Wrath Farmer

[Ultimatedaywriter]

Day 3
There wasn't a cloud in the deep blue sky only the harsh sun bearing down on me. Sweat poured from my brow down onto to cracked, dry ground. Every swipe of my hoe did little more than tear a small groove into the ground. My hands were already covered in painful blisters as I poured my hate into the soil. Cracks appeared in the hard ground, and I quickly measured but was left dissatisfied. I needed a few more inches before seeds could be planted.

After exhausting myself, I returned to my tent to cool down and opened my journal. The start of my terrible adventure as a farmer.

Day 1
My life was over. I went from a promising future as a monster tamer to a farmer in less than an hour. A deal was made, and I had little time remaining to create an opportunity.

The Summer family promised their daughter to marry my older brother, Thaddeus. I thought it was strange before, but little hints fell into place as my world shattered. She was beautiful, and I thought it was weird when she gave me 20,000W for my journey. Little did I know it was guilt money and not worth it.

She smiled, knowing I was screwed out of life in the ruling class so my brother could marry an aristocrat. Blue blood like hers follows the female line; it was only a matter of time until a family took an offer to trade assigned classes.

I remember reading about the scandal. The Titan Training board had made a decision. The Summer family was too soft from generations of successful Monster Tamers. Many of them from my generation were given the farmer class. Still, none had set out of any East Weston Metropolises from All Bright to Star City. There were no reports of Summer family nobles making a claim and taming wild territory in the first steps of bringing it into the fold.

That mystery had been answered for me in the worst way possible. I checked my status because I had to see it. I was only three generations from a mage-class great-grandfather. This shouldn't have happened. I had a 0% chance of being given the farmer class at birth.

Status
Atom Walker lvl1
Class: Farmer +3 END +2 VIT per LEVEL
Attributes
Physical:
Vitality 4
Constitution 2
Endurance 6
Strength 3
Dexterity 2
Agility 2

Mental:
Perception 2
Willpower 9
Focus 3
Intelligence 5
Wisdom 4
Charisma 4

Skills
Farming:
Plow lvl1
Plant lvl1
Harvest lvl1


Monster Tamer was the ruling class; the other classes available were meant for support. Classes determined the skills learned naturally, skill growth, and items that can be purchased. So, no fireballs, controlling monsters or brewing stat-enhancing potions. I could, at most, grow better potion ingredients or breed stronger monsters. But I would still need an alchemist to brew them and a tamer to control them. Its why I trained my willpower every day. It was the most important stat for a Monster Tamer.

Skills that required willpower weren't out, but the offense was.

I gripped my skull, trying to force out any idea that could help. This was Nightmare Liches leading undead hordes attacking frontier towns bad. Except I wasn't safe in my home waiting for the new microprocessors to cross through the territory. There was so much about the farmer class I either forgot or never bothered to learn.

Soft caps: I forgot about all the soft caps that came with the farmer class. Offensive and defensive skills levels 1/10th​ the speed of any other class. Utility skills, on the other hand, had a growth rate of 10 times when it came to growing or mana exercises. Other utility skills only had a 1.5 times increase in leveling speed.

How a farmer leveled was also important. I could only make gains through growing crops and selling them. An alchemist could make a potion, sell it for 5000W, and earn 20 levels potentially. A farmer sold bushels of pees for 100 and might not see a level in a year. There might have been rankings or levels with crops I didn't remember.

I checked my online credentials and they hadn't been changed from a prospective tamer. That meant I could still buy skill shards. My bank account currently sat at 60,832W and I had no time to plan. Any second, I could be kicked out.

Someone pounded on my bedroom door. "Son, wake up; we have something to talk to you about. Don't check your status yet." Her usual musical tone was gone, which was a bad sign.

That was my mother, she knew. I had to think of something, anything to buy time. My mind swam for a second as plans were born and died until I found the perfect excuse.

"Don't come in. I'm masturbating to monster porn," I said.

I heard a sigh like the last gasp of a dying man. "Just come out here when you're done and delete your browser history. I don't want to see any ads." Mother said.

The time was 6:50AM there were three minutes until privileges were updated. My bookmarks saved me time. I had already searched this part of Monmart before.

The skill shard window opened up, and I applied filters to only utility skills. Famers had the worst parameters for leveling offensive and defensive skills imaginable but the best for utility. It's why they could grow mana-dense crops in even the most barren soil.

I watched the screen appear and added Adapt to my cart. Before I went to bed, I watched a pro match. Adapt was considered a trash skill in the low levels because all it did was slightly increase skill gains. For the Runic Behemoth in Chad Thundercock's party, it allowed the wall of muscle and claws to grow stronger mid-battle. Against Lance Shield's Magma Troll, it turned a predicted loss into a drawn-out slog. Fire Resistance kept leveling mid-battle, and I was sure Chad's Behemoth finished out two skill trees from it. That was the kind of power I needed.

10,000W later, I was the proud owner of the Adapt skill. Unfortunately, it was a passive skill and wouldn't level quickly; I needed more support. I was in shock and slowly cobbling together a plan to feel like I did something instead of letting my future slip through my fingers.

Farmers can't enter national dungeons, purchase skills, or leave their farms for extended periods. Farmers were the first to step in barren frontiers they toiled and filled the soil with mana and hard work. Generations later, a town might appear around the farm where a few people would be given the Monster Tamer class. These people born from nothing would fight and claw their way to the top or die trying. Normally these people would be the scions of multiple generations of Monster Tamers. It was a harsh program, but it produced powerful results.

This wasn't an unknown happening. One of my parents sold my future so my brother could marry up. I was fucked, and the only way forward was through. I knew they were going to send me to the ass end of nowhere, put monitors on my system, and all the shit I heard about. It was all for the status of noble blood in our republic.

"Son, your mother just told me you're masturbating to monster porn. Why don't you save it for a monster of your own." My father said through the door.

Either he didn't know or wanted this experience to be as terrible as it could possibly be.

"I heard that's a good way to get my dick ripped off. Give me a little more time; I'm almost done; this is the money shot."

My next skill was Berserk; it was a utility that increased strength at the cost of lots of stamina. I didn't have an offensive class, so my only choice was to cobble one together with purchased skills meant for monsters. There was an open secret that humans could learn monster skills. Why bother when monsters were far more capable with skills?

Classes that could use them couldn't be at the same prices as a Monster Tamer. Government subsidies were powerful tools.

15,000W later, the Berserk skill appeared in the transporter.

35k Westons left, and I had two skills that would hopefully see me through what was going to be a terrible time in my life. It wasn't unheard of to sleep through the initial skill gains. I told my parents I was going to bed instead of staying up to get my class. Waiting would have ended badly.

I grabbed the adapt skill shard, a large green crystal with two points, held it to my forehead, and quickly absorbed it. Flashes of images appeared in my vision. I saw monsters shivering in the snow, slowly turning blue and becoming snow variants. A water dragon dove into a lake of magma and came out a steam drake. These images appeared faster and faster until I received a notification.

Ping!
New Skill
Adapt lvl1

What I wanted to accomplish before my parents knocked on my door down was simple. I needed to create a skill block. Four skills that fed into each other boosting skill gains endlessly.

I purchased Regeneration for 20,000W. Skill blocks for tamers were heavily regulated. Every tamer worth their stats would already have a plan for a skill block for themselves and their first partner. Most of my time was spent looking up skill blocks that would work fast and dirty for any monster, no matter what skills they may already have. Doing it for myself like I was the monster was sobering.

Training for 10,000W was my short-term answer to a massive problem. The Training skill allowed stat growth through hard work and exercise. Rumor had it that even studying could see results like increased intelligence. Leveling was far more effective and powerful with skill trees; few used the Training skill unless they needed certain attributes for a rank up. After the transporter ran a fourth time, the website kicked me back to the home screen with several tabs removed. I grabbed the skill shards and absorbed them one after the other.

Images of battle, pain, and rage resonated with me. My birthright was taken. I was born to be a tamer; all the signs pointed to it, and my future was traded without my knowledge. Those born to the former noble houses like Summer, Winter, Fall, and Thundercock no longer had the power to ensure their children were tamers. At birth, classes were decided but only activated at 16. Lourie Summers and I were born on the same day, which allowed this swap to happen seamlessly.

Any family eager to add some blue blood to their own from the former regime wouldn't hesitate if they had a spare son. I was one of 4 sons and 8 daughters. The Walker family had plenty of money, monsters, and powerful tamers, but our bloodline wasn't noble. Thaddeus would be able to point at his wife and children and say they were from Summer stock. My parents could happily say their grandchildren would have blue blood from the former regime and access to Summer family training techniques.

They only had to give me the short end of the stick to get all they could want. I gave the convenient transporter and my expensive rig a final heartfelt goodbye. At least they didn't betray me.

"Kato, get my son out of his room. We need to have a family conversation." I picked up a shirt and blew my nose as my door shattered. I had allergies; no, I wasn't crying. My father's big red Oni stepped into the room. I remember riding on his back when I was a kid and playing with his daughters. Mai would probably hate me when she found out. I wouldn't be her tamer after all.

"Boy, why are you crying?" Kato asked.

"The love between a tamer and their monster is a beautiful thing, you know," I said.

I felt so weak I wanted to hide in my room. The shame wouldn't leave me. Making a block had distracted me at the time, but what good would it really do me. It was the last gasp of a drowning man.

"Dry your tears and hold your head high. Tears are only helpful to women. You are a man, aren't you?" Kato said.

I felt small and weak before the monster that always made me feel safe. A social divide that hadn't been there yesterday had already made me feel like an intruder in my own home. Only by focusing on things I could control could I manage to stay somewhat sane.

Ping!
Berserk lvl2
1 Skill Point

The skill block I created was an engine to increase not only my skill levels for skill points but my attributes as well. Skills required lvl20 to unlock their first skill tree most of the time. Those skill trees often end with skills.

"Let me see your class; it's ok if you're a mage it isn't the end of the world."

When a class reached level 100, it was possible to multiclass if the classes didn't clash. A mage had a chance to reach level 100 with time and dungeons. As a farmer class, I was doomed. Farmer couldn't combine with Monster Tamer, but Monster Tamer could combine with Farmer. The new class was subordinate to the original. The Farmer class was the lowest class in the hierarchy and could not suborn Monster Tamer.

Day 3
I closed the book; reading further was something I wasn't ready to do yet. The memories were still raw. I didn't want to go through them again. As a beginner farmer, I was given my lot of land, nearly 300 acres of hard mana dry land to the North at the edge of Weston Territory. A few patches of forest greedily sucked mana from the ground, probably harboring low-tier monsters.

In my survival pack was roughly a month's worth of monster repellent. That repellent would only last until my crops came in and started attracting monsters on their own. By that point, I needed to build a fence capable of keeping out low-tier monsters.

Focusing on what I needed to do to survive made it easier to stomach this terrible situation. Farmers needed to sell their crops and purchase the protection of a warrior or, if possible, a knight. Once that happened, settlers would come. Carpenters, merchants, and other tradesmen would come thanks to government subsidies. Once that happened, all I would need to do was toil for the rest of my life.

I bit down on a protein bar and spat the disgusting mix of nuts and chalky chocolate on the ground. This was the worst. Standing up from my folding chair, I moved through my tent. I bought a massive, rugged military tent for its space and durability instead of a portable house. In the corner of the tent, I had a heavy bag ready and waiting.

There had to be a way out of this; I had to figure it out. My gloved fists connected with the bag, one punch then another as I pictured everyone who put me in this situation. To them, it was the right move, and I hated that more than anything. I knew that morally, for the greater good, I needed to be shafted, but that didn't make it any better.

Ping!
Training lvl2
+1 Skill Point
Regeneration lvl2
+1 Skill Point
Adapt lvl2
+1 Skill Point
+1 Focus
Focus 4

So, it was possible to raise stats that weren't physical with the training skill. If I was a Monster Tamer, that would be article-worthy. I could write a paper and earn tons of Weston dollars for it. As a farmer, I had no credibility and would either be ignored or have my paper plagiarized. If willpower could be increased with the Training skill, that would be a game-changer for Monster Tamers.

I hated this situation; I felt trapped and used.

Ping!
Beserk lvl5
+1 Skill Point

That put me at 9 skill points, only 1 away from finishing off my first skill tree.

Farming For Beginners 0/10

It was also my only skill tree. Until I leveled up or my other skills reached lvl20, I was stuck with the tools I had. On the bright side, Adapt would increase my skill gains a little with each level.

The ground was hard, and the steel of my hoe wasn't cutting it. I needed more strength, and punching a bag wasn't giving strength, or I wasn't hitting enough for it.

Attributes for most classes were entirely lopsided. Farmers could potentially grow items that gave permanent percentage gains, but only dungeons produced items for flat gains. Those items went on the market and sold to the highest bidder for hundreds of thousands of Weston dollars. That may be why skill shards are regulated and subsidized to Monster Tamers.

I continued hitting the bag, working on my anger instead of going outside and battling the hard ground.

Ping!
+1 Focus
Focus 5
Training lvl3
+1 Skill Point

It was good luck that skills were easy to level early on. A bolt of excitement flashed through me. I was about to get my first skill tree. Sure, it might not be what I wanted, but skill trees were incredibly valuable. From free attribute points to an additional skill, they were all worth it. Some even gave percentage boosts on skills.

Ping!
Farming For Beginners 10/10
+1 Endurance
New Skill
Furrows lvl1

A brief flash of images of how to dig out little trenches to help water irrigation and germination of seeds flashed through my brain. It wouldn't be long until endurance surpassed willpower, and I would truly be a farmer. I knew I already was once, but it felt like that was the point of no return.

I dug a row for hours under the watchful gaze of the hot sun and beat against mana-starved ground. There was a line of credit from the government for mana rich water for the use of farmers. Once I finished my rows and planted, I would add water. My seeds were nothing special, only Rainbow corn, a rare-tier corn variant that sold well. I had buck beans and gold peanuts for my other rows.

As I worked, I still poured sweat like a leaking faucet, but I was getting through it. My blisters were mostly healed thanks to Regeneration.

I took a step back and stared at my work.

Ping!
Furrows lvl5
+4 Skill Points.


I hadn't noticed the time fly as much as the uneven rows. Mai and I could be training right now, finding monsters to join our team, or battling other tamers. As I felt my anger bleed through, I toiled to even out the rows. My progress wasn't anything worth writing home about; I needed a way to increase my strength. Since I didn't have any weights, I would need to use my body. I remembered hearing about body exercises knights used to get a jump on their class.

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

Day 4
Howls and scratching from outside my tent kept me up all through the night. If not for my monster repellent, I would have been dragged out and killed. Only managed to get some sleep around 4 in the morning and snapped awake when the sun rose. Last night's exercise earned a single point in strength, and I was ready to make use of it.

After getting dressed and eating freeze dried eggs, something I knew was built to break morale. I forced myself to do another set of 50 pushups. Once the set was done with no stat increase, I left the protection of my tent hoe in hand.

Even in the early morning, the harsh rays of the sun beat down overhead as I stepped over the cracked, dry ground. Deer tracks dotted the ground along with pawprints the size of dinner plates. It would be some time before I had the Westons to waste on a good saw and logging equipment. Farmers had a limited amount of shop privileges to teach them the value of hard work.

When I arrived at my furrows, I wanted to curse. The wolves had dug into my furrows, looking for moles ruining their alignment. My skill made me cringe at their state, and then there was the massive pile of hair wolf feces. All of it was too close to my tent.

I needed to get to planting fast and possibly expand my furrows. With so many deer around, they were bound to dig in once my seeds started sprouting.

My first swing of the day plunged my hoe deep into the earth. A smile spread across my face as I moved back heavy dirt far easier than before. I was getting somewhere, not really where I wanted to go, but it was a start.

I checked my skill trees.

Furrows lvl7
+3 Skill Points
Plowing lvl6
+3 Skill Points

Skill Points: 9
Farming Skill Trees
First Fence 0/25
Easy Pickings 0/10

I was still too early in my class to get anything good. Maybe after I planted and sold some corn and leveled things would get better. Throughout the day, I extended my furrows nearly to the trees with constant work. Midday, I started seeding the ground.

Notifications were piling up, and I had put off adjusting my system settings. The distractions had kept my mind off of my situation. There wasn't anyone to talk to

Ping!
Plant lvl6

The sun was setting as I pulled a barrel of water and a set of pipes out of the transporter. Another 200W in the hole, but at least I could evenly water my field. I dipped a cup in the water and drank it, feeling the high mana-content water fill my body with energy. A giddy feeling overtook me, restoring all the stamina I lost throughout the day this was the good stuff. The pipes were labeled which made set up easy as the crickets monsters started making noise. A big sucker the size of my hand fluttered over on raven wings instead of an insectoid. I hammered one of the pipes into the ground as the monster perched itself on a stump, eyeing my mana water. I didn't bother chasing the thing away; more would come and try and drink up my water, but once it started pouring, they wouldn't get much. Once the pipes were finished, I slid the water drum in place and released it. Gallons of mana-rich water flowed through the pipes, sprinkling on my seeds with mana water so rich I should see sprouts by morning.

One good thing about the wolves was that they should keep the deer from feeding here. That was the only bright side I could see from the wolf monster. As for the cricket monsters, they were darting around trying to steal water but took very little. I thought about killing them, but there was nothing in it for me. There wasn't even any experience I could gain, and that was sad.

Monsters gained experience to level from killing and eating other monsters. Humans, overall, were far more specialized and diverse. I could only gain xp from selling my crops; giving them away wouldn't give me a single point toward my next level. Monster Tamer grew based on the level of their monsters. If I had Mai, I would probably already be level 20 by now but that was no longer my life. If I kept saying that to myself, maybe I would believe it. A smile tugged at my lips. Seeing the landscape transformed was satisfying in its own way.

Oh, I was still pissed, but I planned to make the most of the hand I was dealt. I would become so wealthy that even Monster Tamer Hegemons would throw their daughters at me. Corn is King; after all, it fed so many different kinds of monsters, and I could even use it to attract deer, shoot them, and smoke their meat. Winter was a killer, and my military tent might not be enough.

A howl rattled my eardrums, and I turned toward my tent and ran. Cold sweat poured down my back, and I swore I could hear panting behind me. I dove into my tent and zipped up the opening. After collapsing on the ground, I found a single stat gain in agility. That little gain would help me in the future.

Pushups were a must I needed more strength. Seeing what it did with my furrows and flowing made that obvious. Until I started seeing returns, I had to think about strategy like an insect monster. The more fields I planted, the more likely I would see a return. I only needed a few levels to gain more privileges in the shop. Skill shards like archery were available to farmers for 50,000W. It was a steep price.

I heard scratching and turned to see a white fawn's nose staring at me. There was a little gap in my zipper, and white fawns were considered natural rank 2 monsters. It could ignore the monster repellent. A yip caught my attention, and I made an impulsive move. I grabbed the fawn by the neck and yanked it inside then closed my flap tightly.

White fawns were worth 120,000W on the open market and quite a bit more in the less than legal places. They had a wide variety of evolutionary paths and would be an incredible find for any Monster Tamer. As a farmer, it was a resource hole with no returns in sight. Even if I fed it and raised it with care, nothing was stopping it from running off. The fawn punctuated my point by dropping a load of feces on the ground. I purchased a box of paper towels and cleaned up the mess as the fawn explored its new habitat. I couldn't help but wonder what higher rank monster its parents were for obvious reasons. Monsters inherited a skill from the father and form from the mother.

"Food," an echoey voice said. I stared at the deer. It either inherited the skills Psychic, Telepathy, or All Speak. The echoes were mental, so I was betting on Psychic or Telepathy. For either, I could triple the value of the fawn, especially since it was so young it could very easily be loaded with all kinds of skills and adapt to them quickly.

Shop privilege was weird. While I couldn't purchase skill shards, Monster Food was completely open for purchase. I purchased a meal for a fawn of the deer type it barely waited for me to unwrap it before it dug in.

Even if I wanted to sell it I was certain as a farmer I would be taxed for selling a rare monster. I haven't even looked into the taxes leveraged on farmers but I was sure they would be steep. There were no stories of farmers stumbling on rare monsters and getting rich.

"What rich?" The fawn asked.

Telepathy couldn't read minds under level 100, so it must have the rare skill psychic. "Having enough of something you need that it's no longer an issue. Do you have a name?"

"No, what name?"

"A title to distinguish yourself from others," I said.

The fawn turned its head to the side. Psychic was a catch-all power that could manipulate matter and read minds. Its leveling was slow compared to other skills but every powerful. A fawn had meant there was most likely a rank 4 monster somewhere out here. A King of the Forest, Trotting Calamity, or Prancing Stagnation could naturally learn psychic without having it taught through skill shards. Skill Shard learned skills weren't inheritable.

"I want one." She said.

I thought about it for a moment. "Luna," the fawn shook its head.

"Bela, Fiona, Albinia or Edelweiss." I said.

"Already know I'm white."

"Gwen," I said.

"You are terrible at listening."

"It means white holy," I said.

"Orpra," I said.

"That means fawn."

"So it does," I said.

Howls broke the sound of chirping crickets and stiffened my body. All good humor bled away; this was real, and I was in real danger. The only thing keeping us safe was a limited supply of monster repellent. To toughen farmers up, shop privilege only allowed a single purchase of the stuff until it was unlocked at level 5. I had 28 days left until that protection vanished.

I went into my evening exercises to get even a single attribute point closer to the 36th​ pushup. My strength increased. After finishing my set, I worked on the bag, hitting it harder than ever with ease. I poured my hatred of my predicament, the wolves, my fear, and having something to care for that I couldn't protect into the bag.

Ping!
Training lvl5
Berserk lvl8
Regeneration lvl4
Adapt lvl5
+1 Focus
+1 Willpower

The gains felt good, like I was making progress on a long road. I still needed another skill point before I could finish off the first fence which would help with protecting my farm. Except I couldn't imagine myself building a fence high enough to keep out monster deer. I would be better off shooting them. As for Gwen, who knew how long she would stick around.

"Good, not Orpah," Gwen said.

I nodded; a talking deer wasn't bad company. "Don't eat my herd." Deer monsters practiced cannibalism all the time.

"Different parts of the herd stays in the herd," Gwen said.

"If they don't eat my crops, maybe I won't have to." Meat was something I needed to take care of sooner rather than later. Rank 1 chicken monsters could be purchased for 20W each. I could continue going into debt buying them, but I didn't have a coup ready for them, so it would be a waste of time. Lumber wasn't terribly expensive, but a how-to Manuel for chicken coops was 100W. That felt like a waste for something I could have looked up for free a few days ago.

I exhausted myself with exercise but didn't gain another attribute point. Sleep took me, and Gwen crawled to my mat and slept beside me, sharing body heat. It was nice to have my own monster, even if my mind told me she would leave when I wasn't useful any longer.

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

Day 5

The morning, for once, didn't come with backbreaking work so much as straightening rows. Most of the sprouts were untouched, thanks to a massive leap in wolf track population. That was fine until I came across the track the size of a dinner plate. In the claws of the track, streaks of green liquid painted the dry dirt. The morning sun hadn't been enough to dry it before I saw the sign for what it was. A wolf was about to increase their rank.

Chills ran up my spine upon the realization my monster repellent wouldn't be effective for much longer. Neither straw nor sticks would keep the wolf out, and I wasn't much of a bricklayer. Fencing was my only reliable option. I needed a strong fence that a rank 2 wolf couldn't chew its way through.

Gwen wasn't even considered for that fight. I turned away from my field to hear a thump. I felt my heart leap out of my chest, and I fell on my butt. The fall barely registered before the creature, filling my vision. Its eyes were too intelligent for a rank 1 monster, and its actions of intimidation felt almost human. Blood covered its pitch-black snout, and it snarled flashing, gleaming white canines. The smell of blood filled my field. Before I could make a move, it turned and left, hopping into the woods and vanishing.

The wolf, the size of a van, had just dropped the carcass of a deer just outside the edge of my woods. As quickly as it came, it left me uncaring about what I could do about it. I didn't bother inspecting the carcass; it had already been eaten from the back end up with barely a skeleton covered in scraps of flesh remaining. If I was a necromancer, perhaps it could be useful instead; it was squirrel food.

For a moment, I was stunned. I slowly stood up and inspected my field. There were already signs of growth thanks to my skills and the mana-dense water. Given that nothing eats them, I could see ears of corn in two weeks. All I had to do was survive until then.

I tested the ground for saturation, and it was still damp, so I shouldn't need to water again until midday. With my encounter in mind I made sure to carefully distribute monster repellent.

"That smells gross, like feet," Gwen said.

"How many feet have you been smelling?" I asked.

"Just yours," Gwen said.

I half-heartedly swiped at her, but she jumped out of the way and took her spot on my bedding.

"Should I leave? That wolf is after me." Gwen said.

I turned to the fawn and stared into its massive, dopey eyes; she was really kind of ugly. The monster was a massive burden on my budget, and I was already in the hole. Even if we made it out of this, I would never be able to use her in a monster battle. For all those reasons, I still named her, and I wanted her.

"Don't worry, I have this."

"Have you killed anything before in your life?" Gwen asked.

"Of course," I said.

"What have you killed?"

"I stomped a spider once," I said.

"Spiders are some of the most vicious types of monsters."

Dad gave me a spiderling from one of his Widow Makers. I cared for it for a month, and one night, I rolled over in my sleep and crushed it. For weeks, I cried my eyes out. None of the Widow Makers tolerated my presence after that. It was a miserable time for 8-year-old me.

Taking any life, whether it was human or monster, was a massive responsibility. I firmly believe killing should be a last resort if possible. That's why I liked monster battles so much; while the monsters fought, no one died, and everyone learned something in the end. My life out here wasn't that it was brutal like the searing sun and desolate like that deer carcass. What little life I managed to bring back to the land only attracted more opportunities for violence.

"Perhaps I shouldn't sleep too close to you. But you didn't move much last night." Gwen said.

"Your speech pattern changed."

"Yep," Gwen said.

"You can also apparently violate my innermost thoughts and traumatic memories."

"I can't turn it off. Your memories of suffering make me feel less lonely."

Most likely Psychic, as I expected. I would put Gwen's market value at 500,000W outside an auction house. It wasn't like it meant anything to me. As a farmer, I couldn't own a monster. My farm could own a monster under the care of a monster tamer so long as a contract was signed and payments were made in advance.

Keeping quiet about her and hoping she stayed with me was all I could do. No force at my disposal could really keep her here. Deer-type monsters were agility beasts, a white fawn especially. Give her a few weeks of good food, and she would prance around, even rank 2 wolves with ease. Another benefit of Psychic was unparalleled detection, allowing her to breeze through ambushes. Psychic was one of the skills that kept giving despite only being classified as common.

"Maybe it's best to enjoy what we have rather than worry about what may or may not be," Gwen said.

My attributes were too low to compete with monsters that hunt and grow stronger with every kill. A hoe wasn't going to kill a near-rank 2 wolf with rot or poison claws.

Berserk lvl9
+1 Skill Point

First Fence 25/25

10 points in, and I received a welcome surprise.
+1 Constitution
Constitution 3
20 points in, and I received it again.
+1 Constitution
Constitution 4
25 points in, and I received an even better message.
First Fence Skill Tree Complete.
+2 Constitution
Constitution 6
New Skill
Fencing lvl1

My skin felt like worms were dancing inside of it while knowledge of hammering posts, nailing in planks of wood, and more entered my head. There was more. I had methods of working with electricity and metal to make something far more monster-resistant. When I clenched my hands, my skin felt a little more like rubber than my own skin. I heard that the early points felt like massive leaps.

Skill Trees
Easy Pickings 0/10
Farming Student 0/50
Animal Husbandry 0/100

I stepped over Gwen and punched my 100lbs bag. My skin didn't feel much different than an old leather glove. That was another reason farmers were unpopular. High constitution made skin feel less and less human. Most classes had their skill trees mapped, so certain attributes were left behind. I didn't have the luxury of being choosy.

Of the 100,000W I borrowed, I spent 30,000W on the land and another 1,500W on miscellaneous gear. 68,500W wasn't very useful when most of the shop was locked behind a privilege wall and my transporter size. Fortunately, there were two things the shop had available in abundance: wood and barbed wire.

My transporter lit up and flashed as a massive spool appeared ready for use. Since I was already doing this, I might as well keep everything out, not just the wolves. Posts appeared next, along with a hammer and boxes of 6-inch nails.

Gwen sniffed at the barbed wire and turned her nose away from it. That was a good sign; soon, all the corn, money, and revenge will be mine.

I bought some measuring chalk lines and began carrying my fencing out. The second I left my tent, I felt a presence. Turning toward the woods where the wolf had vanished, I saw a pair of yellow eyes watching. I waved at the big monster and used my new hole driver to dig.

The monster watched me work setting up the frame of the fence. Each post was a single piece of wood with a longer piece facing out, forming a right triangle on the ground. 10 feet of wood slanted to 9 feet was still a little too much for a big bad wolf to leap over. If it missed its jump, it would surely be covered in a nest of barbed wire. That would be a sight I would like to see.

Ping!
Fencing lvl8
+7 Skill Points

7 skill levels, and I hadn't even applied the barbed wire. I could nearly snatch up Easy Pickings for whatever it gave me. I placed a layer of barbed wire on the inclined post and stapled it every 3 inches. There was plenty of barbed wire, and I was tired of being attacked in my own home. Sure, this was all inside my property, but I would deal with them when I grew strong enough. When I stapled the last strand, I went to my special latched door and crossed over. Then I slapped a lock on it just in case the wolf was smart enough to copy me.

More eyes stared at me from the darkness, but I didn't feel scared, thanks to my fence. While birds would be a problem, the wolves wouldn't get in so easily. I couldn't imagine the big guy doing much when better options for prey were available. It might even use my fence to ambush deer, which could be costly for repairs. I checked on my skill and found it had entered the double digits without my notice, and I had just enough to finish off another skill tree.

Fencing lvl11
Skill Tree Easy Pickings 10/10 Complete
Reward Choice
Seed of Life Or Seed of Knowledge

Reward choices were rare, especially early on. They normally had a hidden meaning, but both were excellent. I had no context for either choice because I hadn't studied farming at all. For all I knew, it would offer fruit that gave free attributes. If that was the case, then life would be the most valuable.

A burst of light flashed, and a seed appeared in my palm. It glowed with a hungry red light, so I did the most natural thing in the world. I found a place and planted it before dumping some mana-dense water on it. After I patted the dirt, Gwen pranced over.

"I think you were supposed to eat it," Gwen said.

"I'm a farmer; why would I waste a seed? It would hardly fill me up." I said.

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

Day 6

My heart hammered in my chest, my teeth ground together, and my body shook. A soft pile of wolf feces covered my boot after taking a single step outside my tent. There was a big ugly hole under my fence screamed that I had miscalculated. Plugged in the hole leading under my fence was a fat doe carcass already covered in flies. Random holes were dug through my furrows, which took an hour to fix before I returned to my tent for morning exercises.

Pushups went on longer than normal, and I needed to work my body while my mind chewed on the problem.

Wolves were known for their cunning nature, but this one was vindictive. The next obvious choice was to cover the ground around my fence with quick-drying cement. It was promising to be a hot day that would dry the cement faster. Images of that wolf snapping its claws and bleeding brought a smile to my face. I could be vindictive, too.

Thoughts of something like buying a steak and soaking it in antifreeze came to mind. Still, there were laws against unnecessary cruelty to monsters, and I wouldn't feel right doing that. It could have entered my tent and hadn't; it instead decided to bully me. Nothing was stopping it from charging in and diving through the hole. The hole was much smaller than the wolf, meaning it might not have been the size of a van. It probably had the skill Intimidate.

Ping!
+1 Strength
Strength 6
Berserk lvl10
+1 Skill Point
Training lvl6
+1 Skill Point
Adapt lvl6
+1 Skill Point
Regeneration lvl6
+2 Skill Points

"Who is Mai?" Gwen asked.

"You can read my mind; shouldn't you know who she is better than me," I said.

The fawn hopped on my bed roll and used her nose to fling open my laptop. Keys clicked, and I suddenly didn't feel good about leaving her alone with my stuff.

"Your thoughts aren't your memories or impressions. I only wanted to know because you were calling her name in your sleep." Gwen said.

"Let me make this clear. I don't want to talk about Mai." I said.

She, I refused to even think about it. The wound was fresh; I was only a convenience; there was no we.

"There is a battle happening in the rookie circuit. Tamer Lourie Summer is debuting with her Demi Oni Mai. If you want to use me to battle, then we should watch matches together." Gwen said.

She would say something so innocent and heartwarming. Farmers can't leave their homesteads so long as they're in debt. With 6% interest each year, I wasn't getting out of the hole anytime soon. I morbidly sat down to watch a battle.

Mai was beautiful. Her delicate pink skin had been well taken care of in my absence; she'd come a long way from our days playing in the mud together. Even her fangs appeared polished for the cameras. Long white hair braided in twin tails descended her back. She carried her mother's old feathered helmet under her shoulder and her war ax over her right shoulder. Covering her body was a set of scale mail ridged to turn blades and claws alike. Polished most likely by her father, even without enchantments, it was a marvelous piece Mai used to dress up in when we pretended.

I looked into her yellow eyes and reached out, trying to put myself there with her.

"Introducing Mai under Tamer Lourie Summers." The announcer yelled, and the stands went wild. "She has broken the record for the fastest rookie to acquire the winds to participate in her first league qualifying match. Remember, win a qualifier, and you can challenge a guild; if you win 5 of 9 guild challenges, you qualify to enter the North Weston League Conference, earn an officer rank in the military, and have a chance to face off against the reigning champion." The announcer said.

More cheers erupted, leaving me lost in nostalgia. This was my culture, and it was taken from me.

Ping!
Berserk lvl14
+4 Skill Points
+1 Perception
Perception 3


"Here he is, the wall that every rookie fears: you love him, or you hate him. Introducing the king of breaking rookies. Jack Spice and his monster, the daunting wall Vicky the Iron Widow."

A rank two 4ft tall spiderling with metal plates covering her exoskeleton appeared from a summoning circle. Wealthy tamers could purchase pocket spaces to carry multiple monsters on them at a time. It was incredibly expensive only something wealthy tamers could afford.

"What is the difference between rank 1 and 2 monsters?" Gwen asked.

"About a hundred attribute points and at least one skill over level 20. More niche forms require higher attributes and particular skills of high level. How is this news to you? You're a monster?" I asked.

"Do you know everything about the human body because you're human?" Gwen asked.

"I guess not." I brushed a strand of black hair out of my eyes as the fight began.

Mai dashed forward, and the camera was already altering to slow motion for viewers. Her form blurred away from a stream of silver web as Mai placed the helmet on her head. A heavy swing from the ax ground against a limb, shooting sparks between them. The demi Oni dodged when the spider shot forward legs extended to grapple the demi Oni.

I ordered some concrete and started piling it while the fight continued. The sooner I had some time to focus on growing my field and growing stronger, the better. Eventually, I would need to kill the wolf.

The spider changed tactics as a red flame appeared on the ax blade. It showed its speed by dashing around and flinging sticky packets of webbing. Mai went on the defensive, wasting the skill activation.

"If there is so much difference between a rank 1 and 2, how can Mai win."

"The match isn't about winning; it's about qualifying to be a tamer worthy of the North Weston League. It's a test to see how Lourie and Mai react under pressure and show them what they can improve on. Veronica hasn't used a single active skill yet." I said.

Lighting surged around the ax blade, flashing before a swing threw a lightning ax blade in front of the ax's blade. This time the spider shifted completely, dodging the attack, wrapped one of Mai's hands with webbing, and connected to the ground.

"A tamer's monster at rank 2 will have fought numerous monsters both from other tamers and those in the wild. They have experience with tactics Mai and Lourie can't deal with this early. At this point, Mai is mostly fighting by herself. Lourie is most likely preventing Mai's Oni Rage skill from activating." I said.

A red aura erupted around Mai, and she dropped the ax. Lourie clutched her head and fell on her bottom while Mai roared and tugged hard on the web, tying her down.

"Lourie Summer has lost control of her monster; the match is over." Veronica moved in a flash, even to slow-mo cam. In moments, Mai was wrapped in silver web and gnashing her teeth to get out. "What a participant folks give it up for Lourie Summers and her starter, Demi Oni Mai." The announcer yelled.

The crowd cheered as I pulled a wheelbarrow out of my transporter. This would mean I couldn't easily move my fence when it was time to expand. I tossed a few 50lbs bags of extreme strength quick concrete in the wheelbarrow and headed out.

"At least she failed; that's good, right?" Gwen asked.

"She's going to pass; that was a good showing against a rank 2. People are going to say she's a prodigy because she's using my childhood best friend as her starter. That should have been me." I said.

Ping!
Berserk lvl18
+4 Skill Points

"A good thing you wouldn't have looked good in a dress." Gwen bumped up against me. "They lost out because you would have won that match."

Lourie had higher willpower than me, but it was nice to dream. I gently pet Gwen's side; she was a spot of sanity in this field of chaos.

I went outside and mixed the concrete quickly, and more eyes watched, but that didn't matter. Once I stirred it well, I poured the rocky mixture on the ground and let it set thickly all around the fence. It took repeated tribes, but my attributes allowed me to work tirelessly.

