Chapter 69 (1/2)

Randidly grinned and activated haste, dashing towards the Lava Golem in front of him. He used an normal stab to attack it, wanting to see how strong it was in relation to him. To his surprise, the tip of the bone spear ripped into it rather easily. The lava just reformed around it, and it continued forward.

Frowning, Randidly backed off a bit. Golems…. Were made of a substance, and usually had cores, that animated them. On this golem, his right chest cavity seemed to glow with heat. He looked at the others.

Left eye, left knee, pelvis, right hand.

Shrugging, he turned back to the first. Could it really be this easy…? He slashed with his spear again, ripping into the golem’s chest. He felt it, that time, as his spear struck something else other than malleable molten rock and melting metal.

The entire body of the golem shuddered, but then it continued on, incensed.

Randidly grimaced. The heat was really something, so much that he was losing more health per second than he regenerated. But…

Randidly twisted the spear and then just pulled, using the spear like a shovel, and separated the core from the rest of its body.

The body in front of him collapsed, and the small, golden ball rolled the ground, sizzling. Randidly walked over to it and crushed it with the butt of his spear.

Then he turned to the rest, who were lumbering closer. Three more had crawled out of the lava to join them. He shook his head sorrowfully.

What a tiring day. At least it was only 10 minutes long.

****

While the adults of Donnyton ran around working, preparing for the influx of monsters to the area, the children gathered in a certain clearing. There weren’t an overly large number of children in the village, but enough that there was talk of installing a schoolhouse, which filled them all with dread.

Luckily or unluckily, there always seemed to be another, more pressing project, so it had not yet happened. But that word yet hung over their heads.

Nathan and Kiersty were the youngest, at 8, and the rest were between 10 and 16, not yet allowed to engage in any of the combat exercises or obtain a class. In a rare show of unanimity, the leaders of Donnyton had declared that no one under 17 could obtain a class from their village, although they were free to stay here.

Most of the older kids thought this rule was dumb, especially when Sir Donny was barely older than them, but the rumor was that he had received special dispensation from the Ghosthound, who the children talked of in reverent voices.

They secretly hoped they would run into the Ghosthound too, and impress him enough that he would order they receive a class.

For that very same reason, they found themselves standing in this certain clearing, at that moment. Because against all odds, the Ghosthound had spoken to Nathan and Kiersty, and told them to protect and nurture a certain seed. And now they stood around that seed, which had grown into a charcoal grey sapling.

But as they watched, a small smoking bud formed on the highest branch.

Slowly, infinitely slowly, that  grey and smoking bud twisted and wiggled, and writhed.

Then, it fell still.

The bud parted and a single, burning leaf.

“Praise the Dancing Tree!” Kiersty said, rubbing her hands on the sooty trunk and then drawing lines on her face.

The rest of the kids, their faces strange, just looked at her. Even Nathan gave her a strange look. But Kiersty just smiled, and looked at the notification that had appeared in front of her.

Congratulations! You have been offered the Soul Skill “Priestess of Arbor”. Would you like to accept? Yes/No

Kiersty nodded, and clicked yes. The flimsy leaf wavered, and then fell, as if blow by wind, and drifted towards her. Reflexively she raised her hand and caught it. The fire burned, but she didn’t mind. Instead, she felt something. Pulses, coming from the tree.

Suddenly, she knew what to do.

Nathan looked at her with a doubtful expression.

****

Randidly moved quickly among the growing number of lava golems, expertly smashing their cores and moving onto the next. They were strong, and basically invincible aside from their vulnerable cores, but they weren’t that difficult to deal with.

That is, until they surrounded you, and raised the temperature 150 degrees.

So Randidly hurried around at first, ripping them to pieces. But that seemed to displease the large face, and it began sending more at once.

It was a number still within manageable limits, but it made Randidly sweat, literally. But he controlled himself, and continued to fight while seeming to struggle. Only then would the face remain passive, simply glaring at him.

The time slowly ticked down, and Randidly gradually allowed more and more lava golems onto the platform, seeming to struggle.

5 minutes…