Monster Farmer 2: A Fantasy LitRPG Adventure, page 1
MONSTER FARMER 2
©2023 DB King
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ALSO IN SERIES
Monster Farmer
Monster Farmer 2
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CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Thank you for reading Monster Farmer 2
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LitRPG
CHAPTER ONE
Things had changed in a way that Erron wasn’t ready for, and yet, it felt like this was meant to happen. His farm wasn’t ready to host guests, but he’d made do. His old squad mates from The Exiles had found him. While this was something Erron had taken great lengths to stop from happening, he had been very relieved that they seemed to understand why he’d done it.
Jenath Darkstar, the elven ranger, with her hawk Lyra, had always been the non-judgmental kind. Sellis Trell, the diminutive halfling druid, and Agatha Mothica, the dark magic user, were not as relaxed as Jenath, but both also seemed to be taking the reality of the situation on board.
It was true that Erron Vangian had betrayed them, and betrayed The Exiles as a whole when he stole the arcane core that was now embedded in his hand. Did the reason why he betrayed them matter? Perhaps. At least it lessened the sting.
When they went to retrieve their horses, Erron’s heart leapt at the sight of his faithful steed, Swiftwind. His friends had used him as a pack horse on their journey south, but he was here, and Erron was overjoyed. Swiftwind whinnied and nuzzled Erron’s hand as they met once more, and the arcane core in Erron’s hand made it very clear that his steed was in fine health.
After defeating the baleful beast known as the duergon guarding the mineshaft, they all made their way back to Erron’s farm of Hope’s End. The air in the forest was thick with the scent of damp earth and decaying underbrush, which was cut with the sweeter scent of wildflowers that grew in clusters on the forest floor. Leaves rustled in the wind overhead like the forest was whispering dark secrets between the trees.
His loyal fiends walked with them, and Erron tried to promise his friends that he would explain everything properly in the morning, but his old friends were having none of that.
“No, you’re going to explain everything tonight, before you have a chance to think about it too much,” Agatha said as she brushed a strand of dark hair in back of her ear. “Plus, I’m damned hungry. Please tell me you’ve got something to eat.”
“I hope you like roasted pheasant,” Erron said with a smile, knowing full well that it was one of Agatha’s favorites.
Agatha’s eyes went wide, and a grin cracked across her face. “You haven’t!”
“Well, I had help from my friends,” Erron said and inclined his head toward his fleshwargs, who were trotting along beside them. They were called fleshwargs on account of Erron burying them after skinning their pelts, resulting in an odd, hairless canine form. “They’re quite the hunters. I guess I should properly explain some things before we get back to the farm.”
And so he did. Erron told his companions most of how things worked here in Hope’s End, but not everything. He kept the knowledge of the Night Matron, who was the source of his monster-resurrecting power, to himself. Now was not the time to reveal that his power came from the soul of a dragon named Vyrmior, who should have been killed during The Quelling thousands of years ago.
For now, Erron had control of the power. That was all that his companions needed to know.
Erron explained that any dead body he buried in the land around his farm would rise the very next day as a loyal fiend. Humanoid or otherwise, they would come back, and Erron could make them swear fealty to him. Some would be obedient from the moment they clawed their way out of the ground, but others would be defiant and force Erron and his monsters to assert their dominance.
“So these creatures with the four arms. They were people once?” Jenath asked. A dark look passed over the elven ranger’s face at this realization, and somehow Lyra, her hawk, echoed the scowl.
“Yes. There are some other things I should probably tell you as well. If you’re staying at Hope’s End with me, then you’re likely going to be in the firing line, just as I am.”
The group shared an uncertain look, but Erron gave a nervous chuckle in reply.
“Don’t worry. I have no doubt that my monsters will keep us safe. There’s an organization here in the Southern Reach called The Crimson Dagger. They seem to want to keep control over things from the shadows. Initially, they wanted to kill me to keep anyone from starting to build a life at Hope’s End, but I took them all on.”
“How many?” Sellis asked.
“Three. There was a half-orc, an elf, and a gnome. They are how I discovered the latent power in the ground of Hope’s End,” Erron explained. “They came back the very next day, but they were different. The half-orc came back as Clobber, who I know you’ve all met.”
