《Apocalyptic Evolution》


 Chapter 1: Initiation Phase: Cocoon

    Jason was currently daydreaming. While he understood that it probably wasn''t a good thing that his daydreaming had become a habit while driving through his daily deliveries, it was the one thing that got him through the day. Being a delivery driver at the age of 24 wasn''t exactly Jason''s childhood dream. Despite having left the area to obtain a bachelors degree, Jason found the he was not a good fit into the nine to five work force grind.


    Jason was currently on his third delivery of the day on his way out of Destiny. Destiny was one of three towns in the area that Jason delivered to and around. Jason grew up in the town just to the southwest seven miles away by the name of Rutherford. Aside from Rutherford and Destiny, the third member of his little tri-town delivery service and by far the largest was Moutain City. Being located in an elongated basin between a few mountain tops belonging to the Appalachian Mtn. range meant that there was plenty of community mingling between the towns. Being mid-June naturally Jason''s windows were down on his red beat up delivery truck while some random music was playing on the radio.


    Jason had just gotten on the highway to head to the outskirts over Destiny to make a delivery of grains to one of his regular farms. Before he was even a quarter way to his destination a sensation washed over him causing him to snap out of his distracting thoughts and focus on his surroundings. Despite this new attention to his situation Jason could not identify the cause for his unease.


    Muttering to himself "I knew I shouldn''t have eaten lunch at that mexican restaurant with Tony...".


    Despite the discomfort he continued down the two lane road till he came upon a slightly unnerving sight. A couple of vehicles had pulled over to the side of the road ahead and had their emergency blinkers on. Due to the communities being fairly familiar with each other Jason recognized one of the vehicles up ahead. The vehicle belonged to the daughter of the farmer whose grain delivery was in the back of his truck. Pulling up his truck behind Catherine''s, the farmer''s daughter, vehicle and turning his own emergency blinkers on.


    Jason approached the seen with caution but also with a little bit of haste. Catherine was currently kneelying on the passenger side of a green sudan with another woman. Approaching the pair Jason could see that there was a boy currently between the two, and the other woman was speaking to Catherine in a close to hysterical state


    "... was fine, then all of a sudden he started complaining about his stomach and then passed out in the back seat. All of a sudden he just fell over, he was fine I''m telling you!" Noticing the woman''s eyes move to me at my approach Catherine turned to address my arrival. After squinting her eyes for a couple of seconds a flash of recognition dawned in her eyes and as I arrived at the trio I spoke."Hey everyone, whats going on? Is there anything i can do to help?"


    "Your the delivery guy that brings supplies to my dad''s farm right?" Catherine inquired.


    "That''s me," I replied a little miffed "Name''s Jason, and again what happened and how can I help?" Raising her eyebrows at my curt response Catherine looked like she was going to respond when she was cut off by the apparent mother of the uncocious child. "We were on our way to Moutain City to spend the day shopping when all of a sudden he was complaining about feeling weird and then just passed out! Tell me you can help!" she pleaded.


    "No mam, but I can give you some advice. I''m not sure what seems to be wrong with your boy but he seems to be alright on the outside. My advice is to get him back in the vehicle and head to the nearest emergency room, which is back in Destiny." I stated.


    Turning around feeling like my contribution to the situation was appropriate and seeing no way to contribute further I began heading back to my truck intending to continue on my delivery. Before I could get halfway back to my vehicle I heard Catherine calling out behind me..


    "Is that it, your just going to up and leave...?"


    Looking back over my shoulder I made eye contact with her and responded simply.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    "Yes, is there something else I should be doing?"


    "Well you could help us..." Catherine stated in exasperation.


    "And how would you suggest I go about doing that?" I replied mentally shaking my head.


    "I don''t know you could do something more than just leaving!" she said while glaring daggers at me.


    "I am not a doctor and have no way to tell what is wrong with the boy, I gave my suggestion on what is a reasonable course of action for the mother to follow and see no other reason for me to stick around. Sitting around fretting over the unconcious boy is acomplishing nothing but delaying the boy''s treatment." I replied trying my best to keep the irritation out of my voice.


    Finding no words to respond to my statement Catherine turned back to the situation at her feet. The boy''s mother at this point had taken my advice and was attempting to get the boy loaded back into her vehicle. As Catherine assisted the mother with her task I loaded myself back into my truck. Driving off I couldn''t help but notice Catherine''s incredulous look as she helped the mother load her child back in her car.


    <hr>


    The rest of my delivery to Catherine''s father''s farm went smoothly. Luckily today was a short day and this was my last delivery of the day. Due to this I was able to set my mental gps to home and once again lost myself to my mind driving back. Fortunately, the farm was on the far side of Destiny from Riverton meaning I had to back track on the highway which was ideal for my state of mind.


    Having driven for nine of the eleven mile journey back to Riverton I was somewhere between the two towns. Suddenly, I felt the truck stall out in the middle of the highway. Correcting the truck which had veered into the other lane due to the sudden lack of torque. I heard a pinging sound that I assumed emanated from the dashboard that had stopped working some time ago. Having pulled over I got out and began a cursory inspection of the truck and could see nothing physically wrong other than the few bumps and scratches old red had gotten over the years. I assumed it was something under the hood. After checking most of the places I knew to check like oil, water, battery, blinker fluid, etc. I was pretty comfortable that the stall was not due to something wrong with the engine. Moving to restart the vehicle and finish the drive home, attributing the stall to a fluke and the age of the vehicle. I turned the keys and all that could be heared besides the incessant pinging was *click click click click*. ''Okay so I''m not some genius mechanic or anythiing but randomly stalling in the middle of the highway is not a normal occurrence. I just went and had the yearly check up at Frank''s a couple weeks ago so there shouldn''t be any reason I am not getting an ignition. And for the love of all that is holy where the hell is this beeping coming from!'' Removing the keys from the ignition and throwing them in the passenger seat I brought the palms up to my eyes and rubbed them in frustration. It took me a few moments to register that the pinging noise was still sounding off despite the keys being removed. Sitting there I tried racking my brain trying to figure out where this noise was coming from, and that is when my life changed.


