The Culling
Author: Charles Dean
Date: 2018-07-16 04:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Fantasy; Adventure; Games
Description: Struggling to recover from his losses in Kirshtein, Lee is swept back into the fray when a dangerous new Herald sets her sights on him. Hell-bent on reshaping the world in her own image and with her own ideals, she is willing to commit even the most immoral acts in her pursuit of righteousness. At risk of losing everything he has worked so hard to create, Lee has to find a way to defend the weak against a madwoman whose deranged sense of justice has twisted the limits of the game. To make matters even more difficult, Lee is forced to face these problems while dealing with an increasingly errat

War Aeternus: The Culling

Written by: Charles Dean

Edited by: Joshua Swayne and Richard Haygood

Copyright © 2018 by Charles Dean

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1: Begin with a Finish

Chapter 2: Crazy People of a Feather

Chapter 3: A Bloody Good Reunion

Chapter 4: Diplomacy is All About Class

Chapter 5: Bear with Us Here

Chapter 6: On-Flight Meal

Chapter 7: A Small Village

Chapter 8: A New Perspective

Chapter 9: Strange Bedfellows

Chapter 10: Déjà Vu

Chapter 11: Shifting Realities

Game Manual

(Stats, Characters, Races, Items, Skills, Locations, Quests, Monsters, Gaming Terms)

About the Author

Other Books by Charles Dean

Prologue

Man was not made. His flesh does not define him, and the first of his blood, the first human, was not the first man.
Rather, his progenitor was nothing more than a mindless beast wandering a void of sentience as he struggled for his existence. His life was as meaningless as his death, nothing more than flesh sliding down his killer's throat, a destiny shared by all beasts. Rather, the first man was made by his own hands, his own hopes and dreams, as he toiled to shape the world around him. By giving purpose to his creations, he created himself, marking himself above the brothers of his flesh. By teaching his progeny how to shape the world as well, he sealed his place in history as the first man and the origin of our people.

Book of Lee ~ Chapter 1, Verses 1-7

Augustus switched positions in his chair for the fourth time in the last fifteen minutes, crossing his legs and then sitting on them in an attempt to get comfortable. It had been so long since he had maintained this shape for any extended period of time that he simply wasn’t used to it anymore. He liked how cozy a chair was when he was a cat or how nice it felt to sit when he was a chimpanzee. Even perching as a bird was easier than figuring out what to do with his legs as a human, but with a guest present, he felt oddly compelled not to transform into an animal.

Realizing that, even now, he still wasn’t comfortable in the form, he looked over at Mary. “Should I make you a bed or something? Are you living here now?” he asked Mary. His frustration that she hadn’t gone home for a while was obvious in his tone of voice.

“Shhh . . . This part is so good!” Mary had previously been so timid around Augustus that she visibly trembled at his presence and constantly lowered her eyes to avoid looking at him, but now she simply ignored him, instead casually tossing another piece of popcorn into her mouth without ever letting her eyes leave the screen in front of her for a second. “This is my favorite scene!” she explained, her voice filled with barely-contained enthusiasm.

“Really? And here I was wondering, since this is the fourth time in a row you’ve watched it. The fact that you somehow seem to grow more and more enthralled after each viewing hasn’t given it away in the slightest,” Augustus responded sarcastically as his eyes roamed from his wall of screens to the one that Mary was watching.

“He’s so romantic . . . so caring and so gentle . . . the way he takes care of Masha’s every need as if she is the only person in his whole universe . . .” Mary cooed in between bites. “It’s so beautiful. He’s like the best boyfriend a girl could ask for.”

“Right . . .” Augustus nodded, pushing his chair over to watch the screen with Mary. “Like she’s a job. Some task he has to do, something he has to take care of.”

Mary gently struck his arm as she rebuked him. “No! Don’t be so thick. She isn’t a job; she’s his love. How can you look at this and see anything besides love?”

“We always just called it sex where I was from,” Augustus retorted. “Although, to be honest, I feel like having a dirty-minded woman like you watch his first time with her on repeat really cheapens the whole thing. Can’t you show the kid some decency and skip to the next scene?”

“I’m not dirty!” Mary smacked his arm again, her faux attack amounting to less than a strong breeze. “And sex and love are different. This is love. This isn’t a one-night stand. That date they had leading up to this night, those romantic confessions over a home-cooked candlelight dinner, the way he spent the whole day taking her to her favorite places and then finished up the evening by making her that beautiful painting with his powers . . . That’s not just sex. It’s love. And men like you could learn a thing from him!” Mary added, her protest quickly turned into unsolicited advice

Augustus shrugged. “You even make it sound like he was just working a job! And that right there, the way she’s arching her back, the way she’s moaning into the pillow as he brings her to climax again . . . Even that position they are in is as animalistic as you can get. I don’t see how that’s anything but just sex.”

“Get your mind out of the gutter! This is love!” Mary continued to argue, but Augustus had already shifted in his seat and turned back to the screens he had been watching earlier. One held the image of Amber, Lee’s first real love as far as Augustus could tell, as she lay dying in his arms after the fight against the Firbolg Herald in Kirshtein. To Augustus, that was love. He knew that Lee cared for Masha--and cared for her deeply by the looks of it--but it felt more like Lee was using Masha as an escape than as any real vessel for his emotions.

“Whatever,” Augustus said quietly, replaying Amber’s death yet again. The scene so closely mirrored the struggles he had experienced with own first love that it hurt just as much for him to watch it as it probably did Lee to remember it.

Mary tore her eyes away from her lecherous video long enough to look over at Augustus. She opened her mouth and let it hang open for a few seconds before closing it again, simply staring at the man beside her. Augustus could feel her eyes on him. Without even looking, he knew that she had wanted to say something but had stopped herself--a thing that he was glad for. He had already gotten enough scoldings in the past from Angelica on the subject, and he didn’t need to hear another from Mary now.

Angelica was both Lee’s grandmother and Earth’s Goddess of Regret, and most of her lectures reproached Augustus for being too uncaring, callous and cold. Both she and Mary knew, however, that it was the opposite in at least one regard: it wasn’t that he didn’t have any ability to love; it was that he needed to move on and stop beating himself up over the people he couldn’t save.

Just as Mary seemed to have mustered up the strength to finally say something, though, Augustus interjected and cut her off. “We need to be headed to that stupid meeting of the gods soon,” he said, reminding her that it was about time for the usual weekly check-in. Time moved incredibly, incredibly slowly in the prime reality compared to the game reality. It progressed at such a gradual rate that Augustus could realistically go to another world, raise a family, and grow old--if such a thing were possible--in the same amount of time that the competition’s world completed a single day.

Mary frowned, glaring at Augustus reproachfully as she stood up. “Fine, we can go to the meeting, but you really need to--”

“Tell Angelica that you were perving on her grandkid?” Augustus stopped her cold with a mild threat as he grinned ear to ear.

Mary’s eyes flickered and widened. “No, you don’t need to do that, and I was not perving. I was just . . . I was just watching. It wasn’t perverted!” Mary insisted. “Don’t say a thing to Angelica!”

“Don’t say a thing to Angelica? Hmm . . . If you weren’t doing anything wrong, then why shouldn’t I say anything?” Augustus asked, enjoying the torment his words were causing her. “If you’ve done nothing bad, I’m sure Angelica won’t be mad at all.” Augustus’s grin grew even wider when he saw Mary’s face twist with shock. What? Did you really believe I wouldn’t use this against you in the future?

“No, please!” Mary pleaded, a slight whine in her voice. “No, don’t do that!” Angelica wasn’t just the Goddess of Regret. She was also the only goddess that most would regret ever crossing. Without so much as a hint of violence or physical harm, she could destroy people.

Alright, maybe I’ll let you off the hook if . . .” Augustus trailed off, leaving his thought unfinished.

“If what?” Mary asked nervously. He had already asked several favors and tasks from her recently. His reliance on her was likely half the reason--at least as far as Augustus suspected--that she had grown so bold around him. He thought that perhaps she felt she was indispensable to him, and thus that she could get away with her recent more-familiar, blasé attitude. The favors had taken somewhat of an emotional and psychological toll on her though, and now, as he prepared to make a new demand of her, she was already sweating a little.

“If . . . perhaps . . .” Augustus took his time, dragging out the words as he walked up to her until his face was inches away from hers. “You would . . .” He leaned in even farther, his cheek brushing past hers as his mouth rested a finger’s width away from her ear--“stop watching my Herald have sex while sitting right next to me!”

Mary let out a sigh and pushed him away with both of her hands at the same time, grumbling at him. “Don’t do that to me! You nearly gave me a heart attack. I swear by the Creator, you are the meanest of the gods!” Her face was solid red as she stared at him angrily. “You really should be nicer to me since I’m pretty much the only friend you have at that table.”

“No, that’s not true.” Augustus reached out and ruffled her hair, laughing at how noticeably he had upset her. “I still have Angelica.”

“Really?” Mary asked in surprise, clearly disbelieving. “Even though you stole her precious grandkid to be your Herald? You think you have Angelica as a friend?”

“Yeah, it’ll just take some time. Once this competition is over, she’ll have enough reason to thank me. It won’t be long until we’re close friends again and things are back on schedule once more,” Augustus said matter-of-factly. He never doubted the possibility of any other outcome as he backed up from her and shifted into a panther for the meeting.

Mary waited until the shift was complete as she watched him with a frown. “You know, you could just go in your natural form. No one would ever complain about you or try to hit you with regulations again. You could own that council’s opinion if you just showed your face and didn’t insist on breaking tradition with this shape-shifting stuff.”

“I could,” Augustus admitted, “but then things wouldn’t be on schedule if I did.”

“Schedule? Schedule for what? Why do you keep talking about a schedule?” Mary sighed. Augustus had already bounded away, leaving her behind in moments. After effectively talking to herself, she had to run to catch up to the lithe and speedy panther so that the two of them could walk to the meeting together.

When they arrived at the gathering, the two were greeted by a room full of stern-faced gods, each and every one glaring silently at the duo as they entered.

“I see you’ve started keeping poor company,” Siegman observed dryly. He was the de facto leader of the council, largely because no one else had stepped up to assume the position. “Very poor company indeed.”

“I don’t know . . .” Augustus countered as he leapt across the room and into one of two empty chairs waiting for them. Everyone else had already arrived, even though they were actually somewhat early this time, and he could tell from their looks that they were getting ready to chew him out. “I can make whatever I need, and in terms of faith, I’ve got quite a few followers these days. In fact, I just recently reached the good old five-digit-faith stat thanks to Deigha kindly donating hers.”

“Donating? Deigha the Goddess of Ice didn’t donate anything! Your herald contravened the long-standing traditions of our game and killed her Herald in cold blood before the third month of the game had even ended!” Siegman raged, clearly disgusted. “It was a brutal, uncalled-for murder that happened simply because he’s too lazy to go about proselytizing and earning believers the proper way. How dare you try to say that she donated her faith to you and make light of her death!”

“Well, he was trying to kill Lee . . .” Mary spoke softly as she sat down next to Augustus. “I wouldn’t say Lee went out of his way to kill the other Herald exactly, so much as he--”

“What? Walked away from that Herald’s town unscathed thanks to the Herald’s generous and patient treatment, but then came back with an army to crush and destroy him, ending one of our precious lives in the process?” Siegman’s fury was unchecked as he berated Mary for attempting to take Augustus’s side in the matter.

“You’re looking at it wrong,” Augustus said casually as he shifted from a cat into a giant, human-sized raccoon. He pulled out a beer in the process and threw his stubby legs onto the table in front of him instead of letting them dangle above the ground. “My Herald just did her Herald a favor: he wanted to die, but he was too much of a coward to take his own life. So, Lee helped him do it.”

Siegman’s eyes grew even narrower as he stared Augustus down. “Are you trying to tell me that Lee just assisted a Herald in suicide? Do you think that’s any less of a blatant and flagrant disregard of the sacred traditions that our council upholds?! In the last thousand games, not a single Herald has died before a decade has passed, and your Herald has managed to flaunt indecency in the face of tradition and kill two in the first three months. And now you tell me that he was just helping a Herald commit suicide?!”

Augustus paused for a moment, his ears perking up as if he was listening to and processing everything Siegman said, and then he nodded. “Right. That’s it. You got the gist of it on the first go. Good on you.”

Siegman slammed a closed fist onto the table. “Of course I understood you! I’m asking how you could have the nerve to say such a thing and then the gall to raise such an impudent Herald! Did you teach him nothing?!”

“Well, as for how I would have the nerve . . . Well, I’m sure it’s tough for you, but speaking the truth doesn’t take much courage for me,” Augustus taunted. “That wench, the Goddess of Ice, killed her Herald’s family and newborn son, so it was pretty easy to imagine why dying in a way that would kill her would be desirable. Lee’s not like us, you know, with a hundred dead families under our name, so you can imagine he’d be a bit less apathetic about the whole murdered-family thing. As for the time to teach him . . .” Augustus paused, putting one of his tiny, little raccoon claws up to his mouth. “Well, sorry about that. You see, normally, I would have had plenty of time to educate him on all sorts of things, but some annoying hobgoblin-of-a-god insisted on penalizing me and denying me two whole months with my Herald. It’s really put me behind on the tutoring of morals and whatnot. I was so busy trying to use what few words I had time for to tell him how to stay alive that I totally forgot all about those pesky values and traditions you hold so dearly. You have to forgive me on that one. If I had only had more time . . . Like two months more time.”

The blood vessels in Siegman’s forehead bulged until they looked as if they were going to explode. He clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white, and he growled through clenched teeth. “I will--”

“Remember in the future not to penalize someone two months of game time just because they didn’t screw around and have more Heralds?” Augustus interjected, finishing Siegman’s sentence to the fuming god’s even greater irritation.

“A new shade he paints with each word, each sentence leaves our Siegman spurred, his own actions have this fate ensured, when punishment for punishment is incurred,” Cadwe, the God of Poetry, said, starting his usual nonsensical rhyming from his end of the table and following it up with a chuckle trollish enough to have come from Augustus.