“What of the other two?” Jenath asked.
“Dead.”
“And because you killed their men, The Crimson Dagger want you dead?” Sellis asked.
“They already wanted me dead, but that certainly added fuel to the fire. They tried to abduct me again, but as you can see, they did not succeed. I killed many of them, and I buried some of them on my farm. If they’re going to send me resources that I can use, I will not squander them.”
The conversation died for a moment then, and suddenly, the hooting of an owl broke it. Lyra the hawk snapped her head in the direction of the other bird of prey, and Jenath raised a slender hand to calm her animal partner.
“Do you have any idea why the land raises the dead into new types of monsters?” Agatha asked.
“No,” Erron lied.
“The kind of magic needed to do something like this is unheard of,” Agatha said. “It takes a vast amount of soul energy to raise a corpse, and much more if you want it to be bound to the will of a living person. We all know that you have no talent with magic, Erron. No offense intended, but it’s true. So there must be a reason why this is happening on your farm. Would you like me to use my expertise to investigate this for you?”
“There are far more useful things that I would like your assistance with to start with,” Erron said. “The why of it doesn’t matter to me much right now. I don’t have the buildings I’ll need for you all to have your own space, and we’ll need to hunt for more food. We have three more mouths to feed now.”
“I can handle the hunting,” Jenath said. “But I’d love to see your hounds in action.”
“I’m sure you’ll get the chance before too long,” Erron said. “It’s really only been a couple of weeks since I… since I left you all. There is much work to be done to get the farm up and running. Now are you absolutely sure the Mage Council won’t be able to find me here?”
“That’s something we should probably talk about later, once we’ve had some food. Then we can all sit down and really go through everything,” Agatha said.
That was all Erron needed to hear. If the answer was going to be a simple no, there would be no need for a conversation. A knot of worry started to t
By the time they got back to Hope’s End, everyone was beginning to look visibly tired. Everybody except Sellis, of course. The halfling never tired. She had a way of always looking ready to leap into action at the drop of a hat. This was because of her bond to the Circles of Brambles, and the bear form that she favored.
The bramble bear form that she took when threatened enhanced her stamina to levels beyond that which any person could reach, and some of this effect also carried over to her halfling form. Even a tenth of the stamina of a bear was enough to drive her small body far beyond what any of the others could manage.
In order for Sellis to continue to strengthen her bond with the forces of nature, she regularly needed to return to the heart of Thornweave Hollow. This was the home of the Druidic Circle of Brambles, and Sellis was always very tight-lipped about what she actually did when she returned there. But when she came back, her powers were always more potent than ever. Erron would have to check in to see when she needed to go back to the circle.
Soon they reached the edge of the forest and Hope’s End came into view. Erron was relieved to see his farm again, but he was apprehensive of having his friends here. This was supposed to be a brand new life, and here he was dragging three people from his old life right into the middle of it.
Erron paused at the forest’s edge. “Well, this is the northern boundary of my land. I’m still working on getting this place back into working order.”
“For the time you’ve been gone, this is mighty impressive,” Jenath said. “The barn, the little shack, the walls; they all look newly constructed.”
“They are. My fiends helped me put it together. Just like Agatha, I’ve got some things I should probably explain to you all as well.” Erron held his hand up and willed the arcane core embedded in his palm to glow.
Agatha laughed. “So that’s why the Mage Council of Lutheron Lake were so adamant they needed to get the core back urgently. Is that core bonded to your skin?”
“Not just bonded to the skin. It’s a part of me now. It shows me information about almost anything I touch, and it accelerates both my learning and my execution in a number of different ways. But there’s no way of getting it back now.” Erron continued on and headed toward the walls of Hope’s End.
“I can think of one way,” Agatha said. “The same way that we had to take it from that hound. We killed it and we took it right out of the creature’s corpse.”
“That adds an entirely new level of complexity to this situation,” Jenath said. “If we can’t remove the core from Erron’s body without killing him, and the Mage Council desperately wants it back, then what do we do?”
