Next time he woke to the sight of Tifayn climbing into bed beside him again but he was too sore to complain about it. She seemed to delight in showing off her naked body. Her presence helped to soothe his aches and when he woke again, he finally felt like he wasn’t drowning in an endless ocean anymore. Before he had felt blind, but now he could see a light at the end of all this mess.
By the fourth day his head had stopped spinning and he had begun to accept that it was just possible that everything happening was real. It wasn’t entirely unpleasant. Having Tifayn to share a bed with was almost worth sacrificing everything he had left behind. It wasn’t the loss of his life he was frustrated about though, but the questions that still remained unanswered. What was so special about Leon and himself? Where exactly was Babyl? Although, the answers to those questions probably wouldn’t do him any good. He was already coming to terms with the fact that he was stuck here for the foreseeable future, and that he might as well make the most of it. If it wasn’t real, then the same thing applied. There was nothing to do but enjoy it.
I am surprised to see you awake so soon, the ring said quietly in the corner of his mind. Some Darknight’s sleep for weeks after receiving that much information.
“I don’t have that much time to waste,” Alix replied softly so as not to wake Tifayn. He didn’t want her to jump awake and stab him in the eye with one of her horns. From her perch on his chest, the tines were disturbingly close.
Good, I can’t stand those that wallow in depression for months. By the time they finally realise the opportunities available to them, it’s too late for any amount of effort to save their lives. What are you going to do first then?
“I’m going to clear the garden.”
…Great. Wake me up when you decide you don’t want to die.
“You were the one that told me about Crafting. Don’t blame me now that I want to try it out.”
Alix opened his Menu now that he had a spare moment to check it out further. Skills was still bare but he hoped to rectify that soon. He selected Titles, curious to see exactly what he had unlocked. He started with Darknight.
He had expected a massive list of buffs, +100 to Strength and every other conceivable stat, but it only said one thing.
Infinite Growth.
“What does this mean?” Alix asked the ring.
It means exactly what it sounds like. Everything you do here will make you stronger. If a random person goes outside and digs a hole, they are just wasting their time. If you go and dig a hole, who knows what you might unlock? Holemaster? Dirt Lord? Rock Enthusiast? The Titles and Skills available to you are infinite.
Alix scrolled down to the second Title he had yet to check; Adventurer.
Infinite Storage.
Now that was more like it.
Tifayn stirred as he finished checking his depressingly low Lv 1 stats. Now that he had an idea of what he could do, he was itching to get started. Back home he had been a horrible procrastinator but here he found it was near impossible to sit still, apart from when he had a gorgeous naked demon draped over him. Right then he was itching to experiment with the new information the ring had given him, but he didn’t want to wake Tifayn. She deserved her rest for looking after him the past few days, and he would have to get used to doing things by himself soon enough. He couldn’t rely on others doing everything for him, although it sounded like that tactic worked wonders for the Solknight.
The demon girl had her arms wrapped around him. How was he going to get away without waking her?
Hug and roll, hug and roll…
Tifayn flopped onto her back without stirring, arms spread wide, and her breasts burst from the covers. Areola the colour of dark plum stared back at him, inviting him back to bed, but Alix forced himself to retreat. Manoeuvre successful, he rolled out of bed and dressed in his only pair of clothes. That was something else he would have to sort. He couldn’t wear the same outfit for the next five years, while Leon probably had a hundred new outfits already.
Slipping out of the warm bedroom into the chill of the hallways reminded him of his uni days, leaving the comfort of his student accommodation for the miserable Scottish mornings, although the thought of crafting was a lot more motivating than the early morning lectures had been.
Keeping an eye on his map, he crept through the hallways, making sure to avoid the various skeletons that were roaming around, still uncomfortable around them. The ones he had met before seemed to be congregated around a portion of the map he hadn’t uncovered yet. He managed to slip outside without encountering any of the others.