“Quiet!” Siegman barked at the interruption.

“What?” Eric, the God of Smells and Spices, asked from his seat beside Cadwe. “The little ferret thingy is kind of right. You can’t expect him to teach his Herald anything when you’re the one who took away that massive block of time.”

Ah. Augustus smiled as he heard Eric and Cadwe’s response. So, they don’t know that I’ve been letting Lee have long vacation hours on Earth. He had purposefully riled them up so that he could get as much accurate information about their knowledge as he wanted, knowing that Siegman, in particular, was the type to spill out useful info as he inveighed against him. Instead, with one sentence from Eric and the matching look on Siegman’s face, he knew that they knew nothing this time. They hadn’t figured out just how much time Lee was spending in the other universe. While it was the best he could hope for, it still left him a little disappointed. An infinite amount of time, and you all spend it so uselessly, waxing philosophical or stroking egos, he thought with disdain as he leaned back. There was no more need for him to taunt Siegman.

“Even if it is the case that the penalty prevented him from properly training Lee, it can’t be that hard to tell him not to kill a Herald! It’s one sentence! He’s had plenty of time to say that ONE SENTENCE!” Siegman shouted.

“You’re not in the game, Siegman. With no stake at hand, it isn’t your place to talk, tradition or not,” Angelica said from her seat opposite of Augustus at the giant round table. “I, for one, am happy it was Lee who lived and not those other Heralds, and even if he had to break tradition, I’d rather he does that than be broken.”

Siegman glowered at Augustus for a moment longer then sat back down in his chair, making a commotion as he scooted it forward and slammed the palm of his hand onto the table. “Well then, shall we discuss our first order of business?” he asked, his face still distorted with vexation from the earlier confrontation.

“We could,” Lenfers, the God of Architecture, said from his chair as he slouched back and looked at Augustus. “Or we could talk about why this is the second meeting in a row that Mary and Augustus have shown up together. I think that gossip might be very interesting to hear, especially since their Heralds are supposed to be killing each other soon. After all, her Herald is making a straight line toward his, for some reason, as if . . . as if she wasn’t going to kill someone but meet an ally.”

“That’s nonsense,” Siegman exclaimed. “We all know that alliances in the competition are severely frowned upon and an even bigger break from tradition than killing a Herald at the start. All but one Herald dies in the end, so that’s to be expected eventually one way or another. However, an alliance? How can that work where there can only be a single winner?”

“Numbers can rise in more than one fashion,” Sord, the Loot God of Rising Numbers said. He was obviously hinting at a fact that Siegman seemed to be overlooking altogether: the world stone fragments.

Each competition might have dozens and dozens of Heralds, but there were only nine world stone fragments. They were rarely acquired because of the difficulty of the trials surrounding them, trials that directly challenged the aspect of the gods the Heralds represented, but when they were gathered, they gave massive boosts to the Herald’s stats: a flat 5% increase in the three primary stats as well as a boost to the god’s latent abilities. On top of this, if a Herald acquired all nine world stone fragments, then he would have the chance to win the competition, even if another Herald still lived. It was the only way to prevent a sole survivor situation.

“Indeed, they can,” Lenfers added, nodding along. “Although, if it were that simple, things wouldn’t be playing out the way they are. I’m wondering . . . Mary, Augustus, why are you two suddenly so close? What are you two up to that has you spending so much time together?”

“Ah.” Mary looked at Augustus. “Well, you see . . . It’s that . . .” She stuttered over her words as she tried to find an excuse. Augustus knew that she would never use the truth, who he was, to explain why she was so docile and obedient around him, but he also knew that she was terrible at coming up with believable lies as deceit was a thing she rarely practiced.

He watched her squirm for a minute, trying to explain away what was happening as she verbally flailed around, searching for a word, before deciding that he had milked this teasing enough and that it was time to change the pace of things. “There’s no reason to be shy,” Augustus said, changing to the form of a full-moon lycanthrope, his closest non-human but still-functionally-human form. He stared into her eyes, doing his best to make it look as if no one else at the table existed but her. He knew his real form would sell this far better, but it would also give away the truth at the same time.

“I’m . . . I’m not being shy. It’s just . . .” Mary looked flustered. “Why don’t you just tell them for me then?”

“Okay, if that’s what my darling wants,” Augustus said, watching surprise dance across her face as he said the word ‘darling.’ “The real reason we’ve been spending so much time together,” he continued, looking directly at Mary without taking his eyes off the tormented girl’s face for a moment, “is because the two recent deaths have made us realize that there was no point in hiding our emotions any longer. She came to my home, and I showed her my true form and told her how I really felt, and she practically hasn’t left my place since.” He was lying with the truth. “It’s been so helpful in this turbulent time to have someone who truly understands me.” His wolf-like jaw pulled upward into a smile as he looked at the prey he was enjoying.

Eric bolted upright, stopping him from going any further. “Wait! You mean. . . You two are--”

“Yes,” Augustus answered without letting the other god finish his question. He wanted things kept as vague as possible so that he didn’t actually have to lie. “We’re going to be together for the foreseeable future. I expect we will be spending a great deal of time with each other, watching, as she would say, true love unfolds.”

Augustus had to work very hard to suppress a snicker as Mary’s face contorted. To everyone else in the room, Augustus was talking about a beautiful future of love and happiness with Mary. She, however, knew that he was merely referring to watching Lee’s romantic life on Earth and eating popcorn. He also knew that she knew that he’d be cackling at her and the whole situation right then if he didn’t have to keep up the performance.

Siegman sighed defeatedly. This was Augustus’s second attack against the arrogant god who sat at the head of the table since everyone but Mary knew that he had a crush on her, that he had wanted to be with her for countless eons. “Well . . . You really do choose poor company, Mary,” he said, bitterness pervading his every word. “Well, let’s just move on to the next order of business.”

“That’s fine. My darling and I are in a rush to get back.” Augustus changed back into a panther and nuzzled his large head into Mary’s lap before moving back to his seat. For her part, Mary just petted his head a bit, clearly shell shocked, while staring blankly at some distant point that no one but she could see.

Chapter 1

Name: Lee

Race: Human

Class: Herald - None

Level: 26

Health: 360/360

EXP: 3001/37000

Primary Stats:

Power 36 (39)

Toughness 36 (39)

Spirit 36 (39)

Secondary Stats:

Charisma 25

Courage 20

Deceit 26

Intelligence 161 (177)

Honor 3

Faith 32721

Personal Faith 233

Skills:

Unarmed Combat Initiate Level 7

Swordplay Novice Level 8

Sneak Journeyman Level 2

Cooking Initiate Level 7

Trap Detection Initiate Level 6

Knife Combat Initiate Level 8

Mental Fortitude Initiate Level 1

Sleight of Hand Initiate Level 3

Blood Shield Initiate Level 3

Glass Smithing Initiate Level 10

Divine Skills:

Golem Sculpting Journeyman Level 1

Appreciative Drunk Novice Level 8

Nectar of the Gods Initiate Level 4

Spirit Smithing Initiate Level 3

Faith Healing

Divinity Powers:

Life in Death

Titles:

Cheat Code Fighter

The Great Deceiver

Lee couldn’t stop himself from smiling as he breathed in the fresh air and rolled over to look at the woman next to him. Callipygian. It was a word he had seen plenty of times, but it was one whose definition had never been fully appreciated until he had seen Masha’s naked figure. Callipygian and perfect.

“You look happy,” Masha crooned as her eyes opened with a flutter.

Lee let his eyes roam over every part of body her but her face. “Well, from where I’m sitting, there are at least two good reasons to be happy.”

“My eyes are up here,” Masha muttered as she caught his roaming gaze.

“I know,” Lee replied, but he didn’t stop his ogling for a second.

“Well then, I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to stop looking and put on clothes sooner or later,” Masha warned as she got out of the bed and started pulling on the dress she wore yesterday. “We’ve got brunch with my dad, and we can’t be late.”

Lee waited until her outfit was on before reminding her of the obvious. “You know you wore that yesterday, right?”

“Yeah . . .” Masha said slowly, failing to understand what Lee was hinting at. “And?”

“And your dad saw you leave in that dress to what was supposed to be your friend Olga’s house . . .” Lee explained, trying to lead her to realize the issue with a few breadcrumbs.

She looked at him confusedly in the mirror as she fastened straps and adjusted her hair. “And? He expected me to stay out, so why wouldn’t I come back in the same clothes?”

“Have you ever come back from Olga’s place in the same dress?” Lee asked patiently, then pushed again. “Or do you usually have a different one? You know . . . one that she lends you?” He had known Masha long enough to know that she always came back in a different but still-cute outfit every time she hung out with Olga. The two of them loved to play dress up whenever they got bored and ran out of movies to watch.

“Oh . . .” Masha’s milky skin seemed to pale even further as she caught on and scrutinized how she was dressed. “Oh no . . . he’s going to know right away. How will he not?”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought too.” Lee nodded knowingly as he crawled out of bed and walked over to his closet. “That’s exactly why I got you this,” he said, pulling out a beautiful dress.

“You . . . bought me a dress?” Masha took her ensemble off again, unfastening the straps and letting it drop to the floor before swaying over to Lee and taking the garment from him. “And how did you get my size right?” she asked after quickly checking the tag.

Lee grinned mischievously. “That would be Olga’s doing. She helped me out the other day and made sure I had everything ready just in case.”

“Just in case?”

“Just in case we--”

Masha’s pale skin suddenly flushed as red as a freshly-cooked lobster, and she suddenly seemed to be too embarrassed to even allude to what they had done, much less talk about it. She pulled the dress over her head and buried her face in a layer of clothes as if she were trying block out the sentence Lee had left unfinished. Then, as if sensing that he was no longer going to make reference to the night’s activities, she finally continued clothing herself after a moment.

“So, where are we meeting Olga?” Lee asked, reluctantly climbing out of bed at last. He shuffled over to the closet and began pulling on clothes of his own while Masha finished dressing. “And where are we supposed to pretend to have run into her?”

“She’ll meet us at the coffee shop next to the house, and we’ll walk together from there. She’s got a date, so it’ll take less time that way,” Masha explained.

The dress was incredibly beautiful on her, and Lee was happy that he had taken the time to get Olga to help pick it out. His mind was still stuck in the world of practicality and the competition of Heralds, so he likely would have gone with something plain and drab, but Olga had insisted on bright colors. She had encouraged him to pick out something based around one of his favorite colors, green, and then she had matched it with a beautiful floral pattern that had long leaves and hanging orchid flower prints that perfectly matched Masha’s pale-white skin tone. The dress was tight and form-fitting around the chest and torso and then flowed outward once below her waist, and it was stunning on her. It was so entrancing, in fact, that Lee nearly forgot what they had been talking about.

Lee blinked a few times, trying to collect his thoughts again. “Huh? Sorry, you were just-- Wow. The dress makes some women; you make that dress.”

“Well, focus.” She waved her hand in front of his eyes, pulling his gaze back to earth. “We gotta get going, or else we’ll be late. My dad wanted to start the meal as soon as possible, so there will be plenty of time for your little ‘post-jentacular’ games of chess, whatever that is. He keeps saying he’s going to beat you this time, even though everyone knows he always goes easy on you.”

“He means after-breakfast chess games, but we’re doing brunch this time . . . and he doesn’t go easy on me,” Lee protested. “I have to work hard for those wins.”

“Of course you do, my dearest.” Masha gave him a faux-sympathetic look and patted him on the shoulder. “Of course you do.”

“Hey! Don’t start that, or I’ll have to spank you,” Lee threatened.

“Mmm . . .” Masha didn’t give a proper response. Instead, she simply winked at him before turning and swaying out of the apartment.

Lee quickly followed behind, and the two of them made their way out of his building and through town. The weather was dreary, but Lee took solace in the fact that at least the grey, overcast skies weren’t accompanied by a matching set of wind and rain and that the day was only hampered by a persistent, empty fog-like atmosphere.

“Really ominous weather . . .” Lee noted as he took off his blazer and draped it over Masha’s shoulders. He knew that the biggest downside to having a woman dress that nicely was being assured that she would need to steal his coat the second she felt a chill.

“Yeah, something definitely feels off,” Masha agreed, suddenly sidling in closer to Lee. “This is definitely the type of weather that . . . you know.”

“Proceeds an awful turn of events in any movie?” Lee asked, his mind immediately going to pop cultural references.

“What? No. This is the type of weather that calls for snuggling inside. Why would you think that? Don't say that. You’ll jinx us.”

Then, as if on que to startle them, Olga appeared beside them. “Hey! I almost didn’t see you two,” she said as Lee and Masha approached her.

“Well, you know, tall white guy with red hair next to a beautiful girl like Masha in this town . . .” Lee said sarcastically. “We’re very hard to notice, right?”

“You need to stop complimenting her,” Olga warned. “You’re going to make her turn an even darker hue than that hair of yours. She’s not used to compliments.”

“Not sure why. I’m surprised that every guy who met her before me didn’t just lay on terribly-cheesy pick-up lines the second they met her,” Lee thought aloud. “I certainly don’t understand why I’m her first serious boyfriend.”

“You have met her dad, right? You do know about her family’s--” Olga stopped abruptly and looked over at Masha with an ‘I’m sorry’ expression.

“Her family’s what?” Lee asked, glancing between them.

Olga shook her head. “Nothing, nothing. Forget I said anything. It’s just the umm . . .” She paused, pressing her red lips together so hard that they started to turn white. “The fact she needs bodyguards because she’s rich. That’s all it is. Let’s just get her home.”

“Ah, the wealth. Yeah, I don’t know how that’s a bad thing. I personally like the idea that I might one day have my very own sugar momma,” Lee said, pulling Masha in closer. His mind suddenly traveled back to the other world at the mention of money, and he was momentarily preoccupied with thoughts of how hard he was having to work there just to achieve the growth he wanted in Satterfield’s burgeoning economy. He had already pushed through various efforts to help modernize the small town, such as renovating Ramon’s old tavern and installing pipes there for running water as well as insulation, but with the costs of the new installations along with food purchases, maintenance and acquiring new weapons and armor, he felt like he had sunk a literal goldmine into the town. Lee was also pretty sure that he would spend the small fortune he had received from killing the Herald of the Goddess of Ice on Satterfield, so a life of ease wasn’t anywhere on the horizon back in the game. That being the case, he was perfectly happy with the idea of a lovely, young sugar momma for his vacations to the real world

“Your very own sugar momma?” Olga giggled. “If I didn’t know you well enough, I’d think you were a gold digger.”

