《The game world creater》


 chapter 1 where it all begins

    I lay there floating in an endless black void. Having come here after my death and becoming just another soul among many waiting for my judgment. Somehow instinctively knowing it''s coming, though the when is a bit spotty. Which can make you nervous until you''ve been here so long you wonder if your ever going to be judged.


    Surprisingly, I guess, depending on what you believe, souls come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Which I suppose is not that surprising; humans are complex creatures, both mentally and physically. So the human soul should represent that, thus the whole coming in many shapes and sizes deal.


    I''m saying that because I''m a glowing blue candle flame that seems to make the dark around me even darker while a soul to my left is a toy soldier made of Rubies that is constantly going through the motions of at rest then at attention before finally going into firing position and shooting a ruby bullet into the black void to my right is a pyramid the size of a skyscraper made of smaller pyramids that are always shifting with the bottom pyramids slowly being transferred to the top after each shift.


    Now I have no idea how I see them, considering I''m pretty sure they''re thousands of miles away, and I don''t have eyes, but I guess it''s different rules when you''re a soul in the void, and distance doesn''t really mean anything in a never-ending void of darkness.


    I am curious why souls take the forms they do, but I don''t think I''ll ever get that answer. This is one of the questions I ponder while waiting to see if I ascend to the pearly gates in front of the kingdom of fluffy clouds or if I descend into chains and flame on top of the lands of brimstone, which is what awaits me.


    Now I''ve been waiting a rather long time for my judgment; at least I think I have. It''s hard to tell time when you''re in an endless void and nothing really changes except what the soul next to you happens to be doing at that moment, and I can''t really do anything but float in the same place in a kind of holding pattern.


    So with nothing to do but think, my thoughts inevitably return to the life I once lived. You know what you wanted to do in life and what you messed up and how you would do better if you could go back and do it all over again. Probably messing it up even worse and starting one of those weird alternate timelines where the janitor is now a dictator and your family is in the slave mines.


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    On the subject of the family I wonder how my family is and if they''re okay. Dad isn''t happy with me for not inheriting his collection like he wanted, as well as not letting him see me grow up to be the man he thought I''d be. My little sister Jessie probably isn''t happy with me either. I''d ended up lying and missed watching the last hero movie with her like I''d promised too. Probably doesn''t help that I''ll never do any of the big brother things I''m supposed to do for her anymore.


    My older brother Johnathan is going to be upset I missed our upcoming gaming marathon. It was for some trophy with a decent prize reward; sadly, it looks like he''ll have to find another partner. Mom, I think, is just going to be upset, the most upset I died. Because in the end she may have watched me come into the world, but she shouldn''t have had to watch me go ahead of her.


    I don''t really think any parent is ready for a child to go ahead of them. Sadly, I don''t think any of my family was ready, but, well, they''ll have to keep going without me, and I think they can. I believe they can, and, well, if everything works out, we all meet up eventually in the end; at least I hope we do.


    Well, honestly, I''ve been here waiting to be judged a long time; at least I think I have. Again, it''s hard to tell time in the void. So it''s entirely possible my family has lived their lives and is wondering where I am.


    "Robert Lamb, it would appear you are our lucky constant, so come on down." A voice suddenly shouts from the void. Startling Robert, who hadn''t heard anyone speak in a very long time.


    Wait, nobody said there were game shows in the void, and how would that even work anyway? We''re in a void; how the hell would you run a production here? You set a stage here, and it would probably just end up falling for eternity.


    To answer my question, a portal opened up below me. I get to see endless TV monitors for a few moments before I''m sucked through. I got a few moments to scream before I was gone.

 chapter 2 the judge has a lot of monitors

    I fell through the portal out of the limitless void for what seemed like hours but also only a moment before I came out the other side, landing with a rather harsh smack. Taking a second, I gained my bearings and began to look around and see what I''m sure is the biggest used electronics store in existence.


    Still just a floating blue flame, that seemed to make the shadows darker that were cast by my light. I slowly begin to float down the wooden floor while seeing what were two massive display racks to either side of me. Each one looked like it went on forever while being, I guess, about 30 feet tall.


    The shelves are filled with electronics, from TVs to radios and even with what I''m guessing are remote-controlled cars. The problem is I''ve never seen toy cars like those before. The main body looks like a regular car; it was the weird eight legs sticking out where there should be tires that made it weird. Not only that, but the further I floated down, the stranger the devices lining the shelves got. I''m pretty sure I saw a virtual reality helmet built for a crab''s head on one of the shelves.


    What really creeped me out was what was being played on some of the devices. The TVs showed images of different TV shows, which was normal. It was the shows themselves that were strange, anything from everyday people I''d just never heard of to what I''m guessing was a unicorn family sitcom.


    A few of the radios were speaking in languages I just didn''t understand, though most spoke in sounds that couldn''t be spoken through a human throat, and a few spoke in languages I wouldn''t repeat if I could because I''m pretty sure I''d be sent straight to hell if I did. Then there were the record players playing strange music with instruments that sounded like nothing I''d ever heard before. Though those were the more tame ones, some of the other record players were playing things so dark and sinister they had me looking around for a gentleman in some dark robe who would like me to offer my blood for religious purposes.


    So thoroughly creeped out and wondering if this was one of those places where you could end up in some strange hell depending on the device you interacted with. I had read about those horror stories. I think someone tried to make it into a horror movie.


    Ignore my own dark thought. I began to move faster through the vast aisle while trying not to look at what was going on with them lest I prove my earlier theory right. Then I finally saw the end: a huge red curtain that stretched from one wall to the other.


    I somehow pushed through the curtain without setting it on fire and saw there standing on a wooden stage was a man holding a microphone next to a game show wheel. He saw me then started waving me over to a stand in front of him. Having no idea what else to do, I float over to where he wanted me while getting a better look at the man.


    He was about 6 feet tall with graying blond hair, wearing a 3-piece black suit with a red tie, and the wheel he was next to had strange symbols on it that seemed to shift and change as I looked at them.


    "Hello, would you mind telling me who you are, and would you happen to know where we are or what is going on?" asked Robert. As he gazed around him, confused from the contestant stand.


    "Well hello to you, my lost lamb. The first answer is I''m your host, Simon Dilas, and the second answer is you''re in the stage after crossing through the halls of entertainment. Good on you for being able to avoid being sucked into one of the many devices. That wouldn''t have ended well for you if that had happened, and well, to answer your third and final question, you''re now a contestant on my show, The Second Start. said Simon


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    "Really the lame joke. Alright, and lucky for me, I know better than to stick around when strange devices started yelling at me in inhuman languages. Well anyway, what is this Second Start show, and why have I been selected? If you don''t mind me asking," said Robert.


    "Well, it''s quite simple, my new contestant. You see a few souls such as yourself qualify to come on to my show and spin my wheel here." said Simon as he pointed at his game show wheel.


    "What happens after I spin the wheel, and why would you want me to spin it?" asked Robert curiously.


    "Well, Mr. Lamb, you see, after you spin the wheel, you will be reborn into another world as a being known as a lesser greater. The reason I do this is I''m a being of opportunity, and as such, I dislike the status quo as well as anything that threatens complete destruction; a little destruction here and there keeps things watchable, but complete annihilation is an end to all things, including opportunity. So my show will allow you to be reborn as a lesser being, giving you a second chance at life but only in another world. After your rebirth, you will be expected, my dear Mr. Lamb, as a contestant, to help steer the world in a way that keeps it interesting and safe from the boredom that is oblivion. While I film the whole thing for my multidimensional audience." Said Simon.


    "Wait, there are other worlds, and what kinds of worlds are we talking about, and what is a lesser greater? I''m also not sure how I am supposed to influence worlds to keep them interesting and safe." Robert asked, well, being very confused and doubtful how he could pull off what was being asked of him.


    "You see, besides the world you originally came from, there are other worlds coming in all shapes and sizes, some you couldn''t even interact with because they would drive you insane, but for right now I think I''ll have you help with the worlds with the theme of heroes and villains." Replied Simon.


    "Wait, heroes and villains? You mean like people that are in spendax stopping doomsday devices?" Said Robert, shocked that such worlds were the world is threatened by mad scientists on a regular basis, actually existed.


    "Exactly, my good Robert, you''ll be helping many such worlds. Which, as you know, are suffering from many problems that can cause massive extinction, leaving them a boring husk. You can help prevent that while also making sure everyone interesting can survive as long as possible to boost ratings. So once you are reborn as a lesser greater, you will also be given a method of influence to better do this task." Said Simon.


    "You still haven''t explained what a lesser greater is or what exactly it does." Asked Robert, confused about such a contradictory name.


    "A lesser greater is a form of rebirth where you will take the form of a greater being. A being usually known for creating planets or warping reality, but you will be reborn as a lesser version of it. When you are sent to a new world to help steer it from destruction. So, Mr. Lamb, will you take the plunge and spin the wheel?" Asked Simon while looking at Robert, wondering his answer.

 chapter 3 the answer

    "I''ll take the plunge and spin your wheel." Robert answered with caution, though the blue light his form gave off intensified from his excitement, creating some rather dark shadows offstage.


    "Well then, my show can now begin." Robert said as confetti cannons suddenly appeared on either side of the stage and fired, while a TV filming camera appeared in the center of the stage taking everything in.


    "What the!" Robert screamed in shock at the sudden confetti blast and the now rather large camera that was he looking at that was filming him.


    "Welcome back, folks, to the second chance show. I''m your wonderful host, Mr. . Dilas, and today I have a wonderful new contestant guaranteed to keep you entertained and the world safe from the maws of boring extinction. So will you tell our wonderful audience why you''ve agreed to be a part of the show?" Simon Dilas asked while presenting his mike to a rather flustered Robert, whose blue glow was flickering like an old light bulb at the sudden attention from the audience he could feel watching him through the camera.


    "Uuumm, while it seemed like a great thing to do." Robert answered softly, a little intimidated by all of the sudden lights and sounds going on all around him. After the many years of the empty void, he wasn''t used to having so much sound and color happening all at once.


    "Altruism, truly, that''s your only reason, is it? Just being a guy with a heart of gold, that''s your final answer? You know you have a duty to the viewers to be honest now, so say what your real reason is. We only want to know about our new contestant; we''re not here to judge." Simon Dilas said with a gentle but knowing smirk, clearly not taking Roberts first as the whole truth.


    "Okay, it isn''t just that it''s the right thing to do. While I''ve been waiting around to find out if I''m going up or down for a long time with no idea when my turn will ever come, this whole being reborn into the body of a lesser greater while being brought into a world of heroes seems like the greatest adventure ever. I don''t think my family would forgive me if I didn''t take it. I''m sure we''ll meet up eventually, and I''ll have so many stories of the real thing." Robert said while looking at the wheel, wondering where he''ll end up and what stories of great heroics and dastardly villainy he''ll tell his family when he sees them next.


    "Well then, that''s quite the answer. Well, now that my audience has a feel for our contestant and has satisfied some of their curiosity, We can now stop the interrogation and see what you''ll get by spinning the wheel." Simon Dilas said as he motioned Robert Lamb over to the wheel.


    "What! me? Spin the wheel, but right now I''m just a soul in the form of a blue candle flame. I can''t even touch it, much less move it." Robert was confused about how he was going to spin the wheel in his current state; it''s not like he could grab it with his blue candlelight.


    "Don''t worry, Mr. . Lamb, the wheel has a few tricks to it. So all you need to do is reach out with your flames, and the wheel will do the rest." Simon Dilas said, Waiting by the wheel, waving Robert over.


    "Well, okay then, here goes nothing, I guess." Robert said as he cautiously approaches the wheel and begins to reach out with his flame. The wheel begins to glow when his flame finally touches and starts to spin rapidly as she absorbs a bit of Robert''s flame while words constantly shift on its surface.


    "Well folks, it looks like we get to start with the world he''s going to be born in." Simon Dillas said to the audience watching through the camera as the wheel begins to slow down.


    "Really!!!" Said Robert, excitedly waiting for when the wheel would finally stop and tell him where he would go. Robert was filled with excitement wondering where his adventure would begin, so much so that his blue glow started to pulsate.


    "While folks, it looks like it''s going to be the super world of wonders and the mad for our dear contestant!" Said Simon Dilas with a booming voice as it echoed across the stage. Robert just floated there a bit confused about what exactly wonders and mad meant. There were probably a few things to be inferred, but assuming would only make things worse if it turned out to be way off, Robert thought.


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    "Wonders and the mad What''s that? That sounds kind of more like a band than a world of heroes." Robert asked in a confused voice while hovering next to the game wheel, hoping that Simon would tell him or at least give him a hint.


    "While the name of your hero world will be based on the powers in it, how they are used, and how the people in the world view them." Simon replied, giving the barest information so Robert could try and guess with that context but not give away the game too early.


    "Okay, the mad part doesn''t sound promising, but it''ll be interesting, I suppose." Robert was a bit nervous about going to a world where powers and peoples views of them had made them involved in it.


    "Alright, with the world out of the way, that leaves the method and the form, so spin the wheel to give our audience their next answer." Simon Dilas said as he waved at the game wheel.


    "Okay, let''s see what I''m going to be. I figure there are a lot of greater beings in the universe. Ooh, I hope it''s something big. I want to be a giant." Robert said as he once again pushed his flames into the wheel. Before Simon could say anything, the wheel began to slow down and land once again on words Robert couldn''t pronounce, much less read.


    "Well Robert, it looks like you got your wish and will be born as an atla. They are a race of giants that travel the cosmos using their power over gravity to pull asteroid fields together into small planets, but sadly you will be a lesser version of an atla. So instead of being skyscraper size, you will be only nine feet tall." Simon said apologetically to Robert.


    "Ahhh, well, I''ll still be huge by my former human standards." Robert said he was still excited about just how big he''ll be and that he apparently is a subrace of a people that makes smaller planets.


    "Well then, with your world and your form out of the way, that only leaves the method for how you''ll influence your new world. So spin the wheel one last time and answer the final question for our audience." Simon said, motioning to the wheel once again.


    "Sure thing." Robert said excitedly as he pushed his flame into the wheel one final time, curious himself about how exactly he could influence an entire world. The wheel once again glowed and spun before finally stopping once again on unreadable words.


    "Well, it looks like game worlds will be how you influence wonders and the mad." Simon said as he waved Robert to go back to the podium.


    "Game worlds: What are those, and how do I use them to influence the world of wonders and the mad?" Robert asked, confused, as he made his way back to the podium.


    "Well, it''s quite simple, my dear contestant. You will be combining your powers as an atla and gaming to be able to create artificial worlds that act as video games that the residents of the world could download themselves into. They will leave behind their physical selves as they do so. A cool bonus of your game worlds is that you can create in-game items that your players could bring back with them." Simon said


    "Really, that''s amazing. I can create an entire planet dedicated to my own game, and I could create an awesome relic that players could bring back with them! Crap, you think I can create something worth having a whole planet dedicated to it? Robert said while staring at Simon in awe and concern if he could meet such lofty goals.


    "Hopefully, my dear contestant, but we will soon find that out, won''t we, my dear audience, because, as you all know, now that the first show portion, the meet and greet, is now over, the second chance sitcom can now begin." Simon said as he gestured to Robert.


    "Wait! What does that mean?" Robert shocked and confused while looking at Simon for answers. at what exactly was about to happen.


    "It means bye-bye for now." Simon said as he waved goodbye. A trap door opened under Robert, and then he was gone as he fell through the hole that was suddenly beneath him.

 chapter 4 the rebirth

    "AAAAAA!" Robert screamed as he was falling through another portal, though this time his fall was through a dark tunnel instead of a bright light, which did not fill him with confidence. So he was a bit concerned when he began to feel that his fall was speeding up.


    As his speed got to ridiculous levels, Robert began to feel something akin to motion sickness, which was something he didn''t think was possible for a soul to feel. He began to see an end to the endless tunnel of eternal darkness. Robert spilled out of the tunnel''s exit, just floating in the void of space for a moment as his blue candle flame body began to light up like a disco ball, which was as close as Robert could come to puking in his current form.


    Once he got a hold of himself, Robert began to look around at this new world of his, this world of wonders and the mad that Simon had told him about, a world of heroes and villains if what Simon had said was accurate. Which was something he didn''t think possible, but, well, it was not the first impossible thing he''s seen recently, and he guesses it won''t be long before something else impossible appears next.


    "Well now, how do I get started?" Robert was wondering how to take his Atla form now that he had arrived in the new world. Especially considering he was starting in a hero world, which means there was probably something out in the cold vacuum of space he was floating in that he should be worried about.


    "Testing, testing 1, 2, 3, is this thing on?" Simon said, sounding like he was coming from a shotty radio. Surprising Robert, who didn''t expect to hear from Simon ever again after leaving that strange game show stage dimension.


    "Simon, is that you?" Robert said with glee, happy he wasn''t alone out in the void of space. He was curious how Simon could speak to him but also becoming rather ecstatic as he could ask Simon for help on how to take his Atla form, as he figured a strange interdimensional game show host was the one to ask about that, and it''s not like he had anyone else to ask.


    "Of course it is, my dear contestant; your host Simon would make sure the sitcom portion starts out right; otherwise, my rating would bomb, and I can''t be having that now, can I?" Simon asked in a sarcastic voice with a smirk coming through his voice despite the static and not being visible to Robert.


    "Great to hear, Simon. Well, I got into the new world, which I guess is the world you told me about. Can''t really tell since I''m floating in space right now, not on the planet, watching the local supers go at it." Robert said giving Simon a rundown on his current situation.


    "You''ve arrived, my confused contestant. You''re exactly where you need to be to start my sitcom portion." Simon said his smirk still coming through his voice despite the strange radio static, which was really starting to confuse Robert.


    "I''m still ignoring the whole sitcom thing you keep mentioning. Anyway, since you''ve confirmed I''m at the right spot. Can you help with the second step and tell me how I take my lesser Atla form because I''m still just a soul in the form of a candle flame, and I still have no idea how to change that? Robert said hopefully Simon could help him, and he could take his Atla form before anything made a move on him. Robert didn''t figure he was safe as just a small candle flame.


    "Sure thing, my contestant. Just like how you spun my wheel, you''ll be using your flames to forge yourself a new atla body, although instead of something else doing it for you, it''ll be you doing it. Simply pull the outer part of your flame into your inner flame to compress it. While letting the pressure build up from the compression until it''s unbearable, then let it go, and then your flames will explode outward, forming your new Atla body," Simon said in an excited voice, clearly interested in the last ght show that would be the formation of Robert''s new body.


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    "Alright, I''ll do it like you said. Wish me luck." Robert said nervously and excitedly. He begins to do what Simon had instructed him to do, and so he begins pulling the outer edges of himself into his innermost core, slowly gathering more and more of the outer part of his flame. Slowly building the pressure in his center as his flame was condensed into a solid core of fire. Robert tried to ignore the warning sensation that told him he was going to hurt himself as he continued to take the last of his outer flame into his inner core before he couldn''t contain the pressure anymore, and Robert exploded in a flash of light.


    "Aaaaaaaa." Robert cries out in pain as the feeling of his soul being stretched out and it recoiling back hits him. Then, as the pain begins to dull before fading completely, Robert, for the first time in years, opens his eyes.


    "Hmmm, a rather intimidating look might boost our numbers with the edgy crowd but would scare away the family demographic." Simon said somehow taking in Robert''s form as Robert himself was.


    "Yeah, I can''t say I disagree, Simon." Robert said with a rather disturbing voice that sounded more like a screech while looking at his new hands. He had six blood-red talons for hands, and it seemed Robert hadn''t completely lost his ability to see 360 degrees. He just didn''t have the range his soul flame form had before, but he did have enough to see himself completely.


    He was now in a pulsing blood-red armor that was 9 feet 5 with 2 inches with spikes scattered across his entire new body. He still had a humanoid shape of two arms, two legs, a torso, and a head, but now all of his limbs ended with talons instead of fingers or toes. Also, his teeth were now three-inch fangs, and to add insult to injury to his terrifying appearance, his eyes were now black voids.


    "I would say your voice leads a little something to be desired, and your form screams to death lord." Simon stated simply, sounding a bit nonplussed about Robert''s new form. Which was rather intimidating and would have more than a few people running in fear at what would look like a demon of blood and fear.


    "You''re kidding me, ight? I look like someone you sacrifice lambs to for God''s sake. How are my games going to get an audience when one look at me would either send you running or have them attack me because I look like an ancient evil they need to fight to save the world?" Robert was rather stumped at the sudden roadblock in his new career.


    "Simple, my contestant, you simply need a mascot. If you want to make a good first impression. Something cute or ridiculous, preferably both, if you can swing it." Simon said with a hint of worry, knowing and agreeing with Robert that if he tried to introduce his game world with his new form as the face, he''d probably be attacked by the world''s heroes as a world-ending crisis.


    "Okay, sounds like I''ll just have to use a mascot to advertise and keep myself hidden then. Well, people came to play the game not knowing me, so it shouldn''t be a problem, but now with that settled, I believe it''s time for the real work to begin." Robert said with excitement.


    "Well then, let the show begin." Simon said with excitement as well at the stage that would be set, not that Robert knew that.

 chapter 5 the workshop

    Alright, now that I''ve finished the second step and have taken my atla form, I should be ready for what''s next, though I could have done without the agony and all the spikes coming out of me at the end that make me look like an edgelord. I suppose it''s time to find out where I am exactly in this new world.


    Robert looks around and sees that he''s not far from this world''s version of Pluto, merely a few hundred miles from its orbit. So he''s in this earth''s solar system. A great start, I suppose, if I want to influence the world without being in their missile range.


    Floating there for a moment, he began to ponder exactly how he should start. He didn''t want to come on too strong and make this world''s earth scramble heroes to deal with him but didn''t want to be such a small blip in their notice he didn''t make any impact. So what kind of world should he build first for them to really get their attention, the one that would really draw them in?


    "Now I can guess what you''re thinking, Robert: What should you build first? What won''t cause them to scream in fear and scramble fighters?" I know I''ve been there before. Damn fishenger of Mack 4, how was I supposed to know a giant eel warship wouldn''t go over well and would cause so many subscription cancellations? Simon said frustration coming from his voice clearly still upset at some event he led meant to drum up support, which instead seemed to have caused fear and panic instead.


    "Well, there''s a lot to unpack there. What exactly is an eel warship, and who are the fishengers, and what exactly were you doing to them on Mack 4?" Robert asked, very confused and concerned by that comment and feeling the need to ask what exactly Simon meant by that.


    "Oh, it''s just a giant ship in the shape of an eel, and the fishengers are a race of fish people mostly based on bass, if I recall correctly, and I only had my ship orbiting their planet as a publicity stunt. I was hoping it would get them to subscribe more to my show." Simon replied with a hint of irritation from the memory of that particular failure.


    "I take it that didn''t go over very well." Robert said, trying not to laugh at the image of a bunch of freaking-out fish people getting ready to make an epic last stand against an invasion. While Simon was just on his eel ship daydreaming about subscription counts going up.


    "No, it didn''t, but anyway, we''re getting off topic. Before you start working on your first game. You, my dear contestant, should probably create a workshop first to work safely from first. Don''t want anyone to interrupt you while you''re working; gods know I''ve had a broadcast go wrong when those interstellar pigeons take a dive run at me." Simon said, irritation filling his voice at the memory of interstellar pigeons and all the trouble they can cause.


    "Well, ignoring the mind bomb of interstellar pigeons existing. Are you sure I shouldn''t get started on the game worlds? I don''t really know how long they''ll take to make, and this world could really use them if I get lucky and make one that generates a useful material like you told me could happen earlier." Robert replied nervous but excited at the chance to create an entire world while helping another one.


    "Sorry, my dear contestant, to go stomping on your parade. God knows my viewers are looking forward to seeing what your first game world looks like, but you need a safe place to work; otherwise, you''ll probably make a rather large mistake with your worlds while one of the horrors of space is trying to eat you alive." Simon said to Robert in a deadpan voice.


    "Fair point. I wouldn''t want to mess up my creations because I''m getting chewed on. Especially considering how complex and time-consuming world creation will probably end up being. Also had kind of forgotten about all the horrors that wander around hero space while ignoring your interstellar pigeons." Robert said with a nervous chuckle, realizing there was a good chance that had he tried to work on a game world before he built a workshop, it would have drawn the attention of something that probably could and would take a bite out of him.


    As if summoned by his thoughts, a huge creature came out of the void of space and slammed into Robert''s side, sending Robert flying for several kilometers in space, but just as Robert was going to right himself and get his bearings, the unknown creature came back around for another run at him.


    Though this time the creature bit down on Roberts''s left arm instead of just sending him flying. Luckily for Robert, his new Atla form was too tough for the creature''s teeth to pierce but was strong enough to drag him along for a ride.


    Though Robert wasn''t a willing passenger and repeatedly punched the creature with his free hand, eventually Robert hit something important in the thing''s jaw, causing it to let go and break off, once again gaining some distance from Robert.


    No longer surprised and able to right himself, Robert was finally able to get a good look at the creature, and what he saw surprised him greatly. The strange spacefaring creature was a mix of a shark and a worm. It had the main body of a worm with shark fins scattered along its side, though what was most surprising was its heads.


    The creature had three great white shark heads, though instead of having its heads lined up in a line like you would expect, it instead had its heads side by side like the chamber of a gun. Another strange thing about it was how it moved like a corkscrew, as it was always spinning instead of going straight or swimming with its fin like you might expect.


    The creature was spinning itself around for another run at Robert, who was confused about how exactly he was supposed to deal with a tri-barrel shark in space. When he remembered that he was now another species called an atla, which were supposed to be able to control asteroids, and so with that knowledge in hand, he quickly began to form a plan. Robert quickly gathered the asteroids from Pluto''s orbit.


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    Using these asteroids, he formed a small asteroid field around himself. So that every time the creature moved to get him, the asteroids would slam into it, throwing it off course. After several more attempts, the creature eventually gave up and began to go away from Robert.


    "Well Robert, I think you did well when facing your first space creature. I know our viewers certainly enjoyed it, at least from the ratings I''m getting." Simon said he was quite happy that the fight had generated such happy feedback.


    "Simon I think I''m going to want that nice and safe workshop sooner rather than later." Robert said exhaustion coming out of his voice as whatever his body''s version of adrenaline wore off and he felt the shock that something had just tried to eat him catch up to him.


    "Alright then, Robert, let''s get started on that nice, safe workshop of yours, and hey, lucky for you, it''ll be good practice for when you''re making game worlds because to make your workshop takes the same process but on a much smaller scale. So let''s get started before something else tries to take a bite out of you. I know my viewers will hate it if the show ends too soon." Simon said with a bit of a nervous chuckle, hinting he wasn''t entirely joking as the darkness of the void that surrounded Robert seemed to intensify with a malicious anger at Simon mentioning ending the show early.


    "Okay, now you''ve got me a bit concerned about who or what your audience exactly is, but I''m going to be moving on from that and getting to how exactly I make a workshop." Robert said he was doing his best to ignore the sudden unease and the mental image of ungodly horrors watching him through TV screens right now.


    "Well, it''s quite simple, contestant; you first need to hold out your hands and imagine a sphere floating in between them." Simon said in a slow and clear voice, making sure Robert hears every word clearly.


    "Okay, sounds simple enough." Robert said as he then proceeded to do just that. He held out his taloned, razor-sharp hands, imagining a perfect sphere in between his two hands. Now that was the first step done, Robert waited for the next set of instructions.


    "Alright, looks good; now I want you to imagine what the walls of the sphere are made of because this will be what keeps those that threaten you out, but you should also try to make use of all the space in the sphere. So you should use the walls for utility as well as defense." Simon said slowly, once again trying to give helpful advice as well as the next step in the process.


    "Alright, got it. Limited space. So hmmm, what to do? Oh, I got it." Robert said after thinking on it for a little bit. He began to make the walls of the sphere out of metal TV frames that he created by making millions of TVs and then condensing them into thousands of frames to form the walls of the sphere. He then began putting in the necessary electronics into his TV walls. So he could use them to see into anywhere on any world he created.


    Once this wall of TVs was fully finished, it would allow Robert to see all of Allyssa through his wall of hyperdense TVs. Not only would this be invaluable for finding any problem happening in his game world, but because the TVs were very dense, they would stand up to a lot of punishment, keeping Robert safe from surprise attacks.


    "Alright, looks good for what we''re doing. Now just put in a gyro chair in the center of your sphere to rotate yourself as you view, and your workshop design will be ready for my audience''s viewing pleasure." Simon said with excitement, clearly eager to see the finished product.


    "Alright, sounds good." Robert replied and added the gyro chair. Now with the design complete, they were ready for what Robert figured would be the final step.


    "So my dear contestant, it''s now time for the exciting part, which is a guaranteed boost for my ratings. All you have to do is feel the power radiating in your core and push it into your sphere design and make what you''ve been imagining real and get a new workshop for you to work in." Simon said slowly with very clear words to make sure he was understood so that Robert wouldn''t do something wrong with the energy.


    "Okay, let''s do this then." Robert replied with just as much excitement, nearly vibrating at the thought about what he was about to do. So just like when he was just a flame, he felt the core of himself and drew out his energy from his core slowly out of his chest, up to his arms, into his hands, then into the sphere.


    The sphere began to slowly fill with a red energy before it filled all the way up, and then a giant explosion of red light spread out and blinded Robert for a moment. When the light finally cleared from his eyes and Robert could see again, he saw that he was now floating in front of the gyro chair in his new workshop. Looking around in awe at the thousands of blank TV screens waiting to be turned on so that he could view whatever the first world he created turned out to be.


    "Well, my contestant, it looks like your workshop is ready to go. My viewers are eager to see what your creations will be. The only question is." Simon said, trepidation filling his voice.


    "What game world do I create first?" Robert finished for Simon as his excitement overtook him, and he wondered as well where the first world he created should start.

 chapter 6 what do they need

    For a few moments Robert just sat there in his gyro chair that was at the center of his workshop, taking in everything around him. The small moon-sized workshop he designed and then built was truly massive and was leaving him in awe just in how little it took from him to create.


    If it had been someone else, they would have needed thousands of workers and decades to build something this big; he had done it in the better part of an hour. It truly showed Robert how much power he had right now, which was kind of terrifying if he was being honest with himself.


    He began to lose himself in thoughts of what could go wrong since he knew so very little about what his new body was fully capable of. Even if he was a weakened form of Atla, and it also seemed he had gained power from his time as a soul. If the core of flame he felt at his center was any indication.


    His introspection was interrupted when he heard a series of massive bangs that rocked the workshop. "What the!?" Robert screamed out in surprise. Quickly Robert turned towards the monitors directly in front of him and began to view what looked like a massive warship.


    The warship was quite the terrifying thing, as it appeared to be a giant hollowed-out Eastern dragon with a lot of smaller lizard men running across it manning bunkers built into the top and bottom with gundecks built into the corpse side.


    At the current moment, the ones manning those gun decks were what worried Robert, as they were firing volley after volley of giant green fireballs into his workshop that, while not doing damage yet, were causing an awful lot of shaking, and they may eventually cause damage if left to fire volley indefinitely.


    "Ah, Robert, it looks like the lizardfolk have decided to pay you a visit, Robert. I would suggest you use your earlier trick that you used against your little shark worm friend from earlier." Simon said to Robert, informing him and giving him advice on what to do as Robert seemed to be panicking after suddenly being under fire from a stuffed dead dragon.


    "Got it, Simon, and thanks for the tip." Robert said and immediately created an asteroid field that intercepted the fire from the lizfura''s ship and began to hammer into it, but sadly the lizfura weren''t backing down despite all the asteroids slamming into their ship.


    "Robert the Lizfura won''t back off till they get what they want. So you''re going to have to make them think it isn''t there anymore. I would suggest the old magic trick of making your ship disappear." Simon said, his voice filled with excitement at all the action going on, and if Robert would get what he was hinting at.


    Luckily for Robert, he did, so Robert quickly began to go back over the designs for the workshop and add a cloaking function, and in a flash of light, the moon-sized workshop was suddenly invisible. The Lizard stayed for another half hour, enduring several asteroid hits, before moving on.


    "So Simon, care to tell me why the Lizfura decided to use me for target practice?" Robert said in a bit of a peeved voice at the sudden attack.


    "Ahh, the Lizfura are a rather dark race. They are always looking for two things: powerful sacred flames or powerful beasts that can contain them. The flames power their technology, and the beast they kill, they then turn into their warships." Simon said with a bit of a British accent, like this was a British documentary.


    "Well, that''s a bit disturbing, but why were they after me? I''m not a beast or a sacred flame." Robert asked Simon with clear confusion.


    "Well, you''re not a beast, but you do have a sacred flame at your core. So they were probably planning on cracking you open and tearing out what would be considered your heart to be the power source of their next warship." Simon said, still in his British accent.


    "Well, getting off that disturbing train of thought. I think I want to focus on my job now, like what game should I make first?" Robert said, trying to shake off the image of him being cracked open and his heart torn out with the trepidation of knowing that the very first game he put out for purchase would be his first impression to the people of this earth, and considering the many negative ways that it could be taken if done wrong, he had to make a welcoming game with no mistakes for his first game, or he would ruin any future prospects.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Good idea; better leave bad business behind us. Now my dear contestant Robert, why worry yourself with making your own game and just use some of the more popular games from your original world? Simon asked with curiosity, wondering why Robert hadn''t simply done that or if Robert was just having trouble deciding which one he would start with.


    "Simple because more than likely they already have them or something similar." Robert answered shocking Simon and made him wonder what had made him come to that conclusion.


    "Oh, and what would make you think that people of another reality would have the same popular games or similar ones to your old world?" Simon asked, burning with curiosity, especially knowing his viewers would be too.


    "Well, if people in my original world could make a specific video game, then there''s no reason to believe that this world couldn''t or, more likely, make a similar one to what my world created. Besides simply copying and pasting famous games from my old world, it seems boring. If I use them, it will be as inspiration, but besides that, I''ll try to be as original as possible." Robert said, conveying his thoughts on the matter.


    "Huh, honestly, I hadn''t really thought about the tedium of just copying what had already been done. As well with you needing to make a good impression, the last thing you need is companies screaming at you about copyrights if you do end up accidentally copying something that was also created in this world. So that''s off the table then." Simon replied, realizing the whole copying popular games idea would have opened a can of worms that Robert wouldn''t have wanted to deal with because who really wanted to go to court and deal with lawsuits?


    "So now I need to think about what type of game I can create, what it should be about, as well as if it can meet any of the needs of this world to drum up positive support." Robert said he was anxious that he was having so much trouble at what was essentially his first step in doing his actual job.


    "Well, think about what you''re trying to accomplish here. Your first game will be for establishing yourself on Wonder and the Mad, which will be your first market. So remember that your game worlds cannot actually hurt their players and that the players can bring back certain rewards from their gaming experience. So take that into account and think about not only what the players may want but what they need. When deciding the first game world you build." Simon said, trying to steer Robert down the right and viewer-rich path.


    "Hmmm, what do the players want? To play a fun game, of course, but since this will essentially be a real world that their minds are downloaded into, they''ll probably be hesitant, so I need something in the game that they''ll want to bring back. Simon, would you mind telling me about how game rewards work? You said. the players could bring some of the rewards back with them, right?" Robert asked Simon, needing to know how exactly rewards worked before making any final decisions.


    "Yes, I did my contestant. Well, how it works is quite simple: by playing the game, players will win rewards. Those rewards will be split into two types: in-game rewards and out-of-game rewards, which will be rare and limited in every game world you make. The second thing to note is that as the amount of players playing the game grows, as well as just the regular passage of time, the power of that game will grow. Once it reaches certain intervals, it will be able to give out even better awards." Simon said.


    "Do my games worlds have power levels?" How does a world have a power level, and what are the intervals?" Robert was very confused about the concept.


    "Simple when you first create a game world, it will only be a world in its infancy, but as the player interacts with the world, The world will begin to grow out of its infancy and expand, adding new aspects to itself, allowing for new rewards to be given as well as new content to be played. As for intervals, well, infancy is just the first, and the others will be a surprise. Simon said with a smirk.


    "Okay, well, ignoring the lack of an answer on the growth intervals, I believe we have rewards figured out, and with that answered, I think I know the game I want to create." Robert said with certainty.


    "Really? Then for my viewing audience, I must ask what game will be your very game and what kind of game will it be? A shooter, RPG, or even a base builder come on Robert, don''t keep us in suspense." Simon said with a nervous excitement.


    "The fields of Alyssa, and it is a sandbox/dungeon diving game." Replied Robert.


    "Well, once again I must ask for my viewing audience why that? Simon asked, brimming with curiosity.


    "Simple: the fields will give food as one of the rewards, and well, people need to eat no matter what world." Robert said with a rather embarrassed smile at his simple answer to the needs question.


    "Ahhh, the old saying ''the way to the heart is through the stomach''¡ªwell, time will tell if it works." Simon said he was excited to see what the fields of Alyssa will end up being in the end.

 chapter 7 the fields of allyssa

    "So now that I have a general idea about the game I''m making Simon, how do I go about actually making it?" Robert asked excitedly now that he could begin making his very first world.


    "Well, it''s quite simple, my dear contestant. Just like before, you''ll form a shape in between your hands, but instead of having to create a sphere like you did with the workshop, you can instead use any shape you think fits for the game world you''re creating, such as the field of Alyssa in this case." Replied Simon.


    "Hmmm, I''ll use a rectangle in this case." Robert said, and they began to create a 3D rectangle in his hands. Now to begin imagining what Allyssa will look like, I suppose. I picture a single continent covered in grasslands and small hills with small rivers spread throughout the continent.


    Robert begins the process, repeating what he did with his workshop, just on a bigger scale. Now beginning to feel the power in his core and once again guiding it to the floating rectangle, filling it with his red energy till it explodes in a brilliant red light. When the light clears, he''s still standing in his workshop, but now he can see the world of Alyssa through his workshop''s TV screens.


    "Alright, now that you''ve set your stage, my dear contestant, it''s time to get your cast of characters." Said Simon, his voice filled with excitement.


    "What?" Robert asked, very confused at what exactly Simon meant by a cast of characters, as he wasn''t exactly setting up a play.


    "Well, my contestant, now that you''ve created the world, you''ve got to fill it with life. A single landmass with nothing but grass and some rivers would be rather boring, don''t you think?" Answered Simon.


    "I figure that. I just didn''t know what cast meant exactly in this context, especially with all your crazy ratings talk. But anyway, how do I go about filling my world with life? Robert was curious about how he was going to create all the life needed for his new world.


    "Well, there are two ways you can do it. While both use the energy from your core by drawing and shaping it into what you can imagine, then pouring the energy into it until it comes into existence. The final product from either option is very different. So either option A, you create administrators who will be gods of the world you create who will guide and create whatever you assign them to, or option B, you create individual species, and they will begin to populate the world you assign them to. Said Simon.


    "So those are my only options. I either create administrators who will effectively run the world or species that will live in the world." Robert said feeling that picking only one option would limit his world''s growth going forward.


    "No, doing one doesn''t prevent the other. Honestly, I feel it would be better if you did both. You personally create several species to populate the world in the beginning and then create gods to guide and create species for themselves going forward. This would allow the world to deviate from you enough for the world to be its own but not enough to ruin your plans for it completely going forward." Simon said with excitement at the thought of his new sky-high ratings.


    "Well, that sounds like a great idea, if exhausting, but no one said anything that was made great was easy to make. So I guess it''s time to get started." Robert was worried about the prospect of creating entire species as well as gods, but all he could do was his best.


    So step one is the species that will populate the world first. Hmmm, I suppose we will start with the animals since this will be a game with a lot of fields. I''ll create horses and oxen to populate the grassy plains for later use by the farmers. Now that he knew where to start, Robert began to shape a female horse in his left hand and a male horse in his right. He then began to pour his energy into the shapes, which caused small herds of horses to appear all over Allyssa''s grasslands. Once he figured there were enough, he stopped, and he repeated the process with the oxen, causing herds of oxen to appear all over the plains next to the horses before the two would separate.


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    Know that the plains were settled; Robert figured he might as well work on populating the rivers. He decided to put three species of fish he vaguely recalled from his life to populate the river. He also created river grass for them to feed on and figured for his environment to be in balance he would need insects.


    So he randomly selected an insect on each of his fingers before creating wide swaths of them to populate his continent. Now he knew he needed something to keep the insects in check before he had swarms of them destroying his grasslands, so he created and brought the grasshopper sparrows to Alyssa to keep them in check, and with that done he figured he was done with species and could move in to the gods and their first followers''s.


    So he figured he might as well begin with a goddess to lead the people of Allyssa. I''ll call her Detrei, goddess of harvest. He began to shape her in his hands, a 9-foot woman with sun-kissed hair and blue sapphire eyes. Wearing a white robe with a crown of wheat atop her head and a sickle in her left hand. He slowly filled her with his familiar red energy right until she was about to come into existence on Allyssa, then stopped the process to begin working on the people she would lead.


    He began working on the men first, figuring this would be a people use to hard labor from working the fields. He made them an average 6, 2 feet tall with black hair and pale skin that were naturally buff. After that he began to work on the women, making them an average 5, 9 feet tall with the same brunette hair, and instead of buff, he made them lean. Now with people and the goddess ready, he added the necessary knowledge to the goddess for her to lead her people properly and then spawned all of them into Allyssa.


    Detrei immediately began to gather her people into a single community and then began teaching them how to till the soil and use the bounty of the land by spawning them different crops for different fields.


    "Hmmm, this seems like it could take a while before Detrei really gets her people into a proper farming empire and they are ready for the next step." Robert said he was concerned he would have to wait centuries before he could introduce the fields of Alyssa to Earth.


    "Don''t worry, contestant; you can simply speed up by connecting to the world with your core and spending up time to the point where you need them to be, but before you do that, I think you have another god to create, I suspect." Simon said figuring Robert would have some other god controlling the dungeon portion he mentioned earlier.


    "You''re right. I need a god to balance out Detrei and be the threat for the world that players have to face." Robert replied before he began working on the god of burials younger brother to Detrei, whose name was Hargal. He was a 10-foot-tall skeleton with bone spikes sticking out throughout his skeletal body with eyes that were a pitch-black void. He didn''t give Hargal any people, but he did give Hargal the ability to raise skeletons as well as a small number of other stronger undead from the crypts that would be scattered throughout Allyssa, and with that he was ready, so Hargal was brought into existence and set about his duty as God of Burials.


    "Now I guess we speed up until the inevitable conflict that erupts between the two gods, which will be what brings players to help Detrei to defend her people from Hargal''s undead." Robert said with a bit of uncertainty. Unsure of the morality of the whole setup considering he was setting up people to go to war.


    "Well, that sounds like a grand idea. God knows I''ll edit the footage for my own little miniseries. Does the history of Allyssa sound okay, or does it need something more grandiose, you think?" Simon asked.


    "I think it''s fine, Simon; let''s get back to the game world thing, shall we?" Robert said with irritation, feeling that Simon was getting off track at a pivotal moment.


    "Now Robert, you''re going to have to let Allyssa cook, for lack of a better term, before you post it to the new world market. So for now just sit back, relax, and enjoy the show." Said Simon, a grin coming through the connection.

 chapter 8 first there was an idea

    First there was just a thought, then that thought was given power, and through that power it gained form. That form was a continent covered in grasslands without end, this image of endless green only broken by the occasional hill, and flowing through it were dozens of rivers flowing through the land and carrying life-giving water to all ends of the continent.


    For a time the only sound on the continent was the breeze flowing through the grass and the rushing of water down the rivers. Then a new sound came into being; it was the neighing of horses as herds of them began to spawn across the land. Not long after them came the sound of oxen as they made their way slowly across the grassy plains.


    Soon the plains became filled with herds of horses racing each other across the plains while the oxen made their slow graze alongside the hills that dotted the land. Then the rivers began to fill with life in the form of fish and river grass.


    The fish played with pebbles at the bottom of the river. When they weren''t hiding to surprise each other in the seagrass when they weren''t nibbling on it. Then once again a new form of life was brought to the land; this time it was insects that began to live in the grass or on the riverbeds.


    The insects that lived on the river were hunted by the fish that lived in the river, keeping them in check. Though the insects that called the grass home would have grown out of control had the first bird of the land not been born, these birds hunted the insects with a fever that soon brought them to heel.


    The bird was the last to be brought into the world for a time, thus signifying the beginning of an era that none would know, for those that could understand such things would not be born until after its end.


    This era has no name, and how long it existed is unknown, but it was an era of peace and ignorance as those of simple existence lived in harmony without worry of disasters or fear of the future, for they could not think of such things, though whether to pity them or be envious of them is one to ponder upon.


    What brought this era to its end, unlike the era that came after, was simply what marked the beginning of the era that came before. A new form of life once more was born across the land, a being that walked on two feet with hair only on its head and face began to take shape across the land.


    This new being formed into groups under the leadership of a being that had never existed before. She was both in the world and not at the same time. This new ethereal being began to teach the new beings how to take the tall grass and weave it into strange clothes for them to wear.


    As time went on, these new beings began to learn from the strange ethereal how to grow strange plants that she had given them. Soon small fields sprung up near the hills where these new two-legged beings would dig their homes into. For a time that was all they did: dig strange caves into the hills and grow their strange plants near their hills.


    But that began to change when the ethereal one taught them that the horses and oxen could help them raise more of their strange plants. So the two legs began to create ropes out of long grass and use the new rope to gather horses and oxen for their fields.


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    The new method of using the horses and oxen to help expand their fields caused the two legs to make their fields ever expanding. This caused the number of two-legged creatures to swell and small farming kingdoms to be born between the hills. The golden era of the two legs had begun.