"You could buy some reins for me, and I could pull your wheelbarrow."

I gave the white fawn's delicate bone structure. "And deprive myself the exercise not a chance."

"One day, you're going to wake up exhausted, and then you'll have no choice but to let me do all the work," Gwen said.

"Oh no, don't give me a day off. I don't think I'll be able to handle it," I said.

I mixed, poured, and spread with a shovel as expertly as I could but barely covered what I wanted. Hundreds of bags weren't cheap I already spent another 1000W on preventing wolves from digging under my fence. The hot sun was quick to dry out the concrete, so I had to pour it quickly or risk it setting in the wheelbarrow.

"Are you alright, Atom?" Gwen asked.

I sucked in a breath as I forced a hunk of concrete out of the wheelbarrow and let it impact the ground.

"Why shouldn't I feel alright? I have known Mai since before we could walk. She stayed for me instead of leaving on an adventure with any of the great tamers in my family. But it was too much to come here with me; she wanted what I couldn't give her. She's happy, so I should be happy for her, right? That's what everyone said."

"I don't know. I've only been alive for a few weeks. Life here with you seems better than what we saw."

"You don't want to fight even if we can leave the farm," I said.

"Being a spectacle like that isn't for me. I'm sorry." Gwen said.

Maybe she would change her mind if she saw better fights. Mai used to not like them when we were younger and would leave when I watched them. What changed it had to be when that old man tried to buy her to be a part of his team. I remember begging my father not to let the old man take her. Sometime after that, she became interested in everything I was interested in.

Was I being used? Am I still being used? I looked down at the fawn covered in grey cement standing by my side.

Ping!
Berserk lvl20
+2 Skill Points
Skill Tree Unlocked
Skill Tree: Black Rage I 0/50

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

Day 8

My morning began on my hands and knees, plucking weeds around my growing corn stalks. I had one basket and fortunately, a great way to get rid of them as well. The day before had been relaxing; the wolves failed to penetrate my fence, and I exercised most of the day, making few gains but great strides. While this wasn't the life I chose, it was the one I ended up with. I had a monster, and life with her was turning out great.

A harsh northern wind blew in from Mt. Red, the tallest in the Shining Mountain range. Trees bent under the wind, and some snapped. Bird monsters fled only for a few to get swept away and hit the ground hard. Once, the blue sky had turned dark and ominous. I checked my app to see no weather changes, which could only mean this was caused by a monster. Something on Mt. Red was strong enough to cause damage miles away. Two peaceful days were too much to ask for without some monster causing me problems.

Gwen poked her head out of the tent and shut herself inside. I checked in the saw the fawn shivering under my blanket. I laid the basket of weeds I plucked down and fell into strength training exercises.

"We're in danger; we need to run," Gwen said.

"Running won't do us any good. We are surrounded by wolves; if we run, they will chase. Besides, the presence isn't anywhere near us." I said.

"Wrong, the power is so strong," Gwen said.

I rubbed her soft-furred side. "It isn't after us," I said.

The fawn continued to shiver as I tried to soothe her. Getting chickens at this point would be counterproductive. Buying a chicken-type monster only for it to immediately panic and die of shock was a waste of money and cruelty. Neither of those I wanted to indulge in. Buying what protein I could would have to continue.

I really wanted to become self-sufficient and lower my overhead; a chicken farm would have helped with that. Growing corn and chicken felt like a match made in heaven. High-ranked chickens could sell eggs at a relatively high price. While farmers generally needed a tamer for monsters on their farms, chickens were not regulated at rank 1.

This was a chink in the armor that could allow me to rise in wealth quickly. I would have to build most of the infrastructure myself but it was possible to do. Unfortunately, the wind continued to blow, killing that dream until the presence stopped its tantrum.

Ping!
Adapt lvl8
Regeneration lvl8
Training lvl8
+6 Skill Points

That made no sense. A drop of blood fell on the floor of my tent. I reached under my nose and pulled back blood.

"I can't protect you with my power. You have to run, or you'll be hurt worse the longer the wind blows." Gwen said.

I sat in one of my camp chairs with my elbows resting on the back facing the bed. Blood continued to leak from my nose, but it wasn't a bad thing yet. My skill regeneration was keeping up with it. If I continue training, my other skills will quickly level.

"This wind is psychic based," I said.

Gwen slowly nodded. She shivered under the assault while I could only feel the wind. "We are miles away from the creature," I said.

"It's so powerful. Rank 6 or higher, and it's battling a rank 7 physical like Mai." Leave it to a psychic white-tailed deer to sense a battle miles away. "I don't know what to do when the fight starts in earnest. The waves of power will get worse, summoning twisters that will devastate the land.

"Nothing we can do but wait out the storm and hope nothing too hot to handle comes our way," I said.

"What happens if your farm is destroyed and you can't pay your bills?" Gwen asked.

"I will be bought out by a bigger farmer; they will take me on as a sharecropper, and I will probably work for them for the rest of my life. Let's hope that doesn't happen."

"Your nose is still bleeding." I applied some pressure until another blast of wind stronger than before swept through me.

Maybe I should invest in my newest skill tree; maybe there will be attribute gains that will help.

Black Rage I 0/50
Skill Points: 16

It was an intimidating sight. The skill was completely untied from farming, and it looked so good. Black Rage sounded like it would lead to something more, and I wanted that. Continued skill trees were bigger and rumored to have some of the best skills and attribute gains imaginable. Snagging one early was the thing to do for any class.

16 points went in.

Ping!
Black Rage I 5/50
+1 Willpower
Willpower 11
Black Rage I 10/50
+1 Willpower
Willpower 12
Black Rage 15/50
+1 Willpower
Willpower 13

Gains in willpower like that would be a dream come true for a monster tamer. They needed every free point possible. Attributes in willpower determined what type of monster and how many they could have on a team. I never heard of the berserk skill given a skill tree that drops willpower attributes.

A thought came over me and wouldn't let me go. I had an opportunity to raise my agility along with my strength. Staying still and punching my bag might be my problem. Why not move a little while I punched my bag.

From there, under the flowing wind, I practiced moving and managed to jab at my bag. It was easier said than done. My idea involved just moving around the bag and hitting it instead of remaining stationary. After an hour with no improvement, I swapped my tactics.

Image training was taught to me by Mai, who learned it from her father, Kato. The skill was necessary to put myself in from of an opponent I've seen to compare my movements to theirs. The person I knew the most was obviously Mai. I pictured that she was the bag with her ax ready to swing at any time, and I had to dodge around her blows and punch when I could.

While I'm sure there was a skill shard for something similar for me it was better doing it through my own mind. I endured the imaginary swings of Mai's ax as I waited, weaving between her slow-mo blows for the perfect strike that would allow me to put damage on the board.

From the outside, it looked like I was dancing around the bag, suddenly lurching at odd moments. Right when the ax was withdrawn, I knew the timing between the next attack I struck. A heavy blow hit Mai in the cheek, and the bag rocked back before I withdrew before the return could cleave me in two. Out of dozens of attacks, that single punch was all I managed between ax swings. As a fighter, I had a long way to go; there was no doubt about that.

Ping!
+1 Agility
Agility 4

Beads of sweat poured down my face as I struggled to catch my breath. That wasn't Mai at her best only a slow-mo version captured by the camera. The real version would be so much faster.

This was the gym where I could do the most good. I needed to improve as much as I could because someday, I would have to fight. The farmer class didn't give increased attributes in anything but endurance and vitality with levels. So, I needed to earn that the old-fashioned way. My training skills would eventually make it easier, but I had to get past the hard beginning of early levels.

What I really needed was more skills. The Rasputin territory was well known for its hidden dungeons and mana-dry land. If I could leave my farm without alarms going off and a knight and investigator begin sent out to search for me, I would have already. To move forward, I needed to first pay back my debt, then I could roll the dice on my life in the local dungeons.

A scant few dungeons in this area were rumored to contain dragon-type monsters. That rumor probably wasn't true, but if it was, some dungeons dropped special skill shards containing tamer skills. Like Dragon Tamer, if I had that skill, then I could become a pseudo-tamer.

Mad dreams were all I had left to cling to in this world. I left the tent and felt a heavy wind try to blow me over. It might be possible to push my regeneration skill to 20 while the wind blew. A smile spread across my face at such a massive gain. My good mood lasted until I heard wolves howling and saw a shape launch itself at my fence.

Wolves shot out of the woods covered in blood. One flung itself into my fence and tangled in the barbed wire. The more it struggled, the more it cut itself to ribbons. I reached for my shovel to try and free it, only for more to charge into my fence. I had a bad feeling when the massive wolf also appeared.

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

Day 8
Angry howls and bitter, painful shrieks carried on the wind as I listened to the pounding of padded feet. The alpha wolf that pranked me left deer carcasses and loomed over me leaped over the fence using the dead bodies of its subordinates. I saw it midair, teeth open and shiny like the blade of a guillotine. Shovel in hand, there weren't a lot of options.

I swung.

The weight of the blow jarred my arms, but in midair, the wolf couldn't change its direction. I threw myself out of the way as its body tumbled before it rose and lunged. It shot from side to side as I held my shovel before it yipped. My eyes widened before a set of teeth tore into my shoulder. Blood sprayed down my shirt as 120lbs of wolf monster dragged me down. I shoved my shovel in the dirt and managed to stay up, but the wolf didn't let go. The alpha-charged teeth flashed to finish me off.

My throat was exposed, and nothing should be able to save me. Then, the wolf flinched.

I struck out with my fist, leaving the shovel behind and striking the wolf on the nose. The superficial blow stunned the animal, and I found the rock I dug up while digging furrows. I threw myself on it, aiming where the dog bit my shoulder. My body felt the impact as teeth snapped in my shoulder and dog brain spilled on the ground. Constitution was considered a dump attribute for most humans who wanted course rough skin.

The rank one wolf didn't have the constitution stat needed for its teeth to bite too deeply. It wasn't a rank 2 monster with attributes in a little bit of everything. Blood poured down my shirt, but it felt like that wouldn't be a problem for long, thanks to my regeneration. I froze when a harsh wind hit me just right, and shook as one of the alpha wolf's eyes popped out of its socket.

Gwen did say the psychic winds would get worse when the fight started.

The wolves were more affected because they had lower willpower. I was better off with Black Rage than I thought. I swung my shovel at the alpha wolf and missed.

The creature ducked under my blow and lunged, clamping down on my arm. Green liquid flowed off its fangs into my wound. I felt the flesh sizzling where it bit me. The green liquid wasn't poison like I expected; it was acid. It savaged my arm and ripped it to bloody ribbons before it let go and leaped back. Blood spurted out of my arm, spilling on the ground with every beat of my heart. What little light I could see fully filled the edges of my vision. I tried to move and tripped on the shovel.

The wolf approached far less cautious.

I hadn't miscalculated there were no calculations or plans involved. This whole situation was unprecedented and couldn't be planned for. How was I supposed to know the monsters would go crazy when some crazy strong monster on Mt. Red had a territory dispute. I was going to die like many farmers, a statistic to be read out at class schools. None of my family ever apologized.

That filled me with more rage than I thought. I struggled to slow the bleeding, and the anger helped. Resentment was keeping me alive better than holding pressure on my arm.

The wolf showed its fangs and lunged to finish me off. The monster froze mid-leap as Gwen stepped out of the tent.

"Do you remember me, wolf? You ate my mother, chased me into the arms of a human, and invaded my home." The wolf struggled until Gwen turned her head. The wolf was pressed against the barbed wire and racked back and forth. At first, the wolf's fur protected it as the monster struggled, but that didn't last long. It was moved ever faster, ripping meat off the bone. In a matter of minutes, it was a quarter through the fence like cheese through a grater.

I held a hand to my wound and let regeneration take care of it. My attention was completely taken over by the wound as I watched blood clot and flesh knit. The more attention I put on the injury, the faster it seemed to heal. It seemed concentrating on aspects of a skill was useful. Regeneration didn't have to only passively boost my healing rate; it could be focused on a singular wound.

Ping!
Regeneration lvl12
Berserk lvl21
Adapt lvl10
Training lvl10
+9 Skill Points
All the points went into Black Rage.

Black Rage I 25/50
+2 Willpower
Willpower 15

I watched my arm slowly pull the savaged ripped muscle back inside itself as my regeneration worked overtime. My shoulder itched, and I reached up and plucked a broken tooth out. A white-tailed deer rammed into my fence, flipped, and landed inside with a broken neck.

Other monsters were leaving the woods; not all were headed in my direction, but some were. Something about the monster on Mt. Red was driving them all into a frenzy. A deer viciously kicked a wolf to death before stomping holes in the corpse until it spilled open the creature's guts. I watched the deer savage the entrails hungrily. The winds continued to blow, and madness spread in their wake.

This was the kind of nonsense that created random lines among monsters. Deer that eat the meat of wolves might gain odd transformations. Hunted to hunter could transform into cannibalism. Birds caught in the winds attacked each other in the sky overhead. A bird hit the ground beside me dead as more flew up to either escape or join the fight.

When my arm was well enough to move, I stood up and moved to sit beside Gwen. "You saved my life."

"When you leave for your adventures, take me with you; I want to see more than this," Gwen said.

I needed to find one of the hidden dungeons of Rasputin and, ironically, farm it for skill shards. Once my Adapt reached a certain level, gaining levels in even active skills was possible. Some passive elemental mastery skills would be best; they had plenty of skill trees that could turn even me into a mage-like fighter. My training skills were key. I could potentially gain attribute points in areas my class normally limits. Good equipment wouldn't be a bad thing, either. A weapon that could grow with me would be sweet, but dungeons that had loot like that were heavily guarded and extremely dangerous.

The feeling in my arm came back, giving me an excuse to move. I liked moving more than sitting around thinking. It kept me from thinking about how hard my life became, thanks to my class.

This event won't bother my crops much. I took some wood and transported some plastic ties. From there, I made some supports and tied the crowing stalks to them. After that I began the long process of burying the monster bodies. This would have the bonus of empowering the soil. I should expect a qualitative increase in my crop yield. I stared down at the tree of life seed sprout.

With little fanfare, I buried a few bird corpses around it. Gwen watched me slowly remove the bodies from my fence and bury them one by one. Monster corpses, once buried, could greatly improve a farmer's chances of paying back their debts.

It would be wise to expand quickly and far after this battle. The wolves were dead, and more of my territory was open to reclaim. I could open a grove after I cut down the forests. Fencing it in would be a challenge but not an unwelcome one. I liked the feeling of safety a fence brings.

Clearly, 9 feet wasn't enough. I needed a much taller fence if I was to survive out here. This would come at a steep price, but my crops would start coming in soon. My optimism ended when I saw Gwen's drooping sad form.

Gwen made her way back to me, sullen and defeated. "Am I evil? The wolf killed, and I killed; doesn't this make us the same."

"You certainly didn't find the word evil in my mind; where did you hear that word?" I asked.

"On your computer, there is talk about this thing called evil. All I can figure out is that it means you're bad." Gwen said.

"That's not what evil is. It's an immoral act or person who commits immoral acts. The wolf was moral before the winds since it ate only when hungry and had to eat to live. So to be like the wolf isn't evil."

"So I am evil because I killed the wolf for revenge."

"Revenge isn't a bad thing. Do you feel better that your mother's killer is dead?" I said.

This felt like a heavy mess that would eventually blow back in my face. I could only hope I somehow managed to get Gwen through it.

"No, I feel empty. Other wolves will kill deer so long as either exists. You would kill and eat deer and never feel bad about it. Besides me, you don't care about any of my kind." Gwen said.

"Yes, because we're friends. That's why I plan to eat chickens instead of deer."

"Don't bother since deer don't matter; just eat them right in front of me," Gwen said.

I rolled my eyes and rubbed my face. This was what being a monster friend without the Tamer skill was all about.

"No, because you deserve respect even if you don't believe it," I said.

She fled to my tent for the rest of the day while I buried bodies.

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

Day 10

The weather calmed down a few hours after the wolf attacks, and in the interim, I managed to buy a chainsaw and woodworking tools. The forests were a problem I needed to get rid of sooner rather than later. Harvesting the wood would be useful for almost anything I wanted to build, chicken coop included. With that in mind, I watched a few tutorial videos while Gwen stared over the chainsaw manual.

After living here for more than a week, I was beginning to understand why no one wanted to land in the Rasputin territory. While it was cheaper than any land around, I was close enough to the Bright Mountain range to get hit by skills from greater monsters. The peak of Mt. Red was far in the distance, but my whole land was affected dozens of miles away.

Solving a problem like this would normally require the services of an expensive enchantment-specialized mage. Still, I was sure we could handle it ourselves. For six easy payments of 2000W, we could purchase a primer on magic runes. I saw it in the shop and couldn't believe my eyes. While the book was out of date by a decade, I recognized it as the same primer my cousin bought to help his enchantment studies. From what I could tell, it really helped him out.

"You're remembering that wrong," Gwen said.

"How so," I said.

"It was the busty witch tutor that helped him reach a passing grade. You blocked that part out along with the noise coming through your wall." Gwen said.

"Am I blocking anything else out?" I asked.

"This is really a nice chainsaw; it will really make short work of those trees."

I rolled my eyes and gave more of my attention to techniques to dry logs properly for storage or preparation for weatherizing. Building a log cabin and moving up in the world might be a good idea; I couldn't stay in a tent forever. Solid walls might protect us from the next windstorm.


Gwen decided my relaxed state was the perfect time to drop a bomb. "What are you going to do about the dungeon in the southern woods?" Gwen asked.

"How is there a dungeon here? The surveyors should have picked it up and reported it." I said.

"It only just formed after the psychic winds bathed the area, and so many monsters died to fuel it. When you added monsters back to the soil, it helped finish a process that should have taken decades." Gwen said.

"What have you been looking up on my computer?"

"Skill drops appear in dungeons, and you need those, don't you."

"I do; why am I missing 200W from my bank account. There was a sale for deer monster attribute growth potions."

Far into the corner behind my punching bag were a few empty glass bottles. It seemed while I was working, Gwen had herself a shopping trip. She must have snatched my bank information from my mind. The fact the bottles got here would make it difficult to declare fraud. Basically, I was in a position where she could steal from me with impunity.

"Don't dungeons drop local currencies."

I nodded slowly and let the petty theft go. "They are also greatly impacted by the catalyst of their growth. Since it was a psychic attack that killed all the monsters that fed it to awakening, I wonder what we will find."

"You could get a psychic skill like me, and then when you're strong enough, we can fly together." Gwen leaped in the air and pranced while levitating. "This is going to be great."

"My class is based on endurance and vitality. I won't have the Willpower to power Psychic like you."

"I thought you were going for a willpower build anyway. The farming class was just a happy accident that brought us together." Gwen said.

"The Monster Tamer class grants 5 Willpower and 4 Intelligence per level. That is on top of any training, attribute potions, or skill trees a monster tamer will take. At lvl10, which is the bar to enter the Qualifier, we watched Lourie, who most likely has over 200 willpower. I simply can't compete as I am now. The act of controlling Mai acts as excellent training for Lourie's Willpower. If they knew about the training skill, which they probably do, then her Willpower is possibly 250. I have 15 willpower compared to them. I'm a joke." I said.

Gwen stopped prancing in the air and landed softly, clacking her hooves on the hard ground. "I know it's going to be a long road, but that isn't any reason not to travel it. The first steps are hard, but we're worth it."

She was so optimistic I couldn't argue with her. I rolled my eyes and finished my video.

"I doubt we'll get the skills we want in the first run. We'll run the dungeon a few times to see what kind of drops we get." I said.

Gwen jumped on my bedroll and shoved her way into my lap. "Let's cut down some trees. I can't wait the eat the shoots on top of them," Gwen said.

A few hours later, I pulled the chainsaw out of its box and inspected it. The motor was a tiny but power bit of magic in the form of a cube on the side of the blade. Enchantments ran over the saw blade linked to the cube. The long bottom heavy handle gave great control over the tool and housed two emergency stop buttons. After reading the manual carefully, I flipped on the machine, and the chainsaw buzzed to life.

The forest was an eyesore, the place where the wolves hid between raids and chasing deer. Before I approached the first tree, a two-foot-tall rabbit leaped from its burrow and stared at me with small black eyes. The monster slammed its feet on the ground in agitation before leaping at me. Without a second thought, I slashed with the chainsaw.

I felt the saw hit soft cottontail fur and felt blood splatter my face and the tree behind the rabbit. There wasn't even a shriek before the rabbit was in half. I barely felt it touch my saw. My chainsaw motor really was a powerful monster. Most of the blood had flown through a vent on the side of the tool. That kind of power was addictive; maybe an actual chainsword was something I should think about getting my hands on. I took another step toward the tree, and more rabbits peered from their burrow before charging me.

Ping!
+1 Perception
Perception 4

The real question was how I was going to get a chainsword mastery skill. Chainswords weren't a thing, and no monster on a tamer's team would use one. Fatal battles were severely frowned upon outside of war, and skills that couldn't be practiced outside of niche circumstances were considered wastes. As for dungeon clearing, I could think of no weapon better than a chainsword and maybe a war hammer for hardier opponents.

Forget sharpness saw away at a soft spot. With that in mind, I moved in, cutting down sweet-looking rabbits as I approached the tree. They were fast, but their leaps were predictable. The tree in question was a great ancient thing that had drank in the magic of the land for generations, choking out as much of the area around it as it could to stave off competition. Old white wood bigger around than my arm's length looked like it would make either great furniture or logs for my house.

I eased my saw into the side of the tree and watched sawdust fly as my long chainsaw ate cleanly through the wood. Before I made it halfway through, I withdrew and cut at another angle before pulling out a massive hunk of wood. Then, I began the long cut to ensure it fell right where I wanted it to. The tree fell slowly at first, snapping limbs up above as bird monsters fled before crashing heavily. It was just one of many trees I would fall before finishing up on this forest. Five little forests on my property needed to be cut; only the forest with the dungeon would be left alone. I planned to cut out a trail leading to it before I finished off the week.

Slowly, I cut the limbs from the great tree and carried them off. I felt sweat bead down my face, and all the monsters in the forest were watching me, but this was also training. Several hours later, I received a message.

Ping!
+3 Strength
Strength 9
Berserk lvl25
Regeneration lvl19
Training lvl15
Adapt lvl15
Skill Points: 26

I had just enough to finish off Black Rage. That would give me another 5 points in Willpower or more since I was finishing off the skill tree. My gaze lingered on the pile of stacked limbs; there was still so much that needed doing. This wouldn't take much time, hopefully.

Skill Tree Black Rage I 50/50 Complete
+10 Willpower
Willpower 25
New Skill
Lingering Will lvl1

That skill was something I'd never heard of. For the first time since gaining access to my system, I looked up a description.

Lingering Will lvl1
Description: The barest presence of a will that is more than mental. As this skill levels, that lingering presence will increase, baring a shape based on the form of the user's psyche. Every step forward is a step in the right direction; while passive the effects of this skill will appear more active as time with this skill moves forward. Higher Willpower will greatly empower the effects of this skill. Effects of this skill can be different for different users and are undetectable at lower levels. This skill is considered the perfect addition to any willpower-focused class with low physical attributes or a class that uses both Willpower and strength.

I felt different. The feeling was like there were extra arms inside my arms, barely physically moving with me. My hand closed around a limb, and I lifted it. 300lbs of limb flew over my head with little effort it was so strange. The presence in my arms remained, but it felt a little diminished.

Ping!
Lingering Will lvl2
Skill Points 2

A smile spread across my face; this would make cutting down trees and cleaning up so much faster. Who needed construction worker monsters when I was the construction monster.

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

Day 12

Monster bodies did one thing for farmers that couldn't be underestimated. Rows of green stalks a few acres deep practically radiated a healthy green shine. Large ears hung off the stalks, ready to be picked and sold to start paying off my debt. Gwen jumped out of the cornfield with a golden ear in her mouth, already munching away while eyeing me. In the sunlight, the corn glittered like gold, a testament to its species. I took it as a sign to harvest immediately and try and get a return on my debt.

I read over the transportation rules and only had to send the corn in the husk. With that in mind, I started picking. Every ear felt like another Weston in the bank. I quickly loaded my first wheelbarrow and dumped it in the transporter. I had to harvest today and let my stalks grow another yield.

Hours later, when all but what I needed for both replanting and for my own use was sold, I checked my bank account. 5000W was added, and the threat of becoming a sharecropper was gone for another month. To make that ax over my head go away permanently, I needed to pay back my debt completely.

Utilizing all of my land would get the job done, but I would need to use every scrap of wood I harvested for a massive fence with tons of barbed wire.

Ping!
Harvest lvl10
Skill Points: 20

I walked the line of where I wanted my fence to be, leading me down the path to where the dungeon entrance waited. For a while, I stood in the forest surrounded by angry rabbits and flustered birds. The dungeon entrance smelled like adventurers, riches, and so much blood I could drown in it.

A dungeon was a resource I couldn't rely upon fully.

If I outright collected money from dungeons without a class allowed to dungeon dive, some bureaucrat would get suspicious. The farmer class was as much a political tool as it was the backbone of Weston society. Farmers grew the food everyone from administrators to monster tamers ate. Those under debt from government loans could only sell to approved government facilities. The authorities wanted to make sure I followed the rules and a rich family member didn't bale me out. 9 out of 10 people were farmers and lived in communities working together to conquer the land on grand joint-owned farms. What I was doing could be considered a stupidly dangerous risk. On the flip side, every Weston I made was mine.

Dungeons often had rare crops or even livestock inside that could be domesticated. This led me to focus more on the dungeon than on increasing my yield. Instead of trying to encompass all of my owned land, I decided to build a fence around a quarter of it. My latest plan involved creating an orchard. With my current nutrient-rich soil, certain fruits, barring trees, would do very well, or they might become monsters. Mana-rich soil would cause crops to grow faster and have better yields.

The day before, I worked hard to hammer a chicken coop together but didn't know how they would fare with another windstorm. Before I even thought about getting chickens, I needed to get my financial situation under control and purchase that book on enchanting. If I could block out the psychic wind, then the chickens would be fine.

I looked down at my stomach. Not two weeks after getting my class, I was already skin and bones. Everything I ate was worked off, and then some. My body was stronger than ever, but it was more gristle than muscle. I felt the thing lingering beneath my skin, thin and hungry; the more levels my skill gained, the more substantial it was.

Lingering Will lvl10

I felt it more, and since it was passive, any amount of work helped it develop further. Whatever it was, it moved to my willpower, acting as a force following along. There were moments when it felt like something was watching me from the inside, waiting for something.

The feeling wasn't like how I knew Gwen was always in my head looking up stuff to learn more about this human and monster world. Whatever the skill did, it left something inside of me that grew as the skill did. There was an uncomfortable alienness to the feeling.

I thought about going into the dungeon to take my mind off the feeling in my bones. There were powerful skill shards ripe for the taking. I could progress forward rapidly with nothing to hold me back. This was my own private dungeon, untouched and plundered. All the secrets within were mine to discover. Having something like it to explore was an interesting feeling. It almost felt like a reward for a job well done.

Too bad it was a death trap to enter alone.

"It's a good thing you aren't alone," Gwen said.

"Are you done eating my corn?" I said.

"Yes, and it was delicious, thank you for asking," Gwen said.

"You're going to get fat, and then I'm going to have to roll you around when you get tired of levitating," I said.

"No, I won't. I'll run it all off, you'll see," Gwen said.

I rolled my eyes and stared at the dungeon; it was so beautiful. The high arches of wood melded well with the surrounding forest. Glowing runes in an unknown language covered the mantle of the entrance, hiding a mysterious message. Monster skeletons waited around the entrance as if the dungeon was showing off past victims. A small smattering of copper coins covered the ground nearest the entrance leading inside. In the noonday light, they glittered bright enough to outshine the warning the skeletons represented.

My hand grasped the edge of the gate while I peered inside. A damp smell rose from the dungeon's depths, carried on a familiar wind. I felt the psychic lash from the winds days ago, though it was muted. My higher Willpower attribute helped fend off the effects as well. Even the lingering presence in my body helped me shrug off the effects until I didn't even have a nosebleed.

This would be my first step on my path to becoming a tamer. Gwen and I were challenging a dungeon for its treasures together.

Not even my family could stop my dream forever.

Inside the dungeon, I heard a buzzing before fist-sized mosquitoes with hypodermic needles flew in. Something pierced my shoulder, and I smashed it to bits. Glass, blood, and exoskeleton covered my hand as Gwen used her psychic power and gathered a few of the pests into a ball and crushed them. I waved my hand, slapping the massive bugs against walls, crushing them and their half-glass, half-flesh bodies. Small cuts covered my hand, but Regeneration would take care of it.

Around us, in the small hallway leading down into the dungeon, small bloody streams filled with mosquito larvae swam, leading deeper into the dungeon. The smell of blood and the feeling of psychic pressure grew worse as we descended. Bloody streams continued to run deeper as we entered the first floor of the dungeon proper.

Purple miasma clouds covered the 12ft ceiling giving off bursts of light as swarms of mosquitoes moved through them. At first glance, we were in a forest, until looking more closely, the trees were actually collections of bones bound together in spider silk. I stepped off the path, and a trapdoor opened, followed by grasping legs.

My shovel whipped up and dug into the creature's head before it could drag me into its home. I pulled my shovel back spider guts, and brains dripped off the blade of my shovel little worse for wear.

Fortunately, spiders weren't what I was most concerned about. Dungeons had them all the time and sometimes even used them as final bosses. I doubted that was the case in this instance. Fat spiders loomed on trees surrounding the clear-cut path through the tall spider nests. In the distance, there was a tall, wide nest larger than the others. If we followed the path, it would lead us directly to it.

Something crawled on my shoulder, and I smashed it.

I flipped the spider's trap door all the way up and looked inside, only to see more monster bones. Some monsters were finding their way inside, but I turned my head to see a bird-type monster drinking blood from a stream. A group of mosquitoes plunged their needles into its back to feed, only for its beak to snap one out of the air.

The bird had all black and blue feathers and stood six feet tall or more. It didn't have very developed wings, but its legs were extremely muscled. When it moved, screeching winds blasted around the monster. Another of its kind appeared, and the first one turned its gaze at the newcomer. One screeched at the other, and the winds picked up. They began a long line of lightning-fast kicks blasting psychic winds with every blow. At the point when one was too damaged to continue, it retreated, leaving the challenged bird to continue snapping mosquitoes from the air and drinking from the bloody water.

After witnessing the bird's attacks, I was sure winning against it was impossible. Neither my agility nor perception were high enough to react well to it. My strength might not be enough to affect it much.

"Maybe we should head back," I said.

It was just as important to know when to retreat as when to charge ahead. I barely saw the birds move when they kicked. Fighting them was a losing proposition. What if another joined in when one side was losing?

"Are you ready to go?" I asked.

"Not until we get at least one skill shard from those rot birds," Gwen said.

"They seem a little dangerous," I said.

Gwen charged ahead, and I was forced to follow behind.

Fortunately, I had a tool to help with the fight. From my back, I pulled my chainsaw free. For 1000W, I was able to buy a slightly better chain and stronger motor to put on the tool.

I made my way to the path and activated my saw. A spider leaped from its nest, and I met it with my saw. The spinning blade sawed through limbs, and a spider body flung green goo behind me with each slash. Spiders covered the ground, but dungeon monsters weren't affected by fear. More came, and I met them with my chainsaw.

Drops came with each death. Some were Westons that I couldn't use without a method to launder the money, but after 50 kills, a skill shard dropped. Gwen's eyes flashed purple whenever a spider jumped, positioning them perfectly for my chainsaw. Our path of destruction continued until we reached the stream where the bird waited. It had watched us as we made our path. The monster squawked in a challenge, launching a fast kick at my face.

Gwen's psychic power slowed the attack, and I moved to the side and cut down on the bird's knee joint. A lightning-fast peck cracked one of my ribs and launched me back several feet before I could finish my strike. The limb hung by half-destroyed joints, but the bird refused to retreat.

It squawked loudly, showing off its impressive chest of black and blue plumage. The bird leaped, vanishing from my sight, until I heard it step on one of the spider nests, using it as a jump-off point. I spun around and raised my chainsaw just in time to meet the chainsaw against the talon. My feet slid back in the muddy shore as my saw failed to cut through monstrous talons.

My first instinct was to use all my strength to resist the assault, but it wasn't working. Gwen's eyes glowed, but the monster dashed away and vanished before she could grasp it with her skill. I moved in front of her and blocked another deadly kick. A part of my saw felt like it suddenly weakened until I heard it crack. In moments, the chain would pop off, leaving us at the mercy of the bird monster.

I decided to take a risk. One of my hands left the handle, and I grabbed the bird's leg while it was focused on Gwen. It squawked as I twisted and used the remaining momentum from the kick to slam the bird's head into the muddy shore. Gwen's psychic force held the bird in place as I struggled to breathe through a cracked rib.

Moving in, I slammed my fist hard on the bird's chest. It was like hitting a wooden puppet more than a bird monster.

The bird lunged, and I met its beak with my chainsaw. Sparks flew off the weapons as the bird struggled against Gwen's psychic bonds.

I struggled against the bird, knowing I had to end this fight quickly or something else would move in to finish us off while we were tired.

My chainsaw lifted, and before the bird could escape, I drove the saw into its neck. Blood and viscera erupted just before the chain snapped on my chainsaw. The chain whipped up and sliced my cheek and arm, but the bird was dead.

After seeing the massive crack in the frame of the saw, I strategically threw it away in the bloody water. We managed to pick up two skill shards from the dead bird and quickly made our way out of the dungeon, retracing our path.

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

Day 15

I sat on my bedroll, feeling like I was missing something. My class level was still 1 because I hadn't used my experience from selling the corn yet. Every 10 levels, a class will award a skill, and I had enough experience to reach level 5. Unused experience could be added to a class level at any time. That was one of the few advantages of production classes like farmers. As a farmer, I could only use the experience points on my farm. Where I leveled was very important. Fighter classes battling in a dungeon will get more useful skills than a fighter leveling with potions on a farm. After giving it some thought, I decided to try something.

Farming resources from dungeons was considered a right of passage for tamers. Well, I had a dungeon and I was somewhat aware of how dungeons not only worked but how they could be altered, especially young ones.

Skills were interesting tools their effects could be altered not only by level but the user's mindset and how their situation. I gained a level in plow when I killed a bird in the dungeon. My mindset then had been all over the place; I was more focused on getting the bird monster out of the way than anything else. I had managed to get rid of a powerful monster and planted a chainsaw.

Who's to say I'm done plowing or planting? I might be able to adjust the dungeon to produce the materials I wanted. To that end, I purchased a psychic stone, something normally used to help monsters develop psychic-based skills, three swords, two chainsaws, and a box of chickens. It only cost me around 8,000W, but it was fine. More ears of corn were on their way I could expect another harvest in two days. I also planned to catch some rabbits to shove into the dungeon for some variation.

"This is pure evil," Gwen said.

Gwen headbutted my side in her agitation. The fawn was really gaining weight and muscle with all the food she's been eating. The green shoots from treetops must be good for her. Not to mention her share of the peanuts I planted that vanished in only a day.

"Having wealth is a morally good thing. By adding chickens to dungeons, the dungeon will produce eggs on its own as drops that we can put in cartons and sell. I plan to fork over the Westons for a spatial egg container. That will create a reliable stream of income." I said.

"Dungeons are unpredictable. You could create spider chicken monsters instead of a free egg supply, and what's with the swords and chainsaws?"

"I want a chainsword, and the psychic stone is to increase the chances of psychic skills." I picked up the skills we found in the dungeon. "Fell Wind and Blitz Kick aren't exactly what I was searching for," I said.

The doe looked over the skills before absorbing both on the spot. "Why would you do that?"

"You didn't want them; you wanted to farm the dungeon for better skills instead," Gwen said.

I sucked in a breath and let it out. No good would come from starting a fight over nothing. I didn't want either skill and couldn't sell them anyway. Gwen could use both better than me being psychic and being a deer. If anything, she hastened my decision to give those to her. With my class, it wasn't like an active skill would be very useful anyway.

Gwen practiced kicking while I dumped my peanuts into the transporter and made 1000W out of them. While that really wasn't much, it would tide me over until the next corn harvest. I couldn't wait to see what would happen after I made the additions to the dungeon. Before I went to the dungeon, I checked my available skill trees.

Skill Trees:
Embers of Fallen Heroes I 0/250
Black Rage II 0/100
Way of the Homestead 0/50
Alter of Change 0/50
Will To Power 0/50
Resistance is Elemental 0/50
Beginner Adventuring 0/25
Skill Points: 88

Beginner Adventuring was out no matter how much I wanted it. I wasn't exactly traveling yet and couldn't waste my points on it. Embers of Fallen Heroes sounded awesome and seemed to have come from Lingering Will, but it was too long. Black Rage II wasn't something I felt ready for. I had to decide between Way of the Homestead, Will To Power, and Resistance is Elemental. Once I finished one-off, I planned to add the rest of my points to Embers of Fallen Heroes. Altar of Change felt like something I didn't want to touch.

Seeing Will To Power made me feel like it was the right choice for my current build. It came from the Training skill, which was the key to fast skill leveling. I expected it would slow in gains with the rest of my skills after a while.

50 skill points went into the skill immediately filled it out.

