Chapter 26: Chapter 26. Bugs are good eating. So are players.

Getting to the killing was very appropriate. We packed up the makeshift camp, and Shiana actually had an ability that allowed her to extinguish the campfire. It was fascinating. Rik asked her to put it out, and she just held her hands near it, a little flare seemed to rise out of it, and the hot coals just collapsed into warm gray ash in seconds, the little flare seeming to disappear into her palms.

At seeing me staring at the strange spectacle, Mae leaned forward and whispered, “That’s reduce flame. It’s a regular ability of the nature affinity that is part of the survival skill. Kobolds don’t use the same skills as players, so if I you figure out how to do it, come up with a better excuse.”

I looked at her in surprise, “What do you mean?”

Mae shook her head, “I know you didn’t party bond naturally, monsters cannot. You manipulated one of his combat pet strands the same way I grabbed a harem bond. It looks like a party bond, but it isn’t. You should address that soon, or let go of the bond and disappear, or else, if he manages to find an acceptable monster or fill up the party, he’s going to notice.” She was speaking very quietly, but I realized her lips were not actually moving. She was either a master ventriloquist, or she was using a shadowcaster illusion of some sort.

I nodded, “I am still trying to figure that out. But right now, I need growth, and this looks like the fastest way… why are you here?”

She pursed her lips and shook her head slightly, and I realized that we were going to have to find a time to talk about that, possibly during Rik’s break.

“Okay, the creatures here are referred to as shellcrawlers. I haven’t actually seen one myself, but hunting parties usually contain two warriors and a shaman, as well as a number of gatherers to collect the resources from fighting them. Based on what I have seen, they are some kind of arthropod, with a venomous stinger of some type, cutting claws, and thick chitin shells.” I said as we were about to enter. “They should be more challenging than rats, but not too challenging, or more than just two warriors would have been sent.”

I shrugged, “I doubt they are particularly vulnerable to simple traps, though, since I didn’t see any trappers going with the hunting party, so I suspect multiple legs and their meat is light and flaky, like crab or lobster. We should probably keep an eye on the ceilings as well as the floor, it may be that they are tough but don’t attack in groups, like the rats. Their chitin is useful for light armor, which a lot of hunters and some trappers wear.” I tapped at the chestpiece I was still wearing, which gave a hollow thunk, like plastic.

“I don’t know what senses they use, so I don’t know how vulnerable they are to stealth.”

Rik nodded, “Well, Shiana keeps casting darksight on me, and clearly you and Cassie can see in the dark. What the hell is an arthropod?”

Hmm. “A bug.”

He made a face, “You eat bugs?”

I shrugged, “lots of people eat bugs. A lobster is a bug, only it lives underwater. So are crabs. The only reason bugs might not be popular among humans is because they are so small, but I know some humans still eat them, and if it’s healthy and tastes good, I have no problem with eating anything. Shellcrawlers are healthy and they taste good.”

I wasn’t going to bore or disgust him by pointing out that the human digestive system is actually better at digesting most bugs than beef, but I had to eat real bugs more than once, and ironically, several bugs and lots of fat, juicy grubs had been part of Shiana’s foraging loot.

See, I can learn when to keep my mouth shut. Occasionally. I internally chuckled, though… while I was cooking, I would make sure that Rik got a hefty helping of edible insects at some point, and I was betting that those grubs would work just fine in a lot of shrimp recipes. How are your maggots, Michael?

We crept into the shellcrawler area carefully. Like the rat tunnels, these looked like they were carved or chewed out of solid stone or dirt, but unlike the tunnels, they were not bare and crumbled with stone. Instead, the walls were coated with some sort of thick mud, which I suspected was secreted by the shellcrawlers as a natural, or unnatural reinforcement.

Because we were expecting to get attacked, and less concerned about artificial traps than natural stone alterations, Cassie took the lead. Her armor clattering was not subtle, but was nowhere near as loud as Rik’s clanking since she was primarily only wearing a heavy breastplate, helmet, and leather armor, and she was careful to keep her shield up and away from the walls.

I had no idea what Rik was going to do since these tunnels were considerably tighter than the rat tunnels, and swinging his surfboard would be problematic, but he kept it in front of him, tip-down, and I guess was sort of acting as a second shield.

I was not sure if we were really prepared, and I was worried. Shiana might be able to get an arrow through a carapace, and Cassie could still crack with her hammer, but most of what I could do would be useless because I was nowhere near strong enough to force my knife in, and I suspected that my tail swipe would just batter them around a bit, not to mention it would be difficult to use it in the crowded tunnel.

A heavy Iron-Ore carved spear, and the strength to use it would probably come in very handy right about now. The Warrior’s weapon of choice suddenly seemed to make a lot more sense.

I murmured quietly, “Rik, I assume you have a weapons skill, right?”

He nodded, “Yep, my class gives me two-handed weapons skill, and I got a couple of maneuvers from leveling up. Right now I am in a weird position, though, because some of them don’t work with my sword, and some of them require a melee pet. That’s why I am hoping Cassie decides to become a pet. I could give her a bunch of buffs, and my melee skills would get bonuses from her. Shiana is good as a starter since she has her own skills, but I don’t get anything from her but dark sight. Mae boosts my magic skills, but I don’t get those until rank 20, so she’s a long-term investment.” he replied quietly

I offered, “Did you consider any weapons other than your… buster?” I muttered.

He lifted his head a little, “Yeah, but those were all local made. I could afford traveler stuff because a lot of them were training and letting their early stuff go for the material costs, which is where I got my sword and armor, but there was a limit to how much gold you could buy just after release, and I couldn’t afford the local stuff that was any good. This thing does a ton more damage than like… a bronze spear, and I couldn’t find anyone making axes other than for woodcutting, which counts as a tool and doesn’t get my bonuses.”