    For a time it was nothing but one long, great harvest for the two legs, but what began to change that was the sudden appearance of strange pits in the ground that took the shape of a two-leg''s head. What made it even stranger was that the horses and the oxen knew that when their time was at an end, they were to go in these strange pits that would turn into caverns once you were down them.


    What came after these strange pits was a second ethereal who was very different from the first; it did not teach any of the two legs nor interact with any that drew breath; it merely went from one of the strange pits to the next one in a never-ending journey.


    This second ethereal being''s presence disturbed all living things. There were few that got near it, fewer still that did so by choice. This ethereal and the one that came before argued many times; the two legs believe it is because of the second''s darker nature causing strife between the two. Whether this is true or not is not for us to decide but for time to tell.


    Soon an era of strife will begin as words will not be enough for the two ethereal beings. The second gathers his bones, combing them and bringing back the farmers that have fallen to march against those who would deny him. The first seeks help from beyond what is known to help defend her two legs against the second, and so begins the first war this world has ever known.


    "Hi Simon, what are you up to?" Robert asked feeling like it hadn''t heard from Simon in a while and feeling a bit bored just watching the people farm Alyssa. Although Hergal did keep it interesting in that way, all big spiked skeletons did.


    "Oh, nothing, Robert, just getting a start on that history of Alyssa I promised the viewers. I was starting on the creation of the world and the life in it. Well, trying to tell it with a bit of a primitive feel to it." Simon replied.


    "Well, okay, sounds alright. What''s after that then on your chronicle of Allyssa then?" Robert was curious about what Simon would decide to add next.


    "The people, my dear Robert, the people are what we follow next as they go through their ages of civilization." Simon answered, trying to add majesty to words and succeeding if Robert was honest.


    "Alright, best of luck then, Simon. I''ll go back to making sure Allyssa is running smoothly and not going off the rails." Robert said, focusing back on Allyssa.


    "I don''t think I need the luck, Robert, but thank you anyway. Back to the chronicles: I think you folks are ready for the tales of the people." Simon said, excitement filling his voice at the story he was about to tell his audience.

 chapter 9 the start of the Detreon

    When the people of the land first came into being, they were strange things. For they were not only naked and ignorant. Unlike the animals who came before them, who instinctively knew what they needed and what must be done to sate their needs. They were the first people who did not. For they were a strange mix of person and plant.


    They would live as men did, but they would not naturally die as men should; instead, they would wither until their body slowly decayed into nothing, leaving behind only a single seed from where they would grow anew.


    This would be the cycle of their lives. Working the fields, slowly growing old as all mortal creatures do until the time came to start anew and be reborn from their eternal seed. There were those who may have been confused about their immortality and why they were the only creatures like this in all the lands.


    Though this did not worry them, for though they came into the world lost and confused about their existence, they were not alone. They came with their goddess, Detrei, whose presence comforted them and who they knew instinctively would guide them and show them the way forward.


    Detrei would teach them the ways of harvest and how to best use the plants to fulfill their needs. She would also teach them about themselves and their place in the world. Her first lesson to the people was how to weave the tall grass. They used this lesson to make clothes to keep them dry from the rain that frequently falls upon the land and huts to keep warm on the grassy plains.


    After she knew they had mastered the basics of weaving. She then provided special seeds to something she called Sircosa, but unlike regular plants, these would grow in under a day once planted. It would help to sustain themselves until they could begin growing the other crop seeds she had given them.


    For a time they lived upon the grassy plains in their huts surrounded by their small gardens. Spending their time playing in the rivers when they weren''t working on their gardens. This was the first age, the age of the grass tribal.


    This life ended when the herds of horses and oxen became too numerous on the plains, and their unstoppable stampedes would crush the huts and the people inside if they weren''t fast enough to escape. This would sometimes kill the people trapped in the huts by crushing their eternal seed that was in the center of their chest. So they, for the very first time, had to bury their people.


    So with this new threat to the people, they went to their goddess, Detrei, for help, and so hearing the pleas of her people, she did. She began to teach them the way of stone and how to slowly carve out rock. Using this lesson, they went to live in the hills. Slowly carving out homes in the top of the hills.


    These new homes got them safely out of reach of the unstoppable herds. Once they were settled in, the goddess gave them plants to grow in their new cave homes, beginning their lives as cave dwellers. This became known as the second age, known as the age of the hill towns.


    The people, once they had gotten used to their new cave homes, began to miss those that were gone. Several communities had suffered greatly from the herds and were not the size they once were, but those that were left were all that would ever be. For their immortality, they could not have children like they could see the herds of the plains did.


    So with grief in their hearts, they went to their goddess for aid on this matter. The goddess''s answer was a ritual where two would join in love and produce new eternal seeds that would be their children. With this new ritual in the hands of the people, many new children were born.


    As time went on, they expanded their homes to accommodate the new generations, becoming more complex, and began including beautiful carvings spread throughout their homes. It was not long before these cave houses were all the way to the base of the hills.


    As they dug deeper into the hills, expanding their home and their underground gardens. They worked on their tools, making them far more durable than previous versions. As well as making tools that were far more complex, such as a loom. These improvements brought with them a large boost to productivity. This time would become known as the third age, the age of advancement.


    The people began to fill the hills to the brim and soon were forced to send some out to live on the plains, but knowing the danger of the herds, they went to their goddess for help, and so she began to teach them how to befriend the oxen and tame the horses.


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    With the goddess Detrei''s lessons on taming animals, the plains were once again safe to live on. With their new animal companions, the people began to expand the fields outside their cave homes, creating farming villages that stretched for as far as the eye could see from the top of their hill. This became known as the fourth era, the time of the hill lords.


    Time stretched on, and the lands occupied by the people grew year by year as more people were born and more animals were added to the use of the hill lords. Until finally the lands of hill lords began to meet, and for the first time the people began to fight and argue with each other. What had started this was the land rights of the hill lords until it was decided that the goddess Detrei would decide, and she chose among the lords those worthy to become kings. This began the fifth age, the age of farming kingdoms.


    The age of kingdoms was a golden era for the people of the land. They knew only the rewards of a hard day''s work and the joy of a family under the leadership of their kings and the guidance of the goddess. The only sadness they knew was when one of their oxen or horses would leave. None knew where they went, only that they couldn''t go with them and that they would never be seen again.


    This all changed when a new god was seen upon the land, wandering it and moving the bodies from the first area into strange new caves. This new god was frightening, for he was a strange, tall, bony creature that exuded an aura of terror wherever he went.


    The people asked Detrei who this new god was and for what reason he could have for taking their dead and scaring them so. She told them this new god was Hergal, god of burials, her younger brother, and he was there to watch over the crypts that were the final resting place for the people and the animals when they died. He was not there to frighten them; he was merely tending to the dead.


    The people were shocked to find out this new terrifying being was her younger brother for it being so different from their own goddess, but they accepted the words of their goddess as they had always done, and they ignored Hergal from then on as much as something so terrifying could be ignored.


    Though it took a time, peace returned to the land, only broken when the farmers mourned the end of their animals. Though that peace came to an end as well, for Detrei and Hergal began to argue over what none were sure of, no one was brave enough to get close to two arguing gods. The people suspected Hergal''s nature was causing him to pick fights with Detrei, who was trying to keep the peace.


    That would all come to an end when Hergal began to raise the corpses of the animals and the people of the first era from the crypts. Taken by surprise, the kingdoms were not ready, especially since the people had never fought any war before, always knowing a peaceful existence under Detrei.


    So Detrei had the people make their tools of stone into weapons of stone and took the surviving kings who proved themselves skilled at war into emperors by combining what remained into empires to be able to withstand the onslaught of the undead. This ended the fifth age and brought about the sixth age, the age of defending empires.


    The goddess realizing her reformed military empires would not be enough. So she called upon the creator, and he connected her world to another to send her warriors to defend her people, the Detreon.


    "So Simon, is that archive of yours going all right?" Robert asked, curious, and deciding he could use a bit of a break, he''d had to help Detrei a lot more than he thought he''d need to, and it did start to tire him mentally after a while.


    "Oh, it''s going well, Robert. I think I''m going to call it Tales of the Detreon because of Detrei." Simon answered, feeling good about his name for the people.


    "Sounds good to me. Might want to put that in the game intro when we connect Allyssa to the players later." Robert replied, rubbing his chin in thought.


    "While Robert, I will admit I''m looking forward to seeing the player; I think for now we best get back to Allyssa." Simon said, trying to get Robert back on task.


    "Alright, Simon, you''re right back to Allyssa. Detrei probably needs help again, and it won''t be too long before I have to keep my eyes on Hergal to make sure he''s ready to battle the players." Robert said as he turned back to Allyssa and once again began to help guide his creation.


    "While I guess the only question left is, What next?" Simon asked himself. While Robert continued to work on the world of Allyssa.

 chapter 10 the memories of a goddess part 1

    Her first memory was of the creator slowly forging her people in his red talons. She watched as he lovingly carved the details of what would be their forms into their very existence. As he began to finish his divine work, she took in her creator in his totality.


    He was what many would find terrifying: a being over 9 feet tall with spikes covering his body that seemed to shine with a red glow like he had just been dipped in blood. He had razor-sharp teeth, and his limbs ended with talons.


    While she had been taking in her creator as he worked, she had also been listening to him. For he spoke to a being she could not see called Simon. Unlike the creator''s voice, which was a terrifying thing like the screech of a monster before it went in for the kill. This Simon sounded strange, as though his voice came through like a broken mike, barely understandable to her through all the static, but to her creator, it seemed to be crystal clear.


    He would have terrified most beings, but not her, for he was her creator, and as such, his form was the correct one. It would be her who was defective if she found him a being of terror, for every act he had taken was that of divine creation; she was proof of that.


    Sadly, her time with the creator was short. So she and the people were brought to the world they would call home. The creator called this world Allyssa, and so she told the people the name of their home and went about guiding them on how to live on the grassy plains.


    First calling upon the knowledge that was a part of her being on how to use plant life, in this case it was tall grass. She taught the people how to weave the tall grass into usable material, but she then found her first problem. She did not have any crops that would grow quickly enough to be harvested before the people starved. She had no choice but to use her connection to the creator to ask for his aid on this matter.


    "Creator, the people require food, but I do not know of any crops that grow quickly enough to feed the people in time before they starve. Could you render aid creator?" Detrei asked Robert, hoping he would help her with this issue.


    "It''s okay, Detrei; you don''t need me on this issue. You can use your power as the goddess of harvest to create new seeds to fit your needs." Robert answered, figuring she just needed a reminder.


    "I''ve never done such a thing before. Could you help me through the process, creator?" Detrei asked nervously, hoping her creator would render further aid and not get angered by taking up more of his time on things she knew how to do.


    "Sure, Detrei, I would be glad to help you through your first act of creation." Robert answered, happy to help Detrei through the process as well as make sure her first plant creation didn''t go off the rails. "First you hold out your hands in front of you while closing your eyes." Robert said to Detrei, giving her the first step of the process.


    "Okay, creator, my eyes are closed and my hands are in front of me," Detrei said, responding to the first step.


    "Good, now I want you to imagine a seed in between your hand." Robert said to Detrei as she proceeded to do as instructed.


    "I am imagining a seed in between my hands, Creator." Detrei said, confirming she had done as instructed.


    "Good, now I want you to imagine what you need the plant that will grow from this seed to do." Robert said to Detrei as his next instruction.


    "I need the plant to grow fast and rich in nutrients for it to feed the people in time." Detrei said to her creator.


    "Good, now usually this would be the step where you would fill it with your divinity till it came into being. But since I''m here and can help you to better judge how much divinity is needed. For too much divinity could have unintended consequences. So I''ll fill it with mine till the seed is created so you can better gauge how much is needed." Robert said to Detrei before he began to slowly fill the imagined seed with minuscule amounts of divinity before making it real in a flash of light seen only by Detrei. Detrei could tell through the power of her domain that the creator had succeeded in creating the seed for the special crops they needed.


    "Well, Creator, now that you''ve created the first, I shall now begin the process of creating the rest. The people need one at a time." Detrei said to Robert while holding her hands together and beginning to replicate her creator''s earlier success.


    "No need, Detrei. Now that this first plant has been created, you can simply look upon the knowledge within yourself and use it to create as many as you need of this plant." Robert said to Detrei, informing her of this update to her personal list of crops.


    "Thank you for telling me this, creator. I will do so now." Detrei said to Robert before she began to look inside herself and finding her list of plants, she saw the new plant unnamed and began to make them in vast quantities for the people.


    "Now, Detrei, before you began to give the plant to the people, you should give it a name first." Robert said to Detrei, feeling as if Detrei''s first creation, even if he had helped her, and what would have been a world-changing plant in other circumstances, deserved at least a name.


    "I''ll call it Sircosa creater." Detrei said not finding the importance of naming the plant but doing it anyway to please the creator.


    "Good name," Robert said, satisfied with the name Detrei had chosen for her plant. He then watched from his workshop as she used her divinity to provide enough Sircosa to keep her people fed until they could grow enough to sustain themselves on the regular crops Detrei had already provided.


    Robert watched Detrei as she guided her people in taking care of the fields, always making sure they were in peak condition. This allowed for an abundant harvest. This all came to an end when the herds grew to monstrous sizes with their births outweighing their deaths by far. This caused them to charge the people when the different herds were challenging each other.


    Detrei was faced with this new problem of the herds and had no way to deal with them. So she once again asked the creator for aid, and luckily, just like last time, the creator answered.


    "Creator, the herds of horses and oxen have grown out of control and now threaten the people. I have no way of dealing with this threat. So I must ask for your help." Asked Detrei, pleading for aid against the herds from the creator.


    "Don''t worry, Detrei, we''ll figure this out," Robert said to Detrei as he thought on the problem. "Hmmm, hey Simon, do you think I should add a predator to hunt the herds to thin them out a bit that way they''re not so much of a threat?" Robert asked Simon.


    "I don''t know, so Robert, whatever you create to thin out the herds will probably end up hunting the people as well. Which would defeat the purpose of their creation. So no matter how much I would like a terror of the plains to boost ratings, you probably shouldn''t." Simon said to Robert, answering his question.


    "Good point, Simon, ignoring your usual rating shenanigans. You helped me dodge a bullet there. Hmmm, then how to help the people avoid being crushed by hooves? Robert said as he gazed at Allyssa trying to find an answer. Looking for a while before he found it. "There''s the answer right there." Robert shouted out as he pointed to one of the many hills dotted throughout the continent.


    "That hill is the answer creator?" Asked Detrei, confused about how a single hill could answer the problem of the herds that were made up of thousands by this point.


    "Not a hill, Detrei, The hills will be answered. You will have the people carve out homes at the tops of the hills where they should be safe from the charges of oxes and horses, who would need flat ground to charge." Answered Robert, feeling proud of his idea.


    "Well, creator, we know where the people must go, but how do they live on the hills? They are a people of the grassy plains. Not of the hills, how would they live at the top of the hills?" Asked, Detrei was glad to know they had part of the solution but still noted it was only part of it and they needed to figure out how to guide the people on how to live on the hills.


    "Hmmm, you''re right, Detrei, and I''m not sure how to rectify that. I can create gods with the knowledge of their domains, such as your knowledge of the harvest, but I don''t have that knowledge myself. So I don''t know how to live in hills." Robert stated feeling rather frustrated that his lack of knowledge was holding them back.


    "Well, don''t worry, my dear contestant Robert; your host Simon has the solution. You can simply pour some of your divinity into Detrei so she can expand her domain and, with that expansion, gain new knowledge." Simon said, sounding smug.


    "Wait, Detrei''s domain can expand?" Robert asked, surprised and excited at this new information.


    "Yes, my contestant Robert, her domain can expand. So as you know, a god''s domain is what they have power over, such as in Detrei''s case; as a goddess of harvest, she has power over crops and has all knowledge of them. Now usually a god would gain enough power to expand their domain on their own and gain power over a new subject related to their original domain, but you can speed this process up by providing your power." said Simon to Robert, explaining what Robert needed to do and why.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    "Well, sounds like a plan to me. Are you willing to receive my power, Detrei? Asked Robert if figuring asking was what was the proper thing to do in this scenario.


    "Of course, creator, I am willing and honored to do so," Detrei said to the creator, excited at the prospect of her creator''s power flowing through her. Robert brought Detrei back to his workshop for the process to be done safely.


    "Well then I shall begin." Robert said before holding out both of his taloned hands and building up the red energy from his core to his hands before slowly pouring it into Detrei. Detrei slowly began to fill with her creator''s power until she could feel the power in every inch of her being.


    Then once the power inside Detrei reached an unknown threshold, she was presented with three choices with how to expand her divine domain while suddenly shining as brightly as a star. This caused a green screen to appear to tell her of her choices.


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    Options


    A- crafter of the harvesting blades


    You are given the knowledge on how to create and maintain the tools used specifically for harvesting and maintaining crops. You will also be able to use divinity to create divine tools with divine capabilities to give to specific followers.


    B- mistress of the hoof


    You are given knowledge on how to tame and breed the herds of allyssa. By using divinity during the birthing process you can create breeds of divine beast that will roam the land.


    C- tyrant of the map


    You are given in depth knowledge on Allyssa''s geography and with the use of divinity can rearrange the landscape of allyssa depending on how much power you spend.


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    "Creator, I believe choosing the crafters of the harvesting blades will be the best option," Detrei stated in a questioning voice. Figuring it was their best option to make the hills livable for the people but wanting the creator''s second opinion first before she chose the option.


    "Oh, and why is that, Detrei?" Robert asked, curious and hopeful because he had no clue how any of these options would make the hills livable for people.


    "Well, Creator, if we choose the tools option, the first thing I will teach the people will be how to carve a tool out of rock, which will show them how to carve a home into the hills." Detrei said, answering her creator''s question as best as she could, hoping it was the right answer.


    " Hmm, good point. Then pick option A, and you can start to teach the people how to construct homes for themselves in the hills." Robert said, agreeing with her reasoning and happy that his original fears that none of the options would actually be of any help with the current situation were unfounded.


    "Then I shall create." Detrei said answering the creator before she picked the crafter of the harvesting blades and, in a final display of dazzling light, gained the knowledge and power that came with the choice. She then went among her people and began to teach them how to carve tools out of stone, and with that knowledge of stone carving, they began to carve out homes for themselves in the hills.


    Once the people had carved out their new cave homes in the hills and settled in. Detrei began to give out seeds for mushrooms and taught them how to grow moss in their new homes as a way to safely feed themselves. For a while they were content losing themselves in the work of getting their new underground fields into shape.


    But then once less work was needed for the fields, the grief began to truly hit, and the people began to feel the loss of those that had died to the stampedes, those they had known for hundreds of years. Not only that, but a few of the hill towns were not as prosperous as others for having had more casualties from the stampedes.


    Sadly, though the people''s eternal seed gave them the gift of immortality through rebirth, it in turn took away their ability to have children. So with this new problem of grief and population, they went to their goddess for answers.


    "What do I do, creator? I''m not sure how to handle grief and population." Detrei looked lost on the subjects. She had never had children nor experienced loss. Which left her with no experience to draw on, nor did her divinity give her any answers. Since these subjects were outside her divinity''s domain.


    "Mmm, I''m not sure on this one. I figure we can give them a way to give birth easy enough. The problem will be helping them to deal with their grief. Especially since if we aren''t careful, your giving them a method of reproducing could be seen as telling them to replace the dead and forget about them without going through their grief properly." Robert told Detrei he considered that any mismanagement of the issue could have devastating consequences between Detrei and her people later.


    "Well, that''s simple enough, my dear contestant. You simply need to tie the two together and make it something like a marriage; that way you have means of reproduction, and these new couples could help each other through their grief," Simon said to Robert, answering their dilemma.


    "Good idea, Simon." Robert was a bit shocked at how simple it was but how it solved everything so neatly. Even more surprising was that Simon didn''t bring up his ratings or show in his answer.


    "I could also use the romance to boost ratings. You know how the ladies are suckers for a good romance story." Simon said quickly, destroying Robert''s hope that Simon was starting to get away even a little bit from his job as a show host.


    "And there it is. Well, now that we have our answer, we can begin to act. We will have the people come together in pairs during a special ceremony presided over by a priestess of yours, Detrei, who, with your permission, will bless them through your divinity with new eternal seeds from which new generations will grow. Does this sound like a good plan.?" Robert said, wondering if his plan was covering all the bases.


    "It sounds wonderful, creator, but how will I give these new priestesses the power to bless people with new eternal seeds?" Detrei asked, agreeing with her creator''s plan but confused on how she would go about implementing it.


    "Simple. If you recall, Detrei, as a part of your new domain, crafter of the harvesting blades, you can create divine tools. Simply create one such tool as a symbol of station that has the ability to do as we planned." Robert said to Detrei, explaining his plan to her in greater detail.


    "Ah, thank you, creator, but what tool should I create for my new order of priestesses, and what should be their symbol?" Detrei asked her creator, feeling like he should be the one to decide since it was his plan and since he made her and all she saw around her. She could not see how he could choose wrongly when he clearly had created so many great things.


    "Mmmmm, how about a staff crafted with divinity that has special slots in the head to hold new eternal seeds? So when the priestesses perform the ceremony, you can have the priestess in question have both participants touch the staff before the staff draws on the strength from them and produces new eternal seeds in the slots, which will grow into their children." Robert said he had given and explained his idea for the tool of the new priestesses order.


    "It sounds wonderful, creator. The staff fits exactly what we need. But what of the symbol for the priestesses? They need a symbol for their order, do they not?" Detrei asked happily if the tool for the priestesses had been settled on but was curious about how they would go about making a symbol for such a group.


    "Mmmmm, you''re right. They will need a symbol. But how to go about making one." Robert was wondering how exactly to go about making a symbol for Detrei''s new priestesses. He never was the greatest artist, so symbols weren''t exactly his forte.


    "Well, it''s quite simple, my dear contestant; you simply need to stick to basics. What does your new order do, and what are they responsible for?" Simon asked to get Robert the jump start he needed to come up with a symbol for Detrei.


    " Hmm, what do they do? Well, they''ll oversee the ceremony that allows the Detreon to have children. So how about the symbol be a seed growing into the outline of a small child? Robert said figuring this was the best way to represent the priestess.


    "It sounds wonderful, creator. I shall begin choosing a priestess at once." Detrei said right before she began to assign the staff and a robe with the symbol sewn into it to her more devout female worshipers.


    With the new order of priestesses established. The rituals began taking place throughout all the hill towns. Soon the hill towns began to fill with the joyous laughter of Detreon children as they laughed and played in the caves deep in their homes.

 chapter 11 the memories of a goddess part 2

    As time went on, they began to fill out their cave home to the brim. Needing to once again return to the plains because there were too many that lived on the hills. But it was still too dangerous for their people to live on the plains with the stampeding herds, so the people once again turned to Detrei for answers.


    "Well, it seems we''re back here once again. Will our plucky heroes solve the quest this time?" Simon said, sounding like he was the storyteller from an action cartoon.


    "Yes, we will, Simon, now knock it off. Our best bet is to have Detrei expand her domain again, but this time have her choose mistress of the hoof. That way she can teach the people how to tame herds so they''re not a threat anymore." Robert said feeling this was the best way to finally solve the rampaging herds problem.


    "Yes, creator, we can also use the mistress of the hoof ability to create special breeds to introduce new species into the herds that give birth less often to bring the herds population to more manageable levels." Detrei said, agreeing with her creator while hoping he would be happy with her addition to the plan.


    "Good idea, Detrei; yes, that would be perfect for what we need. All right, I''ll start giving you the divinity needed to start your expansion, so let''s begin." Robert said while beginning the processes of Detrei''s divine expansion.


    Once again the power of her creator flowed through Detrei as she was given options for how she should expand her domain of divinity; this caused the green screen to appear once again to show her what her options were.


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    Options


    A- mistress of the hoof


    You are given knowledge on how to tame and breed the herds of allyssa. By using divinity during the birthing process you can create breeds of divine beast that will roam the land.


    B-tyrant of the map


    You are given in depth knowledge on Allyssa''s geography and with the use of divinity can rearrange the landscape of allyssa depending on how much power you spend.


    C- architect of the farmstead


    You are given in depth knowledge on farm architecture such mills and silos. You can also use your divinity to create sacred building with special affects to increase productivity.


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    Detrei chose option A, and once again in an explosion of light, she had gained a new domain, and with that she set out teaching the people how to tame the horses and befriend the oxen. After that was done, she then created altered versions of both oxen and horses that give birth less often to bring their population under control as she and her creator had planned.


    With the threat of the herds dealt with and the herds now helping the people expand their fields, the people began to flood onto the grassy plains, quickly creating villages that surrounded the hills.


    Soon those few that remained at the hills were those that led the villages, for they were at the center of the villages and could respond to any problems the villages had. The one chosen to lead those on the hill would become known as a hill lord.


    For a time the people reached a height of prosperity unseen before under the leadership of the hill lords and with the aid of the herds. Their fields had yields unseen before, and they kept expanding until their farms stretched as far as the eye could see.


    This time of prosperity came to an end when the territories of different hill lords began to touch, and they began to argue over which villages on the borders of their respective territories were whose responsibility. This began to escalate until, for the first time, tools were drawn not for work but for blood, but luckily before any could be shed, Detrei intervened and began to work on a solution to decide how to go about handling the problem.


    "Ahhh, we could have had some great TV right there." Simon said he was disappointed he wouldn''t get any footage for his new show, The War of the Hill Lords.


    "No, Simon, we don''t want the people fighting each other, especially since a civil war and its consequences could interfere with the greater plan going forward." Robert said to Simon, trying to get him to give up on any ideas of war documentaries. "Anyway, Detrei, we''re going to have to deal with this problem quickly before it spirals any worse than it already has." Robert said to Detrei, refocusing on the problem.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    "Yes, creator, but how?" Detrei asked, seeing the problem was the fact the people''s expansion from the hills had led to overlapping territory but not really sure how to go about fixing the issue of authority that now came about.


    "Simple Detrei, since they are your people, you will pick from the Lords those you find worthy and make them kings. Perhaps even craft special crowns for each king to show their station; that''s why the question of authority is settled." Robert said using the idea of effectively a divine mandated monarchy to solve the current situation.


    "Yes, that would work, creator. I will begin immediately." Detrei said as she began picking a king from all the hill lords after she had grouped them into a set of seven. With this new system in place and order restored, the people once again returned to prosperity greater than with the time of the Lord''s that came before the time of kings was upon them.


    The time of kings was greater because the might of the Lords was united under a single figure, their respective kings, moving to bring prosperity to the entirety of their kingdoms. This shared direction on such a scale that had never been seen before brought with it a sense of community as the different kingdoms competed to be the most prosperous during this age of abundance.


    This age went on for decades until a new being came upon the land. He was a giant of ten feet made of spiked bone with eyes of a black void. This new being wandered the land gathering the dead and burying them in special crypts that just seemed to appear after the creature had first appeared itself. Having no idea how to deal with this creature, they went to Detrei for answers.


    "Creators, there is a strange new being wandering around, Allyssa, and scaring the people. How do I destroy it? Detrei asked in a curt manner, seeming to hold back a furious roar.


    "Well then, I take it you met Hargal then." Robert was a bit surprised at Detrei''s rather hostile response to Hargal''s existence. Well knowing they''ll fight at a later date, for now, though, Detrei shouldn''t have any reason to be hostile towards Hargal.


    "Yes, I have met this new being, which I guess you have named Hargal Creator. Now how do I go about destroying it?" Detrei asked again.


    "Well, simply you won''t. Hargal is your younger brother, the god of burials, and is right now merely doing his duty of making sure everything is properly buried in his crypts. "Robert answered, trying to explain that Hargal wasn''t a threat to her, at least for now, and is just trying to do his job.


    "I understand, creator, and I will let Hargal continue on with his duties." Detrei said in a curt manner before informing her people on who and what this new being was. The people were not exactly thrilled to learn of Hargal, but they learned to ignore him as they went about their lives. At least until the arguing started between the two gods.


    "Well, those two have been really going at it lately. You think I should tell Simon something?" Robert was confused and anxious about the whole situation, feeling like he should step in but knowing that two eventually going to war with each other made him hesitate.


    "No, my good contestant, the two are just getting to their part in our little play. You''re just sad it''s not a happy one, which is admirable, but remember if this plays right, the Allyssa game will bring a lot of good to a lot of worlds." Simon said, trying to console Robert while reminding them of their original purpose of doing this in the first place.


    "You''re right, Simon, you''re right how I wish you weren''t." Robert said, sadness filling his voice at the thought of what were effectively his two children fighting each other in an eternal war once the game truly started.


    The two went back to watching as things escalated to Hargal rising undead from crypts to lay waste to Detrei''s kingdoms. This in turn caused Detrei to combine the surviving kingdoms into a few empires under kings who had proven themselves capable warriors in a few skirmishes and so were made emperors.


    The emperors were able to create armies that used mainly scythes that would have been harvesting otherwise. They were able to hold their hill fortresses, but they needed more to deal with the Hargal undead threat, and so Detrei was once asked to help, perhaps for a final time.


    "Creator I need aid to push back Hargal''s forces from my people''s lands. Would you please aid me? Detrei asked knowing not to ask for him to stop Hargal personally, for the creator was neutral in this war. But she was hoping for something to end this endless siege that her people would eventually lose.


    "I will connect Allyssa with another world, one that knows war. WhoWhose people will be able to help you wage it in your name, but you must be the one to convince them?" Robert said before connecting Allyssa to the world of wonders and the mad. Robert then helped her make a quick gaming ad for Allyssa and told her how she would be able to help players fight Hargal before sending the ad to the gaming website along with the link to begin sending players to Allyssa.


    After Robert had done everything he said he would do, Detrei went back to her people in the heart of one of her strongest empires. She went to the capital church, her most holy place of worship, and went into a secret room on the bottom of the floor. There was an idol of a beast made of red material with 6 talons on each limb and red rubies for eyes that seemed somehow filled with bloodlust. "One day creator, one day," Detrei said as she gently stroked the statue.

 chapter 12 a gods duties

    Once there was a world without him, then he was simply there. The being knew who he was; he was Hargal, god of burials, and was on the world of Allyssa. It was a strange world he knew where life seemed to almost strangle death with how much life there was in the world compared to death.


    Which Hargal instinctively knew was strange. For it was the nature of things for the dead to outnumber the living. But Hargal decided not to dwell on it any longer and set out to do his duty. He first gathered the few graves of Detreon there were and brought them to the tombs that came into existence at the same time he did.


    It took time, for they were scattered across Alyssa as he collected the bodies for proper burial. He watched the many creatures as they lived by their instincts and the people as they lived off the bounty of the land through hard work and the guidance of his sister.


    Sadly, he had a hard time observing them, for most beings fled at the sight of him. But he could not blame them for that; he was a being unseen on this world; his form was that of spiked bone, and his eyes were dark, endless void. All things considered, he should be grateful none had charged him out of misplaced fear.


    But eventually he had all those who were supposed to be buried in his tombs settled, and soon most of his time was taken up traveling from one tomb to the next, expanding them so they could take in the constant influx of herd animals that had to be buried in the tombs, as was the right of any and all creatures of Allyssa.


    Sadly, Hargal began to run into problems that only worsened as time went on. Not only was he in a never-ending race to keep his tombs across Alyssa ready to receive the constant influx of animals that died across Alyssa, but as Hargal made his eternal journey to see to the needs of the dead, he began to find his tombs had been vandalized.


    Hargal had no idea who would do such a thing. Not only were the living terrified of him, but his tombs left no one brave enough to venture into his tombs to commit the vandalism in the first place. But there was no one who should have any reason to come into the tombs and start smashing them up, for why would the people of the farming kingdoms or the wildlife of Allyssa enter his tombs and begin smashing the resting place of the dead?


    Hargal went to Detrei for her connection to the life of Allyssa; it was strong, and if anyone knew who was vandalizing his tombs, it would be her. Sadly, instead of the knowledge he sought, he found accusations instead. Detrei, instead of helping him to find the vandals, instead accused him of making mistakes with his expansions.


    She said that his constant and rapid expansion of his tombs had caused them to become unstable and parts to collapse, which he was misreading as vandalism instead of the signs of his mistakes that she claimed it was.


    Hargal, of course, denied this outright, pointing out the damage had been done to the crypts within the tombs and no damage had been done to the ceiling, meaning there was no sign of the structure damage from poor planning like Detrei had claimed.


    Hargal, after making his point, once again asked for Detrei''s help in finding the vandals, but she didn''t believe him, nor was she willing to come to his tomb to see the evidence. This left the two at an impasse, and so Hargal had to make do without Detrei''s help.


    Hargal tried to go among the living to find those responsible, but sadly, as a god of death, he naturally frightened the living with just his presence alone, much less actually speaking to them to find out who is guilty.


    So he made no progress trying to find the culprits himself and eventually had no choice but to give up on finding the culprits and instead had to try and find ways of preventing the vandalism from taking place to begin with. He began to look for ways to defend his tombs. He looked around Alyssa and found the insects that called Alyssa home seemed to be the only things fighting and constantly defending themselves, at least from each other. So what better beings to inspire him to defend his tombs?


    He took specific inspiration from one of the insects. the one the creator had said was called a blister bug. An insect that covers itself in an oil that caused blisters to any that tried to touch it. So Hargal went to the pits of his tomb, where the few insects who died of old age went and threw themselves in. He then extracted the oil from the pit belonging to the blister bugs. Using this oil as a foundation, Hargal mixed it with his Divinity to create a special oil that would cause any not near death to burn in painful rashes if they touched it. He called this new concoction he had created the dying ward.


    This would allow the dieing to come to their resting place safely and deny the vandal''s from disturbing his tombs. So he began to place the dieing ward over every entrance on each of his tombs as he went about his duties of expanding and maintaining the underground tombs of allyssa.


    For a time this seemed to work and Hargal found joy in his success as he went about his duties once again undisturbed finding his tombs in the same condition as he left them in. Returning to the status quo of always needing more space for the new dead. This sadly changed as the dieing ward somehow failed and something or someone got through and began smashing up his tombs once again.


    Hargal approached Detrei once again for help, hoping that perhaps this time she was more amicable to helping him this go-around. Sadly, it was not to be, and she was just as dismissive as she had been before, as well as accusing him of being incompetent once again, telling him any damage found in his tombs was because of his poor planning.


    Once again finding himself on his own to deal with the situation. Hargal looked to the insects of Alyssa once again for the inspiration he needed. This time the insect he found to inspire him was the giant centipede. Hargal took the bones from the most damaged tombs of the horse crypts to create the guardians of the entrance hallways for the tombs.


    He first organized the rib bones of different horses to make the main body; he then took the leg bones and sharpened them into long bone spears connected to the now centipede-like torso before he embedded this new skeleton centipede in the ceiling. Hargal put back the horses necks and heads, leaving those for burial, before he then took his divinity from inside himself and began to fill the creation with the breath of undeath. Now this creation was a member of the undead and was ready to defend its tomb with its many bony spears in combination with the dying ward.


    Now that Hargal had a way forward, he went around to the different tombs creating these skeletal guardians who would defend the tombs from the vandals. With this Hargal new peace once again as he went about his work expanding and maintaining the tombs, now checking in with each respective guardian.


    The guardians who Hargal named the skeletal ceiling centiedes weren''t intelligent enough to identify the vandals, but they were smart enough to know when the vandals came to vandalize the tomb. So the guardians were able to do their duty and defend the tomb. Hargal also now had someone to talk to at each tomb; while the skeletal centipedes didn''t make for the best conversationalists, they were great listeners. So Hargal was grateful for their company.


    The guardians did their duty for a time, and Hargal began to know what companionship was for; now he had a race of beings on Allyssa that he could speak to and would not flee at the sight of him. Though this peace ended one day as Hargal came upon one of his tombs and found its guardian had been pierced through with a sharp object straight down the middle, leaving it in two pieces on the entrance floor.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Hargal stood there for a moment just looking at the shattered guardian, not saying anything. Before a roar of rage tore through his mouth and echoed throughout his surroundings. Hargal quickly gathered what was left of the shattered guardian and tried to fix the damage, but it was far too late, and he could do nothing for the shattered guardian. Hargal sat there for a while holding the remnants of a being he once called friend.


    Hargal got up and went about fixing the damage done by the vandals to the tomb and then created a special crypt in the deepest part of the tomb for the fallen guardian before he went about creating a new one to defend the tomb. Once he was finished, Hargal quickly went to the other tombs to find the situation repeated time and time again: guardians cut in half with smashed crypts lying strewn about the tomb. Each time Hargal having to pick up the shattered pieces of his friends and burying them before having to create their replacements.


    Hargal feeling grief and rage from the loss of so many of his guardians. Now he felt shame and self-doubt; he had lost so many and accomplished nothing but a small reprieve for the sacrifice of the only beings who had ever welcomed him, who even now were being slayed defending his tombs. No, it would seem his defensive mindset had caused him and those who answered to him nothing but grief and setbacks. He needed to go on the offensive, but how to go about that?


    Hargal once again looked to the insects for his answer, for while they had not solved the problem of the vandals totally, They had been what had gotten him this far to even begin with; not only that, but he had chosen insects to use defensively to begin with, so now he would simply pick one that was offensive in nature for inspiration.


    He chose the always-on-the move driver ants, a ravenous form of insect that seemed to slaughter all in their path. Figuring this insect is what he needed for inspiration to take a more offensive role.


    Hargal began by taking the bones of deceased oxen, taking their ribs to form the torso and their horn to form the mandibles. He then began to take the legs and sharpen them to a point to give them proper insectoid legs. Once this new undead creation made to look like a giant driver ant was finished, Hargal filled it with the breath of undeath and watched as it scuttled about.


    Seeing the creature seeming to work as intended once Hargal has done a few tests with it. By having it display the strength of its mandibles and its running speed. Hargal then proceeded to make squads of 50 in each squad to patrol the different routes he took to the different tombs. So anyone who tried to attack his guardians risked his new skeletal driver ants coming at them from the rear.


    For a time, this new solution of risking an attack from his new skeletal driver ants long before they got near his tomb and risking getting attacked from behind by them while fighting his guardian caused the vandals to stop their attacks once again.


    Sadly, though, the skeletal ants patrolling Hargal routes caused Detrei to become enraged, for Hargal''s domain was below, and hers was above; he had slighted her by suddenly having undead patrolling her lands of influence, even if it was routes mostly avoided for fear of running into him.


    Hargal tried to soothe Detrei by explaining that the skeletal driver ants were to only protect his tombs from vandals, not threaten her lands or her people. She did not believe it, for Detrei told Hargal that he was jumping at things that were not there and that there were no vandals, but his ants were real and they were a threat to her people, but she would allow them to remain so long as they remained on their paths once she realized Hargal would not send them to the tombs instead.


    So once again peace returned to the tombs of Hargal, but now not only could he talk with the guardians of the tomb, he could also speak with the skeletal driver ants, though just like the guardians, they were more listeners than speakers, occasionally nodding their heads to show they understood and answering whatever Hargal told them.


    This eventually ended when Hargal began to find the guardians and patrols destroyed with what was left of them smashed into bits. So once again Hargal was forced to bury those few he had come to know and create their replacements. Hargal, once again feeling rage and depression at the loss of his undead, looked to the wisdom of the insects to guide him on what he should create next to stop the vandals.


    Hargal thought long and hard and decided that this time he needed to go into the skies instead of staying on the ground. He found the hawker dragonfly, an insect of great sight and ability at flight, to be the perfect choice. So once again Hargal went to the insect pits and went to the pit dedicated to the hawker dragonfly.


    Hargal first began to combine the wings of several hundred hawker dragonflies to create the first set of wings. He then took the eyes of several hundred as well, creating two shining orbs before taking the leftover bodies and combining them into one giant spear-like one, adding in the eyes and wings before giving it the breath of undeath, letting it rise as what Hargal called the seeker fly.


    Once the first seeker fly was finished, Hargal then began creating hundreds more to begin patrolling the skies of just that one tomb alone, and after he went to each tomb, rebuilding the shattered patrols and guardians, he added the seeker flies to the mix of each patrol. This angered Detrei greatly because not only did Hargal claim part of the lands as his domain with his routes, now he was claiming the skies with his seeker flies.


    It was almost too much to bear, but Detrei bore it for the peace of her people, and Hargal tried his best to not impose on her lands any more than he already had to try and placate her, but with his new seeker flies, his tombs were once again safe, and Hargal went back to his duties of expanding and maintaining the tombs. While his protectors worked in tandem to push back any attempt on his tombs by the vandals.


    This cycle of constant siege between the vandals and Hargal finally came to an end when, after a brief skirmish, some of the seeker drones followed the trail of where the most recent attempt by the vandals to attack the tombs had been attempted. The seeker flies found a stable and destroyed it, hurting the stable hands in the process.


    The stable hands had nothing to do with the vandalism, so as far as they were concerned, undead in the shape of flies had just attacked them, and they were lucky to be alive. They went to their hill lord, and he in turn went to his king, who gathered the farmers and armed them with sharpened scythes to cut the menace down.


    The men under their king followed the direction of where the seeker flies had come from and eventually found themselves on the path of Hargal, a forbidden path for good reason. For who went on a death god''s routine route. Sadly, though they had a duty, they had been attacked, and the threat had to be dealt with for the good of their farms and families.


    They eventually stumbled upon a patrol of skeletal driver ants and seeker flys. The men charged attacking the patrol, and after a fierce battle, won, mostly because they outnumbered the patrol by about 5 to 1. Sadly, what made this whole incident so much worse is once they were done destroying the patrol, Hargal stumbled upon them, and seeing his shattered undead, Hargal had become convinced that these people and their kingdom had been the ones invading his tomb.


    For the king and his men''s part, they simply fled back to their kingdom once they saw Hargal was upon them. Not realizing that not explaining themselves would be their doom. So full of rage that this kingdom had been destroying his tombs, Hargal gathered his undead creations and created more to triple their number before leading a massive attack on this kingdom.


    Overwhelmed by the onslaught of Hargal''s undead. The surrounding kingdoms gathered their people and marched to the survivors aid. Though as Hargal''s forces were facing a counterattack by the surrounding farming kingdoms, Hargal felt his divinity reach its first peak and his divine domain expand for the first time, and Hargal had to choose his very first expansion.


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    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Options


    A- builder of the fortified crypts


    You are given the power to make the material of your crypts and tomb even stronger making them require powerful forces to even scratch as well use divinity to make crypts that will give birth to powerfull undead.


    B- lord defender of the expanding tombs


    You are given the ability to make your expansions overlap when intruders enter meaning to all that find themselves in your tombs who not supposed to be will find your tombs to be a never ending maze with no escape. You can add divinity to your expansion to create undead realms the size and scope of these realms depend on how much divinity is given.


    C- father of the dark insect


    You are given the ability to create undead races of insects that are able to reproduce on their own with some degree as well possessing a loyal towards you that borders on zealotry by using divinity you can also create undead insect champions.</td>


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    While the battle was raging between Hargal''s insect-like undead and Detrei''s many farming kingdoms, Hargal decided to pick the father of dark insects, considering insects had not let him down so far, as well as the fact he would need it, especially considering the conflict had grown far beyond what he had expected.


    Once Hargal had chosen, a dark light emanated from his skeletal form, and soon it consumed him, and unlike his sister''s transformation, he was changed, for now Hargal had a giant skeletal centipede form as a lower torso.


    Hargal began to recall his undead insectlike creations, feeling the need, as the father of dark insects, to begin their transformation. He began to raise the farmers that had already fallen to his insects like the undead as he went down to the closest tomb. As the war turned against Detrei, eventually causing her to call for the creator''s aid.


    "Well, I take it you didn''t mean for Hargal to use insects so much when he was designing his undead, did you, Robert? I know my audience would love to know." Simon asked Robert in his best radio voice.


    " Noo I didn''t, nor did I expect him to turn into an undead insect god hybrid either." Robert replied, clearly exasperated with trying to understand how the hell Hargal had gotten the insect option as a choice in divine domain expansion, but he didn''t know, especially since Simon thought it would be better if he let Alyssa have her own secrets even from him.


    So unless it was an emergency call from Detrei or Hargal telling him of an emergency situation he wasn''t aware of, what was going on with Allyssa? Well, unless either of them expands their divine domains, that kind of level-up sends a kind of wave that got his attention.


    "Well anyway, now that Allyssa is set up, I believe it''s time to see how our first player is getting along, don''t you?" Simon said with a mischievous tone in his voice.


    "What are you on about, Simon?" Robert was confused about what Simon was talking about and a bit concerned about what Simon might be up to.


    "Oh, nothing, my dear contestant Robert; we''re just getting into the next part of our little show." Simon said with a cheer in his voice, causing Robert to almost physically see Simon doing jazz hands.


    "Right, I guess we will get on with the next part." Robert replied, figuring Simon was talking about the players now entering Alyssa as he turned back to the world, looking through the workshop''s many monitors as both Simon and Robert watched the first players enter Alyssa.

 chapter 13 the first player

    The ringing of his alarm was what woke up Mark, telling him it was time to get ready for work. So with a few groans, Mark began to get up and make his way to the bathroom. Mark first took care of his base urges before he began to get dressed and brush his teeth.


    Once he was fully dressed and his teeth were minty fresh, Mark made his way out of the bathroom and into his apartment kitchen to fix himself some waffles and eggs with orange juice to drink. Once he had prepared his food, he quickly dug into the food, almost inhaling it before downing the orange juice in one gulp on his way out his apartment''s front door.


