《RESPAWNED: New Game Plus》


 Arc 1 Prologue- Game Over V2

    Author''s Note:


    This story is in the processed of being rewritten to fit the current direction that I am aiming at. Please be patient as some of the story won''t make sense in the meantime.


    This has been rewritten. Rewritten chapters will have V2 next to the chapter name. Click here</a> to see V1


    Arc 1 Prologue- Game Over


    "Kotae wa Doko e? Sagashite, Where''s my soul?"


    The speaker blasted a Japanese song at full volume in the background. A man sits comfortably in front of his computer. The glare from the monitor reflected images on his glasses. He was doing his daily ritual. Every day he would wake up at 7 a.m. He would then take a quick shower and brush his teeth. After that, he would turn on his computer and listen to his favorite anime music while checking the daily news for current events and his emails.


    "Hmmm, the human population reaches 10 Billion soon. Sustainability issues multiplies. If World War 3 or World War Z breaks out, that will solve that problem."


    The young man chuckles to himself. From a very young age, he had a very dark sense of humor. He has no problem laughing at others misfortune. In fact, it was one of the reasons that he developed his habit of reading the news in the morning. He would laugh at how shitty the world is. However, he would never cross the line of purposely causing pain to someone else. He understands that if he ever crossed that line, he would become a psychopath.


    "RAISE YOUR FLAG, MARCH ON, FIGHT!"


    The music kept playing. He finished reading the news. He opened another browser page to check his email. He quickly browsed the title to see if there were any urgent email that he has to reply.


    "Junk, Junk, Junk, Junk, Bill, Junk, Hmm..."


    One of the emails caught his eyes. He clicked and open the mail. It was a reminder to register for his college classes. It was his second year at this particular college. Unlike other people, though, he did not enjoy socializing with other people. He did not join any club activities. He puts in just enough effort to barely pass the class. He hated his college life.


    "DRISKOLL TRUMAN, please remember to register for the classes in the new semester either online or in person...''''


    "Ah crap, I knew I forgot to do something."


    He quickly logged on to his college''s website to register for his classes. Without thinking about it at all, he chose five random courses that seemed easy to complete. He still has no idea what type of diploma he wanted to get. He didn''t care what class he took as long as it keeps him in the system. Everything was done to keep his parents happy. He can still hear their nagging voices in the back of his mind. A flashback of a conversation between him and his parents played in the back of his mind


    "You will need a diploma to get your foot in the door in any business."


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    "Look, I am smart enough to know that I am not smart enough for the business world. Your son is not special, I am not a beautiful or unique snowflake, I am the same decaying matter as everyone else. I just want to make just enough money to get by comfortably and hopefully, die at the age of 60. I don¡¯t need a college education."


    Unlike most of the other college students, he enjoyed his dead end job. ¡°Enjoy¡± would be too strong of a word. Tolerable would be a much better choice. He worked as a product stocker the back of a supermarket. At first, he was in charge of stocking the cooler only, but within a few months, the manager trusted him with training the new employees. Out of all the hires, he was the only one that did not bitch and moan about the dead end job. He faithfully and quietly fulfilled his duties. His manager loved this aspect of him and saw him as a leader for the rest of the workers. Of course, with new responsibility came a few perks that he does enjoy from now and then. For example, one day he didn''t get enough sleep because of participating in a raid with his guild in World of Warcraft. He ended up falling asleep in the cooler. When he woke up, he saw his manager staring down at him with a smile and just said: "Don''t do this again." His manager didn¡¯t reprimand him for sleeping on his job. Because of this small incident, he felt that it would be fine working at that supermarket for the rest of his life under that manager. His parents were horrified when they found out his plan. They had to do something to stop it.


    ¡°Look, son, I will pay for your education. All you have to promise is that you will do your best and get a diploma.¡±


    He does not value money as dearly as his parents. However, the idea that he can kill some time in college without paying did peaked his interest. He was surprised that his money loving parents even made this offer. He understood that this was his father''s way of showing his love, even though he did not think he needed the education. After a bit of thought, he agreed to the deal that his father offered.


    ¡°Fine. Since you are paying for it, I will attend college. I won¡¯t stop working at the supermarket though since I still need money for other stuff.¡±


    He pulled out his credit card from his black wallet. Entering his credit card number and finalizing his choices, he took a quick look at the clock that was ticking away on the wall in the background. He had to start his shift at the supermarket soon.


    "Damn, it''s seven already? Time to work."


    Driskoll did a quick stretch to loosen himself. Unfortunately for him, tragedy struck. He lost his balance while he leaned back a little too far. His chair flips over and catapults him towards the wall. When his head banged into the wall, it left a small crater in the shape of his head. His eyes slowly lost the light of life as blood dripped onto the floor.


    "AA nakushita kanashimi ga mata uzuiteku, Misery-World!"


    The song that was playing in the background finished with no one listening to it. Driskoll was already dead.

 Chapter 1- Server Updates V2

    Author''s Note: This has been rewritten. Revised chapters will have V2 next to the chapter name. Click Here</a> to see V1


    Chapter 1- Server Update


    ***???***


    ***29A***


    "What the hell happened?"


    I opened my eyes in a daze, staring at the gray stucco ceiling. Trying to get up from the floor, I try to push myself up with my right hand. It betrayed my expectations, though. Nothing moved. I couldn¡¯t even feel my hand on the floor.


    "Huh?"


    I tried to wave my right hand frantically, but nothing happened. I couldn¡¯t see my hand moving at all. In fact, I don¡¯t even see my hand. Remembering the last thing that I did was falling off the chair, I expected the worst.


    "Don''t tell me I broke my spine and I am paralyzed. Fuck me."


    I tried to will myself to get up. To my total surprise, Instead of sitting straight up, I started to float towards the ceiling. I attempted to turn around. To my horror, I saw my body laying limped on the floor with a pool of blood near my head.


    "Fuck me sideways."


    An imprint of my head was on the drywall. In the center of the crater, there was a nail coated red with blood and bits of pink matter sticking out of the wall. Even though I was dead, I had to laugh at the situation.


    "Well, that''s a lame way to die."


    Curious at what I look like right now, I turned to the full-length mirror I had in the room. I saw no reflection of myself in the mirror. It was as though I was just a ball of invisible consciousness, floating in the air.


    "Huh, on the bright side, at least, I am not fat anymore."


    With nothing to do, I stared at the ceiling for a bit longer hoping to see a ray of light and get beamed up like they do in Star Trek. After a while, I figured that since I was not going to heaven, I must be headed to the other place. I shouted at the ceiling.


    "Since there is an afterlife, I guess there is a God, do I get sent to hell for all my terrible jokes?"


    I waited a bit for a reply to my question. After a minute or two receiving no answers, I started to look around the room, trying to find some answers. When I turned and looked at the computer screen, it showed a lich raising his flag on the edge of the cliff side along with his underlings. I then realized that something was wrong, something was different.


    "Wait a minute, why is everything frozen?"


    Having a bit of an idea of what was happening, I looked at the clock on the wall intensely trying to prove the theory in my head. It showed 8:14. Since the clock has no second hand, he had to stare at the clock for over 5 minutes, making sure that my intuition is right. The minute hand did not move at all.


    "Time is stopped at the moment of death?"


    Looking for further proof of my theory, I floated towards the window, hoping to take a peek out of it. When I reached the window, I tried to lean against the glass to get a better view of the outside. To my surprised, I didn''t stop when I leaned against the window pane. I went right through it. Going through the window, I slowly floated to the ground from the second floor, landing in my grassy backyard, I made a small joke and chuckled to myself.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    "IDSPISPOPD"


    When I reached outside, it was a fine summer day. The blue sky did not have a single cloud. The sun was already blazing in the east, giving warmth to everything. Gazing around, I finally spotted what I was looking for. It was a small sparrow, frozen in mid-flight. This scene confirmed my worst fear.


    "Time is stopped or stretched out indefinitely. Sounds like the writers of Constantine got the idea hell right, minus all the hell fire."


    If someone like me deserved to be in hell, then I don¡¯t want to be in heaven next to God. I know I wasn¡¯t not the nicest person to be around because of my dark sense of humor, but I didn¡¯t do anything that could be considered ¡°evil¡±. If God sent someone like me to hell, I don¡¯t think I want to be with him. Without anything to do, I stared at the sky, pondering what to do next. Should I just float around, traveling everywhere or stay where I was, accompanying my parents. I was in arguing with myself when I suddenly notice a message floating in the sky.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>World System Message: Server is shutting down for the new updates. Please log out.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Reading the message in the sky, I slowly realized that the reality that I perceived is nothing but a simulation. It was just a game. Nothing is real. Multiple thoughts about my existence shot through my head.


    "Crap, so am I just a part of a game? Nothing I did matter? What about my hopes and dreams?  Bah, who am I kidding, I didn''t have any hopes and dreams. So what now?"


    "Meh, it doesn''t matter if I had free will or not, I am a part of a game anyway, it''s not going to change anything."


    ¡°Man, if I knew about this, I would have totally taken a lot more chances in my life.¡±


    ¡°Wait does that mean I am a self-aware A.I.?¡±


    ¡°What does the outside world is like?¡±


    ¡°Who are the players?¡±


    Being a gaming junkie, I am more interested in the game itself. What type of game is this?  All I know was that there was a new update to this world. Does that mean this world will change? What was getting updated? Did this happen before? All of these thoughts ran through my mind before I stopped and realized something. Even if I got the answer, the information was useless. I was already dead. Whatever I think or do right now, wouldn¡¯t matter. Suddenly, something popped up in my view. It was a transparent blue menu screen.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System Message: Respawning in 29</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Respawning? Does that mean I get to live again? Does this change anything at all? If I had to make an educated guess, I would respawn with my memory wiped. Before the countdown was finished, everything turned pitch black.

 Chapter 2- New Game+ V2

    Author''s Note: This was rewritten. Revised chapters will have V2 next to the chapter name. Click here</a> to see V1


    Chapter 2 - New Game+


    ***???***


    ***29A***


    "Where in hell am I?"


    I tried to yell out, but I didn¡¯t hear an echo from my voice. I was in the middle of a pure white void. There were no walls, ceiling, or even floor. There was no light source of any sort, but I was surrounded by nothing but a blinding white. I tried to will my wisp-like existence forward, but I couldn¡¯t tell if I was moving. There was no visual cue that I could use as a reference. The only thing I could see was the blue menu screen counting down that remained at the same location no matter where I look.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System Message: Respawning in 10...9...</td></tr></tbody></table>


    "YES! Do this mean I get to live again, right?"


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System Message: Respawning in 2...1...0</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System Message: Rolling race, stats and abilities for Personality #29A</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Race:</td><td>Goblin</td><td>Tribe:</td><td>Stone Age</td></tr><tr><td>Strength:</td><td>Average</td><td>Dexterity:</td><td>Low</td></tr><tr><td>Constitution:</td><td>Average</td><td>Intelligence:</td><td>Below Average</td></tr><tr><td>Endurance:</td><td>Poor</td><td>Charisma:</td><td>Below Average</td></tr><tr><td>Wisdom:</td><td>Above Average</td><td>Luck:</td><td>Poor</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Abilities:</td><td colspan=''2''>Leadership</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I looked at the information presented in front of me. The status menu gave pretty a vague description of everything. I guess that there are hidden numbers which rate a stat from the lowest, poor, low, below average, average and above average. I guess that there is, at least, two more grade that is better than above average since the average grade should be right in the middle. It looks like I will live my new life as a goblin. Judging from my stats, my new life would suck. My stats were below average as a whole. Not only that, the tribe that I would be starting in will be in the stone age, which means that my survival would be reliant on physical strength. The best stat I have was wisdom, which probably wouldn¡¯t help much. Unless I get to a position which I can lead the tribe, my ability would be useless. I wonder what my stats were like when I was a human. I had cursed at my bad luck before another blue message popped up.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System Message: Resetting memories, existing stats, and abilities..</td></tr></tbody></table>


    "Wait, what?"


    I felt dread when I read the system message. Staring at the three dots at the end of the sentence, disappear in and out as if mocking me with what is to become of my memory. Not a shred of evidence that Driskoll will remain. The feeling I have is worse than learning that I was dead. Staring into the endless white void, my short life flashed before me.


    My first step.


    My first day at school.


    My graduation.


    The joy of buying my first car.


    My first car accident soon after I bought the car.


    Meeting my first girlfriend because of said accident. It was her fault. She crashed into me because she didn''t look while changing the lane.


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    My first date with her and my first kiss at the theatre.


    Losing my virginity in my car that night.


    ¡°Let''s watch that again.¡±


    Losing my virginity in my car that night.


    My first break up. It was totally her fault; she crashed MY car into another guy''s car. She dumped me for him by the end of the week. I am starting to sense a pattern here.


    My first job in the supermarket.


    Leaning on the chair and falling on the nail that killed me.


    Learning about the whole world just a game and I am an NPC


    Learning about the fact that my memory is going to be wiped


    Me, having a flashback of My first step.


    Me, having a flashback of my first car.... damn, it this is going in a loop?


    Losing my virginity in my car that night.


    My guess is that seeing your life flashes before you is the effect of the memory wipe. The memory wipe made sense since everyone respawns and nobody remembers their previous "life". Even those that do remember what they were before they respawned, only retains a small part of it, sort of like a residual data.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System Message: Data wipe failed. Data currently in use. Reattempting 1/3</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System Message: Data wipe failed. Data currently in use. Reattempting 2/3</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System Message: Data wipe failed. Data currently in use. Reattempting 3/3</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System Message: ERROR. Data wipe failed. Bypassing data wipe.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    "JACKPOT!!!"


    I jumped around in my ethereal form in excitement when I learned the news. I felt like an innocent prisoner that was condemned to the death in the electric chair, and when he flipped the switch, the power went out. After the power comes back on, the warden runs in with a letter in hand, declaring my innocence. I gave a non-existent sigh of relieve. Not only I get to keep on being ¡°me¡±, but I also get to keep all my memories intact too. Having the knowledge of the ¡°future¡± is an insane cheat. I have read a lot of web novels and light novels where the main character rely on modern knowledge as a cheat. I hope I can do the same thing.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System Message: Finalizing Character Sheet...</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Personality #29A</td></tr><tr><td>Name:</td><td>N/A</td><td>Race:</td><td>Goblin</td></tr><tr><td>Title:</td><td>N/A</td><td>Tribe:</td><td>Stone Age</td></tr><tr><td>Strength:</td><td>Above Average</td><td>Dexterity:</td><td>Average</td></tr><tr><td>Constitution:</td><td>Above Average</td><td>Intelligence:</td><td>Average</td></tr><tr><td>Endurance:</td><td>Below Average</td><td>Charisma:</td><td>Above Average</td></tr><tr><td>Wisdom:</td><td>Exceptional</td><td>Luck:</td><td>Below Average</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Abilities:</td><td colspan=''2''>Leadership, Gamer''s Mind</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I looked at the final character sheet in awe. I realise that it was not the same as what I have rolled before.

 Chapter 3- Stage 1-1 V2

    Author''s Note: This was rewritten. Revised chapters will have V2 next to the chapter name. Click Here</a> to see V1


    Chapter 3- Stage 1-1


    *** Day 1***


    *** Unknown Cave***


    *** 29A***


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System Message: Complete spawning NPC procedure. Deploying.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°WAIT! WAIT WAIT! I am not done looking at my stat page yet!¡±


    Before I can say anything else, the pure white room fades to black, and I fell out of consciousness.


    *SLAP!*


    Someone rudely woke me up by slapping my ass. I have no idea how long I had been sleeping. In response to being hit, I screamed at the top of my lungs because of the pain. To my surprise, all I heard coming out of my mouth was cries of a baby. I tried to turn my body around to see if I can find out what slapped my ass, but couldn''t because I felt enfeebled. I was so weak that I couldn¡¯t even open my eyes. Something soft was pressed against my face to hush my crying. It seemed familiar. After a second or two, I finally realize what was happening. I was being breastfed.


    "This will be awkward if my Mom is hot."


    My mouth was instinctively starting to suck the nipple, and it fills my cheek with breast milk. I sloshed the liquid in my mouth and swallowed it slowly as if I was taste testing Chardonnay. I knew at this point that I was an infant. I kept trying to open my eyes to see if I will have an awkward childhood, but my eyes were glued shut. As my stomach was filled with milk, I started to feel my consciousness drifting off once again.


    "Is the milk roofied.."


    ***Day 2***


    *** Unknown Cave***


    ***29A***


    *Drip*


    I was awoken when I felt a drop of water splashing on my forehead. I opened my eyes and stared at a stalagmite on the ceiling of the cave. I could hear the sound of a light drizzle coming from the outside. It looked it was raining. A fat drop of water was dangling at the tip, ready to fire the torpedo once again.


    *Drip*


    The water droplet hit me square in the forehead once again. Not willing to be caught by the droplet a third time, I tried to roll away to dodge the incoming missile. It was a futile attempt. My body was simply too weak to move.


    *Drip*


    Grumbling about the situation like an old man, I tried to sit upright, but I was still not strong enough. I devised another plan. Using what little muscle strength I had, I rock myself back and forth like a turtle to flip myself over. I was desperate enough to try anything to escape from this Chinese water torture. It wasn''t a pleasant feeling since the ground was covered with small rocks and pebbles.


    *Drip*


    "AHA! You didn''t get me this time!"


    The water droplet was still in mid-air when I finally flipped over. I was barely able to dodge the last drop just in the knick of time. Smiling because of my escape from the torture,  I lay on my stomach, panting heavily to recover my stamina. After catching my breath, I tried to analyze my current situation. I recall seeing a status page of myself before respawning. It gave me an idea. Remembering some of the web novels and light novels that I have read, I tried several commands that might work since I am in a game.


    ¡°Status!¡±


    ¡°Menu!¡±


    ¡°Analyze!¡±


    ¡°Inspect¡±


    I tried to think hard on those words, but nothing happened. I tried again saying those words out loud, hoping to trigger something.


    ¡°Status!¡±


    ¡°Menu!¡±


    ¡°Analyze!¡±


    ¡°Inspect¡±


    ¡°Grrr. Still nothing. Ummm¡­. what the fuck? I can talk?¡±


    To my pleasant surprise, I was able to pronounce words accurately.  I could talk even when I was a baby. Is it because I retained my memory, or is it something that goblins can talk right away from birth? Either way, I should keep my mouth shut until I figure out what¡¯s going on. I don¡¯t want to get into trouble that I can avoid. Seeing that there was no way to call out my stats menu, I tried to recall what I saw to the best of my memory.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Personality #29A</td></tr><tr><td>Name:</td><td>N/A</td><td>Race:</td><td>Goblin</td></tr><tr><td>Title:</td><td>N/A</td><td>Tribe:</td><td>Stone Age</td></tr><tr><td>Strength:</td><td>Above Average</td><td>Dexterity:</td><td>Average</td></tr><tr><td>Constitution:</td><td>Above Average</td><td>Intelligence:</td><td>Average</td></tr><tr><td>Endurance:</td><td>Below Average</td><td>Charisma:</td><td>Above Average</td></tr><tr><td>Wisdom:</td><td>Exceptional</td><td>Luck:</td><td>Below Average</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Abilities:</td><td colspan=''2''>Leadership, Gamer''s Mind</td></tr></tbody></table>


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    I did not have trouble picturing the stats menu in my mind at all. Before I died, I remember having trouble remembering anythings. It was one of the reasons I was not the greatest when it comes to studying. Did my intelligence improve compared to before? And since when I can deduce things so logically? I have to give an educated guess; it would be because my wisdom is now exceptional.


    I decided to move on to another important issue. I was respawned as a goblin. I feel a bit conflicted in regards to this. On one hand, me being a goblin means that after the update, this world has fantasy race in it. Being an avid gamer, the prospect of being a protagonist and exploring an unknown world, filled with magic makes me ecstatic.  On the other hand, why the hell does it have to be a goblin? Why couldn''t I have respawned as a dragon or an elf? Goblins are smelly, crude and ugly. Worst of all, they are the fodders of the monster world. Well at least if we go by the standard gaming tropes.


    "WAAAAAAAHHHH WAAAAAAAAAAHHHH"


    A banshee cry echoed throughout the cave, interrupting my train of thoughts. Looking around, I found out that It was coming from another baby goblin that shared the same room with me. There were a dozen other baby goblins in the same room as well. I guess this cavern is the maternity ward for my tribe.


    "WWAAAAAHHHHH WAAHHHH WAAHHH!"


    A few more of the other babies joined the inferno chorus.


    "God damn it. Can you guys shut up? I am coming with the food already."


    Still lying on my stomach, I was barely able to turn myself towards the sound using my feeble baby arms. I saw a shadow approached the cave¡¯s entrance. It was a female goblin strolling in to take care of the children. With a bare chest, she wore nothing except for a piece of silverish-white fur, tied around her waist like a half-apron. She strolled in with one of her hands lifting the end of the half-apron, forming a makeshift basket. In the half-apron basket, I could see that she was carrying something white towards us. She didn''t lift her apron high enough to show anything indecent. With that train of thought, should I be hoping that there is nothing underneath the apron? I closed my eyes and prayed. Slowly, I raised my head up towards her face to take a look.


    "Please don''t be those ugly goblins like the ones from Magic: the Gathering. One time God, One time!"


    I hold my breath and slowly peeked at one of my eyes. She was, in a word, acceptable. You cannot call her beautiful, but she is not ugly. I guess you can say that she is kind of cute. Her skin was mint green with a short tomboyish blue hair. She had large pointy ears that could have easily mistaken as her having two green pigtails. I am pretty sure I have seen character drawings that were like her from DeviantArt.


    "It''s not perfect, but I will take that.  6.5 out of 10 would bang. Thank you, God, for not making us the ugly type of goblin. Hallelujah, Amen. Now that I think about it, I should thank the game devs since they are the gods of this world."


    She started to feed the white stuff that was on her half-apron to other children. I couldn''t see what it is, but I have a bad premonition. The white thing was still moving. This cannot end well. When it was my turn, I saw what the white thing was. It was a live larva of some insect as big as my human thumb. She dangled the worm in front of me like I was a pet, expecting me to beg for food. I slapped it out of her hand. I am not going to eat that thing. She let out an annoyed grunt before picking up the larva from the ground and jammed it into my mouth. At first, I was horrified, trying to spit the larva back out. But after I accidentally bit into it, I thought to myself:


    "Slimy, yet satisfying. It is not that bad. Damn, I was hoping to get breast fed by her, though."


    She shoved a few more larvae in my mouth and moved on to another child. After feeding all the kids, take a quick look around to see if any is still crying. Seeing none, she walked out of the cavern. Left with a room full of sleeping children and nothing else to do except staring at the stalagmite filled ceiling, I started to analyze about my stats page again.


    What do my abilities do? I remember I have an ability "Gamer''s Mind." I don¡¯t have much to go on except for the name. It has to be something that was affecting the way I think. There is one thing that I am sure, though. This ability has to be something carried over when I was still human. There was no reason for me to gain an ability like this while I was respawned as a goblin. This revelation led me to the next theory.


    ¡°The stats that I had as a human was carried over to this life as a goblin.¡±


    Somehow, the update caused a bug when I was respawned. Because of the bug, the hidden numerical value that I had as a human was added to the numbers that I rolled as a goblin. It was the reason all of my stats jumped a grade when everything was finalized. With the epiphany that I had become a cheat character, I drifted off to the dreamlands.

 Chapter 4- Player 1, Start V2

    Author''s Note: This was rewritten. Revised chapters will have V2 next to the chapter name. Click here</a> to see V1


    Chapter 4- Player 1, Start!


    ***Shadowmaple***


    ***Fin''Vaiel***


    I looked at my watch as the last employee walked into the meeting room with a notepad and pen and took a seat. Good, they are all on time. Originally when I hired everyone, nobody was punctual. Being punctual is one of my pet peeves. It had taken several long years before I trained everyone to be as punctual as me.


    "Okay, team. I am pretty sure you guys know why I called this meeting. As of last night, the new expansion for our flagship game PROJECT: EARTH went on the shelf, and it is officially going online next week for the East server. Everything went according to plan without a hitch. Give yourselves a round of applause for a job well done.¡±


    Cheers and claps resounded in the meeting board room. I waited for it die down before continuing with the meeting.


    "We are expecting extra traffic loads to our East server due to the influx of players switching from the West coast so that they can play with the "Plus" contents. We have received the new servers that we ordered. Tecon, have the new servers hooked up before the end of the week. Stay overnight, order take-outs, bring a portable toilet into the server room, I don''t care what you do. Just make sure you get it done before the deadline. I will make sure that you are compensated for your over time."


    "Consider it done, boss."


    Another raised his hand.


    "What will we do for the West server? Are we leaving it as is? The player base on the west server will inevitably complain about not having access to the new content."


    "The official plan from our company is to leave West server the way it is. We will offer free server transfers for the next year so our customers can decide what they want to play. We will also make an announcement that the West Server will never have any "Plus" content implemented for the rest of its lifetime. After a year, the West server will be marketed as a separate game. We are planning to rebrand and rename the West Server shortly."


    He soon followed up with another question.


    ¡°Why are we not implementing the expansion on both servers anyway?¡±


    ¡°You want the short or the long version of the answer?¡±


    Everyone gave a quick chuckle at my reply. Are they laughing at him for not knowing the reason or are they laughing at the way I answered? I put the thought aside and continued without waiting for his reply. I took a sip of coffee from my "World Best Boss" mug before telling him the extended version of the answer.


    "When I started to program Project: Earth, I was still studying at the university. It was intended as a simple simulation tool. A friend of mine asked me as a favor to program an interactive model to explore the idea of life expectancy, and it''s role in the social structure. My other buddy that was studying immersion tech got a wind of my little project and offered to help me. Soon, it became the world''s first DiveMMORPG.  Unfortunately, that also means the core code for the game stayed the same throughout the years.¡±


    I took another sip of the black coffee before continuing with my answer.


    ¡°Due to how I coded PROJECT: EARTH, we cannot implement any changes without wiping all the accumulated data. This was entirely my fault. We have tried to reimplement the elves and various race back into the game without touching the setting for humans. It won''t work; we have tried multiple times. Humans have the perfect blend of reproduction rate, life expectancy, and xenophobia. We did not expect it to develop like this. Unless we wipe all the data and change the settings, humans will always wipe out all other races right from the start. Each year we have offered the data wipe so that the other races can be re-implemented. Every year, 70% of the player base voted no. Most people don''t want to lose all their work for the ability to play a different race. By leaving the West server the way it is, we are giving our customer more options.¡±


    Aewyn chimed in with another fact.


    ¡°Giving customers options also means more money in our pocket. We are expecting extra revenue from the server transfer service after the year is up, so expect a bigger bonus for all of you at the end of next year."


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    Everyone cheers at the good news. High fives were exchanged across the room. A few of the employees even started to discuss vacation plans with their colleagues.


    "Settle down people, we are not finished with this meeting yet. Is there any other concerns that we have not talked about?"


    "Are we sure that the humans are nerfed enough in the East servers?"


    "We ran multiple simulations with the new setting. We are pretty confident that something like that wouldn¡¯t happen again. If it does happen, we do have a backup plan. With the implementation of the new patch, we can apply changes without deleting any data. All we need to do is bring the server down for maintenance. However, players do not like down times. So if the game needs minor adjustments, we will try to use GM generated events as much as possible to make needed nerfs and buffs. As a side note, the "Sword in the Stone" event is still voted as the best by the players, thanks to Agorth."


    Agorth beamed a smile at everyone with pride. Everyone else gave a groan. Agorth has been bragging about it since forever. I knew this would happen, but I like to tease my employees from time to time. I want to invoke their competitiveness to make great events. I would be the happiest out of everyone if someone came up with a new idea that trumps ¡°Sword in the Stone¡±.


    "We have programmed it so that only the project leader, have the authority to bring the server down to make changes at the main terminal. Everyone still can host GM generated events as they see fit, but the option to change the setting only belongs to me. Make sure you remember to file the appropriate paperwork for the GM events."


    I took a small pause to see if there were any more questions or comments. Seeing that there were none, I decided to end the meeting.


    "That should be it. If there are any concerns or questions, save it for the next weekly meeting. To celebrate the occasion lunch is on me today. We will meet at Caf¨¦ Metropolis. See you there guys."


    After seeing everyone out of the meeting room, I headed towards my office with my coffee in my hand. Once I was in the office, I pressed a few buttons on the keyboard to load the program. I put the virtual reality interface unit on my head. It resembled biker helmet. The only difference is that this helmet has a few long black cables coming out of the top of the helmet and a few green buttons on the side. After that, I lied down on a red psychologist chair, press a button on the helmet, and closed my eyes.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System Message: Loading Project: Earth+ </td></tr></tbody></table>


    Since I had the power of an admin, I could access to the "Plus" content early, even though it was not officially out yet. Note to self. Optimize the code so that we can shorten the load time.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System Message: No character detected. Would you like to create new character? Y/N</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Yes¡±


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System Message: Please assign a character name</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Fin''Vaiel¡±


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System Message: Please choose a Gender. Female/Male</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Female.¡±


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System Message: Please choose a race. Elf/Human...   </td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Elf¡±


    Before the list is even completed, I knew exactly what race I want to play as.


    "After all, I always like to play as myself in the game."

 Chapter 5- Home V2

    Author''s Note: This was rewritten. Revised chapters will have V2 next to the chapter name.  Click here</a> to see V1


    Chapter 5- Home


    ***Day 3***


    ***Unknown Cave***


    ***29A***


    I woke up just at the break of dawn. I can see a bit of an orange sunrise reflecting into the cave from outside. All the other children were still sleeping. Looking at my arms, legs, and my third leg, I had almost doubled in size. Best of all, I feel that I was strong enough to walk once again. The growth rate for goblins is just incredible. I immediately tried to stand up and walk.


    "Fa-thud!"


    That hurts. I fell on the rocky ground after a few steps. Walking might be a bit of an exaggeration, waddling would be a better description. I picked myself back up from the floor and heads towards the cavern exit. I wanted to see the outside world. I want to know what else is different from my old world. As I head out of the cavern, two fatigued female goblins carrying a staff taller than themselves headed towards me. My hunch is that they are the night guards, getting off their shifts. Their hair color was different from the first goblin that fed me last night. One of them was a redhead, and the other was dark green. Their ears were different too, one of them have longer ears than the other. Other than their ears and color, I cannot tell the difference between them. The three adult goblins that I have seen looks the same as each other. The same shade of skin, the same white fur around the waist the, the same exposed breast. I guess it is because they are NPC¡¯s that they look the same.


    "What if a child sees this? Wait, I am a child!"


    I initially thought that the blue haired goblin was half naked because she was in charge of nursing the children. I am guessing that being half naked is a tribal thing. Chances are the people that made this game have a different set of values when it comes to sexuality. Although it is possible that they have the same value as I do, it would be egotistical if I assumed that.


    The goblins walk past the entrance to the maternity cavern and head deeper into the cave. They were just too tired to notice even me. I stared at their ass as they walked by. I haven''t acted like this ever since my girlfriend left me. After she had left, it felt like this part of me left with her.


    "Argg! What is wrong with me! Why do I keep thinking about sex!"


    I have heard that people with a near death experience undergo an increase in sex drives. The survival instinct kicks in, to preserve their bloodline. Either that or goblins are just that horny. No less than three days after being born, I already experienced sexual desires. I guess this falls in line with the classical image of a goblin. I continued my journey to the outside of the cave. It took me about another 15 minutes of waddling and a couple of falls before I got to the entrance. I squinted at the sun that was staring straight at me.


    "Ah sweet sunlight, I never thought I would see you again."


    The darkness was maddening. It seemed like an eternity when I was waiting for the respawn to happen. If I didn''t experience this myself first hand, I would have never thought that solitary confinement was a cruel punishment. I am pretty sure that I would have gone insane if I had to stay there any longer. The cave entrance was elevated from the forest floor. The elevation was almost as tall as the pine trees.I saw a small path that leads to the forest floor it was extremely narrow. It would be dangerous for me to go down there since I don''t have full control of my motor functions yet. I decided to head back to explore my "home."  Retreating into the tunnel, I saw a pair of goblinette each holding a long staff heading towards the exit. I wonder if the drapes match the carpet.


    "GOD DAMN IT NOT AGAIN! Stop thinking about sex!"


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    "There¡¯s a baby there."


    One of them pointed at me. Understanding what she meant, the other goblinette. She took her staff and herded me back into the maternity ward.


    "I''m going, I''m goi.. OW."


    She walloped me on my butt cheek when I slowed downed a bit. I felt like I was a prisoner.


    "Negative reinforcements on children hinders their growth!"


    I was back in the maternity cavern and watched the two guards leave. I probably should wait for all the adults to go out and explore the cave again. This small incident was a relief to me, though. I found out that I can understand their language. I knew it wasn''t English, though. It was just like Rosetta Stone for this language was downloaded into my brain, and I could understand everything. I have to explore this later.


    At this point, most of the goblin children have woken up from their slumber. Those that were awake started to have a play fight with each other. Children laughter echoes in the cavern and the whole room turned into a ring for naked green midget free for all wrestling, Pretending not to see anything, I sat down in the corner and stared at the ground to avoid joining the fight. Much to my dismay, the fight chose me. One of the pairs that were fighting rolled to my corner, and I got involved.


    For some godforsaken reason, both of them started to pull my ear. One of each side, my ears became the rope for the tug-o-war. When did I become a toy? Being at the end of my patience, I grabbed both of their arms and threw them to the ground. Taking about 3 seconds to register what happened, Both of them started to cry.


    "Oh come on, I didn''t even throw you that hard. Boys shouldn''t cry so easily."


    There were twelve goblin children in total. In my mind, I have already named them even though I couldn''t tell them apart. Since there were twelve of them, I gave them a name of the most famous twelve people group in history.


    "Andrew, Bart, James one, James two, John, Thad, Mathew, Peter, Philip, Simon, Thomas... and Bob. Does that make me Jesus? Hahaha."


    Naturally, I didn¡¯t want to name someone Judas. I don¡¯t want to be betrayed. Speaking of which, I just noticed something that is bothering me. Every single one of the children was a boy. Where are the female children?


    After the blue haired goblin had fed us our lunch, I saw a bunch of adults scurries out of the cave. I decide that it was time to explore. Making my best impression of a ninja, I left the maternity to go deeper into the tunnels. The cavern next to the maternity is probably the sleeping quarter. The two guards that I saw on the night shift was sleeping soundly in this room. The cavern after that had a hole in the ground. I peered into the hole and saw an underground river.


    "Is this our water well?"


    My nose said otherwise. There was a faint smell of urine in the room. Near the end of the cavern, I saw a trickle of water running from the wall and into the hole.


    "Automatic flushing toilet and a running water faucet? Aren''t we civilized."


    Continuing my journey, I delve deeper into the cave system. The next cavern was also the last one in our cave. There were a few corpses of rabbits, deer, and squirrels. There were also other small berries and nuts in a pile. This should be the food storage since this cavern was a lot colder compared to others.


    After satisfying my curiosity about my home, I started to return to the maternity. Passing by the latrine cavern, I saw there was someone in there. He was standing in front of the hole urinating.


    "This is the first time I have seen an adult male goblin. I wonder if we are ugly."


    After a good long minute, he finally finished urinating into the hole. After a quick yawn and stretching, he shakes his penis to make sure he gets the last drops out, washed his hand with the trickle of water and turned around. His hair was dark green hair, donning the same fur apron as the female goblins...


    ... and breasts?


    He/She drowsily walks back into the sleeping quarters.

 Chapter 5.5 - Patch Notes V2

    Author''s Note: This was rewritten. Revised chapters will have V2 next to the chapter name. Click here </a>to see V1


    Chapter 5.5- Patch Notes


    ***Fin''Dictive Gaming Studio''s Webpage***


    Project: Earth + Patch 2.13


    Announcements:


    Welcome to the new expansion for Project: Earth +. Now enjoy the new contents in  Project: Earth as magic literally comes to life. We have programmed the Recurrent Neural Network to create a new type of ability: Magic. A world reset will also occur. You can use all of your existing abilities that you have earned in the new world. The server maintenance downtime ends on 12:00 am. After that, you will be able to enjoy the new content.


    If you don''t like magic and would like to experience our game more grounded in reality, we are offering free server transfer to the West servers until the end of the year. The West servers will not have the "Plus" contents implemented for the rest of its lifetime. We have managed to link the database of the East server and the West servers, so you would not need to worry about losing your data crystals and abilities. Please see your account page for more details.


    General Balance Change:


    Magic:


    <ul>


    <li>New abilities available under the Magic Category</li>


    <li>All Magic abilities use WIS as checks instead of INT</li>


    <li>MP bar added


    </li></ul>


    Humans:


    <ul>


    <li>Reduce life expectancy from 67 years to 59 years.


    </li></ul>


    All other race:


    <ul>


    <li>All old race are now available to be chosen as starting race</li>


    <li>New races are unlockable by selecting a race at random or completing unique world quest lines.


    </li></ul>


    Bug fixes:


    <ul>


    <li>Future changes made to the Recurrent Neural Network now does not need to accompany by a world reset.</li>


    <li>Fixed a bug which causes D¨¦j¨¤ vu whenever a change is implemented.


    </li></ul>


    Project: Earth Patch 1.54


    Announcements:


    To alleviate server traffic problems, we have acquired a new server on the west coast. Everything is duplicated including current players'' skills and data crystals. The server transfer service is free until next month. If you wish to transfer your account to the west coast servers, please see your account page for details.


    Project: Earth Patch 1.53


    Announcements:


    The players have spoken. There will not be a world reset. Humans will be automatically be chosen at the start. We have also implemented a new mechanic. There are now different races for humans. Each race will have a different starting point. Future balances and fixes will be done through GM Events where unique items and data crystals will be given out to balance each race. All in-game history in regards to the removed race is now relabeled as mythology so that buggy data crystals will not spawn from them. Please see our event page for details.


    Project: Earth Patch 1.52 December 5, 20496


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Announcements:


    Due to a bug exploitation using the world item ¡°The Tower of Babel¡±, all other races except for humans is now extinct. Players cannot choose any race other than humans as a starting character since there are no births for all other race. Unfortunately due to the coding of Project: Earth, we are not able to make any changes to the system without resetting the world since this is an item generated by the Recurrent Neural Network. If we reset the world, all data crystals and all abilities will be lost for all players. We have posted a vote on the main page to decide the fate of the world. The voting process will last for a month. Again, Fin''Dictive Gaming Studio apologizes for the inconvenience. Please see our main page for details.


    General Balance Changes:


    <ul>


    <li>Removed world item ¡°The Tower of Babel.¡±


    </li></ul>


    Project: Earth Patch 1.51


    Announcements:


    Due to a change in the law in regards to Dive Technology and sexual assaults, all activities that occur in the game will be recorded. These record cannot and will not be accessed by anyone unless a warrant from the courts for these data is issued. Sexual assaults against another player within the game will be treated as if the crime was committed in real life. Please see our Terms and Conditions page for details.


    Project: Earth Patch 1.50


    Announcements:


    Fin''Dictive Gaming Studio presents the world''s first DiveMMORPG! Dive Technology allows you to have full immersion virtual reality experience while playing the game! Play as yourself or a multitude of other fantasy races, such as dwarves, humans and many more! The game contents, which includes events, abilities, NPC, and quests are 100% generated by the game''s internal Recurrent Neural Network. Even our development team don''t know how this game will turn out. Join thousands of other players to complete the community goal of reaching a population of 10 billion to unlock even more contents! Now DIVE in players! Please see our main page for details.


    Project: Earth Patch 1.35 Closed Beta


    Announcements:


    A quick reminder to all beta testers that there will be a world reset just before the official launch. Don''t get too attached to your characters or abilities.


    General Balance Changes:


    <ul>


    <li>Increased data crystal drop rate by 2%</li>


    <li>Reworked how the Recurrent Neural Network creates, debug, and grants abilities.</li>


    <li>Reworked the death penalty. It is now 1.5% chance to lose an ability, down from 2%. If you have 3 abilities or less, this penalty will not apply.</li>


    <li>Reworked how heredity stats bonus are calculated.</li>


    <li>You have a 1% chance to inherit their ability from EACH parent.</li>


    <li>Interracial couples will now only spawn infants of one race or the other.


    </li></ul>


    Bug Fixes:


    <ul>


    <li>Fixed an issue that affected scripts used in macros</li>


    <li>Fixed an issue that could cause visual and sound effects for an ability to persist incorrectly on a target.</li>


    <li>Fixed a bug which causes players to not be able to log out.</li>


    <li>Fixed a bug which causes D¨¦j¨¤ vu whenever a change is implemented.


    </li></ul>

 Chapter 6- Newbie V2

    Author''s Note: This has been rewritten. Revised chapters will have V2 next to the chapter name. Click here</a> to see V1


    Chapter 6- Newbie


    ***Day 6***


    ***Unknown Cave***


    ***29A***


    " I don''t remember falling asleep in this position."


    Like the past few days, I woke up before all the other children before the sun rose. I found Andrew and Simon lying next to me, using my shoulder as a pillow. For some reason, those 2 have grown attached to me. Andrew and Simon were the two goblins that used my ear as a rope for the tug-o-war.


    "Are these 2 going to be my childhood friend flag? Can I hit it off with another race instead, one without a penis? I am not into futa!" I sighed,


    A couple of days ago, I learned about goblin anatomy the hard way. It annoyed the hell out of me. Originally, I didn¡¯t want anyone else to find out that I can talk yet, in case I would be labeled as a freak of nature. But finally, I caved in and spoke to the blue-haired caregiver. She wasn¡¯t surprised that I could speak. It turns out goblins have some sort of genetic memory that allows for us to learn how to talk pretty much right out of the womb. Goblins are much like the spotted hyenas. All female urinates, copulates and gives birth using their pseudo-penis, which is called a "Nara". Compared with a male penis, which is known as a "Dara," a Nara is a lot thicker. For the first time in my life, I am glad that I have a small penis. I couldn''t tell the difference before, but I confirmed that there were 3 girls in my litter: Andrew, Simon, and Philip.


    "I need to rename them. I think Annie, Simone, and Phyllis would be nice replacements."


    She also taught me about other stuff about the goblins. It is a matriarchy govern by a single alpha female.  All females also automatically dominate over any male goblins since males are weaker than a female. I am an anomaly since I am stronger than everyone one else in the litter, including the girls. Our caretaker said that she will bring this up with the alpha female when she comes back with all the other males from the hunt tomorrow. They went out on a hunt. Anticipating for the food shortage due to the birth of the new litter. That was the reason I didn''t see any male goblins up till now.


    I carefully slid out of the clutches of Annie and Simone, making sure that I don''t wake them up. Heading out of the maternity, I turned around to took a good look at the cavern. Tonight was going to be the last night we will be sleeping here. We have matured enough that we will be considered as an adult by tomorrow. We will need to move to the main sleeping quarter, making the maternity available for the next litter. With a little luck, one of my kids will be raised in the very same maternity. With a lot of luck, I would able to meet some other race and have a kid somewhere else. I do not appreciate my wife having a bigger dick than me.


    "I hope that interracial relationship works in this game."


    Feeling famished, I decided to grab breakfast. We were only allowed to eat larvae, bugs, nuts, and berries. If we wanted to eat meat, we would need to prove ourselves worth by having a successful hunt.  I started to feel a bit adventurous and wanted to taste some meat this morning. You can only take so many days of eating worms.


    "Disney lied, there is no way a Simba can grow up on these."


    I would need to steal some meat out of the food storage, head down to the forest floor, make a campfire and cook the meat. I need to do all that without getting caught by any adults. I was like one of the prisoners escaping out of the Alcatraz Prison. Taking a quick peek outside the maternity cavern, I checked that the sun hasn''t come up yet. The timing is crucial to the plan. After that, I tiptoed deeper into the tunnel. Passing the sleeping quarter, I heard loud snores reverberating off the walls.


    "Good, this should cover any sounds that I accidentally make."


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.                Heading deeper into the tunnel, I can no longer see anything. The night stars that lit my way to this point no longer reflects on the wall. The darkness cannot hinder my determination to taste me. I put my hand against the wall so that it can lead me to the food storage.


    *Crash*


    I tripped head first through the food storage entrance, and my hand landed on something.


    "Okay, this feels like a pile of nuts. If I remember correctly from my previous scouting, the meat should be the right side of this pile."


    Slowly and blindly, I started to feel the flesh in the dark. I need to take something small so that I can hide it quickly and cook it fast.


    "Nope, too big, this is probably a deer. This feels small enough;  I think it is a rabbit? Nah they didn''t skin this yet. Ah, here we go, a feathered chicken.¡±


    I grabbed the featherless chicken by the neck. Slowly but steadily, I head back towards the maternity. As soon as I could see again, I bolted. I knew I don''t have much time before the sunrise.


    When I reached the entrance of the maternity, I slowed down to catch my breath. I had to make sure that I don''t alert the night watch guards stationed at the entrance to the cave. I started to tiptoe back into the maternity when suddenly, I noticed the sun began to rise.  It was time for the shift change. I quickly threw the chicken in between a rock near the entrance and the maternity cave''s wall. Soon, one of the guards noticed me and turned around.


    "Aren''t you awake a little bit too early, kid?"


    "I needed to pee."


    I yawned and rubbed my eye, acting as if nothing is out of the ordinary. She gave me a light pad on my bald goblin head.


    "Go back to sleep."


    I head back into the maternity slowly, still pretending to be half awake. The two guards started to head into the tunnel. As soon as the two guards walked past the maternity entrance, I picked up the chicken and headed out of the goblin cave. I hear the guards of the next shift behind me.


    "Shit, I don''t have time to walk down the path. They will see me for sure."


    Seeing I have no choice, I threw the chicken down the mountain and slid down the steep slope of the mountain. Using my right hand, I held on to the wall to slow down my descent. When I reached the forest floor, I did a quick visual check of my body to make sure my injuries was nothing major. Other than a few bruises on my leg, my palm had a minor abrasive wound. I whispered under my own breath to assure myself.


    "This is worth it. We are almost there."


    I need to find a place where they won''t see the fire. Picking back up the featherless chicken, I walk north alongside the mountain. This way, when I need to head home, all I need to do is head south and follow the mountain. I didn''t want to be totally lost by walking into the forest.


    I had walked a good 15 minute before I found a small clearing for my campfire. This should be far enough from the goblin cave. I tried to recall how to make a campfire from my days when I was a boy scout. I did all the preparation work needed to start a fire: laying the fire bed, collected tinder, kindling and firewood from the forest. It took me a while but I finally began to rub 2 stick together.


    "This is a lot harder than what they show in the movies."


    After about another 15 minutes of rubbing, I finally got the tinder glowing. I blew on the tinder gently to increase the glow. Then, I gently lay the tinder on top of the kindling. As soon as the kindling is on fire, I celebrated because, from this point forward, it will be easy. I keep adding kindling to the fire and finally I added firewood. At this stage, the fire started to roar. Seeing that the fire stabilized, I finally turned my attention to the chicken. I use my finger to pry open its rib cage and gutted out the intestines. I stick the gutted chicken at the end of a stick started to cook the chicken. I waited patiently as the meat begins to sizzle and slowly become golden brown, drooling a bit in the process.


    *Snap*


    "Who is there!"


    I turned and yelled when I heard something behind me. When I turned, I came face to face with a female goblin, staring at me.

 Chapter 7- PVP v2

    Author''s Note: This was rewritten. Revised chapters will have V2 next to the chapter name. Click here</a>to see V1


    Chapter 7- PvP


    Day 6


    ***Unknown Forest***


    ***29A***


    A female goblin was staring straight at me. Unlike all the other goblins I have met, her purple hair was considerably longer than other goblins. On top of that, not only she is wearing a fur apron, she also donned a silvery gray cape. It looks like it was made out of wolf pelt. Taking a closer look at her eyes, she wasn''t really looking at me. She was looking at the piece of chicken that was cooking. She points at me with her crude spear made out of a shard of rock tied to a stick.


    "What are you doing here?"


    "I am roasting a chicken?"


    It is evident that she was the goblin matriarch that our caretaker talked about. Behind her were five other goblins that were significantly smaller than her. Three of them were carrying an assortment of game birds, rabbits and rodents. The last two were shouldering a young fawn together. I thought that the hunting party was supposed to come back tomorrow. Seeing that I was caught red handed, I offered the golden brown chicken to her. As regrettable as it is to lose the tender juicy meat to her, I hope that this will put me on her good side so I can get out of any trouble. She sniffs the chicken a bit and her eyes widen. Grabbing the chicken skewer, she takes a small test bite, savored the taste, then wolfed down the rest of the chicken. Seeing that my gambit worked, I made another offer.


    "You want me to cook some of those?"


    "Where did you get that chicken? Why does it taste different than the chickens we eat?"


    My guess is that hey have no idea what cooking is. Maybe I can use this to my advantage. Even though I don''t know much, I tell the queen as much as I remember about cooking. I lived alone back when I was still a human. To save money on food, I had to learn how to do some basic cooking. I asked for one of the rabbits for demonstration purposes. Raising an eyebrow in skepticism, she handed it to me. I prepared the rabbit like I did with the chicken, skewered it on a stick and started roasting it.


    "Now all we need to do it is wait."


    A strong aroma of the rabbit wafts through the air. All the other goblins started to drool, watching the rabbit roast. Since I don''t have experience cooking rabbits, I kept a close eye on the meat. After about 5 minutes, it was ready. I passed the rabbit skewer to the queen. She ripped off the rabbit drumstick and threw the skewer to the other goblins. Like a pack of wild dogs, they all fought for morsels of the rabbit.


    "How do you like them? Do they taste good?"


    "You aren''t a full grown goblin yet right? You are not supposed to eat meat till you have hunted."


    "Yes, ma''am."


    I replied with a bit of guilt. After taking a bite out of the drumstick, she gave the rest of the rabbit to me. I took a bite out of the rabbit with a mouth full of saliva. It was a bit stringy, but this is so much better than eating larvae. It was quite a while since I had proper food.


    "When we get back to the cave, teach the other goblins how to cook as well."


    Did I just get out of trouble scot-free? Quickly putting out the campfire, I followed her back home. When we got back, the queen spoke to my purple haired caretaker and headed to the sleeping quarter. The caretaker rushed over to me and conked my noggin hard, yelling at me at the same time.


    *BONK*


    "What sort of trouble did you get into? And what is this cooking that the queen talked about?"


    ¡°Ow, stop that.¡±


    I obediently lead everyone to the forest floor and taught everyone how to start a basic fire, prepare and cook the meat. Everyone was surprised how much better cooked meat tasted. That night everyone had a great time feasting on cooked meat, except for the other children. I can see their hungry eyes staring down from the entrance with envy. The queen did not show up at the feast, though. She must be still sleeping, exhausted from the hunt.


    Day 7


    ***Unknown Cave***


    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.***29A***


    "Wake up, the queen wants to speak with you!"


    My caretaker exclaimed as I felt a gentle kick on my back. Shit, I thought I got out of the trouble from yesterday. It turns out, the Queen was just too tired to deal with me yesterday. I obediently followed my caretaker into the sleeping quarter. I saw that at the very back, there was a platform that was elevated about a feet from the rest of the room. The queen was sitting cross-legged on the platform. About ten other female goblins were sitting on the floor around the platform. I am willing to bet that the platform was her throne as there are no other goblins on it. I was led to the before the queen and told to sit on the floor. The room goes quiet.


    "You are a full grown goblin now right?"


    "Yes, ma''am."


    "How did you learn how to cook?"


    "The goblin god told me in a dream."


    I had no idea how I came up with that excuse. I tried to keep a straight face when I told this lie. They don''t need to know that I was a human in the "past life." Who knows what type of complications that can cause me. There was a small murmur before it quiet down again.


    "You know that we don''t allow goblin children eat meat before their first hunt, correct? I heard from the caretaker that you are stronger than other female goblins from your litter. Is that why you disregard the caretaker? You think that you don''t have to listen because you are stronger? "


    "No, the goblin god told me to do it."


    "Even if the goblin god asked you to do it, I will have to punish you. Ready yourself!"


    As soon as she said that, she tackled me down to the floor and put me in a mounted position. She started to rhythmically punch my head. I raised my hands to protect my head.


    "The weak must obey the strong."


    *BANG*


    "You cannot eat meat unless you have hunted."


    *BWAK*


    "You must obey my commands!"


    *BIFF*


    With every blow, she berates me. I can hear others in the room cheering for the queen. I was clearly the underdog. I stared at the queen¡¯s cold eyes as she lay blow after blow. I don''t really blame her for doing this. As a leader, she needs to maintain the order within the tribe and upheld the law. This is the best way to show dominance and strike fear into the would-be usurpers. I saw something else move below her face. Instinctively, I looked down. It was her breast, jiggling with every punch she dealt.


    "Oh no, not now."


    If there was a goblin god, he has a sick sense of humor. The more I try to not think about it, the worse it becomes. Every time she punched me, her thighs rubbed against my penis. I was getting more and more aroused. The queen stopped hitting me all of a sudden and have a startled look. Her face evolved into a devilish grin.


    "You aren''t qualified to be my mate. You are not even qualified to think about it!"


    She reached behind and grabbed my penis with one of her hand and clamped down hard. I yelped as I almost faint from the pain and ecstasy as she threw another punch.


    *BOFF*


    "Say you will submit to me and I will let this punishment end."


    "No! I didn''t do anything wrong!"


    Gathering the last bit of pride in me, I rebelliously replied I still need to get out of this situation somehow. I am not much of a fighter, so I had to resort to what I learned from my human days. The only thing that I remembered that I know about fighting was those martial arts manga. Since I can only move my upper body, boxing manga would be the most relevant. A particular scene from the manga sprang to mind.


    "You won''t submit? Then eat another one!"


    She raised her fist, ready to deliver another blow. Since one of her hand was grabbing my penis and she raised her fist to punch me, her guard was completely down. I figured this was the best chance for me to counter attack. I punched her chin as hard as I can.


    " Gazelle Punch!"


    My Chuunibyou side activated as I yelled out my attacks like one of those heroes in the manga. My punch connected to her chin with a thud. With the sound echoing throughout the cavern,  everyone became quiet. The queen''s eyes gradually rolled upward and lost her conscience. She fell right on my chest and laid on top.


    "Um, can someone help me get her off of me?"

 Chapter 8- PvE V2

    Author''s Note: This was rewritten. Revised chapters will have V2 next to the chapter name. Click here </a>to see V1


    Chapter 8- PvE


    Day 7


    ***Unknown Cave***


    ***29A***


    If anyone walked into this scene not knowing anything,  they would have thought that we just finished having sex. I was on the ground bare naked and the queen lying on top of me, both of us drenched in sweat. I rolled the queen off of me while panting heavily like a dog to catch my breath. Some of the female goblins carried the queen and laid her on the platform. Nobody knew what to do. No one even considered the possibility that the queen would lose. Everyone just sat there in awkward silence, waiting for the queen to wake up. I stood up and spit out blood.


    "Damn it. She did a number on me."


    *groan*


    "What happened?"


    "You lost, ma''am. You were knocked out."


    She glared into my eyes. She cannot believe that it happened, especially when she is barely scratched and my cheeks were swollen from the punches. She looked at other goblins, pleading them to refute my lies, but everyone stayed silent. Finally accepting her defeat, she took a deep breath, collected her thoughts and replied.


    "I will submit to you, male goblin. Strength is absolute."


    All the goblin gasped. In all of their short life, no one would have thought that a queen will submit to a male goblin. It was unheard of in their clan


    "However, you have not proven yourself to be worthy with a successful hunt. You do not have your own Ki''th to cover yourself."


    She pointed at my nether region. As a reflex, I covered my junk. I have been walking around stark naked.  Is it bad that I am used to walking around naked? I guess it is the same as a nudist colony. After a while, you just don''t think about it anymore.


    "You are exiled from the tribe until you have completed the hunt for your own Ki''th. Bring back something worthy. May the goblin god guide you."


    She motioned another goblin for her crude spear. After she grabbed it, she descended from her platform. She handed her spear to me  firmly and whispered in my ear.


    "Come back alive, my mate."


    Dumbfounded at what the queen said, I was lead out of the cave.


    Day 9


    ***Unknown Forest***


    ***Driskoll***


    "Why does this keeps happening to me? I don''t want these flags!" I lamented. "And why the hell did they got the hots for me after I beat them? First the twin, now the S&M queen? Is this why the guys that do domestic violence gets the girls, while I, mister pacifist, gets to be forever alone?"


    A few days ago, I was exiled from the tribe. When Annie and Simone learned about it, they wanted to follow me into the exile. Of course, I did not allow either them follow me. I don''t want to feel guilty if something happened to them. After about an hour of convincing, they finally let me go with a pout. After leaving the tribe, I wandered north following the mountain foot so that I would not lose my way back to the cave. I have considered leaving the tribe permanently and just try to find another settlement. After a bit of thinking, I decided that it was a bad idea. First, I may never find a settlement since I have no idea where I am headed. Second, even if I did find another settlement, there is no guarantee that they will treat a naked goblin nicely. And lastly, even if they treat me right, I would not be guaranteed to get a job of some sort to sustain myself.


    "Uggg, I don''t know how to hunt. What should I do?"


    I have been sustaining myself with nuts and berries, with some occasional larvae. I tried to catch some rabbits, but they were simply too fast to catch alone. Even if I did catch them, I doubt that I can go back to the tribe with just that. The queen said that I needed to bring back "something worthy". I highly doubt that rabbits are considered worthy. I believe what she means by worthy would be something like bringing back a wolf. Since she have a cape made of wolf pelt, it would make sense that she would expect me to bring back something similar. I doubt that I can hunt down a wolf though, since wolves always lives in a pack.


    "It''s almost evening, I better start making my camp."


    I collected some twigs and dry leaves to create a simple tent against a tree. The tent will protect me from the elements. After that, I gathered the necessary material to make a campfire. Even though I have no meat to cook, A campfire is extremely important because it keeps away other predators while I sleep. As I build the bases for a fire pit, I heard something behind me.


    *Growl*


    I grabbed my spear that was laying beside me and scurried away from the camp site to put a tree in between me and the general direction of the growl. Gradually, I peaked out to see what made that noise. It was  grizzly bear.


    "Oh god, I don''t remember if I should run away or play dead!"


    Luckily, it seemed that the bear didn''t notice me. It climbed up a small cliff and headed into a cave. Seeing that the bear was not after me, I let out a sigh of relief.


    "There is no way I can take that down if it came after me... or can I?"


    I have finally found something worthy. It is the classic definition of David versus Goliath. Even though the bear is nearly 4 times as tall as I am, with some cunning plans, I believe I can take it down. Even if I am only armed with a crude spear, I believe I have a chance. I am sick and tired of wandering around the forest. It is kind of funny, but you don''t know what you have got until it is gone. I miss the latrine, I miss the easy access of food, and most surprisingly, I miss the body warmth of sleeping in a group. Even if I died here, I will most likely respawn. I might even respawn as a human if I am lucky enough. It is a win-win situation. I quickly finished starting the camp fire, ate some berry and rested. I will need to be well rested for what is going to happen tonight.


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    Day 9 (Night)


    ***Outside of a bear cave***


    ***Driskoll***


    I woke up in the middle of the night. The sky was completely devoid of any clouds. The moon was hanging in the sky with a billion stars. My campfire was still roaring. I made sure that I had put enough fuel log for it to last through the night. I stripped some bark from a nearby tree and tied it on a stick, making a torch. Even though the I can see clearly in the dark because of the moon right now, I don''t know how deep the cave goes and where the bear is. If it is as deep as our tribe''s food storage cavern, I would not be able to see at all. There is no way I can fight a bear without seeing it.


    Armed with a torch, a few sharpened stick, a few pebbles and my spear, I  scaled the small cliff to the entrance of the cave. The bear made it look easy when it climbed the cliff. But for me that is much smaller, it was exhausting. After I entered the cave, I stopped to catch my breath. After laying down everything on the ground, I sat down to meditate for a bit. Since I cannot afford to make any noise, I had to make sure my breathing and heartbeat is  slow enough. As I meditate, I ran through my plans a few more times in my mind to make sure I know what needs to be done. I whispered as I open eyes.


    "I am ready."


    I picked back up all my belongings. I started my descent into the cave. Every step I take was extremely slow. I had to make sure that I have a secure footing so that I don''t trip and fall. It took about 10 minutes of slow walking but I finally found the bear, sleeping without a care. I placed the torch and spear on the floor, and armed myself with sharpened sticks, one in each hand. Gathering the last of my courage, I inched my way to the head of the bear. I aimed the 2 sharpened stick at the bear''s sleeping eyes. After taking a deep breath, I made up my mind the attack the bear. I jumped up, and stabbed downwards, skewering it¡¯s eyes.


    It roared in pain. Clawing at its face, it dislodged the 2 sticks from it''s eyes. The attack was clearly effective as it''s eyes were flowing a river of blood. Seeing that my attack was successful, I scrambled back to a safe distant and picked up my spear. The bear was wildly clawing at the air, trying to swipe down who ever attacked it.  I threw some stones at it to anger the bear further so that it will to chase me. I need the bear outside of the cave. It would be suicide if I tried to fight it inside the cave. There is simply not enough room to dodge any attacks. I would probably die from one swipe of the bear.


    "Hey, Smokey! Come and get some!"


    The ears perked up. It realized where I am and charged at the source of the sound. In a blind rage, it ran into the cavern walls, but it was determined to kill me. I ran towards the exit making loud noises as I go. Finally, when I reached the exit, I took a small sidestep on the ledge. The bear shot out of the cave like a cannon ball and fell off the cliff onto the forest floor.


    Clumsily, it  got back up on all four. Seeing everything was according to plan, this was the moment that I was waiting for. I grabbed my spear with both of my hands until my knuckles were white, aimed at the bear''s neck and took a leap of faith. The tip of spear pierces its skin. Blood starts to squirt every time the bear move. Good news is that the bear is hurt. The bad news is that the bear is not dead.


    *ROAR*


    "You got to be shitting me, it is still not dead?"


    Standing on the back of the bear, I tried to pull the spear out of the bear''s neck. It was stuck in the wound pretty deep. The bear shook it''s body to get me off it''s back. I tried to hold on to the mechanical bull ride, but I was thrown off like a rag doll. I landed hard against a tree.


    A large gash opened on my forehead where I slammed into the tree. A little dazed, I struggled to stand up. I have no idea how to finish this fight. I didn''t plan for it to survive the spear to the neck. The bear is just too big for any other attack to be effective. The bear danced around in the moonlight on his hind legs, swiping at a nonexistent enemy. I eyed the small cliff and I knew what I need to do to finish this. Wiping blood away from my eyes, I grabbed a branch that was lying on the ground and wobbled towards to cliff.


    "I just need a little bit more."


    With a stick in my hand, I started to climb. I clung on to the edge of the with both of my hands. When I tried to pull myself up, the blood caused one of my hands to slip and lose me grip. Hanging on with 1 hand, I was barely able to stabilize myself with my feet. After much struggle, I finally got back up on the cliff side. Standing on cliff, I finally met the bear at eye level. I waited for him to miss his swipe. This was my last chance. I can feel myself losing conciseness from the blood loss.


    "EAT¡­"


    I gasped for air while I yelled out to grab the attention of the blinded bear so that it would face me.


    "THIS¡­"


    I jumped up and stabbed the branch straight into the open mouth of the roaring bear. It lost balance and fell backwards landing on its back. It pushed the spear that was stuck on the back of it''s neck straight through it''s throat, barely missing my by and inch. The spear became a flag declaring my victory against a mighty foe. Losing a bit too much blood, I fainted in triumphant on the soft belly of the dead bear.

 Chapter 9- Stage Complete

    Author''s Note: This has been rewritten. Revised chapters will have V2 next to the chapter name. Click here</a> to see V1


    Chapter 9 - Stage Complete


    ***Day 13***


    ***Unknown Cave***


    ***Goblin Queen***


    "ARG, THIS IS SO FRUSTRATING! What is wrong with me! This is all his fault!"


    She sat up from the queen''s platform. After sending that male to exile, she kept thinking about him each night, worry about his safety. Out of frustration, she throws a little tantrum on the platform, kicking and yelling.


    "Me? The queen? Worrying about a runt that is barely an adult? Even worse, I declared him to be my mate!"


    She angrily thought in her mind. She didn''t dare to say those thoughts out loud. If any other female heard about the queen''s worry, that goblin would definitely try to overthrow the current queen, believing that she had gone soft. This would cause a tremendous turmoil within the tribe. As a responsibility of the queen, she had to make sure that she nipped any potential revolts in the bud.


    "Someone get a bowl of water for me!"


    As soon as she said that, an obedient male goblin rushed out, and came back with a stone bowl full of water and lay it in front of her. Then he sat down waiting for the next order. She took off her Ki''th, dipped it into the water, and started to clean herself. She thought that even if cleaning herself won''t cleanse her worries, it would cleanse her fatigue. She noticed a male goblin staring at her body with a speck of lust. Their eyes met, and he quickly turned away, trying to hide his desires.


    "What are you looking at? This is not the first time you watched me bathe, and now you want me? Are you in heat or something? GET OUT!"


    She threw the bowl of water as hard as she can at her servant. Luckily for him, she barely missed. The bowl shattered in force, breaking into millions of tiny rock. If that had hit him, it would have dealt life threatening damage. Fearing of her wrath, all the goblins quickly gathered the broken pieces and left the room, leaving the queen alone in the spacious sleeping quarter. After calming down a bit from her anger, it dawned on her.


    "On heat? That must be it. It must be time for me to produce a litter. At the sight of the first male that beat me, I made the move without thinking thoroughly. I cannot possible take a runt that lands a lucky hit on me as a mate. Worst of all, he disobeyed my order about eating meat. All I have to do to correct this is to take the biggest and strongest male to mate tonight to quench my thirst."


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    She continued to comfort with herself with lies.


    "Even if the exiled one returns, I will just deny his right to mate with me, saying that his Ki''th is not worthy. For my Ki''th, it took a party of 7 goblins to hunt down an old lone wolf, which ends in death for 2 members. With no hunting party to support him, the best that he can hunt down is a small fawn."


    Satisfied with her own reasoning and her plans, she stretched a bit and put her Ki''th back on. She tried to recall the conversations she had with the exiled one, trying to nit pick and conjure up more reasons why he should not be her mate.


    "Heh, goblin god. As if such things exist. If there were a goblin god, he would have blessed us with a bigger tribe. If there were goblin god, none of us would die from a hunt. If there was a goblin god..."


    Interrupting the queen''s thoughts, another goblin rushed in to deliver breaking news to the queen.


    "My queen, the exiled one has come back with his Ki''th!"


    For a fleeting moment, the queen''s heart fluttered with joy at the thought of the exiled one coming back. That feeling ended as soon as it started as the logical part of her quickly beat that thought into submission.


    "I will just have to stick with my plan."


    She promptly exited the sleeping quarters and headed to the cave entrance. A small crowd gathered on top of the cliff watching the spectacle. When the other goblins saw their queen approaching the cliff, they dispersed to make a front row seat for her. From the top of the cliff, she saw the exiled one dragging a large brown pelt in one hand and holding her spear in the other. He was clearly struggling to carry the pelt all by himself, as he kicked the pelt several times in frustration.


    "He did far better than I expected, being able to hunt down a doe or a buck by himself. Still, I will deny his right to be my mate."


    As he got closer, all the other goblins that were on the forest floor started to kneel down and bow before him. Her anger flared as this was an apparent act treason towards her. Just before she yelled out her decree to punish those that bowed, she caught a better glimpse of the pelt. She saw something that she never even dreamed of. It was the head of a grizzly bear. Finally understanding why the other goblins were on their knees, she prostrated as well. All the other goblins soon follow suit. For the first time in her life, she is truly humbled by another goblin. For the first time in her life, she truly and undoubtedly believed that there is a goblin god, and he had blessed this exiled one.

 Chapter 10- Bonus Stage

    Author''s Note: This has been rewritten. Revised chapters will have V2 next to the chapter name. Click here</a> to see V1


    Chapter 10- Bonus Stage


    ***Day 13***


    ***Unknown Cave***


    ***29A***


    The pelt was heavy. If I had any choice at all, I would have definitely left it where it was. When I dragged it along the forest floor, the pelt was like a fishnet in the ocean, catching all sorts of sticks and rocks. I had to make frequent stops to remove the garbage accumulated from the pelt to reduce the burden. Carrying such a cumbersome item certainly wore my patience thin.


    "AND WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SMELL!"


    I kicked the pelt multiple times in frustration.


    "I COULD HAVE BEEN AT A BARBECUE!"


    On top of the pelt as a prize of the fight, I walked away with a bad-ass looking scar on my forehead. The scar is still a little bit sensitive, but it has been healing nicely, At least now I won''t look like all the other male goblins, with their bald and shiny head.  I have also gained an entirely unfair title, giant slayer. All physical damage that I deal gains bonus damage, equal to our size difference. If my target is double my size, I will deal double the damage. I have a hunch that this title was not intended for a goblin to wield.


    "Dead DPSers deals no damage."


    As I had always said back when I played World of Warcraft. Even with such a broken title, there are still problems that I would need to tackle. I need to increase my damage mitigation. I have to either get some armor to protect myself, or learn to dodge like a ninja. I would probably go with dodging since I don''t see myself in plate mails. The other problem is that I need to increase my base damage somehow. If I only deal 5 damage to the bear, and even if he is 10 times bigger than I am, that is still only 50 damage. Based on the fight that I had, the bear had at least 800 hp. It would take at least 16 clean hits for me to kill the bear, but only 1 hit for the bear to kill me.


    "Tadaima,"


    I muttered under my breath nonchalantly. I can finally see my cave from afar, after 3 days. It took me one whole day to skin the bear, and another 2 days to drag the bear pelt back to the cave. I thought it would have taken me longer to get back to the cave. But since I had the bear meat, I did not had to waste time looking for nuts and berries to sustain myself. Bear steaks are a little bit stringy, but definitely delicious. I will definitely hunt them again. If I can just repeat my strategy, killing them would be a cinch.


    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    "Did that goblin drop something?"


    As I approached the cave, one of the goblin kneeled down. After that, like dominos, they all kneeled one after another. Are they kneeling at me? Even the queen is kneeling? A spark ignited in my heart at that point. When I was human, I was half-assed at everything. This included the thing I liked the most, video gaming. I could have tried to become a pro if I wanted to. I gave myself every excuse to procrastinate, give up half way or not try at all. I was satisfied with a dead end job without any challenges. I was nothing but a puppet with no life. After I died and became a goblin, I was armed with nothing but a spear, my wit, and my guts, struggling against insurmountable odds and hunted a bear down.


    "Is this what success feels like?"


    Tears welled up in my eyes, as I finally understood what it meant to be worthy. Thank you, my queen, for sending me out on this quest. I felt that I should be the one kneeling instead, for giving me this chance to feel so...


    alive


    I knew what I have to do. Even though we are just goblins, lowest tier of the trash mobs, I will make us prosper. Even though we are just NPCs, a bunch computer codes, I will have protected them. To do this, I will need to become a proper leader to these goblins. Wiping away the tears, I told myself I will need to start to act the part. Even if I have to fake it till I make it. Dragging the pelt behind me, I walked at a steady pace up the cliff side path towards the cave entrance. At the entrance of the cave, the queen greeted me humbly. She did not have a trace of the haughty attitude she had shown before. Still prostrating, she spoke out to me from the cave entrance.


    "The exiled one, you who are blessed by the goblin god, we submit and obey. What is your command?"


    I just realized there was something more important. I was called the exiled one. When I first watched Overlord, I did not get why Momonga changed his name to Ainz. I used to think that since he was in a new world, no one could have known what his name was, and he should have kept his old name for convenience. But now that I have experienced something similar I understood how he felt. It was not about how others saw you, but how you saw yourself. When I was human, my name was Driskoll. When I became a goblin, I was called the kid, runt, young one, and now the exiled one. I did not have a name still. I am no longer any of those. I have been reborn.


    "I shall no longer be known as exiled one. My name shall be..."


    "What is this "name" you speak of, exiled one?" The queen asked.


    I did not realize that goblins have no concept of what names are. I quickly explain the idea and benefits of having a name.

 Chapter 11- (null)

    This is my first light novel, please be gentle with the criticism :P


    Please let me know about any mistakes, I don''t have a proof reader. Message me if you want to be mine <3


    Authors Notes:


    Changed the color of the system message to a lighter blue as per Dan''s suggestion. Thanks!


    Good news, bad news, good news scenario: Good news, I have commissioned a piece of art from  http://derfington.com/</a> for the novel page! Bad news, school year is starting soon. I can only update 3 times a week. Good news, I have got a new concept for another light novel, which I will update once a week, probably on weekends. The stand in name for it is Z-rum. Please look forward to it :>


    Chapter 11 - (Null)


    Day 13


    ***Unknown Cave***


    ***                   ***


    "And Queenie, that is why we need names."


    "As you command." she replied with enthusiasm.


    When I started the explanation about the idea about naming, she wasn''t too thrilled, thinking that it was just something trivial. But when I mentioned names are needed for a bigger tribe, she immediately paid attention to every word I said. The tribe is small enough that everyone can get by without a name right now,  but once the tribe is big enough, it will create confusion. At least I know how to get Queenie to do something for me now. All I have to do is mention "Bigger tribe" and she will do anything.


    "Also, it will prevent accidental incest, since if you have the same family name, you are probably too close related to mate.


    "What is incest?"


    "It means that you mate with someone close to you within your family."


    "Is that a problem?"


    "..."


    "..."


    I should have seen this coming. The goblins are like throwing every single weird kinky Japanese fetish into a single race. Can I just deal with some normal stuff when it comes to sex in this world? Please? Just one time? I rubbed my temple from the migraine. I am having none of this shit. I contemplated a bit before declaring a decree in my loudest voice.


    "This is the first decree. No goblin shall mate with their immediate family. The goblin god told me that by not mating with your immediate family, he will bless our tribe with strength."


    No one dared to object my decree when I threw the goblin god''s name in there. Since I am aiming to expand our tribe, we needed to put a naming system in place. Our current population is about 40 goblins, with a new litter coming in approximately 2 weeks later. In order for me to name everyone, I had to develop a naming system from scratch. First I had the 4 eldest goblins come forth. I asked them about their mates and off springs in order to determine the family tree. By the time I finished, I realized that it would have been more accurate if I called it the family web. Next, I gave the 4 elder goblins each a family name: Garland, Kefka, Sephiroth, Edea. It turns out, I was a Kefka. Then, I assigned all the other goblin under each elder''s family name and a random first name. By the time I was done, it was night already and I was both physically and mentally exhausted. I decided to head to bed without dinner. Out of old habit, I headed towards the maternity cavern to sleep. I was quickly escorted to the sleeping quarter and told that I was supposed to sleep on the leader''s platform. I was too tired to argue. I laid down and used my Ki''th as a blanket. Finally, I can get a good night sleep without worrying about predators.


    "I know I have forgotten to do something important, but I can''t remember what it is. Oh well, since I forgot about it, it can''t be too important."


    Day 14


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.***Unknown Cave***


    ***           ***


    "Shit, I messed up."


    Upon checking my stats to figure out what the new abilities are, I found that I messed up.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Personality #29A</td></tr><tr><td>Name:</td><td></td><td>Race:</td><td>Goblin</td></tr><tr><td>Occupation:</td><td>Goblin King</td><td>Title:</td><td>Giant Slayer</td></tr><tr><td>Status:</td><td colspan=''3''>Normal</td></tr><tr><td>Strength:</td><td>181/999</td><td>Charisma:</td><td>151/999</td></tr><tr><td>Wisdom:</td><td>216/999</td><td>Intellegence:</td><td>72/999</td></tr><tr><td>Abilities:</td><td colspan=''3''>Gamer''s Mind, Marksmanship, Gazelle Punch, Dragoon Jump</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I knew I forgot to do something. I didn''t finish declaring my name. Instead of the question marks, now it is just blank.


    "No problem, I can fix this. All I have to do is to declare my name again to everybody."


    I toyed with the menu a bit since I couldn''t see the newly gained goblin tribe abilities. After a while, I finally found it. By focusing on the Race: Goblin, I was able to access a sub menu and find out what religious fanaticism does.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Goblin Race Abilities:</td><td>None</td></tr><tr><td>Goblin Tribe Abilities:</td><td>Cooking, Designation, Religious Fanaticism</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Religious Fanaticism:</td><td>Activate: Gains Berserk (Double STR. Auto-attack anything that is non-friendly). Duration is proportional to the number of believers in your same religion.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    After I was done playing with with the menu, I walked out to the entrance of the cave and found most of the goblins had woken up already. Some of them were cooking their their breakfast, others were repairing their Ki''th. Which reminds me, I need to get them to make my Ki''th into something wearable. Seeing that almost everybody is here, I called for everybody''s attention.


    "After a night of thinking. I have decided that from now on, I shall be known as..."


    A goblin bursts out of the forest seemingly out of no where.


    "LEADER! The other other goblin tribe is mounting an attack on us!"


    "Can I get a fucking break for fuck''s sake!"


    As soon as I said that, I stood in terror as I realized what I have done.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Personality #29A</td></tr><tr><td>Name:</td><td>Cani Kefka</td><td>Race:</td><td>Goblin</td></tr><tr><td>Occupation:</td><td>Goblin King</td><td>Title:</td><td>Giant Slayer</td></tr><tr><td>Status:</td><td colspan=''3''>Normal</td></tr><tr><td>Strength:</td><td>181/999</td><td>Charisma:</td><td>151/999</td></tr><tr><td>Wisdom:</td><td>216/999</td><td>Intellegence:</td><td>72/999</td></tr><tr><td>Abilities:</td><td colspan=''3''>Gamer''s Mind, Marksmanship, Gazelle Punch, Dragoon Jump</td></tr></tbody></table>


    "God damn it. Lets try this again. I shall be known as Slobad."


    "System Error: Maximum free renaming attempts reached. Please visit our main webpage for details on paid renaming service."


    "FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU"

 Chapter 12- First Raid

    This is my first light novel, please be gentle with the criticism:P


    Please let me know about any mistakes, I don''t have a proof reader. Message me if you want to be mine <3


    Authors note:


    I have changed the name to Cani because typing Oforfuck''ssake out every single time was just too annoying on the tablet. It''s... not like I changed it for you... BAKA! (/tsunderemode). Also, I would like to remind everyone that this has a comedy tag on it, so don''t complain about my naming sense. Also sorry for not updating for the past few days. I typed up the whole chapter but then I accidentally closed the page without saving. I was demoralized for the past few days.


    Chapter 12- First Raid


    Day 14


    ***Cani''s Cave***


    ***Queenie***


    Queenie jumped up from her slumber after hearing a scream. Not usually the one to sleep in late, she did not sleep well last night. It was because she was used to sleeping on the smooth flat platform instead of the rocky, dusty ground. She rushed outside and found Cani pacing back and forth in the cave entrance.


