Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Three mighty orcs barred Michael's way into the forest. They were the tallest he had ever seen, veritable mountains of muscle and gleaming tusks, filled with powerful magic. Since Fae lacked an aura, he could see their networks with his magic sense, peering into the depths of their magic to gleam at their power. Even though his irritation and anger at seeing his plans of relaxation go up in smoke was great, he could only appreciate the level of power these orcs commanded. Just by seeing their Fae networks he thought he was learning something.

Skill Level up!

[Crude Body Enhancement] reaches level 3. Observing true Fae magic, primed and ready, has allowed you to gain insights into this dangerous piece of magic. It is now safer to use at lower settings, while at the same time the maximum effect is increased, along with the dangers.

The level-up put him in a good mood. Good enough that he regarded the three monsters with a toothy smile that was not entirely devoid of malice. I do need to vent out some stress, after all.

"Where is Drullkrin?" he asked, still smiling.

The undertone was lost on the orcs, who puffed up in pride. "We removed the slave driver," the one at the lead said, "I, the mighty—"

The orc said no more, because suddenly there was a hole in his forehead, gushing black blood and melted brain matter. The orc toppled to the ground, and the other two stared in disbelief as the flesh around the wound started rotting at a visible speed, melting into a puddle of foul-smelling goop.

"Why he not regenerate?" one of the other two asked, flabbergasted and clearly much less intelligent than the lead one.

Two more water bullets hovered around Michael's head, orbiting him like little comets of brackish water, conjured using Michael's marksman skill to overclock the water bullet skill and held there with mana manipulation.

Skill Level up!

[Mana Manipulation] reaches level 4. You can now weakly interact with elemental energies. Maximum range is twice that of regular mana, but control decreases with range.

Oh wow. Two in a row! Were they on the cusp of upgrading already? I did train mana manipulation in the car…

Now he really was in a good mood. I'm really behaving like an addict who just got their dose.

But it was no time to ponder the potential danger of becoming addicted to dungeon skills. That was for later.

"I sure hope," Michael said, using [Presence] to lend weight to his words, "that Drullkrin is still alive. For your sake."

The two remaining orcs nodded slowly.

"Take me to him."

***

Michael found the goblin snarling and cursing at his captors from inside a too-small wooden cage. The wood was covered in magic inscriptions that hurt Michael's eyes to even look at, glowing with magic, while the cage was dangling from a branch a few feet above the ground. The more the goblin moved and shouted and cursed, the more the cage moved around, like a broken pendulum.

Michael ordered the forest folk to lower the cage down, the two surviving orcs sheepishly complying while many of the others tried to convince their king that they were only following the dead orc's orders because they were being threatened. Michael didn't care much.

When the cage refused to open, and it was revealed that only the mighty now-dead orc could unlock its mechanisms, Michael's nerves threatened to jump out of his skin.

He was about to explode, perhaps pulverize a couple of orcs just to vent. Instead, he took a deep breath and sighed. Activating [Crude Body Enhancement] to the extreme, he started yanking on the wood of the cage. His body was turning to dust from the inside out, [Healing Aura] working overtime to compensate for the strain of the empowering skill.

Michael, even though he was feeling all of the pain of his body breaking down and being remade, barely flinched. Instead, his efforts intensified as the cage refused to budge. Soon he brought his mana manipulation to bear, yanking mana, Qi and elemental energies away from the cage in with a tearing sound.

The wood crumbled to dust.

It took a while to calm the general down once he was freed from his captivity, but a quick application of [Presence] and [Voice of Command] brought him back to reason.

I really am out of sorts. I should feel something, instead I am just tired and disappointed. All I can think of is how good it would feel if another skill leveled up, instead of being happy for my gains today.

Showing none of this on the outside, Michael questioned the tall goblin.

"Contingencies!" Drullkrin's voice had a hint of crazy to it. "You were right as usual. One can never have enough contingencies! I thought I had everything covered, but then it turns out I didn't! How could I know that not all Fae want to die in battle? The cowards. Some of them have allied with the stone people, my lord, we must hurry."