“If you didn’t know me well enough?” Lee said. “Why, how do you know I’m not?”

“Because, with your tricks--that thing you do with forks and the beverages you can make--you could easily be richer than even Masha’s dad if you just wanted money,” Olga clarified.

“Tricks?!” Lee feigned indignity, channeling his inner Wolfe and pretending to be offended. “Why, I never! There are no tricks at all. It’s genuine magic, I tell you!” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the loose change, holding the coins up in his open palm so that the two girls could see them before closing both hands around them.

“Here we go again,” Olga sighed. “You’ve already gotten into her pants, so why must you do that silly trick for her?”

Lee just brushed her off as he channeled his spirit into the coins and melded the handful of nickels, dimes and quarters into the image he was holding in his mind.

“Alright, show us the twelfth statue of Masha you’ve magicked up,” Olga groaned as Lee began opening his hands, but quickly gasped in surprise when he revealed his creation. The small figurine just barely fit in the palm of his hand, and rather than Masha, he had clearly depicted Ogla and her longtime boyfriend. He had dressed her in an elegant evening gown, her boyfriend in a tuxedo, and he had shown them embracing each other in what looked like a waltz, the movement of their bodies suspended perfectly in time. The tiny statue captured every detail of the dancing lovers down to the small creases in their clothing and even the subtle nuances of their facial features. Given its size, even a good machine mold wouldn’t have been able to flawlessly produce the perfect features that Lee had.

“Well . . .” Lee glanced down at the figurine and then back up at her. “I was going to give this to you today, but since I apparently can’t do magic, I suppose I’ll just have to change it back,” Lee teased as he closed his hands around it.

“Wait! No!” Olga protested. “I want it.”

“But it can’t be real. It’s just a trick. I don’t know magic,” Lee teased. “So, clearly, I didn’t just make this with magic.”

“You did!” she acquiesced quickly. “Just let me have it.”

“Yes, just let her have it,” Masha also pleaded for her friend.

Lee sighed, opening his hand and letting Olga grab the beautiful trinket. He might have had fun teasing her, but he couldn’t resist Masha’s pleading eyes.

“Alright, we have a date to keep. Shall we--” Lee was going to suggest that they get a move on, but that thought was interrupted by a cacophony of shouts. The door to the cafe that they were standing in front of slammed open, and a mob of people rushed out of it and the two adjoining buildings. Strangely, the streets began to empty at almost the same time, and the few pedestrians who had been about on business took off running as well. It was as if someone had given some unheard, universal cue to start a panic.

“What’s going on?” Masha asked, instantly wrapping herself around Lee’s arms.

“What in the hell?” Olga reached out and placed her hand on Masha’s shoulder as if to keep track of her while turning her head to take in the mass exodus of people. Lee knew that look: she wasn’t just trying to figure out what had happened, she was looking for any potential threats from the fleeing bystanders.

Whatever was going on, safety wasn’t far off. Masha’s home, while on a rather large piece of property that looked like a park, was actually located near the center of town just down the street from where they stood.

“I don’t know what’s wrong, but we need to stay calm,” Lee said quietly, turning his head from side to side as he peered around them. “Something is definitely not right.” He really wished that he had the aid of his little flying golem in times like these. The rodents’ eyes and ears were far more sensitive than his own, and Lee could use them to pick up sights and sounds that were much farther away than his own senses could ever detect. Even with just his own terribly-inept, non-magical human senses, however, he could already see what was happening: someone had laid down traffic cones and blocked off the streets. The only people not fleeing in panic were pulling masks down over their heads, and they seemed to be preparing themselves for something.

It’s not . . . Lee glanced at Alexander’s compound. It’s not the old man testing me again, is it? He remembered all too well how his first venture to her home had been met with a rather severe physical combat aptitude test. No, if he was doing another test, he’d still wait for them to reach her yard, where it wouldn’t attract attention. He wouldn’t hold a trial on this scale. That old man won’t even leave his home for a fancy meal at a restaurant on his anniversary, so there’s no way he’d pull this much attention to himself, especially this close to his own home.

Lee scanned their surroundings again, trying to figure out where the first attacker would come from and if it was safe enough to try and leave with the throng of people. He knew that the chaos wouldn’t last long, and the modicum of cover the fleeing bystanders provided would disappear with them.

“We need to get her back to the compound,” Olga said urgently. Then, in a much lower voice, she said, “Alexander will have prepared for this.”

“No.” Lee shook his head subtly but firmly. They could see the gate from where they were standing, and it was still over a block and a half away. It was too far for them to run. They’d be wide open to a flank attack that entire run. “If this were the other world, I’d try to lure them into an alley, fight them one at a time and prevent them from surrounding me. The more I limited their ability to approach from multiple directions, the more effective my shield would be,” he said quietly, forgetting to keep his thoughts silent and strategizing aloud.

Masha squeezed his hand lightly, clearly a bit stunned by what was going on, and asked, “The other world . . . you mean that LARP-style fighting you practice?”

“Yeah, something like that,” Lee answered.

“So, you want to bust into one of the shops they’ve occupied, try to limit the amount of space we’re exposed to and control the terrain. That’s not a bad idea,” Olga responded, correctly interpreting Lee’s thoughts. “You want to go to . . .” She trailed off and signaled the cafe she had just come from with a nod of her head.

“No.” Lee shook his head yet again and then nodded to the deli behind him. The coffee shop might have been closer, but there was no realistic cover once they were inside. Contrary to most action movies, paper-thin wooden veneer and tables wouldn’t stop a serious round of bullets, and hiding behind them was almost useless. Bullets had a way of punching holes through flimsy sheets of wood, and that cafe counter was just that: flimsy plywood. On the other hand, Lee was pretty sure that he could stack up metal serving trays and craft a somewhat-bulletproof shield if they were to get behind the counter at the deli.

Olga squinted for a moment as she looked around and then nodded her agreement. “You’re right. Let’s do it,” she said softly, trying not to let anyone know that they were on to them.

Lee could already see that the people in masks were now intently focused on his small group, and if it weren’t for the fact they likely wanted to take Masha alive, they’d probably have already opened fire.

Lee grabbed Masha’s arm with one hand and slipped his other arm around her waist, hoisted her into the air and darted straight for the deli at full speed. He just didn’t trust her to be able to move quickly enough with heels on, and she would never be as fast as he was due to the increased strength and speed he had gained in the game world. Olga fell into step behind a moment later, and the race for cover began.

Doors to surrounding shops burst open as soon as he made his move to lift Masha, and he heard a chorus of loud voices from numerous men. “They’re running! They’re running! Secure the target!”

Yup, they’re here for Masha, Lee concluded as he burst into the deli. There were two men inside waiting for them, and Lee instantly dropped down and ducked to the side as soon as they were through the door. He turned away from the two men protectively, shielding Masha with his body so that she wouldn’t get hurt if they opened fire, and hoped that Olga was as accurate with a pistol as he thought she was. The bodyguard burst through the door a second later, and four loud shots rang out in succession as she shot each of them twice in the chest.

Without more than slowing down, Olga pushed farther into the building, seemingly unphased by what she had just done. The deli was now empty, save for them and the two corpses, but that didn’t stop her from stalking around every corner, weapon held at the ready, just to make sure that it was clear. Once she was satisfied, she removed two spare clips from her purse and moved them to her front pocket, presumably for easier access. “Grab one of their guns,” she instructed.

“Oh my God!” Masha squeezed onto Lee tightly before he could even move for a weapon. “Oh my God! Oh my God! They’re dead!”

“Deep breaths, Masha,” Olga ordered in a low, patient voice. She made her way back to the two bodies and quickly removed their weapons, pausing only for a moment as she rifled through their pockets. “Lee, put her down. We need to be preparing.”

Lee ignored both the weapons and Olga’s instructions as he carried Masha to the back of the deli. The young woman may as well have been weightless for all she hindered him as he leapt over the counter and landed on the other side. He set her down so that she was facing away from the building’s entrance and then grabbed a large stack of the metal trays. He slid them in behind her so that they were stacked against the counter and then began layering them on top of one another. Each time he added a new serving tray to the mix, he quickly infused it with a small dose of his spirit, effectively spot-welding it to the others so that they wouldn’t fall apart. It was a rough, crude and incredibly-quick use of his powers, but it was effective in keeping the makeshift barrier together, and he hoped that it would be enough to save her from any stray bullets that made it in her direction.

Masha remained frozen the entire time, doing little more than shivering and shaking as she hyperventilated. “Oh, God,” she muttered to herself, trying to take several more deep breaths.

“Hey,” Lee said softly, grabbing her by the shoulder. “Look at me. Look at me right now.” She took another deep breath, but she met his gaze. “It’s going to be okay. We’re going to be okay. Just close your eyes and stay right there.”

Olga tossed one of the dead men’s rifles to him over the counter and then joined him.

Two men positioned themselves outside the door, and Lee overheard their orders to ‘secure the target at all costs.’ He mentally prepared himself for what was about to happen, casting one last glance at Olga as he did so.

“The gun,” she mouthed at Lee, looking down at it pointedly. But he didn’t go for it. He had no experience with such weapons, so while the weapon was guaranteed to be deadly, he had no idea how bad his aim would be, how strong the recoil would be or what to do if it jammed. His expertise was limited to medieval weaponry, not modern-day firearms.

Lee set the gun down on the tile beside him and snatched up one of the water glasses from the cabinet drawer behind him since he couldn’t make a knife out of nothing. Without worrying about explaining what he was about to do to either girl, he quickly infused the glass with his spirit, producing three throwing daggers. “What in the world did you just do?” Olga asked as she watched the glass transform into three perfectly-balanced throwing knives. “How did you do that?”

“Bad guys, Olga,” Lee said pointedly, getting ready to stand up.

“Before more come,” Olga agreed with a nod. The bell above the door tinkled as the men entered the store, and Lee made a move. Both he and Olga popped up from behind the counter, dropping back down just as quickly. It had only been for a second, but it was enough for Olga to squeeze off two rounds into one man and for Lee to send a dagger straight into the other’s head.

“What the hell, Lee?” Olga asked, clearly in shock. Her surprise and his answer were cut short, however, as another round of men pushed inside.

Lee grabbed another water glass and quickly transformed it into three more throwing daggers. “I can only get one,” he responded in a hushed tone, completely ignoring her question. “I need more than a second for two.”

Olga risked a peak around the corner of the counter before jerking her head back. She held up four fingers, indicating the number of men, and nodded.

“Follow my lead and get yours,” he said as quietly as he could. He grabbed one of the extra trays that he hadn’t had time to set up behind Masha and then, without waiting for her reply, tossed it into the air. Shots rang out the moment it cleared his hand, and the room was filled with the loud pings of metal on metal as it was struck by a flurry of bullets, instantly making him happy for the fact that he hadn’t tried to handle these new guys the same way he had the last. The two sprang up from cover for the second time, and the throwing dagger was out of Lee’s hand and sailing toward his target before he had even fully turned around, and he heard Olga fire off two shots from beside him. Lee and the bodyguard began dropping back behind cover, and then Olga screamed out in pain as a bullet tore into her shoulder.

Lee twisted around so that he could look at her wound and grimaced. It’s not serious, but . . . You know what? Never mind. Lee reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned,” he mumbled habitually, hoping this didn’t shake the good Christian woman’s faith as he used his spirit to heal the wound. It was an injury that--contrary to the ridiculous recovery speeds seen on television--should have taken at least six months to properly and fully heal, and it was stitched back together in less than three seconds. The bullet even expunged itself from the bloody hole in her shoulder as Lee pushed it out with his spirit and closed the wound behind it.

“Lee . . .” Olga reflexively grabbed onto the hand that he had healed her with and stared at him in amazement.

Masha looked just as shocked. “Lee, are you . . . What are you? What’s going on?”

“Calm down, Masha. Take a deep breath and relax. I’ll get us out of this just fine,” Lee said, taking a deep breath himself.

“I . . . I’m healed. You healed me,” Olga said slowly, her wide-eyed gaze filled with a mixture of reverence and disbelief.

“Well, put the shoulder to good use. We need to get out of here soon, or we’re going to be sitting ducks. We have no clue how many of these guys there are exactly, and those two at the entrance won’t wait long after others show up.”

“Okay, then what do you--?”

Lee held up a hand and then pressed a single finger to his lips, cutting her off and signaling for her to keep quiet. He leaned in around Masha until his lips were pressed against Olga’s ear and whispered, “Hold this up when the moment is right. This trick might not work twice, but keep it up there until it gets shot out of your hands or until a good minute passes.”

Olga nodded, and he gathered from her reverent expression that he could ask her for anything at that moment, and she would do it. Olga’s sudden blind trust and willingness to obey an order was a scary prospect, and he was afraid of what it might mean in the future. Her willingness to take action and put herself in harm’s way a little more than his word was also a stark contrast to Masha, who had her face buried in her hands.

Lee swapped the two daggers to his other hand and then crouch-walked to the far end of the counter, carefully keeping his head behind cover. He could move without making any sound thanks to Sneak, so he was able to hide his new position from the two remaining gunmen.

He nodded once at Ogla, and she instantly threw the tray up from behind the counter. Shots rang out and were just as quickly followed by the sound of metal bouncing off the serving tray for the second time, and it was then that Lee stood up and hurled the two daggers as swiftly as he could. One blade tore through the air, nailing one of the men right in the forehead and the other in his jugular. The powerful and well-aimed blows killed them both, but Lee felt like the one with the knife in the forehead got the better end of the deal, given that the other guy had to spend his last few seconds bleeding out on a cold deli floor.

