Chapter 37 - The Prize (Patreon)

I followed the group, feeling completely wiped out. Minara had patched up my wounds, I had chugged all my remaining recovery potion vials, and I still felt hollowed out.

I pulled up my notifications and my accomplishments, giving them my full attention for the first time since escaping the carapax village.

You’ve reached level 42!

…

You’ve reached level 44!
 It wasn’t as much experience as I had expected, but I supposed I was also at a higher level than most of the bugs. I had probably earned less experience because of the level gap.  Either way, I was progressing faster than I could’ve possibly hoped. Lyria made it sound like reaching Iron should’ve taken years. I was doing it in days. That was assuming I could figure out how to advance once I reached level 50. But Circa said a common class corestone could evolve four active and passive skills. I still needed to push my corestone to catch up with my levels, too.

Thanks to my prestige path, that should also come more quickly than Lyria and Circa made it sound. I supposed I was already seeing the benefits. Based on Lyria’s reaction, I was picking up my skills faster than I should’ve already. 

[Common Accomplishment] Survive (5) near-death experiences. [Reward - Common Survival Token] “I already know what you’re thinking. ‘Really? Nearly dying five times is a common experience?’ Yep. Believe it or not, very common. To be clear, though, you’ve been exceptionally creative about the ways you’ve nearly died. Unfortunately, there’s no accomplishment for creativity.”
 ‘You know I can even see the ways you almost, almost died? As in, the things you came close to doing but didn’t quite do? For example, there was a possibility of you trying to help those two adventurers against the giant mushroom thing. That one would’ve ended so badly for you. It was very gruesome and smelly. Oh, and the cursed tomte were so close to boiling you alive and eating Seraphel stew for weeks. And did you know if Lyria hadn’t sent you out for wood, you were actually going to think pretty hard about pouring poison on your chest? Fatal, if you were wondering. Oh, there was even one possibility of you spraying too much pheromone liquid in your face and choking to death on it. Actually, I probably shouldn’t tell you all this, technically speaking. What were we talking about, again?”
 If there wasn’t already so much on my plate, I might have wanted to puzzle over all the bits and pieces of information I’d gleaned from my secret messenger. But I put it from my mind, continuing to read. 

[Rare Accomplishment] Successfully seduce an insectoid creature. [Reward - Rare Trophy Token] “I wish I could say you’re the first to get this one. Granted, I think you’re the first to spray themselves in the face with pheromones. But, uh… Well, Eros is a very big place with a diversity of races and cultures. I don’t want to scar you emotionally, so we’ll just leave it by saying you are far, far from the first to earn this one. Oh, the historical records I could show you… Well, I can’t. But you get what I mean.
 “Congrats on your first trophy token, though! You can hang these in your personal space to let people know all the awesome things you’ve done. I was thinking you could put this one front and center. Nothing says ‘welcome to my personal space’ like announcing you almost buggered a bug, right?” 

I sighed. They were having way too much fun at my expense here. The joke was on them, though. I loved trophies. I didn’t care if it was for seducing a bug. I would slap that thing on the wall of my personal space with a smile. Hell yeah.
 I was also intrigued by the mention of other races and cultures on Eros. I’d already wondered about it. In a place where things like tomte existed, I figured it must be likely there were other races out there. 

[Epic Accomplishment] Decimate the population of an entire Carapax Town, including the queen. [Reward - Epic Augment Token] “You know that thing on your planet where the hero walks away from an explosion without looking? You sort of did the gross, boogery bug equivalent of that. I kind of wish you’d stuck around to watch. The queen’s head popped off that huge body like an overstuffed zit—the type that just fires with so much force it sticks to the mirror. Then her body… erupted. All the carapax were covered in digestive juices. If you spoke carapax, you probably would’ve been horrified by the screams for mercy. That one who you seduced was especially sad. He’d really been wanting to see you get secreted, and he was rooting for anus #3 (I’m kidding. I made that last part up. He did want to see you get secreted, but he didn’t care which anus the queen used). Anyway, thanks for the show, Seraphel. I’m your #1 fan! I mean, nobody else is watching your every move, so I guess I’m also your only fan. But who cares. Go Seraphel! Whooo!”
 I grinned. If I didn’t have a slight fear that my secret messenger would be entertained by my gruesome death and a few questions about their sanity, I’d say they were growing on me.

Kass, Perch, Bloody Steve, and Minara were all walking up at the front of the group. Even the townspeople looked eager to get to the carapax village. Lyria was the only one holding up the rear with me.

I caught her glancing back my way for about the tenth time before I finally called her on it. “Is there something on my face?” I asked.

“Uh, yeah,” Lyria said. “That helmet you never take off.”

“Oh, right.”