    He got into an old, beat-up car he''d purchased at a junkyard auction. Rapidly backing out of his apartment parking lot as he made his way to work. He turned the radio on to the local news, mostly hearing about the weather and what roads to avoid on the way to work this morning.


    Sadly, the really interesting stuff was something he was all too familiar with; they were once again debating the villain known as the Cut. All the devastation he''d left in his wake after his rampage, and if he''d deserved the death penalty or not, considering the death toll once it all had been tallied, was rather substantial. They weren''t giving the exact number, but people were speculating it was in the thousands at least.


    Mark quickly turned off the radio, not wanting to hear any more of the debate on the cut. He simply enjoyed the silence as he drove on to the main highway to get to work, still having another fifteen minutes left before he''d finally get to his place of employment.


    Eventually he reached his place of work, the prison asylum. Once he pulled into the parking lot, he put on his uniform and walked inside, saying hi to Sharon at the front desk as he walked into the main area where all the patients were. Mark quickly clocked in and began making his rounds, checking in on the various patients and helping the other workers when a few got a little too rowdy and had to get a needle and cookies.


    Eventually Mark got to the patients he was there to watch personally just in case they got loose, not that the rest of the staff knew that. The first patient being the cut mark, having to make sure he took his daily medication.


    The cat was watching children cartoons, giggling and smiling like he was a small child as the pills once again extended this state of childlike mind. For a few minutes, Mark just enjoyed some cartoons with the cat, trying to give the big guy some company before he had to move on.


    Sadly, all good things came to an end, and eventually Mark had to move on to his other duties. Giving the cat a pat on the shoulder before he goes, he began to think to himself about his situation. For you see, Mark is a hero known as the shaper. His power is to create energy prisons of different shapes; hence, he works here to watch the villains that are sent to the asylum.


    Though sadly this reminds Mark that he simply won a coin toss and could have easily been him getting drugged out of his mind instead. The truth is there aren''t really any villains at the asylum, just those that aren''t in control. You see, when you get your powers, there is a chance your powers may take over or connect you to an Eldritch creature. When this happens, you become one of the mad.


    Sadly, the power taking over is what happened to the cut; he was just a regular guy going about his life when he got his powers to cut anything to shreds within a certain distance from him. Sadly, his power took control of him and began forcing him to cut everything around him. This caused him to leave behind a trail of death and destruction that he wanted no part in but was a part of all the same.


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


    Sadly, the only real way for the mad to not be a threat to anyone is without straight-out executing them, which is immoral because of their mind-controlled state. So the only way to make the mad no longer dangerous is to drug them heavily, so much so that their rendered mentality is handicapped while under the effect of such heavy drugs. This prevents their powers or Eldritch entities from taking over because they need a mind to be working to a certain degree to be able to do so.


    Though this is a somewhat bitter pill to swallow. Because while it''s easy for news anchors and talk shows to debate handing out the death penalty or not to the mad. People like Mark get to actually spend time with them in their impaired state, see how what''s happened to them has affected their families, and even see those moments of good from the mad, like when the cut cheers every time the heroes win in old action cartoons that show the mad aren''t just bloodthirsty butchers.


    Sadly, most of his coworkers don''t agree with him, though not his coworkers at the asylum; they agree with him wholeheartedly. It''s his fellow heroes who see the mad as nothing more than rabid dogs. Several even see themselves as the chosen due to the nature of their side of power. For when you aren''t controlled by your power or controlled by an Eldritch entity, you become a wonder, a super that is in control of their power or even connects to a positive entity that will share their knowledge and power.


    Sadly, this means that the current situation of the wonders and mad has only one solution: beat the mad into the dirt, then drug them to the day they die so that they''re no longer a threat. Now while there have been proposals to create some kind of limiter or drug that nullifies the powers of the mad so the mad could live normal, productive lives again. The problem is any such drug or device that worked on the mad would work on the wonders as well. So several wonders have used their power and influence they''ve gained to make it impossible to get the funding necessary to begin developing such a thing.


    This desperate situation was what circled in Mark''s mind as he went about his duties, having to drug more mad to keep them docile. Though the next patient was a set, they were twins that ended up belonging to two opposing Eldritch entities. So when either twin became a fully awake mad super, they would immediately be forced to fight against the other.


    Eventually Mark''s workday ended, and he clocked out and said bye to Sharon at the front desk on his way out the front door. Then he got in his old junk car and got out of his uniform before making his way back onto the highway to get to his apartment. He kept his radio off, not wanting to risk having to listen to anyone tell him about how he should feel about the mad. Eventually he pulled into his apartment parking and then walked into his front door. He made a beeline for his PC; it was an older model, but it got the job done.


    Mark began to scroll through the games on one of the best gaming websites on the market. Mark was feeling like he needed something new to really help get him in a better place away from the super crap his world was dealing with, and eventually he found it: some brand-new game called The Land of Allyssa, a dungeon/sandbox game that seemed interesting enough and wasn''t all that expensive, so he bought it. Mark would have no idea how much this would change him or those around him in the times to come.

 chapter 14 the game intro

    A woman appeared above a sea of grass. She was 9 feet tall with the brightest blond hair and sapphire blue eyes. She was wearing a white toga with a crown of wheat on her head, and while holding a scythe in her right hand, she looked at Mark through the screen.


    At least that''s how it appeared to him. Since Mark had decided to watch the ad again while waiting for the game to fully download, not knowing this was actually the world of Alyssa confirming the connection to his computer. So that when he pressed play, his mind could safely go into the computer while his body lay in his chair.


    The beautiful woman on his monitor began to speak, "I am Detrei, goddess of Allyssa and guide to the Detreons. Long had my people known peace and prosperity as they tilled the land and tended to their herds, but now that peace has been shattered. My brother Hargal threatens all that lives as the god of burials with his army of undead." The scene changes as the field of grass withers, and now farmers with scythes desperately try to fend off unending hordes of skeletal undead on hilltop forts.


    "Sadly, my people have had to learn the ways of war, but what they have learned is not enough for what threatens them. Even now Hargal threatens us with even more powerful undead monstrosities than the ones that are already at our doorstep. Detrei said with a sad tone as the image changed once again, this time showing underground tombs filled with what looked like some type of insects made of flesh and bone.


    "That is why I implore you, people of another world who know more of war than we do, to come to us and help us in our darkest hour." Detrei pleads to whatever player is watching, clearly showing distress and desperation at her people''s situation. Mark found himself being drawn in despite it looking like a generic undead apocalypse happening to your local ancient farming community. He could see in the few scenes what looked like real people desperately trying to hold back Hargal''s undead horde.


    Which is what drew Mark to purchase the game in the first place: to save people like the hero he should be instead of the warden he felt he was. Eventually, though, his thoughts came to a stop as a ding came from his PC telling him the download was complete, but for some reason the game asked him to get into a comfortable position before he started it.


    Mark did find it a bit strange but not really finding the harm in it. So Mark got into a comfortable slouch position in his chair before he clicked start on the game. Then he found his mind leaving his body and rapidly going down a bright tunnel towards something. Eventually the never-ending light show did end, and he found himself on the grass plain he had been watching in the earlier game ad for Allyssa.


    Mark was beginning to freak out, wondering if this was how the mad met the Eldritch horrors and fell to their sway, and he was very concerned he was about to join their ranks. Luckily, before he could do anything hasty, Detrei descended before him, and her mere presence gave off a comforting aura that calmed him down from his panicking state.


    "Do not worry, young warrior; you have come to Allyssa. You shall not be harmed so long as you are here, for you are here only in mind and spirit, not in body, and may leave as you wish." Detrei said with a gentle but firm tone, explaining quickly to Mark that he wasn''t trapped or in any danger.


    "How though?" Mark asked, still in shock from the emotional whiplash of thinking he was going to be a slave of an Eldritch god to everything being okay and him just being in a video game talking to the game''s goddess on a grass field.


    "Simple young warrior, a connection from this world of Allyssa to yours was created, but this connection was not of a physical nature; no, this was of a more spiritual one, allowing you and others to come through with only your minds and spirits, leaving behind your bodies so you did not have to risk any physical harm to help us in this war." Detrei explained to Mark, hoping to rectify any concerns he may have and that he may spread the word to others in his world. So that more would come to join her cause without fear of the unknown holding them back.


    "Okay, got it. I can leave when I want. I''m not in any danger while I''m here, but how am I going to help you without a physical body?" Mark was calm now that he knew he was safe from Eldritch slavery, though now he was confused about how he was going to help the Detreons fight the undead while being on Allyssa just in spirit.


    "Simple. Once I''m done showing you how to fight on Allyssa, you will form a physical body that you can use to interact with the world of Allyssa." Detrei answered Mark while the area around them changed. Instead of just being an empty grass field with the two of them, there was now a table in front of Mark with several strange seeds laid out on it, and a few meters away from the table were several wooden dummies, each holding wooden clubs and little wooden bucklers.


    "How to fight? I was under the impression you needed people from my world to show your people how to fight." Mark asked confused once again, though this time at Detrei''s contradiction to her earlier statements. She gave him a small smile and waved him to approach the table. Once Mark was at the table, Detrei began to explain.


    "It is true we need your people to help us, for you are far more familiar with war than we, but I have created special weapons from my domain as a goddess of harvest to give you the edge you need against Hargal''s undead hordes," Detrei said to Mark as she slowly waved to the different seeds on the table, indicating these were the supposed special weapons she was talking about.


    Mark was rather suspect of how seeds could be weapons made from a goddess, but Mark came from a world where he worked as an orderly for an insane asylum for mad supers, so weapon seeds weren''t the craziest thing he''d seen or heard of, not by far. "Go on, young warrior, pick up a seed and you will see." Detrei told Mark as she began pointing at the seed farthest to the left on the table.


    Mark picked up the large seed and held it in his hand; as he did so, a strange green sheen appeared over the seed. Shocking mark causing him to almost drop the seed out of surprise, but he managed to hold on to the seed, and after thinking on it for a moment, it shouldn''t have surprised him that much that there were digital screens popping up in a video game.


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    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Fox tail- a type of flower commonly grown for its nutritional grain. Its stem is green while the flower at the top is purple and grows downward looking like the tail of the fox hence it''s name- not modified-base form- current trait- grain</td>


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    Mark looked at the text for a little while, trying to guess what he was supposed to do with the seed. He could tell he was supposed to modify it, which was obvious, but how exactly to go about doing that, he had no idea. So he looked to Detrei for guidance, who took in his look of confusion and began to explain the process.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    "This is a fox tail. It is one of the many crops that I have access to. It isn''t dangerous, but you can modify it into a weapon by simply tapping at the modify part of the screen, which will bring out a 3D box showing you the crop fully matured that will grow from the seed, and you can begin to change it into a weapon from there by using its traits and form." Detrei explaining to Mark as she began to demonstrate to him by stretching and hardening the fully formed foxtail in the 3D box.


    Mark now understanding how the seeds could be weaponized thanks to Detrei''s explanation and the demonstration she gave of how to use the 3D box showed him how he could do it, but he was still confused. "Ummm, mighty Detrei, how do traits factor into weaponizing a seed?" Mark was unsure how the traits worked exactly or how grain would factor into making foxtail into a weapon, and he was a bit worried if he had addressed a literal goddess right.


    "You can just address me as Detrei, young warrior, and to answer your question, different crops will have different traits. You will use the traits of the crop to give your weapon an added lethality. In the case of foxtail, it has the grain trait, so you can modify the grain the foxtail produces to make the final version of your weaponized foxtail even more dangerous." Detrei explained to Mark, who believed he understood, but to be sure, he began to experiment immediately with the modifying of the fox tail to be sure he truly understood all that he had been told.


    Mark first began his modification to the foxtail by shortening then hardening the stem so that it now functions as a handle. Mark then began focusing on the purple flower part of the foxtail. He began to lengthen it until it was a decent length, then he hardened the core while sharpening the edges. Now he effectively had a purple short blade, but now Mark had to use the grain trait, which took him a moment as he racked his brain in how to use the grain in his blade.


    Eventually Mark had an idea: he began to sharpen the grain till the grain had a rather sharp point at one end, and he began to add the now-piercing grain, as the game''s system called it, to the edge of his purple blade. Once Mark was done adding all the piercing grain along the edge of his blade, he pressed the finished button on his creation and watched a congrats screen pop up as well as the details for his new weapon.


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    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">????- flower blade- weapon type: short sword- description a purple blade with a green hilt that has a serrated edge that is made up of sharpened grain - special trait- grain clash: whatever trades blows with this blade will find sharp grain embedded in whatever they be wether alive or an object. The blade will regrow the lost grain.


    Would you like to name it ? Y/N</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Mark looked at the status screen for a little bit before deciding yes, he was going to name his first weapon Alyssa. He called it the Foxes Teeth¡ªnot the most imaginative name, but Mark had never claimed to be the most imaginative person.


    "Now, young warrior, that you have finished your weapon, it is time to test it." Detrei said shocking Mark, who had actually forgotten her as he had gotten so focused on the blade now named Fox Teeth. He watched as she pointed to one of the training dummies who began to approach Mark slowly, his mace and buckler at the ready. The table holding the seeds had disappeared along with the other seeds on it as the dummy made its way to Mark.


    Mark got into a stance with his new flower sword as the system has called it at the ready. Once the dummy was a few meters away, it charged Mark, its club held high and its buckler held in front. Mark swung his blade at the club, hoping to parry it and see how effective grain clash was. Instead of parrying it like he expected, fox teeth went right through the club and the wooden hand holding it.


    The dummy with no face somehow stared at Mark, making him feel guilty about disarming him so early in the fight. That when the dummy charged him with a buckler, looking to slam him to the ground. Mark, a bit surprised at the sudden shift from accusing stare to furious charge, performed a wild side swing with fox teeth that ended with him going through the dummy like he was paper cutting him in half.


    Once again the dummy seemed to stare at him without eyes, accusing him silently, before the feeling disappeared and he was left staring at two halves of what was once a whole combat training dummy. This signified to mark that the grain clash on his sword might have made his sword far sharper than he had expected.


    "Mmmmm, I believe you have shown your weapons effectiveness, my young warrior, and now you have proven that fact. You have a choice: would you like to head home, or would you answer one of my pleas before you return to your world?" Detrei asked, causing Mark to look at her confused at just what she was getting at, which he felt was becoming a habit until he saw the desperation in her eyes, and he knew his answer to her question.


    Robert watched all of this from the screen in his workshop, monitoring the interaction, making sure Allyssa''s gaming system was functioning properly, as well as making sure that Detrei was doing alright meeting people from another world.


    "I see you''re watching the drama unfold as well, my dear Robert." Simon said in his usual tone of voice, the one that was cheery and eager, but to anyone but Robert, it would just sound like a badly tuned microphone. "It is always nice to see the kids making friends." Simon added to his earlier comment.


    Robert sighed in exasperation as he watched the monitors. "Yeah, I suppose it is, but I''d rather it not be because my two kids are fighting each other, but I''m trying to stay positive by paying attention to how well the game is functioning." Robert said, trying to be upbeat.


    "There you go, Robert. Always try to find the bright side; it''s what makes the world go round. So let''s see what happens next to make it brighter, shall we? Simon said to Robert in his still happy and eager tone of voice.


    "Yeah, I suppose we should." Robert said with a defeated tone as he sighed once again before turning his full attention back to the many monitors in his workshop to watch what happens next in Allyssa with its first player.

 chapter 15 The siege of fort faria part 1

    Mark stood in the grassy field holding the flower blade he had named the Foxe''s Teeth,- looking at Detrei. "Yes, Detrei, I''m always ready to help." Mark said as he held his blade high like a knight swearing an oath of fealty. For a moment, Detrei just looked at him with a grateful smile.


    "Thank you, young warrior. Then I shall tell you of my displeasure. I have need of you to come to the aid of one of the hill fortresses that are under siege from those that have been twisted into Hargal''s undead creations." Detrei said in a serious tone as she looked at Mark for a moment. "So will you still answer my plea now that you know what it is?" Detrei asked once more, being sure now that Mark knew what he had gotten into.


    "Yes, I''m not backing out now." Mark said in a firm tone, his gaze unflinching as he stared back into Detrei''s eyes, holding his blade tight. Detrei simply nodded at his determination before she began to speak once more.


    "While then before you can go to aid one of my people''s hill fortresses, you will need armor so that a lucky slash does not destroy your temporary body." Detrei said as once again a table appears with several seeds on it. Now knowing how this works from making Foxe''s teeth mark, I grabbed one of the seeds at the edge of the table. Once it was in his hand, a green status screen once again popped up showing him the seed''s status.


    Broccoli is a type of vegetable commonly grown for its nutritional value. It looks like a small bundle of light green trees that will grow yellow flowers if left alone long enough. - not modified base form current trait: green blood


    "Okay, I guess I wasn''t as ready as I thought. Um, Detrei, last time with the foxtail, it simply had grain as a trait, but now there''s something called the green blood as a trait, which sounds a bit more advanced. Would you mind explaining how this works exactly?" Mark asked, looking confused and helpless about how to make sense of a blood trait coming from broccoli of all things.


    "I would be happy too, young warrior. You see, sometimes you will not have to modify traits to be more of an advantage like you did with the grain trait. This time broccoli has several health benefits that have combined into a healthy trait when used for a defensive item. You simply have to press on the trait in the status screen for it to tell you what the trait does exactly." Detrei explained to Mark, who understood and pressed on the green blood trait to see what it did.


    Green blood¡ªlimited to armor, this ability allows the armor to act as an emergency second heart, pumping in green blood to mitigate damage from blood loss. The amount of armor with the green blood trait determines how much bleeding can be countered.


    Mark was rather happy to see that the trait added a rather powerful healing effect. Apparently once he finally made the armor from the broccoli seed, he wouldn''t have to fear death by a thousand cuts. Though making broccoli into armor seemed to be a bit difficult as it was not easy to imagine broccoli as armor. So for a little while he just stared at the broccoli floating in the 3D box, trying to imagine shaping it into armor with no luck until finally it came to him.


    Detrei watched the young warrior struggle for a while. She was about to suggest he try a different seed when suddenly he spoke. "Chain mail!" Mark yelled out all of a sudden as he suddenly began to crisscross the fuzzy branches at the top of the broccoli that was in the 3D editor before he began to flatten it, having the root reinforce the tied-together branches, leaving him with a small piece of bright green chain fabric made entirely out of broccoli before he began to stretch it, not stopping until he had full-body chain mail.


    Once Mark looked it over, making sure he had made it as accurate to chain mail as he could before he clicked done. That''s when a congratulations screen with little confetti coming out of the screen along with the stats for his new armor appeared.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(0, 128, 0, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">????- vegetable armor- armor type: chain mail- description: a light green armor that cover the entire body seemingly made out of a strange fuzzy bush material that is always slightly pulsating - special trait- full body green blood: whenever the user of this armor is cut and blood is drawn whether the wound is small or large they will find the wound is immidetaly covered with the strange pulsating green that the armor is made up of pumping in green blood to make up for any loss blood inccured from a wound.


    Would you like to name the armor y/n?</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    "Hmmm, sure, I''ll name it the green heart." Mark said taking inspiration from the fact it was always slightly pulsating and from the green blood trait. Though this was once again showing his lack of imagination.


    "While young warrior, just like your blade before, we shall test your armor." Detrei said as she waved her hand, and a copy of the armor appeared on a wooden dummy a fair distance away, and a few feet in front of the table appeared a strange horse with grey fur and huge stone hoofs as well as a horn that was as long as a lance. The unicorn seemed to be a mix of a unicorn and a boulder.


    This unicorn quickly began to charge at a signal from Detrei and quickly closed the distance to the dummy, piercing it with little resistance, disappointing Mark but impressing Detrei, who began to explain why. "You see, young warrior, the unicorn that just pierced your armor is called a catacomb smasher, and it is a powerful lancer horse commonly used to destroy crypts. So the fact your armor offered any protection against it showed it is quite durable indeed." Detrei said, still giving an appraising look at the armor.


    Mark was rather happy to hear that his armor had performed well after all. "So I have a weapon and I have armor. Am I ready to go and help the people of the land?" Mark asked Detrei, wondering if he now had everything he needed to go off and help the people of Allyssa.


    "Yes, my young warrior, you have what you need to battle the forces that lay siege to the fortress that my people now huddle in." Detrei said in a sad tone before she waved her hand in Mark''s direction, and a strange circle went around him, and in a flash of light, he was gone. When the flash cleared and Mark could see again, he was in the middle of a fortress that was under attack from every side, with the screams of men and the smell of blood quickly overwhelming Mark. For a minute, Mark stood there overwhelmed before someone came over and shook him out of it.


    "Look alive, warrior!" A big, burly warrior yelled at Mark as he gripped him, shaking him for a second, bringing him out of his shock. "Good, there you are. I can see from the look in your eyes you''ve come back to us, and from the look of your gear, you''re one of Detrei''s chosen warriors, so you''re coming with me to the northern gate." The big warrior holding a rather large scythe said as he pushed Mark toward one of the fortress gates, following right behind him.


    Eventually the two crossed the flat ground that made up the internal courtyard before reaching the walls where the screams and scent of death were the worst. Before Mark could lose his nerve from being bombarded by all the extreme stimuli, he was directed up the stone ladders by his new unknown friend. They both reached the top quickly, traversing the ladder and ending up next to the north gate if his friend was right.


    There he finally saw what he had been hearing and smelling from within the courtyard: dozens of men were desperately trying to hold back hundreds of undead. Each of the men manning the wall was standing a few meters away from each other to give themselves proper room for their scythes as they swung again and again at the undead climbing up the wall.


    Mark had a few precious seconds to take a good look at them before he would have to take his place on the wall. He was using this precious time to take in this undead threat from a safe distance and try and strategize a method for fighting them. As he was trying to come up with the best strategy, a stat window popped up for the undead.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(128, 0, 128, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Honored undead - tier one- undead type- zombie-


    trait: honored-this undead has been given a blessing from Hargal God of burials as such it has had its body made more durable to better witshstand the ravages of time.- description- they are one of the lowest class of undead making up the bulk of Hargal''s disposable forces these undead are weaker and dumber than the living making them easy prey when alone or in small numbers what makes them dangerous is when they move in a host of large numbers this allows their trait to come into play which is given to them as part of being risen by Hargal God of burials.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Mark gave a quick read-through of the stat window, trying to take in as much of it as possible as quickly as possible. He was just about done reading the screen in the precious few seconds he had when his new friend with the large scythe roared and charged forward to help keep the honored undead from taking the walls.


    Mark raised his short sword and followed him, charging across the scant few meters that made up the wall''s upper walkway to begin helping the few defenders getting in range of the honored dead. He quickly found himself face to face with the honored dead. Getting a good look at them, they looked exactly like the Detreon, except with gray-colored skin and a hole where he guessed their heart should be.


    Mark quickly got into a stance with his feet under him and his sword held firmly, ready to give a downward stroke to any undead that tried to kill him, and he was quickly tested as three leaped at him, the first going for his throat to rip it out with their strange hands, which seemed to have been stretched out, leaving loose, hardened skin with sharpened bone pointing out of the edge of their fingers.


    Mark was shocked for a moment as the smell of a rotting corpse hit him like a freight train, as well as the fact that these undead were moving far faster than media had ever shown undead to move before. Which meant when Mark took a few precious moments to recover from the rotting smell, the honored dead had closed in, one of them wrapping its hands around Mark''s throat, its hand digging into his neck with sharpened bone, drawing blood as it began to choke him.


    Mark stood there shocked, hovering a few feet above the ground as he was being strangled as the other two honored dead came at him from the sides, coming to rip their pound of flesh out of his hide as he lay there helpless in their kin''s grip. Just as Mark considered he was about to be killed by beginner mobs in the first battle, a loud whooshing sound came, and suddenly the three honored dead were decapitated in one swipe by the man that had led him up there, causing Mark to be freed from the hold of his strangler and falling to the ground.


    The man helped Mark up as Mark got his breath back and grabbed his blade from where he had dropped it. "I think you''re a bit new to this, young warrior. So how about you follow me and I teach you the ropes? The large unknown warrior said to Mark, who merely nodded, ashamed that he''d been overwhelmed so easily. He was a hero in his own world, and while it had been a long time since he''d been called to fight, he should at least be able to defend himself for God''s sake.


    Sadly, though, Mark had to push down his self-loathing at his dismal performance. As the man who had saved him and who''d showed him where to go, this entire battle began to wave him over to the wall once again as he actually gained a little distance from it in his struggle earlier with the three honored dead. So Mark quickly followed behind the man and once again manned the wall, except this time he did it in tedium with the man; after each swing of the man''s scythe, he would rush forward to pierce the head of any honored dead the man hadn''t decapitated.


    This went on for a long time as Mark found his rhythm, the start of it being the swing of the man next to him, then he stepped forward to close in on those that weren''t killed by the swing of the scythe; Mark then quickly pierced them in their head with his fox teeth blade, ending the stragglers of the latest wave to try and overwhelm the wall and then stepping back to do it again. Mark found himself becoming a part of a machine meant to kill as many of the honored dead as possible as their bodies slowly built a small hill in front of the wall, making it easier for the honored dead to climb up the wall.


    For a moment, Mark was worried that they would be overwhelmed, but he quickly forgot about such things as he once again became a part of the machine and began to slay the honored dead trying to overwhelm the northern wall. This went on for what seemed like forever but also just a moment as Mark lost all sense of time. Eventually the waves of honored undead finally stopped coming, and Mark fell on his rear, gasping for breath.


    "Well lad, that''s the last we''ll see of them here at the northern gate. So once you get your breath back, we will go to the Western gate and help out there." Mark''s guide and savior declared much to his chagrin, but eventually Mark got his second wind, and a few of the men on the northern wall followed him and his mentor to the western wall, and the others went to the eastern wall, leaving a small contingent to watch the north for the moment.


    So Mark once again found himself falling into the rhythm, becoming a part of the machine as he slowly found himself covered head to toe in blood and brain matter of the honored dead, though by the end of it he really didn''t care as he was totally and completely exhausted, unable to move from his helping of the western gates defense, which was either another few hours of fighting or a whole day. Mark couldn''t really tell; his sense of time was shot by this point.


    His mentor''s shadow began to cover him, filling Mark with dread. "Sorry, sir, I don''t have another fight in me right now. I need a bit more time before the next fight." Mark begged, which made him feel pathetic, but he had to be honest: he was exhausted and didn''t have another fight in him right at that moment. He needed more than the few-minute breaks they had been going on so far.


    "Don''t worry, young warrior; there''s no new push on the walls. In fact, the honored seemed to have retreated, though they''ll probably regroup to attack later, so you have more time to rest for now. Mmmmm, now that I think on it, I never told you my name. It''s Faro, and now that I''ve told you mine, what''s yours, my young warrior?"" Faro asked Mark in a jovial tone.


    " It''s Mark, sir," Mark answered in a tired but happy tone as he fell over and began to just lay there dead to the world, just trying to conserve what little energy he had left. Faro took no offense at the lack of respect, especially considering that Mark probably didn''t know he was the commander of the fort.


    Robert had watched the battle unfold as Detrei sent someone to go help defend the walls of one of her people''s hilltop fortresses. He wasn''t quite sure what to think about that because while he had made sure people coming into the game world wouldn''t be in any real danger, he didn''t want that immediately put to the test considering that technically they were still in what would be considered a tutorial phase for players.


    "Ah, that Detrei, who''d have thought that she was such a showman already, giving something for the viewers at home." Simon said ecstatic at the fresh, exciting footage for his ever-hungry viewers.


    "I get you''re happy that you have something for your viewers, but I''m not exactly happy with having to test the safety functions of Allyssa so swiftly." Robert was a bit concerned over Detrei''s lack of concern for the well-being of the players, though she probably just had too much faith in him and his system''s working.


    "Oooh, my dear Robert, it looks like we''re going to have a rather interesting guest that''s going to arrive at the fort soon from the looks of it. Which will give us even greater footage." Simon said with excitement.


    Robert turned his full focus back on the fort to see that Simon was right. "When did Hargal send that out?" Robert said, shocked and worried that the fort could handle what was now heading their way.

 chapter 16 the siege of fort faria part 2

    For a while, Mark just lay there on the fort''s western wall next to the western gate, catching his breath and watching Allyssa''s beautiful skies as he was exhausted from all of the fighting he''d done to defend against waves of the Hondored dead that had tried to overwhelm the fort.


    Faro, the fort''s commander, not that Mark had known that, sat next to him, calmly waiting for the undead''s next move. He didn''t say anything to Mark for a good while, letting Mark rest until he felt he had enough energy to talk. "So, Mark, what brings you here? Not that I mind the help." Faro asked in a casual voice.


    "I came to answer Detrei''s call for aid and help the people of this land fight against Hargal''s undead hordes." Mark answered in a barely audible voice, still trying to conserve his energy.


    "Ahh, trying to be a hero, are we? We''ve had a few brave warriors earn that distinction over the years. Don''t you worry; we''ll make you one of those yet." Faro said in a jovial but patronizing voice like one would have for a child''s dream. Mark couldn''t blame him, though. Despite being a hero in his own world, he hadn''t made a good show of himself in this one. He''d needed to be saved in the first battle for God''s sake.


    Like he was some junior hero who''d never fought crooks in an alleyway before, much less someone whose main job it was to watch the mad at an asylum. No, as far as the soldiers at the fort were concerned, he was a rookie with lofty aspirations, but he supposed that was a good thing; he''d only have to meet them, and he wouldn''t have to worry about the backlash of a hero messing up as badly as he had. God knew what the media would do if footage had circulated of him in costume being choked out by a villain.


    "Well anyway, it seems we have a bit more time before we have to worry about the next attack. So was there anything you wanted to know? Well, you have this chance to ask Mark. Faro asked if he should try and give Mark a chance to gain knowledge of the goings-on in the world while he had the chance.


    "Hmmm." Mark hummed for a moment, thinking on the question, not really sure what to ask about but eventually deciding on asking about where they both were sitting at right now. "Well, Faro, what''s the story with this fort?" Mark finally asked.


    "Well, that''s simple enough. This is Fort Faria." So renamed after Lady Faria, who was slayed long ago. She was the wife of its first commander, who was my grandfather, Faro the First. I am Faro the third, though I just go by Faro. Faro said to answer Mark''s question.


    "So what if your pharaoh is the third? Does that mean your family has been defending this fort for two generations?" Mark asked in shock as he was surprised that not only had this war been going on for that long but that Faro, who was such a well-going and buff man who looked more like a friendly bodybuilder, was actually the supposed strategic commander for this fort.


    "Yes, two generations have given their lives to the defense of this fort, and I shall be the third." Faro said in a proud voice as he looked off at where the bulk of the honored dead had fled to.


    "Well, okay then. It is an honor to fight by your side, Commander Faro the Third." Mark said, trying to be as respectful as possible to the commander and probably the best fighter of the entire fort.


    "None of that now. You weren''t respectful before, so don''t start now. Just continue calling me Faro, as you have been." Faro said in his usual jovial tone of voice. Mark was glad he didn''t have to go through all the respectful courtesy you would expect of dealing with a lord, which being the fort''s commander surely meant Faro qualified as one, but Mark was happy to nod in agreement at Faro''s request to remain casual.


    Once again the two were left in silence as Mark continued to lie down on the wall and enjoy Allyssa''s sky while Faro remained sitting down and continued to stare off into the distance, trying to be ever vigilant for another round of attacks from Hargal''s undead. Eventually, though, the silence was ended as the sound of a massive thud echoed across Fort Faria.


    This caused Mark and Faro to stand up and stare out into the distance from the western wall, trying to find the source of the noise, but no matter where they looked, they couldn''t see the source of the loud noise before it sounded out again. So once again a loud thump like a boulder hitting the dirt echoed across the fort louder than before, but once again they couldn''t find what was causing it.


    Then both Mark and Faro, as well as the men around them at the western gate, got concerned as they heard the sound again, but this time they were pretty sure the gap between thumps was shorter, letting them know that whatever was coming was big and was getting faster, which wasn''t a good combination.


    As they all looked around, desperate to find what it was that was causing such a loud sound, they heard a large thump for a fourth time, getting very concerned as the gap between thumps had shortened again and it was louder than before. Letting them know it was still building up speed and was getting closer despite them still not seeing whatever was causing the noise.


    Then a man from the northern wall ran up to Faro, desperation clear in his eyes. "Commander Faro, you''re needed at the northern wall right now, sir!" The soldier practically screamed out, clearly trying to hold in his panic but not quite succeeding as he couldn''t control the volume of his voice.


    "Alright soldier, I''ll head over to the northern wall; you''ll stay here. Mark, come with me, and we will see if your fancy equipment can help with whatever is going on." Faro said handing out his orders as both he and Mark began to run from the western part of the wall to the northern part so they could see what was going on.


    Faro has ordered the messenger to stay behind because he didn''t trust him in the fight that seemed to be shaping up north of the fort faria. He was far too rattled to fight properly, so Faro had him stay on the western wall. So at least that way the man could still be of use to the fort by warning another section of the wall of whatever was going on to the north of the fort.


    After a fast jog to keep their energy high but make good times, both Mark and Faro reached the northern part of the wall to see all of the defenders staring at something off in the distance. There was an aura surrounding them that was of palpable fear. Faro didn''t like that, so he sought to rectify it immediately. "Attention, men!" Faro bellowed out, causing all the men to line up, their training kicking in as they all held at attention with their scythes to their side, staring directly forward.


    Faro now in front of the defenders, taking the time to stare directly into the eyes of each of the defenders and not giving even a passing glance at what they had been looking at, deciding that restoring morally was more important. "Alright men, you are the defenders of Faria. This fort has stood for generations, and no matter what fresh horror Hargal has sent our way, it is your duty to see to it it stands for many more. Is that understood?" Faro bellowed out at the soldiers lined up and facing north.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    "Yes, sir!" The soldiers bellowed back in perfect unison. Having restored morale, Faro finally looked at what Mark had been staring at in horror for his entire pep talk with the defenders of the northern wall. A giant abomination was slowly making its way towards Fort Faria with a few thousand honored undead lined up behind it. Mark figured, as he stared in horror at the abomination making huge crashing noises with each step it took toward them, that they were planning to pour through whatever breach the thing made once it bulldozed its way through some of the fort''s walls.


    The abomination was a tree, but this wasn''t just some forest variety redwood. No, instead it was a massive hulking thing made out of some white wood, and it was the size of a three-story building. It was slowly making its way towards them on four giant roots, moving like a spider and having its roots pierce the ground, leaving giant holes in the ground as it made its way toward them. Though considering the thing was undead, it wasn''t surprising that atrophy had been making its roots stiff and strong enough to function as spider legs.


    As it got closer, Mark could make out more details, much to his horror. It had thousands of branches that all ended in sharp talons, which meant it had effectively hundreds of hands ready to tear apart anyone who got within range. Though the trunk of the creature was the most terrifying, as the creature somehow had hundreds of faces growing out of its trunk, all staring at them in either a look of eternal anguish or ravenous hunger.


    So suffice it to say, Mark was very concerned about how exactly they were supposed to deal with this huge tree abomination. This concern came from the fact that he had not seen a single siege weapon on the walls of the fort or in the fort''s courtyard, so as far as he knew, they had nothing to hit the monstrosity with from a distance, nor did he think their sythes would have any real effect on the thing.


    "So, do you have any way to deal with that?" Mark asked in a hopeful voice that was tinged with desperation. Faro looked at him for a moment before shaking his head no, then stared straight at the giant tree and tightened the grip on his scythe, clearly getting ready to chop it down like he was a lumberjack, though from the look of its many taloned branch hands, he wouldn''t survive the attempt.


    As Mark stared directly at the tree monstrosity once again, trying to figure out how exactly he was going to figure out this one, the stats screen popped up, showing him details of the tree abomination.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(128, 0, 128, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">The pale tree - tier one- undead comander- undead type- undead plant-trait: heart seeker-this undead is fueled by an eternal search for more hearts because of this it has gained the ability to sense and strike at any nearby hearts.- description- a tree grown from hundreds of hearts seeds gathered from fallen Detreon because of this process and material needed to make a pale tree it is filled with both with the agony of half life for heart seeds are where new Detreon are born from as well as an eternal hunger for more. All pale trees are able to organize honored dead into semi functional hordes to serve in their search eternal for more heart seeds.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    So apparently Mark was looking at the leader of this horde of honored undead laying siege to the fort, which would explain the hole in their chest he guessed. So it seemed it didn''t matter whether your heart was still beating or not; the pale tree still wanted it either way. Though the fact that the people he was standing next to had plant-based hearts was a bit of an odd surprise.


    Mark shook his head, trying to physically shake away the distractions as the pale tree ate up what little distance there was between it and the fort''s walls. Still having no way to stop it besides fighting it in melee, and even if he and the other defenders won, their ranks would be decimated and would be easy pickings for the honored undead that came pouring in after the pale tree defeat to the defenders.


    So Mark looked at the defenders, trying to see if there was something he could come up with that they had to defeat the pale tree when it dawned on him. His equipment was the answer; his armor, the green heart, should protect him from the talon branch hands of the pale tree, and his sword, the fox''s teeth, has the razor grain trait, which will allow him to slice deeply into the pale tree with each swing.


    So with his answer, Mark sets out to act quickly, knowing he needs to fight his way from the walls of the hill fort and in front of the hill directly on the plains. So he makes his way down one of the wall''s inner ladders as all the defenders are focused on the pale tree working its way towards them and manages to cram open the north gate wide enough for him to slip through before he closes it shut behind him. Then he rushes forward, his blade held high as he charges toward the pale tree.


    As Mark gets closer and closer to the pale tree, his heart thumping in his ears, he can hear Faro screaming at him to come back. He even looks back at one point to see that the only reason that Faro wasn''t dragging him back to the fort''s walls was that his men were holding him there, not willing to risk their fort''s commander on a random grunt who decided a suicide charge was a great idea. He couldn''t blame them on that one, but if this worked, boy would they be wrong.


    As he focuses back on the pale tree, he sees he has closed the distance to the pale tree, and the giant undead tree looks away from the fort as it senses Mark''s very fast beating heart. The pale tree lets out a screech of hundreds of different voices from its trunk of men and women in both agony and hunger, and once it gets a few meters from Mark, it reaches for him with over a hundred taloned hands made from branches.


    Mark watched in horror for a moment as what looked like an entire tree line of evil, sharp trees reached for him all at once, and then his swinging sword in desperation as hundreds of wooden hands clawed at him, trying to tear his heart out of his chest. They draw blood all over his body, and as in the first few moments of Mark''s struggle against the pale tree, he finds himself covered in minor wounds and pulsating green as his armor prevents the worst of the damage as well as stopping him from dying of blood loss.


    Though Mark doesn''t really notice as he swings again and again, taking off hand after hand as the pale trees screams of agony and hunger rattle his skull. Soon the air is filled with the smell of blood as the pale tree leaks a red sap from the wounds caused by Mark. Not that Mark noticed, as he just kept swinging in a blind desperation trying to survive.


    Before, when he had been fighting the honored dead, Mark had been a part of a well-oiled machine. Now, when he was fighting the pale tree, he wasn''t a machine; he wasn''t even a man anymore; he was just an animal trying to survive as he just swung again and again, and each time he cut off one of the pale tree''s branch hands, the pale tree would bring more forward, making him feel like he had to chop down a whole forest or die trying to defeat the pale tree. Eventually, though, the two began to wear each other down as Mark ran out of energy and the pale tree was running out of red sap bleeding out from the hundreds of missing limbs.


    Sadly, though, by targeting the same spot, the pale tree had lost hundreds of branch hands, but it got its prize, and Mark got to watch as his own heart was ripped out and hear the pale tree cry out in joy as it held his still beating heart in triumph, though the pale tree only got to enjoy its prize for a few moments before it expired from all the wounds caused by Mark.


    As Mark''s world grew dark, lying on the grassy plain, he looked up at the fort and held a shaky thumb up. He then watched as a bunch of gravel smasher horses came pouring out of the fort from where in the fort he had no idea and charged into the now leaderless honored dead horde. Before a victory screen popped up as the honored horde was quickly decimated.


    You have died in the battle. You are the VIP of the defense of Fort Faria by defeating the enemy commander Pale Tree Calacra in a duel. Reward to be given by Detrei upon return.


    Mark was then forcibly ejected from the game. He woke up still in the same game chair he had been in when he started the game. Though when he saw the clock on his computer''s monitor, it confirmed he''d been there for a few hours. "Got to say, I didn''t expect to be fighting a giant tree in my first session." Mark said to himself as he thought about how Alyssa had been a lot more than he''d been expecting.


    "Thank all that''s holy that worked." I was worried something was going to go horribly wrong." Robert said in an exasperated tone as he stared at the portal where the player called Mark had been sent back through once his temporary body had been killed in the game of Allyssa.


    "Yeah, got to say that Calacra gave us quite a good show. Though I don''t recall your boy Hargal making things like that?" Simon asked curiously when he had missed Hargal making giant undead trees.


    "He didn''t; he''s busy working on some project deep underground. From what I can tell, the undead above ground are making themselves at this point without a lot of input from Hargal." Robert explained to Simon.


    "Huh, didn''t know that. It will make things a bit more interesting seeing as that means we''ll have a lot of those undead commanders coming out of the woodwork then." Simon said he was intrigued by the idea of the chaos caused by so many undead doing their own thing as they pursue the living.


    "Yeah, for you maybe it''s me who has to make sure it doesn''t get out of hand." Robert said he was very concerned that so many intelligent undead experimenting with undead creation could lead to big problems down the line, but hopefully once Hargal gets done creating his sapient undead insects, he''ll rein in his undead.


    "Well, you can''t blame me for enjoying the show, Robert; it is my duty as a showman to enjoy another''s performance; it''s professional courtesy I extend to my fellow performers." Simon said with an air of sophistication.


    "Right." Robert replied with a tone that implied he found Simon''s answer to be highly dubious, but he had a job to do. So he turned back to his workshop''s many screens and went back to monitoring the situation on Allyssa, waiting to see what would happen next.

 chapter 17 the aftermath of the siege

    Mark spent a few minutes just staring blankly at his computer screen as he just breathed in and out. Coming to terms with the fact that his heart was still beating in his chest and he wasn''t covered in wounds and bleeding from all the cuts he had just gotten from the pale tree''s taloned branch hands not twenty minutes ago.


    So, yeah, Mark needed a moment to adjust, but eventually, after he had come back, he commented on the fact he had died in a one-on-one fight with a tree. He noticed it had gotten pretty late, so he began to turn in. Which was a bit strange for Mark, considering he had just been sleeping for the last few hours, technically, but that had been just resting his body, not his mind, which he needed to rest after all the stress of fighting the undead horde.


    So Mark went to the kitchen to fix himself a late dinner of some microwaved generic food that, honestly, he ate so fast and was so generic he''d forgotten what he''d eaten as soon as he''d gotten done swallowing it. Then he went to the bathroom to take care of his hygiene; after that, he was soon under the covers and dead to the world as he slept like the dead should be: silent and unmoving, unlike the honored of Allyssa.


    Though as he slept, the world of Allyssa was dealing with the fallout of Mark''s duel with the pale tree calacra. Which could be seen as a visibly enraged and depressed Commander Faro, who was hacking at what was left of Calacra''s corpse with a single-minded ferocity. It was very clear he wasn''t taking the death of a young recruit who he''d just taken under his wing very well.


    Luckily the fort didn''t need its commander, as after the defeat of Calacra, the undead near the fort of Faria were unorganized and had lost a lot of their undead power and so could not interfere with Detrei power as well as they could before. So Detrei duly appeared and brought forth a herd of catacomb smashers to charge into the disorganized honored undead horde, who were swiftly trampled under their hooves.


    Detrei, once assured of the horde''s destruction, instructed the fort''s defenders to send many of their own to go with the catacomb smashers and help relieve other forts under siege that were nearby. Though when Detrei noticed that the fort''s commander was not the one answering her, she asked where he was and was duly pointed to Faro''s as he acted as a mad lumberjack to Calacra''s corpse.


    "Halt, commander, stay you wraith. Why have you decided to vent your anger upon the defeated rather than attend to your duties?" Detrei asked in a stern voice, wondering why one of the leaders of her people''s defense wasn''t doing their job. Faro knelt at her feet for a second, not answering as he visibly got his frustration under control.


    "My goddess, Detrei I took a young warrior under my wing for this battle, and as such he was my responsibility, but sadly he was slain in single combat with this monster that now lays dead at our feet. This warrior''s final act was taking the monster with him when it should have been me who faced the monstrosity." Faro''s said clearly sad that such a young and brave warrior had died before his legend could truly begin.


    "Who was this young warrior that gave his life for the people?" Detrei asked in a gentle voice, trying to find out who it was that had defeated the enemy commander so she could begin to consider how to best honor their sacrifice. It took Faro a moment, but he finally spoke again, his voice thick with an undercurrent of restrained emotion.


    "It was Mark, your holiness, the young warrior who gave his life, who was named Mark." Faro said in a proud voice, though still tinged with an undercurrent of frustration of a man who''d lost someone far too soon. As Faro''s has only started showing the boy the ropes today, he should have never gotten off the walls, much less charged an enemy commander. Faro still couldn''t quite believe he had done it.


    "Ahhh, was this Mark wearing a strange green armor that seemed to pulse while wielding a purple blade with a razor-sharp edge that stayed like that no matter how many times the blade seemed to chip?" Detrei asked, figuring she knew who Faro was talking about. When he nodded, she proceeded to give him the good news.


