Chapter 2.13 (Patreon)

Two days passed without Schleb returning without his chieftain. The council couldn’t figure out what to make of their absence. They knew nothing of the Black River Bats. For all they knew, the tribe could be preparing for an attack, arranging a grand entrance for when they did show up, or the violent underwater rivers had swept Schleb away. Winona refused to take any risks and set a rotating guard around the pipeline around the clock.

Flint and the builders used the time to apply finishing touches to the sewer system. He used [Change Density] to harden the exit pipeline. Meanwhile, Ed led the rest, and they smoothed out the moat’s base together. Then they arranged carts to carry dirt up from the Verdant Plains, and they partially filled the ditch too. Ideally, Flint would’ve liked to gather goat and horse droppings from around the fort too. However, he wasn’t sure how the Black River Bats would react to excrement in their entranceway. So, he held off on the final part of the construction.

If Schleb’s people did attack, Flint didn’t want the builders getting in the defensive force’s way. So, he assigned them to other tasks. Ed received the freedom to focus on essence training while working with the guard. The remaining builders reported to the fort. The third and fourth floor still needed work, and it was simple enough a task for them to work at it without constant supervision.

Even though the life quest hadn’t given him any relevant objectives, Flint hoped to clear up the bit between the moat and the defences too. He wanted secure quarters for visitors and room for prisoners too. It made no sense to take suspicious or hostile forces up to the fort. It housed the [City Planning Table] and the Woodson land’s most vulnerable spaces too.

Flint hoped to lavish Maya with attention while waiting, but first, he visited the Heartstone.

[Defensive Construction V] > [Defensive Construction VI]
—[Builder’s Brawn V] > [Builder’s Brawn VI]
—[Shape+ IV]
—[Reinforce IV]
—[Architecture III]
—[Bind III]
—New Ability Available
—[Totem of Nurture II]>[Totem of Nurture III]
—[Totem of Healing III]
—New Ability Available

Flint checked on the standard skill stone options first.

[Deconstruct]
Sometimes to build something new, you must tear the old down first. Destroy stone and wooden structures into their base forms. The material’s quality, build strength, and age determine the essence requirements and deconstruction speed of structures.

[Builder’s Ward]
Living builders rarely want to see their work restructured or demolished. No other builder—of the same rank or lower—may change a warded building using their abilities as long as the creator lives and shares the same disk. Structures gain resistance against stone and wood restructuring spells too. Warded structures will also slowly restore themselves when damaged—the restoration speed changes with proximity to the creator.

[Check For Weakness]
Defensive construction requires a deep understanding of the environment. Builders must remain up to date with the condition of their structures too. Send essence pulses into the surfaces to check stability and pinpoint weak points. Local organisms and excess material deposits will be highlighted too.

[Deconstruct] sounded similar to the ability Percy had used to destroy the fort’s stairs when the [City Planning Table] awakened. Since Flint could do the same with [Change Density] now, therefore, picking the ability made no sense.

Both of the remaining felt useful. Despite its name, [Check For Weakness] suggested it had more uses than just looking for faults in builds and sites. It looked like the ability would help Flint find minerals and oddities, as well as check for life as well. In addition, it would most likely prove useful if someone tried to sneak up below or behind them. The Heartstone didn’t tell him about the ability’s range, though, and he didn’t want to waste an ability slot testing it. After all, it would likely take him years to reach the seventh rank in [Defensive Construction].

[Builder’s Ward] was the clear-cut winner. Flint guessed its starting potency of the side effects would be low, but the ability solved one of his major concerns: other builders tunnelling into his territory using their abilities. The resistance against magic that manipulated stone and wood felt like a bonus too. It meant fae with spells similar to Ed’s [Earth Moulding] would struggle to break through the defences. Flint planned on using the ability on the sewers, outer walls and perhaps the cliffs lining the slope too.

Next, Flint moved on to the class stone’s abilities. His heart skipped a beat when he saw options for new totems.

[Totem of Windfury]
The pack speaks to the wind. It tells them of oncoming threats and keeps them informed of prey. Instinct guides the pack, telling them when to run with the wind and when to go against it. Windfury harnesses the storm’s power to hasten and empower allies while buffeting enemies with ravaging gales.

