Common Clay

B4Ch15: Village Welcome

The next morning, the entire group gathered to begin their assault.

Clay woke early and went over his equipment. His armor was starting to look a little battered from all of the use he'd put it through; even Pure Touch could only do so much to cleanse it, and Needle's Aid could only repair so much of the fabric. Still, he was confident that David's handiwork would hold up through the next battle, even if things looked desperate.

His weapons were still holding strong. Both spear and knife were as lethal as ever, and his bow remained strong and flexible. The only concern he had there was that he was beginning to run low on the arrows that David had supplied, but even normal shafts would do the job, as long as he was careful.

As he finished the last of his preparations, Clay took a moment to consider his [Gift] and measure the progress that he had made.

[Clay Evergreen]

[Class: Commoner] {Level 20} (All Stats have a maximum of 35)

[Subclass: Laborer (Gain 10% bonus to all skills when performing repetitive tasks)]

[Soul: 100/2000]

[Stats] {Might: 34} {Fortitude: 33} {Insight: 34} {Memory: 33} {Valor: 32} {Will: 33}

[Experiences]

{Farmhand: Gain 10% bonus to all skills when performing Farming activities. Gain Planting, Harvesting, and Husbandry skills.}

{Hunter: Gain 10% bonus to all skills when hunting wildlife. Gain Trapping and Tracking skills.}

{Slayer II: Gain 20% bonus to all skills when hunting monsters.}

{Forrester: Gain 5% bonus to all skills inside of a forested area. Gain extra 15% bonus to the Tracking skill in a forested area.}

{Watcher: Gain Analysis Skill. Gain 10% bonus to Tracking skill}

{Ambusher: Gain Hide Skill. Gain 10% bonus to all attacks from hiding. Gain 10% bonus to Trapping skill.)}

{Exterminator II: Gain triple the bonus from all Bane Achievements.}

{Determined: Fatigue lessened by 10%. Wounds heal 5% faster. Gain 10% bonus to repetitive or familiar activities.}

{Defiant II: Gain 40% bonus to all skills when facing an opponent of a higher level.}

{Smallmage: Can chant minor Chants 10% faster. Gain 20% effectiveness for minor Chants.}

{Valiant: Gain 10% bonus to all skills when facing multiple opponents.}

{Warsinger: Gain Lyricist Skill. Can complete all Chants 20% faster.}

{Mentor: Gain 5% bonus to all skills when leading lower level heroes. Allied heroes gain 20% bonus to all skills.}

{Unseen: Gain 20% to all attempts to hide. Gain 10% to all damage and skills while hiding.}

{Banisher: Gain permanent access to the Chant of Garden's Peace. Gain 10% speed and effectiveness for all Chants.}

{Seeker: Gain Ethereal Sense Skill. Gain 10% bonus to all skills when hunting monsters.}

{Leader: Gain Inspire Skill. Gain 5% bonus to all skills when leading heroes. Allied heroes gain 10% bonus to all skills.}

{Stubborn: Fatigue lessened by 20%. Wounds heal 10% faster.}

{Whisperer: Gain 10% bonus to minor Chants. Gain 10% bonus to the speed and effectiveness of all Chants.}

{Duelist: Gain 10% bonus to all skills when facing an enemy one on one.}

{Relentless: Fatigue lessened by 15%. Gain 15% bonus to repetitive or familiar activities.}

{Guide: Gain Mapping Skill. Gain 20% bonus to Analysis and Track Skills. Movement speed increases by 10%.}

{Tunneler: Gain 5% bonus to all skills inside of an underground area. Gain extra 15% bonus to the Tracking skill in an underground area.}

{Champion: Gain 20% bonus to all skills and damage when facing a Guardian.}

{Follower: Gain 20% bonus when being led by a higher-level hero.}

{Dungeoneer: Gain 10% bonus to all skills when inside a Dungeon.}

{Stalker: Gain 10% bonus to Tracking, Hide, and Trapping Skills.}

{Scout: Gain 20% to Tracking and Analysis Skills. Gain 10% to all skills when alone.}

{Weathered: Gain 10% resistance to disease, heat, and cold.}

{Spectral: Gain 20% resistance to ethereal senses.}

{Hiker: Gain 5% bonus to all skills inside of a hilly area. Gain extra 15% bonus to the Tracking skill in a hilly area.}

