《Test of Endurance》 Rejection or Redemption Grabbing for the next fifty pound pack of shingles I fought the urge to check my phone again as it continued to buzz. Focusing on the job again for the moment I started up the ladder. I could feel my knees and back protesting now at the end of the day as I ascended each rung. Stepping on to the roof carefully I hauled my package the last few feet, baking as the sun radiated eat from the black underlining. Free of my burden I started back down to do it all over again. Roofing was supposed to be a temporary gig, but as work had dried up all over the country it became my life. Day in and day out, as my body fought to keep together through the whole mess. Only to go home at the end of the day to my tiny one bedroom apartment up six flights of stairs. I had one outlet though, gaming. Every night after I¡¯d scrubbed the tar and dirt off myself I could jack in to the virtual world and become someone else. Luke Castille manual laborer became Gideon Stonefist battle cleric, where all my aches and pains could be healed with a quick chant, I could run and jump without worrying about my bad knee, and I didn¡¯t have to haul heavy things just to get by. Hauling another pack of shingles over my shoulder I started the process over again, just ten more painful back breaking trips and I was free for the night. Turning the key to my place I stepped into my apartment hoping for once the overworked AC in the window had managed to keep it something under sweltering. Sadly it had not, luckily at least with how bad I smelled the off putting mix of cooking smells rising up through the vents was overpowered. Stripping off my clothes I left a trail to the shower, cranking it on as I finally checked my battered phone that had been going off all day. Flipping through my messages to see what the hubbub was about I nearly decided then and there to skip my shower and go log in right now. Debating it for a moment I finallygave in to the temptation of the pouring water, besides my bed slash couch couldn''t withstand anymore stains before it was considered a whole new fabric design. Pulling on a thin cotton shirt and a pair of basketball shorts I made my way into the living room, or just room. Dining room, living room, hell on good days it was even a fine sitting room to receive guests... as long as you loosely defined words like fine and sitting room. Flopping down on the pull out couch that dominated the space I reached over for my headset ignoring the protesting screams of the springs under me. Pulling it on I laid myself out, booting up the launch sequence as I was ready to put the day behind me. Racing up the large flagstone steps I pressed my hand to the ornate double doors of the guild hall, waiting a brief second as the game read my passcodes and unlocked them for me. With a light press the doors split apart admitting me to the dim empty hallways of the Smoking Elk adventuring guild. Slowing my pace I listened to the echo of my boots and plate armor through the empty rooms as I headed to the single door at the end. We used to be one of the top guilds in SoE, the world¡¯s largest full immersion virtual reality game Shards of Emular, and I was a guild leader with an army behind me. These days though we¡¯re just eighteen longtime friends with an oversized and unused guild hall, and I¡¯m happy to be just part of the rank and file. Reaching the end of the empty hall I grabbed the ring handle of the last door, pulling it open as warm light and a cacophony of sound washed out from inside. Slipping in through the half open door I took in the scene unraveling before me. The former grand dining hall was now a mish mash of everything piled together in something that could only be described as organized chaos. Crafting work stations, armory racks full of equipment and trophies mounted on the wall all mixed with overstuffed chairs and piles of tomes. Right now most of those chairs were pulled into a loose ring and each filled with the excited face of a guildie anxiously waiting for our meeting. Grabbing a high backed chair I tossed it onto my shoulder, carrying it to the circle and claiming my own small section of the madness. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Giddy! You finally made it!¡± A rather cheerful voice shouted from across the circle I involuntarily winced at the nickname bestowed on me by our blue skinned demon summoner Cerulean ¡°Hey Cer, sorry I¡¯m late everyone. We¡¯ve got extra hours on the table and I¡¯ve been trying to pick up as much as possible while I can. When are we getting this started?¡± Jumping as I felt a hand on my shoulder ¡°Well we were just waiting on your slow butt, so I guess we¡¯re getting started now.¡± Came the soothing voice of Helena our current guild leader. Helena had taken the mantel after I had stepped down, right about the time we went from top of heap to completely forgettable. Nearly two years ago I made a decision that started a chain reaction leading us to this point. One of our former members a Paladin by the name of the Boomer had become one of the premiere streamers of SoE, his popularity had been a huge reason to our success in the early days. Members and offers had flooded in as he streamed our raid attempts and PvP action. But you know what they say, all good things have to come to an end, and for once it held true. Accusations started to arise, that our celebrity guildie was abusing his position and popularity to proposition and solicit things from various female members of our guild and his fan base. About the time that they started to come out his stream editor came forward to corroborate them. Sadly we had no evidence that would allow us to put a stop to it, so I did the next best thing I could. Bribing, threatening, and begging every other major faction in the game I built a growing black list on the man, finally banning him from the guild proper and releasing a statement on his actions. Sadly fan bases don¡¯t care about facts, members who joined because of him left in droves abusing permissions and emptying our coffers. More followed suit as daily harassment and griefing became the norm for us. In a last desperate measure to staunching the bleeding I stepped down as guild leader and Helena took charge holding the last of us together on sheer will alone. Now two years later we finally had something to be excited about again, our whistle blower and Boomer¡¯s former editor Alex had snagged the Smoking Elk a single invite to the yearlong launch event and deep immersion testing for Bastion Inc¡¯s newest release. A grand undertaking called Tenacity Online, where select participants would spend a year living in game and streaming their adventures to the public at large. T.O. was said to be the most realistic and hardcore game to date, so much so the creators had released a statement that they would not be placing any pain dampeners into their game. It¡¯d gone over gang busters, everyone was tired of the over fabricated FIVR games that had become common place over the last thirty years. I¡¯m no exception, and today we¡¯re deciding just who goes. Helena started the meeting, her voice firm and captivating ¡°Alright everyone, we all agreed that we¡¯re going for this. Now it¡¯s time to decide who to send. We¡¯re all gamers here and it¡¯s our nature to be amped to be the first, but this is a whole year of your real life gone. That means job, apartments, and so much more go out the door just so you can put your every action up on a screen for millions of viewers. Alex has already agreed to take on the job of editing and running the stream, and I¡¯ll be providing a room for him and when whoever we decide when they get out after the year. I¡¯m sure everyone else will come together to offer support where they can. Now raise your hand if you¡¯re volunteering.¡± I raised my hand, without a moment¡¯s hesitation. As much as I hate to admit it to myself or anyone I needed this, years of a dead end labor job and endless online harassment had taken a toll on me. I lived to game, and most importantly to game with my friends and even that had been stripped down the past few years. I don¡¯t think anything could get between me and a chance to recapture what we had, not just for myself but for the seventeen other people who¡¯d come together. We¡¯d all suffered in different ways, and in the end it¡¯s because I made a decision that affected everyone. ¡°Alright, that¡¯s two. Anyone else?¡± She asked looking around the room for a moment. Two? I searched the circle for the other volunteer and felt my stomach drop when I saw it. A diminutive mustached gnome with his hand raised firmly over his head, Zancress. Zan was our resident badass, a former recon marine and real life survival list. He reveled in braving the wild lands of the game solo, and ambushing other players on the road, fighting without the built in tool assistance that allowed the rest of us to fulfill our stereotypical fantasy roles. In a hardcore game like Tenacity Online, I doubt any of us could compete with him and everyone else knows it just as well as I do. Coming Home Setting down the last box in the storage unit, I ran an arm over my brow clearing the sweat before it could drop like stinger missiles into my eye for the umpteenth time today. Reaching up I pulled down the metal door with a grunt, locking it before taking a step back and letting out a deep breath. This was really happening; I had to keep repeating it to myself through each step of the process till I finally believed it. Four weeks since it was decided, or more four weeks since Zancress had decided it for everyone. After logging out to allow the team to deliberate on who we¡¯d send, Zan had stepped down ceding the event to me. He¡¯d claimed that it¡¯d be more fun for him to start playing without all the expectations of the guild on his shoulders. Part of me believed that it was true, but I always had that nagging doubt that Zan did it for me. He gave up a sure thing to give me a chance at redemption. The last four weeks had been spent locked away in various simulated survival situations with the old marine. Surviving on snow swept mountainsides to trudging through fetid swamps bare foot. Zan pushed me every step of the way, and when I wasn¡¯t locked in his torture camp I was systematically dismantling my life. A task that took depressingly little time, breaking the lease on my apartment, quitting my job and getting packed up to leave. In the end those four weeks flew by faster than I¡¯d ever imagined, I¡¯d even been given a list of wants and needs for the guild to review till I was dropped in world. Threading the storage locker key onto my keychain I slid into the worn cloth seat of my Chevy. Pulling away from the storage unit I really hope that I¡¯m ready to put my life behind me for the next year. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Pulling into the drive way of a rather nice suburban home I couldn¡¯t help but feel that stomach flopping twist of nerves deep down. I was at Helena¡¯s house and it was finally sinking in that I was just a few steps closer to a completely new life for the next year. Killing the engine I took a deep breath before hopping out and walking up to the door to ring the bell. Helena looked just like her avatar; the only difference was instead of a set of long knives on her hip she had got a cute chubby cheeked baby, happily bubbling away as he tugged on the loose fabric of his mom¡¯s shirt. Helen looked me over slowly head to toe before I saw a kind smile warm her face. ¡°You¡¯re taller than imagined; it¡¯s good to meet you Gideon. Or should I call you Luke?¡± ¡°Gideon is just fine; it¡¯s good to meet you too.¡± I looked down over myself for a moment. At six foot four I¡¯m taller than most, if not in the realm of freakishly tall. Filling out a pair of faded blue jeans and a plain grey t-shirt, I¡¯m also a bit bigger than most. Formerly a fat kid, the last four years I¡¯d lost most of it while working my shitty laborer job, but no matter what some stubborn baby fat still clung to my frame though no matter how much I worked. No one was going to be calling me up for a leading male role anytime soon, especially with my slightly crooked aquiline nose and my strong brow. I really missed the mark of ruggedly handsome by more than a few centuries, because suit me up as a centurion and I¡¯m sure I¡¯d have had all the women of the Holy Roman Empire swooning. ¡°Well get on in here, Alex is already unpacked and helping make dinner.¡± She said as she juggled the baby and the door. ¡°Thank you again for letting me stay with you, you¡¯re doing more than anyone could ask of you.¡± I said as I stepped into the cozy family home. Helena lived close to where the event was being held and had offered to me and Alex a room for the next year and then some. Not that I¡¯d be here at all, but it was nice knowing that I¡¯d have somewhere to come back to at the end of it all. Following her through a family room strewn with toys as she lead me to the kitchen where two men are preparing dinner, or more where one was preparing dinner and the other was wrangling a half-naked toddler. It was so homey I couldn¡¯t help but smile, I really hadn¡¯t had this since my own childhood, and for a moment it was nice to just steal a bit of it as a bystander. ¡°Paul, Alex this is Gideon.¡± She introduced me gesturing to the men in the kitchen. ¡°The naked wild child is Jack, and you¡¯ve already met Will here.¡± She bounced the little cherub on her hip for emphasis. I stepped forward to shake her husband¡¯s hand as he finally gets Jack under control by simply trapping him between his legs. ¡°Nice to meet you Paul, you¡¯ve got a lovely home here.¡± ¡°Oh don¡¯t go complimenting me; I¡¯m just the help here. Helena does all the real work¡± He responded. Alex turned around from the dinner he was preparing and I was just stunned for a moment. Our quiet little editor slash rogue out of game looked like he was cut off the cover of GQ magazine, with dark curly hair and bright blue eyes I was a bit taken back for a moment as he wiped his hands on a kitchen towel and offered one to me. ¡°Nice to finally meet you man, I¡¯m really excited to work together.¡± ¡°Right back at ya, I really appreciate you getting us this invite for it and I¡¯m looking forward to see what you come up with from my gameplay. Hopefully you can make me look at least competent.¡± I replied as I quickly picked my jaw off the floor. Now don¡¯t get me wrong I¡¯m not of the persuasion to really enjoy such a handsome man, but at least I can appreciate him objectively. ¡°Come on Gideon, how about I help get you settled in and we can get some food in everyone before it gets too late, big day tomorrow.¡± Helena said as she guided me up a flight of stairs to the room I¡¯d be sharing with Alex at least for tonight before they shoved me into a pod. Getting everything settled into the room that I wasn¡¯t comfortable leaving in storage I sat on one of the two small beds, just staring at the wall. In my mind I knew it¡¯s just going to be me laying in a pod or whatever they¡¯d cooked up for a year, but it feels like I¡¯m about to step through some portal to another world for real. If it¡¯s as life like as they say, I didn¡¯t really see the difference I guess. Taking a deep breath I pushed down the knot of apprehension and excitement, tonight I was still in the real world so I¡¯m going to focus on that. The night was uneventful in the best way, after a dinner prepared by Alex the three of us spent the evening talking about the game and recounting funny stories of our time adventuring together. For his part Paul sits and listens, sharing where he can and simply being a part of the moment. All in all it¡¯s just what I needed to calm my nerves, and when this was all over I needed to make a real commitment to getting together with my friends more. Finally saying goodnight Alex and I headed up to the room to at least lay in our beds for a few hours and try to get some sleep. ¡°Hey Gideon, eh sorry Luke¡± Alex said from across the dark room. Clearly unable to get any sleep just like myself. ¡°Just stick with Gideon man, it¡¯s what I¡¯m going to use in game anyways so no point getting used to something new. What¡¯s up?¡±This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°I don¡¯t know exactly how much we¡¯ll be able to communicate when you¡¯re in the game, and I know we¡¯ve never been all that close. But if we¡¯re going to make the most of this I really want you to trust me.¡± He said earnestly, talking to the darkness. ¡°Look man, I know we¡¯ve never really clicked like some others in the guild. But if I¡¯m going to trust anyone it¡¯s going to be you. I¡¯ve always admired you man, I know that everything with Boomer couldn¡¯t have been easy. You gave up a pretty cushy gig just to do the right thing, and that means a lot more to me than us spending time questing or whatever. I trust you to do the right thing.¡± I spoke to the ceiling, no point trying to find him in the pitch black room. Silence returned to the room as we both go back to our own thoughts. Alex finally broke the silence for the last time of the evening. ¡°Thanks.¡± The next day was a hectic mess; I rolled out of bed at the ass crack of dawn to the sounds of screeching children and the smell of coffee. Grabbing a ratty t-shirt of some band I used to follow from my duffel I pulled it on with a pair of jeans before heading downstairs barefoot. Seems I was the last one up, as Paul was already fighting the losing battle of feeding the kids without letting them make too much of a mess. Helena and Alex were packing up a few things for the launch event as I snagged myself a cup of coffee and tried to piece together enough of my brain power to function. ¡°Alright, we¡¯ve got to be there by nine. Seems everyone is arriving in time slots based on their area of recruitment. Guest invites, pro teams, streamers, and then natural pros.¡± Alex read off a list ¡°Hold the fu¡­heck up just a moment.¡± I looked over to Paul as he gave me a thumbs up at my stellar save, only to get pelted with a handful of soggy cheerios. ¡°They¡¯ve got true pros involved in this, like their own or what?¡± Natural pros or true pros are a trend of sorts started over two decades ago in China. It started with gaming companies hand selecting child prodigies and raising them to master their games before release. Sort of like a hype piece to jump start the competitive side of a game. It was quickly picked up all over the world; it really started to pick up steam after that. Companies were involved with everything from gene therapy to secret indoctrination that was whispered about on various message boards. They¡¯re called true pros because they have to separate them from actual competitions to make it fair. They only ever rolled out their investments when they needed to generate hype in one versus all events or something else. Needless to say going up against true pros was not something I have any desire to do at any point in the near future, especially with pain dampeners off. ¡°Yeah, it seems they¡¯ve got a few retired from other games and three of their own, including Stalwart.¡± Alex said as he flipped the paper he was reading from for me to see. Nearly choking on coffee at the name drop I grabbed the sheet. ¡°Well shit, guess better avoid any of the holy casting classes.¡± Stalwart was Shards of Eshur¡¯s resident cleric true pro. He was known for breaking the mold and doing it all, including one video circulating where he both main tanked and healed his way through a raid boss. ¡°Oh don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m sure if all else fails you can just run away¡­really really fast.¡± Helena laid a hand on my shoulder with a wicked grin. Fully recovered I tried to regain my composure ignoring the comment by quickly filling my mouth with delicious coffee. After a quick bagel we were out the door in Helena¡¯s mini-van, a short fifteen minute trip to the facility where the event was being run from. Along with another fifteen minutes getting badges issued and getting past security before we were finally taken to a side entrance into a waiting room. The rest of my morning was spent going through a series of medical tests and paper work. It seemed that while I¡¯m in the game I could opt for certain medical procedures in the time along with a slew of other bonuses. While it sounded appealing, the prices left it far out of my range. I was relieved to find out though that with their new technology I wouldn¡¯t be experiencing any muscle atrophy from my year in the game. The last part of my morning was spent sitting in a quiet room speaking with a psychiatrist, while not a wholly unpleasant experience it was a bit unnerving with everything else going on. Finally I was given a promotional shirt marking me as a participant, and ushered out for the start of the festivities. Which consisted of a red carpet of sorts, I was able to make it through relatively unscathed with only a few keen eyed reporters recognizing me from the whole Boomer drama. Heading inside I found Helena and Alex talking to a short round man in a three piece suit, as I approached they broke off to come see me. ¡°Who was that?