Chapter 15: A tiger’s day.

  Lachi held up his sheet of parchment and compared it to the designs Berlioz had made. It was a perfect copy with not a single line out of place. Handing the two sheets to Bigmin he asked. “What’s next.”

  “Your mentor has to approve of it.” Said Bigmin placing the sheets in front of Berlioz.

  The black Panthera looked down at the sheets, muttering. “This is pointless but eerily perfect.”

  “If this works Lioz, you might unlock master rank.” Explained Bigmin patting Berlioz on the back. “Now that he has approved, you just need to build a model.”

  “And you’re sure it’s ok to use the wood of the forest guardian?” Asked Lachi, preparing his workstation.

  Berlioz watched him mark out the position for the large structure. “You don’t have enough space.”

  “You’re right.” Agreed Lachi rubbing the back of his head. “Should I just make it smaller.”

  “No, Chef would be pissed if he can’t use it and then it would be a waste of the epic material.” Berlioz thought for a second. “Everyone’s working so the dining hall’s free.”

  The two Panthera and the giant dwarf left Lachi’s office and made for the mess hall, stopping briefly in the kitchen as Chef approached them.

  “Have you built it yet?” asked the eager mountain lion.

  Berlioz held open the door. “Don’t be so pushy, we’re literally about to build it.”

  “But your workshop is upstairs.” Called Chef through the service counter.

  Lachi called back. “Needed more space.” While Bigmin and Berlioz pushed a couple of tables together.

  With the tables placed together there was more than enough room for Lachi to start building. His expert carpentry skill helped with the shaping of the base and the carving of the pillars was easy enough, he struggled a little with the intricate window patterns and panicked when he couldn’t get the right angle to fit the resin shards in. Berlioz was tasked with pointing out any mistakes and encouraging Lachi to keep up his efforts, but he wasn’t allowed to physically fix any mistakes the tiger might have made.

  “It’s coming along great.” Expressed Berlioz. “just make sure you put the idols in before you build the structure.”

  “I’m not stupid.” Scoffed Lachi.

  Bigmin chuckled. “Listen to your mentor, his guidance will ensure you gain the skill.”

  “This is so stupid.” Huffed Berlioz. “I could be out training the new arrivals.”

  “This is how the nobles do it, if it works, you’ll be able to train everyone in multiple skills at once.” Explained Bigmin.

  Berlioz shook his head. “And waste a tree’s worth of materials while I’m at it.”

  “Guys this is hard enough without all the noise.” Complained Lachi adding a tiny amount of adhesive to a figure carved out of bone.

  Berlioz and Bigmin let Lachi focus and soon enough the spiritual tiger managed to fall into a trance. Lachi’s hands moved without thought, reaching out for each piece of epic wood and shaping it magical precision. It took a couple of hours for him to carve in the intricate details and when he was done, he stood back and admired his work.

  “I was hoping to receive a notification.” Said Lachi, panting.

  Bigmin nudged Berlioz. “You’re supposed to sign it off.”

  “Shit, yeah, it’s perfect.” Said Berlioz, wishing he was anywhere else.

  Congratulations, you have successfully constructed Auld god’s temple model and have gained the following: architecture, artificing.

  “Holy fuck.” Swore Lachi.

  Berlioz rushed to his side. “Wait did it actually work?”

  “I told you it would.” Chuckled Bigmin.

  “You’re lying.” Berlioz couldn’t believe.

  Chef came in and surveyed the temple, measuring each opening and inspecting the tiny furniture. “It’s perfect.”

  “Shut up Chef.” Spat Berlioz. “Lachi tell me you’re lying.”

  “I’m not, I have the skill.” Said the tiger as he batted at his ear. “What’s that ringing sound.”

  With the unbelievable confirmation, Berlioz ran for the open doors and leapt out shooting a web for the trees. While Bigmin guffawed at the Berlioz’s erratic behaviour, Chef sneakily pressed his hand on the base of the model and deposited it in his storage before darting off himself. Lachi, felt weird. Like the room was spinning and that ringing was getting louder. He realised something all of a sudden and inspected his blinking mana bar too late.

  Waking up on his office floor, Lachi was too disorientated to stop the meaty white fingers that pried open his mouth and poured a mana potion down his throat. Swallowing down the sickly-sweet liquid he blinked away the system text that had been burnt into his retina.

  Architecture (Novice) rank up (Expert) Int 2

  Artificing (Novice) Rank up (Expert) Wis 2

  “It actually worked big man.” Cheered Lachi, accepting Bigmin’s aid to stand.

  Bigmin brushed dust off of Lachi’s back. “I told you it was likely. Oscar must have taught Berlioz how to craft the same way, but since then he left everyone to figure things out on their own. Rare skills can only be learnt through guidance.”

  “Want me to teach you artificing?”

  “Not today stripes, not today.”

  There was a sadness in Bigmin’s eyes as he left that Lachi couldn’t understand. What was there to be sad about, there was finally hope for his people again. The elders may have been slain but there was a new elder, a human elder one that was changing the Panthera’s core beliefs for the betterment of their species. Lachi felt lucky, ecstatic and entirely overwhelmed at the thought of being a major part of his people’s transition. He had thought that taking on the temple project would give him the same drive and direction that the rest of the cabinet had, alas he still felt lost.

  Looking around his office as if the meaning he yearned for would be found hunched in a corner, Lachi felt his whiskers twitch with embarrassment upon taking in the mess he had made. The room was almost as messy as Berlioz’s office, with scraps of ant chitin and a thick layer of bone dust blanketing every surface. His schedule may have been full for the day, but his office had to be cleaned first. Producing a dustpan and brush from his storage, the tiger got to work. While he swept, polished and organised his workspace, Lachi looked up at the statue of Odin he had sculpted with pride. The mix of adhesive and bone dust made for a marble-like structure that shimmered as the light shone on it and the sight of the majestic god made him want to work on the next one.

  Congratulations, you have successfully cleaned a room and have gained the following: Cleaning.

  There was nothing like gaining a reward for something so mundane as tidying up. With a little pep in his step, Lachi took off to start his rounds. His first visit of the day was one he was excited about, humming a song the Alleycats had played the night before he headed for the vitalaberry tree. Drawing closer to the northernly placed resource he spotted the cemetery alter that Berlioz had built in the trees. The way the webbed bridge casted shade to the right of the much shorter tree gave Lachi guidance in his design of the area. He curled his toes in the furrowed soil beneath his feet and started sketching. With his newly acquired architecture skill his plans came together fast. The temple was to be situated behind the vitalaberry tree, suspended in the dreadwoods with a monastery to the left. Web bridges would link the three structures together and the ground between them that held the vitalaberry tree would become a grove dedicated to a beauty befitting the new gods.

  “What do you draw, Lachi.” Came a voice from the tree.

  Lachi held up his architectural design. “It’s the future of your grove.”

  “Please, come closer. This one’s vision is lacking.”

