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FORT STOUT’S PORTAL ROOM greeted me with cryptlike silence and desolation. And one other thing ― a vile, clammy sensation of Darkness. It was like a greeting from an old friend, the otherworldly portal. I’m reminded that I used to have worse reactions to these upwellings. Now I take them as minor inconveniences. Like bad smells. Nothing more.
I activated the amulet and summoned Gorgie, who immediately started studying the room.
According to the map of Fort Stout I found in the Foreston magistrate’s library, its portal hall was located directly beneath the tower.
I chuckled.
“How much time could I have saved if I had access to this room before?”
“Hrn,” Gorgie agreed.
“Find something?” I asked.
The harn just snorted to let me know there was nothing of interest in the room.
“Like I thought...” I muttered and walked toward the door. Beyond it ran a wide corridor leading to the surface. If the map was to be trusted, the exit was in the western part of the fort.
“Hrn...”
“Yes, I feel it too.”
The otherworldly portal has grown more powerful over the past year. I can even sense its dark emanations from here. And it’s a few hours’ walk away.
“I think we’ll have visitors soon. We need to hurry.”
Before getting outside, we had to do some messing around. The exit was blocked by a pile of rocks and dirt mixed with ancient debris.
After digging out the cave-in and getting to the surface, I summoned the whipsnakes. Now there were four of us, and we were ready to turn back any attack.
I took a look around.
A-hem... It’s all much worse than I thought. The Stone Forest is immersed in darkness. This huge piece of land seemed uninhabitable. The trees looked dismal as if something invisible was pressing down on them. Everything around was enshrouded in grimy gray fog. Visibility was abysmal. If not for my magic sight, I’d basically be blind.
“Go take a walk around,” I ordered my pets. “Just stay quiet.”
Following my order, they disappeared into the darkness silent as shadows.
I meanwhile got started looking around and, to put it lightly, wasn’t particularly encouraged.
Everywhere I cast my eye, there was stone debris lying around, having grown over with black moss and withered vegetation over the past year. There was literally nothing left of the fort. Someone had simply wiped it off the face of the earth.
At first, I blamed it on the orcs. After all, Sarkhaat the Great Shaman of the Wastes was hot on my heels and burning with righteous indignation to take revenge for the death of his grandson. But I somehow had a hard time believing the orcs would waste the kind of time and energy it would take to level every structure to the ground. And I should note that it would take a huge amount of energy. My ancient forerunners worked on this for centuries. Even after the attacks of the otherworldly brutes, the majority of the fortifications and the tower itself were essentially untouched.
No, someone else had been here...
And whoever it was had demolished the ancient Hunter structures. As a matter of fact, the fort was even missing its supply. I didn’t find the golem, either. And no wonder. Who could pass up such goodies?
I’d have to start over from scratch. What a pity. The size of the stolen supply was pretty striking. The ten shards I’d brought to fuse with it were supposed to increase the power of the supply and future city.
First back from scouting were the whipsnakes, who hadn’t found anything. The Stone Forest was hard to call populated on my last visit. And those days were long gone. I had seen something similar before. Looks like we’re currently witnessing the formation of an anomaly. Very soon, its masters would be dropping by for a check-up.
Gorgie was last to return, having gone to check the road leading to the otherworldly portal. And he brought news that something ghastly and huge was moving our direction. Just what I wanted him to tell me.
My pets were agitated. The snakes hissed menacingly while the harn batted himself on the scaly sides with his tail, growling nervously. They were ready to do battle right here and now.
But beyond the pets, someone else was showing unease. Or rather, impatience and hunger ― the Heart of the Forest seeds. Recently they hadn’t been acting up much or causing particular trouble. Either it was because we had gotten used to each other, or their desires were suppressed by my Will. Hard to explain. But in one way or another, I managed to forget about the little gluttons until today. But I shouldn’t have...
The two monsters needed food. Especially Bad Seed. That was what I was calling one of the big eaters to myself. Since I got them, I managed to get to know them and concluded that they had completely different personalities. Bad Seed was more active and unstable. It was always begging for food at the very worst times. And that was how it earned itself the name.
The second glutton was quieter. It didn’t jump out in front, instead ceding the initiative to its insatiable sibling. At first, I thought Bad Seed was dominating and suppressing the other one, but very quickly I realized it was something else completely... It just couldn’t be bothered to constantly pressure me. Why waste energy on such foolishness? On top of that, the impatient Bad Seed was doing a good enough job. And for the record, when I lost patience and started using my Will to pressure them, it nipped back hard enough for them both. And that led to me calling the second one Lazybones.
But now, Bad Seed and Lazybones were getting on my nerves equally.
“Calm down, children,” I reassured all my creatures through clenched teeth. “Soon we’ll be able to do some fighting and eating. But first we have to get ready.”
