The Land: Founding (Chaos Seeds Book 1) (3 page)

“I was well paid to advise you. Trust
me when I say that you’re lucky to have me. For an eternal being like myself,
if I can’t be trusted to do a job, I don’t get many more.”

“Fair enough,” James said. He was
still trying to breathe through the pain, and it was starting to make focusing
on the conversation more difficult.

“Now, I’m sure by that pained
expression on your face, you’ve realized that your health is not restoring.
Lower health means more pain, and total loss of health will cause death of
course. Low mana makes it harder to think and low stamina makes you sluggish.
While magic and stamina will replenish over time, your health will not without
prolonged rest or healing magic. As a Chaos Seed you will heal faster than
others, wounds improving over hours rather than days, but still it will take
time without help. As so,” the imp waved its hand and shadowy tendrils extended
to touch James’ arms finally providing relief to the burning ache of his arms.

James immediately started breathing
easier seeing the red bar of his health growing, “Thank you very much! I’m
obviously completely lost here, and despite that first cheap shot, I appreciate
your help. Would you please tell me your name so I can address you properly?”

The imp smiled genuinely for the
first time, “You may call me Xuetrix. That is of course not my real name. You
must never give your real name as with the right knowledge or abilities it
might allow great power over you. Now with that said, what should people call
you?”

A translucent screen appeared in
front of his gaze again. It simply said, “Name:” and had a blinking cursor
after it.

James thought for a moment, happy
with the advice. His character Silk had served him well, but if what Xuetrix
said was true then his power could increase exponentially. If he was really in
a new world, he planned on getting as strong as possible and making an impact.
He would shake the ground and his accomplishments would only be measured by…”

James smiled and looked at Xuetrix.

“My name is Richter.”

“What’s a Chaos Seed,” Richter asked
looking at his race.

“It is the type of human you are. I
am actually not sure what that means exactly, so you will have to discover that
by yourself. Everyone from your world is a Chaos Seed is what I was told,
though. That also might be a piece of information that you will want to keep to
yourself. It doesn’t exactly sound warm and cuddly, and the various peoples of
The Land might take it the wrong way,” the imp advised. Richter accepted the
advice silently.

“Very well Richter. It’s time for us
to part ways. The last advice I will give you is that though you should advance
as quickly as possible, always remember that it’s not all about level. After all,
a level 100 rabbit could never kill a level 1 wyvern. It is the application of
power that rules the day, not the simply having power. THINK! Learn what you
can, and be careful how you treat those you encounter. You never know when the
actions of today will impact the outcome of tomorrow.”

“Thank you Xuetrix, I really you owe
you,” Richter said, extending his hand.

“What?” Xuetrix said looking
confused.

“I said I owe you.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” Richter said with some
exasperation.

“Thrice heard and witnessed,” the imp
said with a sly smile.

A notification popped into Richter’s
view

You have agreed to do Xuetrix a
favor. Failure to do so when asked will cause a decrease in your reputation
with all beings, and other unknown consequences. Keep in mind, your word means
everything!

By the time he cleared the message he
was greeted by the sight of the imp hovering with its wasp, a small smile on
its face. Then the devilish creature just snapped its fingers, and they both
vanished to the faint smell of sulfur.

“I’ve got to learn to keep my trap
shut,” Richter said aloud with a deep sigh.

“Enjoy my gifts, Richter,” Xuetrix’s
disembodied voice said. “I like powerful friends, especially when they owe me
favors. Hahaha.” Four items dropped to the ground in front of him.

Picking up all four, he was awarded
with new message notifications.

You have received: Simple short bow.
Damage 8-13. Durability 15/15. Item class: Common. Quality: Average. Weight:
4.1 kg

You have received: Basic arrows with
quiver. Quantity x10. Damage 3-5. Durability 2/2. Item class: Common. Quality:
Average. Weight: 1.1 kg.

You have received: Minor ring of
healing. Will heal 30 health on wearer. Cool down 10 minutes. Can be
used twice per day. Durability
8/8. Item class: Common. Quality: Average. Weight: 0.1 kg

You have received: Dull bronze knife.
Damage 2-4. Durability 20/20. Item class: Common. Quality: Average. Weight: 2.0
kg

Slipping the ring on his finger and
the quiver over his shoulder, he finally took in his surroundings and attire. He
was wearing a sleeveless tunic and rough spun brown pants. On his feet were
dark tan moccasins. He actually might be extremely stylish on Rodeo drive as he
remembered hearing something about the “peasant” look making a comeback. Only
thing missing was… Yup! Richter definitely needed to be the first person to
invent both cotton and boxer briefs in this world. Whatever ‘
roughspun
’ was, it was definitely NOT the fabric of his
life!