¡± I asked, watching the rotund figure slip back into the crowd. ¡°Well¡­¡± Helena looked around uncomfortably. ¡°That was Boomer¡¯s agent.¡± ¡°What! He¡¯s here?! And he¡¯s got a fucking agent now?! What the hell for?¡± Alex snapped his fingers interrupting my tirade before it can properly start, staring right at me he smiled. ¡°Look you¡¯ve got to trust us man.¡± Holding up my hands in defeat I took a deep breath. ¡°Alright, alright. Trust. So what exactly did he want?¡± I didn¡¯t expect him to drop the whole trust bomb on me so fast. ¡°He wants you to punch Boomer¡± Alex deadpanned ¡°Well clearly I¡¯m on board, but what the hell for?¡± I stopped myself as I put it together a short moment after. ¡°They want me to be the villain¡­look are we sure we want to start this all up again?¡± Helena nodded her agreement for the plan. ¡°We¡¯ve got it all cleared with Bastion personal and Boomer¡¯s team, the only person who doesn¡¯t know is Boomer himself and they¡¯ll convince him after the fact that it¡¯s for the best. It¡¯s not going to be like last time, you¡¯re side of everything will be out there too with our stream and it will help generate a lot of initial views which could really snowball for us in the long run.¡± It was a lot easier to come to grips with the thought of sucker punching a guy than I¡¯d thought. In fact knowing that it was all for a good cause, I figured it was best if I tried to enjoy it. ¡°Alright, I trust you guys. Where do you want me to do this?¡± ¡°Out at the end of the red carpet, and just the one punch Gideon. Also you should know, some of the other participants are coming on as part of team or bringing hangers on in with them based on how popular they are. So you¡¯re going to be setting yourself up against more than just Boomer.¡± Alex laid it out for me, putting a lid on some of my enthusiasm. ¡°I think I can handle a few lackeys in game.¡± I slapped Alex on the bicep as a commotion on the red carpet drew my attention. It seemed the real celebrities had started to arrive. It wasn¡¯t long before I spotted him, recognizing him from the vlogs he did. The red carpet was a buzz as groups of streamers started to roll in. From genera specific favorites to massive talents who are a brand all in themselves. Waiting at the end, but still near the cameras I tried and look as intimidating as possible, folding my arms over my chest and pursing my lips. Some of the reporters caught on and there is a bit of buzz as a familiar looking face tapped Boomer on the shoulder and pointed to me. As he walked over I tried and size him up in person, a bit shorter than I figured maybe coming in three or four inches under six feet, though he looked to be in good shape. With bright multicolored hair and a clean black goatee he looked every part of the internet entertainer. Making a b line right for me, it wasn¡¯t long before we were squared off across from each other. ¡°You know when I heard that the guild had received an invite; I was really hoping it would be you that came. I never really got to properly pay you back for getting me black listed.¡± He said in a low threatening tone, while his face was all smiles for the cameras now watching us. ¡°Though from what I¡¯ve heard, I don¡¯t really need to, do I?¡± Biting down on the inside of my cheek I took a breath trying to draw it out a moment longer as more reporters seemed to catch on. If I was going to play the villain I planned on making it count. ¡°You know Boomer, there is something I¡¯ve always wanted to say to you.¡± I didn¡¯t bother cocking back my fist like it was some after school special, instead dropping my arms to my side before swinging a short straight right towards his solar plexus. As my fist was sailing through the short distance between us, my brain picked the worst time to click over as I recognized two of the men with him. Keez and Faith both of whom were and are probably the most competent of the deserters and were bad news for me. That was about all I had time for before my fist connected, hard. I heard him let out a sharp breath of air, gasping to inhale as he doubled over from the blow. Stepping back quickly before anyone else could escalate it further I turned on my heel heading back inside. As a commotion burst out behind me, all I could think about is how I might be really screwed if he¡¯d brought the actual gamers instead of just the crowd favorites with him. Final Touches After the red carpet finally wrapped up, they led us to a massive warehouse where glass cubes had been spaced out all across the floor. Each one had a terminal next to it, and a mass of wires and probes running through the glass into a blue goopy looking gel filling them. I¡¯d already said my goodbyes to Alex and Helena, and was just waiting with everyone else to get this shindig going. Before long we were directed to go change into some skin tight swimming suits. I can¡¯t really say that it¡¯s the best look for me or that I really appreciate my boys being shrink wrapped to my leg. At least with the huge crowd of participants it was hard to stand out, unless of course you¡¯re one of the true pros who seem to be cut from a completely different cloth, or more chiseled from marble would be more appropriate in their case. A tech finally came to collect me, leading me to the tank that was going to be my home for the next year. As the lights dimmed and a projector screen dropped down at the front of the room, they started the work of sticking various probes to me, certain the more invasive parts would come after that. As the projector started up and we¡¯re all greeted with to a video of a team of people sitting down behind a man standing at a podium addressing us. ¡°Welcome everyone! My name is Brian Lutz, and I¡¯m one of the lead developers for Tenacity Online. I want to be the first to welcome all of you to our yearlong launch event. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re all chomping at the bit to know more and I¡¯m here to share it with you. Tenacity is a game unlike any you¡¯ve ever experienced, solely based on the fact that it doesn¡¯t feel like a game. Thanks to a very advanced AI we¡¯ve been able to recreate our dream world with near perfect accuracy. You¡¯ll move, fight and explore just like you were here in your real body. The next big change is that in Tenacity there are no player classes, or set progression paths. The game works off of what we call an active learning progression; if you spend all day stabbing monsters with a spear you won¡¯t be able to level and suddenly cast magic spells. I encourage all of you to really break away from the expected roles and molds that we¡¯ve all come to know as gamers, and really explore the options available to you. We¡¯ve prepared a short video to help you at least learn the basics before you go in, and I look forward to watching all of your adventures. From myself and the rest of the Tenacity team here at Bastion, we¡¯d like to wish you all the best of luck.¡± After the video switched over we¡¯re presented with another more traditional style release trailer, zooming across beautiful life like vistas and through massive castles, followed by a short informational film about what to expect once we¡¯re in game. But in my head I¡¯m already working to piece together just what I¡¯d need to do with this whole active learning progression. If I want any chance of playing a caster, it means I¡¯d most likely have to find somewhere to train which could be hard if I go somewhere more remote. A droning voice interrupted my premature planning already part through laying out the setting we¡¯re all excited to jump into. ¡°With the recent cataclysm the three major nations of Koarum, Majaal, and Xhaidou are all in upheaval with their power bases cut off and it¡¯s this that we hope will allow our players to truly shape their own destiny in game, even building their own nations! Now, before we get everyone settled a few points about the game. First of all players starting stats will be based off a full physical evaluation done by our in game system, players will be allowed to select their starting race and location and that¡¯s all, and just a forewarning that certain races will be locked if you don¡¯t meet the base stat requirements. Second and most importantly, due to the life like nature of the game, during this year long event any players that experience an in game death will be placed into a twenty-four cool down period outside of the core game world where they can recuperate and our stellar medical staff can properly evaluate them. Thank you all once again for joining us in the Tenacity Online launch event.¡± Shit, a twenty-four hour cooldown period. This really must be something if they¡¯re expecting hardcore gamers to need that long after an in-game death. And only being able to select my race and starting point, which was going to be a real change. I just hoped that whatever the AI rated my stats at, that they weren¡¯t too horrible. I could feel that sick twisting knot of excitement and nervousness back in my stomach. Like I swallowed a snake and he was real pissed off. I was right about the more invasive parts coming after, gory details aside I was finally immersed in the tank which was a wholly alien experience for me. Looking like a certain secret mutant weapon as I lowered my mostly naked body into the cool gel. I could feel it squishing through my toes and conforming to my body as I tried to relax fully into it like I¡¯d been instructed. I expected to sink to the bottom immediately, but I was surprised to find myself suspended completely in the gel, aside from the respirator strapped to my face and the neural unit over my head it was actually not so bad. Adjusting a bit for no real good reason at all I finally heard a voice chime over through the unit on my head. ¡°Full immersion sequence initiated¡± Droned a robotic voice in my ear ¡°3¡­2¡­1¡± Suddenly I was no longer in the tank, with gel cradling my neither bits. Instead I was standing in what looked to be like a massive field tent. I could feel cool packed dirt under my feet, and in front of me was a massive 3-D topographical table map. Stepping closer I leaned against the table looking at the map more carefully, as I focused on a set of mountain ranges it seemed to expand and zoom in taking up the whole table. I scanned the table for a moment finding a key of sorts in the right corner. Seemed I was looking at the Alphanzee mountain range, along with all the stats I could ever want from altitude to average season temperatures given three stars out of three rating whatever that means. On a whim I tried tapping the stars on the info sheet; suddenly a block of texts appeared in place of the stats key. Tenacity Online¡¯s starter location rating system runs on a three star system. Each star representing the average level of difficulty a player can expect starting out from their chosen location. Factors such as location, weather, population, accessibility, and danger levels of local flora and fauna are factored in to the rating system. 1 Star ¨C Highly populated cultural center, this starting location offers the player access to all basic goods and services, as well as a wide range of challenge options for the player to test herself or himself against. This is the most traditional starting location. 2 Stars ¨C Rural or more rugged starting locations, players can expect reasonable access to small towns and villages with only moderate difficulty. With a smaller selection of usually more aggressive flora and fauna, and the possibility of limited travel worldwide travel these locations tend to more isolated and unforgiving. 3 Stars ¨C Truly the most difficult locations for a player to survive, sparse in population, with harsh weather conditions and sometimes unpassable terrain these locations offer the greatest challenge in the game. Players can expect limited accessibility, access to only small villages and exceedingly aggressive flora and fauna. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. At first I jumped at the thought of finding a three star starting point, but I scratched that one really quickly. I¡¯m not some anime hero who¡¯s going to end up skirting the game systems and becoming some unique unstoppable warrior, most likely I¡¯d just be some guy freezing my balls off getting eaten by giant frost drakes or something. Besides chances were most of the pro teams and true pros are going to flock to these three star locations where they can really show off their abilities. I don¡¯t think my ego is big enough yet to convince me it¡¯s a good idea. Next off my list was the one star locations, not like I think I¡¯m too hardcore to start it out on easy mode. But the more popular social streamers and personalities are going to dominate the big cities, and I really don¡¯t think I¡¯m entertaining enough to compete with them. Besides if the guild is going to grow anything really substantial in the future, we couldn¡¯t be fighting it out with some of the biggest groups around. So that just left the two star locations, hopefully one that wasn¡¯t too limiting on world travel and left lots of options open for everyone. But far enough off the beaten road that for the next long year I¡¯m not fighting it out over resources and monsters with everyone else with parallel thinking. Looking back to the map I tried to zoom back out finally managing it by looking at a small mini map in the corner, looking back at the whole picture I started the process of picking through all the two star locations. The world seemed to be cut out into three large land masses almost in a rough triangle, with a massive ocean in the center and smaller seas separating them. I could feel my legs starting to cramp up I¡¯d been standing there so long flipping through various starting locations. Shaking them out like there ants in my nonexistent pants I dropped into a crouch rubbing my palms over my face as I got some feeling back into my legs. The cool ground that was so fascinating when I first got there had started to leave my toes cold and cramping and for some reason I actually got to pee which was a whole new experience in a game. Standing back up I flipped through the final three choices I¡¯d narrowed it down to, hoping one jumped out to me and I could get this going. I¡¯d settled on islands located in the central ocean, that way no matter what nation we were closest too if the guild decides different we can always have other options. I¡¯d also narrowed it to what I thought as the perfect size, small enough that if we recruited some real help we could probably make a big impact, but large enough that we weren¡¯t going to be stuck going off island for all our resources and adventure. Letting out a deep breath I puffed up my cheeks for a moment, slapping them as I decided to go back to my tried and true method. Randomly pick one and if doesn¡¯t immediately feel right throw it out till there is only one option. If it¡¯s good enough for picking Friday night takeout, then I¡¯m sure it¡¯s up to snuff when it comes to deciding the gaming careers of eighteen people and the next year of my life. I was left with the Island of Hibernia. Zooming in I looked over it again, Hibernia is on the edge of the ocean controlled by the Koarum Empire. The island looks like an egg, with a rounder bottom and pointier top, divided into a sort of pie chart with a piece missing as a massive mountain range dominates the center and travels out to the western coast dividing north from south on one half of the island. Honestly with the beaches, mountains and deep forest I figured it was enough of a mixed bag that everyone could be happy. And with a full range of seasons verging on mild to make me and my now especially chilly toes happy. Zooming in fully on the island I slapped my hand on the select start button that popped up on the edge of the map. Next thing I knew the map and table were gone and I was left standing in a small changing room with a full length mirror. Staring at my reflection for a moment I flexed a few times for good measure ¡°Alex if you can hear me, edit this out...please.¡± Ok time to go to work, stepping up to the mirror I found a small arrow button on each side. Pressing the right button I was instantly looking back at myself, but now my skin was a deep olive and my dark brown hair is a deep black and run through with tight ringlets. This seemed to be the standard Koarum citizen, Koaruminate, Koarumican, Koarumish? Fuck it was the industry standard for the empire at large, I flipped on through a few more. The list was truly expansive, it seemed that almost any race found in the Empire was available for me to pick, one reflection looking back at me had cat ears and there was a thick mane of fur running down my spine. Note to future self, track down Koarum cat girls. At the end of the list I was presented with a slightly greyed out image, me skinnier with a deep brown skin tone, almost like stained mahogany. The reflection of me had high cutting cheek bones and pointy elf ears. At waist height I saw text flashing in the mirror, insufficient starting attributes. That¡¯s right! I should have my system decided attributes now, stepping back from the mirror for a moment I pulled up my character sheet with a thought. Finally it laid up over my vision as I thought about it.
Luke Castille / Human Level 1 / Status: Healthy
Strength: 14 Health 180/180
Agility: 6 Mana 100/100
Endurance: 18 N/A
Willpower: 15 N/A
Intelligence: 10 N/A
Charisma: 8 N/A
A little simplistic right now but I¡¯m sure it¡¯d fill out as I got in game, now why couldn¡¯t I pick the super sexy elf as a race. Willing the stat screen away I looked back to the mirror, touching the flashing text near my hip a small stat screen popped up showing me the minimum requirements to be a Woad Elf. It seemed I didn¡¯t meet the only two requirements, my charisma wasn¡¯t at least a fourteen and my agility wasn¡¯t a twelve. Flipping back to the first human option I looked down near my hip finding another small stat screen on the mirror. The base human races had no stat requirements, but that the average stat for most none player characters started at a ten across the board. Seems the game found me uncoordinated and unattractive, good to know. Flipping back to the woad elf I continued on, each step of the way the mirror transforms and I was faced with a plethora of different reflections from me as a dwarf to me as a scaled lizard man with thick spines across my brow. Finally back at the start of the cycle there was only one that is for sure off my list and seriously making me reconsider my choice of starting location. A version of me with a shiny black chitinous body and elongated fangs, I wasn¡¯t really excited about the possibility of being dumped into a city full of spider human hybrids. Switching to a different tactic I started flipping back through looking solely at the required stats table, maybe there was something I was especially suited for. Towards the end of the rotation I found it, the perfect race for my unbalanced and unflattering stats. Looking up from the stat sheet I stared back at myself, really soaking it in. My reflection looked a few inches taller than I normally am, with grey almost slate colored skin and thick black tribal markings wrapping around my torso, legs and arms in weaving knotted bands. With an extra handful of pounds in the way of sheer muscle, and two elongated bottom teeth almost like tusks. I looked like a taller, less bestial version of an orc maybe even svelte in comparison. I did a quick turn to really take it in as it started to grow on me, the small tusks barely peeking through my lips when my mouth is closed giving me a stronger jawline as well, and thick rich black hair down to the middle of my back. I was something called an Ulcragg, and I could get used to this, the stat requirements were just perfect for me, and the look was something I could grow to like. With a required twelve strength and sixteen endurance it was almost tailor made for me. I looked around for an accept button, finally one popped up on the mirror floating over Ulcragg me¡¯s chest. Pressing my finger to it carefully as suddenly everything drop[ed away from me and I was left plunging through darkness. Baby steps I must have blacked out somewhere in the transition, because I found myself waking up with my cheek pressed into soft damp moss. Rolling over onto my back holding back the urge to vomit as my stomach did a flip and the room seemed to spin. Slowly breathing through my nose I managed to bring it under control as I finally noticed my surroundings. I was lying in a large mossy patch amongst towering stone pillars; it must have been night because it was dark though I could see well enough. The sky seemed to glow faintly, and try as I might I couldn¡¯t find any moon or stars, the only solid lights seemed to be from small flickering bugs that passed over head from time to time. Pressing my hands into the moss I pushed myself up into a sitting position as I realized just why there were no stars in the sky. I was in a cave, a massive bioluminescent cave. Pulling my feet under me, I stood up and looked over myself as a stat screen popped up over my vision.