“Alright,” Lee said, leaving the man to die and moving back to Masha. She was shaking like a leaf in a storm, and she hugged her knees against her chest as she rocked back and forth. “We’re going to have to move. I’m going to carry you now, but I need you to stay as quiet as you can. We don’t want the bad guys to know where we’re going. Do you think you can do that for me?” Lee knew that he sounded patronizing, like he was talking to a child, but after all that Masha had seen and gone through in the last ten minutes, he was worried that he might as well be talking to one. He couldn’t imagine exactly what it must be like for her, but he had an idea. He had been ripped from a comfortable, non-violent existence like hers and been tossed into the bloody, death-filled reality that was the other world, but that felt like it was so long ago that the recollection had lost much of its poignancy. He had no idea how he would have coped with it if he hadn’t already been desensitized by video games. As insane as it sounded, those games had helped him deal with the transition.

Masha nodded her understanding and took a big gulp of air when she opened her mouth, but she didn’t answer.

“Good.” Lee slipped an arm around her back and another under her legs. “I’m going to keep you safe,” he said reassuringly. “You don’t have to worry. Everything is going to be okay, alright? Just focus on me. Olga, you ready?”

“Yes, sir,” she answered, replacing the clip in her magazine and shifting her legs so that she could bolt quickly.

“Let’s go.” Then, as he stood up, he added to Masha, “Close your eyes now. Don’t look at anything.” The last thing he wanted was for her to see the grotesque scene that he and Olga had created as the three of them made their way to the back of the deli. Thankfully, the small shop had a rear exit that led into an alley. He popped his head around the corner, once again sorely missing his Little Ethans as he checked to make sure that the coast was clear.

At first, he was happy that there was no sign of an ambush or people waiting and no signs of enemies nearby, but that faded quickly when he realized the alley was a dead end on one side and opened into the street on the other. There was a fire escape and back doors to a couple other shops, but the doors were all locked with deadbolts fat enough to see from a distance as he passed them. No one is here because they think we’re going to be heading to the compound, or that if we leave through the back alley, we’ll be funneling into the street. That thought re-assured Lee as he checked one more time and then dragged the two girls to one of the back doors. He wanted to get to the compound, but if he went toward the street, they’d have anticipated that possibility and be waiting for him.

Okay, Lee, one more magic trick . . . Lee reached out and touched the deadbolt with one hand without setting Masha down. He used his Spirit Smithing skill to practically melt away part of the deadbolt, allowing him to easily open the door with his foot and carry Masha through. Once all three of them were inside, he fused the remainder of the bolt to the door, effectively turning it into a permanent lock, and made his way inside. He instantly recognized the small kitchen they were in since it was almost exactly the same as the one that they had left on the opposite end of the block. Apparently, the downtown of any city needed at least two or three cafes on every block.

Olga moved ahead of him then, quickly making her way into the dining room so that she could make sure it was empty of threats. She returned a moment later and nodded, indicating that it was safe for him to continue.

This place is empty, Lee noticed as he crept in as quietly as he could despite the floorboards creaking underneath him as he carried Masha through the back room to the front of the cafe.

Olga looked over at Lee like he was her boss. “Where to next?” she asked expectantly.

“Well, what’s the security like on that?” Lee asked, nodding through the window toward Masha’s home. They could now clearly see the massive stone wall that bordered the park-like home from their new vantage point through the large, plate-glass windows, and he knew that there were two entrances, one in the west and one in the east.

“It’s just a stone wall, if that’s what you’re asking. It’s the fact that it’s flat and high with no footholds that makes it tough to get over. Scaling it wouldn’t be a problem if we had a ladder, and there should be guards on the other side to take over if we can make it across. They should be able to help us if someone hasn’t already seen or heard what is going on and sent some of them to check it out,” Olga explained.

“If they don’t know that Masha is the one in danger, would they send anyone?” Lee asked.

“No. They’d let everyone on this side die rather than risk not protecting the family,” Olga said flatly.

“Then why don’t we just call them? Let them know we need help?” Lee asked.

“I’ve already tried while we were running here. The number won’t go through. They’re blocking service from the cell towers at the moment in this area.”

Okay then, let’s play it the risky way, he thought, looking over at the wall separating him and the park. If it were just him, he had full faith he could get over that wall in record time. There was no way he could do it while carrying Masha, however, even with the extra advantage his enhanced stats gave him. If he had known he was going to try to get over, he could have made a makeshift ladder pretty quickly with the right tools, but this wasn’t a furniture shop, and there didn’t seem to be anything useful nearby he could use. In fact, the tallest object he could find was a chair.

Wait . . . Is that one of those dinky no-weight hybrids? Lee asked himself hopefully as he noticed the tiniest, cutest blue bubble-top car he had ever seen parked just outside. I’ll get arrested after this, but I’m sure any jury will understand, he argued to himself as he came up with his idea. “Okay, I need you to grab this.” Lee nudged one of the cafe’s chairs over to Olga with his toe. “Bring it with us. We’re moving quickly. We have to get over that wall before they realize we’re not in the back alleys or still in the cafe.”

“Yes sir,” Olga said, clutching the chair tightly.

Lee didn’t bother telling her when they were leaving. This time, he just slipped out the front door of the cafe and turned toward the compound. When he got to the bubble-top car, he set Masha down between that and the sedan behind it, figuring that it was the safest spot he was going to find in an otherwise open roadway. He then rushed over to the driver’s side window of the hybrid and used Glass Smithing to melt an aperture into the glass. He could easily punch his way through, but shattering glass would also likely draw attention. He then reached through the large hole he had made, unlocked the car and then hopped inside. He didn’t have the key to the vehicle, and he didn’t have a mold to work with, nor was he capable of hotwiring it, so instead he just threw it in neutral and got out.

“Olga, put down the chair and take the driver’s seat,” he ordered. It didn’t take her more than a second to be in the seat after he hopped out. “Steer it so that the car is scraping against the wall.” Without waiting for an answer, he slipped behind the vehicle, leaned against it, and heaved. Every muscle in his body tightened under the immense strain as he pushed the 3,000-pound car out of its parking spot. They only had a short distance to cover since the back alley had allowed them to traverse most of the city block without being detected, and Lee hoped that this would allow him to safely cover the rest.

The car slowly rolled forward at first but quickly gained speed, and a moment later, it crashed over the curb at the end of the road and came to a lurching halt as Olga slammed on the breaks. The rinky-dink tin can was practically rubbing up against the wall, and the sound of metal scraping against stone caused Lee to cringe as he imagined exactly how much money it would cost to repair the ruined paint job. Please forgive me, kind owner.

Lee ran back down the short stretch of street to where he had left Masha and the chair, his eyes constantly scanning the road for any sign that someone might have noticed them. He quickly scooped her up into his arms, awkwardly grabbed the chair with the tips of his fingers and hustled back to where he had left Olga and the automobile. Lee dropped the chair and then gently set Masha on her feet, taking only a brief moment to make sure that she was going to remain upright on her own. When she didn’t instantly fall over, he grabbed the chair once again, vaulted on top of the car’s hood and positioned the chair against the wall. Between the height of the car and the height of the chair, Lee hoped that it would be enough for the girls to make it over “Come on. Upsy daisy, you two,” he said, motioning up and over with his hands. “We’re short on time.”

Olga quickly climbed onto the car with Lee, but Masha took a minute to follow her up onto the hood of the vehicle.

“You go first!” Lee instructed Olga. The young woman didn’t need any more prompting. She moved as fast as her arms and legs would hold her, and she was over the top of the wall a moment later. Somehow, despite the haste with which she moved, she still managed to make her movements look delicate.

Masha tentatively started up next, but just as she made a move to climb over, one of the masked men finally made an appearance. He screamed out loudly, also relaying something into a handheld radio at the same time, and leveled a gun in Lee’s direction. Please be a bad shot! Lee looked back and forth between the gunman and Masha’s fumbling attempt to lower herself as gracefully as Olga had.

Unfortunately for Lee, his little internal prayer wasn’t answered. The man unloaded five rounds at Lee from sixty yards away and hit him twice, both times in the gut. Searing pain shot through his abdomen, and he was instantly reminded of what it felt like to be stabbed with a dagger in the other world. The wounds hurt like hell, but the pain wasn’t anything that he couldn’t stand. He had plenty of experience getting wounded at this point, and he knew that it was going to take a little bit more than that to put him on the ground. Still, he thanked his lucky stars the bullets hadn’t pierced a vital organ or something worse that could have put him out of commission.

“Go!” Lee shouted at Masha. He knew she was scared of the gunshots, but she was also just too scared in general to trust the fact that she could make her fall. She had frozen up. Wincing against the pain in his abdomen, he grabbed her hand and gave her a word of assurance. “I’ve got you. Let’s do this together.” Another blast of gunshots rang out, and he felt a searing pain as another bullet tore through his leg. Pain exploded from the wound, causing him to let go of her hand and fall down the wall where he landed hard on his side.

“Masha,” he said through gritted teeth. “Jump to me.” He did his best to fight through the pain as he struggled to stand up. He was using his magical healing ability as quickly as he could, but it didn’t seem to help him as effectively as it did other people outside of the competition world.

“I . . . I don’t . . .” Masha sucked in several quick, rapid breaths, and it sounded like she was on the verge of hyperventilating again.

“No, don’t tell me that. You can do it. They’re not going to shoot you, but they will take you if you don’t fall toward me. I’ve got you. You just have to trust me.” Lee’s assurances must have worked. After a moment’s hesitation, she finally tumbled down toward him, where he was able to catch her and soften her landing.

“There you go,” he said, shifting her in his arms so that he wouldn’t have to set her down. He just didn’t trust her not to collapse at the moment. “Didn’t I tell you that you were going to be okay?”

“Yeah, but . . . you . . . You’re bleeding. You were shot.” Masha touched the bloodied spots on his stomach where the two bullets had ripped through his gut, but both were nearly healed up now.

“So was Olga. What’s your point?” Lee asked. “It’s our job to get shot so you don’t have to.” It was a lame joke, but it was the best attempt he could muster at the moment to make light of a very tense situation.

“You were shot too?” Olga asked as she looked over at Lee. His nice Oxford shirt and grey slacks had both been ruined by the bullet holes and the subsequent flow of blood that had spilled out.

“Can we talk about this after we’re safe?” Lee asked. He hoisted Masha even further in the air, shifted her up in another a princess carry, prepared to bring her the entire way to her home. However, before he even got a chance, he was interrupted by the sound of barking dogs and men approaching on all sides.

“Breach in the perimeter! We have a breach in the-- Strike that, Masha has been returned to base!” one of the men said into a walkey as a dog led him closer to the trio.

“Miss, please, we need to get you back to Alexander and the safety of the inner compound,” one of the guards said over the still-barking dogs. Lee could tell they weren’t barking at Masha or Olga, but at him.

“There’s no need to bring her back,” Alexander said as he walked out from behind a tree. “I’m here. I can walk her myself.”

“Sir,” the guards looked over, “I recommend that--”

“I recommend that you relax. That’s an order,” Alexander said, seemingly unphased by the entire incident or the fact that there was an attack outside of his place just moments ago. “Let me walk my daughter and her two saviors back home.”

“Thank you for your help, Lee, but what’s--” Alexander’s calm facade cracked when his eyes noticed the pool of blood around Masha’s side, and his voice fell flat and then hung in his throat before he even finished his sentence. Recovering his voice, he demanded, “What happened to Masha?!”

“We were ambushed,” Lee explained and instantly moved on to covering the important bits as quickly as possible with short, precise sentences. “They had dozens of men with guns. They were waiting for us to get close to the park’s entrance. They kept shouting to secure the target.”

“That’s what they were shouting? I didn’t understand a word. It all sounded like Chechen to me,” Olga said.

Lee was a little startled by this revelation. He knew there was a good chance that they weren’t speaking English, but he was surprised to find out that they were actually speaking Chechen, even though there weren’t any prominent Chechen communities in the city. The reason Lee hadn’t been able to tell was that a residual part of the competition’s system was always with him. It had been there since he first joined the competition, and it automatically translated every language he heard into one that he could understand. In the same way he learned words he didn’t know before, like ‘jentacular,’ he also knew and understood new languages--only they sounded just like English to him.

Alexander took a deep, steadying breath. “Not that. I could tell there was a firefight. I mean the blood . . . the blood . . . Were you shot, Masha?” He examined his daughter curled up in Lee’s arms. Lee was the one who had been struck multiple times, but he held her clutched against his abdomen exactly where he had been shot. As a result, she had become covered in blood as well.

“No, Dad,” Masha said. “I’m fine. It was--”

“It was nothing, sir,” Olga answered, interrupting Masha. “The ones who were shot weren’t us.”

“How come I wasn’t notified about this? How come none of the guards called to update me on the situation before you made it over the wall?” Alexander fumed quietly as he moved forward. Lee set her down, and Alexander immediately began moving around her and pulling aside clothes as if to make sure she wasn’t even scratched. “Why didn’t you report this, Olga? We have a team to help in these situations.”

“Service was down,” Olga explained. “I couldn’t reach you. I’m assuming it was the same for the guards.”

“Fine. I’m getting you a satellite phone in case this happens again. I had better be updated immediately if anything ever happens to Masha again.” Alexander stopped searching Masha for injuries and instead opted to pull her into a tight, suffocating hug.

Olga nodded and turned to Lee. She seemed to be searching him for something, but less in the worried way Alexander was searching Masha and more in the confused way, as if she was looking at an alien from outer space that had incarnated as a man in front of her.

Yeah, this one is going to be tough to deal with. Lee restrained a frustrated sigh as he caught her befuddled, questioning expression. He had enjoyed the simple life, and he had enjoyed this world’s lack of deification versus the other, but he knew what would happen once the confusion wore away and the moment passed.

It had been the same in Satterfield. He had saved the prisoners’ lives, and while they were puzzled at first, they had started to worship him as a god over time--some even more so than Augustus. They worshipped him even if he kept preaching about Augustus. It was only natural though. They had latched onto him in faith and begun to rely on him as the pillar of their society. The more he pushed their lives forward, whether right or wrong, the more they believed in him. Consequentially, the more they fawned over him, the harder it was to not lose a little bit of his respect for them. Regardless of his miracles, he still didn’t view himself as great or special. He only viewed himself as the man who had let Amber die--the man who had failed.