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    <td>


    Warning: Incoming Transmission


    *Proceed to a safe location to receive incoming transmission. Once you are ready you will receive this announcement.*


    Humans of Earth, Welcome to the System.


    Due to recently achieving max population capacity for your planet and its dwindling resources. Your planet has been deemed acceptable to be admitted to the overall System of Galaxies. Earth was previously in a stage of developement with the designation of Larval Phase. Due to said phase, the system prevented interference from outside entities and allowed the Earth to develope along the most natural course possible after being seeded with multiple species. Earth is now going to be entering its next phase of developement known as theCocoon Phase. The Earth will be experiencing an abnormal growth in mana during this time due to its admission to the System. This influx of mana will have varying effects on your ecosystem and the species that inhabit them. Humans will also be affected by the influx of mana but as the dominant species you will be able to harnass it as well as be immune to the majority of its side effects. During this phase any City or Town with a population currently exceeding 10,000 people will be encompassed in a mana dome for the period of 1 month. The dome will allow entry of the dominant species while excluding all other species in an attempt to allow some adjustment to your new evolution. Doubtless many of you have already noticed the increased of mana for your planet in one way or another. It is highly advised that you seek shelter in a domed city or town as soon as possible. Non-dominant species tend to suffer from increased forms of aggression and evolutions with increased exposure to mana rich environments. Good Luck Humanity, you will need it.


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    </table>

 Chapter 2: Evaluation

    On the side of the highway Jason sat transfixed by the blue screen floating in front of him. Questions like ''How'', ''Why'', and ''What'' were streaming through his thoughts as fast as they could go. Jason sat in his truck for a while just lost for words before he was able to begin processing the situation. But before he could start planning out his next moves another *bing* sounded off in his head.


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    <td style="text-align: center">


    Attention


    Further inquiries regarding the situation can be addressed by verbally stating or thinnking your question addressed to "System"


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Jason could only blink willing this new prompt to go away before he got lost in his head again, and to his surprise it winked out of existence in response to his will. Taking a step back from the situation emotionally Jason began to plan out his next course of action like he had learned to do so many years ago.


    Jason checked his surroundings to makes sure that no one was around and that he was still safe, being on the side of the highway and all. ''Okay no one around, not a prank...'' How someone would pull off a prank like this Jason did not have the inkling of an idea. Jason got out of the truck and began inspecting his vehicle and even himself. ''Everything looks good, I don''t have any head injuries and the truck has just as many bumps and scratches as before...'' Having inspected both the environmental and physical aspects of his current circumstances left Jason with only one more option: mental. Jason audibly groaned as he contemplated the idea that he was having a mental break and losing his mind.


    Jason has always been a practical person, even when he was growing up which in a way set him apart from the other kids. Not to say that Jason did not have friends growing up or was weird or anything. For the most part Jason had a very normal childhood and was fortunate enough to be born in the United State of America, meaning even as a boy he had some advantages most of the world would never see. This just meant that Jason had to repress a part of himself in situations the normal adolescant, teenage, and young adult male found himself in. One of his most recent examples of this being his college diploma. One of the biggest hippocricies Jason found in modern America was the educational system. With technology developed to the degree it is, how is it that people are still going into a lifetimes worth of debt to obtain a piece of paper stating that they know what they know. All the information being taught to these individuals is freely given on the internet, granted Jason does acknowledge the dilemna of fact checking and other ill-savory facets that come with blind belief for anyone looking for information.


    ''Am I crazy? Would a crazy person ask that, surely not right?'' Needless to say nothing in Jason''s general psychology class prepared him to self-diagnose whether he was crazy or not. Reverting to his tried and true methods over the years Jason applied reason to the situation. Jason could think of really one way to test whether he was crazy or not without anyone else around.


    Feeling like a complete idtiot Jason mumbled out "Uhhh.. System... Hello?" Nothing. Relaxing and feeling tension that he didn''t know he was keeping in his shoulders relax. Jason sighed "What is going on?"


    <table>


    <tbody>


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    <td style="text-align: center">Earth is currently undergoing evolution as it is welcomed into the System of Galaxies, better known as System. Earth is currently in the Cocoon Phase which protrects larger populations of the planet''s dominant species for a limited period of time to allow for a safer environment to experience the earlier stages of evolution. </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Blinking, Jason instantly felt the tension return to his body. ''Okay, not a joke.. real, the blue boxes are actually a thing... at least to me, I need to get home and check on Will. Maybe he is seeing these things as well. I really hope I am not the only one cause that would mean I actually am crazy.''


    From the time he began checking his health and sanity only a few minutes have passed. Despite the short time Jason was still a little surprised when he tried to start his truck and it would not start. It took him all of a second to remember the stall out and reasons why he was now sitting on the side of the highway. But due to the complex emotions he was feeling at the arrival of the blue screen, it had completely slipped his mind. Jason was never one to fret over situations that he could not control so this mental lapse and the implications that he may be affected more than conciously sort of pissed him off. ''Come on man, you have been in simlar situations before, kind of but not really. Get your shit together and lock it down. Get home, check on Will, then figure out whatever the hell this blue shit is.''


    With a shake of his head and a grunt Jason took stock of his situation. He was only two miles out of Rutherford. Looking on both sides of the highway he did not see anyone coming and this was a particularly clear and straight stretch of the road. ''Well nothing to it but to do it I guess''. With that Jason locked the truck and began walking in the direction of Rutherford.


    To say Jason was physically fit would be an overstatement. However, he was by no means out of shape either. Moving deliveries from a store to the truck and vice versa at its destination is a pretty physcially intense work environment. Thus Jason was never forced to designate a specific portion of his day to running long distances and lifting weights to stay in shape. So a two mile walk back into Rutherford while annoying was not a daunting task.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    What was worrying for Jason was the idea of his little brother Will roaming around the town possibly with blue screens popping up in front of him. Will was 17 years old and the only family Jason had left that he spoke with. He and his brother were raised by the most amazing woman that Jason has ever had the privilege of knowing, their mother. Carol Vince raised both Jason and Will on her own from the beginning. Jason''s father was in the military serving over seas when he was killed in action. Carol moved to Tennessee shortly after his death with Jason to be near her sister. A mere two years after Carol had been living in Tennessee her sister shows up on her door step with her new born baby asking for Carol to look after it for a weekend while she spent some time with her boyfriend out of town. Carol never saw her sister again. Shortly after realizing that her sister was not going to return Carol moved the now two and a half year old Jason and his new born cousin, who everyone has long since thought of as my brother, Will to Rutherford. Jason grimaced as a particularly painful memory surfaced.


