《Dawn》 Prologue Prologue: Georg Dear Mother It is finally Christmas again. I hope from the bottom of my heart to soon return to you, Adriana and Livie again. Make sure Adriana is eating enough and tell Livie again not to go to the forest alone, she knows it''s dangerous. We dealt another devastating blow to the Alliance in Berlin last month, we might even advance all the way to Madrid this winter! Pray for my safe return and for the Empire! Yours Georg ''To hell with the fucking Empire. Seven years already are we fighting and there is no end in sight. These letters only make me think of the family I used to have in a life that seems distant after all this mindless slaughter.'' He sighed while crumbling the letter in his hand. ''They might not even be alive anymore. I don''t want to think of it but this winter has been harsh even so far in the south.'' He got up from the desk and went to pack his gear. Around two hundred 50 Caliber rounds for his sniper rifle. He even packed explosive rounds for the enemy drones and Powersuit users. Next to all the necessities like food, water, rope, sleeping bag, tent, night vision goggles and much more he of course got his bow. Georg was a sharpshooter in the 15th division of the Great Saudi Empire. The 15th had the current objective to secure parts of the west coast of Italy in preparation of the coming invasion into Alliance territory, formerly Spain. ''I still only really trust you'' He absently though as he eyed his bow. It was more a heavy bow, considering the explosive arrows he primarily used weighed over eight pounds. Packing everything together his gear weighed well over 200 pounds but that would drop to at least half as the mission went on. Georg was always prepared for everything. That''s also a reason why he was one of the best. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. He equipped his combat suit and stepped into the elevator. ''The snow is beautiful this winter, if only it wasn''t for this slight diplomatic disagreement.'' Thought Georg as he rapidly approached the helipad. He silently stepped into the chopper which lifted off soon after. ''Insane how silent these things got in last year, I barely hear the rotors.'' He thought as he slowly reopened his previously crumpled letter. - You doin alright? His partner asked, feeling the changing mood. Georg only nodded once, he was known to not talk as much as others. He was also known to be less dead than others. It''s generally advised to be silent in the 15th division, being on the front can easily alert soundmules, a new variant of mines reacting to spoken language. They started to pop up around this time two years ago, an early Christmas present from the Alliance. This is why the rookies always ask why nobody sings anymore. Inhaling the cold air rushing next to the flying chopper Georg almost felt nostalgic. ''Another fucking year. The only thing that''s keeping me together is blasting another one of those Alliance shits. Why can''t it all just end?'' - Oh fuck Georg check this out! Dimitri pointed to the South. Turning his head towards the mentioned event Georg saw the moving forest, the falling snow and high above it he saw fire. ''Finally Christmas'' The only thought that came to his mind as he saw the likely end of this war descending over Europe. The spectacle didn''t take longer than two minutes to astonish. A blinding flash could be seen on the horizon all over the world as life itself turned into dust. As of yet unknown this event would later go down in history as the Hour of Hope. Chapter 1 Chapter 1: Gwenith (2nd year after Hope, Spring) - Faster faster! I can already hear the beasts! Gwenith was hurrying her little sister. ''Stupid, stupid! How could I not control the boat.'' While her little sister, Dora, was unloading the meager couple fish they had caught this afternoon Gwenith carefully put leafs and sticks on top of the fisher boat. ''Maybe this time they won''t destroy it.'' The people living in Valaan are dependent on the fish from the nearby river. Valaan is a small town to the east of New Sydney inhabiting around 200''000 Travelers. Even though two years have passed since the Hour of Hope food supply and safety are still in a desperate state. Gwenith and Dora were asked to catch some fish in a relatively safe part of the river to help out. Beasts rarely venture there but the night is never safe. ''I should have been stronger, I couldn''t do anything against the strong current.'' Thought Gwenith while hurriedly running southwards with her sister close behind. The weather was darkening and heavy clouds were forming ready to pour their collected water on the fields. A blessing for the yields but dangerous nonetheless. As soon as the sun leaves the sky beasts get more aggressive and bold. Barely a sane adventurer can stand for long against an onslaught of beasts at night. - Sis it''s starting to rain! - I can see that, try to run faster but don''t lose the fish! I don''t want this day to go to waste! Running through the blooming rain covered forest the two girls nearly showed an idyllic picture if it wasn''t for their tensed expressiones. - I can hear them... Dora whispered almost inaudible but Gwenith caught the meaning immediately. - Drop the fish, maybe they''ll take it first. Dora did as she was told and scattered their food for the next two weeks around them. - We have to split up, you know the lessons. - Gwen I can''t...please don''t - Don''t cry, not now. You have to be strong now. You know where the Valaan is..now run! - I love you! - Run! They split up and run vaguely southwards. They were told to always split up when danger is near to divert the beasts attention. At least half the people were sometimes saved that way. Of course most people wouldn''t listen or wouldn''t abandon their loved ones. They at least died together but to survive in this world...the world of Dawn, one had to be ruthless and strong. Gwenith knew this even though she was only twelve years old. Before the great light enveloped their country Gwenith already lost both her parents. When the Empire troops came through her village, pillaging and killing she hid. She didn''t make a single sound in the five days she hid below the rubble of her house. If it didn''t rain on the third day she would have died. The rain soaked her and even though it was spring a shiver went through her body. Terrified and cold but she still had hope. At least one of them should survive. ''Let it be Dora..it was my fault, my fault, my fault...If I was stronger we wouldn''t be so late!'' But as calamity often strikes the already unfortunate a shrill scream went through the forest, freezing Gwenith''s bones and striking terror in her mind. ''AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH'' She could hear growling and the whimpering of her friend...Dora, in the distance. Dora wasn''t her real sister but they stuck together after coming here, she was just like family. Terror and fear occupied Gwenith''s mind but she just stood there mud covered and shivering. ''Stop...please just stop...not again not again not again....I can''t take it anymore...make them stop'' Gwineth screamed...she screamed louder than she ever has. It sounded more like a shriek. Something you would hear when driving past a mental asylum. - AAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! The growling stopped for a second and then came closer. Out of the trees came six brown and grey wolves. Well wolves are the closest they resemble on earth. They were over a meter fifty (about four feet) in height and three meters (eight feet) long. Their muscle was easily visible through the thick fur and their eyes were black like death itself. Their paws and mouths were embellished with impractically long fangs and teeth, yet none the less deadly. They circled the small girl that attracted their interest. - no more no more no more ''Kill them...make them stop'' A thought crossed Gwenith''s mind. A thought that rejected reason. A twelve year old girl is ambushed by four bloodthirsty wolves looking for their next meal. They stepped closer still cautious because of the shriek displayed earlier. Another girl missing and probably dead would be the logical conclusion of the events unfolding right now but perhaps the logic and reason we came to accept isn''t at play in this world... The weak prey standing before them suddenly exploded in crimson light. A radius of sixteen feet was covered in what was seemingly blood. The confused wolves retreated a couple steps to reevaluate their opponent. - HAHAHAHAHAHAHA Laughter could be heard coming from the little girl. Gwenith was staring in front of her, where a small non intrusive display could be clearly seen hovering. You have aquired a unique class: Berserker This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Vitality +50 Endurance +50 Strength +100 Dexterity +50 Resistance +50 You have acquired a new stat: Mental Strength Mental Strength +10 You have learned a skill: Bloodthirst 10% Damage and Attack speed increase (Tier 1) when in Bloodthirst. Chance to regenerate Vitality and Endurance when attacking Ignores Pain and reduces 25% Damage taken. 10 Mental Strength required (Tier 1) to uphold 1 Endurance per Second The once weak prey standing before them now emitted a dangerous aura making the wolf''s fur stand up. A connected blood red tattoo started to show up all over her body. The little girl licked her lips smelling the blood covering her adversaries. She slowly bent down and picked up a log twice as big as herself in each hand. This would not have been physiologically possible on Earth but in a world reigned by different rules this wasn''t the case. This world was Dawn and here begins the story of the Berserker Gwenith... She felt the air around her, could hear and see each step her prey took. Her perception seemed to have skyrocketed. The smell of blood in the air was making her excited. She wanted to fight, to destroy and splatter her enemies. She never did anything like that before but she understood that this world they entered after the great war was different. People could do things thought impossible before so why shouldn''t she? Gwenith took three fast steps towards the nearest brown furred wolf and smashed the nearly ten feet long logs together in a horizontal swing from both sides. The wolf was startled from the fast movement and couldn''t react in time. His front legs were brutally broken inward making him unable to move. Blood and bone was flying around covering both the wolf and Gwenith. - HAHAHAHAHA A laugh from the depths of her being could be heard even through the crashing rain and thunder. A laugh signifying that hiding was no longer an option, that the weak and broken has finally stood up. Looking at the next wolf terrified of the scene before him Gwenith threw the log in her right hand like a javelin, crushing the wolves head and back. The log and wolf alike splintered and an explosion of blood, wood and flesh could be seen in the next illuminating flash of lightning. The other two wolves soon regained their composure and circled the mad girl now only having one log remaining. They closed in at the same time and the wolf at her back bit in her right leg. There was no pain though, the only thing Gwenith saw and felt was blood. Ignoring the wolf before her she used her free hand to grab the one behind her, ripping his snout off in a swift movement, spraying blood at herself. The mangled wolf whimpered and tried to flee while the other one was already gone, seeing the fate of his pack. Gwenith jumped on his back and hacked with all her might and teeth into the wolf. The struggling wolf soon lay limp before her. You have leveled up by 300%, current level 4 (100% = 1 level and 200 = 2 levels). You have 15 undistributed stat points. Name Gwenith Thersa Level 4 Class Berserker Stats Vitality 55 Endurance 55 Strength 105 Dexterity 55 Intelligence 5 Wisdom 5 Resistance 55 Special Stats Mental Strength 10 Skills Bloodthirst The Valaan guard came running as soon as they heard the screams coming from the northern forest. Ten men armed with either swords or spears were closing in on the scream, unmistakably a human girl. They had an average level of about 10, so the wolves occupying this part of the forest being an estimated level 5 or 6 weren''t much of a problem. Rapidly running through the mud covered field the guards soon found something other than the expected 19th corpse this month. Two crying girls were holding each other in the midst of a gruesome scene. Three dead wolves were lying around them with their bones broken and bodies smashed. The stench pierced right through the heavy rain. Noah, the 18 year guard who started his duty this week was emptying the contents of his stomach. - Jal cover the girls up and get them back to Valaan. Let a healer check them out. Peter collect the usable pelts and meat. C¨¦cile look after Noah. Gareth calmly analyzed the situation and ordered his men accordingly. He was an officer before Hope, so gruesome scenes and fast thinking weren''t new for him, not that is was for anybody coming to Dawn. ''Pity about the stew though, it even had meat in it today. What in the fuck happened here though, I''ll have to talk to that girl later and maybe even hide her from the Guild.'' Chapter 2 Chapter 2: Georg (Hour of Hope, Winter) The snow was still falling but the blinding light was gone. ''Is this it? Why does hell look the same as before? Ah right...'' The confused sharpshooter looked around. There were several other people here, and they were naked. ''Cold, very cold...'' Amidst the confusion, wailing and screams eyes of strangers met each other. Nobody knew what had happened. The nukes should''ve marked the end of their existence yet here they were...naked and shivering. - AAAAAAAAHHHHH A scream shook the lost souls and brought their attention to a young Caucasian man in the process of being mauled by a bear. ''What the shit, what the shit?!?'' Georg hurriedly looked around and found a couple sizeable stones on the ground. ''What are you doing again Georg?'' He thought to himself as he threw one of the stones right at the bear''s head. It bounced off but the bear let the young, barely alive and bleeding, man go and shifted his attention towards the new aggressor. ''Well I fucked up now...'' Thought Georg as he started to turn around to run as far as possible away from those 400 pounds of war machine. - clonk Georg saw somebody else throw a stone at the bear from the corner of his eye. He turned back around and gathered more. - Women children get behind us and run, we''re gonna distract it! Several naked men and women seemingly from various different countries gathered stones, sticks and whatever else they could find on the ground and attacked the bear from a safe distance. The bear was confused because of the many different targets and eventually ran away. - What was that? - Do Bears act that way? I''ve never seen anything like it... - Don''t they normally leave immediately if there are more people? - Maybe it''s babies are near? - That doesn''t matter now, what happened and where the fuck are we? Georg finally brought everybody back on track. They first got the fleeing people back and then went to look for shelter. They soon found a small cave. - Well let''s hope it''s not that bear''s. - You, we''ll check it out and see if it''s safe. If we don''t return in 15 minutes look somewhere else. Georg and one of the men who fought before entered the cave. There wasn''t much space inside and the smell wasn''t the best either but it was dry and not as freezing as outside so they got everybody inside. They had gathered a sizeable amount of wood while searching shelter so most of it was now piled up to make a fire. Most of this happened without people speaking and considering there were at least a couple soldiers present with experience in survival techniques the fire was burning in no time. Georg felt the rising tension and anxiety. ''I fucking hate leading...they always always die...'' - Mama I''m hungry. - Shh Carl, we''re gonna find something... The mother''s voice wasn''t very convincing though. ''Oh for fucks sake.'' Georg started - Alright listen, we seem to be stranded here together so we have to work together to survive. First, people here seem to be from all over the world so don''t mention your nationality. Not a single word, we don''t want the war to reach this cave... - And who the fuck made you the leader asshole? Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.- *Thump* The man sitting next to the person interrupting knocked him out in one heavy punch to the chin. - Anybody else want to interrupt? - ... - Then continue. - Thank you, so no nationality, no family names. The next thing we have to do is survive, we can kill each other over ideologies, resources or skin color later. First though, we need food and water. Georg had a lot of experience and even training on how to react in a situation like this. Instructing civilians in a warzone wasn''t very different than this, just that this time you die too if they fuck up. ''Now this one might be dangerous...'' - Who has army training? Don''t mention which one though. One of the men immediately answered - Me. Dave''s the name, the dude who''s knocked out too. I know him. He''s alright, name''s Sean I''ll keep him in check. - Me too, worked under you before. Won''t mention where...Name''s Valder. ''So I have to talk Valder for the smooth organization thus far.'' Three other people had training too, so 7 minus one unconscious. There were twenty people in the cave in total including three children. - Two of you look after Sean. The other six build teams of two. We gather whatever we can to get through the day. Nothing else was necessary. There was no panic and no screaming. Everybody found something to do or help and the children stayed quiet. ''Seems like the war was at least good for something...'' Thought Georg as he skinned the rabbit he just caught with his makeshift spear. The first couple weeks were harsh, three of the twenty people in Georg''s group died in the cold. Two more disappeared in the night. They managed to put clothes together and even build some spears and bows. The quality was of course very meager but all the people had experience with handling raw materials and most even with weapons because of the long war. A couple days later while hunting Georg and Valder came across a lonely hurt wolf. - Shh, over there...wolf. - Seems hurt, might be the bear got him. Hah! - Wanna get something else than rabbit today? - You fucking bet. They checked their surroundings and stealthily approached the wolf. When they were around 100 feet away from the wolf they drew their bows. Two arrows nearly simultaneously hit the wolf. It didn''t die though. - How is that thing still alive? - It really should be dead...it''s not moving though. Let''s shoot again. Another two, then four and finally 10 arrows pierced the wolf when it finally went down. You have leveled up by 100%, current level 2. You have 5 undistributed stat points. Name Georg Dauid Level 2 Class - Stats Vitality 5 Endurance 5 Strength 5 Dexterity 5 Intelligence 5 Wisdom 5 Resistance 5 Special Stats - Skills - - No...oh no nonononono Chapter 3 Chapter 3: Georg (6 Months after Hope, Summer) - Hold the bow steady. Breathe slowly and controlled...very good! Georg praised one of his disciples. The fact that he actually used a bow in the war helped him a tremendous amount in this new world. - I will check on Agrid, keep training until lunch. - Understood Georg, thanks for the help. Can''t wait to snipe my first wolf. - We''ll see about that, hahaha. ''Don''t die on your first hunt and we''ll talk.'' He left the training ground and went straight to the center of Hofen. Hofen was the village Georg and a couple thousand survivors started to build after they realized how many people stranded in this new world. They banded together and started to build simple tools, gathered materials, food and seeds. The land wasn''t barren luckily but they still had to wait through the winter months. Many died in those first months but many also survived and got stronger. There turned out to be some sort of leveling system not unlike some videogames popular before the great war. But unlike most videogames those stats and skills didn''t really make living here much easier. ''If it wasn''t for the pain and terror the beginners might survive. I never thought a simple confusion spell would create a worse headache than frag grenades exploding next to your head.'' He entered the village square and looked for Agrid. She was a city planner before coming here and tries with many others to put an acceptable town together amidst the crime and monster attacks. ''Can''t we just make a constitution or something, it''s still more reminiscent of apes or barbarians instead of humans.'' He found Agrid in the middle of schooling some seemingly former architects. - I told you the wall has priority, I don''t give two shits about your family not having their own house. - There are enough people building though, it''s only a sideproject. - Alright look, you can build it if you want. In the forest right next to the bears, how does that sound? ''She''s doing a great job. Glad we''re having her.'' He though as he listened with an amused look on his face. - You''re finally here Georg. Cut that smug look and come walk with me. She dismissed the architects and motioned him to follow. - I have to check on the food supply and possible grains so we can do this on the way. How do the new recruits look? - About three hundred started this month and they''re doing alright. We just don''t have nearly enough weapons to properly equip and train people. - First the wall, afterwards tools and especially bows. Any progress on the rules this world has and about the beasts in the vicinity? Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. - Well the wolves seem to be around level five or six. We haven''t managed to bring a bear down yet but one of my guys was hit and didn''t die. He''s currently level 16 so the bear is probably in his twenties. We couldn''t try any advanced weaponry yet because of lacking metals and knowledge. You''d think at least somebody can forge a gun from scratch. - Only wolves and bears? Didn''t those games have more enemies? - We''re only scratching on the surface. Most beasts we encounter are actually attacking us. We haven''t ventured far into the forest. Not without proper gear. - Can''t wait to find bloody elves... They seemed to have reached their destination as Agrid started to talk with the people gathering there. Georg assumed the talk to be over and went to his next station. ''It already nearly seems like a living'' He thought as he looked at the playing children and working adults. ''If it wasn''t for the sudden killings by beasts you could almost enjoy this'' As he settled in his sarcastically happy thoughts he reached his destination. One of many wooden houses. He knocked and entered. - Hello mister - Hello little one, how are you? - Are you also here to see the fire? - As a matter of fact I am, but would you show it to me outside? We wouldn''t want to lose the house... ''Not again at least, brat burned three down already'' While the initial construction of Hofen was underway sudden fires led to confusion. Turns out the arsonist was an eight year old boy using magic. Presumably the first human magic caster. It didn''t cause as much of an uproar as one might expect because people were still struggling with surviving but many tried to learn, and failed. ''Little one might make it to Arch-Mage one day'' - Ok can you show me the flame again? And try to explain to me how you do it. - Hmm, I just think of the flame and then it comes...I don''t know what''s so hard about it... ''I can see this won''t go anywhere. Simple improvement of Intelligence or Wisdom stats won''t do it, some people already tried that. There must be a class connected to fire magic and therefore other types of magic. The sheer possibility is incredible...damn shame he can''t read and whatever shapes he scribbles in the dirt are unintelligibly'' ''Hmm, classes seem to activate in certain circumstances but it''s really too random to determine except maybe Archer or Knight but even those only pop up very sparsely'' - Thanks for the show, I''ll visit you again some time. Learn your alphabet diligently. - I will mister ''Funny though, I seem to enjoy this more than the war...might just be that Hope wasn''t the absolute worst word they could''ve chosen'' Chapter 4 Chapter 4: Sofia (1 year after Hope, Autumn) - No - Sofia come on, you know how this works. You''re part of this family too aren''t you? - I don''t want to, this is different and you know it. - We''re only taking some food, you''ve seen they got plenty...just think about it...meat, potatoes... Sofia stood up and left the room. ''Damn fools, don''t they see they managed to get all that food by working together and not by stealing it?'' She shivered as she left their modest wooden house. ''The second winter in this wretched land. Many will surely die again...'' She sighed as she made her way towards the town center. ''At least the wall is sturdy and high...some seem to even have forgotten who the enemy is'' As soon as the villages and nearly already towns managed to raise their walls the immediate danger from low level beasts was made almost inexistent. At that point crime spiked and many took what they desired. Most villages managed to keep order with some sort of police forces...or rather wolves killing forces. ''I really hope this united Defence Force thing takes root then my brothers wouldn''t have to steal anymore because they''d be in a jail somewhere.'' She reached the town square and checked the notice boards. The one for monster extermination interested her the most. It wasn''t like she loved fighting monsters but there was very little else she was capable of. Two hands were suddenly obstructing her vision accompanied by joyful snickering. - So fi a, trying to get bathed in blood again? - Oh hi there Talia - Don''t be so gloomy, did your brothers try to make you a Rogue again? - I told you not to act like this is one of your games Talia. - Ah come on, there are literal levels and classes, it''s EXACTLY like a game... - And how do you explain all the pain, suffering and corpses? - Eh it''s just super hardcore mode. Anyway I hit level 40 today while hunting, you know what that means... - No Talia I don''t - Oh don''t act like that, we''re getting drunk tonight...we have the technology. - Didn''t you hear, they can''t use grains for alcohol, people are starving! - I know where to get some though and you...are coming with me. Sofia was dragged along with her over impulsive friend. ''I''d struggle but her strength is like 100'' Sofia was level 32 at the moment and her stats were evenly distributed all over the place, except for strength. She didn''t have a class yet and wasn''t yet sure in which direction to go. Fifteen minutes of dragging and weird looks later they arrived inside a newly build tavern. ''At least it looks like a tavern, I didn''t know something like this was authorized though'' This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. - Hey Ron, give us two special drinks to celebrate me hitting 40! - Coming right up Talia, do try to keep it a secret though. I don''t think there''d be a ton of problems but you can''t be safe enough. Talia simply ignored him and started telling Sofia about her last adventure - You won''t believe what we saw in that cave. It felt like a real dungeon or something like that. There were spiders and suuuper ugly slugs. They were like five feet high you wouldn''t believe it! - Sounds dangerous, did everybody make it out safely? - I dunno, I think three died or so but it went pretty good overall. We even got some magical items and a couple tomes. Sofia wanted to retaliate about the easily forgotten dead but she couldn''t help but be excited about the magic items and tomes. It wasn''t possible to learn spells before the first people found old tomes. The books did unlock the classes and spells but they were far from overwhelming and most people stuck with their swords and bows. Tomes could be used indefinitely which speaks for the quality of the classes and spells. It''s said that some people managed to learn new spells with training and meditation but these were mostly rumors. - Can I see the tomes?? - Sure, they''re super useless. I can''t even read two of the tree because of my low wisdom. Not like I''m gonna need that anytime soon. Talia was using a knight like fighting style with sword and shield. - Here is your special drink ladies Ron served them their beer. - Thank you Ron - Thanks! - Here are the tomes if you wanna check them out, you might be able to read them. - I''ll give it a shot. "Identify" Tome of the necromancer Includes spells from the long forgotten necromancer profession. The great king Dal''huin famous for his..... Sofia stopped reading, she wasn''t the least bit interested in Necromancy. ''Having to keep track of summoned corpses is too much of a hastle, I''d rather fight alone'' "Identify" She used the inherit skill on the other tome Tome of healing - School of Paal The daughters of Paal pass this knowledge down to this day. The elven healing church is nearly forgotten but this tome inherits the basics of their powerful spells. Paals daughters were said to heal their allies by slashing them with their blessed swords. Sofia smirked and took the tome. Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Connor (4 years after Hope, Spring) - Ayy Connor, what''s today? - History, practical class and politics I think... - History again?? Why is that so important, it''s not like we''ve been here for that long and nobody cares about the history from before Hope. - Don''t ask me about it, I don''t make the curriculum. I just want my license to be in an adventuring party. - You should finish this year though no? Weren''t you in the first batch of students? You''ll be one of the first wizards with a Guild license! - Not true and you know it, there are plenty of wizards already with amazing classes...did you hear about the arcane summoner last summer? - Yea, they say he was ridiculous, he could kill beasts with the lurker class in two to three attacks, shame he died. - Yup, heard their healer fucked up somewhere on the way and they encountered a Demon class beast. - No way man, didn''t they die a little west of Sydney? How can Demon class beasts be so close? - Well it''s not like we ever leave the walls anyway. If you go a little farther it''s only natural to encounter stronger opponents. - I guess that''s true. Can''t wait for the exploration next month, oh shit. Class starts, let''s hurry! The two teens ran through the hallway made of stone. Busy scenes could be seen outside the windows where the human capital of Dawn, New Sydney, conducted its daily business. - In the third year after the Hour of Hope several villages merged and formed our beautiful New Sydney. Clementine, can you name three of the participating villages? - Yes ma''am. I think Hofen and Pentius were two of the bigger ones. Oh and Oberstein. - Correct, those three were certainly the biggest in size and technology but don''t forget that there were several dozen villages forming our capital today. Two panting pupils entered and immediately started with excuses - We''re sorry Mrs. Stanford we lost track of time. - Oh well I won''t mind today, it''s not like you didn''t hear this a hundred times already anyway. - I don''t know why they still don''t want to teach the old history... Grumbled the teacher below her breath. - Well we''re pretty much done for history in this semester so if you''re all in agreement we can go outside and work on practical magic. Everybody cheered and packed their things. Magic was still very exciting and new. Out of the estimated ten million people coming to Dawn about half lost their lives in the first year. The population more or less stabilized in the second year, mostly because of New Sydney. The fully walled city houses around three million people and is growing slowly. Food isn''t much of an issue anymore and some people already see the city as their new home. This was possible because a lot of people coming to Dawn had military training and could easily survive in the wild. Most of the people who died in the first year didn''t have any experience with survival. This of course also led to a lack of teachers, engineers, scientists and other important non combat professions. Working together with the few remaining architects, city planners, plumbers, farmers et cetera the villages slowly stabilized under the protection of their soldiers or rather hunting force. Before the walls were erected everybody was constantly living in fear. Beasts (Beast class monsters are monsters with an estimated level of 1-50) would generally avoid big groups of humans and acted at least somewhat like their counterparts in the world before, at least if there was a counterpart. This wasn''t at all the case at night though. Beasts would get stronger and more aggressive at night. Some people were speculating that the Beasts lose part of their reasoning when the sun isn''t seen. It''s still unclear if the monsters lose all their reason but considering attacks by cloudy or rainy weather were significantly more frequent than when the sun was shining at least somewhat supports this theory. People were also advised to stay inside at night time because of possible aerial Beasts, even though none were seen yet. Having a save city wasn''t everything though. Of course surviving was the top priority of everybody coming here but many also saw this as a new chance at life. When they were a foot soldier, farmer or salesman on Earth they could now become a knight, noble or whatever fantasy dream they harbored. Even former politicians would take up the sword or magic to go on adventures. Reality often looked different though as many of those dreaming of glory ended up dead somewhere in the wilderness. Comparing Dawn to a game was only somewhat correct. It could be compared to a hyper realistic hardcore mode where pain isn''t reduced. At least healing magic was a possibility but there weren''t yet a lot of high level priests and compared to the advanced medicine possible on Earth their power was somewhat limited. Easily healing a lost eye was certainly possible but determining an infection and producing a vaccine wasn''t. Some higher level healers could already remove bacterial infections but they had to heal everybody infected individually. Previous experience in fighting was of course important but after four years the playing field narrowed a little, especially considering the soldiers were mostly trained with guns or specialized machinery. It was also determined that communication technology wasn''t a possibility as radio waves were disturbed by the magic residue from Beasts and casters. The fact that guns weren''t a possibility was much simpler. They just weren''t considered weapons by whatever system was governing this world. It was just a stick with zero damage output so shooting somebody wouldn''t create a reaction. Still the couple guns made could at least make for some entertaining shows. After four years the life inside the walls of New Sydney was safe. The food was enough and there were even venues of entertainment. Of course humanity wouldn''t just be content with a situation like that so many different organizations were created. The Academy were Connor is currently enrolling as a student was created pretty soon after the first couple magic tomes were found. Unlike most known games those tomes could be used multiple times so many wanted to change their class to some sort of wizard. But just like a swordsman has to hone his skills every day a wizard has to meditate and use spells to advance. It was easier for many to just use the sword or bow compared to magic. It was easiest for children because they didn''t grow up in a world arguably without magic. Connor was fourteen years old when he woke up in this new strange land. In the four years to come he managed to survive thanks to their capable leaders. His father often read him classic fantasy stories like "Don''t Fear the Reaper" or "Immortal Soul" before he left to the frontlines so Connor always dreamed of becoming a magic caster. Living a harsh live in a war torn country he of course never saw it more than a dream or fantasy but coming here he couldn''t help but be happy. Even though he saw an abundance of death and suffering since coming here but just the possibility of magic kept his sanity afloat. ''Now let''s show them what I''ve learned'' were Connors thoughts as he descended with his classmates to the training ground surrounded by the Academy''s stone walls. He always thought fire mages were the strongest. He was incredibly jealous when a rumor spread that an eight year old kid learned fire magic. He could finally learn it last year though, when he enrolled in the first classes ever taught by the Academy. ''I even learned the great fireball last week, they''re gonna be blown away!'' Learning a spell with the "great" additive was quite impressive. The damage output would skyrocket but of course the mana consumption was accordingly. The students didn''t just learn to use spells in school. Considering how advanced military tactics were on Earth they tried to implement it within this new one. The end result was similar to the classic MMO party. Even though those games weren''t really popular at wartime there were still some people who managed to invest some hours into them. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The fire mages were generally seen as some sort of artillery. They had a lot of area of effect potential compared to the single target archers for example. The students got in position behind their dummies and tried to launch attacks without hitting their straw allies. Casting a spell wasn''t very difficult for Connor or everybody learning before eighteen really, it was very difficult to master the spell placement and intensity though. Only few could even display a basic level of proficiency while fighting against melee type beasts with a moving party. This was also the main reason magic casters were often not welcome in scouting or exploration parties. This should change in the future though as proficiency increases. Connor wanted to be part of an adventuring party. A good one, so he had to work hard every day to improve his casting capability. Most parties were contracted with the Guild where the party was evaluated by veterans and jobs were distributed accordingly. This probably wouldn''t have happened in a normal game world were death wasn''t permanent but it was an invaluable asset in Dawn. Jobs were available en mass too. Dawn had its own currency, the classic gold, silver, copper system seen in many game worlds before. The people started to use it because Beasts would sometimes drop those coins and veins in caves could also be found. The economy wasn''t yet stable enough for an introduction of paper money. Some people in power also considered the possibility of non hostile races with whom trade would go smoother when using this world''s currency. So money was one incentive to risk leaving the walls but there were many others. Special herbs, plants and even grains were sought after by doctors, healers and scientists. Metals not found in the confinement of New Sydney to create new weapons and discover the technological possibilities of this world. Different meat from Beasts or even possible livestock. Nobody wants to eat potatoes their entire life. Books and magic tomes were found in ruins and dropped by strong monsters exciting scholars wanting to learn about this world and of course people trying to learn the wonders of magic. Even just the desire to find other people or even races convinced many to join or form an adventuring party. The younger generation also wasn''t as alienated by the new world as the previous ones and were eager to start their adventure. Just like a teen would sneak out to drink their first beer the teenagers of Dawn would sneak out to fight with wolves and test their fighting prowess or spells. Few of those died because the world wasn''t new to them and they knew the Beasts and their capabilities inside out. Turns out learning about ferocious monsters living next door is for many more interesting than math and history. Connor dreamed of going on an adventure, he didn''t really have a specific target like saving a princess or discovering a new race or spell. After demonstrating his great fireball and working hard to improve his mana pool he went back to his room to study. - Connor, not coming out today either eh? - No, sorry Leslie I really want to learn some new spells before we go explore those ruins. Connor shot his friend down again. ''How can they act so easy going when we''re going out there in only a month?'' Many of the younger people in New Sydney were protected from the dangerous world they came to from the very beginning. They didn''t really realize how dangerous this world was. Connor survived alone in the first two weeks after coming to Dawn and mostly just hid from the Beasts. He saw many people getting killed while hiding in a tree. He did crave adventure of course but he knew that no mistakes were allowed or he would pay with his life. - Alright no problem, you know where you find us if you change your mind! Said Leslie as she ran towards the waiting kids. She was the only one who still bothered with Connor. ''Alright, I think I''ll check some other elements out today.'' Learning an elemental spell like fireball or lightning bolt would change one''s class to Elementalist, which was the most basic class for Elemental spell casters. One could later specify their main element and change classes to for example fire mage or storm wizard. There was an abundance of different classes and one could always advance or specify more. Specification would allow for more spells, strength increase of previous spells and of course stat increases. People were still not sure about how certain classes were obtained. Rumors of course spread and supervision had to increase after someone drowned in the river to become a water mage. Looking towards the future many also kept their classes hidden and how they obtained them. Having a strong class would lift one''s social standing and increase the possible jobs one could do. When everybody worked together to survive right after Hope the true nature of humanity soon started to thrive again. Connor was still an Elementalist but his dream was of course being a fire mage or something even stronger. ''I just want to control fire. But for the exploration I think I''ll learn some basic water and earth spells, you never know when they come in handy'' After several hours of reading, meditating and testing the desired messages popped up in front of Connor. Through eager studying you have learned a new spell: Stone Skin: Create a mantle of stone around your body to protect yourself from harm. Reduces damage taken by 25% (Tier 1). Deflects minor spells and projectiles. Movement speed when activated reduced by 40% Requires 30 Intelligence and 40 Wisdom to cast. 5 Mana per second to uphold. Your understanding of Water magic has increased though learning, you have learned a new spell: Water Cannon: Shoot a cone of water at your enemy with high speed and pressure. Damage depends on intensity (20-50/s). Can''t be cast while moving. Requires 40 Intelligence and 40 Wisdom to cast. 2-5 Mana per second to cast. The reason why people had difficulties with learning magic at the beginning was of course mostly because of the missing tomes but also because there was no mana stat. Intelligence and Wisdom could be seen but nobody had any mana. It turned out that the Wisdom stat increases one''s manapool and the Intelligence stat would strengthen the used magic. Non magic classes would mostly use Stamina or officially called Endurance. The numbers themselves were used for evaluation but once somebody entered combat you could feel how much stamina or mana you still had. Where striking with a sword for a hundred times would tire your body, shooting one hundred fireballs would tire your mind. Severe exhaustion, headaches and even loss of consciousness would happen on a daily basis. It was also very difficult to control because to increase your Wisdom stat you had to use a lot of mana constantly, which then lead to headaches or worse. This also had the consequence that most better mages had incredible mana management and often didn''t even have to check their status to see how much was left. Of course this was similar for combat classes but physical exhaustion was nothing new and realizing that running for another mile is probably not the best idea wasn''t seen as especially advanced. - Very nice, two spells. Not sure how often I''ll use them though, the water cannon deals less damage than my fire spells and the stone skin is only useful when enemies get to me, which would mean our party is pretty much dead already. He was happy to have learned two spells even though they might not be very useful later on. The following month passed very fast for Connor. He could even help extinguishing a fire caused by a young Elementalist. The life in Dawn or at least in the city of New Sydney was beginning to feel good. Chapter 6 Chapter 6 - Alright students, today we form our parties to explore the ruins of Ei''Cuir. - They totally made that name up didn''t they? - Yea, I never heard of ruins having a specific name... - Why haven''t they been explored yet Mrs Stanford? - The Academy purchased rights to some places around New Sydney