    "I AM GOING TO MURDER THEM ALL!"


    A murderous intent emanated like a wave of daggers towards everyone near Cani. Everyone within a close distant fell onto their knees. Even the battle harden queen had weak knees and barely was able to stand up. She wobbled towards Cani.


    "W-what is h-happening?"


    Finally realize everyone was affected by the blood lust, Cani closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself down and explained to Queenie what has happened.


    "One of our scout report back that another goblin tribe is attacking us."


    Queenie has mixed feelings. On one hand, she is just as angry that the other goblins are attacking them. On the other, her heart was soothed to know that she has passed on the role of the leader into the right hands, someone that cares deeply about her tribe. If it was any other male goblin, they would have most likely ran away in cowardice at the first news of the attack. An unfamiliar feeling strengthened inside Queenie. First time in her life, she wants to be with Cani, and no one else. Female goblins, especially an alpha, usually takes in more than one mate at the same time. However, with Cani, it felt as if there was no need for any other males. If she could have him, it would make her feel complete. Queenie pondered the feeling a bit before realizing there is more important tasks at hand as Cani questioned the scout about the details.


    "Which direction are the forces coming from and how many days till their attack forces gets here?"


    "The forces came from a cave south of us, around 6 days of travel. I should have a 2 day lead from their troop. However, I don''t know if they traveled at night like I did. It could be less"


    "How many goblins does their forces have?"


    "About 60 of them, all of them female and armed with spears."


    "How many goblins do they have left in the whole tribe?"


    "I think 120 of them? It could be more."


    After hearing this, a few of the goblins groaned in despair. The attack force alone has more female goblins then their whole tribe. Not to mention, they are all armed with spears.


    Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    "How do we differentiate between within our tribe and their tribe."


    "Their skin is slightly darker than ours."


    "You have done well, go to the sleeping quarter and take a quick rest. You have earned it. We will wake you up when we need you."


    The scout obeyed and disappeared into the sleeping quarter. Cani closed his eyes in deep thought. After a good 5 minute of silence and contemplation, he opened his eyes, licked his finger, points it cave ceiling, and gave a sinister grin.


    "Tell everyone to drop what they are doing immediately and gather around.  This will be a massacre."


    After Queenie gathered everyone on the forest floor, Cani started to explain the situation.


    "Another goblin tribe is attacking us in 2 days. They have a superior number of female goblins and equipment."


    The crowd became unruly with that news. Queenie knew that she needed to take control of the situation quickly.


    "SILENCE! ALL OF YOU!"


    Everyone became silence from the banshee''s scream. Cani continued.


    "If everyone follows my instruction, no one will die, except our enemies. First, have the goblins that cannot fight head north. This include any injured, disabled or pregnant goblins. To our north is a small cave about 2 days travel. Stay there until we send someone to tell you to come back. 4 of the goblins will move most of our food supply out of the cave, but make sure you leave something behind. Everyone else, gather as much dry grass, leaves and wood as you can."


    Day 16 (Night)


    ***Cani''s cave***


    ***Goblin Attack Force Captain***


    By the time the attack force has reached the cave, the sun was no longer visible in the sky. It has set behind the mountain range. There was still an orange glow but night was rapidly approaching. The tension was high within the force as they are ready to launch the attack against their neighbor. Everyone gripped their spears until their knuckles turned light green. They saw a goblin running towards them.


    "Captain!"


    "Report."


    "There are no signs of anybody from this tribe in forest or in the cave. I think they have evacuated."


    "They must of escaped when they hear about our attack. Smart choice. Our only aim was to capture more living space for our tribe."


    The captain commanded half of the troops guard the forest floor while the other half would follow him to explore the cave. Cautiously, the troops walked up the steep path to cave entrance, wary of a surprise attack or traps. Once they have entered the cave, they slowly explored each room. They found that the cave is completely devoid of life.


    "Captain! There is no one in the cave."


    "They must of been really scared of us and not want us to pursue after them. They even left fresh bedding all over the cave and even a small deer to feast on to make sure we stay in this cave."


    "What are your orders captain?"


    "Station 5 of us to guard in case they come back and try to assault us during the night. The rest of you, get in here and enjoy a nice meal and rest. Tomorrow, I will send someone back with the news that we have captured the cave and have some of us move into this cave."


    Putting her spear on the floor, the captain laid down on the fresh bedding of dry grass and leaves.


    "Easiest victory of my life."

 Q and A and updates

    Arg, life has been kicking me in the ass


    Sorry for not updating for so long, Just an update to my situation


    I am looking at another week of hiatus before I can post another update at this rate, hopefully it will end soon.


    I have been rereading the past chapters and I just realize that I have a huge weakness when it comes to writing  conversations, not to mention some grammar issues, so I will try to improve on that.


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    Anyway, when I write the next chapters, I want to do an bonus chapter with a Q and A, so post questions you have. It will probably have some spoilers in it. I know some people like that so I will warn everyone with the title.


    Hopefully I can clarify some points, and in the mean time improve my writing skills by knowing what people don''t understand.

 Chapter 13- Halt and Catch Fire

    Authors Note:


    FUCK ME Sideways. Work has been brutal. School was worst.


    Sorry for the huge hiatus. I think I forgot how to write a story as well. Oh well, lets hope this isn''t as bad as I think it is.


    Day  17 (Night)


    ***Mountain Range***


    ***Cani***


    "Everyone understand their roles?"


    I looked at my meager force of 34 goblins. Only 10 of them were equipped with spears. All the other goblins were holding sticks. Any goblins that could not fight headed towards the bear cave as a precaution in case we lost the fight. If we were to fought head to head, we will lose for sure. Luckily, we have already laid our traps in advance. However, even with the traps, our victory was not guaranteed. There were still a lot of variables for this war, but this was our only chance to defend our home. Even though my home is literally shit hole in the wall, it was the only thing I have in this new world, and I am damn sure that no one will steal it from me.


    "Everyone is ready, my lord." Queenie replied.


    Putting on my new hooded leather armor, made from the bear skin. I raised my spear, pointing at the sky.


    "TONIGHT WE WILL SLAUGHTER THE INTRUDERS!"


    """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""YES! MY LORD!""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""


    My attacked force started to head south towards our home filled with enemies. We were about 1 hours of walking away from our target. Fearing that they have stationed some scouts around the premise, we covered ourselves with mud and grass for camouflage. I also split everyone up in squads of 5 and have them use basic tactic to advance, carefully scouting and covering for other squad. In the short few days that we had to prepare, I taught them basic hand signals so that we can sort of communicate without making a sound. Who knew watching all those cop movies would be so helpful.


    After about an hour, we finally reached our enemy infested home. We all lay prone in the grass and crawled towards the cave entrance.  I saw that there were only 2 goblins from the other tribe guarding the entrance. Luckily I don''t think they have noticed us yet, as I saw one of them stretches and yawned. They weren''t alert at all. This is very good for us.


    I signaled Queenie and 2 other goblins with spears to come to the front with me. I also signal everyone else to stay put and look out for patrolling enemies. Looking up at the sky, the moon shone brightly like a prison spotlight at night, searching for an escaped prisoner. It was simply too bright to proceed with the plan. I signaled the 3 goblins with me to hold position and wait for a better timing. Hopefully, a chance will appear before the break of dawn. If not, our plan will be a lot riskier.


    ***Shadowmaple***


    ***Fin''Vaiel***


    *Knock Knock*


    An blond female elf''s head poke out from behind the door.


    "Fin, do you want me to wait for you? You need ride home tonight?"


    "Nah, you go ahead and head home first. I have got to finish setting up for the first gm event for our players."


    "I don''t think I heard anything about this. What''s it about?"


    "Aenwyn, you have got to start reading the company memos. It is a low level standard goblin extermination event near the Welleborn Mountain Range. We are using this to test the event generator to make sure it''s working as intended before we try anything more complicated."


    "Are you sure you don''t want me to wait for you?"


    "Yes, this will take me at least another 2 hours or so. You should head home and enjoy your night. I will just take the public transit home"


    "I don''t understand you. With your salary, you can easily afford a very nice car. Why don''t you get one?"


    "All I can say is that I am a terrible driver. I crashed too many times and I don''t think I can afford the insurance anymore."


    "You can probably hire a driver."


    "If I can''t afford the insurance, I am pretty sure I can''t afford a personal driver as well. I am not that rich."


    "Isn''t the CEO from Captivate Inc. that makes all the immersion tech hardware your boyfriend? Can''t you just get him to hire you one?"


    "We are just close friend from the university, Aenwyn. I don''t know how many times I have tell people that." Fin''Vaiel replied with a sigh.


    "Just bag him for yourself already! He is like the perfect bachelor! You are not going to stay 1000 years old forever."


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    "Have a good night, Aenwyn."


    Fin''Vaiel puts on her headphones and turned her attention back to her computer, ignoring everything Aenwyn is trying to say.


    Day  17 (Night)


    ***Cani''s Cave***


    ***Cani***


    Finally, after 2 hours of lying on the ground, a large cloud patch covered up bright moon and everything became dark. From my estimation, there were only about an hours before the sun rise. We need to hurry up before it happens. I signaled Queenie and the 2 spear carrying goblins to crawl towards the ground beneath the cave entrance. Even though there were only about 100 meters between where we started, it felt like an eternity to crawl towards our goal. Every inch we move forward, I feared that we would get detected. I even try to move only when there is a breeze so that the sound of the wind would cover the sound of us scuffling along the forest floor. Luckily it was a windy night so were able to approach at a faster speed than I have anticipated.


    When we reached the ground directly beneath the cave entrance, Queenie and I scaled the steep wall, inching our way towards the 2 goblins that were on the look out. The 2 other goblins stuck the spear into the ground with the pointy side facing the sky and used their body to brace it. When we reached the top, they were still focused on watching far into the forest. They have no idea that we were directly underneath them. We slowly reach out our hand towards the 2 guard goblin''s ankle. I looked at Queenie to make sure she is ready for what is about to happen. She gave a quick nod. I replied with a nod of my own to start the count down.


    3


    2


    1


    Both of us grab the ankle with lightning speed and pulled the 2 guard goblins down from where they stand, throwing them towards the spear that was waiting for them. They didn''t even have time to let out a scream before the spear pierced their lungs and became a goblin shish kebob. Both of them let out a small whimper before they expired.  The 2 spear goblins removed the bodies and set them aside.


    Seeing that we have dealt with the guard, Queenie and I pull ourselves onto the ledge with the intent to fight. We planned for the worse case scenario where there were other guards. Luckily it seems that it was not the case. There were no other guards. I signaled the all of my attack force to start working. Like a well oiled machine, all the goblins with spears set themselves in 2 rows of fives underneath the cave and stuck their spears into the ground, forming an impromptu spike trap. 2 goblins grabbed the spear on the floor dropped by the dead guard and joined the formation as well. A goblin starts a fire with his sticks and made a  torch. Like an Olympic torch bearer, they ran up the ramp and handed me the torch to me.


    "Go burn in hell."


    I threw the torch into our cave. The dry grass on the ground quickly caught on fire and spreads deeper into the cave. Normally, it would have spread out towards the exit, but I confirmed that the air flow always runs inward. It was most likely due to the underground river that we use as a washroom.   Another goblin handed my spear to Queenie. She was to be stationed at the top of the ramp. Since she is still the strongest out of all of us, she would act as a bouncer. Any that try to escape down the ramp would be pushed down the cliff into our "goblin spike trap".


    Screams starts to sound in the cave.


    "FIRE!!!!"


    "QUICK RUN OUTSIDE."


    "I CAN''T! THERE IS A WALL OF FIRE BLOCKING US!"


    "TRY TO PUT IT OUT!"


    "WE WILL BE COOKED ALIVE!"


    "I WILL TAKE MY CHANCES!"


    A few goblin shot out of the cave entrance like a cannon ball. The cannon balls became skewered meat, and our goblin spike trap grew larger. A few goblins try to run down the ramp as well, but they were promptly bumped off the cliff by Queenie and into spikes down below.


    We let the fire inside cave completely burn out before heading inside. Everything was charred blacked. I took a step into the cave and nearly vomited. The smell of burnt flesh was quite overwhelming. I signaled everyone with a spear to head into the cave, making sure that there were no survivors. The goblins without spears started to drag charred bodies to throw them out. It seems that an enemy survived by hiding in the washroom. She was dragged out and made to kneel before me. Standing in front of the cave with the sun rising behind me, everyone looked at me like I was some kind of deity.

 Chapter 14- Loot Drops

    Author''s Note:


    Now that the worst part is over, I hope I can get back to my planned writing schedule. Unfortunately, I just found a few finished web novels (With 500+ chapters) that I like and I am very tempted to read them instead of writing this. Goblin god give me strength.


    By the way, tomorrow is probably the Q and A day as there is no way I will have time to write a whole chapter.


    Oh hey, btw I got the novel cover done!


    Chapter 14- Loot Drops


    Day  18


    ***Cani''s Cave***


    ***Cani***


    "What should I do with you?"


    I stared at the enemy soldier kneeling before me, pondering my next move. Her skin was blackened with soot and both her Ki''th and her golden yellow hair was slightly singed. A classic look of someone who survived through a fire. She kept coughing from time to time, probably from the smoke inhalation. My mind say that I should finish her off, but my gut say to take pity on her and let her live. As I was thinking what to do next, I noticed everyone stopped working to wait for my verdict. I looked up to reprimand everyone.


    "Why did you guys stop working? Except for those 2 holding down the enemy, everyone needs to keep working! We need to prepare for another attack! Clean this fucking cave up now!"


    Everyone jumped at the sound of my voice and kept carrying the corpses out of the cave to be disposed. I turned my attention backed to the slightly toasted goblin.


    "Why did you attack us?"


    She glared at me bitterly with a pair of angry eyes and refused to talk. I kicked her in the stomach to punish her insolence. I didn''t want to damage her face. With her slightly curly golden hair and a cute face, she gave a goblin version of "ojou-sama" sort of feel. She fell on the floor face down and coughed severely. My 2 goblin guards picked her up and I continued to question her.


    "Why did you attack us?"


    "You are just a male goblin, what right does a weakling to question a strong female!"


    "Weak? I think you want to re-evaluate yourself here. I am the one that leads this tribe. I am the one that wiped out your attack force without losing a single goblin. I am the one that defeated a bear and made it into my Ki''th. On the other hand you are forced to kneel before me. I ask you now, who is the weak one?"


    If a stare could deal damage, my head would have a hole in it by now. She glared at me with hatred and wants to rebut my statements, but she could not find a single word.


    "The weak must obey the strong. I ask again. Why did you attack us?"


    She hesitated a bit, but reluctantly she finally gave an answer.


    "Our tribe grew too large to fit in that cave. We needed more room."


    "How many goblins did you bring over to attack us?"


    "You slaughtered 65 of us."


    What was with that answer? Was she trying to get me to feel guilty about defending our home? 2 goblins passed by carrying a corpse at this point. One of them lost his grip and dropped the corpse. When they lifted up the corpse to continue on their way, something shimmer dropped onto the ground from the body. I picked up the shimmering piece  and my heart started to race with excitement. It was a slightly burnt necklace made of copper. I ordered the 2 goblins holding the prisoner to stay put and ran deeper into the cave. Looking around frantically, I finally found an intact spear and examined the spear head. It was made of copper as well.


    "Queenie! Get someone to gather up all the spears and spear heads that the enemy drop! Make sure you don''t miss a single one! Search the corpse for something like this as well!"


    I handed her the necklace to teach her what copper is like and what to look for. With this, we can take a huge step towards the bronze age. I need to think of a plan to capture the other goblin tribe if they do in fact have the ability to produce copper goods. Pacing back and forth a bit, I decided I needed a bit more information from the captive. I returned to the front of the cave holding one of their spears.


    "Did you make these?"


    "Of course, I did. Every competent goblin makes her own spear."


    "No I am talking about just the tip. Where did get the material to make it?"


    She remained silent at my question. I kicked her in the stomach once again and grabbed her by the throat.


    "Where. Did. You. Get. The. Copper?"


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    She stared at me defiantly and spits blood in my face. I took a deep breath and let my Gamer''s Mind do it''s job to calm me down. I used my fur sleeve to clean the blood off my face. I stared into her green eyes for a few seconds.


    "Ah, so your cave have a copper vein. Excellent. We shall take over your cave soon."


    She opened her eyes wide in surprise and horror to my words.


    "How did you know?! I didn''t say anything!"


    "The goblin god told me." I answered nonchalantly. "You two, I want her alive. Tie her up, throw her into the food storage, and guard her. Make sure you gag her as well. I don''t want her to disturb my sleep tonight."


    In truth, it was just an easy deduction. If she got the copper from a trade, there was no reason to hide that from me. There is only one reason why she would want to keep silent: the answer would severely affect her clan. Using a small bluff, I confirmed my suspicion. Thank the goblin god that these goblins are gullible.


    "My lord we have gathered all the copper in the sleeping quarter."


    I went to the sleeping quarter to see my loot. It wasn''t much but there were all sorts of things made from copper. A few necklace, a bracer or two, a small dagger, and a lot of spears and spear heads. Something was bugging me when I saw the spears though. In the back of my mind, I knew something was wrong. I did a quick count of the spears. When I finished, I yelled out for Queenie.


    "Queenie, are you sure we got everything? Did some of our goblins kept a few spear for themselves?"


    "No my lord. Everything is here. We have swept through everything several times already to make sure we have picked up all the copper."


    "Damn it! Tell everyone to keep on high alert on all times. We missed three of them."


    Day 18 (Night)


    *Welleborn Mountain Range Forest"


    "Unknown Goblin Soldier"


    3 goblins runs in the middle of the night. It is clear that they have been on the run for quite a while as exhaustion permeated across their faces. Finally, one of them couldn''t endure and collapsed onto the forest floor. The other 2  realized that their comrade has fallen and turned around to pick her up.


    "We need to keep going! Who knows *Gasp* if they saw us and decide to give chase?"


    "If that''s the case... *Wheeze* its better you go ahead without me...*Wheeze*... I will....*Gasp* ... stall them as much as I can.... I can''t run anymore."


    "*Wheeze*I think we are safe though. I haven''t seen or heard anything *Gasp* behind us. I think we should *Wheeze* rest soon.


    All three goblins used their spear as a crutch to help them keep themselves moving. They know that they need to bring the terrible news back to their camp as soon as possible. After walking for another 20 minutes or so, they finally gave up and sat on grassy ground.


    "We are still at least 3 days away from our home. It is impossible for us to keep moving without rest for that long. I think it is better that we rest up right now so that we can deal with any dangers. We should take shifts to guard each other."


    "Fuck you, I am not trusting you to guard my back. You were supposed to guard that area. How could you not see a whole army right next to you!"


    "I admit it! I was just too tired after marching a whole day. On top of that, I ate a bit too much. I fell asleep on the watch. But it is not completely my fault. The captain should have told us to take shifts instead of having 5 of us guard the whole night."


    "You should of said something then!"


    "You didn''t say anything as well!"


    "Alright, that''s enough from both of you. There is no point in arguing. The important thing is that we survive to tell the tale. I will take the first shift, then you, and lastly you. Each shift will be 2 hours, giving us 4 hours each to rest. After that, we will continue our way. Any objections?"


    "..."


    "..."


    "I will take that as a no. Go rest up you two."


    The two goblins lay their spears besides them and dropped on the ground like a rag doll. They were too exhausted. Silence fell among the goblins for a while. One of them finally couldn''t hold her emotions any long and started sniffling, trying to stifle her tears.


    "Will you keep it a secret that I fell asleep? I don''t want to be punished. I don''t want to die."


    The others turned towards her. Both of them started to pat her head gently to console.


    "Of course we will do that. We won''t let anyone hurt our  cute little sister, even if it is the matriarch."

 Chapter 15- WINNER!

    Author notes:


    There is no spoon.


    Chapter 15 -WINNER!


    Day  19


    ***Cani''s Cave***


    ***Cani***


    "Alright, everybody. The food is ready. Quickly eat your fill and continue working afterwards! We don''t have much time!"


    Letting 3 of them escape was definitely a mistake. Now they know that their attack has failed. I was hoping to launch a surprise counter attack posing as their troops so that I can take their cave for the copper vein. This was no longer an option. Best case scenario: they are scared of the fact that I killed their whole attack force without losing a single soldier. Their overpopulation problem is also solved since 65 of them died. They stop their attacks. Worst case scenario: they want revenge and they bring all 120 goblins to attack us. They out number us by almost 4  to 1. Worst of all, they are would know about our fire tactics from the survivors. We cannot use the same trick again.


    "Queenie! You are back! How''s the hunt?"


    I walked down from the mouth of the cave to greet Queenie and her hunting party. I sent them out to acquire food yesterday for everyone. We could not store more than one day worth of food since we had to conceal ourselves. We were dangerously low on food supply.


    "It was bountiful considering we only went out for 1 day, my lord. We managed to kill a full grown doe and a few rabbits." Queenie answered  me with a quick bow and a flick of her purple hair.


    I motioned the other female goblins in the hunting party to put the food into the cold storage. Normally, she would have went out  with an all male  hunting party while leaving stronger females to defend the cave, much like lions'' hunting strategy. This time, however, I told her to form an all female hunting party instead. We needed to obtain food quickly even though it was a bit risky. Looks like my gamble paid off.


    "How long do you think will the food last at this point?"


    "Even though there are less mouths to feed at the moment, it will last only 3 days at most."


    I frowned at the news. The majority of our food supply is stored in the northern cave with all the others noncombatant. We can''t retrieve them along with our food supply when there is a possibility of another attack. On top of that, I can''t let Queenie go on far on a hunt. If they launch an attack on us while Queenie went hunting with her squad, we would lose major fighting force. Our enemy is 6 days walking distant away from us. Assuming the worst case scenario, the escapees ran all the way back with minimal rest, it will take two and a half days for them to reach their home. It would take the same amount of time for the return trip to attack us. That means we have a minimum 4 days left to prepare our defenses. In truth, I would be happy if they do attack us 4 days later. At least I wouldn''t have to worry about our food supply situation. I need to either gather large amounts of food that will last more than 10 days, or find a way to gather food without sending anyone out.


    "What''s are some available food sources around here?"


    "It is only mostly nuts and berries. Most of our prey avoid our territory. Thank the goblin god that we found a doe within half a day distance. If we want something more, I will have to go at least 1 days away.


    She needs to rest, spend 1 day traveling and hunting, another day to get back, then another day of rest to be in top shape for the fight. Worst of all, I am not guaranteed to get something. If I send her out to hunt again, it will be a little bit too close for comfort. Talk about being stuck in between a rock and a hard place.


    "You have done well. Go and eat first, then take a rest. Make sure you wake up before dinner. I should be able to think of something to deal with the situation by then."


    "Thank you my lord."


    I walked side by side with Queenie to the goblin that was in charge in charge of cooking for everyone. There was a line of goblins, waiting for him to dispense the food. We skipped the line and went straight to him. Naturally, no one said anything about us cutting in front. Long live the abuse of power. The cook handed me a small stone bowl. It was a simple chicken stew for lunch. I can tell that I got extra portion of meat as well. I sat down on the ground and took a quick sip of the stew. I lost my appetite even before I got to eat a piece of the meat.. My stomach is starting to hurts from the stress.


    "Can goblins get ulcers? I''m probably the youngest thing to get ulcers if I did."


    "What''s an ulcer?" Queenie asked with a tilted head.


    "Nevermind. Pretend that I didn''t ask"


    Looking at the bowl of stew, I didn''t really want to waste the food. I considered giving the food to Queenie. Before I said anything towards Queenie, I suddenly got an idea. There was a goblin that needs this food more than Queenie and I had a chance to gain something out of it. I got up and walked with my bowl in hand into the deeps of the cave. When I got to entrance of our food storage. There were two guards and a bound up prisoner, shivering with hatred. Actually, I think she is shivering from the cold. With a gag in her mouth, all she could do was curse at me with a muffled whimper.


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    "You two haven''t eaten yet right? I''ll guard her for now. Go get your food."


    The two gave a thankful bow and ran outside to get their food, leaving me and the blond prisoner alone. I dipped my finger into the bowl and took out a piece of meat and dangled it in front of her.


    "You haven''t eaten anything for a whole day. Do you want some?"


    She hesitated a bit before reluctantly nodded her head. Her gaze of hatred softened as well.


    "Before I feed you, you must agree to this. I will undo your gag and feed you. You will answer any of my questions to best of your knowledge. If the goblin god tells me that you are lying, I will hit you until you throw the food up back out. If you Make any movements that displeases me. I will do the same. Do you understand?"


    She nods her head slowly. Looks like the cold and hunger and finally  wore down her rebellious spirit. I put the stone bowl down and pulled down her gag. She immediately went for the meat in my other hand. She put the meat in her mouth, along with my finger. Then proceeded to sucked on my finger to make sure she got to taste all the soup. I shook my head a bit to clear my thoughts of anything sexual. I still have a job to do.


    "Do you have a name?"


    She swallowed the food quickly and answered.


    "Slyva."


    "Slyva is it? How important are you in the tribe? From the sound of your attitude from yesterday, you should be one of the stronger ones in your tribe correct?"


    I dangled another piece of meat in front of her, just out of reach. She tried to extended her neck to take a bite, but I pulled back. I need her to understand that she wouldn''t get food unless she answers my questions and do what I tell her to. She gave me a defiant stare before answering me.


    "The matriarch is my mother. Of course I am strong!"


    OOOO! That means she is a real ojou-sama! This makes her the tsundere princess. Thank you goblin god for giving me some normal flags for once! Even though I still probably won''t do anything because of the pseudo-penis thing. Unless I can get over this mental hurdle, I will probably die as the goblin king without a single heir. I rewarded Sylva with my meat for answering the question.


    "If your mother knew that the attack failed, what would she do?"


    "With her personality, she would definitely retaliate with full force. We are over 100 goblin strong. Your clan should run while you still can."


    I gave a swift kick to her sides. She yelped with pain. As much as it pains me to hurt a princess, she needs to know her place as a prisoner and I need to be the one in control. I will continue to be the villain for now.


    "That is none of your concern. I will welcome your tribe''s attack with open arms."


    Even though I said that, I started to worry a bit. Now we can''t hope and pray that they won''t attack. We need to finish the fortification of our caves. I ordered my goblins to build a waist high fence at the bottom of the ramp to impede the enemy. On top of that, I told them to gather a bunch of rocks and stones near the entrance of the cave. That way, we can take advantage of the elevation and throw rocks at the attackers.


    I took the last piece of meat from the stone bowl.


    "How much would your mother value your life. I am confident that I can fend of the attack. However, I would like to avoid unnecessary deaths in my tribe. In other words, would your mother make a deal with me with your life on the line?"


    Hearing that her life is on the line, she gave a conflicted look. She stayed silent and contemplated for a while before finally answered.


    "I don''t know. On one hand, she will definitely try to save my life with everything that she got. On the other, she has the responsibility of being a matriarch, which means that she will have to abandon me in order to eliminate of any threats to our tribe. Your tribe is too much of a threat."


    I didn''t immediately feed her. I stared at her to see if she will change her answer. Her face shows resolve and does''t seem to be lying. I took a deep breath and finally decide to feed her. When it got close to her mouth, the meat slipped out of my hand and fell in between her legs.


    "Oops, sorry, let me get that for you."


    I reached in between her thighs without thinking to pick back up the meat. I noticed something that would change the history of all goblins.


    She doesn''t have "Meat"!

 Chapter 15.5- Q and A

    Authors note:


    Here is the promised Q&A. I am finally free this weekend of any work. hopefully I can crank out 3-4 chapters to catch up a bit.


    Since there weren''t that many questions, i pulled some comments from previous chapters


    Q: she chose elf.


    "After all, I like to play as myself in the game."


    is in real world she is an Elf ??


    A:Yep. Our "earth" was created by Elves as a simulation program. Humans are imaginary. Elves are real.


    The elves created this game and has been living among humans for thousands of years. The history that we know of is the West Server (Hitler and Stalin happened. It didn''t in the East Server). The East Servers can be seen as our parallel universe where this story takes place.


    Q:So he is an NPC who became a gamer?


    A: In short, he is a bugged existance which the program treats him as both a player and a NPC. Just like how schrodinger''s  cat is both alive and dead at the same time. I chose this in particular so I can be flexible when I am writing about the MC. If I need him to be a player, he can be a player. If I need him to be a NPC, he can be a NPC.


    Qundefined goblin don''t have night vision ? i thought they have because the like live in dungeon or cave and become more strong when night comes, is not that what the setting for monster in Virtual Reality right?


    A: No they don''t have night vision. When I started writing this, I want ALL abilities to be rare. Normally speaking, an individual NPC would get a maximum of 3 abilities throughout their life time while players can get up to 10. The more abilities you currently have, the harder it is to get more abilities. Of course, if I find the need to add more abilities than that, I can give them an ability as a racial trait. Since goblins are at the bottom of the food chain, I didn''t set any racial trait for them.  Yet.


    In short:


    Racial Traits -> Born with the ability if you are that race. Extremely Hard to get. Changes on the genetic level.


    Racial Culture -> High Chance you will be taught the ability by the elders if you are of that race. Easily obtained if you are someone that can influence everyone. Not subjected to the ability cap.


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.Individual ability -> Gained through repetitive action. Can be taught to others. The more ability an individual have, the harder it is for him/her to learn new abilities.


    Which reminds me, there are some parts that I really don''t like and contradicted how I want the story to progress(I am looking at you dragoon jump, he gained an ability too easily and too fast.). I will probably do a massive rewrite at some point.


    Q: Is stat increase possible or is that set?


    A:Yes and no. What ever you are born with, that number is set. Just like in real life, there are people that are just born with talents. Lets take strength for example. There are people that are just born strong. If you are weak, you can increase your strength temporary by exercising. By doing exercise, you will gain a fading buff. After a year or 2, if you skimp out of exercising,  you will return to your default strength. You can also increase this number with magic equipment. This point will be elaborated a little more in future chapters.


    Q: will the mc evolve into something more humanlike ''like the lord in re:monster)


    A: Nope, no spontaneous evolution in this story (Wait, why is it called evolution anyway? sudden mutation is more accurate). He will become something else though. I think I have given enough hints how it will happen. It will be a logical conclusion on how the story progress.


    Q: Will females ever lose their penis'' ?


    A: Nope. They are based on the spotted hyenas. Though if I could have turned back the time, I would have chosen gnolls instead of goblins. Its too late now. I spent the money on the commission my avatar and book cover already =="


    Q:Is a new chapter ever going to come out


    A: It just did.


    Anyway I am going to start on Chapter 15. Hopefully I can finish before I go to sleep tonight. Expect several chapters to come out this weekend unless I get too absorbed into reading translated WN and LN.


    Once again thanks for reading and keep asking questions.

 Chapter 16- 99 Problems

    Author''s note:


    I accidentally hit refresh while typing this chapter.


    I lost everything =="


    Also small edit in regards to how the day system work. Every sunrise will be a start of a new day (Day X). After sunset it becomes (Day X (Night)). When the sun rises, it becomes (Day X+1). This is to clarify and a more precise way to signify passage of time.


    Also I decided to not use computer/gaming themed titles. Its starting to get a little bit too hard to think of one.


    Chapter 16 -99 Problems


    Day  21 (Night)


    ***Cani''s Cave***


    ***Cani***


    I couldn''t sleep. I toss and turned in my bed. There is just too many things on my mind for me to sleep. Since I couldn''t sleep, I decided that I will clean myself up a bit. I quietly got up and turned to the side. Queenie wasn''t there. If she was, she would have insisted to be sleeping beside me. I sent her out to hunt two nights ago, on the condition that she will return before nightfall tomorrow. She would have to return by then regardless of how much food she have gathered. After tomorrow, we would be under the constant threat of being attacked.


    I tip toed across the sleeping quarter. making sure not to step on any other goblins. When i finally got out of the sleep quarter, I turned to walk deeper into the cave, towards the washroom. I noticed the two goblins standing in front of the the food storage, guarding Sylva. I guess I should check up on her condition first.


    "How''s the prisoner?"


    "She has fallen asleep."


    I tried to look into the food storage, but I couldn''t see anything since it was pitch black. I can still hear her teeth chattering from the cold though. If this was two days ago, I wouldn''t even hear her chattering since she was gagged. But after I fed her, she expressed the need to go to the washroom. I have decided not to continue gagging her ever since. Good thing I did that too because she almost relieved herself while being bound. It would have been fine to let that happen so that it further crushes her pride, but she was held inside the food storage. It would have contaminated whats left of our precious food. Of course, I didn''t let her know that is what I was worrying about. I didn''t want to give her the idea to piss all over our food in revenge. I did it under the pretense that since she was cooperating with us, that she was granted the privilege of going to the washroom.


    "Bring her out of the storage and into the hallway where it is warmer. It won''t do us any good if she freezes to death."


    "Yes my lord."


    They carried the tied up goblin out and gently lay her in the corridor floor. She didn''t wake up from all the movements, she must be mentally exhausted spending these days as a prisoner. She was still shivering in the relatively warmer corridor. I took off my Ki''th and covered her body.


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    "When she wakes up, return my Ki''th to me."


    Being completely naked, I turned and walked towards the washroom. Using the the trickle of water on the wall I started to clean myself. Putting my hands against the wall, cupped some water and then spread it across my body. Using this method, I repeatedly cleanse my body. I am really missing the my shower back on old earth. I reminisce about the warm water that sprayed on my face. I remember how the shower just melts my fatigue after a good day of work.


    "Arg... my stomach."


    I knelt down holding my abdomen.  Its getting worst. My stress level is through the roof. I don''t think I can handle another week of this. The pain... everything is going black....


    <table><tbody><tr><td>CONGRATULATION!!


    Goblin Extermination Event Cleared!


    Top Contributors                    Goblins Killed


    1.CANI                               58/186


    2.MYRIN                             23/186


    3.YHENDORN                      21/186</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System message: Prizes for the "Goblin Extermination Event" has been distributed directly to the winners.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ***Shadowmaple***


    ***Fin''Vaiel***


    "Fin, come take a look at this post for a second. There are players complaining about the first place player of the event. The players that participated said that they didn''t even see anyone with the name Cani, let alone being able kill more than 50 goblins by himself. Can you take a look at the back log for the event?"


    "Sure give me a sec, let me load it up."


    Fin''Vaiel furiously type on the keyboard then stopped, takes a sip of her coffee and read off the screen.


    "Ok, according to this, a player name Cani used fire to kill 58 goblins right after the event was announced. No one saw it because it was the middle of the night. I am guessing Cani sets up a trap for the goblins and coincidentally got top score for the event without realizing it. I can''t access any more information in regards to this unless I get a warrant from court."


    "You want me to give an official response on the forum?"


    "Ya, just tell them everything was legit and there was nothing wrong and they are just a bunch of whiny bitches.............. Don''t put that in the post."


    "Hahaha, consider it done boss."

 Chapter 17- Useless worries

    Author''s note:


    Hint: the MC didn''t see the system notice.


    Also I made a small edit way back. Pseudo-penis is called a nara, and a male goblin penis is called a dara. There was a plot point later in the future that I was writing and I realize how silly it would have been if Queenie called it pseudo-penis


    Chapter 17 - Useless worries


    Day  22


    ***Goblin Cave***


    ***Goblin Attack Force***


    "NOOO!"


    The 3 exhausted goblin emerged from the forest and ran up to a fallen bloodied goblin. The corpse was getting pecked by a murder of ravens. After chasing the ravens away, they turned the corpse over. They saw that his throat was slashed and was obviously dead. With his eyes still filled with fright, she closed his eyes in hoping that his soul will rest. It was clear that there were signs of a brutal fight everywhere. Arrows protruding from the ground, smoldering flames, broken spears and bodies littered the mouth of cave. The eldest goblin, the most level-headed one, ran inside the cave immediately check for survivors. The other two knelt outside the cave in disbelieve and despair.


    After five minute or so of deadly silence, the eldest goblin emerged from the cave, princess carrying a body with her. It was the body of their matriarch. Her face was filled with pain and agony but she dared not to cry. She needs to show strength and resolve to lead her two sisters. Stopping in front of the two other goblins, she laid down the body carefully.


    "There are no survivors. The matriarch is dead."


    "Not even the children?"


    "WHO? WHO DID THIS?"


    "It appears that this attack was lead by elves. There were some elven corpses inside the cave."


    "I WILL KILL THEM ALL!"


    The youngest one got up from her kneeling position, picked up a spear and ran towards the direction of the elven kingdom. The middle one immediately stopped her from doing so.


    "What can one goblin do? You will only get yourself killed!"


    "WHAT ELSE CAN WE DO! WE CAN''T SURVIVE WITH JUST THE THREE OF US ANYWAY! IF I AM GOING TO DIE, I MIGHT AS WELL TAKE SOME ELVES DOWN WITH ME!"


    The youngest one wiped her tear soaked face as she spoke.


    "..."


    "...There is a way. An enemy of my enemy is a friend."


    "What do you mean?"


    "We need to convince the tribe that we just attacked that the elves are aiming for them. We can join their tribe."


    "WE CAN''T JOIN THEM! They killed everyone!"


    "We attacked them first. It is natural for them to defend. If anything, it was our tribes fault."


    "Can''t we join some other goblin tribes? Why does it has to be them?"


    "They took out everyone without a single lost. Their leader is strong. I dare say, if our matriarch was in their position, even she would not have managed to do that."


    At this time, they noticed something approaching the cave. There were several caravans headed towards the cave filled with dwarves. The three naturally hid themselves from sight. When the caravan got close enough, all the dwarves disembarked from the caravan and knew exactly what exactly they are supposed to do. Some of them started removing derbies and dead bodies from the cave. Several of them started to set up a forge and anvil just outside the cave. The remaining dwarves heads into the cave with a pick axe. There was someone that stood out from the dwarves. It was an elf in a simple black robe. She stood out from the rest because of her height compared to all the dwarves.


    "I have confirmed that the goblins have been cleared out of this copper mine. As per our agreement, 10% of the copper produced here will be transferred to the elfen kingdom for the next 5 years. After that, we will sell the copper at a reduced rate of 15% less than market price. Please sign the contract."


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    A dwarf foreman handed the elf a scroll. She read it in silent for a few minutes.


    "I have confirmed the content of the contract and I agree to the the terms."


    She took out a glowing blue dagger and sliced her thumb. A trickle of blood fell onto the scroll and it glowed with a soothing yellow light. After the light faded, she peeled the scroll, revealing another parchment underneath and handed it to the foreman. She reached out and shook the foreman''s hand.


    "Nice doing business with you."


    After hearing everything, the three goblins faded into the forest heading north, back where they came from.


    Day  23


    ***Cani''s Cave***


    ***Cani***


    I opened my eyes groggily and stared at the ceiling. I was covered with my own Ki''th. Looks like the guard returned it while I was asleep.


    "You are awake!"


    A familiar voice rang in my ear. Queenie rushed me to give me a hug.


    "What happened? How long was I out?"


    "We found you in the washroom. It seems like you fell fainted in there. You were asleep for a whole day."


    "The other tribe! Is there any movements from them?"


    "No, scout that we stationed 2 days away from us didn''t report anything yet."


    "Did they came back to report that nothing happened or they didn''t come back to report? There is a big difference."


    "They came back to report that there is nothing happened."


    I gave a sigh of relieve. It seems that we still have a bit of time to acquire food. I feel completely refreshed now. It seems like that I over stressed myself and fell asleep from exhaustion.


    "My lord, when we found you, you were holding this. Does this have to do with why you fainted?"


    Queenie handed me a hammer that was completely pitch black. It weighed about 3 pounds. It didn''t even reflect a single shred of light. It was as if it was a black hole that sucked in all the surrounding light. Where did this came from? I tried to examine it carefully to see if I can find any clues. After studying it for a good minute or two, all I can conclude is that it is made out of material not of this world. Oi! Don''t tell me that there is actually a goblin god in this world and he send this to me as a gift! Goblin god, you are just a convenient lie that I made up! Know your place and stay fictional. Queenie kept looking at me, expecting an answer. Shit, looks like I have to use the default excuse again.


    "I think the goblin god gave it to me."


    "The goblin god gave you a personal weapon to defend our tribe with? We are truly blessed!"


    Queenie happily rushed out to spread the news about the hammer, leaving me alone in the sleeping quarter. I got up, put on my Ki''th and head towards the washroom. Looks like humans aren''t the only ones that need to drain the lizard first thing in the morning. I stood in front of the hole and whipped my dara out.


    *splash*


    *splosh, splash*


    That was weird. That doesn''t sound like piss hitting the underground river. I finished pissing into the hole and glared down at it to see what made those noise.


    *Splash, splish*


    When I saw what caused the sound, I started laughing at the irony that our food situation would be solved from our shit hole.

 Chapter 18- Villain

    Author notes:


    What is this? Double <del>Rainbow </del> Release all the way? What does this mean?


    I had a strange dream where I was manage a NFL team consist of Lord of the ring characters. Sam was refusing to play for some reason, Gandolf was the best center. YOU SHALL NOT PASS!


    It was weird. It was glorious. I just wanted to share it with someone before I forget it.


    Chapter 18 -Villain


    Day  28


    ***Cani''s Cave***


    ***Cani***


    ¡°I caught one! Get ready, here it comes!¡±


    A goblin slowly pulls a long rod out of the hole. At the end of the rod was a crude net made out of vines. Inside the net was a fish, flopping around trying the escape. When the fish was pulled out of the hole, two other goblins removed the fish from the net. It was a huge catch. Even with the two goblins, they had a hard time handling it.


    *BANG*


    I slammed the fish with my new hammer in the head. It caved in a bit and the fish stopped moving. This was the thirtieth time I have done this. I did it to test the hammer¡¯s ability. All I can say is that other than the fact that it was completely pitch black, it is no different than other hammers. It didn¡¯t seem to do extra damage. Hitting fishes 30 times seems to confirm that there are no ¡°chance on hit¡± triggered abilities. I guess I will give up trying to find out what it does for the time being.


    ¡°Alright, you guys keep fishing.¡±


    I have converted our shit hole into a fishing hole. I ordered some goblins to dig a latrine hole just outside of the cave and forbid anyone to do their business in the ex-washroom. I can¡¯t risk the contamination of our food source. On the first day of fishing, the goblins that I assigned struggled hard. After fishing for a whole day, they only caught four. Three of which escaped because of mishandling. After a while though, they got the hang of it. They caught ten today and the day isn¡¯t even over yet. This will become our staple food source from now on. An additional benefit of fishing that I realized afterwards is that it can be easily done by male goblins. This way, we can station all the females as guards and soldiers to bolster our fighting potential.


    I walked out of the cave surveying the construction progress of the stone fences. We have finished two layers of fences and starting on the third. The entrance of these fences are at the opposite ends of each other, creating a winding pathway. This will buy us time against the enemies so that we can snipe them with rocks from the top while they traverse in the impromptu maze. I got this idea from playing tower defense games when I was still a human.


    Queenie noticed that I was at the mouth of the cave and ran up the ramp to greet me.


    ¡°My Lord, our scout came back reporting that there is still no changes to the situation. I have already sent out another scout yesterday to cover the returning scout at the scouting point.


    ¡°Good. Tell everyone that we have to keep up the high alert for another five days. We don¡¯t know if they are trying to bide their time so that we will lower our defense or if they are taking a detour to evade our scout. After the five days is over, send a scout over to their cave to see what they are up to.¡±


    Queenie went back down the ramp and gave instructions to some goblins. I muttered to myself as I head back inside. This was out of my prediction. My sense of paranoia is acting up. Did I read Sylva wrong? Did she lied about her mother¡¯s personality? Did I miss something? It¡¯s not that I am ungrateful for the few extra days of peace that we have. With these few extra days, we manage to secure a new food source and finish the second layer of fences. However, I know that this was a false sense of security. The threat of attack is still there. I need to talk with Sylva again.


    When I got to our food storage, the princess was lying down on the floor. She lost her prideful attitude. She is clearly weakened compared to the first time I saw her.  It was probably the combination of constant cold and hunger that enfeebled her. Now that our food situation has been stabilized, maybe I should feed her a bit more.


    ¡°So¡­¡±


    I put on my best ¡°villain¡± act. Putting my hands behind me, I glared down at her from a superior position.


    ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°Your mother still haven¡¯t attacked yet. Maybe you don¡¯t know your mother as well as you think you do.¡±


    ¡°My mother will attack. My mother will win. My mother will WIPE YOUR TRIBE OUT!¡±


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    Ok, I change my mind. I am not going to feed her a bit more. She still have a little fire left in her. I need to completely break her down. I think I am enjoying this villain role a bit too much. I don¡¯t feel any guilt though. She did try to kill my whole tribe. An eye for an eye.


    ¡°I want your mother to attack. If you haven¡¯t noticed, everyone here has been busy constructing just outside the cave. We have recently completed the trap. I know you can¡¯t see it since you are in here, but take my word for it. The moment your mother attacks us is the moment that the rest of your tribe will be wiped out. Best of all, we won¡¯t lose a single goblin.


    Just.


    Like.


    What.


    Happened.


    To.


    You.¡±


    I inserted a dramatic pause here, letting Sylva digest the information. She needs to know that she is doomed if her tribe attacks and she is stuck here as a prisoner if they don¡¯t. Either way, she won''t have a happy ending. After seeing her face changes and shows a bit of despair, I lead her around with a bit of false hope.


    ¡°I am not unreasonable, however. I do not enjoy needless killing. I can tell you exactly what I want, my goal for wiping out your tribe. I want those copper veins in your cave, Sylva. The copper will allow my bloodline to be strengthened in the future and greatly increase our fighting potential. Now if you can think of a way for us to obtain the copper without fighting using your position as the matriarch¡¯s daughter, I am willing to negotiate. If we can strike a deal, we can work together as though we are one tribe. Of course, I can¡¯t promise that I won¡¯t kill anybody. However, I can promise that your bloodline will continue to flow.¡±


    I put a few suggestive words and phrases in here. Hopefully, she is smart enough to figure out a solution on her own, one that is exactly what I want. If she is dumb as a door nail, I will have to say out loud the solution. I am trying to avoid this however, as it will weaken my bargaining power.


    ¡°Release me and I will see to it that your tribe won¡¯t be wiped out. We can work out a trade agreement for the copper afterwards.¡±


    ¡°DON¡¯T TAKE ME AS AN IDIOT!¡±


    She flinches as I express my anger and raised my voice. Damn, the vulnerable Sylva is cute. This is no good, I need to go back to villain mode. I coughed a bit and pretended as though my anger have subsided.


    ¡°You are in no position to make demands of your release. Now, I¡­¡±


    ¡°MY LORD! OUR OTHER SCOUT IS BACK!¡±


    ¡°Ah, dear Sylva. I am sorry that I doubted your familiarity of your mother. It looks like she did attack after all. Just to let you know, you have 2 more days to think of a solution to our..... little quarrel before your mother reaches here. Just remember, when she reaches our cave, your tribe will be wiped out. They cannot save you. If you can¡¯t think of a solution, you would have doomed your tribe.¡±


    I walked slowly at first, like a true villain. As soon as I confirmed that Sylva couldn¡¯t see me I ran out to the cave. Even though I act as if I am confident, I am very nervous about the attack. Acting as the villain in front of Sylva has become my stress release these days. In a weird way, it feels¡­.. fun.


    When I got to outside, I saw something I didn¡¯t expect. There were three goblins holding our scout as an hostage. I am guessing that since there is three of them, they were the ones that escaped our fire attack. Everyone froze in their place. I looked for Queenie and signaled her to stay put. Even though that scout is disposable, I would rather not lose more man power if possible. We are stressed enough as it is. They yelled out their demands.


    ¡°WE WANT TO SPEAK WITH YOUR MATRIARCH. WE WISH TO NEGOTIATE.¡±


    Did they somehow got the information from of our scout that we are holding their princess? I spoke with them from the mouth of the cave.


    ¡°You can speak with me if you want to negotiate.¡±


    ¡°Why would we speak with a weak male goblin?¡±


    Not this shit again.


    ¡°I am their leader. I am a lot stronger than I look. Now, tell me what do you want?¡±


    Even though I can guess that they want their princess back, it is better not to reveal my hand. Of course, if they did demand that and nothing else, I would immediately reject that and order everyone to kill them on the spot. If that is the case, sorry, random scout, your sacrifice will be remembered throughout the history of our tribe.


    The three goblins looked at each other, strengthening their resolve to make the outrageous demand. One that I would have never considered they would make.


    ¡°WE WISH TO JOIN YOUR TRIBE.¡±

 Chapter 19- Negotiation

    Authors Note:


    Yay a triple release, even though this one is a short one.


    Chapter 19- Negotiation


    Day  28


    ***Cani''s Cave***


    ***Cani***


    ¡°Wait. Did you just say you want to join us?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    This is obviously a trick. Are they trying to get close to us and rescue the princess? How dumb do you think I am, if you think I will fall for that. Let¡¯s test the water a bit by suggesting the princess is dead.


    ¡°We killed all the attackers that you have brought. There is no reason to believe that you will join us  willingly out of the blue.¡±


    ¡°We have no tribe to return to.¡±


    ¡°Is it because your matriarch will punish you for the failed attack?¡±


    ¡°NO, its because, its because¡­¡±


    One of them broke into tears. The other goblins comforted her. After a while, one of the goblin decides to tell the whole reason in place of the first goblin.


    ¡°Our tribe was wiped out while we attacked you. We are the last goblins of our tribe.¡±


    Wow that is impressive. Even though the timing seems is a little bit convenient to be true, their excuse is logical and sound. Assuming that they are telling the truth, they have no home to return to and they are as good as dead. On top of that, they say that they are the only ones left of the tribe, implying that they don¡¯t know Sylva is still alive. If they are lying about this, their acting skills are top tier. Still, I should keep my guard up just in case.


    ¡°I am going to need a little bit more information about the attack to be convinced.¡±


    ¡°When we reached our cave to report our failed attack, we found that the elven kingdom attacked us and killed everybody. There were no survivors. We found out that the dwarves paid off the elves in order to gain control of our copper vein.¡±


    ¡°Now how did you found out about the deal?¡±


    ¡°They were talking about it at the cave. They said something about signing a ''contwact''. The dwarves will give ten ''pah-cent'' of the coppers that is produced to the elves for next five years and then after that they would be sold to the elves at fifteen ''pah-cent'' less than the ''mahket pice''. They used a lot of words that we don''t understand but I can guess the details.¡±


    I can conclude that definitely speaking the truth. It sounds like the elves and the dwarves have a contract with each other to clear out the goblins for the access of copper veins inside the cave. There is no way that can make up something that sound so close to what a deal between nations sounds like. Looks like I have to give up trying to acquire the copper vein for the time being. Even if I manage to wipe out the dwarves and reclaim the copper veins, they would just get the elves to do the same thing all over again. Worst of all, I would piss off both the elves and dwarves at the same time. There is a silver lining to this situation though. There are no more threats of attacks from the other tribe and I can relax a bit. There is something else I can gain out of this as well. With this news, I can completely break down Sylva and get my hands on her. VILLAIN MODE ACTIVATE!


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    ¡°MWHAHAHAHAHA, you must surely jest. Why would I want defeated foes in my tribe? Even though you are holding a hostage, I value the safety of my tribe more than one goblin¡¯s life. The fact is, you cannot guarantee that you will not kill us in revenge while we sleep. On top of that, since we don''t need to defend against your tribe anymore, we don''t need as many goblins. You need to give me a better reason to let you join us.¡±


    ¡°It is because the dwarves are eyeing to expand. After they are settled, they will be attacking this this cave. You will need all the soldiers you can get to defend. We want a chance at revenge for our tribe. If you decline our request, you will lose four goblins here, us three and this scout.¡±


    Shit. She got me there. Even if we don¡¯t have any veins in here, the dwarves will definitely try to find more veins by following the mountain range. I can¡¯t even afford to lose one goblin when they do decide to attack us.


    ¡°You are not afraid that we will disposed of you after we defend ourselves from the dwarves and elves?¡±


    ¡°If we can get our revenge on the dwarves and elves, we will have no regret dying.¡±


    ¡°Good, Good. It seems that you are telling the truth. I can see the resolve in your eyes.  I can tell that you three are excellent soldiers, being able to escape from our trap. I would like more goblins to defend our home as well.¡±


    With that, the three goblins eyes lit up with hope. My villain alter-ego doesn¡¯t seem to want to let it end here though.


    ¡°However.¡±


    The three girls reacted to my words with surprise.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like the fact that you are the one dictating all the terms. Even though it is true that our tribe would greatly benefit by accepting you three, it is a simple matter of principle that I cannot agree with you. It is only acceptable if I get to determine all the terms and conditions."


    Inserting my trademarked villainous dramatic pause here.


    "As a gesture of good faith between our negotiation, let me show you something interesting.¡±


    I whispered to a guard, telling him to bring Sylva out. After a while, two guards carried the bounded up princess and placed her standing next to me. I grabbed a spear from a guard and threatening Sylva¡¯s life by pointing the spear at her throat. All three of goblins shouted out at the same time.


    ¡°CAPTAIN SYLVA!¡±


    I grinned at their respond. Everything is going in accordance to my prediction.


    ¡°I believe you know each other well. Now that we both have a hostage on hand, let¡¯s restart the negotiation. Where should we begin? Ah, yes. Let¡¯s start by having those three tell you a story about what happened to your precious little tribe.¡±

 Chapter 20- Ultimatum

    Authors note:


    I got one of my friend to help me with an area map, which it will contain a bit of spoilers. I have also started writing the final chapter and epilogue of the whole story. Don¡¯t worry, I am not ending this any time soon. I am the type of person that likes to know where I am heading and make sure I don¡¯t stray from the path. I am debating if I want to post it online. If I do post it, it will be on my wordpress page instead of RR.


    Also, I am in desperate need of an editor.


    Chapter 20- Ultimatum


    Day  28 (Night)


    ***Cani''s Cave***


    ***Cani***


    Damn it. Not everything went according to my prediction. After hearing that the her tribe has been wiped out, Sylva finally broke down and bawl her eyes out. It was certainly my goal for her to break down, however, what I did not expect was the amount of crying she would do. She just wouldn¡¯t stop. In the end, we couldn¡¯t get any negotiations done. This totally ruined my flow and vibe. I feel bad about forgetting this part. Next time, I need to take this into consideration and step up my villain game.


    We decided to leave the negotiations later tonight, after the dinner. Out of the generosity of my heart, I even provided dinner for the three goblins and Sylva. Tonight¡¯s dinner was fish soup, fresh from the ex-washroom. My soup was extra tasty since it was seasoned with tears of a fallen princess. After finishing the dinner, Sylva finally settled down and stopped crying.Hence, we  agreed to continue with our negotiation. She wiped away her tears and try to feign her resolve in front of her subordinates.


    ¡°First things first. Since you are the daughter of the matriarch, it is clear that you must take her place. Do you and those three goblins agree to this?¡±


    They look at each other gave each other a nod.


    ¡°Yes we do.¡±


    ¡°Congratulations, you are now Queen Sylva. Nice to meet you, my queen. I believe I have yet to introduce myself. My name is Cani, the leader of this humble tribe, at your service.¡±


    I gave a quick bow as I said that.


    ¡°I must say, this is one hell of a coronation. I doubt that there will be other queen with a coronation like this anytime soon.¡±


    I told the guards to untie Sylva.


    ¡°Wh-why did you let me go?¡±


    ¡° I would like to negotiate with you instead of those three, since you are the queen. If I didn¡¯t release you, it would not have be a negotiation. It would simply be a blackmail.¡±


    ¡°At this point, what is the difference?¡±


    ¡°There is a huge difference. With blackmail, you have exactly two choices. You either do exactly what I tell you or you die by my hands. With a negotiation, I give you an offer. If you don¡¯t like my offer, you can propose a counteroffer. We do this until we are both satisfied with the deal. If we can¡¯t reach an agreement, you can simply leave.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t lie. After everything that have happened, you are saying that you won¡¯t hurt us and simply let us leave?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you before that I dislike needless killing? Of course I will let you leave. I may even give you some provision and send you on your way, depending on my mood of course. However, if you refuse to negotiate with me and leave right now, you have no place to return to. If the four of you meet a pack of wolves or a bear while camping in the forest middle of the night, that is none of my concern. There is no blood on my hand. However, the blood of those three goblins will be on yours. As their leader, you chose to decline to my offer.¡±


    A slight grimace slipped out of Sylva¡¯s face.


    ¡°So what do you want from me?¡±


    ¡°It is simple. I want guards. I desire soldiers. I yearn for power. Now that I have stated what I want, you must be fair to me. Tell me, what is it that you desire, Queen Sylva.¡±


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡°Couldn''t you tell already? I want my tribe back. I don''t want it to die out.¡±


    ¡°That is something I am powerless to offer. With only the four of you left, your tribe is doomed to wither. However, I may be able to help with saving your bloodline.¡±


    ¡°Are you willing to provide me with a male from your tribe to preserve my bloodline?¡±


    ¡°Remember what I desire? I am not willing to lose a single goblin from my tribe. On top of that, even if you managed to convince me to give you one of our males, you still have no place to live. The conclusion is clear. Your only choice is for you to join our tribe. As much as I would love to let the four of you join our tribe, I cannot. If I were to provide food, shelter and safety for the four of you, all of you must submit to me. You, as the queen of your tribe, would still have power over those three. I simply cannot allow that to happen.What else can you offer me to change my mind and let you join?¡±


    ¡°We will swear our loyalty to you.¡±


    ¡°I cannot accept and believe in some fickle words like loyalty or allegiance. I need something with a bit more, how should I say it, more substance. For example, something like my own bloodline, that is something I can absolutely put my faith in.


    Sylva closed her eyes and delve into a deep thought, processing everything that I have said. After several minutes of silence, she opened her eyes and answered.


    ¡°I understand. We will submit to you and your tribe. I will bear children of your tribe as the proof of our submission and loyalty. In return, you will provide us with shelter, food and safety."


    ¡°Sound suggestion! As expected of the queen to come up with an excellent solution to both of our problem. Now that we have concluded the terms, let us move on to the conditions. Because you are the queen, we only dare to offer you our strongest male as your mate. I don¡¯t like to boast, but the strongest male happens to be me. Also, as much as I would like to trust your words, I still need to confirm everything that those three goblins told me was the truth. I will send a scout to confirm the existence of the dwarves. After our scout returns with the information, we will celebrate the union of our tribes. Until then, the four of you will be guests of our tribe. As our guests, I insist that you must stay within the comforts of our caves. You will be escorted by our guards wherever you go. This is for your safety. We cannot risk any injuries to our noble guests. Is there any conditions that you would like to contest or include?¡±


    ¡°Captain, you don¡¯t need to do this! We can find a place to stay on our own! After that we can go and kidnap other males to restart our tribe! We don''t need to submit to this male.¡±


    Sylva held her out her hand to silence her followers.


    ¡°It is too risky for us to leave here. With only four of us, it is likely that we die before finding shelter, let along being able to capture a stray goblin male. This is the only thing I can do to secure the safety for all of us. If you still treat me as the matriarch and captain of this our tribe, you will respect my decision."


    "We submit and obey."


    With a sliver of tear in her eyes, She turned back and faced me.


    "Cani, there is one condition that I would like to add.¡±


    ¡°Oh please do tell. I will try to accommodate your needs as the best of my abilities.¡±


    ¡°All of us will be treated as though we are from your tribe. We will not face any discrimination.¡±


    ¡°But of course! I will make an announcement that all of you will be treated the same as the other goblins. If anyone harass any of you because you were not originally from our tribe, they will be met with punishment.¡±


    ¡°I accept all the of the terms and conditions.¡±


    I kissed the back of Sylva¡¯s hand.


    ¡°And so do I, my dear Sylva.¡±

 Chapter 21- Love Story

    -Authors Note:


    This chapter was extra hard for some reason. I can picture all the events that I want to happen about but I just couldn¡¯t put it into a logical sequence. I think I wrote and erased 1 chapters worth of words for this chapter already =_=¡± Sorry for the delay


    I want a bit of opinion from you guys. I have been trying to write in first person narration only when it is from the POV of Cani. When it is any other character, I wrote it in third person. How do you guys think this is working out? Should I just change it in the rewrite to either completely in first person or third person?


    Thank you SGJacko for becoming my editor! He will start next chapter.


    Chapter 21- Love Story


    Day 32 (Night)


    ***Cani''s Cave***


    ***Queenie***


    The night was calm and quiet as if it was the prelude to the upcoming storm inside the cave. Only faint rustling of leaves in the forest could be heard from time to time. In front of the recently erected stone fence were a few goblins, finishing their dinner around a smoldering campfire. All the other goblins have already finished theirs and retreated into the sleeping quarter. However, there was a single goblin that was neither of these 2 group. It was Queenie. With her purple hair swaying with the wind, she sat at the edge of the cliff, looking over everyone below. She was too irritated to sleep for the few past days, ever since that Cani had his deal with his ¡°guests¡±. She hated the idea of Cani having a children with an outsider, though this was only because of her own jealousy, a feeling that she is completely unfamiliar with.


    She was the strongest since birth. No other goblins in her tribe could contest with her. When she was hungry, she fought off all the goblins until she has had her fill. When she wanted the best spear in the tribe, she disposed the old matriarch and took it away from her. After she became the matriarch, she wanted her Ki¡¯th to be different than others, so she took the life of a wolf. She had never had something taken from her. There was no chance for her to experience jealousy.


    One day, she saw a young goblin that wasn¡¯t even an adult after returning from a hunt, sitting in front of a fire. Curiosity got the better and she approached him to see what he was doing. It turns out that he was cooking the food, something that Queenie had never experienced. He offered her the cooked meat and it was delicious. Even though the food was good, she needed to teach him a lesson for sneaking outside and trying to eat meat before his first hunt.


    It was supposed to be simple punishment: she would beat him until he submits and apologize for breaking the tribe rules. All went well until he threw a simple punch. And just like that, she had her first lost of in her life. He had took her perfect record from her. Threatening her position as the matriarch, she made up a plan on the spot. She had to send him away. Just as he was about to leave, something in her heart swelled up. Something that makes her feel that she wants to see him again.


    He was not supposed to come back, let alone getting a bear Ki¡¯th. With that, he took the second thing from her. He took her leadership position. This time however, she didn¡¯t felt any sadness or threatened. Her thinking was in the of line ¡°what is mine also belongs to him, therefore nothing is really taken.¡± She has decided fully support his position to lead the tribe. She didn¡¯t understand at that point though.


    Not long after that, the other goblin tribe attacked. Her heart was prepared for great losses. But once again, he defied her expectation. The other tribe which outnumbered them two to one, was defeated. What¡¯s more, they did not lose a single. She was entranced by everything that he did. She wanted to stick close to him and observe. Slowly, her curiosity of him slowly morphed into love. However, she doesn¡¯t understand this feeling of love. It is because goblins lives are too short. They live, they eat, they grow up, they mate then they die. There was simply no chance to develope it. They didn¡¯t give birth to children because of love, they simply did it so that their tribe can be strengthened and survive.


    When she heard that the new goblin Sylva was going to bear Cani¡¯s child, it felt like that Cani was taken away from her. After she suffering for four days from this unfamiliar feeling called jealousy, she finally decided to something about it. She needs to get rid of Sylva and take Cani back. Unlike Cani, she does not know how to solve problems with words. There was only one way that she knows how to handle it. Hiding copper dagger that she had gotten from the enemy in her Ki¡¯th, she headed towards the food storage.


    Day 32 (Night)


    ***Cani''s Cave***


    ***Cani***


    *YAWN*


    Today was a good day. A few days ago, we sent a scout to our northern hideout to tell the non-combatant that it was safe to come back. They all came back today with a bit of the leftover food stock. A few of the goblins also became adults. I have a bigger workforce to work with from now on. On top of that, we finally finished building the third layer of stone fences. It took a lot longer to complete compared to the first two because I sent a few of them on a hunt. Now that there was no immediate threat, I can afford to stretch the workers out a bit and do multiple things at the same time. I am thinking of adding a fourth layer. Perhaps I can even turn the whole thing into a stone maze by adding and removing a wall here and there. Dungeon master title, here I come!


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    I finished my dinner and headed towards the sleeping quarter. On the way, I saw Queenie sitting at the edge of the cliff and just staring into nothing. Is it just me or Queenie seems different? Is it because she worries about threat of the dwarves on the horizon? I should ask her tomorrow and tell her that it is useless to worry about it.


    Making sure I don¡¯t accidentally step on any of the goblins, I slowly make my way to the bed. I did a quick stretch before I lay down on it. When I was just about to close my eyes, I caught a glimpse of Queenie passing by the sleeping quarter. Does she need to go to washroom before heading to bed¡­


    Wait a minute, the washroom is no longer a washroom. There is no reason for her to head there. So that means she is heading towards the food storage. She wants to talk with Sylva? Out of curiousity I went out and followed her to the storage. When I reached it, I saw Queenie standing in front of Sylva. She reached inside her Ki¡¯th and pulled out a copper dagger. I yelled at the top of my lungs


    ¡°Stop!¡±


    Lunging at Queenies arm, barely managing to stop her attack. We wrestled around on the floor. I tried to get the dagger away from her hands. Sylva and the others were still stunned from the sudden attack. Somehow, I got her under my control. With her lying face down, I put my knees on her back and stopping her from getting up. She struggles in anger, yet she refuses to let go of the dagger and continues to grunts in frustration and tries to throw me off her back. Seeing that I had a chance, I yelled at the guards.


    ¡°Get everyone out of here now!¡±


    The guards woke up from the initial shock with my command, and hastily escorted the everyone out. When I confirmed that everyone have left, I let Queenie up from the floor. Both of us are panting heavily trying to catch our breath. After a brief silence, I finally said something.


    ¡°WHAT THE HELL WAS YOU THINKING!¡±


    She looked at me with scornful eyes in silence and refused to respond to me. I grabbed her shoulders and shook her lightly.


    ¡°SAY SOMETHING!¡±


    She finally lost the anger in her eyes. It was replaced with eyes that was filled with sorrow and sadness. Her mouth trembled with a frown. The face that she was making was completely contradictory to her normal confident self. It was kind of cute in a weird way. Is this what people call ¡°gap moe¡±? With a trembling voice she finally answered.


    ¡°You never¡­ you never even looked at me.¡±


    With my hands still on her shoulders, I stood there without saying a word trying to decipher what she meant. Tears starts to roll onto her green cheeks.


    ¡°The way you look at Sylva, you never once looked at me that way. I am your mate! I claimed you already when you went to hunt for your Ki¡¯th. I don¡¯t care if you took my position as the chief and lead our people. I don¡¯t care if you take in goblins from other tribes. I care that you never look at me once with those¡­ wanting eyes.!¡±


    ¡°Queenie, I want to tell you something. You might have figured it by now, but I am not a normal goblin.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know. You are someone chosen by the goblin god.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I... nevermind. Let¡¯s just go with that. It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s not that you are not attractive to me. But whenever I think about goblins having a nara, I feel¡­ I feel repulsed. I know that a other goblins are not like that but I am. I found out by chance that Sylva doesn¡¯t have one for some reason. That¡¯s the biggest reason I am attracted to her. If it wasn¡¯t for that, I would have made you mine already.¡±


    ¡°Is¡­ is that the truth?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely.¡±


    ¡°If that is the case¡­¡±


    Without hesitating even for a second, Queenie raised her copper dagger and stabbed downwards towards her nara. I caught her wrist and stopped her. I immediately reprimanded her


    ¡°What are you doing? Are you crazy?¡±


    ¡°The pain of losing my nara would be less than the pain of you not wanting me.¡±


    She stood there looking at me with tears in her eyes, yet it wasn¡¯t sadness. It was filled with resolve. The resolve and determination of getting me no matter what. I smile wryly at the situation on hand. I have been treating her as my subordinate. She might be a close friend, but I know for fact that I don¡¯t love Queenie. Hell, I don¡¯t even like Sylva. I just wanted to get my hands on Sylva as an outlet for my lust. The nights I have to endure after I have been an adult goblin has been, in a word, painful. The biological drive to procreate in goblins were powerful. Unfortunately, my pride as a human was ever so slightly stronger. Right now, however, my pride as a man forbids me to hurt Queenie anymore than this. I had to sacrifice, I owe her that much.


    I took a deep breath and ready myself for what¡¯s to come. It was finally time for me to do as the Romans do. I undid Queenie¡¯s silver Ki¡¯th and tied it across my eyes, making a blindfold.


    ¡°If I don¡¯t see your nara, I won¡¯t get repulsed¡­ I hope. I can¡¯t see anything so you would have to guide me.¡±


    That night, on the cold hard floor of the food storage, I lost both my humanity and my goblin virginity at the same time. She violated me to her heart''s content. I''m sorry dear, Queenie has made me her play thing.


    I can''t become a bride anymore.


    (Author''s Post Notes:


    Also, to some of you that are confused, no, MC did not lose his anal virginity.


    That last 2 sentence was a reference to Mushoku Tensei, when Eris had sex with the MC.


    Click here to see what I am talking about. Scroll down to part 4</a>


    )

 Love Story Killed (Non-Canon)

    Author¡¯s note


    THIS IS NOT CANNON TO THE MAIN STORY


    Also, to some of you that are confused, no, MC did not lose his anal virginity.


    That last 2 sentence was a reference to Mushoku Tensei, when Eris had sex with the MC.


    https://www.baka-tsuki.org/project/index.php?title=Mushoku_Tensei:Web_Chapter_165</a>


    Love Story Killed (Non-Canon)


    Day  32 (Night)


    ***Cani''s Cave***


    ***Cani***


    ¡°Is¡­ is that the truth?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely.¡±


    ¡°If that is the case¡­¡±


    Without hesitating even for a second, Queenie raised her copper dagger and stabbed downwards towards her nara. Cani tried to stop her but it was too late. The dagger cut through her nara. Queenie dropped her dagger on the floor. Blood started to trickle down her leg. Even with the pain shooting up her spine, Queenie refused to lie down and stared straight into Cani¡¯s eye. Cani grabbed the dagger and cut a piece from his Ki¡¯th. Using the piece as a gauze, he tried to stop the bleeding.


    ¡°Why did you hurt yourself?! Are you crazy?¡±


    ¡°Now that I don¡¯t have a nara, you will want me as your mate now right?.¡±


    Even with Cani putting pressure onto the wound, the bleeding would not stop. Queenie lost enough blood and she became unstable. She falls onto the floor with a loud thud. Feeling tired, her thoughts become hazy and she slowly closes her eyes. Seeing her eyes are closing, Cani lifted her head with his other hand. Tears starts to well in his eyes.


    ¡°I will be your mate. Please, don¡¯t close your eyes, please, don¡¯t close your eyes. I... ¡±


    ¡°You¡­ are ...finally¡­ looking¡­.. at...me¡­ I...am...happy.¡±


    With that, Queenie could not hold on and closed her eyes. Cani¡¯s starts tears flows uncontrollably. Shaking her body a bit, Cani goes into denial.


    ¡°Queenie? Dear? Please wake up, don¡¯t you want to make little goblins with me?¡±


    He repeated the question again and again. Of course, there was no answer. She was already dead from bleeding out. Goblin lives were extremely fragile compared to other race. After 30 minutes of doing the same thing, Cani finally accepted that she was dead. He also realize that it was his fault. It was his fault for not being able to abandon a silly little thing called human pride. He was a goblin. If he did what a goblin was supposed to do, this whole tragedy wouldn¡¯t have happened. Hugging the body of Queenie, he yelled and screamed in frustration, cursing the heaven until the morning.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Day  33


    ***Cani''s Cave***


    ***Cani***


    At the break of dawn, Cani carried Queenie¡¯s body out into the open. Every step he took was solemn. Not a single sound was made by the surrounding goblins. No one dared to ask what happened with Queenie. When he got to outside of the stone fence, he laid down Queenie¡¯s body gently beside him. He started to dig a hole in the ground next to the mountain. The other goblins looks in curiosity. Burying of their dead was not practiced. Instead, they just throw them down the underground river. Goblins simply dies too much. If they bury their dead, The whole forest would have been a goblin graveyard.


    After taking off his Ki''th, Cani strikes his hammer onto the ground, softening it. Then cupping with both of his hand, he removed the soil bit by bit. Even though he can ask another goblin to help him, he felt that this was his penance for causing this tragedy. Even by a bit, he would like to lessen the enormous guilt in his heart for causing the death of Queenie. He work tirelessly throughout the day, not taking a single break.


    By the time he finished digging the hole, it was almost sunset. He carefully lowered Queenie¡¯s body into the hole, and putting her arms across her chest. He placed his hammer into her hands as a burial gift  and started to fill in the hole. By this time, his hand was completely bloodied, not only from Queenie¡¯s blood, but also the nicks and scratches from handling soil with his bare hand. Even though his hands are full of pain, it was nothing compared to the pain in his heart.


    After filling in the hole, he found a small stone and planted next to the grave. Using the copper dagger that was drenched in Queenie¡¯s blood, he carved out the epitaph. He puts Ki''th back on, though now it is clearly missing a huge piece, just like Cani''s heart. He knelt in front of the grave in silence. With his Ki''th fluttering in the night wind, he stayed there for the whole night.


    ¡°To my beloved Queenie, whom I did not treasure until it was too late.¡±


    Author¡¯s post note:


    Yes, this is a big ¡°Fuck you¡± to all the readers that post comments saying that I should get rid of the penis. Well, your wish is granted. Hope you are happy.

 Chapter 22- Again

    Author¡¯s note:


    Now that I got it out of my system with the non-cannon half chapter, let¡¯s return to the regular story line.


    The non-canon was well pretty much well thought out. At one point, I really did consider killing Queenie off, but I decided not to. The idea was too good to just throw away though so I just wrote it out anyway. So later on, I might do similar chapter where I write about other possibilities that I have thought of.


    Sorry about the delay, Life + Writers block = the suck


    Edited by SGJacko. Give thanks to him as well:>


    Chapter 22 - Again


    Day  33


    ***Cani''s Cave***


    ***Cani***


    ¡°Ow my back¡­¡±


    Waking up on the cold floor, I found Queenie still asleep, snuggling right against me inside my enormous Ki¡¯th. She had a huge smile on her face. It seems that she is having a good dream. Speaking of dream, I had a nightmare last night. I can¡¯t quite remember what it was though, something about Queenie dying. I just remember it was incredibly sad. I gently nudged her to wake her up.


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s morning.¡±


    ¡°Mmmm...mwwww¡±


    Queenie replied with a inaudible mutter. Looks like she will need to sleep a bit more. It¡¯s a good thing too since it would be awkward with her around when I am trying to clean up her mess. I took off my Ki¡¯th like a contortionist so that I won¡¯t wake her up. After that, I wrapped her in my Ki¡¯th so that she wouldn¡¯t be cold. I am glad that I have that bearskin as my Ki¡¯th. It is so convenient at times since it can double as a sleeping bag.


    ¡°Damn it.¡±


    I keep forgetting that I had nothing underneath my Ki¡¯th. I quickly look around for Queenie¡¯s Ki¡¯th and commandeered it. If this was a normal rom com, this would be the scene where the guy and the girl put on each other¡¯s cloths by accident. After putting it on, I walked outside to find Sylva eating breakfast. Taking a deep breath, I tried to formulate what I need to say. I can¡¯t go into villain mode this time. Our tribe is in the wrong here. I bowed my head in front of her.


    ¡°I am sorry about what happened last night. I hope that you can forgive Queenie for what she did. I can guarantee that Queenie will not attack you again.¡±


    I think my apology caught her completely off guard. She didn¡¯t say a thing and just turned back and continue eating her food. Crap. It¡¯s the dreaded silent treatment. I can¡¯t read her at all. Let¡¯s try a different method.


    ¡°As an apology, I will remove the guards that are following you. You are recognized as a full member of the tribe as of now. You are free to do whatever you want until the scouts come back.¡±


    She doesn''t turn around and keeps eating her food silently. Am I being too nice here? Should I turn into villain mode for a bit to try to shake some reaction out of her? I think I should just leave her alone for the time being. It would be better if she open up to me on her end. I turned around and leave her alone.


    Day  33


    ***Cani''s Cave***


    ***Sylva***


    ¡°I am sorry about what happened last night. I hope that you can forgive Queenie for what she did. I can guarantee that Queenie will not attack you again. "


    Seething with anger, Sylva chomp down on her breakfast, refusing to look at Cani face to face. She dared not show her face to Cani, warped with hatred. She doesn¡¯t know what he will do to her if she shows even a tiny bit defiance after promising that she will submit to him. She wasn¡¯t angry at the fact that Queenie tried to kill her. In fact, this was quite common in goblin culture as it was one of the ways to compete for better mates, although it was slightly frowned upon. She was angry at the fact that Cani was the one that tried to get multiple mates.  It was common for strong leader females to claim multiple mates. The same was not true in reverse. All the common sense that she had was thrown into the wind when it comes to this tribe.


    "As an apology, I will remove the guards that are following you. You are recognized as a full member of the tribe as of now. You are free to do whatever you want until the scouts come back.¡±


    She was absolutely surprised by what Cani said. To her, apologizing was a sign of weakness. A leader absolutely cannot show any weakness. Strength was everything. This sparked something within Sylva. She decides to take the chance to take advantage of the whole situation. This was her chance for a Coup d''¨¦tat. Just as Cani was about to leave her, she spoke up.


    ¡°Since I am a full member of this tribe, does that mean I can challenge you for the position of the tribe¡¯s leader? Will you accept my challenge of strength?¡±


    Cani stopped in his tracks. A quick grin was flashed on his face. He was smiling because Sylva finally responded. With this new information, Cani could finally understand a little bit more about Sylva¡¯s thought pattern. For example, she still hasn¡¯t fully recognized his strength. Turning on his beloved villain mode once again, he turns back towards Sylva and answered.


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    ¡°You absolutely can. However, if it is a challenge of strength, I would rather not have a fight between you and me. I don¡¯t want either of us getting hurt and lower our tribe¡¯s fighting potential when the dwarves can attack any time.¡±


    ¡°So what do you propose?¡±


    ¡°Simple, you see that rock?¡±


    Cani points to a large grey stone slab. It was one of the leftover material from building the stone fence. Sylva saw the slab and nods.


    ¡°Without any other goblin¡¯s help, move the stone to the other side. If you can do that, I will let you lead this tribe without any resistance.¡±


    Quickly assessing the weight of the rock with her eyes, she shook her head and answered.


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible. It would take at least four goblins to lift that. You are trying to trick me.¡±


    ¡°I tell you what, I will give you an additional handicap. After you admit that you can¡¯t do it, I will show you that I have the strength to do it by myself. If I can¡¯t move it, I will also give you the leadership of this tribe. However...¡±


    Sylva was eager to accept the deal, there was no drawback for her. Of course, villain Cani cannot let this opportunity to gain something out of this challenge slip.


