Chapter 25

Chapter 25

I see youve brought the herbs I requested, Rhea said, indicating the bundle I carried.

I have. Fortunately, there are quite a few that grow near where I built my home, I said as I set the bundle down. In fact, I think once I have my home fully set up, I will try and cultivate them on the mountains.

That would be wonderful, Rhea said. Flame blade is quite the valuable herb. It would be a great benefit to the town if we had a steady supply. Unfortunately, no one has ever been able to figure out a way to effectively raise them as a crop.

My plan isnt to change where theyre growing, its to develop those places theyre already at into more effective environments. My guess is theres something about the areas they thrive thats specialone that hasnt been able to be replicated.

Well, you appear to have a solid plan in motion, Rhea said, taking on a more serious tone. Ezekiel, I have been meaning to ask Why are you here? A man of your skills could make a much better living in a more populated area.

I shrugged. Maybe I just dont like people. The same can be said for Derek. Hes quite the talented woodworker, so why is he here in this small, middle of nowhere town?

I know Dereks reasons, and he has very good ones, Rhea said. But you I cant figure outand its certainly not because you dont like people. Youre running from something.

So, what if I am. I met her gaze unflinchingly. I liked Rhea and didnt want her opinion of me to change, but I also wasnt going to tell her why I was here. A truth like that would certainly change her opinion.

She let out a long sigh. Fair enough. Just know Im always here if you need to talk, Ezekiel.

Thank youand please, call me Zeke. I smiled and turned to head back to my boat.

Wait, Zeke, I do have another job for you, Rhea said.

I resisted groaning. She always had jobs for me.N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l--B1n.

If you complete it, you will be rewarded. And by more than just my gratitude this time.

I chuckled. What is it?

I have detected the presence of an evil shrine in the mountains beyond your house, Rhea said. I dont know where it came from, all I know is that Olattee let me know it was there. I would like you to investigate. Hopefully you will be able to remove the shrine and figure out where it came from.

I can do that. Now this type of job was much more up my alley. How deep into the mountains was it?

Here, Rhea held out a compass. This will point you in the right direction. It felt like it was deep into the mountains, potentially several days.

I eyed the needle of the compass; it wasnt pointing north. It will take me a few days to prepare for the journey, but Ill investigate this for you.

Thank you, Zeke, she smiled. I had been planning on visiting your home in the next few days, though it can wait until you get back.

Ill look forward to your visit. Ill put a torch out on my dock to indicate when the job is done so that you know when Im back. The lake was just long enough that my dock wasnt quite visible, but a flame posted above it would be visible.

***

I hoisted my backpack on my shouldersit wasnt full of food or water, since I didnt require sustenance. Instead, it was filled with supplies that would make camping more pleasant.

The chieftain had just begun to turn his head when I rammed my blade through the back of his neck and cut to one side. A spray of blood shot out, merging with the veritable red marsh below us.

In retrospect, that probably wasnt a very smart move. The eerie silence that followed was chilling. Every goblin was scattered around me, hacked to pieces. My wickedly sharp blade had severed arms and legs like tissue paper.

One look at the bowl full of blood, and I realized my mistake. I should not have fought the goblins here. The blood swirled into a whirlpool, and I activated my ability to see magic, unveiling the divine energies swirling around it. It was a powerful ritualistic magic, one I couldnt stop.

And while I lack such power, maybe I could disrupt it.

There were symbols that represented a god of blood, an entity some goblins served. I scrambled over, and using the tip of my blade, scratched it out. The magic roiled going out of control, threatening to unleash an even worse effect than letting the original spell take place. I scratched in a new symbolthat of a death god Id served when I was a player. It had all been role-play at the time, and I never thought anything of it.

Now I knew that serving a dark god wasnt necessarily a great idea. But the knowledge was useful.

I went around the circle, removing every other symbol and replacing it with my own. My hope was that the two gods would fight each other for the sacrifice. Reexamining the building magic unveiled my gamble to be correct. The divine magics were clashing.

Which meant it was likely not a good idea to remain here. I turned to run, but the cage the goblins had been dragging forward caught my eye. A lynx was trapped, and even though it took me a little extra time, I dashed over and cut the lock away.

The lynx burst free, and after a pointed stare at me, dashed away. I followed his example.

The release of magical power was palpable. Two beings appeared. One was a blood elemental. The other was a spectral figure of dark magic with swirling etheric blue and green throughout. The two creatures clashed in a tumbling fight, and quickly demolished the few huts that used to be the goblin village. Creatures like this couldnt survive for long on this plane. Though the winner would be greatly weakened, I did not remain to watch the fight.

The clashing elementals roared, their sky cracking clash soon becoming dampened by the mountains the farther I went. The power of the elementals was alarming. I was glad Id interrupted whatever ritual that was, even if it wasnt in the smartest way.

Making my way in the dark, I traversed back up the mountain to the lake that led into my valley. It took me a large portion of the night to reach that spot, but once I was inside my own piece of this remote land, I felt much safer and decided to rest.

I didnt bother to set up my campsite, I just sat down and leaned my back against a tree, and rested my blade-staff in my arms. A rustling caught my attention not long after. Something moved in the brush. A few moments later, the lynx Id saved stepped out. It looked at me with big feline eyes, then sat down, beginning to clean itself.

Hello, are you following me? I asked with a chuckle.

The lynx was a beautiful creature, with shady gray fur with streaks of brown and pointed tufts of fur on its ears. I carefully reached out to it and saw my hand was skeletal. Pulling it back, I cast my cloaking illusion spell to look like a human. Though the lynx hadnt seemed alarmed by my undead nature, it was best to stay cloaked at all times.

Holding my hand out once more, I waited for the creature to make the next move. After staring at me a moment, the lynx got up and pushed his head into my hand. Encouraged, I scratched it behind the ears. Lynx, unlike their bigger brethren, were able to purr, and after a moment of scratching, my new friend purred. It was a deep sound. Much deeper than any cat Id known before.

The next day I continued down the valley and the lynx stayed with me. It would prowl in the brush and occasionally I thought it was stalking something. When we arrived back at my clearing, the lynx began to investigate. Satisfied the area was secure, it curled up in a beam of sun and promptly fell asleep.

Seems I had a new friend.

After putting a torch out on the end of the dock for the village to see, I set to work around the clearing.

I still needed to put the finishing touches on my roof and dig out a basement. My long-term plans involved adding multiple wings and rooms, transforming it into more of a home.

Id previously arranged with Derek to install a temporary sawmill powered by the creek to cut the planks for my roof. He had a small one that he kept on hand for helping people build houses away from town, when it would be too much effort to supply them with planks from his bigger mill.

I spent the day preparing the area where we would be setting up the mill.