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    "Do not grieve over him, Commander Faro, for Mark is one of the summoned, and as such, the moment his body was killed, his spirit was returned to his world where his true body lay. You will see him again, no doubt, to lead him across another battlefield. Detrei told Faro in a gentle voice this revelation shocked Faro, but then he remembered Mark''s arrival had been strange, and he had thought he''d been something like that when he''d first arrived, but his apparent death had made him forget that.


    "Thank you, my goddess, Detrei, for telling me this. wonderful news. I will see to my duties and stop my pointlessly bellyaching about someone dying who isn''t even dead!" Faro said with a happy grin, ecstatic now that he knew his temporary apprentice was still alive. Faro quickly jogged back over to his fort, bellowing orders to get the reinforcements that were to be sent out better organized. Detrei smiled at Faro''s renewed spirit, then looked to the chopped-up body of the pale tree commander Calacra. She made a gesture, and it disappeared in a haze of light with Detrei following soon after.


    The following day, in the world of wonders, the mad Mark woke up and immediately proceeded to the bathroom to take care of his basic needs, then his hygiene, before he had himself a swift breakfast. Before he headed to work, he checked his email and saw a message from the game Allyssa. He immediately clicked on it and read through the message and saw whoever was running the game was asking him for permission to use his gameplay footage to turn into promo footage.


    Mark thought on it for a bit and agreed, figuring it would be kind of cool to see himself playing the game, but he did add in the email he sent back that he was wondering when the players would be able to take and create videos as well. After that, he got in his old beat-up car and got on the road to work.


    "Well, Robert, it looks like you have the permission you needed. So the viewing can begin. Simon said in an excited voice because he was interested in using the footage himself, especially while using an artistic license.


    "Don''t jump the gun, Simon. I''m going to have to be very careful with how I use this footage. On the one hand, letting people see the gameplay will generate interest; on the other hand, if the part of the pale tree calacra tearing out someone''s heart isn''t handled well, it''ll drive people away." Robert was very nervous about his little video assignment.


    "Well then, on another note, what about the request to let players create their own videos? Are you going to allow it, Robert?" Simon asked if Robert might not be due to paranoia over bad press, which is a legitimate fear considering all the otherworldly stuff going on with Alyssa. Literally, it wouldn''t take much for people to panic and drop the game.


    "Yeah, I''ll put in the feature right after I''ve put the promo together from the footage we already got. We won''t have to worry about anyone abusing their own footage too much, considering people will be using their videos to make money off streaming websites, and you usually don''t mess with your own revenue." Robert said he was convinced that self-interest would keep people honest for the most part as he began to make the promo.


    "Fair point, Robert. Well, while you''re doing that, I''ll be watching what''s going on in Alyssa. Can''t miss the show, as you know." Simon said with a smirk that came through his usual static radio voice.


    "Alright, just keep me informed of anything big that''s happening with Allyssa." Robert asked while focused on finishing the promo as quickly as possible while keeping the quality of the video the same.


    "Of course, Robert, I wouldn''t leave you out of the show." Simon said as he focused on what was going on with Allyssa to see what would happen next to entertain the fans.

 chapter 18 the show that brought in an audience

    A new promo video began to sweep the internet for a game not many people had heard of, but those that had played it said it was out of this world, literally. As the game seemed to you, it used some state-of-the art technology to send you to a virtual reality as far as anyone could guess.


    Though why the game was doing this no one had any idea. There were no big companies linked to it, and all the governments and big names of the world looked as shocked by its existence as anyone could tell. In fact, a few were so shocked they actually panicked and tried to ban the game in their country, which just boosted sales for the game. Nothing like telling someone not to do something to make them do it.


    Though there were several who thought the game was far too real to be any sort of technology and was an actually real world, they were helping real people. Well, the problem with that was when you live in a world where Eldritch entities either take over your body or give you power, people were having mixed feelings about that hypothesis.


    Though there were more than a few that didn''t really care how the game worked, they just wanted to play it. They were excited to fight the undead with weird vegetable weapons and armor they made. Though they were curious when the dungeon diving expert would come in, as of right now, the game was focused on defending the forts from the undead. So it was more of a tower defense game than a proper dungeon diver.


    Though people weren''t all that concerned as the map for the world had proven to be massive, as players defended multiple forts across small militant empires, that large of a map made them figure that they would unlock dungeons later as they defended the forts from undead.


    So all Robert and Simon could think was that the promo had done its job and brought a lot of interest to Allyssa''s world. As both the creator and the players enjoyed the game, a certain goddess was enjoying her rather important haul from the siege of Faria.


    There Detrei was in a secret room in the heart of one of her churches at the capital of one of her people''s empires. She was slowly cutting up and examining the remains of Calacra below a large statue of Robert in his Atla form. "Ah, so many interesting things in this little tree there are." Soon I can make use of them, and when I do, I''ll be with you, father." Detrei had a beautiful smile on her face as she looked at her statue of her creator, Robert.


    "Mmmmm, but in the meantime I do have to give some reward for getting me this fine specimen." Detrei said as she eyed Calacra''s corpse. She then took one of his taloned branch hands and slowly began to rework the martial. As she had seen Mark do before. When she was finally done, she was holding a staff that was made out of pale wood with a sharpened, taloned hand at its head.


    calacra''s reach-undead staff- weapon type: magic staff- description: a tall wooden staff made out of pale wood with a sharpened taloned hand at its head- special trait: heart grasper- the hand at the head of the staff will reach for the heart of whatever foe of its user it is directed to. It usually does this by stretching and reaching around an opponent''s defenses and then tearing out the opponent''s heart with its sharpened talons.


    Detrei thought the magic staff would make for a fine reward if she said so herself. It would at least stifle any rumors among the players that she was ungrateful or was not a woman of her word. She grasped the staff with light, and it disappeared, only to reappear when Mark returned to Allyssa so he could claim it. With that out of the way, Detrei swiftly returned to Calacra''s corpse to draw something from it that she would need for her future plans.


    As Detrei was plotting what she was going to do with the boons she had gained from Calacra''s corpse, Mark was doing his rounds at the asylum. He was once again talking to one of the mad supers. The one known as the Cut once again, they were watching cheesy action cartoons as the Cut cheered on the hero fighting the Saturday villain of the week.


    It was so surprising to mark so many people kept baying for the Cuts blood, especially since the guy seemed to love the idea of heroes and good being triumphant over evil. They''d probably say that was due to the drugs that made him a child. Mark''s counter to that was that the drugs made him a child, not change his preferences. So the Cut honestly believed in justice and good more than most people from what Mark had seen.


    Eventually, though, Mark had to move on to the rest of his patients. "Have a good one, Cut. Keep cheering on the hero for me, would you? Mark said with a cheerful, upbeat voice, trying to keep Cut happy, who looked back at him and gave him a thumbs up before turning back to the TV to cheer on the hero. Mark still found it a bit depressing that he couldn''t call the Cut by his actual name; instead, he had to call him by his mad title. This was done to prevent retaliation against the families of the mad by vengeful family members of the mad''s rampage when they were under the control of their powers or Eldritch entities.


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    Mark eventually finished his rounds, giving all the other mad supers, like the twins, their medicine and making them comfortable. Then he spent some time with them trying to be happy company for them before he left. Eventually his shift ended, and he had to go. He wished Sharon at the front desk a good day and headed to his beat-up car.


    Mark quickly started it up, and on was on the highway not long after. As Mark made his way down the highway, he began to make small blue shapes hover over the dashboard as practice for his power. He was doing this because the fight in Alyssa at the siege of Faria had shown just how rusty at fighting he had gotten.


    So Mark figured if he wanted to be ready for his next fight when it happened, he should at least practice so that he was once again adept at using his own powers. He spent most of the ride home just making basic shapes in the air, such as pyramids and cubes. Once he was sure he was good at those again, he slowly began to form a chain with a collar at the end.


    Using this chain and collar combo, he had it wrap around the radio and, through careful manipulation, had it turn the radio on. Mark was then surprised to hear a bunch of radio hosts talking about the game Alyssa and how it had increased in popularity, shocking a lot of people considering it had gotten banned in a few countries and how there was some big event coming up soon in the game.


    Mark was surprised to hear that Alyssa had become big enough to get talked about on the radio. As well as the fact that there was some big event about to happen in the game he didn''t know about. Though to be fair, he hadn''t played the game in a couple of days, deciding to not play the game and make sure there were no aftereffects of getting his heart ripped out in-game.


    Though as far as he could tell there weren''t, and if the game was gaining popularity, then there were probably similar incidents, and there weren''t any reported side effects from anyone else, so he should be fine. So once Mark got home, he immediately turned on his computer and began looking up any news on this big event going on in Alyssa.


    As Mark scrolled through the screen, he saw that he and several of the other early players had done enough to turn the undead tide, sieging all of the Detreons forts in Detrei''s favor. Now with so many forts having free manpower, the Detreon were going to try and take back some of the old small mountain forts lost in the early days of this war.


    "Well then I can''t really turn down that kind of excitement, can I?" Mark asked himself with excitement at the prospect of taking back some old undead for the Detreon. Honestly sounded like turning down a chance to be Vanderberg and heading into the lair of Draculara.


    So with his mind made up, Mark quickly clicked onto his download of the fields of Alyssa as he once again took a comfortable position on his gaming chair. Soon his monitor began to glow, and Mark found his mind and soul once again traveling through a tunnel of light to Allyssa.


    "Well, Robert, it looks like you have quite the event planned." Simon said, interest filling his voice as he tried to figure out how Robert had planned out such a major event without telling him or him noticing.


    "I haven''t seen Simon." I haven''t planned anything with this being an actual world that means the players actions have consequences. The only thing I''ve been doing lately is keeping the undead counterattacks from getting out of hand." Robert said in a clearly exhausted voice.


    "Oh well, good to see the players are keeping things interesting for us and shaping the story in ways you didn''t even predict. Though have the undead really been getting out of hand?" Simon asked, his static-filled voice sounding curious somehow.


    "Yes, several of the more intelligent have been panicking at the sudden counteroffensive as well as all the players suddenly showing up. So I''ve had to stop several plagues they''ve created as a counter that would have left Allyssa a dead husk." Robert said a bit of heat in his voice at all the fires he was having to put out.


    "Well, look on the bright side, Robert. Will have a grand show to look forward to a siege on such a scale unseen on Allyssa ever before." Simon said, his voice filled with excitement at the show that was about to start. Robert just raised an eyebrow but turned to the monitors to watch the battle about to unfold before them.

 chapter 19 the journey to Carthax

    Mark found himself once again in Fort Faria, though this time there was no smell of blood and death. Nor was the fort echoing with the pounding of Calacra''s roots as it marched toward them. No, instead the fort was filled with the echoes of hooves as many strange-looking horses and cows wandered the courtyard. The smell of sweaty men and unwashed animals filled the fort. It was better than the undead''s stench but just barely better.


    Mark then was taken out of his sightseeing of the fort''s transformation from bastion against the undead to giant barnyard by loud footsteps coming from behind him. He turned around to see it was Faro. Mark was just about to call out a greeting when he found himself in a headlock between Faro''s thick, trunk-like arms.


    "You bastard! How dare you leave your position without orders!" Faro screamed out, clearly enraged at Mark going rogue at the last battle. He was so loud that few of the nearby soldiers stopped herding the horses and cows for the upcoming conflict to watch Mark be reprimanded. Mark tried to defend himself but found he could barely breathe in Faro''s iron headlock.


    "Running off, not saying a word to anyone! Then getting yourself killed in a one-on-one duel with the enemy commander! You''re supposed to be a brave boy, not insane!" Faro shouted out, clearly surprised, despite being there at what he saw as Mark''s death wish. "Well, don''t you worry, boy; you''ll be following orders this battle. Is that understood? Faro said menace clear in his voice. All Mark could do was nod his head rapidly in agreement while desperately trying to tap out on Faro''s arms. Faro, upon seeing Mark''s clear surrender, let go of him, leaving a gasping Mark on the courtyard floor.


    "Alright then, lad. Good to see you got some sense in you after all. You''ll be riding with me now; get on your steed here, and let''s get going." Faro said, pointing to a gray-colored horse with hardened hide, once again speaking like a jovial giant as he went back to shouting at the rest of his soldiers that the show was over and that they needed to be ready to ride within the next hour.


    Faro''s had commanded it, and so it was done. As Faro''s and Mark''s got on their horses. A breed known as the catacomb smashers, along with the hundred other scythe men from the fort, while 50 got on strange giant red bulls. They all made their way out of the northern gates towards the grassy fields north of Fort Faria.


    What was strange was each man that was riding had two riderless horses next to him, following him in a triangle formation. Upon seeing that none of the riderless horses were tied to the riders in any way, Mark became curious about how the Detreon controlled them so well. So he turned to Commander Faro and asked. "Faro, how are you guys controlling the riderless horses? Shouldn''t they be running off to go eat the grass or something?" Mark said in a clearly confused voice.


    " It''s simple, my dear rookie. Our goddess Detrei isn''t just a goddess of harvest but a goddess of herds as well. Which means she can create the perfect war horses that are loyal and are very obedient to her people." Faro said with pride in his voice at his goddess''s power and skill in creation.


    Mark was a bit shocked at that revelation. That would explain a lot. "What doesn''t that mean? Since the catacomb smashers have horns that are as big as lances, you only need to lead one rider to charge, and the rest will follow you, causing a full cavalry charge with only a single rider?" Mark was shocked that such a thing could be possible. Faro just gave a shit-eating smirk and nodded back a yes.


    This made Mark realize he had to change his earlier estimates of Faro''s forces because if each one of the riderless horses next to a ridden horse was functionally the same, That would mean they were functionally three hundred cavalry, and he wasn''t sure what the fifty Red Bulls were capable of. Mark began to study the strange red bulls, trying to figure out their exact purpose in the upcoming battle, when their status screen popped up.


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    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Winter red bull - tier one- siege beast-plant type- siege plant-trait: berry bird- this bull when laying siege to an enemy position will began to grow berries out of its back and side. These berries will come together into bird shapes before flying off to slam themselves into an enemy position exploding in a small berry blast when they reach their target.- description- a huge red bull twice as tall as any man. It''s fur is a deep violet red with huge pale horns twice as long as a mens leg and threes times as thick. It was created by taking one of the most angry bulls of the plains and combining it with the winter berry bush to create this almagation of the two that now served as both artillery and as a battering ram.</td>


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    So apparently the strange red bulls were mobile artillery and siege engines all in one. So that was good to know, and it seemed that Detrei had been learning a lot from players, apparently to make something like that. Now knowing he could get details on the magical war beast of Detrei, Mark figured he should see what the stats window would say about the catacomb smashers.


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    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Catacomb smashers-tier one- calvary beast-earth type- earth calvary trait- the grounds hoove''s- this horse has had its entired muscles structure hardened to absolute limit then it has had the power of the Allyssa''s very earth pushed into its very being. Giving it stone fur, marble hoofs and a granite horn. All together it is a beast of the earth meant to charge into the enemy and be stopped by nothing as Detrei has decreed.</td>


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    After seeing the info for both of the war beasts in their group, Mark was feeling very confident with whatever they were going to attack. Though that didn''t stop him from wanting to know where they were going. "Hey Faro, where are we headed?" Mark asked his curiosity bursting out of him, trying to figure out where they were taking this strike force too.


    "To Carthax, one of the oldest and largest hill forts in all of Alyssa. It was once the border between multiple nations; now it is a main fortress for the forces of Hargal. If we take it, we will push the undead line back and reclaim lands lost to the Detreon for centuries." Faro said excitement and trepidation filling his voice at the task ahead of them.


    "What, for something like that? Don''t you think we''re a bit short on men to take a fortress that big?" Mark said suddenly becoming very concerned that they didn''t have enough men for the job.


    "Don''t worry, Mark, we will have enough men. Don''t you worry." Faro said with a wide knowing grin on his face, clearly reveling in knowing something Mark didn''t. When Mark waved him to continue, Faro instead kept his silence and just kept riding on his horse. Clearly Faro wasn''t going to ruin the surprise.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    So Faro and Mark continued to ride in silence. Mark stewed in thoughts trying to figure out what Faro''s meant. He would have asked the scythe men that were with them, but sadly, with each man having a few riderless horses between them, it made talking a bit difficult. He''d have to yell to be heard, and he''d rather not scream at the men he was supposed to be fighting with. In fact, the only reason he could talk to Faro was because he was riding directly behind him, and Faro would look over his shoulder so they could talk while looking at each other''s face.


    Luckily for Mark, he was safe from having to try and figure out how they had enough men or were going to get enough for the upcoming siege. Because he began to see the men they were going to need as multiple attack groups, much like their own, they began to come from multiple directions, and they slowly began to come together, forming one army on the march towards the fortress of Carthax.


    The journey took about a week for the army to march across the lands belonging to Detrei and into the ones belonging to minions of Hargal. They had to deal with a few small honored hordes along the way. Along the long march, Mark noticed a few things. Such as their army didn''t seem to have a general as far as Mark could tell, just multiple commanders working in unison for the journey. Though they did have multiple players spread throughout the different strike groups. Each player had their own unique weapons and armor, which made them easy to spot.


    Eventually, at the end of their weeklong journey, the walls of Carthax stood before them. The fortress was on what the Detreon called a giant hill but was actually a small mountain by what would be considered normal standards. The fortress had multiple walls from what Mark could tell and would probably be a tough nut to crack.


    The commanders from the different strike groups that made up the army got together for an impromptu meeting. They quickly decided to attack the southern gate with a combination of catacomb smashers and winter red bulls, figuring they would quickly plow through the gate and the remaining part of the army, the scythe men would kill whatever stragglers remained of the undead''s forces in the fort.


    With a plan made, it was quickly implemented, and soon a horde of war beasts came charging at the southern gate of Carthax. Just as they were about to slam into the gate, a massive hand suddenly swung from the walls of the outer walls of Fort Carthax. The giant skeletal hand sent the leading warbeast of the charge flying. Luckily the commanders were able to call off the charge with horns Mark hadn''t seen on them before as they quickly blew the horns twice, causing the rest of the war beasts to return quickly before they were within reach of the giant skeletal hand.


    Even luckier was we; we didn''t lose the warbeast the giant hand had hit. Well, the Warbeast were out of the fight with the injuries they had sustained. These war beasts were tough enough to survive being sent flying, apparently. Which really showed that Detrei made war beasts to endure. The commanders of the army quickly reconvened to discuss what to do about the giant skeletal hand and if there was just one or if they were at every gate at the fort.


    Mark stared at the skeletal hand, trying to glean any information from it, hoping he could figure out what to do next with any intel he gained. As the stats window finally popped up for the giant skeletal hand, what he saw was not encouraging.


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    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Hands of carthax - tier two- undead wall- undead type- undead construct-trait: bone reconstruction-this undead construct may rearrange any of its material to build additional anti siege weaponry to defend itself with.- description- long ago the fort of Carthax had only two walls but over years of war more and more undead brought material for undead creation to the fort. They filled the fort to the brim with their supplies until it began to flood outside the fort. One day a powerfull undead took all the excess material that had flooded outside and brought it together to form a massive undead wall that surroundes Carthax.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    With this horrifying revelation of the outermost wall''s true nature, Mark began to look closer at the wall. He began to see all the loose flesh and muscles that were in between the bones that made up the wall that he hadn''t really seen before. Just as his stomach was becoming queasy from the loose body parts he was seeing that were both Detreon and animal parts melded into a wall. He saw an eyeball jammed in between what he guessed was some type of animal meat that proceeded to stare directly at him. So Mark, being the brave, experienced hero he was, promptly puked from disgust.


    As Mark began to puke, which was surprising considering he hadn''t eaten anything yet in this world. So what was he even throwing up? The upper part of the walls of Carthax reshaped itself, and soon enough there were several catapults made out of bone and flesh flinging boulders at them.


    The army acted quickly, and once again the commanders blew their horns in specific bursts to give orders as all the sythe men mounted and both they and the catacomb smasher tried to get out of the range of the catapults. The winter red bulls, while trying to stay mobile, began to grow their berry bushes in the shape of nests on their backs.


    Soon enough, Mark watched in a mix of astonishment and amazement as birds about the size of a human fist that were entirely made out of berries somehow began to fly up to the walls and exploded in a shower of berry juice. So Mark watched, trying not to get crushed by a boulder, while the winter red bulls and the wall of Carthax traded fire, signifying that the siege had truly begun.


    "Well, Robert I gotta say, Hargal''s boys do make some rather interesting toys. I know my viewers agree; in fact, I''ve gotten some wonderful letters with donations telling me how they were inspired for their own work. That''s always great to hear, you know." Simon said, clearly moved, that the show had inspired people.


    "Yeah, Simon, it''s great!" Robert said with heavy sarcasm, as he was now very concerned that his game world of Allyssa had just inspired some lich or something. Which he really hoped wasn''t true, as he would rather not be indirectly responsible for destroying worlds by some undead abomination whose creation his game had inspired.


    "Ah, turn that frown upside down, Robert. Your game is doing great, and you got a great seat to a great battle coming up soon. You also got the expansion of your game to look forward to." Simon said with an upbeat attitude, trying to cheer up Robert.


    "What expansion?" Robert asked confused when he remembered that once a game world reached a certain player count, they expanded, and with this big battle coming up, it''ll probably draw in more people with the free public. So once it''s over, the world of Allyssa will expand, which he hadn''t planned out yet. "Shit," Robert said in a deadpan voice.


    "Ahhh, it snuck up on you, did it? Well, I would get to working on it if I were you." Simon said giving Robert a polite warning, but it wasn''t necessary as he was already working on the plans for how the world of Allyssa should expand. "Don''t you worry; I''ll tell you when something important is about to happen." Simon said in a chipper yet static-filled voice as you could feel his attention go back to the workshop''s many TV screens following what was going on with the siege of Carthax.

 chapter 20 What to do at Carthaxs gate?

    For a while, Faro just watched with the rest of his men while the winter red bulls traded constant fire with the hands of Carthax. The two sides filling the air with boulders and exploding berry birds. Faro''s could see that the winter red bulls were avoiding being hit by constantly moving, and the fact that there were only two hundred and fifty meant that they could be spread out in front of Carthax''s walls.


    Making themselves a hard target as they laid down wave after wave of berry birds at the walls. Several of which were intercepted by the boulders that were sent to crush the winter red bulls, though the intercepts seemed to be a mistake from what Faro''s could tell, ironically enough. Though eventually Faro''s had to turn away from the current battle and go and meet with the other commanders to discuss what to do now that Carthax had shown just how powerful their first line of defense actually was.


    Faro, while on his catacomb smasher, made his way over at an even pace to the gathering where four other men were waiting for him. Once he joined them, they were now a group of five on horseback. The ones expected to give orders to the catacomb smashers, scythe men, and players while the winter red bulls engaged the enemy. How they were going to get such forces to fight effectively against an undead wall, they weren''t really sure. They had expected to be able to bust through one of the forts gates with a combo of winter red bulls and catacomb smashers charging through together.


    To have their plans foiled right out of the gate was unexpected, especially so literally, though they couldn''t have expected that Hargal''s forces would have turned an entire wall into an undead construct. "So what do we do now?" Faro asked the obvious, figuring they should get the ball rolling while the winter Red Bulls were still in a stalemate with the hands of Carthax.


    For a moment no one said anything as they all looked to each other to see who would start with their plan on how to take down the hands of Carthax. None in the circle of commanders were forthcoming with such a plan. Though this didn''t really surprise Faro as he started to look at each man in their little circle of command, starting with his left, where an arrogant young commander by the name of Nero sat.


    Nero was known to be a skilled strategist, but he, like all the commanders gathered, had only fought defensive siege battles or offensives in the grasslands. No commander among the Detreon had ever laid siege to a fortress of Hargal, much less one whose outer walls were one giant undead. So it wasn''t a surprise they were all stomped with the current situation.


    The man next in the circle to the left of Nero was another man called Greco. He was a thin man who looked like he would be carried away by a small breeze, but despite his rather thin stature, he was a lethal and eager commander. Greco was well known for leading his men outside of his fort in a cavalry charge against the undead long before they could encircle his fort.


    The two men looked stumped on how to start the next part of the siege, though for different reasons. Nero was stumped because he had no experience to draw on, and he didn''t have any special maneuvers he could make against a giant undead wall besides what we''d already done by having the winter red bulls engage it. Greco was stomped because he couldn''t charge at the gates again. Well, he could, but he wouldn''t get anywhere just thrown by giant skeletal hands again.


    So Faro''s started looking right to see if the other two in the circle had come up with any ideas and just hadn''t said anything yet. The man to his immediate right was Retero. Retero was a big guy with an always dark look on his face. He is a hard man known for working his men harshly, always keeping them on the brink of cracking. His methods, though harsh, made his men the most disciplined force in the entire army.


    The man to the right of Retero and the final man in this little meeting of the minds of theirs was Tako. Tako was a man of average height for a Detreon. Which went a ways to hide his ferocity from anyone who didn''t know him. But usually his ferocity was revealed pretty quickly once you looked into his eyes and saw the burning hatred for all of Hargal''s creations.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    The rumor going around was that Tako was a descent from one of the few survivors of Hargal''s early victories. Those early victories that led to the wholesale destruction of whole farming kingdoms. Though now they lived in an age of military empires. Faro looked at the two men, hoping maybe they had an idea, but no luck on that front, as they were just as stumped as the rest of them.


    Retero''s disciplined force could march up to the wall easily enough, but what to do once they got there would still be a problem. Tako''s usually raw hatred for the undead that spread throughout his men, causing a berserk ferocity, wouldn''t work because they''d probably be crushed to death by boulder fire long before they could reach the hands of Carthax. So they were left at an impasse as none of the commanders usual tricks would work, and they didn''t have any new ones to use.


    Well, that wasn''t entirely true, Faro thought. There was one new trick the goddess had bestowed upon them. They were just hesitant to use it this early in the siege, but sadly Faro''s didn''t see any other way. "We''re going to have to use the siege seeds that our goddess, Detrei, gave us. if we''re going to beat the hands of Carthax." Faro said surprising everyone at the meeting. They all looked at each other, none happy about it, but nodded their agreement, knowing if they were to move forward, it must be done, as it was their only option.


    So each commander went to their respective part of the army and then proceeded to put their hand into the air where a large seed would suddenly appear in their hand before the seed would then disappear in a flash of light and a siege weapon of Detrei would appear before each commander that varied wildly from one to the next.


    The army looked at each in collective awe at each of the awesome plant-based war machines. They took in the collective details of each war machine that was sitting before a respective commander. Sitting before Greco stood a giant flower with a yellow center and giant pink petals spreading from around it. At its base was a series of roots to allow the machine to move into a safe launch position.


    Sitting before Nero was a giant tree with giant branches zigzagging at the top of it, forming a strange hexagonal shape with multiple needle-like leaves the size of a human arm sticking off the branches. At its base were two wooden wheels, and from the look on Nero''s face, he already had a few ideas on how to use his new toy.


    Now looking to Tako, who was staring at his siege weapon with a dark, malicious smile. The weapon he was looking at was another giant tree, though this time it had large leaf stalks with large golden peas being visible in each stalk. Many in the army were very curious what the pretty tree with golden stalks could do to make the viscous Tako happy.


    Moving from Tako to Retero, his weapon was a small wall of flowers combined together. It was a beautiful wall of golden flowers, though why the goddess Detrei had decided to give the strict Retero a flower wall for his siege weapon, no one was quite sure. Though Retero himself didn''t seem bothered, he just started getting his men ready to form up behind the flower wall and charge the hands of Carthax from the looks of it.


    The final weapon belonging to the greatest warrior of the army, Faro, was perhaps the strangest of the lot, as it was just one giant shrub tree. That was it, and no one in the army was quite sure what Faro was supposed to do with it, but to be fair, that was with all the strange plant siege weapons. As only the commanders were told by Detrei as when their weapons were taking shape, Detrei would whisper into each of their ears and tell them what their war machines did. Now the commanders made ready, each getting their war machine into position to break the hands of Carthax.


    The red winter bulls seemed to be quite happy at this move by the army. As they were growing tired of the constant back and forth that had been going on most of the day with the hands of Carthax while the commanders made up their minds on what to do next. So the winter Red Bulls stopped their constant attack at the walls by their use of their berry birds and retreated to their original divisions to make the push together with the rest of the army.


    Mark and the other players watched in shock as the commanders began to push their siege weapons against the hands of Carthax. As they watched in stunned silence at what the commanders were going to unleash on the hands of Carthax, the rest of their respective divisions were advancing. So once the players took notice of this, they began to rush to join the army in the push against Carthax.


    "It would seem, my dear Robert, that your little Detrei has just as many tricks as Hargal does." Simon said with a hint of amusement in his static-filled voice as he watched through the monitors the chaos and destruction being unleashed by both sides during this siege.


    "Yes, she does." Robert simply stated that he was not paying all that much attention to the battle as he was making sure the expansions that were soon to happen were planned out properly. From the looks of them, the planned-out expansions looked like they would bring a boost in ratings, Simon thought.


    "Well, it''s a good thing your kids are so creative. It keeps this war interesting as they go back and forth in their war." Simon said to Robert, who just simply nodded, still not paying all that much attention to the conversation. "Well, alright, Robert, I''ll leave you to your work as we have a siege to get back to, don''t we, viewers?" Simon said with a mischievous smirk somehow coming through his static-filled voice as he refocused on the siege of Carthax.

 chapter 21 the push of five

    The players watched from the back line, trying to catch up with the rest of the army that was either getting in range with their siege weapons or making a push against the walls. Even Mark, who had been with Faro, was trying to catch up as he, like the other players, had dismounted, trying to get a better look at the siege weapons, only to get left behind when the army suddenly moved in unison without them.


    As the players were all making a mad dash to catch up, they watched as the army split up into the original five divisions to attack the wall with their new weapons from five different directions: West, Southwest, South, Southeast, and finally East. They saw Greco get his siege weapon first, allowing them to see what it actually did as the stats appeared before each player.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(0, 128, 0, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Hollack Flower Pad- siege weapon- siege weapon type: flight launch pad- description: a giant flower with a yellow center and giant pink petals spreading from around it. At its base was a series of roots to allow it to move - special trait- petal glider: this weapon will create from its giant petals a glider in the shape of a butterfly that can be ridden into battle by anyone that is standing atop the pad when the glider forms as well as being loyal to the commander in charge of the weapon. The glider comes equipped with special pollen that forms into a humming bird and launches itself into the undead going into the lungs or nostrils of the undead before exploding.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Finally he can do what he was good at: riding out and destroying all those who dared threaten the Detreon beneath his hooves. Granted, this time he was in the air and not on the ground with his usual noble steed. So he couldn''t crush them underfoot, but the new petal gliders he and his men had been gifted came with a rather deadly delivery that still came from above. So Greco thought that the thought was still valid.


    Greco lead his men in a charge from the west as one by one his men had gained the power of flight with their petal gliders gifted by his hollack flower pad. For a time they merely waited, sitting atop their strange new mounts as they flapped like butterflies to gain altitude, and once Greco and his men had enough height over the walls, they began their runs, charging as they would have on their steeds towards the hands of Carthax, unleashing hundreds of humming pollen missiles that went straight for any gaps in the fleshy parts of walls to cause as much damage as possible.


    Greco was a bit at odds with this new method of attack as he was charging at the enemy as he should. For Greco had always seen himself as a cavalry commander, but he was disappointed that he could not feel his enemies being crushed underfoot nor engage any worthy opponent with his scythe as was the honorable thing to do. Though Greco knew his duty and brought his men around for another charge that those who were more familiar with air combat would call a strafing run.


    To the south, a man watched the hands of Carthax as it reacted to Greco''s strafing by pulling more flesh to the front of its structure to try and defend itself better from the sudden onslaught, especially as the winter red bulls added their berry birds to the mix of fire. Once Nero was done observing the hands of Carthax, he began to call out to his war machine where it should strike.


    Soon enough, Nero had gathered quite the audience of players who weren''t really sure what to do with themselves as the commanders hadn''t given them orders, so they began to wander the back lines, watching the siege weapons as they began to get to work. So now that Nero''s weapon was getting ready to fire, the eyes of the players were soon on it, and soon its stats were revealed.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(0, 128, 0, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Hemlock needle launcher-siege weapon- siege weapon type: missile launcher- description:a giant tree with giant branches zigzagging at the top of it forming a strange hexagonal shape with multiple needle like leaves the size of a human arm stick off the branches. At its base were two wooden wheels- special trait- hemlock missle: the tree launches a giant leaf missle that takes the shape of one giant root as the main body with needle like leaves sticking out to either side. Once this missle lands it''ll shoot out its needle like leaves and release a deadly gas that stabbed any with a thousand of microscopic needles.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Soon under Nero''s direction, a barrage of hemlock missiles was flying with pinpoint accuracy to certain points in the wall that had become vulnerable as the hands of Carthax shifted material within itself to defend itself. This allowed the hemlock missiles to penetrate deeply and for the gas they held to begin to tear into the wall. Soon enough, small gaps in the upper part of the wall were opened up from the combined barrage of Nero and Greco as they tore into the wall with their combined firepower. With help from the winter red bulls.


    Just as planned, Nero thought, watching his hemlock missiles tear into the structural weak points that were starting to show. Always aim for your opponent''s weaknesses, and if he doesn''t have one, make it. This had been Nero''s war philosophy, and he had never led him astray. So he kept in his mind as he continued to call out targets for his hemlock missile launcher.


    Though the gaps Nero was using were only in the upper parts of the wall. The wall, sadly for Detreon''s army, still held at the base, preventing troops from simply charging through a giant hole in the wall. Though that might change as the players watched Retero make his move against the wall from the Southwest.


    He and his man were slowly advancing with their strange flower wall in front of them, protecting them from the hands of Carthax defenses, as it seemed to be panicking as it ramped up the number of boulders it threw as well as began to grow tentacles made of loose flesh to try and intercept all the incoming fire it was taking.


    A few players were drawn to Retero''s disciplined march towards the wall and began to scan the commander''s weapon. Wondering why he was pushing it up with him towards the wall.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(0, 128, 0, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Oriole wall - siege weapon- siege weapon type: mobile wall- description: It is a small wooden wall slightly taller than a Detreon with wooden wheels and interlocking golden flower at its front- special trait- fool''s nectar: this wall''s series of interlock flowers are made out of sturdy material providing added protection to its base wall. the interlocking flowers also shoot a golden nectar that causes any that hit by it to bloat up and explode into a shower of fresh golden flowers.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The men are handling the short march well, Retero thought as he kept a careful eye on his men as they made their move on the wall, making sure that the men were keeping together as they kept moving the Oriole wall towards the hands of Carthax. Eventually they reached the right distance, and soon the oriole wallflower began to launch the fool''s nectar, causing parts of the wall to bloat up and explode into a shower of fresh flowers.


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    "Hmmm," Retero said as he continued to monitor his men, making sure they were handing the kickback that happened when the flowers shot the nectar at maximum range as well as the stream of medium rocks being thrown at them as it seemed the fortress lost its bigger boulders or the wall was focusing them elsewhere. He was also monitoring the damage they were doing to the wall with the fool''s nectar. He began to think, as they seemed to be making decent progress, about how he was going to have to start training his men in how to incorporate the Oriole wall into their formations once this siege is finally over.


    As Retero and his men were making their march to the hands of Carthax. Commander Tako''s siege weapon was glowing, causing the players nearby to turn to it and see what it would do as the stats window for it appeared before them.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(0, 128, 0, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">The Golden Cloud - siege weapon- siege weapon type: orbital canon- description: it was a giant tree that has large golden leaf stalks branching out from it with large golden peas in all the stalks- special trait- pea acid strike: the stalks on the tree can aim upward and fire the pea inside when it reaches a certain height it will explode into a golden acid shower burning through anything below it made of flesh.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Tako, upon seeing that the golden cloud was ready, showed his usual dark, malicious smile and aimed his war machine at the eastern part of the wall, as that was what was clearly in front of him. He then watched with a malicious laugh breaking out from him and spreading through his men as they watched part of the wall dissolve from the golden acid.


    "That''s right, you bastards, melt into nothing like you deserve." Tako had his vindictive face on full display for all to see as his division formed a protective circle to make sure no one interfered with the golden cloud firing. Though many of the players near them had been disturbed by Tako, not that he cared.


    So thoroughly disturbed by Tako, the nearby players, still with no orders and not wanting to get in the way of the divisions as they performed their maneuvers, turned to Faro as his weapon began to move. The weapon''s states become clear to them as they focused on it.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(0, 128, 0, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Shrub beast- siege weapon- siege weapon type: batting ram- description: a narrow shrub tree that is huge and walks in a series of small roots that moved slowly - special trait- shrub hydra : once the siege weapon has set itself into the ground it will began to grow dozen of snake heads that will immediately attack the nearest enemy position. Any head that is destroyed will grow back if it destroyed so long as it''s based remains.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The players watched in surprise at Faro''s weapon as they read just how dangerous it was, and to prove this, the shrub beast planted itself and proceeded to activate shrub Hydra. Soon enough the tree-like shrub grew dozens of huge plants-based serpents that proceeded to slam into the hands of Carthax.


    The hands of Carthax responded immediately to this new threat as it grew dozens of wormlike creatures made out of skin and teeth to fight off Faro''s shrub beast that was tearing into it from the southeast.


    "Is that it? That''s all you got? You damn abomination, you''re on your last legs, aren''t you? Won''t be long before you collapse and we push on through to the next part, ain''t that right, lads? Faro shouted out, getting his men riled up, and from what the players had seen, he was right. The walls were pulling everything it had to defend itself from five different directions, and it had no reinforcements from further in. It looked like soon enough the damage would be too much, and the hands of Carthax would collapse in on themselves.


    "Well, Robert, it looks like your little girl''s presents have put her army on the winning team." Simon said with a static-filled voice as he watched a powerful undead get demolished from Robert''s workshop monitors.


    "What wait!?" Robert startled out wondering what Simon was on about when he looked to the monitor and away from the work on the expansion. He saw an army of Detreon tearing away at a powerful undead construct by the name of the hands of Carthax with several siege weapons designed by Detrei. This surprised Robert, but he supposed with so many players doing what they wanted when it came to making plant-based weaponry, she had easy access to inspiration.


    "Yes, Robert, it looks like your darling Detrei caused quite the upset with those toys of hers." Simon said with his usual excited, static-filled voice, no doubt happy about the ratings that having such a battle would get for his program.


    "Yes, I guess she has. Though I don''t think she thought about the problem with the army itself." Robert said, noticing a problem as he took a closer look at the battlefield from the monitor.


    Simon was confused about what he was talking about, looking at what Robert had focused the monitor on and then coming to the same realization. "Oh, it looks like there''s going to be a huge upset in a minute." Simon said he was excited because upsets were usually good for ratings.


    "Yes, it looks like there is; I just hope it isn''t too bad for everybody involved." Robert said he was still not quite happy that his creations were getting better at killing each other. Simon noticed Roberts''s unhappy look and could guess his thoughts on the matter.


    "Well, Robert, it looks like everything is in hand for right now. How about you get back to laying the final touches on those expansions, and I''ll watch the battle and tell you about any upsets, alright?" Simon said in a static voice. Robert merely nodded and went back to what he was doing while Simon went back to the monitor. "Well, let''s see if the upset really will occur in the eleventh hour, shall we, folks?" Simon said, Excited static filling the room as he watched the battle continue to unfold on the monitor.

 chapter 22 The failure of five

    The army of the five divisions was laying waste to the hands of Carthax as the wall desperately tried to hold itself together while trying to push back the enemy army''s advance. Sadly for the hands of Carthax, this was an effectively impossible task, as it had used up most of its ammunition of stones to try and crush the constantly moving winter red bulls that were attacking it with berry birds, and now with the five siege engines digging into it with constant fire, it had finally used up the last of its ammunition trying to crush the siege weapons and failing to do so.


    Now the hands of Carthax''s only methods of defending itself were its worms made of skin and teeth and its tentacles that were made out of flesh and fur. It had reabsorbed its catapults, using the material to try and repair as much of its damaged sections as it could. Though even with the fresh repairs, the still constant fire made it clear the hands of Carthax were on borrowed time. Not that it cared about its continued existence, as it was an undead construct; as such, it had no concept of the fear of death, though it did have the concept of failure, which it was trying to avoid at all costs.


    The army of Detrei could almost taste the first victory of the siege of Carthax as the hands of Carthax were about to fall. That''s when tragedy struck and a major truth of war was revealed to the Detreons as they found out why an army had a general instead of a council of commanders. As one of the duties of a general was to make sure the different forces of an army didn''t get in each other''s way.


    The tragedy began with the many heads of beast shrub being blinded by friendly fire from Tako''s golden cloud as Tako had lost himself to his sadistic urges, trying to inflict as much pain and damage as possible on the hands of Carthax as he could. He hadn''t noticed how close his acid fire was getting to Faro''s shrub beast. So the shrub beast was blinded by accidental bombardment and was unable to heal while the acid was still burning into its face and was now charging in random directions in a pained blind fury.


    Faro was unable to regain control of his siege weapon no matter how much he screamed and throttled in roots trying to get its attention. As the poor shrub beast was in far too much pain from the constant acid burn to pay attention to anything else. So the beast went wild and began slamming into everything within reach of its many serpent heads without thought of whether it was hitting enemies or allies.


    Eventually, the shrub beast rampage reached Retero and his men, who were trying to maintain their formation despite the constant strikes from the longest flesh tentacles of the hands of Carthax. So focused was Retero''s division on the wall and its attempts to stop their constant attack of fools nectar that they didn''t notice several of the shrub beasts heads blindly charging at them until they were sent flying.


    As even Retero himself, along with whole sections of his division, were sent flying, flipping over and over before they finally stopped and were left lying flat, their only sign of life their groans of pain. Retero and his men were only alive thanks to the Oriole wall absorbing most of the impact, though it had caused the Oriole wall to fall down. Which meant the last barrage of fools nectar that Retero fired ended up going into the sky instead of at the wall.


    This only added to the disaster that had been unfolding as this latest barrage of fools nectar hit the petal gliders as they were making another run at the hands of Carthax. They were in no way ready for the sudden friendly fire that was sent their way, and so most were shot down, including their commander, Greco, as they suddenly found parts of their pedal gliders exploding into glowing golden flowers.


    The fliers under Greco lost all control, and as if guided by Hargal himself, they divided into two groups that crash-landed into Nero and Tako''s forces separately, doing massive damage. As many in both Nero and Tako''s forces were trying to figure out where Greco''s forces would crash land, only to find out too late it would be among them. Soon enough both divisions found themselves being driven into the ground by Greco''s out-of-control petal gliders.


    As those three divisions were taking each other out in one massive accident, Faro''s had decided to do the one thing he probably should have done earlier but didn''t. This was because you usually weren''t supposed to decapitate your pets, much less your most powerful war beast, but that''s exactly what Faro did. He quickly chopped into the base of the neck where all the serpent heads had sprouted from and quickly cut them down with his strength as well as his skill with a scythe.


    Soon enough after the acid-covered heads had been cut off, the shrub beast grew new ones in its shrub hydra mode. Though by this point the damage had already been done as the players and animals that made up the still-standing army looked at the four shattered divisions in shock. Somehow both beast and man were united in their shock at such a colossal disaster.


    Faro''s thought was not in shock; he was rallying his men as he realized the danger. As he knew with the commanders of the other divisions down along with most of their men, the army now found itself not only not on the verge of its first victory but incredibly vulnerable to counterattack from the hands of Carthax.


    "Players to the front defend the downed divisions. The rest of you help the Catacomb Smashers evacuate the injured to the back. Well, you winter red bulls press the attack." Faro shouted out so his orders could be heard across the battlefield, making sure the army righted itself as quickly as possible before the hands of Carthax made their move.


    Luckily for Faro''s, the winter red bulls and Catacomb Smasher obeyed without hesitation, as they always would, and the players were too shocked at the change of situation to really think about questioning his orders as they ran to be in front of the defeated divisions in small gaggles of mismatched groups. Quickly Faro''s division had split into four groups as they made their way over to the downed men and put them two at a time to the back of a catacomb smasher, who would then quickly run a safe distance away from the reach of the hands of Carthax.


    Though with most of the force now incapacitated, the army was no longer able to attack as much the wall as before. So the hands of Carthax were able to pull more from damaged sections that weren''t currently under attack to defend from ones that were putting the winter red bulls in a bad spot as the only active force attacking the hands of Carthax. Well, Faro''s kept his shrub beast, the last active siege weapon, in reserve in case the walls tried something.


    As it turns out, he was right to do so. Soon enough, the giant skeletal hands that had tossed aside the earlier charge from the catacomb smashers and winter red bulls were now coming off the wall and were now charging towards where the broken divisions were being evacuated. Each downed division was getting two giant hands heading straight for them at rapid speed.


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    The catacomb smasher moving the wounded was unable to countercharge with their wounded cargo on their backs. Even those Catacomb smashers not moving wounded were tasked with defending the wounded so they could not engage in case a threat came from another direction, leaving the wounded vulnerable while they were changing the hands.