Unnamed / Ulcragg Level 1(0/500) / Status: Healthy
Strength: 14 Health 180/180
Agility: 6 Mana 100/100
Endurance: 18 Stamina: 100%
Willpower: 15 Lowlight Vision: lvl 50 - 100%
Intelligence: 10 N/A
Charisma: 8 N/A
Looking at the unnamed tag on my sheet I thought about it for a moment as the sheet overwrote itself now showing Gideon instead, leaving the last name blank for now in case there was something more theme appropriate in this world. I¡¯d picked up a stamina counter and some sort of what I assumed was a high level low light vision which would explain why I could see so well in this dimly lit cave. Dismissing the sheet from my vision I got the first real look of myself. Just like in the mirror my skin was the color of slate though now I was dressed in a pair of homespun trousers and a shirt instead of my skin tight pod shorts. My belt was a thick piece of twine and hanging from it was a plane iron dragger in a worn leather sheath, with a large harvest sack tied over my shoulder resting below at my thigh topping the whole thing off. I tried in vain to pull up an inventory screen and I was rewarded with slowly rotating picture of my avatar along with slots for various gear grayed out on the side. I found myself with only my four pieces of gear and no actual way to look in my bag from here. Reviewing my starting gear for a moment I couldn¡¯t say I wasn¡¯t disappointed, it¡¯s not like I expected a great sword and plate mail to start but this just seemed a bit sparse. Homespun Shirt Durability: 15/15 Home Spun Breeches Durability: 15/15 Large Harvest Sack Poor Quality Iron Dagger DMG: 6-8 Durability: 24/24 Seeing as I couldn¡¯t pull up my inventory I twisted the sack till it rested on my stomach, taking a look inside. Nestled in the rough burlap I had two loafs of bread, a small leather bota bag, and what looked to be a flint and steel. Not even a little walking around gold, looks like I¡¯d be subsisting off this worlds version of ramen noodles for a while, which was a bit too realistic for me. Twisting the sack back to my side I took a good look at the cavern, the center where I stood seemed to be a lush moss covered circle ringed by six large stone pillars cut into octagons. Outside the circle it seemed to be all bare stone illuminated by the pale blueish glow from whatever was on the ceiling. Three tunnels lead from my cavern, though one sat at the top of what looked to be about a twelve foot cliff. A moment later I noticed that the room seemed to have a slight slope to it, with the cliff tunnel being at the high point and the other two being split at the low side.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Having had enough of enjoying the scenery I decided it was time to head out, but which way should I go? First off the list was the cliff ledge that seems like it was most likely to be a way out as it was uphill; the other two were nearly identical. I was already in the cave so I might as well explore first, which left the lower two tunnels and following the tried and true method of dungeon crawling I went right, you always go right. The tunnel ceiling was barely a foot over my head as I traveled down it, from here I could see the glowing substance seemed to be a plant almost like a willow trees leafs. With the glow emanating from the center stem outward like fiber optic cables. The tunnel went on for about a hundred yards before I turned a bend and was confronted with a large metal door laid into the stone on either side. Jackpot! Always go right and it never fails, walking up to the door I gave it a shove, without much luck as it didn¡¯t budge. Grabbing the ring hanging from the handle I tried pulling instead. Feeling the muscles bunch up along my arms and back as I strained to no avail, I finally let go kicking the door with my bare foot. [Metal Door] Durability 250/250 Damage Taken ¨C 1 HP [Metal Door] Durability 250/250 I could feel my toe bend under the kick, as I was left hopping in pain for a moment the damage number rolling over my vision to add insult to injury. Rubbing my jammed toe against the top of my other foot as I chased away the pain as I pulled up my character sheet, finding myself already back to full health. It sure as shit felt like I really stubbed my toe, and I had another hundred and fifty-nine health on top of that which meant death and damage was going to be something well avoided, I don¡¯t envy tanks. Willing off the rolling damage numbers I was left wondering it worked, with no better way to test it out I stupidly kicked the door again. Yup, hurts just as much the second time around as I did another short hopping dance, but this time no rolling taunting numbers. Progress! Well clearly I¡¯d be returning to this door at a later date, maybe with the magical equivalent of a blow torch or some dynamite. Running my hand over the surface I found it covered in raised rune like lettering. I wish they¡¯d at least included some charcoal and paper or something so I could do a rubbing, but short of that I picked three of the runes and tried my best to memorize them in case it¡¯s something easily recognizable. An x marking with short hooks on it, something that looked like a sideways lower case h and a circle with a dash in the center. Committing them to memory I headed back up the tunnel, reaching main cavern in no time. Walking across I headed to the left downward slopping tunnel, waiting at the entrance I listened for any noise down the way. All seemed quiet on the western front so I went in. This tunnel veered heavily downward, so much so that I was often forced to lean back on my heels and brace against the walls on my way down. I felt like I¡¯d been trekking forever as I staredt to notice smaller tunnels branching off from the main. Each one seemed to sit suspended at waist height and only be big enough for me if I crawled on my belly. Which in my mind screamed scary subterranean creature, and me left with no quick turnaround, so I wrote them off immediately. Slowly the slope started to even out, as the hanging light leafs overhead started to thin, plunging the tunnel into deeper darkness with each step. Finding myself at the edge of the light I stopped, the prospect of blindly venturing down an unknown tunnel not high on my list of stupid things to do. Looking back over my shoulder I wondered if the moss or light leafs would light up enough to make some sort of torch. That¡¯s when I heard it; stopping still as an involuntary shiver ran down my spine. From the darkness of the tunnel a faint chittering, like a pack of startled rodents but what got my butthole puckering is what could be heard over top of it. An alien sound, somewhere between the chuffing noises of a big cat with the warbling of flesh flaying raptor right off the silver screen. It was enough to make my skin crawl as I slowly backed away from the gaping abyss in front of me, till there was a large chunk of lit tunnel between me and the darkness. Turning I started to head back up, doing my best not to panic and run, but I couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that something was coming up right behind me. Like when you¡¯re kid who has to turn the lights off before going up a flight of stairs, trying not to run from the scary unknown darkness and usually failing. Breaking into a long legged lope I bound up the tunnel until I reached the main cavern again, turning at the entrance to look back down as I slid the knife from its sheath. Nothing, the chittering was still there but not the deep scary warble and I couldn¡¯t see anything coming after me. Leaving the scary chittering tunnel behind me I figured it was time to beat hasty retreat topside before whatever lurked down here decided that it wanted a Gideon sized snack. Making my way to the ledge leading to the upslope tunnel I found myself confronted with a short climb. Reaching overhead my fingers searched for purchase, before I pulled myself up and repeated the process with my toes, it was only a short few moves before I pulled myself over the edge but a notice popped up in my vision as I did. Climbing has been discovered! Scale daunting mountains or enemy ramparts¡­maybe start with a few garden walls first. [Climbing]: lvl 1 - 28% Huh, guess I¡¯d got my first skill. That was pretty easy, I suspected that once I got into a hairy situation I¡¯d be discovering lots, checking first that I could pull up the notice log after the fact I turned off the updates. Brushing the rock dust off my rough shirt I started my venture to freedom. As the tunnel winded up towards what I hoped was the surface, I found my venture to freedom a short one, punctuated by what seemed to be a cave in. Just One Year Twisting I tossed another rock to the ground behind me, I¡¯d already been at this for hours and I could feel my muscles complaining each time I grabbed another heavy stone. After checking my other options again I found that it was either start hauling rocks or venture into the dark unknown. With one more rock thrown to the growing pile behind me before I flopped to the ground, pulling out my water and ripping a hunk of the stale bread free. My stomach grumbled in anticipation as I shoved the torn loaf into my mouth, taking a long drink of water to help soften it. Chewing slowly I leaned back to look at the rocks behind me, I¡¯d slowly gained ground that has been inspiringly uphill the whole way. Shoving the last piece of my sparing meal into my mouth I took one last swig before standing up with a groan. Back to the grind At this point I¡¯d resorted to chanting a mantra to myself with each rock ¡°One year, just one year. Keep moving, one year.¡± Not very inspiring but it was doing the trick as hour twelve ticked by. My hand were bleeding at this point, it seemed as far as I could figure that health stopped regenerating after going lower than twenty-five percent stamina. Food helped a bit, but I didn¡¯t have enough to keep eating for the small boost. I needed to rest, but I knew I could still go further. With the help of my dagger I cut strips from the bottom of my shirt, wrapping them around my throbbing hands. ¡°One year, just one year.¡± XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX I must have fallen asleep sometime after wrapping my hands, lying with my back against the rough stone wall. But something had woken me up from my exhausted slumber, taking a deep breath I cracked my eyes open looking around for what could have woken me up. I heard them first, that high pitched chittering sound coming from outside my tunnel, that¡¯s when I saw them. Climbing up over the lip of the tunnel, were three small furry shapes about the size of a house cat. Exhaustion forgotten I popped to my feet snatching the dagger from my belt. That excited them as the chittering intensified and all at once they darted towards me, spreading out like a pack of wolves. They were hard to keep track of against the dark stone, as the first darted past I swiftly tried to kick it, missing horribly. That¡¯s when I felt, that unnerving cold feeling of flesh parting along my calf seconds before the searing pain. Sucking in a breath through my teeth I whipped around trying to deliver a brutal kick to my tiny assailants. Another miss, this time rewarded with a second searing line of pain across my legs. Backing myself to the collapsed tunnel I managed to limit them to my front as I got my first good look at my attackers. Large rodent bodies with what looked to be rooster feet for their front paws, spurs included, and two of them were sporting fresh blood on them. As we squared off, one hissed at me, flashing a dizzying array of wicked teeth. I faked a kick at the hissing rodent, only to watch as it hopped away and the other two zipped forward without hesitation, only to realize I hadn¡¯t committed like the other kicks. This was my moment to strike, but they were too low to the ground for me to hit with the knife, which left one very ungraceful move. Stomping on the right most rodent I could feel its furry body twist under foot as I¡¯m rewarded with a sickening crunch and a new series of cuts along my foot and ankle. Lifting my foot I repeated the process again this time it laid still under the blow. Sucking in a labored breath I jumped back to the safety of the rock wall a moment too slow as another large spur opened a long gash long the outside of my knee before I could remount my defensive position. With blood flowing down my legs freely and two more opponents in front of me I could feel a chill running through my body. I needed to finish it fast, and I didn¡¯t think stomping on them was going to be an option. Trying to keep one eye on the remaining pair I spotted what I was looking for, just to my left a large flat rock that I¡¯d pulled from the rubble earlier. Now if I could just get to it before they were back on top of me, faking a lunge at the left most creature I threw my knife at the other as I scrambled for the rock. It was barely one large step before I had my fingers wrapped around my new weapon, I could hear my knife clattering against the stone behind me as I turned quickly raising the rock over my head with a guttural snarl. Just in time as the larger of the two was almost on top of me, throwing down the rock with all my might I let out a loud desperate battle cry. The rock crashed to the floor like a meteor, smashing the furry body underneath with a nauseating very wet sound. This seemed to be too much for the last chitterer as it turned tail and scrambled back over the lip of the cliff.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Picking up my mighty new weapon I raised it over head in victory. ¡°I dub thee smashbringer! Rock of great destruction, and bringer of pain and suffering to all who would oppose me.¡± It was about then that the adrenaline left my body and I was forced to drop smashbringer before dropping to my butt. Taking a deep breath I pulled up my sheet.
Gideon / Ulcragg Level 1(102/500) / Status: (Bleeding) (Exhausted)
Strength: 14 Health 86/180
Agility: 6 Mana150/150
Endurance: 18 Stamina: 18%
Willpower: 15 Lowlight Vision: lvl 50 - 100%
Intelligence: 10 Climbing: lvl 1 ¨C 28%
Charisma: 8 Unarmed lvl 2 ¨C 4%
Improvised Weapons lvl 2 ¨C 16%
Well new skills were great, and a level two one after a single fight for whatever good that did. But my health and stamina left a lot to be desired. Cutting more strips from my shirt I managed to bind the worst of the cuts along my legs. But now I needed to get my stamina up if I was ever going to heal. Looking at my excavation I found a crevasse that might just fit me, with my body and legs aching in protest I pulled myself over, slowly worming into the small gap in the rocks. Curling into a small ball and with the help of smashbringer I was able to mostly conceal myself, leaving a small foot gap for me to see out of into the tunnel and very little room to maneuver. Wiggling around till I was able to free my bag from under me I start shoving my last whole loaf of bread into my mouth in large handfuls. The other half would have to do till I get out of here, washing it all down before I forced myself to get some more sleep in my little hovel. When I woke back up again I found my stamina meter mostly a little over eighty percent and my health restored, though my body was one mass of knots and aches as I freed myself from my cubby and crawled back out into the tunnel proper. Stretching slowly I could feel my back popping in relief, as I pulled up my combat log. [Chitterer] hits you for 23 damage inflicting bleed effect [Chitterer] hits you for 20 damage inflicting bleed effect Skipping ahead through the combat I log I found what I¡¯m looking for at the bottom of the log. You hit [Chitterer] for 128 critical crushing damage! Chitterer is dead, 48 exp awarded! Huh, seems like smashbringer really did a number on the little bugger. Bending down I pick up my rock weapon and inspect it. Smashbringer DMG: 2-4 Durability 49/50 Must have been something with the size difference or something else, because despite the name the rock was just that a rock, I reached over to grab another same sized rock from the pile finding the stats similar to mine. Setting smashbringer to the side I got one last stretch in before starting back on my excavation. Freedom Slamming my rock down on the last of the most recent pack of chitterers who¡¯d come after me I was rewarded with to a warm sensation running through my body, as all my aches and pains faded away for a moment. You have leveled, Congratulations! You will be awarded 1 Specialization point to spend on your current skills. Traits are non-refundable and must be spent within 48 hours of level-up. Doing a quick scan to make that the coast was clear I pulld up my information sheet, to find my health doubled to a whopping 360/360 and all the skills listed on my sheet were now highlighted. Focusing on Improvised combat I found myself treated to a short list of what must be specializations. Always armed ¨C Everything is a weapon in your hands; improvised weapons are counted as the closest comparable weapon for skill usage and leveling. You Break it you buy it ¨C Even the most fragile items are deadly when used correctly; items that break while being used inflict a scaling bleed effect. Improvised Defense ¨C Not everything can be about attack, double the durability of any improvised weapon used to block or parry an attack. Adapt and Upgrade ¨C By bending, breaking or changing your improvised weapon you can change and increase the type of damage inflicted. +2% damage increase per level Well, with always armed I could hopefully start leveling a real weapon skill while stuck in the cave. I¡¯d retrieved my knife earlier but it still had yet to be useful, then again I was hoping I wouldn¡¯t be in here much longer, and I didn¡¯t fancy running around a battlefield with a bag full of chairs and serving platters. Giving one last check to make sure everything was clear; I set back to moving rocks. The chitterers had been coming more and more frequently since the first escaped and I was eager to get out of here. As I continued to dig myself to freedom I looked through the remaining talents available. Lowlight didn¡¯t have any specializations, and I wrote off climbing until I knew what I¡¯d be dealing with outside this cave. But unarmed combat seemed like it could be useful far into the future. Constrictor ¨C Your hold is one that could make a python jealous, allows you to inflicting crushing damage to an opponent while grappled. Iron Fist ¨C You punch brick walls for fun, and your callouses have callouses. Increase all unarmed damage dealt by punches by +2% each level. Iron Body ¨C Scars are your armor, and you¡¯ll collect a lot of them. +1 natural armor every level. Stunning Blow ¨C Allows you to deliver a devastating blow to your opponent, stunning and disorienting them for 4 seconds. I kind of liked the idea of being some living weapon monk, though the thought was a whole lot less appealing realizing I didn¡¯t have the speed or agility to dodge most blows. The thought of being a soak tank in a game without pain dampeners was one thing I wasn¡¯t sure I¡¯d ever be ready for. Right now the only thing that made sense to me was more defense till I got some sort of armor, so Iron Body it was. Selecting it I pulled up my character sheet to look at the new changes. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
Gideon / Ulcragg Level 2 (524/1000)/ Status: Tired
Strength: 14 Health 360/360
Agility: 6 Mana300/300
Endurance: 18 Stamina: 32%
Willpower: 15 Lowlight Vision: lvl 50 - 100%
Intelligence: 10 Climbing: lvl 1 ¨C 28%
Charisma: 8 Unarmed lvl 2 ¨C 4% - Iron Body +2 Natural Armor
Improvised Weapons lvl 3¨C 98%
It was back to digging once everything was settled again, I¡¯d finished the last of my bread and water since starting in on the day already and I was quickly losing stamina as my body continued to heal after the chitterer attacks and each time I cut myself on a stone or dropped one on my toe. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Grunting with effort I rolled the current stone from atop my thighs onto the ground behind me, letting out an exhausted breath as I leaned against the stone wall taking a break. Somewhere since leveling my stamina had dipped below the twenty-five percent mark again. My tongue felt heavy and thick in my mouth and I had to fight to swallow past the dust and dryness. With my forehead pressed against the cool stone I was left to dark thoughts, what happened if I exhausted myself here without food and water? Would I just die or would I have to lay here until the chitterers come to finish me off, and where would I revive, right back here in the cave? I was already almost two full days behind everyone else and all I had to show for it is a gore covered rock and a single sad level. It was then that I smelt it, over the rank smell of my own rancid sweat and the musky damp cave, fresh air! Running my hands over the wall I caught a faint cool breeze coming through the cracks between the rocks. I couldn¡¯t hold back the half strangled cry of relief that this was finally almost over. It was then that I heard something that crushed my relief instantly, the throaty garbled warble coming from the main cavern. Rushing to the edge of the cliff I threw myself flat on my stomach peering over the lip. There! Roaming around the outside of the stone pillars, three chitterers unlike I¡¯d seen before. They were bigger, the size of Rottweilers with skin pulled taut over their faces and bodies giving them an almost skeletal appearance, but their back legs were all muscle. And they were all sporting a wicked looking set of spurs on their front taloned claws. I watched them carefully for a moment as they circled the stones, never passing between them to enter the moss, as they communicated with that alien warble. Suddenly a notice scrolled over my vision as I watch the largest sniffing the air. [Chitterer Hunter] [Level 7] [490/490] Holy shit¡­no way I could take even one of those things on. Carefully pushing myself away from the edge I scrambled back to the cave in. Carefully lifting each rock out of the way I tried to set it down with as little noise as possible. Grabbing the next I saw light! In my hurry to dig though a rock slipped between my tattered fingers, thudding to the ground before rolling into another stone with a loud clack. I froze, holding my breath as I looked back down the tunnel when I heard it, like hounds baying the chitterers had heard me and they were getting closer. With no need for stealth anymore I started to rip at the rocks in front of me, throwing them to the side. I could hear the scratching of their claws on the cliff face down the tunnel, climbing up to cut me to ribbons. Dropping a stone to the ground I heard a grating as more rocks tumbled free bashing into my legs and pinching my toes. Hissing in pain I jumped back, but there was a hole now just barely big enough for me to crawl through, if I could widen it a bit. Reaching to grab the next stone I heard them again right down the end of the tunnel. It was too late; I¡¯d just have to hope I fit. Diving for the hole arms first I started to wriggle my way through, rough jagged stones cutting and dragging at my skin, the sound of them clattering down the tunnel pushing me on. My arms found empty space, the other side of the cave in, wedging them back I started to pull frantically. I could feel a sharp stone catch against side, but I didn¡¯t have time to try and twist free, I pulled harder. Screaming with frustrated madness giving one last pull, I felt the rock cutting into my flesh and then I was free. Flopping to the ground in a giant tangle of limbs I forced myself to climb to my feet, grabbing at rocks and shoving them into the gap I just escaped from. Slamming the last stone home as the sound of scratching at the other side could be heard, unable to get out. Falling back on my ass I couldn¡¯t help but laugh, I¡¯d made it. I had successfully made it out of the spawning zone. I couldn¡¯t stop laughing, feeling something wet