Chương 30: Spooky Buildings are Spooky.

"Volkion?" Nythera asked.

"It's an island of heat and desolate shattered plains. Volcanos constantly spew out lava and the waters around the island are in constant turmoil. Even if you could reach the island, you'd just burn up from the ambient flux" Oswin said with a sigh.

"Basically, it's Hel""But… that doesn't mean all hope is gone, right? There was another location on that tablet. The Myrraval Northern Shipyards." Nythera asked.

"Aye, it could be a lead. One we will have to explore at another time. You got the tablet?" Oswin replied.

"Yeah, I put it in my pack." Nythera said. The crew made their way back without another word. Shelly seemed to be deeply rattled by what she had seen in the mines and Oswin refused to talk about what exactly lurked in the depths. Returning to camp, all was packed and ready to go.

"You're back much earlier than we expected, fortunately we got packed early. I take it the ruin site wasn't ideal?" Dominic probed.

"Unforunately, the ruins were far more degraded than we thought." Oswin laughed.

"But don'tcha worry, we got some interesting goodies out of it." Dominic raised a questioning eyebrow but Oswin ignored him. The party departed, Nythera taking one last look at Ludwig's corpse, tied halfway up the cliff so no animals could get at it. I'm sorry, Ludwig. Nythera's legs walked tirelessly, at a much brisker pace than before. She was no longer the slowest in the group. That would be Shelly. Nythera looked back, a look of pity painting her face, then turned and kept going.

"What? Is there something wrong with my face? Nythera? Why did you look at me like that?" Shelly's haggard voice called out, struggling for breath. Good luck, maybe you should get more Strength like the rest of us. Poor soul. The flux in the air above and around them meandered slowly, like a gentle stream, in some areas there was almost none. It all flowed in the direction they walked. Then Nythera saw it. Impossible to miss really. Glowing like the sun.

Dominic had stopped before a strange looking rock with a dip eroded from the top. chocked full of flux, so dense that she thought she could see it without the skill.

"Hey, do you see that?" Nythera nudged Shelly.

"What? Oh…. yeah I see that." Shelly replied.

"Ain't that something, I reckon it's a wild skill." Hugh said.

"Keep your distance, you two, don't touch it." Dominic warned.

"If you do, you'll end up with a random wild skill" he added. Free Skill? LETS GO!

"That sounds… fantastic? Can I have it?" Nythera asked, greed shining like starlight from her eyes.

"Nythera, it's a wild skill… you take this and it will take something of you. They always have negative effects." Dominic cautioned. Talvik's voice, from far above, resounded through her mind "Do not forget Flux-Condenser, should you raise that skill high enough, you will die from a lack of stamina" he sneered. How does he sneer in a mentally projected voice?

"Aw, more skills sound useful, but if you say it's that bad, I guess I'll listen." she pouted.

"My Ma always said wild skills would eat your heart and gouge your eyes for a wick of strength, keep your distance Little Lord." Hugh moved between Nythera and the skill. The group made its way through twisted canyons and sweeping valleys, traveling at a pace that would kill Shelly eventually. As they traveled, Shelly and Nythera mapped. And mapped. And mapped. Pausing every hour to sketch out new cliffs and mountains, ensuring their route was well documented.

Cartographer Lvl 3 > 6 Cartography (lvl 6 > 9) Far-sight (lvl 3 > 4) Wow she wasn't kidding, fieldwork levels Cartographer crazy fast. With her Greater Leech Ring, profession classes now gave a free stat as well, which she put in Endurance. Sorry Shelly, maybe she can get some village guy to carry her everywhere in the future? As they summited the last valley pass, the vast flux sea opened ahead of them. In the distance two islands sat, but too distant to see any details.

Just a bit longer and I can blow Reachman's smug face off. They descended down the mountain, heading straight for the shore. Fields and farms came into sight, slowly increasing in frequency.

