Chapter 9: Bludgeon
In his enclosure, Tulland was already working on his next project. He had spent the better part of a few hours the day before building the pit trap, but that was a necessary risk. It took time to dig a hole, and more time to plant a cultivated briar seed at the bottom, juice it with magic, cover the whole thing with enough briar thorns to look like semi-solid ground, and leave a single cultivated fruit as bait.
The investment was worth it. He had picked up two levels worth of experience just today, setting and resetting the trap with his excess of cultivated fruit and the briar branches. He had worried that the monster corpses left in the pit would warn the others off, until he had gone out to clean it out for the first time and found it clean except for an exceptionally vibrant, healthy looking briar.
“Even if I could, I won’t ask any questions about what happened there,” Tulland said to the briar. It might have been his imagination but the briar seemed to twitch at those words.
Now, Tulland was busy clipping off several feet of his briar tangle and wrapping it around the strongest branch he had been able to safely find in the forest. His best idea for a weapon so far was to make a briar-wrapped club and see how that did on the local wildlife.
“Hey System. You around?” Tulland asked after turning off the communication barrier.
You know I am. Where would I go?
“Good point. I have a question for you.”
One I would answer for what reason?
“Because you have nothing better to do.”