Chapter 303: Pit Fight!

Chapter 303: Pit Fight!

Ozzy saw a notification from the bank that he'd sold three barrels of Trifecta Bacon. It was a tricky recipe to get right, but with that kind of money rolling in, he'd be doing more of it. He transferred 1500 gold to Baron Billy. The two of them had hammered out a deal. They split the money down the middle on the large sales of enchanted meat. Billy didn't worry about niggling details like the meat coming from the Gadobhra stockyards in the first place.

Billy and Layla had become much easier to deal with after he returned from the Smoke and the new trade routes were opened. They were mostly happy as long as money and building points were pouring into their coffers. The only worry was finishing the fortress on schedule. The walls and buildings were going up fast. They were ahead of schedule on that part, despite the annoyance of constant raids by players and mercenaries.

Billy was countering that with quests for the players in the area. He offered complimentary healing and night vision potions and had set up a points system for how many 'bandit ears' were turned into him. Several dozen magic items adorned a small shop in Gadobhra where players could pay in either gold or 'quest points.' Mcteeth and a special 'assassination squad' roamed the area many nights, killing the teams of players miles before they got to Rowan Keep.

The problem was going to be the rune carving and the teleporter. Neither of those was things Ozzy could help with, so he helped by moving slabs of stone and making bacon and ham to feed people. After learning a bit of grilling, he spent a few nights cooking and feeding people his simple recipes. Georges didn't always need someone to lift stones or haul bags full of gravel and sand, but there were always hungry people to feed.

The Red Banner mercenary company had come in lean and hungry. Their corporal had come by the butcher shop looking for normal bacon but said the butcher's guild in Wolfsburg sold them bacon carrying a small enchantment. He and the rest of the cavalry had been to try some samples that he handed out and said they preferred his recipe. That was Sedgewick's gain and Wolfsburg's loss. They would need to up their game if they wanted to compete with him.

The Butcher loaded two of the barrels of bacon and went to grab the third. Two silvery chains wrapped around it, pulling it out of his hands and putting it back in the center of the room.

Ozzy sighed. The pit wanted to play, but he didn't have the time for it now. "Sorry, things to do. We'll do some tug-of-war tomorrow." He went to grab the bacon, and again, the Pit pulled the barrel further into the room. "I told you, I don't have time for this." Ozzy walked to the barrel and slapped the chains away. Chains appeared everywhere, hauling the barrel of bacon off to storage and tripping him when he went to follow. The doors slammed shut, and more chains wrapped around his arms and legs. The link to the origin of this information resides within Nøv€lß¡n★

Warning: Your Charnel Pit has gone feral!!

After besting you in Tug-of-War, your Charnel Pit has decided that you are weak and are not the boss of it.

Perk: My Pit, My Rules has been replaced with Spare the Shovel and Spoil the Charnel Pit

You probably shouldn't have taught it a new game and then lost to it. Unless you can regain dominance, you're working for it.

"Shit! Damned system. Could have warned me."

More chains wrapped around Ozzy, pulling his arms and legs in all directions, and lifted him off the ground. With five chains around each arm and leg, he had no leverage to pull against and was stuck tight. The chains slammed him against the ground several times, like a troll playing a game of Smashydwarf, and then tossed him high in the air. He hit the smokehouse wall and was held there with chains pulling his arms and legs tight.

He started to yell for help and then thought against it. That might just get a lot of people killed by the thing. Worse, Joe might see him like this. The old cyclone had told him several times not to go easy on the pit. Damned if he wasn't right, but that didn't mean Ozzy wanted to be rescued by him.

All around him, the chains were moving. Some were doing work, lifting meat or turning it to smoke the carcasses evenly. Other chains twisted in the air or banged against the walls. He heard voices and screaming coming from all around him. It sounded like two insane people arguing with each other. Concentrating, he realized it was the pit, screaming at itself. Guttural curses and threats were mixed with sibilant whispers of assimilation and conquest. As if he didn't have more problems, Ozzy got the idea his murderous smokehouse had a split personality. He'd mixed a Charnel Daemon that escaped from a dungeon in Gadobhra with an insane Starspawn from the outer dark. He probably should have expected some problems. Joe had been right about making it behave. It had been testing him all the time, and winning at tug-of-war had given it bad ideas. He needed to kick its ass and teach it who was boss. Of course, first, he had to get out of this trap.

The chains holding him were strong. They were forged from a Tier 4 metal melted in the pit with a lot of heat and magic. But they weren't as strong as the bindings on Old Smoke.

