《The Channeller》


 The Prologue

    I opened the door of the moving van I had driven all the way here from the orphanage. The woodland villa in front of me was now my property, my home. My grandfather had left me much more originally, but my new ¡°relatives¡± had seen to it that i only got this property and a few other relatively minor assets.


    I was born to a historically rich family. Well born into it is pretty much as far as it goes. I was put in an orphanage the night I was born to my 16 year old rich boy father and servant girl mother. Illegitimate births don''t look good on the family record, you see. I grew up as an orphan, no idea who my family was or anything. but then, my grandfather died. It was he who made all the arrangements,  made me go away as if I were nothing but a bad dream. i don''t know if it was guilt, or simply goodwill, but he inserted me as the primary inheritor of his estate.


    His children didn''t like that. Now, mind you they were already rich in their own rights, all of them.  Grandfather had given them plenty of money, property, and most importantly, connections while he was still alive. What he gave me basically amounted to leftovers in the face of their wealth. But still, they wanted everything. Even my own ¡°father¡± sent his team of lawyers to pursue what he could. In the end, I lose again. I¡¯ve lost again, but I  WILL NOT be a  LOSER. Not anymore


    I have enough money to live comfortably for 3 years. 3 years. That''s how long I have to put my plan into action. I move my meager belongings into the house in under an hour, then go into the room next to my own. It seems that my game room has been installed as per my order. I¡¯ve decided to start playing the new  VRMMO Blank Legends. It¡¯s not the first of its kind, but it¡¯s the only one offering a prize if you satisfy certain criteria, namely taking over the game world.


    Basically, I have 3 years to start making money off the game, because if I can''t, it¡¯s going to become a whole lot harder to play with no income.  By then I hope to have made significant progress towards conquering the world, Lord of a city would be acceptable.  I imagine the prize for becoming the world ruler is extremely lucrative. Two other games have offered such a prize in the past. For one, the reward was 7.5% shares in the company.  The other got a board member position at the company. I imagine the reward would be comparable to those.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    I HAVE to get that prize. I want to prove myself to the family, prove that I¡¯m equal to them, but more so, I want to prove to myself that I can come out on top. This last incident with my relatives stripping me of my inheritance was the last straw, but a lot has been leading up to this moment. Always getting in the top 20% of scores at school, but always at the bottom of that number. I would get picked for sports teams in P.E, but always picked 4th or 5th. In short, I''ve been average my whole life. But that probably won''t change.


    One of the few skills that I have is intrapersonal understanding. I''ve always understood myself, and to a lesser extent, others. I know that I¡¯ll never be what you might call a hero. Hell, I can''t even be a villain. I don''t have the charisma, the strength, or the ingenuity. But I know what I do have. Patience and determination. I¡¯ll show everyone that slow and steady can win the race, that nice guys don''t have to finish last, that a man can defeat a giant. I¡¯ll show the whole world. I rush into the capsule in the corner of the room, and boot it up.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Welcome to Blank Legends. Are you ready to write your legend?</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Yes!¡±

 A Wavery First Step

    <table><tbody><tr><td>Registered Primary User: Clark Kensway</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Please choose your new username</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I thought for a moment. Then said, ¡°Linderman¡±. It sounds like the name of a man in charge, and that''s exactly what I plan to be .


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Please choose your starting race.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Human.¡±  I said before even reading the choices. i knew I wouldn''t want to be anything else quite yet.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Would you like to edit your appearance?</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Yes, add 6 inches to height, that¡¯ll be all.¡± I  think I¡¯m fairly handsome, no need to change my face.  I¡¯m not a supermodel, but I think I can turn a head or two¡­ maybe. Only thing is, I¡¯m 5¡¯10. I always wished I was taller, but alas, at 18 it''s highly unlikely that I¡¯ll grow again¡­ but at least here, I¡¯ll be  able to be a bit taller.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Would you like to take the tutorial?</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Yes.¡± I say. I¡¯m already a few minutes late,  the game started while I was unpacking the last of my things, what''s a few more minutes? wow, this is awfully basic, the system is having me do basic maneuvers such as walking forwards and backwards, as well as lifting my arms, while giving me basic information like how to access my inventory.


    Well, this is a good time to think.  I kinda have a rough idea for what I want to do, but its time I set out a basic plan.


    Obtain a class


    Form a party with like minded individuals.


    Obtain  some wealth and/or property.


    Form a guild


    well¡­. we¡¯ll figure out five when we get to it.


    Anyway, I think steps 3 and 4 are interchangeable. I mean, if I get like 30 people willing to join me, why wait? No, no I have to be patient, stick to a plan. That''s what sets me apart from those hotheads out there. But still¡­ well,  if I can find 30 people willing to form a guild, and a place for my guild to call home,  I¡¯ll start my guild before I meet my planned goal of 1000 gold first.


    Ah, now the system has me doing a fairly basic obstacle course. Hardcore Parkour anyone? Well, I gotta think about the kind of guild I want to run. I mean, I know that  I won''t be able to have a small one composed of only elites.  The first group that ever conquered a VRMMO(Also were the first to obtain a reward for it), <DeathDealers> was like that. I¡¯ll never forget seeing the footage back when I was 13, 5 years ago. The presence of even one of the 23 <DeathDealers> on the battlefield changed everything. They were all summoners in one way or another. I remember seeing their leader, Lucian the Necromancer in action. He summoned an army of skeletons and took a castle in under one hour.  I understand though, that he and I are very different, that will never be me. But there are other ways.


    Three years after that, in a different game, a new guild arose, and conquered their game  in the fastest speed ever: 1 year, 5 in-game years.  Few  guilds were able to match them,  but the NPC kingdoms stood no chance. of course, I¡¯m talking about <The Horde>.  They say it was formed originally by players who got tired of being PKed, the idea was to have as many weak players as possible join and they would all protect each other. but as they grew, it became more about vengeance than protection, and then, subjugation¡­ but that''s not quite what I want to be either. Something between the two perhaps...


    Ooo now the system is showing me the difference between mana and stamina, which are both used for skills. If I were to describe the difference in feeling, charging stamina feels  like your whole body is light and buzzing  with energy, but after I ran out, I got really tired. Mana on the other hand, feels like all your senses are heightened , and your mind is sharpened, but my head got kinda woozy after a while. I gotta say, its incredible  how much  work the developers put into this, these are like whole new senses.


    <table style="background: color"><tbody><tr><td>This concludes the tutorial.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I hope everyone else took the tutorial. It was actually fairly useful. well, studies show that over 99% of people actually don''t, so very few probably did.  Hahahaha its going to be funny watching people run out of mana for  the first time, glad I know what to look forward to.


    <table style="background: color"><tbody><tr><td>There are five starter cities currently available. You will be sent to one at random. Good luck, Linderman.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I felt a sensation like falling, and all of  sudden, I was in a town square. I looked around, and it looked like I was in a city during the renaissance. People were materializing near me almost constantly, and moving off in one direction or another.  I was about to do the same, when I heard a voice shout ¡°Basic information! Basic information for one copper!¡±


    There was a small stand  manned by two people  off in a corner of the courtyard. it was being ignored by most people, and for good reason. why pay a copper for information you could find out by walking around for free. We only start with 10 copers, so giving someone else one is stupid¡­ is how most people would think. But I realize the value of not having to run around for half an hour. I approach the stand.


    ¡°Whoa, hey bro someone¡¯s actually interested!¡±  Said one of the people at the desk. I say  ¡®one of the people¡¯ because for the life of me I cannot tell which gender it is. Its dressed in what might be considered Hunter gear with a bow and quiver on its back, he/she kinda looks like a certain Hyrulian hero, only she never stopped smiling.   i think it has breasts¡­ but staring anymore might be rude.


    ¡°What?! really? Ok ok, lets  just get it over with.¡± said the man to his/her left who had looked like he was on the verge of sleep.  He is wearing armor made of what looks like slate. He looks like the type that was popular in highschool, with is spiky black hair  and nonchalant attitude. I place the copper on the desk.


    ¡°Wow, you actually knew how to access your wallet. We usually have to explain that part too. well, looks like you got the basics down, so I¡¯ll skip to the interesting parts! i¡¯m Jay by the way, and this is Solitude.¡±  said the still  genderly ambiguous Jay. God, even the name is unisex! Seemingly unaware of my inner debate over whether he/she was a trap or not, Jay continued.


    ¡°So basically, in order to be let out of the city, you have to get a class. In other games, usually, you have a period wherein which you have to stay in city walls, or you''re free to do whatever. I personally prefer  the no rules type thing, but whatever. ¡°


    ¡°There are 6  main class types to choose from, called Ways. The Way of Magic, The way of the Warrior,  The Way of the Artisan, The  Way of the Clergy, The Way of the Rouge, and The Way of the Adventurer.  Their corresponding locations are the grand Library, the training grounds, the Merchants Guild, the Church, the tavern , and the Adventurer¡¯s Guild.¡± you have a map in your inventory, I¡¯ll mark the locations.¡± After Jay marked the locations on my map,   he/she continued.


    ¡°Bro, there are sooooo many classes. I haven''t heard of anyone getting a hidden class yet, but honestly, with this many, why would you need one? I  mean, the  Warriors and Mages have 50 each! Don''t stare at me like that, trust me, I¡¯m not crazy. But it kind of makes sense, the way they did it,  for instance, the warriors offer choices like Swordsman, Spearman, Rider, Monk, Archer, and so forth. The mages offer things like Pyromancer,   Hydromancer, Wizard, Warlock, Druid, you get the point.¡±


    ¡° Each class gives different stat boosts adding up to 75-100, and five skills. By the way, you have two skills right now. [Analyze] and [Rest].  [Rest] kinda sucks as a regenerative skill when you compare it to mage¡¯s [Meditate] or warrior¡¯s [Breath Control], but its good for those of us who don''t have skills like that. If you don''t have any questions, Solitude will take it away! By the way, Yes I am a girl, please stop staring at my chest so intensely, it''s kinda pervy!¡±  She said with  the smile never disappearing. I feel my face heating up immediately as I try to make up excuses.


    ¡°Don¡¯t sweat it man, she made her character like that on purpose, she likes fucking with people. In real life she has huge tits like--¡± Solitude stopped speaking and held out his arms exaggeratedly. At this, the girl known as Jay reddened considerably before punching  poor Solitude in the face. ¡°What the hell Chris?!¡±   she said. ¡°Hey it''s Solitude here!¡± They continued to bicker for quite a while before they remembered their current purpose. Or rather, I had to remind them if they didn''t finish giving me my info, I would have the guards make them refund me my copper. I¡¯m not above being petty.


    ¡°Anyway dude,¡± chris-Solitude continued, ¡° One thing she forgot to tell you,. For a week, you can change your class to whatever you want.  UNLESS you have your class picked for you by an npc, then you¡¯re out of luck.Usually, they pick the best class for you though,  so there haven''t really been any complaints. Anyway, gimme your map. the most lucrative quests are here, here, here, and here. Welp, my job is done. You have been given information on classes and quests for the low price of only one copper, please remember that this service was brought to you by <The Horde>, please remember us when considering joining a guild, yadda yadda yadda, blah blah blah. Later man.¡±


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


    ¡°Wait You guys are from <The Horde>? I didn''t think the you guys were playing this game... ¡° I say tentatively. Solitude opened one of his already closed eyes. ¡°of course were playing man. This game has a prize at the end, that''s really rare. <DeathDealers> got the first one, and we were robbed of the second one by  that asshole Nicolai. Like hell this one isn''t going to us.  Everybody who''s anybody is  playing Blank Legends right now. <DeathDealers>, <KrazyBonez>, <The Horde>, Goliath, Nicolai, everybody. And by the way, you¡¯re three hours late. I don''t know if you¡¯re trying to do anything or not, but in the beginning, that time makes all  the difference in the world. There are already people at level seven, and you''re still level one. better get a move on.¡± And with that, he closed his eye back.


    I hurried on my way, no more words needed to be said. I knew it would be hard, but I didn''t think ALL the big names would be playing. he was right, I needed to hurry up. I  began jogging to the library. I had already known that I would pick a magic type class.  honestly, the whole face to face fighting thing scares me. I mean, I got in a good amount of fights at the orphanage, and after spending my whole life there, I can say in a fair fight, I can beat a kid my age 9 times out of 10.   But still,  I disliked getting up close and personal, feeling their face as I smash it in, and I think the same thing would carry over to  the game. So magic it was, besides, I always wanted to shoot devastating spells from my fingertips.


    when I got to the library there was a tired looking man at the front desk for magical  services. He had just finished up a line of players when I arrived. As soon as I approach the desk, he lifts a finger and points to a row of statues that people were huddled around. I guess  that''s where I''m supposed to go. When I made my way over, I notice, each  statue has a status screen in front of it with little numbers beneath. One read ¡®Pyromancer¡¯, the next one ¡®Sorcerer¡¯. i realized that these  must be our class choices, and the numbers must be the amount of people who chose it.


    After around 15 minutes, I kinda had an idea of which ones I wanted. ¡®Sorcerer¡¯, ¡®Wizard¡¯ or ¡®Druid¡¯. I really like ¡®Druids¡¯ unique nature spells, but ¡®Sorcerer¡¯s  offensive magic, plus it''s access to summoning, a known useful ability, makes it a hard choice.I approached the front desk again.


    ¡°Hi, I''m having a kind of hard time choosing between-¡±


    The man interrupted. ¡°Did you see a tutor?  Tutors give out classes .¡±


    ¡°Okay, but all I wanted was help with-¡±


    ¡°Gods above boy! You foreigners only ever care about yourselves! Can''t you see i''m tiredd??? Leave me be!¡±


    ¡°Well damn, excuse me for expecting you to do your job!¡± I normally wouldn''t be so upset, but this guy was being a straight asshole even though i was treating him with all due respect. Perhaps if I was calmer, i would have  noticed the anger in his eyes replaced by sinister mirth, before becoming compliant.


    ¡°You''re right sir, how about I pick a class for you hmm?¡±


    ¡°I thought only the tutors could teach classes¡±


    ¡°Ahh, but I am the magical advisor for this branch, and am capable of bestowing a class if a foreigner asks me too. now hurry up and tell me the kind of class you want.¡±


    I didn''t completely trust the guy¡¯s change in attitude, but I thought he just wanted to hurry up and help me to get me out of his hair. Plus I remembered the how usually bestowed classes are usually  what people want anyway. So I went for it.


    ¡°I want a class that¡¯s strong offensively, and has special magic like the druid or sound mage classes. Skills that could be used economically like the alchemy skill that comes with  the Wizard class would be nice too.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm, sounds like to me, you want a heroic class eh?¡±


    ¡°Yeah!¡± I said, enthusiastically. Is this the chance I had been waiting on?


    ¡°I''ve got just the thing!¡± He said,  with a grin reeking of malicious intent. I tried to back away in the  half a second that I had, but it wasn''t enough.  A ball of light  hit me right in the chest. But it caused no pain, instead¡­


    <table style="background: color"><tbody><tr><td>New Class: Channeller!


    +50 INT +50 VIT


    Unable to use weapons


    Unable to cast magic bare-handed


    +50% damage when using orbs


    -75% damage when using elemental spells. </td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table style="background: color"><tbody><tr><td>New Skill: Mana Conversion


    For every 2 points  of mana, you receive 1 point of  health


    Basic level 1</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table style="background: color"><tbody><tr><td>New Skill:Health Channeling


    Channels health to target at a rate of 10 points per second


    Basic level 1</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table style="background: color"><tbody><tr><td>New Skill: Weaken


    lowers target¡¯s attack and defense by 2.5%


    Can be stacked 3 times


    Cost 20 mana


    Basic level 1</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table style="background: color"><tbody><tr><td>New Skill: Strengthen


    raises target¡¯s attack by 2.5%


    Can be stacked 4 times


    Cost 30 mana


    Basic level 1</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table style="background: color"><tbody><tr><td>New Skill: Impact


    Deals 10 physical damage


    Costs 20 mana


    Basic level 1</td></tr></tbody></table>


    This class¡­ was horrible. The skills,  the stats, the restrictions, all of it. I remember seeing the statue for this class¡­ only fifteen people had taken it, and that number went down to 14 before my very eyes as someone changed their class. I was in shock as i reread my class information.


    ¡°Please be aware that a class specifically picked out by an advisor cannot be replaced or deleted. Have a nice day!¡± The man said with a smile on his face.


    ¡°I''M GONNA FUCKIN-¡±


    ¡°Please be aware that if you continue such a tirade, I¡¯ll have to have the guards remove you from the premises. you don¡¯t want that.¡±  said the man, mirth overflowing from every inch of his face. As if to illustrate his point, all the guards nearby took a single step forward.I stood there fuming for a moment, before turning to leave.


    ¡°Oh by the way, here kid! Your first piece of equipment! aren''t I nice? maybe I¡¯ll give you another if you say thank you, then ask for it nicely!¡± He Proceeds to throw me a clear ball, which I barely catch, then analyze.


    <table style="background: color"><tbody><tr><td>Beginner''s Orb


    Damage: 3-5


    A shoddy orb for beginners. If you charge it with mana, then the damage improves.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°T-t-thank you for this orb. Please¡­. may I have another item¡± it literally hurts for me to say this.  but I know with a class like this, I need all the help I can get. The man laughs and tosses a  hoop looking thing  on the floor. i contain my rage, and pick it up.


