I Am Gamer III

by Gabriel Rathweg

  I ran back to the edge of the citadel grabbing a large dark black hide flag as I moved. When I was there, I began waving it back and forth signaling Cunning Wolf on the Firefly again. A similar looking flag waved back a moment later and then the ship began moving. I watched as it trained its port broadside cannons on the next closest bridge, the Missouri River Fort Bridge. Monsters were already three quarters of the way across and the ships weapons took the bridge out as it did before, monsters plunging into the water along with the pieces of the destroyed stone bridge.

  The same thing happened on the Mississippi River Fort a few minutes later and soon we were surrounded by monsters on all sides of the Citadel. The Tie-snakes, Aglebemu, with the help of other larger monsters had breeched the river gates and the water was filling with MOBs like a damn had been opened. The Firefly returned to the forge dock and the warriors, led by Cunning Wolf, Thunder Foot, Lightning Fist, and Smoking Bluejay. They held there forming a defensive line as monsters overwhelmed the ironclad, swarming over it like water locusts.

  The three giant Kuku on the Illinois River Fort were soon joined by six more, three on each other River Fort. They were huge things, at least forty feet high and all muscle. If they made it up our walls, we were done for. The Owlies were coming in now, the last of their number all attacking our citadels defenders.

  “I need to get to the forge!” I called out to Patty.

  “Aye, I got this, hurry we won’t hold for long.” The Irishman yelled back, dodging a divebombing Owl Woman and then spearing her through the neck.

  I nodded and ran, Freak at my side. I had my two blades out and struck the flying menaces down as I sprinted to the forge area, Freak swiping any I didn’t see. I fought way to the stairwell killing flying MOBs as I moved. When I reached the stairs, I sprinted down only to find the Firefly’s crew fully engaged by dozens and dozens of MOB’s. I ran to help them, but Cunning Wolf saw me from the corner of his eye.

  “No Law! Activate Plan Alpha and Omega.!” He yelled, as he fired his Long Rifle point blank into a Tie-snakes face.

  I nodded and turned, sprinting to the center of the forge and sitting in lotus position as I activated Fire Magic so that the forges coals didn’t burn me. I closed my eyes and focused on my inner mind. I blocked out the sounds of the battle raging around me. I ignored the screams of wounded and dying men and women. I pushed the roars of pain and rage from my Familiar from my mind. Then, I formed my connection with the three magical triggers I had built into the three River Forts. Where, hundred of pounds of gunpowder was piled in each on, around my Fire Magic made magical trigger. I formed the connection in my mind.

  A small flame just like the one I had first imagined when I learned magic from Coyote when this adventure had begun, appeared in those three strategically placed areas. I opened my eyes just as the flame flickered and the first of the gunpowder traps began to burn. Three explosions sounded off simultaneously, and then an earthquake came shaking the fort beneath us like a toy house. Right after that, the world turned upside down and rock, dirt, stone, and other debris, monster bits chief among them, flew into the sky.

  Quiet sounded out after that and I jumped up from the forge, seeing that the warriors there had recovered from the blast and made short work of the remaining monsters around them. I sped up the stairs, Freak by my side, and once at the top looked around Thrudheim in awe. All three forts were gone and with them over ninety percent of the monster army. The ones left were retreating as fast as their talon, clawed, or feathered feet could take them. I looked around and saw everyone else was staring at the retreating army in awe as well.

  “We have won!” I screamed, raising my blades high into the air.

  All the warriors cheered and raised their weapons from everywhere around the citadel. We had won, but how many had been lost, I would count later. I looked around at the cheering men and women, then at the three devastated River Forts and smiled. I could always rebuild the forts the sacrifice was worth it. Patty and Billy came over then, followed by the rest of the elites and we shared laughs and hugs as we celebrated. Yes, we had won this battle, but there were still many more to come.

  TRACK 27 – THE MAN – ALOE BLACC

  Later that night, a few hours after the battle was over, I was sitting at the waters edge at the forge shipyard. Freak was lying by my side and I was just dozing, leaning on him for support, my feet bare and sitting in the cooling water. The clean up was still going on, there being so many monsters, but I pulled War Shaman privilege and opted out. My periphery had also been blinking but I continued to ignore it for the moment. I was exhausted, tired was in me down to the bone. I hadn’t realized I had been at the brink of passing out due to being sleep deprived. There had been a little moniker in the upper righthand corner of my vision for a few days now. Apparently, it had been a notification that I needed sleep. Oh well, I was finally getting it.