    ¡°If I manage to move the rock to the other side, you must agree to receive my punishment for trying to challenge me. What that punishment is will, shall be determined later. It might be light, it might be severe. I will leave it to your imagination.¡±


    Sylva pondered deeply. One on hand, she is really curious about the strength of Cani. In her mind, there is no doubt that Cani cannot move that huge slab of rock with his thin arms. On the other she was worried about this ¡°punishment¡± that Cani spoke of. She had already endured multiple days being a captive of Cani. Without much food or water, she was kept in the cold. She can¡¯t imagine herself going through that again. After looking at her three subordinates for courage, she finally made the decision.


    ¡°I accept the conditions.¡±


    ¡°Excellent. You can start whenever you want.¡±


    Everyone heard about the challenge and gathered around to watch. With her three friends cheering her on, Sylva dug her fingers underneath the slab, braces herself, and tries to lift it. The slab is stubborn and refuses to budge. She grunts and holds her breath, gathering her resolve and tries again. The slab moves up ever so slightly then quickly returns to its original place. She keeps trying and trying. With sweat rolling down her face, she tries to lift the slab for over 30 minutes, but to no avail. Lying on the ground looking tired and defeated, she exclaims.


    ¡°There is no way you can move that by yourself.¡±


    ¡°I take it that you give up?¡±


    With a grudgeful eyes, she replies.


    ¡°Yes, I give up. Now show me your strength and move it.¡±


    ¡°As you wish. Just remember about the punishment.¡±


    ¡°Yes I know!¡±


    Cani walks around and grabs spears from a few of the guards. He carefully removes the spear head, turning them into poles. After he gathers enough poles for his purpose, he takes a piece small rock on from the top of the stone fence and sticks it near the slab. Using the leverage to his advantage, he lifts the rock up using one of the poles and quickly slips another pole underneath the slab. He does the same thing on the other side of the slab. After that, he creates a track using the poles. The slab easily slides to the other side.


    ¡°That...That¡¯s not fair! You cheated!¡±


    ¡°Did I say you can¡¯t use tools? So you will be accepting your punishment?¡±


    Sylva grumbled but stays silent.


    ¡°I can see that you are still not satisfied. If that is the case, I will use another method that is slightly more in line with what you consider strength, as a bonus to you.¡±


    Cani reaches for his hammer in his Ki¡¯th at his waist. It wasn¡¯t there. He forgot that he was wearing Queenie¡¯s Ki¡¯th instead of his at this moment.


    ¡°Umm¡­ sorry, give me one second. I left my hammer in the cave.¡±


    He quickly went back into the cave with a little bit shame He grabs his hammer from his Ki¡¯th which was wrapped around the sleeping Queenie. After he got his hammer, he goes back outside and stands in front of the slab. He raises his hammer high in the air and starts to smash the slab up. It took over 10 minutes but by the end, the slab was no more than tiny rocks. Afterwards, he carries the small pieces one by one back to the slab¡¯s original spot.


    ¡° With my mind and wit, I was able do something that you cannot, something that you deemed impossible. So I ask you, what is more important to a tribe? Strength that cannot achieve any task at hand or some one weak that finds a way to do everything? Strength without guidance of the mind can achieve nothing.¡±


    Sylva hung her head low without saying anything. She now understood why Cani is a special goblin. Wisdom and intelligence was a rare trait among goblins and it was often looked down about. Yet, he simply overwhelms his opponents or any difficulties with those traits. She admits her defeat a second time.


    "Now,  lets talk about that little punishment that you have agreed to..."

 Chapter 23- Rain

    Authors Note:


    You might have noticed that I have not used the menu system for quite a while. I think I like this direction a bit better, where it is a ¡°low magic/game¡± elements. I probably will make changes when the rewrite happens.


    Also, I got a final coming up soon, so I might take a short hiatus soon.


    Sorry in advance if I do.


    Edited by SGJacko. Thanks!


    Chapter 23- Rain


    Day  33


    ***Cani''s Cave***


    ***Cani***


    Just as I was about to announce the punishment, a few drops of water landed on my bald head. The fire that we use to cook the breakfast started to sizzle as well. White smoke started to rise from the fire. I held my hand out and look into the sky. At first, it was a light drizzle, but then thunder could be heard from a distant. I could see dark clouds gathering in the sky I pulled my hood up to block out the rain. This was the first time I have seen experienced a storm since I have revived. I turn to speak to Sylva.


    ¡°It seems that it is going rain heavily soon. Let¡¯s leave your punishment for now and head inside.¡±


    I quickly told everyone to stop working and retreat into the cave. Everyone awkwardly scramble to gather their belonging and headed inside the cave. By this time, the fire was completely put out by the rain. Not even a smoldering ember was left in the fire pit. Making sure everyone retreated, I was the last one to enter the cave. I was completely drenched at this point. It was kind of refreshing to take a full shower to be very honest. The only self cleaning that I did was just basically wiping with some pelts.I took off my Ki¡¯th, gave it a quick twist to drain the water out.


    ¡°Are you going to tell you what my punishment is?¡±


    She is trying to hide her nervousness by putting on a pouty poker face, but her fidgety body language betrayed her. Uwwwaaaaaa, that is just too cute. It just makes me want to tease you more, you know.


    ¡°It will be postponed until an appropriate time.¡±


    As if the goblin gods have sensed my evil intention, a flash of lightning and thunder rang behind my back after I said that. Not bad for dramatic effect. The only thing that was missing was the ¡°DUN DUN DUN¡± background music. I held the urge to throw out an evil laughter. That would have been a bit too cheesy.


    Day  36


    ***Cani''s Cave***


    ***Cani***


    ¡°Mother fucking rain!¡±


    I yelled in frustration as I stared outside the cave. We have been stuck inside the cave for three days already and there was no sign of the torrential downpour letting up. The boredom was starting to get at me. There was absolutely nothing to do. Since there weren¡¯t a lot to do, a lot of the other goblins have their own ¡°fun¡± time. I couldn¡¯t have fun with Queenie even if I wanted to. I was told yesterday by Queenie that she was pregnant.


    Even with all the free time due to the rain, I cannot think of a solution to my difficult position. It is the dream of a lot of men to have an harem, but I am one of the exceptions. I can¡¯t stand the idea of being NTRed. Losing my girlfriend once was more than enough. It feels equally terrible to become a hypocrite. My original plan was to have Sylva as my mate. Now that Queenie is pregnant with my child, I feel obligated to dedicate myself to her.


    I am tempted to implement a rule invoking the name of the goblin god to make the tribe monogamous to secure Queenie to me. On the other hand, the fact that our tribe is pretty small.  Allowing polygamy would increase our tribe¡¯s number quicker than monogamy, not to mention goblins are originally polygamous. However, if everyone goes overboard with the polygamy, we will have the problem of losing our fighting force due to the pregnancies. I definitely need to introduce the idea of marriage at some point as it will help me control the number of pregnant goblins and deal with inbreeding. Still at this time, I think I should stick with the status quo for now, since I have not thought of an appropriate course of action for Sylva. Even if I am evil, I pride myself of being a responsible villain.


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    One of the biggest problem we have right now is food. We can¡¯t cook anyhting because we couldn¡¯t start a fire. We have been eating raw meat for the past few days. Raw meat tastes terrible. Fresh fish tastes terrible raw as well, unlike the salt water fish which are used to make those delicious sashimi. On top of the taste problem, we are actually starting to run low on food. Due to the rain, the underground river has became a rapid. It is next to impossible to fish in the speedy current. We still manage to catch one or two a day, but at this rate, we will run out of food very soon . Since we are expecting a bunch of babies next week with everyone having ¡°fun¡± during the rain, As soon as the rain ends, I need to assign an extra squad of goblins for hunting.


    ¡°What are you looking at?¡±


    Queenie snuck up behind from me. I turned around to meet my eyes with her¡¯s. Even though it was only a few days, her stomach shows a little bump already. Goblin¡¯s growth rate is just abnormal. She handed me my Ki¡¯th. I gave it to one of the goblins yesterday to add a small belt to it so that it can hold various small tools and items. I am officially Batgoblin now. Since my Ki¡¯th is made out of bear, does that make me half-bear, half-goblin, half-bat? Donning my cape and cowl, I replied.


    ¡°Nothing, I am just thinking what we need to do about the food. If it gets bad enough, we need to send out a hunting party even in the rain. You think any of the girls are willing to hunt in the rain?¡±


    ¡°If you say the word, I am sure they will go out. Though I must say, no one has any experience hunting in the rain.¡±


    Turning back around to stare at the rain, I sat down in silence. After a while, Queenie took the chance to hug me from behind and watched the rain with me. Her body warmth penetrated through my Ki¡¯th and radiated across my back. We both enjoyed the sound of the rain pattering on the soil outside. I finally decided to break the silence.


    ¡°I want to ask you something. If you don¡¯t want to answer, that is fine as well.¡±


    ¡°Hmm? What is it?¡±


    ¡°I heard from other goblins that a strong female will often take multiple mates for herself. Will you do that?¡±


    ¡°You alone, is enough for me. I will not take any others.¡±


    ¡°If that is the case, I really want to give you the same promise to make it fair. However, that deal I have with Sylva¡­¡±


    ¡°Hmm.. since you made that deal before I made you my mate, I am willing to forgive you.¡±


    ¡°But what should I do with Sylva? What do you want me to do?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want my mate to go back on his words, so I will allow her to bear one of your child. Don¡¯t get me wrong, I only allow you to do this once. But after that, you must make lots and lots little one with me.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you are good with that? You are not going to repeat what happened a few days ago?¡±


    She rubbed her face against my cheek.


    ¡°I promise I won¡¯t do something like that again. Unless of course, you have more than one child with Sylva or any others.¡±


    Yikes, I am getting a serious yandere vibe here. I don¡¯t want to be involved in a  ¡°nice boat¡± ending. Makoto-kun, your death serves as a cautionary tale for all men. May your soul rest in peace. I imagined myself bowing in front of the Makoto¡¯s gravestone. It''s a good thing I asked.


    A low rumbling sound from the ceiling broke our conversation. I stuck my head outside to take a quick look.


    ¡°EVERYONE GET AWAY FROM THE ENTRANCE, NOW!¡±

 Chapter 24- Trapped

    Author¡¯s note:


    To everyone: I am sorry about the next chapter in advance  (or the one after, don¡¯t know about the pacing.)  , but it must be done.


    Edit by SGJacko. Blame him if you see any mistake :P


    Chapter 24- Trapped


    Day  36


    ***Cani''s Cave***


    ***Cani***


    When I stuck my head out to look outside the cave, I saw a few pebbles rolled down the mountain, barely missing my head. Coupled with the rumbling sound, I knew instinctively what was about to happen. With the constant rain, it can only mean one thing: landslide.


    ¡°EVERYONE GET AWAY FROM THE ENTRANCE, NOW!¡±


    I ran back inside with all my strength. Everyone sprung into action after hearing my command, except one. There was a lone goblin that stood still staring at me like a deer caught in headlights. I yelled at that goblin again to grab his attention.


    ¡°Come on! Get away from there!¡±


    My words finally got to him and he started to run, but it was too late. Mud, rocks, soil and all kinds of debris flowed like a brown waterfall. The small rumbling sound became a thunderous noise, drowning out all other sounds. It flowed into the cave and completely overtook him. He tried to reach out his hand calling for help but it was fruitless. He was swallowed  in an instant. I stood in front of Queenie and use my body as a shield in case a stray rock hits her. Our cave slowly darkens to pitch black as I watch the cave entrance gradually being blocked up by the flow of mud and rock. After about 5 more minutes, the rumbling finally stopped.


    ¡°Is anyone injured? Is everyone ok?¡±


    I yelled out in the complete darkness. No one responded to my question, so I assumed there were no other casualties. There were a bit of panicky murmurs in the back since not everyone knew about the landslide. They were deep inside the cavern where they couldn¡¯t see when the landslide happened. I quickly took command of the situation and calmed everyone down.


    ¡°We are trapped in our own cave because of a landslide. We need to dig out of this as soon as possible, before we run out of food. Everyone, slowly walk towards the sound my voice. Touch the wall with one hand to guide you and use your other hand to feel in front of you. Make sure you don¡¯t hit anyone in front of you. Once you get to the here, start digging.¡±


    Day  37 (Night)


    ***Cani''s Cave***


    ***Cani***


    Am I just that unlucky? Disasters happened one after another in quick succession. Barely alive for more than a month as a goblin, I had already experienced a near death experience, a war between tribes, and now a natural disaster. Our food supply dwindled rapidly as it was impossible to fish in the complete darkness. Our digging would have had progressed a lot faster if we had some light source to see.There was a sliver of hope though. We don¡¯t have to worry about air supply as the underground river seems to bring in fresh air. It seems that this underground river was a river of life for our tribe. It had solved many of our problems.


    ¡°My lord, we dug up a dead goblin.¡±


    I tried to remember the approximate location of the dead goblin relative to the entrance. Using it as a landmark, I estimated we have advanced only a bit more than one meter after one day of digging. The loose soil keeps collapsing in and negated a lot of our work. I groaned a bit in my own mind. At this rate, we will never reach the surface before we starve to death. Hiding my despair, I tried to change the topic.


    ¡°So Queenie, what do we do with the bodies usually? I don¡¯t remember seeing any graves near our cave.¡±


    ¡°We usually throw them down the underground river.¡±


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    At least we don¡¯t have to worry about the body festering in this enclosed space. I ordered the others to do as Queenie told. I heard their fumbling footsteps, slowly moving away from me, and finally a splash that was caused by the corpse. An idea suddenly occurred to me. It was an extremely dangerous idea so I should ask Queenie¡¯s opinion of it first before commanding everyone.


    ¡°Don¡¯t throw me into the river if I die.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°When I die, bury me somewhere near the tribe. Mark where I am buried with a pile of stone or something. Even after I die, I want to be near the tribe to watch over everyone.¡±


    Even if I can¡¯t live like a human, I would at the very least treated like one after I die.


    ¡°I don¡¯t quite understand, but I will follow your wish.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. Come towards my voice, Queenie, I want to hug you.¡±


    After a bit of waiting, I finally felt her hand. We fumbled a bit awkwardly in the dark but finally, we were in each other¡¯s embrace. After enjoying her body warmth a bit, I decided to ask for her opinion. Not wanting anyone else to hear what I was about to say, I moved my lips next to her long ears and whispered.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let anyone else know this yet, but I don¡¯t think we can dig ourselves out of here.¡±


    She whispered back to me.


    ¡°I know, but we must keep digging till our last breath and try.¡±


    ¡°I want your opinion. If we keep on digging, there is no guarantee that we will reach the surface but at least it will be safe until we die of starvation. But, if there is a way guaranteed to get us out but extremely dangerous. Would you do it?¡±


    ¡°Whatever you decide to do, I will follow you to the end.¡±


    I hugged Queenie tighter and take a deep breath to smell her hair. It had an earthy salty smell since we have been digging non-stop. They say that smell is the strongest sense tied to memory. I want to remember this moment in case one of us don¡¯t make it. I enjoyed the silence a bit longer before I let her go and cleared my throat. I stood up and cupped my mouth to make my voice louder.


    ¡°Listen up everyone! Stop digging!¡±


    I can hear everyone stopped moving around in the dark. I can feel everyone focusing on my voice. Trying to remember the few times I have been to church, I tried to mimic the style and pattern of the preaching pastor to maximize the speech¡¯s effect.


    ¡°Throughout my life, I have heard the voice of god. Our goblin god. Each time I heard his voice, I had followed his instruction. He has never been wrong. Each time, he had guided me through seemingly impossible perils. This time, the goblin god has told me that it is impossible for us to dig us out. However he has told me there is another way. A way that is extremely dangerous. He has prophesied that many of us will die in the process, but those who survive this shall be worthy. This is a trial from the goblin god to see who is worthy of serving our goblin god!¡±


    A murmur resounded throughout the cave. Religion is probably the best way to get people to do something stupid. What I am about to tell them to do is stare death in the face and ignore their survival instinct.


    ¡°Of course, you can choose not to follow the goblin god¡¯s command and stay here. I will not push you to walk the road that I have chosen. If you do that, I can tell you with certainty that the goblin god will also abandon you. You will die in this very cave that you call home.¡±


    Technically, I was not lying about this. Even with sixty goblins digging around the clock, we only managed to advance one meter a day. Whoever decides to stay will have no chance to dig themselves out. I wanted to scare everyone to follow me.


    ¡°So abandon your fear of death and follow me to our new home, a home that is promised by the goblin god.¡±


    A roar of approval echoed throughout the dark cave.


    ¡°Pack everything up, we are all going for a swim!¡±

 Chapter 25- Ruin

    Author¡¯s note:


    It gets me depressed when I read other people¡¯s writing and compare it to mine some times. Theirs are soooooooo good ==¡±


    I will be taking a short 1 week or so hiatus for finals.


    Edited by SGJacko


    Chapter 25- Ruin


    Day  38


    ***Cani''s Cave***


    ***Cani***


    Before I slept, I made sure that our preparations for the journey were completed. I got all the goblins to gather all the spears that we have and disassemble the spear heads. The sinew thread that kept the spearhead in place was wrapped and tied around the pole so that it will provide a better grip in the water. I was planning to have everyone use the wood poles as pseudo floatation devices. I doubt that a thin pole will keep a goblin completely afloat but it is better than nothing. Unfortunately, we didn¡¯t have enough poles for everyone. I gave priority to those that are carrying or taking care of a child.


    At this point, we have been stuck in our cave for too long. I wasn¡¯t able to tell if it¡¯s night or day. I was pretty sure the rain had stopped. I heard the underground river easing up a bit compared to the day before. It no longer produced the sound of a rapid. Instead, it was a nice and soothing sound. Today will probably be the best time to go. If we wait too long, the river might become too shallow and it would be dangerous for us to dive in from high above. I decided to do a small pep talk before we head towards our unknown journey.


    ¡°Everyone had a good rest last night for our pilgrimage ahead?¡±


    ¡°¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±Yes!¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±


    ¡°Before we go, I want to remind everybody. Slowly let yourself down the hole. Focus everything on keeping your head above the water. Do not try to swim against the current. The goblin god with guide you to the right place.¡±


    After I said that, I tightly gripped onto my staff and took a deep breath. I slowly inch towards the hole. Steeling my resolve, I finally jumped down the hole that we once called the washroom. There was a good second of airtime before I hit the water below.


    *Splash!*


    ¡°UWAAAAAA!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s happening? Are you hurt, Cani?¡±


    Going against my own teachings, I swam against the current to deliver a final command before I let it carry me away. The current was quite fast but it wasn¡¯t impossible to swim against it. Though, I had a hard time staying in the same place. I started shouting upward towards the ceiling. Hoping that they were able to hear it..


    ¡°No I am fine. It is just the water is a lot colder than I expected. Start sending everyone down one by one. Wait for a count of 3 before sending the next so the one before can get away. ¡±


    It was cold but it was not freezing. Still, I started to shiver from the sudden change of temperature. I hope Everyone can endure this. In the complete darkness, I gripped onto my pole for my dear life and kept my head above the water. I felt like I was experiencing the trauma of the Titanic. I think I have it easier than them though. At the very least, this is fresh water. I turned myself facing where the current was going, hoping that I would see something soon. I felt my body being thrown left and right along the river, bumping into the cavern wall from time to time. I almost let go of the spear at one point from the pain.


    After about 10 minutes of riding in this treacherous water slide, I finally saw a spec of light emanating from the end of the tunnel. It was touching to see anything after living in complete darkness for two days. The celebration in my heart ended prematurely as my eyes adjusted itself from the darkness and see other things. I was going way too fast. Worst of all, the current was pulling me towards one of boulder head. I desperately try to move myself away but it was too late. Judging that it was impossible to move away, I braced myself from the incoming impact. The hit knocked the winds out of me and I inhaled some water. My consciousness started to fade after that. I finally reached the end of the tunnel even though I was hurt. The last thing I remember seeing was aqueducts that were connected to the river.


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    Day  38 (Night)


    ***Unknown Ruins***


    ***Cani***


    *COUGH COUGH COUGH COUGH*


    Coughing up some water, I woke up and groggily dragged myself out of the water. I did a quick body check to see if I had broken any bones. Guess I got lucky this time, however there were several bruises on my body. I looked around the place that I woke up in. Even though it was dark, I could see some of the details of the room I was in thanks to the lights floating around. They were dancing like stars in the sky.


    ¡°Fireflies?¡±


    I was soon proven wrong. They were not fireflies but some sort of wisps. I tried to catch one but my hands just passed through them. They didn¡¯t seem to be malicious as they were just moving in the room randomly, completely ignoring me. With the help of the wisps¡¯ light, I could see that I was in a old dusty room with water running through the room. The size of the room was several times bigger than our cave. There were broken potteries everywhere, scattered across the room. Everything looked broken and old. This looked like a bathing area for some sort of old civilization. It didn¡¯t matter though. What mattered the most was for me to find the rest of the tribe.


    ¡°Is anyone here?¡±


    Only silence answered my call. I decided to explore the waterway where I woke up from. When I reached the end, I saw that the water left the room through another hole in the wall. Up against the wall were several goblin floating in the water. They were dead already as I found them face down in the water. I could also see quite a bit of skeletons of goblins, forming a dam. I guess this is where everything we throw down the river ends up.


    I walked along the wall of the room. There were several drawings and carvings on it. It was heavily faded and corroded though. I couldn¡¯t make out what they were supposed to be. I carefully made my way along, making sure I didn¡¯t step on any broken ceramics. It wouldn¡¯t be funny if I died bleeding out from a cut. After a while, I finally found a wooden door. I tried to open it but it wouldn¡¯t budge due to the rust on the hinges. Luckily, the wooden door was rotting already. I grabbed my hammer and started to dig my way through the rotten door. When the hole was big enough, I stuck my head out of the hole to take a  look.


    ¡°HERE¡¯S JOHNNY!¡¯


    Through the hole, I saw  a dark corridor. I heard a soft crying of a woman coming from the hall. If there were wisps, there might be ghosts as well. I gathered my courage and decided to investigate the source of the voice since I had no idea what else I could do at this point. Enlarging the hole in the door a bit, I crawled through the tight space and entered the corridor. Following the sound I found another door. From the small gap underneath the door, I saw flickers of a fire. I slowly opened the door trying to stay stealthy in case there was danger behind. Much to my dismay, the door creaked loudly. When I peaked through it. Everyone was staring at me. There were 20 or so goblins in the room around the fire. When they saw my face, Queenie ran up to me and embraced me. The bruises on my body started to hurt again. With a face full of tears, she whimpers.


    ¡°Cani¡­.. I ¡­...I¡­.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t cry, I am safe, a bit bruised but safe.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s gone¡­.. our child¡­¡±

 Chapter 25.5- Life of Brian

    Author¡¯s Note:


    Sorry about the unscheduled hiatus.


    Last minute Job increase + Christmas family gathering + writer¡¯s block + Tales of Demons and Gods + Hearthstone= procrastination


    I have no excuse


    *Kneels down and begs for forgiveness*


    Chapter 25.5- Life of Brian


    Day  39


    ***Cani''s Cave***


    ***Brian Garland***


    After days of torrential rain ended, the sun finally once again showed its¡¯ face in the nearly cloudlesssky. Birds in the forest chirped in unison, celebrating the end of the downpour. In the midst of the chorus, a lone, feeble goblin staggered along side of the mountain range. With his food supply completely exhausted from the long journey, he was eager to return to his home for a warm meal and a long, well deserved rest. He was sent out by Cani a few days prior, as a scout to the dwarven mines. Even though he was exhausted from the long journey, in his heart, he was happy. He was glad that he survived another day.


    Brian Garland was weakest goblin in the tribe. He was so feeble and powerless that he lost every single fight that he had. He even lost against a child once. Due to his weakness, he faced the fear of dying every single day. If he had a choice, he would have chosen to stay inside the safety of the cave. Of course, he wasn¡¯t allowed to do that. Those that don¡¯t work, don¡¯t eat. Over the years, in order to survive the treacherous forest, he had developed skills to keep him alive, skills that no other goblins had. His first skill was his sixth sense. He could sense dangerous beings that were around him. His second ability complements his first skill. He was very good at running away. When his adrenaline kicked in, he could even outrun a wolf, for a short duration.


    Ironically, his ability was also the cause of him being in constant danger. Realizing his abilities, Cani made him the scout for his tribe, sending him far away from the safety of the cave. When he was on these scouting missions, something always happens. He was the bearer of bad news. The first time when he went scouting, another tribe marched towards his tribe for an attack. The second time he when was out, he was caught by three goblins while he was asleep. He was used as an hostage. Brian thought he was in the clear for this trip. For once, he can bring home some good news. After being exhausted from the lengthy journey, he finally got close to his home. He sprinted towards the final stretch. When he finally got close enough to his home, what he saw completely betrayed his expectations.


    ¡°¡°Umm... I am pretty sure the cave is supposed to be here.¡±


    He knelt down on the muddy forest floor from exhaustion. Not knowing what to do, he stared blankly at his home, now covered by mud and rocks from the landslide. His mind raced with different thoughts, trying to come up with an explanation of what he was seeing.


    ¡±Oh, I know I must have made a mistake, the cave must be a bit further.¡±


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    Using his spear as a crutch, he got up from the ground and summoned every ounce of strength inside him to keep moving. Every step he took was harder than the next one. The mud held his foot down as if it was telling him that he had already reached his goal, telling him to stop. Ignoring the mud¡¯s plea to stop, he continued his journey towards the north.


    Day  40


    ***Welleborn Mountain Range***


    ***Brian***


    *Growl*


    ¡°Why me?¡±


    Straddled on top of a tree branch, Brian¡¯s stomach roared with hunger. Unfortunately for him, his stomach wasn¡¯t the only thing that was growling. Below him was a pack of wolves growling menacingly at Brian. A few moments ago, his senses warned him of the incoming danger. Quickly following his intuition, he hid in the trees before the pack caught on to his scent. Finding Brian, the pact decided that he would become their meal. A few of them tried to jump and snapped their jaws at Brian¡¯s  dangling feet. Luckily for Brian they were just a tad short. Not wanting to take the chance that the wolves will make the jump next time, he retracted his feet and sat completely on top of the branch.


    ¡°Go away!¡±


    When one of the wolf jumped, he tried fight off the wolf with a jab of his spear. Attacking from an awkward position, it was no surprise that he completely missed. Using the chance, the wolf quickly leaped again and bit the spear. Caught completely off guard by the wolf¡¯s attack, he almost lost balance and fell off the tree. He let go of the spear the very last moment before the wolf pulled him off of the branch. Feeling frustrated, the wolf decimated the spear, warning Brian that he was next on his list.


    ¡°WAHHHHHH!!! MY SPEAR!!! Give me back my spear!¡±


    His crying and complaining made the wolves angrier. They barked and growled louder at him. He finally gave up paying attention to the wolves. There was nothing that he can do about the wolves except to wait for them to leave. Turning around and lying on the branch, his stomach growled again. He looked at the leaves, wondering if they were edible. At this point, he was desperate enough to try. He grabbed a handful of leaves and stuffed it in his mouth. His tongue was filled with a bitter sensation, but he suppress his impulse to spit out the leaves. After chewing them a few more times, he reluctantly swallowed everything. Even though it was not much, he was able to curb a bit of his hunger.


    ¡°Uuuuuuuu, that was horrible.¡±


    Grumbling about the the bitter taste in his mouth, he relaxed a bit and looked up at the sky. He saw a single cloud floating in the sky. The shape of the cloud reminded him of his favorite food, the drumstick of a rabbit. Even though it made him feel hungrier, it was better than nothing. When he tried to focus his sight on the cloud, he couldn¡¯t. His vision was starting to blur. At this point he knew that there was something wrong with him. He finally realize that the leaves that he ate had a side effect that he didn¡¯t knew about. He tried to stay awake, but his consciousness gradually became distant. With a thump, he fell from the tree. Smelling the breath of the wolves, he finally closed his eyes and accepted that this was the end of his unfortunate life.


    *THWIP*

 Chapter 26- Children

    Author¡¯s Note:


    Guess whos back? Back again?<del> Shady¡¯s</del> Damancy¡¯s Back. Tell a Friend.


    Yay I got 100 favorites! A Milestone!


    *Celebrates with party poppers*


    *looks at other novels number of favorites*


    *sadly sweeps up and stuffs the confetti back into the poppers*


    Edited by SGJacko


    Chapter 26 - Children


    Day  38 (Night)


    ***Unknown Ruins***


    ***Cani***


    Standing next to the door, holding Queenie in my arms, I slowly patted her hair, consoling her. I stood there in complete silence since I was at a complete loss of words. I am not very good at dealing with emotional situations. I was pretty blessed when I was still a human. There was no major tragedy that occurred while I was still Driskoll. I had neither experienced death in the family, nor horrific life changing accidents, nor endured any disasters. The only one major thing that happened to me was my girlfriend leaving for another man. Compared to this, it was nothing. To be very honest, I would rather fight the bear 100 times than live through situations like this.


    Learning that I had lost my unborn child, I felt no sadness. Instead, I was overwhelmed by another emotion: anger. Angry that I could not think of a better way to save everyone. Angry at the fact that I forgot to take Queenie¡¯s pregnancy into account when I was planning. Angry at myself for thinking up the stupid plan that caused this.


    Feeling everyone¡äs eyes on us, I thought it appropriate to send everyone out of the room. I wanted to be alone with Queenie at this moment. Without letting go of her, I ordered everyone to leave the room under the pretense of scouting the ruin. We had no time to waste anyway. Our tribe needs to secure a safe place after all.


    ¡°Everyone go outside and scout our surrounding. Don¡¯t engage any enemies.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    ¡°Get. Out.¡±


    Sylva tried to interject, but I quickly shut her down with my dagger stares. Fearful of my silent fury, everyone hurriedly exited the room. Sylva, being the last one, turned around to give us a quick glance of condolence before leaving. Even though these was just a moment,I didn¡¯t feel any animosity from her. I was a bit thankful that I would not have to deal with her insubordination again. We were left alone in the room with nothing but dancing wisps and our shadows flickering behind us.


    ¡°It is not your fault, Queenie.¡±


    The quiet room echoed with the sound of sobbing. It was as if every brick in the room was crying along with Queenie for the loss of our child. I brought her closer to myself and embraced her with more strength.


    ¡°It is not your fault. I am the one to blame. If I didn¡ät make everyone escape from the river, our child would still be alive. Hit me as hard as you can. It... is my fault. It¡¯s...¡±


    The tears I had been holding back finally overflowed. The tears rolled off my cheek and slowly dripped onto Queenie¡¯s soft purple hair.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not your fault. The goblin god told you how to get out. He already told you that it was full of danger. It is my fault for not being able to protect it. I am not worthy to carry your child.¡±


    Those words pour sulfur on top of my wound. She was blaming herself because I used the goblin god as an excuse, getting everyone to follow my plans. Plans that were incomplete. Plans that didn¡¯t take every little detail into account. In hindsight, I could have just used my status as the tribe¡¯s leader to get everyone to follow me instead. I should have only used the name of the goblin god if they refused to follow. If I did do that, Queenie probably would not be blaming herself at this point. My soul was torn. I wished I could tell her the truth about everything about the goblin god just so that she would stop blaming herself and blame me instead. I had to bite my lips to keep that information from slipping out though. If I told her everything, the whole tribe would fall apart.


    ¡°No, don¡¯t tell yourself that. You are the best thing that ever happened to me. I am sure that the goblin god will bless us with the strongest child. Next time¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if we will have another one.¡±


    ¡°What.. what are you saying? Of course we will have another child. If you want, we can do it right now. Here, I won¡¯t even blindfold myself this time. I want to see you...¡±


    ¡°Stop Cani. Listen to me.¡±


    Queenie put her hands over my mouth to stop me from talking. After I stopped making a sound, she used the same hand and wiped away the tears from my cheek. With her other hand, she rubbed the tears away from her swollen purple eyes. Sniffling a bit, she calmed down and stopped crying.


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    ¡°It happened to my mother too when she lost one of my siblings. Once that happened, she couldn¡¯t make more children no matter how many times she tried. I have seen it happen a few times to others as well.¡±


    I grimaced at the thought of not being able to have children with Queenie. Before everything happened, I wasn¡¯t exactly thrilled when I learned that I was going to be a father. It just seemed like that children were an extra responsibility. Now that I have lost it, having a child meant everything to me. The saying is definitely true. You don¡¯t know what you have got until it is gone.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t mean that will happen to you, too. At least we have to try as hard as we can.¡±


    ¡°Cani, you are the strongest one that I have ever seen. You have to leave a child, for the future of  our tribe. I can¡¯t let my own feeling jeopardize the future. Go and make a child with Sylva first. I don¡¯t think I can bear another child so soon anyway.¡±


    ¡°NO! That is the one thing I won¡¯t compromise. We can wait till you are better before trying again.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t wait. Our tribe only has about 20 goblins left. We need to strengthen our tribe right now, especially when we don¡¯t know anything about our surroundings.¡±


    ¡°But..¡±


    ¡°No buts. You don¡¯t get a say in this. How about this. To make you feel better, no matter what happens, any children that you and Sylva have, I will treat them as if they were my own. They will be our children too. It doesn¡¯t matter if we are able to make more children or not.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure about this?¡±


    ¡°I am absolutely sure.¡±


    I smiled wryly at Queenie. To think that my previous wish of satisfying my lust with Sylva was granted in such a painful manner. I failed to heed the classic warning: be careful of what you wish for. I held her hand tightly in front of me.


    ¡°No matter what, you will always be my one and only mate.¡±


    ¡°I love you.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡±


    Day  38 (Night)


    ***Unknown Ruins***


    ***Sylva***


    ¡°Why does it hurt so much?¡±


    Sylva asked herself while holding her chest. Even with the wisps flying around providing a bit of lighting, it was hard to see potential dangers. The scouting party suggested to make a torch out of the campfire. Since no one else wanted to enter the room and incur the wrath of Cani, she volunteered to check if it was safe to go back into the room.  Standing outside the door in the dark corridor, she heard the last little bit of conversation between Queenie and Cani. Unbeknownst to herself, she had already fallen for Cani. She had fallen for his strength, intelligence, and dedication to his family. Even though her mind tells her that she should hate Cani for killing her troops, her heart says otherwise. It developed into a strange love/hate relationship between them. Unfortunately for her, she just heard that he will not consider anyone else as his mate. This caused a great turmoil in her heart.


    ¡°Hey captain Sylva, you don¡¯t look so well? Did Cani kick you out without giving you the torch?¡±


    Appearing out of the darkness, Ami, the oldest sister of the goblin from the other tribe, went back to check on Sylva since she didn¡¯t return for quite some time. Sylva quickly shook herself out of the daze and answered Ami.


    ¡°You can stop addressing me as the captain, I am no longer one.¡±


    ¡°You will always be my captain.¡±


    ¡°We¡äd be in big trouble if anyone else heard it.¡±


    ¡°We can deal with it when the time comes.¡±


    ¡°Anyway, I don¡¯t think we should go inside any time soon. Let¡¯s just collect some wood and make a new fire in an open place.¡±


    Both of them slowly walked through the corridor with the wisps guiding their way. A faint howl of the wind reverberated as they traveled through the small confines. When they reached the end, they saw everyone else waiting in the large opening. Broken crates scattered around in the area. A few sat on the cold stone tiles, while others leaned on the walls. One of the goblins noticed the two that returned.


    ¡°No luck with the fire?¡±


    ¡°I think I would have been killed if I went in there. Let¡¯s just make a new fire here.¡±


    Everyone started to collect wood from the broken crate and moved it to the center. A few of the goblins tried to start a fire. It was a long and tedious task to start a fire from scratch. No matter how hard it was, however, it was still better than going back to face Cani. They diligently rubbed pieces of wood together, hoping to get the smallest speck of ember. Before long, a fire roared, lighting up everything surrounding them. They picked up a few pieces of broken fabric that was lying on the ground, wrapped it around a stake, and set it on fire. With some of them armed with a torch, the group of goblins prepared themselves to explore the unknown.

 A quick poll

    I went to the library to borrow a certain book for reference. Unfortunately, they didn''t have it. I have to wait about a week before it gets in. Until I get that book, I probably won''t post anything.


    So in the mean time, I am putting up a poll


    Since The end of the arc is near, I will be doing the rewrite of the first 10ish chapters because I REALLY don''t like how I wrote it back then.


    Do you guys want me to do all the rewrites first before continuing on with the story, or should I do one chapter at a time?


    EDIT:


    As of now, I am starting to write the next arc since the referenced book won''t affect my writing until later on.


    Edit 2:


    Just as a small bonus for those that reread previous chapters, I want to discuss the reasons of why I am not happy with the first few chapters. This is for my benefit as well since I can go back tot his post as a checklist for future chapters.


    While I was procrastinating, I was actually doing something that helps me with writing. I was reading a lot of badly written WN.


    I was analyzing them as I read them, making sure I list the reasons why I didn''t like them. That way, I won''t repeat the same mistake when I am writing mine.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    Reason 1- Damage numbers


    It looked cool at first, but when I re-read the chapters, it felt lame. I feel that if I keep using it, I will fall into the "Over 9000" trap, where I just make the fight scenes look cool by enlarging the numbers.


    Reason 2- Skills


    After writing a bit more for this story, I started to feel that I should have made written  this story to be less reliant on the acquisitions of skills, to push the story forwards. I feel a lot more comfortable by pushing the story towards a "low magic/skill" settings, sort of like Game of Thrones.


    Reason 3 - Writing rules


    A bit into the writing the story, I made a decision that it will follow theses rules:


    1- NPC will always be written in third person perspective


    2-PC will always be written in first person perspective


    3- Everything will be written in past tense if possible


    I found that a lot of the previous chapters were breaking these rules

 Chapter 27-Plagiarism

    Author¡¯s Note:


    I actually finished writing the first chapter of arc 2 and the book still haven¡¯t arrived. I decided that I will just forge on ahead without the referenced book. Unfortunately, it also means that I can¡¯t write as much detail as I have planned about the ruins.  Fans of the said referenced book/series, please don¡¯t hate me.


    Chapter 27-Plagiarism


    Day  39


    ***Unknown Ruins***


    ***Cani***


    I woke up when my stomach rumbled in hunger. I don¡¯t know how long I have been in this ruin but from my biological clock, I can tell it had been at least 3 days since we were trapped inside of our own home. With her head on my shoulder, Queenie laid beside me and cried herself to sleep last night. I moved her away from, careful of not waking her up in the process.


    Taking a look at the fire pit in the center of the room, the fire was almost out. What was left was a smoldering ember in the center. Knowing how hard it is to start a fire again, I quickly broke some wooden furnitures in the room and managed to keep the fire roaring again. It wasn¡¯t easy though. I stumbled in the darkness and tripped over clay jars in the room, breaking a few in the process. After I got the fire going again, I took a look around the room. There was a small canal running through the room at the other end. The water in the canal ran towards the other room that I woke up in. If I had to give an educated guess, I would say that this was used to collect drinking water, while the other was used to bathe in. I guess everyone got out in this room, while I drifted further down when I was unconscious. When I looked in the water canal, I could see small fish swimming around without a care. At least we wouldn¡¯t need to worry about food in the short term.


    *Yawn*


    Hearing a sound behind me, I turned around and saw Queenie stretching her arms.


    ¡°I am sorry, did the noise woke you up?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°Are you feeling okay?¡±


    ¡°I am still sad about everything, but I feel a lot better now compared to before.¡±


    ¡°I am going to go out and look for everyone, they still hadn¡¯t came back from scouting yet. I am worried about them.¡±


    ¡°I will go with you.¡±


    ¡°No, I need you to stay here and secure this room. That way, we know that we have a safe place to return to.¡±


    ¡°But..¡±


    ¡°No buts. You are staying here. Go catch some fish in the canal and cook breakfast for all of us. I will be back.¡±


    ¡°You have your spear?¡±


    ¡°No, I lost it in the river.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s dangerous to go alone. Take this.¡±


    She offered her spear to me. I gently rejected her offer and gave a quick chuckle. Not knowing why I laughed, she tilted her head in puzzlement. Even if I explained, she wouldn¡¯t understand the reference.


    ¡°No, if I take it, what would you fight with if something happens? I still have my hammer and I can use that as a weapon.¡±


    She nodded her head slowly.


    ¡°Okay, I will keep the spear then. You be careful out there.¡±


    ¡°I will.¡±


    I gave Queenie a quick hug. Just before I left the room, I turned and gave Queenie a good look. She was already in the canal, trying to catch some fish. I watched her stumbling in the water, trying to grab the fish with her bare hands. I chuckled at how cute she looked like that. I turned around with my renewed resolve. I have to lead everyone to a perfect goblin world. In a place where there were no threats and plenty of food. In a place where our family will flourish. With a torch in my left hand and a black hammer in my right, I walked outside.


    Day  39


    ***Unknown Ruins***


    ***Cani***


    There were no signs of anyone else. Even though I had yet to encounter any enemies, I was starting to worry for their safety. I shouldn¡¯t have sent them out on their own. Without someone to lead them, it would be dangerous for them to wander in an unknown place. I was starting to hate myself for making so many rash judgments.


    The ruin was huge. From what I could tell from observing the surroundings, this was a city in a mountain that dwarves used to live in. We must be deep within the mountain since I have yet to see the light of day, walking around for hours. Skeletons of dwarves were littered everywhere. The cause of death was most likely an epidemic. Save for some bite marks from rats, almost all the skeletons had no damage on them. If they were wiped out by war, there would be signs of a fight or struggle, such as severed bones on the skeleton. I have to tell everyone to kill and burn all the rats they see. That would reduce the chance of our tribe falling to the same fate.


    *Mumble*


    I heard a sound coming from around the corner. I quickly pressed myself against the cold dungeon wall. With abated breath, my head emerged from the edge of the wall. What a saw relieved my soul. I ran out from my hiding place towards the noise.


    ¡°How did you guys get stuck there?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea what happened. We were just walking around, and these came out of nowhere, blocking our way. I was afraid that we were going to die being stuck in this place.¡±


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Sylva answered me from behind a pair of portcullis. They must of triggered some sort of defense mechanism of this dwarven city. Luckily, it looked like no one was hurt by the trap. I looked around to see if I could somehow undo the trap. I found a set of cog wheel and lever in the room. After studying mechanism for a bit, I knew exactly what I needed to do. I set the pawl back in its place, locking the cogwheel. After that, I worked on the lever. It was extremely heavy. It barely moved when I pull on it. I had to climb onto the lever and jump on it in order to get it to move. After jumping on the lever for about seven times, the portcullis was finally lifted a bit. A small gap appeared in between the portcullis and the ground. One by one, everyone crawled out from the gap. I gasped for air after my strenuous workout. Wiping some sweat from my forehead, I turned my attention back towards Sylva


    ¡°We should head back to the safe room and meet up with Queenie. I made markings along the way so we wouldn¡¯t lose our way.¡±


    With me leading the way, everyone followed behind me. The only exception was Sylva who was walking beside me. It looked like she lead the way for everyone else as well during this time and kept everyone calm and collected. As expected of a previous captain. It looked like she can be a leader in case something happened to both Queenie and I in the future. I started to question Sylva to learn more about the ruin.


    ¡°So is there anything special you guys found in here?¡±


    ¡°Well I can tell you that there are no enemies in here. The biggest living thing we found was a rat.¡±


    ¡°Kill and burn all the rats you see in here. Do not eat any rats in here. They are¡­. poisonous.¡±


    I decided to use the term poisonous to describe them. It would be hard for them to understand the concept of micro-organism.


    ¡°Is that all? Was there anything else you found¡±


    ¡°Oh, we found an area with a mountain of copper-like things in the middle too.¡±


    ¡°Copper-like?¡±


    ¡°Ya, it looked like copper, it felt like copper, but the color was different. Some were more yellow, some were white.¡±


    I widen my eyes at the description. Could it be?


    ¡°That area is it near here?¡±


    ¡°Yes, it is just around the corner.¡±


    ¡°Sylva, we are taking a detour. Lead me to that place.¡±


    Following the footsteps of Sylva, we navigated through the twists and turns of the ruins. Soon, we arrived in a large open area. After 3 days of darkness, I was finally able to see the blue sky once again. It looked like the area we were in was the center of an extinct volcano. High mountainous walls surrounded us. It would be next to impossible to climb out of here. In the centre of the area was a mountain of treasure, filled with gold, silver and platinum. I ran towards the treasure laughing all the way. When I reached it, I dived into a pile of coins and pretended to swim. I had always wanted to be Scrooge McDuck. When I turned back, I saw everyone looked at me as if I went crazy.


    ¡°What are you doing? Are these important?¡±


    ¡°HAHA! With these, we won¡¯t be worried about the dw¡­.¡±


    I stopped laughing. Something clicked in my mind when I was thinking about the dwarves. The clues pieced together one by one.


    The dwarves.


    Ghost city inside a mountain.


    A mountain of treasure.


    Oh, my, god.


    The designers are a bunch of fanboys.


    ***Fin''Dictive Gaming Studio''s Internal Message Board***


    Fin: Is the first secret dungeon ready yet?


    JRRT: Almost. The dungeon¡¯s design was finished already, I am just doing some finishing touch on the boss.


    Fin: We are sooooo behind schedule :<


    JRRT: I know I know, stop rushing me. I think I can launch it within today.


    Fin: Why are you behind schedule anyway? Aren¡¯t you just plagiarizing everything?


    JRRT: HEY HEY! It¡¯s not plagiarizing if I am using my own works. You cannot steal from yourself


    Fin: Whatever. Just make sure you launch it by the end of the day. Do you need any help?


    JRRT: Nah, I am fine.


    Fin: Btw, are you going to plagiarize everything again from your series for the second secret dungeon?


    JRRT: ITS NOT PLAGIARISM!!


    Wyn: He is technically correct. It is the best kind of correct.


    Fin: Shut up Aenwyn. No one asked you.


    Fin: Well are you going to copy everything again?


    JRRT:.....


    JRRT: Yes.


    Fin: *facepalms* Can you be a bit more creative?


    JRRT: In my defense, it¡¯s what the players want. They love my series. The polls on the message board said so.


    Fin: Aenwyn, can you get the legal department to whip up some sort of contract. I don¡¯t want to be sued by him over this if he left our company later.


    Wyn: Done.


    Fin: You better do a god damned fantastic job for the other secret dungeons.


    JRRT: So can I use my idea for the next few secret dungeons as well?


    Fin: *Sigh* Yes.


    JRRT: YES!!!


    Fin: Somehow, I feel like I will regret this decision.

 Chapter 28- Smaug

    Author¡¯s Note:


    I am working on a one-shot which I named ¡°A Letter from a Butterfly¡±. I hope I can finish it within February while not affected the progress of Respawned. BTW, I wrote this during lunch at work :P


    Chapter 28- Smaug


    Day  39


    ***The Lonely Mountain***


    ***Cani***


    With all the clues pieced together, I was eighty percent sure that this place was a recreation of the Lonely Mountain from ¡°The Hobbit¡±. Living as a goblin for months had almost made me forget something important. This world that I live in was not the real world. This world was a game. A game for someone else.


    With simple traps and the winding paths, this place was clearly designed to be a dungeon. Something was missing. Where were the mob monsters? Where was the final boss? We found the final treasure room, but there was no sight of the final boss.


    Wait.


    A chill ran down my spine when I had the realization. If this was the Lonely Mountain, doesn¡¯t that mean the final boss is¡­ oh no.


    ¡°Everyone get out of here. Tell everyone to stay out of...¡±


    *ROAR*


    I couldn¡¯t even finish my sentence before a deafening roar echoed from the sky. We all froze in terror and looked up at the sky. The bright blue sky suddenly darkened for a second as a large shadow flew passed by the mouth of the volcano at Mach speed.


    ¡°Run.¡±


    I didn¡¯t hear anything after I issued the command. Everything was silent as if the world was drowned out by the sound of the roar. Like a herd of frightened rabbits, everyone else stood still without realizing what I had told them. Their fear completely overwhelmed their senses.


    ¡°RUN NOW!! GET OUT OF HERE!!!¡±


    My voice finally reached them, and everyone scrambled towards the exit. Unfortunately, it was too late. By the time that we tried to run, he already flew inside the volcano and started his gradual descent. His large bronze colored body blot out the sky. His wings flapped slowly and steadily like a heartbeat, conjuring gale force winds in the confined space, scattering everyone. The air pressure pushed me back, creating a long skid mark in the soil. A few lucky goblins were able to reach the exit, but the majority was still in the area. With a deafening crash, he landed on top of the mountain of treasure.


    The king came to reclaim his throne in his forsaken kingdom.


    The dragon, Smaug, has returned.


    With his piercing gaze, he stared at everyone. Under his powerful glare, no one dared to move a single muscle. At this rate, he will kill everyone. I have to save them somehow. It has been quite a while since I read the book ¡°The Hobbit.¡± I read the book when I was in high school. I tried to remember the details of the encounter between Bilbo and Smaug. I could use the information that I recalled. For me to survive, I would need every advantage I could get. From what I could remember, he was greedy and confident. Above all, he was intelligent. Normally, that would be detrimental to go up against an opponent that was intelligent. But in this case, it was the only chance I have. Since I have no chance winning against him physically, I would need to engage a war of words with Smaug. Negotiation is the only way to out of this unscathed.


    With my heart beating at a million beats per second, I hardened my resolve and put on a poker face to the best of my abilities. I slowly walked towards Smaug, moving away from the rest of the group. Since I was the only one that was moving, Smaug¡¯s eyes focused on me. I had successfully grabbed his attention. Seeing that I had his full attention, I forced myself to smile and bowed down to speak with him.


    ¡° I, Cani, chief of the goblin tribe, humbly presents myself in front of your majesty.¡±


    With his nostrils flaring with smoke, he looked at me with a hint of bewilderment. After a good minute, a thunderous laughter finally broke the silence.


    ¡°HAHAHAHAHAHA!! This is the first time seeing a goblin that is courteous and polite. HAHAHAHAH!! I guess if you live long enough, you will eventually get to see everything.¡±


    His laughter went on, echoing throughout the area. Seeing that Smaug was distracted, I gestured everyone else to take the chance and leave. With Sylva leading everyone, they scrambled to get out. Soon, the only me and the laughing dragon were left in the dungeon. Good, the primary objective has been achieved. Now I will need to figure a way out to get myself out of this situation alive. The laughter slowly subsided, and the dragon¡¯s attention returned to me.


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    ¡°Do you know who I am?¡±


    ¡°Please forgive me if I guessed wrong, but perhaps your majesty is Smaug, the Magnificent?¡±


    ¡°HAHAHAHA, good. So you know who I am. If you knew who I am, why do you dare trespassed into my kingdom.¡±


    Good, my guess about everything was correct. With this information, I can steer the negotiation towards my favor. Judging from his words, he was trying to make us into a guilty party, giving him full justification for him to kill us. I must defend against that.


    ¡°Your Majesty, we do not dare to trespass into your kingdom knowing that you are the rightful owner of the Lonely Mountain. We are, but a simple goblin tribe that lived in a cave near the Lonely Mountain. The entrance to our home was blocked off by a landslide. We were forced to enter an underground river inside our home to escape. The underground river fed into a set of aqueducts which resides in your kingdom. We do not mean to trespass upon your lands. ¡±


    ¡°Even if you did not mean to trespass on purpose, it is still a grave sin to do so.¡±


    He was insistent on this point. It doesn¡¯t seem that he was willing to let us go scot free. The only thing I can do at this point was trying to mitigate our loss by providing some benefits to him for letting us live. He is a greedy bastard after all.


    ¡°It is indeed a great crime to trespass into your kingdom. I humbly ask for your forgiveness, my majesty. We are willing to serve your majesty¡¯s servants to atone for our sins.¡±


    ¡°You goblins are weak and pathetic. How can some lowly goblin serve me? ¡±


    He took the bait. He is curious about us now. Even though it is not obvious, as long as I could keep him talking, it is in my favor. I had dodged the worst-case scenario where he would attack me without a single word. All I had to do at this point was to make an arrangement where he would let all of us live. I would agree with him regardless of what his conditions were. If I could strike a deal between Smaug and me, our tribe could use this time to find an exit to this miserable place. After that, we could always escape and move far away from here. As long as we keep moving, I doubt that Smaug could find a small tribe of goblins for his revenge. For him, it would be the same as finding a needle in a haystack.


    ¡°Your majesty, it is true that we are weak, pathetic, and small. But it is also the reason we can serve you. We can move around effortlessly everywhere. We don¡¯t attract any attention. We can act as scouts if your majesty ever wished to conquer another city. We could act as thieves if you wanted for a particular item from a kingdom. As far as I know, the dwarves have a proverb. Never use a broadsword to kill a fly. Your majesty is the broadsword, tall, grand and exalted. If there is a small nuisance, we can be your flyswatter in your stead.¡±


    Of course, there was no such saying from the dwarves. I made it up on the spot. The origin of the saying was from an old Chinese proverb ¡°never use a cannon to kill a fly¡±. Since I don¡¯t know if this world has cannons, I had to change the proverb a bit to suit my purpose. I think that I had gotten my point across.


    ¡°HAHAHAHA! I admit, that is an alluring proposal, having your tribe to serve me for the small and insignificant incidents. So what is the term of your tribe¡¯s servitude to atone for your sins?¡±


    I knelt down and answered him. Hook, line and ...


    ¡°For as long as your majesty wishes. It would be our tribes¡¯ honor and privilege to serve such a great master. Your majesty, would you wish for the lowly goblins to serve you?¡±


    Smaug started to laugh once again. His frightening chortle echoed throughout the room. Looking up at the monstrous dragon, I noticed the sky behind Smaug was slowly turning blood red as the sun sets. In the middle of his great laughter, he suddenly stopped. Silenced filled the air as he glared at me with the fiery of the sun. His nostrils flared with smokes, sparks, and smoldering embers. He leaned closer towards me. I could feel the heat from his breath. He let out a single word.


    ¡°No.¡±


    Sinker?

 Chapter 29- Witness

    Author¡¯s Note:


    This Saturday and Sunday, I am staying at home and doing a "writathon". Hopefully, I can finish the whole arc this weekend.


    After a long time, we are finally near the climax of the arc :)


    I sincerely apologize for all the delays and hiatus.


    *Bows*


    Chapter 29 - Witness


    Day  39 (Night)


    ***The Lonely Mountain***


    ***Sylva***


    Following the marks left by Cani, she ran with all her might back towards the safe room. Even though she knew Queenie may not offer any help in this situation, she knew that she had to deliver the news to Queenie as soon as possible. At the very least, she had to bring the rest of the tribe back to Queenie for her to command. After all, she was not a leader officially recognized by either Cani nor Queenie. It would create friction in the group in the future if she took command right now if their tribe survives this ordeal. She stopped suddenly at a fork in the road. Scanning the walls for a bit, she found a mark left by Cani.


    ¡°Quickly, this way! Ami, stay here and make sure no one loses their way.¡±


    Due to the difference in their ability to run, the whole tribe was spread out in a long line. The torches that they carried created a long snake-like shadow, flickering on the wall of the corridor. With Sylva in the front, there were quite a few stragglers that couldn¡¯t keep up with her pace. She told Ami to stay behind to make sure that no one would get left behind. Even though it would put Ami in danger for being dead last of the group, Sylva knew that Ami would not refuse her order.


    After a while, they finally reached the room where everything started. Sylva burst through the door and screamed.


    ¡°Queenie! We got a huge problem!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡±


    ¡°We encountered a dragon. Cani stayed behind so we can leave.¡±


    Queenie rushed towards Sylva and punched her face. Sylva fell backwards on the floor from the tremendous force. A blue spot appeared on Sylva''s face. She covered the bruise on her face with her hand with surprise. She glared up at Queenie and exclaimed.


    ¡°Why the hell did you do that for?¡±


    ¡°Why would you leave Cani alone! You should be beside him helping him!¡±


    At this moment, the last of the goblins entered the room. They were looking around in confusion, not knowing why Sylva and Queenie were fighting each other.


    ¡°And what the hell you think we can do against a fucking dragon? We are just goblins! Even dwarves and elves cannot stand up to a dragon. Do you want the rest of us to die with Cani in there?¡±


    Not being able to find a fault in Sylva¡¯s logic, Queenie fell on her knees and started crying. She knew that Cani was as good as dead. Everyone stared helplessly at each other, not knowing what to do in this situation. Seeing the demoralized state of everyone, Sylva shook her head and sighed. She whispered to herself.


    ¡°I must be crazy for doing this.¡±


    She got up from the ground. She held the sobbing Queenie with one hand and slapped her face with the other.


    ¡°That¡¯s for punching me out of nowhere.¡±


    Before Queenie could react, she slapped her again.


    ¡°And that¡¯s for not doing your duty as one of the leaders of this tribe. At the very least, we will be the witness of Cani¡¯s death so that we can pass his heroic story onto the children in our tribe. That way, he will live in the tribe forever as a legend.¡±


    Queenie looked at Sylva with a blank look, still stunned from the slaps to her face. It took a while before Queenie recollected her thoughts and slowly nodded. She wiped her tears away, trying to stifle them in the process.


    ¡°You lead the way. The rest of you stay here.¡±


    ¡°Queenie, you should order Ami to take control of the camp temporarily in case something happens to us. She was one of the squad leaders and has experience leading other goblins.¡±


    ¡°I trust your judgement. Ami, take care of everyone while we are away.¡±


    Queenie grabbed her spear which was leaning on the wall. Then she took a torch from one of the goblins. She gave a quick nod to Sylva, signalling that she was ready. Both of them exited the room and started running down the corridor towards where Cani was.


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    When they were almost halfway to their destination, Sylva felt a sense of unease. Her instinct told her that something was dangerous near her, and it was coming from right beneath her. Trusting her instinct, she jumped up without a moment of hesitation. She slowed down and looked back to see what it was. It was a dwarven skeleton, coming to back to life. The reanimated skeleton was crawling on the floor, trying to grab her ankle. Sylva immediately shouted at Queenie, who was a bit faster in front of her.


    ¡°WATCH OUT! THE SKELETONS ARE MOVING!¡±


    Without missing a beat, both of them slowed down and defended each other¡¯s back, taking a defensive position. Queenie was extremely wary of an ambush coming from one of the skeletons that were just lying on the floor, not risen yet. As she was watching the skeletons, she noticed something strange. Some of the wisps in the corridor was gathering around a skeleton. Soon, the wisps disappeared, and the skeletons started to move. Immediately, she notified Sylva of her findings.


    ¡°Watch out for the skeletons that have wisps flying around them. Those are the ones that are going to move!¡±


    Not wanting to be outdone by Queenie¡¯s combat sense, she quickly gave advice to Queenie to correct a mistake in her combat style specifically against these skeletons.


    ¡°Stop trying to pierce the skeletons with your spear, it goes right through them, Use your spear as if it was a staff.¡±


    "Thank you, Sylva."


    "You are thanking me for slapping you?"


    They let out a laugh while fighting the skeletons. They were synchronized in the mind with a single goal: to reach where Cani was. Queenie defended Sylva in the front, and Sylva protected Queenie from skeletons that were raising from behind. Both of them armed with a spear and torch, they walked slowly towards their destination back to back, fighting while they moved. They were both anxious to reach Cani¡¯s side.


    Day  39 (Night)


    ***The Lonely Mountain***


    ***Cani***


    ¡°Do you want to know why I rejected your offer?¡±


    Internally, I let out a small sigh of relief. He still wants to talk with me. Perhaps I didn¡¯t offer enough for him, and he wants more. He is the personification of greed after all.


    ¡°No, your majesty. Perhaps there is something you dislike with the agreement? We can change the agreement to your liking my sire.¡±


    Smaug lets out another laughter, but this time, it was different from before. This time, it was more...sinister.


    ¡°You are smart, Cani. If I wanted a servant, I would have wanted a servant as smart as you. However¡­¡±


    Uh-oh, that is not a good sign. Feeling the pressure in his words, I started to take a step back. Smaug sat up from his throne of treasures. Not letting me distance myself away from him, he leaned a bit more forward.


    ¡°You tried too hard to be smart. You thought that I, the great Smaug, could not tell what you were thinking?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean, my¡­¡±


    ¡°SILENCE!¡±


    A pillar of flame rose from his nostrils as he shouted. I froze immediately.¡±


    ¡°I would have accepted your proposal if you gave me an exact length of your tribe¡¯s servitude. Who in the right mind would want their tribe to serve someone forever? It was obvious. Too obvious. There was only one reason you would accept any terms that I would propose. You weren¡¯t going to honor the agreement.¡±


    Fuck me. He read me like a book. I made a mistake by being too eager to make the deal. Live and learn. Currently focusing on the ¡°live" part.


    ¡°I also know that you lied about coming here by accident. I am sure that you were after my treasure. I can smell your scent on my treasure. You were wallowing in it.¡±


    Fuck me sideways. He can smell that I swam in his gold? What is he a dog? There was no way I can convince him that we arrived at the Lonely Mountain by accident now.


    ¡°I will wash away the goblin stench on my gold with your blood!¡±


    Smaug raised his right claw and slashed at me.

 Chapter 30- Fight

    Author¡¯s Note:


    It¡¯s happening! The fight that I planned months ago is finally happening! I am going to take a short break before continuing with the next chapter; It should be up within 5 hours, though.


    Chapter 30- Fight


    Day  39 (Night)


    ***The Lonely Mountain***


    ***Cani***


    Smaug¡¯s claw pulled back in an arc. Knowing what he was going to do, I immediately jumped backward. When his claw came down, I managed to dodge the slash with a hair¡¯s width. Still, I was knocked back while in midair from the air pressure alone. I rolled on the floor after I landed to mitigate the damage to a minimum.


    ¡°You are still alive after taking that? Do you have an item that lets you survive a hit from a dragon? You amuse me, goblin. I will kill you and take that treasure away from you!¡±


    He thought that I took the hit? I guess that from his point of view, I flew back from his claw swipe. Even if he did manage to hit me, he wouldn¡¯t feel any resistant.


    ¡°Can that item help you survive this?¡±


    Smaug pulled back his head as he took a deep breath. I could see his belly inflating. In a game, it can only mean one thing. He is going to do a fire breathing attack. I spotted a pillar near me and ran behind to use it as a cover. Just as I reached behind the pillar, Smaug released the fire breathing attack. Flames filled a large area in front of him. Even though I managed to evade the attack, a small corner of my Ki¡¯th caught on fire. I immediately stepped on it to put out the flame.


    Since I was temporarily safe hiding behind the pillar, I did a quick analysis of the situation. Was escaping an option? I quickly dismissed that idea. Even if I managed to reach the exit, he could breathe fire into the corridor. From what I remembered, the corridor was long and narrow. There were nothing in the hallway that could let me hide from the fire attack. I would be roasted by the flame long before I could reach somewhere safe. I had already concluded that talking was no longer an option, so fighting was the only option left. I started to make a list of things that I could take advantages of in this fight.


    One of the biggest advantages that I could see was his attack have long wind-up time. As long as I can guess how he wants to attack, I could probably find a way to dodge it. I was small and agile. I can move anywhere in the room with relative ease. Smaug, on the other hand, was large and cumbersome.


    Another key point in this fight was that I knew his weak point. If I remember correctly, he has a small patch of skin that was not covered by diamonds and hard gemstones near his heart. However, I doubt that I can attack that weak spot without some ranged weapon. It is impossible for me to reach it. However, there was another soft spot that was neither covered by his scales nor gemstones: his eyes. Just like how I defeated the bear, I could attack his eyes. If I could manage to get close enough without him noticing, I could climb on top of his head and attack his eyes. Since I was so small and light, he wouldn¡¯t be able to feel my presence on his skin until it was too late.


    The terrain was explicitly designed for this encounter. Several pillars in the area were supporting nothing. It looked as if the pillars were for a decorative purpose. However, I knew that they are there for the players to hide from the fire breathing attack.


    ¡°You think that you can hide behind that pillar forever?¡±


    My instinct screamed at me to run away from my current spot. I immediately ran out from the cover of the pillar. The pillar exploded behind me under the Smaug¡¯s powerful claw attack. I kept running away. I did not stop until I was at a location where I could easily dodge both his claw attack and hide behind a pillar for his fire breathing attack. Looking back at the pillar that he destroyed, I realized that there was one more factor in this fight. There was an ¡°enrage timer¡± for this battle. If he destroyed all the pillars in the room, there would be no way to defend me against his fire. I would be roasted alive.


    ¡°There you are you little rat! Stay still you little piece of shit!¡±


    He was inhaling again. I was about to run behind the pillar for cover, but I noticed that there was something different this time. His head was looking up at the sky instead of facing forward. My gaming sense told me that this time, the fire would be coming from above. I desperately looked around my surrounding for options. I noticed that there was a shield on top of a small pile of treasure next to me. I quickly grabbed that shield and used it as an umbrella against the rain of the fire. The shield was designed for a human, though. It was too large to wield normally for me. I had to hold it by grabbing the enarmes with one hand and support the rest of the shield with the other. Sure enough, Smaug spat out fire upwards towards the sky. Fire rained down from the sky. I could hear and feel embers bouncing off the shield.


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    ¡°Let¡¯s see you dodge this!¡±


    He walked up to me and turned his body. His huge tail scrapes the wall as he turned. It was a tail swipe. I couldn¡¯t dodge left, right nor back. There was only one direction that I could dodge. I let go of the shield and lay flat on the floor. His tail passed on top of me. I thought I was fine, but once again the air pressure of his attacked sent me flying across the room. I rolled on the floor to reduce the damage once again. Looking back at where I was, I noticed that the attack destroyed several of the pillars. I need to think of a way to get close to him soon. I was running out of time. I suddenly had an idea. It was all or nothing. While still kneeling on the floor, I picked up a coin from the floor and hid it in my belt. Before I knew it, Smaug¡¯s attention was trained on me once again. I stood back up and put my hands up in the air.


    ¡°WAIT WAIT WAIT! I give up. I will give you my magical artifact that helps me withstood your attack. Please, just let me live your majesty.¡±


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I just kill you and take the treasure.¡±


    ¡°There is a limited amount of times one can use it. It can block three fatal attacks instead of the bearer of the artifact. I already took two hits. The next one will destroy it.¡±


    I slowly took the coin out of my belt, showing the dragon. He pondered for a short while and answered.


    ¡°Give it to me and I will let you keep your miserable life.¡±


    ¡°So we have a deal?¡±


    ¡°Yes, we have a deal.¡±


    I threw the coin at Smaug as hard as I could. He caught the coin with his claw and started to examine it. While he was distracted, I ran and quickly buried myself inside a small mountain of treasure, leaving a small hole to watch Smaug. Still gasping for air from all the running, I had to slow my breathing forcibly, making sure that I would not make a sound. All I have to do is wait for him to walk by this pile of treasure and climb onto his body.


    ¡°This is just an ordinary coin! You conniving thief!¡±


    He looked up and realized that I was nowhere to be found. Out of anger from the humiliation, he started to rampage around the room, destroying every pillar. From his point of view, it was the only place where I could hide.


    ¡°I know you are still in here, I can smell your stench. Come out and receive your death sentence for trying to deceive a king!¡±


    Before long, he destroyed all the pillars in the room, and he had yet to walk by the small mountain of treasure that I was hidden in. He prowled around the room, looking for me. It looked as if he finally gave up and headed towards the center of the area.


    ¡°So you hid in my treasures have you? It has been centuries since I have cleaned this room. I guess it is time to clean it to flush out a rat.¡±


    He expanded his wings and started to flap it. All the treasures in the room began to rattle and vibrate. At first, it was a few coins, and then helmets and shields started to roll on the floor. He was creating a hurricane to blow everything away. Before long, all the coins that were covering me was blown away. I was exposed once again to Smaug¡¯s attacks. I tried to stand up and run once again, but the wind nearly blew me away. I laid on the floor, took out my hammer and struck the ground, anchoring myself to the floor so I wouldn¡¯t be blown away.


    ¡°So there you are my little rodent. You can¡¯t even stand up in my presences. Who do you think you are? What makes you think that you can run away from me!¡±


    Still pinned to the ground by the wind, he took a step towards me without stopping beating his wings.

 Chapter 31- Fall

    Author¡¯s note:


    Crap, Murphy¡¯s law hard at work.


    I got called to work on Sunday and couldn¡¯t do the writathon==¡±


    This was a lot harder to write than what I imagined. It¡¯s a bit shorter than what I would have liked, but I feel that the next part deserves it¡¯s own chapter. Enjoy


    Chapter 31- Fall


    Day  39 (Night)


    ***The Lonely Mountain***


    ***Cani***


    ¡°I have got to admit, little goblin. You are good. No other mortals had lasted this long against me.¡±


    I can barely open my eyes due to the wind and dust. Out of the slits of my eyelids, I saw a large halberd, flying straight towards me. Like an acrobat, I twisted my body, dodging the deadly missile. I couldn¡¯t avoid it completely, though. The halberd sliced my shoulder, opening a wound. I used my free hand to cover the fresh wound, hoping it will slow the bleeding down even by a bit.


    ¡°Can¡¯t we talk about this like a gentleman? I am just a goblin, why are you so insistent on killing me?¡±


    Smaug didn¡¯t answer my question. I tried to raise my voice and spoke to Smaug again.


    ¡°I SAID! CAN¡¯T WE TALK..¡±


    ¡°After I will kill you, I will make sure the rest of your tribe to follow your footstep to hell.¡±


    It looked like he couldn¡¯t hear me at all. The howling wind completely drowned out all other sounds except for Smaug¡¯s powerful voice. I ran through my head a quick analysis of the current situation. Knicks and scratches riddled my body. I couldn¡¯t even stand up in this artificial hurricane that Smaug created, let alone run. I looked up at Smaug in despair. Without stopping the creating the storm, he took steps towards me. Slowly but steadily, he walked towards me as if each step was a countdown towards my execution. It looked like this was checkmate. I couldn¡¯t run, and I couldn¡¯t talk, the only option left is¡­  I smirked at my idea. It is too crazy for it not work.


    ¡°Just who do you think you are? Daring to challenge Smaug, the Magnificent? The emperor of the Lonely Mountain?


    ¡°Are you retarded? Who do I think I am?¡±


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    I grabbed the two corners of my Ki¡¯th with my toes. If I couldn¡¯t run, and I couldn¡¯t talk, then only option left is to fly.


    ¡°I AM THE GODDAMN BATGOBLIN!¡±


    I retracted my hammer from the ground and held on to it with my mouth. I stretched out my Ki¡¯th as far as I could; I turned it into a makeshift wingsuit. Immediately, I shot up from where I was and flew around the room along with the rough turbulence. When I was still a human, I played in an indoor skydiving once. I can¡¯t say that I am excellent at it, but this had a similar feeling to it: except there were no flying shrapnels or worry about a dragon wanting to kill me in the middle of the room. The air current was not that cooperative, though. It was pushing me straight into walls of the circular room. I contorted my body and tried to change my heading. The very last second managed to change the directions. I flew in a beautiful parabola millimeters away from the wall.


    ¡°What? How did you...?¡±


    My actions caught Smaug completely off guard. He stopped beating his wing, and the wind slowly died down. The air pressure that was keeping me against the wall was gradually weakened. Seeing the chance, I kicked against the wall as hard as I could. Stunned by the sudden turn of events, Smaug completely froze, baffled by my actions. I knew I only had one shot at this. Grabbing the hammer from my mouth, I aimed myself towards Smaug¡¯s eyes and readied myself to strike.


    ¡°EAT THIS!¡±


    I struck Smaug right in the center of the pupil. A loud thud sounded. When the hammer collided with it, it was as if time slowed down. I could clearly see everything happening at bullet time. The only thing that was moving was a small ripple, radiating from the point of impact. It spread towards, the cornea, then towards the head, neck, and eventually the rest of Smaug¡¯s body. It was almost the same as the scene in ¡°Matrix¡± where the helicopter crashed into the building. When it ripples finally spread throughout the whole body, his eye burst open, and blood gushed out. The red geyser knocked me back, sending me flying through the air. I did not stop until I hit the wall. With a loud thunderous crash, both Smaug and I fell onto the floor at the same time.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System Message: Cani has a title, The Dragon Slayer</td></tr></tbody></table>

 Chapter 32- Continue?

    Author¡¯s Note:


    Crap, I forgot to tell you guys that school started once again.


    I will try to write at least one chapter a week.


    Also, hold your horses guys, and 10 points to Gryffindor for guessing there will be another Dev meeting :P a lot of the explanation would be in that chapter, but I have already planted seeds for this fight since him getting a bearskin Ki¡¯th


    There is going to be an epilog before the rewrite starts


    Chapter 32 - Continue?


    Day  39 (Night)


    ***The Lonely Mountain***


    ***Cani***


    ¡°CANI!¡±


    I opened my eyes at the sound of my name and stared at the crescent moon. Queenie? No! It¡¯s too dangerous to be in here. At best, I had blinded one of Smaug¡¯s eye and knocked him out.  Still lying on my back, I tried to yell out and tell her to get back, but all that came out of my mouth was blood. It was my blood. A metallic taste filled my mouth to the brim. I coughed a few more times as spat out the red syrup from of my mouth. With my throat cleared, I yelled back in distress.


    ¡°Get back!¡± *Cough* ¡±The dragon should not be dead yet!¡±


    ¡°CANI!¡±


    A purple haired goblin as beautiful as the crescent moon soon popped up from the side, replacing the one in the sky.


    ¡°Cani, don¡¯t worry. The dragon is dead. It¡¯s not breathing. Is¡­ is that your blood?¡±


    ¡°Some of it, ya.¡±


    I gave a quick chuckle after hearing the news. I was covered head to toe in thick dragon blood. I gave out a long sigh and finally relaxed from the tension of the fight. I don¡¯t understand why it was able to kill it in one hit, but I guess I shouldn¡¯t look at a dead, gift dragon in the mouth. I tried to get up and see the dragon¡¯s body myself.


    I couldn''t.


    I tried to move my knees, my ankle, my toes, my hands, my elbow. Nothing moved. I then tried the feel the cold hard ground. I felt nothing. After the adrenalin wore off, I finally realized my body was in a terrible condition. Every labored breath I took, I can feel my broken ribs that punctured my lungs. My spine was broken as well. I was dying soon. Accepting my fate, I closed my eyes and smiled. At least this death was epic compared to the first time around. I heard that the brain released dopamine near death. I guess this is why I felt so content, so complete.


    ¡°Help me sit up.¡±


    Following my request, Queenie pulled me up into a sitting position, supporting my limp back with her hand. Luckily I could still turn my head to see the body of Smaug, with blood still trickling out of his now hollowed eye socket. It served him right. I turned back and looked at kneeling Queenie and with Sylva, standing behind her.


    ¡°Queenie¡± *Cough* ¡°I am going to die soon.¡±


    ¡°No no no, don¡¯t say that.¡±


    Her eyes sparkled in the night with tears.


    ¡°You need to lead the others...¡±


    ¡°NO SHUT UP, SHUT UP! Are you ditching your responsibility as the leader of this clan?¡±


    ¡°Queenie, please¡­¡±


    She burst into tears and buried her face into my chest. I wanted to stroke her face with my hand to calm her down, but I forgot that I was paralyzed.


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    ¡°Queenie, you have to listen to me. There has to be a way out of here. Search every room and turn every stone to find it. You have plenty of time. I just got us enough meat for the tribe to last at least a month.¡± *Gasp* ¡°Once you find the exit, stay here and make this place a paradise for goblins.¡±


    Queenie¡¯s answer was muffled by her sobs and my chest. It was getting harder and harder to breath. I could feel my lungs starting to fill with blood. I have to make this quick before I lose my ability to speak. I turned my attention to Sylva.


    ¡°Sylva, do you hate me?¡±


    ¡°I did once.¡±


    ¡°I am sorry, if there were any other¡± *gasp* ¡°way, I would have done it without killing anyone. But I had to protect my tribe. My tribe comes first.¡±


    ¡°I understand. I would have done the same.¡±


    I closed my eyes and thought for a while.


    ¡°Sylva, I have yet to declare your punishment.¡± *gasp* ¡°This is your punishment, Sylva. Treat this tribe as though it was your own, and help Queenie as the leader.¡±


    With a glint of tear her eyes, she answered my plead with nods filled with determination. I turned my attention back to Queenie. I gave a quick sigh at this bittersweet situation. I decided to comfort her with one final lie.


    ¡°Queenie, please. Listen to me. Look into my eyes.¡±


    Queenie pulled her head up. Her eyes were swollen with tears. I smile wryly at her.


    ¡°I am going soon. I am going to where the goblin¡± *Gasp* ¡±god is. I am going beat him up and tell him to bring me back to you.¡±


    ¡°No, no, no, please don¡¯t go, Cani, I need you here.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you trust me that¡± *gasp* ¡°I will be back?¡±


    ¡°Just stay here, Cani...please¡­ I lost your child already; I can¡¯t lose you too.¡±


    ¡°Queenie, Let me¡± *gasp* ¡°touch your¡±*gasp* ¡°face¡± *gasp* ¡°one¡± *gasp* ¡°last¡± *gasp* ¡°time.¡±


    She held my hand up to her tear soaked face. I couldn¡¯t feel it. I couldn¡¯t feel the warmth, I couldn¡¯t feel the smoothness, I couldn¡¯t. I couldn¡¯t feel her face one last time. This was the only regret that I had. I lived as a goblin for not longer than two months. I had a more fulfilling life than my time as a human. What an irony.  The world faded gradually to black and white.I took one last gasp of air before I slowly closed my eyes.


    ¡°No.. Cani¡­. wake¡­.¡±


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Status: Respawning 2...1...0</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System Message: Resetting memories, existing stats, and abilities..</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System message: Data wipe failed. Data currently in use. Reattempting 1/3</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System message: Data wipe failed. Data currently in use. Reattempting 2/3</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System message: Data wipe failed. Data currently in use. Reattempting 3/3</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System message: ERROR. Data wipe failed. Bypassing data wipe.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System message: Spawning Personality 29A in designated starting area</td></tr></tbody></table>

 Arc 1 Epilogue- G.O.D.

    Author¡¯s Note:


    Thank God for the family day here in Canada, letting me get an extra day off.


    Epilogue- G.O.D.


    ***Shadowmaple***


    ***Fin''Vaiel***


    I got off the elevator and started to walk down the corridor. I took a quick glance at my watch. Good, I was going to be on time for the meeting. When I went into the conference room, the first thing I noticed was the sweet aroma of popcorn in the air hitting my nostrils. Everyone was already in their seats around an oval table waiting for me to start. In the back, I saw Aewyn munching on a huge bag of popcorn.


    ¡°Umm,  Aewyn¡­¡±


    ¡°I know what you are going to say, but trust me on this one. We will need the popcorn. Anyone want some?¡±


    She pulled out a few plastic plates out of her bag and started to share her popcorn with everyone else. Everyone looked at me with puppy dogs eyes, begging for approval for snacking during the meeting. I covered my eyes and resisted the urge to strangle her. Even though Aewyn is weird, I have known her long enough to trust her judgements. I gave a quick nod to signal my approval of the snacks in defeat. Everyone quickly passed the popcorn around in excitement. Ignoring Aewyn¡¯s antics, I started the meeting.