Alix was greeted by the sun shining down on the mountain. From the dankness within the hallways he had expected to find the day wet and cold, but that was just the ruined castle hoarding the miserable chill within its pockmarked walls. He would have to get the place fixed up so he could explore the place in relative comfort. Several times he had almost jumped out of his skin at a cold touch down the back of his neck, thinking a skeleton had crept up behind him, only to find a drop of water had fallen from a cracked ceiling.
The sun had come out and burnt away the clouds, but the overgrown grounds were still littered with shadows and thorns. It looked like it was going to be a nice day, perfect for doing some well needed gardening. Or did it count as weeding? Or landscaping? The easiest thing to do would be to burn it all down and start from scratch, but he wasn’t really thinking about what he would be able to grow there in the future, but what he could harvest from it now.
Before leaving Tifayn’s rooms, he had grabbed one of the myriad knives she had lying around in drawers. A pair of secateurs would have been handier but he had no idea where he would be able to find something like that. If there was a tool shed in the garden, it was long overgrown. Likely he would have to forge some himself, another skill the ring had hinted at, but that was something he was content to leave for another time.
No place looked better than any other to start with, the only clear area being the path from the castle doors to the gate, so he walked over to a clump of oddly serrated looking grass and cut a bunch with his knife.
Instead of throwing them aside, he fed them to the ring. They glowed and sank into the lustrous black dragon. Text appeared in the bottom left of his vision like an activity log.
- Obtained 5 Dumpweed
Alix opened his inventory, a previously empty semi translucent square, and found the five units of Dumpweed sitting there as a leafy green icon. He had hoped there would be some sort of information screen telling him what to do with but there was nothing. Instead he selected it, which was as simple as focussing on it with his eyes, and two new options appeared.
- Dismantle
- Discard
Alix couldn’t imagine how you could dismantle a plant so he chose that option to see what would happen.
New text appeared in the activity log.
- Dismantled 5 Dumpweed
- Obtained 10 Aloe
The Dumpweed disappeared from his inventory and a new item,
Aloe, appeared. Its icon was a pale green droplet. A rush of excitement hit him, It was a tiny effort but it still felt like he was getting somewhere. Now he just needed to find something to do with the items. The library might hold the information he was looking for, but he wasn’t ready to stop just yet. He was only getting started. The urge to find new and interesting components fuelled him, triggered his obsession for collecting things. Maybe if he could craft something like potions, he could sell them for some money to help rebuild the castle. He was sure Leon was probably rolling in mountains of gold at that very moment.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Alix cut more of the weeds, working back and forth between the wall and the castle until he uncovered a forgotten path, after which he managed to start clearing large swathes as he moved further into the grounds. His inventory filled with Dumpweed very quickly, stacking to x99 before a new icon appeared. Once he reached a total of one hundred units, there was the notification sound again. He opened the notification menu and saw that he had unlocked a new Title.
- New Title Unlocked: Horticulturist.
It doubled the amount harvested from every plant. His inventory filled even faster, but with Infinite Storage there was always space for more.
Further down the old path he was focussing on uncovering, hoping it lead to somewhere interesting, he began to encounter new plants and he was surprised when he recognised the names; Dill, Basil, Sage. Alix doubted they would be much use for the sort of potions he had in mind, but his mind began to race with the foods that might suddenly be possible here now. The Dismantle option appeared beside the herbs and he couldn’t help but check out what they could possibly be reduced to. Three new items appeared in his inventory.
- Obtained Dill Essential Oil
- Obtained Basil Essential Oil
- Obtained Sage Essential Oil
Better be careful not to dismantle too much stuff, don’t want to end up with a load of junk.
Alix wasn’t sure what use they could be, never having been one for essential oils, but they had to have some use if he was able to harvest it. The notification bell rang again and he saw that he had a new Title.
- New Title Unlocked: Herbalist
Alix opened his Titles menu, glad to see it was filling up fast with
four already, and hovered his gaze over the newest one. Text appeared over it.