    <hr>


    Jason was 21 years old and into his third year of college. He was home for the holidays and his mother sat him down at the table while the 14 year old Will was playing with a new game he had gotten in his room. "Jason I have been meaning to speak with you about something for a while now but haven''t really been able to build up the courage to say it." Carol said while simultaneously looking me in the eyes and grasping my hands between hers. "I am so proud of the man you are becoming and what I was able to do for both you an your brother."


    With a confused and anxious look on my face I responded "What is going on mom? You have rarely been this lovey dovey before and never out of the blue. Its kinda weird." Is all I could get out as I inwardly squimed and my moms lips continued to curl upwards until she was eventually chuckling at my last statement.


    "Oh honey," she said as she brushed what I assumed were tears of mirth out of her eyes "never change that attitude of yours. While some may find it off putting and you may find it hard to get a girl without being a little "lovey dovey". Your ability to evaluate situations without emotion or regret is one of your biggest strengths."


    She went on to explain that she had been diagnosed with late stage breast cancer and while there was treatment options they were to expensive with to little chance of recovery. I immediately dropped out of school to come home and help despite her objections. She was gone the following winter.


    <hr>


    Punching his fist into his opposite palm while he walked Jason still had issues with his memories of that time. Anger, grief, sorrow, and much more. Seeing as he had quite the walk ahead of him Jason wanted to get his headspace pointed in a new direction. Planning, Jason was always good at making a game plan. Whether or not he stuck with the plan or called an audible for varrying reasons Jason always liked to go about his day with a plan in mind. What route was he going to take to what houses, how was he going to pack his truck so that he could easily get the package he required. Things like that are what took up most of Jason''s headspace when he was moving from place to place. It was rare for Jason to get to a location and not be able to hop out of his truck and go to work at that moment. It was a simple thing but Jason loved efficiency. So with the introduction of this new "System" Jason wanted to be able to plan. Planning required information which the System seemed more than happy to give so Jason had his plan while he was walking. Questions, lots of Questions.


    Having no idea where to begin Jason decided to keep it simple and see where it got him. ''System, what are you?'' he thought figuring that would be an easy one.


    <table>


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    <td style="text-align: center">The System, or System of Galaxies, are a collection of hospitable planets with sentient dominant species.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ''Huh, learned almost nothing there, lets try... System, what are these blue boxes in front of me.''


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    <td style="text-align: center">The ''blue box'' as you so barbarically called it is a combination of mana and thought directed at members of the System by representatives designated to help further develop System worlds and their inhabitants. A more appropriate terminology for these complicated forms of communcation would be ''notificaiton''.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ''Did it just... no surely not...'' Jason was lost for words so much so that he stopped walking. If he wasn''t mistaken the blue box just in a round about way insulted him? Shaking his head to get back on track because he was actually making progress towards the town as well as what was happening in his head. ''Insult aside, System what do you mean by ''further develop System worlds and their inhabitants''?''


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    <td style="text-align: center">System assimilation is triggered by multiple factors. The evaluated pique intelligence for a larval designated species or the evaluated pique population for a larval designated species are the main two reasons for assimilaiton. Upon assimilation System worlds undergo an influx of mana in order to encourage developement beyond the physical and intellecutal limits of the larval phase. While dominant species have the advantage of being able to harness this mana, they are by not means the sole benefactors.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ''Okay so the stuff that first popped up just a little more detailed. I still feel like I''m beating around the bush.'' Jason thought to himself as he kicked a loose piece of asphalt. ''Hmm what to ask next... well lets go with... what is mana?'' Jason thought figuring if he just kept asking questions about subjects the system told him about he eventually would be able to figure out something or another.


    <table>


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    <td style="text-align: center">What is mana indeed...</td>


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    </table>

 Chapter 3: Carpe Diem

    <table>


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    <td>


    Quest Recieved: Information Station


    -Head to the nearest domed city to register as a citizen of the System.


    Reward: Access to System information, System registered equipment.


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ''Huh...'' Jason thought. ''Quest? Like a video game?'' Growing up in modern day America, similar to the majority of Jason''s boyhood friends, Jason had played video games avidly. You name the genre and Jason had probably dipped his toes into it. So when this notification in front of him gave him a quest Jason knew what it wanted from him. Unfortunately for him, it would be no easy task to complete. Jason''s truck was out of commission and the one city in the area that had a dome according to the initial notification was Mountain City.


    With a populations just shy of 1500, Rutherford was by far the smallest town in the area. Destiny came in second in regards to size with a population of 5,619 people plus or minus a few roamers. Mountain City on the other hand had a population at 13,743, putting its population numbers just above what was required for the dome to erect itself over its borders.


    With Rutherford coming into Jason''s line of sight he picked up the pace the beginnings of a plan coming together in his head. His biggest concern at this point was getting back and connecting with Will, the rest he could figure out as he went. Upon reaching the outskirts of the town Jason noticed that there was definitely something off with the vibe the town was giving off. Not slowing down for a second once he hit the town square Jason made straight for the apartment he shared with Will behind the local general store.


    Before he made it around the back of the store though he was flagged down by the store''s owner Jessica. Seeing Jessica waving Jason corrected his course and made it to the entrance of Jessica''s General Store, not the most original name choice. Looking at Jessica it was hard to believe she was in her late 60s. With salt and pepper hair and the attitude to match Jessica was one of the sole reasons that Jason was able to support himself and his brother in this town.


    "Jason," she breathed out with a hint of relief "I was worried about you with all that has been going on. Before you ask Will is inside helping me out." She interrupted my intended comment knowing me to well, "You should head to the Harrison''s place, the town is having a meeting of some kind to discuss what has been going on."