She drifted back to walk beside me. “But there’s also disgusting bug stuff all over your whole… situation.” She circled her palm to indicate everything.

“You’ll understand when you see the queen’s nest.”

“Hey,” Lyria said softly. “I’m sorry I told you to go get wood on your own like that. I feel like it’s kind of my fault you nearly got killed.”

“Don’t be. Circa said I needed to push myself to advance, right?” I gestured to myself. “I’d say this was a successful push.” I thought about mentioning my level, but it seemed like bragging. I knew she wasn’t advancing as quickly, and I didn’t see the need to rub my progress in her face. I wouldn’t be able to hide advancing to Iron, I guessed, but I’d cross that bridge if I got there.

“Just don’t push yourself off a cliff,” she said. “Alright?”

We reached the abandoned carapax town after a short hike. With Minara’s healing, my leg was only a little sore after the exertion. It seemed like her limitations with healing at Wood rank meant she couldn’t completely fix my wounds. Instead, it was as if she could fast-forward the healing process several weeks. From what she’d said, a master in her Radiant order could practically snap her fingers and heal me head to toe. It had made me even more hungry to get my hands on a Heart class corestone.
 I hung back while the group picked through the carapax town. Bloody Steve and Perch went inside the queen’s nest after we looked through the smaller buildings. Mostly, we found caches of weapons and armor made of chitin. Kass said we could probably get one or two silver per weapon. I’d discovered my slip space had limitations on how much it could hold when I tried to bring all the weapons back to camp.
 Trying to add more than two of the huge weapons had made me feel like I was getting a splitting headache despite the “immune to headaches” perk of my rare bed. Then again, I supposed I hadn’t slept in my rare bed since leaving Riverwell. It probably faded with time. Whatever the case, we could only carry so many of the weapons. The townspeople got busy trying to tie bundles of weapons to their backs to work as human mules for us. It took some fiddling with clothes and tying of knots, but eventually, Kass estimated we’d packed up about two gold’s worth of loot. With the townspeople and two kids included, our group was 15 strong, meaning it all came to about 13 silver each. Not bad, assuming Bloody Steve wouldn’t take an Iron’s share.
 I saw Bloody Steve and Perch heading for the queen’s nest. I liked to think I was a trusting person, but I didn’t want to let them in there alone. It would be too easy for them to sneak some nectar into their personal spaces and claim they hadn’t found any.

The inside of the queen’s nest was just like my secret messenger had described. The queen’s deflated, clear, and slimy body took up the center of the room. Half-melted carapax stuck out of her like pins in a cushion. Bodies and insect parts were scattered around the room as if they’d been violently ejected when she exploded.
 I spotted her small beetle head on the ground and a thicker pile of dead bodies near one wall, which still slowly dripped gunk. That must’ve been where her head popped off like a zit, and the majority of her digestive fluids had sprayed.

Lyria and Minara came in behind me.
 Nobody spoke for a solid ten seconds. 

“Gods, Brynn,” Lyria finally said. “Is this what happens when somebody tries to mate with you?”

Bloody Steve approached me and patted my hand. I thought he wanted to pat my shoulder, but he couldn’t reach it without a step ladder. “Don’t take it too hard, boy. Love doesn’t come easy. Even for me,” he said, shrugging. “I once… well. Maybe I shouldn’t tell that tale.” He squinted into the distance, nodded as if confirming it was a bad idea, and strolled through the ankle-thick gunk on the ground.

He wasn’t dissolving on contact with it, so we cautiously followed him in. Whatever made this stuff dangerous must have faded as it left the queen’s body.
 “What are we looking for, exactly?” I asked.

“Little sack thing,” Bloody Steve said, holding up his thumb and forefinger to indicate something roughly the size of a golf ball. “Or maybe it’s more like a nut.”

“That small?” I asked.

Kass shrugged. “I say it’s always best to trust the tomte blood berserker when it comes to things like this.”

“Blood berserker?” Bloody Steve asked. He was elbow deep in a corpse, head turned to the side as he swiped his arm around, digging through the body. He straightened, shook the stuff off his arm, and moved to the next body. “That’s what you think my class is?”

“Well,” Kass said. “You sweat blood and then go into a kind of lunatic rage. It seems at least accurate enough.”

“No, no, no,” Bloody Steve said. He looked like he was about to explain the difference between Marvel and DC to the uninitiated. “I’m an Essence Drinker. Completely different than a berserker of any sort.”

“Oh,” Kass said. “How so?”

Bloody Steve raised a finger, frowned, and then dropped his arm. “You know? It’s actually not that different from the way you explained it. Damn. Well, the more blood on me, the stronger I get. Though, it’s not just blood. Brain matter, organs, bits of flesh… other stuff. It all works just as well as blood. So when I’m not fightin’ in the presence of ladies, I actually prefer to go fully nude. More coverage that way.” He rubbed a hand across his bald head, smearing bug guts on his skin. “It’s why I keep the head clean, too. Lookin’ good is just an unintended side effect.” 

