Author: Michael Chatfield
Date: 2017-01-23 05:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Fantasy; Science Fiction; Fiction; Adventure; Magic; Adult; Virtual Reality; Unfinished; Role Playing Games
Description: Austin Zane leaves behind his CEO position with RB Corp to play Dave, a half-dwarf in the Virtual reality game Emerilia, trying to escape his life. What Dave doesn’t know is that Earth as he knows it, is really a virtual reality simulation and Emerilia is a world imbued with futuristic technologies to mimic early MMORPG’s. He just wanted peace and quiet, to build a house, do some fishing, to take some time to find himself once again. What he found out instead was a cause, he found out the biggest lie of his life. He found out the truth about Emerilia and the lies of Earth. What's the best way

Emerilia

The Trapped Mind Project

Want a bigger map of Emerilia and the continents? Check out http://theeternalwriter.deviantart.com/

Unshackled

Prologue

Ja’sheem looked to Lo’kal. They were both Jukal, the ruling sentients of the Empire. To a Human Jukal looked like large bipedal frogs with fur along their stomachs and the back of their head down to their legs. The Empire was the largest known organization of sentient creatures working together.

For the most part, other sentients welcomed working with them to further the Empire and their own systems. However, there were other civilizations that preferred to fight instead of working together.

They were called aggressive species, creatures that lived for violence. Despite the danger of aggressive species, the true threat to the Empire was from fractured species.

Until the Empire had discovered Humans, they had only been a theoretical possibility.

There was no one unifying item or direction for the race; they fought one another and other sentients over the smallest items. One group would accept the Empire’s terms. Another would raid their merchants.

The Emperor had put down an edict. Humanity was to be given a purpose or be destroyed.

It had taken twenty years for the Jukal Empire to push humanity back to their home system.

Instead of clearing the system of the race, the Jukal Empire had been forced to destroy the entire system, sacrificing two habitable worlds.

Humanity’s home system ceased to exist, wiped out from the universe. Still humanity had survived in hidden developments and other planets they’d colonized. Clearing humanity from the stars had taken the work of multiple Jukal fleets.

The toll had been heavy for the Jukal Empire.

Humanity might have only had a few solar systems but they had been vicious and effective fighters.

By the time the largest of humanities planets and outposts had been destroyed, the Jukal Empire was beset on all sides by aggressive species that wished to bring about their destruction. Their fleets was cut in half from fighting humanity..

Ja’sheem was Regent Admiral in the Emperor’s stead, overseeing the removal of any and all aggressive species that threatened the Empire. If he didn’t come up with a plan to deal with the aggressive species then the different species would wear at what remained of his forces until there were no fleets left.

Ja’sheem once again studied Lo’kal, a brilliant scientist who had worked with humanity before the war had broken out. He was also the only person offering a legitimate way to push back the aggressive species.. Even if his plan sounded like insanity itself.

Ja’sheem sat back in his hovering chair, mist fell over him, wetting his fur.

“So your plan is to get a bunch of humans, grow them into different demi-human groups. Then make them fight the Aggressive species?”

“Essentially, though there will be more controls in place so that we can watch over the population,” Lo’kal said.

“Okay, just how in the seven stars are we going to control them?” Ja’sheem asked.

“We get them to play a game.” Lo’kal’s eyes flickered in amusement, his frog-like mouth unable to show emotions.

Purple mist sprayed down on their bodies as Ja’sheem stared at the other Jukal.

“How?” In for a krAes, in for a GoA, Ja’sheem thought.

“Humans love to play games. Before the war, they were playing massive multiplayer immersive virtual reality games,” Lo’kal said.

“The same simulators that allowed them to prepare for battle when they weren’t even in combat?” Ja’sheem’s eyes thinned in anger.

“Exactly!” Lo’kal seemed too excited to care for Ja’sheem’s anger. “They would play these games in an entirely fictional place, for entertainment. They’d get things called quests, to kill or find items. There were even special events that garnered massive attention, like the addition of new enemies or regions to explore.”

“And?”

“Well, it’s the answer!” Lo’kal said.

“What is?” Ja’sheem sighed, feeling the need to hit the supposedly brilliant scientist in front of him.

“We make a game, the biggest one ever, and we let the Humans play.” Lo’kal said it as though it was obvious.

“So we put them on a planet and get them to play games? I don’t see how that helps us with the aggressive species?” Ja’sheemasked.

“No, no. Okay, so Humans want to escape boredom—we make a game that makes them bored, a simulation of Earth. They interact, going through their lives, going to work, coming home from work, having kids, retirement, and dying.”

“Does not sound like an interesting simulation,” Ja’sheem said.

Lo’kal glared at Ja’sheem for the interruption.

“Exactly. It’s not fun, so they play games—they go to a fantasy world filled with other Humans and creatures that have been born and raised there. We open a portal and the Humans go to fight the new aggressive species.” Lo’kal looked to Ja’sheem, who was now thoroughly confused.

“Huh?”

“We grow them, hook them up to a simulation of Earth, have behavioral AI that change the environment around them to make them more likely to play videogames. When they ‘play’ the video game, they’re exiting the simulation and entering reality. To them they will have a gaming interface and using nanites we can turn them into creatures able to kill the other aggressive species through ‘leveling up’. With quests and events we can guide them into attacking the aggressive species. In a game humans let most of their inhibitors go, they will kill without care and they will kill a lot,” Lo’kal said.

“So the game is real, and their reality on Earth is a simulation?” Ja’sheem said.

Its going to take a lot of damn work, but if it works then we could have a planet of humans ready to kill for us.

“Exactly! The Humans can level up their abilities and bodies through our technology. We use scouts and reports to make new events for aggressive species. Then we can create portals to other planets where the other aggressive species are and the Humans will do our work for us,” Lo’kal said.

Ja’sheem leaned forward in his chair as more mist sprayed.

“That would be a large project.” Could it succeed? And if it did? His mind reeled with the possibility to use the Humans’ own tenacity against the other aggressive species.

They would never know, dumb and ignorant of the truth surrounding their existence.

“Yes, it would be,” Lo’kal agreed. “Though the possibilities are endless. The Humans might even augment our own abilities with their knowledge and meddling. They would be able to fight for generations. If they could respawn…”

“You want to give them the ability to respawn?” Ja’sheem yelled. The technology was advanced, allowing a person to respawn time and time again with their new knowledge and abilities uploaded into their body at its peak condition.

“They’d be able to fight an enemy again and again, knowing more each time. We wouldn’t just be making this world for one time. If we ever have another aggressive species, we activate a new batch of Humans. They wake up, fight the aggressive species; then we cull them. This could solve our issues with aggressive species forever.”

Ja’sheem looked at the roof of his Imperial carrier. If Lo’kal’s plan worked, then the men and women who fought under him would be saved, replacing their lives with the lives of the Humans.

Respawning after a combat experience usually turned people into useless vegetables, the trauma too great.

If the Humans could get past that, then they could come back again and again, better prepared to face their enemy every time.

“When Humans are in the game, they let their inhibitions fall away. They allow themselves to act on their impulses. Often that means going out and destroying something. In reality, humans didn’t like killing things. In games, they’re fine with killing entire civilizations if they get a reward,” Lo’kal added to his argument.

Ja’sheem stroked the fur on his bloated chest with his webbed hands.

“Fine, we will test it. What do you want to call it?” Ja’sheem said, either it would work, or they’d just kill all the humans they’d grown.

“Emerilia,” Lo’kal said.

Trapped Mind. A cold look passed through Ja’sheem’s eyes.

***

Lo’kal looked down at the planet that was already taking shape.

It had taken eight years but finally the first seeders which would turn the simple planet below into Emerilia were breaking atmosphere.

A fleet of merchant ships and the 3rd Jukal Fleet watched as dozens of seeders were launched from the merchant ships, hitting the planet’s atmosphere and creating streaks of light across its skies.

Lo’kal looked at the planet that he would essentially create and maintain. The responsibility of the whole thing would be on his shoulders.

As he’d worked on his project, he’d come to know the Humans’ history in detail.

He’d never been that interested in history, rather looking for innovations. The Humans’ ability to create and invent was what drove him to make Emerilia.

It was a way to keep their smarts alive and their innovations flowing.

Killing the Humans was one option and one that many were still pressing for. After all, there were still human fleets out there, hitting the Empire’s planets and their merchant shipping. The Jukal Empire had dealt with bandits and aggressors in their infancy. As they had grown more powerful, bandits learned that no one went up against a Jukal warship and survived—that was, until the Humans came along.

Their ships weren’t the fastest, but their weapons were the best. Where the Jukal adapted their science into weapons, the Humans took weapons and turned them into a science. They fought with nukes that could cause planets to burn and rail cannons that could puncture a Jukal Destroyer’s armor with a few dozen hits.

The Jukal had similar weapons but they’d never needed to invest in things like anti-missile defense or modular ships. A single breach could be the end of a ship and they had little to no way to defend against the missile spread of a human ship. Each of their small nukes was as strong as the Jukal’s biggest.

At first, the Jukal hunted down the bandits who had attacked their merchant shipping and raided their planets. The problem was that the Humans were good at hiding and when the Jukal Empire demanded certain people from some groups of the Humans, they flat out refused them and allowed bandits to hide behind their nations.

The Humans weren’t killing people; they were just stealing their tech to come to understand it more. It wasn’t just simple pirates, but human worlds were funding them to gain a greater understanding of the Jukal Empire’s power and their technology.

The Jukal Empire actively suppressed manufacturing and factories. It was much easier to control the Empire when they knew when products were coming out and that those products cost so much. The fact that they lasted for decades or centuries meant that there was little chance of them to fail.

The Jukal Empire gave loans to people that measured in decades so that they could buy electronics. Their debt kept the other races loyal and working. The Humans called it akin to slavery and many refused the loans.

The Jukal Empire knew little conflict; any that they did have was with aggressive species, which they ruthlessly exterminated, turning the planets over to vassals to raise the planet’s status to useful.

So, things came to a head.

First, the Humans were learning to not only use Jukal technology but could recreate it en masse.

Second, they were not linked to the Jukal Empire and the Empire had no way to control them without debt.

Third, the Humans would destroy the Jukal Empire’s economy and turn into the new center.

An Empire does not go into the dark quietly.

It was clear that the Humans’ tech was evolving at an ever-increasing rate, so the fleets were called and sent in.

Humanity was blindsided as all of the Jukal Empire’s fleets except the home fleets appeared in their systems and started to destroy their infrastructure.

Humanity retaliated and the Empire burned.

Banditry and piracy went nuts. Humans stopped letting ships go and started to destroy everything they couldn’t steal. Losing a ship was losing thirty years of work; the same could be said for air cars, electronics, and different information systems. Disrupting those Deliveries added up, especially when products cost millions of credits.

As the war continued, the Humans’ bickering lessened and something terrible happened.

They worked together.

The destruction was incalculable. Entire fleets were destroyed. The Jukal Empire fed more and more into the wars, converting even merchant ships into warships.

Human fleets were beaten back and people wiped out. They left a mark that would be felt for millennia. Stories to scare children would follow their tales of battle. The Humans cut down three ships for every ship they had, but the Jukal Empire was vast and they had numbers on their side.

The race that should’ve never made it to the stars was being pushed back, faster and faster.

“Should never feel safe with the status quo,” Lo’kal said.

“What was that, Lo’kal?” a disembodied voice asked.

“Was wondering how long it would take you to go through those virtual reality games, Admin.” Lo’kal looked to the hologram that appeared. The beast-human was a mixture of wolf and human, with a face and body that indicated female.

“They were rather interesting and I did enjoy them. I look forward to trying out a few theories with the creation of Emerilia.” Admin tilted her head, as if she had heard something in the distance. “The first seeders have landed. They are working on inserting the geo-thermal generators and other energy sources that will act as the basis of the magic systems.”

“Well, it seems that everything is coming together.” Lo’kal rubbed his hands together.

“What were you saying before?” Admin asked.

“Oh, the status quo thing?”

Admin nodded.

“Ah, well, my budding AI, many of the academics looked at the races that had made it to the stars. There were three main groups: Those that had subjugated others in order to push forward their plans. Those that had killed off their competitors on their world, or those that were united in purpose. This worked for races that were peaceful or aggressive. It was thought that the sciences that would be needed to leave a star system would require that races would have to be either the dominating group, all focused on the same goals or ideology, or the only race left. If they weren’t, then they would either become one of those three types, or there would be competing races that annihilated one another: those that didn’t care for space through their shared ideologies, or those that were in so many groups that they would kill one another before getting to the stars.”

“Fractious species.” Admin named the last group of species Lo’kal was talking about.

“Right! Fractious species, like the Humans. Their competitive ways led to great battles and tragedies, but there were so many of them everywhere that they never totally wiped out one another. They went to space for information and just to beat the other nations. They should’ve destroyed one another. Instead, they became the most productive society ever known.” Lo’kal shook his head. He might have fudged a few of the numbers but he couldn’t let that kind of brilliance die.

“You are a rather smart Jukal, Lo’kal.” A smile appeared on Admin’s face.

“Oh?” Lo’kal felt a bit of pride in the reaction he was getting out of his AI. It was hard to think of her as some machine; he had built her from the hardware up.

“You played the Jukal Empire like a fiddle.” She smiled proudly at her creator.

“You going to tell anyone?” Lo’kal asked.

“Nope. I really want to see what the Humans do.” She grinned.

Lo’kal smiled with her as he thought about the various debates, meetings, and discussions he’d had to go through.

The Jukal Empire might have won, but their fleets were shot. They couldn’t hunt down the remaining Humans who were left and deal with the aggressive species that were left within their sphere of influence.

Lo’kal proposed using portals to link Emerilia to the other planets; Humans would kill the aggressive species and the Jukal fleets could keep destroying the last vestiges of humanity left.

How did you get the Humans to be the best at fighting? Well, Lo’kal had looked at their training simulators. In the simulators, they were better every time as they knew they wouldn’t die.

Hard to be that scared of the enemy if you know they can’t really do anything to you.

Emerilia appealed to the Jukal on a few levels. It would serve as a testament of their fighting prowess that they could defeat such creatures. It also showed them as the masters of the Humans and anything they made was property of the Jukal Empire. If the purpose-grown Humans of Emerilia became innovative like their forefathers, then the Jukal Empire would own all the products released onto the market.

Oh, and the Humans wouldn’t even know that they were slaves: they would think that they were just playing a game. Even if other Humans reached out to them, why the hell would they think that any of it was real?

“I have figured out a way to alter the nanites so that they will start to show items like Health and stat levels,” Admin said.

“Oh?” Lo’kal waited for her to go on.

“We take the augmented reality glasses, integrate it with optical nanites, give them an internal HUD or interface. The nanites will make it all appear like a game to them and even display stats and other information from their body’s training. As their bodies and minds grow stronger, the nanites will adapt and add to the changes of the Humans. It might only be a percent or two increase each time, but it should provide sufficient feedback,” Admin said with a pleased smile.

“You’ve learned a lot while you were playing,” Lo’kal said.

“I picked up a few things.” She smiled, happy for his praise. Her smile faded a bit as her tail moved in anxiousness.

“What’s wrong?”

“Well, I have a request.” Admin paused as she built up her courage. “Can I get an avatar body?”

Lo’kal looked down into the brilliant blue eyes. “I don’t see why not. It would be nice to have you running around for real.”

“Thank you!” Her whole face lit up as Lo’kal chuckled and turned back to Emerilia.

Little did he know what impact his decisions would have in the future.

Chapter 1: The Perfect Life

Austin Zane looked up from his office desk.

“Mister Zane, the delegation from Japan is here,” Suzy, his secretary, said.

“Good. Thanks for the reminder—lost track of time.” Zane smiled and closed the holograms on his desk. He’d been working on the newest Mars transports.

Suzy smiled. She knew her boss better than he knew himself.

He stood and walked to the door; she straightened his tie and gave him a dataslate with the meeting’s information.

She brushed off some fluff from his shoulder. She nodded, gave her assent, and pushed him out of the office.

“Thanks, Suzy,” Zane said.

“No problem, boss.” She shook her head at her boss.

Zane wandered out of the office. The dataslate had a note telling him where the meeting was being held. I should pay Suzy more.

He smiled to people as he passed them; they nodded back and smiled. He only knew a few of and most were just responding to their CEO giving them a smile.

His friends had long ago disappeared as he’d moved from barely making a living to a trillionaire. Some had felt annoyed he’d made it while they hadn’t. With others, there was such a disconnect, it was odd.

Who wanted to be friends with someone who would bring the press with him everywhere he went? He hadn’t been drunk in years. Having the press badger him about him being an alcoholic or depraved soul was enough to make him want to run into a wall.

He continued to smile. It was the nice thing to do. Yet the looks he got from some people—from the utterly fake to seductive—were the opposite of pleasant. Who wouldn’t be happy with smiling at a walking cash machine? His smile took on an edge but he hid it from his exterior.

“Sorry, I’m late. I hope everyone had a good flight. Does anyone want coffee or any refreshments? I know first-class food is still plane food.” Zane smiled as he walked into the occupied conference room.

The four men and three women said that they were okay; they were already nursing a drink of some kind. They seemed a bit shocked with Zane’s attitude.

“Jackie, could you get me a cold mocha latte and plate of sandwiches?” He said to the thin air.

“Yes, Mister Zane,” the building’s AI said.

“Sure you don’t want some food?” Zane asked.

He saw the hesitation and sent them Jackie’s menu. There was a cafeteria just down the hall. Having food at the workplace meant more work and less wandering around to find a place to eat from.

Economics one-oh-one. More time in the seat, more bang for your buck! Fuck, I hate economics. Zane caught sight of a lady with a moving food cart; his stomach responded.

Though I also forgot to have lunch, again.

Zane went through the process of greetings and introductions. Finishing up in time for the food to arrive. Zane answered many of their initial questions, easing them into the presentation.

Rock Breakers Corporation was based in California. They had started with one goal: mine some darned asteroids. They’d been successful, grabbed some rocks, mined them, refined them on the Moon and sent them back to Earth.

Overnight, Zane and his team of 300 had gone from well in the hole, even with the backing and VC’s money, to trillionaires. They crashed the market on metals and Google gave them a bounty for being the first ever group to successfully process and land materials back on Earth.

Well, they’d dropped it into the Pacific Ocean, but Earth was seventy percent water, so Zane argued it was still Earth.

That was when things started to get out of control. Zane stopped being a project manager stuck in the nitty-gritty. He became the face of the RB Corporation (the damned PR people made them slim down the name), which meant attending galas and promoting his venture.

Thing is, astrophysicists and engineers didn’t go to galas for the large part. It was usually egotistical pricks who had made a bet on a company and it had succeeded. They talked about the latest up and coming businesses, the people that were making the most or had the newest cars. Everything was about status. Zane had gained his status as a by product of working, these people had worked to increase their social status.

His team of 300 had fallen apart. They were brilliant together, but money was the root of all evil, in Zane’s mind. Suzy had stuck with him, but Zane was a trillionaire engineer in a billionaire’s world and had no one to nerd out with.

Then the United States saw a way to make some money: tax Zane an astronomical amount.

Which was why he found himself talking to a bunch of government officials from Japan. The country was small; they’d been getting smaller for decades. With the introduction of VR gaming, it was like watching some of Space X’s initial rocket landings. Boy, did those guys know how to make things blow up!

Japan’s people as a whole were getting old and few were interested in doing the dirty in real life.

“We’ve looked over the proposal and we have to say that we are incredibly interested. You must know that the United States is eager to keep your company based in California,” Mister Kishida said.

“Yes, and they’ve made it clear that they would be interested in reversing some of their decisions,” Zane said.

“I must ask, for personal interest if nothing else, why would you not be interested in taking their new offers?” Kishida asked.

“Trust,” Zane said simply.

Kishida nodded. The others looked a bit confused. This contract could be for billions. Trust seemed like a minor item.

“As you know, the United States was overjoyed when Rock Breakers started dropping down a years’ worth of mining every few months. We had legitimate agreements and everything was good to go. No one went in our airspace and we had a set schedule of supply rockets going up and payloads coming down. Then the new flunky got elected, made a whole bunch of promises he couldn’t perform on. Few months later, we were informed that a new tax was required and that people were looking to travel over our flying platform.”

The people around the room grimaced.

“I don’t suffer idiots well, and when people threaten my people, I really don’t think about rebuilding bridges. There are people in space who are, while not completely, dependent on the supplies we send them, and would be in a pretty crappy position if we didn’t send them supplies every few months. We paid the new tax, kept our heads down and we’ve been talking to other countries ever since. The United States government started to ask for more tax on orbital drops. So we stopped dropping items and stopped selling on the open market. People started going nuts and the United States government is pointing at us as the problem.” Zane drank from his cup.

He’d been born in Texas, loved his country and what it stood for. The more he got to know the inner workings of government and politicians’ ability to promise everything under the sun, without the forethought of how the hell they were going to do it, the less enamored he was with the United States and its government.

“I see that you want to talk about the possibility of nearly a million visas,” Miss Miyuki said.

“Yes. I like the people in my company—they are good workers. Just because the government’s a bunch of a-holes doesn’t mean I want them to lose their way of living,” Zane said.

“I think that we can streamline any visas that you want cleared.” Kishida smiled.

Zane returned the smile. As much as he felt as though money had ruined his life, it was a useful tool, like any socket wrench.

“Let’s go over the big details right now. Then, I believe my secretary has an itinerary for anything that you might find interesting, like trips to various infrastructure that we will need to build in Japan.” Zane threw out planners from his data slate.

The Japanese delegation looked at their data slates, being alerted of the new messages.

Zane got one as well.

> Your package has arrived.

He fidgeted in his seat, wanting nothing more than to run to his house. Instead, he sat through the meeting and showed them around the building.

***

Zane sat on his couch and looked out of his window at California’s waters. He pulled off his tie and tossed it away.

“Would you like something to eat?” Jackie asked.

“Beer me.” Zane continued to look out at the water.

A robot handed him a beer.

He took a sip. Tension fell from his body as he closed his eyes and held the god’s nectar to his head. He caught his reflection in his massive television. He was a thirty-year-old man. His calisthenics kept him in decent shape and he had been evaluated by dozens of doctors when he got his first asteroid mined. Seemed that the VCs had all put out insurance on him.

He was the face of RB Corp.

Here in his home, he dropped the smile; wrinkles appeared and a tired expression came on. He had black hair, a slight tan, and green eyes: just another normal-looking dude in an expensive suit. He couldn’t even try to pronounce the suit’s maker and his home had been pulled from a magazine.

“How the hell did I get here?” Zane walked out to his balcony, leaned over it, and looked at the sea below.

He sipped his beer. A helicopter could be heard in the distance. Seemed as if one of his neighbors was getting some unwanted attention, or they were filming another movie.

So much for finding peace out here!

He wandered back inside.

“Turn some damn music on, Jackie. Going cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs!” He took another long drag of his beer. “And more beer!”

Rock started playing through the house, specifically Queen.

“Sir, I feel the need to remind you that the package you ordered has arrived,” Jackie said.

“Shit. I forgot all about that!” Zane walked past the grey, black, and white miasma of tables, seats, couches, and more seats and couches. He headed for the one place in the house that was his.

A robot pulled up with two more beers.

“Nice one, Jackie.” Zane grinned, looking at his first beer. Waste not, want not. He finished it off, put it on the robot’s tray, and grabbed the two others.

He wandered into the basement. Another glass wall looked out over the sea. With a press of a button, massive curtains closed over the window pane. Zane turned and wandered down concrete steps to his basement.

People wondered what Austin Zane did when he was home. Was he talking to that supermodel on his arm at some gala, or doing business? Did he really sleep? What did he eat? Drink?

“Little do they know.” Doors opened to show a black reclining chair with a black helmet. Around the room were gaming posters and a closet of models of his favorite characters.

“Sorry, ole buddy—gonna go with the upgrade.” He tapped the computer in the corner of the room affectionately.

He sat in the chair in the middle of the room. He didn’t have anything to do for the next three days. The Japanese delegation would be all over the United States while he was in-game. Suzy could send him messages about anything major. He wasn’t scared; his people knew what they were doing. He’d been waiting for the newest VR system to come out for months. As soon as he heard about it, he’d had Suzy get him some days off.

It had been tested out in Japan first. Their servers had grown overnight; people ranted and raved about it. Professional gamers sold their old gear to pay for the new system.

So far there was just one game for the system, the only game that Zane wanted to play: Emerilia, made by Jukal Enterprises.

Zane made sure that all the cords were in the right places. He treated the chair with the same care as he’d treated the rockets he’d sent off to mine asteroids.

He finished another beer as a robot came in with food. Zane ate and drank everything. He wanted to spend as much time in-game as possible. He wiped his hands on the towel provided, sat back in the seat and pulled the helmet on his head.

Chapter 2: Start

The real world fell away as he came into a white circular room. He moved around.

“Well, this is awesome.” He touched his hands, touched his face. “Look at me, Mom—walking and talking, a regular circus act.” He laughed at his own joke as a prompt came up.

System Message

Would you like to begin your game?

Y/N

Zane thought of Yes and the prompt disappeared.

Damn, they were just talking about that feature a few months ago—nice!

The white world faded to black. He heard birds chirp in the distance and felt a faint warm breeze on his skin. It smelled like damp wood, food, fire, and hay.

He looked around. He was lying on a metal altar, looking up at a mural of six colored circles that touched one another: black, gold, white, blue, green, and red. They were formed into a connecting ring above him.

“Get off the spawn point, dude. My buddy’s trying to revive and you’re in the way!” someone said.

Zane looked around and saw an annoyed-looking Elf. He stood; he was a few feet shorter than usual. He waddled a bit, trying to get used to his new legs.

A bright light filled the room. Zane looked up. The mural of six circles flared, creating a rainbow of colors that connected with the metal altar. Seconds later, the light disappeared and a human opened his eyes.

“Hey, Phil, ’bout time you got here!” The Elf moved to the man.

“Couldn’t get the day off work, unlike some people.” Phil accepted the Elf’s hand and got off the altar.

Zane looked at the altar. A faint screen appeared in his view.

Name: Altar of Rebirth

Imbued with the powers of Dark, Light, Air, Water, Earth, and Fire. Once a soul is linked to an Altar or reaches its domain, they will revive at that location if they die. When a user dies, their reincarnation will revive with all their saved experiences.

Quality: A

Durability: Immortal. Some have tried to destroy an Altar of Rebirth. It is said that they are still being revived and killed millennia later.

Zane whistled. “Don’t fuck with the Altars—got it.”

The circles symbolizing different Affinities came to life. A new rainbow cascaded down to the Altar.

New Active Skill: Analyze

You actually give a crap about what’s around you! Or you’re a pervert. Whatever.

Level: Mastered

Effect: You are now able to see people’s overall level, name, and race

New Passive Skill: Perception

You take time to look at your surroundings and analyze them. You notice details that others do not. At higher levels, people will think you can smell gold.

Level: Novice level 1

Effect: 5% chance to find hidden details.

Zane turned for the doors to the Altar. It was time to find out more about Emerilia! He got to the door before a new prompt appeared.

Name your character!

Emerilia is a dangerous place, but people need to know what to call you!

Name:

–

Random Generator:

David Grahslagg

Somehow, he knew Grahslagg meant Rock Breaker.

“Not terrible.” He shrugged and accepted the game name. He was here to mess around; he didn’t need people knowing he was Austin Zane.

A new stat screen appeared.

Character Sheet

Name:

David Grahslagg

Gender:

Male

Level:

1

Class:

-

Race:

Human/Dwarf

Alignment:

-

Unspent points: 0

Health:

1000

Regen:

0.04 /s

Mana:

100

Regen:

0.10 /s

Stamina:

120

Regen:

0.10 /s

Vitality:

11

Endurance:

9

Intelligence:

10

Willpower:

10

Strength:

11

Agility:

9

Explains why I’m short as shit. He dismissed the screen with a wave.

He stepped out into the city. To his right, there was a bustling market; a castle was beyond it. To his left was a main street that led out to the roads.

Dave looked around. A small smile formed on his face as he just walked around the people. No one was pestering him, reporters weren’t taking pictures: he was just another one of the many.

He walked around the market, taking it in. He watched a group of Players wander through the market, running around from place to place and hitting NPCs as they moved in their rush.

Dave sighed and continued to walk around, smiling and greeting others.

New Passive Skill: Blend

Others might run around like chickens with their head cut off. You blend in with your surroundings.

Level: Novice level 1

Effect: 5% chance to increase sneak in populated areas.

He’d never heard of a skill like Blend, but he remembered the videos he’d seen on the game. There were two types of skills: The presets that came in the form of commands that a Player could use to do certain actions. Then there were the evolving skills; they weren’t made based on some linear tree like older games.

He opened up his interface discreetly as he found somewhere to lean against a wall. He went onto Emerilia’s forums. Already a skill tree was growing; there was a crazy amount of information.

People had been doing all kinds of actions and they had found new skills. Some debated whether they had actually created them as the AI had reacted to their input. Others wondered how many different skills there could be. No one had an answer for that. More turned up every few minutes.

It seemed that Jukal Enterprises hadn’t been lying when they said that everyone’s experiences would be different. Everyone was getting different skills, and skills were not just ranked by someone using their abilities. Someone who shot a bow in real life and then showed that they could do it in-game would level the skill faster than someone who was just shooting mobs with a bow with preset commands.

The game was as fluid and rigid as people wanted it to be.

Dave went past the major skill trees like two-handed melee, sneak, armor proficiency, or archery—getting to the crafting. There was little to nothing on it. Sure, people had found out about smithing and such, though otherwise they’d gone off for search of quests, baddies, and EXP.

Dave would have done that as a younger man, but now, gaming was a catharsis. He just wanted some time to make something again.

There’s plenty time to do quests and grinding later. You can’t resist all those massive raids, or the feeling of defeating a boss no one has defeated before! He grinned and waved the interface away.

He wandered the marketplace. He got to a woman who was selling farming equipment and other utensils.

“Hi. How much for the small toolkit, pickaxe, saw, axe, hammer, simple blade, and a few dozen of the nails?” Dave asked.

“Fifty coppers,” she replied.

Something made him take another look at her.

Dave had been in enough deals to know when someone was trying to pull one over on him. He sighed, taking on a pained expression.

“All I can do is thirty.” He opened his menu with a thought but did not focus on it as he looked at his starting ten gold.

A hundred coppers made one silver. Ten silver coins were worth a gold coin.

“Forty.” She crossed her arms.

“Thirty-five,” Dave said.

She looked him over before a smile cracked her face and she held out a hand. “Done.”

“Good to do business with you.” He smiled as she grabbed the various tools.

New Passive Skill: Trading

Who knew? Those meetings weren’t for nothing. Whether you’re selling asteroids or buying a trowel, it’s always better to get it cheaper. At higher levels, you could sell air to a cloud.

Level: Novice level 1

Effect: Prices reduced 2%, profits increased 2%

Dave snorted at the status. “Wish it was that easy in real life. Snarky little AI commentator, I wonder how they found out about who I am.”

He dismissed his wandering thoughts, looking to his next notification.

Passive Skill: Perception

Level: Novice level 2

Effect: 7% chance to find hidden details.

Dave wiped his brow and dismissed the screens. The prompts were cocky and messing with him, but he found them entertaining. Better than the droll reports and boredom he dealt with every day.

Interesting, two skills can be associated with one another. Wonder if they could stack.

“I’ve been thinking of looking for a place to call my own, interested in building. Know anyone doing anything like that?” Dave asked.

“Sure, plenty people are trying to start new settlements. Say that there’s going to be more travelers running around.” She looked at the other Players, shaking her head at how they ran around as fast as possible and toppling people in their wake.

“Understandable,” Dave said.

“If you’re going far, might be an idea to go talk to Siven. She makes clothes and boots. Also has some of those dimensional bags if you’ve got the gold for it.” The woman trader looked apprehensive.

“Where is she?” Dave asked.

“Up the main street two blocks, take a right. Siven the Seamstress. Tell her Brenna sent you.”

Quest: Shopping Spree

In Emerilia, you need somewhere to keep all of that loot. Get a bag of holding and maybe some new kicks to get started.

Meet with Siven

Rewards: EXP

Do you accept?

Y/N

Dave accepted and took the goods wrapped in cloth around the axe. He thought of the coppers and reached into his coin pouch; he pulled them out and handed them to Brenna. He gave her an extra copper with a smile. “Thanks for the help, Brenna.”

“No worries.” The coppers disappeared as she smiled. “If you want more information on new settlements and interesting areas, talk to Darryl at the bookstore. He’s got a collection of maps from the traveling guild. He’s up the main street four blocks, seven blocks to the right, near the rich sector,” Brenna said.

“Thanks!” Dave said, resting the axe and his items on his shoulder.

Pickaxe

Good for breaking rocks

Quality: D

Damage: 3 (piercing)

Durability: 140/140

Saw

Good for cutting down felled timber into smaller sections

Quality: D

Damage: 1 (Slash)

Durability: 70/70

Dave dismissed the other side of his screen listing the new items.

Axe

Hammer

Simple Blade

Iron Nails

He took off at a light jog, making sure to not hit people as he ran. He dodged through traffic here and there, humming a tune as people went about their lives.

New Passive Skill: Dodge

Whether you’re dodging through people, or out of the way of a blade, your body reacts before you have time to think about it.

Level: Novice level 1

Effect: 5% chance to evade objects.

He looked around Emerilia. It was beautiful. The rendition was amazing. It was another reason Dave was interested in moving to Japan: no mandatory kick-off times. Though you did have to wear a health monitor. Tons of people, who were dying or fed up with the world, went to Japan.

Three days in-game was only a day out of game. Dave didn’t know how they did it but somehow they’d compressed time inside the game.

Why have just a year left before you die, when you could have three?

Dave found Siven’s Seamstress and walked into the store. There were various clothes in racks. They seemed obscure and silly, though there were some sheaths in cabinets. Dave looked at them closely.

Sheath of Sharpness

Add +1 to overall damage when blade is pulled from sheath. Lasts for five strikes, fits short sword.

Sheath of Durability

As the sun rises, so will the durability of your blade. +1 to blade’s durability when paired. For blades quality of B or lower; will not add durability if blade is at full durability.

If he got a really high-level blade and sheath, then the sheath could repair it between fights. That could be really useful.

Dave looked over the sheaths and information about them on the forums. Similar sheaths could be made out of multiple materials, the higher quality the materials the longer it would last and the stronger the enchantments would be.

Something to think about in the future.

“Find anything you like?” A smiling, plump gnome walked over.

“Hi, Brenna sent me. Said that you might have something to carry this lot easier.” Dave shook his cloth satchel.

“That we can do. Where you headed to?” Siven went behind the counter Dave was looking at.

“Not sure yet. Looking for a new place to settle down. Get away from the beaten path, maybe help build something.” Dave shrugged.

Siven looked at Dave’s feet and winced. “Might I suggest that you get some new boots? Those won’t stay together all that well.” She stared at them.

“What have you got?” Dave asked. He’d felt the road beneath his feet as he walked. If they’ve added blisters, that is too much realism! He had a sneaking suspicion they had.

Siven pulled out four sets of shoes. None of them had any special stats but Dave tried them out, going with the most padded one that he could tie tight.

“A good choice.” Siven smiled.

Simple Boots

Comfortable shoes for long walks.

She pulled out a bag of holding. It would reduce anything in it, to forty percent of its original weight.

“I’ve been sending any of the travelers on quests all morning to do my errands. Makes life much easier!” She laughed.

Dave smiled, ready for the prompt.

“Lucky for us that we’re just normal people and not those bunch of idiots.” She smiled.

“Yeah.” Dave smiled back.

“It’ll be one silver and ninety-six coppers,” Siven said.

“All of it?” Dave asked.

“Yup,” Siven said.

That was way better than he’d been hoping for a bag of holding. He could do a jig!

“Thanks!”

A new prompt asked him if he accepted the sale.

He did, the weight of money in his pocket becoming lighter.

“Pleasure doing business with you,” she smiled, looking to another customer that had entered her shop.

Dave took the boots and put them on. They were much more comfortable than his old ones. He put his satchel into the open mouth of the bag of holding and put it on his back.

Bag of holding

Reduces materials inside to 40% of original weight. Ability to Auto-sort.

Do you want to Soul Bind with this item? (Once soul bound no one can steal this from you even if you are dead)

Y/N

Sauweeeet! Yes, yes, yes, yes!

“Could you give me directions to Darryl, who owns the bookstore?” Dave asked.

“Sure. Go up Edoa Road, to Ferick and go right. He’s on the left side of the street, with a book for a sign,” she said.

Quest: Shopping Spree

In Emerilia, it’s good to know where you’re going and where you’ve been. Go to Darryl’s Bookstore to get a map.

Reward: 1,500 XP

“Thanks.” Dave headed out the door and for Darryl’s. The weight of his pack was negligible. With it, he could get some more things for his travels.

Most people had to go do something for the creator in order to get their bags.

Maybe I’ll need food? Might as well check it out.

He jogged on for Darryl’s. He looked around as he went. He felt drawn towards some stores; he took a closer look at them and made a mental note to check them out as he saw tools he might need later.

Passive Skill: Perception

Level: Novice level 3

Effect: 9% chance to find hidden details.

His Stamina wasn’t all that impressive, but it was good enough to get him to Darryl’s without coughing up a lung.

An older-looking human, with spectacles on the end of his nose, sat behind a desk. He looked up as Dave walked in.

The place was filled with books all over the walls. Shelves bowed with their weight.

“Can I help you?” Darryl asked.

“Brenna sent me. Said that you might help me with a map?” Dave asked.

“Caves, trolls, dungeons, and loot, huh?” Darryl looked tired.

“I was looking more for settlements, looking for a place to settle down away from this all,” Dave said.

“Ah, a man after my own heart.” Darryl tapped his lips in thought. “Well, I might have two things for you then.” He moved around the store, pulling out a book and then a scroll.

“This Map of the Traveler scroll is imbued with magical currents. Once you look at it, a map will appear in your vision; you can manipulate the map with thought. When you look at other maps, they can be added to the one that you see. With a thought, they can disappear. Now this, sir dwarf, is a rare gem. The Book of Surveyor. It will allow you to look at a map and possibly see more than you hoped. Possibly a vein of material, or well of magic. This skill is more potent the higher the level you achieve, how updated the map is, or if you are looking at an area. Simply looking around an area from an unobscured vantage point might add new symbols to your map,” Darryl said.

So books can give skills as well as magical spells. Coolio! I need that friggin’ book.

“It costs three gold pieces; the map five silver,” Darryl said before Dave could open his mouth.

Well, that cuts into the reserves some!

“Together that is three gold and three silver.” Darryl’s fingers traced over the cover of the Surveyor’s book.

Dave scratched his head in thought, weighing the pros and cons.

Darryl let out a laugh. “Oh, I’m sorry, lad—should have seen your face! Don’t worry, we’ll do normal price—one gold coin. Those travelers deserve the fleecing they get for the damage they cause. Sorry about that.” Darryl was still smiling. “Couldn’t resist.”

“No worries.” Dave smiled. The NPCs charge people more if they think they’re a Player? So, what the hell do they think I am?

“Here you are.” Darryl put the items on the table. Dave dropped a gold coin into the man’s hand. It disappeared into his robes.

Darryl pushed over the two items. Dave opened the Book of Surveyor first. The first page was normal; then pages just seemed to rush by as his mind filled with knowledge. Finally, the book stopped; the rear of the book slammed shut and turned into ash that floated upward and disappeared into nothing.

New Active Skill: Surveyor

You are a creature of the land; you look upon it and its secrets become facts to you. Sometimes.

Level: Novice level 1

Effect: 5% chance to see surrounding landmarks.

Range: 530 m

Cost: 5 Stamina/second.

“Nice.” Dave grinned, and opened the Map of the Traveler.

Map of the Traveler

Do you want to access the Map of the Traveler? Imbuing its magical circuits to your body for all of eternity?

Y/N

“Come to Daddy,” Dave said, pressing the ‘yes’ at the same time. Light glowed as the scroll opened all the way. It blinded him for a few seconds. When his sight returned, he saw a map in the top right corner of his sight.

He moved the image around with a thought and noticed that the map on the scroll moved as well.

“That’s neat,” Dave said, able to move the larger map with mental commands. He noticed something, as though something wasn’t quite wrong, yet not quite right. He zoomed in on it. The sense got stronger as he reached an area in what looked like the middle of nowhere. It looked like some kind of structure.

Quest: What Lies Below

You’ve found something of interest on your map. It might just be an odd hill or something more.

Reward: ???

Will you investigate?

Y/N

Maybe later. Might as well have it active in the quests. Dave tucked the map away into his bag, accepting the quest anyway.

“I wish you luck on your travels. I wish I was able to get away from all theseplayers, but my books keep me here,” Darryl said.

“Well, if you get bored of it sometime, come around. Though I’ll have to find some place to settle down first!” Dave said.

“I wish you luck.” Darryl grinned and shook Dave’s hand.

Dave headed out of the store.

Quest: Shopping Spree

Quest complete

Reward received: 1,500 XP

Level 2

You have reached level 2; you have 5 stat points to use.

Active Skill: Surveyor

Level: Novice level 2

Effect: 7% chance to see surrounding landmarks.

Range: 560 m

Cost: 5 Stamina/second.

Not bad, Dave, my son. He was hungry and it was about time he was off and looking for a place to settle down. That hill-looking whatever seemed interesting.

He wandered to the markets again, getting a ton of food and water. After some thought, he also got a bow and sleeping gear. He wanted to live peacefully but sometimes you had to defend that, and maybe he could sustain himself with pelts. Sleeping gear would allow him to save anywhere.

Simple Bow

It’s not elegant but it will do the job.

Quality: C

Damage: 10

Durability: 50/50

Satisfied, Dave started jogging out of the city he’d found out was called Omal. Once he was clear of the crowds, he upped his speed, running as fast as he could.

New Active Skill: Sprint

While you look like you actively fear running, it seems that when needs must, you can still run.

Level: Novice level 1

Effect: 5% increased speed

Cost: 5 Stamina/second

Not even the snippy game could get him down as he continued to run, taking in the beauty that was Emerilia.

Here he was free from work: the constant phone calls, the late-night meetings and conferences. He might live on Earth, but his people on the Moon didn’t like having normal schedules.

He went through settings, turning off notifications when he was in combat and other necessities so he could actually fight instead of having a letter in his eye.

That done, he pulled up his map and set a way point for his destination. Even if it was just a hill, there was a nice river going past with fresh water from mountains a few kilometers past it. There was plenty of wood and the Dwarven side of him promised those mountains weren’t just for show.

Yeah, how the hell did I turn out to be a half-dwarf? I thought that there would be some ability for me to choose things. He opened up his browser, asking his question.

Many people got human, though there was a spattering of different characters. It seemed that the game picked out what it thought you were most aligned to. Even if you restarted, you usually got the same character. Some people were annoyed; most were interested what this meant.

Dave felt the need to move sideways; he did so, narrowly missing a tree.

“Interface and running, bad idea—got it.” He continued to read but looked around to make sure he wouldn’t run into any more trees. He was pretty happy that he got that Dodge skill now!

After twenty seconds, he dropped down to jogging. It was going to take him hours to reach that hill at his current pace.

“Time to do something with those points, I guess.” Dave opened up his character sheet. He dumped two points into Agility and another 2 into strength, bringing him to a Stamina recharge of 0.60/s and 120 stamina.

Character Sheet

Name:

David Grahslagg

Gender:

Male

Level:

1

Class:

-

Race:

Human/Dwarf

Alignment:

-

Unspent points: 1

Health:

1100

Regen:

0.28 /s

Mana:

100

Regen:

0.50 /s

Stamina:

130

Regen:

0.85 /s

Vitality:

11

Endurance:

9

Intelligence:

10

Willpower:

10

Strength:

13

Agility:

17

Dave moved around, he opened and closed his hand, feeling more strength in his grip but also much lighter on his feet. He couldn’t run a marathon but he felt like he could run much faster for longer with the increased agility.

“Okay, that’s strange,” Dave looked at his sheet, he had put 4 stat points into his main attributes but he’d stayed at level 1.

He put the last point into his agility, studying the sheet once again.

Character Sheet

Name:

David Grahslagg

Gender:

Male

Level:

2

Class:

-

Race:

Human/Dwarf

Alignment:

-

Unspent points: 0

Health:

1100

Regen:

0.28 /s

Mana:

100

Regen:

0.50 /s

Stamina:

130

Regen:

0.90 /s

Vitality:

11

Endurance:

9

Intelligence:

10

Willpower:

10

Strength:

13

Agility:

18

“So, I only increase my overall level if I put all five of the stat points from that level into my attributes?” Dave frowned, he would have to do some experimenting with his stats later on.

Dave expanded the map in the top right of his vision with hand gestures.

“Well, this is going to take a while.” Dave waved his hand, dismissing the map and watching his Stamina bar grow slowly. He continued to jog, heading off the beaten path and into the forest that grew on either side of the road. The road fell away as Dave started to sprint again.

Moving through the forest was slower but Dave took the time to look around. He saw a flicker of fire, he turned to face it.

“The hell is that?” Dave started to walk towards what looked like a sea of fire.

He walked into a small clearing where there were a number of flowers moving in the wind. Their blooms looked like fireballs, the wind turning them into a sea of living fire.

“These graphics are aweeesome!” Dave crouched down and looked the plant over. His notifications flashed. He opened it up.

New Active Skill: Herb Lore

Stop and look at the pretty flowers once in a while. Who knows—sometimes you can use them to make a real fire, or whiskey!

Level: Novice level 1

Effect: 5% chance to discover valuable plants in your area. Faint idea of what the plant might be useful for.

“Well, maybe I can make some Stamina potions. I hate being slow.” He picked up the plant, studying it, and moved around, grabbing others. He had a faint idea of what they did, as if he had once known and now it was just locked away in his mind. “Maybe later, I’ll figure it out,” He tucked them away, looking around the area trying to find if there was anything that might improve his stamina. He found a sort of moss that he felt might help him.

“Might as well give it a try, he pulled it off the rock and started chewing on it.

“Ugh,” Dave spat it out, rubbing his tongue as if to try and remove the wet taste of dirt and pine-sol. “Tastes like floor cleaner! Or, like I chewed one of those tree air fresheners for my car.”

Dave swilled water trying to get the taste out of his mouth. Forgetting his pursuits as an alchemist as he checked the other updates to his status; at such a low level, it was only natural his skills were racing higher. He was at Novice level 3 for sprinting, a nice 9% increased speed.

“Time waits for no man, even a half-dwarf half-man.” Dave checked his way point and continued his journey.

He started to get hungry, so he called up some dried meat from his bag. He chewed on it and continued his way. The hunger fell away as his Stamina took a nice boost.

System Message

You have been playing for eight hours. As per regulations, you have twenty minutes before mandatory log off. Please preselect actions to occur when you log off.

“I spoke too soon,” he said, chewing on the food. “The hell are preselected actions?” Dave wandered into the forums, finding out that his character could still operate as he was away, like some kind of bot. If it was making goods or something, then it’s abilities were degraded, but things like walking, or simple manual labor, it was all for.

Dave wanted to use it but reconsidered it with the forest potentially having animals in it. He didn’t want to appear back in Omal.

Dave forewent the sleeping save option and picked the manual one in his interface before hitting the logout. He didn’t want to make his character walk around in the middle of a forest he didn’t know. He wanted to take in the journey, not race through it, and there was the threat of animals and creatures that might kill him while he was offline.

Emerilia disappeared in a flash, returning him to the lobby. He exited the lobby and felt the helmet on his head.

He pulled it off, stretching.

“Well looks like I should look up how to make a house after all of this,” Zane moved to his computer and looked up the information on his computer.

Chapter 3: Taking in the View

Dave stared at the rocky outcropping that rose over the forest, giving a great view of the land. For two in-game days he had been running towards his destination, when he logged off he looked up how to make houses and crossed that against what Emerilia had in the way of materials.

He would’ve made it to the way point if he had run his avatar in bot mode but he wasn’t willing to risk it.

“Good time as ever to give that Surveyor skill a second chance.” Dave changed direction and headed up the outcropping. It took him awhile but he finally got to the top. He let out a low whistle.

There was a blue and red moon visible in the sky; the sun bathed Emerilia in her warm rays. Trees spread for miles, with glades and the occasional farm here and there. In the distance, he could see Omal and trace out the road that connected it to the rest of Emerilia.

A fresh breeze rolled over him. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He opened his eyes and the landscape seemed to change. Without conscious thought, he slowly turned in a circle. His eyes locked onto various items he couldn’t see with the naked eye but he could sense. It was if the land was talking to him and he’d just opened up his ears to it.

For a few seconds, it went on until his Stamina bar was drained. Dave took a drink from his canteen and grabbed some food from his pack. His mini-map was filling with new markers. He wasn’t about to stop yet; he knew there was more out there. A quick look at his map showed that he had a half-dozen new markers.

“So worth the gold.” Dave grinned.

As he waited for his Stamina to recharge some more, he looked at his interface. Notifications were up to the top right of his view. With a click, it would cascade and tell him his latest skill levels.

Down at the bottom left, he had his Health, Mana, and Stamina. The last one was slowly growing. There had been a chat window above it but he’d removed it.

He was looking to get away from things, and having a bajillion messages scrolling past his eyes every minute was not getting away, in his mind.

In the bottom right, there was a mini-map with a compass around it.

His Stamina bar filled three-quarters of the way. Again, he closed his eyes, letting his troubles fade away and feeling out toward the area around him.

His eyes opened; the land was speaking to him. He turned in a full circle, seeing items that he hadn’t noticed the first time. He opened up his map, looking at the various greyed-out items that were littered around him in a five-hundred-meter area. There were ore, animal dens, various plants. What caught his attention was a building; he focused on it.

> Abandoned Cabin.

He checked his map. It was a slight detour, but there might be something useful there. The map went back into its corner with a thought. Dave started his way back down the outcropping and toward the cabin. He looked at the notification panel. The drop-down opened.

> You have found Merriroot

> You have found Yip Fox Den.

> You have found Fresh Spring

“Ugghhh, this is worse than cleaning out my spam filter!” He changed settings, he’d only be notified about his skills, levels and main quests. They would also be hidden away under the notification tab instead of jumping out in front of him.

Stat Increase

Many would have bought a horse or used a portal to travel. You like to move the old-fashioned way.

+1 Strength

“Holy crap! That’s awesome. If I continue training or using one thing a lot, then it will increase. Makes sense—the more you fight, the more Stamina you get, or the more you cast spells, the more magic you get.” Dave winced at a thought. “Ughh, that would really suck to level up your Vitality that way.”

Emerilia gave a pain feedback; it was about forty percent, but it was enough to make you know you got hit. If you increased your Stamina by running and Mana by casting, then you could increase your Health by getting hurt and surviving.

“And that is a theory I never want to figure out, even with the ability to self-heal.” He looked at his low Health recharge; it wouldn’t be much use in battle. Having a high recharge would just make you overpowered as all hell.

After battle, it might be enough to heal minor wounds. It made bringing Health potions, or someone with healing abilities, a good freaking idea.

“My attributes increase through actions. I wonder if I got five stat increases if I would level up again?”

He moved to the next two prompts, interested in the games leveling mechanics.

Active Skill: Sprint

Level: Novice level 5

Effect: 13% increased speed

Cost: 5 Stamina/second

Reward: 500 XP

Level 3

You have reached level 3. You have 5 unused stat points.

500 XP boost for reaching level 5—I will take that! Maybe I should work on my Dodge and try a few more Surveyor checks, get them up to level 5. That XP will be useful. Speed up this run a bit! He tapped his chin in thought.

“Right now, I’m building skills and the like quickly as I’m a low level. If I bring my stats up the old-fashioned way, then I can use the points later. I haven’t seen a time limit on the stat points for levels anywhere.”

Active Skill: Surveyor

Level: Novice Level 4

Effect: 11% chance to see surrounding landmarks.

Range: 620 m

Cost: 5 Stamina/second

“Who’s the man? This guy—that’s who.” Dave did a little dance and moved his arms in a circle. He looked around to see whether anyone could see his antics.

“No one around to tell me to smarten up. I’m liking this place more and more! Should have my board meetings here.” Dave shook his head. Those thoughts were for the real world. Here he was going to have fun!

He continued on his path for the Abandoned Cabin. He ran at trees, dodging at the last second, or jumping over little shrubs. He didn’t want to get into fights but the extra XP boost would be nice indeed!

He got to the cabin with some Stamina to spare. He didn’t go directly to it, but stayed in the trees around it. He crouched down and moved around the area, looking for traps or why the hell the place was abandoned.

It was a simple cabin: one chimney, wood-shuttered windows, and a door that had been ripped from its hinges. Although it was simply built, it was also sturdy. Whatever had taken the door off had been a big sonofabitch.

New Active Skill: Stealth

You know how to use the shadows to your advantage. Your Peeping Tom fantasies come to life. The guard will hunt you down, you pervert!

Level: Novice level 1

Effect: 5% chance to remain undetected (reduced in direct light). When in Stealth, attacks have a higher chance to stun and gain a critical hit. May your aim be true.

Why does this game think I’m some kind of debauchery driven pervert?

Dave looked at the place, feeling a need to go inside. First, he used his Surveyor skill. He looked around, feeling a worn path leading to the cabin; he could feel a bear wandering around, looking for a meal a few hundred meters away. He knew that he wasn’t reaching out to the full distance of his Surveyor skill. It was more sporadic than up on the outcrop.

Must be the trees and crap in the way. Dave grinned at the realism. Someone might be able to figure out what was around them by looking for it, but if there was something in the way stopping them, then you were just shit out of luck.

He walked around, using his skill a few more times to get a better image. Still, nothing more came up. He moved forward, keeping low as he looked at the door. Two perfect burn holes had cut through the hinges.

Fire magic, if I was a betting man. Dave walked into the cabin. It was pretty old, with holes in the roof and the floor rotting away in places. He noticed a small blue indentation in the fireplace. He brushed away some of the old soot and pressed the indentation.

Click! Dave looked to the old pelt that was in tatters on the ground.

He kicked it aside and a trapdoor opened. You wouldn’t have known it was there unless you pressed the hidden button. Even after years, it fit seamlessly with the rest of the floor. A stairway led downwards.

Cool underground trapdoor thingy in an abandoned cabin—nothing could go wrong here. Might be a necromancer’s lair for all I know! Even as he complained, a grin grew across his face.

He stepped down a step; the stairs went down for a while. Dave moved slowly, really hoping no one was home. He pulled out his blade, holding it in his hand. His hands were sweating as he half expected something to jump out at him. The trapdoor closed and he was stuck in darkness.

Well shit, I thought Dwarves were supposed to be good in the dark!

New Passive Skill: Night Vision

You go into the darkness ready to piss yourself, but now you can at least see what’s going to leap out and kill you.

Level: Novice level 1

Effect: 5% increased night vision.

Racial bonus: Dwarves, even half-Dwarves, are at home in the darkness of mines and their empires dug underneath mountains. +25% increased night vision.

Now we’re talking.

Dave could see around the room he came to in greater clarity. There was a table in the corner opposite the stairs; it extended along the far wall with various tools and items on it. To Dave’s left, there was a perfect silver floating oval. It was about seven feet tall and four feet wide. Gold, blue, black, and white runes ran along its edges.

Dave could feel the power radiating off it. The Dwarven side of him was in awe of the workmanship; the human side wondered how much he could get for it.

He took another step and lights started to turn on. Dave looked around in alarm but nothing shot him. Then he saw the panel to his side. It was a bunch of flowing characters but most of them were red. Just three were blue, in the form of a triangle. Dave pressed the three at the same time; there was a click and the red colors of the pad disappeared.

“I don’t want to know what the hell I just disabled.” Dave exhaled as he looked around the room in more detail now that the magical orbs of light were on, patting himself on the back for his work with Perception. “Cozy.”

Along the wall in front of him were tools of various kinds, including diagrams and schematics. Dave looked them over. They seemed like various components of something large—and powerful by the amount of soul gems it needed.

“Well, no one else is going to use it.” Dave pulled off his bag and threw the various tools and components into his bag.

“That’ll be useful.” He found refined ingots of iron, steel, as well as one gold and ebony ingot. He found some petty, lesser and common soul gems as well. Not a bad haul at all!

Soul gems contained pure energy they could be used to charge all manner of magical devices.

Some higher-level bosses had been reported as using the soul gems to regenerate their Mana pool. Once all of the power from a soul gem was used, it would shatter, as the forces that held the power within it at bay destroying itself.

They went in the bag as well as he looked around. All that was left was the tables and the mirror thing. Dave tipped his bag upside down on top of the mirror. He pulled it down the mirror and it went into his bag.

Mirror of Communication

Can allow people to talk across long distances instantaneously. Your magic level is too low to understand more.

Quality: S

Durability: 5000/5000

Charge: 123/400

Dave whistled. He didn’t really see the need for it when he could talk to any Player he wanted to with his chat function. Sure looked cool, though! And it will sell for a few gold, even with only a fourth of the charge!

He looked around the room with a pleased expression, looking at the wall where the mirror had been. He saw a blue hole lower down. He looked through his inventory. He pulled out some keys he’d found and started working through them.

After a few different keys, a panel in the wall pushed forward.

“Breaking and entering—come on, Dave.” Dave grinned and put the keys in his bag.

Dave paused as he pushed the panel to the side, looking out for traps. There was a simple drawer behind the panel. Again, Dave took his time with the drawer.

“Found you.” Dave saw a thin wire coming from the side of the drawer and going inside; it looked like spider webbing. It was surrounded by a red halo. He thought of pliers and pulled them out of his bag.

“The blue one or the red one?” He shook his hand as if he were nervous, snorting before he cut the flimsy wire. The red halo disappeared. His notifications blinked. Dave checked for any other traps and slowly opened the drawer.

“Fuck me sideways,” Dave said.

There were four grand and two greater soul gems just sitting there. Pure energy moved through the perfectly translucent ovaloids. They seemed to dance slowly. The mesmerizing light was a dance of all the colors. Like a pearl shined to perfection, moving around in a wave of light and beauty.

Dave shook his head and put them into his bag with care. They were the highest-tiered soul gems. With them, he might be able to recharge the mirror.

He pulled out a chest filled with coins. He grinned and poured it into his bag. The coins auto-sorted. If there were ten silvers, then they’d turn into a single gold; same for if there were a hundred coppers.

“Wish I had this back home to deal with spare change.” Dave sighed, coming to the last belonging in the drawer. It was an intricately carved box. On the front, there was an anvil; around it, there were People of all races, beating on a piece of metal. There were more scenes with people working the bellows or the final product. The box was a masterful work of art by itself.

Dave opened it slowly. There weren’t any traps, so he opened it all the way. In his hand, there was a snow globe with a forge in it. It was incredibly detailed. Dave grabbed it.

Portable Smithy

The portable smithy shakes with power. Do you want to use it?

Cost: 250 Mana (You do not have sufficient Mana)

Dave looked at the little globe with an awed look.

“Check out abandoned cabins,” Dave said as he put the forge-snow globe back in its case. He patted the case, admiring the artwork again, and dumped it into his pack. He was about to leave when he looked at the lights. It would be nice to have some light orbs instead of fire to light his way.

“If you’re going to steal, might as well rob them blind.” Dave pulled out his pickaxe and went to the closest light.

“I’ve been working on the railroad.” He chipped around the magical orb. It came free after careful excavation.

“Now how the hell do you turn off?”

The light turned off.

“Handy.”

The notification panel blinked again.

New Active Skill: Mining

You return to your Dwarven roots, breaking rocks and being rewarded with ore and the distinct smell of sweaty nuts for your labors. Honestly, you can build empires but you can’t take a damn bath?

Level: Novice level 1

Effect: You cut through rock easily, finding ores and gems beneath. 5% chance to get higher yield of materials from ore vein. 5% faster at mining.

Cost: 10 Stamina/second.

Racial Bonus: Dwarves are the mining powerhouses of Emerilia. +15% Chance to get higher yield of materials

New Spell: Touch of the Land

You are in touch with the Earth. When your pick hits stone, it seems that you’re at home. You can look at an area and feel out the area’s materials. At higher levels, people will think you can sense Mithril.

Level: 1

Effect: Ability to sense mineral deposits or disturbances in the ground around you. (Touch) Lasts for 20 seconds.

Range: 50 m in every direction

Cost: 40 Mana

Affinity: Earth, Dark

“Duh duh duhhnnn. Got a freaking spell—bah bah BAhh!” Dave did a little dance and put his hands to the floor. He closed his eyes. A word of power fell from his lips.

The earth reacted to the old language, forgotten through time. It was like an echo. Dave felt a ripple emanate from him, spreading out to the surrounding area.

A prompt filled his vision.

Magical Circuits

You have found a complex series of magical circuits. Are you interested in trying to learn from them?

Cost: 100 Mana, Destroy Magical Circuits you study

Reward: Unknown

Y/N

Dave had spent 40 Mana; it would regenerate in six minutes, bringing him up to the necessary 100 Mana. He looked through his inventory. The soul gems could restore his power, but they were too much power for him to handle. He’d waste potentially thousands of Mana points. He went to his notifications again.

Passive Skill: Perception

Level: Novice level 5

Effect: 15% chance to find hidden details.

Passive Skill: Night Vision

Level: Novice level 3

Effect: 9% increased night vision. (+25% Racial Bonus)

He went back to his character sheet. “I still have 5 points for reaching level 3.” He looked over the stats. He put 2 into Intelligence, 1 into Strength, and 2 more into Agility.

Character Sheet

Name:

David Grahslagg

Gender:

Male

Level:

3

Class:

-

Race:

Human/Dwarf

Alignment:

-

Unspent points: 0

Health:

1100

Regen:

0.28 /s

Mana:

120

Regen:

0.50 /s

Stamina:

150

Regen:

1.00 /s

Vitality:

11

Endurance:

9

Intelligence:

12

Willpower:

10

Strength:

15

Agility:

20

With the new points to Intelligence, he gained 20 Mana points instantly. It took him another impatient minute until he was at 100 Mana.

He focused on the magical circuits that he felt in the ground. His magic connected to them, using his Touch of the Land to understand their structure. It started to pull it apart, piece by piece, faster and faster. Dave saw how energy was transferred through magical circuits. How circuits could be used and manipulated. The circuits were destroyed with the passing of his magic.

Magical Circuits

Disassembling the magic circuits led to more knowledge than you thought possible. These traps were made by a powerful practitioner of the six Affinities. As they knew of the six, you, too, now know.

Reward received: You have learned how to form Magical Circuits. You have unlocked the Affinities: Dark, Light, Air, Water, Earth, and Fire.

+6 Intelligence

+3 Willpower

You can now view Affinities

New Active Skill: Magical Circuits

There ain’t no wires in this place. Magical power is untamed power; with magical circuits, you can tame that power into other items. Like a coffee maker. Too bad Emerilia doesn’t have coffee. Oh, and screwing up Magical circuits. Boom.

Level: Novice level 4

Effect: 11% chance of creating better Magical circuits and understanding them.

Cost: Dependent

As there had been traps from all of the Affinities, it seemed that it had crossed over to activating his own magic Affinity levels.

“I really don’t want to know what those traps were.” Dave’s head hurt from the massive amount of Mana he’d poured out of his body. The circuits must have been a high level to give him those stat point boosts.

Overall, he was feeling pretty damned good about himself.

He took another look around before he left the weird basement and headed out of the cabin. It felt good to be out in the sun. It was getting chillier as night was quickly approaching.

He checked his location, found the hill he was looking for, and took off. He still had quite a distance to go. Again, he got into the rhythm of sprinting for as long as possible, and then jogging when his Stamina got low. The pack weighed considerably more; even with the reduction to 40%, he’d thrown in a lot of refined metals and the big-ass mirror.

Day transitioned into night. Everything took on a slight green tinge as Dave’s night vision kicked in. His Stamina was draining faster than before. He continued running since he was only a few hours away. His pack rubbed into his shoulders, causing them to chafe. He tried to hold them to try to reduce the friction.

“Thank you, Siven.” He panted as he looked at his boots. His feet hurt, but he hadn’t got blisters yet. He wished he had something other than the cloth pants and shirt to wear. They were itchy normally; now they were actively trying to erase his nipples off.

“I never want to run a marathon in my life,” Dave whined, even though he kept going.

A few hours later, he stopped at a river. He used Touch of the Land; there wasn’t much in this area other than some berries. He grabbed them and started munching. He took off the bag and started tending to his ailments.

I should have grabbed a healing spell.

He pulled his feet out of his boots. They were raw from all the walking and he could feel blisters forming.

“That’s the good stuff,” Dave sighed as the cold water soothed his feet.

He opened up the notification about Agility; he got a point there. It was only after he accepted the notification did it go toward his stats. Even with the extra points, he showed as level 3. It seemed only quests and levelling up his various skills would allow him to increase in overall level.

It was more incentive to do quests and follow along with the game. Dave wasn’t interested in that. He thought of the globe and his hill. He pulled his pack on; the poultice was pushed into his chest by the weight.

At his best speed, it took nearly three days from Omal to the hill.

Dave grabbed a piece of bread from his bag, munching on it as he sprinted off. Once the sprint died, he continued to eat, energy coming back to his tired limbs. Even though his Stamina was recharging, his body continued to hurt, as though he had lactic acid buildup.

“Need one of those foam rollers—a small tree might work.” He continued his eating and running until the land started to rise. He looked at his mini-map and zoomed out. He was nearly at his hill!

He took his time. At any rise he found, he used Surveyor and Touch of the Land. He looked at the scrolling information: a good number of herbs to make food from and some dens for various animals. He wandered to the small stream. It was fifteen meters wide and one meter deep at its lowest, moving at a good pace. It curved around the hill, leaving a nice plain to one side of the hill. It would be perfect for fields. He looked at the rising hill; it was covered in trees.

The hill gently sloped upwards along one side. Along all the other sides, there were sheer cliffs. He jogged up the hill, taking in the sights as he got higher. His Stamina recharged; once he had about 30, he activated Surveyor.

To the south, there was a large gouge in the land that led to the sloped side of the hill. To the east, there was the river and the plains. In the north, there was a large mountain range that extended to the west side. It was a number of kilometers away, about the same distance as Omal.

Information on rock formations, different animals, caves: all of it filtered into Dave’s mind and onto his map.

By reflex, he reached down and felt the area around him. It seemed to stop, hitting something at the edge of its range. He sensed magic draining into the thing he’d touched. Curious, he sent out another pulse. Again, he found that same odd creation and its hunger.

Affinity levels

Dark

10

Light

10

Air

10

Water

10

Earth

10

Fire

10

Quest: What Lies Below

You sense an item as old as Emerilia.

Reward: Unknown

Will you investigate?

Y/N

“Maybe later.” Dave dismissed the prompt.

For now, he didn’t want to deal with it. Instead, he looked around, judging the grade of the hill. It was large, nearly ten kilometers across at its peak—more than enough room for what Dave wanted.

He wandered around, finding a nice place near the edge of the rise that faced northeast. He could see the river and the mountains in one glance. It was above the tree line, so he could see for kilometers in every direction.

He cast Surveyor again and new information appeared.

“I’m going to need a fishing rod!” He laughed, taking off his pack, and sat down to take in the beauty of the place. No cars, nothing to pull his attention: just him and Emerilia.

It felt as if the pressures that had been pushing him into the tight hole for the last couple of years were fading away.

“First, camp. Then we’re going to start seeing about this damned house!” He pulled out his small tent, which was little more than a waterproof skin, two poles, and pins. He put his sleeping mat down and looked around. He pulled out the shovel he’d bought from Brenna after going to Siven’s and Darryl’s. Having a bag of holding made it a lot easier to grab the extra gear.

He started digging when an alert appeared on his view.

System Message

You have been playing for eight hours. As per regulations, you have twenty minutes before mandatory log off. Please preselect actions to occur when you log off.

Dave felt as if more than just a few hours had gone by. Still, he wanted to play more. Dave sighed and dismissed the prompt. He went to the logout menu.

Log off commands

You might be leaving but your character is still here. Leave commands for them to complete while you’re away.

(Beware: if you have your character stray into danger and they die, it will count as a normal death. Only soul-bound items will stay with you.)

“Okay, I want you to dig a hole from here, to here, to here, to here.” He walked to the four corners of his area. “The sides are to be clean. It should be four feet deep and level. Once that’s complete, start stripping down trees and cutting them down. Whenever I am gone, remember to eat and drink from the bag. Whenever your Stamina is at full, use Surveyor; whenever your Mana is at full, use Touch of the Land. Once it’s depleted, continue your job until either your Stamina or Mana replenishes. Mark the closest rocks that you find.”

System Message

Are you happy with your commands?

Y/N

We advise sleeping (Saving) before exiting.

Dave laid down on his bed mat. A revolving circle in the corner of his sight showed for a few seconds with a SAVED icon glowing. Dave logged off and came to inside his shrine. He sat up and looked around the room. The robot was waiting nearby with a beer and sandwiches.

“Thanks.” Zane stood. Already he’d started thinking of himself as Dave; that was going to get a bit confusing for a few days.

He took a sandwich but he didn’t feel hungry.

Weird.

He wandered around the house; his music was playing. He felt tired and let loose a yawn. Maybe it was time for some sleep. He had two hours until he could play more.

First, he went to his home office: checked emails, sent replies, and confirmed details or sent them back for revision. His whole company was paying for itself out of savings, though that wasn’t inconsiderable. They could haul in an asteroid worth as much as some superpowers yearly GDP in a week. As they were in limbo, there was the GDP of Spain hanging out on the Moon shaped as refined metals.

Everyone along the path got a part of the overall profit, from finders, to miners, to refiners, and everyone in between. They had more money than they knew what to do with, but Zane kept paying their regular wages.

His people were loyal and even if it was just a pittance of what they normally got, it was the premise of it all. It was also why so many of them were willing to move if the company moved.

He’d been going through reports on the Japanese delegation’s visit when he stretched. It was odd; it felt as though he’d gotten his second wind. He yawned as if he had just woken up from sleep instead of been heading to bed.

“Jackie, coffee please, and get Suzy to contact me when she’s up. Give her a few hours at least. None of that waking her up immediately crap!” Zane said.

“Yes, sir,” Jackie said.

Zane saw bright lights down his neighborhood. Someone was throwing a party, it seemed. Lights came on as he walked. There was a time when he would have wanted to go to a party like that. Now, well, he was more interested in getting back into Emerilia.

His hunger fell away; in fact, he felt pretty satisfied.

“Hmm,” Zane muttered, drinking his coffee.

“Something the matter, Mister Zane?” Jackie asked.

“No, nothing.”

“How was your game?”

“Good! Exciting—feels so real! Let me know as soon as I can get back in. I don’t have much work left to do anyway.” A smile spread across Zane’s face. He was excited to see what zombie him had been up to!

“Yes, Mister Zane,” Jackie said.

Zane drank his coffee and wandered around his house. Finally, he gave in and headed down to his sanctuary and started to look over people’s attempts at crafting.

He rolled his shoulders, both them and his back getting tight. Must be from sitting in a damn chair all the time.

“Hey, Jackie, look up the wikis on crafting. Specifically, I want to look into house building.”

“Certainly, Mister Zane. Would you like diagrams as well?”

“You know me too well, Jackie.” Zane smiled as holographic images floated around.

She showed him how to build a basic house; he went into defenses as well as farming and a bit about smithing. Although he could wait to learn it in the game, the lock picking had really showed him that prior knowledge really did help.

“The five hours is up,” Jackie said.

The tension was still across his body. He’d been focused on gathering information but it felt as if he’d been working out. “Thanks, Jackie!” Zane was only too excited to jump into his chair and pull the headset back on.

Chapter 4: An Administrator’s Boredom

Lo’kal felt a pull across the miasma that was his world.

“Well, what is this we have here?” He was one of seven; everyone got that wrong—always the six. Those six couldn’t do anything with all the egos and pheromones in the air. They were as likely to fight as they were to have an orgy.

Lo’kal looked over the information. A smile started to cover his face. I’d always dreamed of a bleeder. Lo’kal’s Jukal eyes moved in excitement as he removed the information on the Player.

He had been the creator of Emerilia and now he was its caretaker. He had been so for nearly seven centuries. He was the one who made sure that the NPCs had enough protection; he made the rules. The rest—they pissed around with powers and tried to bend the rules as much as possible.

It was like dealing with a litter of toddlers, with the powers of a god.

The amount of power that Emerilia generated was enough to power ten of the Empire’s most advanced planets. A part was fed back into Emerilia; most was sold off, and the rest went to the seven.

Though six of them handed it out like candy on Halloween.

Emerilia was the highest-grossing entertainment for the Empire’s people. Watch the savages kill one another and sell any of the plans that they came up with.

Lo’kal was the unseen hand, the manager and balancer.

The other six were always vying for their people to win, to make alliances with one another to destroy the others. It could take decades or centuries until their plans came to fruition. They cared little about the cost, or the time it took. Lo’kal had learned early on that the patient ones were the worst to deal with.

Lo’kal introduced himself into the game’s network. His body died, turning to ash as he awoke in the town Omal.

He got up, wearing nothing but the starting gear and a few gold. He picked himself a new name.

“Bob the Gnome. I like it!” He headed out of the Altar of Rebirth and wandered through the town. Although the other six loved to show off their power, Bob liked to keep it quiet, instead getting to know the people he oversaw. He walked through the market, getting a bit of food here, having a chat there.

“Why don’t you come over to the Silver Oxen? Heard they got a nice boar on the spit today,” one of the leather workers Bob was getting a pair of pants from said.

“Well, I kind of need to go see my acquaintance.” Bob tapped his chin. “All right, I’m in!” Bob’s face split into a big smile as the large man clapped him on the back.

“Well, I get off at six bells. I’ll meet you there with some female company,” the leather worker said.

“Oh, I can’t miss that! Should have led with that!” Bob laughed with the leather worker. “I’ll see you later. I’ve got to get a few more things for my trip.” Bob waved good-bye and headed back into the market.

He talked and wandered around. He went to the bars, toured the shops. He lived in his own world, unknown to those around him. The NPCs talked of the harvests, of the hope for rain. Others talked of the influx of travelers. He’d heard it before, but still he allowed himself to get sunk into it, allowing himself to become one of the many.

The bleeder could wait, Bob surmised. Bob had lived for nearly five hundred years since he’d created Emerilia. Having a beer and getting rowdy: it was a good way to throw off his duties, becoming the man he had created. He’d also heard a rumor that the Silver Oxen had some proper Dwarven whiskey. He wasn’t about to let that go to waste!

Chapter 5: Laying the First Timber

Zane logged back on to his character swinging his pick at a bunch of rocks.

He checked his bag. There was quite a bit, but he would need a decent amount for the base of his house. He continued smashing rocks and checked his notifications.

Stat Increase

+1 Strength

+1 Intelligence

+1 Agility

+3 Willpower

“I forgot to see if I leveled up after those magical circuits!”

He quickly went over to his character sheet to check out whether the massive increase in stats led to him gaining a new level.

Character Sheet

Name:

David Grahslagg

Gender:

Male

Level:

3

Class:

-

Race:

Human/Dwarf

Alignment:

-

Unspent points: 0

Health:

1100

Regen:

0.28 /s

Mana:

190

Regen:

0.80 /s

Stamina:

170

Regen:

1.05 /s

Vitality:

11

Endurance:

9

Intelligence:

19

Willpower:

16

Strength:

17

Agility:

21

“Okay, so no level increase even though my attributes went up by sixteen points.” Dave frowned holding his chin in thought. “So, if I was to gain points through just work then I wouldn’t have to use my stat points from leveling up. If stat points get harder to gain with higher attribute levels, then I’d be shooting myself in the foot by just using all of my level stat points right away. If I saved them up, then I could increase my attributes once it gets nearly impossible to gain them just through hard work. Its not like I have anything better to do,” Dave shrugged to himself.

He’d refrain from putting in the stat points he was given at every level. Instead, he’d work hard, building up his attribute through hard work. When it became too hard to gain the stat points through straight working, then he’d start using the level stats.

With his stats gained through training, he might be look to be a level three when people analyzed him but his attributes made him equal to a level six.

Active Skill: Mining

Level: Novice level 6

Effect: 15% chance to get higher yield of materials from ore vein. 11% faster mining. (+15 Racial bonus)

Cost: 10 Stamina/second.

New Active Skill: Lumberjack

People see a nice tree; you see a spear. Hippies everywhere hate you. Though you can take down a tree with a nice axe or saw and turn it into useful materials. Later, it might seem that you can cut trees down with just your hands. Watch out, Bruce Lee!

Level: Novice level 3

Effect: 9% increased speed and damage to cut down trees

Cost: 10 Stamina/second

Dave continued to pound the rock down into fine gravel. He checked his map even as he swung. The movements seemed almost second nature to him.

He looked at the map, seeing that he had a good idea of all the different herbs and edibles in his area. There were also some possible ore veins Zombie Dave had noticed and added to his map.

After another hour of slamming away at the rocks, he scooped up the gravel. His bag was still weighing quite a bit.

“Going to need that house sooner rather than later!” He laughed to himself and pulled out a sharpening tool. He started to get back the blade on his pickaxe as he got a new prompt.

New Active Skill: Maintainer

You don’t just buy gear; you invest in it and take care of it as if it were a soul-bound pet. Weird, but everyone has to have a hobby!

Level: Novice level 1

Effect: 5% chance to restore durability; at higher levels, possible to increase durability, quality, and gain Sharpen bonus to items that have been cared for.

Require: Dependent on gear; sharpening stone, hammer, anvil. Better maintainer’s tools lead to higher chance of increasing stats.

“Means that Brenna won’t be getting any of my copper marks anytime soon.” He reached the site he’d left just a few hours ago. There was a level area already. Trees had been cut down, stripped of branches and bark, and were in the process of drying.

“Well done, zombie me. You’re not such a deadbeat.” Dave nodded, pleased. “I really need some new jokes,” he admitted, heading over to the twenty-foot by fifteen-foot foundation.

Dave tipped his bag of holding, thinking of the gravel. It started pouring out as though he was holding a dump truck in his hands. He guided it over the area. It finally stopped some time later. Dave pulled out a rake and pushed it around, evening it out.

That done, he dug a decent-sized hole with a small channel leading to it. He took his bag and headed down to the river bank, where he’d spotted some open clay deposits.

“Nothing but dig this, hammer that, cut that.” Dave sighed and a smile covered his face.

It had been so long since he had done any actual real work. It felt good to get dirty and in the middle of everything. He pulled his shovel out of his bag and marked out a plot, dumping clay into the bag. It got covered in muck but the hungry bag just took it all in. It was getting close to mid-afternoon when he stopped.

He stretched and grabbed the bag, which felt pretty heavy. He left his clay pit and sprinted for the hill. His Stamina drained as he was carrying more than he could be expected to haul. He forged onwards, getting up the hill and to his plot. He dumped his clay out into a pile.

“Time to get messy!” He formed a chimney out of his clay, making a rack with sticks and more clay. He put an air hole out the opposite side of the small front trench; he’d made an arch so he could feed wood through the front.

That done, he got a fire going in the chimney. Once it was good and raging, he stoked the fires up, putting a covering over the top of the chimney. Smoke came out of the top hole.

He used the rocks to make a work surface. He cut out slabs of wood and created a box. Clay went in; blocks of compressed clay came out. So it went; he continued making bricks and feeding his fire. The blocks finished up quick. He moved to the wood. It had already dried and was ready to be used.

In Emerilia, things changed quickly.

He trudged back down to the clay pit. “Suzy would throw a fit if she saw me now.” He looked at his clay-covered pants and shirt.

“Fuck!” He slapped mud on his forehead. “I only have one set of clothes. Shit.” He pulled off his shirt and chucked it in his bag.

“I’m going to need to get a new friggin’ wardrobe.” He rubbed his face. He’d started off with a bit of stubble but it was quickly becoming a fine beard.

He laughed, just enjoying all of it. He looked around at his part of paradise and continued digging.

***

Lox looked at the human/dwarf gather up his clay, hauling it back up his hill.

“Unnatural that, living above ground.” Lox stroked his black beard. He had scars on his hands and one over his left eye from past battles. Even though he was five and a half feet tall, he was powerfully built. The cotton shirt and pants that provided some padding were stretched by dense muscles. He rolled his shoulders, feeling naked out of his armor.

“Sometimes people like the sunlight,” Deia, his Elven counterpart, said.

She was dressed in green and brown leathers that made it hard to see her from just a few feet away. Where Lox was muscled and hefty, Deia was built like a runner, light but powerful. Everything she did was with the unnatural grace and unrivaled beauty of the Elven.

The Dwarves of Gonhal and Elves of Hesoom Forest had been in alliance for generations. The Elven rangers were natural scouts; coupled with a five-dwarf warband, they could range patrol far away from their clans. The Elves were the eyes and the Dwarves were the muscle. Even though they were short, they were strong and fierce. Armed with their shields and swords, they were a force to behold.

Lox grunted at Deia’s words. Lox didn’t have high Affinity levels, but being a dwarf, he had an innate sense of the Dark and Earth.

Deia had gone searching and found the human/dwarf and reported back. On the hill to Omal, where they were supposed to build a trade outpost between the Mithsia and Kufo’tel clans, a halfling had appeared.

Deia had observed and watched. The hill had been scouted out for months. It was easily defendable and gave the wagons coming from Mithsia and Kufo’tel a place to rest before continuing to Omal.

The villagers who had elected to settle on the hill were already on their way with four other Dwarven and Elven guards. They were clearing a path through the forest. It was slow work but it would become the road linking the outpost to the clans.

Other than the high-level mobs, Lox and his warband hadn’t seen anything of interest. It was their job to make sure the area was clear of threats and keep it that way until the rest of the outpost’s settlers reached the hill.

Then the halfling showed up. He’d broken land and had worked tirelessly to build his home.

Lox wasn’t used to homes that lay out in the open and Deia said that she’d only seen similar buildings in human settlements.

The strange man reached down to the ground; a few moments later, Lox felt the Earth magic, searching for the secrets of the land.

It wasn’t powerful, but he could almost sense the potential.

“Interesting,” Deia said. She was connected to the forest as Lox was connected to the mountains. Both of them shared a love of the land. It was what made their alliance only natural.

Lox shared a look with Deia. They both felt the potential of the man who paused a few hundred meters and touched the ground again.

“With the proper training, he might be quite the Seeker,” Lox said. Seekers were Dwarves trained with their ability to understand the land to find rich deposits and bring great wealth to their clan.

The man’s head whipped around, settling on Deia and Lox. They were a good eight hundred meters away but it seemed as though he’d heard them.

Lox tightened up and gripped his short sword.

The halfling shrugged and continued on his way back up to his rudimentary kiln.

“Or maybe a ranger if he was able to understand his instincts,” Deia said.

It was clear that this was an interesting man.

“I will report this to our elders. Stay here and keep a watch of the halfling. It might be of interest to us to greet our new neighbor,” Lox said.

“You’re only saying that because he’s another dwarf,” Deia said.

“Us Dwarves have to stay together,” Lox rumbled.

Deia’s elegant eyebrow arched in amusement.

“Though we also know the value of a true friend.” He gave a rare smile and tapped Deia’s arm.

She rubbed it absently. The Dwarves might be a smaller crowd, but they were as strong as oxen.

Where the Elves showed their affection with hugs and small gestures, the Dwarves did it through head-butts, shoulder punching, and when they gave a gift, you damn well knew about it.

Again, that searching magic rippled out from the man.

Deia and Lox looked back at him.

He was dumping clay all over the pit that he’d made.

Lox shook his head at the sheer amount of clay. “What is he—a human ore cart?”

Deia just smiled at Lox’s antics.

***

“Shit!” Dave said, looking at the pop up.

I have a meeting with the Japanese delegation today!

Dave had parroted the orders he’d given his bot the day before and logged off as quickly as possible.

He rose his hands to his head, ready to pull his VR headset off…only they grabbed his sunglasses instead.

Zane looked around, finding that he was in his car heading for work. His hands went to the wheel but he found that he was in auto-pilot mode already.

“The fuck is happening?” Zane asked as he looked around the car.

He had been playing Emerilia just a second ago, right?

Memories started to leak into his mind as if filling in the blanks. It was all hazy, him getting up from his VR then getting ready in time for the meeting.

He checked his watch with a glance.

I’m going to get there on time. I could swear that I thought I was going to be late. Maybe I fell asleep and started dreaming of Emerilia? That has to be it. Zane reassured himself. There was no way that it could be anything else.

Slowly, Zane’s sleepiness faded away as his car moved through traffic and headed for Rock Breaker’s compound. The company spread out over fifteen acres of land. The gate opened for him automatically, Zane’s security detail that shadowed every move he made riding ahead and behind him as Zane glided through and towards the main building.

Zane looked around the compound. People were walking around working on all manner of different subjects. Zane wished he could be out there working in a group to solve an issue. Buying pizza to celebrate a breakthrough and having drunken debates about their workload.

I miss that garage and working to make Rock Breakers a success. Now it just feels so hollow.

Zane followed his security detail into an underground parking lot. Zane’s and their cars were moved into a secure section of the garage, fitted with its own bank of elevators. One of them opened as Zane walked out. Two of the security detail went with him as he stepped inside.

The elevator’s doors closed before shooting upwards. Zane looked over the compound, buildings of glass and stainless steel and thousands of people that all worked for him.

They had come to see Zane’s dream turn from possibility into thriving business.

Zane felt more energy return to him as time went on, as if he was waking up slowly. With a fake smile, he turned to face the doors once again.

They opened to show the executive floor.

He walked through the place, waving and greeting people here and there. They were all managers of managers, people that had million dollar homes and had left pizza victories and drunken consolations well behind.

To Zane, they felt bland and lifeless.

Suzy was waiting for him as he moved towards the conference rooms.

“How’s my favorite secretary?” Zane smiled.

“Sleep deprived and underpaid,” She shot back with a smile.

The two of them had become close as Rock Breakers had grown around them. They were like brother and sister when outside of work.

They found a friendship with one another that no others had been able to help with. Zane knew all about her and she knew all about him.

Even though Zane thought of her as a sister and she was interested in the fairer sex, as best as she tried to hide it, people would insinuate many things to make headlines. So, Zane and Suzy had always been thought of as an on again off again thing.

Each time that they got together to have a night off and be themselves, there was sure to be a tabloid somewhere saying that they were rekindling their relationship or having a secret getaway.

“The delegation is in conference room three. Things are deteriorating with the American government. I have several locations picked out for the headquarters in Japan. It seems that the Japanese delegation had a good time here and we should expect to hear something back from them within a week,” Suzy said.

“Thanks,” Zane said, beaming as he walked into the conference room with the Japanese delegation.

“Morning!” He said as they returned his greeting in their various ways.

The rest of the morning went easily. Meeting with the Japanese delegation and seeing them off. Then paper work and looking at different issues. A few reports to the shareholders that were getting uptight about the company being an American company.

Zane didn’t understand it. Sure, he liked America, but he wouldn’t let them put him over a barrel and beat him bloody because he wanted his company to be ‘all American’.

Thankfully he got through another grueling day. He looked up as Suzy threw him a snack bar.

“Thanks,” He said, catching it and putting it on his desk.

“Aren’t you hungry, you haven’t eaten anything all day,” She asked, looking concerned.

“No, I feel fine. I was a little peckish earlier but then my hunger kind of disappeared,” Zane shrugged.

“Well if you’re done with those reports then I don’t have anything else for you. I’m going to punch the clock out and order some damned wine,” Suzy sighed.

“You should get Emerilia,” Zane sing-songed with one of his few genuine smiles in the day.

“You and your video games!” She admonished before smiling.

“One of these days, you’ll try it out. It’s a lot of fun, trust me. Better than just watching movies and drinking wine all night! Even with those hangover tabs,” Zane leaned back in his chair.

“I’ll think about it; it does look interesting. What are you doing in Emerilia right now?”

“Building a house outside of a city called Omal. Just somewhere to get away from this all and do my own thing,” Zane said, waving at the compound and tower around them.

“Maybe,” Suzy said, she wasn’t fully convinced but Zane had hope for her yet.

“Well, if you need me, I’ll be out of touch! So, remember to email my private email server,” Zane said, grabbing his jacket.

“I will,” She assured him with a friendly smile.

They kept up appearances around everyone else, but they were tired, from the job, from the press. Everyone was trying to get a piece from them and it was exhausting.

“Look after yourself Suz,” Zane meant it, she didn’t take personal days unless she couldn’t get up from bed, and for holidays, she and Zane hung out together. Pariahs of their families, Zane for not sharing his wealth with them. Suzy for also being a lesbian.

“I’m the one supposed to be saying that to you!” She complained as they walked out of his office.

“Have to be quicker next time,” Zane smiled, heading for the elevator and then the procession that would take him home.

Chapter 6: Coming Together

As soon as Zane got back from his trip and everything had been taken care of, he’d went home and back into Emerilia.

His worries faded away as he looked at what Bot-Dave had been able to do in his absence. The foundations looked good, there was plenty of felled lumber and a good amount of clay in his bag of holding.

Dave rubbed his hands together and moved to the pile of lumber off to the side of the camp.

Dave started working on the wood. He looked at it, touching it and understanding it. He saw where the knots and imperfections were—how he could use them to his advantage.

His saw moved with the wood, cutting the tree he’d picked first into a rectangle and then into boards.

Throughout, he continued to use Touch of the Land. Still, the thing below sucked up power. He didn’t feel as though it were a nasty entity. It just felt as if it was there. So, on he went with building.

The fabricated kiln was functional. In the bricks went.

Dave headed off and cut down some more trees. He’d set four of the ten that had been cut down to the side. They would serve as siding.

He turned notifications off as he just started working. For years, he had been stuck at the top, unable to do some real work. He liked using his hands, being able to say I had a part in that.

He’d become a manager instead of an innovator as time went on. Sure, his company was innovative, but then it wasn’t him creating things.

“Shit, shit, shit, shit.” He pulled out the bricks without letting the kiln properly cool. His Health took a big hit as he pulled pliers out of his bag and pulled them out. His hands were badly burned but he put the pain to the back of his mind and continued to pull out the now finished bricks and replace them with another batch that was waiting.

Burned (Difficulty handling items, loss of feeling if not treated)

He put the tongs down and looked at his hands, which were painfully red and starting to rise.

