Master of the Hoard - Chapter 30 (Patreon)

Over the next few days, I developed an easy rhythm for my day. I didn't settle too much on any certain time or sequence. In fact, I had always tried to avoid that. You always needed some meetings and the like, but the moment you ended up with fixed times and rhythms, you killed any productivity. "We haven't got time to finish this section, the boss comes around in ten." Was just one of several variations I'd heard over the years. Add to that a hefty dislike of having meetings for the sake of having meetings, and you'd arrive at my current situation. I made sure I spent time in every place where there was work underway, including the Training Chamber. Every single day. On top of that, I amped up the time I spent with the Clenchers and pretty much spent every remaining minute helping with the excavation. The sooner I'd be able to create that Sorcery Chamber, the better.

I saw clear progress everywhere. The Jungle part of the Farm was already cleared and, according to Creziel, ready to use. One side of the walls was plastered with Talon Rot and several parts of the floor and some stalagmites were covered with patches of... growth. They had also created a clear path on the floor, delineated by low stone barriers to indicate where you were to walk when you needed to access the Fungi chamber. I didn't inquire too much into the nature of the different growths. I sure as hell wasn't going to choff down that nastiness myself, but I did decide to spend the mana for two Growth Boosts inside the place, ensuring that every inch was covered in life-giving energy.  The sooner we could have the mosses spread, the better. The first and third cave would take longer. Aelis told me that there would be no problem making fungi grow in the third cave. In fact, they already had a few small batches growing in the dank, dark room. The issue lay with encountering enough to get a decent production going. Apparently, fungi were seen as a delicacy throughout the mountain, and any wild-growing crops were sure to disappear quickly. I just told them to mix some of the Clencher manure in the soil and keep on searching.

The Clencher male was a pleasant surprise. Once we moved past that first unpleasantness of having to establish that I was still in charge, he actually took to my commands pretty quickly. He mastered the first few commands within days and I started adding on to the list. Heel, Off, Don't touch. That final one was a bit of an issue. The huge Clencher was not accustomed to having to rein in his instincts. Even so, I kept at it, training him every single day and the progress was tangible. Suddenly, the fantasy of having my own K-9 Clencher unit at my bidding didn't seem too far-fetched.

As for the Training Chamber, that just kept on giving. According to Roth, every single Talpus had gained at least two or three attribute increases by this point. He was becoming more inventive with his exercises too, adding to his repertoire. I encouraged him to keep it up. The way I understood it, the Training Chamber merely multiplied the efficiency of your exercises, so more efficient exercises would mean faster results. Now, I was by no means a training addict, but I had listened to several lectures on the importance of exercise and different types of exercises. Not that I actually used or followed any of them. These, I shared with Roth, as faithfully as I could. I also told him about working with weights to increase Strength and he immediately went off to convince Arthor to make him a set. The thick-set Talpus had never been happier. He had started training his apprentice trainers too, builders who shared his squat build, even if they didn't share his love for combat.

The excavation attempts were only becoming easier each passing day. The first day, we cleared the first thirty feet of hallway, shoring it up as we went to strengthen the construction and avoid any future collapses. A bit further on, the hallway opened up, sporting north-and south-facing doorways. The hallway itself looked like it continued eastwards. All told, it looked like an inverted copy of the rooms west of the throne room, and we happily started digging into the south-facing room first. The room took less than a single day to excavate. According to Jazinth, they hadn't bothered destroying the timbers of that room - it was all detritus from the hallway. Once it was freed from dirt and rocks, we found the place completely unadorned. The room was twenty feet wide and thrice that in length and the only hint at its earlier usage was a surprising amount of glass shards and dust.

Day four after returning from the Salamanders found me with Jazinth, Arthor and Creziel, staring at the swirling mists of the finished construction that was the Sorcery Chamber, while the final seconds ticked down. Once it hit zero, the mists dissipated, leaving only an intangible sense of something moving beneath the surface. I felt certain, however, that I could feel a sort of pull, leading from the room back to the hoard. "Well, that's it, I guess."

Arthor looked at me askance. "That was underwhelming. Tell us about its workings again."

