Earth magic tolerance advanced to level 2

Blunt damage tolerance advanced to level 2

At least I was getting skill levels for being knocked out all the time. Where was I now? All my limbs were still attached, so I was being treated better than last time. Not that I could move them; they were firmly tied down to whatever I was lying on, by cold, rigid bonds. They had no give at all, and I was definitely going to need to subtract points from this bondage experience for the lack of comfort.

I summoned my torch out onto my tummy again. Since I'd never seen the monsters react to it, I was confident by now that they were completely blind. I was met with stone bars only centimetres away from my face. Looking around, I appeared to be in some sort of tiny, stone cage, in a large, featureless room, and wouldn't be able to move far even if I wasn't bound.

Even my bindings were stone, which seemed like an odd material choice, but given the lack of a door on the cage or locks on my bindings, I assumed an earth mage had created the setup on the fly. They probably didn't keep equipment around for restraining 'flat ones'.

Trigger respawn had used up slightly more than half of its countdown, so I still had some time to wait. There were three of the creatures standing guard, each armed with a crystal spear, but I saw no mages, nor the English-speaking elder.

"So, now what?" I asked, but there came no reply, not even in their own language. Well, this was boring. They'd gone to the trouble of finding someone who could speak my language, only for him to say nothing more than a glorified hello.

I was lying on hard stone, without a mat or pillow, making me glad of my pain immunity, but I found myself wishing I had a boredom immunity skill instead. Would that be something I could get now, with my resistance focus skill enhancement?

I spent another twenty minutes in idle thought until something finally happened, the triangular door opening and another three of the creatures entering. The newcomers weren't carrying weapons, but one was holding a thick, cylindrical stone, which it deposited alongside me. All six creatures backed away, before sense mana detected the three newcomers spell-casting. It also picked up something inside the stone cylinder.

Sense mana advanced to level 8

All three were earth mages, according to their appraisal results, and sure enough a stone dome rose over me and my cage, leaving me trapped with the featureless cylinder, with only a small opening in the dome connecting me to the outside. The stone of the cylinder melted away, leaving behind one of the bulbous pods that had sprayed me with some sort of pathogen on my last trip. The opening closed, leaving me alone in the sealed dome with the mystery pod.

The pod split and, thanks to the tightly enclosed space, filled the air with a concentration of pathogens even higher than the last time. Trapped as I was, I couldn't run away from it like before, either.

Why the heck did they want to infect me with a disease? Was it supposed to do something to me? Was this some sort of unethical medical experiment? Disease nullification informed me I was being completely overwhelmed, and would start suffering ill effects within minutes, but that hardly mattered; trigger respawn kicked in, sending me back to the catacombs.

With a sigh, I climbed back to my feet, re-equipped myself, and made my way back downstairs. This time, I really would stay well away from that village. They obviously had some sort of purpose there, but what it was, I had no idea. If I met one of them again, I'd have to pretend I didn't know they kept murdering me, and see if I could get the English speaker talking for longer.

Sense danger advanced to level 4

The slimes were a tad easier to avoid this time thanks to my new skill, but I still had no way of killing them. Revenge would come one day. Maybe. Given the murder tree, I didn't have a great track record of following through on my revenge threats.

This time around, I started searching in the opposite direction of the village, filling in my map but finding nothing but the vines and their mana collectors and diseased pods. It was a couple of hours before I found anything out of place; another bowl that had been harvested. But this time I was far away from the village and its surrounding cluster of harvested plant life. Was there another village nearby?

I got my confirmation after finding a couple more harvested bowls, not in the form of the previous arrows, but when I heard the deep, grating speech of the carnes multiformis behind me. Turning to look, I saw a group of nine, spears held far from the ground and pointing upright. I was really glad of novice empath, because reading the things on my own was impossible. This time it was telling me that they were making a gesture of non-aggression.

Novice empath advanced to level 9

It was an improvement on the other village, but they'd been relatively peaceful the second time too, until I'd pointed out that I knew they'd murdered my previous instance. I decided to play along for now; they hadn't shown an ability to do anything that would interfere with my respawn, and if I was rendered unconscious with another rock to the face, sense danger would give me enough warning to store my equipment and activate trigger respawn.

The group of nine made motions which novice empath wasn't sure of, but which I interpreted as asking me to follow them, before they started rolling off. I followed behind, watching as they organised into a triangular formation with me at the centre. These things really did like their triangles.

There was indeed another village, and it was nearby. One of the groups of three entered the village, while the others motioned me to wait. Not too long later, a group of four appeared, with three armed and one unarmed and moving at a slower than usual pace. They were much like the group that the elder of the other village had appeared in, except that this elder wasn't quite as misshapen.

"I greet you, flat one," it said, in a far clearer voice than the other. "Might I ask what brings your kind to our cavern? You are not the first that has travelled here recently, and I regret that this area is... unsafe."

Well, yes, there's a reason for that. You! But this time, I kept my thoughts to myself and played along.

"I'm an explorer. I seek an artifact known as the holy sword, which is said to be at the very bottom of this cave system. But I wouldn't say no to meeting new people on the way."

The creature wobbled, which seemed to be their sign of uncertainty.