  Plans of the things I needed to build and invent were floating around in my head as I dozed in and out of dreamland. It was only Freaks low growl that alerted me to someone else’s presence. I blinked open a bleary eye and saw a figure sitting down next to me, their feet were also bare, and they put them in the water next mine. I blinked again and then recognized the figure.

  “Well, hello Coyote, nice to see you again so soon.” I said.

  “Howdy Law, been a little while since we got to talk one on one, figured now would be a good time, everyone else is busy at the moment. Good job by the way, on taking out that army. I honestly wasn’t sure you would be able too. That trap at the end, the way those forts exploded, I tell you what son, shocked me out of my boots.” Coyote said, guffawing and slapping his knee.

  “Thanks, I had the idea from a movie I like, anyway, you could have warned me about the impeding horde of monsters you know. So, what are you really doing here?” I asked the god, giving him the side eye.

  “See right through me, do you? Well, as I said you did a good job and I’m proud of you, I wanted to tell you but there are evil gods as well as good, that army of beasts was one of their last attempts to wrestle control from us and try to take our place.” He said.

  “One of their last attempts?” I asked.

  “Don’t forget about the Tribe of the Fallen, they will surely be back soon.” Coyote said. “Back to my visit though, you have two weeks before you need to move off and meet up with Moon Flower.”

  “Two weeks till what? How is my fiancé, is she safe? How is Winston?” I asked the questions in rapid order.

  “She is fine, as is your horse. The goddesses are handling their instructions. You need to concern yourself with the people here and get it ready for your departure. The monster’s power is broken in the area of the plains and the Great Lakes. Finish what you need to and prepare to head out. I have it from a good source that the real enemy is moving. They will be coming up through the Mississippi, through the Louisiana area, the mouth of the river to be exact.” Coyote said.

  “Are you sure?” I asked, fully awake now.

  “Yes, I believe they have established a fortified outpost there. It is time for you to take the fight to the invaders.” The Native god said with a sharp toothed grin, his true animalistic countenance showing all over his face.

  I had to remind myself every once in a while, that this was a being from before the beginning of time when the darkness was the world. He was a god, an ancient being of unbelievable power. Then I had to remind myself that he needed my help. That always caused me to smile. The god caught my look and raised an eyebrow at me. I was sure he knew what I was thinking, he was a god after all, but fuck it I am who I am.

  “Alright, we will take the fight to them. I’ve already been working out new ideas since I’ve been sitting here.” I replied.

  “Oh really? Like what?” He asked, curiosity blatant on his expression.

  “You’ll see.” I said, smugly.

  “Fine, keep your secrets. I’m heading out. Good job again Law, I mean it. We might really have a chance at
pulling this off.” The god said, standing up and brushing his hands off.

  “I hope you’re right Coyote. I know the results if we lose.” I said, not bothering to get up and continuing to pet Freak as I stared off into the water, thinking of the life I left.

  I turned back to say something to him but when I looked, he was already gone. Shady bastard, always disappearing and reappearing like a ghost. My periphery was still blinking and now that I was awake, I decided to check the messages.

  EXPERIENCE ASSESSED…

  EXTRA EXPERIENCE ASSESSED FOR DEFEATING MORE THAN FIVE THOUSAND MONSTERS WITH ONE ATTACK…

  EXTRA EXPERIENCE FOR ALL WARRIORS ASSESSED FOR DEFEATING OVER TEN THOUSAND ENEMIES…

  EXTRA EXPERIENCE ASSESSED FOR DEFEATING AN ARMY OF OVER FIFTEEN THOUSAND…

  TOTAL EXPERIENCED ASSESSED 341781…

  WOULD YOU LIKE TO ASSIGN EXPERIENCE EQUALLY? Y/N?

  YOU AND YOUR FAMILIAR HAVE LEVELED UP… WOULD YOU LIKE TO LEVEL UP? Y/N?

  I selected yes to both, doing the math on the exp which broke down to only about eight hundred and fifty experience after it was all divided up, then I checked the results feeling great as I leveled.