  Lachi approached the tree and found that the mycelium spirit guardian had once again changed its form. When he had first made contact, the guardian presented itself as a mossy mould that clung to the vitalaberry tree. He sat and spoke to the mould until it formed into a face and began to talk back. Later that day the guardian transformed into a humanoid mushroom small enough to ride on Lachi’s shoulder and together they travelled around Shumi and the surrounding zone. Lachi had instantly grown fond of the mysterious entity and wished to see the creature grow. Finding it now a few inches taller and with a body similar to that of a spider monkeys, although lacking any facial features other than the red spots that adorned its fungal body, filled the tiger with parental pride.

  “What do you think?” Lachi asked, smiling as he presented his sketch.

  The guardian looked it over and approximated a smile. “It will be an honour to maintain such a grove as this.” The guardian melded into the tree he stood upon and reappeared in the soil beneath Lachi. “Before we go, we would like to make a request.”

  “You don’t have to be so formal, just speak your mind.”

  “Our mind is far reaching and takes time to gather consensus, this one’s body contains only a fraction of our network but has made a significant discovery.” The guardian held out its hand and a core emerged from it. “The one known as Berlioz left this core inside one of the many corpses used to nurture our grounds. We used this core to shape this one’s image.” The guardian flexed it’s little arms. “The musculature and ocular system is lacking; the frame however is mostly efficient although this tail is redundant.” The guardian rapidly climbed to Lachi’s shoulder and spoke softly into his ear. “We would like to inhabit the body of a beetle bear.”

  Lachi inspected his clawless paws. “That’s a very dangerous request and what do you mean inhabit?”

  “The danger is not notable, if you die you will respawn and if this one’s body is destroyed the core will remain to reform it.” The guardian paused for a full minute before speaking again. “Consensus has been reached we apologise for the wait.”

  “You don’t have to say that every time you pause to think.”

  “We shall confer that. Would you like the answer to your question?”

  “Yes please.”

  “We may inhabit a host creature by infesting its skull and assuming control of it’s core.” The Guardian peered into Lachi’s ear. “a demonstration may be made however there will be major discomfort and a sense of imperilment that may have lasting effects.”

  “I’ll take your word for it.” Said Lachi shivering at the thought of his core being enveloped in mould. “Could you hop off while I equip my gear?”

  “This one will comply.” Said the guardian leaping to the ground. “Perhaps the one named Berlioz could craft ‘gear’ for this one’s body when we have decided on a suitable form.”

  Lachi caused his armour to materialize upon his torso. Although he was happy with the effort Berlioz had put in to update the iron hide armour with parts from the other creatures that had been hunted, he still felt as though the armour was too loose fitting and had plenty of room for improvement. The tiger took a moment to inspect his knuckle dusters, those too were made for general purpose and not adapted for his style of combat, these things would have to change now that Lachi could use the artificing skill.

  “Okay, I think I’m ready.” Said Lachi stooping down.

  The guardian climbed up his arm. “The Beatle-Bear is a formidable foe, should we invite those under you?”

  “Whiskey’s the only one that’s free today, the others are staying with the new residents that Oscar sent over.”

  “Oscar.” The guardian spoke the name with piety. “When will we meet the master?”

  “When he returns.” Said Lachi taking to the trees. “Until then, let’s see if we can achieve something he would be proud to come back to.”

  Swinging through the trees with his new web shooting wrist bands, Lachi both admired the ease at which they allowed him to traverse and feared the complacency they would inevitably bring. Was it right for the Panthera to develop tools that replaced their natural abilities, would there be Panthera born without the core knowledge of tree climbing and vine swinging, would behaving like the coreless make them coreless.

  “Are we doing the right thing.” Whispered Lachi, halting over a herd of locust-deer.

  The guardian didn’t understand the question posed. “No, these are not Beetle-bears. Is that not clear.”

  “I wasn’t talking to you.” Said the tiger, biting the clawless tips of his paws. “We are about to replace the elders with human gods. Isn’t that insanity? To turn our backs on our history and what, forge a new one.”

  “This is about you, not your people. You are afraid of becoming an elder.”

  “I am.” Lachi dropped down, his fist smashing into the spine of a locust dear. “Evolution terrifies me.”

  The guardian hopped off and inspected the middle legs of the felled monster. “If this creature had evolved you wouldn’t have ended it so easily.”

  “It’s not a matter of survival.” Lachi stored the corpse and returned to the trees. “I won’t be me anymore.”

  “Ah, the ever-elusive sense of self. Are you this body or are you the core that resides within?”

  “I, don’t know how to answer that.” Lachi paused atop a branch. “I’m, me. I am the fur, the flesh, the bone. I’m not like you, I’m more than just a core in the ground.”

  “This is not true. All monsters are cores wrapped in organic armour, the coreless are no different. You described to us the brain that drives our master, he too resides within that core. The rest is just a vessel.”

  “How can I preach to my people, when I myself do not understand?”

  “You are not like us; you do not require consensus. Only belief and hope.”

  Lachi took off, using the vines to swing. “I believe in Oscar and Lioz, is that enough?”

  “Focus now, the Beetle-Bear is beneath.”

  The Guardian crawled down Lachi’s arm and attached a strand of webbing to itself from his wristband before leaping off.

  “Wait.” Called Lachi, dropping the locust-deer corpse. “This was supposed to distract it.”

  The corpse thudded to the ground and the Beetle-Bear reacted instantly. The bass of its roar shook the trees while the high pitch keening it let out as it tore into its prey, stung Lachi’s ears. The guardian landed gently on the monster’s shimmering wing casing and climbed to its furred neck without notice. Lachi’s hear caught in his throat. The Beetle-Bear twitched and brushed at its head as the guardian neared its ear, for just a seconded the tiger lost sight of the fungal form but on closer inspection he spotted the guardian’s weird feet hanging out of the monster’s large ear.

  The Beetle-Bear had returned to gorging on the lean body of the Locust-deer, clipping it’s legs off with its mandibles and stripping the meat with its powerful jaws. For a moment Lachi was concerned that the guardian perished but all of a sudden, the huge monster sat up and looked at him through glossy eyes.

  “Guardian?” Whispered Lachi, lowering himself. “Is that you?”

  “We have assumed control.” The Gaurdian’s voice vibrated through the beetle-bears vocal chords. “Now, you may ride upon our shoulders and know the gratitude we feel for this action.”

  Lachi dropped down, landing on the guardians back, he gripped its fur tightly. “This doesn’t feel safe. What if the thing takes back control.”

  “That is a humorous thought.” The guardian stood bearing it’s new seven-foot frame. “This creature’s core may be rare, but we are epic.”

  “Why are you walking on two legs?” asked Lachi hanging from the guardians back. “This thing is supposed to use all six to travel.”

  “We wish to evaluate the musculature. We predict these legs could carry us like this for a substantial time before exhaustion.”

  “And how long on all six?”

  “Indefinitely” The guardian took off with all the might of the beetle-bear’s powerful frame. “There is something we would like to do.”

