Master of the Hoard - Chapter 23 (Patreon)

The wave of happiness that overwhelmed me at the sight of the entrance to my domain took me by surprise. Weird how, within a few weeks, I could get used to the ratty old necromancer's lair as my home. Positive sensations rang from all sides as our party made its way towards the throne room. Aelis ran in front, issuing commands as she went, making sure everything would be taken care of. Wonderfully efficient, that girl. I would have to compliment her.

Everybody gathered to welcome us in the throne room. I smiled to see the room. It had been thoroughly cleaned and only the damage to the walls and pillars remained to show that a huge battle had taken place just a day and a half earlier. On top of that, everybody was unscathed and my hoard untouched. Locating Creziel within the crowd, I asked him "Creziel. Is the new Habitat ready?"

Bowing, he stuttered. His paws clenched his sides, tugging a few tufts of fur from his pelt. "Yes. I mean, it is rather rough and whatever made the room collapse did some damage. We have been unable to reconstruct the rear walls and the ceiling completely. I believe-"

"It’s fine, Creziel. Please guide the Crawls to their new home. I will be by later to construct the Habitat itself." Turning towards the Crawls, I spoke. "Set down your burdens. You will have the rest of the day to become accustomed to your new home. Tomorrow, you will start working."

Confused, the squat creatures unloaded what they carried and followed Creziel to the left, looking around everywhere in curiosity. The kids hid behind the adults, peeking around at everything. I smiled. So far, this had gone better than expected. Turning around, I spread my wings. "My Talpi. I do not intend for this to be some huge ceremony. We did what we aimed to do and in return, we will be stronger for what we may face in the future. Now, get back to work. Arthor. Roth. Aelis. Jazinth. With me."

I watched as the Talpi left the place to get back to... whatever they were doing. There were a few sensations of resentment and anger, but on the whole, relief and happiness were out in force. They were probably too happy that we came back to really start in on the newcomers. I would have to keep an eye out for the development there. Both in order to assure that the Talpi didn’t cross the line into rebellion and that they wouldn’t try anything against the Crawls. The quartet of Talpi gathering before me was already chattering away, Aelis filling the rest in with the happenings of the trip. I gave them a few moments to catch up before I caught Arthor's eye.

He nodded. "I expect you would like an update, Onyx?" Without waiting for me to respond, he got started. "The scouts say that everything is quiet. Almost too much. However, they spotted a group of Dweelers sniffing around a couple of hours away. The dirty cowards have probably noted that there may be room for them to expand now that the Clenchers are gone."

"Good to know. How is construction?"

"Creziel’s statement was correct. The Habitat is mostly finished. He's working on a new and improved batch of this mortar you invented. Once it's finished, it should be a matter of hours before the room is repaired. Our larder is... improving. We finished boiling all the meat and can use the larder, for now, though it is still unfinished. Mostly, Creziel and I have toiled to pull any remaining moisture from the surrounding soil, to make the place cool and dry. It's an arduous process, however, and mana consuming."

"Hold that thought." I grinned, bouncing off to rummage through the huge pile of hoard items until I found what I needed. "Maybe this would help with the tiring work." I dangled the jade necklace with the +5 Mental Power buff on a claw in front of him.

With a frown, he stared at the item for a moment, until a high-pitched gasp escaped him. "Lizard. Are you serious?" At my nod, he quickly equipped the item and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his gaze was all business, but the sense of satisfaction was easy to feel. "With this, we will be able to finish the larder tomorrow at the latest."

I nodded. "That sounds like a good plan. If we can close off the place and harden the walls and ceilings to keep out insects and the like, we should be able to create a cold and dry environment. How are you storing the food?"

He shrugged. "Like we have for generations. Creating a pot or jar for storage is the work of minutes for shamans - it was easy even before you came. Now, it is an inconsequential matter."

"Great. Now, at some point, I would like to see these storage containers of yours. I may have a few ideas for improving them, again to make food spoil slower."

He shrugged. "As you wish. We have rarely had the time or surplus of food to experiment. Let us see. We have managed to restore all pit traps in the entrance tunnels. Obviously, the cave-ins cannot be restored and creating new ones is dangerous work, since the stability of the tunnel will have been compromised."

I hadn't considered that. "That's very logical. Go ahead and create whichever traps you see fit. Do not spend too much energy on them, as they will all be temporary."

Jazinth was the one to interject here. "Temporary? Are we leaving? I thought-"

"Relax, Jazinth. What I mean is, that when we are done with the Habitat and the larder, we will begin construction on our domain - and this time, we're building it the way it should have been done from the start."

That prodded an avalanche of questions, but I held up a paw to stop them. "Nothing is finished yet. I will be planning the exact changes with Arthor and Creziel. Roth and Aelis, you will also be required for input. Rest assured that, when we are done, we will have something way better than a bunch of collapsing ceilings would ever be." They relaxed at that, and I turned towards Roth. "How about you? How goes the training?"

