Chapter: 708

With the sun already down and after a few hours had passed, Sweeper was still hard at work, crafting and building something at the entrance to the cradle of the three trees.

Jay thought he may as well check on it now before he would have some rations and go to sleep. For the last few hours he had let it do as it pleased, completely ignoring it as it diligently skittered about between the trees and Jays bone platform, pulling bones out while creating the familiar green glow of necrotic mana.

As he walked over, he was pleasantly surprised at what Sweeper had been working on.

All around the bone platform was like a sea of white spikes, all pointing upwards and outwards with sharpened tips, waiting to pierce whatever would dare to charge into Jay’s small stronghold.

“Huh, so this is what you’ve been doing?” Jay was actually glad, “Nice work Sweeper.” he said, glad to see the skeleton was taking its rear guard role seriously – perhaps almost to a fault.

Each of the bones it planted between the roots poked upwards with sharpened tips. Jay could tell it used the minimum amount of mana to form each of them into a piercing point; it allowed it to make hundreds of them.

Multiple lines of these makeshift spikes were planted in any crack be between the roots, anywhere it could find purchase.

With a slight curve outwards, a barrier between Jay and all external threats had been formed.

A small, slender path was made in the middle so that the skeletons could freely travel in and out.

Curious as he was, Jay picked up one of the spikes and analsyed it.

<[Defensive Spike]> (Bone)

– 2 damage

– Anti-charge: 15kg force reduction

– Low quality. Hasty Construction. Barely worth the minimal effort which went into crafting them.

“Heh, well I suppose it’s better than nothing; I didn’t put in any effort anyway so I guess it’s fine.” he shrugged, turning around and going back to sitting by the fire.

Jay couldn’t help but imagine himself sitting on a throne in a lofty fortress, surrounded by dark stone walls covered in these pale bone spikes.

Something about it felt right.

“It’s kind of comforting, having defences. No matter how small.”

After a quick meal of measly rations, he checked the parasites in his arm once more and finally closed his eyes as he laid his head down, listening to the cracking of the warm fire at his side and the gentle bone clinks of the diligent skeletons at his back.

– – –

~Next morning, somewhere north of Losla~

“No luck?” Vanderby asked Linc, seeing him return with nothing after setting out on an early morning hunt.

Linc shook his head, “It’s like the whole forest has been picked clean. Too many damn people heading to Losla at once. Everything is either in someone’s belly or has been scared off.”

“Ah. Well, hopefully we’ll find some food inside the village… and a few beers” Vanderby winked.

Linc glanced at Estra, she simply shrugged.