  Lachi gripped onto the fur of the guardian’s borrowed form while it weaved between the surrounding dreadwoods at full speed. Had he known this was going to happen, he would have had Berlioz craft him a saddle. That was wrong, he thought realising that it was up to him to craft for himself and those he was responsible for, now that he had obtained the artificing skill. His self-deprecating thoughts moved faster than the creature he sat upon, doubt mixed with anxiety, fear enveloped hope and by the time the guardian halted it’s momentum, Lachi’s head ached with the pressure of it all.

  “You are troubled.” Spoke the guardian.

  Lachi laid back. “Its all too much.”

  “Do you still struggle with your thoughts?”

  “I have to teach an entire religion based on a few stories Oscar has told me.” Lachi pressed his paws into his temples. “How can I be a leader of faith.”

  “Do you not already preach to the many. We listen. Your words touch all that reside, even those that form Shumi’s core.”

  “They’re just stories.”

  “They have meaning and give meaning.” The guardian stood rigid as it sighted a Locust-Deer. “Ready yourself, we wish to hunt.”

  “I can’t do much from your back.” Lachi sat up. “I’ll go to the trees and try to keep up.”

  “We require your assistance. The prey must be taken alive.” The guardian stalked between the trees. “Use your spinnerets to entangle their legs.”

  Without another word the guardian pushed forward, startling the Locust-deer and causing it to freeze in fear. Lachi reacted without hesitation, shooting a line of webbing that attached to the front legs of the bug-beast and snapped it out of its shocked state. With its fight or flight response kicking in the locust-deer tried to flee and found itself tangled. Crashing to the ground the bug-beast struggled until the guardian took purchase of the web and dragged it in. fear once again paralysed the monster and Lachi attached it to the side of the guardian’s borrowed form.

  “How many do you need?” Asked Lachi inspecting the webbing.

  The guardian shook itself to test the bindings. “This will work. We just need one more, a female to birth the many.”

  “How can you tell the difference?”

  “The males walk alone, while the females roam in concert with their sisters.” Lachi climbed atop the guardian and slung a rope of webbing around its neck. “That is wise, we will be moving at great speed for this chase.”

  Lachi had hunted the locust-deer with his team of uncommon jaguars the day before, it was simple enough to hide in the trees above and pick the creatures off from range as they grazed but chasing the fleet footed bug-beasts was insane. His surroundings blurred with the speed that the guardian pushed it’s borrowed form to make. Colossal dreadwoods became terrifying pillars of darkness that would put an end to both Lachi, and his fungi friend should the guardian make a mistake in its haste. Shortly they were facing a herd of thirty something locust-deer, Lachi prepared to fire a web once he was in range but the beetle-bears heavy feet pounding upon the ground caused the grazing creatures to take off in a panicked rush.

  What followed was a chaotic dash, with Lachi gripping on to his makeshift reigns and struggling to make out the beige figures that fled before him. More than a few locust-deer met their end by crashing into the trees ahead of them but most of them used the pillars of death to their advantage. In the minutes of desperate sprinting that the guardian had performed it came close enough for Lachi to snare their prey countless times, only to lose a locust-deer to a collision or have to pull back to avoid crashing itself.

  “Let’s try something different.” Screamed Lachi, exhaling as the tree they were aimed at passed by their side. “This isn’t working, and I’d prefer not to find out what death feels like.”

  “What would you suggest?” The guardian pulled to the side, focusing more on traversing the terrain than catching its prey.

  Lachi turned to face behind, securing his bottom half to the beetle-bears back with webbing. “Can you get ahead of them?”

  “It will cause the host lasting pain, but it is possible, yes.”

  “Go, get as far ahead as you can.”

  The guardian picked up speed. “What is your plan?”

  “No real plan. Fuck, this is fast.”

  “We can slow down and try a different approach.”

  “Don’t you dare.” Lachi started tweaking the nozzles of his spinnerets. “I don’t know if this will work but as Oscar would say. Let’s do it live.”

  Lachi shot out a testing web that split into a wide net. Pumping his fist he yelled, “Yes,” before rapidly spraying every tree he passed with the sticky nets. Understanding what was happening behind it, the guardian slowed to allow the tiger to spread the webbing with more accuracy. Each web spent a little mana and with the frequency Lachi was deploying his traps, his mana gauge was quickly falling. His head ached with the exertion but when the first locust-deer collided with a web and became completely entangled, he knew it was worth the pain.

  “Why are you stopping?” Lachi’s question came out slurred.

  The guardian leaped up and clung to the side of a tree. “It is done, we have captured more of the creatures than we need.”

  “Oh, so it’s ok for me to pass out now right.”

  “Pass out?”

  The guardian’s query was met with the vibrations of Lachi’s snoring. While the tiger slept upon its back, the guardian set to the task of gathering the captive locust-deer. The might of its borrowed frame made tearing the webs and dragging the struggling creatures easy however the damage its actions had caused the beetle-bear host was unsettling. Once the guardian had gathered its prey it rested, waiting for Lachi to wake. When the tiger once again opened his eyes, he automatically withdrew a mana potion and drank deeply.

  “That was stupid.” Huffed Lachi absorbing the webbing that bound him. “It was also really fun.” He hopped off the guardian’s back and inspected their quarry. “Why do we need them?”

  “We needed only two, a male and female.” Said the guardian closing in on a large locust-deer. “This one is most suitable for our goal.”

  “The goal being?”

  “Relocation.”

  “Why?”

  “These creatures must be preyed upon and there is no predator within the bounds of their spawn point.” The guardian turned to allow Lachi to secure the locust-deer to its side. “We shall introduce this pair to the mantis-wolves spawn point and allow the predators to develop a taste. The rest can be harvested for resources.”

  “I think we should give the rest to the beetle-bear.” Lachi hopped back onto the guardian’s back. “You know, as a thank you for letting us use its body for so long.”

  They travelled to the mantis-wolves spawn point and Lachi grew confused at what he could see. Where the rest of the zone, apart from the two oases, was made up of dense rain forest this small portion had somehow been transformed into an open plain with a curious trench at its centre.

  “We have spent considerable mana terraforming this area and had hoped to redirect the water from the Vegepygmy point to here through an underground river, however this task has given us great difficulty.”

  “You moved the trees.” Whispered Lachi in disbelief.

  The guardian nodded it’s borrowed head. “That was the easiest thing we have accomplished here; their roots respond well to ours.”

  “Why are you having trouble with the water?”

  “We require stone as a container for the river and struggle to move such materials.”

  “Why not just relocate full reeds of holding.”

  “Forming consensus.” The guardian went still for a moment. “We shall try this new avenue, with the reeds of holding acting as a filter the water source we generate should remain pure. We appreciate your wisdom.”

  “You’re welcome.” Said Lachi rubbing the back of his head. “Where are all the mantis-wolves.”

  “They wait by the trees that ring this location.” The guardian closed its borrowed eyes and focused its energy causing a few hundred monster eggs to appear in a large pile by the trench. Seconds later the tips of reeds shot out from the sides of the trench and the guardian opened its eyes. “Please release the male first.”

