Chapter 56: End of the Tail

Name：Tunnel Rat Author：
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Chapter 56: End of the Tail

A twisted and burnt door to a small storage area was being kicked repeatedly from the inside. The sealant on the door’s edge had melted, essentially gluing it shut. After a half-dozen futile kicks, the room’s occupant lost patience. Razor sharp claws poked through the thin metal and shredded the door until a there was a hole large enough for Milo to emerge. He was glad to have put on his protective gear. The air was smoky and foul, the one working fan having trouble clearing it out. From the half-plugged Bore Hole came a thin stream of smoke.

Milo had waited until the metal of door could be touched without pain before exiting. His mood matched the air around him: foul and dark. This was his fault. His clever traps had been too clever. He'd been focused on killing the snake, certain that the precautions he’d taken would keep the fires raging down below away from the engineering complex.

He'd been wrong. Now he wondered if anyone had lived. He called out to the room and got a surprising response.

Status: Deep Rock Engineers Guild. Guild master: Milo Tallsqueak

Current Members: 63

Active Members: 1

Inactive Members: 17

Injured and Dying Members: 45

Current jobs: 0

Current repairs needed: 92%

Current unassigned benefits: 1

Milo rushed through the smoke and stopped at the first blackened body that he found. There was just barely a pulse. The dwarf should have been dead of his horrible wounds, but the strong regenerative spell that had kept them going for centuries was still at work. But it wouldn't be enough. They weren't dead, but they wouldn't last for long.

"Show current unassigned benefits."

Current unassigned benefits: Gift from Ooblipimux

Your guild's hard work has paid off. Client Ooblipimux is pleased with his delivery and has offered a benefit in appreciation of your labor. As members currently may not select benefits, please select a benefit for your guild from the three options below. All members will receive the same benefit.

1. The client has offered to take all members of the guild into his business. The new joint venture will be called Ooblipimuxboomdwarfrat. (Note: Clients Business currently closed.)

2. Gain the health care benefits of client’s business, but delay joining until a later date. (Note: Client’s business is currently closed.)

3. Client offers to teach guild members one of its secret business techniques and/or recipes.

Milo had to hope this didn't turn the dwarfs, (or him!) into a little pile of pudding. If the second option could boost their existing regeneration, it might save them. If not, all the junior engineers were going to die. And really, in a way, that meant he was just risking himself? He was ok with that.

"The guild accepts option 2. Regeneration/Healthcare. "

You have been gifted the skill: Pudding Regeneration

What are cuts to a pudding? Bleeding will stop faster and cuts and slashes heal much quicker. Other bodily ailments will also slowly heal as mass is restored to damaged areas. Except bones. Who needs bones? Not a pudding!

STATUS CHANGE!

Status: Deep Rock Engineers Guild. Guild master: Milo Tallsqueak

Current Members: 63

Active Members: 1

Inactive and recovering Members: 17

Injured and recovering members: 45

Current jobs: 2

Current repairs needed: 92%

Current unassigned benefits: 0

Milo sighed in relief. It looked like it had worked. He pulled back the cuff of his suit, and ran a claw down the meaty part of his arm. Blood welled up along the line of the inch deep cut, then slowly stopped. As he watched, a thin line of white liquid emerged from the wound, and slowly changed to normal skin. His arm still hurt when he moved it and he was missing some health, but the regeneration had certainly worked.

Strange but beneficial? Or scary and ominous? He didn't care at the moment. He may have saved his friends.

But where had the new job come from? "Show current jobs."

Job 1: Snake Clean-Up

Client: Spirit of Altar-Viator

Spirit of Altar-Viator requests that the guild fulfill its obligations to destroying Empress Salasha before she hatches and eats you.

Time until job expires: Momentarily

Job 2: Air-Ship acquisition

Client: Squint

Squint would like an update on an old project assigned to you: Steal me a big airship!

Time until job expires: 7 days

Momentarily? Shit!

Milo raced to a storage area, shattering the melted handle with his claws and pulling out a large tarp. He carried it to the shattered exit of the Bore Hole. He paused for second to pull out his last piece of cheese and swallow it down.

+ 5CSP +2000 experience

Salasha, Guardian of the Egg has been destroyed.

Each member of Deep Rock Engineers Guild has gained 5 CSP and 2000 experience.