    Looking over Jess'' shoulder Jason indeed saw his younger brother packing some boxes and duffel bags with supplies. Curious as to what he was doing, "Wait a sec Jess, what do you mean discuss what is has been going on? I just walked back into town, my truck died a couple miles out of town on my way back in." he asked with a mixture of hope and disbelief.


    "Why the blue screens that keep popping up in front of people''s faces of course. You must have seen them by now right?" she replied in almost hysterics.


    ''I''M NOT CRAZY'' Jason screamed mentally while being both relieved and astounded at the same time. Instantly Jason felt himself relax and his mind became clearer. Obviously being so isolated for the past few hours while all these new events had been happening had weighed heavier on Jason than he first believed. ''OK so this is happening. Well I have already accomplished my first goal, Will is safe and apparently busy. Time to put myself to work as well.''


    "Alright Jess, I''ll check in with Harrison but I won''t be long, tell Will I will be back shortly and to be ready to head to Mountain City when I get back." I stated before heading off towards the north side of Rutherford.


    Arriving at the designated location I couldn''t help but stop and prepare myself. Harrison was the Mayor of Rutherford. Despite having no authority and it being a purely titular position, Harrison believed himself to be above the normal citizen simply for having the title. So naturally Jason had had several run-ins with Harrison in the past that were less than friendly.


    Walking up to the residence, which to be fair was a pretty sizable two story home, Jason noticed the door was open and could hear a heated argument going on inside the living room. "...not acceptable, I will not have everyone running around the country side." That would be Harrison.


    "What would you have us do? There is no working transportation, anything electrical has stopped working including batteries. How else are we going to find out what is going on than to go to Mountain City and see for ourselves?" Surprisingly Jason recognized the agitated voice of Frank Jackson, Jess'' next door neighbor and owner of the local auto repair shop.


    Walking into the living room Jason noticed there were around 20 or so people following the discussion of the two men. Almost as one everyone turned to look at the new arrival, "Uh... Hey guys mind if I join?." Jason asked with a bit of a awkward smile.


    "What are you doing here Jason?" Harrison asked with a little heat left over from his previous discussion.


    "Jess told me you all were meeting and figured I should show up, thought maybe we could figure out what is going on, maybe put together a group to head to Mountain City." I stated matter of factually and with as little emotion as I could. Despite his previous disagreements with Harrison over his stupidity, Jason felt that he could overlook them with the most recent events and their implications.


    "As I was just informing Mr. Jackson here, I cannot allow you all to run off into the country side on a whim. If you had shown up sooner you would have heard that and I wouldn''t have had to repeat myself." Harrison said haughtily.


    "So what is the plan then?" Jason asked.


    Jason knew the answer before it left his lips, but he could not just undermine Harrison in front of so many people. Despite having no authority a few people in the town still looked to him for guidance and leadership no matter how poorly he performed those two roles. "We will wait this out and soon this whole mess will either blow over or someone will come to check on us." was Harrison''s reply.


    ''So much for trying to ignore Harrison''s stupidity.''Jason thought.


    "Nope, Harrison we have had disagreements in the past but that is a terrible decision." Looking to the entire room and coming to rest on Frank, Jason informed them "I will be heading to Mountain City within the hour. I plan to find out some more information and then return tomorrow. Hopefully I will be able to shed some light on the situation." Turning around before Harrison could respond Jason left the so called "meeting" which just turned out to be a waste of his time.


    *Bing*


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    <td>*Register at the nearest domed city to receive your reward*</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Walking out of the house leaving Harrison spluttering, Jason heard someone coming up behind him. Preparing for worst case scenario Jason spun around and was surprised to see Frank coming up to him. "Heh, good to see ya kid. I know Jess was worried about ya what with everything that is goin'' on." Frank said while walking beside Jason.


    "Same Frank, and yeah I ran into her on my way to check on Will. Should have known that she would have him in her store working. Hey, what did you mean there wasn''t any transportation?" I inquired.


    "Just that," he replied "Shortly before the screens started popping up every vehicle just stalled out. Everyone came over to the shop initially wantin'' new ignition switches and various other fixes but none of them worked. If I''m bein'' honest with ya youngin'' I don''t have a clue as to what is goin'' on with the vehicles let alone the screens."


    While this definitely hampered Jason''s plans to travel to Mountain City it was not a completely unaccounted for issues. It wasn''t hard for Jason to put together the two events of his truck stalling out and the immediate arrival of the notifications. While Jason was walking to town he had come up with several ways to travel to Mountain City. Of course the easiest way would have been to borrow Jess'' SUV but Jason had not only relied on vehicles. This just meant that Jason was going to have to make the trip some other way.


    "Frank got a favor to ask of you if you don''t mind to much." Jason said looking at Frank. "Would you mind watching out for Jess while me and Will are away. I don''t like leaving her with all that is going on but someone needs to get some more information and that is in Mountain City."The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    "Not at all boy, I''ll come up with one or two reasons to visit the store frequently today and tomorrow and make sure she is doin'' alright. You take care of yourself ya hear?" Frank said parting ways with Jason and heading towards his shop.


    <hr>


    Jason had to admit when he thought of this plan he may have been overestimating himself a bit. Jason and his brother were currently hiking their way through the countryside on their way to Mountain City. The one thing that made this plan viable despite the fact that Mountain City was on the other side of Destiny according to a map; was that while Destiny was to the Northeast, Mountain City was more in the Eastern/Southeastern direction from Rutherford. Meaning that by cutting across the countryside the original twenty three mile hike was reduced to a mere sixteen miles. At least that is how Jason had put it in his head when he planned it out.


    Six miles into the trek Jason was huffing and puffing his way up another hill. Jason was regretting going with this plan instead of one of his other options. Will on the other hand was having a great time. Will had always been athletic and while Jason was in shape. he was not in the physical shape that Will was in thanks to high school sports and several choice elective classes. Despite Jason''s mental struggles, as the older of the two brothers he would not allow his younger brother to see him lacking. So on they pushed into the countryside slowly but surely closing the distance to Mountain City.


    It happened while they were still seven miles out from Mountain City. Jason was slowly following behind his brother Will as they climbed yet another hill. Jason was only about five yards behind his brother when he heard him take a sharp intake of breath. Instantly alert for something that Will may have done, Jason looked up to find his brother fixated on a spot just on the other side of the hill. Jason quickly closed the distance between his brother and looked down upon what had caught his brother''s attention.