For some reason, I didn’t want to imagine what was included with “other stuff.”
 “Huh,” Kass said, sounding thoughtful.

“Hey, is this what we’re looking for?” I was near the back of the queen’s deflated body and dug a chestnut-like thing out of her. It had little red hairs on it, a tight seam that ran all the way around, and a chitin outer-shell.
 “Oho!” Bloody Steve said, rushing over toward me. He reached for it, greed plain in his eyes.

Instinctively, I zapped it to my slip space before he could pluck it out of my fingers. There was a moment of surprised shock in his eyes.

“Sorry,” I said, trying to sound calm and casual. “I thought maybe we could go outside and put it to a vote to decide who holds onto the nectar or something. You know, just so nobody is worried about someone stealing it and not cutting the group in.”

Bloody Steve’s eyes glinted with fiery intensity, but he showed his teeth. It was almost a smile. “Oh, sure. We’ll do a vote. After you,” he extended a hand.

“Who decided you’re the one to hold it for the vote?” Perch asked.

“Shouldn’t we look for more of these?” I asked, pretending I hadn’t heard Perch’s question.
 “Queen only makes one,” he said. “Part of why they’re so damn expensive.”

I nodded, heading for the door while halfway keeping an eye on Perch and Bloody Steve. 

Outside, I explained the situation to the townspeople and the other adventurers in our group. From the way everybody but Perch and Steve were glancing around, I could tell they had been thinking the same thing I was thinking. Chances were, nobody wanted to be the one to tell Bloody Steve or Perch they’d rather have somebody else keep the nectar safe until we reached town.

Lucky me. 

“So, just to be clear,” I said. “I’ll hand the nectar over to whoever we vote on. Alright?”

Another wave of uncertain looks passed through the gathered group. Frankly, I was afraid to pull it out of my slip space. I had a sneaking suspicion that either Perch or Bloody Steve would snatch it out of my hands if I did. Hopefully, everyone else came to the same conclusion and would vote for me to keep holding onto it. If they did, I could keep it stashed until we reached the safety of the city.
 “Well, let’s get this shitshow started, eh?” Bloody Steve asked. “Who votes for the strongest feckin’ bastard in the group? The one who is least likely to get himself killed and lose the nectar in the process?” He waited, hands on his small hips as he stared around, glare deepening. Nobody was moving. “That’s me, by the way,” he added, as if worried we hadn’t understood. 

He made a disgusted sound and waved his hand, stalking off.

“Brynn was willing to put this up to a vote,” Lyria said. “If he was planning to steal it, he wouldn’t have bothered. I say we just let him keep it in his slip space for now.”
 “Unless,” Perch said. “He’s just wanting us to think that way. Helmet is crafty. We’ve seen as much. How do we know he’s not planning this vote to get our guard down? Then he’ll slip away in the night?”

“I don’t know,” Kass said. “I think I trust him. It’s a little weird how he never takes off the helmet, but he saved our asses from that briarwraith.”

“He’s the only reason we even have this nectar,” Minara pointed out. “You all seem to be forgetting that. Brynn risked his life and wiped out this whole village. We’re lucky he’s even considering sharing the spoils with us.”

Bloody Steve let out a long sigh. “Fine! Let Mr. Helmet hold the feckin’ thing.”

Perch nodded slightly. Kass clapped once and smiled, and Lyria looked relieved.
 “You guys can have a vote, too,” I said, indicating the townspeople. They’d all been quietly watching as if their opinion wouldn’t get weighed. “We said you’re cut in on this. Who do you feel comfortable holding it?”

One of the men I’d seen speaking for them most often stepped forward. He was in his forties with a scruffy beard, long, greasy hair, and a prominent Adam’s apple. “We trust you,” he said. One of the little girls was hugging his leg, looking up at me with big eyes.

“Alright?” I said, waiting for arguments. When none came, I nodded. “I’ll carry the nectar, and we’ll figure out what to do with it once we get to Thrask.”

Bloody Steve spat on the ground. “Still can’t believe none of you trust me.”

Kass placed a hand on Bloody Steve’s filthy shoulder. “It’s the blood thing,” he said sympathetically. “Have you tried being less bloody? I think people would really treat you differently.”
 Bloody Steve made a pah sound and stormed ahead. “Come on, then. Thrask is close. We can get there before dawn if we don’t bother making camp tonight.”

