Village Jille (2)

I took advantage of the fact that I was "just" pushing the car and pulled up the upgrades menu. I had a feeling things were going to get ugly later on, so I'll use as much help as I can get, even if it means spending my SP.

[Live Map LV4: 50,000 SP]

[VoidBag LV5: 200,000 SP]

[Current SP: 2,052,326]

I had spent over five hundred thousand SP last week. Some of that SP went into buying things for the stream, mostly camera angles, so I wouldn't have to worry about it for some time.

But the vast majority, about four hundred thousand SP to be more precise, I spent while testing and studying the runes.

Sure, I was earning about twenty thousand SP per day with the stream currently, but it was still a significant amount that I had spent just for tests.

I discovered a long time ago that if I carved a rune on a surface or a sequence of runes and, before activating them, used "Analyze: item" on them, I could uncover some of the flaws, what I had done wrong overall.

So I used that to speed up my learning, which was expensive but worth it, as my understanding of runes had greatly improved. Better to the point where I could enchant one of my swords.

Of course, not without some exploding, others melting. It may or may not have happened that one of them turned to dust somehow, but that's a separate case.

Unfortunately, I hadn't started enchanting the armor. First, because they were expensive and took a while to make. So I hesitated to experiment with them. And second, I didn't have time.

Despite already having two complete sets of armor in my inventory, I didn't have time to start enchanting them.

Carving runes into iron was difficult and tiring. I needed to stay focused all the time to make sure the rune worked the way I wanted and didn't end up exploding or worse.

All of this ignoring that I had other things to do as well, like studying, researching in the library, doing Guild missions, training. A packed schedule overall.

So, unfortunately, I had "only" an enchanted iron sword and many, many failed experiments in the inventory.

-//-

[Iron Sword (Rune: Cut - Sharp)]

Type: Weapon Modifier: None

Damage: 23 Recoil: 5 (Normal) Durability: 238/242 Rarity: Blue

Description: A common iron sword made by a skilled blacksmith, but nothing too out of the ordinary.

Thanks to the rune engraved at the base of its blade by "The Streamer," Devas, the sword gained a new potential, able to cut things it couldn't before, becoming much sharper.

-//-

First, the "Analyze: Item" had changed how it delivered information after the update. It wasn't a big update, but I wouldn't complain.

Second, I could have managed to carve the rune on the blade, but only a single rune. Even with all the tests I did, the moment I tried to put another rune, everything would go to hell, and I had no idea why.

My inexperience? Yes, that was a certainty. Was the material insufficient? Was iron not a good mana conductor? Couldn't it support more than a single rune? I have no idea.

But I was content with that single rune, as if I were to analyze an iron sword without the rune, the damage ranged from ten to thirteen. The rune had practically doubled the damage.

What did that mean? I had a vague idea. I tested the sword, of course, an example.

If with a simple swing of a normal sword I could cut, let's say, ten centimeters of leather, with the same swing, same force, but using my sword, I could cut nineteen, almost twenty centimeters.

It wasn't quite exact mathematics; after all, it wasn't a game, but it was already a considerable improvement.

The rarity of normal swords was also "White." What did that mean? Nothing really. I remembered that Terraria used some kind of color system to separate items by rarity, but it never really meant anything beyond being aesthetically pleasing, I guess?

Well, the rune had increased the rarity to "Blue." I didn't exactly recall where "Blue" stood in the rarity ranking, but it was better than "White," so that was good enough for me.

Returning to what mattered at the moment, the upgrades.

Looking at the price of the upgrades, my heart slightly ached. As much as my current SP was a lot, it wasn't.

My current SP was enough for me to analyze a few hundred experiments, of course, but to upgrade my inventory and the map? I'd guess two, three upgrades at most, focusing on just one.

I hardened my determination and upgraded the map once and the inventory once, making two hundred and fifty thousand SP disappear in a second.

[Live Map LV5: 200,000 SP]

[VoidBag LV6: 5,000,000 SP]

[Current SP: 1,802,326]

I took a deep breath when I saw the number of zeros next to the Voidbag.

Five! Fucking! Million! SP to upgrade the Voidbag to the next level. That's twenty times the previous amount!

Well, there goes my hope of increasing the inventory's manifestation range even further. It seems like my hope of imitating Goldie is something for the future, far in the future.

I sighed disappointedly and went to see what had been updated.

Starting with the map. I noticed almost instantly that an icon had appeared next to the map.

Clicking on the icon, my heart stopped for a second, and I had to hold back from starting to laugh. At least, this was good news.

Basically, it showed a kind of "marking" in some areas of the map. Some places were of a metallic color, others silver, others golden, some copper-colored, and so on.