{Spear Expert: Gain 10% to damage when wielding a spear.}

{Infiltrator: Gain 15% bonus to Hide and Analysis Skills.}

{Slaughterer: Gain 20% damage resistance versus monsters affected by Bane Achievements.}

{Swamp Rat: Gain 5% bonus to all skills inside of a swampy area. Gain extra 15% bonus to the Tracking skill in a swampy area.}

{Tracer: Gain 10% bonus to the Tracking skill. Gain 10% bonus to all skills when tracking.}

{Blackmage: Gain 20% power to Storm Chants.}

{Bow Expert: Gain 10% to damage when wielding a bow.}

{Searcher: Gain 10% bonus to Ethereal Senses. Gain 10% to all skills when hunting monsters.}

{Resilient: Gain 20% resistance to poison.}

[Achievements]

{Spiderbane: 30% increase to all skills and damage against spiders. Bonus increases to 60% versus Mantrap Spiderlings, Troll Spiderlings, Mature Mantrap Spiders, Mature Troll Spiders, Elder Troll Spiders, and Elder Mantrap Spiders.}

{Corpsebane: 45% increase to all skills and damage against Undead. Bonus increases to 90% versus Rotted Levies, Wretched Corporals, Weary Horses, Skeletal Riders, Corpse Hounds, Condemned Foragers, Corpse Birds, Condemned Hunters, Skeletal Scouts, Wretched Sergeants, Wretched Marshals, Condemned Marksmen, and Skeletal Lancers}

{Lizardbane: 15% increase to all skills and damage against lizards. Bonus increases to 30% versus Flame Wretches, Flame Devils, and Flame Horrors.}

{Slimebane: 15% increase to all skills and damage against slimes. Bonus increases to 30% versus Small Ironslimes, Large Ironslimes, and Giant Ironslimes.}

{Swinebane: 45% increase to all skills and damage against swinefolk. Bonus increases to 90% versus Flesh Eaters, Feral Squealers, Wild Smashers, Land Eaters, Feral Shriekers, Wild Crushers, Soul Eaters, Feral Screechers, and Wild Shakers.}

{Frogsbane: 45% increase to all skills and damage against frogs. Bonus increases to 90% versus Mud Croaker Spawn, Dart Croaker Spawn, Decay Croaker Spawn, Decay Croaker Adults, Mud Croaker Adults, Dart Croaker Adults, Decay Croaker Elders, Mud Croaker Elders, and Dart Croaker Elders.}

{Shroomsbane: 30% increase to all skills and damage against shrooms. Bonus increases to 60% versus Juvenile Hopper Shrooms, Juvenile Spitter Shrooms, Juvenile Shifter Shrooms, Mature Spitter Shrooms, Mature Hopper Shrooms, and Mature Shifter Shrooms.}

{Paragon: All skills gain 30% effectiveness around fellow heroes.}

{Combat Generalist: Gain Tactician Skill. Gain 10% bonus to all damage in combat.}

{Warrior Poet: Gain 40% bonus to Lyricist Skill. Gain 10% bonus to the speed of all Chants.}

{Unyielding Spirit: Fatigue lessens by 5%. Wounds heal 10% faster. Gain 10% damage resistance.}

{Commander: Gain 10% bonus to all skills when leading a group of heroes. Allied heroes gain a 20% bonus to all skills.}

{Assassin: Gain 40% damage to initial attacks from hiding.}

{Traveler: Gain 10% faster movement speed. Gain additional 20% movement speed in forests, tunnels, hills, and swamps.}

He drew in a breath and let it out. Odds were, he'd be hitting level twenty before the end of the day, which might open the door to the next reinforcement of [Paragon]. Of course, that would mean he'd need to spend some time actually focusing on raising all of his [Stats], which was something he hadn't been able to do since Pellsglade. True, he'd been fighting constantly, but it wasn't as if monsters that maxed out around rank six were going to be much of a challenge for him at this point. Even Guardians at their usual level ten weren't going to be much of a fight, unless he managed to get himself into another really bad situation.

Clay grimaced and went to start breakfast. They were all going to have a long way to travel, and he didn't want any of them to do it on an empty stomach.

The day was a cool one, something that Clay appreciated as they made their way over the hills and across the forests of the land near Rettmore. A chill breeze stole the heat from their exertions, allowing them to keep a fairly decent pace as they traveled towards the Lair's center. Andrew had reassured Clay that it wasn't all that far away, and unlike at Glanwood, they didn't have to spend half a day slopping through a marsh to reach it, so Clay thought they'd be in good shape to assault the Lair without camping first.