    So the players with their strange mismatched armor and weapons that were made from different plant seeds would have to hold off the giant skeletal hands charging their way towards them. As the different player groups tried to get into some type of loose formation to better handle the charge of the skeletal hands. Mark found himself at the head of one such loose formation. He took in the strange giant hand that was headed straight for them and began getting its stats as he prepared for its charge.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(128, 0, 128, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Finger tank- undead construct- construct type: tank- description: coming from the hands of Carthax this giant skeletal hand looks like a giant sized human hand just stripped of all its flesh and muscles it tends to move by using its finger''s to pierce the ground and pull itself forward - special trait- finger piercer: once the finger tank has reached an enemy position after being send out by the hands of Carthax it can sharpen one of its fingers to stab a particular armored target and pierce it in a single blow.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    "Well, I guess it''s time for another suicidal duel. Hopefully Faro won''t get on me for this one since he technically ordered it this time." Mark muttered to himself as he bared Foxe''s teeth and charged at one of the two finger tanks charging his group, hoping to take it down by himself and let the others take the other one with their numbers, not really knowing what their armor and weapons did. Since each player''s weapon and armor were unique to them, considering how they were made in the first place.


    As Mark tried to close the distance, his hopes were dashed when the finger tank bore down on him instead. The finger tank quickly went for a killing blow, bringing its pointer finger down to try and pierce Mark dead center in his chest. Mark, not waiting to see if his armor green heart could really be his new heart, managed to dodge out of the way. He brought Fox''s teeth around, swinging it to the side, and with its ability to sharpen grain, it was able to slice through the finger tank''s thumb with ease, causing it to lean on its pinkie for stability.


    Though Mark quickly regretted this action as it was now unbalanced and couldn''t move forward, so the finger tank well remaining on it pinky brought its other three fingers to bear against Mark. Who quickly found himself bobbing and weaving, trying not to be pierced by the three giant bone fingers that were more like bone spears.


    Eventually, after Mark had gained several deep gashes from the finger tank, he was finally able to pull himself back and cause the finger tank to overreach with its piercing fingers. This allowed Mark to once again, with a sweep of Foxe''s teeth, take off the fingers from the finger tank, though instead of one like last time, it was three, and with its pinkie now pinned under it. Mark''s opponent, the finger tank, was crippled and put out of the fight.


    "Well, would you look at that? I''d fight in a duel and not die by the end of it. Won''t Faro be proud?" Mark said in a slight, gasping wheeze as he tried to catch his breath. If you asked Mark how long that fight with the finger tank had gone on, he''d tell you over an hour, but in reality it had only been a few minutes. Though that''s how battles usually worked, what felt like hours was usually only a few minutes; he was starting to remember that.


    Mark looked around and saw the other players were watching him as they had ganged up on the other tanks and quickly overwhelmed them. Which meant after they had smashed the other finger tanks, they simply enjoyed Mark''s duel as he bobbed and weaved around its blows before cutting it down.


    As Mark was taking in the fact he''d made himself effectively entertainment for the rest of the players with his duel, he began to notice Faro looking at him. Mark began to realize taking on one of the finger tanks one-on-one probably wasn''t what he had in mind. He also began to realize that his excuse that Faro hadn''t said not to have a one-on-one duel to defend the downed divisions might not work, and he might be looking forward to punishment later.


    Likely for Mark, though, Faro had bigger fish to fry, as he needed to press his advantage with the hands of Carthax sending out its literal hands, and losing them, the gates were now vulnerable, and with most of the army out of action, he needed to press the advantage before enemy reinforcements came and pinned them against the walls.


    "Shrub beast, tear down that gate! All players follow behind me." Faro commanded in a bellowing voice as he began to charge behind the snake heads of his siege weapon, leaving behind his division to protect the wounded along with the catacomb smashers. While the red winter bulls rest and build back up their stores of nutrients to full, then they will lay siege with their berry birds again. So Faro''s total combined forces were himself and all the players following him towards the gate.


    Which was swiftly brought down by the combined effort of all the hydra heads of the shrub beast. This was easy for the shrub beast, considering the hands of Carthax had spent all it had at this point. So Faro and the players went charging into the breach. While the shrub beast stayed where it was as a rear guard.


    "While Robert, it looks like there were several upsets in that little drama down at Carthax." Simon said, excitement filling his static voice, making it a bit hard to understand. Though Robert couldn''t blame Simon for figuring all this out, the upset would keep people on the edge of their chairs, which is good for ratings. Which always makes for a happy and excited Simon in Robert''s short experience.


    Robert had been watching the battle as Simon had gotten his attention once the finger tanks had been brought out. This was an unexpected upset, which Simon said he would tell him about. Luckily, Robert was already making decent progress on the expansion, so he wasn''t as worried about his progress as before. "Yes, it was a bit of a back and forth. Luckily for us, they''re on to the next part of the siege, so we won''t have to worry too much about there being too many more upsets." Robert said in a normal voice, not as depressed as he was before, as he was able to process the battle as work rather than as a battle between his children''s creation.


    "Well, now we can have a few more upsets to keep it interesting." Simon said there was a spark of hope in his voice at the thought of more upsets to boost ratings. Robert just rolled his eyes and focused back on the monitor. "Well then, I guess I got your opinion. Well, it''s time to go back to the show anyway." Simon said as he too focused back on the monitor.

 chapter 23 the moats of blood and bridges of skulls

    Faro was leading the players in a charge through the downed gate, a huge roar coming through his throat. When he suddenly stopped and stared at the scene before him. As he and the rest of his mercenary band of players took in what was behind the wall that had been the hands of Carthax.


    Which was a sight of horror, which was saying something, considering the hands of Carthax was effectively a mishmash of thousands of bodies crammed together into a wall. So to see that there were still things just as horrifying waiting for them in this fortress dedicated to Hargal disturbed Faro and the players greatly. As there was probably some other horror after the current one they were gawking at waiting for them deeper in.


    What exactly were Faro and the players staring at in horror? It was a series of moats separated with small strips of ash land in between them. Each moat was made up of strange, darkish red blood, which had strange, human-like faces constantly forming and disappearing in its murky surface. The strange foreboding moats had bridges made out of the skulls of the Detreon people and their beasts. The bridges were spread out periodically across the different moats, giving Faro and his men a rather difficult crossing as there wasn''t a straight path across the moats.


    Faro shaking off the shock of the disturbing image that the interior between the hands of Carthax and its second wall had begun to give out orders to his forces. "Alright boys, I don''t like the look of the moats or the bridges. So let''s double time it across them. No march lads!" Faro shouted out as he gave his small force of players a once-over before charging ahead and leading them all across the nearest bridge.


    Faro was hoping to lead his small force quickly to the second inner wall without incident. Sadly, his hopes were dashed as from under the bridge came several tentacles slamming into Faro''s force from both sides of the bridge. "Well, Faro, it looks like our new friends here disagree with your plan." Mark said, trying to make light of the situation, finding that all the recent combat had gotten him back into his old hero habits again. Such as making light of the situation so that those around him would be better at ease.


    The players were holding well, though several had fallen to the initial surprise assault. Luckily, from the looks of it, they weren''t dead, just paralyzed from what little the other players could make out of them. Though the players were too busy to check as they were engaged with tentacles trying not to be stabbed by the barbs at the end of the tentacles. As they engaged in a fierce struggle, they began to get the stats of the creature the tentacles were attached to as they continued to hold them off.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(128, 0, 128, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Pillar anemone- tier two- undead type- undead constuct- Trait: -skull bridger - this undead is able to add on skulls to a bridge making the bridge larger and tougher and it can take those skulls off a bridge to add to it''s tentacles giving extra range of vision and a new angle of attack - description- a pale pillar of flesh that is the main support for the bridge constantly throbbing as if it''s part of a beating heart. It has hundreds of white leaf like tentacles sprouting out it''s side all of them with barbs at the end.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The players began to panic as they saw the creature''s ability, Skull Bridger, and they began to get an inkling of what might happen next. Their suspicions were proven correct as dozens of tentacles shot up from the bridge, all now sporting skulls atop their barbs to either ram into Faro''s force with the hardened skulls or bite down on them with their new sets of skeletal teeth.


    So now the players found themselves not only having to deal with giant barbed tentacles coming at them from the sides; they now also had to deal with ones with skulls coming from above and leaving gaps in the bridge that they have to be wary of lest they fell into the rather suspicious blood moat. Faro, taking in their situation, decided they needed to get a move on or they would get bogged down on a bridge that would fall apart as the beast below them tore it apart for fresh skulls to kill them with.


    "Alright lads, looks like we''re making a run for the end of this mad course real quick-like! So keep moving forward; don''t get stuck fighting these tentacle things; just slash at any in your way as you move forward!" Faro shouted out to his small force of players before he began to make great sweeps with his scythe, cutting down several tentacles with each swing as he charged forward, trying to create a path forward for the players to follow.


    The players, hearing his orders and agreeing with his reasoning, quickly followed suit as they swung their weapons at the tentacles, trying to stop them with maces made of broccoli, swords of pineapple, and staffs of corn, which were only a few of the many different plant-based weapons on display as they made their mad dash through several bridges, each one having a pillar anemone as its main support pillar, which meant the players were attacked every step they took as they made their way across several bridges of skulls over moats of blackish red blood.


    "Come on, guys, we can make it¡ªjust one step in front of the other!" Mark screamed, trying to keep spirits high. He had stayed to the right of Faro, helping him to keep a path clear in front of their force by using his blade''s powerful cutting ability to cut down as many tentacles in their path as possible. Though it wasn''t doing as much as he had hoped.


    Despite Mark''s and Faro''s best efforts to make a path for the rest to follow behind them, keeping the force fast and maneuverable, they had lost several along the way. Either due to the sudden holes that popped up as tentacles took skulls to add to their tentacles, creating holes in the bridges, or just the repeated attempts by the tentacles barbs eventually getting through the players defenses and bringing them down as they began to lose pace with everyone else. So by the time they made it across several skull bridges and onto the other side, they had lost a third of their original number.


    For a few precious moments, Faro''s attack force caught its breath on the other side of the defense line of blood moats. They were safe since the Pillar anemones weren''t able to follow after them since they were a part of the bridges and so couldn''t come out of the moats to pursue them. They could only seethe with rage as Faro''s force was out of range of even the longest of their tentacles.


    Once the attack force had caught its breath, they began to make the march across the final stretch of ground from the last stretch of ash lands after the last moat to the second wall. Now that they were closing in on the second wall, they could see that this was an actual wall unlike the hands of Carthax. It was made out of an entirely gray stone with iron gates. Though the force began to notice that there were strange stone heads scattered along the wall that seemed to be recently added to the wall, they could tell from the fact it didn''t have the same wear and tear that the rest of the wall had from the passage of time.


    The heads were made to look like those found on dragonflies with giant reddish-black crystals for eyes that matched the color of the moats. The attack force was a bit confused by the choice of aesthetic, but they didn''t let it stop them from closing in on the closest iron gate. Though as they closed in, they began to hear a strange buzzing noise like a thousand tiny insect wings buzzing in time with each other.


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    That''s when they heard a slow grinding noise and looked up once again to notice the dragonfly statues had opened up their mouths and swarms of smaller dragonflies had stormed out. The swarm of dragonflies made their way to the moats, and soon the entire swarm disappeared underneath the strange blood moats. This left the force confused as to why summon an insect swarm just to drown that same swarm moments later?


    The attack force soon found their answer. Which was you don''t as an insect rose out of the blood moat, though now as the core of strange slime creatures that were making their way towards Faro''s force. "It looks like we have our round two for this set of wall lads! Get ready for the fight, lads." Faro shouted out as the players under his command all got into battle stances, ready to fight the new incoming slime horde.


    They began to see the stats of these new creatures that were charging at them. Though the screen only appeared for the dragonflies flying around inside them instead of the slime itself for reasons that were soon made apparent once they saw the stats screen.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(128, 0, 128, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Dragonfly swamper- tier one- undead type- undead constuct- Trait: - fluttering slime core - this undead construct is able became the core of any liquid mass turning said liquid into a slime body to kill invaders with. Once the slime body is formed the dragonfly is constantly moving in the liguid body making it hard to hit - description- a pale white dragon fly that is four inches long with five inch wings. It also has flippers for feet and it has ruby eyes.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The players got a few precious moments to read the important intel before they were swarmed with living blood. The blood slimes quickly began trying their tactic of trying to drown them with their own bloody juice. When that didn''t work, they began forming tentacles of an almost solid jello-like substance to beat them to death with instead. Faro, seeing that his force was about to be overwhelmed in pure slime once again, showed off his amazing skill with a scythe by quickly cutting several of the slimes dragonfly swampers, causing them to become nothing more than a bloody puddle with bits of dragonfly swamper mixed in. This confirmed what a few players had suspected from reading the earlier stats text.


    "Alright lads, looks like if we''re going to put down these damn blood sacks, we''re going to have to cut up their little friends that they''re hiding inside." Faro shouted out, his voice booming out across the battlefield as the players tried desperately to hit the dragonfly swampers, but they were constantly moving around in the blood slimes bodies they controlled, and the liquid nature of the blood slimes slowed their strikes as they hit, making it easier for the dragonfly swampers to dodge.


    "Well, Faro, it looks like your scythe and my sword are going to have to clear up these pests!" Mark said to Faro, excitement filling his voice at the opportunity to fight side by side with Faro again, but this time as an equal instead of a rookie like before at the siege of Faria. Faro looked at him for a moment, then at his blade, Foxe''s teeth, seeing its rather sharp edge, and nodded to Mark before letting out a roar and charging into the biggest group of blood slimes he could find with Mark at his side.


    The two men reaped a bloody two, cutting down blood slimes one after the other as they both sliced through dragonfly swampers with ease. Faro using his skill and strength to become a blur as he seemed to become a tornado with his scythe Mark, though, relied more on the natural power of his blade, Foxe''s teeth, using its ability to sharpen grain to cut down any blood slimes that crossed his path. Thanks to the two, eventually the stone dragonfly heads ran out of dragonfly swampers to send, leaving the players to recover in a graveyard of recently killed dragonfly swampers while covered in blood slime.


    Mark sat down for a moment to catch his breath. He realized that he and Faro alone had probably killed hundreds of the things. Though not without cost, as their force had been cut down once again as players had been swarmed by the blood slime, drowning in small red rivers led by the dragonfly swarmers, causing them to drown in what was probably necrotic blood.


    Honestly, it made Mark glad that this was a game and players went back safe and sound; otherwise, there would be a lot of families getting letters about people not coming home. Sure, they had made it to the gate at the second wall, but they had been whittled down to less than half their original number. Honestly, he wasn''t sure what Faro was planning to do with the men they had left.


    Faro stood still, staring at the metal gate of the old fort of Carthax, not saying anything as everybody caught their breath. Then he turned around and gave everyone a quick glance before he spoke. "Alright lads, there aren''t enough of us left to take the second part of the walls for ourselves. So we''re going to go through these gates here and charge as deep into the fortress as we can, and if we''re lucky, we''ll get to gut the commander of the fort. So you are with me on this mad quest, lads!" Faro shouted out to the players who were listening and proceeded to get up and roar their approval, wanting to see just how far they could get in this fortress of necrotic horrors.


    Faro began to lead his men to the iron gate of the second wall to try and break through and get to the keep waiting beyond. His hope was to find the fort''s commander and kill them, mostly because Faro figured that by killing them, they would cripple a lot of the fort''s necromantic defenses.


    Simon and Robert watched on through the thousands of TV screens that made up the walls of Robert''s workshop. "Hmmm, got to say I didn''t expect to have filmed a hundred-yard dash with barbed tentacles involved. You didn''t change this game rating on me without telling me, did you, Robert?" Simon asked, his voice somehow filled with sarcasm and genuine curiosity at the same time.


    " No Simon Get your mind out of the gutter. I didn''t turn it into that type of adult game." Robert said with a firm tone in his voice, somehow pinning Simon with a look despite Simone not being there physically and so couldn''t be looked at or feel such a look to begin with, but somehow Robert pulled it off.


    "Alright then, moving on from that subject. There were some interesting tidbits going on with the defense, weren''t there?" Simon said with a tone of interest in his voice that somehow came through the usual radio static that came about whenever he talked. For a moment Robert said nothing, still pinning Simon with a look, but he eventually stopped giving Simon the side eye and began to speak.


    "Yes, there was something interesting going on in the defense. In fact, there seem to be a few things going on at Carthax that are all connected if you are really looking. If I were to guess, Faro might regret trying to go after the fort''s commander considering he doesn''t even know who it is yet." Robert said as he stroked his chin with his taloned hands, thinking about who was probably in command of the fortress.


    "Ah yes, the going for the head of the snake plan. A classic, but it might backfire in Faro''s case. While it''ll make great television, which will be great ratings, whatever happens, regardless." Simone said, excitement once again filling his tone as he imagined the battle that was about to unfold between two powerful champions of two different gods and the ratings that would give him.


    Robert just rolled his eyes at Simon''s continued obsession with rating as they both focused back on the TV screens. Once again watching the siege and following what was left of Faro''s force as they made their way deeper into Carthax to see how the battle would conclude.

 chapter 24 what was lost is now found

    Faro found himself once again leading a charge through a gate of Carthax. Though this time with far fewer players than when he had done it before, his forces depleted from the battles it took to get to where he was now in the fortress. But Faro did not let his loss of men deter him as he let out a roar at the head of his force before stopping and staring in shock at what was behind the second wall.


    Once again Faro found himself staring in shocked surprise, though this time it was for vastly different reasons than the last time he did so. As he stood stock still, along with his men, and took in the large courtyard behind the second wall. It was not what any of them had been expecting as they all took in a breath of fresh air, finding the courtyard instead of the putrid air that they had been breathing in the bloated moat before without realizing it.


    The attack force was taking in the grassy fields that made up the inner courtyard behind the second wall that surrounded the inner keep. Now that what remained of the attack force was behind the second wall, they could make out the last line of defense for the fort, which was the inner keep. Though they were surprised to see no signs of necromantic magic at play. In fact, it seemed like no changes had been made at all by the forces of Hargal to the inner courtyard, and from what they could make out of the keep, it didn''t seem to have been changed at all either.


    In fact, they hadn''t even replaced the weathered stones that had been damaged by the passage of time. There were several parts of the inner fort''s balconies in clear need of replacement stone but hadn''t gotten any. Though this brought a bout of confusion among those present in the attack force. As the forces holding the fort had made a third wall and added the strange dragonfly heads to the second wall. So why stop at changing the inner keep and adding defenses to the courtyard or giving the inner keep even basic repairs as if to avoid making changes at all to those sections of the fort?


    Luckily for the attack force, Faro decided that despite the good news that those parts of the fort once ruled by his people were unchanged, they needed to get a move on. "Alright lads, it''s a beautiful grassy field with clean air. It isn''t anything you haven''t seen before. So stop gawking and get moving; those steps aren''t going to climb themselves!" Faro shouted out across the inner courtyard, causing it to reverberate as he got his men moving across the courtyard and towards the inner keep.


    They could see the inner keep from where they were, unlike before, where most of it was blocked off by Carthax''s outer walls. It was a set of cliffs and tunnels built into a small mountain. The only way up the small mountain keep was a set of stairs with a gate at the beginning of the keep''s steps. The attack force had begun to make its way across the grassy courtyard, enjoying the breeze and the pleasant green grass beneath their feet. That ended when they heard the iron gate at the inner keep''s steps begin to rise and the sound of heavy footsteps making their way down the keep''s stairs.


    "Hold, lads! It looks like the good commander of this fort is sending us another welcome party." Faro shouted out as the attack force of players halted and began to get into their fighting stances, waiting for the new undead horror that would be marching out from the steps of the inner keep. They thought they were prepared for what would come, expecting another undead horror instead of what actually came, which was something far more dark and sinister than any undead horror could ever be.


    Faro watched in horror as legions of bone-clad warriors marched in formation down the steps and began forming column after column in front of the gate that was at the beginning of the steps. The players that were under Faro''s command, meanwhile, were surveying the stats of the new arrival as well as their numbers and were not liking what they were seeing; the legions outnumbered them easily ten times over.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(128, 0, 128, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Hargals Honored legionnaire''s - tier two- undead type- zombie- Trait: honorably armored-this undead has been given blessed gear of Hargal in the form of armor made of bone that reforms to always be ready to block blows and with sythes that have a necrotic edge that eat through anything.- description- these were once the elite guards of the lords and kings that''s ruled the lands that once belonged to Detrei now these elite warriors have been revived as undead with powerful necromantic magic allowing them to keep the skills they gained trying to fight the legions of Hargal. Now they are among Hargal''s most elite legions used by his commanders to destroy troublesome foes.</td>


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    </tbody>


    </table>


    Faro was still standing there shocked as he looked at the elite warriors of his people, several still wearing the emblems that signified which lord or king they had served in life. The players were growing nervous as the columns of Hargal''s honored legions began their march to close in. They were sure it wasn''t wise to wait for the legions considering they were outnumbered, but they didn''t have any better ideas. So the players waited for Faro to tell them what his play would ultimately be.


    Though as Mark looked at Faro and saw his shocked face, he realized that the orders they needed weren''t likely to come. As Faro looked to be in shock trying to figure out why Mark took in the legionaries, he began to see the symbols on them marking their statues as former honor guards and began to put together why Faro was in shock, especially as the stats screen for the approaching undead legions confirmed his suspicions.


    It would seem to Mark that Faro was going into shock because, more than likely, a few of the elite warriors that were now marching towards them were once legendary warriors who had made themselves martyrs to buy time for people to escape from Hargal''s early victorious hordes. So yeah, seeing your childhood hero walking towards you as an undead legionnaire under the command of your people''s enemy would have anyone on the back foot.


    Mark didn''t blame Faro, as he doubted that he or anyone else could keep their cool in these circumstances. Imagining such a scenario, like the famous hero, the gold king, being turned into the undead and forced to attack his own fans, would probably end with the fans being slaughtered as they stared down-eyed at the gold king as he killed them all.


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    Though sadly for Faro this wasn''t the time for such sentimentality, and Mark knew it. So he needed to get Faro back into the battle and lead them forward before the incoming legion surrounded and destroyed them. "Faro, get your head out of your ass! You got decisions to make, so get your eyes on the prize!" Mark roared out as he slammed the back of Faro''s head, putting a lot of force into the strike, which caused Faro to stumble from the surprise strike.


    Luckily for the attack force, this surprise strike and sudden pep talk got Faro to focus back on the situation rather than what had happened to his people''s heroes. Faro took in the advancing undead legions and how, by the look of their formations, they were planning to encircle and annihilate his force. Faro then took a glance quickly at his own forces, seeing that they were badly outnumbered and several of his men had gained wounds along the way and were in no way capable of fighting all the undead legions facing them. So they needed to move, and they needed to move now.


    So taking in his situation, Faro could see the only way forward was to break through. So he immediately began to issue his orders before they could be fully encircled. "Alright, you beautiful bastards, it looks like we''re breaking through these pretty sacks of bones in front of us. So I''m going to pick a lane, and you''re all going to follow behind me!" Faro screamed as he began to pick a point in one of the legionaries advancing columns and began leading his force in a charge through the undead.


    It was a hard run as Faro''s forces let out a war cry, following behind Faro and Mark once again. As they charged through the undead legionaries, with Faro and Mark cutting a path through with their weapons as the rest of the players followed behind. The forces that followed behind were desperately trying to keep up, as it was not easy. As the hole opened up in the legion''s formation, the initial charge to push through was quickly turning into a death trap.


    As the force cut down the legionaries to their front, making a path, the ones on their flank were bringing down their scythes, taking limbs off or killing in a single blow. The players special plant armor was not holding up well to the legionaries specially blessed d scythes. So they had to count on speed to save them; sadly, they couldn''t move that fast or maneuver while they were trying to push through the legion''s formation.


    So eventually Faro and Mark found themselves on the other side of the legions formations. They still had to keep up their charge despite breaking through as they were trying to reach the gate. As halfway through the legions, the gate had started to lower, and so now they found themselves on another mad dash to reach the other side of the gate before it closed on them. So Faro and Mark kept leading the way, well having to hear the rest making a desperate attempt to follow after them, trying desperately to hold off the legions scythes with their weapons while they kept moving forward.


    At one point, one of the players with a strange staff called down a hail of exploding corn, distracting as well as damaging the legion enough for those still charging to make it to the gate, and the last players dove under the gate, just barely making it. Faro, upon seeing that the last of his forces were with him and that whatever force brought the gate down could also bring it up, gave another order. "Time to cut the chains!" Faro roared out as he and Mark both swung their weapons simultaneously to cut the chains that would be used to raise the gate, causing them to fall with a clang.


    He had cut off his path of retreat by cutting the chains, but Faro had also prevented Hargal''s honored legionaries from following. The only thing now was to proceed up the steps and hopefully find and kill the fort''s commander. Faro took a look at his men, who were catching their breath from the desperate charge to break through. He didn''t like what he saw as his forces had been reduced once again, but he would have to hope he had enough for what waited for them in the keep.


    "Alright lads, catch your breath and patch up what wounds you can. Once we have our feet back under us, we''re heading up the steps and hunting that commander of theirs in the keep." Faro said, taking a seat to the left of the group and sitting on the steps, making sure he could watch both the gate and the way up the steps in case threats came from either direction.


    "Well, Robert, it looks like that Commander Faro is determined to get inside and find that enemy commander, isn''t he?" Simon said with his usual static-filled voice. "I do hope they both walk away somehow. They''ll probably become rivals once the siege is over, and rivalry is great for TV. The back and forth keeps the viewers invested." Simon said once again, hoping that the world of Allyssa would play in a way that would boost his rating numbers.


    "Maybe they will, Simon." Robert said as he kept his eyes focused on his work putting a few final touches on the expansions. As he figured that once the final battle was broadcasted in the world of the wonders and the mad through the players feed, it would be the tipping point and cause the world of Allyssa to expand. So he needed these expansions to be ready, though he was paying attention to the conversation as he did hope that less of his kids creations were killed.


    "Well, good to know you''re in my corner for that one, but moving on, what do you think of those elites Hargal''s little devotees just sent out?" Simon asked, curious about Roberts''s thoughts, as before, Hargal''s undead used the living more as building blocks to build undead rather than make them undead outright. So seeing full-blown undead elite guards who were using their former memories to be effective was a definite change in style for Hargal''s followers.


    "Honestly, I''m not that worried about it. It''s not the worst thing they''ve done, honestly. A few times I had to interfere directly when a few tried to create plagues that would have gotten out of hand. As I''ve mentioned before." Robert said in a matter-of-fact tone as he put on the finishing touches for the expansions that would allow them to slot right into the world.


    "Well, that''s fair enough, I suppose. Well, that''s the post-fight analysis over, I believe, so let''s see how Faro and his players handle the inner keep of Carthax. Shall we?" Simon said as his attention was once again turned to the hundreds of TV monitors that made up Robert''s workshop walls. Robert merely nodded to Simon, turning to keep a few screens in the corner of his eye while he kept at his work on the expansions.

 chapter 25 Climbing the stairs of Carthax

    For a while the only noise heard at the start of the steps to the inner keep of Carthax was the heavy breathing of players as they slowly regained their breath and the banging on the gate as the honored legions tried to break through it so they could get at them. Eventually, seeing that his men had regained their breath and that they had bandaged their wounds as best they could, Faro decided to get his men to start moving again.


    "All right, lads, your break''s over! Time to start the march up the steps and into the inner keep. Can''t keep them waiting up there; that would make us poor guests. Faro shouted out to his men, getting a few chuckles in return as he, along with the rest of the attack force, began their slow ascent up the steps. The steps were rather wide, allowing for eight people to walk side by side, but Faro''s force of players wasn''t that disciplined. So they went up the steps in an unorganized gaggle with Faro leading the way with Mark at his side.


    The march up the steps was silent as the stairs went all the way around the mountain from what they had seen at the bottom, and since they had started from the base, that meant to get to where the actual keep was would be a very long march. So everyone was saving their breath, trying to conserve energy as much as possible for the long walk as they went up the steps. A few players were concerned with how the steps were opened to the outside, which was why they kept looking to the vast view from the ledge at the edge of the steps to be sure that some kind of undead flyer wasn''t about to attack them as they were going up.


    Luckily, no undead flyer made itself known to the attack force. So for the time being, it would seem the force would not be attacked as they made their way up. Though that was only a small mercy, as the long march up the steps itself was a threat, especially if any fell down, considering as they made it farther up, the more dead they would be if they fell back down. Though luckily before any could finally be the first to fall to their death and be the joke of the Internet as their death was shared in the world of the wonders and the mad, they saw the first entrance three-fourths of the way up the steps.


    The entrance was a set of giant rock doors built into the side of the mountain. It was made of stone, not bone or flesh, showing it had been made by the Detreons back when the fort was theirs. The gate was wide open, and the path the gate guarded was pitch black. Whether this was an invitation from the commander to come up or simply that the enemy commander didn''t want to move his defenders from their current position to pull the doors shut, the group wasn''t sure, but either way the group had to make their way into the dark abyss that awaited them.


    "Alright lads, time to go into the dark! So have your blades ready to stab anything that needs stabbing that''s waiting for us in there!" Faro shouted out before he slowly marched in with his scythe at the ready. So he could bring it down on anything that tried to jump in the dark, the others following behind them, their hands turning pale from how tight they were holding their weapons as they walked down the long dark corridor.


    The group was packed in as they made their way slowly down the hall, their eyes darting in every direction trying to see any threat before it attacked but not being able to. As they couldn''t see in the pitch-black darkness that was the corridor, at least to their eyes. The only reason they knew they were going in the right general direction was following the person next to them. Which kept them from stumbling into the corridor wall because they were so close to each other that they could feel each other''s breath as they all followed behind Faro, who was somehow going straight down the corridor despite not being able to see either. Then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, torches suddenly started lighting up the corridor, causing everyone to jump slightly in surprise.


    "Well, it looks like the commander wants us to hurry along, lads. Let''s not disappoint him; we wouldn''t want to be late for our appointment to run him through, would we?" Faro said to the men as they shouted back a no in response. So Faro began to lead them at a double pace down the halls now that they could all see where they were going. As they made their way down the now brightly lit corridors, they could now make out more details on the walls. Old murals carved into the walls of events such as the crowning of great kings or of ceremonies showing their worship of Detrei. The history and culture of one of the fallen kingdoms was on the walls they passed.


    Sadly, though, they didn''t have the time to truly delve into the tales that the walls had to tell. They had to keep moving as they had no idea if or when the undead legionaries might make it through the gate they had shut behind them. Not only that, but they also had to figure that by this point the other parts of the army were back in the fight, but considering they hadn''t seen them as they went up the stairs was because the rest of the army was fighting whatever reinforcements had been sent by Hargal''s other forces.


    As they made their way down the halls, Mark began to notice that the torches were held by skeletal hands, making him wonder how the Detreon used to see in this fort if they didn''t use torches like they were now. "Hey Faro, from the looks of it, the torches are a recent addition, which means they weren''t used by your guys when they owned the fort." Mark stated to Faro, who nodded affirmatively. "Alright then, how do you guys see in your own fort then if you didn''t use the torches like we are now?" Mark asked curiously as he tried to figure out how the Detreon avoided stumbling around in the dark and figured asking now would help cut the tension that was hovering over the group as they made their way forward.


    "We used special plants such as fungus or mushrooms that glowed in the dark. They not only light up our forts, allowing us to walk around in their glow, but they also can become rations in case of a siege as we find out during the start of the war with Hargal. Though from the looks of the corridor, all the glow plants that used to be here all died out." Faro said, answering Mark''s question with a bit of pride at how his people always seem to have a plan to meet their people''s needs. Mark nodded, a look of honest surprise on his face at the use of nature to solve what was usually solved by machinery in effectively all other known societies.


    The players were now distracted with a philosophical question about whether plant-based or technology-based lighting was better. Now they weren''t distracted enough to not be aware of their surroundings, just distracted enough to not be dreading what was waiting for them further in. Though that might have been a very bad thing as the corridor ended and they came upon a large room that met with other corridors, which looked to be where Hargal''s legionaries marshaled before marching out to meet them outside earlier.


    There were no legionaries waiting for them, though they would have preferred them to what was actually waiting for them. As they began to hear the clip-clop of hooves as the creatures in the room began to face them. Each of them voicing a strange mixing of neighing and growling coming from a mix of human and horse lungs. The attack force quickly got out of the hall and began spreading out on the side of the room they had come from, getting into their battle stances to face the creatures as their stats screen popped up for the players to view.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(128, 0, 128, 1)" border="1">


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    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Hargals lords of the horse - tier three- undead type- zombie- Trait: honored calvary-this undead has been created by a powerfull devoted of Hargal and infused with Hargal''s divine essence allowing this zombie to stay at the peak of its performance as heavy calvary despite the normal decay that a zombie of this method would usually face.- description- these zombies were once the lords that lead some of the greatest calvary charges against the hordes of Hargal long ago. Now they have been combined with not only their personal steed but also two other horses, combined and compressed over and over again until a centaur of undead muscle was created the excess flesh and bones that did not survive the process were added in as leather under armor and bone heavy armor.</td>


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    The attack force quickly scanned the stats screen as the horse lords of Hargal began to back up clearly in preparation to charge. Faro seeing that taking a full frontal charge from these horse-human abominations would devastate his remaining forces. So he decided he needed to order his men to charge and meet the abominations in the middle of the room so they wouldn''t have as much momentum built up. "Alright lads, I think this time around we''ll meet them instead of them meeting us. So charge the horse bastards right now!" Faro roared out as he led the charge across the room, meeting the horse lords midway across the room.


    If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Many of Faro''s players found themselves sent flying before the horse lords were finally stopped. Though that turned out not to be that much better. As the forward attack force found itself with half their number sent flying and the other half staring down giant centaurs covered in bone armor made out of horse and human bones with a horse skull as the centerpiece of the rather disturbing armor set and a leather undershirt made out of loose human skin to top off their disturbing gear. They also had green eyes that seemed to suck the very soul out of any who dared look into them.


    So suffice it to say the fight had barely begun, and they were already on the back foot and about to rout. So Faro decided he had to do something about it. "Alright lads, it''s time to show these lords they''re not as good as they think they are!" Faro roared out as he charged at one of the horse lords, largely ignoring the fact they had already proven they were as good as advertised by performing their opening charge. Faro closed in with one of the horse lords, who was twice and a half the size of any man, as it was trying to crush more players beneath its hooves than it wasn''t trying to pierce with a lance made out of teeth and rib bone from the looks of it.


    Faro came in with a strong swing of his sythe looking to take the head of the horse lord quickly only to have it blocked by the horse lord''s quick use of its lance to block the incoming strike and counter trying to pierce Faro''s head who only dodge by the slimest of margins. Faro brought his scythe down once again, trying to take the head of the horse lord, only to find himself blocked and countered, nearly losing his head each time. The two beings, Faro''s and the horse lord, found themselves in a stalemate where each was looking for an opening that would end the duel.


    As it would turn out, it would be a third party that ended it, as Mark had been sneaking up on the horse lord, letting it get too focused on Faro to notice him. So with the two razor-focused on each other, Mark struck using Fox''s teeth to land a devastating blow to the horse lord''s back, who turned to try and deal with both the wound and Mark only to lose his head to the moment of inattention to Faro, who had quickly used the moment to take the horse lord''s head.


    The other players had been keeping the horse lords pinned in, watching the duel between Faro and one of the horse lords. Too afraid to fight themselves, as the earlier devastation of their charge had left an impression of them being too powerful for them to fight but not willing to turn their backs on the horse lords, the players found themselves trying to limit their movements. Though upon seeing the decapitation of one they saw they were vulnerable to fighting multiple opponents especially as pinned as they were now.


    Now knowing that weakness, the players pounced upon the horse lords, quickly overwhelming them. Using the horse lords weakness of being unable to turn easily to overwhelm them, they attacked from multiple angles, causing them to always focus in the wrong direction as they were stabbed in another. Soon enough the horse lords were all slain, but while the strategy to defeat them had been effective, the horse lords had proven themselves powerful warriors, taking a few more players with them before they finally went down.


    Faro took a look at his forces as he gathered his breath, seeing that once again they had been reduced in number. If he was honest with himself, he was starting to wonder if by the end of this quest into the fort it would just be him and a pebble he picked up. "Alright, you lads can take a breather for a few minutes before we move on, except for you, Mark. I need you to check the corridor we just came through and see if any of the boys sent flying earlier are alive down there." Faro said, handing out his orders as everyone except he and Mark sat down to take a breather.


    Mark gave a tired sigh but nodded to Faro before he walked down the corridor to see if anyone had survived the unexpected flight. While Faro remained standing up in the center of the room to keep watch, making sure that nothing was coming down the other corridors to attack them. Eventually Mark came back down the corridor and gave Faro a nod that he hadn''t found any survivors. Faro gave a sigh and nodded for him to sit with the others to rest for the moment.


    Once a few more minutes had passed and everyone was ready to continue the journey deeper into the inner keep, as far as Faro could tell, he began to give out his orders. "Alright lads, time to hop to it; we''re heading up to find the boss in charge now. So no more waiting around." Faro said as he led the advance attack force through one of the corridors that was going upward, figuring that the commander of the fort would be at the top of the inner keep.


    The attack force soon found the corridor they had entered ended at a staircase that went directly up. So the force went up two at a time with Faro and Mark at the lead with torches lighting the way. They group slowly made their way up the steps, weapons gripped tightly as their nerves became tense from the low visibility caused by the narrow stairs and how they couldn''t hear anything but their own steps going up. Meaning they''d have no warning if they were all walking into a trap until the last of them walked into whatever was waiting for them at the end of the stairs.


    Eventually, though, they all came out into another massive room, though this one had only one exit beside the steps, which was a giant set of stone doors. The attack force looked around the room, still on edge, worried that something had let them out of the stairs without trouble because it wanted to get them all at once. Faro and Mark had taken up opposing positions as the group made their way forward to be sure that both could keep the group protected from their side.


    As the group reached the center of the massive room, which had giant stone paintings of past kings that seemed to almost be coming out of the walls with how lifelike they were. The group got a sudden shock when the paintings not facing them turned their heads so they could look directly at them. The players had a few moments to read the stats of the defenders of the room before they had to move or be struck down.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(128, 0, 128, 1)" border="1">


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    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Petrified kings - tier three- undead type- golem- Trait: king of stone roots- these once great kings lead kingdoms that were farming titans now in death they use their knowledge of crops and the power of necromancy to manipulate the stone roots around them to pierce their enemys - description- these kings have hade their flesh and muscles turned into stone leaving only their bones to be left in their new stone body''s forced to be the eternal guardians for whoever leads the fortress of Carthax while it remains under Hargal''s control.</td>


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    The petrified kings made their might known as soon enough hundreds of stone roots came bursting out of the ground trying to pierce those who had intruded upon the room. Luckily, many players were able to dodge out of the way, wary of traps and ambushes as they were. Sadly, though, not all were quick enough, and a few were pierced through, killed, and sent back to their own world.


    Those still left to fight found themselves constantly moving, trying not to be pierced by the stone roots that were constantly popping out of the ground before diving back down to try and pierce them from another angle when they didn''t hit. They also had to watch each other as they dodged; otherwise, they''d run into each other, which would slow them down enough for the petrified kings to capitalize and run them through.


    "First it was the brave soldiers of my people, then it was our lords, now it is our kings! While this mockery ends now!" Faro roared out as he charged towards one of the petrified kings that were embedded in the walls, eating up the distance as he slashed through all the roots trying to block his path. Eventually he reached the petrified kings and let out a mighty roar as he shattered the petrified king.


    The petrified king burst into shards of stone and bone. With its destruction, a fair number of the roots stopped attacking. Faro quickly started going after another king with Mark following his example. "Come on, guys, you don''t want Faro to get all the glory, do you?" Mark managed to roar out as he closed the distance with Fox''s teeth and strike down one of the petrified kings as well, causing another section of stone roots to stop attacking. So began a mad dash as players tried to get to the petrified kings before the petrified kings ran them through with their roots.


    Eventually all the petrified kings were destroyed, but sadly with the recent deaths, it left just Faro and Mark and about ten other people to face what was on the other side of the gates. "All right, lads, we take one last break, and then we''re going to face whatever is on the other side of those gates. Got it, you lucky bastards!" Faro roared out the last bit; the group gave a tired yes before falling over, making the most of their last rest.


    "Well, look at that, Robert. They actually made it to the commander''s door after all." Simon said, Surprise! in his usually static-filled voice. Simon hadn''t expected that as their numbers had gotten so depleted with each battle, he figured the fight with the petrified kings would finally finish them.


    "Yes, I do admit that surprised me too. But I suppose that is the spice of life, isn''t it?" Robert asked, not entirely sure if that was a good or bad thing in this scenario, considering he was the game''s creator and he should probably know how the fights panned out. Though, to be fair, he hadn''t been paying his full attention to the last couple of battles, merely keeping them in the corner of his eye as he worked on the expansions, as he had just finished the land part and the characters as well. All that was left to be added was what could be taken from Allyssa to the world of wonders and the mad, which he kept checking to make sure worked right.


    "Yes, it is Robert. It is not only the spice of life. It''s also the spice of ratings. I''m getting reports of boosted ratings, especially from necromantic worlds." Simon said, excitement filling his voice at his show''s increase in popularity. Though once again Robert found himself concerned about giving lichs and necromancers ideas. "Well, do you think the final showdown will be worth the hype? I really hope it is ruining these types of things that have been what tanks shows since time immemorial." Simon said with deep concern.


    " It''ll be fine, Simon. Faro has more than proven himself by this point, and the fort''s commander has shown that he has a few tricks up his sleeve. The fight will be interesting; I guarantee it. You won''t have to worry about that." Robert said putting Simon''s concern to rest as he kept making sure the materials he was working on would work right when out of Allyssa.


    "Yeah, you''re right. Robert doesn''t need to be worried about the fight; he just needs to make sure I get it on film. So back to the siege and the show that is reaching its climax." Simon said with excitement as his focus was felt on the TV monitors while Robert kept working on his project but kept a few monitors that were focused on the fight in the corner of vision like before as the final battle of Faro''s attack force was about to begin.

 chapter 26 what lays beyond the final gate

    Faro and Mark sat together, back to back, with Faro watching the door while Mark kept an eye on the steps that had brought them up to where they were now. The other ten, all that was left of the attack force, were scattered across the room as they made final preparations for whatever was waiting for them on the other side of the stone gate.


    Though they all suspected it was the fort''s commander that was waiting for them on the other side. Though whether he was alone or with bodyguards, they wouldn''t know until the gates were opened and they charged through for a final time. Faro began to take stock of what equipment his men had on them, figuring he needed to know what men he had left who were working with.


    The remaining players were all wearing the same type of red plate armor. Faro asked Mark for details on the strange red armor as well as the weapons they carried. Seeing as he hadn''t seen the plant-based equipment before and Mark was among their number, hopefully he would know and would tell Faro all their special little tricks. Mark looked over and got the stats screen for the armor the remaining ten players were wearing first.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(0, 128, 0, 1)" border="1">


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    <td style="width: 96.4331%">rose''s grasp- plant armor- armor type: plate mail- description: it is a set of armor with a green harness at its center with several roses spread through it at each rose are five petals of red steel that link together to form the chain mail that is the armor- special trait- always five petals : whenever a plate is too damaged it will fall off the stem of the rose holding it to the harness and a new plate will be grown to take its place keeping the roses at five red metal petals at all times.</td>


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    Upon hearing the description of the armor, Faro nodded a bit in wonder. As the description explained how they made it as far as they did. Though Mark wondered how they all got the same rose armor considering they should have gotten a random selection of seeds to choose from, he then remembered that it had been a couple of days since his first battle in the game at Faria.


    Which meant people had been sharing ideas on forums and message boards probably. So once Mark realized that it made sense someone else came up with the idea for the rose plate armor and it simply got shared online and these guys simply repeated the idea. Which did explain why they were different from each other in that their armors didn''t line up exactly, giving strange patterns to their armors that made the surviving ten different from each other.


    Though now that they had the armor figured out, Faro needed to know what the weapons they had actually did besides the obvious. As several of the players remaining weapons differed wildly from each other, unlike their armor, Mark began to go through them one by one. The one furthest to the left of Faro had a black whip, and Mark told Faro its stats as it appeared before him.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(0, 128, 0, 1)" border="1">


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    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Burning birch- wood whip- weapon type: whip- description: a whip made out of multiple strands of black birch wood that has been stretch outward from a wooden hilt - special trait- living oil: the multiple whip strands coming out of the hilt of the weapon are covered in a special living oil that allows the user to controll the whip easily and acts as acid when it hits undead.</td>


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    Faro nodded to the description of the whip user''s special trait that gave it supernatural control, which would make its user rather effective on the battlefield. As unlike other whip users, he didn''t have to worry about accidentally losing control of his whip and hitting allies since the weapon''s own ability prevents that. Mark, upon seeing Faro, was ready to hear about the next weapon and began telling him about the weapons that belonged to the player right of the whip user.


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    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Lenten doom- flower mace- weapon type: spiked mace- description: a spiked mace made out of a several large Lenten roses wrapping around themselves to form a ball as the head and the roots to form the hilt. At its head are several sharp seeds poking out to act as spikes - special trait- spiked seeds: when the lentin doom is swung as any enemy there is a chance that a spike my break of in the enemy when this happens a Lenten rose bush will began to grow out of the enemy it is highly effective against undead as the Lenten natural healing properties cause extra danage to undead.</td>


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    Faro nodded once again to another description by Mark at a player''s weapon, the effects sounding rather effective, mostly due to the fact that even if you didn''t get a good hit, any hit with Lenten''s doom could be dangerous. The fact the man had two of the things was a rather fortunate affair as it made him rather dangerous to any undead as it doubled any chance of death by spiked seeds. Faro would have to put him to the front of whatever formation they ended up taking. Mark once again seeing that Faro seemed to have processed the information moved on, though this time to a set of four players and their equipment.