- Increased Potion Efficiency
“I guess I’ll be using these for potions after all,” Alix mused to himself. Some creature in the tall grass scurried away at the sound of his voice.
Among the herbs and weeds were other plants he had never heard of before but he collected them all anyway. Ivory Leaf was one that seemed to be pretty abundant, while Lovebud was one he really wanted to know what it was used for. Unfortunately it seemed to have no effect as it was.
A few trees had grown out of control but he couldn’t do anything about them without a saw or an axe. They would need wood soon though. The fallen stones could be refitted, but the rotten and cracked roof beams couldn’t. He would have to look for tools next, and see how far the skeletons skills with carpentry went.
Alix worked his way around the garden until his inventory held hundreds of new items, although if he had been playing a regular RPG he would have considered it all junk. If he only had five years, there was no time to waste hoarding junk.
Just then his notification bell went again.
- Reached Level 2
“Nice!” Alix exclaimed. He had expected to need to grind against slimes or some other low level creature to level up, but it looked like he had slowly been gaining experience either from harvesting or dismantling items. Looking through his menu he noticed that his Stats had all increased by about ten percent, but there wasn’t anything to say how much EXP he had earned. He was just glad to be getting somewhere.
Another text box appeared in the air before him, one he hadn’t encountered before.
- Choose 1 New Skill:
- Analyse
- Wainwright
Wainwright? What the hell is that?
Analyse sounded like it could be handy so Alix selected that.
“I was wondering where you had gone,” a voice said behind him before he got a chance to check out the new skill.
“I was wondering where you had gone,” a voice said behind him.
Alix jumped but he calmed when he saw that it was just Tifayn. The cleared path behind her was a lot longer than he had realised. The hours had sped by as he became lost in harvesting everything he could find. The grounds were still a mess but he had made good progress.
“I didn’t want to wake you. I thought I would get started on clearing the grounds. The ring told me about Crafting so I wanted to harvest some materials to craft with. All this mess needs cleared anyway.”
“I would have been happy to help you cut down these weeds, but I’m afraid I don’t know anything about the crafting the ring mentioned,” Tifayn said, looking a bit disappointed that he hadn’t thought to call on her for help.
“Like you said, Pampered won’t do Leon any good, so I should be trying to do as much for myself as I can.”
“You must have been out here for hours to clear so much. You should stop for a break,” Tifayn said, taking his arm in hers and steering him back towards the castle.
The thought of going back inside such a dank place didn’t appeal to him when he could be outside working in the nice weather, but there was only so much he could do in the grounds, and he had built up quite a hunger. He had harvested hundreds of components and ingredients, but so far he didn’t have any recipes so Crafting was still locked to him.
“I’ve been meaning to ask. How is it you are able to give the skeletons commands without the ring?” Alix asked as they walked.
“Well, like demons, the undead here have always served the Darknight. Mr Bones remembers my grandmother when she lived here. If I tried to do something like destroy what’s left of the keep, I’m sure they would try to stop me, but since I’m here for the same reason they are, they help me out. The skeletons recognise my devotion and listen to my words. I guess it is handy that they will obey no others, but it means that the place has fallen into ruin. The skeletons don’t feel the elements like we do, so they think nothing of a broken window or missing roof. Their bones are under an ancient spell and the weather has no effect on them. If you commanded them to though, they would stop following my commands. Why do you ask?”
“I was just wondering if you knew some way to summon them all. I’d like to get them all started on clearing the rubble lying around. I’m not going to be able to relax properly until the castle is more secure. Right now anyone could just walk in and attack us.”
“I don’t think anyone would be that stupid. I’ve heard the stories they tell in Galdea. Apparently anyone other than the Darknight is supposed to drop dead as soon as they walk through the gates. The skeletons have always managed to scare off anyone that thought to put the rumours to the test. Are you saying you cannot gather them to you yourself?”