    <table style="background: color"><tbody><tr><td>Circlet of Poverty


    quests will pay 5% more


    Merchants will charge 5% less


    (???)</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I look around, and even the guards are chuckling. I storm out of the place. I learned a valuable lesson today. npc¡¯s can be just as evil as real people, and for no damn reason. I won''t let this hold me back though. I¡¯ll find some way to use this trashy class. For now though, I need to continue with the plan. I need to form a party.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Linderman</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Level</td><td width="25%">1</td><td width="25%">PrimaryClass</td><td width="25%">Channeller</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">600</td><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">600</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Title(s)</td><td colspan=''3''></td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Leadership</td><td width="25%">0</td><td width="25%">Charisma</td><td width="25%">10</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Strength</td><td width="25%">10</td><td width="25%">Agility</td><td width="25%">10</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Wisdom</td><td width="25%">10</td><td width="25%">Intelligence</td><td width="25%">60</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Stamina</td><td width="25%">100</td><td width="25%">Vitality</td><td width="25%">60</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Luck</td><td colspan=''3''>10</td></tr></tbody></table>

 Squad Up

    I quickly found myself outside the city walls. I was still burning with rage at this whole situation. I needed to vent this frustration, and luckily, there were plenty of little rabbits around.  I want to scream my spells out, but that won''t do, I can''t scare away any potential teammates. I don''t wanna seem crazy I gotta whisper. I target the nearest bunny, around 15 yards from me, and hold my orb out towards it.


    ¡°Weaken, Weaken, Weaken. Impact...impact...impact...impact... impact.¡±


    After the first [Weaken], the rabbit began running towards me. the first [impact] slowed it down, but it kept coming.  after the fifth [impact], the rabbit died, mid leap towards my face. I collided face first with the bloody mess.


    Best I could tell, my [Impact] spell is basically a hit similar to a punch, only at long range, and based of magical power. I need to improve my magical power. i think that means I need to raise my wisdom. But I¡¯ll do it later. Slaughter bunnies NOW.


    20 minutes later, I feel my anger finally cool off completely. That''s dangerous, I can''t afford to have temper tantrums over setbacks. Although, that was a pretty big setback, and taking over the game world has gotten at least twice as hard.  Suddenly, Status windows began popping  up .


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Level up x3</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>New Title: The Whisperer


    You are the first to realize the value in keeping your spells hidden from the enemy.


    When whispering, your spells become silent


    +200 fame</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Weaken has reached Basic Level 2</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Impact has reached Basic Level 3


    Damage goes up to 12</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Wow, that whole thing with the whispering was complete luck. anyway, now to invest these stat points. looks like I got 10 per level. I think I¡¯ll dump all 30 into WIS. It¡¯ll let me hit a little harder.  My debuffs and buffs, even when fully stacked, are weaker than that of a dark mage or cleric, my attack, [Impact] is pitiful. It has a little knockback, but a pyromancer could to shot a rabbit at level 1, and that''s without having to apply debuffs like I did. I think¡­. it is pretty much impossible for me to hunt anything that''s actually strong solo. Swallowing my frustration, I move on.


    Time to start phase 2 of the plan, it''s long overdue. I see lone archer shooting at  some foxes. She¡¯s somewhat tall for a woman, with a very toned and athletic body that could be seen through her tight clothing. She¡¯s more cute than what you might call beautiful, but that''s irrelevant. But I gotta say, she¡¯s doing kinda bad at shooting rabbits. Every now and then, she hits one, and then it rushes to attack her.  she panics and  her shots become less accurate, until finally she shoots it lethally when it''s 5 feet from her.  She¡¯ll do.


    When I approached her, she was already in the shooting wildly phase of her fox killing process. I stick my orb out and hit the fox in the mid section. Amazingly,  I nudge it just enough to  be in the hit range of one of the chick¡¯s hastily shot arrows, and it dies when the shaft pierces it. She looks around surprised, so i wave as I walk up to her.


    ¡°T-thank you. i¡¯m not always a bad shot, I have a good eye, i swear!¡± She says.I wonder why she¡¯s so rattled.


    ¡°Hahaha, umm ok. By the way, I¡¯m Linderman, wanna form a party?¡±  I ask nervously. I¡¯m not exactly used to this, but she seems like she doesn''t want to play alone, so i think she¡¯ll agree.


    ¡°Umm really? You saw that just now, right? I¡¯m only level 3 you know¡­¡±


    ¡°It''s cool, I¡¯m only level 4¡±


    ¡°Ok, I¡¯m uh Moxxie. With two x¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°Right, it looks like we have to be friends to party, so ummm, would you like to be my friend?¡±


    ¡°Yes! OMG you''re my first friend on here! ¡°


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Friend request accepted!</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Sending party request...</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Party request accepted</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Party Window</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Leader</td><td colspan=''3''>Linderman</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Members</td><td colspan=''3''>Moxxie-lvl.3</td></tbody></table>


    ¡°You''re mine too. you ready to hunt a little?¡± i ask. With an enthusiastic nod from  Moxxie, we depart. we start with rabbits.  I weaken them, and draw them in, and she shoots at them. It was too slow trying to kill them one at a time, so we draw around three.  As expected, it''s a bit hard to deal with three rabbits, as even with us both shooting at them,   neither one of us are a hundred percent accurate. Rabbits are fast little critters. They often get in close on me and start biting. thankfully due to weaken and  my high hp stat, i  can take the bites of a few lvl 1 and 2 rabbits. But as expected, without a warrior¡¯s   Endurance stat, it starts to wear down on my health after a few minutes. We need a proper tank.


    After a few more minutes hunting, we begin to hear  laughter coming from the north, further away from city gates.  We head in that direction and see what everyone''s laughin at. There a hulking swordsman running from a small crowd of bunnies and foxes. He¡¯ll do.


    I raise my or and immediately hit him with four [strengthen] spells.  Then I start my [Health Channelling]. Seeing me help the guy, Moxxie joins in. for the first time, I see her activate a skill, [Homing Shot]. I wonder why she never used them before, but  I soon realize why. After five [homing shots], she runs out of stamina. Panting, she screams at the warrior ¡°Fight Back!!¡± He  continues running with fear all over his face.  however, thanks to   Moxxie taking out  five of the creatures chasing the man, and my [Health Channelling], he isn''t in danger of dying soon.


    I begin shooting my [impact] spell at the line of creatures.  Moxxie joins in, but she¡¯s still pretty tired. But 2 minutes, and all my mana later, the man is safe. Myself and Moxxie are laid out on the ground with our [Rest] skill on. God I feel like I''m hungover, I certainly won''t be using all my mana up again in the future if I can help it, I imagine Moxxie is feeling the same. Suddenly, a few minutes later, I heard footsteps.  The man approached us with tears still in his eyes.


    ¡°Uh thank you for your assistance. I-I¡¯m Raknar, the mighty.¡± He said, attempting to put on a brave face.The few players who were still there began chuckling, and making fun of him. He looked like he was about to start crying again. Groaning, I got up, and helped Moxxie do the same.I gestured to the man to follow us, which he did, eyes never leaving the floor.


    ¡°So why did we save this guy? you know him?¡± Moxxie asked wearily.


    ¡°He has potential.¡± I say


    ¡°What? Potential where?  All he did is attack a herd of animals then run. Like what was he thinking?!¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I just thought it would be kinda cool¡­¡± Raknar said in a low voice.


    ¡°I know you did Raknar.¡± I said looking at the swordsman.  He had a huge tanned body,  standing at least 6¡¯8, with rippling muscles, long rugged hair, and a thuggish looking face. But I understood the moment I saw him, all of it was probably fake. He was most likely  someone very similar, no, worse off than me. But because of that, I knew exactly what words to say to him.


    ¡°Hey man, don''t worry about what happened back there. if you would have pulled it off,  it definitely would have been cool. But I gotta say man, I don''t think attacking head on is for you.¡± his face goes through quite a few emotions, before settling on grim acceptance.  He nodded in agreement.


    ¡°But that doesn''t mean you can''t be a warrior Raknar. After all, What is a warrior ? He''s   somebody who protects. Why don''t you join our party, and protect us Raknar?¡± I ask. it was slightly corny, but he smiles, and nods. A little encouragement is all some people need. I look over at Moxxie who looks like she wants to voice a complaint, but  instead she just sighs and nods.


    After adding  Raknar to the party, we take off in search of foxes. Rabbits aren''t cutting it anymore experience wise. I''ve only grown one lvl since joining up with moxxie, though I''m almost to lvl 6 after taking out that group of animals to save Raknar.  I look at our Party Window.


    <table><tbody>[tr]<td colspan=''4''>Party Window</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Leader</td><td colspan=''3''>Linderman-lvl.6</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Members</td><td colspan=''3''>Moxxie-lvl.5


    Raknar-lvl.3</td></tbody></table>


    ¡°Remember Raknar, Don''t move.  Hit back if you can, but you don''t have to, Just protect us. I know you can do it,¡± i say as we close in on two foxes. He nods, full of determination. He walked up to the foxes and with a nervous shout, he struck at one. they both began attacking him. he retreated a few steps, and I was afraid he might run again, but he didn''t. He stood his ground, with fear in his eyes  and trembling knees. People can say whatever they want, but right now, he¡¯s portraying true courage. Not missing the opportunity, Moxxie and I dealt with the foxes quickly.  I approach Raknar , and put a hand on his shoulder.


    ¡°So, how does it feel, winning I mean?¡±


    ¡°It¡­ it feels great. I think I can do this.¡±  he says.  We repeat this whole process for a few minutes, smoothing out the chinks in our teamwork. Raknar is improving rapidly, he even attacks too now, which makes hunting a lot easier. We head back towards the gates to rest a little. There are quite a few players there doing the same thing. Upon my approach,  a few players wave and greet me.


    ¡°Ayye you''re the quiet one!¡±


    ¡°Yeah that dude who totally massacred those rabbits when he left the city¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I saw that shit too, but they were just rabbits you know. remember that pyromancer roasted like ten foxes in 2 seconds¡±


    ¡°True, but it was still cool, everytime he got within 30 yards of a rabbit, it would run toward him and die only a few feet from him! Hey quiet one you looking for a party man?¡±


    I gotta say, I was lovin the praise. Even if they didn''t understand I was just spamming skills they couldn''t hear. But where they calling me that?


    ¡°Hey why are you guys calling me that? my title is the whisperer...¡± I say. Everyone pauses for a second.


    ¡°Wait you have a title?! dude, we just didn''t know what else to call you!¡±


    ¡°A title! only a few hundred people have one, hey does yours come with stats? i heard Erasion¡¯s ¡®First Murderer¡¯ title came with like 50 STR and AGI!¡±


    ¡°Dude, dump those losers and come wit us.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m with <The Horde>, we could use you.¡±


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.¡°Isn''t that the lame swordsman? You can do better bro. ¡°


    This is getting irritating. These people don''t know the first thing about me or my teammates. Yet they have the gall to insult them. They want me, but they don''t even know, I couldnt  have done anything without my teammates. With a quick ¡°lets go¡± to my partners, I depart the densely populated gate area, leaving many confused  players behind. We stopped around 300 yards east along the wall from the gate and sat down while activating our [Rest] skill.


    ¡°Was that really ok Linderman? Those guys were better than us. We wouldn''t be mad if you went with them, right big guy?¡± Moxxie said. Raknar only nodded. The confidence he had been building up with us had taken a big hit.


    ¡°Guys, I have no intention of going anywhere. Definitely not with people like them. We¡¯re a team you know. I''m happy right where i''m at.¡± I put an arm over each of their shoulders. I had only known Moxxie around an hour, Raknar even less, but these were the first friends I had made here, and it might sound odd, but if it meant leaving them, there wasn''t anyone I¡¯d rather party with.


    ¡°Yes, that is the answer I wanted to hear!¡± A voice said out of nowhere, to our right, a man dressed in all black clothing appeared.


    ¡°I am the assassin, Dave. I come seeking a group worthy of pledging my blade to! Please allow me to join your party.¡±


    ¡°Assassin... Dave? Why Dave?¡± Moxxie asks


    ¡°An assassin does not need a fancy name, only a swift blade  and fearless heart fair lady! Ah, you  must require proof of my skills, wait just a moment!¡±  The man known as Dave activated his stealth skill, which kinda blurred his outline, a ran to attack a lvl 4 fox by himself.  Wow, he certainly is fast, but he made quite a bit of noise for an assassin. The fox noticed him, but it didn''t matter. 4 quick movements of Dave¡¯s hands, and it was dead. He ran back over.


    ¡°You''re in!, he''s in, right Linderman?¡± Moxxie says


    ¡°yeah, sure. You guys ready to get back at it?¡± i ask. Then we depart north . Now we¡¯re getting further out onto the plains. Creatures like the lvl 5 feral dog and the lvl 7 giantLarge lizard. I see more players in the distance, entering the forest to the north-west. We¡¯re still behind. Well, I kinda knew that, we''ve been hunting weak opponents the whole time.


    We approach a few dog.  Raknar readies himself, then attacks. I begin weakening them, then buff Dave who comes in from the side and finishes the dogs.  We  hunt like this for an hour, altering our formation little by little, getting used to each others movements. Surprisingly, the dogs don''t drop anything.The rabbits dropped rabbit meat, and the foxes dropped both fox fangs and  a few coppers from time to time. Seeing as they¡¯re no longer lucrative, We switch to the Lizards. We really shouldn''t  have tried to takes 2 at once right off.


    Moxxie  drew them  in from  a distance while i stacked up my [weaken] spells. then I buffed Raknar as he prepared to intercept them. I seriously underestimated their damage output, rather, when we were observing them, they were rather slow, so I assumed that the main thing to worry about would be high defence. Anyway, both of them attacked Raknar at once, easily taking 15% of his health.


    ¡°Hihhh!!!¡± Raknar began to back up in fear.


    ¡°Courage my friend!¡± dave said, leaping over the swordsman, and striking at both the lizards.they began to whittle down the lizards¡¯ health little by little, but even with me and  Moxxie assisting, it still wasn''t fast enough, Raknar¡¯s health was going down, and Dave occasionally attracted the aggro of one of the lizards, causing him to get hit  hard by it''s tail before Raknar could draw it back in. I began [Health Channelling], and if i was just taking care of Raknar it would be fine, but with Dave too¡­ I cursed this useless class. Then I had an idea


    ¡°Concentrate on the one on the left, and start backing up!¡± i yelled. The others followed my orders. The lizards began missing a few attacks here and there.  Moxxie activated two skills at onc, [Piercing shot] and [Homing shot].The  lizard collapsed with a rasping growl. I ceased  my [Health Channelling] and began hitting the  lizard with my attack spell.  it took almost all my mana, but it died as well.  We all came together, and collapsed. Raknar, Dave, and even I (due to channelling my health)  are low on health. Moxxie¡¯s low on stamina. suddenly, Raknar began chuckling. Then little by little, we all broke out into full blown laughter.


    ¡°We¡¯re alive bitches!¡¯¡¯ He shouted into the air.


    ¡° Hahaha Yeah bitches!!!!¡± Moxxie screamed, throwing her middle finger in the air.


    ¡°B-b-b-bitches?¡± Dave said looking at me. I don''t believe he approved of their use of language.


    ¡°Bitches.¡± I said, shrugging.  We relaxed for a half an hour, recovering.  It would have been less, but we we were attacked by wild dogs a few times, interrupting our recovery.  We ended hunting for a few more hours while we slowly retired back to the city. it was getting dark, and monsters get stronger at night. We knew we couldn''t handle that . We headed for a tavern in the middle of the city. It was full of other players gloating and fighting, and making fools of themselves hitting on women. Basically, a fairly good time.We grabbed a booth in the corner and began dividing the spoils of the day.  I also took the opportunity to check my notifications, I had muted them all, they distract me in combat.  But first, I look at our Party Window.


    <table><tbody>[tr]<td colspan=''4''>Party Window</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Leader</td><td colspan=''3''>Linderman-lvl 11</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Members</td><td colspan=''3''>Moxxie-lvl.10    Dave-lvl10


    Raknar-lvl.11</td></tbody></table>


    Being the party leader gets me a little bit of bonus exp. and Raknar keeps  getting the First Strike bonus exp. so I think that why we¡¯re ahead.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Level up x6</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Leadership +15</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Weaken has reached Basic lvl 5


    Can now be stacked 4 times</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Strengthen has reached Basic lvl 5


    Now improves both attack and defense by 2.5% per stack</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Impact has reached Basic lvl 6


    Damage up to 15</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Health Channelling has reached Basic lvl 3</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>New Skill: Magic Mastery (passive)


    increases spell damage by 5%


    Basic lvl 1</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>New Skill: Orb Mastery (passive)


    Increases the effects of spells by 10%


    Basic lvl 1</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Two new skills huh? They''re both passive though¡­ oh well, I need all the help I can get.  Looks like we got around  13 silvers  each  for all our combined kills, not counting the material goods which we also divided. Not bad. looking around the room with [Analyze], it seems like 9 is the average lvl in the tavern, so we¡¯re a bit ahead there, I think. So now it''s time to address a serious issue with my friends here.


    ¡°Guys, you need to change your classes.¡±


    ¡°What?!  Why?¡¯ Moxxie asks.


    ¡° Because they don''t fit you, Mox. You have a good eye, but I can tell you''ve never held a bow before.  You''re trying to compensate by putting your points in Luck and Dexterity, but it''s not working for you, it''s why your stamina is low. you need a class where you can throw your weapon. Raknar, please understand, the sword just isn''t  for you. A defensive class like Spearman or Shieldman would be much better for you. Dave¡­ you''re too loud for an assassin. and you don''t like sneaking up on your enemies, so you lose out on the bonuses of your class. You should get a class that''s still speed based, but less stealth based.¡±


    ¡®O-oh yeah? Well what about you!?¡± moxxie said


    ¡°Yes, your class certainly doesn''t fit you. you¡¯re more of an attacker, but you''re supporting, and healing. And I must say you''re buffs do¡­ leave a bit to be desired.¡± Dave said


    ¡°Basically they suck.¡± said Moxxie.


    ¡°They really do.¡± said Raknar.


    ¡°Truly.¡±   Dave said.


    I sighed ¡°I know. trust me, I didn''t choose this class. I got on an NPc¡¯s nerves, and he did this to me, and I can¡¯t change it.¡± I said, depressedly.


