A Soldier's Life

Chapter 164: Bacon

I looked at the pile of essences in my hand from the gnolls. The essences had been reduced to six lesser essences and two major essences. Raelia still could not believe that every gnoll yielded an essence. “How is every gnoll still producing essences?” she asked for the third or fourth time.

I shrugged, but it was clear she was suspicious of me or perhaps even the collector itself. “Like I said, the dungeon has been undisturbed for a long time. Perhaps that has something to do with it, but I’m no dungeon expert. Here,” I handed her the two major essences and two minor essences. Her eyes bulged, but she took them gratefully. I do not think she had taken many essences in her lifetime. I gave her four because she had been responsible for six of the gnolls this time.

“Don’t get used to it. Your contribution to the fight determines what I give you.” I had been slightly reluctant to give her the four essences, but she had done most of the work this time, so I recognized her efforts.

The main reason for clearing the room was harvesting the vitelotte potatoes. Not only did the potatoes taste good, but we also needed variety in our diets—not so much for me, as I could feel the ring of sustenance reducing my caloric needs every day. We worked as a team to process them as quickly as possible. The tubers appeared smaller but fresher, and they started to stack up.

When we finished, I sent them to storage. Raelia stood, announcing, “I am filthy. I am going to bathe. Do not spy on me.” She eyed me before she walked off, but I had no intention of spying on her.

“Too bad we didn’t catch any of the moles. I was curious what type of essence they might yield,” I said conversationally to Maveith, who was cooking. He seemed distracted while preparing dinner and did not respond, so I asked, “How do you think the gnolls caught them?”

“Probably dug with their claws,” Maveith intoned, disinterested. “We are out of onions and garlic,” he stated morosely.

To get back to the cockatrice room, we had to descend, and I was reluctant to do so. “I don’t think we’ll be going back to that room; it would take us in the wrong direction. We need to find Castile. Maybe we’ll find another chamber that has onions,” I said optimistically. Not that I was a dungeon expert. It felt odd talking about the culinary shortcomings of a dungeon.

Raelia returned, her wet, dark hair matted to her very damp clothes, leaving little to the imagination. She carried her leather armor, which had puncture marks, and dropped it carelessly on the ground. She focused eagerly on the food Maveith was preparing, and I wondered how someone so small could eat so much. Raelia looked up briefly but did not stare, and I averted my eyes when I realized that I had been staring.

“Are we going to kill the stone bear next?” she asked, stretching her arms over her head. I think she realized I was staring earlier and was trying to draw my attention back to her. However, I had a stronger will than that.

“Yes, we will kill the bear. If it yields a greater healing potion, we’ll clear that room two more times before moving on.” I moved to shatter the stone chest. I had left to see if Raelia would break it without asking. She had not even mentioned it.

The usual silver coins were inside, but there was no large sapphire on a silver chain this time. Instead, a modest brooch with hundreds of tiny red and clear stones in the form of a bird spreading its wings. I brought it back to the group and showed it to them. Maveith nodded appreciatively, but Raelia’s eyes showed shock and longing for the brooch. “Do you know what power this artifact has?”

Raelia made eye contact with me, her deep blue-green eyes studying me. They were actually very lovely—if I was not worried about getting stabbed by her at the first opportunity. “Not all items found in a dungeon are artifacts, legionnaire.” I did not break eye contact with her, and she finally broke down and explained to demonstrate her superior knowledge. “I know it. It was once the crest of Caelora’s ruling family. Now, it is a symbol of sedition and hubris to elves.”

She took a deep breath. “But yes, it is an artifact, though no elf would ever wear it openly. There is a reward for turning them into Esenhem to be destroyed.”

I turned the pretty piece of jewelry in my hand. “But what does it do?”

“I do not know. Some type of protection, I think—or maybe awareness. I have seen it before on an exiled descendant of Caelora’s king.” She thought for a moment. “But it does not make sense for it to appear in a dungeon. Unless it’s true that a dungeon can recreate the items it absorbs.”

Maveith had been listening and speculated, “Maybe the elves of the city sought shelter in the dungeon when the Legion besieged the city. They were probably trapped and died down here.”

I nodded in agreement. “That would explain the ranger’s cloak if Caelora’s crafters produced it.” I made the brooch disappear, and Raelia’s eyes fell in disappointment. I thought maybe the brooch had given the wearer some influence over the elves. Or, more likely, Raelia just liked jewelry.

“The stone bear room should be ready for us.” I stood and led the two to the chamber with the bear. The bear was back, and I quickly dispatched it, while Maveith went right into processing it.

“If I had a bow, I could get the rabbits,” Raelia noted as the bunnies watched Maveith from a distance.

Stolen novel; please report.

“I have a few bows but no arrows,” I stated absently. She just gawked for a minute, clearly wondering what else I might have secreted away before heading off to look at the small flowers. I was left alone to open the chest and was relieved to find silver coins and two potions, one each for healing and stamina. If we did meet with the company again, I was sure these healing potions would be sorely needed.

Raelia had a bouquet of small yellow and white flowers and was excited. “These are sundrops and sugarweed.” She used the elven names for the flowers, and I had to interpret her words before I understood.

“Are they good for anything?” I was not familiar with either flower, but there might be a reference in the elven books in the library.

