4

Chapter 4 Leaving the Nest

Thankfully I'm not heading back to Lorath empty handed. I prepare quite thoroughly. First my entire base is sheathed in a much thicker layer of stone. Three feet of stone is hard to get through. Ten feet is better. No one is getting in while I'm gone, regardless of if anyone ever visits.

I switch up the layout as well, moving the farm to the bottom floor. Using slabs I also build narrow water channels from my moat, which has long since filled. Combined with glowstone, the farm is pretty much self contained. Now if I could only automate it.

Sadly that isn't going to be possible. Water doesn't behave at all like in the game. I guess I had to expect it. So far every difference from the game had been beneficial. There had to be something I didn't like.

I stock up on food. A little experimentation and I found I can make Pots of stew. Like the Cauldron they have three servings. It's a bit repetitive, but also means that with a bit of work I can store huge amounts of food.

I'm also not going to be showing up empty handed. Thanks to the spiders I have a couple of stacks of silk. I was a bit annoyed I couldn't create pallets of it, but I'm still bringing quite a bit. I didn't want to process it since that's what Lorath does. Besides I can always do it later if I need to. I should probably pick up the recipe for velvet while I'm back in Lorath since it is famous for it.

I'm also bringing gold. A few days ago I finally lit the Nether Portal. I didn't go through it. No I farmed the zombies. They were each armed with a gold longsword and also dropped a large lump of gold when they died. Since gold is one of the items I can make pallets out of, a single slot is used to bring all I was taking.

As I sail the few miles back to Lorath I realize how empty Lorassyon is. Not even sea gulls nest on the shores. No wonder people think it's haunted. I doubt that will change as long as the spiders are still there. They have started at least showing up ever since I started regularly baiting a few areas so I could hunt them.

My return to Lorath was almost unremarkable. I was just another street rat, easily lost in the crowd as I strolled through town. Almost. It turns out quite a few people paid attention to me, at least enough to take more than a glance at me.

At first I was worried they had discovered my murders. That faded when even the guards did nothing more than look at me. No someone would have done something by now. No there was another reason everyone seemed to notice me.

I was almost at the docks when I found out what that was. Out of the crowd stepped a number of men. They stood out. The way they moved. The accent they addressed each other with. And most of all for the Westerosi armor they all wore.

How the hell did I forget about The Mountain?

Now that I was paying attention I could hear footsteps much heavier than normal rapidly approaching me from behind. So. An ambush. Seeing how even the guards are stepping back there's no help there. The crowds are clearing out so no use trying to hide.

I think for a moment before I find what I need. An alley, only a few feet wide. I darting off towards it. The alley I'm aiming for only has one guard. I wonder how much gold they spent to have the guards actually helping like this?

He doesn't swing his sword. Instead reaching out to grab me. Maybe there's a bounty on me alive? A reward would be much easier than a bribe. Cheaper too.

Doesn't matter. I let him grab me. As soon as he starts pulling me close I summon my daggers. I go wild, stabbing over and over before climbing over his body to enter the alley.

I drop a pillar behind me and smile as I hear cursing. I waited until I was at least a few feet into the alley so hopefully there aren't too many witnesses. Not like I can do much about it right now.

I don't want to reveal my powers. Looks like I need space. As I run through the streets I keep dropping pillars of dirt behind me. It's not much better, but it's a touch less obvious than perfectly cut stone. Too bad I already used one stone pillar. Maybe I can go back and grab it later?

Persistent people. I can still hear them following me. I wonder how they're keeping up? I chance a look back and see the Mountain plowing through my dirt pillar. It causes him to stumble, but not stop.

Well damn.

Screw this. I take a few moments to build a nice thick wall at the next alley. Four blocks high and two deep. Then I start to dig.

It's a long boring process, digging an escape tunnel. I fill in the tunnel behind me and change direction twice. I dig for hours before I feel safe coming up. I don't really know where I am, but I can see the town walls so it's safe to assume I've lost any pursuit.

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I don't really feel fatigue. As long as I have food I don't get tired. Besides, there is no way I'm letting them win. So I pretty much head immediately back to town.

I kill the gate guards. Snipe and the first down. Two more arrows and the second as well. Not taking any chances. If you aren't part of the solution, you're part of the problem.

I take to the roofs. It's evening now and few people bother ever looking up. As long as I'm quiet I should be safe enough.

It seems I'm in luck. Most of the knights are still out searching for me. They aren't doing a great job, but they are patrolling. And fancy that, they're all spread out.

