[Shrubley, the Monster Adventurer] Chapter 91 – On the Road Again

The group made excellent time thanks to the Aker brothers’ cart. Shrubley could not help but compare to the first time he came out this way. That was when he met Smudge–though he did not know it at the time–and Cal.

It had taken him most of the day to go from the town to the Haalften farms where the Rattle Rousers were causing a ruckus, stealing milk and frightening poor women.

By the time the sun was high in the sky, they had not only passed by the farms, but the Haalften manor as well, where the farmers could go no farther. Igor was out trimming the hedges into frighteningly monstrous shapes. He gave them a six-fingered wave, which Shrubley returned, followed by Smudge, who formed a copied hand of six fingers too.

Somewhere in the background, they could hear the wailing of the Count, which caused a string of giggles as Sose explained what he had done to the man to put him in his place.

When they stopped to make camp for the night, they were at the base of the mountains that bordered the outlands. In their shadow, they easily started a fire, despite the Countess wanting to continue at night.

Shrubley wanted to enjoy the trip. He didn’t have a destination in mind and any attempts to pry it from the Countess was met with abject failure. Unless she was willing to tell them where they were ultimately going, Shrubley put his rooty foot down about taking their time.

“Muchly big,” Slyrox said, staring up at the mountain. She raised her mitts to her mask. In a blur of magic, it changed. The smokey lenses shifted to that of gleaming glasses. “Ah, chilly-chilly! Way clearer.”

[This is the Way]: Koblins of Aldim do not take off their masks unless they absolutely must. This cultural taboo has been instilled within you upon your journey from Aldim to Almora. Your mask has become a magical thing that can be altered on a whim, making you impervious to afflictions of sight, smell, and taste.

“Your new mask is very fetching,” Shrubley told her, pulling out the items that the adventurers had given him.

It made his heart swell with pride and love seeing the gifts. He could not have cared less if they were useful. The symbolism of friendship was enough. He wished he had something for them, but he knew in his heart of hearts that they would not have accepted it.

As Shrubley inspected the items, the Countess moved about behind him. A strange series of silken noises echoed out from her position, but Shrubley was too interested in what he was doing to turn and look.

The first gift, the coin from Remal, stated it was made of something called “Adathril” and the item’s description suggested that it was indeed lucky. How the Shard knew that, Shrubley didn’t know, but he had promised to keep it for Remal until they met at the Grancastle and Shrubley always kept his promises.

The second gift, the [House Malrese Medallion], was just as Jerric said. It was a symbol of a “minor House” whatever that meant. It was beautiful, made of silver with a golden hawk clutching a talon full of arrows and soaring over a mountain peak.

The third gift, [Fio’s Tome of Magical Finesse], was marked with the Wizard’s smiling face and a number of esoteric symbols. Within were teachings and techniques for channeling mana and something called “cycling” that improved mana control if practiced over time. Unlike a training manual, Shrubley understood that this tome was not a shortcut.

It would take hard work to master.

Supposedly, something special would happen if he finished it.

And finally, the gift from Henry was a simple but well-made [Autotent]. It was surprisingly spacious, but relatively bare bones. However, Shrubley delighted in setting it up. All it took was to unfurl it and touch a rune with a little pulse of mana seeping through his bark.

The skeletal structure of the tent sprang up and the dark brown leather stretched taut until he had a nice little tent that would comfortably fit all of them, though the Countess would be a tight fit.

“Oh, that’s cute,” Miranda said behind Shrubley. “You can sleep in that if you wish, but I think you might prefer mine.”

Shrubley turned around and gasped at what he saw. A palace of towers, turrets, and polished black stone in miniature rose out from the ground just behind the camp.

Smudge whistled in appreciation. Then his stomach grumbled.

“Don’t eat the tent,” Miranda warned the slime.

He made a bashful, squeaky noise in response.

“It’s a castle!” Cal said excitedly. Then he looked at the tent which, despite being well made, was decidedly shabby-looking compared to the literal miniature castle before it. “Uh… I’ll stay in the tent, if you like, Shrubley.”

Slyrox had no such loyalties. She scurried over to the mini castle.

The shrub was honored that his friend would willingly join him in his small tent. “No,” Shrubley said. “I am grateful to Henry for gifting me this, but clearly the Countess has her own methods, and it would be rude to spurn them.”

Cal gave a deep sigh of relief. He would have stayed in the little tent with Shrubley, but staying in a castle? He was a skeleton! Of course, he wanted to stay in an evil-looking spooky castle!

“My mistress is clearly far superior to Henry,” Sose said with a snicker.

“It ties itself to the Haalften fortune,” Miranda said, ushering them inside. She had to duck into the miniaturized doorframe. The palatial interior was clearly not occupying the same space as the small castle did.

Cal, Shrubley, Slyrox, and Smudge turned around in place, taking in the beauty of the home they were staying in.

“This looks better than the manor,” Cal said, then covered his mouth once he realized what he just said.