Guild master Milo has earned a bonus of 5 CSP.

Guild master Milo has earned an additional bonus for destroying an ancient enemy.

+ 5CSP +2000 experience

You have personally slain Empress Salasha, ancient enemy of Alta-Viator, Queen of the Copperheads, and almost-a-true-Eel.

You have refused her challenge.

You have please Alta-Viator by freeing his spirit and allowing him to destroy his ancient enemy.

You have gained 5,000 experience and 25 CSP

You have earned an additional 5000 experience and 25 CSP for killing an Eel.

Each member of The Deep Rock Engineers Guild has earned 25 CSP 5000 experience.

Loot Chests for you and your guild have been placed in this room. Enjoy.

An exhausted and shivering Milo watched as glowing chests appeared. He stumbled towards them, and opened them one by one, throwing items into his stash and barely looking at them. Finally, in the last chest he found his treasure. A huge twenty-five-pound wheel of aged cheddar. He bit into it, swallowing the red wax covering it along with a huge mouthful of the mellow and flavorful cheese. He didn't stop until he had eaten at least three pounds and the shakes began to leave him.

He sat, holding his precious cheese. Maybe he'd even share some with Boom-Boom....his head snapped up at the thought of the dwarves. "Guild Status"!

Status: Deep Rock Engineers Guild. Guild master: Milo Tallsqueak

Current Members: 63

Active Members: 1

Inactive Members: 17

Injured and Recovering Members: 45

Current jobs: 1

Current repairs needed: 92%

Current unassigned benefits: Each member of the guild, excluding Guild master Milo, has 43 unassigned CSP and 11,500 unassigned experience. None of your members are currently able to assign these benefits. Do you wish to assign these benefits for your guild members? Y/N.

Milo was tired, coming down from the effects of withdrawal, and fighting off the rush of too much cheese. He set aside the huge wheel and focused his mind on the job at hand. He really had two problems.

The senior engineers would recover once they had power for their suits, but were trapped in those things forever. Would the pudding regeneration help with that? They were suffering from extreme old age.

The junior engineers had two types of weird regeneration. The first though, they couldn't control. What had the Engineer said? They didn't have the mental stats to control the spell. Well, let’s start with that.

"Use 9 points to purchase 3 points of INT for all Junior Engineers."

"Use 9 points to purchase 3 points of WIS for all Junior Engineers."

"Use 9 points to purchase 3 points of CON for all Senior Engineers."

"Show options for spending CSP for guild members of Deep Rock Engineers Guild."

This brought up a huge list of skills and options. Some were the same as his own, buying points in stats. Many were engineering skills that could be bought. A few were puzzling?

"What is Toughness?"

Toughness (TOU) is an additional stat only available to the dwarven race. It acts in similar ways to CON, raising health, but also makes the body more resistant to the effects of disease, age, or physical injuries.

"Great. Assign another 9 points to all Engineers for 3 points of Toughness. Please give an explanation of the Core Skills 'Grey Beard' and 'Ancient Ancestor'.

Both Ancient Ancestor and Greybeard are core skills only available to the dwarven race.

Greybeard: Increase Dwarven lifespan by 100%. (Average lifespan of a Greybeard is 400 years.)

Cost: 10 CSP

Ancient Ancestor: Some Greybeards live vastly extended lives. They lose some of their physical vigor as they age, but have on average a lifespan of +1000 years. (Average lifespan of a Ancient Ancestor is 1400 years, but records have indicated some past the mark of 3000.)

Cost: 15 CSP. Prerequisite of the Greybeard skill, and lifespan of 300 years.

Wow, that meant you could buy cheese, put it somewhere safe, and come back for it after a hundred years. Or hell, you could even.... Milo shook his head and dismissed dreams of cheese factories and warehouses. FOCUS!

"Assign the skills Greybeard and Ancient Ancestor to any Senior Engineers that lack them."

"Assign experience to the following skill in order until that individual is at his maximum: Engineering, Mechanic, Metallurgy, Physics, Chemistry, Fluid Systems, Pulley Systems, and Ore processing."

"Increase the cap on the INT statistic for all Junior Engineers by +5"

That was all he could think of. He was too tired. He put the wheel of cheese back into his chest, (minus a good-sized chunk that went into his pocket.) and dismissed it. Then he passed out, laying partially on top of a pile of shiny copper bars.