Clicking on one of these places, a mini-description appeared.

[Miner's Vein - Iron: 548 meters below ground - 29,800 tons of raw iron]

Funny that I thought I wouldn't need to use my pickaxe anymore since I could just buy ores on the market, but this changed things.

It seems like mining is a part of Terraria no matter the world, isn't it?

For now, I didn't have the capacity to extract such a large amount of material, but in the future with a real pickaxe unlike mine made of copper and with the right enchantments?

I would have enough miner in my inventory to bankrupt the market a few hundred times!

As for the VoidBag, not as good an update as the Minimap, but still, it was the best update I could ask for at the moment.

First, the range where I could collect and manifest items had increased from ten meters to thirty meters. It wasn't a drastic change for the price of two hundred thousand SP, but it was better than nothing.

The size of the inventory had also grown, but frankly, it was already the size of a small country; a few thousand more kilometers wouldn't make a difference to me at this moment.

Overall, I thought the price was worth it, so I wasn't too sad. I didn't think about updating the map again, as I didn't think it could be useful at this moment.

I spent the next few minutes just reading the (CHAT) and watching time pass by.

[(MOD)GeniusBillionairePlayboy]: I don't know if I should praise you for your steel balls or start preparing my speech for your funeral because damn! What a brilliant idea! (Iron Man sarcastically clapping emote).

[HalfBloodPrince]: As much as I disagree with the foul-mouthed muggle with an ego bigger than his head, he's right. What are you going to do if, imagine, you manage to free all the people only for the wizard who did it to put them back under his control?

[WiseWizardGleam]: Let's not be pessimistic, Severus. I'm sure putting such a large number of people under such a spell would take time, effort, and wouldn't be instantaneous. After all, if that were the case, why didn't he try to control Devas and Dylan the moment they appeared? (Worried old wizard emote).

[BestToadSannin]: I agree, as impulsive as this idea is, it's one of the best options, since if the plan succeeds, they won't just be saving the people from the village but also getting help to fight. (Watching frog emote).

[SniperHirano]: A risky mission, but with a great reward... I'm rooting for you, Aniki! (Zombie giving a thumbs-up emote). And Saya-san is pretty upset that you're not running away, so she's not writing anything. I've never seen her so nervous before!

[(MOD)WhiteHuntressLive]: Same here with Ruby. Actually, with all of us, we're all nervous, and I imagine it's the same for most people watching this poorly thought-out and foolish idea! (Stressed Snow White emote).

("I have a backup plan! Trust me, at least I wouldn't be dumb enough to go into the village without it!")

It wasn't a backup plan I hoped to use, but it was one, at least. I just hoped it wouldn't come to that.

As time passed, I could see the red dots behind me getting restless. In the end, their patience, or rather, whoever controlled the people in the village, lasted about forty minutes.

After the forty-minute mark, I could see that the red dots were getting more restless, and in the end, I could see on the Minimap some points from the village rushing to the gate and coming toward the Humvee.

Well, that was it then. Let's see what awaited us.

Stopping pushing the car, I went to the backseat window and tapped twice, making Dylan lower the window slightly.

"How much time is left?" I asked quietly through the crack he had opened.

The answer was instantaneous.

"A few more minutes, ten, maybe less, eight. Why? What happened?" Dylan's voice came from inside.

"Nothing, carry on. I'll make up for this remaining time."

I didn't give a long answer; after all, our hosts were coming our way.

Going to the front of the Humvee, I sat on the car hood and waited.

It was surprising how I had just pushed a heavy military car for almost three kilometers for over forty minutes, and I wasn't a bit tired. At most, my breathing was a bit abnormal, but less than a minute sitting, and I was good as new.

I really had gotten much stronger, hadn't I?

Not just stronger, but also more resilient, faster. I had a significant improvement overall, even when I got hurt, my body regenerated faster.

I still wasn't at superhuman levels like people like Captain America, but I was getting close.

Unfortunately, I didn't have to wait long, maybe two or three minutes before I could see the group of people who had left the village coming towards the Humvee at a brisk walking pace.

There were four people, all men. What could I say about them with just one look?

They looked sick.

Even from the distance of a few dozen meters that separated us, I could see that they looked very sick.

Their skin was pale, not the kind of pale from people who don't go out in the sun or people who live in icy regions. No, it was a sickly pale that you see in patients in hospital beds.

The second thing was, they wore full-body winter clothes. I looked up just to make sure, but yes, it was noon, and the sun was staring at the world as if it owed it something. What did that mean?

That it was hot, very hot, I would guess twenty-nine, thirty degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit By: Google)

So it was quite strange for them to be wearing thick clothes that covered their entire bodies, but it didn't take long for me to figure out why.