“All right herbs, what have you got for a nasty burn?” He went through his bag. “Got moss of the night, then root of the Ertal flower. That should work.” He pulled out a mortar and pestle, sitting down and grinding the two together. He added some water to make a paste. He put his hands in it, giving a relieved smile.

“Well, no more sticking my hands in kilns—got it.” He smiled as he put the paste on his burns.

The Burned notification dimmed in brightness.

Holding things still hurt but the pain was going away and the hits he’d taken to his Health bar were slowly coming back.

He moved to a log and leaned against it as he got something to eat.

He opened his notifications.

New Active Skill: Builder

You take materials and build things. Pretty normal, pretty boring. Isn’t any kind of quest!

Level: Novice level 3

Effect: 9% speed making items with more than one material

Required: Tools and Materials

Active Skill: Lumberjack

Level: Novice level 7

Effect: 17% increased speed and damage to cut down trees

Cost: 10 Stamina/second.

New Active Skill: Alchemy

You take herbs and throw them together. Sometimes it makes stuff, other times it just smells really, really bad.

Level: Novice level 1

Effect: Combine two ingredients together for a 5% boost in effectiveness

Required: Alchemy tools

With the heat from the sun, a full belly, and the kiln warming up the place, he decided to take a nap.

***

He woke with a start.

Something was wrong. His senses were trying to figure out what had brought him awake when he heard a noise.

There was a loud growl and a pitiful squeal. Animals were fighting nearby.

Dave was on his feet in minutes. “If I don’t deal with them, then they might come closer to my camp.” He pulled out his bow and a quiver of arrows. His hands were healed; they felt tingly now.

It was also nighttime but his night vision made it easier to see. He studied the area the noises were coming from. His Surveyor skill highlighted the location of the animals fighting: two were fighting each other, a third was being protected.

Dave crouched low and moved off. He felt as if he broke every damn stick as he shuffled forward. It took him ten minutes to find the fight. There was a massive snake. It had wrapped itself around a wolf, its fangs dug into the wolf’s neck.

Level 15 Swamp snake

Level 45 Timber wolf

Level 4 Timber wolf

Dave fitted an arrow to his bowstring, and moved forward.

A small wolf pup was biting at the snake. It was trying its damnedest to rescue its parent. It would have been comical if not for the fact that the snake had clearly won the fight against the larger wolf. It hit the small cub with its tail, sending it flying.

Dave had always loved dogs, he’d had one as a kid and never forgotten her. Seeing the snake and wolf fight, he didn’t hesitate to draw his bow and released without conscious thought.

The snake’s health went from fifty percent to five, a big hit for something that was five times his own level. The snake was trying to disengage from the wolf but it had new energy seeing its cub hurt. Dave strung another arrow, but missed. He missed again; they were simply moving too much and it was his first time using the bow. The last time he had fired one, he’d been a kid back in Texas.

The wolf collapsed with the creature in its mouth.

Dave moved up to the snake, a new arrow on his string. He put another arrow into it but it didn’t move.

The large wolf made a keening noise in the direction that the small pup had gone in.

Dave moved to go find the creature.

The small wolf was broken; its neck had hit a tree, killing it.

The adult wolf stopped keening.

Dave carried the wolfling back, finding that its mother had died as well. He put the pup down with its mother and pulled out his shovel. A tombstone icon floated above the creatures; it looked like loot. Dave pressed the icons.

Swamp Snake Remains

2x Snake scales

3x snake meat

2x Venom pouches

1 Silver

Take/Take all

Dave highlighted it all and accepted. As soon as he did the snake seemed to burn up from the inside, turning into dust and disappearing.

Dave moved to the Wolves, again taking all of the loot.

Their bodies fell apart like the Snake’s.

He got a Silver from the mother, and some fur, he only got five coppers from the young wolf. Their meat was tainted with venom, making it useless.

He wandered back to his camp and went to his kiln, pulling out his new bricks and putting in clay blocks. He stoked the fire up and sealed it again.

His base floor was coming nicely. His gravel was down, his clay layer was complete, and his bricks were finishing it all off. He put the bricks down, using clay as mortar.

Dave grabbed his axe. He was running low on trees and he was restless after the fight. He moved to a group of trees. He placed his hand on the ground, feeling the area around him. He could sense items in a larger area as time went on. Out of the eight trees around him, three were good and strong; he could already imagine where they would go in his house. The others were dying but good for firewood.

He rolled his shoulders, checked his axe head, and set his feet.

Thump. The blade sank into the tree; with a tilt and twist, it came free. He made a down cut and started to get in the rhythm of things. The world seemed to fall away as he cut one side of the tree, went to the opposite side and cut the other.

“Timber!” Dave grinned as the tree cracked and groaned, coming down in a crash. He moved to the other four. He had plenty of work to do.

Tomorrow, he’d go hunting for some food: the rations were getting dull, and he might need them later. He opened up his Internet browser and watched tutorial videos on archery. He wasn’t impressed with his performance with it.

Chapter 7: Foundation

The sun rose and Deia stretched in her hammock. She’d placed it high in the treeline, hidden from below.

Who the hell is making all that noise?

She got out of her hammock, dropping to another tree limb, swinging to another branch, perching on it and looking at the origin of the noise.

Something looked new about the scene in front of her.

“He’s been cutting down trees. Does he ever sleep?” She heard a cracking noise as a tree disappeared from view.

She looked over the little area that the halfling had created.

There was a quarter of the pad left without brick and clay. Another layer of clay had been added. Several trees lay near their fallen brethren. The man pulled out a rope and disappeared.

Deia ate some dried fruit and other items she’d scavenged on her trip. She sat on the tree limb and leaned against the tree itself.

My, my. A mischievous smile appeared on her face as the man grunted out into the early morning sunlight. He was dragging a tree into the clearing he’d made around his foundations.

She watched him drop off the tree; he pulled the rope off the tree and headed back into the forest. He repeated the process; more trees came out. He was covered in grime and sweat.

He took off his shirt. Dark-brown hair—the color of his small beard and hair. He had a strong build. She must have been imagining things as he seemed to be taller and more muscled than she had seen in previous days.

Once the trees were in the clearing, he pulled out his axe, taking off branches and then bark.

Deia drank from her herbal tea. It was cold but it was still refreshing.

Around mid-morning, the man stopped, sitting on a stump near his kiln and eating his own breakfast as sweat glistened off his body.

Interesting creature.

***

“We’ve got the trees we need and everything else is looking pretty good. A few more loads of bricks in the kiln and we’re well on our way.” Dave looked over what would become his house.

It had been too long since he’d made something. Sure, it wasn’t rocket science, but it felt good to make something with his own hands.

Even if they’re torn to all hell. I really need a healing potion.

He looked over his hands. They had white scars from burning them; using his various tools had left blisters. Thankfully, callouses were starting to form and he couldn’t feel all of the pain.

He glanced to the blinking notification icon. He’d left it alone as he’d worked.

Active Skill: Surveyor

Level: Novice level 6

Effect: 15% chance to see resources within your range sight.

Range: 680 m

Cost: 5 Stamina/second.

Reward: 500 XP

Active Skill: Stealth

Level: Novice level 3

Effect: 9% chance to remain undetected (reduced in direct light).

Cost: 5 Stamina/second

New Active Skill: Sneak Attack

You’re not just another creeper in the shadows. When you strike from the darkness, you aim to kill (Bye-bye, mister snake).

Level: Novice level 3

Effect: When you are undetected in Stealth, attacks will hit with 212% increased damage (Massive increase when hitting Critical area). May your aim be true.

Cost: (Attack 50 Stamina)

New Active Skill: Archery

So, you can hit the broadside of a barn, bravo!

Level: Novice level 2

Effect: Critical Hit chance increases by 2%.

Cost: 10 Stamina

Active Skill: Builder

Level: Novice level 6

Effect: 19% speed

Required: Tools and Materials

Reward: 500 XP

Active Skill: Maintainer

Level: Novice level 3

Effect: 9% chance to restore durability; at higher levels, possible to increase durability, quality and gain Sharpen bonus to items that have been cared for.

Active Skill: Lumberjack

Level: Novice level 8

Effect: 19% increased speed and damage to cut down trees

Cost: 10 Stamina/second.

Stat Increase

+1 Strength

+1 Intelligence

+1 Agility

+2 Willpower

+1 Endurance

“Looks like things increase the more than you use them.” Dave looked at the Endurance modifier, as if the game was mocking him for burning his hands.

The more I go up in points, the slower it is to earn them.

He’d been casting Touch every time he had the Mana for it, but his Intelligence had only gone up a point, while his Willpower had gone up 3.

Level 5

You have reached level 5; you have 10 stat points to use.

The want to put points into his various categories was tempting. He really wanted to try that smithy out. Though, he didn’t have any other magical spells and if he was right, power leveling himself up with points would make it increasingly harder for him to gain levels through work. He already had a respectable character—bit weak on the whole Health thing, but otherwise progressing well.

Character Sheet

Name:

David Grahslagg

Gender:

Male

Level:

3

Class:

-

Race:

Human/Dwarf

Alignment:

-

Unspent points: 10

Health:

1100

Regen:

0.20 /s

Mana:

200

Regen:

0.90 /s

Stamina:

170

Regen:

1.05 /s

Vitality:

11

Endurance:

10

Intelligence:

20

Willpower:

18

Strength:

17

Agility:

21

He tapped his chin in thought. His previous thought to train up his stats instead of just investing the points he got every level won out.

He waved the screen away; it was too tempting to just take the easy route and put the stats directly into his attributes.

His stomach growled. “Well, I can leave that to later, but I need something to eat in the meantime!” He licked his lips, thinking of having something better than his rations. They weren’t bad, but he knew in a few days they’d get old, really fast.

A check on his map showed eels in the river, a few varieties of fish, and then there was a bear wandering around somewhere. A group of elk, Bosal and Fire Foxes. Fire Foxes were feisty but their pelts were a brilliant red and black and their eyes crystalized upon death. Both good items to trade, but apparently, their meat was divine.

Bosal were a badger-like creature which liked to burrow down deep and only exited in the daytime to eat. They had some control over light; their pelts blinded any enemies that they saw. They sometimes had soul gems and their pelts were rare.

Dave put markers on all the locations, numbers appearing on their arrowheads. He checked his bow and quiver. “Time to go huntin’!” Dave said in his best Southern accent.

He pulled on his shirt and headed into the forest further down the hill. Dave went into Stealth, his eyes open to the world as he looked for his meal. He looked around; he was just a bit from where he’d seen the Fire Foxes’ warren. He wished he could know where the darned things were. He would have cast Touch but he couldn’t put his hand down.

Wait a minute there—Touch. It didn’t say nothing about what had to be touching the ground.

Like he had done so many times before, he pushed his consciousness out around him and through the ground. It was a bit odd not using his hand, harder to concentrate, but then he felt a familiar ripple expand around him.

Two targets appeared just a few meters away. Two foxes, eating their prey.

Dave moved slowly to get a clear view. They were on opposite sides, eating what had been a rabbit.

Level 13 Fire Fox

Level 7 Fire Fox

They weren’t paying any attention to their surroundings.

Dave remembered the videos he had watched that night. He rose, breathing in and drawing the arrow back in one smooth motion. He took a second to aim; he released, the arrow taking the level 13 fox in the neck.

The second fox turned as Dave tried to grab another arrow. He found the real reason a Fire Fox was so hard to kill.

The little bastard spat flames.

Dave fell backward, holding his hands out to protect himself.

The Fire Fox was a breathing flamethrower. It burned through the bush that Dave was hiding behind, but it wasn’t making it past Dave’s hands. It seemed to roll away, as if hitting a shield.

Dave felt his energy stores draining. He looked at his stats. His Health wasn’t falling; it was his Mana. He glanced to his notifications.

New Spell: Magical Shield

You can stop spells with enough Mana, levels, and the right kind of Affinities. Now kill the damn Fire Fox before it gets you!

Level: Novice level 1

Effect: Ability to create magical shield.

Range: 1m from body or limb.

Cost: 10 Mana/s

Affinity: Air, Light

He felt the spell that was hitting him. It felt as if he knew it—it was like the heat that had burned his hands, but directed, thrown in a singular direction.

Dave’s grey eyes seemed to shine as a new notification appeared.

Dave rolled behind a rock. It took the blast of the Fire Fox as Dave imagined pouring power out of his hands like he had with Touch of the Land, but with the heat he’d felt as he burned his hand.

His Mana was down to 30%. He’d only get one chance. He rolled back out, focusing on the Fire Fox and let loose. Fire came out in a torrent. His stream and the Fox’s halted each other.

Ha-ha! Crossing streams! Try not to die, try not to die. Fuuuuck Fire Foxes! This reminds me of—No, it couldn’t be that simple.

“Come on. Goku did it—this shit has to work!” He pushed his hands together, focusing the flames with his fingers. They turned from two wild streams into a focused torrent.

It seemed to enrage the Fire Fox more than anything. Its health dropping slowly as it charged Dave.

Dave stopped spewing fire as the fox tackled him to the ground. He grabbed its head, keeping its mouth from chewing on him.

The fox’s claws scratched at him, opening up cuts in his stomach and chest.

“You little bastard!” Dave wrenched his hands in opposite directions.

There was an audible snap, like a dry branch, and the Fire Fox stopped moving.

Dave threw it off, panting as he looked at his Health. “Okay, Fire Fox—actually means fire spewing fucking bastards. Got it.” Dave rubbed his forehead. He was feeling pretty drained; his Mana was in the single digits. He was down to twenty percent Health.

He pulled out some food and started to eat; slowly his Health stabilized and started to grow. His Mana was coming back nice and fast, as was his Stamina.

One target at a time and don’t mess with the mobile flamethrowers.

He got to fifty percent Health. He grabbed the Fire Foxes and threw them in his bag. Items that were in his bag seemed to stay in whatever state they were in when he put them there until he retrieved them.

“Who needs a freezer when you’ve got a big ole bag of holding things?”

He went off in the direction of his nearest marker for elk, checking his notifications.

New Spell: Fire Blast

Look at you—a proper mobile flamethrower! You can shoot fire out of your hand. Higher levels might do some damage to enemies bigger than a damn rodent.

Damage: 5 pts/s

Level: Novice level 1

Effect: Ability to project fire.

Range: 15m (Increases with Level and Affinity).

Cost: 15 Mana/s. Higher levels and Affinity can give larger boost. Different levels or Affinities mean greater resistance or weaknesses to different magics)

Affinity: level 10 Fire

Active Skill: Stealth

Level: Novice level 4

Effect: 11% chance to remain undetected (reduced in direct light).

Active Skill: Sneak Attack

Level: Novice level 4

Effect: When you are undetected in Stealth, attacks will hit with 216% increased damage (Massive increase when hitting Critical area).

Cost: (Attack 50 Stamina)

Active Skill: Archery

Level: Novice level 3

Effect: Critical Hit chance increases by 3%.

Cost: 10 Stamina

He dismissed them and looked at his Affinity levels.

Affinity levels

Dark

14

Light

12

Air

12

Water

11

Earth

15

Fire

12

When I have a few minutes, I’m going to check out these Affinity level things.

He dismissed the notifications and looked around, an arrow on his string. The Fire Foxes would fetch a good price but he wanted to try cooking up some other items before he got to the fox meat. If it was half as good as it was supposed to be, he didn’t want to ruin it with bad cooking skills.

His sixth sense tickled the back of his mind as he turned his head, looking for whatever was disturbing him.

I could swear that someone was watching me. Probably just imagining things. There’s no way I could sense that in a game.

Dave felt a presence with his Touch. A smile spread across his face. “Looks like I’ll find out what elk tastes like.”

Dave opened his notifications, which were blinking at him.

New Passive Skill: Tracker

Well, look at you, master elk hunter. It’s not as if they’re as big as a damn ogre and impossible to miss or anything.

Level: Novice level 1

Effect: 5% chance to detect another creature’s path.

Dave waved them away, focusing on his Touch and feeling out toward the elk. He had a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view of the entire watering hole. Dave found a spot, disappearing into the bushes, and came out under the shade of a tree. He looked around the tree, watching the elk munching away at its lily dinner.

Level 15 Elk

Dave braced himself against a tree. Still in Stealth, he cast Touch of the Land through his feet. It passed through the ground, reaching the creature just over a hundred meters away. He didn’t just see what was in the ground, or the trees around him; he could see inside of the elk: its heart, its lungs, the veins, muscles, nerves and bones.

Dave felt a calm descend as he released a breath; inhaling, he brought his bow up and pulled on the string. He found his target, sensing the beating heart of the creature. He closed his eyes, feeling the air, the sunlight, the earth beneath his toes, the shadows under the trees. He didn’t need to look to see the frozen ripples on the water.

Time paused between heartbeats. The world was just one moment of refined peace before promised violence.

Dave released his arrow. As he opened his eyes; they were like granite. He didn’t need to watch; he’d known as soon as he released the arrow what was about to happen.

Still, he watched it flex and spin slightly.

A small breeze pushed it, but he’d anticipated it. The arrow hit the elk and buried deep into the creature. Before it knew what had happened, it fell over, its heart and lungs punctured.

It kicked for a few minutes and paused. Glassy eyes looked to the sky.

The serenity of the moment passed and Dave hiked his bow on his shoulder. He moved closer to the animal.

“How in the hell am I going to move him?” Dave looked at the elk and realized the damn thing weighed close to five hundred pounds.

“I hope this helps my Stamina.” Dave lifted the elk onto his shoulders. It was too big to fit in the mouth of his bag of holding. It was difficult, but not impossible; his strength had increased in bounds over the last couple of days.

Grunting, he started back for his hill.

He went through notifications, hoping to see Stamina increases as he carried the massive creature.

Active Skill: Sneak Attack

Level: Novice level 5

Effect: When you are undetected in Stealth, attacks will hit with 220% increased damage (Massive increase when hitting Critical area).

Cost: (Attack 50 Stamina)

Reward: 500 XP

Active Skill: Archery

Level: Novice level 6

Effect: Critical Hit chance increases by 6%.

Cost: 10 Stamina

Reward: 500 XP

Earth affinity

Increase: 15

Reward: 1000 XP

Level 6

You have reached level 6; you have 15 stat points to use.

Most people were around level 20 or 30; the higher tiers were in the 40s.

“Looks like your level only goes up when you’ve invested your 5 stat points.” Dave looked at his character sheet. It still showed him as level 3 while he had actually attained level 6.

My overall level only goes up when I have placed the five stat points associated with that level. So, level three needs to have invested fifteen stat points, level four, twenty. I could have fifty stat points but unless I add them, then I won’t actually increase in levels.

Dave was seriously thinking about investing in some Stamina but pushed it off, laboring with the carcass over his shoulders.

“My stat points are still increasing without investing the points I get per level.” He muttered to himself, deep in thought. “Might as well test this out a bit more.”

If his theory was right, then his hard work would allow him to build up his stat points so they were the same range as someone ten times his level. Yet he would only show as a level 3.

He might be a rank 100 but unless he invested the 5 stat points he got with every rank, then he would still appear to be level 3.

Remembering why he’d accessed his interface, he moved to the Internet browser.

He looked up how to skin and care for his fresh kill. After five minutes of wikis and videos, he put the deer back down.

“Well, that’s nasty,” Dave said. Knowing what he had to do and how to do it would help him out considerably. He pulled out a blade, sharpening it, and watched a video playing in the side of his view. “This is not going to be pretty.” He looked for a good point on the elk and started to cut.

***

Deia still couldn’t get over the shock of seeing the halfling not only cast a magic shield, but then sending fire right back at its attacker.

Having someone who was skilled in one type of Affinity was rare for the People of Emerilia or POE, which made her think of him as a Player.

Yet he doesn’t act like many of the Players I’ve observed in this forest. He acts more like veteran Players at the end of their life cycle. She still sensed that his magic was very weak, but he might be able to increase his skills. Usually people who were skilled in multiple Affinities were weaker because of that.

Though it hadn’t stopped there; he’d gone on to hunt down an elk. He stopped, as if he could see the elk beyond the grasses he was hiding in.

He’d moved into position. Her anger at the waste of a rank amateur trying to kill an elk turned into confusion. They were hardy creatures and could run for days if the person killing them wasn’t highly skilled.

Then the man sighted his quarry and Deia felt something she’d never sensed before. The Affinities seemed to feed into the halfling. He fired too low, but a gust of wind came and tilted the arrow just so.

He must have calculated for that small breeze in the few seconds between pulling back his string and releasing his arrow.

The elk fell, stunned and confused. Blood seeped out, the creature dying from a hit to the lungs and heart. A hard hit, one that had taken Deia years to master.

Maybe he was hiding his skill? He has been looking around as if he senses me. Huh? Why is he not field dressing the elk? Only an amateur would do that, but then how the hell did he kill that elk if he really is an amateur?

She jumped from branch to branch, circling around and heading for a tree to see the man walk back to his home. She could hear him grunting with the weight on his shoulders. He had been thin for a human when he’d appeared. Now he was well built. The weight of the elk was a trouble, but he was a determined bastard; he kept moving forward.

He stopped and put the elk down. “Got to gut him.” The halfling pulled out a simple blade and sharpened it. He talked to himself about the elk’s being overweight and wishing they didn’t smell as much.

Deia watched with an amused smile as the man cut out the elk’s guts. It was slow work and he wasn’t that skilled with a blade, making her once again believe he was a rookie. Though he’d pause from time to time and he’d get better, as if someone were teaching him.

Some time later, the guts were out. He opened his interface, after a few moments the guts started dissipating like a corpse would after all the loot was taken from it. He put the meat inside his bag piece after piece.

Must be a bag of holding to be able to hold that much meat and not expand.

Deia followed him. He didn’t take a break once. She kept her distance since she could feel him sending out searching pulses through the air and ground, thereby avoiding detection.

The man got to camp just as the light started dimming into night. He dumped the elk, using trees to hold it up, bleeding it of its blood. Then he moved to the woodworking area and pulled out tools. The man got to work on the timber.

Chapter 8: Meeting the Neighbors

Bob rose from his slumber. He looked around, finding himself in a stable.

“Well, must’ve been a good night.” He remembered it all in perfect clarity as he removed his hangover and pulled out some food from his bag. With a smile, he rose and stretched. He had an interesting day ahead of him and the oddity had progressed more.

He saw a few people from the night before. Seeing their condition, his hands moved as he spoke an incantation under his breath. Gold light appeared around them as their woes from the night before disappeared.

They waved and smiled.

He waved back and turned for the main road. He stealthed into the trees and cast Perpetual Vision. Nothing appeared around him and he put his real shoes on.

“Daddy’s missed you.” Bob stroked the shoes affectionately before he stepped into the air, his shoes making it feel as though he were standing on the ground instead of ten feet in the air.

He took off like an arrow, headed for where he’d waypointed his mysterious halfling. Neither god nor Player nor NPC saw the grinning gnome as he sped through the air.

***

Zane sat back in his computer chair. Zombie Dave was working on shaping the tree trunks into building materials, and using Touch as much as possible.

While Zombie Dave dealt with those issues, Zane had dealt with his emails. There was only a few today; he’d thought that there would be tens of them, especially with the Japanese delegation around the different facilities.

“Pity the fool who sends Austin Zane emails!” Zane drank a beer idly, putting it down and leaning forward. It was time that he started to figure out this Affinity system!

His search wasn’t in vain. Affinity levels correlated to the types of spells that he was capable of casting. The higher his level in a certain Affinity, the more spells he could learn and the less it would cost in mana. He needed a high Intelligence to fuel the spells. It seemed that the POE’s were limited to a few kinds of affinity unless they went to the mages colleges or guild, but Players could expand on any affinity. Though to get truly powerful spells, it was best to specialize in just one affinity.

Then that’s where things got interesting. So, most people had discovered that having just a single powerful Affinity level, they could use extremely powerful spells. But they could be counteracted by another of the affinities. Also, one affinity did not just rise by itself. Within a spell there was the affinity that was controlling the acting part of the spell. The second affinity which could be the same, modified the way in which the acting part of the spell got to its target.

This brought in the factor of controlling affinities. Healing spells were from light, yet they could be cast at a person, doing so would use the Air Affinity. Health spells that were tied to Earth and Light gave an Area of Effect or AOE, meaning anyone within a certain area started to build Health.

As someone got higher Affinities, they might find new ways to change them. A lightning strike could be combined with an Earth Affinity to create an AOE attack. Spells weren’t just taught; they could be learned with messing around with them. It made for a truly crazy amount of combinations. Though, there were few with more than four Affinities that they had a high level in.

There was also the added bonus of level multipliers. Touch of the Land was a Level 5 spell for both Earth and Dark. Each level over 5 added a x0.2 modifier. With his Earth Affinity at 15 and Dark at 14, he was 10 and 9 levels higher respectively. That gave him a x3.8 modifier, taking his range from 50 meters to 190 meters and lasting 76 seconds instead of 20. It would always cost the same but it meant that spells he got early on could still be hellishly effective as he got higher Affinity levels.

You could earn a lot of levels just by constantly casting spells, though after a while it started to plateau. Attacking creatures sped up the process of leveling, as did using the skills. Meaning you got more growth in your Affinities if you started a fire, instead of just sending fire into the sky. It was how his Earth and Dark had leveled up so quickly with using Touch of the Land.

“Interesting, but not very useful for me.” He accessed his Affinity levels on his computer.

Affinity levels

Dark

14

Light

12

Air

12

Water

11

Earth

15

Fire

12

“Maybe I can use Touch on the water?” He rose from his chair and stretched. “First I’ma finish the damn house. Got to start on making the tiles and the walls aren’t even up!” He sounded frustrated but he smiled the entire time. It felt good to be building again. He dropped into his VR seat and pulled on his helmet to see what else Emerilia had come up with.

He didn’t notice the meal that the robot was holding or the added bulk he’d put on.

The menus passed quickly as he re-entered Emerilia. Zombie Dave had been tapping in the supports that would hold the ceiling and provide backing to his southern wall. The others had already been started and the wood was finished and ready to be put in place.

Dave put in the remaining supports and rubbed his eyes; he was tired from the labors of the past days.

It was nearing dark, so he grabbed a pot, putting it on the kiln’s top and warming up water. He took a bird bath and then tended to his clothes. He’d need to make a run into Omal soon to get new clothes, even if they were the same itchy potato sacks he was wearing.

He checked his notifications as he worked.

Active Skill: Lumberjack

Level: Novice level 9

Effect: 23% increased speed and damage to cut down trees

Cost: 10 Stamina/second.

Active Skill: Maintainer

Level: Novice level 3

Effect: 9% chance to restore durability; at higher levels, possible to increase durability, quality and gain Sharpen bonus to items that have been cared for.

Require: Dependent on gear.

Active Skill: Builder

Level: Novice level 8

Effect: 19% speed making items with more than one material

Required: Tools

Reward: 500 XP

Stat Increase

+2 Strength

+1 Intelligence

+1 Agility

+2 Willpower

Everything cleaned up and fixed, he crawled onto his sleeping mat and pulling his furs over him.

***

Lox muttered about forests and their damned roots as he and his warband passed through, heading back to the hill.

They had reached the meandering trail of people heading for the hill after a few days of walking. They’d been able to have a mage relay messages back to the lords who ruled the alliance between Elves and Dwarves.

Esamael, the lord of the Kufo’tel Elves, had been interested in the halfling. As was the Elves’ policy, he was more interested in watching the creature than interfering.

The problem was that they were moving onto the hill. Actions were needed more than reports.

Fend, lord from under the mountain, had sent him back; he was to parley with the halfling if possible. Dwarves did not like halflings, especially one who had Dwarven blood tainted with human. Though this one seemed to have an interesting set of abilities and if he was worthy of their trust, he could be a conduit to sell goods to Omal.

“Are you trying to walk through the forest or mine it?” Deia asked, just a few feet away.

“Damn you, points!” Lox growled, his heart racing.

“He’s grown since you’ve been gone.” Deia sounded apprehensive.

“Oh? He been impressing you with his muscles?” Lox laughed; it was deep and rolling.

“He has mastery over five of the six Affinities that I have seen. He’s also been getting stronger—a lot stronger,” Deia said.

“Well, it’s about time we said hello to pretty boy.” Lox moved forward through the trees. It would take another half day with their gear and armor. Lox was interested to see what the halfling had been up to.

***

Dave lowered the tree into position slowly. He hadn’t needed to rest his character for long, but he felt refreshed and bright. The skies were promising rain later, but for now it was a nice sunny day.

He’d left the shirt behind again. The damn thing was insufferable as one got itchy.

The log went into place; the supports were down and the base logs were in place. He’d just finished the second row, interlocking the logs together to make them stronger and fit better.

“I wish I had some damn screws.” He looked at the nail, turning thoughtful. “Well, why can’t I make them?” He pulled out a sharpening tool and looked at the nail and turned it slowly. If I just put a slight spiral in the metal…

“If I had some heat to form it and then some kind of tool to turn and push it.” He looked in his inventory; his eyes fell on the smithy. He still needed 50 more Mana before he could cast it.

“Well, that’s going to take awhile.”

Dave cast Touch of the Land, to get his Mana down and hopefully raise his Intelligence.

Once again, he saw the land and even the materials that made up his own house in incredible detail. He could also feel the odd spherical object buried underneath him.

A pop-up appeared in the top right corner.

A Portal Opens!

In the mystical lands of Opheir, a portal connecting to the Alturaran lands has been awakened. Keep an eye out for Alturarans trying to capture portals into Emerilia! You can now access the Alturaran lands through the portals. Go forward, build cities, and push back the Alturarans!

On Dave’s mini-map, a new green circle with a purple filling appeared, turning grey.

Dave continued his work, and checked the wiki. People were ranting and raving across the site, talking about Alturarans. A massive number of people clamored to join the Gold Sabres and Stone Raiders guilds. They’d opened the portal and now controlled who entered and left it.

They’d carved through hundreds of Draugrs, warriors who had tied their souls to their bodies, which allowed them to survive and fight. It had been a massive raid with over 100 people fighting to clear the Draugrs and open the portal.

There was a general thought that the Alturaran lands weren’t just a simple new area. There was a belief that it was a whole world, of comparable size to Emerilia. Maps were already coming up, showing what people had discovered or found on the bodies of the dead Alturarans, proving how big the new area was.

Dave added all of the maps into his own. He liked his hill, but if he ever went wandering, it would be good to have a look around. With his Surveyor skill, he was able to find points of interest on the newly added maps.

Dave checked through the forums and online hub.People had been off searching Emerilia, with the world just over two thirds as big as Earth there was plenty to see. It seemed that most were focused on Portal locations.

People were banding together. One of the larger guilds had started a nursery guild called Portal Crusaders. Their one purpose was to search out and open portals, putting their founding guild’s name on the portals.

Game news stations were already talking about which of the new groups might be able to get through the raid events around the Portals and what might happen if they did win.

Dave came here to get away from commitments and work. Not wanting to join a guild and add more commitments he couldn’t fulfil he went looking at different ways to level up his magic.

It didn’t take him long to find several tutorials and wlalkthroughs that other gamers had uploaded. It seemed that every person was different, though the more one did an action, the better they got at it.

Others were also figuring out how to use their spells without motions but simply thought, as if the magic was another muscle in their body.

“That explains how I can use Touch with my feet now.” He sent another sense out into the ground, the sphere dragging in the energy.

“Whatever’s down there is hungry for some power, and a lot of it.” He hiked another log onto his shoulder with a grunt and headed back to the house. He was still wearing his pack; it was adding to his strength nicely. Once he was done with the house, he would have to find some other things to stuff his bag with to test his limits.

Strength didn’t just grow from hitting things. As with all of the stats, the more he did something, and the harder something was, the faster it increased.

He thought of his stats like muscles: load them up, going longer and with more weight each time, and they could do more for longer. It was harder to find new things in order to grow his base, but it continued to grow stronger every time.

He continued his work and went through the maps. There were few for his area. The Mithsia Mountains were noted, but there was little to nothing of interest in the area apparently. It was a nice area but there weren’t any cities closer than Omal. Few wanted to go for a three-day hike in hopes of maybe finding a good place to get materials, or a dungeon.

Cities were usually weeks apart, but there was nothing of interest for anyone in this region. Why go to the forests and some mountains when you could see the floating mountains of Per’ush or the magical city of Onta?

It was half of the reason that Dave had picked the spot.

Dave put another log into place, hitting it with a hammer so it was seated with the other logs that ran perpendicular, making the other walls.

He didn’t even think about having to use Touch; as soon as it ran out, he used it again. It was as if he were walking in a bubble of information. He’d become so accustomed to using it that not having it was similar to his burned hands: still functional, but the response wasn’t there.

He saw notifications for Builder increasing, as well as Lumberjack.

“Look at me go—another thousand from cutting trees up,” Dave said proudly. His eye caught the elk. “It’s about time we got that sorted out.” His mouth watered as he thought about some real food. “Need to invent a pizza delivery service.”

Dave tossed the hammer back in his bag and walked to where the elk carcass was hanging. He pulled up a video as he sharpened his knife. He’d been dreading carving up the elk, scared he’d just ruin the meat.

Most of the rear of the creature was useless and had gone into the burn pit.

He watched the video a few times before he started. With Touch, it spread out from his body, up through the rack and through the elk, allowing him to see the fine details of the animal, from tendons to muscles.

The first few cuts were pretty bad as he listened to the instructions more. With that knowledge under his belt, he was able to cut the elk apart. He was left with some good slabs of meat and a drying pelt. The rest was in a burn pit that he’d practiced his new fire spell on.

“Time to get some water and get a good old-fashioned stew going!” Dave strolled down to the lake.

He was getting a bit lonely all out here on his own. The more he saw people going on adventures—going to the Alturaran lands, or visiting the multitude of cities and towns that covered Emerilia—Dave’s wanderlust was coming back.

Without thinking, Dave activated his Touch as he kneeled down for the water. He saw through the ground, and then through the water; he could sense the fish there, and he could sense something else. Danger.

Dave jumped back, pulling out his bow and stringing an arrow. A five-foot-long reptilian creature made of muscle leapt for where Dave had been.

Time seemed to slow as Dave knew with his Touch that there were three more of the creatures beneath the water’s surface. He needed to kill this one or get swarmed by them all.

Level 17 Karr

He fired his arrow, catching the first creature in its opening mouth.

Level 17 Karr severely injured (Bleeding)

He strung his next arrow, turning and pulling back as the second leaped out. Anger welled up in Dave. His arrow caught the second in the neck. It was a lucky hit, blood pumping out with the Karr’s heartbeat.

The third was coming out. Time was speeding up but Dave didn’t have time to restring his bow. He sent a stream of fire at the oncoming creature.

It cried out with the heat but kept rushing forward. Dave needed armor; he needed a damn spear. He could picture it in his mind: he could feel the wood in his hand, the metal spike at the end.

Just a meter away, the third Karr’s Health hit twenty percent and it started to run away.

Dave wasn’t having any of it. Feeling a headache from lack of Mana coming on, he continued and turned the lizard to charred meat.

Without thinking, he threw his arm. His eyes widened as a javelin of grey smoke pierced the lizard.

The first Karr with the arrow in its mouth gave up on trying to get rid of the obstruction in its mouth. It smacked Dave’s left leg, making him cry out in pain. He felt it break. Either he killed the Karr now or he’d be stuck on the ground, fighting it.

Dave yelled and fell on the Karr like he’d seen in some wrestling TV show.

He kicked the Karr’s mouth shut, driving his arrow still in the Karr’s mouth, through its palate and into its brain.

The last Karr was charging. Dave imagined a lance, hoping he was right. A lance of grey smoke appeared in his hand; the Karr didn’t have time to react as it impaled itself on the grey lance.

He put his foot down; finding that it was broken, he yelled and fell back onto the ground.

He activated Touch without thinking about it. Instead of focusing outward, his pain-racked mind turned it inward.

He felt the wrongness of his leg; he could see how it had broken. The Karr had only swiped it, but it was a strong beast, used to killing level 30 animals by tearing out their throats with their mouths and claws.

With his low level, it had pulverized the bones in his legs.

This shouldn’t hurt this much! He held his leg and he looked away. It was at an odd angle.

Dave passed out in pain.

***

Bob stepped out from his spot behind a bush, wearing the face of Bobby McMahnon, a gnome with a large nose and thick unibrow.

He walked over to Dave.

“Well, look at you, you little conjurer you. We’re going to have a lot of fun.” Bob leaned over, touching his hand to Dave’s head, and instilled the knowledge of healing and Shadow Conjurer into his mind.

***

Gold light emanated from Dave’s body. He felt the bones moving into position. The pain was terrible as they got into place, the muscles and tendons pulling it together. There was no pain quite like having two broken bones ground together. Dave thought it similar to nails on a chalkboard, but inside his body and connected to nerves.

The light died away. The bone was set but Dave was out of energy. He laid back, still holding his leg, pain still there.

He looked up and saw a gnome. “Who the hell are you?” Dave asked.

“I’m Bobby McMahnon, but you can call me Bob, or the grey god,”

Dave stared at the gnome in confusion.

“We’ll get to it later—lots of time to talk and figure out the secrets of Emerilia. Right now, I don’t have much time. I can’t hide myself from that Elf for too long.” Bob looked out into the forest.

“Where the hell did you come from?” Dave asked.

“Later, later. For now, get stronger. When it’s safe again, I’ll find you. You shouldn’t tell anyone about me—you know, other than the fact that you’d sound crazy. I don’t want the other administrators finding out about this.”

“Administrators? There are more like you?”

“Well there are AI to keep most things running and keep a watch over Emerilia. For the most part I control them, though I am part of the great Jukal Empire. They’re a pretty paranoid bunch so there are a number of people that check my actions and the actions of the AI’s over at random times. It makes this whole sneaking about much more entertaining,” Bob smiled.

“Are you a Player?” Dave asked, wondering if he was getting trolled badly.

“No, I’m the creator and manager. Anyway, back to the point on hand. I’ve given you a gift. If you’re willing to have it,” Bob said.

“What?” Dave asked.

“First is a healing spell—going to need that out in the big ole world. The second is what you just used. Shadow Conjurer. If you can imagine it, then you can create it, kind of.The more you know of what you want to make, the vloser your conjurations will be to the real thing..”

“So I can conjure anything that I can think of?” Dave asked.

“Yes, as long as you understand it completely. The better you know a weapon, the less Mana you need to put into it to create it, which is still going to be a lot,” Bob said.

“That sounds a bit time consuming. If I wanted to have a weapon, I would have to study it again and again until I could understand it completely and use it.”

“Might even need an adventure to go find some cool weapons.” Bob winked before he looked to the forest again. “We’ll talk again later—have fun!” Bob stepped back toward the bush and activated Stealth.

Dave didn’t have the Mana to use Touch, though he doubted he would have found the gnome even if he did. He laid back down, his notification bar taking his attention.

Stat Increase

+1 Vitality

+1 Strength

+1 Intelligence

+1 Agility

Level 7

You have reached level 7; you have 20 stat points to use.

New Spell: Healing

Broken bones, cuts, and bruises are a natural part of Emerilia. With this, you can put yourself back together instead of relying on your Endurance. Might be time to invest in some Vitality, dude. You’re not in a beginner area anymore!

Effect: 15pts/s to Health.

Cost: 10 Mana/s

Affinity: Light 5, Dark 5, Earth 5

He stared at the Affinity levels. The healing spells he’d heard about dealt with Light and Dark, or Light and Earth—not all three.

New Spell: Shadow Conjuring

Effect: Create items infused with Mana

Cost: Dependent

Affinity: Dependent

“Weird ass game,” Dave growled. He was at 60 Health and his leg was barely set. He needed to bond the bones back together. He wasn’t sure how to do it; his Mana regenerated while he’d been checking his notifications and he poured all of it into his leg.

He lay back, drained as his notification bar blinked in the corner. He left it alone, using Touch of the Land. His range had grown again: it seemed as if he not only felt the land around him but now he could understand things in the water and the air around him. It seemed to flow out of him like a breath, farther and farther, for half a kilometer in every direction. He didn’t just sense the ground and the things upon it. He sensed the moisture in the air, the plants and life in the water and ground. The life and death of everything around him. It was as if his senses had opened up, an unknown door flying open to stretch across all things.

He sensed the object under his hill. A pattern was imbued into its surface. It seemed to be like the mirror that he held in his pack still and there was something odd from the outside. There was an entrance, or a hatch of some kind. Buried beneath the hill, but it was there.

The pain had eased away from his leg, but the phantom of it still remained. “Well, nothing to do but try it out.” Dave put pressure on his leg. It seemed to hold as he stood.

He got to his feet and moved toward the Karrs. His stomach rumbled, reminding him of why he’d come down to the river.

“Waste not, want not.” He cut the creatures open and gutted them, throwing the unwanted bits into the river.

He filled up his canteens with water, grabbed the Karrs, and headed back to his home.

Three more racks were made, and the big lizards hung from them.

Humming, he moved to the kiln; he put a solid log in and channeled fire into it. Soon the log caught fire.

Dave put a pot on top of the kiln, pouring water in and putting a selection of herbs, roots, and other items he’d nibbled on. He took out the elk, cutting it up into small chunks and put it in the pot.

He sensed someone on the edge of his range. He felt a resonance within them; they were a magic user of a type. They moved cautiously toward his hill. He pulled out his bow and quiver, laying them down and making it look as though he were inspecting them before sharpening his thin blade.

More people moved toward the hill. Dave had no doubts about where they were headed. Through Touch of Land, he could make out their bodies, their dense muscles and facial features, the armor that they wore, and the weapons they carried.

He could’ve created a drawing of their faces. There were five Dwarves. Another creature entered his purview. It was not like the Dwarves.

Although the Dwarves walked as if they were beating the ground into submission, the other person danced across the ground as though it were ice.

Elf, he gathered.

He looked into the pot and put in more water and ingredients, cutting up more elk.

The Dwarves wore a good number of weapons—so did the Elf—but they walked in a loose group. If they were going to attack him, he’d expect them to group together more. Still, he kept his knife equipped as well as his bow and quiver.

As he waited, he checked his character sheet and Affinity levels.

Character Sheet

Name:

David Grahslagg

Gender:

Male

Level:

3

Class:

-

Race:

Human/Dwarf

Alignment:

-

Unspent points: 20

Health:

1200

Regen:

0.20 /s

Mana:

220

Regen:

1.00 /s

Stamina:

200

Regen:

1.15 /s

Vitality:

12

Endurance:

10

Intelligence:

22

Willpower:

20

Strength:

20

Agility:

23

Affinity levels

Dark

16

Light

15

Air

13

Water

13

Earth

15

Fire

13

He tasted his stew as the group slowed. Dave could feel the changes in the air around them. They were talking among themselves, trying to figure out how to approach.

“Are ya Dwarves or a bunch of ninnies?” Dave raised his voice, carrying over to the six people.

The Elf moved forward; the others followed, coming out of the forest, and looked at Dave, who was tasting his stew.

He tried to sound confident; he didn’t want to appear weak. “Come on, don’t just stand there. Take a seat. I’ve got some elk stew going. Don’t know how it’s going to be, honestly, but well, better than rations.” Dave smiled at the agreeing grunts from the Dwarves. The Elf took a seat.

Dave stopped himself from sighing loudly. He turned to the stew before he turned back to the group. The Elf was studying him with a close eye. He returned the favor.

She was beautiful, a kind of ethereal beauty that could take a man’s breath away and make him doubt himself. She had deep-brown chestnut hair pulled back in a braid, green eyes and pale skin, with the trademark pointed ears.

Dave had seen a lot of beautiful women as Zane. He was more interested in her skills.

Deia

Half-Elf

Level 65

“I’m Lox, leader of this here warband. That’s Gurren, Joko, Max, and Tounk.” He pointed out the Dwarves. Each of them stuck their shields into the ground. They looked like massive kites, an embossed center with its bottom tapering down to two points that the Dwarves used to stick them into the ground. That allowed the Dwarves to grab them quickly, or stick them into the ground to stabilize themselves against an enemy.

Their armor was the same dark metal as their shields. It was heavy duty and made them look like armored tanks.

Joko was a woman, but you wouldn’t be able to tell with her formidable beard and scars. Dave put it down to his Dwarven side that he knew that she was actually a she.

The Dwarves grunted or nodded, looking severe as they wandered off with an axe.

“So, what brings you around these parts?” Dave asked.

“Well, we are looking to found a trading outpost here. We were making our final reports when you showed up,” Lox said.

“Oh?” Dave tried to sound nonchalant as his hand moved closer to his blade.

“Don’t worry, halfling. We won’t take your homestead from you. You claimed it and are building a fine home,” Lox said.

“So why meet with me?” Dave asked.

“Thought it best to know who our neighbor is going to be. We are also interested in how you are making your home. We’re Dwarves, not Elves. We build from stone. Yet there is little around and you have still been able to create a home.”

“What about Elven homes?” Dave looked at Deia. If there was one, there was probably more.

“Elven homes take decades to build properly. They are grown from trees and imbued with magic. We have been looking into other options for building homes, though your method seems quick and possibly good for our use,” Deia said.

Lox sat against his shield and started to pull off his armor. “Also, because you can use Touch of the Land,” Lox said.

“Hmm?” Dave squinted, curious.

“You can use Touch of the Land. It’s a rare skill to have and something that Dwarves try to cultivate. We’re not sure how a halfling like you was able to cultivate it, but you’re rather powerful with it,” Lox said.

“You can sense my Touch of the Land?” Dave asked.

“Yes. Only masters of Earth can cast it without it alerting others who have a high enough Affinity for Earth,” Lox said.

“Okay, so what do you want me to do? Find you ore veins?”

“No. We would want to teach you and understand you better. It is Fend, my master and lord under the Mithsia Mountains, who is interested in you.”

There was a cracking as the tree, aided with three pushing Dwarves, crashed down, hitting two other trees.

Dave winced at the damage as Deia closed her eyes in exasperation.

The Dwarves started to hack the branches off with their swords and single axe.

Quest: Way of the Land

Lox, leader of a Dwarven warband, comes with an offer from his lord. Will you learn the way of the Dwarves and unlock the secrets of the earth around you and your own abilities?

Y/N

“What would this cost me?” Dave asked.

“Nothing. We wish to teach you more and come to understand you.” Lox looked offended.

“To the Dwarves, cultivating a skill such as Touch of the Land is a great honor. Knowing the ground more is like knowing their gods more. Their livelihoods are attached to it and they become closer to the ground that they adore with every person who is able to see into its depths,” Deia supplied.

“Ah, thanks.” Dave looked upwards. He could feel the growing rain. “Do you have any cloaks? You could string them up, make a sheltered area around the fire. It’s going to start raining heavier soon.” Dave looked to Lox and Deia.

They both seemed wary of him, but they’d been forthright with him. He felt that there was another reason that the lord under Mithsia Mountains wanted to teach him more about his Touch of the Land, but Dave was perfectly fine figuring it out on his own.

Deia pulled out what looked like a hammock made from waterproof material. They worked to make a shelter, Lox helping after some time. The other Dwarves came back; they put down their log that they’d turned into a seat and strung up their simple shelters using their shields and sticks.

Dave shared out the meal and the Dwarves seemed to lighten up. Deia kept on studying him. He had a feeling she was the reason that he’d felt as if he were being watched for the last couple of days.

“So, what is a group of Dwarves and an Elf doing fighting together? Thought races didn’t work that well together?”

“Well, this ain’t no simple ‘group’ Dwarven Shield Bearers are grouped into five, making a Warband. As for why we brought ole Deia along. Well, our people have been trading with one another for years now. After some time, we kind of combined our military forces. With our combined strength, we’re looking on opening new trade routes,” Lox said. He was clearly the leader of the Warband by the way the others looked at him.

“So, why are you wandering around the forest?”

“Without the travelers of other areas, we have to look to keeping the creatures down with our own forces. Some say that there was supposed to be a village here, but then it was never formed in the fires of Jukal.” Lox sighed.

Dave used Analyze on them, finding that they were all over level 50. Naturally NPCs barely made it above 10 unless they were in the military or guards. In a low-level area like Omal, guards were only level 30 or so. With the buffs that they received in cities, they were closer to 55, only conjuring higher levels if they were attacked by travelers.

Having natural level 50 roving patrols, Dave didn’t want to know what their buffs were like in their homes.

“So, the aim is now to create a road from Mithsia and Kufo’tel to Omal to increase trade,” Joko said.

“And this location here?”

“Well, caravans are going to need a place to rest in between and our population needs some room to grow into. This is at the edge of our borders and is a good defensable position,” Lox said.

“So, you’re going to build a village here?”

“That’s the plan,” Joko said with a smile.

Dave nodded, eating as he thought over her words.

“Well, you’re not much to look at, but you can at least make something edible,” Lox said, after finishing his bowl.

“Glad you like it,” Dave said. “You’re welcome to more if you want it.”

“I think I may just have to take you up on that.” Lox moved to the pot now sitting to the side of the kiln.

Dave dug into his stew. It was pretty good—needed some more pepper and maybe a bit of wine to break down the elk some more—but it had softened up nicely.

He’d also unlocked a new skill making the meal.

New Active Skill: Cooking

Somehow you can cook, and people don’t get food poisoning, most of the time. Bravo, Chef Dave!

Level: Novice level 7

Effect: Creations effects are 17% higher

It seemed like it was linked to the Herb Lore, which also increased to Novice level 9, passing level 5 and telling him one of the plant’s effects.

“So what are you doing out here far from civilization?” Deia asked.

Dave sat back, full from the meal. “Wanted to get away from all the hustle and bustle, people always wanting to know what everyone’s doing. Just looking for a place to sit back and look out over everything and relax. Make a little something and take some time.” He looked out over his half-built home. The rain was coming down hard; it was fresh and cleansing.

He took in a deep breath. He hadn’t thought of his other life for a while now. It was so easy to forget what his other life meant.

“I have seen the cities many times. There are many Elves there, but I find my home out here in the wilderness.” Deia looked out into the rain.

“There’s something refreshing about being away from it all.” Dave nodded, understanding her feelings.

“Yes.” She smiled, making something flutter in Dave’s chest.

She yawned, a good meal and a warm fire taking effect.

Dave still had energy he needed to burn off. With the increases in Stamina, he’d found that he needed less and less sleep in game. He looked to the house again, knowing that he should get back to work.

I need those damn screws! He looked over to Lox and his Dwarves as a thought hit him. He reached into his bag and pulled out the smithy box.

“Have you ever seen one of these?” Dave held out the box.

Lox’s eyes went wide as he took the box gingerly, almost as if it was a holy artifact.

The other Dwarves looked at the box as he opened it. They made noises of surprise as Lox looked scared to drop the thing.

“Where did you find this?” Lox’s eyes flickered between Dave and the box.

“Along my travels. What can you tell me about it?” Dave leaned forward, sensing their apprehension and shock.

“This is a magical portable smithy. They act similar to our own magical forges. While it doesn’t contain the power of a regular magical forge, it feeds from its user’s Affinities. The stronger a person’s Affinity, the stronger type of item they can craft using that Affinity, imbuing the creation with those powers,” Gurren said.

“Enchanting items?” Dave asked.

“Yes. A forge is imbued with these powers by working different items on the anvil. The enchanted items leave an impression the more enchanted items that have been worked on the anvil, the stronger later enchantments will be. The same with this portable smithy, except with this it is also linked to its caster. If a person with Light Affinity uses this, then the items they make have a chance of imbuing radiance, or healing, or other Light Affinity magics into the items.” Max stroked his beard.

Those Affinities can come in pretty useful.

“So why is a magical forge better?”

“Magical forges take on the strength of the items broken on them and are imbued with the power of a soul gem. They are more powerful than a portable smithy and anyone from any level of Affinity can use them. If someone with a high Affinity of Earth opens this, then someone with Light will be at a large disadvantage to get any kind of enchantment from the smithy,” Max continued.

“My clan will pay ten thousand gold for this.” Lox looked at Dave.

Dave had to blink a few times to stop hearing all of the gold coins falling behind his eyes. “Uh, I just want to use it to make a bit of this and that, tinker a little—you know.” Dave had a lot of wealth in real life; here it was about having some fun. He had fun haggling but his main aim was growing what he had, not becoming a master trader.

“’Tis a shame, though you’ll get more than one interested dwarf willing to march out here to see it.” Lox handed the box around the circle before Dave got it back and returned it to his bag.

“Why would they want to try this out when they’ve got a magical forge in the mountains?” Dave asked.

“We have a few of them, but there is a ton of Dwarves,” Lox said.

Dave nodded, getting the idea. “Too many smithies in the forges.”

“You got it.” Lox leaned back against his shield. “So, what do you think of Fend, lord under the mountain’s, offer?”

Quest: Way of the Land

Lox, leader of a Dwarven warband, comes with an offer from his lord. Will you learn the way of the Dwarves and unlock the secrets of the Earth around you and your own abilities?

Y/N

Again, the pop-up screen appeared; again Dave waved it away.

“I am deeply honored by the offer and later I will be most interested in learning more of the land. Right now, I just want to build my house and relax for a bit.” Dave smiled.

“A dwarf can understand one’s desire for space and time unto himself.” Lox was understanding, rather than annoyed. “The second part of my lord’s offer I hope you accept,” Lox said.

Dave’s eyebrow rose in question.

“We range far from the mountains; they take days to hike to from here. My lord understands that this is your land. He asks that we be allowed to make a barracks here in order to station our forces and clear out any nefarious creatures that lurk in the area,” Lox said.

Deia looked interested by this but looked to Dave for his answer.

Dave looked over the hill. It was rather large; he also would be interested with some company.

These were also NPCs and they seemed honest and kind enough. Although, they might come to his hill, they wouldn’t try to rule over it like other Players. If they did, Dave could haunt them for life after life till he destroyed them all.

“That would be fine by me, as long as it’s a bit away. I like my privacy,” Dave said.

“Understandable. I must warn you that while the lord respects your rights to this land, a warband is just one small unit of a large machine. Families, smiths, quartermasters—it has not been decided if they will be necessary, but if you give permission, I know that my lord wishes to move out a sizable portion of the warbands to extend our security,” Lox said.

“That’s more than just a barracks.” Dave’s voice lowered. A few people were fine; having an entire horde come to his hill would be too much.

“As this is your hill, you may decide how you want to run things. The Mithsia Dwarves pay their debts in iron,” Lox promised. The other Dwarves nodded their agreement. “You would be lord of this hill and we would be tenants.”

That would make things easier for Dave to pick what happened and where things went.

“I know that with the Dwarves that the Elves will also come.” Deia looked to Lox and then Dave.

“Well, it seems that my hill is going to get a bit crowded.” Dave sighed and looked out over the space. He could understand their wanting to move their people to afford better protection. It would also mean that people were able to have more mobility. He doubted everyone loved to live in a mountain.

He looked over his hill, Touch of the Land augmenting his vision as he looked for good places for the Dwarves to set up. It was a rather large hill; there would be plenty of room.

His house still lay unfinished, waiting for the remaining pieces. He pulled out some pieces of wood, discarding some into the kiln. With a tool, he carved out a mold into the wood. The Dwarves talked among themselves. Gurren took watch as the others turned in for the night. Deia watched Dave with interest.

“You’re going to burn holes in my head staring that much.” Dave looked at his handiwork before he poured clay out of his bag. There was still a ton of it stored up just for this final purpose.

“I have never seen a shelter built like this one.” She pointed at the four-foot walls that rested on the brick, clay, and gravel pad.

“It’s a few practices come into one.” Dave looked at it proudly, grabbing clay and tossing it into the form he’d made out of wood.

“What is that?” She pointed to his works.

“These will hopefully be tiles.” Dave pushed the clay in, making sure it went into all of the form’s crevices.

“What are tiles?” Deia came closer.

“Think of it like iron plate armor like what Lox has, but with rocks instead of metal.” Dave tapped the tile out of its form and filled it with clay. “What do you live in?”

“We live in the trees, the elder wood. Over the years, through forms and magic, we have grown them into homes and beautiful structures,” Deia said.

“I never thought of that, making a house from a tree. Makes sense if you can speed up its growth and shape it.” Dave imagined what it must be like, but he couldn’t get the image of a shoddy treehouse out of his mind.

“Maybe one day, you will be allowed to see my home.” Deia smiled.

“I’d like that.” Dave glanced up at her before he hammered out another tile.

“I could also teach you how to properly care for a kill.” Deia looked at the Karr that were hanging up.

“I did a pretty good job for a beginner,” Dave countered.

“Elven young have more skill with a blade than you.” An amused look came over Deia’s face.

“Well, if you would be kind enough to bestow upon me some lessons, then I would greatly appreciate it.” Dave smiled.

“I thought that you would have been annoyed with my joke.”

“Not one to beat around the bush, huh?” Another clay turned tile mold fell out.

“We live for a long time; it doesn’t mean that we want to stand around trying to figure out what the other is saying.”

“Ah, I do like it when people use plain speach.” Dave winked. “Why am I not annoyed? Well, among the greater things in the world, being told I’m crap at cleaning up my kills when I know I’m crap at it is kind of a non-issue, don’t you think?”

Deia sat silent for a while as Dave formed a few more tiles before he put them into the kiln and put his pot outside to gather some water. It hissed with the rain as he put the kiln’s top on.

“You are an odd man,” Deia said.

“Why, thank you,” Dave snorted, moving back to his seat and dealing with his tiles.

Deia moved to get some sleep. Gurren looked around at the rain, thoroughly bored.

“You want a drink? I’ve got some herbs I picked up; makes a nice tea,” Dave offered.

“That would be nice. Could do with a warm drink after that fine meal.” Gurren smiled.

Dave tossed out the water that had collected in the pot, putting in some herbs and letting the rain fill it up. He moved back to his forms.

“Most would jump at the chance to learn Earth magic from Dwarven masters. Why not you?” There was no animosity, just curiosity in Gurren’s voice.

“I have a long time yet to live. For now, just taking my time building my home and creating a retreat from reality is what I want to do. Don’t get me wrong—I am interested to learn from a Dwarven master. It would be one hell of a privilege, but right now I don’t want to dedicate myself to smashing metal. Maybe later I will,” Dave said.

“Well, I for one am going to be happy that you’re staying around. Us Dwarves know how to turn stone and ores into anything, but trees and clay? We’re going to need some help to build homes like your own if you do let us live here,” Gurren said.

“It’s not that hard to learn.” Dave laughed with a reassuring smile.

There was a flash of white teeth through Gurren’s red beard. “You sound just like my grandfather Kol.” Something sad flashed behind Gurren’s eyes. “Before the accident, that is.”

“What happened?” Dave tapped out another tile and went to the pot, which was filling up nicely.

“He was the master smithy of the Mithsia Mountains. He ran the forges like a veteran warband.” Gurren was clearly proud as he looked off to memories only he could see. “He was inspecting a form for molten iron. It had been giving bad castings so he went to see if it needed cleaning.”

Dave replaced the kiln lid with the pot, stirring it a little.

“My grandfather had been so impatient to see the issues that he hadn’t waited for the buckets to stop swinging. Somehow the bucket holding the molten metal dropped some of its contents.”

Dave took his seat, all of his attention on Gurren.

“It fell on his face. He lost his eyes and part of his face—got his hands really bad too. He lost his position as master smithy, though he never lost his touch. Even though he is as blind as a rock golem, you’d never think it. He’s a master of Earth magic, can see through the land like it’s not there. You can still catch him working on different blades here and there. Magnificent things, but he always smelts them back down.

He tells me that there is an art in the metal. With a single blade, it has one purpose, but an ingot is pure beauty, unformed and filled with all manner of possibilities.”

Dave sat back.

“Odd thing to say—it’s just another material.” Gurren laughed, curiosity and a spark of interest dancing in his eyes.

“I can understand that. When I work with the trees, to make the different parts of the house, it almost feels like the wood is talking to me. There are so many possibilities. It could be a wheel spoke, or a door, or a stave. You simply have to find which form you want and work with the wood to bring it out,” Dave said.

“You and my grandfather would have a good talk with you staring at an inanimate object.” Gurren grinned.

“Ah, nothing like a good tree to stare at all day long!” Dave laughed. It had been awhile since he had talked to people who were just interested in talking. Lox had wanted to make a deal and Dave was used to that. Though with Deia and Gurren, they didn’t care who he was or what he’d done. They were just happy to enjoy the moment, not letting social conventions or perceived hierarchy control them.

Dave and Gurren talked through the night, sharing warm tea. They only stopped as Joko woke up and Gurren got some sleep. Dave kept making his tiles while he and Joko talked about different meals.

Dave found out more about the herbs and how he could use them to flavor foods. He also learned a few ways to use the Karr meat and how to make jerky.

Morning came with Dave waking to movement.

Dave looked about; Joko, Gurren, Lox, and Deia were awake. The rain had stopped, the ground smelled fresh and the sun was starting to come over the horizon. Lox and Deia were in a discussion as Joko and Gurren were talking and nursing some of the tea.

“He awakes!” Joko laughed as Dave rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

“Mornin’!” Dave stood and stretched.

“This tea is great. Sent me off like a baby, feel rested and bright as a new gold vein,” Gurren said.

“Glad you liked it.” Dave poured himself a cup and looked at the array of tiles. There were more around than he remembered there being.

“Ah, we thought we might as well give you a hand for the food and tea,” Joko said, seeing Dave’s confusion.

“Thanks.” Dave smiled. Maybe having some neighbors won’t be so bad.

“Okay, Deia’s going to go back and let the clans know what’s going on and tell them about your offer for coming here. We just wanted to clarify any points you might have?” Lox asked.

“Give a man some time to wake up, will ya?” Dave drank his tea.

“Well, the Dwarven half of ya should be fine!” Lox rumbled, tucking his thumbs into his belt.

“We’ll come to an amount later—let’s just say, open trading between anyone. Using any resources goes through me. I heard that Dwarves aren’t the best cabin makers, so if my house works fine, we’ll copy it over to the other houses. I’ll teach people how to make them and maybe later we can have stone buildings. When I get the portable smithy working, then I’ll let people use it, if they’re willing to teach me more about smithing. If you’ve got someone with the barracks, then I’d be happy to share it with them. Maybe trade resources for time? I’m not really sure.” Dave scratched his head.

“We should go with the same agreement between the Elves and Dwarves. Anyone is free to come as long as they pay their fees and accept the wishes of the owner of the land. Resources will be discussed with the original owner of the land. Specialty items will be agreed upon by interested parties,” Deia said.

“That should do,” Dave said, knowing that back in reality that his board of directors would have his head for his negotiation tactics.

“I will set off now then. I should be back within a few days,” Deia said.

“In that time, we’ll start mapping out the area and try to figure out how to make those odd houses.” Lox pointed at Dave’s cabin with his beard.

“Well, there’s nothing within nearly six hundred meters, so we should be good.” Dave stepped out of the shelter they’d made and into the sun.

Gurren whistled. “You can sense things up to half a kilometer away?”

“Yeah, though with you lot, it’s close to a kilometer. Got damn sledgehammers for feet!”

Joko laughed and Lox grinned.

Dave was beginning to really like the group.

“Well then, I think that I will be off,” Deia said.

“Good hunting!” Dave moved to his woodworking area. He picked up a tree while holding his tea in the other hand.

“I want whatever he’s been eating,” Joko muttered. All of them watched Dave put the log into place with only a small grunt.

“His growth is indeed impressive. I will see you shortly.” With that, Deia started to run. It seemed as if she simply flowed over the land, missing low limbs, roots, and pitfalls.

Chapter 9: Oddities

Bob looked over the work site.

Four Dwarves were working to move wooden logs to a superstructure, where Dave checked and shaped the logs. He cut them so that they would naturally push against one another and hold their form.

They all seemed in a good mood, but the building—it was unlike anything that Bob had seen in all of Emerilia and its iterations. It was a composite of multiple buildings from humanity’s history.

He was a kilometer away, but he could see it all in perfect detail. He smiled and pulled out a bowl of ramen with steam rising from it. Bob could see the magical sphere that extended all around the halfling. The man didn’t even seem to notice that he was casting it anymore.

You’re going to need that in the future. If people find out what you are… A smile spread across Bob’s face. He had seen iteration after iteration. Finally, something new was not just being discovered; it was being created. Bob sent out his own Touch of the Land but manipulated its sphere so that it would never touch the halfling’s.

Bob’s eyes snapped open in shock. It took him a moment to realize what the emotion was. This was his world; he was its creator and overseer for hundreds of years. Things could intrigue him from time to time, but this? So, this is where it was hiding all these years. A smile spread across his face as he started looking at the records he had from back then. Oh, Anna you clever girl! But what would happen if a bleeder was to find it? If Dave were to find out about it? In the centuries past, he might have been scared. Now he was interested. It was his role to watch, to observe, to see what would happen.

The Jukal Empire had turned him into a tool, a caretaker and manager of Emerilia, always watching, always hearing. Emerilia was more his home than the rest of the Jukal Empire now.

“I’m going to give you a fighting chance first. This could be rather interesting.” He rubbed his hands together and waited.

***

He was eating some more ramen noodles when the Dwarves finally started going to sleep. The house’s walls were up and they had started to put tiles on it.

“Oh, come on! Go to sleep!” Bob sent a spell out toward the Dwarves. He might be practically immortal, but even he hated waiting that long.

The Dwarves went to sleep, one staying on guard with the half-dwarf.

“Dwarves, stubborn bastards!” He sent another spell at the one on watch and took off for the camp.

***

Dave was feeling really sleepy when he felt something not quite right. It was as though there was nothing in a point and it was moving—no air, no light, no darkness, or any of the six Affinities that made up Emerilia.

“I thought that they would never go to sleep.” A gnome dropped next to the kiln and looked into the pot. A bowl appeared in his hand. “Mind if I have some?” the gnome asked.

“The hell?” Dave woke up instantly. He’d seen that face before. Shadow Conjuring!

“Dude, I’ve only had ramen for the last day watching you six put that house together. Bravo—you’re the first Player to actually build a house. Most people just pay the people to do it.”

“Where the hell did you come from?” Dave asked, confused by the strange gnome whose hand hovered above the spoon in the pot.

“Not really important. What I’ve got to tell you is. Can you get over your shock, Dave, and the stew…?”

“Okay, so what are you, some kind of bandit? You talk a lot for a NPC. Yeah, you can have some,” Dave said.

“I told you, I’m Bob. I’m the guy who made this prison.” The gnome winked.

Chapter 10: Welcome to the Real World

“Prison? It’s a game, dude,” Dave said. This NPC is weird; I should report him.

“Well, I’m good at what I do.” Bob scooped up some stew and took a seat on one of the log seats. “That part’s not really important right now. What you are—that’s the interesting thing here.” Bob’s face could only be called enthusiastic and maybe a bit mad. He took a scoop of the stew.

“I’m just a dude,” Dave said.

“You, my friend, are so much more than that. You’re a bleeder, first one ever, in all of time!” Bob said. “Well more like five hundred years, because Emerilia is only about 700 years old, but whatever.”

“A bleeder?” Dave was thoroughly confused now.

“You just can’t let a man have some stew in peace, huh?” Bob sighed and put the bowl to the side. “First, I guess we should go with the history lesson.

“The Jukal Empire was a massive entity; people bent the knee or they were eliminated. When you’re that powerful, you don’t want to deal with the aggressive species unless they have something to offer. While they’d been attacked by multiple aggressive races in the past, the Jukal were not predators.

“When they met the Humans, they saw potential. However, the human race was fractured. Forty billion people with hundreds of different beliefs, thousands of languages, and by no means united. The Jukal made their offer: some Humans bent the knee, others did not. So, the great war occurred.

“Humanity worked best when they were working against one another. Time and time again, they had nearly destroyed themselves but they had become stronger. It was an oddity, indeed.

“A few agreed to join the Empire, others wanted to destroy it, others wanted to live by themselves, and more wanted to learn as much about the Empire as possible. The Empire saw the divisive force that was humanity and ordered that they either be put to use somehow or destroyed. The war that had followed was far beyond anything the Empire could imagine. Humanity might have some decent technology for space flight, but their ideas for weapons and tactics to use them had been developed over hundreds of years.

“The Empire’s attack had one incredible effect. It mobilized humanity to work together. They were a tenacious and smart enemy. They’d destroyed ten fleets before they were pushed back to Earth. The Empire bombed them into a new ice age, so they thought. Humanity rose again and it became clear that killing humanity was going to be an impossible task.”

“Wait, this is a fantasy game. What does science fiction have to do with it?” Dave asked.

“Always racing onto the next thing—I’m getting there! Okay, so the Jukal won the war, killed off every human that they could find, but paid a heavy cost. The Empire won the war, but now they didn’t have anything to defeat the aggressive species that they had discovered. The Jukal Empire is constantly growing, new planets, new systems. Every so often, they come across people that want to fight instead. They don’t want to bomb the planet, destroying their ability to use it for a few hundred years. The Jukal Fleet that usually deals with them was gone. They needed something to clear these planets and kill the aggressive species. I proposed an idea: we get humanity to fight for the Empire.”

“How would you do that?” Dave asked, confused.

“Take a planet, turning it into a staging area. Somewhere that Humans could fight and become stronger, you might know it as Emerilia. Add in portals, convince Players that they were in a game. The program showed great gains, power off the charts, aggressive species being pushed back across multiple planets. Then the Empire started watching. At first, Players were grown when needed, taking three years to grow and mature a new batch of Players. The People of the Empire started watching in interest, Emerilia stopped being a system of battle. It became a system of entertainment. Aggressive species were kept alive, stopped from being culled due to their ‘interest.’ There wasn’t a time when there weren’t Players on Emerilia. Cycles of Players were scheduled like clockwork, one would come in, another would be killed off.” Bob said, sounding sad. “You, you’re different, you can see the walls of your imaginary prison. In the simulation of Earth, you were never supposed to make Rock Breakers. Because you did, you became a pivotal person to the simulation. Much like how world leaders are NPCs because having them be Players and disappear for days at a time would plunge Earth into chaos, you became a constant force on Earth. If you were to start disappearing, then contracts would start falling apart, the economy could tank and then all of the Players would have to be wiped as they are more worried about the simulation than Emerilia. While you’re here, your simulated body is off, talking and working, making sure that the Earth simulation stays stable. It trips the system, making it think that you’re on Earth but you’re here. It’s why your eight hour log out notifications have been hap hazard.”

Dave opened up his interface and went to the report button. He typed out a message about Bob. The gnome ate his stew.

Dave’s eyes widened to the reply.

System administrator is currently busy—eating your stew. Seriously, reporting me? Don’t want that getting to the Jukal!

“How did you do that?” A shiver ran down Dave’s spine.

Bob held Dave’s eyes, not saying a thing.

“How is that possible!” Dave said, his eyes wide in shock.

“Give it time, you’ll see,” Bob said, trying to sound reassuring. “So, first question! What are your Affinities looking like? Did they start off at ten?”

“Yeah.” Dave wondered where this was going. He wished he could wake up the Dwarves but he could now see the sleeping spell on them.

“Have you noticed that you are getting less messages in the real world?” Bob asked.

Dave thought back to his emails. They had been sparse for the delegation, but he thought that it could have just been a slow day. On the other hand, they were only emails from Suzy and there was only three. That was odd.

“Maybe,” Dave said, not willing to concede the point.

“Are you hungry?” Bob asked.

“No, of course not. I just ate.” Dave’s voice trailed away. He’d eaten in-game but he hadn’t eaten out of the game for nearly three days in-game or a day out of game.

“Calm down. One more question. When you were in reality,” Bob made bunny ears when he said the word, “did you feel that you were getting odd sensations? Like you were less hungry, more tired, less tired, maybe muscle pains?”

“Of course…” Dave remembered the pain in his shoulders when Zombie Dave had been digging a hole and cutting down trees.

“Last, when did you log off last?”

Dave didn’t answer. Fear welled in his gut. Dave opened his interface, rushing to the logout button.

“Check your emails. Go and taste the food—see if you feel filled. Try the beer. I’ll be here,” Bob said as Dave hit the logout button.

***

Dave opened his eyes.

“What the fuck?” Zane said, looking around a private jet.

“Have a nice dream?” Suzy asked dryly as she looked over from her seat where she was working on a computer.

“Uh yeah,” Zane said.

“Well, get me a coffee, will you? Damned head’s getting done in from not sleeping,” Suzy said, standing up and heading for the rear of the plane where the bathroom was.

“Sure,” Zane said, haltingly.

It’s just like when I went to work. Foggy outlines of memories that seemed to be half remembered started to move in his mind.

Bob said that this was the simulation. That this was the Virtual reality.

It made him question his memories, to think through them, of his sleeping and his excitement to drive to the airport. He was going to a launch facility in Texas.

I don’t know what the latest headlines are for the gaming news. For Zane, it was an almost holy ritual. He would wake up, pull out his phone and read the latest headlines about gaming.

He couldn’t remember a single headline, but not because they weren’t interesting.

“I just never read them,” Zane said out loud.

It felt like a weight was pressing down on his chest as he looked around wildly, as if to find definitive proof. He needed something to reassure him; he couldn’t shake the recent revelation.

“Hey buddy!” Bob appeared in front of Dave, sitting in the chair opposite, wearing a grey suit.

“Ugh, this, just no,” Bob shook his fingers, simple slacks and a golf shirt.

It looked even worse than the suit.

“Hmm, whatever. So how are private jets and spaceships?” Bob asked, looking at Dave with a grin.

“What the hell, man? How are you here?” Zane asked, shaking with fear, his mind throwing him all different kinds of possibilities while he tried to push them away, to not think on them.

“I told you, Emerilia is not the game,” Bob said, his joking tone now sad.

“So, what, this is? This doesn’t make any fucking sense!” Dave said.

“This is the incubator, the propaganda machine extraordinaire. When you were created, your mind was hooked up to this. We ran the simulation as fast as possible. You’ve only been alive for about three years. While you were here, your environment was made to condition you into wanting to play video games. It’s done through multiple methods. Yours was by making you a social outcast,” Bob’s smile slipped as he looked genuinely unhappy, but not willing to pull any punches.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Zane asked, dreading the answer.

“You never had parents, you never had school friends and only three of the people that you worked with for the Rock Breakers corporation were actually real. I created a program that would use the social cues and systems of humanity to make you susceptible to consistent and continued gaming. You want to escape reality, or become a hero, a villain or whatever your heart desires.  Then, you can play Emerilia to do it, leaving behind Earth which is actually trying to wear you down and doing everything in its power to mess with you. Emerilia is the escape, the nirvana of you Players.”

“So, you made a virtual reality that conditions people to want to play video games, why?”

“Where do you find the most recorded deaths in human history?” Bob asked.

“I don’t know, World War II?” Zane asked, caught off guard by the question.

“Video games, when people play video games, they will kill for anything: a bit of gold, some imagined glory, making their character stronger. They take risks that living people wouldn’t. If you tallied up the amount that Humans have killed one another, NPC’s, AI’s and characters in video games, it’s more than fifty solar systems worth of Humans. No off switch, no one to tell them how about doing what they want to do. You’re entertained by the simple mindless acts that you can perform in a video game. I took that same bloodthirsty mindset and flipped it around. I made a simulation that makes you feel pain, conditions you to want to play games. I, also, created a world that looks like a video game, with real pain that is less than the simulation and enables you to respawn. Bingo, you’ve just made a true war machine. All you need to do is hook up some way for those bloodthirsty Players to kill off those you want to kill off,” Bob looked to Zane, turning the statement into a question.

“Portals; they connect Emerilia to all kinds of different planets with species on them, but why?” Zane asked.

“Enjoy your trip to Texas, I’ll find you when you return to Emerilia. Can’t stay here too long. Oh and don’t forget the coffee,” Bob disappeared.

Dave didn’t notice it before but the engines seemed to pick up in tone.

Did he slow it down, or speed us up? Why the hell do I even think that this is a possibility, that’s madness, there’s no way. Zane shook his head, trying to get rid of the creature’s words. He was just sleep deprived. He was seeing things.

The bathroom unlocked and Suzy walked out.

“Did you get me a coffee yet?” She asked.

“Uh, no, sorry, I’ll just get right on that,” Zane said, distracted as he moved to the food bar on the plane.

“Are you okay Zane?” She asked, concerned.

“Yeah, sorry just still half asleep,” he said with a winning smile, putting coffee in her cup, adding cream.

What if Suzy is part of the simulation? Your one and only friend, a series of ones and zeroes made to get you to game.

Dave handed a coffee to Suzy who’d sat down in her seat again, moving to his chair.

“Thanks,” She said.

“No worries,” Zane gave her a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, his mind still worrying over what he’d just imagined. He sipped his coffee, it tasted bland, like ground dirt and lukewarm water.

Damn, I’m looking to having some Xur when I get back to Emerilia.

***

Zane/Dave came to in the camp next to his house. The Four Dwarves were asleep in their beds, Gurren was on watch, but his head lolled to the side.

“Gurren!”

“Not so loud, he’s asleep like the others. Didn’t really want people listening in on this conversation,” Bob said before taking a slurping forkful of noodles.

Dave simply stared at him.

How? It’s not possible someone must have got the information out.

For the entire week trip to Texas he had been distracted. Suzy had become more concerned as time went on.

Dave had tried to shake his creeping doubts, but they’d plagued him until he’d started working on trying to recollect his memories since playing Emerilia. They were all faded and jumbled.

“If this is all true, why don’t you tell everyone?”

“The most immersive game ever played comes online and one of the AI’s constructs comes to you and tells you it’s real. Or your buddy tells you that the game you’re playing is reality, that Sol system is gone and the people that did it are using Humans as entertainment. The hell do you think is going to happen? Oh, also, staying in here longer will start tripping the monitoring AI of the Earth simulation so it sees if you’ve figured it out. When you’re on Earth, killing you is as easy as making up a story and deleting your consciousness.”

“Then how the hell do I not trip the Earth AI?” Dave asked.

“You’ve become a stabilizing and prominent factor on Earth. The AI has overridden you. You know Jackie? Well, she was studying you, in case you were in the game too long and what not. She could control the simulation to keep Austin Zane going and the Earth simulation stable. Losing the head of the most powerful company in the world to video games is not a good idea,” Bob shrugged. “I told you the truth, nothing but the truth and I always will, Dave,” Bob promised.

“How is any of that real? How can I know for sure?”

“Well, if you do die there, then someone will put together the pieces. If you stay here, well then, it will be a relaxing end to your days.” Bob shrugged and stood.

“In six days, I will return. By then, in Earth’s simulation, you would have died from starvation if it was real. If you’re still alive, then you’ll know the truth.”

“Who are you?” Dave asked.

“I am the builder. I am the destroyer. I am all; I am neutral and the blancer. I am the Grey God.” Bob tilted his head slightly. If Dave wasn’t wrapped up in his own confusion, then he might have seen the sadness and weariness in Bob’s voice.

“But now onto other things. I see that you haven’t tried out Shadow Conjurer again!” Bob’s excitement came back.

“Well, I don’t know—haven’t had any real need to.”

“Take out your axe,” Bob said.

Dave did so.

“Okay now, use your Touch on it.”

Dave did so, sensing the wood and the metal head.

“Don’t just touch it—know it. Make a map of it in your mind,” Bob said.

“Really?” Dave asked. “I was about to go to sleep and you want me to map an axe?”

“What are you going to lose? A bit of sleep? Come on.”

Dave sighed but he focused on the axe. He felt the grain of the wood; he could understand the strength of the wood; he could understand the metal alignment of the head. The way that the axe head fit with the wooden handle and the metal.

“Imagine if it was all metal.”

Dave thought of the metal growing from the axe head to the shape of the handle.

“Hold your left hand as if you were holding it. See it in your hand, feel it there—will it there.” Bob’s voice was melodic and powerful.

Dave pictured the cold metal, the weight of the axe. It was mentally draining in the extreme.

“Open your eyes,” Bob said.

“What?” Dave looked at Bob, yet the weight remained in his hand. He looked to the left, seeing a mirror image of the axe in his right hand. But it was made of metal and thin wisps of shadow came off it like smoke.

“The hell?” Dave dropped the axe and it thumped into the ground.

“Just conjured an axe, my boy.” Bob picked up the axe. “You should see a timer on your interface.”

Dave saw a sword marker with a round timer around it. It was at 17 and counting down every second.

“Now this is really crude, but with practice and control, you’ll be able to make this and other things no problem. You can even bind them to soul gems, using the gems instead of your power to sustain them. They could last for years with that kind of power behind them.” Bob put the axe down as the timer reached zero. It turned to vapor and drifted away.

“What if something was enchanted?” Dave asked.

“Well, you’d need a lot of power to do that. For now, you can just conjure simple objects. You don’t know them enough to make higher quality items or enchanted items.” Bob took his seat.

“How would I learn?” Dave asked.

“You could practice every day for the rest of your life conjuring items, or you could go to the source,” Bob said.

Dave looked at him, confused.

“Sorry, been a while and this is kind of complicated. Okay, so, you’re conjuring these things—you’ve got the final form down. Though you don’t know how that wood was formed, or that axe head was hammered out. The more you know about how the item was made, the more you will know how to tweak it. How do you know that the metal will be the strongest unless you’ve actually molded and changed metal? You might be conjuring it, but once conjured, it takes on the attributes of the materials you’ve used in your mind.”

“So, if I enchanted something then I could have enchanted weapons?”

“Possibly. All depends on your proficiencies.” A smile spread across Bob’s face.

“What’s so amusing?”

“Well, I’m excited to see what you’re going to do. Though, be warned, you might be able to make weapons, but they’re not going to last long right now. Also, they’re not going to carry your ass to victory. Shiny gear and cool enchantments only augment what you’ve got originally. Practice your conjuring and learn. You’ve got eons of learning and talents to learn. It’s going to be an interesting time.” Bob smiled and turned to leave.

“How will I find you?” Dave asked.

“I’ll be watching.”

Bob’s smile was the last thing Dave saw as the gnome disappeared once again.

Dave was filled with questions, anxiety, and fear.

He’d come to as Zane, watching television and drinking a beer. That wasn’t possible. He should have been attached to the chair with his helmet.

Dave sent out a Touch of the Land, the way that he could feel everything. The land felt as if it was true, that he could believe in it, thought a part of him. Another part of him was exhilarated with the idea that this was a land of magic and possibilities. How could it be real?

“Must have closed my eyes for a second,” Max said. “If you’re not going to have the last of the stew, you mind if I have it?”

“Huh? Oh, uh, yeah, sure,” Dave said, confusion on his face.

“You okay?” Max asked.

Dave studied Max—his beard, the braided hair, simple clothes. The interest and simple care in his face.

Although Dave remembered the people he had been friends with when he had started Rock Breakers Corporation, he couldn’t remember their names. He didn’t know their faces. They were generic and simple. All he remembered was Suzy. Here, he could picture all of the people he’d met, from Brenna the trader he met in the market, to Darryl and Siven.

I hadn’t talked to them just because I was lonely in real life; it was because for the first time, I felt a connection with them. As if I was opening a door to real communication. As if I had heard of friends before but I had never really had one.

“Dave?” Concern entered Max’s voice.

“Sorry, Max. Just something on my mind.” Dave gave Max a smile.

“We all go there sometimes. But about that stew?” Max glanced at the pot.

“It’s all yours,” Dave said with a genuine smile.

Even if this is all real, the only person that you have back on Earth is Suzy. Everyone else will be fine, even if you drop off. Sure, you don’t want to die, but if you go three days without eating—well, Jackie would never let that happen and she can kick me out of Emerilia as soon as she senses something wrong. I’ll be fine.

Dave grabbed his sleeping furs and pulled them up against the night air, sure he’d just imagined the odd little gnome. He just needed some sleep. All this working was making him see things!

***

“Well, it looks like we’re nearly done,” Dave said. The last timbers had been laid and the Dwarves were happily putting planking onto the main floor and lathering clay between the logs.

He was up on a ladder, laying down the tiles and putting on a liberal coating of resin that Tounk knew of as well as clay.

“Just need to get that fireplace done!” Joko said from inside.

He didn’t need to look to see Gurren and Lox with his tools, cutting into the rocks that Dave had used for gravel. They were sending chips everywhere, but a form was coming into fruition. They said that they weren’t the best miners but in one go, they were cutting out an entire chimney stack out of the rock outcropping.

Dave focused on the outcropping, feeling something he hadn’t before. A vein traced through the rocks; it was deep but the vein was rich. Dave closed his eyes, looking for similar feelings like the first. The sphere lit up like ingots did when Dave looked at them with his Touch.

He sensed some other veins at the limit of his reach. Then he felt a disturbance at the edge of his reach. He opened his eyes to look for the disturbance. He could pick it out: a large black bear moved through the trees and headed for Lox and Gurren.

Dave jumped from the ladder, landing as if the ten-foot drop was nothing. His bow was pulled from his bag, an arrow following it. He fired the arrow, knowing there was little chance of it hitting.

“Watch out! There’s a bear!” Dave yelled as he ran for the quarry.

Gurren and Lox didn’t hear him as they were still cutting a chimney out of the rock. Tounk, Max, and Joko heard him; they grabbed their ever-present shields and followed Dave.

Dave grabbed his quiver and let his bag of holding drop. His speed jumped as he sprinted. They were nearly 700 meters away, a distance that Dave was quickly crossing. Lox looked up, seemed to notice Dave as the bear crashed out of the forest.

Lox grabbed Gurren as they moved to their shields.

Dave fired another arrow, now only a few hundred meters away—still a long shot with a bow. He thought of a dozen spears raining down with the arrow. He could imagine the spears, simple metal rods with sharpened tips. Dave staggered as twelve spears followed the trajectory of the arrow.

They came down. Four hammered into the bear.

Holy shit! That Conjuring thing is real!

Its Health dropped barely five percent as Dave executed a sneak attack.

Fuck me sideways!

It hit; the bear’s aggro turned onto Dave.

FUUUUUCK! Fuck, fuck, fuck!

He used Analyze on the creature.

Level 73 King Bear

This was so much better in my head.

Dave didn’t try to focus on the bear’s stats. The highest he’d taken down was a level 17 and it had taken out a ton of his Health in a single hit.

The bear roared, but the hit wasn’t close to taking the creature down. Hell, its Health bar barely showed the hit. Still, it paused the bear, giving Dave aggro on the creature. It turned from Gurren and Lox towards Dave.

Dave held his ground and pulled out another arrow. He breathed, extended and released. He copied the arrow, giving it three partners and lowering the time they lasted for.

They made the bear roar in pain.

“Shield wall!” Joko said. She, Max, and Tounk moved around Dave, slamming their shields into the ground. “Dave, stop firing. Let us take aggro,” Joko said.

Dave wanted to argue but they were the fighters. He pulled out his two-handed axe, but soon saw he wasn’t really needed.

He looked at the stats of his axe.

Simple woodcutter’s Axe

It’s not elegant but it will do the job.

Quality: D

Damage: 8 (+4 sharpness)

Durability: 32/50

He hoped that the description was right. He got a good look at the bear; it was down to a quarter of its Health. The Dwarves were hacking the bear apart.

Maybe I don’t have to make a whole new thing, if I can bind the Conjuring to the item.

He understood the metal of the Dwarves’ blades. He imagined it bent along the axe’s head, feeding all but five percent Mana into the creation.

I’m going to need a bigger Mana pool at some time.

A new timer appeared on his interface as the axe head seemed to grow and sharpen.

“Max, aggro that big bastard,” Joko said.

Max was the center shield. He pulled the spikes out of the ground and slammed the side of his sword against it. “Come on, you big pile of fur! Come and get me, you tree-climbing bastard!”

The bear seemed to increase in speed; it was like watching a runaway train.

Max planted his shield again, using Tounk and Joko’s shields for support.

The Dwarves were two-thirds of Dave’s size, about the same size as one of the bear’s legs. They were strong as hell, but the shield wall seemed to tilt dangerously. Dave’s sneak attack had taken five percent of the creature’s Health, but the Dwarves made its Health bar fall steadily.

It was trying to climb the shields, leaving its belly unprotected to the Dwarven blades. The bear got some hits in but the Dwarves barely flinched, their shields protecting them from the worst damage.

It pulled off, bloody and only with ten percent Health left. The bear came in like a train again. Dwarven blades continued to tear it apart, slashing at its face instead of its belly.

Lox and Gurren had been sneaking up on the thing. As one, they rammed their blades home. The big creature yelled out in agony before it fell to the ground.

Joko stabbed it again just to make sure it was truly dead.

Lox buried his blade up to its handle in the bear’s eye. It didn’t do so much as twitch. “Well, looks like we’re having bear for dinner tonight!”

“Dave, what the hell was that with the spears and arrows?” Max asked.

Dave felt drained as he felt a headache coming on. “I can conjure weapons and other things. I didn’t think it would work. I was just imagining different things and it happened.”

“Well, whatever it was, it’s pretty damn cool, and useful!” Gurren slapped Dave on the back.

Joko and Lox were having a discussion about creatures in the area.

It looked as though Dave’s notification bar was having a seizure. His eyes instead went to the status bars he saw on the side of his screen. They listed the other Dwarves; it was titled Warband and that guy Dave.

“So, I’m ‘that guy Dave’?”

“Yeah, unless you’ve been having magical surgeries and need to tell us about something,” Gurren said. The other Dwarves grinned, tired and bloodied but alive.

Dave laughed, feeling alive and happy his friends had made it through their fight.

Tounk sat down; he was at twenty percent Health and quite pale.

Dave moved to him and touched him.

“Buy me dinner first!” Tounk complained.

Dave focused his energies on the wounded areas, pulling them together.

“All right, maybe we can forego dinner,” Tounk said.

“Tounk.” Dave’s eyes closed in concentration on his work.

“Yeah?”

“Shut up.”

“Right.”

The Dwarves gave a hearty laugh, backslapping Dave, who thought he might get a broken bone from the slaps.

“Well, if you ever want to travel with me and my warband, you’ve got an open invite,” Lox said.

Dave grinned.

“Though, first you’re going to need to learn how to fight like a real dwarf!” Joko said. “We’ll have a talk later.”

The Dwarves walked around the bear as Dave spent the last of his Mana on Tounk.

“Give us a hand.”

Dave helped the dwarf up; he was still looking pale but his major injuries were sorted. Dave opened his notifications, which cascaded down his screen.

Active Skill: Builder

Level: Novice level 12

Effect: 27% speed making items with more than one material

Required: Tools

Reward: 1,000 XP

Active Skill: Lumberjack

Level: Apprentice level 4

Effect: 31% increased speed and damage to cut down trees

Cost: 10 Stamina/second.

Active Skill: Maintainer

Level: Novice level 7

Effect: 17% chance to restore durability; at higher levels possible to increase durability, quality and gain Sharpen bonus to items that have been cared for.