Ping!
+5 Willpower
Willpower 30
+5 Agility
Agility 10

I managed to get some attributes but no new skills, which was disappointing.

Suddenly, my body felt so much lighter and easier to move. It was like I wore a weight my whole life, and suddenly, I could walk normally again. I felt like keeping up with the bird in the dungeon would be much easier.

"Maybe gain another 40 agility before trying that. I held it as still as I could the entire time, and we almost died." Gwen said.

That actually made a lot of sense.

I added the last 38 points to Embers of Fallen Heroes. The skill tree was massive, and it would take a long time to wear it down. I gained something every 10 points, which was a nice surprise.

Ping!
+2 Willpower
Willpower 32
+2 Focus
Focus 9
+3 Constitution
Constitution 9

Lingering Will felt like it grew a large amount of my Willpower to my strength and then some. When I was logging and building the fence to hide the dungeon I gained near-constant levels in the skill. After it hit 20, those levels slowed to a crawl. I could feel it inside, and it was so different from when I first felt it.

Closing my eyes, I grasped the energy of Lingering Will; it was more a part of me than I imagined. The strength it poured into me was addictive, and greater attributes helped it grow even stronger.

Focus and Constitution added to that even as I felt my skin grow a little tougher more like boiled leather than leather skin. I was growing stronger at an appreciable rate, even if it felt random most of the time.

I eyed the steel blades normally reserved for an orc or demi oni. They were around the size I wanted for a chainsword. Getting the dungeon to produce them was going to be difficult. I wouldn't be able to sell them on the open market, and it wasn't like I had any connections to the black market.

"You really shouldn't obsess over it. Either it works, or it doesn't." Gwen said.

I sucked in a breath before loading the supplies in our wheelbarrow before taking the long walk with Gwen to the dungeon. Increased Agility really made the trip easier. I knew I was much slower than her, but I felt so much faster.

"You're about as quick as I was when I was just born, if a little slower."

"We'll see when I get a training method down to power up agility."

Another three training-aligned skills could create a second skill block linked to my first. Other berserk-aligned skills and others aligned to my skill block could make a skill cube if I can find 4 skills to synergize with the others. 24 skills that all enhanced each other was something only powerhouses had access to. Monster Tamers who had a chance to become champions or elites were among those with extremely synergetic skills.

"You want to become an ever-growing rage monster," Gwen said.

"Yes," I said.

"We're here. I suppose you'll have to be satisfied corrupting a dungeon," Gwen said.

She kicked one of the trees with her new Blitz Kick skill, and the bunnies charged out, ready for battle. I snatched them from the air, and she bound them in rope with her psychic powers. Once we collected enough, we made our way into the dungeon.

It had been a while since we entered, and one of the mosquitoes charged at us. Its needle spun like a drill. I crushed it immediately as more flowed in before I started tossing the bunnies into the hardly changed first floor. The rabbits started panicking when spiders with chainsaws for fangs assaulted them.

Ping!
Planting lvl10

My planting skill was increasing with the bunnies I shoved into the dungeon it was great. I followed up by tossing more chainsaws in the stream and three swords. The mosquitoes fell to the spider webs when they went in for bunny blood. I popped open the crate and unleashed a flock of chicken monsters on the dungeon. The spiders tossed out silvery webs and dragged some chickens into their webs before they touched the ground.

One of the birds emerged squawking and flailing, chainsaw wings spinning and pirouetting. Spiders fled as the birds moved in flocks of their own, hunting the spiders. I threw my psychic stone and hit a big male monster bird up the side of the head. The hit knocked the bird to the ground, cracking its beak. The other males jumped on it, cutting into the monster with their chainsaw wings.

At that moment, I thought it was the best idea to level up. Greenlight exploded around me as I added all my experience from corn and peanut sales to my class level.

Atom Walker lvl5
Class: Farmer +3 END +2 VIT per LEVEL
Attributes
Physical:
Vitality 12
Constitution 9
Endurance 19
Strength 12
Dexterity 3
Agility 10

Mental:
Perception 5
Willpower 32
Focus 9
Intelligence 5
Wisdom 4
Charisma 4

Skills
Farming:
Plow lvl7
Plant lvl12
Harvest lvl18
Furrows lvl7
Fencing lvl20
MISC:
Berserk lvl26
Training lvl22
Regeneration lvl21
Adapt lvl20
Lingering Will lvl21
Skill Points: 164
158 skill points used

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

Smoke filled the room of an old research base as an old piece of tech gave up the ghost to push out one final reading. The old printout was taken by the last researcher who knew what the machine did, only to be snatched away by the tamer assigned to the outpost.

"What are the survey teams doing selling land with a dungeon to a farmer? Is this accurate? Changes are happening in the dungeon that isn't natural." Tony Graves said.

He patted his monster keeper, where his team of three waited to kick ass and take names. This promised to be the makings of an adventurer. A wild dungeon sends its monsters to capture local monsters to empower itself. That was a tragedy waiting to happen. With any luck, he could swing this to finish out his government service and return to the tamer circuit. The North Weston Conference was starting in less than a year.

"From these readings, this situation isn't natural. I believe it's the result of a powerful rank 6 monster's skills. The dungeon is reacting to a distant threat." The researcher said.

"And the poor farmer is caught up in this. I'm reading a powerful rank one signature." Tony said.

"Some farmers find a monster that naturally follows them. I expect it's a dog or cat variant, nothing too dangerous. We ignore it so long as its rank 1." The researcher said.

Tony fiddled with his tie, imagining taking the monster from a farmer and adding something powerful to his team. There were stories about that happening, with Tamers getting a hidden gem for their team to help win the finals. He was sure the farmer would be ecstatic about his friend making it to the big leagues.

"I'll take care of it; this is what I'm paid for," Tony said.

…

Day 15

A pack of birds battles the spiders of the tall webbed spires using chainsaw wings against metal spider limbs and silver webs. When one fell, the mosquitoes fell on the corpses, drilling into them and retrieving glowing red fluids. These same bugs flew into spider webs and were quickly wrapped up before being devoured.

I noticed some strange blue herbs near the spider nests that looked to be either deadly poison or some kind of delicious herb. While I wasn't strong enough to get them yet, with some more time and training, I was sure to pick them. This was only the first floor, and dungeons grew the more they consumed animals, weapons, and items from the outside. Dissolving was only something that happened in dungeons. Take a monster or plant out, and they won't dissolve.

One of the birds charged across the water with murder in its beady black eyes focused on me. It revved its wing saws and spun in its charge. It was a blur as it started spinning like a top in my direction.

Lingering Will was a strange skill it grew stronger not only with its level but with my willpower. I could feel the strength in my limbs more than what should be possible. More than muscle, there was something in me that was always active.

I squatted lower than the bird and tackled it off its feet. The monster continued to wave its wings in confusion as I brought my shovel to bear and stabbed it in the throat. The bird looked surprised as I put a boot on the end of my shovel and took the monster's head off.

As the monster's body dissolved, I noticed the swords and chainsaws I tossed in the water were missing. The dungeon had taken them while I was focused on the fight. I was ok with that because the bird dropped a skill shard.

Sword Style: Gemini Waltz
Description: A simplistic sword style based on a constellation from a distant world. Low levels of the style can make opponents second guess where attacks appear.

While it wasn't great, it was a start. I popped the skill shard on the spot as more spiders attacked the birds. Soon, an entire flock of birds beat back the spider hordes. Gwen tossed a psychic attack, tripping enemies mid-fight causing casualties without getting involved. I picked up a spider leg and began the beginning movements of the Gemini Waltz. It was more like a dance than anything else, and when completing the skill, I felt a slight presence but nothing more.

"I didn't know you liked to dance," Gwen said.

I smiled, enduring the ribbing as I focused on getting a handle on the style. It was technically a passive skill, so I could level it quickly. It's the reason why Fire Manipulation would be more useful to me than Fireball. Controlling an element would always be better for me than any active skill.

Having a style to use instead of flailing wildly was also a good thing. A spider launched itself when it spotted us, and when I struck, it hesitated to move. That single instance was enough to aim the metal spider leg and pierce through a chink in the spider's armor. When the spider dissolved, it left behind a rapier.

Spider Rapier lvl5
Exterminator I: Deal extra damage against insects and arachnid enemies.

While it wasn't, the steel longsword I tossed in the spider rapier was enchanted. Unfortunately, it looked ready to chip on the spider's armor; among the vast array of towering silver spider nests, birds began squawking. They attacked the nests, but the spiders refused to come down to fight them any longer. When one tried to saw its way through a nest, the webs only clogged their chainsaw wings.

"We need to get out of here. The dungeon will start sending out stronger monsters soon." I slid my new sword back into its sheath, and we retreated. This time, when we turned, spiders dotted the ceiling leading up the stairs. They waited on silver webs for us to make our attempt up. "The monsters are getting smarter, or the dungeon is interfering."

Gwen's eyes glowed, and a powerful wind blew, causing the spiders to shriek, and a few fell on the stairs near us. Before they could scramble back up the walls, I finished them with my sword. The footwork was very important. When I did that right, the spiders couldn't follow me long enough to shoot their webs accurately. We slaughtered more of them, and I snagged another skill shard.

Silver Strings (Uncommon)
Description: Create metallic wire with mana and manipulate them in different ways.

It was the first uncommon skill I ever came across. The value could easily be in the 50,000 to 75,000W range. If I could find someone reliable to sell to, that could pay off our debt, and we wouldn't have to bother with this place. Instead, I wanted it for myself. Cordage was an extremely useful tool, and having a practically infinite supply that could be controlled opened so many possibilities.

For the rest of the day, I went about my business checking up on the fence, drying wood I needed to keep, and working on a plan for a log cabin. When I built it, I wanted indoor plumbing. I was beyond tired of digging holes. I had plans to build a small water tower, and Gwen started prancing around the tent.

"We survived," Gwen cheered.

I watched the fawn dance around my room while I thought about all the food I missed. Hot wings were one of the treats I missed the most after giving it some thought. Starting up a real chicken coop, some pepper fields, and a few other herb fields sounded more than worth it.

Adding things like corn, beets, peanuts, and other crops to the dungeon would also be a good idea. Having a dungeon could be like having a second field. The more I fed the dungeon, the more items the dungeon could eventually drop.

Outside my tent, I watched a rooster and six hens that managed to escape the box peck at the ground. It seemed I had the makings of my chicken farm. I left my tent, caught the monsters one after the other, and tossed them in the fenced-in coop. The rooster climbed to the top of the coop and hopped over the fence like nothing happened. Soon, the hens followed it, and they returned to where they started moments before.

I slumped and went to work with my new sword style. Gemini Waltz wasn't what I wanted, but I doubted there were many chainsword styles out in the world. No, my best bet to get one was the dungeon, and that would take time and nurturing. Chainsaw Wings were defeated by a basic tackle, after all. Maybe I should grow some wheat tomatoes and buy some cow-type monsters. I could really use some milk and cheese for chicken spaghetti. I had an opportunity to turn my farm into anything I wanted.

My mental match told me a good milking cow would cost around 3500W. By the time I had the money to start buying cows, I might as well buy out contracts for my fellow farmers in the red. Then, I would have to explain my situation to them. Skill levels couldn't replace farm hands unless I had the right skills. I would need one of the cloning skills, or a summon servant skill. Until I could explore other places that weren't happening. I was lucky enough to have a dungeon at all.

I opened a protein bar and looked South to see a dust cloud coming our way. Someone was on their way here riding a unicorn with a filthy coat. Gwen shot out of the tent and jumped on top of the chicken coop to get a better look.

"You're lucky I built that thing to last," I said.

"What are we going to do? I can feel a pull like gravity? Atom, I think he's my soul mate."

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

Not many tamers would grace a mere farmer with their presence or give them the opportunity to make the acquaintance of a tamer. At the sight of the looming fence banded with barbed wire, Tony was tempted to allow this farmer to treat the tamer. Letting the farmer take the reins of his dear Bright Unicorn Fonz was an honor not many were granted. It was a gift far beyond the station of a mere farmer and the prerogative of the tamer to give.

It would also serve as a test to see how well the farmer cared for Tony's new monster. Already, Tony could sense an eloquent presence of something rare at the edge of his monster-taming skill. Far into the fence, there was a forest, a fenced-in chicken coop, and a small cornfield. Instead of a farmhouse, there was a military-grade tent. Stumps dotted half the ground where forest laid before untouched and left to rot in the land like old shrapnel.

He eyed the massive fence surrounding a quarter of the land allotted to the farmer. There were no other humans around than them but somehow he managed to erect such a massive fence. Normally, that was the work of numerous construction monsters. Did the farmer have a woodworking skill?

That wouldn't explain the size and speed of the fence's installation. Tony sensed a viciousness in the land that brought a shiver down his spine. An overbearing weight of anger settled on every blade of grass as if the world held its breath in wait.

Tony chortled to himself and lit a cigarette. He was being all dramatic over a farmer. Farmers didn't receive the highest bonuses per level and had no offensive capabilities to speak of. What was the man going to do, smack Tony with a hoe? He stopped at the gate to the farm and debated releasing another monster to open the gate.

Farmer or not, expecting such a man to act like a servant in his own home was a bit much. Tony smiled and sucked his cig to the filter, and let out a massive breath of smoke. Giving people hard times was what being a government official was all about.

He tossed the cigarette butt on the ground and summoned his second monster. Loki was a rank 2 red Ogre male with a spiked club. The rotund monster had a big frog-like mouth and a single braid of dark hair.

"Smash that gate down," Tony ordered.

With an effortless wave, Loki shattered the gate into bits of scrap wood. The random destruction of property always made the tamer feel good when on the job. He kicked his mount's side and returned Loki.

"Hopefully, you'll have more fun and a new team member soon."

Tony was the picky type; not just anyone could join his team. Loki was his starter. Fonz and June, his poison lizard, were unique finds. The tamer liked to keep an antidote for June's poison whenever he needed to play a little hardball with people. He loved playing the role of giving an offer that couldn't be refused.

On a chicken coop, of all things, the prize he came out here for stood watching him. A white fawn, a rare beauty that most often died in the wild before any tamer could claim it. If allowed to grow, they quickly became pseudo rank 2 while in rank one. With enough skill shards, they could be a force of nature without any trying and Tony's ticket into the conference.

Getting the farmer to give it up would be easy. Tony planned to start easy, telling the farmer the truth he couldn't take care of her how she needed. Farmers were ill-equipped to handle the needs of a powerful monster, and at the end of the day, she would want to leave. All Tony was doing was ripping the band-aid. He would promise to keep in touch and maybe he would for the first month. After a while, it would drop off, and his new monster would forget about the farmer. Or if the farmer wanted to play hardball, Tony was fully willing to play it that way. He would bring out Loki, and they would play until the farmer gave up. A few broken bones would make the message very transparent. Either way, it was for the farmer's own good.

Tony tore his eyes away from the beautiful monster to see the farmer. He looked bigger than he was tall and too thin covered in sweat with a too prominent chin. Scars covered the man's shoulder, and his clothes were filled with holes. One of his boots looked like it was one bad day from falling apart. Then, there was the sword on the man's side. A rapier, by the looks of it, with a sheath covered in spider webs. If that wasn't a dungeon drop, Tony would eat Fronz's saddle.

How a farmer managed to survive a dungeon seemed fairly obvious. The deer had a little more exercise than expected. That only meant Tony would have to break bad habits. He shook his head, imagining a few sleepless nights teaching the poor thing to follow orders.

At the edge of the gate, the farmer still hadn't given a greeting that was to be expected. Neither of them expected this conversation to be pleasant. Lying about it wasn't going to make anything better.

"My name is Tony Graves of the Rasputin Research Institute. It's not often we have neighbors, but you seem too brave to listen to superstition and rumors." The farmer took the slight in stride with a plastered smile on his face.

"Atom Walker, why should I let you step on my property? Tamers don't have the right to trespass on private land no matter what institute they work for."

Tony's good mood vanished, and he wanted to leap over the fence and strangle the man. Loki would change the peasant's mind quickly. But he held off using force for the time being.

"You have a dungeon on your property, and it's dangerous. We've detected spikes in the local magical density that could mean a dungeon surge. You're fenced in with it; a surge won't kill anyone but you."

"Then it isn't any of your business, so you can leave my property."

He stared at the white fawn and let his Heart Capture and Monster Tamer skills do their job. A few minutes was all the time Tony needed. Already, he could feel the rare find was moments away from choosing to leave with him willingly. The farmer had no idea what was happening. All Tony had to do was wait, and the fawn would leave the farmer, then he would come back, and the farmer would sing a completely different tune.

A sharp pain in his neck alerted him to a blade at his throat.

"Deactivate your skills on my companion, or I will cut your head off." He felt the farmer's dirty hands grip his hair. When had the farmer gotten so close?

"I'm an official." Blood started seeping from the cut on his throat. He gave a command to the dear through their burgeoning bond. A force threw the farmer into the gate. Tony grinned when he heard the thunk sound.

The manic look of betrayal on the man's face was a satisfying sight. Of the farmer's earlier actions, Tony decided to twist the knife. He touched his monster bag and summoned Loki.

Tony wiped the blood on his neck away with a silk handkerchief. "Someone has to pay for spilling my blood, and I would rather it be you than this cute little deer. Loki break the bones in his hands." Tony said.

The man stood up, and Tony had the deer slam him back into the gate. "No, don't get up just yet. I like you on the ground; it's better this way." Tony said.

He saw the man struggle, filled with rage at this encounter. If the man had been a little more courteous and invited Tony back to his home, then this could have been painless. The man had to resist and make Tony put in the work so Tony would treat it like work.

A quick slash from the man's sword did nothing to Loki, who grabbed the man's and crushed it in the ogre's grip. The man screamed in pain as each bone in his hand was broken and mangled from gripping a sword.

Tony felt a struggle against his skills and stared at the white fawn in curiosity. Not many monsters can resist Monster Tamer and Capture skills in the low 30s. The fawn must be something special. This was an excellent find, and the more the fawn resisted, the higher Tony's skills would climb.

He watched the mangled-handed farmer stand up. Loki kicked him in the stomach, knocking him into the gate for a third time. "Give her back." Atom said.

"You can't take care of her like she needs, but I can. This is for the best for both of you." Tony said.

The man didn't know when to quit. He reached forward and stabbed his sword into the ground. While his lungs wheezed, the man stood up despite himself. It was like some force was animating the man, helping him stand when he shouldn't be able to. The freaky sight only grew worse when a harsh wind swept down from the mountain.

Loki gripped his head, and Atom moved deceptively quick. Tony reached to withdraw his monster when Atom's sword stabbed into Loki's chest. A beam of energy connected with his monster, returning it to his bag, wounded but alive. Tony saw red, charged forward, and kicked Atom's mangled hand. The sword fell, and Atom collapsed, cradling his hand in pain. The tamer kicked Atom in the face and kept kicking him until blood flowed on the dirt.

When he was tired and his foot hurt, he spat on the man and turned to leave. He heard the man's lungs still wheezing and thought about turning around and finishing him. Instead, Tony decided his revenge would be leaving him for the monsters to scavenge. Loki would be fine, and Atom would live out his last moments being torn apart.

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

Day 16

Through dried blood, sweat, and mud, my eyes cracked open. Wind howled, blowing dirt in my eyes as howls echoed over the wind. My mouth felt dry, and my throat cracked, and bloody every beat of my heart reminded me I was alive and alone. The gate to the inside of my home was cracked in places, bent to scrape the ground after repeated slams had broken the henges. I gripped the railing and pulled myself up with my good arm as the gate hinges protested.

I managed to pull my sword free and walked through my Gemini Waltz steps on my way through the gate. My every step was a rendition of that dance to drill the only weapon I had into my soul. That tamer unleashed a rank 2 monster on me. If I could prove it, that would be his license in a fair world.

My movements repeated themselves down the road to my tent. The few chickens in their coop freaked out as the wind blew. I had a clear shot to kill that bastard's monster, but I forgot that Ogre hearts are a little more to the left. My mistake had cost me that little bit of revenge.

Cracking sounds filled the air as my Regeneration skill went to work on my broken hand and face. Bones healed slowly and popped back where they belonged. I made my way back to my tent and turned to Gwen's nest she made on my bedroll.

When I found my chair, I collapsed in it and stared at my reflection in my mirror. My nose was crooked. Slowly I raised my hand and gripped my nose and felt something break as I snapped it back into place. It was time to check my gains. What did resisting that monster give me?

Ping!
Gemini Waltz lvl9
Training lvl23
Regeneration lvl25
Berserk lvl27
Adapt lvl24
Lingering Will lvl25
+1 Constitution
Constitution 10
+2 Dexterity
Dexterity 5
Skill Points: 28

Skill Trees:
Embers of Fallen Heroes I 38/250
Black Rage II 0/100
Way of the Homestead 0/50
Alter of Change 0/50
Resistance is Elemental 0/50
Beginner Adventuring 0/25

Adding the points to Beginner Adventuring might help with a dungeon, but I didn't want to use my skill points yet. I had a skill I gained not long ago. Silver Strings was a good way to make lots of cordage if I had the mana for it.

Getting mana wasn't like it was in games. Having certain attributes didn't automatically give me a pool to draw from. I needed to create a spiritual avatar to hold my mana. Once I got the avatar right my system should populate numbers based on how much mana my creation can store. The problem was images were based on mental attributes.

If I didn't create an avatar to store my mana, then I would be completely reliant on ambient mana for my skills. There wasn't enough of that to go around.

Gwen wasn't here to talk to me about my problems, her dreams, or about what she wanted to eat. It was lonely without her. I sat in my chair and let my mind explore images that could be used for my avatar.

…

Day 16

I left my tent under the cover of night when the sounds of strange animals grew louder. My gate swung open, shown under the full moon above. A large black wolf starved until the skin hung on its bones approached me. Its eyes glowed red under the moonlight, and despite its appearance, there was a strength to it that couldn't be denied.

My sword found its way into my hand, and I fell into the steps. I started practicing wherever I went. The steps repeated until my every step was the Gemini Waltz. Lingering, Will felt cool in my bones as the monster seemed the crush in on itself before launching at me like a spring.

I moved, and the wolf bit at something that wasn't there. The waltz had grown stronger after my brief fight with Loki. It seemed stronger enemies forced skills to level faster. I stabbed with my sword and felt it skid off of the wolf's hide. My body spun when the wolf struck back, biting and slashing with its every breath. I struck, searching for an avenue of attack; each strike was nearly a death blow; its hide wasn't so tough.

Steel flashed under the moonlight as I fought in a deadly dance with a predator-starved but still incredibly strong. More howls fell in with the raging wind as I started feeling desperate. The wolf hadn't slowed down since our fight started, and I had to find a weak point.

It lashed out with its mouth agape, and I chose that moment to hit a soft target. My blade pierced the hard palate of the wolf's mouth.

This time, blood seeped down my rapier as I stabbed forward. I felt the monster scramble to get off my weapon as blood continued flowing as I picked the beat off the ground. It was so much lighter than I imagined.

I yelled when one of the wolves took a bite out of my calf. I raged and punched out at a similarly retched beast that had its jaws on me.

My blade withdrew, and I slashed with precision, slicing through the joints in the wolf's mouth. Six more wolves circled around me as I tossed the second wolf off my blade. Blood flowed from my leg, stopped too slowly by Regeneration. I needed other skills to help out and to adapt to have something to work with.

"Why is it always wolves?" I asked the heavens. Clouds moved in, nearly blocking out the moon and leaving me in darkness. One wolf lunged for my throat while the other hit my flank. I stabbed out for the opened jaws, and when my blade stabbed into flesh, I turned and punched with all my might. The wolf bit a chunk out of my hand while I spun to face the other wolves. I held my arm up to guard my throat with my left hand and gave death with my right. Gemini Waltz made the wolves hesitate in the moments I needed them the most, allowing me to kill.

Like the wolves themselves, I stalked and hunted, killing with the bite of my blade until all I was left with were corpses. Covered in blood, I buried the bodies in my field before returning to my tent. My every step was the Gemini Walz as I continued to struggle and gain one more skill level.

As I was, there was no way to get Gwen back. I needed whole blocks of skills to even think of chasing that tamer. Getting myself killed wouldn't do me any good.

My rage was all I could feel, but I couldn't let it take me because then that bastard would win. I doubt he expected me to recover. There are good odds he'll be back, and I needed to be strong enough to take on the man's entire team. Because after I killed him I planned to take his tamer card and use it to start selling monsters.

It wouldn't be weird if an obviously failed tamer started living on a farm to make some extra money. Tamers on a farm could make quite a lot of money.

Research contracts weren't easy to get out of, and it might only be a week or two before the tamer was forced to return. Until then, I needed to take care of my weapon and make sure my sword was nice and oiled. I made sure to take the time to wipe the blood off and oil it before returning the weapon to its sheath.

…

Day 17

The dungeon had gone through some changes since last I entered it. I could have a sword. I heard breathing inside the tunnel to the first floor when I entered it. The ground was warm, met, and covered in wrinkles, while the air itself was humid. Pools of strange liquids dotted the sides of the tunnel, and the air flowed in and out of the cave in slow, almost breaths. Small spiders crawled along the walls, always watching with beady black eyes. The furry orange monsters looked wet like the rest of the cave.

Further in, I stopped at the door closed tight like a sphincter; strange wet flesh covered the passage, only to open when I approached it. It opened slowly, almost yawning until I walked through then it closed slowly behind me. The first floor was an unsteady, muscular place that completely changed from my first experience. I turned my attention to a tall, furless monster with rabbit ears and long-taloned tipped fingers. It's overdeveloped legs gave it a steady stance as it withdrew a sword unlike anything I've seen before.

Scraps of armor covered its body as it watched with black eyes, alien and unfeeling. I turned to see a mass of bones shaped like a centipede covered in spider silk move in the distance. The rabbit jumped, cutting through the distance as its weapon buzzed to life. It was a chainsword, and I was unprepared to fight it.

My first clash started with our blades locked, and I could feel my blade prepare to give up the ghost. A kick from the rabbit knocked me back, and it scored first blood. A line raked over my chest down to the bone. I moved in, forcing the rabbit to hesitate, and stabbed it in the leg.

Our fight continued with us trading injuries, but I was on the losing side. More injuries piled up while I searched for the one slash that would turn it all around.

We continued fighting until our weapons were locked. This time, I was ready, and despite the sparks flying from our weapons, I turned the clash into a battle of strength. I overpowered the rabbit soldier and slashed its throat. My weapon cracked down the middle as the rabbit died, and I took its chainsword.

I went on a rampage, unleashing my anger and slaughtering monsters. When I found a second chainsword, I really began killing. From my hall, I found health potions instead of skill shards and crossed into a new part of the dungeon. By the deaths of many, I believe I had found the boss room. Wounds covered my body, slowly healing, but I managed to get through the difference in attributes.

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

She was lost inside her head, fighting through a twisted maze of warped memories and struggling against a force that felt inevitable. The white fawn had spent a short, sweet time with a human that didn't match the one in her visions. A disconnect existed between the human that was her partner and the human she was with. Memories claimed they were the same person, but Tony had other monsters in his party, and her memories of before were of a lonely human struggling against his fate. The labyrinth twisted, warping her memories in a slow exchange of images imperfectly in the view of a human.

As a member of the deer species, her senses were vastly different. Tony's smell of tobacco didn't match the smell of corn, blood, and rage. The rage and willpower radiated off the human that was changed in her memories like a bonfire. It was The only thing the labyrinth couldn't change scent was something humans and their skills had little experience with.

The howl of wolves filled her ears, and she shivered in the tent that smelled like him. In her memory, with a shovel, Tony fought off the wolves under the force of the psychic winds from Mt. Red. The smoking tamer didn't stand tall like she remembered and, despite his powerful will, didn't have the rage that the image shifted, and she didn't know where the line was any longer. Every time she found the line that separated the before from the present, it shifted, and memories were infected. All her resistance did was cause the labyrinth to shift and alter her memories. That couldn't stand, but she didn't know where to begin to set things right.

In her memories she remembered her friend wanted a chainsword and had fed a dungeon chainsaws and longswords as an experiment. He leveled up in a dungeon to try and warp his class into something that farmed dungeons.

"Wake up," Tony said.

She opened her eyes to see the tamer smoking. He sucked the stick to the filter and exhaled a fog bank of smoke in her face. A small barrier of psychic energy kept her air clean.

"You are a treasure. I was lucky my skills were high enough to turn you."

She turned her head to the side; what was that supposed to mean. Gwen refused to speak despite knowing this was her friend Tony. Something was wrong with him; some things didn't make sense, so she kept her voice silent unless he asked.

"I think I'm going to call you Sandy because your coat reminds me of white sand from Mist Harbor," Tony said.

Hadn't they been over this? Why did he need to change her name? Gwen was at least accurate, and she referred to herself as Gwen for long enough for it to stick. Tony only confused her more the longer he opened his mouth. Some discrepancies mounted more the longer they interacted.

She remembered attacking a human that had hurt a member of her herd. Was Loki doing well? Gwen wanted to ask, but she refused to speak until he addressed her like a friend or asked her why she wasn't speaking. Tony didn't seem to care to ask or address her.

"Alright Sandy will be how you're registered. I'm going to give you a skill shard called double kick. You're going to practice it until you run out of stamina so I can get some SP to fill out your paths. Deer are great kickers, and I doubt you're any different. We're going to put everything into trees for your telekinesis skill. Does that sound good to you, Sandy?" Tony asked.

She nodded, and the filter in his mouth fell out.

"Did you understand me, or was that just my skill making you nod?" Tony asked himself.

Then he shook his head.

"What am I thinking? Rank 1 deer aren't intelligent. I could hunt and eat one right in front of her, and she wouldn't care." Tony said.

Gwen froze until Tony pressed a skill shard against her head, and she felt it integrate. It felt like a waste to add something plain like a double kick to her repertoire when she had Blitz Kick and Fell Wind. But she was his monster and she would obey because that's what she did for her friend.

…

Day 17
The boss of the first floor clung to the ceiling with long barbed spider legs attached to a torso of black feathers and long segmented arms. A single chainsword was sheathed at its side close enough to be drawn at a moment's notice. The gristly teeth of the weapon were covered in tiny images of agony lining the length of the chain. Its head was cone-shaped with multiple sets of eyes. On its back was a set of tentacles ending in drills. Rippling muscle moved the boss monster as it searched for its first opponent.

At least the dungeon followed some rules. While I wasn't in the boss's room, it seemed I had a chance to leave and come back. I tried to leave the entrance and circled back, only for a crow monster similar to the birds I had fought before.

I couldn't let it call the boss monsters. The monster dodged my first slash as my chainsword buzzed to life.

It shot after me at incredible speeds but telegraphed a kick to my neck. My chainsword met it before my second weapon countered. The crow monster's leg came free, splattering blood on the ground. The crow monster cawed for hold as my blade took its head.

My breath had gotten heavy from the fast fight, or maybe it was from the boss monster's presence.

I found a skill shard from the monster's dissolving corpse.

Skill Shard
Final Blow
Description: The last strike in a battle and the deciding factor. Higher levels increase the amount of damage able to be used in a final attack.

It was common, but if my first Blow was the last, then wouldn't that increase my damage even more, especially if I expected it to be a killing blow. The logic was sound in my state of loneliness, betrayal, and all-consuming rage.

New Skill
Final Blow lvl1

I left to get a few more kills in; more monsters needed to be put down before I even thought of fighting the boss. Who knows, if I left the dungeon might change and lose the chainsword theme it had going on before I claimed every skill I could with it.

My path changed when I found a sphincter door I missed before. It opened to reveal a lake of blood and massive mosquitos and spider chimeras running on the lake's water. I picked up a rock and threw it at one to get its attention, and four broke off after me.

I revved my chainswords and went to work. All four leaped at me at once, and I moved between them, slashing to take limbs off in the early stage of the fight. My fear of monsters had been slowly eradicated from my fight against the wolves, and most monsters didn't expect me to charge into them. It often threw them off.

Joints were my favorite avenues of attack, and the monsters I attacked lost balance and fell on the shores, leading deeper into the blood lake. Wings flapped too fast to see as one rose up to flee. I measured the distance and threw my sword. The blade spun in the air and cut through the chimera's midsection. It fell in multiple pieces as I slashed and took the head of another bug. The two remaining lunged, and I blocked, feeling the weight of two massive bugs struggle against lingering will.

All the while, my chainsword did its work, sawing through their bodies until something gave. Final Blow activated, and I swung, cutting through both of their bodies. Blood and guts flowed out the end of my chiansword, joining the blood in the lake.

I sucked in a breath before letting it out. Being down a weapon wasn't good. Somewhere in the lake my chainsword lay on the bottom with the corpse it took out.

From the dissolving bodies, I found two more skill shards.

Skill Shard
Gemini Blitz
Description: Wielding the constellation of the Gemeni, this skill allows the user to dash forward and leave after images that attract the attacks of enemies. The higher the level of the skill, the more images are produced.
Skill Shard
Blitz Kick
Description: Kick at lightning speeds, dealing incredible amounts of damage based on strength and willpower. Higher levels of this skill can allow multiple blows to land and even incorporate elements into the skill. When combined with skills containing similar elements in the name, skills will synergize and deal more damage.

New Skills
Gemeni Blitz lvl1
Blitz Kick lvl1

From what I recall, most dungeon floors had around 20 common skills and 6 uncommon ones that could only drop from mini-bosses. Rare skill shards only dropped for bosses, and they were difficult to farm. Most drops competed with equipment and money drops.

Psychic was a rare skill shard that would only drop for a boss. I would need to battle the boss monster of the first floor several times to even have a chance at it. To get stronger, the smartest thing for me to do is to collect every skill imaginable no matter if it's useful to me in the present or not. More skills equal more skill points that will turn into attributes and more skills.

There were rumors about rare machines in dungeons that could fuse skills together into skill sets, but that was far away. I needed the attributes and skills to defeat a rank 2 monster. Tony Graves would be back, and I would be ready.

I knew the common excuses for why this wasn't normally practiced. Skill shards could be sold for quite a bit of money, and monsters were specialized for roles in a team. Few wanted to turn their monsters into jacks of all trades, masters of none, or worse, masters of all. There were regulations to keep that from happening. Monsters that reached that point were practically unstoppable and couldn't be controlled by their tamers.

A chimera buzzed my way, and I combined skills and kicked it in the chest. The chimera insect barely reacted as I kicked it again before taking its head with my chainsword. All of this was a work in progress. I continued searching for skill shards to cover my weaknesses. I needed to collect more skills if I was going to have a shot. I followed the banks of the river to where I was sure my first mid-boss made its home.

Corpses of birds dried out and desiccated filled the blood lake as I made my way to a towering nest floating atop the shore of the lake. I was itching for a fight, and it looked like I would have one. All to get into shape to get Gwen back.

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

Day 17

My foot impacted a chimera mix of insect and bird, crushing its gizzard and shattering its ribs. Attacks flew through images as my chainsword came through, with Gemini Waltz cutting through enemies as I traveled in a straight line toward the mid-boss. Body parts covered my path, floating in the blood lake while the walls of the dungeon quivered like a living organ. Gas from dissolving corpses filled the air as I plucked the skill shards I found until I was once again alone.

I clicked a button on my sword, turning off the saw before sheathing the weapon on my side. Through the dissolving bodies I found a new pair of pants and looked down to see my own was cut to ribbons. Replacing my clothes would at least help keep me sane. Letting myself degrade until I was nothing but a bum covered in the remains of my clothes might be my final death. At that point, what would be left of me but a shell absent of civility and self-respect.

The tearing of what remained of my pants filled the silence as I strained my ears to listen for the next attack. I took off my half-torn leather boots and quickly put on my new pants, nearly catching myself in the zipper as I struggled to get the change over with. My foot struck out, pulverizing a flying chimera as my skill once again leveled.

I resisted the urge to take a look; I wanted to see a big hall of skill points. Using them as I received them wasn't going to work for me. I might be tempted to use them for the big prize instead of what I needed. Lots of completed skill trees were better than one big one for me. I needed the extra skills they might bring.

After defeating many enemies, I found 4 skill shards.

Skill Shards
Crow Step
Description: Move as if black feathered wings will whisk you away at any movement. Sounds from your movements are quieter, and you move faster with every level.
Psy Bolt
Description: Produce of bolt of psychic power and fire it at enemies in the form of a projectile. Based on willpower and stamina, this is an active skill.
Fell Wind
Description: Produce a gust of wind containing psychic power around the user to damage groups of enemies. This attack will strike both friend and foe. While difficult to control at low levels, higher levels will increase damage and control over this skill. Based on willpower and stamina, this is an active skill.
Drill Spear Mastery
Description: A passive skill to help improve combat tactics with the drill spear. Higher levels will decrease flaws and allow the easier use of the drill spear.

It didn't matter what skills I found; I needed them, so I would take them. Adding a spear to my weapon set wasn't too big of a change. It sounded like a quick and easy form of skill points. A weapon with a longer reach and piercing power sounded like a great thing to add. Too bad I had no idea where I could find a drill spear.

New Skills
Crow Step lvl1
Psy Bolt lvl1
Fell Wind lvl1
Drill Spear Mastery lvl1

Images filled my mind of various monsters using psy bolts, calling down psychic winds and moving like a ghost to slay enemies without a sound.

