The new armor hugged her frame like a second skin. The spiraling scales shifted and rustled softly as she moved, covering every patch of exposed flesh except her head and fingers.
“Father, this is amazing,” the goblinette exclaimed. She ran at the wall, jumped onto a high support beam, and easily launched herself toward the roof, where she hung down from another beam. The entire maneuver looked effortless, and her movements were quicker than ever. She swung down, landing lightly between Tika and me. “I love it!” She hugged me.
I hugged her back and smiled. “It will negate the damage of most weak attacks, but remember, it’s always better to dodge than get hit. It’s also invulnerable to fire, but most spellcasters can usually cast more than one type of element, so don’t get too confident if you harmlessly absorb a fireball.”
“I will be careful,” she promised. “When are we leaving?”
“Now,” I said. I went over to Tika, embraced her, and kissed her tenderly.
She looked at us with pride. “Take care of each other out there. I’ll be waiting.”
“We will,” I said.
I teleported with Lirian into the cathedral, then we passed through the portal to Everance.
11 - Forward
We exited the portal and into Everance’s temple which, to my surprise, was packed with people. Players all.
“There he is!” one of them shouted, pointing at me.
Lirian faded into the shadows as everyone rushed to crowd around me, and I suddenly found myself drowning in a sea of offered hands and smiling faces.
“Thank you so much!” a young woman sobbed as she struggled to reach out and hug me. “It was dreadful, they forced me to clean their mansion every day—”
“Do you have any word from our families outside?” a tear-stricken woman asked. “I miss them so much.”
I opened my mouth to answer, but another player shoved past the woman. “Charles Bartleby, a pleasure!” he said with a thick British accent, vigorously shaking my hands. “By George, I must say you rescuing us came at a timely—”
There were dozens of other players, all vying for my attention. I noticed only a few of them were over level 5, and none over 10.
I pushed toward the teary woman. “Your families are worried about you, of course,” I said gently. “But your bodies are being taken care of and everyone out there is doing everything they can to try to bring you out of the game.”
She nodded gratefully. A moment later she was pushed away again.
“Wow, you’re level 76? That’s intense, man, how did you do it?”
I frowned, but before I could respond, another player pushed himself into my face.
“Can you power-level us?” yet another asked. “Maybe give us some magic items to get us started? You look to be swimming in high-end gear.”
My frown deepened.
“Alright, that’s enough, give the man some space,” a scarred woman who wore simple chain armor said.
The other players reluctantly moved away from me.
The armored player nodded at me. “I’d like to apologize on behalf of our more … enthusiastic members.” She gave a stern look to some of the others.
“What’s going on here?” I asked.
“Everance decreed that travelers are allowed free access throughout the city,” she explained. “Most of us were forced to accept indentured servitude to survive, and the authorities wouldn’t move a finger to help us. That all changed a few days ago. We’re allowed to roam around and take normal jobs like every other NPC. We heard we owed it all to you, and that you can be reached through this church, but that portal wouldn’t let us through.”
“Yeah, sorry about that, uh … Cindy.” I read her character’s information. “You need a priest to connect it to one of the possible destinations. Anyway, I’m glad I was able to help. You should now have the freedom to grow and—”
“Can you sport us some gold?” one of the players interrupted me. “You know, just to get us started.”
That did it. Cindy looked like a decent person, but most of the others seemed to think I was there to coddle them.
“Listen up,” I snapped, allowing my anger to sift into the surrounding darkness, making it swell threateningly around me.
The other players backed away.
“I’ve put my life and the lives of those who are dear to me on the line many times to make Everance give you this concession.” I looked at the many faces before me. At least 50 players were looking back. “I’m glad you guys are doing better now, but I can’t help each one of you individually. You need to take care of yourself. There are plenty of opportunities to improve your situation, you just need to reach out and grab them.”
“The only decent-paying jobs are all about hunting critters,” a player complained. “Do you have any idea how painful—”
He stopped when I crossed my arms and stared at him.
“Considering your level … I guess you do,” he finished lamely.
“I told you, we should form hunting parties,” Cindy scolded. “I’ve been going down to the tunnels on my own. It sucks to be bitten, but it’s not something you can’t handle. Especially if we’re together.”
“She’s right,” I said. “You need to step up. I’ll accept any who want to join my clan. You’ll be welcome in my city and will have plenty of opportunities to contribute. If you’re good at crafting, we can use your help. If you’re looking to level up and become stronger, we can help you there, but it’s still on you to get up and push yourselves.
“I bled and suffered more than you can imagine to reach this point, and I’m not going to stop. There are plenty of other players out there who are in worse shape than you. If you want to help fight for a better future for every trapped player, then as I said, you’re welcome to join my clan. But if you’re only looking for someone to carry you on their back …”
I stopped when I realized that more than a few players seemed scared. I sighed inwardly. I had to remember that many of them were people who just logged into NEO to have some fun and weren’t cut out for handling true hardships. I mellowed the harsh words I was about to say.