for occasions just like this one. You''re actually the first class we''re doing this with. - Well that sounds reasuring... - Don''t worry, we have a high number of mercenaries from the Guild and the ruins have been scouted as well. There are only Beast Class monsters inside. - Well now it just sounds boring...we''re all over level 50 already, that won''t be a challenge at all. ''Sais the girl who has been leveling in a safe city through meditation and killing straw puppets'' thought Connor. It wasn''t like he had actual combat experience but he realized that it was VERY different from the safe environment they''ve lived in so far. And you couldn''t just trust numbers. A higher level meant better movement, perception, damage, defense and pretty much everything else too but making the wrong judgment in the wrong situation could get you killed no matter how high your stats were. ''And of course teamwork is the most important...I just hope I''m not with her, we can''t have a panicking gap in our formation'' - Alright everybody, you will form groups of four with whomever you like. The Guild representative Mr. Clarke will evaluate you this afternoon and assign your group two to three adventurers. - How good are they? - We employed fifteen trusted level 100 or above mercenaries to assist in the exploration. This was a very high number considering the class had only 20 students. There were of course many more students learning in the Academy but the twenty present were some of the first who enrolled and their abilities could also be trusted. No matter how safe the expedition would be the faculty wouldn''t risk a single person because of low maturity or ability. The expedition to the chosen ruins would bring the first graduates from the Academy. - Hey Connor we still have a free space in our group if you want to join! - Are you sure about him Leslie? - Ah come on Phil, you know he''s a great mage, you saw the great fireballs didn''t you? - I guess so...eh alright, if you trust him I''m fine with it. - You too Rose? - I..I g..guess so. - See, everybody''s fine so you''re in our group Connor! He couldn''t refuse her. It didn''t really matter anyway though. Leslie was one of the best at controlling lightning magic. Phil could create arcane armor and weapons to fight and even had some minor healing spells. But the reason Connor felt at ease was because of Rose. She had the unique class of Ghost summoner. She had to restrain her powers most of the time not to endanger or scare the other students and citizens. The story goes that she was found two years after Hope alone in the forest south of the capital. Nobody truly believed it but most still had an eerie feeling being around Rose. - I don''t have a problem with it. So let''s meet on the plaza after lunch to get our designated meatheads. - Don''t be so mean, wielding swords is difficult too, you have to differentiate between horizontal and vertical hahahaa. - You''re right hahaha Being the first to learn magic in the new world often came with a sizeable amount of superiority. Connor didn''t voice his thoughts but he couldn''t lie about feeling a little better than non magic users from time to time. Everything was blooming when the class left the city via the south gate. The heavy wooden gate slowly swung open as the guards tensed even though their level far exceeded the Beasts living in the forest around the capital. It was a sunny spring day and the smell of flowers and blossoms filled the air. The mood was excited and tensed but mostly positive. The students could finally go on an adventure. Connor saw the mercenaries carefully scan their surroundings and taking their positions in the formation. They had an air of professionalism around them and moved with the experience of many battles. He assumed they were gold class in the Guild ranking system, which meant they had a minimum level of 100. Only few people were even known to reach platinum licenses so their escorts were incredibly experienced. ''How much did the Academy pay for that?'' It wasn''t actually that much. The leaders of both the Academy and the Guild knew each other well and this expedition was seen as publicity for both organizations. More people would want to learn magic and more capable wizards would contract with the Guild. There was a general shortage of capable mages anyway so the Guild was even prepared to pay to help with their graduation. - Alright everyone you know your destination and your group''s route. Our next meeting will be at the ruins of El''ain! Their teacher proclaimed and joined the emergency group of mercenaries. Even though she was a teacher at a magic school, she could barely conjure a small flame. People older than the age of eighteen had difficulties using magic. The reason for that was yet unknown but it was speculated that it had to do with the ability to imagine. Of course Mrs Stanford didn''t survive this long for no reason so she had acceptable capabilities as an archer. - Wasn''t the name different last time? Phil mentioned - What? - The name of the ruin...I think it was different...I knew they made it up. - Who cares, come on let''s go finally. I can''t wait. Connor agreed with Leslie and started walking but was stopped by one of the two mercenaries. - Before we start there are a couple things we will discuss. I know you know the formation but we will go through it once more. I''m Averon and this is Liam, we''ll be escorting you through your little adventure in the next two to three weeks. We''re both melee combat experts and can take a couple hits, so just concentrate on your tasks and don''t worry about us. You can make whatever formation you want in the back but if one of your spells hits us more than once you''re out. Remember the following hand signals. Averon held his hand in the air while making a fist. - This means you stop and crouch...immediately. Use it too if you hear or see anything suspicious. He then lifted one finger towards his mouth and said - This means no talking until we say otherwise. Beasts often hear better than we do and we don''t want trouble because you couldn''t stop talking about your sparkly magic. He then unsheathed his sword, a big bastard sword which looked very heavy. - This means we''re engaged in combat... He then sheathed his sword again and started to walk. After the first couple steps he used the quiet gesture. Nobody dared to talk a single word, in parts because they were intimidated but also because they understood the danger of the wild. Being quiet made sense and kept you alive. Walking through the forest Connor felt naked. Every gust of wind and little sound made the students jump. They didn''t talk a single word until they made camp two hours before sundown. - This place should be safe They camped next to two huge rocks and a little creek. - You can talk quietly if you wish. Everybody is sleeping one hour after sundown. I''ll take the first guard and Liam the second. Afterwards pairs of you will take turns, we can''t risk somebody sleeping on guard duty. If you see or hear something suspicious wake everybody...but I swear if there isn''t danger and you wake me I''m gonna beat your ass. The students had preparation classes beforehand and knew all this already. Connor didn''t think bad of Averon for repeating it though... ''It''s different than in theory. They must hate being out here with us rookies.'' Connor was at least glad that his team seemed to try their best. They didn''t talk a single time when they weren''t supposed to and kept their formation though the whole day. The night flew by without incident. The students slept remarkably well for their first day outside the walls, which was mostly due to their low physical training. After just a day''s walk they were exhausted. After they ate some bread, cooked some water from the creek and packed their things a lonely howl could be heard. - Aoooooooo... - Here comes our first action. Liam I''ll take care of it, you look after the kids. Seem to be about fifteen blackwolves. Blackwolves were a Beast class monster with an estimated level between 25 and 30. The level 100 adventurer didn''t worry much about such an opponent. Of course he might be overwhelmed in time if there were fifty or more but just fifteen wolves were easy to handle. - If you want to test your magic go ahead. The students were excited and Phil was the first to prepare. He conjured his full plate arcane armor and a spear made of energy. All his equipment had a purplish glow to it and was a little smoky. It looked very impressive. ''Maybe I need to change to arcane magic too after all, that looks super cool'' Phil had a smirk on his face as he stepped past Liam. He didn''t miss the jealous gazes of his friends. Phil didn''t use the full plate armor in class and only recently managed to complete it. It had a very high defense rating but he could only uphold it for about ten minutes. - Let''s get ready too Said Leslie as she took the staff from her back. Connor and Rose did the same but Rose didn''t plan to use any spells in this engagement. - Get ready Said Liam as the wolves started to show themselves. Vicious Beasts four feet high and eight feet long. They didn''t wait long for their opponents and started to run towards Averon and Phil. In the heat of battle Phil and the other students froze. The black eyes and seemingly too long teeth of the wolves could only be described as terrifying. The effect didn''t lessen as Averon cut the first wolf in two with a clean vertical cut of his heavy bastard sword. Meanwhile Liam run towards Phil and shoved him to the back while unsheathing his Katana. After two fast movements the wolf going for Phil lay dead, covering the ground in blood and guts. The stench of blood filled the air and the students could only look on dumbfounded as the two men danced through the beasts, slashing them apart. The fight only lasted about three minutes but the beautiful scenery changed dramatically. The ground was covered in blood and flesh. Several wolves were still breathing, coughing up their innards as they did so. - Nice a whole 20 silver Said Averon as he beheaded a still living wolf. - At least we have some pelts... remarked Liam - You don''t really want to skin them and carry them around, do you? - What? They''re like three gold a piece. Make the kids carry them, they have to learn how to skin too. - Eh alright...Hey kids, take these knifes and skin the bastards. There''s a small river near the ruins, you can clean yourselves then. The students only looked at them and the scene with big eyes. Connor hesitantly took a step towards Averon and took the held out knife. He gulped as he looked at the wolf corpse before him. - Oh wow, I was already impressed that you didn''t puke! Might just be that wizards aren''t as useless as I thought. Come on, I''ll show you how to skin them. What''s your name? - Connor...please show me how to do it. - Sure, so you start here... After Averon''s explanation all the students went to work. It took quite some time to skin the fifteen wolves but in the end the group knew pretty well how to do it. They put the pelts in their backpacks after cleaning themselves a little with some excess water. They planned to clean themselves and the pelts at the river near the ruins as Averon suggested. The rest of the journey went without incident but the students already looked a lot more mature. They took the situation way more serious and the mood changed from exciting excursion to serious training camp. The constant smell of blood helped a bit to reinforce that feeling. The group was the last to reach the ruins and had to further delay the expedition because of their hygiene problem. Nobody had a complaint though, the students watched them horrified as they arrived blood covered while approving glances could be seen coming from the other adventurers. The ruins were mostly underground and had several hallways leading from the main room. The expedition made camp in that room and started to prepare for battle. The ruins were said to inhabit low level undead skeletons and aggressive bats. Connor''s group went to one of the eastern hallways and entered the dark, rotting aisle. There was a lone door at the end that lead to an open room. The ceiling was broken in and the sky could be seen. The students didn''t focus on that though because before them were three tiger like skeletons. - Get in position! came the order from Averon but the group was already prepared. The scene in the forest seemed to have awakened them. Phil quickly conjured his armor and club. A piercing weapon like a spear wouldn''t be very effective against a skeleton. Connor and Leslie quickly cast their most practical spells. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. - Lightning bolt! - Fireball! The two spells quickly formed before their hands and shot towards the skeletons while avoiding their allies on their path. The spells struck the skeletons head on. The one hit by Connors fireball exploded in a gust of bones. The damage inflicted by his spell was higher because undead had a weakness to fire and faith. - I''ll take the one on the right! Shouted Phil as he lured the injured skeleton towards the right while Liam went towards their last opponent. The tiger skeleton quickly closed the distance to Phil and attacked with its huge jaw. Phile only lifted up his arm to catch the tiger while swinging his club in a horizontal swing towards the ribs. The bones crashed as the club smashed into the skeleton. The force shook both Phil and the tiger as they tumbled apart. Phil''s arm was bleeding lightly as his arcane armor couldn''t protect him completely from the attack. As additional lightning bolts struck the skeleton Phil used a minor healing spell to cure his wounded arm. - Arcane heal! The skeleton fell apart after the third consecutive lightning bolt. Liam had killed the last remaining skeleton in the meantime. - *clap clap clap* good job everyone. This is gonna be a piece of cake! Exclaimed Averon as he looked at his party. - Rose was it? Next time you attack alright? - O..Ok, b..but I''ll n..need a lot ...a lot of space. The only inactive person next to Averon answered in her usual stammering manner. They checked the room for items or loot in general. Connor was informed that he earned 30 Silver from the skeleton after the fight. He quickly activated the menu and stored his money. A notification about money would usually pop up after a fight and one had a time limit of one minute to claim their reward. After claiming, it would materialize before you. The same went for unusual drops from monsters but those wouldn''t happen very often. Most items were just gathered normally from corpses. Nothing would actually disappear when killing something but actually finding something with good equipment and then being able to kill it wasn''t an easy task. It wasn''t easy to haul a 300 pound full plate armor through a dangerous forest either. There were only very few big expeditions yet that used wagons and a whole supply chain to clear a ruin. A sizeable part of the weapons and armor in New Sydney actually came from those. Considering that most possible mines also contained monsters it was sometimes easier to just kill and loot already created weapons and armor instead of forging new ones. The party gathered what they deemed worthy in the room and went on. After descending a set of moldy stairs the party saw a huge stone door at the end of an empty corridor. - You think we can open it? Asked Averon as he closed in on the door. There was a lever on the right side of the door pulsating in a dubious blue light. - We might want to report this first, I''m don''t recall hearing about anything like this from the scouting repo... Just as Liam wanted to shoot the idea down spears started to appear from the ground at the beginning of the corridor. New spears started to appear closer and closer with loud *thump* noises as they were released from their contraptions. Seeing that there was no indication of the ground below them being safe Averon pulled the lever. The spears didn''t stop appearing and were now only ten feet away as the huge door opened. The party jumped through just as the spears reached the door. Metal scratching on stone could faintly be heard as the huge door slowly closed back down. ''We''re trapped'' - This is bad. Could be worse though, we could be on the other side of that door now... Averon remarked but his joke didn''t reap any laughs. - Oh well, only one way to go now. He said as he walked forward. After taking two steps though some sort of scythe appeared from the wall nearly cutting him in two. Averon barely managed to react, catching the scythe with his right arm. Liam reacted first and pulled his friend back. The scythe cut through Averon''s arm and left a big cut on his breastplate before crashing into the opposite wall. - Haaa haaa - You alive? - Had worse, arm''s fucked though. The two men calmly assessed the situation. Phil started while walking to Averon - Let me see that arm, my healing magic isn''t the most advanced but I''ll at least be able to stop the bleeding and reduce a possible infection. - Yea, thanks - Arcane heal! The bleeding immediately stopped but Averon couldn''t move his right arm without much trouble. - None of you have any trap detection skills or spells? Asked Liam while carefully surveying the room they were in. - None, sorry - No...I never bothered to learn those... - No me neither The situation was growing worse but then Rose spoke up. - I...I c..can check w..with my ghosts! - Great, then do that. He needs medical attention as fast as possible. Hey Ron maybe you''ll get a Mark III arm. - Shut it, this isn''t earth you twat. And they were shit anyway, you''d lose your cock masturbating. - Hahahaha, yea I heard that story too. The students only listened while Rose was preparing her spell. They didn''t understand the seemingly lighthearted atmosphere of the two men. It was an attitude only people who went through many life or death situations together could show in a position like this. - Oh lost and forgotten, I awaken thee from thy eternal slumber. Spectral summon! As Rose finished her spell dozens of half transparent beings entered the room from below. They had no faces and only the vague form of a human. Rose walked closer to one of the ghosts and lightly touched its face. The scene looked like a loving mother seeing her grown up child for the first time in years. - Please check the rooms ahead for traps brother. Without stuttering Rose asked, not commanded the ghost with a sad expression on her face. ''So that''s how it is, now I know why she never summoned them in school'' The ghosts rushed forward without creating noise or wind but several traps were activated on their way sending scythes, arrows and spears all over the place scratching the stone floor, ceiling and walls. - T..There''s...s...stairs in th..the third room a..after this one. Said Rose as everybody stared at the unbelievable scene before their eyes. - My arm would''ve been the least of my worries...who designs places like this? This is worse than Sen''s... - What''s Sen''s? - Never mind, that was a looong time ago. Said Averon as he walked toward the next room. The others soon followed him looking at the destruction caused by the dozens of traps. The other two rooms weren''t much better as spears and arrows lay around or pierced the walls. After ascending the mentioned stairs the party entered a corridor much like the one leading them here. The only difference was something in the middle of the corridor. - That''s a trap - Definitely a trap - Couldn''t be more obvious The general conscious towards the lone golden wolf''s head on top of a pedestal was united. Nobody even though about taking the head and moved past to the gate. There was a lever like before. - Wait Said Liam just before Averon touched the lever - What is it? - Don''t you think this is weird? - What is? - All those traps and then this obvious one... - What you think we should take the head? - I don''t know but something seems not right here. - I get where you''re coming from but taking the head could still be a trap. - I''m not sure...what do you guys think? This was the first time one of the mercenaries asked the students for advice. They didn''t have any other ideas either though. - So throw a coin? Not like one or the other way makes more sense. - Maybe the ghosts could help? - T...they c...can''t g...go through...d doors. - Oh well, worth a shot. But let''s do something before we become skeletons ourselves. They took out a coin and tossed it. - Heads, that''s the lever then, so let''s do it. Liam pulled the lever. Sounds of gears and chains moving could be heard through the whole room. - Guys, the door''s not opening... Just as Phil pointed it out several smaller doors along the walls of the corridor opened and doglike creatures entered through them. - Hellhounds... Said Averon while unsheathing his sword. - Kids stay behind, Liam we have to get that golden head. Several Hellhounds immediately circled around the pedestal where a similar looking golden head was placed. Hellhounds were categorized in the lower lurker regions, which made them between level 100 and 110. There were twelve of those dogs in the hallway and four already defended the golden head. Both Liam and Averon drank potions they''d found in some previous adventure. The party readied themselves as the hounds advanced. - Greater fireball! - Lightning strike! - Arcane orb! - Oh lost and forgotten, I awaken thee from thy eternal slumber. Spectral summon! They didn''t waste any time and their spells rushed towards the advancing Hellhounds. A faint blue light enveloped Liam as he activated his combat skill. - Body of the sword Blood started to trickle down the edge of his mouth as he accelerated twice as fast as he could normally move. His sword moving with ridiculous speed slashing horizontally through the hounds. Averon on the other hand closed his eyes to concentrate. After three seconds he opened them again and charged with his bastard sword. - Gravity Sword. As he activated his skill mid swing the hit Hellhound violently spun away upon impact and exploded in a mist of dust and blood at the other end of the corridor. Liam managed to kill two of the hounds but was being pushed back by another four. The spells from behind were seemingly dealing no damage and the ghosts only acted as a distraction. One of the Hounds quickly circled around Liam and headed for the mages. Liam turned around but was interrupted by another Hound tearing away a part of his hamstring. - Aaaaah fuck! He screamed as he swung his katana at the retreating Hellhound. Meanwhile Averon finished another dog with his sword skill but the mages were still undefended. - Arcane Armor! Phil activated his armor and intercepted the Hound. Compared to the Skeleton in the previous engagement the Hound easily bit through his magical armor crushing his left arm. Another bite to the throat ended Phils life. He slumped to the ground while the hellhound switched his targets. - I''m sorry Connor... Leslie looked towards Connor with sad eyes and activated her spell. - Electrocute A strong electrical current enveloped both Leslie and the Hound that had already sunk his teeth in her thigh. The spiraling ball of twitching flesh went crashing to the ground. - LIAM YOU SHIT!!! Averon screamed as his friend succumbed to the three Hellhounds attacking him repeatedly from all sides. He managed to take two of them down with his last breath but was tore apart none the less. All the dogs guarding the statue had attacked Liam so Averon quickly took it and ran towards the exit. As he pulled the lever one of the remaining hounds jumped towards him. - Stone Skin Connor activated his earth magic spell and intercepted the jumping Hellhound. Bits of rock immediately flew towards him and wrapped him in a protective layer of stone. He caught the hound with his hands and was immediately thrown back at the wall of the corridor. The impact crushed some of his ribs and he couldn''t move his right leg anymore. - TAKE HER AND GO! He shouted and saw Averon dragging the wide eyed and crying Rose through the opening door. The Hellhounds chasing them were blocked by the door as it immediately closed again after their escape. They growled angrily at the door but soon started to look around again. Some of them started to eat whatever was left of Liam, Phil and Leslie...or even their dead brethren. They also smelled something else. One Hellhound soon started to scratch at the rock man lying on the floor at the wall. Heavy breathing could be heard from the stone figure and the other dogs soon joined as the scent of sweat and urine started to mix with those of blood and guts. Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Averon and Rose were outside the ruins. It was night already and some wolves could be heard howling in the distance. The smell of spring was almost overwhelming after being in the catacombs for a whole day. ''Damn, and just as I started to like him...Liam you idiot, playing the hero as always'' He punched the wall so hard pieces of rock flew through the air. He fought with Liam in the great war and they stuck together in Dawn as they did before. Losing people close to him was sadly nothing new for Averon, just like for many others in his generation. He was angry but quickly composed himself. It was night and they were alone outside the walls. - We have to find the others and report. If none of them died we might be able to form a rescue party. - Y..you..t..th..thin..k....h.e..he''s...st..still...al...ali..alive??? - No, likely not but we''re at least gonna kill those fuckers for what they did to our party. Rose''s stuttering was worse than before. She was holding back her impulse to cry...or she might''ve been in shock. Averon wasn''t sure. He was sure that they had to get out of there immediately though. They weren''t far from the entrance and being only two they didn''t attract any attention. It was also possible that the Hellhound blood they were covered in worked as some sort of defense. When they reached the camp Rose collapsed and Averon went to talk with the expedition leaders. They approached him as a couple healers and teachers immediately rushed to Rose. - What do you mean they''re dead? You died against Beasts? - Hellhounds, twelve or so. Eastern tunnel. There were traps, a shitload of them. Four of the five adventurers immediately left towards the first tunnel to the north. They came back only fifteen minutes later with a whole party of four students and two more mercenaries which then split into two teams and left again. One of the adventurers lightly touched his shoulder as he sat by the fire. - Damn shame for Liam. We''re gonna get them though, be sure of it. Averon only grunted in response. He was angry and frustrated. Talking wouldn''t be a good idea in this state and he knew it. He also had to stay put. The adventurer who stayed with him was there to ensure Alveron won''t make any stupid decisions. He checked on Rose who was still crying in the arms of her teacher. Another teacher approached him soon after. - We''re sorry about your loss and know that is wasn''t yours or anybody''s fault what happened. I never left the walls after the first year so I''m not sure how this works but what happens to the bodies? This whole expedition would be deemed a complete failure if those students were buried in this cave. - Don''t worry, we''ll get em. What''s left of em. Averon was left alone after that. Half an hour later all parties were back at camp and the expedition leaders discussed the next steps. - Averon you say you know the traps and there is a definite escape rout? - Yes, I left through there...still have the golden head. He showed them the Hellhound head - Listen, I faced one of those traps once before. We managed to kill the hounds with some casualties but there weren''t any more than the initial twelve. One of the adventurers chimed in - So you''re saying it''s safe? - There are pretty high chances yes. And there are fourteen of us. Averon how many Hounds were there still? - I''m not sure. No more than six. - Then let''s go, I can''t wait another minute while those motherfuckers are eating away at one of ours. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. Two of the fourteen mercenaries were left at the camp to guard the students from possible attacks. The rest quickly advanced to the eastern tunnel. Liam was a well known adventurer and more than one present owed him more than one life. Revenge and anger were more important at the moment than safety. They also were only two days away from the capital, there were no high level monsters around here. Except for the Hellhounds remaining. The newly formed party went through the first room where the three skeletons were killed and quickly entered the corridor with the spears, only there were no spears. - Careful, spear trap. Activates as soon as we reach the door. Stay together and pull the lever as soon as the spears start. Averon informed everyone and they moved accordingly. As soon as they entered the room where scythes, arrows and spears still adorned the walls they heard a faint pounding. With every *thump* the walls shook and some arrows fell to the ground while dust was raised. The mercenaries advanced carefully while checking for traps as the sound grew louder and louder. - What''s that? Should we turn around? - There''s no way back. If it''s a troll we can sneak by... - With twelve of us? No way...but that doesn''t sound like a troll, it''s more powerful... They weren''t sure what to expect and were getting ready to fight. They came here with the resolve to die to avenge their fallen comrade. When they entered the hallway they saw something they didn''t expect. Averon immediately shouted for them to stand down. - Don''t attack! That''s...oh my god...your...how in the world... Before them stood a being of rock vaguely shaped like a human. It was at least eight feet tall and four wide. It held the remains of a hellhound to the wall while using its other fist to smash it. There was a two feet hole in the wall where the beast''s head should have been. Around the man laid several dead hellhounds and the remains of some humans but half of them looked different. Where most had wounds from cutting weapons around five were simply crushed. - Absolutely crushed them...Averun you sure that guy''s with us? - I am, give me a minute He slowly approached the stoneman and with a soft voice tried to talk to him. - Connor, Connor it''s me Averon. Can you hear me? Rose is safe. Connor talk to me. The stone giant stopped punching the wall. His arms suddenly hanging to the side letting go of the Hellhound. Bit by bit the stone started to crumble and pieces fell to the ground next to him. The picture of a young man was painted before them, born out of stone. His face bloody and his clothes torn. In his eyes burned wrath that many of the ones present knew very well. Some of them approached him to treat his wounds while others gathered the corpses. In front of Connor floated a series of status updates: Your class has changed to Boulder Breaker Stone Skin has changed to Rock Mantle Rock Mantle: Create a mantle of rock around your body to protect yourself from harm. Reduces damage taken by 50% (Tier 1). Increases unarmed attack rating by 250%. Deflects all attacks below a certain threshold. Threshold depends on your level, vitality and strength. Reduces pain by 75%. Movement speed when activated increased by 25% Requires 200 Vitality and 200 Strength to cast. 5 Mana per second to uphold. Stats: Vitality: +300 Strength: +300 Endurance +50 Intelligence +50 Wisdom: +50 Resistance +200 Would you like to keep these changes? Chapter 8 Chapter 8 Gwenith (10 years after Hope, Winter) Author''s note: "placeholder" now means people talking and ''placeholder'' thinking, sorry bout that :). "Are you really sure about this Gwen?" Gareth asked worried even though he knew the answer. "You know it''s the only way. They''d burn you too just like they burned Martha!" Gwenith reminded him of their lost friend, Martha. She was a teacher before Dawn and helped children learn and control their newfound magical talents. "I know I know, I''ve seen it too Gwen...I just still can''t believe it...are you sure they would even target you though, your skill isn''t technically magic." Gareth was referring to her Berserker form. He wasn''t sure the Crusaders of Maqir would classify her as corrupted. They would burn or hang every person with a class or skills using mana but they often didn''t check thoroughly if it might not just have been a flashy stamina skill. "I''m sure they''d burn me Gareth, just the change in my eyes and the crimson light emitting when I activate Bloodthirst would be enough to send them into a frenzy. It would end with a lot of people dead and I think Valaan has bled enough in the past three months." Gwenith shut him down. He knew she was right and her staying would just end with both of them dead. Still it was hard to let her go. After he and his men found her and her little sister Dora in the forest surrounded by dead wolves he took them in. He first just wanted to protect them from the Guild who at the time contracted everybody with a mediocre or good combat class, resulting in many dead exploring the new world or working on a job. They didn''t care much about their adventurers dying. The one''s growing too strong would leave the Guild behind anyway and there was enough supply considering their monopoly on jobs, knowledge and safety. Many died but the chances of dying without using the Guild''s resources was significantly higher. The girls soon grew on Gareth and each replaced somebody lost in their previous life. Gwen lost her parents in the war and Dora grew up in an orphanage. Gareth had a son who went missing on the frontlines fifteen years ago. "I get it, I get it. You know I understand but it''s difficult letting you go so soon after your sister." Dora had left for the east one year prior after she married an adventurer who stopped in Valaan to restock on supplies. "It''s not easy for me either but I had planned on going on my own journey in the next year anyway, it''s just a little sooner now..." they hugged each other while holding back tears. "...you can always come with me.." Gwenith uttered those words but knew they were futile. As much as Gareth cared for her he wouldn''t leave his home and his people behind. The home he helped build and protect with his hard work and blood for the past ten years. "I might''ve done it...I might...but Valaan needs me now more than ever. I have to safe as many as possible. And you know the Crusaders are only the smaller evil." the two let go of each other while Gwenith shouldered her backpack. For eight years he had cared for them, had trained them, laughed and cried with them. Gwenith had trouble holding back her tears as she turned to Gareth and looked in his eyes for the possibly last time. "Thanks for everything....dad." She turned around and left the building she called home for the past eight years with tears flowing down her cheeks. It was the first time she had called him her father. He always wished for them to see him that way but Gwenith couldn''t forget her real parents. She looked back once more at the snow covered stone house and whispered again "Thank you." Valaan grew considerably in the past ten years. When Gwenith received her class the population numbered around 200''000 and now it exceeded 300''000. ''Might''ve gone down a bit since those bloody witch hunters entered town...'' though Gwenith as she covered her flaming red hair with a thick hood made of wolf pelts. Wolves she had killed herself. Her training didn''t just consist of sparring lessons with Gareth or the guard. Gwenith had more experience with monsters than most. Not because she went outside more than others or because she was braver or stronger, it was simply because of her class. Once she tasted blood while having her skill activated she could barely stop herself from killing and combined with the regenerating stamina and health she could sometimes go for days or even weeks without coming back. It was hard on Gareth and Dora in the beginning and they were often worried sick but they soon accepted it as just another part of her character. Everybody had to fill their time somehow and once the cities were more or less safe people had to get creative. There was no internet or TV in this world and books had to be written first even though some were found in old ruins. Compared to the epic tales written on Earth the ones found were barely acceptable. Not everybody can write quality fiction, especially not while fighting to survive on a daily basis. Many tried to fill their time with work, they knitted, built, cooked and wrote but all that required resources. What better hobby was there to have then but to kill monsters and acquire those materials. Gwenith, although only twenty years old had more money and better equipment than most other mercenaries, at least in the smaller cities. She also never registered with the Guild, resulting in her keeping 100% of her profits. ''The Berserker class is truly a blessing, but everything has to have its downside.'' she thought while walking towards the western gate of Valaan. She had to leave because it became dangerous here with her class. The wildlife in Dawn was much, much more dangerous than on Earth but humans just couldn''t stop killing each other, it''s the only thing they''ve been doing consistently in their brief existence. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Snow was falling on Valaan and a freezing wind greeted everybody entering the night. Gwenith didn''t care that much about the cold. Compared to ten years ago she was warm. Her Resistance stat was at 890 reducing the icy wind to a warm breeze. Stats grew either through leveling or just using that stat. A warrior could either level up by fighting beasts or do pushups to increase his strength stat. One level would give 5 stat points one could distribute however they wished. Gwenith was mostly hunting alone because she lost herself too fast in her frenzy to work well in a tactical party. She increased her stats in a very fast speed because she had to fight longer to kill enemies, got hit frequently and often fought till exhaustion and beyond. Resistance was increased by surviving harsh conditions or getting hit by different attacks. The same went for Vitality but it was proven that Resistance split into hundreds if not more subcategories compared to Vitality. One couldn''t check his fire resistance but people who were burned more often could tolerate fire and heat better than others. She was currently at level 189. The best way to evaluate one''s strength are the Guild licenses. They changed over time because the general level rose steadily. The current level required to work with or for the Guild is 50, which means a copper license. To reach silver one has to be level 100 and finish just as many jobs. Silver is currently the most common rank because higher licenses have to be approved specifically. Another reason for that is that Lurker- (lvl 100-150) and Demon (lvl 150-200) class monsters are considerably stronger and more dangerous than lower levels. Gold is equal to level 150 and Platinum to 200. Fewer than two thousand Platinum adventurers are known to work for the Guild. Their levels differ greatly though but after reaching Platinum the mercenaries rely on personal reputation to get jobs and not on their Guild license anymore so the Guild didn''t create higher licenses. It is just another way for them not to pay them more. The highest known Guild adventurer right now is level 274 but there are many rivaling him who aren''t part of the Guild. Gwenith''s stats are special though. Her current strength is 1434, her main stat. She received 940 distributable stat points for her 189 levels which barely cover her Resistance stat. In fact she never even put one point into resistance. All her stats were leveled through the fighting, bleeding, running and killing she did in the past eight years. Experience is shared when fighting in a group so leveling up is faster the more people there are. The problem is that the healer never gets hit so his Vitality never increases except for when he puts points from leveling up into it. The whole party doesn''t really increase their Endurance because they''re dependent on their slowest link. The knight or warrior doesn''t increase his Dexterity by a lot because he can prepare his strong swings from behind the safety of the tank and therefore never has to dodge. This of course isn''t really a problem because the party system was formed especially because of work distribution. Somebody fighting like Gwenith is generally seen as absolutely nuts. It''s only possible because of her class in the first place though and because she never hunted for the levels but for the thrill and adrenalin. Her stats are rivaling the top hundred humans living in Dawn right now even though her actual level is lower than even Platinum adventurers. The reason why most people were leveling in groups was because they''d probably die rather fast otherwise and also because a higher level meant better skills could be acquired and better equipment could be used. Equipment does make a considerable difference in strength but the stats themselves are more important. For example a level two hundred warrior could use a whole set of armor to increase his vitality and strength by about 200 where his base stats in those categories numbered about five to seven hundred. Gwenith also has a combat class, which means she learns a lot fewer skills than for example a lightning wizard. Normal combat classes learn about one to two skills per one hundred levels whereas mana oriented classes learn ten times that amount, if not more. There are certainly exceptions to this rule but at least 90% of all classes can be measured that way. Gwenith never went very far away in her killing sprees and therefore never found any noteworthy loot comparable to the rare magical items found by expeditions in ruins or dangerous monster strongholds. Her equipment is generally very light to ease her ability to dodge and move fast. She currently wears light leather armor and a cloak made of wolf pelts. The cloak is mostly there to hide her identity but she also feels oddly comfortable wrapped in the skins of her fallen adversaries. ''They''re so fluffy and warm. It''s a shame we couldn''t tame them yet...'' she thought to herself as she reached one of the central squares of Valaan. It''s certainly not the best idea to leave a city stealthily by going through the main squares but Gwenith wanted to leave the city with dignity, not like some hunted beast. Chapter 9 Chapter 9 ''I''ll miss you and your stinking gutters...'' she remembered another reason why she wanted to leave the walls as often as possible. Metals are still rare in the smaller cities so building a proper sewage system proved to be very difficult. Only New Sydney managed to build an acceptable one so far. Of course the Dwarves in the southern mountains are said to have one too but considering their proficiency in metallurgy and the abundance of iron in the mountains didn''t really make that very surprising. One of their cities was found in the sixth year after Hope. They''re supposedly friendly and open to trade but just reaching the city is very tough. Many commercial expeditions had to be aborted because the journey proved to be too difficult. Some of course were lost completely. Leaving the square the hooded figure, now covered in snow, entered a side street went to her preferred blacksmith. She had told him previously that she would leave the Valaan tonight so he was still awake, waiting for her while drinking one of his own beers. Gwenith entered the shop and sat down opposite him. "Hi Khal." "Hi Gwen...so it''s finally time for you to leave permanently...really a shame, but it''s not like you were here most of the time anyway." Gwenith listened and smirked as she took a gulp from the mug already placed before her. "Your beer is getting better...still sucks though, you might want to stick to weapons Khal." taking the insult without flinching Khal emptied his cup and filled it again. He held it towards Gwenith. "To Valaan, the formerly second free city of the east." "To Val, our stinking mother and protecting walls" they both emptied their cups again when Khal got up. "Before you leave I want you to have something." he started as he went into the cellar where he stored his equipment. ''Aaah, part of the reason why I came here...you were always the sentimental type." Gwenith though while smiling brightly. ''I do like him though, even though his beer barely qualifies as mud.'' When she got up Khal entered the room with a seven feet long sword with a diameter of nearly one foot at certain parts. He breathed heavily as he handed her the weapon. "It''s black steel, weighs about two hundred pounds." Khals Strength was at 300 so it was difficult for him to even carry the weapon around. "I made them especially for you Gwen." he added "Them?" Gwenith asked surprised "Of course, I know you only fight with two of those steelbars but don''t think I''ll be carrying them at the same time." He grunted as he went to get the second one of the swords while Gwenith looked at it with sparkling eyes. "Identify" Blacksteel Ultragreatsword Damage 350 + 717 Bonus dependant on Strength stat. 50% of Strength stat added. Requires 850 Strength to use properly. Requires level 200 to use (Reduced by 10) Durability: 10''000 ''Only one level to go, my other two swords don''t even start to compare...'' She easily lifted the sword and moved it as if it was as light as a feather. The requirement in Strength was only a suggestion as everybody could technically wield the sword, it just wouldn''t be very effective. And there would be a damage reduction equal to the missing Strength. Every piece of equipment worked this way. One could even equip items with a higher level requirement but most of the bonuses would be reduced to nothing and the strain on the person would be enormous. Novices would burn their hands or even break their arms when trying to wield a level 100 sword. Accidents like that would rarely happen because you instantly felt the pain spreading once you tried to use an inappropriate item. Experiments were done though and some people even endured weeks of pain believing the weapon would grow on them. It never did. Khal sat down while taking another swig of his beer after bringing the second sword. It was the same as the first one indicating that he made them himself. "They''re some of the best I''ve ever made...glad there''s somebody who can wield them properly." he said and added "I also bought some quality leather for you to strap them to your back. You''ll be able to unsheathe them in no time." Khal pointed to the counter were an assortment of dark leather belts lay. ''I''m gonna feel like a horse but I guess they''re only a little bigger than my current ones.'' Gwenith thought as she unstrapped her current two swords and the rugged leather straps that were holding them. She laid them on the table while equipping her new belts and swords. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Gwenith is 5 feet 9 so the seven feet swords looked huge on her. They nearly touched the ground while hovering a whole foot above her head. It didn''t look ridiculous though because it seemed like she didn''t even feel the swords, they seemed to be part of her. Gwenith wrapped her hands in some cloth because of the burns she received when touching the weapons. She was still one level to low. ''I didn''t level for quite some time and I''d rather not take one of the old ones with me so my body has to do until I hit 190'' she thought and said "How much for both of them. I assume you''ll take the two old ones as a down payment, they''re still in alright shape...the leather is a gift" Even though their relationship was good she never expected any gifts. Everybody had to survive. She mostly did business with Khal because there weren''t many customers and his work had very high quality. He didn''t mass produce knight swords but specified in personalized crafts. He didn''t have a lot of customers but they were all high level Travelers (Travelers is the noun other races use to describe Humans as they suddenly appeared and talk of a different world). "The black steel wasn''t cheap but you know that. I worked for a long time on each of them. They''re 5000 gold and the leather is a gift." he stated the final prize. Khal was honest with his long time customers and they knew and valued this quality. ''I''ll have only 340 Gold left after this but if anything''s worth it then it''s these swords.'' thought Gwenith as she removed a piece of cloth from her backpack that was now worn behind her new swords. She laid the piece of cloth on the table and spoke "Wallet." as soon as the word was spoken Gwenith could see a small window where her current funds were listed. She removed 5000 gold which materialized right above the cloth. She wrapped it around the gold and closed it with some string to make it easier for Khal to collect. This way he could put it in his wallet with one movement. "Thank you for the purchase, I hope to see you again soon." he smiled as he promptly hugged her. "I''ll miss you little furyball, I can still see the little girl wielding two greatswords." she hugged him back "Don''t worry I''ll be back if there''s no capable smith in the west..." he released her and said "As proud as I am of my work there really are some magicians of the craft in the capital...and the rumors I heard from some people visiting the Dwarves are hardly believable...but we don''t live on Earth anymore so who knows what''s possible and impossible anymore." Gwenith put her backpack back on and turned towards the door. "You sure you don''t want to take some beer with you?" said Khal as she opened the door to a snowy wind while covering her head with her hood. "I think I''ll pass on that. Bye Khal and thanks for the swords." "No worries, thanks for the gold hahahaha." hearty laughter could be heard as Gwenith walked into the night. The visibility in the snow was only about ten feet but Gwenith knew the city very well and soon reached the street leading to the western gate. She didn''t make many friends and acquaintances in her time in Valaan and she already said farewell to the ones that mattered enough to her the day before. She spent most of her time either fighting in the wild or training and learning under Gareth''s supervision. Making friends wasn''t particularly difficult for her but she never really saw the use in it and enjoyed being alone a lot more than being with others. And the enjoyment she got out of fighting was incomparable to anything else she experienced in her life so far. The only thing that came even remotely close was sex but most of the partners Gwenith had so far disappointed her. ''My swords can''t suddenly go limp during the fight.'' She waved to the guard manning the gate, signaling that she wanted him to open it. The guard looked at her with a perplexed face and just shook his head. "You''re drunk, go home to bed little girl!" he had to shout even though they were barely twenty feet apart from each other. Gwenith just rolled her eyes and jumped. The stone wall surrounding the city was about 17 feet in height. She landed next to the guard and smiled at him as he nearly fell on his ass from the surprise. "What the fuck?!" he muttered but the mysterious hooded lady had already left. She jumped down the other side of the wall and continued in walking speed towards the west. Chapter 10 Chapter 10 "Puuuh I''m out, finally. That stench, even with all this snow. I can''t believe people live IN there day in and day out." Gwenith sighed as she build up her tent about a mile to the west of Valaan. ''Luckily I didn''t come across any Maqir monks.'' The Crusaders of Maqir weren''t actually monks but they wore grey robes and all had shaven heads which made them resemble monks at least in looks if not in anything else. The streets of Valaan were empty that night mostly because of the snowstorm going through the area but also because of the recently occupying Crusaders. Tension was in the air as any magician who hasn''t yet fled the city feared for his life. Gwenith didn''t bother to prepare any early alarm systems. Her Vitality and Resistances were at such a high level that barely anything could harm her seriously. Once her blood was drawn she''d awake with a smile on her face and eyes turning red but tonight nothing disturbed her sleep. Even the beasts were affected by the storm or they sensed the danger coming from the lonely tent. Gwenith woke up to muffled sounds of sniffing and growling. "Aaaaah" she stretched herself "What a beautiful morning." She opened her tent to find it buried in snow. After punching through the white layer she was greeted by three black wolves. They seemed to be around level 20 and looked at Gwenith''s head sticking out of the snow while baring their teeth. "Good morning lovelies" she said while smiling. ''Bloodthirst'' she activated her main skill. While crimson shining tattoos appeared on her body the snow around her melted. Two of the wolves were already running but one was still glaring at her from brown to red changing eyes while starting to tremble. The light soon dimmed and black tattoos could be seen on the visible skin of the woman. "What a lovely breakfast you are" she said as she stood in the puddle of water. The trembling wolf started to turn but found himself unable to move. Something was holding his tail. "I don''t think so little friend" she said as she easily dragged the wolf towards her. She broke his neck in one quick movement and skinned the beast in less than five minutes...with her bare hands. "Aaah I looove the scent of blood" she licked her fingers and begun eating parts of the wolf. The tattoos soon disappeared as Gwenith finished her meal. Other beasts would gladly finish the partially eaten wolf she left behind. Before she started westwards Gwenith cleaned her hands and face with snow and dried her tent before putting it back in her rucksack. Psychology hasn''t been very developed so far in Dawn but it is speculated that classes have an influence on the personality of a human. There was no proof so far because there was also a theory stating that classes are assigned based on personality. The sun came up from behind the trees and lit the snow covered region in a warm light. A lone woman could be seen walking to the west. Not many dared travel alone so this sight was certainly special. Gwenith followed the partially paved road to make sure of the direction. After four hours of walking, killing the occasional wolf, Hellhound and Ice spider she came across a small camp on the side of the road. It should be mentioned that the road at this point consisted only of markings on trees and stones because it was too dangerous to build so far into the wild, or they couldn''t pay for sufficient adventurers to protect them. "Greetings fellow traveler, coming from Valaan?" the guard greeted her and she saw the other five people lift their heads from their meals to inspect the interesting newcomer. "Indeed, it has been a tough journey so far, would you let me join you for safety and strength?" saying those two last words Gwenith asked to join their party for the time being. It started early in the new world as people joined together to hunt and protect. Many died and still do. Nearly nobody would reject someone in the wild, no matter how suspicious they may seem. Outside the walls the enemy is Dawn and not other humans, that is still the rule even though it seemed to slowly change in the past year. "And there I thought you were just a lost girl in the woods. Apologies friend and of course you may join in our safety." younger people often didn''t know about sayings like that mostly because they just aren''t used as often anymore but everybody fighting for over five years would know them. Safety and strength was one of the first used to join parties and it at least implied that the one using it is a veteran. Of course everybody could utter those words but younger or less experienced Travelers were heavily discouraged to do so. Some even lost a couple teeth over it. "Thank you all." said Gwenith as she joined the five people sitting by the fire. They were eating soup with seemingly potatoes but she had already eaten beforehand and didn''t ask for food. The group seemed fairly standard. ''Tank, Healer, Thief and three warriors it seems...hmm no wizards'' she sat down and looked at the fire. "Any news from Valaan?" asked the presumed Thief. "The winter hit hard, some even experience hunger for the first time in years. The Guild lacks personnel." it was custom for newcomers to inform the party about the area they''ve come from. she continued "The Crusaders have gained further influence, seems like they''ll seize the city in a couple months...peacefully mind me...with the occasional pyres of course." One of the warriors shot a glance towards the Thief as he heard the last words but nobody reacted further. Gwenith only caught it because of her high perception. She didn''t join the party particularly because the way was dangerous. She would manage alone as she always did but it was stranger for a group of people to gather here. No known ruins or monster dens were around here which meant they were either traveling or hunting for something else. If that something else was a fleeing mage Gwenith couldn''t help but be interested. The Crusaders had special hit squads that didn''t look like the rest of them and this group could certainly be one of those. ''Well let''s see how they are'' "Are you going westwards?" she asked towards the Thief who seemed to lead the group. "Indeed, but only for another couple miles. We got a job in the vicinity. What leads you here?" he answered surprisingly detailed. ''He thinks himself safe...'' she smiled internally as she answered "I finally left Valaan to travel to the capital. I hated that stinking city and its imprisoning walls." it was only partially true. Gwenith liked Valaan, it was her home even with its shortcomings. She loved the wild more but didn''t have to mention that to the group. ''Chances are pretty high they at least work for the Crusaders.'' the questions seemed way to suspicious, nearly like an interrogation in which she could ask some questions back. The lack of mages was her main problem though. Nobody could deal with clusters of monsters as well as an elemental wizard. ''Having three warriors makes little sense, except you''re not primarily hunting monsters. And they do have a healer, the only magic not seen as corrupted by Maqir.'' The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. "I''m not sure starting your adventure in the capital is the best idea..." said the Tank before finishing his bowl of soup. "I''m not sure about that...they''re only rumors and very few have died." the healer added as he put another piece of wood into the fire. "If it gets too dangerous I''ll just come east again. Outside the forests should be safe..." she opened her backpack and searched for a whetstone. After finding one she unsheathed one of the seven feet Ultragreatswords and started to treat it. Her hand was burning as she held the sword down but she didn''t show the pain. ''Let''s see how suspicious they are now...'' One of the warriors shook his head "Come on Seth, you''re seeing this right?" he expectantly looked towards the thief. "Alright." Seth sighed and thrust his hand towards Gwenith. "Seth, nice to meet you. Sorry about the interrogation, we''re with the Crusaders." Gwenith took his hand "Gwenith, likewise nice meeting you. I''m a warrior so don''t worry about that anymore." Seth abruptly turned her hand and showed it to his colleagues who in turn immediately shot up and drew their weapons. "Then Gwenith...how do you explain that burned hand?" he asked in a very calm voice. ''I knew this would cause trouble...he''s good if he noticed my hand though.'' she freed herself and jumped two steps backwards. "I just bought the swords and my level is still a little too low to use them, that''s also why I wanted to join you. I can''t gather experience without using my weapons." that wasn''t the whole truth. Gwenith could easily kill with her hands only to reach level 190 but it certainly would be faster in a party and she was also curious about them. "Hmm, sounds fishy but I know of a good way to test it...what''s your level?" Seth asked. Still in a calm and reasonable tone. "134, I have 350 Strength." there is no way to check another''s level or stats so lying about them was very common and even advised. Except when looking for a good party but even then people would sometimes lie causing unpredicted trouble. Some parties were wiped out because nobody even reached the level they advertised in. Most use a test to determine one''s level. "Ragen you still have that 120 sword with 200 Strength requirement right?" Seth looked towards the tank who sheathed his weapon and started to unpack his huge bag. "Seth she''s suspicious, we should just finish her off." another one of the warriors said. "And confirm the bias that the Crusaders are murdering zealots? No Noah we''ll find out, we''re only a day behind. We have some time." Noah''s expression changed as he looked at Gwenith with fury in his eyes. Meanwhile the tank found the mentioned sword after nearly emptying his bag and handed it to Seth. "Alright just pick it up and strike that tree over there for a minute." He pointed at the tree next to Gwenith and skillfully threw the sword before her. She easily picked it up and started to work on the tree. ''Lucky, I''m not sure if I could''ve taken them with just my hands. Seth seems to be in his higher Gold levels and Ragen is even higher. That shield can''t be used before level 200 I''m sure of it.'' she thought as she mangled the tree with her powerful blows. "Y...You can stop now...you''re fine." Seth lightly tapped her shoulder as she worked on the stump of the tree she felled in under a minute. ''Oh shit I was too focused...well it shouldn''t matter...they probably assumed I lied about my level anyway.'' she stopped and handed Seth the sword. Regan after packing his bag back together, which took a considerable amount of time because he first had to dry all its contents, walked towards Gwenith and shook her hand. "Name''s Regan, squad leader you passed the test I guess." while smiling heartily. "You''re free to join us on our hunt." After that each of the party introduced themselves but Noah still eyed her with suspicion. They had gotten the assignment to check on a local legend. "A witch? There are actual witches?" it didn''t sound very probable. Gwenith saw a wide variety of mages and wizards but none of them were actual witches like in the stories from Earth. "Are you sure it''s not just bloodmagic or something like that?" she asked with genuine interest but was promptly shut down "Well isn''t that exactly what a witch does?" Seth looked at her with a confused expression. ''Well so much for zealots, these people are dangerous. I shouldn''t use my skills at all while traveling with them.'' Regan touched Seth''s shoulder and smiled "You must excuse his ignorance. The younger soldiers often find it hard to understand the wide variety of mana users. The target is indeed speculated to be a bloodmagic or necromancy user. We''re not sure if it''s a monster or a Traveler." Gwenith could already think of someone who might fit that description. "You''re not serious are you....those are just stories...to keep little kids from going outside the walls." she couldn''t believe they were after the wicked witch. "Oh Gwenith if it were only stories. We found several witnesses telling of a woman living around a mile west from here. She has killed dozens but some have escaped. Even if you don''t believe in the corruption you must agree that she''s dangerous and must be killed." Regan looked towards Seth and continued "Oh by the way Seth that was good work back there, I''ll be sure to mention it to the commander." "Hahahahahaha" the sudden laughter startled the party as they looked towards Gwenith "The wicked witch...oh I have to see this." she wiped tears from her eyes "I''ll join your hunt oh noble Crusaders" she said with a grin. Noah grinded his teeth at her sarcasm but Regan only chuckled "Then so be it. Let''s pack together and move on, we''ve lost enough time as it is." All of them went to work and even Gwenith helped packing up. It didn''t matter which ideology or faction one belonged to, in the wild everybody was still an adventurer. Chapter 11 Chapter 11 The party went westwards towards their target area, presumably a small lake with a clearing next to it. Gwenith walked a little to the side when Regan joined her. "I know how we seem to you." he started but Gwenith immediately shut him down "Regan don''t worry about that, I know your story. I know how the mages of Hegranfjall oppressed the people. Something had to be done about it no questions asked." silence briefly filled the cold air between them ''But to call it corruption and hunt everyone with a magical talent is literally insane Regan and I think you know that'' she didn''t voice those thoughts because she wasn''t completely sure about Regan. As if he had read her thoughts he started again but quiet enough so that his companions wouldn''t hear him "I said I know how we seem to you and we are exactly that. We only started a revolution but Maqir turned it in this religious thing. Don''t get me wrong, we wouldn''t have succeeded without him and his insanity. Many would listen to the witch hunt and only few understood the political reasons behind our revolution." Gwenith was surprised and her picture of Regan changed immediately. ''A wise man, perhaps the last one in his order.'' she nodded and walked on. "And what will you do about it? Isn''t it too late?" she asked quietly "I don''t think so. I know many who share my feelings but they''re not only burning mages...the corruption conveniently spreads to normal people too. Maqir''s influence grows and there is little we can do about that but I haven''t lost hope yet." "Why not ask the west for help, bring an end to this lunacy?" she proposed the only logical option. "No, they''re busy with their own little war or at least soon will be, trust me my sources are clear on that. But we also have to solve this ourselves." a small lake could soon be seen in the distance. The sun was reflected on the frozen surface. ''Too proud. You will only die and drag the others with you.'' Gwenith thought but she had little interest in the political struggles of the Crusaders as long as she and her loved one''s were ignored. Gareth was out of the question because of his warrior class and established guard post. Dora was in the east anyways and wasn''t a magic user either. She never cared much about fighting but her bow wasn''t too bad. "I get it Regan but you won''t be able to convince me of joining." she guessed at his intentions and was right. "Damn shame, the way you handled that sword was very impressive and we could''ve used a clear mind such as yours." '' You''re not the good guys Regan, you''ve lost that status as soon as you started to kill innocents...and I do believe that was even before the whole corruption thing started...'' she thought to herself as Regan handed her the sword they had used to test her. "You''ll need something to fight too, I don''t think you could use those metal bars on your back...I''d doubt it even if your level was high enough." Gwenith took the sword "Thank you, I''ll be sure to put it to good use." They reached the frozen lake. "Seth scout everything around the lake, don''t get cocky!" the thief immediately became a little less visible, it was as if the air around him changed. You just didn''t want to look his way. "I never get cocky Regan." He vanished into the forest around the lake and the others prepared themselves for a possible battle. "So what do you guys ACTUALLY know about the so called witch?" the stories told only of shadows and death, nothing specific was ever mentioned. "All we could find out is that it doesn''t fight itself. The witch is a conjurer of some kind or it uses illusions." Regan supplied the information. ''He''s not even acknowledging her or him to be a person, just something that has to be cut down...I can see this going very well. At least it''s going to be an interesting day...'' A couple hours passed and while the party grew restless Gwenith sat down on the ground and started to eat a piece of bread she had in her backpack. She didn''t pack a lot of food because there was plenty around to hunt. Well maybe she just wanted to kill beasts but the food was another bonus. She did pack a bit mostly because of situations like this, somebody eating raw meat would hardly invoke positive feedback. "Regan he should be back by now...he said he''d never be gone for longer than two hours." Phil, the guard that greeted Gwenith by the camp voiced his worry. Regan didn''t seem composed either as he thought about what to do. "Any suggestions Wade?" he looked towards the healer who was watching over the lake. "Not sure boss. It''s supposed to be only one person...that we could handle with a pretty high certainty but if there''s a group..." Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. "They never mentioned more than one actual person." said Noah who seemed more restless than the rest. "We''re strong enough boss, let''s get the witch!" the mood changed ''Oh wow, this is literally a witch hunt now, we should get some torches.'' Gwenith was amused with the whole situation and hoped they would engage. She''d leave the party after this anyway so a little action couldn''t hurt. "What if we go check together in formation? If Seth really has been captured or killed we can retreat safely with our numbers." she tried to break the stalemate. Regan didn''t seem affected but the three warriors nodded in agreement. "What about a vote?" suggested Wade "Wouldn''t be the first time we had to use one but Noah, Phil and Patrick are for a possible rescue mission so we don''t even have to count votes." "Well that''s settled then, let''s move out." suggested Phil as he removed the mace from his belt and a shield from his back. "It''s decided then." Regan concluded and prepared his heavy shield and sword. Noah and Patrick followed their examples while Wade only took out a talisman from his pocket. Combined with his staff he''d be ready to heal his allies. ''You dirty little shit.'' Gwenith recognized the talisman as one some mage used in Valaan. She knew it because she overheard him boasting about it in the training ground of the guard. He was a wind magician in the Valaan guard. ''I never liked the man but he was still a friend of Gareth...oh man, so now it''s personal...at least with Wade.'' The party silently made their way around the lake but couldn''t spot either beasts or Seth. After a twenty minute walk they reached a clearing next to the lake. It would''ve been a beautiful sight as the sky was crystal clear and everything was covered in a layer of snow reflecting the sun. The problem were the half buried skeletons littered around the clearing. There were several wolves, hounds, tigers and even something bigger...perhaps some kind of troll. It was difficult to determine the skeletons covered in snow and trolls weren''t very common. Gwenith had only fought three of them before and they were fierce enemies at the time. ''I think the first one was when I was around level 100...I even had to use my new Frenzy skill to take it down...that was a great day.'' while the berserker was lost in thought the others checked the area. "This one''s still fresh." Phil motioned for the others to come as he found a still bloody skeleton. "Seems like a tiger." Tigers are Monster class beasts in the 70-90 level range. Wade moved closer to inspect the wounds. "The cuts are extremely fine, looks like claws or something." his medical knowledge wasn''t the best so no further deduction was possible. ''Great healer we have here.'' Gwenith didn''t move to close because of the blood. ''Don''t want to accidentally take a bite.'' "Any prints?" asked Regan "No, the snow''s been to recent but let''s check around the area. Seth had to have come by here. We can follow his if we find them." they split up and searched the area. Gwenith didn''t really try. The lake made a too beautiful picture to ignore. She even tried to walk on it but the ice didn''t seem thick enough to carry her swords and herself. She helped the others out in the last ten minutes of the search when Wade called out to the others. "Found em, has to be him. They''re super light. Approach from behind me to not disturb the trail." They did as he asked and the party immediately followed the very faintly visible footsteps. It wouldn''t have been possible if the weather wasn''t this good. The party continued into the forest on the other side of the clearing and Gwenith started to smile after only fifteen minutes of walking. ''Blood, fresh. Might be human.'' the others noticed the signs ten minutes later as some splatters of blood could be seen on the fresh snow. They increased their speed fearing for their friend. They found Seth another half a mile further in the forest on the ground covered in blood and claw marks. "He''s not breathing. We''re too late." Phil kicked the tree next to him. "Fucking idiot, the damned fool got caught by some bloody witch." Noah said ''Stop cursing, I thought you were the ones being pure and all.'' though Gwenith as she scanned her surroundings. Only Wade and Regan were doing the same. "Concentrate guys, whatever killed Seth is still out there. Take positions and be quiet." everybody moved after Regan made them regain their composure when a low growl could be heard from less than twenty feet away. Chapter 12 Chapter 12 A huge creature, at least nine feet in height and four in width emerged from the shadows. It strongly resembled a werewolf but lacked the normally present brown or black fur. The eyes weren''t red either as they normally should be. Instead the whole creature was consisted of seemingly grey and black smoke. ''It''s a shadow.'' Gwenith immediately came to that conclusion. She had heard about people being able to create shadow beasts but never something this big. ''It looks strong'' a werewolf is a Demon class beast with a minimum estimated level of 180. They are strong foes only few can fight without trouble. "Never seen a shadow werewolf." she said as the others readied themselves to fight. "Guys it doesn''t look hostile, maybe we can fight the one who''s conjured it?" the others understandably didn''t listen though. Few of them had ever encountered a foe in the Demon class and only heard about their strength. Even though their level exceeded 150 and Regan''s even 200 they mostly leveled up by training and killing other humans in the rebellion two years ago until now. The werewolf looked at the group curiously but didn''t seem intent to attack. Gwenith stood a little to the side and was the only one with a relaxed stance and no weapon in her hands. The group waited for the beast to attack as two more werewolves emerged from the same direction. And two more. At that point the party wasn''t sure of their victory anymore. When another three came from the left Patrick couldn''t take it anymore. He started to shake and mumbled something about god before he run in the opposite direction. One of the Shadow beasts howled and sprinted after him completely ignoring the party or Gwenith to the side, running between them at an alarming speed. ''Wow they''re fast. I''d have to go top speed to catch one of them.'' she was still relaxed mostly because the werewolves didn''t seem to be hostile. ''I just don''t feel threatened...they seem like...dogs...pets, something like that. I''d love to touch one.'' Patrick meanwhile was running for his life when the creature reached him catching the warrior with his huge claws. His armor was instantly penetrated and blood started to flow from his mouth. The creature dropped him and looked at the bleeding man with its head cocked to the side. ''Oh wow, I think it''s just playing.'' as if to confirm her suspicion Gwenith slowly approached one of the creatures to her left and trust her arm in its direction. The werewolf took two steps back and covered a little when Gwenith removed a piece of meat she had saved for emergencies from her backpack and offered it to the beast. "What is she doing?!" Noah exclaimed while looking at the bizarre scene. "Gwenith, you''re gonna get yourself killed." Regan had a similar opinion but she didn''t let them disturb her. ''If anybody''s gonna get themselves killed it''s you fools.'' she motioned the creature to take the meat but it didn''t budge. When she took a bite and ate it the creature came a little closer. She held the piece of meat back towards the creature when it snagged it with very high speed. ''So they''re pretty intelligent too, fascinating.'' Two other werewolves slowly approached Gwenith while she took a couple steps towards the eating beast. "Sorry lovelies, that was the last piece I had." she said to the other two with a sad voice. "She''s working with them!" Phil came to this conclusion which Noah immediately got behind. As if a light bulb formed inside his head his eyes lit up "I knew it, I remember now...you were that fucking girl...the one who killed the wolves!" the others looked at Noah with questioning looks when he continued "You guys know I was a guard in Valaan about eight years ago. On my first night outside the walls we found a girl who killed some wolves with bloodmagic!" Gwenith only rolled her eyes "It''s not bloodmagic, my class is Berserker. Nothing to do with magic but it''s not like you bigots would understand that anyway." she smiled as she petted the werewolf that happily ate the meat she gave him. "I tell you it was magic, there was too much blood for it to be pure!" Noah''s eyes changed and were now filled with fury and fear. "Let''s kill her and the beasts might disappear." Wade wasn''t so sure yet but asked "Gwenith is what he said true?" Gwenith quietly stroke the beasts head while avoiding its sharp claws that tried to grab her occasionally. ''They might actually listen to me if I tell the truth but they''re insane zealots except for Regan...well maybe even him...I guess we can make this a little more interesting.'' she unsheathed the small sword Regan had given her and said proudly "It''s true, I''m as corrupted as a human can be now come catch me." She smiled as she run in the opposite direction that Patrick took. Seeing her stroking the beast Phil thought the beasts tame and somehow got the impression that only the one following Patrick was hostile. He looked at Noah who was now completely filled with rage and they immediately followed Gwenith at a full sprint ignoring the beasts they passed on the way. "STOP YOU IDIOTS" Wade shouted but they had already fallen into the trap. "Regan you gain the remaining werewolves attention, I go stop them, maybe I can prevent their deaths. He said as he sprinted towards the beasts. "Got it." said Regan as he activated a shout to attract the beasts attention. They all immediately turned towards him and even the beasts following the three running people stopped for a moment. ''Damn tank'' though Gwenith as she ran at her full speed. She soon lost the two slow warriors and started to circle around. A minute later she could hear Wade berating the others "She wanted you to get caught by the beasts. They somehow act like dogs or something so don''t act on your emotions so hard." Noah only ignored him "Damn, she got away. She''s fast as fuck. I would have sliced that witch to pieces if I had gotten her." he kicked a rock lying next to him. "We have to get back to Regan, we still have the mission and I''d rather not leave him with those wolves, no matter how docile they may be." they turned around and jogged back to Regan. ''They don''t even consider me coming back...what an arrogant bunch. I''m glad I never displayed my abilities before them.'' she stalked them right back to Regan who was hiding behind his shield with his back to a large tree. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "You alright there boss?" Wade started to cast a healing spell but Regan stopped him "Keep the mana, they can''t get through the shield...well it''s not like they''re really trying either." Some of the werewolves already lost their interest and faced the newcomers with curious eyes. "Fucking beasts, come on let''s kill them one by one. Shouldn''t be too hard." A tiny voice suddenly caught all of them unprepared. "NO, don''t kill them! They''re my friends!" A small girl looked on half covered by a tree. She had long black rugged hair and wore no clothes. Her body was covered in scars and little cuts while dried blood covered the edges or her mouth and chin. Gwenith was watching from behind the scenes ''Her eyes are stunning. So I guess we found our little witch...'' the purple eyes of the girl shined through the white environment and burned with fierce determination. "Oh so they''re your friends?" Noah sneered at the girl while brandishing his sword. "Noah don''t!" Regan''s shout was too late as Noah severed one of the werewolves'' heads with a clean cut. The beast died with one hit. "Well look at that...level 180 my ass." He commented as he cut down another beast. "STOP! YOU''RE HURTING THEM!" the girl''s pleading was ignored as one beast after the other was cut down by the mad warrior. "Might as well help" Phil sighed as he started to help clean the shadow beasts away. When only four remained the girl shrieked "YOU''RE HURTING THEM, I SAID STOP!" her voice changed from pleading and childish to a deep growling. Her form changed to the same as the werewolves as the remaining beasts attacked the two warriors. The Crusaders had trouble with their speed but since their stats were so much higher the beasts were soon cut down. When the last blow fell the girl, now werewolf, attacked from behind the warriors and managed to cut Noah''s back. "It''s unfortunate that it''s a child but we have our orders." Wade started to cast a healing spell towards Noah who heavily bled from his back. "You little bitch, I will cut off your limbs one by one!" He shouted and swung at her. "Damn shame she''s so long gone..." Regan entered the fray and attracted the girls attention with his shout. The girl who had been evading all the blows with ease so far and even managed to tear through Phil''s arm and Noah''s shield was distracted for a second in which one of the warriors cut her leg. ''Alright that''s enough I think'' Gwenith snuck behind Wade who was constantly healing the wounds of his comrades and rammed her sword through his chest. "AAaaaah, you guys really should watch your backs." she exclaimed as blood filled both Wade''s chest and mouth. He grunted as he slid from her sword. The injured girl held her leg, now transformed back and crawled behind the tree she was hiding before as the Crusaders faced their new enemy. "That FUCKING BITCH!" Noah was fuming as he held back to stay in what remained of their formation. ''Oh look at that, he held back for once...he''s actually improving'' Gwenith read the status message before her eyes as Wade apparently bled to death. You have leveled up by 17%, current level 190. You have 5 undistributed stat points. Status: Name: Gwenith Thersa Level: 190 Class: Berserker Vitality 1073 Endurance 1230 Strength 1434 Dexterity 922 Intelligence 73 Wisdom 36 Resistance: 890 Special Stats: Mental Strength: 128 Skills: Bloodthirst 30% Damage and Attack speed increase (Tier 3) when in Bloodthirst. Chance to regenerate Vitality and Endurance when attacking Ignores Pain and reduces 25% Damage taken. 100 Mental Strength required (Tier 3) to uphold 1 Endurance per Second Frenzy Lose yourself in Battle and ignore 75% Damage taken. Attack damage is increased by 20% but Precision is reduced by the same amount. Unable to distinguish between friend and foe. Once Frenzy is activated the user fights until no stamina remains. If no targets are available the user will attack walls or trees in the vicinity. Berserker class required. Level 100 required to activate. Activates automatically if vitality reaches below 5%. Chapter 13 Chapter 13 ''It''s funny how they think I''m a mage...put all points into vitality.'' she slowly lifted the blood covered sword and licked it. Bright crimson light enveloped her as tattoos started to cover her body. When the light vanished her eyes had become red. She slowly let the sword fall to the ground ''Human blood is disgusting, I hate killing humans'' she thought as she removed the wolf cloak. Black tattoos covered her bare arms and her face as she grasped the two greatswords on her back. "Now I can finally use these." she unsheathed the two swords in a fluid motion. ''The weight is perfect'' she could never truly test the swords because her hands would burn with intense pain whenever she touched them. After a couple test swings she struck a three feet tree which splintered under the heavy blow and was cut or rather smashed through by the swing. ''Splendid'' she turned her attention to the three warriors who prepared themselves for battle. Regan stood in the front and behind him was Noah on his left and Phil on his right. Gwenith didn''t wait for them and accelerated to her top speed, closing the distance of forty feet in mere seconds. She swerved to the right as the swung her left sword at Regan''s greatshield. The blow made a huge dent in the heavy shield and Regan was blown away nearly a dozen feet, nearly losing his balance. Being right next to Noah she evaded his first swing and blocked his second one with her left sword while swinging her right on at him with full force. Noah still in mid swing couldn''t evade and lifted his shield to absorb the damage. The sword smashed through the shield and sent both splinters of wood and bone flying as it nearly halved the warrior. The only thing saving him was Phil who attacked from the left forcing Gwenith to evade to the right and reducing the force of her swing in the last moment. Phil caught Noah as he nearly broke down from the damage. Blood covered the ground from the huge wound on the side of his chest and his smashed arm. Phil lowered him slowly to the ground giving him a piece of cloth he quickly ripped from his shirt to help stop the bleeding. His eyes never left Gwenith and the two remaining warriors started to circle her as Noah tried keep his innards. "I really had hopes for you Gwenith." Regan remarked as he swung his sword at her which was easily deflected by the better range, speed and weight of her greatswords. "Your order went down the road of madness and safely arrived at the asylum Regan and not even a noble knight such as yourself can save it now." the two tried a pincer move but failed miserably as they each had to block one of Gwenith''s deflective swings. A breaking bone could be heard on Phil''s side as he let go of his shield. He held the mace in both hands now as he grit his teeth from the pain. "I will return them to the road of righteousness, but first I''m gonna kill you deceiving monster." He managed to deflect a blow without taking the full force and swung at Gwenith''s open right side who had to block Phil''s mace coming from the left. The sword cut deep and she started to bleed as the two warriors retreated a couple steps. "It''s over for you Gwenith, you can''t win against the two of us." it was true, their swordsmanship was on par and with the skillful use of his shield Regan and Phil had the upper hand...but that would be if they were fighting a normal swordswoman and not a berserker. "Hahahahaha" Gwenith started to laugh as the intensity in her eyes increased. The red seemed deeper and her tattoos emitted a bit of light for a second. "Finally it''s a fight!" she smiled showing her teeth as she closed the distance between her and Regan in two very quick steps swinging her swords madly at him with more speed and force than before completely ignoring Phil who went for her back. Her right sword was skillfully deflected by Regan but she managed to cut through part of his right shoulder with her other sword immediately healing the damage she received before. The blow to her back was child''s play compared to Regan''s cut from before. It didn''t even penetrate her leather armor and did very little damage to her spine and ribcage because of her high vitality and resistance. Phil was even below her in levels while Regan was at about 223 with the best equipment a Crusader officer could receive. A blow like the one he landed would have immediately killed or fatally injured anybody below level 200. Gwenith just shrugged it off though as she madly attacked both of them with increasing speed. When she managed to get through their defense her first hit took both of Phil''s legs and her second smashed his torso as it fell to the ground. Now it was only her and Regan who could barely hold his sword because of his injured shoulder. Like a true tank he managed to stay alive for another five blows that completely dented and shredded his Holy level 220 Towershield. A shield that can withstand a thousand blows before showing even the slightest signs of tearing. "F...from where do you get that strength." Regan fell down still grasping the remains of his once proud shield while glaring at Gwenith from behind his helmet. Her wounds were healed completely already. Bloodthirst healed her occasionally even if her attacks were blocked completely. She felt more energetic than when their fight started, which was the true power of her class. The longer a fight went the worse it was for her opponents. "Already done?" she asked with a disappointed voice. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. The lone berserker had tore apart some of the greatest warriors of the Crusaders and even insulted them while they were down. "A..argh..and you call us mad...hahahaha" Regan finally let go of his shield as he lowered his head to the ground. Some of his ribs and both his arms were broken in at least ten places. A lot of healers would be necessary to restore the broken tank. "Oh I never said I wasn''t a bit crazy but burning somebody for their class choice is overdoing it a bit don''t you think." she walked past him towards the hiding girl while storing her swords on her back. The girl remained behind the tree watching with one eye during the whole fight while holding her bleeding leg. "Hello little one, what''s your name?" Gwenith lowered herself to face the girl and spoke with a soft voice while smiling. "My name is Gwenith, I played with one of your friends before, he was huuge and I think he liked the meat I gave him." she waited for the girl to process all that staring at the purple eye that wasn''t behind the tree. "His name is Bobo, he says he likes you!" she suddenly exclaimed while hiding a little more behind the tree. "That''s great, I will play with him whenever he likes...and we can hunt more meat together if he wants..." that proposition made the girl slowly come out from her hiding. She smiled at Gwenith and said "Really? He says he can''t wait to eat more meat...but he''s afraid of the monsters so you have to help him hunt." Gwenith smiled at that and answered "Of course I will help him, I''m very strong. Some monsters can''t intimidate me!" The girl was beaming now "I will get Bobo as soon as I feel better Lady Gwenith!!" she wanted to jump but thought otherwise when she remembered her leg. ''Lady...hahaha, that''s a good one.'' she giggled and asked "Does it hurt? I can make it better if you want." the girl nodded so Gwenith led her to where her backpack was. She left it on the ground after running from Noah and Phil. She removed a couple herbs and bandages from her backpack. "Okay sit down on that tree." the girl did as she said and Gwenith checked her wound. It was a deep but clean cut and the blade didn''t seem to be poisoned. ''At least his sword was clean'' she bandaged the girl and used some of the herbs to reduce the pain and chance of infection. "Does it feel better? It should be healed in another couple days or so." Wounds in the world of Dawn heal faster and seemingly critical injuries can be survived as long as some Vitality is remaining. With a healer present even a severed arm or a hole through the chest weren''t that much of a problem. Ignoring of course the huge mana drain on the healer and the excruciating pain experienced by the injured. A broken arm for example would of course cause pain but the lack of mobility it would create on Earth wasn''t as much of a problem in Dawn either. Regan wouldn''t have been able to hold up his shield after only one or two blows of Gwenith''s swords on Earth...being fair a woman of her stature would never be able to swing a two hundred pound sword with such force. "I feel much better Lady Gwenith! But my head is still spinning." mana exhaustion though Gwenith as she opened her bag again. "You have used too much mana...you know getting your friends here costs you a lot probably...and the amazing thing you did in the end when you changed forms, that probably costs a lot too." She removed the last pieces of bread she had and a flask with water. "Here, eat and drink. It will help you restore some power." The girl eagerly bit into the bread "Itsch delischous" she smiled as she wolfed down the food nearly choking. "So what''s your name little shadow conjurer?" asked Gwenith after the girl coughed a couple times and drank the remaining water. "Emilia, Lady Gwenith!" "Nice to meet you then Emilia, and please stop calling me a lady...I''m anything but that." she felt more like the berserker her class represented. A lady was the last thing she thought herself to be. "But lady Gwenith is beautiful, her hair is like fire and when she fought it looked like dancing! A..and her eyes are fire too...the things on her skin too!" Gwenith was blushing, adding to the things that were red about her, and quickly held her hand before Emilia''s mouth stopping the overeager praising. "I understand, but still. Just don''t call me a lady...ok? You can call me Gwen" she looked at the girl with a stern look. Emilia nodded knowingly "I understand Gwen." "So where do you live Emilia?" Gwenith was sure the girl lived in a cave or something similar near the lake by the looks of her. "My house is only a little bit that way!" she pointed to the south. "Will you show me?" the girl was running with a limp before Gwenith even finished the question. ''What a lovely girl. I wonder how she ended up in this place.'' she followed Emilia who seemed to be about eight years old. Living naked in the forest running around in the snow while conjuring werewolves certainly isn''t the normal life of a little girl. Chapter 14 Chapter 14 They soon reached another clearing where some sort of wooden house stood. It was very weirdly constructed. "Who built this?" Emilia proudly puffed her chest and proclaimed "This is my castle, my friends and I built it a while ago!" Gwenith couldn''t help but let a smile escape as she looked at the poorly thrown together logs with claw marks. ''Yep, that''s a castle alright...a castle build by werewolves under supervision by a nine or so year old girl.'' she looked at Emilia with admiration and asked "So Emilia, how old are you and how did you get here...do you want to tell me the story of the little shadowprincess?" Emilia blushed at her new title and eagerly dragged her new friend into her castle. It turns out Emilia was born in Dawn. About two years after the bombs fell. She never knew any other world. Her parents lived in a small village that was overrun by beasts at some point because some careless guards left the gate open in the night or at least that''s what Gwenith assumed happened. Emilia didn''t know much about that time. She was four years old when it happened. Her parents and her were separated as they fled from the monsters. They found a little cave where only Emilia could get in due to her small stature. She heard her parents getting killed outside and in her fear conjured her first shadowbeast. It was a werewolf, resembling the bests that attacked her village. It held her the whole night while she was crying. The family had fled the village for more than a day so Emilia couldn''t find her way back. She liked the lake she found and her friend said he liked the fish. They ate the raw food together and Emilia soon learned how to live in the wild. She could conjure five beasts at the time and slowly increased her mana capacity and general stats. She nearly died countless times from beastattacks, food poisoning from eating raw meat, the cold and even because of her own shadow beasts from time to time. They would sometimes injure her on accident because they were so much bigger than her. Luckily their claws couldn''t harm her because they were conjured by her but more than one unlucky traveler were mangled by a well meaning beast trying to play catch. ''It''s a wonder she survived all this time.'' Gwenith was astonished for the whole story. ''That means she''s eight now. She knows surprisingly much for only living with humans in her first four years.'' she suddenly hugged Emilia tightly after she finished who tensed up at first but soon returned the hug. When Gwenith let her go she said "You''re a very strong shadowprincess Emilia, with many strong friends." she wasn''t sure what to say to accomplish her goal but Emilia solved it for her "Gwen..c...can you..." she blushed and looked to the ground while fidgeting with her hands. "Yes?" Gwenith took Emilia''s hands into hers and tried to look in her eyes. "C...can y...you STAY HERE WITH ME" she burst out and looked at Gwenith with determined purple eyes. "Sadly that''s not possible Emilia" the girl already seemed to start crying when Gwenith continued "BUT if you want to come, I''ll take you with me...I''m going to the capital next...how does that sound?" the girl blinked back tears and started to smile from ear to ear "The capital, Gwen how many people are there in the capital??" smiling Gwenith answered "There are many many many, do you know what a Million is?" Emilia was confused by what the word meant so Gwenith changed her approach "What''s the biggest number you know Emilia?" the girl thought hard and said "One hundred, I counted one hundred fish in the lake...that is all the fish!" her logic was flawless "Hahaha, now think of one hundred lakes with all those fish in them...then you start to see how many people there are in the capital." the girl made big eyes "That''s a lot of people...will they like me?" Gwenith hugged her again "Some will and some won''t but I''ll always be with you so you don''t have to worry about that!" "Then I will come with you Gwen!" her expression suddenly darkened "Can my friends come too?" Gwenith anticipated the question "Of course they can, but some people might be afraid of them so they can only come out when we''re outside...is that ok for them?" Emilia was lost in thought for a while "They say it''s ok if you sometimes help them hunt." Gwenith acted as if she had to think hard about the answer "That''s a deal then, they can come. Emilia how many are there?" the girl smiled "Fifteen right now" Gwenith made a pokerface ''Well let''s hope she keeps her promise...fifteen werewolves in New Sydney might attract some attention.'' She stayed with Emilia for another hour when she went to sleep because of mental exhaustion. ''Alright, let''s see what we can get from the others.'' She had informed Emilia that she was going to check on the men that had attacked her. Gwenith left the wooden castle and soon found the area where they had fought. Regan was still lying on the same spot but there was now a dead spider next to him ''Even in this state...he''s a tough one for sure.'' She checked all their bags and found a lot of food, medical supplies and over 1500 gold from the dead ones. "Y..you...b..bitch!" she heard Noah cursing the whole time she was there. His injuries would need even longer to heal than Regan''s. When she got everything she needed she stepped next to Noah. "Let''s end this." before Noah even processed what she had said one of her swords beheaded him with ease. ''Nice, another 500 gold.'' she even found some suitable cloth from Wade to make clothes for Emilia. Healers or mages in general sometimes preferred robes because of their low strength and endurance. Most of them try to at least wear leather armor to have a bare minimum of protection. Wade seemed to feel pretty safe in his party though. Gwenith used some of the herbs and bandages she found to treat Regan''s worst wounds. He was in a fever dream the whole time she was there. "You''re not a bad man Regan." she put the sword back in his hand that still stuck inside the dead spider. "Maybe you''ll survive and you might even change your order...even if only by a little." she didn''t kill him that day because she believed he was sincere in what he told her about the Crusaders. She still left him there though, it would be difficult for many to survive even one night. Regan needed at least a week to heal his worst injuries. ''He''ll survive.'' she left a flask of water next to him and some bread from his dead friends and returned to Emilia. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Gwenith slept in the castle and was woken up by something sharp pressing to her torso. She slowly opened her eyes and smiled "Bobo watch your claws." the beast immediately removed his claws from her and seemed to apologize. "Good morning to you too." she stood up and stopped the light bleeding on her stomach caused by what she presumed Bobo trying to wake her up. It wasn''t a bad wound, as she didn''t even feel it. This meant that her vitality hadn''t been drained by even 5%. She made her way to the main room of the castle where Emilia was waiting with Bobo...or so she assumed ''They do all look the same...maybe they''re all Bobo?'' sadly she was wrong. Emilia conjured each beast up one by one and introduced it. She could conjure 15 beasts at the moment. ''That''s fifteen names I''ll have forgotten in two minutes top.'' Gwenith asked Emilia to read her her status window but unfortunately Emilia couldn''t read. They did find another solution as she wrote everything on the ground with a stick. It took several hours as Emilia was basically painting the letters and Gwenith had to ask for a redraw more than once. She slowly put together Emilias status window though: Name: Emilia Lucila Level: 136 Class: Shadow Conjurer Vitality 350 Endurance 130 Strength 68 Dexterity 160 Intelligence 721 Wisdom 689 Resistance: 589 Special Stats: None Skills: Shadow Conjure a shadow that fights by your side. Attack power and vitality are based on mana used and Intelligence stat. Fighting style and stat distribution are determined by the type of Shadow you conjure. Minimum mana used: 100 Maximum shadows conjured at a time: 15 (Tier 3) Each tier gives 5 more. Shadow transformation Become a Shadow yourself. Stats are redistributed according to the type of shadow you become. Must be level 100 to use. 5 mana or stamina per second depending on the type of shadow you become. Shadow Binding Control the movement of a lesser foe with your shadow. Stronger enemies will only be restricted in their movement or could even break out of your spell. 100 mana to activate. Consumption dependent on the foe attacked (Min. 10 Mana per second). Shadow Curse Fear the enemy with your shadow causing perception and movement speed to decrease greatly (depending on foe''s level). Lesser foe''s are confused. 150 mana to activate Shadow Step Envelop both yourself and up to 10 (Tier 2) allies in shadows reducing your chance to be seen by 50% and removing any sounds your movement would normally generate. 10 mana per second Once spotted the spell dissipates It turned out that Emilia had pretty high stats for level 136. ''She''s been living in the forest for four years alright.'' Emilia''s magical stats were so high because she used her Shadow skill nearly all the time to have her friends with her. It took a toll on a person to keep a conjured beast alive for long periods of time. Not enough to warrant an actual mana loss notification in the skills but keeping five to fifteen shadows alive at the time for sometimes whole days certainly drained Emilia. She never used any other skills besides Shadow and Shadow transformation because she couldn''t read the menu. ''She''s going to learn soon enough. First comes reading though.'' Gwenith cut Wade''s robe down so that it somewhat fit Emilia. She obviously cleaned off the blood first. When Emilia wore the dress she looked like a little monk, except of course for her long black hair. ''I think she can stay barefoot though, her resistance is high enough anyway and she''s been running around like that for four years.'' the clothing was mostly due to other people reacting negatively. High resistance was certainly enough to stay warm in a cold winter night and the protection light armor provided wasn''t that high anyway...at least the bad quality items Gwenith had. Even she sometimes returned nearly naked to Valaan with her clothes all torn from dozens of fights with beasts. She was never spotted though and even if, after the person rubbed their eyes she would already be gone. Emilia didn''t have many belongings because the forest didn''t provide much and she never took from the dead travelers because she felt it was wrong to steal even from the dead. ''She''s such a sweet little girl with 15 possibly murderous beasts under her control.'' They made their way back to the road westwards or rather marked trees. The skeletons on the clearing Gwenith''s party passed first weren''t actually Emilia''s or her underlings'' doing. It was just one of the only places with fresh water in this part of the forest, attracting a wide variety of animals and bests. ''Still wonder how that troll got killed.'' they returned the way she came and soon reached the markings again. They were barely two days from Valaan and it was a 2000 mile journey to New Sydney. It would take them well over a month to reach it on foot. Gwenith didn''t buy a horse simply because on the long run...she was faster. A horse''s top speed was about 55 miles per hour. Gwenith couldn''t compete there with her 30 miles per hour, which was still faster than the fastest people on Earth were...even most of the genetically improved ones. The problem is that horses can''t maintain even 40 miles per hour for more than a couple miles where Gwenith had enough endurance to run for around three hours straight. Another thing that wouldn''t be possible on Earth but her extremely high endurance stat allowed her that much. They''d reach New Sydney in 10 to 15 days depending on monster encounters and if they found enough food for Gwenith to run two times a day. "Are you ready?" she lifted Emilia over her head and secured her with some spare straps. Emilia laughed as she held the straps "Hyah!" the now to a horse reduced Gwenith smirked and started to run at 25 miles per hour. Neither the heavy weapons nor the girl on top of her head reduced her speed by much. They''d reach the west very soon... Chapter 15 Chapter 15 Georg (10 years after Hope, Winter) "You goin to start?" Becker asked as they looked at the courtyard from the rooftop. "I will, but give them a little more time, they still have a couple hundred feet to go." he could see much farther than Becker due to his passive skill Eagle eye. The other five were closing in on the watchtower made of stone. The huge mansion was located a couple hundred feet behind it. ''Let''s see if this one goes as smooth as the last one.'' Georg changed his profession to mercenary after the corruption in the Defense force he helped found became too great. It wasn''t that he really cared about the politics but one had to be associated with the Guild to even earn a living in the Defense force. ''It''s not like there''s enough work there anyways now that they finished the 200 feet high wall.'' past the mansion the wall could be seen looming over the city. People who didn''t leave the walls didn''t even know about the monsters outside anymore. Most mercenaries still worked for the Guild but there were other channels and many didn''t want the Guild to know about their actions. Very much so in this case as the mansion belonged to one of the self proclaimed nobles. They held some friends of their employer imprisoned which now had to be rescued. The job sounds simple but waltzing into a political leaders mansion and abducting a couple of his treasures wasn''t as risk free as working in a smithy. ''The pay is ridiculous though and our team is good this time.'' the five others were now very close to the watchtower. Georg tapped Becker on his shoulder "Time for you to go Becky." the bulky Thief took off with surprising speed while mumbling "I''d kill you for that if you weren''t such a good fucking archer." Georg grinned. Becker was the first mercenary he worked with when he left the force two years ago. "Alright, let''s get this party started." Their plan was to make a distraction in front of the mansion while two of the five in the front went for the library where the most valuable possessions of the owner were stored. There were so many magic traps and strong personnel guarding it that it was impossible for them to actually steal something but Becker would carry out the real job in the meantime. Georg steadied his greatbow that weighed over a hundred pounds and took an explosive arrow from his inventory. ''I love this skill.'' he was thinking about his arrow storage skill: Arrow storage - Passive Skill Store up to 150 (Tier 3) heavy arrows in an instantly accessible inventory space. Requirement: Any Heavy Archer class Level 100 Heavy arrows are arrows, or anything used as arrows, weighing over 10 pounds. Georg made some of them himself but the special ones like exploding arrows came from the Academy. He had an alchemist friend that built new kinds of rockets before Dawn. ''Let''s try one of them.'' He didn''t yet have the chance of trying the explosive arrows. They had a magic spell built in and cost him 50 gold a piece. Georg loosed the arrow which flew nearly straight at its target. Before it hit the arrow emitted red light and the watchtower was enveloped in flames. ''For an explosion it''s rather quiet.'' the fire was a stored greater explosion spell. When cast the spell isn''t very loud either but the arrow was still a little underwhelming to Georg. There wasn''t much left of the watchtower because the arrow first penetrated its stone wall and then exploded inside. The five mercenaries consisting of two warriors, one rogue, a healer and a wind mage immediately sprung to action. The wind mage, Davion blasted the windows of the mansion facing the ruined watchtower. One of the warriors Steven and the Rogue Catherine immediately jumped inside. Georg could only trust them. They had the hardest job next to Becker. He looked around the mansion with his eagle eye and spotted a couple archers and a caster emerging on the roof. The two archers took aim when a lance at 200 miles per hour hit one of them. The archer was blown off the roof from the force and was dead before he even hit the ground. The two others fled back inside while narrowly avoiding another lance. ''Aaah, missed that one. Oh well another five gold wasted.'' he checked the area again. Luckily there were quite some trees around the property reducing the sound generated by the explosion and increasing the time any reinforcements would need to get here. The fire went out pretty quickly because of the snow that covered all of New Sydney this time of the year. The three remaining mercenaries of his team were engaged in combat with some of the guards the entered the yard. They occasionally ducked for a couple seconds to give Georg a clear shot but they mostly wanted to fight themselves to earn their keep in the group. Members were replaced often as they either died, couldn''t handle the high risk or were simply unable to fulfill their tasks. Some even left after a couple jobs because they earned enough money to lay low for a couple years. Those were the kind of jobs Georg''s team did. They didn''t have a team name as all of them though something like that was silly but the general populace and an occasional employer would refer to them as the suicide wolves mostly because their most famous member had a wolf as a pet. Well that wolf killed him in his sleep eventually but the name still stuck. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. All their jobs were high risk high reward and they were sought after by a lot of people. Not because there weren''t teams just as good but nearly all of them worked for the Guild. Even though they took most jobs, of which very few could be classified as morally acceptable, the general populace loved them. They had some sort of Robin Hood feel about them because they never worked for the Guild. They didn''t distribute their earned money either or actively worked against the men in power but the people took what they got. Another one of his arrows or rather lances shredded one of the guards in front of the mansion. He was dragged back inside by one of his friends while the others covered their retreat. No enemies remained outside the mansion and hopefully most would gather around the library. They were there for only ten minutes when Georg spotted the first squad of adventurers advancing from outside the property. ''Team of five, well equipped. Looks like a Gold team.'' They didn''t want to turn this into a full scale battle so he signaled his team that only ten minutes remain. He did so by shooting an arrow containing a regular fireball inside the mansion so that both the team outside and the ones inside could hear or see it. The two inside would have to leave in five minutes time. They were likely engaged in a figurative trench war with the guards at the library. The adventurer team was halting their advance, likely waiting for another team to reinforce them. They might''ve seen the lance and heard the explosion thus reevaluating the risk. Only seven minutes later another team joined up with them. ''That''s Platinum, time to vanish.'' He checked that all his teammates safely evacuated and then left too. He silently ran for a couple hundred yards checking his surroundings. ''Now all that''s left is Becky.'' if their employer could be trusted the sought after people were held in a side building of the mansion and it shouldn''t have taken Becker more than six minutes to get them out. He was a specialist in lock picking and silent killings. No door could keep him out for longer than two minutes, except it wasn''t wide enough for him to fit. When Georg came to the street he checked both sides and entered the sewers. New Sydney is the only city with a good sewage system but that brought the negative side effect of criminals escaping easier. The sewers in the center of the capital are very easy to navigate but further out existed a complete labyrinth, mostly because some ruins had to be integrated or even bypassed by the system. New Sydney spans an area of around 250 square miles. Creating a city this big in only ten years created more than a little chaos. Everybody helped build though because nothing is a better motivation than a Troll threatening to smash your house. There luckily were huge stone deposits in the area and quarries were soon build. Most of New Sydney is paved even though more than a third of all the stone was needed to build the walls. They finished it in the sixth year. Smaller properties were simply claimed by whomever had build a house there. Most houses were made of wood because fire wasn''t that dangerous anymore. Every other mage could use a water, wind or even fire spell to fight or extinguish the flames. Georg was already four streets away from the mansion when he exited the sewers. The first place any pursuers would search was the immediate vicinity of the mansion. The second place were the sewers. Georg removed his hood and continued on. The mansion was in the northeastern most part of town. Mostly rich individuals lived there mostly because of the biggest lake that was located in the area. The Guild headquarter certainly had something to do with that too but their influence covered the whole city by now anyway. Georg was pretty much save at this point. His huge bow might''ve given him away but there were more heavy bowmen than one might think. Every bigger group used them as artillery because of their often increased eyesight. Additionally most guards and civilians simply didn''t care about somebody attacking some noble. The city wasn''t badly governed and most people had an alright life compared to the time before Dawn or the first couple years here. He went to his house that was located in the southern part of the city. He walked for a couple hours before reaching his district. Public transportation didn''t exist and horses would attract too much attention. When he entered his beautifully built wooden house he removed his bow, got himself a mug of beer from the cellar and sat down on the porch. ''Today was a good day.'' he thought as he took a deep swig from his mug and savored the beautiful sight of a winter evening in the busy New Sydney. Chapter 16 Chapter 16 Five days later he met up with the group in a nondescript house near the eastern northern gates. "Great, everybody made it, violet." Becker started the meeting "Football" "Sheep" "Grass" "Beast" "Howitzer" "Plane" he looked towards Georg after everybody said one word. "Georg you know my memory isn''t the best, no reds this time either right?" Georg nodded "Yup, no reds we''re safe. Good job everybody." They each had several code words they''d use in certain situations. The ones they used tonight indicated that they did their job and weren''t followed or threatened. The representative of our employer is in the next room, I''ll get his cargo. Everybody hid their faces with wooden masks Catherine made for everybody. Her hobby was carving. "Hey look at that, your masks actually resemble something now." John teased her. The rogue vanished and held a dagger to his face as she appeared behind him while smirking. "Careful Johnny or I might carve it directly next time." the others smiled at their exchange but turned their attention to Becker as he led the five women they had rescued in the room. They had clean new clothing and looked healthier as described by the employer. The clothes couldn''t cover their scars completely though. "Weren''t they supposed to be skin and bones?" Steven asked but Maverick punched him as a response to the insensitive question. "They ate nearly all my storage, hahaha. Trust me they looked much worse when I got them out." Becker supplied the answer. ''They must''ve eaten a truck load to empty HIS storage.'' Becker was known to keep a lot of food for emergencies and simply because he loved it. He even made cheese and sausages himself which is quite impressive with the level of technology in Dawn. He might''ve got some magical help though. The women looked around seemingly frightened. They didn''t know any of the people in the room and even Becker only showed himself to them masked. They knew he had rescued them but their future fate was still unknown."Alright, time to see where this whole thing goes." Becker knocked on the door where their employer or a representative was waiting. They often did their jobs without knowing for whom. Of course they confirmed their sincerity before accepting to not walk into a trap. ''Now let''s see how they react.'' when the women wouldn''t know the man it likely meant some sort of slavery or worse would be their fate. The man entered the room and four of the five women immediately changed their expressions. Two of them hugged each other and broke down into tears. One was simply smiling and the last one run towards the man and greeted him with a hug. "Peter, thank you so much!" Georg had a smile under his mask ''Ahh, I''m glad it''s a happy end.'' it was mostly fifty fifty when it came to jobs with people involved. Georg saw enough in his life to not be shaken too badly by somebody losing their freedom or being killed but it certainly made that day a bad one if it happened, especially with women and children. "Shh love, no names here. We hired these men to ensure nobody knows about this." the woman nodded and Peter approached Becker. "Thank you so much. I didn''t think all four were even still alive. I''m sure to put in a bonus for your tremendous work." Becker shook his head. "No change with the money. The price was negotiated with the outcome unclear. We''d want the same if only one of them made it." he explained their way of doing business. With a reputation like that it would result in fewer angry customers whose jobs weren''t finished completely. Peter nodded in understanding "I''ll be sure to recommend your services." he immediately wanted to leave with the four women when Georg stopped him "There were five women. You said all four were rescued. Do you not know this woman?" he pointed at the lone frightened looking woman by the stairs. The masked man looked at her for a while and then shook his head. "I''m sorry but no, I''m sure you will take care of that little problem." one of the women immediately held Peter''s arm and looked towards Georg. "No please! Don''t kill her. She was there with us the whole time. Say something!" she looked at the other girls with pleading eyes "It''s true, she''s been there even before us." Peter sighed "Well we can''t take her with us, you know that. I guess it''s up to you what you do with her. We give you permission to do whatever you deem necessary." and with that he left towards the secret entrance of Becker''s house. The women followed him without further complaint ''I do wonder who they are. They''re ready to leave somebody behind who suffered with them for presumably over two years. Maybe she knows something?'' Georg dismissed that idea as he knew the women were kept in isolation most of the time. ''They probably hardly knew each other. Oh well, might just be that this day is going to end badly after all.'' "Alright missy, stay put for another couple minutes." Becker motioned the girl to turn around which she did while visibly trembling. Becker then distributed the money he received right before Peter left. ''3000 Gold, fantastic.'' it was a lot of money considering the sum was 21k in total. "Well always a pleasure doing business with you." Steven bowed and left after checking the street. "I''ll be gone too. Will check in with you in about three months, got another job waiting." Catherine left and John followed her while waving. Maverick sighed "Well gentlemen do we want to get this over with." Lena left too after looking at the woman with pitiful eyes. "I''ll be leaving too, you know where to find me." She left. The tree men turned their attention to the trembling woman standing with her back turned towards them. "You can turn around missy." Becker motioned her to face them. They still had their masks on. Before them stood a pretty small woman, about five feet five tall. Her hair was brown and long and she had dark brown eyes to accompany the hair. She had scars all over her visible skin and held her hands before her chest. "I''m not good at this, can you talk to her?" Georg pleadingly looked at Becker "What are you on about mate, you''re the best there is for this." Maverick only shrugged "When he''s right, he''s right. Hey do you still have some of that mead downstairs?" Becker nodded to that "They ate nearly everything but didn''t touch the alcohol. Come on, today''s on me." they walked down when Becker turned his head "If you decide to kill her you''re welcome to join too." and walked down ''Great fucking job Becky, that''s exactly how you start your talk with a traumatized victim. Maybe I truly am the best for this but only because these guys are bloody blockheads.'' he sighed and removed the hand that covered his face after Becker''s comment. "Look miss, you''re probably not going to die today so relax at least a little. We didn''t break into that mansion to kill whomever we get out from there." he motioned her to sit down by the table. When they both sat Maverick came back up and left a bit of food and drink wordlessly before he went back in the cellar. Georg took a bite from the sausage and drank from the mead. ''How does he do it?'' he thought while marveling at the taste. "Alright so let''s see what we know. You and some other girls were held prisoner by some douchy noble who probably raped and beat all of you on a daily basis. True or False?" the woman''s eyes grew a little bigger at some of the words he uttered but she ultimately nodded. "How many years?" it was important to know. Georg knew a lot about dealing with civilians in warzones. Some of the prisoners he rescued were abused for over a decade. Some of them broke and the only thing he could give them was the mercy of death. The woman tried to speak after a while but only managed to make some gurgling sounds. Georg offered her his mug which she took after a while. She first took a little sip and looked at him with fearful eyes. ''Is she expecting me to punch her?'' he just ate a piece of cheese "You can drink as much as you like, that fatass downstairs has enough of it AND we just got paid." Something flickered in her eyes as she drank another sip, then another and in the end she finished the whole mug. ''Was that joy? Not sure.'' he looked at her with curiosity. "Fo...four y..yea..years." she managed to utter the words with a bit of stuttering. Georg banged twice on the ground with his right foot. "He never let you drink?" he grinned from behind his mask. She nodded at that. ''Right, weren''t there vines in his estate?'' Maverick came back up with two filled mugs of mead. "Seems like you made it miss. I''m glad you''re under the living." she didn''t get what he meant and he was gone as fast as he appeared. She took another gulp of the mead and grinned...it seemed like she had to relearn the expression again after her imprisonment. Georg could determine the mental state of somebody in a very short exchange. The woman sitting before him wasn''t broken, no the opposite was the case. ''Is that a wish for revenge I see in those eyes?'' he smiled again and removed his mask. "Name''s Georg, nice to meet you." he offered his hand which she took after a couple seconds worth of hesitation. "I''m Sofia...likewise." She managed it without stuttering but her voice was still weak. "You don''t seem like the others at all...what did you do before?" she looked at him confused "Hope?" she asked "No no, not before Hope. Before those four years." she looked as if it was hard to remember the time before her torment. "Adventures....Rogue...Healing." Georg was taken aback by those words. He did assume that she was the fighting kind but Rogue and Healing. ''I''m not so sure about her mental state anymore. Maybe I misjudged her?'' he leaned back in his chair "Are you sure? That combination is a little...well." as if she understood she quickly shook her head "No, I''m fine!" she said a little louder than before "I''ll show you." he thought about it and then nodded. "What do you need?" she only pointed to the kitchen knife he used to cut the salami. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. They entered the cellar finding the two men kissing. Georg cleared his throat and they shifted their attention towards him. "Already done?" Becker said as he let go of Maverick. "Yep, she''s fine...probably. Name''s Sofia." Maverick looked perplexed "Probably? Never heard that coming from you." Georg and Sofia stepped into the cellar where he handed her the knife. "You sure about that?" Maverick asked worried. "She says she''s...a rogue healer." the two men looked at each other and started to laugh. "The girl''s mad mate, your judgment isn''t the best anymore." Sofia quickly advanced and cut Becker''s arm. "Ow you damn bitch!" he shouted as the blood started flowing, ready to punch her Georg stopped him "Wait, you saw her movements. She at least didn''t lie about being able to handle a knife." Becker held back "Yea of course I saw that but she still cut me! Damn lunatic!" Sofia looked at him determined "Your arm." she motioned him to stretch out his bleeding arm. "What so you can cut me again!?" Becker refused "Yes, she said." but her voice didn''t contain any malice, only distress. Georg though about it and said "Let her Becker, I might have a crazy idea or you''re just gonna walk away with two small cuts instead of one." Becker looked at him as if Georg betrayed him. "Alright just this once!" he always trusted Georg, his judgment of people was too good not to. Sofia took his arm in her left hand when the kitchen knife slowly started to faintly glow in a warm light. It looked as if the knife had been bathed in flame. She stabbed him but Becker didn''t react. "Guys....wow...it''s not hurting at all...I" he stopped for a second and looked at Sofia with admiration. "I get it..." just as he said it the wound from the first cut closed neatly and Sofia removed the blade. The second cut closed while the knife was removed, leaving perfectly fine tissue. "Now there''s something you don''t see every day." Maverick said as he took a gulp from his mug. "Alright, you''re definitely fine. I''d suggest you stay with me for a while before we decide on what to do from now on." he quickly got the two mugs from upstairs. "We''ll leave for my house in the night. Becker do you have a spare cloak and two daggers?" he looked at Sofia as to confirm her equipment. She nodded and Becker went to look for the requested items. They drank and ate a little more celebrating their successful job and Sofia''s rescue. It was still afternoon when the two men made their way upstairs. Georg made his way into a corner of the room "You should get some sleep too and please don''t run away now. It''s safer in the night. If you have to do it then." he slept until around midnight. When he woke up he couldn''t see Sofia or his friends anywhere but he could hear sounds coming from the floor above. ''Is that cheering?'' when he went upstairs he had to sight at the scene. Both Maverick and Becker were drinking and cheering as Sofia used her skills. She was sweating and smiling as Georg entered the room. She looked his way and vanished. A warm sensation filled him as he turned his head to see Sofia stabbing both of her new daggers into his back. "Good morning too, I guess." he said as she vanished again and appeared before the two laughing men bowing. "It''s time we leave." Sofia sheathed her blades and waved goodbye to the two men. "Bye you drunk fucks." Georg didn''t bother with a sincere farewell as the two were very long gone already. He checked the street and told Sofia to follow him. She was wearing her new hood covering her hair and part of her face. They walked for a while in silence when Georg spoke. "When was the last time you walked these roads? Did you ever get out?" he looked to the side where a hooded woman was following. She shook her head lightly. "It''s changed hasn''t it. You did live in the capital before though?" Sofia nodded "They finished the wall four years ago. Since then a lot of buildings were built. You can see how the quality improved over time. We''re currently in the southern part of New Sydney, the houses resemble the descriptions in middle ages history books, don''t they?" He assumed she went to school on Earth because she looked at least twenty five. It is difficult to say sometimes with victims of abuse. "They''re beautiful." she said as she looked at the buildings that surrounded them. "It''s become a real city..." Georg felt like she''d break into tears any moment now but nothing happened and they continued on. When they reached his house Sofia asked him suddenly "Do you live alone?" he smiled "Don''t worry, nothing''s gonna happen to you. You can have the guest room and even a key. Sofia quickly shook her head "That''s not what I meant. There are people inside. At least three." Georg knew better than to mistrust a Rogue. ''Did they find me? I made a mistake...but where?'' he couldn''t figure out how somebody had found him. The greatbow was the only thing they''d be able to track back but many used them and his wasn''t really a special item either. "Can you gauge their strength?" he asked as he removed a lance arrow from his special inventory. Sofia made huge eyes at that "Special class inventory, only arrows though. My current level is 234." Sofia made sad eyes at that as the level difference signified even more how long she was gone. The highest publicly known levels four years ago were about 180. "Can''t say anything about that except that there is mana user in there." Georg grinned "Well then there''s no problem." he asked her where the enemies were approximately and then explained the plan. "You go through that window." he motioned to one of the windows on the second floor. "The magic word is slice." Sofia seemed to understand as she hid a couple feet next to the house. Georg thought for a moment and then put the lance back in his inventory. He entered the house, put his bow next to the door and started the fire as he always did. As he crouched before the fire he said "Good evening gentlemen, and to what do I owe the honor?" The sound of movement suddenly filled the room as three people made themselves seen in separate corners of his house. "I presume you''re the esteemed Georg the Howitzer. I did always think it was weird we never heard of you again after you left the force..." the man didn''t ask a question. He was simply stating a fact. ''It''s my house you idiot, who else would I be?'' he thought as he stood up and faced the man who spoke to him. "You didn''t answer my question. I don''t remember ordering a group of escorts." the man before him made some signals to his comrades who seemed to tense a little. "Oh you''re a funny one. I did hear about that. From your friend at the Academy that is." it clicked instantly and Georg couldn''t help but feel a bit sad ''So that''s what I missed. I should have waited longer before using his arrows. Not many know about him though so I guess it was really bad luck too.'' "You didn''t kill me yet so I''m thinking there''s a deal." he could already see the picture very well. "You''re not only funny but bright too. I like that, makes my job a lot easier. So just on the off chance you didn''t get it, we have your friend the great Zoltan. And we want to know eeeverything you know about the suicide wolves." Georg didn''t show any reaction on his face. ''Oh I got it all right but this isn''t how this is going to work mates. I do like Zoltan but I wouldn''t sell out six friends for one.'' he turned back towards the fire. "Well you''re gonna have to slice me up pretty badly be..." he took a piece of burning timber and threw it at the man to his left while removing one of his lances from his inventory. It wasn''t a modified arrow but the lance was still a terrifying weapon for close quarters combat. As he turned around and faced the man who spoke to him the intruder on his left started to gurgle as a dagger had cut through his throat while a second one pierced his arm. The man let go of his weapon and turned around but there was nothing there. Meanwhile Georg blocked the sword of his opponent with his arm and smashed the lance in his face. He heard his skull smashing as the lance came out on the other side. Both men were still alive speaking for their level and especially vitality. Georg kicked the man before him while breaking his right arm with a move he learned in the military. While one of them was busy stopping the bleeding of his aorta and one tried to remove the lance from his head the last intruder faced Sofia. They exchanged a couple blows but it was going to go nowhere. His defensive attitude after what happened to his comrades and Sofia''s limited range created a stalemate. Georg who had picked up his bow in the meantime shouted "Sofia teleport!" as she vanished he loosed a lance from his greatbow about four yards away from his enemy. The lance ripped his left shoulder away with his arm and parts of his torso. Sofia finished the job as she appeared behind him and stabbing his throat from both sides. The shot arrow dealt a lot more damage than the one he used as a melee weapon because of his class bonuses and of course the fact that it accelerated to around 140 miles per hour in that short distance. He took another lance from his inventory while tripping his conversation partner from before. The arrow was loosened into the other side of his head from around three feet away. His head exploded in a cloud of gore. Georg faced the last enemy who was still bleeding but managed to put himself together a little bit again. He caught the swing of his sword with his hand and punched him. After three heavy blows the man was knocked out.