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  Lachi did as requested, cutting the locust-deer from its bindings and standing back as the freed creature ran to the eggs that demanded its attention.

  “Why is it going to the eggs?” Asked Lachi, preparing to free the female.

  “The male will devour any eggs it does not approve and fertilise the rest. We have spent some time trying to lure the male to this location by moving the eggs the many have laid, however the male refuses to stray from the female herd.” The guardian signalled foe Lachi to climb on its back.

  Doing so Lachi asked. “Isn’t this going to create a population boom?”

  “This area will be a hunting ground for the mantis-wolves, and we shall study their behaviours. Our consensus is that through experimentation and terraforming we shall form an ecosystem that thrives with the selected monsters.” The guardian relocated to the other side of the trench. “This will do, please release the female.”

  Lachi did as beckoned, while speaking his thoughts aloud. “I should dedicate a statute to you in our temple.”

  “We are no god; we are but a humble guardian.” The guardian frightened the female locust deer into fleeing deeper into the area.

  Lachi climbed back aboard the guardians borrowed frame. “I don’t know about that. What you’re doing is pretty god like when you look at the gods that Oscar has brought to the system.”

  “The stories you share are of mighty beings with unimaginable power.” The guardian took off and the trees closed up behind him sealing the area.

  Lachi clung on tightly. “You just moved a bunch of gigantic trees.”

  “The trees moved themselves we just encouraged them.”

  The guardian took its time returning to the site of the captive locust-deer. Although it didn’t feel the pain and exhaustion it had forced upon the creature it could sense it and the creature’s health was in a steep decline. When they reached their destination, the guardian laid down and requested a vial of vitalaberry potion. With the potion ingested the guardian exited the beetle-bears core and finally returned to Lachi’s shoulder. There had been concerns over the beetle-bear’s reaction once freed, the expectation being that the powerful creature would fall into a rage but with the consumption of the unfiltered vitalaberry potion the beetle-bear merely collapsed into paralysis as its overworked body healed.

  “Tell us of your favourite god.” Requested the guardian riding Lachi’s shoulder on the way home.

  “That’s easy, everyone loves an Anansi tale.” Explained Lachi. “The god is very different from the spider that lives on Oscar’s wrist, the god is mischievous but loves mankind. When I tell his stories they are like tales of the kind and nurturing elders, the kinds of tales my father would tell.” Lachi had to pause just to bat away the sadness of a life he could never live. “I know that Anansi isn’t from the same pantheon as the Norse gods, but the system seemed to recognise him when I made the temple for the Vegepygmy.”

  “May we visit their village?”

  “Sure, that’s a great idea. I want to see what Chef has done with the temple.”

  When they reached Shumi village, Lachi paused atop the fort to watch as Oscar emerged from the dungeon mouth with an elf by his side. The Panthera that worked on their houses all halted their efforts to cheer their leaders return. When the bridge grew across the basin the elf tried to hold Oscar’s hand, but his attempt was batted away with a chuckle from the friendly human. He watched Oscar introduce the elf to the Panthera that met him at the basins edge and when Berlioz leapt to Oscar’s side, Lachi decided to move on before he was spotted and called in to the cabinet meeting that would surely follow.

  Touching down on the soft soil of the previously swampy oasis, Lachi had to appreciate the transformation that the area had gone through thanks to the efforts of Chef and the Vegepygmies. When Chef first approached the vegetable-based monsters, he was delighted to discover that they were as sapient as the Panthera but massively lacking in intelligence and wisdom. With Lachi’s advice, the mountain lion took on the guise of a prophet and showed the foot tall monsters how to build homes and tend to the soil beneath them. Now the Vegepygmies resided in little huts that surrounded the epic quality temple model that Lachi had built.

  “Ah Lachi.” Said Chef looking up from his vegetable plot. “Come see what I have discovered.”

  Lachi knelt before the pungent plot. “How do you deal with the stench.”

  “Your nose will grow blind to the scent in time.” Explained Chef raking the manure evenly across the top before reaching in and pulling out a strange vegetable.

  “What in the System is that?” queried Lachi.

  The guardian answered. “That is a cross between a carrot and an onion.”

  “But why?” Asked Lachi gagging at the imagined taste.

  Chef pulled back the roots at the vegetables top revealing a tiny monster egg. “It was an accident at first, but it turns out that the Vegepygmies will lay their eggs in planted vegetables causing rapid growth and mutations. I even gained the cross-pollination skill, on top of planting and vegetable farming.” He popped the mutated vegetable back in the ground. “Each of which is constitution based.”

  “You gained six points to Con from one garden plot.” Gasped Lachi amazed at the ease of it.

  Chef deposited the dirt on his hands into his storage before withdrawing it again and allowing it to fall atop his plot. “We can’t let everyone do it just yet as I’m trying to establish some order with these tiny lunatics but once their society is established, I can see planting a few of them being a tradition for our young.”

  “Oscar’s going to be so excited to hear this in the meeting later.” Said Lachi taking a potato offered to him by Chef. “What do I do with it.”

  “Stick it in the ground.” Chef hurried over to the model temple and retrieved a dark green Vegepygmy. “Here this guy is my main contact.”

  “Cut my head off and plant me.” Yelled the Vegepygmy. “I want to have babies.”

  “Why is it so aggressive.” Asked Lachi taking the creature and withdrawing his dagger.

  Chef laughed. “They consider themselves a race of warriors.” He watched Lachi remove the head and push it down into the soil. “Cover it and give me the body, It can go in the soup I’m making.”

  Lachi did as guided and when he covered the planted head he received a notification.

  Congratulations, you have successfully planted Vegepygmy and have gained the following: Cross-pollination, planting, vegetable farming.

  Obviously, it was no surprise, but Lachi still became bright eyed and giddy with the easy development of three con based skills.

  “You’re right.” Cheered Lachi, “I got all three of them just by sticking the little guy in the ground.”

  “The only problem is all this little monsters want to do is fight each other and anything they come across and what with them being in this zone they’re picking up skills as fast as we do.” Explained Chef.

  Lachi laughed. “Is that so bad? They’re what a foot tall.”

  “If they can develop skills then they can invade a settlement.” Explained the guardian. “We must form a consensus on how to develop this species, your religious belief system may work.”

  “Form a what now?” Queried Chef.

  Lachi lowered the guardian to the ground. “A consensus, its mind is spread across the entire zone, and it says it thinks with many minds.”

  “So, we’re both dealing with strange monsters.” Laughed Chef, before taking on a serious face. “when you said there’s going to be a cabinet meeting earlier is that because...”

  “Oscar just returned with some elf dressed in robes.” Said Lachi answering the unspoken question.