I should note that Lazybones calmed right down, where Bad Seed needed some pressure from my Will. For the umpteenth time... I already knew which of them I wanted to get rid of first. Ahem... I do not envy their new keeper.
By the way, about that. As it turned out, I was not able to summon a new keeper while in Foreston. The Great System told me there already was one Heart of the Forest nearby. Basically, they can’t live too near each other.
Seemingly, I would have to summon a keeper while in the Stone Forest. To be frank, I was hoping to put that on Tananth or someone from his circle, but I hadn’t heard from the elves. So, the issue of summoning a “new Pinebogey” remained open and it was honestly starting to worry me. Without help from a Heart of the Forest, it would be hard for us to take over the Stone Forest and thus distract the necromancers.
We spent a few minutes cleaning off the huge stone pedestal where the fort’s supply had once been.
As soon as I placed a hand on the slab’s scratchy surface, a message appeared before my eyes:
― Magister, would you like to create a supply?
Giving my permission, I saw a short list of requirements.
― Large shard of lilac ice (1).
― 50,000 development points.
― 30,000 mana points.
Great! Just one shard! No need to create mana crystals just for that. The ancient writings were not lying.
I read the message one more time and turned to my patiently awaiting pets.
“So then, kiddos,” I said, shaking the dirt and leaves off my knees. “That’s enough scouting. Let’s go back to Foreston for shards.”
* * *
WHEN I POPPED OUT OF the portal in Foreston, I was awaited by my entire inner circle as well as thirty troops who were supposed to bring the preprepared crystals.
All of them look tense. They’re waiting to hear what I have to say.
“How was it?” Murk asked shortly.
“Quiet for now,” I answered. “But it will begin soon.”
I saw that the albino was struggling against himself, though not a single tendon twitched on his face. Great! He proved yet again that the decision to leave him behind in Foreston was the right one. I wouldn’t have wanted to leave our main city without a commander. After all, anything could have happened with the portal at Fort Stout.
“Everything ready over here?” I asked.
Murk nodded.
“Then after me,” I waved a hand and again stepped into the portal arch.
A few moments later, troops started appearing in the fort’s portal hall carrying shards.
I saw them losing their footing and grimacing. Not all of them took the otherworldly portal’s greeting well. Some of the foxfolk stopped, doubled over and started to vomit. And that was despite the fact I had placed my marker on all of them.
“Hang in there, brethren,” I reassured them. “Just a bit more. Bring it all up!”
A few minutes later, all the shards were lying outside next to the pedestal while the troops caught their breath and looked around alarmed. Based on the standing fur on the backs of their necks, they were not big fans of the area around Fort Stout. They kept glancing over at the whipsnakes and Gorgie. With my pets around, the foxfolk felt more confident.
Suddenly, the snakes started to hiss menacingly while the harn bared his fangs and gave a muted growl.
“Enough!” I said loudly. “We’ve got company! Go back to Foreston!”
I could see lack of confidence on the troops’ faces. I understand. They don’t want to abandon their leader.
“Well!” I barked. The avatar of chaos had already started to transform my body. “What are you standing around for!? March to the portal!”
I reinforced the last order with Will.
A few troops shuddered, some stepped back, but every single one of them obeyed.
When the last soldier’s tail flickered down the hole, I breathed a sigh of relief and turned toward the direction our uninvited guests were coming from.
The Darkness began to condense. Something huge and dangerous was coming this way from the otherworldly portal. A few heartbeats, and the wall of darkness was practically looming over us.
With my permission, Coal flicked his tail and a wave of fire rolled toward the dark spot.
For a moment, the clammy dark gray fog rolled back. The fiery wall wafted with flame. Burning up everything in its path, it rolled a few dozen feet and disappeared.
Based on the fact that the Great System ignored it, the fire had not only not killed anything, it didn’t even do any damage. The feeling of a stranger’s presence weas only growing stronger, though.
Sparky wanted to make a play as well, but I stopped her. I finally figured out what we were up against. And that awareness made me tense.
The creature coming to pay us a visit was a dark spirit.
To confirm my guess, the system told me an “Elder Spirit of Darkness” tried to take control of me and my pets. My heart fluttered. We had yet to come up against a beast this powerful. It was an order of magnitude more powerful than the spirit that tried to kill me next to the portal on the other side of Narrow Lake.
Meanwhile, the clammy fog surrounded us. The first thing it did was cut off our retreat to the portal. I sensed a growing panic from my pets and could feel the evil spirit’s delight in my very bones. It was celebrating! It had trapped a new group of victims! And it was very easy. Too easy.
I barked loudly and recalled my pets, leaving myself one on one with the creature from another world. A wave of unease and disappointment rolled over me. The Elder Spirit couldn’t tell what was going on. Where had its prey gone? A stream of annoyance and fury spewed out onto me. The Dark Wall started to contract, threatening to swallow me up whole.