As they got closer, I could get a better view of them, and they looked even worse up close.

Their skin was of a sickly yellow color, dry and dirty as if they hadn't taken a bath in days. Which, judging by the smell they had, I suppose is true.

Their hair was dry, brittle, and had several tangled knots like a bird's nest.

Their eyes were red, dry, and sunken, as if they hadn't slept in days. They looked tired.

But the worst part I discovered only when they stopped in front of me.

When the four men stopped in front of me, one of them took a step forward and began speaking. His speech was slow and with pauses, as if even speaking was a great effort.

"Good morning, traveler. My friends and I saw from afar that you seem to be having trouble with your strange machine." The Humvee, I suppose. They didn't know what it was? Curious...

"Do you need help? We can push it for you while you rest in the village. It must be tiring to push this big metal machine for so long and from so far away."

He finished while walking slowly towards me, making me tense up.

And tired? At this point, I wasn't even pretending; it was clear as day that I wasn't tired, so it could be one of two things.

Either he was blind, or at least had impaired vision, which I don't think is the case.

Or he couldn't perceive things properly, not blindness or vision problems, but as if he didn't understand things as they were.

Looking into his eyes, the second option seemed to be the most likely. The man's eyes, of all the men, seemed vacant, as if they were just looking in my direction, not at me.

And I had noticed before, but they all seemed to have mirrored movements; when one spoke, the others moved their lips slightly as if trying to speak too. When one walked, I could see the legs of the others trembling as if trying to walk too.

As if they shared one mind...

This was getting worse and worse...

When the man came closer, he stopped for a second. "Where are my manners?" He pretended to sigh, which was very, very fake and mechanical. And then he extended his hand to me.

"My name is Giordo, apologies for the late introduction. Pleasure to meet you, sir?..." He left the hand extended while waiting for my response and for me to offer my hand for a handshake, I assume...

Did he think I was an idiot by any chance? Blind, perhaps?

Even though they, or he, didn't seem as sick as the plague, I would never shake that hand. After all, even though they had tried to hide it using large winter clothes to cover their entire bodies, I could still see parts of their skin.

Their faces seemed normal. Well, as normal as you can look when you're sick as hell, but yes, normal. But the other parts? Their hands and their necks? That was a completely different story.

Both in their hands and parts of their necks that they hadn't covered. I imagine that, in the rush to run to the Humvee, they had forgotten to put on scarves or something like that. They had something in common.

Both the hands and their necks had Mystic Symbols tattooed on their skin like some kind of macabre tribal tattoo.

And I say macabre for a reason. The color of these tattooed symbols was the same color as the symbols drawn on the walls of the village. Blood red.

And to make matters worse, when he got closer, the wind that hit his body brought a smell in my direction.

A smell that I recognized well, how could I not recognize it, after all, I had spent three months in a world infested with this smell because of the zombies...

The smell of blood...

... blood and decay.

When this smell reached my nose, I felt a shiver run through my body, and all my instincts activated at the same time as one, as if they were saying a single sentence.

DON'T LET HIM TOUCH YOU!

And so I did.

Completely ignoring the extended hand of the man, I placed my hands on the hood of the Humvee and propelled myself, using the car as support to kick the man's chest and push him away.

Before he, they, could even react, the man was on the ground. I didn't waste time, and with a simple mental command, a pair of closed handcuffs appeared on the wrists of each of the four men and on their ankles.

I didn't stop there. With another mental command, heavy chains appeared around their bodies. With a pull, all the men were on the ground, wrapped in chains and bound by handcuffs.

No more hesitating and scrimping on SP. If this was what I was thinking, it wasn't the time to be stingy. The situation had just escalated from "Shitty situation" to "HOLY FUCK, IT'S SERIOUSLY FUCKED UP!"

One of the many small updates the stream had after I got a thousand viewers was in Analyze: Item. Now I could use Analyze: Item without needing to scan the target with the cellphone, just a touch was enough, and to my delight, it didn't need to be a direct touch.

Holding the chains that bound the bodies in front of me, I wished for the Analyze: Item screen to appear; it was instantaneous.

[325,003 SP required to fully scan the person: (Giord Varas - Controlled)]

About forty times the price it took to analyze Saya...

It was expensive, but I knew the reason. After all, I wasn't just analyzing Giord; no, I was analyzing everything in his body, including those disgusting Mystic Symbols.

The only thing I cared about in the guy's status was his current state, which was not pretty, if I could say something about it.

-//-

[Current Status: Malnourished/Sick/Weakened/Mentally controlled/Hive mind/Mentally weakened/Soul weakened.

His "Mentally controlled" state is caused by the matrix of Mystic Symbols tattooed on his skin (+).