“Alright,” Alexander said, breaking into Lee’s contemplations. “How about we move this inside and get you three cleaned up. We can’t have your mother worrying about you, can we?” He patted Masha on her head lovingly and extended a hand toward the house, ushering them inside. “You might have come close to death, but if she finds out what happened, she might actually die, so let’s keep this between us.”

“Mmm . . .” Masha simply nodded as her father let go of her and she took a step back. “Shouldn’t she know?”

“No, we don’t want to worry her. Trust me, she already has enough worry to fill a whole jar. We don’t need to give her any more.” Alexander looked over at Lee, and his eyes roamed up and down Lee’s body as he took in the blood-stained mess that his clothing had become. “And as for you, I have some clothes that are about your size that you can use while we take care of that blood-soaked outfit. Let’s sneak you three in the back way, and I’ll have one of the butlers clean your clothes while we play a game of chess. I’ll see if my tailor can’t fix the holes for you.”

“No need for that. A cleaning is fine,” Lee insisted. “I’m ashamed to say that this outfit probably cost less than your tailors charge by the hour.”

Masha was still trembling just slightly enough to be visible, and Olga looked as if her whole world had been crushed, but Lee felt as relaxed as if he had just finished a round of drinking games with his friends. Things felt right for him. The violence, the fear, the worrying about whether he was going to die as he rounded corners to avoid the enemy, the busting through shops, the knocking down doors, and taking bullets in the gut--it was all natural to him. The only thing that irked him about the entire conflict was that he hadn’t had a proper chance to take the fight to them. He had needed to stay with Masha and protect her, so he hadn’t been able to hunt down the killers and eliminate them, something that he strongly wanted to do even now.

Grim musings ran through his head endlessly as he looked back on the conflict. He wasn’t bloodthirsty--that’s what he told himself at least. Rather, he knew that he simply hadn’t settled into the peaceful life yet. Even though he had spent time in this world since his abduction, he hadn’t gotten used to it. It simply didn’t feel as much like home as the other world did. Now, however, ever since he had spotted the first masked man, the only thing that occupied his thoughts was the game world. Even while worrying over Masha and Olga’s safety, he had felt a far keener sense of flow and belonging in that moment than he had in a while, and all it had taken was a reminder of a life full of danger on the brink of death.

Alexander just chuckled at Lee. “Nonsense. I have my tailor on retainer. I don’t pay her hourly. Otherwise, I’d have to explain the bill on my credit card to the wife every time my stomach expands from overeating, and I need to let out the waist on my pants. Really, it’s no problem at all. Come. Let’s get you some spare clothes to change into, and we’ll play a game of chess while she stitches up those holes. You earned much gratitude for saving my daughter, so I cannot have you dressed in rags.”

“Ah, well . . . If that’s the case, then lead the way,” Lee said. He was looking forward to his game of chess.

“You . . .” Masha looked over at her dad. “Are you serious? You’re just going to play a game like nothing happened? Don’t we need to make sure that we’re safe? Don’t we need to do something in case they try to attack again?” Her voice quivered a bit as she levied her complaints against her father for his casual attitude despite the life-or-death experience.

“Masha . . .” Lee began. He grabbed each of her shoulders and turned her so she was looking straight at him, and her eyes automatically drifted downward before he even said anything. “Look at me. Take a deep breath, relax and know that you’re going to be fine. The problem outside is being dealt with. You’re safe. You’re secure. Nothing will happen to you. I’m with you, and you’re safe. Remember that. As long as I’m still here, you’re always safe. Okay?”

Alexander looked studiously at Lee and then gave his daughter a smile. “That’s good,” he said with a grin, “It’s good that you’ll do anything for her safety.”

“Indeed.” He didn’t know why, but he was also somewhat unnerved by the way Alexander had said that last line as he pulled Masha in for a quick hug.

“Hey, the father is still here,” Alexander said after a minute, prompting Lee to let go of her. Lee still didn’t know if she was processing any of it, and while he worried about her, it wasn’t enough for him to really feel uncomfortable or distracted. He actually felt focused and clear-headed, and he was ready for a good game of chess.

The four of them entered via the side entrance, and they all managed to change into fresh clothes before Alexander and Lee went into the study and set up a chess board. While Alexander was arranging the pieces, Lee took one of the bottles of vodka and poured the two of them a glass each.

“So, Masha seems pretty torn up about this incident,” Alexander noted as he placed the white pawns on the board.

“Yes, I’d say so,” Lee agreed. He finished pouring the second glass and adjusting the coasters. “It’s to be expected, though. She’s been through a lot today.”

“She has,” Alexander agreed, nodding. “That she has.”

“So, white or black this round?” Lee asked, sitting down at the board and placing bottle to the side of the board.

“You were there too, though, right?” Alexander asked as he put down the black pawns. “And white.”

“I was.” Lee shrugged nonchalantly and casually took a sip of vodka. “For Masha’s sake, I’m glad that I was there.”

“Just for Masha’s sake?” Alexander chuckled to himself as he finished arranging the last piece and picked up his glass as well. “I’m sure it was just for her sake.”

“Of course.” Lee frowned as he took another sip, and this time, Alexander also took a long sip with him.

“Did you have to kill anyone?” Alexander’s next question came up as he made his first move, D2 to D4.

“A few people. It was unavoidable. I should probably go to the police and report it, but given the circumstances, I think I can afford to wait and claim that I felt my life was still under duress.”

Alexander nodded. “I know people at the department. I’ll take care of that for you.”

“Thanks, it’ll save me a trip,” Lee answered without questioning why Alexander would have such pull in a police department.

“So, it really doesn’t bother you at all?” Alexander pressed.

“What doesn’t bother me?” Lee asked, casually moving his knight from G8 to F6.

“Killing. You killed a few people from what Olga told me as we walked in, yet you don’t seem to be bothered at all. You said that, given what Masha just went through, it only makes sense that she would be this shaken up. But you’re not,” Alexander, said, finally spelling out the issue that Lee knew he had danced around earlier as he moved his pawn from C2 to C4.

Lee picked up his glass and sat back in his chair so that he could study Alexander. He wasn’t sure how honest he wanted to be about his emotional state, and he wasn’t certain what he had to gain or lose from going either way, but he knew this was the type of answer that his future relationship with both Alexander and Masha might hinge upon.

Honesty, Lee finally decided. If I lose anything, I’ll do it honestly, “No, no, I’m not,” Lee said as he moved his pawn from E7 to E5.

“Because you’ve killed before.” Alexander pushed the conversation a little as he took Lee’s pawn on E5 with his pawn on D4. “More than once, given how calm you are right now.”

Lee felt glad he picked the honest approach, but he wasn’t sure how to answer this. Well, even if I say ‘yes,’ there aren’t bodies in this world to point to me. There wasn’t really a tangible risk by owning up to the blood-soaked history in the other world that had made him so at home when surrounded by death, so he just went for it. “Yeah,” he said as he sipped his drink. Then, just to see how much it would phase Alexander, he gave out a rough estimate of the numbers. “I’ve probably killed . . . maybe a few hundred people,” he answered, leaning back and making sure to not take his eyes off of Alexander. “I stopped counting at a certain point, to be honest, somewhere after the first forty or fifty.”

Alexander’s left eye twitched, but to his credit, there was no other visible sign of agitation. The older man also took a deep breath, but he did it slowly enough to not be noticed by anyone who wasn’t watching very closely for it. “I see,” he said, looking down at the board in front of them. “And the nature of these kills?” His hand moved toward the corner of the table.

Lee wondered why he’d put his hand there. A panic button maybe? Is he worried that I’m a serial killer? Is he making sure that he has a way out if I decide to attack? That’s good, old man. Your paranoia is good. Prepare for the worst. Lee moved his knight from F6 to G4. “You could say self-defense, but that wasn’t always the case. I suppose the best way to put it is that I killed side by side with others, as if I were in the military. But I wasn’t in the military.” Lee didn’t know how to describe being an adventuring cult leader in a strange medieval competition to someone in the modern world, but that seemed to be a close proximity of what he was after.

“Like a hitman for a gang? Or the mafia?” Alexander moved his hand from where Lee had assumed the panic button might have been back to the chessboard. He even smiled as he moved his bishop from C1 to F4. “Was it a past criminal activity, or are you still a member? I wouldn’t normally pry into a man’s personal business, but you are dating my daughter, and I need to know if you’re going to be an added risk to her.”

Lee looked down at the board. Greedy, greedy, Lee thought as he watched Alexander fall into his trap. He had learned how to make sacrifices a while ago, and by giving up a pawn and pressuring the old man into trying to defend his advantage, he had begun the workings of a familiar trap. He then chuckled at the fact that, as intense as the topic and nature of this conversation was, he was more interested in the chess game. The competition world had stripped him of his ability to sweat the Lilliputian details in this world, and even some of the more Brobdingnagian ones.

“You could say it was something like that and that I haven’t worked a day of that job since I’ve been in this town.” Lee shrugged and moved his knight from B8 to C6. He already knew exactly how Alexander would respond, moving his own knight from G1 to F3.

“So, you aren’t working an illicit career while dating my daughter?” Alexander pressed the question to be more specific, likely thinking he had found a way to prevent Lee from twisting his words to avoid the truth as he moved his knight in exactly the fashion Lee anticipated.

Unfortunately for Alexander, he had left plenty of room for Lee to tailor his answer so that he didn’t have to be honest. The other world, the competition world, was in a completely different dimension, so its events didn’t overlap at any point when he was in this world. “I’m not,” Lee answered, maneuvering his bishop from F8 to B4. “I just want a quiet life while I’m here, one where I can enjoy good food with good friends. And, if it’s not rude of me to say, given our relationship, to spend quality time with a beautiful lady. I want to relax and avoid stress.”

“Hmm . . .” Alexander scratched his chin and then moved his knight from B1 to D2 as he blocked the check. “You must have been very good at what you did: either a real survivor or a real killer.”

Lee shrugged as he moved his queen from D8 to E7. It put Alexander in a situation where there were more pieces threatening his pawn on E5 than he had to defend it. Lee did this to make Alexander think his whole strategy revolved around restoring the piece advantage and to force him to try and apply pressure elsewhere--something he knew the old man would do. Alexander was usually reliable in that regard. “I’m sure there are many others who were and are better than I am in that world,” Lee said. The word ‘world’ for him was literal. He was referring to another world altogether, but he knew that Alexander would take it as a reference to the underground society.

Alexander did exactly what Lee thought he would, moving his pawn from A2 to A3 and threatening Lee’s bishop on B4. “I don’t know if I’ve ever heard of those numbers from someone before in these parts of the States,” Alexander said, “nor have I ever heard of you before. But, I’ve been around enough to know a liar, and I can tell you’re not lying either.”

“Who knows?” Lee didn’t bother saying more to convince Alexander one way or the other as he used his knight on G4 to take the pawn on E5.

“I know,” Alexander responded matter-of-factly as he fell into the final part of Lee’s trap. He used his pawn from A3 to take Lee’s bishop on B4. “It honestly explains all the languages you speak that your friends don’t know about, the way you carry yourself and how meek and small you keep your presence around your coworkers. My guess is that you’re used to covering up your presence and hiding who you are, making yourself seem like you’re not a threat.”

Is that what you believe? Given the information Alexander had, this was a very logical conclusion. So, to him, I’m the most elite hitman from some random mafia organization. Lee chuckled at the thought and decided to try and de-escalate the conversation as he stared at the board. The outcome of the match was already certain to Lee, but he didn’t feel like making his next move just yet. “Maybe.”

“And if that's the case, then are you actually happy right now?” Alexander asked. “Of all of the men I’ve . . . heard of in your previous line of work, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of one retiring.”

Lee sighed. Am I? No. Not really. How could I be? Even when I’m with one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever met, my thoughts are stuck bouncing between what I want to do in the other world, what I’ve lost in the other world and what I’ve done in the other world. They’re rarely ever here. A frown fell across his face. The worst part about the situation was that this event, which should have shaken him and infuriated him for breaking his vacation from violence, had just left him hungrier for more.

“Alexander,” Lee began, restoring his smile as he picked up his knight on E5 and held it in his hand a moment, “sometimes, the lifestyle we want is not the one we should pursue. It’s just as you taught me: If we want to achieve our goals, then we must always focus on the end result and not get caught up chasing temporary wins.” When he finished speaking, he placed the knight down on D3.

Alexander was the one to frown this time as he looked down at the board. It was checkmate. He had gone for the quick wins, the pawn advantage and the bishop capture, and he had inevitably lost the entire match. His moves mirrored how he had gone for information in this conversation, but he had only given up knowledge about himself in the process. Even if Lee wasn’t being helped at the moment by his impressive Intelligence stat, he could have seen the pattern in the older man’s words. Alexander had, in trying to learn something from Lee, given away much more than he was comfortable with.

“So,” Alexander said, picking up his glass, “you are taking the uncomfortable route now to ensure the better later. I can respect that. I can respect that a lot, but it won’t be easy.” He took a healthy swallow of his drink. “That type of choice is never easy.”

“A good life was never meant to be easy,” Lee said, pushing himself up from his set. “Shall we go have some brunch? I’m sure the girls are waiting on us.”

“Indeed.” Alexander also stood up, and the two men moved locations. Their match hadn’t lasted that long, but it had given them both something to think about. Lee suspected that Alexander was now trying to figure out what to do about the checkered past he imagined Lee had, while Lee was thinking about a hunger the meal he was about to eat would never fill.

No one had likely said anything to Masha’s mother, but Lee could tell something was off. The entire brunch the devoted matriarch just smiled on and continued to play the part of a good host, serving them delicious omelets stuffed with vegetables and ham, but something struck Lee as odd about her demeanor. It was as if her behavior was that of a robot repeating an action rather than a person as she went about mechanically following the list of actions and dialogue prompts that were expected of her, but without the random expressions of honest emotion that usually shone through her polished exterior.