running down my face I realized I was crying. Overcoming Laying in the dirt I pressed a hand to the gash along my hip from my rapid escape, staring up at what looked to be a massive rock overhang stretching out past my vision till I craned my neck back. Rolling over I pressed my fist into the soft dirt, hoisting myself unsteadily to my feet. Starting the painful process of peeling off my blood and dirt stained shirt, I tossed the remnants into the dirt. At this point durability remaining or not it was trash. Limping my way out from the overhang as my tired body protested, finding new aches with each step till I crossed the threshold of the overhangs shadow, stepping into the warm blinding sun. Feeling the warmth on my skin after nearly two days digging myself free in a cold dark cave was like being born again. Shielding my eyes with a hand I waited for my eyes to slowly adjust, revealing an open field surrounded by thick trees in every direction. Stepping into the middle of the field I turned peering over the trees where mountains seemed to stretch to the sky, with only one break in their wall. Heading towards the divide in the mountain I crossed the open field moving into the forest, the thick foliage eclipsing my view. Trying to maintain my bearing I kept trekking further, till I heard the send of running water through the underbrush. Stumbling through a thicket I found myself on the bank of a modest mountain stream. Slipping and sliding my way down the muddy escarpment with wild abandon, reaching level ground I kept moving on wavering legs till I fell at water¡¯s edge. Dunking my head in the frigid clear water I gulped down mouthful after mouthful of the refreshing liquid, washing away the thick dust caked layer in my mouth and throat. Rolling myself onto from the water and into the mud I laid there too exhausted to go further. I must have fallen asleep shortly after, because when I next opened my eyes the sun had dipped behind the peak of the mountains and daylight was fading fast. Taking a deep breath I checked the wound on my hip, the bleeding had stopped but it still remained unhealed. Pulling up my sheet next I checked my stamina, back up to twenty percent after the rest, but it didn¡¯t seem to be climbing anymore. As I laid there musing on what to do next I heard something over the babbling of the stream. Raising my head I turned searching for the noise again, hearing it in the distance. It sounded like someone shouting, scrambling to my feet I started towards the noise. Whoever it was, I hoped they were friendly. As I crashed through the forest I heard the sound again, closer now. It was panicked shouting, picking up my speed I reached down drawing my dagger which had thankfully stayed with me through the great escape. Running through a patch of bushes I found the source of the shouting. At the base of a large tree was a woad elf, fending off a large quadrupedal creature with what looked to be the top off a broken spear. The beast was something between a boar and wolf, with a canine head topping a broad backed hooved body. Right now it was trying to dodge it¡¯s way past the elf¡¯s spear jaws snapping in frustration as it tossed it¡¯s head back and forth. I clenched my fist around the hilt of my dagger to stop it from shaking as I inspected the beast closer. [Luprum][Level 5] [300/300] I searched my mind frantically for a solution; I couldn¡¯t just leave this person to die but the idea of fending off a wild animal with only a dagger wasn¡¯t tempting either. Standing there frozen I looked back to the elf, who¡¯d finally noticed me. The sheer terror reflecting in his eyes as we stared at each other for a brief moment was too much, this was someone fighting for their life and all I had to fear was a day off in some doctor¡¯s virtual office. Shaking my arm out in an attempt to stop the tremble in my hand I charged forward, my feet slapping against the ground loudly. Nearing the beast I launched myself a top it, feeling the air driven from my lungs as I landed on what amounted to a brick wall of muscle. Digging my left hand into the wire like fur I wrapped my long legs around its groin clinging to it like velcro. All hell broke loose, as the beast started to thrash and buck under me. Bouncing around I held tighter, slamming the dagger repeatedly into the creatures chest and neck. This was something completely outside the normal fantasy fencing, savage and violent as blood poured onto the dagger and my hand. Suddenly the beast bucked me forward, jerking its head back. A loud crunch echoed in my ears as its skull slammed into my nose, I could hear my ears ringing even as could taste blood filling my mouth. Trying to wriggle my way back down the beasts back I felt the thick skull slam into my cheek this time, shattering the bone under my eye as I started to see stars. Pressing my injured face to the creatures shoulder to stop any further abuse I let out a desperate scream into the course fur my dagger still churning into the meat of it over and over again.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. I felt the dagger rip from my fingers as I tried to draw it out again, the slick blood making it impossible to hold. Grabbing wildly for the handle I found myself flying ass over backwards as I was bucked free. Landing against the thick roots of the tree, I felt something crack near my ribs as pain washed out across my body. Then it was on me, all I could do was kick at it trying to keep my legs between it and me. Sharp tusks ripped into my calf and thigh, tearing deep gouges in my flesh. This looked to be it as I tried to push it away futilely. My whole body was on fire from the pain and I could feel the strength leaving my limbs as darkness started to creep in. Suddenly a warm feeling rushed through me chasing away the pain as something heavy fell across my legs. You have leveled, Congratulations! You will be awarded 1 Specialization point to spend on your current skills. Traits are non-refundable and must be spent within 48 hours of level-up. Looking up I found saw the Luprum draped over my legs, the elf laying against its side with the broken haft of the spear jutting from its eye. Up close I could see it was a man, dark skinned with long thin dreads bundled in a bunch tied at the top of his head. ¡°My name is Ardoar, thank you for saving me. I thought this was where things ended for me.¡± He said wide eyed as he reached out a slender blood soaked hand for me. ¡°I think I should be the one thanking you, I was just about done myself when you brought it down.¡± Grabbing his hand in my own filth caked mitt I gave it a brief shake. ¡°You can call me Gideon.¡± Laying there we just looked at each other, me just excited to see another living person for the first time in days. Him probably trying to decide if I was some sort of half-naked blood soaked mad man. ¡°Uh hey, this is actually really heavy. Do you think you could get off it and it off me?¡± I mused. Letting out a rich laugh Ardoar nodded his response, using the beasts broad back to lift himself to his feet. Before falling back onto his butt with a sharp yelp ¡°Damned ankle, I think it¡¯s broken. I tripped in the roots as I was running for my life.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry I think I can get myself from here.¡± I said as I pushed at the creature till I could leverage my legs to roll it off me. The pain had fled my body but I was still exhausted to the core, as I freed myself I laid back against the roots for a moment catching my breath. After a moment recuperating, that turned out to be more like five moments I finally moved to help Ardoar stand, helping hold his weight with his arm over my shoulder. ¡°You know we shouldn¡¯t just leave it here, Luprum hides fetch a decent price on the market and make excellent armor when cured. Help me over to it and I¡¯ll see what I can do about skinning it.¡± He said with an amused tone. ¡°Alright, but after that we need to get somewhere safe. I don¡¯t know this area and I¡¯m about to pass out on my feet here.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, help me skin this out and we can make our way down the mountain to my cabin. You can stay with me and my bonded tonight, we¡¯ll figure out what to do from there in the morning.¡± It was already dark by the time we¡¯d finished skinning the beast, as we made our way down the mountain with the assistance of my low light vision. It seemed like our trek dragged on for hours, me supporting Ardoar as we formed the world¡¯s gangliest three legged creature. Breaking from the forest we A broad figure appeared in the doorway as we neared the porch; rushing down to meet us I found myself passing Ardoar off into a pair of strong weathered hands. ¡°I thought you were dead when you didn¡¯t come back before nightfall.¡± Said a man in a deep gravelly voice, as he pressed his face to Ardoar¡¯s neck hugging him fiercely. ¡°Gideon, this is my bonded Tai. Tai this is Gideon. He saved me up on the mountain.¡± Ardoar replied as he returned the hug, kissing the man atop his head. ¡°I told him he could stay with us.¡± ¡°Thank you, thank you for bringing him back to me. Let¡¯s get you two inside quickly.¡± Tai was already hauling Ardoar inside as he spoke, gesturing for me to follow. "Uh yeah, I don¡¯t who saved who, but I¡¯m just happy everyone is safe.¡± I replied as I followed the two men into cottage. New Friends The inside of the cottage was well lit with a low fire crackling away in the hearth. Stepping into main room I looked around for a moment, there was a small kitchen alcove with a door on the opposite wall from me. Across the main room was a small window and second door that looked to lead out back. Everything in the place looked to be carved expertly from wood, even the interior logs had intricate scroll work carved into each surface, stretching in winding patterns across each wall and beam. ¡°Wow this place is amazing, did you build it yourselves?¡± I said as Tai got Ardoar down into a chair. ¡°Ard did all of it, he¡¯s a carpenter by trade. Actually we¡¯re both craftsmen, our shop is out back.¡± Tai grumbled as he fretted over his husband, before standing and moving into the kitchen to fetch what I assumed was an aid kit. As he moved around the house I got my first good look at him, at nearly six feet he looked like he could Ardoar could have carved him from great mahogany tree himself. With massive shoulders, biceps and a lean waist he looked like an Olympic swimmer. A short curly beard curved around his jaw and his head was shaved all except a wiry short mane like mohawk down the center. As he came back with a small satchel I was left shuffling my feet unwilling to touch anything and accidently deposit a layer of blood and grime. ¡°Tai you¡¯re being rude to our guest, stop worrying about me. I¡¯ll be just fine.¡± Ardoar playfully bemeaned him as he snatched the satchel from his hands, digging inside and pulling out a smoky glass bottle. ¡°Well if you¡¯d listened to me instead of stubbornly going up the mountain I wouldn¡¯t have to be worrying about you.¡± He responded kneel down and gently straightening the broken ankle as Ardoar unstopped the bottle and drank the content, letting out a sigh of relief. ¡°There I¡¯ll be all better in a minute, now why don¡¯t you go out and get some water heating so we can clean ourselves up. I¡¯ll get some food together.¡± Hopping to his feet he limped gingerly towards the kitchen alcove as Tai stepped out through the back door. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about him; he¡¯s not great with people. And I¡¯m sure being worried isn¡¯t helping him make the best first impression.¡± I followed Ardoar into the kitchen as he gathered some cold smoked meats from a cooler in the floor, and a half loaf of crusty bread. Chatting quietly as he cut the bread and slathered it in honey we were soon both stuffing our faces together leaning against the counter. ¡°So where did you come from, I thought all the Ulcragg lived across the island. Not that I¡¯m not happy you were where you were this evening.¡± He asked between large bites. ¡°Well you see, I woke up in a cave in the mountains a few days ago.¡± I hesitated unsure how he¡¯d react to me breaking character. ¡°I don¡¯t remember much but I¡¯d just dug myself out this morning, I was resting when I heard your hollering. I¡¯d been fighting these big rat chicken things I¡¯ve been calling chitterers,¡± Ardoar sputtered around a piece of bread talking and chewing in tandem as he worked to clear his mouth ¡°You ran into muroduses? That¡¯s odd; usually they only frequent old grave sites and sewers feeding off decay and waste. Wonder what they were doing up in the mountains. Either way thank you again for saving me, you could have just walked away and saved yourself a lot of risk and pain. You can stay with me and Tai for a while. Are you planning on heading back to the Ulcragg village or somewhere else?¡± ¡°Well, I actually don¡¯t know what I¡¯m doing. You see, it¡¯s a bit more complicated than that.¡± I started to explain my situation to him as best I could, working my way around certain elements. How I was part of a guild looking to establish ourselves on the island, take contracts, maybe trade and adventure, and that I was just a scout sent to prepare things for the others. Explaining it to someone else seemed to help me lay it all out in front of me. I¡¯d need to establish some sort of base of operations for everyone, track down and make contact with various trainers and teachers so everyone could learn and practice what they wanted when they arrived. Then there were hopefully contracts or quests for adventuring, maybe find a few dungeons. It was a lot, especially for only one year. At the end of which people would begin flooding in stirring things up even more, and even worse Boomer and his goons would know where I was, so I needed to make sure we could defend ourselves. ¡°Well that sounds like quite a lot for one man, we¡¯re just crafters but we¡¯ll help you how we can. It¡¯s the least I can do, you can sleep on the floor by the fire and when you find a place to build your hall I¡¯ll help you, just get me the materials. I¡¯ll make Tai help you too, he¡¯s actually quite the accomplished leatherworker and hunter, he may know some good places for you to explore. And I can introduce you to some of our trading partners, they may have some work for you¡± He responded with a bright grin ¡°That¡¯s too much, I couldn¡¯t possibly impose on you both to do all that for me.¡± I said rubbing the back of my neck in embarrassment. ¡°Nonsense, you saved my life and besides once you and your band get going I¡¯m sure you can repay us in kind. Tai will agree with whatever I decide, so it¡¯s settled.¡± He scolded me just as Tai came back inside. ¡°Waters ready.¡± The big man grumbled as he joined us, stealing a piece of meat from in front of ArdoarThis tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Well great, Gideon and I were just done talking, and I¡¯ll be honest¡­he doesn¡¯t smell the best.¡± Ard prodded at me, pinching his nose. ¡°No offense friend, but if you head out back you¡¯ll see a small shed next to our work shop where the bath is, you can get yourself cleaned up. I¡¯ll have Tai get you some clothes, they¡¯ll be a bit small but I¡¯m sure we can manage.¡± Beating a hasty retreat I headed outside the back door into the cool night air, finding myself facing a large barn like workshop sealed up and dark for the night, with a small shed like building raised a foot or so off the ground next to it and light spilling out through the crack of the door and the space underneath. Heading in I found myself in a washroom with a wooden tub and a small potbelly stove. The floor was formed of loose slats allowing water to flow out, and I could see the tub had already been filled with steaming water. Stripping off my tattered pants I shoved my dagger into the harvest sack before dumping them both on a chair in the corner. Finding two buckets of water near the stove I dumped them over my head, scrubbing away the worst of the blood and dirt before crawling into the tub. Slipping into the warm water was one of the greatest experiences I think I¡¯ll ever have, melting away the last two days of panic and struggle for a moment. Finding a rough cloth and bar of soap I started the process of scouring myself clean, taking a moment to pull up my character sheet while I did.
Gideon / Ulcragg Brawler Level 3 (1120/2000) Status: Healthy
Strength: 14 Health 420/420
Agility: 6 Mana450/450
Endurance: 18 Stamina: 32%
Willpower: 15 -Indomitable Will Lowlight Vision: lvl 50 - 100%
Intelligence: 10 Climbing: lvl 1 ¨C 28%
Charisma: 8 Improvised Weapons lvl 3¨C 98%
Unarmed lvl 3 ¨C 12% - Iron Body +3 Natural Armor
Perception lvl 2 ¨C 14%
Small Blades lvl 2 ¨C 34%
Well things had changed a bit since I left the cave, slowly turning red like a lobster I pulled up the logs from earlier, flipping through them. It seems that while watching the chitterers I¡¯d gained the perception trait, which explained why I could see their levels and health now. The small blades skill also made sense, but all I could find on the indomitable will thing was a short entry about the time I escaped the cave, if I went by the damage log from the rocks. Congratulations you have unlocked an attribute trait; you are an adventurer of great determination and unflappable dedication. 50% chance to resist demoralization, fear, and physic based talents and spells. I didn¡¯t remember picking this, checking over I found I could still select my skills which meant I had my specialization point to spend. Either way it was pretty fucking cool, though if I wondered how easy it was to pick up new traits, it¡¯d make fighting someone a real mine field if you didn¡¯t know what they had. Flipping through my skills I looked at the specializations available to me, it seemed improvised weapons had stayed the same, and all the other unarmed traits I hadn¡¯t picked were still there, but with one new addition. Mettle ¨C You can do more than take a hit, your body is built to withstand even magical punishment. Negates +1% spell damage each level. I don¡¯t know how much I¡¯d be running into fireballs, but this would be a great one no matter how I built. Flipping through the new skills I picked out a few choices that seemed reasonable to me. Honed Edge ¨C A sharp edge can be crucial in a knife fight, any small blades in your hand receive the Honed Edge trait to overcome damage resistance and armor Hunters Eye ¨C knowing your prey is crucial to bringing it down. Allows you to inspect a target on a successful perception attempt to gain more in-depth information. Dark Vision ¨C Allows you to see in pitch black, sight distance is limited and the world appears in grayscale. Rage Blade ¨C A primitive form of primal magic, allows you to imbue a blade with your rage to increase damage by coating it in your blood. They all had their uses, I just didn¡¯t have enough information yet about the world to make great decisions and the damn timer on them meant I couldn¡¯t hold onto specializations till I knew more. I already had one defensive one, so I figured either a utility ability or combat would be best. Though the thought of cutting myself before each fight didn¡¯t seem all the appealing, I couldn¡¯t deny nearly tripling my daggers damage wouldn¡¯t hurt. In the end I went with the Mettle trait, I wanted the extra damage but couldn¡¯t stand the thought of cutting myself each time I went into a fight, what if I started using a broad sword? And it limited me to blades. I was shaping up to be a real tank despite my urges to avoid more pain. As the water started to cool I heard a knock on the door. ¡°Gideon, do you mind if we come in? I figured you could use some help with all that hair if you¡¯re going to be adventuring, and Tai is great with a razor.¡± Ardoar said from the other side of the door. ¡°Uuh, yeah sure come on it.¡± I replied after a moment¡¯s hesitation, I figured they¡¯d seen it all before. The two men entered, Ardoar immediately moving my dirty things and claiming the chair near the foot of the tub as Tai came in after with a towel, razor and a pair of loose trousers in his arms. Tossing the pants at Ardoar he moved over next to me dropping into an easy crouch. ¡°Do you care to keep it long?¡± He asked as he picked at my long black hair spilling over the back of the tub. ¡°Uh, just whatever you think is best. I don¡¯t really care how it looks.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but hesitate awkwardly. In the end I finally relaxed thanks to Ardoar who immediately kicked his feet up on the edge of the tub and launched into a recounting of our meeting and encounter with the luprum on the mountain. As Ardoar and I bantered back and forth Tai went to work, shaving the sides of my head clean before braiding the center strip in a long pleated tail that came down past my shoulders. In the warm cramped room I felt a wave of exhaustion roll over me as we all chatted aimlessly. It was just so peaceful and the two felt like old friends already. Finally finished Tai handed me the towel and dragged Ard from the room to let me dress. I slept in front of the fire that night, a deep and dreamless affair. Trip to town The next morning was spent loading an open top wagon, Ard had agreed to take me into town but to make the trip worthwhile we were hauling a load of goods from the couple to sell at the market, including a two ornately carved rocking chairs and a full set of custom leather armor embossed with gold for the mayor of the town. Tai had equipped me with a sturdy pair of leather trousers that came down to mid-calf, and one of his leather jerkins that worked well enough once he¡¯d removed the arms to accommodate my shoulders. We¡¯d been unable to find any boots that¡¯d fit me, but he¡¯d agreed to craft me something more suitable from the hide of the luprum we¡¯d killed, I was already feeling more like an adventurer now with suitable clothes, though I kept my harvest sack for now. I was tying down the load when Tai came around the back of the workshop with something slung over his shoulder. ¡°I figured you could use something a bit more substantial than that dagger for your trip into town. The only real weapons we have out here are my bow and Ard¡¯s spear, but I thought this could do for someone your size.¡± He groused as he unslung a large splitting maul from over his shoulder and set it on the ground in front of me. ¡°Give it a few swings let me know what you think.¡± I wrapped my hands around the worn wooden haft turning away from Tai as I gave it a few experimental swings. The massive sledgehammer head made it a real struggle to control, but as I worked it a bit more I found a rhythm with the tool. I wouldn¡¯t be finessing at all with it, but that was probably best for me. Carrying it towards the wagon I placed it head down on the floor under the bench, at hand if I needed it. ¡°I appreciate it, if anything maybe it¡¯ll make people think twice before messing with us.¡± I chuckled as I turned around to thank the man. Only to find him staring at me with his trademark stoic expression ¡°You keep him safe out there, we¡¯ve never had trouble on the trip before but things have been off lately. He may try and joke it all off, tell you that I¡¯m just a worrier but you keep your eyes peeled and bring him back in one piece.¡± I paused for a moment, walking over to clap him on the shoulder. ¡°I will Tai; you two have already been so good to me. I¡¯m not going to let anything happen to him and he¡¯ll be back healthy and whole in a few days.¡± Gripping each other¡¯s wrists we gave it a manly shake, as Ard finally joined us from inside the cottage carrying a large sack over his shoulder. ¡°Uh oh, looks like things are serious out here. You¡¯ll be happy to know while you two were out here bonding I made sure to dig into your stash of sweets for our trip.¡± Ard quipped as he walked up, depositing a kiss on his husband¡¯s bearded cheek. ¡°Tai was just giving me something to use as a weapon for our trip, I¡¯ve got everything tied down if you¡¯re ready to go.