Almost too easy. One of the benefits I thank my powers for is how easy archery is. Just point and shoot. It's closer to a gun than traditional archery. Also makes it much easier to get critical head shots. I kill four knights before someone raises the alarm.

Not like it'll help much. I've chosen my vantage point well. A large flat roof two stories up. I have ready access to other buildings in three directions. A single ladder extends down the back. I stand and taunt them all and continue shooting.

You can say a lot about knights, but they aren't cowards. Although bravery certainly doesn't mean intelligent. They try to climb the ladder several times before abandoning the idea along with three bodies. It's like fighting slightly more intelligent lemmings.

Finally they decide to wait. They take cover but are careful to make sure they can watch me. Doesn't matter. I start shooting all the guards I can see. Bastards are just standing around watching. The arrows convince them to stop.

The knights yell when the guards scatter. Idiots. No mercenary is going to risk his life without a good reason. A bit of gold to catch a child, sure. A lethal archer whose already survived several ambushes? Not a chance, at least without a lot more pay. Thankfully they don't wear much armor. I don't have that many iron arrows.

Finally the Mountain arrives. He doesn't bother with a shield. Like before my arrows mostly bounce off or shatter on his armor. Even the iron arrows barely penetrate. I can't see any blood on the one he bothers pulling out. It was a longshot anyway.

If remodeling my base was good for one thing it was getting practice placing blocks. I found out a block I let go of reverted back to itself. In the case of stone, it was a solid block of stone. Sadly it lost all momentum, but gravity still affected it.

So I wait until he starts climbing the ladder before dropping a pallet on him. The drop is short since I waited until he was almost at the top. But stone is heavy, especially a cube of stone six feet on each side. I'm just sad I can't see his expression when it hits. Then I hear the most beautiful sound. Screams. He's still alive.

Looking over I can see he tried to jump. Didn't quite make it. Looks like his legs are crushed though. I look around, but I don't see anyone. Without their invincible champion it seems the knights all ran.

Hmm. As I stare down at the Mountain I get an idea. He's pretty hated in Dorne. Maybe I can trade his skull for some of the supplies I need? Worth trying at least.

I don't want to get in reach though. Let's try something. I place a Crafting Table down and insert a knife. I add two sticks and nothing. Sad. Looks like I need to store a real spear before adding it to my recipes.

Oh well. I drop down on top of the pallet and drop a pillar on his hips. It doesn't crush him flat, but that's fine. I touch it and store it then drop it again. I'm practically my own siege engine.

It only take two more drops before he's dead and I store his corpse. I take the time to behead him first. As I hoped, storing the head does grant me his skull. Now I just need to get to Dorne.

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One quirk I've found is I no longer have a dominant hand. It seems like such a small change, but it makes a huge difference. I hadn't really thought about it much before. I was left handed in my previous life and still used it most of the time. Other than when using two knives it hadn't seemed that important.

Right now it was incredibly important. I had thought the remaining knights would leave. No apparently they went drinking and then hired a bunch of guards before coming back. They also ambushed me inside one of the stores. Good, I was tired of running.

I shot the first two before they got too close. Then it was all close combat. As they all stumbled around, crowding each other to get to me, I was in my element.

I twisted and summoned my sword at the last second. As soon as I struck I stored it again. I couldn't summon it inside someone, but this was close enough. I tumbled through legs, stabbing around until I was close to the entrance.

I hear a yell about not letting me get away. Idiots. That's the last thing on my mind. I dropped a pillar in front of the door. No one was going to escape.

I summoned a few more pillars and then I was ready. I started jumping around, bouncing back and forth between the pillars. Just like in the game, leap attacks were so much more powerful. A twist while jumping, summon two swords, store them as I land and then repeat. People fall like dominoes.

I felt a little guilty when I killed the merchant. Still, the fewer witnesses the better. I loot everything and remove all the pillars but the one blocking the door. Hopefully that's the last of them.

I cut through the back wall and roof hop around. There are a few guards at the front inspecting the stone pillar. No one else seems to be in the area. Better not take any chances.

I drop off the roof. Two sword swings and I land along with their heads. I wonder if anyone else is open?

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Sadly enough it seems that I now had a reputation. Not sure what kind since no one will talk with me, but probably not a good one. So it was with a sense of frustration that wandered through the town.

This is ridiculous. Even with their assassins all dead King Robert is causing me problems! If I didn't hate him before I do now. He's keeping me for getting access to magic!