Lee was tempted to stay behind and play another game of chess with Alexander after the meal, but the way Masha looked at him told him that she needed some attention, someone to comfort her after what happened, and so the two of them left early.

Alexander was naturally reluctant to let Masha out of his sight after what happened, but he quickly crumbled when she gave him puppy-dog eyes. Masha might have thought it was just her skills at begging, but Lee suspected that it could have also been because of their conversation earlier. Perhaps Alexander felt much more comfortable with Masha in his hands than before.

Lee and Masha spent the rest of the day in his apartment snuggled up and watching silly shows while eating popcorn, drinking beer, and talking about which character they liked or hated on the television show. It was everything bland and boring that Lee had come to expect from life in this reality, and it only made the call from Augustus as he was about to go to sleep that much more of a relief.

“You’re about ready to head back, aren’t you?” Augustus asked from the other end. Based on the depth and timbre of his voice, Lee knew that Augustus was in the shape of a giant bear at the moment. It was hard for Lee to take the drunken god seriously as he imagined the giant grizzly form Augustus seemed to favor holding the tiny smartphone Lee had given him.

“Yeah, I think--” Lee was about to agree and head over to the other world when he caught Masha wagging her tail seductively at him while giving him a come-hither look from the other room. “I think I might need to wait until the next morning,” he finished his sentence, deciding that, as boring as this world was, there was at least one thing he loved in it.

He had been worried about Masha’s mental state after all she had gone through, but since she was waving that beautiful callipygian backside at him, he didn’t feel it would be right to pass it up.

“Tomorrow morning, then? Should I set everything up to send you back tomorrow morning?”

“Yeah, but after I’ve had brunch,” Lee agreed, closing his phone and going to enjoy one more night on Earth as he tried to put off several thoughts that were creeping through his head, namely: why exactly did Alexander let Masha come home with him after what he had revealed?

Then, there was the other thought that crept back up into his mind, one he couldn’t put out: how was Alexander already at the wall when Lee crossed over? It didn’t make sense given the size of the compound and how long the whole event took, and as he thought about it, he kept remembering the smile Alexander had on his face when he mentioned how good it was that Lee would do anything for Masha.

Chapter 2

Name: Lee

Race: Human

Class: Herald - None

Level: 26

Health: 360/360

EXP: 3001/37000

Primary Stats:

Power 36 (39)

Toughness 36 (39)

Spirit 36 (39)

Secondary Stats:

Charisma 25

Courage 20

Deceit 26

Intelligence 161 (177)

Honor 3

Faith 32721

Personal Faith 233

Skills:

Unarmed Combat Initiate Level 7

Swordplay Novice Level 8

Sneak Journeyman Level 2

Cooking Initiate Level 7

Trap Detection Initiate Level 6

Knife Combat Initiate Level 8

Mental Fortitude Initiate Level 1

Sleight of Hand Initiate Level 3

Blood Shield Initiate Level 3

Glass Smithing Initiate Level 10

Divine Skills:

Golem Sculpting Journeyman Level 1

Appreciative Drunk Novice Level 8

Nectar of the Gods Initiate Level 4

Spirit Smithing Initiate Level 3

Faith Healing

Divinity Powers:

Life in Death

Titles:

Cheat Code Fighter

The Great Deceiver

Lee awoke to the feeling of rough sheets scratching his skin and the pricking of stray pieces of straw that had snuck through the stitching, and his nose was filled with the delectable aroma of oil-frying poultry.

“Ah . . . It feels good to be back.” Lee sat up in his straw-stuffed bed and stretched out his arms. Satterfield had numerous comforts now, thanks in large part to his continuous investments, but the basic amenities of an inn outside of the food and beer--such as decent bedding--still failed to be one of them.

The empty spot in his bed was hard to ignore, and his mood soured the moment his thoughts turned to it. That spot was one that Amber had filled until recently, and it was a glaring reminder of exactly what he had lost. Sighing heavily, he shook his head and slapped his cheeks to stop himself from falling down that pit of despair.

Lee took in a second deep breath and then slowly exhaled. Nope. None of that. I don’t have time to mope. I have a lot to do, and wallowing in guilt and grief won’t get me anywhere. Despite knowing that, however, it was even harder to actually listen to that same advice as he got up and put on his armor. It was impossible to ignore how he felt, but the logical part of his brain told him that there was no sense in starting the day out being so negative.

Much like any other adventurer in a video game world, he never bothered with the basic fashion of everyday clothes in this reality. There was a good chance that he could be attacked at any given moment by a creature ranging from a zombie to a random slime or a raging griffin, and fashionable clothing would do little more than stop a kindly grandmother or a handsy barmaid from judging him; and, more likely, it would get him killed since it offered absolutely no protection in what had already proven to be a harsh and brutal land.

After putting on his armor, Lee stepped outside his room and into the hallway and found Ling in a chair by his door. Her cat, Weiser, curled up in her lap. She had obviously stayed up late guarding the door, and her dad had probably dropped off her cat so that she wouldn’t be alone while she did it. He felt moved by her compassion but wasn’t sure what to say or if he should wake her. The feline gave Lee a ‘don’t you do it’ look as if it could read Lee’s mind.

Yeah, don’t worry, little guy. I’ll let her get some sleep. Lee bent over, gently picked up the two of them together and carried them back into his room, where he had been sleeping only moments before, and laid them down on his bed. He glanced out the window as he turned away and realized that it was still dark outside. The familiar golden-red hue of light that preceded a sunrise was just starting to dance over the horizon, but the sun itself had yet to peek its head over the dark green treetops that lay just beneath the eastern skyline.

I guess Augustus sent me back early this morning for some reason. I wonder why that is. Lee finished tucking Ling into bed, and Weiser shifted from Ling’s lap onto one of the pillows beside her head.

They had been using the main floor of the inn, the restaurant and bar portion of Ramon’s old tavern, as Augustus’s new church, and as he stepped down off the stairs, he realized that it was mostly empty. There were two chefs cooking up a breakfast storm in the kitchen, a bartender setting out plates and cleaning silverware and four patrons. Ling’s dad was there, as Lee had suspected he might be, sleepily sipping a beer at the bar. One of the other guests was the man whom Connacht had sent to fetch Lee, and he perked up as soon as he saw Lee walk downstairs. His eyes searched for a sign of Ling, the one who had blocked him from talking to Lee last time, and he seemed relieved when he didn’t spot her.

The next patron was a regular. He was a farmer in Satterfield who was paid for his trouble with a room and 3 fresh-cooked meals a day in return for supplying Lee’s new church with food. He used to have a wife to cook for him, but she had passed away in the mines while working as a slave before Lee had freed them and killed the Herald who imprisoned them there. Lee knew that it wouldn’t take long for the farmer to cook for himself and that his home was in perfect condition, but he suspected that the man just didn’t want to go back there and have to be alone, that he wanted to be around people.

The fourth patron was the one that stood out the most, even though she was just sitting quietly and staring down into a glass of beer, and she was the only one whom Lee didn’t recognize. Her arms were scratched up like she had tried to climb a barbed wire fence and fallen from the top-most strand. She had a misshapen, broken nose, she was missing a couple of teeth, and her skin was marred with dark bruises where it was cut. A surreptitious glance around the room told him that the bartender and the farmer were both watching her too.

When the bartender saw Lee, he put down the silverware he was cleaning and went over to him right away.

“I’m sorry to bother you, Lord Lee, but . . .” His voice trailed off as he looked over at the girl. “She insisted on being here. She said that she wouldn’t leave unless we forced her to . . . or unless she got to speak to you first.”

Despite her seeming persistence in meeting him, she hadn’t even so much as looked up when he came down the stairs. “When did she arrive?” Lee asked.

“Last night, a little after the moon started making its way down the sky again,” the man answered. His eyes darted between the mysterious woman and Lee as if checking to make sure that she couldn’t overhear what he was saying. “We tried to treat her. We called on the healing women to come and help her with her wounds, but she wouldn’t let us. She fought off any attempt to treat her, almost becoming violent, so we figured we’d end up hurting her more than helping her if we pressed the matter.”

“I see,” Lee responded, now studying the girl. She looked like a broken vessel more than an actual person, and he wondered if, somewhere in that break, her spirit had escaped and there was nothing left. It was the hollow, haunted look in her eyes that gave her away. It was more distant than he had seen in anyone in Satterfield before, even among the people he had rescued. “Well, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to meet her.” Lee added a “thanks” and patted the man on the shoulder to let him know that he had done well without wasting more words.

“Hey,” Lee said as he walked up to the girl, pulled out a chair and sat down next to her. “What’s your name?”

“I’m only here to speak to the Herald, Lee,” she responded, taking a small drink from the beer she was holding.

“So, if I weren’t Lee, you couldn’t even tell me your name?” he asked. He was slightly confused over the fact that she was so insistent on meeting him, yet she didn’t even know who he was when he sat right down next to her.

“I’m only here to speak to the Herald, Lee,” she repeated, clenching her beer tightly.

“What if I were to say that I am Lee,” he said as he looked at her face. She never would have been as beautiful as Masha, but Lee guessed she would have been very pretty before her face and body were marred by what looked like wolf or bear claws. The scars were deep and old, as though they had been put there deliberately and slowly, though some looked like they had only recently healed.

“I’m only here to spea--” She suddenly paused, turning to face him. “Are you Lee? Are you the Herald of Augustus?”

“If I am, what do you want to speak to me about?” Lee questioned, trying to understand what had happened to this woman.

“I’m only here to speak to--”

“Okay, okay. I get it,” Lee reached a hand over and rested it on her arm. She flinched away, but she didn’t retreat. He was a stranger touching her, and even though she flinched, she didn’t completely recoil or withdraw. She’s like a beaten dog, Lee thought. He started using his healing magic to patch up the still-grievous wounds that littered her body. “I’m the Herald known as Lee, and I’m here to listen to what you have to tell me,” he said.

The woman stared at her hands as Lee’s magic flowed through her, and her eyes widened in awe as her cuts and wounds stitched themselves together as if they were being sewed shut.

Keeping track of his mana expenditure had become second nature to him at this point, and he quickly tabulated what her level was based on how much mana it took to heal her. He was level 26, and he was able to heal 18 hit points per every 0.5% of his mana, but from this young woman’s health pool, it was clear that she was a much higher level. He didn’t know what her maximum health was, but she had to be over Level 30 if not close to 35. There was also a chance that she could potentially even be Level 40. Each level added 10 hit points, so just a bit of basic math told him this much. She’s such a high level . . . almost as high a level as Dave, the champion of Kirshtein, yet she’s in this state . . . He marveled at her, feeling a little uncomfortable around her now.

“You . . .” She looked down at her wounds. “You are just like I was told. You’re Lee! You’re the great Herald Lee!”

“I . . . don’t know exactly how great I am”--Lee withdrew his hand after healing her--“but could you tell me why you’ve come to see me? Was it to be healed?”

“No, no these wounds were deserved. You shouldn’t have taken them from me. These wounds were proof of my failure. You have robbed me of my failures. You have shamed me, but . . . but you’re here, so I can finish my mission now.”

“Mission?” Lee repeated the word, preparing to pull out his sword and shield as fast as he could.

“Yes, mission. I must tell you . . . She’s coming for you. She’s seen you. She knows of you. She’s watched how great and magnificent of a specimen you are from a distance, and she wants you. She’s coming for you. She will be here to collect you, but you shouldn't keep her waiting. She wants you. You should go to her. You should! You should go to her right away! I can lead you there. I can show you the way. I can take you to where she is. Come. Come on. Come, let’s go right now! We should go. Right now.” The young woman babbled on, repeating the same phrases again and again as she reached out and grabbed onto Lee’s arm, pulling him toward her.

Lee pulled back with all of his strength, resisting her with great difficulty as he stood up and yanked his arm free. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I have things to do here,” he said, and, as he spoke, the girl slid back away from him as well.

“No, that’s not right.” She shook her head, confusion evident on her face as she looked away from him. “Why are you saying ‘no’? Oh, it’s because you don’t know who she is. I’m an idiot. I’m stupid. I didn’t tell you who she is. It’s Meadhbh, the one true Phouka Queen, Herald of the Divine One. The greatest Phouka mother to ever shepherd a herd to glory.”

“I don’t care who she is. I have business to deal with. I don’t have time to go see her yet.” Lee threw the word ‘yet’ in there, hoping it would at least calm the crazy woman down. He kicked himself for letting his curiosity get the best of him when he could tell just by the way she stared off into nothing earlier that this woman was trouble and that she was crazy. The only thing that stopped him from pulling out his weapons then and there and taking the last step to prep for a fight was that she hadn’t done it yet either. She hadn’t attacked him, and she seemed to want to keep him alive to meet this Herald of hers, so he wasn’t sure he had to fight.

She was such a high level, and she had so many battle scars, so he didn’t want to egg her on into a skirmish, which he very well might lose, until he had the advantage or at least a full understanding of his foe. Only a fool like Miller charges in to meet a battle without trying to get information on his enemy. Lee remembered all too well some of the frustration he had encountered because of his large Firbolg friend’s reckless proclivities during his first jaunts through the land.

“Yet?” She tilted her head, taking a step toward him. “Yet, yet, yet! What business is more important than Meadhbh? What business is more important than you two meeting?” As she spoke, she kept tilting her head further and further to the side. It continued winding around clockwise, well past the point where a normal human neck would have snapped, and her features started changing. The hairs on her arms and face and all across her body grew outward, tugging at her skin and at the fabric of her clothes as they morphed into long white feathers. The plumes on her hands grew longer and longer, quickly transforming themselves into pinions as her arms twisted and changed, forming wings in front of Lee’s horrified eyes.

What in all that is holy’s name is this? Lee stared in shock, the words choking off and dying in his throat as he watched the horror show unfold in front of him.

“Yet, yet, yet, yet,” she repeated. At this point, she had transformed from a five-foot, eight-inch-tall woman into a nearly six-foot-tall owl, her face almost completely upside down as she stared at him. She spit out the words, inches from his face and close enough that Lee thought she might stick out her tongue and lick him, and then her mouth elongated into a beak before splitting in half. “I will, will find you again. She will find you again. Yet is right. Yet is true. I. You. You will. You will come with us.”

