Wrath Farmer

[Consumer]

Did you just repost the same chapter?

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

Did you just repost the same chapter?

Click to shrink...

No I accidently posted it by mistake yesterday instead of 18

 

[Consumer]

No I accidently posted it by mistake yesterday instead of 18

Click to shrink...

Oh I'm gonna have to read that chapter then. TFTC

 

[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.

 

[Jupiteresse]

Thanks for the chapter mr author!

 

[Simonbob]

Ok, this is cool.

Sometimes dark enough that I'll watch later, but still.

 

[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$

 

[Consumer]

I'm looking forward to the fight next chapter. Tftc

 

[Simonbob]

"Why would I ever choose one over the other?"

Click to shrink...

Time to kill all three!




How powerful are the mercs, I wonder. That'll be an interesting fight, but the Gwen/Sandy thing's gonna suck.

 

[Elijah Watson]

Hitting pretty dang close to home when compared to fighting zoning laws just you know if you try to do anything on your property you get fined instead. I hate zoning

 

[Elijah Watson]

Still love the chapter

 

[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.

 

[CatgirlsAreLove]

Looks like a repost of chapter 5; was that intended?

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

Looks like a repost of chapter 5; was that intended?

Click to shrink...

Sorry I fixed it.

 

[Drkonecharlie]

"You're broken like me. I will fix you." Fu said.

Click to shrink...

Well shit now I'm feeling pity for a fictional spider monster

 

[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$

 

[Simonbob]

He really is a bit suicidal, isn't he?

Well, if he survives his crazy behavour, he'll be able to rub it in his family's faces! If he can remember them!

 

[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$

 

[Aureus]

Will the secret boss respawn when the dungeon "refreshes"?

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

Will the secret boss respawn when the dungeon "refreshes"?

Click to shrink...

It will if the dungeon decides to keep it. Every monster respawns every 12 hours someone isn't inside the dungeon.

 

[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.

Check out my patreon for more chapters. 26 to 28 should be free and 29 is 1 $

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

I have a poll up for an important matter.

 

[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.

Patreon CH30 1$, CH31 5$, CH32 CH33 10$

 

[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.

Patreon CH31 1$, CH32 5$, CH33 CH34 10$

 

[Jupiteresse]

Chicken harem and rabbit harem... it's kinda funny to say (write?) that out loud lmao.
Cant wait for the tony smash!
Thanks for the chapter mr author!

 

[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$

 

[Jupiteresse]

Cand wait for that dipface tony to come and die a nasty death!
Thanks for the chapter mr author!

 

[Fluffy_Felines]

So even if he is strong enough to defeat a whole town of level two monsters will he be capable of overcoming the muscle Tony is bringing with him.

Also how does Tony know he is alive when he pretty much left him for dead with the expectation that he would get eaten by the monstrous fauna.

This is an interesting story and I'm really excited to see the altercation with tony. I'm thinking that he is going to end up having to kill Gwen to survive.

 

[Ultimatedaywriter]

So even if he is strong enough to defeat a whole town of level two monsters will he be capable of overcoming the muscle Tony is bringing with him.

Also how does Tony know he is alive when he pretty much left him for dead with the expectation that he would get eaten by the monstrous fauna.

This is an interesting story and I'm really excited to see the altercation with tony. I'm thinking that he is going to end up having to kill Gwen to survive.

Click to shrink...

That my friend is a plot hole but the reason is simple. Atom would no longer be listed as the owner of the property.

 

[Simonbob]

That's an interesting list of Skill Trees.

He could almost top out Monster Management.