by Ivan Kal
“What about Heddos?” Morgan asked. “Their town seems to have good defenses, and their ascended is powerful.”
Karissa shook her head. “Heddos does not like outsiders; they would not have accepted anyone. They are a secure town, certainly, but they would not wish to waste their resources on those like us. And their ascended is…unpredictable. He doesn’t leave the town often.”
“What do you know about him?” Morgan asked.
“I know that he arrived around twenty years ago, when my father had been the Mayor of Jarul. Heddos had been a small town, then, and poor. They survived mostly by farming and hunting. When the ascended came, that changed. The town became a bit more isolated, but it also grew. The ascended had many skills and abilities that helped the non-ascended, though he refused to teach anyone and help them ascend. He made them a deal: he would help them grow and protect them, and in return he asked only that they didn’t interact with other ascended should they ever decide to come there.”
Morgan frowned. Her description made it sound like the man had some kind of god complex and had wanted an entire town to rule over, but that wasn’t really the sense that Morgan had gotten from Azil. But he had no idea if that feeling was accurate—the ascended had refused to help Morgan’s Guild and the people of the valley against the goblins.
“Well, I cannot promise you safety. Only that you will have a place in my Guild,” Morgan said.
“That is all that we ask: a chance to rise above the fate that this world has put on us,” Karissa said.
They continued walking without speaking.
Five days later, they were about halfway to the town of Gebel, camping for the night. Morgan was sitting beneath a large tree and practicing using his Energy Manipulation. He was currently creating strands of energy and having them swirl around his arms. It had taken him three days to recover fully, a lot longer than last time, but now at least he knew more about the dangers of overextending himself. He finished warming up and began bending his will to the task, sending the strands of his energy into the ground. There, he found the roots of the great tree he was sitting beneath and began to shape them.
His life energy invigorated the roots, making them stronger—and, if he wanted, making them grow. He had a single root pierce the earth in front of him and had it stop when it reached the height of his chest. He looked at the root, studying it and the life energy inside it with his Nature Sight. Then he started experimenting, trying to see what he could do to make it stronger, to shape it better. He managed to make a sharp point and strengthen it while leaving the rest of it flexible. The problem was that it took him about ten minutes to do so, making it rather useless for combat; but he knew that with practice and levels, he would become faster.
Afterward, he turned to the real task he wanted to try that evening.
He knew the patterns of energy that he needed to make for an weakening effect, and he wondered if he could make the roots have that without the need for him to enchant them—which would be a complete waste, since he couldn’t take the roots with him. His attempts were unsuccessful, however, and any attempt on his part to have a temporary effect failed.
Eventually, he started just playing with the root. He had it grow four small branches on its sides, and then fashioned them into something resembling a hand, and then had it wave around. He chuckled at the ugly thing—but then as he looked at it, he froze as a thought occurred to him. He quickly drew his sword and cut the top of the root off, leaving only the part that now looked like a hand, while the remainder he had regrow and return to the ground.
He looked at the wooden hand and the connection it had with his energy—it was still alive. It moved based on Morgan’s manipulation of the energy inside, which was all his. He wondered what would happen if a different type of energy was put inside. It would probably depend on what kind it was, but in any case the energy on its own didn’t really have an effect, not until it was willed to. If Morgan wanted something to grow once he had filled it with his energy, he had to actively control it, and it was the same if he wanted something to decay. Would the same thing happen if someone used the energy of a fire alignment inside? Morgan wondered.
He had the skills Engraving and Enchanting, but he hadn’t really been doing much with them so far. Already he was having ideas about what he could do, and he knew that he might be able to help Vall sooner than planned. He knew that it was possible, as Lucius told him that there were artificers and crafters out there that could fashion replacement limbs that could even have the same feeling as the ones lost. Morgan wasn’t at that point yet, but he could at least help his friend. He experimented a bit more with the ways he could infuse his energy inside the piece of wood, but then he finally stopped trying as he felt his energy reserves dip dangerously low. He did not want to repeat the experience of the last few days.
Sighing, he stood up and walked over to their cart. He and Ves had a cot set up beneath it. He got in behind her and put his arms around her.
“Productive session?” she asked.
“No, not really,” Morgan admitted. He debated telling her about what he had discovered, but it was still in its early stages and he had much more to learn.
“I know that you are using a ranged class, but I think you need to train a bit more in your close combat skills.”
“Yes,” Morgan admitted, “and I will as soon as we get back to Reach and I can get Lucius to train with me.”
“Lucius? Not me?” Ves asked, but Morgan could hear the smile in her voice.
“Sorry, honey, but Lucius is more in my wheelhouse. Once I want to know how to swing a hammer around smashing people’s heads in, I’ll come to you.”
Ves chuckled, and Morgan tightened his arms around her as they went to sleep.
INTERLUDE III
Korvorok ran through the forest on the strange world, his heart beating quickly as he tried to get as far away as possible from the place he’d woken up from. His mind was still filled with the images of what had happened: how he had found himself in a strange place filled with gray mist, how a thing that held a striking resemblance to his mother had spoken to him and told him of things that he didn’t really understand, had showed him screens with status numbers and skills. He hadn’t really understood any of what was happening.