The squat Talpus grinned and clenched a fist. "Perfect. After the dragon meat, a couple of slackers thought they didn't need to train to grow stronger." He punched his paw. "I taught them they were wrong. We're all training hard and the results... So far, we’ve all gained at least one attribute and most have gained two. That's two levels!" The Talpus jumped, punching the air in exuberance. When he landed, he released a squeaking, excited sound. "That's not all. How well do you think I have done?"

I could feel my eyebrows rising. If an hour of training daily had netted the Talpi one or two increases already, then Roth, who must have spent most of each day in there, training them... I squinted, inspecting the small creature. "You have grown, haven't you? And I don't just mean your muscles, but growing taller."

He looked confused, but then shrugged. "Could be. Three points to Strength, one to Agility and two to Toughness - and it’s only been nine days of training! I’ll be beating your scaly ass at some point, dragon. Picture that!"

I spent a moment contemplating that image and smiled. I enjoyed working with Roth. He had a simple outlook and brilliant work ethic. In my old life, I would definitely employ him on a site somewhere. "I might have to burst your bubble, Roth. There is a cap - I mean, you can only improve so much. I believe that you will find that the increases start to slow down at some point."

His face fell. "Ah. Too good to be true." The disappointment was replaced by stubbornness. "Still, I’ll make the most of it. So I won’t slay a dragon. I can still take on any Crawl one on one at this point. In a fair fight too. Oh, one question. A couple of others are starting to see the point. Of training, I mean. Diggers, mostly. It's easy when you can feel your work getting easier with each point. They want to spend more time training, like me. Can we do that, though?"

I made the decision in a split second. "Yes. All told, we have everything to gain and little to lose from having people train harder. The efficiency of the training is not diminished by how many people are in the Training Chamber. Only the quality of the training decides that. Well, if the place becomes too crowded, I may have to expand… the area is only 30 by 30 feet. So, as long as you believe you can train everybody equally and the gains have not diminished, by all means, let them. Hm. In fact, if anybody would join you as an assistant trainer, feel free to train them to help you."

His face lit up. "Really? That would let me train more by myself."

I grinned. Single-minded, sure, but I liked him. "One final thing. I can't recall if we spoke about it. Have you been able to pinpoint how to train the different attributes?"

He nodded. "It's simple. Sprint and dodge for Agility. Run around for Toughness. Lift heavy rocks for Strength. I might improve it more and make the gains come faster, but it works for now."

"Great work. Roth, please continue like this - and make sure that your people increase the attributes they prefer."

I dismissed them then, letting everybody get to work while I focused on what I needed to do. And what I needed to do was... I grinned. My hoard was resting before me, back to its original size now that everybody had returned the weapons they had used for the battle. The hoard was still at the Very Small size due to the Mana Crystal I had consumed during the battle - but that was about to change. Carefully, I started moving all the items I'd pilfered into my own hoard. Finally, when everything was in place - quite a bit more artfully than what the red dragon had managed, I might add - I placed the three Mana Crystals in a corner. Then I sat back on my haunches to observe.

I had never seen my hoard evolve before. Sure, I was able to spot the mana flows moving within the Mana Crystals and follow where they moved, or were siphoned, from the ground. At times, it was also possible to spot a certain kind of haze of energy over items within the hoard - but that was all. Right this very moment, however, I finally got to see what happened when my hoard’s connection evolved - and it was intriguing. First, the haze surrounding the hoard thickened, until the entire hoard was almost hidden behind a fog-like substance. Then, the fog started moving, undulating and gyrating until I was able to see that the movement came from singular threads - of mana from the Mana Crystals, perhaps? The threads encapsulated the entire hoard, circling around certain specific items, dozens of threads moving independently. Then, finally, they came together at the top of the hoard where they shivered for a moment, pulsating lightly, hovering... and then, the threads slammed down into the ground like a ghostly fist, disappearing from view.

The hoard just sat there, looking lifeless and bereft of color. One second, two, ten - and then the threads reappeared. Slowly, they attached themselves to the hoard, working their way around, building a net of sorts. I felt like I ought to be able to see some sort of system or shape here, but it was all too chaotic for me. What was completely obvious, however, was the light, which had increased in intensity along with a swirling wave of fog that oozed around the hoard now. Interesting.

Oh, and obviously, the deluge of notifications that arrived were pretty hard to ignore too.

[You have met the necessary criteria:

- Surpassed level 10

- Contents of the hoard improved

- At least three Mana Crystals owned]

[Very Small Hoard has been upgraded to Small Hoard

Your current Hoard size: 5 Mana Crystals (Small) grants you the following:

- Maximum Population size: 100. Current population: 48

- Domain size: 3000 foot radius.

