Best Shop In The Multiverse

A deer poked its head up from rolling lines of golden wheat just long enough for Red to fire a bolt. His eyes focused so deeply on the deer's eye he could see the sun's reflection blinding it for a moment. Wheat brushed against his face as he ducked below and pushed a hand into the soil just as he heard a thunk.

Red felt his bag of holding spasms fill. He pumped a new bolt in place and raised himself back up to see a deer's skull resting on a tall man's shoulders. Something gripped his heart, and he froze as the thing slowly turned its head and saw Red in its empty eye sockets. The thought moved fast and jerked, forcing him to pay attention.

His hands weren't idle. He ejected the current mag and slid an explosive mag in place. There was no telling what it was going to do. Red watched it move and understood it was made of wood and so much more.

He ran.

It wasn't his proudest moment or a story for the ages, but when Red saw it, he couldn't do anything but run as his heart pounded. Somehow, he knew it would follow him. Somewhere in his mind, he knew running would only make it want to chase him more, but he couldn't stop as he made tracks away from his position.

There were no sounds of footprints, but that didn't tell him he didn't have a pursuer. It told him he couldn't hear his pursuer. The creature that undoubtedly hunted him could move soundlessly in this environment.

The sun bore down on him. The summer section of the dungeon was brutal.

Maybe this was a sign to return. He needed to figure out how he was going to do it. He crossed a log across a big river.

Red made his way to one of the bigger hills and climbed it. He saw the river he had crossed and its fast current from his new vantage point. Even with his strength, it could pull him off his feet and send him miles away in a few minutes. Wading through the river was a losing bargain, so it was a shock when he saw the creature standing on the log he had crossed. Maybe he was terrified or going mad.

He wished that was the case. If he was dealing with sun madness or something similar, recovering his HP would be the cure. Red could get a drink of nice cool water and be ok. But no, a predator was hunting him, and he couldn't shoot it. An explosion would destroy the log and make crossing impossible.

Red knew that it was smart then. What other reason could a creature have to cut off his escape other than a malignant intelligence? The monster knew Red knew he couldn't get across, so what could he do?

Forward seemed to be his only option. If turning back forced him to fight the creature, what other choice did he have? He saw a few pits from his vantage point and roots covered in amber reaching down them. That activated his inner loot goblin very well.

There were mushrooms in those pits. Red knew it to be true. If he could get them, Vicky could make something from them. He looked back and saw the creature wasn't where it had been. In his focus on loot, the beast moved. Was that an ability it had or something else? Red decided to pursue loot rather than be consumed by fear.

…

Vicky woke up groggily and watched her mother move about an unfamiliar place. She was shocked to see lights with no flame and what looked like furniture not made by any hands. When she searched for the strange human, he was absent. She thought they were friends.

"Did you tell him about the Wendigo?" Vicky asked.

"That wasn't what he wanted. I could hardly gift him another boon after he asked so much for merely walking you to me. He won out on our trade too much for me to give him more."

"Oh, that's too bad. Where are we, and what did he request?"

"Our service, my tutelage, and companionship."

"I didn't think a human would be interested in my body. I'm less than 10 inches tall." Vicky said.

"He's lonely, and you know how humans are?"

"Will we see him again?"

Her mother closed her eyes and used her power as a former fairy queen. The wind shifted even in the shop, and her mother's lips thinned. "One had found him but more stalk him than he realizes. Even if he had retreated, it would have been too late. Instead, he's chosen to go the path of the bold."

In other words, he's moving forward to battle them in a place of his choosing rather than fighting them in an ambush. Oh, who was she kidding? They would only attack him in ambush.

"This is quite the nice place, and I hope he returns."

She remembered his fight against the hordes of brownies. "He's strong," Vicky said.

…

Golden Yang Shroom (Common): A fungus that grows in areas with a high concentration of rot. This is said to be a significant ingredient in many male enhancement formulas. 

It wasn't like he felt the need for it, but back on Earth, the fake penis enlargement pill industry was a multimillion-dollar industry. With a fairy that was also an alchemist, could he pass up an opportunity? He kicked a rotten log and watched it break into pieces of dirt. Under the bark were more of the various types of mushrooms. He carefully cut them free so as not to disturb them.

Sweat beaded down his face under the bright yellow summer sun. He ran through wheat fields and over rolling hills where massive trees stood like silent sentinels soaking in the solar rays. The trees were even less active and firm than in the spring. Each was uncommon+, and it took 20 shots to take one down.

The summer area stretched the furthest until he found a hole in the ground.