  NAME – Wesley ‘Freak’ Wrath – Familiar

  PET CLASS – Battle Tiger – Purple – Legendary

  LEVEL – 6

  EXPERIENCE – 10318/20000

  HIT POINTS – 60/60

  WEAPONS – Claws x 4, Bite x 2

  SKILLS – Furry Armored Hide (Level – 4), Furious Roar (Level – 3), Preternatural Grace (Level – 2)

  ARMOR – Furry Armored Hide

  There is one main animal companion to the Jack-of-all-Trades, the Familiar. The class only allows up to three animal companions and the Familiar is the first of the three. By receiving a portion of his master’s experience, the Familiar will level up and gain skills of its own alongside its master. Leveling will increase communication between Familiar and master over longer distances and with greater clarity.

  NAME – Lawrence ‘Law” Wrath

  RACE – Half Human

  ALIGNMENT – Neutral Good

  CLASS – Jack of all Trades

  TITLES EARNED – War Shaman, Master Sculptor, Captain, SEAL Team Leader

  EXPERIENCE – 10001/20000

  LEVEL – 6

  HIT POINTS – 96/96

  MAGIC POINTS – 96/96

  FEATURES

  HEIGHT – 6’5”, WEIGHT – 275 LBS, HAIR COLOR – Black, EYE COLOR – Amber, SKIN COLOR – Bronze

  ATTRIBUTES

  STRENGTH – 10, DEXTERITY – 10, CONSTITUTION – 10, INTELLIGENCE – 10, WISDOM – 9, CHARISMA – 9

  COMPANIONS

  Fiancé – Moon Flower – INFORMATION NOT AVAILABLE

  Brother-in-Arms – Sir William O’ Conghaile (Billy) – Level 5 – EXP – 7120/10000

  Brother-in-Arms – Sir Patrick O’ Conghaile (Patty) – Level 5 – EXP – 7029/10000

  ANIMAL COMPANIONS

  Familiar – Westley ‘Freak’ Wrath – Level 6 – EXP – 10318/20000

  Mount – Winston ‘Triumph’ Wrath – INFORMATION NOT AVAILABLE

  THRUDHEIMS DEFENDERS LEVEL UP…

  MINUTEMEN (LEVEL – 4)

  The residents of Thrudheim have shown their ability to defend their home with extreme resolve. Minutemen receives double attack bonuses when in Thrudheim. They also receive bonuses to defense and luck when defending their homes and when surrounded by other Minutemen. These fighters are able to retrieve their weapons and get to their preassigned defensive positions in less than one minute.

  WAR SHAMAN

  TRIBES – THE PEOPLE, THE JICARILLA, TUATHA DE DANAAN, NORSE OJIBWE

  ELITE WARRIORS – Moon Flower, William O’ Conghaile, Patrick O’ Conghaile, Arun Thorson, Chieftess Shining Eagle, Thunder Foot, Ice Blossom, Lightning Fist, Night Star, Silent Mouse, Shadow Bear, Dancing Lion, Stone Fox, Dusk, Dawn, Chief Otter Odinson, Chieftess Cloud Friggsdaughter, Freya Cloudsdaughter

  SHAMAN – Cunning Wolf (Element-Earth/God-Wolf), Sage Lokison (Element-Water/God-Ojibwe/Nanabohozo, Norse/Baldur)

  NORMAL MEMBERS – (N/A) THE PEOPLE WORKER/WARRIORS, (N/A) JICARILLA BUILDER/WARRIORS, (N/A) CROW WORKER WARRIORS, (402/402) NORSE WORKER/WARRIORS

  BASES – The Springs, Fortress of Earth, Thrudheim

  RESOURCES COLLECTED – Wood-461lbs, Metals – Iron-43lbs/Gold-236lbs/Silver-123lbs/Tin-90lbs, Food-Low, Enough for 30 days, Animals Horses x N/A, Sheep-35, Cows x 17

  VEHICLES – N/A

  SPECIAL FORCES – SEAL TEAM 1 (LEVEL – 4), MINUTEMEN (LEVEL – 4)

  I closed the last window and looked over at Freak, he had grown another few inches longer and pounds heavier due to the level up. Someone was calling my name, so I got up and headed out from the forge, Freak following close by my side. Once on the top of the citadel I met up with the others. All the leadership had gathered, it was time to do the last part of a battle. It was time to honor the dead. After that, well then, we’d rebuild Thrudheim even better than it was before.