¡± I steered Ard towards the wagon, hoping to get to town without much more wasted time. ¡°Well good, actually that reminds me.¡± Tossing the sack up onto the wagon bench he ran into the work shop, returning with his spear now reattached to a new shaft. ¡°Guess I should bring this along too for good measure.¡± Ard leaped up onto the left side laying his spear down at his feet as he picked up ¡°You were the one taking forever, so don¡¯t go rushing me.¡± Brushing past Tai I dropped my voice ¡°I promise he¡¯ll be back safe.¡± Hauling myself up on the bench I settled in. The journey downhill through the woods turned out to be an uneventful one, if not a comfortable one. We camped out the first night in the back of the wagon after clearing a little space for us along the side. The next morning we ventured onto a larger road heading through the woods as Ard set on schooling me about the island. ¡°So this road here leads out to a logging camp used by the empire, it¡¯s been unmanned for a while now. The other elves have issue with the empire being that close and stealing their resources, been more than a few skirmishes.¡± Ard rambled on. ¡°Other elves huh, you don¡¯t have a problem with it?¡± I questioned ¡°Well, you see. When they settled here and built Silk Bay it opened up a whole new avenue of trade for Tai and me, us dealing with the Koarum folk didn¡¯t sit too well with everyone else. So we packed up our things and built a little place for ourselves at the base of the mountain where no one would bother us.¡± Ard continued on, as he munched on an apple that he¡¯d pulled from somewhere at hand. ¡°The mountain is supposed to be cursed or haunted, The Ulcragg used to live in the valleys and basins up there, but generations ago there was some disaster that forced them all down to the flat lands. Now they have Stonehome on the other side of the mountain.¡± ¡°So let me settle this all out, from what you¡¯ve been saying. The elves have woods on the north side of the mountain range?¡± I asked trying to piece it all together ¡°We call it the spine, but yeah. Elves live in the woods along the base of the spine to the north, on the south side is a massive forest they call the Weaver¡¯s wood. That¡¯s where the arachnia live. On the south eastern flat lands you have Stonehome and Silk Bay to the north east. There are other small villages scattered around but nothing substantial, oh except for the Legion camp. The empire keeps band of soldiers stationed in the middle of the flat lands, best to just keep away from them unless you¡¯re really desperate.¡± I was left sketching out a map in my head; it was easiest for me to think of it like a clock. Silk Bay somewhere near twelve, the Legion at three, Stonehome at five or six and the spiders and elves at eight and ten respectively. It was easy enough to visualize as Ard and I switched the conversation to how him and Tai got by out in the woods. Around noon the trees started to thin out as I caught glimpses of the plains through the trunks. Departing the trees we rolled over a small hill, at the top I got my first look of civilization.Stolen novel; please report. About five hundred yards out nestled at the tip of a rather large bay stood the town. Wood houses with thatch roofs stretched out in a half circle inland from the town square, while the waterside was dominated by giant stone and wood warehouses. Ard stopped the cart for a moment letting me get a better look from our vantage. ¡°What¡¯re they doing along the edge of town?¡± I asked noticing a mass of construction happening around the edges of town. ¡°Looks like they¡¯re constructing some sort of earthworks or the start of wall, I don¡¯t know why though. They¡¯ve fought with the elves before but you I don¡¯t think there has been any open conflict outside of the logging camp.¡± Ard stood up on the bench his brow furrowed in worry. ¡°More importantly, where are all the ships?¡± ¡°Well Tai said things had been off lately, maybe there was something out here too?¡± I asked, hoping to lead Ard to more information, I knew there had been a cataclysm of sorts but didn¡¯t know how bad it¡¯d been out here. ¡°We had a big storm hit the island a week or so ago, maybe they moved them out from shore to keep them from getting damaged, either way we should get to town and find out.¡± Ard said trying to maintain a light tone, though I could hear the worry creeping into his voice. As we got moving again I continued to watch the flurry of activity along the edge of town. At about half way I caught sight of a group of people riding towards us at a gallop, casting a glance to Ard I raised an eyebrow. ¡°You expecting an welcome wagon?¡± I asked ¡°No but look they¡¯re signaling us.¡± He pointed out, just as I heard a horn split across the open plains from the town. Looking back to the riders I saw them frantically waving their arms, pointing off to our right as the continued to gallop closer. I heard them before I saw them, a loud elk¡¯s bugle calling from the trees behind to our right. Stepping from the forest¡¯s edge was a mass of tall creatures, I couldn¡¯t make out much but the one at the front seemed to be wearing a pair of elk antlers on his head. As the grunting whining bugle came to an end they burst into motion. They loped forward with powerful strides eating up the ground, as I watched trying to judge their approach. I just about had it figured when they shifted, angling towards the road and our path. Jumping up onto the seat for a better look I tried to judge the distance between us, and our distance to the town¡­we weren¡¯t going to make it. Grabbing the end of my maul I jumped from the wagon, stumbling on the road side before I caught myself. ¡°They¡¯re coming this way, hurry and get to the town I¡¯ll distract them!¡± I yelled ¡°I¡¯m not going to just leave here. Let me pull the wagon over we can fight from on top of it.¡± Ard argued. Glancing back at the riders I saw that they were breaking course heading towards the pack of creatures. As Ard started to rein the ponies in, I ran forward waving my arms in the air and screaming at them, before smacking the closest on the rump with an open hand. That did the trick, the ponies bolted forward carrying Ard along with them in a mad dash down the road. Choking up on the haft of my maul I leapt across the small ditch next to the road, jogging slowly out into the grass of the plains, placing myself between the path of the oncoming mobs and the wagon. As I got my first close look at them, I was shocked to find that it wasn¡¯t a man wearing antlers, but a tall man like creature with an elks head bearing down on me. The ones following him were all manner of forest creatures; I saw one with a beaver¡¯s head and broad furry shoulders. They were about my height antlers and horns notwithstanding, all naked with muscular bodies covered in clay that gave them a cracked ashy appearance. I did a quick head count, there seemed to be close to twelve, each carrying a large wooden club. I brought the maul up, setting off into a run towards the pack to avoid being caught flat footed in their charge. I could hear the hooves pounding behind me as I ran towards the elk at the lead, hoping that whoever was coming were a group of badasses. We closed quickly, as I found myself screaming at the top of my lungs bracing myself for the impact. A large black stallion thundered past me, barreling into the group of creatures without slowing. As I watched the mount go down in a tangle of bodies, sharp hooves thrashing out wildly I could see a small figure leaping from the saddle, landing behind the monsters with a long glaive in hand. That¡¯s all I had time for before I was fighting for my life, against a coyote headed creature. Heaving my maul down in a crashing arc I felt it connect on the creature¡¯s shoulder, the thin splitting head lodging deep into its body. Following through I yanked the head of the maul free, pulling the creature to its knees as I swung it back around this time bringing the flat hammerhead down atop his skull. With a sickening crack I watched him crumple to the ground. Whipping around to face the next threat I found myself colliding with the large paddles of a charging moose. I felt myself launched from my feet as the air was driven from my lungs, before I made jarring contact with the ground. Wheezing as I tried to suck in a breath I saw great club descending towards my head, rolling to the side I heard the club crash into ground, followed by an enraged bellow. Still fighting for air I hauled myself to my feet, searching for the maul I¡¯d dropped somewhere in my short flight. I spotted it behind the moose man, who was now sporting two arrows buried deep into his arm and side. His club laid useless on the ground as well, but that didn¡¯t stop him from charging again, wide horns leveled at my chest. He was almost on top of me before I started moving, throwing my hands up I grabbed at his antlers. I could feel the sharp tines pierce through my palms and tear at my flesh, I knew I couldn¡¯t stop his momentum so I did the only thing that came to mind. Holding tight I threw myself forward onto to the ground, yanking his head down into the dirt with me as his momentum carried his body over in a short summersault. Letting go of the antlers I painfully yanked my hands from where they were impaled. Scrambling over to my downed foe, I hauled myself on top of him. Mounting his chest with my knees buried into the dirt on either side of him I frantically started to pummel at the creature before he could come to his senses. After the first two blows I realized I couldn¡¯t form a fist with my torn hands, so I started to bash him with my forearm bracing myself with my palm on the base of his antler as I repeatedly smashed into the nose at the end of his long snout. I could feel him thrashing under me, bellowing in rage as he sprayed me with a dark brown blood. Up, down, I screamed back at him continuing my assault until I couldn¡¯t hear him anymore. Looking down at him under me I saw his jaw twisted at an odd angle, as he laid there sucking in wet breaths through his shattered mouth and nose. Pushing myself off of him I found my way to my feet unsteadily, gasping for breath. Steadying myself I looked down at my foe for a second before bringing my heel down on his throat. I heard and felt the crackle of cartilage giving way under my foot, before I stumbled away to scoop up my weapon. As I found myself unable to pick up my maul I realized I didn¡¯t have to, all around me laid the bodies of the man beasts. Feathered with arrows, sliced to pieces or in one case simply pierced by what looked to be three large icicles through the chest. Looking around I found myself once again covered in gore as four sets of eyes stared at me from across the battlefield. ¡°Hi¡­I¡¯m Gideon.¡± New Kid in Town ¡°That¡¯s one way to make an entrance into town for sure my dude¡± Said the archer of the group. The four of them were arrayed across from me, two women, a young man, and a teenage boy. One of them women was clearly the glaive wielding acrobat who¡¯d charged past me, a short Chinese woman with bobbed hair and leather armor that came down to mid-thigh split up to the waist to allow her to move. The other seemed to be the source of the deadly icicles, a tall redhead with sharp features wearing a military style jacket, skin tight pants and a calf length skirt split up to her hip where a thick bound tome hung from a chain. The man talking was clearly the archer that had saved my life from the moose man, short with long messy blonde hair and a broad toothy grin. The teenage boy looked to be in home spun clothes like I¡¯d started in, but he was strapped with every type of weapon imaginable, bandoliers ran across his chest carrying daggers and various swords were strapped to his hips and back. As I was looking them over the redhead stepped forward, looking me over with an air of superiority as she thrust a hand out. ¡°My name is Magdalena, nice to meet you.¡± She said with a sniff. Walking across the battlefield I went to take her hand before realizing mine were still knitting themselves back together, a process that itched like crazy. ¡°I¡¯ll hold off on the hand shake, like I said I¡¯m Gideon. I guess I should start by thanking you all for the save there, I¡¯d have been a goner for sure.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry a bit about it bro, we were going to kill these manimals anyways. I¡¯m Quick by the way, and that little death dealer back there is Fan Hui. Oooh and the kid is her¡­.¡± He stopped looking over his shoulder. ¡°Are we calling him slave boy? Caddy? Anyways the kid works for her, his name is Thomas.¡± He said as he bounced over the bodies, stopping at each to pick something up. ¡°He¡¯s my assistant.¡± Fan said with a dour expression. ¡°Well good to meet you all, I didn¡¯t know if I¡¯d run into any other players here on the island. Did you all spawn in the bay here or what?¡± I inquired. Each nodded in turn, as I watched Quick pick through the bodies. Every time he¡¯d bend over one it¡¯d slowly seem to melt into what resembled a muddy puddle of clay. Finishing with all twelve he strolled back over triumphantly holding something in his palms. ¡°Alright I¡¯ve got two for me, three for Maggy, and two for the new guy. That leaves five for you Fan.¡± He mused as he walked over dropping two small lumpy gold nuggets into my palm. ¡°Spoils of war bro, we call these things manimals but they¡¯re actually some sort of construct that if you¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough Quick.¡± Magdalena cut him off quickly as he took her share of the gold, keeping a keen eye on me. ¡°Yeah we all spawned here in the bay, what about you where did you spawn? Out with the elves? And who was that man you came in with?¡± She grilled me. ¡°Uh, actually it¡¯s a bit odd but I spawned in a cave up in the mountains. I actually just dug myself out it yesterday morning. The man I road in with his my friend Ardoar, he¡¯s a carpenter who lives up at the base of the mountain, trades here in town sometimes.¡± I said trying my best to seem charming and unthreatening. ¡°We should probably get back to town, the mayor is going to want to know about this and I want to make sure that the wall isn¡¯t delayed anymore.¡± Magdalena said as she jumped onto her horse without further hesitation riding for the town. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about her man, she¡¯s just super gung-ho about getting the village built into something. Once you break past her icy exterior you¡¯ll find she¡¯s actually pretty cool, at least from what I¡¯ve seen.¡± Quick grabbed the reins of his horse, and started to walk it back waving for me to follow. Finally my hands had healed enough to grip things again, I jogged over to grab my maul, tossing it over my shoulder before I ran to catch up with the three walking back to town. As we made it back to the road Quick started to ramble on about the comings and goings of the town, but I kept getting distracted by the fact that Fan looked familiar somehow. ¡°Hey Fan, this might seem weird but you look really familiar. Do I know you from somewhere; maybe you played SoE or something?¡± I asked having to slow my stride as my long legs carried me past the two. ¡°No I never played it, but you might know me from Immortal Gladiator.¡± She said quickly never meeting my eyes. ¡°Nah, I never played¡­.Holy shit. You¡¯re Fan the Fang! I remember that show match where you beat all of team Guardian each with a different weapon.¡± I tried to choke down my excitement as she seemed put off. ¡°uh, sorry. Don¡¯t mean to geek out on you, it¡¯s just I thought you retired from gaming.¡± ¡°I had, but this all sounded too good to pass up. And seeing as my contract with IG ran out years ago I¡¯ve got nothing but time.¡± She replied as she picked up her pace, moving ahead of us. ¡°I did the same thing too man when I first met her, it¡¯s still hard not to freak out a bit when you see her fighting but she doesn¡¯t really like the attention so I just try and play it cool.¡± Quick reassured me as he walked side by side. ¡°It¡¯s great to have another dude around, I mean there is Thomas but he hasn¡¯t really said much since Fan won him in a duel. And we had another player when we first started but he road to the legion camp to try and recruit them to help with everything that¡¯s been going on.¡± ¡°What exactly had been going on? It¡¯s only been three days and I already feel like I¡¯m way behind after spending my first two in a cave.¡± I said not trying to sound too dour. ¡°Well, when we all woke up here things were going nuts. I guess the Legion had magical contact with the mainland and after that big storm it went dead. Guess they got enough information to spook them because they all pulled back to their fort and are demanding the townspeople here rebuild their ships that were wrecked during the storm. The people here are freaking out, their mayor is a bit of a boob so Magda has sort of taken over, now she¡¯s got all the slaves building a wall around the town and all this other stuff. I don¡¯t know man, but I¡¯ve sure been having fun.¡± Quick rambled on Well shit, if Magda had already taken control of the town and another player was embedding himself with the Legion that didn¡¯t leave too many options for me to build with for the guild. There were the elves, but I wasn¡¯t sure how willing they¡¯d be and trekking all the way across the island to chance it on the Ulcragg didn¡¯t sound appealing. I guess if I could stomach the Arachnia I could go there. Either way I needed more information first. As we made it to the town I saw a bunch of sun kissed men and women working to dig long trenches out around the town as others piled the dirt up on a large berm on the inside edge. Waiting on the other side of the trench Magda was talking to older portly man with a bald head that seemed to be arguing with Ard as well. Jogging up behind them I laid a hand on Ard¡¯s shoulder.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Everything alright here?¡± I asked as I shouldered my way next to him. ¡°Everything is fine.¡± Snapped Magda ¡°I was just telling your friend here that we need raw wood, not rocking chairs. Clearly he has a way to get it without the other elves getting pissed off.¡± Throwing up my hands I looked to Ard raising an eyebrow at the implied question. ¡°Like I¡¯ve been trying to tell you, I get my wood from up the mountain.¡± Ard stated ¡°No one goes up there, not even the elves. You expect me to believe you survive treks up there to bring back enough wood for your little arts and crafts.¡± The mayor fumed. ¡°Whoa whoa whoa, he¡¯s telling the truth. I met him up on the mountain, I mean sure there are some monsters up there, but he¡¯s telling the truth.¡± I stepped between the three of them, suddenly finding myself the center of attention. ¡°Well good, then you can take us up there. We need wood to finish the walls and the Legion are demanding we rebuild their ships so we¡¯ll need more for that as well.¡± Magda said matter-of-factly. ¡°I don¡¯t need the whole fucking empire stomping up and down stirring up all sorts of shit around my house!¡± Argued Ard. ¡°Let¡¯s just bring it back down here, look I get that things are a little nuts right now but we can be reasonable about this.¡± I tried to intervene. Magda leaned over whispering in the Mayor¡¯s ear for a moment before stepping back folding her hands over her chest with a triumphant look on her face. ¡°I¡¯d like to offer you a quest then, we¡¯ll reward you for every ten trees you bring to the town, and I already gave this quest to Magda and her group but she said I should share it with you as well, if you find the source of the recent attacks on the town me and the town council will reward you.¡± Spouted the mayor, puppetting her words. You have been offered the quest (Gather Wood) for every 10 logs you bring back to the Mayor of Silk Bay you will be rewarded 40 gold pieces and 500 experience. This quest is repeatable. You have been offered the quest (Mysterious Attacks) find the source of the recent attacks on Silk Bay. This quests rewards will vary based on the level of success. I read quickly as the quests scrolled over my vision, this is why she¡¯d looked so cocky. She had control of the quests presented, and figured that like any other gamer that dangling the carrot would be a sure fire way to get me to do what she wanted. To be fair part of me wanted to go chop down a shit ton of trees just to abuse the repeatable part of the quest. But my year here wasn¡¯t about me leveling up, I needed to lay the ground work for the others. ¡°You¡¯re not going to bribe me into going against my friend¡¯s wishes, seriously read the fucking room. We might be able to come to a deal but it¡¯s not going to just be you saying jump and me saying how fucking high.¡± I grumbled, gesturing to Ard at the wagon. ¡°Come on man, let¡¯s go find a place to stay. We can always discuss this later.¡± I shot the pair a warning glance as Ard and I set off down the street with the wagon in tow. I saw the others joining Magda as we moved towards the town square, Ard directing us to the Inn he usually stayed at when he came to town to sell his goods. The Drunken Goose was pretty nice, off the main square it had a walled in courtyard with stables and a wash house out back. As we left the wagon with a stable hand and headed inside. The front room was a massive affair with tables and chairs scattered around, a large fireplace and a massive wooden bar opposite the door. The place was pretty quiet in the middle of the day, as Ard tracked down the owner, getting us a pair of rooms. I paid for mine, with one of the gold nuggets Quick had given me, receiving a handful of silver in return and the promise of a breakfast in the morning. We found a staircase off to the left, wandering up Ard told me he wanted to get settled in and left to his room. Finding my own I set to work washing the drying clay like blood off my skin with a provided pitcher and basin of water. Stripping off the jerkin Tai had given me I tried my best to get it clean, bent over the basin scrubbing furiously when I heard a knock on the door behind me. Without looking up I kept working. ¡°It¡¯s open Ard.¡± I called as I heard the door open ¡°It¡¯s not Ard.¡± Said a lilting voice over my shoulder. Whipping around I found Magda standing in my doorway with a hand behind her back as he leaned against the frame. ¡°Jesus you just don¡¯t give up do you, I told you we could talk about it later. Sometimes you¡¯ve just got to take no for an answer.¡± I fumed, tossing the jerkin to the side on the bed. She held produced a bottle and two glasses from behind her back, holding them up ¡°I just came to make a peace offering, I got a bit riled up earlier and I wanted to apologize. It¡¯s just there is a real chance the way things are going that we could lose the town and I get a bit heated to get things done right away. So I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to assume you¡¯d turn on your friend. Have a drink with me?¡± Grabbing the one chair from the corner I carried it over setting it in front of her as I sat on the edge of the bed. ¡°Apology accepted, I get it. We¡¯ve all got our goals here, and from the looks of it you¡¯re one of the few who might make them happen. Just settle down a bit in the future ok?¡± Sitting down across from me she poured us each a glass, as we sat there drinking what amounted to a rather strong smoky bourbon. Talking about our first few days in the game, and how we¡¯d come to be where we were. I told her about being stuck in the cave from the start and being hunted by the chitters as she told me about meeting up with Fan and Quick. ¡°So how¡¯d you learn magic already?