One Hundred And Ninety-Nine
The second Degraded Kobold reached the forest, but the moment it stepped across the threshold between the trees it retreated, rushing back towards us. It made it to the Fae Stones, but before it could cross fungus was already starting to sprout from it, luminous, putrid-smelling mushrooms forming in clusters, devouring flesh. It fell, trying to fulfil my orders, crawling towards the Stones, hand outstretched, but it was too late. The kobold died, and my eyes could make out a puff of spores released by the fungus, which quickly withered and died as well, leaving little but unpleasant sludge behind.
“Hmm.” I pursed my lips, thinking. “Looks like the fungus finds it hard to thrive outside its own Territory. It seems like the spores can still sprout though, even with a brief exposure. I see why the Fae have struggled to take the Spring back.”
“Yes, quite.” Ixitt lashed his rubber-clad tail. “So, what’s the next test?”
“Seven and eight, please go.” I declared, and two elite Degraded Kobolds, the Miners, set off. They bypassed the dead remains of their fallen allies, and entered the forest. The first stood there inside, while the second retreated, just like the previous unlucky kobold. The one inside the forest began to erupt in growths and fungal bloom, though it survived marginally longer than its weaker kin. Pustules and tendrils of plant life were also slowly starting to sprout on the retreating weaselkin, but it was stronger, so managed to pass the stones before falling in front of us, dying rapidly.
“Now!” I ordered, and Hyacinth activated the vacuum, sucking at the air around the fallen kobold, while I immediately tried to heal it. Aether flowed from my rubber-clad hands, and it looked like it was working for a while, though eventually the rate of fungal growth was too much. Just like before, the plants quickly died, lacking a host to feed on.
“Right, I see. Next test.” I said, starting to get a clear picture of how the contamination worked. Several ordinary kobolds set out, as well as one more Miner. That Miner also successfully returned, dripping with rot and toadstools, but this time we were ready. “Use wind surgically.” I said, and Shaeula nodded, as we hewed away at the flesh of the kobold where the parasitic plants were, while we both constantly healed the areas we had damaged. The air was filled with dying plant matter, and Hyacinth hoovered up the debris, cackling to herself, enjoying it as though it was a fun game.
“Yes, this would be impossible without these.” Ixitt tapped the gasmask he wore, the filter cartridge a mixture of more standard elements such as charcoal, and also bluesteel powder infused with wind energy. “Else destroying the plant life merely spreads the contagion.”
“Yeah, but we did it!” I grinned, and we had one alive Degraded Kobold Miner. “It’s no good just healing, all the seeds and spores have to be cut out. But since our vitality is much greater than these, it gives us a chance in emergencies if one of us is compromised.”
“Grul sees enemies.” He rumbled suddenly, hefting the huge metal mace he carried. “In the trees.”
“it was inevitable we’d draw notice.” I agreed. “Ugly-looking buggers, aren’t they?”
Shaeula laughed. “They most certainly are. I do not-not wish any of them under my rule. They must be disposed of. Besides, we wish for the spoils, do we not-not?”
“Yeah, but we need to capture a few alive for the next set of tests. Right, Ixitt, you hang back with Hyacinth for this one. Shaeula and I will capture some specimens. Grulgor, you… well, just smash, okay? This isn’t going to be quick or easy, so thinning their numbers now will… oh damn, I should have known!” when I finished saying he should smash them, Grulgor didn’t even wait for the rest of my instructions, but rushed through the Fae-Stones, chainmail jangling like discordant bells.
“You can expect nothing less from that muscle-brained oaf.” Shaeula sniffed. “Well, shall we?” We also left the sanctuary of the Seelie Court, passing through the Stones, and within a couple of seconds we crossed the grassy strip and leapt amidst the sparse trees of the fungal forest entrance. I felt a shiver as I went in, the oppression of a Territory, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. A strong Rank 3 maybe? I feel a bit weaker and my aether doesn’t want to obey me without a fight, but… I was stronger now, a lot stronger, and my Aether Manipulation had broken the first wall, reaching Rank 6.
“Grul will crush you, rend you, trample you to dust!” he boomed behind his massive respirator and mask. His giant mace sent trees as thick as my waist exploding apart, sending hails of deadly splinters everywhere, but luckily his armour was holding. What was also flying everywhere were corpses of the first set of opponents this forest had sent for us, a series of shambling mounds made up of decaying plant matter and mushrooms, that constantly exuded a deadly mist of spores, as well as larger walking pitcher-plants, their colossal jaws reminding me of the Jaws Of The Questing Beast that the Raven Knight conjured, those many weeks ago.
