Chapter 347 - Treasures (Patreon)

With Pudge and Silik flanking him on either side, Zeke watched the defectors stride across the tundra. In all, nearly half of the former slaves had chosen to depart, though most had gone on good terms. There were a few malcontents, like Mika and her lackeys, among the group, but that was unavoidable.

“I would have simply killed them,” remarked Eveline.

“Shall we hunt them down, Ak-to?” asked Silik, obviously thinking along those same lines.

“Because he’s pragmatic,” Eveline said, her voice echoing inside Zeke’s head. “I like him. Very practical.”

Ignoring the silent, one-sided conversation in his head, Zeke said aloud, “No. Watch them, but do not attack unless it’s in self-defense.”

Pudge cut in, “They will come back.”

“What makes you so sure?” Zeke asked. He’d done everything he could to ease their journey, even giving the group what supplies he could spare. It wasn’t much, but there was enough to feed and water everyone for a few days at the least. Hopefully, that would be enough to get them to whatever passed for civilization on the Ibathian Wastes. Of course, it had turned his and his people’s situation much more dire, though that was an acceptable outcome if it kept the defectors from circling around and attacking them while they were on the move.

“Instinct.”

“Your brother is correct,” stated Silik.

“I like them both,” Eveline remarked. “Very vicious, but in an objective, animalistic way. Perhaps I should take up residence in the head of some powerful monster.”

“Feel free to leave whenever you want. Just let me know, and I’ll free you,” Zeke said via his own thoughts. “Oh, wait – that’s right. You can’t survive out here alone, can you?”

“Not for long,” she admitted. “And don’t be so grumpy. You know I’m not going anywhere.”

“Can your scouts watch them without being seen?” asked Zeke, turning to Silik.

“They can,” the kobold general said. Indeed, the little rangers he’d been sending on scouting expeditions were surprisingly capable of camouflaging themselves on the tundra. They’d taken to painting themselves white – where they’d gotten the paint, Zeke didn’t ask – and when they used their abilities, they were almost entirely undetectable.

Of course, Zeke knew when they were around, if only because he could feel their footsteps echoing through the earth. It was muffled by the snow, but he could still feel it all the same.

“Then it should be fine,” Zeke said. “If they turn around, we’ll attack.”

“Some of them are very powerful,” Silik pointed out. Left unsaid was that he’d advised Zeke to kill them when he had them captive inside the tower. Without skills, they couldn’t have resisted for long.

“So are we. We can’t just preemptively kill everyone who might try to hurt us,” Zeke said.

“We can,” Silik said.

Pudge added “We should.”

Eveline just giggled in glee. She truly loved the pair’s ruthlessness, which brought some of her demonic instincts to the fore.

“We won’t,” Zeke countered. “If they attack, we’ll kill everyone stupid enough to come after us. But if we start preemptively attacking anyone who holds a grudge against us, we’re going to be killing a lot of people.”

“More…levels,” Pudge said.

Silik nodded, though Zeke felt certain that the kobold didn’t even have a status. He was still a monster, as far as Zeke knew.

“Enough. We’re not doing it, and that’s that,” Zeke said. In truth, he understood why the trio wanted him to go down that road. It was undeniably smarter, and it was probably a good deal safer – in the short run. However, aside from the moral implications of the practice, Zeke worried that if he and his people acquired a reputation of preemptive murder, some of the more powerful factions in the Eternal Realm would target them.

And though Zeke thought that was inevitable – something Eveline seemed to agree on – he didn’t want it to happen before they were ready. And as of that moment, they weren’t. The kobolds were more refugee than army, and Zeke was far from developing enough personal strength to protect anyone. And Pudge was even further behind.

No – they needed time to develop. To train. To gain experience. And, Zeke hoped, to complete the quest the tower had given him. Something told him that it would prove incredibly important going forward.