  Chef didn’t say another word, instead he just zipped up into the trees and hurried back to Shumi village. Lachi figured it was time to return and see what news his leader had brought home but stopped to give the Vegepygmy village another look. “On second thoughts” whispered Lachi pulling out his parchment. Taking his time to sketch a more developed version of the Vegepygmy village the tiger felt his anxiety fade, he wasn’t sure why he was so nervous to see Oscar. Pinning the parchment to a tree next to the model temple, Lachi picked up the wandering guardian and headed home. In the short journey through the trees, he found that his largest concern was how Oscar would feel about the fact he hadn’t actually started construction on the temple yet.

  Breaking through the tree line and into the oasis Lachi found Berlioz talking to the Alleycats. The conversation was animated and full of cheer. He loved to see Berlioz with his band, it was the only time the black Panthera didn’t seem to have the wait of the system on his shoulders. Deciding not to interrupt, Lachi watched his friend joke around before to his surprise the four jazz cats headed towards the dungeon mouth. Wanting to know why, Lachi approached.

  “Don’t leave that dungeon until Oscar gets there.” Called Berlioz before leaping out of his skin. “What the fuck Lachi. Why are you creeping around like that?”

  “Was I using my sneak skill again? Sorry.” Lachi’s apology was accepted with a nonchalant wave, so he asked. “What’s all that about? Are they going to Firston?”

  “Oscar needs a few of us over there.” Berlioz’s smile drooped. “Apparently none of the leadership can be spared but our teams might be needed.” He laughed. “My team definitely was.”

  “How do you feel about that? You seem a bit on edge.” Lachi sat with his legs crossed.

  Berlioz mirrored Lachi’s position. “One of these chats again.” the black Panthera sighed. “you’re right I probably need it. I’m glad my band gets to see Firston, and I know that Oscar will protect them but, I don’t know, I think I’m envious, jealous.” He picked at the grass beneath him. “Like seriously who’s this elf guy supposed to be.”

  “Oh, you’re not envious of your band.” Lachi had to swallow a chuckle. “You feel insecure about the man Oscar arrived with.”

  “I guess you could say insecure.” Berlioz started fiddling with the picked grass. “He’s known him for what a day and he’s bringing him into our cabinet meeting, he even had him sign his name in the graveyard book.”

  “I thought we were naming it the book of revival?”

  “Nope, Oscar said the graveyard book is a better homage, whatever that’s supposed to mean.” Berlioz started fiddling with some ant parts. “But yeah, who the fuck is this Ambrose guy supposed to be and why does he keep flirting with my brother.”

  “You know, Oscar might feel the same way with you and Bigmin.”

  “That’s a brilliant idea.” Berlioz placed a tiny sword Infront of Lachi and stood looking around.

  Lachi inspected the tiny weapon and handed it to the guardian before looking up and asking. “What are you looking for?”

  “Bigmin obviously, I’m gunna go with your plan.” Berlioz spotted the giant dwarf helping George deconstruct the stage. “Hey big man.” He shouted as he walked off.

  Lachi felt like he might have made the situation worse. “What was my plan?”

  “We too struggle to form a consensus.” Said the guardian giving its new sword a few practice thrusts. “However, we are grateful for this gift.”

  “I should probably find Oscar before the meeting.”

  “The master is leading the elven stranger to the locust-deer.” The guardian leaped off Lachi’s shoulder performing a perfectly executed drop attack. “He intends to slay ten of them.”

  “It’s weird that you can hear and see everything that goes on around here.” Said Lachi interrupting the guardian’s sword dance and picking it up.

  The guardian accepted its place on his shoulder and formed a sheath for the sword on its side. “We neither hear, nor see anything, our senses are different to yours.”

  “You know what I mean.” Lachi zipped up to the trees.

  It took just over half an hour for the tiger to find Oscar and Ambrose and when he found them, they were perched on the branch of a tree looking over the glowing corpses of ten locust-deer. Lachi was about to approach when suddenly there was a flash, and the slain monsters disappeared. Not wanting to interrupt the tiger snuck in close and decided to listen in. after all, if Berlioz was worried about Ambrose he should be too, right.

  “So, it definitely works then.” Said Oscar handing his bow back to Ambrose.

  The elf deposited the bow, shaking his head. “I told you it would. Do you always doubt a pretty face?”

  “If that was the case there’d be no reason to doubt you.”

  Ambrose pushed Oscar and he fell from the branch. “Oh, shit I’m so sorry.”

  “No, its cool. Oh, hey Lachi.” When Anansi shot a web to save Oscar from falling, he landed on a branch opposite the tiger. “What brings you out here? Hang on, is that a mushroom on your shoulder?”

  “This is the guardian.” Lachi chose to ignore the former question.

  Ambrose deftly leapt to land on the branch next to Oscar. “Did you say guardian? As in spirit guardian?”

  “That is what we are.” Answered the guardian.

  Ambrose got in close, practically resting his pointy chin on Lachi’s chest. “He can talk.”

  “We can converse, that is correct.” The guardian unsheathed its blade causing Ambrose to back off. “But we are unfamiliar with you and although you stand at our master’s side, we still have yet to form a consensus.”

  “Was that a threat?” Asked Oscar. “They shouldn’t be making threats to our friends Lachi, what have you been teaching them.”

  “It was probably influenced by Berlioz.” Laughed Lachi. “We can trust anyone that Oscar trusts ok, Guardian.”

  “You haven’t named it yet.” Said Oscar aghast.

  Lachi rubbed the back of his head. “You name people.”

  “You don’t let them pick their own names.” Said Ambrose in mock offence. “The utter outrage.”

  “What, no they literally can’t pick their own names, it’s a whole thing.” Explained Oscar waving his hands about defensibly. “Plus, they were referring to each other by fur type. Berlioz was being called Blacky, Lachi here was just Stripes and so on.”

  “Our dungeon lord was the only Panthera with the authority to bestow a name, before the orcs came.” Said Lachi his heart racing with the memory.

  Feeling awkward Ambrose tried to change the subject. “Soo, how did you manage to find such a cute little guardian spirit.”

  “Oh, man. It was horrible.” Said Oscar rubbing his eye. “So, there was this root, right.”

  While they travelled back to Shumi, Oscar told the story of the creeping roots and how they slew to corrupted guardian. Lachi always enjoyed hearing the human tell tales, be them of the Norse gods, Anansi or just things he wasn’t around to witness. He was glad that Ambrose waited until the end of the story to ask questions as when he did there were so many that Lachi felt he might fall asleep on the sofa he lay upon.

  “One last thing.” Said Ambrose. “If the corruption is still out there, what are you going to do about it?”

  “That’s actually a really good question.” Said Lachi sitting up right.

  Oscar was fiddling with his enchanting table. “I don’t know. Find it and kill it again.”

  “You don’t know how to cleanse a corruption do you?” laughed Ambrose.

  Lachi frowned at the tease. “And I suppose you do.”

  “You will too, once you build that temple.” Explained Ambrose with a wink.

  Oscar moved to his drawing desk. “Holy magic then.”

  “That’s right and the gods will almost definitely issue a quest to cleanse it.” Said Ambrose.

  Oscar hastily pulled out a sheet of parchment and placed it in front of Lachi. “Shit that reminds me these are the runes of our gods. I’ve labelled the names and meanings under each one and you can combine them by layering them or joining them on a line.”