Looking around he examined the small
glade. The pool of crystal clear water abutting the rock face was surrounded by
multicolored plants. A line of trees hid the small glade from view, creating a
hidden enclave. Walking up to the pool he looked down at the plants, but could
not identify any of them. Herbs always came in useful in games though, so he
decided to grab them.

You have picked up an unknown plant.
Due to a lack of herbalism you have destroyed the plant. Maybe you can use what
is left to apologize to your mom.

Shaking his head, Richter thought,
What
is with these messages? Seeing nothing else that could
be of use he turned to leave the glade, but stopped as he was thirsty. Going
over to the pool he paused as he saw his reflection in the still water. A man’s
face stared back at him. The expression was curious and kind. He had chestnut
colored skin, and hazel eyes. His hair was cut short and was a mop of black
curls close to his head. It looked like his old face, but leaner and more
rugged. It was a visage he could live with.

He knelt down to scoop some water in
his hands, but hesitated. Should he drink this? Everything here seemed to have
some meaning. What if this was the Pool of Eternal
Firerrhea
?
He was already thirsty though, and drinking from an unknown source would always
be a risk.

Taking a deep breath, he sipped from
the water in his hand.

You have tasted the Waters of
Clarity. You can see the way forward with greater ease than any others.
Experience increased by 25% for the next twenty four hours.

Score! Let’s get this going!

Happy with his lucky starting point
(falling into an ocean or volcano would probably not have been super fun),
Richter walked out of the glade, and into his new life.

Leaving the glen, he felt a slight
tingling. After walking through the trees for several yards, he looked back and
saw what appeared to be only a stand of trees next to a cliff face. No one
would be finding the glade without help. For some reason, knowing that his
starting point in the world was hidden away brought him a sense of security. He
realized then that finding it himself might be a problem later. Losing
something as clutch as that Pool of Clarity would be a bone head move of epic
proportions. He spent about half an hour rolling medium-small rocks to the base
of trees. They would look innocuous enough individually, but taking a larger
view, they formed a rough line toward the glen.

The forest seemed old. The trees grew
massive, hundreds of feet into the air. There was large spacing between the
large trunks, but the floor of the forest was littered with detritus from
fallen branches and thick undergrowth. The air was filled with the song of
birds that filled the branches above his head. The sun filtered through the
leaves, but the canopy was thick enough that its position could not be clearly
pinpointed. Walking forward he began to hunt. He was already a bit hungry.
After only a short time, he heard a faint snuffling up ahead of him. Moving
forward slowly he looked over a dip in the forest floor. A red fox was rooting
through the leaves, hunting for some morsel or other. He slowly nocked an arrow
making sure to avoid any extra noise. He paused a moment with the string taut
as he exhaled, then released! The arrow flew through the air, and hit the fox
in its side. It let loose a high pitched squeal and attempted to run. Richter
quickly nocked another air and let fly. It fell a foot short!

He ran to cut the fox off before it
could leave the gully it had been searching in. Luckily the fox seemed to have
trouble running with the arrow in its side and he was able to jump on it and
drive his knife into its side.

Congratulations! You have reached
skill level 1 in Archery
.

Congratulations! You have reached
skill level 1 in Small Blades
.

Red Fox (Lvl 1) has died. You receive
8(+2) experience.

The prompts were translucent, and
filled a small amount of his visual field. They disappeared at a thought and he
looked down at the fox. Killing it was more real than anything had been in the
game. The blood was warm and sticky on the hand that held the knife. It had
kicked and moaned right before it died. The death of this small creature made
his situation real in a way that nothing else had. Looking down at his
vanquished foe, at the blood on the ground, at the life that was forever
extinguished, something welled up inside of him. He fought the impulse, but he
was helpless against it and shouted, “What does the fox say? Ba ring
ring
ring
ba
ring
ba
ring
ring
!”

Chuckling to himself he retrieved his
arrow, and then picked up the fox by the tail for later as well as his missed
arrow. He kept moving forward. Over the next few hours of walking through the
forest he killed several more foxes and more than a few rabbits. He collected
them until:

TRING!