    ¡°Oh man, that sucks. You should see the tutor for your class though. If you¡¯re going to be trash, be the best trash you can be! My tutor corrected my grip on the knife, taught me footwork, and created the powerful assassin you see before you today! She also said I should change classes¡­¡± Dave said, muttering the last part. I heard it anyway.


    ¡°So, we should split up, you guys should go get your class changes, I¡¯ll go talk to my tutor, then we all take a small  break. Meet back here in  3 real hours, deal?¡± I say. We all went our separate ways after that. Raknar went off towards the Training Ground. Dave showed Moxxie the way to the Rogue¡¯s Tavern, And I went back towards the Library.


    I have some bad memories in that place, but I can manage. my friends were all doing their best to become better after all. I think I finally know what kind of guild I want to make.  We don''t have to be big like <The Horde>, or individually powerful like <DeathDealers>. We¡¯re going to make our way through teamwork. A guild where everyone supports each other, strengthens each other, and works together like cogs in a machine, I think I¡¯ll call it <Clockwork>. I smile as I walk towards the last place I want to be, knowing that I¡¯m probably going to see the person I hate most in this game.


    <table><tbody>[tr]<td colspan=''4''>Linderman</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Level</td><td width="25%">11</td><td width="25%">PrimaryClass</td><td width="25%">Channeller</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">800</td><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">900</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Fame</td><td colspan=''3''>200</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Title(s)</td><td colspan=''3''>The Whisperer</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Leadership</td><td width="25%">15</td><td width="25%">Charisma</td><td width="25%">10</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Strength</td><td width="25%">10</td><td width="25%">Agility</td><td width="25%">10</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Wisdom</td><td width="25%">60</td><td width="25%">Intelligence</td><td width="25%">90</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Stamina</td><td width="25%">100</td><td width="25%">Vitality</td><td width="25%">80</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Luck</td><td colspan=''3''>10</td></tr></tbody></table>

 A New Direction

    As I walk into the library, I''m greeted by snickering from the guards there. just ignore them I tell myself.  As I walk towards the magical services section. I walk by the advisor¡¯s desk trying not to make eye contact. Lord knows if I do, I might attack him. I walk down the row of statues, noting the numbers.


    Looks like Pyromancer is still the number one choice, despite it''s limitations. Hydromancer is a close second.  The more technical classes that require some thought to use are around the middle. Classes like  Wizard, Summoner, and Dark Mage are in this bunch. And of course, there''s the lower end. These are the classes which are generally outclassed, or offer less stats than the others.  This is where classes like Thaumaturge, Magician, and my very own Channeller go to die.


    I know those first two actually sound kind of cool, but Thaumaturge is only good for field effects. They can create fields that monsters can''t enter and apparently at level ten can make corrosive fields.  It¡¯s the only reason that they''re tenth from the bottom and not right down there with Channeller.  Magician is more about sleight of hand than actual magic, though there is a little involved. they''re  number two from the bottom, right above my own Channeller, which, to very little surprise, I have all to myself now. I am the only Channeller left.


    I enter the room to the left at the end of the hall labeled ¡®Tutors¡¯.  Which leads me to another hall¡­ I go to the very back where I find the room marked ¡®Channellers.¡¯ I prepare myself, then enter. It''s a lot¡­ more homely than I thought it would be. There''s a fireplace in the corner, and a kitchen on the far side of the room. A short older woman in said kitchen turned around when she saw the door close. She smiled warmly, and greeted me.


    ¡°Hello dear, how might I help you?¡±


    ¡°O-Oh Uhhh i kinda wanted your advice on this class.¡± i say, still somewhat shocked. i was expecting a strict man with glasses for some reason.


    ¡°Oh! you''re the one who upset old Ulric out there. Ah, my apologies for his actions, I was also a bit miffed at him for that. My class is not a curse to throw at people you dislike you know! Ah, I¡¯m sorry, but you truly won''t be able to change your class here, if that''s what you''re wondering. The rules are absolute.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know. I don''t expect anything like that, I just want to understand it better.¡±


    ¡°Ah is that so? Well, please take a seat, the tea is almost ready. By the way, I¡¯m Lestia Almay¡±


    ¡°Linderman¡±


    ¡°I swear you foreigners, you never have last names, it''s quite odd¡± said Lestia, giggling


    I take a seat on the small couch near the fireplace. after ten minutes, the tutor comes with a tray upon which rests bot tea and cookies. After she dispenses a little of both, I try some, and I gotta say, it''s amazing. I''ve never been a tea drinker, but this flavor is phenomenal, it''s fruity with just the right int of mint. How did they get this sort of flavor into a video game? Lestia takes a seat next to me, watching me enjoy the tea with a smile on her face. Then she begins talking.


    ¡°Young man, what you have to understand is this: this class is not meant for the battlefield. The majority of people with this class are elders of villages, usually women. The Channeller class was made hundreds of years ago as a way to support the people.¡±


    ¡°Wait so then why is it here as a magical class?¡± i ask, confused.


    ¡°The only reason it''s even here is because the kingdom wanted to make all the basic classes accessible. And we do have some attack spells, so here we are. But those aren''t really for active combat, but for scaring off pests or dealing with a drunken vagrant or two.¡±


    ¡°Then what about the support and healing spells?¡±


    ¡°Have you noticed that your [strengthen] spell lasts a lot longer than your [weaken] one? That was so that when the elder was making her- or his, rounds around the village in the morning, they could Strengthen the farmers, give them a good start. or for use on the town patrol when they''re going to go subjugate a violent monster. [Weaken] is for temporarily weakening a local criminal so the town patrol can take him without a big fight. [Health channelling]  gains the attribute of pain relieving when it reaches novice level.  It''s use is primarily for assisting with childbirth, easing the mother¡¯s pain, or when there''s been an accident, and someone is dying and it may take the town healer a minute to arrive.  You give your own  health for the sake of others. This class is about taking care of your people, not taking charge in battle.¡±


    I was dumbstruck. I mean, it''s just different than I imagined. I knew that this wasn''t a good class, but I didn''t think it was  just basically town helper. No, I won''t give up, I can''t. Besides the fact that I have friends depending on me, I have to conquer the game! I¡¯ll ask her if there is possibly  a way, there has to be!


    ¡°There has to be a way. Perhaps¡­ perhaps were just not using the class correctly. Maybe if I-¡± the tutor rose her hand, silencing me. She had a gentle smile on her face, with a hint of pity in her eyes.


    ¡°Come with me¡± She said.  She got  up, and grabbed a necklace with nine huge multicolored beads on it and put it on. She lead me through a door into what looked like a training room. she stood in front  a group of wooden dolls.  She muttered a spell, and then a beam of light from every bead, no, every orb shot out at the dolls. 9 beams of multicolored light pierced through the group of dolls, destroying them all.


    ¡°Whoa, how did you do that, it was incredible!¡± I said, astonished.


    ¡°No my dear, it wasn''t. That was the apex of my power, my best offensive spell, [Homing Mana Beam]. Keep in mind that I am very high leveled,  high enough to be chosen as a tutor here, but the maximum power I wield is only enough to take out around a dozen people, and that is being generous. now I can shoot that off quite a few times due to our class having quite a bit of mana, but think about what the other class tutors can do. The head Pyromancer tutor can burn down an entire city if he is unchallenged, the head Thaumaturge  can make a toxic field so powerful that he can turn a forest into a wasteland in a single day. I brought you here to show you the truth. We just aren''t meant for combat.¡±


    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    ¡°I see.¡± There was really nothing else to say. I took a seat on the floor. This really sucks.


    ¡°Why do you wish to be strong anyway? Is being a hero so great? Do you wish to have songs and stories wrote about you that much? What''s wrong with taking care of people? Is that too lowly a task for foreigners?¡± she asks. She¡¯s doing her best to hide it, but I can hear hints of irritation in her voice. It''s understandable, I¡¯m treating her life¡¯s work like some sort of curse.


    ¡°No! No¡­ I have friends that are counting on me. I''m the leader, a leader should be strong! but i¡¯m weak¡­ I don''t wanna be weak anymore, i don''t wanna be a loser.. I¡­ I just¡­¡±  i feel a tear fall from my eyes. Why are there tears? It''s just a game, right? I attempt to wipe them away, yet they kept forming against my will. Then I felt a gentle hand on my shoulder. it guided me back to the main room,  and put warm tea in my hands. For quite a while, we just sat there, sipping tea. I don''t know why, but it made me feel better than talking about it would have.  Then she broke the silence.


    ¡°As long as you have this class, you will never be the strongest. But, there is a way wherein you don''t have to be completely weak..¡± i looked up at her, but she steadily looke forward and continued.


    ¡°Firstly, equipment. You need to acquire the finest items you can, an equip as much as you can. Robes, Shoes, hats, anything and everything. It is the only way to narrow the gap between you and the naturally superior classes. Secondly, we as channellers use orbs.We have the ability to use multiple orbs, as I do with my necklace. A common theory is that because we deal with so many types of energy, we can withstand it better than the average person. Ah, no, please, don''t get too excited. Plenty of mages learn things like dual casting and are far more effective. Most orbs are horrible as offensive weapons, in fact the orb you''re using now  is not that far below average. But what you can take advantage of are rings. most rings contain orbs in the form of gemstones, after all, an orb is basically an enchanted ball. This is why many people can only wear two enchanted rings, but you will be able to wear one on each finger¡­ probably not yet though. four is probably your limit until you level up some more. remember,  always have the same amount on each hand, for balance. Lastly¡­¡± Lestia paused. for a moment before continuing.


    ¡°Lastly, We  as channellers deal with all types of energy; stamina, mana, health. We aren''t foreign to spiritual energy either. There are times when in a village,  a recently deceased individual¡¯s spirit becomes restless and violent. At such a time, it is the responsibility of the elder to confront the spirit, and give it peace. it is possible to then convert such a soul into an ancestral spirit for the household he or she belonged to in life. I tell you this because there is a place, an old settlement to the northeast,  at the foot of the mountains. The residents there died long ago, and now haunt the place as ghosts. If you confront them, and give them peace, then perhaps,  PERHAPS, you may be able to gain their allegiance. I do not approve of using the honored dead in such a way, but you are not me and I won''t hold you to my principles. This is all the knowledge I can give you child, make use of it how you will.¡±


    <table><tbody><tr><td>New Quest: Bringing the Dead Peace


    You have been asked to confront the restless spirits of Boulder settlement


    Requirements: (???)


    Rewards: (???), Increased Familiarity with Lestia Almay, Increased reputation with all Channellers


    Failure:No further assistance from Lestia Almay


    Difficulty: D </td></tr></tbody></table>


    A D difficulty quest!  That meant I would either need to be really strong or have a good party to complete it. Well, at  least it doesn''t have a time limit, me and the others can go level up some. But there was one thing I didn''t understand.


    ¡°Why are you giving me this opportunity?¡± I ask. It''s not like she didn''t like me, but she seemed kind of like the anti-adventure type, so her suddenly giving me all this info seemed kind of odd.


    ¡°Because I realized you are indeed a Channeller, dear. You just want to take care of your people too.  Although for you, it''s your party, not a village. There¡¯s no difference, except in numbers. You wish to be strong  for them, yes?  Although you may never lead from the front, I thought maybe, with a little help, you may be able to take care of them from the back. Go now, be with your people.  Though I¡¯ll always welcome your company, there is no need to return here when you finish your task.  Do your best, protect them, guide them, and everything will be alright.¡±


    I swear, Lestia has the gentlest smile. She has a way of just making me feel alright. If I had a grandmother, I pray she would be like her.  I get up,  and leave with a smile on my face that not even seeing the magical advisor''s face can take from me. Then I log out.

 Departure

    The whole exchange between Myself and  Lestia had taken around an hour. That was fifteen minutes real time. That meant I had  two hours and 45 minutes to be back at the central tavern. I climb out of the capsule, slightly stiff.  I notice myself in the mirror. My plain brown hair, my brown eyes, my average build. Perhaps I should have changed my character a little more after all. All I have going for me is my face. Perhaps I should have given myself something more iconic like glowing blue eyes or orange hair or something.


    I headed over to the computer I have installed in my game room and began looking up what''s going on in-game on the unofficial website. The official one doesn''t have anything useful, it''s pretty much just there for the basics. I head to the general information  section. It¡¯s been almost 6 real hours, and pretty much everyone who has a copy has started the game, so there should be some good stuff.


    Looks like everyone is still pretty much in their home cities, but a few people  have ventured out into the wild.  Some guy with the Explorer class discovered the first new village, not unexpected.  according to the website, the explorer class gets bonus experience whenever discovering a new location, whether it be a forest, landmark, town, or dungeon. Hmmm , also, it seems we¡¯re all in the same country, called Gaelic.


    Wait, it seems like nobody has started a guild in game yet. Nobody knows how. Of course, there are people who affiliate themselves with certain guilds, but none of it is official. people were complaining  to the company, but always got the same answer ¡®have patience, the feature is in the game, but is not accessible as of yet.¡¯ I just hope they don''t make us pay extra for it.


    There wasn''t much else I was interested in. I got up,  heated up a microwave dinner(don''t judge me), and took a two hour long power nap.  When I got up, I had  15 minutes left. I  hopped in the capsule and logged in. I was greeted by bright morning sunshine. I had an hour in-game to do whatever I want efore we all meet up. I head over to the  general store.  I sell all the fox fangs and lizard scales from the previous day there. I got around 70 silver for all of it.  I kinda feel cheated, I mean my share for yesterday was 100 fox fang and 50 lizard scales. I wanted a gold at least. I look around, and an object catches my eye.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Woodland Armor


    This armor set was fashioned by a beginner woodworker while being blessed by a beginner druid.


    Material: wood


    Durability:40/40


    Defense: 15


    Requirements: 25 STR, No class requirement


    +15% spell/skill damage +15% mana/stamina/health regeneration


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    Now, I know that a mage is supposed to wear robes, and they would have easily given me better options and stat boosts, but they can¡¯t give me better defense.  Robes give around 2 points defense at low levels, which, really isn''t that much more than the clothes I have on. This isn''t as good as metal armor, but it''s probably as good as I can hope to get with no class restrictions. I purchase it for 39 silver.  Looks like the circlet works, cause originally, it was around 42 silver


    Ah, I can''t equip it yet, I don''t pass the strength requirements. Oh well, I¡¯ll just invest a little in strength. next time I lvl up. I wanna buy some more stuff, but  I have the feeling I should conserve money. I head over to the tavern around 20 minutes early. I order a drink, then pull out my map. By the way, it''s so cool how i can drink alcohol in this game, even though I''m only 18. Shout out to the game developers, they''re the real MVPs.


    Anyway, I examine the area that I want to head towards. It''s around a week away by foot, through the woods.  I notice that  past those mountains,  my mapa ends. I guess that''s the country border. I think we should try and cross it, go where no ones gone before. Maybe we¡¯ll get a reward.


    While I make plans, the 20 minutes goes by in the blink of an eye, and  my companions begin showing up. Moxxie came first.  She was wearing  the same leggings from before, but now she was wearing a vest covered in knives with a hood. She smiled as she at across from me.


    ¡°Damn, I thought I¡¯d be first.¡± she says playfully.


    ¡°Hah, you''re not even early.¡±


    ¡°Yeah whatever. So what''s the plan, Bossman?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll wait until the others get here.¡± ten minutes later, Dave arrives, sporting a leather jacket on top of his usual clothes.


    ¡°Ah, my companions! What sort of adventures shall we begin today?¡± He says, full of his usual vigor.


    ¡°i don''t know, Linderman here is keeping it secret until we all are together.¡±


    ¡°Ah, how fair of him! Truly worthy of being our leader! Unless he just doesn''t feel like repeating himself. Then he¡¯s just lazy and I take it all back. By the way, did you see the blades they have in Fortuna¡¯s store?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, they were nice, but I had my eyes on those gloves that increase your critical hit rate.¡± said Moxxie. The two of them continued to discuss various weaponry together. it seems they''ve become fast friends.   By the way, Dave now has the class ¡®Knave¡¯. He wields a short sword instead of a dagger now. Originally, Moxxie was also going to get that class as well, seeing as they had a skill for throwing weapons, but decided against it. She now has the adventurer class ¡®Knife Thrower¡¯, and it seems its exactly what it sounds like. 5 minutes later, Raknar approaches, and.. there''s a girl with him.  She¡¯s rather short, with shoulder length light brown hair. Im  going to be so pissed if he¡¯s got a girlfriend and I dont, I may ignore him. I''ve said before that I''m not above being petty.


    ¡°Hey guys,  This is my sister, Thelia.¡± Raknar said. Sister. Ok, thats acceptable.


    ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Thelia, umm thanks for taking care of my brother Rich- i mean Raknar the mighty.¡± she said, blushing slightly.


    ¡°Aww, she¡¯s so cute! Raknar she¡¯s coming with us right? Linderman ya gotta add her to the party, look at her, she¡¯s gonna be  the mascot! ¡° Moxxie  said, squealing with excitement. Thelia began to hide behind her brother.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    ¡°Fine, fine, just calm down. You look like a creepy old man stalking a little girl. Raknar, you brought her here to join up right? ¡± I say.


    ¡°Uhh yeah. I hope you don''t mind though, she¡¯s a  Diviner, and she¡¯s kind  of low leveled.¡± he said.


    ¡°Low-levelled? Then her STR stat is definitely weaker than mine!!!¡± Moxxie said with a savage smile on her face. Dave hit her in the back of  the head with the hilt of his sword, causing her to receive  the ¡®dazed¡¯ status. Thank God. I approach the girl. despite how young she looks, which is about 14 or so, I know she has to be at least my age because minors aren''t allowed to play virtual reality games.


    ¡°would you like to party with us?¡± I ask.