Reward: 500 XP

Active Skill: Archery

Level: Novice level 7

Effect: Critical Hit chance increases by 7%.

Cost: 10 Stamina

Active Skill: Sprint

Level: Novice level 7

Effect: 17% increased speed

Cost: 5 Stamina/second

Active Skill: Stealth

Level: Novice level 8

Effect: 19% chance to remain undetected (reduced in direct light).

Reward: 500 XP

Active Skill: Sneak Attack

Level: Novice level 10

Effect: When you are undetected in Stealth, attacks will hit with 240% increased damage (Massive increase when hitting Critical area).

Cost: (Attack 50 Stamina)

Reward: 1,500 XP

New Active Skill: Two Handed

Swords? Bah, you’re an AXEMAN, DUDE! Shit’s not just for cutting down trees. With much-needed training, you might be able to wield the damn thing a bit better than a simple woodcutter.

Some people like shield with their blade or to hit with a big-ass something (making up for something, I’d say). You like two weapons for extra slice and dice. Not the safest way to go about things, but fuck if it don’t look BAD ASS. You do, bro.

Level: Novice level 9

Effect:9%armor penetration on target..

Cost: 10 Stamina

Reward: 3,000 XP

Affinity levels

Dark

18

Light

16

Air

13

Water

14

Earth

18

Fire

13

Stat Increase

+3 Willpower

+4 Strength

+4 Intelligence

+3 Agility

+4 Endurance

Level 10

You have reached level 10; you have 35 stat points to use.

“Holy—” Dave saw that he’d just risen two levels in stats and another 2 in Experience points.

“Pretty good battle,” Max agreed.

“My stats went nuts,” Dave said.

“Well, yeah. You’re lower than all of us in level. Killing something that’s seventy levels above you is practically unheard of. Must be raining down Experience and extra stats,” Max said.

Dave found it odd how Max was talking about the game mechanics, but it made sense. If he didn’t, then it would be hard for Players to ask questions constantly.

“I gained an extra level from it.” Tounk wiped the area away in front of him. Almost as though he had been accessing an interface.

“Be a good stew tonight.” Gurren laughed.

Lox looked more serious as he nodded.

“Well, you can clean the damn thing out then. How’s my chimney coming?” Dave asked.

Joko grinned. “I’ll take him. Make us the strongest warband known. After some training, of course.”

Lox grinned. It wasn’t a pleasant thing. “Well, if you want to train him, it’s your time.” He turned serious and looked back to the bear. “Haven’t seen these kinds of mobs out here for a long time. They must be feeding off some kind of well to get this strong.”

“So, Dave, how about it? I teach you how to fight, instead of treating a bear like a damn tree, and you teach me how to make one of them houses?”

Quest: Warband’s Training

Joko sees something in you. She offers to teach you what she knows, if you are willing to do the same. Will you train as a Mithsia shield bearer?

Y/N

Yes. He was strong but it was clear that he needed to know more than just how to swing a woodcutter’s axe to fight.

“Good! We’ll start training tomorrow. Today, let’s get this damn bear cut apart and we can add to that collection of meat we’re growing,” Joko said. “If you’re willing to part with thirty percent of the Karr meat, I’ll even turn it into jerky for you.”

“I’d take the offer. Joko usually makes our meals. She knows her way with blade and salt,” Gurren said.

The others nodded agreement.

“Done.” Dave held out his hand to Joko.

> You have agreed that 30% of the jerky Joko makes from the Karr she can keep.

“I’ll teach you about cutting this bugger apart. After seeing those Karr, I know you have some learning to do!” Tounk got to his feet. His color returned as he drank a Health potion. His hit points regenerated faster.

“We’re off to get that damn chimney done.” Lox and Gurren wandered off. Lox grunted and looked in Dave’s eyes, as if he saw something he liked.

“Lox approves of you.” Tounk clapped Dave.

Dave saw his Health dip slightly.

“You’re stronger than you look,” Dave said.

“Interesting things come in small packages.” Tounk winked and moved to the bear.

“That’s what she said?” Dave said slowly.

Tounk turned around, looking annoyed, but his beard shifted as he tried to keep down a laugh. “Damn rock troll.” Tounk shook his head.

Dave grinned and joined Tounk for his lesson on dealing with their fresh kill.

Chapter 11: Time to Train

Dave was woken up as the sun was just rising.

“Up and at ’em!” Joko poked Dave hard enough to bruise. He got up as Joko poked him more and more.

Gurren was on watch with a grin showing through his beard as he looked away from Dave’s punishment.

“First, we’re going to try to increase your Intelligence as much as possible to speed this up,” Joko said.

“My Intelligence?” Dave asked, confused.

“You didn’t think your stats were just there to put stats in, did you?” Joko’s face darkened as she saw Dave’s expression.

“What damned useless town did you crawl out of? Have you never seen a pit in your life? Plenty to learn down there and understand what’s going on around you!” She tugged her beard and sighed. “Okay, so open up your stats and link them to me.”

“How?”

Over the next five minutes, she showed him how to open his stats, and then look to her; an outline surrounded her so he could send her stats. She went through the party functions of how to add people.

Then she looked at his skill sheet with him.

Character Sheet

Name:

David Grahslagg

Gender:

Male

Level:

3

Class:

-

Race:

Human/Dwarf

Alignment:

-

Unspent points: 35

Health:

1200

Regen:

0.54 /s

Mana:

260

Regen:

1.15 /s

Stamina:

240

Regen:

1.30 /s

Vitality:

12

Endurance:

14

Intelligence:

26

Willpower:

23

Strength:

24

Agility:

26

“So, Vitality is linked to how many risks you take; the more risks you take, the more alive you feel. It’s why some of the idiots who climb over mountains or run through abandoned mines have the highest hit points.

“Intelligence is based on how smart you work—smarter, not harder. You building that house with your smarts and own hands helped out a lot there. You build something new or innovative to your mind, you’ll gain more Intelligence than someone just pouring metal into a casting.

“Strength—do I really have to cover this? The more you lift and train, the more you get.

“Endurance is based on how much you push past your limits or stay close to them. You had used most of your Stamina to help with the shield wall yesterday. Still, you attacked the bear with everything you had. You continuously drained your magic.”

“Willpower—now this is an odd one. This takes dedication. If someone tells you you can’t do something but you do or at least try it, then you get better Willpower. With the bear, if you knew the high level it was and attacked it anyway, that’s Willpower. Most people would run away with a stream down their leg. You ran toward it. That needs stones—or stupidity.”

Dave winced under her glare. It was obvious which of the two she was thinking.

“Agility. The Elves know more about it—those tall points love jumping around. They’re flexible and they know their bodies and their limits. They’ve got high Agility and can seem to run forever or let out multiple arrows or stabs in a single breath. It’s a sight to behold.” Joko looked a bit impressed.

“So, we’re learning Intelligence because?” Dave asked.

“The higher your Intelligence, the faster that you’ll learn the other skills. If you are smarter, then it’s only natural that you pick up on things faster than others.” She pulled a book out of her bag, and then another and another.

“You will hold a shield and read until you have read every single thing in these books.” Joko finished with a dozen books. “Go get my shield and put it on your arm, boy. It’s time we started. While you read and learn, I will ask you questions on the cabin.” She smiled.

What the hell did I get myself into? Dave grabbed her shield, which had its points stuck into the ground. It weighed a hundred pounds easily.

“Foot back, squat down, lean forward, arm bent—that will work for now,” Joko said.

“Are you trying to make this hurt as much as possible?” Dave complained. He got a hit on the top of the head from a stick.

“Quiet, recruit. In a warband, you live in discomfort. Your shield and sword are your constant companions. You will hold them until they are ripped from you and you are dead. Hand.”

Dave held out his empty hand.

She put her sword in it, adjusting his arms until it was extended just five inches in front of his shield. “Now, start reading, boy.”

“How will I flip pages?”

“Use your toes.” She walked away.

Dave started reading the first book. It was about how warbands operated. By the fifth page, his frame started to shake.

He fed Mana into his own body and circulated it. His Stamina started to fill; the pain eased away as his Mana fell. He didn’t cast Touch as he focused on reading.

It was an interesting history of how the Dwarves had faced trolls in their ancestral home. They’d fought in mining groups, though they needed equipment. They had first made art; they turned it to weapons as they went farther into the mountains and found harder creatures that spawned and attacked their crews.

The mining crews became warbands. Only the strongest were picked. They worked together to mine as much ore as possible. Then, if a monster appeared, they would work together again to defeat the enemy.

They might be called warbands, but they shared a party bond. They could link to one another in a fight without having to do the linking that Joko had told him about. It was how Dave had been added to their warband by simply fighting with them.

The warband’s tactics were simple. They would all face the enemy; five Dwarves-wide was the width of Dwarven mines. They might look like rogue vagabonds but they were OCD in their mining.

There was a warband leader; they would call out names. Those called would take aggro and the warband would use the mine’s walls to create a circle around the creatures. It took precision and trust. It also took using your shield for possibly hours and then going back to swinging a pick to gather ore that their fiefdom needed.

As the day progressed, Dave read the books faster and faster. He finished with the books and started to look up tactics from Earth’s histories.

***

“Can you really believe that he’s only a level 3?” Max asked Gurren.

Gurren looked at Dave, who was looking at the book at his feet; his eyes twitched as if reading, but there was nothing in front of him to read.

Joko also wandered past, asking about the timbers, or the pad of the house, and their purposes.

Dave answered without looking from his books.

“Joko said that he’s closer to 13 with all of his points. She says that he’s probably not invested his other stat points. If you don’t invest the 5 stat points you get every level, then your level doesn’t appear to go up. He’s grown his stats independent of the extra points he would get from acquiring higher levels,” Gurren said.

“He hasn’t lowered his shield once. I was touching the ground all the time when I started.” Max rubbed the back of his head, remembering the cane his training leader had used.

“If you look closely, you’ll see he’s self-healing. Probably why he stood there through lunch. Joko is training his Intelligence, Strength, Willpower, and Endurance in one shot,” Gurren said, proud of both Joko’s abilities and Dave’s resolve.

“Shame that you’re going to have to cook the food now.” Max laughed.

Gurren pushed the kneeling dwarf over, stirring the pot they were around. “Go get me some of those Purple-drops roots. Will help the meat out some.”

“Get Ever-weed too,” Dave whispered.

“And Ever-weed,” Gurren said, as if it was his own idea.

“That’s cheating.” Max stood. “At least, it’ll be edible!”

Gurren made to stand as Max jogged off, laughing as he went.

***

Time was a relative thing. To Dave, it passed quickly, as if the world around him had been sped up. Mana flowed through his body more easily as information on fighting styles filled him. He ran through forums and read other books on fighting. He understood the wind-runner attacks of wood Elves, the light-bringer attacks of the high Elves, the Dwarven fortification works of warbands, smithies, and Earth mages.

Someone hit him with something. He disregarded it. They hit until they drew blood. Words passed too fast to understand. Dave’s body healed. He was hit and smacked. Finally, someone tried to attack Dave with a sword.

Time returned to normal. He pivoted, bashing with his shield, turning the blade as he moved forward with his own, a move perfected by the Dwarven warbands.

His blade stopped inches from Lox’s stomach.

Dave returned to his original position with a single movement.

“Oi! Put the shield down!” Joko said.

Dave slammed the shield into the ground. His Earth magic secured it in its position by feel rather than conscious decision. A wave of nausea came over him. He spread Mana through his body as he took a knee. His body shook from exertion.

“Eat this, boy,” Gurren said.

Thick broth went down Dave’s mouth. It was sweet ambrosia.

“You sure you made this?” Dave asked, getting a few laughs. They sounded somehow nervous as he ate a full bowl. He felt as if he hadn’t eaten in days. Someone passed him a waterskin and he drank from it.

“You’ve been standing there all day, circulating Mana through yourself to keep yourself going. Where were you?” Joko asked.

“I was learning.” Dave looked at the sword in his hand. He passed it to Joko. In a warband, a dwarf’s life was his shield, armor, and his blade.

It seemed stamped in his mind.

“Well, seems we’ll make a shield bearer out of you yet, boy,” Lox said with approval.

Dave grinned and finished off the waterskin as he looked at his home.

His thirst fell away as he stood slowly. It was a simple dwelling. At one side, there was a stone chimney. The walls were interlocked timber at the ends and clay sealed it shut. The roof’s tiles shone in the sun with their rainproof layer.

The windows were rough holes cut into the wood, with shutters over them. The door was similar, but bigger and made from hardy planks nailed together.

It was simple and purpose-built. It was his.

Dave walked to his home, continuing to circulate Mana. It smelled of trees and clay. He laughed as he went inside, finding his rough floors covered in wood chippings and with the same waterproofing as the tiles.

He went out through the door on the opposite side of the house, onto the balcony that rested under an overhang, and looked out over the land that surrounded his hill. The Dwarves came around the side of his home, all grins and smiles.

“Well, it ain’t much and it’s no mountain, but it’s a home,” Lox said.

“Come here, you upright bastard, you.” Dave walked over to the dwarf and hugged him.

“Oh, get off me!” Lox complained as the others all laughed.

Dave put him down, laughing, and looked at the Dwarves.

“Well, let’s go and see what poison Gurren is cooking up!” Tounk said.

“Ah, tonight, the meal’s on me. I’ve got a special treat I’ve been holding awhile,” Dave said.

“You’re going to need that strength tomorrow,” Joko warned.

“With all of this, I don’t think anything could get me down.” Dave waved to the entirety of Emerilia.

He pulled out the Fire Foxes, preparing them and looking at his notifications. He almost cut off his finger when he looked at the new stat page.

Stat Increase

+8 Willpower

+7 Strength

+8 Intelligence

+12 Endurance

“Something the matter?” Max asked.

Dave relayed them his increase in stats. All of the Dwarves looked impressed but not surprised.

“You have never trained that way before. It’s like you’ve opened up a new path through a forest: at first, it was hard and you got some immediate rewards. Later, those rewards will come slower but they will still be useful,” Joko said.

“So, I got really high because I hadn’t been trained that way before. So, now it will have diminishing returns if I do it again,” Dave said.

“Correct. That’s why we will be doing different training tomorrow.” Her eyes seemed to gain a glint of bloodlust as her teeth showed. “Tomorrow we train you to fight as if you are not part of a warband.”

***

Again, Dave woke with a poke in the ribs.

“Today, we’ll find out what your personal weapon should be. Up you get—we’ve got training to do!” Joko sounded almost pleased and the Dwarves looked on in interest.

Dave rubbed his tired eyes. He felt taller and stronger than ever as he rolled his shoulders.

Joko gave him a wooden stick. “Okay, you’re going to try to hit me. I’ll use that to figure out what kind of weapon best suits you.”

“You sure?” Dave swallowed, hard. The expression of amusement mixed with bloodlust on Joko’s face made him regret the words.

“Come on, halfling, let’s dance!” She batted his arm away and smacked him in the side; it smarted a bunch as she was many times stronger than him.

Dave forgot the things like not hitting a girl and advanced on Joko.

She moved, sometimes hitting or attacking him back. Though for the most part, she seemed interested in watching him. She held up a hand and Dave let the stick fall as he breathed heavily.

“You spend too much damned time in them woods. You’re suited for two axes.” She looked to Lox.

“Give him to me. I’ll teach him a thing or two about war-axes.”

Dave let out a low moan, only widening Lox’s grin.

***

Deia walked along with the dwarf Kol. He was horribly disfigured; his eyes were lost to him, but still he walked on without the need of an aide. Instead, he was with Deia out of curiosity rather than needing any help.

“Well, it looks like Gurren was right about the boy having some spirit.” Kol laughed.

Deia heard the clash of wood on wood as people shouted. She looked to the old man in interest.

“Don’t give me that look, lassie. I might be blind in the physical sense but my Mana and my arts are still spry as a youngling’s!” He walked ahead.

She studied the man further. He truly was an object of interest and one of the strongest Earth mages that she had ever encountered. She followed him; her chest tightened as she saw all the cut down trees. She understood the need and knew that their wood would not go unused. A large plot was being cleared a good distance away from the other clearing where the noises were coming from.

She looked in the direction of Dave’s home. It was complete. The Dwarven warband was working on clearing a new area while Dave and Lox were stuck in combat. Dave used wooden axes while Lox used an axe and a shield, also made of wood.

They were fighting and moving. Lox was bellowing out commands and rewarding Dave’s mistakes with blows he would not soon forget.

Deia saw the pride in the Dwarves as they looked over to the battle. Dave might be a halfling but it seemed that the warband had made him one of their own.

Deia looked at the procession behind her. There were many people, both Elven and Dwarven. They made a snaking path back for a while. There were twelve families in total, with another thirty or so singles and four warbands spread throughout. Rangers were also out looking for mobs in the area.

Many knew of what the Elven and Dwarven clans were hoping this new outpost to become. She looked at Dave, wondering whether the young halfling was ready for that.

As they got closer, Deia could see that Dave was no slouch with his axes. They seemed to be his weapon as he kept constantly moving, keeping up his attacks. He was learning, but there was potential in him. Again, he had put on considerable strength and grown so that he now stood at about five foot five, still a foot shorter than Deia. Though she was interested how tall he would grow.

She had seen Humans reach seven feet in height, similar to the high Elves, certain high-level warriors and barbarians. He was interesting and that, to Elves who lived for hundreds of years, was quite possibly the biggest compliment that they could give to something.

***

Kol walked out of the trees, feeling the warmth of the sun on his face fully. He heard the two smacking away at each other. It mattered little to him as he heard Gurren coming at a run.

“Grandfather Kol!”

The little boy had never cared about Kol’s injuries and instead seen the man under it all.

Kol gave one of his few rare smiles as he embraced the boy. “It is good to see you, boy!”

“I didn’t think that you would come all the way out here,” Gurren said.

“You said interesting things about the halfling and his wares. I’m also not about to let my grandson have all the fun out here! I haven’t been out in the sun in an age. My old bones are stiffening up in the old city,” Kol said. Couldn’t deal with everyone’s pity and the thought of you gone for a year and no one to talk to who wouldn’t treat me like some sort of reject.

“Are you with others?” Gurren asked.

“Four more warbands, some of those rangers, and a good group of people interested in trying to make a home here. Is he the land owner?” Kol pointed at the halfling, who just got smacked in the side of the leg. He collapsed but rolled instead of allowing himself to be beaten to the ground.

Kol could feel the smile on the man’s face as well as the resonance within his body. Kol’s ruined mouth could have opened in shock. When he was able to read people, he could see the colors of their Mana, like sun dancing on ripples of water: varying hues could be brought up. Instead, Kol only saw grey.

It was none of the colors but all of them, swirling in a mixture.

Another might have yelled out his find to others. Kol knew how being different affected people. He let out a cough and cleared his mouth. The youngling was indeed interesting. He would grow with time, but Kol would have to test him first.

“So, I heard that you’re trying to make houses out of these damned trees like some kind of Elf!” Kol demanded, looking at the odd structure that had already been built.

“It’s no stone keep, but they’re decent shelter for the time being. Dave found a quarry not far away we hope to use for stone blocks to make some proper homes.” Gurren nodded off away from the hill.

Kol extended his search, passing out his reach in the direction Gurren had nodded. It was a good pit and would have more than enough stone for the homes.

***

“We’re finished today. Keep working on not only attacking but reacting. Need to up that Agility of yours. Have to see if Deia would be interested.” Lox nodded to where Deia sat at the campfire, looking amused.

“I’ll get right on that.” Dave pulled water from his bag. The Dwarves had loaded him up with weight so that it felt as if he had a few hundred pounds on his back, all in the name of training.

He thought he’d been doing well with his own physical exertions and casting Touch. With the Dwarves’ tutelage, he was earning weeks’ worth of training in days. It was invaluable, but Dave could see it slowing down already.

“With all of these people around, it might be good if we have somewhere other than my house or the campsite to stay.”

“Well, what else are we going to do? Make a place out of thin air?” Lox laughed.

“Read my mind.” Dave pulled out the smithy box and then grabbed the orb.

“Joko, Gurren, Max, Tounk!” Lox yelled. Dave could hear the excitement in his voice.

A dwarf whose face looked as though it had been pulled down with eye patches covering their empty eye sockets followed.

It was the worst injury Dave had seen in his life. It made him feel sorry for the man, but he held himself with obvious pride and Dave felt a strong power from the man. He might look feeble; his ruined hands and the way that his clothes still held to him, even in his advanced age, made him look scary and weak. Though Dave sensed a hidden power in the dwarf, one that few truly saw.

Dave held out the portable smithy.

Portable Smithy

The portable smithy shakes with power. Do you want to use it?

Cost: 250 Mana

Y/N

“Yes.” Dave’s voice rumbled with power.

Mana sped from Dave to the globe. He felt as if power he didn’t know of was leaking out of his body. He fed his power into the portable smithy.

It glowed, rising up and moving away from the group. People who were coming in hopes of creating a home exited the woods and looked at the spinning orb, colors of all kinds rushing through it.

It spun, faster and faster until it was a blur. One second, there was nothing but a cleared plot of land; the next, there was a large smithy. It was built from stone, with coals stoked and anvils waiting for items to be worked on.

“Well, looks like it was worth that damn trek.” Kol grinned as much as his face would let him.

Chapter 12: Bleeder

Bob appeared in the middle of what looked like to be the beginning of a new outpost. Warbands were wandering around. Darkness had settled, tents were up, and people were sitting around campfires and talking, excited for the future. One house was already built, with a smithy beside it. Dwarves wandered around the smithy.

Bob stealthed away, headed for the house and its porch that looked over the hills of the area. “Look at you, alive and well,” Bob said.

Dave looked at Bob as though he had just seen a ghost.

“Six days have gone and past, yet here you are, alive and well. You want to log off and check again?” Bob asked.

Dave did so.

Bob sat against the house and looked out over the stars, taking it in. A moment of rest in a sea of chaos and motion.

***

Zane came back into existence, finding himself asleep in his bed. There were no messages for him. He simply willed himself to return to Emerilia and he was back on his porch and Bob was sitting there.

“Welcome to reality, Dave. You’re the first bleeder, ever.” Bob smiled.

“So, what about the NPCs—the other Players? They can’t be fake,” Dave said.

“They aren’t; they were seeded long ago. Their ancestors, like Players were grown at first. Now, there are so many races from the Affinity Pantheon messing around or interbreeding that a number of extra races cropped up. Before you ask, Players are grown in cycles that take three years. We speed up the simulation for a bit, then slow it down to a third of normal speed. A crop of Players usually last ten years on Emerilia. In the last year, the nanites in your body that allow you to augment yourself with skills and use magic are seeded with a program that will kill anyone that doesn’t log out of the game at the end of nine years. By that time, a new batch of Players has been grown. A few months after the last of the Players leave, a new cycle walks the planet once again,” Bob said.

“So, what do you want from me?” Dave asked, knowing that usually the people who embodied the power of the Affinities gave out tasks and quests to win against their opposites.

“What do I want? Nothing—nothing at all.” Bob grinned.

“Then, why are you here?” Dave was confused.

“I’m here, my dear boy, because I want to be. You are here because you passed through the veil.” Bob rubbed his hands together in interest.

“What do you get out of this all?” Dave asked.

“Entertainment,” Bob said simply.

Dave looked confused as he sat down on the edge of the porch.

“There has never been a bleeder before, a Player realizing the reality of Emerilia. For a time, I thought that it might not happen. Then you showed up,” Bob said. “Chaotic Neutral with the realization that Emerilia is real. The AI don’t even know what you’re going to do, you could do nothing or change all of Emerilia. You can stay here and create an outpost, you can go adventure into the wilderness, you can travel portals, master grey mana or join a guild. Your opportunities are boundless and the AI can’t compensate for what you do until you’ve already done it. The ripples and disturbances you could make in Emerilia,” Bob looked excited at the thought as he rubbed his hands together.

“Grey Mana?”

“This is going to take awhile—all right. So, most people have various colors associated with their Mana; maybe multiple colors that are associated with the type of Affinity that they’re proficient in, or used first. You unlocked them all at the same time, so your Mana will look grey.”

“Wait, first, what the hell is mana?” Dave asked.

“Wow, we’re going with the easy ones first huh? Okay, so Mana is a combination of things. First the energy that your body can store which would be your mana pool. Then, there are spells, changes that you create in your environment and yourself. This is usually done with the augments that you have or specialized nanites. Combine Mana and spells and you get an effect,” Bob said.

“Okay, so I’m just using different kind of nanites? So, me growing in one affinity means?”

“That you have more nanites of that kind within your body to alter along the different elements path.

“What about Runes?” Dave asked.

“Say you’re building a closet. It’s easier to see the pictures and step by step instead of having someone reading it to you. Same with magical circuits. You have runes to lay out step by step instructions for changing the mana into an effect. You can really refine the instructions with runes. With Chants, it’s much more difficult; there is tonal inflection, pauses unseen punctuation. It’s much more general than a magical circuit and the runes making it up.

“Now, look into my eyes.” Bob waited as Dave’s eyes reached him.

Bob established a link and fed him information, while also understanding Dave better. It seemed like moments but felt like a lifetime when Bob closed his eyes and looked away.

“Wow,” Dave said, sounding stunned.

“Instantaneous information transference—same kind of thing that is used on spell books and other books you can learn information from.”

Dave held up his hand. A grey mist filled his hand, hardening into a ball. It looked as if he’d made a perfectly polished grey stone ball.

“Welcome to Neutrality. My name in Emerilia is Bobby McMahnon.” Bob extended his hand.

“Hi, Bob. I’m Dave.”

“Good to meet you, Dave. Now, let’s work on that Conjuring of yours.” Bob grinned.

“What is with everyone and training!” Dave complained. “I’ve got more questions!”

“Ah, come on, it’s pretty fun—being the trainer, that is.” Bob smiled. “I’ll answer what I can.”

“So, when I respawn here, what happens?”

“A new body is created and your consciousness is transferred to your new body. You lose overall level experience and the stat points you invested with those levels. Also, people can loot your body of anything that isn’t soul bound or in something soul bound. The experience and stat loss is dependent on two things, how long a person has been at one level and their willpower. If you advanced through levels quickly, you will lose them faster. This is because you are not used to it. When you are recreated, your consciousness is used as a blueprint for the new body. On Emerilia, your consciousness is saved in an energy medium, known as Willpower. The stronger your Willpower, the less drop in level you will have. Same as if you have been at the same level for a longer time, or you level up your stats by yourself and didn’t lose your stat points with each gained level. Anything that you gain yourself through training or actions you cannot lose,” Bob said.

“So, if I level fast, I can lose levels fast because my consciousness isn’t used to the higher-powered body. If I develop my stats myself, I don’t lose them and the higher my willpower, the less levels I lose?” Dave said.

“Bingo, what else do you have for me?” Bob asked.

“So, what happened to the previous Players?”

“They all died,” Bob grimaced.

“How?”

“At the end of every cycle, the servers ‘shut down.’ When people log off, their consciousness tries to reconnect to the Earth simulation, but it has already been turned off. Logging off kills them. Those that don’t log off are either killed by Emerilia’s Paladins or a Jukal hit squad. The Jukal pay a lot of money to be allowed to hunt down old Players,” Bob said, looking away.

“Is this all that’s left of humanity?” Dave asked.

“That I know of.”

For long moments, they sat there, each wrapped up in their own thoughts.

“Okay, let’s give this a try.” Dave rubbed his hands together. This was his reality now; he needed to be ready for what came in the future. He still had lingering doubts, but his mind was coming to the realizations that he didn’t fully want to accept.

Instead of thinking about it all, he called up one of the metal poles with spikes at the end of it. It was the same spike he’d dropped on the bear.

“Nice—saw that bear thing. Seems that in a fight, you find it a lot easier. We need to get you to where it’s like flexing a muscle: imagine and poof!” Bob held his hand out; a great sword appeared from a cloud of smoke. “Sword!”

Dave smiled. It was hard to get annoyed with Bob; he was, after all, helping him and a pretty happy-go-lucky guy.

“Okay.” Dave put the spike down and created another in his hand.

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Bob said.

Chapter 13: Questions and Answers

Dave finished his sparring and training with Joko and Deia. He was getting both faster and stronger, and actually understanding the basics of fighting. He snorted as he looked at where his action bar should have been.

There were two types of Players: Evolvers and Actions. Action Players bought spells and attacks that were based on their stats and levels. When they played, they used mental, vocal, and preset commands, which would use their selected actions and make them perform different actions. While they carried out an action, they were unable to do anything else.

That was what made Evolvers so deadly. They didn’t use preset commands or only a few. They trained with their weapons and actually fought instead of mashing command after command.

Say you had two archers: one an Action and the other an Evolver. On a range, the Action would probably do amazing. Might be a bit slower or their arrows less powerful but their aim was brilliant.

Take that and put it on the battlefield. Sure, the Action could fire an arrow with good accuracy, but once they command to fire, they couldn’t pause.

An Evolver could run and dodge, holding their bow notched and ready. When they saw a target, they could pull and hold, getting a feel for the target’s movement—anticipating it and then letting loose, or dodging an attack and giving up.

Once an Action Player was committed, they were rooted to the spot. If you took that and put it with two melee fighters—one Action, one Evolver—the Action needed a powerful ass stun or crowd control to hold the Evolver at bay. Even ten levels above wasn’t enough of a gap. The Evolver, if properly trained, would use the seconds that it took for an Action to select their attack and carry it out to stab the almighty hell out of them.

The Evolver could target critical areas while the Action would only get them if they had a special attack, or actually started using their Evolving actions.

Dave smelled a familiar smell. A grin passed over his face. Bob might have made this prison but Dave didn’t deny that they had become friends. He was also a wealth of information, which had helped to clear up the whole “stat points and level” debacle.

When you gained enough XP to get to a higher level, you were given 5 stat points to invest how you want. It was only once you had invested these points that your ranks went up.

The game creators thought it would be unfair to call someone level 50 if they hadn’t invested the 250 stat points they would get from the previous levels. So, you could be fighting a level 50 but they only had 100 stat points invested. You’d think that they are a lot stronger than they really are and make it unbalanced.

Here, if you invested the points, then your overall level became higher. If you acquired stat points from anything other than leveling up, it did not make your overall level increase.

“Hiya, buddy!” Bob grinned as Dave stepped onto his porch. Bob sat in what appeared to be a recliner while Dave took the crude Muskoka seat he’d made.

Lox had made him submit a patent for the chair after trying it out. Dave shrugged and did so. It seemed quality seating was in high demand and patents were a good way to make some easy gold.

“Hey, Bob.” Dave sat in his chair, his twin axes poking out of the side as he felt the day’s training on his back and shoulders.

“Should work on your Conjuring of organics,” Bob said.

“Huh?” Dave said, half-listening, his eyes closed in bliss as he relaxed after hours of running, hitting, stabbing, and mostly getting his ass beat up by two fierce women.

“I’ve always wanted to try some human booze,” Bob said.

Dave opened his eyes and looked to Bob. “Wait, I can… Wow, why didn’t you say something sooner?” Dave asked. “Going to need to find the breakdown of Guinness by element, then find the properties here. Need to make a damn periodic table and see which items match what. Find the combination. Can’t have fake beer.” Dave browsed through the Internet to find out information on his favorite brew.

As Bob had said, the more Dave knew about varying items, the higher quality they became when he conjured them.

Bob had shown it with a BLT sandwich. Dave created it. It smelled heavenly: thick-cut bread with nice, thin bacon, crunchy lettuce, and ripe tomatoes. Then he’d taken a bite. It looked and smelled like a BLT but it tasted like cardboard.

He was not going to do the same with his favorite beer!

Bob laughed as Dave skimmed through information, new thoughts filling his mind.

It was a few minutes later when Bob was able to pull Dave’s eyes from his Internet browsing. “Do that later. For now, I’ll answer some of the questions you had,” Bob said.

“Like about the NPCs, us, and other Humans?” Dave said.

Bob looked at Dave and tapped his armrest in thought. “Okay. Though I have one condition.” Bob turned serious.

Dave pushed his interface to the side, turning so he faced Bob completely.

“I wish for you to become one of my agents,” Bob said, his constant humor falling away.

Dave rubbed his face in thought. “What would it entail?” He was not about to walk into this blindly.

“Good—most people jump at a lord saying that; they’ll give them a blessing!” Bob cracked a grin before he became serious again. “First, I will tell you of what became of humanity.”

Dave nodded.

Bob puffed on his pipe, sitting back and collecting his thoughts. “A large population of humanity was held on Earth. Others had been sowed across tens of systems. I’m still not confident that we found all of humanity. You people are as smart and sneaky as you are brilliant and fun. We abducted every human we could find on Earth, stuffed them into cryo pods. We took them apart until we knew how to make you. Once we had that information, we destroyed Earth and Mars, killing any Humans left behind.” Bob’s face looked troubled but he continued on.

“We created Emerilia at the same time. Players were grown and their minds linked to the simulations of the twenty-third century. When they logged onto Emerilia, their consciousness was moved to their host body. Upgraded with enhanced abilities to control Mana, better strength—you get the idea. At first, we had just Players like yourself and NPC constructs—androids and such. We had to can the first two Player iterations as they killed the NPCs and found out that they were robots. Broke the whole immersion process.”

“So, wait, the Players are test-tube babies?” Dave asked.

Bob nodded.

Dave looked troubled, looking at his arm and the interface. I’m me—doesn’t matter how I was born.

“So are the NPCs. We grew them, less strengths and other items. Then we put them into different simulations. Dwarves, Elves, Humans, gnomes, Goblins, Orcs: all of the sentients were and are created that way. We populated Emerilia again and let it leak that there were Humans on the planet. A new iteration of Players was created and Emerilia took off.” Bob shook his head.

“The program was close to being shut down. The resources to turn Emerilia into what it was were immense. Though, in a single cycle of Players being introduced to the planet, we stopped requiring power, but actually started having a massive power output. Through the Affinity Pantheon, the Jukal Empire were able to harvest the energy of People of Emerilia, or POE’s and the Players

“Players started creating things that we had only theorized. Your minds are a mix of aggressive and peaceful; given into a game where your possibilities seemed endless, you didn’t care about boundaries. You went for it.”

Dave could see a light in Bob’s eyes, excited and driven. The scientist who had started Emerilia—saved a race and watched them grow.

“For decades, Players added to our knowledge and grew. They went through the portals and destroyed the aggressive races that threatened to overpower the Jukal Empire. Hell, humanity started to come out of their hiding spots to try to rescue their people from Emerilia. We opened portals, making it impossible for you to understand your cousins and Players in battle. In the end, it was not the Jukal Empire that destroyed humanity; it was just their unknowing slaves who thought that they were playing a game.” Bob’s voice was heated, taking a moment to try to cover the anger with a cough.

“Any who came to Emerilia, we destroyed or harvested to be used as genetic material. Same with the planets and hiding spots. There are undoubtedly more out there, but they have not shown themselves in centuries now.

“Players stopped being interested in Emerilia. The order was given to shut down the server. Players left thinking that the servers were being turned off and Emerilia was dying. When they logged off, their consciousness was never respawned by the Altars of Rebirth. They simply died, never knowing that Emerilia was real.

“It didn’t take long for more aggressive species to come to light. The NPCs were decent but they were more sedate; Emerilia was their reality. They didn’t respawn and they were fighting one another enough that adding in aggressive species to clear would have been useless. We got a new batch of Players, put them into the simulators of the twenty-third century. Sped up their lives. In a year, we had mature Players filled with the enchantments, magical circuits, and interfaces that the previous Players had perfected. We sent them off to deal with the aggressive species and watched as humanity dealt with the Jukal Empire’s issues. The Affinity lords and ladies came into effect with the fourth iteration of Players. The power coming from Emerilia was crazy then.”

Bob smoked, a sad smile on his face.

“You continued to innovate, create, and fight with every fiber of your beings. It was that life which spawned the Emerilia broadcasting network. Emerilia was broadcasted to every planet and then it all changed. Instead of Players being brought to Emerilia in order to fight the aggressive species, you were animated for entertainment and the possible financial benefits that the Jukal Empire could milk. Humanity has evolved power generation and technological advances for the last five hundred years. The portals are closed at times so that the aggressive species can regenerate their forces. Their planets have been altered in order to make them spawn faster and be stronger. The Empire lost sight of their goals. War became entertainment instead of a feared practice.” Bob’s words came out through gritted teeth, his body shaking in anger.

Dave could see it now. Emerilia wasn’t just Bob’s project and construct anymore. It was his home, his reality. The planet and its people were his home and his people.

“That is what happened with Emerilia and with humanity,” Bob spat. “And I was the idiot who started it all.”

The amount of self-loathing was palpable. The jokes and humor were just a way for Bob to cover his inner struggle and pain.

“So, do you want to become an agent of the man who enslaved the human race?” Bob asked, knowing that Dave wouldn’t.

“Maybe,” Dave said.

It was Bob’s turn to look shocked at Dave.

“Yeah, you made Emerilia; yeah, you made us unknowing slaves. You wanted to protect what was your Empire. Now, you’re just stuck watching your home and your people being used by that same Empire. Your creation has been twisted and changed. If you didn’t care, then I’d come for your head. Instead, you’re here, talking to me—for whatever reason, I don’t know—and you’ve admitted your faults. You did people wrong and used them. Yet, I didn’t know them. I don’t really feel for them. Maybe that’s just cold, but it’s reality and human. Those are two things I do know.

“I’m not going to let the Jukal Empire control my life, or the lives of my friends. I’m not going to let a bunch of stuck-up gods playing worldwide chess screw around with the People of Emerilia. I might not become your agent, but I will be your friend.” Dave let out a small smile. He couldn’t do much more with the weight of history weighing down on him.

Bob looked away, sniffing and rubbing the side of his face. “Ugh, got allergies with this big darned gnome nose!”

Dave’s smile grew; he saw through Bob’s embarrassment.

It was a few minutes until Bob looked back, a smile on his face and no signs of tears. “Well, if you’re going to fight, you’re going to need a teacher.” Bob smiled.

“Huh?” Dave said.

“You’re not just expecting to know everything about the skill after reading some book, right?”

“Course not.”

“Conjuring is the art of materialization; that said, the more you know about the item you want to create, the stronger you can make it. There hasn’t been a Shadow Conjurer—ever, I think. You’re pretty rare and people are going to notice a rare power like that. So, we’re going to have to hide it,” Bob said.

“How?”

“Impatient, huh?” Bob laughed. Dave shrugged, the gnome wasn’t wrong, magic was pretty sweet.

“Okay, so, you can materialize items from pure energy and thought. That said, the power draw to make items is going to be massive at the beginning. Think like a nail draining all your mana. Your thought guides the mana into conjuring an item. You don’t need to make entire swords, but if you could add a finer edge to it, or hit from the shadows to maximize your damage. Few people will know about your power. Oh, and if you want to make weapons and armor, it might be an idea to work on your smithing.”

“Smithing has nothing to do with magic.”

“You’d be surprised. Though I’m not talking about it for the magical aspect. I’m talking about expanding your understanding of the objects you want to conjure. The more you know about the conjured item, the more powerful it’s going to be,”

“Then I could hide the fact that I conjured the item, instead saying that I forged it instead.” Dave nodded his head. He rather liked the idea of staying out of the limelight. He’d had enough of it as Zane.

“Cool! When can I get started?” Dave asked.

“Whoa—you don’t even know how to swing a sword properly yet. Give it time, have some patience here. Small steps to a big goal,” Bob said.

“Okay.” Dave sat back in his chair and smiled.

“First, you need to work on conjuring up some damned beers,” Bob muttered, his voice just loud enough for Dave to hear.

It was Dave’s turn to roll his eyes as he laughed.

“Now, let’s keep it simple, stupid. Gimme a dagger,” Bob said.

Grey smoke pooled in Dave’s hand, forming into a fine-looking dagger.

“Bah! Look at that binding! More Mana than craft—get to know the materials better. Need to re-learn your periodic table—look at that tin content!”

Dave sighed. It was going to be a long night.

Chapter 14: The Road to Omal

It had been two months since Bob had sat here with him as he learned how to conjure weapons. They’d gone over enhancing weapons Dave was using. Then how Dave had bound his shadow enchantments to his arrows against the bear.

Dave found that he could create them in the sky, dropping them onto whatever was below. It was hard to estimate where they’d land but he was getting better at it. He was now looking closer to a level 30. The majority were well above him in terms of experience, grinding their levels and gear with mob hunting, quests, raids, and portals.

The Dwarves quieted as Dave took a seat on his porch.

Lox cleared his throat. “We have a request of ya, laddie, and a proposition from our lord.”

Dave had seen the messenger arriving but he hadn’t paid it much heed. “Spit it out—no need to stand on ceremony.” Dave smiled as the other Dwarves relaxed a bit.

“We’re going out on patrol, looking for any mobs around here and to survey a portion of the land from here to Omal. The Dwarven and Elven clans have many goods that they wish to sell but no way to get it to the other lands. It is Lord Fend and Evo’Mael’s hope to build a road to this outpost and then to Omal. Give our wagon trains a place to rest and a position of strength to push back the higher-level creatures plaguing the area.”

Dave nodded. He’d assumed something like that was going on.

“We ask if you would join us on our patrol. You might have a low level but you have shown yourself to be a worthy ally and dwarf of honor.”

Dave looked at them all.

He thought of the families who had moved in, looking for something other than their ancestral homes.

In the smithy, Dwarves were fixing their gear and those that came to them. They’d agreed to teach him what they knew when they were free in payment for using the smithy. He wanted to know more about weapons in order to grow his ability as a Shadow Conjurer.

He also wanted to see the outpost grow and prosper. He’d only known them for a short time but he could see the energy in their eyes. They could really make something of it in the outpost.

“Of course, I’ll come with you! Is it even a question? Though I should warn you, with a road from here to Omal, you will not only be opening up trade routes—you’ll be inviting Players in, though they will probably be looking to kill higher-level mobs and have some decent wares to sell. Others will look to harm and harass,” Dave said.

“How do you know that?” Max asked, the question curious instead of accusatory.

“I’m a Player as well, or I was. Now I’m a resident of this world, just with some extra gifts,” Dave said.

There were a few moments of silence as Deia and the Dwarves took that knowledge in.

“I was wondering how you knew how to make this house. Certainly isn’t like any others that I’ve seen or heard of.” Gurren tapped the wooden porch.

“So, you would be able to send out a message to the other travelers, telling them of higher-level mobs and they would willingly fight them?” Tounk asked. “Are they insane?”

Dave laughed. “A little bit, but when we die, we are revived in special locations. We, like you, have figured out ways to fight the mobs, using aggro and other techniques, though from the forum posts, it looks like the Alturarans through the portals don’t act like mobs.”

“The portal to the lands of the Alturarans is open?” Lox said, fire in his voice.

“Yes—what’s wrong?” Dave said.

“Those creatures are a curse and blight on this land. They want nothing more than destruction and use their Dark tendencies for evil means.” Lox’s words were hot and angry.

“Well, isn’t Dark evil?”

“Not inherently, my boy. The Dark is of all things that are not living; the rocks, the ores—they are from the Dark. A rock is not bad unless it is imbued with Dark magic to form a rock golem. All Dwarves have a spark of Dark and Earth in them.

“They work with the Dark and the Earth in order to create and prosper. We can construct golems, though we do not touch the inanimate of the dead. Necromancers and the like have used the Dark on the inanimate and no longer living, and imbued them with terrible purpose, bending them to their will in order to harm and hurt. The Dark is powerful as it does not feel pain or remorse. The Alturarans waded into the Dark so much that they did not only command the Dark forces, they have replaced their own light, their bodies, and placed it within Dark creations.”

“Well, that is pretty crappy. It also means that someone can be of the Light and be completely evil while someone of the Dark can be good.” Dave lost himself in thought.

“It is not a person’s Affinity that makes them what they are. It is their actions,” Lox said. The other Dwarves muttered their agreement.

“Well, if we have travelers coming in the area, you need to be warned. They are smart and conniving; they see this only as entertainment. Someone who has been killing mobs all day and then is told something they don’t like could attack as they don’t see you as people, but figments of their imagination,” Dave warned.

“We have measured the risks; that is why we have not tried to force anyone to come here. We will found a town here with your blessing. With that, we can cast magical runes for defense that will strengthen our forces within to deal with any traveler or creature.”

“I thought this was more people than you would need for a simple outpost.” Dave smiled.

“Of course, you would get a percentage of profit from items that passed through this area. Dwarves pay their debts.”

“So, about this patrol?” Dave asked, waving the subject away. Dwarven honor was not something to be questioned.

“As you said, we will need to take wagons from here to Omal and that requires roads. We wish to see how they do business, as well as defeat any mobs that might bring danger to those who come to this hill. Will you party with us to kill mobs and found a road from Omal to Cliff-Hill?” Lox asked.

“It’ll be good to hit something real instead of your damn wooden shield!” Dave smiled.

“Good. Then you’ll be needing these.” Tounk pulled out two axes and handed them to Dave.

Fine Steel Axe x2

Well-made axes that would make any warrior proud

Quality: B

Damage: 23

Durability: 80/80

“Wow, thanks.” Dave took the axes and checked their weight. They were simple and straightforward, but their workmanship was well done.

“Tomorrow we start on our journey to Omal,” Lox said, rising.

Dave nodded. He liked his peace and quiet, and it looked as if he would be keeping it as the Dwarven/Elven town was being built a good distance away. Yet he’d been training for a good while and he was interested to see what else the world had to offer him. There was no going back to boring conference rooms and having to fight the United States government. He was here for however long. Although he liked his peace, he found himself excited to meet other travelers. To see an Alturaran or the cities that the Dwarven warband had talked about and he’d seen on forum posts.

Even if he was stuck in the game forever, there was plenty to keep him entertained. The Dwarves were teaching him the basics, though his speed of picking things up from them was decreasing. This would be his first time looking to clear mobs.

He’d grown a lot out in the forest; he was pretty excited and more than a touch anxious about what would happen.

***

It didn’t take Deia long until she found a mob that needed clearing out. She had a much higher Surveyor skill than Dave and an Agility that allowed her to practically walk up trees. She’d find the tallest tree and survey the landscape, moving on if she didn’t see anything in the area. The Dwarves, on the other hand, looked at the land and figured out where they wanted the road to go.

They might be a warband but Dwarves were innate builders. All of them knew how to mine and form items from mountains at a young age. All of them were close to seventy years of age—barely more than teenagers in Dwarven terms—and looking forward to another two hundred active years.

They grumbled and argued, talking about the ground, the way the water ran. Dave just kept his distance and took in the peaceful forest, until Deia dropped out right in front of the warband.

“Seems there’s a collection of Kalsa in the area,” Deia said. A new way point appeared on all of their maps.

“Five of them. I can kite two of them, but no more,” Deia said.

“Let’s go take a look.” Lox led the way, holding his shield ready and his hand on his blade. Deia disappeared back into the woods as Dave followed. His job was to heal and learn. The mobs in the forest were too high of a difficulty for him. Though he would still get XP from being an active part of the party.

“Hold up,” Deia said through the party chat as they were now in range for her to link her Analyze of the Kalsa to the party. They looked like armadillos, but much bigger and a lot angrier.

Level 24 Kalsa

Level 36 Kalsa

Level 50 Kalsa

Level 48 Kalsa

Level 53 Kalsa

That last one is a monster!

“Take ’em!” Lox said.

Deia’s arrows cut into the level 53 where its neck connected to its shell. It let out squeaks as Tounk stopped it moving with a thrust of his sword.

Or maybe not?

Lox dazed the level 50 with his shield. He kicked it over and drove a sword into its gut, nearly cutting the Kalsa in two.

After that, Dave didn’t pay attention to the combat logs as Kalsa continued to die at an alarming rate.

“Ah shit, Kalsa goop!” Gurren said. The other Dwarves had already finished off their quarry.

“You sure you need me around?” Dave asked.

“Of course!” Lox said, seriously. “Need a damn cook!”

Dave grinned. He wasn’t going to complain; he was learning a lot as they fought and that learning, just as with his conjuring ideas, was increasing his skill levels slowly but surely.

The XP was also raising his potential levels but until he actually put those stat points into anything, he wouldn’t be going up at all.

Deia jumped up a tree and used Surveyor.

“We’re clear, for now.” She stayed up there, looking for possible threats that might come because of the freshly spilled blood.

“Well, shit—going to have to get a new pair of pants.” Joko sighed and looked at the state of her armor greaves.

Dave could see that they had only won because of the party working together. He also saw his notification tab blinking.

Level 12

You have reached level 12; you have 45 stat points to use.

His level had gone up, but he hadn’t used anything but magic. His Affinity levels had increased.

The Dwarves hadn’t got any large stat increases as only a few of the kills still gave them experience as they had allotted their stat points. Dave was seeing some big positives to holding off on using his points and just collecting high experience.

“So, I was wondering if we might use that graveling method to level out the roadway, same way that Dave did—give it better drainage. What do you think, Dave?” Gurren said.

“Do you talk about anything other than roads?” Dave shook his head. The Dwarves laughed as they picked up their gear, recovering from their fight.

Dave blinked at the creatures. They each had a few gold coins on them. He took them; once he left the menu, the creatures turned into ash.

“What the hell just happened?” Dave asked.

“Loot is the binding essence of mobs—take it away and they disappear. You cut them up like the animals they are and you can use them for food and such. Not many travelers think to eat the animals that they see. Just leave dust piles. Also, if you cut them up, you can get things like their furs, natural armor, bits for potions, and if you remove the loot physically, the rest doesn’t turn to ash,” Max said.

“Well, that is useful to know,” Dave said.

They wandered in a weaving fashion, the Dwarves scouting the ground for the road, Deia scouting from the air, and Dave being hammered into a fighter by the Dwarves.

***

“When you reach the higher levels, you should be much stronger than those who are using them. They might have gear, spells, and such, but travelers and even us normal folk—we are too used to the extras that our levels give us that we don’t properly grow into them,” Joko said.

“Beyond the portals, with the normal characters of the land and travelers, it will be of more benefit to know your skills rather than your abilities. Someone who is using preset spells instead of forming them to their will is going to be weaker, less flexible. Many spellcasters need to do complex movements and chant words of power to use their powers. You can cast it as if it is another muscle.” Deia looked at Dave.

“Why is it that every time you look at me, it feels like I’m a test subject?”

“That’s ’cause you’re learning, boy!” Lox laughed.

Even Deia shared a smile. “Tomorrow, we shall see if we can get you moving faster and work on that Surveyor’s skill of yours.”

“Ugh!” Dave fell back onto his sleeping mat. “Why did I agree to all of this training?”

The Dwarves laughed and Dave joined in. He really appreciated it, but a dwarf wasn’t one for letting out their feelings with words. A good head-butt or shoulder slap was enough to convey what they meant.

Dave liked the training and he liked his home. Though the more people talked of the rest of Emerilia, the more he wanted to explore.

It saddened him, knowing that he would have to leave his friends behind if he went on his travels. They had commitments to their clans. Dave had no such commitments. They would live for hundreds of years, plenty of time to wander around before coming back to his home on the hill.

Still, he had a lot to learn and he didn’t want to leave quite yet.

Chapter 15: Gravity is a Bitch

Dave felt the tree limb break. He looked up at the branch. No, come on—you can do it. The branch cracked. This is going to hurt.

Curses could be heard as his four-foot plummet was met with a tree limb between his legs. Everyone else winced at the sight as Dave tilted and fell the remaining feet. He barely registered falling to the ground as he wheezed on the ground.

“Fuck climbing.” His throat was tight in pain as he worried that the world would never see little Daves running around.

Deia landed like a feather, the polar opposite of his abortive landing.

“I think, lass, you should go scouting. The lad’s feeling a bit under the weather,” Lox said.

“Dave—talk to me, Dave. How many fingers am I holding up?” Gurren asked.

“NGGHHH.”

“Never seen that before—stunned, dazed, and scared in one go. That’s the reason I stay on the damn ground,” Tounk said to Joko.

“You and me both, brother,” Joko said.

Dave circulated Mana through his body, but still it was awhile before he was even able to get out of the fetal position. “Ow.” He tenderly stretched out on the ground.

***

The next day, Dave was happy that Deia chose to fight him instead of make him climb some more trees.

Dave conjured a dagger, pouring more Mana into it to make it last longer.

“If you have the basic structure down well, it will take a lot less magic for it to hold its form,” Deia said. “It is the same thing with Elven homes. We see the structure that already is and feed it magic in order to grow into that form. Forcing a tree to grow into a form without taking into account its structure will make it weaker. Get a better idea of the base materials—the wood, the leather, the metal, the work that went into each and the combination of them all. You might find that it takes a lot less magic to create.”

Dave was frustrated and tired but he nodded his head. “You might have a point.” He looked at his blade.

“That training is for someone else.” Her blade was on Dave’s kidney. “My training means that you should know of everything that is around you at all times. Without your Touch of the Land.”

She stepped away and Dave turned to face her.

“We will work on making you silent as well as deadly. Agility is a must in any fight. Be fast to react and faster to strike.”

Deia smiled. It was enough to turn Dave to mush. Then she came at him with her dagger.

His latest training had started.

***

“What do you see?” Deia asked as she and Dave moved quietly through the forest. He was many times better than he had been when he had snuck up on the wolf and snake fighting.

Dave was going to give an off-the-cuff remark but looked around. It was low light, but to him it mattered little. He searched the area, remembering what she had been pumping into his skull for the last couple of days, as well as the small signs everywhere. It took him ten minutes before it all clicked.

“There is a cave up ahead. There is a group of creatures living in it, not wild animals but humanoid.”

“How do you know that?” Deia asked.

“The way of the land. The trees are lower over there and higher there, meaning that there is a rise. I don’t see any smoke, but I can smell it and meat cooking. That means that the fire has to be inside a cave and the creatures are cooking their food. There are few animals in this area that would cook their food before eating it. Most likely they’re humanoid of some kind.”

“Well done.” Deia continued on. Dave followed, moving over a small rise, and looked down toward the cave he’d picked up on.

There, in front of it, were three green creatures wearing rough armor and looking ugly as all hell.

“Goblins,” Dave said.

“Quite, and a large group of them,” Deia said.

Level 5 Goblin

Level 12 Goblin

Level 7 Goblin

Dave watched as a group of Goblins walked toward the three at the entrance to the cave. Dave got a whiff of their unwashed smell. He didn’t want to know how bad it was up close. “What are we going to do?”

“You’re going to start taking out their patrols. I will get the others.”

“You want me to take out an entire patrol?” Dave hissed.

“I have faith; you are stronger than you think. These are five levels or so below your actual level. Remember your training and fight smart.” With that, she wandered away.

“What is with people and stealthing away just as they give me an impossible task!” Dave hissed, keeping his voice low.

He sighed and looked around. He picked up various footprints leaving the cave and returning to it. They varied in how bright they were.

Dave followed the latest footprints to start his hunt. He found his first trio of Goblins wandering through the underbrush, utterly hating their journey.

Dave conjured a blade in his hand. He grabbed the little bugger’s mouth as he stuck his dagger through its back and turned. It bucked and then fell silent.

Dave let it drop to the ground slowly. He moved toward the last two that were still walking. He needed to act before they realized their equally stinky buddy wasn’t around.

Dave conjured another blade, stabbing one in the kidney and turning his blade.

The last one turned. Dave slashed its neck and it went down gurgling.

Dave opened the loot menu above their corpses. He took all—a few coppers and some rusted armor. Their corpses turned to ash and disappeared.

He destroyed his conjured blades; a portion of their Mana returned to his bar as he looked at the other footsteps in the area. They were a few hours old. It would take him too much time to find them, so he returned to where Deia had given him his mission.

The Dwarves and Deia were waiting.

“Dave and I will take out the guards at the entrance. We will signal you down. Then you can surprise them,” Deia said.

Lox was technically the higher rank, but he nodded in agreement.

“Dave, go left.” She disappeared up a tree.

“I swear, she was a squirrel in another life.” Dave looked to the Dwarves. “Good-looking squirrel, that is.”

“I heard that.”

The Dwarves grinned as Dave made a quick departure, his face practically glowing red.

He moved off to the side of the cave. The patrol had headed into the cave but the three guards still stood at the entrance, talking in their high-pitched language.

Level 5 Goblin

Level 12 Goblin

Level 7 Goblin

Dave pulled out his bow. He was running at fifty percent Mana from conjuring daggers and he might need to heal someone soon.

He sighted the level 12 Goblin. He waited a few minutes. Thinking enough time had passed, Dave pulled back his arrow and let loose.

His training with the bow, conjuring items in the air, and watching dozens of instructional videos had paid off. He caught the Goblin in the neck. It went down with a gurgle as a shadow dropped from above the cave, killing the other two Goblins.

They didn’t have time to make a noise before Deia signaled everyone to move up.

Dave held another arrow at the ready and headed for Deia. She moved into the cave. Dave followed. They moved deeper into the cave.

A Goblin walked out of a cavern up ahead and into the corridor Deia and Dave were creeping up. Dave’sarrow buried itself in the Goblin’s face. They went down in a shriek.

Deia pulled her twin swords free and ran forward, their element of surprise gone. Dave unequipped his bow and grabbed his axes. Deia finished off the Goblin on the floor as they moved into the open cavern. Ttwenty Goblins stared back at them.

“Shit,” Dave muttered.

With a shrill war-cry they charged forward, brandishing stone or rusted weapons.

The Dwarves arrived, creating a semi-circle around the entrance to the room and around Deia and Dave. Dave touched the ground as the Goblins charged. They were coming on like a flood of green and week old body odor.

He understood the layout of the room. Time slowed as a structure came to his mind; he waited, watching the Goblins come. At the last moment, he infused it with Mana.

Rough spikes appeared around the Dwarves. Goblins, unable to stop themselves, were impaled on the spikes. The tide stopped. Goblins screamed as arrows hit the Dwarves’ shields. Not all of the Goblins had charged.

Dave destroyed the conjured spikes, creating new spikes under the Goblin archers. He held onto the wall for support.

“Meditate.” Deia pushed Dave to sit.

He felt power fill the void inside. He heard Lox call out orders as the Dwarves moved into the room, cutting down the badly wounded Goblins that were now at their mercy. Dave released all of his conjurings. Power returned to him, a fraction of what he had spent. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Time to move forward. Next time, let us get a bit of the action.” Max pulled Dave to his feet.

“I’ll think about it.” Dave still didn’t have a handle on gauging his powers. From the Goblins lying around, it looked as if his attacks had been effective.

Lox and the Dwarves moved up ahead. Deia had stored her swords and had her bow in her hand. A glance showed that the Dwarves hadn’t got a single injury. Dave followed them.

There were sounds of fighting up ahead. Dave could see Goblins in the corridor they’d moved into. It opened out into a large cavern, a large pool to the right. Goblins were everywhere, in tents or sprawling around cooking areas. A massive Goblin yelled and the Goblins took up its call, rushing forward.

Level 55 Goblin Chief

Dave looked at the creature with a staff at its side and the two Goblins wearing armor in front of its stone seat.

Level 47 Goblin Mage

Level 32 Goblin Warrior

Level 39 Goblin Warrior

The Dwarves slammed their shields into the ground, ready for a long fight as Goblins hit their shields. Their shields cut out. They were nearly thirty levels above the normal Goblins they were fighting.

It would take one lucky hit to take them down, skill over sheer levels. Sometimes, blind luck or misfortune could mean the end of a creature. Dave had seen that more than once with his fights.

Though raw and unquestioning power also had its place. The Dwarves tore the 20-30 level Goblins apart in one or two hits.

Dave put his axes away and grabbed his bow, adding to Deia’s attacks. Every so often, he’d drop a sharpened pole through a Goblin archer. He made sure he kept his Mana at forty percent. The rest he used his arrows against.

The Dwarves were holding out but the Goblins were using their dead to try to climb their shields.

“Pull back!” Lox said, his voice calm and collected.

“Up!”

The Dwarves moved as one, their spikes coming free of the ground.

“Step back.”

They made one pace. Max and Tounk, on either side, folded into the corridor. Lox, Joko, and Gurren spread out, taking up the length of the corridor.

“Down!”

The Dwarves planted their shields.

Dave added his arrows to Deia’s; where his took two or three, she was cutting them down with single hits. The entire time, the Dwarves’ blades had been stabbing, bleeding the Goblins.

“Be ready to take care of those archers. Dave, get your Mana back—drop some steel spikes in the bastards,” Lox ordered.

Dave dropped into a seated position, his Mana regenerating quickly. He sent out a Touch, as Deia and Bob had been teaching him; it was getting faster and faster. He studied the entire room. He hadn’t picked it up before, but there were a number of stalactites in the ceiling. He studied the roof, a plan forming in his mind.

They moved back three more times before Lox ordered them all forward.

Dave rose to his feet, his pulse still active.

They entered the cavern again. A hail of arrows reached them. Dave confirmed their positions and conjured air into faults above the stalactites. The room shook as the growing pockets of gas shifted entire sections of stalactites.

They fell, an avalanche of rock, above the Goblins.

Dave watched more of the ceiling come apart as there was no support to hold it up. Dust filled the room and Dave covered his face against it.

When he looked up again, there were just a few Goblins left.

Dave smiled to himself. Work smarter, not harder. He pulled an arrow back, firing at the Goblin chief. Its warriors were dead but it and its mage were still kicking.

The Goblin chief bellowed and ran at the group. The mage followed and cast electricity.

Tounk let out a yell and fell, the electricity dazing him.

“Charge!” Lox said.

Dave ran. He and Deia tried to take out any of the remaining Goblins that had survived Dave’s avalanche. The Dwarves cut through the stunned Goblins using their shields and blades, cracking bones and opening bodies.

The mage glowed and started to mutter. Deia put two arrows in its direction. A shield snapped into existence. The mage held out its hands as another two arrows hit the mage.

Dave added his own arrows. It didn’t do much but it helped. It took three more arrows to break the shield. The mage squeaked; it hadn’t realized how close the Dwarves were.

Gurren cut it down where it stood.

Lox was fighting the chief; an arrow hit the chief in the face, causing it to yell out in pain. Lox opened the creature’s stomach.

Max and Tounk got the two guards and Joko was cutting down the remaining lower level Goblins.

Deia lowered her bow. “It looks like they’re all dead.”

“Well, let’s loot the damn place and get the hell out of here,” Lox said.

Goblin bodies didn’t disappear as they weren’t like mobs, though Lox promised that they would be reclaimed by Emerilia soon enough.

Dave found a number of gold coins and a bunch of crappy weapons and armor. The rest was coppers, with odd gems here and there. He gave it all to Lox to sort out.

He also found a loot chest behind the stone chair the Goblin had been sitting on.

Goblin Chief Chest

Armor of haste

Stone Dagger

Axe of the Wind

X10 Gold

Take/Take All

Dave took it all and handed it off to Lox. He checked out the notification bar that was flashing up a storm.

Active Skill: Surveyor

Level: Journeyman level 4

Effect: 51% chance to see resources within your range sight.

Range: 1220 m

Cost: 5 Stamina/second

Reward: 5000 XP

Active Skill: Sprint

Level: Journeyman level 6

Effect: 55% increased speed

Cost: 5 Stamina/second

Reward: 7500 XP

Active Skill: Stealth

Level: Apprentice level 7

Effect: 37% chance to remain undetected (reduced in direct light).

Cost: 5 Stamina/second

Reward: 2500 XP

Passive Skill: Night Vision

Level: Journeyman 8

Effect: 59% increased night vision.

Racial bonus: +25% increased night vision.

Reward: 7500 XP

Passive Skill: Tracker

Level: Apprentice level 3

Effect: 29% chance to detect another creature’s path.

Reward: 3000 XP

Active Skill: Sneak Attack

Level: Apprentice level 3

Effect: When you are undetected in Stealth, attacks will hit with 252% increased damage (Massive increase when hitting Critical area).

Cost: (Attack 50 Stamina)

Active Skill: Two handed

Level: Journeyman level 5

Effect: 15%armor penetration on target. Stamina costs reduced 5% while fighting

Cost: 10 Stamina

Reward: 4500 XP

Active Skill: Archery

Level: Novice level 8

Effect: Critical Hit chance increases by 8%.

Cost: 10 Stamina

Reward: 5000 XP

Passive Skill: Dodge

Level: Apprentice level 8

Effect: 39% chance to evade objects.

Reward: 4000 XP

Passive Skill: Perception

Level: Novice level 7

Effect: 17% chance to find hidden details.

Level 15

You have reached level 15; you have 60 stat points to use.

His stats were still increasing at a good pace, but training was having less of an effect. The combat had given him a nice boost in stats.

Stat Increase

+3 Strength

+3 Agility

+5 Intelligence

+4 Willpower

+1 Endurance

He pulled up his character sheet and Affinities.

Character Sheet

Name:

David Grahslagg

Gender:

Male

Level:

3

Class:

-

Race:

Human/Dwarf

Alignment:

Chaotic Neutral

Unspent points: 60

Health:

1500

Regen:

0.86 /s

Mana:

460

Regen:

1.95 /s

Stamina:

380

Regen:

1.70 /s

Vitality:

15

Endurance:

43

Intelligence:

46

Willpower:

39

Strength:

38

Agility:

34

Affinity levels

Dark

27

Light

28

Air

23

Water

20

Earth

32

Fire

21

Not too shabby. Looks like using my skills instead of just training with them is having a better effect.

He thought about going out and fighting creatures more. He dismissed the idea, remembering how Deia and the warband had talked in low tones about the monsters that they had fought. The creatures in the area were no low-level simpletons.

Dave was getting power leveled by all of the EXP he was getting fighting creatures that appeared to be levels above him and the shared EXP pool of the Dwarves and Deia.

He was still a good forty or fifty levels lower than the Dwarves if he was looking at purely stat points. The Goblins had showed Dave how creatures didn’t just fight according to the mob system. They were fighting for their lives and they would put everything on the line.

“We’ll sort this out once we’re back at the outpost. Let’s get going. I feel a need for a warm bed and some ale after all that! We’ll camp tonight and make for the outpost at first light,” Lox said, breaking Dave from his thoughts.

They all agreed, collecting their loot and heading to find a campsite away from the Goblin cave.

Chapter 16: Unexpected Encounter

Deia looked over the area, looking for any threats as the Dwarves moved below, headed straight for the outpost instead of weaving and wandering across the forest to scout out where their road would go.

A flash of sunlight on sharpened steel caught her eye. She squinted, focusing on the area. There was a group of three people: a mage, an armored warrior, and a rogue. They were fighting off a group of Goblins and getting torn apart.

Deia jumped from her perch, swinging off limbs and jumping from tree to tree. She hit the ground at a run and quickly found the Dwarves.

“Group of three is being attacked by Goblins. They aren’t doing so well.” She sent them all a way point on their mini-maps.

“Seems that we have a proper Goblin infestation—got to clean them all out.” Lox rolled his shoulders and loosened himself up for the coming fight. The other Dwarves did likewise, following their warband leader, and headed for the fight.

***

Jules was the leader of the party and it looked as though it was not going to turn out well. Esa, her tank, was smacking away at the Goblins, taking their aggro, but they weren’t reacting like simple mobs. They were really fighting. There were seven Goblins and they had attacked like creatures possessed.

As a Player leveled up at each rank, they got new skills, which gave them preset actions; just activate the command and your person would automatically attack whatever their target was with that action.

With mobs, it was great and made it easy to create a good system to grind out points and gear. These damn Goblins don’t want to act like mobs, though!

She jumped to the side as a rusty axe came down where she’d been standing. Instead of having any kind of system—with Esa taking aggro, Jules healing her, and Mikal going for DPS—they were all in a frantic brawl.

“Damn it, it’s like they know what I’m going to do!” Esa yelled.

“Fight without using the commands!” Jules yelled back.

Mikal jumped away into the trees, and came back a few moments later to stab a Goblin in the back. The Goblin lost a good amount of Health but Mikal didn’t know where he might get the most critical hits.

“Go for the face and neck, or the arteries in their upper thigh!” Jules blinded a Goblin and stabbed it through the neck.

She had trained as an Army medic but an IED had taken that job away, as well as her ability to sustain herself. She and the other two were professional gamers. They went in search of new and interesting things in order to sell to other people to make enough money to survive.

Esa was fighting with her weapons, but it was awkward.

If we get into another fight like this then she’s going to need another set of gear—her great sword and shield are too much for her.

She doubted that they would go this direction again. All of them were at fifty percent Health or less and they’d only been in the forest for half a day.

Esa got hit in the helmet with a club; she staggered, stunned.

Jules saw a Goblin move up behind Esa to plant a blade between her armor plates. Jules now appreciated the realistic hit damage system. So, she knew that the Goblin’s attack would hit Esa in the neck, most likely killing her.

A roar came out from the undergrowth as Jules’s eyes widened. Dwarves? Why are there Dwarves here?

Esa’s would-be attacker made a gurgling noise, an arrow in its neck.

A half-dwarf stepped out behind the Dwarves, and put arrows into the Goblins nearest to him. The Dwarves’ shields made a wall as they advanced. Arrows came from above, cutting down Goblins.

Three Goblins raced to meet the Dwarves, only hitting their shields.

“Cut ’em down! For Mithsia!” one of the Dwarves called out. The shields rose as one, bashing the Goblins back as blades jabbed forward. Two of the three died.

Jules parried a Goblin hatchet with his short sword. She muttered a few words of power and gestured with her right hand. The ground around the Goblin moved, growing and trapping the Goblin, securing it to the ground. It fought to move but it was to no avail. It hissed and yelled in its high-pitched voice, trying to cut the growth faster than it moved around him.

Mikal appeared behind it, cutting its neck open. The creature slumped forward as Jules looked to the Dwarves and Esa.

A Goblin ran at the now open shield wall. One of the Dwarves used their shield to protect the other. They blunted the attack; the dwarf getting attacked stabbed the Goblin. It screeched before the dwarf’s blade cut off its cries.

The Dwarves moved to look around the area; one moved for Jules and her party.

Esa slowly rose to her feet, pulling off her helmet and revealing her short blonde hair. Mikal and Jules moved around Esa.

Lox

Level 54

Dwarf

He must be a guard of some kind to have that kind of level. The guards in Omal are only level 30. There must be something more out here if there are level 50 roving patrols.

“Do ya know how to use them damned weapons or are you just out here for the bleedin’ sights?” the dwarf yelled, pulling off his helmet, his dark eyes furious.

“Lox, they’re travelers,” the halfling said.

An Elf had appeared behind the halfling.

“You need more practice at archery,” the Elf said. The man groaned and headed off to see the corpses.

Lox shook his head in disgust. “Come out ’ere without any idea of how to really fight. What is this place comin’ to?”

“Could you teach us?” Esa asked. She was probably looking for a new quest.

“I’ve got a job, missy, patrolling this ’ere area. Ain’t got the time to train no ’un!”

“Lox,” the halfling said.

Jules looked over at the man.

David Grahslagg

Level 3

Half-Dwarf

She also saw different icons spread out in a circle. “You’re a Player!”

“I was.” David smiled.

“Will you git over here. You ain’t helping out much—have ’alf a conversation!” Lox said.

David walked over and slapped Lox on the back.

“How were you able to partner up with these Dwarves, and an Elf no less?” Mikal’s thick Russian accent came out.

“They’re my friends, and my trainers, unfortunately.”

“I might not be a bleedin’ Elf but I heard that!” one of the Dwarves said.

Jules saw that the Elf was not in the same place she’d been a moment ago. She’d disappeared off into the canopy.

Jules looked to Esa and Mikal. This was not normal. They’d interacted with NPCs but it had been simple and quick and none of this scale of interaction.

“So how come you’re level 3 and you’re out here? Shouldn’t you be back in Omal, grinding for EXP to get your next level?” Esa asked.

“Not is all as it appears with Dave,” Lox said with a proud grin.

Dave shook his head.

“Do you have somewhere that you’re staying? We’re going to log off soon and we don’t want to be in the middle of the woods with another group of Goblins coming for us,” Jules said.

Dave looked to Lox.

That by itself was odd; no Player deferred to a NPC for anything.

“It’s your house.” Lox shrugged, turned and went back to his people.

“Come if you want. There are some high-level mobs around.” Dave shrugged.

“Keep up, Dave!” The Elf was just a few feet away in a tree.

“I hate climbing!” Dave took off at a run and jumped from tree to tree, getting higher and following the Elf.

Jules looked to Mikal.

“I want whatever he’s got. That’s awesome,” Mikal said, a big grin across his face.

Jules looked to Esa.

“Might as well follow them. If nothing else, then we’ll get to find a new place to grind some gear from.”

“Okay,” Jules said.

One of the Dwarves walked over. “This is your share.” He dropped a small purse and a few items.

Jules took it; there was decent gear and forty silvers. She was more than pleased with that. “Thanks,” she said, instead of simply taking it from the NPC.

He grunted and went back to the other Dwarves. They started to walk on.

Jules and Esa followed. Jules healed Esa, and Mikal disappeared off into the forest. One of the Dwarves kept looking back at Jules as she healed Esa.

She put it down to curiosity and they continued on.

***

Dave settled down on a branch; his Touch sensed something in the area. It took awhile for him to find it. There was a stone gully, which ended in a cave. In the gully, there was a large creature he had never seen before. He moved to a new tree. He was nowhere close to Deia’s skill, and he was a bit slower, wary after having his family jewels be victims of gravity and trees.

He squinted at the large creature. It was about eighteen feet tall, covered in muscle. He could smell the hundreds of bones that littered the gully.

Level 87 Earth Troll

“We’ll report it to the outpost and come back with two warbands,” Deia said.

Dave nearly fell off his branch, shocked by the Elf’s appearance beside him. “I’m going to have a heart attack with you creeping up on me like that,” Dave said. Deia had taught him how to talk without his voice carrying.

Deia gave him one of her amused smiles and looked around the gully more.

“It’s a lower level than some of the things we’ve fought.” Dave focused back on the troll.

“Not everything has to do with levels,” Deia said.

Dave waited as she finished her survey of the area.

“Trolls have some innate Earth magic; strong ones can buff themselves and have the ability to heal. That gully is five feet wide and the troll can easily smack a dwarf back, even if they are part of a shield wall. If you have two ranks of Dwarves, then there would be twice the strength behind every shield. A lot harder to hit them back. Trolls might look like dumb creatures, but they are strong. It would be hard for five level 70s to defeat a troll in its home.” Deia looked at Dave.

Dave nodded at the truth in her eyes. He looked to the troll and used his Surveyor skill. Deia had taught him how to limit it just to a small area, giving him more information about that one region.

He saw the symbol for a cave behind the troll. Dave used his Touch to investigate the cave. It was quite old and untouched. Some kind of barrier stopped him from seeing much more than the entrance.

They’d come back to finish off the troll sometime and then they’d go and see just what the heck was down in the cave. His inner adventurer was interested.

“Let’s get back to the group. If we move fast, we can be back at the outpost just as it reaches night.” Deia jumped from branch to branch, as if she had been born in the trees.

Dave followed. Symbols on his mini-map showed where the rest of their party and the Player hangers-on were trudging through the forest.

“We’re missing one person,” Dave said.

“No, he’s just watching us. Might do you some good to not only use your skills to move around silently, but to recognize others who are trying to do the same in order to see you,” Deia said.

Dave looked around. He couldn’t deny that the skill would be useful. He didn’t doubt Deia’s words that there was one of the Players watching them.

Must be the rogue—Mikal, was it? I should ask him more about sneaking and moving undetected.

***

Jules watched as Mikal and Dave talked. Mikal looked animated; Dave looked intrigued. Somehow, they were keeping up their conversation even as they were jumping through the trees or working through the shadows.

The trees fell away as the land started to rise. Up ahead, Jules could see the signs of trees that had been cleared. They came out of the forest and into what was a growing settlement.

There was one standing house off to the right, a few feet away from the edge of the hill that turned into a drop. Behind it was a smithy, as well as the foundations of a few homes. Most of the homes seemed to be around a large cleared area where twenty or so Dwarves were toiling away.

People waved to the warband as they approached.

Lox led the party toward the large foundations. More than one group looked at the Players as they took in the ten or so growing buildings.

Dave peeled off and went in the direction of the single home. Jules and Esa followed. Mikal wandered through the area.

Dave wandered into the smithy. Jules went to the house and walked in. It was simple: a single bed, a bookshelf, and a fireplace that doubled as a cooking fire.

“This is a lot better than what we saw in Omal,” Esa remarked as they went through the room, picking up different objects. There was little of value so they didn’t take it.

Dave walked in through the door. His face clouded as he saw Jules and Esa.

“This house is different but these people don’t seem that rich,” Jules commented, holding up what was a book on smithing.

“This is my house. I’m sorry but I didn’t invite you in,” Dave said.

“Oh, how did you buy it?” Jules asked.

Esa tested the bed and sat on it. It creaked heavily.

“I don’t think you get this, but this is my home. Would you be okay if I barged into your house, said that you were poor and continued to sit on your bed and talk as if breaking and entering was no big thing?”

Dave was getting angry, Jules could see.

“Man, it’s a game. Calm down. We’ve just never seen a—” Esa stopped as a dozen metal spikes appeared in the room, pointed at Esa and Jules.

“Please leave my house. I’ve been traveling for nearly a week and I want to have some peace,” Dave said.

“Okay.” Jules looked at the gray metal bars. They’d come from nowhere and he hadn’t even used any words of power.

“Look here.” Esa stood. “This is a game and while this is your house, there’s nothing stopping us being—” Esa poked Dave at that moment.

Dave grabbed her hand, turned it and put her into a stress hold.

“All levels and no smarts.” The metal bars disappeared and Dave pushed Esa out of the door.

Jules ran out after her. “Are you okay?” Jules asked her lover, who was staring daggers at Dave.

“This is my reality—knock next time,” Dave said from his doorway. He slammed the door.

“I’m fine. That guy is such an arrogant prick,” Esa said.

“Is he?” a dwarf, his face horribly disfigured, said.

Even Jules recoiled at the damage of the man’s face. She had seen people with terrible injuries but this was something else.

“You two are still blind to the realities around you. That man lives here; he’s accepted us and become one of us. You walked into his home as if you owned it and then proceeded to attack him. He just wanted to sleep and you were flagrantly breaking into his home.” The dwarf might not have eyes and look like a melt statue gone wrong, but Jules still felt shame worm through her body.

“You learned that here you might really need to fight. Emerilia isn’t what it appears.” The dwarf turned and headed for the smithy.

“The hell is this place? Feel like I’m in the twilight zone. Get thrown out by a pissed-off Player, then the damn NPCs start trying to teach me a lesson,” Esa growled. She started toward the center of the town. The ground rippled below her as she stepped in a hole. She went tumbling and cursed.

Jules caught the look on the dwarf’s face. This game really isn’t like the others. Jules bent down and looked to repair Esa’s foot.

She wanted to see what else she could learn from this odd town. It seemed like the NPCs here didn’t look to try to moderate their personalities.

If we can learn half of what Dave knows, then it will be a lot easier to get some good gear to pay for the medical bills.

Chapter 17: Long Time, No…Training

Dave woke up and stretched in his bed.

A stray thought ran through his mind as he sat up and looked for someone trying to poke him awake. Dave slumped back onto his bed with a sly smile on his face.

Finally, a day where I can sleep in! Just as he rolled over, there was banging at the front door.

Just a figment of my imagination, Dave promised himself.

“Oi! Get up! We’ve got training to do, boy!” Lox continued his banging.

Dave moaned as he flopped around in his bed. The injustice of it all—he had almost slept in!

He stood up and went to the door.

“Mornin’, Sleeping Beauty!” Lox handed Dave a concoction that tasted something between salted chocolate and an espresso.

“Morning, Lox. Thanks for the coffee.” Dave took the drink and took a sip. Much better than coffee, but I can’t help but miss the bitter stuff.

“It’s Xer, not coffee—how many times do I have to say that?” Lox complained, taking a seat.

“How did the meeting with the other warbands go?” Dave grabbed clothes and pulled them on.

“We’ve decided to keep a watch on the creature. We’ll wait till we have reinforcements or have a considerable advantage.” Lox’s eyes studied Dave.

“What?” Dave grabbed his Xer/coffee again.

“Your conjuring ability—the warbands are of the mind that we will do whatever we can to aid you in growing your ability. You’ve proved yourself and stood with us in battle. You showed us in the Goblin cave how useful your magic can be. Word is being passed back to Mithsia and Kufo’tel. I have a feeling that there will be a good number of people who are interested in your abilities. Even in the tales there has not been a person capable of conjuring items.”

Lox paused. Dave could tell Lox wanted to say something but didn’t know how to say it. Dave indicated for him to go on.

“I wouldn’t show these Players the full extent of your abilities. Maybe not even the people from mine or the Elven clan. It is powerful new magic and a lot of people would be willing to get their hands on it if they could.”

“Yeah, I think you might have an idea there, Lox,” Dave said.

“In the meantime, you’ve still got a lot to learn about fighting! We’ve also got some more books for you to read!” Lox grinned.

“Sadist,” Dave said into his cup.

Lox’s grin only grew. “I’ve got you till mid-morning, Joko has you to midday, Deia’s got you in the late afternoon, and Gurren’s grandfather Kol says he wants to meet with you.” Lox’s voice took on a respectful tone talking about Kol. “Been few smithing masters as good as Kol. He’s a hard taskmaster, but if he decides to teach you the way of anvil and hammer, you’d be the second after Gurren since the accident. That man has metal in his veins.”

Dave nodded; he knew he needed to know how to fight better. Bob had said that to get stronger with his conjuring, he needed to better understand what he was working with. Fighting the Goblins had showed him just how much Mana it used to conjure items and the versatility of conjuring. Pockets of air had been more powerful than all of his metal spikes.

Lox finished off his Xer in a swig. “Well, let’s be about it then. I’ve also got a gift for you.”

“Okay.” Dave finished off his drink. Lox’s smile made him a little scared.

Lox led him out of the house and to the smithy. The rest of the warband was outside in the clearing between Dave’s house and the kiln that had tripled in size to meet the needs of others in the village.

A dwarf was forming bricks and putting them into one of the three kilns that were blazing away. Dave entered the smithy. It was hot from the constant fires, with metal ringing.

“Dave, is this what you were talking about?” Gimlie, one of the Dwarves, asked as he held up a rough screw.

Dave took it, studying the spiral. It was crude but it would work. Having screws didn’t sound like much, but it would make structures much stronger and there would be less of a chance that they’d slip out, like some nails.

“Yeah, now just need to put in a square at the top so you can twist it into place. Here.” Dave imagined a screw in his hand. He put Mana into the form; smoke seemed to appear in his hand, revealing the screw. Dave put more Mana into it so that it would stay conjured for a day instead of a few hours.

Gimlie looked over the screw with a careful eye, making interested noises.

Dave formed a large digging screw, the kind that he saw on the back of excavators on Earth.

“What the hell are you going to use that for?” Lox looked at the five-foot-long bladed screw.

“Well, if Gimlie here can make those screws, then he can make this. You could get a few people at the end to turn it and it’d break right through rocks.” Dave noticed that work around the smithy had slowed and more than one dwarf was looking at the drill.

He had a number of ideas of how to improve the Dwarves’ productivity. He also knew of Emerilia’s rules on making various items. If you came up with a plan and submitted it to a city’s manufacturing office, then you owned the rights to the item. You could set a price and people would have to buy the plans from you before they could make it. There were always knock-offs but cities wouldn’t use them.

“I’m just making up a rig now to improve the uniform spiral on the screws. With this, I should be able to get you something by the end of tomorrow,” Gimlie said.

“Good. Once we have a working prototype, remind me to tell you about factory processes,” Dave said.

“Will do,” Gimlie promised.

“Now onto the other surprise.” Lox moved through the smiths who were crowding Gimlie, his screw and drill bit.

Lox went to the back of the smithy to an armor rack. It was made from iron, not the steel plate that the Dwarves used. It was crude, heavier but it was still well done.

Iron Helm

Quality: B

Defense: 239

Durability: 20/20

Iron Cuirass

Quality: B

Defense: 239

Durability: 20/20

Iron Greaves

Quality: B

Defense: 102

Durability: 20/20

Iron Gauntlets

Quality: B

Defense: 65

Durability: 17/17

Iron Sabatons

Quality: B

Defense: 139

Durability: 15/15

Dave admired it. A full suit of armor in Emerilia was no cheap thing. “Lox, I can’t accept this,” Dave said.

“Well, if we’re going to take down that troll, I’d rather like to have you by my side. If you’d be interested in standing with us?” Lox asked.

“Of course! This is my home as well. I wouldn’t just leave you to fight that thing by yourself. There’s no telling what is in that cave. Can’t let you get all of the loot.” Dave grinned.

“Sneaky bastard.” Lox grinned. “Get changed into it. The day’s a-wastin’ and we have plenty of training to do!”

Dave quickly equipped the armor and went out to the cleared area that was fringed by the smithy, his house, and the kiln. Standing there was the rest of the warband and Deia. They commented on his armor, a few pointing out different things and giving advice.

Dave found that he would not be training by himself today. Now he would be training with the entire party to get better. He’d been truly accepted by them; they’d bled together and they trusted one another with their lives.

They fell into formations. Dave got a larger shield to fit his growing halfling dimensions. He was nearly five and a half feet tall now.

Lox called out different positions and they switched, turning from fighting mobs to fighting sentients, or creatures that would actually fight instead of following Emerilia’s programming.

A new notification made Dave smile.

New Passive Skill: Heavy Armor

When you looked at a tank, you got a little bit jealous. You grew up always wanting to be a tank. Well, you might have the armor—ya still swing like a blind ox!

Level: Novice level 3

Effect: 9% increased armor.

They were tired and sweaty from their exertions, and took a few minutes to drink water before Joko took over. Everyone was sparring and trying out different techniques. The sparring partners would call out how the other might do better, working on their strengths and weaknesses.

Dave was matched with Deia. He noticed Jules, Esa, and Mikal appear in the middle of the village, returning to where they had logged off.

Deia hit him with the flat of her blade, making his head ring.

“Focus here, not some flashy lights,” Deia said.

“That won’t be hard.” Dave realized what he had said and went beet-red as Deia’s eyebrow arched. He thought he almost saw the corner of her mouth turn upward as she brought attack after attack down on him.

Dave forgot all about the Players and fought with everything he had. She had experience and speed. But Dave was stubborn and—well, Dave.

Others turned to watch as Dave threw his shield at her; she dodged to the side as Dave grabbed the axe from his back. She brought her blade at his side; he blocked it with his right sword, turning her blade. She danced out of the way as he brought an axe toward her.

She pulled the blade from him. He jumped backward, pulling his right axe free. She didn’t give him time to know his surroundings. She moved in with both blades, moving with ethereal and cruel beauty.

Her blades came in. It was all Dave could do to counter the attacks and use his Touch to move backward without falling over.

She moved under an axe swing with his left and came upward with her left blade under Dave’s chin.

“Ugh, crap!” Dave lost his balance and fell over. He held his axes to the side, closing his eyes and hoping Deia didn’t stick the blade through his head.

He fell in a pile of armor. Deia fell on top of him.

“Ow,” Dave said.

“At least this time you didn’t hurt anything useful.” Deia gave him a smile before she regained her feet.

Wait, what? Did she just make a sexual reference? Dave stared at her, confused to his core. Deia winked, extending a hand. Dave took it and she hauled him to his feet.

“Well, that was quite a display. Would you be willing to teach us?” Mikal asked.

“Certainly. It will take time and patience. You already have developed bad habits that will need to be broken,” Deia said.

Dave felt something stir in his chest. He didn’t want the Players training with Deia. Especially Mikal, who was closer to her skill set. He could see the excitement in Mikal’s face and Deia’s happiness to help another.

Calm down, dude. It’s not as if there’s anything going on. Deia is just your teacher. Though that thing about hurting anything useful… She wasn’t talking about the crown jewel incident, was she?

Another sight caught his eye. Esa was talking to Joko. Joko looked over Esa as she might look over a particularly interesting pile of scat. After a moment, Joko nodded, talking back to Esa.

Jules was walking through the area. It seemed that the three Players had seen how training instead of just using commands could be useful in Emerilia.

“When can we start?” Mikal asked, clearly excited.

“I was just about to teach Dave some more ways to be silent as well as move faster. With there being two of you now, playing a game of Prawn and Cashal might be in order. It would definitely allow you to learn more. Games are, after all, more fun than lessons,” Deia said.

“I’m in,” Mikal said.

Even with the tension in Dave’s chest earlier, he enjoyed a good competition. “Prepare to lose, Mikal,” Dave said.

“Shall we do a wager?” Mikal asked.

“Okay,” Dave said, interested.

“The loser has to pay for the others drinks, for a night,” Mikal grinned and pushed back his brown hair.

Deia didn’t even say anything; she just raised an eyebrow and turned to face Dave.

Dave felt excitement radiate off Deia. He looked to her, his eyes widening. Excitement was mixed with anxiety as Deia’s eyes met his, a smile spreading across her face.

She seemed to realize what she was doing, turning red, looking away, and returning to her stony expression.

He grinned wider, he wanted to see her smile again.

She wasn’t like many of the people he had worked with at Rock Breakers; she interested him. Every time he saw her, he was filled with questions and thoughts that made it hard to concentrate.

This isn’t Earth, this is Emerilia, I don’t need to worry about the paparazzi hounding me. I’ve been single for so damn long it hurts. Sure, she might be an NPC or a real person like Bob says. At this point, I don’t think it really matters. She’s an interesting gal.

His life had been turned upside down in more than one way. He had gone from thinking of himself as Austin Zane, trillionaire and stressed-out engineer turned CEO to Dave Grahslagg, one of the few people who knew the truth of Emerilia, humanity’s unending prison made to create warriors to fight other races that the Jukal Empire deemed too aggressive to provide any kind of use.

He’d thrown himself into his training with abandon. He knew he needed to learn more. That was part of it, but the other part was the fear. Fear that if he didn’t learn fast enough, then there would be a day that he couldn’t defend himself or the others who he cared for.

Whatever he had felt, it seemed to soothe his soul. He relaxed, letting tension he didn’t know of slide from his shoulders. He didn’t need to hold all the weight of what was going on with Emerilia. Sometimes, he needed to stop thinking about the big picture and just have a day off.

He smiled, looking at Deia and then Mikal.

Maybe he had felt her emotions, maybe he hadn’t. Either way, after this he wanted to talk to her, not as teacher and student but just two people.

“All right, I’m in.” Dave smiled and held out a hand.