¡± I asked as I took another sip from my glass. ¡°Well you see, on the first day I wandered out into the forest and stumbled upon the bones of an ancient frost worm. I ended up seeing this vision of how it died and it gave me the quest to help bring it back to life, along with some of its ancient frost magic. So now I¡¯m trying to get the town built up so I can gather the resources for it, I hope that if I get powerful in game I¡¯ll can get some sponsors and I can pay for my blind cancer ridden brother¡¯s surgery. But I think someone is out to stop me because suspicious things have been happening since I got here, and I don¡¯t have any explanation for it.¡± Her voice had dropped to a whispered as she leaned in telling her story. I¡¯d unconsciously done the same, drawn in for a moment before I started to repeat it for a moment to myself, pausing for a moment. ¡°You¡¯re fucking with me aren¡¯t you?¡± She let out a small smirk creep across her face that seemed to soften her sharp features, as a small laugh peeled out from her lips. ¡°Oh I¡¯m totally fucking with you, what do you think this is, some anime? No our first day here we ran into a hag in the woods, she dropped this spell book when we killed her. I was the only one that had the elemental affinity so I got it.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but laugh at how well she¡¯d pulled me in from the start, her delivery really selling it. ¡°So how exactly does magic work here?¡± ¡°Well from what I¡¯ve seen, everyone has certain affinities and if find a magic tome you can start learning from there. It¡¯s like any other skill, except for the fact that the more I level it the more spells I can understand in the tome, and I can take certain specializations to change and enhance my casting. We actually found that if you go down to the market and try out a bunch of different tomes you can find out what your affinities are.¡± She told me easily, before slapping her hands on my knees and standing up. ¡°Now put your shirt on and come down stairs, we were all about to have lunch and I¡¯m buying.¡± As she left I caught myself watching more than just her exit, shaking my head as I grabbed the jerkin from the bed, pulling it on and following her downstairs. Savagery The rest of the day was spent drinking and talking with the other players, catching up on what information they¡¯d already figured out about the game. The three of them were an odd bunch, the hyper Quick, reserved Fan and driven Magda. I guess when there are only five known players in the area you make due, their fourth had made for the legion camp yesterday to try and persuade them to return their support to the town. From what I gathered it was a bit of a mess, with the Legion soldiers being only a temporary station and wanting ships to return home while the townspeople were permanent transplants who wanted to fortify their town and wait out whatever was going on behind their walls. Either way, without the Legion soldiers to ward off the elves they weren¡¯t going to be able to utilize the old lumber camp. Even if they did get the soldier¡¯s support the most likely scenario was that once enough lumber was retrieved to rebuild a small fleet they¡¯d pull their support. I picked this all up from Magda who had seemingly laid claim to the town by helping the mayor and council make their decisions like getting the slaves to start digging for the wall. Either way it left me with a lot to think about, as I called it an early evening and made it up to my room. Ard was surprisingly absent after our talk outside, but I figured he¡¯d show back up tomorrow. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX I woke up the next morning before dawn, stretching out in the too small bed pressed up against the wall in my room. My body protested at the early hour as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and forced myself to get up and get dressed, there was still a lot I wanted to see to while the town was quiet. Quietly making my way down I slipped past the kitchen servants out into the walled in courtyard, only to find myself beaten by another. Fan was already in the court yard this morning, stripped out of her armor as she practiced with a pair of short swords. Moving to the side I found a barrel to sit on and watch as I¡¯d already been seen. The retired true pro was a marvel to watch as she ran through various forms that all seemed to blur together to my eye. As she finished with a series of high kicks and wandered to grab a drink of water I got a chance to look her over. With soft features and curious brown eyes she had an innocent look that made you think she was someone who needed protecting until you took in the rest of the picture, the knobby calloused hands of a fighter and lean muscular body that told you she could handle herself better than most. ¡°No one is usually up this early, and I don¡¯t really want an audience.¡± She said staring at me over the top of her cup. ¡°Sorry about that, wasn¡¯t planning on staying to watch but it was really impressive. I¡¯m actually just about to head out.¡± I raised an eyebrow trying my best disarming smile. ¡°Unless you feel like giving me a few pointers on fighting.¡± ¡°No point, I saw you fight yesterday.¡± She set the cup down, picking up her blades again as she stalked back to the middle of the yard. ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± I complained ¡°You¡¯re twice my size, and honestly not nearly agile enough to do what I do. Look you want my advice? Stick with what¡¯s working for you, you¡¯ve got good fighting instincts, and a real savagery that¡¯ll carry you further than trying to emulate me.¡± She stated matter-of-factly as she started in a new set of exercises. I was a bit taken back by her last statement. ¡°What do you mean savagery? So far all I¡¯ve done is fight for my life and panicked the whole way.¡± She stopped her exercises short, stalking over. ¡°Is that what you think you¡¯ve been doing, I watched you brain that manimal yesterday and stomp on the other to finish it off. Even if you didn¡¯t notice it, I did, it probably didn¡¯t even register to you. You just put down a threat and moved on, no hesitation. Look at the others, they picked things to keep them away from such things and you just waded right into it. You could have tried to back off when you lost your weapon, but instead you just kept going. Stick with what works, it¡¯ll keep you alive.¡± Turning her back to me she walked across the yard to continue. I was lost with my own thoughts as I forced myself to get up and head out to the street just to avoid making it awkward. I wasn¡¯t a killer, I was just doing my best to survive, besides what does it matter how the things died. Her words kept rattling around my head as I wandered the quiet early morning streets. As I shook myself out of it I found I¡¯d stumbled into a market street. Merchants were moving about in the slowly rising sunlight, setting up stalls and tents all along the broad road way. Strolling down I peeked inside at the various offered wares, all sorts of food, clothes and weapons were on display. Not surprisingly silk seemed to be popular, living up to the town¡¯s namesake. Towards the end I found what I was looking for, a small dark purple tent with a flap open to the street. Inside were piles of books and tomes stacked upon each other, wandering in I started to look through the texts. ¡°Something I can help you with son?¡± came a raspy breathy voice from the back of the tent as an old bearded man rose from a chair hidden behind a large plank laid across stacks of books in a makeshift counter. ¡°Uh yeah, actually I was looking for magical tomes. I was told that you could use them to find you affinities.¡± I questioned, walking over towards him. ¡°Aaah, of course. You must be one of the newcomers, usually kids in the empire test their affinities as teens. Here give these a read.¡± He said in a jovial tone, pulling out a stack of books of various colors and sizes from a pile next to his chair. Picking the first up I flipped it open and started reading, well trying to read at least. I could understand the words but every time I got more than a line in they all seemed to jumble up and slip from my mind. Setting it down I tried another, this one with an opal set in the cover. It was the same as I flipped through each book in the stack growing more and more frustrated each step of the way. Reading was something I loved and here I couldn¡¯t even understand a single sentence. Setting the last down with a huff I looked up at the man who watched me with a curious look, his lips pursed tightly.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°So what does this mean, that I don¡¯t have any magic?¡± I asked desperately ¡°Well yes, or more aptly that you don¡¯t have any of the base magics. A rare thing, usually everyone has one affinity that speaks to them. Let¡¯s try one more thing.¡± He mused as walked back to pick through another pile behind his counter. ¡°Here it is, try and give it this a read.¡± Setting down a thick yellowed vellum scroll he gently spread it out as the dry hide crinkled under the movement. Leaning in a started to read the scroll, surprisingly it came to me easily enough, though it didn¡¯t seem anything like a spell. It was more like a recipe, pigments, angels and a slew of other things all finished with symbol notated like a paint by numbers. The symbol seemed so familiar to me, but I couldn¡¯t place it. Suddenly it came to me, the door down in the chitterer¡¯s cave, it was the little hook ended x. Looking back through the scroll I pieced it together, the directions where on how to carve and color the symbol, along with just how to mix the pigments and what extra ingredients to add. ¡°I can read this one, I¡¯ve actually seen that symbol before!¡± I exclaimed excited at the prospect of not being completely magicless. ¡°Well that is surprising, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen a runic primalist in decades.¡± He slowly rolled the scroll back up. ¡°A runic primalist? If it¡¯s so rare does that mean it¡¯s powerful, forbidden or something?¡± I tried not to raise my voice in excitement too much. ¡°Hmm, what¡¯s that? No no son it¡¯s not forbidden or powerful it¡¯s just frowned upon out and about in civilized nations, so most people don¡¯t bother testing for it anymore. Not everyone wants to cutting themselves up to carve scars into their skin and carrying tomes full of humanoid skin around, and those that do don¡¯t want to advertise it.¡± He gently scolded me. ¡°Oh¡­wait, humanoid skin? Like people and elves? And what do you mean carving scars into their skin?¡± I jumbled out my words in panic as my excitement turned to apprehension. ¡°That¡¯s how it works son, primal magic is the first magic practiced in this world. It was cast through blood and raw emotion. Overtime the various races each refined magic into something much more controllable with incantations and potions. A few cultures stuck with the old ways though, gaining greater control in their craft by carving runes into their body and powering the spells through those. It¡¯s a nasty business. I don¡¯t even know why I still have this thing. Here take it.¡± He shoved the scroll of what I now feared was human skin into my hand. ¡°Maybe out here on the frontier you¡¯ll get by with it, but you¡¯ll have to do it on your own. I don¡¯t have anything else like that and the mages guild will kick you to the curb if you go asking them about it.¡± I took the scroll, holding it gently like it¡¯d crumble if I squeezed it to hard. Giving my thanks to the man I left at his insistent ushering. Wandering around the market I was left with even more thoughts on my mind, here Fan was telling me I had a savagery in me and the game seemed to think scarification and human skin scrolls were a good fit for me. Finding a bench near a small gardened tree I opened the scroll again reading through it slowly now that I knew what it was directions for. Congratulations you have learned the spell primordial gauntlet! This is a level 1 scaling runic primalist spell. Quickly pulling up my character sheet I found the runic pramalist skill on my sheet, though I couldn¡¯t find the spell. Then I noticed a small tab on the bottom, focus on it a spell list swapped over in place of my character sheet. Primordial Gauntlet: Forms a large clawed gauntlet over the casters inscribed arm providing a natural weapon, this gauntlet uses the unarmed combat skill. Cost: 200 Mana ongoing. I had magic! Sure it wasn¡¯t going to get me out of the fight more, in fact from the looks of my first spell it¡¯d get me deeper into the fight, but I had magic! In fact, I think I figured out more than just magic, this game wanted me to be some primal savage and outside they wanted me to be a villain, well maybe I could give them a bit of both. Jumping to my feet I sprinted back to the Inn as the sun cracked over the horizon fully. Inside people were rising for their day, and sitting down to eat breakfast. Ignoring them I ran up the stairs two at a time, pounding on Ard¡¯s door. The elf answered in a long night shirt, eyes still half closed in sleep. ¡°What, what do you want?¡± he mumbled as he leaned against the doorway ¡°Ard, how quickly can you offload your goods so we can head back?¡± I inquired still excited as things were starting to come together. ¡°Well I¡¯ve got a middle man who I deal with in town here so once I give him what we¡¯ve got and collect my payment for the last load I can go. I thought you¡¯d be staying here with your new friends though.¡± He snipped under his breath at the end. I was left blinking for a few moments at his comment. ¡°Is that why I didn¡¯t see you at all last night after we arrived, you thought I was just going to leave you here and run off with the other adventurers?¡± ¡°Well sure, why would you want to come back out into the woods with a couple of elves when you can be here saving a town and being a hero.¡± He grumbled on, sounding a bit embarrassed at being upset. I couldn¡¯t help but smile at the thought of how much the thought of me leaving affected him. ¡°Ard, first of all. I¡¯m not a hero, I told you I¡¯m here for one reason only, to get things ready for the rest of my band. My friends, my actual friends and I¡¯d like to think that we¡¯re actual friends too right? Besides you and Tai were going to be my first new recruits.¡± My smile seemed to catch on with him as he returned it, the sleep finally clearing from his eyes as the happy Ard I knew returned. ¡°Damn right, best looking friend you¡¯ll ever have. I can have everything off loaded and be ready to go by this afternoon.¡± He said excitedly, moving to push past me and get started. I grabbed his arm for a moment, pulling him to a stop. ¡°Ard, don¡¯t you think you should put some pants on first? And do you think you could pick me up a few things while you¡¯re offloading? I¡¯ll make sure to pay you back.¡± He stopped cold looking down at his bare legs before heading back into his room, throwing off his night shirt leaving him naked as a jay bird. ¡°Pants, offloading and shopping. I can¡¯t wait to see Tai¡¯s face when we get back, he thought you¡¯d stay in town too. So what¡¯s the rush all about anyways?¡± ¡°We¡¯re going back up the mountain, and I¡¯ve got an old lumber camp to burn down on the way back.¡± White Knight With Ard running off to get accounts settled I gathered my things, which amounted to the splitting maul and my harvest sack which was pitifully empty. I really needed to get things together if I was going to start being a proper game, there wasn¡¯t nearly enough hording going on. Slinging the maul over my shoulder I headed down the stairs nearly running face first into Magda at the bottom. ¡°Oh good you¡¯re already ready to go, I was just going to get my gear.¡± She said quickly moving to slid past me up the stairs. ¡°Ready to go where?¡± I asked not bothering to hide the confusion on my face ¡°Oh I thought Fen or Quick had told you, now that you¡¯re here and we¡¯re going to go out into the woods where those manimals have been coming from and see if we can track down their source. Figure if that doesn¡¯t shake out we can always grind up a few more levels, you need to catch up to the rest of us.¡± She kept heading up the steps for a moment before stopping and turning to look at me. ¡°If you weren¡¯t getting ready to go with us, what are you getting ready to do? Look Gideon, I¡¯ve known a lot of driven gamers in my day. You¡¯re probably thinking that I¡¯ve already got a hold on this place so you need to find somewhere else to stake a claim or find some way to push me out. Am I right?¡± I was left rubbing the back of my neck as she seemed to have me pegged, forcing what I hoped was an earnest smile. ¡°Nah you¡¯ve got me all wrong, I was just going to head back up towards the mountain with Ard, help him out and all maybe cut down some trees and find a way to haul them back for that quest. Get myself a little bit more set up then I¡¯ll be back. Speaking of wood by the way, do you know why they don¡¯t just cut the would out at the edge of the plains?¡± I could feel her eyes boring into me as she stared me down caught in my lie, before she simply flashed a bright smile that made the corners of her eyes crinkle. ¡°Well good, I would hate to think we were going to be competitors or enemies. Plenty to go around here, besides we¡¯re forty percent of the real people here on this island.¡± Either she was a better liar than me or truly believed me because she seemed earnest as I¡¯d ever seen. ¡°And some nonsense about an undying druid who laid claim to the forest around these parts, I figure it¡¯s either more superstition like the whole mountain being haunted or it¡¯s some elite mob for us to fight and clear out. Anyways have a safe trip back Gideon, hope we see you real soon.¡± She left me standing at the bottom of the stairs as she breezed off. Walking to the bar I got myself some of the promised breakfast as the morning was starting to get into full swing. The inn keeper deposited a bowl of what looked like oatmeal mixed with something as well as a mug of something steaming. Catching sight of Fan and Quick sitting at a table finishing their breakfast I made my way over, pulling up a chair before tucking in to what turned out to be pretty delicious porridge mixed with something crunchy that had a mild sweetness. The mug contained cider warmed through, and I could feel the flush of alcohol running through me warming me up to the cool morning. ¡°Pretty good isn¡¯t it? I was never a big drinker in VR but it sure is a nice way to start the day¡± Said Quick over his bowl of food, spraying small bits on the table. ¡°Don¡¯t talk when you chew.¡± Scolded Fan as she smacked him on the back of the head causing more to spray out. ¡°So Gideon, you going to be coming out with us today, get leveled up with us? We could use someone big and slow to take the hits.¡± ¡°Actually I¡¯m heading out, I explained to Magda already. But I¡¯m going back up to the mountain with Ard when he finishes here.¡± I made sure to say between bites ¡°Oooh, got something good stashed up there? Big secret grinding spot or a dungeon? Wouldn¡¯t go leaving your old pal Quick behind right, guy who saved your life and has been like a brother to you?¡± He cleared his mouth out with a drink this time, saving himself another slap. ¡°Quick we just met yesterday?¡± ¡°What can I say, I move fast. So you got anything good up there?¡± He pressed ¡°Nah I¡¯m just heading up to see about cutting some trees for the town, maybe help out Ard for a bit while I catch up to all you in levels and everything.¡± I repeated for the second time today, believing the lie more with each repetition. ¡°Alright cool cool, just remember your old friend Quick if you do find something. Actually, hold on.¡± Leaning on his chair he started to dig through something on the floor. ¡°Take this with you, if you find something just fire it out of a bow and we¡¯ll come running.¡± He deposited an arrow on the table in between us.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Inspecting it for a moment I was rewarded with the notice [Enchanted Arrow], as I picked it up and turned it over a few times. ¡°What is it exactly?¡± I asked. ¡°Oh that¡¯s one of my arrows of returning, they keep coming back to my quiver when I fire them until they break. So if you find something we¡¯ll know to head up the road towards the mountain and you can meet us on the road. Actually quick thought.¡± Leaning over he cut a small notch out of the fletching before handing it back. ¡°There, now I¡¯ll know it¡¯s the one I gave you, could have been bad otherwise.¡± ¡°Oh well thanks man.¡± I said as I finished up my breakfast. ¡°I should probably get out of here and see if Ard needs any help. I¡¯ll catch up with you both soon.¡± I gave them both a polite nod leaving my dishes on the table. ¡°Fan¡± ¡°Good luck out here, hope you catch up. Don¡¯t want a charity case floating around the island.¡± Fan said as she went back to her own breakfast. Leaving the inn I looked around for someplace to lay low, avoid any more unnecessary lying while I was here. Not that I was uncomfortable with it, but I sure wasn¡¯t good at it. Wandering around for a bit I found a merchant willing to change my second gold nugget for a gold piece and a few silver which I dropped into my harvest sack for loss of a better place to deposit it. Wandering around in the morning sunlight I heard a commotion from down an alley to my side. Peering around the corner I saw the cause of it, a couple of men beating on what I now recognized as one of the slaves in the town. I¡¯d like to say I ran down that alley way, beating them within an inch of their lives and saved the slave, but as I stood there I noticed the alley was a bit too tight for me to be able to swing my axe. Instead I dropped it to my side, dragging it along the cobble stones as I walked towards the pair. ¡°What seems to be the problem down here?¡± I inquired from a distance away so as not to agitate the two as I tried to get a bearing on them. ¡°Just teaching this useless slave a few well deserved lessons.¡± Said one of the men before delivering a sharp kick to the ribs of the cowering slave. ¡°Well I can see, that. Might I ask just what they did to deserve such a pointed lesson this early in the morning.¡± I asked as I kept walking closer. ¡°She delivers for her master, keeps leaving our order on the back doorstop and vanishing. And every morning our order is left sitting for passersby to steal, then her master claims that the deliver was made and demands that we pay him for good we don¡¯t have.¡± Spat the bigger of the two men with venom causing the woman to cower on the ground. ¡°Ah, well that is something. Can I ask you something? If you¡¯re here beating this slave first thing in the morning. Where exactly are the goods she¡¯s supposed to be delivering?¡± I asked looking around the alley for a moment, spotting various back doors along each side. The pair looked between themselves for a moment finally piecing together where I was going with it as the smaller of the two turned to kick the downed woman again. ¡°Where are our goods!¡± I grabbed his arm restraining him a moment before he could kick her again. ¡°If I had to venture a guess, I¡¯d say there never was an deliveries the last few times you both got short changed. Chances are this woman here is just taking the fall for her master trying to short change you. Luckily for you though I¡¯m an adventurer and I just so happen to be in a bit of a monetary bind. Toss me a few gold for my trouble and I¡¯ll have this one take me back to her master and shake your goods loose for you.¡± I drummed my fingers along the haft of my maul for emphasis. ¡°Yeah¡­Yeah, Charles I¡¯ve heard about these guys. They¡¯re the ones killing all the monsters and having the mayor build that new wall. Give him a few gold and he can go break a few legs for us.¡± The smaller one rambled excitedly. ¡°Exactly! You¡¯ve got the idea now.¡± ¡°Fine, but when you¡¯re done I expect everything brought back to my store down by the dock front.¡± Said big and mean as he rambled off a list of missing goods. ¡°Then bring it all down to the golden dawn caf¨¦ by the docks.