I sucked in a breath and let it out. Being alone here in the dungeon sucked, but at least it felt like I was making progress. My skills were becoming more numerous, and were focused more on combat than ever. I wasn't a tamer, but at least I wasn't weak.

With my enemies mostly dead, I moved almost silently with steps that were far less heavy. There was a breeze that I could feel starting in my bones with Lingering Will that wanted to rage like a storm. For the first time since entering the dungeon, I was a lot less normal than before. I had legitimate psychic power to throw around and enough willpower to make me dangerous.

The spider nest in the distance gained detail as I approached, changing from a white blob to a silver castle made of silk. It was the same cordage as Silver Strings, the skill I had but couldn't use.

My hand went for my weapon, and I moved carefully, paying attention to the lines of strings. As I moved, certain strings spasmed, and I knew stealth wasn't really an option. The wind started blowing as I moved in the blood lake rippled like a gathering storm had passed onto it.

Chimeras fell off their webs, and I slashed them with my blade as I approached the castle. All I could think about was how much I needed this to work. More wind blew around me as I started to feel something behind my right eye. The strain was there, but I had to keep moving forward.

More skill shards dropped from the monsters I cut down, and I stored them in a bag I brought with me. I crossed into the building, where a strange monster confronted me. It was more rabbit than anything else but was tall and stood upright. The chimeras head was on the larger side and I felt a weight from it that wasn't natural.

"You are the invader." It said.

That hit home: this place was the home of these creatures and an ecosystem that I wasn't a part of. At the same time, the dungeon dropped rewards, so if it didn't want me here, it wouldn't reward me for it.

"Regardless, we will do battle. Your stolen power won't defeat me." The creature said.

I crossed the room as bolts fo psychic energy lashed out firign dozens a second. There was no way I could meet the attack, so I didn't. Attacks struck afterimages as I used my footwork to overcome the projectiles and close the distance.

The ground shuttered before lifting upward as the mid-boss hovered in the air, and the ground opened beneath me. I turned off my blade and stabbed it into the floor before yanking myself upward. My muscles felt like they had exploded from the move as I launched upward with my sword raised. I slashed, taking one of the monster's ears as it waved its hand, yanking pieces of the wall off of the structure and flinging them at me.

I dashed from side to side as the building warped, and my Fell Wind continued to buffer the clearly mage-type monster. Flying insect chimera dive-bombed me as I ran on the top of the folded floor. My blade cut through their chitinous bodies, spraying the silver thread walls with monster guts. A table from an upper floor, along with its silverware, came down aimed at me.
My blade flashed as I dodged and slashed as my opponent held its ear stump and flew higher. I jumped, feeling my boots make an indention in the wall before running. With speed alone, I ran up the wall using Crow Step to lighten my body enough to defy gravity. So many chains I never knew bound me felt like they were breaking free. I jumped, flinging my body faster and harder than ever, and slashed with my blade. One of my opponent's legs fell from below the knee, and blood spurted from the wound.

I contacted the wall with both feet and rushed forward as the wall I stood on exploded outward. A jump from the wall took me to the upper floor, where the telekinesis was already warping the floor to yank it free. Knives and forks shot out of drawers aimed at my head, only to be parried. I jumped on the nearest wall and leaped through a hole in the ceiling to the top of the castle.

On the roof I waited as the rabbit floated up from the one of the holes it made in the wall. It raised its paw, and the building began twisting as I ran across it. The roof of the dungeon appeared close enough to touch, and the two of us must have been specks to the massive thing on my land.

I kept quiet as my wounds healed, and I caught my breath. The fast movements hadn't done me any favors. My leg had been twisted, and some of my toes were dislocated from my stunts. The bottom of one of my boots had come off, leaving me slowed by broken equipment.

Waiting was a mistake.

A rumble shook the castle as the chimera mid-boss began her final gambit. She had lost too much blood to hold back, and it showed.

Parts of the castle started to move, crushing supports throughout the castle and even killing monsters on the spot.

All the while, I struggled to catch my breath and get some of my stamina back. My heart felt like it was going to explode in my chest no matter how good my regeneration was.

Purple light consumed parts of the castle as the rabbit chimera's final act actualized.

The castle twisted like an empty soda can as I leaped to action and charged before the force twisting it could crush me, too. My Fell Wind blew, acting as a bubble protecting me from the monster's psychic grip. I slashed when I jumped, and the monster's head detached from its body. I fell into the blood lake with a splash.

Within those twisted waters creatures that thrived in the environment encircled me as I slashed and cut while Fell Winds flowed even in the blood. Creatures bit at my sides, chest, and legs as I struggled to kill them while Fell Winds did the rest. I struggled and killed as I swam to the surface and took a deep, relieving breath.

My eyes narrowed into slits as I swung my blade and churned the creatures within the lake into chum. I ached from every part of my body, but I hadn't let go of the skill shard and swam slowly to shore. Then I heard a splash when the falling castle slammed into the lake bed. A 100ft blood wave raced across the lake, sweeping away monsters as it flowed away from the impact.

I turned and ran faster than I ever had before as my breath came out in short huffs, and all I could rely on was my regeneration to see me through my ordeal.

My feet pounded through my boots as I ran until no more waves were crashing behind me. When I finally stopped running, I stood at the entrance and knew I couldn't take another minute in the dungeon. There was still so much I needed from the dungeon, but I couldn't remain. I would be back stronger, and that was a promise. Before I left, I held up the skill shard I gained from the mid-boss.

Skill Shard
Fell Whirlwind
Rank: Uncommon
Description: Unleash a whirlwind of psychic energy to blow away enemies at low levels. High levels of this skill can summon psychic tornadoes, hurricanes, or wind tunnels. Multiple Fell-based skills will empower each skill. Based on willpower and stamina.

New Skill
Fell Whirlwind (UC) lvl1

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

Day 19
Gwen watched her human look through possible rank-up options for her, always stopping at a hideous shape. A sage deer would be preferable to the rain deer Tony continues to stop on. Rain that can heal wounds and grow crops would stick her in a support role far from her favored skills. Lunar variants were what she was after; anything with moon or chaos in its name was bound to help her move forward, but Tony didn't seem to get that. He was only interested in what would bring him profit because June the lizard was his long-range combatant.

It wasn't fair, and there wasn't anything she could do about it. She refused to speak up until he recognized her in conversation.

Tony hadn't even consulted her when he invited a mercenary party to inspect the dungeon on that human's farm. She knew something would go wrong involving other tamers, but she refused to say a word.

Her ears perked up when she heard the woosh of a bird type. A firebird with thick legs and massive wings landed on a hill three days' travel from the farm. Tony didn't couldn't handle the winds from Mt. Red unlike what he was clearly able to handle before.

"Sandy, pay attention. I'm going to show you how a real tamer does business." Tony said.

Gwen rolled her eyes at the name but watched closely as Tony walked up to the team of three tamers disembarking their firebird.

"My name is Tony Graves nice to meet you all. Before we get started I thought we would have a battle to help introduce each other's monsters. How does one on one sound?" Tony said.

A tall man dressed in a flowing feathered robe wearing a bird mask glanced at his companions. He looked to who she thought was the leader, a massive dark-skinned man with a bow on his back, two quivers tied to his belt, and a long, hooked nose. The party had a mage who busied himself staring at a tablet and hadn't looked up.

"I don't waste my time training monsters when there are dungeons to explore. Unless you want me to burn your monsters to a crisp, I won't participate." The mage said.

She thought about reading his mind for more information but thought better of it. The big man shrugged his shoulders and tapped his summon bank. A monster appeared with a deer skull for a head, massive antlers, and glowing red eyes on the body of a frost-bitten corpse. The summer heat retreated in favor of winter's chill.

"The name's Scout Hunt and I'm the pathfinder of the party," Scout said.

She wanted no part in fighting the creature the human summoned. There were rumors of undead that had requirements for ranking up. One was replacing their head with that of another monster. The monster in question was called Wendigo.

"You'll regret using something so scrawny against my Loki." The ugly but strong ogre appeared, flashing his green skin and wielding a club. The Wendigo drew a battle ax. "Begin, bash it, Loki," Tony called.

Loki moved at astonishing speed for a monster of his size and weight. The moment his club was raised, Scout gave his order.

"Feast," Scout ordered.

The monster roared and seemed to vanish. One moment, Loki was swinging his club; the next, a massive chunk of the ogre's bicep was gone. The Wendigo held the hunk of meat in his free hand and consumed it.

"That isn't allowed in a monster battle," Tony said.

"You wanted to establish yourself in the pecking order, didn't you. Well, now you know. I'm the weakest in our party, which means you're on the bottom."

"Stop the nonsense. Tony is our client we don't want another bad review. I thought we agreed to let this one win." The bird masked man said.

"My fault, boss. I thought showing how strong we are would put him at ease. After all, we were paid to keep him alive in the dungeon. Since his strongest monster is down, he will need us even more." Scout said.

Tony sprayed a healing potion on Loki's bicep, and the flesh bubbled while Loki tried to keep his eyes on the monster still eating a piece of him. Blood dripped from the monster's mouth and hand. Its eyes shifted from Loki, and a shiver went down her spine.

"I'm very glad I am getting my money's worth. The farmer who owns the land is rather stubborn, but shouldn't be an issue for any of you to deal with." Tony said.

Gwen felt frightened more than before but didn't know why.

…

Day 17

I washed the blood off and tried to sleep. A cold wind blew around my tent, and it wasn't the monster on Mt. Red. Once I started controlling Fell Wind, it was hard to stop, and soon, I would have the stamina to toss around Fell Whirlwinds. That was the real prize.

Struggling to my feet, I pushed off the blanket and saw it was well into the night. A few brave crickets were chirping at a distance, but no biting insects dared get close. Fell Wind had multiple uses, one of which was a bug repellent. I could almost feel where my skill touched, like another sense, until I felt pressure above my right eye. Then, all I felt was a throbbing headache.

The time had come. I needed to take stock of my gains from the dungeon to see if it was worth risking my life.

Ping!
Berserk lvl28, Regeneration lvl27, Adapt lvl25, Training lvl25, Lingering Will lvl29, Gemini Waltz lvl21, Final Blow lvl13, Gemini Blitz lvl9, Blitz Kick lvl5, Crow Step lvl10, Fell Wind lvl11
Skill Points: 93
+2 Strength
+1 Focus
+3 Dexterity
+2 Agility
+1 Perception
+1 Willpower
New Skill Tree: Dancing With Stars 0/50

I stared in awe at my gains and thanked my lucky stars. I made the purchases when I did. They might not seem like much, but the solid attribute gains would matter in the long run. Not to mention, the higher I leveled Adapt and Training, the more skill levels and attribute points I would gain. Fighting at my limit carried exponential benefits.

The dungeon was clearly the best choice to go to for gains until I could afford proper gym equipment or other training equipment. With my gains, it was time to finish off a skill tree and hopefully gain another skill or lots of attributes.

Of the skill trees I had, I thought Dancing With Stars was the most likely to drop a skill.

Ping!
Skill Tree Completed: Dancing With Stars 50/50
+2 Willpower
+3 Agility
New Skill: Cosmic Tempo lvl1

Description: Move in time with the song only you can hear while carrying the momentum in battle. Automatically move into skills and attacks that will benefit your goals while in control of a fight. Gain a greater lead with higher levels in this skill.

My body felt like my nerves were spasming as my agility increased, and my head throbbed more with the Willpower growth. Cosmic Tempo might not sound like a great skill, but I had a feeling it would be up there with Final Blow. Skills that helped me keep my lead and finish fights were great in my book.
I still wasn't done with my skill trees. I had enough points left to finish the Beginner Adventurer skill tree. There would be points left over for Embers of Fallen Heroes as well.

The 25 points went in, with the rest falling into Embers of Fallen Heroes, and I waited.

Ping!
+3 Perception
+4 Willpower
New Skill: Mapping lvl1
Description: Create a map of dungeons to allow the user to find areas more easily and notice changes in the environment. At higher levels, the map becomes more detailed, showing monster encounter percentages.

That would actually be useful. I gripped my face as my eyes burned, and my latrine was suddenly too close to my tent. For an hour, I waited, almost crippled by the sudden increase in perception. Even my hard, leathery skin felt much more sensitive like the lightest touch would feel like a heavy blow. I waited for the sensations to pass before slowly getting out of bed.

My changes were happening more often. That was both good and bad. It was good that it would be harder to kill me but bad because I would start feeling less human. People weren't meant to have all their attributes above a certain threshold.

Soon enough, I would be strong enough to rip someone apart if I'm not careful; that would also bar me from having sex with most of the human population. Eventually, if I stayed on this path, I could only be with monsters with high attributes of their own, meaning my children would likely be monsters.

That wasn't what I wanted, but it wasn't like it would matter for some time. I wasn't exactly spoiled for women of any species offering themselves to me.

I got out of bed in the middle of the night and found the stars were more than enough to see by. Under the new moon, I picked corn and the peppers growing and soon sold 10,000W worth of both. My body wasn't exhausted like I expected after harvesting dozens of acres. Attributes were the real game changers they made me stronger and more successful and separated me from normal people.

Tamers could focus on Willpower and Perception for most of their lives and still be able to date normal humans. I was different already, and I barely increased my attributes. There was no reason to wear gloves when weeding when my skin was tougher than the cheap pairs I could afford.

I sucked in a breath and let it out. My taste had improved to the point I could taste the peppers in my hand without putting them in my mouth. I could smell the markings of animals slightly when I concentrated.

How much more would I change in a month or a year? Vitality increased lifespan; if I got enough, I could live for multiple centuries. Some skills could also increase the efficiency of attributes. My life could extend further, and if I kept gaining attributes in Vitality, I could live forever. That was a terrifying thought because who wanted to live alone forever?

I missed Gwen, I missed my family, and I missed Mai. I cut off communication with them, and it might not be too late. They couldn't help me, but maybe someone would listen and have an idea of what I was going through.

My hand shook as I stared at my satellite phone. Their numbers were in it; all I had to do was apologize and accept that what they did was necessary. Winds whirled around me, charged with psychic energy.

"Betrayal can't be forgiven," I said.

The phone fell out of my hand. I would not be the first to break. They could have called at any time and checked on me, but I had no missed calls.



Patreon

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

Day 18

Wind blew rustling tall corn stalks until their heavy ears threatened to fall to the ground. A carpet of insects crawled away from the field in uncountable numbers; many died and the survivors crawled over their brethren. As the wind picked up, even the chickens in the field couldn't take it anymore and fled, crowing the whole time. The wind continued to blow until the weeds poking up among the corn stalks began wilting, even as some of the stalks yellowed as winds blew between rows, searching for any vermin left within the field.

Fresh blood streamed down my nose as I began to get a handle on my skill. After killing my own crops, I found it was easier to use a lighter touch and slowly ramp it up until it became unbearable. Unfortunately, the longer I held the skill, the more consequences I felt. I hadn't abandoned my other skills but Fell Wind showed so much promise I had to practice it more.

Controlling the wind was hard but rewarding. I saved on pesticides by using them on the bugs that preyed on my crops. Stretching the wind thin only caused it to blow uselessly. When I directed it in streams down the rows in its passing, most things were influenced. That's what I liked about the skill. It had so much impact on even the smallest living things.

There was a sense of things that my wind blew past that gave me an awareness of things I would have normally missed. I tapped my head.

Of the things I missed, Gwen's connection to my mind was one of them. I was tempted to leave it and hoped she would remember me the next time I saw her. Looking into monsters and how tamer skills affected them disabused me of that. In all likelihood, even if I managed to kill Tony and free her, she wouldn't thank me, and we couldn't go back to normal.

Gwen had become hers, according to the articles, the moment his tamer skill took hold. It wasn't just brainwashing. When tamer skills reached higher levels they rewrote memories slowly until the tamer replaced people in the monster's life.

I stood up from my chair as the wind gathered around me. Clouds of topsoil pushed out into the distance from my exercise. My skill dried out and ruined the soil when it passed. That was another part of my skill I needed to practice and get a better understanding of.

The further I stood away from the field and the less I saw what I was doing, the more experience Fell Wind gained. There were ways to power-level skills even if my nose bled something awful. If not for Regeneration, abusing my skill would be impossible the way I'm doing it. Normally, expensive potions brewed by an alchemist were needed to get anywhere.

Gwen had joked that she thought I was a Willpower type, but maybe that's what I was turning into.

The dungeon had what I needed to move forward and make my build a reality. Beyond the first floor, there were more skills on the second and third floors that could empower me further.

I had a new skill tree that looked interesting, even if it came from my farming class after Harvest reached level 20.

Skill Tree: Blue Moon 0/100

Blue, anything had something to do with monsters. Half of a tamer's skill trees had the word blue or monster in them, or they would have a terrible career as a tamer. I might have gotten mine from my high willpower, tipping the odds in my favor. A high attribute created a demand for skill trees and skills to make use of the attribute. But I couldn't for the life of me guess what Blue Moon would give me. Odds were good; it wouldn't have the attributes I wanted, or it might not have a tamer-related skill at all. Blue could be referring to blue mages who could learn skills directly from monsters. A skill related to Blue Magic would be incredible. If I had something like that, then there was a good chance I could throw away my hoe and never pick it up.

Such a skill would qualify me to join the military, and no one could say a thing about it after that from the civilian side.

I stared at the dissipating clouds and rolled my eyes. What was the likelihood of that happening, probably the same as a sexy girl my age falling from the sky? I looked up hopeful, but the sky was clear without a cloud. Great for my crops bad for a lonely guy living in a tent half stained with blood.

The time had come to go back to the dungeon. I had enough experience to level up to ten in the dungeon. Once that happened, I would get a skill from my class, and it would hopefully have something to do with dungeons. If I could alter how a dungeon adapts to items and monsters introduced, that could help me grow much stronger.

I felt stuck, and I needed to fight. Fighting was the one thing I could control.

The dungeon had changed a little since my last outing. Instead of a cave mouth with a few monster bones at the entrance, leather skin had grown over the rocks, and black veiny vines were spewing out blood around the surface. A hyena-type monster was lapping at the blood when I arrived on the scene. For some reason, the monster hadn't sensed me, and I had no reason to kill it. The spotted menace stared at me, muzzle completely drenched in blood and head cocked to the side.

Fell Wind flowed around me, spiraling slowly as I waited for it to attack.

Spotted Hyena lvl12
Psionic Dungeon Unnamed: Recommended lvl19

I blinked as the monster's name appeared on my map, along with the dungeon's lack of name and recommended level. That was new and helpful. Knowing the level of monsters would help me determine a monster's threat level. Training made my level into something unreliable. Not that monsters didn't have skill trees to grow in unusual ways they didn't really focus on skills until they were much smarter. Rank 2 or 3 monsters were far more dangerous for that reason.

15 agility didn't sound like much, but it was over 7 times greater than I had days ago. When my skills were including giving me lighter steps, I was rather quick. The Spotted Hyena jumped backward when I arrived in front of it. The monster cackled before running while turning its head to keep an eye on me as it fled. The monster pissed on the ground, and I knew there would be more of its kind here soon enough. Hyenas rarely traveled outside of packs; there might be rank 2 variants, such as Gnolls, among their number.

There were teeth in the cave entrance that weren't there before. I took a step forward and ran down into the dungeon at a breakneck speed and revved up my chainsword. I needed skill shards and a safe place to level up. The mid-boss I fought before would be great practice.

I didn't stop running as I tore through monsters, only stopping to collect skill shards that were different from what I'd seen before. As I arrived at the castle made of silver string overlooking the blood lake, I saw the rabbit mid-boss hovering atop the castle. The grip on my weapon tightened as I shot forward, slashing monsters to pieces as they attacked afterimages and misdirection. Some hesitated as if confused about where to strike, and I slaughtered them for it. Blood and gore blasted out of the curved hand guard of my chainsword away from me. In front of the gates was a blast from the past. Large crow-like birds watched me with cruel black eyes and wings like chainsaws. Feathers sharp and ridged like saw blades vibrated at incredible speeds as my wind fell upon them. They squawked in pain, and that was all the excuse I needed to cut their heads off.

I kicked the doors open to see numerous rabbit soldiers feasting before a dining hall. Some seemed to be telling stories of battle, while others made more rabbits on the table graphically. With my arrival, the wind carried pained screams as it swept through the revelers. I picked up a black chainsword from one of the downed crows.

Oblivion Alpha lvl15
Description: A dungeon-made experimental chainsword designed to kill with incredible efficiency. Monster parts were made in the creation of this weapon, giving it the power to level up to a cap of 20.
Crow Father I: Enemies Slain creates shadow black birds to fight for the weapon's wielder 2 levels lower than the slain creature. Cap = 1 x weapon lvl.

The blade was balanced well, especially for a chainsword, and I liked the way its teeth looked like feathers instead of tiny blades. When I waved it, little motes of shadow appeared before dissipating.

My first attacker recovered quickly and charged me, waving a war hammer. Even in heavy steel plates, the rabbit spider chimera moved fast and gracefully. I upped the pressure from my wind, and it stumbled, giving me the opportunity to slash my new blade into the armpit where the armor was lightest. The stab gave me a brief glance at the monster's throat, and I stabbed with Oblivion. Blood, muscle, and trachea blasted out of my weapon's exhaust port. The monster fell, and from his shadow, a small, inky black bird appeared before flying up to my shoulder.

Blackbird lvl12
+2 strength

I blinked and looked at the bird. They gave me attribute boosts. A dark aura had appeared around me, feeding my body energy. This was so much better than I thought; free attributes would help me get so much more done. I looked at the still screaming formerly reveling monsters as nothing more than free attributes.

My chain swords revved as I charged into them, slicing and killing with Oblivion. If I could find a completed version of the chain sword, then I would have it made. Before, I thought no equipment would really matter compared to skills, but maybe I was wrong. What I needed was the right equipment.

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

Day 18

I tapped a fiddle with my foot under the torchlight of the banquet hall. Kegs of clotted blood lined the long tables beside the dissolving bodies of servants and guests alike. Roasted meat was piled high on the table covered in blood like it was a sauce. Expensive silverware with rabbit skulls lining the handles with fur-like etchings in the metal sat in a pile as I debated whether to loot them or not. Their table, a long granite monstrosity, was polished to perfection and begging for me to steal. After a moment of looking around, the fiddle at my feet was too much of a distraction.

The instrument was light in my hands. I had some lessons, but they never kept my interest. Cherry red wood shining under torchlight made me want to change that, if only for something to do that wasn't training and killing. I made a show of inspecting the fiddle and kept my eyes glued firmly on the instrument's reflective surface.

Appearing to let my guard down would surely draw out the enemies I know are waiting to try and ambush me.

Perhaps what I needed was a little less lightning. I raised my hand and pushed forward with my open palm. Wind rushed from my action, blowing out candles, blasting away tablecloths, and extinguishing torches. Blackness filled my vision as the wind continued to rush around me.

I touched the bow to the fiddle and tried to play, only to release a horrible screeching sound. A string popped, cutting my face and splashing blood on the beautiful instrument.

My hand raised, and the wind stilled in the room. Gestures helped control my skill far more than I thought possible. I hadn't tried words yet to go along with them, but for anything complicated, they were the way to go. Hand signs might be something to look into at a later date. Communication with my skills helped them unleash their full potential.

Through the calm of my wind, I could feel a gathering of chimera with bows on the balcony above the banquet hall. I dropped the broken fiddle and pulled free my new chainsword. Oblivion Alpha was one incredible weapon.

I powered on the moment I drew it, and its motor was nearly silent. Arrows flew as I dove under the balcony. I felt the impact after I made my way out of the line of fire. In the kitchen, I ripped the arrows out while I heard the monsters above me.

Wings beat against the ground as they communicated while I pulled the arrows free. Armor would have been a good idea. Before, I thought it would weigh me down and make me slower. When I yanked a barbed arrow out of my behind with a chunk of flesh attached, I changed my mind. Blood flowed profusely down my leg, making my pants stick to me.

Regeneration was doing its job, but I would need to eat soon. Lost flesh had to come from somewhere.

A monster dropped on the floor, and I stepped forward, gathering wind in a windup before thrusting my palm out. Gale force winds rushed forward, and the chimera gripped its head as the wind ripped it off its many feet. The fancy silverware I had coveted before followed the monster and tore into it. At the same time, the beast slammed into the silver wire wall.

The wind was getting easier to control, and I wasn't losing as much stamina from it any longer. While the first monster bled out, the others dove after it and began ripping it apart. I felt them in the dark rip and tare until the fallen chimera was no more.

With the arrows that restricted my movement gone, there was no reason to hold back. I stepped out into the darkness with the chimera duel-wielding chainswords. My first blow took a chimera at the join where its bow was held. A massive, multi-jointed limb fell before my next strike took the monster's head.

My feet barely touched the ground as powerful gusts leaped from my every move while Crow Step kept me light. I stabbed another chimera through the chest and let its blood and entrails blast out away from my body. At the same time, my other chainsword cleaved halfway through a monster's neck, leaving it to choke on its own blood as my chainswords continued to devastate the monster.

When they too were no more I relit one of the torches with a lighter from my bag. The room lit up, revealing dissolving bodies that looked more like mosquitoes than rabbits. I had a good haul so far. 5 skill shards, and it was time to level up my class.

I used my experience points gained from selling crops and leveled up to 10.

Exhaustion became a fleeting concept as my endurance increased to 34, and my body felt better than ever. Some of the scars on my arm from a wolf bite vanished, and my skin felt a little tighter and smoother. 10 points in Vitality really was impressive. I didn't know how many more years I might live, but it was quite a few.

Ping!
New Skill
Dungeon Management lvl1
Description: Any dungeon found on the user's land is subject to the user's adjustment and alteration either in or outside the dungeon. While at first the user can only alter a dungeon slightly by adding new items. As the manager, the user's desires play a role in the dungeon's evolution. At higher levels, the dungeon will pay rent in drops or, in some cases, credit to the user.

Recalculating: The user has greatly altered this dungeon's evolution path and succeeded in adjusting the dungeon without a skill. Skill Experience has been awarded.

Dungeon Management lvl18
Description: Dungeons on the user's property can be claimed by touching the dungeon core and managed directly at skill level 50.

That skill was everything I hoped for and more. With it, my path forward was assured. All I had to do was get to 32 more levels in Dungeon Management, and I could add a corn drop by the bushel if I wanted to. That way, I could get rid of my fields and build more defenses to protect my gold mine.

I had to kill Tony Graves not only to get Gwen back but to protect my investment. That was madness, and I cackled at the thought until my voice echoed off the walls above the rustle of wind.

My every step was a light breeze, almost imperceptible, with only two Fell Wind-based skills. Using those skills constantly with synergy they had worked well for me. I could see them reaching the high 60s in a year or sooner if I learned more about the skills. Anticipating that would surely keep me from going insane.

What could I do to the dungeon to alter its evolution in a meaningful way? Big plays seemed to level my Dungeon Management skill the best. Adding two different types of weapons and a few new monsters changed dungeon drops, added chimera monsters, and altered the dungeon's appearance. That was a big play, no matter how I looked at it. So, what could I do to change the dungeon more?

I climbed the dungeon to the next level and slaughtered everything in my path. Bloody viscera covered the silver thread walls as I passed by enemies as silent as a ghost. 17 crows had boosted my attributes to the extreme thanks to Crow Father I, but the buffs faded after 10 minutes, forcing me to make more kills to refresh them. Different monsters gave different attributes; a few of the minstrels I killed actually gave charisma instead of something useful.

What use did I have for charisma with no one to talk to? If I didn't have a dungeon to fight through, I would have purchased an AI friend to help keep me sane. I was half tempted to open a conversation with the rabbit chimera mid-boss.

I was literally farming her for another uncommon skill shard. Still, I was certain she had some memory of our last battle. That was probably why the castle wasn't being crushed with telekinesis.

My mind fell back on what I could do to alter the dungeon in a meaningful way. Perhaps what the dungeon needed to bring it to the next level was a theme to tie everything together. After a theme, perhaps a story like a mad doctor trying to find the secrets of immortality, cultists trying to bring a powerful demon-type monster into the world, or maybe a legend about a weapon that's a sword and a chainsaw.

How would I go about causing the last one? It felt so abstract, and it was hard to gauge a dungeon's intelligence and focus. As they grow larger, it's more difficult for them to pay attention to little details, which was why themes and storylines were so important. More importantly, if I have an impact on them, my skill will level.

My appearance on the roof caused the rabbit chimera floating above the castle to sigh. Her brown, furred, almost human face twitched when she saw me.

"It feels like we've battled once before in another life. Who are you, stranger, and why have you slaughtered my subjects?" The rabbit chimera asked.

I held up Oblivion Alpha. "I am no one, just a wielder of an incredible weapon." The curved teeth of my chainsword spun until they became an almost invisible edge. My blade dug into the roof, setting off sparks when it met the silver string that made up the roof. I felt the comforting hum from the chainsword's handle and pulled my other blade free.

The rabbit looked surprised when I tossed it to her. "Defend yourself and avenge your subjects. I don't understand how you can stand fighting unarmed when such amazing weapons are around." I said.

She held the chainsword I killed her with before with sad eyes before activating the weapon.

"Why would you give your opponent a weapon I don't understand?"

"How else can we dance without the hum of chainswords and the whistle of the wind. Fighting in silence is boring." I said.

What in the 6 kaiju was I doing? I didn't have a plan; this was all improvisation. I developed a sort of goal based on what I wanted this dungeon to turn into based on what I saw from the castle. Subconsciously I must have thought about how it was best to gain the dungeon's attention. If I were a dungeon without an extreme obsession with micromanagement, I would be bored once things started running smoothly. Any change from the norm would get my attention. A conversation between a mid-boss and an adventurer would get some interest. An adventurer arming one of my monsters with a drop from my own dungeon would be a red flag. My talk about dance, the hum of chainswords, and the whistle of the wind was to narrow down to what got me in the dungeon or at least point the dungeon in that direction.

I wanted a completed Oblivion and maybe more chainswords with fancy names and designs. A theme around chainsword combat and Fell Wind would benefit my build the most. The dungeon was on my land, so I was going to farm exactly what I wanted from it.

My goal from this point forward was to give the dungeon a show and express to it exactly how much I love using chainswords and wielding Fell Wind. Those weren't a theme, not really, but they would narrow things down and make it easier for a theme to develop. Musical and theatrical battles weren't really themes either; they were more special effects. Perhaps the theme could be taking two old tools and breathing new life by combining them into something new. That would be incredible a dungeon with a theme of crafting new things by taking traits from two things. I could imagine the theme being reproduction or inheritance. Maybe adding innovation without restraint leads to disaster. Like, have this be a simple medieval floor, and the further floors become more advanced before eventually falling into a rotten world stuck on making ever greater chainswords but never growing in any other perceivable ways. Like when society is stuck sometimes it needs to be burned down so something new can grow.

I blocked a swing from the rabbit chimera backed by telekinesis and tons of speed. The teeth of our weapons ground against each other, spitting out sparks, and she was so much better when fighting with a weapon. Her large, fluffy rabbit feet moved, and her telekinesis took her away as she spun as we fought, revealing a little puffy cotton tail. I stopped her blade from cutting my head off at the last moment and kicked her to the edge of the roof.

My body twisted in the Gemini Waltz, waving through the air.

Her body was frail, but backed by telekinesis, she might as well have weighed as much as an elephant-type monster. My ankle and thigh throbbed from the blow, and my cheeks ached from smiling so much.

"What are you so happy about?"

"Would you leave this place with me and be my companion?" I asked.

Her head cocked to the side as my chainsword passed by her head.

"What?" The wind picked up around the castle from out dance.

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

Day 18

Sparks flashed between each blow as my skills were tested to their breaking point. The castle wobbled as supports bent to their breaking point before collapsing as the wind and telekinesis passively battled it out. Blood spouts appeared over the lake between clashes, edging close to the castle before collapsing into raining blood. Pieces of the castle fell away as floors caved in and the roof collapsed in places. Under the red haze of the ceiling above, our blows sparked in the darkness as we used our limited space to maneuver around each other, searching for a chance to take the upper hand.

Openings appeared only to turn into traps under the chimera rabbit's incredible speed. My arms ached as the battle extended beyond a few minutes, and I strained to keep up. Telekinetic blows bashed against my Fell Wind as blood poured over us, covering the ground between wrist-jarring blows. I had to adjust several times to keep in the fight. Giving her a weapon had been a bad idea.

"What did you mean by go with you?" She asked.

I sucked in a breath and tried to appear like the fight hadn't bothered me.

"I meant what I said; let's leave this dungeon together. You will become my companion." I said.

"You are a hideous abomination and an intruder. The last time we met, you cut me apart with the very blade you handed me. Give me a reason not to do the same." The rabbit chimera asked.

"I can grow carrots," I said.

"You are going to regret giving me this weapon."

It seemed charisma was a more valuable attribute than I thought. Then again, farmers and rabbits were natural enemies.

"Perhaps the next time we meet, you will have a different opinion."

"Not going to happen."

The wind picked up, and the chimera's eyes widened. She attacked, and I defended, taking her blows until I moved, and she slashed through an afterimage. A slash from me took her arm, and I caught her wrist before she could finish her counter-swing.

"You were hiding your skills this entire fight."

My blade pierced her chest, and I brutally ripped it free before taking her head for a second time. Deception was the only reason I won. Giving her what she wanted, a direct and predictable confrontation made her not only complacent but confident in her eventual victory. She used her skills more intelligently this time around and had a weapon to direct her telekinetic skill through. The might to rip apart a castle had been turned into speed and strength. Given more time and a chainsword skill, she might have beaten me. Next time she would be ready for my afterimages and Gemini Waltz. I sheathed both weapons and lifted the uncommon skill shard drop.

It was time to see to my loot.

Common Skill Shards
First Strike
Gemini Waltz
Final Blow
Fell Wind
Bond

Uncommon Skill Shard
Fell Whirlwind

Most of what I found were skills that had dropped before. Only First Strike and Bond were new, so I immediately used those skill shards.

First Strike showed me images of monsters slaying powerful enemies in fast single strikes before their enemies were ever aware. Bond was different; it showed a slow-building relationship built on trust between any number of monsters. Bond wasn't a taming skill; it was something far more natural.

First Strike lvl1
Bond lvl1

I left the castle and returned to the path to the boss and took another detour. Down the winding tunnel small gravestones covered the path leading to a small hill with a house sitting atop it. All along the hill, more gravestones covered the ground with only a small path clear. I walked the spooky path past the very blank gravestones to the cabin. Peaking in through a window, I saw the strangest thing imaginable.

Chicken monsters are ranked to appear almost human.

My map updated.

Ping!
Special Event: Slasher Movie
Rewards: Uncommon Skill Shard Drops Unique to this area.

So, I went from a medieval castle to becoming a movie villain. I took a good look at the teenage chickens inside the cabin. They looked almost human except for feathers instead of hair, beady black eyes, and a beak instead of lips and a nose. They were all wearing clothes, and the roosters were large red and black feathered monsters that easily stood seven feet tall. The metal talons on their legs looked like serious business. There was also a crow in the group acting like the life of the party.

"Can you believe Courtney and Roger are fertilizing eggs upstairs? What a slut?"

"You're just jealous; no one wants to fertilize your eggs, Veronica, you Virgin." The other hens clucked as they ridiculed Veronica.

"Hey, watch what you say. Veronica is my kind of gal. I'm willing to wait for the right hen."

"By the Colonel, can you be more of a simp Roger." The larger rooster said.

The two birdmen turned on each other, flaring their feathers, seemingly ready to fight.

"Stop it; we're here to have a good time and read from this book," Veronica said.

She held up a recipe book that contained numerous ways to fry, bake, and roast chicken. My stomach growled at some of the pictures.

"Don't they say if you read from it, something bad will happen?" Another hen said.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine; nothing ever happens to the crow."

The hens started clucking. I was more than willing to kill them all by that point.

The secret to the colonel's famous fried chicken is." I stared up at the room above and knew they would probably be the easiest to get rid of. "Garlic," I jumped, grabbed the lip of the windowsill, and pulled myself up.

Through the window, I saw things I could never unsee between two giant chickens.

It wasn't that I was having second thoughts that forced my decision to climb down from the second floor. Dungeon diving as a whole, especially when alone, was a balance of risk and reward. How much I was risking for what reward was important. Enemy levels weren't immediately apparent. I didn't know how strong these chickens were, but I did know the event wanted me to take them on one by one, like in a slasher movie. That meant that they were probably at a high enough level to prove dangerous.

Going by the genre, the virgin hen was probably a mid-boss like the rabbit chimera. With that in mind, I dropped to the floor and started backing away from the house.

I was reminded of trying to kill wolves with my shovel instead of a real weapon. The process was messy, liable to damage the tool, and the end result took far more effort.

Tombstones lined the hill leading to a cabin that had electricity in the dungeon and a false night sky. There was even a moon overhead and, from the look of it, a lake in the distance. I even saw a dock and a little wooden boat. So, the dungeon had one medieval genre and a slasher movie scene in the same dungeon. I half expected ghouls to pop up out of the ground and start dancing like in the movie Return of the Living Zeds.

