Chapter 21 - Kill Ten Hordelings (Part Seven).

Søren pushed himself further and faster along the path back to the Mourning Cave than he felt he had been capable of in his previous life, as he was starting to think of it. The time before waking up in the white chamber on Gateway Station Alpha. There was still the gaping hole in his memory to reconcile. That bothered him far more than being here, wherever it was. He couldn't recall his area of expertise that he had focused on in college. He couldn't recall the events leading up to his trip planned to Iceland or even why he had intended to travel to Iceland.

Sail while the breeze blows, wind and tide wait for no man, Søren thought to himself as he neared the top of the ridge where the entrance to the cave was hidden in a dark cleft in the side of the mountain. Da certainly liked his proverbs. Sometimes they make no sense, but I think that one's appropriate for this situation. Floating adrift does me no good. Waiting to sort everything out? That time may never come.

Søren glanced at the progress bar for the [Universal Translation Interface and Node Integration] upgrade. Two more minutes! It's like waiting for Christmas morning to open presents. He stepped up to the edge of the path to take in the view again. This time the side of the mountain was painted with an array of reds and oranges bolder and deeper than sunsets on Earth. The riot of colors made him a little sick to his stomach, a nauseous feeling that rumbled deep in his abdomen and made his mouth water a little in anticipation of vomiting. Søren closed his eyes and swallowed for a few moments, missing the instant the upgrade was completed. A soft chime announced its completion.

Congratulations Traveler! The upgrade for the [Universal Translation Interface and Node Integration] device has been completed. Please wait a moment while language immersion progress is calculated. Time remaining, 24 seconds.

Søren laughed to himself as he imagined a present wrapped in multiple layers of paper and tape, boxes within boxes. Always another progress bar. I think I'm going to be seeing a lot of those. He watched the timer tick down the last few seconds and a massive dump of information landed in his chat log.

(18:44) SYSTEM > Calculating language immersion progress...

(18:45) SYSTEM > Language immersion progress calculation completed...

(18:45) SYSTEM > Uploading language data to mindscape...

(18:45) SYSTEM > Upload completed...

(18:45) GUIDE > Congratulations Traveler! You have begun your first steps towards learning the first of many new languages available on Gaia! The [Fuerven] tongue is an offshoot of the [Ancient Atlantean - A] language. Fuerven uses a smaller alphabet and relies on context and gestures to convey more complex concepts found in richer, more diverse languages. The alphabet itself is a simplified logo-syllabic version of Ancient Atlantean - A, with several borrowed characters from [Modern Atlantean].

(18:45) GUIDE > Your current fluency level is Fuerven - Novice. You have learned to structure basic sentences which may include common questions and answers typically used by tourists. Continued immersion in the language will advance your knowledge and fluency of the language and its use. The levels of fluency are Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Superior, and Distinguished. The time required to advance is reduced to one-third the usual time due to the presence of the [Universal Translation Interface].

(18:45) GUIDE > Congratulations Traveler! You have completed the integration of a Legendary Node. You have unlocked the [Path of the Shaper]. While a Speaker can speak the Words of Power and utilize their effects, a Shaper can mold thought and meaning into new Words of Power and create more complex constructs out of existing Words. As a Legendary path, the TEK and time requirements to advance along the path are tripled. It is a long and arduous journey, but one well worth exploring.

(18:45) GUIDE > You may access your Potential in the submenus in the top right corner of the Interface. Good luck Traveler!

(18:46) SYSTEM > Begin unpacking memory transcription package Alpha-001-13a...

(18:46) SYSTEM > Time remaining... 6 hours 33 minutes 52 seconds...

Well, I can see why the Guide suggested I wait to start exploring which paths to follow, Søren said after reading through the information dump. A new icon shaped like a star chart appeared to the left of the Settlement Management icon. He heard Neeka approach on his left. He turned and smiled at her, forgetting to hide his teeth and said, "Hello Neeka. Søren happy to see you."

Neeka's instinct to bare her own teeth fled when Dirt - No... his name is Søren - spoke to her in halting and clumsy Fuerven words. She shook herself out of her shock.