But then he woke up from that dream. His eyes had opened, and he had found himself in a stone room all alone. He had heard a noise and so hid, remembering his futile attempt at attacking the humans before. He found a spot behind a pillar and waited, listening intently as the noise grew stronger. He then saw a group of people enter the room—they were all dressed in strange clothing and held primitive weapons in their hands. Two of them were humans, one a human with what looked like elongated ears, but it was the last person that drew Korvorok’s attention. The last person was tall and green skinned, and Korvorok immediately recognized the form that his people had once held. The Orkvar walked tall, holding a large weapon on his shoulders.
From there, things had deteriorated rapidly. Seeing another of his kind made Korvorok act stupidly; he hadn’t really stopped to really think about the things he had seen. He hadn’t been thinking clearly, as the dream had made him off balance. Their reaction was anything but what Korvorok had expected. They brandished their weapons and attacked, speaking in a language that Korvorok didn’t understand. His words were met with looks of hatred and disgust and complete lack of understanding. Korvorok barely managed to move out of the way of the Orkvar’s attack, which smashed the pillar behind him to pieces in a display of monstrous strength. Korvorok went into survival mode and ran. He escaped the room with the group following behind him. He stumbled through the cave he had somehow found himself in and then escaped into the night. He ran into the forest, his pursuers following quickly behind.
Korvorok didn’t know for how long he ran, but eventually he could run no more. He collapsed on the ground and lay still, his muscles burning from exertion. After a while he realized that no one was coming a
fter him, and a while later still he managed to push himself up. He was hungry and thirsty, tired and miserable, but he was alive and free on some planet, somewhere. He didn’t know what had happened since the last moment he saw the human responsible for his current situation, nor did he know how long it had been since their last encounter, but he vowed to get his revenge.
After he had a chance to calm down, he realized a few things. His vision had unfamiliar symbols on it, and he remembered the dream of the gray space he had before waking up in the cave. The thing that looked like his mother had told him that she was a construct, and as Korvorok looked at the symbols and accidentally called screens to fill his sight, he realized that he had to have been implanted with some kind of ocular implant. That made his heart skip a beat, because if that was true, he was not truly free. Thoughts came to his mind as he tried to make sense of the situation.
In the end he decided to treat the dream as reality, and he tried to remember all the things that the construct had told him about the world he had found himself in and the rules that governed it.
Days later, Korvorok had to accept the reality that he was not on any kind of world he was familiar with. He had no idea where he was, but he knew that the rules of this place were far different. He looked at the status screen in front of his eyes. There was his name there, along with something else: Goblin LVL 2, it said, and Korvorok realized just how different this world was. He was not free—he was inside the playground of a being who had taken everything from him.
But there were some upsides. Korvorok found himself with knowledge he had not possessed before, mainly that of how to hunt, if in primitive ways. It was how he had managed to survive and find food. He was certain that the implant inside of his head was to blame for that knowledge. But seeing no other choice, Korvorok continued on. He hunted, until he came upon a strange creature that nearly killed him.
It was an animal with tusks growing out of its snout that had nearly ended him. In fact, Korvorok thought that he was dead for sure when it skewered into him, so he used his crude wooden spear to stab into its eyes and kill it. But then he had seen the screen, and chose to ascend.
After arriving in the same gray space of his dream he spent more time talking with the construct, learning and understanding more. After he left what he now knew was his soul space, he got another surprise: first that his wound was healed, and second that the body of the animal had dispersed and left behind it some glowing crystals on the ground. From his talks with the construct, Korvorok recognized and knew that he needed them to survive. Immediately, he consumed them and continued on his way.
He spent the next two months living in such a manner inside of the forest. He ascended several times, and after every ascension he could see that he grew stronger. As he became more confident, he ventured further out of the forest, looking for signs of civilization.
He found a small town, only there were none of his kind anywhere in sight. There were only humans of different types, the rare Orkvar, and a few other races that Korvorok didn’t recognize. He spent days just watching them, before he decided on making contact again. He revealed himself to a few travelers, and again found their reaction closely resembling that of his first contact.
They tried to kill him, and even with him shouting that he was not a threat he could see that none of them understood his words. He barely managed to escape with his life. Those he had thought to be simple traders had been far stronger than even him, now, even though he had become stronger himself. Without any other choice, Korvorok decided to avoid civilization.
He spent weeks traveling the land, hating every moment of it. He had grown up on a starship, and here he was trucking through the mud, miserable and wet. But as he traveled, he hunted, he gained skills and abilities, and he grew stronger. Then, a few months later, he finally stumbled onto something: a group of people, his people, hunting a large animal.
Korvorok was elated, and for the first time since he woke up on this world, he felt hope for the future.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
It took them another week to reach Terbon, and there they encountered one of their Sky Guard patrols a few kilometers outside of town. They relayed some news to Morgan, but basically everything was still stable, and there had been no sign of goblins as of six days ago when that patrol had last been to Reach. From what they had told him, the Guild Hold itself had been expanding, and Morgan couldn’t wait to see it in person.