I saw that movie with the brain-hungry undead monsters around the same time I saw another movie about a powerful emerald wizard and a house that flew from a twister. By the foundation and basement, keeping the cabin on the hill and lifting it with the wind wasn't an option at my level with Fell Wind and Fell Whirlwind.

Whirlwinds were deadly, and they loved to lift objects before flinging them at incredible speeds. My hands reached out, and I felt the Fell Wind that gathered around me start to spiral. Only when I concentrated on the uncommon skill Fell Whirlwind did I realize I hadn't really used it? All the levels I gained since entering the dungeon were from learning more about the skill. Gestures were important, especially when I wanted to do something big.

Gemini Waltz added a new flavor to my gestures; thought it was a sword style, the footsteps transferred over into something synergizing. Under the pale moonlight, I felt Cosmic Tempo begin its rhythm along with First Strike and Final Blow. Strangely, I felt Bond's hand as well as my skills flowed together, creating an after image with Gemini Blitz as I picked up speed. My skills wanted to work with me as invisible currents of air gathered in the form of my dance partner.

The shutters on the cabin windows flew off their hinges as the winds picked up. All around me, the grass around the gravestones bent away from my dance to a Cosmic Tempo. In my arms, a pillar of black wind roared the heavens, spiraling around me, keeping pace with my steps but never quite taking me off my feet. The winds were mine at that moment before I released them to find a new partner.

Tombstones lifted from the ground as the whirlwind crept up the hill. Slasher movies were never what terrified me. I didn't pray to the Sovereign Omega after watching a movie like my sister Sasha. No, I knelt on my hands and knees when natural disasters came too close to our home and ripped a neighbor's house from the foundation when a tier 7 threw a tantrum.

A tombstone blasted through the side of the building, and from my system, the dungeon acknowledged a kill. First Strike was still active, along with Final Blow. I could feel the whirlwind I danced with as it traveled up the hill, ripping metal railing out of stone, rolling it into a ball, and shooting it through the second floor. Perhaps it was my Bond with the storm that made it act strangely. No tombstones launched in my direction. The crow jumped out of the window only for a tombstone to fly out of nowhere and crush its chest. Yet still, this wasn't considered the first Strike or last blow because the blow was still traveling. All that had happened, according to my skills, was the blow was on its way. Enemies dying from the debris was a happy accident.

Dirt ripped away from the hill exposing the basement. From the bottom of the hill, through the window, I saw only Veronica manage to descend while the rest were stunned by the effects of Fell Wind. After using the skill for so long, I forgot it wasn't an elemental skill at all but a psychic attack. When the two roosters broke into a cock fight, I understood the meaning of Fell Whirlwind.

It wasn't simply an elemental attack; it was a whirlwind of negative emotions like jealousy and rivalry.

Blood flew, staining the white feathers of the hens right before the floor above them collapsed. More tombstones smashed into the basement wall but they did no meaningful damage.

After I understood that more tombstones ripped into the whirlwind, but no more flew out of its funnel. Bond, the completely ambiguous skill, once more showed its power. A bulwark of cycling stone, psychic power, and wind smashed into the basement. As the whirlwind lost its strength, I felt something like worry, but that was ridiculous.

I must have been in the dungeon too long.

I followed the path of destruction up the hill and waited beside the hole leading into the cabin. The moment Veronica's head peaked out of the basement when she was sure the storm had passed, I reached out, snapped her neck, and let go.

She tumbled out of the basement and down the hill, hitting every tombstone. I noticed a book she dropped and picked up the colonel's guide to frying chicken. Then I gave the massive chicken a look over. She seemed a little livelier than a monster with a broken neck should have. I checked the monster's pulse and found it was still alive. Neck breaking wasn't a skill of mine, and I didn't have much practice with it growing up.

From what I could tell, she had been so surprised by my attack that she flew out of the basement and knocked herself out on one of the remaining tombstones.

With the ultimate guide to cooking chicken in my hand and a massive bird, I decided I was done for the day and used some rope from my bag to tie the monster up. With a little effort, I found two of the birds dead from blunt force but intact enough for a meal. There was only one problem: where was I going to find an oven big enough for them. The living hen could be used to farm chicken monsters and sell their massive eggs. After I left, I was certain the dungeon would spawn more birds. I could come back and farm the survivors until I had plenty.

From what I could tell, mid-bosses were all ranked 2 monsters on the low end. The boss was a rank 2 somewhere in the middle, stronger than that ogre of Tony's. Like if I wanted to rank Gwen up to a low rank 2 I would choose a Rain Deer. Attributes before ranking up were important in determining what a monster could become.

Rank 2 chicken eggs were more valuable than normal chicken eggs. Depending on the chicken's diet, the eggs could be used by high-level chefs and were something farmers could sell. Veronica was a worthy addition to my farm, and I could already feel something developing between us. Bond was a strange skill; even when it was from defeating an opponent or causing a natural disaster, it had some effect.

Ping!
I froze at the sound. My system would normally only chime after I left a dungeon to show me notifications. If it was happening in the dungeon, then it had to have something to do with the event.

Event Complete.
All Survivors were slashed, and Virgin Final Girl was captured.
Calculating…
Scenario Completion Time: 5 minutes 36 seconds
Virgin Final Girl was captured before her virginity was lost
Unique Actions Taken
Book of Colonel's Fried Chicken: acquired.
Reward
Rare Skill Shard Drop From Floor 3
Skill Shard: Fell Mastery (R)
Fell Mastery (R) lvl1

I let the memories from the skill shard flow through me. Only this time, it was different. Instead of images from monsters showing me how the skill could be used, I learned about the skill itself.

Fell was the reaction of psychic power impacting the world. It was an effect and, in my case, something I was manipulating without understanding until I gained the skill. Understanding what the pushing and pulling reaction was didn't change the fact I wasn't psychic, not even telepathic. Without the driving force behind my skill, I would always be weaker. My high Willpower could create small psychic waves thanks to my skill, but without the primary skills needed to power Fell Wind, I would never have reached my full potential.

I knew psychic was a rare skill, and only bosses and apparently events dropped them. As I headed for the exit I thought about turning back to try the boss to see what it would drop but held back.

Tomorrow was another day. I looked down at the dead chickens I had dragged with me. Once I de-feathered them, removed their guts, and cooked them over an open fire, I would have real meat for the first time in forever. The excitement was overwhelming.

Once I fed and grew stronger with skills and skill trees, I would wait for Tony to come back and break him into bits before giving him to the corn.

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

Day 18
The sun had crested behind the tree line when I stepped out of the dungeon. Notifications and adjustments hit me one after the other with constant chimes. Once they finished several notifications merged into a single document informing me of the gains I obtained within the dungeon. I felt it then as the power restraining all gains outside of levels no longer restricted me. A whirlwind of conflicting feelings, odd sensations, and pulsing muscles stole my breath.

While gains could be made within dungeons, their effects didn't truly activate until an adventurer left. Not all dungeons were so restrictive, but those were the general rules expected in dungeons.

My lungs felt like they were burning as I struggled to get enough air in them to keep standing through the changes. I felt so different. As my muscles bulged and my vision changed, a grin appeared on my face. This wasn't just a small jump; I could feel a major change happening, like I crossed a milestone. The only comparison I could think of would be ranking up for monsters. Mia once described what her pseudo rank up from 0 to 1 and what I felt from my attribute gains through Training was similar.

Slowly, breathing became easier as my body adjusted to the new normal, and all the skills I gained folded their knowledge into me. There was so much I had gotten wrong about attributes that I hadn't thought to ask. From this latest dungeon drive, my intelligence increased, and I realized it affected my ability to process skill information. My Wisdom was so low, along with my charisma. While I wanted a willpower build, neglecting every attribute would be a mistake.

"If being a normal human was impossible, then I would be a superhuman," I said.

Humans who gained too many attributes that made them a danger to the public were known in polite society as superhumans. In reality, they were treated as human monsters, beings too much for the weak, extremely specialized populace. Most of the time, they were mages or those with special battle classes. They had an easier time finding permanent items to increase their attributes in dungeons and used them to equalize them.

Using Training to equalize attributes was unheard of. It was a skill with slow returns and was hard on the body. Without Regeneration, it would have destroyed me; without Adapt, it would have hardly leveled, and without Berserk, I couldn't have forced myself to empower it. This wasn't an unknown or special combination, but humans don't use it. No one wants to accidentally mow down a crowd while playing Monster on the go on their phone.

Someone with 25 attributes across the board would barely feel human. 50, and everyone around someone like that would feel like balloons full of blood, ready to burst at the slightest touch.

That's why what I'm doing would be foolish if I had any hope of returning to polite society.

Ping!
+2 Constitution, +3 Strength, +2 Dexterity,
+1 Agility, +3 Perception, +1 Willpower,
+2 Focus, +1 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom.
Dungeon Manager lvl20, Berserk lvl31, Training lvl35,
Regeneration lvl30, Adapt lvl35, Lingering Will lvl30,
Gemini Waltz lvl25, Gemini Blitz lvl15, Blitz Kick lvl11,
Crow Step lvl25, Final Blow lvl22, Fell Wind lvl35,
Cosmic Tempo lvl18, First Strike lvl16, Bond lvl11,
Fell Whirlwind lvl20, Mapping lvl11.
Skill Points: 165

Skill Trees
Monster Management 0/500
Baron of Cyclones 0/300
Embers of Fallen Heroes I 56/250
Lord of Squalls 0/200
Black Rage II 0/100
Blue Moon 0/100
Black Wings 0/75
Final Impact 0/50
Way of the Homestead 0/50
Alter of Change 0/50
Resistance is Elemental 0/50

The key to moving forward seemed to be gaining more skills. If Blue Moon was what I thought it was, then it was exactly what I needed. Alter of Change came from Training and would definitely help me gain attributes faster.

For normal monsters and people with classes, skill trees were hard to finish out, and few people completed even 10 in their lifetimes. Most people specialize to avoid becoming completely inhuman. I was special.

To my shame and utter joy, I was on the right track finally to break free.

Blue Moon 100/100
+6 Willpower
+9 Wisdom
New Skill Tree
Blue Moon II 0/150

Words tumbled out of my mouth before I could control them. "Wyrm anal ulcers, Oni blue thumb, and bleeding vampire tumors. Blue Moon wasn't a series, cheater." Wind blasted dirt up all around me as I struggled to contain myself.

I glared at the slow, darkening blue sky. The system we all used was run by the grand champion, but even he had limits. He couldn't alter an already generated skill tree. I should have gotten a skill.

My kick sent a rock hurtling until it embedded itself into a tree.

15 attributes were a good haul, and I couldn't expect a blue magic skill from only 100 skill points. I knew that fundamentally, but I wanted it so bad. If I had known I wouldn't get a skill, I would have finished off Embers of Fallen Heroes.

50 points went into my next skill tree.

Alter of Change 50/50
New Skill
Skill Fusion lvl1
Description: Skills can be combined to form new skills with varying results depending on the synergy between skills. Skills fused can grow in rarity, growing in power. Higher levels will more easily fuse skills with less synergy increase rarity, and power of the new skill.

That wasn't bad. I could live with that.

"Now, what am I going to do with you."

Veronica, the chicken monster opened her eyes then and glared at me. There wasn't much more she could do bound up like she was. I could feel a bond between us but little else.

+1 Willpower

"If you don't want to speak, then you don't have to. We're almost home." It felt good to have a conversation partner again.

"What are you going to do to me?" Veronica asked.

"I'm going to feed you a steady diet perfect for producing eggs. Then, I'm going to sell them to cooks and bakers around the world. In exchange, you get to live with me, eat my food, and not get cooked in my oven. Does that sound like a good deal to you?" I felt like I trying more in this conversation than I had in a long time.

The chicken monster shivered. She was definitely stronger than me, but when our eyes met, she shivered like a leaf. I could tell from her physical attributes she should be able to wipe the floor with me. Lingering Will could only do so much.

"I will be good. What about my friends?" Veronica asked.

"There were no other survivors. But don't worry, the dungeon I found you in will surely restart the scenario when I enter next. I'll be sure to get a copy of either yourself or maybe some of your friends."

"I don't understand what that means, sir," Veronica said.

I nodded that made sense. I didn't really explain much to her, and I probably sounded like an insane person. How could I explain to someone their entire history was a fabrication by a reality-shifting hunk of quartz?

"Imagine you are a story written by a person that only exists on paper. Then, some all-powerful being decided that they wanted to act out their favorite scenes from that story. So they make you with all your memories intact and put you in a location surrounded by friends from your story. None of your life has been truly experienced; all your memories are artificial." I paused at that and looked up dungeon monster notes, only to be banned from the site without the proper privilege of certain classes. "From this point forward, everything is very real, I assure you," I said.

She continued to look at me like I had two heads.

Talking was exhausting, and being polite was even worse. I rubbed my head. No, I hadn't been polite because I messed up the most important part.

"My name is Atom Walker, and I know you are Veronica. Let's be friends. I don't have many of those."

"Apparently, neither do I."

"So another Veronica will appear with all my memories. Were there others, or am I the first?" Veronica asked.

She was adapting quickly to her new life. I hoped that was a good sign.

"Yes, as far as I know. But don't worry, I'm sure we'll have an entire legion of you soon. Dungeons normally reset after 12 hours. So I'll go in and find some friends for you tomorrow. Until then, I'm sure you will enjoy all the corn you can eat."

"I don't like corn."

I blinked, and suddenly, all my plans were ruined. What was I going to feed her if not corn?"

"You're human, right? Well, don't make that face. Not all corn is the same; maybe I'll like yours." I nodded slowly.

"What do you prefer to eat?"

"Bug monsters, I like the juicy worms the most. Do you have any of those?" I glanced around at the trees and spotted a rotten log in the distance. The wind blowing gently around me found a 6ft worm larger than my torso inside.

I opened the log with my chiansword and pulled the massive soft worm free.

A new screen appeared in my vision when I gave the massive green caterpillar to Veronica.

Bond Screen
Battle Chicken
Veronica Reputation 0/100 Neutral +20
Veronica Reputation 20/100 Acquaintance

I quickly checked for Gwen and surprisingly found her.

White Fawn
Sandy Reputation -40/100 Despised

My fists tightened, and the wind picked up. Once my debt was paid, there would be a reckoning between that tamer and me.

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

Day 19

To my surprise, Veronica didn't run away at her first opportunity. She didn't have ropes tied to her orange chicken feet or any restraints. She slept next to me instead of roosting somewhere high when the wolves started howling. Her body fluffed up next to me on my pallet, and I expected at any time to be in danger. Instead of sleeping, I kept one eye open in a half-meditative state.

It wasn't uncommon for new monsters to kill their tamers depending on their level and the tamer's skill levels. The 30s was considered a safe number for rank 1 monsters. I was dealing with a rank 2 with Bond at lvl15 after increasing her reputation to 20. While it wasn't the same as a tamer skill, it had to be similar.

Bond was such a vague skill it might as well be a relationship or friendship. I didn't know Veronica wouldn't betray me. I attacked her and then fed her in her time of need after shattering her entire world. Whether she believed me or not didn't seem to matter. Our reputation status was friendly.

She woke up just before dawn and began moving through stretches, flaring her tail feathers before looking back at me. It was weird.

"I need a nest if you want me to lay my eggs." I blinked at the chicken monster that spoke like a human, stood at my height, and had a very flexible worldview. "Quickly, unless you want me to crack the shell on the ground."

I would need to buy her calcium supplements. She wasn't a replacement for Gwen, but Veronica was a good girl. There were some old blankets in my pack, and calcium supplements for medium-sized bird monsters were only 15W for three months. I found enough wood to hammer a box together in record time and piled the blankets in a spiral, almost like a nest.

+1 Reputation with Veronica

"I would feel better if you ate the egg yourself," Veronica said.

She climbed onto the makeshift nest and began roosting. Her legs flexed, showing off the strength of a rank 2 monster built to kick enemies to death. Her arms looked no different than that of a normal woman, but her this and gluts were incredibly built. Compared to my lean build, it was quite impressive. If I wanted muscle like that, then I would have to earn it with lots of good food and plenty of exercise.

Ping!
Notice of Inspection
Dr. Paulina Prince Class: Monster Tamer
Research Center of Rasputin
89 Pharma Dr.
Mar, N Weston 87925


Dear Atom Walker Class: Farmer
Lot 3022, Walker Farm
Rasputin Territory, N Weston 89925
Spring 40, 11M 495

Dear Mr. Walker,
I am the researcher in charge of investigating changes in dungeon activity in the Rasputin Territory, and it has come to my attention that despite numerous warnings, you have made your homestead in the badlands of Rasputin. Mt. Red is home to a powerful monster of immense psychic power and has, as of late, become ill. We believe it has reached the natural end of its lifespan and is being challenged by powerful monsters for the territory. I'm certain you have noticed the dungeon on your property, and I am happy to tell you we are willing to purchase it and your property. A team has been assembled by my colleague Tony Graves, the young man you met and gifted a White Fawn to for its safety. They will come soon to offer a generous payment for the land you own and to ensure your safe retreat from the property.

Dungeons newly born are rare finds even in Rasputin. We are thankful for the assistance you have given so far in preparing the site. If, for any reason, you need a recommendation, I would be happy if you listed my name. We thank you for your cooperation. The team will arrive two days after this letter, and it would be best if you were ready to leave by that time.

Kind Regards
Dr. Paulina Prince


Two days after the letter, maybe I should expect them earlier. I stared out at my gate and imagined something bigger. There were larger trees in the forest around my land. Some of them were monsters of the second rank, and their bodies were stronger than some steel. Killing them and turning them into fencing, or at least my gate, would be helpful. Sometimes, they survive the transition and become ranked monsters in the form of objects.

"While you work on that egg, I have some business in the forest. Make yourself at home and don't do anything I wouldn't."

"Could you go into the dungeon later and get my friends?" Veronica asked.

I slid my hands behind my neck and let the sun bear down on me. Soon Gwen would be back, and my enemies would be very dead. I was in the best kind of mood.

"Sure, if they spoil me at night like you did."

"We were just sharing body heat to stay warm. No offense, but you don't have any feathers."

"None taken. I prefer my women to have horns."

"You are a male of rare tastes," Veronica said.

What could I say other than I liked what I liked. Before, thoughts of women I might be with had left me with a shadowy silhouette. Without fail, when I tried to fill in their faces, they all looked like the tomboy of an Oni who followed me around my whole childhood.

I hadn't seen Mai since that video. Knowing she was probably stronger than me by miles, I almost didn't want to see her. She was an Oni and the daughter of one of my father's strongest monsters. We grew up together as childhood friends, and my brother's wife took my class. My life was changed, and I was left unaware until the day I gained a class. Mai was a lovely Oni girl with white hair, a single black horn, red skin, and amber eyes. I could easily picture her face it still haunted my dreams. Her slanted eyes were something only seen on women from Easton.

Mai -60/100 Hated.

It wasn't easy to look at, but skills didn't lie. For a tamer skill to change a monster's entire outlook, it had to have something to do with long-term and short-term memory. How else was I despised so much for things I couldn't control?

Mai was in tears when she found out but hadn't seen me off.

I shook the darkness off because I needed to prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Nothing would change if Tony's Ogre crushed me in two days.

Leaving the edge of my territory felt wrong. The forest overhead was filled with massive bugs in all shapes and sizes. Massive moving silk cocoons filled dark spider webs above with human-faced driders watching me and occasionally giggling as they fed on their prey. I moved like a shadow in the forest, but even a shadow had to fear high rank 2 monsters.

What I was about to do would damage the ecosystem of the forest. The great trees held many powerful monsters, but the rank 2s were plentiful. Deeper in, I would have to worry about rank 3 and higher monsters the further I ventured into the woods. On the edge of the great forest of Rasputin, where the mana was barren, I had little to fear. I found one of the rank 2 trees easy enough.

A tower of black bark and blue leaves would be no match for my chainsword. Trees were especially easy prey because they couldn't move unless they followed very specific paths through the ranks. My blade moved fast, grinding through the tree as I circled around. Pieces of bark shattered instead of breaking more obsidian than wood. By my 3rd​ circle, the tree cracked and began falling.

The wind blew, pushing against the leaves in a great gust as I concentrated on giving more wind than fell to the skill. A small cyclone appeared around me as I adjusted it so I could breathe while the leaves nearly levitated the tree for me.

Willpower wasn't easy to measure when it came to skills, but mine had grown much stronger lately. Concentrating on using my skills, I slowly moved the massive rank 2 trees out of the forest, avoiding drider webs as best as possible.

Controlling the wind was easier when it moved in a pattern than a breeze. A constant use of my power was so much more difficult. If I made an updraft, I would pass out long before I reached home, and a cyclone could act as both offense and defense.

There were many opportunities for everything to go wrong. Breathing was actually the hardest part. When I first made the cyclone, it wanted to steal the air from my lungs and kill me on the spot. I had to quickly manipulate air back into my lungs, which added to the strain, but it was manageable. Moving with tons of wood was easier when my cyclone used to leave to deal with most of the heavy lifting. A few came off at first, but after adjusting, I got the hang of it. When I lost concentration or pushed the cyclone out of the sweet spot, more weight from the tree fell on me to hold, and the monster tree nearly crushed me. Sap fell out from the bottom of the tree, sizzling when it touched the ground. This clearly wasn't a giving tree.

Driders watched me as I struggled to keep my wind in check to not antagonize them. My head throbbed, and I could feel blood fall down my chin and drip on my work shirt. When I broke free from the forest and made a b-line for my fence, my hands were burning, and my regeneration barely kept up with it.

I let my control slip as I approached the gate and let the tree fall as I ended my cyclone. The relief hit me like a 9lbs hammer, and I sprawled on the ground. A smile spread across my face at the sheer gains.

Ping!
+1 Focus
+1 Wisdom
Fell Wind lvl39
Fell Whirlwind (UC) lvl25
Fell Mastery (R) lvl11
Skill Points: 22

Something like wind mastery would be great, but who knew if it was even in the dungeon. Having a mastery skill increased the leveling speed of all the skills with Fell in their name. Having it and Adapt almost felt like cheating.


I drew up the plans for a new gate and then began the long process of processing the tree for parts to fix my gate and replace posts around my property. With a little luck, there was a chance the entire fence would become a monster. That meant levels, rank-up, and so much more. For once, the future felt bright.

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

Day 19

"Hear me out; there is no reason to get crazy with this," Veronica said.

I jabbed at my tablet while glaring at the updated toolbar in my architect app. While I would have preferred to have a skill for the building I had planned, my increased attributes changed everything. Or that would be the case if a change hadn't occurred. Some UX designers decided it would be cute to change the shading on my toolbar. What once was white had become a dark grey that continued to draw my attention.

When I tried to focus on hallways, stairwells, wiring, and outlets per room, I got distracted. Maybe it was insane to go from living in a tent to designing a megaplex. We had no water towers, sewage treatment plants, or infrastructure of any kind. A wiser man would have built the chickens a shack and stuck 20 to a room. That would have been a solution, but not the one I would want.

I had the strength, agility, and dexterity to do the work of a dozen beginner carpenters. While I didn't have the class or skills for the work, there were apps to make tasks easier. Developers have long since led teams of enchanters and artificers who dealt with the software of enchanted items. Perhaps when I reached level 100 I would take one of those classes.

My fist lashed out as my eyes latched onto the grey toolbar. A swift wave of fell energy no different that fire followed my strike and hit the heavy bag. It struck, and a small cyclone sprang up, tearing the leather bag and pouring pieces of heavy silicon on the ground. Air currents shook my tent, threatening to rip it off its pegs as I crushed the cyclone.

"Perhaps we should start small. I'm still the only one here." Veronica said.

"That won't be the case forever. Sure, three of you sleeping in here won't be too bad, but what about twenty. I'm sure there are other scenarios in the dungeon with your species. Talking near human monsters are useful for all kinds of events that dungeons love to produce. Who knows what theme the dungeon will choose?" I said.

"You're under a lot of pressure, I understand. Why don't you calm down and take a seat? Let your pet hen take care of you, and maybe if you aren't busy, you could bring me back some more exotic bugs. If all I eat are the fat worms after your corn, I'll get fat."
I remembered seeing a praying mantis in the deep woods with arms like scythes, red chitinous armor, and hungry eyes. The cute bug looked bored while it ate the rank 2 bird it captured. I shook my head before the idea planted itself. Catching something like that with only a chainsword and a dream wouldn't be easy, and I had to keep myself in top shape. Guests would arrive soon enough.

"Maybe I'll find something good in the dungeon. If not, I do have a full gym. Lift some weights, run, or punch," I sighed at the disheveled state of my heavy bag. "Tape up the heavy bag and practice your kicks." She grabbed my hand and it was odd touching her soft hand.

"Your hand feels as rough as my feet. Maybe you should soften them up sometimes with lotion. I could really use some for my poor feet."

Her orange feet showed off a 6-inch spur on each foot, fully capable of gutting a man or monster. Chickens that fall under her area of rank 2 had options. Still, they needed far more attributes to rank into anything with high or peak potential in rank 3. If I was a proper tamer I would give her the training skill and work her on the heavy bag in the morning, math at noon, and weight training in the evening. Her rank 3 would be one of the rare flightless birds at the peak of her rank. Her Rank 3 skills would turn intelligence into more physical power and defense against mental attacks. From there, I would work only to train her intelligence as she gained all the physical attributes she needed from leveling. From there, I would purchase a skill to cover her long-range weakness and something to take care of artillery skills. Veronica would be a complete nightmare for mage-like monsters and match any physical of the 3rd​ rank blow for blow unarmed.

Veronica, the battle chicken, was giving me an odd look as I contemplated what I would do for her if I were a tamer. It really wasn't my business what she decided to do for her rank. She was a tall white chicken with red feathers that descended from her head, long and poofy in places, almost like human hair.

I shook my attention concentrating back on the problem at hand. There was level ground for the project, but the building, even if I did it myself, would put me back 150,000W from building materials alone. Really, what I wanted to do was more what was expected from a late-stage city rather than a farm out in undesirable land. The only people who could live comfortably in Rasputin were those with enough Willpower to resist waves of constant fell energy.

No, my megaplex had to wait until I had more built and reliable allies.

While Veronica was a resource, she was also someone I felt friendly with. A more cutthroat farmer would consider her livestock's ability to talk or not. A pristine Battle Chicken body was sold for 100W per pound.

In contrast, her eggs would sell for 20W each, and she laid 5 the night before. More battle chickens just like her, and I could see a steady revenue stream. They could very easily defend themselves, and my corn attracted more than enough bug monsters for her to feast on. There were actually too many bugs for her alone.

"I'm going into the dungeon. I'll be back soon," I said.

I tossed her my tablet with the wrong-colored toolbar as I prepared to leave. My clothes had been washed twice, but the blood stains wouldn't leave. Nearly everything I owned had been dyed in gore, leaving them with a rust-colored hue.

"Don't cluck up," Veronica said.

I raised my eyebrow at the curse.

"I'll make sure none of the bugs eat your precious corn or peppers. Have you thought about growing something that will attract something hardier?" Veronica asked.

"I'm not growing corn to attract bugs."

"You could have fooled me. Neither one of us seems to like corn much."

One of my stalks hissed and slapped a massive beetle away as it hovered silently. I revved up my chainsword and threw it in a spinning wheel of death. The blade lodged itself into the beetle's shell and poured gore out away from the handle. When the bug fell, roots from the corn stalk rose up and started pulling the beetle under.

"Hey, stop that. I need my weapon."

The corn monster hesitated as I glared at the scrawny thing. When I approached, its roots shied away from the corpse long enough for me to rip my weapon free. After inspecting it, I saw a crack in a few of the teeth and the blade itself. "Cluck," I said.

Monster roots rose and pulled the beetle underground, and the corn stalk shivered in delight as the soil stirred, mixing bug guts with the dirt.

Veronica walked up, keeping within my sight. "You used my curse."

I nodded. "Sorry, did you want to eat that one?" I said.

She slapped her thigh for emphasis with barely a ripple. "No beetles like that give me constipation. Unless you want to reach in there to pull beetle shells out, I shouldn't touch them." Veronica said.

"How attractive," I said.

She scratched up a bone in one of the furrows. "How many monsters are buried here for corn to rank up? Why am I taking calcium pills when I could peck at bones?"

I rolled my eyes at her selfishness. My pretty bird with thighs to snap a grown man's spine could seem very human at times. Only the reality of her situation and appearance broke that illusion.

…

The dungeon entrance hadn't changed much except for gaining enough teeth and what appeared to be bone matter to form a humanoid face. A long pink string attached to the bone flexed when I neared the macabre doorway; when the string twitched, it moved the jaw slightly. I stood in front of the entrance, transfixed by the changes and completely in the dark of what they could mean. On the edge of the entrance, a little above the teeth, I saw a hint of red that smelled like Mai's lipstick. When I looked more carefully, I saw a tiny black strand of what must have been hair.

Something was going on with the dungeon, and for the first time since diving into it, I hesitated to enter. Was this going to be the moment all hell broke loose? I carefully checked my bag and took out a health potion before placing it in a loop on my belt. The red elixir in the potion might be the difference between life and death if something happened inside.

I wasn't the only one entering the dungeon. Monsters that evaded my fence line were able to get attracted by the dungeon's mana. I didn't mind how else the dungeon was supposed to grow without a mountain of bodies to feed on. That and the ridiculous amount of mana stored in my soil from monster corpses. Anything I ended up killing was buried on my property when I had the time to drag it outside the dungeon.

My actions had given the dungeon a passive mana gain. So, I didn't feel bad about slaughtering the creatures inside it. This was the rent the dungeon owed me.

I entered the dungeon, stepping on a red carpet that looked to have tastebuds. The view was much more inviting when the dungeon had been a hole in the ground. Some of the dungeon entrances looked like the formation of a skull. There were wrinkles on the ceiling filled with spiderlings that looked like the hard palate of a mouth. I didn't see stairs at the entrance, only a moist cavern undulating.

The dungeon already had a theme, and I believed it was my fault. Flesh and bone the dungeon appeared to be forming its body into a human or at least flesh and blood body.

I traveled through the throat of the dungeon and felt it squeeze around me like I was swallowed by some beast. The path to turn back constricted until only a fleshy wall stood behind me. Forward on my path, the world opened bit by bit like I was a big hunk of food.

The weapon in my hand had seen better days. Oblivion Alpha would need to be replaced, but it felt too soon. I tried to take care of my weapon, I really did, but until that monster shell, my chainsword hadn't met a foe it couldn't easily grind through.

I ran through the fleshy tunnel, never staying in one place very long for the risk that gravity would take me and I would plummet to the bottom. Soon, the dungeon's esophagus opened to a forested area with riders carrying torches through the woods.

A sudden updraft turned into a cyclone, slowing my descent until I landed lightly on a branch. The tree barely moved as I stopped the flow of air around me. Wisdom was the attribute that controlled the mental side of skills, and it had grown recently. More control meant every greater application, and that included my Crow Step. Making my body lighter went hand and hand with all my fell skills. Fell Mastery had taken my skills to new heights, and it felt like I was only getting started. True flight was only a few dozen skill levels away. Wind Mastery was the other half of my fell skills that would increase their growth even more.

After I had enough of congratulating myself on figuring out the basics of skills. I paid more attention to the riders. They were battle chickens riding giant lizards facing off against an army of bunnies dressed in heavy armor riding giant foxes.

I sat down and decided to watch the proceedings; it looked like great fun, and I could always loot the battlefield later. Some of the weapons and armor looked like they might fit me.

When a large spider with a woman's head replacing its own peered at me from the shadows, I felt a little worried. Then others joined in, crawling from holes in trees and under the canopy of leaves.

"Hello and welcome to the land of Rip or Tare, depending on who wins this war. Choose a side and join Rip is the side of the Battle Chickens, those who firmly believe in the power of the finest steel alloys. Tare's people are Chimera Rabbits, our poor deluded cousins. For them, it isn't the metal of the blade but the enchantments that matter. We are the lore keepers, and only one side can win this war. Will it be the strength of the material or the might of enchantments?" A spider woman said.

Her breath smelled like fresh blood, and between her ruby-red lips was a tongue shaped like a hypodermic needle at its end. I smiled slightly.

"Don't lose your composure. We aren't here to hurt you, only to record your decision in the great tapestry. Who do you believe is in the right?" The speaker asked.

I stood up and held my hands behind my neck with my elbows out. Really, the answer was obvious. I hated it when someone gave me a false choice and framed a situation like I had only two options. The spiders might as well have proclaimed themselves my enemies when they disturbed my fun.

Powerful winds stirred all around me, slow and gentle at first, as I gathered my base. While I would always love slashing monsters into meaty chunks, that wasn't my build. My greatest weapon was all about building up a powerful storm and then standing in its center while everything died. I actually loved my Fell skills. Wielding the wind made me feel free despite being trapped under a mountain of debt.

After giving it some thought, I did have a single psychic skill, Psy Bolt. My lack of use had left it weak even as I used its reaction to empower my Fell Wind to greater and greater heights. More wind gathered, and the torches beneath us blew in all sorts of directions. A smile spread across my face as a gust threw a rider from their fox.

"Why would I ever choose one over the other?"

"Only one can win, and the other must be extinguished. The union of master smith and enchanter must never come again." The spider woman said.

I approached her and patted her face gently.

"Get him." She yelled.

In the darkness under a heavy full moon, my smile flashed as black winds tore limbs and spiders from trees. With barely a throb from my head, the world erupted into swirling cyclones and broken spiders.

Patreon CH27 1$, CH28 5$, CH29 Tony Returns 10$

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

Day 19
Trees twisted until they snapped, caught between cyclones circling like sharks, pulling spider monsters from tree limbs as two clashing armies fell to debris. Torches winked out in the darkness as a battle over chainsword alloys and enchantments settled. I stood on the same limb I had landed on before, across from the spider woman who greeted me.

She tried to use a false dichotomy to steer my decisions. I crossed my arms and stood over the monster. She backed away until the wind nearly took her and stood her ground. The tree we stood on swayed back and forth, each time threatening to crack and fall before the raging winds. We remained in the eye of the storm. I started unable to leave but safe while we remained. Lives were lost on both sides of the battle as the cyclones gleefully chased monsters hiding the cavities left behind by uprooted trees.

A smile remained on my face from the time I started the storm; the red-lipped spider woman didn't seem to share my glee. I approached the monster, and she tried to make herself small. While she might have expected me to kill her, I didn't feel like it.

I brushed her hair with my fingers and let the silky black strands slide between them. Her beautiful white face hid her monstrous nature well. Her slanted eyes reminded me of Mai; maybe that's why I was feeling merciful. Slowly, I patted her large forehead before sitting down beside her. She reminded me of a photo of a girl from Easton.

They were all martial arts fanatics over there, and their monsters were different. I remembered a picture of a dragon, and it was more snake than the dragons that lived in the mountains. Their dragons often lived in rivers and lakes and gave advice to young martial artists or were food for stronger practitioners. The system their Heavenly Grand Patriarch used was very different from our own, but there were some similarities. I couldn't imagine meditating all day for power instead of fighting for it.

Of the photos of their women I've seen, they were all beauties. No Weston man would be able to handle them because of the power difference. Functionally, they were as strong as rank 4 monsters on average for the juniors of their Sects.

"Trusting you isn't possible even if I want to. You have that kind of face."

"I must drink lots to preserve it." I reached out, and she flinched. "What are you doing?"

I pushed her in my lap and pet her head and spider body. There were little hairs on her back that spiked up only to settle after I didn't kill her. In the distance beyond the storms, a massive crow flew away from the slow-moving cyclones.

Maneater
Fu Reputation 1/100 Feared

"Fu is a name." Fu turned her head and glared at me with her brown, almost black eyes.

"I don't care if you killed all my sisters; spare me. I'll do anything."

Storms were scary, and a man capable of starting a cyclone was terrifying. If I was her, I might be scared as well. We humans have feared the weather since the dawn of time. Slowly, my storm died down while I stroked my new pet's body.

My hand glided across her thorax and stopped at her spinneret. "Please don't mess with that; you'll make a mess," Fu said.

"I want you to collect all the items that were dropped and kill any survivors," I said.

+2 Reputation with Fu

"Aren't you worried I might take something valuable," Fu said.

So she needed more life experience and to study more. Was she really just a pretty face? I wanted a reason to keep her, so I gave her a task that was useful for a ranged fighter. Proving herself untrustworthy and stealing from me at her first opportunity would remove any reason I might have to spare her. It would be incredibly dumb.

I thought about her initial words and understood what she and the rest of her kind were trying to do. There was a spider conspiracy to limit the power of chainswords. Most likely she worked for the boss of this floor or maybe a mid-boss very susceptible to chainswords.

I raised my hand and closed it into a fist. The cyclones shuddered as I pulled on my control. This time, my head throbbed as I fought against the current. I fought against the storms as my head throbbed, and my stamina drained until the cyclones stopped their onslaught, and only a gentle breeze remained.

"I can always start them back," I said.

+10 Reputation with Fu

A show of power really was all it took to increase my reputation with her. She looked up at me with shimmering eyes under the moonlight.

Maneater wasn't just a name. They had a reputation. Most tamers or mages killed them on sight when they could. The conniving creatures were excellent at manipulating dungeon inhabitants to become deadly threats against adventurers. Letting Fu live was probably a mistake. I liked her face, and for some reason, that made me stupid enough to be lenient. No more than that, I was thinking about keeping her.