His "Hive mind" state is caused by the matrix of Mystic Symbols tattooed on his skin (+).

His "Malnourished," "Sick," and "Weakened" states are caused by the matrix of Mystic Symbols painted on the walls of Jille village, which stole his vitality for almost a year (+).

His "Mentally weakened" and "Soul weakened" states are caused by the matrix of Mystic Symbols painted on the walls of Jille village, which stole his mana for almost a year (+).

(ATTENTION! IMMEDIATE RECOVERY NEEDED TO AVOID SERIOUS AND PERMANENT DAMAGE TO BODY AND SOUL!).

-//-

If knowing that the matrix on his body gave him the statuses "Mentally controlled" and "Hive mind" wasn't bad enough, having the information that the matrix around the village was stealing mana and vitality was even worse.

Damn! A cannibal matrix! The residents are literally being used as batteries!

And if the information I already had in my hands was bad, the next one was even worse.

Just cementing what I already knew, we were screwed...

-//-

[Mystic Symbols Matrix (Goblin)]

Name: CrimsonBind (Prototype)

Type: Control (Mental)

Number of targets: 1~3849

Description: A matrix of Mystic Symbols created by a goblin genius at the command of his king, seeking revenge against the Terrarians, blaming them for the ancient curse that befell his race.

The matrix is composed of 26 ordered Mystic Symbols, starting with the first one that is [...]

The matrix is tattooed using a special ink. Without this ink, the matrix becomes greatly weakened, and it is not possible to control the mind of the target. Therefore, the matrix is still considered a prototype, still an ongoing experiment.

[…]

The ink for the matrix needs to be prepared in a 50-liter cauldron or larger over a magical fire and fermented for at least 13 days.

The matrix ink is composed of:

Terrarian Blood - 2.3 liters per cauldron (Fresh). Red Slime - 0.8 liters per cauldron (Age doesn't matter). Green Slime - 0.2 liters per cauldron (Age doesn't matter). […]

Blood Crawler Leg - 3.1 kilograms of powder (Grind using iron). Blood Crawler Venom - 0.02 liters per cauldron (Fresh). Face Monster Blood - 8.3 liters per cauldron (Fresh). Crimera Spinal Cord - 0.3 kilograms per cauldron (Fresh).

-//-

…

…

I sighed slowly as I rubbed my eyes and let the information sink into my brain, ignoring the bodies writhing in the chains in front of me.

Of course, it had to be THE DAMN CRIMSON!

It couldn't be, I don't know, just dark magic, only Terrarian sacrifice, no! Some bastard had to go and mess with the damn giant mass of flesh that holds the BRAIN OF AN GOD!

And not just any god, no, IT WAS THE DAMN GODDAMN OUTER GOD!

I had to take a few seconds to calm down and not end up having a stroke, but I think in my situation, my stress was acceptable.

"And there's this too, goblins. Weren't they a dumb race?"

I muttered, unaware that when I said the word "goblin," something changed in one of the bodies writhing on the ground.

Had Dylan lied to me? No, I knew he hadn't. Not because I blindly trusted the guy, quite the opposite, but because I had already researched goblins before.

All, literally all books that had the word goblin had the same description.

"They were stupid creatures, driven by greed, lust, and gluttony."

Or variations of this description, but overall, it was the same thing. So why? Why did the stream tell me that this was a lie?

I highly doubted that the stream was wrong, so the ones who were wrong were the kingdom's books, which meant that all of Terraria thought goblins were idiots...

... When in fact, they weren't.

Before I could continue my train of thought, I finally noticed the change that was happening in one of the village residents in front of me. The resident in question was the one who had spoken to me before.

He twitched slightly with his eyes closed before stopping, slowly opening his eyes.

What were once human eyes, or in this case, normal Terrarian eyes, were now different. His eyes had changed.

His sclera gained a sickly yellowish color like pus. His irises, once brown, had turned reddish, with orange spots around the pupil. And finally, his pupil had become slit, like that of a cat.

Then he opened his mouth, and a voice different from the one he had before came out.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS, TERRARIAN!?"

His voice was sharp, shrill, and piercing, completely different from his previous tired voice.

And I had a vague idea why.

"Tell me, 'Giord'..." I commented lightly while making air quotes with my hands. "Am I talking to a Terrarian... or a goblin?"

The response was instantaneous, or rather, the scream.

"TELL ME, DAMMIT! HOW DO YOU KNOW THIS INFORMATION, YOU DAMN TERRARIAN!?"

He shouted and snarled at the same time while spitting saliva and blood, probably from the now injured throat of the body he possessed, which didn't have the strength to scream...

What an unpleasant little situation...