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    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Phlox shield- flower shield- weapon type: tower shield- description: a large shield made out of creeping phlox flowers it''s roots wrapping together to form the base and the handle that are used to grip it by - special trait- creeping link: this tower shield can link itself either with other towers shields like itself to become a strong shield wall or it can grow it''s roots into the ground to become an actual physical wall. Either way this allows the tower shield user extra bracing from any series blows.</td>


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    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Ragwort Lance- flower spear - weapon type: - spear-description: a long spear made up of a giant daisy''s root with a flower bud at it''s end - special trait- exploding rot flower: whenever the flower bud tip of this spear pierces an opponent it will explode within the opponent in a shower of acidic nectar before quickly regrowing a new flower bud to pierce the next opponent.</td>


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    Faro''s was keeping close attention to the four as Mark explained the abilities of the shields and spear they had. Faro began making plans on how to fit them in with the previous two players discussed and liking that the four would make a decent front line. Now knowing what their equipment did, he nodded his thanks and asked Mark to continue with whoever was next.


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    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Golden flamer staffs- leaf staffs - weapon type: - staff- description: a staff made out of the roots of a bush about half way up it is thousands of leaves that growen facing downward from the staff all are a rose pink color - special trait- golden burn: when the staff is triggered by its user the pinks leafs will start to turn a gold as they are launched in whatever direction the staff is pointed and the golden leafs will burn anything they hit on contact.</td>


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    Faro looked at the last four as they held their staffs at the ready. That group had a nervous energy to them as if they were on itchy trigger fingers, and once Mark explained what their weird pink staffs did, he realized they were. He figured weapons like that needed a few seconds to burn through a target, and in a battle, a few seconds is a long time. He nodded his thanks to Mark and sat there for a moment thinking about the men he had: four heavy spear users, four heavy mid- to long-range attack users, and two specialists. Along with himself and Mark, he thought about those numbers and the best odds of victory, considering that anything could be waiting for them on the other side of the giant stone doors.


    "Alright lads, break time is over; it''s time to gather around!" Faro roared out as the 10 remaining men gathered around him and Mark. "Alright, we''re going to be in formation when we go in there, and the formation is going to be the spear users up front, me and Mark to the flanks, while the gold flamers are going to be just behind the spear users with the specialist to their sides." Faro said before looking every single one of his remaining men in the eye.


    "Are your orders understood?" Faro roared out to which he got a yes sir back. "Well then lads, I think our last fight of the day is beyond those stone gates, so let us give a good account of ourselves, shall we?" Faro told the men as they all got into formation and marched up to the stone gate from the midway point of the room. The front ranks pushed the stone gate open with their combined strength, and once it was wide enough for the formation to walk through, they began their march through.Stolen story; please report.


    Once they were on the other side, they were blinded for a moment by light, having to wait a moment for their eyes to adjust to the sudden brightness. Then once the group''s eyes fully adjusted, they looked around the room they had walked into beyond the stone gate. They saw the room was actually part of a balcony, and the light was coming from the sun shining down upon them. As they looked upon the room, they noticed all along the walls were multiple statues of dragonfly heads built into the walls. They were all twice the size of the average man.


    Wondering where the commander was, as they expected the commander to spring at them as soon as they walked through the gate. Instead they found no enemies waiting for them and were just wandering around the entranceway of the balcony and starting to question if the commander was even here. That''s when they noticed a being was sitting at a table at the edge of the balcony. It had its back towards them. They could tell it wasn''t a man as they could make out strange insect scales shining even from the opposite side of the room.


    "Well, it seems you made it past my defenders. Well done, Commander Faro." The being at the table said with a voice of a thousand buzzing wings. This caused the attack group to flinch in surprise. Faro took a step forward, a strong grip on his scythe, as he stared at the creature''s back.


    "Are you the commander of this fort?" Faro asked in a firm and even tone as he motioned for the group to be ready for a fight. The rest gathered themselves and all prepped their equipment, getting ready for whatever would come next.


    "Well, yes, I am Faro." The voice of thousands of buzzing insect wings said. "Now that we''ve established our positions, shall we get on to the battle between our subordinates?" The creature stated causing Faro confusion as to what subordinates he was talking about. He was about to ask when the being at the table raised his right fist then dropped it, which was a sign. In response, out of the dragonfly heads that lined the walls came hundreds of flying creatures that immediately dived at Faro''s attack group.


    The group reacted immediately; the four that had golden flamer staffs opened up, filling the air with burning leaves. This kept the full tide from hitting them, causing the creatures to have to maneuver around the burning leaves burning above and come to attack them from strange angles if they wanted to strike at the front ranks of Faro''s attack formation.


    The melee that made up Faro''s front found themselves trying to not be killed by these never-ending swarms that kept coming no matter how many burned in the magic leaf firestorm or were struck down by the weapons of the front ranks. The fight started to turn desperate as the enemy ranks went from hundreds to over a thousand as they were beginning to get overrun. Faro began to notice that these creatures never stopped receiving reinforcements from the dragonfly statue heads.


    As the grand melee below and the dance of burning leafs above intensified as they scorched more and more of the strange creatures attacking them. They finally saw the creatures stat screen telling them what exactly they had been fighting.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(128, 0, 128, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Dragfly ghoul - tier one- dark insect- flying zombie- Trait: servant hive of the first - these are the creations and servants of a being that is first of its kind you will always find more of them so long as the being they serve continues to exist- description- a creature half the size of a man they have four compound eyes and a tail that doubles their length with a sharp stinger at it''s end. They have six arms each having a hand that ends with razor sharp claws. They have four insect wings that are twice the length of their body and they are known for their maneuverability.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The players, now knowing they were in an endless horde that were the bodyguards for the being claiming to be the fort''s commander, were growing nervous. They weren''t sure what to do about this situation. Luckily, Faro was, even if he didn''t have access to the same intel as the players; he could still observe that numbers of enemies were growing, not shrinking, despite how many they''d killed. "Alright lads, looks like if we want out of this, we''re going to have to go for the head. So spearmen to the sides, Mace up front with Mark, and Whip is in back with me; the golden flamers will be in the center. Now move people; we don''t have all day!" Faro shouted put as the players obeyed him, getting into his moving formation as they charged towards the being at the war table at the end of the balcony.


    They charged forward, the leaves from the golden staffs burning through dragonfly ghouls over their heads as they moved forward. Those dragonfly ghouls not burning above them were slamming into them, using their wings maneuverability to get an angle to attack. They would claw at the player, trying to use their tails to find gaps in their defense and pierce them. But the players left had proven their skill and gained experience in making it this far into Carthax, so they proved they quickly could handle the dragfly tricks. Luckily, moving forward made it harder for Dragfly to find a gap in the defenses as the attack force kept charging forward.


    They got closer and closer to the enemy commander though as they did the dragfly ghoul swarm got thicker as the reinforcement speed seemed to increased the closer they got to threating the commander they eventually they did reached the commander despite the setback. "Alright, Mark, time for you to duel like you''re obsessed about! The rest of you were keeping this swarm off him while he kills the creepy bastard!" Faro roared out as to be overheard over the sound of the now thousands of dragonfly ghouls swarming around them.


    "I''m not obsessed, dammit!" Mark roared back as he charged at the figure sitting at the table, who still hadn''t turned to face Mark just as his sword, Foxes teeth, would have buried itself to the hilt in his spine. The being vanished, turning into thousands of small dragonflies. Mark looked around rapidly, trying to figure out what had just happened, then he felt a burning sting in his back; he spun around and finally saw the creatures that had just been sitting at the table a moment ago. He could see it in its entirety, causing a stats screen for it to pop up for him to quickly read through.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(128, 0, 128, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Dragolous lord Flatek- tier three-dark insect type - insect champion - Trait: many are one - this being is not actually one but many as it is made up of thousands combined into one as such it can seperate into individual parts and then form back together- description- the first of its kind and as such it is both a champion and a lord to any that come to be made after this one. It is made up of thousands of dragonflys acting as one though you would not be able tell by looking at the creature as it stands twice as tall as a man and looks just like a dragfly ghoul but bigger and somehow more sophisticated.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    "You should know better than to turn your back on an enemy." Flatek said in a mocking tone, his voice of a thousand tiny lungs speaking as one. Mark ignored the good advice and charged, trying to end this battle as quickly as possible before they were overwhelmed by a swarm of dragfly ghouls. But once again Flatek deformed, but instead of reforming behind Mark as he had been expecting, he instead appeared behind the mace user, sticking a claw into the back of his leg before deforming once again and reforming in front of Mark. "Now where were we?" Flatek said, his voice filled with mockery.


    So it went on and on, Mark trying to fight Flatek only to have him disappear and appear somewhere else, mocking him and usually wounding one of the other members of the assault group. Mark knew he needed to end this, and so he racked his brain for anything to help him do just that, not finding anything and about to panic as several members were about to fall from the combination of the numbers of dragonfly ghouls and the surprise attacks of Flatek. That''s when it hit him he had a reward from a previous battle that might just help him; he reached into his inventory and quickly pulled it out.


    He turned to face Flatek, holding Foxe''s teeth in one hand and the staff called Calacra''s Reach in the other. He waited till Flatek got close to him once again. He charged with Foxe''s teeth as he had done before, and as before, Flatek deformed, turning into a cloud of thousands of dragonflies to reform somewhere else on the battlefield. But before Flatek could, Mark turned and activated Calacra''s reach, which caused the claw at the head of the staff to seek out the dragonfly in the swarm that was Flatek''s heart. The claw stretched from the staff and grabbed a large dragonfly that was beating rapidly, pulsing with a red glow, and dragged it back to the staff before it crushed the dragonfly in its grips, bathing Calacra''s reach in the blood of Flatek''s heart.


    Flatek formed one last time, holding his chest with all six hands. "Well played." Flatek gasped out before falling over dead. Once he fell to the ground dead, the swarm of dragfly ghouls turned on each other, the loss of their lord driving them mad with grief and rage as they tore each other apart. The attack force fell on their backsides, exhausted and wounded but somehow alive.


    Suddenly a huge blue screen appeared before all the players, and Mark read his. You have won the battle of the siege of Carthax. You will now be logged out, as time dilation for this event is now over, and any longer stay would be dangerous. The MVPs are the eleven elite of Faro''s attack force. We thank you for playing Allyssa. Then the world went blue as Mark was forcibly ejected from the game.


    "Well, I got to say that was a good show by both commanders; both showed their skills there. Too bad I won''t get to see that rivalry between the two as Flatek is dead. Rivalries always boost ratings big time." Simon said he was a bit depressed he couldn''t use a Faro and Flatek rivalry in his advertisements.


    "Not necessarily; you never know considering who Flatek serves. Staying dead when you serve a god of the undead is a bit of a hard thing to do." Robert said, hoping to cheer Simon up. "Besides, I''m just glad everything worked out; this battle was starting to drain me with all its back and forth." Robert admitted as he waited to see the fallout the siege of Carthax would have.


    "True, I can hope Flatek comes back stronger than ever before; it will really help with the advertisements. Though you are right, there has to be an ending sometime." Simon admitted. "Now let''s see if we needed all your expansions for Alyssa after all." Simon said he was excited to see how the world of wonders and the mad responded to the battle of Carthax now that there would be footage of it spreading through the world''s internet.


    Simon and Robert focused on multiple TV screens in his workshop, watching as Allyssa and the world of wonders and the mad responded to what had happened at Carthax.

 chapter 27 The fall out

    Mark found himself outside of Allyssa''s and back in his own world. He took a moment to reorient himself, as being suddenly sent back to his own body had rattled his senses. Once Mark was comfortable moving his real body again, which was a weird thing to have to wait to do. He made his way to his kitchen, fixing himself a late dinner and eating it swiftly before changing his clothes before proceeding to bed.


    Mark didn''t really check if he was going to bed early or late; he was just going to bed regardless of the time as he was so mentally drained from the siege of Carthax. He slept deeply, so deep, in fact, that it would have taken mortars to wake him up. Luckily for him, he appeared to have gone to bed early, as he got up early, which allowed him to get to work on time. So Mark got up and went through his usual morning routine.


    He even made his usual breakfast of pancakes and eggs with lemon juice to drink. He began eating and drinking rapidly before he got in his old junk car and got on the interstate to make it to work. He turned the radio on to hear what was going on and if they were finally talking about anything besides the usual kill or not killing of the mad patients. luckily for him, they were talking about something else on the radio.


    "This is the greatest movie I''ve ever seen, and honestly I don''t know if the effects artist needs a raise or to be sent to a mental institution." The man on the radio confused Mark about what exactly was being talked about, making him start to think he had missed some new trending movie that had just come out. Though as the conversation went on, it became clear that wasn''t what they were talking about; in fact, they were talking about the video game Allyssa.


    It seemed several people had put together their game footage into videos, and with the game being so realistic, they had been mistaken for movies. Which explained the comment he had heard at the start about effects, as several of the monsters they had fought were rather disturbing, and you would probably question the sanity of the guy working to make such realistic depictions of such horrors. Though he didn''t know what to say about the fact that game footage had gotten big enough to be mistaken on the radio for a movie but not big enough for anyone to correct the record on the radio.


    Mark was pretty sure that said something, but he wasn''t entirely sure. So Mark spent the rest of his drive to work flipping through different radio stations listening to people''s different takes and misunderstandings about the game that was Allyssa while practicing the use of his powers creating the different three-dimensional barriers. He got a real good chuckle out of a couple of the takes if he was being honest. Though eventually the fun had to end as he pulled into his workplace''s parking lot. He got out of his car and walked through the front door and made his way towards the front desk.


    "Hi Sharon, lovely morning we''re having." Mark said to the front desk lady, filled with enthusiasm for the day, as he didn''t have to listen to the ever-ongoing discussion about how the mad should be dealt with by society. Not only that, but he had impressed people at the siege of Carthax, and it felt good to know he still had some skills at combat that qualified him to be a hero despite his long absence from the regular battles of good and evil that went on in the world as he watched over the Asylum.


    "It''s a good morning indeed, Mark. I watched that new movie that came out! The siege of Carthax was a proper thriller, though how they got the effects so realistic I''ll never know." Sharon said with a happy smile on her face, as she usually did, as she Sharon was a well of positivity for the asylum, both for the


    Visitors and her fellow asylum workers.


    "Good to hear, Sharon. I''ll be heading on to the patients. So I''ll be seeing you in a bit." Mark said with a smile and wave to Sharon before heading deeper into the asylum to perform his duties and help those that needed him. Meanwhile, in another part of the city, at a tower called the Great Light that belonged to a team of superheroes, the leader of this superhero team was looking over the news for the siege of Carthax.


    The hero in question is the Gold King, one of the most famous heroes in the world and the most powerful in the city. He was sitting at his desk in his personal quarters wearing his costume, which consisted of a red robe with golden armor that covered his body as well as a gold mask to cover his face. To go along with said mask was a crown. The Gold King at this moment was sitting in his room trying to figure out what exactly was going on with this supposed movie, The Siege of Carthax.


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


    The movie has triggered his paranoia because, as a hero who had fought many horrors over the years, he could tell the movements of the monsters on display in the movie were no special effect, as their movements were far too detailed to be something someone had designed. So that left him with a movie where people were fighting real monsters with plant-based weapons, and he had to figure out why that was, because if he didn''t, it could lead to something far more dangerous than a new hit movie on the Internet.


    So the Gold King spent some time digging through anything he could find on the movie, trying to figure out where it came from and how exactly it was made, considering a few people disappeared in a flash of light during the movie, which could mean something sinister, such as them dying and their bodies being moved before the viewer could see the corpse and realize the death they had just witnessed.


    So after much searching, he found out where the movie originated from, which was from game footage of an online game called The World of Allyssa, a very advanced video game as far as anyone could tell. The Gold King suspected there was something more to the game than just advanced video game programming. No, the Gold King felt there was something more going on, and he would get to the bottom of it.


    But before the Gold King could purchase the game and delve deeply into it to gain its secrets to be certain what type of threat he was dealing with, he was interrupted by his base, the Great Light, as it informed him of a villain causing damage and destruction near a red area. Sadly, he was too far away, and the villain needed to be stopped now before he reached the red zone. Luckily, a hero was stationed to watch this particular red zone. So Gold King sent out the emergency message, having the hero stationed at the danger zone intercept the villain before he could get there.


    Mark had just finished his rounds with his regular patients and was going around to the ones he was truly here to watch, which were the mad ones at that particular moment. He was spending time with the Cut and was watching cartoons with the Cut watching him as he cheered on the usual cartoon heroes. Just as Mark was about to cheer along with him, his wristwatch began to ring for the first time in a long time.


    Mark stared at it shocked for a moment before he collected himself and spoke to the cat. "Sorry, I have to go cheer on the hero for me." Mark said quickly, to which the Cut just nodded happily and proceeded to do just that while Mark headed to the men''s restroom to take his wristwatch message. Once there, he sat down and popped open his wristwatch to see the message and looked down in shock to see that he was being called to fight the villain Roodini before he reached the asylum.


    Mark sat there in shock for a moment, wondering if he was ready for this after being out of the action for so long. Then he remembered all the battles he had fought in Alyssa, all the times he had stood his ground against terrifying monstrosities, and he knew he was ready for this. The only real question was if he could remember where the hell he hid his hero suit at the asylum.


    "While it looks like our numbers are doing good, just not as good as we expected." Simon said to a morose Robert. He was trying to be positive for Robert, but Robert wasn''t having it and responded with the cold hard truth.


    "A movie! Everyone thinks it''s a movie; at this rate, it''ll be years before my expansions see the light of day." Robert yelled, clearly depressed at the fact that the people of the wonders and the mad had misunderstood, which had caused such a huge setback and made all the hard work and time he''d spent making sure the expansions were ready for the expected boost in numbers redundant.


    "Come on, you''re getting your name out there, and they''ll set the record straight eventually!" Simon said keeping his positivity mostly because whether people saw Allyssa as a game or movie, his rating stayed the same, and since they were going up, he was more than okay with the current movie misunderstanding.


    Robert realizing this gave him the stink eye, though Simon was only there audibly, not physically; he still felt the stink eye. So Simon decided it was best to cheer up Robert. "How about this, Robert? We take a break from watching Allyssa, and its reaction from potential customers will instead focus on the world of wonders and the mad watch a few super fights to improve your mood." Simon said, hoping to appease Robert, who just nodded morosely and turned to the many TV screens in his workshops that then began to show the world of wonders and the mad.

 chapter 28 Roudini

    Roudini looked at the crowd of his people as he made his way to the asylum, his adoring public, as they were all so excited to see him. Oh, how they cheered for him, their screams filling the streets as they screamed his name. "Roudini!" They said as they ran off in a random direction, truly eager to let everyone know that Roudini was around and he was performing. So with such an adoring public, how could he deny them their due? Only the best, of course, for he did nothing less.


    Roudini moved his hands in unnatural ways, causing the bones in his fingers to break and bend back as a red energy built up in his hands. Then once the energy built a critical mass of blood-red energy, he let it loose, and suddenly the streets were filled with red lions and blood elephants that kept appearing and disappearing as they went down the street. The panicking people redoubled their efforts to run as fast as their legs could take them. "Do not worry, my adoring public, this is but the opening act of my show. So come follow me to the stage I have chosen." Roudini said with gusto, taking the excitement of the screaming citizens that filled the air as applause for his trick instead of what it truly was, which was sheer terror at what he had unleashed upon them.


    Roudini continued on his way towards the asylum, filled with skilled stagehands to bring his performance to even further heights, as well as being filled with cells for him to use in his next act. "Truly, my next performance will be one for the history books." Roudini said to himself as his strange, illusionary yet solid red lions and blood elephants roared and charged through the streets, batting aside anyone not quick enough to get out of their way.


    Just as Roudini was crossing an intersection, his entourage of red animal horrors cleared a path for him, making sure his adoring fans didn''t stop him from reaching his stage; he suddenly found his path impeded by a giant blue barrier that went around him and furry red creations in a giant blue prism. Roudini looked around for a moment, trying to figure out where the giant blue barrier had come from, and then spotted the source of it. "Ahhh, Shaper, back in the action, I see, and you decided to use me as part of your comeback tour. While I am delighted." Roudini said with a happy chuckle, seeing the prison barrier as just a dash of extra color to his performance.


    "No, Roudini, there isn''t going to be a comeback tour for me because I''m stopping you right here, right now, before you can do anything big." Shaper said as he struggled to not only contain Roudini in his blue barrier but also his horde of conjured lions and elephants that were slamming and clawing at his barrier with everything they had, and these were just the ones in the main prism barrier he had around Roudini and his main stampede; this wasn''t including the smaller pyramids and cubes he had created to contain those red beasts that had broken off from the rest and started to wander off to side streets.


    Shaper, in his classic blue leotard costume, was pushing his skill and power to their absolute limit. Shaper could feel from the pulsating in his skull he was dangerously close to busting a blood vessel from the strain he was under. "While it looks like I''m going to have to be creative! Luckily the animals aren''t real, or I wouldn''t hear the end of it for what I''m about to do from the animal rights activist." Shaper said in a strained whisper before he began to twist the cubes and pyramids, causing the red beast stuck inside them to be bisected in a bloody explosion of light. Now with his attention fully focused on the main prism, the strain lessened on the Shaper, and he increased the power of the prism barrier.


    Roudini had been watching what Shaper had been doing in silence, enjoying what he saw as a fellow showman''s performance, before he began to move himself. Roudini, in his red straight jacket covered in black chains, began to speak in a loud, deep voice. "I do apologize, Shaper, but it appears I have to be in the spotlight of your show. I hope you can forgive me." Roudini said with a sad smile before the chains limiting Roudini''s movement suddenly snapped and disappeared.


    As they did, giant black chains would pierce through the Shaper''s blue energy prism, each one causing a huge crack to appear across the prism. Shaper tried desperately to hold his energy prison, the blue prism, together, but as giant chain after giant chain pierced through it, there wasn''t enough blue barrier to hold together, and the Shaper''s prism barrier collapsed in a dazzling display of falling shards of blue light. Having his barrier suddenly broken after all the effort he kept trying to keep it together sent the Shaper reeling; meanwhile, the Roudini was taking a bow. "I thank you all for coming to see such a wonderful performance and Shaper, most of all, for providing such a wonderful light show." Roudini said with a happy smile, sincerely thanking Shaper, which pissed him right off.


    "I''m not your fireworks guy, jackass." Shaper said with venom before he began forming barriers once again, though this time instead of trapping anything with his 3D shapes, he instead used it far more bluntly, sending forth a blue cylinder barrier to crush the red beast with Roudini. The red beasts were unable to dodge in time and were run over, bursting in a dazzling display of red light. Now that Shaper had finally dealt with all of Roudini''s red animal minions, he then turned to Roudini, who was floating in the air, and proceeded to trap him in one of his most elaborate prison barriers he had ever created.


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


    Shaper trapped Roudini in a cube that was layered. He kept creating layer upon layer for his cube barrier. To add to his cube barrier''s security, he spun the cube as he added to it. So once he was finally done with his hundred-layered prison cube, it was spinning at twenty miles an hour. "Let''s see you get out of that, you Houdini wannabe." Shaper said with venom as he maintained his ever-turning cube prison.


    For a few precious moments it seemed impossible that Roudini could escape Shaper''s layered prison cube and that Shaper would just have to wait for backup from his fellow Wonder Heroes to arrive and help him put away Roudini. That''s when the Roudini boisterous laugh began to feel the square they were fighting in the laugh, giving Shaper the feeling he was going to be disproven very soon. Then suddenly, in a flash of bloody red light, without his straightjacket but now in a classic red magician''s suit with a red top hat, stood Houdini, a good fifty feet away from where Shaper''s prison cube still spun, now empty.


    "Tada! I''m free once again, proving no one can hold Houdini!" Roudini shouted towards his audience, which was mostly people too stupid to run as they recorded the whole fight between Shaper and Roudini, as well as those too wounded from the red beast''s earlier rampage to run. Shaper was about to try an even more elaborate barrier prison than before, but before he could follow through with that plan, he found himself bound in a Roudini straightjacket.


    "Now it''s my turn to help you to be the star performer." Roudini said to the now tied-up Shaper, who could now only wiggle in his binds ineffectively as Roudini created a death trap he was supposed to escape from. Roudini used the surrounding cars as material by shifting them with his blood-red magic. So Shaper quickly found himself staring down three cars turned into some type of spike trap that he was supposed to get through unharmed as part of a performance. "Now my guest appearance, the Shaper shall go through this trap completely unharmed!" Roudini said to his audience, then looked to Shaper, and upon seeing the fear at what was about to happen, whispered to him. "You got this." Roudini said, trying to unironically encourage him,


    Shaper was about to tell him to shove his encouragement up his ass while Roudini was about to drop him into the supposed prop, which was a death trap in every meaning of the word, but both were stopped as Gold King and the rest of his team showed up. Gold King, on his chariot of gold, let loose a good streak of light that shot across the street and hit Roudini''s death trap, turning it into a golden statue of a hand reaching for Roudini.


    "While it appears the show''s over. You were a great stage partner, my friend." Roudini said with a sad tone towards Shaper as he began to make his escape. Before Shaper could make his opinion clear on being a part of Roudini''s act, he proceeded to throw him into the Gold King''s gold hand statue, leaving him trapped in its grips as Roudini''s straightjacket disappeared from him and the Gold King and his court passed him by in hot pursuit of Roudini.


    Shaper would spend hours stuck in the golden hand as he told the first responders that came onto the scene to focus on those injured from Roudini''s red beast. So it was a while before anyone could be spared to get him down and even longer before they could get the special equipment to get him out of the magical gold hand''s grip, as it was very firm in keeping him unless Gold King told it otherwise.


    So once Shaper was freed and finally out of costume, he would have to put in hours at work for the whole thing, claiming he had a family emergency. Sufficed to say, Mark was not pleased with how his first big villain fight had gone and felt he could have done better. So before he went to bed that night, he would write down a note to look up more sophisticated puzzles as examples to use for his energy prisons.


    Meanwhile, a certain duo who had been watching the whole battle through their special TVs began to give their thoughts on the matter. "While that was an interesting one, I gotta admit that Roudini could be quite the crowd pleaser if he could rein in the danger factor of his act." Simon said thinking about the kind of viewer numbers a man like Roudini could pull in.


    "I don''t know, seems like a scandal just waiting to happen. So even if you got viewer numbers for a while, it would eventually just blow up in your face with some big scandal he caused, and then where would you be? Robert stated for once going into the whole viewership side of things with Simon.


    "Fair point, but you could turn even a scandal into more viewer numbers." Simon said, pointing out the age-old tactic of using even bad press to get more eyes as people were always wanting to hear about the latest scandal. Robert countered that point with his own thoughts on the matter.


    "That may very well be true, but it''s also been proven that a bad scandal can ruin people''s perception of what you''re trying to advertise. So while it will give you a small boost short term, it will hurt your numbers long term." Robert stated feeling like he had made his point well.


    Simon and Robert would go back and forth on the subject of publicity, good and bad, and the effects it had in numbers; meanwhile, in the background, the numbers for Allyssa ticked up. It would not be long before the expansions were implemented, and Allyssa, for the first time since its creation, expanded. Though how those that lived on Allyssa dealt with the new lands to be added to their world was what the true question was.

 chapter 29 The new lands

    In the world of wonders and the mad, those who had heard of the supposed movie, The Siege of Carthax, began to find out it was actually based around game footage. Those interested in such things began to flock to Allyssa, and soon Allyssa''s player ranks swelled by thousands until finally there had been enough in the world that had joined, causing the world to mature. This allowed for the world''s very first expansion, causing two new subcontinents to form.


    So the whole world of Allyssa watched in wonder as these two new lands formed. The first land that came was the new land under the domain of Hargal. Hargal would receive for the first time lands that were rightfully his that were in light instead of in the dark depths below as mountains began to form with giant caves in the shape of dragonfly mouths at their peaks. These caves would belong to the Dragolous lords and their ghoulish servants, the dragfly ghouls.


    These first true children of Hargal would rule the mountain peaks and wage war against Detrei and all that she had created and shaped with her very hands, whether Hargal agreed or not, though the Dragolous were not aware of Hargal''s reluctance to the current unending war. To add even greater danger to the mountain''s deeper depths that waited below the surface of Allyssa just beneath the new mountain continent were other sentients who served Hargal and were waiting to be discovered by players.


    Hargal watched all this from his secret lair deep below one of his most secured catacombs, marveling at his creator''s will and work as the new mountain range filled with Hargal''s children and creations seemed to plop into place without any problems as if they had always been there. Once again showing the skill and power of his creator in his ability over creation. For a long while, Hargal simply watched his new children, the ones truly capable of thought, unlike his undead protectors from the early years of the war, as they went about their business.


    He saw his Dragolous lords as they led their dragfly ghouls in their new cave homes and other creatures of their newly founded courts. Though he grew disturbed as he noticed that they started to eye each other''s territory, and despite only being in the world a short time, the Dragolous were already about to have a brutal civil war amongst themselves to establish who was in charge. Hargal decided that was not how the start of the Dragolous history would be; instead, he called upon the first champion of their kind from where he lay in endless sleep and brought him into his personal sanctum.


    Flatek, the first of his kind and champion of his people, came back to undeath with startling swiftness that actually left him disoriented for a moment. Hargal waited for Flatek to get his bearings before making his presence known, which caused Flatek to turn to him. Flatek then gazed at Hargal in awe as he saw the form of the creator of his kind and the master of all undead created on Allyssa.


    "Great Hargal, it is my honor." Flatek said in his usual buzzing voice that came from a dozen different insects acting as one. "I await my punishment for my failure at defending Carthax, as I rightfully deserve, great one." Flatek said to Hargal, making it clear he held himself responsible for the fall of Carthax to Detrei''s forces and willingly awaited any punishment by Hargal for such an act of incompetence.


    Hargal flared his presence once again, stopping Flatek at his self-criticism and begging for punishment to atone for his failure. "Do not worry, Flatek. I do not find fault in your defense of Carthax. No, I have called you from the endless sleep and brought you here to help with another task." Hargal said with a gentle voice as he directed the stunned Flatek over to a dark orb. "I need your help in making the Dragolous lords see peace as an answer; in order to do so, I need you there among them to establish a hierarchy among them." Hargal said in a serious voice.


    "I will secure the throne as leader of the Dragolous lords and make peace the norm among them as you require, my god." Flatek said with conviction, to which Hargal merely nodded before opening a portal that would take Flatek deep into the mountains to establish his reign over his people. Right before Flatek was fully through and in the mountains, he heard Hargal speak to him one last time. "Good luck, my child." Then Flatek was in the mountains charging towards the nearest of his fellow Dragolous to bring them into line with the Hargal vision of them united.


    Meanwhile the second new land to come to Allyssa beside the new Dragfly mountains was jungles under Detrei''s preview. Though unlike Hargal and his Dragfly mountains, Detrei had plans for the expansion, which she acted upon, putting her plan into motion at the moment it was time to do so. Detrei captured a small piece of the expansion and began to change it to fit her designs.


    She did this within her secret church within the most fortified cathedral of all her followers. Her father''s glorious creation was magnificent. Detrei saw that as she changed part of it before it was fully formed. Usually she would have never done such a thing and would have been the first to kill slowly the one who dared to change her father''s work, but in this case she needed to do this to get closer to her father once more.


    Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    So Detrei slowly morphed a single creature among those created for the jungle. As the jungles the creator had introduced were filled with creatures that were reptilian in form but plant in material, creating rather magnificent specimens, anyone who said otherwise could die slowly as far as Detrei was concerned. Detrei had picked what should have been the apex predator, a giant lizard-like thing made out of several different plants that would now be changed to what Detrei needed.


    She slowly began to mold the design of the mighty creature, changing the creature''s internal makeup from one of being plant-based to metal-based. The creature then took on a red tinge with several razor-sharp claws and teeth. She was adding the finishing touches as the pressure began to mount as the expansion was meant to finish at the same time the Dragfly Mountains did. Her preventing that caused a buildup of power that was overpowering her as she couldn''t handle it.


    As the power built, the longer the expansion was being kept from being finished by Detrei, she found herself nearing death. But before she could meet her explosive end, she felt the Creator''s interference preventing her death and allowing her to continue. So instead of exploding, Detrei instead finished her giant red metal T-Rex and then slotted it in, allowing the expansion of the carnivorous fruit jungles to finish, though now with a giant metal lizard that wasn''t meant to be there.


    Detrei went back to watching her father''s work, simply gazing upon the carnivorous fruit jungles and enjoying the splendor of her creator''s creation, proving his greatness once again and his mercy for allowing her to live despite interfering with his vision. She paid special attention to the giant red metal lizard she had molded, the creation she had risked much for. "Soon, father, soon." Detrei said to herself, her eyes taking on a feverish light as she gazed on her creation and the promise it gave for her future.


    Eventually, once she had spent a rather long time gazing upon Alyssa''s new jungle, she started to direct a few of her priests to start sending what would be considered her elite riders from different empires loyal to her to gather new war beasts from the carnivorous fruit jungle. She knew that these new beasts would help in the battles to come, not to mention it would help counter whatever new horrors Hargal forces got from his new mountains.


    While Robert and Simon had been arguing the finer points of publicity and whether the old ways of handling publicity really had a place in the modern day. This conversation was brought to a close as Robert felt the Allyssa expansions finally happen. "It finally happened!" Robert shouted out, focusing his attention on the Dragfly Mountains, as that was the first part of the expansion.


    Luckily Simon wasn''t confused, as he knew there was only one thing Robert could be so excited about. "Well, it looks like your hard work finally pays off, my dear Robert, and might I say you have an eye for detail." Simon said he enjoyed the look of Robert''s mountains and the large dragonfly heads he''d carved into them as Robert quickly showed them on the workshop TV monitors.


    The two were enjoying the Dragfly Mountains, taking in the detail and watching as Hargal''s creations and hus people made their home in the giant Dragfly caves at the peak of each mountain. They had just spotted Flatek appearing, causing Simon to get excited that his rivalry between Flatek and Faro was back on the table.


    But before either could comment on Flatek returning, Robert felt Detrei messing with the carnivorous fruit jungle and made to see what was going on and immediately saw she was in danger of killing herself as she couldn''t handle the power she was messing with. So acting fast, Robert intervened and stopped Detrei from going pop from the overflow of power, but as he did that, he couldn''t see what she was doing.


    Eventually, though, Simon informed him she was finished with whatever she was doing. "She''s done now; you can let go." Simon said, causing Robert to let go of the energy behind the expansion and letting it finish materializing. Robert took a moment leaning back in his floating chair. "What did she even do?" Robert asked Simon, winded, wondering what was so important that she risked exploding to do it.


    "She turned your vegetable T-Rex into a giant red metal T-Rex." Simon said in a dead pan voice which was hard to pull off when you usually spoke like you were coming through a buggy mike but he pulled it off in that moment. Robert just stared at where the voice of Simon had come from for a moment before looking back at his workshop TVs and focusing back on Allyssa, wondering what fresh madness would come next.

 chapter 30 the gathering of an adventure party

    The Golden King and the rest of his hero team had spent many hours searching for the villain Roudini after helping the hero Shaper not become Roudini''s latest failed magic assistant. The search had come up with no results, as Roudini''s escape magic had proven once again to be next to impossible to overcome, so Roudini remained at large.


    So the Golden King, recognizing the futility of the search, called it off, and then he, on his golden chariot, as well as the rest of his team, went back to their base, the Great Light. The Gold King and the other six members of his team all put their vehicles within their base''s garage and then went back to their earlier business before the call had gone out.


    This meant the Golden King was back to stewing in his concerns over the new video game, the world of Allyssa, and the strange things going on with it, as well as what that could mean for the future. He sat at his desk for a long moment trying to figure out all the possible negative outcomes the game could have as the game loaded on his computer.


    Though eventually the game finished downloading, and he found out that supposedly due to all the increased support and purchases, the game now had two expansions, which caused two free modes: hunting and exploring. For hunting, you went into a strange jungle filled with plant-lizard hybrids, and exploring seemed to be some form of adventuring into dungeons.


    He had learned this from the pictures and written details the game''s website had given him on the worlds of Allyssa''s new expansions. "Hmmm, that can''t be good." The Golden King said to himself as his natural thought process came to the conclusion that if the game he suspected of sinister purposes grew in size and scope, then things probably weren''t looking good.


    "So it looks like if I''m going to get to the bottom of this, I better start at the bottom, shouldn''t I?" The Golden King said to himself, getting his game set to start the exploration, figuring out what better way to find out what''s going on than exploring the game''s dark depths. Though before he pressed play, he figured he should gather a couple of his teammates to go with him in case something went wrong.


    Luckily for him, he knew three who would probably love to play a video game as interactive as this, not caring if there was a possible horrible fate in store for them if they played. So with his team already picked, all he had to do was grab the three of them, and luckily they shared interests so much they tended to always be hanging out with each other when not on the hero clock.


    So the Golden King got out of his room and made his way to the central elevator and went down to the lower levels of the team''s tower where his three teammates lived within the base. He waited patiently within the elevator listening to elevator music until he reached his desired floor and walked out of the elevator doors and down into the far less fancy floor than his own.


    He walked down the hallway hearing the loud laughter and jiggering that told him exactly where he needed to go on the floor. So it was no surprise when he quickly found the three noise machines in question, though they were surprised to see him as he usually didn''t come to their floor. They took a moment to straighten themselves up before speaking to him.


    "What brings you here, sir?" George asked a bit nervously. Though to be fair, George was better known by his hero name, the Ashbringer, so called that because of his ability to burn off the impurities with magical flames and then control the magical ashes created from said flames. The golden king looked at him and then at his two usual accomplices, taking the three in for a moment.


    The man to George''s left was Nicolas, or as most knew him, the hero called the distiller for his ability to turn any solid matter into liquid, and to George''s right, to finish off the roll call of this trio, was Roger, or as he was known, the Purifier, as his ability allowed him to mix or remove different gas mixtures. Which was very handy when some psychotic had released a deadly gas, as Roger, aka the purifier, could pull the poisonous elements from the gas, leaving us with a green, completely safe cloud.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    The golden king was done looking them over for a few moments to make sure everything was in order and they hadn''t caused any trouble as they had a tendency to do when they weren''t on the clock. "As you''ve probably heard, a new game has come out in the world of Allyssa." The golden king stated simply, to which the three nodded simply in agreement. Seeing their confirmation of his statement, the golden king then spoke further.


    "Well, I have seen several things about this game that have made me suspicious of it. So I wish to investigate it, starting with the new features it has just gained; to that end, I request you three join me on this quest." The Golden King said simply, causing the trio in front of him to look at him in surprise, not really sure what to make of their leader requesting them to join him in playing a video game.


    "Sure, sir, I guess we''ll meet you in the planning room." George said agreeing to their leader''s request and figuring that the best place to play would be the planning room, where there were several computers for them to use together to play the game. The Golden King simply nodded his head at their suggestion and then proceeded towards the elevator to go to the level the planning room was on.


    Once he was gone, the three looked at each other, none of them speaking for a moment. "While I guess we''re playing video games with the boss?" George finally said, but also asked, as if not really sure what to make of the whole thing, his two friends merely shrugged back at him before they cleaned up their snacks, as they had been in the middle of a movie marathon when the golden king had interrupted.


    Once they were done cleaning up after themselves, they all went into the elevator, and after it went up a few levels, they went at a fast walk to the planning room where the Golden King was waiting for them. They all took a quick seat at the round table in the center of the large room and quickly set up the planning room to play one of the expansions to the world of Allyssa, though they also had a dozen different programs set to monitor the game as they played to hopefully glean any more details of the game''s inner workings for the Golden Kings investigation.


    Soon enough the four heroes were set up and were ready to begin their adventures in the caverns below the Dragfly Mountains in the world of Allyssa. "We go in to the breach, my comrades, so watch yourselves; we don''t know what could be waiting for us." The Golden King said to his teammates before they all pressed the play button and found their minds being sucked into the game.


    "Hey Simon, do you think everyone likes Allyssa?" Robert said his tone of voice was a bit wary of the answer as he watched different news stations in the world of wonders and the mad covering the game world he had created.


    "Of course, Robert, just look at our viewing figures and player count going up, up, up. Seriously, Robert, they''re loving your game, so what brought this on? Simon asked, wondering what could have caused Robert to ask such a question.


    "While I have been watching these reports, trying to get some real feedback and figure out what the people want." Robert said, explaining the beginning of what had caused his current line of thought.


    "Okay, got it. It''s always good to try and improve the goods, but why are you all of a sudden looking for haters?" Simon asked in a genuinely confused tone. As a host who had worked on several multidimensional shows over the years, he had to put up with a fair amount of criticism, and honestly, he had gotten sick of it years ago as it stopped being constructive at the fourth dimension and was just straight-up abusive by the sixth.


    "Well, a few of the news stations have been implying that my game may be dangerous, which means if a few news stations could come to that conclusion, so could some heroes." Robert said, stating his concerns to Simon, who got where he was coming from.


    "Don''t worry, Robert, you gotta remember fear sells it. Sad, but it''s true. None of the stations pushing the whole Allyssa''s danger narrative believe half the stuff they say on TV." Simon told Robert, trying to calm his concerns.


    "Well, that''s fair." Robert said, remembering how in his old life, the news had flip-flopped on an issue sometimes all within the same hour. Remembering this caused Robert to calm down; noticing this, Simon spoke.


    "See, Robert, you get it now. Come on, let''s get off the news and get back to watching Allyssa." Simon said to Robert, who showed his agreement by making the hundreds of TVs that made up his workshop''s wall change to Allyssa. "There we go. Now let''s see what grand things are unfolding in Allyssa today." Simon said as both he and Robert looked to see what grand events were now going on in Allyssa with the lands they had gotten.

 chapter 31 the quest under the mountains begans

    The Golden King found himself, to his own shock, separated from his own body and now flying through a tunnel of blue light at rapid speed. Then just as soon as his journey had started, it stopped, dropping him off in a large and empty stone room, the only source of light in the room being a strange glowing flower hanging from the ceiling.


    The Golden King quickly took a defensive stance, his eyes darting around the room, scanning, trying to find and identify any threats before they made their move to attack him. He found none, though whether there were no threats in the room or that there were and the Golden King just couldn''t spot them, he wasn''t sure. Which was never a good situation to be in, especially when you find yourself in unfamiliar territory.


    Suddenly, as if appearing from thin air, a man was suddenly standing in the center of the room directly below the large glowing flower. The two men locked eyes with one another as they both measured each other, looking for strengths and weaknesses. Suddenly the man who had suddenly appeared spoke to Golden King.


    "While it looks like you are my new trainee and it seems you have some skill already, which is rather good for me, as it will make it easier for me to make you into a soldier." The unknown man said to the Golden King, making him realize he was in some kind of tutorial for the exploration portion of the game.


    "Well before we start, what''s your name, trainee?" The stranger asked the golden king, who nodded respectfully before responding to the question.


    "My name is Golden. What would yours be?" Golden King said as his response, playing along for now with the game until he was shown he needed to act otherwise, as he was here to discover any sinister purposes the game may have, which is easier to do when the game doesn''t suspect you, hence playing along.


    "Well, trainee, my name is Eter, a commander within the armies of the Detreon people and a devout servant of the goddess Detrei. I will be making sure you know how to fight in an enclosed space as part of a unit. So now that introductions are out of the way, march!" The man now named Eter informed Golden King of his name and station before ordering him to march.


    This caused a rather surprising transformation to occur as the golden king suddenly found himself in a glowing green armor seemingly cobbled together by mushrooms before he could make sense of it. The Golden King was marching down a hallway that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The Golden King thought about trying to resist the seemingly overwhelming urge to march but decided to go with it as it seemed to be merely a part of his training in the tutorial.


    Soon enough the Golden King found himself in a new room with his trainer, Eter. It was an intersection in between four hallways: the one he had come down and three others. He looked around the room trying to see why he had been forced to march here, but besides it being an intersection, there didn''t seem to be anything special about the new room that made it any better than the one they were in previously.


    "Good, now that you''re in the training zone, it''s time you got yourself armed." Eter said, waving his hand, causing a huge mushroom to suddenly pop out of the ground, acting as a table, as laid upon it was a mace and a shield. He looked at the two a moment, looking them over, which caused two green screens to appear, giving him details on his new shield and mace.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(0, 128, 0, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Viburnum shield-plant shield- shield type : round shield- description: a round shield with a series of small spherical white flowers at it center around this center are giant leaves that spread around and make up the rest of the shield. The flowers roots make up the strap for the shield to be held- special trait- repellent leafs : this is a plant who''s leaves are an insect repellent so when an undead insect attacks this shield they will not find themselves repelled but burned as well.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(0, 128, 0, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Giant onion mace-plant mace- mace type : spiked mace - description: a giant onion with its roots having manipulated to form both a handle to hold it by and spike to stab into when the giant onion at it end hits. -special traits- big onion : the large onion at the end of the mace always hits harder than it was swung as if the onion mace the opponent is being smashed with is far larger than it actually is.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Now that the golden king had read the details of his odd but seemingly effective plant-based weaponry, he picked them up from the mushroom table and got into a stance, figuring he would have to use his new equipment soon after he had gotten it. Though he did take a moment to give his own armor a look over so that he could get more details in it like he had gotten on his mace and shield.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(0, 128, 0, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Glowing mushroom armor-plant arnor- armor type : scale mail - description: an armor made up of hundreds of glowing mushrooms all sewn together into one piece of armor. -special traits- the great mushroo light: this mushroom arm not is always glowing making perfect for underground exploration for those with poor or no night vision and I''m case of emergencys this armor can let out one giant flash of light to distract and blind enemies.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Well, it seems my armor is good for more than just being a night light, which was a good thing to know the Golden King''s thought before Eter brought his attention back to him. "Well, now that you''re done looking at yourself, it''s time to get to training, so we''ll take the easy course, which will be going down the first hallway on the left." Eter said, pointing down the long hallway for emphasis.