"I be happy to meet you, Surrin," Neeka said, emphasizing the word she thought Søren had wanted to use. "You learn to speak quick, yes?"

"Søren have..." he said, pointing at his head and then making the box in the air gesture with his hands. "It help. Go talk, Søren learn quick." He pointed at his ears to indicate he'd listen to them speaking.

Neeka coughed the sound for simple agreement and also nodded. She was starting to like nodding. It was vague, quiet, and easy. Didn't have to worry about making sure to use the right sound. Neeka and Søren joined the others that had made progress towards setting up camp. She pulled her own pack free, having acquired garments and a pack with supplies from one of Torza's hatchlings before leaving. Nudity wasn't taboo in her tribe, but protective garments and satchels or other containers were useful.

"Thank you, for trusting Torza. For trusting me," Neeka said, causing the four other Fuerven to stop for a moment and listen. Each had a single eye on Neeka, while their other eye flicked about keeping watch. "Monarchs be a threat Water Finders can not take lightly. Nested Monarchs can spawn Hunters and Stalkers. Leave them too long. Let them feast. They grow their nest and spawn Brutes. Hordelings feed Monarch enough, she become Queen. Then she spawn more Monarchs."

"Can we kill a Monarch?" Strik asked. His scales had started to take on the color of the stone behind him.

"Not a question of can, but a statement we must," Neeka replied. "How many Hordelings have you fought before?"

"We not face Hordelings in several years. Mostly wolves, mountain lions," Hali said. Hali stood taller than most Fuerven, nearing Søren's shoulder in height. The scales on his chest bore numerous scars and patches of skin were revealed by missing scales. A thick, two-handed spear twice his height rested against a rock nearby. The crystal blade was more axe-like then a typical spear head.

"It is strange, Speaker Neeka, to have so much excitement in one cycle," Ihza softly said from the side. She was sorting a bundle of branches she had gathered along the way to the Mourning Cave. "First Speaker Neeka returns from the dead with this... Traveler, in tow behind her. The Stone of the Gods lights up for the Traveler. Now Hordeling Monarch shows up. One might call us cursed."

Neeka snorted and chuffed a small laugh as she opened her mouth slightly, keeping her teeth retracted behind her lips.

"Ihza be right you know," Strik said, finding a bit of courage to speak up. His scales however, continued to fluctuate between the slate grey color of the stone behind him and the typical mix of browns and tans that the Water Finders had. "Speaker Neeka, you bring this strange one into Home and now look at us. Tramping off to fight Hordelings. Strange blue boxes in the air." Strike had pointed a claw at Søren to punctuate his statement.

Sehro, a smaller, darker scaled Fuerven sat as quietly as Søren, taking in the conversation. Like Ihza, he had a bundle of fairly straight branches in front of him that he had collected along the way to the Mourning Cave. He was carving the bark from them and trying to straighten them out further with quick sure strokes of a sharp edged crystal dagger. His only contribution to the conversation was a short, dismissive chuff. The kind of sound adults used to silence unruly hatchlings when they were being loud. Ihza crossed her eyes at Sehro.

"You are right. Could be cursed," Neeka said. "Could be blessed though. Strik has learned to change the color of his scales. That be lost many cycles."

Sehro set aside one of the branches he had finished carving into a straight shaft for an arrow and pulled out a small bundle of cloth wrapped around something from inside his satchel.

"Grandfather left this for my father. Father left for me. Said, 'One day, great change wash away every thing you know. Every thing you think you know. Be ready. When it happen, share these with who you trust.'" Sehro sliced through an old leather strap wrapped around the cloth with a quick flex of a fore-claw. "When that one touch the Stone of the Gods, many boxes of blue like sky filled my eyes. So much... could not see." Sehro slid the bundle over to Søren. Neeka had both her eyes on the bundle.

"Tell us what these are?" Sehro asked Søren. "My claws shake to touch them. They are burdened with power."