Of course, the monsters did attempt to stop their approach. Shrooms consistently ambushed them, or set traps along their path. Dozens upon dozens of the monsters seemed to be searching them out. It was as if they knew the [Commoners'] intent this time, and wanted to slow them down.

They failed. Andrew's team worked like a well-oiled machine as they tore their way through the monsters. One of them would use Drums of the Earth to clear hopper traps; another would use the Ballad of Air to sweep away the resulting clouds of poison. A third would have the Canticle of Ice prepared, using the ice spears to cut down the shrooms as they made their appearance at range, while another used the Flame-Tongued Song to sweep any nearer threats out of the way. It left a swath of destruction smoldering in their wake, but Clay had to admit that it was an extremely effective way to deal with the enemies in front of them. With Clay and Olivia guarding their backs and catching any shrooms lucky enough to slip past, the monsters had no hope of harming Andrew or his companions.

The further they traveled in the shrooms' territory, the less guilty Clay felt about wreaking devastation as they moved. He'd already seen plenty of effects from the shrooms' existence on the natural terrain. As they drew closer to the center of the corruption, he began to see far, far worse consequences.

Moss and grass died off, leaving some kind of slime to coat the ground where they'd been. Trees and brush started shriveling, sprouting shelves of fungi like cancerous growths. A sharp, bitter smell pervaded the air, and all of them complained of a stinging in their eyes. Where the worst of the die-offs happened, new things grew in their place. Shrubs gave way to low clusters of massive fungi, their rippling hues turning the ground into a riot of color. The trees disappeared, and long, thin mushroom stalks took their place, with streamers of sticky matter hanging from their distant, narrow caps.

It was repulsive, and it only made dealing with the steadily increasing numbers of shrooms all that more unpleasant. A certain kind of vindictiveness crept into their efforts to clear the area as they tore their way through not just the creatures, but the foul things they had brought to corrupt the land as well. Part of him wanted to tell the others to restrain themselves, but it was hard for Clay to convince himself that laying waste to these invaders wasn't right on a visceral level.

After a handful of hours, they reached the top of a low hill, and they looked down together at what Andrew had called the Village.

Clay could see at a glance why Andrew believed it was the center of the infection. At some point in the distant past, there had been a cluster of buildings there, a little smaller than the one that had formed Pellsglade during his childhood. The inhabitants had been forgotten by time, and Olivia hadn't been able to turn up a name, but the people had obviously cared for their home. A Shrine had been raised, stone by stone, and nearby, the [Noble]'s manor rose in the corner of a large clearing that held the place's Choosing Stone. Workshops, a smithy, and stores had been gathered together, probably acting as a supply point for any herds and farmers in the area.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Now, however, the Lair's malign influence could be seen everywhere. Mushrooms had covered everything, their stalks and caps seeming to spring from every surface. Massive, broad versions had sprouted within the walls of the homes and shops. Roofs had cracked and shattered as the stalks forced their way skyward. Those few places where the walls hadn't crumbled to dust were now covered in shelves of fungi, all overlapping and competing with one another.

None of the trees remained. In their place, the delicate, narrow-stalked mushrooms swayed with the breeze. The entire outskirts of the place had been filled with a literal wall of fungi, the stalks so close together that no light reached the ground beneath them. Webs of root-like extensions had strangled the village green, covering the ground and the Choosing Stone in a lattice of stretched threads.

Worst of all seemed to be the Shrine itself. It remained recognizable, when even the [Noble]'s home had succumbed, but that only made the desecration worse. Every window had been broken by the fruiting bodies of countless mushrooms inside. The high roof of the place was consumed by more of them, their rippling colors making a repulsive carpet across the stone tiles. Clay's ethereal senses screamed as he looked at the place. He would have bet anything that the Guardians and the Curse itself were inside.

They paused on the hill, but none of them even suggested staying to camp for long. Between the smell and the repulsive sight before them, he knew it would already be enough of an effort to force lunch down. As they all choked down a bit of bread and meat, Clay checked the case that held the newest copy of the Garden's Peace. Hopefully, they'd need it before too much longer.

He looked back at the Village. If it was anything like the Lair at Glanwood, there would be an entire horde of shrooms inside those walls, just waiting to swarm them. They'd be forced to push through an unending wave of monsters, all of which would work to wear them down and weaken them for the higher ranked monsters and Guardians that waited further in.

