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, believing their squad 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 creation.
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 several almost accidentally 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.