“We want one of each.” I told Shaeula. “I’ll take the mounds.”
“Very well.” She agreed, wind bisecting several of the walking jaws, ether spilling as they disintegrated into putrid mist. We’ll take that. I grinned as we filched as much of the ether we could before it was reabsorbed by the hostile Territory, and perhaps due to the bonuses from my Conqueror class, I was pretty certain we got more than half of it.
I ducked under a pitcher-plant, unsheathing my Twin Fangs and slashing out, and it toppled to the side, balance lost as I severed the vines it was using to pull itself along. As it did so, Shaeula used her pinwheels which she had spent some time untangling after the last battle, though instead of wind, it contained earth energy I had provided, making the wires hard to break. The plant-creature was caught, and I quickly sliced through another, cutting it near in half, collecting the spoils. Rushing over to where Grulgor had ploughed a path through, looking like a mini-tornado had passed by, I scooped up more ether then engaged a group of four mounds, each overtopping me by a head. “So, I’m guessing cutting you up won’t be too effective, but we need to try so…” I spun, the acidic fumes they were spewing nasty, but wind swirled around me, dispersing it. My blades did indeed slice the mass of plant matter and filth easily enough, but to no avail. Thought so. In that case…
Flame blazed citrine as I conjured it. Now the Territory fought hard, as though fire was inimical to it, but though it cost me far more energy than I would have liked, I still kindled a blaze, and soon three mounds were disintegrating, sparks flashing into the air like bright fireflies. The fourth I had herded with the flame towards Shaeula, her pinwheels also snaring it, forcing it together with the captured pitcher-plant.
“All right, great job.” I praised her. “Grulgor! Retreat, phase one is down!” I amplified my voice with wind. “let’s hope he heard me. And better still, listens!”
Shaeula shrugged. More pitcher-plants were coming for us, a dozen, no, two dozen. “Here’s the all-we-can-eat buffet we ordered.” I grinned, and I raised my hand, Shaeula mirroring me. Wind blades, drills, wind-weasels and solid bullets of compressed air tore through the trees and into the packed mass of attackers, and a welter of green gore and torn foliage rained down amidst the rainbow glow of ether.
“We’ll be having that!” I concentrated, drawing it in. “I’d love to stay and kill more but…” the forest was starting to tremble, and I could hear strange sibilant whispers on the wind. “… we have some tests to run.” I grabbed one of the handles to Shaeula’s pinwheels and helped her haul them out of the forest, back towards the Fae Stones. They struggled, but our strength was superior. Yeah, these plants are dangerous, sure, but most of it comes from the lethal spores…
On reaching the barrier we passed through, but there was a moment of resistance as the Seelie Court Territory tried to repel us, considering we were hauling enemies in, but it quickly ceased, perhaps intuiting we weren’t a threat, if such was even possible.
“Oh, he’s coming at least.” I observed, seeing Grulgor, drenched in green ooze, racing towards the border from the forest, plants trailing him, which he occasionally turned around to strike, blowing them apart.
“Well, let us off-load these burdens.” Shaeula sighed, as we hauled the two plants to separate Fae Stones, using a pinwheel on each to keep them restrained, like some ancient druidic sacrifice in some of moms’ old British stories. It seemed that within the Fae Stones the creatures were much weaker, the pitcher-plant barely struggling, and the mound unable to spew its vile mist.
“So, are there any problems?” Ixitt asked, observing, and I shook my head. “Nope, seems like the gear worked fine, though it was a quick engagement. Next time won’t be.” The edge of the forest was seething with the living plants, including some other types such as wolves made of thorny briars, and what looked like zombies, just covered in fungal growths with waxy, almost shiny skin. “Looks like there are hundreds, no, maybe even thousands of them there.”
“All the more for Grul to crush.” He boomed with laughter. “Grul is pleased. Since ugly pig-beasts all died, Grul has been bored!”
“Well, there’s no shortage of excitement to come.” I washed Shaeula, Grulgor and myself down with some water from the mansion, which I had the Degraded Kobolds ferry over, since the survivors had done their duty in the initial testing phase, at least until Hyacinth had started her tasks. “But first, we need an extra countermeasure for these. So, Hyacinth, can you do it?” I asked, and she bobbed up and down, unsure.
“I will dooo anything for you, master, mistress. But I dooo not know. I have never tried something sooo difficult before.” Her silver-violet eyes were teary behind the goggles she wore.