    ¡°Umm...only if you promise to protect me from her.¡±  I add he as friends, then add her to the party right away.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Party Window</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Leader</td><td colspan=''3''>Linderman-lvl 11</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Members</td><td colspan=''3''>Moxxie-lvl.12    Dave-lvl.11


    Raknar-lvl.11   Thelia-lvl.4</td></tbody></table>


    Wow, she is low levelled. But it''s to be expected, Diviners are like magical scouts. They''re the third least picked magical class.  The good thing about them though, is that they can predict  what kind of creatures are in a location before entering. Anyway, Its time to tell them all bout my quest.


    ¡°So guys, I want to ask a favor, I got a D ranked Quest from my tutor and I was wondering if you would like to go with me. It¡¯ll take a while to get there, but its one of the only ways I can get stronger. Do  you guys mind?¡±


    ¡°hell no, we don''t mind, right guys?¡± said Moxxie.


    ¡°Its the least I can do man, count me in.¡± said Raknar with a smile.


    ¡°D rank you say? Haven''t heard of many above F rank, It''s sure to be exciting!!¡± Dave said rising from his chair.


    ¡°Ummm, I don''t think I have a say yet, but ummm...lets go!¡± Telia said i a low voice.


    We get out of the tavern and head to a few stores to get supplies.  Raknar is now a Shieldman, so he bought an additional Oak shield. He wields two circular shields on his arms now.  It seems rather unorthodox, but when I ask him about it, he tells me he chose this on purpose. He knows he doesn''t really have much talent for  attacking, so instead, he wants to be the best defender he can be.


    We buy a few Stamina and mana potions, and  some better gear for thelia. Like me, she uses an orb though, so there wasn''t much we could do for that. There weren''t many Orbs for sale in the magic shop we were in.and many of them had requirements and costs too high or were pretty much the same as the beginners orb.


    Other than the siblings, the rest of us didn''t really need new stuff, so we went ahead and prepared to leave. We were walking out the gate, when we were stopped by two people. One was a  young man with a face that could be called fiercely handsome, with bronze armored pants, and leather armored  top He was armed with a mid length spear.  The other was a girl   with red hair and green eyes sporting a whip.


    ¡°Hi, can we join your party? I¡¯m Vy, a tamer, and  he is  Secundus, a rider. We¡¯re a package deal by the way, so no thinking that you can just dump him and abscond with the beautiful  me!¡± The young man sighed at his companion¡¯s words.


    ¡°This is why no one says yes. No one¡¯s looking at you that way. You look like a leprechaun with your hair like that.¡± he sneered


    ¡°What?! dont make me log out, walk across the street, and beat your ass again!¡±


    ¡°So violent~ this is why your dad is scared you¡¯ll never get married!¡± The man said with a growing sadistic smile.The two began to bicker  and pull on each others¡¯ ears and hair. I suspect this  is the real reason they never get picked up. With a sigh, I look back at my team members. Moxxie  rolled her eyes and nodded. she knew I wanted to accept them from the beginning.  Raknar nodded as well, wit a nostalgic smile on his face.  Dave merely shrugged. seems he doesn''t care either way.Thelia saw her brother nod and hastened to do the same, I don''t know if she knows why they''re nodding though...


    ¡°So you guys ready to go?¡± I shout to the fighting duo in front of me. They stop their fighting mid blow and look at me, surprised.


    ¡°Really?¡± they say simultaneously.


    ¡°Yeah,  so what kind of pets do you guys have?¡±


    ¡°Wellll....¡± they said, together again. I gotta say the way they do that is kind of impressive.  But less impressive is that neither of them have pets, even though their jobs require them. Well the man, Secundus, has a fairly good excuse. Very few riders had pets.  the ones available for riding out the stable  were far too expensive to afford at this stage of the game.  One guy had somehow convinced a farmer to let him have his old donkey, and another had somehow got a deer. There was one man though, who had miraculously got a wolf.


    The girl, Vy, had a different reason. She claimed that every time she successfully tamed a  ¡®foxxie¡¯, all the other ¡®foxxies¡¯ would gang up and attack it.   It seems she didnt assist the fox or give it commands. When I brought this to her attention, Secundus called her an idiot. They started fighting again. 20 minutes later, we were on our way.


    <table><tbody>[tr]<td colspan=''4''>Party Window</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Leader</td><td colspan=''3''>Linderman-lvl 11</td></tr>[tr]<td width="25%">Members</td><td colspan=''3''>Moxxie-lvl.12    Dave-lvl.11   Vy-lvl.7


    Raknar-lvl.11    Thelia-lvl.4    Secundus-lvl.8</td></tbody></table>

 Reality Check

    We headed north, deep into the plains,  in the direction of the mountains. We didn''t rush however, as we had something we had to attend to first. pets for our new members, it wouldn''t do to have them running around without their animal companions, it¡¯s the equivalent of the rest of us fighting naked.


    We start with Secundus¡¯ pet. Excuse me, MOUNT. For some reason he didn''t like it being called pet. I guess he¡¯s using it differently, but I mean come on, it¡¯s not a big deal.  We have Thelia search for a suitable lizard. sure enough, she finds one in a few minutes. Its lvl.9, higher than most of the other lizards we¡¯ve seen. Thelia lands the first blow with her long range magic attack, [Skyray]. It was the only attack available to the Diviner class in the beginning, and it was both long range and powerful, but it had a long cooldown, which is partly why the class is unpopular.


    The Lizard begins charging at us from around 200 yards away. we form a formation with Raknar at the front , Dave, Moxxie, and Secundus behind him, and  the rest of us in the back. I call it the arrowhead formation as soon as the beast is in range, I cast weaken on it, and stack it to the maximum. Raknar runs directly at it and activates his skill [shield bash], stunning it and taking a good portion of its health. Then all of us rush over and do our best to hold it down. Secundus tries using his [Bond] skill. Its a type of tame skill which bonds the creature to an item. For riders, it''s a whistle. Itll make it so if they die together, the mount also won¡¯t  die permanently. He needs only blow the whistle when he revives,  and the mount will revive as well. Apparently, there is a limit to how many times it can be revived, however.


    The skill fails 3 times, but the 4th time, it''s a success.  We all let the lizard go, you have no idea how much stamina it takes to hold one down, even with 5 other people helping you. Secundus got on top of the lizard, smiling brightly. Then he told us why.


    ¡°I¡¯m the seventh person in game  to get a mount! I got the title Seventh Rider.¡±


    ¡°Good for you. Can we go get mine now?¡± Vy said impatiently.


    For Vy, I had a different Idea. We found a lone dog on the plains, then we repeated the process we went through for Secundus. luckily tame had a much higher success rate.  We repeated the process 5 times, and in the next hour, Vy had a pack of dogs. I had to spend an extra ten minutes explaining the importance of giving the dogs orders though.


    It''s time. It was around noon, and we were standing in front of the biggest obstacle we have come to face in the game: the forest. Plenty of players died here from being over confident, and I do not intend to repeat the mistake. I have thelia check what kinds of monsters there were in the forest zone.


    ¡°Ummm, it looks like lvl. 7 wolves, lvl. 9 giant spiders, lvl.10 twin tailed foxes,  lvl.12 goblins, and lvl. 14 alpha wolves. there¡¯s other stuff further in, but... my  skill level isn''t that high, i''m sorry.¡±


    ¡°No no, it''s fine. We¡¯ll stay near the path, and avoid going too deep in the woods, so it won''t even matter.¡± I responded. The first 20 minutes or so was quite dull. Then the howling started. Suddenly, we were surrounded by eleven wolves.  There were ten average ones, but  they were led by an alpha.  Luckily, we had been walking in formation since we got here.


    I call it the diamond formation. in the front is Vy and her dogs, to the far left is Raknar, the far right,  Secundus, and Dave brings up the rear, the ranged classes such as Moxxie, Thelia, and myself stay in the center. I¡¯m still worried however. this is the first time we''ve ever been outnumbered. There was that one time with raknar, but those were rabbits and foxes, these are wolves. No, I don''t have time to be scared, I need to give orders.


    ¡°Thelia, start us off! target the alpha. Vy, you too, you and your dogs are going to have it the hardest, but  I¡¯ll help! Moxxie support Raknar and Dave! Secundus, you¡¯re on your own for a second, but don''t worry, one of us will help you eventually!¡±


    I didn''t have any more time to talk as everything started all at once. Vy and Secundus¡¯ sides both got hit with four wolves each.  I wasnt too worried about Secundus, because as a rider, he gets boosted stats when on his mount.  I was worried about Vy, she was dealing with the alpha.  I quickly [strengthen] all her dogs, and her herself, then stack the effect. Then I go around weakening all the wolves.


    Welp, that took most of my mana. But I can see it paying off, the fight is going better than i envisioned, Vy and Secundus are holding of their wolves, while Dave  has pretty much mopped up his side, thanks to Moxxie. in the next five minutes, everything is wrapped up.  Thelia grew quite a few levels, as did Vy and Secundus. Even I grew one. I quickly put the points into  STR. We keep going until late at night, getting attacked by wolves, foxes, and the occasional goblin troop. Then, we stop and make camp in the middle of the road. I collapse, tired as hell. There¡¯s a village another day down the road, but for today, it looks like it''s outside camping. I check the notifications that I keep muted.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Level up x3</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Strengthen has reached Basic level 7


    Mana cost reduced to 20</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Weaken has reached Basic level 8


    Mana cost reduced to 15</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Magic Mastery has reached Basic level 4


    Spell damage increased by 7%</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Orb mastery has reached Basic level 6


    Spell effects increased by 15%</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Impact has reached Basic level 9


    damage increased to 20


    knockback effect increased.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Party Window</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Leader</td><td colspan=''3''>Linderman-lvl 15</td></tr>[tr]<td width="25%">Members</td><td colspan=''3''>Moxxie-lvl.14    Dave-lvl.14   Vy-lvl.13


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.Raknar-lvl.13    Thelia-lvl.12    Secundus-lvl.14</td></tbody></table>


    Looks like we¡¯ve got some good growth going on. I¡¯m back on top, level wise, thats nice. Thelia isn''t too far behind anymore, thanks to her getting the First strike exp. bonus. Secundus usually contributes the most, or second most, so his growth has been fairly rapid as well. We¡¯re all around average level now I think.


    I still need to think up some more formations though. The others are all confident in their abilities now, but I know that what were doing isn''t  really all that special.  The speed is pretty good, because we have good synergy, but the amount of creatures for a party this size is fairly normal. Still, it''s really fu though. I didn''t think this game would be this fun...


    ¡°Hey! Linderman!Quit lurking by yourself and get your ass over here! were swapping stories!¡±  Moxxie shouts.


    ¡°Be quiet or you''ll attract goblins.¡± I say with a chuckle.


    ¡°So, how do you two know each other?¡± Moxxie asks our newest companions.


    ¡°I''m childhood friends with this creep. Our parents do business together, so I have no choice but to see him every now and then.¡±  Vy said


    ¡°Yeah whatever. When we were kids, who proposed to me? You wanted to defile the body of a pure and innocent boy!¡±


    ¡°Hey don''t say it like that!  I¡¯m only a year older than you! Plus i didn''t even know what it really meant and-¡± Secundus  started laughing while Vy frantically tried to explain herself, and soon, she was laughing too. she punched him slightly in the shoulder.


    ¡°Asshole.¡± She said with a grin.


    ¡°Now you two!  ¡° Moxxie said, pointing at Raknar and Thelia.


    ¡°Umm, we¡¯re brother and sister?¡± said Thelia, hiding behind Raknar a little. she still feared Moxxie would violate her if given the chance. And Ive seen the predatory glances Moxxie shoots at her when she thinks no ones looking, so I can say that her fears aren''t unfounded.


    ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s really nothing special about it. She¡¯s my little sister I¡¯m 20, she¡¯s 18.¡± Said Raknar.


    ¡°Whoah, I¡¯m 23, and Secundus is 22. Are we the oldest?¡± Said Vy.


    ¡°Yep, I think so. Me and Dave are both 21. What about you Bossman?¡± asked Moxxie.


    ¡°I just turned 18. ¡°I say


    ¡°What?!¡± everyone said at the same time.


    ¡°Wow, and you seem so dependable!¡± said Thelia.


    ¡°Cant believe Ive been taking orders from a teenager¡± Secundus said.


    ¡°Hmmm, I¡¯m quite surprised, but there are plenty of men of a higher age, yet lower caliber.  I¡¯m happy to follow Linderman wherever he goes.¡± declared Dave.


    ¡°True, Bossman is Bossman, even if he can''t  buy his own drinks yet.¡± said Moxxie. Everyone started laughing, much to my own embarrassment. We kept talking well into the night. when we got up in the morning, we continued our march northward. There were even more fights with higher level enemies, and I grew two more levels. On a side note, I¡¯m finally wearing my armor, it feels bad ass. At the end of the day, we  made it to a bustling town located in the middle of the  forest.


    It was quite the place,  There were all kinds of shops and taverns.  We sold of some of our drops, and attempted to buy new supplies, but they were so expensive. Typical, they''re charging such prices because they know they''re the only ones in miles who we can buy from. But at least their inn prices were fair.  It seems like this place was founded for the purpose of providing travellers with a cheap, safe place to stay, and that was one tradition that never wore out. We left the next morning, and everything was going fine until that afternoon


    ¡°Hai folkez! My name is Erasion the Magician, and I¡¯se a like ta kill peoplez!!¡± said a figure which seemed to appear out of thin air. He was a pale, sickly looking young man with black hair and yellow, feral eyes.


    ¡°A PK?¡±Raknar asked?


    ¡°Ding ding ding!!! thats a right Big dawg! So who¡¯se gonna die first? You? or you, you you, or yo-¡± The man was stopped as Moxxie¡¯s knife found his forehead.  There was a sound like glass breaking, then all of  sudden, the figure was gone. Before any one realized, the man was inside our formation, and had sliced open Thelia¡¯s neck with a pair of playing cards.


    ¡°Big brothe...¡¯she said faintly before vanishing.


    ¡°ROOOAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± Raknar screamed as he charged the man.


    ¡°Uh oh, Onii-chan is coming, Onii-chan is  coming~¡± said the man, his face full of mirth. He tossed the cards which had drawn Thelia¡¯s blood, and threw them  at Raknar¡¯s face. They exploded on contact, knocking him out. I began to [Weaken] this Erasion, and he turned towards me.


    ¡°Thats annoying~¡± the man said before leaping towards me.


    He was intercepted from the side by a [Charge] from Secundus. The man collided with the tree, but when Secundus went to press his advantage, he  climbed it, then dropped on top of the lizard, behind Secundus. Then he wrapped metal wire  around   Secundus¡¯ neck. Moxxie tried to throw knives at him to save Secundus, but Erasion flipped Secundus¡¯ body in front of the knives, then proceeded to sever his head from his body in front of us. Dave chose this moment to appear behind the man, and  impale him.  However, the man just laughed and pulled out his staff, which looked like an old school magicians¡¯ cane from real life, pointed the tip at Dave¡¯s face behind him, and made it explode, killing him instantly.


    Now Vy¡¯s dogs were rushing towards him, but he still wasnt  worried, he ran forward, defeating them with blows and explosions.  Vy was frozen in fear before he got to her, and he was about to get her before my [impact] got him right in the side. but i didn''t notice that he had already let go of two of his cards. the dual explosion signified the death of yet another partner. Moxxie rushed him, trying to keep him from using any skills  by constantly pressing him.  I buffed her to the max, then debuffed him. It was working at first until he pulled out his metal wire again and  began to suffocate her.


    I hit him with a few [impact]s, but he didn''t let go until she died, then he rushed forward and came for me. I tried to dodge, but he was too fast, he had hit me with his explosive cane three times before I could die, thanks to my high magical defense.I was pissed, sad, embarrassed, and afraid, all at the same time, but all I could think though as I lost consciousness was:¡¯So this is what a real Legendary player is like.

 Interim

    I climbed out of the capsule and headed straight for my bedroom. I didn¡¯t want to think about what just happened for a few hours. I went straight to sleep. When I got up, I took the time out to make myself a fairly good breakfast before I ultimately had to get back to the game. What the hell was that guy? Why did he kill us? It wasn¡¯t like we had all this great gear, I mean, we were still wearing some starter gear. Was he just crazy? No, all these questions are irrelevant, I don¡¯t need to understand him, just deal with him.


    I headed back into my game room, hopped on the computer, and looked up everything I could about the man named Erasion. Apparently, this is the first game anybody¡¯s ever heard of him in. But he¡¯s swiftly gaining a reputation as the most fearsome player killer in the game. He was the first to kill anyone in the game, and had killed around a hundred people since.


    There was a trend though. Every party he attacked had at least one person with a title in it. I get it now, he wasn¡¯t just killing. He was hunting! He¡¯s looking for people with talent, he wants his prey to fight back. This was all for amusement. I want to say that its sick, but really, we¡¯re all playing the game for amusement. Some of us kill monsters, and some of us kill people. That¡¯s the only difference.


    But I gotta say, the guy was talented. I¡¯ve rarely seen people move like that, he¡¯s gonna be a legend for sure. Few people can pk a whole group by themselves. Now the real question is: what do I wanna do about it. I know the others are going to want vengeance, but is it what¡¯s best for the team? I think not.


    We are going to be weaker than we were after we resurrect, and he¡¯s only going to be stronger. Even if we grind up to match whatever level he is, there is a definite talent difference that we just can¡¯t overcome yet. Besides, I¡¯m fairly sure the guy is kinda psycho and would never let it go if we killed him. He¡¯d hunt us forever.


    Well, until we can all log in again, I might as well use this opportunity to learn more strategies. The ones I came up with myself weren¡¯t bad, but I have a lot of room for improvement. With my offensive and supportive abilities the way they are, this is the only way I can majorly contribute.


    Most of the stuff the internet teaches me are about large war stratagems, but I don¡¯t have to worry about that for a long time.  It seems that African and Chinese armies were the ones who focused on small units, all the rest are pretty much useless to me at this point. I study them anyway though, never hurts to have a head start.


