Underworld - Book 4 - Chapter 5

Like all the other halls in the Living Quarters, this one was filled with rooms on either side. Instead of dark and creepy, Mel had filled it with Light Orbs shining from the ceiling. It was almost clinically bright.

Passing the first room, it was packed full of Skeleton Sentinels from out time back in the Head Mistress’s dungeon. Okay, maybe I was wrong about it not being creepy. At least it was well lit… They stood there perfectly still. I would have thought that they were actually dead except they were standing on their own two feet.

Each room I passed was filled with other minions. His wargs, werewolves, dark elf, giant insects, and minotaurs were all just as still as the skeletons. About halfway to the end of the hall, I passed by rooms filled with inanimate skulls. Always skulls. Some of them looked to be weaker creatures we’d faced, but he kept them around anyway. I wondered why he hadn’t risen them to life with the others. Had he met his limit?

Coming to the last room on the left, I found Mel pacing back and forth without ever taking his eyes of the Waldemar’s giant skull. He had placed it on an old wooden desk. His plate armor was black with granules of purple, much like granite. A black cloak hung from his shoulder and a cast iron crown sat upon his short red hair. The crown I recognized as The Living’s Hazzard. It was one of the artifacts we found in Vodnyy Zomak—the imp’s dungeon. It gave Mel +100 Dark Magic Regeneration Per Minute, +500 Intelligence, Maximum Creatures Summoned +2, and on equip, a Dark Spector is summoned with the sole purpose of protecting its wearer. That explained the shadow-like ghost that followed him back and forth. It was like a real shadow that had grown bored of letting the light dictate where it lay, and instead followed its owner around like a tagalong. This was just another one of the reasons I felt safe enough to leave. I knew he’d be here to help everyone when I was gone if something went wrong.

“Hey,” I said, pulling his attention from his observations of the skull. More than once Mel had explained that he had to study a creature’s skull before he could raise it. It was much like my experience with Creature Observation before I’d learned to use its spell from. I used to have to observe an ability and examine it for an extended period of time before it was added to my blue magic spell list.

He looked my way, waving as he did, but turning back to the skull one last time before giving me his full attention. “Are you getting ready to leave?”

“I am. I wanted to chat before I left.”

“Good. Good. There’s something I’ve been wanting to talk to you about as well.”

“Sure. What’s up?” I replied, letting him go first.

“Vodnyy Zomak. I know you’re planning on giving it to Zorik—and I agree that that is the best play—but when he does go there to claim it, or if we get more orbs than we need, I’d like to go there and get it functioning so that we have a backup base.”

I had a feeling there was more to it than that. “Are you feeling cramped here?”

He frowned but didn’t deny it. “I could always use more experience.”

Nodding as much to myself as to him, it seemed I was still making the same mistakes as before. I’d been so desperate to get my Light Magic to the master rank that I was still overlooking my friends. Mel was easily at the level that he could find a place like The Belly and just hang out there for the next couple weeks while leveling like a madman. If it wasn’t for Xaphan, I was half tempted to send him there. “I hate to ask you this, but can you hold out for a little while? While I’m gone, you’re everyone’s best hope of staying safe if the unexpected happens.”

“Sure. Sure.” He brushed away any concern with the wave of his hand. He was too nice of a guy to put himself first. Unlike me.

“I’ll tell you what. Let me scout out the goblins. If there seems to be no surprises and they’re close enough, I’ll have Richard send for you. It will still be a while before we have enough DP to upgrade the Dungeon Aura again. One way or another, I’ll find somewhere for you to get some real hunting in. I’d take you with me, but…”

“It’s all good.” He glanced back to Waldemar’s skull. “I have this little beauty to figure out in the meantime.”

Little? It’s the size of a car…

“By the way, if you did happen to go with Zorik, what about Olivia?” I said, honestly concern that he was already isolating himself too much. If he did go...

Shaking his head, he looked defeated. “You know… about her and Russ.”

“She’s not the only girl.”

He shrugged, not saying anything.

“Just think about it. The other girls are some of the most uniquely talented human beings in the Underworld—or world for that matter. They have some of the most impressive stats, ever.”

“They would probably take turns torturing you if they heard you comparing them by their stats.”

I cracked a smile. “Probably. They got some nice Dexterity and Constitution though, don’t they?”

His grin widened.

“Seriously though, think about the people we could have gotten stuck with down here. I’m not sure I believe in luck exactly, but if there was a luck stat then ours would be maxed out. So think about it, okay?”

“I will.” He replied, and I could see that he meant it.

***

I was leaving Mel’s necro-lair when I spotted a familiar aura out of the corner of my eye. Turning, I saw the dwarf there waiting for me. His arms were crossed, and he stared at me as he finished crewing whatever he’d been eating.

“Ujurak,” I said, stopping and waiting for him to finish his food. He still wore his blue platemail and grey cloak just like the first time I’d seen him in The Belly. I wondered if he ever took it off.

Swallowing, he stared at me for a moment longer before saying what he’d come to say. “The pork isn’t half bad.”

It was a good reminder he was becoming a bit of a freeloader. He had his own food in his inventory, but the longer he was here the more he helped himself. “Your people eat its like often?”

“Never. No one would use excess Light Magic in such a wasteful way. But…”

“But?”

“But if the price was right, they’d pay good coin for it.”

I didn’t believe my ears. He’d been an impossible nut to crack and would hardly discuss trade, even with Russ. And yet, now he was just coming right out and saying it. As much as I wanted to press him, there was a problem. “Once harvested, the buffs fade over time. I’m not sure anything would be left once it arrived in your homeland.”

He grunted. “There are ways to store things to keep magic goods fresh longer. Besides, in a few generations, your crop will take on more permanent characteristics.”

Well, if that was the case. “Then too bad trade hasn’t been established between us.”

“If you survive, and that’s a big if, we can make something happen.”

If it was true about what he said, about our crop’s buffs becoming more permanent, then we needed to work fast to work through the first couple generations of replanting. We had finally run across something that he couldn’t say no to.

***

Everyone was there to say goodbye when we were finally about to head out. I waited at the back of the group that was leaving with Aeris sitting atop my helmet. 

The three others who were going to be leaving with us stood before the rest of Sanctuary saying farewell to their closest friends. 

Perry had been gifted a suit of chocolate colored platemail from Russ. I’d seen him use a shield before, but he still favored the Sledge Brother’s original weapon of choice—massive hammer. His two-handed Warhammer was strapped to his back. He was surrounded by our tanks and getting a trunk load of crippling pats on the back. As a Strength build, it was nothing he couldn’t easily shrug off.

Jess and Melony were more rogue-types. They both had upgraded armor since our last fight as Perry had. There armor seemed to be made out of pale green corded vines of some kind, which I suspected was some kind of Nature based armor. They were huddled with Kylie. Travis was at her side. Seeing their apprehension reminded me how dangerous what we were about to do could be. A big part of me wanted to call it off and go alone, but there was little likelihood a better time to power level them would come along. I couldn’t shut them all up safely here in Sanctuary while I did everything myself. Perhaps there was even more I should be doing, like letting Mel go off and find his own place to hunt…

Our goodbyes were finished soon enough. With Richard’s new range we could literally talk to one another anytime we wished, which I pointedly reminded everyone of. I gave no speeches. “Don’t worry. We’ll all be back as soon as we run out of magic bacon.” I showed them a teethy grin, then, with one last wave of my hand, I spun and walked straight into the western exit of Sanctuary where most of the goblins had come from. The others had to hurry to catch up.

It would still be a few days before I could let loose, but hopefully we found something worth our effort wherever these goblins were hiding.