“Am I supposed to be able to do that? I can see the ones we met before on my map, but I assumed there were dozens of them.”
“You should be able to call them all with the ring, but I guess it will take you a while to figure it all out. Once you have mastered it, you will be able to see where they are at all times, as the power that animates them is related to yours. You will be able to track me as well, if you like,” Tifayn replied, pressing herself closer against his side. “Anyway, the skeletons should be working on clearing the rubble already. It’s what I asked them to do, but there are not many of them to get the work done quickly.”
“I saw them all congregating at a place deep in the castle this morning. I wonder what they are clearing down there.”
“Let’s go find Mr Bones and ask.”
They went and found Mr Bones and found that the skeletons were no longer working on whatever it was they had been doing earlier. Mr Bones was standing in the entrance hall as if he had been waiting for their return. Alix quickly checked his map and saw that the other skeletons were in various corners of the castle, doing their rounds to check for intruders.
Tifayn pushed Alix forward, forcing him to confront his undead servant himself for the first time. He cleared his throat, unsure of how to start. He pushed down the queasy feeling he got when confronted by the undead. Should I be polite? Formal? Informal? Commanding?
“Mr Bones…you are looking…well.”
“Just get to it!” Tifayn hissed from behind him. “He’s thousands of years old, he knows he looks well. It is well established that Mr Bones is the most distinguished skeleton amongst the undead of Babyl.”
“Ok then…I was just wondering what the skeletons were doing earlier. I saw you all working on something deep in the castle. Did you find something?” Alix asked the well-dressed skeleton. Is that why he dresses so sharply? He’s a skeleton celebrity?
“Find something? No, we were looking for something,” Mr Bones’ said, his voice coming as if from his own mouth although there was nothing left of it. The sound of it gave Alix chills, like the wind in a graveyard given voice, although there was something distinguished about the way he spoke.
“What were you looking for?” Alix asked in a wavering voice that he didn’t intend.
“The vault is down there, but the passage is underwater and some sections of it have collapsed. I could clear it with time, but I need more of my brethren awoken for the task,” Mr Bones replied.
“Is the path to the crypt clear?” Tifayn asked, understanding what Mr Bones was saying when Alix turned to her with a blank look.
“It was. There was a recent collapse. I would have cleared it already, but your rooms took priority, Lady Tifayn,” Mr Bones replied, bowing his head slightly.
“So if the way to the crypt was cleared, you would be able to repair the castle a lot faster?” Alix asked, still unsure of what was being suggested, but at least it was somewhere to start.
“Yes, my lord,” Mr Bones replied, bowing slightly again.
“Alright then. I take it the skeletons listen to you as well, Mr Bones, so please give them my orders. I would like to get all this rubble cleared away as soon as possible, so get them all started on opening the crypt. If you could repair what you can as you go, that would be great. Otherwise deposit the rest in organised piles. I’ll find a way to get some wood to start working on the major repairs and then we will see where we are at then.” He wasn’t used to giving orders but he was eager to uncover more of the castle. If there was something here that could help him, he wanted to find it, but it would take him weeks to shift all the rubble himself.
Alix liked the idea of rebuilding the castle even more than seeing what secrets it might hold. It was a mechanic in games he had always enjoyed, rebuilding towns and ruins. He had never expected to be confronted with such a task in real life, and it was going to be a lot harder than just pushing a button, but he hoped more satisfying.
“It would do you some good to get some heavy lifting in, build those muscles. I’m not going to say that’s the key to defeating the Solknight, because they all failed no matter how well built they were, but the largest men always lasted a bit longer,” Tifayn said, eyeing up his scrawny frame.
“I’ll come and help them later on. I want to at least figure out how to do some Crafting first. I just need to find some recipes to try out. I found a lot of materials out in the garden so I want to see what I can do with them.”
“I know of some books I can show you. Follow me,” Tifayn replied, taking him by the hand and leading him up the stairs, as Mr Bones bowed once again and left to complete his new task.