  Lachi studied the runes for a moment and when he thought he understood, he took out his own writing implements and gave it a go. “So, if I combine these like this.” He jotted down what he believed was a name and hoped for the best. “Can you read that?”

  Oscar looked it over for a second and when he nodded in agreement, the system awarded Lachi with a notification.

  Congratulations, you have successfully written in a runic language and have gained the following: the runes of the Aesir.

  “That felt too easy, didn’t it.” said Oscar returning to his drawing table.

  Lachi deposited the parchment. “Is this all you need to start enchanting?”

  “Sadly, no.” Answered Ambrose. “If they were system runes like the ones on your settlement stone then you could enchant with them right away but those are restricted. Holy runes require an established temple to empower them.”

  “Ah for fuck’s sake.” Moaned Oscar. “I was going to try enchanting once I built a new enchanters table back at Bigmin’s shop.” He forced a grimace into a grin and asked. “How will it take to build, bud?”

  Lachi answered. “I would have to check with George, but once everyone’s finished with their homes, we will get started on it.”

  “Most of the homes look finished.” Said Oscar coming back to the sofa area. “Have you drawn up a design?”

  “Good morning, Oscar.” Said Chef entering the office. “Oh, are those the plans for the temple? That looks even better than the model we gave to the Vegepygmies”

  “What’s a Vegepygmy?” Asked Ambrose.

  “They are a practically immortal, semi-sapient race of vegetation-based monsters.” Explained Chef, with hungry eyes. “And I’ve tasted nothing like them before.”

  “I’ll be asking about them in the meeting.” Said Oscar briefly allowing his attention to stray from Lachi’s designs. “Could you use the roots of the forest guardian to build this?”

  “I could now that I have artificing.” Agreed Lachi.

  Oscar rubbed Lachi’s head. “You figured it out, well done.”

  “Actually,” said Berlioz entering the room atop Bigmin’s shoulder. “We figured out how to pass the skill down.”

  “I wanted to ask about the temple you gave to the vegetable monsters.” Said Ambrose but his words fell on deaf ears.

  “That’s fucking amazing.” Cheered Oscar, jumping up to greet Bigmin with a handshake. “How’d you do it?”

  “It’s all about the mentor skill.” Answered Bigmin. “If I’m right it may also be the key to gaining mastery in the crafting skills you have.”

  “You guy’s are achieving some major things over here.” Oscar’s smile drooped slightly. “I need to do more.”

  “You really do.” Agreed Berlioz.

  Lachi stood and bared his teeth at Berlioz. “We know you are joking, but that wasn’t funny, Lioz.”

  “So…” Interrupted Oscar. “Anyone seen Kali?”

  “She’s on her way up.” Answered Bigmin.

  When Kali arrived everyone took a seat in the sofa area except for Oscar and Berlioz, who squeezed in together behind the office desk. Lachi could see confusion on Kali’s face when she saw Ambrose and wasn’t surprised when she kicked off the meeting with a critique.

  “Are we just letting anyone join the meetings now?” Said Kali coldly, her eyes falling on Berlioz.

  The black Panthera frowned. “Hey, this random elf has nothing to do with me.”

  “Ambrose is a paladin that has agreed to fight in the name of our gods.” Said Oscar, matching Kali’s tone. “So, yes. We are going to welcome anyone that stand to support our goals.”

  “What exactly are our goals?” Queried Berlioz.

  Oscar shrugged. “You know, the defeat of the orcs and the liberation of the Panthera enslaved by them.”

  “I think he meant short term.” Added Bigmin. “Unless you think you can take on the orcs now.”

  “I wouldn’t rush into that.” Warned Ambrose. “The warlord has taken authority over the level twenty zone and is using the level thirty zone to level up his army.”

  “Doesn’t that mean the longer we wait the stronger they get?” queried Kali.

  Oscar answered. “It does, but there’s supposed to be hundreds of them out there and we have what thirty-five Panthera.”

  “Thirty-eight.” Corrected Berlioz.

  Oscar continued. “Thirty-eight versus five hundred.”

  “Closer to four hundred, darling.” Corrected Ambrose.

  Berlioz spat. “Who are you calling darling?”

  “Fuck me.” Moaned Oscar and ignoring Ambrose’s salacious response to that he spoke on. “Whatever the numbers are we need to grow or recruit aid before we take them on. I upset the lord of Firston yesterday, but he is still willing to hand over any Panthera his people free for the price of a few cores.”

  “I don’t like the idea of buying my peoples freedom.” Announced Kali.

  Lachi agreed but also understood the situation. “I believe that in the current circumstances we should accept freedom at any cost.”

  “Couldn’t we just take over Firston?” asked Berlioz.

  Chef raised his hand. “Is their lord strong?”

  “As rankers go, no he isn’t.” answered Ambrose. “But his men are. Each of them could handle fifty orcs alone before succumbing.”

  “Don’t forget that if we did kill Lord Thane the entire Allied races would be on our backs once this biome is connected to the labyrinth.” Explained Bigmin.

  “I think it’s safe to say that I want to work with Firston to take on the orcs.” Stated Oscar with finality. “With that said there’s some help I’ll need to get that done.”

  “Is that why the Alleycats have gone there?” asked Lachi.

  “Yes. The Adventurers guild like to frequent a pub for most of the day and I thought that entertainment would be a great way to introduce them to our people.” Explained Oscar.

  Chef raised his hand again. “Weren’t you the one who told me the way to a man’s heart his through his belly? We should be cooking for them.”

  “It’s definitely through his ribs.” Said Kali. “Preferably with a sharp knife.”

  “She’s scary.” Whispered Ambrose.

  “She’s royalty, show some respect.” Spat Berlioz.

  “For fucks sake you two, shut up.” Chided Oscar. “Yes Chef, that is the next luxury I plan to introduce. I’ll also need a team of Panthera to be trained in smithing.”

  “What good will more smiths do?” asked Bigmin. “Frimley’s got more than enough resources to cater to Firston’s needs.”

  “Frimley is still in a state of post traumatic shock and well, the whole spider monkey situation at the merchant’s guild has put a halt on all trading within the town.” Explained Oscar.

  Berlioz laughed. “They hatched already.”

  “They did and the entire merchants guild is sealed up tight. The first few to die have already respawned and are petitioning the adventurers guild to break in and wipe out the monsters.” Oscar smiled wide. “But that’s not going to happen.”

  “The adventurers are using this as an opportunity to negotiate market prices aren’t they.” Said Bigmin.

  Ambrose nodded. “It will probably take a week or so to make the merchants desperate enough to budge on their bottom line.”

  “I get it now.” Said Bigmin.

  Lachi frowned. “Get what?”

  “We’re going to swoop in and provide the town with everything they could possibly need from food to raw materials, all at a higher quality than the merchant’s guild could afford even before their guild building was infested.” Explained Oscar.