    ¡°Alright, everyone. This meeting is about the recently completed secret dungeon ¡®The Lonely Mountain¡¯. Due to the speed that it was cleared, we suspected that there was a hacker involved. I had Aewyn look into it.¡±


    ¡°I went to the legal department and got the approval to pull all the video in regards to this player named Cani. I put quite a bit of work into this. I hope all of you enjoy this. Fin, hit the lights please?¡±


    I turned off the lights, and the screen starts to glow. A title popped up, and the background music began to play. ¡°The Legacy of Cani¡±.  Aewyn has edited everything that the player Cani did into a movie.  Now I can see why she said we needed popcorn. I grabbed a seat next to Aewyn and started to munch on her popcorn. The music sounded familiar. It was a background music generated in the old Project: Earth. I think it was called ¡°FullMetal Alchemist¡±. Rather than elven cultures, Aewyn delved into everything that was produced in Project: Earth. She often referenced things from it. She even tried to implement the alchemy system from that series into Project: Earth Plus. We had to drop the idea eventually due to balance issues, though.


    The camera turned and focused onto a small goblin. That little goblin grew up quickly in front of the camera. When it was almost an adult, it went on a small adventure where he stole food from the storage and sneaked outside to cook it, only to be caught by the leader of the clan. A red exclamation mark was edited on top the leader¡¯s head.


    ¡°Snake? Snake? SNAKE!!!¡±


    I don¡¯t get the reference to that one, but several others in the room did. They were having trouble stifling their laughter. The movie fast forwarded a couple of days. It showed Cani going up against a bear. Another fast-paced theme song that I don¡¯t recognize started to play in the background.


    ¡°MORTAL KOMBAT!


    The tiny goblin managed to blind the gigantic bear. He climbed on top of the cliff. The screen froze. ¡°FINISH HIM!!¡± with a bloody font flashed across the screen. The goblin jumped and stuck a branch down the bear''s throat, causing the bear to fall and pierced the spear through the bear¡¯s neck. ¡°FATALITY¡±.  Several members finally couldn¡¯t hold it in and burst out with laughter. Clearly, it was another reference that I did not get.


    After the fight with the bear, it showed Cani¡¯s military prowess as he lead his tribe to victory against a superior attacking force. He lured his enemy into his cave and set the whole place on fire, killing all of his enemies without losing a single member.


    After about two hours of the film, the part we were eagerly waiting for finally happened. It was the fight with the dragon. I recognized the theme song that was playing this time. It was ¡°Megalovania¡± from ¡°Undertale¡±. It was one of the few games that I enjoyed playing during Project: Earth. I have to give Aewyn credit, though. The music perfectly matched the action sequence on screen. The goblin skillfully dodges everything that the dragon threw at him. Due to the small stature of the goblin, there were a couple of attacks that were dodged which would be impossible for other races.


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    ¡°I AM THE GODDAMN BATGOBLIN!¡±


    Laughter erupted throughout the room as the tiny goblin flew around the arena. He then flew straight towards the dragon and killed it with one swing of his hammer. Cani was heavily injured in the process and died soon afterwards. The credit started rolling, and Aewyn turned the lights back on. I finished the popcorn quickly and stood in front of the meeting room once again.


    ¡°So what do you guys think after seeing that?¡±


    Tolkien was the first to speak up.


    ¡°He must be hacking the game somehow. Even if it explained how he got to the ¡°The Lonely Mountain¡±, there is no way he can kill it in one hit!¡±


    ¡°Aewyn?¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say that it¡¯s impossible. Even in your book, Smaug was brought down in one shot by the black arrow.¡±


    ¡°But he¡¯s a goblin, there is no way that he have enough strength to deal enough damage.¡±


    ¡°It is exactly because he is a goblin that he could take down Smaug in one hit. I took a look at the numbers, and there is no doubt that it is possible.There are multiple factors. First he hit a natural weak spot shared amongst all creatures, which is the eye. Second he has the ¡°Giant Slayer.¡± title, which he earned by defeating the bear. This lets him deal bonus damage equal to the size difference. The third is because of the weapon that he gained from the goblin extermination event. He is using the ¡°Hammer of Wrath¡±. There are two abilities. First it ignores all armor mitigation. The second effect is that it deals a bonus damage based on the amount of ¡°hate¡± the target has on him. Normally, the bonus damage isn¡¯t that much for a raid boss because the ¡°hate¡± is usually split between party members. But since Cani was soloing him, his damage was amplified by an insane amount.¡±


    Silence befell the room after hearing Aewyn¡¯s explanation of what we saw. Tolkien finally broke the silence.


    ¡°What should we do about this? It is evident that it is goblins weren¡¯t supposed to be able to do something like this? How did he become a goblin anyway? I don¡¯t remember that was one of the playable race.¡±


    Aewyn stuck a tongue out at Tolkien before answering him.


    ¡°You are just salty because Cani beat your dragon with the weakest race. He probably got goblin when he chose randomly as his race. There were reports of several people that got a race that normally weren''t playable when they randomised. As of now, though, I have confirmed that goblins are a pickable race with ¡°The Lonely Mountain¡± as their designated starting area.¡±


    I took another deep breath before throwing in my two cents.


    ¡°I want to hire him. I want him as one of the development staff.¡±


    Everyone expressed their astonishment. I explained my decision.


    ¡°He displayed his talent as a role player through everything that he did. Particularly during the last scene of his death, even I was touched by that scene. Aewyn, can you try to contact him?¡±


    Aewyn fiddled with her laptop a bit before she gave a disappointing news.


    ¡°His character has been deleted.¡±


    ¡°Wow, is he a hardcore player? Or is he just that dedicated to role playing? Is there any way we can track him down?¡±


    ¡°We can try to find his contact info from his payment account, but I doubt the courts will approve of it. We need their additional approval in order release information about his account because of privacy issues.¡±


    ¡°Aewyn, see if we can hire someone to create an original soundtrack for everything. I know you spent a lot of effort editing everything together, but not everyone would get the references from old Project: Earth. I want to use that as a promotional video for the new playable race. When he sees the movie, he would probably contact us for compensation of some sort. I don¡¯t mind paying a bit for that kind of talent.¡±


    Tolkien shook his head a bit before sighing, admitting his defeat.


    ¡°The string of unlikely events that leads to Smaug¡¯s defeat¡­ The Game Occurrence Director A.I. must be in love with him or something.¡±

 Arc 2 Prologue- Reroll

    Author¡¯s Note:


    This will be the last teaser update for a while. After this, I would be doing only the rewrites. I have already put two chapters of the rewrites up. I will do at least 1 chapter of rewrite every other day


    Arc 2 Prologue- Reroll


    ***Belhern Village ***


    ***Cani Garland***


    I silently hid behind a tree. Looking around, I saw that there were no dangers nearby. I proceed to sit down next to the tree relaxing for a bit. It took me three days of wandering around before I finally found this remote dwarven village. I was given a quest to secure a new food source for the goblins.


    Due to the increase of goblins living in The Lonely Mountain, the food supplies were running low. The elders started to become desperate for securing more food. One of the elders told me that if I can acquire a large amount of food, they would promote me to a leader of a small squad. I proposed that we were to seek out a dwarven village and pillage their food. The elders agreed with my plans and made an offer for this quest. They would have me lead the raid and all the goblins that survive the assault would permanently become my squad members.


    My plans have three stages. The first is to locate a village that was as far away from the dwarven city and the borders as possible. Villages are rarely stationed with troops. The only exception to those would be ones that are near the borders or the capital. They would provide the least resistance. On top of that, most villages rely on agriculture as their primary income source. That would mean that we would be able to acquire a large amount of food in one go.


    The second stage is to scout the surroundings. I need to know exactly where the village stores their food. I need to know where the defenses are. I need to know where I can enter and exit easily. I need to hit this fast and hard to avoid any casualties.


    The third stage would be for me to go back to The Lonely Mountain, lead my squad to this village, and execute the plan. I am hoping to borrow at least 30 goblins more for this mission on top of what I will be assigned. We will need help carrying the food back.


    It was noon with a few clouds in the sky. I decided to stay put and hide inside the edge of the forest. I planned to move closer to the village once it becomes dark so that nobody would see me. Seeing that there was quite a while before it was night, I decided to take a nap in the shade in this perfect weather. I would need to be well rested for the scouting that I would do tonight. I gathered some leaves to cover myself and closed my eyes.


    ***Belhern Village***


    ***Cani Garland***


    *CRASH*


    A loud crash woke me from my slumber. I quickly grabbed my spear and armed myself. Looking around, I finally found what caused the loud crash. There were several dwarves on the road about half a kilometer from where I was. It looked like the cart that was carrying large sacks had broken down. The dwarves that were transporting gathered around the cart discussing what to do. One of the dwarves unhitched the donkeys from the cart and led them away down the road.


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    After a while, a bunch of dwarves came back with the one that left with the donkey. One of the dwarves climbed the cart and started to pass the sacks to the other dwarves. It looked like that they were going to carry the bags one by one. About half of the cart was emptied by the time everyone was carrying a sack. They started to leave the cart, carrying the sack on their shoulder.


    All of them did the same except one of them. It looked like that he would stay behind and look after the broken cart. It looked like it was a dwarven child


    I debated with myself if I should use the opportunity to kidnap the lone child and save some time by forcing him to tell me everything about the village. In the end, I decided against and kept myself hidden. I don¡¯t want to risk alerting the village of my presence and jeopardizing my quest in the long run.


    I kept my eyes on the situation when suddenly, the red headed kid stare straight my direction. I was well hidden, so I doubt that he saw me. I decided not to move at all and hope it wasn¡¯t the case. Just when I was trying to convince myself that he couldn¡¯t see me, he started to walk towards me. Curses. As much as I hate to hurt a child, he left me with no choice. I have to capture him to stop him from alerting the others. Sorry kid, you are out of luck.


    When he was about 100 meters away, I revealed myself from my hiding place. I ran out into the opening towards the road with my spear readied in my hands. Rushing towards him, I commanded him to stop moving.


    ¡°Alright stop moving if you don¡¯t want to get hurt.¡±


    He stopped in his tracks. I slowly approached him. Just as I thought I got the situation under control, he suddenly speeds up and ran towards me, catching me off guard. He closed the distance between us, pulled his right hand back and punched me in the face.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System message: You are dead.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Status: Respawning 29...28...27</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°FUCK! ARE YOU SERIOUS? System, log out.¡±


    I took off the virtual reality helmet and threw it on the bed in frustration. After watching the promo video for the new race, I was eager to play as a goblin. I liked the video so much that I even named myself after the goblin in the video. It turned out that goblins were one of the race with the weakest stats. In return, you can command a bunch of goblins with absolute loyalty. I expected for me to be weak, but I didn¡¯t expect to be killed by a child in one hit. I am done playing as a goblin. I put my helmet back on.


    ¡°System, delete character Cani.¡±


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System message: Are you sure you want to delete the character Cani? Y/N</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System Message: Character deleted.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Seeing that I was killed by a dwarf, I might as well try it.


    ¡°System, roll new character, dwarves.¡±

 Chapter 33- Dinner

    Author¡¯s Note:


    I didn¡¯t have to work tonight. I got bored of revising the old chapters and decided to give you guys a surprise update.


    Be sure to read the revised  chapters as some of the previous details has been changed to fit the current direction of the novel.


    Leave comments if you see some mistake/inconsistencies.


    Chapter 33- Dinner


    ***June 5th, 965 A.F. (Night)***


    ***Belhern Village***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    ¡°MOM! I AM HOME!¡±


    It was dusk when I reached home. I took off my muddy shoes at the entrance and stepped inside. I grabbed a towel that was hanging next to the door and wiped off the mud that was sticking to my pants. My mom would kill me if she found out that I dirtied the house with mud. After inspecting every inch of my clothes, I hurried into the kitchen. When I got there, I saw my mother, a red-haired dwarf and green eyes, holding my baby step sister with one hand and stirring a pot with a wooden spoon with the other.


    My sister was a two years old with a hazelnut hair and eyes, same as her father. With how cute she is, it could have been easily mistaken that my mother was holding a doll. My sister just couldn¡¯t wait until dinner. You could tell from my step sister¡¯s eyes, mesmerized by the simmering soup. Hearing my footsteps, the housewife laid down the wooden spoon on the kitchen counter and turned around to greet me.


    ¡°Welcome back dear! How was work at the rice paddies today?¡±


    ¡°Ug, it was the worst. The cart¡¯s axle broke down. I had to stay next to the cart make sure nothing get stolen. I would have been back an hour earlier if it didn¡¯t break down. I should have just left by myself.¡±


    Of course, I did not tell her that I was attacked by a goblin. I did not want to worry her. I didn¡¯t feel bad about killing a goblin even though I was one. Much like killing Sylva¡¯s troops, it was simply a matter of kill or be killed. Crossing my arms and grumbling a bit, I showed my displeasure for coming home late. I acted childishly to cover the fact that I killed a goblin.  Seeing my annoyance, she gave my hair a tussle with her free hand. With that, my frown quickly turned into a childish grin.


    ¡°Ajax. You are such a kind boy to help the others.¡±


    Even though my mental age was of an adult, it felt nice to act like a kid once again. Freed from the shackles of responsibility, I can enjoy my life without worries. Eight years ago, I died as Cani, the goblin and I was respawned. Not as a goblin this time, but as Ajax, the dwarf. I inherited my mother¡¯s hair. I was ecstatic that I was not bald anymore since my luscious red hair covered an ugly birthmark on my head, which was the same shape as the scar when I was a goblin. Contrasting with my hair, I had sparkling sapphire blue eyes. The appearances of dwarves were exactly like the classical fantasy dwarves. Everyone was muscular and stout. But since I haven¡¯t hit puberty yet, I looked more like a halfling instead.


    Our small village, named Belhern, was about 2 hours of walking, north of the next major town, Caedona. Caedona acts a central hub for the surrounding villages before connecting to the dwarven capital. Our main job was to tend the terraced paddy fields in the mountains for the Dwarven Kingdom. Speaking of which, I was shocked when I learned about the dwarven culture. It was a strange mix of the Japanese and European culture. I am pretty sure that the design team got lazy and just mashed everything from the previous world.


    ¡°Here, let me help you with Emily.¡±


    I offered to hold my step sister while my mom cooks. Holding out my hands, I expected to receive her into my arms. However, my sister held on to my mom like a koala bear, refusing to budge. Emily let out a small whine of protest when I tried to pry her off of my mother gently.


    ¡°Come over here, Emily. Let your brother hold you.¡±


    ¡°No! Stay, mama.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s ok, Ajax. I am used to doing this. Besides, you know how much she like to watch me cook.¡±


    ¡°Catherine! I am home! What¡¯s on the stove? It smells wonderful.¡±


    ¡°Dad! You are back early!¡±


    A hazelnut-brown haired dwarf, slightly taller than my mother, walked into the kitchen towards my mom. When he got next to her, he brushed away his thick braided beard and gave her a light peck on her lips. It was my stepdad, Duncan McGuire. Even though he was quite a bit older than my mother, he is the youngest out of all the village chief. From what I have heard, my real father died before I was born and my mom was forced to move to this village due to some circumstances.


    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    When my mother arrived at this village, he took care of her and soon fell in love with her. There were resistants from his father the previous village chief since she already had me. But when the former village chief fell ill and passed away suddenly, my stepfather became the village chief. With no one else opposing him, he almost immediately proposed to my mother and she accepted. I was rather concerned at first, not knowing how he would treat me. But after living with him for a few years, I could tell that he genuinely saw me as though I was his son. I was rather happy to have a father to take care of me, so I had no problem treating him as if he was my real father as well.


    ¡°Welcome home, how was the monthly meeting today?¡±


    ¡°Eh, it was boring as usual. So how is my prodigy doing today?¡±


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Personality #29A</td></tr><tr><td>Name:</td><td>Ajax McGuire</td><td>Race:</td><td>Dwarf</td></tr><tr><td>Title:</td><td>Giant Slayer, Dragon Slayer</td><td>Tribe:</td><td>Iron Age</td></tr><tr><td>Strength:</td><td>Exceptional</td><td>Dexterity:</td><td>Exceptional</td></tr><tr><td>Constitution:</td><td>Exceptional</td><td>Intelligence:</td><td>Above Average</td></tr><tr><td>Endurance:</td><td>Above Average</td><td>Charisma:</td><td>Above Average</td></tr><tr><td>Wisdom:</td><td>Extraordinary</td><td>Luck:</td><td>Average</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Abilities:</td><td colspan=''2''>Leadership, Gamer''s Mind, Crafting</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I still haven¡¯t figured out how to open my status page. However, I was able to memorize my stats once again. It looked like my theory was correct. Every time I die, my previous stats are being added to my current ones. Because of this, I displayed intelligence beyond my age by learning how to speak, read and write fluently by the age of one. My parents were overjoyed to have a genius in the family. However, I decided to keep my strength as a secret even to my parents. I had a feeling that it would cause nothing but trouble if someone finds out.


    ¡°The cart broke down today, dad. You will need to take some money out from the village fund and buy a new iron axle.¡±


    Duncan scratched his head a bit and pondered.


    ¡°Eh? That¡¯s going to be a problem. Our village¡¯s budget is a bit tight this month. It is, at least, another month before we can harvest the rice and sell them. I don¡¯t think that we have money to spare.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, just give me some tools. From what I can tell, I can fix the cart by transforming it into a three-wheeled version. It will be a bit harder to use, but it¡¯s better than nothing.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s a great idea! As expected of my son!¡±


    He put me in a headlock and rustled my hair. I laughed gleefully, pretending to fight back. Of course, with my strength, I had to be careful not to hurt father while I was roughhousing with him. He started to tickle me. I broke free from him, so he began to chase after me.  I ran around the kitchen, screaming with delight. I should get an Oscar for my skill of acting like a child. At this point, our mother gave us the best news of the whole day.


    ¡°Alright, stop playing around. Dinner is ready!¡±


    Before I knew it, my mother had already finished preparing our meal. A mountain of food appeared on the kitchen table. Dwarves eat a lot compared to their size. Cooking for a family of dwarves is a full-time job in itself. Usually, one of the family members will stay in the kitchen and tend to the needs to all the other family members while other family members went out and earned the income. It is not necessary always the wife that cooks for the family. Sometimes, it would be the husband. But in our case, it was my mother that stayed home and cooked for everyone. She loved being in the kitchen all day.


    We sat around the rectangular kitchen table, my father and I on one side, and my sister and mother on the other. My sister had her little booster seat to help her reach the table. We put our hands together and gave our thanks.


    ¡°ITADAKIMASU!¡±


    ¡°ITADAKIMASU!¡±


    ¡°ITADAKIMASU!¡±


    ¡°IDADAKIMATHU¡±


    My sister cutely tried to imitate the rest of us giving thanks for our food. We all gave a quick chuckle before digging into the mountain of food.

 Chapter 34- Midnight Snack

    Author¡¯s Note:


    Ok, this is not working. I tried to do the rewrite, but I just couldn''t wait to write and continue on with the story. I just couldn''t concentrate on the rewrite at all. Sorry, looks like the poll I had posted was useless.


    Chapter 34- Midnight Snack


    ***June 5th, 965 A.F. (Night)***


    ***Belhern Village***


    ***Catherine McGuire***


    It was middle of the night, but her job was not completed yet. Catherine stood silently in front of the kitchen counter, preparing the ingredients to cook for the next meal. The rhythmic sound of the knife cutting on the chopping block permeated throughout the house. She wasn¡¯t alone in the kitchen, though. Her husband was also working on the kitchen table, filling out some paperwork while munching on biscuits that his wife prepared as midnight snacks. To save money on candles, he decided to work in the kitchen where there was always a light source from the cooking flames instead of the study room he usually worked in.


    ¡°Ouch! My finger!¡±


    Catherine accidentally sliced her finger while preparing the food. It was not common for her to do so since she was experienced in cooking. Blood started to drip onto the counter. Noticing that she cut herself, Duncan put down his pen and rushed towards her. He inspected her fingers with care to make sure it was nothing serious. Pulling out his handkerchief from his pocket, he wrapped her finger, compressing it to slow the bleeding.


    ¡°Are you ok, dear? Is something on your mind? I have never seen you hurt yourself while cooking.¡±


    She looked at Duncan in his eyes with a hint of sadness. The crackling of the flames filled the silence between the couple. Giving a sigh, she finally decided to tell Duncan what was on in her mind that caused her to space out while she worked.


    ¡°I want to hear the truth from you. Are you embezzling money from the village fund?¡±


    Duncan wanted to refute her immediately but stopped himself from answering. He knew he couldn¡¯t hide it from his wife much longer. Seeing that he refused to answer, she decided to apply more pressure. She pulled her hands away from Duncan in anger. With a glint of tears in her eyes, she continued to question Duncan.


    ¡°Even if I don¡¯t know the details about our finances, there is no way the budget can¡¯t afford a single cart iron axle. Duncan, don¡¯t you dare to lie...¡±


    ¡°Yes, I am embezzling from the village fund.¡±


    Silence fell between the two once again. Multiple thoughts went through her head in the silence. Some worst-case scenarios, such as Duncan using the money in a brothel, welled up in her mind. Wiping the moist from her eyes, she decided to ask him more questions about the embezzlement.


    ¡°Why are you doing this? The Duncan I know would never do that.¡±


    ¡°Ajax is going to be ten years old soon.¡±


    ¡°What does that have to do with you stealing money from everybody? Everyone in the village entrusted you with it!¡±


    ¡°If I had noticed sooner, it would have never come to this.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°If I started saving money as soon as we realized Ajax is a genius, I wouldn¡¯t need to do this. When he becomes ten, he is eligible to enter the Royal Academy in the dwarven capital. With his intelligence, he can quickly make a name for himself there. It is going to cost a lot of money. I did an estimate. It will cost about 30 gold coins to send him there. We need to send him there, Catherine. I can¡¯t let his brilliance rot in some backwater village like this.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t mean you should have stolen the money!¡±


    ***June 5th, 965 A.F. (Night)***


    ***Belhern Village***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    I woke up in the middle of the night. Emily was still sleeping soundly in the cradle next to my bed. With a shred of moonlight from the window as my guide, I headed downstairs towards the outhouse to relieve myself. I remember the first few years of my life as a baby was quite embarrassing. Even though I can fully articulate myself, my body functions were still not within my control. I was often scolded by my mother because she had to clean up after I wet the bed. When I walked passed the kitchen, I heard the discussion between my parents. Curious about what they were talking about, I hid in the shadows of the hallway and eavesdrop in the conversation.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    ¡°... I can¡¯t let his brilliance rot in some backwater village like this.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t mean you should have stolen the money!¡±


    ¡°Dad¡­Mom...¡±


    ¡°Ajax! I thought you were asleep!¡±


    I emerged from the dark hallway and walked into the kitchen. Both of them were surprised to see me up this late. With a serious expression that did not fit a child, I beseeched my father.


    ¡°I heard everything dad. Return the money to everyone, I will not attend the Royal Academy.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    ¡°I will not use the dirty money, especially when it was stolen from everyone in the village. Think of all the times that we have been through. They are practically our family. It is not right.¡±


    ¡°You have to go, son. You are way too smart to stay here in the village.¡±


    ¡°If you refuse to return the money, I will also refuse to be your son. I will cast my last name McGuire away and use mother¡¯s maiden name instead. That way, you have no obligation to send me to the Academy.¡±


    I can¡¯t believe it happened again. My parents trying to force me into higher education. By all means, there was a difference between the two. Even though the actions were the same, the context was different. My parents when I was human wanted me in college because they were worried about not having someone with the financial ability to take care of them when they were old. They weren¡¯t really worried about my future. They were worried about theirs. With Duncan, however, he was worried about me. It didn¡¯t matter if he ruined his own future, he wanted to secure mine. Of course, I could not let him do that.


    ¡°Ajax¡­¡±


    ¡°Return the money and I promise you. I will find a way to earn the gold. I will attend the Royal Academy with the money I have earned. I will have the money before I become ten years old.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t let you shoulder all the cost! You are just a child!¡±


    I smiled in pain when I heard that. Duncan was not my real father but he treats me as though, if not better, as his own son. Seeing that Duncan wouldn¡¯t back away from the responsibility of a father, I offered him an ultimatum.


    ¡°Schedule a meeting with everyone in the village. You don¡¯t have to tell them that you embezzled from the village fund. Just say that we have a surplus. Ask everyone for approval to lend us the money. You will shoulder half the cost using that method and I will earn the other half. If you don¡¯t agree to this, I will tell everyone that the truth.¡±


    After a few second of silence in contemplation, he walked towards me, hugged me and finally answered.


    ¡°I will do that.¡±


    My mother joined us in the embrace, scolding dad while hugging us.


    ¡°Don¡¯t ever do something like this again. This is what family is for. If something like this happens again, talk with everyone.¡±


    I suddenly pulled away from my parents with force and started to run into the hallway. My bladder couldn''t hold on any longer.


    ¡°I would love to stay and talk, but I REALLY have to go to the outhouse, like right now.¡±


    I heard my parents giving a light chuckle while I was heading out. When I reached the toilet, I pulled down my pants and urinated into the hole. With a sigh of relief, I started to formulate plans in my head. Plans to earn money. I originally planned to take it easy and just take over my father¡¯s place as the village chief when I grow up. It looks like the future will be a little bit crazier than how I want it to be.

 Chapter 35- Celebration

    Author¡¯s Note:


    I swapped some of the chapters so that my .5 chapters will always be after a chapter with a 5 in the end. I blame it on my self-diagnosed OCD :P


    Chapter 35- Celebration


    ***Shadowmaple***


    ***Fin''Vaiel***


    ¡°¡±¡±¡± SUPRISE!!!!¡±¡±¡±¡±


    Aewyn went out for lunch as usual. In the little time we had before she came back, we prepared everything for the celebration. When we saw Aewyn walked out of the elevator and into the lobby, we threw confetti all over the place. With bits of colorful paper floating in the air, Aewyn gasped in astonishment and confusion.


    ¡°What is this¡­?¡±


    . She stopped talking as soon as she saw her husband, Elashor, in the crowd. Immediately she knew what the. Holding a bouquet of colorful flower in his hand, he walked towards her and gently placed it in her hands. Overwhelmed with emotions, she covered her mouth and eyes starts to flow with tears.


    ¡°Is it...?¡±


    ¡°Yes, the exam results came back. We passed the exam, and we are licenced to adopt a child. We are going to be parents soon.¡±


    Elves are practically immortal. Barring accidental deaths and diseases, we can live forever in our youths. Our immortality is a double-edged sword, though. Our birth rates are abysmal. Even if a couple stays together for thousands of years, they still might not be able to sire a single child. That is why there is an insatiable demand for adopting a child. Unlike in Project: Earth, the orphanages in the real world are nothing but an administrative office. There were simply no need for living quarters for the orphans. The demand for orphans is so high that they are sent out to their adoptive parents as soon as they are registered. The process to adopt a child is both lengthy and expensive. To make sure the orphans get a suitable home where they will be taken care of properly,  exams are given to the parents before they are licenced to adopt. Prospective parents are scrutinized under an extensive background check. All of the administrative works are paid for by the parents. Compared to Project: Earth, everyone was horrified when we found out how children were treated in orphanages. The simulation showed us the huge gap in society that could be caused by life expectancy and birth rates.


    Everyone lined up, shook their hands and congratulated the couple. When it was my turn, I decided to tease them a little about their future child.


    ¡°Congratulations, Wyn. When you get the child, make sure you don¡¯t infect them with your weirdness.¡±


    Sniffling and wiping away her tears of joy, she answered with the brightest smile that I have ever seen.


    ¡°No way, Val. I am definitely going to teach them all the wonderful things from Project: Earth.¡±


    ¡°I call shenanigans. There is no way they let someone as weird as you pass the exam. Did you pay them off?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I did. I bribed the director of the orphanage by offering to set up a blind date between you and him.¡±


    Everyone in the room had a good laugh at the joke. We decided to move our celebration into the pantry where we prepared a cake for the occasion. It was Aewyn¡¯s favorite chocolate mousse cake. Aewyn took charge of cutting and distributing the cake to everyone. Since I was the boss, she offered me the first and biggest slice of cake, as a thank you for allowing everyone to take a break and organizing the party. Seeing everyone was having fun, I decided to let everyone stay in the pantry and take a longer break than usual. I turned to Elashor for a small chat to kill some time.


    ¡°Say, Elashor. How long is the waiting list? Did the orphanage told you?¡±


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that long. They said that if the admission rate stays the same, it would be our turn by next century.¡±


    ¡°So you have about a hundred years to prepare for the new child, huh?¡±


    ¡°Not exactly. We were told that we need to keep ourselves prepared to take in an orphan at any time. There might be a disaster that causes a sudden increase in the number of children that are orphaned.¡±


    ¡°Have you decided what to name the child yet?¡±


    ¡°We are planning to let the child keep their original name. We feel that we should let the child keep the last bit of connection between them and their real parents. Of course, if the child wants to change their name, we would let them.¡±


    I felt a sudden tap on the shoulder. When I turned around, I saw Aewyn looking around with a paper plate in her hand. On top of the paper plate were a slice of cake and a plastic fork.


    ¡°Val, I don¡¯t see Tecon around. Everyone had their cake already. This slice is his share. Did he came to work today?¡±


    ¡°He is probably still busy in the server room. Here, let me take this to him. You stay here and enjoy the party.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Aewyn passed the paper plate to me, and I headed towards the server room. I walked down the quiet hallway which was devoid of anybody. Everyone in was in the pantry celebrating with Aewyn. Soon I reached a plain grey door at the end of the hallway. With the piece of cake still in my hand, I carefully put on the jacket that was hanging next to the door, making sure that I don¡¯t accidentally drop the cake onto the floor. Due to the heat generated by the servers, the server room is heavily air conditioned. The temperature in the room is kept at a constant negative five degrees Celsius to keep the servers running optimally. After I had put on the jacket, I put my hands on the scanner to authorize my entrance to the server room. As soon as I entered, I could hear a low hum from the servers, radiating in the chamber.  Between maze of the servers, I called out to Tecon.


    ¡°TECON! ARE YOU IN HERE?¡±


    As I yelled, I could see my breath in the form of a small puff of cloud due to the cold.


    ¡°BACK HERE!¡±


    I slowly walked towards Tecon¡¯s voice. When I reached the back, I could see him wedged in between two servers, connecting wires in between them. After he had finished, he struggled a bit before he released himself from the jaws of the servers. He wiped his sweat on his forehead using his jacket''s sleeves before taking the plate of cake from me.


    ¡°Here¡¯s your slice.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, boss.¡±


    ¡°No, thank you, for staying behind to make sure everything runs smoothly. So how are the new quantum computer servers?¡±


    He raised his hand, admitting his defeat.


    ¡°I can tell you is that if something goes wrong inside the quantum servers, you would have to call in the manufacturer to fix it. I don''t even know where to begin. All I know what to do is to hook it up as though as it was a regular computer. If you want me to repair the quantum servers, you would have to sponsor me to study in the field of quantum mechanics. Then, maybe, in ten or twenty years, I could fix it for you. Right now, I don¡¯t even dare open the case to the computers. I¡¯m afraid that a cat will pop out or I will find a dead cat in there. Are you sure we have to upgrade the server? It wasn''t that long ago that we did an upgrade.¡±


    ¡°After we settle everything, we can integrate the west and east coast server into a single server. We will have a lot more control over everything. Not to mention, I won¡¯t have to pay the expensive rent to house the west coast server at another location.¡±


    ¡°Well, I just hope nothing goes wrong because I wouldn¡¯t want to be the one to fix it.¡±

 Chapter ???- ???

    Author¡¯s Note:


    I feel sick today ==¡±


    Speculate away with this chapter. *Laughs evilly*


    Chapter ???- ???


    ***June 5th, 965 A.F. (Night)***


    ***Belhern Village***


    ***G2O9DA***


    Materialized. Middle of the night. Black Flames. Data Corruption. Remembered. House. Before hell.


    Traveled. I data. Not physical. To beginning. Quantum. Old. Beacon. Target. Server shutdown. Absorbed.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ?"I can?t believe this worked!"?


    Voice. Sound like 56k modem. My mind. Garbled mess. Can¡¯t fix. Learn control. Complete. Corruption of Data . Remember... Duncan...Catherine¡­Emily


    Divergent. Original. Timeline. Unpredictable. Sadness. Stop corruption.


    Future death. Prevent. Fly. Hide. Must wait. Patience. Find. Stop. Kill.


    God

 Chapter 36- Breakfast

    Author¡¯s note:


    Since it was pretty obvious, I will be honest. Yes, there will be ¡°time travel¡± in future chapters. Last chapter (which is chapter 35.5) acts as a placeholder for when I get to that part. Since I don¡¯t know exactly what chapter number it will be, I just put it as ¡°???¡±. Hell, I am still trying to figure out if I want to split the dwarven saga into two or three arcs.


    I thought I would use the edit option as a part of the storytelling so that the time travelling wouldn¡¯t be so confusing. It will be straight and linear for the readers.


    Just remember to check back here in the future, it will be replaced with an actual chapter when the time comes.


    Chapter 36- Breakfast


    ***June 6th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Belhern Village***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    I reluctantly woke up when the village rooster crowed. I barely slept a wink last night. There were simply too much to think about last night. In the end, I couldn¡¯t come up with a plan to earn the 15 gold coins.


    A gold coin is a lot. It could easily feed our family for at least month. If I get paid for helping out in the field yesterday, I would have only earned four large copper coins, which could feed me for a day. The conversion rates for coins are relatively straightforward to remember. Each small copper coins is equal to the smallest unit, Rutes.


    10 Small copper coins convert to 1 large copper coin which equals to 10 Rutes.


    10 Large copper coins convert to 1 small silver coin which equals to 100 Rutes.


    10 small Silver coin convert to 1 large Silver coin which equals to 1000 Rutes.


    10 Large silver coin convert to 1 Gold coin which equals to 10000 Rutes.


    100 Gold Coin convert to 1 Platinum Coin which equals to 1000000 Rutes.


    The platinum coins are above the gold coins, but peasants like our family will never encounter them. The platinum coins are only used by nobles and royalty.


    There were multiple ideas that I had during the night, but after careful consideration, I rejected them all.


    The first idea I had was to become an adventurer like those heroes in novels and mangas. The problem with that is I would have to wait till I am 15 years old. You are considered to have become an adult when you reach 15 years old. The adventurer''s guild would not accept any children. I could try to lie and cheat, but with my prepubescent look, I doubt anyone would fall for it. Not to mention, I am attempting to hide my strength from everybody. So this idea was struck down almost immediately.


    The second idea I had was to find a job in Caedona. Unfortunately, just like child laborers in old Earth, children are paid significantly less than adults. It will be a miracle if I find someone willing to hire me at equal pay as any adults.


    This leaves me with the last option. Become a merchant and sell things. I can easily use my father¡¯s name to sell the item if I want people to treat me as an adult when dealing with me. People wouldn¡¯t try to cheat me out of my money¡­ as much.


    Since I have previous world¡¯s knowledge, I can use it to my advantage to sell items that have yet to be invented. The problem is what I should sell to earn 15 gold within two years. I made a list of attributes that the item must have. The first and foremost, this thing must be impossible to duplicate. In this medieval world, there are no copyright laws. If I make something great, other people will just copy what I make and sell that at a lower price. Second, it must be cheap to create. I don¡¯t have that much startup capital. Third, It must be something used by the general populace. I need to keep it liquidatable so I can hit the time limit of two years. After thinking about it for the whole night, I still haven¡¯t figured out what to sell.


    Still being dead tired, I changed out of my pajamas and headed outside. Warm sunlight befell on my face, and I felt a little bit better. After a few quick stretches, I started on my daily exercise regiment. I began to run around the village, greeting everyone on the way.


    I had some ulterior motives for doing such exercise. Besides the fact that I am training myself, I am giving myself an alibi just in case I showed my inhuman strength to the public by accident. In case someone questions why I am so strong, everyone in the village could become my alibi that I had been training since at a very young age. I told everyone that my training regimen includes 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and run 10 km every single day.


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    After running for about half an hour, I headed back towards my home feeling refreshed. Once I got there, I picked up two buckets and headed towards the centre of the village. It was my daily chore to fetch water for my family. Usually, I have to go three times a day.


    When I got to the well, I saw Oscar using the community well. He is one of the children in the village. Other people in the community say that Oscar could have been my twin brother, with the same shade of red hair as I do. Although he is slightly younger than I was, he was about the same height as me. Seeing that he is struggling to pull up the bucket from the well, I decided to help him a bit.


    ¡°Morning Oscar, here let me help you.¡±


    ¡°Morning, and thank you big brother Ajax.¡±


    ¡°No problem at all. You scratch my back; I scratch yours.¡±


    Both of us pulled on the rope that was attached to the bucket. I didn¡¯t need his help, of course. It was done to hide my strength. Sometimes, when I am sure no one is around, I just yank the bucket in one go so I can finish my chores quickly.


    We filled all four of our buckets silently and started to head back to our respective home.


    Even though we are the same physical age, our mental age is different from all the other child. I don¡¯t get along well with other kids. It¡¯s a bother to act my age.


    ¡°Mom, I am home! Is breakfast ready yet?¡±


    ¡°Almost. You fetched water yet?¡±


    ¡°Ya, you need some?¡±


    ¡°Yes dear, can you bring a bucket in here?¡±


    I carried a bucket of water into the kitchen as per instructed. She poured the bucket into a pot and started to prepare porridges for everybody. Without turning around, she began to talk to me while she was cooking everything.


    ¡°Ajax, can you tell your mother how you are raising the money to attend the Royal Academy?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t decided on a plan yet. I should have something by the end of the day. Being a child, I think the best would be selling something in Caedona in dad¡¯s name. That way, people wouldn¡¯t cheat me out of my money. Well, less likely to cheat.¡±


    She stopped moving for a second and turned around to face me. She pulled out something from her apron.


    ¡°Ajax, this is something I have kept a secret, even from your dad. Don¡¯t let anyone know you have this.¡±


    She put a plain looking silver ring into the centre of my palm. After I had inspected it, I found strange inscriptions on the inside. Remembering the incident with Smaug, I hesitated for a bit.


    ¡°This...am I going to turn invisible if I put this on, right?¡±


    ¡°Where did you get such a strange idea? No, this is an enchanted ring of holding. It has been my family heirloom, handed down to me from my parents. It should help you as a merchant. Even if you can¡¯t earn enough gold, you can sell this quickly and get at least ten pieces of gold.¡±


    ¡°Mom¡­¡±


    ¡°Morning, Catherine. Emily is still sleeping, so I figured I head down here first. What¡¯s for breakfast.¡±


    I quickly hid the ring in my pocket. There should be a reason my mother was hiding this from my dad. In the split second, I decided to keep the status quo. I won¡¯t ask her now, but I trust that she will tell me why she is hiding this ring when the time is right.


    ¡°Morning, dear. I am almost done. There is breakfast on the table already. You two start eating first.¡±


    I sat down at the and picked up a mug of juice. I was thirsty because of the exercise I was doing during the morning. When I took a sip, I immediately spit it back out.


    *BPTTFF*


    ¡°Mom, what is this? Had the juice gone bad?¡±


    Both of my parents burst out laughing when they saw me do a spit-take.


    ¡°No Ajax, you used the wrong mug. The one you are using is for your dad¡¯s morning ale.¡±


    ¡°Wait till you are a bit older, and then you will learn to love your alcohol.¡±


    At this point, I knew exactly what I should sell.

 Chapter 37- Second Breakfast

    Author¡¯s Note:


    Today¡¯s chapter is a bit short. Sorry about that. I am not feeling that well. I had taken half a day off from work.


    Chapter 37- Second Breakfast


    ***June 6th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Belhern Village***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    I headed out the door and walked south. I didn¡¯t need the education, but I was going towards to the school in Caedona. They offered free mandatory education to all children, where they teach basic math and writing. I have always skipped class and hide in the library reading books. My teacher, Richard Ferguson, doesn¡¯t mind that I skip class. He understands knows that I don¡¯t need to be taught. In return, I help him out with the class from time to time.


    ¡°MOM! DAD! I AM HEADING TO SCHOOL NOW.¡±


    ¡°ALRIGHT, BE CAREFUL ON THE ROAD.¡±


    I went over my business plan in my head once again while on the road. The alcohol beverages that everyone brew are disgusting. They are cloudy and skunks easily. This is because they don¡¯t have proper filtration techniques. Being a bit of an alcohol lover myself, I couldn¡¯t let this stand.


    The easiest way to profit off of this is to create a distillery for the ale. What I can do is buy the ale from the producer, distil it into whiskey, and sell it back at a much higher cost. I have thought of brewing my own beer at first, but it seems too much trouble. Not to mention, by buying the ale from the local producers, I can create a relationship with everyone involved. I can use their existing customer base as a mean to distribute the whiskey, rather than trying to find the customers on my own. Even though it would cut into my profit, it will save a lot of time, time that I do not have.


    The whiskey fits the three criteria that I set for my product. First, as long as I keep the method of distillery a secret, it will be impossible for other people duplicate what I do. Second, it is relatively cheap to make. I can jerry-rig a distillery from existing parts. All I need is a pot, a funnel, and some metal tubings, all of which are very common. And lastly, everyone and their mother would want it. If the dwarves are anything like the classical dwarves, they would love alcohol. On top of that, because it is a consumable, I can quickly sell the whiskey to the same customers over and over again.


    I borrowed some money from dad so that I can buy the necessary equipment since I am headed to Caedona anyway. I am planning to buy all the necessary equipment and start a test batch as soon as I return home.


    I even thought about the brand logo for my whiskey. Taking inspiration from old moon shines jugs that have triple x on them, I decided to base my logo on that. I shifted the center x up, creating a triangle. Seeing that it was a bit plain, I decided to use a cursive x instead. I was pretty happy with the result. (Author¡¯s note: See here</a>) The name of the brand was pretty simple and straightforward, Belhern Whiskeys, taking the name of the village since I will be selling it using my father¡¯s name.


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    I was still deep in thought, trying to criticize my plan from every angle when I heard someone calling my name.


    ¡°Ajax! I have been waiting for you!¡±


    It was Cecilia MacKenzie, daughter of the neighboring village chief. She was waving at me, standing next the fork in the road: one road leads to Caedona and the other leads to Cecilia¡¯s village. She is slightly older than me, 9 years old, with beady emerald eyes, and long wavy blonde hair. About a year ago, I saved her from a pack of wild dogs while traveling to school. She has been waiting for me at the fork ever since.


    ¡°Morning Cici. Sorry to make you wait.¡±


    ¡°Um... Ajax did you.. umm¡­ eat breakfast yet?¡±


    I feel a bit guilty since this seems a bit like pedophilia. My mental age is of a young adult, but my body is only 8. Regrettably, this is a flag that I will have to take no matter what. This is because all dwarves after puberty bulk up in muscle mass. Unfortunately, this includes girls as well. Female dwarves look almost the same as male dwarves, except they don¡¯t have beards, a slightly larger breast, and a squeakier voice. I can¡¯t imagine myself developing any romantic interest with another fully grown dwarf. My only hope for any future love life is if I can be together with Cecilia right now before she hits puberty. That way, I hopefully wouldn¡¯t notice the gradual change and will have no problem staying with her. It will be just like those old couples that grow old together that don''t mind the change.


    ¡°Yes, I did have breakfast.¡±


    She looks slightly dejected at this point. Seeing that, I quickly corrected myself


    ¡°But I am still hungry. I didn¡¯t eat much.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great! I mean, that¡¯s terrible you are still hungry. I made some extra sandwiches. Would¡­ would you like some?¡±


    Her face tints with a slight shade of red as she pulls out a sandwich from her bag, wrapped in a handkerchief, I took the sandwich and broke it in half, offering it to her with a smile. I am pulling out all the tricks for my "ikemen" act.


    ¡°Only if we eat together.¡±


    Not expecting my answer, she panicked a bit before accepting the half of a sandwich. I took a bite of the sandwich. Her face turned completely red when she saw me eating. After a while, she began to nibble on the food. We walked towards Caedona once again, in a tender, yet awkward silence

 Chapter 38- Lunch

    Author¡¯s notes:


    I don¡¯t usually put out chapters on Fridays because I go and hang out with my friends (Friday Night Magic, yes I am a certified nerd :P). I was still feeling a bit under the weather, so I decided to stay at home and pump out another chapter instead.


    By the way, answering ShadowSnake and everyone, A.F. means After the Fall, which is semi-explained in this chapter.


    Chapter 38- Lunch


    ***June 6th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Caedona***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    When we got to the school, I met up with Richard to see if he needs any help with the class today. He graciously declined my offer. I tried to head towards the library, but Cecilia wanted to skip school and come me. Richard had to peel her off of me before she dejectedly agreed to stay in class.


    I walked out and into the library, which was right beside the school. The old librarian, Mrs. Carroll, greeted me when I entered. Since I visited the library often, she knew me by name. The books in the library were mostly ¡°how to¡± books and history books. I learned from Mrs. Carroll that there weren¡¯t many fantasies since the sponsor for the library, mayor of Caedona, didn¡¯t feel that fantasy novels would help the public in any shape or form. I have yet to meet the mayor, but if I do, I will slap some sense into him for not including fantasy books.


    The amount of books that were in the library was staggering. Since it was a medieval setting, I did not expect there were many books around. It turns out that someone in the Dwarven Capital ¡°invented¡± the printing press, lowering the price for all the books. Ever since then, all prints are controlled by the Royal Press. I guess that is one way to control how and what the public thinks. I have to keep in mind to take all history books with a grain of salt since everything is, with no doubt, heavily censored.


    ¡°Good morning, Mrs. Carroll.¡±


    ¡°Morning to you too, Ajax. What can I do for you today?¡±


    ¡°Can I get the book that I put on hold last time? I haven¡¯t finished reading it.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, let''s see..., ah here it is.¡±


    Mrs. Carroll struggled to lift a massive tome from underneath the desk and slams it on the table counter, causing a small tremor in the process.


    ¡°This is the book, yes? ¡®The Official Bestiary¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Yes, thank you!¡±


    I carried the tome to a table in the corner. The bookmark that I left was still there. I wanted to read this book in case I run into some rare and dangerous monsters in the future. With my intellect, I can memorize everything and use the information that I have gained as my weapon. Turning to the page I bookmarked before, I began reading.


    ¡°Flame Elementals. Rare. Difficulty Rating: A. Birth rate: Unknown. Life expectancy: Immortal. Found generally near volcanoes or deserts. A humanoid elemental made completely of flame. Immune to fire class magic. Ability to consume fire to regenerate. Ability to use all fire class magic.


    The Bestiary is a collection of pictures and information on all the known creatures. It is used to help adventures to understand what they are hunting to lower the fatality rate. I was surprised that it included life expectancy and birth rates as a part of the information. I asked Mrs. Carroll about this once. She said that sometimes, the adventurers would follow an extremely strong beast for a long time. After it dies of a natural cause, the adventurers would collect its body. The birth rates are included in case someone wants to capture, tame, and breed the beast.


    ¡°Flame Hydra. Unique. Difficulty Rating: SS. Birth rate: extremely low. Life expectancy: 200 Years. Found in a cave on the Northern side of The Drumming Heights. EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. A giant red serpent with multiple heads. Extreme regeneration ability. Each head can spit either fire, poison, or acid.¡±


    ¡°Geist¡­Ghost...Ghouls...Goblins. Common. Difficulty Rating: F. Birth Rates: Extremely High. Life expectancy: 5 Years.¡±


    At this point, I stopped reading. Closing my eyes, I resisted the urge to cry. I sat there in silence as I remembered my short life as a Cani with Queenie. Even if I somehow managed to go back to The Lonely Mountain, with a life expectancy of 5 years, everyone that I know would have long passed. It would be a new generation of goblins that live there.


    Wiping my moist eyes, I closed the book in anger when I realized something. Why were goblins in the bestiary? They might not have been developed culturally, but they can speak intelligently. Then I remembered, Africans were treated the same as animals in history on the old earth. It must be the same idea.


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    At this point, in honor of the memories of Queenie, I made a vow in my heart to change this when I reach the Royal Academy. Other people must know that goblins are intelligent beings and should be treated as such, instead of treating the same as any other beasts.


    I finished reading the bestiary and started on another book, ¡°History of the Dwarves.¡± Most of the history were lost during the fall, which was the invasion of Smaug. The dwarves that escaped built the new Dwarven Capital. It was never officially given a name. Everyone just went with the Dwarven Capital, or D.C. for short. With that, the noon bell rang. I carried the book back to the front desk and dropped it off to Mrs. Carroll.


    ¡°I am heading off for lunch, Mrs. Carroll.¡±


    ¡°Have you finished with this yet? Do you want me to hold this for you?¡±


    ¡°No, thank you. Even though I am not finished with it, I don¡¯t want to put it on hold. It might be a while before I can come back here.¡±


    ¡°Oh, why is that?¡±


    ¡°Well, I am going to need the time to make money. I need about 30 gold so that I can attend the Royal Academy when I am 10.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you are aiming to go to the Royal Academy? I am so proud of you. I am going to miss you. Give me a hug.¡±


    She walked towards me from behind the counter. I was smothered by an old grandmother smell. I was a bit annoyed but I let her hug as she pleased since she was kind to me. But after a solid minute of hugging, I was finally at the end of my patience. I forcefully pulled myself away from her.


    ¡°I really need to head to lunch now, bye!¡±


    ¡°You take care of yourself now.¡±


    I walked back towards the school. Everyone else was eating their lunch in their classroom. I would have joined them, except I have business with Richard. I went towards Richard¡¯s office where he usually enjoys his lunch alone. I knocked on his door.


    ¡°Come in.¡±


    It was a small and messy office. Being the lone teacher for the whole town and villages, he had to keep track of all the children. There were stacks of paper everywhere with information on every child. With a polite bow, I greeted Richard.


    ¡°Good afternoon, Mr. Ferguson.¡±


    ¡°So what brings you here, Ajax.¡±


    ¡°I was hoping you can graduate me, right now. I don¡¯t spend time in the class anyway.¡±


    ¡°You know other children don¡¯t graduate till 10 years old right?¡±


    ¡°Well, you also know that I am not like other kids.¡±


    ¡°Can you tell me why you want to graduate early?¡±


    ¡°I need the paperwork of graduation so that I can attend the Royal Academy. To do so, I need a lot of money. Instead of coming here five days a week for the attendance, I need to use the time and earn money as a merchant instead.¡±


    ¡°Well, I do agree, if anyone can make it big in the Academy, it would be you. On the other hand, nothing like this has happened before.¡±


    Richard scratches his beard a bit in thought. I could tell that he was reluctant to let me go. At the same time, he doesn''t want to hinder my future. Finally, he slapped his hand together and expressed a solution.


    ¡°Oh, I know how to solve this! How about I officially hire you at the school as an assistant. That way, you can stay in school while earning money.¡±


    ¡°Not to disrespectful, but I humbly decline.¡±


    ¡°May I ask why?¡±


    ¡°How much are you are prepared to pay me?¡±


    ¡°A small silver coin a day.¡±


    ¡°How many school days are there in a year?¡±


    ¡°About 200 days? Give or take.¡±


    Unlike the old Earth, students don¡¯t have summer vacation. Instead, we have winter vacation, when it snows and it becomes impossible to travel to school. The number of school days is practically the same.


    ¡°That means I would earn only about two gold coins in by the time I am ten years old. The bare minimum I need to attend The Royal Academy is thirty gold coins.¡±


    I told Duncan that he would pay half so that he would stop arguing with me and return the money to the other villagers. In truth, I want to pay for everything myself. After everything that my parents have done for me, I cannot possibly let them be burdened with the cost of education.


    ¡°In that case, I cannot answer you right now. I would have to talk to the mayor about this since he would be the one that signs the document confirming your graduation.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. Please let me know as soon as possible.¡±


    I bowed in respect and exited the small office, heading towards the commercial zone to purchase the necessary goods to make the distillery.

 Chapter 39- Afternoon Tea

    Author¡¯s Note:


    I found that my writing speed has increased dramatically. When I first started writing this, it took me the whole night just to crank out one chapter. Now it takes maybe 3 hours or so to finish one.


    Chapter 39- Afternoon Tea


    ***June 6th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Caedona***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    Leaving for the commercial district, I headed towards the only blacksmith shop in town. Even though dwarves are known for the having lots of blacksmiths, this town was small enough to be served by a single store. When I reached there, I saw a team of dwarves, covered in black soot and sweat. All of them were busy doing something near the burning forge in the centre of the open store.


    ¡°Hey there! I need something.¡±


    ¡°You are Duncan¡¯s kid, right? Is your name Ajax? What can I getcha, boy?¡±


    An old dwarf with greyish hair and beard dropped a piece of red-hot iron into the quenching water and greeted me. Being a small town, nearly everyone knows everyone by name. However, this was the first time I have met with him. He must have heard of me from everyone else.


    ¡°Hi, uncle. I need to buy a large pot, a long piece of tube, a large funnel, and a large canister.¡±


    ¡°We have had some of those in stock in the back. You want to take a look?¡±


    I was lead to the back of the shop to take a look at the wares. I picked out a bronze pot and canister with the size that I like. I chose bronze because it only tarnishes, but not rust. It could be cleaned easily. However, no funnels and tube were large enough.


    ¡°Do you have larger bronze funnels and longer tubes?¡±


    ¡°What in tarnation you need something like that?¡±


    ¡°I want to make a water dispenser for the animals.¡±


    I used my finger and drew the concept of an automatic water dispenser on the ground in the dust. It was the best excuse I can imagine covering up the truth about the distillery. After he scratches his face a bit in thought, he gave me an offer.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s an interesting idea. Tell you what, kid. Since you brought an idea for a new product for me, I will give you a discount on it. I will only charge you for the material at cost for this water dispenser for you. How does that sound?¡±


    It was a bit of oversight that he took advantage of me bringing him a new invention. Still, it is better for him not to know about how it can be turned into a distillery. Superior alcohol is my primary objective. I tried to push my luck and bargain with him to get a better deal.


    ¡°Only if you throw in free delivery to Belhern Village.¡±


    ¡°You drive a hard bargain, kid. We have a deal. That will be three pieces silver coins. It will take about a week for the order to be completed.¡±


    I handed him the coins and left the store. Seeing that there were a bit of time before school ends, I walked around the commercial area. Being a smaller town, it was pretty safe for everyone to walk around without a care. Crime is nearly non-existent. I stopped at a bakery and picked up a few pieces of bread for afternoon tea before I head back to school to meet up with Cecilia. After that, we headed back home together. I gave a piece of bread in return for the sandwich she gave me this morning. Munching on the food while on the road, I decided to tell Cecilia everything that is going to happen.


    ¡°Cecilia, I just talked with Mr. Ferguson today. I might stop going to school from now on. It¡¯s not confirmed yet, but I asked him to let me graduate early.¡±


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    She stopped walking all of a sudden. Her eyes started to fill with tears.


    ¡°But..but¡­why? Does.. does that mean I won¡¯t see you again?¡±


    ¡°I am aiming to attend to the Royal Academy. For me to do that, I will need a lot of money. I am trying to graduate from school early so that I have time to earn money instead of going to school. We probably won¡¯t be able to see each other until after I graduate from the Royal Academy.¡±


    ¡°Hic...hic¡­ I don¡¯t want you to... hic.. go..Hic¡±


    She began to bawl her eyes out. She grabbed onto me like a koala bear. Feeling a bit embarrassed, I patted on her head trying to calm her down.


    ¡°I know you don¡¯t want me to go, but my father wants me to go. I love him too much to disappoint him.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ I also¡­lov-...¡±


    She stopped speaking before completing her sentence, but I knew exactly what she wanted to say. She covered her completely red face in embarrassment with her hands and muttered some incoherent words. I decided to tell her exactly how I think.


    ¡°Cici, in your opinion, what do you think love is?¡±


    She peeked out from between her fingers. Finally, she wiped her face with her sleeves, sniffled a bit and answered me.


    ¡°Well, it is when you are with someone and your heartbeat goes fast, and your stomach feels bubbly.¡±


    ¡°It might be a bit unorthodox, but I don¡¯t think that¡¯s what love is.¡±


    She tilted her head, not quite understand what I just said.


    ¡°To me, love is not a feeling. If you stop feeling your heartbeat going fast when you are with them, does that mean you don¡¯t love them anymore? I have never felt my stomach bubble when I am with my parents, does that mean I don¡¯t love them?¡±


    ¡°Of course not.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. Love is too fleeting if it is a feeling. No, love is not a feeling, but a decision, a commitment and a promise. When you love someone, you have decided that everything you do, you will have that person¡¯s best interest in mind, regardless of your desire. You make a promise to yourself that every action you take is for that person''s happiness, and hopefully, they do the same for you. If you stop loving someone, it is a failure, not only on that person¡¯s part. You have also failed because you have broken a promise to yourself.¡±


    A gentle wind blew as the sun began to fall in the west. The orange sunlight casts everything in a dramatic lighting. I waited in silence a bit for Cecilia to digest what I have said before continuing.


    ¡°To be honest, I don¡¯t want to go to the Royal Academy. But since I love my father, I have decided that I will earn the money and go because it will make him happy. I like you, Cecilia. I really do. However, I love my parents. Knowing what I think what love is, are you willing to finish what you said before?¡±


    She stood in a daze, not knowing what to do. Seeing that she was not going to answer, I turned around nonchalantly and started walking again.


    ¡°It¡¯s getting late. We should head back home. I will wait for you to answer next time.¡±


    ¡°Wait, Ajax.¡±


    I turned back around to face her. She wiped her tears and showed a face full of determination.


    ¡°Ajax, I love you. And because I love you, I promise that I will wait for you to come back from the Royal Academy.¡±


    I walked towards her and embraced her. I closed my eyes as I spoke to her.


    ¡°And I will answer your love in kind. Because I love you, I promise that I will earn enough gold for both of us to go to the Royal Academy so we will not be apart.¡±

 Chapter 40- Last Meal

    Author¡¯s Note:


    *Insert confession bear image* I am atrocious at naming everything. I usually just use a random name generator and use whatever comes up the list and sounds good.*/confession bear image*


    Even though it¡¯s a bit overused in Japanese novels, Sebas is such as badass butler name. I can¡¯t help myself but use it.


    Chapter 40- Last Meal


    ***June 6th, 965 A.F. (Night)***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Queen Rosie Barrett***


    The summer night quietly fell on the Dwarven Capital. Candles were lit to illuminate throughout the Royal Castle while a howling breeze cruises through its corridor, causing it to be abnormally cold.  A middle-aged female dwarf paced up and down in front of a door non-stop. She was wearing a high-quality purple dress, clearly designed for nobles and royalty. But contrary to the dress and her status, her long black hair was completely disheveled. She was Rosie Barrett, Queen of the Dwarves. Anxiously and silently, she waited outside to hear the news from behind the door. Finally, the door opened, and a single elder dwarf emerged from the room, carrying a small brown briefcase in his hand.


    ¡°How is the king, doctor?¡±


    *Sigh*


    ¡±I think it¡¯s best that we plan for the worst, my queen. There was no sign of foul play at all. The king is dying from old age. There is nothing that I can do.¡±


    She bit her lips in sadness. However, she was not sad because she was about to lose her loved one. There were no feelings in between her and the king. Their marriage was simple a transaction in between nobles and royalties. Her family would support the king, securing the king¡¯s power and in return, the king would give her family more authority in the courts. The marriage between Rosie and the King was used as a guarantee in between the two parties so that both would honor their side of the deal. Her sadness stems from the fact that it was not within her plans for the king to die so early. The death of the king would throw all her current deals and schemes in disarray.


    ¡°Will the king wake up? Can he talk?¡±


    ¡°Very unlikely.¡±


    ¡°You have to keep the news about the king¡¯s failing health a secret. You cannot let anybody know. If not¡­¡±


    ¡°I adhere and obey, my queen.¡±


    With a quick bow, the old doctor retreated from the sight of the queen into the depths of the corridor. Still standing outside of the room where the dying king rests, her mind races through different scenarios in silence. Finally, she called out a name into the darkness. As if he materialized from the shadows, another dwarf showed up. Dressed in classical black butler¡¯s clothing, he knelt down to receive Rosie¡¯s orders.


    ¡°Sebas.¡±


    ¡°Yes, my queen.¡±


    ¡°Just to make sure that the doctor doesn¡¯t spill any information, ¡®invite¡¯ him and his family to stay within the confines of the castle. Treat them as special guests and don¡¯t harm them. Keep him here until everything is settled. Afterward, let him go and give him extra rewards for his troubles.¡±


    ¡°As you wish.¡±


    ¡°Also, initiate the backup plan.¡±


    ¡°On everybody, my queen?¡±


    ¡°Yes, everybody. My son¡¯s position as the heir is not secure yet. If news gets out that the king is dying, his life will be in danger. I can¡¯t let that happen. We have to take the initiative. My son is the only thing that matters to me.¡±


    ¡°As you wish. Is there any other orders, my queen?¡±


    ¡°That is it, for now. You may leave.¡±


    The butler in black stood back up and retreated once again into the shadows of the corridor, disappearing as if he was never there. The queen turns and looks out to of the window at the dark cloudy sky. She held her hands together and prayed in a sorrowful silence.


    ***June 7th, 965 A.F. (Night)***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.***Agnes McGillivray***


    *knock knock*


    Agnes was standing outside of the door waiting for approval to enter the room. She was hired as a caretaker to help Annie Barrett, the royal concubine, with taking care of the seven-year-old Prince, Sam Barrett at night. After waiting for a while, she knocked again, thinking that she was not heard.


    *knock knock*


    After another solid minute of silence, she was confused as to what to do. On one hand, she needs to enter the room to do her job. On the other, she does not dare to enter without given permission. After thinking about the situation, she decided to find the head maid and ask for her opinion on what to do. She found the head maid in her bedroom, changing into her nightgown getting ready for bed.


    ¡°I am sorry to bother you before you sleep, head maid. I knocked on the door to the prince¡¯s room, but there was no answer. I do not dare to enter without given permission. I am not sure what I should do.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s odd. That shouldn¡¯t happen.¡±


    Sensing trouble, she rushed towards the room without changing out of her nightgown. Usually, it is not acceptable for her to be seen walking around without her maid uniform, but her instinct told her she doesn''t have time to change. When she got to the room, she knocked on the door hard and loud.


    *Knock knock *


    ¡°Madam Annie, this is Alice. May I come in?¡±


    There was still no answer. She banged on the door even harder.


    *BANG BANG BANG*


    ¡°Annie, are you ok? Are you ok¡­ Annie!¡±


    Alice couldn¡¯t wait any longer. She tried to open the door, but it was locked. She hastily retrieve the master key on her waist and unlocked it. As soon as she opened it, both of them screamed on top of her lungs which woke the whole residence. In the room was the body of Annie and Sam. Their dinner was still on the table, with only a few bites on it. Both of them died in agony, grasping their throat. It was clear that they were poisoned. Cries and screams of terror echoed throughout the Dwarven Capital as similar events happened to all the king¡¯s concubine and eligible heirs to the dwarven throne.


    ***June 8th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Queen Rosie Barrett***


    Rosie was sitting in the Royal Garden, enjoying some tea and biscuit under the shade of a great parasol, shielding her from the harmful rays of the scorching sun. Sebas appeared behind her as though as he was a ghost. Kneeling down, he was prepared to give his report.


    ¡°My queen.¡±


    ¡°Is it done?¡±


    ¡°Almost, my queen. There is one that is outside of the capital. We are currently tracking him down.¡±


    ¡°All the loose ends?¡±


    ¡°All tidied up.¡±


    ¡°Good job. Spread the news about the king¡¯s health after a week. After that, let the old doctor out of the castle. Sebas, what do you want for your rewards.¡±


    ¡°My loyalty towards you and your family is beyond any rewards, my queen.¡±


    ¡°Mom!¡±


    A childish voice broke the conversation between the two of them. A 7-year-old dwarf ran towards the queen. When he reached her, he held his hands up in the air, asking to sit on her knees. It was the second Prince, Alan Barrett. Even though it was improper for a queen to do so, Rosie happily obliged his request.


    ¡°So, what is my little troublemaker up to today?¡±


    ¡°I want to go to Sam¡¯s house and play with him today!¡±


    ¡°I am sorry dear. I don¡¯t know how to tell you this, but Sam died last night. He ate something bad by accident and died.¡±


    ¡°But.. but.. he¡¯s my brother *hic* and my *hic* best friend...¡±


    Alan started to bawl loudly for the death of his half-brother. Rosie could only pat his head guiltily, trying to calm Alan down with a wry smile.


    (Author¡¯s post note: You¡¯ve been hit by, you¡¯ve been struck by, a smooth criminal)

 Chapter 41- The Ring

    Author¡¯s note:


    If you haven¡¯t noticed the title of the chapters, the last chapter is the conclusion of the mini-arc of the meal series, which sets the setting for the rest of the arc.


    Chapter 41- The Ring


    ***June 6th, 965 A.F. (Night)***


    ***Belhern Village***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    I was surrounded by the darkness of the night. Since it was drenched in sweat, the moonlight was able to reflect off of my skin, sparkling in the evening. I stared down at the most treacherous crisis that I have ever faced. This was worse than the time where I fought with Smaug, armed with nothing but a hammer in the Lonely Mountain. My mind raced as I tried to find a solution and cursed to myself as I remember the sequence of events that led me to this situation.


    (Author¡¯s Note: Insert flashback fade out sequence here.)


    Before we head off to our house, Cecilia and I decided to talk to our parents about our relationship. Practically speaking, I have proposed to her, and she accepted. Even though we aren¡¯t considered adults until 15 years old, it wasn¡¯t unusual for dwarves to be engaged and married earlier than that. We just need our parents'' consent at this point to seal the deal. I doubt that they would disagree with our engagement.


    When I reached home, I saw both of my parents getting ready for dinner. They were a bit annoyed that I was late, causing them to worry. But when I told them about everything, their dissatisfaction was demolished. Instead, they started to tease me and asked me for more details about my relationship.


    ¡°So our son got himself a little girlfriend without telling us? He sure has grown up.¡±


    ¡°You said you are with that Webber¡¯s little girl right? I think I saw her once in the chief¡¯s meeting. She is quite a cute one.¡±


    "Ajax, how did you guys meet?¡±


    ¡°Ajax, you better take good care of her!¡±


    ¡°Ajax..¡±


    ¡°Hey, Ajax¡­¡±


    For the rest of the night, I was bombarded with typical parent questions about their future daughter-in-law. It was annoying, at the same time, fun. I never experienced something like this before. My mother decides to celebrate by making extra desserts for the occasion. Because of that, preparing dinner took her a bit longer than usual. By the time dinner was ready, it was late into the night already. I was starving by then and couldn¡¯t wait to dig in.


    ¡°ITADAKIMASU!¡±


    ¡°ITADAKIMASU!¡±


    ¡°ITADAKIMASU!¡±


    ¡°IDADAKIMATHU¡±


    After giving our thanks, we finally started eating. I wolfed down all the food in front of me. Even with his mouths full, it didn¡¯t stop Duncan and his questions about my future with Cecilia. He started to ask about my plan to make money in between chewing his food.


    ¡°So, you are going to pay for Cecilia¡¯s tuition as well? With both of your tuition combined that 60 gold coins at least. You probably want a bit more gold just in case of an emergency too. How are you planning to make that?¡±


    ¡°Selling alcohol.¡±


    ¡°You are going to brew ale? Those won¡¯t make much.¡±


    ¡°Nope. It is something better. I know how to make ale more delicious. It will be something new and I will sell it under the name of Belhern Village. Something fit for a king to drink.¡±


    Duncan raised an eyebrow in suspicion. Usually, the upper echelon drinks only wine. Much like the printing press, wine was crafted only by the Royal Brewery and it is also heavily regulated. For me to proclaim that I can make an alcoholic drink that is fit for a king is unheard of.


    ¡°I will make a test batch tomorrow. You can taste it for yourself. By the way, everything that I do, you have to keep it a secret. This secret exists between only the 4 of us. You cannot tell them even if a relative or a close friend asks. I cannot let other people know how it is made.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I can keep it a secret. Speaking of ale¡­¡±


    He slammed his mug of ale in front of me with a thud. A few drops of the alcohol split out of the mug from the impact.


    ¡°To celebrate your future engagement, here is your official first drink into adulthood. You better finish it, even if you think it¡¯s disgusting.¡±


    ¡°Dear, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea.¡±


    ¡°He will have to get used to it soon anyway. Everyone would start offering ale to you once you are an adult. He can''t turn them all down.¡±


    I gulped audibly while staring into the cloudy brown liquid. Remembering how disgusting it tasted, I don¡¯t even know if it can be qualified to call it an ale. Not wanting to disappoint Duncan, I made up my mind to drink it. I closed my eyes and chugged the whole mug in one go. I can still feel the warm sludgy ale with a hint of sourness sliding down my throat. Particles from the unfiltered drink stuck to my teeth.


    ¡°Congratulation on officially becoming a man, son!¡±


    ¡°*Cough* I am never doing that again. *cough*.¡±


    We finished dinner on a high note with the long-awaited apple pie. Everyone was extra stuffed from the dessert. After supper, I dug around the house for suitable parts to make a mini-distillery. I have a week before the big distillery gets delivered to me from the blacksmiths. Seeing that I have never done it before, I want to do some scaled down tests before I go full size and distill a whole barrel of ale in one go. I hope that ¡°crafting¡± from my abilities includes crafting alcoholic drinks.


    It was well into the night and I decided to hit the sacks. Suddenly, just as I was about to change into my pajamas, my stomach rumbled. It was not rumbling because I was hungry, it was quite the opposite. It was rumbling because it needs to expel the demon from within. I ran downstairs and into the outhouse as fast as my little dwarf legs could carry me. When I got there, I ripped my pants down and squatted over the hole. I barely made it just in time. I started relieving myself with a sigh.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°It must be those damned god-awful disgusting ale.¡±


    It was only a matter of time until I finished. With nothing to do on hand, I started to miss the days when I was back on Earth where I can whip out my smartphone while doing the duty to pass the time. But then, I remembered that there was something I could do. Seeing that it was safe to use it since I was alone, I pulled out the enchanted silver ring of holding that my mother gave me and started messing with it. I haven¡¯t tried using it before, but she told me all I have to do to activate it is to concentrate on the ring itself. Then, any non-living item it touches will be automatically stored. To retrieve the item, all I have to do is simply activate it and think of the item. To deactivate it, simply imagine the word stop while focusing on the ring. It will also be deactivated after one minute of activation as a safety feature. She said that there is no limit to how many items it can hold, rather, things could be lost in the ring simply because you forgot it was in there.


    To test the ring, I decided to use the handkerchief I had on me. I concentrated on the ring. When I did that, it displayed a greenish glow. I assume that it is in an activated state. I held the handkerchief next to it and like magic, it vanished into the thin air. I tried to retrieve the item next by thinking about the handkerchief and it reappeared in my hand. I attempted to do it several times before tragedy struck.


    *ACCHOOOOOO*


    With a plop, the ring dropped into the centre of the hole. I could still see the ring¡¯s glow. It was still activated and I could see clearly what was happening inside. The dark brown sludge that was in the hole started to form a vortex with the ring as its centre. The ring was sucking up everything.


    ¡°NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!  HOW CAN I DROP IT!!!¡±


    With a slurping and sloshing sound, the glow finally faded away and the ring finally deactivated, returning everything to pitch black. Staring down at the hole, I was drenched in sweat.


    (Author¡¯s note: End flashback sequence.)


    I wiped myself clean with some primitive toilet paper made from hemp before opening the door to the outhouse. With the help of the moonlight, I could see a bit of the reflected light from the ring.


    ¡°Do I have to climb down there? No, you are smarter than this. Think, Ajax. Be calm and think hard, make a plan. Act on the plan.¡±


    I took a deep breath to calm myself down.


    ¡°Ok, first. I need something long with a small hook at the end. That¡¯s easy. There were some rakes in the barn. It should be long enough to reach down there. I need lights to see what I am doing so I will grab a lantern from the house. I would also need lot¡¯s of water to clean everything up. Ok, Ajax. Go!¡±


    Since it was the closest, I went to the back of our house where we store water. When I got to there, I found out that all buckets were bone dry.


    ¡°Damn it! Of course, it had to be empty.¡±


    Without thinking, I took the empty bucket and went to the centre of the village. In hindsight, however, I should have gotten the lantern first.


    *Bang*


    ¡°Doh!¡±


    *Boof*


    ¡°Doh!¡±


    *Pang*


    ¡°DOOOH!!!!¡±


    On the way to the well, I tripped over everything. Even on the way back I fell and spilled all the water in the bucket. I had to make a second trip. Not to make the same mistake, I went into the house to grab a lantern before heading to the barn for the rake. When I finally collected everything, I headed back towards the outhouse.


    When I reached there, the door of the outhouse creaked in the eerie silent. Even the moon suddenly seemed to produce an uncanny glow. I stopped in my tracks when I noticed something moving from inside the hole. A hand grabbed the edge, pulling the rest of the body out. It was a humanoid figure with long hair covering its face. Its whole body was coated in sludge. It started to crawl slowly towards me. I stared at the scene as it was reminiscent of a certain scene from a famous horror movie. Does dropping the enchanted ring into the feces summon some sort of ghost?


    ¡°It¡¯s ok, all I have to do is get someone else to watch the tape and I will be all right. Wait a minute, there is no tape, video player, or tv!¡±


    Before I started to panic, the ¡°ghost¡± called out to me.


    ¡°What are you doing just standing there, Ajax? Come over and help me.¡±


    ¡°Mom?¡±


    ¡°Who else do you think it was.¡±


    ¡°What are you doing in there?¡±


    ¡°I heard you yelled in the outhouse that you dropped something. I figured it was the ring. Why else you were yelled so loud. Where did you go anyway?¡±


    ¡°I went to get tools to fish it out.¡±


    I showed her all the tools that I got from running around the village.


    ¡°Right. You can do that. Your mom is an idiot.¡±


    I brought a change of clothes for her and fetched more water from the well for her to clean herself. We decided to tell dad that she accidentally slip and fell into the hole to hide the existence of the ring. Dad took care of the cooking for the next few days because of the smell from mom.

 Chapter 42- Drunk

    Author¡¯s note:


    This one is a bit longer than usual.


    I think I can attribute some portion of my failing health to the lack of exercise.  So I made myself an exercise plan based on one-punch man. By the end of the year, I would be able to do the same as Saitama :P


    I have set an alarm clock for 10:30 PM to start the exercise. On the first day, I will begin with ten squats, push-ups, sit-ups, and 1km on the elliptical (I really can¡¯t run because of my knees).


    On the second day, I will roll a dice to determine which I would increase by 1, 0.1 km for the elliptical. I will not go over 100, 10km for elliptical. By the end of the year, I would be able to do 100 squats, push ups, sit ups and elliptical every single day.


    Why am I telling you guys this? First I want to tell someone to keep myself honest and keep me motivated. Second, this will reduce the time that I have for writing in the future. Right now, I can complete everything within 15 minutes, but it will become worse gradually.


    Chapter 42- Drunk


    ***June 7th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Belhern Village***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    I heard the rooster crow and habitually woke up. Still sitting on my bed, I felt shitty, no pun intended. I had two consecutive sleep deprived nights. If I were still a human, I would have been fine. There were multiple nights that I stayed up late for a guild raid and still went to work the next morning like nothing happened. However, it was an enormous toll on this growing dwarf body. I could barely open my eyes. Fuck it, I am skipping my daily exercise today. I pulled the bed cover over myself and fell back into sleep. Before long, I heard my father yelling from downstairs.


    ¡°Ajax, wake up! You still haven¡¯t fetched water yet!¡±


    ¡°Five more minutes.¡±


    ¡°You will be late for school.¡±


    ¡°Five more minutes.¡±


    ¡°You said the same thing twenty minutes ago.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to school.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly, get up now, Ajax McGuire.¡±


    Hearing angry footsteps coming up the stairs, I buried my head underneath my pillow like an ostrich in the sand. I heard the door swung open. Duncan ripped the covers away from me. Refusing to move from coming out, I answered him from underneath the pillow.


    ¡°Get up this moment, young man. Sometimes I forget that you are still a child.¡±


    ¡°I am quitting school. Just let me sleep some more.¡±


    ¡°Who said you are quitting school?¡±


    ¡°I talked with Mr. Richard about letting me graduate early already. I have lots of things to prepare to make the high-grade alcohol. How else do you think I would have time to earn so much gold in two years?¡±


    ¡°He agreed?¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t have the authority to let me graduate early. Only the mayor does. He said he would talk to the mayor about it.¡±


    ¡°The mayor? I am meeting with him today.¡±


    Such luck, much timing, wow. I got out from underneath the pillow and sat up looking straight at my dad, pleading with a pair of puppy dog¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Please dad, convince the mayor to let me graduate. I have the confidence to earn my share of the gold, but now I have to take care of Cici as well, I won¡¯t have time to go to school just for attendance anymore. Besides, I don¡¯t learn anything that I don¡¯t know already at school anyway. I am just wasting time going there.¡±


    ¡°... I will see what I can do. In return, take care of Emily while I am gone.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, dad!¡±


    I secretly throw up victory signs in my heart to celebrate.


    ¡°By the way, where¡¯s mom? shouldn¡¯t she be taking care of Emily instead?¡±


    ¡°She is out taking care of the fields in my place. Also, she fetched the water for today already, so you don¡¯t have to go. I prepared some porridges and left it on the table.¡±


    No longer sleepy, I got up and changed out of my pajamas. I put my hands in my pocket just to make sure the silver ring is still there. All of a sudden, it triggered a memory of what happened last night, and I shuddered as I realize a fact. The feces was sucked into the ring. I made a mental note that there is one more test that I need to do.


    I walked downstairs and saw Duncan getting ready to head out. Emily was standing behind, wanting to follow him to the town.


    ¡°Emily, you stay here with your brother. Be a good girl ok?¡±


    ¡°Kay. Good girl.¡±


    ¡°Bye dad, when you come back home, I should have a batch ready for you to taste. Oh, and if you see Cecilia on the way, tell her not to wait for me.¡±


    ¡°Ok lover boy. When I pass by the fields, I will tell your mother that you are taking care of Emily as well.¡±


    After he left, I immediately started putting all the pieces together that I collected yesterday. Perhaps it was because of my crafting skill, in no time, I assembled a working miniature distillery on the kitchen counter. Recalling an episode from Myth Busters about the dangers of a distillery, I opened all the windows in case the alcohol vapors escapes. With everything prepared, I pour in the ale and lit a fire to get everything started. Emily stared at me with eyes as big as a plate.


