'An Orc a human and a goblin walked into a bar.' Singer rolled his eyes at BIS's attempt at a joke. 'What? It's funny, I swear!' He sighed inwardly in his irritation. BIS had long since given up on getting him to give up his new Dungeon Lord status and since taken to annoying him with beyond terrible jokes. They had started out with absolutely no creativity and had simply devolved into making fun of Singer's current actions. Albeit rather poorly, seeing as they were walking into a hollowed out tree root. Previous experience with a rodent of a rather unusual size had them armed and ready as they moved together. At least that was the reasoning Singer had used. With their reaction to his ability to create a party he was rather hesitant to mention his interface map on top of it.
The dot continued blinking red and green, as they approached, but it didn't move. The sight that awaited them as they turned the final corner was a surprise to all three of them. A makeshift abode had been cobbled together within the root. A bed sat in one corner while in another corner sat a fire pit surrounded by various pots and cooking utensils. A groan from the bed however brought their attention quickly back to the bed.
"Ah welcome to my not so humble excuse for a home." The voice was soft but raspy. It sounded much like Billy Butcher and Jack Sparrow's voices had borne an illicit love child. Though the voice spoke softly to the point of a whisper, every word was still completely legible. Singer looked at his allies to see their reaction to find neither had let down their guard or become more alert. Hoping that he wasn't about to get violently devoured by a man eating monstrosity Singer stepped forward and introduced himself.
"My name is Singer, and these two here are my friends. May we know the identity of the one whose home we have mistakenly trespassed upon?"
The figure stood suddenly swaying back and forth as the blanket fell to the ground spilling empty bottles everywhere. A lithe man stood there, thankfully fully clothed. He wore dessert robes of faded grays and blacks as well as a bundled scarf that covered everything from his shoulders to his nose yet still managed to have two end trailing down to his knees.
"Name's Colbey Hawke, Magii Supreme and drunkard extraordinaire!" Singer's eyes widened in surprise at the man's description of himself.
'Oh no... he's retarded like you.'
'Shut up BIS.' Singer smirked at how close that sounded to another word and realized he was really starting to enjoy the dungeons new moniker.
"I don't suppose you would know where we could find the local Hearth Master?" Kovak'g interjected before Singer could respond. Colbey's eyes shifted ever so slightly before a rakish smile spread across his face.
"That I do! Though it pains me to say in my current condition I am unable to introduce you to him." With great flourish Colbey flopped back down on the bed. Much to the shock of everyone else in the room the blanket was caught ever so slightly by his toe being flung up to land perfectly back upon the lounging Magii. What was perhaps even more surprising was the bottle of liquor that was caught up in the edge of the blanket getting flung directly into his waiting hand. It was at this point Singer noticed the plethora of bottles strewn about in various states of being drunk.
'Great, I find a potential Magii trainer and he's a drunkard. Hopefully he's not a womanizer and his normal wear isn't Hawaiian shirts.' Singer thought to himself. That was exactly the sort of crap he didn't want to deal with in this world.
"Apologies for the mess kid." Colbey said, noticing Singer's expression as he looked over the field of bottles. "Ol' mother mead is the only thing that takes the edge off this blasted infection." He finished as he raised a now glove-less hand. The infection was far more than a simple bacterial infection. In fact Singer recognized it immediately. Chaos veins pulsed under the surface of Colbey's hand angrily as he downed half the bottle in a single swig.
"Shtako!" Singer blurted out another nerdy swear word replacement out of pure surprise. The chaos infection made the flashing red and green dot make so much more sense. The more he looked at things the more he realized he had truly come across an end game dungeon before it even had a chance to form. He also realized they had very little time to solve this problem if the creeping veins on Colbey's neck were any indication.
"Perhaps we can help each other then." Singer did some quick thinking as he continued speaking. "This goblin here happens to be a healer and I happen to have some experience with eradicating chaos parasites. Between the two of us I think we can clear your infection and keep you alive in the process." He ignored the surprised looks from Kovak'g and Dahpu, while giving the friendliest smile he could muster.