    Halfway up the far side of our current hill heading in the opposite direction as Will and I were three...what the hell were those things? They were each about four feet tall, green-ish brown, and had ears resembling rabbits. They seemed to be just as surprised by our arrival as we were theirs. Having moved in front of Will, Jason removed the one gun the brothers owned between them from his back. Jason was not naive enough to travel the countryside of the mountains without a firearm, so when they left Rutherford Jason made sure to bring his 12 Ga. shotgun with him. While Jason was preparing himself the animals seemed to snap out of their surprise and started moving towards Jason and Will barking in their own kind of language. Focusing on them Jason was surprised to see labels above their heads...


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    <td>


    Goblin Scout Lvl. 1


    ??/??


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    </tbody>


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    <td>


    Goblin Scout Lvl. 1


    ??/??


    </td>


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    <table>


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    <td>


    Goblin Scout Lvl. 2


    ??/??


    </td>


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    </tbody>


    </table>


    ''Why not,'' Jason thought ''first notifications, then quests, and now fucking goblins with levels. Well if there is anything I learned from video games it is that goblins are little assholes and killing them is considered a good thing.'' Jason lined up his shot on the center and highest leveled goblin. As they got closer they started to spread out in an attempt to surround the two brothers. Jason decided that he was going to go for the shot before they got to spread out...


    *Click*


    ''OK...OK not a big deal just a dud that is all still have four more shells...'' Jason thought in a near panic. Cocking the shotgun to remove the dud and load a new shell, he lined up another shot...


    *Click*...*Click*...*Click*...*Click...


    ''Well fuck me. Seriously first my truck and now this fucking gun can''t shoot bullets! FUCK this System bullshit!'' Jason was screaming in his head. With barely anytime until the goblins were on top of them Jason turned to his brother. Will was similar to Jason in regard to attitude. While these goblins were definitely a surprise they were still only a little larger than four feet in height. Will while standing behind his brother it was not an indication that he was intimidated and afraid, he just figured he would rather be behind the gun than in front of it. Sighing Jason handed his boot knife off to his brother, because what self respecting hiker went hiking without a knife. Meanwhile Jason unstrapped the bush machete from his hip that he used during harvesting season and brought in case the trail got to overgrown to pass through. "Will stay behind me and watch my back, I will try and handle two of them but there is no guarantee, and the third one is probably up to you." Jason informed his brother while not taking his eyes off the middle goblin.


    "Gotcha Jase, leave it to me, be careful these little fucks look like they have rabies or some shit..." Will commented as he picked out the goblin on the right as his target.


    "Same goes for you bro and watch your language. Imagine what would happen if Jess heard you speaking like that." Jason chided trying to lighten the mood. Despite the unexpectedness of the situation Jason was calm. Hiking through the wilderness always carries the risk of running into wild animals. When it came to a physical confrontation Jason was confident that he and Will could handle themselves well. The goblins despite being unknown entities until all of two minutes ago only seemed to have their bare hands for the fight while Jason had his bush machete and Will had a boot knife.


    When the goblins got within five yards of the brothers they made their move. Barking in their strange language they started running at their two adversaries. Lining up his body so that he was prepared to take on the middle and left goblin, Jason left the right goblin to his brother fully trusting him to have his back. Then the goblins arrived. Swinging the machete in his right hand towards the middle goblin, he was a little surprised to see it hop back out of range. Before the left goblin got inside Jason''s guard,he managed to get his foot up and put his heel into the charging goblins nose.


    -8 HP


    A damage marker floated above the level 1 goblins head as he was sent reeling from the kick. Left with only the middle and highest level goblin to engage, Jason turned his body fully in the direction of his remaining target to try and capitalize on the evened out numbers. While he was turning he was able to get a look at what was going on with his brother and the last goblin. Jason saw them rolling around on the ground about 8 yards away. Smirking to himself Jason turned his attention to his opponent fully now having no doubt that Will''s fight would be over soon.


    The level 2 goblin scout was the highest level in the group and it''s dodge earlier definitely made Jason a little more wary of its fighting capabilities. When Jason took a second to check on his brother''s fight the scout noticed and decided it wanted to take advantage of Jason''s lack of focus. Despite only glancing over at his brother''s fight when he refocused on the goblin scout in front of him, Jason was taken off guard by its sudden charge. Not only that but it seemed that this one was quicker than the other goblins but only marginally. Still it was enough to allow it to get underneath Jason''s swipe with the machete. Then reflexes that Jason hadn''t used in years kicked in and when the goblin attempted to tackle Jason at his legs and put him on his back, Jason suddenly pulled his legs back behind him and thrust his hip into the goblins face. Honestly, Jason was a little bit surprised at the strength of such a small creature but Jason figured the same rule applied to most animals in the wild. While usually a safe bet, size was not necessarily a factor in strength in the animal kingdom. While surprised Jason''s experience in these type of situations allowed him to adjust, and with his free left hand Jason pushed the goblins face to the ground.


    Keeping his forward momentum, with the goblins face in the ground, Jason but his left knee in the back of the goblin''s neck while bracing his body with his right leg allowing him to keep the pressure of his body weight on the immobilized goblin. Trying not to think of it to much Jason brought the machete down puncturing the goblins back where he assumed a lung,heart, or whatever the fuck a goblin had in its chest would be. Jason had to plunge his machete into the goblin twice before he got a notification that he assumed meant the goblin had perished.


    -20 HP


    *Critical Damage* -50 HP


    *Bing*


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>*Register at the nearest domed city to receive your reward*</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    *Bing*


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>*Register at the nearest domed city to receive your reward*</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    *Bing*


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>*Register at the nearest domed city to receive your reward*</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Dismissing the notification with a thought, Jason growled at the situation. ''Annoying fucking System, annoying fucking Harrison, annoying fucking goblins...'' Jason immediately started checking his surroundings. His brother was making his way over to Jason, Jason could see that he had a few scratches but for the most part he was alright. Jason noticed some movement behind his brother and saw the remaining goblin attempting to sneak up behind him. With a spring Jason was able to cover the remaining three yards between him and his brother and with a lunge pierced the last goblin of the group through the chest.