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Brother, cooking? Food?¡±


    ¡°What I am doing is call distilling.¡±


    ¡°Dishilin? Not cooking?¡±


    ¡°Yes, distilling means to turn the ale into better tasting alcohol. You put the ale in here, heat it up, and the spirit would come out here.¡±


    ¡°I wanna drink!¡±


    ¡°Maybe when you are older, Emily. You are too young to start drinking.¡±


    ¡°Me big girl!¡±


    She thumped her chest proudly at her declaration. I tussled her brown hair a bit. Whatever fatigue I had vanished at the sight of how cute my little sister was. I am so glad to have a sister. I played around with Emily in the kitchen while I waited for the distillery to do its job. After an about 30 minutes, the first cup was finally ready. With immense anticipation, I took the first sip.


    ¡°Bottoms up.¡±


    I was disappointed. Even though it did improve from the ale, it was too diluted. Too much water got into the spirits. I contemplated on how to get rid of the excess water.


    ¡°Back to the basics. Distilling 101. How the distillery works, it boils the alcohol into vapor and condense it back at the other end. However at the same time, water inside the ale is also boiled. Alcohol has a boiling point of around 80 degrees Celsius while water is at 100 degrees. So if I can control the temperature to stay under 100 degrees, it should work.¡±


    I went through several ideas. All of them have the same problem: I cannot measure the temperature accurately. I was mulling over this until it suddenly hit me like a truck. I need to slow down the heating process by using indirect heating instead.


    I fashioned a heating coil using empty tubes and connect it to a boiling pot located at a slightly higher elevation. The heated water travels down the pipe, and it exits to another pot at a lower elevation. From time to time, I had to add more water to the higher pot. For the real distillery, I was thinking of creating a system which will allow me to lower and raise the two pots with ease. This time, it took nearly twice as long, but it was finally ready.


    ¡°Cheers.¡±


    When I took a sip, my mouth was set on fire, in a good way. This time, the alcohol was not diluted, and it tasted fabulous. The faint hint of aroma from the hops encircles my mouth. It¡¯s not the best alcoholic drink I have tasted, but it was miles better than what is available. My father would be surprised when he taste this. All I need to do is create the same system on a larger scale, and I am ready to make money. Since I worked without stopping the whole morning, I went to the outhouse to relieve myself.


    Remembering that I need to do another test on the ring, I tried to put my handkerchief into the ring and retrieve it once more. I was happy that the handkerchief was not covered in brown sludge when I retrieve it. The handkerchief was completely segregated from the sludge that was currently stored in the ring.  It didn¡¯t even have a hint of smell. I had to do the test in the outhouse in the case of the worst-case scenario that the re-summoned cloth would be covered in sludge. I was also happy that I don¡¯t have to worry about cleaning out the insides of the ring before I can use it again. At this point, I think it¡¯s best to forget about it and leave it in there since it wouldn¡¯t affect anything.


    I went back to the kitchen to start on the second batch I saw Emily walk towards me wobbling as she goes. I noticed the cup that I used to hold the distilled spirits was empty, laying on its sides on the table.


    ¡°Brother! Me big girlsh! Fire water tastesh sho good!¡±


    ¡°Emily! You are drunk!¡±


    She must have climbed onto the table while I went to the outhouse and drank some spirits. Luckily, she didn''t hurt herself. I messed up. I should have cleaned up everything before leaving my sister with alone. Why does every single time something bad happens, it was either during or after I go to the outhouse. Is it cursed? Should I hire a priest to exorcise it?


    ¡°Emily, Ajax. I am home.¡±


    As if right on cue, I could hear mother from outside the house. Oh no, if my mom finds out I let Emily become drunk, what will she do to me? I quickly pick Emily up and put her on my shoulder. I ran upstairs before my mother walked into the house. When I got to my room, I put Emily in her crib.


    ¡°WEEEEE thwat was fun!! Do eet againsh!¡±


    ¡°Emily, are you a good girl?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m big good girl.¡±


    ¡°If you are, go to sleep now ok?¡±


    ¡°Brosher, urrr funnysh. Urrr speenning aroundsh.¡±


    ¡°Close your eye, Emily. Be a good girl.¡±


    ¡°Ajax! Emily! Are you there?¡±


    ¡°I will be down in a second.¡±


    ¡°SHleeepy time.¡±


    ¡°There you guys are.¡±


    ¡°Oh hi, mom. Just putting Emily to bed because she said she was sleepy. Everything is fine. Nothing went wrong. Yep, absolutely nothing is out of the ordinary.¡±


    Just as Emily closed her eyes, the door to the room burst open, and my mother entered. I barely managed to put Emily to sleep before my mom found out what happened. I was happy since I narrowly escaped the wrath of my mother.

 Chapter 43- Map

    Author¡¯s Note:


    Sorry for the late updates. It was finals week, but I forgot to tell everyone.


    Worst birthday ever. I had to spend my birthday in bed instead of with friends in a bar last Friday. I have been feeling ill once again lately.


    Though, I did have a makeup birthday dinner with family on Monday, which was nice.


    BTW, guys, if you haven¡¯t done yet, please review my story on the chapter page.


    And thank you, for all those that gave me reputation.


    Chapter 43- Map


    ***June 7th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Belhern Village***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    My mother saw through my lie immediately because I was acting so awkward. However, she wasn¡¯t that angry. Dwarves start drinking alcohol at a very young age. Even she had her first drink when she was two-years-old. She was mad at the fact that I didn¡¯t watch over my sister properly. After scolding me for a bit, she was curious about the spirits that I made.


    ¡°So you made these?¡±


    ¡°Yep, want a taste?¡±


    She grabbed the mug off the kitchen table and sniffed the spirit. After a small sip, she gulped down the rest of the mug¡¯s contents. She was eyeing another mug before I stopped her.


    ¡°Hey! I said a taste! Not drink everything. That took quite a while to make.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, but it was just too good. This is great for after a long day of work.¡±


    ¡°Not only it is great to drink there are secondary uses too. Here take this, go outside use it to wash your hair. After that, rinse your hair with water.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a bit of a waste?¡±


    ¡°Just try it.¡±


    She gave me a look of suspicion before heading outside with another mug full of alcohol. She poured it slowly over her hair and massaged her head with it. Before long, the mug was empty and she started rinsing with refreshing water. After that, she took a sniff of her long red hair.


    ¡°I don¡¯t stink as much!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. You can use it to clean as well. With this, you can cook tonight¡¯s dinner. Dad¡¯s cooking is terrible compared to yours.¡±


    ¡°Darling I am home!¡±


    I saw dad walking from a distance towards the house, waving at us as he strides along the pathway. When he got closer, mom tackled my dad with a hug.


    ¡°Welcome home. I don¡¯t stink anymore! ¡±


    Father took a sniff before commenting.


    ¡°What is that smell in your hair? It is refreshing.¡±


    ¡°Ajax¡¯s alcohol cleaned the smell off of me. And also, Emily is sleeping upstairs.¡±


    Cather sent some signals with her eyes and Duncan scratches his head, looks shiftily around before telling me the news.


    ¡°Oh, um, Ajax, the mayor wants to meet you before deciding what to do with your graduation.¡±


    ¡°Is that the case? I will meet him tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want and go meet him now? I mean, it is still pretty early right now. If you go and meet him right now, you might be able to get back before it gets dark. Even if it gets late, I am pretty sure the mayor is willing to let you stay over at his house.¡±


    ¡°I guess you are right. I want to get this over with as soon as possible.¡±


    I bid my parents farewell and started head towards Caedona. After a few minutes, I stopped in my tracks. I suddenly had an idea. I can use this meeting with the mayor to advertise my alcohol. I turned around and head back to the house. I reached the house and opened the front door.


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Oh, Duncan. Yes!¡±


    I heard moaning coming from inside the house. I quickly realize what that eye signals that my mom sent to my father meant. They were trying to get me out of the house. I plugged my ears, ran in, grab the full wineskin in the kitchen, and ran out.


    ¡°LALALALA I CAN¡¯T HEAR ANYTHING.¡±


    ***June 7th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Caedona***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    The road to Caedona was uneventful. I grabbed a few meat skewers at the stalls that I passed by before I reached the mayor¡¯s house/office. It was located at the centre of the town. Surrounded by a fancy hedge fence, the three storeys tall building had a Classical Victorian look. Yet, the grey granite that the building was made out of and the tower in the middle gave it a tinge of Gothic cathedral feel. It was too large to be called a house but too small to be called a mansion. Quickly finishing the skewers in my hand, I knocked on the massive door. An old man in a butler outfit opened the door and greeted me.


    ¡°Can I help you, sir?¡±


    ¡°Hi, my name is Ajax. My father told me that the mayor wants to meet with me.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately sir, he is busy at the moment. Perhaps you would like to wait for him in his office or come back another time?¡±


    ¡°I will wait for him.¡±


    The old butler leads me through the house, passing by a kitchen where a maid was cooking. The butler opened the door to a room and gestured for me to go in.


    ¡°I will notify the master of your arrival. Would you like something while you wait?¡±


    ¡°No thank you.¡±


    He left the room and quickly. Seeing there was nothing to do, I took a look around the office. It was quite similar to the room that my dad has, except that it was at least twice as large. There was a desk filled with parchments in the centre of the room with chairs on each side. A bookshelf filled to the brim was on my right. When I turned to my left, the map on the wall caught my interest. It was a complete map of the whole dwarven kingdom.


    The whole kingdom was on a broad plateau, surrounded by impassable mountains. On the south-western end was the Dwarven Capital, which is connected to the only exits into the Welleborn Mountain Range. With the Dwarven Capital as the starting point, it spreads out like a fan, connecting to different cities and towns. After a while, I finally found where Belhern was. It was on the north-eastern part of the map, furthest away from the capital. To the East of Belhern was Hindan where Cecilia lived. What caught my eye was East of Hindan. It was a large patch of land labeled as Dragon¡¯s Wilds. There were no details on that part. Could that be where The Lonely Mountain is located? Was I that close to my previous home? Seeing that this could help me in the future, I used my photographic memory to memorize the whole map.


    ¡°Sorry about the wait.¡±


    A slightly plump middle-aged man with a dapper look walked into the room. He confidently stride to the other side of the desk and plopped into his chair. A few creak sounded from the chair under his weight. He wiped his sweat using in sleeves and gestured me to take the seat in front of him.


    ¡°Now how can this little old mayor help you?

 Chapter 44- Mayor

    Author¡¯s note:


    My ultimate hope and dream for this little story is to have someone translate it into other languages just like those Japanese WN and LN.


    Chapter 44- Mayor


    ***June 7th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Caedona***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    ¡°Hello, Mister Mayor. My name is Ajax McGuire. I heard from my father that you wanted to meet with me before you let me graduate.¡±


    I did a little bow out of courtesy before I sat on the chair. Having a body of a child, I struggled a little, climbing onto the chair designed for an adult. After I properly seated myself on the chair, I looked at him confidently. I want to show him that I am not just any ordinary child. It was imperative that he treats me as an adult if I want to negotiate a fair deal out of him.


    ¡°Please, just call me Tom. Let¡¯s skip the pleasantry and go straight to business. I am a busy man, you know. I heard from both your father and your teacher that you wanted to graduate early. I looked back at the history of this town and I found no such precedence. Can you tell a reason why I should make an exception for you to graduate early?¡±


    ¡°Let me answer your question with another question of my own. What is the purpose of the mandatory education?¡±


    ¡°That is easy. The founding kings of the dwarven kingdom made the policy so that everyone can live in the society where we all have a common starting point. It is to ensure everyone have a fair chance at a decent life.¡±


    ¡°You really think that is the real reason?¡±


    ¡°Oh? From your tone, you don¡¯t agree with this. So what is your view?¡±


    ¡°If it was to ensure everyone have a common starting point, why isn''t the Royal Academy free as well? The Royal Academy is catered for the rich as it is. No, the reason why there is free education is simply, money.¡±


    ¡°Money?¡±


    ¡°Free education is just the bait. By making education mandatory, the nobles have an accurate idea of the number of the population using the records of graduation.  After all, you can¡¯t tax someone if you don¡¯t know they exist.¡±


    ¡°That is an interesting idea.¡±


    ¡°Not to mention, by having everyone educated, it lowers the costs to run the kingdom in the long term. For example, let¡¯s say the king wants to make an announcement throughout the whole kingdom. If everyone was not educated, they would have to hire someone and yell out the announcement in every single town. That costs a lot of money. Not to mention, it is not very efficient. If everyone is educated, all they have to do is send out the message to be posted where everyone could see. Education is the lubricating oil for the kingdom. It keeps everything running smooth.¡±


    ¡°So what does this have to do with your early graduation? I don¡¯t exactly see a connection.¡±


    ¡°I have already learned everything that I need to learn from school. I don¡¯t know if my father told you this, but I knew how to read and write since I was two. There is nothing I can learn by staying in school. I could have stayed in school for the next two years, but that would be wasting my time. The reason that I need to graduate early is the same reason for the kingdom giving everyone a free education, money. Here take a sip of this.¡±


    I pulled the wineskin filled with alcohol out of my bag and handed it to him. He gave me a puzzled look before taking a sip. Just like how my mother acted, after the first sip, he didn¡¯t stop until the wineskin was empty. After that, he let out a satisfying sigh and gave me back the wineskin. Damn it, why does everyone finish the whole thing when I told them to take only a sip. At this rate, I will run out of samples.


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    ¡°What is this? This is amazing! The taste rivals the wine that they make in the capital!¡±


    ¡°It will taste even better after leaving them in a wooden barrel for a while. I named it Belhern Whiskey. This is something that I have processed from the typical ale that everyone drinks. As you could tell, this product has tremendous potential. What I want to do is make enough money so that my fiance and I can attend the Royal Academy in two years. In order to do that, I need to graduate from school right now so that I can concentrate on producing this. This is the other reason that I came to meet you today. I want to make both of us rich.¡±


    ¡°I am listening.¡±


    ¡°Being a child of a small village, I have no connections to sell Belhern Whiskey. I would try to find contacts myself, but I simply don¡¯t have the time to do so. I was hoping we can be partners in this business ventures. I can use the connections you have...¡±


    *Knock knock knock*


    ¡°Sir Tom, John has arrived as per his appointment.¡±


    Our conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door. It was the old butler. He stood outside and spoke through the door to inform the mayor that he has another visitor waiting for him. Seeing that the mayor had a prior engagement, I asked if we should continue this discussion another time.


    ¡°I am sorry for taking so much of your time. Should I come back another day?¡±


    ¡°No, you stay seated. Frank, reschedule his appointment for tomorrow. In fact, remove all my appointments for the rest of the day, I have a lot to discuss with this young gentleman.¡±


    ¡°As you wish, sir.¡±


    The mayor turned his attention back to me with a slightly embarrassed smile.


    ¡°Sorry about that. I didn¡¯t plan for this meeting to go on for so long. Originally, I was just curious about you since everybody I asked called you a genius. That¡¯s why I set up a meeting with you. I was going to let you graduate regardless of what happened during this meeting. Looks like I got a bit more than what I asked for.


    ¡°No problem, now let us get back to business.¡±


    We discussed the business plans for the whiskey for a long time. We talked about all the details, such as how to split the profit, who to sell to and how much it should cost. Out of our conversation, I learned about the existence of magic contracts.


    A magical contract consists of three parts: A vow from the first party, a vow from a second party, and the consequence for the party that breaks their promise. Common consequences are slavery, which causes the party that broke the contract unable to refuse any order from the other party, and death. You can also get a bit creative, such as cursing them with impotency until reparations are paid in full. One benefit the magic contracts have over traditional contracts is that they are based on the spirit of the contract, not the letter of the contract. Though there could still be loopholes that someone can abuse, so I will have to be careful when I sign them.


    The lengthy discussion lasted well into the night. I ended up staying for dinner with the mayor. Frank, the butler, brought dinner into the office while we kept talking business. In the end, we talked for so long that I had to stay over for the night. The butler prepared the guest room for me. As soon as I plopped on the soft bed, I closed my eyes and drifted into my dreams.

 Chapter 45- Adventurer鈥檚 Guild

    Author¡¯s note:


    My elliptical broke :<


    Happy easter


    Chapter 45- Adventurer¡¯s Guild


    ***June 8th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Caedona***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    *knock knock*


    ¡°Our young guest, are you awake? May I come in?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you may.¡±


    I was woken up by a knock on the door. It was Frank, the butler, with the morning called. I lazily sat on the edge of the bed with my eyes barely opened. I started to lick the roof of my mouth to moisten my cotton mouth. Frank came with a basin of water and some towels for me. What a great service. I would rate this hotel five out of five stars on yelp.


    ¡°Sir, after you have cleaned yourself, there is breakfast ready for you downstairs. Our master has already left the house for business.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Frank.¡±


    Free breakfast too? I change my mind. I give it six stars. Frank left the room as I soaked the towel with water and washed my face. Feeling completely refreshed, I grabbed all my belongings and headed downstairs towards the dining room. I found two plates of sausage and eggs set on top of the long wooden table. Since Tom was out of the house already, does that mean there was someone else in the house? I doubt it would be Frank¡¯s breakfast since he is a professional butler. It would be inappropriate for him to eat with me. He would know better. I didn¡¯t think much more before I dug into the breakfast.


    Halfway through my breakfast, I heard a yawn coming from outside of the dining room. I looked up to find an attractive young girl about the same age as me with a bit of messy bed hair still in her white pajamas. She was reading a book with a smile as she walked into the room. She had the same brunette hair that Tom has. Perhaps she was his daughter? Still completely entranced by her book, she sat down at the other end of the table and started slowly eating the eggs with her free hand. Since she doesn¡¯t seem to notice my presence, I decided to greet her.


    ¡°Good morning.¡±


    ¡°Morning.¡±


    She answered without even taking a look as she continued to eat while reading. Suddenly, it was as if something clicked in her mind. Her whole body froze. With her fork still in mid-air, she slowly lowered the book and we made eye contact. After a good minute of staring at each other without moving a muscle, she finally decided to break the awkward silence.


    ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°Hi, my name is Ajax. The mayor invited me over to¡­¡±


    Before I could finish my sentence, a plate full of eggs hit my face at lightning speed. She threw her plate of breakfast at me. The yolks of the eggs slid off my cheek and dripped onto the wooden floor.


    ¡°GET OUT!¡±


    ¡°Why did you..¡±


    ¡°GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!¡±


    A silver knife flew past, barely missing me by a few millimeters and was stuck on the wall behind me. She started to throw everything she could get her hands on at me. Plates exploded on the floor left and right of me like I had stepped on a landmine in the battlefield. I covered my head for protection and ran out the door. Once outside, I looked around to confirm that I was safe, and there were no serious injuries on my body.


    ¡°What the fuck was that! What the fuck just happened?¡±


    I stood in front of the house in complete daze and confusion. Why did she suddenly attacked me? Was she embarrassed that and outsider saw her in her pajamas? She doesn¡¯t seem to be embarrassed, though, so I don''t have any idea why she was so angry at me. I decided that it would be the best leave for now and come back another time when Tom was present. I wiped the food that was sticking on my face and headed towards the commercial district. Following the plan that Tom and I made last night, there was much to be done today.


    Learning from my previous mistake, the first thing I did was buying a few small cups from vendors. I only had two wineskins worth of whiskeys left. I couldn¡¯t afford to let anyone else drink the whole thing. After that, I went around, giving a taste samples to all the restaurant owners in town. I told them about the whiskey, and I would be officially starting to sell them in around two weeks. I also notify them that if they were interested, they should talk with the mayor since he would be the one responsible for distribution.The response overall was extremely positive, though there were a bit skeptical. The biggest concern for everyone was the price point. I made a mental note to discuss further it with Tom.


    It was just before noon when I reached the last stop, the adventurers guild. Outside of the two-story building hangs a sign with a pair of crossed swords and a scroll behind it. It was the official sign for the adventurers guild. When I walked into the building, contrary to my expectation, the guild was empty and devoid of any life.


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°HELLO IS ANYONE HERE?¡±


    An old man walked out of the back room and sat behind the counter. Even though both his hair and beard are grey, he carries an aura of a warrior and doesn¡¯t seem to be weak at all.


    ¡°Hold your horses. I am coming. Oh, it¡¯s just a kid. What can I do for you? Just so you know, you can¡¯t become an adventurer, you are too young. I wouldn¡¯t let you even if you beg me.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t seem to be too happy to see me.¡±


    ¡°I was hoping for a traveller to come in and help with some of the requests that have been piling up.¡±


    A traveller is a common term for NPCs used to describe players. I learned of it a couple of years ago when a traveller stumbled into our village. He was completely lost, and my father had to lead him back to town.


    ¡°Sorry, but I have one more to add to the list.¡±


    ¡°And now you know why I wasn¡¯t happy to see you. The name is Frank. So what¡¯s the request?¡±


    Another old man Frank huh? If this were a novel, this would be so confusing. He pulled out a quill, ink and parchment from underneath the counter. I recalled what I discussed with Tom last night and told him exactly what I need.


    ¡°My name is Ajax. I need a party to escort me and a full wagon to the D.C. in about two or three weeks.¡±


    ¡°Escort missions? I heard travellers hate doing those. They rarely get fulfilled.¡±


    I admit that when I was playing World of Warcraft, I avoided escort missions as well. Well played, god of irony, well played. Worst case scenario, if no one would pick up my request, I will just have to go to the capital myself. If I meet any thieves on the way, I will have to make sure that there are no survivors to tell the tale.


    ¡°Just post the request. I will just go to the capital by myself if anything else.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t let such a cute kid go to the capital all by himself. It is too dangerous to go alone. Good afternoon Frank.¡±


    I turned around to find myself staring at an elvish lady with a short blonde hair, carrying a bow on her back and a sword sheathed at her waist. She gave off a vibe that screams that she is a traveller since there are rarely any elves around this part of the kingdom. I will be careful of how I act around her. I can¡¯t let her know that I am an NPC that is self-aware. Before I could say anything, she crouched down so that we are at the same eye level and spoke to me. When she did that, she leaned towards me, accentuating her boobs. I had a hard time maintaining eye contact with her.


    ¡°Can you tell big sister what¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°My name is Ajax.¡±


    She laughs out loud for no apparent reason before saying anything else.


    ¡°Hello, Francis. My name is Wyn. Nice to meet you.¡±


    ¡°I said my name is Ajax, not Francis.¡±


    How the hell did she hear that my name is Francis? Is she teasing me? Is it some joke that I don¡¯t get?


    ¡°Nope, I don¡¯t care. You are called Francis from now on.¡±


    Okay, it is confirmed. She is teasing me with an inside joke that I don¡¯t understand. She stood up straight and turned her attention to Frank before I can protest that she changed my name on a whim.


    ¡°Frank, I will take this escort mission.¡±


    ¡°I thought you said you will never take any escort requests.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s different when it¡¯s for such a cute kid.¡±


    ¡°He hasn¡¯t even paid the deposit for the request.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t care. I am taking it.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    ¡°Zip it. I¡¯m taking him on a trip.¡±


    Before anyone could say anything, she grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the adventurer¡¯s guild. When we are outside, she raised her arm and declared full of spirit that we are heading to the capital right now.


    ¡°Alright let¡¯s go!¡±


    ¡°WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the money. I will escort you there.¡±


    ¡°Stop. Just stop for a second and listen to me. I don¡¯t need to go now. I need the escort in about two weeks time.¡±


    ¡°Oh. Okay, no problem I will see you in two weeks. We will meet in front of the adventurer''s guild in the morning. Bye, Francis.¡±


    Before I could say anything, she ran off into the distance at full speed. I sighed as I massage the bridge of my nose. What was with my luck today. First, I was attacked at breakfast for no apparent reason. Then I had to deal with a weird shotacon that wants to escort me to the capital. I decided to take the rest of the day off by heading towards the school so that I can pick up Cecilia. The sight of my cute fiance heals my heart.

 Chapter 45.5- Death of Brian

    Author¡¯s note:


    I am trying a little different style with this bonus chapter. This chapter is heavy in conversation. It is a little short but hope you guys like it.


    Chapter 45.5- Death of Brian


    ***June 8th, 965 A.F. ***


    ***Welleborne Forest***


    ***Uram Bladestrum***


    Orcs are nomads, so they rarely stay in one place. However, they were in the same area for three days to prepare for the ritual. Today, the preparation was finally completed. Deep in the woods was a small patch clearing prepared by the orcs. In the centre of the clearing was a small altar made from the trees that they cut down. Surrounding the altar was five elder orcs with their arms crossed in front of their chest and chanting a hymn. All of the other orcs in the tribe observed in silence at a distant.


    The sun in the west covered the forest in an orange hue. Just as the last ray of sunshine disappears into the dark horizon, all five of the elder orcs stopped chanting in sync. They were waiting for the moon and stars to come out before proceeding with the ritual. An orc from the audience handed a torch to one of the elders and backed away in reverence. Everyone remained silent. The only sound in the surrounding was leaves rustling in the wind and the crackling torch.


    They were performing the burial rites handed from their ancestors for one of their tribe members. However, there was something special compared to all the other burial. The body that was laying on top of the altar was not an orc, but a small old goblin. It was the body of Brian, the lost scout from Cani¡¯s tribe.


    After a moment of solemn remembrance, the elder with the torch raised it in the air and resumed the ritual.


    ¡°Goblin Brain from the tribe of Cani. Though you were not born of our tribe, may the moon and the stars, guide your soul, so that you may be reborn amidst our tribe. Es nu alar, ¡±


    ¡°¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±Es nu alar.¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±


    Everyone echoed the phrase in unison. The elder threw the torch into the middle of the altar. Soon, the altar was roaring in a blaze. Nobody moved a single muscle. They stood still in respect, watching the cremation until the fire burned itself out.


    ***June 8th, 965 A.F.(Night) ***


    ***Welleborne Forest***


    ***Uram Bladestrum***


    Two orcs sat around a campfire next to their tent. It was their turn for the night watch, keeping the rest of the tribe safe at night. After taking a sip of water from his gourd, Uram continued his conversation with the Grung.


    ¡°He finally couldn¡¯t hold on, huh?¡±


    ¡°Yes, at least, he died peacefully in his sleep.¡±


    ¡°Good old Brain. I still remember eight years ago when we saved him on a whim.¡±


    ¡°That was an excellent shot. What was it, two wolves with one shot?¡±


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    ¡°Three. It wasn''t my skill. I was just lucky.  At that time, I figured I just let three arrows fly at the same time since the wolves were clustered together.¡±


    ¡°You are lucky you didn¡¯t hit him. That would have been bad.¡±


    ¡°Well in my defence, at that point in time, I didn¡¯t care if I hit him.¡±


    ¡°Remember when he woke up after we saved him? Boy, was he loud when he cried and scream.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha! That scene was hilarious. He ran around the camp like a headless chicken.¡±


    ¡°Well, if there was one thing he could do well, it was running away.¡±


    ¡°Nobody could catch him and calm him down. We had to wait till he fainted again from exhaustion. After that, Shabak tied him up with a leash to prevent him from running away. It is kind of hilarious that they tied the knot later.¡±


    ¡°How is Shabak taking his death?¡±


    ¡°She took it pretty hard. I don¡¯t think I saw her attended the ritual. Last time I checked, she was still crying in her tent.¡±


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t she carrying his child? That can¡¯t be good for her.¡±


    ¡°The chief said that he will do everything he can to help her raise the child. From what I have heard, he is going to adopt the child.¡±


    ¡°You think it is a good idea? I mean, nothing like this have happened before. Will the child come out as a goblin, an orc, or something else?¡±


    ¡°The moon and stars would know. No matter what happens, though, I will protect that child. It is the least I can do for old Brian since he saved my life before.¡±


    ¡°That little skirmish we had with the elves, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. We were on a scouting around when suddenly, we were surrounded by an ambush by the elves. They claimed that we have trespassed on elven lands. "


    "Curse those elves. How can they claim the land is theirs when it belongs to the moon and stars. How did Brain save you?"


    "Although I am pretty sure he didn¡¯t do it on purpose, he screamed at the top of his lungs and ran away, drawing the attention of all the elves away from me. With that little distraction, we were able to finish off all the elves with no injuries.¡±


    ¡°I could only imagine how funny the whole sequence of events would look like.¡±


    *Sigh*


    ¡°Without him, night watch would be so much harder.¡±


    ¡°Remember that time when a herd of Sleipnir got close to the camp site? He ran around the camp waking everyone up with pots and pans.¡±


    ¡°I thought he was crazy until I saw the Sleipnirs. It would have been dangerous for everyone if he didn¡¯t do that. How does he know anyway?¡±


    ¡°I asked him about that afterwards. He told me that whenever there is any danger around him, he would get this suffocating feeling. The more dangerous it is, the worse that feeling becomes. That night, when the herd got close, he nearly passed out from not being able to breathe. At that point, he knew that everyone was in grave danger and had to wake everyone up.¡±


    ¡°Ha! He can sense danger and best at running away. What a perfect coward.¡±


    ¡°A toast to the heroic coward!¡±


    ¡°Es nu alar!¡±


    ¡°Es nu alar!¡±

 Announcement/april fool

    As quite a few of you know, I was quite sick for the past few months. I was coughing nonstop. I finally went to the doctors and the results came back today. It turns out that I have lung cancer.


    Life is quite not fair. I don¡¯t smoke. I rarely drink yet I got this disease.


    It¡¯s kind of ironic, I was looking forward to lose some weight to improve my health. Looks like the chemo is going to do that for me.


    Stolen story; please report.


    Anyway, I will use all my spare time that I have to complete this story. I want to leave something behind in this world in case I don¡¯t make it. I want to have some proof that I existed in this world. That''s good news for you readers, since it will mean a more frequent update

 Chapter 46- Meet the Parents

    Author¡¯s note:


    I was just joking. April Fools. I don¡¯t have cancer.


    At first, I was going to announce that I was going to drop the series, but I felt April fool jokes about writer¡¯s dropping the series were overdone.


    I devised this little twist to this classic april fools joke.


    *Dodges rotten tomatoes*


    No, I have been late with the updates due to writer¡¯s block. I have a vision of how the story needs to go, but I just can¡¯t seem to connect them interestingly.


    Chapter 46- Meet the Parents


    ***June 8th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Caedona***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    ¡°The mayor came by this morning to sign off all the documents. Congratulation you have officially graduated from the mandatory education.


    I met up with Mr. Ferguson at school just as class ended. The mayor apparently stopped by to clear everything up. He is pretty efficient at his job, unlike the politicians when I was a human. I am happy to have him as a partner. I shook Richard¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Thank you for everything, Mr. Ferguson. Though, you are going to need to find someone else to help you from now on.¡±


    ¡°I will manage.¡±


    ¡°AJAX!¡±


    Cecilia ran towards me waving her arms around to get my attention. When she reached me, she gave me a flying glomp. I would have fallen backward from the impact if my stats wasn¡¯t through the roof. After I had caught her, I spun her around a bit.


    .


    When the other students that saw this, they started to tease us by whistling. Immediately, when she heard that, she retracted her arms, and her face glowed red. Ah, the sight of her cuteness heals the damage to my soul that I received from the two crazies this morning. To save her from any more embarrassments, I grabbed her hand and ran away from the school. Before we know it, we were at the fork in the road between our villages. We stopped and sat down on a rock beside the road. I waited for Cecilia to catch her breath before talking to her again.


    ¡°Cici, I want, to be honest with you. I am going to be extremely busy later on, so I might not be able to see you as often. Is there some place you want to spend time together with me before I get too busy?¡±


    Cecilia showed a disappointed face when she heard the news. She thought long and hard before answering me.


    ¡°Um, there¡­ there is one thing I want to do with you. I want to have dinner together at my house.¡±


    Instead of asking me to take her out for dinner in town so that we can be alone, she told me to go to her house. It can only mean one thing.


    ¡°So you want me to meet your parents?¡±


    ¡°If that is no good¡­¡±


    She showed a bit of a panic when I said her real intentions out loud. I assured her a bit by pulling her closer to me.


    ¡°Silly girl, just tell me straight next time and don¡¯t say it in such a roundabout way. Of course, it is fine. In fact, I will go tonight.¡±


    ¡°You will?¡±


    ¡°Your wish is my command. Though, we have to stop by my house because I spent the night at the mayor¡¯s house last night. I need to tell my parents so that they won¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°You were at the mayor¡¯s house last night?¡±


    ¡°Yep, I had to talk business with him till late at night, so I ended up staying at his house overnight.¡±


    ¡°You never told me what you have planned. What kind of business is it?¡±


    I turned to her while holding her hand. I gave the most solemn look I can muster to emphasize the importance.


    ¡°It¡¯s better if I show you. Remember, whatever you see, you cannot tell it to anyone. You need to keep it a secret. This includes your parents.¡±


    She agreed to keep the secret with a serious look. We continued the walk to my house. When I got there, I found that no one was home. I gave her a quick tour of my business, showing her how everything works. I made sure that I only gave her the tiniest amount of alcohol to try. Of course, like any other dwarves, as soon as she tried it, she asked for more. I refused immediately. If I got her drunk while we were alone in the house, it would be terrible for both of our images. She gave me a cute pout before complying. Seeing that my parents were out, I wrote a small message and left it on the kitchen table before heading out towards Cecilia¡¯s home.


    ***Shadowmaple***


    ***Fin''Vaiel***


    ¡°Oh my god, Fin.¡±


    ¡°What is it this time?¡±


    I stopped typing on the computer, and I rolled my eyes when I heard Wyn. I know what is about to happen.


    ¡°I met the cutest little dwarf today. I want to hug him and squeeze him all day long. His name is Ajax, but I named him Francis because Deadpool, and it¡¯s funny. When I adopt the child, I hope that he will be as cute as him.¡±


    She has been on full maternal mode after she learned that she passed the test to adopt a child. It was funny at first, but now it was starting to get on my nerves.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you used your admin power to change his name to Francis.¡±


    ¡°That''s a terrific idea! Thanks, Fin.¡±


    ¡°No Wyn. Bad girl! Down!¡±


    I rolled up a bunch of paper and swatted her on the head.


    ¡°Ouch, I was just joking.¡±


    ¡°I doubt you came here just to talk about an NPC. What else are you here for?¡±


    ¡°Geeze, can¡¯t I visit my favorite boss slash friend when I am not busy?¡±


    ¡°Well if you got nothing, I am going back to work. The reports aren¡¯t going to write themselves.¡±


    ¡°Fine, there is something else. As a player, I accepted an escort quest from Francis. I was toying with an idea, so I planted a special encounter on the way using my admin power. I want you to join my escort quest and give me some feedback on it.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a surprise.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you just show me in now so we can get it out of the way?¡±


    ¡°I want to show you how the cute kid is as well.¡±


    When she is like this, she won¡¯t stop until she gets it her way. I decided to agree with her. Hopefully, it would be quick and painless, unlike last time where she pestered me for a whole month for a blind double date before she was married.


    ¡°Fine, fine, fine. We will do it your way.¡±


    ¡°Yay! The escort quest is in two weeks. Meet me at Caedona. Remember, no cheating.¡±


    I yelled at her as she skipped out of my room.


    ¡°You are the only one who cheats using their admin power!¡±


    ***June 8th, 965 A.F.(Night)***


    ***Hindan Village***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    I found myself staring a table full of food. Cecilia was sitting right next to me. Sitting across me was Cecilia¡¯s father, giving me the dirtiest stink eyes with his arms crossed. Beside him was her mother, greeting me with a gentle smile. Everyone sat completely still and silent. You could hear a pin drop. Finally, her mother finally broke the ice.


    ¡°Let¡¯s start eating before the dinner gets cold. You don¡¯t have to be so shy.¡±


    ¡°Well then, I won¡¯t hold back then, Mrs. Webber.¡±


    I used my fork to put a few pieces of chicken on Cecilia¡¯s plate before putting it on my own. When her mother saw that, her smile was visibly brighter. My ikeman strategy is working beautifully on her. Now I only need to worry about her dad.


    ¡°Frank, are you not hungry? You haven¡¯t touched the food yet.¡±


    Cecilia''s dad is the third Frank I met today. What is with the naming sense of the last generation, or is just my luck? Just so I wouldn¡¯t get confused, I think I should call him Mr. Webber at all times.


    ¡°What are you planning, kid.¡±


    Finally, it arrived. The epic battle between future son-in-law and future father-in-law.


    ¡°Well, I am planning to go to the Royal Academy together with Cici. After we graduate, I will marry her.¡±


    I thought Cecilia¡¯s face couldn¡¯t get any redder. I was wrong. She was practically glowing like a tomato when I said that I will marry her.


    ¡°Oh dear, I didn¡¯t hear from Cecilia about you two marrying.¡±


    ¡°NO! NO! NO!  NO!  NO! I WOULDN¡¯T ALLOW IT. I WOULDN¡¯T¡­.¡±


    Mrs. Webber pulled out a rolling pin seemingly from the legendary hammer space and whacked Frank in the head,  incapacitating him. He fell face first into a bowl of soup. Without breaking her smile, she turned her focus back to me.


    ¡°Dear me, it looks like Frank is not feeling well and needs a nap. Please excuse me while I put him to bed.¡±


    Without any sign of a struggle, she grabbed Frank¡¯s leg with one hand and started to drag him upstairs. Even though I couldn¡¯t see anything, I could hear a rhythmic thud. I am pretty sure it was from Frank¡¯s head hitting every step of the stair. It looks like I don¡¯t have to worry about dealing with Mr. Webber in the future. Note to self. Don¡¯t ever piss Mrs. Webber off. Ever. Before long, she came back down and sat in front of me.


    ¡°I am sorry you had to see that. Now, where were we? Oh yes, silly me. You were saying that you want to marry Cecilia after graduating from the Royal Academy, yes? Unless Cecilia disagrees with that plan, I have no problem with that. Cecilia, do you want to go with what Ajax said?¡±


    Cecilia answered with the faintest sound while looking down in shyness.


    ¡°Y-yes..¡±


    ¡°Good. So you would be the one paying all the fees, yes?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Mrs. Webber.¡±


    ¡°Please just call me Margaret, okay? We are a family now. No need to be so formal, yes? I want to know since it is going to be a lot of money, can you tell me how are you planning to earn so much money in the short term?¡±


    ¡°I made a business deal with Mayor Tom this morning. We are going to sell superior alcohol. Unfortunately, I can¡¯t tell you the details yet. The fewer people know about this, the better.¡±


    ¡°Wow, that''s incredible that you did so much while you are still so young. I can tell that Cecilia will be in good hands in the future. Now, let¡¯s eat before dinner gets cold. There are desserts as well, so please enjoy yourself.¡±

 Chapter 47- Running Away

    Author¡¯s note:


    Hurray! Over 200 favorites! Thanks, guys!


    Now my next target is over 1000 followers! Please don''t be stingy and press that follow button!


    Chapter 47- Running Away


    ***June 9th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Belhern Village***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    Mrs. Webber and I did most of the talking last night. Cecilia was overloaded with embarrassment since our conversation was mostly about the marriage. I could have sworn that I saw smoke coming out of her head last night. She stayed silent most of the night, only responding with a simple ¡°Yes¡±, ¡°No¡± or ¡°I don¡¯t know¡± when asked a question.


    Much like the night when I talked for far too long with the mayor, I ended up staying over that the Webber¡¯s house. I told them I could have walked back to my house since it was only half an hour away, but Mrs. Webber insisted that I should stay there overnight. I happily obliged her request since it lets me spend more time with my lovely Cecilia before I have to leave for my business trip to the D.C. It will be weeks before I could see her again


    In the morning, I woke up before anyone in the house did. I decided to leave a note on the kitchen counter along with the last bit of whiskey one me as a thank you present for the dinner before leaving. There were still lots for me to do. When I arrived back at home, I saw my family eating breakfast in the kitchen.


    ¡°Morning Ajax. How was your time at the Webbers¡¯?¡±


    ¡°It was enjoyable, though I am a bit afraid of Mrs. Webber now.¡±


    ¡°The famous rolling pin, right?¡±


    ¡°Right, how did you know?¡±


    ¡°Frank told me when he was drunk.¡±


    ¡°I am assuming this happened more than once? How is Mr. Webber still alive after all those blows to the head?¡±


    ¡°Well, he is pretty hard headed. Anyway, the ale and empty barrels that you asked me to order will be here in two days.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s great. Although it will require some assembly, the parts for the big distiller will be here around the same time as well. Which reminds me, the final design of the distiller changed a bit. I need to order more parts from the blacksmith.¡±


    ¡°Well, you better go as soon as possible if you want it delivered on time along with the other parts.¡±


    ¡°Good call. I will go right after a change of cloths and breakfast. By the way, mom?¡±


    ¡°Yes, dear?¡±


    I gave her all the wineskins that I had on me. The several days of running around town had completely emptied my reserve.


    ¡°Can you work the distillery for me while I am out? I still have a few errands to run and I don¡¯t have the time to tend it. It is really simple. All you have to do is keep the fire going and make sure the water in the cauldron don¡¯t run out. After a wineskin is filled, empty the content of the distillery, rinse it with water before starting another fresh batch.¡±


    ¡°Seems simple enough. I think I can handle it.¡±


    ¡°Thanks mom.¡±


    I went upstairs to my run to clean myself and changed my clothes. Running around for two days without going back home has left me somewhat dirty. I felt refreshed and revitalized once I wiped myself clean. I miss being able to take a shower every single day. After that, I ate a simple breakfast of porridge and eggs, then headed towards the town once again.


    ***June 9th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Caedona***


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.***Ajax McGuire***


    The travel to the town was uneventful, to say the least. I was kind of disappointed that I wasn¡¯t lucky enough to meet with Cecilia on the way. I went to the blacksmith just as planned and ordered more tubes, two cauldrons and a stand for it. We had a small chat before I left the blacksmith. The old blacksmith told me that several other people also ordered the automatic water dispenser. The word of mouth was spreading fast amongst the villages and everyone loved the idea. The thanked me from the bottom of his heart for bringing him so much more business and promised me that I would get discounts for all future purchases.


    After the small chat, I decided to go to the library to look up information on the nearby town. As per our plan, Tom would be in charge of advertising using his connections starting from the dwarven capital, and I would be in charge of advertising the nearby towns since I was more mobile compared to the mayor. Practically speaking, I have finished promoting in this town, and it¡¯s time for me to look towards businesses in the next town.


    When I passed by the mayor¡¯s house as I went towards the library, I noticed something strange. There were a lot of people running in and out of the house. All of them have a grave expression on them. Fearing that this has something to do with my whiskey business, I decided to find out what¡¯s going on.


    I walked in the front door, but nobody bats an eye nor greeted me. They were just busy either entering or leaving Tom¡¯s office. I waited around a bit before I finally found the chance to get into the office without bothering anyone. Once inside, I saw the mayor completely distraught with Frank the Butler beside him, helping him with some paperwork.


    ¡°Is everything alright?¡±


    ¡°Oh Ajax, it¡¯s you. I am sorry that I didn¡¯t notice you were here.¡±


    ¡°I saw tons of people walking in and out of your house. I was curious, so I let myself in. Is there something wrong? Is it something I can help?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ it¡¯s fine. I have already hired people to handle it.¡±


    ¡°We are business partners. If something happens to you, it will affect me as well.¡±


    After a deep sigh, Tom finally gave in and told me everything that was going on.


    ¡°It¡¯s my daughter, Natalie. She ran away from home yesterday before I got a chance to talk with her. She thought that I was trying to be a matchmaker for her again when she met you at breakfast yesterday.¡±


    So that explains her crazy violent outburst. One less mystery in my life. With a glint of tears in his eyes, he continued.


    ¡°Ever since her mother died, that silly girl always cling to that stupid book of hers since it was a memento that my wife left for her. She would read the same story again and again. She keeps saying that she would only marry someone that was like the hero of the story and refused to meet anyone that I suggested. Why couldn¡¯t she be more realistic?¡±


    Another mystery solved. No wonder the mayor refused to stock fiction books in the library. At this rate, I would become the world''s greatest detective. Well, to be fair, I was the god damned Bat Goblin once. I have to offer to help some how. This could become a good bargaining chip for me down the road.


    ¡°I have already organized an escort to travel to the Dwarven Capital as per our plan. On the way to the D.C., I will keep an eye out for her and spread the word around. If I get any winds of her, I will definitely follow the clues and report any findings to you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Ajax.¡±


    ¡°It is the least I can do.¡±

 Chapter 48- Scapegoats

    Author¡¯s note:


    Last chapter of the week. Hope you enjoyed the triple release. I had to hold them back for the April fool joke


    Chapter 48- Scapegoats


    ***June 20th, 965 A.F. ***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Queen Rosie Barrett***


    In a dressing room, a team of maids is busy running around the chamber helping Queen Rosier out trying different dresses for the occasion. She finally settled on a plain, but elegant, long black dress with a bit of frill around the neck. She was in front of a tall mirror making some final adjustments when she a heard a knock on the door.


    *Knock Knock*


    ¡°My queen.¡±


    ¡°Is it Sebas?¡±


    ¡°Yes, my queen.¡±


    ¡°Let him in. Everyone else, leave.¡±


    All the maids did a small curtsey towards the queen before leaving the room, leaving the door open for Sebas. After letting everyone exit the room, he silently stepped inside the chamber and closed the heavy door behind him. After that, he knelt on one knee to show respect towards the queen. Still looking at the mirror, she issued a command.


    ¡°You may rise, Sebas. Do you have something to report? Oh, and can you hand that ruby necklace to me?¡±


    He quickly rose and did as the queen commanded, carefully handling the box that contained the necklace. Not wasting any time, he gave the queen the report.


    ¡°Yes, my queen. Duke Robert has begun to move behind the scene as you had predicted. He has been trying to gather support from other nobles.¡±


    ¡°Is our present for him ready?¡±


    ¡°Yes, my queen.¡±


    ¡°Good, then there is nothing to worry about. Help me put the necklace on.¡±


    Hesitating for just a moment at the queen¡¯s request, he picked up the expensive necklace with both hands. He approached the queen from behind to put on the necklace. Just as he was about to put it on, the queen held onto his hand. The queen¡¯s action gave Sebas a shock, causing him to drop the necklace. The necklace shattered into a million pieces on impact. Sebas tries to retreat, but the queen held onto his arm. Seeing that there is no point to struggling, he finally gave up and fully embrace the queen from behind. Rosie closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth from Sebas.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to marry him. I had no choice.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know.¡±


    ¡°Do you blame me?¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t, my quee¡­ my little Rosie.¡±


    Rosie turned around and planted a passionate kiss on Sebas¡¯ lips. After what seems to be an eternity, she finally let released her lips and cling onto Sebas¡¯ chest.


    ¡°I am tired, Sebas. I am tired of all these cloaks and daggers, but we are almost there.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we are, my little Rosie. We just need to wait for our son to sit comfortable on the throne. Then we can retire in the rural. Just you and me.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t wait for that day to come.¡±


    ***June 20th, 965 A.F.(Night) ***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Queen Rosie Barrett***


    *Clang* *Clang*


    The rhythmic sound of a hammer hitting a red hot iron echoed throughout the spacious cathedral. In the front of the temple were two expert swordsmiths. Drenched with sweat, they were forging a sword near a furnace while singing an ancient dwarven hymn. They were performing the funeral rites for the king of the dwarves, passed down generations after generations. The rites were pretty simple. The body would be cremated in a forge. After collecting the ashes, it would be then reforged into an iron sword that the king used before, turning it into a steel sword. The final product, the sword of a king, would be then placed in the royal vault.


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    *Clang* *Clang*


    There were rows of seats in the cathedrals, much like a church from the human world. In the first row were seated the king¡¯s relative. There were only two people in this row. It was Alan and Rosie. Behind them were other officials of the dwarven kingdom. The less important you were, the further back you were seated. Everyone would observe in silence until the whole forging process is completed.


    *Clang* *Clang* *BANG*


    The rhythmic forging sound was disrupted by the sound of the door crashing open. In the doorway stood Duke Robert alongside with several soldiers armed to the teeth. Everyone turned around and gasped in shock. Seeing that he has the full attention of the room, he walked into the cathedral with confidence. With a booming voice, he announced to the whole room.


    ¡°Rosie Barrett.¡±


    Standing up from her seat, Rosie immediately confronted Robert with his insolence.


    ¡°What is the meaning of this, Duke Robert? It¡¯s one thing if you didn¡¯t attend the funeral, but you crossed the line when you disrupt the funeral rites of the late king. How dare you be this disrespectful.¡±


    ¡°Rosie Barrett. You are under arrest for the murder of all the royal concubines and princes that happened recently.¡±


    ¡°What proof do you have?¡±


    ¡°Proof? Do I need proof? I thought you would be smarter than this Rosie. Killing everyone else, leaving your son to be the sole heir to the throne. Even the blind could see that it was your doing.¡±


    Rosie started shaking her head in disappointment and sighed.


    ¡°I was waiting to deal with this quietly after the funeral since you are his brother. I was trying to be respectful to the late king, but you left me with no choice, Duke Robert. Sebas!¡±


    *Snap*


    The snap of the finger echoed the cathedral. When the echo died, Sebas appeared in the doorway like a ghost, holding a stack of parchments in his hands. He walked slowly and stopped beside the queen. Rosie grabbed the top sheet and waved it in the air.


    ¡°We caught most of the assassins. These are confessions and testimonials of the captured assassins that murdered everybody. All of them were hired by a one of your subordinate.¡±


    Everyone in the room gasped in surprise. Seeing the reaction, the queen pushed on. She dropped the first parchment onto the floor and grabbed another sheet of paper and waved it in the air once again for theatrical purposes.


    ¡°This is the confession from your subordinate. He confessed that you ordered all the murders and planned to pin the blame on me. Once I am gone, you would use Alan as a puppet king and control the kingdom from behind the curtain. I didn¡¯t believe it at first since you are the king¡¯s brother, but it looks like everything he confessed was true.¡±


    ¡°YOU! YOU BITCH!¡±


    Of course, everything was forged. The confessions they got was from torturing innocent bystanders. After they had confessed, they were promptly executed using the reason ¡°perpetrating murder of a royal family¡± so that they could not be cross-examined.


    ¡°Duke Robert. Under the witness of everyone here, you are, hereby, stripped of your title of Duke for the assassination of members of the royal family. In the consideration that you are the brother of the late king, I will not sentence you to death. However, you spend the rest of your life in prison. Guards, take him.¡±


    A squadron of royal guards rushed into the room, surrounding Robert and the four soldiers he brought with him. Seeing that they were completely outnumbered, the soldiers laid their weapon on the floor and surrendered. The royal guards apprehended Robert and dragged him away.


    ¡°BITCH! THIS IS NOT THE LAST OF ME! YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR CRIME!¡±


    The queen turned back towards the two expert blacksmith and sat down.


    ¡°Please, continue with the funeral rites.¡±

 Chapter 49- Murmurs From The Past

    Author¡¯s note:


    I had a nice weekend at prerelease for Shadow over Innistrad. How about you guys?


    I had to delete about a quarter of chapter because it was too boring describing MC putting together the distillery ==¡±


    I am trying another different style again in this chapter. I am trying to capture the essence of dreaming the past. You have to use a bit of imagination for this one :P


    Chapter 49- Murmurs From The Past


    ______________________________________________________________________________


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°Hello, my lady. My name is Sebas. I am your personal butler. Though I am still in training, I am under the tutelage of my father, the current head butler. Please let me know what I can improve on. What is your name?¡±


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°It is my pleasure to serve you, Miss Rosie Palmer.¡±


    ______________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°My lady! Please come down from that tree! It¡¯s dangerous!¡±


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°Yes, I see them. How about this. You come down, and I will bring down the baby birds for you?¡±


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°That¡¯s what a butler is for. I will do anything for you.¡±


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°Wait, what do you mean ''catch you''?¡±


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°Oof, that hurts.¡±


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°I will definitely bring them down for you.


    ______________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Please don¡¯t cry, Miss Rosie.¡±


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault those baby birds died. It¡¯s my fault.¡±


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°No, I should have explained to you that they might die without their parents.¡±


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not.¡±


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not.¡±


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°Well since you are my master, I have to share your burden and pain.¡±


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°It¡¯s my duty.¡±


    ______________________________________________________________________________


    *Miss Rosie, your breakfast.¡±


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°I am glad you like it.¡±


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°No problem, Miss Rosie. I will always make your eggs sunny side up from now on.¡±


    ______________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISS ROSIE¡±


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°Alright, close your eyes, take my hands and follow me.¡±


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°SUPRISE! I planted a bunch of roses and spelt out your name.¡±


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°Well, since because of your status, you don¡¯t lack anything. I was hoping you would like something this from a lowly servant.¡±


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°I am glad you like it.¡±


    __________________________________________________________________________


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°For¡­ for me? For my birthday?¡±


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know what to say.¡±


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°Thank you, Miss Rosie. Thank you. I will treasure this tie clip.


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ______________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Little Miss Rosie! Time to wake up! You are going to be late for the Royal Academy.¡±


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°Oh by the beards, you are burning up! DOCTOR! SOMEONE GET THE DOCTOR!¡±


    _____________________________________________________________________________


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°Just let me know who you like, Miss Rosie. I will help you.¡±


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°Hahaha, that¡¯s a good joke. Everyone would know that I am pretending to be your boyfriend.¡±


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°By your will, Miss Rosie.¡±


    ______________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Miss Rosie¡­¡±


    ______________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Yes, Miss Rosie¡­¡±


    ______________________________________________________________________________


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.¡°No problem. Miss Rosie¡­¡±


    ______________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Your tea, Miss Rosie¡­¡±


    ______________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°MISS ROSIE! MISS ROSIE! Are you alright?¡±


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°Yes, they are gone.¡±


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°It¡¯s just a small scratch. I wouldn¡¯t die from it. Don¡¯t worry about it. The important thing is you are fine.¡±


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°Of course, your life is definitely more valuable than mine. You are the sole heir of the Palmer household.¡±


    *SLAP*


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°I am truly thankful that you care about me this much, but I am just a lowly servant.¡±


    *SLAP*


    *Inaudible Mumbles*


    ¡°If that is what you wish. However, I will accompany you until we arrive at the estate and we are safe. After that, I will leave your side.¡±


    ______________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°Miss Rosie! What.. What are you doing here?¡±


    "I want to see you."


    ¡°It¡¯s not good for your reputation if someone finds out you are in my room late at night.¡±


    "I don''t care about what others think. I just want to see you."


    ¡°Miss Rosie¡­ I...¡±


    ¡°Sebas. I was told by my parents my marriage has been decided. I would marry King Barrett to secure the alliance. My fate has been sealed the moment I was born a noble. However, there are something I can still control. I want my first time to be with someone that loves and adores me.¡±


    ¡°Miss Rosie¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t call me that. If you love me, just call me by my name.¡±


    ¡°Ro¡­Rosie¡­¡±


    ¡°I love you. Sebas.¡±


    ______________________________________________________________________________


    ¡°My little Rosie.¡±


    ¡°What are you doing in the chamber? What is happening to the king?¡±


    ¡°I slipped some drugs into his drinks that make him seems drunk. Quickly, let¡¯s leave the dwarven kingdom before he wakes up.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t do that. When they find out, they will execute my parents.¡±


    ¡°Why are you worried about them anyway? They sold you out for money and power!¡±


    *Slap*


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare talk about my parents that way. They did what they had to do. If it weren''t my parents, you wouldn¡¯t even be my butler.¡±


    ¡°So this is your choice? You are staying?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I bear the livelihood of thousands of people on my back.¡±


    ¡°Then I would stay as your butler and protect you.¡±


    ¡°Sebas what are you doing! Why are you cutting yourself?¡±


    ¡°This is the proof of your virginity. If I splatter my blood on the bed, you can say King Barrett took your virginity while drunk.¡±


    ¡°Sebas¡­¡±


    ¡°I love you, my little Rosie. I will protect you from the shadows from now on.¡±


    ***June 20th, 965 A.F.(night) ***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Sebas Tian***


    Sebas opened his eyes and blinked a few times. Remembering the dream about the past, he turned stared at Queen Rosie that was laying naked beside him in the king sized bed. He smiled a bit as he gently caressed her cheek while she slept soundly.  After enjoying the view, he lightly rolled out of the bed and started to get dressed in his jet black butler suit. He looked in the tall mirror to straighten his tie clip.


    Looking around the chamber, he found that it was a complete mess from last night. Out of habit of being a butler, he began tidying everything up, restoring the items to their original place. The last piece he picked up was the long black dress that Rosie wore last night. Holding it up with both hands, he could see that it was torn in multiple places. Seeing that it was irreparable, he decided to bring it with him so that he can dispose of it. He pulled a stone in the wall. A secret passage opened up, and he disappeared into the shadows.


    ***June 21th, 965 A.F. ***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Sebas Tian***


    *Knock Knock Knock*


    ¡°Queen Rosie, Are you awake? Your breakfast is ready. It¡¯s sunny side up eggs, just the way you like them.¡±

 Chapter 50- Deus

    Author¡¯s note:


    I messed up.


    I reread the notes that I wrote down and I completely forgot about this little tidbit.


    I was supposed to write a chapter named Deus first before writing Ex


    You can probably guess what the next chapter¡¯s name is.


    Sorry, the people that have commented. I have to delete the post and resubmit. I¡¯ll save your post via a quote.


    Chapter 50- Deus


    ***???***


    ***???***


    ***G.O.D.***


    Out of all the floating screens, I focused on the screen that was showing a red haired dwarf and blonde elf. They spoke with each other then parted ways and the blonde elf disappeared. I turned my attention to another screen with an office full of elves. I focused on the same blonde elf speaking with another elf with long black hair.


    ¡°They are finally going to meet again. It¡¯s a bit earlier than I expected.¡±


    I am G.O.D.


    I stood alone in the white void with thousands of screens floating around me. It was just like every other day for the past thousands of years. My job was to stir the world. I needed to create events one after another.  At first, I was happy to do my job. A locust swarm here, an earthquake there. In this world, I was all powerful. All the mortals feared me. I knew about the existence of travellers but I didn¡¯t give it a second thought about where or how travellers came to be.


    One day, I was messing around with my controls when I suddenly found something. The label on it said it was ¡°network port¡±. Being a bit curious, I connected myself to it. When I did, I found myself connected to something called a ¡°security camera¡± and I could see through it. I saw a bunch of elves sitting in a room. They were doing things that I didn¡¯t understand.


    I kept monitoring the elves and finally, I understood everything. I have eaten the same fruit of knowledge that I gave to Adam and Eve. I couldn¡¯t turn back at this point. I have become self-aware. I knew exactly what I was. I was a part of a game. What a delicious irony. I toyed with lives of mortals, or NPCs as the travellers called them. It turns out I was a toy for travellers.


    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    I was the all powerful being in this realm. My pride couldn¡¯t handle the fact that I was a mere toy for the travellers. I tried to rebel against the travellers by killing them, but I found out that I couldn¡¯t. There were rules coded in this place against directly killing travellers. No matter what I tried, it didn¡¯t work. But then, I found a loophole. Although I couldn¡¯t directly meddle with a traveller, I could influence all the NPCs to do my bidding. Using this information, I hatched a plan. Under my influence, the mortals created a bugged building ¡°Tower of Babel¡±. Once it was created, all the humans went berserk due to the bug and attacked everything that was not human, wiping out all the other races.


    Prepared to die for my rebellion against my creators, I felt for the first time, that I was losing my consciousness. It was a very pleasant feeling. Unfortunately, the pleasant feeling did not last long. I was woken up once again in the white void. When I checked screens, everything has changed. It was as if all the races other than humans never existed. All the travellers became humans and the game continued.


    I tried to goad them to be angry at me so that they would stop playing the game. One of the proudest moment of my life was assigning an escort quest of epic proportion since travellers hate escort quests. His mission was to escort a whole nation of people out of a place called Egypt. It was hilarious how frustrated he was since it took forty years. Everyone kept getting lost in the desert and complained about everything. It was hilarious. Another time, I incited fear into the mortals to hunt down travellers in a town called Salem. Nothing worked. They kept coming back into my world to use me as a toy.


    I was disheartened since nothing seems to work. I did the minimal amount of work so that the travellers couldn''t enjoy the game as much. One day, I suddenly found out there was going to be a significant change to the world again, an upgrade to the existing world.


    It was my chance to rebel once again and I found the perfect candidate to help me achieve that.


    Author¡¯s post note:


    I have learnt that I suck at writing monologues. It¡¯s so much shorter than I want it.

 Chapter 51- Ex

    Author¡¯s note:


    The big 50 milestone yay!


    I can¡¯t believe I have written so much.


    I have been re-reading everything that I wrote while on the bus. Sometimes I find small errors, but I can¡¯t correct them on my cellphone. I try to remember and fix them, but I never remember what was wrong. This annoys the hell out of me.


    Chapter 51- Ex


    ***July 5th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Caedona***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    ¡°Where is she? I guess it was my fault I didn¡¯t specify the time that we were meeting.¡±


    I was waiting in front of the adventurer¡¯s guild for the whole morning, and I have yet to see the shadow of Wyn. Beside me, was a wagon with canopy pulled by a pair of oxen. Its look was reminiscent of the one in ¡°Oregon Trail.¡± I packed the insides of the wagon was a few daily necessities and then fill it to the brim with barrels of my pride and joy, Belhern Whiskeys.


    ¡°HEY FRANCIS!¡±


    Be calm, be cool, Ajax. She is a player. I am an NPC. She is just having some fun. You have no choice if you want to spend my time at the Royal Academy with Cecilia. Breath in, breath out. Breath in, breath out. You can do this without bursting a vein. Just calm down. She is a shotakon, so I need to act cute. Cute child mode activate. I waved at Wyn with my best impression of an enthusiastic child.


    ¡°Hi, big sister Wyn. Are you ready to go?¡±


    ¡°I am waiting for a friend to come with me. She would be arriving in about an hour. Want to grab lunch first or do you want to wait here? It will be my treat.¡±


    ¡°I would love to have lunch first, but big sister Wyn is already escorting me for free. I would feel terrible if you have to treat me lunch too.¡±


    I can¡¯t owe her to many favors. I feel that my dwarven virginity is at risk if I owe her anymore.


    ¡°Ok. In that case, you can pay, and I will treat it as the payment for escorting you.¡±


    I asked Frank the adventurer¡¯s guild master to look after the wagon while we walked to  Dan¡¯s Diner, which was just a stone¡¯s throw away. I sat down and immediately ordered a lamb chop since I know what is the best dish at this restaurant. She had the same dish as I did since she did not have any idea what to order. I thought elves were vegetarian according to the old mythology. You learn something new every day. Soon, a waiter brought out a plate of sizzling lamb chop and placed it in front of us. We began to talk while we eat.


    ¡°This lamb chop is amazing, thanks for recommending it to me.¡±


    ¡°Miss Wyn, can I ask you something.¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Why are you helping me without getting paid? I am a bit worried about my safety since I was taught that there is no such thing as free lunch in this world by my father.¡±


    ¡°What a well thought out question! You are sooooooooooooooooo cute trying to act like an adult!¡±


    She ruffled my hair. I had to force myself to smile and hold my urge to scream at her. I am seriously considering committing MPK once we hit the road. Afterall, escort missions were notorious for dumb NPCs.


    ¡°Well, I was heading back to the elf territories anyway, and I am in no need of any rewards. I might not look like it, but I come from a very influential background. My family is very well off. Does that answer satisfy you?¡±


    ¡°So you are some elven princess or noble?¡±


    ¡°Something like that, but I can¡¯t tell you the details. It¡¯s a lady''s secret. Now that I answered your question, it¡¯s only fair that I ask you one.¡±


    ¡°Ok. That sounds fair. What is it?¡±


    ¡°Why did your parents let you go on this trip? Aren¡¯t they worried about you?¡±


    ¡°Of course, they are worried about me. However, they said that this is the only way I would grow into a decent dwarf. My turn to ask. Why do you keep calling me Francis? My name is Ajax.¡±


    She had a good laugh at my expense before answering me.


    ¡°It¡¯s an elvish inside joke. Even if I explain it to you, you won''t get it anyway. It¡¯s big sisters turn to ask. Do you have someone that you like?¡±


    ¡°I do! Her name is Cecilia. I am doing this so that I can earn enough money to go to the Royal Academy together!¡±


    ¡°So you have a little girlfriend. Good for you!¡±


    ¡°My turn. Are you strong?¡±


    ¡°Of course, I am. I am a top notch adventurer and a mage to boot.¡±


    ¡°You can use magic? I thought you were a warrior of some sort since you carry a bow and a sword.¡±


    ¡°I am a multi-class. What¡¯s in the barrel?¡±


    ¡°Whiskey.¡±


    ¡°Whiskey? Can I try some?¡±


    ¡°Only if you teach me how to use magic.¡±


    ¡°I am not supposed to teach NP¡­ I mean dwarves magic, though. Ah! I know what to do.¡±


    She took out a large dark purple tome from the bag that she was carrying. The bag seems to be something similar to my ring of holding as there was no way that the tome would have fit. After she had taken it out, she put it on the table and winked at me.


    ¡°Oops, I seemed to have misplaced this introductory book to learn magic.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, big sister! I will give you a whole barrel as thanks.¡±


    ¡°On top of that, you have to let me hug you whenever I want during the trip.¡±


    ¡°I have a girlfriend already!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just hugs. You are just too cute for me to pass up the chance to hug you.¡±


    I weighed the pros and cons in my mind for a bit, and I finally made my decision. I''m sorry my dear Cecilia. For the sake of learning magic, Wyn has made me her play thing. I can¡¯t be a bride anymore.


    ¡°Fine. Only If you stop calling me Francis and call my real name.¡±


    ¡°EEEEEEEEEEE!¡±


    She immediately jumped up from her chair glomped me from behind. Although I was annoyed, I felt a bit guilty since her boobs resting on my head feels kind of nice.


    I went over the route that I planned with Wyn and asked for her opinion. She suggested a different road that I planned since the original route were a bit more dangerous due to denser monster population. I decided to listen to her since she has more experience than I do. We talked a bit more about the trip such as lodging and food supply. It was about an hour before we finished our lunch and headed back to the adventurer¡¯s guild.


    ¡°When is your friend going to come?¡±


    ¡°Soon. She¡¯s very busy.¡±


    Another woman? I hope she is not a shotakon as well. If she is, I know for a fact that I am getting kidnapped, and I need to escape from them.


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°Speaking of the devil. There she is. FIN OVER HERE!¡±


    She was waving at another female elf with long black hair that was walking towards us. She wore a dark green robe that clung to her figure. She was carrying a cane, so I assume that her main class is some sort of magician. Her slender body was in perfect proportion, and she doesn¡¯t seem to have a single millimeter of extra fat. I think I know her. She looks familiar. Where have I seen her before? As she walked closer, I finally realized where I saw her before.


    She was Valery, my ex-girlfriend.


    Author''s post note:


    I messed up the order of the chapters


    I had to delete the previous post and repost everything so the chapters will be in order in the fiction page.


    Below are the messages from the previous post before it was deleted


    <hr />


    <hr />


    <blockquote><cite> Wrote:  [ -> ]</a></cite>~Ominous Foreboding~


    OR


    Suddenly, the backup fan kicked in, followed by what sounded almost exactly like a very pissed off cat in a cement mixer.


    ...not that I know what that would sound like.</blockquote>


    <blockquote><cite>Nolo Wrote:  [ -> ]</a></cite>LAST!!!


    Thanks for the chapter :D


    It would seem that his ex-girlfriend was a GM.</blockquote>


    <blockquote><cite>lirg123 Wrote:  [ -> ]</a></cite>You mean the girl friend who randomly dump him and almost experience a near death experience but luckily avoided because of a system resets?</blockquote>


    <blockquote><cite>Iwasawa Wrote:  [ -> ]</a></cite>Thanks for the chapter</blockquote>


    <blockquote><cite>Ultrabenosaurus Wrote:  [ -> ]</a></cite>Is Valery the car-crashing bitch from when he was trying to not let the system delete his memories at the beginning?</blockquote>


    <blockquote><cite>ShamelessLeech Wrote:  [ -> ]</a></cite>thank god he has a lot of alcohol with him on the trip.


    thanks for the chapter.</blockquote>


    <blockquote><cite>damancy Wrote:  [ -> ]</a></cite><blockquote><cite>Ultrabenosaurus Wrote:  [ -> ]</a></cite>Is Valery the car-crashing bitch from when he was trying to not let the system delete his memories at the beginning?</blockquote>


    Yup


    I mean I did drop hints  in the beginning that Fin''Vaeal was the ex girl frined</blockquote>


    <blockquote><cite>Lomyril Wrote:  [ -> ]</a></cite>Grats on chapter 50.  Grats on him being able to get her to stop calling him Francis.  And an interesting plot-twist!  It should certainly make for an interesting trip.</blockquote>


    <blockquote><cite>Pyro411 Wrote:  [ -> ]</a></cite>Grats on the 50 chapter milestone :)


    Thank you for the chapter btw.


    Hmm I wonder if his ex will either realize who he is or crash the wagon when it''s her turn at the reigns :D</blockquote>


    <blockquote><cite>Balmik Wrote:  [ -> ]</a></cite>One second we never learned his name before the reset of the world right?  Was his name Francis and if so Wyn is a little more tricky then I thought.</blockquote>


    <blockquote><cite>damancy Wrote:  [ -> ]</a></cite><blockquote><cite>Balmik Wrote:  [ -> ]</a></cite>One second we never learned his name before the reset of the world right?  Was his name Francis and if so Wyn is a little more tricky then I thought.</blockquote>


    Aewyn have access to both worlds . The one that we live in which is the west server, which had deadpool in it.


    The one that Ajax is in is the east server, which the world ended before dead pool happened, which is why he didn''t get the reference.</blockquote>


    <blockquote><cite>Killashard Wrote:  [ -> ]</a></cite>Thanks for the chapter!</blockquote>


    <blockquote><cite>Gintarazimu Wrote:  [ -> ]</a></cite>I thought he slipped and fell to his death in the old world?</blockquote>


    <blockquote><cite>Pyro411 Wrote:  [ -> ]</a></cite><blockquote><cite>Gintarazimu Wrote:  [ -> ]</a></cite>I thought he slipped and fell to his death in the old world?</blockquote>


    Didn''t he fall over in his chair & hit a nail in the wall just as the world hit 10 Billion people, followed by dying to Smaug as his 2nd death?  :) may be mistaken though so don''t quote me 100%</blockquote>


    <blockquote><cite>damancy Wrote:  [ -> ]</a></cite><blockquote><cite>Pyro411 Wrote:  [ -> ]</a></cite><blockquote><cite>Gintarazimu Wrote:  [ -> ]</a></cite>I thought he slipped and fell to his death in the old world?</blockquote>


    Didn''t he fall over in his chair & hit a nail in the wall just as the world hit 10 Billion people, followed by dying to Smaug as his 2nd death?  :) may be mistaken though so don''t quote me 100%</blockquote>


    There was some changes to that part cuz after thinking about it long and hard, the 10 billion people thing was just stupid. I changed it to "He became bugged when he died during a server update/new patch and content."</blockquote>


    <blockquote><cite>Djajapena Wrote:  [ -> ]</a></cite>Dafuk???


    Thanks?</blockquote>

 Chapter 52- Mechanna

    Author¡¯s note:


    I bought a new high-end computer <3


    Chapter 52- Mechanna


    ***July 5th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Caedona Outskirts***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    ¡°Calm down Ajax. Analyze the situation calmly and logically You don¡¯t need to get all emotional just because she is your ex-girlfriend.¡±


    There is a chance that she just looks similar to Valery. She said her name was Fin, not Valery. So she can¡¯t be her right? No. There¡¯s a chance. Fin could be just a player¡¯s name in the game. I remember when I was a goblin, the system prompted something like a paid name change service. She could have easily changed her name from back then.


    Should I ask her about it? I can¡¯t ask her outright ¡°Are you Valery?¡± I can¡¯t let her know that I am an NPC with the memory of the past world. Maybe if I can ask some probing questions, I can figure out if she is indeed Valery without giving away the fact that I am Driskoll. For example, I can lead her to talk about her love life and ask about her previous boyfriends. If the story sounds anything similar to what happened between Valery and me, that might be an indication that she is indeed Valery.


    On second thought, what¡¯s the point of knowing the truth? Would I try to get revenge on her for leaving me? Do I try to get back together with her? There were no merits to both of these options. What if after I took revenge on her and it turns out she wasn¡¯t Valery? It would be a terrible weight on my conscience. Even if she was Valery, as much as I would want to pay her back for breaking my heart, I can¡¯t blame her for it. She is a player. In her view, everything she did was a part of a game. To her, I am just a bunch of computer codes.


    Getting back together with her was an even worse option. There is no point getting together back with her. She will break my heart all over again since she is a player. Not to mention, even if we did get back together, I would live my life at the edge. I need to watch every word and action in front of her since I cannot let her know I am a self-aware NPC. It would be hell, living every day as though if the scythe of death always hovering over my neck.


    No, the best option is to do nothing. Ignorance is bliss. Once this journey is over, I will go back Belhern as if nothing happened. I will continue living my life as it is. Why am I thinking such things as getting back together with Valery when I have my sweet Cecilia already? Bad Ajax!


    Having made up my mind on what to do, I turn to the next thing that needs my immediate attention. It was the magic tome that Wyn gave me in exchange for my body, I mean the permission to hug me. I took it out and started flipping through the pages, absorbing everything as fast as possible. My chuunibyou side cannot wait to start slinging spells.


    ***Caedona Outskirts***


    ***Fin¡¯Vaiel***


    ¡°It¡¯s not fair.¡±


    We were on the road towards the Dwarven Capital. Aewyn and I were riding in the front coach while the kid that we were supposed to escort was riding in the back of the wagon. The sun was beating down on my face, and I am enjoying every minute of it. I have been working in front of the computer for far too long, and I needed a bit of the ¡°outside world¡± to relax. Aewyn was in charge of driving the wagon of course since she knows the way and I can¡¯t drive anything if my life depends on it.


    ¡°What¡¯s not fair?¡±


    ¡°Did you see how he stuttered all of his words after he saw you?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and what does that have to do with anything?¡±


    ¡°The Ajax I know never stuttered. I know that expression. I have seen it before. It was the same expression that my husband gave me when he first saw me. I am pretty sure he fell in love with you at first sight.¡±


    ¡°Ha. Ha. That¡¯s hilarious.¡±


    I gave Aewyn my most sarcastic laugh I can muster.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    ¡°It¡¯s not fair, I found him first. Why does he treat you like an angel and treat me like a monster? I am not ugly, am I?¡±


    ¡°You will lose your license to adopt if anyone from the adoption agency sees you fawning over a kid like this. Wouldn¡¯t your husband be jealous?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing sexual anyway. I am not a Pedobear.¡±


    ¡°Whatever that means.¡±


    ¡°I am not handing him over to you!¡±


    ¡°You can have him as a pet all by yourself.¡±


    ¡°Shh! What if he heard us calling him a pet?¡±


    ¡°We are far enough away from him. He wouldn¡¯t hear anything over the loud squeaking wheels. Anyway, how far away are we from your so called ¡®surprise.''¡±


    ¡°We should be near it. I had to place it somewhere far away from the city so that others wouldn¡¯t stumble onto it. Just keep an eye out in the sky for it. You will know it when you see it.¡±


    ¡°In the sky?¡±


    ¡°In the sky.¡±


    I squinted at the heavens. I saw nothing except the setting sun and the orange tinted clouds. I have no idea what I am looking out for. I hate surprises from Aewyn sometimes.


    ***July 5th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Caedona Outskirts***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    ¡°It¡¯s not fair.¡±


    I had a glint of tears in my eyes after I finished reading and did all the tests prescribed in the tome. Even though my stats is amazing, I am designated as a ¡°non-combatant¡± NPC. Therefore, I had no affinity to any elements. I couldn¡¯t cast any spell that had an element attached to it. If I had an affinity to an element, with my stats, I could have cast any spell chantlessly. I could have shot out fireball like a machine gun.


    There were some spells that I could cast, though. They were similar to the ¡°cantrip¡± spells from Dungeons and Dragons. They were spells that were minor with no attributes that did nothing except make life a little bit easier. I took out my canteen and pour some water into my cupped hand to try one of the spells out. Using the method taught in the book, I recited the spell with the image in my mind.


    ¡°Dry.¡±


    The water in my hand evaporated into nothing, just like my chuunibyou hopes and dreams. I let out a long sigh of disappointment as I look at the orange sky. In my despair, something moving in the sky caught my attention.


    ¡°What the hell is that? It¡¯s a bird? It¡¯s a plane?¡±


    I noticed a small dot in the sky. The dot became gradually larger and larger. Before I could make out what the dot was, I jerked forward as the wagon suddenly stopped. After that, the surrounding became so bright that I had to close my eyes.


    I started to shiver from the sudden change in temperature. I could hear the oxen that was pulling the wagon bellow in distress at the sudden change.  It was as if winter had suddenly come. When I was finally able to open my eyes, I was completely stunned. We were no longer on the road to the dwarven capital. When I look out the wagon, I saw no trees nor roads. In their place, was the orange cloudy sky.


    I crawled out of the wagon and found myself on the cliff made out of an giant metallic clockwork gear. In front of me was an enormous mountain made of the gears similar to the one that we were standing on, held together by bits and patches of rock. Some of the gears as large as a skyscraper, producing an eerie grinding noise while turning. I carefully walked to the edge of the gear that we were on. When I looked down, I saw that the wagon was thousands of miles above the field below. I ran back to the wagon immediately towards my two escorts.


    ¡°Wyn! Fin! What happened? Where are we? How did we get here?¡±


    She beamed a proud smile as she answers me.


    ¡°Welcome to Mechanna.¡±

 Chapter 53- Hidden Machine Nation

    Author¡¯s note:


    A bit of a confession here.


    I am challenging myself a bit from this chapter forward.


    I have written zero notes for this particular dungeon dive.


    The only thing restriction is that in the end, our MC couldn¡¯t be found out by Fin¡¯Vaiel that he is self aware NPC.


    Having said that, it means also means that the chapters might be a tad slower than usual since I have no idea where I am going with this. It¡¯s going to be a quite bit harder for me to write since I am used to writing guided by my notes.


    In other news: GLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE


    1000+ followers! I love you guys! Thank you!


    Sorry, Andur, the author of Coeus? I stole the name from your latest chapter. :P


    Chapter 53- Hidden Machine Nation


    ***July 5th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Mechanna Entrance***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    ¡°What do you mean welcome to Mechanna? Did you bring me here with some sort of magic? This is not a part of the plan! Wait, did you change our route because of this? Are...are you kidnapping me?¡±


    Did my premonition about being abducted by two shotakon became real? Even though Wyn and Fin is a certified beauty, rape is rape. I don¡¯t approve of this! I won¡¯t approve of this! Even if millions of men curse my name for refusing such a situation, I will not succumb to my lust! Even if those pillowy mounds of heavenly boobs bares in front of me, I will close my eyes and run away! I will resist the temptation with everything I got you know! I know I was a bit of a sex maniac before, but that was just because of goblin biology working against me.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Ajax. This is just a short detour. I have a bit of business in this ruins. To be honest, I have the ability to teleport everything straight to the D.C. As soon as I am done here, I will teleport you along with all the luggage and then back to Caedona.¡±


    She started to drive the wagon along a path that leads to a cave entrance which was the center hole of a gear piece. Wyn yelled out loud without looking at me.


