The Colossal LitRPG Collection: 9 Books, page 97
“Maybe I should get Saif,” Fenton said, moving to the stairs.
But Rob stopped him with a wave. “No need. I’m fine. It’s okay.” He looked at the cornerstone. The exposed part he’d cut away was black and shiny.
Like dragon scales.
Rob rubbed the back of his head. “Actually, maybe it’s best we don’t tell Saif about this at all. Okay?”
“Uh, if you’re certain, your Highness. But you do look a little pale. Can I get you some water?”
“No, I’m fine,” Rob said as he knelt next to the cornerstone. He resisted the temptation to touch the blackened corner. Something told him it wouldn’t lead to anything good. The sliver lay at the bottom of the recess. It looked white and unblemished.
Before reaching down, he removed a leather glove from his pouch and put it on. As he pinched the sliver between his fingers he winced in anticipation, but nothing happened. Relieved, he stood. “So, what do I do with it now?”
“Tie this around the middle so it can hang freely,” Fenton said, holding out a long thick thread.
With some effort, and several attempts, Rob managed to tie the thread to the middle of sliver so it hung perpendicular to the floor.
“Okay, what now?” Rob asked, looking at it with naked suspicion.
“Hold the thread at the end.”
Rob did, and immediately the sliver slowly turned and stopped. It looked to be pointing both southeast and northwest. Curious, he moved around the room and found the sliver consistently pointed southeast, regardless of where he moved.
“Like a compass,” Rob said. “I guess you guys don’t have a magnetic north here.”
“Magnetic? Is that a type of magic?”
“Kind of,” Rob said. Satisfied it worked he carefully placed it within a piece of cloth Fenton gave him and put both in a pouch. He had his direction, now he needed to start walking.
“Are you sure you’re okay, your Highness? I’ve never seen anything like that before, with any Foundation Stone. I’m beginning to think we made a mistake.”
“Don’t worry. It pointed in a direction just like you said. Those rumors were right and now I don’t have to spend my time searching the entire world. Thanks.”
Rob pat him on the shoulder, and Fenton grinned.
“If feels good to do something exciting,” the builder said. “Setting blocks year after year gets boring.”
“Yeah, well, sometimes doing something exciting can get you killed,” Rob said as they went back upstairs. “I should know.” He needed to gear up and head out. It was late morning and he didn’t want to waste anymore daylight.
As he left the tower, he found Fenton trailing behind him. “Hey, thanks for everything, but I’ll be fine now.”
Fenton frowned and for a moment Rob was reminded of Michael’s disappointed expression. “Are you sure? I’d like to help more. You don’t know if that stone messed with your head. I can keep an eye on you.”
Rob glanced around to make certain Saif wasn’t nearby. “Look, kid, thanks, but from here on out, I’m on my own. It’s for the best.” Besides, he wouldn’t stand getting this guy killed when he had trouble staying alive himself.
He turned and walked across the courtyard, his bare feet slapping on the stone. Trenton and Benton were at the far end, placing a block on top of the wall. The older builder gave him a worried glance.
Avoiding the village, and the mass of people staring at the stone slab, he walked down the steep hill to his cabin. Inside, he found a new set of clothes, including boots. Gifts from the supplies the Trogs had given them. Rob didn’t doubt this would be the last of it, too.
After washing up, he dressed. As he was pulling on the leather boots, Saif entered without knocking. “Ah, I see you found your new clothes. Excellent.”
Rob sighed. “Could you please knock next time? This isn’t a barn, you know.” Part of him missed dead-bolt locks and electronic alarm systems.
“Sorry, sire, but I wanted to bring you this. Fumi found it in one of the supply parcels.” It was a new leather jerkin, unblemished from combat.
“Hey, thanks,” Rob said and put it on, cinching up the straps on its side.
“Yes, the crazy woman wanted to make it into gloves for the new bread-ovens.”
“We have bread ovens?” Rob’s mouth watered at the thought of freshly baked bread.”