"We have reached Rustreach, we are going to need to be very quiet, in an hour or two when the sun goes down we can advance on the town itself." Dominic decided. They made their way deeper and deeper into the village, sticking to shadows and treelines where they could. Breaking out of another forested area, they caught sight of a grouping of houses.

"I reckon that's Rustreach proper, but we ain't got the faintest clue where Reachman lives do we?" Hugh asked. Dominic shook his head.

"We camp here, no fire. Kennick, infiltrate the city and find Reachman's home. We need information first." he ordered. Kennick nodded and disappeared into the darkness. … Nythera popped the third sand marble ration into her mouth. The light of dawn was breaking over the horizon. Kennick strode into camp and beelined for Dominic.

"I have located Reachman's Manor, it is some distance out of town on the northward side. He has a contingent of strata one guards in his service." Kennick reported.

"That sounds… manageable, we can keep the township out of this. If Lord Nythera can get close enough we can simply have her order Reachman to die with her authority." Dominic mused, stroking his chin in thought. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"There's more… Reachman issued orders two days ago, no one is to enter or approach the manor, he hasn't been seen since. He sank all of the town's ships and people are starving." Kennick finished his report with a grimace.

"That fucking bastard, he's supposed to watch over and guide people, not use them as pawns in his twisted power games." Dominic spat.

"Reachman was always a rat bastard, Myrraval will be better with him gone." Hugh agreed.

"Will it really be so easy?" Nythera asked, staring into the ground.

"So easy to what?" Dominic replied.

"So easy to kill. Just a simple order and he's forced to obey it and take his own life. Is that the kind of Lord I want to become?" She said and looked into the horizon through the trees. Hugh coughed and Dominic looked away.

"The responsibility of a Lord is to their people, Reachman has abused his power and caused suffering. He must face execution at the hands of the Lord, however you decide to do it." Kennick said. Nythera barely managed to sleep that night. … She awoke to Dominic jostling her. The sun had yet to shine over the horizon.

"Its time to go, we need to loop around the town while it's still dark." He said. Does it have to be so fucking early? They stopped to let early-risers wander past on their way, ignorant of their passings. Heading back inland, and circling around the town from a distance, but always keeping it in sight, they eventually made their way to the northern side as the sun broke the horizon.

"That Reachman's?" Dominic asked, gesturing to the lone estate. Blackened walls and ornate glasswork decorated its exterior. It was huge, bigger than any single building she had seen on Myrraval thus far. A monument to the extortion of Rustreach's people. Kennick nodded.

"So what's the plan captain? I don't like the look of this, assaulting it in daylight won't be easy." Hugh said.

"Dominic, I'm afraid I don't think I'll be very useful here, I don't even have a class." Shelly interjected.

"I know, don't worry, you're going to hang back and watch camp. Nythera, myself, and Hugh will do the infiltration, Kennick will survey our surroundings and warn us if anyone else decides to get involved" Dominic explained. Nythera and Hugh nodded, people split up to handle their own preparations.

"We attack at night, be ready" Dominic said and then went off to his own corner of the campsite.

"You must take responsibility, you have taken the domain core and earned the respect of the people of these lands, it is time you show them what kind of Lord you are, your actions early on will control that image even decades later." Talvik's sage advice rang in her mind. She glared at the bird, who suddenly became preoccupied with pruning feathers. I know, I'm not afraid of killing Reachman! It's just the means I use that… worry me. Hours of looping self-reflection later, the sun slipped beneath the horizon.

Dominic, Hugh, and Nythera assembled at the center of the camp and departed, Kennick had already left some time prior. Winding rural roads provided little cover through fields of already-harvested grain, the cover of the night was all they had to shield them. The estate had a simple stone wall, not more than seven feet high, the path they were taking did not approach the entrance, rather they cut through a field and beelined straight for the wall. Hugh held out his hands and boosted Dominic over the wall.