I couldn't help but tease him. "You tell me, Arthor. You're the one who told me you couldn't teach me magic." I held the facade for a while, before letting go of a full-throated chuckle. I was getting good at those. Seems my vocal chords could handle a few things that weren't roaring and hissing. "Just kidding. Apparently, your progress will be dependent on the efficiency of your training, and you will gain in attributes depending on which mental attribute you use. So... I'm just winging it here, but if you want to improve your Mental Control, you handle something that requires fine mental control and if you want to improve your power, something simple but really hard?"

Arthor gave me a grudging nod. "That does sound simple.” He stared into the room and then clapped his paws. “Here's what we're going to do. First, we will test the lizard’s theory. Creziel, you will work on something that requires raw power. Take a clod of earth and compress it until it turns to rock and then break it apart and start over. Jazinth, you take those pieces of sunstone we found and carve the image of the breath of Deyra on them. As many small details as possible."

Creziel's face fell at the thought of the hours before him. "What are you going to do then? Something that requires power and control?"

Arthor smiled, the fur creasing around his mouth to reveal his tiny, sharp incisors. "Exactly. I am going to create the best damn spear this tribe has ever owned."

Jazinth released a fair smile at that. "I cannot wait to see it. At least let me help you in the planning of it. You may be the most powerful of us, but you have the imagination of a Crag mite."

The Shaman waved her off. "No need. Aesthetics aren't important. The effects are. And that part alone will require all the mental control I have."

"Aesthetics aren't important? Deyra sleeps. That just proves how much you need my help. We are planning this together and no discussion."

Creziel and I shared a hidden smile as the two shamans bickered like an old couple. It was good to see them getting along.

I cleared my throat with the sound of a handful of boulders grinding against each other. “Arthor. I want you to create a spear that’s entirely made of stone. The haft as well.”

“…Didn’t we already have this conversation?”

I just smirked. “It will make sense. Just do as I ask of you. Please.”

Creziel thankfully derailed the argument before it could start. "Erm. But what happens afterwards? We compare our results and then we finally start training on the attributes we require instead of matting our furs with sweat in Roth's training sessions?"

Arthor narrowed his eyes. "I thought you had finally understood that you would need some real effort here, young Creziel. This," he indicated the Sorcery Chamber, "is not something we are doing instead of training our physical attributes. This is on top of that. You knew, when I accepted you, that the path of a shaman apprentice required sacrifice-"

The tiny apprentice held up his paws preemptively. "I know. Sorry. I just - wouldn't it be better for everybody if we focused on increasing the powers that can really help our people?"

"And then have you killed the first time you need to run half a day to avoid an enemy your powers cannot contain? No. We need to grow. In all aspects, Creziel. We need to be smart about it too. When we've gained our first attributes, we will start focusing on different types of training, see which ones are the most efficient for the different attributes." He squinted up at me, looking almost surprised to see me still around. Huffing, he waved at me. "The overgrown lizard here does one thing right, at least. He plans ahead. And we are going to do the same. If we spend two weeks right now learning how best to improve, it will pay off in the long term."

Jazinth's brow furrowed, her spotted face caught between disbelief and uncertainty. "But our Chieftains have never planned for the long term. Ever."

He patted her paw gently and simply said. "I know."

I left them at that. My presence wasn't needed any longer.

Besides the creation of the Growth Boosts and the Sorcery Chamber, I was still left with a lot of surplus mana, and I managed to create yet another Mana Crystal, getting me to 6 in total and a total regeneration rate of 354 mana/day. The contents of my hoard were looking better and better. By now a lot of the items had magical properties.

I took Arthor's advice and had a couple of Crawls get to work on a deep cleanse of my room. With a lot of prodding and even more frustration, I was finally able to instruct the Crawls how to construct a makeshift scaffold that would let them reach all the way to the top of the wall. It was slow going. Not only were they not the quickest, but almost every single tool we needed, we had to create first. What few tools the Talpi owned were always in use. Need an extra bucket? That was a chat with Creziel to find and harden some clay into suitable containers. Brooms or brushes for scrubbing off the paint? First I had to explain my purpose to Aelis and then I had to try to explain how you construct a broom. That's not something I ever expected I would have to do. Still, in a way, those simple tasks were comforting. Tiny tasks with simple solutions, albeit ones where I had to apply my brains and those of the Talpi in unexpected ways. When at long last the preparations were done, I figured out another tiny detail. Whatever components the paint had held, using water to scrub it off the walls made it stink to high heaven. Thus, I found myself relocated from my own room while the Crawls worked unceasingly and without objections.