“Not yet, my Lord. Those should come with the tavern once the village turns into a town.”
“What? A tavern? We get one of those?” Rob said, absentmindedly. He looked around for his buckler and found it leaning beneath the window.
“Yes. At least, the basic structure of one. We’d have to build it ourselves, I believe. I can’t be sure. I’ve never been present when a Town Foundation Stone has been placed.”
Maybe it would be like the castle, Rob thought. All the building materials appearing as if by magic. Only need to assemble the parts. “Well, I’ve got to find the Stone first, and I have no idea how long that’ll take.”
Saif was about to speak when Rob cut him off. “I know, Saif. We need supplies, too. My priorities are goblins, Foundation Stone, and supplies. What order they’ll occur is not up to me.”
“The gods will guide you, my Lord,” Saif said.
For a second Rob almost snapped at him for bringing up the gods, but kept his temper in check. They’d sparred over the subject before and Rob didn’t want to revisit it.
He checked to make sure he had everything; armor, helmet, slingpack, pouches and his big mace hanging awkwardly from his belt. “I think I’m set.”
“Oh, Fumi found these, too. Take them.” The Sage handed him four potions, two Healing and two Mana.
“Prefect, I’m almost out,” Rob said, slipping them into his potion pouch.
Although they’d worked out the entire Resurrection Chamber nonsense, Rob still had a feeling he couldn’t fully trust the Sage, yet. It would take some time. But until he knew Saif was on his side, and didn’t hide information from him, Rob would be diplomatic. “Thanks,” he said.
As they left the cabin Rob said, “Oh, just a word of warning, Trenton asked about his final payment. I told him to talk to you about it.”
Saif nodded. “It will be okay, my Lord. I have an idea how to handle that if you don’t return before then.”
“Like what?” Rob felt the familiar pressure of responsibility return. As if the headaches of the real world weren’t enough, like mortgages and car payments, taking care of an entire kingdom eclipsed them all by a long shot.
“We have the advantage, actually. Once the Foundation Stone is in place, the town will need a lot of building work to be done. The prospect of such work, and the promise of many more future payments, should placate any concerns of his.”
“He seems like a cool guy. I don’t want to lose him. If I happen to get any money I’ll bring it right back.”
“Whatever you think is best. You are the king.”
Rob couldn’t tell if the Sage was teasing him, but took the comment in stride. He may be a dirt poor king, but he still was king.
They stopped at the muddy road at the southern edge of the village. From here, Rob could see people milling about the stone circle. Some spotted him and moved in his direction.
Saif said, “Best you should go now, my Lord. They only want to regale you with their problems which need to wait. You have bigger concerns to attend to.”
“You’ll take care of things here?” Rob knew it was a stupid question, but felt like he should ask. He had come close to attacking Saif earlier, so mending bridges were in order.
“Of course, sire. Myself and the others will be fine.”
“If anything happens, like the pech show up or a dragon, or something, get everyone into the castle. Might not be a hundred percent finished but it’s better than nothing.”
“Yes, my Lord, I will.” Saif looked at the small crowd moving in their direction. “Please go now, while you still can.”
Rob nodded and quickly moved down the road until he rounded a bend and the village vanished behind the trees. He sighed. Here he went again, out into the great unknown to do a bunch of crazy stuff he was uncertain of. Just another day of being a king.
Part of him felt a little guilty leaving. It was obvious some of his subjects wanted to speak to him, whether about the current state of the kingdom, or their own problems. But he didn’t have time for them. It all would result in the same thing: more quests. And he was up to his eyeballs with them. There was only so much he could handle at one time. As he cleared his current slate, he’d make a point of adding more from his people. They’d expect nothing less of him.