Søren took the bundle and pulled it closer to him and then pulled the leather strap away from the cloth. He unfolded the cloth from around the items within. Inside he found a three rings set with green crystals, a blue crystal pendant on a silvery necklace, a small, rectangular clear crystal dataslate like the ones he had inside his pack, and a shard of raw green crystal that matched the stones on the rings. He picked up the dataslate first, his fingers testing the edges for the subtle texture and angles that defined which side was the front and back. He found the front and swiped across the screen. As expected, it did not light up. What was unexpected was the notification that popped up into his view.

Congratulations Traveler! You have looted your first [ancient dataslate]. These slates were used by the Ancient Atlanteans at the height of their power before being cast down by the Gods. A skilled Artificer can unlock the information within the slate and potentially receive unique and powerful schematics for weapons, armor, or other equipment.

If you would like to purchase the Artificer path upgrade, please log on to your Chorus Entertainment Incorporated user account and navigate to the Upgrade menu and browse the options available to you there. Thank you and have a good day Traveler!

On a whim, Søren reached out and tapped the underlined word in the notification, Upgrade. The notification vanished and was replaced by a menu on the right side of his interface. Yup, they're hyperlinked basically. The similarities in the user interface experience could make for a wonderful topic for a research grant. If this really is Ancient Atlantis on another planet. Søren's head started to ache as he tried to recall the image of the second ring he had seen before. Clearing his mind, he focused on the new menu and scrolled through the list of options.

Near the top of the list was the Artificer mentioned. He noticed Archaeologist and Anthropologist were also listed. Every single option was greyed out however. He tapped on the Artificer and it brought up another screen. A quick glance showed that he already owned the Artificer upgrade and if the similar icon next to all the other upgrades was anything to go by, he owned them all. Guess that's what the Guide was trying to sell me on the station. I wonder if there's any limit to what you can learn? Søren set the dataslate down and picked up one of the rings next.

Congratulations Traveler! You have acquired your first [unidentified item]. These items have additional abilities, attributes, powers, or other enhancements that must be Analyzed first before you can use them. To use the Analyze skill, you must Inspect the item and then select Analyze.

Would you like to spend a skill point to learn the [Analyze] skill? Y/N

Damn. Where were these prompts when I was on the station? Søren complained. He concentrated on the ring and as it had when he inspected Neeka, a small context menu popped up next to the ring. The option to Analyze the ring was greyed out. Søren lifted his free hand and tapped on the icon to accept the skill training for Analyze.

Congratulations Traveler! You have learned the [Analyze] skill. This skill allows you to analyze and identify the contents of resource nodes and the abilities and enhancements of items up to Copper rank. Advance this skill to Copper X to upgrade [Analyze] to the next tier.

Søren felt a void within his mind shift and just as quickly, it was no longer a void. An awareness of knowledge he hadn't had before resided within his memory now. That's both disturbing and awesome. There is absolutely no way any corporation or government on Earth should have this capability. Of course I could be a guinea pig for such a technology and wouldn't know it. I really would like to find a way to figure out just what's going on. Either that, or I should just accept this is real and I am on a planet-sized moon called Gaia, orbiting a gas giant... who knows where in the universe. Søren cleared his mind and focused on the ring again. Let's just focus on the here and now.

He saw that the option to Analyze the ring was not greyed out this time. A quick tap and a new window popped up into view. A schematic of the ring appeared with several lines connected to different sections of the ring, including the green gemstone or crystal at the top. A reticle of some kind followed his eyes as he looked at the different parts. Søren focused his gaze on the gemstone and kept the reticle there for a few seconds. In the corner of the schematic, he noticed a small blinking word, 'Analyzing'. Instinctively, he looked at the word and it changed from analyzing to 'Analysis failed. Please try again'.

"Dammit," he muttered. He focused his gaze on the green gemstone again and filled his mind with the intent to analyze the material. In his peripheral vision, the word 'Analyzing' appeared again and started blinking. The bar connected to the line that led to the gemstone began to fill up. Søren failed the analysis several more times before finally getting the knack of it, though it was slow to advance. A higher rank or tier of skill will hopefully speed this up, he thought. The bar next to the gemstone was replaced with 'Analysis Complete'. He then repeated the process with the ring itself and a section of the ring beneath the gemstone.