Then Nythera. Dominic reached over and yanked Hugh up the wall, tower-shield and all. Two guards stood vigil with torches at the gated entrance, visible through the lavish gardens. Dominic crept up to the wall of the estate and tested a side door, finding it locked. He ripped the lock out of the wood frame. Well that's one way I suppose, hardly discrete though. He slid into the estate, followed by Hugh, Nythera being pushed to the rear. This place feels… off, why did this guy have to be such a creep?

Something in the air smelled wrong. The flux around the manor bent in odd directions, as if repelled. There was almost no flux within the structure itself. What wisps she could catch sight of faded as they fled the manor. Then she saw it. The floor was coated in dark flux, meandering like sludge through the halls. What in Kronan's name did Reachman do? She was naturally repulsed by it, its very existence made her recoil in disgust and hatred.

Dominic propped open a door, glanced inside, and immediately slammed it shut. The sound travelling through the silent halls. What the….? I thought this was supposed to be a quiet mission. He looked back, shook his head and continued slinking forward. The sludge on the floor thickened as they traversed the interior, Dominic checked every door they passed by and shut them all immediately after, refusing to mention why to the much confused Hugh and Nythera. They were left, with a single door at the end of the hall.

Turning back, only darkness and a slow-flowing river of dredged flux remained. Dominic pulled open the door carefully, peering in, then he slipped behind it. A single gesture came back through, Advance. Hugh cranked the door wider and passed through, followed by Nythera. They found themselves in a dimly lit central room, twin staircases heading up and one central staircase heading down. Decorated banisters and art covered the walls and wide, double doors led back out.

The very air around the braziers warped, dimming their light and casting long shadows. A metallic scent permeated the air and silence reigned. Dominic signalled to descend the staircase. I really really do not want to go down there. Nythera watched in disgust as flux practically bubbled from the depths, spewing forth and coating the flooring. The source was somewhere in the basement.

They crept down the stone bricks, they showed much more wear than she would have expected and creeping, long dead roots breaking through the walls suggested this place was… older. Reaching a stone platform at the base of the stairs they surveyed their options, two doors to either side and another set of stairs descending deeper, the same toxic flux flowed from the depths up. Dominic and Hugh let loose a barrage of hand signals, communicating with each other in code she had never seen.

I gotta get them to teach me that, it looks so cool… like they are real professionals. Hugh crept upwards against the door on the right, peering left and right obsessively. They had yet to spot a single guard or catch even a whisper, but they treaded with far more caution than even the sacred dungeon had warranted. Hugh tested the door. Locked. He smashed the lock through the door with his fist, the sound echoed through the halls. Nythera cringed, searching for a response from guards. No response.

They made their way into the room, long dead corpses lined the walls, roots held them hostage, keeping them pinned to the walls long after they decomposed.

"Reachman, the bastard is trying to pull on the gods for power…" Hugh swore.

"He has broken one of the most serious taboos… but which god did he go begging to? I don't recognize any of the symbols." Dominic said. A crescent moon symbol with a single, glaring eye, with pupils like a reptile. Nope, I don't either. God's were never my favorite subject of study.

"Wasn't Kronan supposed to have killed the moon? Ever wonder why?" Hugh said as he had a sudden epiphany. The blood drained from his face and he sent a prayer to Kronan. The sludge-like flux poured out of the roots, dripping slowly and joining the mass collecting by the stairs. Hugh led the descent into the depths, to the second set of stairs, yet upon reaching the base, they found yet another going deeper.

The roots sticking out of the walls were growing far denser, blackened and practically coated in the slimy flux. There was but a narrow path forward as nearly half the stairwell was consumed by them. Descend into the obviously evil pit, what are we going to find? Evil. She sighed. Hugh pulled out his shield, bracing himself behind it, and descended into the dark. Dominic had long since equipped his rod.

"Nythera, if you see Reachman, you can't hesitate, he needs to die as fast as possible." Dominic stopped before the wide wooden double doors. She nodded. This bastard is a plague on humanity. It's merely a shame his death will be a quick one. Any doubt had been erased from her mind. Hugh backed up, pulled his tower shield up. And charged, roaring as he went.