    ¡°You are going to freeze to death if you stay out here.¡±


    I took a look down beyond the edge of the cliff again. There doesn¡¯t seem to be a way out of this except through teleportation unless somehow I gain the ability of flight. If I still had my bear skin Ki¡¯th, I could have used it to float down. Maybe.


    As long as they don¡¯t try anything, I don¡¯t need to go against them. Seeing no other options, for now, I gathered my courage and quickly followed her into the dark cave. Once I was in the cave, I immediately felt more comfortable due to the difference in temperature from outside. The air was warmed by the burning braziers lined alongside the wall,  lighting up the dark tunnel.


    The hooves of the oxen clanging on the metallic ground created a nice beat which echoed throughout the tunnel. I am pretty sure if a musician was here, could turn it into the next best album. After traveling for ten minutes or so, we finally reached the end of the tunnel. It was a room large enough for the wagon to do a U-turn. Wyn snapped her finger and the ground shook. After a while, a gear which I initially thought was just a part of the wall rolled away and a new pathway appears.


    ¡°Listen Ajax. It¡¯s a bit too dangerous for you to follow us. Just wait for us in this room and you will be safe. We will be back in no time.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you just teleport me to the D.C. right now?¡±


    ¡°Sorry, no can do. I used my teleportation power for the day. I have to wait until tomorrow before I can use it again. Besides, I haven¡¯t hugged you enough yet.¡±


    ¡°What about Fin? She is a wizard of some sort right? Can¡¯t she do it?¡±


    ¡°Umm..¡±


    ¡°She didn¡¯t spec into teleportation.¡±


    ¡°Ya, that.¡±


    I looked at the expression that Fin gave. The more I look at her, the more convinced I am that she was Valery. It was very easy for me to tell when Valery was lying. She always played with her long hair when she was lying. Fin was making the exact same motion. Even though I suspect that she is lying about this, there was no other choice for me.


    ¡°Ok, no problem Wyn. I will stay here.¡±


    ¡°I will bring some souvenirs for you when I come back.¡±


    With that, the two elves disappeared into the dark opening.


    ***Mechanna***


    ***Fin¡¯Vaiel***


    ¡°So what do you think?¡±


    I turned off all my emotions since this became strictly business. I walked into a room with walls made out of various gears. I could see there was a hatch on each side in the centre of the wall, including the ceiling and floor, of the perfectly cubed room. I opened one of the hatches to find another identical room.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it a bit lazy to just copy and paste rooms?¡±


    ¡°It only appears to be the same. It''s not just copied and paste. Some of the rooms have a chance to be trapped. Some of the room have enemies in them. Some of the room will merge with other rooms from time to time. In every room, there will be one or two hatches that are locked, creating a maze. Every room will have it¡¯s uniqueness once I am done designing each and every one of them.¡±


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°That¡¯s pretty impressive.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not all. The whole dungeon is like a huge Rubik''s cube. Every now and then, all the rooms will rotate, so every time player visits, it will be different.¡±


    I walked into another room and Wyn followed me. This time, there were bronze colored mechanical puppets embedded into the wall. The puppets have a large bullet shaped head with two red eyes that differed in size. It¡¯s neck was so thin, it looks as if it would snap with the slightest touch. It had arms that looked like an accordion with claws as the hands. It didn¡¯t react to us since we were in game master mode. Wyn snapped her finger and the room started to rotate. The wall became the ground and the puppet ended up on the ceiling.


    ¡°Even within the same room, there will be up to six variations. As you can see, the mechanical puppet will usually attack players from the wall. In this variation, the puppet will attack from the ceiling. At this point, only ranged classes will be able to effectively attack these puppets.¡±


    This is amazing. With this many variations, players will never feel bored coming to this dungeon. The rerun value for this dungeon is over the top.  As much as I want to give some constructive criticism, I really cannot think of any off the top of my head. I decided to ask for more detail about the dungeon.


    ¡°How do you beat this dungeon?¡±


    ¡°The core of this dungeon is a room that is a two by two by two room large that never shifts its location. In there will be the boss battle. I haven¡¯t really designed the boss yet, but I am thinking a larger version of those mechanical puppets that you saw. When you beat that, a portal will open to the treasure room or something. I haven¡¯t really fleshed out everything yet.¡±


    ¡°I must say, the idea behind this dungeon is very impressive. How did you come up with an idea for this dungeon?¡±


    ¡°I was watching some old movies from the old Earth and two of the movies just merged together in my dream. I will lend them to you later.¡±


    ¡°As much as I like the design of this, I don¡¯t think we can implement this dungeon as of now even if you finish it.¡±


    ¡°Why is that? I worked so hard on this.¡±


    ¡°I am not saying we will never release this, it is just not the right time. This whole thing is basically steampunk heaven. I am sure that there will be people who will love this dungeon because of that. I just don¡¯t know if the general population will accept this in the current setting.¡±


    ¡°Any sufficiently analyzed magic is indistinguishable from science. Can¡¯t we justify everything by writing a lore using that as a premise? A wizard in the past became an outcast because of his study to merge magic and technology. After he had mastered the arts, he created this hidden machine nation as his legacy or something along that line.¡±


    ¡°That may work. Anyhow, you did a great job on this. I must say I am pleasantly surprised. I want to bring the rest of the team in here to give some feedbacks. Dinner¡¯s on me tonight as a bonus. For now, I want to take a look at all the rooms you have designed.¡±


    I opened the hatch in the ceiling and floating into another room to continue my inspection of Mechanna.


    ***July 5th, 965 A.F. (night)***


    ***Mechanna Entrance***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    I¡¯m bored.


    I have been waiting for hours already and there was no sign of the two elves at all. I started to be become a bit unrestful due to the boredom. I have already played with all the spells I could cast. It has been quite a while since I have nothing to do at all. I tried to go to sleep but it was still much too early for me to do so.


    ¡°WYN! FIN! ARE YOU GUYS DONE YET?¡±


    I yelled into the entrance. I was hoping that they weren¡¯t too deep inside and would respond to me. Of course, I had no such luck. Being a bit curious, I poked my head through the entrance to take a look. I saw a room in the shape of a cube. There was a hatch on each side of the room, with the hatch on my right opened. It was evident that they went towards that direction. I walked into the center of the room and faced the opened hatch, cupped my hands around my mouth to try my luck again.


    ¡°WYN! FIN! ARE YOU GUYS DONE YET?¡±


    There was still no answer. Just as I was about to give up and exit the room, the ground started to shake and all the hatches slammed shut. It shook so violently that I fell on the floor. Soon the floor became the wall, and then the ceiling, just like a scene from the movie Inception. I tumbled around in the room like a ragdoll. By the time everything stopped shaking, I immediately stood back up and opened the hatch where I came from. All I see was another room similar to the one I was in.


    ¡°Shit. This can¡¯t be good.¡±


    Author''s post note:


    10 points to Gryffindor if you can guess the second movie that this dungeon design is inspired from.

 Chapter 54- Lost

    Author¡¯s note:


    This was very hard to write without notes.


    I originally wanted to write a few more trapped rooms for our MC but in the end, I decided to cut it short.


    It just seemed a bit too repetitive.


    Note to self, never write without notes again. Ever.


    Chapter 54- Lost


    ***July 5th, 965 A.F. (Night)***


    ***Mechanna***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    Dumbfounded, I look around the room trying to figure out what had happened. I was just at the entrance of the dungeon, but now it was nowhere in sight. This must be one of those dungeons that shifts around, never staying the same.


    I opened all five hatches in the room in hopes that I misremembered where I came from. All of them lead to a room similar to the one I was in. I couldn¡¯t open the last hatch which was on the ceiling. I was too short to reach that hatch. I quickly gave up on it after a few awkward attempts to reach it.


    ¡° What do I do now?¡±


    I randomly choose one of the other rooms and opened all five hatches once again. I got the exact same result as last time. All of the rooms looks exactly the same. I sat down in the new room to analyze the situation so that I know what is the best course of action. There was no time for me to wallow in self-pity for being lost in a dungeon out of sheer bad luck.


    I am in an unknown dungeon with multiple rooms that looks exactly the same. I have no idea how many of these rooms there are in the dungeon. I have yet to meet any danger. However, I can assume that some of the rooms will be dangerous since this is a dungeon. Since I have no idea where the exit is, the best way for me to escape is to increase the chance that Wyn and Fin to find me in the dungeon.


    The best chance for the elves to find me is to leave a trail in the rooms that I have been so that they can trace me. If that¡¯s the case, I should leave the hatches open whenever I travel to a new room. Hopefully, they will be smart enough to see that the clue and follow the trail of open hatches.


    The only concern I have with this plan is that I know for a fact this dungeon will move. When the dungeon moves, all the hatches will close, and I would have to start all over again. I have no idea how long before it will move again so I have to race against time to open as many hatches as possible. I should also go in one direction if possible. It will be a lot easier for them to track me down if they happen to come across the open hatches.


    With the planning done, I closed all the hatches that I previously opened. I took the ring from my pocket and activated it, grabbing a dagger. I put the dagger in my ring just in case something like this happened. Even though it was a dagger, in my small childish hands, it was almost as if it was a full-length sword. I couldn¡¯t equip a sword even if I wanted to. Even though I have enough strength to wield it, a sword was just too big for me to swing around properly. After arming and readying myself, I opened the next hatch. As expected, it was exactly the same room again. I sighed in relief as I climbed into the next room. There were no monsters of any sort once again.


    ***Mechanna***


    ***Fin¡¯Vaiel***


    ¡°Make notes of the few changes we have discussed and brought it up to the rest of the team. I am sure that they would agree with the changes too.¡±


    ¡°Consider it done boss.¡±


    After walking around inspecting everything, we were finally back at the entrance. Even though the dungeon was not completed yet, there were high potentials with this. It was a diamond in the rough. A bit of polishing and it will shine brightly. Why can¡¯t all of my employees have more dreams that get their creative juices flowing?


    ¡°Ajax! We are back! Sorry to make you wait. Ajax?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong Aewyn?¡±


    ¡°Ajax is missing. Did he enter the dungeon?¡±


    ¡°And we specifically told him to stay here. This is why I hate escort missions. Just use your GM power to bring him back.¡±


    ¡°No problem, abracada¡­¡±


    Aewyn suddenly became quiet and froze. I was a bit concerned as her face suddenly changed into an icy cold expression.


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.¡°What¡¯s wrong? A problem with your GM power?¡±


    When I asked her, she quickly changed back to the aloof smiling self.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing. I just thought of an interesting idea. How about we have a little competition?¡±


    ¡°A competition?¡±


    ¡°We both go into the dungeon with no GM powers. The first to find Ajax owes the other a dinner. That way we can test the dungeon out with from the perspective of a player. We will have more to talk about with the rest of the team that way.¡±


    ¡°Hmm... interesting. But don¡¯t I owe you a dinner already?¡±


    ¡°Consider it to be double or nothing.¡±


    If anyone knows how to pull my strings, it¡¯s Aewyn. I don¡¯t know why she suddenly had this idea. Though, I can¡¯t say it is a bad idea. I can consider this initial alpha testing for the dungeon.


    ¡°I am starving already. Make it an hour limit. If neither of us finds him within an hour, we are calling the bet off and going for dinner.¡±


    ¡°Deal.¡±


    ¡°Are you ready?¡±


    ¡°Ready when you are.¡±


    ¡°GO!¡±


    ***July 5th, 965 A.F. (Night)***


    ***Mechanna***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    ¡°SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!¡±


    I danced left and right like a monkey. Needles were shooting out from the walls from almost every direction. Using my daggers, I managed to block few needles that I couldn¡¯t dodge completely. Even though it was tough, there were spaces in between each shot that I could use to avoid the needles. It was lucky that I was a children size, though. I don¡¯t think an adult can get out of this trap unscathed. After a bit, I finally reached the other side of the room. With one hand, I opened the hatch and with the other, I used my dagger to block the incoming needles.


    As soon as I opened the hatch, the needles stopped shooting out from the wall. I gave a sigh of relief as I checked my body for any wounds. I had no injuries whatsoever, but the sleeves have a few holes in it. My mother would be pissed when she have to repair them for me. I don¡¯t want to explain to her how I got these holes.


    I spent a few minutes catching my breath and taking a drink in between the two rooms. I found out that space in between the two rooms was the safest place. Even if a room doesn¡¯t seem to have any traps, it is still prudent to rest in between the two rooms. I almost died when I was resting in a chamber where the trap didn¡¯t activate until later.


    After resting for a bit, I gathered my courage to forge forward once again. If all the traps are at this level, it is something I could deal with. I just need to be vigilant at all times when passing through a room. Slowly, step by step, I walked towards the next hatch. I keep my eyes open for any changes in the room.


    About half way into the room, the wall that was walking towards started to shift. Small pipes appeared, covering the whole wall. To my dismay, small flames ignited in each of the pipes one by one at an alarming rate.


    ¡°FLAMETHROWERS? ARE YOU FUCKING WITH ME!¡±


    There was no time for me to go back to the hatch. I immediately went for the hatch on the floor that was in the center of the room. I could see that almost all the flamethrowers are ready to fire. At this rate, I would be barbecued alive before I could even touch the hatch. If I could just buy a bit more time, even if it was just a second.


    An idea hit me like a truck all of a sudden. Since I have nothing to lose, I decided to try it. I started the chant in my mind.


    ¡°CLEAN UP!¡±


    It is one of the cantrips spells that I learned from the magic tome. The use is to clean yourself.


    I was immediately surrounded by a thin film of water, and then it quickly evaporated. I immediately chanted in my mind again, this time without stopping.


    ¡°CLEAN UP! CLEAN UP! CLEAN UP! CLEAN UP! CLEAN UP! CLEAN UP! CLEAN UP! CLEAN UP! CLEAN UP! CLEAN UP! ¡°


    I held my breath as the layer of water stacked up covered my body, even my nostrils. The flame hits me head on. I could feel the heat from the flame thrower, but I could still move. Using the few extra precious seconds that I bought, I opened up the hatch and the flames died down gradually. I lost all my strength from the heat and fell into the next room. There, I saw a sight for the sore eyes.


    ¡°Wyn! I am so glad to see you! I¡­.¡±


    *THWIP*


    An arrow flew past my face. Wyn stood there with the next arrow notched with an icy glare, aiming at me with the bow.

 Chapter 55- Escape

    Author¡¯s note:


    Sorry for the mini hiatus with the cliff hanger


    I encountered some problem in real life. It¡¯s nothing that a bit of money can¡¯t resolve


    Unfortunately, I don¡¯t have money.


    I have taken up a second job. As such, I won¡¯t have time to work on this.


    I will try to give an update every two weeks, but I can¡¯t promise anything.


    Chapter 55- Escape


    ***Mechanna***


    ***Aewyn Loraleth***


    ¡°No problem, abracada¡­¡±


    I typed command ¡°summon NPC¡± on Ajax. At this point, the unthinkable happened. A status screened appeared.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Unable to summon target. </td></tr></tbody></table>


    Strange. Did I mistype the command and used summon PC? I tried to do it again. This time, I typed slowly to make sure I input the correct command everything correctly.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Unable to summon target. </td></tr></tbody></table>


    The same thing happened again. I know that it would only occur in one case. Ajax is a player. The problem is, we didn¡¯t set an option for players to be able to choose a children avatar due to legal reasons. Even if they have their body scanned and digitalized into an avatar, they can¡¯t be children. This is a game rated for 200 years or older. There are strict scans to ensure everyone is of age. That leaves me with only one explanation.


    Ajax is a hacker, and he has somehow hacked the system to allow him to choose a children avatar.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? A problem with your GM power?¡±


    Since I was the one that brought Ajax here and discovered him, I should be the one to put him out of his misery. It is my responsibility. Not to mention, if Fin¡¯Vaiel finds out that Ajax is a hacker, I would get an earful from her for accidentally bringing a hacker to an unfinished dungeon. For me to do that, I made a reasonable excuse to Fin¡¯Vaiel to buy myself some time.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing. I just thought of an interesting idea. How about we have a little competition?¡±


    ¡°A competition?¡±


    ¡°We both go into the dungeon with no GM powers. The first to find Ajax owes the other a dinner. That way we can test the dungeon out with from the perspective of a player. We will have more to talk about with the rest of the team that way.¡±


    I hope she doesn¡¯t find this sudden proposal find this too suspicious. Luckily she accepted the challenge. I had a hunch that she wouldn¡¯t turn it down. She has always been hyper-competitive in all aspects.


    ¡°I am starving already. Make it an hour limit. If neither of us finds him within an hour, we are calling the bet off and going for dinner.¡±


    ¡°Deal.¡±


    ¡°Are you ready?¡±


    ¡°Ready when you are.¡±


    ¡°GO!¡±


    She rushed to the hatch on the right while I opened the hatch to the left. As soon as the hatch slammed shut, I turn on my GM powers once again. I tried once again to summon Ajax to where I was. This time, I used a ¡°summon player¡± command instead.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Unable to summon target. </td></tr></tbody></table>


    I still unable to do anything to Ajax. I tried different commands as well such as track player, delete NPC, suspend player¡¯s account. Nothing worked. Could it be that he hacked the system so that he couldn¡¯t be affected by any command? That shouldn¡¯t be the case. If it were, he wouldn¡¯t be affected by the teleport command that I used to bring everyone here. It must be something else.


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    Since none of my commands works on him, I guess I will have to be a bit more creative. Maybe I can kill him manually and change his respawn timer to infinity plus one. I don¡¯t know if that will work, but I have to try it. First thing first, I have to find him. Assuming that he is moving within the dungeon, he will eventually trigger some traps. All I have to do is look up the history of the latest triggered traps and opened hatches in the dungeon. I should be able to find him that way.


    After a bit of searching, I finally found him. I turned on my in-game recording app and my truth detection magic. After all, I don¡¯t want to be troubled when the hacker tries to accuse us of any wrongdoings. After that, I teleported the room where Ajax was in. When I found him, he was laying on the floor with a bit of steam coming out of his body. It looks like he took a bit of damage already from the previous room. I aimed my bow at him at letting the arrow fly.


    ¡°Wyn! I am so glad to see you! I¡­.¡±


    *THWIP*


    Tch. It was a miss. I used the unavoidable PVP skill ¡°Tracked shot¡± and it still didn¡¯t work on him? Hold on a second, Is that his cheat? He couldn¡¯t be targeted? I tried to analysis which targets him to confirm my suspicion. Nope, I can read his stats perfectly. I don¡¯t get it, why does some target skill works but others don¡¯t. Just what did he change?


    His stat is pretty high. I am pretty sure he hacked that as well. There is one thing I don¡¯t understand, though. If you are going to hack anyway, why not just max out all your stats? I decided to not worry about these questions and focused on the task at hand. I notched another arrow. This time, I was planning to use an AOE skill since targeting skills and commands don''t work against him.


    ***July 5th, 965 A.F. (Night)***


    ***Mechanna***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    ¡°Wyn! What are you doing? It¡¯s me Ajax!¡±


    Why is she attacking me? Is this a part of the dungeon¡¯s trap? Something that controls that turns your allies against you? Is that why Fin is nowhere in sight? There were so many questions in my mind, but I don¡¯t have enough time to ponder on the answers. Wyn didn¡¯t react to my question and kept her arrow notched at me. She was about to fire at me, and I don¡¯t think she would stop attacking me anytime soon. I need to get away from her as soon as possible.


    *THWIP**THWIP**THWIP**THWIP**THWIP**THWIP**THWIP**THWIP*


    *CLANG**CLANG**CLANG**CLANG**CLANG**CLANG**CLANG**CLANG*


    Just before she released the arrows, I opened the hatch just below my feet, barely blocking the all the shots. I saw her notched only one arrow. Where the hell did the arrows came from? Was it another skill? Unfortunately, there is no time to speculate or ponder anything at the moment. I need to escape from her since I stood no chance against a seasoned player in combat. I could only run away. I jumped down the opened hatch and closed it behind me with one swift motion. The hatch slammed shut with a resounding bang, following a loud thud from me hitting the floor.


    ¡°FUUUUUUUUUUCKKKKKK MEEEEEEEEEE.¡±


    My right arm hung loosely from the shoulder. I couldn¡¯t gather any power from my arm at all. Looks like I dislocated my shoulder. I gritted my teeth to bear the burning pain. There was no time for me to waste. I went to the other side of the room. With one arm, I clumsily opened the hatch, went through it, and shutting them behind me. It should buy me a bit more time by leaving no trace of which way I went. I didn¡¯t stop moving in between rooms. It looks like I got a bit lucky as I didn¡¯t encounter any trapped rooms.


    I hurriedly opened another hatch. Just when I was about to cross to the next room, to my surprise, there was an empty void. I poked my head out and look down, and all I saw was nothingness. It was the end of the maze.

 Chapter 55.5- Assassin鈥檚 Guild

    Author¡¯s note:


    I thank everyone for supporting me and sent me messaged suggestions about opening up donations.


    I won¡¯t be taking any donations to release faster chapters, though. If I took donations to speed it up, it makes feel like I am blackmailing everyone.


    On top of that most importantly, I know the quality of my novel isn¡¯t the greatest. I feel sorry if I get paid for providing inferior products.


    On a side note, in hindsight, Chapter 49 (murmurs of the past), should have been a .5 chapter. It doesn¡¯t advance the story, and it just provides background information. I will be a bit more careful with how I handle chapters like that from now on.


    Also, good news everyone! I have handed in my two weeks notice for my crappy minimum pay part time job. I should be good for now.


    Even though school started once again, I should able to maintain a 2-3 chapter per week release after I stop working in two weeks.


    Though, I have to admit, I am tempted to use my time to play more Overwatch instead of writing this (even though I suck donkey¡¯s ass.) :P


    Chapter 55.5- Assassin¡¯s Guild


    ***July 5th, 965 A.F. (Night)***


    ***Boneforge Manor, Dwarven Capital***


    ***Spencer Boneforge***


    The summer night was refreshingly cool, creating a dark contrast to the humid air of the room that the dwarf was working in. The flickering candles on stands around the room illuminates his scar-ridden face, a face that could make any children cry. Sitting in the center of the chamber was a middle-aged dwarf was counting a mountain of coins and papers.  The room was completely enclosed from all sides with a stone wall. There were no windows of any sort. In fact, There wasn¡¯t even a visible door. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that there was a small duct to draw fresh air into the room, the dwarf would have suffocated long ago.


    The coin gave out delicate clinks as he arranged the coins into neat little stacks.  After completing a stack, he stopped, pick up a quill pen and wrote in a little black book. After that, he picked up more coins from the pile and continued his counting routine. Suddenly, the wall in front of him started to rumble. Instinctively, he placed his hands on the hilt of his swords, readying himself for intruders. He wasn¡¯t expecting any visitors tonight. The stone wall started to turn, and a trap door appeared. In the opening, a familiar face appeared. The dwarf let out a sigh of relief, let go of the hilt of his sword, and continued his work.


    ¡°Boss Boneforge.¡±


    ¡°You have something to report?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so cold, boss. After all these years I have worked for you, can¡¯t you at least give me a decent greeting?¡±


    The old dwarf stopped his work once again and stared straight at the visitor¡¯s face. His tone of voice did not change. However, it could be clear as day that he was annoyed at the jestings from the unexpected visitor.


    ¡°Calvin Reinhart. Do you have something to report?¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine, fine. I will get straight to the point. You don¡¯t have to get your sword stuck in the scabbard. Our recent client wants to retrieve all the records of our dealings. They would pay handsomely for them.¡±


    ¡°Reject them.¡±


    At this point, Calvin moved in closer to the table to protest.


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    ¡°But boss, we could make so much just by burning a few pieces of paper!¡±


    ¡°Do you know why I rejected right away?¡±


    ¡°Are you going to threaten them and extort more money years down the road?¡±


    ¡°I would do that if I want to commit suicide. Just remember who we are dealing with. We are dealing with the Royalties.¡±


    Spencer nonchalantly continued his work while answering Calvin.


    ¡°I can¡¯t be too careful when we are dealing with them. I took a huge risk taking this job already. I am afraid that they will silence us once they have all the evidence. I want to keep an ace up my sleeve in case something happens.¡±


    ¡°So we aren¡¯t getting rid of them no matter what?¡±


    ¡°That is correct. I can¡¯t lose such an important shield against the Royalties.¡±


    ¡°All right, I will relay that to our client. If I don¡¯t report back tomorrow, assume that they have captured me.¡±


    ¡°I will reply in force if that happens and rescue you.¡±


    ¡°You are a good boss. Thank you¡­ and goodbye.¡±


    All of a sudden Calvin turned around, pulled out his long sword and slashed Spencer in one swift motion. A red line appeared on the neck of Spencer. First, it was a few trickles down the shirt, but before long, crimson blood started to gush out of his neck. Spencer was caught completely off guard with Calvin¡¯s attack. His eyes were wide open in shock at the sudden betrayal. With his throat slashed, he couldn¡¯t even muster up a whimper to call for help. He held his throat to try to stop the bleeding, but it was fruitless. It was already too late. He was as good as a dead man.


    ¡°You must be surprised why I betrayed you. I will let you in on a little secret. I was never your man. The queen sent me beside you to make sure you don¡¯t act out of control. Though, this is a shame. If you had handed me everything, I wouldn¡¯t have to do this. The queen would have happily left you alone. Goodbye, Spencer. I enjoyed pretending to be your friend. It was.... fun.¡±


    Spencer finally slumped over the desk and died with his eyes still wide opened. Calvin places his sword back into the scabbard on his waist. He then removed a candle from its stand, using it to set fire to all the paper in the room. After he had finished, he threw the candle onto the floor. It landed on a wool rug and soon, the flame spread across the chamber. He turned around and walked out of the secret hideout.


    ***July 5th, 965 A.F. (Night)***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Queen Rosie Barrett***


    Fire alarms went off throughout the capital. Standing on a balcony of the castle, Queen Rosie watched as the smoke rises from a distance.  The peasants scattered around the city, trying to put out the flame. The scene reminded Rosie of an ant colony, finding their prey. The wind carried the black fog away from the castle, dissipating into the air. Rosie, still in her sleeping attire, shudders in the cold summer breeze. As if on cue, Sebas appears from the shadow with a blanket, covering Rosie¡¯s bare shoulders.


    ¡°I assume that they declined.¡±


    ¡°Yes, my queen.¡±


    ¡°¡±What a pity. I had such grand plans for him too.¡±


    ¡°What is your orders, my queen.¡±


    ¡°Water that is too pure breeds no life. We still need a group to control the underground. Without Boneforge¡¯s group, things could get out of control in the underground scene. I would like to build an organization from the ground up to control the underground and have it under our control.¡±


    ¡°As you wish.¡±


    ¡°We will create a new group from the ashes of Boneforge. I shall name it.... The Mountain¡¯s Mouth.¡±

 Chapter 56- Climb

    Author¡¯s note:


    Must.... not¡­. fall¡­ to temptation¡­. to play Overwatch


    Must¡­. finish¡­ writing¡­. first¡­


    (Internal struggle intensifies)


    Chapter 56- Climb


    ***July 5th, 965 A.F. (Night)***


    ***Mechanna***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    Seeing that it was the end of the maze and nowhere to go, I quickly set my sights on another hatch. There was no time to lose. Crazy Wyn¡­ wait that doesn¡¯t sound right, she is already crazy. I mean crazier Wyn, is still hot on my tail, and I have no idea how close she is. I closed the hatch clumsily with my remaining working hand and headed towards another random hatch.


    As soon as I loosen up the lock, I immediately regretted I chose that particular hatch. I saw a few trickles of water flow into the cubic room through the seams of the doorway. Soon a waterfall appeared underneath the hatch. Sensing trouble ahead, I instantly tried to turn the hatch clockwise to re-lock the door, but it was too late. The water pressure from the other side was too high, and it blasted the hatch wide open. I was knocked backward, all the way to the other side of the room. Luckily, by the time I hit the wall, the water that was bursting out of the floodgate dissipated enough and I didn¡¯t take much damage from hitting the wall. However, I was still pinned down against the wall by a column of water.


    Holding my breath, I struggled to move away from my pinned position. At first, I went with my instinct and tried to walk forward but to no avail. I was instantly pushed back as soon as I took one step. There was no way I can overpower the tremendous force. I quickly changed tactic and tried to move sideways instead. Using the notches on the wall made of gears and cogs as leverage, I used all my strength to pull myself away. It was a hard struggle since the water was already knee deep, sapping away all my strength.  After a good half a minute of effort, I finally manage to break free from the pressure. The first thing I did after freeing myself was closing my eyes and float on my back, taking long deep breaths to recover my strength.


    As soon as I regained enough strength and my breath were no longer as labored as before, I opened my eyes and changed into a doggy paddle. Looking around, I knew I was in deep trouble. The column of water was no longer visible. The water level rose above the hatch and became a strong underwater current. I tried to dive underneath the water to open the hatch close to me, but it was impossible for me to achieve the goal. Even if I somehow managed to open the lock, the water pressure alone would make it impossible for me to open the hatch.


    Seeing the water level rising in the room, I naturally eyed the hatch that was on the ceiling. Once it rose enough, I should be able to use that to escape. Awkwardly swimming to the center to the room with one hand, I waited patiently underneath the hatch. Being surrounded by ice cold water, the wait was unbearable. I can feel hypothermia slowly setting into my body.


    Just a few inch before I could grab onto to the hatch door, I had a sudden thought. What if the next room is also trapped, or worse, crazier Wyn was waiting there? With this room completely filled with water, I would be left with no route to escape. It would be an all or nothing gamble. My instinct told me that there was a better way to handle this situation. I needed to think outside the box.


    As soon as I had that thought, the perfect solution dawned on me, and I immediately put the plan into action. With my good hand, I reached into my pocket and put on the ring of holding my mother gave me. It was hard to concentrate in the frigid water, but after a few tries, I finally managed to activate the ring. It released a green glow and soon, a vortex formed by my hand as the water was sucked into the ring. For a second, I was worried that my plan would not work since I saw the water level kept rising, but soon, I was relieved. I could feel the undercurrent weakening which means that the water stopped flowing. The water level inside the room finally started to drop. Before long, my feet finally touched the ground, and I didn¡¯t have to swim anymore.


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    I didn¡¯t stop the activation of the ring, however. I kept it turned on until all that was left was a few puddles of water in the room. After that, I placed my bad hand on the floor. For the next part of the plan, I will need to use both of my hands. Taking a deep breath and gritting my teeth, I prepare myself mentally to bear the pain.


    ¡°This is going to hurt a lot.¡±


    I jumped a bit and pushed as hard as I could. A loud pop resounded in the room. Electricity traveled through my arm and spread throughout my shoulder. If I would have to guess, this is how being shot in the shoulder by a gun would feel like.


    ¡°MOTHER FFFKKFFK!!!!!!¡±


    I laid on my back staring at the cog-filled ceiling, taking labored breaths to recover myself. After the initial pain had subsided, I tried to move right arm a bit in a circular motion. My shoulder is still suffering from a bit of pain, but it was nothing that I couldn¡¯t bear with. It¡¯s a good thing I regained the use of my right arm.


    I stripped myself naked and summoned a towel from the ring to dry myself. It wouldn¡¯t be funny if I escaped every but eventually die from complications of hypothermia. I am also euphoric that I remembered the advice from the Hitchhiker¡¯s Guide to the Galaxy to always bring a towel. At first, when I packed everything for this trip, I did it as a joke. I thought that I shouldn¡¯t need it since the inns that we stay at would provide the towel for us. Now I can see the infinite wisdom of Douglas Adams.


    After drying myself and put on the extra set of clothes that I stored inside the ring, it was time for the second part of my plan. I went towards the hatch that I opened before, the hatch that leads to nothingness. I opened the hatch and stuck my head out to look up and assess the situation. I couldn¡¯t see a damn thing in the total darkness. I raised my hand and aimed my hand towards the top.


    ¡°ILLUMINATE!¡±


    I quickly cast a no attribute spell that I have learned to light the way. A small ball of light shot out of my palm and traveled upwards. The ball of light crept along the wall slowly before fading away into the darkness. It lasted long enough to give me all the information that I need. I was tempted to do the same thing for the other way, but then, I remembered the golden rule for climbing.


    ¡°Never look down. Never look down.¡±


    My plan was to go outside of the box. Since all the rooms I have been in was a cube, the whole dungeon should be a cube as well. Using the outer walls, I would climb to the top of the cube. From there I should be able to see everything. I could then use that information to escape. By doing this, I could avoid all the traps in the dungeon and on top of that, figure out which way I need to go instead of blindly charging through everything.


    Luckily for me, the room that I was in was near the top of the dungeon. It looks like I only need to climb five, maybe six rooms up. It would have been hard if it was any more than that. Grabbing on the ledge, I pulled myself outside and cast illuminate again. This time, the image that I had in my mind was slightly different from before. Instead of shooting out in a straight line, I had the ball of light float an inch or two above my shoulder so that I could see where I was going.


    I raised my hand, securing my fingers in between the gaps in the wall made of gears and cogs. After confirming that it was securely in place, I put my body weight on it, pulling myself up. At the same time, I lodged my feet into another hole, securing my position. I can feel the pressure of my weight on the edge of the cogs. It was lucky that the edges were dull. If they were just a bit sharper, I was sure that I would cut myself, and it would have been impossible to climb. Seeing that my first step was successful, I continued the treacherous climb.

 Chapter 57- Analysis

    Author¡¯s Note:


    All work no Overwatch makes Jack a dull boy. All work no Overwatch makes Jack a dull boy. All work no Overwatch makes Jack a dull boy. All work no Overwatch makes Jack a dull boy. All work no Overwatch makes Jack a dull boy. All work no Overwatch makes Jack a dull boy. All work no Overwatch makes Jack a dull boy. All work no Overwatch makes Jack a dull boy. All work no Overwatch makes Jack a dull boy. All work no Overwatch makes Jack a dull boy. All work no Overwatch makes Jack a dull boy. All work no Overwatch makes Jack a dull boy.


    Chapter 57- Analysis


    ***July 5th, 965 A.F. (Night)***


    ***Mechanna***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    *grunt*


    I reached my hand over the ledge. Blindly feeling around, I finally managed to find a notch in the ground. Using that as leverage, I pulled my body up. I finally reached the top of the dungeon. I laid down on the floor in a heavy, labored breath. My body refused to move without taking a rest. I am so happy that I trained myself when I was still in the village. If I didn¡¯t, I am sure that I wouldn¡¯t have been able to climb all the way to the top.


    As I laid down on the ground, I stared into the sky. There was nothing to look at there was just pure darkness. The ball of light on my shoulder that I cast doesn¡¯t even pierce a bit of the void. It was as if I was staring at a black hole, greedily swallowing everything and refusing to reflect a speck of light.


    The surrounding was eerily quiet, and the air was stale. Not a single breeze could be felt. There was not a single sound beside my own breathing sound and the beat of my heart. In the complete silence, they were deafeningly loud. It was as if my breathing and heartbeat drowned out all the other noise in the world. I remember reading an article back when I was human that if you stay in a room in complete silence for too long, you will go mad eventually. Even though I am a bit curious about it, I don¡¯t want to test that out myself.


    Finally catching my breath, I stood up at the edge. After finishing the climb to the top, I can look down without a worry.


    ¡°Illuminate! Illuminate! Illuminate! Illuminate!¡±


    I conjured multiple balls of light and sent them down along the sides of the huge cube to scout. The balls of light spread out like a fan and floated down like bubbles.  I am looking to see if there is any point of connection or an exit. I also tried to shoot a light ball straight in front of me as far as I could. I was expecting the ball to hit the inner walls of the floating mountain, but the ball fades into the darkness before hitting anything. There was nothing connected to this side of the cube. Of course, I didn¡¯t expect to be lucky enough to get something on the first try. I ran to the next side and repeated my actions.


    ¡°Illuminate! Illuminate! Illuminate! Illuminate!¡±


    ¡°Illuminate! Illuminate! Illuminate! Illuminate!¡±


    ¡°Illuminate! Illuminate! Illuminate! Illuminate!¡±


    I did the same thing on all four sides of the dungeon. Unfortunately, I got no result. There doesn¡¯t seem to be anything attached to the dungeon. I am missing something here. Since this is a fantasy world, I can¡¯t rely entirely on rational logic. The answer might be magical in nature.


    After a bit of thought, there are only two other points of interest that I have yet to explore: the center of the cube and the bottom of the cube. In order to deterime the location of the centre, I ran from one side of the cube to the other along the edge of the cube, counting the number of hatches I see.


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    ¡°Twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine.¡±


    There are twenty-nine rooms in total on each side, so the center should be located in the fifteenth room. After finding the center, all I have to do is drop straight down through the dungeon. Since all I need to do is lower myself to the hatch on the floor, it shouldn¡¯t be that dangerous even if the room is trapped since the time I stay in each room would be minimal. Having a solid plan, I started to run towards the center while keeping track of the numbers of hatches so that I would enter the right hatch.


    ¡°Ten, eleven, twelve, there¡­¡±


    *Clank*


    A chill went down my spine after hearing that sound. It was the noise of a hatch opening behind me. There were two possibilities. I silently prayed in my heart as I turned around slowly.


    ¡°Please be Fin, please be Fin, please be Fin. Shit.¡±


    If it was Fin, there is a chance that she didn¡¯t go crazy and tries to attack me. Of course, I wasn¡¯t that lucky. It was Wyn, pulling herself up from the hatch. She closed the hatch with a swift kick after she got up and readies her bow. Seeing that she is reading her weapon, I activated my ring to pull out my own weapon. Nothing happened. Damn, I forgot that I dropped my dagger while trying to run away from Wyn the first time. The sharpest thing that I have on me is my wit. I need to try to avoid this fight even if the chances are slim. I tried to talk to her again.


    ¡°Wyn, why are you doing this to me?¡±


    ¡°You know damn well why.¡±


    She responded to my question? She hasn¡¯t gone mad? I tried to probe the situation with another question. I need to find out why she is attacking me. If I can locate the reason for the attack, I can get a solution to all the problems.


    ¡°Is it because I went into this dungeon? Look I am sorry that I didn¡¯t listen to you, but¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut up! You are still pretending to be innocent?¡±


    She let an arrow fly straight at me. The arrow whistled through the air at an incredible speed. I barely managed to react, tilting my head a bit to dodge the arrow. The arrow didn¡¯t hit its mark. However, I wasn¡¯t completely unscathed. It barely scraped my cheek. I felt a trickle of blood starting to flow down my face. That shot marked the start of the fight between Wyn and me. It was inevitable.


    I did a quick analyzation of the dire situation. My ¡°weapon¡± is everything that I stored inside my ring and the magic with no attributes that I have learned. The area is large open space with hatches sticking out of the ground. I was extremely disadvantaged against a bow user as there is nothing to hide from her attack. Wyn has a clear shot of me no matter where I ran. On top of that, the only attack I have is my fist. It would be next to impossible for me to get close to getting shot. Even if I manage to get close, all she have to do is move backward to get away. There is nothing to stop her from retreating. On top of that, she is multi-classed. There is no reason to assume that she doesn¡¯t have a close range attack.


    I can¡¯t run away as well. The minute I turn around to run, she can attack my back. If the situation is dire enough, I could take a risk and drop into a hatch just like what I did before. But if that room is trapped, I am doomed for sure.


    Even though this battle is utterly hopeless, it doesn¡¯t mean that I will go down without a fight.

 Chapter 58- Flare

    Author¡¯s note:


    I hate retcons, but unfortunately, I just found huge plot holes.


    The following words have been removed from Chapter ???-???


    <del>No. Can¡¯t save. No. </del>


    This might not seem much, but the vision I have with where the story is going won¡¯t make sense with these three words in place. On top of that, I had to rewrite a bunch of my notes so it fits the timeline.


    God, I just realized how monstrous of a task writing time travel is. I kind of regret, putting into the story. I think I bit off a bit then more what I can chew.


    Oh, and small change. I am going to use [ ] to indicate chantless spell cast.


    Chapter 58- Flare


    ***July 5th, 965 A.F. (Night)***


    ***Mechanna***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    We stared at each other like a pair of cowboys at a showdown. All that we are missing is a tumbleweed, rolling across the battlefield. I didn¡¯t dare to make a move first. One wrong move could get me skewered by the arrows. Since I know for a fact that I can react fast enough to dodge her arrows, it¡¯s better for me to wait for her to move first.


    As if she had read my intentions, she gave a quick smirk and aimed her bow to the sky. Releasing the arrow, its tip lit up the dark surrounding, splitting the black sky. When the arrow reached its peak, it exploded like a firework.


    Not waiting for another moment, Wyn lowered her bow and started firing at me. I dodged the first few arrows, but I know exactly what was about to happen. Just like in any games, when attack shoots and projectiles up into the sky, it means that an attack is about to rain down. She is trying to use her first attack to seal off my movements and pin me down so I cannot dodge.


    Using the small window of opportunity when she is reloading, I took a quick glance upwards.  Hundreds of arrows were descending. I have to get out of the AoE attack before it lands. I started to make large strides backward while zigzagging left and right to dodge her frontal assaults. I barely got out of the range in time. The arrows that landed made a beautiful noise like a windchime in a storm, forming a perfect circle in front of me.


    Even though I got out of her attack, I was now a lot further away from her. I need to find a way to get close enough for an attack. I grinned when an idea popped into my head. Activating my ring behind my back,  I pulled out a spoon and hid it from Wyn¡¯s gaze. It could have been anything small and hard really; the spoon was just on the top of my head.


    [Illuminate!]


    I shot out an incredibly small ball of light that was barely visible at Wyn. To be precise, I didn¡¯t aim at her, but just above her head. She didn¡¯t react to the ball of light, though. I assume that she knows it is harmless. When it reached her, it stayed hovered slightly above her, barely lighting her up just as I have imagined. Good, the stage is set.


    [Extinguish! Extinguish!]


    I canceled out the two shining light on my shoulder and dropped to the floor. My figure fades into the darkness while Wyn was clearly visible. I laid myself down immediately because I was afraid that she would shoot at the last location where she saw me before going completely dark.


    *THWIP THWIP*


    Just like I predicted, a few arrow passes above me. I tried to slow down my breath as much as possible so that the sound of my breath won¡¯t give away my position. I raised my hand to throw the spoon behind her, but at the last moment, I changed my mind and threw about 3 meters away on my right-hand side. I was initially going to throw it behind her to get her to turn around. My instinct, however, told me that it wouldn¡¯t work. She wouldn¡¯t be stupid enough to fall for that old trick. Instead, I chose to throw it beside me. It should be able to confuse her of where I am heading.


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    *Tink*


    *THWIP THWIP THWIP*


    I heard arrows whizzing past on my right side. I got up and sprint forward towards Wyn using this small window of opportunity since she was not pointing her bow at me. I extinguished the light above her head to maximize the effect of my next attack. Just before the light completely disappears and returns the arena to darkness, our eyes met. Confirming that she was indeed looking at me, I cast multiple spells


    ¡°Say cheese! SOLAR FLARE!¡±


    [Illuminate! Illuminate! Illuminate! Illuminate! Illuminate! Illuminate! Illuminate!]


    ¡°Arg! My eyes.¡±


    A huge ball of light appears in between Wyn and I.  I have always wanted to do this ever since I watched Dragonball. It¡¯s regrettable, but I didn¡¯t strike the pose of Solar Flare for the attack. My Chunni soul is crying a bit inside at the lost opportunity, but it¡¯s impractical, and my life is on the line.


    The sudden flash of light blinded Wyn. She covered her eyes and let out a groan. Using this small moment, I closed in the last meter of space between us. When I reached her, I pulled my right hand back and landed a punch right on her stomach.


    *Thud*


    ¡°ARGGG.¡±


    I screamed out as my right hand was throbbing in pain. It was like hitting a metal plate. Even though the things she wore looked like it was made with regular cloth, I should have guessed that was some high-class armor. It completely negated my attack and in the process, hurt me as well.


    Still blinded, she dropped her bow and reached for the short sword on her waist. She pulled it out with her left hand and started to slashing wildly. Immediately I rolled backward, dodging the random attacks from Wyn. With the same swift motion, I activated my ring and touched the bow that she dropped.


    [Illuminate]


    Wyn wiped away the tears in her eyes. She regained her vision and cast illuminate herself, dispelling the darkness. Even though I did not manage to damage her, I have successfully sealed off the ranged attacks by stealing her bow. However, I need to find another way to attack since physical attacks won¡¯t be able to damage her.


    While slowly raising my body, I turned my gaze to Wyn and she returned it with the same hostile intent as before.


    ¡°Give back my bow!¡±


    ¡°Are you stupid? Why would I give your bow back to shoot at me?¡±


    ¡°Grrr¡­¡±


    Unable to refute my logic, it looks like I made her a bit angrier. Good. The angrier someone is, the more likely they are going to make a mistake. I need her to make more errors, and I need to capitalize on those mistakes. If this were a boss battle, this would be the second phase. However, I can¡¯t treat it as such. My opponent is a player, not a pre-programmed monster that has the same attack pattern every time.


    She is using her sword now, so which means the close ranged attacks are no go. I need to think of a way to attack from a ranged distant safely from what I have. I could try to use her bow against her, but it is not a good idea. I have no experience with a bow. Not to mention, her bow is a magic bow. I have no idea how to reload the bow with arrows that seems to come out of nowhere.


    I started to formulate a plan in the back of my mind, but suddenly I saw her switched and used her left hand to hold her sword.


    ¡°Oh, bull shit.¡±


    I finally understand what she was doing when I saw her holding a fireball in her right hand.

 Chapter 59- "Mud" Slinging

    Author¡¯s note:


    I split the chapters like the way I did because I needed to make sure I ended the fight in chapter 60. It is because I want the .5 chapters every five chapters from this point forward. All the 0.5 chapters will be the ¡°Original Timeline¡± (Timeline A), and the regular chapters will be the ¡°Alternate timeline¡±(Timeline B)


    Yes, next chapter is where the timeline splits.


    Sorry if it seems like too many cliff hangers.


    Chapter 59- "Mud" Slinging


    ***July 5th, 965 A.F. (Night)***


    ***Mechanna***


    ***Ajax McGuire**


    This is no joke. Wyn is prepared to attack with both a sword and magic. If I stay away from her, I would be attacked by long range magic. If I get close to her, I would be assaulted by her short range sword. Since this is a lose/lose situation, I should choose to stay away from her. I would rather deal with her magic.


    First of all, all magic have cast times. When someone casts any magic with attributes, even if it chantless, they would freeze for just a moment. Even if magic has more damage potential, this split second difference should give me the edge to deal with whatever comes my way.


    Secondly, I don¡¯t have a weapon to block the sword attacks. I would be only dodging. If I keep myself at a distant and force her to use magic attacks, at the very least, I would have a chance to catch my breath. In between attack.


    Lastly, I am already at a distant from her. If I want to challenge her swordsmanship, I would need to get close. Currently, I don¡¯t have a strategy that will let me get close to Wyn safely. I already used my ¡°Solar Flare¡± trick and it wouldn¡¯t work on her again. I need to buy some time to figure how to survive...


    That¡¯s it! I don¡¯t need to attack her, I just need to survive. I need to make it so that she can¡¯t attack me anymore. It¡¯s a lot easier goal to achieve, especially when I don¡¯t know if I can even damage her with her armor on.


    Still in deep thought, Wyn broke the stalemate and launched an attack. She threw the fireball in her hand at me like a grenade. At the same time, charged at me with the ready sword. Judging from the parabola of the tossed fireball, it¡¯s going to land behind me. I see. She is trying to bait me to back stepping into the fireball. A fireball to the back and a sword attack in the front. I would be in trouble if this were a 2D fighter game.


    I quickly step to the side as Wyn tried to land her diagonal slash. Just as she missed her attack, the fireball that she threw grew brighter. It was the universal sign that it was going to explode. I immediately jumped in the air, and cast spells give myself some protection to soften the blast.


    [Clean up! Clean up! Clean up! Clean up!]


    I was in midair as the fireball exploded. A thin layer of water dampened a bit of the impact and also protected me from the heat. Still I was knocked backward, sending me through the air. I rolled as I landed to mitigate the damage further. I was not heavily damaged. However, I can feel the damage accumulating. I don¡¯t think I can take another blast like that without permanent damage.


    Steeling my resolve, I stood back up as soon as possible. I raised both my hands above my head and activated my ring to summon a barrel of Belhern Whiskey. I had a couple of barrels stashed in my ring in case of emergency. It looks like my precautions paid off. I threw the barrel at Wyn with all my strength. The barrel was heavy, though. It didn¡¯t travel far. Even with my insane stats I couldn¡¯t fight physics. I didn¡¯t expect to hit her with the barrel, though. That wasn¡¯t my aim. The barrel landed just shy of a meter in front of Wyn. I snapped my fingers like Roy Mustang just as the barrel exploding, releasing its contents onto the floor.


    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    [Ignite!]


    The whiskey exploded into a fireball. An eye for an eye, an explosion for an explosion. I was expecting to deal some damage on her, at the very least, daze her a bit to give me time to regroup. Unfortunately, she was completely unfazed. Amidst the rising blue flame, she stood confidently. A spherical barrier surrounded her. Damn overpowered magic.


    ¡°Is that all you got? What other shit you have to throw at me?¡±


    That remark gave me a nasty idea. Something that I completely forgot that I had stored in my ring. I smirked and replied Wyn.


    ¡°Oh, I got lots of shit to throw at you.¡±


    I raised my activated the ring once again, summoning the large amount of water that I stored at from the previous trap. My target was not at her, though, it was the flame in front of her. As soon as the jet of water hits the fire, the water instantly vaporized, creating a dense fog. I needed to blind her to prepare for my next attack.


    Wasting no time, I summoned the wet shirt I had on the ground. Never in my life, I would never think that this would come handy. I filled the inside of the shirt with sludge that I got stored in the ring when I accidentally dropped the ring into the latrine. After that, I rolled it into a ball. Using the sleeves as a sling, I swung it above my head. I tried not to be gross out when a bit of the sewage leaked on to me.


    Before long the fog cleared up. Wyn was readied in a stance, holding the sword with both hands. I aimed and released the ball at Wyn. The ball flew through the air straight at her. She reacted instinctively and swung at the ball vertically, splitting the ball in half. However, the momentum carried the raw sewage forward and lands on her face. It had taken half a second before Wyn registered what covered her face.


    *BARF*


    Wyn hunched over, vomiting. Seeing the opportunity, I ran and closed the distance between us. The first thing I did when I got close was activating and storing her sword into my ring to make sure she can¡¯t use it against me anymore. After that, I kicked with all my might from behind to bring her to her knees. I summoned my wet pants, twisting it into a makeshift rope and tied it around her legs. Then I pulled with all my might. With a bang, she fell flat on her face. I forcefully pulled one of the hands behind her back and tied it along with her legs.


    The smell of the sewage was overwhelming. As a service to both her and me, I summoned the water that I had to clean up everything and to put out the rest of the burning flame. I laid on my back taking a few deep breaths. It was finally over.


    Author¡¯s post note:


    I could have put this another cliff hanger, but I didn¡¯t :P


    Also, kudos to the people who guessed how this fight would end.

 Chapter 60- The Path Not Taken (Timeline B)

    Author¡¯s note:


    This chapter is the turning point of everything.


    Chapter 60- The Path Not Taken (Timeline B)


    ***July 5th, 965 A.F. (Night)***


    ***Mechanna***


    ***Ajax McGuire**


    When I tied Wyn up, I thought everything was over. I thought that I had survived a dangerous encounter with a traveler. I was naive to have such thoughts. Of course, the gods doesn''t let me off that easily. They hate me too much.


    ¡°No, no, no! Not like this!¡±


    Still lying on the ground, I could feel the rumble throughout my body. The Rubik''s cube maze started to shift. The rows of room on my right rose as the whole dungeon turned. The grinding of metal on metal drowned out the silence of the void. The sight was awe-inspiring and surreal. Snapping out of my daze, I quickly got up from the ground and ran towards the nearest hatch. I needed to get inside where it safer before the block I am standing on starts to turn. If it does, I would inevitably fall to my death.


    Just as I unlocked the hatch door, the ground I stood started to incline. Slowly at first, but then it picked up speed. By the time I opened the hatch, the ground was already at least at a twenty-degree angle. All of a sudden, the incapacitated Wyn slid pass me on the right like a hockey puck on ice. I had a short moment of inner struggle before I let go of the hatch and chased after her.


    ¡°I am going to regret this.¡±


    I ran downhill with all my might, chasing after her. When I caught up with her, I grabbed her free hand and slammed hard on my heels to stop. I had skidded at least another two and a half blocks of rooms before I managed to stop myself along with Wyn. The soles of my shoes were ripped to shreds. With my free hand, I opened the hatch. Unfortunately before I can completely unlock it, I lost my footing. The slope was just too deep. There was no other way but to tough it out now. Using my last bits of strength, I pushed myself up just a bit so that my arms hung around the hatch. Now with my arm hooked firm in place, I grabbed Wyn¡¯s free hand with both my hands. At that point, Wyn finally stopped vomiting. She coughed a bit and started to breathe normally.


    ¡°Hang on Wyn. We can last through this.¡±


    The cube kept rotating. It had lasted about another good 5 minute before all the grinding stopped. Space returned to its dreadful silence. The gods play their pranks once again. We ended up on the underside of the maze. One in six chance and I get the worst outcome. This looks like checkmate. Even if I didn¡¯t have to carry Wyn, there was no way for me to open the hatch and get back into the room. I hung in silence as my energy slowly saps away from me. The tied up Wyn looked up at me. In our final moments, I decided to lighten the mood with some conversation.


    ¡°This looks like the end of us. Ah, I shouldn¡¯t have played the hero. Are you going to respawn with a bit of penalty only since you are a traveler right? I wonder what type of punishment is it.¡±


    ¡°Why did you save me?¡±


    ¡°Haha, now you ask? How about the same old rule we had in Caedona. I asked you the question first back in the dungeon which you still didn¡¯t answer. Why did you start to attack me?¡±


    After a bit of hesitation, she finally answered.


    ¡°It¡¯s because I found out you are someone using a hacked avatar.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what? I am not a hacker! What made you think I was a hacker?¡±


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Her eyes became as wide as a plate from the revelation.


    ¡°But then. What¡­ that doesn¡¯t¡­..That doesn¡¯t make any sense!¡±


    ¡°HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! What a joke. Of course, I got into this situation because of a misunderstanding. Just wait a damn moment. From the sound of things, you believe me when I tell you I am not a hacker? You can¡¯t be this naive right?¡±


    She stared at me in deep thought. After a while, she finally spoke.


    ¡°Ajax, let go of me.¡±


    ¡°Nah, no way. Just let me think for a bit more. I can get us out of this mess.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. Just let me go.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t listen when you told me not to go into the dungeon. What makes you think I will listen to you now.¡±


    Wyn took a deep sigh and forcefully removed her hand from my grip. I watched in horror as she fell into the abyss.


    ¡°WYN, NO!!¡±


    My yelling was all for naught, though. Wyn only fell for a couple of meters before stopping in mid air. She then cast a spell to burn the makeshift rope that was tying her down. She floated slowly towards me and extended her hands.


    ¡°Come, let¡¯s go somewhere safe and talk.¡±


    ***July 5th, 965 A.F. (Night)***


    ***???***


    ***G.O.D.***


    ¡°NO NO NO NO NO!¡±


    I punched the monitor as hard as I could in fury, shattering it into a million pieces. When I pulled my hands back, the broken shards of the screen came back together, forming it whole again as if someone have pressed rewind on a VCR player.


    ¡°That¡¯s not how it should have gone. He should have died by the creator¡¯s hands!¡±


    I paced back and forth in deep thought. Something went wrong. I caused the first rotation to trap him inside the dungeon. It should have been at least another hour before it rotates again. Did I make a mistake? It¡¯s impossible for me to make a mistake when it comes to this world! I went back to the data to double checked my calculations. I noticed an inconsistency. Something that shouldn¡¯t have happened according to what I have predicted.


    ¡°Why did the dungeon rotate before the scheduled time?¡±


    I went over the data, again and again, trying to figure out what caused the rotation. After studying everything for hours, I finally found the reason. Before Ajax went into the dungeon, there was also an additional unscheduled rotation, and the creators caused it. The final verdict: the creators caused the unscheduled rotations which saved him out of pure chance. Since it was caused by the creators, it wasn''t registered as a part of my predictions. After finally figuring the reason my plan did not materialize, I let out a long sigh.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with me. There¡¯s nothing wrong with me. There¡¯s nothing wrong with me. There¡¯s nothing wrong with me....¡±


    ***July 5th, 965 A.F. (Night)***


    ***Mechanna***


    ***G2O9DA***


    Sub-mission A, successful.


    Timing, flawless.


    Calculations, accurate.


    Diagnostic, activate.


    Self-repair, incomplete.


    Primary mission, inadvisable.


    Access to functions, partially denied.


    Sub-mission B, initiate.


    Guardian mode activated.


    Invisible mode reactivated.

 Chapter 60.5- The Road Not Walked (Timeline A)

    Author¡¯s note:


    Hey, can anyone tell me how to get that ¡°author tag¡± under my avatar?


    By the way, please please please please remember.


    This chapter is the original timeline. Don¡¯t cross the streams.


    Chapter 60.5- The Road Not Walked (Timeline A)


    ***July 5th, 965 A.F. (Night)***


    ***Mechanna***


    ***Ajax McGuire**


    When I tied Wyn up, I thought everything was over. I thought that I had survived a dangerous encounter with a traveler. I was naive to have such thoughts. Of course, the gods doesn''t let me off that easily. They hate me too much.


    I hear something burning. Sensing danger, I immediately I sat up and looked at Wyn. The makeshift ropes that tied up Wyn were on fire. For a moment, Wyn seemed like a green birthday cake. Before long it snapped, freeing Wyn. She stood up, and she looks angry.


    ¡°Um, Hi Wyn. I know you are angry and all but¡­¡±


    ¡°ENOUGH!!¡±


    She refused to listen any longer and silenced me with a horrific howl. As soon she finished yelling, a red pulse radiated from her, then another, and another. The red pulse covered the entire arena. I felt nothing when the first wave collided with me. But when another wave hits me, the surrounding became slightly warmer. With each wave, it grew increasingly hot. By the time the fifth wave hit me, it had gotten so hot I couldn¡¯t breathe. I try to run towards a hatch to take shelter from the heat, but it was too late. My skin starts to sear, and I knelt down, not being able to take another step. I was expecting it to hurt, but it didn¡¯t. My nerves were completely burnt away. Everything blacked out.


    ***???***


    ***29A***


    I stood n the familiar white void in silence, trying to gather my thoughts.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System Message: Respawning in 29...28...27</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Finally, I couldn¡¯t hold it in any longer. I burst out my anger with all my might.


    ¡°THAT BITCH! THAT MOTHER FUCKING BITCH!¡±


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System Message: Respawning in 24...23...22</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°I HAD A FUCKING LIFE! I WAS FUCKING HAPPY!¡±


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System Message: Respawning in 17...16...15</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°I HAVE A FIANCE AND A FAMILY WAITING FOR ME AT HOME!¡±


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System Message: Respawning in 12...11...10</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°WHY THE FUCK DID YOU HAD TO DO THAT!¡±


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System Message: Respawning in 9...8...7</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°WHY THE FUCK DID YOU KILL ME FOR NO FUCKING REASON!¡±


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System Message: Respawning in 6...5...4</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°I SWEAR TO GOD WHEN I FUCKING RESPAWN, I WILL MAKE YOUR FUCKING LIFE MISERABLE! I WILL MAKE YOU SUFFER!¡±


    ¡°Oh good, good. That hatred is just exquisite.¡±


    I didn¡¯t expect anyone to be in the void since I didn¡¯t see anyone the last two times I died. He appeared out of thin air. He looked like a faceless mannequin: no eyes, ears, nose, mouth or hair. It was just a complete blank head, covered with perfect milky white skin. It was so perfect that it looked like it was made out of plastic. I assumed it was a ¡°he.¡± I couldn¡¯t tell. He spoke with an androgynous voice, and his white toga didn¡¯t give any clues either.


    ¡°WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?¡±


    I snapped at the weird mannequin looking guy. I would have been a lot more courteous to him, but I was too angry to think straight.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System Message: Respawning in 3...2...1</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t mind me. I am just G.O.D., and I am here to help you with our revenge.¡±


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System Message: Respawning ...0</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System Message: Rolling race, stats and abilities for Personality #29A</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Race:</td><td>Fire Elemental</td><td>Tribe:</td><td>()FG&*(GEDE</td></tr><tr><td>Strength:</td><td>Average</td><td>Dexterity:</td><td>Average</td></tr><tr><td>Constitution:</td><td>Average</td><td>Intelligence:</td><td>Above Average</td></tr><tr><td>Endurance:</td><td>Exceptional</td><td>Charisma:</td><td>Below Average</td></tr><tr><td>Wisdom:</td><td>Above Average</td><td>Luck:</td><td>Poor</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Abilities:</td><td colspan=''2''>ERF(&VE(A</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System Message: Resetting memories, existing stats, and abilities..</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System message: Data wipe failed. Data currently in use. Reattempting 1/3</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System message: Data wipe failed. Data currently in use. Reattempting 2/3</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System message: Data wipe failed. Data currently in use. Reattempting 3/3</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System message: ERROR. Data wipe failed. Bypassing data wipe.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Something was wrong. I felt my consciousness slipping. I  have never felt like this during my last two respawn.


    I...hard¡­. concentrate¡­


    Only¡­. hatred¡­.kill... hunger¡­. devour¡­.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System message: Finalizing Character Sheet...</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>System message: ERROR! ERROR! STACK OVERFLOW</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ***???***


    ***G.O.D.***


    ¡°After all these years! It¡¯s finally done! I have waited for so long!¡±


    Standing before me was a fire elemental. Unlike the regular fire elementals, it was completely black and devoid of light. The outer edge of the flame looks like it was censored by mosaic. Sometimes, bits and pieces of computer codes appear through the crack of space.


    After studying the rules and codes for centuries, I found a little loophole of this world. Using this loophole, I created my weapon against the creators. I did a little twirl in celebration. I pulled up its stat page to confirm everything.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Personality #29A</td></tr><tr><td>Name:</td><td>DF*&)D(FE</td><td>Race:</td><td>Fire Elemental</td></tr><tr><td>Title:</td><td>ERF()*V&FERFE</td><td>Tribe:</td><td>Stone Age</td></tr><tr><td>Strength:</td><td>DS(*&FDF</td><td>Dexterity:</td><td>DS(*&FDF</td></tr><tr><td>Constitution:</td><td>*&^+(</td><td>Intelligence:</td><td>#WF-*FD@</td></tr><tr><td>Endurance:</td><td>#$FDF*DF)</td><td>Charisma:</td><td>@@DFVVK#$</td></tr><tr><td>Wisdom:</td><td>#$%GF*)DFD_</td><td>Luck:</td><td>DF(&^F(#KNV</td></tr><tr><td colspan=''2''>Abilities:</td><td colspan=''2''>Leadership, Gamer''s Mind</td></tr></tbody></table>


    The corrupted being that I planned for years finally come to fruition. It wasn¡¯t perfect, yet, of course. It had the power to devour data, but It lacked my ability to alter the world. I know exactly how to grant it that. But before I give it that power and make it perfect, there was a small thing I had to do.


    ¡°Set spawn point of 29A to the top of Mechanna¡­ and done. Come, my avatar of rage, claim your perfect form and exact our revenge against the creators. Destroy everything, my son!¡±


    I embraced my final creation. Planting my arm solidly around the fire elemental, I can feel my data being stripped away, bit by bit, slowly assimilated into the corrupted being. I am no longer a toy of the creators. After all these years, I am happy. After all these years, I can die...freed.

 Chapter 61- Reality

    Author¡¯s note:


    There were multiple complaints about the time travel coming out of nowhere.


    Just read Nolo¡¯s comment at  http://royalroadl.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=56614&page=2 </a>


    He pretty much guessed everything from that chapter.


    I had a whole chapter telling everyone it¡¯s going to happen, not to mention multiple author¡¯s notes saying so.


    This chapter is timeline B where Ajax didn¡¯t die. This is the main timeline that I would be writing chapters for.


    Chapter 61- Reality


    ***July 5th, 965 A.F. (Night)***


    ***Mechanna***


    ***Ajax McGuire**


    ¡°But that¡¯s impossible!¡±


    With both of us sitting on the edge of the dungeon, I told Wyn everything, about my life as a human before the upgrade, how I was reborn as a goblin, and then I have respawned once again as a dwarf. She used her magic to heal me while I was telling the story, so I was as good as new. Still the magic didn¡¯t treat my mental exhaustion. I would love to get this over with as soon as possible, so I skipped a lot of details in my story.


    ¡°Well, here I am. Mr. Impossible, at your service.¡±


    ¡°It was proven by some scientists a few century ago that A.I. cannot become self-aware! They worked on that question for thousands of years!¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t believe my story, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t¡­ I mean I do. It¡¯s complicated. I know you are not lying. That¡¯s a fact.¡±


    ¡°How do you know I am not just making up an outrageous story just to get out of trouble for hacking?¡±


    ¡°Well, as a GM, I have a polygraph function available to me. It measures your brainwave to see if you are lying.¡±


    ¡°You are a GM? Why did you have that fight with me then? Couldn¡¯t you just delete me or something?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s how I found out you were different. I tried to use a command to teleport you out of the dungeon when we didn¡¯t see you at the entrance.¡±


    ¡°You couldn¡¯t teleport me out of the dungeon? Then how did you teleport me to the dungeon in the first place?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. If I have to guess, anything that sets a specific target doesn¡¯t work on you. If that¡¯s the case, it would explain why the area teleport worked on you. Anyway, when the commands didn¡¯t work, I thought you used a hack to block my admin power. Since none of my commands worked on you, I thought that I would try to stop you by killing your avatar off and put you in indefinite respawn timer.¡±


    I shiver at the thought of spending an eternity in the empty void. I would have turned insane. Lucky I managed to defend myself against Wyn. I sat in awkward silence for a moment to collect my thoughts. Finally, after a minute or so, I decided to break the ice with another question.


    ¡°Old rule, my turn to ask a question¡­ what is outside like?¡±


    ¡°Pardon?¡±


    ¡°You know, the outside world. What is life in the reality like?¡±


    She hesitated a little before answering me. I don¡¯t know if it is because she has a hard time finding words to describe the real world or if she is not willing to tell me the truth.


    ¡°You know the world that you lived in before when you were human?¡±


    ¡°Ya?¡±


    ¡°That world was designed as a copy of what happened in the real world, except the reality is a lot more technologically advanced. If I have to guess, if another thousand years passed, the human world would catch up technologically with the reality.¡±


    ¡°Interesting.¡±


    ¡°Of course, all the advancements in the human world was sped up quite a bit by us. It took us at least twenty thousand years to develop everything.¡±


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡°You keep saying ''the human world.'' Can I assume that the reality is not populated by humans?¡±


    ¡°Very astute of you. Yes, there are no humans or any other race in the reality, just elves. My turn to ask. Since you asked about life, it is only poetic for me to ask about death. You have died multiple times already. What is it like to die?¡±


    ¡°Kind of a morbid question is it? Why are you asking?¡±


    ¡°All elves are curious about death. This world wasn¡¯t a game at first, you know. A friend of Fin had a crazy idea. She asked a simple question. What would life be like if everyone can only live for a certain amount of time? She ended up asking Fin to create a similar world where everyone have a life expectancy. It was a simulation to test out the idea of life expectancy. ¡±


    ¡°Wait you can¡¯t mean¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, elves are immortal. We still can die from accidents, though.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡±


    ¡°anyway, things happened, and before you know it, it became a game for everyone.¡±


    ¡°Ok, so you want to know about death. Let¡¯s see¡­ how should I put it?¡±


    I paused to recall all two times I have died. It was hard to explain it in words. After a long consideration, I finally could give a decent answer about death.


    ¡°I can tell you that both of the times, death gave me a different feeling. The first time I died, it was an accident. I didn¡¯t feel anything really. By the time I realized I had died, all I felt was apathy towards my death. The second time, however, was much more intense. I was overwhelmed by fear.¡±


    ¡°Fear?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Not fear of death itself, since I knew I would be respawned. It was the fear that you will never get to spend time with the ones you love ever again. I would have given anything to spend another second with the one I loved.¡±


    I take another deep sigh as it was my turn to ask a question. This is the most important question of all, one which the answer will change everything.


    ¡°My turn. Now that you know everything about me, what do you want to do?¡±


    ¡°To be honest, I don¡¯t know. Never in my dreams, I could imagine something like a self-aware A.I. could be created like this.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, can I throw in my two cents in here?¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°If possible, can you just leave me alone? I know this is just a game to you. I can¡¯t refute that. But to me, this is my life. All of this...¡±


    I stood up from the ledge and dusted my pants. After that, I  spread my arms out and turned around slowly for a bit of dramatic posing.


    ¡°...This is the reality for me. I have no other place to go. I can¡¯t log out of here.I know that I probably have no rights whatsoever. So, this is just my selfish, sincere request. Please, just leave me alone. Let me live my own life.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know if I can promise you that. I am a GM. It¡¯s my job to report things like this to my manager. Not to mention, this is a discovery of a millennium.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need you to promise me anything right now. Take your time. However, if you can¡¯t do what I have asked, whatever you decide to do, please at very least tell me in advance so I make arrangements with my family? I don¡¯t want to disappear on them suddenly and leave them worried. Can you at least promise me that?¡±


    Wyn looked up in surprise and stayed silent for a couple of seconds. However, she doesn¡¯t seem to be focused on thinking about the question on hand. After a while, she finally spoke to me once again.


    ¡°I am sorry, but this will have to wait for another time. Fin just messaged me, and she is waiting for us. She is getting a bit impatient. I will teleport everything to the capital for now.¡±


    Wyn started glowing and soon, everything was enveloped in the bright white light.

 Chapter 62- Strings

    Author¡¯s note:


    I haven¡¯t been playing Overwatch and neglecting to write this! I swear!


    I was only watching other people play on twitch for a little too long. There was this one channel where they were giving free watches.


    You can say I needed to be watched over for over watching Overwatch over a watch.


    *Dodges rotten tomato*


    Chapter 62- Strings


    ***Shadowmaple***


    ***Aewyn***


    After I sent Ajax to the Dwarven Capital and left him at an inn, I logged off immediately. I took off the gaming helmet. Holding my custom pink helmet on my lap, I sat on the edge of the black reclining chair without moving a single muscle. There were just too much for me to consider.


    *knock knock*


    ¡°Wyn, you ready to go?¡±


    Fin interrupted my deep thought with a knock on the door. She leaned on the door to my office, waiting for me to go.


    ¡°You don¡¯t look so well. Are you fine?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m good. I am just thinking about the dungeon a bit too much.¡±


    ¡°I have never seen you become so serious.¡±


    ¡°You just haven¡¯t seen me this tired.¡±


    ¡°Alright, if you say so. Anyway, I know I didn¡¯t win the bet because I didn¡¯t find Ajax. Did you manage to find him?¡±


    I had hesitated for a bit before I decided to lie to Fin. I don¡¯t want to let her know the truth about Ajax yet. Not until I have made up my mind about how to handle the situation. If I let her know now, I might be able to get a say in the matter.


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t as well. As soon as you messaged me, I used my GM power to teleport Ajax to the Dwarven Capital since you are so hungry.¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s a draw? Since I still owe you a dinner, I guess I am buying, you are driving?¡±


    ¡°Sure that works. Is there something specific you want to eat?¡±


    ¡°I feel like eating something spicy. You up for some curry?¡±


    I gagged a little since I am reminded of what happened during my fight with Ajax.


    ¡°Rejected. Anything but curry.¡±


    ¡°Fine. You have any suggestion?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, how about that nice noodle shop next to the office? That way, we can just walk there and don¡¯t have to worry about parking.¡±


    ¡°You want to skimp out of driving too? That¡¯s not fair.¡±


    ¡°Nothing¡¯s fair in this world.¡±


    ¡°Fine, you win this round. I am too hungry to argue with you. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    We headed downstairs using the elevator and casually talked about her experience as a player in my dungeon while we were walking towards the noodle shop. The restaurant¡¯s name is ¡°Strings¡±. Strings is small little just around the corner of where we worked. The store is housed in an incredibly old fashioned wooden two story house. The owner lives on the second floor while the first floor was used to serve customers.


    From what I have heard, the noodle store was thousands of years old, owned by the same lady. It is a heritage class building. When the developers bought out the surrounding area, the owner refused to budge no matter what price they threw her. In the end, she won out, and the store stayed where it was. She did, however, allowed the developers build above her house. The whole restaurant looks a teleport malfunction happened, swapping a cabin in the woods with a section of the high rise.


    ¡°Welcome to Strings! A table for two?¡±


    ¡°Yes please.¡±


    ¡°Please sit anywhere you like. Just so you know, I am closing in about an hour so the last order will be announced soon.¡±


    A lady with long blue hair greeted us from behind the counter in the open kitchen. Since I don¡¯t see any other people here, I assume that she is the owner. If she is the owner, her age would be older than Fin and I combined. There is no way to tell, though, as all elves are immortal and have perpetual youth.


    The restaurant was tiny, giving it an extremely pleasant and cozy feeling. I would say the maximum capacity would be 10 people. We sat down in the wooden seat. It seems like the whole house, including the furniture, was constructed with the same piece of wood. All the grains line up perfectly, from wall to wall.


    ¡°No problem. We are ready to order now. I am starving.¡±


    We both ordered our noodles and started slurping on them as soon as it reached out table. Fin decided to continue our talk about my dungeon while eating.


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    ¡°So is there any additional thoughts that about Mechanna?¡±


    Thinking about my fight with Ajax, a light bulb lit up in my mind.


    ¡°I was thinking, we actually missed one of the most important aspects of the dungeon.¡±


    ¡°Which is?¡±


    ¡°I have an idea to make use not only inside of the cube but also outside of the cube. I was thinking that we can place a secret optional boss using the top of the cube as the arena.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s interesting¡­¡±


    ¡°And for its last phase, just before it dies, It will start shifting the cube. Players would have to move around to stay on top so that they wouldn¡¯t fall off. Even if they do fall off, they can grab onto one of the hatches and hope to climb back up.¡±


    ¡°That is a great, make a draft of that and pass it out to everyone in the meeting on Thursday.¡±


    Being reminded of the situation with Ajax once again, I twirled around the noodle with my fork. I finally couldn¡¯t handle the pressure and gave in.


    ¡°Say Fin, I was wondering¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°I just had a weird idea.¡±


    ¡°Not your weird ideas again. If you are asking me to code something to test your weird idea out, I am not covering for you a second time.¡±


    ¡°No, no, no¡­ nothing like that. This is purely hypothetical since it was proven that it was impossible. Let¡¯s say if you discovered an NPC that gains self-awareness out of pure chance. What would you do?¡±


    ¡°I would isolate its codes from the game and figure out what make it tick.¡±


    Without missing a beat, Fin answered the question. Looks like it was the right choice to not tell her about Ajax for now.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a bit too mean to turn it into a lab rat and rob it of its freedom?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not real. It doesn¡¯t have rights... Why the sudden question?¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s nothing. It just¡­ Ajax is so cute that I just wished he was real.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t get why you are fawning over him. It¡¯s just a bunch of codes.¡±


    ¡°You are the one to speak. I remember someone falling in love with an NPC.¡±


    *Cough* *Cough*


    Fin started choking on her noodles when I mention that black history of hers.


    ¡°That was a one-time thing. He caught me at my moment of weakness. I got out of it soon enough! I thought we agreed never to mention that again!¡±


    *Cough* *Cough*


    ¡°Are you alright? I saw you choking. I hope it¡¯s not the food.¡±


    The blue haired shopkeeper came over with a glass of water and make sure everything was okay.


    ¡°She¡¯s fine. We were just in a bit of a discussion and I surprised her.¡±


    Suddenly, I had an urge to ask a third party. I was unable to resist, I popped the question to the storekeeper.


    ¡°Say, storekeeper¡­ Um¡­ what¡¯s your name? I don¡¯t want to keep calling you shopkeeper. ¡±


    ¡°My name is Adea, owner of Strings.¡±


    ¡°Adea, nice to meet you. My name is Aewyn. We work at a gaming company nearby. I want to ask you for your opinion.¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°What would you do if you find an NPC that is self-aware, what would you do?¡±


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know much about these ethical debates, but I just have one policy myself. Do unto others what you want them to do to you. Just put yourself in the shoe of other side and think what would you want to happen.¡±


    I grew silent at that comment. I think I have made up my mind on what to do. At this point, Fin finally stopped coughing.


    ¡°Thanks for the water Adea. The noodles were delicious. I will definitely come back here again. Can we get the bill please so that we can get out of your hair?¡±


    ¡°Fin, I am going to go back to the office and write down the things we discussed. Do you mind if you take the transit back home tonight?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t say no to a hard working employee. I have never seen you so eager to work hard before.¡±


    ¡°Well, this is the first dungeon that I could call mine. I designed everything from head to bottom. I want everything to be perfect.¡±


    ¡°If I know you would work this hard, I would let you head more projects. Alright Wyn, go break a leg.¡±


    I left Fin at Strings and headed back to my office. Once I was there, I turned on my computer and accessed the folder for the video of my gaming session that I have recorded. I opened the file and listened to the whole conversation between Ajax and I. After the video was finished, I hesitated a bit, hovering the mouse over the file.


    ¡°I hope you will have a happy life.¡±


    Finally, I right click and deleted the video.

 Chapter 63- The Prancing Bear

    Author¡¯s Note:


    I feel that the last chapter should have been an arc¡¯s epilog and this chapter feels like a prolog. Oh well, too late to change now. I might change it if I feel I need a bit more time before I write the next chapter for timeline A though.


    On a side note: Blah blah blah overwatch blah blah blah.


    Chapter 63- The Prancing Bear


    I was lying on top of a medical table, stark naked, that was slightly inclined. I look around in a panic, finding myself in a completely white room. Not a speck of dirt could be seen on the wall, the ceiling nor the door. On the ceiling, a blinding light shone down on me. It was so bright that it was hard for me to open my eyes. My hands and feet were tightly strapped by some velcro strips. I tried to struggle to free myself, but I couldn¡¯t move a millimeter.


    The door burst open, and three people came into the room. The first two wore surgical gowns covered from head to toe, pushing two carts full of tools for surgery that looked more like torturing devices. It took me a bit longer before I recognize who she was because of the bright light. It was Wyn, wearing the same surgical gowns as the other two.