“Fendral was pretty clear about what he wanted us to do,” Sellis said in a sad voice.
Those words sent a chill through Erron. “Fendral sent you here?”
His old mentor was one of the only people Erron feared, and for good reason. He was the greatest swordsman in the Five Kingdoms, and he desperately wanted Erron to stay in The Exiles where he could be watched closely. Escaping Fendral’s overbearing oversight was one of the main reasons Erron did what he did. His life could never be his own if he was always following orders.
Sellis crossed her arms over her chest. “Of course he did. He sent us to find you, and to bring the arcane core back to the Mage Council. They paid The Exiles up front to retrieve the core for them, and now it looks like The Exiles have just gone and stolen it from them.”
“That is pretty much what I did,” Erron said, and the shame slammed down on him like a landslide.
“This changes things,” Sellis said. “If Erron literally can’t remove that from his body without having it cut out, then that’s just not going to happen. No matter what.”
“It’s in his right hand too,” Jenath said. “That’s your sword arm. So if they take your hand for thievery, which they might, you’ll never be able to fight again.”
“That is absolutely not going to happen,” Erron said. The very idea that he would give up the arcane core now that he knew exactly what it could do was not something he would even contemplate. It belonged to him now. He’d bonded to the core, and even given her a name; Arcoria.
“It’s a good thing that you destroyed that divining rod,” Jenath said and looked hopefully at Agatha.
Agatha shook her head and suddenly looked quite concerned. “You see, the thing is, once they figure out that we're not coming back, they’re just going to make another divining rod. They'll be able to tune it into the same arcane frequency that they used to send us here. At some stage, I don’t know when, they’ll send others after you, Erron. We don’t want them to let the dreadmages loose to hunt Erron down, because they’ll just take the core no matter the trail of bodies they leave behind.”
Erron knew about the dreadmages. They were the attack dogs of the Mage Councils of the Five Kingdoms, hunting down apostates and those in possession of dangerous magical artifacts.
“We all have some decisions to make in the coming days, because we are not going to be able to sit here and take no action,” Agatha continued. “They will come for you, Erron, and we need to decide how we’re going to deal with that problem. If you lot don’t figure something out, then we’re going to have to get ahead of it.”
“How long do you think we have?” Erron asked.
“I think it would be a very good idea for us to send written correspondence back to Fendral,” Jenath said. “We need to keep control of this situation if we don't want it to get out of hand. We’ll just tell him that the divining rod was destroyed, but we are so close that we’ve almost found Erron. We’ll say we have some leads, and hopefully, that should buy us a few weeks.”
“You guys would lie to Fendral for me?” Erron asked.
Agatha offered him a sad smile. “Don’t think of it as lying. Think of it as us protecting you until we can figure out what to do from here. At some point, you may need to think about finding a way to extract the arcane core from your body.”
As they crossed the fields, many of which still needed to be cleared and readied for planting, Erron felt the future he’d been building toward over the last few weeks begin to slip out of his grasp. He was losing control of this situation too quickly, and he needed to bring things back under his control.
“We’ll worry about all of that later, okay?” Erron asked. “Come, let’s eat.”
Erron had enough food to feed everyone, but he knew he was going to need a better way of storing food as things continued on. If the ranks of his fiends were going to keep expanding, while also hosting his friends here for some time, he needed a way to keep his food fresh.
There were a number of freshly plucked pheasants hanging from the rafters in his newly constructed barn. They had been defeathered and prepared already, so all that was left was bones and meat. Erron brought out a few of these in a woven basket, and they got to cooking. They ate the meat as it cooked, just as they had done while traveling together all across the Five Kingdoms.
It was in that moment as his friends sat around his fire that Erron realized this was what had been missing. He had wanted his own life for so long and had been so focused on getting what he wanted, he didn't realize what he already had. Friends like these were worth more than all the bones and crowns in the Five Kingdoms, and that just made this whole situation even more difficult.
“I have a question to ask all of you,” Erron said.
“Go for it,” Jenath said as she chewed on a pheasant drumstick.
“How mad was Fendral when you told him what I'd done?” Erron asked.