You have reached level 2! Through
hard work you have moved forward along your path. As a Chaos Seed you gain 6
points to distribute to characteristics instead of the usual 4. You also get
25% advancement to the skill of your choice! Crush your enemies, honor your
allies, LIVE!

Not bad, not bad! Seeing as his most
valuable skill so far was Archery, he added his 25% there and was rewarded with
another screen.

Congratulations! You have reached
skill level 2 in archery. +2% bonus to aim. +2% bonus to damage.

Not a bad day’s work, Richter my boy!

With that thought, he collected all
of the game he had hunted, and then headed back to his glade for a rest.

Upon waking, he quickly obtained his
25%
exp
bonus from the Pool and left the glade. He
decided not to place the points of his new level in any one area until he knew
more about the world around him. He decided he would follow a river that he had
crossed yesterday. His stomach rumbling he wished he could have cooked the
foxes that he had killed, but without the ability to make a fire he had simply
tossed the carcasses a small distance from the glen for the local wildlife to
consume. His hunger had not gotten to the point of eating raw meat. Getting the
trots from some weird alien bacterial infection was NOT on his to-do list. He
had left the pelts to dry on a rock in the glade in full view of sunlight.

Making his way to the river, he
quickly started walking upriver. It wasn’t overly large at this point only
about two dozen yards across. After about half an hour of walking, he found a
bush with large bluish berries. Hunger outweighing caution, he took a handful,
and placed them in his mouth. Upon swallowing he received the notification.

You have eaten Blue Forest Berries.
Concentration increased by 5% for the next four hours.

He quickly placed another handful in
his mouth hoping for a cumulative bonus. Nothing. Well, he
thought,
that
would have been the cheat to end all cheats. Watch out dragons, I
have a magic bush! Chuckling at his awesome joke, he kept moving. He didn’t
really notice any kind of difference, but what would an increase in
concentration feel like anyway? Richter was sure that a couple of his
ex-girlfriends might be able to tell him, but they were all in another world
now, so who cared?! With the edge taken off of his hunger, he continued walking
forward.

Keeping an eye out for small game, he
killed three more foxes until he heard the voices. At first he had mistaken it
for bird song, but the more he listened he could make out faint words being
spoken ahead of him.

“Get ready.”

“I’ve been ready. I’m always ready!”

“Quiet now, he’s almost here. We need
to stun him so he can be questioned.”

“I know what we need to do!”

“Quit arguing,” a third voice said
sternly.

Not quite believing that he was hearing
an argument about what he was pretty sure was an attack on him, Richter stopped
walking.

“Why did he stop walking?”

“How should I know?

“I didn’t think you would know! I was
just wondering out loud!”

“As opposed to wondering in quiet?
That would be better.”

“Shut up! Should we just attack him?”

“Yeah, let’s attack!”

Still feeling that he was being
punked
in some way until that last musical statement, he
quickly shouted, “Wait!”

Suddenly all was quiet.

Slowly backing up, Richter cast his
gaze around looking for the speakers. He didn’t see anything though. Either
way, downriver was suddenly looking like a much better option. He was backing
up until he heard a musical voice behind him.

“How do you know what we are saying?
Humans never know what we are saying! Even most elves don’t remember sprite
speak.”

Quickly turning around, he saw
nothing except the scrub hugging the banks of the river.

“I asked, how do you know what I am
saying?”

The voice came from the bush directly
in front of him. As he focused, it seemed that the air blurred in front of him,
and the leaves became green clothing for a small man. He stood three and a half
feet tall. He had an almost childlike smoothness to his olive skin. The
features were Asian in appearance, and the eyes had no whites. They reminded
Richter of an owl’s eyes, all bright color and pupil. What really captivated
his attention however, was the fully drawn bow pointing at his face.

“He can’t understand us, let’s just
kill him and be done with it,” Richter heard from behind him.

“No! I can understand you! I’m sorry
if I trespassed into your territory. I’m new to this world, and I’m just trying
to survive!”

The arrow still pointed at Richter’s
face, the creature in front of him said, “We have never found a human that understood
us before.” Silence reigned for a short while. “We will take him to the Hearth
Mother.” Staring Richter in the eye, the small man lowered his voice menacingly
(at least Richter thought it was supposed to be menacing, hard to tell since it
all sounded like bird song). “Don’t think we can’t hurt you. We may be smaller
than you, but believe me we know how to defend ourselves. Show him!”