When I returned to find the Crawls busy removing paint from the last corner of my room, however, the stench seemed to fade, like it had never existed. The dark, sinister room that had been perfect for solitude and clearing my mind had disappeared. In its place... I spun on my feet, taking in everything. The rough stones forming the walls had not seemed like anything special. Simple stone constructions, like I often saw in the poorer neighborhoods. Large, squarish blocks piled on top of each other with little finesse or detail. That part remained. The stonework was coarse, rudimentary. With the paint removed, I could tell that the walls were divided into rough sections, each one maybe nine feet in width, going all the way to the ceiling. Each section contained writing. Not simple writing either. Painstakingly carved writing, outlandish letters, glowing with a faint silvery sheen. In between the letters were diagrams and paintings. I recognized a few items here and there. A plant I'd seen in the tunnels. The splayed corpse of a Salamander. As I moved to and fro in the room, trying to make heads or tails of everything, I was reminded of the Voynich manuscript. Some unknown medieval writer had left behind a manuscript filled with drawings and scripture that looked like gibberish, except it was too detailed to dismiss it as such. Back on Earth, trained linguists had toiled for decades to try and decipher the unknown writings. Here? Heh. Fat chance.

There was no help to be had from the Crawls or the Talpi. Neither race had ever mastered writing, regardless of the language in question. I could have spent days, heck, months even, trying to make headway on the comprehension of it. In the end, I decided to let it be for the time being. Just another mystery on top of everything else I didn't know about this world. It wasn't like I didn't have enough on my plate. Late that evening, when the Crawls had finally finished and cleared out, I lay surrounded by the soft, arcane glow of the walls and I'd be damned if I didn't feel good about it. Dragon overlord hideout. Now complete with mystical arcane writings, glow-in-the-dark enabled for just an extra $199.  The day after, I hunted down the Crawls and told them to continue in the throne room. If there were any secrets to be uncovered, I wanted them brought to the light. Then, I could always find the right minds to solve everything for me afterwards.

Six days had passed since our victory over the Salamanders. I constructed a Growth Boost inside the fungus chamber and only needed one more to complete my part of the Farm. I was reclined in my own room with Aelis, tentatively making plans for our next excursion. We weren't in any danger of starving just now. According to my trusty butler slash accountant slash PR representative, we were covered for at least a week of lean meals before we would have to do something drastic. Still, I had no plans ready for our next target and had no intentions of starting late if we had to abandon plans and switch to a different enemy. Aelis was in the middle of a rough description, when her ears stiffened and she froze, one paw on the floor.

"What?" I asked. Then I heard it too. An undulating, melodic sound, drifting towards us. Was that... screaming? Frantically, I brought up my minimap, searching for any red dots. None. I checked out my minion count. Still 48. Nothing had changed there either. What the hell? I shook my head, trying to clear it. No. That definitely wasn't my imagination. Now, I could hear additional cries and the sound of running feet. I sprinted out into the throne room, watching as armed Talpi ran toward the Sorcery Chamber. "Move." I shouted, running past them with large, loping bounds. As I moved, Talpi jumped to the side and I saw a group gathered at the intersection that led to the Sorcery Chamber. Jazinth was there, along with several spear-wielding Talpi. All were standing inside the hallway, frozen, staring at the opening opposite the Sorcery Chamber.

The screams were getting louder now. Or was it a song? It was hard to tell. At least, it didn't look like we were under attack. I slowed down as I neared the group and turned to look into the room, prepared for anything. Correction. I was not prepared for anything. The sight that met me was outlandish enough that my brain must have stopped working for a minute, then restarting again to make sense of the tableau. The two Crawls in the foreground hauling containers filled with dirt and rocks sparked a few synapses and I thought. "Weird. I didn't even know they were working on excavating this room." The grunting, struggling duo continued their work and I found myself along with the Talpi stepping aside to let them pass us by. Once they were past, I could take in the visual in full. The chamber itself didn't look like anything special. The materials, size and construction were yet another copy of the previous rooms, though this room had not collapsed like the hallway outside. The floor was liberally covered in dirt and rocks from where the hallway had collapsed, pouring into the room. Bo-ring. What made the scene stand out was the source of the low-pitched screaming, twenty feet into the chamber.