    *Critical Damage* -50 HP


    *Bing*


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>*Register at the nearest domed city to receive your reward*</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    *Bing*


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>*Register at the nearest domed city to receive your reward*</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ''Again, fuck you System...''

 Chapter 4: Vengeance

    "Well fuck..." Will exclaimed with a start while hopping away from the now impaled goblin, "sneaky little bastards when they want to be aren''t they, and whats up with all these blue screens?"


    "Notifications." Jason grunted as he cleaned off the machete and moved further up the hill to sit down and attempt to digest what just happened.


    "Huh?" asked Will walking over to inspect the goblins that Jason had killed.


    "They are called notifications, and they are why we are out here in the first place on our way to Mountain City." Jason said. He went on to explain what he was able to find out on his walk back to Rutherford. "So when we get to the city we are going to have to find out what it means by ''register''. Whether or not we end up registering it will be good to at least see whether the city has more information than we do."


    Jason had some thinking to do. They were over half way to their destination with only seven miles to reach the city. At best estimations with seven miles left they still had three and a half more hours of hiking without rest. The brothers had planned on pushing hard till dark then setting up a camp and arriving at the city early the next morning. Even at their previous pace it would be dark by the time they got half way to the city from their current location. With the addition of these new monsters Jason had to contemplate changes to their current plan. Pulling out a granola bar to munch on while he thought, Jason watched Will inspecting the goblins and was curious himself where these things came from.


    Once Will was done with his inspection of the bodies he made his way up to Jason''s position. By the time Will sat down and started munching on his own granola bar, Jason had come up with several options to take from here. "We have some choices to make Will, you ready?"


    "Hit me, by the way I saw that sprawl you used on that lead goblin. Like riding a bike right?" Will said with a smirk.


    Chuckling Jason responded with "Yeah, yeah it was a bit of a knee jerk reaction but its nice to know I still got it. But back to business, the way I see it we have two options: back or forward. There is no way I want us camping out here for the night with goblins and who knows what else roaming around." If Jason was being honest with himself he would not have come out here in the first place if he thought something like this would happen.


    "Well we are already closer to Mountain City than Rutherford, so my vote is forward." Will stated matter of factually.


    "Agreed, we will leave behind the camping supplies. Snacks and packs only. No more stomping around either, we only have around two more hours of light left with seven miles to go. We are going to keep a steady pace and keep our eyes peeled for anything strange." Jason said while moving to relieve his pack of most of its bulk. He figured they could swing back by this location on the way back to Rutherford to pick up there stuff when they had plenty of daylight to work with.


    Without the camping supplies they were able to start making some steady progress even while keeping an eye out for more monsters. While Jason was hoping they would be able to get the rest of the way to the city with no more incidents he was not going to be taken surprise like they were last time. He spent their time moving coming up with a strategy if they were to run into another group of goblins. The best he could come up with that would keep them moving at a steady pace would be to blitz the goblins before they noticed the brothers.


    It was moments like these that Jason appreciated his personality. Will and Jason were currently crouched behind a couple of trees watching another group of two goblins, each with a level of one, approach their location. Sticking with Jason''s plan, Will took the goblin on the left by surprise while Jason was able to eliminate the one on the right. In short order the goblins were eliminated and the brothers were moving on towards the city. This process repeated a two more times in the following two hours since the initial run in with the goblins before the sun went down. The last group having got the jump on the brothers before they were noticed them, leaving Jason with a pretty nasty bite to his calf.


    Once night fell the brothers were able to make solid progress towards the city. Jason estimated that they were just over an hour out based on some of the landmarks he could see through the moonlight. Suddenly Jason was on guard, his nose had alerted him to a change in his surroundings. It only took him a few moments of careful attention to spot a part of the forest ahead that was lighter than the rest. The closer they got the more light they could see between the trees and it soon became obvious that someone had set up a campfire ahead of them. Motioning for Will to stay low and follow Jason in, they made their way as quietly as possible to the campsite. Finally able to peek through the trees and see who was around the fire, Jason felt his heart leap up into his lungs. Sitting around the fire was the largest group of goblins they had seen all day. ''There has to be at least fifteen goblins there...'' Jason thought to himself. Immediately, Jason through out the idea of confronting these things and was planning on just circumventing them entirely to continue on to Mountain City.


    Just as Jason was turning to leave, Will put his hand on his shoulder. Looking over to Will, Jason was surprised to see him staring at the camp with anger. Surely he wasn''t mad enough about the few bumps and scrapes he got earlier in the day to want to run into this group despite their obvious numerical disadvantage. Will just motioned for Jason to look past the fire to the far side of the goblins camp near the trees. After adjusting his eyes to the brightness of staring at the fire Jason was able to make out some shadows under one of the trees. The longer Jason stared the more his eyes adjusted and he was able to make out the shapes of several human bodies huddled together at the tree''s base. Feeling a heat start to build in his chest Jason started checking out the camp again with this new information. What he saw left him boiling, the goblins had apparently taken captives during the day and what they had done with them was making him sick. Jason could see several body parts surrounding the fire, and several of the goblins were chewing on something but Jason did his best not to look to closely at that. Before Jason lost his cool he grabbed Will by the shoulder and led him back further into the woods.


    Once they were far enough away from the camp Jason signaled for Will to come closer. Will held a finger up and with a hand over his mouth shuffled quickly past Jason to the nearest tree. Leaning on the tree Will emptied his stomach and continued to heave for almost a minute. Jason let Will get control of himself before he motioned for him again to come back over. Before Jason could open his mouth, Will asked "We aren''t just going to leave those people are we Jase?"


    Normally Jason would be proud to hear about his brother looking out for others. However, Jason had to really do some thinking about the situation. ''Of course he did not want to leave the people behind. But could he and his brother seriously handle that many of those little gremlins on their own.'' Jason took a few minutes of trying to come up with some way of helping those people while making sure that he and his brother would be able to get out of there in one piece. Will knowing Jason''s tendencies to tune out the world when he was trying to solve a problem sat there and kept a look out.


    "Here is what we are going to do..." Jason said breaking the silence.