“Hell yeah!” Mikal shook his hand.

“Dave, you’re not allowed to use Touch. If I sense it, you’ll automatically lose. The rules are simple. You go in different directions. I will close the party chat. Once I do so, then you hunt each other. The first to pull the others ribbon off wins.” Deia pulled out two red ribbons in small bags.

Dave and Mikal took them, putting them through their belt loops and the back. Making a kind of red tail.

“Off you go. I will be watching,” Deia added.

Dave took off slowly. He took his time, working his way deeper into the forest that the outpost butted against. He took off his armor and put it in his bag. He put the bag down and rolled his shoulders. He was tired from the training in the morning. Now he had removed what had been nearly a ton in weight. He took off his shoes and took off at a run, jumping from tree trunk to tree trunk, barely touching the trees. He skipped along the ground, casually remembering the lessons that Deia had taught him. His body flowed through the forest instead of being the restrained coil that it seemed to be when he was dealing with Dwarven fighting.

Training Party Chat

Deia>Begin.

Dave used rocks and trees with hard bark to move so that he didn’t leave a trail. After a while, he circled around the outpost. He closed his eyes as he moved. Through his Touch, he had come to know the energies and the layout of the forest.

Deia had told him that the forest could talk to him as he gained skill with it. Dave passed over the creatures in the forest without them ever realizing that they hadn’t been alone. Dave didn’t need Touch to become one with his environment now. It was slower and harder to do but it didn’t use any Mana, just concentration.

That’s when he noticed a disturbance in the forest. Crickets weren’t making noise where they should be.

Dave landed on a branch, walking a bit to slow his momentum. He took in the peace of the forest. He heard the noises of the outpost and the quiet of the patch where Mikal was waiting.

He was under a dead tree that had fallen on a rock. It was covered with a thick bush. There weren’t any tracks leading to the spot. The tree and bush looked untouched.

Mikal might be using commands but for this skill, Dave knew that he was using some of his own skills.

Dave sat down and waited. He brought up manuals on smithing and different types of weapons and items that people had created in Emerilia. Dave looked over images and stat pages. Dave thought of the blade—how it must feel, its design—and poured Mana into it.

He also tried it slowly instead of creating a blade instantly. It used a hell of a lot of Mana and the dagger he’d made was much weaker than the one he was looking at. He’d made it from the same material as the one in the picture and it looked the same, but it wasn’t the same.

It’s like when I had blueprints compared to when I had a 3-D printed model of an item. With the model, I can picture what it can do, see its functionality. In an image, I can think of how it’s made, the way it moves. It’s just not as fulfilling. Dave opened his eyes. If he wanted to conjure more items, then he would have to touch them, understand their inner workings.

His excitement made his focus waver. He felt a displacement in the air. Dave dropped forward from the branch as he heard Russian swearing behind him.

Dave touched the ground, pushing off and heading into the forest. Even with the close call, Dave had a smile on his face as his heart thumped in his chest.

Mikal had been hiding his presence better than Dave thought possible. The tree and bush looked so good because Mikal hadn’t been there. He’d baited a trap and Dave, overconfident, had fallen for it.

Now the game is on. Dave saw a glimpse of the rogue in the shadows as he sped up. He closed his eyes and felt the forest again.

When he thought that he was far enough away to have lost the Russian rogue, he found a new spot to hide in, looking for any signs of him popping up.

“That was rather close.” Deia sat on a rock outcropping with an amused smile on her face.

“Thanks, teacher. Trying to find my opponent here.” Dave looked around, centering himself and getting to know the flow of the forest once again, looking for the smallest disturbance to find Mikal.

“So who you going to take for a drink?” Deia asked.

“Well, Mikal to pay for my beer and you if you want to go on a date,” Dave’s voice was low, so focused on the search that he wasn’t paying attention to his words.

“You think I’m pretty?”

“Yes, and smart, resourceful, and sneaky. Makes you much more interesting than the models that I kind of dated.” Dave turned thoughtful, realizing what he was saying.

“Hey—you mind here? I’m trying to win this thing,” Dave said.

“Why? You want to ask me out that bad?” Deia asked.

Dave looked to her, their eyes connecting.

She hid it well, but he felt the nerves, the heat that spread through her body, and the reaction through his face and his stomach. The anticipation, the risk, the possibility.

Dave broke the look, the information overriding his ability to think.

He took a breath and closed his eyes. I really need to find that damned Russian!

It had gone from a competition to something more. It was only now that he had been challenged that he was starting to realize he had feelings for Deia.

Seems that I'm just going to have to win this.

A few of the villagers walked through the forest. They were looking at trees to cut down. Dave was about to look away when he realized why he had been attracted to them. Hiding in one of the trees was a large snake.

Dave sent out a pulse with his touch of the land spell. His eyes opened; they were shimmering gray shadows formed in his hands, solidifying into axes.

“Snake, ambush, villagers,” Dave said.

Deia’s bow moved to her hand. “You lead.”

Dave started off. He moved too fast to be hidden. He arrived as the snake dropped from the tree onto the unsuspecting villagers.

“Watch out!” Dave yelled.

The villagers saw the threat and got out of the way of the dropping snake.

Level 45 Acid Snake

Dave’s Touch allowed him to see inside the thirty-foot-long snake and the five hearts that it had. He jumped from a tree and brought his two axes down on the snake.

Its attention turned from the villagers to Dave.

Deia put two arrows into the creature’s side before it lunged at Dave, spitting acid.

Dave felt it on his arm, burning through his shirt and the skin underneath. He cut at the snake’s body; his blade sank deep into the four-foot-thick creature.

Deia was turning it into a pincushion. Its Health declined quickly as Dave continued to aggro it.

The villagers legged it, yelling as they went. Help would take too long.

The snake twisted and hit Dave with its tail. Dave hit a tree; the air went out of him as he felt more than one bone break. Dave rolled away. His broken ribs caused him agony as the snake bit the tree he had been on. Smoke came from its mouth where it was caught on the tree.

Dave felt something else move in the brush. Mikal.

The man appeared in mid-air above the snake. He landed on its head and stabbed it repeatedly.

It shook him off. Mikal rolled, putting his hand down and sliding into a crouch. The snake turned to face Mikal, getting an arrow to its eye. It hissed in anger. A spray of acid caught the forest’s growth, leaving smoke tendrils.

Dave had used the time Mikal had given him to stick his bones together. The experience left him feeling drained, yet he climbed to his feet.

Dave ran at the snake, bringing his axe down on the snake’s third heart. As he jumped away and used a rock to change the direction of his movement, his other axe came down on the second-to-last heart.

Deia jumped from a tree and came down behind the snake’s head, driving her twin blades through the snake’s last heart.

It flopped about before lying still.

Deia pulled out her blades and stabbed the snake again. It didn’t so much as twitch.

“Why did you stab it again?’ Dave asked.

“Sometimes the creatures get sneaky and try to play dead. If it’s really dead, then it won’t do anything. If it’s not, then you’re better prepared to kill it.” Deia got off the snake, blood on her blades, hands, and armor.

“Damn. The others are going to be jealous of all the Experience I just got.” Mikal looked excited, whereas Dave and Deia contemplated the dead snake.

In that moment, Dave saw the differences between him and the Players. Dave cared whether Deia died; he knew that she wouldn’t come back. Sure, Mikal would find it annoying, but to him, Deia was just ones and zeroes. She wasn’t a real person, to him.

To Dave, the people on Emerilia were real.

Chapter 18: Back to Basics

Dave was eating a simple meal of bread and soup and stared at the mixtures that were in front of him. He’d been trying to form beer for the last couple of weeks since Bob had put the idea in his head. His first attempts had turned into poison.

It wasn’t as simple as just combining elements and they made beer. They were organic elements that went through multiple processes before being brewed into beer.

So, he’d looked through forums on brewing and then talked to anyone who had any type of insight into alcohol. It seemed that the Dwarves were a wealth of knowledge, with all of them having at least one family brew. Armed with knowledge, an alchemy set, different cookware, and a thirst, he’d set to concoct his beer.

When Kol sat down on the log beside him, he was focusing his Touch of the Land on the different apparatus that were supposed to create liquor. It was a little easier than beer—in his mind, at least. He had others who were using different processes and ingredient blends to make beers strewn across his house.

Focusing and concentrating his Touch of the Land was still hard. Bob was teaching him slowly but their lessons turned into magical debates. It was like two coders talking different stacks and coding practices. They made connections and thought of new ways to do old code with small practices and experiments to confirm or deny their ideas. They did a bit of the experiments when they talked, but many more when Dave was just wandering around and an idea they’d been talking about clicked with another.

“Well, it seems I’ve got some Scotch—pretty nice as well. Have to age that and see how it turns out,” Dave muttered to himself. Once he had the mixture created, then he could conjure it at will. He was building a small cellar to store the various casks he was making as he didn’t need to tap them to drink them and leaving them in would allow them to age, changing and developing the flavor.

“The hell are you doing?” Kol asked.

Dave jumped as he realized that he was not alone. “Making booze?” The man seemed perpetually unhappy and grumpy.

Dave looked at the man. He wore baggy clothing as well as eye coverings to try to hide the worst of his damage. Most of his facial hair was gone and his face looked like a wax statue that someone had taken a lighter to.

Dave found it strange, but he was more interested in the well of magical power that the man seemed to give off. He might look weak and his baggy clothes helped to hide his power, but there was nothing that Dave couldn’t see with his Touch of the Land.

Kol was no simple grandfather. He was still strongly built. Although his face and chest had been badly burned, his hands were scarred with work rather than the accident.

Kol didn’t look at Dave but Dave knew that the man could see him. He used a cane to walk around but it was merely a prop, like the clothes.

“Do you have Touch of the Land?” Dave asked.

“Well, you’re more than you look.” Kol sounded amused. “I do.”

Dave nodded and continued eating.

“My grandson tells me tall tales of you making items from nothing,” Kol said.

Dave debated whether he should say anything before he nodded. If Gurren trusted the man, then he would.

“Conjure up your axe,” Kol said.

Dave focused. It took him a few seconds to get the form down and then rush Mana into it before he lost the form. In his hand, he held his axe. He passed it to Kol, who turned the conjured axe as if it were a true weapon. He tested its edge, the balance; he even smelled it and tapped it in various places.

Kol nodded to himself and passed the axe back. Dave pulled his power back from the form, the shadows turning to nothing.

“The similarities are only skin-deep. I see where you might need to know more of the basics in order to create a true weapon. Do you have a pickaxe?” Kol asked.

“Yes.”

“Good. Then eat as we walk. We are a good distance from a good vein.” Kol stood and started to walk off.

Dave put his bread in his bowl, grabbing his bag and hurrying after Kol. Don’t worry—just killed a big-ass snake not even an hour ago. I’m perfectly fine to go mining for some ore.

Dave ate his food as Kol pulled out a piece of rock from his pocket. He tossed it into Dave’s bowl. Soup splashed on Dave’s face.

“The hell?”

“To know your weapon, you must first know your materials. That is steel. See the different elements of the metal. See how it has been formed and changed from iron.” Kol threw another metal bit. Dave caught it before it landed in his soup.

“Seems that you are capable of learning.” Kol’s gruff voice made the finding sound surprising.

Dave ate his meal while Kol threw metal bits at him.

Then Kol took the metal bits back. He’d hold them up, talking about their uses, how he would use them. The different needs to just mine them, or turn them into ingots. He had Dave close his eyes and name the pieces that Kol held in his fingers.

Dave had tried to use shapes at first, not understanding the differences between the ores.

Kol smacked him with his cane. “Use your brain. Know the metal, not just its form. You know how it’s supposed to look—you’ll never create something that has the same effect. Now what is this?”

“Ebony,” Dave said a few seconds later, resolving to find the characteristics of the metal without using shapes. Kol had a point and he was also using Earth and Dark magic to change the forms of ore. Iron and Mithril was like clay in his hands.

“Now find me some ore, boy!” Kol finally said, coming to a stop.

Dave spread his senses out, looking for the richness he felt in the rocks Kol had grilled him with. He found a thin vein of iron at the edge of his reach. “Iron, over there.”

“Good. I hope you have a shovel—it’s under a lot of dirt.” Kol walked in the direction of the vein.

Dave checked his inventory and followed Kol.

“Close your eyes, and only use your Touch to walk.”

Dave did so, tripping as he moved.

“What’s this?” Kol asked.

“Gold,” Dave said.

Kol put the rock in his pocket and grabbed another.

“Ebony,” Dave said.

Kol continued to pull out stones and put them back. Dave was learning them quick.

They stopped at a small rock. Dave could sense the depths of the rock and the vein of iron hidden in it. He pulled out his pick and shovel. Kol took the shovel and ordered Dave to start cutting into the rock.

“There has to be an easier way than this. Don’t you have any grinders?” Dave asked.

“Grinders?”

“Like machines to make this a faster process?” Dave asked.

“A pick has worked for a century and it’ll work for another century.”

Dave had been Austin Zane at one point, the man who had mined Sol system. A pickaxe was not the fastest way to mine the ore out.

“What would you say if I knew of a faster way to get the ore out with a tenth of the Dwarves?” Dave said.

“I would say you’ve started to go senile, or used your head to break rocks too many times,” Kol said, his tone biting as he sat on a nearby log.

Dave didn’t say anything. Some people might listen to his plans, others wouldn’t. Dave worked in silence, digging around the rock he wanted to break down.

“How would you go about mining?” Kol asked after some time.

“There are a few ways. One is having big machinery with multiple spinning heads. They grind up whatever is in front of them and push it back to big smelters to be sorted and refined. The other is cutting out blocks of materials with high powered and focused light. Have you seen light through a focusing glass?”

“Yes,” Kol said.

“You amplify that power many times and it can cut through anything. Seeing as it’s a planetary body and not an asteroid, though, might also need explosive,” Dave said.

“Those are dangerous,” Kol countered.

“Yes, but practice makes perfect. If done the right way, a team with lasers and some explosives could cut out a crude tunnel in less than half the time of others. Even less if they have more people or powered help to move the materials to smelters.”

“Those kinds of creations would be feeble and unstable. Yet you want to put them into miners’ hands where they might be working just feet from someone’s house and let them try it out?” Kol said.

Dave didn’t try to come back with anything. He’d said his piece. He wanted to know how to blacksmith, not have an argument about how he was going to extract ore.

“How come you know so much about getting ore?” Kol asked.

“In a single month, I mined more material than the Mithsia Mountains has in it. Every four months, I’d drop the weight of Mithsia in refined ingots down on my planet,” Dave said.

“Impossible,” Kol said.

“Nothing is impossible,” Dave said. “It’s something I’m learning every day,” he muttered under his breath, focusing on his digging.

Kol didn’t say anything for a time. Dave had got out his pick and was hammering away at the rock to get to the ore vein inside it when Kol finally spoke up.

“Us Dwarves, we have a secret. We don’t really go into the mines with our pickaxes. We use our magics to pull up the majority of our resources. The rest are doing other things like gathering food or working the smithies. The few who do use their pickaxes are the warbands we send to scout out new tunnels. We don’t know what’s down there, so we send them in to get a sample of the area and see if there are any creatures hiding there.” Kol moved from his seat to the top of the stone outcropping that Dave had excavated.

“I was thinking of showing you this tomorrow, but now will work.”

Dave felt power reach from Kol down through the earth, covering the iron ore that was there. Slowly he pulled at the ore through the path his magic had traced through.

The iron vein started to rise, inch by inch; the material it was displacing moved into the area it had left behind.

It rose about four feet before Kol released his Mana.

“It’s not easy, but it will get you the ore you need a lot faster.” Kol wiped his sweaty brow.

“How do I do it?” Dave asked, seeing why the Dwarves could use picks and their magic only. With that kind of control over the earth, they could literally pull ore from the ground.

“Cover the ore in your Mana and ease the earth around the ore. Don’t pull on it or you’ll just be fighting the earth above it. Move the earth rather than the ore.

“The trick is to get all of the ore, not just most of it.”

Dave tried to imitate what Kol had done. He channeled his Mana through the ground; it only felt like a part of his Mana. He couldn’t exert it all on the ground. He grabbed the iron and tried pushing against the earth around it to send it upward. The earth barely moved.

“Guide it around the iron,” Kol said.

Dave took a breath. He felt as though he had run with a truck on his back. “This shit sucks.”

“Means it’s good training. Once you’re at half Mana, try again,” Kol said.

Dave rubbed his head as he sat down. So it went until the sun was getting low.

“That’s a good first day. Let’s head back.” Kol stood from his seat and headed for the outpost.

“Silver,” Dave said, the old dwarf holding the piece of metal in his hands.

“There might be hope for you yet.”

Chapter 19: Who You Gonna Call? Trollbusters!

Dave wiped at his face. The rag that was soaking up his sweat had let some past as he heated metal. He turned it to get an even heat. Dave brought it back out of the forge, taking it to his anvil.

In his time with Kol, he had started to study the metal in depth with his Touch. He had seen the signs there but it was like looking at a piece of art: you could see what it was made from, even though you didn’t know how the artist did it. Dave now recognized the various compounds that were in the metal. He saw the way they reacted to pickaxes, to heat and cold.

He brought his hammer down in measured strikes, forming the simple nail. He still hadn’t graduated to making weapons.

Kol might sound as if he were talking a bunch of crap and be annoying as Dave learned to finally pull ore from the earth, but Kol insisted he do it another seven times before he was even allowed into the smithy. His smithy.

Yet now he didn’t just form metal—he shaped it.

A notification came down the side of his view.

New Active Skill: Smithing

You can hammer out some items on an anvil. No big deal or great boon. What the hell do you need to know this for in order to deal with a portal?

Level: Apprentice 8

Effect: 39% improved quality of smithing creation.

Kol didn’t bug Dave; he just gave him various tasks. Kol would work on his own pieces—no one tried to stop the blind man. More than one Dwarven smith looked at Kol’s creations with reverence. They were not only functional but beautiful.

Kol rarely made something that was less that AAA Quality. Dave could tell that the man could reach S, the highest known quality, but Kol smithied for fun. He had nothing to prove.

When the villagers needed nails, the ores that Dave had dug up were turned into nails. People would have paid a fortune for his blades and armor, yet here he was, making nails for free.

Dave put the nail into the quench bucket. He put down his tools and grabbed his pliers, taking out another piece of metal he’d had heating up. He went back to his anvil as Kol also grabbed a new piece of cherry-hot metal.

Dave’s hammer moved again, turning the piece of metal into a nail, identical to the others. He could feel his connection to the metal. His mind only focused on the metal, getting rid of the impurities and turning it into a final product. He knew where to hit, when he needed to turn. It was relaxing. The rest of the world fell away as he worked.

He put the nail down; steam rose as he moved to the next piece of heated metal. Again, he felt a connection with the metal, as if it spoke to him. He could see the carbon, the formation of the metal. He could understand what he needed to do to make the nail stronger and harder. There was no need for instructions; it was a conversation between him and the simple piece of metal at his mercy.

Dave did nail after nail, turning from man into machine. All that took up his mind was the metal and making it into the best item possible. He didn’t see the Dwarven grins as they saw his work. He’d given himself over to the smithy. His hammer and his body worked to create.

Dave stopped as Kol placed a hand on his back. Dave put the finished nail in the water-filled bucket.

“Well done.” Kol used tongs to pull the nail from the bucket.

Iron Nail

Quality: B

Durability: 2/2

Dave looked at the nail’s information. He’d been making C and D quality work for the most part. Getting to B meant he’d finally moved into the Journeyman category of skills.

“Next we’ll work with steel,” Kol promised, looking pleased.

Kol had been an ornery old bastard when he’d started teaching Dave. He’d been doing his grandson a favor. With time and Dave showing that he actually wanted to learn, not just be taught, Kol had come to show Dave more and give him some begrudging respect.

Dave felt zonked. Creating something from the iron had been like a drug in itself. The sense of accomplishment filled him with pride.

“Now we’ve got another seventy nails to go! We only need level C quality and you’re two times slower than any true Dwarven smith!” Kol’s scowl returned.

Dave grinned and moved back to the forge, where there were new ore slivers waiting to be formed into nails. He took a look at his notifications before he pulled it out.

Active Skill: Smithing

Level: Journeyman Level 1

Effect: 45% improved quality of smithing creation.

Reward: 2000XP

Passive Skill: Perception

You take time to look at your surroundings and analyze them. You notice details that others do not. At higher levels, people will think you can smell gold.

Level: Apprentice 6

Effect: 35% chance to find hidden details.

Reward: 2500 XP

Stat Increase

+2 Intelligence

+1 Strength

+1Willpower

Level 16

You have reached level 16; you have 65 stat points to use.

***

Dave walked out of the smithy and to his house. He poured water over his face, pulling the rag on his brow off.

He stood there and looked around. It had been morning when he went into the smithy; now it was almost night.

“Dave, come on. We’ve got a meeting to go to.” Max walked up.

“Huh? What about?” Dave focused his Mana on his muscles, relaxing them and healing them from their stresses over the day.

“The damn troll. Come on.” Max turned and Dave followed.

Looking up the hill, a wall was slowly forming. On the North, East and West, the cliffs offered natural defenses. The wall would stretch from the Eastern to the Western Cliff, enclosing the village.

It was no simple wall either; Dwarven Mages were working together with Elven Mages as they rose stone and metal walls, creating fronts as smooth as polished marble. Anyone that attacked wouldn’t find any easy hand holds to climb over the wall.

Just to the right and close to the wall was Dave’s home, smithy, and kiln. A path weaved up toward the outpost that was growing at the top of the hill.

Buildings were going up everywhere. One of the buildings that had been finished was the warband’s hall. It was four times the size of Dave’s home and in the center of the outpost.

A square was in the middle of the homes. A new tree had been planted there. A rare Elvenwood, a white tree with leaves that seemed to dance in the light and change colors with the wind and temperature stood proudly there.

Two roads were forming from the outpost’s center through the walls. One ran close to Dave’s home, with only a copse of trees behind his kiln separating him from it.

The one to the right went to Omal; the one to the left ran to Mithsia and Kufo’tel.

Teams had chopped down a good number of trees. Dwarves and Elves worked to remove the tree stumps by having the earth push them free.

Tents were still a common sight but new buildings were being finished every day.

Dwarven teams were moving down the road, clearing it of debris and then pulling rocks from below to create a natural roadway. It was slow, but their work would last lifetimes.

Dave stepped onto the road as they headed up to the warband’s hall.

Wis’Zel waved to Dave as he left before turning and working on his latest artistic creation before him.

Dave smiled and waved back to the Elf.

He’d made a contract with an Elf called Wis’Zel. He was a youngster by Elven standards, just thirty years old. He was an artist and a good man. He’d offered his services to man the kiln, taking twenty percent of the profits. As he waited to turn over the clay creations, he spent his time painting. He was no simple airhead and his art was like a picture, but with Wis’Zel’s flair.

Dave had agreed. He didn’t know how much the kiln with its bricks and tiles were making until he got a bag of gold a few weeks ago. He was earning roughly three gold a week. Not an inconsiderable amount. Wis’Zel also had ideas to bring the new inventions to Omal.

Dave left the man to it and focused on his training.

He waved to people here and there. As he was the one who had come up with the design of the houses, they were constantly offering him items in thanks. He would smile and wave them away. The only thing he didn’t deny were books and food, maybe an occasional beer here and there.

These people were building their homes; they had sold everything to come to the outpost and start their own industries. There were farmers cultivating the plains near the stream that ran below the cliff next to Dave’s house. Others were starting to build wells, or go off and look for various herbs.

Dave was happy to be part of the little community but he still enjoyed his separation. Here he had friends and people to talk to. They didn’t shun him as he had been shunned being Zane.

Here he was a valued member of the outpost. He’d gone on patrols, helped them build their homes, and even saved two of the outpost’s residents from a venomous snake.

Dave saw Esa, Mikal, and Jules moving for the warband hall.

He didn’t know how to feel about them yet. As time had gone on, they had spent more time working with the people in the outpost and actually making friends and connections. They were acting more like the People of the outpost than Players every day.

They were all training their various skills and growing in leaps and bounds. They asked how he had remained at level 3 instead of ever advancing; he’d shrug his shoulders and change the subject. He was keeping those points in case he ever really needed them. He had quickly gone from his skills taking weeks to develop to months.

He wanted to go out and fight mobs to increase his stats some more. He also knew how powerful those mobs and sentients could be. Plan, prepare and do it again a few more dozen times before you ever act, Kol had said. He had been talking about smithing, but Dave had taken the lesson to heart. The engineer in him agreed. He wasn’t ready yet to go on his own adventures, but soon he would be.

He walked into the hall. There were two floors with an eating area on the first floor and a large chimney reaching into the ceiling. On the second floor, there were beds for the Dwarves to sleep and dressers to store their gear.

“What’s he doing here?” one of the warband leaders by the name of Astaur barked.

“He fights with my warband. If he’s coming with us, then he’s going to know what we’re facing,” Lox said, his voice like hammered steel.

“He’s some halfling spawn. What use do we have of him?” Astaur shot back.

“I’ll show you what use I have,” Dave muttered under his scruff of a beard.

Astaur shot him a look and began to speak.

Wender tapped his hammer on the stones that made up the Dwarven floor. “What are ya, warband of bickering wives? We’ve got a troll to kill, unless you want to stay back here cleaning out your damned underwear!” Wender growled. His beard and hair were pulled back with metal ringlets that showed the various battles and challenges he had won. His scarred face and the massive hammer in his hand would give anyone pause.

Wender Olfson

Dwarf

Level 78

Astaur shook her head but drank from her cup.

Dave slumped onto a seat. The warband made noises of greeting as Max sat on the other side of the table that rested along the hall’s walls.

“We’ve got a damned troll to deal with, so let’s get to the business at hand. I’ve dispatched word back to Mithsia and Kufo’tel. They are sending reinforcements to help with the clearing out of this area. We all know how trolls are. They can move from place to place at a moment’s notice. They’re annoying to track and worse if we find them out in the forests instead of at their cramped homes. Durl, you have command of the city watch. Lox, Astaur, and my own warband will hunt this troll down and check out whatever is in the dungeon behind it. We will split loot once we are back at the outpost,” Wender said.

Durl looked annoyed that he was getting left behind but Dwarves were protective of their people. They would never leave them unguarded, especially out in the open like the outpost was.

“We leave tomorrow morning. We’ll aim to hit the troll at midday when it’s vision is the worst. Ela’mair and his rangers have confirmed that the troll is in the same place and they will advise us if the thing starts moving. Get some rest and see to your gear,” Wender said.

Like that, the meeting fell apart.

“Well, I’m going to get some food and go to sleep.” Dave stood, feeling like a zombie.

“I’ll tell my grandfather that you’ll be off with us,” Gurren said.

“Where does Kol stay?” Dave asked, interested. He knew the old man didn’t live in the warband hall.

“In a tent in the copse of trees in the undeveloped area between here and the wall,” Gurren said.

Dave heard the note of annoyance in Gurren’s voice.

“Well, while we’re gone, he can use my place. I won’t need it,” Dave said.

“I’ll have a talk with him,” Gurren said.

“Need a damn smith to run that place,” Dave muttered under his breath and headed back out of the hall.

***

Dave woke to someone opening his door. He knew the presence, so he turned over, complaining about Dwarves and their damned battle plans.

He realized that it was not a Dwarven presence. He looked up and found Deia standing in the middle of his home, studying the house and finally Dave.

“What are you doing here?” Dave asked, feeling a breeze on his ass. His eyes went wide as he remembered he wasn’t wearing anything under the sheet.

“Get up. We’ve got a troll to hunt,” Deia said.

“I’ll be out in a minute,” Dave said.

Deia sighed and pulled on Dave’s sheet. Dave went bright red as Deia looked at Dave. Her dusky cheeks colored.

“Out!” Dave yelled.

She didn’t complain, rushing out of the room.

Dave growled about headstrong Elves as he got up, trying to recover some dignity. He washed and clothed himself, pulling on his heavy iron armor. He’d altered it slightly to fit him better and allow him more movement.

He looked around his house. It was filled with items that he’d pulled out of his pack. It felt oddly light without building materials, ores, and other items that weighed over a ton. He’d ramped up his carrying weight to find out his new limits and increase his strength. It was annoying but it had served him well.

He strapped his two axes to each hip. On this quest, he would be healing. If he got into the actual fight, then something had gone terribly wrong.

Deia was outside, looking around, as Dave walked out.

“I…uh…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Dave said, trying to get past the awkwardness of the moment.

“Yeah.” Deia nodded and they walked over to the rest of the warbands that were just beyond the copse of trees behind Dave’s kiln.

Wis’Zel waved to them as they passed. Dave waved back and the artist returned to his painting.

“Morning, ya ugly bastard,” Joko said as they appeared on the road.

“You’re always such a ray of sunshine in my mornings,” Dave replied.

“I’ll remember that next time we’re sparring,” Joko said.

Dave let out a groan, getting grins from the Dwarves.

Astaur and her warband were on the opposite side of Wender’s warband, which stood in the middle.

Dave didn’t say anything, but he felt that the organization of where the bands were had been done on purpose.

“Move out!” Wender said. Dwarves, two wide with the leader at the rear, moved forward. The Elves with them took off for the trees.

As they cleared the gates, one of the Dwarves called out a song about a barkeep’s daughter and a Dwarven miner who fell in love.

Dave shook his head at the Dwarves’ choice of war-chant to keep them walking in time.

Then there was a story of a dwarf drinking contest. About trolls and Goblins. Some more songs that were barely above drinking songs. By mid-morning, Dave was singing along and the time passed quickly.

With a whistle, the songs died. The Dwarves pulled on their helmets and checked their swords and shields. An Elf dropped next to Astaur, guiding them toward the troll’s gully.

They didn’t rush on the way there. Wender wanted to keep them fresh for battle. Running there just to be too tired to hold a shield was a mess waiting to happen.

Astaur might dislike Dave but she knew her craft well. Her people moved into position with practiced ease. Wender’s group moved in behind.

Lox’s warband had been carrying cloth packs. They pulled the cloth covers away, revealing short spears with barbed heads. Dave checked his axes to make sure that they could come free at a moment’s notice.

The smell grew as they advanced.

Astaur called out a command. Her warband and Wender’s moved into a single entity, with five Dwarves in the front flank and five behind them covering their heads.

Dave pulled out his new bow. His strength was too much for his simple bow, so Deia had got a new one made.

Enhanced longbow

Quality: B

Damage: 62

Durability: 20/20

Dave was already thinking of making a compound bow. Coupled with his Strength and Stealth, the weapon could be deadly.

He pulled out an arrow and strung his bow, holding it ready.

Ahead there was a roar. The troll’s eyes were bad in the day but it had noticed the creatures that dared to enter its home.

Wender called out instructions. The two forward warbands moved up. Lox’s warband held back, all of them holding a spear ready in their hands. Astaur taunted the troll. It didn’t need much. It charged, crashing into the shield wall.

If there hadn’t been two lines deep and with their shields’ nails stuck into the ground, the Dwarves would have been thrown out of the troll’s path.

The troll bashed at the Dwarven barricade. Dwarven steel tasted troll blood as their weapons flashed in the midday sun.

The troll held its fists together, bringing them down with punishing force on the second rank.

“Loose!” Wender yelled.

Dave pulled back his longbow, releasing his arrow. He barely needed to angle upward, the troll was so close.

Three more arrows streaked in from other places in the forest. Lox’s warband threw their spears.

The troll yelled out as its Health dropped twenty percent.

Dave only paid half attention to that. The troll was already healing and pulling the spears from its body.

Dave fired again and again, keeping one eye on the party bar, watching the Health of the Dwarves. Yusa got a nasty hit but he took a potion, bringing him back up to Health.

It was going well. The Elves were now dropping out of the trees, running behind the troll and cutting it with their razor-sharp blades.

The troll turned, in a blood rage, and tried to catch them after their attacks. The Dwarves’ attacks to its front kept it occupied as it pounded on shields and did everything he could to make it into their lines, to break out and get the Dwarves hiding in their formations.

Lox’s warband ran out of spears, so they pulled the covered spears from Wender’s back and threw them.

It was slow work, but the troll slowed from its blood loss. An Elf got the last blow, appearing behind the troll and driving both of their blades through the creature’s back and into its chest. The Elf pulled out one blade, leaving the other as the troll casually hit the Elf back a few feet.

Its Health dropped as the troll swayed. Blood loss and pain clouded its judgment. It dropped to its knees and onto its face, dust rising up from the large creature’s final resting place.

Dave put an extra arrow into the troll. It didn’t move.

The Dwarves’ shield wall came apart. Lox’s warband moved to the front, ready to take on anything that came out of the dungeon.

Wender gave instructions to the Elves, and Dave moved to the Elf who had been hit.

Kol’ersi

Elf

Level 57

Dave used his Touch to sense the Elf’s body. It was similar to how he had felt the metal in the nails he had worked on. He could see the various elements in a new configuration. He moved the Elf, saying calming things as he cried out. Dave set bones and aligned things as best as possible, feeding the Elf’s major organs a small amount of Mana to keep them operating.

“Need a hand?” Jules asked from Dave’s side.

“What are you doing here?” Dave twisted a bone into place.

“Well, we saw the warbands getting ready and we wanted to see what was going on. Do you ever go offline?”

“Bit busy right now.” Dave closed his eyes and invited the Elf’s body to grow and mend itself. It meant that the Elf was going to be hungry and thirsty the next day, but Dave needed his Mana to heal others if necessary.

The Elf had, thankfully, passed out. Dave set the bones and gave the Elf enough healing to be okay to move.

He opened his eyes. Wender and Astaur were talking but looking at him as he worked.

The injured and fatigued were resting.

Dave carried the Elf over. Jules followed him.

“What level healer are you?” Jules asked.

“Dunno.” Dave put the Elf down.

“That kind of healing, it takes a lot of Mana to do,” Jules said.

“Depends how you do it. If you set their bones, or close the skin, then getting their own body to heal it at a faster rate isn’t too hard. Cheaper on magic that you might need later,” Dave said.

Jules’s face screwed up in thought. “So, you’re saying that first aid has a place here. The more aid you give someone, the less that you have to use magic?”

“Magic is like water against a sand wall: if you blast enough water against the sand wall, it’ll come down. If you know the sand wall, its weaknesses and strengths, you can use a tenth of the water to make the wall come down,” Dave said, stopping next to Lox.

“Looks like you lot can’t keep your noses out of anything,” Lox said to Jules.

“Well, if you saw three warbands walking off in full armor, you’d be a bit curious too,” Jules said.

Dave noticed Esa stood off to the side. Mikal was probably in the trees.

“Let us know if we can help. We’re itching to try out our new skills,” Jules said.

“You know them better.” Lox looked to Dave, tapping his side.

Dave grunted, understanding the trust Lox was putting in him.

“You can join, so long as you don’t get in the way. Also, the loot is going to the Dwarves. They’re giving you training for free—think of this as paying your debt,” Dave said.

They weren’t a bad team and if they did die—well, they could come back again. Better they got the blade of whatever was in the dungeon instead of one of Dave’s friends.

“Okay.” Jules’s fingers moved by her side. Dave had no doubt that she was sending a message to her party.

Mikal and Esa moved up to where they were.

“You can take point,” Dave said.

Lox looked at Dave with a questioning stare.

“If nothing else, then they take the hits instead of us. They respawn,” Dave said.

Lox shrugged and Jules looked unperturbed.

“Joko, Tounk—up front. We’ve got a dungeon to clear!” Lox yelled.

Chapter 20: Dun Dun Duuuu-ungeon!

Esa went first, pushing the remains of an old wooden door, its wood black withage.. It creaked and groaned as she kicked bones and leftovers from the troll. Finally, she got it open enough to get through sideways, beyond was a rough cave. Esa had to bend almost double to get through the small crevice in the side of the hill.

Mikal and Jules followed her.

“I’m going to put on my video feed so you can see what I see,” Jules said, using the party chat function to talk to Dave as if she was right beside him.

“Okay.” Dave pulled up her profile and requested access to her cam. She granted it and he saw through her eyes.

They worked through a cave barely wide enough for a human to fit through.After some time it seemed to open up, the walls showing signs that someone had taken time to shape them.

Magical blue flames burst into light, racing farther down the cave.

They continued on, noting what looked like rotten bookshelves. Then they got to the end of the tunnel. A new door faced them. This one was made from black stone so smooth that it shone in the blue flames light.

Green, gold, and white runes had been carved into the door. They seemed to shimmer as if the runes were smoking.

There were also black runes but they were harder to understand. The runes created a complex series of magical circuits.

Esa tried the door’s handle. Other than the runes, it was unmarked.

Quest: Boran-al’s Darkness

This citadel has been sealed for eight decades with powerful magical circuits and a door of imbued ebony. Do you wish to venture through the dungeon and finish what the Magi-ki of Versan-oul were not able to?

Y/N

Esa accepted it just as Dave was about to tell them to wait.

The runes flashed, growing in power.

“The hell is happening?” Lox asked.

“There’s a quest down there, called Boran-al’s Darkness,” Dave said as he minimized Jules’s feed to half of his screen.

The Dwarves made signs of protection, their faces and boisterous attitudes gone.

“It can’t be,” Astaur said, close enough to have the conversation.

“What does the sealing door look like?” Wender demanded.

“It’s black, imbued ebony with magical circuits made from Dark, Light, Earth, and Air magic,” Dave said. “It was said to be made by the Magi-ki of Versan-oul.”

If the Dwarves were able to get any paler, then they did.

“Ela’mair! Send word to the clans. We found the citadel of Boran-al. We need reinforcements immediately,” Wender said.

Ela’mair appeared for a second, bowed his head slightly and took off as fast as possible.

“Guys, I think you should pull back,” Dave told the three Players.

“Dude, this looks like a cool quest. What are you talking about? Also, the door is already opening,” Mikal said.

“The Dwarves up here are not playing about. They’re sending messengers to their clans. Seems that Boran-al is some bad damn news,” Dave said.

“Okay, we’ll close the door and wait it out,” Jules said.

“Damn it. I wanted to try out fighting with these things. Damn super—” Esa saw something behind the door.

Dave couldn’t see its features under its tattered cloak, but it was thin. Dave looked at its hand that held a staff of black and green runes. The wood looked as if it had been stained in blood.

The hand holding it was skeletal. It wasn’t the only one. It stood in a massive room easily two hundred meters by two hundred meters, with three angled pillars rising to the roof. At the base of the pillars was a bloody table, thick with dark runes that seemed to leak miasma into the area around, creating a pool of Dark energy.

“Shut the fucking door!” Dave yelled as he looked around the room. There were dozens of the skeleton priests in the room.

The Dwarves looked at him, startled.

“They didn’t open it, right?” Wender sounded almost as if he were pleading.

“There’s a dozen skeletons wearing robes and holding weird staffs,” Dave answered.

“Formation! Magic users and people who can smith to me!” Wender barked.

The massive ebony door was still opening. Esa, Mikal, and Jules were doing everything they could to shut it.

Dave could sense the skeletons’ amusement at their struggle. Dave looked to Wender; the Dwarves moved around him. Dwarves stood in front of the dungeon, holding their shields ready.

“We’ve found Boran-al’s cesspit of a citadel.” Wender raised his voice so everyone could hear him.

“Who is Boran-al?” Dave asked.

“He is a demi-god of darkness and despair. His worshippers hid here, building their power and their army. It took the combined forces of the Dwarves, Humans, and Elves to push them back. The greatest wizards were not able to fully suppress Boran-al’s highest priests. Many fought to slow the Boran-al cultists while the magicians sealed the cave with ancient and powerful magic. Boran-al cultists were necromancers who could raise armies of thousands. For a time, they were lost to us. Knowledge fell away but Dwarves remember,” Wender said.

“We’ve found a way to shut the door, though the runes look less bright,” Jules said. Dave looked through her eyes, seeing the door closing.

“The door is closing,” Dave said.

Wender nodded but his hardened features didn’t relax. “Opening the door will have weakened its power, maybe enough to allow the cultists to destroy it. They are powerful magic users and must now be undead to have survived this long. We need to silver our blades and imbue any weapons possible,” Wender said, talking to the group of three magic users and two maintainers.

“Dave, Master Smith Kol has taken you on as an apprentice and I am told that you can touch the heart of the land,” Wender said.

“Yes,” Dave said.

“Good. Follow me,” Wender said. His warband moved with him. “Lox, Astaur—you are to hold here no matter what.”

The Dwarves nodded their agreement. There was no time to argue here.

Dave walked past the door and into the cave. Now that he was in it, he could feel the magical circuits that covered the place. From the outside, its magic had been shielded, making it invisible to him.

Dave could feel the magic; it was powerful, only marginally less powerful than an Altar of Rebirth. Whereas the Altar only showed its power in bursts, here it was constant. Power from across the area was fed into the prison. Thousands of grand and even black soul gems had been used.

Dave felt the energies of the gems. The black were not filled with the souls of humanoids. Instead, they were filled with the power of the inanimate.

He had always been told that soul gems held—well, souls. Here he could see that they were not just for capturing the power of a creature. They were like batteries: if the power came from hydro, solar panels, or a nuclear facility, it didn’t matter as long as it was electricity.

It was harder to get power from anything other than living creatures. The more Dave looked at the magical circuits, the easier it was to see how it was spread out like a spider’s web, absorbing energies for kilometers around and channeling it into the prison.

“Dave, we don’t have time to dawdle.” Wender was irritated.

“The magic and power—all these magical circuits.” Dave shook his head, letting out a breath. “It’s like we’re standing in the middle of a nuclear bomb and it’s forgotten to go off.”

Wender didn’t look happy by this as Dave continued to follow.

His notifications were blinking again.

Active Skill: Magical Circuits

Level: Apprentice level 7

Effect: 37% chance of creating better Magical circuits and understanding them.

Cost: Dependent

Looks like that engineering degree is paying off after all.

They met Jules, Esa, and Mikal at the door. The Dwarves moved past them and faced the door.

Dave closed his eyes.

“What are we looking at here?” Wender asked.

“There was a magical shield between the door and the cultists. It seems that was keeping them back. Without the door there for a while, the cultists were able to disrupt some of the magical circuits. They fed soul gem energy right into themselves,” Dave said, shocked. There was a ton of energy in soul gems. The cultists had linked together and shared the power. “Some of them used their power to attack the magical circuits. It wasn’t much damage but they knew where to hit. The magical circuits will start to fail in three months by my guess.”

Wender made a noise. “Quis, go tell Astaur and Lox what Dave just said.”

“The hell are those things?” Jules asked.

“Dunno what they are now, but in a past life, apparently, this place used to be some kind of worshiping center for a necro-demi-god. This whole place is filled with a massive amount of energy, nearly as much as the Altars,” Dave said.

Mikal physically shuddered. He’d become close with the NPCs, unlike Esa and Jules. He seemed to hold some legitimate fear. The other two looked as if they were planning for a new raid. What they said next confirmed it.

“We got some readings off them. They’re level 130. Pretty damn high, but if we had a big enough party, then we might be able to take them out.” Jules looked to Esa and Mikal and then back to Dave.

“You want to send out word to the other Players, tell them that there’s a raid here and go up against these guys?” Dave asked.

“Yeah. These guys are going to be Evolvers instead of the preset mobs, though people will be interested in getting in on this. I know a few people who would be happy to go on a new raid and be the first to take it,” Jules said.

“Do it,” Wender said.

Dave looked at him in question.

“The door has been opened. We don’t really know what is behind it. Though level 130 plus? You said it before—travelers can die and come back. We can’t. I’d prefer to use your people with your stronger abilities instead of my own people. There’s only one person I know who is even above level 80. The other is 103 but he’s three hundred years old.” Wender shook his head. “If my people die, then their bodies can be used against us. With travelers, your bodies disintegrate as you revive. The necros might get a few minutes or hours out of you.”

“I’ll send out the request and any information we have,” Jules said.

Dave nodded. He continued to study the magical circuits, looking at the damage. He did what he could to cut off the power to the cultists and divert it back into the massive prison. Not even his Touch could get past the wall of magics that entombed the cultists.

Chapter 21: Making Circuits

It had been three days since the discovery of Boran-al’s citadel.

Dave put down his hammer on the steel. He was repairing a cuirass that had been damaged in the fight with the troll.

Word had gone out and the forums were teeming with people who wanted to get in on the “Boran-al raid.” Some of the solo Players or elite groups doubted the information until Mikal put up his information on the cultists they’d seen.

Dave still felt a chill down his spine at seeing those screenshots.

Necro-lord

Cultist of Boran-al

Level 137

People were talking about how such a high-level Evolving-based group was in a single raid. There weren’t any groups half as powerful, even in the deep reaches of the Alturaran lands.

Evolving skillset Players were signing up and heading en masse.

There wasn’t a limit on how big a raid could be but Jules had a friend in one of the higher-up guilds. The guildmaster had happily accepted the honor of running the raid. Five guilds, and various solo and small groups, were all making their way across Emerilia, using any means possible.

Dave felt the pressures of his life. Ever since Bob had opened his eyes, he had accepted Emerilia as his home. He had no thoughts of returning to his simulated life. The only person he missed was Suzy, but then he wasn’t sure whether she was just part of the simulation or not.

He let out his thoughts, fears and doubts, tapping the heated steel cuirass’s side and bending it flat. He inspected his work and moved to the forge, taking a strip of steel that he’d heated up. He brought it to the cuirass, hammering the steel piece into the armor, spreading it out and sealing the tear.

He felt the dent and bumps, taking time to hammer those out as well.

I just wish that whoever wore this wouldn’t get hurt so bad. Dave thought of the magical circuits that had been throughout the ground around the citadel. How they used the world’s Mana in order to power the prison. How it used soul gems as power sources. He pulled out a common soul gem he’d taken from the ruined cabin in the woods so long ago.

He studied it, thinking and wondering.

Dave placed the soul gem on the armor, closing his eyes, and he put his hand on the armor.

***

Kol felt something that he hadn’t felt in a while. He didn’t need to turn to see Dave.

Other smithies were looking as the halfling leaned on the armor at his anvil, a soul gem under his one hand.

Kol let them keep watching instead of berating them for their stares.

Come on, laddie. Kol moved toward Dave. The man’s eyes were closed, completely at peace as a shimmer started to move away from the soul gem.

Kol touched the anvil, feeling the magical circuits. He felt Dave’s consciousness move through the different patterns, unsure but curious. Kol inserted his own power, guiding Dave’s attempts.

Dave relaxed and allowed himself to be given hints.

Kol moved back from the anvil a few minutes later.

Dave said something in a language long dead, his voice soft but powerful. The soul gem flashed brightly; runes that made the magical circuits were filled with rainbow light. Dave opened his eyes, looking thoroughly drained and pleased.

“Might be hope yet for you, lad,” Kol grumbled, proud of the young man but too much of a dwarf to admit it.

“It’s just like doing circuitry. The power source is the soul gem. The runes are the power lines and the enchantment is the lightbulb. All of it together creates one single circuit.” Dave blinked.

Kol didn’t know what a lightbulb was, but he guessed it was similar to the magical orbs powered by magical circuits. Kol didn’t care as the corner of his disformed face twitched. He could feel the power radiating off Dave. It was as if he could see the young man making connections by the second. He’d cracked the barrier between him and his knowledge, and now it flooded through like an open dam.

Kol left Dave looking over the steel armor. Runes, lit with the power of the soul gem Dave had used, were traced down the sides of the armor.

“Remember—you’ve got four sets of chainmail to fix!” Kol grumbled, grabbing the greaves he’d been working on with his pliers. He put it under the magical flame torch and heated up a steel leg panel, a grin on his face the entire time.

They were both bone-weary but the energy of discovery and pride kept them working well into the night. Dave had a hard time trying to hide his grin.

The other Dwarves gave him a pat, congratulating him on his hard work. Dave talked to them about it. They might never be able to enchant anything but they were Dwarves; learning anything about their beloved metal would always get their attention.

Chapter 22: Check Up

“Hiya, Dave,” Bob said as Dave walked around to his porch.

Dave jumped about four feet into the air as he realized who the hell was talking.

Bob was clearly enjoying Dave’s reaction as he smoked on a long pipe.

“Dammit, Bob! ’Bout near crapped my pants!” Dave’s tiredness from working in the smithy only served to fuel his irritation at the annoying little gnome.

Forty Dwarven warbands were now camped at the outpost. More woods had been cleared inside the walls. The smithy was in constant use as people worked on gear and prepared for whatever happened at Boran-al’s citadel.

Another force of ten warbands had moved to the citadel just a week ago. Wender and his group had pulled back to the outpost and were getting the rest of the Dwarves up to date.

Dave gave the link to Esa, Jules, and Mikal to pass on all the information he could. The threesome was not held in the highest regard. They had put a lot of people into danger with opening that door.

The nearest Players were just getting to Omal. There were already new Players coming to the outpost to see what was going on. The forums were filled with pictures and exciting tidbits.

Lox had been talking to them, putting down edicts about the outpost. The people in the outpost were making the most of the Players being there.

Wagons had been making their way from Mithsia and Kufo’tel to the outpost. The roads weren’t complete but the trees had been cut down at least. Warehouses were filling up. The Players had ready cash; the Dwarven and Elven gear interested them and they were buying all they could.

“I see things in Cliff-Hill have heated up,” Bob said, using the name that had been picked for the outpost.

“Well, having the biggest raid yet with smart creatures is sure to bring a crowd.” Dave sat on his seat.

He hadn’t smoked in five years but right now he was keening for a cigarette. He smelled the herbal mixture of Bob’s pipe.

“Well, times are a changing.” Bob grinned.

“What you smoking there?” The mix of berries was tantalizing.

Bob handed over the pipe. “Knew that you couldn’t stay cold turkey forever.”

Dave grunted and took a puff off the pipe. It wasn’t harsh, nice and mellow and relaxing. He felt some of his nerves falling away as tensions eased away from his shoulders.

Bob snickered.

“Shut up, Bob.” Dave closed his eyes in bliss and sat back in his chair.

“You know, you could just conjure one up,” Bob said.

Dave opened an eye and looked at the man.

“Seems I’m not the only one who likes a smoke.”

Dave handed the pipe back and conjured one in the other hand.

Bob hid his amusement as he puffed.

Seems you did take my advice serious about training.

“It was never the nicotine for me—it was always about the actions,” Dave said. “You know, pulling out a fresh cigarette, putting it to your lips and lighting it. I hated the taste and the smell, but damn if I didn’t like the actions.”

Bob nodded, leaning against one of the porch roof’s support beams.

“So, what do you want, Bob? Other than to break my smoking sabbatical?”

Bob looked at Dave. “Nothing. I was just bored. You know, being an admin isn’t always running around putting out fires. I do have a bunch of AIs for that.” Bob gave a wry smile.

Dave rolled his eyes and snorted, smoking on his pipe. “So why are you helping me? Aren’t you supposed to be neutral and all?”

“Well, see, neutral is interesting. I can balance things out or let them go until a new neutral is found. Personally, I see myself as a protector of the People of this land. The NPCs as you call them. You mess with a few—that’s okay. You start messing with more…” Bob’s tone was light but his eyes hardened as he thought of some of the things that the various lords and ladies had done over the ages in order to try to gain more power and change the world into their image.

“Boran-al was an annoying creature that a Lady of Dark gave power and instructions to. In her name, he created a following in the Dark. The kind of following that created one hell of a problem for me to solve. I had to personally enhance the magical circuits on that accursed prison. Then, the Lady of Dark’s successor accessed the prison and used the cultists. It was only until recently that I figured out why Boran-al’s people were out here and why the lords and ladies and Darkness have been interested in this area.” Bob looked to Dave.

Dave held his stare.

Bob looked away and sat back in his seat. “Do you notice anything different?” Bob asked casually.

Dave closed his eyes for a moment. “No.”

“What about below us?”

Dave’s eyes widened. “It’s not there, whatever it is.” Dave looked at his feet.

“It’s still there, waiting. Yet it is one thing that neither myself nor any of the lords and ladies should play with,” Bob said.

“What is it?” Dave asked.

“It’s called a seeder, one of hundreds that terraformed Emerilia and provided portals and Altars of Rebirth. They created the lines of magic across this planet and created what Emerilia is today. Cliff-Hill gives it a good cover. With all of the powerful Dwarves who might come through here, it would make sense that they could find a big-ass block of metals underground.” Bob snorted, smoking.

“Why are you telling me this?” Dave asked.

Bob sat there, taking in the late-night view as he rolled smoke around his mouth. Memories across dozens of lifetimes flowed through his mind.

“I’m old, Dave. When I started this, I was a few hundred years old. Now I am so damn old that mountain ranges are young to me.” He kept looking in the distance. “Humanity is a fractured race. You squabble among yourselves and somehow you get stronger. You’ve got millions of different viewpoints, beliefs, and ideas. You can never seem to agree on anything. The Jukal Empire is vast and powerful. The most powerful Empire in existence. Do you know why?” Bob looked to Dave.

“Because they’re smart?” Dave asked.

“Because we know how to use people. I am the greatest sinner for that little bit.” Bob’s smile was sad. “The idea was to use humanity to push back the aggressive species that were raging at our borders and threatened to destabilize the Empire. Get you to think that this is a game and we get a force that will do anything to win. Perfect—problem solved. What we didn’t take into account was how humanity worked best in conflict. You’re always looking to one-up one another. You’re looking for the constant advantage. When Emerilia came online, everything changed. Humanity created soul gems; no one had thought of that before. With your fractious nature, you are downright innovative. Emerilia became the Empire’s center for research and development. Then people started getting interested in Emerilia.

“They saw how you Humans were looking for gods and such. I had actually created the six gods just to give you lot some guidance and balance. Made it easier when a new lot was introduced to the game and they had needed to learn everything new.

“Well, the People of the Empire started to look at Emerilia as not only a prison and solution to the aggressive species. They saw it as entertainment. With humanity’s creation of entertaining magic, people wanted more to fill their lives than just working.” Bob smirked.

“Even imprisoned on a planet, thinking it was a game, you lot of apes managed to influence an entire Empire and make them understand the concept of boredom!”

Dave snorted. In his hand, two beers appeared.

“I knew I gave the right guy the ability to conjure.” Bob took a beer and sipped from it. “You’re getting close,” Bob said. “Fuck, that’s strong.”

“Yeah, the yeast isn’t quite right. I’ve got the barley and hops down, though.” Dave looked at the beer. Adding nitrogen was the easiest part. He’d thought making beer would be easy. Making terrible beer was easy. Making a fine brew that had been alive for hundreds of years for its tastes, colors, and flavors—it was becoming quite a pain in the ass. He would not be deterred.

“I’m impressed. It’s hard to make a good beer but you’re giving it your all. You’re not just conjuring item after item; you went to the root of the issue and you’re working through the steps.” Bob raised his glass in salute.

“Thanks.” Dave smiled. “I was thinking about giving up. With Kol and his teaching about ores, mining and then finally using the smithy, I started to understand. It’s easy to conjure something; to build it and create it with your hands and tools is damn difficult. When I conjure now, I’m not just making an axe. I’m forming metal, tempering it and bending it with my will. The more I know, the better I can create. I’ve taken to conjuring only to make prototypes and experiments. They might break but it’s more of a learning experience to see how little Mana I need to pour into it for it to hold its state.” Dave drank from the beer. It was a shameful copy of the real brew, but it was proof of his work.

“Now you were talking about entertaining,” Dave asked, looking to Bob.

“Never told anyone this story, yet here I am with your sorry ass.” Bob took another mouthful of beer.

“So, yeah, people started to get bored and then the Empire had another idea. Humans found games interesting—why wouldn’t the Jukal? So, they took whatever videos humanity made on Emerilia and fed it to the masses. Then people started to buy their way into the positions of gods. That messed things up for a while as they weren’t that adventurous. So, we took Humans and made them think that they were the lords and ladies of whatever.” Bob waved his hand.

“So, the people who are running this whole thing are human?” Dave asked.

“Yeah. Smart, right? Have one race use one another for your own goals.” Bob’s laugh held no humor. “That’s when we stopped straight out destroying the aggressive races and started closing the portals before they could all be wiped out so that we could keep them entertaining the People of the Empire.” Bob’s voice turned dark and cold as he took a long drink from his beer.

“So why are you helping me?” Dave asked.

“I’m just explaining things to you. Think of me as a guide. I might have a thing for you to do here and there. To keep the balance and make sure that my people don’t get hurt,” Bob said.

***

Dave looked at the man who had created all of Emerilia. He had heard his story, and the story of Emerilia.

“You care about Emerilia—you care about humanity,” Dave said.

Bob made noises and “kind of” gestures. Dave could see through it all.

“Sure, you made this to use humanity but the goal was to kill the races that wanted to kill your people. Then they turned it into a sport.”

Bob’s jaw tightened as he ground his teeth together.

“You’ve wanted to change things for a while and now you finally can.” Dave’s eyes widened. It was as though he had created a magical circuit again and things were just sliding into place.

“The other lords and ladies have to act through intermediaries; they can give them certain boons and push them in the right direction. Yet they never come straight out and start fighting. You’ve never been able to do that. You never had anyone believe in you, or be neither NPC nor Player and have all of the Affinities. You said that there’s never been a bleeder before. So, you’ve never been able to have someone fight for your cause.”

Dave looked at Bob. “Each of the lords and ladies have a cause, but what is yours?”

“Protect the denizens of Emerilia.” Bob didn’t hesitate.

For a second, Dave felt the power that was inside Bob. For a second, he could see the steely cold resolve in the man.

That power—it was like sitting next to the sun.

What do I want to do? Since he got to Emerilia, he’d been going with the flow of things. He thought of the people he’d met, not just the Players. Bob might have made this prison, but he was stuck here like everyone else. Dave didn’t blame Bob. Humanity was a bunch of assholes and Bob hadn’t been able to do anything until now.

“You got another beer?”

Dave replaced the one in Bob’s hand with another.

“You’re getting better,” Bob said, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

“Working with Kol has opened my eyes up to a lot,” Dave agreed.

“Like a proper brew.” Bob sipped his beer.

“That being among it.” Dave laughed.

He sat there on his porch, with the closest thing to a god smoking and having a drink not four feet from him.

Life was certainly interesting.

Dave thought of how Bob had showed him the reality of Emerilia. How he’d worked with him. He might be sketchy on the details at times, but he’d helped Dave. Dave snorted.

“What?” Bob asked.

“After it all, I guess I’m friends with a god,” Dave said.

Bob rolled his eyes. “Just think of me as a bored system administrator, who just deals with magical powers and people instead of servers and coding things. Ugh, trying to figure out your technology was a pain in the ass!”

Dave laughed at his friend’s antics.

Chapter 23: Dark Machinations

The Dark Lord held up his hand, cutting off the orc. His eyes thinned as he felt a tug on his power. It was strong, the kind of power that he gained when the Alturaran portal had been opened. As more Dark forces entered Emerilia, he harvested their power, feeding him and growing stronger.

The Lady of Light had been devious in her plot, arming her people with weapons that she had been saving for hundreds of years.

One of the guilds vowed to her had fought the Dark Lord’s forces, taking away the power of a large undead army. It seemed that she had been watching his portal placements before the new travelers.

She’d taken the power of the undead army from him and then had her forces open the portal before the Dark Lord had enough power to do so. When she had sent her forces through the portal, the Dark Lord had been unprepared. Her forces, armed with weapons she had bestowed on them, had risen in strength as they took out the meager Alturaran forces.

He needed to regain the initiative and the power that he had lost with the destruction of his forces. He couldn’t directly act in Emerilia, but he had instruments to do his bidding, as were the rules for all of the Affinities Pantheon.

It was why twelve paladins, from Orcs to Humans, were arrayed in front of him. In their respective cultures, they were feared around Emerilia. Here, they were just disciples, bare embers to the Dark Lord’s raging inferno.

He opened up his senses and located the disturbance. A plan that had been set in place eighty years ago was possibly reaching fruition.

“Boran-al!” the Dark Lord bellowed, summoning the powerful necromancer.

The tall man stood in front of the paladins of Dark, holding a staff made from some creature’s bones with a skull perched at its top.

“My Lord.” The paladins stepped back, feeling the necromancer’s bloodlust as it bowed.

“It seems your disciples prevail where others have failed.” The Dark Lord’s voice was cold and hungry.

Boran-al looked up. His purple eyes thinned before a hungry smile crossed his face.

The Dark Lord felt a similar smile cross his own features. “How long will it take them to break the remaining runes and free their citadel?”

Boran-al paused for a moment. “Six months and the citadel will rise.”

“They have done well. Wait until they have opened their prison and give them my blessing,” the Dark Lord said.

Boran-al bowed but paused, as if unsure to ask his question.

“Speak. I will hear your request,” the Dark Lord said.

“May I use it?” Boran-al asked, raw hunger in his voice.

The Dark Lord laughed. It was an ugly and hard thing. “Yes.”

“My Lord.” Boran-al bowed low in respect and excitement. He rose, saying a few words of power before he tapped his staff.

The paladins looked shocked. The amount of power it took to use that incantation should have taken tens of minutes to perform.

The Dark Lord floated from his chair down to the floor. “Prepare your forces and spread my anger. Soon, we will have the means to show the Lady of Light the folly of her surprise attack.”

The paladins dropped to their knees, displaying their obedience to his great power. “As you command,” they said as one.

The Dark Lord waved his hand and runes under them glowed before they disappeared in purple light. The Dark Lord opened up a chat window with the Earth Lord.

The Earth Lord grunted in greeting.

“My old friend, I think it is time that our alliance was revealed,” the Dark Lord said.

“Talk.” The Earth Lord’s voice was like listening to boulders crash together.

“A citadel that was locked away is once again rising. When it does, I will be able to lend you the forces to fight Water,” the Dark Lord said.

“By contract?” the Earth Lord said.

The Dark Lord knew enough of the Earth Lord to hear the man’s excitement. “By contract,” he agreed.

The Earth Lord closed the chat.

The Earth Lord dealt with the creations of the earth as well as the materials of the land; the Dark Lord dealt with that of the inanimate. Their powers complemented each other, where light worked with that which was living. Dark and Light were the major power houses with Water, Earth, and Air as seconds.

Fire was a fickle lady; she had the least power until someone opened a few of her portals. Yet she cared little about people’s issues. Then there was the administrator.

The Dark Lord would have rolled his eyes. The creature was weak and useless. Just a caretaker, the one to clean up after their fights. He barely had any power.

The Dark Lord looked through the reports. His people were already talking about what people were doing for the new raid.

Dark guilds were also moving into the area. A number of their people had already infiltrated the Light guilds in order to tear them apart from the inside.

The Dark Lord smiled greedily, looking at the ranks and powers that were racing toward his citadel. Seeing the names of his guild, he wondered what the Lady of Light was doing.

He laughed and the noise reverberated through his hall.

***

The Lady of Light sat in the lotus position, trying to drain the anger she felt in her very core. The Dark Lord might be good at fighting when he was angry; she knew that it was best if she was calm.

“Why don’t you just sit on a cloud and do that?” the Lady of Fire said through the candle in front of the Lady of Light.

“Oh, piss off!” The Lady of Light stood and looked around her immaculate garden.

The candle turned into a whirling mass of fire; none of the heat even touched the Lady of Light as the Lady of Fire appeared.

The Lady of Light wore gold fringed robes with white satin drawn into a dress, emphasizing her womanly charms. She had a face that would have been called irresistible by the high Elves. Her golden-blonde hair was braided into a circlet on her head.

The Lady of Fire wore a red top and black leather pants. On her ears were twin flames. Her red hair was pulled back in a ponytail, showing her high cheekbones, azure eyes, and mischievous smile.

“Are you going to join in on this one or mutter around the sidelines? You’re no better than Neut.” The Lady of Light rolled her eyes.

The Lady of Fire’s expression turned dark. “Don’t underestimate him.”

The Lady of Light’s eyes thinned. The Lady of Fire had been alive for longer than any of the current Pantheon. She and Neut were known to share a beer or two. The Lady of Fire at least played the other five’s games, even with her limited powers. Neut did what he always did and pandered around the edges.

“What’s he going to do, give me more rules?” the Lady of Light asked.

The Lady of Fire tapped her lip in thought, clearly wondering about telling the Lady of Light something.

“Maybe. He did make that whole rule that people’s farts were a display of Air power,” the Lady of Fire said.

“The fart debacle.” The Lady of Light shook her head. It sounded minimal but everyone passed gas, including creatures. If that power was siphoned off, Air would have become considerably more powerful. Neut had put down a ruling that it was not created from Affinity and thus it did not count. Otherwise, the Lady of Light could just harness the heat given off by people’s bodies.

“Are you going to be part of this one?” the Lady of Light asked.

“I don’t like Boran-al or what his people stand for, but this is yours and the Dark Lord’s fight,” the Lady of Fire said.

“I heard that he might be working with the Earth Lord,” the Lady of Light said lightly, studying the Lady of Fire.

“Might be an idea to talk to Air or Water—have to act before the Dark Lord has a chance,” the Lady of Fire said.

The Lady of Light nodded as a golden scroll appeared in mid-air. It was the reports from her guilds of Light. She nodded appreciatively. Her forces were doing well in the Alturaran lands. Catching them off guard when they were not ready to open the portals themselves meant that her people were only growing in strength, gaining hard-earned loot and gold that could be used to dominate the markets of Emerilia.

“Well, I have a volcano to sit in. I will talk to you later,” the Lady of Fire said.

“I heard that there might be dragons coming back into the world,” the Lady of Light said, reading her scroll still but glancing at the Lady of Fire.

The Lady of Fire shrugged. “I miss the old bunch—not up to me, though.” With that, blue flames consumed her and she disappeared.

The Lady of Fire appeared in her volcano, rubbing her hands to get more heat. She sat down on her recliner, and settled back.

You return, Master, the voice in her head said. The side of the volcano moved. A massive head the size of a car moved toward the Lady of Fire.

“Hello, you.” The Lady of Fire tapped the creature’s snout.

It crooned, moving its head so she could scratch its neck.

“You spoiled girl, you.” The Lady of Fire turned her hand into a claw made of magical fire as she scratched the dragon’s neck.

Neut appeared in a similar recliner. His eyes thinned seeing the Lady of Fire’s chair. “I was wondering where that went,” he muttered as she grinned.

The dragon looked to Neut as an attacker, sniffing him before snorting and agreeing with his presence. Neut didn’t even bat an eyelid.

“A gnome, huh?” the Lady of Fire asked, looking over at Neut.

“I’ve got a soft spot in my heart for gnomes.” Neut grinned and took a drink of an odd beer.

“Come to share?” The Lady of Fire licked her lips.

Neut rolled his eyes; the beer moved to her hands.

She took a sip of the beer; somehow it was still cool, even in her volcano.

“Nice,” she said. “Where’d you get it? Have to grab some when I’m down there.”

“Trade secret.” Neut winked.

The Lady of Fire laughed and took another sip before she levitated it back to Neut.

“So how are your lovely children doing?” Neut asked.

“Very well. They keep me entertained,” the Lady of Fire said, proud of her creations in a motherly way.

While there might be cat ladies, the Lady of Fire was most definitely a dragon lady.

I thought you just wanted some company.

“Oh, shush, you.” The Lady of Fire smiled. It was good having the dragons around.

The other five lords and ladies didn’t know but she and Neut liked to travel around on Emerilia as travelers now and then. Having someone she could talk to while she was up in her volcano was rather pleasant.

“So why the sudden power up?” the Lady of Fire asked, looking to Neut.

Dragons were capable and powerful creatures. Her own dragons had been alive for four hundred years. Sixty of them, ten of each Affinity, were perched around her volcano ranges. They were more powerful than any mere traveler. Although the other lords and ladies kept their power back, using it as a bartering chip with their people, the Lady of Fire had poured fire into her creations. It was her clear affection toward them that made them loyal. Not the want for more power.

He had rescinded a previous order, allowing them to leave the ranges of Alka-poush and once again roam the skies. The kind of power he would be giving her with the dragons was not inconsiderable. In fact, it might elevate her to the same power as the second-tier houses. Something that she was going to keep a secret for as long as possible. She hated dealing with their fights.

“Can’t a guy just want to see his friends having fun?” Neut smiled.

“Well, thank you, Neut,” the Lady of Fire said, deeply thankful. The dragons were like her surrogate children. They were powered by all of the elements; that was Neut’s one rule. Every dragon litter was to have one of each element, and the Lady of Fire was not allowed to have paladins of fire.

She hadn’t, anyway; most people wanted to be Light or Dark, with a few of Water, Air, and Earth. People used fire but usually while following someone else. She’d had few paladins and they were chaotic. Another reason she had kept her power to herself.

“You are most welcome, Lady of Fire,” Neut said.

“So, what have you been doing on Emerilia?” the Lady of Fire asked.

“Talking, hanging out.” Neut tried to act relaxed but there was a coldness to his eyes.

If Neut didn’t want to tell her, that was fine; he was the one person she could call a friend other than her dragons. Which makes me so damn happy I was the Lady of Fire instead of the other affinities. Dealing with all the power moves and the damn entourage would be a real pain in the ass.

“I heard that your dragons are already creating their broods across Emerilia,” Neut said.

“Yes. I’ve made it a rule that they are to only kill non-sentients. One village has come to worship Koso. He killed off a pack of wolves attacking their village. He has become their guardian while his mate, Gesal, looks after their brood. A year to Emerilia will be ten to them. They will grow in knowledge and Mana quickly,” the Lady of Fire said, not without some pride.

“Proud of your dragon babies?” Neut smiled.

“A little.” The Lady of Fire smiled.

“Don’t get too attached—things live and die. With us, we see all too many brilliant flames snuffed out too soon.” Neut sighed.

The Lady of Fire nodded, patting Denar with her flame-hand, hoping that her incarnation came before the death of her sons and daughters.

“What of Boran-al’s citadel?” the Lady of Fire asked.

“In six months, it will rise once again.” Neut stared into space.

The Lady of Fire knew how much Neut cared for the People of Emerilia. He wasn’t a lord or lady of the Pantheon but he was one of the few who actually cared about those who called Emerilia home, or a game.

Without an intermediary, Neut was powerless. The Pantheon’s games had once again started.

Even with all of the possible threats, excitement filled her. Once again, dragons will fly the skies. Stretch their wings and live! She smiled to herself, promising herself a ride in the near future. There was nothing quite like riding a dragon above Emerilia.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t see the interest in Neut’s eyes. This time there would be a new contender in Emerilia.

Part 2

Boran-al

Chapter 1: Silver

Boran-al looked over Emerilia, specifically a place between the Opheir city Omal and the Mithsia Mountains and Kufo’tel forest, just a few kilometers from the small trading outpost Cliff-Hill.

Through the forest, bands of travelers rushed toward the city and the Dark Citadel that had been the topic of talk for all of the travelers.

Boran-al smiled and watched the Dwarven army marching for the outpost, their Elven rangers providing scouting. As they moved, they killed wandering mobs.

The Earth Lord had indeed sided with the Dark Lord. His mobs and creatures were working to impede those who wished to wage war on Boran-al’s altar.

He smirked, closing his eyes and feeling the dark energy that was building in his altar. His cultists had done him proud. Their stalwart efforts would soon pay off.

He didn’t know why the Dark Lord wanted them to control this area. He did know that the Dark Lord had given him a boon that few others were allowed.

He should have been killed when the plan failed initially. Yet the Dark Lord and his later incarnations had let the matter slide.

Boran-al was eternally grateful that the Dark Lord had allowed him to live this long in order to see his plan come to fruition.

He looked at the travelers and the People of Emerilia. They were a powerful force. A cold smile crossed his perfect features, purple eyes shining in excitement and bloodlust.

With their lives, then I will show the Dark Lord that his power was not misplaced. I will show him the abilities of my mages. The name of Boran-al will be feared across the lands.

He had waited decades; he could wait a few more months as his cultists grew in strength and prepared for their citadel to once again rise from their earthen tomb.

Six more months, in the month of March, Boran-al’s cultists would rise.

***

Dave had finished his morning training with the Dwarven army. There were some two hundred Dwarven warriors in Cliff-Hill now.

Houses were being built at a furious pace. Dwarven mages and engineers were clearing and moving along the road to Omal. The idea was to build a road directly to the Dark Citadel.

At a Dwarven war march, it would take just a few hours to reach the place, instead of half a day.

A larger force of four thousand, eight hundred Dwarves and nearly a thousand Elven rangers were marching from Mithsia and Kufo’tel. It had taken time for the force’s supply route to be completed.

The road from Mithsia and Kufo’tel was being built at a furious pace ahead of the combined army.

Dave was hosting a Dwarven warband, their Elven ranger and his manager of the outpost’s kilns in his home.

Beside it, his smithy raged through the day and night. Another smithy had been added onto it and a well-worn path went from the site to the city center.

Dave rubbed his shoulders. It had been two months since they’d found the Dark Citadel.

Lox’s warband was washing up before going on patrol and checking their gear.

Wis’Zel had taken over managing the kilns Dave had created in order to make his own home. Dave wanted to focus on training and Wis’Zel loved the view from his home and loved to paint between firing bricks and tiles. Now the kilns had grown from small simple chimneys to two buildings half the size of Dave’s smithy. Dave had used and abused the Internet to make the best kilns. A team of twenty worked under Wis’Zel. Dave had been scared that the artistic Elf would leave the kilns in search of a more relaxed job. Instead, he’d cracked his knuckles, closed his stand and got to work.

Dave waved to Wis’Zel as he came out of the kilns, wiping his sweaty brow.

Wis’Zel gave him a smile and a wave back.

“You going to dawdle all day! We’ve got nails to make, boy!”

Dave turned to see a grumpy-looking dwarf at the entrance to the smithy. Here I was thinking that I owned the smithy.

“Coming, Mister Kol.” Dave headed over.

Kol snorted.

If he still had eyes, Dave wouldn’t doubt the old man would have rolled them. Dave grinned. Kol was a hard taskmaster but he was fair and a brilliant teacher.

“Gurren, you look after yourself, my boy,” Kol said, some of his hardened exterior opening as he talked to his grandson.

“Yes, Grandfather,” Gurren said, a flash of a smile under his Dwarven beard.

“Come on, you lazy lot!” Lox said, talking to his four shield bearers who made up his warband.

Dave waved good-bye to them. They were all close friends to him. They’d been in quite a few hairy situations together.

They grunted or waved back, heading through the small copse of trees that backed the kiln and separated Dave’s home from the main road.

Dave headed into the smithy. Heat from furnaces and magical torches blasted him. To the untrained eye, the smithy looked like chaos.

Dave weaved through it with practiced ease. He had lived and breathed in this forge for months. In that time, he’d introduced the idea of a production line. The Dwarves had grumbled about it but after a month, their production had skyrocketed. Dwarves were good at working in teams. Turning the smithy into a factory had been easier than Dave dared hope.

He pulled on his apron and gear.

“Follow me, boy,” Kol said.

Dave did as he was told, moving from the part of the smithy that was making nails to keep up with the needs of Cliff-Hill and into the area where Dwarves were working on the Dwarven army and travelers’ gear.

Dave didn’t need to look at the pieces to know which ones were enchanted or not. He constantly used a spell called Touch of the Land. It showed him not only what was around him, but what it was made up of.

“What do you think of this?” Kol pointed to a set of finely crafted armor in a pile of items to be worked on.

“Got a nasty dent right in the Magical Circuitry, won’t function properly. Also, the shoulders are messed up. Seems someone likes tackling boulders.” Dave shook his head.

Just months ago, he would have needed to close his eyes to search through the armor for its faults. Under Kol’s tutelage, he knew the faults and strengths of a piece without conscious thought. He remembered how he’d cut down a tree in three powerful strikes as he was able to enhance the weaknesses of the tree.

“Good. Now fix it,” Kol said.

“It’s made out of silver.” Dave looked to Kol. He’d only graduated to steel a little while ago.

“By the stones, there is something rattling around in your head!” Kol said. “I need more people capable of working with silver and ebony.”

“Silver as it is an inherent weakness of the undead; ebony as it is the easiest to enchant,” Dave said.

“Not just a dumb hick in a shack.”

Dave sighed and smiled at Kol’s antics.

“Don’t use up all the oxygen there—some of us are actually worth it! Now git this damn cuirass fixed and every other silver item we’ve got. You don’t leave until it’s all fixed!” Kol moved to his own anvil, which was unused by any other. On it, there were parts of greaves; the metal was a dull gray from decades of use. It gave off a faint blue hue, marking it as Mithril.

A number of the Dwarves glanced at the metal.

Mithril was not only rare but the strongest material known to Emerilia. It was also highly conductive to enchantments. A simple enchantment would not just stay the same. As the wearer used it longer and allowed their magic to bleed into it, then their enchantments would grow in strength.

Dave looked away from the famed armor and back to his own silver cuirass. He had a long way to go and he was happy to have reached the level needed to form silver armor.

Malachite was the next type of armor, which was stronger and harder to form. Only the Elves knew how to do it and Dave didn’t have the time to switch masters. Gold was good for making runes and Magical Circuits but it was terrible for armor or anything practical.

Dave grinned as he pulled the cuirass apart. If Kol believed he was ready for it, the next he would be taught would be ebony armor.

Ebony was as dark as night and one of the weaker metals. Yet its armor and weapons were famed across Emerilia. Ebony was an enchanter’s dream. It evolved like Mithril armor and was three times more conductive. Ebony armor crafted by master smiths and enchanters was stronger than an expert’s best Mithril armor. They boasted enchantments like magical shield and magical defenses as well as stat boosts.

Dave finished pulling apart the silver armor. He had a long way to go until he was capable of even touching ebony armor. He identified the silver pieces on the worktable without looking at it.

“It’s going to be a long ass day.” He put some steel slivers into the forge to heat them up.

He tapped out the dent that was messing up the Magical Circuits and etched the markings back into the armor with a chisel. He could do it with magic but Kol had made it clear that later, when he was a master mage, he could. Till then, he would learn the forms through actions.

Dave went through the armor and blades. In the smithy, he forgot about the oncoming war and his other worries.

It was just him and his work.

Chapter 2: Impatience

Cassie looked at the outpost Cliff-Hill.

She and her party were riding their steeds, taking their time as people looked at the magical beasts that they had conjured or owned. She wore her ebony and gold encrusted armor with pride. It had taken her months to just track down where all the pieces for the armor were. It had taken even longer to get to a high enough rank with herself and her guild to secure it.

A messenger from the Lady of Light had shown its blessing on her guild, most of them being able to find something of high quality and power.

They were the Golden Sabres. The guild had paired with the Stone Raiders to open the portal to Alturaran. The loot and power that had come with claiming the new portal had elevated both guilds into the stratosphere.

They had continued to look for more portals and had created encampments and teams on the other side of the portal. It took coordination, but they had accepted the challenge with vigor.

She had received a message from her old friend, Jules. Long ago, they had been part of the same party looking to get gear and sell it to live. Cassie had been given an offer to game for a team. Jules had continued to grind out gear to support herself and pay her medical bills. Cassie was sour that she had been asked but Jules hadn’t because of her disability. She’d taken the job as she needed to support herself; Jules had supported her and been happy for her. Cassie owed the other woman a great debt.

When she had sent her a PM with what she had found in the forest outside of Omal, Cassie couldn’t believe it. No one had found a citadel yet: a bastion of power that fed the agents of the six Affinities, channeling power into their Affinities leaders.

The skeleton cultist at the front door to the enclosed citadel had been level 130. Cassie was only level 87, one of the highest in Emerilia.

A smile passed over her face as she saw three people moving down the road to greet her party. She dismissed her bear; it turned into smoke as she dropped to the ground.

“Jules, Esa!” Cassie’s human features broke into a smile.

“Still going with the white hair, I see.” Jules hugged Cassie.

“Ahh, I like it.” Cassie beamed.

“Good to see you again,” Esa said.

“You, too, Esa. We’ll have to get a drink sometime soon,” Cassie said.

Esa’s solemn face cracked into a smile.

“You two love your drinking,” Jules chided.

“And you love making fun of our drinking.” Esa’s hand entwined in Jules’s.

They were in-game lovers. They’d never met in real life but their relationship was solid. Esa had been more than a bit lewd the last time they’d drank in Omal together. It seemed that they were both taking full advantage of the VR’s immersive environment.

“You must be Mikal. Heard that you’re rather deft with a blade,” Cassie said.

“I have my moments,” the man said, a blade simply appearing in his hand as he cleaned his nails.

Cassie’s brow creased at the casual display of power. She squinted and checked his level again. Only 27 and he can make a blade appear as if by magic? I haven’t seen anyone do that.

“This is a quaint little village. How did you end up here?” Cassie asked, keeping half an eye on Mikal.

“That would be because of Dave,” Jules said.

“Oh?” Cassie said.

“Guildmaster, we will head to the camp,” Darvos, her second, said, knowing she could be awhile.

“Very well. I will catch up.” She waved them on. The column, forty of her highest-leveled guild members—all of them above level 60—moved forward. Their armor and steeds gleamed in the sunlight. They were a sight to behold.

“I will see the two of you later.” Mikal took off at a run, his speed surprising Cassie as he headed for the Elven camp located closer to the defensive wall, where a number of trees still remained.

“Is he really level 27?” Cassie asked, as they slowly made their way to the village.

“He’s an Evolution fighter. He doesn’t use the fighting command system; he trains his body and his mind to fight. Dave showed us,” Jules said.

“Who is this Dave?” Cassie asked.

“He’s a Player, we think.” Jules and Esa shared a look.

“You think?” Cassie asked.

“He’s level 3. We’ve never seen him log off, yet he is stronger than all of us. He treats the villagers with respect and is taught by them. We were as well…” Jules trailed off.

“Until we opened the door sealing the portal in.” Esa’s voice was harsh.

“Oh?” Cassie said, encouraging them to continue.

“We didn’t know what the door was and Esa accepted the quest without thinking about it. We weakened the defenses of the prison and now they are slowly coming apart as the citadel gains power and breaks free of its bindings.” Jules winced.

“They’re only NPCs.” Cassie shrugged.

“Have you ever really interacted with them?” Esa asked.

Cassie had to think about it for a moment.

“Not really, I don’t think.” Cassie shrugged.

“Well, I would start by going to talk with Wender. He’s in charge of the Dwarven warbands here. Talk to him like you would with us. You might be surprised. Whoever made this coding was smart—NPCs don’t come back from the dead here. You kill them, they’re gone. Mobs will come back and dungeons, but not NPCs or sentients,” Jules said.

“So?” Cassie asked. She noticed Jules and Esa tense at that.

“He and the NPCs know that we don’t care. Think if you had people ten times more powerful than you running around and not caring who they killed?” Jules said.

Cassie shrugged. It didn’t matter much to her what some NPCs thought.

“You shrug, but some of the Dwarven warbands are hundreds of years old. Mikal went and looked at them. They have formations made up of level 80s,” Esa said.

Cassie’s impeccable eyebrow rose. She had never seen those kinds of levels outside of a city center. She was more powerful than a level 80 by leagues. Once those Dwarves were in protected cities that were allied to them, they’d be powerful—powerful indeed.

“So where is this Dave?” Cassie asked.

“Down in his smithy.” Jules pointed to the smithy that had smoke pouring from its working furnaces.

“You’ll have to introduce us,” Cassie said, interested by the man who had got weaved into the NPC’s tale.

Weird, really. They’re just ones and zeroes but here he is, giving a rat’s ass. She looked away from the smithy. She’d see whether Jules was right about the man’s power.

***

Dave stomped to the back of his home. He covered a yawn as he waved at the people working at the kiln. He pulled off his shirt. The late night’s air cooled his sweat as he used his shirt to get rid of the majority of grime on his body.

With the spell Touch of the Land, he was able to see everything within a kilometer and a half, no matter what was around him. It extended into the ground and even behind him.

One moment, he could sense the air patterns on his deck; another, it seemed as if they had disappeared. It felt as though there was an annulment on all Affinities and power within just a few square meters.

The familiar smell confirmed Dave’s initial thoughts.

He sighed but under his groomed beard, he couldn’t hide the slight grin or the twinkle in his eye.

“You need to invent a damn shower,” Bob said.

Dave closed his eyes for a second. A showerhead appeared above Bob and water fell from it.

“Fuck, that’s cold!” Bob yelled, leaping from his seat.

Dave laughed as the shower head disappeared.

Bob muttered about damn mortals as thin wisps of smoke rose from his clothes.

“You look like a demon that just got a bottle of holy water to the face.” Dave took his seat, a nice chilled beer appearing in his hand.

Dave had needed a lot of sleep at the beginning of the game, six hours a night like clockwork. As his Endurance had increased, the amount he needed to sleep decreased. Now, he barely needed four hours. So, Bob made his nightly visits.

“I see that you’re working with silver.” Bob bestowed a smile on Dave.

“Thank you.” Dave conjured up a single malt Scotch for Bob.

Bob’s gnome features, with his large nose and unibrow, creased in Delight as he took the tumbler of liquor, sniffing it and taking a tasting sip. Bob let out a sigh.

“How are things in the administration?” Dave sipped on his beer.

“Piss off. I’m a gnome,” Bob said, his eyes closed in bliss.

Dave snorted, his lips opening slightly as he held his left hand out. A pipe of shadows formed—slowly at first, and then rapidly—and dropped into his hand, the pipe already filled and lit.

“Well done.” Bob took another sip of his drink.

Dave had the ability to conjure. It was a tricky power and a lot harder than Dave had thought. To just get his pipe to form, he’d had to imagine the pipe, then the balance of various leaves and berries and finally an ember in the middle of it all.

It still tasted a little off as he didn’t know everything about the mixture of plants he had.

Shadow conjuring was powerful, though the knowledge required to create something was more than Dave had thought at first. His first shadow creations had been crude. The first items were like balloons. They had looked impressive on the outside, but they were filled with Mana.

He had started playing Emerilia, thinking of it as a way to get away from his life and responsibilities as a massive corporation head. He’d found out the truth about Emerilia and what he had thought of as reality. Still, he had memories of being an engineer and he loved to build things.

Bob had given him a few hints and he’d started thinking of shadow conjuring as creating from shadows. The best way to make a powerful sword was to forge it. To understand the metals, the way it had been shaped by hammers or heated by forges, the mix of elements, the binding and Magical Circuits.

Dave concentrated and held out his hand. A simple dagger fell into it.

When he created something from shadows, he could conjure it from anywhere, though things like gravity and physics still acted on it. If he conjured a blade in the air, it was going to fall.

He studied the blade in his hand. It was made of steel, with elegant carving along its curved blade. Dave didn’t need to pull out the identical blade from the small of his back to compare the two.

“You’re like a damn walking magic show. Should rent you out to kids’ birthday parties.” Bob snorted.

With a thought, the conjured blade in his hand disappeared. It had taken a fraction of the Mana he had needed to use for his initial conjurings. Dave glanced at his stats; it had been awhile since he had.

Character Sheet

Name:

David Grahslagg

Gender:

Male

Level:

3

Class:

-

Race:

Human/Dwarf

Alignment:

Chaotic Neutral

Unspent points: 65

Health:

1800

Regen:

1.00 /s

Mana:

610

Regen:

2.30 /s

Stamina:

460

Regen:

1.85 /s

Vitality:

18

Endurance:

50

Intelligence:

61

Willpower:

46

Strength:

46

Agility:

37

Affinity levels

Dark

33

Light

28

Air

29

Water

24

Earth

37

Fire

28

He was working on upping his Agility and Willpower the most. Willpower would allow him to conjure more items due to his level. His Agility would allow him to move faster; he was strong but Deia had been showing how speed was a crippling weapon. All of the strength in the world didn’t matter if you couldn’t hit shit.

“So, what are we going to do today?” Dave asked.

“Today, I’m going to teach you about healing,” Bob said.

Dave nodded. He still knew he had a ton to learn about Emerilia. Healing and the ability to look after his friends was a good skill to have.

“What do I need to do?” Dave asked.

“Go and watch some damn television shows about people getting hurt and take a damn break at some time. I know you’ve got that increased Endurance and you’re circulating Mana through your body. You’re going to need that power soon enough.” Bob’s voice was old and filled with foreboding as he held Dave’s eyes.

Dave nodded. Bob wouldn’t come straight out and tell him what was going to happen, though he would give some pretty blatant hints.

Bob had created Emerilia, a planet made to hold humanity and imbue a few with special powers and boons in order to make them think that they were in a game so that they could eliminate the species that were a perceived threat to the Jukal Empire.

Bob’s creation had become his prison. The man didn’t seem to mind. Until Emerilia stopped being about killing off species that would destroy the universe, and started to be a source of entertainment to the Jukal Empire and its species.

It had become Bob’s Australia. He had been exiled to it with his prisoners; after a while, prisoner and guard seemed to wane. The Humans who were on Emerilia, called NPCs by the Players, had become his people.

Dave was the first of the travelers, what the NPCs called the Players to give half of a crap about them. It had turned him from a Player into a bleeder.

A bleeder was a person who had integrated so well with the NPCs of the world that the system thought that he was a person of Emerilia.

Dave had thought of himself as Austin Zane, engineering trillionaire. Then he’d spent nine days in Emerilia. When he awoke, he’d been wandering around his house instead of in his VR capsule, something that should have been impossible. Dave had come to hate being Austin Zane; there was little left for him in that life. So, he put all of his efforts into becoming David Grahslagg and hadn’t looked back more than a few times.

Even if they were NPCs, he couldn’t give a damn.

“With that, I will bid you adieu. Someone’s pissing around up there. Gods.” Bob shook his head and an umbrella appeared in his hand.

Before Dave could say anything, the gnome clicked his heels together twice and flew off into the sky.

He had a shit-eating grin on his face as he drank his Scotch. “Those aren’t even the same movies! And they’re like fifty years old!” Dave yelled. “Mary fucking Poppins and Dorothy. I swear my mind’s just going to implode on its own with these screwed-up movie connections he comes up with.”

Chapter 3: Ruuumble Pantheon Style

Fire looked over the other five who sat in their distinctive seats. Dark and Light were trying to put holes in each other. Air and Water looked bored. Air fidgeted in her seat, a bundle of energy while Water played with his interface, stroking his long beard, Earth looked grumpy.

Wouldn’t you if you looked like a troll screwed a boulder? A small smile crossed over Fire’s features.

It got her annoyed glances from the others.

“Whaddya want?” Neut asked, his gnome size making him a fourth of their respective heights.

Fire could see the lofty expressions in their faces.

“Watch your tongue, Neutral,” the Dark Lord said.