I asked, “If we could get make you a decent spear, at least for in the tunnels, would you use it?”

He nodded, “Yeah, they are goofy and ugly, but I have a couple of maneuvers that only work with polearms with a point. If you could get like a poleaxe or one of those halberds with a spear point on the end or something, that would be even better, since I could use all of my maneuvers instead of just the cleaving or piercing ones.”

I looked at Cassie, and she said, “Hammer and shield. I am a bastion, not a paladin or warrior. I can use any one-handed weapon, but I only get bonuses with a blunt.”

I glanced at Mae since Shiana’s favored weapon was already clear, and she shrugged, “Knives and throwing blades. I don’t get maneuvers like they do, and I have a staff in my inventory, but it’s mostly for casting rituals, not combat. I do have throwing knives, and a couple of spells like hidden blades and phantasmal toxin, but they are more about concealing strikes or unarmored targets. What do you have in mind?”

I shrugged, “Well, it will slow down first clear, but might keep us alive. I know how to use a spear or a knife, and I have a throwing ability, but I don’t have anything like maneuvers. Still, the Nation is probably clear by now, and there’s no way they took their entire city with them. If we head to the right instead of the left deeper into the dungeon, there’s bound to be a few things left behind we could scrounge for parts. If Cassie knows anything about assembling armor and weapons, we might want to head that way and take a break while we put some stuff together. I am feeling tremendously unprepared, especially if we have to face thirty-foot-long centipedes.”

Rik grumbled a little, “Yeah, but I am going to drop off of the leaderboards. I mean, I thought I’d lose it when I discoed, but I was hoping for at least a couple of days I could get a sponsor.”

Discoed. Disconnected? Ahh.

You are reading story The Chronicles of Alandia, A Kobold’s Tale. at novel35.com

Nem, Mae had a valid point. Is there some way we can trigger it as a pet instead of a party member? She pointed out that there would be a discontinuity if he invited more party members.

Yes. But I am not sure what it would be. Right now we are in a sort of Limbo, sharing experience but not abilities. I don’t think he would be able to cruise your constructed sheet like a pet because they are completely incompatible, and most of his ‘pet slots’ require females as a prerequisite, but he has two combat pet slots and a mount slot. We could probably hitchhike on a combat pet slot without alerting the system, as long as you don’t actually touch his band.

Let’s wait for him to send a pet request first.

Done. He has a prerequisite that is difficult to understand, something like… a charisma requirement? Or something, but I think that it just applies to your willingness to accept the bond, not a true requirement.

He said I needed an affection of friendly.

Yes. But I think that only applies to nonsapient creatures. I don’t think that the combat pet bond was intended for sapients, probably just friendly animals and monsters. But there’s sorcery attached to it… It is possible that, because it’s intended for creatures without bands, his ‘pet buffs’ that apply to combat pets may apply to us as well.

Go ahead and set it up, if I can break it. I don’t want to get roped to this dork permanently.

Done. You can break it as easily as severing the knot we are using to hold the band. It looks like normally it would not be an option for a creature without much intelligence, but his bond is not hooked into your aura like it normally would be.

“Tell you what, Rik, if we head to the cavern exit to scrounge up some supplies, You can send me a combat pet bond.”

Rik suddenly looked nervous, “Dude. Uhh… we aren’t going to have to… you know, like with the harem bond? Because I totally don’t swing that way. I mean, if you were a girl kobold, maybe, I bought the monstergirl package, but uhh…”

Mae started giggling and had to cover her mouth to stifle it, but Shiana spoke quietly, “You currently have the monster girl package and the Harem bonds, as well as two combat pet bonds and a mount link. Of course, you can choose males or females for your harem, but the frost kobold is considered a non-sapient juvenile monster. United States Law prohibits virtual bestiality and pedophilia within controlled areas, but you can still choose to make him a combat pet. Sex will be impossible, as the juvenile procedure will activate, although Dean versus Hemstreet is working to alter the prohibition.”

Err.. what? Okay... good. I didn’t have anything against homosexuals doing whatever they wanted in private, and Rik’s avatar was clearly a very attractive and muscular male, but not only did this body have no current hormonal urge, but I simply was attracted to soft breasts and hips, curves.

I understood that oral sex was supposed to be identical, but I had never been interested in anything anal and had never had the urge or interest to try anything with a man. ‘dudes’ were most often adversaries and tended to have an even worse reaction to my...weirdness, than girls. I already had trouble keeping a girl interested in anything beyond occasional sex, which I could admit I was skilled at, and the idea of trying to keep a guy that wanted to fight with me happy was much, much worse.

Rik nodded, slowly, “A combat pet. Right. Like a beastlord, druid, or ranger. Yeah, I can do that. What kind of bonuses would I get?”

I shrugged, “I have absolutely no idea. I don’t know what I would get either, but it would let you share experience like a pet, and you said there were bonuses to shared experience, right? Plus, if you need to add people to your party, that would leave four slots free?”

He tapped his helmet, “Totally true. And if it’s not good, I could [release] you back to the party.”

“What the… what was that?” I quietly asked. The word, release, when he said it, almost had a weird twist of energy, a double voice or something.

“What was what?” he asked.

“That thing, you did. When you said release.”

“Oh, [release]?” he asked. “Oh, when you are talking and mention an item, ability, or maneuver, you can choose to share it. That way, other pl...people can inspect it without, you know, having it themselves. Like my [Buster Sword].”

There was an information packet sent, would you like me to try and decode it?

Please.

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