[Marked Territory]
Marking and claiming territory is ingrained in every canine. All members of the pack recognise each other’s scents and know where their control ends. Every feature and quirk of their land becomes second nature to the dogs. While within the marked territory, all pack members receive enhanced strength, speed, and keener senses.

[Totem of Burning Wrath]

There are few threats in the wild as fearsome as a pack out for blood. Even though they’re quick to forgive, dogs do not forget who’s wronged them. The totem channels ancient rage into streams of ravaging flames. All neighbouring allies enjoy weapons, tools and physical attacks imbued with fire as well.

[Marked Territory] sounded great, but Flint doubted people would appreciate him and the dogs going around and urinating all around the fort. He worried it would smell too. If he were alone and guarding a small, isolated location, it was the best option. The fort was unfortunately much too large to benefit from such an ability.

Of the three options, [Totem of Burning Wrath] felt the most powerful offensively. It would give him a much-needed offensive tool. Flint imagined animating such a totem and send it into action. People would struggle to stop an animated chunk of stone spitting flames and empowering enemy combatants around them. However, the description didn’t say whether his allies would be immune to the totem’s flames. He worried friends would get burned during the chaos of battle and decided against the ability.

There were too many stories among the Iron Army of high-ranking officers using destructive abilities that didn’t just damage their enemies but affected their subordinates too. Flint didn’t want to risk it with such an ability.

As a result, he settled on [Totem of Windfury]. It felt like the most logical choice. The description explicitly said that it had different effects for allies and enemies. Besides, its applications weren’t limited to combat. Flint could plant them around the base and benefit everyone working within its range. The ability would most likely encourage ventilation in the more claustrophobic parts of the territory too. He locked in the selection before checking the other nodes.

Due to the reasonably peaceful times and his lack of practise [Marksmanship] hadn’t experienced any growth. On the other hand, [Alteration]’s abilities had all gained rank.

[Alteration II]
—[Change Density II] > [Change Density III]
—[Transmute I]
—[Animate Totem I] > [Animate Totem II]

Flint planned on spending more time practising [Transmute]. However, due to the ability’s short duration and high essence cost, he didn’t find many occasions to use the ability. Meanwhile, the other two were growing quickly thanks to constant use. [Animate Totem]’s flexibility and applications felt bottomless. He couldn’t wait for it to get more powerful and gain greater duration.

Then it occurred to Flint that he still had two ability upgrade stones. He finally had a candidate that felt deserving of the ability. So, he excitedly held it up to the node compass near [Animate Totem]’s circle. The glowing stone within absorbed it and brightened.

[Animate Totem Golem]
Grant life and consciousness to a totem so it may move and function of its own accord. Golems start their lives following their master’s every direction but gain intelligence and will the longer it lives. The more a golem moves, the quicker it drains its essence but resting, or infusions with the ability will extend its life. The golem will fall dormant once out of the totem’s range, or the golem moves out of the animator’s line of sight.

A wide smile spread across Flint’s lips as he read and reread the description. It was a gamble to use the stone on an ability he hadn’t tested outside of construction yet. However, the ability’s applications in and outside of combat felt endless. [Animate Totem] didn’t suffer from range or line of sight limitations, but Flint believed it was a fair exchange. If Flint understood the inference correctly, he wouldn’t need to use the ability regularly to animate the totem. Instead, regular rest would keep the golem alive. The thought of a loyal stone defender excited him too.

The upgrade’s power tempted Flint to use the other stone too, but he still didn’t know which ability to upgrade. As a result, he decided to wait until he found an equally useful ability to enhance.

[Pack Leader] hadn’t experienced any changes yet. Flint hoped the ability would soon gain a rank and grant him another ability. He hoped for an active one since they were quicker to level and would progress the node quickly too.

On the fourth day after Schleb’s visit, Flint was spending time with Maya and her pups when news arrived from the gates. Two hunting parties had returned with sightings of two separate caravans. The first travelled along the eastern road bordering the Gator Tooth Range, and the hunters failed to determine their allegiance. Meanwhile, the other cut across Verdant Plains, taking the same road Flint had used on the journey to his current home. They carried the Iron Legion’s colours and were a day away.