Eventually I conclude I was going to have to go with my back up plan. Getting my own ship. I had really wanted to avoid that. Something about being trapped in an endless expanse of water really bothers me.

It took some doing but I eventually find what I'm looking for. Adalard is a merchant fallen on hard times. He has a decent reputation. He just seems to have had a run of bad luck recently. Perfect. So when I found him drinking it was with glee that I slid into the seat opposite him.

"Might you be Adalard Kraemer?"

"A man is known as that." Wow, he was not happy to see me.

"I would discuss a business deal with you." Yeah, even if I wanted him to take me seriously that speech pattern was just annoying. Stupid snobby habits.

"What business would a child have with a man? A man who is a failure of a merchant?" Man is he ever depressed. Maybe I should try talking to him when he sobers up. Screw it, I'm here now.

Right now I'm grateful for the fact that I had looted so many people. I have several recipes for various coins and I used one to quickly make a handful of gold coins. I dropped them on the table before knocking Adalard out and dragging him outside.

My reputation works in my favor this time. No one wanted to get in my way, although that might be because I paid. Either way I was able to drag Adalard outside and into an alley. A few of buckets of water from my Inventory and he was awake, fairly sober and taking me seriously. The sword at his throat may have something to do with the last part.

It didn't take long to come to an arrangement. He was desperate and close to losing his position. Ironically much of his bad luck can be attributed back to me. His brother being assassinated, me. His uncle's shop being destroyed, me again. Several of the guards I've killed recently were also his.

I'm not sure how much he knows is my fault. It doesn't matter though. He needs my money too much to make an issue of it. Our agreement is pretty simple. I rent the use of his ship and crew for a year. They answer to me, sail where I say and ship what I want.

In return I pay him. Mostly in lots of gold, but also in a fairly large amount of silk. I have to hire and pay for any additional crew and have to hire at least two guards. I also have to pay for any repairs if the ship gets damaged.

Once he takes me takes me seriously, Adalard proves to be a shrewd negotiator. It doesn't matter though. I can easily pay everything he asks. In the end we have a deal and I have a ship.

Hiring guards doesn't prove to be a problem at all. My reputation actually helps with that. Rumors of how I survived multiple attacks by slaughtering my enemies were everywhere. Mercenaries like that kind of reputation.

Only one guard attacked me while I was hiring. I had killed his brother or something. I didn't really pay attention to what he was yelling. Rather I watched the reactions of the other guards as I summoned a knife and rammed it into his gut.

They don't seem inclined to burn me at the stake, so I relaxed a bit. I then tortured the man to death while still watching them. Still no protests. Good. I only hire from those who don't flinch.

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In the end I hire five guards. Better too many than not enough. Hell I would have hired more but I was fairly picky. I only wanted guards who had decent armor and looked comfortable in it. Not practical at sea, but it wasn't pirates I was worried about.

The guards were there more to make sure people take me seriously when we arrive at a port. Sometime I curse the fact I'm only five years old.

No, for pirates I have my own special surprise. I was very glad to find that the ship came equipped with a small ballista. It isn't much, but it's perfect for me.

TNT is very easy to craft and best of all can be broken down into sixteen sticks of dynamite. It took a bit of work, but I managed to make my own explosive ammunition. It was pretty simple too.

Take a ballista bolt and remove the head. Then place a bundle of four sticks of dynamite on the end. Use some glue to attach a button. I found cutting the fuse shortens the timer so I just removed them. Instant warhead with contact fuse.

Sadly we don't set sail immediately after that. No, there was normal maintenance to perform. There was also supplies to gather. Good-byes. Charts. Endless details. More than enough to convince me I'm unlikely to ever try sailing without a crew to handle all the details.

At least I didn't really have to worry about supplies. I had plenty of room since I had discovered an amazing fact. In this world chests could be moved! They still couldn't be stored in my Inventory if they contained anything, but being able to fill a chest and carry it was an amazing difference.

I had discovered this amazing fact when remodeling my base. I was so used to how they worked in the game I had never tried to move them before. It makes sense too since both boats and mine carts can have chests. I'm just glad logic won over game rules.

As useful as they would be I not willing to let anyone know about my chests. Instead since I don't really need to worry about hauling cargo I fill most of the cargo space with extra food and water. I have a single chest with extra supplies, but that is strictly for emergencies. No, the ship was officially operating as my personal transport.