"I have never heard of the artifact you seek," it said eventually. "I do know of tales that speak of a path to the abyss, but that way is closed. Not with all the forces of our settlement could we hope to open it."

It wobbled again, before adding, "But perhaps you can provide a way."

Oh? Looked like playing along was working. I was getting useful information here!

"I mentioned that this area is unsafe," it continued. "There is... another settlement. Similar to us, yet different. We are at war. They kidnap our women to spawn their young, while they slaughter our males. They have... caught and killed two of your kind. And in doing so discovered that you are highly resistant to the guidance."

Why was it talking about males and females when appraisal said they had four genders? Translation issues? And the guidance? What the hell was that? The name for the pathogens emitted by the plant pods? He'd admitted the murder of my previous two instances, but tried to pin the blame on a separate village. That could be true, but if they were at war, how did he get the information so quickly? It had only been a few hours since my second instance died.

"I assume the guidance is the disease emitted by the pods at the end of these vines?" I asked, choosing to ignore the mention of the other village and my deaths for now.

"Hmm... Pods and vines... It has been long since I last used this speech, but yes, it is. A terrible affliction that twists the infected, pulling them from their own paths and turning them into cultivators of the great tree. Forced to tend to it for the rest of their lives, after which it consumes them for its own nourishment."

I spent a moment in mental acrobatics, trying to make sense of that. So things infected by that disease don't die, but get turned into some sort of drone that tends to the vines? No, the vines were hardly a tree. Did it have a main body somewhere that I hadn't yet discovered?

"Thank you for the information, but what is it that you want from me? If I have trespassed on your territory, I apologise, and will avoid it if you mark it."

It wobbled again before rocking backward. "Our territory is well marked, but I forget your senses are not the same as our own. It is likely that you cannot perceive it. But no matter; if you mean us no harm, you are welcome here. As for what we want... Is that not obvious? We seek the secret of your defences for ourselves. But while our enemy seeks to extract it by force, we would prefer to ask politely."

There was a twinge from novice empath. He wasn't lying, exactly, but there was a suggestion that if I declined, our relationship would deteriorate rapidly. Not that I had much choice; it wasn't as if I could share my skill.

"I'm afraid I'm just naturally resistant to diseases. It's not some secret or magical item that I can share."

The creature twitched from side to side. Disappointment? "I suspected as much," it said. "We would still appreciate if you would offer a blood sample, before and after an infection. Perhaps our healers can find some clue in the way your body fights back. In exchange, we have goods to trade, and should you wish to take revenge for your fallen comrades, and have sufficient forces to take their village, we would offer you our cooperation."

Now that was an offer that caught me by surprise. Trade I could understand, but they were offering their aid for an outright assault on another village? I suppose if they really were at war, then that's something they'd probably do anyway, so to them it's more of a way to get extra forces in a fight that was going to take place even without me.

"Sorry, but we don't have those sort of forces," I answered, eliciting another side-to-side twitch from it. "Do you have a statue in your village? Humanoid shaped, like me, but with wings?"

"The statue of the Goddess?" it answered. "Yes, of course we do. The Goddess' protection is the only reason the village is not lost to the guidance."

That was a good point. Why didn't everyone get flattened by the barrier in the other village when they attacked me? Those things were ridiculously inconsistent, and I was starting to suspect that the one in the fox-kin temple was the only one that actively protected me. I hadn't seen a similar effect from any other. Or was it only those that came at me with intent to kill, and not to capture, even if the purpose of the capture would result in my death regardless? "Then you're welcome to some blood in exchange for access to the statue. I can use them to travel quickly."

Letting them subject me to medical experiments in exchange for access to a new shrine didn't seem like a great trade, but a respawn would deal with the disease, and hopefully I'd get a new class perk for making a deal.

This village really did seem to be far more friendly than the other one, and I was led inside while my guide helpfully pointed out stores that sold weapons and food, none of which I could use or eat on account of having less than twelve arms and being unable to digest magical crystal. We passed by the statue, which, like the previous village, was in the centre of a triangular plaza at the centre of the settlement.

New respawn point activated

Finally, I was led to another building, where another of the creatures collected a not insignificant amount of blood, and then followed us outside the settlement to one of the plant's pods, where they asked me to walk up to it and wait a few minutes before returning and taking another blood sample. Fortunately, the pod hadn't squirted out a fresh batch while I was there, and I hadn't been hit with anything I couldn't clear out, but nevertheless the team I was with hung far back, and novice empath told me they were all utterly terrified of the thing.

"Thank you for your help," said my guide. "With luck, this will help us produce a defence, or even a cure. We will look forward to the day we can use this plant as a weapon against our ancestral enemy."

I kinda wished it hadn't added the last bit on the end there, but at least the deal had gone well. There wasn't really anything forcing them to hold up their end of the bargain, but it wasn't as if it had cost me anything, and activating the shrine counted for something even if they didn't cooperate in the future.

I had no further business in their village, so after asking the location of the great tree, I decided to make my way there. I made it all of two steps before the cavern lit up in a million bright, overwhelming colours, and then one step further before I threw up.

For striking a bargain with the carnes multiformis, you gain olfactory perception.