by Ivan Kal
WISDOM
13
CHARISMA
10
LUCK
10
SKILLS
Hand-to-Hand Combat II (previous life experience)
Weapons I (previous life experience)
Language-Basic (The World beginner skill)
Elemental Alignment-Nature IV(+one rank, Guild buff)
Archery V
Hunting I
Monster Lore III
Skinning I
Herbalism I
Enchanting III
Inspect III
Energy Manipulation I
Arcane Mark I
ABILITIES
Scatter Shot II
Piercing Shot I
Nature Sight II
Nature Sense I
Power Infusion IV
Power Siphon II
Energy Arrow I
Rain of Arrows I
Exploding Arrow I
He was almost at the threshold for intellect. He wondered what that would feel like; both Agility and Will were very different but incredible experiences. Morgan closed his screens and took a look around the table. The looks on the others faces told him that they too were more than happy that they had decided to upgrade right now.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The next day, they started their trip for Terbon. They left Rann to guard the hold, and had told him to make sure to “dissuade” anyone if they came and tried to steal their stuff. The manticore seemed to understand their words, and when they left he jumped up on the roof of the hold and watched his surroundings. It was also bound to the hearthstone, and didn’t need to eat or sleep, as it got all of its power from the stone itself.
They set a brisk pace, trying to get to the city as fast as possible. But, like always, Morgan just had the worst luck. Just two hours after they left Reach, they stumbled into an goblin ambush. Lucius noticed them first and yelled out a warning as he jumped to the side to evade a thrown spear. Morgan raised his bow and summoned an energy arrow, he could feel the energy move through his body from his core up through his chest and into his fingertips. He pulled the string back as a green arrow formed in his hand, then he let it loose at one of the charging goblins. The green arrow flew through the air in a straight line and impacted the creature’s chest and a shower of green energy washed over it from the wound, dropping it to the floor.
Ves blocked a spear with her shield and then stabbed a goblin that was charging her in the chest. As she pulled out her sword, the blood from the wound followed her blade, flowing over it and then over her body to coat her chest, forearms, and shins, as well as some of her helmet, and then it crystallized. As another goblin tried to rush her, Lucius danced over and slashed one of its legs clear off before taking off its head.
Vall rushed the tree line and the goblins hiding there, letting out a loud bellow which froze every goblin on the field. Morgan put another two energy arrows in the stunned goblins as he heard sounds of carnage from Vall’s direction. The energy arrow was an amazing ability—with it, he didn’t really need to worry about losing his arrows, although he could fire maybe twenty before coming close to exhaustion. And that was without using any of his other abilities, which was why he had his regular arrows in the quiver at his side. He had even enchanted about half of them with decaying and binding effects.
Quickly enough, they finished the goblins off. Morgan glanced at the exp that they gained from the encounter and frowned.
“What? There were at least two dozen of them, and I got only eighty experience!”
“We are higher levels now, so we get less experience for low-level enemies,” Ves told him.
Morgan frowned and then took a look at her, all covered in blood-red crystallized armor. “You look hot,” he said before he could think better of it.
Ves turned bright red underneath her helmet, and Vall groaned as he walked back from the tree line. “Must you be like that?”
“Sorry, but she is.” Morgan grinned at him, eliciting a look of disgust from Vall.
“Let’s gather this loot. We need the ascension crystals, and perhaps we can sell some of this,” Lucius said. Morgan nodded. They had emptied their bags and left everything that they didn’t need back at the Guild Hold. They had even found a few more bags in the storeroom which they brought along. They started putting the loot from the goblins into one of the bags, and Morgan then put it in his bag of holding which was now empty.
“I wonder what this large of a party was doing here,” Vall said as they finished and started on their way. “We cleared out the den; that should’ve lessened their presence here. Monsters outside of the dungeons or the tower don’t really respawn.”
The rest of them shrugged. They didn’t have an answer.
They continued on their way, undisturbed until late in the afternoon, when they walked right into the path of a large bear which looked almost exactly like an grizzly bear, except that its fur was red. It had a goblin arrow sticking out of its back and was completely enraged. It charged right at them as soon as it saw them.
Ves stepped forward, the blood armor on her body turning back to liquid and flowing to her shield before exploding forward as a large lance of frozen blood. It hit the bear in the shoulder and broke, leaving a piece in. The bear didn’t even notice it, however, as it rose up on its hind legs and swiped at Ves with his massive paw. Ves caught the attack on the shield and it sent her skidding across the ground, but she kept on her feet.
Lucius sent a blade of air cutting into the bear’s side, making it roar and turn around toward him. In response, Lucius simply turned around and ran. Morgan pulled a binding arrow and fired at it. The arrow hit it in the hip and roots grew out of it, binding the bear in place.
Vall jumped forward, his sword flaring with fire, and he stabbed it in the side. The bear screamed and thrashed around, but Vall just pushed his scorching sword deeper inside. Morgan formed an energy arrow and then added more power to it, took careful aim, and then let it fly. The arrow struck the bear in the throat and then exploded in a small flash of green energy, taking with it half of the bear’s throat and its lower jaw. The bear dropped to the ground, dead.