I quickly looked around and snorted. This spirit doesn’t even suspect who it’s tangling with. No doubt it is used to its victims being helpless against its magic. But not today!
With a loud growl, I took a bold step out to meet the Darkness swallowing me up with delight. But the spirit’s jubilation did not last long. Suddenly, it felt a sharp pain. Something very angry and hungry was trying to tear off a piece of it and swallow it without chewing. In fact, there were two of the mysterious predators.
Bad Seed and Lazybones, after their strict diet, were having a field day and really savoring the free energy. And by the way, there was a lot of it. A real lot. They broke out of my hands, trying to absorb as much dark energy as possible. They were rushing to tear off the juiciest chunks. The gluttons can sense that their victim will soon turn tail.
The spirit, by the way, got a handle on the situation quite quickly. In just a moment, it had gone from the hunter to the hunted. And as expected, it was hurrying to retreat. It was quite agile. While I blinked my eyes, it had traveled twelve paces. And a minute later, it had disappeared from view entirely. Based on the way it felt easier to breathe, the fearsome elder spirit of Darkness was high tailing it back to the otherworldly portal. I suspect it was very upset with us and would try to mess with us from afar.
I let my guard down a bit too much and almost missed a rebellion. Bad Seed was on a rampage. It was demanding the feast continue. It was trying to force me to follow the “tasty prey.” Lazybones was laying low as ever though. It knew the rebellion would be suppressed in any case. So, it wasn’t especially boisterous.
Pressuring Bad Seed with my Will, I promised that very soon there would be lots of food. It accepted my leadership for the umpteenth time, cooled down unmistakably and quickly fell silent. It was clearly starting to digest what it had eaten. Although knowing its appetite, it wouldn’t last long.
With a sigh of relief, I went back to the pedestal. I have to finish up before the spirit comes to its senses and tries to take revenge.
Hoisting the largest shard of lilac ice up onto the pedestal, I gave the system permission to take the resource. A short flash and a message appeared before my eyes:
― Attention, Magister! You have created Small Magic Supply!
― Congratulations! The Higher Powers have noted your commitment to the fight against Darkness!
― Your reward:
― 200,000 development points.
― Iridescent tablet “Ravisher of Darkness.”
I chuckled nervously. Great bonus! And just what I needed.
Setting the tablet aside to study later, I moved on to the next step. I took the ancient scroll from my bag and set it on the pedestal next to the supply.
― Attention, Magister! Would you like to activate Living City blueprint?
― You will need:
― Living City blueprint.
― 1,000,000 development points.
― 100,000 mana points.
“Yes!” I growled impatiently. “Make it snappy!”
The system immediately snatched the majority of my hard-earned development points. It also nearly drained all the mana crystals that took me so long to buy.
At first, nothing happened. But after a few minutes that felt like an eternity, a very powerful shockwave swelled up from underground. Slicing through the earth like flesh, big fat whitish roots burst forth everywhere around. They slithered around like giant snakes, modifying the local landscape to suit their needs.
Right before my eyes, on the edge of the forest, living walls sprouted up. As they grew, I started seeing familiar prehensile killer vines on their trunks. Right where the fort’s tower had once been, up grew a giant sequoia, shooting into the sky with its young branches. The first one on this continent!
I was jubilant! Bad Seed and Lazybones were as well.
The living city was struggling to push back the edge of the Darkness and I could sense that it needed my help.
“Now!” I barked shortly and ran toward the shards.
First in line were two shards of lilac ice.
― Would you like to perform fusion?
“Yes!”
― Attention! Fusion successful!
― Supply capacity has increased by 3 times.
― Mana restore speed increased by 2 times.
― Permanent spell activated: Mana Aura.
Great! I felt a powerful shockwave from underground. The mana stream being absorbed by the living city had grown larger. Things sped up.
But I was not going to stop. Next in line were three shards of black granite, making the bark significantly more durable.
Once finished with the granite, I fed the supply the last four shards. Two fiery rubies provided the future city dwellers a forty-percent boost to life supply and a fifteen-point regeneration bonus. And next, the two smoky crystals brought up the capacity of their personal energy supplies and the restore speeds.
After deactivating avatar, I sat down wearily on the stone supply pedestal and wiped the sweat off my brow. The earth around me was heaving, swallowing up the wreckage of the old structures. Fort Stout, having served its term with honor and distinction, was heading into oblivion. I actually felt sad. After all, one year ago, its walls had kept us safe from the ghastly beasts that came flooding out of the otherworldly portal.
“No, old buddy,” I patted my hand on the scratchy surface. “You will not be forgotten. I will make sure future generations know of your deeds.”
I looked around and chuckled ravenously.
“I’d like to see them try and smoke us out of here now!”