"What are your plans?"

"Those are not for you to know," I said.

The dungeon seemed close to picking a theme if the chainsword-based disagreement was real. So, my best bet to get a good weapon was to kidnap the leader of the blacksmiths and enchanters. Fortunately, I had a cordage dispenser in my back pocket.

I waited 30 minutes and then an hour before I stood back on my branch and debated starting the storm back. The tree swayed as I looked down to see Fu pointing her spinneret at me along with many other maneaters. I sighed, guessing this was an ambush, and debated testing out my Psy Bolts.

The web connected to the tree limb beside me, and they slowly raised a massive cocoon that jingled with stuff. I jumped off the limb and landed beside her. The other maneaters giggled as they crawled around me.

My hand found her head, and I couldn't help but run my fingers through her raven-black hair. "I was bringing it to you; wasn't that what you wanted?" Fu asked.

"All I wanted was for you to help me, and you proved you could handle that," I said.

She lowered her spun-up cocoon and opened it for me, revealing skill shards, several different chainswords, and a monster egg covered in orange stripes. I whistled in appreciation before giving the skills a look over. My skills were filling out, and I was seeing repeats far more often than I liked; there were also two uncommon skill shards, meaning I slew two mid-bosses. So I recorded the new ones.

Normal Skill Shards
Counter
Fell Slash
Chainsword Mastery
Telepathy
Blood Drain

Uncommon Skill Shards
Telekinesis

Ping!
Skills Learned
Counter lvl1
Fell Slash lvl1
Chainsword Mastery lvl1
Telepathy lvl1
Blood Drain lvl1
Telekinesis (UC) lvl1

From what I could tell, Telekinesis wasn't an easy skill to use. While it relied on willpower and stamina, it took a lot of intelligence to get the most out of it. There were so many steps involved with the skill that It was almost not worth it. I could use it, but it would take years to be good at it. Telepathy showed more promise already; I could feel my mind break free of my skull. Telepathy used for communication was far more user-friendly. The dangerous things that could be done with it were out of my reach at its current level. My range with Telepathy was around 5ft. Intelligence determines the skill's range. Fell slash gave my chainswords a little more range, and Chainsword Mastery was an incredible find.

I picked out the sturdiest chainswords on the web and stored the egg in my backpack. After tossing my broken chainsword away and I inspected my new ones, I was ready to rip and tear. Fell energy black and as dangerous as my chainswords' revved edges covered my weapons. Fell Mastery was working overtime to put the energy to good use. Before I went on a rampage, I sheathed my weapons.

The time had come to finish off the boss and open the way to floor 2. I looked back at Fu.

"What can I do for you, boss?"

"We're exploring; make a little satchel for yourself that I can put on like my backpack. I'm going to carry you." I said.

"Aren't you scared I'll attack you?"

I patted her head just to feel the silky, ebony hair for a third time. There was no way I could let her go; I was addicted. She grumbled and went to work jumping to my shoulder with webs between legs to measure my shoulders. When she jumped to check my chest, I caught her, and she glared at me like I was some kind of alien. Her cut black legs reached out with incredible dexterity, finishing off her measurements. Then she went to work spinning a web that was quickly formed into a backpack built to go over my own and fit her body comfortably. I put it on, and she quickly slipped inside it while the other maneaters watched.

"Betrayal," They chanted, but I only reached a hand back and rubbed her deliciously soft head.

"You are pitiful," Fu said as I glided down from the tree with Crow Step. Even Fu was lightened by the skill since I wore her in my backpack.

The second my feet touched the ground, I shot off, following my map toward the rabbit castle. My weapons seemed to be made of superior alloys, so enchanting was the obvious choice. We could indulge in a little kidnapping as well. I would love to add a rabbit enchantress to my growing monster team.

Every monster I added could be taken away by Tony Graves. I stopped abruptly, and Fu shrieked as she tumbled over my shoulder and would have splattered against a tree if I hadn't rushed to save her. Instead of stopping her abruptly and killing her as surely as the tree she was falling toward, I caught her shot forward, equalized with her speed, and stepped around the tree. From there, I slowed down until I could comfortably stop without harming her.

+15 Reputation with Fu

"How did you know I was trying to kill you?"

I covered her sweet red-painted lips with my hand to silence her. "I felt your breath on my neck. You're too classy to kiss a guy you just met."

"I was going to dig my fangs in your neck, wrap you up in silk, drain you slowly through the week, and dump your husk on the ground." I picked her up by her ear. "Stop. I'll be good."

+1 Reputation with Fu

Discipline was one of the core tenets of being a tamer. I was fully prepared to paddle Mai's butt if she got out of line. This wasn't much different.

I needed a way to protect my monsters from tamers. Before, I had hoped Bond would do the job, but it was slow and Gwen and Mai were in the negatives. That clearly meant tamer skills were more powerful or Bond was not the right tool for the job. Fu's status was interesting.

Maneater
Fu Reputation 28/100 Underling

She was the type of underling who sought to become the new boss at the first opportunity. It was fun, really, but what would happen if I let her reputation continue to rise. Would there eventually be affection, loyalty, and obedience?

There were so many mysteries to my skill, but its limits were no mystery. I couldn't free Gwen with it or Mai. I needed more powerful skills. So, I decided to prepare to face the boss.

"We are heading toward Silver Castle, where the enchanter queen, the abyss rabbit, lives. You seek to add enchantments to your blades." Fu said.

She lunged, mouth wide and fangs fully extended. Fu missed completely biting into an afterimage. I caught her gently and rubbed her hair.

"You got that right, little lady. We're going to make my chainswords nice and deadly, then I'll beat the boss and step on the next floor."

"The boss of this floor is my mother."

"Some spiders can only grow to their full potential by eating their mothers," I said.

"We started this conflict to protect her; she's the reason any of us can live in peace," Fu said.

I shook my head; this reminded me of the lesson I learned when Gwen was taken. "Peace is a lie; only power will prevent your neighbor from gutting you to take what you own. The powerful will tell everyone you were a horrible piece of feces when you can't defend yourself. Only by being strong yourselves will you know true peace. That's why after I cut off your mother's limbs and decapitate her. You'll thank me for it afterward." I said.

"Who hurt you?"

I laughed at her question. "Someone stronger at the time, but soon I'll be the strongest."

"You're broken like me. I will fix you." Fu said.

+5 Reputation with Fu

I had no idea what was going on in that monster's head.

Happy Sunday I probably won't post against until Tuesday have a great day. Look on my patreon for more content.

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

Day 19
Three towers shone silver in the moonlight with crescent-shaped bridges allowing easy movement between them. In the middle of the towers, a bulbous structure rounded atop the tallest tower where the mid-boss of the castle surely waited for our 3rd​ duel. While I was excited to test out my new skills, they weren't why I took the familiar path. An enchanter called this place home, and I needed their help, or maybe I would kidnap them.

While I told Fu my plan was to enchant my swords, that wasn't an option. Hard alloys like what made up my chainswords weren't receptive to enchantment. For there to be any chance, I would have had to have them enchant the material in its molding while the metal was still hot and malleable. Heating my blade could cause cracks to form, and I didn't want to risk it.

I wasn't all sweeping windstorms and chainswords to necks and joints. There was a brain between my ears as little as I used it. I paid attention to Fu's incredible stitching, the way she casually took my measurements, and the obvious solution to my tamer problem. Well, a solution for the short term. Long term, I would require them to train their Willpower and have them all learn the training and adapt skills.

One of the biggest obstacles for Tamers was money. Most couldn't afford to fill all their monsters with skill shards. Even as I walked around with a backpack full of them. I could basically turn Veronica and Fu into versions of myself, only missing my core skills. Farming my dungeon was an excellent way to stock up on skill shards.

I crossed over the blood lake, barely disrupting the surface thanks to Crow Step and a small updraft of wind. A few times, I circled around the castle while massive leeches rose from the water when I slowed down and tried to devour me.

"Keep moving. If one of those things latches on, it'll drag us into a feeding frenzy." Fu said.

I pushed her head back into her bag. Then I realized this was the perfect time to practice Psy Bolts and Telepathy. While they couldn't technically grow stronger until we left the dungeon, I could gain tons of experience against the monsters here and maybe find some unique monsters with rare loot drops.

Purple light appeared above my hand, pouring out a small breeze from the psychic energy held within the membrane of the reaction. Using the technique for a moment taught me more about fell energy, and I knew I earned levels in the skill. It felt like a piece of the puzzle slotted into place. More fell energy gathered as I struggled to break into the monsters' minds. All the while ran across the lake. Those monsters close enough to get a feel for their mind were always ready to attack or in the process of attacking. At the last second, I moved out of the way and hit with a Psy Bolt. The fell membrane around the bolt made the psychic energy shine all the brighter.

The bolt impacted the giant leech's skin, bounced off, covered in slimy mucus, and exploded, submerged, spraying blood everywhere.

"It's dying, my backpack. Make it stop." Fu cried.

"What's wrong? I thought you liked red?" I asked.

"White is my favorite color. My red lips pop because my face is a beautiful white. Your face is more tan than white, and your lips don't stand out because of it." Fu said.

My second bolt appeared with throbbing pain behind my right eye as I used the fell membrane to change the shape of the stored energy. Drill spears sounded silly, but I had a mastery skill for them. Warping my simple Psy Bolt skill into something that better synergized felt like a good decision. My focus slipped, and the Psy Bolt exploded in the air before it could do anything. Clearly, drill spears would be the work of many practice sessions.

Creating a third bolt felt out of the question. My head pounded, and I didn't want to risk passing out in the middle of the blood lake. Fu wouldn't be able to save me. I pulled my chainswords free from their sheathes, clean of blood and gleaming under the moonlight. I stopped moving, practically hovering above the lake thanks to my updraft momentum carried me to the side of a diving attack. I didn't waste a moment slicing the monster from head to tail, spilling its guts into the bloody lake. My other hand wasn't idle. A follow-up cut deep through the belly of a leech throwing itself overhead. Gemini Waltz and Gemini Blitz were still incredibly effective at causing enemies to misjudge their attacks.

My latest cyclone had taught me how to hold the wind just right to hover with Crow Step enough to fool enemies to attack above me, thinking I would fly away like a bird. On that dive the most my skills could do was put me a few inches hovering above the lake.

I moved in a bloody dance under the moonlight, slicing open the beasts of the lake one by one, filling the lake with more viscera than a slaughterhouse. No matter how many I killed, my chainswords remained pristine killing machines. Blood and guts couldn't manage to cling to my blades long, and they felt so light in my hands I could kill with them all day.

The blood lake bubbled, and I shot away as bloody spears erupted from the water in their hundreds as I retreated. As the bubbling grew worse, waves of blood and more blood spears erupted everywhere.

"What did you do? There is nothing like this recorded in our histories?" Fu asked.

I laughed and revved my blades; this was getting good why was she worried. "The dungeon is just rewarding me for doing a good job."

A coffin emerged from the lake bound in chains before a scream erupted from it. Fell Wind erupted around me moments before what I expected was a psychic or fell attack could hit. My head throbbed as my Willpower was tested as a hand with writhing tentacles instead of fingers emerged. Increased wind equaled increased speed as I felt First Strike and Counter grip me.

Fell energy lined my blades as I started to reach the limit of what I could do. Adapt was in the background, struggling to force my skills to grow faster, even under the dungeon's laws. Telepathy was still active, keeping surveillance for minds 5ft in every direction.

This was an event it had to be, and I was all too happy to play it. For all I knew, it could be a secret boss, and wouldn't that be something special.

"Do you think it's a secret boss?" I asked.

"No, it can't be; my mother is the boss. I would know if there was secretly a bigger boss."

"That's not what a secret boss is. They are like the strongest monsters in dungeons placed in secret locations for those adventurers trying to complete a dungeon to find. If this is one, then I'm so excited it will probably have skills we won't see until much later floors. Blood Stakes is a skill worth 100,000W. If I could sell it, I could pay back my debt and buy another tract of land bigger than the one I own."

"Don't get greedy; we came here to enchant your weapons."

"It's a secret, boss. I have to challenge it at least once."

"What is your level?" Fu asked.

"Why not ask my penis size while you're at it," I said.

"I'm level 19; see, I told you mine first. What level are you?"

"Does it matter? I'm sure I can take this thing on easily." My eyes widened. "Feces," I cursed.

Stakes shot out around the coffin as it spun everywhere the opening faced the stakes erupted. I shot across the lake, keeping ahead of the massive waves of stakes. A thought occurred to me, something truly ludicrous, but as I grew more powerful, such thoughts felt possible. What if I fought the coffin in the castle?

I shot forward as stakes continued to rise in a spiral under the moonlight, and I kept just out of sight. The secret boss clearly thought something was up, but that wouldn't matter. I grabbed one of the chains holding the coffin closed and spun like in a dance. A whirlwind erupted from my actions, more a bloody water spout than a true cyclone. I used it to fling the coffin across the lake toward the castle.

The coffin skipped over the water in flight as I shot forward. Waves rose 60ft in the air before crashing into small hamlets on the lake. I winced at the sounds of houses shattering as I chased the secret boss. Never fought anything in its home territory that was basic. Before the coffin lost too much momentum, I caught it with a Blitz Kick, changing its angle and adding to its momentum. Blood poured down my nose, and I knew I pushed past my limit. Already, I was going full throttle, and I thought snapping the throttle handle would make me go faster. In the air, the coffin spun, aimed at one of the towers moving at the speed of a stone launched by the Artillery skill.

Regeneration kept me awake as I flew over the lake in front of the rising waves. My legs pumped faster and faster, unnaturally standing on and pushing off currents of air. I was moving and using my powers unconsciously. Crow Step and Fell Wind didn't let me walk on water; it was my own sense of balance and finding the sweet spot between the two skills. Once I found that balance, I did it without understanding how.

The coffin smashed into the wall of the middle tower and exited the back of it in a massive exit wound. I jumped through the entrance; the coffin's distance forced me to use Blitz Kick again to move my legs fast enough to kick off the wall as I passed through the hole, pushing myself through after the coffin even faster. Cracks echoed through the building as the stone held in place by Silver Strings exploded, and I followed after the monster. I felt Fu grip my back with her legs as I sailed through the air. My cheeks rippled under the air pressure as I caught up to the coffin as it impacted a grassy hill surrounded by giant foxes munching on chicken bones. My femur snapped as I landed on the coffin, and the hill exploded around us, blasting the foxes with dirt and rock shrapnel. There weren't any witnesses to my short entrance into the bunny castle, so that avenue was still safe.

My telepathy caught the attention of an angry presence. I turned, blocking the downward stroke of a very familiar bunny girl. Recognition appeared on her face when our eyes met.

"You," she spoke the words with such visceral I was proud. Behind her eyes was a mix of hatred, fear, and pride. From my telepathy, the emotion poured off of her as we clashed, swapping blows as she showed off how sharp her skill with a chainsword had become. She slipped through my guard and scored a massive cut over my shoulder before a return strike fended her off.

My femur was still broken, taking regeneration's time to take care of it. Movement was hard because of that, and I had to shut down Counter because of it. My health potion would speed it up, but I needed both hands to keep the bunny girl off of me. Blood continued to seep down from my nose and eyes as I fought at a level my body wasn't ready for; all the while, the Chimera Rabbit continued to dance around me, probing my technique and punishing holes in my defenses. All the while, I couldn't help the smile on my face.

"It's good seeing you again. The castle looks good; maybe this one will stay up." A horrible cracking sound could be heard from the hill, and one of the bridges fell between two towers. "That couldn't be my fault," I said as my rabbit friend snarled.

I sent a desperate telepathic message to Fu. She peaked over my shoulder between blows and ducked behind my back.

"You killed me twice; there won't be a third time." The Chimera rabbit said.

"Are you the enchanter? I noticed your fur was darker, or does it just look good under the moonlight. I see you've been taking care of yourself."

"That's my niece, and I won't be distracted by you."

"I see where she gets her good looks from." We continued trading blows as my leg throbbed, and my foe continued scoring minor blows to my sides and a shallow cut to my chest. One cut split my belt, and my potion tumbled behind my back. I felt Fu move and hoped she wouldn't abandon me.

"This is my victory; never again will I have to face an invader like you." The chimera rabbit aimed her blade at my chest and shot forward. "Die, Atom," She yelled.

Fu shot to my shoulder and pushed the healing potion into my mouth. I crushed the bottle with my teeth and felt the potion run down my throat with the broken glass. My femur popped back into place, giving me all the strength I needed. I stepped forward and brought my strength to bear against the rabbit. She fell to a knee as sparks flew off our blades.

"Three times we fought, and twice I've killed you. Not this time." I knocked her weapon away and grabbed her head. Telepathy could allow high-level users to put enemies to sleep. I slammed her head on the ground; the shock of the blow made her drop her weapon. After powering down my weapons, I placed my knees on her shoulders, using Fell Wind to keep her telekinesis from pushing me off.

"What are you doing?"

"Fu bind her legs and then her arms when I get them ready. We'll take her back with us after we grab her enchanter niece."

+10 Reputation with Fu

"What about the secret boss?" Fu reminded me.

I looked over to see the arm of the secret boss reach out and drag the coffin toward the lake. Really, it might as well be a fish out of water.

After Fu bound my Chimera Rabbit, I approached the coffin, revved chainsword in hand. There was no preamble or foolishness. I stabbed my blade into the coffin and watched as blood and viscera poured out, and the secret boss died before it could show off its real strength.

From the boss, a crossbow made of red metal with a coffin keychain hanging off the handle sat on the ground, practically screaming cursed. The signs of an automatic were clear to see its boxy frame and internal mechanisms, along with the massive cylinder built into the weapon. A glow surrounded it, clearly meaning it was enchanted. The weapon probably weighed over 50lbs lowballed, but with 20 or higher strength attributes, that wouldn't be a problem. I had Fu wrap it in silk just in case for safer transport. There was only the enchantress; then I could grab more hens, and I would be done for the day. I snapped my fingers after remembering the boss.

Patreon CH28 1$, 29 5$, ch30 10$

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

Day 19

"Why are we going after the enchantress?"

Her question took me a little off guard. I was sitting on the coffin on the ruined hill, staring at the torn-open castle under the moonlight. Cracks were opening, growing wider with each passing second we watched. Streams of chimera rabbits poured out, some riding foxes while others ran inside to get more of their fellows out of the castle. The other bridge collapsed, killing a few of them unlucky enough to be under the shadow of the before undamaged third castle. It was such a sight I thought about watching it all collapse with Fu.

My stomach rumbled, and I dug into my pack for a ration bar filled with all the protein and nutrients I needed to continue my run. Filling my mouth made a great excuse to buy time while I put my thoughts together.

"You're going to make clothing that she enchants to increase Willpower and negate controlling skills. I'm thinking about trying the dungeon again tomorrow for more maneaters and enchanters for this purpose. By the looks of things, the dungeon has already chosen its theme. I may have had something to do with it." I said.

"Why?" Fu asked.

"Why what?" I asked.

"All of it; why do you need clothing that increases Willpower specifically and negates controlling skills. Are you talking about something esoteric like Puppetry or tamer skills? My sister had an extra eye on her forehead that lets her stun enemies for a short time that is Willpower based but she bunny feces at weaving silk." Fu said with a chuckle.

"By the way, I have a bug problem. Could you weave your webs to take care of them without harming my corn?" I asked.

"Don't change the subject; we're still talking about your plan for a clothing line based solely off of Maneater Silk Weaving and Chimera Rabbit Runecraft. What do you need them for? Please, for the love of the dungeon, it better be worth all this blood and destruction." Fu said.

I stood up and finished my ration bar. When I looked down at the maneater, she shivered like she once did on the branch. For a moment, she wasn't Fu, only another monster that would be turned against me after I put my heart and soul into her. I had a strange thought. Would it be better if I killed her instead of giving my enemies a chance to turn her against me? My hands fell down to my only tools of comfort sheathed at my sides.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Fu said.

At her words, I realized my lips had parted, exposing my teeth but not in a smile. There was nothing fun about the emotions I felt or the feelings of imminent betrayal. I had only met Fu hours ago but it felt like longer to me. She had backed me up against my old enemy in our last duel.

I picked a piece of glass out from between my teeth and sat back down on the coffin before patting my lap.

"It wasn't my intention to scare you," I said.

"You already plan to kill my mother; why should I expect you to show mercy to me, a maneater. I know what I am."

"With a little more charisma and dexterity, your rank 3 could be a Maneater Drider," I said.

They were less violent to humans and more deadly to other monsters.

Off in the castle a palanquin was brought out bearing the symbol of a rabbit head with a chainsword crossed over it.

"That is the next step if I ranked up naturally. With higher Strength and Endurance, I could become Maneater Widow." Fu said.

I nodded. It was mid-rank 3 instead of low mid-rank 3. Maneater Widows were colossal spiders with the maneater's beautiful female face and some much-needed bulk. Devour was one of their skills, and it allowed them to increase their attributes with a tiny portion of their prey's highest one.

She watched me, clearly waiting for a reaction to one of the most duplicitous monsters ever recorded. They were well known for killing tamers with taming skills in the 50s, including Monster Tamer and Spider Tamer. It was recommended that if a tamer must tame one of them, then to have both Monster Tamer and Spider Tamer in the 60s, which was the starting skill level for tamers with rank 4 monsters. A mid-rank 3 monster would be useless to such a tamer at that point in their career. It wasn't because of high Willpower that the monster devoured their tamers; it was a twisted form of love brought on by the skills.

"This may surprise you, but I'm not a tamer, and I don't have taming skills," I said.

Fu's beautiful red lips made a perfect circle, and her needle-like tongue poked out to wet them. I watched her tongue, fascinated by the way it could squeeze into a bony needle or flatten to appear like a normal human tongue. Most people who saw it probably didn't live very long after.

"Why aren't we targeting the palanquin now?"

"Don't change the subject. I'm sure you're curious."

"No, everything clicked into place," Fu said.

I sighed; she might be smarter than me, something to look out for. I snorted internally; that was a lie. I fully planned to do everything in my power to get her up to high mid for her 3rd​ rank. Going straight to peak in the 3rd​ rank limited her options as a spider monster. In the 4th​ rank, monsters started to specialize, and she could go peak there if she wanted. She had helped me when she didn't have to, and I liked her; we seemed to click very easily.

"What class are you?" She asked.

"Farmer,"

"If a tamer appears, they could take me from you, and I wouldn't be able to do a thing about it," Fu said.

"We should probably launch our attempt when the other side ambushes them on the road," I said.

My strategy lessons from Kato were finally paying off.

"There is a solution." I raised an eyebrow. "That isn't an answer, but whatever. More Willpower will help, but our best chance is if you gain a tamer skill. Most monsters in this dungeon have chimera traits; if you gain the skill, we will be your monsters. Even without a class, you would be a tamer."

I spotted the trap and decided to let her know I wasn't fooled.

"Then, when you became a maneater widow, you would eat me in my sleep so I would always be with you," I said.

She paused and stared at me with narrowed eyes that looked too cute with their delicate slant. Fu seemed to have concluded something because an uncharacteristic smile spread across her face.

"Rabbit feces, telepathy could work. With Telepathy Mastery and Psychic, you could defend our minds; if we all had Telepathy, Psychic, and Telepathy Mastery, that would make things easier we could use our combined Willpower to resist tamer skills."

It was a tall order, and I had no idea if I would be enough to handle it. Fu would help gather the skills, but I had two days at most to farm the dungeon for the skills I needed. I could only hope the second floor had what I needed.

She climbed into her back satchel but paused and breathed in my ear.

"I know something about you even though you try to hide it. You're kind." Fu giggled as I shivered from her words as she hid in her bag.

I sighed as I carried a wrapped chimera rabbit over my shoulder like spare luggage. I was dreaming of roasted chicken but hadn't had the heart to eat in front of Veronica so I buried the birds I brought with me. My speed wasn't bothered by the struggling rabbit girl on my shoulder as I crossed into the forest, where I spotted some roosters riding giant lizards waiting for the rabbit chimera convoy. By the looks of it, the convoy was heading toward a small out-of-the-way castle surrounded by farmland. More of the dungeon was getting mapped as I went but there was still so much to see in the pocket dimensions. Below this floor, a larger floor waited to be plundered.

To make good time down there, I would have to grow even stronger and faster.

The ambush happened less than four hours after the convoy left the castle. Fu attached my Chimera Rabbit to a branch for safekeeping while I struck. I shot down and landed on one of the roosters, breaking his back with a Blitz Kick. My blade lashed out, killing another rooster by ripping through the unarmored armpit and cutting through his chest. A Psy Bolt appeared over my palm before I launched it at another; the impact knocked the bird off his lizard mount. I struck, driving a powerful kick into his neck, shattering the bone. The rabbits were no better at defending as I cut through their numbers, slicing through under-armored joints to take limbs and blast distant opponents with a Psy Bolt when I could afford it.

Repetition and facing strong enemies were the key to gaining skill levels, especially in dungeons. The rabbit chimera were powerful opponents. The other roosters, believed the squad i killed was still among the living, drove the chimera rabbits to me, where I cut the disoriented defenders down and sniped crossbowman with Psy Bolts. Every use of the skill helped me figure out the right mix of fell and psychic to make a devastating combination.

Once I figured out my problem, the skill became so much easier to use. I contained the fell energy, the reaction from psychic energy existing in our world. Controlling that power instead of letting it flow naturally had cost me far more Willpower and stamina than I expected. The correction left only two options. Either I used my contained skill the moment it came into existence, or I stopped restraining the fell energy. I chose the former, and my Psy Bolts were faster, flew further, and hit solidly for it.

I experimentally launched an uncontrolled Psy Bolt, and it only flew 20ft before dissipating. Controlled fell energy kept the psychic energy from dissipating, letting the bolt fly nearly 300ft.

"You are a worry of those foul birds. I challenge you to a duel in honor of her Highness the Abyss Rabbit."

My challenger wore a shining breastplate clearly enchanted over chainmail and a gambeson. Blood coated his thin chainsword covered in delicate curved teeth. He revved the weapon in preparation for the fight. Despite the heavy armor, the rabbit moved with surprising speed, and we traded blows as I tested the limits of the warrior's strength. He was better than me but slower and highly fatigued. The escape from the castle hadn't done him any favors. He dodged backward from one of my counters; it was obvious he hadn't had time to pay attention.

I pointed, and a Psy Bolt smashed him in the chest, denting his breastplate before exploding. A single step put me in front of him, where I swiped my chainswords, "No," A woman's scream stopped my blade when I looked up to see a black-furred rabbit dressed in silks enchanted and with her aunt's eyes.

"Just the bunny I wanted to see. I hope your bags are packed; we're leaving."

"I'll do whatever you want; just don't hurt Martin." The enchantress said.

"No, you can't let this villain get what he wants." I kicked the rabbit warrior to the ground and kicked the chainsword out of his reach.

"You're coming with me along with your aunt, who I've already defeated any defiance, and I'll kill this man," I said.

"Fine, so long as you keep your word." Fu came down and caught her in a line of silk. The rabbit girl was so shocked she didn't resist when Fu took her.

"No," A rooster riding a lizard leaped from the shrubbery, and I tossed the rabbit to him. The rooster slashed his weapon without a second thought and cut the rabbit's arm off at the elbow and ground against the rabbit's armor. My Psy Bolt caught the rider in the helmet, snapping its head back and knocking him off his mount. The lizard valiantly kept running while I grabbed some of the downed roosters, including the one I just took out.

"That was sloppy; you barely seemed to be trying. Sure, if the rabbit died, you could have tried again, but I expected better of you." Fu said.

Sorry, I think I'm getting dungeon fatigue.

Fu looked around. "I haven't heard of it. Are you making it up?"

"Don't change the subject. I wasn't being sloppy; I'm trying to raise my skills as much as possible. We need to steel lots of hens." I said as we moved some distance away from the battle; I built a small makeshift sled and dragged the bodies with us on it.

When we found a quiet place, I started a fire, de-feathered one of the birds, and started gutting it. Fu pried the armor off of another one and injected her venom into him while he struggled with a broken back.

"It should take an hour before his organs melt the way I like it. Do we have the time?" Fu asked.

"You're lucky; all you have to do is bite. I have a little more preparation." I said.

From my bag, I covered the meat in salt, pepper, and a dried peppery blend from the peppers I grew. Two whole bowls of spices were needed to cover the skin in the dry rub I wanted.

Both of the rabbits stared as I borrowed some of Fu's silk to tie the body to a large stake of wood. I cut off parts of the branches and positioned the bird over the fire and began rotating him like a rotisserie chicken. There was around 100 lbs of meat on the bird, but I felt like I could make a sizable dent in it, given the chance. Three hours later, after almost burning down the forest with a grease fire, the bird was ready.

My Easton obsession hadn't stopped at their women. In my bag that was originally packed for my journey as a tamer, I packed chopsticks. So, instead of ripping pieces off with my fingers, I used the chopsticks that I practiced with often on the off chance I ran into an Easton expert on my adventure. I tore off a piece of the tenderloin where I was most worried it would be raw. White flesh with the scent of lemon pepper was my reward; the dry rub had worked perfectly.

I took a bite, and protein heaven burst into my mouth; after so long of eating ration bars and only what I grew, I had meat. Chopsticks in hand, I slowly stripped the bird, eating more than I expected. The meat was so flavorful and practically bursting with energy.

Fu rested on a nearby log, completely bloated but happy, while the rabbits continued to look at me like I was some kind of monster.

"Do either of you want a bite?" I asked with a smile. I should have practiced in the mirror before presenting to a stranger and a woman I killed twice.

Patreon CH28 1$, 29 5$, ch30 10$

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

Day 19

After two failed attempts to express their power and deal with the chimera rabbits the battle chicken rooster population had been dealt a fatal blow. Villages had tall walls, chicks following mothers, and young hens Veronica's age gossiping around wells. The dungeon had chosen a theme by how blacksmiths worked tirelessly in massive smithies to build the perfect weapons. A single enchantment was needed to turn the saw, and the rest was metallurgy and engineering. Those few roosters making weapons and possibly village rulers were the only ones exempt from mounting up and riding into battle. In the town squares, roosters fought each other, sometimes to the death in ritualistic combat, and hens watched before leaving with the winner.

In a tree with Fu at my side, I studied the hamlet of battle chickens intently. Far in the distance, there was a castle similar to the one overlooking the blood lake. That was most likely where the leadership lived and an uncommon skill shard drop. I was fortunate that my Mapping skills marked it for later.

I wasn't sure if the drops were stable, but there was a chance hitting the battle chicken fortress would drop new varieties of uncommon skill shards. Themes were a stabilizing force, and medieval war over what made a good chainsword orchestrated by a secret cabal of Maneater spiders was the plot, not the theme. From what I could tell, the theme was don't let third parties force me into costly wars. Joining either side resulted in a loss from the start.

Once I had a proper forge ready, I planned to steal a blacksmith, metallurgist, and engineer at the first opportunity. From what I could tell, all I needed was a massive number of hens, and the roosters would love what I had to offer.

The sun was high overhead, so there was little chance of just invading the settlements and taking what I wanted. I spotted several sentries with crossbows, trebuchets on the walls, and plenty of bells to sound the alarm when an attack came.

"I doubt they will let you in covered in chicken grease," Fu said.

I patted my stomach before rubbing her side.

"I'm not the only one who ate well," I said.

"Rude, I only had a little. You left only bones." Fu said.

I smirked before focusing back on the problem at hand. Running in like a psycho with my chainswords revved would probably get me killed. A wind storm would do the job probably, but that had a lot of wind up, and I was saving my stamina for the boss battle later.

Pulling my hands together, I gently summoned a cyclone between my hands, keeping it stable and in tight control. This wasn't the same as a true cyclone. Those I could only keep away from myself as they rampaged. At most, I could put them on the path and hope they hit something. There was almost nothing between the edge of the forest and the town walls for 900ft.

I knew what I was going to have to do but didn't like it. The answer was as simple as it was stupid. My task was to slaughter the roosters and take the entire hen population out of the dungeon. A tall order, but I could probably narrow down my choices once I finished off the last rooster.

Crossing 900ft and killing the guards on the wall was going to be extremely difficult. The closer I got to the wall, the less reaction time I would have to dodge the arrows.

"What do you have plan?" Fu asked.

She looked so excited her little thorax had dipped, and she looked to be in her ready position. Tying up the last rabbit chimera had been fun for her.

"I'm going to run up to the gate and kill them all," I said.

Really, that's all there was to it.

Fu's red lips parsed as if she had bitten a lemon. Really, it sounded like the worst plan ever. Battle Chickens had some excellent reaction time, and my physical attributes weren't that great. Lingering Will was my best bet. It took my flimsy physical attributes and gave them a serious boost. It helped with my speed, but it wasn't my only reliance. First Strike and Final Blow would come into effect since I mentally considered this all to be a single attack. I wouldn't think about it, only destroy.

Marching a population of hens out of this town was a little much, but it would be a learning experience. After this, I would fight Fu's mother and find out if my new friend would abandon me. I wouldn't blame her if she defended her mother or warned her. Even as estranged as I was from my own mother, a part of me still loved her.

Betrayal wasn't enough to burn that bridge, which just showed how pathetic I was. I still wanted to hear my mother's voice for her to call and tell me there was really no other way. That she was proud of me for making this sacrifice even if I didn't agree to it.

I held my head, and Fu bumped my elbow with her head.

"You don't have to do this. I know you're strong, but this might be too much. Only my mother would dare something like this. You need to save your strength if you want to beat her." Fu said.

I nodded, still tensing my muscles for an intense use of skills and attributes, a move that would take my body to its absolute limits. It was the sort of action that would force my attributes to improve through training. That was what tipped the scales for me.

For revenge, the anger of Berserk wrapped me snuggly in a familiar blanket of comfort. My blood pulsed with satisfaction. This was what I wanted, the feeling of knowing why I was fighting. There was no mistaking it; I wasn't a good person by any stretch of the imagination. I was about to kill and upend lives to produce eggs on my farm.

This was all to climb out of debt, poverty, and the lowest class. I wanted it more than any tamer, I wanted it more than Tony Graves, and I wanted it more than the roosters on the wall. Hot blood pounded in my veins as a cruel wind picked up, and the power given by Lingering Will ignited.

More strength than I ever felt pushed me forward as skills synergized and activated together even cosmic Tempo powered up to help push me in the right direction. My heart hammered in my chest as I stepped out of the tree and shot forward.

I kicked off the face of a tree and shot out of the forest before dashing as my feet touched the ground. The dry ground cracked as a visible dust cloud appeared behind me. No sound came yet from the defenders as I ate a third of the distance in what felt like an instant, with all the skills thrumming to life in my mind. It felt like after images were bunched up behind me as I picked up more speed, finding the sweet spot where my skills gave me the perfect amount of lightness and heaviness. Wind blasted around me, kicking up more dust, and the bells still hadn't rang. My ears perked up, but all I could hear was the wind passing me by, and my sheathes slamming against my thighs.

I jumped, crossing out of the dust storm, gaining air until I saw well over the gate. A gust of wind carried me further than it should have as I landed, and a bolt the size of me slammed into an afterimage. Back hidden by the dust storm, I heard the bells ring when I was less than a third the distance away and eating the distance rapidly. I pulled my chainswords free and revved them on my second jump.

Why was this all considered a single and last attack? I figured because I wouldn't stop moving. The second my feet touched the ground of the guard tower, heads flew off of shoulders. My body moved, and I barely noticed the enemy as I crossed the span of the wall. The people of the town panicked as the bell rang until I silenced the rooster responsible. My chainswords continued to move with every step, either deflecting bolts, cutting through weak spots in armor, or ripping into bodies.

Roosters mustered, and I dove into them, turning half-armored defenders into broken dolls of flesh and bone on the ground. My blades moved quickly, and I opened the town and ripped out its guts like a chainsword. Viscera covered my wake as I killed without stopping until the roosters broke and fled too late. I chased them down and butchered them in the streets. The hens fled in panic but couldn't leave with the gate shut.

I made my way to the smithy to find it empty. There was plenty of oil for me to take care of my weapons. Once they were clean of blood and sparkling under the sun, I returned them to their sheaths.

One of the hens appeared in my sight before fleeing. I caught her and grabbed her arm. She nearly ripped off her own arm to get away before noticing my weapons were sheathed. Her leg shot at my neck with blinding speed, but I caught it before her talons could slice open my throat.

"Murderer, unhand me." The hen said.

"Collect the other hens for an inspection. Those I like will come with me, and the rest can remain here. I want only the healthiest hens in town. I will inspect them in the town square; don't be late." I didn't let go when she tried to get away. "Cheat me, and I will break you," I said.


She shivered before crowing as she ran in a way unlike the roosters. When she was out of sight, I found a wall and slid my back against it. I sucked in a breath, but no matter how much air I sucked in, there wasn't enough. That assault had taken me to the limits of my body.

When I felt in control, I made my way to the town square, where nearly 400 hens waited for my inspection. I searched for those around Veronica's age and picked them out. Of the 400 hens around Veronica's age, only 249 made the cut. In roughly an hour, I felt them up searching for growths of all kinds and found that the small population was surprisingly healthy. Marching them out of the dungeon wouldn't be difficult. They had been cowed by my might rather handily.