“… then you’re welcome to stay in my clan anyway. You’ll be provided with food so you won’t starve, but that’s all. You’ll still need to find some work if you want to better your lives.”
“Free food and safety? Sign me up,” the loudmouth player said.
“I’d like to try my hand at crafting,” one of the women said. “I used to be pretty good with pottery.”
I nodded at her in approval. “That would be great. We’re importing clay to the clan but don’t have a dedicated crafter to make anything out of it.”
A few more players voiced their wish to join, but it was Cindy who finalized the conversation. “I want to sign up with your army,” she said. “We all heard about your monster army and how you forced Everance to reach an agreement instead of fighting you. I want to fight by your side – to help save other players who are trapped and have no one to help them.”
“Good.” I gestured around the temple. “Everyone who also wishes to join the army, wait for me outside. As for the rest of you, go through the portal. It’ll get you to Goblin’s Gorge, my clan’s capital. It might be a little crowded at first, but we’ll get you settled. I’ll inform my seneschal to hand out work to anyone who wishes to help.”
A few players joined Cindy and stepped outside to wait for me. Most of the others walked through the portal while I hurriedly informed Kaedric of their arrival.
Then I stepped out the front door with Lirian slipping through the shadows after me.
***
It was close to midnight.
The ring of white pillars still surrounded the temple, but the host of elite soldiers that guarded them was replaced with several sleepy-looking city guards. The streets beyond them seemed deserted.
I motioned for the small group of players waiting for me to hold as I boldly approached the guards. “Good eve
ning,” I said pleasantly.
The guards glanced at me with boredom, but then jumped and reached for their weapons as they noticed my goblin features. “Halt!” one of them shouted shrilly, and I noticed his weapon hand was shaking.
I grinned at them. “No need to get upset, guys. Just a goblin traveler, doing his thing. My deal with Sleeve states I’m allowed into the city.” I gave them a searching look. “Or do we need to call the spymaster to sort this out?”
The guards exchanged nervous glances and withdrew their weapons. “That won’t be necessary,” a more composed-looking guard said. “Travelers are allowed free movement within the city limits, even monste— I mean, of any race.”
“Good.” I smiled at him. From the corner of my vision, I noticed Lirian, shrouded in darkness, slipping through the ring of pillars. “Then we’ll be going now.” I motioned for the other players to follow me, and we made it into the street.
Cindy laughed. “For a moment, I thought they were going to try to arrest you.”
“It would have been the last thing they ever did,” I said darkly.
She shook her head. “I still can’t believe you had the balls to threaten Everance.”
My cloak formed a mouth. “Oh, you have no idea the set my steed is packing. Not to mention the shiny purple ones he keeps collecting.”
“Vic,” I admonished him.
“Sorry, Boss. I couldn’t pass on an opportunity like that; the material I have to work with lately is thin as it is.”
“What the hell? You’ve got a talking cloak?” one of the players gasped.
I sighed. “Guys, this is Vic; he’s my companion. He’s rude, opinionated, and has an unhealthy fixation with balls jokes, but he’s pretty handy.”
“And ballsy,” Vic added. “Or … maybe I shouldn’t use handy and ballsy in the same sentence. How about a handful?”
“You’re full of something alright,” I said. “Anyway don’t worry about him, guys. He’s pretty dependable – when he’s not going out of his way to make weak puns.”
“Excuse me?” Vic spoke so loudly several of the dark windows in the street lit up. “Weak puns? I’ll have you know I’m my people’s number one authority on testicular-related witticism. No one dares to question my credentials.”
“Ballsy of you to say that,” I said.
“You got that right.”
“You two are weird,” a player said, giving Cindy a look as if wondering if the guy they were following was right in the head.
We kept on walking, leaving the poor district, and heading into a larger one that led to one of Everance’s external gates.
Cindy picked up her pace and walked next to me. “I think we’re being followed,” she whispered.
“Oh?”
“I just saw a flash on the roof behind us, and there was another one when we set out from the temple.”
“Very observant of you,” I said approvingly.
She blinked. “You knew?”
“Yeah. Don’t worry, she’s with me.”
“She?”
“You’ll see.”
We reached the main gate leading out of the city.
“I can’t believe they’re just letting us go,” a player said.
I shrugged. “That’s the deal I struck with them. No sense for them to bar the exits when the army that had them worried is marching away.”
We passed through the gate, and a flash of magic to our left told me that Lirian had used her teleportation spell to get out as well.
Once we put some distance between us and the walls, I turned to face the others. “Alright, the army should be passing to the east of the city. If we push ourselves, we can join up with them before it gets too bright.”
“Shouldn’t it be the other way around?” one of them asked, glancing nervously at the surrounding darkness. “We’ll just trip on something out here and be easy prey for any roaming monster.”
“Oh, right. I forgot,” I said. “Since all of you are willing to fight for our cause, I hereby accept you into the GreenPiece Clan.”
The darkness around the players coalesced and rose to engulf their bodies. A few seconds later the darkness receded, leaving behind darker skin and black patches.