Yup. Gonna have to kill her. But as soon as he pulled out his sword and shield, mentally preparing himself for battle, she pushed off against the floor with her massive legs and shot backward ten feet. Lee had his shield equipped and up in front of him in an instant, and the few other patrons in the bar all began arming themselves as well. Instead of engaging, however, she just shot away and burst through the wooden door, taking off into the skies, her wings continuing to grow even as she flew until they reached what looked like a twelve- or thirteen-foot wingspan. Lee chased after her, but by the time he made it outside, she was already so far away that he would have trouble shooting her with a bow and arrow.

“What in the hell was that?” Am I the only one who saw that? That’s not normal, is it? People don’t turn into animals, do they?” Lee wondered aloud as he walked back to the table where she had left her half-consumed beer. There was a piece of paper folded into thirds and secured in place by the mug she had set down when she stood up. “And what the heck is this?” He moved the beer aside and picked up the letter.

“She was a Phouka, sir,” the bartender said. “You can’t tell them apart from normal folk usually, just that they’re a bit taller than most people on average, but she was a Phouka.”

“A Phouka? She did say her Herald was the Phouka mother . . . Do you know more about them?” Lee asked.

“A bit . . .” The bartender seemed a bit skittish about the topic, and he kept glancing toward the door. “They’re . . . They’re usually nothing more than a horror story we tell to our children, but I have heard recently of Phouka sightings, and . . . I can’t believe they’re really here.”

“A myth? Wait, do they all transform?” Lee sat down in the seat that had just been vacated by the girl-turned-owl and signaled to the bartender with his hands that he wanted a beer before opening up the letter.

“Yes, my Herald, they all transform. It is their gift. They may appear to be strong and competent because of their gift, but they’re actually weaker, slower and dumber than most of the other races. The story goes that the weak and physically-failing outcasts of the world started gathering together on a mountain far north of here. They begged the mother goddess for a thousand days and a thousand nights at a shrine they made in her honor ages ago, and one by one, they were eaten by the animals that inhabited the forests of the mountain in the night. There was a group of merchants who traveled to the town in order to deliver food on a semi-regular basis, and eventually, they reported that there was no one left to carry goods to. After a search, it was confirmed that there wasn’t even so much as single soul still living on the mountain. So, naturally, everyone took the outcasts for dead, killed off by the wild beasts of the forests,” the bartender explained.

“But they weren’t actually dead?” Lee saw where this story was headed.

“No. Rather, the truth was found out a year later when a convoy was attacked. It was one of the same merchants who had brought them food several times out of pity, so he recognized what was happening. When the beasts emerged from the forests and slaughtered the caravan . . . Well, they spared only him. He watched the whole thing. He watched as the beasts morphed back into the very people whom he thought had been eaten after the attack and then as they picked up and carried the supplies away. He told everyone, of course, spread the word far and wide. But most people thought he was lying. No one believed him. But then, after a while, other merchants began witnessing similar things, and a few survivors reported the same.”

“So . . .” Lee looked down at the note in his hands. “You’re telling me that they were the weak and the lame of this world, but they were granted the ability to turn into . . . these creatures?”

“Yes . . . And the creatures they turn into are much more fearsome than their normal counterparts,” the bartender continued. “Not to mention, it’s said that their hatred of people, of the world, has caused them to be vindictive. People say that if your child is a bully or harasses other children often for their physical weakness, then a Phouka will come around and snatch him away in the middle of the night and kill and eat him. It is said that Phoukas haven’t forgotten the way they were treated when they were human and that they will come to strike vengeance against any who mistreats outcasts.”

“So, before her”--Lee pointed at the broken door--these Phoukas were more or less just a fairytale used to scare kids into behaving and treating each other nicely?”

The bartender nodded. “Yeah, I told my oldest about them when he was picking on a girl he liked out at the farm. I never really thought about them as anything more than an old wives’ tale, a good crutch for scaring kids into doing the right thing.”

“Well, apparently there’s more to them.” Lee frowned as he started reading the letter.

Ulchabhannadhbh, it is with great regret that I won’t be there to meet you when you return to our country’s summit. I am saddened that I must send you away as soon as you have returned, but the mission is urgent, and I am likewise too occupied at the moment to complete it myself. I need you, my most loyal and trusted right hand, to hunt down a Human male by the name of Lee. He has been spotted often in Satterfield and Kirshtein, and his exploits increase in number by the day. He is a Herald like myself, and even though he has just arrived in this land, he has shown abilities and growth far surpassing most of the other Heralds.

He is the one that I have been waiting for. Out of all the Heralds to reach this world, he is the one whose strengths perfectly match my weaknesses. With his abilities, and the powers he can grant others--with the powers he could grant me--I must have him. To this end, I need you to track him down and bring him to me. He is decisive and ruthless, and I have watched as he breaks all order and tradition and continues to hunt others and prove that he is the fittest and worthy of survival. He is the perfect specimen, so do not hurt him. Bring him to me safely, and if he does not come, notify me of his location. I will take care of him after I finish my mission.

Lee furrowed his brow as he stared at the contents of the message. Great. As if my plate wasn’t full enough already, now I have to deal with a crazy cult woman after my powers. He folded the note back up and stashed it away in his inventory.

Connacht’s man had apparently been watching and listening, and he chose just that moment to approach. “If it’s not too bad of a time, I would like to discuss again whether you can make it to Kirshtein. We could desperately use your input at the next council meeting. As the only remaining Herald for the people of Kirshtein, and the only voice for Humans in Kirshtein, your presence would be an invalu--”

“Stop talking.” Lee cut him off, already tired of the explanation and the servant’s bootlicking. “I’ll go. Just stop talking about it.”

“Yes, your Holiness,” the man said, bowing his head. “Connacht will be ver--”

“I said stop.” Lee’s forceful tone silenced him on the spot. “Now, I’m not leaving until later today, so you can go ahead and prepare my accommodations in Kirshtein. If Connacht wants me at his meeting like some pawn he can use, then I expect him to cover some very nice room and board and make his presence available before the meeting.”

“But--”

“Don’t make me kill you before breakfast,” Lee said dryly and watched as the man opened and closed his mouth. “I really don’t have the patience after . . . that to deal with any more problems.”

“Y--” The servant looked like he wanted to say something again, but all that came out was a small yip. Thankfully, he decided against it and instead gave a weak, hurried bow before throwing a few coins on the bar and leaving through the broken door.

The bartender filled another glass with beer and set it down next to the one Lee still hadn’t finished. “Sorry if I am wrong to say this, my Herald, but I’m surprised you were so short with the man.”

“Your name is . . . Dewar, right?” Lee asked, downing the nearly-full glass he had only just started and pushed it to the bartender before pulling the new beer toward himself.

“Yes, sir. I’m proudly one of the first men recruited by the great Paladin Miller.” He puffed his chest out as he talked. “I served alongside you and the others in the battle to kill that bastard who was stealing our people and whatnot.”

“Did you know anyone taken in the attack?” Lee asked, before adding, “And can you get me a plate of bacon, fried chicken and some eggs?”

“Yes, sir,” he responded. The man disappeared into the kitchen for a moment before returning with the food. “And no. I didn’t. Everyone else seemed to, but I didn’t. I just wanted to be there. I wanted to do the right thing, to serve a higher power and make a difference for the town. I figured I don’t have a wife, the lad’s nearly grown, my father has two other sons besides me to carry on the line if something happened, and my mother has been dead for too long to worry about me. Seemed like the perfect time to make my mark in the world.”

“Ah.” Lee nodded as he chewed on a piece of bacon. “That’s about where I’m at too,” he said. “I want to make the world a better place, but that man . . .” He thought back on Connacht’s messenger. “He doesn’t. He wants less to make the world a better place and more to make his lot in the world better. I’ve met his kind before, and I’d have killed him here and now if I had any proof of the atrocities that I think he and his master might commit for the sake of power. So, if I’m rude to him, you’ll have to just remember that it’s for that reason.”

“Oh.” The bartender scratched at his head for a moment and then asked, “So, why are you going to help him at that meeting?”

“I’m not sure what I want to do at that meeting will count as helping him, but I’m going there for the people that believe in me and because I believe in them. I want to make people's lives better, and I can’t do that if I don’t work with those I hate,” Lee explained. “It’s like your job. You might grow to hate me one day and curse me for what I’m doing, but if I’m the only one willing to pay you, you’ll probably still work for me just so that you can put food on the table for the people you do love and care about.”

The bartender sighed. “That sounds just like my last job.”

“What was your last job?”

“I was a field hand for farmers that treated me like the dirt they toiled upon. Well, that’s not fair . . . They treated the dirt very well, so that example doesn’t hold. I’d say it was more like they treated me worse than if I were trying to steal their wives,” he chuckled, “not that anyone would want to touch my old boss’s wife. She was worse than he was.”

Lee laughed at the image. “So, you might have had more than one reason to go off fighting for a cause?”

“Yeah, and then when Cutty told me that someone had saved a bunch of people, someone who could perform magic tricks like he was a god himself and was off to kill the bad guy stealing women from the town . . . Well, it just seemed right.”

“Did you know any of the women in particular?” Lee questioned between bites. He was really enjoying his meal this morning for some reason.

“I knew a few,” Dewar answered. “I was close friends with this girl named Amber . . .” He trailed off and sighed. “I heard you were there when she died at Kirshtein, so you probably already know that story.”

“Ah . . .” Lee closed his eyes against the image of Amber’s death replaying in his head. It was painful to remember how she had killed the Herald at the cost of her own life, the way she confessed her love for him right before she kissed him and the way she had died in his arms moments later. His body began to stiffen automatically as the memory surfaced, and he had to choke it down again. “I’m sorry.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Dewar said. “These things happen. People die every day.”

“It doesn’t make it easier though,” Lee countered.

“No, no, it doesn’t. But”--the bartender reached behind the counter and pulled out another glass, filling it to the brim before topping off Lee’s--“if the boss doesn’t mind me drinking on the job, we can always have a toast.”

“Well, you know how the boss is about people getting drunk on the job . . .” Lee picked up the cup and clinked his own glass against the bartender’s, and both men downed their drinks.

“That if you’re not drunk, you’re not doing it right?” Dewar chuckled as he put down the beer and wiped his mouth clean of a few drops with his arm.

“Good man,” Lee said. “Now, fill us up another one. I got a feeling I’m going to be waiting here for a while.”

“On the girl? Ling?” Dewar asked as he looked over at the stairs.

“Yeah.”

“Well, I hate to break this to you . . .” Dewar said, eyes still looking at the stairs, “but she’s going to be out for a while if she finally went to sleep. That girl stayed up all night, stopping anyone from coming near your room while you slept.”

“Oh.” She shouldn’t have done that. He knew Ling wasn’t the type that would listen to what he said, even if he had warned her against it. “Well, I guess we’ll be needing a few more beers to kill the time . . .”

After that, Dewar began refilling Lee’s cup whenever it was even close to half empty. Lee didn’t want to leave while Ling was still sleeping upstairs, but he also didn’t want to waste the entire morning, so while he was drinking, he also began copying down notes and making plans for Satterfield. During his last visit, before he had been captured in Kirshtein and forced to fight in the arena, both he and the town had been relatively broke. Now, however, they were loaded. He had sold off barrel after barrel of the divine beer that he was able to craft with his Nectar of the Gods skill, and he had been able to rake in a fortune. He no longer had to be stingy now that he had a steady source of income, and so he began to map out exactly how he wanted to change the infrastructure in the small hamlet town. There were dozens of small improvements that he had wanted to start working on earlier, but he had been unable to afford those, instead prioritizing things like fixing the giant hole in the wall of his new church.

Dewar shared a few drinks with him while he worked, but the bartender’s attention was soon called away to other matters as the morning wore on and customers began trickling downstairs. Ling’s father, Ying, joined him after that, and the two sat together quietly.

Ling awoke a few hours later, and she came down looking a little embarrassed.

“I’m sorry,” she apologized before Lee could even say good morning. “I’ll try not to sleep so late next time.”

Lee shrugged and then rolled up the papers. ““It’s fine. Glad you got some rest. It looked like you needed it. Hey, Dewar, can you pass these on to Henslee? Tell her to take what she needs out of the town fund, but I need these projects finished as soon as possible.”

“You got it, boss,” Dewar replied, nodding and disappearing with the papers.

“I got your breakfast already,” Lee said to Ling as he stood up. “But we’re a little short on time, and we need to make our way to Kirshtein as soon as possible.”

“Are you sure you’re okay leaving so soon? You don’t want to spend more time here? More time . . .” Ling trailed off while looking concerned, something she had done often lately.

Lee took in her changing expression, and he knew exactly what she was trying to say--and not say. You’re trying to ask me if I want to spend more time mourning by Amber’s grave, but you don’t want to finish the sentence. “Yeah,” he said, sparing her the indecision. “I’m fine, and we have a lot of work that needs to get done.”

“Work will always be there tomorrow,” Ling replied. “You can take a day off. It won’t be the end of the world.”

“I can . . .” Lee acknowledged. “But, even if it isn’t the end of my world, it might be the end of someone else’s if I’m not at that meeting. So, let’s just get going. I’ve already had someone fetch the Krunklerump, and it should be ready for riding right away.”

“Okay then . . .” Ling seemed reluctant to leave so quickly, but she didn’t argue. She just handed Weiser over to her dad, and the two of them shared a brief hug before she left with Lee. The door had been repaired while he waited, but the new, unfinished wood stood out in stark contrast to the rest of the tavern-turned-church. “Did something happen here?”

“Oh.” Lee glanced back at the damaged frame and thought back to the letter in his inventory. “Just an unruly customer. That’s all.”