"You will come with me out of this land to the world outside this dungeon. Follow my servant Fu to the dungeon entrance; anyone who tries to flee will be killed."

If even 100 made it through, I would have all the eggs I could sell, and Veronica would have all the hens she could gossip with. Everyone wins, especially my bank account. This was the kind of farming that normally required multiple tamers on a single farm that took 50% off the profit. If I played my cards right, I would soon be out of debt and on my way to a life where I could travel whenever and wherever I wanted.

"I'm a servant now?" Fu asked.

"Get them there while I fight the boss then we're done here."

She gave me a serious look.

"Don't give me that I've seen the boss before I'm not impressed," I said.

"My mother uses us to keep other monsters from rising to her position. Failures are eaten, and their positions are given to new maneaters. We are only loyal because she protects us from the mid-bosses. If you can kill her, then I won't have to fear for my life anymore." Fu said.

"What, aren't you still scared of me?" I asked.

Fu snorted, and I rubbed her head. It was a good feeling having someone that wasn't terrified of me. "I'll use my sisters to keep them going in the right direction. We might even pick up a few stragglers along the way. When my mother dies well, I was always popular." Fu said.

She was such a little opportunist; I loved it. The way her lips smirked up into a chilling red grin on her cute face was to die for. When I spread my arms wide, she jumped, and I hugged the maneater, letting her get close enough to kill me if she was able. She didn't, and it felt good to have my trust rewarded.

Oh, she was using me, but we were using each other in this, and I wanted to believe that deep down, we were becoming friends. It was the last part of me that still dreamed of being a tamer. I had an advantage that Tamers starting out didn't have; I owned property. The land was often at a premium, and my little 300-acre lot was valuable for housing lots of monsters. With a little work, it would be easy to make a monster farm or, better yet, a community. Who said I needed to make a town for weak humans when I could surround myself with powerful monsters.

I wasn't coping because soon, my attributes would make me superhuman and unable to relate with normal humans. Who wouldn't want to live with alien beings who looked uncannily like humans at higher tiers unless they went a more monstrous route?

The battle chickens and Fu were staring at me while I hugged the struggling spider.

"Sorry, I was lost in thought. Lead them well I need to take care of the boss. It's a good thing I still know where she is." I said.

"You're going to fight Rong Da." A hen asked.

I nodded.

"We should stay here then; many of our strongest have tried to bring her down, and none prevailed." The hen crossed her arms and looked down her beak at me.

"If you wanted to be an example so badly, then all you had to do was ask," I said.

A Blitz Kick took the wind out of her sails and blasted her over the heads of other hens into a nearby building. She stared into space, unmoving after my blow. I pulled her out of the rubble and poured a healing potion down her throat. The hen coughed and spluttered but soon I could hear her bones cracking back into place.

I gave Fu's satchel to the hen I took down. "You are in charge of leading your fellows to my farm, where you will enjoy all the corn and bug monsters you can eat. There will be no war with chimera rabbits waiting for you there." I said.

"You maggot-filled wound." The chicken I kicked said.

"Lead them well; they are your responsibility," I said.

I watched the procession of hens travel away and knew they would be fine; there was strength in numbers, and Fu would be with them. The exit was close to the middle of the floor rather than at an end. It would be easy to find. I pulled two healing potions out of my bag and slid one into a leather loop. I hoped I wouldn't need it, but I kept it ready just in case.

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[Ultimatedaywriter]

Day 19

Fu was gone, and that gave me time to rest against a tree and catch my breath. My knees, elbows, and wrists ached from the sheer force placed on them by using so many skills together. Regeneration had healed them, but my brain hadn't caught up to the fact. While my joints were no longer inflamed, the signals still traveled to my brain, telling me they were.

My Mapping skill wasn't wrong; the boss arena was the web-covered trees up ahead, and the great spider Rong Da waited for me there. The way the threads of silk clung to the trees, I was certain a windstorm would just exhaust me with little to show for it. Either the dungeon was getting wise to my tricks, or Rong Da paid attention.

I could feel my heartbeat erratically, and my veins pulse against my skin. Fighting my way through the town the way I did came at a price. A smarter man would retreat and count their chickens. Thoughts of what to do about future tamers came to mind.

There had to be roosters with the Psychic or Telepathy skill to pass on. High Willpower monsters were the hardest to control with tamer skills. Most intermediate tamers wouldn't try to take my chickens or Gwen if their levels were high enough. In less than 6 months, I could have a generation of tamer, skill-resistant monsters to work for me.

My bottom line hadn't changed since I thought up a way to win against the tamers. A telepathic hivemind with me at the center could work maybe something closer to a nationalistic ideal rather than an overmind. All we needed was to make it too much trouble for the tamers to bother with. Having a town with hundreds of members would be a good start. Once I was out of debt, my privilege would increase allowing me to buy items from the shop that would help start a hamlet.

It was naive, and I knew it. The greater defense against the tamers was Rasputin itself. While there were powerful monsters in the territory, no one wanted to settle. Despite having monsters at their command, tamers seemed to prefer modern conveniences rather than dropping feces in the woods. Only the strong ones would normally come this way in search of wild dungeons. Most of them didn't live long enough to be a problem, or they became so strong the league eagerly gave them official positions.

Once upon a time, I wouldn't have thought the way I did. I wanted to believe that the league was good and gave official positions to the powerful tamers because they earned them. The more I looked at the situation, the more I understood it was an appeasement to the people with small armies at their command. We were supposed to be a republic after we cast down the nobles, but since the old countries of Weston became the Weston League, I knew better. We were a society filled with petty warlords that could at any time wipe out towns if they weren't given their way.

I might not have a personal army, but I was becoming like them, a petty warlord. By my own power, I sacked a town held by rank 2 monsters. We should be comparable; they had skills and attributes similar to mine. Even without attributes in physical or mind totaling 500, it felt like I was touching on rank 3. Reaching that kind of power shouldn't work, but my skills kept my body going far beyond what it should be able to handle. Some skills I didn't think I was using came into play, helping me avoid the worst of the consequences of my actions and granting me a little more power.

Telekinesis was playing its part despite my lack of experience. The effects were slight, but the skill reached synergizing with Lingering Will. When I wasn't careful, and I let my Willpower slip, I saw things, images of powerful Psychic monsters. They whispered things I couldn't understand with my waking mind. My subconscious heard them, and the pressure on my joints from hard turns lessened.

I gripped my head and let my stress fall away. There would be no going into the dungeon tomorrow. I knew that for a fact, there was too much to do, and I needed time to explore my skills. Telekinesis wasn't supposed to be passive, but Lingering Will had shown it the way, and I had a feeling my class would ensure I had a large payout in skill levels.

Leaving with all my cash and prizes would be the wise thing to do. I stood up slowly and felt my knees bend without any pain signals. I couldn't tell if it was because they stopped or my Telepathy stopped them. Maybe my Regeneration halted them, or Berserk was blocking them out.

Within a dungeon, skills couldn't gain levels, and attributes couldn't increase due to skills. Only through class leveling could I gain attributes in a dungeon. Exceptions included safe zones, items, and legendary skills.

The path to the boss arena was littered with dried-out husks covered loosely in spider silk. Maneaters watched me slipping down from their webs and giggling in the darkness. There were many faces, but none looked the same. Bodies cried out overhead while the monsters fed on their struggling prey. A body fell, struggling in front of me, and the maneaters watched in amusement. My blade flashed from its sheath, and I saw the red pulsing wound from one of their bites on a chimera rabbit. Skin bloated like a water balloon and her eyes were swollen shut. An oozing wound covered her side, where she had been fed upon multiple times, deflating her stomach.

"Our venom dissolves everything, even the bones, eventually. All that is left are husks. That is your fate, brave man. Poor you, coming into our nest and watching us feed such a degenerate. Don't bother asking to be food; your actions have spoken to us like the words of a poet."

"You like poetry." My chainswords revved in anticipation. "Roses are red. Violets are blue. You will wish you were dead. My chainswords are going inside you."

Fell energy encircled my body, black as pitch lining a small field of Telekinesis. It had happened following Lingering Will. The two forces were too synergistic; when I used one, the other followed, and controlling fell energy grew easier with time. It was an invigorating feeling to see the faces of the maneaters light up and show their surprise before I moved into Gemini Waltz.

My body moved in a dance; my chainswords were my partners, and they flashed, cleaving through the bodies of spider monsters with glee as I danced down the road leading to the boss arena. Any maneaters that approached were turned into meat slurry as I searched for balance in my skills.

I let the memories of monsters trickle into my waking mind as Gemini Waltz, Lingering Will, and Telekinesis mixed in ways they were never designed to. Gemini Waltz came from a monster that craved aristocratic prestige, a crow monster of the 3rd​ rank learning the dances of high society. They used shadow and light to cast illusions while dancing around opponents.

Telekinesis belonged to a powerful fox monster that craved new knowledge and searched for it using their psychic might to defeat their enemies. Despite the nature of foxes, the ones in my inherited memories acted more like ogres wielding clubs than sneaky foxes. Lingering Will came from a skill tree, but it wasn't exempt from images filtering in my mind; they were of long-dead monsters clinging to life through unfinished business. Over time, their bodies animated something that reminded them of their past to drive them into the future. Each set of memories was different yet the skills synergized in such a way, taking pieces of each origin and forming it into something new.

My blade cut through the last spider, and I wasn't breathing hard. I couldn't feel even the slightest ache from my joints. Despite moving faster than normal, I didn't feel an ache from behind my right eye. My skills hadn't increased at all I knew that for a fact, then what changed?

It was a question that eluded me as I made my way into the arena, where larger bodies spun in dark silver webs.

"My children failed to guard me. There are few from that generation left to take their punishment. I will have to eat from the one after theirs to replace the fats I'm about to burn." Massive yellow eyes burned through the darkness as I approached a monster at the very edge of ranking up. Telepathic tendrils pushed against my mind but failed to find purchase against the fell energy surrounding me. "What is that expression you're wearing? I haven't seen it like before." Rong Da said.

The wind picked up far easier to wield with the amount of psychic energy my Telekinesis produced. Even Rong Da's Telepathy produced a little psychic energy to help me along. No skills interfered with my efforts, so I blatantly took control of the fell energy and started off with some light breezes from Fell Wind. Before the monster revealed itself, I knew it had a Willpower attribute strong enough to ignore the primary effect of Fell Wind. Even the chimera rabbit mid-boss slowed down her attacks when under its effect.

"Answer me, human."

"Oh, you know what I am; that's interesting. I didn't think the dungeon gave you that kind of information."

Silver threads fired into fully formed nets, racing after me at incredible speeds. I moved, and trapdoors opened, revealing massive maneater spiders. My blades flashed, cutting off their limbs the moment they moved into my 5ft telepathic range. They were slowed by my Fell Wind when they exposed themselves to the open air, slowing them down long enough to notice them and swing in time with Gemini Waltz.

The long nose of the boss slid into view under what little sunlight entered the through silver spider silk and long dead trees. A white face larger than any I had ever seen with the fangs of a spider sticking between red-painted lips. Multiple eyes covered her head, glowing yellow and reflecting the low sunlight streaming into the arena. Atrophied insect wings stretched out behind her head along with the limbs of mantises. Her cheeks bulged, and I felt a massive tongue stick to my chest.

Before I could swing, I was in the monster's mouth. Luckily, my foot found a groove in the teeth at my feet, locking me in place. Rong Da's teeth came down as mucus blasted my body. My left hand rose the meet my foe. Sparks flew into the darkness, revealing teeth aplenty lining the inner layers of the Chimera Maneater's throat. Small organs with tiny eyes at their stalks stretched out from between teeth in her hard palate. They locked onto me before tentacles emerged as I struggled to hold the monster's teeth at bay.

The biting force of the monster made my knees wobble and my elbow shake. Sparks lighting up the darkness were all I had to see as I slashed at the tentacles, aiming to take my weapons away. Rong Da's head shook as I felt my blade sink into a tooth, spraying bone chips out its exhaust. The tongue rose behind the tentacles and smashed into me. My body slammed into a silver spider web before pulling back until my fell energy control failed. I adjusted my control and leaned forward in the same motion, feeling a heavy thrum over my right eye.

Adhesives were dangerous when I couldn't turn or remove the connection at will. If my skin touched one of those silver webs, I would leave the flesh behind.

"What is that expression? Why won't it leave?"

The boss monster's lips frowned into a snarl, exposing lines on the monster's cheeks. I held my chainswords out wide facing down. The tongue lashed out, and it hit an afterimage, and my blades caught its side as I cut from side to side, and I ran its length. Rong Da screeched, and I shifted to deflect the monster's scythe arms. A massive spider leg lashed out, pointed like a spear.

I felt the blow stab into my shoulder and out the other side. My blade slashed on instinct, cutting the limb at the joint and spraying me with vicious, hot green blood. I popped the top and took my health potion immediately. Regeneration worked with it to heal the fist-sized hole in my shoulder. I grabbed the limb and pulled it slowly out of me while dodging Rong Da's attacks.

Afterimages swallowed 3 consecutive blows, and she missed others thanks to Gemini Blitz.

"Why won't it go away?"

"You know they have creams for that," I said.

Rong Da spat a wad of boiling blood at me that turned into crystalline spears. When I ducked under the first attack, she spat 12 more in an instant. One of them hit my side, slicing through my breastplate like it wasn't there. I threw my blade in rage, and it flew true.

Throughout the entire fight, telepathic probes were launched one after the other in rapid succession, searching for any sign of weakness. The seemingly miniscule effort slowed her down enough to be caught off guard.

Her right eye, larger than my body, took the blade before she could blink. Flesh poured out of the boss monster's eye as she gouged at her face with her spear-like legs and scythe arms. I had thrown that weapon true, and its rotary saw naturally pushed it forward.

The screaming continued until the monster gave up on stopping the blade lost in its body and focused its attention on me. I clicked off my remaining blade and sheathed it.

"Get that look off your face."

"Rong Da, I regret having to kill you to get what I need. If you asked nicely, I would get my chainsword out of your eye."

"Are you bargaining for me to let you go after what you've done?" Rong Da asked.

All around the arena, the wind picked up heavier than I had managed before. I understood how to use Fell Wind and Fell Cyclone better than before. Resources were required for the skills to work to the fullness of their potential. Between my constant Telekinesis, Telepathy, and Rong Da's Telepathy, there was plenty of fuel. She had tried to kill me quickly, there was no doubt about it, but her constant telepathic attacks had altered the timetable.

"There is an Easton quote I love. You have eyes but can't see Mt. Tai. The only way I could have lost was if you killed me about 10 seconds ago."

A cyclone began spinning, starting small with low winds surrounding the entire boss arena. The spider shot forward at blinding speeds, but I let the wind take me lightening my body with Crow Step. Afterimages were destroyed as the wind picked up. As if she couldn't control herself, she continued bombarding me with telepathic attacks. The wind picked up, accelerating while I flew with it.

Rong Da fired blood crystal spears at me like artillery while I fired back with Psy Bolts. Every blast did little damage but added to the cyclone's power. The wind tore open the nest above, shattered fossilized trees, and exposed the arena to the sun. Rong Da failed to leave it. She remained as the black wind swallowed the light, and debris from the shattered trees became shrapnel.

I floated over the Cyclone as her every long-range attack was swept into it and blasted down with Psy Bolts. Even if they couldn't damage her, they helped fuel the cyclone. I felt it when she slipped and fell under the wind. She stuck her thread to the ground only for it to rip up immediately and launch into her. Fossilized wood splinters pierced her face and eyes until she was blinded completely. My head pounded from the effort to control so much Fell Wind, but I kept it up the job wasn't done.

I descended, forcing the shrapnel to avoid me as I floated in front of her. She couldn't move so tangled in her web and struggling to hold on. My chainsword revved but the sound was deafened by the wind. I held it in both hands, no longer using Gemini Waltz. The stance I used was basic and strong. Fell energy longed my blade, consuming the remaining energy in the storm. My head continued throbbing as blood seeped down my face, and the wind slowed.

"Is this why you smile so arrogantly? Was I dead before our battle began?" Rong Da asked.

"No, this was the closest battle I've ever won. You fought well and almost beat me. Let our next meeting be under happier circumstances, and be nicer to your children. They deserve a mother better than a tyrant that eats them for sport." I said.

The monster ground her teeth and tried to stand. "I won't be talked down to by an arrogant beast like you."

"I smiled because you gave me a good time. Fighting you was an experience I'm not going to forget. I know I'll be able to go to the second floor immediately, but I wouldn't mind fighting you again when you're even stronger." I said.

Black fell energy erupted along my blade and collapsed in on itself, forming triangular shards following my chainsword's revolutions. When the wind stilled, and my weapon had all the power it could withstand, I stabbed forward. A line of black appeared, making and hand-wide cut bisecting the boss monster.

I watched my chainsword, enthralled by its changed appearance. The silver metal had turned black and small triangular motes of fell energy appeared from the blade. Reality set in, and the blade returned to its silver finish.

Rong Da was dead. I knew it for sure when the edges of her body began dissolving, and the dungeon was sure I had no plans to eat it. I moved to the side of the monster where its head had been bisected and saw my other chainsword piercing a pink hunk of brain matter among white matter. Pieces of pink crystal flew into the air and fell in sparkling motes as my chainsword still struggled to kill the boss monster even after I killed it.

The boss monster hadn't been the same as the original. Proof that the dungeon had changed. I gripped the handle of my weapon and turned it off. After giving it an inspection, I found permanent changes. My headache from the battle felt a little lighter. It wasn't an enchantment; there were no runes in place or engravings. Something like radiation had entered my chainsword, changing it.

From the drops, I found two rare skill shards, a stack of Westons that I couldn't spend, and a solid black breastplate engraved to increase my Constitution by 1 for every skill with silk or spider in its name I had. I didn't have a use for it, but it would automatically resize in the dungeon. Fu could see some use in it.

Rare Skill Shards
Psychic (R)
Blood Temple (R)

Blood Temple was the skill needed to make Blood Drain usable at all. Blood skills weren't great without tons of supporting skills, monsters, and equipment. Under the right conditions, blood skills can be a nightmare. Getting enough blood skills to turn me into one was a challenge. There was probably an uncommon blood skill I was missing to complete the floor 1 set before it could start becoming useful.

Maybe there was another secret at Blood Lake. As for Psychic it was the support needed to take my Telepathy, Telekinesis, and Psy Bolts to the next level. Psychic could do all three of those skills; it even had an individual mastery along with Telepathy and Telekinesis. Basically, there was no way I would pass up two rare skills.

Ping!
New Skills
Psychic (R) lvl1
Blood Temple (R) lvl1

I had no more loose ends to tie up as I felt the portal to the 2nd​ floor appear. It would open anywhere on the 1st​ floor I wanted out of combat. It was time to be home and not be in a combat zone for a while. I snapped my fingers, and a portal back home appeared. That would be so useful.

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[Ultimatedaywriter]

Day 19

The colony of battle chickens led by Fu had expanded on their travel to the dungeon entrance. It was my fault after I killed the floor boss, Rong Da; I took a detour and killed 3 other mid-bosses. My path of destruction sent the masses of battle chickens to the four winds, and the hens naturally went to the largest collection of hens. At first, it was only a little over 200 that arrived at the location. Still, I took too long to return, and other hens and rabbits of varying ages arrived through the war-torn land of the first floor.

I stared tiredly at a crowd of over 1000 hens, a few roosters, and various chimera rabbits. Looking at them all made me feel tired.

Over 48 hours had passed since entering the dungeon, but in the outside world, my day hadn't ended.

In dungeons, time was relative. On the first floor, every hour was 20 minutes in the real world. I remember timing myself and comparing the results between runs. Some well-paid researchers theorized that in a locked dungeon, time can flow much faster. I think that's where the culture and population came from.

Basically, even if I'm depopulating the 1st​ floor within 12 hours, the floor will easily restore itself. The dungeon will have learned from this experience and alter the scenario accordingly.

A rooster approached me with hard eyes upon seeing my blood-stained and green-splattered undershirt.

"What in the ancestors are you?"

"Tired? Who are the leaders of the groups? If you want to leave, then get ready. All I have up are the walls, so don't expect much while everything is sorted." I said.

"So you're the prick who convinced our hens to meet in this place."

I sighed and looked around. "Is there anyone less dumb I can talk to?"

The rooster raised his leg to kick, only for another rooster to stop him. I stared up at an 8-foot-tall monster of a bird.

"Easy, friend, I know we're all hangry, but fighting the thing that killed all the leaders and Rong Da will get you killed. Fu, I'm going to take this guy to hang with some pretty birds while the two of you sort out our exodus." The massive rooster said.

I raised my hand, and a blue portal appeared, showing trees and a setting sun. Fu stared at the portal and then back at me.

"Show off,"

"All right, everyone through who is going," I said.

A rabbit looked at the chickens before walking through the portal.

"Why aren't you crossing?" A rooster shouted.

I sucked in a breath and let it out. The new Blood Manipulation skill had been worth the headache. I was so much better off showing up late and letting the crowd amass. There were no accommodations, and I was pushing it with 250. The walls were all I had going for us. Tomorrow would be a hard day of farm work to plant enough for a thousand battle chickens.

When I moved, dried blood clung to my shirt, making me feel sticky and uncomfortable. A bit of dried viscera fell out of my hair, and the rooster wasn't backing down.

"Stay here then. I'm sure the warlord that rises in this chaos needs more flesh for the meat grinder. You look like a strong rooster; maybe you'll survive, or he'll kill you for looking too closely at his hens. I don't need the trouble of taking care of you." I said.

"What can we expect on the other side? Is it any better than here?" The rooster asked.

"All I'm offering is the opportunity to build a life outside the dungeon. It will be hard, but an easy life isn't waiting for you here."

The big rooster who helped me out of the argument shoved the rooster through before going himself. Hens started following immediately after that in a flood.

Fu crawled up to my shoulder and rested there, not caring about the mess covering me.

"Big Jon is a good guy; he helped me when the others wanted to run away," Fu said.

"You did better than expected. There are over a thousand battle chickens." I said.

"Exactly 1683 plus 200 chimera rabbits. What are we about to walk into?" Fu asked.

"A walled farm covering 300 acres of land. I'm going to have to expand quickly if I want this to work. The number of birds is hard to fathom." I said.

The moment I had the money, I had to increase my holdings. The rank 3 monsters in the area would have to go or be used to feed my livestock further. No, these battle chickens weren't my equals; I had no bond with them. I could kill them out of hand and cook them over a fire without feeling a thing. Veronica was different; I felt like she could be worth the investment. I didn't know what her use could be, but I had telepathy and telekinesis skills she could learn. I checked my bag, and I stuffed it with the skill shards I found the most valuable. There were 20 skill shards alone for telepathy.

"You are a leader now, and I think you'll do good by them. We can always eat the ones that don't listen."

I patted my spider's head, feeling her nice soft black hair. "I have plans for all of you. Is it true monsters can gain attributes from devouring other monsters?" I asked.

"Not at all we gain the attribute from feeding that we consider the most valuable. I like to split my focus, no pun intended, between Focus, Intelligence, and charisma. Also, if the monsters are at least equal to my rank, the benefits are better." Fu said.

That was something I hadn't known about monsters. It changed how I viewed training methods entirely. Maybe conditioning makes a monster wish it was stronger, faster, or smarter. That desire was what altered how they gained attributes. It was such a diversion from what was known that I was stunned.

"I'll bite you if you don't answer me," Fu said.

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked.

"Don't apologize; leaders who apologize are eaten by their followers. Admit no wrong and do what you think is right. Most importantly always seem to be doing something that will benefit the people and let them know it. A silent leader is a leader doubted by their followers." Fu said.

"Fu, the battle chickens have all crossed my portal," I said.

"Yes," Fu said.

"It's our turn to go through," I said.

"Finally, what's the holdup."

"This is going to hurt," I said.

Before Fu could say anything, I stepped through.

Ping!
+4 Vitality, +8 Constitution, +6 Endurance,
+8 Strength, +5 Dexterity, +4 Agility,
+3 Perception, +14 Willpower, +7 Focus,
+4 Intelligence, +9 Wisdom, +6 Charisma

Skills
Farming:
Harvest lvl30, Furrows lvl15

Dungeon Farming:
Dungeon Manager lvl25

Misc:
Berserk lvl40, Training lvl50, Regeneration lvl43,
Adapt lvl50, Lingering Will lvl50, Gemini Waltz lvl50,
Gemini Blitz lvl30, Chainsword Mastery lvl25, Blitz Kick lvl20,
Counter lvl20, Crow Step lvl41, Final Blow lvl30,
Psy Bolt lvl11, Telepathy lvl21, Fell Slash lvl40,
Fell Wind lvl50, Cosmic Temp lvl25, First Strike lvl40,
Bond lvl25, Telekinesis (UC) lvl25, Fell Whirlwind (UC) lvl38,
Fell Mastery (R) lvl42, Psychic (R) lvl12.

Skill Points: 428

The portal snapped closed behind me while I experienced a taste of a dragon's fiery bowels. My bones creaked, shifting under my skin, ants bit my nerves, and my mind felt lost in a fog. I bit my tongue as I felt wave after wave of new information assault my senses as my meager intelligent attribute parsed through it all.

I experienced the pain slowly while my muscles expanded and relaxed harder and stronger than before. Muscle spasms happened faster than ever before, maximized by my growing list of skills. Strains that had ailed me within the dungeon seemed like distant memories as my skills leveled some all the way to level 50. They hit the threshold faster than I expected, and leveling them would be an incredible challenge.

A beautiful sunset and finally being out of danger eased some of my concerns. Battle chickens of all shapes and sizes had fanned out to explore their new homes. I didn't bother looking back at the dungeon; instead, I made my way back to my tent.

"Your clothes are falling off." I looked down to see tatters covering me. I ripped them the rest of the way and left them on the ground. Fu sighed and hopped off my shoulder inside the tent. "I will get to work making you a new set of clothes. Don't expect anything too fancy." Fu said.

I smiled and sat in my chair. The gains didn't feel real. A smile spread across my face. Feeling my power increase was addictive, and I had no plans of going into the dungeon for at least 20 days. I made the decision because it would take me a while to get used to my current power.

"You're back; there are a few more than I expected; we have the makings of a town with this many hens. Next spring, we could have 50,000 or more." Veronica said.

"Are you trying to work me to an early grave?" I asked.

She saw my smile and had no idea what it meant.

"No, I was just saying we have so much potential," Veronica said.

I crossed the room, and she shied away as I gently patted her back. She flinched in pain, so I eased up.

"How many physical attributes do you have, over 400? It feels like 450?" Veronica said.

I smirked a farmer would reach 500 attributes in Endurance and Vitality at lvl100. Most of my power came from skills. By the time I had the attributes of a rank 3, I would hit at their peak. That's what it meant to have lots of high-level skills; they were practically attributes by themselves.

On that note, I had over 400 skill points, but I planned to hold on to them for a few days while I got used to being the new me. I almost couldn't wait until Tony Graves returned. I had a plan to make his tamer skill useless.

I tossed my backpack on the ground, pulled a skill shard free, and handed it to Veronica. "Here you're now a manager in charge of ensuring those hens lay eggs where we can make use of them," I said.

Fu looked at me while working on a pair of underwear. "What do you have planned in the monkey head of yours?"

"I'm going to promote several battle chickens as my managers and give them skill shards and equipment. They are going to be my boots on the ground to make sure everything is running smoothly. The best part is they are also battle chickens so when their people have a need, they will empathize with them. This way, I will be able to stay on top of all the problems before they get worse." I said.

"I think that's a great idea," Veronica said.

She absorbed the shard, and her eyes widened as I felt a mental probe from her and gently connected.

Her mind was a jumbled mess of hormones, needs, and aspirations in that order. She wanted a house where she could raise her chicks like I needed air to breathe. The desire for shelter was a real wake-up call and might be a sign I wouldn't get much sleep.

"How much money will we make if we each lay 2 eggs. That's the average, from what I recall. We should also separate the harem hens since their eggs are fertilized." Veronica said.

I nodded along as she began pacing around my tent, tail feathers up next to her nest she happened to drag into my tent. I didn't mind at all; we did have a bond.

Bond Menu
Battle Chicken
Veronica Reputation 35/100 Friend
Maneater Spider
Fu Reputation 46/100 Best Friend

It wasn't the devotion between a tamer and their monster, but it felt genuine. Fu was an easy girl to become friends with; all I had to do was murder her mother.

Big Jon walked into the tent to see a pacing Veronica wearing clothes, me naked, and Fu quickly putting a wardrobe together.

"I guess this explains why you wanted so many hens."

Veronica saw the massive Cock and stared between us. "No, you don't understand; we're friends; we only sleep together."

The rooster clucked at Veronica's expense while the girl clawed at the ground in frustration.

"Jokes aside, our resources are sparse, and the hens have scattered to find places to roost. Finding their eggs in the morning will be a scavenger hunt. Some have stripped the stalks of corn and stockpiled it, trading corn for breeding with the hens."

"One problem at a time. The corn is for everyone; anyone caught hoarding it while it's in short supply will be punished. Big Jon, before I forget, this is Veronica; she speaks with my voice; oh, and here take this."

I tossed him a skill shard for telepathy.

"You wish for me to become a telepath."

"Congratulations, you have been promoted to manager. Find people you trust, bring them to me, and they'll be promoted as well. I'll give you 3 spots, so choose wisely." I said.

"So I have the authority to command my people to organize and sleep closer to this position."

"Do what you can to keep the situation under control. In the morning, I will do what I can to make everyone's living arrangements more comfortable and improve our food supply." I said.

I bit into a protein bar as the rooster bowed before leaving me in my tent.

"I don't want to go out there. You gave me this position, and I'm too nervous to face them. What if they think I'm weird? That rooster wasn't wearing anything." Veronica said.

"I shrugged, uncaring."

"He insinuated we were mating; that is unnatural. The Book of Phoenix states that no bird should lay with another species. The eggs lain would be abominations." Veronica said.

"Sounds like fun," I said

"Take this seriously," Veronica said.

I stood up from my comfortable cot and wrapped my arms around the big silly bird wearing a turtleneck of all things with no clothing underneath. Veronica struggled for a moment before calming down when I pulled her off her feet. When she raised her knees, I patted her back. She really was a needy bird.

"We aren't doing that, and even if we were, it wouldn't be abominable because we are two consenting adults with fully rational minds. After saying that, I don't think either of us knows each other well enough to even think about that. Let's handle one crisis at a time and see where that takes us." I said.

Big Jon was handling things with his new skill and telepathy, and he would pick out three other leaders, making my life all the easier. All I had to do was survive to get the leadership off the ground, and my egg farm would pay off my debts, and then I could start taking more land. Forget my little 300-acre lot; I wanted to be able to look in all directions and not see the end of my land.

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[Ultimatedaywriter]

Day 20

My eyes snapped open when the sensation of creeping fear filled my bones. Flashes of myself cowering as a massive storm passed overhead came to mind, but the night was calm. Outside my tent, in my spider silk boxers, I could clearly see the stars and the pink light from our moon. There weren't any cries for help; no, the fear I felt was from someone cowering.

Telepathy wasn't empathy; I shouldn't feel emotions, but Telepathy wasn't a skill humans had much experience with. After leveling it to 21 and crossing the 50 barrier in Willpower, sensing the minds around my farm was getting easier.

A quick look at the skill showed I was mistaken.

Telepathy lvl22

"Come back to bed, or an owl will snatch you," Veronica said.

An image of yellow eyes and the smell of terror assaulted my senses. I checked the time it was only 3 in the morning; no wonder the sun wasn't up. The wind didn't pick up; there was no need. The foreign mind alluded me until I focused. What else could I do?

Whatever it was had gotten past our walls. Barbed wire wasn't cutting it. The monster within my range had a squishy mind compared to most of the hens. While it felt plenty clever, and it clearly made it through my fence, I felt my psychic tendrils slip into it. It felt like I had pushed my shovel into a soap bubble. The mind popped.

The hen rose from her hiding place as I approached the scene. A weasel nearly 8ft long with needles for hair was dead. It had already voided its bowels. Killing it had been easy. That thought terrified me. If I was able to kill a rank 2 monster with a thought, then something much stronger could clearly do the same to me. Rong Da seemed so much deadlier with her Telepathy than before.

Was that why Telepathy was a frowned-upon skill? People with it could cause mass casualties so easily. No, that couldn't be, or we would have psychic overlords instead of champions and a senate.

Territory governors existed in territories where there was a single megacity. In less developed territories, we had sheriffs elected individuals with the power to bring law and order to a territory and deputize individuals. Rasputin was a wild part of Weston with my farm and little else in the way of territory. We were in the Northeast rather close to Easton, but they didn't want anything to do with the territory either. For us, the ground had almost no mana, and for Easton, the air had no chi. It was what most would call a fixer-upper of a territory. Not even bandits wanted to come here in fear of random dungeon surges, powerful monsters, and the legend.

To the north, over the mountains, there were the shattered tribes of heroes. If not for the mountains and powerful monsters up there, I might have to deal with a raid from them in my lifetime. That was something that confused me. This place was perfect to avoid the rest of the world. Laws barely existed, so why did I still have to deal with Tony Graves.

Ironically, Tony was one of the few I couldn't kill with my mind due to his high Willpower and tamer skills. I was certain they acted like a kind of Telepathy, giving his mind tools to use against me. The similarities between telepathy and tamer skills were why I took a gamble on using Telepathy to defend from the skill.

Gwen couldn't defend against the tamer skills because she was inexperienced, had little Willpower, and Psychic by itself wasn't that powerful. For mental defenses, Telepathy was the way to go.

I returned to my tent only to be woken up 15 minutes later by a similar attack. The monster attacking was slightly stronger, and I killed it the same way. Its Willpower was higher than the weasel's, but it didn't matter much. I stabbed into it, but the bubble didn't pop. It was resilient enough to take several shovel fulls of matter from it.

When it finally burst, I rolled over in my cot and hugged Fu to me. "I told you so," Fu said.

The sun rose, and I felt completely exhausted. From the air, I had to fend off monsters seeking easy prey. The owls had far higher Willpower than most predators, and a few had Telepathy. In that situation, I was forced to get out of my cot and face them in the night. Under the light of the sun, I was left with a pile of bodies.

A few of the roosters had gotten together and started cooking them to help feed our massive population. Food was going to be a problem for a while. Big Jon crowed to the sun just outside my tent, and it took everything I had not to boot him into my cornfield.

"Collect the eggs; we should take care of it before anything else," I said.

"Good morning to you, too. Did you sleep well?" Big Jon asked.

I turned to the rooster with what felt like obvious bags under my eyes. "Hens are noticing that monsters coming in to pick us off and falling dead. Your actions aren't going unappreciated."

"Once we sell the eggs, we'll expand our territory and build a new fence at the edge of the property." I blinked and thought of something more important than the fence. "Where is everyone shitting?"

"On the ground." Big Jon said.

I sucked in a breath and let it out. "We don't have the resources to correct the problem yet." I was starting to think everything I was about to make would be spent on my new flock. "Are there any blacksmiths? We don't have any metal or a forge, do we?" I asked.

"We have blacksmiths, and you would know that last part better than me, boss."

That was right, I'm in charge and the one everyone would blame if they started dying. One problem at a time. I could feel Big Jon like a beacon in the dark; his Telepathy was new if weak. I needed more telepathy skill shards but I wasn't going back into the dungeon for a while.

"Boss, if you don't mind me asking, where can we find water?" Big Jon asked.

That was one thing I knew how to do, but it wouldn't be very sanitary. Water follows gravity, and we needed a 100,000W water treatment device. They were a combination of drill, water purifier, and industrial pump, and we needed the land facing the mountain where the valley dipped into a limestone quarry. That would give us a stone for building foundations as well.

We loaded the eggs, each larger than my fist, and rank 2. It was fortunate that we loaded the eggs when we did. My transporter was already sending 100 eggs through at a time. Due to a shortage and increased demand by tamers due to the increase in qualifier applicants, egg prices had more than tripled.
Each rank 2 egg was selling for 90W each.

Westons were pouring into my account hours later after the eggs had been verified at the current market price. I checked my tablet and tamers could expect to pay 300W per rank 2 egg.

I paid off my debt immediately, bought seed for real rank 2 produce, purchased land, and the Aquapheonix Territorial 40,000. It was rated to supply a town of 40,000 inhabitants with fresh water. The massive machine popped out of the transporter. It was smaller than expected. When I turned it on, everyone rejoiced when it started drilling through the quarry and quickly hit an underground spring.

Water flowed up its pump and poured out in every direction.

I suddenly had no debt, 4 times the land I had before, a water source, acres of forest to clear, and a population to look after. There was so much to do I hadn't talked to the enchantress. My friend, the chimera rabbit, was still waiting for our conversation. A rolling tide of happiness swept over me as the hens drank from the new pond, constantly cleaned by our newly purchased machine.

For a time, I basked in their happiness and had a drink of my own. I turned to see Fu in a tree, slowly draining the insides out of a large owl I killed. She turned her attention to me and blushed.

"Don't watch me feed; it's unnerving. You don't know what you look like to other people."

I looked down at my dirty sand-covered knees and barefoot before shaking my head. "I guess I don't. What do you see when you look at me?" I asked.