“I know. Hence why we made you the vacuum catcher to help.” I went over and patted her head. She could probably feel little through the heavy hood and gear she wore, but even so the gesture pleased her. “And Ixitt and I can help you. Shaeula too. Just think, you are going above and beyond what any brownie ever has before!”
At my words she danced a capering jig, the glass vacuum swaying alarmingly, so I stopped her. She pulled a contrite pose, and I once more praised her. Now then…
The description of the device was as follows. Sample-capture vacuum – Item Class: [Sufficient], Item Type: [Complex]
A device working on mortal principles, somewhat improved by Ixitt, a practitioner of Mortal Engineering. Wind energy is channelled by the bluesteel to create an inrushing flow, drawing in airborne dust, seeds, spores and other debris, which can be filtered out by closing various gates in the pipe. Once the items are trapped inside the master-crafted glass flask, the built-in lens can magnify the contents by up to five-hundred times.
The item class and type wasn’t very special, but really the item was simple, it was the added use of wind to draw in the spores that was against science. The lenses themselves were done from memory, but luckily I had played with microscopes before and had also studied the shapes in textbooks. With the mortal ideas imparted to him, Ixitt was able to make several and install them in the bottom of the flask, with the requisite mechanisms, as he already used various lenses and glassware in his own experiments. Ixitt is getting ever more useful.
“Okay, so here is how it works.” I showed her the small glass knobs that controlled the lenses, and after moving several of them, I could see the spores within clearly. “See, take a look!”
As she pushed her covered eye to the viewfinder, she let out an exhalation. “I see them, I dooo!”
“Great, so, they are a type of plant, right? Well, you control plants, so can you modify these?”
“Mooodify? How so?” she asked, puzzled.
“Okay, I thought this might be hard, so we have some test subjects.” I grinned, pointing to the captured plants. “Well, can you control these to start with? After all, you use vines you grow, which must be similar, right?”
She cocked her head, and after some more encouragement and explaining, she made her first attempt. It ended with me having to comfort her, as the pitcher-plant had been torn to shreds by vines she had called forth from the ground. “There, there.” I patted her back consolingly. “You just misunderstood, I get it. We still have one left…”
Minutes later, we had none left, only some ether. “Well, there’s no problem. There’s plenty more out there for us to experiment on, right?”
“I can see this shall be a long-long day!” Shaeula sighed, readying her pinwheels. Still, at least Grulgor is excited…
********
“You think I’ll fall for that?” I sneered, dodging volleys of arrow-like thorns from the thorn-hounds. As long as I kept sensing my surroundings and didn’t run into an ambush or any trees, they were slow compared to bullets. My swords slashed out, and one hound disintegrated, beheaded, while a bilious mushroom-like walking ball exploded as I pierced it, a cloud of spores engulfing the area, momentarily leaving my sight obscured. I can still hear and feel though. My blades swung, and two more hounds slid apart.
“Even the plants like to make dogs to plague me.” I complained, only for Shaeula to snort with laughter.
“Should you not-not be over that now? Any dog that threatened Eri or Aiko, they could crush easily, to say nothing of what you could do!”
“I know that.” I said, as wind blades arced on either side of me, slicing through the packed horde of enemies. “Oh, finally, my first level-up of this war of attrition. It really seems to have slowed right down after fifty. Anyway, I know they can’t hurt me…” flame blazed yellow, and moss-zombies and shambling mounds exploded into char, burning away. “…but old fears die hard, okay?” a pitcher-plant was cut neatly into four by two swift slashes. “Oops, meant to catch that one.”
I could see Grulgor engaging something larger that had come to investigate. We had barely made it fifty metres into the forest so far, but even so, enemies swarmed us like ants. Hundreds, many hundreds of enemies had met their end before us, yet there seemed to be no end to them. Which is great I guess. Spawn camping is back on the menu!
The bear made of moss and grass that towered over even Grulgor slammed down one paw, only for the mace to meet it. The grassy arm exploded, and as it staggered Grulgor rained down blow after blow until the head and much of the upper body shattered. It then burst apart, and several thorn hounds leapt out, clawing at him, but the chainmail, which on Grulgor was obscenely thick and multi-layered, easily blocked the sharp projectiles.
