Now that we knew how to put them down for good, we made quick work of the remaining skeletons. And just as night entirely took over the sky, we were back in the house, preparing for what was to come.
The bigger question looming in the back of my head was just what we were going to do with the rest of the creatures out in these woods. This wasn't a problem we were handling during this excursion, which meant it would linger and almost certainly grow. But I didn't want to bring the neighborhood into another war so soon, not when we had so much to do, and the river was still protecting us.
First, we needed to secure the tunnels, and we needed to get to the rock trolls. And beyond that, there was still the fact of the jungle that sat below us. Plus, so much of this forest, even on our own side of the river, was unexplored. This valley was still one giant mystery full of countless dangers.
It was also the question of just what would happen with the future events that usually came with a system integration. Given how out of control this one was, how many of them would still happen? Would I be forced into a battle arena or a tower climbing competition in the coming months? There was just so much to prepare for that I couldn't keep my focus on whatever monsters were out here.
I’d get these people through the night and then back to the neighborhood. From there, we could make plans to slowly push into this side of the forest as time and resources allowed.
“What level are you two?” I asked as I bolted the door behind me once everyone was back inside.
“We're all level six,” Gar answered, stopping briefly from his work with Tom on one of the walls to look at me.
“Alright, the things out there are likely a lot stronger than you still. But we're going to hold up here for the night, and then we're getting you back to somewhere a lot safer. Gertie, we're almost certainly going to gain more experience and levels tonight, so I want you to focus any attributes you gain into your Constitution. I'm guessing, based on your class name, you've been trying to put it into something else to boost your kids?” I asked this last question gently, entirely understanding the motivation. I had done the same and would do it again in a heartbeat.
“One of my abilities lets me make them stronger, but it said it required Spirit, so I kept putting everything there. I kind of figured Constitution might help my heart, but their lives are just more important than mine. They're so much younger. They have so much more to live for,” she replied, looking over to the people on the floor with a desperate, unspoken fear.
I took a seat next to her on the couch and put a hand on her shoulder. “Trust me when I say this is something I understand. Ash over there is my daughter, and I spent the first big part of this doing everything I could to keep her alive. But right now, Norm's got more skills than you do to get them back on their feet. It won't happen tonight, but it will happen. So I need you to focus on your own health because Jimmy is back in the neighborhood waiting to see you.”
“Dad's right. It's important to keep yourself alive for your family. I don't know what I'd do without him. Or Floof, for that matter,” Ash added, petting the giant dog, who had flopped hard in front of the door, apparently deciding to guard it with his own body.
“Okay, I'll do what you said. But promise me they're going to be okay,” Gertie said, pleading.
“They're not as bad as they look, actually. The poison is more of a paralytic than it is deadly. Sure, they would have died eventually with no one to feed them or protect them from what was out there, but I think they're actually going to be okay. Though I did have to use a lot of your spices to make the right drink for this,” Norm said, holding up a glass jug full of a greenish-blue liquid that was fizzling.
“Is that window cleaner in there?” Gertie asked, looking at it.
“Yeah, but only a little, trust me, sometimes these recipes call for some weird things. Believe it or not, this was a lot easier than when I had to mix up for a chicken the other day. And I doubt your family is going to lay a giant black egg when this is over, so you know, good news on both fronts.”
Ignoring what he said about the giant black egg for the moment, addressing that could wait till we returned, I had a few more questions. “Is there anything useful that we should be taking with us from this house? We're going to have to bring those guys on a big sled anyway, so tools, food, ingredients, anything like that, we should bring it with us if we can. Floof alone can pull a lot.”
“I already looked through all the tools. There's a lot that I want to bring with us, but they're already in here. Should be easy enough to gather up,” Tom answered while assembling several pieces of what used to be a wall into something that looked impressively strong.
“What about the fish? You guys don't just want to leave him behind, right?” Ash asked, pointing to a small fish bowl I'd not really noticed before. Inside it was a brightly colored betta fish swimming back and forth.
“Old Red? If we're making for your neighborhood, we're certainly bringing them. I think he can handle a long hike sealed in a bottle just fine,” Gar said.