"Humans don't cuddle maneater spiders no matter what level they are. I'm not a safety blanket."

"I like your hair; it looks vibrant today," I said.

"Thank you, and I like your glowing purple eyes, swords, and boxer shorts. Together, they make you look like a psycho."

I rubbed my face; it had gotten scratchy. I needed to shave, but I was scared to see what kind of razor I needed to cut my hair. At some point, products weren't made for humans any longer.

Knights also had my problem, but they tried to keep their constitution and endurance below 50 together. Both attributes affected not only my skin but all of me. There was no need to wear shoes because my feet were tougher than most. I needed rank2 monster leather of a constitution or endurance specialized monster.

"I can't help the glowing. I've grown too strong to stop it." I said.

Too many skills had hit 50, and it would take months to cross the threshold to 51 for any of them. Leveling them afterward would be slow, but every level would mean so much more.

"Let me feast and restore my energy then I'll make clothes fit for our savior. Talk to your rabbit friend; she has been waiting near the pepper fields." Fu said.

I knew she was there just like she knew where I was. Telepathy was so strange; from my brain, it felt like nerves stretched out, feeling and trading information. At times, I felt more like a squid-type monster than a human. Having tentacles felt like they would feel more natural than hair, and that worried me.

"I'm just a farmer, and soon I'll need to get to tilling and planting. We have enough water, but food will be our problem until we become self-sufficient. The predators will get smart and stop attacking then the people will starve." I said.

"Big juicy cattle could be an option. Buy lots more land, and we can raise them and eat so well. We barely have to feed them; they eat grass." Fu said.

I smiled at her enthusiasm 1000s acres were a lot of land to plow, but I felt like I could manage it. Maybe I could steal Tony's Unicorn mount, hook her up to a plow, and have my roosters handle it in two days. "Feces, they will be here soon," I said.

Before Fu could reply, I turned around and headed for the pepper fields.

The to-do list kept getting longer. I needed to buy tablets, train my managers in their use, and set up an anonymous ideas box so my population could tell me their needs. Suffrage was also something to think about; giving my managers the ability to vote on purchases would make the people feel like they had power. Universal suffrage was a terrible idea; it had been tried before a century ago, and Weston still hadn't recovered.

Each town could have any form of government they wanted that went double for wild territories. I wasn't foolish enough to let go of the reins of power because someone might be able to do a better job. Having Fu and Veronica as managers gave me two out of the 20 possible votes for managers. My rabbit friend could make a third, and the enchanter would undoubtedly make a 4th​. I needed to build a strong voting block before I gave others power. Fortunately, the masses came from a medieval world and didn't know yet that republics were a thing.

Farmers built the land, but from what I could tell, none controlled it after a hamlet was established. The more built-up the land in a lawless territory, the better chance the farmer class would be removed from the levers of power. The people squatting on his land often used words like democracy and the will of the people to take his power away. Peer pressure, gaslighting, and voting were tools leadership classes used to trick farmers into selling their land on the cheap and then renting it.

I lived on the other side of it as the son of a tamer. That would not happen in this situation. I planned to buy the land from here to the valley and the mountains themselves. Maybe I would buy the entire Rasputin territory itself before I was done. Unfortunately, a few more egg sales would drastically increase the supply, and the current demand wouldn't last. So, while the demand lasted, I had to sell, but afterward, I could cut back. I'm sure the roosters wanted to increase their population.

The smell of hot peppers was a pleasant experience mixed with all the chicken feces on the ground. Great for fertilizing the ground terrible for my nose. Many of the peppers were in bloom, with chickens moving in to eat the large bugs attracted to them. The rabbit wore a wide-brimmed hat made from corn husks with openings for her long brown ears. She glared at me with all the fury in her 6-foot-tall body, not counting her ears. Her thick thighs were on full display in a pair of booty shorts sewn by Fu or another maneater. I spied a young face on a spider's body, watching from behind stalks, working on more booty shorts. The enchantress was there waiting for her pair.

"Is there an opening for your tail?" I asked.

I felt another foreign mind enter and squish it like so many others. How long until I did it subconsciously? Could I tell if it was a newborn chick or a predator? Out of the sky, a red feathered hawk slammed onto a nearby boulder with a satisfying crunch.

"I, did you just kill that thing with your mind?" My rival asked.

"That expression looks cute on you."

She sucked in a breath and let it out. That was apparently universal among nervous people and monsters. Good to know.

Big Jon had already shown up and began defeathering the massive predator.

"We could make glue from the feathers and stretch the hide with the others. At its size, we might get 50ft if we cut it right." Big Jon said.

"You know how to work leather," I said.

"Don't accuse me of being so talented. No, a couple of my favorite girls were daughters of their town's leatherworker. Like most children of a tradesman in hamlets, they were free labor. In not so many words, we have leather, lots of it for clothes, tents, and to sell." Big Jon said.

"Thank you for taking your role seriously. But we need some privacy." I said.

"Yes, sir, I'll distribute the meat and hide where it's needed most." Big Jon said.

When the rooster was gone after high-jacking our conversation, my rabbit rival spoke. "I never gave you my name, it's Isobel. We aren't in the dungeon anymore; if I die here, I won't come back." At her side was a chain sword still sheathed. "My niece's name is Ada, but our people call her the abyss rabbit. Why did you take her?"

"Her skill as an enchantress. We need clothing enchanted to increase Willpower and resist taming skills." I said.

"Tamers are a fact of life; they can enter a dungeon and take the loyalty of monsters, and there is nothing we can do about it. The dungeon even drops a tamer skill as one of the rare drops on the first floor. With my telekinesis, psychic, and telepathy skills, I'm almost immune to tamer skills." She turned away from me, picked a pepper, and popped it in her mouth. "These are lovely. I could eat them every day." She shook her head. "I always used to tell my people the only way a tamer would make me theirs was if they could beat me in combat. We used to laugh about it as if a human could beat with their frail bodies and reliance on monsters. Then, you came along and changed my whole world. What do you want from me?" Isobel asked.

"Your name is as beautiful as you," I said.

"Stop with the flattery; it's unbecoming of the man who beat me. Flattery is for when you want something from a better and can't get it with violence." Isobel said.

"Then what should I say to a woman I respect and want to make her feel accepted?" I asked.

"Acceptance is a weakness I would rather feel wanted. You should pull my face to meet yours by my ears and take my lips and more. That's what the man who beat me would do." Isobel said.

For a bunny girl, she had the eyes of a predator and the thighs of a woman who could crush watermelons with them.

I thought about her words for a moment.

"The man who beat you was my worst possible state of mind."

"Then what are you waiting for. I am a woman, and you're a man. There is nothing you need to fear. I won't be tamed." Isobel said.

How do they always know do I wear my feelings on my sleeve, or was it a product of Telepathy I wasn't aware of? I felt exposed and relieved, a combination of feelings that were disconcerting.

I closed my eyes, and Gwen flashed through my mind. Losing her was still fresh, even if it felt like a lifetime ago. Giving in and opening myself to love and letting her in would feel so good. Isobel was an even more powerful psychic than Gwen, with the Willpower to back it up. Fell energy was the only reason I managed to survive our fights. I closed my eyes, completely unsure. Want and need fought my fear of a painful betrayal.

"Give me time, I don't want to wait, but I have responsibilities."

"Then let me ease your burden," Isobel said.

A twitch of her lips revealed that this was her end goal, or maybe I was reading too much into it. Maybe she did care, and this was a way to help and not a naked power grab.

"Fine, you are in charge of all chimera rabbits. Manage them well and tell me if you need anything. I have fields to plow." I said.

"You do and not Echidna. Perhaps sweating under the warm sun while tearing through rock and root will make you yearn for a softer field."

For the rest of the day, I ripped through the dirt, roots, and boulders. After the furrows were aligned, I purchased pipes for irrigation systems down the lines connected to the water pump. Roosters took up the bags of seeds and planted in my stead. Despite not planting myself, I gained skill experience because it was my farm and my land. Ownership, as it turned out, was an important factor.

When I finished my chores for the day, I found a rock and invited Isobel to play a game with me. Together, we played tug of war with a rock using telekinesis to train Willpower.

Ping!
+2 Willpower, +1 Focus, +1 Intelligence, +1 Wisdom, +5 Charisma
Plowing lvl25
Planting lvl29
Furrows lvl30
Telekinesis (UC) lvl27
Telepathy lvl25
Psychic (R) lvl15

Skill Points:495

Before I tried to go to bed that night I took a hard look at my stat sheet while thinking about organizing it.

Status
Atom Walker lvl10
Class: Farmer +3 END +2 VIT per LEVEL
Attributes
Physical:
Vitality 26
Constitution 21
Endurance 40
Strength 25
Dexterity 15
Agility 20

Mental:
Perception 15
Willpower 62
Focus 21
Intelligence 11
Wisdom 26
Charisma 15

Skills
Farming:
Plow lvl7
Plant lvl12
Harvest lvl25
Furrows lvl7
Fencing lvl20
Dungeon Farming:
Dungeon Manager lvl20
MISC:
Berserk lvl40
Training lvl50
Regeneration lvl43
Adapt lvl50
Lingering Will lvl50
Gemini Waltz lvl50
Gemini Blitz lvl30
Chainsword Mastery lvl25
Blitz Kick lvl20
Counter lvl20
Crow Step lvl41
Final Blow lvl30
Psy Bolt lvl11
Telepathy lvl25
Fell Slash lvl40
Fell Wind lvl50
Drill Spear Mastery lvl1
Cosmic Tempo lvl40
First Strike lvl16
Blood Drain lvl1
Bond lvl25
Silver Strings (UC) lvl1
Telekinesis (UC) lvl27
Fell Whirlwind (UC) lvl38
Blood Manipulation (UC) lvl1
Skill Fusion (R) lvl1
Fell Mastery (R) lvl42
Psychic (R) lvl15
Blood Temple (R) lvl1


Skill Trees:
Stopping Force 0/1000
Monster Management 0/500
Mind Artz I 0/350
Baron of Cyclones 0/300
Pharaoh of the Black Pyramid 0/300
Embers of Fallen Heroes I 71/250
Blood of the Cosmos I 0/250
Certain Strike 0/225
Lord of Squalls 0/200
Last Word 0/200
Rip and Tear 0/100
Black Rage II 0/100
Maximize Growth I 0/75
Nightmare Images 0/75
Black Wings 0/75
Final Impact 0/50
Affection of Strangers 0/50
Way of the Homestead 0/50
Resistance is Elemental 0/50
Break and Grow 0/50
Seed The Land I 0/50

Patreon CH32 1$, CH33 5$, CH34 CH35 10$

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

Day 21

They circled the bloated farm covered in green fields with massive battle chickens roaming freely like they owned the place. At first, the multicolored dots seemed to be meandering about the property, possibly after killing off the farmer. A closer inspection revealed a terrifying truth. The battle chickens, numbering well over 1000, were working the farm.

"Rarely have I seen a farmer so successful. You said he was stubborn, and you broke his hands. I'm guessing you used your ogre." Scout said.

"His family must have broken the law," Tony said.

"Your incompetence disturbs me. We didn't sign up to break into whatever this is." Mr. Birdmask said.

Tony looked between the bird-masked individual and the Easton young man wrapped in a worn, luxurious robe fit for a princess. Every movement of the man was filled with shaking, and Tony hadn't had the guts to ask why they brought a cripple along. Meng Bao was the man's name, and the mercenaries treated him like a champion or at least a senator.

"There are chimera rabbits among the other monsters; the area is filled with psychic energy. At least one is a powerful telepath." Martin said.

The mage was a Yorkshire academy dropout. From what Sandy could get, Martin Luthur's only strength as a mage was in his avatar. No, that didn't mean he had lots of mana to use or powerful skills. Martin's avatar could physically move matter and interact with the world. While that sounded as cool as the 6 Kaiju, it wasn't. Strong for an avatar was being able to move dust particles under a light. There were no mage skills that could synergize with an avatar's physical effects on the world. Mr. Bird found him apprenticed to a hamlet enchanter near the Easton border. That was before Mr. Bird loaded the useless mage with enough fire skills to join the army as an artillery mage upon signing.

"We have air superiority, and you're all about burning things to a crisp. Open fire. I'm not paying you to play nice with the farmer." Tony said.

"You want one of my people to open fire on a civilian assisting the Weston government with taming land in a level 4 territory." Mr. Bird said.

"By the gaping maws of giga, Hydras makes sense. What is a level 4 territory? We use ranks for monsters and levels for human classes."

"Far, take a breath; if you get pissed off at every ignorant person we meet, you'll be mad all day." The cripple said.

His questions remained unanswered as they stared at a rank two hawk diving toward a young hen out in the open pulling weeds. The bird looked fine; its feathers were a beautiful shade of red and rusty brown glossy in the sunlight. It looked like a healthy specimen, maybe two years old, so in its adolescence. So why did it die the second it committed.

"No, that isn't possible. Scout, I did not just see a telepathic assassination. Tell my eyes to tell me lies, and we are not entering this farmer's property unannounced." Martin said.

"You never mentioned something like this before; why is it special?" Mr. Bird asked.

Tony had a feeling they were stumbling on a well-kept secret, protecting the masses through ignorance instead of fines because it was too dangerous. This wasn't the first time he ran into this kind of government work. What shocked him was how remote they were. Nothing happened in Rasputin.

"It shouldn't be possible, and it sure isn't easy. Fell and psychic energies aren't used together. Only artificial insemination showed any results worth a damn, and they weren't what I would call promising. Mind killers are impossible to control; they turn on the tamers who try first. Dungeon-made ones aren't impossible to find, but how could a farmer take one out of a dungeon."

"How are we certain this isn't the farmer's doing." Mr. Bird said.

A shiver ran down Tony's spine at that thought.

"I left him with broken hands and an open gate." Tony looked over the side with his binoculars to see a very tall gate that was alive; somehow, the gate had become a monster. Down below, watching them beside a chimera rabbit of all monsters, was the same farmer he remembered but different. A maneater was perched on the man's shoulder one of the most dangerous monster's to tame besides dragons and giants.

An aura of purple energy appeared around the man, mixed with flecks of black in the farmer's aura. Only the man was bigger, wider in the chest, and armed with dungeon-dropped weapons on his hips.

"Those are chainswords." Meng Bai, of all people, said.

How could the cripple tell from so far away? Were his eyes that good was that why Mr. Bird kept him around.

"Far, I want to meet this man." The cripple said to Mr. Bird.

That was an Easton surname like Meng. Tony didn't think they were spies. Easton mercenaries weren't unheard of, and Tony hired them among many possible candidates due to their record. They couldn't be spies. Tony was sure he would have seen a sign. Besides, they were as far from somewhere important as they could possibly be in Weston. The Rasputin territory was a terrible place; many farmers tried to begin civilizing the land but none managed it. Atom would be no different.

"We need to land outside his area of control. There are other telepaths mixed in among the battle chickens. I don't think they are mind killers. On a lighter note, do you think he's having sex with that chimera rabbit?" Scout said.

"Eww, come on, that's gross. Let's be serious. If I bombarded the farm, what do you think our odds are?" Martin asked.

Tony was glad he wasn't the only one thinking of taking an offensive option. The farmer might have gained some new skills, but Sandy was undoubtedly the stronger psychic. Monsters gained attributes by eating other monsters that included monster plants. She gained over 4 attribute points since he got her.

"We are facing an unknown I would rather not risk it. Anyone with Willpower below 50 will be in danger. That rabbit isn't a mind killer." Everyone let out a collective sigh. One was bad enough; at least it was a farmer with low Willpower and no way to increase it without spending hundreds of thousands of Westons. "They are on the move; the battle chickens are moving to defensible structures in separate groups. The farmer is moving toward the gate, and I can sense his telepathic field retreating." Scout said.


"Maybe we should go back. I'll still pay you." Tony said.

"No, we didn't come all the way out here to retreat. Either the farmer is trying to trick us, or he at least wants to treat us fairly. I think our position is stronger than you think." Mr. Bird said.

"If he twitches out of line, I'm putting an arrow through his eyes," Scout said.

"Of course, but let's not be too hasty; we are guests. If violence occurs, it won't be from our side." Mr. Bird said.

Tony got the message loud and clear: antagonize the farmer until he made an attack then his mercenaries would kill him. That was why if Atom had family that was important if Tony was brought before a court, he could honestly say he didn't instigate the fight.

"Is that maneater kissing him? Maybe we won't have to worry about a fight after all. They are well known for their poisonous lips." Martin said.

…

Day 21

It happened far sooner than anticipated, and I almost couldn't believe it. I wanted to kill their mount and then pick them off with fell slashes and high-speed attacks. They would be dead before they hit the ground. Before I could begin, Fu lunged and locked her lips with mine. I was so stunned I stood there as her tongue explored my mouth and her soft, lovely red lips pressed against mine. Anger was the last thing on my mind as I caught and supported her.

She pulled away, leaving a line of spit between our lips. "Be careful of my fangs; they are coated in venom and can cut your tongue." Fu pressed her lips back against mine and melted against me.

I tapped her little bony tube in her tongue a few times and felt little fibrous brushes in her mouth; it was odd but sweet. By the time we broke away, heaving for breath, she had a light blush on her face. Our relationship had just moved on to the next level.

"Revenge is something to share and savor together. One of them hurt you, so let us help you hurt them a hundred-fold. I'll string them up, drink them slowly, and you can cheer me on as I suck them dry." Fu said.

I pet her hair she was so sweet. "Don't be mad, but there is a rank 3 form I like, and I wanted you to think about it. It's Peak and locks you into a very specialized series of Ranks, limiting your choices to three peak ranks until 6, where you have over 10 open up." I said.

"Don't worry about me. I'll look at it when we have time. Before this starts, can you tell us what was done to you?" Fu asked.

"I would like to know as well so I can measure out my contempt properly," Isobel said.

When I told them, they were all angry on my behalf, and that felt good. For the first time in a long time, I felt as sane as I ever was.

"Do you have plans for me?" Veronica asked.

"I have; wait for me, and we'll talk," I said.

Veronica sighed, and I rubbed the bright feathers on her neck.

"He probably wants us to have forms to have sex with him," Fu said.

"But we are so different I didn't think you were interested," Veronica said.

Clearly, Veronica was far more interested in interspecies dating than I thought. Seeing my other girls look at her and then back at me before smirking clued me in on they were just teasing. Why would they be interested in a human? Fu must have only wanted to cheer me up. I snorted at my own thoughts and how they clashed with reality. Fu wanted to do unspeakable, probably dangerous things to my body. My good bunny girl Isobel wanted me to pound her into submission. Veronica wanted me to do so much.

Yesterday had been nonstop, and today promised to be worse than yesterday before my uninvited guests flew over our airspace. If they had been a little lower, I would have killed them all and not had a second thought about it. Gwen would have been lost to the automated auction system, and tracking her down would have been impossible.

With them living that changed things and not in a good way. I even withdrew my telepathy to my own mind to show I wasn't going to kill them immediately. Why would they let me in close where I can put my full power to the task of killing them? I was strong for a rank 2 even if humans didn't use that system for themselves.

Humans used levels, and I was still level 10. After my last sales, I had enough experience points to cross into level 50 without any trouble. I wouldn't do it outside the dungeon. The immediate power-up wasn't worth having common farming skills. Hopefully, to them I appeared as nothing more than a level 10 farmer with some extra skills.

I approached the gate so much larger and sturdier than before. The henges were made of monster wood stronger than unenchanted steel. Ada had put some runes on it to blunt tamer skills. While our work wasn't finished yet, we placed posts around the property to dampen the effects of low-level tamer skills. A butterfly was etched into the wood, symbolizing metamorphosis into a stronger being. It, combined with numerous other etchings covering the gate, empowered it further. Tony and his cronies wouldn't get past it below rank 3. At my approach, the latch opened by the gate's own power before it swung open, revealing Tony holding Gwen in his arms.

"Do you remember Sandy? We tossed out her old name; it was trash like this place she didn't want to be reminded of it." Tony said.

The mercenaries all glanced at Tony before one wearing a mask took the lead. She bowed in the Easton fashion just enough to be polite and show no deference. It was almost insulting how shallow it was, which was impressive.

"That was the politest I think I've ever been insulted. What's your name miss? I never thought I would have to add another name to my book of grudges so soon after Troy Raves." I turned my attention to the tamer. "Well, Troy, you feces-eating dog, what's your excuse for not being clever enough to politely insult me," I said.

"That was a well-known Easton slur from a decade ago. Why do you think I'm a female my voice is clearly male? Or was that your poor attempt at an insult?" Ms. Bird Mask said.

I had to wonder if she was somewhat slow in the head. Perception could do some crazy things to a person's body. I could literally smell the female hormones rolling off her. She moved with a different center of balance than her compatriots. The way she stood spoke loudly of someone without balls and a more flexible pelvis by the way she leaned from hip to hip while she stood. I could hear her heart beating and the pulse of her blood pressure compared to the others; she had lower blood pressure. If I really let my senses go all out, I wans't sure what evidence I would find to further confirm what I already knew. This was yet another trump card I had no plan to share.

Some pre-slaughter banter sounded fun to me. If the woman wanted to pretend voice modulators didn't exist, that was on her.

"Your thoughts are filled with Yin." The bird-masked woman retreated a step.

"Your telepathy is not extended beyond your body; how would you read her thoughts?" Tony pushed the red robe-wearing mage aside.

"My name is Tony Graves, remember it. My family name resounds throughout the ages. The Graves have conquered more territories than you can imagine." Tony said.

"Then they must regret not drowning you at birth then. I hope you have other siblings to inherit your name. I didn't know Jony Naives was such an important name it sounds a little feminine to me. " I said.

Gwen unleashed a psychic wave that tried to grip my body in a purple field. Fell Wind negated the attempt with little fanfare.

"You're the farmer, you tell me. I bet you know all about regretful parents."

Those wounds might be only weeks old, but I wasn't going to lose by starting the violence. When I finished this slaughter, it would be so sweet.

I waited for something more. "Oh, that was your comeback. I'm going to make you regret that.

A wheezing Easton man interrupted the prefight banter. "We are getting off on the wrong foot. We are here to inspect your dungeon to calculate its monster build-up and what items it can drop. This will benefit you as well; we are willing to buy the dungeon and some of the land around it for twice the market value after the inspection. That was agreed on by the Rasputin Institute of Research and yourself."

"No, there was no discussion or agreement made. Rony never saw the dungeon. You have traveled as far onto my land as he had last time. He dishonored my property with his presence."

"Big on honor; that is odd for a Weston." The Easton said.

This was all a game; we both knew they had government backing, and I couldn't kill them out of hand. Tamers disappearing on a farmer's land were the stuff of nightmares. It happened sometimes, and someone had to take the blame when a rank 4 randomly saw a tamer and decided to off them while they were busy raping a farmer's daughter.

"Eastons are well known for it and stabbing Westons in the back. I like the tradition it is a great tool when there are no other reasons to kill in cold blood. Turning on allies can be justified quite easily by design, of course. You could say I'm quite interested in your country's culture."

"I prefer Weston for how useful their laws are. Did you know if the owner of a plot of land is in debt over 25,000W, a tamer can buy it and turn the farmers into sharecroppers? This is your last chance; let us be generous, or you will have a hard life until you can pay me back for your debt." Tony said.

The tamer raised a scanner at me. "You're only level ten. We're tired from traveling and are running out of patience. You can either let us in, or we will help ourselves; it's your choice. We know your level and your class. Do you think we can't kill you before you use your telepathy to kill one of us?" The other tamer said.

Wait, did they think my pest control and meat shortage solution was one of my trump cards? They also revealed that Tony had the money and possible support to use an outdated law in a territory far from any court.

It would require a backer in a high position, like one of the ten standard-type Representatives. All a North Weston League challenger had to do was defeat 10 Representatives of the House of Law to qualify for the North Weston Conference. Representatives had to serve in the military, be a net taxpayer, and have a law degree to qualify for a standard election. They also had to maintain multiple teams of various ranks to test challengers. They wouldn't use their reach here to back up a random washed-out research assistant in a standard dungeon check. This was a bluff that wasn't worth a pound of chicken feces.

Killing them here was a bad idea, but if they died in the dungeon, I might get off without even a slap on the wrist. Dungeons killed, but they were fair, and no one would believe a level 10 farmer could have anything to do with their deaths. They also weren't aware that I paid off my loan and was no longer in debt. Even if a dungeon couldn't be stolen, I would have to sign it over with three factors of authorization. If I could get them to tell me who knew they were here, that would make things so much easier. I'm sure they planned to have someone watch me while the rest of them entered the dungeon.

If I shut them out, they would use their resources and higher privilege to make my life harder. An audit would ruin my next six months. Tamers with rank 2 monsters were nothing but trouble. They have privileges I could only dream of after gaining the farmer class. I needed to get access to a tamer's privilege.

Time had not only made me powerful but bold. What was my brother's betrothal contract exactly? There had to be exit clauses and ways to force the bride to default. They were often made public for political reasons. Where would Lourie be at this time? I was, after all, finally able to travel the world and perhaps start my adventure as a tamer. Classes didn't matter when I had the power and money to take the profession, no matter what anyone said. There were only a few loose ends to tie and perhaps a teleporter to buy for 1,000,000W.

I focused my attention back on my uninvited guests. Did they know how many bodies were buried beneath my feet? Could they fathom the blood on my blades? Which of them could handle a rank 2 dungeon boss alone? This would not end the way they planned. This was my home and my dungeon.

"You said you had the money to buy my debt. Alright, 10,000W each to enter my land and participate in a dungeon crawl." I said.

50,000W wasn't that much, but to see the veins on Tony's face and neck bulge as his skin turned purple was glorious.

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[Ultimatedaywriter]

Day 21
Far Ming knew a man with secrets when she met one. Cultures may differ, but confidence borderlining foolishness was attractive if it didn't come from a possible enemy. The man's unruly hair blew in a wind that focused on Atom alone, a mix of silver, white, black, and red in a mix that resembled ash. The man's skin was filthy and his shoes were falling apart like she expected from a poor Weston farmer taking a losing gamble in the Rasputin territory. It was his misfortune that he had something of value to the tamers at large. Despite the story, Tony tried to feed them; she knew what tamers did to monsters it was why they were the dominant power in Weston. There were no signs of broken hands or a broken gate, only a mind killer wearing a smile of all things. He had given his price and obvious maneuver to pull himself out of debt.

"You filthy peasant, that's ten times more than we were going to pay you for the dungeon."

"That is not for sale. You can either purchase a single entry into my dungeon with all the hospitality that entails, or you can barge in and take your chances." Atom said.

Scout was ready to take the farmer class up on that offer, but she made a hand sign to stop him.

Easton and Weston had incompatible systems. Cultivation to seek immortality and leveling to synergize with a class had two completely different goals. To her senses, Atom felt no stronger than a 2nd​ stage Chi concentration realm cultivator, someone who had only just begun their journey to immortality. For her, an adept at the 9th​ stage of the pillar realm, he was a gnat to be squashed at any time. Unfortunately, that was far more than what she sensed from the rest of her party, Young Master Meng included. Something was going on with Atom's body, and she didn't like it.

They had a plan, and the end goal was in sight. Westons weren't a problem if it bought them hospitality.

"10,000W each for a month with room and board. We will act as guests, and you will be our generous host." Her counter was fast, but the smile didn't slip from the man.

Easton had skill shards that they traded to Weston and the warring Theocracy to the south. Rumor had it that the saints could purify skill shards to make them safe for human use. All they needed was the right combination and a method to remove them afterward.

That was her entire reason for coming to such a remote territory. She had items in her spirit bag that could alter a dungeon's theme and drop permanently. Once they entered, she would drop them for the dungeon to absorb and change. They needed a young dungeon for the best results and this one only appeared a couple weeks ago.

All she wanted was to get inside the dungeon, drop the items, and ironically farm the dungeon for all the skills shards her young master needed. If that meant killing a farmer, so be it, or if that meant buying the use of the dungeon for an extended period, then so be it.

"If you sign a waiver of liability contract for your time in the dungeon, then something can be arranged."

"No, you aren't getting away with this. 100W and only paid as a bonus after we purchase the dungeon. You've already faced one dungeon surge. I doubt the next one will be so kind." Scout said.

The wind started picking up around them, and she sensed the danger rising. Sacred hospitality was something Weston considered sacred, and from what Tony said, they would get off cheaply at 10,000W each for a month. If they had gone to a tamer it would be 10,000W each for a single entry. Waivers of Liability would have already been signed as a matter of course.

Tony and Scout wanted to throw their weight around and impress them with their Weston authority. There was only one problem. No one was coming to enforce any laws of another territory in Rasputin for mercenaries and a research assistant.

She did her research before they arrived. Atom Walker was from an up-and-coming family. He sacrificed his happy life for his family so his elder brother could have a marriage to a unique bloodline. If word somehow traveled back that he died to a bunch of Easton mercenaries, the Meng family would have to pay reparations and most likely send a kill squad for them. Young Master Meng wasn't the only young lord crippled who left their home in the hope of finding a method to fix himself; it was a tale as old as time.

Tony decided to settle the matter in the most Weston way possible. "I have an idea; since you seem so confident, why don't we have a three-on-three battle. If you win, I'll give you Sandy back and take your deal, and when I win, you set us up with room and board and sell us the dungeon for 100W." A contract was printed immediately after being generated and offered by their employer.

"I'm not a tamer; you'll just use your skills to take any monster of mine that fights you." Atom said.

Far Ming sighed. Settling disputes with monster battles was also a part of Weston's culture.

This was a waste of time. Sure, Tony hired them to handle this mission for the research center, but that was to get them in the door; his part was over his usefulness was at an end. She nodded her head, and Scout separated himself from Tony, leaving him alone against Atom.

"So you don't have faith in your team. I'm not surprised it was easy taking Sandy; I barely had to try. She's gotten so much more powerful under my care. I think I'll rank her into a rain deer soon." Tony said.

The smile on Atom's face remained, but his eyes emoted uncertainty. "Isobel, will you fight for me?" Atom asked.

It was good fortune that stabbing Westons in the back when they made a blunder and were no longer useful l was a part of Easton's culture.

…

Three times, she fought against the monster that slaughtered her countrymen. Humans referred to her kind as monsters, but they haven't seen Atom move. Every step he made followed a dance of death with twin blades that cut deep and left the enemy's hollow. The might to destroy a castle wasn't enough to defeat him; the speed to slaughter armies couldn't outpace him, and using his broken leg to her advantage couldn't overcome him. She still held the chainsword he handed her in what felt like lifetimes ago. They could not feel the edge where psychic power ended and fell began pushing the air itself to her former enemy's ends. What cover was there when the air itself turned against them? Worse, they were outside the gate.

Atom looked at her with desperate eyes that no monster should have. He gave her his trust after they had clashed three times and so who else deserved her loyalty. For Isobel, it certainly was not the bug that tried to clumsily ply her mind. Telepathy must not have been well understood. Atom hardly needed to stretch his direct psychic might to assist her.

"I will," Isobel said.

Insidious was the only word fitting a tamer's power. She felt it lash and sooth the edges of her psychic awareness. The twisted power would hollow her out and fill her strongest memories with lies. She felt it in splashes of images rising like nightmares from the fell Atom held under leash. This place remembered what was done not too long ago and it echoed for those sensitive to the fell.

Atom wielded power that he couldn't truly witness; the shadow of psychic power danced to the tune of a blind man. In a way, it was fitting for the monster to unleash his might without truly knowing what he wielded.

Isobel tapped her foot on the ground, standing in front of Atom within arm's reach. Who knew when his patients would run dry? When that happened, she wanted to be within arm's reach to be saved from the storm that would follow his wrath.

"I choose you, Loki. Show this bunny why you are the strongest." An ogre appeared with a scar on his bicep. The ax in the beast's hand looked concerning.

"Do you have any orders?" Isobel asked.

"Have fun," Atom said.

She drew her chainsword and flicked it on. They were both ranked two monsters, but from the moment the ogre moved, it obviously favored its weak arm. She narrowed her eyes; the ogre had no psychic protections of any kind. Isobel flicked her wrist and snapped the head off the ogre's ax.

"Cheater that can't be allowed. Stand still and let Loki pummel you; then, you can join my team. Doesn't that sound great?" Tony said.

"I would rather die," Isobel said.

"Do you want to concede this battle or risk your monster's life?" Atom asked.

At those words, she understood what was going on. All of this was theatre to get them into the dungeon. Atom was going to make them pay for the privilege of being hunted by him. That's why he was smiling no matter what any of them said. Their goal happened to coincide with his own. It wasn't what she would call a plan. Atom expected them a day later, but that was ok. She would pick up the slack and teach him properly.

"Loki doesn't need a weapon the handle you."
"Below the knee. I believe regrowing that only costs about 5,000W. So do both." Atom said.

Her stomach clenched, and she felt butterflies. That was what she wanted, Atom's was so terribly expensive she loved it. She bent her knees and let her telekinesis take over, boosting her already incredible speed to new levels. When she moved, the overgrown celery stalk didn't know what hit him. Isobel barely felt pressure on her chainsword when she cut.

The ogre's leg split off, and she raised her hand and brought it down. A hammer of telekinesis splattered the limb into watermelon guts. It had white splinters in it instead of seeds. Her ears twitched before she jumped, avoiding an attack from Tony.

"Stop," Her blade paused an inch away from the filthy tamer's neck.

"This is a three-on-three match; we have two more monsters to go."

"What are you talking about, you freak? Loki is hurt. I need to get him to a healer." Tony said.

His eyes were watering, and snot ran down his nose; she almost felt bad.

"Do you forfeit?" Atom asked.

Scout stepped in. "I can take his place if you want to push this. Your little rabbit won't last a second against my monsters." Scout said.

It was funny how delusional these people seemed to be. Tony managed to return the bleeding ogre to his monster bag before drying his tears. "We are still battling. I'm not done yet. Get out of the way, Scout; this is a contracted battle."

"Fonz come out. In an official battle, you can't continue using a single monster. Either call on another one or forfeit."

She eyed the unicorn and wanted to snap its horn and poke holes into its body until the beast's precious white coat was stained with blood. But she wasn't a selfish kind of girl she would let her companions, friends, or were they sister wives handle the others.

"Fu, I need your help." Atom said.

Isobel shook her head; it would take some time, but they would get him out of his ruinous habit of asking instead of telling. Power and command were attractive traits, asking not so much.

…

Fu glowered at the beast before her; it still had a saddle on its back and looked half overheated. The poor creature hadn't gotten rid of its winter coat and needed a blowout. Being kept in a monster bag for extended periods didn't give its body time to naturally adapt to its environment. She couldn't help but wonder what the monster tasted like. Fu couldn't remember ever tasting unicorns it was bound to be tasty.

"I like my odds. Fonz crush the little spider and show it who's boss." Tony said.

Fu didn't bother glancing back at her friend. He gave no commands, and that told her all she needed to know. Atom had a big heart when he could afford to, but Tony crossed the line. Atom was something of a killing machine. Kaiju even killed her own mother. Rong Da was a powerful beat of a spider with powerful telepathic abilities. Atom beat her, then went on a little killing spree, finishing off the other mid-bosses before meeting up with her. Her sisters liked to gossip, and he was the talk of floor 1.

She raised her spinneret and fired a quick stream of the web as the unicorn's legs mid-gallop. It wasn't that Atom rigged the fight and taught them what they needed to be prepared. No, that would have driven him into a rage, and they wouldn't have gotten anything done. Atom only thought that tripping the unicorn's legs would work out. She made plans for the rest.

Normally, her silk wouldn't have been that strong. She jumped away from the falling horse. Making clothes with her silk had helped level it. She let the venom in her mouth build up and hoped not to choke.

She shot a line of sticky web at the unicorn and pulled herself to it. Fu bit it once in the side before hopping off before the poor equine monster knew what hit it. The venom in her mouth helped deaden the skin for her bite.

"Fonz, shake it off; we're going to be a champion team; someday you can beat her," Tony said.

Atom's creepy smile was still in place never wavering or changing through the entire exchange. The other side was looking at Atom strangely at this point but that was ok. Ever since Atom fought her mother, Fu noticed he smiled when fighting seriously. It wasn't the joy from fighting itself; she believed it was the joy from a challenge.

Powerful gusts of wind started to blow as a large red spot emerged where she bit the unicorn. The monster turned to her and shook its head. A single bite might not be fatal if Tony returned Fonz to his monster bag and didn't withdraw the monster until he was at a healer. From what she researched, healers were incredible in the large towns.

"Don't bite it a second time; string it up." Atom said.

"No, that's enough." Tony returned Fonz.

"I might not be able to beat you but will you hurt Sandy. With the bond I have with her, it's obvious you were special to her once. I think she was special to you, too. You should know I'm not going to forfeit; if you want to win this, you'll have to kill her."

"So you'll gladly break monster rights' laws out here in the frontier. And I thought you were a piece of feces before. I've already won two matches, so I can forfeit the next one and win." I said.

"You should have read the fine print. To win, you need to win three matches. If you forfeit, then Sandy will fight your other two monsters. After you forfeit them, I win. Show me, farmer, you low-class trash, do you have the guts to hurt a friend." Tony said.

Fu prepared herself. It would have to be quick, but if she timed it right, she could kill this fool with her bite before anyone could react.

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