He found the broken remains of the massive mobile trees there. They rotted away in the hole, growing vast numbers of various mushrooms. He had gathered more than a few before he felt ready to continue. Red turned and saw a bony creature with a deer skull for a head.

Red threw himself away as the size of the creature hit him. It reached out, and Red raised his crossbow and fired. It caught the bolt out of the air, and Red felt its hand reach his neck. Wooden, clawed hands reached out to rip Red's throat out.

He raised his knife and slashed out using his system-improved strength. As Red saw a deer rune on the monster's hand, sparks flashed off the strike. It launched itself with both hands ready to latch around his forearm.

Red had seen enough UFC to know it was going for some kind of arm bar. He pulled his hand aside and ducked under the grapple. It was Red's eyes doing the heavy lifting. He could see micro-movements when the creature prepared to move shortly before it committed. He slashed out with his knife and felt something hard smash into his wrist. The knife fell from his grip. He threw himself away as the monster caught the knife. Red pumped his crossbow and fired.

The thing seemed to move like smoke dodging his crossbow bolt. The wall behind it exploded. Flames raged out, and the monster shifted its body and charged.

Red felt his blood run cold and dropped his crossbow to throw himself out of the way of a full-body thrust that would have taken him in the chest.

How was he having more trouble from a mob in a pit than the lake serpent? It didn't make any sense to him.

He had to get away, and the monster was on him again.

Red's feet dug into the powdered wood, and he turned just enough to avoid having his guts ripped out. He felt his joints cry out as he pushed himself harder than ever. The blade of the knife sliced for his neck, and he turned, knowing that the monster was prepared to turn the knife to slip between his ribs or if he bent low enough, he would take a knee injury.

Red bent and rammed the butt of his crossbow into the wrist of the monster. The beast twisted as Red raised the weapon and smashed it against the monster's skull. He heard a crack. The monster stumbled backward, but its skill was fine. Red's crossbow suffered a crack down the butt.

He raised his hand as the creature adjusted. Four fireballs smashed into it and exploded one after the other, scattering rotten logs and dust through the pit's floor.

Flames quickly caught on the rotten wood, catching the dust in the air and flashing across the walls. The monster stepped out of the flames; its body had already erupted. It shot forward, slashing with its claws and throwing kicks. Red could only escape it as the rotten logs and valuable mushrooms caught fire. He glanced toward the tunnel that led out of the pit.

He would be home free if he could get out and get away from it. He ducked his head before a high kick could take his head off at his nose. The creature shrieked as flames erupted from its eyes, and it charged as Red ducked and threw himself away from it. He coughed from the smoke inhalation, and his watery eyes made it harder to dodge.

A kick connected, and his HP hit 0 instantly. He rolled over a burning log, and only his fire-resistant armor saved him from catching like everything else. The heat climbed as the wind entered the hole into the pit, acting like a forge. The heat continued to climb.

Red screamed as the hot ground burned him, and he ran for the exit. The monster was hot on his heels. He jumped over a flaming log, and the creature blasted under him, its arms ripping through the rotten log. Red planed a foot between the antlers and felt the heat on his heel before he pushed down, digging the monster's head in the dirt, and shot forward.

It shrieked like the devil as he climbed up and sprained out of the burning pit, and a powerful breeze blasted down into the depths.

Red returned his crossbow to his storage bag and pulled out his spare. He had only three more, but he felt it was worth it. Vicky could turn many different mushrooms into products that would earn a ton of revenue.

He took the road on the other side of the burning pit toward the direction of the cold wind. If he moved fast, maybe he could make it. There were only two more areas before he made it to the court. All he had to do was push himself a little further.

…

Handhold after handhold, he dragged himself up the amber out of the burning pit. He had been careful climbing down but rushed up with all his might. He was already growing tired and had run out of handholds. There was no longer a choice; he had to make his own.

With no knife to help or any of his tools, he pushed with the only thing he had left of his will. The wood shifted, and his hand made grooves within it. Sweat was already pouring down his face, and his vision was blurry.

He tried to climb up, but his foot caught on the slick amber, and he nearly fell. Red snarled and pressed a foot against the amber-covered wood. Because of the resin coating, it was harder to move than regular wood. The lack of a line of sight made matters worse.

A flat surface slowly sloped until his foot gained leverage, and then he pushed up and jabbed his fingers against the wall. The wood took too long, and it didn't care about his will or his urgency. All he could do was push against it.

As the smoke hit his face, his eyes felt itchy, and he couldn't breathe fresh air.

