Chapter 49 Wolfsbane

I got dressed, and headed out. Tribal members were pouring in from across the Disputed Lands. There was always the danger that the Skybreakers would just find this place and destroy us, but without some kind of concerted effort, we were dead in the water anyway.

I watched with immense satisfaction as a group of the Komo headed out. A little examination told me they were going out to farm hide. They’d even place the raw materials on the drying racks. Fully automated. Damn, that was cool, I thought as I entered Ayla’s mud hut.

She looked different. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking. It had been days since the developer zone had done…whatever it had done to her. She’d been avoiding me. Actually, she’d been avoiding everyone. I’d given her space, but as we might all be dead in the next day, I decided to chance it and go to her anyway.

No bone shard to my throat. I saw that as a win. She looked to me. Quiet, and said, ‘this is what you see?’ Her eyes glazed slightly, and I knew she was pulling up her HUD. I got closer, and now I knew I wasn’t seeing things. Her muscles were more defined. She was slightly taller, and definitely more defined. Only the system, granting stat points could cause such a dramatic difference in so short a time.

‘It’s a lot to take in,’ I said. Her eyes focused again, as she closed down her HUD.

‘I don’t understand,’ she said, quietly, ‘what does all this mean? This is the source of your strength?’

‘Kind of,’ I admitted, ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have…this was a mistake.’

‘No.’ She wasn’t looking at me. Her mind was far from the newly founded village of Kaleas. ‘Balar. He’s dead isn’t he?’

Slice his throat.

I nodded as Ayla got to her feet. It was incredible what the system did. No longer the frightened village girl, Ayla looked years older, wiser. I went to stand beside her. It was strange to look at her. Half the girl I knew, half a stranger.

‘When this is over,’ she said, ‘you’ll go through the Gate, won’t you? Leave this place behind.’

‘I…I don’t know,’ I admitted. ‘Kaleo, the old Warlord, he said it wasn’t the only way. You could remain here and-‘

She took my hands. Firm, yet soft. The light hit her, her skin beneath swirling dust motes. ‘Stay,’ she said. ‘Whatever you’re running from. Whatever you think is waiting at the end of all this, stay.’

I looked at her. Even after everything that had happened, this is where her mind went to. I didn’t know what to say. So I didn’t say anything. Instead, I kissed her.

The tribes assembled as the day was drawing to a close. I sat far in the back, crafting my gear. I enjoyed the work, my hands working quickly. I’d finally learned how to improve things with the +1 modifier. It just needed time, and a shit ton of materials. There were diminishing returns. A sizeable bump to the armour class or damage output of the armour or weapon when it went from 0 to +1, but then less so as you kept going.

What it meant is that a better tier or rarity gear would always be better. I thought of Adrian’s +3 gear. I chuckled to myself. What a noob he’d been.

The tribes were talking strategy. I wasn’t a chief, so I had no place to say anything. Not that I’d have wanted to, even if I could. I had only really learned to work with one or two others, like Miggy and Ayla, but the thought of standing in front of all those strangers and speaking. It put a lump in my throat.

Miggy thankfully had no such issue. He was an inspiration, as he led the tribal council, explaining his plan. It was a good one; I had to admit. Blunt, sure, but defeating Ironclad would need a hammer, not a scalpel.

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Hit and run. With the help of our mini-map and the Warlord’s Grip quest, we knew where his spheres of influence were. His army of humans and vandals was vast, though. We would not win a direct confrontation. Instead, we needed to hit each one hard, and move on.

To destroy the camp, we didn’t actually have to kill everyone inside. We didn’t even need to burn it to the ground. Each one had a specific objective that needed to be fulfilled. Free prisoners. Defeat captain, or my favourite, destroy food supply. I had done some quick calculations and some experimenting and found that if I jettisoned everything aside from the very essentials, I could take an entire food supply into my inventory. That was my plan. Destroy the camp, then have a feast. Besides, I’d lived on a shoestring budget for years. There was absolutely no way I was wasting food.

There were cheers, banging of spears and clubs on the ground, and war was set. Everyone started to disband, as I approached Miggy.