"A kid... with experience in eradicating chaos parasites? Cute, but I really..." Colbey stopped mid sentence as Singer used a few drops of blood from his first vial to create a blue flame that hovered above his open palm. Somehow he doubted a regular flame would have been impressive enough so he used the second drop to manipulate the air element to turn the flame blue. The third drop created a thin layer of ice to protect his own hand from the heat. "Alright kid. If the two of you can get rid of my... condition, I'll see what I can do about getting your friends in touch with the Hearth Master.
Quest Updated
Cure the Magii Colbey Hawke of the Chaos Infection
Success: Get an introduction to the Hearth Master.
Failure: Chaos Knight added to Dungeon
Warning! Chaos units will spread their influence uncontrollably to all nearby living sources
Singer grinned as he agreed to Colbey's terms. The quest updating was a new surprise, but a welcomed one. It told him at the very least he was on the right path. He directed Dahpu on his role being to heal Colbey's physical damage as he burned out the Chaos infection with flames. He already knew he had no choice on whether he failed or not. He had seen enough to know a Chaos Dungeon would be a very bad situation.
"Ah, Kovak'g perhaps you should hold him down while we do this next part. It's likely to hurt... a lot." Singer waved the Orc over despite Colbey's protests. He wasn't gonna fail this quest just because of one man's pride getting himself killed.
As Kovak'g held Colbey down Singer popped open all 5 vials. If this was anything like the last time he was going to need them all ready. Dahpu pulled a few pieces of plants and animals out of a pouch placing them on Colbey's chest, with his eyes already glowing he spoke a single word.
"TURT" Singer's eyes widened at that. He had forgotten that goblin shamans were known for using words of power. Recognizing the word he made a mental note to question Dahpu about that later. For the time being though his focus was now on the infection spreading through Colbey's body. As he focused on it he pictured it burning. Within moments Colbey was sweating and clenching his teeth in pain. It was strangely easier than Singer had expected, almost as if the flames were being guided along a specific path. He found it easier to focus on the task at hand not having to guide the flames any longer. Even so, the first two vials emptied with little progress in the infection's decline. He didn't want to turn the fire up too hot for fear of killing Colbey.
"Dahpu keep man alive. Third person may burn the infection with more heat." Singer nodded at his words and added air element to his spell quickly making the flames hot enough to melt metal. That was the point Colbey lost it and began screaming and thrashing. Though Kovak'g was able to hold his top half steady Singer had to hold Colbey's legs down as he continued the spell.
Singer nearly lost his concentration when Colbey suddenly stopped screaming and thrashing, for fear he had killed him. Not getting an experience notification he held back a sigh of relief as he held onto the spell.
Just as the last vial emptied a notification finally popped up.
Chaos Infection Eradicated.
Power Rank increased to 11.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief as the spell ended and Colbey's breathing evened out. He was shocked by how easily it had gone. Dahpu had already ceased casting the moment Singer's fire spell ended. There should have been enough internal damage to keep the little goblin busy healing for a long while after.
"Hey, Dahpu what was that word you used earlier. TURT, right? I was wondering what it did."
"Magic word protects man's flesh. That way Dahpu can focus on healing." Singer considered Dahpu's words while they waited for Colbey to regain consciousness. As far as he could tell it seemed to be a means of enhancing healing, performing a portion of the spell to allow Dahpu to focus on other parts. He considered the idea of it being some sort of shield spell, but there was no way such a spell could be so precise without knowledge of human anatomy. Even with the flexibility of fire and some basic knowledge of human anatomy Singer knew he was lucky to not burn the man alive. Somehow he knew there was more to that word of power, and Colbey's easy survival through the process was proof of that. He knew there had been a high risk even with a healer and had expected continuous healing spells after the procedure. But Dahpu's calmness and lack of spell casting after the fact had left him shocked.