“Well, you up for grabbing some more samples? I have a good feeling about this time. Hyacinth didn’t strangle the last one to death!” I ducked under a burst of thorns and charged, the ground exploding under me, rocky projectiles rapidly accelerated with wind, forming a devastating grapeshot-style barrage that riddled the oncoming enemies, ether scattering. I saw something glittering amidst the fallen trees, and smiled. “Hey look, an Etherite. It’s yellow too. That’s mine…” channelling a little aether, pushing through the Territory resistance, I snagged it, popping it in my belt.
“The last one simply exploded, did it not-not?” Shaeula scoffed. “I hardly call that progress. Hmm, I am nearing my level cap again-again. Even with the growth of my Lovers’ Link skill from when we made love in combined Fae and mortal fashion, this massacre is catching me up. You must grow faster!”
“Cut her some slack. She doesn’t really understand, hell, this sort of bio-engineering would be tough for a top scientist back on Earth. But the more I see her use her nature element, the more I’m sure she can make it work.” Another trio of bears rushed through the forest, knocking massive mushrooms aside and felling trees. Underneath I saw a glitter and snatched at it with aether, only to sigh in disappointment. “A red one. Well, better than nothing I suppose. Farewell!” Shaeula and I unleashed wind and flames, and the bears burned, thrashing about as they died, starting several smaller fires, the wolves within not even having the chance to strike before turning to ether. “Look, over there! More pitcher-plants and some predator sunflowers! They are the easiest to catch so far. Get the pinwheels out!”
********
“We have been at this all-all day. I am rather exhausted.” Shaeula bemoaned. She had backed away from the Fae Stones to a safe distance, and after a very thorough precautionary wash had removed her mask and goggles.
“Yeah but, she’s getting there, right Hyacinth?”
“This one doooes not explode!” she puffed out her chest proudly, chainmail coat clinking. She was using her nature element to manipulate the tied-up pitcher plant, making it move as she willed.
“Great! Of course, that’s sadly the easiest step. But you did fantastic!” Hyacinth responded well to praise, so I offered it lavishly, while I looked down at the small chest we had brought from the mansion. Smiling, I tossed in a pair of red Etherites, adding to the small, glittering pile within. “Only one yellow so far, but we’ve gathered a decent amount of red and orange ones. A Territory like this that’s long been untouched is a goldmine.”
“Maybe so.” Shaeula allowed, splashing some water on her face to refresh herself. “But we are making little-little headway.” She sighed then. “Still, it is only to be expected. A Territory the Seelie Court has failed to retake for many centuries will not fall in a day.” She glanced back to the forest, where swarms of plant-creatures still waited. A few had tried to cross the grassy border, but they were easy pickings for us. Still, it seemed there were just as many as when we started.
“True, but these are all just their expendable grunts.” New and strange plants had joined the mob, such as masses of wiry tendrils that lashed out similar to Shaeula’s pinwheels, clusters of poisonous fruits, and even what looked like slithering green pumpkins, complete with leering faces, that had the ability to fire blasts of wind from their gaping mouths. “They aren’t weak, by any means, but they can’t challenge us unless we get careless or overwhelmed. Still, their numbers seem endless. But in a way that’s good for us, right?” I grinned.
“Grul agrees. Grul enjoys crushing them!” he gurgled happily, able to vent his homicidal rages as much as he wanted.
“For the rewards, I get it.” Shaeula agreed. “It is far-far more lucrative than clearing out weak, worthless Territories back in the Boundary, we can leave that to our-our kin. But if we plan to reclaim the Spring, we will need a better way than this.”
“Yep, and Hyacinth and Ixitt are going to help us with that.” I promised, looking at the capering Hyacinth, as she practise manipulating our captive plant. It was leaking green fluid from many tears as her powers over-stressed it, but the main thing was she had crossed the first hurdle.
“Okay, Hyacinth, if we release the plant, can you make it move outside the Fae Stones and release spores?” I gestured for everyone to back up and put on their protective gear again.
“For yooou, master, I shall try!” she declared, and as Shaeula unwound her pinwheel the plant shuddered, scattering green fluids everywhere, before lurching out through the Stones, taking a few more steps. It then let out a hissing noise, a nearly invisible mist leaving it, before it exploded.
“Sorry, Hyacinth broke it again!” she wailed, but I shook my head, my Eye telling me all I need to know.
“It’s fine. It released the spores. You saw it, right?” I asked, and she nodded.
“So in that case, if you can control the plant, and spores are part of the plant, you can control the spores, right?”
“I think sooo?” she said slowly. It was a difficult concept for her, to see them as the same thing, but if she could do what I wanted, then our chances of capturing the spring would be much greater.