Once he was a far enough distance, he took out the sliver. It still pointed in a roughly southeasterly direction. He wanted to avoid traipsing through the underbrush for as long as possible so he stuck to the road. As he walked he looked to the Western Mountains. A chill ran up his spine. The Rock-Cliff dragon still gave him nightmares. He was glad that entire business was over with. But a small part of him felt a sense of pride. He’d done it. He’d saved everyone and went through a lot of pain in doing so. That meant something.
As he marched through the mud, avoiding puddles, he shook his head. He couldn’t get too prideful. This place had a pension for knocking him back down to earth. Yet, he allowed himself a small pat on the back. Saving his people had been the single greatest challenge he’d faced since arriving, and he’d survived it all. Whatever happened to him next, he’d always have that.
Well, that and his very own castle.
He stopped to recheck the direction when he realized he was a short distance away from the Breddin homestead.
The homestead I burned down, he thought, sullenly. He wanted to take a look at the spot of his first great battle and continued down the road.
He was shocked to hear hammering and voices. Alarmed, he ran along the road until he reached the short muddy path that led to the property.
The blackened skeleton of the burnt out house was still there, its fire long dead. The barn lay in a collapsed heap of boards and beams, and Rob wouldn’t have been surprised to see the corpses of the goblins still there, too.
Between these former buildings was the skeleton of a new house; woodbeams erected and half of a roof already in place. Two boys were busy hammering makeshift shingles into the roof, their faces covered in sweat.
Below, a man shifting some cut logs into a pile. As he clapped his hands clean he looked up and spotted Rob.
Uh oh, Rob thought. This might not be good.
The man’s face brightened. “My Lord!” he shouted and ran over.
Wanting the ground to swallow him up, Rob waited, half expecting to be punched.
“It’s so good of you to visit us, my Lord!” the man said, beaming with joy.
“It’s good to see you again, Breddin,” Rob said. It was his own fault this man’s home had burned down, so this wasn’t the greeting he expected.
“Oh, where are my manners” Breddin turned and screamed at the boys. “Get your worthless butts down here. The king has graced us with his presence!”
The two boys dropped their hammers and nearly fell over each other trying to be the first one down the ladder.
“No, it’s okay, really.” As Rob spoke he had a sudden realization. “Wait, what are you doing here?”
“Doing here, my Lord?” Breddin said. “Why, I’ve come to rebuild our home. And I have you to thank for that.”
“Thank me?”
“Yes! If you hadn’t slain the goblins who burned it down, I wouldn’t be able to build a new one. The old one was old and falling apart, anyway.”
Rob shook his head. “Look, this place is dangerous. The Annex Marsh is right over there,” he pointed to the southeast.
“Yes, Saif warned us, but this is still our home, and I’ve told the lads to stay out of the swamp.”
“The Annex Marsh changes in size. It could grow and engulf this place. You can’t stay here.”
“Well, where are we to go?” Breddin said.
The farmer was getting angry, and Rob couldn’t blame him. But the potential danger far outweighed the man’s need to stay. He had to get them away from here.
Using a firm voice, Rob said, “As your king, I am telling you to leave. Go back to the village and wait until I return. We’ll speak more, then.”
What anger Breddin had, evaporated. “Yes. Yes, of course, my Lord.” He ushered his sons over to him. “We’ll go back, as you command.”
Rob instantly felt guilty as he watched the three head down the muddy road, but he quashed those feelings. Living anywhere near the border of the Annex Marsh was too dangerous. What if they’d become trapped inside? He’d probably have ended up with a quest to rescue them and he had absolutely no intentions of ever returning to that horrible place.
Sighing, he check the sliver. It pointed almost due east, thankfully, not in the direction of the Annex Marsh.
He crossed through Breddin’s property, glancing over the state it was in. He’d resolved before to help the farmer rebuild and he still intended on doing so. But he would have to relocated them far from here. Although he’d told Saif to warn the others about the Marsh, he needed to make it a decree that no one was to come near it.
As he moved through the trees the foliage slowly changed. The swamp was familiar territory. Wielding his mace, he stepped carefully over gnarled tree roots and skirted suspicious puddles.