It was something they could do, but it would be dangerous. As effective as the attack had been at Glanwood, he couldn't guarantee it would always work without casualties, especially not against enemies like these. There had to be elite ranked monsters inside the Lair, and it seemed likely that there would be more of them than were left at the Glanwood mound.

Aside from that, he really didn't want to make things easy on these creatures. Not if he had another choice.

An idea formed, and Clay began to smile. He turned back to the others and tried to frame things in the right way. Perhaps the assault didn't have to be so terrible after all.

Behind the wall of mushrooms, an army waited, silent and terrible.

They numbered in the hundreds. The Guardians had summoned so many of their kindred to nest close to their source that it seemed like every stride of the ancient village was covered in them. More of them existed outside, but here, in this place, was their greatest number of them.

Their prey had been spotted just outside their stronghold. Those creatures on top of the wall of mushrooms had kept track of their approach. Any moment now, they would launch themselves in a futile assault, driving themselves to their doom. In the shadows of the wall, the ground had been prepared. Spore traps were scattered in a wide swath, small tunnels and holes gave the shifters spaces to hide and spring from, and the spitters were in perfect position to batter them with attacks. The many, many shrooms that lay in wait for the invaders here would consume them, as they had so many others. Then they would spread and grow and consume until their hunger could finally be sated.

A rumble reached them, making the ground tremble. The scent of burning flesh and flora followed; the prey was on their way. Soon. It would happen soon. They shifted, preparing themselves to bury the enemy in numbers.

Then the advancing wave of destruction paused. The shrooms' eagerness faded to uncertainty. Had the prey retreated? Would they need to go out to hunt down the enemy before they could return? Some of them began to slide forward, ready to begin. Others held back, waiting for another sign of what was to come.

Neither expected the boulder to smash through the mushroom wall and into their ranks, carving a trench through the horde in a wave of death. Shrooms died, smashed beneath the boulder or sent flying through the air. Explosions of prematurely detonated spore traps filled the air with clouds of blinding poison. Confused and panicked shrooms launched themselves at nothing, or milled around looking for something to attack.

Before they could find the prey, a second boulder struck home, slamming through the stalks and crushing those unfortunate enough to be in its path. As the broken stalks trembled and collapsed, more shrooms were buried beneath their weight, trapped or smashed in turn. The horde turned towards the holes now punched in its defenses. Some of them could sense another spell being cast beyond the wall.

Sure enough, a third boulder smashed its way through them, followed by a fourth. By the time the fifth tumbled through the wall, reducing even more of their defenses to mush, they fell back from the ruined wall in confusion. It took a few moments for them to try to rally. They swarmed towards the breach, trying to salvage the situation. Their ambush holes were still intact, as were a few of the spore traps. The gap provided a perfect chokepoint to trap the invaders. It would be a challenge to use the twisted wreckage of the wall for cover rather than an intact barrier, but it could still be done.

Yet even as they scrambled to adapt, the boulders stopped. The wisest among them started to tense, preparing for a sudden charge. Surely their enemies would advance now, even if they would be doomed all the same.

They waited in vain. The only thing that descended on the gap was a handful of glass vials that broke open on impact. Flaming liquid sprayed across the wreckage of the wall, igniting the broken remnants of the fungi. Those who had tried to hide in the rubble were forced to flee or burn along with it; shrooms who had been ready to defend the gap suddenly had to focus on containing the fire, lest it spread to the rest of the Village.

As the smoke rose, only a handful of the shrooms saw the invaders withdrawing, moving around the perimeter of the Village rather than continuing to attack. If they had throats, they would have howled in anger as their prey escaped.

Clay smiled as the Canon of Rock smashed yet another hole in the outer walls of the Village, reducing both the oversized mushrooms and the hostile shrooms beyond them to paste. Notifications of their deaths scrolled by, letting him know their numbers were falling yet further with each successive strike. It was the fourth spot where they had sat back and bombarded the place. Smoke still rose from the other three, though it did look like the monsters were getting the fires relatively under control.

The shrooms were getting agitated now. He could see groups of them trying to change position and cluster near where the team was moving. Their desire to fight off the attacks was almost palpable, but he was still content to keep bombarding them from a distance. After all, he wasn't exactly in a hurry. He hadn't even been smashing them to bits for an hour yet, and there was plenty of time before the sun would set.