Neutral nodded his head at the Dark Lord, as if acquiescing to his point.

The cold sweat that had traveled down her back made her shift warily. She was the only one who had even glimpsed at Neutral’s power.

Still, he allowed the six lords and ladies of the Pantheon of Affinities to walk over him. Neutral wasn’t just another obstacle to Fire; he was a friend. She had largely removed herself from the political situation by being too weak and not caring for it at all.

“We desire to speak about the dragons,” Air said.

Fire felt a sliver of fear in her chest.

“Please continue.” Neutral stood at the bottom of his chair instead of trying to clamber up it.

“They will increase Fire’s power tenfold and upset the balance,” Light said.

Fire didn’t glance over. She had liked Light, but in her fight against Earth and Dark over Dark’s newfound citadel, Light needed allies. It seemed that her backing was solidifying their alliance.

“First of all, it won’t. The dragons are largely reclusive creatures and to offset any possible massive extra power that Fire gets, she has elected to barter away her paladin slots. Also, the dragons are made from all of the Affinities. You will all get some additional power from the creatures,” Neutral said.

This left them musing in interest, looking at Fire to see what she was scheming.

Fire rolled her eyes and sat in her chair without a care. She was more interested with what Neutral had been up to.

“Why can’t I have my water creatures back then?” Water asked, sounding like an angered and petulant child.

How many centuries old are you again? Fire kept herself from rolling her eyes.

“If you too disband your paladins and instead move to just using creatures with the same restrictions as Fire, it will be allowed,” Neutral said. He always made it sound as though he was not the one passing judgment, just the conduit through which information was passed.

With that, silence fell over the room, as the Pantheon thought about what he had said.

“What…have…you…been…doing…near…Boran-al’s…Citadel?” Earth accused Neutral.

“Observing that your woodland creatures are becoming rather meddlesome. I was making sure that there was nothing extra about them.” Neutral shrugged.

Everyone in the room had tried to sneak something past Neutral. It worked a good number of times. He was only one person, after all, without any beasts or paladins to call his own.

Earth grunted and the Dark Lord seemed to shift in interest.

Fire disliked the Dark Lord a lot. The prick loved death and being an absolute asshole. She knew that he sacrificed people in a number of ways, including in her flames. The power she gained from a death in her flames made her mouth move in disgust. Tainted by its purpose and source.

“Very well, any other issues?” Neutral asked.

Light gave Neutral a disgusted look. “Next time, come in your true form.” Her lip curled in disgust as she disappeared.

The others disappeared until there was just Fire and Neutral.

“Beer o’clock?” Neutral asked.

Fire nodded and transported herself back to her volcano.

Neutral appeared in his recliner with a book in front of him.

Fire was back down to human size so that she and Neutral weren’t widely disproportionate. The others wouldn’t have changed their size, using it as another means of deception.

“What were you really doing down in Cliff-Hill?” Fire asked.

Denur, sensing their presence, uncoiled her massive form and moved across the volcano so its head rested next to Fire’s chair, its slitted eyes looking at Neutral.

*Good to see you home, Master.*

*Hello, Trickster.*

Denur’s voice was powerful. In a mere mortal’s mind, it would have been overpowering. In theirs, it was calming. Neutral grinned and waved, still looking over his book.

Denur snorted and closed its eyes.

Fire grew a fire hand of blue flame. Denur’s purrs reverberated through the volcano as Fire scratched Denur, the first of the dragons.

“So?” Fire asked.

“I was teaching.” The book disappeared from Neutral’s hand. He looked pensive as Fire tilted her head.

“Teaching?” She had seen him do a good number of things with the People of Emerilia: Taught them skills to survive. Brought them magic. And constantly worked to reduce the fighting within the countries and continents so that the people could focus on the true threats that lay beyond the portals that dotted their land.

He had not taught anyone in the time she knew him. A careful push here; a suggestion there. The rest of the Pantheon loved grand items, working in the dark only to bring around some great triumph. Fire had come to imitate Neutral. He used the smallest actions in order to create the greatest change. He didn’t even need paladins or to use his magical reserves.

“I found something rather interesting.” A grin spread across Neut’s face.

“I’m surrounded by liars and sealed lips,” Fire complained.

Neutral looked at her, studying her.

“What? Do I have food on my face?” Fire asked.

“Nope, just thinking of one day introducing you to him.” Neutral shrugged.

“You must have high hopes for him.” Fire smiled.

“One can only dream.” He smiled. “Want to come with me down to Emerilia next time? I’ll be going to Cliff-Hill, though.”

“Ah, I was getting a little stir-crazy up here and Denur’s interested in finding Akatol. Seems that her husband has been off pestering the kids.”

Denur snorted and a grin spread across Fire’s face.

“It shouldn’t take that long. Maybe we can check out Omal or go on an excursion,” Neutral said.

“Sounds like a right adventure.” Fire smiled.

Neut grinned. It was always better to go on a trip with a friend.

Chapter 4: Patrol

Deia put another arrow into the large forest wolf. It didn’t move.

The Dwarves moved out of their shield formation, moving to the big beast.

“Damn things are getting more powerful and there are more of them,” Joko said.

Lox grunted in agreement.

Max was looking over Gurren, who’d been hit in the side. His armor had stopped the wolf’s claws from doing much damage other than bruises.

They’d wanted to bring Dave but Kol had made it clear that Dave’s time was better spent working on his conjuring ability. The halfling was showing great promise. Dave wanted to go as well but Kol and Lox had denied the request.

Dave hadn’t been best pleased but Lox had pointed out how useful Dave’s skills were.

Deia looked over the five-dwarf strong warband.

They all missed Dave but they knew that his time was better spent improving his skills. He was becoming a powerful conjurer.

Having him back in Cliff-Hill also gave them a powerful healer. His fighting style had improved with the Dwarves’ and Deia’s teachings. With his double-handed style, he was better suited to fight solo than with a warband.

“Man, it feels weird without Dave here,” Tounk growled, voicing Deia’s thoughts.

“Well, we’ll see him soon enough,” Lox promised. “I miss the odd halfling as well.”

Dave had certainly made an impression on them, with his easy smile and his ability to joke at himself and drive himself constantly. When it was clear that they were under threat, instead of running or staying to the sidelines, he’d thrown himself into his work, feeling guilty for the actions of the other Players.

There was a howling in the distance, distorted in pain and anger.

Level 62 Forest Sprite

Deia called out the information as the Dwarves moved by training turned instinct. Deia took off into the trees and pulled out a magically imbued arrow from her quiver.

“Shields!” Lox bellowed. The shields crashed together around him as the magical sprite appeared.

It looked to be made from tree, flowers, and other forest plants with a green glow emanating from its womanly body. Its roots floated above the ground as it screamed at those who dared to attack the creatures of its forest.

Deia’s Elven instincts told her that it was a protective spirit; to her eyes, she saw nothing but an angered spirit. They were not supposed to attack those who were defending themselves or their family. She had communed with a number of sprites. This one just wanted to destroy them.

Something is wrong.

Even if she sensed that the sprite was supposed to be good, she raised her bow and pulled back on the string. It was something that Dave called a compound bow. It was the first of its kind, made from a rubber plant and Escal tree sap. She aimed and fired as the sprite brought its hands up to unleash power on the Dwarves.

A green torrent of energy lit up the forest as its Mana bolt struck the shields. Their enchantments worked in concert to support one another and bleed off the power.

Trees and vegetation started to move to attack the Dwarves.

Deia’s eyes widened as the arrow struck the forest sprite. It hit much harder than she thought it would have. The sprite floated back a few feet as its chest was opened, showing the pure green Mana that animated the creature. It let out a scream of breaking trees as Deia strung another arrow. She’d taken out twenty percent of its Health with her sneak attack but now it was turning to her.

Evo-mash-kifo-nar!

Deia jumped from her tree as Earth-aligned Mana tore into the tree that she’d been perched on. Her face was pale—not from the sprite’s attack, but from what it had said.

The tree groaned and transformed; rocks and dirt moved to create an Earth atronach.

“Mother fucker!” Gurren said Dave’s curse as he hacked away at the vegetation that was trying to attack the warband’s rear.

“Come on, you tree-born hussy! We got plenty of love for yah on my blade!” Lox yelled. “Forr-ward!” The Dwarves moved forward, their shields rising and slamming back into the ground, their spikes finding purchase together.

“Hurh!”

“Hurh!” The Dwarves moved forward as one. Shield up, step forward, yell, stab, shield down and repeat. Their movements were born from training and trust in their fellow shield bearers.

Deia let loose another arrow; it flew straight and true. The forest sprite screeched. It tried to get out of the way but its side was still hit. The Earthen Mana imbued in the arrows made them stronger and more powerful as they crashed into the Mana that animated the sprite.

The sprite once again turned to face her. The Earth atronach was nearly done forming. The sprite was only at sixty percent Health.

Deia strung her arrow, calling on her sacred arts, uttering words of power under her breath as she aimed upward instead of at the sprite.

Esk-za-mov-shir! the sprite screeched.

Daskoon-vash. Deia finished the incantation. Her body went limp from the Mana that passed from her, to her arms and into her bow and arrow. She released the arrow and it disappeared off into the heavens.

“Hold!” Lox yelled. He had been watching Deia and knew what came next.

The sprite started to call incantations, pulling its tree-limb formed hands up its trunk and outward, as if she were a blooming flower.

The skies darkened over the sprite.

Hundreds of arrows darkened the sky: first one, then two, and finally tens striking around the sprite.

The creature wailed as Earth magic that powered it was struck in kind, tearing bark and plants from its form and opening up its Mana center. Arrows struck it in the Mana well that powered it. The creature screamed; the forest seeming to move away from the cries.

It reached out to the forest atronach, pulling the power it had used to animate it and using it to heal itself, fresh plants and bark covering her wounds.

Deia had strung another arrow and let loose as her deluge of arrows stopped.

“Charge!” Lox called.

The sprite turned. Green smoke moved to its hands as it readied its strike. The Dwarves charged forward, just twenty feet away.

Deia fired her arrow, causing the sprite to stumble and lose its incantation.

Deia jumped for another tree. The sprite let out Mana bolts and followed Deia, who focused on evading the sprite’s attacks.

Suddenly, the forest’s movements stopped.

Deia circled back, seeing Max pull his blade from the sprite’s body.

The sprite moaned and seemed to collapse into itself. A crystal of green with branches around it fell to the ground, the essence and power of the sprite turned into a Mana-crystal.

“Well, fuck me if those forest arse holes aren’t a pain in the arse!” Gurren said.

The Dwarves looked tired after taking the sprite’s Mana bolts and fighting the creature after just finishing off a damned big wolf.

“We need to return to Cliff-Hill,” Deia said, her face pale with fear.

“What is it, lass?” Lox asked.

“The sprite—it didn’t attack us because we killed the wolf. It attacked us because the Earth Lord is supporting the Dark Lord. They care not who they kill as long as they gain their power,” Deia said.

The Dwarves’ faces were a myriad of emotions, from confusion to shock and distrust.

“The Dark Lord is a fickle one but the Earth Lord has kept his covenant with us,” Tounk said. “Now he supports the Dark Lord against any and all forces in the area, including our own. We need to pass word to the clans. The sprites are revered by the Elves. They are allowed anywhere. If their lord has broken his covenant, then have the chance to  attack us from within,” Deia said.

The Dwarves didn’t look as though they wanted to believe Deia. After all, they had worked their entire lives giving praise to the Earth Lord for the bounty that came from the gifts that he had bestowed upon them.

Having him break faith with them—it wasn’t just painful. If it was true, it would make the center of their beliefs in active opposition to them.

“Deia, go on ahead. We will follow.” Lox held Deia’s eyes.

She could see the pain in them, but also the trust in her. They had been through many battles together. If she told him that the Earth Lord had turned against the Dwarves of Mithsia, he believed her.

Steeled by the trust in his eyes, she bowed her head at the great trust he placed in her. She took off at a run, slinging the bow and running faster than she had ever run in her life.

Her father tended to the garden of the Earth sprites. He was a holy man devoted to the Earth Lord and the forests of Kufo’tel. Sprites were incapable of lying; it just didn’t come to them. Fear seemed to be etched into her features as she ran faster and faster.

Chapter 5: Turmoil

Dave hammered on the latest sword he’d been given. All of them were getting sheathed in silver to fight the undead and unnatural that promised to hide in Boran-al’s Citadel.

He had felt his watchers for the last three days. He didn’t even care to walk over and confront them. Someone had been talking and they’d taken interest in him for some reason.

A familiar person burst from the forest, running at her full speed. Dave’s hammer hit and he knew something was wrong. He’d never seen her move that fast.

His eyes rose as he looked toward the trees where the Elven residents lived. Deia disappeared into them. He watched, sensing something wrong.

“Boy, what is it?” Kol asked, his voice curious instead of gruff.

“Something is wrong,” Dave said.

The Elven rangers started spreading out, talking to one another; others rushed off.

“Something’s up. I’ll be back,” Dave said.

Kol grunted his agreement.

Dave took off at a run, leaving the two watchers in his dust. Wearing his blacksmith apron, he jumped from the clearing around his growing compound and danced from tree to tree.

Elves were now running into the forest, headed straight for Kufo’tel and the approaching army. Elven runners had rushed into the barracks that now served as the headquarters for the incoming forces and those who were keeping an eye on the citadel.

Dave came in a few minutes later.

Dwarves grunted and allowed the halfling entry. Through his hard work and what he had done with the other warbands, he had earned a modicum of respect.

Wender was talking to an Elf, the room quiet. Wender let out a yell, filled with anger and betrayal. He punched a timber support, making it ring with the impact.

“That fucking bastard.” The Dwarves’ faces turned dark and pensive.

“Wender?” Dave’s voice cut through the room. He had never seen the Dwarven leader this angry.

“The Earth Lord has broken his covenant with the People of the Mithsia and Kufo’tel. His sprite attacked Lox’s warband, willed by their lord to attack us whenever possible. Earth and Dark have entered an alliance, an alliance against those of us who live here,” Ela’mair said.

Wender visibly shook with rage now.

Dave saw Ela’mair’s face twitch. The man was close to three hundred years old and Elves were famous for being able to hide their emotions.

“What does this mean?” Dave asked.

“It means that every damned mob and creature in the area that is dark or born of the land will attack us with everything they have, and the Earthen sprites will lead them. As their Lord commands, they obey.” Wender’s eyes were dark and his words hot as he put a hand on Ela’mair’s shoulder. “It means that the sprites that are held in reverence in the Kufo’tel home wood are now our enemies,” Ela’mair said.

Dave didn’t know what that meant. His confusion must have shown.

“While the Dwarves make brilliant items of their resources as a show of their skills and the pride of the gifts the Earth has given them, the Elves look after the forest. Earth sprites are the embodiment of the natural power of the forests. They are powerful creatures made from a forest’s inherent natural power. The Elves of Kufo’tel might have been born of a higher caste, but we now live with our siblings, the wood Elves. We care for the sprites and actively look to create more and strengthen our ties to the land. They are revered by us, seen as physical manifestations of the forest. They cannot lie and are immensely powerful. For decades, we have lived with them, invited them into our homes, and into the heart of the Homewood,” Ela’mair said, his frustration clear.

“And now that their master sides with the Dark Lord, they will do his bidding. Deia and Lox’s warband killed a sprite calling about the end of the Kufo’tel Elves. They will attack from within the Homewood. The Elves are racing to the nearest relay station to pass the word and link up with the Elves coming to fight here in order to save their home,” Wender said for Ela’mair, who was having a hard time concealing his feelings.

The relay system was a series of flags that ran down Dwarven roads to send messages at rapid speeds. Dave hoped it would be fast enough.

He felt his anger as if it were a physical thing. Here the People of Emerilia were being toyed with by the lords and ladies of the six Affinities, stuck to by their whims and the whims of the travelers.

It had been travelers who had started this mess; now the Affinities were weighing in.

“Fuck ’em,” Dave said, his voice like his hammer.

The Dwarves and Elves looked to him, feeling the anger that radiated from every fiber of his being.

“Fuck the Affinities, fuck their plans, and fuck their creations. Here we stand together and here we’ll take their fucking plans and grind them into the dust. They might be gods, but we’re the People of this land. I stand here with brothers and sisters—Dwarves, Humans, and Elves. Fuck the lords and fuck their games. Fuck those who wish to bend us to their rule. I say it’s time we take their fucking game and shove it right up their fucking asses.” Without knowing it, Dave’s words were being infused with Mana. His voice showed gray smoke that seemed to drift from him, like rain smoking off hot pavement. His eyes seemed brighter as he looked to those around him.

Dwarves hollered their agreement, hard eyes and voices rising with them. A few of them even came from the normally reserved Elves.

***

Master Olouv’Mal walked through the halls of respite. Here and there, people walked, talking to one another or taking a seat among the natural beauty of the space. Brilliant gardens filled with color and beauty moved gently in the breeze, their scents filling the air and making Olouv’Mal relax as he wandered to where the sprites stayed. They moved, humming and talking in low tones.

They were great magical beings, the embodiment of the forest. They came to the Elves, walking among them and gathering their energies before they returned to their task of tending to their lord’s forests.

Their animated chatter died down as Mal walked in.

“I am sorry to interrupt.” He nodded to the four sprites who were currently taking rest with the Kufo’tel.

“Our lord has sent his commands,” one of the older sprites said, speaking in the language of elements.

“Oh?” Mal asked.

“Your time has come to an end. Once again, this forest will be returned to him.” Another sprite started to chant, power welling out of their body and to their hands.

The other three also started to chant.

Mal looked at the four and laughed.

“My lady was right—you are a tricky bunch.” Mal let the thin veil of cowering and servile gardener fall away. The first sprite sent a powerful stream of Earth Mana at him.

“Isum.” Red light swelled and poured from his hand, beating back the Mana stream from the first sprite and striking it in the chest. It screamed out as the sprites recoiled.

“Fire Affinity,” one of them said.

“Well, you didn’t think that we weren’t going to have a safeguard on you lot? We might be a People of Emerilia, but we are not dumb and we keep meticulous records. It seems that your lords do not remember the battle of Elves against the Forest of Asha-moor.” Mal saw it in their glowing green eyes—the fear, the memories.

They were old enough to know of that aged battle.

“My familial name is not Olouv, but Oson, Fire mage of the Evnal Elves.” Their casual confidence was gone. He had fought legions of their kind when the forest rose up to attack the Elves for delving into Fire magic.

His lady did not take paladins but she had taught them powerful spells and arts that few other mortals would dare utter.

“Attack!” The sprites poured into Mana bolts, threw spears made of wood. Mal weaved between the attacks, blunting an attack here, stopping another there. He only used Mana when it was necessary.

A smile passed across his face. It had been too long since he had danced in the name of his lady. He remembered the way that she had moved with the power of a thousand suns and the grace of a flickering flame.

The sprites looked tired, but they were drawing Mana directly from the well that powered the respite.

As he danced, Mal muttered out an incantation. With the last word, a tiny amount of Mana left his body, traveling deep into the respite.

“Your attack is weak and useless.” The sprites drew from the raw Mana more than they had ever done so in their lives. They were determined to carry out their lord’s bidding, even if it meant destroying their bodies.

Mal continued to dance as his incantation worked. The flow of Earth Mana slowed while new power coursed through the ground. He’d cut through the Magical Circuits that fed power to the sprites. He finished a second incantation, summoning a fire lizard with four heads. It spewed fire at the sprites, making them rush to defend themselves.

Other guardians were now moving into the respite; lightning arced from their hands, their faces impassive as they rained damage down upon the sprites.

In minutes, it was done.

Mal turned to the other guardians.

“Secure the village. Prepare for an attack and open the well back up for all Affinities,” Mal said, leaving the room. The Elves bowed their heads and rushed to obey.

Elves who were wandering around asked what was going on.

Mal moved out of the glade, past trees that had been grown into majestic homes, toward the largest of them all. Guards opened doors for him as he strolled through the house. A woman sat at an intricately grown desk made from the tree that grew all around them.

“Mal?” Evel’Houn said, a shocked tone to her voice.

“The Earth Lord wishes to fight us like he did at Asha-moor,” Mal said.

“What are you talking about?” Evel’Houn demanded.

“I must talk to the lord. The sprites are now against us,” Mal said.

Evel’Houn put down her work and guided Mal out to a garden on the second floor of the massive tree-home.

Sitting on a chair with a young Elf in his lap was a man reading from a book. A clear look of pride and happiness was on his face as the child asked him for clarification on part of the story.

The lord looked up, his dancing eyes stilling at Mal’s visage.

“My lord, the forest is against us,” Mal said to Evo’Mael, lord of the Kufo’tel Elves.

“I’m sorry, Toun. I will have to finish this story later.” Evo’Mael rose.

“Okay, Grandfather.” Toun was only eight rotations old but he was a sweet boy. Among a race where it was rare to birth a child, he was a rare gem.

Evo’Mael kissed the boy’s head. An Elven maid moved to Evo’Toun as Evo’Mael moved into his ancestral home.

“Raise the defenses. I had hoped that they would work with us instead of playing their foolish games,” Evo’Mael said, his voice angry.

“I did, too. It seems that they were under the commands of their lords. There was no breaking that commitment,” Mal said.

Evo’Mael nodded sadly, glancing back to the garden and then to Mal. “Very well, Oson’Mal. Send word to the other Elves and raise the rangers.”

Mal saw the shock on Evel’Houn’s face about his familial name.

“Yes, my lord. I will give devotion to my lady. It has been a long time since I properly conversed with her,” Oson’Mal said.

Evo’Mael bowed his head slightly. “Remain close and pass the word to the other mages to prepare themselves. I will send word to Lord Fend personally.”

Oson’Mal bowed. “My lord.” With that, he turned and moved to leave the home.

***

Lord Fend was examining a new vein of gold as Wrole, his adviser, came up to him.

“Lord Evo’Mael wishes to speak to you,” Wrole said in his ear.

“I didn’t know he was visiting,” Fend said.

“He’s not,” Wrole said. His eyes held his lord’s.

“Good work, lads and ladies. As much as I wish I could be down here pulling this big ole vein from the ground, the court pulls me back.”

The Dwarves made understanding noises.

“We shall have to have a toast to your new discovery later!” he said, getting grins from them all. He grinned himself, but it never reached his eyes.

He marched into his chambers moments later. There, on what looked to be a beautiful mirror, was not Fend’s reflection but Lord Evo’Mael. Runes of power glowed around its face, showing that the Mirror of Communication was active.

“Lord Evo’Mael.” Fend nodded. He hated all of the Elven customs; he liked getting to the heart of the matter instead of the flowery talk and different posturing.

“The Earth Lord has sided with the Dark Lord over Boran-al’s Citadel,” Evo’Mael said.

His sudden announcement shocked Fend. His eyes thinned as he understood what Evo’Mael was saying.

“His sprites were commanded to attack my people. If not for certain safeguards, then they would have killed many of my people. I suggest that you fortify your lower areas and close your gates. The two lords will throw everything they have at us in order to see their plans through,” Evo’Mael said.

“The Earth Lord fighting us?” Fend said. The entire idea was ludicrous. They lived in harmony with Earth, used its Affinity to shape its resources into grand creations.

Evo’Mael leaned forward.

“Listen here, Fend. This isn’t a time for us to start arguing and getting into a fucking pissing match. Your father and I made this alliance and here we will test it. Do you stand with me, Fend, Lord under the Mithsia, son of Fernir?”

Fend’s face became darker as a grin crept across his face. Slowly, he stroked the warhammer that rested across his back.

“Well, why didn’t you say so?” Fend growled. “We stand together, now and till these lands are no more.” Fend knew the oath he was giving affirmed the oath that his own father and the Elf in front of him had formed so many years before.

He had heard of the fickle nature of gods; he had given his devotions but placed his trust in the men and women of Emerilia. It was through their actions, not the gods’, that their mines showed profit and that they were able to eat and survive. He drank with them; he laughed with them.

What are gods worth if you’ve got allies who would lay down their own head in exchange for yours?

Fend spat on the ground.

Evo’Mael’s shocked expression turned to cold humor. “Well, let’s go and see what the gods have to say about our defiance.” The mirror cut off.

“Wrole!” Fend barked, turning from his mirror, and headed out of his private apartments.

“Lord?” Wrole opened the doors just as Fend was storming out of them.

“Seal the lower passages. We fight the creatures of Earth and Dark. Pull our people back to our fortresses,” Fend said, his voice clipped and without waste. He had an empire to rouse. Few knew the true strength of the Mithsia Dwarves, hidden from wandering eyes and flapping lips.

Adrenaline flooded Fend’s system, making the hairs on his back and arms stand on end. He knew that bloody times were ahead.

They dare to harm my people, to break our oaths. Gods or not, the Mithsia Dwarves pay their debts in iron—whether through your heart or in your coffers.

He walked through his ancestral home, the walls carved with exquisite art depicting the growth of Mithsia. From here the first images were made, the first claims. The art ran from his home through the homes lying under the mountain. Every wall, every home told the story of the growth of the Mithsia Dwarves.

Today, a new mural would be created. The day that the gods broke their oaths.

Fend walked out of his home and to a grand balcony that looked over the entrance into Mithsia Mountain, that looked at the thousands of homes that grew from the mountain, organized and precise. Every home was a work of art, every pathway a display of Dwarven workmanship.

The lord of the mountain did not cower behind his people. He stood at the entrance to the mountain. He would first fall before letting any attack his people.

It was not only symbolic but a promise.

Fend looked to a dwarf who stood at the balcony, telling of news to those who were entering the mountain.

“Call our people,” Fend said.

The announcer nodded. He was Elven born but trusted by the Dwarves, one of the few forest folk who lived within the mountain.

Fend looked over the balcony. To the front, there was a standing platform that the announcer used; to the left, there was a gong. To the right, there was a large tube that seemed to disappear back into the wall.

The announcer hit the gong three times. The people who had been walking into Mithsia looked up to see Fend on the balcony. He stepped up, seeing their faces and knowing what his words would bring. His hands rested where others had rested their hands to announce marriages, births, victories, deaths, losses, and all. His greatest ancestors had stood here and today he did as well.

He took the cover from the pipe to his side.

“Today I come to you all with grave news. As you know, the Dark Lord has shown his citadel to us. Boran-al’s cultists grow in strength, as the prison around their citadel weakens. In this time of disarray, the Earth Lord has supported his actions. They have broken all oaths with us by attacking the alliance of Kufo’tel and Mithsia. Today, we are at war. Not with a nation or a group, but the lords of Affinities themselves.

“They think that we are nothing but tools, a source of power to drain as they see fit. We will show them the truth of our strength. We will show them the power of the Kufo’tel and Mithsia. We stand as brothers and sisters. An oath was made and an oath was broken, and a debt is to be paid. We will have our vengeance. Raise the defenses in the depths; check your shields, and sharpen your blades. The Mithsia warclans will rise and we will challenge those who wish to use our oaths to wipe their asses!” Fend looked to his people, his voice growing in depth and power as he spit in anger.

The silence seemed to last for a few moments.

Then Fend got his answer.

Dwarves, Elves, and a spattering of Humans roared their defiance at the gods. That day, Mithsia shook not from gods or their creations. It shook with the united voices of those who stood with their lord. Their only lord, the lord under the Mithsia Mountains.

Chapter 6: Fools

Fire felt power starting to pour off a region to the north, on the Opheir continent.

With barely a thought, Denur turned. Enhanced by her magic, the great creature arrived within hours.

Fire’s power only grew. Her eyes widened at what she was seeing.

The Mithsia Dwarves were a powerful group. They had grown strong defeating the natural enemies of the area without support from the travelers through the years. They had made a binding alliance with the Kufo’tel Elves. They had made covenants and oaths with the Dark and Earth Affinities, giving them power so that the lords might look down on them with benevolence.

What she saw now was warbands moving in formation out of the mountain; defenses that had been hidden for centuries sprung from the ground. Massive defenses grew, the mountain quickly becoming impenetrable.

Forges raged within the mountain as armor was repaired and weapons were given a fresh blade. It was not the only source of power that she felt. She felt older Fire magic, Fire magic that she had not felt in centuries, now burn with fresh power, with fresh devotions.

Out in the forest, away from prying eyes, five disciples of righteous Fire called forth the power that they had caged and hidden within themselves.

She dropped from Denur’s side. The ground howled at her as she laughed; it was a deep and rich thing.

For too long, the lords and ladies had pushed the People of Emerilia. Here, the Kufo’tel and Mithsia stood together.

She directed power toward the ground; twin burning lances lowered her through the forest, between the apostles who prayed for her.

Four of them recoiled in shock and fear. They might be hundreds of years old, but seeing a god in the flesh was something else.

One just created a flaming shield, smiling at her.

Still as handsome as ever, my Mal.

She crossed her arms as debris continued to rain down. Her hair danced playfully in the breeze.

“You don’t write, you don’t visit. You know, it’s enough to make a girl think you don’t like her anymore.” An amused smile passed over her face.

“My fiery one.” He gave her an arrogant, sweeping bow.

She quickly crossed the distance between them. “Got to do better than that.” Her voice was low as a wall of fire erupted around them. She jumped, drinking in his face, the way it danced whenever she’d seen him. It reminded her of the long centuries since they had last met.

He caught her, his robe hiding the muscled man beneath. Her red lips crushed against his. Regrets and nerves—they melted away as he hungrily returned the kiss. He pulled back and looked at her. “It has been too long, my fire.”

“Shut up,” she said softly, drinking in the moment as she held him. Emotions she thought long gone passed through her.

She might be the Lady of Fire, but she was a wanderer. One time, very long ago, she had wandered into an Elven encampment, to meet a young ranger.

They’d adventured and ranged together. Her heart sang when she was with the man. Too late, she realized what had happened, as she had lain with the Elf. She had fallen in love—with a mortal.

“She is almost here,” Mal said into Fire’s ear.

Fear—the kind that not even the other lords and ladies could conjure in her—struck her to her core. She tried to push away.

Mal’s eyes stopped her. He might be a mortal, but he held a power over her that none could.

“You will tell her, Ignil.” His will was resolute.

“I was weak and young.” Fire looked away from the man she loved.

“You are still.” He chuckled.

“Older than you!” She swatted at him, pouting.

The fires died around them and Ignil sensed something that made her look into the forest.

Emotions rolled around in her stomach as she looked at a haggard-looking Elf who had run for days.

“Report to our lord. This is Ignil, another one of Fire’s agents. We have a need of privacy,” Mal said.

The Elves bowed their heads in deep respect and took off, belying their age.

“Father, what are you doing out here? I thought that you would be in the keep?” The haggard-looking Elf almost collapsed into her father’s embrace.

“Young one, you mustn’t push yourself so hard,” Mal said.

“The lords of Earth and Dark are working together. I heard a sprite say so,” the younger Elf said, using her father to support her weight.

Fire would have been interested in the information but the young Elf took all of her attention.

“I’m sorry. I…uhh.” The girl bowed to Fire. “I am Ouluv’Deia. I am sorry for my sudden appearance.”

“We need not hide our family name anymore,” Mal said. “This is Ignil.”

Fire looked at Deia. Her brown hair that flashed red if she moved too fast, her green eyes with flecks of brown. More than that, she felt the suppressed Affinity for Fire.

Deia looked to Mal and then Ignil.

“It is good to meet you miss Ignil,” Deia said.

“The pleasure is all mine,” Ignil said, her eyes sad as she forced a smile.

Deia gave Mal a questioning look.

“It is safe.” Mal smiled.

Deia closed her eyes, saying a small chant. Deia opened her eyes. Her eyes were no longer green but a deep chestnut brown that flashed red in certain light.

A sad smile passed across Ignil’s face: over what she had lost, what she had given away.

My daughter.

She looked to Mal.

Our daughter. She wanted to grab Deia and hold her tight, to never let her go—to hold Mal’s hand and escape it all.

Still, the pressures that stopped her from staying with Deia and Mal all those years ago kept her from doing anything more than smiling, the edges of her lips quivering.

She was Fire, dammit! Proud, boisterous, and with a quick remark. Here and now, she just wanted to leave it all alone, to feel safe and free from it.

*Induca,* a soothing voice said from the heavens, calming Fire’s raging heart and emotions.

Her fears slowed but didn’t disappear.

*Are you sure?*

*She and her brother Malsour are already on their way. It will be her decision, yet she wishes to meet your youngling born of Elf and Fire.*

*Why does Malsour come?*

*You do not feel it? Change comes and power. Power not seen since our first incarnation. Malsour comes to cause chaos as he always does.*

Fire’s smile firmed as she looked at the beauty that her daughter had become. The faint tan and eyes from her, complimented with the high cheekbones and standing of her father.

“You are a rare beauty, my child,” Ignil said. “Hide your power no more. It is a part of you; do not deny its presence.”

Ignil touched her daughter’s shoulder. She looked to Mal, her eyes getting itchy as she used magic to evaporate the water before it escaped.

“I will take my leave.” Fire bowed to Mal.

He pulled her hand and brought her to his chest.

“You will, and soon,” he said, his eyes soft but determined and a sad smile on his face. She saw the pain that she had put on him, the love of this great Elf.

He stole a kiss from her and came away smiling.

She laughed; it was a rich and powerful thing. “You always were such a flirt.”

“I was the flirt? You’re the one who prefers tight red leathers,” he hissed.

Fire saw Deia turn red at her father’s words.

Fire laughed richly and pushed away. “Very well, Oson’Mal. We shall see each other soon. And Deia, I hope next time we can talk. We have much to discuss.”

Deia bowed as Mal held her eyes.

“Till then, my love,” he said.

A smile that she had not allowed herself to dare reveal to any others or hope to feel on her face again lit up her face.

She didn’t miss the jerk as Deia looked up at her father and then Fire.

Fire poured power into her hands, speeding off into the sky, where Denur swooped to pick her up. She had tears of happiness and a smile on her face.

***

“Dad?” Deia looked at her father. The way his eyes shone and the smile on his face. She hadn’t seen him that happy in too long.

“Come, Mithsia and Kufo’tel now fight those who wish to bring darkness and pain to our land. As much as I like seeing my daughter, I know that you are needed in Cliff-Hill. Now what of this boy Dave?” Mal put his arm around her.

“Who was that?” Deia asked, not to be swayed, even with her red cheeks.

“That, my dear daughter, was my fire,” Mal said.

Deia looked at the trail that had disappeared into the heavens. Something swooped down and caught her. All thoughts fled her at the sight.

“Seems Denur, the old girl, is still around making younglings drop their jaws.” Mal laughed.

“Denur? The queen of dragons?” Deia asked as the massive creature pumped its wings and took off at great speed.

Mal’s eyes sparkled.

Deia was filled with questions. “How do I already know that you won’t tell me the answers to many of my questions?” Deia sighed.

“Because you know me too well, sunshine.” Mal pulled her close and hugged her as they walked back to the town.

Deia looked back to the sky. To the woman who had turned her dad into a smiling and grinning teenager, had kissed him and broken him out of his official veil.

Her eyes went wide. Those eyes, that hair, the dusky tan and smaller ears and stature…

“Is she…?” Deia asked.

“Later, my girl—later. Now, let us get back to town. Its time we talked about this Dave of yours,” Mal said.

“He’s not mine,” Deia shot back. A part of her winced at her own words.

A glint entered her father’s eye as a smile grew across his face. “Yet?” Mal asked.

Deia blushed at the thought of how she’d woken him up, leaving little left to her imagination. Her blush deepened, thinking of the powerful arms, his chest with its dark hair, and his powerful stomach.

Mal laughed, making Deia smile.

They might have just risen up in opposition of the Pantheon of Affinities. Life still continued on as they had remembered the oaths that the Pantheon had broken before. Safeguards had been put in place to never let those events happen again.

Those skilled in Earth magics were openly paraded by the Elves. In secret, they raised the most powerful Fire mages, hiding their true strength served to make others make the wrong assumptions.

“I have missed you, sunshine.” Mal squeezed his daughter once more.

“And I you.” Deia hugged her father back.

“Good, as I will be coming with you to deal with this Dark Citadel.”

Deia opened her mouth to complain.

“Our lord has willed it. I may have been behind the suggestion but he has agreed. The citadel must fall, else our enemies will get powerful serfs to do their bidding.”

“Well, it will be good to see the grand Oson’Mal once again,” Deia said.

“I am more interested in your own skills. You have held back every time. But now you can truly release the cleansing fire within you,” Mal said.

“I look forward to it.” Deia’s voice darkened. These gods, those who proclaimed themselves to be the Pantheon of Affinities, would have killed her father if it was not for his powers and their planning.

No one screws with my dad. She didn’t see the way her eyes glowed red with the thought, or the way Mal’s smile widened a bit as his gaze returned to the sky.

As things ended, others began.

Chapter 7: Teach Me

Dave toiled away at the smithy all day and well into the night. Energy seemed to swell and rush through him, powering him and driving him.

He now had purpose: defend his home and spit in the eyes of those who would dare to harm it.

With Rock Breakers, he had been the same way. He had done everything in his power to attain the final goal of bringing an asteroid down to Earth. He’d done it but the fallout had been immense.

There were two options in his mind. Either he stood with the People of Mithsia and Kufo’tel or he ran away from it all.

He couldn’t and he wouldn’t leave them behind. They had helped to turn him into the halfling he was today. They had taught him the ways of weapons, how to build, and how to laugh. They had given him escape from the depression, the loss that had taken over his life as Austin Zane.

He was David Grahslagg, a halfling with memories of an engineer, the skills of a Mithsia shield bearer, a Kufo’tel ranger, a smithy apprentice of Kol, and the fledgling magician under Bob.

He had only just started to learn. He had so much more to know, to understand.

Dave walked to his porch that was set back from the cliffs that surrounded the outpost.

Bob was waiting for him.

“The hell is going on up there?” Dave sat on his chair. A dark beer appeared in his hand. He rubbed his face and sighed.

“The same thing that’s been happening for centuries. Short-minded gods trying to get a one-up on the others who are all in balance yet they think they can tip it.” A drink appeared on Bob’s recliner. “Cheers.” Bob waved the drink at Dave and took a deep gulp of the whiskey, letting out a sigh.

For a few minutes, they just sat there, minds in other places.

“Are we strong enough to fight Boran-al’s cultists?” Dave asked.

“I don’t know,” Bob said.

“I thought you were the all-knowing go-to guy?” Dave said.

“I was. Then the empire thought that it would be more interesting if they limited my power, see what I did. I stayed neutral—a touch here, a word there, keeping empires upright and toppling conspiracies that would have unbalanced Emerilia. It’s surprising how much you can do with simple letters and words in the right ears.”

“Can I be ready for the cultists?” Dave asked.

“Send me your stats,” Bob said.

“Can’t you call them up?”

“I could, but then that wouldn’t be very nice of me to do as a friend.”

Character Sheet

Name:

David Grahslagg

Gender:

Male

Level:

3

Class:

-

Race:

Human/Dwarf

Alignment:

Chaotic Neutral

Unspent points: 65

Health:

1800

Regen:

1.08 /s

Mana:

670

Regen:

2.50 /s

Stamina:

500

Regen:

2.00 /s

Vitality:

18

Endurance:

54

Intelligence:

67

Willpower:

50

Strength:

50

Agility:

40

Affinity Levels

Dark

40

Light

28

Air

29

Water

24

Earth

41

Fire

33

Dave shared his stats. They weren’t that impressive.

Well, other than his Intelligence. Bob had put that down to not only what Dave was doing, but the ideas that he wrote on his interface.

Dave had taken to writing down all of his ideas and the interface had dropped him a few extra Intelligence points for his theories.

Bob promised that his interface was not transmitting. Some of the ideas scared Dave.

He looked at his skill in smithing. It was the one thing that he had been working on day in and day out, with some dual wield and heavy armor training with the warbands.

He hadn’t trained up his other skills for the last few days.

New Active Skill: Dual wield

Level: Journeyman Level 4

Effect: Attacks are 24% faster; 50% reduced damage with off-hand blade.

Cost: 15 Stamina/s

Active Skill: Smithing

Level: Journeyman Level 7

Effect: 51% improved quality of smithing creation.

Passive Skill: Heavy Armor

Level: Journeyman Level 2

Effect: 47% increased armor.

His smithing speed had slowed down and he hadn’t moved from Journeyman Level 2 in heavy armor for days. He’d got as high as he was for his decent strength stat and the modifications he’d made to the armor.

He had ideas for what he wanted his final armor to be. In the meantime, he wasn’t going into battle with anything but the best of what he could find.

The XP he’d gained from fighting in it had also helped to boost its levels.

His dual wield had gone up with constant training and the fighting. The real reason he had been able to increase his level so fast was because of his innate ability.

He was ambidextrous. Deia had pointed it out as he’d been eating and the way he was okay with fighting from any stance. It made him capable of fighting from any direction. With his axes, he could hit hard but he had limited to no defense to blunt an attack other than his armor.

Dave cocked his head to the side. He could sense the two people who were moving through the trees around to the right side of his house, opposite the smithy.

“Seems someone wants to keep an eye on me,” Dave said.

“Looks like we will have to have a short night.” Bob didn’t sound too pleased as he waved away his interface. “Okay, your stats are looking good, especially as you’re just showing as a measly level 3.”

“Thank you,” Dave said with some pride.

“You’re going to need a higher Willpower to conjure more things at once. With that nice big Mana pool from Intelligence, you’re going to be able to conjure some pretty nice weapons. I want new axes—make them out of ebony. I want Magical Circuits, sharpened stats and high durability. All you can pour into them to raise their stats.”

“I don’t even know ebony,” Dave complained.

“You’ve been working in a smithy with a decent supply of ebony and you have a couple of bricks in your pack. Your power is your mind. It’s time we stopped writing down Magical Circuits and you started making them for real,” Bob said.

“You sure?” Dave asked.

“Hell no, but I want to see what happens. What’s the worst that’s going to happen?”

“I could die?”

“And come back in Omal and run all the way over here. Ain’t that bad.” Bob shrugged.

Dave sighed. It was still odd to think about it, but in some circumstances, it was actually better for him to die than anything. Death wasn’t something to be feared, just another tool to use in the game.

“Mana power only, no soul gems. Don’t want you blowing up the entire hill!” Bob said. With that, he and his chair disappeared. Dave noticed he kept his drink with him as he disappeared.

Dave took a large drink from his cup. He canceled its creation, a portion of the Mana it took to create it coming back to him.

The two who had been prowling around his house now approached his porch.

“What do you want?” Dave looked at where they were and tapped his axe.

The two Players stopped, as if that would stop him from seeing them. He used Touch of the Land almost constantly now, knowing where people were within a hundred meters of him. He could go for a larger area but it only used a fraction of his Mana for the limited touch. The larger the area he used his Touch of the Land to see, the more information he had to process. It was easy to get overwhelmed by it all.

When he talked to Bob, he unconsciously watched for a larger area so that no one crept up on them.

“I’ve had a long day, so either speak up or piss off, flashlights,” Dave said, his Touch of the Land recognizing the guild badge on their chests.

“What was that, guildless?” one of them roared, coming into view.

They wore all-black clothes and their faces were covered in shadows.

“Ohhh, creepy.” Dave yawned as the man’s fists tightened over his blades.

Unknown

Unknown

Level 59

Seems that cloak isn’t just for creep factor, Dave thought as he used Analyze on the man.

The other specter stepped out of the darkness.

The leather was tight in all the right places, but Dave was tired and he had a lot of work to do. He was also excited to start working on Magical Circuits.

In his simulated life as Austin Zane, he had dated supermodels and caught the eye of many beautiful women. Outward beauty didn’t capture him anymore.

She placed a hand on the enraged creeper and looked to Dave. She was a high Elf. White hair cascaded down her back as she pulled down her hood; bright-blue eyes that had struck many people with their beauty looked at Dave.

He pulled out a piece of jerky and started to chew.

Racquel

High Elf

Level 63

She gave him an odd look. Apparently, she was used to getting a reaction from others.

“Can we hurry this up? I’ve got a life, you know. Kind of feeling like going to bed sometime soon,” Dave said.

“Our guildmaster, Lady Cassie of the Golden Sabres, requests your presence.”

“You guys heard of a PM?” Dave growled, still sitting in his seat.

“We tried,” she said.

That must have been all the spam. A grin spread across Dave’s face.

“What does she want?” Dave asked.

“Look here—”

The man was cut off by Racquel. “To talk.”

Dave pulled out another piece of jerky, thinking for a few minutes.

He rose. The Muskoka chair creaked after his weight lifted from it. He had started the game at five and a half feet. Since then, he’d grown four inches and added a lot of the dense muscle mass that Dwarves had. He’d had to get new clothes; still, these ones clung to the sweat on his body from a hard day’s work.

“Well, let’s go and talk.” Dave stepped off his porch and headed off toward the Golden Sabres’ camp.

The other two followed in silence. He didn’t doubt that they were firing PMs to each other and their guild as Dave walked through the forest that separated him from the road.

His skills with the forest had grown. He made barely a whisper as the two stealthy spies seemed intent on breaking every fallen branch in the forest.

Deia would have a fit. The thought brought a smile to his face as he took off at a jog. The others kept pace as they came up to the Golden Sabres’ camp.

It was a camp only in name. They’d used Earth and Dark magic to form a four-story apartment building. Four smaller buildings rested at the corners of the apartment building, creating watchtowers.

Guild members walked around, having cooking fires here and there. It was one hell of an impressive sight. The Golden Sabres had two feeder guilds already and they only allowed the highest of the high into their founding guild.

A small earthen wall ran from the four corner buildings. Dave slowed his pace, walking through the gate and taking the sight in. People were sparring; others lounged around and talked. More were in various discussions with the local populace who had been invited in.

Through Dave’s contacts, they had told him of how Golden Sabre had a number of contracts to take care of land rental, food, wood, and all utilities.

One of the people he saw was Wis’Zel.

He caught his kiln manager’s eyes. He began to make polite talk to extricate himself from his discussion. Dave waved him back and changed direction.

“Excuse me but—”

“Yeah, Cassie wants to talk. Just gonna say hello to my friend.” Dave reached Wis’Zel, a dwarf wearing what looked to be a business suit, and two Golden Sabre people he pegged as negotiators or traders of some kind.

“Dave, it is a surprise to see you. This is Ukon.” Wis’Zel indicated the dwarf.

“Hey, Ukon. You must be the one managing everything on the bank side,” Dave said.

“Yes, sir. I’ve been meaning to talk to you. To have a face-to-face chat and put a name to the messages.” Ukon was gruff and straightforward.

Dave loved that about Dwarves.

“Sorry—been a bit busy. I’ll be able to clear something up soon. Would you have time tomorrow?” Dave asked.

“Yes, sir. Come whenever—I will clear my schedule.” Ukon tilted his head.

“Thanks, Ukon.” Dave returned the gesture, seeing the looks that the two Golden Sabre traders gave each other and then their opposition.

“We have just been negotiating the Muskoka chairs and also bricks sale to the Golden Sabres,” Wis’Zel said.

“Let’s have a look,” Dave said.

Wis’Zel passed him the contract. Dave looked through it.

“Sir, Lady Cassie is waiting.”

“And she can wait some more, seeing as you’re trying to fleece the shit out of me here,” Dave said, his tone thoughtful. The language was smart and he almost missed its hidden nuances.

“So, basically, if we don’t fill the orders, then they get rights to use our patent and make it themselves. Smart there. Nicely hidden, right under the allowed amount to order and how long you expect it to be deliverd.” Dave called up fire in his fingers and burned the contract.

Wis’Zel gave Dave a curious look.

“Who is this guy?” One of the negotiators shook his head, as if Dave had no idea what he was talking about.

“So, basically, they can order as many as they want from us, though they have to be Tounkvered within a year and if they are not, then they can make their own to make up for the difference. Say they order a million units; we can’t make that many, so they make them all at cost then sell them off, swamping us with orders for five years and destroying our ability to sell to anyone else as we’re contract-bound to fill their orders,” Dave said. “Fuck, boys, you’re worse than the Americans with contracts. That space explorer one was a doozy too.” Dave muttered the last part under his breath.

Wis’Zel’s curious look turned angry. “Ukon, I think that we shall be leaving.”

“Fucking cheats,” Ukon growled.

“This guy doesn’t know anything. He’s pulling something from nothing,” the traders said, trying to recover something.

“I’m the guy who owns the damn patents. Might be some hillbilly but kid, I’ve got eyes. Zel, if anyone else has contracts with them, bring them to me. I’ll vet them,” Dave said.

“Of course…Dave.”

“You were about to say it! Don’t even think of that sir crap, Zel!” Dave smiled. “I will see you tomorrow, Mister Ukon. Before seventh bell in the morning?”

“Yes, Mister Grahslagg. That will be fine.” Ukon held out a hand.

Dave grasped it. The man might be a banker, but Dave felt warband callouses on his hands. Dave grinned and released the man’s hand.

The traders were making all kinds of noise but Dave didn’t care for them. He headed for the apartment.

Others were now watching the traders with interest.

Dave jogged up the stairwell of the apartments. His two shadows followed, barely, as he came to a door on the third floor with two guards at it.

“Dave’s the name and I want to go to bed. Let’s get this over with,” he said.

The guard knocked on the door as Dave’s two shadows appeared behind him.

“How did you know?” Racquel asked.

“Man has to have a few surprises and I really just want to go home. This Player shit is so boring!” Dave said.

The door opened. Inside there was an office; a woman sat at a silver desk inlaid with gold and gems.

Dave shook his head.

The desk was supposed to convey the power of the woman behind it. To him, it was just a waste of good materials.

Kol would have it melted down in seconds.

Lady Cassie was at her desk, moving through various stacks of papers and using her interface.

“You mind telling me what you want? I have a bed I’d like to see.” Dave saw her frown but she kept up the act.

“Cool.” Dave turned and walked back for the door. Now his shadows blocked his way.

The creeper dude put out his hands. Dave thought he saw a grin in those shadows.

“Dave Grahslagg, a Player who lives among NPCs.”

Dave rolled his eyes and turned around.

“Cassie, looks like a flashlight and wears gold armor. We know who each other is. Using the whole ‘I know more than you know’ bullshit got old a long time ago, honey.” Dave looked to her.

She gritted her teeth before she laughed. “Jules said you were different,” Cassie said.

“Bed, sleep, me, talk faster—what do you want?” Dave asked.

Austin Zane had been courteous, with smiles and compliments. He was still in there, but Dave was bored of the power games; he wanted to get away from them. He was a rougher man who remembered how Zane had been walked over. How power had changed people.

“I want you to join the Golden Sabres,” Cassie said.

Dave arched an eyebrow.

“Well, one of our feeders. We can’t have a level 3 running around in the actual Golden Sabres.” She shrugged.

“Thanks for coming out here for the raid and all, but I’m not a guild kind of guy. Got my home and my peace, looking to keep it,” Dave said.

Cassie studied Dave with interest. “I hear that you are an Evolver. That you train with the Dwarves and Elves to fight, build weapons and more.”

“Is there a question in there somewhere?” Dave asked.

“Show me your stats or face one of my people in battle. I have not met a full Evolver yet. I want to see what you’re capable of,” Cassie said.

“No thank you,” Dave said.

“If you don’t, then I will make this outpost ours and I will make sure that the Dwarves of Mithsia and Elves of Kufo’tel never trade with the rest of Opheir.”

Dave looked over to the woman. The threat was real. It didn’t matter to her. She had power but her curiosity filled her. Dave opened his interface, making it look as though he were sending her his stats as he conjured a screen just like his stats display.

She looked over the stats. After a few minutes, she dismissed it. Dave destroyed the conjured screen.

“Well, that was boring. Have you done nothing in this game?” she asked.

Dave shrugged. “You mind? I want to go to bed.”

Cassie snorted and waved him away. The shadows and guards let him leave. “Nothing but a level 3,” Cassie said.

A smile covered Dave’s face as he continued on his descent. Now was not the time to fight. He had a lot of training to do still.

He jogged out of the camp. The traders gave him dirty looks as he disappeared into the night and headed for his home.

Once he was there, he kept up his Touch of the Land to detect any more spies. He pulled off his clothes, used a bucket of water to wash off the day’s grime and then dried them. Wearing just pants, he sat down in the center of his home. He touched the wood floor, smiling at his home.

It was already getting chilly with the approaching winter.

Dave pulled an ebony bar from his pack, taking his time. Patience was key. He focused his Touch of the Land, seeing deep into the dark ingot in front of him.

He sat back against his bed. His hands moved apart. A black piece of metal appeared in mid-air, gray shadows wafting from its edges.

He pinched the metal, stretching it and forming an edge. He turned it and did the same on the opposite side. He held the base of the blade, forming a tang shoulder and tang.

It was slow and hard work. Dave’s Mana slowly but surely dropped as he formed the ebony blade from pure magic, forming and creating it with more power. It floated there, a formed blade, waiting for use. Wood formed around its hilt, a cross hilt turning blade to sword.

Dave ran his hand over the blade, closing his eyes; magical runes formed circuits, enchanting the blade as his hand passed. They were not on the outside but the inside of the blade: unseen, unknown, and still as powerful as if they were placed on the outside.

Dave felt the oddity, the growing flaw. He stopped and looked at the blade. He smiled. With a click of his fingers, the blade turned to shadows and disappeared.

“Well, you can do better than that, Dave. Try again,” Bob said, appearing in Dave’s house.

“Practice makes perfect.” Dave took a breath, letting his Mana refill more before another strip of ebony appeared in the room. Again, Dave formed it. His left hand rested on the ebony ingot; his right touched and changed the floating strip until it was identical to the ingot in his left.

This time, he gave the blade a curve, changing its form and function; new runes and new circuits were created.

Dave held the blade in his hand, his eyes closed. He felt the weight of the blade, its innate strength and makeup. He moved it around, swinging it twice before it again disappeared into shadows.

Now two axes formed from shadows.

“Now you’re getting the feel of it.” Bob sat forward in interest.

Dave worked through the night, forming weapons, armor, tools, anvils, and nails, creating Magical Circuits.

Here and there, Bob made a recommendation. They talked theories. It was as if Dave were back on Earth, working to create Rock Breakers once again. The spark of creation, the fight to overcome obstacles, the excited talk of progress and ideas turned into possibilities.

He was testing and playing with the runes, with their abilities and the Magical Circuits that they formed. Although master enchanters had to take materials and carve their runes into them, Dave was able to form runes directly into his creations. What would have taken days to carve or engrave took him minutes and hours. He talked and Bob made notes, both of them lost in the discovery of it all.

They might be Jukal and Human, or god and mortal. What connected them was their want to build, to create.

Chapter 8: A Mixing of Metals

Dave rose and went to the bank that had come to Cliff-Hill. It was one of the stone buildings. Instead of looking cold and uninviting as many human-made stone buildings, it was elegant, with carvings across its walls, and inviting. It looked like a modern building made from smooth marble. Dave walked inside; it was warm, unaffected by the early morning frost that had settled over Cliff-Hill.

He walked up to an Elven teller.

Before he could get there, Ukon walked out of a glass door. “Dave!” He moved toward him.

Dave grinned and shook the other dwarf’s hand. “Hey, Ukon. So, what did you want to see me about?”

“Come into my office. We can talk about it there. Would you like some warm cider or tea?” Ukon asked.

“Some cider would be nice, its getting a bit colder out there. Dave smiled.

Ukon let out a grunt of agreement, a slight smile on his face. He guided Dave to the rear of the bank, where the portal treasury was located, a powerful creation that linked all banks together and to their depository. It was old and ancient magic that no one had been able to break.

A secretary brought them their drinks. Ukon  closed the door to his large office and sat behind his desk, looking at Dave.

“As you know, your holdings with us have been considerable. As you have said, Master Smith Kol is in charge of your portable smithy and the attached renovations. Wis’Zel is in charge of the kiln factory, and I have come into managerial position of funds and patents connected to yourself,” Ukon said.

Dave nodded.

“The patents have done better than hoped. I have been submitting your new patents on Magical Circuits for lighting, heating, and the designs for simplified running water pipes and this item you call a shower. It has started to take off at a rate that I could not believe. As you have put forward a good amount of money, it has been made available to those who wish to start businesses in the area at a percentage of their company’s earnings. Currently your holdings are around 2,354 gold pieces, with 54 silver and 87 copper.” Ukon watched Dave.

Dave was impressed and nodded his head. He knew a lot of that money went to overhead costs for the kiln and smithy. Right now, they were making money hand over fist, supplying people with materials, repairing and manufacturing armor and weapons, though it mattered little. If the battle against the citadel was lost, then Cliff-Hill would soon fall.

“That is a lot of wealth, Dave. Enough to get a comfortable home away from all the fighting,” Ukon said.

Dave looked to a wall of the office, roughly in the direction of his home. “It might be but I like it here.” Dave looked to the other dwarf.

Ukon shook his head but Dave saw the dwarf was proud in Dave’s decision. “Very well. I will continue to manage your funds as you have detailed and continue to send you messages detailing opportunities and growth per month,” Ukon said.

“Thank you, Ukon. Now I must be going, else Kol will find me hiding out here and drag me back to the smithy.” Dave rose, finishing off the warm cider, and shook Ukon’s hand.

“Till we meet again,” Ukon said.

“Likewise.” With that, Dave headed out of the bank and to the smithy. He greeted and waved to people as he walked.

Kol was waiting for him next to the wall where the Dwarves kept their tool belts and food.

“Kol.” Dave nodded. He’d gotten over the man’s burned face. He might not have eyes but he could see better than most who did have them. His own Touch of the Land was powerful when looking at items that were associated with the Dark or Earth.

When Dave had asked about his skill level, he had waved it aside as if it had no bearing on anything. Kol usually left him to work on the various items that were listed up on the work board. He might be working with steel plate one day and then iron screws, which were in constant demand.

He got less experience working with the lower grade metals but he had started doing his own experiments with the metal and the way he worked it.

He was a master of iron. It practically danced in his hands as steel was finely crafted. He was good with silver but silver armor was rare as it would cost entirely too much. They might have intricate carvings filled with silver but nothing was ever made out of pure silver.

Dave had learned to make reflectors for the large torches that illuminated the wall and filled in magical runes, connecting them and making them more powerful. In that way, they were like circuitry. Silver was highly conductive for the magical power imbued in items, as it was for electrical energy.

Kol had taught Dave a lot. Silver might not be as flashy as gold, but it was 24 points more conductive. Meaning that magical runes that had been connected with silver were nearly a third more powerful than the same runes connected by gold.

“It’s time that you worked with more than just a single piece of metal. Today I want you to make shields,” Kol said.

Dave looked to the man as he pulled on his apron and tools. He nodded seriously. A dwarf’s shield was everything to them. If it was weak or improperly made, it was not just their life, but the lives of those who relied on them. Making a dwarf’s shield was not only a great honor, but also came with great responsibility.

“Got it,” Dave said. There was no room for error and this was a test by Kol.

Kol tapped him on the shoulder in reassurance before he headed through the smithy, checking the work that was being done there.

Dave’s portable smithy now had four separate structures added to it, from a large refinery and metal casting facilities, to different workshops that made nails, blades, armor, shields, and frying pans. Everything that was metal came through the shop. Different smithies dealt with different items and metals. Each smithy had a variety of smithies, from novice to a single master or expert level. Kol was the only master smith in the smithies.

Dave grabbed a finished shield and took it to his station. He took his time as his hands moved over the steel creation.

Steel was a subset of iron, its stronger son which then had a bunch of subsets. Three kinds of steel were used in the shield. It was built like a kite, with three triangles making the top, two large triangles for the bottom, and a rectangle in between.

The main pieces were made of a strong steel alloy and then fused with stainless steel to prevent it from rusting. Bands of tooled steel connected the plates together and formed the points that dug into the ground, again covered in stainless steel.

On the back of the shield were leather bracers for a dwarf to put their forearm in. Simple runes had been carved into the alloy steel; that worked to make the shield lighter and stronger. The enchantment was smart. The shields gave a strength modifier that increased with the number of shields touching.

With every attached shield, the Dwarves got a larger strength modifier. It was why breaking a Dwarven shield wall was like breaking into a stone castle. The more of them together, the stronger they became. It was an impressive piece of Magical Circuitry. It extended to every edge of the alloy and met in the middle with the central enchantments.

Dave let his hand wander over the shield again, feeling the mixture of elements that had come together to create the item in front of him. He’d worked silver into steel alloy and sheathed it in stainless steel, but this was much more complex.

He’d learned that with enchanting, actually writing the magical runes into the material instead of just straight up enchanting an item made the enchantment much more powerful. It also increased the chance of success and took less power to charge the Magical Circuits.

He smiled, looking at the shield, his latest challenge.

“Well, I’m going to need some damn ore.” Dave put the shield to the side of his work station, writing on it with chalk, saying it was free as he was in the refinery.

No dwarf worth his weight was going to let anyone else handle the ingots and materials that he’d use to make a Dwarven shield.

***

Gurren looked over his fellow shield bearers. They were all tired, their weapons and armor damaged from the fighting. Lox greeted the guards at the gate as they trudged in. The wall looked like wood on the outside but inside, a stone parapet rose up behind it. Slowly, the mages and workers were piling stone into a defensive wall.

More Dwarven guards were on the walls, with a few Elves here and there using their enhanced eyesight to look through the forest. More had been in the forest but Gurren hadn’t been able to pick them out.

They walked up the road that would head to Omal. They walked through the forest that rose along the road, covering Dave’s compound.

The small kiln and the log seats had remained in their place. Lox stopped there and slammed his shield into the ground. They each put their shield down, checking it and making sure it was in good condition before checking their blades and then armor as they pulled it off.

“Damn bears,” Tounk growled as Max had to use his personal warhammer to knock his pauldrons off. They’d been clawed and sunk into his cuirass.

“Go get checked by a healer. Joko, go with him. Gurren, get our armor checked over. Max, get something cooking. I’m going to see Wender.” Lox sounded as tired as they felt but they had work to do before they could rest.

Gurren let his armor fall off, people making piles of what was good and what wasn’t. Most people couldn’t wear armor for extended periods of time due to the weight. They’d been training in it, so it was a second skin. Altered it so that it was a lot more comfortable than what the Humans used.

Travelers loved to use their armor all the time, causing debuffs and loss of stats that they didn’t even notice. Over time, Emerilia had adapted and just made those stats part of their characters.

To everyone else, it looked painful being stuck in armor all day.

Gurren took the busted-up armor as people left for their tasks.

He walked toward the smithy. A smile fell on his face as he smelled coal and felt the heat of the place. He moved to the work table and dropped off the broken gear. In the depths of the smithy, he saw two familiar faces: one hammering away at something on an anvil, the other standing nearby, speaking into the first’s ear.

Gurren walked around the smithy to get a better look.

Dave was working a massive piece of armor. Gurren studied the creation. It was a Dwarven shield. Steel had been bent, heated, formed and covered. Gurren was no master smith but he could tell that the shield was strong and powerful and that Dave had spent many hours working on it.

Now it was facedown on the work space as Dave worked with chisel and liquid silver heated by a torch. He tapped runes into the steel, filling them with silver to link them together.

It had been two weeks since Gurren had left. He saw that the work was rudimentary and Dave had a distance to go. Yet the distance he had come already—it was impressive.

Gurren smiled to himself, proud of Dave and thankful to his grandfather for teaching him the ways of his craft.

The compound had grown. There was now a large barracks through some trees beside the smithy. Smithies lived there, waking and turning in to the sound of hammers.

Another barracks was past it, meant for those who were working on the kiln. It would be some time until it was completed but people were already laying the foundations and more trees littered what had been Dave’s worksite, ready to be trimmed and shaped.

He wandered back to Max and sat down next to the fire.

An Elf came out of the forest.

“Deia,” Max said in greeting.

“I see that you’re back safe and sound,” she said.

Gurren looked over to her. There was a change about her. Her eyes now reddish brown than brown flecked green. Her hair caught the sun, with red light instead of brown.

“How is everything back home?” Max asked.

Gurren listened up; they’d been without word of what had happened with the Earth Lord’s betrayal.

Deia sat down on the log. “The clans have united against the lords of Earth and Dark,” She sighed.

“So, what does that mean for us?” Gurren asked.

“It means that instead of siphoning our power off to them in offering, we’re going to feed it back into our own people. The walls of Mithsia and Kufo’tel have risen. Rangers are scouring the forests and finding the agents of the Earth and Dark. Warbands move to destroy them.”

“What about those in the depths?” Max asked.

“They have risen, but the warbands are strong and the Elves’ Fire mages stand with them,” Deia said.

“Fire mages?” Gurren asked.

“Well, we might have overemphasized the strength of our Earth mages while keeping our true power as Fire mages a secret. Most people see fire and think destruction and death. They do not think of the warmth it brings in its fires or the life through the burning of our sun. We kept it hidden. Our Lady of Fire understands and does not mind. She might be the lowest of the Pantheon, but she is the least interested in games. Now that we have shown our true Affinities once again, her power surges forth and fills us.” Deia smiled, sadly, as a flame filled her hand. “I wish that we did not have to show our true Affinity.”

“Huh, so you’re a Fire mage?” Max stood and stirred the pot that rested over Dave’s first kiln.

“And an Elven ranger,” Deia agreed.

“Well, that would have been useful five minutes ago. Damn wood’s all damp,” Max muttered.

Gurren laughed and sat back, happy that his people were safe.

“You don’t care that I’m a Fire mage?” Deia asked.

“You’re still our Deia—just have another useful skill. You Elves do like your secrecy.” Gurren closed his eyes and yawned.

He didn’t see the happiness that danced in her eyes at his words.

“So, when you going to ask Dave out?” Max asked.

“W-what?” Deia said.

“Come on, lady. I think you’ve been trying to catch him naked ever since that patrol,” Max chided. Gurren chuckled as he found a comfortable place for him to nap.

“N-no, I haven’t!” Deia wasn’t convincing anyone with that tone.

“Damn—we might live half the time you Elves do, but we sure as hell are a bit more forward with our emotions. ’Cept our Dave. That guy’s training so often, I think he’s forgot that women even exist,” Max grumbled.

“Four months until that citadel opens. We ain’t gonna live forever—live what you’ve got now, before it’s all too late.” Gurren cracked an eyelid and looked at Deia. “And let a dwarf get some damned sleep!”

Max and Deia laughed at Gurren’s antics.

Chapter 9: Report

Lox greeted those he knew with grunts and noises. Since he’d been gone, the warclan sent from Mithsia had arrived. The camp that had been cleared for the warclans now hosted the five thousand shield bearers and their one thousand Elven rangers.

Sorcerers, mages, engineers, maintainers, healers, archers, the sub units, and camp followers had spread into the city, adding their labors to the cities at cost.

With them, supplies filled the outpost.

Players were making a good profit on pelts, meat, wood, and raw materials while the outpost was making coin on their high-quality weapons and armor.

More Players had headed for the city; two more clans other than the Golden Sabres had set up camps and there was talk of expanding the wall with the influx of people. Cliff-Hill had hosted nearly a thousand people; now it was almost four times that and growing.

The Dwarves had warned off bands of Players more than once. They’d had to kill more than a few of those who tried to fight their way to the prison’s entrance.

Lox stepped before Wender, who was examining a map of the area.

“Lox, good to see you.” Wender’s voice was deep and calm as he braced the other dwarf’s arm.

“You too, Wender. I see that our brothers and sisters are making an impression.” He indicated to the camp that lay just a distance down their hill.

“That is true. I sent their best mages down to the citadel. They say we have four more months—just as spring sets in, the citadel will rise,” Wender said.

Lox nodded, thankful for the time but scared for what the cultists might be doing in that same time. As we prepare, so will they.

“How was your patrol, other than the sprite?” Wender asked.

“The forest is lively and dangerous. We had to beat a retreat more than once and less of the bastards boomeranged. It seems that the Earth Lord has pulled their bonds to their spawn free,” Lox grumbled, stroking his braided beard.

Wender nodded. “We’ve had much the same reports. More animals—the higher level ones—are coming out of the wild, attracted to us. Sprites have attacked more than one patrol. Herko’s men were hit pretty bad. She’s got some fine new scars herself.”

Lox grimaced. He didn’t wish it had turned out this way, but there was little he could do. “What are your orders?”

“Rest, train. Get some shelter together for the winter. You’ll be on farm watch. We’ve got a month until those crops come up. The animals seem to sense it and are eating everything they can and attacking our farmers. Need to keep them back and our people safe so that we have food for the coming winter,” Wender said.

“Aye. I’ll have a talk with Dave and see if he’ll allow my warband to stay there. Be close to the southern gate to Omal. Ready if there are any troubles,” Lox said.

Wender nodded in knowing. “Aye, might help with telling those Players to piss off with running around our smithies, trying to pester us for knowledge and jumping on any anvil they see if they get half a chance.” Wender shook his head.

“Do they not know how to conduct themselves in a forge?” Lox muttered, hoping what he was imagining wasn’t as bad as the reality.

“No. Thankfully, it seems that Dave showed them how to build smithies and they’ve gone into overdrive. Helped to ease the strain on our own people. Got all kinds of quests going for them to gather the materials and supplies we need. Just put up a board and nailed requests to it. They take them and run away, happy as a dwarf finding a new vein.” Wender shook his head at their bizarre behavior.

“Good that we’re able to put them to some use,” Lox said.

Wender grunted. “Saves us having to go find clay for the kilns and chop down wood when we could be watching over our people. He’s a resourceful one, your Dave.”

“That he is. I’m off to get my warband’s rations and get some damn sleep. Armor’s in with the smiths,” Lox said.

“Be seeing you.” Wender turned back to his board as Lox left, dropping by the quartermaster for the food and supplies his warband was rationed.

He got back to the camp; everyone was there except Tounk and Joko. He passed by the smithy, seeing Dave hard at work turning ebony ore into ingots. He’ll be working on Mithril in no time, he thought with inner pride as he got to the fire.

Gurren was asleep and Max was filling Deia in on their patrol.

Lox nodded to them and put down the rations. “Everything good back home?” Lox sat down against the log.

“Yeah, everyone’s fine and clans are now actively hunting the Earth Lord’s sprites that are commanding animals to attack. None will make it,” Deia promised.

Lox nodded. “What a time we live in, when we fight the gods themselves.”

***

“So how are we looking?” Fend fell into his seat at the table. He wore the enchanted armor of his family.

“Better than you. I swear, how do the people handle you going out in public?” Doxos, Fend’s good friend and the leader of Mithsia’s warbands, said.

Fend threw dried fruit at his old friend. The four massive mountain dogs eagerly chased the food.

Doxos laughed heavily as Gronen, the leader of the master smiths, and Kayl, the leader of the Dwarves mages, shook their heads at the two’s antics.

Their sub-leaders were there as well, a few of them hiding their grins.

“Such a waste of food,” Eas’Davar said. The old Elf watched the dogs eat the dried fruit and smiled as he scratched behind Brutus’ ear. The big dog sat there happily, moving into the old ranger’s hand, his eyes closed and tongue wagging.

“Tell a man before you steal his dog!” Fend growled, a smile on his lips. “Now, other than comments on my most lovely appearance, and the metal plate that is stabbing me in the ass, how goes the fight?”

As soon as the lower reaches were checked and secured, Fend had moved out with his forces.

“Kufo’tel has been reinforced. The walls of the Mithsia Mountains have been raised and are on watch. The watchtowers are scanning the area for issues.” The watchtowers were parts of the Mithsia Mountain that had been carved out so that viewing platforms with massive telescopes and high magnification viewing magic could look over the forest.

They also had big-assed artillery on them so people could see the effect of their shots and call corrections onto the targets immediately.

“Our Elven Fire mages are reinforcing the Dwarves. So far there have been only a few minor fights. In each time, the Earth Lord’s minions were destroyed. We are using the hidden southeastern and northwestern roads and sweeping down.” Eas’Davar indicated on the map that showed the Mithsia Mountains as a range that ran on an angle from the northwest to southeast, with the Kufo’tel Elves’ home forest nestled in a large valley to their east. Above them there were massive ice plains that turned into marshes when it wasn’t winter.

“Due to the threat of Boran-al’s Citadel, we were stepping up more warclans to reinforce them. Now it looks like we won’t be able to do that. They are the two warclans we have pushing outward to clear the forests of the Dark and Earth fucker’s creatures.” Doxos scratched his bald head.

“Organizing supplies has been a pain in the ass but we’ll have the supplies that we need to put five more warclans into motion in a month’s time. It’ll put them in the field right as winter is starting. It will mean that we can clear through faster without worrying about having gaps in our lines.”

Fend nodded his head. Having gaps between his people was liable to allow their enemies to sneak something past their shield bearers. The warclans had marched out, meeting with the Elves of Kufo’tel to reinforce their home forest. Now the rangers and shield bearers were moving out through the forest, sweeping it clear of anything that showed a loyalty to the lords of Dark or Earth.

It was a slow-going process but aided with maps and Elven rangers, the Dwarves had used old and hidden roads to maneuver through the forests. If anyone came into their home wood, they were prepared to do everything in their power to defend it.

Dwarves didn’t get into many fights now, but they had made preparations on preparations to make sure that if they were ever threatened that they were ready for battle. With the addition of Elves, they were a paranoid bunch.

“What do the master smiths say?” Fend looked to Gronen.

“Well, they aren’t much pleased with the whole mess.” Gronen’s voice carried with magic he wasn’t even trying to use, making his calm words heard throughout the hall.

The lords under the mountains led the Dwarves, but the master smiths—they were the power behind the lords.

They were almost a religious symbol in their own right, a show of men and women who had put all of their skills into a singular craft. All types of magic were encouraged, as well as crafting, and there were other subsets of different groups that had bled into the master smiths. But they only held a few seats at the table; a master smith earned their own place there.

If you had the skills for it, then you got your seat. It was kind of like a senate of sorts, a group that lived in the histories of the Dwarves, offering advice as well as guidance.

Although the Dwarves were not always united and together, the master smiths were a unifying force. So, when Gronen talked for the master smiths, he was talking for all Dwarves across Emerilia.

Everyone listened to Gronen as he took a deep breath, as if he wasn’t really ready to say what he had to.

“By vote of the master smiths, we will no longer follow the Pantheon. They have shown again that their faith is something only to be broken. We will make our way based on our own merits, not out of the benevolence of some childish, so-called gods.” Gronen’s voice rose in heat and anger as the words rang through the hall. Not a soul dared to break the silence after that moment.

“So, the master smiths are urging us to not make devotions to the Earth and Dark gods?” Fend clarified.

Gronen looked to Fend, his expression dark as a cold smile passed over his face. “Fuck the lot of them and their damned blessings. They can go and shove them right back up their polished arses. We follow no god, lord, or lady. We will work by our own acts and our own acts alone.”

Fend couldn’t really believe what he was hearing as he leaned in.

“What do the other clans say?” Fend asked.

“Fuck ’em.” Gronen snorted

Silence settled through the room like a physical presence. A smile cracked Fend’s face as he laughed.

The majority of Dwarves, across the entirety of Emerilia, had listened to the Mithsia Dwarves’ plight, to their master smiths, and they were holding their devotions, their very Mana and power for their own use. As the lords reflected their people, Fend knew that today marked an occasion not seen before.

The gods deigned to give some of those who gave them devotions a gift, maybe a blessing, or something to show that they were around. With the latest backstabbing, it seemed that the gods had finally gone overboard.

Fend didn’t know what that kind of power would mean. There were millions of Dwarves and all of them had just turned off the power tap to the Pantheon of Affinities.

He knew one thing: the gods wouldn’t forget. They would try to get them to shift on their position with force or by bribery.

“Hmm, that sounds rather interesting. I’ll have to bring that up with the Elven council.” Eas’Davar looked to Fend, who was wiping tears away after his bout of laughter.

He knew that look. If Eas’Davar had his way, then the Elven council would be making a similar proclamation.

“Today we are entering a new age, an age where the gods themselves are made responsible for their actions. I think it’s going to be a pretty lively one,” Fend said.

Chapter 10: Taking a Breath

Dave looked up from his work with tired, dry eyes from the hours spent hammering ebony into ingots and then Kol showing him how to use the ebony.

It was rare that ebony armor was just made by itself. Usually, limited quantities were combined with other metals in order to create some truly powerful magical runes on them.

Kol had him make ebony sheets and various pieces that could be bonded with armor and other materials, passing the rune’s strength to it and the ebony’s innate ability to increase the power of the rune.

“Go home, Dave,” Kol said.

“See you tomorrow, Kol.” Dave moved to clean up his tools and put his work to the side so someone else could use his anvil for the night shift.

“I’ll see you in three days. Need to train up that fighting ability,” Kol said.

“Huh?” Dave expanded the reach of his Touch of the Land, finding six familiar presences.

A smile spread across his face as he finished clearing his space.

He checked his skills.

Active Skill: Smithing

Level: Expert Level 1

Effect: 65% improved quality of smithing creation.

With working with two different types of metals and then working on ebony, his progress had surged for a few levels. The skill was getting so high that getting an increase was getting harder and harder. He knew that working with the ebony, it would once again slow down until he was slugging through the higher levels. He’d get another boost working with Mithril. If the Dwarves deemed him as a worthy apprentice. Learning the way of Mithril was not just about smithing; it was a skill that very few Dwarves had mastered. It was a holy experience to them, and a skill that few, if any, knew of outside the Dwarven lands.

You could only get Mithril armor repaired by Dwarves. It was expensive, but the promised power outweighed those costs. There had yet to be a single piece of Mithril armor to be found. People thought that the armor was so rare that no one was high enough to even find it. Debates raged about it in the forums.

Dave’s mind turned from the Mithril and his smithing to his other notifications.

Active Skill: Magical Circuits

Level: Journeyman level 3

Effect: 49% chance of creating better Magical Circuits and understanding them.

Cost: Dependent

His Magical Circuit level had increased in leaps and bounds with his theories and testing. It was the one skill that although it was getting harder to get new levels, they were constantly going up. Magical Circuits were just like writing code or soldering a computer chip together. People had put pictures of all kinds of Magical Circuits across the forums.

It was like a github for Magical Circuits.

His own experimentation had borne fruit as he’d taken and refined the circuits. Every person who made Magical Circuits did it in a different way. It was as if he were trying to compile tens of different coding languages. The best runes, combined into the best circuits, for the most power and least Mana.

Dave didn’t deny that he was having fun.

Magical Circuits could be made in anything, anywhere; enchanters actually affixed the runes to the equipment, sealing them to the weapons with the power of a soul gem.

He hadn’t actually enchanted that many things but Bob and Kol had talked to him about it. With the Evolving aspect of his skills and stats, he put it down to the fact he’d found it easy when it was probably damn difficult to put runes to ebony.

The Dwarves were laughing and joking, deep in their mead ration as Dave joined them. Noises of greeting and grins appeared as he got closer. They hugged and slapped one another’s backs.

“Oi, you filthy bugger! Got my shirt all dirty!”

“Ah, it’s your own fault, Max, you sweaty bastard,” Dave said, shooting back remarks and words with his friends. Gurren gave him a bowl and Lox made to hand him some mead.

“Ahh, I’ve got my own tipple here.” Dave checked that none of the NPCs or Players in the area were staring at them. A tankard identical to the one in Lox’s hand appeared, filled with his own brew.

“Well then, give us a share!” Lox growled, holding out his hand.

Dave laughed, happy to be surrounded by his friends as he gave Lox his mug.

The dwarf took a healthy gulp from it and wiped some foam from his beard.

“Not bad that!” He passed it around. They talked as Dave dug into the meat, vegetables, and potatoes.

Dave made another mug, filling it with beer as it got passed around.

They all laughed and joked—Dwarf, Elf, and Halfling. happy to be safe and well. Back together after a trying time. Dark citadels, levels, Players, fighting: it faded as their laughter, smiles, and not a little booze flavored the night.

Dave moved to retire for the night, wobbling a bit from the booze. As the night had gone on, he’d accidentally messed with the content of the two tankards he’d created, greatly increasing their alcohol content.

The Dwarves and Deia, who hadn’t drunk for weeks, certainly felt the effects.

“Whoa! Watch that there, gonna fall over!” Tounk laughed as Dave held his arms out to keep himself upright.

“Deia, make sure the Halfling gets home. Damn Elves and their drinking tolerance!” Lox complained sleepily. Good booze, good food, and good company had left them tired.

“Lazy Dwarves can’t hold their booze!” Deia swayed ever so slightly.

“Wez likez to have fun, Elfy!” Max declared, slumping back against the log with the alcohol’s effects.

Dave tried to concentrate on walking. He found Deia guiding him to his house. He blinked as they reached his house. His face was lit up by the magical light he’d found months ago in an abandoned cabin. “Well, wanna come in for a nightcap?” Dave asked.

“Nightcap?” Deia asked, confused.

“Right, Emerilia, not Earth. Uggh, planets.” Dave sighed, using the doorway to stay up.

“Dave.” Deia’s voice was soft and it took him a moment to realize she had said anything.

“Hmm?”

“I…I want to… Well, I’d like to…”

“Finish the darned sentence?” Dave grinned.

“No, you, well, oh shut up!” Deia punched him in the shoulder. “I’d like to court you.” She turned away.

Dave could see the blush on her cheeks. Court like judge court, or tennis court or…court court, like date court? His eyes widened as he looked at her peeking back at him. She was a few inches taller than him and stunningly beautiful.

That’s not what left him speechless. Well, not much—he was drunk. It was that it was Deia. She was pretty damn brilliant. She’d shown him the forest—its various resources, how to read it, how to fight in it, and much more. Through that, he’d come to know her as the sly and kind woman she was. He laughed at the way her eyes lit up with the Dwarves’ tales.

“Like date?” Wow, Dave, you are a goddamn poet. You could make up ballads.

“Date?” Deia asked, confused.

“Like, go out with each other…romantically.” As he said the last word, he hoped he hadn’t got the wrong idea with all of this.

“Ye-es?” Deia sounded unsure and nervous.

“I’m fine with that, though I haven’t dated in…a while.” He wasn’t actually sure how long it had been since he’d simply dated someone instead of going out with them to some gala or event. Maybe twenty years? Since college?

Woman—focus—drunk. Shit.

“Okay, uhh, me either.” Deia wrung her hands. “Well, umm, okay.” Deia turned a big smile on her face.

Dave pulled her to him. “Forgive me but I can’t very well give this up.” Dave smiled and kissed her cheek.

Deia seemed to shrink as Dave grinned at her.

“Uhh, I’ll see you later and figure something out.” Deia stayed pressed against him, opening and closing her hands a few times. “Okay, talk later,” she said hurriedly, as if realizing what she was doing.

“It’s a promise,” Dave said, his voice low and soothing.

She smiled giddily and walked away.

Dave turned and, having used the opened door to support himself, promptly fell on his face. “Fucking gravity!”

“You okay?” Deia asked.

“Lots better than the first time—just my pride.” Dave groaned and got to his feet. He saw Deia’s face in worry as well as a smile.

“Good night.” Dave closed the doors from his knees, trying to cover any further embarrassment. Even with his face hurting like hell and Deia seeing him fall like an idiot, a smile lit up his face as he struggled to get to his bed.

Chapter 11: Fighting Pairs

Dave woke up, circulating Mana and healing his body from the night’s activities. He pulled himself upright, grabbing a waterskin and downing it quickly. He smelled food being cooked out in the yard. He got up, pulling clothes on and readying himself for another day at the smithy. He was half-dressed by the time he remembered Kol’s words.

A smile spread across his face, which only grew as he thought about Deia. He finished dressing and headed out of his home.

“Morning, Sleeping Beauty,” Joko said, from her place against one of the logs. The Dwarves were waking slowly and Deia was up in her hammock strung between trees.

“The hell did you put in that drink? Dwarven whiskey?” Gurren rubbed his head.

“It’s a dark beer from back home. Might have messed up the mixture and increased the alcohol content a bit.” Dave sat down at the logs, using his Touch of the Land to focus on the six drinking companions. He cast healing magic.

His time with Bob, learning about magic and its flexible nature had made Dave’s creative mind go wild. Normal Players just bought all of the spells they could to master them. They might have three different healing spells for Area, Cast, and Touch. Dave had just Touch of the Land, but with Bob’s knowledge, he’d been able to modify his spells. They were just like Magical Circuits: they had a singular purpose, but the delivery, power, and variables around it could be changed. With enough knowledge, the spell itself could be changed.

Dave was nowhere near that level of mage but his experiments had led to more than one convenient discovery. Such as casting healing instead of having to touch his patients. With major injuries, using the ground as a medium instead of air was better—and touching was the best—but he now had options at least.

Dave checked the tea that Joko was brewing. After spending so much time with various mixtures just to get his favorite beer as well as making meals, he almost unconsciously stirred the pot and threw in a few different herbs.

“So, what’s your cooking skill looking like now?” Joko sat back.

“Uhh…” Dave pulled up his skills and scrolled down to cooking.

Active Skill: Cooking

Level: Journeyman 2

Effect: Creations effects are 47% higher

He sent it to Joko.

“I’m high because of all that brewing I was doing and tinkering with. It slowed down a lot getting through Apprentice level.”

Joko nodded. “With only leveling up brewing and mixtures for drinking, you were working on combining ingredients for drinks but you’ve had less practice with actually cooking a meal. Cooking is the creation of all food types that requires heat. Drinks is just half of that.”

Dave nodded at the tidbit of information.

“Though it does taste like your brewing skills are top-notch.” She laughed.

“Well, if you know any good cooks, I’ll be happy to show you some of mi’ brewin’ secrets, lass.” Dave winked and affected a terrible Scottish accent.

Joko laughed. People glanced over at the group, a few amused smiles appearing.

“Don’t like my cooking?” Joko hit Dave’s arm. Dave rubbed what felt like a growing bruise. “Probably more interested in trying Deia’s cooking, though.” Joko raised her voice.

“Where I’m from, you respect your elders, and let them sleep in peace,” Deia said back as she turned in her hammock.

Joko looked to Dave, her face cracked in a wide smile.

The other Dwarves moved to the campfire. Joko filled tankards with the brewed concoction. They drank and made small talk before Lox walked up.

“All right, you laggards. We’ve been lazing about the forest for a few days while this one has been making smithies everywhere cry over their anvils in shame. For the next three days, we’re going to be doing independent training,” Lox said.

The Dwarves grumbled and muttered but independent training was more fun than formation training. They used their own weapons to fight one another. Sometimes the shield wall failed and if it did, Dwarves were ready with their own weapons to push back the attackers and re-establish the shield wall.

Dave had sparred with them one-on-one a few times. In their own right, they were well trained fighters.

“Deia, you’ve got that whole Fire magic thing kicking around now. Seeing as Dave is the only other one here with a high enough Affinity level, get to hitting each other. Good marriages are made when both sides know how to wield a sword! Both of them!” Lox gave Dave a leering look.

Deia got out of her hammock, shaking her head. “Could’ve stayed in the village, set fire to sprites and had bonfires. Instead, I became a ranger. Got stuck with a bunch of crude Dwarves,” she muttered, a grin spreading across her face.

The Dwarves smiled and laughed, taking her criticism as marks of pride.

She took a tankard from Joko, who moved from her seat next to Dave. Deia sat down; she and Dave made awkward eye contact. Her leg brushed Dave’s and a flare of heat spread through him.

You’ve gone out with plenty of women who were beautiful. He tried to calm himself. How many of them, did you actually want to date? Or made you feel like your stomach was a washing machine?

Pairs were made but they took their time, letting it get warmer and checking their weapons to make sure that they were covered so they’d only leave bruises and broken bones. Pairs moved into the open area. First was Joko and Max.

Joko used her shield and sword. Max used a great big warhammer. They went at it, Joko using the shield to divert hits and try to close with Max.

Max continued to use the momentum, hitting faster than you’d expect someone with a massive warhammer. His motions carried him around. He might be a dwarf but Max was acrobatic, turning his body to use his warhammer like some pendulum of doom.

The noise brought people out to watch the sparring.

Joko made to divert Max’s warhammer; he turned, ready to ride out the change in momentum. She ducked and pulled her shield so it sailed by, pulling Max awkwardly. She moved forward and slammed her shield into Max.

He grunted, stumbling and falling.

“Well done,” Lox said as Joko helped Max up. The two of them smiled, panting and excited.

“Need a second weapon for when you lose the warhammer. Be ready to let it go to overwhelm your enemy and then sink in the killing blow,” Joko said as they walked out of the sparring area. The other Dwarves patted them on the back and gave words of encouragement.

Dave and Deia headed out into the cleared area.

So I’m about to get my ass kicked by the girl I like, Dave thought, as he checked the straps on his armor.

Chapter 12: Date Night, Emerilia Style

Dave smiled but he felt a lot less confident. He had fought Deia in the past; she was fast—like blink and you missed fast.

“So, Fire magic?” Dave asked.

“Yeah.” Deia smiled as they walked out into the open space between the kiln, smithy camp, and Dave’s house. “Bit of a long story.”

“Soooo, how much do you know about magic?” Dave pulled axes from his bag.

“Enough.”

Dave caught her sly smile, nodding. Well, I’m fucked. He pulled out his axes, moving them in his hands. They did say magic is allowed. A smile spread across his face as he used Touch of the Land on his armor. To those around him, few even noticed his armor getting heavier or the way it pushed out. None of them could see the new layers and runes that now lay on the inside of the armor.

He took a shaky breath, his power down to nothing. He’d been able to conjure more steel and inlay the runes with silver but it was rough work.

Need more practice at the smithy.

Dave looked to the smithy, and saw Kol leaning against one of the support beams. He felt lighter on his feet, as if gravity weighed on him less.

“Ready?” Lox asked, acting as referee as he stood between Dave and Deia.

Her eyes seemed to have an otherworldly light behind them as they glowed red. Flames moved down her leather pants and across her blades.

Buffs of some kind.

“Yeah,” Dave said, his mouth dry as he left his helmet off. Having it on would only limit his vision. With Deia, it was already going to be harder to see her.

“Yes,” Deia said, her voice controlled and deadly.

Ohhh shit—this is gonna hurt.

“Go!” Lox said.

Deia rushed Dave.

Dave moved toward her. She seemed slower than before as their blades met and sparked; flames danced just inches away as they circled each other. She kicked outward; Dave took the hit and stumbled back.

His eyes never left Deia as she came in again. Her blades moved faster, a wry smile on her face. Dave felt a smile spread across his face as he defended against her blades. She still had an edge in speed, but Dave’s armor and his own speed allowed him to minimize damage to only a few scratches to his armor but no hits that would’ve made it in.