Checking the sliver three more times, it led him to a place he wanted to forget about.
He stood before the Rat Queen’s lair and peered into its entrance. The sliver pointed directly inside.
That’s weird, he thought as he entered the cave, casting Light. The wet, muddy tunnel vanished beyond the edge of his illumination. How could the Foundation Stone be in here? Was it in the Rat Queen’s lair and he missed it? Granted, he didn’t know he needed it at the time, let alone what it looked like. With a shrug he moved forward, buckler pressed to his side.
He soon came upon the tunnel branch to the left and paused. That led to the long stone stairs and the messed up room with the Observer. Correction. Dickhead. Rob had no desire to get into another argument with the statue, if that’s what it really was. Thankfully, the sliver pointed ahead, so he continued on.
The tunnel branched off to the right. Rob checked the sliver, fully expecting to continue on, but to his surprise it pointed right.
What the hell?
Blinking in confusion he walked a short distance into the right-hand tunnel and stopped.
The red barrier was still there. The sliver pointed directly at it, and slightly downwards.
Damn it.
With a sigh, he touched the barrier, knowing full well what it would say.
You are not of high enough level to access the Lower Caves. Please return when you are level 6 or higher.
Rob cursed and kicked the barrier in frustration which felt as solid as rock. The Foundation Stone was behind the thing. He was level five and his experience points toward level six sat at only one percent. It would be awhile before he would be allowed passed.
He leaned against the rocky wall of the tunnel, thinking. Well, this sucked. But what could he do other than level up as quickly as he could? He’d have to tackle the goblins first. Hopefully that would be enough to put him over.
Defeated, he returned to the main tunnel and went back outside and reread his goblin quest.
‘Destroy the Goblin Hideout.’
Somewhere deep in the Eastern Forest, the Feral Goblin Clan has built a hideout. Find and destroy it.
Reward: 3,000 experience points.
At least it offered a lot of experience points for finishing, which didn’t include what he’d earn killing each one. Goblins would be easy for him now. He’d wipe the floor with them. What was that term Todd used to describe his most powerful characters? Overpowered. That’s it. Compared to goblins, he was overpowered.
Feeling a little better about the situation he moved due east. His plan was to reach the Eastern mountains, then follow them south until he found the hideout.
As he picked his way through the swampy undergrowth, his mind wandered back to the vision. Going over it in his mind made him feel both thrilled and terrified. Was it meant to be a possible future? He had to admit to himself that riding the dragon and assaulting the castle was exhilarating. Charming the Rock-Cliff dragon was cool, but could he tame one to ride on? It appeared to be possible. Trenton had mentioned getting a Dragon Roost for the castle. Where the hell was he suppose to get that? And what then? Find a dragon to move in? Or obtain dragon eggs, even?
As he picked his way through the swampy undergrowth he spotted a large pond of water to his right. Blinking in recognition, he stopped. That was the place with the mutant crocodile, Quartek. Thinking about the monstrous creature made him flinch. It had shattered his leg with its massive jaws, nearly ripping it from his body. He very much wanted to return the favor, make it be the one to feel agonizing pain.
He looked east, trying to decide what to do. The memory of his own ear-piercing shriek as the crocodile bit down into his flesh filled his head.
He found himself moving toward the pond. There was a hill at the eastern end so he switched directions, the landscape slowly rising. Through the thick brush he could make out the pond’s surface, calm and undisturbed.
Approaching the hill from its opposite side, Rob slowly and quietly crawled to the top, careful not to make a sound. He didn’t know if the thing could hear very well, but he didn’t want to take any chances. The element of surprise was crucial.
Cresting the hill, Rob carefully pulled some bushes aside to get a view of the pond.
It was as he remembered it before, calm waters the color of concrete and just as impenetrable. The shoreline was flattened, probably from generations of crocodiles basking in the sun. But Rob couldn’t see any now. Perhaps they were in the water, waiting for prey to come close.