    Wow, it feels like I¡¯m in school again. All this learning is wearing me out, this is why I didn¡¯t go to college. Well, I¡¯m having a lot of fun with this game, even if it does give me headaches. So I keep reading for a few hours.


    Then I turn my attention to the game website, and start looking for information. There¡¯s alot of pretty good info here. Quest tips, skill tips, all kinds of tips. I absentmindedly click around. Wow, I haven¡¯t been taking advantage of the analyze skill properly. According to this, you can even [analyze] people to get more details than just the pop-up info. But only if there is a low level difference, and your [analyze] has a high enough proficiency.


    Clicking around some more, I find out the first hybrid class had been created. Sorcerer-Swordsman. Apparently, the guy kept on switching between the two classes and bothering the tutors so much, the tutors came together to give him a hybrid class. He was THAT annoying.  I smirked as I continued my aimless net journey.


    Oh, it looks like his title is ¡®Dualist¡¯. He claims that as long as his STR and WIS remain equal, the effects of both are risen by 50%. That¡¯s really formidable, I mean later in-game, he¡¯s gonna be so OP. I wonder what the other titles do, cause mine sucks in comparison, like all it does is make my spells silent. It seems like there¡¯s a whole list of people with titles.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    Titles That We Know Of (list may be altered by trolls)


    1. Violent One: Goliath


    2. Eagle Eyes: Agenor


    3. Nympho: Lorelei


    4. Silvertongue: ????


    5. The Swift: ????


    6. Born Leader: Nicolai


    7. First Murderer: Erasion


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    The list goes on and on, with around a thousand entries. Ooooo it looks like I¡¯m on it, around line 80 or so. The Whisperer:????. Looks like my game name is unknown. That¡¯s actually quite surprising with how many people were there when I revealed my title like an idiot. Oh I have my own subtopic.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    Lolihunter11: Yeah I remember this dude, he was creepy af. He would just walk through, silently  killing things.


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    ByeFelicia: Really? What city is he from?


    LyLy: Lonbourg. I remember seeing him and his party in the tavern once.


    Phalanx: Yeah, he parties with a bunch of lamez tho lol


    LyLy: Yeah I heard that too. Why doesn¡¯t he upgrade?</td></tr></tbody></table>


    You know, I would be mad about the fact that people are talking about my team, but you know what? We¡¯re good, maybe not great yet, but good. I know were good, my friends know they¡¯re good, and that¡¯s all that matters. As a matter of fact, if my team are lamez, I want more lamez! Wait¡­ I might actually be able work that out. Let me make a screenname really quick. Ok, how do I wanna do this? I gotta be cool, cool and in charge. Like¡­ like batman!  Apparently they already think I¡¯m kinda creepy anyway¡­


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    TheWhisperer: Looking for the ones who made my Woodland Armor


    Lyly: no way, is that really him?


    ByeFelicia: Probably a fake


    TheWhisperer: Think what you want. Spread the word though, that I want the Woodworker who made the Woodland


    Armor to come join me on my quest. He can find us in the forest village north of Lonbourg. He has 12 real hours.


    LyLy: I think it is him! Hey dude what class do you have??


    TheWhisperer: Mind your business.


    Phalanx: Yeah man, that¡¯s a rude thing to ask, u know that! Hey man, other than the woodworker guy, you looking for other players? I¡¯m a lvl.13 Guardian.


    TheWhisperer: Yes.


    ByeFelicia: How many people can come? I¡¯ll find this woodworker guy and keep him safe if youre real.


    TheWhisperer: 8.


    Lolihunter12: wait, is there a level requirement? What kind of quest are you doing?


    TheWhisperer: No lvl req. If you can make it in 12 hours youre in. D Rank.


    Killurselfie: Whoa whoa whoa D rank? Most people are only getting F Rank if theyre lucky! Count me in


    LyLy: @killurselfie dude who tf are you? We were here first!


    Killurselfie: I¡¯m a lvl 15 Archer, don¡¯t get rekt bro.


    TheMoxx: bossman what the hell? Are you recruiting? Why? </td></tr></tbody></table>


    Shit, I think thats Moxxie, she¡¯s the only one who calls me that. But why is she even here?  There are only like 50 people on my subtopic chat. Wait why am I even worried? its not like recruiting is a bad thing.  It¡¯s not like I wasn¡¯t going to ask the groups opinion on who we let in. And damn, my  kinda-batman really sucks...


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    TheWhisperer: Yes.


    TheMoxx: Ok, now the why part?


    Phalanx: you being replaced n00bs!


    TheWhisperer: Shut up.


    Phalanx: Dude it was a joke¡­


    TheMoxx: I don¡¯t think bossman found it funny ?


    LyLy: yea man stfu


    ByeFelicia: Rude ass


    Lolihunter12: hey can we call you bossman too?


    TheWhisperer: No.


    TheMoxx: Is it to help kill Erasion? I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll need 8 more people¡­


    Happyko: Oh yall got killed by Erasion? Feller got me too.


    Phalanx: oh shit that¡¯s Happyko! Happyko ¡®the Massacre¡¯


    Happyko: Don¡¯t gotta worry bout that vermin no more, he got bored and headed west towards another starter city, Croy. Up and challenged Goliath, he did, and got knocked on his ass. Three times. The last time, goliath got tired of him and just killed him, I hear.


    TheMoxx: Thanks, then that means we don¡¯t need any of these people


    TheWhisperer: we do.


    Lyly: Who the hell is this chick anyway?


    The Whisperer: My 2nd in command


    LyLy: oh


    TheMoxx: Exactly bitches.


    TheWhisperer: There may be a lot of enemies where we¡¯re going, and gaps need to bbe filled. Only 8 for now, no more.


    TheMoxx: I get it, I¡¯ll let the others know.


    TheWhisperer: Good. I¡¯m leaving.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    I close the group chat.  Just as I was about to log out, I got a private message from Moxxie.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>


    TheMoxx: I¡¯m really 2nd in command?


    TheWhisperer: Of course, wouldn¡¯t have anyone else Moxxie.


    TheMoxx:Umm


    TheMoxx: Here, it¡¯s actually Marilynn


    </td></tr></tbody></table>


    I took a sharp breath. Why did I do that? I¡¯m¡­ oddly nervous. I pause for a second, thinking about so many different replies before finally typing back the simplest one


    <table><tbody><tr><td>TheWhisperer: I¡¯m Clark</td></tr></tbody></table>

 Poll time!! (not a chapter,need opinions)

    Sup folks.  i  just decided that I wanted some of your input as to the next few slots for our heroes'' party. Your participation would be greatly appreciated  Also if you guys have any questions, feel free to ask, Ill do my best to reply, but I''m also writing the next chapter right now, so I might be a little slow.

 Back to business

    HEY I''m soo sorry about the wait, real life happened, and yeah.... well here you go!


    ><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>


    Mox...  Marilynn and I talked  for hours after that. I found out she¡¯s a college student, enrolled at a school not that far from here. She¡¯s a total animehead though. Me personally, I never got into it that heavily, sure I loved DBZ as a kid, who didnt , but the new stuff I just don''t know about. anyway, she said we should hang out sometime, she would put me on some new anime or whatever. I¡¯m kind of excited though, I mean honestly, last time I was with a girl, I was taking Jennie Wilkinson to prom and we ended up having drunk sex behind the bleachers. Not that I want to have sex with Marilynn behind the bleachers. Not that she isn''t sexy or anything but... nevermind


    Anyway after talking to her, I  looked up a few more things online. apparently, there is a gold to cash service coming to the game next week. Apparently, you¡¯ll be able to convert gold to cash and vice versa.  That will come in handy later on, when I get strapped for cash.


    After looking up a few more things, I noticed it was almost time to log back in.  I hurried back to the capsule. I was excited to see if people actually showed up. In a flash of light, I resurrected at the town square. huh, I had read that when you resurrect it''s at the church... must be because this town doesn''t have one.all around me, there were six more flashes. I see the familiar faces of my teammates. Before anything else, I checked my status to see the damage.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Linderman</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Level</td><td width="25%">16</td><td width="25%">PrimaryClass</td><td width="25%">Channeller</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Health</td><td width="25%">1000</td><td width="25%">Mana</td><td width="25%">1000</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Fame</td><td colspan=''3''>200</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Title(s)</td><td colspan=''3''>The Whisperer</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Leadership</td><td width="25%">45</td><td width="25%">Charisma</td><td width="25%">10</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Strength</td><td width="25%">30</td><td width="25%">Agility</td><td width="25%">10</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Wisdom</td><td width="25%">60</td><td width="25%">Intelligence</td><td width="25%">100</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Stamina</td><td width="25%">150</td><td width="25%">Vitality</td><td width="25%">100</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Luck</td><td colspan=''3''>10</td></tr></tbody></table>


    The damage wasn''t too bad. I lost a level and the ten stat points that I had with it. I hear it gets alot harsher in some games. Leaving my status aside, I greet my friends. It seems they¡¯ve been briefed on what''s going on... but not as well as  I had thought.


    ¡°So we¡¯re recruiting people right? to take down Erasion?¡± asked Secundus wit a devious smile on his face.


    ¡°No, we¡¯re recruiting people because we have spaces that need to be filled. We¡¯re not going to seek vengeance.¡± I replied.


    ¡°What?!?! that bastard killed my doggies! We have to kill him!!¡± shouted Vy.


    ¡°No we don''t. Think about it, We¡¯re all weaker than we were when we fought him the first time, and he¡¯s had four days to get stronger. Not only that, but do you think he would just let us get away with killing him, if we some how managed it? No, hes a bit too crazy for that, It would be a never-ending battle.¡± i said


    ¡°Is that cowardice I hear, Linderman? Thats not the kind of attitude people in charge should have is it?¡± Secundus asked me steely.


    ¡°No, it''s wisdom you idiot. Everything he said is true and you know it. Besides, that guy is on another level from us, and I¡¯m sure you know that too. It''s best to leave him be, he probably doesn''t even remember us, were just more faces in the sea of people he''s killed. Besides, he¡¯s dead for the moment anyway, Goliath apparently punched a few holes in him.¡± said Raknar.


    ¡°Truly, it would be folly to chase after him and wait for him to revive. We have to work on ourselves more so.  We all have things we could have done better in that fight, But we also have things that we ourselves can''t do. This is why we must bring in others.¡± Dave said.


    ¡°Enough, we have people to meet. Now lets go, we''re done with this, understood?¡± I said, with as much authority as I can muster.


    Truth be told, I WAS kind of scared to fight Erasion again. That wasn''t the main reason I decided to avoid him, but it was a reason. But I know I can''t allow this... this questioning of my authority to stand. when I asked if I was understood, only he didn''t nod. I go over and stand directly in front of him. He tenses up. I know I can''t take him in a fight, but I shouldn''t have to. He looks me in the eye, glaring. He knows exactly what I want to hear, and after a few seconds, he says it.


    ¡°Yeah, I get it.¡±  he grumbles, looking away.


    ¡°Good.¡± i say, smiling. he grudgingly smiles back as I put a hand on his shoulder.


    ¡°Now, let us meet our new recruits!¡±


    Well, this is unexpected...  there are two dozen people waiting at the front gate. Upon seeing my party, there we''re grumbles about there being even more competitors. but then someone shouted in surprise. A group of five people jog towards me. two look like mage types, in flowing robes,  two are warriors, wearing heavy armor, but one is different, he''s wearing... clothes. There¡¯s an axe on his back, slightly chipped from use.


    ¡°Oh my god you¡¯re really wearing my armor! This is so exciting, no one ever buys my stuff... well you did! I''m Plank, the woodworker by the way. so tell me, what do you think?  Oh by the way, this is the Druid, Drywood. He''s my partner, he helped me make your armor. The rest of these people brought me here, but anyway, back to-¡± Plank the woodworker said before being interrupted.


    ¡°I''m Phalanx from the chat, umm, we brought this guy here, so you¡¯ll let us in the party right?¡± This ¡®Phalanx¡¯ asks me. I rose an eyebrow.


    ¡°Depends.¡± I say, ¡°Plank, will you and Drywood join my party?  I want to be able to have my armor repaired, and we can protect you while you chop wood or whatever you do to level up.¡±


    ¡°Definitely! Oooo this is so exciting, we¡¯ve been contracted Drywood! It''s like we¡¯re private designers!¡± The  young druid known as Drywood nodded emphatically at this. He doesn''t seem like he talks much. Wait, I never said anything about contracts... well whatever, Ill just leave it alone.


    ¡°Our turn! You already know I¡¯m phalanx. The chick on my left is Leai and  the guy with the spear is Logan.¡±


    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    ¡°Logan the spearman, good to meet¡¯cha. We technically met in the chat, I¡¯m ByeFelicia.¡± the man said.  He was tall, around my height in-game, which was around 6¡¯4. He wore a scale mail hauberk, but cheap leather everything else. Ahh, the pains of being poor. But I must say, I was expecting a girl with the name ByeFelicia...


    ¡°I-I¡¯m Leai, the  thaumaturge. It¡¯s uh, nice to....¡± The girl stopped talking and hid behind her male companions, who also had nervous faces. I turn around only to see  Moxxie staring at the little thaumaturge pervertedly, emitting a powerful predatory aura. I sighed loudly, then glared at her. she stopped... whatever that is she was doing, and looked away as though it didn''t concern her.


    Honestly, this woman... we spoke about this offline. I told her she can''t molest the ¡®lolis¡¯ in the group. I was unfamiliar to the term, until she explained it to me. Leai looks completely different, but her mannerisms and height are almost exactly like our Thelia¡¯s. The thaumaturge barely fits the qualifications for a loli though, loli¡¯s can''t be curvy can they? Ugh whatever, moving on. I add the group of five to my party. I look at the 19 people left, and address them.


    ¡°i have three slots left for my party. Looking for mage types.¡± I said.  There was a whole lot of grumbling and disappointment, but 9 people stepped  forward with triumphant smiles. They introduced themselves.


    ¡°Jamz, lvl. 15 Sound mage, I can disperse sound and make us silent. I can also make distractions. ¡± One mage said. He was a short, long haired blondie.


    ¡° Hired.¡± I said, immediately. I had been looking for someone like this.


    ¡°Wait Linderman, wouldn''t it be wise to consider a bard or minstrel  for such a role?¡± Dave interrupted.


    ¡°Bards  offer  buffs that I can''t, yeah. but their sound based attacks are weaker. plus they can''t muffle your sound, so they¡¯re useless for stealth.¡± The sound mage explained, glaring at Dave. I don''t think they''re going to be friends now, but at least  this guy seems competent. I wave my hand at the next contestant.


    ¡°Infernatius, lvl. 18 Pyromancer, the supreme offensive class. I can bust up anything in your way, just point me at it then BOOM!¡± He shouted. This one seems a little over confident, but his claims regarding  pyromancy¡¯s magic are somewhat true.


    ¡°Aquarinarius, lvl.17, Hydromancer and that idiot¡¯s brother if you can''t tell from our matching faces. I combine offensive power with crowd control. By the way, we¡¯re a package deal. Both of us or none of us.¡± And they''re out. I don''t like being forced to accept anyone. I turn my gaze to the next person in line.  A woman dressed in all black, with all black hair, black eyes, and pale skin. When she stepped forward, all eyes were  on her due to her incredibly shapely body. There¡¯s no way that¡¯s natural. Her¡­ assets, were large and yet seemed to be perfectly proportioned, her waist  was slender but not unnaturally so, and her hips¡­ let me stop before I get excited.


    ¡°I am Sibylla, the Dark Mage. I am lvl. 14 and excel in all things curses. I can also make  poison, and have powerful  dark magic.¡± I¡¯m pretty much sold on her, and not, as you may be thinking, for her... physical attributes. if she can make poison, our front liners can coat their blades with it.  plus curses are always helpful, and no one else on the team can really debuff. I¡¯ll wait to make my decision though, discuss it with the others. The next person approached.


    ¡°Name¡¯s Locke, Geomancer extraordinaire. Lvl. 13, but my skills  are almost to intermediate.  I¡¯m defensive by nature, can handle both magical and physical threats, though i prefer the latter. Oh and I take orders, and don''t talk much.¡± he said with a slight smile on his face.  Honestly, I want us all to be friends, I mean that''s how a team should work, right? But someone who will follow orders, I don''t know, that sounds valuable. I think I want him.


    The next four went by like a blur, seeing as I wasn¡¯t really interested and had made my mind up already. I believe they were Light Mage, another Druid, A wizard, and an Augmenter, which is actually more of a physical option anyway as they use mana to augment their bodies. They are the magic equivalent of a monk.  I discussed it with my guys, and we we''re all agreed, so we took in Jamz, Sibylla, and Locke. I checked my party window.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Party Window</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Leader</td><td colspan=''3''>Linderman-lvl 16</td></tr>[tr]<td width="25%">Members</td><td colspan=''3''>Moxxie-lvl.15    Dave-lvl.16   Vy-lvl.15 Raknar-lvl.15 Thelia-lvl.14


    Secundus-lvl.16 Plank-lvl.13 Drywood-lvl.15 Phalanx-lvl.17 Leai-lvl.14


    Logan-lvl.16 Jamz-lvl.15 Sibylla-lvl.14 Locke-lvl.13</td></tbody></table>


    ¡°Alright, that¡¯s everyone I need, time to move out. Thanks everyone, for coming out today, send me a friend request, and I¡¯ll message you guys next time I have something.¡± I say to the 16 I didn¡¯t take. There we''re plenty of complaints and grumbles, people talking about I  wasted their time.  Just as  I was getting a bit annoyed, Raknar stepped forward.