    It took the brothers a good thirty minutes to make preparations for what Jason had planned. Jason was now back at the campsite where he had originally observed the goblins. With a few minutes to spare Jason got a hard count of how many goblins he was dealing with, there were twelve total goblins in the camp. Only four of the goblins were level two the remaining being level one. Will had left Jason a few minutes previously to get in position for his role in the plan. Adrenaline was pumping through Jason''s body as he mentally prepared himself for what he was about to do. Having reached the time count Jason had agreed to give Will to get into position, he did a last minute check on his equipment. Jason stood up and started to move, it was time to teach these goblins to fear humans.


    Due to the lack of equipment Jason had been forced to keep the plan simple. He was going to act as a decoy to lead the goblins away from the camp while Will slipped in and led the captives towards the city. With such a simple plan there was always a chance for something to go wrong but it still left room for improvisation. Jason was lugging one such improvisation with him at the moment. Jason had found the largest rock that he could carry while still maintaining his ability to move. Sneaking into the goblins camp proved easier than Jason expected. They were not the most attentive bunch and were currently distracted by their meal or each other. Using the shadows at the edge of the camp to slowly move forward Jason was able to get within a couple of yards of his first target, one of the level two goblins. The goblin was currently lounging on its side with no clue of its current peril. Lifting the rock above his head, Jason felt the heat returning to his body from earlier. Letting the momentum of the rock build as it fell, Jason''s hands were there to just guide it to its intended destination. *poof* The goblin barely managed to get out half a grunt before its spine was caved in through its chest.


    *Critical Damage* -69 HP


    *Bing*


    Before the rock hit Jason was already moving to his next target. The goblin was to the left of his original victim was sitting up Indian style and as he turned his head to the sound of the dying goblin, Jason met the goblin''s neck with his machete. The goblin was left with only about three inches of his neck still connected to the rest of his body.


    *Critical Damage* -84 HP


    *Bing*


    The goblin''s of the camp were now very much aware that something was wrong. Jason was confident he would be able to get one more strike in before the goblins were able to react to his presence. Seeing another goblin get up on the other side of the one he crushed with the rock, Jason took two steps and leapt over the goblin''s corpse. It wasn''t anything spectacular just with enough height to clear the corpse and give Jason the momentum he needed. With the machete raised above his head Jason brought it down intending to cleave down through where his neck met his shoulders. The goblin had several more seconds to react to the noises on its left however and turned to meet Jason''s charge. It just managed to raise its arm up to deflect the incoming strike before Jason arrived.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    -18 HP


    *Amputation Bleed* -15 HP/5 sec


    The strike did not immediately incapacitate the goblin as Jason had intended, but what it did accomplish was even better. The goblin in front of Jason immediately fell to his knees and began making this screechy barking sound that Jason assumed was it''s version of a scream. Jason now had the attention of every goblin in the clearing, and as if in slow motion Jason could see realization then rage color the faces of the remaining nine goblins in the clearing. This is exactly what Jason was hoping to achieve, he wanted every goblin in the camp to mindlessly chase him into the trees allowing the captives to be left alone for Will to retrieve. Turning on his heel, Jason took off into the forest. He could hear the Goblins giving chase behind him. He could only hope that he had enough behind him to give Will the chance to free the captives.


    Watching from the shadows, Will had the perfect vantage point to see the carnage brought about by his brother''s actions. He was also able to see his brother''s escape and with smile noticed that all nine remaining goblins had hopped off in pursuit. Quickly moving forward through the trees Will came upon the spot that he had noticed the captives huddled against the tree. As he approached them he noticed that they all seemed to be awake and eyeing his approach warily. Will was now close enough to make out their current predicament and at that moment he wished at least one goblin had stayed behind for Will to deal with. The captives were a mix of the young and elderly, they had their hands and feet bound with strips of rope. Upon Jason''s approach he could see one particular elderly gentleman shuffle his way between Will and the rest of the group.


    For Stan Holloway, today had been one of the worst days of his long life. At sixty-four years old, he was getting to old for this shit. With blue screens popping up and little shit colored hairless monkeys, Stan would have thought he was suffering some delayed onset PTSD from Vietnam if other people weren''t seeing it as well. Not only seeing it but while Stan was moving towards the big blue dome that had encompassed Mountain City with a group of other people from his subdivision, his wife included, he had been set upon by the a fore mentioned monkeys. While attempting to stop them from running off with some of the younger kids, Stan had been attacked from behind and before he knew it he was tied up and being dragged through the woods with seven others. Stan had only been able to watch as that group was reduced to five. Another elderly couple that he recognized from his group but did not know to well had been dragged away earlier, Stan could still hear their screams. The whole situation was bringing back memories for Stan that he had not thought about in a very long time. So when Stan saw a shadow moving to the middle of the camp and start slaughtering the weird monkeys with ease, he was filled with hope but also fear of the unknown. Thus when another shadow started to approach their group after the other had fled into the woods being pursued by the whole camp, Stan readied himself to do what he could for the remaining captives. When a boy no older than eighteen walked out of the woods, Stan was honestly surprised.


    Noticing that the hostages were bound but not gagged Will spoke before they could "Hey everyone, we don''t have long so when I cut you loose stay together and we will start to move once I am done with everyone."


    Looking over his shoulder Stan noticed that the rest of his group was to stunned by the appearance of the mysterious youth to respond so he decided to do it for them. "Get the youngest first," He managed to get out through his hoarse, water deprived throat. "They took two of us over to the fire, any chance you could get to them?"


    With a look and a slight shake of his head, Will communicated the fate of the two captives that were taken to the fire silently with this elderly gentleman. "You all are the only ones left, the plan is to move in the direction of the city as fast as possible. My brother will not be able to lead them away for much longer."


    "Thank you for the help son, the names Stan, Stan Holloway." Stan got out while the youth was busy cutting his bindings. Stan was the last one of the group to be set free and the rest were waiting several feet into the treeline huddle together. Now that Stan could get a proper look at his group he noticed that they were all no older than twelve to thirteen. With a sigh Stan realized that his attempt to protect the younger members of his traveling group had been unsuccessful.


