CHAPTER 3: THE GAMBLER'S PREPARATION
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A phantom ache throbbed in my mind, the aftermath of the ritual fragment's integration. Whispers of draconic syntax and the scent of ozone and volcanic rock clung to my senses. The knowledge was there, a cold, hard stone in the river of my thoughts: the Call of the Wounded.
It required a focus, a gemstone steeped in moonlight. It required a blood offering. And it required me to be within a league of the wounded dragon.
I had seventy hours. And a barony to prepare.
The following morning, I stood in the main hall, the [Reinforced Wall Blueprint] burning a hole in my consciousness. I didn't have the Points for it, but I had its principles. My father, Cassian, Captain Roric, and the head stonemason, Old Man Hemmel, stared at me, expectant and skeptical.
"The eastern wall is our primary weakness," I began, pointing to a rough map. "But we don't have the gold for new stone or the time for a full rebuild."
"Then this is a waste of time," Cassian interjected. "We should be drilling the men, not listening to fairy tales."
"Silence, Cassian," the Baron said, his voice low. He looked at me. "Continue, Leo."
"We use what we have. Hemmel, we'll use a layered approach. We mix the mortar with crushed granite from the south quarry, the fine grain, not the coarse. We add one part in ten of the iron slag from the smithy."
Hemmel's bushy eyebrows shot up. "Iron slag? My lord, that will make the mixture brittle!"
"In normal circumstances, yes," I conceded, the blueprint's calculations flowing through my mind. "But we'll reinforce it with a lattice of greenwood branches, oak, preferably between the stone courses. As the wood dries and contracts, it will bind the stone and metal flecked mortar together, creating a composite stronger than either alone."
The hall was silent. It was unorthodox. It was cheap. And according to the System verified blueprint, it would work.
Hemmel scratched his beard, his craftsman's mind wrestling with the idea. "A lattice... it could distribute the force... By the ancestors, it might just work."
"It will work," I said, injecting a certainty I borrowed from the Codex. "Start on the eastern curtain wall. Use every able body. Cassian, you will oversee the logging detail. We need the oak by noon."
For once, Cassian was too stunned to argue. The sheer practicality of the command, the authority in my voice, left him nodding mutely.
"Roric," I turned to the Captain. "The men need new drills. The demons' first wave will be small, fast, and climb anything. I want squads of five: two spearmen to keep them at bay, two swordsmen to engage, one archer with firepots. Drill them until they can switch formations in their sleep."
Roric slammed a fist to his chest in a crisp salute. "It will be done, my lord."
As they dispersed to their tasks, a new, unexpected notification appeared.
[Passive Quest Completed: Ingenious Preparation]
[By applying System knowledge without direct purchase, you have demonstrated foundational leadership.]
[Reward: +50 Plot Points]
Fifty points. A pittance compared to the five hundred, but it was a start. And it confirmed a vital mechanic: I could earn Points through intelligent application of the knowledge I already possessed.
I immediately spent them.
[Purchase Confirmed: Basic Herbal Antidote Blueprint (Common Tier).]
[-50 Plot Points.]
[Remaining Points: 0.]
I found Luna in the herb garden, her hands stained with soil. "I need your help," I said, transferring the simple knowledge of the antidote to her through a hastily drawn diagram. "The first demons' claws carry a paralytic venom. We need as much of this antidote as you can brew."
She studied the diagram, her eyes lighting up with a fierce intelligence. "The ingredients are common. I can have the maids and the older children help. We can have barrels of it within two days."
I felt a surge of pride. This was the true power of the Bond Network, even locked, leveraging the strengths of those who believed in me.
The day became a blur of controlled chaos. The rhythmic clang of hammers on stone echoed from the walls. The shouts of sergeants drilling new formations rang from the yard. The scent of Luna's brewing antidote, a sharp, astringent smell, began to permeate the keep.
By nightfall, a tangible change had come over Stonecrest. A flicker of hope had replaced the grim despair. They saw the walls growing thicker, the men drilling with purpose, and the third son, once a layabout, directing it all with an unnerving calm.
But I wasn't calm.
In the privacy of my chamber, I examined the ritual's requirements again. The focus. A moon-steeped gem. I knew where to find one. In the novel, a minor treasure, a [Moon Touched Sapphire], was hidden in the catacombs beneath the keep, a trinket forgotten by our ancestors. It would be discovered by a refugee a month from now.
Not this time.
I slipped into the depths of the keep, past the wine cellar, into the old crypts where the air was cold and still. Using my meta knowledge like a divining rod, I moved a loose stone behind the sarcophagus of Baron Edric the Stern. There, in a small niche, lay a velvet pouch. Inside, the sapphire gleamed with a soft, internal light, as if holding a fragment of a starry night.
One requirement down.
The blood offering was simple: my own. The final requirement was the most daunting. I had to get to the Cursed Peaks, find a specific dragon, and perform the ritual, all before the demon tide broke in... sixty-two hours.
It was impossible. And yet, it was the only path that led to a future worth having.
I found my father in his study late that night, staring at the fire. "The men are saying you've worked a miracle," he said without looking up.
"Hard work and preparation are often mistaken for miracles," I replied.
He finally turned to me, his face etched with a deep, weary concern. "This change in you, Leo... it's drastic. You speak of demons and build walls with scrap, and the men follow you without question. It frightens me."
"It frightens me too, Father," I admitted, the most honest thing I'd said all day. "But the world is about to become far more frightening. I need to leave at first light."
"Leave?" He stood up, his chair scraping back. "The demons come in two days! You would abandon your post? Your people?"
"I am not abandoning them. I am going to secure our only chance for a future beyond mere survival." I met his gaze, letting him see the absolute conviction in my eyes. "I need you to trust me. Hold the keep for forty eight hours. If I am not back by then... assume I failed, and may the ancestors have mercy on us all."
He searched my face for a long moment, looking for the boy he knew. He found only the man I had become.
"Where are you going?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper.
I tucked the Moon Touched Sapphire into my tunic and turned toward the door.
"To find a dragon."
CHAPTER 3 COMPLETE
Next: The journey to the Cursed Peaks begins. Leo faces the treacherous terrain and the first real threats of the wilds, racing against the apocalypse.
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