  Bigmin raised a valid concern. “If they go to the mages guild that wont work.”

  “I’ve thought about that.” Said Oscar. “When your brigade comes over Chef, you’ll be dealing with the mages guild.”

  “What do I have to offer them?” asked Chef.

  Ambrose produced two mana potions and holding up the mojopaya potion, he said. “This is what you have to offer, and they’ll fall to their knees if you offer to give them the means to replicate it.” The wood elf threw the other potion over to Chef. “This is the best their alchemists can produce.”

  Chef dripped a drop on his tongue. “Oh, that is unfortunate for them.”

  “I’m not comfortable with anyone getting their hands on the nerve agent you derived from the mojopaya so make sure they never get a hold of the fruit.” Said Oscar.

  Chef nodded. “I agree. We tested it out on a fire tusk boar, and it completely ruined the meat. I can hardly believe you used it on a person.”

  “Honestly, the first time I did it, I didn’t know what it would do.” Said Oscar.

  Berlioz raised a furry brow. “And the second time?”

  “He deserved it.” Said Oscar through his teeth. “I think that’s all I have to say. Kali the floor is now yours, how goes the fight with the ants?”

  “We need settlement stones.” Said Kali standing and crossing her arms. “The Ants are adapting quickly and now that we have located their colony, we need to box them in before they do irreparable damage to the zone.”

  “Oh shit, you actually found it this morning, well done.” Congratulated Berlioz.

  Lachi gave him a curtsy. “When you said Oscar was coming my war party decided to push on.”

  “Wouldn’t it be smarter for us to keep farming the ants for resources and experience?” asked Oscar.

  Kali shook her head. “The ants are too aggressive this biome is less than a month old and they have already stripped the zone of prey animals and are starting to clear the ground of vegetation. The question I pose is how long until they start cutting down dreadwoods.”

  “If they do that the fallen trees could land in Shumi.” Gasped Lachi.

  Oscar said. “Right, umm. I’ll work on that, but they cost credits and its gunna take a while to get them. For now, let’s focus our forces on keeping the ants busy, its good practice and we could use the materials gained against the orcs.”

  “We would be giving up the ground we took from the spider monkeys.” Complained Berlioz.

  Oscar put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I know you’re invested in the efforts against them, but the spider monkeys aren’t a threat to our village.”

  “I want at least three settlement stones as well.” Sighed Berlioz. “It’s bad enough you’ve taken the Alleycats but without the excursions the entire zone will be reset in a matter of days.”

  “There may be another answer.” Posed Lachi. “We could actually focus on collecting spider monkey eggs and relocate them to the ants’ zone.”

  “That’s pretty genius.” Said Ambrose. “from what you described of them Oscar, their webbing would bind the trees and prevent them from falling.”

  “I have to agree with the pointy eared weird.” Sighed Berlioz.

  Kali laughed. “It’s a much better idea than what we’ve been doing, and we already have close to a thousand eggs we could even plant them right above the colony.”

  “Sweet, if that’s agreed then Chef you have the floor.” Said Oscar moving things along.

  Standing Chef said. “My brothers and I have decided to reduce the hunting of fire tusk boars to allow them to repopulate. We suspect that there may be more iron hide boars further north and will, with your approval, delve deeper into the level eighty zone in an attempt to capture and repopulate the iron hide portion of the zone.”

  “I have to ask, is there any other elemental boars in the zone?” Asked Oscar.

  Chef cleared his throat. “There may be, however we have yet to make it past the obstacles presented by the fire tusks habitat.”

  “What’s the problem with their habitat?” Asked Berlioz.

  Kali shot a disdainful look at him. “Lioz, you haven’t read a single report have you.”

  “I, skimmed a few of them.” Said Berlioz twiddling a whisker.

  Oscar shook his head while laughing. “Chef, could you tell us please?”

  “It’s a lake of bubbling dreadwood resin surrounded by a sticky marsh of adhesive. We can’t shoot a web far enough across the lake to reach the other side and we can’t even touch down on the ground without igniting our armour and have had to lure the fire tusk boars out and kill them with ranged weapons.” Explained Chef.

  “Is that why you had me make those masks?” Asked Berlioz.

  Oscar thought for a second. “You could make a web kite and glide across. If the lake is emitting enough heat the air currents should give enough lift to make it and if you extend a web line across as you glide, then you can build a bridge. I think.”

  “That was a lot of words with very little explanation.” Complained Berlioz.

  Lachi saw Oscar’s frown and added. “Perhaps a demonstration?”

  “Ok. Lachi, could you start a small, controlled fire on the table and Anansi, could you show them how its done.” Requested Oscar.

  Lachi got to work, first taking a fire tusk hide and laying it over the table, then he piled up some scrap wood and ignited it with a fire tusk. Anansi climbed to the corner of the room and span a wide web, connecting it to his front legs he held them up and pushed off the wall.

  “You see.” said Oscar. “As he glides down, the heat emitted from the flames pushes air up into his webbing and there he goes.”

  Anansi landed on the opposite wall, connected the web he had trailing from his spinneret and scurried back across it.

  Congratulations, you have successfully understood a lesson in manipulating air currents and have gained: thermodynamics.

  “Oh shit.” Cheered Oscar. “I just got the mentoring skill, and something called thermodynamics.”

  “Me too.” Said Bigmin. “Well not the mentoring skill but thermodynamics is there.”

  “I think we all just got that.” Said Lachi.

  Berlioz pushed open the office’s back door. “let’s see.”

  “Wait.” Yelled Oscar.

  Lachi rushed to the window and watched Berlioz glide across the oasis. Without any heat forcing the air up, the black Panthera’s web kite continued in a steady downwards motion, but he was able to control his direction and land safely. Lachi watched him dance to the cheers of the Panthera that worked in the trees before returning to the room.

  “I just got a skill called paragliding.” Said Berlioz with a sly smile. “I’ll work on some gear to make casting the kite simpler and maybe integrate a few extra web shooters in there so it’s easier to make a bridge.”

  “Well, that problems solved.” Laughed Chef. “Forget about repopulating the iron hide boars for now, We’re going beyond the fire tusk habitat.”

  “Just remember that if you find the area boss not to engage, those boars are our easiest source of large experience.” Said Oscar. “Now, tell me about the Vegepygmies.”

  “There isn’t much to say about them.” Said Chef. “They are semi sapient, meaning they can think for themselves and gain skills, but they are about as dumb as Berlioz in a serious situation.”

  “Remember the three skills, Chef.” Said Lachi.

  The mountain lion face palmed. “Oh, right. they multiply if you cut off their heads off and plant them with another vegetable. The eggs take a day to hatch but when you plant them you do gain three con based skills.”

  “What the fuck, Chef.” Chided Berlioz.

  Kali stared daggers at Chef. “When were you going to tell us this?”

  “I only found out yesterday. I’ve been busy.” Defended Chef.

  Oscar started chuckling. “It’s great news guys, six points in constitution for everyone.”