    The Golden King looked at Eter for a moment, wondering if his training really was walking down a hallway. But Eter kept pointing his finger, so the Golden King started walking, keeping his shield raised, figuring even if it was ridiculous, he should at least try to take it as seriously as he could. So that''s why he was in no way ready when a few feet down the corridors he found a burning sensation in his shoulder as something took a chunk out of it.


    He rolled to the ground and brought his shield up in time to block the following strike as one of the vines that were scattered throughout the long cavern hallway was blocked from its second peeling of his flesh by his bringing up of his shield in time. Golden King found himself breathing hard for a moment, the sudden intense pain and movement causing him to hyperventilate for a moment before he swiftly brought it under control.


    "Well, it seems you found your trying partner for this path." Eter said from back in the main chamber. "You see, Hargal likes to create undead that are a part of their surroundings, used to defend his tombs with such creatures. So we figured it''s best if you get trained to get used to your environment suddenly trying to kill you." Eter said plainly as more hidden vines suddenly shot out from the walls to try and kill Golden King.


    Golden King was listening to Eter talk and at the same time, the hidden vines around him were trying their damndest to kill him. I can already tell I''m going to love it here, the Golden King thought to himself as he went deeper into the hallway, hoping to find the source of all the vines trying to kill him at its end.


    Robert watched on as the new batch of players was trained in how to fight in the new regions; well, those that had already been playing simply began exploring the new parts of the world. "Well Simon, it seems the players are enjoying the new editions at least." Robert said with a positive tone, happy at all the positive feedback back for the recent additions.


    "So am I, Robert." Simon suddenly said, speaking up. "All these new areas and new players have caused my ratings to go up as the viewers enjoy the shows unfolding on Allyssa." Simon was ecstatic as any host would be when finding out they were getting good ratings.


    "Well, good to hear, I suppose." Robert always deciding not to put a damper on Simon''s usual ranting obsession. "So I suppose on seeing new things you want to see how new players are doing as they train before they explore Hargal''s new mountains?" Robert asked, figuring it would be something interesting for them both to see.


    "Of course, Simon, it''s always great for ratings to watch the newbies screw up; it always gets the crowd roaring with laughter." Simon said, his voice filled with excitement that Robert decided to ignore as the two focused on the wall of TV screens and saw what the training was for those looking to explore the Dragfly mountains.

 chapter 32 the trials of deadly halls part 1

    The Golden King found every step he took to be a challenge as every step forward through the tunnel he was in was contested as another vine would suddenly appear and strike at him usually calming at him from a bad angle that was hard for him to block with his shield. Not to mention his main and only weapon was a mace which was a large and blunt weapon good for bashing things.


    It was not good would came to reacting quickly to sudden strikes which he had to keep doing as it tried to reach the end of the hallway where he hoped there would be a way to finally stop the constant sudden and hidden attacks by cave vines. " Where do they keep coming from!" Golden King roared out clearly frustrated with the situation as well as in pain from the ambushes by the cave vines that had gotten through causing him to have a several painful bleeding cuts scattered all over his body from the surprisingly sharp and fast vines.


    The Golden as he was calling himself in this game took a breath which turned out to be a mistake as at that exact moment three seperate vines slammed themselves into his shield that he''d been holding in front of himself as he moved. The sudden slam into the shield at the same time he was exhaling caused him to let out a gasp as he was sent stumbling to the floor on his knees.


    Then he found himself needing to turtle behind his shield as several more cave vines we''re now striking at him due to his now very vulnerable position. " You can do this." Golden said to himself in a firm whisper as he slowly went from his knees to his feet standing tall and began to charge ahead simply ignoring the vines as they strikes at him from wherever they were hiding within the cavern hallway making sure to hold his shield in front of him as he charged through like a battering ram.


    Eventually his charge ended leaving him gasping and covered in painful bleeding cuts but he was now at the other end of the hallway in a small stone chamber with one entrance which was where he had come from. Golden went to a knee getting his breath back but making sure his shield and mace were at the ready. As he got his breath back in his lungs the Golden scanned the room hopping to find a source of all the vines that had been attacking him but only seeing varying shades of brown rock.


    Once he got his breath fully back Golden stood back up and made for the center of the chamber hoping that maybe looking from there would let him see something that he had missed. Once he got to the center of the room he began to slowly turn himself in a circle looking at every inch of the room trying to see if they''re really was a source of the vines in the chamber or if he was going to have to charge back to the where had started while being cut by the sharp ambush vines.


    Just as the Golden was facing back the way he had come and was about to walk back out of the chamber the creature that had been hiding in the far side of the chamber which was now behind him striked. Luckily years of being a hero let him sense the attack right before it his so he was able to roll away knowing he couldn''t turn around in time. The sudden roll hasn''t gotten out of the creatures reach but had negated a good bit of the damage its attack would have done.


    " Dammit!" Golden shouted in pain making it known that only being partially hit by the creature still hurt. He turned around the roll giving him the distance he needed and behold the creature that had been tormenting him in the cavernous hallway which caused stats to appear.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(0, 128, 0, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">The unfound strike-tier two- predator beast-plant type- ambush- description- one giant root with a maw of green fangs in its center and thousand of vines growing out of it.-specialist trait- browning of vines- this predator has it''s vines turn brown when not in use allowing them to bleed in with their rocky surroundings but they turn green when in use.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Golden looked at the stats for the creature examining then and realizing way he hadn''t been able to see the vines until they attacked they''d been blending into the cave walls until he came within striking distance. As if to prove this point several of the unfounded Strikes roots twitched causing a flow if green to go up some of its plant roots causing a good dozen vines in the tunnel to to turn green then pp of the wall and try and pierce him in the skull.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    " Well it seems to not like me being so close to it. Well to bad because I''m getting closer." Golden said before he closed in as he slowed stepped up adjusting his shield to bare the brunt of the vines onslaught though his armor was finally doing its job. As unlike before when the vines had been aiming for unarmored weak points the creature was clearly to panic to do that now.


    So it instead lashed out in beastial panic rather than the earlier cunning it has displayed. This allowed the Golden to slowly close the distance from the other side of the chamber where his earlier roll had taken him. Once he was only a good ten feet away from the beast he charged with his shield in front with one hand and his giant onion mace above his head with the other.


    He had closed in on the monster bringing his giant onion mace high before burning it down as hard he could before the monster could do anything causing large part of the creature to shatter as the power of the mace to activate and the creature to let out a roar of agony. In this moment of distracted agony Golden striker again doing even more damage and killing the beast or so he thought.


    As golden stood there believing heavily looking at the shattered main body of the beast that had attacked and wounded him feeling the sweetness of victory from winning against the monster the thought to be dead monster let out one jerky momevent and swung one last time with one of its vines causing a great wide cut across Golden''s throat causing his hands shoot up to stop the bleeding despite knowing it would be no use.


    Then a hand reached over and moved his weakening ones out of the way and applied a special green cream that immediately stopped the bleeding causing Golden to let out a sigh of relief. He looked to who has save him and saw it had been Eter the man in charge of his instructions.


    " Well I gotta admit besides the end there you did a pretty good job there." Eter said complimenting golden on his well he had done as he had been impressed with his performance. As he had been watching the entire time with special giving to only those training in the name Detrei well as far as he knew.


    "In no thanks to you." Golden said a feeling a bit agonistic as he had been rather annoyed being cut by so many vines not to mention his throat being slit at the end. Eter merely smirked at him for a moment before rersponding.


    " What did you think I would hold your hand?" Eter asked looking at Golden with a raised eyebrow before he spoke again. " Now stop talking and enjoy your break you got two more hallways to go." Eter said with a smug smile to which golden merely laid down taking full advantage of his break.


    " Hmm gotta say Simon did not expect Detrei to get so draconian with her training." Robert said a bit surprised at how Detrei has players being trained how to fight underground by fighting there was through plan monster infested tunnels. As that seemed a bit extreme for a starting point to underground combat in Allyssa.


    " Well it is a bit but hey it''s great for ratings nothing guiet gets all those eyeballs like a new recruit trying not to die in extreme basic training." Simon said staying in the positive side since his rating were still good though Robert supposed if those started to dip he would change his thoughts on it in a heart beat.


    " I think you just had a horrible dirty thought Robert. Why I am I thinking that Robert?" Simon asked Robert rather intensely somehow sending he had thinking negative thoughts that could relate to his ratings. So Robert deciding this was getting dangerous changed the subject.


    " No idea Simon anyway we got rookies to see be eaten by vegetables don''t we for the ratings right?" Robert asked figuring that turning the conversation towards positives for ratings would get Simon on board for a subject change and of course he was swiftly proven right about that.


    " Of course for the ratings though I will admit I do find it hilarious. Not like we can feel guilty about it since your players don''t get hurt they just get sent back to their real bodies if they get a game over. So it''s back to the viewing of vegetable vs man and vegetable is winning." Simon said as the two focus went back to the wall of TV screen to monitor the evolving situation with the trainees.

 chapter 33 the trials of deadly halls part2

    The Golden found himself walking down the second hallway holding his Viburnum shield in front of him as he moved forward, having to move slowly under constant attack and swinging his giant onion mace as much as possible. This was because, unlike before, the threats in this hallway were not hidden, waiting to ambush him, but were overflowing, trying to overwhelm him through sheer numbers.


    Golden managed to block a few more stings with his shield while sending a few of the other creatures crashing to the ground with his giant onion mace. This latest sideswing of his had given him some breathing room, so he used it to identify the creatures that the cavern hallway was filled with as he stared at the broken corpses on the ground for a moment, causing a stats screen to appear.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(0, 128, 0, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">The swarming petal-tier one- swarm beast-plant type- swarm- description- a creature made out of petals made into the shape of various aggressive insects such as hornets or wasp-specialist trait- infinite petal- this creature never runs out of petals which is good because in battle it uses the petals that make up it''s body by sharpening them to stab enemies.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The Golden having gotten the details of the creatures, though he had lost his breathing room as more and more of the swarming petals came to give him a game over. Though the golden cane came to the conclusion that the Swarming Petals were probably being spawned by something at the end of the cavernous hallway. So once again he found himself having to charge down the hallway, though this time it was so he wasn''t overwhelmed by the creatures sheer numbers.


    He was stabbed repeatedly by the strange petal stingers of the swarm, but thankfully the stingers weren''t as dangerous as the vines before them, and his shield was just as good for bashing them as his mace was. Which made his charge through the swarm far more effective than it had been through the vines, though as he ran through, he feared this hallway was actually longer than the previous one, which made it easier for the swarm to wear him down.


    "Not now, not today." Golden said firmly to himself as he pushed through the thousands of the swarm of petals that had filled every inch of the hall. He did not let the creatures stop him despite the hundreds that had put themselves on his limbs slowing him down, and it didn''t matter when he swung his giant onion mace to kill them, for they were soon replaced, but soon enough, through sheer determination, he reached the other end of the long, cavernous hallway where his true quarry awaited.


    There in the center of a stone chamber was a giant flower that kept creating swarm petals at a rapid pace. "Well, it appears if I am to win, I must stop you, your Highness, and as one ruler to another, I apologize." Golden said in an apologetic tone as he looked over the creatures that had appeared before him.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(0, 128, 0, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">The swarm queen flower-tier two- brood beast-plant type- brood- description- a giant flower with thousand of pink petals along with a green spine and brown roots - petal brood- this queen of flowers uses it always replenishing thousand petals to create a constant stream of a petal based insects that attack all who enter its domain.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The large flower continued to spawn a swarm of petal insects to try and destroy him, though he could tell there seemed to be a certain frenzy to its movement as if the swarm queen flower was panicking that he had gotten so close. "I apologize that I have caused you to act undignified near your end queen. Allow me to end you before you soil your dignity even further." Golden said politely to the panicking monster flower before charging at it, to which its swarm petals countercharged him with their swarm.


    The two sides clashed in the chamber, both putting their all in their charge as the swarm formed into a constant stream trying to force Golden back, but they were not enough as they could not stop the golden determination. So step by step he made his way closer to the swarm queen flower until finally he was in range and brought his mace high in the air.


    "This is goodbye, your highness. I hope history is kind toward the details of your rule." Golden stated simply before bringing down his giant onion mace on the flower queen, ending her and her rule. As once his mace made contact, the flower queen exploded in a shower of plant guts, and her swarm fell to the ground not soon after.


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    Golden stood there a moment, breathing heavily, and like before, Eter made himself known behind him. "Well done there. I take it you need a minute." Eter stated, not really asking, figuring from Golden''s heavy breathing that he did need a minute to rest. Golden didn''t respond; instead, he ignored the offered rest time and walked back the way he had come, wanting to go down the third and final hallway, which would finish the tutorial.


    He took the way back slow, not pushing himself, so after a far longer time than it took him to charge down the cavernous hallway, he had walked back down it. Finding himself back in the central chamber, he then took a quick breath, then brought his shield up, then began his march down the third and final trial of the tutorial.


    He had barely made it a few steps down when it was made very clear this would be very different from the previous trials. As the cavern walls were covered in moss, stone creatures that were staring at him were waiting for him to get closer. That''s when he felt Eter standing behind him, though he didn''t turn around to face him as he did not want to turn his back on the most creatures.


    "Well, trainee, this third trial is optional, just so you know. But if you decide to take this trial, you just need to make it to the other side; that''s it. There''s nothing waiting for you on the other side." Eter said simply making it clear the simplicity of the trial. Golden looked at the army of angry-looking moss monsters, then back at Eter. "If you get killed trying the third trial, you get spawned in the Dragfly Mountains instead of being sent to wherever you come from." Eter said, responding to the unasked question.


    So Golden felt this was the best time to test the question on whether or not what he saw in the promotional movie had been people being teleported out, so he simply charged into the third cavern tunnel. This caused the moss creatures that filled the cavern to charge at him in a green frenzy. Golden had a moment right before him, and the force of green rage met, allowing him to see their stats screen.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(0, 128, 0, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Moss racer ants-tier two- calvary beast-plant earth type- brood- description- a mix of moss and rocks forming the general shape if an ant this creatures are always in a rage for all those who dared enter the paths they call there''s- green charge- these creatures charges grow far more powerful and dangerous when on the green moss marked paths of their territory.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Golden had only a few moments to look down and see the green moss paths that covered the cavern hallways floor before looking back to the moss racer ants heading his way. Golden, realizing what was about to happen, had one word to say: "Shit." He stated simply before he was reduced into a red smear as the moss racer ants sudden fast charge ran him over in an instant charge too fast for him to react.


    What was left of the Golden began turning into light as he was beginning to spawn into the Dragfly mountains. Though before he left he heard Eter speak to him. "That last one was more a trial and more a lesson on death traps. Hopefully, you''ll have learned it." Eter said in an even tone before Golden was gone completely, as he would find himself somewhere else with Eter''s final words ringing in his ears.


    "Well, I gotta say, Robert, your Detrei has really come through on this one." Simon said as both men looked at the many different players going through the tutorial for the Dragfly mountains. It was rather interesting to say the least, as many players had many comic fails, but the more competitive ones timed themselves and redid the tutorial hoping to better their times.


    "Yes, she did. Honestly, though, I might have to do something with all the player footage." Robert said he should probably create some kind of official record-keeping for the fastest times to placate the competitive players.


    "I see where you''re going here, and I agree; it''s always a good boost for long-term viewer numbers when you have some kind of scoreboard that''s changing, as people tend to want to know who''s number one." Simon said his obsession with boosting viewer numbers was coming through once again.


    "Fair enough. I suppose I''ll get on it while you watch and make sure everything is running smoothly." Robert asked Simon, wanting to get on with the improvement but also wanting to make sure he would be informed in case anything went wrong.


    "Of course, Robert, you know I wouldn''t let you miss the action." Simon stated before focusing back on the TV screens to see the players and their hijinks, while Robert got to working on a system that would help deal with the scorekeeping the competitive players wanted.

 chapter 34 the start of a heroes quest!

    Golden found himself suddenly in a fortress. He was in its outer area. So he took a moment to reorient himself; once he had shaken off the effects of the sudden shift in location, he began to walk to a gathering point. As the game had explained before he started, before he pressed start, after he did the tutorial, he would be sent to the fortress that was the entrance into the Dragfly Mountains for players.


    He had also formed a party, which was an option that meant he and his three fellow heroes would be placed near each other in the gathering area with a rally point for us to go to. So as Golden made his way over to the rally point, he let his mind wander to the recent tutorial and how that had gone for him. As it would be good to see the teleportation shown on the game footage wasn''t a cover for player deaths, at least so far as his first test had shown.


    Though he did wonder how well other players would do on the tutorial considering that a lot of civilians would probably panic and get a game over within the first few feet of the trial hallways. His interest getting the better of him, he began to listen to the conversations around him as he began to close in on the rally point, and he wasn''t liking what he was hearing.


    As it was quickly made apparent that many players tutorials were not nearly as difficult. As it seemed many of what he was guessing were civilians rather than heroes or soldiers were getting more basic training, such as how to wield the mace provided as well as how to run in the armor. Then, to end this basic tutorial, they were given a far more basic version of the creatures he had fought.


    He was beginning to wonder why he had been given the more difficult tutorial and if the game somehow knew his attention to investigate it and was trying to actively dissuade him. Then he remembered what Eter had said when he had suddenly appeared in the center of the room, surprising Golden at the time.


    He had said. "While it looks like you are my new trainee and it seems you have some skill already, which is rather good for me, as it will make it easier for me to make you into a soldier." Is exactly what Eter had said word for word. Which, if he had to guess what that meant when reading in between the lines. Eter had already identified him as an experienced warrior, which meant instead of being trained on which side to hold a mace from, he was instead given a more advanced tutorial.


    Well, I suppose royalty such as myself should always strive to prove myself above the average golden thought with a hint of bitterness that he usually never felt at taking the harder road. Though before Golden could examine the feeling any deeper, he found himself at the rally point with his fellow team members. He looked the three over, and as far as he could tell, they seemed fine.


    But it never hurt to verify. "So are you three alright, and did you do well in your tutorials?" Golden asked, to which the three looked at each other for a moment before George responded for the three of them. He was a tall man with brown hair who was wearing the same armor Golden had been given.


    "We are in good shape, and we did okay as we passed through the tutorial alright." George said, answering his questions. Golden looked over them for one second, noting they''d all been given the same equipment, then nodded to George before waving for all three to follow in behind him, to which the three heroes did.


    Golden led the group of four to a specific place he had found about it in the details for the exploration of the Dragonfly Mountains portion of the game. He was making his way towards the gates leading out of the fort, as what he was looking for would be there. His three followers, not really sure where they were going, looked at each other and shrugged as they continued to follow Golden.


    He and the rest of his team finally reached the outer gate, and Golden soon found what he was looking for not far from the gate. In fact, what he was looking for was right next to it, as what he was looking for had been a notice board. As part of the way exploration went, instead of just wandering the Dragfly mountains and their underground in perpetuity, they instead mapped out certain areas and brought back the maps.


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    This allowed the forces under Detrei to gain more knowledge of the Dragfly mountain as well as giving players a goal instead of having them wonder aimlessly. In fact, depending on what information the players find in the Dragfly Mountains, a quest will be created for players to act on. Which makes the notice board altogether very important for those wanting to explore.


    Golden looked on the notice board and found a paper on a section of the Dragonfly Mountains that hadn''t been explored yet by anyone that was deep in the mountains underground. He grabbed that one and began making his way to the guards at the gate to accept the quest. As he and the others walked to the front gate guards, George decided to ask him why that task for himself and the other two that were in the group.


    "So why take a task that has us exploring so deep in the Dragfly Mountains?" George asked, clearly nervous about going that far deeper than everyone else has, and from the looks of his two compatriots, they shared his sentiments. Golden looked at him for a moment as the four walked, getting closer to the gate guards.


    "I took that task specifically because we are specifically here to investigate this game, and what better way to do that at the bottom than by going deeper into Allyssa than any player has gone before?" Golden stated simply in a steady voice. The point made by Golden was a logical one as best George could tell, or his two compatriots as well.


    So he simply fell back in with the others as the four reached the gate guards. Who were the Detreons that were covered in some kind of heavy plant armor? One of them held out his hands, clearly having seen the paper in Golden''s hand or having done this so many times he was doing it out of habit; either way, Golden had quickly put the task sheet in his hand.


    Once the sheet was in the gate guard''s hand, it disappeared in a green light, and in its place appeared a rolled-up map and a badge. The outer gate guards painted to a stable outside the walls and then passed the map and badge to Golden. Then the guard went back to what he was doing earlier, which was scanning for threats.


    Golden and George looked at each other for a moment before shrugging at each other, figuring that was the end of what they needed to do. So they began to make their way over to the stable and the start of their adventure proper to the Dragonfly Mountains underground.


    "Huh, gotta say, Robert, it is fun watching so many people lose their tops over meaningless things in the end." Simon said, watching as people had meltdowns over the fact of whether they had taken the advanced or basic tutorial. As people were already starting elite groups and dramas over the whole thing, which he found hilarious.


    "Yes, Simon, I do admit it is funny to hear people talk about how being run over by the moss racer ants makes you top tier or not." Robert said, chuckling a bit to himself as he worked on the record-keeping system.


    "Yes, Robert, glad to see you agree with me. I know the viewers agree; watch those viewer numbers skyrocket." Simon said his voice eager as his numbers did very well from all the comedy and drama going in with the two different tutorials.


    Robert, not wanting to bother with Simon''s rating obsessions again, decided to focus completely again on his record-keeping system. "Well, that''s good to hear, Simon. Now I''ll leave you to that while I keep working on the game systems." Robert stated simply as he got back to work.


    "Sure thing, Robert. Be sure to tell me when the rankings are up; I''ll want to show my viewers." Simon requested, to which Robert nodded as he got back to work. So Simon himself got back to watching the action going on at the Dragfly Mountains on Allyssa.

 chapter 35 the trip above ground to go underground

    Golden and the rest of his team found themselves on the backs of catacomb smashers, which were a unique breed of war horses that belonged only in the world of Allyssa. It was an interesting experience as, despite his hero theme being that of a noble and rich king, he couldn''t actually remember ever riding an actual horse before, so even if it was with his mind in another body, it was nice to know what it was like to ride a horse.


    The four of them were being led to the specific cave entrance they needed to go to by one of the many guides that had been waiting for them at the stables. Their guide was a quiet sort and hadn''t even given his name; he''d merely asked for where they were going, and once he''d gotten that, he started on the path that would take them where they wanted to go. He''d not made any noise besides the occasional grunt to get their attention as he directed them to a sudden turn they were going to make or something else of that nature.


    So Golden took in their surroundings as they were still in Detrei''s territory, or at least the people that worshipped her anyway. As he could make out a thriving plant life everywhere he looked, which was pretty far, as the fort their journey started at was surrounded by flat plains, allowing for a clear line of sight for a fair distance.


    The only thing to obstruct this view was the Dragfly Mountains, which were interesting to see. As even from a distance you could make out giant dragonfly heads sticking out of the side of the mountain, somehow glaring at the area around them. Which was rather hard to do, Golden figured, with large bug rock eyes, but the statue heads somehow managed it.


    Golden took his eyes off the scenery as he came to a realization he probably should have come to earlier, and that was what did his teammates call themselves in the game. So figuring it was a good time to know, he looked to George and asked. "Hi George, what did you and the other two call yourselves in Alyssa?" Golden asked rather bluntly to George, who looked at him shocked for a moment before answering.


    "Well, I decided to go by Asher on account of my second name, sir, and we''ll the others." George said before turning towards his two companions, who had been riding just behind Golden and Asher, as such could hear them well. The two men looked at each other for a moment, and for whatever reason, Nicolas was picked to go first of the two in telling their game names.


    "I went with Distil, sir." Nicolas said a bit hesitantly in the back of his horse, his dirty blond hair catching the breeze and his brown eyes twitching in worry, but Golden didn''t respond to Distil; he merely looked at the last member of the group, Roger, and waved at him to come out with it.


    "I went with Purf, sir." The now-named purf said with a rather nervous tone of voice his giving of his new gamer name, rounding out the named gamers. Golden merely glanced at the three of them for a moment, making the three nervous for a long moment before nodding once and focusing back on the mountain the guide was leading them to.


    "Rather interestingly named, but they work as far as they can tell." Golden said in a plain voice, shocking the other three members of the group, who all looked to each other for a moment in shock before focusing forward, figuring they better focus forward and not on whatever mind games the golden king was playing with them.


    For a long moment there was silence among the group as they enjoyed the scenery and kept to the company of their own thoughts. The silence was broken when the guide soundly grunted, getting the attention of the group, and began to speak. "Get ready; there''s a fight coming our way." He stated simply, not saying what was coming or how he knew that.


    The others, trusting their guide''s experience, pulled their shields and maces from where they had been strapped to their backs and then got into a close group around their guide. Though rather than their riding skills being the reason for them being able to pull into such a tight formation, it was more their war horses, the catacomb smashers'' intelligence showing as they seemed to easily figure out what their riders intended.


    So the four heroes held their shields up in front of themselves, waiting for whatever their guide was warning them about, but they didn''t see or hear anything for a long moment. Golden was about to ask their guide what exactly they were preparing for, as he couldn''t sense any threat, nor from what he could tell, any of his teammates.


    That''s when he heard a strange stabbing noise as a group of creatures charged their way towards the group on insect legs. "Good ears." Golden stated complimenting their guide''s great hearing before whatever was charging at them out in the distance closed in on them. The guide merely nodded his acceptance of the compliment, seemingly more bothered at the sudden stop of their journey than whatever creature was heading towards them with the probable intention of ripping them apart.


    The creatures off in the distance got closer rather quickly, showing their speed, and as they closed the distance between themselves and his group, Golden had a rather sudden but important thought. They''d never fought on horseback before, and they hadn''t trained to do so either, which might be a problem, but considering how rapidly the enemy was closing in, they couldn''t exactly get off their war horses either.


    So his other three teammates came to the same realization he had about how prepared they were to fight on horseback. That was when their enemies finally closed in only a few meters away from not slowing their charge at all. This gave Golden and his group only a few moments to look at their status screens so they knew exactly what they were dealing with.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(128, 0, 128, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Ancentauri - tier two- dark insect- calvary zombie- Trait: eternal roamers - so long as these zombies remain on the move they are in boosted state if they are ever stopped or slowed down they will enter a weakened state- description- a creature with a the lower half of a giant ant and with a humanoid torso coming out of the middle of the lower body back. The upper body has six arms, and two eyes giant insects eyes that are utterly black which are hard to make out as it''s shells is also black just if a different shade.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    "Well, it looks like we have found the first trial on our quest." Golden stated simply as he looked upon what looked to be a small raiding group of about twelve, which meant three for each of them, as he wasn''t taking their guide into consideration as he was a non-combatant as far as he was aware. This was going to be as fun as taking on what seemed to be a dozen eternally charging insectoids while on horseback was always a great idea for rookie horseback riders.


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    Golden didn''t have much more time to think about their circumstances as he found himself having to defend himself from a three-pronged attack. As each of the Ancentauri had a blade of bone in each of their hands, which meant he and the rest of his team had to block a barrage of bone blades. As one Ancentauri came at him from the left, swinging all six blades at him, he brought his shield up to block them.


    Golden succeeded in blocking the six swings as they needed to be fast due to the Ancentauri''s own ability that had them keep moving. But even with the strikes being quick, the booster status of the Ancentauri caused his quick slashes to pack a punch. Though he couldn''t let his shield arm settle as the second stage occurred and a second Ancentauri came at him from the right, the golden one found himself having to block a second barrage of six blades, managing, but now his shield arm was shaking like a tuning fork.


    He had no time, though, to try and steady his arm as the third Ancentauri came at him from his right, having no other choice but to bring his shield arm to block another six slashes. He managed but barely, with his shield arm shaking so badly from all the repeated, fast, heavy slashes that his arm was about to let his shield go just because he was having trouble keeping his hand holding it.


    Golden took a breath and looked to his teammates and saw they were still holding on but had done just as well as he had. Which he supposed was the point to use a series of fast attacks that destroyed you on the first go-around or wore you down till it did. As if to illustrate his point, they could see the group of twelve Ancentauri coming back around for another pass.


    Golden thought hard for a moment, knowing they needed to do something as they probably survived another pass like the previous one, at least not without losing someone. So he thought about the situation for a moment, trying to think of anything they could do to change the situation before they found themselves under another blade onslaught.


    That''s when it hit him: they can''t stop, and the group just so happens to have maces that are far above their weight class. " Aim for the ground!" Golden shouted out to the others as he brought his mace to hear getting released to strike the ground when the moment was right. His compatriots looked at him for a moment as if he had lost his mind, then they realized what his plan was and prepared to carry it out.


    So just as the Ancentauri were closing in for another round of attacks, Golden and the rest of his team struck the ground with their giant onion-head maces, causing huge craters to form and dirt to go everywhere. The Ancentauri seeing the craters tried to stop but couldn''t in time for most of them, causing eight of the twelve to fall in and leaving the other twelve stopped in front of Golden and his team.


    Now being stopped, the Ancentauri had not only lost their boost but had become weaker. So Golden and his team leaped at them, hoping to take them down quickly before going after their downed comrades. This did not work, as even weakened, the Ancentauri proved themselves to be the skilled superiors to Golden and his team, holding them off long enough for the now wounded Ancentauri to get out of the crater and make their way off the field.


    Once their wounded comrades were safely off the field, the four Ancentauri warriors broke off their battles and followed after them. Golden and his team did not follow after them; instead, they got their breath back and looked over their wounds, which they had gained from the brief battle.


    "Well, now that nonsense is over, we can continue on our way." Their guide suddenly said, surprising the others, as he began to head off to their destination heedless of whether Golden and his team were following him. Golden and the others looked at each other, sighed, and then began to have their catacomb smashers go after his.


    "Well, Robert, it looks like Hargal is matching Detrei with his own interesting stuff. As these Ancentauri are making quite the name for themselves around the Dragfly mountains." Simon said a note of interest in his voice as Robert continued to be focused on his system that will keep track of things in Allyssa for the competitive players.


    Robert looked over for a moment before focusing back on his work. "Yes, Gargal is doing a good job with his crafting as usual." Robert said he found himself filled with pride at Hargal''s crafting ability to turn undead into something more than just shuffling corpses.


    "Yes, in fact, I''ve been seeing arguments among our fans who are mad scientists and necromancers about how ants should be used. As they''ve been so inspired by Hargal''s work, they''re arguing about how ants should be best used." Simon said, clearly excited, as all that fan engagement was always a good thing as far as a host was considered.


    This new information made Robert a bit concerned about the new ant horrors that might be unleashed in other worlds across all of reality due to his creation of Allyssa. But he put it out of his mind as the genie was already out of the bottle, so it was best to focus on his work.


    "That''s great to hear, Simon. Though if you don''t mind, I''m going to focus back on my work." Robert said in a polite voice to Simon as he went back to trying to work out how to calculate and score all the competitive aspects of an entire world.


    "Sure thing, Robert. I''ll let you get back to work and tell you if anything else interesting is going on." Simon said in an eager voice as he turned back towards the TV walls in Roberts''s workshops to continue watching the wonderful and exciting world of Allyssa.

 chapter 36 run to the entrance

    The guide led the four heroes quickly down a path towards their destination as if the earlier battle with the Ancentauri had disturbed him, but as far as the four could tell, their guide had never been bothered by the threat of the Ancentauri. So with this increase of pace, despite the lack of an interest in the threat that was in the area, the group looked towards each other, having a silent conversation before Asher, having lost the silent conversation, and so he has his catacomb smasher go closer to the guide.


    "Our dear guide, would you please tell us what''s bothering you?" Asher asked the guide as politely as he could, hoping that the guide would tell him whatever was causing him to suddenly increase their pace despite having driven off the earlier group of Ancentauri.


    The guide didn''t speak for a long moment, merely continuing to ride his catacomb smasher that was leading the rest of theirs. Asher was about to ask again when he finally spoke. "Ancentauri always moving and never staying still." He stated simply, to which Asher merely stared at him, confused at why exactly he was saying something the group had already figured out.


    The guide continued to speak, and what he said made it very clear to Asher why he had said the earlier statement. "In order to make sure they can all stay moving, they break up into smaller groups and come together when one of them loses something to fight it together." The guide said simply, which was rather interesting, as he had just admitted the group they had defeated was in fact part of a much larger swarm, and from his increased pace, they could expect them to come looking for them.


    Asher looked to the others and saw from the grim looks on their faces they had heard and so they also tried to match the increased speed of their guide, but they weren''t experienced riders, and so they could only go so fast without risking falling off their mounts. So they went at a rather fast trot rather than the speed the guide was probably aiming for, but luckily they could see a cave entrance, which is probably the one they were looking for.


    Unluckily, they could also hear what sounded like a weird alien train coming at them at full speed. The group looked over their shoulders to see a far larger group of Ancentauri coming at them at full speed. So not having that long to go, the group risked it and rushed their catacomb smashers to rush the last bit of the same distance, causing Golden and his teammates to hold on for dear life.


    They made it at the cave entrance to the part of the underground they were going to explore. Golden and the rest of his team quickly dismounted and then went inside, hoping the Ancentauri wouldn''t follow them into the underground. Asher, though, turned back and looked at their guide, who had stayed with the war horses. "Come on, we got to get going before the Ancentauri swarm us!" Asher said, panicking as he saw the Ancentauri closing in on them and desperately trying to get their guide to hurry and come in with them.


    The guide looked at him calm and not at all concerned by the swarm of Ancentauri heading towards them. "Don''t you worry about me, rookie. I know how to ride unlike you and your body, so I''ll be long gone by the time our little friends show up. Now get your ass in the cave. The Ancentauri won''t follow you because the cave belongs to another group, and they''re respectful about that kind of thing around here." The guide stated calmly while waving to get on in the cave.


    Asher stared at him for a moment but decided to believe him. "Well, thanks for taking us here." Asher stared politely before running into the cave, and upon seeing the karly of charges go into the cave, the guide turned him and the other catacomb smashers around and then proceeded to move like the wind. Easily outpassing and outmaneuvering the Ancentauri as he took certain paths that always gave him an edge or made the most of his head start, proving why he was a guide.


    Meanwhile, Golden and the rest of his team made their way deeper into the cave, finally beginning the underground part of their adventure. Asher, who had caught up to the rest of his team, told them what the guide had just told him. "This cave belongs to something that is not the Ancentauri, which was why they had backed off. They respect whatever is down here and won''t trespass its territory." Asher said, eyeing the cave walls, wondering what exactly was in there with them.


    Golden took the news in stride and simply said."Have your mace and shield at the ready." Golden ordered, to which the other three nodded, then proceeded to get their mace and shield off their backs from where they had stored them and got battle-ready for anything that could start swinging at them.


    They slowly made their way forward, keeping together in a bunched group, each of them facing a different direction as they slowly moved deeper into the underground cave system. There was a sort of tension in the air as if they were being watched and whatever was watching them was waiting for the exact moment to make their move.


    All of a sudden the group heard the crying of a woman further in the group; they were surprised, wondering if they somehow misheard it when it happened again. So suspicious but not willing to abandon a possibly helpless woman in undead territory, they cautiously but quickly make their way further down the cave. Eventually the group finds where the female sobbing is coming from. It was coming from a small cavern that broke off from the main cavern chamber.


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


    So Golden and his team cautiously ventured into this smaller side chamber and found a weeping woman in the back, her face in her hands as she continued to let out a constant sob. "Where here, ma''am, we''ll get you to safety." Golden stated calmly, already figuring out how to extract the woman to a safe place, while Asher had a different response.


    "Sir, she''s clearly distraught about something more personal. Ma''am, do you need us to go find someone for you?" Asher asked, figuring that perhaps the woman had gotten separated from her party and was crying about them as well as herself. As it would turn out, they were both wrong, this being quickly proven by the creature that pinned down Purf and Distil before trying to run through Asher with its beak.


    Golden was able to bring its shield around in the nick of time to block it with its shield. The nature of the threat was made clear as it burned when it touched the shield. Now aware of the threat they were facing, Golden and Asher charged the monster, keeping Distil and Purf pinned to the floor. The three then entered into a fierce duel with the insect zombies, using their beaks to fight the two heroes as they were kept at bay due to their lack of reach of their maces, though the creature wasn''t having any luck in dealing with their shields.


    The fight went on for a while with the creature beginning to get an advantage as its undead nature allowed it to go on forever while Golden and Asher began to get tired, causing them to slowly accumulate wounds as the fight went on. The two pinned heroes, Distil and Puff, seeing the losing situation, looked to each other and nodded, then proceeded to turn to the side with all their strength at the same time.


    This caused the creature to find itself suddenly losing its balance, stumbling for a moment as it reasoned its balance. Though it didn''t matter as that monetary distraction for the monster was more than enough time for Golden and Asher to close the distance and slam their maces into doing massive damage as the weapon''s ability was triggered.


    The four heroes, after checking to make sure the creature was dead, went to talk to what they figured would be a terrified woman. Instead they found nothing; the woman having vanished without a trace. Now thoroughly confused, the heroes looked to the body of the creature that had been hunting them for answers.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(128, 0, 128, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Damsel''s beak- tier two- undead insect- ambush zombie- Trait: damsel''s hair - this creature has the hair of many slain women woven into itself as such it can create illusions of those slain women to lure enemies closer - description- a large six legged insect that was made with women''s bones having huge eyes and a long beak. The creature has the hair of dead women making up its long silky fur.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The four heroes took a long moment looking at the details of the creature, realizing rather quickly the woman had disappeared because she had never existed in the first place. The team sighed and made their way out of the smaller chamber and back into the main chamber, continuing their journey.


    "Robert, you might need to have a talk with Hargal." Simon said, his voice filled with concern. Which caused Robert to pull away from his research to focus totally on whatever had gotten Simon concerned with his entire attention. Robert looked at where Simon''s voice was currently coming from and waited for Simon to explain his reasoning.


    "Well, I like as much chaos as the next guy; all the ideas your Hargal has been introducing to the wider universe. Which is causing problems as fans of the show argue over which creations are the show''s best ideas. Simon said the target was concerned about the arguing audience that was in the wider universe.


    "Well, it should be alright, as nothing too bad has happened yet, and they would have come up with these ideas on their own eventually, so we can''t be totally blamed." Robert said, pointing out what he felt was a fair point, though he wasn''t sure it would justify any problems caused by those inspired by Hargal''s creations.


    "Fair point. Besides, I need to stay focused on what really matters: the ratings of the show, and since the show has high ratings, everything is well." Simon said calming himself down, which caused him to speak in a much calmer tone of voice.


    Robert just shook his head as once again Simon tossed all other possible concerns aside to focus on his oh-so-precious ratings. "Sure thing, Simon. Now I''m going back to my project, so keep watching Allyssa for me, will you?" Robert asked before he turned his full focus back to his project.


    "Of course, Robert. I''ll be sure to inform you of any important events I happen to find going on." Simon said with a happy time as he went back to watching the exciting world of Allyssa, wondering what would happen next.

 chapter 37 from cave to catacombs

    Golden and his group of four heroes now adventuring would find many more damsel beaks along the caves but wanting to make good time as part of the underground quest they were on to explore was a bit further in, so they decided to avoid fighting them as much as they could. Though that wasn''t easy, as they were heroes outside of the game, and as such it was hardwired into them to run towards the sound of women in distress, not away.


    Though after the first few times a damsel beak had nearly run them through when they had allowed their habit to run to lady in distress get the better of them. They eventually found the ability in themselves to resist the urge to save a damsel in distress. This allowed them to take a safe route as they avoided the chambers where the damsel beaks were waiting in ambush as they made their way ever forward.


    "Keep your eyes sharp; we''re not out of their territory yet." Golden said to his team, feeling like avoiding the damsels beal might have some of them from several ambushes. But considering the rather cunning nature of the creatures, he expected them to use another trick to make up for Golden and his team not taking the bait of their earlier ambushes.


    So as they neared the area where the true exploration of the Dragfly Mountains would begin. Which was probably where the territory of the damsel beaks ended and the territory of another creature began. So following that line of logic, Golden figured there was no way such eager ambushers wouldn''t try one last ploy to get them before they were out of reach.


    So Golden had given the warning to be extra cautious as he himself began to scan the long cavern path they had been walking. As the team of heroes turned adventurers made their way further down, they began to see some kind of change in the rock formation off in the distance. As they began to make for the entrance to the new area with speed, one of the team members pointed out something that caused the rest of the team to become very suspicious and wary about what exactly the damsel beaks were up to.


    "The damsels beaks have stopped their damsel cries." Puff stated simply, causing the others who had been ignoring the cries for help the damsel beaks were making to lure them to notice they had stopped. Puff noticed because he was able to listen to the sounds without being moved to run to help some woman. This was because Puff was the hero, the Puffier, who was in charge of using his abilities to deal with deadly chemicals that got into the air.


    This task of puff''s being complex and dangerous, he has to devour a lot of focus but also, at the same time, be able to react to what was going on around him. This had allowed him to gain the skill to separate himself from what he was doing and what was going on around him. Though this skill had caused some to view him as heartless as he displayed no emotion to the trauma happening to others on the battlefields he was on, he had to be to maintain perfect control over the deadly gasses he was tasked with dealing with.


    The team, now aware of the change in behavior by the damsel beaks, formed a tight circle formation. They didn''t speak to each other; they just kept their eyes razor-focused in the direction they were looking, hoping to spot the damsel beaks before they made their move. For a long moment there was silence in the cavern''s tunnel as the four heroes continued to watch for an attack they weren''t sure when would happen but were sure was coming.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    That''s when all of a sudden a dozen women surrounded them, all of them sobbing wrecks. Golden and his team looked shocked at the sudden appearance of damsel beaks lures. As the heroes were trying to figure out why exactly the sobbing women had been sent out by the damsel beaks, the illusionary sobbing damsels opened their mouths and let loose a sobbing wail that tore through the ears of Golden and his team.


    The heroes were forced to their knees from the sobbing shriek, and while they were down on their knees, the damsel beaks made their move. They jumped out from where they had been waiting further down the tunnel, quickly closing the distance on Golden''s downed hero team and then lunging at them, their beaks aimed to pierce straight through them.


    This would surprise Amush, as they would have worked on any other team and showed the damsel''s beak skill at laying and executing ambushes. Sadly for them, they were dealing with heroes who had been active for years and had been forced after an ambush had knocked them on their ass on more than one occasion.


    So instead of a quick and easy kill as the damsel bugs had been expecting, they instead found themselves slamming into a shield wall. As the heroes had turned together to face the charging damsel, they stayed on their knees as they didn''t have time to get up. The undead insect nature of the damsel beaks triggered the ability of the heroes to shield burning their beaks as if they had dipped them into acid.


    The damsel beaks let out a screech of pain as the agony of their burning beaks hit them. They quickly broke off from the fight as their beaks were their main weapon. So they fled from the battle, seeing how it would go without their main weapon. They did it by leaping over the still-kneeling heroes and going deeper into their own territory, figuring the invaders wouldn''t follow.


    Which they were right about, as Golden and his team had better things to do than going after crippled damsel beaks in their caves. So they made their way towards where they had seen the cave change into something else entirely. They made their way quickly, prioritizing speed instead of caution due to their ambushers having been driven off for the moment. Which is why they found themselves entering an underground stone complex rather quickly, which caused a green screen to appear.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(0, 128, 0, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">You have entered the dungeon of the blister lord Listex


    Your quest is now starting prepare to be transported into the dungeon</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Golden shook his head after reading the green screen. "Everything it took to get here and we''re only now starting our quest. Well, I guess they can''t say the game''s lacking in content." Golden said with a hint of bitterness in his voice as he and the others disappeared in a green light signifying their entry into the dungeon.


    Simon had just seen the notice of one of the first player groups to enter the only dungeons in Allyssa, which were all located below the Dragfly Mountains. "Hey Robert, players just got into a dungeon!" Simon said, his voice filled with excitement.


    "Wait, really?" Robert, shocked, looked to the TV screens that made up his workshop''s walls and saw that some player group had indeed made it into one of the dungeons under Dragfly Mountain. "Well, I mostly lost track of time." Robert said, guessing he lost himself in his work, as last time he looked, no player or citizen of Allyssa was close to a dungeon.


    "Yes, you have, so why not take a break and enjoy the show with me? It seems like you could use it." Simon said, hoping to get Robert to take a break as he had noticed he was self-raising frustration as he had hit some kind of roadblock with his work on a scorekeeper for all of Allyssa.


    "Yea, you''re probably right." Robert says, figuring that once again Simon was probably right. So he pulled himself from his work, and both he and Simon focused on the world of Allyssa''s first dungeon run to see how it would unfold and learn of consequences to come of it later.

 chapter 38 the catacombs of Lord Listex part 1

    Golden found himself waiting a moment for his eyes to clear from the green flash of light that had transported him and his team into the dungeon. Once his eyes were finally clear, he gave a quick look around to see where they had ended up exactly and saw that he and the rest of his team were at the beginning of a long stone hallway. Which he figured was the beginning entrance into the dungeon of the Lord Listex, as the green game screen had told them.


    "The rest of you okay?" Golden asked in a quiet voice, to which the rest of his team gave nods as they looked around the stone hallway. Well now, with visual and verbal confirmation that his team was good, Golden gave a few hand gestures to signal to his team to grab their gear and move cautiously forward with him. So the team followed Golden as he led them through the stone hallway in a spread-out group with their shields held in front of them and their maces at the ready.


