HC:Pacifist | Ch. 145 - Landfill

The [Creature of the Night] title had come at just the right time. As he walked farther from the colony's heart, the number of ant workers started to dwindle. Whereas before, ants covered every surface of every tunnel, out here, there weren’t enough of them to serve as references to navigate the tunnels blindfolded.

It wouldn’t have been a disaster. He could have removed the blindfold and used his flashlight, but that would have reset the clock and hindered him from unlocking a new stat. Whenever Roth unlocked a new stat, his [Inner Light] bonus became bigger. It granted +10 to all stats. That meant that every time he gained a new stat, he was automatically granted two new levels worth of stats. That, in turn, converted into more extra bonuses for each of his forms, making him much more powerful.

Your eyes are getting more used to seeing in the dark.

+1 perception.

It was the second time he got this notification. The darkness of Antioch was the perfect place to bolster perception and insight. Whenever he saw one of the many millions of ants in Antioch, he inspected them. He was the first player to do so, and if his hunch was correct, that counted toward gaining more points in his insight. On the other hand, as he squinted and tried to find his way in the total darkness of the colony, his perception also improved. He had already gained several free stats from walking around the city and meeting new ants. Each time he heard the sweet ring of the system bell, it was music to his ears.

Now that he was two hours away from the colony's center, he noticed the smell. It was putrid and rotten and made Roth feel the urge to gag. Not even his time in the sewers of Hilsford had prepared him for this. After a few minutes, he couldn’t take it anymore and changed into the plumber set. It was a huge relief. He preferred to fly blindly looking for the landfill rather than having his nose let the stench guide him to it.

After ten more minutes, he discovered the landfill. He turned on his flashlight to let him get a good grasp on the size of the trash deposit. It was very large, the largest chamber he’d seen so far, and it was filled with all kinds of garbage. Back in the day, when Roth was a kid, looking for things to kill and destroy, ant colonies’ trash often led him to their nest. Whenever he saw a pile of husks on the ground next to a little hole, he knew there was an ant nest nearby. The memory of killing the insects for fun made him want to gag again. The stench of his past felt worse than the one of the landfill.

Here, ants didn’t take the trash outside of the colony. Maybe it was a safety measure to not reveal their location to enemies or predators. Or maybe it was because they didn’t want to leave the safety of their shields. Whatever the reason, it looked like they just dumped their trash in these underground chambers.

Roth looked into his inventory and found several stacks of the items he had collected from the larder.

Treeant Trash (Quest Item)

Description: The residue produced by the colony’s activity. You better take them somewhere way outside the city.

He selected a stack and tossed it. The pile of trash started flying out from his bag like a geyser.

[Pull Your Own Weight] completed!

Congratulations. You have taken out one stack of [Treeant Trash].

+50,000 XP.

+1kg weight carry capacity.

+1 reputation with the treeants.

You can trade with the treeants for the next 12 hours.

Roth froze. 50,000XP for taking out the trash? And had he just been given more weight-carry capacity? Permanently? He tried tossing out all the other stacks he had.

Congratulations. You have taken out one stack of [Treeant Trash].

+50,000 XP.

+1kg weight carry capacity.

+1 reputation with the treeants.

You can trade with the treeants for the next 24 hours.

Congratulations. You have taken out one stack of [Treeant Trash].

+50,000 XP.

+1kg weight carry capacity.

+1 reputation with the treeants.

You can trade with the treeants for the next 36 hours.

…

It looked like [Pulling Your Own Weight] was a quest designed to teach players the mechanics of the city. To trade and buy in Antioch, players had to do some work first. He had just ensured he could trade with the treeants for thirty-six hours. But that wasn’t the best part about this!

The best part was all the rewards he got from the city for doing some work. No wonder all ants were working around the clock. For this kind of reward, Roth was very much inclined to follow after their hardworking steps.

Roth drooled as he saw that he could now carry nine more kilos after this trash run! He ran the numbers. One point of strength translated into 0.5 kg of extra load capacity. Just by taking the trash, he was given the equivalent of 18 strength points! The XP was not bad, either. And to top that off, he gained reputation with the treeants.

Leaving the landfill behind, Roth was already searching desperately for a treeant. He soon found one also coming to the outskirts to take out the trash. Trash disposal didn’t seem like the most popular task around Antioch. How could it be? The smell was horrible.

“Excuse me!”

“Hello, martyr. How are you?”

“Quick! Trash! I need trash! Where is it?”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Clean! I want to clean Antioch up. Where is the nearest pile of trash?”

The treeants are impressed by your desire to work hard!

+1 reputation with the treeants.

+1 charisma.

The ant projected a series of images that would take him to a tree 30 minutes away from here.

“Thank you.”

Roth laughed hysterically as he ran through the tunnels. All the fury he had felt earlier was replaced by the elation of receiving rewards. He would take out all the trash in Antioch if he could.

*

In a back alley veering off one of the main streets in the center of the slum district, hidden behind some old crates, was a hole in the wall that led to the sewers. The stench coming out from the hole was so hideous that the street was empty most of the time. Only players determined to hunt in the sewers, or more recently, guilds looking to unlock the light affinity, were willing to make the personal sacrifice of playing here.