The next handhold was thinner. He barely had any leverage and nearly lost his hold because of sweat. Smoke filled his vision. He couldn't find where he had made the handholds before. If only he had his knife, he could stab it into the amber and cut his need for handholds by a fourth.

Making a new knife from the wood he had wasn't viable. His crossbow was heavy. The strap weighed him down, and he refused to drop it even as his muscles screamed at him. Up in the smoke, there were shapes.

He refused to accept them and continued his climb. More handholds appeared as he slowly grew accustomed to the horrible pain, splitting his head open with every handhold he made. The smoke made breathing almost impossible, but all he could do was climb as his eyes stung the sun-exposed shadows that looked like the monsters he had just fought.

Red coughed, but it didn't do him any good. He couldn't get any oxygen. His lungs were burning, but all he could do was climb. He should have already passed out from smoke inhalation, but he hadn't. He continued to climb and make handholds as he climbed his way toward hell in front of him and hell behind him.

Wood molded easier, but he didn't level up or gain new knowledge; it was something else. That didn't mean much; Red had to make it. He made a new handhold, and the monsters were much closer. A hand lashed out and grabbed his arm. He was yanked up out of the smoke, and the hands wrapped around his neck.

Not even poisonous air entered his lungs as the monster choked him. Through bloodshot eyes, Red looked into the creature's soulless, empty gaze. Drool leaked out of a grotesque mouth that merged with the deer skull. Red gripped one of the monster's arms and tried to fight, but he continued fighting until the end.

HP 2/17 

Red wanted to scream at the monster and tell it he wouldn't lose. He had just hired new employees, and things were looking up. He wanted to rip its arms off.

The other monsters stared on as the creature opened its grotesque mouth wide. Rotten black teeth dripping with foul yellow fluid greeted him.

HP 1/17 

It wasn't just the smoke. The choking was slowly wearing away at Red's last lifeline. When his HP ran out, it was for him. The creature was toying with him.

He grabbed the wooden arm and demanded it move, but it remained stubbornly in place. That wasn't right. The amber was so hard to move, but the wooden arm of some random mob was harder. That didn't seem right. Red was better at moving wood.

One of the monsters, charred black but otherwise fine, crawled out of the pit after him.

HP 0/17 

Everything happened so quickly that he was in these creatures' hands the entire time. Red refused, and he wouldn't let them win. He pushed at the wall, the barrier holding him back. He clawed and bit at it like a rabid dog. And then he felt it crack.

Red pulled and took the creature's arms off when he felt the weakness. The creature lunged with its jaws open, and Red shoved a piece of its arm into its mouth. He lunged and slapped the creature's chest and watched it ripple before the thing fell apart.

The others moved until Red touched their very wooden bodies. He could feel something dripping from his eyes, ears, and nose before it ran down his chin. Their wooden bodies rippled as he shifted them, finding delicate inner workings and sticking them together.

Each creature moved like a mechanical wooden puppet. They relied on henges, springs, and pullies to move. All Red had to do was fuse the joints, and the puppets were useless no matter how much the pilots wanted them to move. Red tapped the burnt one, and it fell over as Red retrieved his knife from its hand.

"Oh, how the tables have turned." He stabbed the first one under the jaws and felt the creature inside the puppet screech as it died. One by one, he stabbed all five of them.

Red sheathed his blade, feeling better after restoring his tool kit.

Retreat was an option. That was the case. He coughed out his lungs and struggled to get all the smoke out of them. Somehow, his HP had insulated him from smoke damage; it had been a lucky break. Maybe Constitution was at work. He turned his attention to the gate leading into the fall. He was approaching the 12-hour mark. Would anyone blame him if he turned around and headed back?

The fall would be just as hard to deal with as summer. He glanced at a wasp nest in a tree and read to pour arm-sized wasps down on an unsuspecting traveler. The fall lands would be even more dangerous.

Red placed a hand on a tree, and manipulating it was much easier. Something had changed with him, not in levels but fundamentally. He could feel the wood struggle and resist him; it didn't make any difference. The shopkeeper pulled bolt after bolt from the very living tree, taking from its mass to make each one.

He made them into wands wholesale at the cost of 1MP since they all came from the same source, and then he added a magic trap. Red saw something in the distance separating summer from fall. There was a monster with a moose skull on the body of a colossal wyrm made of wood guarding the entrance of the next section. Red would kill it, and every mob he found had a deer skull for a head.

Hey guys I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. If you want to read the next one early its on my patreon if you want to read two early they are also on my patreon. Here is the link.