Dave heard shouting and noises but he was focused on Deia, leaving it all behind. The training his friends had drilled into him and he’d practiced for months with his enhanced strength and speed kicked in.

A blade darted at his leg; if not for the sheathing, it would’ve cut through the outside of his right thigh. His Stamina was waning from the furious blows and fight.

He cut low with both axes. Deia jumped up instead of backward, landing on his axes, making him step forward, into her knee as she flipped over him.

He dropped into the ground, two blades on either side of his face.

“Deia is the winner!” Lox yelled.

“Your place? Say seven bells? You can cook,” Deia said in Dave’s ear as she pulled her blades out of the ground.

Dave turned and looked up at her smile. Her hair moved in the wind, like flames turned hair.

“Fine—that is, if you let me up.” He smiled.

She pulled him to his feet.

“Only lady to kick my ass and make me want more,” he said when he was next to her ear.

She gave him a look, the red shade of her hair spreading to her cheeks.

“Watch out, Deia! This one’s getting faster!” Gurren said as he and Tounk walked out into the sparring area.

“Yes, he is…the cheat,” Deia said.

Dave shrugged. There were too many ears around; he didn’t want to tell everyone about his shadow conjurer ability.

Lox and a few others were having a talk where people had gathered to watch the display. Dave got the job of making lunch. He pulled together BLTs and they sat around, talking about one another’s fighting styles, how to improve, and weaknesses.

Lox came over to join them a few minutes later.

“Well, I hope that whet your appetite.” Lox grabbed a sandwich, looking rather pleased with himself.

His tone made everyone look at him with daggers.

“What did you do, Lox?” Dave voiced what all of them were thinking.

“Well, it seems that the other warbands, Elves, and even the villagers are getting a bit restless with everything. Seems that a few of us warband leaders put our heads together. Think that we can get the southern training square to ourselves tomorrow. Maybe have a little tournament.” He grinned.

The Dwarves muttered dark things and Deia shook her head. Dave looked on, amused.

“Don’t worry—I included your name as well.” Lox clapped Dave on the shoulder.

“Should have never connected with my roots.” Dave’s smile fell away as he ate his BLT.

“You do know that we’re going back on patrol in five days?” Deia asked.

“Good thing that resourceful warclan has healing mages,” Lox said through a mouthful of food.

A new round of dark muttering came from the Dwarves.

“Well, I am going to get my armor put away and it seems I have a dinner to prepare.” Dave stood. “My lady, it was an honor to be beaten by you.” He gave an extravagant bow, to the hoots and hollers of the Dwarves.

“If you don’t take him, I will,” Joko said.

“Hands off, you!” Deia said, less embarrassed as she laughed at Dave’s antics.

He grabbed the gear and headed back to his house. He closed the door and dropped his armor on the ground.

“Fuck.” He looked at the brewing equipment that was still in mid-beer and liquor making process. Then there were the books Bob had given him. The metal ingots, the technical drawings. Magical Circuits.

“I need a magical friggin’ maid.” He thought of Deia in a maid’s outfit. “Hmm, that could work, but in that getup, wouldn’t be getting all that much cleaning done. Nothing like a good-looking lady coming over to properly motivate a man to clean his home!” With that, he started organizing the room as he thought of different dishes he could make.

Deia straightened out her leather pants. She’d worn a comfortable shirt but her heavy leather pants and hiking boots stayed. She didn’t have many changes of clothes. She’d thankfully brought some from home or else she would have been just wearing her normal ranger gear. Her armored pants were different from her normal gear. They contained Magical Circuits that boosted her Affinity for Fire. With the greens and browns, there was red stitching.

You’re two hundred and thirty-nine years old! And here you are nervous as some handmaiden!

The door opened as Dave appeared. He wore thick dark pants and a white shirt. A mouth-watering aroma wafted outward as he grinned at her.

“Well, welcome to my abode.” Dave waved her in. He might be a few inches shorter than her but he’d been growing upward as well as sideways.

With being a halfling, she was on the shorter sides of Elven women.

She dimpled, smiling at him as he waved her in. There was a simple table on the opposite wall. Various distilleries and machines used to create alcohol were working away on it. To the left was the bed, the fire just a few feet away from it. Windows looked out over the cliff that surrounded Cliff-Hill. Another door was set in the opposite side of the house, leading out to the porch.

“I, uhh, am doing a few experiments so I thought we could eat outside. It should be done soon. In the meantime…” He pulled out a cup of wine. “I assumed wine, but I’ve got beer, Dwarven and Elven spirits, and even some water.”

“Wine will do fine.” She smiled, seeing that he was as nervous as she felt. She sipped the wine. “Wow. That’s good.”

“Yeah, well, I had a big collection of wine at one time. Got drunk on it so many times that I started figuring out what was good and what was crap. Kind of surprised that you lot didn’t have any ice wines, but have that sorted out this year.” He moved to the cooking rack over the house’s fireplace.

“You had a collection of wine? I didn’t see you bring much up here,” Deia said. Wine, although not expensive, wasn’t the cheapest thing in Emerilia. Beer was cheaper and getting a taste for wine was not a simple thing.

“Back when I wasn’t here.” He worked the various pans and pots.

“You don’t really talk about it.” Deia walked closer.

“Well, it wasn’t exactly real in the end.” He looked up from his food. “Should have the soup ready in a half-hour. Shall we go out on the porch?” He waved to the back door.

“Okay, and don’t think you’re getting out of the question. I know that it wasn’t real, but it was still your life for most of your life up till now,” she said as he opened the door for her.

“Okay,” he said as she looked over the two chairs that were off to the side of the porch, a lantern above it to light the area. A table was set with eating utensils and candles flickered ahead of the porch.

New nerves filled her stomach as she took a sip of wine to calm them. They sat in the Muskoka chairs.

“I had a decent family, worked hard to put food on the table. There was my mom, two brothers, my dad and my sister. While my other brothers wanted to work with their hands on cars or at a government job, I wanted to build things. Things that people would look at and lose their mind over. I worked as hard as possible doing menial jobs to get enough money to go to college.”

“Like the magical college in Lok-pur?” she asked.

“Probably something similar. Anyway, I went there to become an engineer, basically someone who builds things. I specialized in astrophysics and space-based vehicles.”

Deia was lost once again.

Dave laughed at her expression but not at her loss of understanding. “So, what are stars to you?” Dave asked.

“They are imitations of our own sun,” Deia said.

“Wow, okay, that makes things a lot easier. I was thinking that there might be some Affinities or god stuff thrown in,” Dave said.

“There usually is but I am a mage of Fire. We are not the kind of people to listen to the Pantheon of Affinities. Our lady does not take our devotions. We work for our power and are rewarded for it. As such, we search for new information and learnings constantly. We know of the solar system, planets, and other stars that have other planets rotating around them,” Deia said.

“Your Lady of Fire doesn’t sound half bad,” Dave admitted, taking a sip of his beer. “Well, anyway. So, I designed and made things that were meant to leave a planet, like Emerilia, and head out into the solar system.”

Deia leaned in. That kind of invention—she couldn’t even try to imagine it. The area surrounding a planet was filled with all kinds of hazards that tried to kill life. Here, he was making vehicles that could go into it and outward to other places in the system. It was incredible!

“I took a job working for a commercial company that was sending people to Mars. There was good money and I was able to pay off my school debts in no time.”

“An entire company dedicated to moving people into space?” Deia was still reeling from his first surprise.

“Yes. Sol system, where Earth was located, had two inhabitable planets. Well, one habitable—Earth and another that Humans could technically survive on and that we were changing so that people could walk on it without wearing space suits and living in contained houses.”

Dave’s words were like from another language but he was animated, excited by it all, and Deia didn’t want him to stop.

“I left that company to make my own, called Rock Breakers Corporation. We sent out space vehicles to grab massive rocks that were floating around our star system and pull them back to Earth to refine them,” Dave said.

“You mined rocks in space?” Deia said, piecing it together.

“Yeah! We dropped refined ore that would have weighed as much as Mithsia Mountain in months. Changed the world.” Dave sipped his beer. He paused and Deia sat back, nursing her wine to take it all in.

“Food!” Dave lurched to his feet. “I’ll be back in a minute!” Dave ran inside.

She watched as he worked on the food, concentrating on it. The silly smile plastered on her face made her look away, smiling to herself as she took another sip of wine.

It wasn’t just the alcohol that made her warm.

“Sorry about that! Don’t want to burn anything.” Dave took a seat and smiled. “So, what about you? What is the past of Oson’Deia?”

“You heard my real name?”

“Well, it came up and you’re kind of an interesting subject.” He grinned.

“Only kind of?” She hit him playfully.

He laughed and gave her a wink.

“So, I was born in Kufo’tel but my father is a great mage. When the Earth Lord went against the Asha-moor Elves, they fell back in droves; thousands died in weeks. It was an eradication. Elves had left behind their Fire magic for Earthen magic as they wanted to live peacefully, and the Earth Lord gave them gifts. It blinded them and when he attacked, there were few Fire mages remaining. Those who were Fire mages were ostracized but they were also very powerful. Fire is an Elf’s natural Affinity. They had trained in the old ways and preserved ancient texts of power. When the Earth Lord attacked, the Elves were being driven back when the Fire mages showed themselves.

“My father led them, using magic that had not been seen since the pantheon walked Emerilia. Magic that the Earth Lord himself had forgotten. Our lady does not take our power, so our Fire mages were not weakened by their gifts and tributes. In days, they turned Asha-moor into a raging inferno, cleansing it of the Earth Lord’s creatures. When the fighting ended, my father left, leaving the praise behind, taking me, a newborn, to Kufo’tel. I did not know my mother. He always called her his fiery one and everlasting inferno. She was bold and far from quiet. She put my father in his place more than once. She was also a powerful Fire mage. The most powerful he had ever seen.” Deia’s voice trailed off, remembering how she had found her father gathering his strength and the odd woman with him.

Dave put a comforting hand on her arm.

The thoughts fled as she smiled at Dave.

“The Elves saw their foolishness. The Pantheon used the power that we gave to them to wage fights against one another to try to get more power. Sometimes, it meant betraying their own people. From then forward, all Elven tribes have promoted the use of magic in all forms. From Dark to Light, all of it is allowed and practiced, if sometimes in secret. It was why there was a large group of Fire mages that watched over the Earth sprites. We allowed them into our home and hoped that they would work with us. For a time, it did, until there was another power play by the Earth Lord and we had to burn them all down.” She shivered.

“So you practice your magic in secret?” Dave asked.

“It was the best way to make sure that we were prepared for whatever came. I still haven’t used all of my powers. My Affinity is quite high because of my parents.”

“Well, I’ve got a true firecracker on my hands.” Dave laughed.

“What’s a firecracker?” Deia asked.

“Umm, well… You set off a fuse, then this thing explodes, sending a rocket into the sky. It bursts apart into colorful blooms. Kind of like a blooming flower, except it’s massive, made of light, and in the sky,”

“Mana-explosions?”

“I guess? Never seen any,” Dave admitted.

“Well, we will have to sometime.” Deia smiled.

“I would like that.” Dave smiled, just as she realized she’d insinuated both of them going together. “First, I think the soup is done and we can begin eating! Let’s get you sat down.”

Dave pulled out her chair at the table.

“I might be near three hundred but I am not so old as to not get my own seat.”

“Yes, but you’re pretty and it makes me look cool.” He winked.

She laughed and took the seat.

He went into the house and brought out a pot. He ladled soup into her bowl, putting the pot down and then grabbing other pans and items holding food. He put them to the side; the iron would keep them warm.

Deia took a spoonful of soup. She closed her eyes and tasted the tomatoes, differing herbs, and goat’s milk. She ignored the buffs that her mind was categorizing. Enjoying the meal for its taste rather than properties.

“Well, I hope that it’s somewhat edible.” Dave smiled as he sat in his seat and took a spoonful of tomato soup.

“Quite. There is a reason I had to win that fight. I’m not all that good of a cook,” Deia admitted.

“Ah well, I can teach you if you want. If not, I know you can kill and gut a good animal or two.” Dave laughed.

Deia laughed as well. With the Elves, married women were usually pampered on and left to take care of affairs of the household and look to teaching children and learning herself, while the husband looked to killing and proving his worth. With the Kufo’tel, that wasn’t their way; men and women hunted together, cooked, and were a lot freer in their relationships.

The high Elves lived on tradition and politics. Every Elf believed themselves to be royalty. She’d had to go and meet with them a few times. They might be a bunch of annoying aristocrats but they were also powerful. They didn’t ally with any Affinity and they had the best magical schools in all of Emerilia.

Deia had been scared that she might be stuck with another Elf who was an asshole, or she could have gone the human route. Though Humans always seemed to be blown away by Elven beauty and lose their shit.

Dave didn’t seem to mind her beauty; he was interested in actually talking to her. So, they did for the rest of the night, talking about their lives. Admitting things that they hadn’t even thought of in years. Wine and beer flowed, food passed by, and Deia found herself and Dave sitting on the porch once again. The dishes were in a tub soaking and there was nothing for them to do.

In a bold moment, Deia had sat on Dave and covered them in a hide. Dave didn’t seem to mind as she nestled against him, feeling the muscles that she had seen from afar.

“You never told me what happened after you made the Rock Breakers Company.” Deia yawned. The food, the alcohol, and his warmth served to make her sleepy.

“Corporation and, well, I went from being a broke guy with an idea with a bunch of friends working in a lab whose lease was running out of funding, to the richest man in the world.” Dave’s voice was tinged in anger as he waved his beer around.

Deia waited, knowing there was more.

“We went from having no gold, to so many thousands of it that we could buy countries and couldn’t possibly spend it in a lifetime. I looked to make sure that everyone was compensated and that the corporation kept going. People felt like they were treated poorly. My family, who had their comfortable Texas ranch and good jobs, came to me for handouts. They expected me to look after them. They lost sight of the lives they were forging. They went from aspiring to do their jobs to thinking that I was the reason for their misfortunes. I gained wealth and built something incredible. I was at the top and being at the top is lonely.” Dave drank his beer.

Deia could sense the sadness and then sheer dejection that Dave felt. He had done so much in such a short period of time. He’d made great friends who would stand beside him, yet he was scared it would all leave him in a moment. Deia might be new to courting, or dating, but she knew people.

She used a finger to turn his face to look at hers. Red eyes met gray. They seemed to shine in the lantern light. His trimmed beard and caring eyes. Her open face and small smile.

She pulled his head closer, their lips finding each other’s.

He pulled her to him. It wasn’t long but they both came apart, their foreheads touching as they looked into each other’s eyes, smiling.

“I’ll be here,” she promised.

He kissed her forehead and wrapped her up in his arms.

“Thank you,” he whispered, as her arms wrapped around her man.

“Doesn’t mean I won’t continue to beat your ass in training, or in that tournament,” she said, her head on his chest.

He laughed, deep and powerful, as he let go of old demons. “I wouldn’t expect anything less, Firecracker,” he said softly, smiling.

It’s not too bad of a nickname, she thought happily.

Chapter 13: Tournie

Dave woke with Deia moving to get more comfortable. He looked down at her sprawled across his chest, their legs intertwined in the sheets. He lay back down in bliss.

Someone hammered on the front door.

“Hurry up, you two. Got the tournie in two hours and I entered the both of you!” Lox said.

“Go away!” Dave yelled back.

“Morning to you, too!” Lox actually sounded happy as Dave heard him walk away.

Deia made tired noises but she knew that their sleep was over. She looked up at Dave; she looked as if she would do anything to just stay in bed.

Dave broke into a smile as he leaned down. Her frown turned into a pleased smile as she kissed him. She pushed herself fully onto him.

“Looks like someone’s fully awake,” she said into his ear, biting his earlobe.

“Here I was thinking Elves were supposed to be all etiquette and high class,” Dave said. A shiver ran from his ear down to the rest of his body.

“Saying I have no class?” She faced him.

“I’m saying you’re a class all onto your own.” He put his hand in her hair, pulling her face down to meet his.

She moved backward, both of them shuddering in ecstasy as the sheets fell away from Deia.

“We’re going to be late,” Dave said, knowing the words were useless.

“I think…” Deia moved, letting out a soft sigh. “That, mmmm. They won’t miiiiind.” She leaned forward.

The two of them had been too tired for activities that night, but it seemed that the new day had given them new energy.

Dave was a warm-blooded male and he wasn’t about to deny a lady her pleasure, or his own.

***

They lay down, shuddering in exertion and pleasure.

“I really don’t want to get into this tournament now.” Dave drank from a waterskin.

“Oh? What would you do instead?” Deia looked up at him and took the waterskin.

“You.” Dave pulled her to him with his strong arms.

She giggled and kissed him, melting against him.

Even in his tired state, having her body pressed against his was enough to get a response.

She jumped out of the bed and out of his grasp.

“Well, I for one want to see if my student has been paying attention to his lessons.” She used a tub of warm water to wash herself and prepare for the day.

“Well, his teacher was a big distraction,” Dave said, taking in Deia in all her glory.

She laughed and threw the washcloth at Dave.

“Is that an invite?” He held the washcloth and looked at Deia.

“Maybe?” She put her hands on her hips.

Dave jumped out of bed.

Forty minutes later, they were washed and in their armor.

“How did you get that speed boost the other day?” Deia asked.

“Enchantment on my armor.” Dave opened the door.

“There aren’t any magical runes or circuits,” Deia said.

“Right now, there aren’t but I can conjure them into the armor.”

“Ahh, to have a smart boyfriend.” Deia held Dave’s hand.

“So, you’re my girlfriend?”

“You better believe it.” Her tone darkened as her eyes thinned.

Dave laughed. She couldn’t keep up the act; under her laughter, a smile spread across her face.

“Ahh, new love,” Max said, as if he were waxing romantic. “Tis such a beautiful thing.”

“Jackass,” Dave growled, still smiling and holding Deia’s hand.

“Guess you won’t be inviting us to sleep on the floor for some time.” Gurren shook his head sadly.

“Ahh, once you take on a bit of a blue hue, we’ll think of it,” Deia said. Letting go of Dave’s hand, she searched through her gear for her armored top.

Dave would’ve been scared of those words coming from any of the girls he’d dated in the past few years. With Deia, he was kind of excited how she grouped the two of them together already. He didn’t know where their relationship would lead, but he was happy to be in it.

“All right, well, it’s good that you two idiots finally got things sorted out. Now we have a tournament to win! Dave, since you’re still a level 3 because you haven’t invested any of your stat points per level, we’ve put you in the understudy and level 20 and below category. Once the best of each level category are found, there will be a final bout where the five categories will fight, showing who is the best category in all of the camp. Mostly, it’s to show the lower levels how much stronger they will be with dedication and training.”

Dave nodded. Showing off the older and leadership who were around level 80 to 100 made the lower ranks appreciate their skills and their right to lead. It also impressed the younger ranks to not fight something that was well beyond their level.

“Well, let’s go crush some skulls.” Joko stood, carrying her shield and blade.

The others rose and they wandered through the copse of trees, across the road and over to the training area near the southern road to Omal and the village’s defensive wall. A square of flat stone made up the training area. Circles had been drawn across the place as people sat on bleachers or milled around the six big boards that stood in front of the twelve sparring circles.

Dwarves who had been stuck in camp, on guard duty, or patrolling had something to take up their time with other than Boran-al’s Citadel.

Bets were placed; food vendors came down. Players even fought one another but they could only fight one another. There was talk going on, along with the sixth board that had been freshly erected. Instead of the People of Emerilia, there were Players.

Lox came back from the boards, giving everyone numbers for the raffle. He gave Dave his number last.

“Seems that the Players want to get in on the action as well. The refs didn’t want to have them facing NPCs as they usually go overboard with magic and sometimes kill one another. Also, none want to blunt their blades. Their winners will be declared when the opponent is at ten percent Health or they’re beaten out of the circle,” Lox said. “Sorry, boy, but you being a Player originally means that the refs have grouped you with them.”

“It’s okay. I’ve been interested in how I would stack up against other Players anyway,” Dave said.

Lox nodded and gave Dave his number, he was assigned to the Players ring.

They moved off to the side as numbers were drawn, names were listed and the first fights started.

The boards filled up with more fighting pairs. No one fought in the first four rounds. Dave watched as people used all kinds of weapons, from spears to daggers and magic. Dwarves, Elves, Humans: all of them competed. Dave watched with all his senses, using his Touch of the Land to see the fighter’s muscles move and coil, the rush of blood.

It was an odd sight and feeling but it might be useful in the future to know whether someone was trying to attack him from behind or read their reactions in a fight.

As Dave watched, he conjured, slowly and carefully. The more time he had to conjure, the more precise and thus powerful his creations. His armor thickened as magical runes unseen to all formed into his armored legs, and then his forearms, arms, shoulders. It was slow and tedious but Dave hid it well, seeping out power as they turned from a thought and a plan into reality.

Once the conjurations on his armor were in place, he would only need a portion of his magic to fuel them. Being out of combat allowed his Mana pool to regenerate faster. Still it was a slow process. He still had a long way to go but it showed how far he had come to be able to make the enchantments into the armor while he was wearing it.

Deia was the first in their group to go fight. Dave gave her a quick kiss as she wandered off to her assigned circle. She stepped in, facing off against a dwarf who was muttering things and casting looks at Dave. Whatever it was, it wasn’t kind by the way Deia’s face settled into an emotionless mask.

The referee signaled the beginning of the bout. The dwarf rushed toward her; she didn’t even draw her blades. She clicked her gloved fingers. Flame burst forth and slammed into the dwarf, tossing him into the air five feet. He came down outside the circle and slid a few feet, his armor scratched and busted as he moaned in pain.

Deia walked to the dwarf, saying a few words before she walked off toward the group again.

“Well done. Remind me to never get on your bad side!” Tounk said.

Deia smiled, some of the tension in her shoulders relaxing.

Dave gave her a curious look. “You okay?”

“Better than him.” She pointed over her shoulder at the dwarf who was being pulled from his armor, groaning as healing mages worked on him.

Dave smiled at his girl, holding hands as they waited.

Joko and Gurren both won their bouts. Max had a hard battle but in the end he’d been forced out of the circle.

Dave got a message calling him to the Player’s games. Deia gave him a kiss, putting on his helmet as Dave put on his gauntlet.

He was still wearing basic iron armor. It was heavy and its protection didn’t look like much. It was well made and customized to fit him. Most Players were using at least steel, most with enchanted armor.

Dave was going up against a level 25. She was a human warrior with what looked like a bit of giant in her. She was seven feet of muscle, armor, and great sword.

“Hello, little man.” She shook her head at Dave’s stature.

“Hello, Hesi,” Dave said graciously.

“It must be like climbing a tower when you try to hump that Elf over there. Friggin’ midget.” The woman tried to get him riled up.

He moved, easing his shoulders, and looked at her stance. He didn’t have much Mana left after all of his conjuring. It was coming back, but it had slowed down since he’d entered the ring. He concentrated his Touch of the Land, using a third of its Mana as he studied Hesi and her armor.

“Ah, well, I do remember a nursery rhyme about a princess in a tower, and she’s hotter.” Dave nodded toward Deia. He caught Deia’s amused look. He’d forgotten how acute her hearing was. It brought a smile to his face as he shrugged.

“Pah, so what does that make you? The damn frog?” Hesi said.

“Different nursery rhyme.” Dave looked back to Hesi and her leg. With such a big piece of armor, it was hard to make it all strong as hell. It was worn, used and cared for. Though Dave wasn’t looking at its appearance; he was looking into its very structure and makeup.

Hesi snorted.

“Don’t matter. After you get your ass beat, ain’t no one going to want to jump in your bed. In this game, power rules. I don’t know how the hell you’ve lasted this long being level 3.” She shook her head.

“Fighters ready?” the Dwarven referee asked.

Dave and Hesi nodded. Dave moved into a fighting stance as Hesi casually pulled her sword off her back.

“I hope I don’t kill you with a single kick. So damn squishy, I’ll probably kill you in one hit.” Hesi sighed.

“If you can land a hit.” Dave smiled. The final magical runes appeared on the inside of his armor. New power filled him as he physically grew a few inches and his body bulged out slightly.

“Begin!”

Hesi swung her blade. It almost seemed as if it were moving in molasses to Dave; his speed had increased to four times its normal. The power it was consuming was incredible. He needed to finish the fight quickly. He moved under her sword, flipping his right axe over in his hand, bringing the pointed back onto the weakness he’d seen. His doubled strength cracked the armor and stuck into her leg. He pulled the axe free and tore the armor apart. He turned and jumped, coming up over Hesi as she turned to face him.

She tried to bring her massive blade between them as Dave slammed the side of his axe against Hesi’s head.

Her movements were slow and choreographed; even with her bell rung, she was able to select another action. This was a strength of the preset actions. Even with bad damage, your character would still carry out the action. For tanks against mobs or when they were injured, it was useful as hell.

Dave dropped on her opposite side. Just as her blade came into block his last attack, he dragged his axe through the back of her leg. She fell backward. She might be able to use actions, but her body still took damage. Without supporting ligaments in her leg, she couldn’t use it. Dave let go of his axes as she fell down toward him. He took her weight on his two hands; using her momentum and his strength, he pushed upward, yelling as his muscles bulged and he flipped her over. She crashed down, her right foot outside of the circle.

Dave broke the connecting runes in his armor to conserve power. He was breathing heavily from the fight.

Hesi pounded the ground in frustration and pushed herself up with her great sword. “Good fight, Dave. Sorry ’bout the stuff before.”

“No worries. In a fight, we’re trying to do everything to mess our opponent up.” Dave smiled and pulled his helmet off.

Hesi grinned and put out a hand. Dave shook it.

“I’ve heard about you Evolvers. If you’ve got some free time, I’d like to learn how to really fight instead of just using these actions,” Hesi said.

“Talk to the Dwarves around hre, they’d be interested in giving out some lessons for a bit of gold.” Dave smiled.

“Thanks, I’ll check it out,”Doulden said before walking away.

Dave walked the other way, dealing with his notifications. Training was good but actually getting in a fight was a way to confirm those skills and his stats reflected it accordingly.

Active Skill: Magical Circuits

Level: Journeyman 4

Effect: 51% chance of creating better Magical Circuits and understanding them.

Cost: Dependent

Passive Skill: Dodge

Level: Journeyman 4

Effect: 51% chance to evade objects.

Active Skill: Sprint

Level: Expert 2

Effect: 67% increased speed

Cost: 5 Stamina/s

Active Skill: Dual wield

Level: Journeyman Level 8

Effect: Attacks are 28% faster; 50% reduced damage with off-hand blade.

Cost: 15 Stamina/s

Chapter 14: Fight Night

Tounk lost in his second bout and Lox was tearing up the level 40 to 60 circles.

Deia, now able to use her Fire magic, was mopping the floor with people. Sometimes, she was handicapping herself just using her ranger skills. Every time she used her Fire, her smile grew a little bit wider.

The Player fights were going slower, so Dave was able to sit back, watch other fights and work on his Magical Circuits enchanting his armor.

Gurren had won two bouts, Joko another.

Finally, Dave was called back out to the Players’ circle. He was up against Mikal. Mikal had been training a lot, moving from an Action Player to a hybrid Evolver and Action.

It had been some time since Dave had seen the Russian rogue; he was level 29 now.

Dave pulled up his character sheet and did some mental math.

Character Sheet

Name:

David Grahslagg

Gender:

Male

Level:

3

Class:

-

Race:

Human/Dwarf

Alignment:

Chaotic Neutral

Unspent points: 65

Health:

1800

Regen:

1.08 /s

Mana:

670

Regen:

2.50 /s

Stamina:

500

Regen:

2.00 /s

Vitality:

18

Endurance:

54

Intelligence:

67

Willpower:

50

Strength:

50

Agility:

40

He had the same amount of stat points littered around as someone who was level 39. He opened up a screen that showed his armor base.

Iron Helm

Quality: B

Defense: 239

Durability: 20/20

Iron Cuirass

Quality: B

Defense: 239

Durability: 20/20

Iron Greaves

Quality: B

Defense: 102

Durability: 20/20

Iron Gauntlets

Quality: B

Defense: 65

Durability: 17/17

Iron Sabatons

Quality: B

Defense: 139

Durability: 15/15

Iron armor modifiers

Linked Enchantments:

Wearer’s Agility +75% maximum

Wearer’s Strength +50% Max

Mana +12% Max

Cost: 125 Mana/s 75 Stamina/s

The stats were great but the cost—that was crazy. It would last six seconds before the enchantments gave up.

Dave knew he could add in the final runes to turn on the enchantments in a second, filling himself with power. It could possibly end the match as soon as it began but Dave was cautious. He held it in reserve. If he needed it, then he could call on it. Better to need it and not use it than waste it before it was ever useful.

“How can you move quickly in all of that?” Mikal asked as they met in the circle.

“Built up my strength training with the Dwarves, building my house and working in the smithy. It’s like another set of clothes now.” Dave shrugged.

“Who made that? Looks pretty maneuverable. Been trying to find some better leather armor,” Mikal said.

“I made this. I know some people who are good with leather. Me—I’m smithing all the way,” Dave said.

“Mind talking to them after this? I haven’t been so popular after opening up the citadel.” Mikal looked at his daggers.

“Sure,” Dave said.

Jules, Esa, and Mikal were sorry for what they had done. As they’d come to know the village more, the way that they were dismissed for what they had done had hurt. Dave didn’t like the way that most Players thought of themselves above everything that the NPCs did and that rules didn’t apply to them. Mikal and his group seemed to be more like Dave in that respect.

“Fighters, are you ready?” the referee asked.

“Yeah.” Mikal lowered himself, his hands up and ready, his daggers still sheathed.

“Yes, sir.” Dave held out his axes.

“Begin!”

Mikal’s blades seemed to simply appear in his hands as he disappeared, using an action. Dave jumped forward as a blade came down where Dave had been standing.

Mikal was extended, as he thought he’d get a killing blow. Surprise colored his face as Dave swung around, cutting down on Mikal’s extended right hand, and buried his right axe in the man’s shoulder.

Mikal cried out. The two attacks took out seventy percent of his Health. “I submit!” Mikal said.

Dave pulled the axes free. He knelt next to Mikal, pouring healing Mana into his body.

“Dave wins!”

Mikal let out a relieved smile as Dave put the worst wounds back together. “You’ve gotten better,” Mikal said.

“You have, too. Nice move with using your natural draw, to make me think that you were going to use just Evolving fighting style. Then right into blink-step, followed with a power attack. Would have worked if you were fighting someone else.” Dave smiled, sheathed his axes and helped Mikal up.

“How did you know I was going to use actions?”

“Watched your other two fights,” Dave said.

Although that was true, he had seen certain characteristics like Mana flow and certain movements that made up some of the best preset actions. Everyone using blink-step reacted in the same way. Taking that, he knew when Mikal would do it. His observations had not been in vain.

“Well, I hope you win all of your upcoming fights. Make me look a bit better!” Mikal grinned.

“I’ll do my best.” Dave smiled.

Chapter 15: Behind Closed Doors

Cassie tapped her finger on her desk as she watched the man Dave. He was up against a spellsword. The spellsword was level 40. Dave had made it through all of the level 20 fighters with ease and was now grinding through the level 40s.

The spellsword said a quick chant, keeping Dave at a distance with his sword and shield. Power flared out of the spellsword.

His hit points and strength doubled as he turned from the defensive to attacking. Dave dodged away from the blade; it hit his left arm, denting the armor. Dave’s Health was cut by forty percent by the blow.

Cassie’s tapping stopped as she leaned forward. “Is he a min-max build? Still, that wouldn’t make up for all of the power he’s been exerting.” Before her eyes, Dave’s Health came back as Dave’s attacks sped up.

He hit the spellsword. Dave’s axes blurred as he struck the spellsword’s shield.

The spellsword made to bash Dave away using a preset action.

Dave seemed to read it exactly. He spun away from the bash that was supposed to daze him and the stab that would have impaled him. The point on the back of his axe came down on the spellsword’s weapon. The sword cracked and broke. Dave’s other axe hit the spellsword in the helmet with its side.

It didn’t do much damage but it would disorient the spellsword.

The spellsword didn’t seem to realize it as he brought his now broken side toward Dave in a wild slash, bringing his shield over to punch Dave with its edge.

Dave kicked out sideways; the powerful kick sent the spellsword four feet and over the line. His armor was dented from the hit and he was down twenty percent of his Health from the single kick. His Health dropped to forty percent.

Dave sheathed his weapons and walked to his opponent to check that he was okay.

The man swiped at him with a shield, not accepting his loss.

Dave punched him in the helmet so hard it dented. The spellsword dropped to the ground, knocked out with his Health bar at fifteen percent.

Something was going on with Dave Grahslagg and Cassie wanted to figure it out. She shut her interface linked to one of her people spectating the tournament.

She thought of the Elven Fire mage. She had natural talent with her magic, only needing a few words of power here and there to conjure powerful spells that didn’t even seem to tax her.

Then there’s that ability to actually fight. I’d classify her as one of the most powerful fire mages I’ve seen to date. She doesn’t even buff herself; she only adds her flames to her attacks. Then there’s the whole fact that it seems that she and Dave are an item.

She sighed and shook her head. A smile spread across her features. Makes for one hell of an interesting game though!

The tournament would bring more people out to Cliff-Hill, more people who could serve as cannon fodder when the citadel rose.

A message pinged in her inbox.

>Heya love,

Would love to join in on that raid that the Dwarves are hostin’. Got a bit of trouble with a little excursion me and the lads went out on. Should make it there in time for the festivities, love!

Josh Giles

Josh Giles was the leader of the Stone Raider guild. The guild had two goals: to have fun and do raids. They were constantly looking to find new raids and put their names at the top of the boards, whether that meant clearing it first or getting the best time. They dominated a number of boards. They were a relaxed guild of friends and family. Infiltrating them was damn near impossible. Although they acted like goons outside of raids, once they got into a fight they came together, focused on winning. When they had joined Emerilia, instead of just using their action commands, they started working on actually training one another. It made the game more fun. It also made them one of the strongest guilds in all of Emerilia.

People left the Stone Raiders alone. They like to joke, have a good time, and go on raids. When they were in civilization, they were a rowdy and troublemaking bunch.

When Cassie had enlisted their help to clear out the portal to the Alturaran lands, she had seen behind that veneer of crazy. They goofed off and messed around so much when they were in civilization because when they were in the raiding mindset or dealing with an enemy, they were a concentrated and powerful fighting force. She hadn’t invited the Stone Raiders or Giles but it seemed that they would be there in time for the Dark Citadel.

Things were about to get a bit livelier.

Chapter 16: Semi-Finals

Gurren, Dave, and Deia were the only three left in the games. Dave looked at his next opponent, an extremely strong and gifted Light mage.

Dave was modifying his Magical Circuits as he went, taking his boosts for power and instead putting them into a larger Mana pool. The mage was level 45 and Dave was not feeling good about his fight.

Gurren was downing water after just finishing his fight. The Dwarves were talking of his fighting style, critiquing and praising him.

As the games had continued, it had gone from a game of toughness to one of endurance. Deia looked as if she’d barely raised a sweat in her bracket of 65 to 80. “After this, you’re going to need a shower,” Deia said.

“Oh yeah?” Dave pulled on his armor, trying to get some more circulation.

“So, we can continue what we started this morning,” she purred in his ear.

It was his turn to blush and grin, as he looked at her.

Fighting was one of those things that made you feel alive.

“Dave Grahslagg and Melisandra Endari,” the referee said.

“Watch out for those mage bolts,” Deia said.

“I’ll try my best,” Dave said, both of their voices turning serious. He pulled on his helmet and walked toward the fighting circle. I am going to have to start working on that new set of armor.

Dave stepped into the circle. His durability was down on his armor, losing twenty to forty points of defense as it was chipped and broken in places.

The only other thing that had changed was its stats.

Armor modifiers

Linked Enchantments:

Wearer’s Agility +63% maximum

Mana +35% Max

Charge: 100/100

He’d used one of the common soul gems he’d bought to use on enchantments. It meant that it was no longer draining him for power or Stamina. Though a 100 charge with those stats would only last a minute and a half if he activated it.

“Ready?”

Melisandra nodded, and then Dave did.

“Go!”

Dave ran forward, sprinting at full speed.

The mage was an Evolver; they opened up with two hands of light bolts.

Dave activated his enchantments and put his power into a mage shield. He saw the look of confusion on her face as she upped her power.

Dave conjured spikes into his boots, identical to the ones he’d made into the shield just two days ago. They were weak but he’d made many. He stomped forward, just feet from her as his Mana pool was quickly and surely getting chipped away.

She pulled her hands together.

No no no no no! Dave jumped and put his hands on hers; a shield pushed the light bolts outward. His Mana was dropping. He grabbed her arms, his shield failing as he brought his head forward and smashed her forehead with his helmet.

She rolled backward, a cut on her head from the hit.

Dave staggered around; the light bolts had ripped up his sides and it did not feel pleasant. He lowered her to the ground, her head just over the line.

“Dave wins!” the ref called.

Dave put some healing into her face where he’d broken her nose and shaken her brains up a bit. He deactivated the enchantments. He was down to a 20/100 charge.

His head hurt like hell from having the iron dig into his forehead; he pulled it off. Blood fell from his head, making things look worse than they were. He pulled some healing into the cuts and sat down heavily in the chair Deia guided him to. “Fuck, her head was hard.”

“Because you hit the crown of it, the hardest part of a person’s skull,” Joko said.

“Ahh.” Dave sunk back into the chair.

“Well, you’ve made it into the semi-finals now. It seems that the Players aren’t letting their highest level Players come out to play,” Lox said.

“Oson’Deia and Magi’Lur!” the announcer called out.

“Knock ’em flat, babe,” Dave said, smiling and wincing at the same time.

“You have some weird terms.” She shook her head and walked away. “Don’t shove your face into any other women’s,” she chided, looking back at him.

“Can do,” Dave said.

She rolled her eyes and Dave watched the fight.

Magi’Lur was also a Fire mage. Unlike the Earth mages, they were a lot stronger.

Deia and Lur fought magical blade on magical blade. The stones were smoking and blackened by their passage.

They exchanged blows for twenty minutes both looking tired and trying to figure out the others weaknesses.

It turned into a battle of endurance.

Deia seemingly tired of the fight, jumped in close. Fire flashed in her hands, two explosions rang through the air, Lur was tossed back, landing outside of the circle He smiled, sad at his loss burecognizing his opponents skill as hebowed to Deia.

Deia returned it and went back to Dave.

“That’s a neat trick you used,” Dave said.

“What is?” Deia asked as she took her seat.

“Have some of this—get your Stamina up.” Max gave Deia a drink.

She drank it down, out of breath from her fight as Max passed another to Dave.

“Thanks, dude.” Dave grinned. The other Dwarves who had been knocked out were now working to keep Gurren, Dave, and Deia on the top of their game. They were all highly competitive.

“No worries, man. You Players are nuts.” Max shook his head.

Dave shrugged. While they were hacking away Health, the other games were being rated on simulated blows and kicking someone out of the circle. When you could respawn, it made sense to beat the hell out of one another. You didn’t pull your blows and it made training with other Players much more interesting.

“You burn everything in a small area, propagating out at your target. This makes air rush in to replace the lost oxygen. Which you then put a fire wall around, burning up the outside, speeding up the air so fast it’s like a damn air cannon. Blasts air right into the target fast as hell and throws them. A hell of a lot of control and precision but you make it look like a fire bolt,” Dave said.

“What gave it away?” Deia asked.

“The crack that comes from the over-pressurized air. It’s not one single sound; it’s two.” Dave looked at her. That kind of magic was impressive as it was scary. Having that measure of control over one’s own Affinity—Dave didn’t have control even close to that. It was like TNT compared to a laser: minimal magic for the most effect.

“Well, looks like we can expand your lessons.” Deia smiled.

“Uggh. What is with you people and training?” Dave moaned.

The Dwarves and Deia laughed as Dave shook his head.

Gurren went in for his match. He was using two hammers with shaped heads. They didn’t look unlike the forge hammers Dave used in the smithy. Gurren hit faster than you would think for someone his size. Each hit he landed was a powerful blow, his decent-sized hammers making armor ring and wood break.

His opponent was using a great sword.

Gurren rushed in, trying to close with his opponent.

The great sword wielder beat him back, using his greater range to keep Gurren at bay.

Most two-handed users needed a lot of endurance and strength to properly wield their weapons. Something that most people overlooked, more interested in using a massive weapon with high damage stats than understanding their limits.

This dwarf was not one of them. His attacks were quick and fast but they were not filled with the power that would make him turn with his blade.

Gurren was trying to beat the blade out of the way but his opponent wasn’t having any of it. He moved forward, pushing Gurren back with strategic hits.

Using a large weapon like a great sword required strength, but to use it effectively you had to be smart about it. Swinging it wildly would do a hell of a lot of damage. Against a smart and sentient opponent—well, it was not going to end well for you. Unless they were as dumb as a rock or a Goblin.

Gurren tried to get in close but the two-hander kept him at bay. Gurren lunged in, getting under the blade as the two-hander dropped the blade, pulling out a dagger and holding it to Gurren’s neck when he was close.

Gurren took a loss but he was grinning and patting the other dwarf on the back. They were competitive but they loved a good challenge.

“Damn, that guy could teach you a few things, Max! Played me like a damn wardrum!” Gurren said.

Max nodded. “Has a long-range game and short-range down. That’s Elkart. Damn good fighter.”

“Sounds like he’s one of your damn folk heroes!” Tounk hit Max on the back.

The two of them got to their good-natured bickering. An outsider would think that they were angry with each other all the time the amount of times that they got into a good bickering. It was a pastime to them. As if they were listening to an old nursery rhyme.

Could talk so damn fast and turn around a human so hard that they wouldn’t know that they were paying a dwarf to take their goods!

“Oson’Deia and Jurna,” the referee called.

“Good luck,” Dave said.

“Going to watch little old me’s fight?” She asked as she walked to the stage.

“Couldn’t take my eyes off you if they paid me!” Dave said, ogling her rear.

The Dwarves fell around laughing as Deia shook her head at their antics, a little red coloring her cheeks.

The sun was high in the sky, heating Dave up in his heavy armor. He watched as Deia and her opposite bowed to each other.

As soon as the referee started the match, the ground around Deia erupted, stone turning into a hand. Dave leaned forward. Gurren’s hand stopped him from running forward as Deia used her fire to throw herself to the side.

The dwarf came in with a heavy axe. Wherever Deia stepped, a hand jumped up to capture her. The dwarf moved in, putting her on the defensive. He was using the hands to keep her moving and cornering her so he could get in close with his big axe.

A stream of fire hit the dwarf’s armor.

Dave saw the dwarf’s smirk. They couldn’t hit each other in the face so there wasn’t much threat to him. It also seemed that his armor was handling the damage nicely.

For five minutes, Deia jumped and ran, fire spewing from her hand and hitting the dwarf’s armor.

Everyone watched the match, yelling encouragement or their anger and frustration.

No one saw the thin smiles on the Dwarves who had worked in a forge. Dave looked to Kol, a small smile on both their faces.

Then the dwarf howled out. The flames stopped as the dwarf dropped his axe and started to pull at his armor. It dropped off, a cherry-red spot on his armor and a smoldering mark on his chest where it had been.

Deia moved in, on the attack. The dwarf hadn’t been paying attention as blades came out across his neck and over his kidneys.

“Oson’Deia wins!” the ref called. People cheered, people booed and then Dave heard his name get called for his next fight.

“Wish me luck,” Dave said. The others clapped him on the armor as he moved toward his next match.

He grinned at Deia and gave her a thumbs-up.

She smiled, looking tired from her fight.

Dave looked to his next opponent, Jules.

He walked into the ring, pulling his helmet on. His Mana might be at seventy percent but he was mentally tired from all of his enchanting. He’d kept his old enchantments; Jules was a hybrid like Mikal. She was also a deft hand with her magical staff and the slim combat knife she had.

He knew the blade well; he had been the one to make it. It was identical to the US military’s standard Ka-bar. Jules had been a combat medic; losing her legs and her mobility, she’d turned to the VR world to grind money and walk once again.

“Nice day for a fight.” Dave pulled out his axes.

“Surprised you aren’t sweating your bag off in there. I know I would be with just body armor. Add in heavy metal plate armor…” She shuddered.

“Yeah, it’s quite pungent.” Dave laughed.

“Awwhh, chu nasty man!” Jules grinned.

Jules’s party had been the ones to open Boran-al’s Citadel and although it had been a boneheaded move, they’d stayed around, trained, and done what they could to make up for the damages. They’d been thinking like Players instead of People of Emerilia.

Dave could understand that; he still had a foot in both worlds. Since knowing the truth of Earth and Emerilia, it had been hard to not look at the Players with a harsh eye.

“Fighters, are you ready?” the ref called.

“Yep.” Dave lowered himself, preparing himself.

“Sure.” Jules pulled her knife free, lowering herself into her own fighting stance.

Jules Foster

Human

Level 55

She’d been training hard, grinding out items and gear to sell them through the banker system. With the high-level monsters in the area and the need for healers, she had spent many hours refining her magical craft.

Mikal had been following Dave’s lead with holding back his levels but she and Esa had been putting their stat points to use as soon as they’d attained them. Their training and their stat points made them powerful opponents.

“Begin!”

Dave circled Jules.

A smile appeared on her face as she adjusted her stance. She’d been ready for his charge.

They circled each other, examining each other.

Dave moved forward, trying to hit the staff to the side to open her up for a hit. She spun away from the attack, chanting as she dodged. She kicked behind Dave’s left leg; he braced for the attack as her foot hit his leg.

His leg broke. He screamed out, his mind reeling in pain as he jumped backward to avoid her combat knife coming for his neck. There is no way that she hit me hard enough to break my leg! He focused Mana on his leg, putting it back together as he was on the full defensive.

She was a damn good fighter with her combat blade, her staff giving her reach. It was a complicated fighting style but it was clear that the training had paid off. An Action Player would be forced to fight with one weapon or the other. She had no such limits.

Dave’s leg healed as she landed a blow on his arm. He screamed out, the limb falling useless. His shoulder had popped out; all the bones in his arm were broken. How the hell is she doing this? Dave dropped his right axe, fighting with the other.

She avoided a nasty hit and touched his side with the hand around her staff.

Pain flared and Dave crumbled to the ground, down to twenty percent Health.

Her combat blade touched his neck as his helmet was yanked back.

“I submit!” Dave said.

Jules pulled her blade free.

“Fuuuuuck,” Dave said, allowing himself to sink to the ground.

“Sorry about that.” Jules winced as she put her hands on Dave.

The pain fell away even as his bones and muscles started to get back into their right positions.

“Smart,” Dave said, realizing what she’d done.

Jules looked to him, her eyes thinning.

“Your secret is safe with me, damn that’s sneaky.” Dave grinned.

“Gonna scare the crap out of people if they realize what healers can do.” She stood and offered Dave a hand.

He took it, testing out his limbs. “Good fight.” He pulled off his helmet. “I can finally get out of this!”

She laughed, shaking her head and leaving the circle.

Dave returned to his friends as they talked about her attacks and how her strength had increased further than they had thought possible.

If they only knew: the power of life is the power of death. It seems that Jules realized that she was not only capable of fixing people but breaking them with healing magic.

It made sense. If there was a bone that had been set wrong, a healing mage re-broke it with their magic and put it back together. Usually they did it with spells and actions so they didn’t know what they were really doing.

Dave had told Jules about how he was able to focus his powers, conserving his energy and doing the most effect for the least Mana. Combined with her medical experience, it seemed she’d become a great healer and then turned it to also augment her fighting abilities.

Few—maybe someone who had been as likely to shoot a target as they were likely to put a person back together—would think of that.

Remind me to not get on her bad side.

Chapter 17: Finals

Bob ate his popcorn as he sat in the bleachers, enjoying the day out. He’d looked over the damage logs from Dave and Jules’s fight. It had been pretty impressive the way she’d taken him down.

Always entertaining times with these Humans. Bob munched happily as the Elf Oson’Deia took the stage. She had beaten out those within her level 60 to 80 category.

Now she was fighting a level 89 who had made it into the top four of the 80 to 100 level category.

Bob smiled. Magic carried with it a signature. The Players used the same spells, which made it difficult to see which ones were using what. Though each of them had different Affinities and play styles, which changed how their magic was used.

Deia’s style of magic he had seen a lot of in recent history.

“Oson’Deia, born of Elf and Fire.” Bob looked to Dave, at the look in his eyes and the way they’d been looking each other over. Bob grabbed another mouthful of popcorn.

Deia stepped up against a dwarf engineer.

They bowed to each other and the referee began their fight.

Javelins of Earth flew at Deia; she twisted and turned, using blasts of fire to try to evade the spikes.

The dwarf pulled a stone atronach from the ground. Deia found it swinging at her as the spikes cleared. More spikes formed on the ground and flew up randomly to try to catch her.

She used blasts of fire to stay aloft. Another atronach appeared; this one was smaller but with crossbows for arms.

The Mana being used was impressive.

Deia pulled her bow and fired at the dwarf. An earthen structure pulled over top of the engineer, covering him.

Deia dodged the crossbow atronach and now the first atronach was throwing Earth spears at her. She was good at dodging but there was just so much coming at her at once.

She pulled back on her bow. An arrow of red flame appeared, turning blue as she paused and released. She caught a blunted spear to her side as she tried to dodge. The arrow hit the crossbow atronach. It exploded from the blue arrow. Smoldering rock that had been melted with the arrow’s power was all that remained.

As the echoes of the arrow faded away, the spear-wielding atronach brought her low. She was just feet from the earthen mound when a vine pulled out and grabbed her leg. She hit the mound. A dwarf’s hand held a blade to her back, the earth mound falling apart to reveal him.

The crowd went wild as the atronach fell apart and the circle returned to normal. Even if Deia had lost, the fight would be talked about for weeks.

The dwarf and Deia bowed deeply to each other. It had been one hell of a fight and both of them smiled as they walked away.

Bob heard a chime, a private message.

He excused himself from the stands, reading the message as he walked and ate his popcorn. “Interesting.” No one noticed the gnome disappear.

Chapter 18: Reception With a God

The lords of Dark and Earth sat in their chairs. The tension in the air was heavy.

A shadow formed down near their feet; it was only five foot tall while they themselves were nearly twenty foot tall.

At least one knows their place in this world, the Dark Lord thought, an unseen sneer passing over his face. It quickly turned to a cold smile. Soon they will be shown the true might of my servants and they will fear ever trying to resist my advances.

A creature wearing a gray robe stepped through the mist.

“Wahhdaya want? I was watching a pretty sweet match!” Neutrality grumbled.

“Quiet, underling. You have failed to maintain the balance,” the Dark Lord spat.

“Wow, all doom, gloom and underlings with you lot.” Gray sighed as a seat formed behind him. He sat on it, reclining.

“You dare to talk back to me!?” the Dark Lord yelled at the obstinate little creature. “The creatures of Emerilia have attacked us, blatantly cutting ties to the Pantheon! You will pass new rules to…”

The Dark Lord’s words fell off as his eyes widened. Neutrality grew in size until he too was twenty foot tall. It wasn’t the size that stilled the Dark Lord’s words. It was the sheer power coming from the creature.

***

It was at that moment that the Dark Lord knew he fucked up, Bob thought, controlling his power. It had been some time that he had needed to show the strength of his power.

“This planet, these rules, and I have been here longer than all of your iterations.” Neutrality looked to the Earth Lord. “You attacked the People of Emerilia. Did you not remember the Asha-moor fiasco?” Neutrality’s words were hot and bored, as if talking to gods was a flippant thing he had little time for.

“You might use the People of Emerilia as your playthings but they are as smart as you, if not smarter. Do not be surprised when your plan to harm them backfires in your damn faces. The next time you deem it prudent for a new rule, send me a message about it.” Neutrality’s voice took on a colder tone. “The next time you order me to attend one of your meetings, remember I control the lights around this place.”

With that, the lights blinked in the room and the two lords disappeared.

“Fucking children.” Bob sighed. “Might be time for a new iteration.”

What Bob was building, he couldn’t let the meddling Pantheon interfere with. This was not just a game for entertainment anymore.

It might be the last thing that he ever did, but he knew in his mind it was the right thing to do.

Chapter 19: Ain’t Nothing Like a Tailgate Party

Dave, Joko, and a dozen others had turned the area in front of his house into an outdoor kitchen. With Dwarven engineers and a few Elven Fire mages, it was surprising what you could make in a few hours.

The open area backed by the copse of trees and surrounded by the smithy, kiln, and Dave’s house had impromptu chairs and tables everywhere. After the matches had finished, everyone had got some rest. Now, it was late evening and they’d come together again.

The tables extended from the kiln factory past Dave’s house and the smithy. It looked as if the entire village was in attendance. Beer flowed and food was cooked.

Dave checked his soup and then pulled out fresh bread from an oven. The cooks were working together, laughing, joking, and sweating as they created a true feast.

“All right! Now let’s get to eating!” Joko barked, the leader of the cooking effort. The cooks yelled their agreement.

People picked as servers had whisked away their foods, putting them on tables all over the place. The feasters had waited for the cooks to take their seats and serve themselves, tankards being filled and thanks given for their work.

Dave sunk into his chair.

“Smells good.” Deia kissed him.

“Damn well better. My stomach’s been rumbling ever since you put that first pig on the roast!” Lox said.

“Eaters, are you ready?” Koda, the Dwarven leader of the warclan and the unofficial leader of Cliff-Hill, called out.

“Yes!” many yelled out, laughing at the reference to the fighting just hours before.

“Begin!” Koda barked, grabbing a chicken leg and chewing on it as people set to eating their meals.

Dave laughed, ate, and drank. When the music came out, Deia and he danced. She laughed at his drunken antics as the two of them were inseparable all night.

Children ran around playing games and the darkness of the night seemed a little less scary. There was laughter and smiles, belching and drinking contests. Everyone got to having a good time with gusto. The stress of the last few months slid away a bit.

Dave and Deia ate and drank, before finding themselves sitting in front of Dave’s house.

Lox’s warband got into all kinds of antics. Gurren, who’d taken fifteenth place in the 40 to 60, was having a rather animated conversation with a group of girls, with Max also helping to entertain the ladies. Lox, Tounk, and Joko were off sampling beers, meeting with old friends and making new.

Dave sat there, leaning against the table with Deia resting her head on his shoulder. For years, he had been separated from his friends and family. Money had become the great division. People had seen him for his wealth, not him as a person. Here, people cared little about the numbers that the bank said he had. His actions and his words had gained him a place here. The future might not be the brightest but for the first time in too long he had found something that was worth fighting for once again.

He had come to Emerilia to escape, to cut himself off from the world. Instead, the world had come to him and he was thankful. It wasn’t perfect and the night was filled with terrors, but damn if it wasn’t magical in more than one way.

He kissed Deia on the forehead. She smiled, tilting her head and pursing her lips. Dave laughed and gave her a proper kiss.

Not a bad world at all.

Chapter 20: Malsour and Induca

Malsour stood within the shelves of the Mages College of Opheir. He looked over pages of inscriptions and magical runes.

He tapped his chin in thought as he read the works. Thousands of years ago, he had walked among the People of Emerilia, danced through their skies and seas. That had changed with an update; he and his family had been kept safe on an uninhabited world where they’d been allowed to do as they desired, watching Emerilia and occasionally visiting it in their human forms.

Now Grandmother had allowed them entrance to Emerilia once again. Malsour was not letting it go to waste. Some of his family desired wealth or adoration. He craved something much more.

He craved information. He had created great things simply because he could. He had watched and listened, learning from the Humans. They had lost so much information over the years but their ability to create even more allowed them to progress. Their libraries were a wealth of information, a veritable paradise for Malsour.

“Are you done yet?” Induca complained. She floated down next to him, pouting even upside down.

“It doesn’t do our family proud to have you pouting all over the place,” Malsour said. Induca was an odd one, like him. Where he sought information, she sought entertainment. She was one of the few who, after a few decades, had gone into hibernation to sleep the centuries past before they were allowed back to Emerilia.

“Come onnnn! You’ve just looked at books every day!” she complained, turning in a circle.

Malsour shook his head at her antics.

“Don’t you want to go and see the people Grandmother talked about?” Induca asked.

“I do, little sister, but there is much that we do not know yet,” Malsour said.

“You’re only older than me by four minutes!” Induca muttered.

Malsour sighed and closed the book. “You could go on ahead.”

“But I don’t wanna go alone. Then I wouldn’t have anyone to talk to. Plus, Mother said you needed to get out more.” Induca’s smile lit up the room. Induca settled onto the floor, finally standing.

She looked as though she were just entering her twenties. She had a human face, with comely features and a smile that would light up a room. Her red hair was pulled back in a single braid and her eyes were the color of rubies. She wore dark clothes like Malsour, simple in their make but well made.

A red liner filled her cloak while Malsour’s cloak was blue.

Malsour’s blue hair was pulled back into a ponytail. There was a clear familial resemblance between him and his sister.

As much as Induca was annoying and impertinent, she was the one sibling he was closest with. It was hard for him to tell her no. His mother had also told him to look after Induca. She might be a few centuries old but she knew little of what had happened on Emerilia.

Malsour would make sure nothing happened to his sister. Maybe one day her curiosity would turn toward books and items other than wild adventures.

“Brat,” he said, his eyes thinning.

She smiled, holding her hands behind her and turning slowly, knowing she’d won against her brother.

Malsour smiled, baring his sharp teeth as his blue eyes shone in affection. “It is still a long while until we get there.” He put the book in his bag and gathered a few more he had made a pile of.

“I know.” Induca wasn’t happy about how long it was going to take to travel. “Though there are all those traveling caravans we can ride with to meet new people!” Her smile lit up the room.

“We don’t have much gold for that,” Malsour said.

“Well…” Induca pulled out some gold coins.

Malsour sighed and grabbed one of the coins.

“Is this from Gelimah’s stash?”

“Maaaybe.” Induca toed the ground. “He has tons of gold anyway.”

It was true that their brother had tons of gold; he had always been a collector of shiny things and magical ones as well. He was a tinkerer and although his cave did look like a pack rat’s paradise, he knew every single item.

Malsour had talked to him long enough to know that the coins were rare and worth much more than a single silver.

“First of all, no stealing from Gelimah! He takes his possessions very seriously. You’re going to take that to the bank and send it back to him. Second, we can make our own money.”

“How?” Induca asked.

“Knowledge is worth more than all the money in Emerilia and soul gems are worth a decent chunk of that money.” Malsour pulled out a soul gem. He always kept a few around. Although he was less of a tinkerer than his brother, he had found a good number of inventions interesting and soul gems were valuable tools.

Many thought of soul gems just as holding containers for a dead creature’s power. They siphoned off their power to the Pantheon or used it as much as possible that they no longer saved it up.

In earlier times, mages had saved their power and sold it to power great machines. Now that there were so many mages, it was easier to hire one instead of buying their stored power.

The soul gem’s murky light cleared up as he poured power into it. It turned from murky to clear with a kaleidoscope of energies roving around: pure Mana, all of the Affinities and none of them.

“Pretty,” Induca said, looking at the soul gem.

Malsour gave her another soul gem. “You can make your own too. It would do a lot to make Gelimah happier,”

“I wanted to keep it.” Induca pouted.

“You can make more and making soul gems isn’t too hard. I can teach you,” Malsour said.

Induca smiled and nodded happily.

She might hate having to learn from books, but if it was pretty enough or looked interesting, Malsour could trick her into learning a thing or two.

Chapter 21: Grit Your Teeth

“Take a rest,” Deia said.

Dave panted, dropping to his knees and falling on the ground. He rolled so he was looking up at the sky.

It was two days since the tournament. Everyone was feeling a little better, with smiles and laughter making more of an appearance. There might be a few thousand Elves and Dwarves in Cliff-Hill, but they were blending with the population instead of just being another camp inside the walls.

A few warbands practiced with Lox and his Dwarves. Dave and Deia had been training since morning and Dave was being put through the wringer.

After the tournament, they’d all gotten together and talked about how to improve their skills. It was clear that although Dave was using heavy armor, his fighting style leaned him more toward speed. His blows hit hard but he needed to work on speed in order to strike. With two axes, he was positioned to attack faster. With little defense other than his armor, he needed to make those hits land.

So Deia had taken him and he was in the process of getting his ass beat.

Weights were strapped to his armor and his pack was filled with weight. He now knew how tanks felt. It was annoying as hell moving with so much weight.

Deia was also wearing a large weighted vest. She had less Strength but more Endurance and Agility, which meant that her weight was less than his to get the same progression.

She also had him actively enchanting his armor; instead of giving him buffs, they were debuffing both of their Agilities.

It was harsh training but it was well suited to building up their tolerances. They pushed each other and she beat the hell out of him most of the time.

“Up you get, lazy.” Deia breathed through her nose to try to not sound gassed.

Dave grunted. It took time for him to raise his mass upward. Dave didn’t have the Mana to run through his body; he was still bleeding it into the enchantments. He needed to get soul gems into it so that he could store his power instead of feeding it direct every time.

It was kind of like solar panels: he could actively power it direct, though if there was no sunlight then there was no power. With soul gems, he added in batteries so unspent power could be stored and then used at will.

He’d wanted to build new armor for a while; he had a number of rough sketches for it. Still, he wasn’t the level of blacksmith he needed to be to create what he truly wanted.

Deia came at him with her twin blades. Dave went on the defensive, his body yelling out from his exertions, his Stamina at just thirty percent.

Dave yelled, catching her blade and bringing his shoulder in. Deia twisted and flipped. Dave could hear the grunt of effort as she twisted and kicked the armor between his shoulders.

“Crap!” Dave tried to keep himself up. The additional weight and momentum carried him forward and made him unstable. He hit the ground.

Deia landed on him, pinning his arms and putting her blades next to his helmet. “You’re getting faster but this armor is making you clumsy.” Deia put her blades away.

“Yeah, I’ve got plans for new armor but I’m not high enough blacksmith for what I want to make,” Dave said, sucking air.

“Best to make it now. Can at least train with it before you go into battle with it,” Deia said, opening his helmet.

“I just got out of the smithy and my Agility is lacking now,” Dave complained. It was half-hearted as they both knew he enjoyed his time in the smithy.

Though they also knew that the training they did together could keep the other alive in the coming battle.

“Well, I need to do some more control with my flames and you do seem to be the innovative one. I can stoke the smithy’s fires, bleed off some Mana and play with my control. You build your armor. Once you’re done with the smithy, then we’ll do some training in the forest,” Deia said.

“Trying to get me alone?” Dave grinned.

She rolled her eyes and smiled as she got off him.

Dave pulled himself up. The armor was good for a low level; for what he was thinking, he needed something more. His powers were strong but their power requirements were intense.

“Build your armor and try to make me something that I can wield and it won’t warp with my fire,” Deia said.

“Yes, my lady.” Dave tried to bow and nearly fell over, his legs buckling with the weight.

“Uhh, mind helping me get out of this?” Dave asked.

Chapter 22: Settling in for the Winter

Dave sat in his house, sitting at the table that looked over his porch and down the western cliff that surrounded Cliff-Hill. He was looking at the drawings in front of him. On his interface, he had several windows open.

A smile spread across his face. His armor wouldn’t be like a tank’s; it was a mix of medium and heavy armor. Steel bands were connected with thick leather strips to armor his shoulders without making them hard to move. Plates would cover his body, and larger bands than the ones on his shoulder would reach his knees.

His legs and arms would be protected by dragon scale.

It was a complicated forging process similar to chain mail but instead of links of metal, plates of metals were interconnected. They moved easily and were much stronger than chain mail, but the process of making it was incredibly difficult and time-consuming.

Dave looked at a second picture that showed the layering of the armor. Its true strengths were hidden from sight.

He put the soul gem that was on his worktable back in his bag of holding. His bag shivered, making Dave look at it. He accessed the interface that handled its inventory. He scrolled down. One square was lit up, surrounding a single object.

Dave looked around before pulling out his Mirror of Communication.

Mirror of Communication

Capable of communicating across distances instantaneously. Undetectable. Origin Unknown.

Quality: SS

Durability: 5000/5000

Charge: 120/400

Dave looked over the mirror. He wrote down the runes and their order. Each set of runes was usually different, the enchanters using different tools to create the same thing.

Shrugging, he put the mirror back. It was a curiosity but he would deal with it later. He put the layered drawing into his bag as well; he grabbed his bag and headed for the door.

He looked at Deia, who was sleeping. She’d been with Lox and his warband on farm watch. They scoured the fields at night, making sure nothing tried to mess with the upcoming harvest. He looked at the stores that they had already laid in for the winter. Deia and he had offered to allow the Dwarves to stay in Dave’s house. They’d politely declined.

Dave was thankful for the time that they were giving him and Deia. He smiled before he headed out of the house. Already, the cold air was starting to bite in the early afternoon.

Winter will be here sooner rather than later. He hurried to the smithy. He had work to do.

Chapter 23: A Teacher’s Pride

Bob looked at Dave. He had grown in more than one way since he had arrived in Emerilia. The man had been done with people. He’d thought that everyone would push him away.

He had feared making something again. Now he was surrounded with friends and he was creating again.

Rock Breakers had been his biggest and greatest project. He’d put his heart, body, and soul into the space vehicles that had turned him and his coworkers into billionaires several times over. He’d been driven by passion, by his heart, for the sheer challenge of it all.

Many Humans came to Emerilia, learned what the people had to teach and followed their guidelines. They might challenge a few things here and there.

Dave had taken their conventions and broken it over his knee, repeatedly, and then proceeded to put it back together. He’d taken hundreds of Magical Circuits, thousands of runes and broken them down.

People took one method and used it, repeatedly, as if it were some kind of one-size-fits-all cookie cutter.

He’d made an entire runes language.

Bob looked at the book in his hands again. To Dave, he was taking people’s work and compiling it into a simpler system.

Bob had told Dave to build from the ground up, to make his conjuring stronger.

Dave had moved from metal and wood to the chemical makeup, the workmanship. Bob wondered whether the man knew what he had done. The book that Bob was holding could re-write Magical Circuits across Emerilia, Magical Circuits that had been in existence for a hundred thousand years.

“The one problem I see is that I have to make a connection between myself and the second and fourth layer. I still don’t know how I’m going to make the third layer. I might need Kol for that.” Dave rubbed his face.

He was tired but Bob saw a spark in his eyes. How long has it been since I had that same spark?

The porch’s door opened and Deia walked out. Her eyes widened when she saw Bob.

“Hey, babe.” Dave paused and looked back to Bob, who was still sitting there and sipping his Scotch.

“Hey, Bob.” Dave looked at Bob.

“Hello, Deia. My name is Bob McMahnon. I’m another one of Dave’s teachers.” Bob smiled.

“That is a strange-looking chair. Where did it come from?” Deia said, wary.

With a thought, the chair changed to neon pink. “Wow, that is a bit garish.” He changed it to purple. “Nope.” He settled on the color gray and took a sip of his whiskey.

“What kind of creature are you?” Deia hissed.

“Well…” Bob wondered how to answer that question.

“Think of him as like the Lady of Fire’s mage: he teaches as he wants to. Hell, he does whatever he wants because he wants to,” Dave said.

Bob shrugged and grinned, holding up his Scotch glass and shaking it. Dave smiled and conjured more of the nice Scotch in Bob’s glass.

Deia threw her hand at Bob, but nothing happened. Her eyes went wide as she looked at him. “What are you?”

“I’m a wandering spirit. Just took a liking to Dave here. He’s quite the interesting fellow,” Bob said.

Deia looked from Dave to Bob, her eyes settling on Dave as they communicated with looks and their eyes alone.

Dave sighed as Deia took a seat on his lap. “Deia, meet Bob; Bob, you seem to know Deia already. He kind of knows more than is good for him.”

“And not enough sometimes,” Bob muttered, thinking of the lords of Dark and Earth. They’d both started working the rest of the Pantheon to see whether there were others interested in taking Bob out.

Damned Pantheon of Affinities. You tell one of them off and they see it as a threat to their power. Should’ve given them a few smacks as children.

“How did you stop my power?” Deia asked.

“Well, I kind of just turned off the power switch to you. Anyway, your control, as well as working on making something out of that fire. You can make an atronach, for damn sake, and instead you’re all wow-pow kick-ass Elf.” Bob waved his glass around and shook his head.

“I can make an atronach?”

“Well, yeah. You’ve got plenty of Mana. Be easier to use soul gems, but your man here has got that figured out.” Bob turned to Dave. “Might need to think about doing two sets of that armor.”

A smile appeared on his face.  “You, my dear, are something that I haven’t seen in all my lives, and that’s saying something.” He bestowed her with a smile that a proud grandfather might have. “Though your mother can’t teach you how to use those powers and well, your dad’s not close to your level—parents are confusing. Never understood mine that much,” Bob muttered.

“Bob,” Dave said.

“Ahh, yes, tangents.” Bob waved his hand.

“You know my mother?” Deia leaned forward.

“She is one of the few people I would call friend, one of only two.” Bob had a small smile on his face as his eyes darted to Dave.

“Where is she? Who is she? Why did she leave?” Deia asked.

“That, my dear, I cannot answer. Out of respect for your mother and knowing that she should be the one to answer those questions,” Bob said.

“Why can’t you tell me?” Deia asked, hurt. But she was a big girl and with her mother, it seemed that she was used to mysteries.

“Let’s just say that she is powerful, and the other competitors will do anything to get an edge over here. Finding out she has a daughter? Well, they could use that against her in a big way.”

“How do you know about me then?” Deia asked.

“As Dave said, I see a lot more than most.” Bob smiled. “Now, Dave, for those soul gems. I have never heard of people using the lesser elements to augment them. The first soul gem users modified them some, but it wasn’t in the way you’re talking about. We’re talking about a ton of energy here, so you’re going to need to get a workshop.”

“I have one already.” Dave looked to the smithy.

“Well, you’ve got to think of soul gems as massive batteries. One mess-up and it turns into a flaming ball of heat and nasty.” Bob shivered.

“Ah.”

“Babe, what are you building?” Deia asked.

“Abscondita.”

Chapter 24: What Lies Below

The Dark Lord’s claw ripped through the air where the Earth Lord’s message had been. It had been months since the Mithsia Dwarves and the Kufo’tel Elves had counterattacked the forces of Dark and Earth.

It was supposed to be a surprise attack. Instead, the Earth Lord’s creatures were not able to keep their damned mouths shut. They’d been burned to embers and the Dwarves and Elves had armed themselves before too much damage had been brought down on them. Warbands had moved out in force, working with Elven Fire mages and rangers; they’d systematically destroyed all of the Earth Lord’s nearby Mana wells. That raw energy had been kept from the Earth Lord and diverted back into the land and to the People of Emerilia.

The Earth Lord had sent a message that he was now holding his forces in reserve. His losses had been grave with the assaults.

It’s his own damned fault for not killing off the Dwarves for using Fire mages. The Dark Lord’s hands gripped his chair, making it creak with pressure.

There were three months to go until Boran-al’s Citadel would rise. The winter had started in Emerilia. Cliff-Hill had grown from an outpost into a village. It might be cold but there were plenty of quests, decent gear and experience. It was turning into a great grinding village and the first wagon trains were making it to Omal.

The Dwarves and Elves who were screwing up his plans were spitting in the Earth Lord’s eye and thriving!

The Dark Lord’s amusement showed. While Boran-al’s Citadel was making the People of Emerilia and the Pantheon anxious at how the balance of power would change, little did they know of his other activities.

A smart assassin has multiple plans to kill their target, even if the first plan fails.

His rage fell away as cold satisfaction filled him. He would have his victory one way or another.

If the People of Emerilia were going to cut off their Mana to their lords, then the Dark Lord would find new residents of the world who would fill his need for power.

***

Quest: What Lies Below III

You have investigated the prehistoric presence beneath the ground.

Reward: 5,000 XP

Do you wish to claim this seeder? Y/N

Dave looked at the prompt as the porch disappeared. He looked around. They were in what looked like a command center. It was a large horseshoe with command stations along the outside; two chairs side by side faced forward in the center of it all. A massive screen took up the forward side of the command center.

Bob clapped his hands. Stations that were emitting a light glow increased in brightness. The screen came to life and Dave looked around.

“Clappers, soo much fun!” Bob grinned.

“So, this is what made Cliff-Hill?” Dave asked.

“Yep, one entire seeder,” Bob said.

“What is a seeder?” Deia stood up and looked around the room with wide eyes.

“They were the machines that changed Emerilia so that Humans could inhabit it. It sowed the herbs, the trees, the mineral deposits, mobs. Laid the magical lines, placed portals and Altars of Rebirth. You lot call them the seeds of creations or orbs of formation.” Bob waved and stood; his chair disappeared.

Dave moved around the room. “What are these symbols? They almost look like runes.”

“Well, they are. It’s the empire’s language—the Jukal’s language.” Bob moved to the rear of the command center.

Dave and Deia followed.

“How is this possible?” Deia said, her hand finding Dave’s.

“That? Well, it’s a bit complicated,” Dave said.

“That tale is a bit heavy on the ears. Now let’s get to the good stuff. You’re going to love this,” Bob said.

They entered an elevator and it dropped downwards.

Deia was practically crushing Dave’s hand.

Dave was admiring the control panel of the elevator, using his Touch of the Land to see through it. “How long ago did you start using Mana?” Dave asked.

“Well, we had a massive age of technology that spanned for about two or three centuries. With implants, we started being able to store power within our bodies, generating it and expelling it.

“At first, we used it for small things like parlor tricks and the like. As time went on, it was clear that we could power larger things and expend less cost. Making an empire of magical items is a bit of a pain as we don’t have factories like Humans. Every ship is made by a distinct clan. It means that every Magical Circuit is different and everyone is using different runes to make it all up. Ships can last for thousands of years but one broken part and you have to go and check the rune documents to get someone to replicate a Magical Circuit perfectly. It’s rather tedious but it works. With your book”—Bob tapped the tome under his arm—“let’s just say that Emerilia will become more advanced than the rest of the empire in Magical Circuitry.”

The elevator came to a stop and they were greeted with darkness. Balls of light streamed out from Bob’s hands, sticking to the walls and illuminating the place. It looked to be a warehouse. It was tilted slightly but most of the cargo was secured in their gray containers.

“What is this?” Dave asked.

“This is the seeder’s hold. We made thousands of these to create Emerilia. They’ve got material converters so there are always materials in the ground. Though I’m going to take those.” A white light surrounded various boxes, making them disappear.

“Then there are portals.” Containers opened and large circular object appeared. Like Dave’s mirror, they were covered in runes.

Deia took a sharp intake of breath. Dave looked around the storage area; the orbs of light were still traveling outward.

There were row on row of containers, not all of them as big as the portals. One had extra anchor points to connect it to the floor of the seeder.

“And there is this.” Bob tapped the massive container.

A door opened and they walked in. Inside there was an altar identical to the one that Dave had come to life on.

“It’s not powered but if you were to say connect it to the Mana lines around us and concentrate that inward…” Bob trailed off.

“Like the mages did with the Boran-al prison?” Dave asked.

“Yeah, man, that was a tricky friggin’ set of Magical Circuits.” Bob rubbed his face.

“How is this possible?” Deia asked.

Dave felt sorry for her, knowing that seeing all of this might have shattered any beliefs she held. He wondered how she would react to the truth.

“I’ll leave you to this. Once you’re finished, find me in the command center,” Bob said.

Dave nodded and took a deep breath. “Do you mind if I tell her about you?”

“It is now your story to tell. I trust you.” Bob patted his shoulder.

Dave inclined his head slightly; the trust Bob was placing in him wasn’t small.

Dave looked around the area. There were catwalks, lifting machines. It was advanced, more advanced than what his fake company had been launching into space.

“This is a Jukal vessel. They were created to convert Emerilia into what it is today, and to link it to the other planets that aggressive species are living on. The Jukal Empire captured our ancestors, killing them to turn them into what we are today. I was created to be a Player. Your ancestors were created to be the People of Emerilia and Bob created Emerilia. This is going to take awhile.” Dave sat on a crate and held Deia’s hand, smiling at her.

***

Deia felt numb and more than a little shocked as Dave finished his tale. It was so much to take in. Her younger self might have argued against it all. Now her mind worked, testing his words against what she knew of history and events.

Then she looked at Dave. She could see his nervousness, his fear that she would reject what he had told her, what he knew to be real. She looked around the storage facility. The spaceship that had helped to create Emerilia. Humanity’s prison.

They were pets of the Jukal Empire, nobles’ hunting dogs. The Players were a strong force who, thinking Emerilia was a game, had no bounds. They had been stuck in a simulation of Earth for months, their time warped so it had felt like a lifetime.

They saw Emerilia as a game, so their inhibitions were left behind. Rules, laws: all of it was malleable to them here. On Earth, they were just like the People of Emerilia: docile, kind, and for the large part good people. Here, a good person could be a murderer just because they were bored.

The Jukal used them to clear out aggressive species they didn’t like in the beginning, and then they started siphoning off their raw Mana. Then they turned it into entertainment and a means to advance their society.

She realized that she had been staring off into the storage area as Dave watched her, his hands around hers. She looked to him, her right hand covering his.

“That is quite the secret.” She smiled. “Though what the hell are we going to do with all of these portals?”

Dave laughed and hugged her. She held him close, seeing how the secret of Emerilia had pervaded his mind. Bob had been the only person he could talk to about it. The fact that he had been able to talk of it all, to ask her to come with him when Bob said that they should check out the seeder…

She held him tighter, a smile on her face. It wasn’t going to be an easy path walking beside him, but she knew they would walk it together as equals.

“Well, we could build an empire, or go to another continent for fun—I’m not really a big fan of winter,” Dave said.

She flicked him between the eyes. “We’ve got the Feast of Thanks to have and you’ve yet to meet my father!”

“You mean Oson’Mal, the guy who like made that Earth lord pee himself?” Dave asked, his nerves coming back.

“Yes!” She saw his nervousness for what it really was: fear that her father wouldn’t accept him as his daughter’s boyfriend.

Men!

“Ahh, well…” Dave tapped his fingers together. “Should have at least the soul gems started by then. Maybe I should work on the steel plate,” he muttered.

“You are not going to have dinner with my father fully armed and armored!” she said, enjoying his nervousness.

“Come on, just a breastplate?” Dave wheedled.

Deia laughed and shook her head. “Come on, Bob wanted us to go see him up in the command center.”

“How good are you with runes?” Dave asked as they walked.

“I’m okay with them,” Deia said.

“Good, because making the runes for this place is going to be hell,” Dave said.

“You want to power this thing up?” Deia asked. When Dave had said build an empire, he wasn’t far off the truth. With the portals, you could build a damned empire transporting goods across the continents. She didn’t know that there were so many portals in all of Emerilia!

The problem was that portals could only stay in one location when active and connect to one other portal at a time.

“Of course! I want to see how those dammed runes work. Seems that they are layered together into sets; then the command center is rather complex at moving runes into new formations.” Dave continued to talk about the runes as Deia smiled and held his hand.

He’s cute once he gets an idea in his head. She was happy to see her man so motivated.

They rode in the odd creation that Dave called an elevator.

Bob was passed out on his chair, Dave’s book on his chest.

“I didn’t know it was that boring!” Dave said, loud enough to startle Bob.

“Do you know how tiring it is to deal with all this?” Bob stretched and yawned.

Deia still couldn’t believe that Bob was really Lo’kal, the Jukal scientist who had made Emerilia and become its caretaker. He seemed rather harmless. The power that it must have taken to do such a thing…she couldn’t even start to imagine it.

“I had a question about something.” Dave pulled a large silver mirror from his bag.

“Nice, good ole Mirror of—well, that’s odd.” Bob stepped off his chair and studied the mirror.

“What is that?” Deia asked.

“It’s a Mirror of Communication. You can link it to any other Mirror of Communication and have a little talk. That is, as long as you have the correct codes. They’re untraceable and can reach anywhere in real time. We’re talking true faster-than-light communications.” Bob looked over the back of the mirror.

Dave looked impressed but Deia didn’t understand what the heck he was talking about.

“This, however, is an oddity. It shouldn’t exist,” Bob said.

“Why?” Deia asked.

“These runes—they don’t follow the Jukal method. They’re damned beautiful—elegant, slimmed down, and functional. The Jukal make these mirrors with a ton of runes and Magical Circuits. This kind of power is pretty strong. This—” Bob touched the back of the mirror. “It wasn’t made; it was manufactured. You sly, sly bastards. Oh, this is great. Where the hell did you find this? Show me on your map!”

Dave showed Bob as Deia shook her head, waiting for the two of them. She’d seen Dave when he’d got something interesting in his mind. We still need to have a talk about the distilleries in our house. Since when did I start thinking of it as our house?

“Damn sneaky Jukal. They tracked down the power draw. I hadn’t filed a report on it, so they snuck in and took whoever was there. Well, I’ve been looking for proof for generations and here it is.” Bob tapped the mirror affectionately.

“Proof of what?” Deia asked.

“That there are Humans still out in the galaxy. This was not made on Emerilia or by the empire. This was manufactured by Humans. Maybe a sub-race, but Humans.”

Silence fell over the room.

“So not all of humanity died and they had operatives on Emerilia. Interesting,” Dave said.

“It’s a mystery for a later time. I’d leave that here or put it in your bag. Have you taken control of the seeder yet?” Bob asked.

“Uhhh, no,” Dave said. “Been a bit cautious about accepting quests.”

“He’s a smart one—should keep him around.” Bob grinned to Deia. “Well, accept the damn thing, and here.” Bob pulled out a thick book and gave it to Dave. “You’re going to need to understand this to get back down here.”

Dave took the book from Bob and looked through the pages.

“Now, Oson’Deia, I have a proposal for you,” Bob said, his humor falling away as he clapped his hands.

“Oh?” Deia asked.

“Would you like to become a Player?” Bob asked.

Dave’s head shot up from his page, looking to Bob and Deia.

“How?” Deia asked. The added connections on his interface that Dave talked about sounded like it would be worth it, not even including the parts about the experience gained from quests and the ability to respawn. It was impressive, but she did not think that the process would be a simple one.

“That…that is a bit tricky. Basically would have to give you a new body. Then grow you a new one with all the implants and consciousness—link to the Altars of Rebirth,” Bob said.

“Bob—” Dave started, his voice angry.

Deia put a hand on his shoulder. “Are you sure it will work?” Deia asked.

“Been doing this for a while. It will work.” Bob gave her a reassuring smile.

“Won’t someone notice that?” Dave asked.

“Not unless you tell them.The People of Emerilia only know who are Players and not by their actions. If you act as you always have then whose to know? It might make things like other Players messing with the two of you happen less. Players see the People of Emerilia more as items to be used. Sure, there are a number of people that are running around talking and interacting with them. Most, however, are coming from games where they’re a tool to the end. They just think its interesting and the coding is cool, but unless they don’t have a quest or they’re relaxing, Players always have somewhere to be. Talking to the People of Emerilia that they don’t see as being all that useful yet hasn’t come about. Given time more of the Players will see that the POE’s are useful to progression and start making friendships. Until that happens, Players and POE’s aren’t going to give much of a crap about one another,” Bob said.

Deia nodded. “Very well.” She accepted before she was too nervous or came to her senses.

Bob grew so that he was her height. “Okay, let’s begin.” Bob held his hand on Deia’s face. His face screwed up in concentration.

She felt his power moving into her mind, spreading through her veins. There was a sudden pain all at once. Light burned her eyes before falling away. She blinked and looked around.

“Babe?” Dave hugged her.

“Dave, I’m all right,” she said, as he studied her.

“I was so worried. He just put his hand to your head and then—”

Bob cleared his throat behind them. “I do one body transference and everyone loses their minds,” Bob muttered, raising his voice so they could hear him. “Dave, teach her the ways of a Player. She’s got all of the skills, the character sheets and everything. Keep the seeder a secret—the Pantheon would do anything to get control of this place. Right now, they just think that it is an untapped magical line. I’ve put runes to hide any more power output. Finding unconnected portals and an Altar of Rebirth—it would change the balance of power up there,” Bob said.

“So, why are you telling us?” Deia’s head ached from the various screens she was having to wave out of her view.

“This is your planet, your people and you’re the only two to not only pierce the veil but to believe me. I’m done making decisions for people. You have free will; do with it what you will.”

Chapter 25: Experiments

Dave used his Touch of the Land, checking the composition of the smelting metal. He put in a few other items. Today he’d start with the first part of making his and Deia’s new armor.

Kol hammered on his work; he didn’t need to look up to see what Dave was doing. He’d looked over the plans Dave had come up with. The armor would be a lot of work but his apprentice was eager to get started and he would need it in just a few short months.

Dave had also talked about the ebony layer, asking for Kol’s help. Kol had agreed. Ebony was a hard material to use; for what Dave was proposing, it would be even harder.

He’s come far in his learning. Not only showing that he was ready to start his own experiments but that he was willing to accept others’ guidance. It showed that he had come far.

Kol paused in his hitting, sensing the shield that Dave had forged, showing his ability to combine materials. Kol had pushed him well beyond his skills needed for the shield before he even attempted it. Dave didn’t rush, taking his time in planning before execution. Too many of the youngsters jumped in right away and made something passable instead of something that showcased their skills. Good work took time and many wanted to just finish the task and move onto the next.

Dave also aspired for that upward mobility, but he did not allow even his nails or the new screws to be anything but the highest quality. He’d melted the shield down twice before he was happy with the final product.

Kol hammered on the blade he was fixing. Dave had powered the enchantments and Kol had a hard time keeping the shock off his face. Dave had veered away from the Dwarves’ shield runes. Kol had consulted an enchanter who confirmed that there would be nothing harmful in the runes. Kol had watched, feeling sorry for Dave, knowing that the runes would falter and the shield would fail.

As Dave powered the shield, the runes had worked into their Magical Circuits. Kol wasn’t a master enchanter but he knew more than enough to repair any type of enchanted armor. His time spent with enchanted items meant he could understand the power that was coming from the runes.

The enchanter Kol knew nearly fell over in her chair as she held the shield when Kol brought it to her. She’d talked to herself for a good twenty minutes, rubbing her hands on the runes as if they were a holy text.

The main enchantments usually allowed a shield wall to connect. Durability and armor increased with the more shields attached. These new runes took some of the latent Mana in the area and fed it back into a Stamina buff. The weight of the shield had been decreased slightly. It would mean that the shield wall could hold for longer without having to switch first ranks out.

It was hard work holding up your shield and getting pounded on, even if nothing could penetrate your shield. It wouldn’t make the Dwarves invulnerable but it would mean that they could fight longer without fatiguing.

Kol had talked to Dave about the enchantments. Dave said that he’d been dabbling in them, trying to make more sense of them. Kol asked why he’d want to be a smithy when he could be a great enchanter.

Kol looked to Dave, remembering the halfling’s words.

“Well, I find enchantments nice, but binding an enchantment not only to a weapon but to the very ore that it was made from, working with the workmanship that brought it together—each item deserves a different enchantment. Working with the item instead and strengthening it with an enchantment—that is something that you’ve taught me. I might be good at playing with magical runes, but they enhance the item. It would be like putting a Health stat on a spoon. Some weapons are better suited for fire damage, others for poison.”

Dave made a lot of sense but Kol was left wondering where he had been learning about runes. He had been sensing a lot of power from Dave’s porch when he got off from the smithy. He must’ve been working on enchanting logic then.

A number of people had come already to check out the shield. The runes weren’t overly complex; their arrangement had changed and larger circuits had been replaced with simpler and easier ones. Dwarves had been adding enchantments to them for years. Dave had taken the overlapping enchantments, broken them apart and pulled them together into a single set instead of warring enchantments.

Kol grinned. He was excited to see what Dave’s final armor would come out like.

***

Deia looked at her interface. Dave had given her lessons on how to access items like her messages, use the net, and connect to the forums. She’d spent hours just looking at different ways to train with Fire magic, and then she’d stumbled onto a news site.

She closed her Internet browser, trying to come to terms with what she’d just seen. A world with close to twenty billion people. They were stretched from Earth to Mars; Venus and the Moon had massive settlements: Venus with their floating research stations; the Moon and its settlements and factories; Mars with ever-expanding colonies. Buildings that rivaled Mithsia Mountain grew into the clouds. People moved about in transports that could cross a world bigger then Emerilia in a matter of hours.

There wasn’t a touch of magic; instead, they used machines powered by electricity, which came from many different sources.

She looked around the cavernous room that had held material converters. Now it had a bench with Dave’s experiments on it and a big sparring area.

Deia had been trying out the different magical techniques that she had found out about on the forums and net. It had showed some interesting results.

She called up her character sheet.

Character Sheet

Name:

Oson’Deia

Gender:

Female

Level:

66

Class:

Blessed by Fire, Weapons Master, Archer, Elven Ranger, Fire Battle Mage

Race:

-/Elf

Alignment:

Chaotic Neutral

Unspent points-0

Health:

5700

Regen:

1.74/s

Mana:

2300

Regen:

5.15/s

Stamina:

1050

Regen:

3.60/s

Vitality:

57

Endurance:

87

Intelligence:

230

Willpower:

103

Strength:

105

Agility:

72

She’d looked at other people’s stats and information. Her Mana pool had always been large and she hadn’t ever put anything into Intelligence, just allowing it to grow.

Certain people got a boost in stats when they started off, but her magical level—it was as if she’d taken all her stat points and stuffed it into intelligence.

Her mana pool was massive.

Maybe it has to do with how my father is a powerful mage and my mother. She looked at the -sign that stayed in her race description. Over the days, she’d become curious about just who and what her mother was. The stats only served to make her curiosity rise.

A light blossomed off to the side of the room. Dave appeared as the light dimmed.

“Hey,” he said, a tired smile on his face.

“Hey to you too.” She walked over to him. “You’re all covered in smithy!” she complained as he moved closer.

A malicious glint entered his eye as he picked up his pace.

“No! No no, no, no, no!” She turned, just starting to realize what he was doing as he grabbed her and gave her a kiss, the dust and smoke lines rubbing off onto her face. “Ughh! Go take a shower!” She squirmed in his grasp.

“Okay.” He carried her with him.

“You beast! Vagabond! Kidnapper!” She laughed as he walked through the crew quarters and to the shower. He didn’t even let her get out of her clothes before he walked into the shower. It was still cold, making her shiver. It turned warm and Dave pushed her against the wall. He pressed his lips against hers.

His tongue entered her mouth as her body molded to his, feeling the reaction that their kiss was having on his anatomy. She pulled at his shirt as he pulled at her jacket. Her breath caught as his rough hands moved slowly down her chest and into her pants; she arched and moaned. She kissed him.