The crates hiding the secret door shook and were pushed to the side, but nothing could be seen in the dark alley. A few moments later, a garbage can at the alley's exit fell to the side, and a skittering sound was heard. Something had just left the sewers. It was something big.

*

Roth had reached the location that the treeant had directed him to. He had visited a place like this before when he was blindfolded: a treesmith tree. Carpenter ants bit into the bark, digging channels to let bioenergy flow through. The bioenergy itself manifested in the form of a bluish-pale light. Right by the tree's heart was a blue ball of energy. From down here, it looked like a dim chandelier. Roth kept following the ant’s work with curiosity. As a secondary channel was connected to a main one, the bluish ball shone a little brighter. The corvids would have liked it here. It looked like they were focusing the bioenergy from all the surrounding flora into that one point.

Like he had been doing on the way here, Roth inspected all the ants he could find. It was a way to improve his insight stat.

Matilda, the Carpenter Ant

Lvl. 45

40,000/40,000

“Excuse me, Matilda, I came to pick up the trash. Where is it?”

“Over there, by that entrance.” Roth followed the treant’s mental message. Thanks to the bluish light coming from the channels of energy, he could see better here and spot the distant shavings of the wood the carpenters had carved out of the tree, even from where he was.

“Thank you. By the way, what does this tree do? Is it a shield generator?”

“No, it’s just an energy relay to power up the biogrid further in.”

“Oh, I see. Gotta go now. I’m too busy to stay around and chat.”

Roth smiled evilly as he left the dumbfounded treeant behind. It felt good to be the one terminating the conversation instead of having the treeants doing it. As he approached the pile of wood shavings, he saw it was much bigger up close than it had been in the distance. He started stuffing shavings into his inventory.

Now that he was in his human form, he could carry more weight than he had in his [Badger Form]. After he completed his 15th stack of treeant trash, he was full.

You are carrying too much weight. You are [Heavy].

You move 50% slower.

He looked at the clock. His racial skills had come off cooldown in the time it took him to get here. It was time to make the most out of his race.

Boar form!

Congratulations! Your strength has reached 350.

[Healthy Bones] has been upgraded to [Iron Bones].

Iron Bones (Stat Bonus)

Bonus description: Your strength has seeped deep into your skeleton. Your bones are now as hard as iron.

Bonus effect:

+1000HP;

+5HP per second.

Restrictions: 350+ strength.

You’ve unlocked [Explosive Might].

Explosive Might (Stat Bonus)

Bonus description: By harnessing the energy within you, you can show strength beyond human comprehension.

Bonus effects:

+30% physical attack;

+10% damage reduction.

Restrictions: 300+ strength.

Your wisdom is under 100.

You’ve lost [Strategic Thinking].

Your intelligence is under 50.

You’ve lost [Inner Calm].

Your dexterity is under 50.

You’ve lost [Fast Hands].

Your charisma is under 100.

You’ve lost [Charm].

Your endurance is under 150.

[Horse’s Gallop] has been downgraded to [Cat’s Sprint].

[Stone Skin] has been downgraded to [Bark Skin].

[Boar Form] resonates with [Boar's Might].

[Boar's Might] has upgraded to [Boar Power]

Boar Power (Uncommon)

Skill description: You learn the secrets of the boar's strength and can emulate part of it.

Skill effects:

+5 strength;

+30kg weight carry capacity.

He had forgotten about the resonance effect of his race with skills named after his form. [Boar's Might] became an incredible skill once it was upgraded. Roth looked at how much strength he had and how much weight he could carry.

Weight: [Light] - (100.5/278.5g)

Strength: 399

Roth felt his cheeks hurt. They struggled between smiling and accommodating the small tusks coming out of his mouth. He had almost 400 points of strength now. He doubted there were many warriors out there who could compete with him. More importantly, he had almost tripled the weight he could carry.

He resumed stuffing his bag until there was nothing left to pick up. He could still get two more stacks, but he thought it would be better to empty the bag first. He ran back toward the outskirts of town, running the numbers in his head and trying to imagine how much XP he could get.

When he found a landfill, he dumped his bag's contents again.

Congratulations. You have taken out one stack of [Treeant Trash].

+50,000 XP.

+1kg weight carry capacity.

+1 reputation with the treeants.

You can trade with the treeants for the next 10 days.

Congratulations. You have taken out one stack of [Treeant Trash].

…

+50,000 XP.

+1kg weight carry capacity.

+1 reputation with the treeants.

You can trade with the treeants for the next 13 days.

…

[Level Up!]

Roth’s XP bar was skyrocketing. He had just gained one level from taking out the trash. He brought out 41 stacks of trash this time. After gaining more bonuses to his weight carry capacity, he could now carry 300 kg in [Boar Form]! He ran back, desperately searching for another treeant to point him to the nearest trash deposit.

Ch. 144 - Creature of the Night

INDEX

Ch. 146 - Pinecone Honeydew