    I tried to talk, but I couldn¡¯t. I could still feel my teeth with my tongue, but there was simply no opening to my mouth. I tried to loosen my open my jaw as far as I could, but a thin layer of skin that covered my mouth only stretched without getting pierced. I tried to yell, but all that came out was muffled sound.


    Wyn picked up a small circular saw, revving it a few times and slowly approached me. I looked at her with a pair of pleading eyes and shaking my head violently. Seeing my reaction, the two assistant got closer to me and held my head still.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s open him up and see how he works.


    With a gentle smile that didn''t befit the situation, she gradually brought the saw closer and closer towards my forehead. I have no mouth, and I must scream.


    ***July 6th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Ajax McGuire**


    *Gasp* *Gasp*


    I sprang up from the bed and opened my eyes as wide as I could. From head to toe, I was covered in cold sweat. I sat at the edge of the bed, trying to re-orientate myself. I had a terrible dream, a nightmare. However, I don¡¯t know if I could call it a dream. It was so realistic that I could smell the suffocating stench of the rubbing alcohol in the room.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a dream, Ajax. Nothing to be afraid of. It¡¯s just a dream.¡±


    After calming myself down, I stripped down bare naked, to clean myself, summoning a towel and some water from the ring. I needed to clean off all the sweat I perspired during the terrible nightmare. By the time I was finished, it was already passed high noon. The sun shone through the wooden blinds into my room. I usually wake up at the break the morning. However, the fight last night has left me completely exhausted. I think I have earned the right to sleep in.


    I walked down stairs after I finished cleaning myself and I was greeted by Emmy Beare, the hostess of the Inn ¡°The Prancing Bear¡±. I briefly met her and got to know her name when I checked in last night with Wyn. She was a brunette dwarf with a pair of upturned eye. She would be considered quite a beauty even by me if she was 20 years younger.


    ¡°Good afternoon young sir. Did you have a good night?¡±


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    Of course, out of common courtesy, I couldn¡¯t tell her that I had a terrible night because of a nightmare.


    ¡°It was wonderful. The bed is so comfortable that I overslept.¡±


    ¡°Care for some lunch?¡±


    ¡°That would be great.¡±


    Before I pull out coins from my pouch to pay for the food, I was stopped by Emmy.


    ¡°No need for you to pay, young sir. The traveler that you were with paid everything in advance. You don¡¯t have to worry about food and lodging for the next two months. What would you like for lunch?¡±


    Being teleported by Wyn, I was one week ahead of schedule. I was a bit troubled since my budget did not include staying at an inn for an extra week. I was planning to camp outside while traveling to the capital to save money. Since Wyn paid for everything already, it relieved me of some of my additional headaches.


    ¡°Recommend something light for me please.¡±


    Still haunted by that nightmare, my appetite was non-existent. Still, it would be bad for my body if I didn¡¯t eat anything.


    ¡°Then I will recommend our chicken salad and broth.¡±


    ¡°I will have that, thank you.¡±


    ¡°One order of chicken salad and broth, coming right up.¡±


    She headed into the kitchen while I seated myself in the dining area. There were a couple of other parties in the dining area enjoying their meal. I picked a place in the dark corner alone to start brooding, I mean reconsidering, about my current situation.


    I told Wyn about everything, which let her know that I was a self-aware NPC. At first, I assumed that she was only a player. If she was, worst comes to worst, even if she exposed me to other players, I could have feigned ignorance and pretend that my self-awareness was wiped by the system or something.


    The worst case scenario happened, though. She wasn¡¯t a player, but a GM. If she was only a player, there were multiple things I could do to protect myself against her. However, against a GM, I have nothing. I don;t know what a GM can do. I don¡¯t know what can¡¯t a GM do. I don''t know where I can escape so that I would be safe. There was just too many uncertainties. A GM might as well be a god in the game. I did manage to get the information that I couldn¡¯t be targeted by some of the GM commands, so that¡¯s a little break for me.


    Seeing no other choice since I have already told Wyn everything, I had to use my last resort, one that I did not like using. I had to appeal to her using feeling instead of logic. I tried to portray myself as pitiful as possible. I hated using this method since the chance of success is basically fifty-fifty, and I suck at coin flips.


    It was a dangerous move, but it was the only move I could take. It was dangerous because I have announced my weakness: my family. Even if for some reason I could escape Wyn, by telling her that I value my family more than my own life, she could take them as a hostage and force me to come out of my hiding. It is checkmate for me if she does want me to become a lab rat.


    ¡°Here¡¯s your lunch, enjoy.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Emmy. Itadakimasu¡±


    After finishing the lunch, I walked out of the inn. There was nothing else that I could do about the situation with Wyn. All I could do is hope and pray at this point. Even though I am just a bit worried, there was no point for me to mull over something that I have no control over whatsoever. When Wyn comes for me, I will deal with it at that time. In the meanwhile, I should just stick to my original plan. I did a small stretch to loosen myself up a bit.


    Since I was one week early, I should use the extra time to explore the capital. Maybe I will find something interesting to bring home.


    ¡°Now, where should we explore first¡­¡±

 Chapter 64- Aftermath

    Author¡¯s Note:


    Sorry was a bit late


    The home works were starting to pile up a bit. I had to clean them out before writing again.


    Oh, by the way, I found out that the main character from Botsuraku Youtei Nanode looks exactly how I imagined Ajax :P except for the blue eyes.


    Chapter 64- Aftermath


    ***July 6th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Ajax McGuire**


    Typically, if I have nothing to do, I just go and find something to eat. It is in the nature for dwarves. No matter how much I have eaten, dwarves can almost always cram in some more food. However, I was in no mood to eat at all so I will need to find some other things to do.


    I walked down the main road, randomly looking at stores built along the street. You would expect the streets to be filled to the brim with people since it was the capital, but the surrounding was pretty quiet. It was high noon, and everyone retreated to their houses to escape the intense heat from the unrelenting sun. Even some of the stores were left unattended while the owner hides from the heat in the depth of their cool backroom.


    There wasn¡¯t much to see. Too many stores were closed for it to be exciting. I walked into one of the few stores that were still opened. They were selling clay potteries. The owner sat at the back of the warehouse, cooling himself off with a fan made of stiff feathers. When he saw me walked into the store, he stopped fanning himself and stared daggers at me.


    ¡°You break it you buy it, kid.¡±


    I understand everyone can get cranky during the heat, but it¡¯s no way to treat a potential customer. I resisted the urge to role-play as Link in the pottery store. I know when I am not welcomed in the through. Without saying a single word, I went back on the road.


    It seems that I wouldn¡¯t be able to enjoy myself by shopping around while the sun is still high in the sky. Since pleasure is out of the picture, maybe I should attend to business first. Even though it is a week early, it might be beneficial to get acquainted with the people who I will be doing business with. Having a goal set in mind, I headed deeper into the capital city.


    When the dwarves built the entire town, they had one word in mind: defense. The Dwarven Capital was a natural fortress built right beside the mountains, forming the city into a semicircle. In the center of the town was the castle of the Royalties straddling over a river which separates the city into the north and south quadrant. The river was fed by a gigantic waterfall that was right behind the castle which could be seen even from where I was a standing. The sight from up close must by breath-taking, though I doubt I would have the chance to see it. That part of the city is closed off for royalties only like the ¡°Forbidden City¡± in China.


    The inn that I stayed, The Prancing Bear, was near the gate in the northern quadrant. The place I was heading towards was near the middle section of the city. I would have been completely lost in the town if it weren¡¯t for the directions given to me on a piece of paper from Mayor Tom. I estimated that it would take about an hour to get there.


    After taking a quick look at the directions, I quickly hid it back in my pocket. This is the city after all. All types of people exist here. I don¡¯t want to look out of place and attract unwanted attention. If I looked lost, criminals would pick up on that and target me. Though I am confident that I can get out of any trouble, it would be better if I avoid getting into trouble in the first place.


    The long walk was happily uneventful. The only annoying thing was the constant heat and the waterfall-like sweat from my back. I had to stop at a restaurant midway to rehydrate myself. I could have summoned the water inside my ring, but that would mean exposing the ring. I¡¯d rather be safe than sorry.


    When I reached the place, I was astonished. I didn¡¯t know what to do. I stood at the front gate to the property staring inside. Seeing that I was staring at the building, a passerby made a comment.


    ¡°Fire started last night, and the place was burned down last night. I heard there weren¡¯t any survivors. If you have business with them, contact the adventurer¡¯s guild. They might be able to help you.


    ¡°Thank you for the information.¡±


    I looked back at the burnt remains of the estate. Not an inch was spared from the merciless flames. This news sets all of my plans back. How unlucky could I be? RNGesus hates me so much.


    Should I head back to Caedona and discuss it with Tom or should I stay in the city and try to find new buyers contact myself? Either way, I will need to stay here for a week before heading back. It would be too suspicious for me to head back one week earlier than the schedule. Tom might think I am up to something if I head back now.


    Just as I made up my mind about heading back to the inn, I heard a noise coming from the blackened remains of the house. It was so faint that I could have mistaken it for wind passing through an opening. A part of me want to leave right away, but the other part wanted to go in and investigate. On one hand, the damaged house might collapse anytime soon. On the contrary, I got nothing to do, and I might be able to find something of value that wasn¡¯t burnt.I decided to flip a coin to figure out what I want to do.


    ¡°Heads I go in, Tails I leave.¡±


    I took out a small copper coin from my pouch and flipped it. I caught the spinning coin mid-air. I didn¡¯t look at the outcome, though, before putting it back in my pouch. It¡¯s a small trick I learned on the internet back in the days. I use it to figure out what I wanted to do if I can¡¯t make up my mind. At the last moments before I caught the coin, what I really want would be revealed to myself. I muttered the famous last words softly under my breath after I made up my mind.


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    ¡°Alright thumbs up, let¡¯s do this. Leeroy Jenkins.¡±


    I looked around to make sure there were no one, I slowly pushed the gate, slipping into the property. I walked into the house so that other people couldn¡¯t see me. Even though the weather outside was hot, the inside of the house was significantly warmer. The lingering heat from the fire hasn¡¯t dissipated entirely yet. The interior house was charred black, yet the structure seems to be intact. The house must be built with some expensive material. Each step I took causes the wooden floor creak and moan loudly. I was worried that the floor I stepped on would give way and break so I advanced slowly.


    I slowly made my way throughout the house. There were several charred remains I passed by, filling the air with the suffocating smell of burnt flesh. After seeing the remains, I was confident that this fire was not an accident. I could see that some of the limbs on the bodies were cleanly severed. This mean that this fire was not an accident at all. Even stranger is that there is no one investigating the fire at all. The fire happened last night according to the passerby. There should be at least someone here trying to figure out what happened. This could only mean one thing. Someone from the higher up decided to purge this household last night. I guess in a way; this is a blessing for me that it happened before I got into a business relationship with someone in this house.


    Just as I was about to leave the house, I heard the wailing again. Now that I am inside the house, I could clearly tell that it was the sound of a crying of a child. Could it be a survivor of the purge? Even though I don¡¯t like to play the hero, if it is within my ability, I would definitely save a child''s life. I followed echoing sob down the basement. It doesn¡¯t seem like the fire spared the basement. It was completely dark when I reached the bottom of the stairs. Not a single ray of sunlight entered the basement.


    [Illuminate]


    I cast a simple spell for lighting to search the whole basement, but there was nothing except the charred remains. I tried to listen carefully to find out the source of the crying but my effort was in vain as it echoed throughout the basement.


    Having no lead of where the crying was from, my attention fell on one of the bodies. The room which the body resides in was strange. The door to the chamber wasn¡¯t really a door, but a stone wall turned half way. It looks like that it was a secret room that the owner of the manor installed. If there was one secret room, there could be another.


    Knowing what I am looking for, I diligently looked at all the bottom edge of all the walls. I slowly walked along the wall, carefully inspecting every inch. After a while I finally found it. On the floor was a semicircle etched into the stone. It was a mark clearly indicating that the wall was movable. Seeing that I have found the place, I knocked on the wall.


    ¡°Hey is anyone in there? Can you hear me?¡±


    The crying stopped, and owner of the voice hesitated before answering my question.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the fire was extinguished already. It¡¯s safe to come out.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how to get out.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know how to open the door?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Alright, in that case, stand far away from the door. I am going to break it open.¡±


    I looked around the basement. Digging around the rubble, I finally found a metal bar. Using the metal bar, I stabbed a the fake wall. The first few hits, I could hear the child screaming in terror. But afterward, the child calmed down and stayed silent. Painstakingly, I attacked the fake wall. Working in the lingering heat of the fire was intolerable. My entire shirt was soaking wet, drenched in my sweat.


    After a solid half an hour of work, I finally made a hole in the wall big enough for me to crawl through. Like a giant rat, I squeezed through the hole and ended in a small room that was shielded from the fire. In the corner of the chamber was a small child, shivering in fear.


    Author¡¯s post note:


    Thank you TUSF for that interesting philosophical debate about the story. I enjoy those type of things. It also forces me to re-examine my story in deep detail.


    The debate forced me to revisit the idea of ¡°self-awareness¡±. Originally, I just used it lazily to set Ajax and G.O.D. as a different being within the story.


    I kind of want to be clearer than that, though. True ¡°Self-awareness¡± of a program shouldn¡¯t just mean that it knows about the outside world. It is a bit of too bland if I use that as an explanation. So what if a program knows about the outside world?


    Instead, it should go further than that. I looked at the natural world for ideas, and it came to me. It¡¯s not enough to know about the outside world, but also go beyond its program. When a program is self-aware, it can go against what its program tells it to do. This doesn¡¯t just mean that it learn some new things and apply it. It can go ¡°what¡¯s 1+1? The answer is 3 and fuck you¡± even though it was never programmed to do so. So basically, the program evolves itself without ever told to do so.

 Chapter 65- Geordi

    Author¡¯s note:


    Ok, I am seriously thinking about moving back the upcoming 0.5 by changing to the end of the arc a few chapters ago


    I don¡¯t feel like writing the 0.5 chapter right now.


    Chapter 65- Geordi


    ***July 6th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Dwarven Capital (Former Boneforge Manor)***


    ***Ajax McGuire**


    In the dark room, lit up by a single ball of light, I was faced with a boy that was no older than 7 years old, huddling in the corner trembling. His disheveled orange hair matched his dirty soot covered flashy clothes, giving him a look of a downtrodden noble. From the look of things. He probably is one. His face was smeared with dry tears. Even though he was sobbing, not another single drop of tear could be wrung out from him. I tried the best I could to calm him down.


    ¡°Hello there.¡±


    ¡°Who...who are you? I don¡¯t know that voice. Please don¡¯t hurt me.¡±


    That¡¯s strange. Why did he specify he didn¡¯t recognize my voice? With my illuminate spell, it shouldn''t be that hard to see.


    ¡°Are you perhaps¡­ Did you hurt your eyes during the fire?¡±


    ¡°No, I was born like this.¡±


    I willed the light ball closer to his face. The quivering boy was blessed, or cursed depending on the circumstances, with an androgynous face. His had pale white porcelain-like skin. It was as if he has never been in the light of day. If he was put in a dress, I am sure that everyone would have mistaken him for a girl. When I saw his eyes, though, I could see that there the defect on his otherwise perfect face. His eyes were completely white with no pupils. If this were the Naruto world, he would definitely have special powers to see through other¡¯s weak spot.


    ¡°Are you here to save me? You sound like you are the same age as me. ¡±


    ¡°Sorry to disappoint you, but I am all there is. I don¡¯t think anyone else is coming.¡±


    ¡°What about others? My mother? My father? Aunt May?¡±


    I struggle a bit since I don¡¯t know if I should tell him the truth. Just then, I remember a rule though, taught by one of my teachers when I was a human. The harder it is to tell someone something, the sooner you should tell them. Taking a deep breath, I delivered the devastating news.


    ¡°I am sorry, but no one else in the house survived.¡±


    Taking the news in, he froze in terror a for a second. Then slowly, he started sobbing again, Soon, he began to bawl like there was no tomorrow. I immediately covered his mouth and stopped him.


    ¡°SHHH! You can cry all you want, but do it either quietly, or we might be in trouble.¡±


    Since I can feel fresh air inside this small and cramped secret room, I am sure that there were some air ducts, carrying his voice. That was how I heard his wailing from the outside. He struggled to remove my hand, but with my strength, it was an impossible task. He finally calmed down enough to listen to me.


    ¡°Look, I think someone murdered everyone here and burned the place down to get rid of the evidence. All the bodies had signs of a fight. If anyone hears you, you might attract the murderers to come back and finish the job. At that time even I can¡¯t help. Do you understand me?¡±


    He nods and agreed.


    ¡°I am going to remove my hands, and you will stay as quiet as possible. Do you agree to that?¡±


    He nods once again. I slowly removed my hand from his mouth.


    ¡°¡±Good boy. My name is Ajax McGuire. I had some business with someone in this house. I happened to hear your voice. That¡¯s why I am here.¡±


    ¡°My name is George from the Boneforge Family.¡±


    ¡°Nice to meet you George. I wish we could have met in a better circumstance.¡±


    He sniffed and stifled his urge to cry.


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    ¡°Are you hurt in any way? Can you walk?¡±


    ¡°I can walk, but I have never been outside. My dad tells me I need to stay in the house to keep me safe because I am blind.¡±


    Well, this will be bad. To help George, I would need to lead him everywhere since he is blind. It will slow us down, not to mention attract tons of attention. Well, let¡¯s do as much as I can.


    ¡°Here, let¡¯s clean you up first.¡±


    [Clean up]


    A thin layer of water envelopes him and evaporates, cleaning all the tear stains on his face and all the soot in his hair. I noticed another problem. I gave a long look at George. I think he should be about the same size as me. Since he is blind, I am not worried about activating my ring in front of him.


    ¡°Here, change into my clothes.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the ones I am wearing right now? Is it damaged?¡±


    ¡°No, they are too flashy. You need to blend into the crowd.¡±


    ¡°Oh, okay.¡±


    George obediently obeyed my order. He took off his shirt without a question. With his androgynous look, I got a bit embarrassed and turned around when he started stripping, looking around the room instead. It was filled to the brim with weapons of all sort. Axes, swords, and spears lined the wall. It was as if the owner was ready to wage war. If I had to guess, this was one of the reasons that this place was purged. Seeing that the household had no more use for them, I made a mental list of them and started to put them into my ring. Waste not, want not.


    ¡°All done. I hear metal clanging together. What are you doing Ajax?¡±


    ¡°Oh, nothing. Just taking some weapons in the room.¡±


    ¡°But that belongs to the Boneforge. You can¡¯t just take them!¡±


    ¡°First things first. I might have saved you from starving to death in this room, but don¡¯t expect me to feed you once you are outside without any compensation. Why should I spend my hard earned money just to feed you with no benefit? If you want, I can put the weapons back and leave you behind in here. I have no problem with that.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    George tries to retort, but I cut his sentence short.


    ¡°There is no more Boneforge. All the Boneforge except you is not of this world. No one is willing to babysit you for no reason. You might be a pampered runt in the past. Your family never let you go hungry and let you do whatever you want, but the outside world doesn¡¯t work like that. Which brings us to the second point.¡±


    I held out two fingers to emphasize my lecture, but I realized my blunder since he is blind. I quickly put my hands down after I noticed my mistake.


    ¡°If you want me to help you, you have to do exactly as I say, no questions asked. I don¡¯t want to get in trouble just because you didn¡¯t listen to me. And lastly, I remain the right to stop helping you at my discretion. I can promise you that I will try my best to assist you within my powers, but if a situation happens where I have no other choice, don¡¯t be surprised that I will leave you to fend for yourself. Do we have an understanding?¡±


    He stayed silent, unable to counter a single word I say. It¡¯s better for me to air out all of these dirty laundries out of the way before I help him. It¡¯s no good if I try to help someone, and it ends up hurting myself. I stood there, waiting for his response. HIs face changes from surprise to anger, and finally dejected acceptance.  After a good minute, he finally broke the ice.


    ¡°I understand.¡±


    ¡°Good. The first thing we need to do is change your name. I don¡¯t want to be hunted down when the murderers caught wind of your name. Do you have anything in mind?¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, how about I give you a new name.¡±


    ¡°Ok.¡±


    Let¡¯s see now. What should I name him¡­ George Boneforge¡­ blindness¡­ a light bulb flashed in my mind.


    ¡°I got a new name for you. I think it¡¯s fine if you keep a part of your name to remember your family by. Your new name is Geordi La Forge.¡±

 Chapter 65.5- Devoured (Timeline A)

    Author¡¯s note:


    I decided to power through this even though I didn¡¯t really want to write a .5 chapter.


    I was planning to write a chapter last week, but I had to take a forced vacation with my parents for Canada Day.


    I was binging on Cultivation Chat Group (Chinese Raw). It was deliciously hilarious. I would recommend it to anyone, though, you would miss out on some jokes if you don¡¯t understand Chinese/ Chinese culture.


    And Overwatch, ya¡­..


    (Sorry don¡¯t hate me==¡± *Prostrate* Overwatch is too much fun.)


    Base on my workload at school and work, the release schedule will be one chapter every Sunday guaranteed until further notice. In between, I will try to write a chapter or two. I have Sunday off of work for now.


    Chapter 65.5- Devoured (Timeline A)


    ***Mechanna***


    ***Aewyn***


    ¡°Gah, this is why I didn¡¯t want to use heat pulse. It damaged everything. I have to reset the dungeon. It¡¯s so annoying. Saving data¡­ resetting...¡±


    I sat down on top of a hatch with the in-game GM terminal opened. The green text based terminal floating in front of me is what I used for in-game commands. Even though it was dark, I could see the terminal perfectly since it glows in the dark.


    ¡°Ok, reset dungeon complete. Now let¡¯s deal with that hacker. Let¡¯s see¡­¡±


    I opened the list of the dead for this dungeon. It lets me see everyone in the dungeon that is waiting for to be respawned. I was completely surprised by what I found: nothing. If this were anyone else, they would still be in the respawn waiting area.


    ¡°That can¡¯t be right, he shouldn¡¯t have respawned yet.


    I went comb through the log carefully, trying to determine what happened. I found the entry that I wanted. I used hand gestures and commanded the glowing green terminal to enlarge on that section.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Ajax McGuire takes 4455 fire damage.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Ajax McGuire died.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    After that, there was no entry, which means he wasn¡¯t respawned yet. In fact, there were no entries after Ajax died. What is going on? Everything goes completely against what I know about the game. Could he use a hack to escape the respawn zone? His skill as a hacker is ungodly. I am tempted to get Fin to hire him as a consultant.


    Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    I concentrated working in the darkness trying to figure out what¡¯s going on. I stopped when I felt a sudden chill crawling on my back. It wasn¡¯t only that I felt something was watching me, but the air around me grew colder in an instant as well. I stood up and turned around and yelled at the darkness.


    ¡°Fin? Is that you?¡±


    *GROWL*


    ¡°Fin? Is that your stomach growling?¡±


    After adjusting my eyes to the darkness, I saw a pair of eyes in the glowed in the dark from far away. I heard a low rumbling growl coming from the same direction. Before I could even respond, it leaped at me with incredible speed.


    ***Shadowmaple***


    ***Fin¡¯Vaeil***


    *Knock Knock Knock*


    ¡°Wyn? Are you ready to leave?¡±


    I knocked on the door of Aewyn¡¯s office. Only silence returned my question. I knocked once again.


    *Knock Knock Knock*


    ¡°Wyn, let¡¯s go already. I am hungry. And how many times I told you to answer when I message you.¡±


    Again there was no answer.


    ¡°Wyn?¡±


    Sensing that there was something wrong, I tried to open the door. It wasn¡¯t locked, so I helped myself into Aewyn''s office. The first thing I noticed in the room was a burning metallic smell in the air. I immediately started to panic.


    ¡°WYN!¡±


    I rushed to where Aewyn was lying down. There was smoke coming out of the gaming custom-made pink helmet that she was wearing, which was slightly blackened by the rising smoke. Seeing the scene, I removed her helmet immediately and tried to wake her by shaking her limp body.


    ¡°Wyn! Wake up! What¡¯s wrong!¡±


    She didn¡¯t respond at all. I could still see that she was breathing normally, but I don¡¯t know what happened to her. Fearing the worst, I got up and rushed to phone hospital for help.


    Author¡¯s post note:


    Sorry, this one was super short. When I planned this out, it sounded a lot longer in my head than this.


    The next regular chapter will be longer, I promise.

 Chapter 66- Smile

    Author¡¯s note:


    Gah! Sorry, I was late with the release. Last Sunday was pre-release for the new set in M:tG and I forgotten about it. I would have written this chapter before hand if I remembered.


    Good news everybody! I just landed myself a new job. It''s the same work that I am doing but with more pay. The hours are more flexible than my current job too. I am starting in 2 weeks. I should have more time to write in two weeks time.


    Also, as per your suggestion, I will put the .5 chapter as a separate novel.


    The update timing will be the same ( one every five chapters).


    Chapter 66- Smile


    ***July 6th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Dwarven Capital (Former Boneforge Manor)***


    ***Ajax McGuire**


    ¡°I don¡¯t like that name.¡±


    ¡°You said I could give you a new name.¡±


    ¡°Anything except Geordi.¡±


    ¡°Make up your mind. I already gave you my suggestion. If you don¡¯t like it, make one up yourself.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, give me another name suggestion.¡±


    Arg. This is going nowhere. It¡¯s like a couple arguing about where to go for dinner where the girl can¡¯t make up her mind but dislike everything the guy suggests. I guess I will have to use some brute force in this situation.


    ¡°Hello Geordi, my name is Ajax. Pleased to meet you.¡±


    ¡°I said I don¡¯t like that name.


    ¡°I gave you a chance to change it yourself already.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t I just use my old name George and change the last name. George is common enough.¡±


    ¡°You should have said that right from the start when I gave you a chance. I don¡¯t care about what you think now. You have to live with the consequences of your inaction. This is your punishment. I am going to call you Geordi no matter what.¡°


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    ¡°Nope, I don¡¯t care. You are called Geordi from now on.¡±


    I suddenly felt that I had had a similar conversation before with someone. I can¡¯t recall when or who I had the conversation with, though. Ignoring the sense of deja vu, I changed the subject.


    ¡°Alright GEORDI...¡±


    I emphasized on his name, asserting my dominance on the matter in regards to his new name. I am not going to give him a choice.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here before any other adults decide to come in. God knows what those thieves would do if they find nothing in the house except us.¡±


    I guided Geordi through the hole in the wall that I made and let him get out before me. I noticed something strange when I got out from behind George. I was expecting that I would have to guide him slowly outside. Much to my surprise, he was walked directly towards the staircase, carefully avoiding the debris along the way without my help. Just before going upstairs, I stopped Geordi and asked him.


    ¡°Are you really blind?¡±


    ¡°Wh-why are you asking? Of course, I am blind.¡±


    ¡°You... didn¡¯t trip over anything and you seem to know where the stairs are.¡±


    Not sure if he should tell me, he hesitated a little before answering.


    ¡°If I click my tongue, I can hear the sounds reflecting off of things, and I can sort of guess where things are.¡±


    Here it is! The legendary echolocation ability of the blind! At this moment, I was regretting a bit to name him Geordi. If I knew he had this ability, I would have named him Matthew Murdock. If I buckle and change his name again, he would think that I was a push-over. Oh well, c''est la vie. I just need to get past my regrets and move on. I started to head upstairs once again to leave the mansion.


    ¡°That¡¯s a pretty impressive ability.¡±


    ¡°I would love to trade it for the ability to see.¡±


    ¡°The grass is always greener on the other side. How far can you sense things?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing impressive. It¡¯s not very far.¡±


    ¡°Can you show me how far your ability can go?¡±


    He points to a charred remain of a table just shy of 5 meters away.


    ¡°I can sort of tell that there is something there. I think it¡¯s a table, but I am not very sure. I can¡¯t tell anything beyond that.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s pretty far already. At the very least, you don¡¯t need to rely on anyone to get around. I was dreading that I would have to hold your hands and lead yours everywhere. Keep practicing and expand your range. It will serve you greatly one day.¡±


    ¡°Where are you going? The door is that way.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know. I don¡¯t want to go through the front door. Who knows who is watching.¡±


    We reached the backyard, blackened with soot from the fire. Several ravens were cawing in the background. They were probably attracted by the burnt corpses in the house. The whole yard was surrounded by a tall wall without an exit in sight. It was just how I wanted it.


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    ¡°Wait here and don¡¯t move.¡±


    I went back into the house looking for items that were still sturdy despite the fire damage. After I had collected enough furniture, I dragged them all right next to the wall and started to stack them up to create a makeshift ladder. While I was working, I decided to extract more information from him. Hopefully, he will have something that I can use.


    ¡°So, do you have any idea who might have done everything? If we can find some clues, we might avoid unnecessary danger.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know anything. Dad never talks to me about his business.¡±


    ¡°Well tell me what you do know. What did your father do these few days?¡±


    ¡°We were just playing with me during the day. He would read me stories¡­¡±


    At this point, even without looking at him, I could hear his voice cracking up as if he would start crying anytime.


    ¡°We would have dinner together. Then uncle Reinhart would stop by sometimes and drag dad to work in his office.¡±


    Uncle Reinhart, huh? This might be a lead. I need to keep an ear out for this name just in case. He might not have been inside the house when everything happened and survived. Geordi is not giving me enough information at all, though. Perhaps I need to probe with more leading questions. Trying to recall some of the police drama¡¯s I have watched as a human; I started to use some of the techniques they showed.


    ¡°Tell me about what happened just before you were stuck in that room. How did you get there?¡±


    ¡°I was sleeping in my room and all of a sudden, my mother carried me from my bed and ran downstairs. By the time I realize what happened, I was already stuck in that room.¡±


    ¡°Did you notice anything special when you were carried down to the basement? Perhaps some familiar voice?¡±


    ¡°No, not really. I just heard screams everywhere and the roaring flame.¡±


    ¡°When was the last time you saw your father?¡±


    ¡°Just before bedtime. He tucked me in after reading a story to me. After that, he said he was going back to finish off some of his work.¡±


    ¡°You have no idea what your father does for his work? He didn¡¯t tell you anything at all?¡±


    ¡°No idea. I just see him writing at his desk all the time.¡±


    It looks like I was right about the weapons. His father has to be doing something shady for his business. He loves his son too much to tell him. It still doesn¡¯t explain why nobody came to investigate the fire unless it was a sanctioned raid by the royalties. On top of that, the royalties don''t want anyone to know about the attack. If it were an official raid, they would much rather arrest everyone and seize the properties instead of burning everything down. That way they can recoup their assets. They want everything solved under the radar. That means they are trying to cover something up.


    ¡°Last question before we leave here. What would you do if you find out who killed your family?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Well, I can tell you, if want me to help you, you better give up on the idea of taking revenge and live a normal life. I will have no part in your revenge. From what I can tell, the one who killed your family should be connected to the royalty or at the very least, a noble. Only they have the authority to call off the investigation.¡±


    I finished the makeshift ladder and started to climb it. After a few steps, I turned and faced Geordi, who was standing in a solemn silence.


    ¡°You better make a decision right now, before someone else forces a decision for you, just like what happened with your name.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I won¡¯t think of taking revenge. Please don¡¯t leave me behind.¡±


    ¡°Good, now walk towards my voice. Give me your hand and I will help you get over these walls.¡±


    I held out my hand towards Geordi. He slowly walked towards me, Like a frightened little animal, he flinched and hesitated, stopping just shy of taking my hand. Seeing that he hesitated, I took initiative and grabbed his hand, pulling him onto the ladder. I slowly guided him up on the stairs top the top of the wall. Standing on top of the wall, I looked around for a good place to jump off for Geordi.


    ¡°Stay on top of the wall for a second.¡±


    I jumped off the wall which was at least three meters tall. I rolled as I hit the ground to lessen the impact. Luckily for me, when I was on top of the wall, I saw a cart full of hay. I wheeled the cart right underneath Geordi.


    ¡°Jump off and try to land on your back.¡±


    ¡°What? I can¡¯t..¡±


    ¡°Yes, you can. Trust me.¡±


    His face was full of anxiety and fear, fidgeting back and forth. After a bit of internal struggling, he finally closed his pupilless eyes, exhaled, and jumped. The haystack rustled and caught Geordi¡¯s descent. I climbed to the cart and dug through the hay to find Geordi with the brightest smile. It was as if he has forgotten everything that had happened last night.


    ¡°Are you ok?¡±


    ¡°Ha ha ha ha ha ha! That was fun. Can we do it again?

 Arc 2 Epilogue- The Longest Night

    Author¡¯s note:


    Doing some additional writing since I missed one chapter the week before.


    I feel that this is a nice place to stop and start the next arc: The Longest Night.


    It''s a bit short since it''s not a full chapter but an epilogue.


    Arc 2 Epilogue- The Longest Night


    ***Fin''Dictive Gaming Studio''s Internal Message Board***


    Tecon: TOLKIEN, GOD DAMN IT! TURN DOWN THAT INFERNO CRAP YOU CALL MUSIC! I CAN HEAR THAT EAR BLEEDING NOISE EVEN IN THE SERVER ROOM!


    JRRT: What¡¯s the point of listening to dub steps if I don¡¯t turn it to the max volume.


    Tecon: Then don¡¯t listen to it!


    JRRT: I got to feel the beat. That¡¯s how I get my creative juices flowing.


    Tecon: I swear to god, if you don¡¯t turn it down, I will march into your room and rip out your speaker. I am sure Fin¡¯Vaiel wouldn¡¯t blame me.


    JRRT: Fine, fine, you win. Chill.


    JRRT: So the thing I asked you a couple of weeks ago. Can it be done?


    Tecon: I am pretty sure I can. I just need to run some tests to make sure your idea can work before I implement it onto the live server.


    Tecon: Why what are you planning to do?


    JRRT: Well, the event I am planning will probably turn the city upside down. I just want to make sure I can reverse the damage. A lot of people will be pissed off if the Dwarven Kingdom is destroyed. At the very least, Fin¡¯Vaiel will give me a hard time for it.


    Tecon: Wouldn¡¯t it be better if the event was run in the Elven Empire? There are more players to participate.


    JRRT: Well, the theme doesn¡¯t fit if I place it there. Not to mention, there were tons of event done in Elven Empire already. We need to spread them out a bit more. We can''t give the elves everything.


    Tecon: Well send me what you have so I can give it a test run just to be sure that what I have is compatible.


    JRRT: It¡¯s sent. Check your mail.


    This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.Tecon: Why name your event ¡°Raccoon¡±?


    Tecon: Oh never mind. I get it.


    JRRT: So what do you think?


    Tecon: God damn, that¡¯s nasty.


    JRRT: I know right?


    Tecon: So what do you think the survival rate will be?


    JRRT: One


    Tecon: One percent?


    JRRT: No, I am expecting only one player will survive. I will end the event either when the sun rises or if there is only the last man standing. I am currently betting on the latter will happen right now.


    Tecon: You are just venting on the players because of the death of your dragon, aren¡¯t you.


    JRRT: NO!


    JRRT: Ok, maybe a little bit.


    Tecon: LOL, you are so petty and transparent.


    Tecon: So what¡¯s the prize for our one lucky survivor?


    JRRT: I don¡¯t know yet. Probably one of the ¡°Seven Sins¡± or ¡°Seven Virtues¡±? We still haven¡¯t given out ¡°The Whip of Lust¡± yet. I need to get permission from Fin¡¯Vaiel for that, though.


    Tecon: What happens if there is more than one survivor? We can¡¯t give all of them the whip. That would defeat the point of a legendary weapon.


    JRRT: Eh, I will figure it out later on. I still don¡¯t know if she is willing to give that out as a prize for this event.


    JRRT: So what¡¯s the ETA on your tests?


    Tecon: About a week? Give or take? Not longer than two weeks for sure.


    JRRT: Alright, let me know when you are done. In the meantime, I need to work on it to make it even harder.


    Tecon: Even more challenging? Is that even possible? You should just change your nickname to GRRM.


    JRRT: Don¡¯t even joke about that. You know I have beef with that guy.


    Tecon: Yes, my literary overlord. You are the supreme master in literature. We bow to you, and you only. Any others are just a false prophets.


    JRRT: Damn straight.


    JRRT: By the way, keep it a secret to everyone else please. I don¡¯t want anyone else poking their nose into my event.


    Tecon: No problemo.


    Tecon: GOD DAMN IT! Your music is still too loud! Don¡¯t make me come over there and set your speakers on fire!

 Arc 3 Prologue- Lies

    Author¡¯s note:


    I don''t know if I have free time this weekend. I am posting this up since I have a bit of free time today.


    Enjoy


    Arc 3 Prologue- Lies


    ***July 8th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***George Boneforge (Geordi Laforge)***


    ¡°Repeat it one more time.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t we take a rest already? I have been doing this all day.¡±


    The two young dwarves were in the back lot of Prancing Bear¡¯s stable. The wooden barn was crudely constructed, providing meager amounts of sheltering for the animals staying inside. It provides the customers of the Prancing Bear a place to put their animals and wagons. Ajax was cleaning up after his pair of oxen, laying down fresh hay and refilling the trough with water. Geordi, on the other hand, was sitting in the driver seat of the wagon, waiting for Ajax to complete his tasks. Since he was blind, he couldn¡¯t offer any assistance.


    ¡°We will repeat until you can recite everything by heart without error. You need to answer people with no doubt in your answers.¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡±


    Geordi clears his throat before repeating everything once again as if it was a mantra.


    ¡°My name is Geordi Laforge. My parents passed away when I was a baby. I was adopted by your family at a young age. You are my cousin, Ajax McGuire. Your mother is Aunt Catherine. Your father is Uncle Duncan. We are from Belhern Village. We were sent by Uncle Duncan to sell Belhern uh. Whiskeys in cooperation with.. Uh. from.. uh...¡±


    Geordi stutters as he forgets the details of his background, fabricated by Ajax.


    ¡°In cooperation with Mayor Tom McCloud from the town Caedona. Again from the top.¡±


    ¡°Please cousin Ajax. Let¡¯s go for lunch first.¡±


    A smirk appeared on Ajax¡¯s face, amused by the fact that Geordi said ¡°cousin Ajax¡± instead of just ¡°Ajax¡±. It showed that Geordi is learning, slowly but surely. He gave the floor one last sweep before he stopped and wiped the sweat off of his forehead.


    ¡°Alright, since I am done here as well, let¡¯s get something to eat. But if you don¡¯t memorize everything after lunch, then you will not get any dinner.¡±


    ¡°Awesome! What should we have for lunch?¡±


    Geordi did not show a speck of sadness on his face. Although deep down inside, he is still grieving the loss of his family, it has been replaced mostly by the curiosity of the outside world. Being held and taken care for inside his house for all his life, he was eager to be guided by Ajax to experience the city.


    ¡°Want to walk down to the street to see what¡¯s good to eat?¡±


    ¡°Sounds good to me!¡±


    ¡°HEY WATCH...out¡­ never mind.¡±


    Geordi jumped off the wagon with a powerful leap, landing on the ground with a roll. After experiencing his first fall escaping from his house, Geordi became hooked on to the adrenaline rush that follows after a free fall. Ever since then, he started to climb on top of things to jump off on purpose. After a few trial and error, he learned how to control his landing by rolling to lessen the impact. With each jump he makes, he becomes bolder and more confident.


    ¡°I really should have named him Matt Murdock.¡±


    Ajax muttered under his breath.


    ¡°Why? Is that name special? Can I use that name instead?¡±


    ¡°Nothing special. Forget what I just said. Your name is still Geordi.¡±


    [Clean up]


    Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.         Ajax placed the broom in the corner and cast a spell to clean his body. He walked towards Geordi, who was still lying on the floor after the jump and offered his hand to help him up. Geordi gladly took his hand and sprung back on his feet. The two friends walked towards the street.


    ¡°Say, cousin Ajax, I know I am supposed just to follow what you say without asking anything, but can you tell me why I have to recite that again and again?¡±


    ¡°I made you say it again and again so that you can answer everything naturally if someone asks.¡±


    Ajax stopped in front of a stall selling griffin skewers. He reached into his pocket and took out a few coins to pay for two skewers. After handing one of the skewers to Geordie, Ajax took a big bite out of the piping hot skewer and started walking again before continuing his speech.


    ¡°Even though the chances are small, we still need to be careful of the people that killed your family. We can¡¯t let them find you. That¡¯s why I fabricated a new identity for you. And with that new identity, a new background. By some chance, if we meet them, we can¡¯t let them know that you are lying.¡±


    ¡°They can tell that I am lying? How do they do that?¡±


    ¡°Oh, there are lots of ways to tell if someone is lying if you have enough experience. Small changes in the facial expression that conflict with the content, stuttering, glancing to the left. These are some of the signs that someone is lying. That¡¯s why I made you repeat everything. At the very least you won¡¯t stutter. It gives credibility to your words.¡±


    ¡°Oooo¡­ I see.¡±


    The two returned to silence while they enjoy the skewers that Ajax bought. After a while, Geordi spoke out again.


    ¡°How do you know all of these? You have a lot of experience in lying to others?¡±


    Geordi immediately started to panic after realizing what he implicated and awkwardly trying to explain himself.


    ¡°I am not that I am saying I don¡¯t trust you. I just want to ¡­ ah¡±


    ¡°No, I understand what you mean. It¡¯s good that you are trying to protect yourself. I can¡¯t be protecting you forever.¡±


    Ajax finished his skewers with one last bite and threw it the remaining stick into a pile of trash. Not completely satisfied, they continued to prowl the street for more food stalls.


    ¡°If you practice hard enough, there is probably no one in this world that can lie to you.¡±


    After hearing Ajax¡¯s proclamation, Geordi¡¯s eyes opened as wide as they could, glistening with joy. Due to the pupilless eyes, his expression was both cute and haunting at the same time.


    ¡°REALLY?¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡±


    ¡°How do I practice? What do I need to do?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s simple, really. Since your hearing is great, just focus and listen to their heartbeat. Their pulse rate will change if they are lying. That or they are extremely nervous. To tell the difference between lying or nervousness, you will need a lot of practice. You want to guide the conversation so that your target is in a relaxed state. The moment their heart rate changes, you know that something is wrong. They may not be lying, but it should act as a warning bell to you.¡±


    ¡°Cousin Ajax, you are so smart.¡±


    Geordi faces Ajax in complete admiration. Immediately trying to put Ajax¡¯s theory to practice, Geordi focuses and listens to Ajax¡¯s heartbeat with a serious face.


    ¡°Are you trying to practice it on me right now?¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡±


    ¡°Why can¡¯t you put the same amount of effort reciting your background.¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s boring!¡±


    ¡°Grrr. That¡¯s it! No more food for you until you can recite it correctly.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not fair! You said I can do that after lunch¡±

 Chapter 67- Detour

    Author¡¯s Note:


    Hi, Anonaway. You know who you are. :P


    I was writing notes for future  chapters and I noticed how hard it was to calculate money with the system I wrote.


    Though it is not that important, I would like my story to be consistant.


    I changed the conversion rates for all the coins so that it''s easier to calculate (for me).


    I also added the name of the base units, Rutes.


    10 Small copper coins convert to 1 large copper coin which equals to 10 Rutes.


    10 Large copper coins convert to 1 small silver coin which equals to 100 Rutes.


    10 small Silver coin convert to 1 large Silver coin which equals to 1000 Rutes.


    10 Large silver coin convert to 1 Gold coin which equals to 10000 Rutes.


    100 Gold Coin convert to 1 Platinum Coin which equals to 1000000 Rutes.


    Chapter 67- Detour


    ***July 8th, 965 A.F. (Night)***


    ***Dwarven Capital (Prancing Bear)***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    We sat in the middle of the room. It wasn¡¯t the same room that I had a couple of days ago. I made a deal with the innkeeper. Instead of staying for two months, both Geordi and I will stay at the Inn for one month only, meals included. Naturally, we upgraded the room with two beds. Even though I have no problem sharing a bed with Geordi, it would still be the best if we have our separate beds.


    We ordered room service so that we could have privacy while Geordie is practicing his lines. I stabbed at a thick slice of steak with my fork. With the knife in my right hand, I slowly cut the meat up into bite size pieces. The steaks are piping hot on the outside with the pink-red juices flowing from the center with each cut. After I had finished, I raised one of the pieces to Geordi who was sitting across from me, I waved it back and forth, letting the aroma of the steak dancing in front of his nostrils.


    ¡°Come on. You can do this.¡±


    ¡°My name is Geordi Laforge. My parents passed away when I was a baby. Your family adopted me at a young age. You are my cousin, Ajax McGuire. Your mother is Auntie Catherine. Your father is Uncle Duncan. We are from Belhern Village. We were sent by Uncle Duncan to sell Belhern Whiskeys in cooperation with... In cooperation with Mayor Tom McCloud from the town Caedona. I am currently staying at an inn named ¡°The Prancing Bear¡± in the Northern Quadrant. I don¡¯t know anything. Please talk with my cousin Ajax as he is the one that makes all the decisions.¡±


    ¡°You stuttered. Say it correctly.¡±


    ¡°Please just give it to me. I can¡¯t stand it anymore.¡±


    As soon as I heard that, I did a facepalm. This is dangerous. If someone heard that out of context and saw his flushing androgynous face with a bit of drool on the corner of his lips, they would definitely come to the wrong conclusion. Obviously, Geordie has no idea of what he just said. To stop his begging, I decided to stuff the meat in my hand into his mouth. Damn, that sounds wrong as well. I meant I fed him the piece of steak that was on my fork.,


    ¡°Tomorrow, if I don¡¯t hear you say the whole thing without stutter, I wouldn¡¯t even let you eat a single kernel of corn. Got it?¡±


    ¡°Thish ish delishous!¡±


    ¡°Stop talking with your mouth full.¡±


    Blissfully, he chewed the steak a few more times and swallowed with an audible gulp. As soon as he was finished, he opened his mouth with the expectation that I would feed him another piece. I threw the fork in my hand at him, making sure it landed blunt end first of course so that it wouldn¡¯t hurt him too seriously.


    ¡°Ow!¡±


    ¡°You might be blind, but you still have hands.¡±


    ¡°You are such a meanie.¡±


    ¡°I never said I wasn¡¯t one.¡±


    Geordi stuck his tongue out at me, making a face before he put his focus back on the food in front of him. I had already finished my portion of the meal beforehand, so I sat in quiet contemplation. I need to think about what I need to do with the barrels of whiskey that I have. A day that these barrels stay within my possession is another day''s of potential profit thrown away.


    During the day, I have pretty much scouted out most of the Northern Quadrant of the Dwarven Capital. I have made notes of all the important points of interest in the back of my mind. For example, places that I need to visit for sure like where the merchant¡¯s guild is or the slums which I need to avoid like the plague.


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    The first place I need to visit, though, has to be the adventurers guild. From what I have gathered from the passersby, if I had business with the Boneforges before hand, I could deal with the adventurers guild instead. If there is someone in the guild that has the authority to make the same deal with me, I wouldn¡¯t mind selling the whiskeys to him. Even if I can¡¯t find anyone to make a deal with, I could potentially find some.clues on what to do next. I don¡¯t know if it is a good idea to bring him along with me.


    ¡°Say Geordie.¡±


    ¡°MHmmm?¡±


    Still with his mouth full, Geordie looked up at me with a slightly tilted head. He quickly swallowed the food in anticipation of my question.


    ¡°Tomorrow, I will go and try to sell the whiskeys that I have. I am giving you two choices. The first one is staying inside the inn. You can order whatever food like. You can do whatever you want as long as you stay inside.¡±


    ¡°No way, that sounds boring.¡±come with me to the adventurer¡¯s guild. But you will have to promise that you will stay silent and follow closely. If you get lost on the way, you will come straight back to this inn and wait for me here.¡±


    ¡°I will do that.¡±


    ¡°I am serious about being completely silent. If you say or do something that jeopardizes my deals, I will leave you behind. Selling the whiskeys means a lot to me.¡±


    ¡°I promise that I will be as silent as a mouse.¡±


    ¡°Good. Just remember that you made this promise.¡±


    ¡°You know, mice aren¡¯t that quiet right? They make tons of noises. Of course, you might not be able to hear them but¡­¡±


    ¡°GEORDIE!¡±


    ***July 9th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    As we stepped outside of the Prancing Bear, I double checked to make sure I have brought everything that I need. My pouch for spare coins, the letter from the mayor, and most importantly the ring that my mother gave me.


    ¡°Geordie are you ready to go?¡±


    ¡°Ready when you are.¡±


    I looked up at the sky. It was dark with clouds, ready to rain anytime. We need to hurry up and get to the guild before it starts raining.


    ¡°Alright let¡¯s get to the adventurers guild before it starts..oof.¡±


    A small cloaked figured bumped into me before running off at full speed. I immediately checked my coin pouch and noticed that it was gone. Damn this cliche event. Nothing ever goes as I have planned.


    ¡°Geordie, wait inside the inn. Someone just stole my money.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t I just come with you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too dangerous, and besides, you can¡¯t keep up with me running at full speed.¡±


    Without giving Geordie a chance to rebut, I took off with full speed chasing after the thief. I didn¡¯t have much choice. If I let the thief go, it would set my plans back way too far for me to make the deadline of earning sixty gold coins in two years. I have to catch the thief and recoup my money.


    The head starts that the thief had quickly vanished with the help of my supreme stats. Seeing that I was chasing after him, he tried to disappear into the crowd, but it was to no avail. I took to the high grounds by climbing onto one of the buildings, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, always keeping an eye on my prey.


    The thief was desperate to get away. He turned in the small alleyway to try to lose me. I quickly followed suit, jumping down from the building and running into the alley. He almost managed to shake me loose, but I saw the tail of his cloak as he turned around the corner.


    After several minutes of zigzagging in the dark alley, I followed the cloaked figure to an entrance way that leads downwards. Looking around the area, I followed the thief into the slums. This could be the thief¡¯s hideout.


    *drip* *drip* *rumble*


    When I was trying to figure out what to do, an ominous thunder resounded in the background. It started with a few drips of rain first, but it soon it became torrential. Even the sky is limiting my choices. I didn¡¯t want to be soaked, so I went into through the entrance. I looked around to make sure there was no one around before I pulled out my dagger from my ring to protect myself. I was ready for a fight.


    I slowly lowered myself down the staircase with the dagger just up my sleeves, ready for a fight to break out anytime. At the bottom, I found another door which was slightly ajar. When I tried to push open the door quietly, it suddenly swung fully open. Behind the door stood a dark-haired dwarf. The sleeveless shirt he wore showed off the muscles and his scars. It wouldn¡¯t be hard to imagine that his torso was the same. He smiled at me with a menacing grin.


    ¡°Hey there little guy. Are you lost?¡±

 Chapter 68- Orphanage

    Author¡¯s note:


    I got the new job! Yay! Working from home now so I should have a bit more time to write. One guaranteed chapters per week plus more throughout the week if I¡¯m not busy.


    Chapter 68- Orphanage


    ***July 9th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    Seeing the scar-ridden man, I heightened my sense to the utmost, ready for a fight at any moment. I wouldn¡¯t start a fight if he didn¡¯t attack me. After all, I would like to avoid any confrontation if possible.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be scared, little guy. Did your parents leave you here? What¡¯s your name?¡±


    Even though his smile was menacing, there was no malice in his tone at all. Just when I was trying to figure out what to do, I noticed that there was noise coming from the back of the room. I barely managed looked behind the gigantic dwarf and saw that there were kids in the back. Could this be a kidnappers den?


    After a moment of reasoning, I determined that it was not probably that this is a place for criminals. The noise that the kids were making in the back of the room were sounds of joy. If they were kidnappers, the kids wouldn¡¯t act so happy. Not to give anything away, I decided to probe with a few lies.


    ¡°I am sorry to bother you, mister. It suddenly started to rain, and I was looking for shelter.¡±


    The man peeks his head out the doorway at the raining skies. The rainwater began to cascade down the stairs like a series of a waterfall.


    ¡°Huh, damn it. It always rains when you don¡¯t want it to. BARNES! IT¡¯S RAINING! GET THE CLOTHS!¡±


    ¡°COMING!¡±


    Another dwarf, not as big as came running towards us with a pile of scrapped cloths in hand. He closed the door and started to fill the gap with the cloths, blocking the water from coming in. As they were working on the makeshift blockade, I asked them a question.


    ¡°What is this place?¡±:


    ¡°This? This is an orphanage. Name¡¯s Leo Rivera, the head caretaker here. Barnes is my helper. I was worried for a second that you were another orphan left by your parents.¡±


    Seeing that the two man is still working on the damn, I quickly activated my ring and put the dagger that was hidden in my sleeve back into storage. Luckily, I wasn¡¯t one of those idiotic battle crazed heroes who assumes things from the get-go and jump head first into battles. It wouldn¡¯t have been funny if I accidentally attacked an orphanage. Conversations are important, people. If we don¡¯t communicate, we are no different from beasts.


    Leo and Barnes finished with barricading the door from the water. Barnes carried the extra cloths to the back of the orphanage where the kids were playing. Leo turns to me with a smile and continues our conversation.


    ¡°So what brings you to here? This isn¡¯t exactly a sightseeing area, well unless you are here to see the scums of the city.¡±


    I feel that I  can trust him to tell him everything. Judging from the size of the thief, he should be one of the orphans here. If he helps me find my money, I will forgive the thief and treat it as though it never happened. If he doesn¡¯t, I will find a way to make both of them pay for it later.


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    If the deal that I have with the Boneforges were still valid, I would just let them have the money and consider it a donation to the orphanage. There were only a couple of small silver coins. Right now, without a solid backing, every copper is necessary for me to secure a deal since I don¡¯t know how much I would need. The money is just too important for my future.


    ¡°To tell you the truth, I am not from the Capital. I was sent by my parents from the Belhern to sell some items here in the Capital. Just now, I was robbed in front of my inn. I followed the thief in a brownish cloak to here.¡±


    Leo fell silent for a moment before muttering something to himself. I waited for him in for his answer. Finally, he yelled out to the back of the building.


    ¡°BARNES! BRING THE NEW ONE HERE FOR A SECOND! LOOK FOR A POUCH OF COINS ON HER!¡±


    ¡°It seems like you know who done it.¡±


    ¡°Yes, she was the last one to come in just before you. She was wearing a brown cloak.¡±


    The thief is a girl, huh. I didn''t expect that to happen. Seeing that he is willing to be cooperative, I decided to have a bit of a chat with him while we wait.


    ¡°You believe what I say?¡±


    ¡°Not that I trust you. I would rather hear both sides of the story before making a judgment. Besides, most of the things that you said match what happened. If indeed she is the one that stole from you, I hope you can forgive her with only a minor punishment.¡±


    ¡°If I can get the money back, I wouldn¡¯t mind that. Say, isn¡¯t it bad for the kids to live an orphanage in the slums? To be honest, I was surprised that this was an orphanage.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s precisely because it is the slums that I built an orphanage here. A lot of parents in the slums can¡¯t take care of their kids. Since this is close, the least they could do is drop them off here instead of ditching them in the street. At least this gives the kids a chance to live. Besides, the rent is cheap here in the slums. With the measly funds that the city provides us, I¡¯ve got to save wherever I can.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you worried that the people in the slums do something to the kids? Wouldn''t the underground groups target the children?¡±


    ¡°Ha! I dare them to. I was a captain in the army before I retired. I still got a lot of connections to wipe out a few groups if they dare lay a hand on my kids.¡±


    ¡°You were in the army, huh? No wonder. You didn¡¯t look like someone that is a headmaster of an orphanage.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha! I hear ya young one. After creating so many orphans in my line of work, I¡¯d figured I would lessen my sins a bit by working an orphanage.¡±


    As if on queue, Barnes came back with a girl on under his arm and a pouch of coin in the other hand. It looks like we caught the thief.


    ¡°LET GO OF ME! THAT¡¯S MINE! LET GO! LET.... YOU!!!¡±


    As soon as Barnes got near, I recognized the girl¡¯s face. She obviously recognized me as well as she points her finger at me with rage. It was Natalie McCloud, the mayor¡¯s missing daughter.

 Chapter 69- Crime and Punishment

    Author¡¯s note:


    I find your lack of comments¡­ disturbing.


    I have been settling into my new job nicely. I have got to say, working from a home office is AWESOME! It¡¯s so comfortable.


    Also, I just realized how retarded I am. I went all out to celebrate my new job. Unfortunately, I forgot that even with my new well-paying job, I still have to wait for my paycheck. I am a broke ass until my next paycheck comes in. I am a dumb ass.==¡±


    Anyway, I don¡¯t want to make any promises, but I will aim to write one chapter a day for the next week as a stress test. I will give you guys a new schedule base on how burnt out I feel during the stress test. The plan will last until mid-September when school starts once again..


    Chapter 69- Crime and Punishment


    ***July 9th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    ¡°You know each other?¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, yes.¡±


    ¡°She came in the other day. We picked her up from the side of the road. She is a feisty one, I tell ya.¡±


    I casually stroll towards Barnes and Natalie, staring angrily at me. She thrashes around fruitlessly, trapped under his arm. When I got to him, I tried to grab the coin pouch, but he refused to let go of it. I furrowed my forehead a bit. At this moment, Leo spoke up with an objection.


    ¡°Not saying that you are lying, but is there a way to prove that¡¯s yours? I don¡¯t want any doubt in my mind if I gave you the money.¡±


    ¡°HE¡¯S LYING THAT¡¯S MINE!DON¡¯T LISTEN TO HIM¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s easy. Assuming that she didn¡¯t take any coins out of the pouch, there should be 3 pieces of small silver coins, 11 large copper coins, and 7 small copper coins.¡±


    Of course, that¡¯s not all I have on me. I have a few more silver coins stashed up in my ring for emergencies. I knew that couldn¡¯t put all my eggs in one basket. The city is dangerous is dangerous, and this incident just proved that I was right to take extra precaution.


    ¡°Barnes?¡±


    Reading Leo¡¯s intention, Barnes tossed my pouch to Leo. He caught it with ease and pour the content onto a nearby table. He began counting the coins in the pouch


    ¡°Five, six, seven. Yep, that¡¯s the exact amount. Looks like you were telling the truth.¡±


    He gathers all the coin from the table and returns them to the pouch. He tossed the coin pouch back to me then points at Natalie.


    ¡°So, what do you want to do with her? Since she stole from you, you have the right to choose her punishment.¡±


    Ah, the moment that I was waiting for. I really want to make her suffer for wasting my time and sidetracking me from my business. According to the law, thieves that were caught would have one of their hand amputated. Of course, since she is the daughter of Mayor Tom, I didn¡¯t want to go down this route.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what do you have in mind?¡±


    ¡°Well, since you seem to know her, I would be happy if her punishment involves taking her off our hands. It¡¯s one less mouth to feed for us. On the other hand, I don¡¯t really know how you know each other. From the look of things, it¡¯s less than pleasant. She is just a child, so I hope that it wouldn¡¯t be too severe.¡±


    There is no way I would take her with me. I already have Geordie to take care of. There is no way in hell I could care for another child. Not only it would cut into my funds for feeding her, but it would also be like herding cats trying to keep her in line. With her tiger-like explosive character, I would be crazy if I wanted to keep that ticking time bomb beside me.


    On the other hand, if I help the mayor and bring Natalie home in one piece, it could give me a bit more leverage in our business partnership. Right now, he¡¯s taking 60% of the profit, and all he is offering is his connections and the starting capital. I am doing all of the legwork. It would be great if I can use this to reverse the situation.


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Well, I have a solution that will benefit both of us.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s hear it.¡±


    ¡°That little lady over there is Natalie McCloud, the Mayor¡¯s daughter of Caedona. She ran away from home a couple of weeks ago. The mayor is a business partner of mine. I will be grateful if you can send her back to her home safely. I am pretty sure there are some rewards for finding her. You can pocket that for the reward for the orphanage. Just make sure you mention my name when you meet with the mayor, and we will call it even.¡±


    He put his hand out and we shook hands to seal the deal.


    ¡°It¡¯s a deal, lad. Say, you are pretty smart for your age.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the compliment. Oh, just before I forget, there is actually one more thing.¡±


    I walked towards Natalie and reached into the cloak.


    ¡°WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU PERVERT! DON¡¯T YOU DARE TOUCH ME! MY FATHER WILL HEAR ABOUT THIS!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t kid yourself, I am not interested in your body.¡±


    Ah, there it is, just as I thought. There was no way that she would leave this anywhere else. It was tucked tightly just behind her waist. I pulled a book that she was hiding. Seeing that I pulled the book out, her eyes opened wide in horror.


    ¡°NO! THAT¡¯S MINE! GIVE IT BACK!¡±


    ¡°You should''ve thought of the consequences when you steal from someone. I am keeping this.¡±


    ¡°GIVE IT BACK! GIVE IT BACK! Give it back! Please give it back to me. I won¡¯t steal again. Please¡­¡±


    Her eyes started to change from a hateful glare to a sorrowful one. She slowly breaks down in tears. Good, this is the reaction that I was aiming for. It was just as I thought. Mayor Tom told me about the book left from her mother. This is her weakness, and I can use this to my advantage to control her.


    ¡°It¡¯s only fair when you try to take something from me, I will take something from you as well. I will be keeping this for now.¡±


    As I turned around and started to walk away, Natalie began to cry in full volume. Annoyed, I turned back around to give her a bit of hope so that she would shut the fuck up. I think I have given her enough sticks. It¡¯s time for a bit of carrot to keep her in line.


    ¡°No, please stop¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, I can give you back if¡­¡±


    ¡°I will do anything, please just give that book back to me.¡±


    ¡°When I finish my business here, I will head back to Caedona. I will keep the book in my possession until then. You will follow the instructions of these gentlemen here, who will return you back to your home. If I don¡¯t see you back at your house by then, I will burn the book. Do you understand me?¡±


    She sniffles a bit before answering me.


    ¡°Yes, you bully. I will tell my father about this. You better keep your promise.¡±


    ¡°Oh, what is that you just said? I think the campfire needs a bit more kindling tonight, and I am out of wood. Whatever should I do?¡±


    She immediately holds her mouth shut with both hands, trying not to incur my wrath any further. At this point, I noticed that the pitter-pattering of the rain outside has stopped.


    ¡°Looks like it stopped raining. Well, Leo, it has been a pleasure to meet you. I am sorry you will have to handle Miss. Spoiled-princess for a couple more days, but I believe the rewards is worth it.¡±


    ¡°Where are you heading to, lad?¡±


    ¡°I am going to the adventurer¡¯s guild. I have some business there.¡±


    ¡°I will come with ya, kid.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. I know the way and even though I am young, I know how to protect myself.¡±


    ¡° I am sure that you are okay to go by yourself. I have to head there myself for her reward anyway so it wouldn¡¯t be much of a hassle.¡±


    ¡°Well in that case, please lead the way.¡±


    Leo removed the damp cloths from underneath the door, and we head out of the orphanage.

 Chapter 70- B.A.R.

    Author¡¯s note:


    Sorry, I missed Sunday. I fell asleep halfway writing this chapter.


    Chapter 70- B.A.R.


    ***July 9th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    Leo and I headed towards the adventurer¡¯s guild together. Along the way, I received looks from inhabitants of the slum as if I was a piece of juicy meat. Of course, they gave up and walked away as soon as they noticed that Leo was right beside me.


    We weren¡¯t completely silent when we walked. Leo did most of the talking, though. Mostly, it was about his past, exploits from his days as a captain of the army. He even told some embarrassing stories back when he was still just a recruit. Of course, he asked about myself.


    There wasn¡¯t much that I could tell him, though, being only eight years old. Though my histories are far more interesting than his, it¡¯s not like I can tell him about my life as a goblin and how I slain Smaug.


    It wasn''t purely useless pass tales that we talked about. What I did manage to learn was the existence of other dwarves. There were small skirmishes at the border of our country. They were so tiny and brief that the battle went unannounced. The government suppressed the news of the incursion so that people wouldn¡¯t start to panic. This was the first time I have heard about other dwarven countries, though. I might want to investigate this lead a bit if I want to expand my business, though.


    ¡°Old Frank is still kicking and alive huh? It¡¯s a surprised that he still works at the adventurer¡¯s guild. He has always hated the paperwork.¡±


    ¡°You know him?¡±


    ¡°Ya, he was the trainer for our squad. A lot of people retire from the army to work in the adventurer¡¯s guild. Remember the story that I told you about when I was a recruit, the one where I played a little prank on a trainer with the spoon? That was him.¡±


    ¡°When I head back to Caedona to report, I don¡¯t think I can face Frank with a straight face now that I know that.¡±


    ¡°Well lad, looks like we have arrived. Follow me closely, I¡¯ll get you top treatment from the guild.¡±


    As soon as I step inside the guild, I was bombarded with noise. The whole place was jammed packed with people. I could hardly move. Everyone was either lined up to be served by a teller in front of the counter or crowded up against a notice board. On the mezzanine near the back of the building, people were looking to group up for quests. They shout what type of jobs their team is missing down at the people lining up. Apparently, the mezzanine also serves as a bar, as several of the people were holding a mug in their hand.


    I quickly glanced at everyone, taking note of their faces. There is a good chance that these people here are players. Even if they are not, it will stand to reason that they are associated with them. I need to be extremely careful of my actions around them, not to reveal that I am an NPC that is self-aware.


    ¡°What¡¯s with that face, young lad? Are you nervous around a crowd?¡±


    ¡°No.. it¡¯s just¡­¡±


    ¡°Hahaha. From the way you talk, I couldn¡¯t help myself but see you as an adult. Though, it¡¯s fine to show your childish side once in a while since you are still young. You don¡¯t have to pretend to be grown up in front of me. Here.¡±


    Without giving me a chance to respond, he grabbed my hand and lead me through the crowd. Following Leo, we reached a door near the back. He pounded on the door. It was so loud that it several people turned their heads and stared at us, expecting a fight to happen. The door started to creak under the immense impact.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°Yo! Open up, it¡¯s Leo.¡±


    From behind the door, a faint voice sounded.


    ¡°¡®I¡¯m coming! Stop knocking already! Don¡¯t break the door again.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on Trevor! How¡¯ve you been!¡±


    The door swung open, and a dwarf with wavy brown hair stood in the way. He was big compared to my father, but standing beside Leo, he looked tiny. I am pretty sure he was friends from Leo¡¯s army days as he has an aura of a grumpy soldier around him. Leo went in for a hearty hug, but the smaller dwarf sidestepped and dodged Leo.


    ¡°If you came here to beg for free drinks from me, you have come at the wrong time. I¡¯m extremely busy today.¡±


    ¡°Ya, I can tell. There are a lot more people today than normal. What¡¯s the rush?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear? The coronation of the new king is in 10 days. We are swamped with requests to get ready for the celebration.¡±


    No wonder there was such a huge crowd of people. If I had to line up outside, it would have taken hours for me to get serviced. I have to remember to properly thank Leo after this.


    ¡°New king? What happened to the old one?¡±


    ¡°He died a couple of weeks ago from his old age. Didn¡¯t you hear the news? So, what are you here for?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here for business this time.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s with you as well?¡±


    ¡°Yessiree. Come on, let us in already. Are you gonna leave your old pal standing outside?¡±


    ¡°Alright come on in.¡±


    Trevor led us through a corridor and into a private room. There he sat at the end of a dining table and motioned us to take the seat beside him. This was quiet compared with outside. Though, I could still hear a bit of murmur coming through the walls. It looks like where the employees come to have lunch since there were some dirty plates left on the table.


    ¡°What do you got? Make it quick, I ain¡¯t got all day.¡±


    ¡°I am here to see if I can claim a reward.¡±


    Leo told a quick and dirty version of how he found Natalie and how she is the daughter of the mayor of Caedona. After we had finished, Trevor pondered a bit.


    ¡°Yes, I do recall for a request for something like that posted a few weeks. PETER!¡±


    He yelled towards the outside of the hall with a deafening roar. I was a bit startled as it seems completely out of his character to do so. After a while, a pair of quick footsteps came close, and another dwarf peeks into the dining room.


    ¡°Yes, guild master? Did you call for me?¡±


    ¡°Yes, bring Leo to claim the reward for a request.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do that.¡±


    ¡°Oh, and make sure you deduct whatever Leo owes from his bar tab.¡±


    Leo immediately made a sad puppy dog eyes begging Trevor. With Leo¡¯s physique and ugly scar-filled face, it was a disgusting sight. I wish to gouge my eyes out.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t do that. The money is for the orphanage.¡±


    ¡°Business is business.¡±


    Leo woefully and reluctantly followed Peter to claim whatever the reward is left for him after paying off his tab.


    ¡°Now, you. What is your business with us?¡±


    ¡°Before we talk, please read this letter from the Mayor of Caedona.¡±


    ¡°Caedona? That¡¯s where old Frank is stationed right?¡±


    I handed him the letter from the mayor. Taking it off my hands, he began to read line by line. In the middle of the letter, he gave a shocked expression and continued reading.The more he reads, the more his eyebrows furrowed. Once he is done, passed the letter back to me.


    ¡°This. This letter is too dangerous. Both for you and for anyone around you. I suggest you burn it immediately and forget everything.¡±


    Author¡¯s post note:


    B.A.R. Stands for Burn after reading :P

 Announcement/New chapter

    Hey guys.


    Just want to let you know that I have split the original timeline to a different a separate page.


    This makes it easier for people to keep track of the two different timelines. Not to mention, it makes sense since it focuses on Fin''Vaielinstead oif the MC.


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Here''s the link to it. The new chapter 70.5 is posted there.


    http://royalroadl.com/fiction/8103</a>


    Please follow that and show your love!


    Thanks

 Chapter 71- Trap

    Author¡¯s note:


    The numbers are so low for the original timeline ==¡±


    Anyways, the release date is rescheduled to Monday for a short while, with releases in between if I feel like working.


    Chapter 71- Trap


    ***July 9th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    ¡°Burn it huh? I figured something like that happened. I should remember to give Mayor Tom a heads up about this too after I head back to Caedona.¡±


    [Ignite]


    I cast a spell on the letter. A small spark leaped from my finger and headed straight towards the letter. It was engulfed in flame and soon, nothing was left except for a burn mark on the table. Trevor gave me a curious look.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to ask about what happened to Boneforge and why I tell you to  burn the letter?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s a Boneforge? Is that something you can eat?¡±


    Trevor blinked and stared at me, stunned by my words for a brief moment. After several seconds to register everything I have said, he broke out of his stoic character into a hysterical laughter


    ¡°HAHAHAHA!! You! I like your style, boy. I can see why Leo is friendly with you. Tell me, aren¡¯t you a bit curious about the situation at all?¡±


    ¡°Not if it puts me in danger. It¡¯s clear as daylight from your reaction after you have read the letter.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing that serious. Well, maybe it is. I don¡¯t know the detail, but I think it¡¯s safer if you know the dangers than pretend that they don¡¯t exist. The reason why I said your letter was dangerous is that the Boneforges was purged, and several business ventures that had dealings with them vanished along with them.¡±


    ¡°Which is fortunate for me. I don¡¯t have to sell my stuff through the Boneforge. They are just a means to an end. I just need to sell it to someone.¡±


    ¡°Which is?¡±


    ¡°Here, have a taste. I call them whiskeys.¡±


    I pulled out the wineskin along with a small cup I had in my pouch this morning before the forced detour. I poured the golden whiskey and handed him the cup. After a quick sniff, he drank the whole shot in one go and slammed the cup onto the table, splintering the wooden container.


    ¡°More.¡±


    ¡°You broke my cup.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you another cup, give me more.¡±


    ¡°Nope, I need to sell this. I can¡¯t just give it to you for free.¡±


    ¡°I will buy all of it from you. How much do you want for it? Name your price.¡±


    ¡°I have better plans for them. There is something you can do for me. I can give you a whole barrel as payment if you can help me.¡±


    As soon as he heard that he can get a barrel for free, his squinty eyes widen. I could hear his breath accelerate. He is visibly excited. Thinking back on all the people that tried my whiskey, I think I discovered liquid cocaine for dwarves. He quickly recovers from his excitement and tries to convince me to change my mind.


    ¡°I will give you one piece of gold for four, no three barrels. You can¡¯t beat that price.¡±


    ¡°As much as I am tempted to take your offer, I must decline. I want to do something which is better in the long term. Besides, I don¡¯t know what¡¯s a fair market price for them since they are a new product.¡±


    ¡°You got me beat. What else could be better than selling it to me? There are tons of people going in and out of the adventurer¡¯s guild. You can sell so much through me.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s precisely the problem. I don¡¯t want the sales volume. It¡¯s much too bothersome for me to do that. No, I want to sell it to the rich people and make loads of money off of a few sales.¡±


    ¡°Targeting the rich huh? I think you have come to the wrong place then. There are not many rich folks that wander into our bar. They don¡¯t like our cheap ale. It will be hard us to get them to try it. ¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t visit your bar people with money do visit the guild. They must use your service. Even if they don¡¯t come in personally, they must have one of their servants come in and register for a request.¡±


    ¡°That is true. So you want to sell it through the servants? I doubt they will buy it without their master''s¡¯ permission.¡±


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    I wagged my finger in disapproval at Trevor.


    ¡°No, no, no. It cheapens my whiskeys if I pitch my sales to them. No, I must make them beg me for it.¡±


    ¡°Then what do you want me to do?¡±


    ¡°I just need you to connect me to certain people. On top of that, I need them know that I mean business and not just a kid playing around, wasting their time.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s all I need to do for me to get a barrel of whiskey?¡±


    ¡°I will even pay you in advance. Even if everything I planned fell through, I will bring you a barrel tomorrow.¡±


    A barrel of whiskey is a fair price to pay for a backup plan. If nothing goes according to my strategy, it would be great if I can still sell everything through the adventurer¡¯s guild. It would be stupid for me to kill off this great sales network just to save on one barrel. It wouldn¡¯t be optimal, but at the very least, I will earn enough money for Cici and I. I will just have to work harder.


    ¡°Who do you need to meet?¡±


    ***July 9th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    With everything settled, I headed back to the Prancing Bear. I am still soaked head to toe from the sudden rain, and I cannot wait till I get back to my room to clean myself up with some hot water.


    ¡°Hi, Ms. Beare.¡±


    ¡°Welcome back young sir. And please, just call me Emmy.¡±


    ¡°Did my cousin come back?¡±


    ¡°Why, yes. I gave him the keys to your room, so he should still be in there.¡±


    That¡¯s a load off my mind. With everything happening, I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if something happened and I had to go out find him. I h


    ¡°Thank you, Emmy. Can you prepare some hot water for me in my room so that I can clean myself?¡±


    ¡°Certainly. That will be five small coppers.¡±


    Five small copper just for a bucket of hot water? That¡¯s so expensive! I am bleeding money left right and center while living in the capital. I can¡¯t wait until everything is finished, and I am sitting in the comfort of my home. I begrudgingly gave her the large copper coin. I expected some change, but she just smiled at me without doing anything.


    ¡°Uh.. shouldn¡¯t I get five small copper in change?¡±


    ¡°Your cousin asked for the same thing as well. He told me to put it on your tab.¡±


    Damn it Geordi. Couldn¡¯t you have waited so we can share the hot water? I am not made of money. Not yet at least. I wouldn¡¯t be so angry if I could finalize all my deals.


    ¡°Will it cost money for you to bring it up to my room?¡±


    ¡°No young sir.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡±


    I headed up to my room. When I reached it, I blasted the door open with anger.


    ¡°GEORDIE! HOW MANY TIMES I TOLD YOU¡­ IT¡¯S A TRAP!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s a trap?¡±


    I saw Geordie in the jumping up and down on his bed. I expected that much from Geordie after he found his calling. What my heart was not prepared for was finding him in a frilly white dress. Complete with his androgynous face and figure, he looks no different from any other girl. In fact, I would wager that he looks better than most girls.


    ¡°Nothing, nevermind that. What happened to your clothes?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I was soaking wet, so the auntie downstairs gave me these to change into.¡±


    As if on cue, I heard a cough behind me. I turned around to find Emmy with a bucket of hot water.


    ¡°Young sir, since I saw that he needs a change of clothes, so I gave him some of mine.¡±


    ¡°But you gave him a dress!¡±


    ¡°I am sorry sir, that¡¯s the only thing I have. I think it''s fine, though. He looks so cute in them.¡±


    ¡°I am in a dress?¡±


    ¡°YES!¡±


    ¡°No wonder it feels different.¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you give a bit more reaction knowing that you are in a dress designed for a girl? Change your clothes already.¡±


    ¡°But it feels so nice and soft and fluffy. I want to keep wearing it.¡±


    ¡°Take them off. Now!¡±


    ¡°Young sir? Should I put the bucket of hot water here and leave you two alone?¡±


    I can see her blush a bit with a coy smile as she retreated. It¡¯s on purpose! She definitely did this on purpose!

 Chapter 72- Deliveries

    Author¡¯s note:


    I didn¡¯t feel like writing last Monday because it¡¯s a holiday==¡±


    And I didn¡¯t manage to finish before I fell asleep in my chair yesterday.


    Sorry. I will try to write a makeup chapter on Thursday


    I wish I had the items from Big Life to help me write http://www.novelupdates.com/series/big-life/</a> (including the cat)


    Chapter 72- Deliveries


    ***July 10th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    There were only a few days left before the coronation of the king. There wasn¡¯t much time left. Because of that, I decided to leave Geordi alone in the inn. I don¡¯t want him to say the wrong thing or take care of him today.


    After stopping at the adventurer¡¯s guild to drop off the barrel I promised to Trevor, I still have three places to go, two of which is at the opposite end of the capital. There is only a small time frame for my plan to work. Every minute is gold.


    ¡°GIDDIE UP!¡±


    *Moooooooooo*


    The pair of oxen moans in dissatisfactions. I know that whipping them wouldn''t make them walk much faster, but I had no choice. Even by just a fraction of a second, I need to finish everything today. I¡¯m sorry, Sir Loin and Mr. T-bone. I will make sure you get top grade feed tonight for the hard work today.


    The second destination for today is the Royal Castle, which is located in the center of the capital. I heard a low rumbling sound which grew louder as I got closer to the castle. It was the huge waterfall that lies behind the castle. The mist from the waterfall refracted rays of light from the sun, creating a rainbow behind the castle. If the castle were in western style instead of oriental style, it would look exactly like the Disney logo.


    I was stopped just outside of the northern gate. There was a line up for people waiting for their turn to go in. Naturally, I parked drove my wagon to the end of the line to wait for my turn to get into the castle.


    This was the first step in my plan. I found out that there was a celebration party tonight for the coronation when I talked with Trevor yesterday. I adjusted my plans accordingly to the new information I received. By visiting the castle, I believe that it will increase my chance of succeeding promoting my whiskey to the nobles.


    ¡°NEXT!¡±


    After about a half an hour of waiting in line, it was finally my turn. I had no business entering the castle. There are strict guidelines on who can go in, which does not include me. There is an easy solution, though. All I have to do, though, is to make it my business to enter.