“That ‘something’ was me,” Eveline said. “Like a hundred times. I’ve said it over and over, and…”

Zeke tuned her out as he watched the group of detractors continue on their way. He didn’t look away until they’d progressed past the horizon. That’s when he turned to Silik and told him to get the kobolds ready. As the general trotted back to the tower to obey the order, Zeke asked Pudge – and Sasha, who stood in the big bearkin’s shadow – to accompany him to speak to the remaining former slaves.

They found them in the Entry Hall. Some were lounging about, resting in the same manner as they had on days off back in the mines. Those, Zeke expected, would never amount to much. Whether they’d been broken by their ordeal or if they’d always been lazy, he didn’t know. But it didn’t matter. They were almost assuredly useless to him.

“They’re not lazy,” Eveline pointed out. “They just don’t know what to do. You’re going to have to implement a system of exchange. A way for them to earn their keep. Those contribution points you mentioned would probably be a good way to start.”

Zeke shuddered. “I am not doing that,” he said. The last thing he wanted was to be associated with anything the dwarves had used. There were too many bad memories for everyone involved. Not for Zeke, specifically. Though he hadn’t exactly enjoyed his enslavement, he’d only spent the bare minimum amount of time playing by the rules. Instead, he’d largely done whatever he wanted to do. Still, he didn’t want to remind anyone of what they’d left behind.

“But –”

“No, Eveline.”

She sighed, but she accepted his judgement. “The point stands,” she said. “We don’t need a bunch of people lazing about. We need workers. We need production.”

Zeke could already feel a headache coming on. The last thing he wanted was to bend his will toward more administration, but it seemed increasingly likely that he wouldn’t have much of a choice. Because he agreed with Eveline’s assessment. For now, he could support the dead weight. The kobolds had begun to hunt and gather, and their fungus farms had begun to bear their earthy fruit. But going forward, he couldn’t afford to push ahead with that kind of burden weighing him down.

But for now, he had neither the desire nor the capability to confront the problem, so he shunted it off the back of his mind. As he did so, Eveline remarked, “Yeah, that always works. Just think about something else, and the problems always go away.”

Zeke ignored her, too. Instead, he found and approached Jasper, who’d found his way to Eta and the Armory. The surly dwarf looked no happier now that he’d escaped his captivity, and the dryad’s expression was a grim mirror of that sentiment. They’d both lost quite a bit in the mines – Eta, in the form of her best friend’s death, and Armory with untold years of his life – so Zeke didn’t know how to help them move on. Perhaps it was impossible.

Jasper, at least, seemed possessed of the same manic good cheer that always suffused his attitude. When Zeke approached, he offered a broad smile that quickly faded when his eyes shifted to Pudge. He hid the change in expression almost as soon as it landed, but Zeke noticed it all the same.

“How are you, my friend? Did those dastardly dissidents give you any trouble?” he asked.

“No,” Zeke answered. That wasn’t terribly surprising, though. None of them knew the limits of Zeke’s power, and as such, they were unwilling to test him. It was a good thing, too, because the moment they stepped outside the tower, the balance of power had certainly shifted in their direction. There was almost no chance he could’ve stood up to them when they had use of their skills.

Yet another reason Zeke needed to focus on getting stronger.

He went on, “I need a couple of things from you, Jasper. First, we need to round up any natural treasures people might have looted on their way out.”

“People won’t like that…”

“I’m not keeping them,” Zeke said. “I just need to look at what’s there.”

Indeed, none of those piddling treasures would suffice for his quest. Sure, they probably met the minimum requirements, but Zeke refused to settle for anything but the best.

“It could still cause problems.”

“Then let them leave,” was Zeke’s response. “Or do I need to remind them who rescued them? Do we need to revisit who’s feeding and sheltering them? They’d be dead without me.”

“I…I will remind them.”

“We’ll help,” Eta hissed, her vines rustling in irritation.

The Armory just nodded with a distinctly dwarven harumph.

“And what else do you need?”

“We’re moving out soon,” Zeke answered. “I won’t set a grueling pace, but we’re not going to linger, either.”

“Right. I shall let everyone know,” Jasper said.

Perhaps he would make a good administrator. He’d once offered to be Zeke’s servant, so maybe he would agree to take the position.