    ¡°I thought something like this would happen, so i took precautions. Hey Everyone! Listen, 2 days down this road, there''s a crossroads. We''re  heading straight, but  if you head right, you can find your way to a forest glade where a sub boss of the forest is, the lvl.20  Hobgoblin Boss, and he and his minions drop some pretty good items. If you head left, you can hit an  abandoned copper mine.  be warned, there are imps infesting the place, but if you can take the first floor, you can make some pretty good money I think.¡± He said smiling. the other users  thought about it, and began chattering positively. Raknar looked over at Moxxie.


    ¡°If I keep being more useful than you, then you won''t be 2nd in command forever, you know?¡± he said with a smirk.


    ¡°Oh you sly bastard, you¡¯re coming after my position huh? You think this changes anything? Hmph!!!¡± Moxxie said, with mock annoyance.


    ¡° Wait you told people about that?¡± I asked Moxxie. She looked away.


    ¡°Indeed she did. Truly,  I believe myself to be of a better stock for  this sort of thing, I¡¯ll have you know.¡± Said Dave.


    ¡°Treachery!!! Treachery on both fronts! Fine, I¡¯ll show you all who¡¯s number 2!!¡± Said Moxxie.


    ¡°Wait, it''s a competition? I¡¯m all in!¡± Said Secundus


    ¡°I-I¡¯ll do my best!¡± said Thelia


    ¡°Sooo are newcomers eligible?¡± Phalanx asked.


    I sighed. I should probably put a stop to this, but hey, maybe the competition will be good for them? We got some last minute supplies, and hit the road, leaving the forest town behind us.

 Progress!

    We all left together. My party of fifteen, and the 16 others whom were  not chosen.  First things first, we went and caught Vy some new pets.  There were no dogs, so instead, we got her two wolves, an alpha wolf, and two twin tailed foxes. We wanted to get her some goblins originally, but it would seem her tame isn''t strong enough to capture sentient beings even if they''re classified as monsters. It''s fine though, cause the foxes have a magical ranged attack.  I wanted to keep Vy to one type of creature until she was more capable, but I don''t think that''ll help any of us, we need to push ourselves.


    Of course, some of my constituents were bored, to say the least. However I fixed that quickly. We veered off the Main road. not too far that we couldn''t find it again, but far enough that monster attacks became far more frequent. I finally had a chance to test my formations.


    We started with the custom ones that I had came up with on my own. These were  the same ones that we had been using since the beginning. A large group of goblins came out in response to our numbers, around 35 or so.  Which would have been fine¡­ but they were riding wolves.


    ¡°Alright, my originals know how it''s done, watch them!  Arrowhead formation! Break their charge! defensive types up front! Magic types in back, be prepared to move!¡± I said. This is kinda bad.I didn''t think that this many would appear at once. I forgot the newbies aren''t used to my methods, did I try  to push them too hard, too quickly? We charged forward regardless.


    Raknar led the formation, knocking back a good number of goblin riders with [Shield Bash].  the other melee fighters did their best to remain in formation and knock down goblins, effectively ending their charge.  I quickly ordered everyone to switch to diamond formation, a four-sided defensive formation wherein the melee fighters form the outside layer, and range fighters for the inside.


    I gotta say, it''s the best one I''ve come up with by myself, because it can easily be switched to from the arrowhead formation. Unfortunately, a lot of them weren''t used to my play style, and the formation formed slower than it should''ve.  A few wolves got in. I was worried for a moment, after all, it only takes a few enemies inside to make the whole thing crumble. Or so i''ve been told from the history channel I''ve been watching with increased vigour.


    Anyway,  Dave and Moxxie engage the few that got in, and keep them busy while the formation solidified.  I¡¯d like to take a moment and appreciate how much they''ve grown, but alas, I don''t have the time. The wolves are rallying around and attacking the two front sides.  Ahh but here is my formation¡¯s time to shine. The melee fighters have tightened up the formation, and now, it''s time to counterstrike.


    ¡°All long range fighters! Commence bombardment!¡±


    In history books, reenactments, and mainstream movies, I always wondered why when the hand to hand combat starts, all ranged combat stops. Well i realize the chance for friendly fire is there, but here, that chance is considerably lessened. The mages and long range fighters  shoot the  goblin riders down with impunity, and the enemy can''t do anything about it, because the melee fighters are in the way. in a matter of a few minutes, the  goblins are handled.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Level up!</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Leadership +15</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Not bad,  actually, that was fairly quick for a level growth. Then again, I had been close to lvl. 18 when I died. While everyone was grinning and patting each other on the back, I was approached by a woman. she was taller than me, and rather muscular, with short dirty blonde hair, but she had an unmistakably  girlish face.  I [Analyze] her, and find out her name. Happyko. She¡¯s fairly famous around these parts, certainly more so than me. Happyko ¡®The Massacre¡¯ was known for brutally chopping down men and beasts alike with her great axe, though she doesn''t have the murderer¡¯s mark.


    ¡°Well now, you did a right good job, there. Usually, most mind work these brats put into fightin is ¡®fighters in front, mages in back¡¯. Aint seen no type o¡¯ strategy since i was with <KrazyBonez>¡± She said.  Her southern accent was strong, but she made no attempt to soften it.


    ¡°You were with <KrazyBonez >¡± I ask. I figured I had time to talk, seeing as all the loot had been gathered, and we we''re all beginning to move again.


    ¡°Indeed, Captain of the 22nd land division¡¯s 3rd squad under Skullkin himself, I was. 100 men sayin ¡®yes ma''am and no ma¡¯am¡¯, it was quite entertainin.¡±


    ¡°Then why aren''t you with them now?¡±


    ¡°You quite the curious one ain¡¯t ya? Well if you must know, it stopped being fun. <KrazyBonez> is called an elite guild for a reason. Every elite guild has their own specialty, and <krazyBonez> is known for being the most militaristic. Their discipline is why they win, but first n foremost, this here¡¯s a game. It''s posed to be fun. They play so seriously, I''m  thinkin they lost sight of that, but I never did, so I left.¡± she said.


    ¡°Wow that''s uh¡­ that''s crazy.¡±


    ¡°Mmmm, it was. I just hope you don''t end up the same way sweetheart, I can tell that''s where you headin. Oh and, by the by, you may wish to stop fraternizin and fightin alongside us rejectees, otherwise we may end up thinkin we goin.  Quit a few of us are itchin to get our resumes in to you for reconsideration, myself included. A d-rank quest aint exactly common sweetheart.¡± She said with a wink before strolling off.


    After that, just as she said,  I was approached by several more people. They tried several different methods to enter my party, not the least common of which were  bribery and flirtation. Even from some of the guys¡­.


    Anywho, after that, I began keeping my party a bit more separate from the others, a few more paces ahead, usually. Not much, but enough to get some sort of separation. The day ended  after several more fights. That night, I separated us into two camps. Unfortunately, while the others had an adventurer type player, they didn''t have a thaumaturge.


    The adventurers¡¯ [Campsite] skill repelled monsters at night, the effect wasn¡¯t 100%. but we had both Moxxie¡¯s [Campsite] and Leai¡¯s [Anti-Monster Field]  so even if monsters aren''t repelled by the fire, they still won¡¯t be able to get passed the field at their level.  The same couldn''t be said for our associates. I heard them get attacked at least twice.


    In the morning, we continued on our way.  It was a fairly calm  travelling, and we we''re almost to the crossroads, where we would separate, when we encountered something.


    The Roaming Boss: Sakon, the Three-Tailed Fox.   It was level 25 and had several two tailed minions that  seemed  somewhat bigger than normal ones.


    This is bad. Bad, and yet good at the same time. Worst comes to worst, we die, but the experience, combined with the possible rewards we''re too great to ignore. This boss had never been encountered before,  so we had no info on it and there was a significant level difference. But we had numbers and tactics on our side.


    Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    ¡°Reverse Diamond formation!¡±  I shout.  It was a new formation I had come up with on our journey, for surrounding our opponents. I made it with the idea of  trapping monsters for Vy, should we need to again.  While the four-sided diamond shape remained the same, as the name implied, the positions were reversed. There was space occupied by the   Boss and his minions in the middle, with the melee classes surrounding them, and ranged classes on the outside.


    The ¡° rejectees¡± which we had been separating from joined us as we took on the beasts. We We focused on the minions first. We needed to minimize the damage that could be done to us, rather than focus on trying to end this quickly regardless of the losses.  Efficiency over effectiveness, I suppose. The boss was incredibly powerful, every time it attacked,   someone lost a pretty good portion of health. But the minions were less so.


    Their magical attacks we''re strong like the bosses, but their physical attacks were pitiful.  I ordered the formation to tighten,  while focusing on buffing and healing.  I didn''t realize how hard it would be, doing this all by myself.  I really have to invest in a priest or cleric or something later.  Incidentally, our Thaumaturge is shining in this battle. Because we keep the enemy enclosed in the formation, she can set up her corrosive field and not have to worry about the enemy escaping. The minions we''re all dead, and the battle would soon be over.. Or so we thought.


    When the Boss¡¯s health dropped below 5%, it''s behavior changed drastically.  It¡¯s attack became drastically increased, as well as its speed.  It began lashing out violently. we had deaths almost occur several times. Luckily, I was bringing my A-game, and the wizard had prepared potions beforehand to sell to us at the crossroads. Sadly for him, he had to give them out for free now or we would all die.


    The three-tailed fox found a chink in our  formation just as his health was running out.  We thought he was going to escape, but when he broke out of the formation, he doubled back and began barraging us with magical blasts from his tails. the effect was devastating.  A nearby Axeman died  from a direct hit.  We began slowly trying to retreat, but it was so fast, it would just circle around us and fire some more before running through the camp and    slashing at us . The other druid(not ours) was the next to die.


    ¡°Locke! block it off, try to trap it! it only needs a few more hits! Everyone else focus on offense!¡± I¡¯m trying to take back control of the situation, but it isn''t going well. Luckily, Locke does as I ask, and starts putting up walls of earth , blocking the fox.  A few people start attacking as I said, but about half are still just trying to steer clear of the monster. The fox lunged out, seeking  one last victim, one last person to take with it to the grave.


    It¡¯s eyes set on Thelia. She had been one of the ones trying to avoid it, which I could understand, as she can''t really attack much anyway. But their eyes locked, and that was the only verification the fox needed. It  rushed toward her, it''s malicious intent obvious.  Locke tried to  block it,  but the fox had seen that trick too many times.   It jumped just as the wall was coming up,  using it to launch itself at it''s target. Raknar  yelled out. he knew he wouldn''t make it in time. but I was a lot closer. I could.


    I had already started running towards Thelia the moment I saw the fox head for her.  I didn''t really invest in the agility stat, but I pushed myself to the limit.   I wouldn''t make it in time to push Thelia out of the way. but I could make it in time to intercept the fox, and that''s what I did. I launched myself as hard as I could towards the space the Fox would soon occupy and activated my [impact]. I had stuck out my orb at the last second, and the combined physical and magical attack hit the monster directly in it''s side, earning me a critical hit.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Level up! x2 </td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>For being the first to slay Sakon, the Three-tailed Fox: +200 fame</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>+50 Leadership</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Impact has reached novice level 1!


    Now deals two hits!</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>New Skill: Mana Burst!


    Shoots a burst of mana over a short range.


    Deals 75 pure magical damage


    Mana cost:50


    Incantation:Vikt Aarya </td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td> Health Channeling has reached novice level 1!


    Now relieves pain! Every one point channeled becomes 2 for the target!</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>New Skill: Group Health Channeling!


    Pools Multiple allies health together! Be warned, if all the health disappears, all individuals connected will die.


    Limit: 5


    Time limit: 5 minutes </td></tr></tbody></table>


    I knew it! I knew this would be worth the risk! I finally have a decent magical skill!  This also proves a theory I had. But I¡¯ll discuss that later. I look down at the body of the fox.  I couldn''t see it before, cause he was kinda trying to kill us, but he was truly a beautiful creature.    Pure white other than a streak of crimson running from his head to his tails.


    I look at the items that dropped, and picked them up.  Everyone probably thought I would try to  keep it all, but I did something else instead.   I gave the four items to the "rejectees". It was the skin of the   Fox, some shoes, a robe, and some gem.  They we''re surprised, but took the items gratefully, and  decided amongst themselves who would get what. My group was a bit upset about that, but I explained we would probably get better rewards anyway.


    We walked for a few more hours, until we finally reached the crossroads, where we parted into three groups. Me and mine continued heading north, Happyko took a group east towards  the Hobgoblin Boss, and  the Wizard, Merlinius (how creative) took the others and headed for the copper mines. He probably is upset about the opportunity  to sell his potions that he lost.  We all exchanged contact info,  and parted  as friends.  Me and my group picked up the pace and hurried down the road until night fall, when we camped out.  We had made good time, and we''re now fairly close, by noon, we would finally be near our goal: The Boulder Settlement.

 The Boulder Settlement

    We  got up a little before sunrise, and moved out.  We were silent as we marched down the road in the pale morning light. After a few minutes, the trees began to thin out, and  forest became woodland.  there were  trees still of course, but they we''re smaller, and there were  more shrubs and  bushes. The monsters didn''t attack us anymore, in this area, they were too low levelled. I guess this is a sign for future reference that we''re nearing civilization. or the remnants of it.


    We walked until the land began to dip, and  the trees cleared. Before us was a deep, green valley.   it was early morning, but even from the edge of the valley, we could hear the sounds of life.  Birds chirping, animals crying, it was quite idyllic.  But at the far side of the  valley lied our goal, The Boulder Settlement, and beyond it, the mountain range of the same name. Luckily the valley was a lot wider than it was long, so it wouldn''t take long to reach the settlement now, half an hour if we hurried. But something didn''t look quite right.


    ¡°Thelia, look ahead at the settlement, tell me what you see. Moxxie you too, if you still have any visual skills¡± I say.


    ¡°Ummm, we''re a bit far away, but I¡­ I¡¯ll do my best!¡±


    ¡°Roger, bossman!¡±


    They began to use their perspective skills to analyze the settlement. Thelia¡¯s orb began to shine as she closed her eyes. Moxxie¡¯s eyes began to glow and become more focused. Hmmm, as I recall, that wasn''t how her skill [Eagle Eye] worked, she must be using a new skill. I¡¯ll be sure to ask her about it later


    ¡°Hmmm. I can''t quite tell what we got here Linderman. I mean, my skill zooms in, and highlights enemies in red, but it seems like the whole town is tinged with red¡­.¡± Moxxie said


    ¡°Ummm, same issue over here,  i see blue  humanlike creatures and little lights all around,  but I can''t tell what exactly they are, or what level they are because we''re far away¡­ i''m sorry.¡± Thelia said.


    ¡°It''s fine,¡± I say, ¡° I know exactly what I¡¯m dealing with. Ghosts.¡±


    ¡°¡±Ghosts?!¡±¡± Everyone says simultaneously. God, you would think this was a cartoon.


    ¡°Yes, ghosts. The former residents of this settlement to be exact.¡±


    ¡°Ghosts have never been encountered before in game. How do we deal with them?¡± Raknar asks anxiously.


    ¡°We wing it. We  throw whatever we have at them, see what works and what doesn''t, hope for the best. We have no alternative.¡± It was the truth. We really didn''t have any other choice but to charge in. We certainly didn''t walk for almost a week to get here only to wait until someone else had fought ghosts so we could make a viable strategy. Like seriously, have you ever walked for a week? It''s a maddening experience that I wouldn''t wish on anybody.


    ¡°What Linderman says is true. Still, we should check and recheck supplies, and choose our finest weapons, that way we''re as ready as can be.¡± said Phalanx. We all rechecked our gear, pulled whatever restorative items we had out of our inventories, and  put them into our belts or pockets for quick access. I checked the party window.


    <table><tbody><tr><td colspan=''4''>Party Window</td></tr><tr><td width="25%">Leader</td><td colspan=''3''>Linderman-lvl 19</td></tr>[tr]<td width="25%">Members</td><td colspan=''3''>Moxxie-lvl.19    Dave-lvl.20   Vy-lvl.17 Raknar-lvl.21 Thelia-lvl.16


    Secundus-lvl.19 Plank-lvl.14 Drywood-lvl.17 Phalanx-lvl. 20 Leai-lvl.20


    Logan-lvl.18 Jamz-lvl.18 Sibylla-lvl.17 Locke-lvl.17</td></tbody></table>


    I wish we had levelled up just a bit more. We only have 4 players past the level 20 milestone. At level 20, we get a new skill for our class, in some cases two. In Dave¡¯s case, he got a passive skill which increased his overall max speed, and another called [Sword-hand Mastery], which basically gives him a bonus with one-handed swordplay when combined with martial arts... even though he doesn''t even use martial arts. Raknar just got a skill called [Shield Launch] which is exactly what it sounds like. Oh well, even if I did  have my lvl 20 skill, it would probably only be a  crappy support skill.  We''re here now, no time to think about anything but the task at hand


    We move out towards the not quite abandoned village. after 30 minutes, we we''re a few hundred yards away behind some bushes for cover. We we''re finally close enough to [Analyze] our enemies.  They were indeed ghosts, but there were two types: Lesser Ghosts, and Wisps. The Wisps looked like floating balls of pale, translucent blue energy, while the lesser ghosts looked like blue gray humans, though they were less defined past their torso. The wisps we''re lvl.7 the ghost, lvl. 13. The problem we''re their numbers. There we''re more than a hundred at the very least.


    ¡°Jamz, you''re up. Draw some away from the village towards the  opposite direction, can you do that?¡± I ask.


    ¡°Yeah, but if you want them more than a mile away, I''m going to have to leave.  my skill doesn''t extend quite that far.¡±


    ¡°No that¡¯s fine, just get them as far as possible without leaving. If they realized what you were  doing, and caught you alone, you would be a dead man. We  don''t know how smart they are, so let''s play it safe.¡± I say. I definitely don''t want to lose anyone now, and Jamz has some surprisingly high firepower. I don''t know if we¡¯ll need that later.He began muttering his incantation, then suddenly, a loud voice echoed from the other side of the village. it wasn''t coherent, but it succeeded in drawing around half  the spirits away. The voice sounded around 5 more times, drawing them out  a good 800 yards at least. That should buy us a little time.