Morgan stopped at Terbon to check in with Mayor Fennes, and then the caravan continued onward to Reach. It took them a while longer than usual since they were moving a bit slower, but finally Morgan could see Reach in the distance, and soon enough they had exited the forest into the clearing that now surrounded the mountain. Morgan noted that a lot of trees had been cut down, and more were in the process of being felled by work crews. There were even other groups pulling stumps out of the ground, with what looked like Herculean feats of strength. Morgan shook his head; he hadn’t really thought about how much ascension, skills and abilities could help with day-to-day work.
They drew interested looks from everyone around as the caravan passed, but no one stopped them. The patrol had went ahead to let Lucius know of Morgan’s return with so many so that he could prepare for them. Morgan hoped that they had the resources and energy to build some housing with the hearthstone to put all these people in. He wasn’t very worried if they didn’t have any, however; the caravan still had food and Terbon was nearby. Either way, they wouldn’t have any problems.
As they reached the base of Reach, Morgan realized that there was now a wooden palisade surrounding it. It was about the same size as the one surrounding Terbon, and was a half circle attached to the mountain’s side, with two watchtowers manned by the Sky Guard, who were standing in them with bows and arrows at the ready. Morgan was impressed enough by that, but then had to do a double take after they passed through the gates and inside to what was now a small town. The town started some way beyond the walls so as to leave room for the town to grow, and Morgan made a mental note to commend Vall and Lucius for thinking about that. They had made some initial plans about this before Morgan had left, but they hadn’t spoken about the wall’s radius in particular.
Slowly, they and the caravan rolled on the fresh cobblestone road into Reach proper. Most of the buildings were made of wood, but he could see some stone was being used as reinforcement here and there. It gave the town a kind of western vibe that Morgan quite liked. Most of the people down here were non-ascended, and Morgan recognized a few as merchants from Terbon that had now set up their own shops here. Most were however unknown to him, probably having arrived from the other towns and villages surrounding them. Most of the buildings were some kind of crafting shop, which was what they had agreed they needed the most before Morgan had left. They lacked tools and other necessities more than anything else.
As the caravan entered the town proper with Morgan, Ves, Clara, and Karissa at its head, most of the work stopped and people piled up to watch them pass. Morgan was just a tad bit uncomfortable at the attention. They are all relying on me to keep them safe… This is not what I thought about when I had asked the others to make me Guild Master, Morgan admitted mentally. It didn’t matter whether he had planned or thought about this or not—it was now his responsibility.
Soon after, Morgan noticed commotion ahead, and he looked on to see Lucius and two Sky Guard approaching him. Lucius had a wide smile on his face as they came together and clasped their hands.
“Welcome back,” Lucius said.
Morgan let go of his friend’s hand. “It is good to be back.”
Lucius then greeted Ves and Clara in his signature stoic manner. Morgan meanwhile took a look at the armor both Lucius and the two Sky Reach guards were wearing. “I see that Artos has had his hands full.”
Lucius looked a bit embarrassed once he noticed Morgan staring and he scratched at the back of his head. “Yes, well…we needed better armor, and we needed uniforms for th
e Sky Guard. And since you weren’t here to consult, I took the liberty of helping with the design…”
Morgan chuckled at his friend’s discomfort. The armor he wore was basically an exact replica of Roman armor, with only a few minor changes. In fact, the torso looked almost precisely like the lorica segmentata armor that the Roman Legionaries had worn. Morgan wasn’t really surprised that Lucius had done so, seeing as he was descended of a Roman chosen who had probably brought a lot of his own sensibilities and style to this world. Morgan figured that his entire Guild had been modeled after the Roman Legions from Lucius’s stories.
The armor was made out of some sort of gray metal; Morgan didn’t know too much to be able to tell what it was at a glance, but it looked good. Lucius, with his two short swords on his hips, looked exactly like the prime example of a legionnaire, only he wasn’t wearing a helmet. Besides his simple gauntlets, which looked like they were made out of leather on his forearms, it was below the waist where things changed from what Morgan knew the Romans used. He wore greaves and brown trousers, with a simple half skirt that was open at the front and trailed a bit at the back, although there was a covering over the groin area. His armor was painted a dark green, and the guards behind him wore the same armor, only with their helmets and painted brown.
Morgan used Inspect on it, interested to see what Artos had managed to craft while Morgan was gone.
Sky Guard Armor LVL 15 — well-crafted iron armor.
Morgan nodded at the information. Artos didn’t have an Enchanting or Engraving skill, but Morgan wondered if he could try to enchant a few of these pieces.
He realized that he had been staring at the armor for a while, and looked sheepishly at Lucius, but the man seemed too engrossed with his study of the woman standing next to Morgan to care. Oh, what is this? Morgan grinned inwardly. The ever stoic and collected legionnaire seemed to have forgotten himself, judging by the expression on his face.