After that they sat in silence for the next few hours with only Colbey's snoring breaking the silence. Singer took the time to ponder his situation further. He had never felt like he belonged anywhere in life before. Yet now trapped in this game he found his first moment of inner peace in his entire life. The real world had been harsh and Singer had the misfortune of clearly seeing the dirty truths behind everything first hand. Perhaps this had led to many events in his life that had made his heart harden and his trust in others drop. He had always remained kind on the surface despite those facts. However, he never had the power or money in life to do more than follow the rules and pretend to be a good citizen on the surface. He wondered if he would continue that act in this world, or if he would use the power he now fought for to show his true self.
He had always enjoyed games for those reasons. There was no political or financial bull crap to force people into a hole from birth. A game didn't care who you were friends with or who your daddy was. In a game what mattered was ones grit, determination and hard work. Despite what guilds like Thug Force would say those were the only things that should have ever mattered. Game worlds were pure in that way. It was the only place you could truly be yourself. But, if he was trapped here for good he might regret the actions he took now. Would the best parts of game worlds still hold any sway if he was forced to live the rest of his life in one?
"You're a right bastard you know that..." A husky dry voice rasped from the bed as Colbey struggled to sit up. Kovak'g was quick to help him up and supply him with some water. Singer could only smirk in response with his thoughts still returning to the present. "Coulda' told me you were gonna literally burn me alive."
"I did say it was going to hurt." The glare that Colbey gave him at that response could have caused a whole forest to wither.
"Ya didn't tell me how you intended to clear the infection tho. There's hurt and then there's living torture kid."
"You could have asked." At this point Singer felt fairly certain there was currently a forest burning somewhere in the world from the glares he got.
"Well, since it's gonna be like that..." Colbey turned to Kovak'g and Dahpu. "He's the Hearth Master. Make sure I get my mead and rum and there won't be any problems on my end." Colbey's grin widened as a new pop up appeared on Singer's interface.
Congratulations!
You have been promoted to Hearth Master!
AI limit exceeded for your rank. Merging AI tool kits.
Congratulations!
Your Dungeon Core has evolved into a Hearth Dungeon.
Unique Evolution Tree unlocked!
Primal Elemental Spirits Detected in new region!
Evolution Tree Updated.
"Wait! What? Who the heck just passes off a whole town like that." Singers shock was palpable. He knew his Gambler's Curse was going to make more events happen but this was ridiculous.
"Look kid, you saved my life. Besides, running a town really isn't my cup of Klah. I only activated the Hearth stone to make myself some mead with the points so my dying days wouldn't end in total misery." Singer's eyes widened at Colbey's response and he quickly pulled up the Hearth Dungeon interface. A measly five points remained. It wasn't even enough to make a door frame. He had just been handed the proverbial empty candy wrapper. The only upside here was he could finally finish his quest for Kovak'g and Dahpu. He sighed heavily as he turned to face the Orc.
"Don't fret friend. Our tribe has more than enough resources to build our own lodgings for the time being." Kovak'g interjected before he had a chance to say anything.
"Alright, so is there anything I need to do to give your tribe permission to live here?" A notification popped up as he looked up answering his question before he could get a response.
Citizen rights have been given to the Green Tusk Tribe
Hearth population 142/142
"Oh wow. A hundred and forty two of you guys. That's more than I expected." It was surprisingly better than he had hoped. A hundred and forty two wasn't a few measly outcasts. It was a large town. And a large town meant trainers, blacksmiths, merchants, and everything else a burgeoning player could want in his new life. Perhaps this Gambler's curse wasn't so bad after all.
"About that..." Kovak'g's nervous voice interrupted his reverie. "We only have seventy-two members in our tribe."
"Oh, right! I almost forgot!" An evil grin formed on Colbey's face as he looked back at Singer. "I allowed a clan of Dwarves to move in a few days back in exchange for some Dwarven rum."