¡± Depositing a small handful of gold coins in my palm the dynamic duo stalked off. ¡°Thank you, thank you. I thought they were going to kill me.¡± Said the woman as she uncurled herself, trying to stand up on shaken legs as her bruised body fought her. I looked her over for a moment, under the dirt and quickly forming bruises she wasn¡¯t half bad, but I wasn¡¯t here to play white knight to some slave girl I reminded myself. ¡°Yeah no problem, look I suggest you run back and figure out something to tell your master, because I plan on taking my little pay day here and heading out of town.¡± I couldn¡¯t tell if the look on her face was relief that I wasn¡¯t going to go shake down her master or fear that I was leaving her in the middle of the mess she was already in. ¡°O¡­Ok, I understand. Thank you again for saving me kind sir.¡± She said before stumbling off down the alley way at an awkward stiff hobble. Turning my back to the sight I walked back the way it came, it killed me not to get involved. I might not be some hero but slavery and beatings was something that was hard to stomach even for me. Some people could make it more palatable in games telling themselves it¡¯s not real or no one was actually getting hurt but it was real enough for me. It was one thing to cheer on some super powered main character and his quirky slave harem in some fiction but this was my life for the next year and I wasn¡¯t going to be dipping my toe into it. Looking around the street I heard a whistle from my right. Ard and his wagon were rolling down the street towards me, waiting for him to pull up next to me I hopped onto up onto the bench next to him. ¡°Let¡¯s get the hell out of this place.¡± The Best Laid Plans As Ard and I rolled out of town I leaned back on the bench, peering into the back of the wagon. It wasn¡¯t as empty as I first thought, filling the bottom of the wagon were sacks and a small barrel that I assumed were supplies for the couple up in the hills. ¡°How¡¯d it all go? And were you able to get everything I needed?¡± I asked trying not to sound too eager. ¡°Eeeh, not so great. With the ships being damaged or destroyed I doubt this new load will get sold fast as it¡¯s all going to be local. But I was able to get paid for the last load and I did find what you were looking for.¡± Ard said with a sly grin as he leaned back grabbing what looked to be soft walled leather rucksack which he deposited in my lap. ¡°I appreciate it Ard, you¡¯ve been a real life saver.¡± I opened the sack taking a look inside, I couldn¡¯t see anything in the dark confines so I stuck my hand in feeling around the inside of the bag which appeared to be empty. ¡°What gives?¡± Letting his sly grin shift into a laugh he pulled something out of a pouch on his belt, tossing it into my lap. Looking down I saw a small inscribed river stone, as I picked it up a notice flashed over my vision. Do you wish to bind [Adventurers Satchel of Holding] to yourself? This will make the container usable only to you. I couldn¡¯t help but match his grin as I saw just what he¡¯d gotten me, a bag of holding. Now I was really an adventurer, quickly selecting yes I reached back inside the sack now finding it filled with everything I¡¯d asked for, each time I thought about what I was looking for it seemed to find its way into my hand. Quills, paper, charcoal, bottles of ink and pouches of pigment, it was all there. ¡°This is great Ard! I hope it didn¡¯t cost too much¡­actually I did make some gold while you were gone, let me give you something.¡± I reached into my old ratty harvest sack. ¡°It¡¯s a gift, if you¡¯re going to be staying out with us you¡¯ll need to be able to carry everything. Couldn¡¯t buy you a pack horse so this is the next big thing. Keep your money, I¡¯ll just have Tai put you to work to pay me back for the goods.¡± He said with a smile. Sitting back for the ride I kept playing with the sack, willing things into my hand. On a whim I tried pulling up my inventory, finding myself this time presented with an overview of everything I had in my new rucksack. It seemed a few concessions had been made for players in this hardcore world. The sack would hold safely anything I could fit inside, all while reducing the weight to ten percent it¡¯s total. Now it was time to start building my horde, spotting a section for money on my new UI I dumped my coins inside, quickly seeing them tallied there. Thirteen gold and some change, not bad. As we rolled down the road, passing into the forest on our way home I passed the time chatting with Ard. The elf had become like an old friend in no time at all, always ready with some hilarious story or simply just comfortable to listen to me ramble on about one thing or another. As we rolled deeper in the woods the conversation changed to more serious topics. ¡°So I suppose you have some plan or purpose for burning down the old lumber camp, and moving forward? I don¡¯t want to piss off the town and lose out on our livelihoods.¡± Ard voiced his concerns to me. ¡°Well first let me ask you something, Magda said they didn¡¯t harvest the trees near the plains because it the territory of some druid, but she thought that was bullshit. Know anything?¡± I asked ¡°Ah Cernos the undying, he¡¯s very much real.¡± Ard said casually. ¡°Though supposedly he¡¯s been asleep for the last century. A druid so powerful he transcended death.¡± ¡°You mean like a lich?¡± I asked ¡°Exactly! Well except he¡¯s not undead, in fact I suspect he¡¯s more alive than any of us. But same concept, Cerno tied his soul to a tree. Now if his physical body dies, he¡¯s reborn from the tree good as new. The forest used to stretch closer to the bay before the humans arrived, they cleared it out building their town and planting fields. Until they got to close to Cerno¡¯s territory. He blighted their crops and soured their wells leaving them to die till the set appeasing him, agreeing to disturb his forest further. I doubt your friends were find much traction getting the townsfolk to risk chopping down his forest even if he hasn¡¯t been seen in some time.¡± Ard rambled on happily. ¡°Perfect, so here is my plan. At first I figured I¡¯d just burn the logging camp and deny the town the supplies needed to fortify themselves and rebuild ships. Chances are the monsters would overrun them or the Legion would come knocking and take what they wanted. I mean I figure the Legion will get what they want one way or another, but if we¡¯re going to make it last here long term we need that port. So my plan is to do the same, but start clearing the valley where I first escaped the cave, build a little village post there of our own. Then when the town is really desperate, sell them what they need for a small fortune, buy us a work force, hire the rest. Fact of the matter is I¡¯ll probably sell to the Legion too, sooner they get out of here, the better. In the end if we avoid getting killed we should end up with everything secured before the year is out.¡± I laid out my plan as I enjoyed the breeze running through the trees. ¡°Bold, and it¡¯s going to be a real pain. But I¡¯m excited for the chance to build something more than just rocking chairs. Besides a village means it won¡¯t just be me and Tai anymore. So I¡¯m in.¡± Ard said matter-of-factly ¡°I was hoping you were doing to say that.¡± We spent the rest of the day riding the wagon road through the forest till we reached the split heading towards the logging camp. The Sun was a few hours out from dipping below the horizon still. Picking through the sacks I gathered a few days¡¯ worth of food from the supplies Ard had purchased in town. Shoving them into my rucksack I swung it over my back as I grabbed my maul and hopped from the wagon.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°Hey, what did I say about going it on your own?¡± Ard complained as he pulled the wagon to a stop. ¡°Look, it should be harmless and I figure it¡¯s better if there is no chance anyone sees you burning down the logging camp with me. I¡¯ll hike my way out, get it done and meet you at your place in a day or two, then we can both risk our asses clearing out the valley, sound good?¡± I asked, swinging the maul up onto my shoulder. ¡°Fine, but if you don¡¯t show up in a few days I¡¯m sending Tai down after you with instructions to hog tie you and haul you back if need be.¡± He threatened. ¡°Sounds good, be safe Ard.¡± ¡°You too.¡± Watching till the wagon was swallowed up by the forest I head down my own path. The old logging road had started to overgrow, but going was easy enough with only my pack on my back. I could hear the forest coming to life around me at the impending night. By the time I¡¯d reached the logging camp, the sun was setting a deep red hue in the sky filtering through the trees. I surveyed the camp unbothered by the fading light, it laid along a river running down from the mountain. Two barrack like cabins off to the side and a sawmill set to the side comprised most of it, with a few sheds and some old lumber rounding it out. Like all places that you expected to be full of people it had an extra empty feeling to it, like ending up in the halls of a high school long after everyone had gone home. Deciding to spend the night and instead of running from the burning camp in the middle of the night I made my way to the smaller of the two barracks. Finding the door barred with a large iron padlock I hefted the maul up off my shoulder, flipping it around and taking a step back. A few heavy swings later and the sound of metal on metal echoed off the trees for the last time as the bent lock dropped to the ground. Stepping inside I found myself facing a row of bunks, with a small sitting area at the end near a potbelly stove. Shoving the door closed I grabbed a chair, wedging it in to at least make any entry a loud one. Padding through the dark room made my way to the sitting area, taking my time to build up a fire in the stove I left the small iron door open to chase away the evening chill. Hauling a blanket from my sack I found a comfortable looking chair, hauling it to a corner and settling in for the night as I fished out some food. The thought of sleeping in one of the cots exposed in the middle of the room left my nerves crawling. So I¡¯d suffer a sore back to ease my paranoid mind. As I finished my cold meal I stoked the stove one last time before settling in to get some sleep. Something woke me before the sun was up, the fire in the stove had died down to embers and I could see moonlight pouring in through the cracks in the wall. Sitting completely still I listened for whatever had woken me, hearing it a moment later a low croaking sound. It sounded rhythmic like someone having a conversation, carefully tucking my blanket back into the rucksack I grabbed my maul from the floor and edged towards the door. Carefully lifting the chair free I set it aside as I cracked the door with a finger peering outside into the moonlit camp. Outside was a group of humanoid creatures, though their bodies appeared fat and bulbous with powerful legs and skinny arms. They carried with them fishing and spears and nets, one had a nasty looking cudgel in his webbed hands. Frogmen, or this worlds closest analog. They must have seen my light and come up from the river, I watched them as the gestured to the barracks arguing over something. There were six in total, each about half my size. Finally a larger bullfrog looking one croaked a final statement that seemed to settle it as they started to advance on the barracks. I debated storming out to fight them in the open where I could swing my maul fully, but figured that was a good way to get surrounded. Stepping away from the door crack I left it unbarred as I moved behind it grabbing my maul in both hands and holding it at the ready. Slowly the door creaked open, as I saw a set of webbed fingers curl around the edge. Holding my breath as my heart seemed to pound in my chest I waited, my body shaking from nerves. As the first bulbous creature cleared the doorway I sprang into action. Throwing my weight against the door I slammed it shut as I heard something caught between it and the frame crack followed by a pained screech. The frogman in front of me whipped around faster than expected though the spear in his hands didn¡¯t come fast enough. Bringing my maul down in a short chop I smashed the hammer side it into the top of his big mouthed head. He was left gasping at me like a fish out of water as blood poured down in rivulets between his eyes. Suddenly something slammed into the door behind me sending me stumbling forward over top of the dying frogman. Catching myself I whipped around just in time to feel the sharp agonizing pain as something pierced my side. Looking down I saw a spear sticking into me over my left hip, with a pissed of frogman attached to the end. Bringing my maul up I battered him away, grunting in pain as the spear ripped itself out. As the frogmen poured in through the open door I charged forward, holding my maul between both hands using it to batter them to the side as I broke free to open ground. Spinning on my heel I let my hand slip down the haft of my maul turning it into a heavy blind swing from the side. Feeling resistance for a moment before it thudded into the doorframe I found another of the frogmen nearly split open like a hog. As the rest followed him out I tried to yank my maul free from the wood, only to find it stuck. Quickly letting go I back pedaled to gain ground as the four remaining creatures spread out, on holding a shattered arm to his side but still wielding a cudgel with the other. They jabbed at me as the slowly closed in, spear points opening new wounds along my body and leaving me with searing pain each time. Each time I moved towards one he backed off as the others stepped in filling me with new holes. Drawing my dagger from my belt I tried to fend them off, losing ground repeatedly. Suddenly a weighted net whipped out, tangling around my knife hand and arm threatening to yank me off balance. I was bigger than your average fish though, dropped the knife I grabbed at the net, yanking it from the frog¡¯s grasp. Swinging it around frantically I managed to catch one of the bastards in the temple with a small iron weight. As he dropped like a stone the others charged me. I felt the small cold leathery bodies slam into, I was bigger and stronger than them but together the dragged me to the ground. Pinning me to the ground as the cudgel wielding one brought his stick up cracking it down on my stomach as I felt all the air driven from my lungs. Rotating slowly he paced towards my head, looming over me as he prepared to bring his weapon down and seal the deal. Struggling against the bodies pinning me down I tried to get myself free. As his club came up over his head I screwed my eyes shut waiting for the end to come. Suddenly I felt a something fall on top of me as the bodies I fought against went limp, leaving me under a stinking pile of frog bodies. You have leveled, Congratulations! You will be awarded 1 Specialization and 1 attribute point to spend on your current skills and attributes. Traits are non-refundable and must be spent within 48 hours of level-up. Ability points will be awarded with each fourth level. Wiggling myself around I managed to free my head from under the pile of bodies, only to be faced with end of a short sword and a familiar face. ¡°We really need to stop meeting like this.¡± Said Fan as she wiped green blood from her blade. Whiplash Managing to roll the bodies off me with a little struggle I pulled myself to my feet, the various stab wounds had closed themselves when I leveled but I was still soaked in frog blood and my own. Walking over to the door of the barracks building I hauled my maul out of the door frame with a grunt, letting it drag a trail in the grass as I walked towards the river. Fan followed me, I could see her from the corner of my vision short sword shining in the moonlight still drawn and resting at her side. Paying her no mind for a moment a I lowered myself down the river bank, kneeling on the stony shore to start washing the blood from clothes. A process that was becoming far too common sense my entry into Tenacity. ¡°Aren¡¯t you worried about more monsters coming out of the river as you sit exposed?¡± Fan mused from up the edge of the river bank ¡°Well I figure if anything big and nasty comes for me, I¡¯ve got the great Fan the Fang here to protect me now don¡¯t I?¡± I snapped without meaning too, the pre-dawn wake up of nearly dying souring my mood some. ¡°I¡¯m not a huge fan of that nickname.¡± She paused for a moment as I continued to splash. ¡°So what¡¯re you doing out here?¡± ¡°I was about to ask you the same fucking thing, last I figured you, Quick, and Magda were setting off into the woods to find the source of the attacks. And I was heading back up the mountain, one of us is generally where we said we were going to be. So let¡¯s start the conversation from your end.¡± I grumbled as I stood up wiping the water from my face. ¡°We set into the forest, seems it didn¡¯t agree to that. Every time we got any distance in we¡¯d get turned around and end up walking right back out. Despite what we tried we couldn¡¯t seem to get anywhere so we called it a day and Magda asked me to come check on you. And here I am.¡± She responded flatly ¡°Asked you to come check on me, or told you to come keep an eye on me?¡± I asked as I grabbed my maul walking past her to climb up the river bank. ¡°Does it matter?¡± ¡°Probably doesn¡¯t, I¡¯m just here because I wanted to make my own way up to the mountain. Get some leveling done, figured it was good enough place to stop for the night.¡± I lied as I stalked back towards the barracks, stopping to check the bodies of the frogmen on the way. Aside from their weapons they wore rough spun loin clothes and each carried small pouch, up ending them into my palm I found a mix of rough silver pieces and some strips of kelp that I assumed were a handy snack or something. Tossing the soggy kelp to the side I dropped the handful of silver into my pack pulling up my inventory just to watch it get instantly sorted with my other coins. Suppressing a smile I made my way back to the pot belly stove confident Fan would probably be following me every step of the way. Stoking the fire up again from the embers I picked through my inventory, aside from the blanket Ard had been good enough to pick me up a few supplies, including more food, a tin cup and small copper pot. Thinking of the cup and one of the pouches amongst me consumables I dug them out of the pack, starting the process of boiling some water from my bota bag to make some morning tea. ¡°You know you¡¯re a horrible fucking liar, right? I just want to make sure that you don¡¯t think you¡¯re pulling anything over on me. You and Magda are playing the same damn game, looking for ways to grab power here. Only difference is she¡¯s good at it.¡± Fan stated as she dug out her own cup and set it besides mine. ¡°Well if you¡¯ve got me pegged so well, why exactly am I here?¡± ¡°Far as I figure you¡¯re looking at setting up shop, laying claim. Maybe make a deal with the elves. With how hard up the town is for lumber it wouldn¡¯t be the worst move.¡± ¡°If that¡¯s the case, why haven¡¯t you already put me down or at least knocked me out or something. We both know you could take me easily enough in a fight.¡± I questioned her, holding my cold wet hands towards the fire to warm them. ¡°Well that¡¯s the thing isn¡¯t, what¡¯s the rush. So tell me what your plan is exactly and maybe you¡¯ll win me over. Though if you¡¯re planning on going against Magda and the town you¡¯ll probably end up fighting the legion as well. I doubt you could defeat them even with the elves on your side.¡± She said with a lazy indifferent attitude, though it was more like talking with a tiger basking in the sun than some apathetic house cat. I ran through all the ways I could get out of this, I could try and cheap shot her but unless I succeeded on the first try she¡¯d tear me apart. I considered making a break for it, but I was sure she was faster than me over short distance which lead me right back to the first point of being torn apart. I could lie, maybe try and get the place burning before she could stop me, who cared if I respawned then. But I couldn¡¯t find the backbone to willingly submit myself to death. So I went with the stupidest option I had, I told her the truth. ¡°I¡¯m gonna burn this place down, then fortify a hollow I have up in the mountains. Build a village and clear cut the place. If the Legion gets to me first I¡¯m gonna offer them the lumber they need to build their boats. Let them get out of the picture then use the rest as leverage see if I can get the slaves on my side and make a mutually beneficial deal moving forward with Magda and Silk Bay.¡± I blurted it all out, reaching over and adding tea leaves to my steaming cup trying to seem casual. She laughed at me, a loud heartfelt laugh that I didn¡¯t think could possibly come out of her. ¡°You¡¯re insane you know that, you¡¯ve got way more chance of that plan crashing down around you than you do succeeding in all that. You¡¯re going to have everyone at your doorstep ready to cut you down and most likely spend the rest of your year in game as a hunted man.¡± I reached for the haft of my maul slowly, as it seemed honest wasn¡¯t in fact the best policy. If I could get one good swing in before she got those short swords free maybe I could cripple her enough I could overpower her or get away. As she tossed her head back in laughter I steeled myself and made my move, the head of the maul scraped over the wood floor boards as I swung it up to deliver my cheap shot. I wasn¡¯t even half way to the peak of my arc before she had the tip of her short sword to my throat. I jerked myself to a stop muscles tensing all over my body as I tried to avoid slitting my own throat in the process. Dropping the maul I held up my hands in surrender as I felt a trickle of blood running down my neck as the tip of her blade pierced my skin.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°I¡¯m in.¡± she said, her fingers running through her hair to tuck it behind her ear casually like she hadn¡¯t been just about to gut me. ¡°Excuse me?¡± I bumbled. ¡°I¡¯m in, the only reason I¡¯m in this game is for the challenge. I was raised at the pinnacle of my sport, I want an achievement I really have to work for and you¡¯re cranking it up to hard mode right away. Besides I want Thomas to be free, that¡¯s why I won him from his former master. Doesn¡¯t sit well with me, others being forced to do things against their will. I lived that life for twenty years.¡± Dropping her sword from my throat she sheathed it in a smooth motion, picking up our cups and handing mine to me. ¡°Well should we get this journey started?¡± ¡°Uuuh, yeah. Let me just recover from my whiplash here and we can get moving.¡± Taking my cup from her I took a small sip, staring at the short deadly woman who¡¯d just become the newest recruit to the cause. After we got things settled I got to work as Fan headed to collect Thomas, hauling the bodies to the barracks was the easy part. I gathered the five spears together and bound them with a thong of leather I cut from my ruined tunic. They weren¡¯t the best quality, but I figured if we were going to make a go of this more weapons never hurt. Sadly I couldn¡¯t fit them into my bag so I was going to be left carrying them. Once everything was cleared I took the back of my maul to the chair I¡¯d slept in the night before, making a few rough torches. I tried to set the buildings to light with the torches finding little purchase. Giving up on my first act of arson I resorted to building campfires in the corner of each building, stoking them slowly till the buildings caught. As I finished the last structure I stepped out to make sure the job was well and done. As I waited for each building to be engulfed I pulled up my character sheet to start figuring out my new level.