Thus, the idea of resting for a week was shattered. Michael was taken to the edge of the forest, where a few orcs, goblins and some other forest creatures were standing close to the tree line. Opposite them, out in the open, were tall and bulky creatures made of stone and gravel. They moved slowly, but there was the weight of a mountain behind them. Golems, their eyes shining red, studied the opposing forces born of nature.

In the middle, a single swamp-dweller was running back and forth, delivering messages between the two parties.

"It looks like they are still negotiating," Michael said. "You said this has been going on from before you were captured?"

The goblin nodded. More than three days, then. Michael could see why. The runner was spending a few seconds on the forest side, delivering messages and getting replies, while he spent minutes, even hours at times, according to the watchers, on the stone people's side.

"Don't let them fool you, sire. They think slowly, but they move deceptively quickly in battle and their might is great."

"What about magic?"

They had been strategizing as they observed the meeting from afar.

Drullkrin shook his head. "They don't have any, my lord, save for what animates and protects them. They are not to be underestimated, their strength is great. If only we could bring them under out command, ah…"

Michael could see their elemental energy from where he stood, because like the Fae, the golems had no aura shrouding their magic.

A few ideas came to his mind. He was forced to return to the present when he saw movement, however. The stone side of the forces was making moves to leave, and indeed the golems were quick on their feet, their bulk allowing them to stomp and trample all beneath them with ease.

"We must follow them, quick!" Michael said as he tugged at his backpack, filled with weapons he had Travis acquire for him right for the task.

Old Dave's dealer had been fine when they had no better option, but why not use Travis now that he was on their side? The old man had grumbled at being replaced by a better connection, but had caved in the end.

"What?" The goblin was appalled by the idea of following the stone golems. "My lord, we cannot! It's enemy territory, and we have no plans or contingencies!"

"Don't worry, I have a plan. A crazy plan, but a plan nonetheless."

***

The landscape changed around them at a visible pace as the two struggled to follow the group of golems. They descended from the forested mountain into vast plains, crossed the river and finally made their way to the other side of the valley. Towering structures of dark stone rose from the ground, like knotted limbs of trees devoid of life and color. The ground was dry and hard, made of compressed stone littered with gemstone and gravel lakes.

Distractedly, Michael picked one of the gemstones up to see if the dungeon would allow him to take it outside.

All the while, he kept his eyes open to the more esoteric sights of the place. Wisps of Earth element rose from the ground like tendrils of smoke, dense and solid. There was some taste of Metal within the Earth, Fire and other stranger elements as well, most of them too faint or strange for Michael to recognize. He tried to move the Earth around a bit, see how it felt at least where it wasn't too dense, but soon gave up on the idea. It was way too hard and mana-intensive to do so.

Then they came across a river made of flowing gravel, which the golems crossed by sinking down the moving stones and using their bulk to laboriously walk ahead. When it was Michael and Drullkrin's turn, they discovered that they could simply walk over the slow-moving gravel, their light weight allowing them to 'float'. It was a strange sensation, the ground moving beneath them, but more so for the goblin than for Michael. It was like being on an escalator made of gravel.

The air gradually turned cold and dry. The sky darkened, and a strange mist limited their vision. It smelled of stale cave air, as if they were in a cave even though they were on the surface. In the mist, large hulking figures were moving about, lifting giant rocks and slamming them open, searching for something inside.

Then Michael finally saw the gargantuan bulk of the stone king. The golems, which he had thought large and imposing, were mere ants before its might. They kneeled, and slowly they began to report what they had plotted and schemed together with the deserters from the forest and swamp.

"What do we do, my lord?" Drullkrin was nervous.

Michael patted his backpack. Inside, several demolition charges accompanied his still-unused grenade launcher, as well as a smoking-hot new anti-material rifle. Stuff he had bought to deal with the stone king.

The pack had been so heavy he had had to ask Bob—his driver, who Dave guaranteed would not ever betray them—to accompany him to the dungeon to share the load. Then, once inside he had had to run [Crude Body Enhancement] at low power all the time as he followed the golems.

But it had all been so very worth it, for he had a crazy plan in mind that could very well just work.