    The journey was a quiet one; the only sound the four heard as they walked down the hall was their own footsteps and their breathing as it intensified. This happened due to the group feeling the pressure beginning to mount, as a dungeon should have some kind of defense; the fact they hadn''t been challenged didn''t mean the dungeon didn''t have a defense; it meant they couldn''t see it. So the group felt the tension build as they went further into the dungeon unchallenged, wondering when exactly the metaphorical shoe would drop.


    Though just as they were nearing the end of the hallway and could see that there was an intersection with paths going left and right at the end of the stone hallway, they heard a click. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Distil slammed into Golden, sending them both crashing to the floor a good few feet from where they had been standing. Before Golden could ask what exactly Distil was thinking in impolite words, a torrent of green sludge poured down to where Golden had just been standing.


    The four heroes look at the green goop that showed how dangerous it was by giving off smoke, showing it was slightly burning the stone floor. "Thank you." Golden said simply to Distil, who nodded and got up before offering Golden a hand to get up and being surprised when he took it, as were the other two heroes in their adventuring team.


    "Well, it appears Lord Listex prefers traps over creatures to defend his domain. So watch your step." Golden said to his team before they all continued forward once more, though this time their steps were far more cautious. They had just hit the intersection when the traps activated again, causing the group to have to dodge to the side as the wall at the end of the hall opened up and started spewing burning green goop at the heroes.


    Though once the heroes were clear, they noticed that they had been separated, as Golden had been closest to the left hallway while the rest were closer to the right hallway. So while Golden dodged left, the others dodged right, leaving them separated from each other as there was now a huge pool of green goop that promised great burning agony if they tried to get across it.


    "Well, it looks like we''re separate for now. You all go down your path, and I''ll go down mine, and hopefully we''ll meet up later." Golden said to the rest of his team, who all nodded their agreement before they all went off down their paths. "While Golden looks like you''re going solo from here." Golden said to himself as he began his march down the left hallway. He would have to dodge a few more sprays that came from both the ceiling and the wails of the foul burning green goop as he went down the hallway, but eventually he made it out of the long hallway and found himself after the hallway had gone right in a large chamber that stretched down a ways.


    Golden looked around the chamber, and besides a beetle statue that was at the opposite end from where he had entered, the only other thing of note in the room was the rather large stone tiles that made up the entirety of the floor. As Golden stepped further into the room, a stone wall suddenly trapped him in the room with the beetle statue. "Well, that can''t be a good sign." Golden said his tone filled with wariness at whatever was about to happen next.


    The beetle statue at the opposite end of the chamber then opened its eyes and turned its body on the stone disk it was on so it was staring straight at him. Then, as if as a consequence of the gaze of the blister beetle statue, the tile Golden was standing on dropped into a vat of the burning green goop. Luckily, due to his quick reactions and tears of experience, Golden was able to dodge away from the trapdoor, though then green goop from the ceiling of where he rolled to caused him to dodge away again.


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    So that''s how it went on and on with Golden constantly dodging one trap only to have the next trap activate on him. All the while the beetle statue continued to turn so it could continue to follow Golden with its stone gaze. As Golden leaped, jumped, and ran, it caught enough glimpses of the giant beetle statue for a purple stats screen to appear.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(128, 0, 128, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Watching blitser - tier two- undead construct- sentinel zombie- Trait: trigging eyes- this creatures stone eyes are linked to all the traps of the room it is placed in allowing it to activate them to kill whatever invader it is currently looking at- description- a giant beetle statue on a stone dias. Its insides are filled with the dead blister beetles while it''s outer shell is just regular stone made into the shape of the bodies it contains inside itself.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    "Well, it looks like I have to take you down if I don''t want to be reduced to ash in a pool of green goop." Golden said as he began to make his way slowly towards the watching blister. He came dangerously close to being covered in the burning green goop on several occasions as he closed the distance to the watching blister, though he had managed to avoid that fate, he did sport several nasty burns from when the green goop had managed to graze him.


    Golden pushed through the pain and reached the watching blister and was just about to bring down the giant onyx mace down on its head to shatter it. The watching blister, instead of allowing itself to be shattered as Golden had expected, showed itself to be capable of stopping Golden by moving its mouth and trying to bite off Golden''s arm with its stone maw.


    "Well, I knew you could move that little platform of yours; I didn''t know you could move your head as well." Golden said as he dodged around the watching blister''s head as it tried to bite him in half. Well, at the same time, using its trigger eyes ability to cause all the trap doors around it to activate, he found staying on a stone tile for more than a moment or he risked falling into a vat of burning green goop.


    This battle went on for a while with Golden needing not to make a single mistake; otherwise, it was game over for him, meanwhile the watching blister merely needed one good hit, and it was over. But finally, Lucina''s finally on Golden''s side, and the watching blister overextended itself, sticking its head out too far in an attempt to get Golden''s head, leaving it vulnerable to a counterstrike, which Golden did not hesitate to take.


    So in one mighty downward strike, Golden''s giant onion mace shattered the watching blister, deactivating the traps and causing the stone walls behind the now destroyed stone beetle and the entrance Golden had come in through to rise. "Well, I guess I have to see what''s next." Golden said after taking a moment to get his breath back and then going through the newly opened path.deeper into the catacombs of Lord Listex.


    Simon and Robert were both watching the screen, wondering how the first dungeon dive of the game would go. So far it hadn''t disappointed and was shaping up to be a rather interesting viewing experience. " Hmm, seems to be functioning pretty well." Robert said a bit relieved that the new dungeon feature in Allyssa was working as well as it was.


    "It is indeed Robert; in fact, it''s doing so well some of the viewers are trying to copy it." Simon said, his voice filled with excitement, to which Robert gave a curious raised eyebrow. "Some people with security issues or who run security are trying to copy the watching blister for a security system, as despite it failing, it did a pretty good job, all things considered." Simon said to which Robert was rather happy, as for once his game world was inspiring positive ideas instead of possible war crimes.


    "Well then, let''s see what''s going to happen with the rest of the team." Robert says, his voice filled with enthusiasm as he turned the TV screens of his workshop to focus on the rest of the team in the dungeon to get a clear view of what they were doing in their part of the dungeon.


    "Great enthusiasm, Robert! It''s always good to have a happy attitude when doing our jobs, especially as these dungeons may affect you and your Gabe world so much going forward." Simon said to which Robert admitted to himself in his own mind was a fair point. The two then focused their attention fully on the TV screens to see how Asher, Distil, and Puff would do without Golden in their part of the dungeon.

 chapter 39 the catacombs of Lord Listex part 2

    Asher was leading Distil and Puff down the hallway, and they found themselves making slow progress as they had to be careful about the traps in the stone hallway. Luckily, Distil''s skills were proving invaluable. While he couldn''t use his power like the rest of them, he could use his experience as his powers to break things down into liquid, which had given him a solid understanding of how things like piping worked.


    Because as a hero, Distil had to train his powers like the rest of them did, which was what led to the gaining of knowledge of hydraulics as he turned things into liquids and had them move through other things to see what would happen in certain situations. So he would know how to best use his powers in any situation.


    This understanding of hydraulics engineering allowed him to understand and predict how the green goop traps worked. As well as when they would go off, giving him and his team an edge against the traps. Though even with their advantage, it wasn''t easy as the hallway was filled to the brim with green burning goop coming from both the walls and the ceiling.


    As the three were walking down the hallway, it was starting to turn to the left, and from their position, they could make out a large chamber up ahead. Asher figured it would be as good a time as any to ask the question that had been on his mind and honestly may be the last chance they had for this adventure of theirs.


    "Have you all noticed how different Golden has been acting?" Asher asked the other two, who both stopped and stared at one another for a moment before they nodded a hesitant yes. As if they were afraid to admit they had noticed the difference. "Well then I thought it was just me." Asher said, then sighed as he stood still for a moment; the other two stood still with him.


    So the three stood there in silence for a moment, thinking a few steps from the chamber, not moving. Then finally Asher spoke."We won''t mention anything. We''re here to monitor the game. We''ll see how he acts outside the game and see if he''s still different out there. If he or not will tell us if this game is affecting him or not." Asher said, voicing the plan he had come up with to his two comrades, who both nodded their agreement.


    "Well, with that settled, let''s see what awaits in the chamber, shall we?" Asher said as he led the three of them to the end of the hallway and into the large chamber. Once all three were through, a stone wall came down behind them, locking them in the chamber. The three gave each other a look that told each other this was an ambush, and so they quickly brought their shields up and brought their maces ready in their former empty hand, ready to bring the mace down on whatever was planning to jump them.


    They looked around the room, scanning it and not seeing anything. It was largely empty; the only thing of note was large, circular, grey tiles built into the floor. That was until Puff noticed something above them. "Guys above us." He whispered to the other two, who looked up and saw what Puff had spotted, which was a large beetle statue hanging from the ceiling.


    All three were wondering what the three statues were doing hanging from the ceiling, but then several holes opened up in the ceiling around the statue, and out of these holes came pouring out burning green goop. It started filling up the edges of the chamber but was quickly making its way towards them, and it would be the end for them if they fell in.


    But they had nowhere to go, and the room was filling with the stuff, so they very well might not have a choice in the matter. As the situation seemed hopeless, Distil suddenly shouted, Get on the circular tiles. The other two, having no better ideas, listened to them, and so the tight formation the three had been in was broken up as the three each ran for a different grey circular tile.


    Luckily they all got on one right as the chamber floor was beginning to fill, and so instead of filling their feet, beginning to be cooked in the green goop, they were instead rising as the grey circular tiles they were on floated on the green goop instead of burned. "Good call, Distil." Asher called out complimenting Distil on his quick thinking.


    Now the group found themselves rising as the large chamber filled with the burning green goop. As they reached the halfway point, the group, now several meters in the air or on the goop depending on how you looked at it, was when the beetle statue decided to make its use known. As several smaller beetles suddenly flew out of it and went straight for them, they brought their giant iron maces ready to bear.


    They reached Distil first, and just before he could swing his mace at it, he switched to his shield, bringing it in front of him and bracing himself as best he could. Then the small beetle slammed into his shield and exploded into a ball of burning green goop. Then several more slammed until his shield exploded, the combined force neatly throwing Distil off his platform, but he held on by the skin of his teeth.


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


    Asher and Puff, seeing the danger, also brought their shields in front of them and braced as fist-sized beetles slammed into their shields before exploding into burning green goop. Eventually the wave of beetles stopped, and they had a moment to get their breath back and wipe away all the burning goo that had gotten on them, which they had endured as they had been enduring the force of the beetles small explosions.


    The three looked at the large beetle statue that the smaller beetles had sprung out of. As they did, a purple stats screen popped up in front of the three telling them what exactly they were dealing with, and they weren''t liking what they were seeing.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(128, 0, 128, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Birthing blitser - tier two- undead construct- sentinel zombie- Trait: birthing goop chamber- this creature has an internal chamber where green goop is stored and this chamber uses green goop to form temporary beetles that reach their destaination before exploding back into burning green goop-description- a giant beetle statue impeded in the ceiling. Its insides are filled with dead blister beetles while it''s outer shell is just regular stone made into the shape of the bodies it contains inside itself.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    While it became obvious to the three of them that the birthing blitzer was just gathering more burning green goop to use, and so they only had a small window before it started sending waves of exploding goop beetles at them again. So, seeing at this specific moment it couldn''t intercept with anything, Asher pulled back his hand and threw his giant onion mace with all his might at the birthing blitzer statue.


    Luckily for the three adventurers, their aim was true, and it hit dead center of the birthing blitzer. The giant onion mace ability activated, multiplying the force used, causing massive damage, and breaking the birthing blitzer from the ceiling and into the sea of burning green goop the three were floating on. Luckily for Asher, Distil managed to catch his mace before it fell into your sea of burning green goop and passed it back to him. "Thanks," Asher said, to which Distil nodded.


    Then, as the three began to wonder if they were going to be burned alive as the burning green goop levels continued to rise, they suddenly stopped. Then all of a sudden a door opened opposite them when they were now floating at the chamber''s highest point. "Well, it looks like we have our way out." Asher said, and so the three made their way over to the newly opened door on their grey circular tiles.


    "Well, I gotta say, Robert, that Lord Listex really loves his burning green goop." Simon said the surprise was clear in his voice despite the fact it sounded like it was coming through a broken mike. Robert didn''t respond for a moment, thinking on something else that had caught his attention.


    "Yes, he does." Robert said flippantly as he was trying to figure out something that had been bothering him. This was picked up rather easily by Simon, who decided to address rather than take offense at what had Robert so distracted.


    "''Well, Robert, it seems something really got you by the ear. Care to share?" Simon asked, his voice filled with curiosity at what it was. Especially as it could be good for ratings, whatever it turned out to be, and he never wanted to miss any of those opportunities.


    "Well, it was what Asher said before about golden being different. Allyssa doesn''t have any kind of altering properties as far as I''m aware, so either something''s gone very wrong or there''s something deeper here." Robert said his nervousness was coming through clearly at the fact that possible mind alteration was going on within his creation without his knowledge.


    "Oh, a conspiracy! That''s juicy; well, don''t you worry; Robert will get to the bottom of it." Simon said his excitement was almost physical, as viewers usually loved a good conspiracy, and this sounded like a good one. "Let''s turn back to the dungeon run and see if there are any more clues we can get on this conspiracy." Simon said to Robert, who nodded and focused back on the screens to follow the four adventurers in their quest through the dungeon.

 chapter 40 the catacombs of Lord Listex part 3

    Golden walked down the path that had opened after he had defeated the watching blitzer. He walked slowly, careful to not set off any traps, though there didn''t seem to be any, at least not of the earlier burning green goop variety. Though whether that meant there weren''t any traps in this section or they were of a different kind, he wasn''t sure, and he was sad to say if the dungeon showed him which option was right, it would be the more dangerous option.


    "Well, this is a fine situation to be in." Golden said before giving a sad sigh before continuing his journey forward to wherever the current stone hallway he was in was leading him to, though to be fair, unlike before, this hallway''s walls were filled with the pictures of beetles, unlike the blank walls from before. Then a Golden heard a click signaling the dungeon was about to prove his earlier hypothesis right.


    As all of a sudden, dozens of beetles shot out of the walls next to him. Golden barely managed to dodge out of the way in time, and then after he thought he had gotten clear, he felt a stinging pain in his leg and looked to see a beetle device clamped on his lick, its metal mandibles digging into his leg. Golden quickly tore it off and threw it down the hall, then realized something.


    "Those aren''t beetle pictures." Golden said in a sad voice as he came to the logical realization that the pictures of beetles were actually some kind of beetle trap that was going to be shot at him as he walked past. His main evidence for this was the missing beetles from the walls nearest him. "Well, it looks like if I''m getting through, I''m going to have to rush it." Golden said with determination before rushing down the beetle hallway.


    So Golden found himself rushing down the hallway as hundreds of traps beetle shot through the air coming from both walls. He ran as fast as he could, ignoring the pain, as every few steps he would get a few of them stuck on him, digging into him with their metallic beetle mandibles. He knocked them off as he went, having to ignore a couple as he couldn''t slow down for a moment, or he risked being buried in the beetle traps.


    Eventually his run ended, and he found himself in another large chamber. He took a long moment to pull off all the beetle traps that had wrapped themselves around him and were digging into him with their mandibles. Once they were all gone, he lay down, taking a moment more to let the accelerated healing his body had in this game for his wounds to close.


    Once his wounds were closed and his breathing was steady, he got back up and looked around the large chamber, noticing that a wall had come down behind him, closing him in the chamber, which seemed to be standard practice of the place. He looked around trying to find the statue as he figured there would be one as there had been in the earlier room but didn''t find any.


    Instead, the only thing he could see was the walls of the chamber were filled with the same beetle markings from where the beetle traps had come from in the previous hallway. "Well, this is going to be fun." Golden said sarcastically as he saw the trap but not the guardian that he figured was here somewhere and his only way out of this room.


    As he figured, defeating was the only way the way out would open up for him. That''s when a small beetle the size of his fist flew from out of nowhere into the center of the chamber. He looked at it wondering what exactly it was going to do, then it rushed at the wall above his head, slotting into an empty slot that he hadn''t noticed.


    Then suddenly the wall began letting out a barrage of beetle traps, and so Golden used his shield to take the brunt of it while he moved side to side to try and dodge some of them. He had some success; eventually, the wall stopped firing, and the beetle slotted out and began flying to another wall. Golden took this moment of reprieve to quickly remove the beetle traps from his limbs, then turned to the beetle and studied it for a moment, causing a purple stats screen to appear.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(128, 0, 128, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Key blitser - tier two- undead construct- sentinel zombie- Trait: key of the beetle wall- this beetle has the ability to slot in and take control of any beetle trap firing mechanism while it does this it''s invulnerable-description- a small blitzer beetle statue made out of strange black stone and bone as well as being filled with the ashes of dead blitzer beetles.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    "Well, great! Not only are you going to shoot at me, you''re going to be invulnerable while you do it." Golden said he was filled with frustration as he came to realize he was in the beetle''s firing range and he would have only a set time to defeat him as it traveled from wall to wall, as it would be invulnerable once it reached it''s slotted position within the wall.


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    So that was how it went with Golden holding behind his shield against rapid beetle trap fire before the beetle would go to another wall with Golden right behind them. Though sadly, the beetle was too fast, and even though it flew low to make it quickly to the wall slot. It was still too high for Golden''s giant onion mace to reach. He could try to throw it, but the beetle was a small target, and it would be easy to miss it with his mace, which wasn''t supposed to be thrown to begin with.


    So that left something he had that was larger and could be thrown easier, as well as the fact it had a special just for undead insects to begin with. So this was the perfect time to use it; the bad part of this idea was it was shielded, and if he threw his shield miss and couldn''t get to it in time, he would be at the mercy of the key blitzers beetle trap barrage, which expected would be none.


    Sasily he had no other ideas, and as things currently stood, he would just be worn down. So no, it was time to roll the dice and bet it all. "Let''s hope this works." Golden says to himself before throwing the shield once it had left its slotted position after firing its latest barrage. For a second it looked like the shield would miss as it went flying by, but then the end hit it, and that was enough for its ability to activate, and suddenly there was a burnt husk of a key blitzer next to his shield.


    To confirm his victory, a new doorway was revealed as a wall suddenly pulled back, showing him the way forward. "Well forward we go. Hopefully the others are having a better time of it than I am." Golden said as he picked up his shield and made his way down the new doorway.


    "Well, Robert, your lord Listex is really making a good showing of his security system." Simon said with a bit of awe in his voice, causing Robert to turn to where his voice was coming from, wondering what the awe was exactly about.


    "Really, Robert, it''s been getting beat so far." Robert said, a bit confused, that he figured the security being beat as bad as it was made it clearly show how bad it was. Though considering Simon was an interdimensional show host and had been around the block a few times, he could know something that made it impressive that Robert wasn''t aware of.


    "Well, my good Robert remembers Golden, our little dungeon explorer; there is a hero and an experienced one at that. Your average guy wouldn''t have been able to get through what he did, especially if everything was moving in tandem." Simon said to which Robert felt he had a good point.


    "Fair enough. I''m glad we are inspiring security systems across the multiverse. Though I would like to focus back on the dungeon run, I wish to see if we can find out any more clues about the possible brainwashing conspiracy." Robert said, his voice filled with clear concern over the subject.


    "Of course, Robert, let''s turn back to the dungeon raid. We can''t miss any new clues about the conspiracy; these things are great for ratings, you know." Simon said, his voice filled with excitement, to which Robert rolled his eyes, then both he and Simon focused back on his workshop''s TV screens to see how the dungeon raid would continue to unfold.

 chapter 41 The catacombs of Lord Listex part 4

    Asher led the way down the new hallway he and the others had found after defeating the birthing blitzer. They were quiet, focusing all their attention on their surroundings, being sure to be careful of any of the traps that no doubt were in this hallway waiting for them. For a little while there was nothing that made the three nervous, as this was a change, and a change in how the dungeon was doing things probably didn''t mean anything good for them.


    This train of thought by the three adventurers was soon proven right as they set off a new kind of trap. All of a sudden, a beetle head came down from the ceiling, trying to tear through Puff with its mandibles. Luckily he managed to duck out of the way so the beetle trap did not collect its prize.


    "Well, it looks like the ceiling is rigged, and we don''t have any idea where in the ceiling the traps are." Asher said, stating the obvious but doing so to make sure the situation was clear. "Well, we''re going to have to take it slow down the hallway and be ready to dodge out of the way when it''s necessary." Asher said laying out how they should proceed going forward, to which both Puff and Distil gave their nod of agreement.


    So the party began their slow, cautious descent, watching the ceiling for any sign of movement, gaining quite the sore necks from doing so. But the sore necks had been worth the early warning, as they had been able to see the beginning of the descent of the beetle heads, giving them a few more seconds to get out of the way. Which in these types of situations is the difference between life and death, though this was a rare occasion that death wasn''t true, which was refreshing.


    So on it went, the three founding themselves in a deadly dance with the stone beetle heads that came to take theirs from the ceiling. Though the farther they went, the worse it got, as the beetle heads grew more numerous, and so each dodge they took merely took them in the path of another. But somehow they found themselves throwing themselves into a large chamber, exhausted and bleeding from near hits but alive all the same.


    The three took a moment to get their breath back, the sound of their heavy breathing filling the large chamber they were now in. Then the continuous sound was broken as they got their breath back, causing silence to fill the chamber until it was broken by Asher.


    "Well, it appears that the Lord Listex likes his large chambers, doesn''t he?" Asher said figuring this was a theme despite only seeing two of such chambers but still felt sure it was rather accurate. As he had to raid many lairs over the years, you got a feeling for the theme of those kinds of things after raiding them enough times.


    "Yes, I would say so."" Distil said, scanning the room for any of the earlier goop traps he had gotten good at spotting but not seeing any. While Puff merely nodded his agreement. The three then went to continue looking around the room for whatever danger the room has in store for them but not seeing it. As they could only find beetle faces inscribed into the floor.


    For a while longer, the three looked around the chamber trying to find the threat that had to be there, especially as a wall had come down from the hallway they had come from, making sure they couldn''t escape. As had happened before, which had to mean they were supposed to be trapped in with something that was supposed to deal with them or something along those lines.


    That was when Distil spotted something. "Guys, look!" He shouted out, pointing to a beetle sitting at the opposite side of the chamber that suddenly jumped into the floor and began making its way across the floor. That was until it finally reached one of the beetle faces inscribed into the floor. Then all of a sudden, a huge beetle head burst out of the floor tile, its mandibles reaching for them.


    The heroes quickly formed with Asher at the center. Distil to his right and Puff to his left. They held their shields in front of themselves, bracing as the huge mandibles reached for them to cut them in half. They held as the huge beetle head put the squeeze on the three of them. Asher screamed as the giant stone beetle was putting the pressure on him. "Counter." He roared, bringing his mace high in the air; the other fellowed suit brought them down on the head and shattered them into dust.


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    They then caught a glimpse of the earlier small beetle that had gone into the floor before the bigger beetle head had burst out. Their observing of the beetle was long enough for a purple stats screen to appear for the creature. It was a rather disappointing read for the heroes.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(128, 0, 128, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Hidden blitser - tier two- undead construct- sentinel zombie- Trait: the hidden spine - this beetle can dig into the underground to then create and operate larger beetle heads. Which it''ll use to ambush opponens safely from below-description- a small blitzer beetle statue made out of strange brown stone and bone as well as being filled with the ashes of dead blitzer beetles.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    "Well, it looks like we''re going to be at this a while." Asher said as the three realized this was only the first of many giant beetle heads that would try and chew them up, and they wouldn''t stop having new ones to deal with until they dealt with the hidden blitzer. The problem was they had only a limited window after they had destroyed the latest giant stone beetle head it had created, but it''s not like they had much choice in the matter.


    So on and on it went with the three heroes turning one direction or another to face down the latest stone beetle head the hidden blitzer was trying to kill them with. But they maintained their small line and kept giant stone mandibles from splitting them in half until they could crush the giant stone beetle heads with their giant onion maces.


    Though the longer the fight went on, the more tired they became, the three knew eventually they would make a mistake, and then the hidden blitzer would have them. So when Asher and Distil made to crush the latest giant stone beetle head to pop out of the floor to try and kill them, Puff held back as he was waiting for the exact moment the hidden blitzer popped out, and he saw it.


    So he threw his giant onion mace in the area where the hidden blitzer would land, causing a small explosion as the filorve of the mace caused the ground to explode and send the hidden blitzer into the air. Where Asher and Distil acted without hesitation and slammed into it with their maces, shattering it and sending its shards scattering all in one direction.


    The three heroes played down, tired from the constant giant stone beetle head ambush, and watched as a doorway opened up, leading them further down. "I think we''ll just wait here a moment." Asher gasped out, to which the other two gave tired thumbs up in reply.


    Simon and Robert watched the three for a little while longer on their TV screens. They hoped that now that the battle was over, they would continue their earlier conversation on Golden''s odd behavior. So the two would have more clues to know whether there was an actual brainwashing conspiracy going on or if they were jumping at shadows.


    Sadly, they didn''t; they merely laid there, gathering their strength before they would continue further into the dungeon. "While it looks like we''re not getting any clues for them, Robert at least does not know." Simon stated in a sad voice before continuing in a happier tone. "But the latest showing of the dungeon Listex has impressed the security community, and they are looking to copy his ideas." Simon said he was happy about the positive viewership.


    While Robert was disappointed they didn''t have any more clues for the possible brainwashing conspiracy, he did find himself wondering once again about who exactly Simon''s audience was and why they liked Listex security so much. Then he began thinking about some Cthulhu-looking thing watching him on HD TV and decided he was probably better off not knowing.


    "While I''m happy they''re improving their safety because of Listex, who we haven''t even seen yet. So I suppose we keep watching to find out how it goes next, especially as maybe the groups meeting back up will give us a clue." Robert said to remain positive about the situation.


    "Of course, Robert, you will never find me saying no to a show." Simon said, and so both he and Robert turned their attention from each other and focused back on the Listex catacombs to see how the raid would progress next.

 chapter 42 the catacombs of Lord Listex part 5

    Golden slowly walked down the hallway, each step a deadly chance of fate, as there seemed to be a trap everywhere they stepped. Though this time the hallway was not filled with one kind of trap but multiple, as burning green goop fell from the ceiling and beetle traps came from the walls, and to add to the variety further, a new trap showed itself as stone beetle heads started coming down from the ceiling trying to take him out.


    It was a dangerous dance he found himself flowing from one step to the next as he tried to follow the strange rhythm the hallway of traps held. For a long while he went down the trap hall, growing sure he would take one misstep and/or dodge the wrong way, and that would be his end. Though instead of a game over screen, he found himself once again alone in a large chamber, as he had somehow made it through the gauntlet.


    He would usually look around as he had done before in the two previous chambers, but he didn''t, as all his attention was held by the one single being in the center of the room. It was a huge shiny beetle that stood before a giant door made out of the beetle of a carapace. As he looked at it, its purple stats screen appeared, showing how Golden his rather abysmal odds of taking it alone were.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(128, 0, 128, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Guardian of the carapace door - tier three- undead construct- sentenial zombie - Trait: the protector of Listex catacomb- this beetle is the final protector of the catacomb and ruler to all previous guardians only subservient to Listex himself as such it can use all the previous guardians abilities.-description- a giant blitzer beetle made out of diamond with millions of blitster beetle corpses trapped within it.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    "While I didn''t want to fight the Lord Listex''s bodyguard only, I guess that''s what I''m doing." Golden said with a bit of a bitter tone as he brought his shield up and charged forward to meet the guardian. He didn''t get close as the giant diamond beetle let loose exploding beetles upon him while beetle heads came bursting from the ground to get him.


    He couldn''t get close enough to hit the thing, much less fight it. As it used all the other guardians abilities to keep him constantly at a distance and on the back foot. Golden stood on his feet, which were hard as beetle traps came flying from the walls and burning green goop came down at him from the ceiling. But he stayed in the fight, Keith trying to get closer no matter how helpless it seemed.


    Though he was soon blindsided as the guardian beetle suddenly closed the distance after he had just dodged another spray of burning green goop that had come down from the ceiling. The sudden charge from the guardian beetle''s diamond body had sent him flying and slamming into a wall. "So that''s how you want to play." Golden said, rage and pain filling his voice as he realized the situation he was in.


    He needed to close the distance to fight, but the creature wouldn''t let him; instead, it would decide when they would engage, of course when he couldn''t fight back as well as when it could do maximum damage. So he was effectively at the thing''s mercy as if it set the tempo of the battle. Though for the moment Golden had to accept it and soon got up but found himself hurting and couldn''t move fast enough to dodge the incoming exploding beetles, so he blocked them with his shield.


    But the force of the explosion sent him off his feet and rolling to the side, and just then a new beetle head formed, ready and willing to cut him in half with its mandibles. "Guess you win, ass." Golden choked out, still reeling from the explosion and unable to defend himself at that moment.


    Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Asher brought his giant iron mace down, destroying the beetle''s head before it could finish off Golden. Then Distil and Puff were helping Golden up while Asher watched the guardian wearily. "Sorry we''re late, Golden. The traps in that last hallway were a bit intense going downward." Asher said with a bit of guilt for having left Golden to face such a dangerous opponent alone.


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    "It''s alright. You''re here now." Golden said, getting his shield and mace back into a firm grip. "Now let''s deal with this beast." Golden said in a firm voice, to which the others nodded their agreement, and so the once again united four adventurers charged at the guardian beetle to destroy it so they may finally face Lord Listex himself.


    Though the guardian beetle was not going to make that easy for them and defended itself against the four just as it had against the line Golden. So the four had to deal with a room coming to life at the will of the guardian, as it seemed every piece of the floor suddenly gained a beetle, and every wall tile had a beetle trap to spring at them.


    Not could they go two feet without green goop coming from the ceiling or exploding beetles charging at them from multiple directions. But slowly and surely, through sure perseverance and grit, they coded the distance to the beetle guardian. Though it did not get any easier once they were within range of their foebas, he used his diamond mandibles and carapace to great effect.


    Time and time again in the melee against the guardian beetle, they would seize the beetle''s mandibles only for it to try and smear them against the walls with its diamond bulk. Though eventually, after what seemed like hundreds of strikes with their giant onion maces, the weapon''s ability to do far more damage than it should, that being the only reason they could hurt the guardian beetle, the final blows were finally given, and they were now just looking at some crushed diamond.


    The four heroes stood there, breathing heavily, bleeding, and burning from multiple wounds. Golden looked around for a moment at their group before giving his order. "We''re testing here." Golden stated simply before sitting down that the other three heroes looked shocked at what Golden had said, but they agreed, so they sat down and rested to recover before they would continue on to Lord Listex''s chamber.


    "While the security crowd will be happy they got some good intel on how merging the different security systems would look like." Simon said he was happy to please the audience, as that always had them coming back for more, which was good for ratings.


    Robert, meanwhile, wasn''t focused on what Simon was saying. He was more focused on how the three had reacted to Golden''s command; it had something to do with the situation, a clue on whether it was a brainwashing conspiracy or not. Simon noticed that Robert wasn''t really listening and so asked what had gotten him.


    "So Robert, penny for your thoughts." Simon said rather loudly, causing Robert to jerk in surprise, but then turned to where Simon''s voice was coming from and looked at the empty space with a raised eyebrow for a second, then replied.


    "Yeah, I think I just saw a clue he was looking for." Robert said, obviously referring to their search into the possible brainwashing conspiracy, Simon didn''t reply, but he could feel Simon''s eager anticipation on what the clue was. "When Golden gave out his order, the others were surprised, like they expected him to do something else, even though it was a logical thing to do." Robert said, rubbing his chin with his razor-sharp talons in thought.


    "Ooh, so the plot thickens; we have more signs of something going on here. While we best not leave the conspiracy waiting. We have investigators and security people waiting to see how this goes. So to the chamber of Lord Listex we go." Simon said, his voice filled with excitement, Robert rolled his eyes seeing the clear rating chasing as usual before he followed Simon in focusing his attention back on the dungeon raid.

 chapter 43 the Lord Listex

    The four heroes had gathered their strength, and their latest batch of wounds had healed, and their plant armor had repaired itself to a decent degree, which was a unique feature to have. Though it was a welcome one, as none of the group had the skill or the materials to repair the damage done to their armor over the course of the trap halls and battles with beetle statues.


    So they stood and got in a line with their shields in front of them and their maces held at the ready, all facing the giant door made out of beetle shells, and they began to march forward in a line. As they got closer to the giant beetle door, it slowly began to open, causing a bright light to leak out and blind them before their eyes cleared and they could finally see into the giant doorway.


    The four found their mouths agape as they gazed around the personal chambers of Lord Listex. It was filled with plant life with a lake of green ooze at its center. The walls were lined with purple moss while the floor had a forest of pale mushrooms. The small lake of green goop reflected the light from the stones in the ceiling that were somehow filling the whole chamber with bright light.


    After all the deadly traps and stone guardians they had to come through to get here, it took them a moment for them to truly accept it as real. Though they had to ask, they walked into the room and found themselves walking on grass that grew under the mushrooms that were as tall as trees. "Well, I didn''t expect this. Did any of you see this coming?" Golden said to the others, who nodded their heads no.


    So the four adventurers slowly made their way deeper into the underground fungal garden. They found themselves enjoying the scenery despite the danger, as the deeper they went, the more they got to behold the beauty of the fungal garden. But the more nature they had to enjoy, the closer they were to Lord Listex, as this was home, and he was surely waiting for them somewhere within the chamber hidden by the very fungal garden they were gawking at in wonderment.


    They eventually found themselves near the center of the huge chamber, which was next to the lake of burning green goop. Though they just now noticed just how big the chamber they were in was as they were looking around the chamber from the center and not the doorway, which had its view blocked by the mushroom trees. "So I wonder when our good Lord Listex will introduce himself to his guests." Golden said in his usual sophisticated tone of voice.


    That''s when the four heard a sudden loud splash behind them, and all four turned around rapidly to see a giant emerald beetle pulling itself out of the lake of burning green goop. They all held their shields and maces at the ready even as the beetle kept rising and rising, showing it was at least two stories tall.


    "While you four are intruders, not guests, but fine, I shall be polite for you making it so far. I am Lord Listex, and I welcome you to my garden." Lord Listex said his voice reversing throughout the chamber. The four did not respond but merely stared at him as they tried to come up with the best way to bring him down. "While I suppose civilities are over with, so it''s on to the eliminating of intruders then." Lord Listex said as he brought his front two legs down, trying to crush the four heroes, who quickly dodged to the side.


    As the four heroes got away and began spreading out so as not to be so easy to be eliminated by Lord Listex. As they did so, his purple stats screen appeared before each of them, informing them of his abilities, which told them this would not be an easy fight.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(128, 0, 128, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Emerald blister beetle Lord Listex - tier four-dark insect type - insect champion - Trait: green waterfall- lord listex is the source of all burning green goop within his domain and he can make it at will during battle he can cause burning green goop to come off him like a waterfall to burn all his enemies below him- description- a giant blister beetle with a emerald carapace and red eyes that is two stories tall.</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    "While it looks like there''s going to be no grouping in this one." Golden said he was a tad disappointed considering he had just gotten back together with the rest of his team. So the battle went on with each of the four striking and restarting as they tried to get the legs of Lord Listex, though that was easier said than done. As his emerald carapace was hard to crack, he never stayed still, always moving to crush them.


    "Do stop moving; you''re making this task far more difficult than it needs to be. Surely you see you''re merely delaying the inevitable." Lord Listex said to the four, disturbing them as he spoke about destroying them, not only as an unfortunate task but did so politely. Which was strange considering they were doing their damndest to shatter his legs.


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    The four were starting to find their rhythm in the fight as each took their turn being chased by Lord Listex while the others tried to go for his legs. Though Lord Listex then ended this completely by showing the power of his ability, Green Waterfall, as all of a sudden, burning green goop came off his carapace in a wave, drowning both Distil and Puff instantly.


    Golden and Asher could only look in horror at what remained of Distil and Puff disappearing in a flash of light. "While that was bad business, now I hope you will take the less painful and more dignified option of being crushed." Lord Listex said as he tried to crush the horrified Golden and Asher. Who managed to shake themselves in time and get out of the way.


    "Golden, we need to climb this beast!" Asher said, rage contorting his face, Golden nodded his face, similar to a feral look, as both men began to climb Lord Listex. They climbed rapidly despite Lord Listex''s best efforts to dislodge them, swinging himself around and clashing his legs together.


    "Come now, stop this nonsense. Simply be crushed like the lessers you are." Lord Listex said, still politely, not a hint of fear in his voice as his assailants climbed his body to destroy him. The two reached the top of his carapace and quickly ran for his head. "Of course you would make me repeat the earlier bad business." He said in a sad tone of voice.


    Listex then activated his ability once more, causing a surge of acid green goop to come out of his carapace. The two heroes ignored it, still charging through, ignoring the burning that came as the goop went through and burned most of their lower legs. Honestly, if they could feel the force of such a burn, they would not be able to move forward, but it was numbed, so they were able to ignore and move forward.


    So the two reached Listex''s head and brought their maces high in the air and brought them down, slamming them into Listex''s head and causing crash locks to appear in his skull. "Stop that at once! You lessers are not allowed to hurt your betters, such as myself." Lord Listex said in an indignant voice. The two ignored him, bringing their maces down again and again despite Lord Listex''s protest and his attempts to stop them.


    The two were spurred on by his attempt to see it as the desperation it was and the victory that was soon to come. "Impossible! You cannot come into a lord''s garden, stand around slack-jawed like a bunch of idiots at my food, and then defeat me. You are by lessers!" Lord Listex screamed one final time as he fell apart at the seams. The two made a run for it as Lord Lissom''s body fell into the lake of burning green goop.


    The two made it, getting clear in one last big jump as the last of Lord Listex''s body fell into the lake of burning green goop. Though just as they did, a blue screen appeared before them telling them the end of their dungeon raid and of their quest.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(0, 0, 255, 1)" border="1">


    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 96.4331%">- you are victorious-


    -Congratulations for defeating the catacombs of Lord Listex-


    -You have explored an unknown area- quest complete-


    - gaming session finished-


    - rewards will be given at your gaming terminal-</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    Before either Asher or Golden could react, they found themselves ejected from the game and their minds going down a blue spiral of light back to their bodies. For this part of the adventure, it was over.


    "Well, that was intense." Simon said as both he and Robert watched the TV screen on Robert''s workshop wall in silence for a moment. "Well, intense is good too; the viewers enjoy a few intense moments in their show." Simon said thinking that everything should be fine going forward, as the rating should do swell from this.


    "Well, that''s good to hear, Simon, but there''s one problem with what just happened." Robert said, focusing on the screen. Simon was confused. Wondering what he was getting at, he focused on what Robert was focused on and saw what he saw, and then he knew what Robert was worried about.


    "My dear Robert, this is great; that big first step of your game has just been made. Now all you got to do is see what they got." Simon said excitedly, as the viewers would probably be excited wondering what exactly would be waiting for the four when they got back.


    " I''m not sure, Simon. Especially considering the nature of Lord Listex, which is where it will be coming from." Robert said unsure and worried about the potential backlash about what was about to happen from what was being brought back.


    "Robert, don''t worry; it''ll be fine. Besides, the ones who got it are all heroes. If something goes wrong, they''ll handle it." Simon said assuredly, to which Robert nodded hesitantly. "Now come on, let''s see how this unfolds, shall we, my good Robert?" Simon said exactly as both turned towards the TV screens, though this time they were focusing on the worlds of wonder and the mad.

 chapter 44 the rewards of Lord Listex

    The four heroes found themselves out of the game and back in the planning room of their base, the Great Light. For a moment they said nothing, merely taking a moment to adjust as they recalibrated to being back in their own bodies. After a long moment, the Golden King stood up and spoke to the others who were stretching their bodies. "I will head back to my room to examine the data we have gotten." The Golden King stated simply before leaving the room without another word.


    The other three look at each other for a moment before Ashbringer spoke. "Well, that sounds like the Golden King we know." He said simply the other two nodded, confirming their earlier suspicions that something off was happening in the game world when it came to the Golden King. "So after that fine adventure, I think I''m done for the day, so I''m going to my room and going to bed. You guys are the same?" Ashbringer said he was curious about his teammates plans while mentally exhausted about the whole dungeon raid.


    The Distiller spoke first. "I''m probably going to check on my drinks, but then I''m following you into dreamland." Distiller said, his voice slightly excited as he always was when checking in on the progress of whatever drink he was concocting, though he was showing the same mental exhaustion as Ashbringer. Ashbringer and Distiller then looked to their third member for his plans.


    "While I''m going to work on my gasses for a little bit, I think I''ve got a new, more effective laughing gas. Then I''m also heading to bed early." The Purifier said in a neutral tone, to which the other two nodded in acknowledgment, then Ashbringer spoke once more.


    "To think earlier today we were just goofing off. Now we''re back from an epic adventure, going to check on a couple of personal projects of ours before heading to bed early." Ashbringer said to which the others nodded their heads in acknowledgment of the rapid change in pace for the day.


    So they all got up from their chairs in the planning room and made their way down the elevator to their level. They then quickly set out to do what they had said they would. Ashbringer went to his room while Distiller went to check up on his little elixirs, and Purifier made progress on his new laughing gas. Soon enough the three were done with their task and asleep, dreaming of things that happened and things that were never to be.


    Meanwhile, the Golden King was in his room at his desk going over the data they had gotten from the equipment that had been scanning the game while they were inside it. Which didn''t make any sense to him; it was so complicated. It seemed like the coding for a whole world had been made into zeroes and ones, which was rather troubling as it pointed to this game being some other world.


    This meant whoever created the game had the ability to create entire worlds and had decided to create video games with such an ability. Which was either a sign of how harmless their intentions were or how mad they were. Sadly for Golden King, he couldn''t make a decision with the information he had on hand. For a long moment he stared unblinkingly at the ever-expanding list of code as it went across his screen.


    Then he remembered that the game said he would get some kind of reward for beating the dungeon. So Golden King, being thorough, immediately went to the gaming website and went to his account to find out what he got in hopes it would provide him more intelligence in the situation of the gaming world and how it operates.


    He quickly found his reward, an item from the Lord Listex and his servant, the key blitzer. A green stats screen was next to tell him all the abilities of the item as well as a surprising extra feature that changed everything about his investigation into the game. As well as the impact it would have on his world.


    <table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(0, 128, 0, 1)" border="1">


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    <td style="width: 96.4331%">Listex''s emerald beetle key -undead key- support item: magic wand- description: a key made from black carapace with a handle one end and mandibles on the other to act as a key. It special trait: green geyser lock - this insectoid key had the ability to be instered into any wall or door and leave traps in them to defend the keys owner against Intruders these traps will speed green burning goop they will never run out of this material.


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    This item it able to be materialized- meaning it can be brought into the owners world.-


    - would you like to do so- y/n</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>


    The screen flowed at him as if tempting him to see if what it was saying was true. Though Golden King would not be intimidated, for he was king, and he would not tolerate any threats to his realm nor leave any opportunities for growth of his kingdom alone. So the Golden King reached and clicked the yes option, causing a green swirling vortex to open up on his personal computer screen.


    The Golden king did not hesitate and reached in pulling out Listex''s big key out of the green vortex causing it to disappear. He was then left holding the emerald beetle key. The Golden King spent a long time looking over the emerald beetle key, taking in every detail of the item as well as checking the weight of the emerald beetle key in his hand. He then stood up and walked over to one of the walls of his room and put the emerald key to it.


    He watched as a green beetle keyhole appeared, taking shape in the wall for a moment as the emerald beetle key went into it. It then disappeared soon after as Golden King then twisted and pulled out the key, which should have set a series of chemical traps in the walls. So to test this, he designated a pen a threat while holding his emerald beetle key and then threw it in the air.


    A pipe quickly came out of the wall and shot a ball of burning green goop at the pin, reducing it to cinders at the center of Golden King''s room. "Very interesting. I''ll have to run more tests with the item, but it seems it will do so sets for my realm." The Golden King said he was quite interested in his rewards potential in securing his base.


    Though then his expressions changed to a more concerned one. "I''ll have to find out what the others got to be on the safe side." The Golden King said, thinking of those who had also gone into the catacombs of Lord Listex with him. Though he left them be for now, knowing they were asleep, as his base''s internal sensors had told him as much.


    Simon and Robert had been watching Golden King''s reaction to his reward, and both of them had come to their own realizations. "It seems our dear Golden King is much more stiff in his own home." Simon stated that which well and astute observation was an odd one: why would the Golden King become more stiff when he was alone in his own office?


    "Yes, you''re right, Simon, there''s something off about Golden King''s reaction, but have you noticed how he seems to be a bit more suspicious of his teammates, far more than when he was in Alyssa?" Robert made another astute observation that had rather dark implications.


    "Yes, I did notice, my dear Robert, which means we''re looking at a Golden King that got worse when he left the game. I do wonder why that is, don''t you?" Simon said in a rather curious voice as this confirmed that Golden King was in an altered state of mind, but he was improved instead of being controlled.


    The only important questions for Simon and Robert were how and why. "I suppose we''ll just have to continue watching the show as it unfolds and see what answer we can get out of the performance, won''t we?" Simon said in an intrigued voice, very much looking forward to seeing how this unfolded. Robert just sighed, then nodded his head in agreement before turning back to the TV screens to continue watching events as they unfolded.