He recited the Refrain, and yet another boulder gathered above him. Clay concentrated, bringing all his power to bear, and sent the projectile hurtling into the wall. Mushrooms the size of oaks tumbled, even as the others unleashed waves of icicle spears to pick off spitters on the intact parts of the wall. This section of the wall was almost ruined now, too. Another couple of blasts would leave it wrecked enough to start a good fire, and then they could move on.

Of course, as nice as it was to blast the shrooms from a distance, they'd need to confront the real threats of the Lair, eventually. The Guardians could easily try to summon more of the smaller monsters to replace the ones they were losing, and Clay had no desire to sit outside the Village forever. At the same time, he doubted the Guardians would just allow him to continue to demolish their defenses forever. Sometime soon, they'd decide to react, and when they did…

Olivia nudged him. When he looked at her, she pointed at a spot in the Village beyond the wall, one that was just faintly visible through the dispersing clouds of spores. Clay frowned, narrowing his eyes even as he continued the Refrain. There was another bunch of shrooms gathering, but these seemed different. A red light seemed to filter out from beneath their caps, and several of them were larger than the versions he'd seen before.

Realization dawned, and he smiled. The Guardians had reacted just like he'd expected them to. It was time to put the second part of the plan into effect.

He finished the most recent use of the Refrain, punching yet another hunk of stone through spongy stalks and fragile shrooms. Then he spoke up clearly. "Hunting party incoming. Let's advance."

The others nodded, beginning their own [Chants]. Clay switched his own spell, turning to the Anthem of Thunder. Andrew passed out another handful of his fire-flasks, the delicate glass vials that apparently contained some concentrated substance that burned merrily for far longer than expected. They'd been useful to block off each breach and prevent the shrooms from coming out after them. Now they'd be useful as a literal smokescreen for what the [Commoners] were actually doing.

They started forward, with the others unleashing wave after wave of icicles. The shrooms trying to keep watch fell back, apparently already aware of what the [Commoners] had done at the other breaches. A moment later, the fire-flasks were on their way, breaking open and spreading a wave of fire through the ruined mushrooms.

Before, they had always fallen back at this point, but this time, they pushed forward. Olivia started on the [Chant] for the Vanishing Ember, the words spilling from her mouth at an impressive speed. The others were saying the words for the Flame-Tongued Song, forming up to rush the burning pile of fungal matter.

Clay, however, just focused on his own [Chant]. He repeated the amplifying section once, twice, three times. He reached four before they got to what he hoped was optimal range, and then he forged ahead with the rest of the spell. The Anthem was one of the few [Chants] that could be exhausted if he used it too much. As satisfying as it might be, he needed to keep some of it in reserve.

By the time they reached the burning pile, Olivia already had her [Chant] ready, and Clay was nearing the finish of his. He nodded to her, and she reached out and snuffed the flames from existence. One moment, the burning pile was throwing up a wave of smoke and heat; the next, it was reduced to smoldering, smokeless coals.

As the last of the smoke rose into the air, Clay was given a suddenly clear view of the hunting party beyond the pile. They had moved forward, apparently aiming to rush to the section of the wall to his left; his group had been moving in that direction for the past few attacks, so they likely hoped to intercept the [Commoners] before they unleashed another bombardment. They probably wouldn't have accomplished much—the shrooms seemed far more vulnerable than other monsters when they were forced to fight offensively—but at least they would have had a fighting chance to do something.

Unfortunately, Clay had no intention of giving them even that much hope.

He focused the Anthem on the hunting party, making sure to concentrate most on the largest of the shrooms. They had paused, almost in shock. Spitters the size of wagon wheels were trying to pivot back towards him; shifters were swinging their bulging bodies back in his direction. Overhead, the hoppers were frantically trying to swerve. To his shock, the largest of them actually braked their momentum by firing off a burst of spores.

Yet it was all too late. The Anthem completed, and less than a heartbeat later, the lightning fell.

It wasn't nearly as impressive as the assault on the Glanwood moat. There was no storm here, and Clay hadn't mustered his entire might for the attack. All the same, against a close-packed mass of mushrooms caught out in the open, the effect was more than enough. Bright lances of power ripped through sky and earth, blasting shrooms to pieces on the way through. Chunks of flaming fungus spattered in all directions; sledgehammers of sound pulped the more fragile of them before they could twitch.

As they died, notifications rolled through his sight, somehow still visible despite the blazing light before him. He tried to focus only on the most important ones, despite the avalanche of lesser creatures perishing alongside their betters.