He didn’t stop to wait for agreement. I imagined we were all ready to be out of the wilderness, so we all hiked up our gear, strapped on packs loaded down with chitin weapons, and trudged after Bloody Steve.
 Thrask. The thought brightened my mood. There was so much to do once I reached the city. I had been agonizing over the choice of whether or not to use my cursed bed token for days, now.
 Some moments, I thought it was a no-brainer. Others, I wasn’t so sure.
 The catch was I’d be upgrading my bed all the way to legendary with my tokens. That same legendary bed would become cursed if I used the token. I’d asked Lyria a dozen different ways to confirm as much, and she’d become tired of reassuring me. From the sounds of it, I could delete the bed to escape the curse thanks to my divine ability. But I’d have to delete the legendary benefits and everything else I’d earned to do so.

I had tested my ability to be sure I could actually use it, which ruled out the possibility of getting stuck with the curse.

I had also put a lot of thought into something Circa had told me. She said stories described Seraphel as using several super powerful cursed items. I had no idea how powerful the other divine abilities might be, but the only power I saw in mine was letting me risk curses. I didn’t think I could afford not to use the token.
 I was thinking about the seemingly endless list of other things I wanted to do in Thrask when Lyria came up to my side and punched my arm.

“Are you crazy?” she asked. “Challenging an Iron like that?”

“Sometimes, I think I might be,” I said.

She sighed. “You know he could’ve smashed all of us into paste if he wanted, right? What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking we promised those townspeople a cut from the nectar. And the look in Bloody Steve’s eyes made me think maybe he wasn’t planning to follow through on that promise…”

Lyria took a deep breath, then relaxed. “Yeah, well, you probably made the right call. But gods. Can you even go an hour without risking your life? Is that so much to ask?”
 “Worried you’re going to get gray hairs?”

Her nostrils flared. “You can expect a black eye for every gray hair I get from this point forward.”

I laughed. “I’ve only got two eyes. What happens if they sprout up in bunches?”

“Bunches of punches, then,” she said.

I was dead tired, desperate for a shower, highly in need of new clothes, and itching to get to the city. But I still felt a buzzing, electric kind of excitement in my chest despite it all. This was a bonafide adventure. Even the regular doses of pure, spine-tingling terror and fear for my life couldn’t completely sour my mood.

Since I couldn’t practice Elemental Projection without risking another carapax town catching wind of us while I had pheromones loaded up, I worked on Forge Echo as we walked. I summoned an echo of my common leather whip, just to be abundantly careful. After all, sometimes my failed echoes evaporated mid-air and leaked the ghostly bottle’s contents all over the ground.

With my rot poison, it just made a smelly mess. With the pheromones? Well, I didn’t want to find out if there were more carapax nearby. Nectar or not, I’d have enough of that for the time being.
 Lyria gave me a look of utter disbelief. “Really? You’re doing your obsessive practicing thing again?”

“What else would I do? We’re just walking.”

Lyria was opening her mouth to respond when I got a sudden notification.

[Skill Tier Increased. Forge Echo has reached (Tier 2)]

Heart thumping, I summoned a new echo of my whip. It appeared slightly larger than before. I did a few quick tests, mentally pushing it through a few movements, like imagining a phantom hand holding it and giving it a snap and crack.

The whip felt more responsive. Quicker. Sharper.

I smiled with satisfaction. I tried to will the whip to shrink down, and saw it obey with a kind of flickering reluctance. I could make it grow again, too. There seemed to be a lower and upper limit on the size, but it was new functionality. I was sure of it, and I was damn excited about the implications. 

“What just happened?” Lyria said. She was frowning at my weapon’s echo.

“Tier 2!” I said, not bothering to hide my excitement.

“Unbelievable,” Lyria said. It looked like she was trying to sound annoyed, but part of her was amused, too.

Progress. 

I didn’t know why I’d started off on her bad side, but I could tell she was slowly warming up to me. It was a relief. As much as I was excited about all my new abilities and the prospects of exploring a new, albeit dangerous world… I didn’t want to do it alone. I wanted friends I could trust. I couldn’t say if I was going to stick with people like Bloody Steve, Kass, Perch, or even Minara once we hit Thrask. I hoped I could, even if it was only by occasionally teaming up for this or that. But I hoped Lyria was somebody I could continue counting on.
 “What’s the first thing you want to do when we hit the city?” Lyria asked.

“Use your bathtub,” I said without hesitation.

She grinned. “Somehow, I knew you’d say that.”

“But, yeah. After that there are a few hundred things I want to do.” The cursed bed and heart core stone were probably at the top of the list, though. A close follow-up was upgrading my personal space, if I could afford it. Something about creating my own little sanctuary really appealed to me. I also had new reward tokens to claim, three of which were epics, no less. I still didn’t even know what an epic augment token was, but I knew I was excited to find out.

Oh, and I couldn’t wait to hang up my bug trophy, front and center.