• Domain detection range: 20 Miles. Domains within range: 1

- Mana regeneration rate within your domain is increased by 300% (total current regeneration rate increase=550%)

- The possible quality of magic abilities gained from the hoard is increased. Rare possibility of multiple magic abilities.

The connection and benefits will remain for as long as your Hoard is active.]

[Criteria to upgrade hoard:

- Reach a minimum of level 13

- Improve contents of the hoard

- Own at least seven Mana Crystals]

[Skill has improved: Inspect

At the current hoard size, Inspect will reveal races, names, and classes of any enemies within your domain.]

[Skill has improved: Domain Map.

You have gained the ability to project your domain map onto any part of your domain you choose.]

That was pretty amazing. If my attackers had any clerics, mages or the like, I'd be able to pinpoint them and take them out first. It would require a great deal of coordination to use properly, but... I had time. I mean, dragons were supposed to live for millenia, right? As for the map? That would make any future planning sessions so much easier.

The detection range increasing… damn. The domain of the red had slipped off the map the moment I’d returned to check – probably the very moment I pilfered its hoard. The fact that a new domain had just made itself known… I felt an increasing need to work harder. Harder and faster. Find more minions and improve my defenses. For now, I would just have to hope that they hadn’t upgraded their hoard to the point where they could spot me too.

[Additional profession slots available. Current profession slots available 2/7]

[Additional professions added:

- Fighter: Increase the damage, health and physical attributes by +35%

- Mage: Increase magical damage and mental attributes by +35%

- Builder: Increased carrying load +65%. Increased construction capabilities by +35%]

- Scout: Increase running speed and Toughness by +25% Bonus to hide abilities.

- Cleric: Increase healing capabilities by +25%. Increase mental attributes by +25%.]

Oh, hell yeah. This proved to me that there were bound to be clerics or priests out there, which could work wonders for our survival. These improvements also boded well for the survivability of our scouts. In fact... I brought up the interface and fiddled about with it. Heh. Time to give Aelis a slight surprise. I smiled to see the option available to me in the interface and pressed the [change professions] button, altering her profession to Scout. I returned to the notifications and was not disappointed.

[Construction improved: Habitat

This construction converts an area of 30 x 30 feet into living space, optimal for any living creature to move into. Please note: While any race and species may take up the Habitat, not all are able to peacefully coexist. Increases health recovery for all creatures in the Habitat.

-          Your Habitats now add a well rested buff. Any minion sleeping in the Habitat for more than 4 hours will have an 8-hour increase to Toughness.

-          From now on, the Habitat improves mana recuperation times as well. Mana regeneration speed improved by +25%.

[Construction improved: Training Chamber

This construction transforms an area of 30 x 30 feet of room into a Training Chamber. Inside this area, physical training will allow your peons to improve their physical prowess. If they spend enough time here, they will be able to improve selected attributes. Progress will be relative to the original attributes of the creature and dependent on the efficiency of the training.

-          Your minions are now able to improve their attributes even faster. Attribute gain speed increased by +25%.]

Lovely. That should increase the gains by ever so much - heh - and Arthor would just love all the additional projects I'd throw at them now.

[Construction improved: Stone Door

This sturdy Stone Door can be placed at whichever doorway you want and possibly buy several crucial minutes in a conflict. It is magically keyed to the creator and his minions and can be locked at a touch.

-          Sturdiness of your doors is improved. From now on, all Stone Doors constructed will be twice as hardy.

[Construction unlocked: Sorcery Chamber.

This construction transforms an area of 10 x 10 feet into a Sorcery Chamber. Inside this area, mental training will allow your peons to improve their mental prowess. If they spend enough time here, they will be able to improve selected attributes. Progress will be limited to the original attributes of the creature and dependant on the efficiency of the training.

Mana cost: 250]

Yessss. I had been hoping that something like this would be forthcoming. I mean, it followed a regular game progression and all, but... damn. With this, I should be able to take the shamans and move them from handy helpers to magic powerhouses. If they were all able to gain half again their original mental stats, or even better? I spent a while daydreaming about how to best use this to construct my own underground Rome - or perhaps Derinkuyu was a better equivalent. It was one of many underground cities in ancient Turkey. Cait and I had visited once, when we were still young and in love.

The final pop-up was perfectly droolworthy.

[Construction unlocked: Gallery of Illusions

This construction applies an illusionary field to a large area of 300 x 300 feet. Within this field, shadow magic will pool and swirl, forming mental illusions to affect any intruders. Effects are set by the owner of the domain and come with several different possibilities. Can be turned off at will.

Mana cost: 400

Construction time: 48 hours.]

I already had a ton of plans readied for the defensive parameters. This didn't change anything, but it sure as hell would improve my plans. Alright. Time to gather the crew and ask for opinions.