  “We would suggest limiting the use of this technique.” Explained the Guardian. “the Vegepygmies may quickly overpopulate their assigned region.”

  “Ok, I stand corrected. The mushroom is right.” Said Oscar scratching the back of his head. “Six points in constitution for everyone in this room.”

  “Except me.” Frowned Ambrose.

  Berlioz stuck his tongue out at the wood elf. “Some of us are just better than others.”

  “Alright Berlioz, we get it. your testing the newcomer.” Said Oscar. “Thank you, Chef, I’ll be planting a Vegepygmy before I head back to Firston. Lachi, you have the floor.”

  Lachi felt his heart quicken as he stood. “I think I should apologies for how long it has taken me to start construction on the temple.”

  “Don’t be silly bud.” Said Oscar, giving him that fatherly tone. “It takes as long as it takes, you’ve got this.”

  “Th, Thank you.” Lachi calmed as he spoke directly to Oscar. “I have been working with the guardian to cultivate our zone. It had admittedly done most of the work, but I will write a report of everything we are working on for you to revue. Other than that, I’m not sure what to say.”

  “Dude, you’re our preacher and spiritual guide. Tell us what the vibe is like now that there’s new Panthera and a giant dwarf hanging around the village.” Said Oscar.

  Not expecting such a request Lachi almost froze, but when he thought about it, the words came out easily. “Its pretty good. The people that aren’t part of a team asked a lot of questions, but I just answered how you would Oscar and they seemed happy. The newcomers are kind of broken. The three that came over with me have taken to mining and feel safer in the dungeon than out in the open, whereas the five that came last night are a bit rambunctious and eager to test Berlioz’s patience.”

  “I’d say they’re a bunch of asshats, if I hadn’t been through the same shit as them.” Commented Berlioz.

  Kali added. “And they were at the Warlords camp, so it was probably a lot worse.

  “Did you get any info on the warlords camp.” Asked Oscar. “A location? Anything.”

  “If you hadn’t noticed Oscar this entire biome is pretty much just trees and monsters” Said Berlioz, picking webbing from his claws.

  As the newcomers fell within his congregation Lachi took responsibility. “I shall guide them through a remembrance to see if they can recall anything that may empower us to free our kin.”

  “Perfect.” Cheered Berlioz, with a muted clap. “Now can everyone clear off? I need to take a nap and craft us a glider.”

  “Yeah, I wanted to meet the little vegetable guys and get those points in con.” Said Oscar, his eyes beaming with excitement.

  Ambrose rolled his eyes, muttering. “The rankers plight.”

  “I feel the itch already.” Frowned Bigmin.

  Lachi saw Oscar frown at their words, wondering why the two men seemed to pity his drive for attribute points he was about to say something but thought better of it. instead, he approached his leader and stood at his side while the room began to empty. Noticing that the two of them wanted to talk Ambrose offered to wait in the hall and Berlioz simply curled up on the sofa mumbling an oddity about a man from llama land tooting a flute.

  “What’s up bud?” asked Oscar giving Lachi a pat on the back.

  The guardian whispered encouragement in his ear, and Lachi replied. “I was hoping you could help me with some artificing.

  “I would love to.” Said Oscar stepping forward. “Let’s go and waste all the crap Berlioz has been hording before he wakes up.”

  Marching out of the office and into the hall, with Lachi in tow, Oscar informed Bigmin that Berlioz was to have no less than three hours sleep, before ducking into the black Panthera’s workshop. Lachi wasted no time pulling monster parts out of Berlioz’s supply and arraying them on the largest workbench he could find.

  “So, the reason I’m asking for help is,” said Lachi, pressing on the pads where his claws used to be. “I can’t figure out how you transformed the mantis carapace into this fabric like material you’re wearing.”

  “Oh, I don’t know if I can help you there. I just kind of zone out and everything blurs for me.” Half explained Oscar.

  Lachi handed the human a segment of an acid ant carapace. “Maybe you could demonstrate, I’m trying to craft a pair of gloves as form fitting as yours with wrappings attached to defend my arms and would like to mix these materials together.”

  “Maybe I could.” Said Oscar, curiosity illuminating his eyes.

  Oscar went incredibly still for a moment, watching his motionless state Lachi wished he could spend a moment in the obscure mind of his human elder. When Oscar finally moved, it was with a steady slowness, his hands tracing the chiton segment. It was slow, exhaustingly slow. Lachi found his eyes straining to focus on the fractional speed at which the human’s hands shaped the acid ant carapace. The chiton dulled in its shine, lost its rigidity, softened and finally, when Oscar pressed his palms down on the metamorphosing material it flattened into a fabric as thin as cotton.

  “That was perfect.” Complimented Lachi.

  Oscar stood shakily, before sipping a mana potion. “You know that’s gunna be a lot of bother for you.” He said before laughing and looking down to Anansi. “He’s right you know; you’re owed something special as a thank you for taking care of everyone’s mental health.”

  “I really don’t…” Started Lachi.

  Oscar halted the tiger’s words as he pressed a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t bud, you’ve been juggling so much since we got here and have taken on more responsibility than you have in your life.”

  “Responsibility is the cost of freedom.” Spoke Lachi, lost for anything else to say.

  Oscar gave him an appreciative smirk. “That sounds like something my stepdad would say.” He laughed off the uncomfortable grief and got to the point. “Hold out your palms.”

  Oscar closed his hand over Anansi’s spinnerets and as he pulled the hand away it came with an intensely heavy orb of dense webbing. Slowly placing the orb into Lachi’s hand, Oscar shuddered.

  “What is it?” Asked Lachi, concerned.

  Oscar grinned. “Anansi’s struggling to contain his respect for you.” He shook his head chuckling. “He really feels his feels, man. Anyway, that should be enough for what you described, and Anansi has put everything he’s absorbed into it, so it’s got all the same effects as everything you put on the table there.”

  “This is, too much.” Spoke Lachi in a whisper.

  “It’s less than you deserve.” Oscar made for the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow. No rush on the temples interior, by the way, but once the structure is built and the idols are in place, Ambrose says we can purchase the religious building perk from the system.”

  “I promise I won’t spend all my time crafting the way you and Berlioz do.”

  “What the fuck are you to doing in my workshop” roared Berlioz, trying to jump scare the two of them. “Hey, is that a ball of Anansi webbing. I asked for something like that days ago, you eight-legged traitor.”

  “Come on man, let’s go fly a kite down to the Vegepygmies and cut some heads off.” Laughed Oscar embracing his brother.

  Berlioz considered it for a second, “I think I’m gunna take one of those tasty little bastards and train it up.”

  Lachi watched the two of them leave and turned to place the heavy orb on the bench atop the acid ant cloth. He had hours before George was free to discuss the first steps, they would take to construct the temple. Pressing his hand on the ball and thinking of the shape he wanted it to take, Lachi felt a feeling of deep focus fall upon him. Every racing thought, every jittering doubt and every sound in the air, vanished from his mind. There was only the orb and by the time he placed his new gloves on his hands, he understood what peace of mind felt like.