“Not a chance. He’ll turn it down,” said Eveline.

“Why do you say that?” asked Zeke.

“If he told you the truth about his past, he left precisely that kind of a situation behind in Tesh,” she explained. “He’s an adventurer at heart, and he won’t be chained to administrative duties.”

“Fine.”

After a few more minutes, most of the former slaves were ready to move. Some of the more infirm were going to be left behind in the tower, but the majority of them were willing to travel across the tundra. Mostly, that decision was due to the fact that they would need numbers to dissuade some of the more opportunistic predators that made their home in area. But there was also a little fear – of Zeke, rather than the wildlife – wrapped up in that choice as well.

Before they could completely assemble, a small kobold rushed into their midst. A few of the former slaves scattered, no doubt remembering times when a horde of the small creatures had attacked their mining expeditions. However, through luck or discipline, none of them assaulted the little thing before it reached Zeke.

Once it arrived, it knelt on the floor and muttered something incomprehensible. For a long few moments, it didn’t move. Finally, Eveline said, “I think it’s waiting on you to say something.”

Zeke sighed. He didn’t enjoy the reverence with which the kobolds held him, but he knew that was probably the only reason they hadn’t gone to war against the refugees. So, he had little choice but to accept it for now.

“What’s going on?” Zeke asked, kneeling beside it. He reached out to touch its back, and he was more than a little surprised to feel the warmth radiating from the creature. “Stand up.”

It rose on shaky legs, but it refused to look Zeke in the eyes. “Gen’ral wantses yous,” it said. “Troubles coming.”

Zeke sighed. The message was clear enough that there was no ambiguity to the meaning. So, he ordered the little scout to lead him to Silik, which the thing took to with enviable aplomb. Soon enough, he, Pudge, and Jasper had left the tower and found their way to Silik.

The hulking kobold said, “Ice abominations. Hundreds of them.”

“Are they coming this way?” Zeke asked.

Silik shook his head. “Some. Not all,” he said. “Most are guarding something.”

“Do we know what it is?”

“No. It is cold, though. Very, very cold.”

“Well, that’s just good luck,” Eveline remarked. “Maybe this is the ice natural treasure we need.”

“Maybe,” he agreed. He didn’t like the timing of it, but he couldn’t deny that, if there was an appropriate treasure nearby, it was an appropriate treasure nearby, it would be very fortunate.

But then again, perhaps fortune had nothing to do with it. He’d started sending scouts out to look for dangers as well as signs of natural treasures ever since he’d been given his quest. So, maybe it was just the result of doing the right thing.

“Or maybe you’re stuck in the middle of a tundra where there are probably ice treasures every few miles,” Eveline suggested.

“Yeah. Or that.”

At that moment, something glinted on the horizon, drawing Zeke’s attention. He narrowed his eyes; one thing nobody had ever told him was how vicious the glare could get in such a snowy environment. But a quick pulse of [Cambion’s Awakening] cleared his vision enough that he caught sight of a charging enemy.

Or rather, a horde of enemies.

“What the…”

They looked a lot like wolves, if said wolves were composed entirely of jagged ice and seven feet tall at the shoulder. And there were at least a hundred of them. When the first came into range, Zeke used [Inspect]:

Shard Wolf – Level 49

“Before you go charging in, you should probably know that they’re being empowered by the environment,” Eveline said. “So, they’re probably a lot stronger than they look.”

“Great. Any ideas?”

“Set a fire?” she suggested.

It seemed that Pudge was way ahead of him, because he’d already conjured a giant ball of black flame in each hand. Meanwhile, Sasha was rummaging in her pack for something. Jasper had begun to hum while beating a steady rhythm on the thick leather of his belt. And Silik was hissing orders to his subordinates as he dragged his spear from its holster on his back.

So, with all his companions readying themselves for battle, Zeke decided it was time for him to do the same. So, he embraced [Triune Colossus], fueling it with earthen energy while empowering it with his Will. Green and black energy wreathed his growing form as he stepped forward, intending to meet the charging shard wolves.