Gideon / Ulcragg Barbian Level 4 (2360/4000) Status: Healthy
Strength: 14 Health 720/720
Agility: 6 Mana 600/600
Endurance: 18 Stamina: 85%
Willpower: 15 -Indomitable Will Lowlight Vision: lvl 50 - 100%
Intelligence: 10 Climbing: lvl 1 ¨C 28%
Charisma: 8 Improvised Weapons: lvl 4¨C 08%
Axes: level 3 - 89% Unarmed: lvl 5 ¨C 27% - Iron Body + Natural Armor - Mettle +Magic Resistance
Magic (Primal Runic): lvl 1 ¨C 0% Perception: lvl 2 ¨C 79%
Small Blades: lvl 2 ¨C 34%
I immediately dumped my new found attribute point into agility, I considered trying to min max but the temptation to suddenly be less clumsy and faster with just a thought was too much. I figured I could probably bring it up close to normal levels and then focus on whatever build I ended up focusing on. The game had labeled me from a brawler to a barbarian, I had no idea what it meant but honestly it seemed about right with the way I¡¯d been going about everything. Big hulking man swinging a two handed weapon with little skill and lots of emotion. Next I dug through my skill specializations, all the ones I¡¯d passed up before there but now I had two new tabs to check out and a new Unarmed skill to check out. Sunder ¨C You¡¯re the kid no one else wanted to play with, triple damage made to inanimate objects with a two handed weapon. Cleave ¨C It¡¯s all about the follow through, increases your weapons penetration allowing powerful strikes to carry through towards a second attack. Woodcutter ¨C Timberrrr!! Focusing your full power on a single blow with a two handed axe will stagger your opponent even if the blow is blocked. Weapon of the People ¨C You¡¯re not the dullest blade in the shed, your weapons will not suffer durability loss when used out of combat. An attack boosting specialization sounded like something I could really use right now, but I didn¡¯t know how long I¡¯d be using the maul for. It was just a tool from the shed after all, sooner or later I¡¯d have to commit to a real weapon. I¡¯d already written off daggers and anything smaller than a long sword. I just didn¡¯t have the speed to make use of them and with my massive reach and strength it seemed best to stick with weapons that let me make use of that. I clicked on unarmed combat next to see what my new skill offering was there. Jawbreaker ¨C Sometimes the best way to stop avoid spell craft is to make it impossible. Allows you to empower a blow to interrupt spell casting. Cost: 40 Mana Cooldown: 45 seconds Finally I pulled up my new magic trait, I knew I wasn¡¯t really trending towards a caster and the thought of collecting tomes made from humanoid skin wasn¡¯t one that really appealed to me but I couldn¡¯t help but look. Casting real magic was always one of the most enjoyable experiences of FIVR. Even if I had to settle for the back water version of magic to do it. Ritualist ¨C Oh you¡¯re going to be creepy aren¡¯t you? Empowering your spells with blood increases their effectiveness and reduces mana cost. Scartist ¨C Runes are truly and art form for you and scars are your chosen medium. Allows you to modify personal runic spells. Runic Inspiration ¨C All traditions start from somewhere, allows for the discovery and exploration new runes without a spell book or scroll. Flesh Shaper ¨C For those with a weak stomach. Allows you to apply runes and brands without the use of physical implements. I found myself salivating over the options, the ability to shut down casters was something I really wanted, but the only caster I knew of right now was Magda, and I was hoping not to fight her outright. Cleave, and Sunder seemed like good choices as they didn¡¯t revolve around axes specifically. Then there was the magic specializations, the ability to learn new spells without having to track down spellbooks and tomes would be huge out in the wilderness and I happen to know of a place where there were literally hundreds of runes just waiting to be studied. Of course it involved facing down a pack of chitterers, but the temptation was strong. My greed won out over practicality as I selected Runic Inspiration, more excited than ever to make my way back up the mountain to the hollow. Grabbing the bundle of spears I left the burning camp behind me as I set off with new found excitement pushing me forward. The Right to Bear Arms I found Fan and Thomas down where the road branched off to the logging camp. I still wasn''t sure I could trust Fan, but there wasn¡¯t much I could do about it. It was a bit like swimming with a great white in the water, you know it¡¯s mostly likely not interested in you, but you know if it was there isn''t shit you can do. Fan was my great white, I had no other good option than to trust she wanted to hitch her wagon to my insane team of metaphorical horses. Thomas stood next to a brown gelding, loaded down with weapons and a couple packs. Fan stood off to the side munching on some sort of savory breakfast roll, as I made my way up with my bundle of spears. As I settled next to them I waited for some sort of sign that we were in fact doing this. ¡°You want one of these? Better to eat them before they go completely stale.¡± Fan gestured to the roll in her hand as she walked over to join us next to the gelding. ¡°I better not, I want to be able to try carving this rune I learned when we stop and I don¡¯t think me regenning is going to make it easy to do.¡± I replied as my stomach grumbled in protest, unsatisfied with just tea. ¡°You don¡¯t have it turned off?¡± She said with her head cocked to the side looking at me like I was some sort of town simpleton. ¡°Why would I turn it off? Shit I didn¡¯t even know I could turn it off. Care to explain? You know what they say, knowing is half the battle.¡± I forcefully stopped myself from reciting the rest of the classic cartoon line. Fan tossed the rest of her roll to Thomas as she brushed the crumbs off herself casually, working through her mouthful before responding. ¡°Yeah, otherwise every little thing is going to keep eating through your stamina. Right now you¡¯re like a superhero mutant regenerating from everything, at least while you¡¯re out of combat. You stumble through a bramble bush you¡¯ll heal right back up, and drain your stamina right along with it. Especially running around barefoot like you are, probably ate through your stamina at an insane rate in town trying to keep your feet intact. We all learned that the first day after we kept running out of stamina faster than expected. I have mine set to only kick in when I dip below a certain amount of health. I can live with a few scratches and bruises so I have it when I need it.¡± Well shit, I hadn¡¯t even come close to considering that and honestly probably never would have. Most likely eliminating the one bonus I had going for me, thinking about it for a moment I mentally set my regeneration to kick in when I dipped below ninety percent. I¡¯d probably have to turn it off when I tried to inscribe runes, but that all depended on how bad I butchered myself in the process. I thanked Fan, sheepishly accepting one of the rolls from Thomas, baked with bits of hams, onion and greens it did the job quieting my complaining stomach. ¡°Alright give your bundle of frog spears to Thomas, he¡¯s going to take the horse up the path while you and I move parallel to him in the forest. If you¡¯re going to piss off the entire island before the first week is out, you better be ready to grind. This isn¡¯t a sprint, it¡¯s a marathon.¡± Fan ordered me as she walked to the horse, arming herself three short spears and tucking what looked like a sling through her belt. As Thomas headed off down the road Fan wandered into the forest, slipping through the undergrowth with ease. I followed after, like a big moose or bear crashing through thicket compared to her jungle cat. Finding ourselves amongst the tree, Fan set of at a fast clip, angling further away from the road but still heading towards the mountain with each step. With my maul hung over my shoulder I tried my best to keep pace, the clawing branches and twisted roots of the trees hanging me up each time I tried to open up and use my much longer gait to make time and keep up with Fan. The morning passed uneventfully with me trying to keep up with Fan and her disappearing into the forest to return from time to time. It was all quiet until the moment I stumbled through a large berry bush. Across a small clearing from me a large brown bear sat cleaning a blackberry bush of its harvest with its massive mitts. Somehow my super stealthy entrance gave me away, which really was a shocker to me. As the beast turned and let out a disgruntled growl, I tried to inspect hoping that maybe plain old earth animals were low level fodder like every other game. [Cave Bear] [Level 10] [1800/1800] It was not, and the monster seemed to have found his feet and a new more filling meal. Letting a roar the bear charged, as I did the only thing I could. I ran, if I could have spun my legs and left a comical cloud of dust and after image in my place I would have. As it was I settled on booking it back into the forest like a bat out of hell, tree roots and branches reached out to trip me up as I could hear the bear crashing through the undergrowth behind me with ease. I had a fleeting wishful thought that it¡¯d be really nice if bears walked everywhere like serial killers, cause I could use that right now. Leaping over a fallen log I found myself falling further than expected as the ground gave way to a slope. My feet fell from under me as I tumbled forward, rolling down the slope I could feel saplings snapping under me battering my body as I cleared the trees into another clearing. Doing one last involuntary roll I scrambled to my feet only to find myself running right into another threat. Sitting at a camp fire in front of me was a group of hyena headed humanoids, gnolls. Somehow in the mad dash and tumble I hadn¡¯t lost hold of my maul, and miraculously hadn¡¯t lodged the axe head somewhere in my body. I started to slow down hesitating for a moment till I heard the crashing behind me and another roar. Opening up my stride I sprinted towards the gnolls who were now standing up reaching for weapons and gesturing wildly either at the mad man running at them or the giant furry death machine behind him. Pumping my arms hard I could feel my heart hammering in my chest as my lungs burned, adrenaline was a powerful motivator though. Leaping over camp fire I twisted to avoid a chop from a wicked looking machete like blade, as I kept running. Only pulling up when I heard guttural barks turn to yelps and screams mixed with bellowing roars. Sliding to a stop I turned to look at the havoc behind me, the group of gnolls were handling themselves surprisingly well. Spread out around the bear they jabbed at it with spears causing it to rear up as others tried to duck in and cut it down with their machete blades. ¡°Well what are you waiting for, someone to ask you to dance.¡± Fan said over my shoulder. I whipped around still running on a massive dump of adrenaline ¡°Holy shit where did you come from?!¡± I looked around for a moment trying to figure where she¡¯d materialized from. ¡°Tree branch overhead, I was watching this gnoll camp for a moment. Figured I¡¯d come collect you to clear it out but then you came screaming out of the woods with that beast on your heels.¡± She stated calmly, swapping one of the short spears into her right hand. ¡°Let¡¯s get in this fight princess.¡± Taking a step forward and then another in a series of short hops she launched the spear in a low arc right into the back of one of the gnolls fending off the bear. Luckily for him the spear didn¡¯t seem to do him in, unluckily for him the sudden blow sent him forward into range of the bears massive paws. A swift blow sent him flying till he landed like a ragdoll unmoving. As I stepped forward another spear came flying over my shoulder, downing another gnoll as more fell after making the fatal mistake of taking their attention off the bear. I wasn¡¯t in any rush to walk into the meat grinder, and by the time I finally made it around the fire to get into the fight there were only two gnolls left. I watched them fend off the bear with desperation till one bolted for the woods leaving his companion to fall as he tried to follow a moment to slow. With all the hyena headed monsters dispatched I was the next closest living thing for the cave bear to take his rage out on. Standing up on his hind legs the bear towered over me, letting out a roar that shook me to the bone. I was committed though at this point, no point running if I was just going to end up like the crushed gnoll next to me. Sliding my hands down to the end of the long haft of my maul I hauled it over my head till the hammer head nearly touched my back, taking one long step forward I cranked it forward with all my might, hurling the heavy work implement towards the enraged bear. I watched the maul make one full rotation before sinking into the deep muscled flesh of the bear, changing the enraged roar into one of pain. I¡¯d like to think that blow would have felled any normal person, but I doubted it¡¯d slow this beast down. I¡¯d accomplished my main goal though, my hands were now free as I dived for one of the fallen spears on the ground. My graceful roll turned into more of a messy tumble as I grabbed up the long pole of the spear, raising to one knee just in time to ward of the charging bear as he rose up again batting at the long spear as I tried to keep it between us. Massive paws with the equivalent of steak knives attached to them swung by me again as I felt wind made by its passing across my face. Fencing pack and forth the both of us struggled to end the other, I was able to reach out and sink the spear point into the thick fur a few times, but it didn¡¯t slow him. Sadly I didn¡¯t think the same would be true if he hit me as another wicked swipe nearly took my head off. It felt like an eternity, dancing around the bear struggling to twist out of the way of each swipe and I worried about the moment the bear decided to risk the long spear and simply crush me under his weight. My lungs burned in my chest as I tried to generate more space between us, desperately wanting to get out of the imminent death zone. Suddenly Fan behind the bear, jabbing her short spear into his sides repeatedly before it whipped around swinging a massive paw right over her as she dived away gracefully. Sadly the tiny pro didn¡¯t have the reach that I did to keep the bear at distance as it followed up with another swipe, chasing after her with its massive paws and biting at the air where she¡¯d been moments before. Sucking in a deep breath I ran after them, as somehow Fan managed to continue to slice the monster to ribbons while dancing through the flurry of attacks, blood trailing on the ground behind them as it dripped from the thick fur.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. I heard it before I saw it, I loud thud cut by a high pitched scream. The bear caught Fan on the hip as she spun away from one of its attacks, sending her spilling to the ground. I could see her struggling to get back to her feet as her left leg didn¡¯t seem to respond. Fighting against my leaden limbs and protesting lungs I sprinted for the pair as the bear rose again on his hind legs to come down and finish the job. My mind went blank in those moments, I try and remember how I ended up standing over Fan under the shadow of the bear with my borrowed spear but it¡¯s all a blur. What I do remember is the massive hulk coming down on us, the long hunting spear sinking into its chest as the butt of the shaft slammed into the dirt. I could see the strong wooden shaft bend like a bow pulled taut under the weight, and then a white hot burst of pain as the bears jaws clamped down over my shoulder. I could hear my collarbone crack instantly under the immense pressure, the wickedly sharp teeth sinking into back and pec. All I could feel was pain radiating out from my right shoulder, making me want to throw up as I heard another crack. The thought flashed through my head that I was already dead and didn¡¯t know it yet, and maybe that wouldn¡¯t be so bad if it stopped this pain. Then entire weight of bear landed on top of me driving me down under its mass as I landed on top of Fan before being enveloped musky dark fur blood soaking my face and dripping into my mouth. I laid there in darkness a moment waiting for the end, when I felt the jaws over my shoulder loosen and drop free. The beast was dead, and it was Fan¡¯s screaming that brought me out of my stupor. As bad as the weight crushing down me was, she had both of us on top of her over what I assumed was a broken leg or hip. I tried to push the dead weight off of me with my one functioning arm but it was too much. Despite Fan¡¯s protest and screams of pain I wriggled my legs up getting my feet buried against the meat of the bear. Bunching up the muscles in my legs I started to push, my grunts of effort being drowned out by Fan¡¯s pained gasps. Slowly the hulking mound of dead bear started to slide off to the side till I could see light again, with one last push I rolled it off of us before rolling off Fan into the dirt eliciting another nausea inducing wave of pain. As the pain subsided again and I was able to focus, looking down I realized just how messy every fight was in this world was. I was coated in blood from the bear and myself, and caked in dirt. As I was examining myself the bite wounds on my chest and back started to itch and burn as they slowly closed. The leather tunic I¡¯d borrowed was now beyond salvaging, with the frogmen spears this early morning and now this I was afraid it was a write off, which meant I¡¯d need to get some real armor soon. A soft choking sound dragged me away from my self inspection as I laid in the dirt, craning my neck from where I laid I saw Fan next to me fighting back tears as she white knuckled her short spear. Rolling onto my good arm I pushed myself up onto my knees, crawling over towards her my right arm held tight against my body as I avoided jostling it any more than necessary. I ended up half kneeling over her as I rested my weight against the bear carcass, Fan was laying on her back in the dirt under me holding back tears as she bite down on her lip. I realized that I could be rid of her at this moment, I still had the iron dagger at my hip, but even if I killed her it wouldn¡¯t stop anything. If she was out to betray me she could always come back up the mountain and find me after respawning, and had the information on my plan to sink me. Better to keep her close and the information away from Silk Bay longer. I reached out to touch her hand, gently prying the short spear from her grasp setting it to the side. ¡°Hey, you alright?¡± I said, at a loss for words watching this professional hold back pained sobs. Fan¡¯s reply came through sharply inhaled breaths as she fought through the pain. ¡°I think it shattered my hip, maybe my leg when it hit me. I¡¯m not sure.¡± ¡°Well I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll start healing soon and we can get back to the road, get out of here.¡± She let out a strangled scream grabbing my hand in a vice like grip like she was trying to crush my fingers into dust. ¡°Ugh, that¡¯s the fucking problem. It¡¯s already healing, I can feel every bit of it. Bone scraping across bone as it resets.¡± I dragged my pack around in front of me, pulling out my water as I tried to get her to drink some. We were a mess, one bloody cripple tending to another next to a slew of dead bodies. Fan choked down some of the warm water, dropping her head back into the dirt as another wave of pain washed over her. I didn¡¯t have long till I had a glimpse into what she was experiencing, as the burning itching sensation subsided and the bites closed I felt a sickening grinding as my bone started to reset itself, nearly causing me to black out. It came and went in waves for the next half hour before I was left a deep painful ache as it started to fully heal. Sadly for Fan it was a longer process, my arm was functional again if still sore by the time her hip had finally stopped resetting and started to heal. Once I was able to use both arms again I got to work, unable to sit there and watch Fan in pain without being able to help in any way. So I left her propped against the bear mending as I gathered up the spoils of our victory. The remaining intact spears and machete like blades were bundled up in a foul smelling bed roll and set aside by the fire as I started to loot the corpses. The Gnolls had small pouches filled with a mix of rough coins, small bones, and other trinkets that I dumped into my bag to deal with later. I considered taking some of the boiled leather armor off of them, but the smell emanating from the lot of them was enough to make me beg off that idea rather quickly. Looping my way back around to Fan and the bear I found her sitting there quietly looking better now as color had returned to her face. ¡°Are you able to walk yet? I don¡¯t want to be here in case that Gnoll that got away comes back with more friends, or before whatever else is out here in the forest decides to come by for a snack.¡± I asked as I dropped off her short spears I¡¯d collected. Fan tried to push herself to her feet, before sinking back onto her butt with a groan. ¡°Not yet, and even if I could I¡¯m going to need to rest. I¡¯m almost below my stamina threshold and if it doesn¡¯t heal enough for me to walk I¡¯m going to need to regain some. Go ahead and skin the bear first, and then we¡¯ll try again.¡± I checked my own stamina, it had dipped to just above the fifty percent mark but I assumed some of that was from not sleeping the whole night through. I might not be the best fighter yet, but at least I could keep going longer than anyone else it seemed. Gently moving Fan to the side I started to try and skin the bear, working off what I learned with the luprum what felt like forever ago. Luckily the thick hide was forgiving and I was able to get it off in a somewhat respectable manner. Not sure if we¡¯d need to rest and eat or not I used my knife to cut away one of the massive shoulders of the animal, leaving me with a large club of meat and fat. Wrapping the meat in the hide I started to feed it into my bag, twisting and adjusting until the whole thing fit inside the dimensional rucksack. Crouching down next to Fan I tapped her shoulder as she opened her eyes to look at me. ¡°Alright, bear is all good to go. You ready to give it another try?¡± She nodded before trying to push herself up again, this time managing to get to her feet at least with a little help. ¡°I won¡¯t make it through the forest like this, we¡¯ll have to make camp and rest so I can fully heal.¡± ¡°In the middle of this clearing covered in blood, surrounded by dead bodies? Yeah no, fuck that. We¡¯re getting out of here even if I have to carry you. Ard and Tai¡¯s cabin isn¡¯t too far out, we¡¯ll lose the light but if we stick to the road I think I can get us there.¡± I argued ¡°You¡¯re not carrying me up to the mountain, we¡¯ll rest here and go in the morning. ¡° She said as she leaned her weight against one of her spears. ¡°And then we both get eaten, because you can¡¯t fight and I¡¯m sure as shit not going to beat another bear on my own or whatever else is up here. I¡¯m getting out of here, you can either stay and roll the dice or swallow your pride and let me help you out of here.¡± ¡°Fine, but don¡¯t get any ideas. This isn¡¯t some anime bullshit where I¡¯m just pretending to me mean, but I really like you. I¡¯ll ride on your back.¡± She fumed. I¡¯d like to say that was that, but in the end having her riding on my back proved to be too much for her hip and a mess for me trying to hold her legs while balancing my bundle of weapons and hers. What really happened was that after making it into the forest we realized there was only one of two ways to make this work. The first which was instantly shot down by Fan was for me to carry her in my arms, like the cover of some romance novel¡­if the main characters were two gore covered messes without any of the flowing hair or rippling abs, on my part at least. The second was to carry Fan over my shoulder like a sack of flour, and have her hold onto the weapons. Which is how I ended up with a pissed off Fan the Fang¡¯s butt in my face for the next six hours, as I hiked up the trail trying my best to ignore all the threats and complaining. I just took solace in the fact that her view was way worse than mine hanging over my backside. Night had fallen before we made it to the cottage, my low light vision giving me enough to work with as the moonlight filtered through the trees. By the end I was so exhausted I almost didn¡¯t even notice that we¡¯d arrived, I was so focused on just one foot in front of the other. But I heard a call and a commotion as everyone rushed out the front door, to find the two of us in the sorriest state yet. Fan was lifted from my shoulder and guided inside, leaving me wobbling on my tired feat out on the front path with only Tai at my side. ¡°Drink this.¡± He said pushing a cup into my hand. I took a big gulp to clear the road dirt out of my mouth before finding myself choking on what turned out to be a rough grain alcohol. Coughing for a few moments I finally took another drink. ¡°Warn a man next time!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be a baby, I¡¯ve already got Ard to deal with.¡± He grumbled, though I could see a small grin on his face in the dark. It was good to me home.