    ¡°Move in now! target the wisps first, see what they react to!¡± I shout.


    Raknar and dave went in first of course, they have the highest attack and defense together. The Wisps noticed them first,  and began shooting blasts of pale blue energy at them. it didn''t do much damage however, and the two reached the wisps without losing much hp.


    They both began attacking the wisps simultaneously, however, the damage output was rather low, especially considering their opponents were lvl. 7. it took several hits to take them out, and by then, some of the ghost began taking notice. The ghosts rushed towards them, their bone chilling moans reverberating off of the abandoned log houses.  But unfortunately for the ghosts, our boys had back up.


    ¡°Everyone fire long distance skills on the ghosts!¡± I shout. The ghosts are rushing towards us, so i don''t think they can attack from range.  Everyone begins firing their skills and spells, and the group of ghosts that noticed us dies quickly. It seems that they are heavily resistant to physical damage, but vulnerable to magic. unfortunately, out of the 7 mage-types  in my party, only three are reliable  offensive magic casters. No, two, Locke is capable of offense, but he¡¯s primarily defense. I didn''t have time to think further, as we began being swarmed by  the Ghosts and wisps. They could phase through the walls of the cabins, so i didn''t have the initial protection I thought I did.


    ¡°Locke, Leai, I need barriers! Everyone, move towards the town circle, we need space!¡±


    After we ran towards the center of the settlement, Locke but up 3 Earthen walls, and Leai put up an anti monster field as a 4th wall towards the rear. As expected, Locke¡¯s walls, which were charged with magic, slowed the enemies down, but did not stop them. However, it worked well as as filter, only around a dozen we''re getting through at a time, into a square around 15 meters in length and width. That was easily manageable.


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    We threw formations out the door, and focused on eliminating the enemy as quickly as possible, the mage-types focused on the ghosts, and warriors on the wisps.   Everything was going well,   Dave, Phalanx, Secundus, and Logan were  sticking close to the walls,  doing their best to  damage things before they made it through.


    Raknar and Moxxie were doing their best to guard the magic users, Thelia was watching the area around us that we couldn''t see due to the walls. Leai had set up a healing field in the middle of the enclosure, and was now standing by, with Plank protecting her. Neither one could do much else in the battle, understandably.


    Vy was having her twin tailed foxes fire their magical attacks alongside Sibylla and Locke. Sibylla¡¯s Dark magic was proving to be a powerful factor in this fight. Her [Dark Bolt] and [Blackwave] spells we''re quite formidable, even though the Incantations for them are somewhat long.  Jamz is also  putting in a lot of work. He shouts his spells against his enemies, his deep voice contrasting with the shrill screams of the dead. His sound magic effects a wide area of enemies, though it isn''t incredibly damaging. I suppose, just like a Bard would buff a large group of allies, he damages a large group of enemies.


    Locke is also fighting fairly hard. He¡¯s shooting rock bullets at the ghosts, and while they aren''t as effective as some the other magic, It has low cost, so he can just keep firing. Me and Drywood are playing the role of support. We buff everyone as much as possible,  and cover people when they need to head to Leai¡¯s [Restorative Field]. It''s a bit unfair how much better his [Nature¡¯s Blessing] is, compared to my [Strengthen] though¡­ whatever. Yes, the battle was going at our pace. And then, the moans.They were the same moans we had already gotten accustomed to hearing while fighting the ghosts, but they were louder, more numerous.


    ¡°Th- the ghosts are coming back, the ones Jamz  lured out!¡± Thelia shouted.


    Dammit! I wanted to finish this group before dealing with them, I thought we would have more time! We had taken on  a good amount, so there weren''t many left, but now with the other half of the ghosts, it was like 65% of the original number was bearing down on us. Locke¡¯s walls slowed them down, but still, they were phasing through, about 20 at a time.  We quickly fell back to the Anti monster field after 5 minutes. Several of us were in critical condition, mostly the warriors. It was only a matter of time until  we died. Unless¡­


    It was risky, but there might be a way to turn this around. I could tank the Ghosts, and distract them long enough to get some people to the healing field. The reason The warriors couldn''t stand up to the ghosts well is because they were magical creatures doing magical damage, however, due to my high INT, I have high magical Defense. The question is though, how long I could hold out. It was a gamble, but one I had to take.  Nothing was getting done in here, but wasting time.


    ¡°I¡¯m saying, Why can''t you just set up a healing field in here?!¡± Phalanx shouted. I had been hearing this argument go on since we got to the field.


    ¡°I''m sorry but I can''t¡­ I can''t layer fields like that¡­ sorry¡± muttered Leai.


    ¡°Why don''t you stop screaming at a little girl and get your ass out there Phalanx, show us some heroics, huh? said Moxxie


    ¡°You know what bit-¡±


    ¡°Everyone!! Wait until I  draw their attention, then run for the healing field. Locke, set up walls as soon as you get them there.¡± I yell. Not waiting for an answer, I rush out, and begin firing my [Mana Burst] skill at the ghosts, drawing all the aggro. I see my hp going down quickly, and then, I sit down and activate a skill I had never had reason to use before, [Mana Conversion].


    The ghosts swarm around me,  attacking me with their incorporeal limbs.The pain is insignificant, but the cold... everytime they attack me, a chill runs through my body, but that''s not all. it''s so weird, I feel¡­ tired. I don''t want anymore. I want sleep. Suddenly, I¡¯m getting dragged  by my arms. Some liquid is poured down my throat. When I look up, Sibylla is standing over me pouring  some odd potion into me. I can still hear the sounds of battle, so it must not be over. Then I hear a voice


    ¡°Bossman, you okay?  Yo that was crazy, never do that again! Sibylla, He¡¯ll be fine now, go help Locke and Jamz!! Hey Druid guy do that healing thing you do.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Drywood¡± says a quiet voice.


    The haze lifts from my mind as I begin to see what was going. It''s not like my eyes were closed, but¡­ for some reason, earlier I wasn''t really seeing, just looking. I rise to my feet, apparently, I was dragged to the healing field, and given a potion. I had some sort of status effect going on [Curse of the Dead]. But nothing''s really changed. The warriors have healed some, but everyone''s still fighting,  and we''re surrounded by dozens of the dead.


    ¡°Everyone, I¡¯m gonna go back out there, this time-¡±


    ¡°Fuck that.¡± said Moxxie. I was about to voice an argument, but was again interrupted.


    ¡°You were going to lure all the  ghosts together, and have us shoot at them right? You would die from friendly fire, and there would still be ghosts, and we''d still die. if we¡¯re going to go, I''d at least wish to die respectably.¡±  Sibylla said while firing black magic off.


    ¡°Might as well die with a bang eh? You might as well not argue, You don''t get to be a hero today, its not even like you.¡± Said Locke with a smile as he sent a wave of earth towards our enemies.


    ¡°What happened to ¡®I take orders and don''t talk much¡¯¡± I ask


    He simply shrugs, saying ¡°Change of policy.¡±


    ¡°Whatever, you guys better not regret it! All or nothing, everyone attack!¡± I activate [Group Health Channeling] for the first time, linking me, Raknar, Jamz, Sibylla, and Locke. Our group health was a little bit over 4000!, I had Raknar stay towards the middle so he wouldn''t take much damage, then started shooting  the enemy as much as I could, paying no attention to my mana pool.


    And I wasn''t the only one. Everyone started shooting off their most powerful skills one after another. We were prepared to die and we  didn''t hold anything back. Even the unshakable dead hesitated before us as we  tore through their ranks. the next 10 minutes we''re a blur, but at the end of it all, all the spirits had been laid to rest, and  there we''re 13 of us still standing.


    Plank had died  soon after we went all out, he went and  drew the aggro of some ghosts on purpose and died saying something about how it was all worth it for the contract. Logan died sometime in there as well, but as I had said, it was all a blur. we looked at each other, and just as we we''re about to start celebrating, we heard an ominous creaking noise. the door of the big house on the far side of the  town center had opened, and three spirits walked out.   I cursed my stupidity at almost getting excited too early. I forgot this was a quest, and what quest doesn''t have a boss battle?

 The Phantom Bosses

    The three spirits were slowly approaching, a pale ghostly aura surrounding them.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Phantom Boss: Elder Lao Kei has appeared</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Phantom Boss: Chief Alseif Fullbuster has appeared</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Phantom Boss: Nameless Warrior  has appeared</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°Damn it, I was careless! Everyone, head to the center of the healing field!¡± I shouted!  While we  waited for the inevitable battle, i took the opportunity to analyze them further. They we''re all lvl. 20, thank God. After facing a level 25 Boss before, I can safely say we would all die against one of those.  Unfortunately, while I have levelled my [Analyze] skill up sufficiently enough to see their levels and health bars, I can''t glean anymore information from them this way, so I guess I¡¯ll have to do it the old fashioned way: Guessing.


    I start with Elder Lao Kei. He¡¯s dressed in robes   similar to what I''ve seen on  mages back in the city.  He has an orb in both hands, one red, and one blue.  He also has unusually high health, higher infact, than either of the spirits he came out with. Well, that pretty much settles it, he¡¯s most likely some type of Channeler. He¡¯s probably the weakest one here, but if we leave him alone, he¡¯ll become an annoyance.


    Next, is Chief Fullbuster He¡¯s wearing clothes, upper class ones by the look of it. In his right hand, he holds a pickaxe, and in his left, some type of chisel. I can''t tell exactly what he does, but he looks more like a crafter than anything. If he is a crafter, he¡¯ll have high strength and dexterity.


    The nameless warrior is just that: a warrior. He¡¯s wearing full armor, including a helmet. In his left hand, he had a single, sinister looking sword that seemed to be broken towards the end. He stood taller than the other two. toward the end of my analysis, his behaviour changed.  He pounded the ground once, then charged toward us with a raspy scream, as much on four limbs as on two.


    ¡°He¡¯s coming!¡± I shouted. We had mostly healed up, but our mana and stamina were a little low. This battle would be difficult. He closed the distance quickly, until he reached the anti-monster field. Then, somehow, he began to walk over it.  It didn''t look like it was easy, but he was certainly doing it.


    ¡°Leai, cancel out the [anti-monster field], and set up a [corrosive field]!¡± I shouted, seeing the boss almost at the edge of the field.


    ¡°Okay, but after I do that, my mana will be severely depleted, I won''t be able to  do much else but maintain the fields!¡±


    ¡°That''s fine, hurry!¡±  She didn''t have much fighting potential anyway. She did as I asked, and the Nameless Warrior regained speed. He was only on the field for a few moments, so his health didn''t drop far. Locke moved to intercept it, as he had the highest magical defense.  While all this was happening, I took the  chance to check my notifications, I had to have passed  lvl. 20 by now, I could have learned a more powerful skill.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Level up x3!</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Congratulations on clearing the first milestone (lvl.20) You have been awarded a skill! Next milestone at lvl.50</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>New skill: Mana Channelling!


    Channels mana at a rate of 5 mana per second</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Orb Mastery has reached intermediate!


    Greater effect from charging up an orb</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>New Title: Slayer!


    You and your fellows have killed over 500 beings in under an hour, earning the title of slayer!


    +5% damage against all things</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Of course, the skill was useless, and it had even worse rate than [Health Channelling].  The title should help, but 5% was a little low.  My greatest hope was probably in [orb mastery]. While I was consumed in my thoughts, I heard a noise, and saw Locke¡¯s body flying past me, covered in blood.


    ¡°He deals¡­ physical damage!¡± Locke said, coughing up blood. Looks like he got slashed pretty hard.  I turn and look at the Nameless warrior.  His body must be corporeal, unlike his ethereal brethren. Which means it''s time for a tactics change.


    ¡°Raknar, Phalanx! you two engage that one! Dave, follow up, and  cut his health down when you see an opening! Moxxie, you do the same, but keep an eye on the other two, when they get close enough,  I want them full of knives. Sybilla,  curse him up. Jamz, slow down those other two.  Drywood, u stay here, and help heal Locke, and protect Leai.¡± I said quickly.


    ¡°What about the rest of us?¡± said secundus.


    ¡°You guys just stay in the  [Healing Field]. We¡¯re gonna need you as fresh as possible before this is over.¡± I say.  I watch and see the battle between  the Nameless Warrior and our guys. The Warrior was severely Debuffed,  and was being pressured on each side by Raknar and Phalanx, while Dave weaved in and out slashing at the warrior whenever possible. The  warrior also had a thin knife sticking out of one eye socket of his helmet. I could guess who''s work that was. Still, the boss was taking little damage from the physical attacks, and more from the  magical ones  sybilla was putting out. Unfortunately, we only have one Sybilla.  Jamz was busy holding back the other two bosses by using sound waves to induce the ¡®Dazed¡¯ status. Locke was still recovering. It was up to me.


    I hurried and used [group health channelling] on myself, Dave, Raknar, Phalanx, and Sybilla. I noticed  the warrior had got a hit in on Dave, sending him into a critical state beforehand.  Then I began sending mana through my palms, charging my orb. On a side note, I was most likely the only one in my party who could do this, reason being, they didn''t know the feeling of mana or stamina.That was because no one else took the tutorial. NO ONE! Like, I realize tutorials are boring, but come on guys! Anyway, the process took  around one minute, then I  got closer and let loose a [Mana Burst]. The effect was pretty good, I got the knockback effect , which was strengthened by the fully charged orb,and the Warrior flew back into the corrosive field.


    ¡°Hurry and move up! keep him there!¡± I tell my comrades. They run to the edge of the field, and set up defensive positions. God, I wish Logan wouldn''t have died, he could have kept up the damage output at a greater range, being a  spearman and all. I decided to switch back to support anyway.  With the warrior in the corrosive field, his heal will steadily go down, all the others have to do is keep him there.  That being the case, I began buffing  my teammates with [Strengthen], and debuffing the Warrior even further with [Weaken]. over the next two minutes, the Warrior¡¯s health went down to critical levels. As it got lower, his damage output increased to the point where I had to go back to the healing field and ask Drywood to heal me some to keep us all from dying.


    Just when we thought that the warrior was down, something happened, his health bar was increased. No, increased may not be the right word. I recognize what happened, as I had just done it myself. I looked over at the other two bosses, and they we''re far closer than  I remember, and their health bars were lower.  The Elder Lao Kei had an orb held


    high, thin tendrils of mana connecting him and the other two bosses. He had just cast [Group Health Channelling].  Damn it, I wanted to kill one so that we wouldn''t have to deal with all three.


    ¡°Secundus,  Vy, Locke. Break time''s over.  Go support Jamz.  Jamz! Go full offense on em! Drywood, support if you can. Thelia, Hit the warrior with a [Skyray], then,  if he¡¯s still alive when the cooldown is up, hit em again. We need him dead. Moxxie! switch targets to Lao Kei! Remember everyone, try and keep them in the corrosive field!¡± I said.    The fighting escalated quickly.


    Secundus, Vy and her monsters we''re doing their best to combat Chief Fullbuster, but his high attack stat made getting in close hazardous. He also seemed to have an recovery skill which due to the effects of [Group  Health Channelling] would heal all three. The Elder was also a nuisance as he kept buffing the other two, and debuffing us.  He had a high mana pool, being a channeller, and I knew he could do it all day, whereas we weren''t at 100% at the  start of this battle, and we''re wearing down fast. And then it hit me. I remembered the greatest strength of the skill [Group Health Channelling] is also it''s greatest weakness. I was about to end this battle so anticlimactically I was almost disappointed. Almost. We¡¯ve been out here on this quest for days. I¡¯m ready for it to end.


    ¡°Everyone, five seconds after I stop talking, hit the Nameless Warrior with your most powerful skills. It doesn''t matter who you¡¯re fighting right now, just do it! Start counting down. Mages start your incantations!¡±  I said. and five seconds later, everyone turned towards the Nameless Warrior, and  rained hell upon him.¡±


    ¡°[Mana Burst]!¡±


    ¡°[Knife Barrage]!¡±


    ¡°[Shield Launch]!¡±


    ¡°[Shadow Sword]!¡±


    ¡°[Heavy Slash]!¡±


    ¡°[Reckless Charge]!¡±


    ¡°Foxes, [Magic Blast] Wolves, [Rush]!¡±


    ¡°[Skyray]!¡±


    ¡°[Dark Orb Barrage]!¡±


    ¡°[SONAR BLAST]!¡±


    ¡°[Earth Missile]!¡±


    ¡°...[Wild Vine]¡±


    Twelve high powered skills and spells all hit the body of the Nameless warrior, who had the lowest defenses, instantly bringing the bosses¡¯ joint  health to zero.  Luckily that worked, because it also brought down our mana and stamina to dangerously low levels. We would be dead in the next 3 minutes, probably. But that isn''t what happened. we won! The Bosses slowly faded away, as their health was now empty. In hindsight, it wasn''t anticlimactic at all.


    ¡°Haha¡­ hahahahahaha!¡± Suddenly I found myself laughing.  Looking around, grins began to appear  on all my friends faces as well. Soon we were  all laughing and slapping each other on the back.  After a few moments though,  the pale translucent energy I came to associate with ghosts began to swirl around and condense.  Elder Lao Kei appeared before us once more. Our hands immediately flew back to our weapons, but The Elder raised his hand, and spoke.


    ¡°There is no need for that, young ones. We have been defeated, and our minds are our own once again, if for but a short time. Please, if you would, join us at the Town Hall, that we may converse, and thank you for what you have done here.¡± The elder vanished.


    A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Slowly, we took our hands off our weapons.  None of the ghosts had ever spoke before, only screamed and moaned. The elder also looked more¡­ human than he had only a few minutes ago, when we did battle. We turned and headed in the direction of the biggest building that we could only assume was the town hall.