The Countess laughed. “The manor is my husband’s. This is mine. While they are tied together, it was more fitting that the manor have a less… evil look. This item was one of the first that I made for myself in ages past. I suppose you could say that it is a product of its times.”

“I did not know such things were possible,” Shrubley said in awe.

The interior was even more foreboding than the exterior, but he could see the similarities to the manor. There were the wingback stairs that swept up and out from the foyer. The marble tiles, dark paintings, and silk coverings draped all over the place.

It was beautiful in its darkness, but it was not precisely a happy place. Shrubley felt a lack of warmth. When he spoke up, the Countess snapped her fingers and a large pair of fireplaces that flanked the main hall sprang to life.

“That is not what I mean,” Shrubley told her.

The Countess looked oddly at him, but when Shrubley failed to explain himself, she shrugged and continued giving them the tour.

Most of the castle would not be opened. It cost a lot of mana and consequently, money, to open up large wings, and there was no need when they weren’t besieged or in danger.

If such a time came, such as angry villagers, militia who didn’t understand Awakened monsters, or bandits, they could easily retreat to Castle Andrak while their attackers battered at its walls.

“It would take a literal siege to bother us inside here,” the Countess explained. “There will be no bandits sneaking up on us in the dead of night, or monsters howling for our blood. We’re perfectly safe. In fact, during the night the castle is even more powerful than normal, we might earn a little Experience from the monsters that dare attack it.”

That perked everybody up. “Free Exps?” Slyrox asked.

“Completely free,” the Countess said. “Provided some brutish creature is stupid enough to try to bite a gargoyle statue guarding the castle.”

Cal looked around nervously at the gargoyles near the rafters.

The Countess boomed a laugh. “They will not attack you,” she told him. “You are my guests.”

“Oh. That is a relief,” Cal said, though he made sure to try to keep every horrible looking statue in sight from then on. Which was not an easy task. The castle seemed to sprout them like a dead log sprouted mushrooms.

They were led to the dining room, where there was already a table set with food of all sorts. “Why don’t you go out and gather up that tent, Shrubley, and we’ll have a nice little dinner?”

“I’ll help,” Cal said a little faster than was necessary. He kept glancing over his shoulder at the gargoyles sneering down at him as the pair left the castle.

“It is a wondrous place,” Shrubley said once they were outside, touching another rune to set the [Autotent] into packing mode. It was oddly silent at the foot of the mountain, save for the muted rush of a somewhat distant waterfall.

For a moment, Shrubley breathed in the fresh air of this new place. It was pleasantly clean and crisp.

“It is majestic and terrifying all at once,” Cal said. He gave a longing sigh. “Just like the Countess.”

Shrubley chuckled and checked his [Guidance Stone Compass]. The faintly humming device’s arrow spun loosely one way and then another, not picking up on anything yet.

“Is there a range limitation?” Cal asked, his green glowing eyes reflecting on the compass’s glass.

“I am unsure,” Shrubley admitted. “That must be the case. Or perhaps I’m not quite strong enough to wield it effectively yet? It is a Bronze Rank item.”

Slyrox came out from the castle to see what was going on. When she saw them huddled together, she shuffled closer. Cal moved aside to give her some room to inspect the item. “Already bonded it, yes?”

Shrubley nodded. “I think it always was.”

“Works for you, not others then,” the koblin said, motioning to the castle and the Countess inside who might have otherwise been able to circumvent the theoretical limitations.

“I am okay with that,” Shrubley said. “I will be Bronze soon.”

Both of his friends stared.

Shrubley realized he was boasting and gave a little laugh. “I do not mean to suggest I am that strong already! I only mean… that I am determined. I will eventually be Bronze.”

“I’m not even Copper yet,” Cal said. “Then again, you have had the greatest leaps in power. I still wonder what you could have become if you had not gotten sick in the mirror realm. With sunlight and proper training, you might have become Copper much sooner!”

Shrubley nodded. But he was not sure.

The trials he underwent were important, but what was most important was how he healed from them. He could have broken seeing his father again in his ghostly form. In the days since, he often wondered if he had truly seen the Druid.

In the end, Shrubley had decided that he did. If it was a lie he told himself, he was okay with that. Seeing his father again, however brief, had been worth it.

Shrubley sniffled a little and put the compass away. There was either no Guidance Stone nearby, or the compass wasn’t working. He figured it was the former. If there was a Guidance Stone out here, it would no doubt have been found. They were still far too close to civilization, based on what Mistress Ceasewane had told him.

He missed the old witch. There was none more knowledgeable about Guidance Stones than her. She had bound one in place, using it to keep her lifeforce going.

In the end, she had chosen to give it up to help Shrubley, and to rob the serpentii of their sole source of power. Without her sacrifice, the serpentii would have found a way to come back.

With a heavy heart, Shrubley put the [Autotent] into his inventory and went into the castle. He would honor her sacrifice. He would honor all those who died.

They deserved no less.