It was a man - or, at the very least, the bright blue residual imprint of a man, spread eagled on the floor. Bright bonds lay heavy on him, keeping him trapped - or maybe hurting him. Or both. At the very least, the energy seemed to hurt him every time it moved through him, causing him to stretch his form, shivering in pain. In addition to the bonds something surrounded him on all sides. A force field of sorts. That was the best way I could explain it. Piles of soil rested against the force field, but none made it inside. The pulsating energy inside the force field swirled lazily around, making me think of the energy moving about inside my hoard. However, where my hoard was only clearly visible when it increased in size, this circular enclosure had a light blue glow so bright it almost hurt to look at. In fact, here I could easily spot the strands of energy being pulled from the ground beneath us, to swirl around the surface of the field. Now and again, the pulses of energy would pierce the bubble and travel inwards, like taking a deep dive, before returning to the surface. When they did, inevitably, a new scream would arise from the occupant within the circle.

I checked my minimap again. Still no red dots. But... he must have been down here for years, bound, trapped in the dirt, with no oxygen. Turning towards Jazinth, I asked. "Are we in danger?"

She gaped at the figure before tentatively shaking her head. "I... don't think so, Milord. Onyx. The magic is... it seems intended to contain him."

I growled under my breath. "And to hurt him."

"Yes. Can you... talk to him?" She was baring her teeth, looking at him in distaste.

"Should I? It looks like there's an awful lot of magic right there."

"There is. And I am unsure. But I cannot see anything offensive in the magic." She bowed her head, as if ashamed. "Also, his cries hurt my ears."

I nodded my understanding. The constantly changing tones of his cries were deeply disturbing and starting to get to me too. I needed to do something.

I moved forward and carefully addressed the hurting man. "Excuse me." There was no visible reaction from him, and I tried again with more force. "Sir. Are you alright?" Obviously, that was an inane thing to ask somebody being tormented by magic, but I was kind of out of my depths here.

His body remained pinned to the ground, shaken by impacts. Within my mind, however, a voice appeared. It was cracked, wavering and indistinct. "Master? Is that you?"

"No. I am Onyx. Can I ask who you are?"

I waited, but no reply came. Then, suddenly, his actual voice cries out – in English of all things. "Why, master? Why? Did I fail you? Is this my punishment? Master!" The cry faded into mad laughter and indistinct sobbing and his voice faded from hearing.

I tried again, but received no sign that he heard me or that he had even registered my speech in the first place. After five minutes, I gave up, left the place and started the construction of a Stone Door for the doorway. This goddamn place! Just where the hell was I and why was I here? So many goddamn questions! This could change everything, but for now, I had to press on. What choice did I really have?

The next four hours were an ever-increasingly difficult exercise in the art of ignoring the screams emanating from the room. I wanted to just leave the place, but I also didn't care to leave everybody alone with a possible threat right next door. The hallways were deserted, with everybody keeping their distance. Talpi did not court danger, it seemed. It did give me the time to think over what I was going to do with the magic guy next door. We could just fill in the place again and leave him to his tortures. That way, there was little risk of him suddenly putting us all in danger.

I did wonder exactly why he had been left behind, though? Was it punishment? Maybe a trap of sorts? At least his speech had seemed lucid. Lucid for somebody who had been tortured for at least a decade or longer, that was. Mid-vigil I had a frustrating discussion with the two Crawls who returned to continue their work. Apparently, they did not see any danger in the room and did not really understand me countermanding Jazinth's order to clear the room.

In the end, my curiosity won the day. I had a chat with Arthor and Erk and told them that nobody would be allowed to enter without my express permission, then I went back in. If I wasn't going to get anything done until I could grant my allies some relief from the persisting shrieks emanating from the spread-eagled form, I might as well see if I could get in touch with him. There was no contact, however. At times, he would cry out mentally, asking for his mother, master or death. Mostly for the master, though. The most exhilarating part of my vigil came when his form slid to the side to rest in a fetal position. When finally the door coalesced into existence, I wasted no time at all in slamming and locking the door - and enjoying the silence that ensued.