Congratulations Traveler! You have analyzed your first [unidentified item]! You have discovered a [Ring of Lesser Health]. This ring increases the hit point maximum of a creature wearing this ring by 50 points. In addition, it increases the health regeneration of its bearer by 5 hp / hour.

"Well, that's useful," Søren said aloud, mixing Danish and Irish-Gaelic. Neeka and the other Fuerven looked at him strangely. "Is good." Søren handed the ring to Neeka and mimed placing it on her finger. She slipped the ring onto her finger, having a bit of trouble getting it past the claw. Her eyes focused on the air in front of her and her head tilted sideways. She removed the ring and handed it to Hali.

"Is good, wear it," she said to the biggest Fuerven Søren had seen so far. Hali just hissed slightly in acknowledgement and worked the ring onto his smaller finger of his right hand. He swiped through the air in front of him and Søren noticed Hali's health bar had dropped a small amount at the same time. Hali dipped his head to Sehro and then Søren. Ihza immediately began pestering Hali about how it felt.

Søren ignored the two chattering Fuerven and was able to analyze the other two rings and both of them were the same as the first, two rings of lesser health. He handed those to Neeka and she gave one to Strik and the other to Ihza. Partway through the analysis of the last ring, Søren had received a notification that he had learned the schematic to create a [Lesser Ring of Health].

Congratulations Traveler! You have learned your first schematic! You have learned how to create a [Lesser Ring of Health]. Rings, amulets, and other similar jewelry can be crafted by a Jeweler or Artificer. The ring can then be imbued by a Speaker or Shaper.

Guess I should investigate setting up these paths at some point now that I have a slightly better idea of what's going on, Søren considered. He picked up the silver necklace with the blue crystal pendant attached, wrapped in a basket-cage of silver wire woven into the shape of a raptor's eye. The pendant and necklace had four points of analysis he needed to complete and it took nearly an hour before he finally completed the analysis. He felt winded and wore out, far more than he had from the physical exertion of traveling up the mountainside. He glanced at his status bars and noticed the purple bar for Endurance had dropped significantly to 42 out of 175 points. Ah, I guess abilities like Analyze require the use of Endurance. Makes sense. Now let's see what this necklace is. He tabbed through his chat log and opened the notification about the pendant.

Congratulations Traveler! You have discovered a [Pendant of Precision]. This pendant grants the bearer a moderate bonus (+20%) to their ranged attacks.

Søren looked over the notification and wondered if it stacked with his Sharpshooter perk. I imagine it would. Could be pretty useful, but I think this one should go to Sehro. He handed the pendant and necklace over to Neeka who studied it briefly and then passed it on to Sehro. The smaller, dark scaled Fuerven looked at the pendant with shock after he had placed it around his neck and swiped through the air in front of him. Neeka smiled at the other Fuerven as they chattered excitedly about the empowered items.

Søren glanced at the Mission Log and was shocked to see the numbers had changed. He got Neeka's attention and gestured to the right side of his view, drawing a box there.

Defeat the Hordeling Monarch

A Hordeling Monarch is attempting to gain control of a Resurrection Shard in the Mourning Cave. Stop her before it's too late for Caisleán. A monarch that gains control of a Resurrection Shard can convert it into a Hordeling Den and spawn an endless horde of Hordelings.

0 / 1 Hordeling Monarch slain

0 / 5 Hordeling slain

0 / 11 Hordeling Spawn slain

Rewards

• 100 TEK

• 3 settlement build points

• [Uncommon] engram

"Hordelings grow," he tried to explain to Neeka after she looked at him with her head tilted slightly to the side. Further discussion was interrupted as three Hordeling Spawns rushed out of the mouth of the Mourning Cave and charged at Ihza. Søren could have sworn he heard dice rolling in his head and a voice that told him to roll for initiative.