Even if it was just a fish, a pet was a pet, and I wasn't about to argue. There wasn't any good reason we couldn't easily transport them with us. So I sure as hell wasn't going to take a pet away from its owners.
“Alright, well, let's…” I said, trailing off as the intensity of being watched suddenly multiplied a thousandfold. At the same time, a voice came from the other side of the door.
“Hello. I think it's time we met. We have been fighting for so long. Mayhaps there is another way.” The voice oozed a sliminess I had generally only heard in one type of person. It was the way a politician's charm left you questioning just how many people they'd kill the moment they truly gained power.
The real problem with the voice, though, wasn't how it sounded. It was the magic laced into it. Whoever it belonged to was trying to persuade us to do whatever it wanted. But considering the Loamhag who lived in the neighborhood, it had nothing on her. Not that that made me any more comfortable with someone trying this.
“How about you turn off whatever ability you're trying to use there? You do that and I'll consider having a conversation with you. On the other hand, you use it again, and I'm going to take your head off,” I said, almost in a growl, one that was accentuated by Floof’s actual growls.
“Now, now, sir. Is there any reason that we have to fight? You've already destroyed so many of my friends’ creations. Don't you feel it would behoove you to just have a conversation instead of more violence? After all, violence never solves anything.” Several people around me took steps toward the door that the voice had not done as I instructed. It, in fact, had done the opposite and ramped up the persuasion.
“Ash, snap out of it and switch your aspect to the one that reduces mind-affecting abilities!” I ordered. “And the rest of you, stay exactly where you are. No one is opening that damn door besides me!”
Only two other people in the room had seemed to remain unaffected: Floof and Norm. Floof was not at all a surprise. I doubted it was even a class ability that had stopped him. He was an incredibly loyal dog, and it went so far against his nature to do anything that might betray us. Norm, though, I wasn't sure, it had to be the effects of something he had drunk. How far was he coming along with those brews?
Looking down at Floof, he seemed to already know what I was planning. I grabbed the door handle and ripped the entire door forward, shattering the barricades and pulling the hinges loose from the wall. It wouldn't be easy to repair, but it was great for intimidation.
Tossing the door behind me, I took three steps out into the night and came face to face with a humanoid figure about my same height. It was much thinner than me and had a darker gray complexion. Unlike much of the stuff we had fought so far, it was full of necromantic mana.
As his eyes focused on me, I caught a glimpse of fear for the split second before Floof tackled him to the ground, ripping into his chest. “I warned you,” was all I said as I brought the blade down as I promised.
Before I'd even cleaned the blade off, another figure looking exactly like the first walked out of the woods. “As much as I would rather not die like my clone there, I do have my orders. So if you could please give us a moment to talk…” he started to say with that same effect.
This time, Floof tore it to shreds before it had a chance to continue.
“Dad, what the hell is going on?” Ash said, swallowing lightly, fear in her voice.
“Something out here is toying with us. What I was going to tell everyone inside, that I had already told Ralph, is that there's a creature out in these woods that feeds on our fear. And it has apparently decided to make another big scare attempt tonight. But I'm done playing by its rules,” I said firmly, making sure whatever new clone was forming in the woods heard me.
“Tom, stop fortifying the house. Start dragging the lumber out here. It's time for a nice bonfire. We're done with this game. Every single monster that steps within the light of this fire will not survive till morning.”
The rustling in the forest stopped at my declaration. Even the intensity of that watching feeling finally decreased dramatically. It seemed I had made my point enough to get through to whatever intelligence was out there.
I knew that this was only temporary. I hadn't actually scared it away in any sort of real measure. It was just rethinking how best to fight us. All I had done was delay that.
That likely meant the next assault would come with a lot more power behind it. Perhaps we'd finally see that red skeletal beast up close. I was tired of it stalking the other side of the river. Hell, I was tired of everything out here threatening us like this.
Most of all, I was incredibly angry that anyone thought they could get in my daughter's head. That sort of attempt had radically shifted my opinion on how soon I was willing to fight these monsters. Logically, I knew that we still needed to reinforce the neighborhood. But someone had tried to hurt my daughter, and that meant I needed to make one big statement before we were done out here.
Undead almost always hated fire, and I was going to remind them why.