    "Names Will Vince," Will said shaking Stan''s extended hand. Motioning for the group to fall in behind Will, he moved them deeper into the trees before he stopped to inspect them. None of the captives had any debilitating injuries so Will was confident that they would be able to travel the remaining distance between the city and their location in decent time. "Alright, plan is to move through the woods to the city, I know the general direction so we will not be stopping until we get there. Should only be an hour or so of moving till we get there. Any objections or anything I should know before we get moving?" Will asked.


    Not seeing any of the children speaking up Stan decided to expedite the process. "Lead the way Will, but I would like to have a talk after we get to the city if you don''t mind." Stan stated deciding to put his questions off till they were safe.


    With a nod Will started their trek through the night, hoping to not run into anything till the reached the city. ''You better not be far behind me Jase.'' Will thought before he focused entirely on navigating the captives to their destination.


    Jason''s calf was on fire. He had only been running for a little over a minute at this point but the bite he received earlier was definitely hindering his movement. It wasn''t anything dire at this point but it was only going to get worse. Jason figured that by now Will had probably been able to move in and get the captives moving in the right direction. At least he hoped he had because the goblins were gaining on him. Deciding that it was time to hit his pursuers with his second improvisation. Reaching into his pocket with his right hand Jason pulled out a fistful of rocks, each the size of a large marble. Waiting until the goblins were almost within striking distance, Jason stretched his right leg to its limit in a pivot step. Swinging his body around to the left allowed Jason to add the momentum of his pivot to his throw. Jason was only able to get a brief glimpse of his pursuers while he slung his arm around and released his fistful of rocks point blank into the lead runners.


    -3 HP


    -5 HP


    -2 HP


    Using the momentum of the throw to continue his turn, Jason was able to completely turn back around to continue running. He lost a lot of his speed but he was hoping the rocks would be enough of a surprise to slow down the goblins. To his credit he was partially right, the front goblins that were hit by the volley of rocks ended up stumbling after getting caught off guard causing a pile up of those behind them. However, one of the goblins right behind the first row was able to jump over those that fell allowing it to keep its speed. All of a sudden Jason felt a weight fall on his back and then a burning sensation just below his right shoulder. Using the momentum of the goblin landing on his back, Jason fell into a roll hoping to peel the goblin off using the ground. What actually happened is that he flopped onto his back knocking the air out of his lungs with how fast he was going. Still it had the desired effect of dislodging his unwanted passenger and Jason rolled over to face him while still trying to get his lungs to work properly. The goblin thinking he had Jason at a disadvantage charged, having lost the machete in his tumble Jason let instincts he hadn''t used in years take over. These goblins were worrying in groups when they had superior numbers, but one on one it was like fighting a fifteen year old. Not a particularly smart one at that, Jason retrieved the biggest rock he could get from his pocket. Jason bunched his legs under him and speared the goblin in the stomach with his shoulder. Raising his right hand, Jason brought it down over and over again.


    -9 HP


    -12 HP


    -8 HP


    *Bing*


    *thump*...*thump*...*thump*...


    Jason kept hitting the goblin even after receiving the notification from the System. The whole process of Jason rolling to remove the goblin from his back and the ensuing brawl lasted all of thirty seconds. Feeling eyes on him Jason remembered his current situation and looked up to see the group of goblins staring at him with... fear?


    The goblins had been riding a high all day long. For the most part their encounters with the local human population left the humans running away in fear. So when a single human had dared attack them at their campsite they were infuriated. When that same human had started to flee from the remainder of the camp it had given the goblins a sense of superiority, and they had leapt up to pursue him. Out in the shadows of the forest the goblins had lost some of their confidence, this human had been able to outrun them for longer than any others that they had run into. Then it had somehow been able to strike multiple of them at the front of the pack causing them to tumble over each other. Now looking at what they had assumed was a human shrouded in shadow while he beat one of their own using only a rock so brutally had left them with chills. They began to see things in the night that was making them regret pursuing this person so recklessly.


    *Bing*


    Jason could not believe what he was seeing, besides the notification that he had received outside of combat that was in itself strange. These barbarians had him outnumbered eight to one and they were the ones hesitating. Again Jason felt heat rising in his chest, he was happy to keep this stalemate for the moment if only to give him a chance to catch his breath. As Jason continued to stare at these creatures the heat continued to build. It reached its peak when Jason noticed one of the goblins in the front take a step back, ''After all this, the planning, running, fighting... after everything they have done, THEY are afraid to fight ME?'' Jason thought rising to his feet. Jason began slowly scan his surroundings with his eyes looking for his machete, locating it a few feet in the direction of the group of goblins Jason grimaced. Taking a step in the direction of his machete, and subsequently the goblins Jason began to wonder if he should just leave the weapon behind and try to ditch the group of goblins. That one step however changed Jason''s perspective on the entire situations.


    The goblins in the front began jostling the ones behind them to take a step back. See thing Jason couldn''t help but laugh, taking another step forward the goblins began backing up in earnest. Reaching down and grabbing his machete, Jason decided it was time for a change in pace. He was done running from these cowards. Mentally preparing himself for what was about to come Jason began walking forward in earnest. The reactions the goblins showed only proved to fuel Jason''s inner rage. Jason was about five yards out when he made his move. As soon as he lunged the goblins lost all sense of cohesion and began to flee. Noticing that there were a few goblins visibly slower than the rest of the group, Jason moved to cull their numbers as they fled. It was scarily simple to cut down these goblins from behind. It was like they had lost all desire to fight. In a matter of minutes Jason was back at the campsite facing down what remained of the eight goblins that fled through woods from him. A mere two goblins stood cowering in the firelight that had diminished considerably with no one to tend it. Take his time moving towards these two sorry excuses for life, Jason had no doubt in his mind what their fate would be. He was able to dispatch the goblins with minimal effort...


    *Bing*


    *Bing*


    *Bing*


    *Bing*


    About twenty minutes was what it took for Jason to engage the goblins, lead them away, and ultimately pursue them back to their original camp. Jason was happy to see that the captives were no where in sight when he made it back to the camp initially. After a cursory check of the campsite, Jason headed off in search of his brother hoping that he would have an uneventful hike the rest of the way to the city.