“Well, that was new,” Morgan said after a while.
Ves approached the bear and looked at it for a moment, then turned to look at Morgan. “Can you get me its heart?”
“Uh…” Morgan started as he walked over. “Sure. What for?”
“I think that this is a very good opportunity for me to bind a spirit familiar,” Ves said.
Morgan raised an eyebrow. He knew that the Mage class in this world dealt with spirits and making contracts with elements, and it looked like the Eldritch Knight class had inherited some of that. Morgan nodded, then pulled out his knife and started cutting.
Once he got his lady her heart, he turned to the bear and started harvesting a few other things that could be useful, like its fur, teeth, and claws. Meanwhile, Ves was bent over the thing’s heart and was focusing on something.
By the time that Morgan finished, Ves looked like she had been running all day. She was sweating and shaking. Morgan was just about to ask if she was all right, when she released a breath and relaxed. He could see a flash of red energy pass through her and she stood up. She looked at them and then extended her sword arm—red energy flew out of it and then grew larger until it took the shape of a large ethereal bear. Eventually its ethereality slowly diminished, leaving only a faint glow. The bear looked at them and then roared.
Morgan, Lucius, and Vall had their weapons up and ready.
Ves laughed out loud and walked over to the bear, putting her hand on its head. She tapped it and it turned back to mist and flowed into her. “I’m too tired to keep him out for long, but I think that he will be a great addition to the team.” Ves grinned at them.
Vall just shook his head and sheathed his sword. “We should make camp, it’s almost night.”
“Huh,” Morgan said as he noticed an notification
in the corner of his eye.
“What is it?” Lucius asked.
“My Skinning skill just went up a rank.”
“Congratulations,” Lucius said, and turned toward the others.
The others set out to make camp, while Morgan cut up some meat from the bear for dinner.
They reached Terbon around noon on the next day—after they had fought against another two goblin raids, each about a dozen goblins strong. They were all a bit on edge from the trip. Once they approached the gates, they noticed that there were about six guards there, wearing their mismatched armor and what looked to be woodcutting axes for weapons. As soon as they saw them, their eyes widened and filled with hope.
“Oh, thank the Great Lord!” the one in the lead, a tall fellow with a thin mustache, said. “Our runners managed to catch you?”
“Uh…” Morgan and the group looked at each other in confusion. “I think that you have us confused with someone else.”
The guard stepped forward. “You are ascended, right? From the Omen Guild?”
“We are ascended, but we are not from the Omen Guild,” Morgan answered.
The guard looked at Morgan’s hand and his manticore mark, then shook his head. “It doesn’t matter, the mayor will want to speak with you. We need any help that we can get! Will you come with me?”
“Sure, we were planning on speaking with the mayor anyway. I’m Morgan, by the way,” he introduced himself, and then the rest of his group.
The guard nodded in greetings. “I am Captain Madock of Terbon Guard,” he said, and then led them into the town. Everywhere they looked people were in a state of panic; there was a sense of hopelessness in the air.
“Why is everyone so on edge?” Morgan asked.
“You don’t know?” the guard asked. “It’s those damned goblins.”
“What about them?” Vall asked.
“A few of our hunters have seen a large army of them marching down from up north. They should be here in a day or two.”
“We encountered them on our trip, five dozen at least,” Lucius added.
Captain Madock nodded his head. “Their raiding parties. We fought off one just yesterday. We know how to deal with those; they test the wall from time to time. We have no ascended, so we have no chance against a horde.”
“A horde?” Ves asked, surprised.
“Aye, that’s what our scouts are telling us.”
Morgan had no idea what a horde meant, precisely, but he could imagine. He leaned over to Ves and had her slow down. He spoke softly enough that the Captain couldn’t hear.
“What’s a horde?” he asked.
“A large army of goblins, several hundred goblins strong, led by goblin chieftains and shamans,” Ves responded.
“But where could such a force come from? A dungeon?”
“No, the goblins live out in the mountains to the north. Usually only a few parties venture forth to raid the countryside or to establish dens. They haven’t attacked in force in centuries.”
“You know, that chieftain that we defeated…” Morgan said as a few pieces slid into place. “You said that it was unlikely for a chieftain to command such a small den. But it wouldn’t be so strange if he had been sent here to scout out the area and make preparations for an invasion.”
Ves’s eyes widened. “That could be it.”
Morgan leaned back, and they increased their pace to catch up with the others.
They reached the town hall and the captain led them through the main doors and then right up the stairs. The captain knocked on the doors and opened them without waiting for an answer. They entered a small office, and were met with an older, thin man with gray, shoulder-length hair and a bushy beard.
“Madock, did we catch them?” the man asked as soon as he noticed them.