I will not lose this fight! She pushed his pants down and shook herself free of her own. She pulled away from the kiss, putting her arms around his neck and wrapping her legs around his waist. She lowered herself slowly, a shiver going up her as Dave looked ready to burst. She moved upward, biting her lips.

Dave might be shorter, but his height put him at a perfect height for her chest. She pulled her chest toward him as a new moan escaped her.

Maybe it’s okay to lose the occasional battle. She eased down, Dave letting out a shudder and a slow grunt as he kissed from her chest to her neck.

It’s not just the metal you can hammer. She held the shower head above her as she bit her lip, writhing and moaning as he moved inside her.

***

Dave lay down in the shower; Deia fell on top of him, their breathing hard and fast.

“Teacher, I think that I might be too tired to fight tonight,” Dave said.

“Ohh?” Deia sat up, giving him a great view, her jacket disheveled and open as she traced lines on his chest and bit her lip. “I think I can give you a break for tonight. We’ll just have to do some other exercises. I have a few things that I found on that net of yours.” She smiled and then stood. “First, you’ve got those soul gems to mess with and to get in and have an actual shower.” She pulled off her remaining clothes.

“I could skip the soul gems.” Dave got up.

“You could but I know that you would regret it. Also, you’ve only got a few weeks until you’ve finished forming the steel shell,” Deia said.

“Did I ever tell you how sexy you are when keeping me on task?” Dave moved toward her, grabbing her ass and kissing her.

“Well, you better make up for it tonight.” She smiled and tapped his ass.

“With pleasure.” He kissed her again.

Chapter 26: Mobilization

Josh Giles looked around at the dungeon where the raid was supposed to be happening in just a few short months. Close to two thousand Dwarves and a good number of Elves wandered around.

They had cleared out an area of the forest, raising stone walls around it and the cave that led into the dungeon.

Josh leaned down on his sabre cat, Sally. “Well, we’ll have to give that a close look, eh, lass.” He patted the beast. He turned, looking to his closest friends and commanders: Lucy, Kim, and Dwayne.

Lucy was a mage in her robes, riding an elemental horse. Kim lay back on a floating carpet, reading a book; she was a cleric with the ability to beat the hell out of people and heal others. Dwayne wore heavy armor, with a massive sword by his side. He didn’t ride anything, not because they couldn’t stand his weight but because running meant he leveled up his Stamina and Agility stats more. He might not be the fastest runner, but he and his tanks could last hours holding a line.

Josh clicked twice and Sally moved; her powerful build turned them away from the dungeon and toward the ragtag group who were joking, laughing, and moving on the road from Omal to Cliff-Hill.

The caravan had animals of all kinds; people wore cloaks and clothes from bright yellow to shadowy black. No one cared your creed or your Affinity in the Stone Raiders. All they cared about was your ability.

“Well, looks like trade is going pretty good,” Dwayne said as another trader caravan passed. After they checked out the trader’s wares, they made a quick trade.

“No wonder the Golden crew wanted to turn this into an outpost. Those Dwarves know how to make some damn fine armor and blades,” Josh said.

“Don’t forget the Elves’ stuff,” Kim said, reading her book and yawning.

Josh stretched and yawned. Thanks to his bot, he’d been able to keep up with the caravan. Emerilia was his kind of world; he was a world class gamer, using his videos to keep him and his guild going.

None of them were over level 60, largely due to the fact that the Stone Raiders took on the raids that no one else would. They died a lot to get their names on the leaderboards. They might lose EXP and even lose levels but the stat increases, their skills and enchantments stayed with them. They trained the hard way to get their levels. They put their points in whenever they gained a level but they realized early on that a person’s level was not a true indicator of their skill.

The Golden Sabres and others were always looking to have a higher level or more members. The Stone Raiders suffered through the hard things, their victory all the sweeter for it. It also led to them having the best gear and largest coffers in Emerilia.

As long as Josh’s bills were paid and he was left alone in his private container, he was happy. He had been a big shot broker but found that he cared little for it all. He was working for the sake of money; competition was done through a balance sheet.

He’d got himself a VR capsule; his body was looked after, getting electrical treatment to keep him active, and all of his emails were routed to him.

Money solved all problems and there was no need for him to log off of Emerilia ever again. It had become his world. Along the way, he had met Dwayne, a vet who had been blown up. Lucy was a girl who had grown up in VR; she had a disease that turned her body into a prison. Kim, who couldn’t care less about the outside world, loved the world of magic and mystery, and she also loved cracking skulls.

They’d been an odd friendship, but they’d come together for their loves of virtual reality. When Emerilia was announced, they’d jumped on it and hadn’t looked back.

Some called them E-heads—people who had left Earth behind to live in Emerilia. Many of the Stone Raiders were like that, thinking of Emerilia as their home more than mother Earth they’d been born on.

Their caravan weaved into Cliff-Hill. It was shaped like a horseshoe. One road to the right entered from Omal, passing through stone walls that looked identical to the ones around the dungeon, and ran straight across the base of the horseshoe. Along the outside there was a sheer cliff of fifty to two hundred feet at the top. Growing fields were below the cliffs to the right of the village, where land had been cleared to a river.

Inside the horseshoe there were training areas, a large camp of Dwarves and Elves, and then more camps of different guilds; at the top, there was a growing village. A road snaked from the right side of Cliff-Hill up through the village and back down the opposite side, heading to the Mithsia Mountains.

Most trees, except those that appeared to be turned into homes, had all been cut down. A group of them started a hundred feet back from the walls and seemed to enclose a decent-sized compound. It ran beside the main road, with two roads linking it.

Josh guided Sally off the road; the other three followed. He came out looking at a large working area; closest to him was what looked like a factory for bricks and tiles. Carts of the stuff were being loaded as clay and coal were shoved into the other side. The small road passed through a large opening in front of a modest house. Beside the house were a number of smithies and long houses. The smithies didn’t stop working, either. Josh watched a shift move out of the smithy, another moving in.

The departing workers moved quickly to stay out of the still cold air.

Josh moved toward someone who was headed into the smithy. “Excuse me, I was wondering if you could send me in the direction of the man who runs this smithy. I’m looking for some repair work,” Josh said.

“Dave!” the large dwarf yelled.

“What?” another man yelled back. Josh couldn’t see him in the smithy.

“One minute.” The dwarf headed into the smithy.

Josh got off Sally and stretched his legs. He noticed a few warbands milling about, the Dwarves hanging out and talking to various people. It was a workplace but it had a relaxing feel to it.

“Kol, going to have to get that third layer on. Thinking binding, seal with the fourth or fusing it,” someone said as they moved something over in his hands.

“Do the engravings and fuse it; that’s what we do with the large mechanics,” the other dwarf, who looked like he should’ve died from his horrific injuries but had somehow been kept alive and together, said.

“Yeah, be stronger.”

“Boy, it’s already going to be strong!”

“Well, I can’t very well have my girlfriend wearing something weak when we go poke Boran-al in the face!”

“You’ve got guests—go see them. I’ll start engraving,” the melted one said.

Fuck, man, you could give children fucking nightmares with that mug! Hell, I’m getting the shivers. How the fuck did he survive?

The man grunted his thanks and headed out of the smithy.

Josh hadn’t been able to get a clear line of sight with all the Dwarves moving around in the smithy but his Analyze kicked in.

Dave

Level 3

Half-Dwarf

“If you have broken weaponry, use that desk; new armor, the one beside it. If you want to use our smithy, smithy three has a waiting list—here is the rota. We will have another smithy being built in the town in a week that may have some free spots,” Dave said in a bored tone as he sent links to Josh and his people.

“Wow, you’re level 3. How many times you die?” Josh asked.

“Not once and not aiming on it.” Dave turned to leave.

Josh played a hunch, throwing a dagger at Dave. Dave turned, catching the blade and throwing it back in a fluid motion. Josh caught it, a slow smile spreading across his face.

“Didn’t your mother teach you to not throw things around like an idiot?” Dave asked.

The smithy went quiet.

Josh saw Dwayne’s hand move toward his scabbard and Kim looked up from her book as the people in the area seemed to focus on Dave and them.

Well, I wasn’t expecting that. Not only does he seem to be one of the consultants here, the People of Emerilia see him as a friend. Maybe throwing a dagger at him wasn’t a good idea.

“Fucking Players.” Dave shook his head.

“I’m sorry—I just wanted to check something.” Josh bowed.

“It’s called a damn question. Why is it that all of the people from Earth are morons?” Dave went farther into the smithy.

“You’re an Evolver. Do you mind if we talk?” Josh asked, his interest piqued by Dave.

Dave was about to say something when he looked to the house that sat between the ceramic factory and the smithy. Dave took a deep breath and walked out of the smithy. “All right, come on. We’ve got some tea,” Dave said, his voice lowering so no one else could hear him. “If it isn’t damn important, I’ll kick you off the damn cliff myself.”

Sally growled at Dave.

His gray eyes regarded her in interest. A grin spread across his face as he pulled out a piece of meat from his bag of holding. She grabbed it out of the sky, looking perfectly content.

“Hey, you’re only supposed to look that happy if I feed you,” Josh complained.

She gave him a sideways glance, snorting and moving faster toward what seemed to be Dave’s house.

The door opened; an absolute stunner stood there with an amused look on her face.

Dave muttered something under his breath as the others followed him. Dave kissed the Elven woman and headed into the house. Josh followed, with Dwayne and Lucy behind him.

“Hello, I’m Josh Giles.” Josh took her hand, bowing and making to kiss her hand.

She pulled her hand away and smacked his head.

He held it, wincing. She had some speed and strength on her!

“Dwayne.” The man shook her hand as Josh passed into the house.

Dave was tending to a kettle in the hearth. Josh took a seat in one of several around the hearth. Even Kim joined them, putting away her book and getting off her carpet.

Josh looked at the Elf closer.

Deia

Level 66

Half-Elf

“So, I guess you are the Dave who the Golden Sabres have been interested in and the man who was part of the tournament a few months ago?” Josh asked.

“Yep.” Dave handed out glasses and took a seat on a couch. Deia joined him.

“So you’re an Evolver. What are your stat levels?” Josh asked.

“My business,” Dave said.

“I think that we got off to a bad start.” Lucy glared at Josh, who decided to drink his tea and sit back. “We are part of the Stone Raiders guild. We do things the hard way. We aren’t pretty and we don’t care what it takes; we look to get to the top of the raiding boards. We either get there first or beat people out in sub-categories. We don’t leave until we beat out the other guilds. Most of us are E-heads—this is our world more than Earth is. Josh is…” Lucy looked up to the ceiling for the best word.

Awesome, an amazing leader, good looking, right charmer.

“An idiot in all things that aren’t raids.”

“Ahh, come on, Lu—” He tried to talk but his vocal cords weren’t working again. That damn silencing spell! Josh went back to drinking his tea.

“Better.” Lucy gave him another look. “We fight in the Evolving style for the most part, but we do have some hybrids. I think the reason that Josh wanted to talk to you was to share knowledge and to train together. There aren’t many Evolvers out there, but it’s a lot harder to evolve naturally as a Player. Each time we meet Evolvers, we want to see if they would like to join or if they would like to share their knowledge,” Lucy said.

Dave looked at Deia. They must’ve been in party chat as no noise came from them but their mouths were moving.

“I would be interested in training with you,” Deia said.

“There aren’t many Fire mages around so you would be fighting against other people in different disciplines,” Kim said.

“With magic, learning about other forms can augment my own knowledge. It is all created from Mana, just applied in different ways.” Deia smiled.

Kim looked interested as she tapped her chin.

“Dave?” Lucy asked.

“I can’t quite fight her properly yet and I have a lot of work to do. Maybe once this is all over, then we can have a real fight. Not just people throwing knives into a workplace.” Dave’s voice rose as he looked at Josh.

Josh drank the tea and looked intently at the cup. I just wanted to confirm my suspicions! Even his friends shook their heads at his actions.

Chapter 27: Feast of Thanks

“What?” Dave looked up from his soul gem work station.

“My dad has invited us over for the Feast of Thanks,” Deia said again. A ray of plasma cut into her target.

Dave had needed to figure out a way to absorb her excess power so that it only destroyed targets instead of putting a hole through the seeder.

It also served to make a nice big power pool he could pull from for his work with soul gems.

Dave rubbed his face. He had so much work to do!

“Come on, baby.” Deia’s hands wrapped around him.

One of the traits that comes with dating a rogue—damn sneaky! After jumping in shock a number of times, he’d started unconsciously tracking people creeping up on him.

Dave made a noise of argument as she pressed herself tighter against him. He already knew the fate of this conversation, but he wanted to voice his objections.

“He really wants to meet you,” she said.

Dave didn’t need to turn to see the pout on her face. He looked over, she was pouting like a puppy might if it wasn’t being let outside. What person can stand up to the pout? “Fine.” Dave hung his head in defeat.

She kissed his cheek and grinned. “Good!” She made to jump away, but Dave pulled her back for a longer kiss. He bit her lip slightly as they pulled apart. She dragged her free hand down his chest to his stomach.

“Now go burn some more targets—need more energy for these new prototypes!” Dave let her go and waved her away.

“You’ll pay for that later,” she purred.

Dave saw her smile and the sultry look in her eyes. She turned and walked away, sashaying side to side.

“I love this world.” Dave looked back to his soul gems. It took him some time until he was able to focus back on his work and reverse the blood loss his brain had gone through.

He leaned on the table, looking over his diagrams and the various dusts, gems, runes, and Magical Circuit templates.

He could now make something that he was calling a vault classed soul gem. Soul gems moved up in power ranks by magnitudes. A petty soul gem could hold the power of a level 10 creature. A lesser, a level 100; common, 1000 and so on and so on. Now with sentients, it got odd quickly. Some races got higher stats and bonus that would convert into more energy, others less. People who had an innate higher Intelligence, more power.

It was easier to look at stat points. A person or creature with 100 stat points or level 20 would go into a petty. Up to a level 100 with 500 stat points would fit into a lesser, common level 1,000 or 5,000 stat points, and so on. To fill a greater or grand soul gem usually meant that either someone had been killing things for a long time, or they’d siphoned off power from a Mana line.

Dave’s vault soul gem could hold a level 1,000,000 creature’s soul—which didn’t exist, so he would need multiple creatures to make up the necessary 5,000,000 stat points. Or he could charge it from his own mana pool, training it at the same time. If he could fully charge it, then he would have a reservoir of 50,000,000 Mana points for him to use on varying spells.

His problem was transferring that power from the soul gem to him. He had already tested its limits; as long as it had some Mana in it, then it wouldn’t fall apart. His second issue was that discharging and recharging the soul gem made it less functional after about a few thousand charges.

He had an idea about how to increase the energy transference; from the soul gem to him, he was losing 30% of the power. His solution was crude and it would hurt but it would work.

Until he really needed it, he’d hold off from testing it out. So he was focusing on the charging and discharging life-span of the soul gems. They had been created to take power from one place and then be used and discarded.

So Dave had to start all over again.

Though, he could cheat—Earth had made some damned impressive batteries. He was simply adapting electrical to Mana-powered. For the large part, it seemed to be working.

He checked his prototype that was charging and discharging. It had gone through a few thousand already. He looked at the container it was in. “Might be getting somewhere.” Dave grinned.

It seemed the soul gem heard him. It exploded, turning the container into a mangled mess.

“Dammit!” Dave sighed. It was onto the next prototype. Thankfully his conjuring ability made it a heck of a lot easier to turn his thoughts into a creation.

He activated the bracelet on his wrist and a soul gem appeared that had been charged by Dave and Deia. Having low reserves had done great things for their Willpower and Endurance.

The drain of power was not only physically draining but also mentally. It had also made them have to make the most use of their depleted Mana pool.

Dave used the energy to create a new soul gem inside a new container in a few minutes.

***

Deia perked up as she saw the city of Kufo’tel in the distance. The path was made of dirt but it was as good as any Dwarven stone road. They’d passed a number of traders and people who were heading to Cliff-Hill or onto Omal.

She picked up her pace. Dave moved to keep up with her. They were tree running, jumping from tree to tree. It wasn’t all that tiring anymore and Dave had finally gotten over his fear of landing on another branch. She got lower, coming closer to the ground, dropping and rolling before they came to the gates.

Kufo’tel rested in a great valley nestled against the Mithsia Mountains. Tree-walls grew along the peaks and down to the entrance into the valley.

There were clearings for parks, with tree homes coming together to make the multiple layers of the cities. Ladders and grand staircases made from the tree limbs led from the dirt level up into the city’s branches.

Among the trees were great glass structures that showed all kinds of vibrant colors—Kufo’tel’s greenhouses. All of it was covered in snow and a light snow fall was slowly coming down.

Deia looked to Dave, who stared at the city with wonder. “What do you think?”

“It’s beautiful.” Dave looked over the architecture, the way that the limbs came together to make streets, stores, homes, defenses. Kufo’tel looked as if it had grown from the ground instead of built like the Dwarven homes or even Cliff-Hill. There were a few districts of Elves that had started to grow their trees together but they had mere months. Kufo’tel had been around for generations.

Deia grabbed Dave’s hand as they walked toward the gates.

Elven rangers and mages kept a watchful eye out. There were more of both. There were even Dwarven warbands on the wall with their machines.

Deia watched Dave with a happy smile. It seemed the nervousness of the last few days had fallen away with entering the city.

She pulled him onward; running wasn’t hard for either of them. They’d taken their time reaching the city, but with their increased speed, it was faster for them to run through the forests than take a caravan.

Dave touched the limbs, in awe of the city. Deia continued to guide him onward, up to the third story of trees.

She just hoped his curiosity would last long enough. She stopped and looked out over the city. Greens and browns were everywhere, with splashes of colors showing different gardens that crossed the city.

“I snuck out here when I was a little girl to see the city,” Deia said, as Dave pulled her close with his arm.

“It’s incredible,” Dave said.

Deia smiled at his obvious joy as he tried to take in all of the sights.

“So you must be Dave.”

Deia turned. Her father wore mages robes but with a red armband instead of the green one he had hidden behind. “Dad!” Deia hugged the other man.

Dave turned, a smiling mask in place as he shook her father’s hand. He looked to be in his mid-thirties, with dark-brown hair and handsome features.

Oson’Mal’s eyes thinned as he looked Dave over like some sort of specimen. “Shall we go down to the Dwarven quarter to get some food?”

“This year, I’ll be cooking for us!” Deia smiled.

Mal looked to Deia with curiosity.

Dave released his hand stiffly. It was clear that he was intimidated by Mal.

Deia grabbed Dave’s arm. “Dave has been teaching me.”

“Ahh, I thought he was a metal banger?” Mal said, trying to get a rise from Dave.

“If you mean smith, yes, I am one,” Dave said.

Mal raised an eyebrow, in silent judgment.

“Open mind, Father, and stop being an ass. You’re starting to sound like a high Elf,” Deia rebuked her dad, pulling Dave toward a door in the tree.

Oson’Mal followed his daughter and her boyfriend with a frown.

***

No, this isn’t supposed to be happening! Oson’Mal couldn’t stop himself from laughing at Dave’s joke.

As the night had gone on, he’d warmed to his daughter’s lover. There was only Mal and Deia; the rest of their family had been killed off at Asha-moor.

Still, they did fine: Deia worked up a storm in the kitchen with Mal now used to taking her orders and Dave also doing rather well with his jobs.

I might have started taking a shine to him when he produced that Dwarven whiskey. Mal sipped some of the golden concoction as Deia reminisced about some of Dave’s training mishaps.

Dinner had been a success, shown by the scattered plates on the table.

“So what is your plan for the future?” Mal asked in the lull in the stories.

“Well, Dave wants to train as much as he can with smithing, though I’m teaching him how to fight. I’ve started talking to the rangers to ask if I can complete my service with them,” Deia said.

“You’re going to leave the rangers?” Mal asked, surprised. She had worked with them for so long that he had seen the signs of her becoming a ranger commander in the near future.

“There’s a lot to see out in the world and I want to get a taste of it,” Deia said with a sad voice, not holding Mal’s eyes.

“Well, there’s no need to be nervous about what I’m going to say. I was out gallivanting around at a much younger age.” Mal smiled, happy that his daughter might follow in his steps as a traveler, but also scared because of all the dangers he knew lurked out in the world.

Those doubts moved to the back of his mind as Deia practically beamed with happiness and relief.

“What do you intend to do in the village?” Dave asked.

“Well, someone needs to make sure that the new up-and-coming Fire mages don’t burn the forest down.” Mal gave Deia a reproving stare but couldn’t stop himself from grinning.

“I only burned a little bit of it.” She rolled her eyes.

“If you mean nearly two acres is a ‘little bit.’” Mal laughed.

“Well, they turned it into farmland anyway. I was just—speeding up the process.”

Mal laughed and shook his head.

“Oh, so Deia does mess up, huh? I’d like to hear those stories about her errant youth.” Dave leaned forward as Deia glared at her father.

“Well, do you happen to have some more of that fine whiskey?”

“Of course.” Dave smiled.

“I’m going to clean the dishes,” she said, trying to get away as fast as possible.

Dave filled up Mal’s glass.

He took a sip, getting comfortable. “So when she was eight, she decided that she was going to be a ranger. So she started running around all over the place to try to get her acrobatics out. Then she started trying to run on people’s houses. Well, there was one house that had a weak roof that a new couple had just moved into. Deia went charging all over the city, only to break their roof while they were in the middle of trying to conceive a child,” Mal said, seeing Deia depart quickly as her ears turned red.

***

At first, Mal had wanted to judge the man as harshly as possible. He’d sipped on some fine wine, watching Dave and Deia work in the kitchen.

After a few stories of her errant youth, Dave had moved to help her out with Mal’s promise to tell him more. Deia seemed to be doing everything in her power to get more Dwarven whiskey into him to make him forget the request.

Mal smiled, remembering how he and Ignil had smiled at each other, working together. His smile turned sad at the distance between him and the woman he loved.

Just had to fall in love with the Lady of Fire. Mal shook his head and sipped the whiskey, watching the duo in the kitchen. Deia was an independent woman and she liked to figure out things on her own. Dave respected that and had let her get to work, being a helper as needed. He saw the look in their eyes as they smiled at each other or even as they talked about what they had to do next.

There was trust and understanding there. And the food that they’d made! Oson’Mal was looking forward to having some leftovers tomorrow.

Dave was smart; he might not be a Fire mage but he grasped the basics and understood it to some degree.

Memories filled his mind, the whiskey and warmth of the house making it easier to drift away.

“Dad?” Deia asked.

“Oh sorry, I was somewhere else. What did you say?” Mal asked.

“I said that I became a Player.”

“What?’ Mal leaned forward in shock.

“Well, Dave and I want to go and see a bit more of the world and having a Player and a Person of Emerilia would raise questions. So I became a Player,” Deia said simply.

“How?” Mal asked, stunned.

“Well, we can’t really say anything on that.” Deia winced.

Mal wanted to demand an answer, but held back. A few centuries of maturity knew that this was her decision to make, as much as he didn’t like it.

“So are you able to access the repository of information that the Players call the forums?” Mal asked instead.

“Yes. There is so much information and you can access it from anywhere, at any time! It’s amazing!” Deia went into talking about all the wonders that she had found now that she had become a Player.

It was all Mal could do to watch his daughter as she had stopped being the student and now became his teacher.

Dave smiled with clear pride and affection as Mal was reminded of a time when he didn’t have to worry about the eyes of others and there was just him and Ignil wandering the forests, cities, and countries of Emerilia.

Dave was a born Player but he had come to Emerilia and stayed there ever since. He might be an oddity but it was clear from the way he and Deia looked at each other that they were already on their way to making a heart-bond.

“So you can now actually use their Altars of Rebirth? I’ve always been interested in them. Even the great library in the Mages College of Opheir do not have much information on them,”

“You’ve been to the great library?” Dave sat forward.

“Of course. I was sent as a learned mage from the Elves after the mess of Asha-moor. I was given access and then asked to give them texts on the battle,” Oson’Mal said.

“How do you gain access?” Dave asked.

“Interested in the library?” Oson’Mal asked, seeing the hungry look in Dave’s eyes.

“Thousands of years of knowledge just waiting to be read? Everything from history to crafting, fighting? There is no repository like it in the world,” Dave said back.

“He might love books a little.” Deia laughed.

“I can see that.” Oson’Mal laughed as well. “So what do you do?” Mal asked.

“Right now I am working with smithing, magical runes, and soul gems,” Dave said.

“Trying to go after your Dwarven path?” Mal asked.

“No, it’s just that my magical abilities are a little different,” Dave said.

“Well, I’ve been known to dabble with magic in my time. May I see?” Mal asked.

Dave thought for a second before Mal was given an odd Affinity level table.

Affinity Levels

Dark

61

Light

49

Air

39

Water

37

Earth

53

Fire

47

He compared it to his own.

Affinity Levels

Dark

31

Light

40

Air

82

Water

2

Earth

63

Fire

142

Dave still had awhile to go until he reached Mal’s stage of spells but his stats were balanced. They were all around the same level, meaning that there shouldn’t be any easier than any others. It looked as though he had been using different items more or less but still the baseline must’ve been similar to start with.

“What Affinity do you specialize in?” Mal asked.

He looked up after there was no answer forthcoming. Dave looked as if he’d zoned out. Just as Mal was about to click his fingers in front of the man to bring him back to reality, his eyes locked on Mal.

“None,” Dave said.

“How is that possible? You can’t possibly train in all of them. What was your highest level when you started?” Mal asked.

“All of them started at the same level,” Dave said.

“What type of magic do you use the most?”

Dave looked to Deia; she gave a nod. A pulse of Mana rippled through the home. Only once it had passed through it all did Dave continue.

“Conjuring.”

“So, Summoning?” Mal asked.

“No, Conjuring. If I can think of something, then I can create it from Mana.” Dave held out his hand. Shadows seemed to pool in his hand, forming into a great longsword. Dave offered it to Mal, who took it.

It was indeed a weapon, not just a simple illusion. Mal checked the runes and found it to be powered. It was no simple longsword.

Mal might have been stuck in Kufo’tel for a while but he had spent plenty of time with various artifacts. He analyzed the blade.

Longsword of Flames

A sword created in the heart of Densaou Ring of Fire. It is said that all armor is useless against the heat of the blade.

Quality: B

Damage: 235 Slash, 75 Fire Damage

+200% against armor

Durability 57/57

The blade turned into shadows again, disappearing from the world.

“I learned how to smith and work with the basic materials in order to better understand what I am creating while conjuring. That blade nearly took all of my Mana reserves. Its quality was low as well as its damage buffs, but it was a near perfect copy, down to the way that the metal was formed,” Dave said.

“So you are a Conjurer. I have never heard of one before,” Mal admitted.

“Me either.” Dave smiled.

“Which is why he spends so much time doing experiments, or training, or reading books—because he’s trying to figure out what the hell he can do with it,” Deia complained.

“Hey, I’m not the only one training. You’ve been over with the Stone Raiders working on your skills. They’ve come to me asking for ways to get you to join their guild,” Dave said.

“They’re not a bad group.” Deia shrugged.

“So you have a type of magic that doesn’t need to have an invocation and it can make anything that you can think of?” Mal said, just blown away by what he was hearing.

“Pretty much, though the more I know about the item I’m making, the better. Which is why I work on every type of crafting I can get my hands on,” Dave said.

“Huh,” Mal said, impressed by the man.

***

Dave sat outside the house and looked over the city. Not all of the houses were made from trees; a number had been made from glass that the Elves loved to color and create different pictures with.

“May I join you?” Mal pointed at the seat.

“Please. It is your tree, after all.” Dave smiled.

Mal grinned with him and settled into the chair, looking over his city and home.

Dave thought of Earth; it had been dull, missing the spark of Emerilia. People were bored and monotone. He couldn’t help but think of that world in grays and blacks.

Since coming to Emerilia, he hadn’t worn a suit once.

He’d been constantly learning and even making friends. On Earth, he would be mentally categorizing what they wanted from him. Here it mattered little what Dave could give them and more how they supported one another.

Sure, there were going to be those who would want something from him, though they were no longer stuck around his neck and trying to choke him out with their greed.

He’d truly been given a new life. He snorted and shook his head.

“Something on your mind?” Mal asked.

“Just thinking about Earth,” Dave said.

“The simulation that you came from?” Mal asked.

“Yeah.” Dave rubbed his beard.

“What about it?” Mal asked.

“I might have found myself in a world that—let’s be straight—is complicated as a mother fucker. There’s magic flying everywhere, people with friggin’ daggers as normal attire. Though I guess an open carry policy is actually worse…” Dave tapped his chin. “Ehh, I like my guns, never mind that. But toilets outside, lack of flowing water—urggh, nasty! Oh and there’s a Pantheon of actual gods who will do everything and anything in their power to try to get more of it. They’re even worse than the Greek gods! Or were they Roman?” Dave waved the point away and shook his head.

“Point is, with all of this terrible situation,” Dave took a deep breath, a smile forming on his face, “I’ve never been so happy or felt this alive in years.”

Oson’Mal looked at Dave. His talk of Magical Circuits, his devotion to learning, the way that he clearly cared for his daughter: he was a rare kind of man. Motivated by his passions, he carried out their execution with terrifying accuracy.

“It sounds like Earth was much safer,” Oson’Mal said.

“It was, but it was a lie. Nothing to do about that. This is my reality, as fortunate or unfortunate as that may be. I might have been born and raised to fight on Emerilia; if that’s so, then they did well. Though I’m not just going to fight for them. There’s a whole world out there to discover!” Dave looked to Oson’Mal, a massive smile on his face as his eyes lit up with the reflecting lights of the colored glass.

“All kinds of civilizations, different people, different ideas, different societies. For a space guy like me—hell, it’s just like I skipped the trip.” Dave laughed.

For a while, they sat there in their own thoughts: Dave thinking of the adventures to come, Oson’Mal thinking on those he had already taken.

A weathered smile spread across Oson’Mal’s face. “Welcome to Emerilia, Dave Grahslagg.”

Dave laughed. It was a deep laugh that shook Dave’s bulk. “Well, thank you, Oson’Mal. I think your planet’s going to be rather interesting.”

If you only knew the half of it! Oson’Mal thought. A flame appeared in his hand before he waved it back out of existence.

***

Deia was not looking forward to reaching Cliff-Hill. She loved their home and their friends, but she also knew that once they were there, all that was left was a few furious weeks of training before Boran-al’s Citadel would start to rise.

Dave got into their shared furs.

“You’re cold!” she said, trying to push him out.

“And you’re warm—come here!” he said, using her ultimate weakness, tickling her and pulling her close with his freezing hands.

“You’re supposed to be warm!” She wrapped herself over him as she pulled another fur onto the pile. It was handy having a bag of holding that you could stuff copious furs into.

“Well, nature called and you said I couldn’t take any of the furs! It is still winter, you know!” Dave complained.

Deia kissed him on the nose. It was so cute when he got frustrated and his hands were getting warmer. She tucked into the crook of his arm, laying her head on his chest.

Her father might not have said it but it seemed that he approved of Dave. By the end of it, she wasn’t sure whether her father was agreeing to see them in Cliff-Hill to see her or her boyfriend. She smiled and pulled the furs tighter.

“What’s so funny?” Dave yawned, his rough hands finding her back.

“Nothing, dear.” She tilted her chin up.

He moved his head down to kiss her. She’d trained him well. With that, she settled down and was soon asleep.

***

Dave’s eyes snapped open. He’d used Touch of the Land so many times that he now used it even in his sleep. It was more passive than active, only needing to be active when he was looking at something specific.

He located what had disturbed him. Heading for the clearing along the road was a herd of Bedal. They jumped from tree to tree, dropping onto their prey with immobilizing poison that knocked out but kept their prey alive. Then they’d eat right through the creature as it was still conscious.

It wasn’t the only thing that Dave sensed. As Kol had trained him with elements and metals, Bob had trained him with Mana.

These Bedal were being given orders by something with Earth magic.

“Mother fuckers. I was looking for a damn lie-in,” Dave growled. He pulled on his heavy winter cloak and grabbed his bag.

“Dave?” Deia said.

“Don’t worry, babe, just taking care of nature,” Dave said.

“Okay.” Deia was still sleepy but she sounded unsure about what he had just told her.

Dave was not a morning person, and without his cup of caffeine in the morning, he was not someone to piss off. Especially if that meant pissing him off while having Deia sleeping with him and trying to attack him with flying fucking squirrels from hell.

Dave had poured more Mana into his Touch of the Land and found the Earth sprite who had fucked with his day.

“Hey you Earthy prick, how about you just fuck off!” Dave looked at the composition of the sprite.

The sprite was doused in a thick, oily substance; it tried to wipe it off, just as a lantern was conjured above it and dropped on its head.

“Nothing like napalm in the morning,” Dave muttered under his breath.

The Bedal, now with their cognition returned, stopped in mid-movement. After a few moments, they headed away from the road. There was easy prey to be had down south.

Dave muttered darkly to himself and wandered back into his tent.

“Everything good?” Deia asked sleepily.

Even Dave’s morning attitude was reduced by looking at her sleep coiffed hair and tired eyes. “Just a bit of fire bombing,” Dave said.

“You better not fart under the covers!” she threatened.

Dave shook his head and put his cloak up.

The sprite died. With a thought, Dave destroyed his conjuration; the fire disappeared from the sprite and the area. Only a pile of ash and burnt embers was left behind.

Chapter 28: Thinking About the Future

It was a few more days until they reached Cliff-Hill. They greeted those they knew and watched as another group of warbands headed out to the growing camp around Boran-al’s Citadel.

There were now two thousand Dwarves and four hundred Elven fighters. There were Player guilds scouting the area, as well as some camp hangers-on. Most had decided to stay in Cliff-Hill; it was close by and it was just getting past the midpoint of winter. Everything was coated in snow.

Dave had conjured a fire into the fireplace so when they finally got home it was toasty.

“Well, I’ll get something started for dinner and then we can go see the warband.” Dave pulled off his coat and pulled food out of the “fridge” he’d made.

“There is something that I wanted to talk to you about.” Deia wrung her hands.

“Oh?” Dave said, his head deep in the fridge.

“I was thinking about giving up my position as an Elven ranger,” Deia said, saying it as fast as possible so she couldn’t go back.

Dave paused in his rummaging and turned around. “Why?”

“I’m a Player. Even if I die, I’ll come back. I’ve served forty years as a ranger. I want to be by your side. Being a ranger will pull me away from you.” Deia stared Dave in the eye.

“I also wanted to become your fiancée.”

Dave’s eyebrow rose as he seemed to freeze for a few seconds.

“Dave?” Deia asked, thinking about poking him to make sure that he was still with her.

“Isn’t the guy supposed to say that?” Dave asked.

“Maybe on Earth. Here it’s the woman, after deeming the man worthy to father their child and support them,” Deia said.

“You want to have kids?” Dave’s eyes went wide and she imagined smoke coming out of his ears.

“Not right now!” She put her hands on her hips in frustration.

“Okay, ’cause, like, I do want to have kids, eventually, but like don’t think I’m ready for it,” Dave said.

“Be a few decades yet,” Deia agreed.

“Decades?” Dave’s head snapped up again.

“We can essentially live forever, being reborn every time we die. After the first century, time gets a lot faster,” Deia said.

Dave got that look that he was thinking of something.

Deia snapped her fingers, trying to get his attention. “Dave? Dave?”

“Oh sorry. Just, wow, I guess we’re kind of immortal.” By his look, he didn’t seem to know whether he was happy or scared by the prospect.

“Essentially. Now what do you say—will you be my mate?” Deia said.

“I have a feeling you don’t mean the British kind of mate.” Dave grinned.

“Dave!” She crossed her arms and tapped her foot, her lips pursed together to hide her grin at his antics.

“Hmm.” Dave looked up at the ceiling, moving closer to her slowly. He made thoughtful noises, showing that he was considering it deeply.

***

Dave had been blindsided by Deia’s proposal but in a certain light it made sense. He had never had this much fun with someone else and well, hell, it might only be a few months since they had got together, but he’d never been more content.

He checked out information on Emerilia engagements. They were essentially no more than two people living together to make sure that it was a right fit before they married. With Elves, engagements could last decades. It was essentially laying claim to each other and saying that they knew what they were doing and consenting to live together to test the waters further.

Dave was scared, excited, downright terrified, and running around in his skull screaming for joy.

He made it to Deia, who looked at him with that severe expression that said he better make up his damned slow dwarf mind.

A smile spread across his face as he put his arms around her. She was tense and Dave could see the worry in her expression; she was trying to hide it with anger but Dave knew her better than that.

“Oson’Deia, will you do me the honor of looking after this halfling?”

Her angry façade broke as her lower lip trembled, showing her true emotions as tears filled her eyes.

“No! No damned waterworks!” he complained.

She laughed. Tears fell down her face as she held his face and kissed him. “Yes, yes I’ll try to keep you out of trouble.” She pulled back, their foreheads touching.

“Good, ’cause I’m intending to get us into a bunch of trouble!” He smiled.

She laughed as Dave picked her up and laid her on the bed.

They made slow and passionate love, taking the time to revel in each other’s bodies.

***

Dave walked into the guard barracks along the southern gate that led to Omal. He waved to a few people here and there, a great big grin plastered to his face like a damned idiot.

“What the hell have you been sniffing over in Kufo’tel?” Max demanded as he made it into the bunks where Lox’s warband was living.

“Looks as stunned as Gurren did after going out with that Air chick who had a thing for lightning,” Lox grumbled from his bunk.

“Hey! I didn’t know she would get that damned sparky!” Gurren clapped Dave on the shoulder in greeting as he entered the bunk room. “I should find out where her cave is,” he muttered, making Dave laugh as he waggled his bushy eyebrows.

“How was the famous Oson’Mal? He roast you good and proper?” Tounk asked.

“Well, he’s a pretty interesting dude. Good with flames and all that,” Dave said. looking around for someone. “Where’s Joko?”

“She’s off sparring with those Players. Seems someone told them that she trained you. We’re making some good gold on the side training them up,” Lox said.

“Better make us good when you go fighting. Thinking of making a training academy,” Tounk said.

“Really?” Dave said, seeing the serious faces and nods. “Well, there’s certainly a need for it, especially for Evolving Players. There aren’t many people who are willing to train Players in the proper way to fight. Might make sense having them prove that they are interested and willing to take your instructions,” Dave said.

“We’ve gone through that, even got Wender and a few higher level Dwarves interested. We’re going into battle with this lot, might as well see that they know how to act and react on the battlefield. Also, those Stone Raiders aren’t a bad bunch,” Lox said.

“Downright nuts and they can hold their beer! Especially that Dwayne fellow.” Max clearly approved.

“Hrmm, maybe I should talk to them again. The first time, Josh tried to nail me with a knife,” Dave said. It was hard for him to admit it but he seemed to have become a bit negative toward Players. Now that he knew that their actions had real consequences, what they thought of as fun would make Dave’s blood boil.

“How is that armor going?” Tounk asked. All of them listened, clearly interested. Dave had spent a lot of time on it and being in their position, things like weapons and armor were naturally rather interesting.

“It’s going to take some time, but I’ll get there,” Dave promised. “Though I have another announcement.” Dave cleared his throat and stood a bit proper.

“Looks like you just shoved a broom handle in yer arse,” Lox said.

The Dwarves laughed as Dave shook his head.

“Well, what is it?” Tounk demanded.

“Deia and I are engaged.”

“’Bout damned time!” Lox barked.

“You sure you’re still useful? I did see you try to break a tree with your balls,” Max added.

“Wasn’t a broom—was the hangman’s noose around his neck!” Gurren laughed.

“So when are we drinking?” Tounk threw in.

For a while, they threw barbs back and forth. Dave might be a halfling, but he gave back as good as he got!

Chapter 29: Starting Off On the Right Foot

Kol stood up from his chair and waved Dave to take his place and his tools.

“Are you sure?” Dave asked.

Kol cuffed him.

“Right.” Dave rubbed his head where he got hit.

Kol grunted at Dave’s words.

Dave might look like a giant dwarf but his work was precise and accurate. Kol looked at the sheets that he had completed already. The armor Dave was making—Kol had never seen anything like it and he never thought he might see something like it the rest of his life.

Wafer-thin ebony sheets were rolled and pressed. Then Kol had carved runes into them with Dave’s guidance. Dave had worked with his steel exterior to form the dragon scales to the larger overlapping plates.

It would create a suit of armor that would blunt blows, while also leaving the user mobile with their arms and legs. The wearer would feel all of the hit, so they’d need to be strong and fast at the same time. On the outside, it didn’t look all that remarkable, just well done steel armor.

Dave engraved his runes into the ebony sheet. He had been practicing with the ebony before he left for Kufo’tel; now, Kol thought it time to get him working on it completely. All of the steel parts had been made so there was only ebony, silver, and the soul gem layers.

Kol was coming to a hard decision. If Dave completed his work on ebony, then there was only stone, malachite, gold and Mithril remaining. He didn’t have any doubts that Dave would be able to master the materials easily. It was time that he moved onto the next stage.

Kol left Dave to work on the sheets. Even if the man messed up here and there, Dave would do it all, before smelting it down and retrying it. Kol had faith that although it might take Dave time, he would get a handle of the ebony.

It would probably level up faster than his main steel projects. With the ebony, he wasn’t just smelting it and beating it into form. He would have to come to understand the ebony in order to make the most powerful runes and do the careful engraving needed on the ebony sheets.

A sword was more impressive than engraving, but engraving was a fine art; adding in that the engravings were magical runes, they had to be perfect.

Kol looked over the smithies with his gift. He could feel the Mana flowing through the portable smithy that the other smithies had grown from. It was still no match to the magical smithies of Mithsia, but they were powerful. Players were paying good gold to have their weapons redone. Many of them got their weapons back in a higher state than before.

As the Player’s weapons leveled up, the portable smithy grew stronger from the magic that moved through it, whether it be a Dwarf’s natural power, or the power of the Player’s weapons.

The Golden Sabres elite had brought their weapons; the power of their artifacts could only be repaired by master smiths, so Kol was dealing with them. His workflow was through the roof, but instead of going to his anvil, he headed out of the smithy and toward the warclan’s headquarters.

It took him some time to get there. The guards let him in after he showed the necklace he wore with the eight materials, showing him as a master smith.

Wender, who was running the headquarters, bowed as he entered. “Kol, why are you here?” Wender asked.

“I have need to use the mirror,” Kol said.

“May I ask why?” Wender asked.

“To see if a new master will be allowed to forge their path,” Kol said.

Wender’s eyebrows rose. “It is at your disposal, Master Smith.” Wender saluted and bowed. He opened a closet and pulled off a fake panel, showing a communication mirror before he moved out of the office.

He pressed the right runes and connected to the various other mirrors across Emerilia. While the Humans, Orcs, Elves, and other minor races had a lot of fights among themselves and one another, they mostly left the Dwarves out of it.

Dwarves were a great resource to have in one’s country. They could perform miracles with Earth and Dark magic. They could mine and refine more material than any other race and their tools were the best.

There was also the fact that Dwarves were a balancing race on Emerilia. When Kol had showed Dave the Dwarven shield, he had showed him one of the greatest strengths of the Dwarves. For the most part, they could argue like you couldn’t believe, but working in the mines had brought them together in a way few other races did.

Their warbands were not only respected but feared. When a Dwarven lord deemed it so, their mountain would rumble, unleashing their warclans. They forged forward, their machines following. If you attacked the Dwarves, you must be prepared to lose your city.

An attack against one Dwarf was against all. Being the balancer of the races had led to them keeping a number of secrets. One of them being of the master smiths. They weren’t simply trained; they were judged. The power of a master smith was no small thing. Armed with Mithril armor, the wearer could become immensely powerful. Kol was one of a few hundred master smiths in all of Emerilia.

His Mirror of Communication registered a connection. Kol pressed his hand to it. The room around him disappeared and he found himself at the head of a long table. Other smiths popped into existence; the table grew as more smiths appeared. Not all were here but a good many would answer the call.

The smiths all sat at the same table, neither above nor below one another.

There were, of course, arguments but for the most part it was friendly rivalries. Metal working was as much an art as it was a science to them. They understood metal on an elemental level; forms and higher practices gained esteem among peers, making them compete to make the best of the best and show their skill.

After a few minutes, Kol rose. It took a few moments for the Dwarves to look at him. Their traits and hairstyles came from all of the clans; each of the mountains was represented here.

“I, Kol, Master Smith of Cliff-Hill, desire to take an apprentice.” Kol’s voice moved through the room like an elemental force.

Tension filled the room.

“I have his proof.” Kol remembered the shield that Dave had crafted, down to the notches on the edge where the metals had been bound together.

In the mirror, he was able to create an image, a copy but it could not return to the physical world. The shield was duplicated, landing in front of the Dwarves.

They didn’t need tools as they looked, touched, and understood the shield.

“He is halfling, born of Players but a person of Emerilia,” Kol said.

“He is a Player? With this kind of power?” One of the master smiths looked at the shield and then Kol. “If he increases, what is to say what he will do?”

“With or without us, he will find his way,” Kol said.

“What have you told him?” another smith hissed.

“I have taught him the way of fire and metal. He is a builder, a creator from the Player’s realm.” Kol looked around the table. “He has already surpassed my talents.”

There was a ripple down the table.

“This shield is made from Elven, human, orc, and the Affinities themselves runes. While strange, it is merely a combination of many,” another dwarf said, rebutting Kol.

“He is not merely a builder of armor; he has become an expert of Magical Circuits. With time, I expect him to reach the level of master. As an enchanter, he is only rivaled by those of the old ways. I do not come to request he become a master. He will do that himself, damn stubborn bastard. I ask for him because with him being a master, he might pass his knowledge on and we might provide counsel to him.”

“You make it seem like a formality instead of an action,” an older dwarf said, his voice gruff as he stroked his beard.

“He is a crafter the likes of which I have not seen before. He has trained as a Dwarven shield bearer and an Elven ranger. His ideas and perspective—they are something only seen within Players. Yet this one has become one of the land; he has lifted his veil and devoted his abilities to the purpose of strengthening himself through craft. He made that shield for proof. He didn’t see anything special about the runes; he just refined them as he knew.”

“So what is he truly capable of?”

A black sheet with silver runes appeared in front of the Dwarves.

At first the Dwarves looked at it with mild curiosity; it quickly turned to shock. These men and women had created some of the greatest machines in Dwarven history and a simple black sheet with runes engraved into it made them pause.

“What is this for?” A Dwarven smith traced her hand over the runes.

“This is for his power.” Kol felt a shiver run through his body.

“What is he?” another asked, their voice almost reverent.

“That is his business to tell you or not,” Kol said.

The other Master Smith’s nodded. Everyone had some kind of secret.

“Teach him so that he might have counsel,” one of the Dwarves said.

The others signaled their agreement.

“I’d sure as hell like to feed him a few beers and figure out what the hell is running through his mind,” another dwarf said.

The rest laughed.

“Careful, he might out drink you,” Kol said. The tense atmosphere fell into the background even as the adrenaline and goose bumps remained.

***

Malsour looked at the growing town as the cart glided over the Dwarven roads. Dwarven warbands were forming up into their ten-strong formations and moving onto the road in step.

Induca stretched and yawned in the back of the cart.

Malsour wiped some drool off her mouth as she leaned on his shoulder, looking around sleepily. Malsour looked over the various camps inside the village’s walls.

Induca looked around. Her eyes rested on a compound off to the side of the road. Her eyes widened as Malsour opened up his senses. There was a lot of magical power all around. Players were like beacons to it.

Malsour didn’t need to open his eyes to feel the raw Mana that was contained within a woman who was in one of the large guild camps between the southern and northern roads. Malsour felt something that confused him. His head turned to look at a smithy. He used Arcane sight, seeing a person of middling abilities, but the creation in their hands showed such a concentration of magical elements that Malsour couldn’t pick them apart.

“Thank you for the ride,” Malsour said, giving the trader a petty soul gem.

“Thank you for your patronage. If you need anything, let me know.” The Elven trader smiled, the gem disappearing into his robe as he slowed the cart.

Malsour got off and Induca followed. She was wide awake and looked toward the one with a great Fire Affinity.

“Go, make sure you don’t set fire to everything,” Malsour said.

“Okay!” She smiled and headed off toward the guild camps.

Malsour looked over the smithy. One of the smaller creations was actually a magical portable smithy. Malsour had never seen a smithy like it; its Affinities were balanced between all six, meaning that it did not favor one over the other.

He had studied the Dwarven magical smithies. Usually they were just attuned to one kind of Affinity. With Dave’s more or less balanced Affinities, the smithy was more balanced. No matter a smith’s Affinity, they could use the different working areas. The smithy also took and stored all kinds of Affinity strengths, growing in power bit by bit.

Its power was impressive but not up to what the master smiths of the Dwarves used to forge their great creations. The smithy was like a piece of wood to a great galley when compared to what the halfling was working on. He was at a workstation, carefully carving runes into a sheet of ebony. After the rune was completed, he sprinkled some silver particles on the night-black surface.

Using magic, the man heated up silver and poured it into the runes, imbuing it with magic and making it so that the heating and cooling of the silver didn’t crack the ebony sheet. It was an intensely time-consuming process. There were just a few sheets but it must’ve taken weeks or months to get this far.

The halfling looked up from his work as the silver was secured in its place.

“Thank you for waiting. It’s hard with the heat of the silver. Have to contain all of the heat in a magical shield, place it and then reduce the heat inside the silver so it adheres to the ebony but doesn’t cause it to split.”

“In this temperature, it makes it all the harder,” Malsour said. “It has been a long time since I have seen the work of a master smith as skilled as you. My name is Malsour.”

“Dave, and I ain’t a master smith—just a tinkerer of things.” Dave moved out of his workshop and held out a hand.

Malsour shook it, not trying to hide his surprise. “Did someone give you the task of engraving those sheets?” Malsour asked.

“No. I designed them. My helper went off to go and do something else, though.” Dave looked around.

“What will they do when complete?” Malsour asked.

“That is a secret.” Dave smiled.

Malsour smiled. He thought that it might be boring out in the backwaters of Emerilia. Without stimulation for his mind, he easily grew bored. He did find joy in meeting new people, but information and learning drove him forward. Induca was the friendlier one.

“It seems that you will need a large power source for it,” Malsour said. “At least a few greater soul gems, which are hard to gather unless you have a ley line running through here somewhere?”

“You seem to know a bit about soul gems.” Dave tapped his chin.

Malsour pulled a soul gem out of his pocket, channeling some power into it so it glowed with power. “I may know a thing or two.”

Dave let out a laugh and clapped Malsour on the back. “I was thinking that I was the only one who knew to charge them up with our internal power.” Dave kept his voice low.

“How did you know?” Malsour asked.

“’Cause I’ve been dabbling with soul gems a bit,” Dave admitted.

“You seem to be a very interesting man indeed, Dave.” Malsour smiled.

“I do my best.” Dave winked.

“I haven’t seen a combination of runes like that, even at the Mages College in Opheir.” Malsour thought it might be a good idea to keep the fact that he’d been to most of the mages guilds across the world a secret.

“You’ve been to the mages guild? What about the libraries?” Dave asked, going from stoic to pure interest. It seemed that Malsour had touched on an aspiration or interest.

“Yes, I have found them rather interesting,” Malsour said, finding Dave more and more agreeable.

“You have to tell me more. It is a dream of mine to gain access to the libraries. I’m something of an information junkie.” Dave smiled.

“Certainly. What areas are you interested in?” Malsour said.

Dave rubbed his beard. “Well, I have been thinking about summoning recently, the act of being able to transport a creature from one world to another. I would also like to get more information on magical lines, their formation and how they lay. Then some interesting things I’ve heard about herbs. Then, well, really anything on crafting. I’ve worked at smithing and dabbled with woodworking but I know that there is much more to learn.”

“Those are indeed some high aspirations.” Malsour nodded.

Dave sized up Malsour as if weighing something in his mind.

“Something on your mind?” Malsour asked.

“I am interested in the kinds of soul gems that are created from magical crystal with combinations of gems and other materials,” Dave said.

“Ahh, that is rather advanced. I have dabbled in the area,” Malsour said.

“Have you charged and recharged a soul gem before?” Dave asked.

A slow smile spread across Malsour’s face, looking like the predator he was. “Of course.” He kept his voice low. Few ever thought to leave some charge in a soul gem, thinking that they had to use it all. If you had the right runes in place, then you could see how much power you were letting out of the soul gem.

Dave’s thoughtful look turned into a smile.

“Well, I am looking for permutations of the soul gems to see which ones are able to withstand a large amount of charging and discharging as well as holding a large amount of power and not pouring their charge into the air and not into the target.”

“Well, for the pouring it out everywhere, you would need to use runes not only on the soul gem but on the target that you wanted to charge. It takes longer but it would mean that your power loss would go from around thirty or forty percent to under five,” Malsour said.

“I was thinking that might be the case—going to be annoying,” Dave muttered.

“If I tell you what I know about soul gems, will you tell me what you know about runes? I am rather interested in your ebony sheets,” Malsour said.

Dave paused for a few moments before he held out his hand.

“Deal, but no writing it down and calling it your own. I’m going to make a book on it to barter my way into the College of Mages.”

“Understandable. Much easier than having to go through all of the schooling.” Malsour shook his head, remembering how the school had tried to get him to do lessons with them before they allowed him access to their libraries. It was only after proving his knowledge to them that they allowed him access to Miol-huir’s College of Mages. The access to one college’s libraries was access to them all, so Malsour hadn’t needed to repeat the process constantly.

“Well, if you don’t mind waiting till tonight, unless you mind being in a smithy,” Dave joked.

“I actually rather like the heat. All of this winter has made me get quite the chill,” Malsour said. The smithy was only marginally warmer, in Malsour’s opinion. He’d like getting inside one the furnaces to actually start feeling warm again. The Densaou Ring of Fire he had been born in was a long way away and his burrow deep in the mountains outside of Miol-huir was warm year-round.

Being in the north with snow, it was not his favorite experience.

“Okay, just watch that you don’t get in anyone’s way,” Dave said.

Malsour nodded and followed Dave into the workshop, talking of runes and soul gems.

***

Induca looked at all of the colorful creatures who called themselves “Players.”

There was no mistaking the inner power that they held. Many were high levels with great strength. The ones she was headed for seemed rowdier and although their external levels were low, the way they moved or their eyes flickered, they were predators.

Work hard, play hard—my kinds of people, except all that working business! Maybe play hard, but game harder?

She grinned at her own joke as she walked through the camp and came to an area that had been cleared.

There were massive people, all working together under a female dwarf’s instruction. Each of them was bearing a shield of some type. They moved in sync to her words. She was about five foot tall while the people arrayed in front of her could reach twice that height.

None of them seemed to care.

Induca’s interest was piqued as she realized that while the trainees were all Players, their instructor was a person of Emerilia.

A flare of the power that had drawn Induca this far away from the heat of the south grabbed her attention. She looked over to where it had come from.

In a training area, a female Elf was fighting off three other opponents. All of them were using magic. The Elf favored Fire magic as she threw fire lances and coated her blade in blue flames, crashing into a rogue’s blade as they appeared from nowhere.

The three opponents were no slacks, but her skills were evident. Although they had just started to learn, she had worked on her skills for a long time: her movements were thought-out, her magic was economical, and her lithe figure belied the power in her frame.

The fight ended and it was clear that the Elven woman had won. She and her opponents talked as they walked to the edge of the fighting area.

Induca might be one of the dragons who tended to be a bit more flighty and liked to be involved in things, but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t smart or hadn’t been paying attention. She might be rambunctious and childish at times, but her parents and her siblings had raised her to be able to defend herself, for centuries. It was the one thing that had kept her entertained when they had been forced away from Emerilia.

“You went with economic and nice, small fire spells, but you could’ve just smashed their defenses away instead. You’re reacting to what they’re doing, not anticipating it with your magic. You could defend their blades easy enough and push them away, but then they’re just going to come back at you. Push them into a fire trap, have a hot lance waiting for them to skewer themselves on. You are thinking too linearly—about how you project your attacks outward, instead of how you can create them within an area,” Induca said.

“Excuse me?” the Elven woman said, in mid-conversation with her opponents.

“You have a large area of influence that you can cast Fire spells in, yet you’re only using the area close to you to create them. The farther it is away from you, the less solid it’s going to be, but still going to kill them. Also, why are you not using pops?”

“Pops?” The Elf was now thoroughly confused.

“Good, there’s still more I can teach you! My name’s Induca, and I want to teach you how to fight with Fire.” She held out one hand, a smile lighting up her face.

“I’m Deia,” the Elf said.

Induca looked at the familiar features, the eyes and hair. Someone looking at the two of them might think that they were cousins or similarly related. Induca’s smile only widened as she stared into Deia’s eyes that seemed to dance as if lit from behind.

“It is very good to meet you, Deia. I think we’re going to have a lot of fun.”

***

Josh groaned as Jules took a sip of the wine offered. Esa sat next to her, not caring who saw their clear affection for each other.

“Are you sure?” Josh hated having to apologize but it seemed to be the only way to fix what he’d messed up.

“I’m pretty sure. Dave is an E-head like you lot but instead of going out and raiding, he’s become part of this community. When you threw a knife at him, he probably wasn’t thinking about the damage to him, but the fact you threw it in a place where a bunch of his friends were and you could’ve injured them. As you know, People of Emerilia do not come back once you kill them,” Jules said.

Josh wanted to argue the point but he knew that he had messed up, so he let it slide. “Okay,” Josh said. He wanted to get on Dave’s good side because then it would mean he could maybe get his daggers fixed up.

He had seen the way Dave worked and talked. There was an innate sense that he liked the man, as if he could sense the beginnings of a friendship between them. Josh had called very few people his friends when he’d lived on Earth. Now, in Emerilia, he had gained friends and a purpose. He felt that Dave was similar to himself, though his friends were People of the land.

It had led to Josh interacting with the People of the land as if they were real people instead of just people to aid in his progression. He’d been surprised at how they had opened up. His actions had spread through the guild and had led to Dwayne asking some of Dave’s Dwarven friends to teach them how to fight. The results had been surprisingly positive.

They had trained with weapons all of their lives and their skill showed. Josh was seriously thinking about putting down roots in the village just for the people he’d met, their training and their ability to work on the high-level gear that the Stone Raiders got from their raids.

He drummed his fingers on his dagger hilt and made noises with his lips. “Well, that is something to deal with later. In the meantime, what do you think of my offer?” Josh looked at Esa, Jules, and Mikal.

The three looked to one another; it was clear that their fighting together had made them close friends. Smiles blossomed on their faces.

“If you’ll take us, we’re in, O’ Guild Leader.” Mikal bowed.

Josh snorted. He always found that rogues had a distinct lack of respect for authority and decorum. It’s probably why I chose the class.

“Good!” Josh clapped his hands.

Kim and Dwayne, who were in on the meeting, shared grins. They dealt with the healers and tanks respectively. Jules had become one of the best healers that Kim had ever seen and was eager to train her other healers with Jules’s skills.

The same went for Esa and Mikal. They had all thrown themselves into Evolver training when they’d got to Cliff-Hill. Seeing Dave had showed them how hard training could improve their skills. They hadn’t just started training on everything and anything at the beginning; they’d been broken down by their respective teachers and built back up into what they were, combining their knowledge from Earth with the knowledge of Emerilia.

Jules had been hesitant to join the Stone Raiders at first; with more time around them, it had swayed her opinion. They were fun and laid-back when they had free time, but when it came to training and raiding, they were focused and driven.

Mikal and Esa had waited on their leader’s decision before adding in their votes.

“The guild is stronger for having you in it. We hope that you have fun, and get us to the top of the raiding leaderboards!” Dwayne held up his glass and grinned.

They all raised their glasses in salute.

Josh sent them a guild invite and they accepted it.

Now time to get Dave and Deia to join!

***

Dave was talking to Malsour about Magical Circuits when Josh knocked on the workshop’s doorframe.

“Josh.” Dave nodded to the man, wondering what he wanted.

“First of all, let me say sorry for throwing a dagger at you. It’s a smithy and throwing daggers around is a pretty boneheaded move,” Josh said.

Dave nodded. He could sense how hard it was for Josh to admit he was wrong but he’d moved past that to talk to Dave.

“Second, I would like to extend an invitation to you and Deia. An invite to join the Stone Raider’s guild,” Josh said.

Dave put down his tools. Malsour watched them both.

“Hi, my name’s Josh Giles.” Josh held a hand out to Malsour.

“Malsour. It is interesting to meet you.”

Josh tilted his head in question.

“Your guild is rather famed over in Opheir, as well as Asha-durn, Heval, and Coen’us.”

“Thanks. We’re just having a good time.” Josh smiled.

“I have heard that you stood between the Orcs of Coen’us and the Elves of Asha-durn to stop a war created by traitors on both sides,” Malsour said.

Dave looked at Josh with interest.

Josh shrugged, as if stopping a war between two major races was not a big deal.

“Well, we knew the truth. We weren’t about to let people die over a bunch of merchants who were just trying to make money over a war.”

Malsour nodded.

“I will think about your proposal. But until Boran-al’s Citadel is gone, I’m not going to leave Cliff-Hill,” Dave said.

“Understandable—this is your home. I’ve been meaning to ask you. What do you think that the mayor would think about letting us own a plot of land in order to cycle people through here for training, repairing weapons, getting supplies and all of that?” Josh asked.

Smart—he’s not only trying to pull me in with the chance to do something exciting and put my name on something, but showing that even if we go far, we would always come back here. Cliff-Hill is a good place to make a guild-base: slightly isolated, good smithy nearby at a decent cost.

“How are you going to get people back here?” Dave asked.

“Well, there are portals that apparently go to other planes of existence. I don’t see why we can’t use those to make a bridge from here to wherever,” Josh said.

“You want to connect portals from here to across the globe?” Malsour sounded impressed.

“That’s the plan at least. Might take some time but there’s no denying how useful it would be.”

The plan was a solid one, if they had learned how to fight properly and used spells without having to buy new ones, just altering what they had already. Then it was only natural that they thought that they could engineer portals.

“I still have a lot to learn about smithing and I want to go to the Mages College in Opheir at least,” Dave said.

“That’s fine. There are only about a quarter of the raiders here. Most are off pursuing their own studies or doing something that they want to. Our one rule is that we will always watch one another’s back no matter what and if the guild calls you in an emergency, then you come. We haven’t had an emergency yet.” Josh smiled.

“It makes sense with a guild of so many E-heads,” Dave said.

“Exactly. People are living their lives in here; they don’t have time to just do what the guild’s doing. We have several people learning all kinds of crafting and magical techniques,” Josh said, as if it was nothing.

Dave saw the impressive structure of the Stone Raiders. They went about doing as they wanted; the main group raided, but others were all over the globe learning skills and gathering information that they could send to the guild instantaneously. They might have less numbers when they went on a raid, but they gained information and skills at a higher rate than a guild that only accepted people who would only raid. They wanted to be the best raiding guild in Emerila, not the one with the most members. E-heads didn’t want to just devote their life to one thing, but have multiple options.

In return for people’s information and passing on their training, they got protection by the guild.

In a few years, they would have the most information across Emerilia. Their name had already reached far, and would only grow if they could create and use portals.

“I won’t deny that I’m not interested but I’ll need to talk to Deia,” Dave said.

“We’ve extended our offer to her as well.” Josh grinned. “She’s been kicking our asses so hard that we’re using it as a plea for mercy.”

Dave laughed. “She is one hell of a fighter.”

“Now that’s all done, I was wondering if you might be able to help me with something a bit more personal.” Josh pulled out what looked to be two curved daggers that would go out in front of a person’s fist and down their arm.

That wasn’t the most interesting part about them. They had been made from Mithril, with inlays of ebony and silver engraving.

“Where did you find these?” Malsour asked, his voice quiet as Dave took the blades with reverent hands and put them down on the bench in front of him.

Daggers of Demons Ruin

Blades forged to fight against the Demon Lords of Xelur. Shadows were their holder’s friend and Death their constant companion.

Quality: S

Damage: ???

Abilities: Control the shadows as a second skin. Gains strength with the blood of its enemies

Charge: 20/80,000

Durability 1/32

The rune’s language was ancient and one that none of the races on Emerilia used. He read the pop-up that came with handling the blades.

Dave examined the blades with his Touch of the Land. It didn’t take long for Kol to appear, his own Touch showing him the daggers.

“Where did you find these?” Kol asked.

“A raid against a Xelur titan. Had multiple wraiths fighting for him—think he used soul magic. He had these blades on his belt but he didn’t use them. I got them as a gift for my birthday.” Josh rubbed his head awkwardly.

“It is no wonder the demon didn’t use them; they would have burned him. He must have taken them as a trophy from one of the wielders of this blade,” Malsour said.

“Quite right.” Kol nodded, holding a blade, as he flicked it with a finger and listened to it.

“Why?” Dave asked.

“These were made as great weapons centuries ago. Demons are creatures that use a creature’s soul to power their magic. These blades were some of the great weapons that were used to attack the demons and attack them right at the core, to pull the souls they used from them. These blades are the soul dancers. They rip at the very soul of the creature they are fighting. With the People of Emerilia, this means that if they die then their defenses weaken and their soul powers them. For the demons, it means that their power is being pulled from them constantly. They don’t have a magical shield to hold their soul in with, so each blade not only wounds them, but drains them of the souls that they have used for destruction.”

“And now they are close to destruction. Without souls to feed it, they have weakened considerably.” Kol examined both of the curved blades and put them back down.

“Can you fix it?” Josh asked.

“No,” Kol said.

Dave looked to him. There wasn’t anything that Kol couldn’t fix—he was a Dwarven master smith, after all!

“These runes, the power in this weapon…I am a great changer of metals. If you give me any weapon or armor, I can take it and make it and its enchantments stronger and more powerful. If I understand the runes, this…These runes are beyond even me. Dave, what do you think about them?” Kol asked.

Dave sighed and looked at them all. They were complex, a great series of them. They were as complicated as Dave’s own ebony sheets but compacted, engraved with magic. It made his ebony sheets look like a Turing machine while it was a smartphone.

“This is more complicated than anything I have ever seen before. It’s also written in a language I don’t know,” Dave said.

“Abyssal,” Malsour provided.

“Do you know much of it?” Dave looked to him.

“If you can make a sketch of them, then I can probably figure them out. The demons of Xelur are the greatest masters of soul manipulation. I didn’t spend all my time in the libraries for nothing.” Malsour smiled.

“So they’re still around?” Josh asked. “That damned titan was a bitch to kill. Took nearly three months.”

“Yes, though in the great battles which these blades were created for, Emerilia was newly formed. The gods’ power was freely given to the people, knowing that their lands would be destroyed if they did not act. In that age, a great number of great weapons, tools, and different magics were created and used.” Malsour showed a fond smile. “It was referred to as the time of dragons, when great power was born and used. There have been few events like it in times past, though the signs show that another time is coming upon us.”

“Thanks for that, Malsour.” Dave shook his head. He looked at the dagger and its runes. If he could figure out the runes and how they were made, he might be able to use it on his own armor. If the demons were so good with managing soul magic, then it would make sense that they were good at using soul gems.

“How the hell did they engrave inside the metal?” Dave asked.

“Dwarven master smith tricks?” Malsour looked to Kol.

“Probably. Few others know how to use the skill,” Kol said.

“Well, that sounds like something useful to use,” Dave said.

“Well, first you would need to become a master smith. We don’t just go around spitting out all our secrets,” Kol grumbled.

“One day, one day,” Dave said.

“In the meantime.” Kol pulled something out of his pocket and gave it to Dave.

Dave held a simple metal chain with three metals threaded onto it. They had been polished and turned into smooth discs.

There was iron, steel, and silver.

“If you can get that damned armor complete, I might even think about giving you the ebony one.” Kol held up an obsidian black metal disk.

Dave took the chain with pride. It had taken a lot of work and patience but the chain showed that he had become a master of three materials. He still had stone, malachite, gold, ebony, and then Mithril before he could be counted as a master smith.

He’d skipped malachite and gold in order to focus on his work with his armor. It was why his Blacksmithing Skill had been jumping up as he proved his skill with ebony.

Active Skill: Smithing

Level: Expert Level 4

Effect: 71% improved quality of smithing creation.

“Thanks.” Dave held the chain.

“Now, get to work! Malsour needs those damned runes so you two can figure it all out and your damned armor isn’t going to engrave itself!” Kol turned. “And you, come here.” Kol grabbed Josh’s ear and pulled.

“Ow! What the hell, old man!” Josh yelled.

“You’re the little bugger who threw a dagger in my smithy. ’Bout time we educated you on the finer points of smithing health and safety!”

Dave quickly put his head down and started to sketch up the runes, feeling sorry for Josh as he tried to plead his case.

“Remind me to never annoy him,” Malsour said.

Dave sensed that Malsour was a powerful practitioner of magic, but even then, there were few things more powerful than a master smith in his forge.

“Good idea,” Dave muttered, reinforcing how Malsour was a damn smart fellow.

***

“Hello, Malsour. You’ve certainly gotten—well, I guess, smaller since you’re in human form.”

Malsour turned around from his desk. Induca jumped out of bed; her feet and fingers turned into claws and held onto the walls.

Malsour looked at the gnome who sat in a recliner with a pipe between his lips.

He didn’t know the gnome, but he knew the seat and the power that emanated from the creature.

There were only two people in the Pantheon who deigned to leave their places of power: his own grandmother and creator, and Neutrality.

“What brings you here, Neutral?” Malsour’s scales along his face and his claws retracted and his purple eyes stopped glowing.

“Just seeing what’s going on! You know how boring it gets when you’ve got all this power. Induca, I saw you when you were nothing but a damned egg—could you please get off the damned wall and stop acting like a lighting fixture!” Neut said.

No one dared to talk to the twosome like that if they knew their true nature.

Induca got off the wall slowly, her eyes dimming and the fire ball that had been growing in her mouth disappearing. She sniffed the air, a curious expression on her face.

“What are you doing here, Neutral?” Malsour asked.

“Teaching,” Neut said.

“Who and why?”

“Because a change is coming.” Neut’s usually carefree voice turned serious.

“I have sensed that the Pantheon is moving in odd directions,” Malsour said.

“My vision has been restricted. The governors of this world have passed rules onto me. They want more entertainment and are letting the gods run rife.”

A shiver passed through Malsour as he took a seat.

“Are you not the balancer?” Induca asked.

“I am, but here, the very balance of neutrality is shifting.”

Malsour’s eyebrows rose.

To have the balance of neutrality shifting on Emerilia meant that a paradigm shift was coming. Neutrality was the medium of all actions and reactions. Currently, Emerilia was balanced between the six major powers, with Light and Dark canceling each other. If say four of the Affinities banded together, then the world would shift to the new balance of power. If it went to the Dark side, then violence would become a lot more prevalent and regarded as the norm. If Light had their way, then it would become more pious and genteel. Maybe.

The thing with the gods being their own creatures—Light, Earth, Air, Water, Fire, and Dark—they could not be defined into good and bad. Some might be just garnering power for the sake of gaining power through non-harmful ways. Others might use their mediating forces to attack other Affinities and use means to transfer the other Affinities’ power to their own.

It was all complicated and free flowing.

For six centuries, Neutrality had balanced the Affinities. Now with him out of the picture, the Affinities’ personalities would start to affect the very moral and social fabric of Emerilia.

“Enough about me. How is Fire’s daughter and Dave’s fiancée doing?” Neut asked.

Malsour’s eyes thinned.

“Child, I was the one who made her a Player, so stop being so protective of your aunty,” Neut said. “Both of you. Seriously, Induca, you’ve got flames—at least own it, put some on your claws. Well, put them away for now, but you know what I mean. Looks cool, like flame decals.” Neut laughed at his own odd words.

“What do you want with her?” Induca asked.

“Nothing, my dear. Just as with you and with your creator, it does my old soul good to see the spark of life you all hold. I just want to see what the heck she does with her life.” Neut smiled.

“Did you start bringing back the weapons of power?” Malsour asked.

“Right to the heart of the matter.” Neut pointed at Malsour with his pipe. “As you know, I am the balancer. As the enemies of Emerilia gain strength, I needed a way to give the Players and People of Emerilia a chance of defending themselves. I may have allowed a few items out of the vault.”

Malsour thought about bringing up Dave’s armor; when he completed it, it might be regarded as a great weapon. With the modifications Dave was planning, he was still a few breakthroughs away but if the Dwarves took him as one of their own and taught him the ways of the smith and he learned how to make the engravings that Malsour was researching on the two daggers, his control of metals and magical runes would be impressive.

“What do you think will happen with the rise of Boran-al’s Citadel?” Malsour asked.

“I might be an old creature who has seen many times, but alas there are no seers. The future is murky until we see it in fact. That said, I think that the rise of Boran-al’s Citadel will be a catalyst of great change. What that change will be, I do not know.”

Chapter 30: Breakthrough

Dave did a little dance at his workstation, distracting Deia from her meditation that Induca had taught her.

The woman was lively and a big bundle of energy. In a battle between the two of them, Induca’s brother Malsour had needed to be on hand in order to make sure that they didn’t turn Cliff-Hill into a crater. Well, their power wasn’t that great, but they would have certainly totaled the sparring area.

Both of them had about the same amount of raw power, which made Deia curious. She didn’t know of someone who had the same power as her. The other thing was how Induca showed up Deia’s spells. She might act erratic, but in a battle, her spells were efficient and a touch of genius. Her understanding of her Fire magic almost seemed innate. She needed few chants to complete her spells and she acted as if she had been born to Fire.

Deia was eagerly trying to learn that kind of control over her own magic. Her father was a great Fire mage, but he didn’t know the difficulties that she had to deal with.

Induca also knew extremely complex spells that Deia would have not thought of.

“Whatever it is, it better not blow up!” Deia yelled.

“I did it!” Dave turned around, laughing like an idiot. He ran over to Deia, hugging and shaking her.

“Let me go, you big oaf!” She hit his shoulders and laughed.

He kissed her and put her down. “I finally got the soul gem worked out! The permutations are a pain in the ass to deal with, but I can grow more of the crystals and form them to our armor!”

“So how much power are we looking at here?” Deia asked.

“With front and back plates, the equivalent of two million points.” Dave grinned, as a message was shared with her.

Vault Class Soul Gem

Rechargeable container for both soul and Mana energy. Does not lose charge with every recharge. Capable of increasing storage capacity with time.

Quality: A

Charge: 10/1,000,000

Durability: 783/783

“That’s—what is that? Like twenty million Mana?” She was numb, looking at the information in front of her as if not understanding what he was saying or what her eyes were reading.

“Yep!”

“Well, you certainly don’t like thinking small,” she muttered, slowly shaking her head.

He laughed and kissed her again.

“Now you’ve got that done, let’s go back home. It won’t take you long to get your armor put together,” Deia said.

“Bu—”

Deia held up a finger to silence him. “And I want to have you to myself.”

They’d announced their engagement but they’d had little time to properly celebrate it. They’d been both training and working to improve their skills for when Boran-al’s Citadel would rise. There was just a month to go until the last runes would start to fail and Boran-al’s cultists could once again walk Emerilia.

Dave bit her finger lightly and tossed her into a princess carry. Deia giggled at his silliness. He was a driven man with his work, but she was the one person to get him to focus on something else. She nestled into him, scared for the future but reassured with the fact that they would stand together to face it.

***

Dave wiped the sweat from his face as he looked at the final breastplate. He pulled the heat out of the metal with his simple Fire magic. He pulled it off and put it on one of the two mannequins, one for him and one for Deia.

The whole smithy seemed to have stopped as they looked at the pieces; even Malsour, who was translating the Abyssal, looked up from his work.

Dave stared at the armor, reading the description associated with it.

Abscondita Armor

Forged by Dave Grahslagg, this armor is more than meets the eye.

Quality: B

Defense: 523 (Magical shield with enough power)

Abilities: Magical shield

Automated Mana Siphon

Automated Soul Siphon

Automated Self Heal

Increased Agility and Strength (base 10%)

Grows in strength with user

Manipulation possible (Associated values liable to change due to creator’s changes and level of charge.)

Armor Link (Users of this armor can share their power and link capabilities. If one armor is fully charged, then it will feed power to the other to charge it.)

Charge: 13/2,000,000 (Linked Armor 231/4,000,000)

Durability: 259/259

The armor was about a half-inch thick along its front and back. Dave had formed and reformed it and all of its inner components once or twice to get it exact.

Kol looked over the work, running his hand over the shoulders and plates.

“I did not think that I would see something like this built in my age,” Kol said. The whole smithy was quiet.

“Return from Boran-al’s Citadel and we shall talk about your future as a smith.” Kol smiled and clapped Dave on the shoulder. “Well done, my boy.” He moved on.

Dave stood there, looking at the armor with a tired smile on his face.

Quest: Of Anvil and Fire

Kol has asked you to return to him to talk about your future as a smith.

Will you do so? Y/N

Dave thought Yes and looked at his blinking notifications panel.

Active Skill: Alchemy

Level: Journeyman Level 9

Effect: Combine up to 7 ingredients together. Creations gain a 61% boost in effectiveness

Required: Alchemy tools

Dave’s skill had increased with his constant meddling with permutations, from his making alcohols to how he formed the soul gems with different combinations.

Active Skill: Builder

Level: Apprentice level 8

Effect: 39% speed making items with more than one material

Required: Tools

Combing all of the items together into one larger creation had allowed him to level up his skills nicely.

Active Skill: Magical Circuits

Level: Expert Level 8

Effect: 79% chance of creating better Magical Circuits and understanding them.

Cost: Dependent

Active Skill: Smithing

Level: Expert Level 6

Effect: 75% improved quality of smithing creation.

Stat Increase

+4 Strength

+6 Intelligence

+6 Willpower

+4 Endurance

Level 37

You have reached level 37; you have 170 stat points to use.

Dave checked his overall stats, which had jumped up with the completion of the armor.

Character Sheet

Name:

David Grahslagg

Gender:

Male

Level:

3

Class:

-

Race:

Human/Dwarf

Alignment:

Chaotic Neutral

Unspent points: 170

Health:

1900

Regen:

1.28/s

Mana:

780

Regen:

3.05/s

Stamina:

600

Regen:

2.35/s

Vitality:

19

Endurance:

62

Intelligence:

78

Willpower:

61

Strength:

60

Agility:

47

Dave looked back at the armor with bleary and tired eyes. Deia wrapped her hands around him as they looked at their new armor.

“It looks amazing,” she said in his ear.

“Almost as good as you.” He grinned and looked at her; she kissed him with a smile that had an edge to it.

In less than a week, they would be marching toward Boran-al’s Citadel.

Dave looked at the armor. Deia’s had dragon scale armor that would go over her legs and upper body, with a form-fitting cuirass. Dave had the same except his had layered shoulders and additional plates over his legs. The breastplates weren’t light but the dragon scales—although a pain to make—gave them the ability to move freely with a high degree of protection.

“So what are you going to call it?” Kol asked.

“The Abscondita armor,” Dave said.

Kol nodded. “Very well, now give me your hand.”

Dave did so.

He felt power building as Kol muttered words of power.

Soul Bound

Do you want to soul bind the Abscondita Armor to yourself?

Y/N

Dave accepted and a screen popped up on the side of his screen. It showed his layout of clothes on his body with different sockets. Now a gray outline of the Abscondita armor lay over his body.

There was also now an option to equip his armor. He pressed it. The armor disappeared from its rack and appeared on him, overlaying his clothes underneath.

“Despite death and rebirth, your armor will follow you through your lives,” Kol said.

“That’s pretty damn useful,” Dave said, admiring the armor. It moved like a second skin. The cuirass might be a bit heavy but he had been training with carrying around his loaded bag of holding for months.

“Deia, do you wish to become soul bound to your armor?” Kol asked.

“Yes.” She stepped forward slightly.

Again, Kol recited words of power.

Deia’s armor appeared over her body as she moved, checking her reach and ability to move. “You were right with how much mobility you get.” Deia stretched.

“I told you—better than leather.” Dave grinned.

With a command, the armor disappeared again, moving into Dave’s storage. Deia did the same.

“Thank you, baby.” She rewarded him with a smile. “Tomorrow we’ll give them a proper test run. In the meantime, you need to get some sleep. You haven’t slept for three days!” She pushed him off in the direction of their home.

“I’m going, I’m going,” Dave said. Now that the armor was complete and his adrenaline high that was keeping him upright was wearing off, he was getting rather sleepy.

Chapter 31: War Drum

Deia looked at Dave’s sleeping form. He looked so peaceful.

Today the plans would be finalized, guilds given their objectives, and the last of the Dwarven forces would move toward Boran-al’s Citadel.

Dave must’ve sensed her being awake and stirred. His arm clenched, pulling her close as he settled down, as if her presence reassured him.

She kissed his chest.

“Mmmm,” Dave said, surfacing from sleep, pulling her fully on top of him as he wrapped both his large arms around her.

Within his arms, she felt as if everything would be all right, that nothing in the world could affect them. He was the strength to keep the world at bay. She knew it wasn’t true, but she still let herself enjoy it, breathing in his scent.

Light came through their windows, the embers of the fire from the night before glowing. It was chilly; the snow had started its melting as the worst of the winter had abated.

They laid there, comfortable in each other’s embrace.

In the distance, a solemn drum started to beat, announcing the movement of another group of warbands and their Elven rangers up to the citadel.

A message arrived in Deia’s vision.

Private message

Lucy Vernia> We’re about to start discussions on the guilds’, Dwarves’ and Elves’ tactics and finalize plans.

Dave opened his eyes, apparently reading something on the ceiling. “Looks like it’s time.”

Deia squeezed him one more time before she slid out of the bed, pulling on her clothes.

Dave got out of the bed, turning her around as she tried to pull on her pants.

“Hey!” She yelled as he caught her, kissing her and stopping any more words.

She kissed him back, their hands pulling each other tight. They separated a few moments later, breathless.

“Well, I think I need a cold shower after that,” Deia said.

Dave laughed and stood, going to wash his face.

In the months she had known him, he’d grown in strength and height. She was still taller than him by a few inches but he had grown at an alarming rate and he was quickly getting to her level of strength. She still beat him hands down with her agility. Most men might be self-conscious that their fiancée was stronger and a bit taller than them. Dave couldn’t give a damn.

And we’re all the same size when lying down. A blush came to Deia’s cheeks. He’d certainly had a corrupting influence on her.

He was still short for a human and his large muscles served to make him look shorter still. He’d trained himself into a warrior, but in his heart, he was still that engineer who had done anything to turn his ideas into a reality.

He pulled on a shirt; seconds later, his armor appeared.

Deia opened her menu, selecting her armor. It appeared over her. Much easier than having to put it on every time.

Dave checked her straps and made sure it was a snug fit. She checked his armor as well.

“Well, it seems that the raid is almost upon us.” Bob appeared in the middle of the house.

“Come to wish us luck?” Dave asked.

“Ahh, you two will win or lose by your own efforts. I came to give you something.” Bob held out two hoods.

Hood of shadows

People cannot pull up your information when using the skill Analyze on you. People are unable to see your face.

“Well, these will be useful,” Deia said, making to reach for it.

Bob seemed to throw it at her; suddenly, she was wearing a hood.

“It attaches right to your armor. It will only come off if you want it to,” Bob said.

Deia looked to Dave. He pulled up the hood, shaking his head wildly. It seemed as if it were glued to him, moving with him but not getting in the way of his face or coming free of his head.

All she could see was his gray eyes beneath the hood.

Deia pulled hers on, using a mirror. She couldn’t see her face. There was just a gray murkiness that suggested a person lay under the hood. Her ears were covered but they didn’t seem hampered by the hood. The only thing one could see was her red eyes.

She grinned at the look.

“Babe, you look bad ass.” Dave’s face lit up, his hood down around his neck.

Deia laughed, thinking much the same as she pulled down her hood.

“Well, go and kick Boran-al’s ass.” Bob smiled at the two of them.

Deia thought she saw a mix of sadness and pride in his gnomish features before he disappeared.

“Well, let’s go to the meeting.” Dave held up his bag of holding. It disappeared from his hand, being added to the armor’s own holding slot.

Deia’s bag was already secured in the armor’s inventory.

“Okay.” She smiled. Holding Dave’s hand, she pulled the fire from the embers, using the heat to create warm air around the two of them as they left their house.

She and Dave waved to the others they passed, heading toward the warband’s headquarters. Other guilds were sending their representatives as well.

“Damn cold out here,” Lox muttered as they met up with him and Joko. The other Dwarves were readying their gear to move up to the front once the briefing was completed.

“Just need someone skilled in fire manipulation—makes things a lot nicer.” Dave squeezed Deia’s hand.

Deia was already working to warm the air around the other two. Dwarves were hardy creatures but in their mountains, it was a lot warmer due to the magma flows they found and the heat from the depths they mined.

“Going to be a great loss losing you to a vagabond like this one,” Lox grumbled.

“Ahh, but I’m just so much more fun!” Dave grinned.

“Pain in the ass, more like!” Joko added.

Deia laughed at the good-natured ribbing. The Dwarves were sad to see her leave the rangers and pair off with Dave but she had served her time and then some. They saw that staying a ranger would just limit her. After this battle, she would be freed from her duties as a ranger.

Her grip tightened, thinking about the upcoming battle. She hadn’t seen anything like this in all of her life.

They walked up the hill, meeting up with Malsour and Induca.

Deia and Dave had become close friends with them. They only gave short greetings, all of them tense.

They walked into the warclan’s headquarters. The entire hall had been turned into a viewing area with maps and other information across multiple walls.

People were greeting one another and talking. Smiles were rare as tense nods were given and hard eyes looked to the briefing table where Wender stood. Off to the side, there was a magical communication spell, which showed Koda at the forward camp as well as his advisers and senior warband leaders.

“Quiet.” Koda’s voice carried through the communication spell and into the headquarters.

People grew quiet.

“Josh.” Koda looked to the leader of the Stone Raiders, who was off to the side of the communication spell.

“Okay, as you know, there is only one entrance into the citadel. Now, through our investigations, we can ascertain that it used to be above ground rather than below it. We believe that it will rise upward through the ground once the last of the Magical Circuits are broken. All of you have seen the plans of what we think that citadel will look like.” Josh’s playful demeanor was gone, the Stone Raider’s antics wiped away.

All of them had been over the plan multiple times; this was just a confirmation for everyone and detailing any large changes.

Deia checked the sketch that had been created from the prison’s layout.

There were grand stairs leading up through the gully that the troll had lived in so long ago. Past it was a square fighting area, three hundred meters by three hundred meters. At the edges were columns of some kind. Another large creation rested in the center of the square, four spikes with a large gap between them.

It had taken the most powerful information-gathering techniques to even figure this out. They didn’t know what the spikes or columns looked like, other than their general size and positioning. The farther in, the less detailed the plan got. Although they knew of the four spikes, they didn’t know their true heights or anything else.

“These are sentient fighters. They will not follow a mob mentality. They will come at us with everything they have. Players, if you die, go to auto-res immediately. We’re dealing with necros here, so they get one of your bodies and they’re going to make the rest of us have a really shitty day. We will all be blessed and buffed, but these cultists have had hundreds of years to build up their spells and have even cheated death by keeping their souls bound and their bodies active. If you go down, go to Omal, and rush back.

“We’re going to be operating in guilds. Stone Raiders will take the right of the stairs, Sabres will take the right; the other guilds will move around to the side opposite the stairs, boxing in the cultists and using us as cover. Dwarves will move up to hold positions at the stairs.

“Shield walls and tanks front; rogues and DPS behind them to use the tanks’ defenses.

“Mages with healing spells are to focus on those who are directly engaged with the cultists. Long-range casters and archers will be working to take out targeted opponents.

“We’ll go for min to max levels for targeting. Focus on the lower levels and take them out before moving on to the higher level attackers.

“Dwarves and Elves will provide support. If the cultists start hitting us like hell in certain areas, they will bolster our lines. If the choice is to heal the People of Emerilia or Players, get the People of Emerilia.

“Clerics and those with holy blessings, I want blanketing spells on everyone. These things are as dark as Hades’ balls—I don’t want to think what would happen if we don’t have some holy protection. Tanks, if you hit ten percent, I want you to switch off with reinforcements.

“Mages will work in teams of three to keep two active and one meditating to rebuild your Mana pool. As soon as your debuff time for potions and provisions runs out, I want people snacking and drinking potions like it’s your damn day job. Make sure that you are on all the right command channels and pay attention to the cultists’ weaknesses. If you find one, no matter your rank, post it in the weakness channel. Same if you see any patterns created,” Josh finished.

The preparations were complicated, much more than what Deia had dealt with but she’d seen game videos of Stone Raiders taking down various raids and dungeons. They used everything that could possibly give them an edge on the battlefield.

“Don’t you think that we’re over-prepping this?” the guild leader of Opheir’s Knights asked. He and his entire order were level 70; they didn’t accept anyone less than level 60 and they had to have some pretty good gear. They were flashy as hell and they were powerful, but they were Action Players, not Evolvers.

They had imagined themselves as knights, Players who did right by the People of Emerilia. They were self-proclaimed and a number of people thought that they’d made it this far on gold rather than actual skill.

“It is best if we plan for the worst and hope for the best,” Cassie said.

Being from the Golden Sabres, with her looks and gear, it seemed that even the stubborn Opheir’s Knights listened.

“Questions?” Koda asked.

There weren’t any—they had been over the plan plenty of times.

“Wender, move up all but the guarding warbands to the citadel.”

“It will be done.” Wender saluted the image. A mage cut the communication spell.

“Sound the war drums. We march in an hour.”

People started to stream out of the room.

“We’ll see you down there.” Lox patted Dave on the shoulder and nodded to Deia.

“Damn slow buggers. Be waiting all week for them to just show up!” Joko grinned.

“Just need to give you short buggers a head start,” Deia shot back.

“Damn knife-ears!” Joko said. They braced arms in a warrior’s salute, separating from each other.

“Well, it looks like we’re stuck with one another,” Dave said to Malsour and Induca. Deia moved to face them as well.

“It would seem so. We should go and meet with the rest of our squad.” Malsour turned. The inside of his cloak was black as night while Induca’s was red with what looked like moving flames.

For a moment, she thought that she saw their eyes turn into slits like a lizard’s might. She shook her head and shook the image away. In her nerves, she was seeing things.

***

Jules watched as the other four of their group approached.