  TRACK 28 – I WILL SURVIVE – CAKE

  The next two weeks went by in a what seemed like no time at all. Every single day was work from before sunrise till long after sunset. Warrior bands were sent out to hunt the last remnants of the monster army. Workers were sent back to work collecting resources and assisting with the rebuilding of the fort town. Training was also resumed and there was literally no time for anything but that and work. My own days along with the other Mage Builders were spent in the forge, that was after I finished rebuilding the walls.

  This time Cunning Wolf, Shadow Bear, Sage, and me built everything extra hardcore this time. We made the walls twice as tall as they previously were. They were now one hundred feet tall, and the River Forts were correspondingly upgraded, with water gates that were now doubled in size like the fort and walls were. With the added manpower of the former Asgardians, and the influx of other native tribes that would be coming in soon, we should have plenty of bodies for manning the new River Forts. We finished the forts and walls, then did some redesigning with the waterways, making them more functional and adding a few more canals and other connecting pathways.

  When we finished on the main defensive structures, we moved on to the last project building, the citadel. The battle had done a number on the entirety of the town, all three River Forts had been destroyed and pretty much everything else. The surrounding lodges and other building in Thrudheim had all been overrun by monsters or part of the collateral damage of the exploding River Forts. The Citadel on the other hand had fared quite well with just some cosmetic damage and a whole lot of dead monster cleanup.

  I had never realized just how hard it was to get blood, gore, guts, and other effluvia off a stone wall without the use of industrial solvents. Talk about elbow grease, it was like these monsters had tar mixed in with their blood. Note to self if possible, kill all enemies outside of any structures I own.

  The town and fort walls being one hundred feet tall now brought them to the same height as the citadel, so we continued building the structure and added three more stories. The top floor being the fourth and its roof being the new top of the Citadel, we connected the new bridges from the forts to the rooftop. We made these larger as well, they were now fifteen feet across and they went up to one hundred and fifty feet, that was fifty feet higher than the River Forts or outer walls. The Citadel was looking like a proper castle bastion with its new floors, raised height and artillery lining its walls and parapets. With the completion of the citadel the whole of Thrudheim was now as defensible as we could make it for the time being.

  Now that all the defenses were finished, I switched my attention to the vehicles I needed to make. The rebuilding of Thrudheim only took a few days and I used the rest of that first week to make three more ironclads, giving us a total of four, and then airships one for each ironclad plus one more for myself. The idea was that each ironclad would be its own base and forward operating outpost or could switch to become p
art of an attacking fleet, which would be a common theme. Like most things I made, they had to be multipurpose.

  Each ironclad would be captained by my elites, the original, the WSS Firefly was captained by Cunning Wolf, with Shadow Bear as his second. The newly commissioned WSS Enterprise II would be captained by Patty with Billy as his second. The WSS Millennium Falcon was captained by Thunder Foot with Lightning Fist as his second, Thunder being the older brother after all. The fourth ship, the WSS Going Merry would be stationed at Thrudheim and captained by Arun with his sister Freya as second.

  All four ironclads were out on training maneuvers with their new crews. The rest of the elites were handling the tasks of running a tribe. That left me with crafting tasks in the forge, replacing all the munitions we needed, and then working on my final airship. This one was made a third larger than the others. My plan was to take it to meet up with Moon Flower, it was made large enough so that I could carry enough fuel, weapons, and Freak with me on my flight. For this to work I had to increase the crafts size and power, I also wanted to carry some firearms with me and that meant ammo as well. By the time I was done adding other bells and whistles to the airship the craft had taken on a life of its own.

  The airship, which I named the Invincible in homage to one of my favorite games ever FF VII, ended up being forty-five feet long and twelve feet wide. The balloon though, was able to be kept the same size with some additional Earth Magic adjusting. This added size, mass, and power allowed me to mount five different swivel guns, modifications of the Long Rifle, on each corner of the gondola and one at the bow. I also was able to decrease the weight of the hide balloon top and the wood and metal of the gondola to the point where I could carry everything easily, take off, and fly with no issues. The result was a beautiful airship with elegant curves and lines. I looked over the ship’s info one more time.

  TRI-ELEMENT LONG RANGE ATTACK ZEPPELIN