“The sugarweed flowers can be dried and used as a sweetener in baking. They only bloom at the height of summer, but once dry, they last a long time. The sundrops,” she indicated the yellow flowers, “are found only in early spring and are used in alchemy. I am not familiar with their uses, though I was told to pick them if I ever found them.”

“You can pack out what you want. We get enough sweetness from the berries and apples. I want to keep my storage for bear meat and potatoes.” Her face fell at my dismissal, but I was not going to add things to my space that we could not use. It was already getting crowded in there, and designating a space for killing creatures would become a problem if I filled it up. Maybe it was time to do some spring cleaning. I left the disappointed elf to cook while Maveith expertly processed the bear.

We returned to the safe room and repeated the gnoll room after a day had passed. The gnolls all yielded only minor essences, and I gave four to Maveith and four to the griffin rider. The reward chest contained silver coins and a pair of simple silver earrings shaped like leaves.

I had a gut feeling that the jewelry was not an artifact. When I channeled into it, it did not take my aether, and it felt like no spell forms were buried in the metal workings. It was still an incredibly detailed piece of art. I never let Raelia see it, and she did not ask what was in the chest.

After we harvested the potatoes, I announced, “This will be our last time fighting the gnolls. We’ll kill the bear again and see if we can find stairs leading up to the first level.” Raelia tensed, realizing what that meant, but I doubted she wanted to spend an eternity in the dungeon.

We rested and ate in the safe room before clearing the bear room again. The bear gave a major strength essence, and the chest still yielded the greater healing and stamina potions along with the silver coins. We might have to return to the room again if we needed more potions. I would have liked to stockpile them, but I felt that time was not on our side. I did not know if anyone from the company lived, but they might be having a harder time than we were, so finding them was a priority.

I told Maveith, “Just take the best cuts from the bear. My space is getting close to full.” Maveith nodded, and I knew the liver and kidneys were going to be harvested, if nothing else.

Raelia’s attention snapped to me. “Huh, you are not as big as I thought you were.” Was that innuendo? Was she trying to joke and insult me in the same sentence? Maybe it was some residual anger from not storing the flowers. I held my tongue rather than retort, and I think the elf was disappointed that I was not playing along. We had fought together for days, which naturally brought soldiers closer. I was still wary of the elf, but found her tolerable.

We quickly checked on the room I had not entered, the chamber with the black and gray rock landscape. Raelia identified the rock. “That is cooled magma. I have flown into old volcanoes before. If something in there created it, I think we should avoid entering this room.”

We all stared for nearly an hour, seeing no movement. I decided, “Okay, we’re not entering if we can’t identify the opponent.” No one disagreed, and we returned to the bear room.

I gave Maveith his bow and three remaining arrows, and he managed to skewer a rabbit as we passed through. I was excited to see what essence it might yield. Raelia scoffed at my effort and said mockingly, “That creature is too small, legionnaire. Even I know it will not yield an essence.”

I probably should not have tried, but I wanted to prove Raelia wrong, even if it revealed the utility of the collector. All three of us watched as the collector struggled to pull out the blue wisps from the creature, Raelia’s grin growing at the probable failure. It took longer than normal, but a minor essence formed. Raelia had utter disbelief on her face, and Maveith just asked, “What is it?”

I picked up the small sphere and was confused. It was a pale red—not pink. “It’s a minor essence of fortitude,” I said, perplexed. So far, every essence I had harvested or seen harvested had made sense. Fortitude was akin to mental endurance—why did a rabbit yield it?

“I’m going to keep it if that’s okay, Maveith?” He had killed the rabbit, so it probably should have gone to him, but I wanted to fortify the attribute.

“It is your collector, Eryk. As far as I am concerned, all the essences are yours,” Maveith replied with assurance.

Raelia panicked and objected strongly, “Do not put those thoughts in his head, Maveith!”

I stopped the potential argument. “I don’t mind sharing. But I will decide who gets what.” I stood and popped the mental fortitude essence into my mouth. My head felt cloudy for a few moments before clearing. Raelia watched me intently, her eyes narrowing.

I ordered us onward, “Let’s explore the next room.”

The corridor curved left and right, snaking for a while before we reached the entrance to the next room. The chamber was large and roughly dome-shaped. It looked like a rolling grassy field, but our sight line was obstructed by a hill near the corridor’s entrance. A massive, horse-sized black boar with deep, slightly luminescent red eyes was digging up the prairie grass on top of the hill. It grabbed a massive grub tangled in the roots of overturned grass. I let my first thought escape on seeing the boar. “Bacon.”

Raelia cautioned, “That is not a pig.” The boar noisily chewed the grub and turned to face us. Bestial red eyes focused on us.

Maveith voiced concern. “It is a dire boar. Dire animals have been mutated by aether. They are larger, stronger, and much more aggressive than their counterparts, Eryk.” He paused before adding, licking his lips, “But yes, bacon. I do not know if we have enough salt to cure it.”

The dire boar grunted, calling over a second beast. Soon, a second, third, and then a fourth dire boar arrived. Four pairs of glowing red eyes stared straight at us. “We definitely do not have enough salt,” Maveith remarked. We needed a plan.

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