The players gasped as their newly acquired Shadow-Touched trait kicked in, transforming the darkness and allowing them to see as if they were in broad daylight.
Then they noticed the goblinette who was standing just next to them, and they jumped back in alarm.
I chuckled. “Everyone, this is Lirian. My daughter.”
“Daughter?” Cindy asked, gaping.
I nodded. “That’s right. Now come on, we have a lot of ground to cover.”
***
I mercilessly pushed the frail players onward.
Aside from Cindy, the rest of the players were in abysmal physical shape. We were forced to take more breaks than I’d intended so they could catch their breath, but I always rushed them onward before they could get fully rested.
“What’s the rush?” one of the players asked, gasping as he labored to breathe. “We’re about to drop dead over here.”
“It’s going to be daylight soon,” I said. “And trust me, you don’t want to be running at full speed when that happens. Besides, if you want to fight with the rest of the army, you need to shape up. This is nothing compared to what we’ll be facing soon.”
“Is it too late to take that crafting gig?” one of them asked, half-jokingly.
“Yes,” I said. “Come on, it’s not far now.”
We continued running, passing through a patch of shrubs, when armed figures suddenly materialized out of hiding, blocking our way.
“Monsters!” Cindy shouted. With the smooth motion of an experienced fighter, she unsheathed her sword and lashed out at one of the figures.
The higher-level hob easily evaded the blow and swept his bow around, snagging the player’s wrist and pulling her downward.
Another figure approached me and bowed its head. “Chief, we were waiting for you.”
“Wait, you control these things?” a player gasped.
“Army of monsters, remember?” I grinned at him. “Cindy, you got some good instincts there; all you need is a few more levels. You’ll get that fighting along with the others.”
“Thanks,” she said, grimacing as she rubbed her bruised wrist.
“As for the rest of you,” I told the others, “we have trainers that will help whip you into shape.” I nodded to the hob that addressed me. “Take them to Sullivan. Have him assign them whichever role they can perform that will be of help. Tell him to come talk to me afterward.”
The hob banged his fist on his chest. “Yes, Chief.”
“They were amusing,” Lirian noted as the players were led toward the bulk of the army. “They’re not like Hoshisu, Aly, Panda, or some of the other travelers.”
“No,” I agreed. “But they can learn.”
“Princess,” the army general said as he approached, “Savol is happy to see you.”
“What am I, pickled magmashroom?” I grunted in amusement. The goblin’s infatuation with my daughter was obvious, but it didn’t seem to lead to anything inappropriate. If anything, it seemed to make him fiercely loyal to her. “How’s the army looking?”
“Good, Chief,” he replied. “Army travels fast. We will reach new region in two days. The vassals’ militia recovered enough to guard them without the army. Me only leave 50 soldiers to garrison new outpost and two squads of young warriors in the capital.”
“How are our provisions looking?”
“Army has enough for a week, then need more food.”
“I understand Wolrig is working on building another mobile shrine.”
Savol nodded. “Yes, he says it be ready in two days.”
“There’s no need to wait,” I said. “I hereby authorize Wolrig and you to use energy to rush constructions. Finish the shrine; I’ll need it to make a few hops to the valley and back. I’ll bring in som
e more builders and resources to construct a permanent altar. Then we’ll be able to open a portal and bring everything else we need.”
“Chief is very smart,” Savol said admiringly.
“There you are,” a familiar, dry voice said. A moment later, Sullivan appeared, followed by some of the other veteran players. “What’s the deal with the newbies you dropped on me?”
“They’re some of the players we freed from Everance,” I said. “They want to help, but it looks like spending a year in there has made them soft. Their hearts are in the right place, though. Maybe put them in one of our support squads, let them earn some XP from the back while they get acclimated to combat.”
“I can do that,” he said, then gave me a shrewd look. “Alright, so what’s the plan? We’ll be arriving at the border with Stoney Barrens in two days. We can’t just march in and engage the mobs out there; we’ll be decimated.”
“I’m going to take a few people with me and scout ahead,” I said. “We know the location of where we need to get to.”
He nodded. “I got it marked on my map. The cave that can supposedly help us turn things around. So if you think you can get there on your own, what do you need the rest of us for?”
“I’m sure there will be some sort of powerful force guarding the place.” I hesitated to reveal the vision I had long ago about the cave and of me being the only person standing surrounded by a sea of bodies.
“We’ll still get slaughtered out there,” he said. “There will be roaming bands of bouldites all over. Those monsters are tough – high-level-player tough. If not dispatched quickly, they’ll kill a lot of soldiers, or worse, call in the rest of their tribe. Even with the 2,300 soldiers we currently have, we can’t hope to take on a whole tribe. They’ll cut through our level 20 troops like they aren’t even there, and there’s no way our elites can defeat an entire attack force on their own. I’m afraid we won’t be able to follow you in quickly – or at all – and you might find yourself stranded.”
“You’re right, that’s the cut-and-dried situation.” I stared at him knowingly. “Now tell me how you’re going to make it work.”
Life Reset: Salvation (Life Reset - Neo Book 6) Page 19