    When we opened the door, we heard the same ominous creak as before, when the bosses first came out, but when we entered, there were no traps, only a large foyer, with three  bluish spirits at the far end, near a derelict fireplace. As we approached,  two of them waved at us, grinning. The nameless warrior just sat on one of the sofas silently, still fully dressed in armor.


    ¡°We¡¯d ask you to sit, but I''m afraid these poor sofas have seen better days. They¡¯d probably break under your weight!  Luckily, We¡¯re weightless! HAHAHAHA!¡± Said the one I believe was named Chief Fullbuster. He¡¯s dressed in the same clothes he was wearing earlier, but they seem to be in better repair. He, like the Elder, Now looks more defined and human. I could see he had huge muscles under the shirt, but still had a beer belly. Overall, he gave off a friendly neighborhood drunk kind of feeling.


    ¡°Do be silent Lord Fullbuster.   Mentioning things like their weight when there are women present, how rude. Conduct yourself more as the head of a settlement should!¡± the elder said.


    ¡°Oh come on, Lao! We''re dead now, so none of that ¡®etiquette¡¯ bullshit matters now!, Come on, just call me Alseif!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do no such thing. Also, refer to me as Elder Kei.We are in the presence of youngsters, are you attempting to make me lose face? Shameless!¡±


    ¡°Ugh, whatever, this is why when we were alive, no one invited you to private parties, you''re no fun. Anyway,  Hey kids, gather round, I¡¯m going to give you all some gifts! Ah, but first, You''re gonna have to listen to this  old man tell you a story.  How we all died.


    ¡°It''s important you know, so you don''t make the same mistakes we made. I¡¯ll start from the beginning. Back then, I was just Alseif from the capital slums.  I had talent, so I ended up an apprentice for a local blacksmith. over the next ten years, I mastered every field that had to do with metal. Mining, Blacksmithing, engraving, sculpting, you name it.  using my skills, I made the set of armor and accessories that once saved the prince¡¯s life. In his gratitude, he granted me  nobility, and the beginnings of a settlement.


    ¡°We started off  just me, Lao,  that warrior over there, and a couple dozen settlers. over the next fifteen years, our ranks swole to over one hundred households. The settlement was mining the Boulder mountains, and our small contingent of guards, led by the warrior here of course, we''re able to repel any threats that entered the valley. Everything was fine, until one day. We had delved too deep into the earth, and stumbled upon something.


    ¡°It was an ancient evil, sealed deep under the mountain,we weakened the seal, allowing a bit of it''s malevolence out. It spawned vile creatures in the mines, killing many workers before the warrior could get down there with his troop to try and defeat them.  They we''re unsuccessful. However, they were spared¡­ only to be twisted into something even more foul.  The warrior in particular  had impressed that foul demon, and was  partly possessed by it.  his very identity was warped.


    ¡°He is not nameless, only, no one remembers his name, or his face. He was at my wedding. He once saved Lao from a bear on the way here, he was there for the birth of our children, and yet we cannot recall his name¡­¡± The chief trailed off, and looked straight ahead, as though recalling some distant memory. It almost looked as though his eyes we''re watering The elder resumed speaking in his stead.


    ¡°We were  all corrupted by its influence.  After the befouled troops exited the mines, they fell upon the settlement like rabid dogs, killing their loved ones, their friends, everyone.  In the end, the majority of people died fighting,  some of the merchants with fast carriages we''re able to get a few of the women and children from the violence before  it was too late. But myself,  Chief Fullbuster and all the other spirits you fought here were killed in action, fighting the possessed warriors, or the demon spawn. We became ghosts due to coming in contact with the corruption of the demon.¡± Chief Fullbuster rose a hand, signalling he was alright. He began speaking again.


    ¡°We don''t tell you this in order to seek vengeance, though it would be nice. We know better though. Right now, we are shadows of our former selves, which is the only reason you defeated us.  We were over lvl. 100 when this tragedy first sprang forth, and we still were no match. No, we only tell you this, that you may know the truth of this matter, that you know the true history of the Boulder Settlement.


    ¡°Now, Enough of this foul business! Thank you for setting us free!  We have gifts to give you, lowborn prince!¡±


    ¡°Lowborn prince?¡± I ask. Is that some new title?


    ¡°Ah, you don''t know,¡±  The chief tapped his head, then pointed at the circlet I was wearing. ¡°Kid, that''s a crown.  One for the poor man''s¡¯ kings, one of few. Well, it don''t much matter anyways, only  the low class will recognize it. where''d you get it?¡±


    ¡°It was¡­ a pity gift.¡± i said, recalling the unpleasantness I went through, getting this Circlet of Poverty.


    ¡°Mmm probably didn''t even know what he was giving  away, probably found it someplace like a ruin, or sewers. Like I said though, it don''t really matter, cause only the poor, and the high aristocracy would recognize it as even being a crown. And only the poor would actually respect it. Anyway, onto gifts!!¡± The chief  announced, and began laughing heartily.


    While he was doing so, the Nameless Warrior approached me.   He put  a hand on my shoulder, and I felt energy flow into me. Before I could even react, there was a sound, as though he was taking his last breath, and the warrior burst into light particles and  drifted off, disappeared.


    ¡°No fair!¡± Hollered Fullbuster, ¡°I¡¯m the Chief I get to move on first! Lao, Summon him back here this instant!¡±


    ¡°That would be impossible. Now, for my gift.  You are a Channeller, no? You are the first I''ve ever seen to fight on the front lines, to command men.  But you are weak, I too am a channeller, so I know this.   I give you this gift, that you might find some measure of strength to protect your friends. That is a Channeller¡¯s job, no?¡± The elder said with a wry smile. then, he gave me a ring.  It immediately appeared on my left index finger.  I analyzed it.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Spectral Ring


    Skills: Summon spirit, Spectral energy absorption


    Spectral ring is soulbound.</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Summon Spirit


    summons 1 wisp


    mana cost 50


    Basic level 1</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Spectral Energy Absorption


    Absorbs nearby spectral energy


    passively increases mana regeneration.


    MAX level</td></tr></tbody></table>


    ¡°That ring is the first step to being self sufficient in combat. Absorb as much spectral energy as you can, whenever you can find any, it¡¯ll help the growth rate of the ring¡¯s skill. Start here. I wish I could do more.¡±


    ¡°My turn, My turn!¡± The chief said. ¡°This is ridiculous! treachery! making me go last like this Lao!¡±


    ¡°My lord, we''re simply saving the obvious best for last.¡±


    ¡°Oh¡­ of course! Wahaahahaha Of course it was that way, I must be getting old to not have realized. even though I''m kind of dead. Well, anyway, If there was one amongst you that practiced metalworking, I could give you greater rewards, but alas.¡± Damn Logan, why''d you have to die on us like that? As I recall, Logan had obtained the [Smithing] skill somehow. But since he was dead, we would never know what ¡®greater rewards¡¯ we could''ve had.


    ¡°Well, I suppose all that''s left is to give you what we died for, in hopes that you make it great again. Take care of Boulder for me, hmm? Remember, that you are the ones that make this place a home. I mean, without friends, this is just a random valley with wood and stone sticking out of the ground. Now, it is time I joined my darling wife.¡±


    ¡°Agreed,¡± said Elder Kei. ¡°It has been far too long since I have witnessed my Landria¡¯s smile, heard her  angelic voice,  held her close. I can only hope that in the next life she continues to love this man, who never deserved her.¡±


    ¡°Fuck all that poetic shit,¡± said  the chief, disappearing. ¡°I miss Julie¡¯s  titties hahahahahahahaha!!!!¡±  His voice gradually died away


    ¡°UGH that man¡­. I hope the gods do not see fit to pair us together in the next life, he is insufferable. Still, what he would do without me, and I without him, I do not know. Be well young ones, I wish you all the fortune in the world!¡± Elder Kei said with a smile, before he too disappeared.


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You have completed the Quest: Bringing the Dead Peace!</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>Level up x3</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td>You have been given ownership of the settlement: Boulder</td></tr></tbody></table>


    <table><tbody><tr><td> You are the first player to own a Settlement of any kind!!


    +1000 fame


    +500 Leadership


    +50% Settlement Growth</td></tr></tbody></table>


    Wow, this¡­ this was far more than I imagined  it ever would be, I told my friends about it, and they were all shocked too. I mean, it was a D rank quest, usually it''s C rank or more in most games that can get you a whole village, and those require whole guilds. Then again, why complain? We went  and looked around the village, quiet other than the sound of wind breaking on the houses. I was  busy collecting the last bits of spectral energy in the area, when i saw something to the south. I called Thelia and  Moxxie to look at the growing black dot on the horizon.


    ¡°Exactly 267 players, Linderman.¡±  said Thelia.


    ¡°They got a weird flag too. It¡¯s crimson, with a bunch of small swords making up one big one¡± said Moxxie.


    ¡°Shit¡­isn''t  the myriad of swords? seriously?!¡± Raknar said , looking at me. I slowly nodded my head. Well, this wasn''t going to be fun.


    ¡°What, what is it?¡± asked Dave.


    ¡°That, my friend, is <The Horde>¡±

 Time to move on

    ¡°Everyone, go collect everything of value that you can from the houses! Do it as quickly as you can, but try not to  disturb anything, or make it look like you were searching for anything.¡± I said


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we be getting ready for a fight or something man?¡± said Secundus, with a confused look.


    ¡°Can you fight right now?  Your health and stamina is low, just like everyone else''s.  Even if it weren''t, there are 267 people coming, for purposes we don''t yet know. And even if, we were  at 100%, AND we could take 267 people with just 13, that down there is <The Horde>. They don''t know the meaning of give up. They don''t have to either, because they can just throw wave after wave of people at something until it finally breaks. No, we have to talk this out.¡± Secundus couldn''t respond, but he was obviously pissed, why though, I don''t quite understand. Whatever, I don''t have time to explain any further to him.  I turn, and begin raiding the houses.


    ¡°Ayye man, they may not know we¡¯re here yet, we could make a run for it¡± phalanx said, as I came out of a nearby house.


    ¡°What was the first thing I did when I made it to the valley?¡±


    ¡°Hmm, you had Thelia and Moxxie scout the whole region with their skills.¡±


    ¡°Anybody would do the same thing.  Now, they may not have sensory skills as good as our people, but out of 270 people or so, I¡¯m sure they had at least one person who could scan this area and tell them people were here. besides, I have a sneaking suspicion that they came here because they knew we were here, the real question is-¡± I stopped midsentence. I could hear them now. The many, disorganized  steps; the unified beat of Bards¡¯ drums. Well, that definitely meant running was out. Those drums probably boosted movement speed, and the only speed types here are Dave and Moxxie.


    In the next 15 minutes, they came into view, walking in through the main entrance of the settlement.  You don''t really have an appreciation for how many people 270 actually is until it''s right there in your face. there was a whole line of huge, obvious tank type players with mismatched armor and various weapons, all at the  ready, with players of various classes all mixed together behind them. They parted, and a small retinue of players stepped forward towards myself and my friends, who had quickly reassembled.


    Two of them I recognized right away. Solitude and Jay. Or rather, Jay and Solitude. Jy hated being last.  They looked as surprised to see me as I was to see them.  We didn''t have time to catch up. The player in the front stepped forward. He wore a complete set of bronze armor  with a thin red cape. He had flowing black hair going at least down to his breastplate. I instantly disliked him as I dislike all pretty boys. woman hogging bastards.


    ¡°Good afternoon, I take it, you all are the party of the one commonly  called  The Whisperer, yes?¡±


    I stepped forward. ¡°What do you want?¡±


    ¡°You''re him?¡± He asked with  smirk, ¡°I represent <The Horde>. I am Volcan Rey, perhaps you''ve heard of me.¡±


    The name struck a familiar chord in my memory. I probably saw him on some footage with <The Horde>. ¡°I¡¯m Linderman. Allow me to reiterate myself, what do you want.¡± I can''t afford to show weakness, and look him straight in the eyes.  He smiled and opened his arms wide.


    ¡°Why this village you stole, of course!¡±


    ¡°Stole? No, I went on a quest for this!¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes, probably after you heard <The Horde> was looking to acquire villages like this very one. you knew we had our eyes on this one, and we want it back.¡± The man said with a grin.


    ¡°Over my-¡±


    ¡°Dead body?  As you can see, we came prepared for that possibility too. Hell, maybe we don''t just kill you, maybe we should burn it down, just to make sure. We don''t know how the ownership mechanics work in this game, killing you might not transfer ownership. We can start fresh then, new buildings and everything. That''s sounding like the better option more and more. Orrrrr, you could just transfer it over like a good boy.¡±  His grin  grew even further.


    Damn it. He got me. I¡¯d be willing to fight for this place, and die for it. But burning it? After everything we did to get it, all the man hours that went into the quest? We walked through a monster infested forest for a week, got killed by a sociopath, and  got swarmed by a host of spirits! I couldn''t let that happen.  Unfortunately, that meant we couldn''t fight either. we would lose, even if we went all out, we could maybe take 20 before they overwhelmed us. The they''d burn it. No, we were gonna lose this place, one way or another.  I¡­ just have to get something out of it, anything. My eyes darted around, looking for anything I could use to help me. They fell on Jay and Solitude.


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


    ¡°You really gonna just watch this shit happen?¡± I asked. Their expression had looked conflicted since the beginning. I could only hope they would say something. And they did, luckily enough.  They approached Volcan Rey, whispering in his ear. I could only hear bits and pieces of it, but it sounded like they were telling him that I was somewhat famous, and I could hurt their reputation. I really wish I had thought of that¡­


    ¡°You know,although this village  rightly belongs to <The Horde>, out of a show of benevolence,  we have decided to pay you a finders fee. 200 Gold.  You may show your gratitude.¡± Volcan Rey sid, with his ever-present grin. 200 Gold was what one of the HOUSES was worth. I really, REALLY didn''t like this man. And Luckily, I had just thought up a nice revenge scheme.


    ¡°Make it 250,  and I¡¯ll soak up all the spectral energy, and make it so that the ghosts don''t come back, and I¡¯ll tell you about a killer dungeon near here.¡±I said. Volcan seemed to mull it over, then responded.


    ¡°I¡¯ll ignore your greed, and pay you the 250, fine.¡±


    ¡°Then we have a deal¡± It took Volcan Rey a few moments to gather the funds from his unwilling subordinates.  Neither one of us had used the trade system before, but after a few trials, it was done. The Boulder Settlement was no longer mine.


    ¡°The Dungeon is an abandoned mine in the mountains. Just a warning, you should be at least level 30 before you enter, according to the former residents. Ah, but after level 50 It¡¯s not as profitable, so you should take the whole Horde down there when you guys are around level 35.¡± I said.


    ¡°Wow, so this is how <The Horde> does business huh?¡±  Volcan snapped his head in the direction of the voice it was one of the four players that came out with him. A man on a Black Donkey. I didn''t know his name, but I knew who he must be. If rumors were  to be believed, he was The First Rider. He continued.


    ¡°So if I were to join up, I would be reduced to harassing people, and stealing from them. Yeah, Count me out.¡± He turned and urged his donkey forward.


    ¡°Wait Raluin!! You can''t just leave!.¡± Volcan shouted.


    ¡°If you have a problem, Just contact Infinitie, see what he has to say.¡± Volcan visibly paled at that. As well he should. Infinitie was a name anyone knew. The founder of <The Horde>. Which made me wonder exactly who the rider was to throw his name around so casually.


    ¡°Tch. Fuck that guy. Hey, Why the fuck are you even still here? It''s our village now. Out. Everyone else! Move into the Settlement,lets see what we got here!¡± sadi Volcan Rey. Jay and Solitude followed him into the Settlement, shooting me a final glance of remorse. The rest of the players followed, all except a mage type, who made up the last of the players with Volcan. He just stood there, smiled at me, then left in the opposite direction of the village.  Me and my people walked out of the village silently. At the edge of the valley, I stopped, and turned toards them.


    ¡°Lets split the 200G evenly.¡±


    ¡°What bout the other 50?¡± Asked Phalanx.


    ¡°I¡¯m keeping it.¡±


    ¡°What the hell, why?! We''re supposed to be a team!¡± screamed Secundus. Several of my other friends began to get rowdy and ask the same thing, so I answered them.


    ¡°It''s for us!  It''s the beginning of guild funds.¡±  I said  I looked around them, into all of their eyes. I didn''t want to give voice to what would come next, but it needed to be said.


    ¡°We just got robbed in broad daylight! We¡¯re weak, we''re few, and no one gives a shit about us! I look around at you all, and I can tell how you feel, it''s written all over your faces!  You''re angry at me for not fighting for you, you''re mad at yourselves, again for not fighting for you, but more so, you feel weak, unimportant powerless, like trash. I''m sorry, but we don''t have the time, nor the privilege of feeling sorry for ourselves. We need to take care of ourselves, get stronger, get people, make a name for ourselves, so that we never, EVER feel like trash again. Are we agreed?¡± There were a few moment of hesitation, and then:


    ¡°Agreed¡±


    ¡°... Agreed¡±


    ¡°Agreed!¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡±


    ¡°Agreed¡±


    ¡°Agreed!¡±


    ¡°Agreed!¡±


    ¡°Agreed¡±


    ¡°Agreed¡±


    ¡°Agreed¡±


    ¡°Agreed¡±


    ¡°...Agreed¡±


    We were  unanimous. I nodded my head, and we moved out towards the forest nd the now setting sun. It was time for change.

 End of Volume 1 (Not a Chapter)

    This is the end of the first volume of The Channeller. There''s going to be a short timeskip (two weeks) When we resume in Vol. 2.  As is customary for all my Fics, I always hold a Q& A after every volume, since I dont really respond to  comments (even though I read them all.) Feel free to ask bout anything in the story here, and i will do my best to answer without too many spoilers.