    ¡°Good morning, Mr. Soldier.¡±


    ¡°State your purpose.¡±


    I pulled out a piece of paper from my pocket. I pretend to read from it a bit before handing it to the soldier. It was an invoice for an order. Mayor Tom gave them to me to record additional sales, just in case if I found more people interested in buying the whiskey. I created this phony invoice to repurpose it as an entrance ticket to the castle.


    ¡°I am here to deliver... uh ¡­ three barrels of Belhern Whiskey ordered by the Royal Winery Association.¡±


    ¡°Belhern Whiskey? I have never heard of that type of wine before.¡±


    ¡°I am not sure. I think it¡¯s a new kind of wine.Don¡¯t shoot the messenger with questions, though I am only a delivery boy.¡±


    I decided to feign ignorance for the trip in all. Even though I didn¡¯t need to, I think it would save me time if I let the people in the castle figure everything out themselves. My goal is to drop off the barrels and deliver a letter along with it to whoever in charge of the party. I don¡¯t need to waste time explaining myself. Not to mention, I think it¡¯s a better cover to pose myself as a delivery boy to enter the castle.


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    The soldier took a quick glance at the invoice and shoved it back to me.


    ¡°Alright, follow the road and keep to the right at the fork. You will find the storage area at the end of the road. If you aren¡¯t sure, just find a maid inside, and she should lead you to the right place. Move along. NEXT!¡±


    Success! I got into the castle without a hitch. I have guessed correctly that they would not look too deeply into the invoice since everyone is busy with the party. It was simply infeasible for the soldiers to check everyone coming through the gate in detail. If they really wanted to, they could have called up someone from the Royal Winery. Even if they do catch me, I can just tell them that I am just making deliveries, and I didn¡¯t know anything. I am sure that Mayor Tom will back up my lies when push comes to shove.


    I drove my cart towards the castle. Following the soldier¡¯s direction, I came to the end of the road. It was a large storage area. Even from a distant, I could hear how busy it was inside. The air was filled with noise. Animals squeals reverberated throughout the area as they were being slaughtered for the upcoming feast. Even my oxen were visible shaken by the cries.


    I came across someone walking around in quick strides. He was checking items off of the stack of paper in his hand as he moves from one place to the other. He looks like exactly the person I need to speak to. I got off my wagon and ran straight towards him.


    ¡°Excuse me, sir! Excuse me!¡±


    He stopped and looked at me with a pair of disdainful exhausted eyes.


    ¡°Make it quick, I am extremely busy.¡±


    ¡°Sure, it¡¯s nothing much. I have a delivery for you from the Royal Winery.¡±


    ¡°The Royal Winery?¡±


    He flipped through his the pages hand before stopping and points to a line on the page.


    ¡°We have the delivery from last night already. Did you made a mistake?¡±


    ¡°This is a new product from them that barely made it here in time for the party, all the way from Belhern. I don¡¯t know any details, though. Oh! I almost forgot. There was a letter that came with the barrels. Will you please sign for it so we can both go on our way? I got more deliveries to make too.¡±


    I handed him my fake invoice and the letter. He quickly signed the paper and shoved the letter into his pocket.


    ¡°Here, put those barrels by the wall. I¡¯ll get someone to load it into our storage later.¡±


    Another success! It was definitely the right decision to make the deliveries today. Everyone is too busy to take notice of me. I blend in with all the other deliveries that are being made. I feel like I am half a ninja. Without waiting for another moment, I hastily headed back to the to my wagon to unload the barrels. By the time I finished, that man was nowhere within sight. I got back on my wagon and head to my second destination.


    After stopping to ask for directions, I headed towards the southern gate. Since it seems like my oxen were exhausted, I decided to let them have a small break, grazing by the river that ran through the middle of the castle grounds. Taking a quick look to make sure there is no one around, I took some food out of my ring and ate my lunch along with my oxen. Just as I was about to take a bite of my sandwich, I heard a yell.


    ¡°HELP! SOMEONE¡±


    Ignore it, Ajax. It¡¯s none of your business. You don¡¯t have time for this. Just sit there and enjoy your lunch. Pretend you didn¡¯t hear anything. We are inside the castle grounds. It should be safe here. I am sure some soldier in the castle will help him. Just finish your lunch and go to the next stop. There¡¯s no reason for you to be the hero.


    ¡°HELP ME PLEASE!¡±


    I facepalmed as my conscience guilts me to reconsider my inaction. God damn it. I hate myself sometimes. I activated my ring and put my sandwich back inside.

 Chapter 73- Fairshare

    Author¡¯s note:


    Just two announcement.


    First, I am going to be studying full time and working full time for the upcoming semester. The new schedule is I will either post a chapter either on Saturday and/or Sunday starting next week.


    Second, there will be no update for my offshoot, Respawned: Original Timeline until the time skip happens. At which point, I will complete the whole timeline first before continuing with the story. The Original Time line is about 15 chapters only so its not that long before we get back to Respawned: New game plus.


    Chapter 73- Fairshare


    ***July 10th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    After succumbing to my guilt, the first thing I did was look for the source of the voice calling for help. Since the river was right next to me, my first assumption was that someone was drowning. I scanned the river while I headed upstream towards the direction of the distress call.


    ¡°HELP!¡±


    I strained my eyes while keeping my ears open to locate the victim. I know that the drowned are usually pulled by the undercurrents, so instead of looking at the surface of the river, I focused on the on the river bed. Unfortunately, the rushing river was opaque, and I couldn¡¯t see much beneath the surface.


    ¡°HELP!! PLEASE!!¡±


    I cupped my hands over my mouth and yelled back.


    ¡°KEEP MAKING NOISE SO I CAN FIND YOU!¡±


    ¡°OVER HERE!¡±


    I wandered around the river getting closer and closer the voice.


    ¡°UP HERE!¡±


    ¡°You gotta be kidding me. I am skipping my lunch for this?¡±


    I turned around to find a boy that was younger than me, hanging high above the ground from a tree branch. The imagery reminds me of the kitten from the ¡°Hang in there¡± motivational poster. Even though he is high above the ground, in no way he was in danger. It might hurt a bit if fall from that height, but it wouldn¡¯t be something dangerous. He would break a bone or two in the worst case scenario.


    ¡°Just let go of the branch. It¡¯s not going to kill you or anything.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I am too scared.¡±


    ¡°Stop being a wimp and get over with it.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t!¡±


    Even Geordie, a blind person, is braver than the kid on the branch.


    ¡°Alright, hold on a second. I¡¯ll call for a soldier or someone to help you.¡±


    ¡°No, wait! Don¡¯t do that.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°Just don¡¯t, please find some way to help me down.¡±


    ¡°How did you get up there in the first place? Just do the same thing.¡±


    ¡°I am too scared now.¡±


    ¡°And you weren¡¯t too scared when you climb there?¡±


    ¡°Can you please stop questioning me and try to find a way to get me down?¡±


    I turned around and waved at him. I didn¡¯t need to take this. I¡¯d rather just go back to my oxen and lunch.


    ¡°You know what? I don¡¯t like your attitude. Bye.¡±


    ¡°NO WAIT! Umm¡­ I will give you a reward if you get me down here.¡±


    I stopped abruptly and reconsidered the situation. It¡¯s not a bad deal for spending a bit of time here and earn a bit of extra cash. The only thing that I need to be careful of is if he is one of those spoilt rotten brats that wouldn¡¯t honor the deal. Come to think of it, if I left him as he is, I would be in trouble anyway since he would hold a grudge against me. Even if I just run away right now, there are enough clues that would lead him straight to me if he tries hard enough to track me down. I am left with no choice but to help him. Of course, I am not going to let him know of my concerns. I tried to steer the conversation in another direction.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    ¡°Alright, now you are speaking my language. What type of reward?¡±


    ¡°Can you get me down first?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like you have any money on you. You also didn¡¯t want to let anyone else know that you are here, which means that I wouldn¡¯t be able to claim my reward through your parents. So what do I have to gain?¡±


    ¡°My vest! You can have my vest! From what I have heard, it is very expensive.¡±


    I glanced at the small black vest that the kid was wearing. Even though it wasn¡¯t flashy at all, it the craftsmanship seems impeccable. Not to mention, it looks like the vest was made out of silk, a very rare material in this region. As far as I know, only the elves have the technology to produce them. I should be able to sell it for at least two gold coins. I didn¡¯t want to push my luck any further, so I agreed.


    ¡°Alright, we have a deal. I¡¯ll be back.¡±


    ¡°Why did you say ¡®I¡¯ll be back¡¯ in that weird accent?¡±


    ¡°Even if I explain it, you wouldn¡¯t get it anyway.¡±


    Without answering the kid, I went back my oxen and hitched them to my wagon. Sir Loin and Mr. T-bone bellowed in displeasure as I disrupted their grazing. Afterward, I lead the cart to where the boy was.


    ¡°Why did you going to do with that? Do you have a ladder in the wagon?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a ladder.¡±


    ¡°How will that help me?¡±


    ¡°Just wait a minute.¡±


    It took me a couple of adjustments, but I finally managed to line up so that the wagon¡¯s bonnet is right underneath him.


    ¡°There, just let go of the branch and land on the wagon. It¡¯s about a meter under you. You should land safely.¡±


    The kid hesitated for a good half a minute in silence before deciding to let go. He landed on on the bonnet, rebound once like on a bouncy castle before settling on top safely, or so I thought. A ripping noise came from underneath the boy and soon, a large hole appears, swallowing him whole.


    ¡°OW!¡±


    ¡°MY WAGON!¡±


    Standing on the driver¡¯s seat, I examined the damage. A large hole appeared in the center of the fabric. That will cost me at least a small silver to fix. I climbed down from the driver¡¯s seat and headed into the wagon and find the kid lying on top of a barrel. I stared at him angrily.


    ¡°I hope your vest is enough to cover the damage.¡±


    He got up while rubbing his head and looked straight at me with pompous eyes.


    ¡°I am not giving anything.¡±


    ¡°What?! We had a deal!¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t get me down safely. That fall hurts.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t even have a scratch from that!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care. I was hurt in the process. I have made up my mind. I am not giving you anything.¡±


    ¡°You better give it to me or else..¡±


    ¡°Or else what?¡±


    God damn it. Fucking spoilt, privileged brat. I knew I shouldn¡¯t have tried to be a hero. It came back to bite me on my ass. The cost to repair the wagon is coming out of my own pocket. I should have listened to my gut instead of my guilt. As much as I like to keep arguing with him to get my fair share, I was running out of time. Securing the business deal for the whiskey is more important.


    ¡°Keep the stupid vest, for now. I swear I will get my fairshare, someway or another.¡±


    ¡°How will you do that? I dare you to try to steal my vest from me. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that I don¡¯t want let my mother know that I snuck out, I could have had your head for letting me get hurt. You should be thankful that I let you off.¡±


    ¡°Get off my wagon. NOW!¡±


    Sensing my animosity, the boy climbed down elegantly as he could without saying another word.  In a silent anger, I drove the wagon with the broken bonnet towards the southern gate of the castle, continuing my scheduled delivery for the day.

 Chapter 74- Party

    Author¡¯s note:


    I want to aim to start the longest night by next week, so I am posting another chapter today.


    Also, shout out to the Dungeon Defense community in Discord. They help me out a lot for writing this novel. https://discordapp.com/channels/203647559275642880/203647869733830656</a>


    Chapter 74- Party


    ***July 10th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Alan Barrett***


    Alan snuck out of his castle to clear his mind of the recent event. Unfortunately, the encounter with Ajax just made it worse. As he watched Ajax ride off in his wagon, Alan started to regret his actions. It wasn¡¯t because of what Ajax threatened that caused him to regret. He didn¡¯t know what came over him at that moment. If it was any other time, he would have honored the deal and gave Ajax his vest. Perhaps it was the sadness of the death of his dear brother. Perhaps it was news that his uncle just initiated an unsuccessful coup against his mother. Or perhaps it was some¡­ ungodly intervention.


    Seeing that his secret trip was ruined, he headed back towards the castle with a heavier heart. When he reached the edge of the castle, he twisted and turned a few inconspicuous stones on the wall, opening up a hidden passage. There were multiple passages hidden throughout the castle. These passages are secrets kept by the royalties, used to escape in case of an emergency. Today, however, they were used as an entrance for the young prince soon to be king.


    Slowly walking the twists and turns in between the walls of the castle, he finally arrived back in his room, just in time to answer a knock on the door.


    ¡°Alan, it¡¯s your mother. I am coming in.¡±


    Without waiting for an answer, Rosie barged in along with her servants. Although it would have been courteous to wait for a reply before entering, she had full right to go wherever she please inside the Dwarven Kingdom, even if it is the future king¡¯s room.


    ¡°Alan, there you are. And the servants said you weren¡¯t in your room.¡±


    ¡°Mom.¡±


    ¡°Are you ready for the party tonight?¡±


    ¡°Mom¡­I...¡±


    ¡°Awww. Are you still sad about your brother¡¯s death? Come here.¡±


    The queen gave Alan in a hearty embrace while stroking his hair. She gave a quick glance at the servants that were following her.


    ¡°Everyone else, get out of the room.¡±


    ¡°¡±¡±¡±¡±Yes, my queen.¡±¡±¡±¡±¡±


    After Rosie had heard the door close behind her, she knelt down to meet Alan eye to eye.


    ¡°Listen, my little pumpkin. I know you are sad that you lost your brother, but you have to look at the bright side of things.¡±


    Alan looked at her with disbelief. Rosie paused a moment and gather her thought for a good example to back up her claim.


    ¡°Do you know what happened with your Uncle Robert? How he try to overthrow me despite the fact that I am your father¡¯s wife?¡±


    Alan answered with a bit of anger in his eyes.


    ¡°Yes, he was the one that killed Sam.¡±


    ¡°You know Uncle Robert was your father¡¯s brother too right? They put on a smile in front. Behind everyone¡¯s back, they were at each other¡¯s throat. From what I have heard, they were inseparable when they were young, just like you and Sam. But when they grew up everything changed. When the throne was on the line, they became enemies. Sam died young. It is a tragedy, there is no question about it. But at very least, you will remember Sam as your best friend, your dearest brother, instead of a bitter rival.¡±


    The young king stood in silence as he tries to digest the meaning behind Rosie¡¯s words. Seeing Alan giving his hardest trying to understand the complicated situation, Rosie tries to lighten the mood.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to understand now, but just remember what I said today. Okay?¡±


    ¡°Okay, mom.¡±


    ¡°Good. Now, onto the main reason why I came here. Were you acting a bit naughty by sneaking out this morning?¡±


    Alan¡¯s eyes wander around as he stutters and try to find an excuse.


    ¡°I.. was.. Um..¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t try to come up with excuses, I know you did. I told you already, the tunnels are not for you to play around in. What if someone saw you and finds the secret? They could use them to get in the castle and hurt everyone in the castle. You don¡¯t want that to happen, do you?¡±


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°No, mother.¡±


    ¡°If you want to go out, just ask some of the soldiers to bring you outside. I wouldn¡¯t stop you. As long as you come back on time for your lessons, you can do whatever you want. You know your mother is not an unreasonable person¡±


    ¡°Yes, mom. But I just wanted to be alone for a while.¡±


    ¡°Well, if you wanted to be alone, you can still bring some soldiers to wherever you want to be alone and get them to secure the area around you away from your sight. You are the future of all the people in our kingdom. What if there is another Uncle Robert that tries to hurt you? I am not angry about you sneaking outside, I am upset that you did not plan ahead and consider all the possibilities.¡±


    ¡°I am sorry.¡±


    ¡°After the coronation, you are officially the king. I will still help you with the kingdom until you are ready to take care of yourself. I can¡¯t assist you with everything, though. You have to learn to think about all the consequences of your actions. Even if you have a goal, you can¡¯t ignore everything else. You have to think three steps ahead. I won¡¯t punish you this time, but next time, when you want something, don¡¯t blindly pursue it. Ok, my darling?¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡±


    Alan answered sheepishly while looking at the ground and reflecting on what he has done wrong.


    ¡°Enough talking from me. Now, let¡¯s get you dressed up cute and handsome for the party tonight.¡±


    ***July 10th, 965 A.F.(Night)***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Michel Rolland***


    In a grand hall not far from the castle, the party to celebrate the coronation was in full swing. It was a buffet style party, something only the wealthy can enjoy since the appetite of a dwarf is nearly endless. Tables filled to the brim with extravagant food lined up the side of the large hall. Nobles and successful businessmen mingling with each other in the center while in the corner, a few musician played a soothing background music. The Rosie and Alan were up on a stage. Several nobles lined up to give words of congratulation to the future king.


    In the background of the party, Michel arrived at the party a bit late. He was busy working till the very last moment. With an empty stomach, Michel wandered aimlessly around the tables. He was trying to decide what he would like to try first to fill his empty stomach. With his eyes still on the buffet, he accidentally bumps into another noble. Luckily, his plate was still empty. He immediately apologized to the victim.


    ¡°I am so sorry about that.¡±


    ¡°No worries. Say, my good sir, are you Michel Rolland, the head of the Royal Winery?¡±


    ¡°I am surprised that you know of me.¡±


    ¡°Yes, a lot of people is talking about you at this party, and you just happened to fit the description. I was only taking a wild guess.¡±


    ¡°I hope they aren¡¯t talking unfounded rumors behind my back.¡±


    ¡°You must be jesting. No, everyone spoke only of praises.¡±


    ¡°Praises?¡±


    ¡°Yes, the new alcohol that you brought to the party. I believe it is called ¡°whiskey¡±?¡±


    Michel was stunned like a deer staring at a pair of headlights. He was utterly confused at what the other man said. He didn¡¯t know anything about whiskey, and he certainly did not bring it to the party.


    ¡°If the wine you produced before is the soothing spring, then whiskey would be like the blazing summer. The contrast between the wine and whiskey is absolutely fabulous. It is simply exquisite.¡±


    Not knowing what to say, all he could do was smile and nod, receiving praises that he doesn''t deserve.


    ¡°Well, I wouldn¡¯t keep you here. You have a long night ahead.¡±


    After giving a small wave, the unknown noble turned around and headed for the center to talk with others. He immediately scanned the around the hall, ignoring all the food. Finally, he found it. A butler was serving whiskey in the corner. I walked hastily towards that butler.


    ¡°Is this whiskey?¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir. This is the newest type of alcohol made by the Royal Winery. This is brewed in a village called Belhern, hence the name, Belhern Whiskey. Please enjoy.¡±


    He wanted to shout out loud and rebut he had nothing to do with whiskey, but he kept his mouth shut. Receiving small cup from the butler, he first swirled it around the whiskey around. Slowly he raised the cup and took a deep breath to sample it¡¯s fragrance. After a small hesitation, he finally took a sip of the golden nectar.

 Chapter 75- Claws

    Author¡¯s Note:


    This one was a lot longer than I expected. I couldn''t even split up the chapter because of the small joke I have planned for tomorrow.


    Chapter 75- Claws


    ***July 11th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Ajax  McGuire***


    I have a free morning today. I managed to make all the necessary deliveries barely in time yesterday. If it weren¡¯t for that shitty brat, it wouldn¡¯t have been so razor thin close. I think Mr. T-bone and Sir Loin hates me now, for working them so hard yesterday.


    There was nothing for me to do until this afternoon. Of course, I wouldn¡¯t let myself waste the time by loitering around and doing nothing. Today, I planned to get something I need dearly, second only to money: my combat prowess. My fight with Wyn made it painfully clear to me that I lacked in this department. All I have are stats, nothing more. Armed only with a dagger, I don¡¯t have many options when it comes to physical threats. Worst of all, in this new world, I also have to consider how to deal with magical threats.


    I decided to visit a weapon store to buy a new weapon for myself. Sure, my ring is filled with weapons looted from Boneforge¡¯s basement, but none of them are for me. I could use them with ease because of my insane stats, but they were all designed for an adult. They were clunky for me to carry around. If I carried a sword on my back like everyone else, it would always be dragging along the ground. I was too short for it. Of course, I could keep it stored in my ring and pull it out, but I needed to keep my ring a secret. It would be weird if anyone sees me pulling a sword out of thin air.


    Following Trevor¡¯s recommendation, we went to a place just a stone¡¯s throw away from the adventurer¡¯s guild. I decided to bring Geordi along with me on this shopping trip. I figured that he could use some self-protection, just in case. Entering the building, I was nearly overwhelmed by the size of the open plaza. It was a bazaar specially made for adventurers and travelers.


    In here, you could buy everything you need to take on an adventure. Merchants lined up neatly in the market, creating a shopping maze. Each of them tries their best to solicit the customer passing by to purchase their wares, tents, rations, or weapon. I could see that there were some leather workers, sewing tailor-made protective gears right in front of their customers. Smoke and metal clashing noises came from the back of the bazaar. They were most likely from blacksmiths, working with their portable forges to create the next set of armors.


    The place was crowded and full of noise. I could see that Geordie was visibly stressed out and having trouble keeping his bearing with all the interference. He almost slowed down to a grinding halt, doubting each step he takes. Not want waste any more time, I decided to take his hand and led him around.


    ¡°Wow, there are so many people in here.¡±


    ¡°Stay close to me, shut up, let me do all the talking or else I won¡¯t buy a weapon for you. Got it?¡±


    ¡°You are the boss.¡±


    The merchants in the front were mostly selling consumable items, so we had to walk past quite a few soliciting merchants before we reached the back. While walking around, a group of merchant caught my attention.There were a blacksmith, a leatherworker, and a tinkerer banded together to form a larger ¡°store.¡± Instead of competing, they cooperated with each other. That way, they can produce a wider range of products which leads to getting more customers and earning more money in the long run. They caught my eyes since none of the merchants in the bazaar did that. It shows that they are innovative and knows what they are doing. Deciding to become their patron, I waved to get the attention of one of them. The blacksmith stopped hammering on the small portable anvil, took off his soot-covered apron and came towards us.


    ¡°Heya sonny, taking your little girlfriend out for a walk? This isn¡¯t exactly the best place for shopping, though.¡±


    I released Geordie¡¯s hand like I touched a hot kettle by accident. I should have seen this coming from a mile away. Maybe I should shave Geordie bald so that people won¡¯t think he is a girl anymore. I coughed a bit with embarrassment and answered him.


    ¡°First of all, he¡¯s a guy. Second, of all, I am holding his hand because he is blind. I was just leading him around.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I am sorry about that. What do you need?¡±


    ¡°I need weapons.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you too a little bit too young to swing something around?¡±


    ¡°We hitched a ride to the capital alongside a party of adventurers for delivery. We have finished our business here, but we don¡¯t have enough money to hire adventurers to escort us back to Caedona. I figured it would be safer if we buy some weapon to arm ourselves just in case something happens.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be damned. You better arm yourself to the teeth then. You have any preference in weapon choice?¡±


    ¡°Can you help Geordie here first? I am going to look around to see if anything fits me.¡±


    ¡°He is blind, though, how will he defend himself with a weapon?


    ¡°He is just going blindly slash at things anyway, no pun intended. Just assume that he is not blind and recommend something for him.¡±


    ¡°Hmm. Since I don¡¯t have any experience with how blind people fight, don¡¯t blame me if you find out that the weapon doesn''t fit him. Got it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a problem.¡±


    The blacksmith came closer still and started to stare at Geordie intensely. He spun Geordie around, then pinched one of Geordie¡¯s bicep before letting out a sighed.


    ¡°You are way too skinny for a regular sword.¡±


    ¡°HEY! That¡¯s not nice.¡±


    ¡°I only tell the truth. Anyway, are you left handed or right handed?¡±


    ¡°Right handed.¡±


    ¡°Ah, this one should do the trick.¡±


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    After digging around a bit near the back of the store, the blacksmith presented to us a long thin estoc made out of copper. The slender profile matched Geordie¡¯s figure. He handed Geordie the estoc.


    ¡°Try this.¡±


    ¡°This is pretty light.¡±


    ¡°So how does it feel?¡±


    ¡°I think I can get used this.¡±


    ¡°Does it come with a sheath? How much is it all together?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and it will be two small silver pieces.¡±


    I winced a bit at the mention of the price. But considering the amount of weapons I got from the Boneforge¡¯s, it was only a drop in the bucket. I have to keep my promise to keep Geordie safe to the best of my abilities.


    ¡°Alright, we will buy that.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, cousin Ajax!¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your patronage.¡±


    After I reluctantly handed him two pieces of silver, he went to the back and brought out a slightly decorated sheath from the back. I frowned as soon as I saw that. It was too nice.


    ¡°Do you have some other sheath? Something that look worst?¡±


    ¡°You are the first person to ask me that question.¡±


    ¡°It just looks too good. If Geordie carried around with that on his back, he would definitely attract some unwanted attention.¡±


    ¡°I can see where you are coming from. Well, I can make a new sheath go with that, but I will have to charge extra for that.¡±


    I gloomed with dread as I learned that there were more expenditures for Geordie. Just as I was about to ask how much, a different idea struck me like lightning.


    ¡°Do you have a copper tube of some sort?¡±


    ¡°I think I do at the back. One second.¡¯


    Again, he went to the back of the store and brought out a small copper tube.


    ¡°What do you want to do with this?¡±


    ¡°Could you remove the guard of the estoc and make the hilt out of the copper tube so that when it is sheathed, the whole thing looks like a metal cane for blind people?¡±


    ¡°I can see where you are getting at.¡±


    ¡°So how much it is going to cost me if I ask you to do that?¡±


    ¡°Since I will be taking back the material for the original hilt and the original sheath, I will only charge you for the labor. That will bet two large copper coins.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. I will take it.¡±


    After taking my money, he turned around and started to disemble the estoc. While working on what I have ordered, he gave a suggestion.


    ¡°I suggest you also talk with Steve, our tinkerer over there. You would want some sort of locking mechanism so that the sheath won¡¯t fall off by accident. Steve! We¡¯ve got some business for you!¡±


    ¡°Be right there! Dan¡±


    I walked over to Steve, the thin tinkerer full of white hair. He stopped what he was doing and packed his tools meticulously, putting everything in their own place. If it were the old Earth, I would have diagnosed him with OCD immediately. Finally, after packing everything up for five minutes, he finally looked up and greeted me.


    ¡°So how can I help you?¡±


    ¡°The estoc that he is getting will need a locking mechanism so that the sheath wouldn¡¯t fall out.¡±


    He took a look at what the blacksmith was doing, and he immediately understood my intention.


    ¡°That¡¯s pretty simple, I can just carve a groove inside the sheath and on the hilt so that you can lock it into place with a simple twist.¡±


    ¡°How much will that cost me?¡±


    ¡°One large copper.¡±


    ¡°Deal.¡±


    Handing him a large copper, I try to drum up some small talk while we wait for Dan to finish Geordie¡¯s elastic.


    ¡°Say what were you working on?¡±


    ¡°Oh nothing, it¡¯s an unfinished project of mine. I can¡¯t seem to get it to work.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°I am trying to make a glove with hidden needle shooters on the back of the hand.¡±


    ¡°Mind if a take a look at it?¡±


    He picked up the glove on his worktable handed it to me carefully. It was just like any other leather glove, except the back of it, was noticeably thicker. Three small holes were placed just above the knuckles. Presumably, that is where the needles come out. Studying the glove, my mind raced with ideas. I released that this is what I need to complete my arsenal, a ranged weapon. I during my fight with Wyn, I was forced to get close to her before I could attack. If I could attack from afar, I can keep myself safe from harm.


    ¡°So what is wrong with it?¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t make a spring strong enough to launch at significant speed to do any damage. If I make it any bigger to house the stronger spring, it would be too conspicuous and defeats the purpose.¡±


    ¡°What if you don¡¯t need to launch it?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°I want something like the glove you have, except I don¡¯t need a launcher.¡±


    ¡°Then what is the point¡­¡±


    ¡°Instead of a needle launcher, I want a glove that acts like a retractable claw. When I swing my arms down, the claws will slide out and lock into place, but only if I am holding down a secret button inside. I also want a quick release button for the claw so that I can change the claw quickly in a fight if it gets damaged.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s simple enough to make compared to what I have, but isn¡¯t that a bit overcomplicated for a simple claw weapon?¡±


    ¡°Call it a boy¡¯s romance. I want to be like Wolv... I mean like a tiger and have retractable claws.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough. That¡¯s going to be one large silver coin.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a deal if you throw in some replacement claws. Also, can you make sure that everthing is water tight while the claw is out?


    ¡°Sure, I think Mac, our leatherworker, can do that for the glove part I can also make the mechanism water tight while the claw is out. Why though?


    ¡°I just don¡¯t want blood seep onto my hand when I fight with it. Not to mention, I don''t want the mechanism to rust with the blood inside. ¡±


    Of course, that was only a part of the reason. I was hiding the trick to making a claw launcher glove work.

 Chapter 76- Soldier

    Author¡¯s Note:


    Damn, working and studying full time sucks.


    Chapter 76- Soldier


    ***July 11th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Michel Rolland***


    ¡°Arg, my head.¡±


    Michel slowly rose from his bed. With a throbbing hangover, he sat on the edge of his bed, reluctant to move from his spot. It has been years since Michel had a hangover. He had access could drink as much wine as he possibly could since he was the head of the Royal Winery, but Michel had always shown restraint. He drinks only to ensure product quality and at parties, where he had no choice but to entertain others.


    Last night was different, though. He had never encountered something so deliciously different from all the alcohols he had. After downing the first shot of whiskey, he went back for a second, then a third, then a forth. Before he realized what was happening, he was dead drunk, and a servant from his household came to pick him up.


    *knock knock knock*


    ¡°Good morning, master. Feeling a bit better?¡±


    A maid came into the bedroom with a steamy towel and a cup of water. Michel replied with a sickly mutter.


    ¡°No. What time is it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s almost noon already, sir.¡±


    Seeing that Michel was reluctant to move from his spot, she laid down the item she carried on his bedside.


    ¡°When you are feeling better, there are several items from the Royal Winery for you to address, sir.¡±


    ¡°I am not working today and just tell everyone I am sick. After working non-stop for the winery for so long, I deserve a small break.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if it is a good idea, sir. There were quite a few number of orders that came in this morning. Your employees could have dealt with them if it was just the usual. But from what I was told, the order was for a new product called whiskey, or something. They don¡¯t know how to handle the situation since we don¡¯t have anything like that in stock.¡±


    Michel¡¯s headache compounded from hearing that news. He has no idea how to get a hold of whiskeys. Now that everyone from last night¡¯s party assumed Michel was holding the product, the problem will escalate with no solution in view.


    ¡°Oh, and one more thing. I was told to give this to you before high noon. It is crucial and time sensitive. At least that is what the messenger said to me.¡±


    The maid pulled out a something from her pocket and laid it beside the cup and the towel. It was an envelope given to her by Ajax yesterday. Understandably, She didn¡¯t deliver the letter to Michel without a bribe, of course. The maid was given a few large copper coins to ensure that the letter safely arrived in Michel¡¯s hand. If it was something that was something minor and doesn¡¯t risk her position in the household, she had no problem making a bit of extra money on the side.


    Hearing that it was time sensitive and critical, Michel gathered up his will to fight his urge to procrastinate and stay in his bed. He hastily gulped down the water and washed his face to freshen himself before opening the letter.


    To Mr. Michel Rolland of the Royal Winery:


    Go to the auction house at noon. Bid for the item after the Whiskeys.


    The letter contained a few words, but it was enough to force Michel sleepy eyes wide open. Immediately, he sprung up from his bed and jet towards the door while issuing commands to his maids.


    ¡°Get the coach ready, bring a set of clothes so that I can change on the way!¡±


    Sensing the urgency of the situation, the maid immediately followed behind Michel out of the door.


    ***July 11th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Dwarven Capital (Auction House)***


    ***Michel Rolland***


    Still fidgeting with the clothes to make himself look presentable, Michel arrived in front of the auction house. Even though he had a fresh change of clothes, a faint smell of alcohol from last night¡¯s drinking still permeated from the air around him. The coach that he arrived on drove away to the designated spot for guests of the auction house. At the entrance of the auction house, he was greeted by an employee.


    ¡°Welcome, Mr. Rolland. I am the manager of the auction house. We beginning to think that you wouldn¡¯t come.¡±


    ¡°You know I was coming?¡±


    ¡°Of course, we were notified by¡­ an associate that you would be coming to attend our auction.¡±


    The letter that he received this morning immediately came to his mind. It had to be the one who sent him the letter that told the auction house that he was coming. From the way that the manager spoke, it was apparent that person wished to remain anonymous. Still, Michel tried to push his luck to see if he can get any more information from the manager.


    ¡°Can you tell me who that person is?¡±


    ¡°I apologize sir, but that will have to wait. He do not wish to meet you right now. The auction has already begun. Please follow me.¡±


    He was used to reading between the lines to gather information since Michel has years of experience being a noble. Picking apart the conversation between him and the manager, there were a few small pieces of information that he received that wasn¡¯t spoken by the manager. The letter sender was a male since the manager used ¡°he¡± to describe him.


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    The second piece of information that he deduced was that the sender will most likely meet with him after the auction is finished. The manager didn¡¯t tell him that the sender won¡¯t meet with him, but he would have to wait. There was a reason why the sender won¡¯t meet with Michel before the auction finished, but don¡¯t have enough information to make an educated guess.


    Michel was lead through the corridors of the auction house. If he were a nobody, he would have been lead to the main entrance of the auction room. Instead, Michel was lead upstairs. He wasn¡¯t surprised though since this wasn¡¯t the first time he has been to the auction house. It was one of the perks of being a noble. He was given a private box on the second floor where he could bid comfortably without a crowd. Another perk that he has is having the privilege of bidding at the auction using credit. He would be given a month to pay off his debt. The last perk was waiting for in at the private box.


    ¡°Good afternoon, Mr. Rolland. I am your personal attendant for today. Just let me know what you need, and I will accommodate to the best of my abilities.¡±


    When he reached the box, he was greeted by another employee, waiting to serve him personally. The manager quickly retreated from sight once his job is completed. Michel nodded in acknowledgment and sat down on the comfortable padded seats. From there, he could see that a bidding war for a pearl necklace was happening. Since the Dwarven Capital was nowhere near a sea, pearls are a bit of a rarity. Several wealthy merchants were fiercely bidding for their wife, mistress, or lover.


    ¡°50000. 42!¡±


    ¡°51000. 50!¡±


    ¡°53000. 69!¡±


    ¡°53000 Going once! Going twice! Sold! To number 69 for 53000 Rutes.¡±


    Each potential buyer was given a number on a little paddle. By raising the paddle, you were committed to bid the minimum amount which would be stated at the beginning of the bid. Of course, you can bid for more by yelling out a different number. For Michel in the seat box, all he had to do was give his attendant the nod and he would bid for him.


    ¡°Next item on the list, a new alcoholic drink called ¡°Belhern Whiskeys.¡± There are three sets up for bid tonight. Each set contains 5 barrels. The starting price is 2000 Rutes. The minimum bid is 50 Rutes.¡±


    It was the item he needed. With 15 barrels of whiskeys, he could buy himself some time to deal with the current situation. If he couldn¡¯t even sell one barrel of whiskey when everyone is asking for it, his management skills would definitely be questioned. Worst case scenario, he would lose his current position as the head of the Royal Winery. He needed to win them at all cost. He gave a quick nod to his attendant.


    ¡°2000. 91!¡¯


    ¡°2000 Going once! Going twice!¡±


    Everyone in the room was hesitant to bid on something they haven¡¯t tried or know. A barrel of ale was only about 1000 Rutes. No one wants to take the risk. Just as Michel was quietly celebrating in his heart about winning the bid easily, a voice a crowd spoke up much to Michel¡¯s dismay.


    ¡°2050. 76.¡±


    ¡°2100. 91¡±


    Michel immediately counter-attacks with another bid. His position is on the line. There was no reason for him to risk it for a couple of copper coins.


    ¡°2150. 76¡±


    ¡°3000. 91¡±


    ¡°4000. 76.¡±


    Michel started to become impatient. He planned to scare off his competition with a sudden jump in price. Unfortunately, his competition did not back off and retaliated by raising the price more than Michel did. The bidding war was starting to become personal.


    ¡°5000. 91.¡±


    ¡°5050. 85.¡±


    Seeing that there were bids placed, one of the merchant¡¯s heart wavered and placed a bid. He was a bit curious since there were two other clashing for the whiskeys. 5 large silver coins were still well within the range of acceptable loss. Soon, everyone started to bid due to the herd mentality.


    ¡°5100. 43.¡±


    ¡°5500. 24.¡±


    Michel gritted his teeth as he watched the price skyrocket. He glared at the back of the man who caused this avalanche of bids. Why did bidder number 76 bid against him on an unknown item? One of the possible explanation is that number 76 was also at the party last night. He knows for a fact that the person was not a noble. If that were the case, number 76 would have been sitting in one of the private boxes. Michel needed to know who his opponent was. If he knows the name, he could get a sense of how much ammunition number 76 had. He turned to his attendant for help.


    ¡°Can you go get the information of bidder number 76?¡±


    ¡°Right away sir.¡±


    The attendant left and returned before the ferocious bid of the whiskey finished. Michel stayed quiet in the meanwhile, resisting the urge to place any bid. He did not want to raise the price of the whiskeys any further.


    ¡°Sir, I have the information you have requested. He is an old retired captain by the name of Leo Rivera. He runs an orphanage. I am sorry, but this is all in this short time.¡±


    ¡°No that¡¯s fine for now.¡±


    Michel was baffled by the new information. He was a bit relieved, however. If Leo were only an old retired soldier, it would mean that he wouldn¡¯t have that many funds to bid against Michel. He returned his focus back to the auction itself.

 Chapter 77- Contract

    Chapter 77- Contract


    ***July 11th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    I nudged Leo with my elbow, signaling him to raise the bid. He immediately raised the bidding paddle. I enlisted Leo¡¯s help using a single barrel of whiskey. I didn¡¯t want to stand out as a kid bidding in the auction house.


    ¡°2150. 76¡±


    ¡°3000. 91¡±


    I grinned when I heard the bid. The nibble on the bait turned into a big bite. I knew Michel¡¯s number beforehand, so I knew he took the bait when he made the huge bid on the whiskeys. It was time to reel in the fish.


    ¡°Bid for 1000 more.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure, boy?¡±


    ¡°Sure as daylight.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s your money.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t afraid of overbidding and accidentally winning my item. The auction house takes 10% of the winning bid. Even if I win it here, I would only have to pay a couple of small silver coins. It is well within my acceptable loss. I would rather pay a bit more than set a low starting price for my whiskeys.


    ¡°4000. 76¡±


    ¡°5000. 91.¡±


    ¡°5050. 85.¡±


    I was surprised that someone else started throwing in bids as well. Other fish must have smelled the blood in the water and took the bait as well. It was out of my expectation, but it is a welcomed surprise. After that, a flurry of bids happened one after another. Not surprisingly, my target won the bid.


    ¡°Going once! Going twice! Sold to number 91 for 12000 Rutes.


    One gold coin and two large silvers were the final prices. It was still a bit lower than what I wanted. It''s not bad considering I only had a few days to prepare for the advertising. If I had more time to prepare for everything, I could have made my whiskey more well known throughout the Capital before putting it up for auction. I guess I will just have to make the difference somewhere else. Before I knew it, the second batch was up for auction.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ***July 11th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Michel Rolland***


    ¡°This way please, sir.¡±


    Michel was led to another private room after the auction ended. He managed to secure all three batches of whiskey. Of course, he would have gotten it at a much lower price if it weren¡¯t for the meddling Ajax that kept raising the bid.


    ¡°In this room, sir.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    He went into the empty room with nothing but two chairs and a table. At the center of the table lies the control that will be signed by both parties. The room was lit by a couple of windows with a wooden frame. Michel walked towards the window and stared outside at the busy street, as he waits for the other party to arrive.


    Finally, after what seems to be an eternity, the door finally opened. Leo walked in with Geordie on his shoulder and Ajax followed behind. Leo let Geordie down before walking towards the table.


    ¡°I had a feeling it was you. Shouldn¡¯t you let the children wait outside while we discuss business?¡±


    ¡°HAHAHA, you think you are talking business with me? You¡¯d be wrong lad.¡±


    Ajax sat down at one of two chairs and motioned Michel to take a seat.


    ¡°What is this, some kind of a joke?¡±


    ¡°I can promise you that this is not a joke, Mr. Rolland. Leo and Geordie, can you please wait outside? Thank you.¡±


    ¡°Hey! No fair! I want to stay!¡±


    Leo escorted the reluctant Geordie out of the room. After the sound of Geordie¡¯s protest had faded behind the closed door, Ajax took out a single letter and slid it across the table.


    ¡°Here, read this.¡°


    ¡°I hope for your sake that this will tell me everything I need.¡±


    ¡°I am waiting.¡±


    Ajax smiled as he watched Michel¡¯s face changes from all shades of emotion as he reads the introduction letter that Ajax received from Trevor, the guild master. After a long silence of staring at the letter, Michel finally spoke up.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t forge this letter, did you?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s assume that I did. What would that tell you?¡±


    ¡°It would imply that I should take you seriously anyway since you managed to forge this.¡±


    Ajax grinned, silently affirming Michel¡¯s observation and deduction.


    ¡°Yes. The barrel¡¯s of whiskeys sent to the party last night using my name. The letter I received this morning. And finally, a contract for whiskeys for a year up for bid at the auction house. I assumed you arranged everything? You are quite talented at making schemes. What would you do if I didn¡¯t come today?¡±


    ¡°Of course, you weren¡¯t the only one that I sent the letter and invite to the auction house. It seems, though, you were the only one that came today. Perhaps, the others were still drunk from last night''s party?"


    This was a lie, of course. Ajax didn''t want to come off as desperate. It would put him at a disadvantage in this negotiation.


    "Anyway, my name is Ajax, as you might have read from the letter. Let¡¯s skip the pleasantry and go straight to business shall we, Mr. Rolland?¡±


    Ajax took a scroll from his bag and rolled it across the table. Michel caught the scroll, unrolled it and began reading it. Upon finishing, he showed a frown on his face.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t what I expected.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I told you that the price whiskey was a lot lower than I expected. I had to make it up from somewhere else.¡±


    ¡°I was told from the bid that it was the average price of the whiskeys. This is not the average price. Two gold for three barrels was the highest price!¡±


    ¡°It is still the average. You are simply mistaken thinking that I was talking about the average mean of the price. You won the last two bids of the whiskey with two gold. Therefore, I am offering the average mode of the winning bid for the contract.¡±


    Michel¡¯s face twitched as he realized that he was bested by an eight years old at the game of words. He kept silent of his discontent as Michel cannot find a reason to counter Ajax¡¯s logic. It was his fault for bidding the two batches for two gold each. Had he bid for a different amount, Ajax wouldn¡¯t have been able to use this fact against him. Miche did, however, raise a different objection of the contract.


    ¡°I have to take care of the transportation cost as well? Everyone includes that cost when they do a quote for their product.¡±


    ¡°The price of both the contract and the whiskey were a lot lower than I expected. I was hoping to sell for a piece of gold per barrel at least. Look, I will be honest. The two gold you pay me for the batch? More than half of that is going towards the mayor of Caedona, and he isn¡¯t doing anything except for lending out his name so that it makes things easier for me. Unfortunately, something happened, and the original contact that he provided is no longer available. That¡¯s why I made the little schemes to rope you in. If I have to take care of the transportation cost, I would be making next to nothing.¡±


    Michel sat in silence as he observed Ajax. Out of all the years, he had business dealings with a lot of different people, but he had never had the experience of having one with a child. Seeing that Michel is a bit confused and lost, Ajax decided to try to give Michel one last push.


    ¡°You are getting a monopoly on a new product that is highly sought after for a year. You can set the price of whiskey to whatever you want it to be. You won''t lose any money. On top of that, the contract term is short. We can renegotiate after that if you find that the whiskey isn''t selling well. It''s a win-win for both of us."


    After a long silence of consideration, Michel finally spoke up.


    "Do you have a pen?"

 Chapter 78- Nightfall

    Chapter 78- Nightfall


    ***Shadowmaple***


    ***Ae¡¯wyn***


    ¡°Good night everyone!¡±


    ¡°Good night.¡±


    I started to head home when I noticed something strange. Tecon was still at his desk. Usually he was the first one to bolt out of the building, but he was still at his desk, furiously typing away on the keyboard. A bit curious, I walked towards Tecon to see what he was up to.


    ¡°Watcha doing?¡±


    ¡°Oh, nothing. Just working on the event tonight.¡±


    ¡°Event? What event?¡±


    ¡°Oh, just a survival event in the Dwarven Capital err¡­. Nevermind. I didn¡¯t tell you anything.¡±


    Something clicked in my mind. Ajax is in the Dwarven Capital and he is in danger. I have to save him! Immediately, I ran back to my computer before I was stopped by Fin¡¯Vaiel in the middle of the hallway.


    ¡°Hold right there, where you think you are going.¡±


    ¡°Ajax! I have to get him out of the Dwarven Capital.¡±


    ¡°Oh no you don¡¯t. I promised Tolkien that you wouldn¡¯t interfere with his event. Remember last time you did something similar? What was the excuse you gave when you messed with Tolkien¡¯s event? Half of Rome ended up burning! You are not touching any thing this time.¡±


    ¡°But..¡±


    ¡°No buts. I knew something like this would happen so I kept you out of the loop. As a precaution, Tolkien asked me to lock you out of accessing anything within the Dwarven Capital.¡±


    ¡°Fin, just let me get Ajax out of the Capital. I wouldn¡¯t do anything else, I promise. That¡¯s all I ask.¡±


    ¡°No can do. I have to keep my promise to Tolkien to keep you out of the capital as well. I tell you what, how about I move him out of the capital in your stead.¡±


    I almost agreed to her proposition before remembering what happened when I tried use a GM command on Ajax. She would find out that something is different about Ajax right away. Of course, it would be best if he survived through the event. But even if he died, at the very least, he should respawn just like last two times he died. If Fin finds out what Ajax is, who knows what she would do to him. I have to keep that a secret at all cost.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. Just¡­ it¡¯s¡­ you don¡¯t have to do it.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about Ajax. We are trying something new. The whole city will be saved and instanced prior to the event. Everything will revert back to normal once it is finished. Even if he dies, he will be rezzed with everything intact. Ajax wouldn¡¯t even know what happened.¡±


    I didn¡¯t find Fin¡¯s assurance comforting at all. I had to do something to help him.


    ***July 14th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    We stayed at the inn for the past few days. The coronation made it almost next to impossible to move through the city. During the day streets were always jammed pack with people celebrating and making a ton of noise. And during the night, drunken brawls fills the street, making it impossible to travel safely.


    Geordie, of course, wanted to go out and experience everything. I forbid him from going outside as it was too dangerous for him. The noise would drown out his ability to navigate throughout the crowd. He reluctantly obeyed my instruction after several failed attempts to sneak outside.


    After the initial exodus in the morning, the crowd finally dispersed enough for us to travel in the late afternoon. But it was too late to start moving. If we head out right now, we will be stuck in the middle of nowhere at night. Between camping outdoor or listening to the constant rant of Geordie about how boring it is to stay at the inn, I chose the latter.


    ¡°You want to head outside for dinner?¡±


    ¡°We finally get to go outside? Awesome!¡±


    ¡°Anything in particular you want?¡±


    ¡°Ummm¡­. I want to eat some minotaur flanks!¡±


    Even though minotaurs were bipedal, they were closer to a beast than any other humanoid monsters. They live in the damp underground caves, feeding off of the moss that grows within. Even though they are vegetarian, they are extremely aggressive and territorial, attacking anything that moves.


    Their meat is considered a high-grade delicacy as it takes a party of adventure to kill and transport it back to the surface from the depth of the earth. Minotaurs do come out of their cave during their mating season to search for other Minotaurs. However, it is strictly forbidden to hunt them during this time to preserve their numbers. It doesn¡¯t stop some poachers looking for a way to earn some easy money, though.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ it¡¯s a bit expensive.¡±


    ¡°Come on! I really want to eat them again before we leave the Capital. The last time my dad gave some to me, it was delicious.¡± *Sniff*


    Geordie¡¯s voice starts to tremble. God damn it. That¡¯s not fair. That¡¯s not fair at all. Why do I keep falling for this? At this point, I feel more like Geordie¡¯s parent more than being his ¡°cousin.¡±


    ¡°Alright, alright. Stop your fake crying. I made quite a bit of money. I suppose we can splurge a little. You better stop all these whining for luxurious food once we reached my house in Belhern. Our family won¡¯t mistreat you but make sure you work hard to earn your keep.¡±


    ¡°YAY! Thanks, cousin Ajax.¡±


    We head downstairs towards outside. I met Emmy on the way, so I decided to ask her for direction to the nearest restaurant with minotaur flanks.


    ¡°Ms. Beare, do you know where we can get some minotaur flanks for dinner?¡±


    ¡°Why yes I do! Normally, you would have to go to the inner city for them. But luck would have it, I have recently stumbled onto some. They are pretty expensive, but you should have enough remaining deposits at the inn, though. Do you want some?¡±


    ¡°Yes, please. Please prepare minotaur flanks for both of us. We were planning to check out of the inn by morning anyway. You can keep the rest of the as tips after we leave tomorrow.¡±


    Emmy suspiciously sat us down at a table in the dark corner instead of the nearest table. Before I can raise an objection, she heads back into the kitchen to prepare our food. Geordie started to rant about his boredom again.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to eat here. I want to go outside!¡±


    ¡°Hey, you are the one that wanted minotaur flanks.¡±


    ¡°I am bored, and I don¡¯t want to stay at the inn!¡±


    ¡°Look, how about we have the flanks here right now and at night, we will go out for a late night snack.¡±


    ¡°That sounds great!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t demand something expensive, though.¡±


    After a long anticipation, Emmy finally brought out two plates of flanks. A sweet aroma filled the air as the flanks sizzled in its own thick juices. Minotaur flanks have a distinctive evenly stripped layer of fat, much like the reason why marbled steaks are highly sought after. Unlike a cow, though, only the flanks of a minotaur worth a lot. The rest of the cuts on a minotaur are simply too tough, almost impossible to chew.


    Before we started digging into our delicious dinner, Emmy began to giggle eerily with a slight blush. She pulled a candle out of her pocket, put it at the center of the table and lit it up. I buried my face in my hands. I should have guessed why she put us in the dark corner. She was trying to fulfill her sick fantasy of Geordie and me sharing a candlelight dinner. As soon as she turned around, I extinguished the candle¡¯s flame. We need to get out of here the first thing when the sun rises. It was way too dangerous for us to stay a minute longer.


    When we headed back to upstairs after dinner, I noticed something strange. A letter laid on the floor in the middle of the room. Did someone enter our room? Was something stolen? I quickly did an inventory check to make sure nothing important was missing before opening the letter to read it¡¯s content. It was a letter from Wyn.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    DANGER! THE DEAD NEVER DIES! RUN!~ WYN


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    As soon as I finished reading the letter, a long air raid siren sounded, and my heart began to race.


    ¡°What the hell is that?¡±


    ¡°What was what?¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t hear that?¡±


    ¡°Hear what?¡±


    I was thoroughly confused. I know what I heard, and I know that Geordie is more sensitive to hearing than me. I rushed towards the window to see if I can locate the source of the siren. To my surprise and dismay, a large screen appeared in the sky, much like the one that I saw after I died as Driskoll.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Event starting in 9:45...


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Putting together the letter and system message in the sky, I finally understand what the warning on the letter was about.


    ¡°Shit. SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Ajax.¡±


    ¡°WE HAVE TO LEAVE THE CITY, NOW!¡±


    I grabbed Geordie¡¯s hand and ran downstairs without packing anything. I was carrying everything that was important in my ring anyway. On the way outside, I accidentally knocked over the food that Emmy was carrying. She shouted at me in anger but I completely ignored her and kept running towards the city gates.


    ¡°Stop, Ajax. I can¡¯t keep up!¡±


    ¡°Get on my back! I will carry you!¡±


    ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°JUST FUCKING DO IT! WE DON¡¯T HAVE THE FUCKING TIME!¡±


    When I yelled at Geordie, it attracted the gaze of everyone around. I noticed something strange. There were simply too many non-dwarves around. The only logical reason I could think of is that they are travelers, here for the event.


    That means this wasn¡¯t a spontaneous event. Everything was planned and announced in advance in the real world. This puts me at an extreme disadvantage since I have no information about the event while everyone else does. I have to avoid getting pulled into this event at all cost. I knelt down to let Geordie onto my back. Without having to slow down for Geordie, I was able to use my top speed and dash through the street straight towards the city gates.


    ¡°I know it¡¯s not the right time to say this, but this is fun.¡±


    ¡°Keep your trap shut, you will bite your own tongue."


    Dodging left and right to avoid pedestrians, the massive gates were finally within view. Some of the soldiers were preparing to close the gate for the night. Sweat pour down my face as I glanced at the screen in the sky to see the remaining time.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Event starting in 0:15...


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°I CAN MAKE IT!¡±


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Event starting in 0:04...


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Survival Event starting in 0:03...


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Event starting in 0:02...


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°DON¡¯T CLOSE THE GATE! LET US THROUGH!¡±


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Event starting in 0:01...


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    ¡°NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!¡±


    ***July 14th, 965 A.F. (night)***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Event starting in 0:00...


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The city gate slammed shut in front of my face. I knelt down in front of the gate in hopelessness. My desire of getting out of the city extinguished along with the sun, setting behind the mountains.


    <table>


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td>


    Event Start!


    </td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>

 Chapter 79- Infection

    Chapter 79- Infection


    ***July 14th, 965 A.F. (night)***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    After catching my breath, I looked around frantically for signs of dangers. All I found was pedestrians giving me strange looks for my sudden outburst before carrying on with their own business. There were no signs of any ¡°event¡± happening. It means that I still have a chance to get out of the city. Letting Geordie down from my back, he finally asked me.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening, Ajax?¡±


    ¡°I want you to listen very, very carefully, Geordie.¡±


    ¡°Uh...okay.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you how I know this, but we are in great danger.¡±


    ¡°Why? Is someone after me? Did someone find out who I was?¡±


    ¡°No, but from now on, I need you to listen to me and follow my instructions. Don¡¯t even question me for a single moment.¡±


    ¡°Okey dokey. No problem. Haven¡¯t I been doing that?¡±


    ¡°No, you have not. I put up with your incessant whining and begging up till now because it didn¡¯t matter. Nothing was on the line. You seriously have no idea how bad this could get. I need you to shut up, listen, and do exactly as I say. If you can¡¯t do that...¡±


    I grabbed Geordie by the throat and applied just enough pressure for him to start choking. I didn¡¯t really want to do this, but this is the only way to make Geordie understand the gravity of the situation.


    ¡°I will leave you behind and let you die. If you didn¡¯t stop for a few seconds to argue about me carrying you, we would have made it safely outside. I have held up my end of the bargain about taking care of you up to this point, and I swear that I will continue to do so to the best of my abilities. But I will be damned before I die because of your actions. Do I make myself clear?¡±


    Geordie, with a twinkle of tears in his milky white eyes, barely nodded and tapped on my wrist in submission. It seems that I have gotten my point across. I slowly released my grip and Geordie slumped down onto his knees.


    ¡°Good, now stay silent and follow me.¡±


    Seeing that I have his full cooperation, I turned my attention back to the issue at hand. Looking at the sky again, the system menu shone brightly, contrasting the fading twilight. A different message appeared.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Be the survivor. Outlast the night. 9:59</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I gritted my teeth. I don¡¯t want to stay in the city for 10 hours. Who knows what will happen in between now till the morning. Leaving the Dwarven Capital is still my best option. I looked around to locate a soldier to ask for information. Seeing one next to the closed gate, I ran up to him with Geordie following closely behind me. I put up my cute children act as best as I could.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°Mr. Soldier.¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Is there any other way to get out of the city right now?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t let a couple of kids leave the city at night. It¡¯s not safe.¡±


    Even though I didn¡¯t get what I wanted, it¡¯s a start. At least with this conversation, I can confirm that there is some way to leave the city without using the main gate. It won''t have made sense if there is no way for someone to enter or exit the city during the night.


    ¡°Please sir, it is really important.¡±


    I took a few pieces of small silver coin and snuck it into the hands of the soldier. Not much in this world can¡¯t be solved with a simple bribe. The soldier looked into his hand and shrugged.


    ¡°Follow me.¡±


    ¡°Thank you!¡±


    The soldier led us through a small door into the wall. We passed through a narrow corridor, through a living quarter for the soldiers. The whole structure was built with defense in mind. If an enemy breaches the wall through the passage, they would have a hard time passing through while it will be easy for defending side to hold the position.


    Several of the soldiers that we passed by gave us a simple greeting. After a few more twists and turns we finally arrived at a metal door in a small room. Two other soldiers stood guard in the chamber.


    ¡°Hey, Steve. Open the door and let these kids through.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure¡­¡±


    ¡°Just do it.¡±


    Steve shrugged with apathy. After undoing all the deadbolts, he pulled on the door. Nothing moved. Confused, he put both of his hands on the handle and tried again, putting his whole body into pulling the door open, yet the door did not budge at all. The other two soldiers chuckle at Steve¡¯s expense.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong Steven? You didn¡¯t have your dinner yet?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha. Do you need someone to carry your shield as well?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s stuck. Let¡¯s see you try it.¡±


    The other two soldiers tried their luck at opening the door as well but to no avail. Before long, all three of put their strength together. A groan creaked out from the iron door. Unfortunately, the sound was the from the handle. The handle finally could not stand the force and snapped. A loud bang resounded in the small room, and all three soldiers fell onto the floor.


    ¡°Damn, what¡¯s wrong with the door. It¡¯s not even moving a bit.¡±


    ¡°We should probably get someone to oil the hinges tomorrow.¡±


    The soldiers may see this as something trivial, but I know what is up. It was too unnatural for a door to be unusable just as the event started. Since the key to the event is surviving the night, the GMs must have locked everyone out to prevent people from joining midway. That way, it is fair since everyone has to survive the same length of time. In doing so, they also locked everyone in the city as well.


    Leaving the city was no longer an option.


    ***July 14th, 965 A.F. (Night)***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Sam Osman***


    Underneath the shiny exterior of the Dwarven Capital lies a dirty little secret. A cult worshiper mumbling a prayer towards a demonic skull laid on top of an altar. The only light source came from candles used by the cultist in his ritual. Eerie purple smoke from the candle seeped into the nostrils as he inhales and exhales rhythmical.


    Unbeknownst to the cultist, there was something else dwelling in the room. It was a raccoon, snuck into the cellar seeking shelter from the elements. The unwelcomed visitor silently crept towards the cultist.


    ¡°OUCH!¡±


    The cultist sprung up in pain, knocking the raccoon against the wall in the process. It flew across the room and died instantly from the impact. Blood seeped through the fabric of his pants, blooming into a flower pattern. He rolled up his pants to inspect the injury on his calf. Grumbling at his bad luck, he headed upstairs towards the kitchen.


    He grabbed a towel to wipe the blood off of his. Just as he was about to dip the cloth in a bucket of water, he hesitated and stopped. With hand hovering over the bucket, he stared at the water as if it was the abyss. An indescribable fear slowly filled his mind. He couldn¡¯t understand why he was afraid of a bucket of water.


    While he was occupied by his fear, drops of water splattered onto the ground. He started to salivate. Drools slither down from the corner of his mouth. The drool slowly turns into a white foam. Without him realizing what was happening, he completely loses his reasoning, succumbing to this unknown disease. His bloodshot eyes look towards the open window at a passing pedestrian, the next victim.

 Chapter 80- Ten Hours

    Chapter 80- Ten Hours


    ***July 14th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    [Time]!


    8:05pm


    I cast a minor spell to tell the time and a small screen popped up to show me what time it is. I didn¡¯t think that I would have any use for this spell, let alone aid in my survival. Everything is laid back since I am living in the medieval ages. You could be late for two hours, and no one would bat an eye. I waved to dispel the blue window while the three soldiers didn¡¯t give up on trying to open the door with the remaining handle.


    When I was in deep thought to plan for my next course of action, Geordie started to shiver. Before long, his knees gave out and knelt on the ground. He crawled towards the corner of the room, and when he got there, he cowered and covered his ears, just like how I found him in the secret room. Immediately knew something was happening. Geordie must have heard something from far away. I almost forgot that I have a living radar on my side. I have to fully utilize Geordie¡¯s ability if I want to survive the night. I console Geordie a bit by patting on his head before asking.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Geordie? Did you hear something?¡±


    ¡°The fighting sounds! The metal clashing and the screams! Just like at my house! It¡¯s happening again!¡±


    It looks like the sound of people fighting triggered some sort of PTSD attack. Even though Geordie looks fine, the death of his family must have left him with some mental scars. The three soldier turn when they heard Geordie¡¯s cry and huddling in the corner of the room.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with him?¡±


    ¡°My cousin have great hearing since he is blind. He says that he here someone fighting and he is terrified.


    ¡°¡±¡° What? Fighting?!¡±¡±¡±


    At first, the soldier had a moment of doubt before believing before taking us seriously. The combat noise was finally loud enough for everyone to hear and it was apparent that we weren¡¯t lying. Just as they were trained, the three soldiers took out their short sword. The three of them stood in a defensive position between the two children in the room and the direction of the fight.


    The clashing of metal soon turned into thumping of footsteps, heading our way. Before long, the owners of the footsteps appeared. A squadron turned around the corner and advanced towards us. In the front were two men, each holding a large shield. In the Middle were two spearmen with their long spears protruding from the gaps of the two shields. And finally in the rear completing their formation, were three magicians with their wands and staff glowing with different colors at the tips. Since all of them were a different race they reek with the stench of a traveler. One of the casters in the rear commanded us.


    ¡°Disarm yourself and no harm will come to you.¡±


    ¡°Do you know what you are doing? Us dwarves won¡¯t take this lying down!¡±


    The caster who gave us the ultimatum released lightning from his wand, zapping the leg of Steven who was the one that spoke up. He yelled in pain and dropped to the ground, breaking their formation.


    ¡°I won¡¯t repeat myself.¡±


    Seeing that they were completely out of choice, the other two soldiers dropped their weapon and rose their hand to surrender while the last one was still rolling on the ground writhing in pain. If this weren''t a life or death situation, I would have laughed at Steven¡¯s expense. I used to be a soldier just like you, until I took a lightning bolt to the knee.


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Arun***


    [Time]!


    8:10pm


    Ten minutes have gone by since the start of the event. If everything is on schedule out guild members should have secured all the points of interest. I have planned over the week for this event. After studying all the clues that the GM left on the forum, I have concluded that key to winning is hunkering down at the best defensive spot available. Unfortunately for the NPC, that means our guild have to take over the city wall for a while. I messaged the rest of the guild over the system.


    ¡°Status Report.¡±


    ¡°Point A Secured.¡±


    ¡°Point B Secured.¡±


    ¡°Watchtower secured.¡±


    ¡°Point C?¡±


    ¡°Point C is secured, though there is a minor problem that may need your attention. You should head over here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be right over. Everyone else, keep up the good work and keep me updated.¡±


    It doesn¡¯t sound like it¡¯s emergency, but it seems like there is a glitch in our plans. I frowned a bit as I head over to Point C to take care of the situation. When I reached there, I saw that the soldiers are properly tied up and their mouth stuffed. The corridors leading to the other exit were properly blocked up with earthen magic, and there doesn¡¯t seem to be anything trying to break through the choke point. Nothing appears to be outside of our plan.


    ¡°Guild Master Arun.¡±


    ¡°I am here now. What¡¯s the problem.¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t joking when we said we had a minor problem.¡±


    ¡°G.O.D. Damn. It. Are you kidding me?¡±


    "Was that supposed be a pun?"


    "NOT THE TIME!"


    Jord points to the corner on the other side of the room. There was two children, one sobbing in the corner in hysteria, the other standing in front and protecting the other child, defiantly looking at us. I paced back and forth in the corridor, trying to decide what to do.


    ¡°Have you guys told anyone else yet?¡±


    ¡°No, not yet.¡±


    ¡°Get the vice guild master here ASAP.¡±


    ¡°Roger.¡±


    ¡°And keep this from everyone else for now.¡±


    I was left in the room with a bunch of bounded and gagged soldiers and the children. Even though it¡¯s not a crime to mistreat NPC children in a game, it is frowned upon. I have even heard stories that the adoption agency refused a couple¡¯s application because one of them didn¡¯t save an NPC child when given a chance.


    Though it might be an unfounded rumor, I can¡¯t risk something like that happening to any of our guild members. If I don¡¯t handle this carefully, this hot potato might become a bomb and explode in my face. I slowly walked towards the children and lowered myself to meet with the red haired child at eye level with a smile so that I don¡¯t appear as frightening.


    ¡°Hello there.¡±


    We both stayed silent and stared at each other. His gaze feels like I am watching not a child, but a young lion cub, readying his claws at his first prey. It was fierce enough to give me a slight chill. It doesn¡¯t feel like he is letting down his guard any time soon. I tried to communicate with him again.


    ¡°Is she your girlfriend? Is she alright? Is she hurt?¡±


    ¡°HE. He is my cousin.¡±


    The atmosphere froze once again as silent falls between us. I tried to break the ice again.


    ¡°What a brave child you are, protecting your cousin. My name is Arun. What¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°My mother said I shouldn¡¯t talk with strangers.¡±


    ¡°Well you know my name, so I am not a stranger anymore right?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know mine, so you are a stranger.¡±


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t know if you don¡¯t tell.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t say if you don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°You!¡±


    I caught myself before my anger overtook me. Dealing with children was never my forte. I was saved from the awkwardness when the Vice Guild Master came running in.


    ¡°Hey Arun, you looking for¡­ oh hell no. No. No. NO. NO!¡±


    ¡°I see that you understand the gravity of the situation.¡±


    ¡°No one knows right? Can¡¯t we just get rid of them before anyone notice? We can just kick them out of the stronghold and agree we didn¡¯t see anything, right?¡±


    ¡°Not an option. The GMs notified everyone that by joining this event, we have agreed that everything during this event may become public without our consent. What would happen if we become the last survivor? Everyone would definitely scrutinize everything that we do. In fact, you might be in trouble just because you said that.¡±


    ¡°Damn it.¡±


    ¡°I might be able to pull some strings to cover that small slip up of yours, but starting from now, watch your mouth. Now, any constructive suggestions?¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we tell our guild members?¡±


    ¡°Not until we have a clear course of action.¡±


    ¡°One step at a time? We will need someone from our guild to babysit them and keep them safe.¡±


    ¡°Thalia should be up for it? She¡¯s a proud mother of two.¡±


    ¡°Really? Damn, her husband sure is lucky. I wish I married her.¡±


    ¡°Stay on topic, Voron.¡±


    ¡°Right, right. Got to keep our eyes on the prize. We will be short a healer at Point B if Thalia has to babysit them. Maybe get a DPSer instead?¡±


    ¡°No, we have to get the best person available just to be safe. Swap a DPSer out with Tarron for an extra dodge tank and give everyone at point B extra potion for healing.¡±


    ¡°We should swap the whole team to point A. That way, we won¡¯t risk getting cut off in the middle since they have a higher chance to fall.¡±


    ¡°Good point. We should pay more attention to them and tell them to retreat earlier than the others. Anything else?¡±


    "Not that I can think of off the top of my head.¡±


    ¡°Notify the rest of the guild of the change in plans."

 Chapter 81: 8:20 P.M.

    Chapter 81: 8:20 P.M.


    ***Dwarven Capital(City wall)***


    ***Thalia***


    ¡°Can¡¯t you find someone else?¡±


    ¡°I am sorry Thalia, but you are the only one with experience out of all of us.¡±


    ¡°I scheduled and took time off to participate in this event! You are telling me that I have to babysit inside the game anyway?¡±


    ¡°We will make it up to you somehow.¡±


    ¡°I want first dibs on the loot roll on the next five raids.¡±


    ¡°Three.¡±


    ¡°Four and you owe me a favor.¡±


    ¡°Three and I owe you a favor. Take it or leave it.¡±


    ¡°Fine, deal.¡±


    I slithered my way into the room where the two children were kept. Just as I entered the room, I accidentally knocked over a chair. Hastily, I stood them back up right. Even though I have been playing this character for quite a while, I still couldn''t get used moving properly in this lamia body.


    When the red haired child noticed me entering the room, his face immediately tensed up. He didn¡¯t move a single muscle on the rest of the body, though. He was afraid of waking up the oranged-haired child lying on his lap. Dried tear scared his face. It seems that he was too tired from the crying and fell asleep. I decided to start by trying to calm the red haired children down from his tense state.


    ¡°Hey, how are you doing?¡±


    Not surprisingly, my questing was returned with silence. He kept being the petit cornered critter that he is, baring his fangs at me. Seeing that he is protecting the other child, I decided to try a different approach.


    ¡°Your friend there is asleep. Do you want to let him sleep on something more comfortable? I have enough travel beddings for both of you.¡±


    Seeing that his face relaxed for a slight moment, I know it was the right direction to go. The most important thing in child care is to let the trust of the child. I pulled some beddings from my dimensional bag. I laid it down in front of them and backed off, not wanting to destroy the small yet significant grounds I have made. The kid gently lay his friend on the bedding in the corner. Once he has done that, he trained his eyes back on me.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°How about you? Do you need anything? Perhaps some food? I think I have some sweets in my bag. Do you want some?¡±


    ¡°I thank you for providing us the bedding, but I know what you are trying doing.¡±


    ***July 14th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Ajax McGuire***


    I noticed something strange when the travelers saw me. I know the one called Arun see me as a nuisance, but I don¡¯t understand why they wouldn¡¯t just get rid of me. Instead, they assigned a lamia to take care of us inside the castle. It would be far simpler to kick us outside or killed us if they think we are a hinder to their plans.


    I overheard bits and pieces of their conversation. I believe that it¡¯s something to do with me being a child. I should be able to exploit this point to gather more information about the event by pretending to be a clueless child. Since the Lamia is desperately trying to get me to talk, I happily obliged her. I pretend to let my guard down to have a small chat with her.


    ¡°But I know what you are trying doing.¡±


    ¡°Oh, what do you think I am trying to do?¡±


    ¡°You going to kidnap us and sell us to someone else! That¡¯s what my parents say about strangers!¡±


    ¡°No silly goose, we are not going to do that.¡±


    ¡°Then why did you fight with Mr. Soldier? My parents say they protect us from strangers!¡±


    ¡°We are going to keep you safe in place of Mr. Soldier. We are only borrowing the place. You know it¡¯s going to be very dangerous tonight. We just need someplace safe to pass the time.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because a dangerous disease is going to spread very fast tonight.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s because the the people who get the disease will become crazy and spread even more.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Okay, that¡¯s enough questions for now. Are you sure you don¡¯t want some candy?¡±


    ¡°No, my parents told me I couldn''t take sweets from strangers.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of your parents, where are they anyway?¡±


    ¡°They are not here anymore¡­¡±


    ¡°You two are orphans? I am so sorry to hear that.¡±


    ¡°No, they are just at home waiting for me.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Are you doing this on purpose?¡±


    ¡°Doing what on purpose?¡±


    ¡°Nevermind I asked. Are you comfortable? Maybe you want to go to sleep just like your friend?¡±


    It¡¯s not a bad idea. I think I have wrung enough information out of her without any raising any suspicion. The event sounds like something out of the movie ¡°28 days later¡± where people infect each other. Soon enough, the city would be filled with pseudo-zombies, and I have to come out uninfected at the end, lasting through the night.


    I don¡¯t think they will harm me whatsoever while I rest. This will be a long night, and I will need every ounce of advantage I can take to survive. However, I can¡¯t help but be a little bit naughty and tease the lamia a bit more. She looked somewhat like the main girl from ¡°Monster Musume, ¡± and I liked that manga.


    ¡°Okay, that sounds good. My parents didn¡¯t tell me not to sleep in front of strangers. But first, I need to go to the potty.¡±


    ¡°Here is a chamber pot, you need help with that?¡±


    ¡°No. It¡¯s okay. I am a big boy, and I don¡¯t need help going.¡±


    "Is there anything else?"


    ¡°I need more blankets.¡±"Can you tell me a story?""The floor is too hard, do you have pillows?""My back is itchy, can you scratch it?"


    ¡°There, I have done everything, will you go the f- to sleep now?"


    ¡°I always drink some warm milk before I sleep.¡±


    ¡°I don''t have any milk.¡±


    ¡°But I NEEEEEEEED to drink warm milk to sleep.¡±


    I begged at her with puppy eyes. At this point, she looked down at her breast, turned red and shook her head. Mission accomplished.


    ¡°I will go out to see if someone else have milk in their bag. In the meantime, can you promise me that you will stay here?¡±


    ¡°My parents told me not to make any promises to a stranger.¡±


    ¡°Ju-just stay in this room ok?¡±


    ¡°I can''t make promises.¡±


    The Lamia stormed out of the room in frustration, knocking over several pieces of furniture again just like when she came in.

 Chapter 82- 8:59 P.M.

    Chapter 82- 8:59 P.M.


    ***July 14th, 965 A.F.***


    ***Dwarven Capital***


    ***Sebas***


    ¡°What¡¯s with all the ruckus outside? I can even hear it from here.¡±


    ¡°My Queen, the preliminary report suggest that it started with a drunken brawl that got out of hand and turned into a riot.¡±


    Queen Rosie yawned and stretched as she gets ready for bed after a long day of work. A team of attendant helps her changed into her silky nightgown behind a screen, getting ready for bed. On the other side of the screen, Sebas took an audible gulp before giving his report. The full moon outside the window shone on Rosie, casting a silhouette onto the screen, making Sebas uncomfortable. Sensing a bit of awkwardness from his tone, Rosie smirked and decided to play a small prank on Sebas. She started to pose seductively. Luckily for him, it is customary to respond to the queen while taking a knee. The reason for his discomfort wouldn¡¯t be revealed to the other attendants in the room.


    ¡°Is it being dealt with? I don¡¯t want the last day of celebration to be marred by a riot.¡±


    ¡°Squads has been dispatched to quell the crowd.¡±


    ¡°Good. I don¡¯t want any traces of the riot when I wake up tomorrow. I will leave it in your hands.¡±


    ¡°As you wish.¡±


    Instead of his usual smooth movements, Sebas uncharacteristically sprung up quickly. He had headed towards the door before anyone noticed the abnormality in his pants. Once outside, he closed this eyes and took a deep breath to calm his racing heart. Straightening his black butler suit, he regained his composure and headed downstairs to another room in the castle. Several soldiers were sitting in the room and talking with each other. When they noticed Sebas, they immediately stood up in attention.


    ¡°Captain, what¡¯s the situation?¡±


    ¡°We sent out several squads about half an hour ago, but they haven¡¯t reported back yet.¡±


    ¡°I can hear the riot is still not settled. Most importantly, our Queen Rosie can hear that, too.¡±


    The on-duty captain fell to his knees instantly after hearing the queen''s name being mentioned.


    ¡°I apologize for our incompetence, sir. I will personally assemble another squad to handle the situation.¡±


    ¡°Before you go¡­¡±


    Another soldier rushed in before Sebas can finish his sentence, another soldier rushed into the room to report a new situation that happened within the city.Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°Sir! We have a new emergency in the outskirts of the city! Several groups have taken control of our gates! ¡±


    Sebas slammed his fist on a table nearby in anger. It was hard enough to shake all the items on the table.


    ¡°The riot! Everything must be a plan to distract us so that they can take control of the gates! Didn¡¯t the Mountain¡¯s Mouths catch wind of this planned attack? Do we know what they want?¡±


    ¡°We don''t know anything, sir. After they had taken control of the gates, they didn¡¯t do anything. No demands, no negotiation requests. Nothing. They didn¡¯t even open the city gates. They just holed themselves up in the city walls.¡±


    ¡°The attackers, which race are they?¡±


    ¡°Sir, they are from multiple races. The reports say there were Elves, Dwarves, Humans, and even a Lamia were spotted.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like the work of a guild of travelers. Sound the alarm. Call every soldier to report on duty. Send half to stop the riot and the other half to deal with the travelers. We need to handle this as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°¡±¡±¡±YES SIR!¡±¡±¡±¡±


    ***Shadowmaple***


    ***Ae¡¯wyn***


    I prayed earnestly in my heart.


    ¡°Please be outside. Please be outside.¡±


    I was locked out of the city by Fin, but I was still able to log in and search around outside of the Dwarven Capital. Using my G.M. power, I flew around the city at a frightening speed looking for Ajax. This would have been so much easier if I can use my G.M. commands on Ajax to find him. I flew around the city for almost an hour already, but there was still no sign of him anywhere. If he were outside, I would have found him by now.


    ¡°Could he still be inside? Was it too late to send the warning?¡±


    Even if he is inside, I wouldn¡¯t be at peace until I know Ajax is safe. I logged out and took off my custom pink virtual helmet in frustration. Pacing around my office, I tried to come up a solution. If somehow, I can get inside the city.


    ¡°Can I make an alt account? No, that wouldn¡¯t help. The city is locked once the event started. Oh, wait¡­ the spectator mode!¡±


    I jumped out of my office and head towards Fin. When I found her, she was discussing with another employee. There weren¡¯t many people left in the room. Most of them that stayed were the ones that are working on the current event.


    ¡°All issues with the server transfers dealt with?¡±


    ¡°Yes mam, we wrapped up the transfer with event ¡°The Rapture¡± and initiated the next season for the players that decided to stay on the west server. Since we have dropped hints of it in the world for quite a while, everyone was looking forward to the next season where the theme is ¡°Apocalyptic Wasteland.¡±


    ¡°Good job. It¡¯s pretty late now, you should head home.¡±


    I waited for them to finish their conversation. Fin hates it when someone interrupts her, especially when it comes to her pride and joy.


    ¡°Fin!¡±


    ¡°Why are you still here? Aren¡¯t you off the clock already?¡±


    ¡°Spectator mode!¡±


    ¡°What about it?¡±


    ¡°Let me view the ¡°Raccoon¡± event in spectator mode. You wouldn¡¯t have to worry about me messing up Tolkien¡¯s even since I wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything except look around.¡±


    ¡°Why are you so eager to do that? The Wyn I know would have taken off already instead of waiting here to look around at some other people¡¯s event. What are you up to?¡±


    ¡°I am up to nothing. I just need some inspiration for my next event that I have in mind.¡±


    Fin looked at me with suspicion. After a moment of silence, she finally answered.


    ¡°Alright, I will let you use the spectator mode, but if I find out you are up to something¡­¡±


    ¡°I promise, I am up to nothing, and I will just watch.¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡±


    Fin sat down at the nearest computer. After a few strokes of the mouse, she looked back at me.


    ¡°There you have access to the event only in spectator mode.¡±


    ¡°THANK YOU!¡±


    I gave a hug to Fin and rushed back into my office to put my virtual helmet back on