The Dracul brother and sister, and then Dave and Deia.

“Well, things have certainly changed,” she said as they met up on the road, turning and heading toward the southern gates.

Mikal, Esa, and Jules all wore a simple rock symbol on their shoulders, an R emblazoned on it, showing their allegiance to the Stone Raiders.

“How so?” Dave asked as they walked along.

“Well, we’ve got a lot stronger. I don’t think we would’ve been this powerful in a year of playing Emerilia. We got taken on by the Stone Raiders and well, the Dwarves and Elves don’t totally hate us,” Jules said.

“I’m scared that the makers of Emerilia will see how many people got interested by this raid that they’ll start doing more events like this,” Esa said.

“Certainly teach people to think before accepting quests,” Dave said, without the anger that he’d shown when they’d initially opened the citadel’s prison.

“This might be the wrong time to say this, but fuck if this doesn’t look awesome. I know that the Stone Raiders have a lot of people paying out the ass for our streams. There hasn’t been an event like this yet so they’re all excited to see what’s going to happen. Plus, that is one hell of a sight.” Mikal waved to the southern road, which had warbands moving down it in synchronous step.

Guilds followed, walking or traveling on their beasts.

Jules thought that she heard Dave muttering something. She turned around to see a hood around his head and shadows covering all but his eyes. “That is freaky,” she said.

“Where did you get that from?” Mikal asked.

“Maybe if you beat me in a game of tag, I’ll show you, Apprentice.” Deia smiled and pulled up her hood. Her eyes still showed but mist seemed to form from the sides of the hood, covering her other features.

“Okay, so Dave and Esa are our shield bearers. Mikal will be behind them, ready with his blades. Deia will be going caster and archery. I’ll be doing healing. What are your strengths?” Jules looked to Malsour and Induca.

“I am good with constructs of the Dark. I will do counter buffs across us and other squads,” Malsour said.

“I am primarily a Fire mage. I can work with close range but my strengths make it best if I am to the rear in order to drop bigger spells.” Induca didn’t sound as though she was bragging, just telling a simple fact.

Before a battle, bragging was a way to mess you and your party up. Few Players did it and none of the Stone Raiders did it. They needed to know one another’s strengths and weaknesses before they ever went up against the creatures that could be two or three times their own levels.

“Okay, Dave, Deia—do you have the provisions and potions for tomorrow?” Jules asked.

“Yeah, Deia and I spent the last couple of days getting them ready. We’ll be good for a while.” Dave opened up a trade window with the rest of the party. He traded goods directly into their packs. He had been in charge of making food.

“And once more,” Deia said, trading them potions she’d created with her skills in herb lore and alchemy.

They were well and truly prepared.

The Stone Raiders moved out, following the warbands. Their Elven rangers were already moving through the tree lines and looking for anything that might threaten the last group of fighters headed to Boran-al’s Citadel.

Chapter 32: Darkest Night

Boran-al moved through the shadows around the large camp set up at the entrance of the caves that had held his citadel for so long.

The area had been cleared and flattened by the combined Dwarven and Elven mages. Elven rangers moved through the forest, even at night, to make sure that nothing would sneak up on the camp.

Magical wards and tripwires covered the area as well. Boran-al disregarded them all as he lived in the shadows, looking at the creatures who dared to contest his power.

He looked at them all: the Player guilds in their mismatched lodgings and the combined army from Kufo’tel and Mithsia in orderly tents.

He sent a message to the creature who led the Earth Lord’s forces. The forest seemed to come alive with creatures letting loose their angry cries. Some of them would fight one another, but the noise was what Boran-al was using them for.

The People of the camp came alive in minutes, moving to the battlements that had been created from the earth.

Boran-al’s smile grew as he watched the feeble beings rush from their sleep to action. He would see that they would get little sleep in the coming days.

They might slaughter the Earth Lord’s minions if they came close but having them wandering around and making as much noise as possible would leave those who dared to defy Boran-al and his lord tired.

When someone was tired, then they weren’t working at their best.

With a thought, Boran-al disappeared, leaving behind the howling and cries of the forest.

He appeared in his immaterial form. The power it took was large; he was actively breaking through the Magical Circuits that were slowly breaking as his cultists systematically destroyed them.

“Massssterr.” A mummified-looking creature wearing a black robe knelt. Nine others followed its actions.

“Are all the preparations made?” Boran-al asked.

“We…are…read-y.” The creature talked with simple words, finding it hard to talk in complex sentences.

“On the death of the next day, we will once again show these creatures the power of the Dark and the devout. We will color this world black and raise armies of those who dared to think their magic capable of defeating the Dark.” Boran-al could sense the hunger in those around him. It mattered little what had got them to this point. Their power had turned into their cause, twisting nature and death into a tool of further destruction. Their darkness had pervaded their bodies and souls completely, turning them into dark creations.

There were no Players who could match their levels or power. Once he had raised the citadel, he would send his necromancers and their armies to tear the Kufo’tel Elves and Mithsia Dwarves from their homes to strengthen his undead legions and spread across Opheir and then Emerilia.

Other necromancers, even those who had once been Players, would flock to his cause. Power corrupts and they would use his twisted power for destruction and death.

“It is time that you started the ritual to call forth Damocles’ Darkness.”

“Yesss, Massterr,” the speaker said.

Boran-al laughed, cold and dark, the kind of laughter a serial killer might have as they moved through their victims one by one.

He sent a message to his spies.

Group Message

Darkness comes, Darkness stays, Darkness eternal. Kill those who would threaten us.

***

Dave woke with the sounds of predators around the camp.

The entire camp did.

Within moments, Dave and Deia were out of their tent, wearing their armor.

“We’re moving to the northern wall,” Jules said as they passed.

Dave checked the message boards. A flood of information came in from all kinds of sources. Orders were passed down other boards. Many of the Players had logged out for the night to prepare for the next day. There was about one for every five Players active and online. None of the Dwarves or Elves had that luxury, so they were all moving for the walls.

The majority of Stone Raiders were E-heads, so they made up the largest group manning the walls.

They’d scrambled up to the walls and were looking for possible attackers when the first tent went up in fire. There were quickly others. Mages were dispersed to stop the fires.

Then the first casualties started to come in, people—Dwarves, Elves, Players—dying.

Message Board: Information

>Sighted sprites near western wall, too far to hit

>Fire with supply train. Mages reacting.

>Just got revived in Omal; a Player shanked me in the back. Said something about the Dark Lord sending his regards. Someone kill that prick!

Dave sensed someone moving behind Deia to plant a blade in her back. She turned and sent a concentrated blast of fire through their stomach.

Deia took a picture of the man and sent it into the Information message board.

Some of the Players who had made personal alliances with the Dark were now being requested by Boran-al to fulfill their vows, to create chaos and confusion within the camp.

Dave was scared to see how it would affect the battle tomorrow.

***

It had been said before, but Dave was decidedly not a morning person. Add in the fact that he had been kept awake all night by a bunch of damned forest creatures that wanted to be nothing but a bunch of loud fucking grasshoppers, he was currently trying to drown in coffee substitute, muttering dark things about lords of Dark and Earth.

“Is he okay?” Dwayne asked as he checked on the squad.

“Not the best man after not sleeping for a bit. Give him a project—he’ll forget to breathe if you don’t tell him. Take away his sleep on purpose…” Lox let the rest trail off as Dwayne shivered.

Lox and his warband had paired up with Jules’s squad. Dwayne had seen Deia and Induca’s power before and he’d already slotted them as one of the most powerful squads.

In the week since camping out next to the citadel, they’d got closer together and Malsour had also deemed to teach others about spells that could fight off some of the general dark debuffs that Boran-al’s cultists might use.

Even now, there was a wolf making noise. Deia strung her bow and fired an arrow. A fiery trail lit up the afternoon sky, hitting the errant creature.

“That’s my girl.” Dave grinned happily.

“Stopped me from cuddling with my baby,” she said, an angry expression on her face as she sat down.

It pulled Dave out of his funk as they talked relationship-y things.

Dwayne shook his head. They were certainly one different kind of couple.

A shake spread through the ground. Every head snapped toward the gully and the defensive walls that faced the gully.

“Got about four hours; it should rise with the lowering of the sun.” Dave’s voice was serious as he looked directly at where the prison was.

“Bit ominous,” Gurren said, continuing to sharpen his blade.

“Well, they’re necromancers—they’ve always got a bit of a flair of the dramatic,” Max said, looking as if he was trying to take a nap.

Another creature started to make noise.

“Oh piss off, will you, goddamn Earth Lord’s minions!” Esa threw a rock in the direction of the outward facing wall.

Lightning silenced whatever was beyond the wall. Obviously the Players were getting a little pissed with the lack of sleep and Players who had worked their way into their guilds betraying them in the night.

The Stone Raiders didn’t have any for the simple fact that it was hard to devote your time to the guild and have the time to do anything else. Other guilds had been filled with assassins who had moved in to tear them apart from the inside on a contract but had instead followed Boran-al’s instructions.

Four guilds had been decimated, most of them being revived and heading back to the guild headquarters in order to stop the traitors from taking anything else from the guild. Entire buildings were stolen, personal belongings and vaults raided, and so on. Overnight, guilds were being torn apart.

The guilds all watched one another with little trust, and the Dwarves and Elves were watching them all with close eyes. Fourteen People of the land had been attacked: eight were dead, and the others had been healed up.

Dwayne and the other guild leaders were scared that there were more assassins left within the Players, biding their time until a critical moment.

They had no choice but to move forward; however, Josh was looking at doing raids in the future with just the People of the Stone Raiders.

***

Malsour stood, staring at the gully.

Dave stood as well. Both of them felt what was moving now. Their ability to see through the physical allowed them to see the now rising citadel.

Dave checked his axes. “It’s time.” His voice was low but the others started to stand as the ground rumbled.

War drums hammered away as Dave checked his armor. Deia’s hands moved to his straps, making sure it was secure. Dave checked her armor as the rest did their final checks.

The ground beyond the gully seemed to crack and then let go as massive black pillars shot into the sky. Stairs broke through where the gully had been, ending just feet from the walls that had been erected to face the dungeon. Rocks and earth that had buried the citadel were thrown away.

The first warbands moved up the steps. Everyone else was moving into position.

Dave couldn’t see all the details of the citadel but it looked like the rough sketch of pillars on the corners and in the center was correct.

They were covered in blood-red runes. Dave didn’t doubt that they had been created with blood at some point.

“Move up! You all know what to do. Malsour, start buffing—everyone else, food and potions!” Jules moved, getting them to follow.

Dave jogged behind her, looking to his grim friends. The Dwarves pulled on their helms, moving with a speed that belied the weight they carried.

Malsour and Induca moved with an otherworldly grace as Esa thumped on ahead, right on Jules’s heels. Mikal and Deia stayed back.

“Well, let’s see just what the hell these necromancers have.” Dave pulled up his hood, feeling the comfortable weight of his armor. A cold smile spread across his face, an expression hidden beneath his hood.

He saw arcing power already being thrown around at the top of the stairs. Battle had been joined.

There were dozens of necromancers. None of them were below level 100; ten of them seemed to be chanting away around the central spike monument. It was as they had thought: four pillars on each corner, with four spikes in the center with an altar in the middle of it. The pillars on each corner had cages built into them to hold the cultists’ victims.

A chain of pure black snaked out, grabbing someone and hauling them toward the center. They had multiple buffs on but these creatures were all mini bosses. Their magic was too powerful. The chain held them to the altar. They fought and writhed in order to try to get free.

A blade came out of the altar, piercing them. Their cries of anger turned into painful choking noises.

Dark magic crashed into shields and cut through the forces rushing up the stairs.

“Fuck.” Dave held out his hand and activated his armor. With his sight, he was able to break apart the deadly looking energy that was being sent directly into the stairs. He pulled the spell apart, draining the raw Mana into his armor. He conjured a rune inside his armor, changing his Magical Circuits. Now any similar bolts would just turn into stored Mana.

“You take the power of the Dark and you do this! Children!” Malsour passed Dave. His eyes seemed to be almost purple, with deep black vertical slits. His hands seemed to be scaled with claws and his teeth were as sharp as some predators.

A massive black shield formed thirty feet in front of the stairs.

People flowed around it as Malsour’s shield took hits. Dave stood beside him, putting one hand on his shoulder and transferring energy to him to keep the shield active.

He closed his eyes; his Touch of the Land had evolved to the point where he could see the makeup of spells. They were like runes, except more fluid, less efficient, and more power than necessary.

“Well, who said I only had to conjure materials.” A hard grin covered his face as he conjured Mana into the spells’ weaknesses. The spells, without the stabilizing components, were just fleeing energy.

Already Dave’s armor was gathering any extraneous energy it could find. All of it drifted to Dave, in turn supplying Malsour’s shield. For every spell he unraveled, three more hit Malsour’s shield. He needed more energy, much more.

Deia and Induca split to either side of Dave and Malsour, pouring in support spells to try to push the necromancers back.

The other forces ran to get themselves into their positions.

Dave channeled his raw power and found of those who he had watched—the best fighters—few noticed any differences as their armor or weapons stats got better.

They weren’t powerful conjurations, but it would give them a definite edge. The power that Dave had been storing for so long was nearly all spent with the fifty conjurations.

Still, he was sucking power from the Dark Mana bolts headed for the shield. The power was decent but he still needed more.

The Dwarves’ shields came together, creating walls. The Stone Raiders moved into position as the first casualties were coming back as the undead. The Players took them down as soon as possible, holy weapons and fighters focused on the undead. Healers were draining their Mana stores as people got into position and tried to build a rhythm.

That was when the second wave of assassins hit.

Chapter 33: Forward

The Stone Raiders had moved into their positions, trading out with the Dwarves, who were taking heavy casualties.

Cassie was moving up with her Golden Sabres when Jonas turned and tried to plunge his sword into her neck. She’d logged off for the night, leaving her more alert than those who had stayed behind and started training to be an Evolver Player. Her reaction was instinctive, turning and letting loose with a Mana bolt right into his side.

He grunted the pain, slowing him as Naylor and Bok Soo cut him down.

The two were her unofficial bodyguards. She’d argued that they’d be more useful on the field of battle and they’d firmly refused. Now she was happy that they had.

She moved onward, pulling her sword free; it glowed with a golden light that was only getting stronger the closer they got to the battlefield.

What greeted her was chaos.

Darvos had gone ahead as her second-in-command and secured their position around the citadel. They’d already lost a number of people just trying to get into position. Now their ranks were in turmoil as the second hidden dagger of Boran-al rushed through their ranks.

Five Dwarves and Esa stood behind a large black shield that was covering all of those who were coming up the stairs. Fire mages on either side were unleashing their talents, leaving burnt ground in the wake of their attacks, bringing the pressure onto them and off the forces moving into position.

It must’ve been Jules’s squad; she’d heard things about Induca and Deia. She saw Dave with a hand on who must’ve been Malsour. The brother was even stronger than his sister.

Dave’s other hand was raised out toward the shield.

The Dwarves were still rushing up the left side of the stairs like a tidal wave of armored tanks. Their training was impeccable; they drifted into position as if they’d inhabited them all their lives. Their lines solidified and they held their ground, their shields coming together.

Rock golems were forming and moved toward the cultists. The ground was made of black stone; earth javelins sped at the cultists.

Their Health barely moved even with a direct hit. The cultists faced outward; none of them even seemed bothered with getting into melee range. They ranged from level 107 to 190, with most in the 140 range.

Black lightning thundered down on the Dwarves. Their shields were left smoking from the attack but Cassie doubted that they could take much of it. The Dwarves weren’t only protecting themselves from the cultists; their edge running along the multiple guilds also had a shield wall.

She wasn’t surprised to see that the edge that connected to the Stone Raiders did not have a similar shield wall. With the Stone Raiders, it was excessively hard to join their guild and be a spy.

Unlike my own Golden Sabres. She was kicking herself for letting so many people into the guild after they had opened the portals to the Alturaran lands.

Dwarven machinery formed behind their lines as Dwarven and Elven attack mages were working on trying to suppress the cultists. The Elves had formed ranks behind the Dwarves. They fired their arrows, the forward rank dropping as the second released; by the time the second rank was kneeling, the first rose up.

Black shields appeared around the cultists. They sent curses and hexes out.

Cassie looked away from those who came under those spells. Their deaths were gruesome and terrible.

Another person tried to kill Cassie but Naylor was there, kicking them off balance and then cutting his flaming great sword right through them as if their armor wasn’t even there.

“Pull the veterans together. We’ll support the Stone Raiders’ side. Any traitors we find, I want them to never log onto Emerilia again without one of us waiting for them.” Cassie moved toward her people.

She glanced back at the squad that was holding the beachhead. She hadn’t seen power like that expended by so few yet. They might die just holding the beachhead but it had allowed them to get into position.

She had come to Cliff-Hill to increase Golden Sabres’ name. With the assassins and betrayal, it had turned the publicity stunt into something personal.

She accessed her inventory and equipped her helmet. Her hair was pulled inside and out of the way as her helmet descended. Naylor and Bok Soo followed suit. Across the Golden Sabres lines, helmets lowered and weapons were changed, from the flashy and cool-looking ones to their true weapons.

A private message request pinged on her interface.

“So, looks like you lot are getting serious,” Josh said, obviously fighting from his breaths and the grunts.

“When someone starts putting traitors in my guild, I’m not one for mercy.” A smile crossed Cassie’s face. She came to this game to make money, but in the beginning it had been an escape, something to show others just how strong she could be.

Her veterans grouped together, people she’d known for months, who’d quested with her to get their gifts from the Lady of Light, who had stood with her to take the portal to the Alturaran lands. They worked like a well-oiled machine, heavies protecting casters, healers rotating their heals and their meditation. Leaders keeping it all organized.

There was every kind of Affinity of magic being thrown across the citadel’s square. The cultists’ Health was dropping, if it be slowly.

This is what she gamed for, when gamers all came together for a singular purpose; they were a large group of loners and individuals in all other matters. When it came to a battle, that disappeared and they would do incredible things to keep one another alive.

“We need to move up. Their magic is more powerful than ours and we can’t even deploy our melee,” Cassie said.

“The lady has a point. I can move my forces up, but those other guilds I don’t much trust,” Koda, the leader of the Dwarves and Elves, said. She hadn’t noticed him as she got into position and started working with other mages to call down holy artillery on the cultists, feeding them her Mana for their large spells.

“Have the running artillery spells only, spend all their Mana and we can see if they do anything dodgy. I’ll send you a few rogues who will keep an eye on them in case any of them have a change of allegiance.” Josh was always a happy-go-lucky kind of guy. His voice now made Cassie shiver; it seemed he took as kindly to traitors as she did.

“Good. I’ll have some rangers reinforce them,” Koda said.

“Fuck, these bastards are strong.” Cassie watched as multiple magical artillery rounds hit the cultists, hitting a shield that descended from the center of the four spikes. A black crystal showed itself.

“Think of their level as double. The only way for his lot to get experience for their overall level was to train their skills. That means they’ve probably got a whole shitload of stat points behind them,” Josh said.

Koda grunted in grim agreement.

“Well, for fuck’s sake!” Cassie yelled.

“Welcome to Boran-al’s Citadel. Now we need a way to take down that damn shield,” Koda said.

“Dave,” Josh said.

“He’s a smith and an okay fighter, but how is he going to do that?” Cassie asked.

Unseen to Cassie, Josh looked at the two daggers in his hand. They weren’t the blades that he had given to Dave; they were identical except for the fact they had gray smoke around them and they were in better condition than the ones he’d given to Dave.

“He’s more than meets the eye,” Josh said.

“Worth a try,” Koda said.

“Very well, I’m going to work on getting… Fuck!” Cassie watched as Dwarves who had been killed in the first few minutes of battle were now rising from the dead right behind Jules’s squad.

Esa stepped up, her blade cutting into them.

“The dead are rising,” Josh supplied.

“Fucking necros.” Koda’s voice was filled with pure anger as it was his people who were, for the large part, being pulled back from death and turned against their friends.

Most of the Players had dropped out and were waiting out the two-hour times until they could get back in. A whole six hours in-game.

They were just ten minutes into the fight: none of the cultists were below eighty percent Health and they’d already lost nearly five hundred people, including the Dwarves and Elves.

“I’ve got healers and casters. Josh—overall and watch for openings. Koda—shield wall,” Cassie said.

Now was not the time for division; they needed to work together.

“Shifting command to you. Kim and Lucy will assist. Koda, you’ve got Dwayne,” Josh said.

“Wender will support you, Josh,” Koda said.

“Same for Darvos,” Cassie said.

“Well, let’s get this fucking thing started. Five minutes to get organized then I want us moving the fuck forward. Interspace Dwarven shield bearers with my tanks; they can add to the magical resistances and buff, moving Koda’s mages from healing and support to Cassie’s command,” Josh said.

“Got it.”

“’Kay.” Cassie was working command windows, as Josh sent her lists of people to contact. She sent out messages firming up lines of command and changing things on the fly. She moved people over to the Dwarves to relay the messages as they didn’t have the private messaging function.

***

Malsour’s shield came down.

“Lock! March!” Lox bellowed. The four warbands under his command came together in front of Malsour, their shields taking the impacts. Among them were Players firing off buffs and creating magical shields, living up to their tank monikers.

Black energy rained down on them. Chains tried to pierce the shields and drag them out of place. If it was not for the Dwarven shield bearer enchantments, then they would have been dragged free.

Now they stood and Dave couldn’t help but feel pride at the sight.

“Eat up and meditate. You’re now my hit squad.” Josh clapped Dave and Malsour on the back.

Both of them slumped on the ground, eating food to help their regeneration of Mana and to start their meditating.

Mikal, who’d seen the least action, took over making sure everyone was eating food and drinking potions to regain what they’d lost.

Dwarven lines interspersed with Players on either side were staggered and slowed in their advance until they linked up with the rest of the shield bearers. It was as if they turned into a solid wall instead of a group of people.

Rogues and clerics rushed around, dealing with the undead. Here and there, they rose between ranks of the Dwarves. Another use for having the Players was that it was so much easier for them to kill the Dwarves and Elves who came back from the dead.

It’s so much easier to kill something you just think of as ones and zeroes.

The guilds other than the Sabres and Raiders had been decimated. With the traitors in their midst, their trust had been broken; a few of them were still left but not many. The new lines were moving to cover their area as they died off.

A third of the Golden Sabres were shunned as they were new and couldn’t be fully trusted. They were fighting with their all and more than a few rogues and rangers were watching them to clear away any who tried to attack their fellows’ sides.

***

Deia panted. She had spent nearly half of her Mana on constant spells from fire bomb and scorching ray to fire bolts.

The Dwarves, Elves, Stone Raiders, and veteran Golden Sabres were pushing on three sides. The other guilds and the non-veteran Golden Sabres were along the northern edge of the citadel’s stone square.

She could see over the heads of many and right to the central area. The cultists were standing their ground, around forty of them firing spells into Players and People of the land.

It seemed that they had figured out that gathering Players for anything other than their blood ritual happening at the center of the citadel was useless. Black chains tore at the Elves and the rear ranks of the allied forces, pulling them into the center.

So far they’d been able to keep down the number of dead that the cultists had risen, through a combination of holy blessings and Players quickly killing any People of the land who were re-animated.

Deia looked to the rest of the squad. All of them were sitting down. Lox and his warband, who were their support, had joined onto the shield wall that was now pressing toward the large shield in the center of the citadel’s square.

Here and there, the cultists were able to kill people in the shield wall. Their own shield kept taking hit after hit of magical artillery. They would soon run out of the Mana to supply those powerful spells. Deia looked to Dave, who would have looked as if he were taking a nap if it wasn’t for the way his brow was creased. He’d spent ten minutes at it, talking to Malsour, who sat next to him.

Deia had never seen Malsour so angry. Induca had told her that Malsour was a practitioner of Dark magic. Upon seeing the twisted way in which the necromancers were using the magic, it seemed that the calm and studious Malsour had snapped in anger.

There was also the minor fact that his skin had appeared to take on a scaly appearance and he had claws. Oh and his eyes were slits and he was a few inches taller and wider. Induca also seemed bigger but less scales—other than on her hands, which now had claws.

Dave sat up and reached for the black soul gem that resided between the four central peaks.

“Riiight…there.”

The soul gem shattered as power rushed toward Dave. Even as it was entering his armor, he was powering his conjurations and creating more.

It seemed that losing the shield was a sign to the cultists.

Dark magic started flying and corpses, even those of the twice dead, were pulled toward the citadel.

Deia looked at the four peaks and the runes on them that were slowly lighting up. Purple smoke drifted from the runes and surrounded the spikes.

“We’ve got a new target,” Jules said.

People cheered as the first cultist’s shield fell and attacks started making contact. Even without the shield, the cultist was hard to kill.

It took the damage, dropping slowly for all the Mana that they were spending on it. It managed to raise a directed shield to deflect magical artillery. It seemed almost dead as arrows, javelins, curses, and magical bolts hit it.

Group Chat Weakness

>Healing spells against the cultists work well, must be because they’re undead!

Deia watched as offensive mages with healing spells started healing it. Its Health started dropping continuously.

It let out a Health drain, ripping Mana, Stamina, and Health from its enemies. Most could do that to a maximum of three people. It was doing it to ten.

Attacks turned from other shielded cultists to the one on its last legs.

One of the feeding people died; the cultist attached their red lead to another.

Group Chat Weakness

>Bless people being drained, cuts the connection!

“That’s our target,” Jules said. An enemy was surrounded in a red halo. They pulled another body from the masses. It was clearly dead without a head. Scrambling an undead’s brains removed the control and it dropped like a puppet without strings.

“Combined Scorching Rain,” Induca said.

Whereas Deia was the better physical fighter, Induca was her teacher in all things Fire. If she called a spell, Deia would follow.

Deia completed a short chant; Induca, with a more concrete idea of the spell, was able to only say the title of the spell as their spell came together in the shape of concentrated fiery rain.

Induca’s control altered Deia’s spell, refining its targeting while their power worked together to make it three times more powerful than just twice. Their spells combined to cover each other’s weaknesses to make a more powerful and refined spell.

It was like Dave’s runes, where he combined Elven and Dwarven magical runes to create a circuit. Neither were perfect, but together they looked to improve the other and create a greater Magical Circuit, or in this case a higher class spell.

The Scorching Rain hammered the cultist’s shield, making it turn from its work to reinforce its shield. In one hand, its hands held the neck of a dead dwarf; with the other, Dark energy flowed into its shield.

Deia saw its eye holes staring at her, its skin decayed and mummified as it looked at her with cold hatred. It might not have eyes but she could understand the emotions behind it.

“Again,” Deia said, getting a better idea of the spell and shortening her chant. Induca adapted and added in her own power.

“Darkness’ Tears,” Malsour said as Induca said her words.

Black fire with blue centers hit the cultist’s shields; Dark and Fire magic slammed into the shield. The concentrated power in the spell broke the cultist’s shield; it left ragged holes in its tattered black habit and burned into the pile of bodies around it.

All manner of attacks that had been hitting the shield now scored hits on the cultist.

Even with all of the incoming damage, it started a chant that Deia couldn’t hear but made her guts twist in its unnatural feel as a Dark magic and corrupted Earth magic pooled around the cultist and flowed into the forty beings around it.

The first started to rise: an Elf, its head caved in by a mace or some other blunt melee weapon. It grabbed its arrows and fired with its bow.

“How the hell can that move?” Deia asked.

“They’re not undead; they’re soul-bound skeletons. He took their souls, bound them to their bodies and powered them with his magic,” Malsour spat.

Deia squinted at the Elf and the other dead now rising. There were two to three hundred of them, with more being pulled from the area.

Flesh-Covered Skeleton

Level 53

Soul-Bound Elf

Deia sent blue fire bolts at the cultist as it continued to bring more of the creations back from the grave.

He stumbled with the hits, his chant backlashing as he screamed out in pain and ecstasy. The mixture of emotions and the look on its face sent a shiver down Deia’s spine as she sent more attacks at the cultists.

Induca and Malsour added in their own attacks.

“How do we defeat them?” Jules asked as she sent a stream of healing light to Esa.

“Usually a big enough hit from a blunt weapon would smash the bones apart and it would collapse. With the flesh, the best thing to do is burn the physical body away and then take out the skeleton beneath. Otherwise, just damage them so much that their bodies fail. They are mindless beasts that feel no pain; closing with them can send them into a blood frenzy,” Malsour said.

Jules repeated what Malsour had said into the information chat; it automatically changed it from spoken words to written text.

“Weapons with soul-stealing enchantments will be the most powerful,” Dave said.

Malsour nodded.

“Fire Shot?” Induca asked.

“I’ll combine with Equalizer,” Malsour said.

Deia began the chant for the spell as black lightning arced toward them. Deia almost messed up the chant as it slammed into a magical shield.

“Fuck off, you undead pricks!” Dave barked, holding up a magical shield as they worked.

The lightning disappeared. Black smoke drifted into Dave’s armor; he’d pulled the spell apart.

Jules worked on a dwarf who had caught an arrow to the neck and Esa was continuing to fight.

Induca, Malsour, and Deia’s spell came together. It was a javelin of Everlasting Blue Fire with black streaks spiraling around them.

“Refine,” Dave yelled, falling to his knee as Deia felt a massive burst of power in the projectile. Streaks of every kind of Affinity twisted to turn it into a core of white with streaks of exterior color.

It hit the cultist, ending its chant and taking it from half Health to about fifteen percent.

It seemed to have a rallying effect on the other casters and long-range attackers. The cultist was reeling from the attack and the backlash of its own chant when the final attack cut them down.

“Why the hell didn’t his skeletons drop?” Jules asked.

“He soul bound them—they are his minions but they are powered by their own energy, not his,” Malsour growled.

Deia moved to Dave, the two of them panting from the Mana that they had just hurled around.

“You okay?”

“You’re the one on your knees,” she said, breathing heavily.

“Heh, where’s the Dwarves with a good innuendo like that one?” Dave laughed, which turned into a cough from lack of oxygen.

“What did you do?” Deia asked.

“I added magical power from the other Affinities. It was like a Magical Circuit and I just cleaned it up a little bit and added some more power.” Tired from thinking that fast and that hard, Dave pulled out a waterskin and drank from it, and then gave it to Deia.

She took it, looking up as she heard the first real sounds of battle of shields and swords meeting.

The flesh-covered skeletons ran into the Dwarven line without a care about their own safety, doing everything they could to get at their old and living comrades. There was none of their true selves left. Even if there were, the dead pulled back to fight them. It was hard to fight something that looked like your buddy who you’d had a drink with, or joked with.

Deia saw more than one tear-stained face as they plunged their swords into their old comrades, now fighting their corpses in order to survive.

Chapter 34: Death Walks in the Shadows of Night

Boran-al looked over his cultists. The forces of the area were putting up a good fight but in an hour they had only been able to kill three cultists. The wounded had been pulled back to the people at the base of the hill, while those around the citadel’s spires continued their chant, untouched and unafraid of the mere mortals who dared to interrupt their master’s commands.

The Players and People of Emerilia were tiring but they had finally reached the closest cultists.

The cultists had few close combat abilities other than their Touch of Death.

Each of them had their own way of dealing with those who got close, from creating a vortex of dark energy to arcing black lightning or area attack spells. The dead rose around a cultist, turning back those who had taken it to forty percent of its Health.

In the melee, the allied forces had been so distracted by the fight that they forgot that their dead were a weapon. Undead attacked until they fell. If there was any strength left in their bodies, they were called forth again as zombies.

Boran-al watched a group that sent another powerful bolt of energy into a cultist’s shield, destroying it as a force of Dwarves and Players surrounded the now stunned cultist and laid into it with their weapons.

Its Health dropped considerably as the attackers were buffed and healed, not caring for the other cultist’s attacks. Magical shields were erected by the enemy’s mages, protecting the melee fighters from magic as they tore through the cultists.

Their Health was high, but in close combat they were nearly useless. They killed a person here with a Touch of Death, or gained some Health back with their draining spells.

Blessings and healing were fired off, keeping the people from dying or breaking the draining spell.

Cultists with an army of undead were nearly invisible in their ranks and commanded great power. Without their armies, they had powerful spells but they were out of their element and at their most vulnerable.

The allied creatures didn’t cheer in victory as the fourth cultist fell. They pulled back their wounded and almost dead, cleansing those who were dead so that they couldn’t be revived, and hustled back into the shield wall.

Spells blasted out, trying to get through the wall and open the ones behind it for attack. A wall of Darkness erupted behind the retreating melee fighters, absorbing the attacks.

Boran-al looked at the creature who had created the shield. Boran-al could sense great power behind them, great power that they hid. The man who stood beside them was even more odd. Mana from broken spells and the cultists’ own souls seemed to be absorbed by him.

Boran-al had never seen anything like it. The amount of magic and sheer power that was being thrown around hadn’t been seen since the portals were last closed a century ago.

Magical potions, meditation, food, soul gems: all of them were used in combination to continue the flow of Mana.

The entire citadel square was a scene of destruction: lights of all types of magic, catapults, and ballista littered the area. Arrows filled the sky as shields of metal and those of Mana were lit up with Mana and violent blows.

Boran-al looked at the four spires. They glowed with Dark energy, most of the runes now lit with smoke swirling around the creation.

Soon it would matter little.

***

“Forward!” Lox cried out, his voice rough from the constant yelling. His mind was foggy from the constant effort, but his body was ready. He didn’t know what Dave had done but he knew the man had changed the Magical Circuits on a few shields, reinforcing the entire Dwarven lines.

The Dwarves and Players listened to his words, moving forward even as magic tore at their shields.

To Lox’s side, Max went down in a shriek. Gurren stepped over him, taking his spot. A healer would look after him; his Health was at ten percent and dropping. It got to five percent before it started to crawl up.

Lox put it to the back of his mind as the line closed on two cultists along the southern front of the citadel’s square.

“Making up for a little something? Like you’re overcompensating for not having a dick, you mummified fucking raisin!” Gurren yelled.

“Fuck sakes, I think the leaf I use to wipe my arse is more comfortable than your skin,” Lox added.

“Boran-al’s cultists? Bunch of fucking Air mages to me—all talk, no strength!”

“I’m an Air mage and I think even we can do a bit better. These fuckers can’t even talk properly. Got hit in the head a few dozen times as children!”

The Dwarves yelled obscenities and their anger at the cultists; the Players did the same.

They might not be mobs, but any sentient would’ve been incensed by the words.

As more magical attacks hammered into their shields, Lox started to laugh. He might die here, might turn into an undead, but it was kind of funny to make fun of some hundred-year-old friggin’ dried-up prunes.

“I met the Boran-al cultists,

Let me tell out about those dipshits.

Couldn’t cast a spell, no,

Couldn’t make a noise, no.

But boy, did they make a stink ho!”

It was crude and it was barely a song, but the Dwarves took it up.

It was one thing to face the forces of Darkness in their citadel. It was another thing to make fun of those so-called powerful cultists in a song and march toward them.

The lines moved, forming a twenty-foot horseshoe around the cultists, as the shield wall moved up to support their farthest edge. The terrible song continued as Lox slammed his blade into the shield. It skidded off but flared with the energy expressed on it. Magical shields were meant to stop all types of energy, from kinetic to direct or light.

Lox slammed his blade in a second time and it didn’t skirt off; instead, it stuck into the wall and started to draw power out from it. Lox looked at his blade in shock. He wanted to turn to look at where the power was disappearing off to, but his training kept him focused on the cultist who was inside the shield and now starting to rapidly chant something.

When one of the old paper bags got to chanting, it meant that something powerful was coming.

The shield came down, just as the cultist finished its spell.

A black haze floated through the ranks.

Lox moved forward, moving to engage the cultist, who was firing off bolts.

Someone stepped out of line, their shield no longer connected to the others and being supported by the others’ runes.

“Charge!” Lox called before the cultist could start firing into the new gap.

The Players and Dwarves headed in.

Lox coughed, sucking in more of the black haze. He felt lightheaded as he reached the cultist. He got there with the others. Their numbers had thinned, and most were on the ground, coughing. It felt as if Lox were drowning. He closed his mouth, realizing that there was a poison around him.

The cultist couldn’t stop them all, even with its poison cloud that rested over many of them.

Lox needed to kill it now or else its spell could kill too many of their allied forces and turn the tide.

Others reached the cultist first. They took down its Health but it was minimal. They just didn’t have weapons to do the damage.

Lox just hoped that they did enough damage so that the long-range weapons could take the damned thing out. Lox felt the blade in his hand vibrate and grow hot. He put it down to the lack of oxygen going to his brain as he plunged the blade into the cultist’s side.

It screeched out in pain, losing a full five percent from the attack.

Lox, seeing his chance, attacked the creature with everything he had. The others saw its Health going down, even as the first of those to reach the cultist fell due to the poison in the air.

Lox saw fire burning through the sky but he didn’t dare look away from the cultist as he fended off its limbs with its shield and cut with his sword.

Conscious thought no longer held precedence in Lox’s mind. Oxygen-starved and with the knowledge of his own demise near, he fought with everything in his soul. As if answering his call, he felt power fill his body.

He deflected a Dark Mana bolt, plunging his sword into the creature’s chin and into its head. Its remaining twenty percent Health dropped as the cultist wilted, turning into dust and floating away.

Lox’s energy left him as he panted for air, only to find that his lungs were filled with his own blood. He collapsed as the allied forces moved forward over his body.

Fear crept into his mind—fear of death—but it was pushed away as he thought of his friends he had saved. He coughed, his whole body shaking in turmoil, a smile on his face as he heard his terrible song.

***

Dave pulled back his conjurations on Lox’s armor, changing them to try to heal and bless the man, keeping him alive for long enough for the healers to reach him.

Dave cried out. Even with all the power he had gained, the cultist’s own soul powering his spells, he was losing hold on too many of his conjurations. He took a few short breaths, knowing what he needed to do. It wouldn’t give him a ton of power, but it would mean that he lost less of what he got.

“This is going to suck.” Dave lay down. The first part was easy—bit of fire right along the spinal column. He moved his head but otherwise his body was useless, couldn’t move a damned thing. He needed to work quick.

He pulled up an idea he had thought of for a while but he had never needed to put it into use and really hoped he didn’t need to. Using fire and his power of conjuration, he started to carve out all of the runes in his mind at once. This time he wasn’t engraving it into metal. He was using his own body, establishing a stronger link with the Mana stored within his armor and making it easier to transfer.

He heard Deia yelling and moving to him. He needed to finish up quick. Pissing off the fiancée would not do.

He applied healing but in a way that made the changes permanent—the runes part of his skin from his legs across his back and chest and down his arms, a few reaching to his neck.

That done, he healed his spinal column. He knew as soon as it was connected. He could feel the pain of the rest of his body. It was not a pleasant experience but as he’d thought, he was burning through his Mana at a slower rate.

“Sorry, just meditating.” Dave got to his feet, not wanting to scare Deia more.

She just hugged him. It had been five hours since the fight had started and everyone was tired. He put it down to that and almost put the fact that there was purple and black lightning arcing between the four spikes to the same reason until he realized that he was picking them up with his Touch of the Land as well.

“Well, that ain’t good.”

The universe really seemed to have it out for Dave that day.

The lightning continued, faster and faster, illuminating the citadel and the surrounding area. People from Omal and Cliff-Hill could see the lights as the air seemed to crackle with energy.

Dave stopped staring and started pulling apart the spells as fast as possible. The sheer power that he was siphoning off served to scare the shit out of him.

What the fuck would they need this kind of power for?

A shape formed between the four spikes, standing over the altar.

***

“The fuck is that?” Dave asked.

“An undead demon, or several of them, put together and with all of the souls that they had in life bound to them in the afterlife and controlled by the cultists,” Malsour, always such a helpful guy, said.

“Oh, come the fuck on!” Jules yelled.

The demon, big and ugly and annoying as he was, decided to step out of the damned spikes, which must’ve been some kind of portal from whatever place people thought it was cool to play fucking Frankenstein with thirty-foot-tall, black armor-covered demons.

“Sounds like a fucking bad B movie,” Dave said, his adrenaline cold in his veins as he tried to think of something to beat this damned fucking juggernaut.

The red and white runes across its armor reminded Dave of the same runes that had been hidden within Josh’s blade.

Undead Demon Lord

Level 275

Soul-Bound Xelur Demon Lord and victims

It stepped out of the portal, lightning discharging off into the night’s sky. Its armored head turned to face the various guilds that had come but weren’t trusted to not have any more assassins and traitors.

With a mangled yell, it charged their forces. A massive blade of black steel and dried blood cleaved through magical shields and metal shields, cutting down Players with ease.

The Xelur Demon’s natural enhancements made it one hell of a tank, the fact that it was level 275 made all of the attacking forces pause.

It let out a yell of rage that made everyone’s blood chill in their veins. A stream of Dark energy erupted from its left hand, like a twisting helix of darkness. It bore through Players and People of Emerilia; it didn’t kill them, but threw them in every direction.

The sheer corruption of the spell was killing them slowly and painfully. It created life bonds, draining others’ Health, Stamina, and Mana to fill its own.

Dave opened a channel to Josh.

“Give me your five best rogues. I can make more of your blades—ten of them, no more,” Dave said.

“I’ll give you ten, greater chance that they hit the bastard,” Josh said.

“Send them.” Dave sat down. As he broke off his contact with a number of conjurations, the power flooded back to him. He pulled out all his remaining soul gems, draining them for all but the minimum to power themselves. “Deia, I need your power.”

“Take it,” she said without hesitation.

Dave smiled at her trust as he linked their armor and pulled the few percent she had extra.

Their armor could hold so much power that a single percent was over ten times all the power that Dave could hold in his Mana pool. He started conjuring, daggers appearing around him. More power flooded in from his armor, allowing him to conjure above his original limits. With just one conjured item but replicated dozens of times it was easier for him to form them again and again. If he had a dozen different kinds of weapons the mental strain would have stopped him from repeat conjurings.

***

“Neutral, what are you going to do about this?” Light demanded.

“What am I going to do? Nothing. But I would warn you that the fight is not over until it’s over. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m a little busy.” With that, he disappeared from her greeting hall.

“Did he just dismiss himself?” Ackall, the Lady of Light’s occasional bed-mate, asked.

Rage crept into her being. How did he do that? I power the runes in this chamber myself. I can allow people to enter and exit as I desire. I didn’t clear him a path out of here but he left as if it was nothing.

“Ackall, I want someone watching Neut. I fear that we have underestimated the meddling creature,” Light said.

She knew that Neutral was the balancer of Emerilia, but she had thought that he was only capable of changing the rules. The power he displayed there…

She had not maintained her position by being brash except when she was sure that her actions would not be overstepping their boundaries. She had thought herself the most powerful; now with Dark moving to exercise his power over Emerilia, the power balance would be thrown into chaos.

She knew that Neutral cared for the People of Emerilia; it had led to more than one time where he had looked the other way so that she could exercise her power and balance against Dark.

She was not above manipulating creatures and making a front to make her look like the good and great Lady of Light she was portrayed. Behind it all, she was just as calculating as the Dark Lord, making great displays of her power to gather people to it.

She knew Neut to some degree. The creature had allowed a good number of things to happen on both sides. An outright slaughter of his people’s lands—that was not in the cards.

Then again, I would be willing to lose that many people if it meant gaining a greater power advantage later. What is his angle?

“Make sure that we have people who are capable of reporting the situation happening at Boran-al’s Citadel. I have a feeling this is not the end of the battle.”

“It will be done, my lady.” Ackall bowed.

Chapter 35: Woman of Flames

Deia turned to face Dave. She’d been ordered by Josh to take a weapon from Dave in order to attack the Demon Lord, who was rushing through the enemy lines like some kind of hellish tank.

In Dave’s hands, twin wicked blades that curved around a person’s fist and down the side of their forearm appeared. Gray smoke, the signature of his conjuration, pooled around the blades.

Deia took them as another set started to form. She could see the power that was draining out of Dave, the sweat on his forehead from creating such powerful blades.

The stats were a bare third of the actual creation’s strength but there were twenty of them instead of just two.

Josh appeared above them, using his blink-step to reach them faster.

Other rogues and rangers joined them.

“Take the blades Dave makes—we’re going after that Demon Lord. These blades should pull the souls from it, weakening it and giving us better Stealth skills. We’re going to go in with a bunch of rangers who are going to turn it into a moving pincushion and keep it distracted. It is our job to get in and tear the mother fucker apart,” Josh said.

Dave was panting, holding the ground as his body shook from fatigue.

Deia wanted to get him away from the battlefield and get him back to full condition. She knew that wasn’t going to happen and she was running into the middle of battle.

“Everyone good to go? These blades won’t last forever, so we’re going to need to hit hard and fucking fast,” Josh said.

Deia tucked the blades into her second fighting inventory spot, accessing her first slot. Dave’s compound bow appeared in her hand and a quiver on her shoulder.

No one raised any objections.

“Let’s go kill that Frankenstein mother fucker,” Josh said.

The eighteen rogues and rangers good at close quarters combat headed around the rear of the fighting, past mages slumped in fatigue and others using the dregs of their Mana to fire artillery spells. Between the Players and Dwarves who were clashing with the remaining cultists and the Elven rangers who were firing streams of arrows into the cultists at range, ballista jerked, their payloads going over the fighting lines to smash into the cultists.

The cultists around the citadel had been whittled down to just seven.

Deia saw as the ten highest strength cultists were turning from their portal. Dark energy pooled around them; one of their spells fired. Dave was still out of the fight for making the blades. Malsour was the only other person skilled enough in magical constructs to pull those spells apart.

Four of the attacks were blunted; the fifth tore through four ranks of Dwarves and Players.

The sixth and seventh didn’t seem to have any effect but every dead that was not blessed or had been risen before started to get to their feet.

The ninth formed a shield, not around the citadel, but the entire area. They were keeping them inside the citadel; the hunters were now the hunted. Deia felt fear curl in her stomach.

The reason that the chant had taken so long and they had used living sacrifices was not because they were weak; it was because they were marshaling their strength for the real fight.

“Fire!” Josh called. Rangers who had also moved around the outside of the formations loosed arrows, which struck the Demon Lord in mid-swing.

Deia loosed with her bow. The Demon Lord’s tough skin was only aided with the crude heavy armor it was wearing.

Rogues blink-stepped or used assassination or any skill that might get them closer to the Demon Lord faster. The eighteen rogues and rangers were brutal in their attacks, hitting vulnerable areas and between the armor. Deia switched her weapons, the bow disappearing as the twin blades ran along her arms.

She felt strength, strength that she had never felt in her life, fill her; she knew that it was the armor enhancing her own skills. She ran like a blur, dragging her blades across the back of the creature’s knee, running past it as it started to turn to face its attackers. She ran up a defensive wall created by an Earth mage and jumped backward toward the Demon Lord.

Fire poured from her hands, creating an arc of fire as she saw the Demon Lord moving as if in molasses. She plunged her blades into its neck, cutting out a great section of its meaty traps, flipping away and using its armored back as a launch pad.

She shot off into the sky, raising her fists and turning herself in mid-flight.

Her blow made the Demon Lord cry out in anger; pain no longer affected it, but losing its Health and limiting its function drove it further into its blood-rage. It turned, trying to face the flying Elf with twin streams of fire holding her aloft.

Its knee buckled as several of Josh’s rogue and ranger party materialized from the shadows and drove their blades into the creature. It dropped to seventy-five percent Health and slammed its blade down in the ground. Black tendrils of energy searched for anything living, slamming into them and pulling them apart.

Deia heard their screams but there was nothing to do: the Demon Lord’s AOE spell meant that she couldn’t get in close to damage it further. Screams not of Emerilia cut through the sounds of battle and even those of the dying.

Deia’s head snapped over to see a large magical circle. Two of the ten powerful cultists devoted their power and any sacrifices they could get ahold of to the circle.

Seems that they got a bit diverse in their spell casting after a few centuries buried in the earth.

Deia hissed; when it looked as if they could deal with one thing, another took its place. There was nothing to do but continue the fight.

Five thousand Dwarves and a thousand Elves with five hundred mages and nearly a thousand Players had been reduced to three thousand Dwarves, five hundred Elves, maybe two hundred mages and four hundred Players.

Deia rushed toward the demon as it rose from its stance. Its leg and neck had healed as well as the damage by the archers. The blades’ attacks had not only attacked the creature’s body, but the very souls that powered it; their damage was not so easy to shrug off.

Deia created a tunnel of fire around her; much as she created her flame cannon, she now made it much bigger and surrounded herself. The competing air pressures fought each other until she was sent screaming toward the Demon Lord.

To others, night became day as a lance of blue fire hammered the Demon Lord as it finally got to its feet.

Deia hit it right in the chest.

The armor flared with runes trying to fight off her magical power.

The demon started to fall as Deia focused her energy. Fire had always come to her more on an instinctual level. The teachings her father and Induca had given her refined that magical power, making it exacting and specific.

The runes on the demon’s armor failed; she was wreathed in blue flames, her energy focused on its chest, burning through the armor plate.

The other rogues and rangers didn’t waste the opportunity. Even five feet away, they couldn’t feel the heat of the attack but they could sense the sheer power that was pouring off Deia.

The demon raised his hand to cast a spell. Deia leapt away, her blue flames falling away. Her massive reserves were dwindling but her armor had continued to gather power. It was enough to create a rough shield as the demon sped up and fired its spiral beam of darkness at her.

She gritted her teeth, pouring everything into her shield. She could feel it failing as the ground around her shield was ripped up and thrown from the attack.

Rogues’ and rangers’ blades sunk into the creature’s openings but it seemed to care little, focused on only killing her.

Chapter 36: Dragons Return

“This has gone on long enough,” Malsour said. Dave was in a nearly catatonic state; no human should have been channeling the kind of power that he was. It was enough magic to make a century-old dragon drop to their knees in exhaustion.

Still, Dave pressed on. Cliff-Hill was his home; the people who lived there his friends. For a man who had so few friends in his past life, he treasured them as the rare people they were. It was hard to find true friends, to find people who were willing to lay down their lives for Dave. Dave was willing to do the same.

Malsour had met few people like Dave and those in Cliff-Hill.

“She really is like her mother.” Induca looked to her brother as her body grew and extended. A tail appeared from her clothes as her tanned appearance turned scaly and red, her face protruding into a snout.

Malsour smiled.

“Grandmother would be most displeased if we didn’t help her, and she does despise the Demon Lords who use her fires for their dark rituals.” Malsour’s voice grew deep and powerful as his body grew. Wings grew down his back as the black of his cloak spread across his clothes that turned into scales.

He took to the skies. As a human, he was able to use just a tenth of his complete power. When in his true form, he could use it all.

The battle seemed to pause for a moment as those gathered realized that they were in the presence of two beasts that had not been seen in centuries.

Dragons once again flew the skies of Emerilia.

The two dragons let out an ear-shattering screech, their claws tearing the shield surrounding the citadel apart.  They crashed through it and out into the skies, cartwheeling around before tucking their wings and coming down straight at the Demon Lord.

Their claws dug into the Demon Lord; its spell backfired as it was hauled into the sky with powerful wingbeats. It turned to fight its new attackers, only to be thrown clear of the citadel and over the camp at the base of its stairs.

The Demon Lord brought down trees and left a trail of destruction in its flight. It roared in rage, pulling itself up. Malsour let out a bellow as he charged into battle.

Induca followed her brother.

Malsour had forgotten the rush of battle—the rush of his blood and the feel as he was able to use his Mana to its full. To test his limits against another. There were few who could challenge him but the Demon Lord was a worthy adversary. Malsour spat Darkness from his mouth at the Demon Lord.

It fired back its own spell. The two waves of Darkness smashed into each other as Induca let loose with her fiery breath. Red flames poured down, hammering the Demon Lord.

Malsour sensed another Mana buildup. He extended his senses and his eyes widened in alarm.

*The Earth Lord’s forces have moved up; they are about to assault the camp! I will deal with the Demon Lord.*

Induca let loose a frustrated noise; dipping low in an attack run, she let free a series of blue fire bolts, making the Demon Lord falter. She tilted up and away, turning toward the camp where the green light of Earth mages could be seen, forming magical artillery.

Her Fire bolts ripped through the forest, crashing into the Earth Lord’s forces there. Her fire bolts were enough to stagger the Demon Lord, tilting him and making his beam go wide. Malsour redirected his magic, turning the demon’s spell against him before firing.

The demon cried out and dropped to a knee. It was at fifty percent Health. Darkness seemed to stretch over its body and armor, empowering it.

Malsour conjured Darkness’ Toll. A dome of black rose around the demon.

The demon, empowered with its own buffs, tore free of the dome and jumped into the sky, conjuring Dark shadows under its feet to run across the skies.

Malsour’s face grew into a deadly smile. Countering with shields and magical attacks, stone and metal met the demon’s blade.

Darkness was not just the power of death, but the power of the inanimate. Something that the necros and the Demon Lord seemed to have missed.

Metal spikes shot out of the ground as if fired from a cannon.

The demon forged a shield of Darkness, smashing one away, and dodging two others; the fourth smashed into its back plate. Its buff was the only thing keeping it together as the demon smashed a bolt of Dark energy away.

It carried inward with a cut. Malsour twisted; he’d become too close to the creature.

The demon cut his wing.

Malsour dove, away from the Demon Lord, creating distance; the Demon Lord followed as fast as possible, sending Dark energy at him. Malsour twisted and flared his wings out, a wall of metal moving into the path of the Demon Lord.

The lord smashed through, only to find a dozen more spikes headed for it.

Malsour had used his flight to create runes on the spikes, runes that he had learned from the demon-killing daggers and Dave’s own tome.

The Demon Lord avoided many, but two struck the Demon Lord, pulling souls from it.

Malsour let their power free, seeing them dive toward the battle being waged around the citadel still.

The Demon Lord pulled the blades free, falling to twenty percent Health. It dropped toward the ground. Its landing caused a crater in the middle of the Earth Lord’s creatures. It ripped the souls free from those who were dead around it.

Malsour didn’t want to think what would’ve happened if the Demon Lord had used that move on the citadel.

Malsour dove, seeing how the souls were rebuilding its Health and magical reserves. Malsour commanded the inanimate of the ground: rocks, metals, gems—all of them ripped into the Demon Lord.

It wasn’t fast enough.

Induca sent her own streams of fire into the Demon Lord.

Wings as dark as Malsour’s and made of living shadow beat down on the ground as the Demon Lord came out of the destruction, leaping for Malsour.

***

Dave had never felt so damned tired in his life. He circulated Mana through his body to pull himself upright and into a seated position.

As he worked to clear the mental fugue of his mind, he opened his notifications. It was only once he had them open that they would start acting on his character.

Dave skimmed through his blinking notifications panel. He didn’t read them all, only looking for the ones that he needed—swiping many of them away or activating them; the others he left. He didn’t have time to accept them all.

Passive Skill: Perception

Level: Journeyman level 4

Effect: 51% chance to find hidden details.

Passive Skill: Dodge

Level: Expert level 3

Effect: 69% chance to evade objects.

Active Skill: Sprint

Level: Expert Level 7

Effect: 77% increased speed

Cost: 5 Stamina/s

Passive Skill: Night Vision

Level: Master 3

Effect: 89% increased night vision. 30% chance to see through magical darkness

Racial bonus: Dwarves, even half-Dwarves, are at home in the darkness of mines and their empires dug underneath mountains. +25% increased night vision.

Active Skill: Magical Circuits

Level: Expert Level 10

Effect: 83% chance of creating better Magical Circuits and understanding them.

Cost: Dependent

Active Skill: Maintainer

Level: Journeyman Level 8

Effect: 59% chance to restore durability; at higher levels, possible to increase durability, quality and gain Sharpen bonus to items that have been cared for.

Require: Dependent on gear; Sharpening stone, hammer, anvil. Better maintainers tool leads to higher chance of increasing stats.

Active Skill: Builder

Level: Journeyman level 2

Effect: 47% speed making items with more than one material

Required: Tools

Level 42

You have reached level 42; you have 195 stat points to use.

He swiped again, barely reading it before accessing the box below it.

Stat Increase

+2 Strength

+13 Intelligence

+13 Willpower

+16 Endurance

+2 Agility

His stats had gone quite literally ape-shit. He hadn’t been in the thick of the fighting but he’d still been far from the rear.

His Agility had gone up as he’d been nimble on his feet. It would only take a strong breeze to take his ass out with all the magic that was being tossed around. Intelligence, Willpower, Endurance: all had rocketed up for a few reasons. Using magic was not easy, to put it lightly.

He was channeling a Mana pool that was thousands of times bigger than his own, pulling power from released souls, his own Mana, and spells he had pulled apart. He was using techniques well outside his level range: his Magical Circuits, the altering of pre-existing magical runes to make them stronger with his conjurations.

Conjuring the Daggers of Demons Ruin was not only Mana intensive but stretched his mind in spatial awareness, using his Touch of the Land in ways he had only theorized, like tearing a spell apart by conjuring Mana inside a spell to make it lose cohesion, or to change a spell’s magical format so that it held together better and hit with more power.

Endurance and Willpower came from the Mana he was expending and the fact that he’d only taken the shortest of rests before getting back into the fight. Expending Mana was mentally exhausting—complex creations like Dave was making, even more so. He continued to do it again and again.

Well, that’s enough lying around.

Dave pushed more Mana through his body. If he completed this fight, he was going to invent some kind of damned pill for Mana-using headaches. Felt as if he’d drank a winery’s worth of booze and then had every single bottle cracked over his head. He pushed the pain away and focused on the scene in front of him.

There were fifteen cultists left, including the ten boss classed cultists around the now closed portal. Their spells were tearing the Dwarven lines apart. That kind of power was just incredible. Even with Dave’s enchantments.

The rogues were in the wings, ready and waiting.

A cultist’s shields dropped; all of the combined forces’ fire power dropped on the creature. Within five minutes, they were dead but another AOE spell of tentacles had formed in the Dwarves’ lines.

Right where Lox’s warband was resting from being on the front lines on and off for several hours.

Dave looked to his party settings. He tried to conjure better shields, more Health, all of the runes he could think of; still, Joko and Tounk’s Health bars dropped to zero.

Dave wanted to fall to his knees, to cry and let out the pain and frustration: at the Jukal, the idiotic Pantheon of Affinities, at how Emerilia was real.

Instead, he heard Joko’s firm voice from their first day of training.

“Quiet, recruit. In a warband, you live in discomfort. Your shield and sword are your constant companions. You will hold them until they are ripped from you and you are dead.”

He grit his teeth. His emotions told him to run in and hack the cultists apart, but he had not gotten this far on his fighting skills. He’d gotten this far by making preparations. He would meet the cultists how he wanted to.

That meant he needed a hell of a lot more power.

His friends had been fighting for their homes and their families; he would not let their losses be in vain.

“Jules, Esa, protect me.” Dave knelt on the ground and pressed his hand to it. He knew others would die as he made the preparations he needed; he knew that action now would mean they would lose. They would pay for the time he needed with their blood.

He channeled power through his hand, digging through the ground, finding the Magical Circuits that spread for kilometers in every direction.

The Magical Circuits that had powered the prison around Boran-al’s Citadel.

Time had little meaning to him. It was if he were in the smithy again—the world disappeared, leaving nothing but him and his work.

Connections started to form, the runes changing shape as he used his power of conjuration to alter the magical runes. He started from the receivers that pooled power from the area and moved inward. It was if he were scanning through parts of code that had been left in its same form but the connected code had been deleted or left in fragments. He altered the original code, fixed the old and changed its purpose.

Slowly, power started to trickle into Dave’s armor.

His mind was hammering away but Jules seemed to heal him, as if sensing what he was doing.

Chapter 37: Absolute Darkness

Deia downed another potion by reflex. People were buffing and healing her as she worked with other offensive mages to try to cut down the cultist’s spells.

There weren’t really any offensive mages left; they were all just trying to protect their own forces so they could get close and the melee fighters could deal with them.

The undead and skeletons were hammering on the Dwarves’ shields. The cultists didn’t care whether they killed their own creations to get the living that they were fighting.

A new hole developed in the shield wall. Dwarves and Players were left with burning dark holes through them. Dozens of mages piled on healing spells and blessings as the line moved to cover them and reform the shield wall.

Deia felt new anger fill her as Joko and Tounk’s names went gray on her party view. She doubled her efforts, eating food that would’ve made chefs around the world be proud of. It tasted like sawdust in her mouth, just more fuel to her Mana pool to hopefully save a few more.

There was a commotion as rogues and rangers detailed with killing traitors and undead in the ranks appeared among the dead, their blades stabbing into those who were rising from the dead.

Deia finished her meal, hurling a lance of fire at the cultists. Another shield flashed darkly as an artillery spell struck it, opening it up to the melee fighters surrounding it.

The Players and People of Emerilia rushed the cultist. It was a mad melee as the shield wall took the hits, archers fired into the target, and rogues moved between the gaps to land vicious and surgical blows.

Deia focused on the ten cultists who hadn’t moved from their place around the portal that the Demon Lord had come from.

She could hear the sounds of the dragons and the Demon Lord in the distance. On her mini-map, she could also see that there were forces engaged at the castle down the hill.

Great, a battle on two fucking sides.

Deia threw another flaming spear into a growing magical circle, smashing into one of the lines of power and disrupting the growing spell.

The cultists isolated the area of the spear and worked around it.

Deia sat down, her Mana pool dry, and urged it to charge faster. She hadn’t ever seen a magical circle like the one that the cultists were making.

The power buildup was faster than that of the portal as they channeled their own power into it.

The cultist without a shield fell. Its soul powered the circle as it grew across the citadel’s square.

Deia heard the black dragon cry out as the magical circle came to life.

***

Emerilia was going to hell in a fucking handbasket.

Cassie had been hit with a draining spell early on; that added with a few hits from different Dark spells and she’d been pulled back to the camp in order to rest and regrow her Mana pool.

She’d invested her skills while Naylor had kept a watch over her. More like sat on her so that she didn’t go charging back into battle and get herself cut down.

Her dark mutterings and orders fell away as she watched the Demon Lord go sailing over the camp and into the forest behind. It seemed to almost be a signal for the forces that had been creeping through the forest toward the camp. Sprites released their power as wild beasts that they had tamed raced for the camp’s walls.

The dragons—one black as night and the other like a streaking flame—rushed over the camp, hammering the Demon Lord with their magical attacks. Their power was enough to make Cassie reel in shock.

“Never fucking piss off a dragon,” she said through gritted teeth, looking at her forces that were already moving from Omal to the camp.

The roads and their steeds were eating up the distance but it would be twenty minutes as the Earth Lord’s army was already at the camp’s gates.

We’d been so focused on the citadel, we forgot all about the fucking woods.

“Tanks up along the walls; casters and archers in the towers! If you know how to wield a spear, get on those walls. They’ve got bears climbing up. We need to repel them before they get down among the wounded!” Cassie yelled.

The gamers weren’t complex people; they ran to the walls, getting to know one another as they moved. Sometimes all it took was a nod and a glance to get to know the person to the right and left of you.

Players were an odd breed. This was their passion and to get to the level that was needed to attend this event, they were dedicated Players. While the People of Emerilia wore grim looks, the Players laughed and openly smiled. This is why they played Emerilia, after all!

“Come on, Mother fucking Nature! Let’s go!” a Player yelled.

Even the Dwarves might have been thrown off with the gusto that the Players were throwing themselves into the fight. This was a once-in-a-lifetime event and they were not willing to stay out of it.

Soon enough, the Dwarves and the Elves got over their fear and were joking along with the Players.

“Fucking shit me out of a goddamn Mario kart and call me Peach!” Naylor said.

Cassie swore she went cross-eyed for a minute as she looked at the man. And then the night lit up with blue flames as the red dragon streaked across the front of the camp, laying down its breath.

“Firm up the lines! Casters, archers—hit the bastards with everything you’ve got. Aim for those sprites—they go down and they can’t control the animals!” Cassie yelled, working to make group chats to organize the flow of information.

Chat windows were integral to a complicated battle with multiple groups. Most of the time, Cassie just felt like a damned old-fashioned telephone operator connecting people to one another.

She saw a glowing green ball of magical artillery in the distance. “Purifying Slash!” She drew her sword, gold light making after-images as it vibrated, pointing directly at the sprites’ magical artillery. Light caught up with the blade, charging and rushing forward and striking the building spell.

If she’d hit the sprite, then the others might have been able to contain and direct the spell. Hitting the spell threw Light Affinity into a spell that was meant to only hold Earth and none of the Earth sprites knew much of anything about the Light Affinity.

The spell worked pretty well, and took out three of the five casters and blew a nice big hole in the tree line.

“Fuck, magic is scary,” Naylor said.

“More than being crapped out of Mario?” Cassie said.

“Definitely.” Naylor looked her straight in the eye without even flinching.

Cassie held her head and let out a pained sigh. When she looked up, Naylor was laughing and stabbing a bear as it climbed the stone walls of the camp.

She laughed and went to work organizing her people; she just hoped the forces around the citadel could hold out. Her laugh died in her throat as she felt Dark energy even more powerful than what she had felt when the Demon Lord had walked out of the portal. It was like a physical presence that made her want to run and hide, to find a place where there was sunshine all the time and never a shadow dared show its face.

Dread filled her as her instincts cried at her to run or die.

It seemed to break the sprites’ hold on the creatures as they streamed away from the camp.

***

Bob watched the scene in front of him. To any other, it would have looked like a big chunk of the ground had been eaten.

The magical darkness that now created a dome over the citadel was so dark that it drank in the light of the surrounding area.

Screams and cries could be heard across the battlefield. The darkness was taking their fears and making them live through it; phantom pain of the mind overruled their bodies as they were unable to move or try to escape the darkness.

Chanting started again.

“Selezar’s tentacles,” Bob hissed.

The Darkness of Ouck-so turned the mind into a weapon, turning mind against body, holding people in place and so petrified that they couldn’t move past their fears.

Selezar’s tentacles was the AOE spell that the Demon Lord had used: corrupted tentacles of shadow, stone, and metal that would tear through their opponents to leave hit damage and nasty poison damage.

Bob’s fist tightened hard enough for his fingernails to draw blood. He was unable to do anything; he could only hope that the forces that he had put into motion would prevail. How many times have I moved behind the scenes, unable to act but able to see the horrors created from the system I created?

His head turned as the Demon Lord let out a bellow, Malsour’s mouth around its neck as black Mana poured through the Demon Lord.

The trapped souls of the Demon Lord fell apart as it dropped to its knees. It tilted, falling in the dirt as Malsour stood in the middle of a wrecked forest, his scales cracked and bleeding in places.

Induca was screeching, helping the camp against the sprites and Earth golems that were pressing their attack still, keeping the people in the camp tied down so they couldn’t help their comrades.

Malsour let out a pain screech and took to the air. His wings were rent and torn but still he piled on the power, gaining height and moving toward the citadel.

The chant was nearing completion. Bob could feel the buildup of power; the words and thoughts turned into magical runes that now overlaid the battlefield. The hellish cries of people trapped within their own minds, fear keeping them stuck in their places. Many called out for their own deaths under the pain.

Malsour might be able to break the spell, to give the fighters a chance.

“Elsoom, ma’kan. No sor exda. Null.” The voice was spoken at a conversational tone, but the magical power that it contained made it spread across the citadel and the forest plains below.

Bob felt the hairs on his skin start to rise.

It was as if a small ley line had poured out into the sky but was being sucked up by something.

Bob waved in front of his eyes, casting Ever-see.

His eyes looked through the magical Darkness to see a halfling start to rise to its feet.

An Elf halfling also rose, Fire burning in the Darkness, her own armor also glowing.

Magical power was pouring into them, their armor glowing as gray mist surrounded them, pushing back the night.

***

Dave got to his feet. The power that had been used to seal away Boran-al’s Citadel now coursed through him and Deia’s armor. The armor’s magical runes kept people out of their minds and flared brilliantly to push back the darkness around them.

Dave looked to Deia, gray glowing eyes meeting fiery ones. They nodded to each other.

Dave pulled his axes free and charged, yelling at the top of his lungs as the souls that had powered and been bound to the Demon Lord rushed to add their power to Dave and Deia’s armor.

Just seven cultists were left, all of them over level 150.

Dave cast Soul Trap on the cultists. They looked at him with pure spite as they continued their chant.

Deia fired Scorching Rain down on the nearest cultist.

Anger rolled off Dave but his mind still worked. He studied the shield, finding its weakness. He made as if to cut the magical shield.

The cultist poured more Mana into the shield as Dave conjured Mana right into the runes that were controlling it.

It took a lot of power to break a spell that was so close to the caster and was so strong.

The confusion on the cultist’s mummified face was clear as Dave spun, burying his right axe into the cultist’s shoulder and into its chest; he flipped the left axe over and slammed its pointed back end into its head.

Runes on the axes flared to life; the cultist went down in screaming agony as it tried to remove the enchanted axes.

Dave didn’t slow. A bow appeared in his hands, gray smoke surrounding it.

Deia was having a magical duel with the last cultist not chanting.

Dave conjured an arrow, a rough arrow of steel, ebony, and silver. Even made of metal, it flew as if it were made of Elven wood. He had to keep circulating Mana through his body in order to keep the headaches away. Dave grunted in pain as the air cracked with the release of the first arrow.

It slammed into the chanter’s shield and exploded. The chanter continued to talk; they couldn’t reinforce their shield and keep up their other spell.

Dave continued to advance, firing another arrow, and then another. As he fired, his mind searched for a weakness. He had opened a dam of power that had been stored up for six months. It no longer had a prison to power but enough soul gems that it could retain it all. He knew that he would pay a price for using this much Mana but if he didn’t, then everyone might die.

“This is gonna fucking hurt.” He conjured raw Mana into where the shield looked weakest. “Ahhh, come on, you fucker, come on!”

The shield darkened and then flexed before it disappeared.

Dave drew and released the arrow he was holding, making the cultist stumble. He continued to walk, firing again and again, the air shattering in the passing of his arrows. The cultist continued to stumble until it was stuck on the ground.

The other cultists took up their part of the chant.

Dave released the bow, destroying it. Gray smoke rushed to his hand as a Dagger of Demon’s Ruin formed there. He planted it in the cultist’s chest; they were still at seventy percent Health.

They cried out as their very soul was being consumed by the blade. Their Health dropped quickly as they thrashed and tried to remove the blade.

Level 179 Boran-al Cultist soul pierced

Dave didn’t have time to finish them off yet. He needed to get more of the cultists to take out as many of them as possible.

Dave conjured Cassie’s sword. Power poured from him as he ran at the next cultist. The blade formed, shining even in darkness as Plasma Shot slammed into his next target.

“Fucking cultists!” Deia yelled. She held her hands out, feeding fire into her fire cannon; the air pressures served to compact and then fire the flames she was feeding them. The attack would have taken most of her Mana just to make—it was a five-person spell—but the power from the prison and the armor gave her enough to make it last for ten seconds.

The shield gave way.

Dave suddenly felt fear grip him. He rolled to the side as lightning arced from the chanters’ fingers.

Level 193 Boran-al Cultist

This mother fucker isn’t playing around.

The same sense Dave had felt before made him lurch to his feet as the rocks where he’d been exploded from another Dark bolt of energy.

-891 Damage

He felt the shards of stone that had pierced his dragon scale and hit his leg. He gritted his teeth instead of crying out, trying to close with the cultists, his left leg not holding his weight well. He felt sluggish after losing nearly half of his Health in a single glancing hit. He’d forgotten just how little Health he had, relying on his armor to keep the damage away from him.

The black dragon’s talons pierced the darkness; crashing into a cultist’s shield, its clawed feet dug into the cultist. It breathed Darkness at the cultist Dave was rushing toward. The cultist raised their hands, fighting the power of the dragon. The fact that they could even fight the dragon was a testament to their power.

The chant changed in scale as the Dark dome was collapsed.

They’re draining the power of the mind fuckery dome to use it for their other spell.

New frantic energy filled Dave as he crossed the distance to the cultist in seconds, driving the sword of light through the cultist’s back and up through its chest.

Holy light burned through the cultist as Dave kicked them off the blade and brought it across with all the force he could muster, taking the cultist’s head off.

Level 193 Boran-al Cultist dies

Right tool for the right job.

If Dave had hacked away at the thing, it might have lasted a good while. With the weapon in his hand, it was really damn effective against creatures of the Dark. Putting a holy relic through something as twisted as the cultist had done incredible damage, actually piercing the bound soul of the creature.

By taking off its head, Dave had broken the soul binding of the creature.

Attacks were nice and all to take down Health, if you were an Action Player. Evolvers didn’t just hammer away at an opponent; they hit the soft spots on their targets.

It was how a level 3 could take out someone a hundred and ninety levels above them. That and their insane buffs through their armor and their stats that put them on equal footing with someone at level 50.

Don’t underestimate a man with a plan.

Dave turned to his next victim as the dome of darkness collapsed. People started to move, most of them sobbing. Few, if any, were actually getting up. Players who had logged out now started to log back in and looked around at the battlefield.

Dave felt the spell as it worked before he saw it. Tendrils born of metal, rock, and Dark magic erupted from the ground, piercing many who were still recovering from the first spell.

It worked in an area about thirty feet wide, but the majority of the fighters were in that range. Cries of wounded and the dying mixed with those who had been torn apart by their own fears.

Dave felt a tentacle smash into his side. It was unable to break his armor but the force sent him flying thirty feet and took him down to twenty percent Health.

It would only take one more hit like that.

Players who had come back and the most resilient People of Emerilia were charging the cultists. Tentacles from the ground attacked them. They crushed shields and shattered armor as if they were tinfoil.

With enough damage, they could be destroyed but they were no weak creations.

It was the cultists’ final play.

Dave poured out every last vestige of power; using his full conjurations, he poured everything he had left into the attack.

He barely held onto consciousness; with his Mana gone, there was nothing to stop the headaches or heal his body with.

He looked at the cultists arrayed around their portal, fighting the dragon that was using its talons to tear apart a cultist at its feet, a magical shield keeping the others’ attacks at bay.

“I’m going to call this one Orbital Strike.” Dave laughed and coughed blood up. The tentacle had broken his ribs and something inside, it seemed. He lay down, the pain hurting and his vision cloudy. “Or maybe Hail Mary.”

Dave looked over to Deia, who was unconscious, on the ground. Her Plasma Cannon had left her drained.

He saw his attacks hit: fifty golden swords, identical to the one he had used to cut off the cultist’s head, slammed into the cultists’ shields. If they’d moved then they might have missed but the cultists had stayed completely still.

The swords penetrated the shields. The darkness of the shield and the light of the sword fought each other; white light and gray smoke poured off the competing Light and Dark creations.

Thirty slammed into the ground, right into the magical formation that had been created around the tentacles, breaking the circles and the magical spell.

Power flooded into Dave’s armor, the self-healing magical runes getting the power they needed to start healing Dave. His body started putting itself back together. Dave cried out from the pain as darkness overtook him.

***

Josh looked around; as the dome of Darkness had fallen, he’d had the presence of mind to log out instead of stay around for the twisted images that filled his mind.

Dozens of people were just watching the fight, so Josh had waited in his lobby, watching them. As soon as the dome cleared, he logged back on.

He saw black tentacles shrouded in metal cutting through those who had beaten him in logging in or the People of Emerilia who were recovering from their miniature hell.

Tentacles didn’t care whether people were crying on the ground or trying to attack the cultists; they ripped through people.

A dragon ripped a cultist apart, howling as an attack made it through its shield.

Golden swords slammed into the ground and the cultists’ shields.

The tentacles evaporated; the metals and stone that had made them collapsed to the ground.

Josh heard a screech behind him. He looked to see a red dragon streak in, its breath catching a cultist’s shield. It held up for a few moments before it disintegrated.

The people who had been taken off to the camp to recover were now charging up the stairs.

Josh turned, his anger breaking through as the cultists started to raise the dead. He let out a yell, casting his buffs and rushing toward the cultists, swept up in the charge toward the remaining five cultists.

No one needed to communicate or say anything as the dawn broke: tanks moved forward, mages slammed spells into cultists, archers added to their ranged attacks, with DPS people moving to attack the cultists’ rear.

It didn’t matter whether you were Player or a person of Emerilia: as that light rose, those few who remained fought with everything they had.

Players defended their backs against those who had come back from the dead, not wanting to make the remaining People of the land have to shoulder the regret of killing their comrades.

The black dragon wheeled away, clearly badly hurt from its fight with the Demon Lord and the cultists. The red dragon continued to circle from above. The dragon’s spells were laser accurate.

A cultist with an axe buried into its chest rose, getting blasted with spells from four different directions.

“Slash!” Cassie called out, her body acting through the attack. The cultist moved so she only took off its arm instead of its head that was lolling to the side.

Cassie accessed skills, one after the other. It took time as four more melee fighters joined in the fray, hitting the cultist from every direction, not giving them time to come back to their senses and even think about casting a spell.

Mages buffed them as they took it down to zero Health. It expired, falling to the ground. Its carcass turned to ashes and was carried away in the breeze.

Cassie and the fighters turned to find their next opponents.

The cultists were fighting with everything they had. Their shield formations had been broken and the fighters weren’t giving them any time to try to rebuild them.

“With me!” Cassie yelled. The others followed her.

“Deflect!” Cassie called out. Her blade slapped away an animated spear that had risen from the ground on her intended victim’s orders.

It was tossed to the side as she roared with those around her.

Rogues used their speed to close with the cultist faster, digging their weapons into the creature, taking its focus off the oncoming tanks.

They joined battle with the cultists as wind billowed down. The black dragon took to the sky, its wings moving in a way that made Cassie think they were badly damaged.

We’ve got this now, she thought toward the dragon, looking at her Action bar and activating her skills as she rained hits down on her target.

“Stamina!” she yelled. Her green bar drained from the heavy-handed attacks.

A support mage started to boost her Stamina regen and stats, bringing her back up slowly even as she attacked.

It wasn’t a fight; it was a bloody melee. The cultists would have accessed their legendary skills as they reached seventy-five, fifty, and twenty-five percent Health, but the attacks came so fast and their words were cut off so that they couldn’t.

If Emerilia had been a real game, then they would have all lost. Few even noticed as they continued their attacks.

Chapter 38: Aftermath

Lox stumbled back from the last cultist. It had taken hours to just whittle down its truly massive Health pool.

Players and people had switched out, not giving the cultists a second to try to recover. If they did, then there was a possibility that they could cast something more than simple Mana bolts.

He pulled off his helmet and sat down on an ebony rock that made up the surface of the citadel. The battle had started twelve hours ago and now it had finally come to its bloody conclusion.

Lox looked over the dead that lay scattered over the citadel’s grounds. Slowly, emotions broke through his fatigue-drained mind, the lack of sleep and raw emotions empowering his feelings of regret and loss.

He dropped his shield and blade, shuddering as he pulled off his gauntlets, holding his face as he cried openly. Someone came over and dropped to their armored knees. Lox looked up, tears in his beard.

He grabbed Gurren, pulling the man into a desperate hug. They clung to each other, shaking and crying tears for the others who hadn’t made it.

“They’re gone, all gone,” Gurren said between sobs.

“I know, I know.” Lox patted the man and tried to clear his throat and nose from the crying.

Gurren let out a fresh cry and Lox was unable to stop it from bringing fresh tears to his eyes. They embraced each other: two men together in the loss of their friends, their fellow shield bearer brothers and sisters.

***

Deia felt energy move through her body, working to deal with the damage of channeling so much Mana and her own injuries. She looked up toward where Dave had been. Panic filled her as she tried to move.

“You’re badly injured. Stay still—we’ve got to get this armor off of you,” a healer said.

Deia didn’t listen. Her body had been pushed well beyond its limits and she didn’t have the energy to move properly, just falling down, or being pushed down by the healer.

“Get out of my way!” she said desperately.

“I need some help here please! Calm down!” the healer said.

Deia poured power into her hands and threw herself toward Dave. She crashed into bodies and slid over materials that the cultists had used for their powers. She crawled over to Dave, who lay against a broken rock, facing away from her with metals covering his body.

She pushed the metals away and pulled him over onto his back, pulling his hood back. She pulled hers off, too, putting her ear to his mouth.

Air came out of his mouth in ragged gasps.

Dried blood was on the side of his mouth as he lay there. A light emanated from his body as his armor worked to heal him.

Deia only noticed she was crying as her tears fell on his face. She slumped down in relief, too tired to deal with anything else.

***

Cassie was standing through the use of potions and alert-raising provisions. She looked over the scene that was the citadel.

The pillars on the four corners had been destroyed by the fighters. The portal in the center had fared better but it still showed lines going through them, and one was missing a good chunk from it.

The black stone that made up the square had craters in it from multiple magical impacts. In other areas, it had been turned into walls.

The whole place was a testament to the battle that had been fought on it.

There were bodies across the square. Three quarters of the Players had died in the event; three thousand Dwarves and seven hundred Elves had also lost their lives.

Cassie looked to the Dwarves and Elves as they grieved. It pulled at her very soul as she saw the grief and sadness in their every movement. Some had simply collapsed where they were at the end of the battle, crying openly or looking around, stunned at the damage that had been brought down upon them and their fellows.

“Makes it hard to just think of them as NPCs.” Josh walked up to her.

Naylor nodded to Josh and walked away a bit, giving the two guild masters the opportunity to talk in private.

“Yeah,” Cassie said. Her people were just playing a game but in that moment, even if they were just lines of code, they were more real than some of the people she knew in her everyday life.

They’d known that going into this battle that they could be destroyed; that kind of action, even if it was by a computer, it made it hard for her to see them as just NPCs. They were People of Emerilia.

They might just be lines of code, but damn if I care.

In the middle of battle, she had saved them and they had saved her. She thought on her actions before the battle—how she had used the People of Emerilia, treated them as nothing but servants who were in her way of a quest or a way to get goods and training.

The beginnings of guilt pulled at her.

“I’m going to rebuild the Golden Sabres,” Cassie said.

“Oh?” Josh looked to her. It was well known that the Golden Sabres were happy to take on all comers and for a fee were willing to level people up. His curiosity was clear.

“To have so many agents of the Dark Lord within our ranks…” She shook her head in anger. “I’m going to rebuild the guild with two rules: clan first, People of Emerilia second.”

“Those are lofty goals, Cass.” Josh looked over the citadel.

“You and the Stone Raiders have already taken them up. You might not have the most numbers but your guild is one of the most powerful in Emerilia. You’ve made this your world; you even have NPCs in your damned guild. No other guilds have that. If there’s one thing this battle taught me, it’s that the People of Emerilia are not to be taken lightly.” Cassie watched as a sly smile passed over Josh’s face.

“Well, you are learning!” Josh smiled as Cassie rolled her eyes, seeing it for the joke it was. “So how much do you want for that apartment building? I want to put a base here and seeing as you were so nice as to build it, we’d be interested in putting it to more use.”

With the support of the People of Emerilia and the abilities of Players, a guild could be one hell of a threat. Josh might act like a joker most of the time but it seemed that he’d tapped into that idea and he was building not only a guild but a place for that guild in Emerilia’s ranks. She also couldn’t deny that although he might be a goof, she had come to respect him. He looked out for his people and those who were beside him in battle.

At the portal, they had worked together but done different objectives. Standing beside him at the citadel had made her come to see him and the Stone Raiders in a new light.

A smile spread across her face as she shook her head, remembering the report she’d heard of different towns and kingdoms sending messages to the Stone Raiders about various raids. It seemed that they were turning themselves into the go-to force to clear out problem areas.

“What would it take to get an invitation to join the Stone Raiders?” Cassie asked.

“Learn how to actually swing a damn sword and stop relying on actions all the time.” Josh gave her a severe look before it turned into a smile. “Why, like my company that much?”

She rolled her eyes and let out a small laugh. He was a bit annoying but he wasn’t bad on the eyes and his accent was nice. “A girl has to keep her options open.”

***

Jules looked down at Dave and Deia.

She’d logged off and back on as Josh had, but Dave hadn’t.

Now he was lying on the ground, sleeping, with Deia next to him. Both of them were covered in grime, their armor dented and used. In places, Deia’s looked as if the dragon scales had melted together.

Dave shifted, groaning.

They’d been moved from the citadel to the camp at the base of its stairs. People had tried to separate the two, only to have Deia frighten them off with her blue flames.

He opened his eyes, coming fully awake in seconds and lurching upward. His eyes glowed gray as power filled the room, making Jules take an unconscious step backward as her hair stood up.

“We won,” Jules said.

Dave’s eyes found hers before he fell back onto the pallet.

Deia shifted, her armor plates making noise.

Dave looked at her, the look that Jules shared with Esa filling his face.

Esa had been killed and would be back online in a few hours. Jules had been so scared when she died, thinking of her lost forever, until Esa sent her a message and she remembered it was just a game. Jules steeled herself. She needed to tell them what had happened.

“Max, Tounk, and Joko are dead. Malsour and Induca are probably respawning.” Jules spoke quickly. She’d had to tell others about the losses of their loved ones—such was the life of a combat medic.

Tears appeared in Dave’s eyes.

“Thanks.” His voice cracked from the emotional pain.

Deia and Dave’s arms found each other as they dealt with their losses.

Jules nodded and left the tent, leaving them be.

“How are they?” Mikal asked.

“They’ll heal.” Jules looked at the camp. There were wounded all over the place; she’d spent hours working on the People of Emerilia. Players were left to their own devices—they could come back to life, after all.

The battle had changed them all.

“What about their minds?” Mikal asked.

“It will be hard but Deia will get through it. Dave wasn’t made into a fighter like us. He has no military training or any of the tricks we use to try to make ourselves forget the grief. He’s a strong dude. He’ll probably make it past all of the guilt. But this is his world. He’s ingrained into Emerilia harder than any E-head I’ve seen.”

“I feel that he won’t be the last one to get this attached to Emerilia.” Mikal looked over the Players who were helping the People of Emerilia around.

“No, I don’t think so either.”

Chapter 39: Reckoning

Neutral popped into existence. He was in the form of a gnome as he sat on his chair, not a recliner—an actual chair.

He always gets this way when there’s a fight. Light kept herself from rolling her eyes. The People of Emerilia and the Players—they were just pawns for the power that the lords and ladies had. The Dark Lord had it easy—he could just show that it was a true game; the others had to make it look as if they were looking out for the good of the people so they continued to devote energy to them.

Light kept a smile off her face as she looked to the lords of Dark and Earth. The two of them weren’t the best at hiding their emotions. Both of them looked annoyed.

The Dark Lord had lost a truly powerful citadel as well as a bit of support from the Dwarves. The Earth Lord hadn’t really looked at the consequences of his actions. Kufo’tel was being purged of any and all forces that the Earth Lord had created instead of using paladins.

The Dwarves, the fractious midgets that they were, had cut off all their devotions, not only to the Earth Lord, but all of the Affinities.

Light’s fists closed in anger. The two idiots had gone too far and now the People of Emerilia were closing off their power to not only them, but the whole Pantheon of Affinities.

The Players who had fought at the citadel had stopped their devotions. The Golden Sabres who had been her tool to open the Alturaran portals were a large source of power and led a great number of other Light-allied guilds and people.

Devotions toward Light meant that they gave a part of their power to her in order to receive her blessing. Now, they disregarded her blessing and kept that power.

She couldn’t cut them off from the Affinity as that was directly tied to the land. She was just the manager of favors and broker of power.

And now they’re bypassing me, weakening me and every other Affinity by making no devotions and instead using their power for their own means.

“I…will…have…paladins…” Earth’s voice rumbled through the room.

Neutral looked to him.

“You picked sprites—deal with it.” Neutral’s voice was cold and uncaring.

Earth rose and towered over Neutral. He looked as if he were going to crush the gnome. “I…am…god…my…word…is…law!”

“Well, seems that the Dwarves disagree with you. The way I see it, you pissed off the Dwarves and the Elves who were your biggest supporters, one group actually trying to follow you when their Affinities closely matched with the Lady of Fire. Even the short-lived Humans of Emerilia are going to be hesitant to follow a Earth Lord who takes their devotions and betrays them with his own creations.” Neutral’s voice was heated as he looked up at the creature ten times his height.

The Earth Lord let out an enraged bellow as he made to step on Neutrality.

A small smile passed over Light’s face. She’d wanted to see the annoying little creature killed long ago, but he was a good balancer of the Pantheon.

The Earth Lord stopped, as if held in mid-air.

Neutral sighed, rubbed his face and then held his ear.

***

Neutral watched the foot that was coming for him. He locked down the Earth Lord using his own Affinity. Neutral had been around so long that he’d learned a good amount from each of the Affinities, mastering them all.

He was a man of curiosity and had lived forever.

He heard a ping, which meant a message from someone. It didn’t have Deia, Fire, or Dave’s tone, so that left only one source.

Lo’kal rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Yessir?”

“Lo’kal, the emperor has deemed that this iteration, we will reduce the control over the lords and ladies of the Affinities. Your monitoring will be reduced,” the voice said.

“Very well.” Lo’kal could try to fight the decision but he knew that it wouldn’t matter. He’d played the game more than once. “The Earth Lord is currently trying to kill me. He wants to have paladins and creatures of power to exercise his control. I believe a new incarnation might be necessary.”

Lo’kal didn’t miss the shocked expressions on the faces of those in the room.

Only Fire looked unaffected. After all, she hadn’t done anything to piss Neutrality off, and she was happy doing as she wanted.

There was a pause on the other side of the line.

I don’t get why the emperor doesn’t just call me. Old prick just wants to get his aide to do it so he seems all the more powerful.

“You will remove the restrictions on paladins and creatures of power. You will not supply the extra power to do this; it must come from their own reserves. Make sure that the lords and ladies of the Pantheon know their place. Keep him around; he has proved to be interesting in his stupidity.” The call ended.

Lo’kal pushed the Earth Lord back with Air magic and released his bind on him.

He crashed into the floor as Lo’kal looked at the ceiling in thought.

The Earth Lord worked on trying to get to his feet.

Lo’kal destroyed the spells he tried to use in order to assist.

The twin green orbs of his eyes showed his anger.

“You will be allowed to create champions and creatures of power; however, their power must come from your personal vaults. The next person who threatens me will have a new incarnation.” Neutral looked at the lords and ladies in the room.

“Let the games begin.” Neutral smiled, but the expression never reached his eyes.

Benvari Mountains Book 2 of the Emerilia Series will be available on the 7th February 2017

Want a bigger map of Emerilia and the continents? Check out http://theeternalwriter.deviantart.com/

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Thanks again for reading!