“Good. Just practise moving them around inside the vial for now. When you can do that, then I want you to try moving the spores without being able to see them…” I trailed off, as Shaeula suddenly spoke.
“I see one. A Myconid, vile Unseelie filth.” Her voice hissed through her recently-donned gasmask, full of anger.
“It was inevitable they’d come see what all the commotion was about sooner or later. We’ve been making quite a mess here.” I grinned. Scanning the forest I could see it, and my Eye glimmered as I appraised it.
Myconid Scout [Dark Fae] - ???????
Still with the question-marks I see, still all the use I’m putting my Eye to must surely be helping it grow towards Rank 2. “Ugly bastard, isn’t it?” I observed. It was amidst the hundreds of waiting plant foes, looking like a roughly humanoid mushroom-person, though its head was a toadstool, sickly and yellow. The colouration of its body was brown, grey and green, the better to blend in. A scout indeed.
“Well, Ixitt, might want to watch this.” I grinned. “When you move onto bigger and better guns like sniper rifles, it should work like this.” I used earth element to craft a sharp, hardened rock into the shape of a high-calibre bullet. “Normally it’d have rifling to make it spin for accuracy, but with wind element assistance I don’t need it.” I created a small tube of wind in the air, glittering green, before sliding the bullet inside. Running the calculations in my head, my grin turned into a malicious smirk. “Time to strike a blow for the Seelie Court.” If the plant beasts aren’t truly sentient, the Dark Fae certainly are, so this is… well, murder, I guess. But this is a war, Shaeula’s war, I’ve taken up, on behalf of her and her people, and as the Myconids spread death wherever they go… damn, no point whining. My hands are already stained with human and monster blood. To save the world and those I love, I’ll do it…
There was a sonic boom, and the Myconid exploded, the head and half the torso shattering apart before it even had chance to react. At a few hundred metres and not knowing what I was doing, even an inhumanly fast opponent will struggle…
“That is most-most satisfying!” Shaeula declared, seeing the Unseelie ally fall. As it did so though, a puff of spores scattered from it, which drew my attention.
Myconid Alert Spores – These spores are released by a dying Myconid, carrying information about its death to other nearby Myconids. It also has an effect of enraging their nearby plant slaves.
Okay, two problems there, but only one immediate one. “It released spores on death, I think we need to… okay, too late!” I changed what I was about to say as hundreds of the plants rushed out from the forest, trampling the border grasses under their weight, churning the ground to mud, rushing towards us in a mad frenzy. “Don’t let them cross the Fae Stones! The last thing we need is Way-Wardens coming and getting killed by the fungal pestilence! Hyacinth, Ixitt, help us out!”
“I do not-not think you need to fear that.” Shaeula said, but she was already firing blasts of wind and flame into the onrushing hordes, felling them. Grulgor was amongst them, kicking, trampling and crushing them into filthy pastes of green goo and gore, and having been set loose, Hyacinth was calling upon her vines, seizing them and twisting, killing them mercilessly.
“I shall save my ammunition. I see no problems here.” Ixitt said, relaxing. Shaking my head, I called forth a wall of flames. Not Foehn, as there was no need, but even so, the brilliant citrine blaze incinerated many of the packed enemies, the weight of their massed charge offering them no way to stop.
“Watch out, a few are getting past… oh.” The plants slammed into the gap between the Fae Stones and bounced off with a crackle of sparks. As they did, Shaeula bisected them with wind.
“If the barrier did not-not work, then the Unseelie filth would have corrupted all these lands too.” Shaeula observed. “It is only the wily Wild Hunt who somehow evade our defences so readily.”
“Good to know.” I said, continuing to mow down a pack of the green pumpkin beasts, spears of rock erupting from the ground, shredding them into unrecognisable pieces. The battle continued for a few more minutes, until the last of the plants enraged by the pollen had fallen, the muddy field strewn with glittering ether, which I cheerfully collected.
“All right, good job everyone. I still didn’t level again, which is a bit annoying, but surely soon. Anyway, we might as well head back to the mansion, it’s getting late. Tomorrow we’ll try penetrating through a different section of their border.”
“Good-good. I am quite tired.” Shaeula declared. “Akio, we should take a bath, the stench of these filthy abominations is quite-quite unpleasant.”
“Master, mistress, I shall wash yooour backs for yooou!” Hyacinth declared, and I smiled as the relaxed atmosphere returned now that we had achieved all we could for now. So, the defensive gear works, Hyacinth is making progress, and we gathered intel on the Myconids. All in all, a very promising first day…