It would be easier if I were just your guide, master. I will gladly be at your side and fight against any danger!”

How to explain to a charmed creature that the loving vibes he was feeling would only last about another forty minutes? Best not to pull at that thread, Richter decided.

“Drawing would be better,” Richter said. Another thought occurred to him though. “Are there any more kobolds close by? Is there anyone that is going to be missing you?”

“There may be patrols that will cross near this tunnel, but I doubt it, master. My clutch brother and I were sent on a scout mission to check this and other remote areas. We are not expected back for some time.”

“What’s a clutch brother?” Richter asked curious.

“We were hatched at the same time and to the same caste. It is the closest thing to what humans refer to as family.”

So basically I just killed your brother and then enslaved you, Richter thought. No wonder the kobold’s disposition had dropped all the way to ‘Hatred.’ Richter resolved to keep an eye on the time. He couldn’t have the Charm spell wear off unexpectedly. The risk of Tri’yerin escaping was too great. Still, he didn’t feel safe questioning the kobold any further at this point in the tunnels.

*Alma, watch him closely. Let me know if he starts acting differently.*

She sent back the mental equivalent of a head nod.

“Walk with me,” he told the kobold. “Remove any tracks or evidence that show that I have been this way. Then leave a trail showing that you and your clutch brother went down a side tunnel. Come back within five minutes.”

While the charmed creature did as he had been bid, Richter walked over to the body of Tri’yerin’s clutch brother and searched it.

You have found: Kobold Crossbow. Damage 10-16. Durability 11/13. Item class: Common. Quality: Poor. Weight: 1.6 kg. Traits: - 15% accuracy.

You have found: Stone tipped crossbow bolts x 8

You have found: Blue rags.

You have found: Pouch.

You have found: Bone necklace. A simple string of animal bones.

The crossbow looked rickety and slapped together with nails sticking out in places. With a max sixteen damage though, it still had stopping power no matter how crappy it looked. As he examined the kobold’s body, he couldn’t really imagine ever losing a fight to one of these creatures. Especially in light of the fact that the slain monster hadn’t been wearing any armor. It seemed like a pretty easy enemy to overcome. This was only one of the lowest caste, though, Richter admitted to himself. Who knew how strong these buggers could get. Even this worker caste would be deadly if there were enough of them.

The kobold’s pouch contained a few nuggets of copper and one silver coin. The raw metal had clearly been worked to be more or less uniform. Richter surmised that the lumps were a type of currency down in the Depths.

Richter looked around and didn’t see anything else useful. He picked up the body. A minute later, Tri’yerin came back.

“What will happen if the two of you don’t report back to the other kobolds?”

“There may be a search. As the lowest caste, we are not much valued. If we are sought out and no bodies are found, it will be assumed that we were killed by a monster or one of the clan’s enemies. The tunnels are not safe, and disappearances are common.”

That was music to Richter’s ears. “Follow me,” he said.

Richter started walking back the way that he had come. The kobold trailed behind, erasing tracks by swinging his tail across the floor. The appendage apparently wasn’t prehensile because he had kept one hand on the base of it and manually moved it. Alma slowly flapped along behind the kobold, ready to strike if the charm spell wore off.

It had taken Richter more than an hour to get this far down the hall, but that was with him stopping to disarm traps. Walking at a faster clip, they made their way back to the temple in less than twenty minutes. It occurred to him that the disabled traps themselves could tip other kobolds off to his passage, but there just wasn’t time to reset them. Also, resetting traps was just… stupid.

The two of them made it back to the temple with no difficulty. Once back in the room with the windows, Richter had Tri’yerin stand in front of him. He took the kobold’s spear and then cast Charm. The kobold seemed to struggle for a brief second, but then the spell took hold again.

Richter used Analyze again just to be sure the kobold wasn’t faking it. Despite the fact that that their weapons exhibited crappy craftsmanship, he didn’t doubt the kobold’s innate intelligence or cunning. Deception must come naturally to a species with a racial ability dealing with traps. Thankfully the disposition showed ‘Charmed’ again.

In addition to the weapon, he took the rest of the reptile’s items, meager as they were. It was just another pouch with some lumps of copper and one bent copper bracelet. Richter put all of the kobold’s items into his Bag, and withdrew several sheets of paper, a pot of ink and a quill pen. After sharpening the quill with his short sword, he told the Tri’yerin to draw all of the tunnels and traps he could remember, starting at the point where they met. Then he laid back on one of the stone pews to wait. He made sure to position himself between the kobold and the exit leading back to the tunnels.

Since he had time to kill, he checked his combat log for the last time that he cast Charm. Richter wanted to know why the kobold had been able to mount a defense against the spell the second time, no matter how meager, when the first time Tri’yerin had easily succumbed to the spell. What he found was confusing. Many factors seemed to come into play including Richter’s own Intelligence, Charisma, Life Mastery, but also the target’s Wisdom, Charisma, resistance to Life magic, and that was just to name a few. It all added up to a percentage chance of the spell working. He accessed the first time he had cast the spell as well, and by cross checking, he was able to discover two large differences. The second time the kobold’s disposition towards Richter was lower, which seemed to lower the chance for the spell to work. There was also a penalty to casting the same enchantment type spell again on the same person within 24 hours.

Hmmm, he thought, I won’t be able to make all of these calculations in the heat of battle, but it was good to know what could keep the spell from working. Basically, what affected Charm in The Land was the same as what affected it on Earth. Charming a woman who already liked you was easy. Charming a woman who hated you not so much, and EVERY guy had learned that the same line probably wouldn’t work two times in a row!