Ozzy had a knack for working with chains. He'd taken Chainwork as a mate and gained the perk: Tight Chains. Ten ranks in Smoke Weaving and hundreds of hours spent making chains for the ships he'd sailed on all added up to an ability to know how a chain was constructed. Just as he had with Old Smoke's bonds, he looked hard at one particular link, trying to see how it was made.

There were no runes in the link like there had been in the manacles holding Old Smoke, but the metal had aspects of magic flowing inside. He recognized dark and fire-aspected mana easily. A third was deeply integrated with the metal and woven into it. Earth? Or was there a separate metal aspect? Suzette had taught him a little about aspects and spells. He should learn more about magic now that he had some of his own, but his abilities from the smoke worked differently, and he'd been busy catching up after his vacation. The last aspect he didn't recognize. He concentrated hard and had a quick vision of stars in the night sky. Celestial? That made sense. Celestial and Metal aspects from the metal of the meteorite and the daemon contributed Fire and Dark aspects. Fire and Darkness were the components of smoke, and he had some skill with both of them. He'd start with those.

Slowly, he started to push his smoke into the link he was studying. It was harder than pushing it into the wood, but he could do it. As he moved smoke into the link, he saw the shiny metal darken and turn black. As his smoke encountered the fire and dark-aspected mana, they combined and were drawn into his smoke. When he'd absorbed all of the fire and darkness, he tried to do the same with the other two aspects. It didn't work. He could push the other mana around, but he didn't have a good feel for it and couldn't absorb it. Instead, he started pushing it into the next link, leaving behind a pure black piece of chain. He absorbed more fire and darkness and kept pushing. Link by link, he cleared that chain around his right hand of everything but his smoke and then started on the next one.

Somewhere in the middle of the second hand, he got noticed. His right hand was now in control, but only part of his left. The silvery chains jerked hard at him, and the whispers became deranged screams. What was left of the Starspawn knew what he was up to and was pissed. By contrast, the other voice didn't seem upset. He could hear that voice better now; the images of burning flesh and bright fires were almost pleading. The daemon still had the purpose of building a pit, lighting a fire, and charring the meat of creatures. It was arguing with the Starspawn, and Ozzy saw the chains divide and move to two sides of the pit. One set of chains was bright and silvery, the other set darker, with flickers of flame running up and down the links. He felt the daemon trying to get into the chains he had cleared of celestial and metal-aspected mana and let it in.

Finally, the job was done. Ozzy grabbed a ham and started taking bites of meat. Joe walked through the walls of the smokehouse and handed him a tall glass of strawberry surprise. "That'll do, son, that'll do."

Blacky McPit-Fiend is ready to get to work! It's time to burn the meat! Where ever you travel, he'll be with you and ready to flay the flesh and cook it to well done!

You have won the contest of wills with your feral charnel pit, taming the beast with strength and cunning even when chained and tortured.

The Perk: Your Pit, Your Rules is back.

Rule 1: The Butcher is the boss.

Rule 2: You and Me, buddy!

Rule 3: If the Butcher loses at tug-of-war, see rule 1.

Ozzy noticed that the tattoo of a chain on his arm was now the same color as the chains of the pit. He pulled on the Trammelian Chain and looked at the length of it. The links were stronger and darker, with a slight metallic sheen to them. He could feel his pit daemon inside of it. "Yeah, ok. I did promise that. I guess you're heading to work with me from now on."

As the pit cooled, a chain darted into it, bringing out a chunk of melted metal. Ozzy looked at it. The hundred-pound piece of metal was dense with Celestial aspect mana as if all of the mana from the Starspawn was here, but none of the crazed intellect. He wondered what it was good for.

Pure Starmetal, 100 pounds. Enchanted with Celestial mana. Tier 5 substance. Sought by enchanters everywhere and prized by elven smiths.

He pulled the remaining heat from it, wrapped it in burlap, and tossed it in a corner. That was tomorrow's problem.

You have earned 500 experience points in Resist Torture and 500 experience points in CON.

You have earned 1000 experience points in Pit Alchemy and 1000 experience points in CHA.

You have earned 1000 experience points in Aspect of Smoke and 1000 experience points in COR.

You have earned 1000 experience points in Aspect of Heat and 1000 experience points in RAD.

You have earned 15 Core Skill Points.

You have an additional Heritage Option: Legacy of Prometheus.

Ozzy was tired. Maybe he'd take part of the day off and do some fishing tomorrow.

One-hundred-thousand gold coins have been deposited to your account by Roderick Kallvek for the delivery to his emporium of 1000 barrels of Sedgewick Sausage.

Holy shit! He hadn't actually expected the merchant to be able to get the Legion to go for the deal so quickly! He sent Billy half of that amount.

"Hope you're ready to get to work, Blacky. It's time to make the sausage!"