And with that statement, a small blue
blur flew by the right of Richter’s head and struck a fallen log in the river
with a large bang! Woodchips and splinters flew in all directions as he quickly
covered his eyes and turned away.

“That was only one arrow,” the small
man warned menacingly, “and you will never see the next one coming!”

“I understand,” Richter said to the
Napoleonic figure in front of him. “You’re in charge.”

“Don’t forget it, human. Now turn
around and keep walking.”

Richter continued moving forward
along the bank. The only conversation being the near constant bickering of the
unseen pair in front of him. Looking back he could still make out the form of
the small creature behind, bow no longer drawn but arrow still nocked.

After several hours of walking, there
was a break in the forest canopy, and the sun was seen well more than halfway
across the sky. The trees suddenly parted to reveal a large meadow with golden
waist high grass. A humongous oak was situated in the middle. The tree was
easily the size of a forty story apartment building, massively dwarfing all
other trees in the forest. The river continued along several hundred yards to
the right of the golden meadow. The river Richter had initially been following
had apparently been only a side channel. It had joined another larger branch
which they had continued to follow upstream. Though the river was not far away,
enough trees had been in the way that he hadn’t been able to see the meadow or
huge tree in the middle until he was almost on top of them.

“Stop human,” the creature behind him
shouted. Speaking in a more normal voice he said, “Go ahead and tell the elders
what we found. We need to see the Hearth Mother. No stopping for grog or
gossip!”

Still grumbling the voices grew
fainter as the other went off. Richter hadn’t been able to catch sight of them,
but he thought he detected two small parts in the sea grass ahead of him moving
towards the giant tree.

Richter did not have to wait long for
a response.

The limbs of the tree rustled as if
in a strong wind, though the grass in front of him did not move. Suddenly, in
front of him stood the four foot tall figure of a woman. Wild red hair was
bound up in a wild nest above her golden skin. A stern mouth sat beneath her
bright green eyes studying him with obvious intelligence.

“Well met traveler,” she said in her
smooth melodic voice. “You stand before the Hearth Tree of the Wood Sprites of
Nadria. I am the Hearth Mother, protector of our people and keeper of our
secrets. I am known as Hisako. What may we call you?”

“Richter, I am pleased to meet you,”
he said respectfully.

She looked at him, nodding slightly
to accept the respect paid. “Never before have one of the tall folk seen our
home and lived, and yet, you speak our language and do not… feel like other
humans. Why is this?”

“I am not from here. My home is
called Earth. Specifically ATL, Ga
shawty
! No…? Okay
then,” he gave a nervous laugh. Nothing like having a four foot tall Celtic
druid appear in front of you to knock you off your game. It also doesn’t help
when she insinuates that you won’t make it out of here alive. If the pain that
horrid wasp had caused him was any indication, then he wanted no part of those
mini missiles the sprites seemed to be able to fire.

“Hmmm, Richter of Georgia. Very well.
I sense no evil in you, though I also sense little good. You seem to be a blank
slate somehow,” she said as she continued to gaze at him consideringly. “I will
give you the opportunity to prove yourself. The forest wolves have been
encroaching on our territory of late. They all seem sickened somehow. If you
cull their numbers, we will allow you to keep your life. We might find more use
for you than simply watering the roots of the Hearth Tree.”

You have been offered a Quest:
Cleanse the Forest I. Diseased animals have been threatening the wellbeing of
the Wood Sprites.  Kill five wolves to show that you can be trusted.
Reward: Safe passage through the lands of the Wood Sprites of the Forest of
Nadria. Yes or No?

Somehow he was sure that “watering
the roots” didn’t mean setting up a crude irrigation system.

“I accept,” he said.

“We will observe you on your task. Do
not attempt to leave the forest.”

“I do have one issue though. I only
have six arrows left, and little other gear to speak of.” The other arrows had
been lost or broken during his day of hunting.

She gave a short melodic laugh,
“Always true of a human, looking to take as much as he can. So be it. Accept
this gift of the Wood Sprites.” She then closed her eyes and began to chant
softly as a green glow surrounded her. Only a few seconds later, she had in her
hands, human sized arrows of dark wood with green tendrils tracing down the
shaft.

You have been given Sprite Arrows of
Nature. Quantity 20. Durability 4/4. Item class: Uncommon. Quality: Above
Average. Accuracy +1. Damage +1

Now that’s and upgrade, he thought
with a smile. “Let’s go hunt some wolves!”