With that mystery solved, Richter cracked open a Lore book and started reading. He didn’t know when it happened, but he must have dozed off while waiting because the next thing he knew, he was being awoken by a shriek. It was pitch black. He quickly cast Night Vision. Looking around, he saw the kobold spasming with Alma latched to his head.

“Stop Alma,” he shouted. She glared at him, but didn’t detach. He tried again with more steel in his voice, “Stop! I still need him!” The dragonling gave an angry squawk, but finally let go, flapping angrily into the air. The kobold stayed on the ground stunned. Richter cast Charm a third time. Analyze showed that the spell had worked. Then he cast Slow Heal on the kobold. Alma had taken away 58 health from the creature before she let go. The spell restored 45 health over a minute. The original effect on the spell had been 30 health over 60 seconds, but it was now buffed by Richter’s new Life mastery. In a couple minutes, the kobold had recovered. Richter asked him to get back to work on the maps and he complied as if nothing had happened.

Richter resisted the temptation of laying down again, even though that was exactly what he wanted to do. He had been going nonstop since leaving the dungeon to unlock his Life mastery. It hadn’t been a ridiculous amount of hours, but it also hadn’t exactly been a low stress environment. It wasn’t a shock that he had slept, but it also wasn’t excusable. If it wasn’t for Alma, that kobold could have sunk a spear into his neck and twisted. Major arteries would have almost definitely been severed and Richter wasn’t in a rush to die again.

So this time he stood in the central aisle and drew his short sword. He cast Far Light, dismissing Night Vision, and then started going through the sword forms he had learned from Yoshi. Some didn’t seem to quite work using a short sword rather than his old high steel longsword, but it was good practice nonetheless. To keep time, he sang songs under his breath. He started with Dave Matthews “Crash Into Me,” 5 minutes and 14 seconds, then he went into “Nosering Girl” by Nerfherder, 4 minutes and 4 seconds. After that he decided it was time for a little “The Creator” by Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth, 3 minutes and 49 seconds. And so it went. Practice, sing, renew the light, repeat. He was about to get down with Beyonce and all his single ladies, when he realized more than thirty minutes had gone by.

He stopped his sword form practice. A light sheen of sweat covered his body as he walked over to the charmed kobold. Sheets and sheets of paper had been filled, and the kobold still wasn’t done. Daunted by what he was seeing, Richter stopped Tri’yerin and asked him how all the pictures fit together. The kobold started yipping to explain how each paper led to the next, but Richter was getting confused. He ordered the creature to arrange all of the papers on an open section of the floor.

When Tri’yerin was done, a rat’s nest of interweaving tunnels was laid before him. The kobold had arranged it in three different patches that reflected different elevations of tunnels. The sheer complexity of the system made Richter’s head hurt. He didn’t see the kobold’s home though. When asked, the cognizant reptile replied that he hadn’t gotten to that part of the map yet.

“How much more could there possibly be?” Richter asked incredulous. Was the kobold resisting the spell somehow? Maybe being intentionally unhelpful?

“Oh this is only a small part, master. No more than a few miles.” Richter looked back at the picture of spaghetti in front of him in shock.

“So where would your city be then,” Richter asked.

Tri’yerin thought about it a second, then walked two feet past the edge of the middle elevation patch of map and said, “Here.”

Richter realized there was ABSOLUTELY no way he could have found his way through the tunnels without this map. And the amount of traps was mind numbing. Though, terrifying might have been a better word.

“Just draw me the way to the city,” Richter said. He started silently counting. He couldn’t have much time left on the spell that kept Tri’yerin pliable. When he reached ten minutes, he told Alma to be ready, and cast Charm a fourth time. Though there was still some time left on the last iteration of the spell, this cast made the kobold immediately growl. He sprung at Richter, small claws outstretched. The enraged reptile didn’t make it more than a foot. Once again, Alma had been hovering and ready. She dive bombed and latched onto him. Her level four Brain Drain immediately incapacitated the kobold. This time Richter didn’t stop her.

He thought about the person he was becoming. Not too long ago, he had been studying to be a doctor. Now, in just the past few hours, he had killed a sentient being. Immediately after that, Richter had coerced the dead kobold’s brother to betray the rest of their people. And what did he do for an encore, after that? Richter killed the kobold he had enslaved once the creature had outlived his usefulness. As he watched Alma feed, he wondered if he was going down the wrong path…

Then he put it out of his mind. The Land was his world now. A world of wonder and magic, but also a world of violence. He would do what he had to do. Richter realized that was the answer to his question he had been asking himself. Who was he becoming? He was becoming a man who would not shy from difficult or unpleasant tasks. He was becoming a leader.

Before long, Alma was done, and he had a new prompt.

You have been awarded 1,686 (base 33,716 x 0.04 x 1.25) experience from Brain Drain against Level 6 Kobold.

After dismissing the prompt, Richter walked over to the map which now included the location of the city and the route to reach it through the tunnels.

You have found a new map. Would you like to add it to your Traveler’s Map? Yes or No?

Richter choose ‘Yes’ and then accessed his Map. The flat representation became three dimensional in his mind’s eye. He realized he was putting a lot of faith both in the kobold’s artistry and memory, assuming that Tri’yerin had told the truth at all. Either way, he was much better prepared than he had been before.

Richter looked around, making sure nothing was out of place. He didn’t see anything that should betray the fact that he had invaded this section of the kobold’s domain. Then he picked up the bodies of both of reptilians and started walking up the stairs.