“No, Mr. Mayor, these have heard no word from our people. I fear that they have fallen to the monsters before reaching the pass.”
“Damn it!” The Mayor slammed his fist on the table. “We lost two good horses along with them, then.” Then, as if he had just noticed Morgan and his friends, he narrowed his eyes at them. “And who is this?”
“Ascended, Mr. Mayor. They arrived just now, and I thought that you would want to speak with them.” The captain turned to look at Morgan and the rest. “This is Mayor Fennes.”
“Ascended? You are not from the Omen or Glitter Force Guilds?” Mayor Fennes asked.
Morgan stepped forward. “No. Our Guild’s name is Skyreach—we are a new guild. You have need for ascended?”
“Of course we have a need! We are about to be overrun by goblins, and you ascended abandoned us!” Fennes said.
“With all due respect, Mr. Mayor, it was not our Guild that abandoned you.”
The man looked at him like he wanted to argue the point, but he thought better of it. “You’re right, but the question is, are you going to abandon us?”
“You haven’t asked us for help yet,” Morgan said with a grin.
The Mayor grew quiet, and then looked Morgan in the eyes. “Will you help us?”
“Of course,” Morgan told him, and saw the Mayor release a breath in relief. “Provided you give us something in return.”
The Mayor grimaced. Morgan saw that he was angry, but he also saw that he was keeping that anger back. Huh, he really must be desperate.
“What do you want?”
Morgan nodded, and then approached the desk. “You are all alone out here, surrounded by monsters. You can’t farm further than you can see from your walls. Your hunters don’t come back from their hunts more often than not. Let’s face it, you’re barely surviving.”
Fennes grimaced. “We are not ascended. We don’t have the same luxuries as you.”
“The truth is that you could be. You just lack the drive to take the leap,” Morgan said. Everyone looked at him, open mouthed. “And I can understand that. It is why we will help you, as long as you agree to one condition.”
“We don’t have much to give,” Fennes said.
“You will swear your town to the service of the Skyreach Guild,” Morgan said, and saw the Mayor’s eyes widen. “You will pay a tax in the form of ten percent of all your produce. You will allow us to recruit any of your citizens who are willing to ascend, and your non-ascended will be working for the Guild. In return we will be hiring your people’s services, paying in either coin or goods, and we will keep the monsters away from your town and allow you to expand your farms and town itself. And we will help you fight off this horde, of course.”
The Mayor looked at Morgan in shock. Morgan frowned and turned to look at the others, who just shrugged.
Then Fennes finally spoke. “No Guild has ever expanded its influence to our lands. We’ve tried to get them to do so, but none of them were willing to invest in a territory which had little to offer them in the short term. Why would your Guild do so?”
“I’ll be honest with you,” Morgan said. “Our Guild is very new, and it is based here. Our Guild Hold is on Reach, actually.”
“You built a Guild Hold here?” Fennes asked in disbelief.
“I see potential here, and our plan is take all of this land under our domain. The other Guilds might not want it, but we do. As your town is the first one to which we have extended this offer, your terms will be more favorable—that is, if you accept.”
“If?” Fennes asked. “Do you know what it would mean for my people to live under the rule of a Guild? We have been trying to convince the Guilds that send their outposts here to take us in for decades! Can you even make this deal? What will your Guild Master say?”
“I am the Guild Master of Skyreach,” Morgan said simply.
The man looked from him to the others and then back, clearly lost for words.
Morgan raised an eyebrow. “Is that a yes, then?”
He could see that the Mayor wanted to agree immediately, but he held back, thinking on it. Morgan could respect that; he was clearly thinking about his people.
�
��If you help us survive the next few days, we are yours.” The man put his hand forward, and Morgan grasped it.
Save the weak — Quest acquired! (reward: gain control of Terbon and increase your domain)
And here we go.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Morgan and Ves stood over a table in the main room of the town hall, looking at a rough map of the area. He had sent Lucius out to scout the goblin forces, and Vall was looking over the defenses and the state of the guard. Four of them alone might not be enough to fight off an entire horde, so they were planning to defend the town with the help of the people. Vall would also be gathering volunteers who they would then train for the militia. They didn’t have enough time to teach them enough to ascend, but they could still fight. Of course an average goblin was between level 2 and 5, which was stronger than any non-ascended, but hopefully the walls would give them enough of an advantage to bridge the gap.
“Our scouts saw them here.” Captain Madock pointed to a river just two days north of Terbon. “They were in the process of crossing the river. They should be somewhere around here by now.” He pointed to a hill less than a day’s walk from the town.
“Lucius should be back by nightfall with more information,” Morgan said. An ascendant could set a far faster pace than an ordinary non-ascendant. “After that we will start planning the defense a bit more in depth.”
Madock nodded in agreement.
“For now,” Morgan told him, “I need every available set of hands put to work on the things I asked for.”
“I still don’t get why you want so much sawdust,” Madock said.
“Trust me, it will be useful,” Morgan told him. “And the other things I asked for?”