Ling’s face frumpled up, but she didn’t say anything else. Her face had regained its usual smooth placidity a minute later, and the two of them made their way to where their ride was being prepared. Thankfully, to Lee’s relief, he noticed that someone had taken extra care and provide the most comfortable-looking saddle he had seen yet for the six-legged, wide-ribcaged, turtle-like beast. The first time he had ridden the mount, he had been certain that it was going to cost him his chance at children in the future, and he was happy to see the additional padding.

After exchanging a few brief words with the animal’s handlers, they mounted up and took off for Kirshtein. They were able to set an incredibly fast pace, a thing Lee was both happy and a little uncomfortable about; and, at first, it seemed like they were going to make it there without an issue before the sun even came close to setting--that is, until they caught up to Connacht’s man halfway through the journey.

They found him on the road with a pack of four giant wolves circling around him. Two of the canines had fur as red as Miller or Lee’s hair, and the other two were as golden as a liter of German wheat beer. There was a strange magical-looking glowing symbol right in the center of their canine foreheads. The symbols on the two red ones were identical, and the symbols on the two gold ones were identical, but Lee couldn’t make out either to know what they meant.

“Stay back!” Connacht’s man yelled. “Stay back, or I’ll kill you mangy mutts!” he shouted, waving around a pair of swords that were clearly meant to intimidate the four massive canines.

“What in the hell?” Lee asked.

“Those wolves . . . The symbols are just like the stories. Lee, those are Phoukas! They have to be!” Ling leaned away from Lee to give herself room and pulled out her bow. “Why are they so different in color from each other?”

“I don’t know. I’d never even heard of a Phouka before today,” Lee answered. He had to restrain himself from saying ‘until earlier’ instead and pulled out his sword and shield.

“Herald! Get back on your mount! I can handle this,” Connacht’s man shouted when he saw Lee dismount. You just need to make it to Kirshtein!”

Really? The man’s words shocked him. As far as he was concerned, the dual-wielding human was a dead man walking as soon as the four wolves made a combined effort to attack him. The fact that he would turn down aid and a chance at survival just so he could ensure Lee made it to Kirshtein safely actually motivated him to assist him. Well, looks like I’ll have to find out what it’s like to fight a Phouka sooner than expected, Lee thought as he nervously gripped his sword and shield. He wasn’t afraid to fight, but he didn’t know how these new enemies would behave, and that left him a little on edge about the conflict he was about to engage in.

“Ling, give me some good cover fire!” Lee yelled as he charged toward Connacht’s man.

The four wolves reacted to Lee’s attack by fanning out and maneuvering around until they had the man perfectly surrounded. Rather than holding his position, however, the messenger turned and tried to run, ostensibly under the pretext of keeping the danger away from Lee. The moment he took his first step, the four wolves pounced.

A rain of arrows fell down around him a second later, halting each of the wolves in their tracks before they could reach him. A quick glance over his shoulder showed him that Ling hadn’t even dismounted from the Krunklerump and was firing from the back of the beast. Lee offered up silent thanks to Ling as the salvo continued to rain down. It didn’t appear as if she was able to do much damage, but she was buying him the precious time he needed to clear the distance and reach the messenger. Unfortunately, her attack also warned the giant wolves of exactly how dangerous Ling and Lee might be, and they instantly went from full-on attack mode to a defensive posture, backing up and angling themselves toward the newcomers. Then the two red Wolves charged straight at Lee.

“Support him and keep him safe. I’ve got this!” Lee shouted. He hoisted his spiked shield up in front of him and prepared to receive the first blow. He didn’t know if he’d actually be able to take both of them down at the same time, but he was certain that he’d be able to hold his own against the dogs. He had plenty of experience fighting canines since he had killed so many when he first got to this world, so he wasn’t as worried as he might have been against a less familiar beast. In addition, there was also the shield that was covered with Spiddlendra goo and spikes, a hard-won souvenir from this time in the gladiator pits. The sharp spikes offered him an additional level of safety that his normal shield didn’t, and it had proved its worth many times over already.

He positioned himself so that he could stop the first wolf as it approached. All he had to do was take the initial attack on his shield and then use a bit of footwork to prevent himself from getting hit by the second. As the two wolves came closer, however, something happened that caught him off guard: the lead wolf turned into a human. Instead of an open-jawed canine biting into his shield, Lee was suddenly confronted with a Firbolg holding a large tower shield with both of his hands. He slammed into Lee at full force and without stopping.

There was a series of loud cracks as the spindles were broken off of his shield, and Lee was hammered by the blow. The impact didn’t do any real damage, but there was enough force behind it to send him flying back several feet and onto the flat of his back.

What the--? he started to curse, but the second wolf came in behind the Firbolg, leaping onto Lee’s now-exposed chest and going for a bite at his throat.

No, you don’t! Lee shifted his body and took the bite on his left shoulder instead. Pain exploded from the area, and he could have sworn he felt each of the needle-like teeth as they sank into his skin, shaving off a total of 62 hit points. A sharp, tingling sensation ran down his left arm that was followed by complete numbness and a loss of feeling in his appendage. He briefly tried to concentrate hard enough to send his spirit into his shoulder so that he could heal the wound, but there was simply no way he could risk dividing his focus with the massive beast on top of him. Instead, he punched his sword forward in a short stabbing motion. There wasn’t enough room for him to get a proper swing, pinned beneath the beast as he was, so this would have to do. The over-sized wolf yipped around his shoulder, but it refused to let go of its hold on him. Instead, its teeth somehow dug in even further, tearing away another 62 health

At the same time, Lee swapped his vision and hearing over to the nearby golem, finally reconnecting with his creation. It was normally something he did almost instantly upon returning to this world, but he had been so caught off guard, first by the girl-turned owl in the bar and then preoccupied with his planning, that he had neglected it until now. It was a feeling he had missed greatly while in his original world, and everything around him exploded with new stimuli: the visual and auditory awareness of the battlefield as well as a feeling of connectivity with the three sentient clay golems. As he focused on the fight through one of the nearby Ethans’ eyes, he noticed that the shapeshifting Firbolg with the giant shield was moving in for an attack behind the wolf.

Crap. Lee abandoned any pretext of making another attack and instead focused on using his healing magic to repair the damage to his left shoulder as quickly as possible. The healing started to trickle in, but then the third and fourth wave of 62-damage attacks from the canine took him under half health. Thankfully, the healing also restored some of the strength in his left arm. He used his newly-awakened shield arm to reach around and grab the wolf in a one-armed headlock. Then, in a well-practiced maneuver, he bucked his hips, pulled the wolf away from him, and used his foot to leverage himself around as he twisted his body. The end result was that he rolled over on top of the wolf, and the Firbolg’s attack crashed down into the ground where his feet had been just as he moved out of the way. And he kept rolling. Each turn drove the wolf’s teeth deeper into his flesh and ripped away another 62 hit points, and his healing ability was only recovering 54 hit points in the same interval, but the maneuver kept him away from the other attacker.

The beleaguered Firbolg chased after the two rolling combatants as if he wasn’t sure when or where to attack in order to not hit the red mutt in the process of trying to kill Lee. He might have been able to pull it off if he had an actual weapon, but the only thing he carried was the gigantic wooden tower shield, and that hovered in a perpetually-ready state, threatening to smash down on Lee if he stopped rolling away.

“Ling!” Lee yelled for support as he kept rolling. He was constantly taking damage from the clamped-down canine, and he was losing his mana even faster at a rate of 2% per second. He only had 5 to 6 seconds before he was dead--even with the healing--so he knew he needed back up.

Ling answered the call quickly, shooting several arrows into the wolf on top of him and one into him, which punctured his side and shaved off 20 health. The canine didn’t die from the assault, but the wooden shafts that sprouted from its body prevented Lee and the animal from completing another rotation. The final flip resulted with Lee halfway on top of the Phouka and with it pinned between him and the ground--with the arrows threatening to leverage even deeper. Sensing his advantage, Lee pressed over on top of the creature, slowly digging the sharp points even deeper into the wolf. The beast cried out in a mixture of rage and anguish, and it suddenly began transforming.

The once-massive, hundred-and-eighty-pound dire wolf monster that had pinned Lee to the ground morphed into a dark-haired, waiflike woman who couldn’t have been taller than five foot three if she were standing, and she stared at Lee with glossy, tear-filled eyes. She opened her mouth as if she were going to scream again, but no words or cries came out.

Lee felt bad for her. He could see the agony she was in, but he couldn’t stop the fight to show pity. Instead, he just reached around her body, grabbed onto one of the arrows that had lodged itself inside her, and pushed it deeper, twisting and turning it inside her as if he were trying to stir up a mixed drink

“Die!” Lee hissed into her ear as he continued to turn her insides about with Ling’s arrow. “It’ll be easier on you.”

Her eyes turned lifeless as her body acquiesced to Lee’s command, and a howl erupted from off to Lee’s right. Then, Lee quickly shoved the body away from him and rolled to the side as the enraged Firbolg smashed down with his shield and all the strength he had.

You have killed Sinead. Your party has been awarded a crumpled letter and 1100 Experience. Your share of this is a crumpled letter and 367 Experience.

Lee spring-boarded off the ground, instinctually trying to re-equip the shield that he had lost somewhere in the previous skirmish, but he realized that it was still on the ground somewhere. Armed with only a sword, he rushed at the Firbolg. The man countered by thrusting forward with his own shield, clearly intent on bashing Lee for a second time, but Lee already knew how this conflict would play out. He veered hard to the right and dodged the massive wooden barrier as it swung around at him. The shield barely missed him, and he felt the massive form of the Firbolg warrior as he flew by. Lee rolled through his dive and came up into a crouch just in time to see the Firbolg slide to a halt.

Lee smiled, facing the Firbolg once more with his sword raised. “Come, then, let’s finish this off, the two of us,” Lee taunted as he watched the raging man approach him.

“SINEEEAAADDD!!!! “I will avenge you!” he shouted in the most Miller-esque fashion a Firbolg other than the actual Miller could achieve.

The massive warrior leapt forward shield-first yet again, but just as the two were about to collide, Lee stepped to the side once more. A corner of the giant shield nicked him in the chest as he moved away, but it was only a glancing blow due to the angle of his dive. The shield’s impact was drastically dulled, doing nothing more than eliciting a shot of pain, and the Firbolg’s fate was much worse. The giant brute’s foot stomped down onto Lee’s dropped shield. The Spiddlendra spikes had been broken off, but the nubs they had left behind were buried in the wood, razor sharp, and they pierced through the man’s flesh like nails into a foam block.

“Ahhh!!!” the monster screamed out in pain, howling so loudly that he was probably heard a mile away. The giant gritted his teeth and sneered at Lee after a moment, squeezing his eyes shut against the pain.

And Lee instantly took advantage of the man’s momentary lapse in judgment. He lunged forward and to the side, neatly slicing around behind the man’s defensive barrier and into his leg. His blade bit deeply, unhindered by armor, and cleanly sliced through the man’s calf. The Firbolg’s eyes sprang open at the sudden shock as Lee’s blade cut through his leg, but he refused to cry out again. He teetered for just a moment as he fought to maintain his balance before slamming the massive shield into the ground and leaning his weight against it. Seeing his second opportunity, Lee pivoted around and stabbed the man in the back, repeating the fast jab several times until his blade pierced through and found something vital.

You have killed Lugh. Your party has been awarded a battered tower shield and 1321 Experience. Your share of this is a battered tower shield and 440 Experience.

Lee spun around to face the two golden wolves the moment he saw the death notification, and he found that they were still circling around the messenger, nipping at the man as they tried to make it through his meager defenses. Connacht’s man wasn’t exactly fending them off, and there were already a few bite marks on his arms and shins, but he had managed to stay alive with Ling’s help. Every time one wolf rushed in, she targeted the other and prevented it from attacking at the same time. Thus, he only ever had to face one of the giant dogs at a time and never both.

Both wolves turned to face Lee as he approached, and one let out a loud, angry-sounding howl of rage when it saw the two dead bodies behind Lee. The wolf launched forward with what Lee suspected was full force, and it was upon him in the span of a second. Lee was getting ready to sidestep the beast and bring his sword around just as he had done before, but he was caught off guard once again when it shapeshifted into a thin and gaunt-looking woman wielding a pair of daggers. The Phouka was simply too fast, and the transformation didn’t give him enough time to prepare for the change in tactics. The frail woman crashed into him with all the momentum of a leaping wolf, driving both the daggers past Lee’s defenses and into his chest. He felt the air explode out of his lungs as the daggers were driven home, and his vision flashed black as the blows stripped away 200 health. A bleed effect window popped up to let Lee know that he was now losing 27 hit points per second from the attack.

The crazed woman stared into Lee’s eyes and snarled, “For Sinead,” before pushing both her daggers further into Lee’s chest.

Lee stared down at his sword, where it had somehow buried itself in the crazed woman’s stomach, and then gasped in a combination of shock and pain as he used his free arm to throw the dying woman off him. He had only just managed to circulate enough spirit to heal his wounds from the last two people he fought against, and now he was almost dead again. In addition, he also had gained a bleeding effect which was speedily stripping away even more. Not wasting any time, he jumped atop her fallen body and stabbed right into her heart again and again until he saw the window he was waiting for pop up in front of him: her death notice.

You have killed Clodagh. Your party has been awarded 2 obsidian daggers and 1101 Experience. Your share of this is an obsidian dagger and 367 Experience.

Divinity Power: Life in Death activated.

He looked over to see Connacht’s man on the ground and covered in bite marks with a half-naked, blonde-haired, pointy-eared, full-figured woman lying dead next to him. Lee walked over to the servant and then extended his hand. As soon as he took it, Lee pumped his healing mana into the wounded man and made sure the situation was, at the very least, no longer critical.

“Thank you,” the messenger said. “Thank you so much.

“Don’t mention it,” Lee replied. “Do you know who they were? Why they were attacking you?” Even if he had saved the man, he still didn’t trust him, and he was going to hold off on opening up the letter in front of him. He didn’t know what was in it, and he wanted to make sure that he had a full grasp of whatever information it had before allowing someone else to have a look at it. As Alexander had taught him more than once, controlling information was incredibly important, and he didn’t know how much he could trust this guy since his allegiance was to Connacht.

“I don’t know,” the man said. “They just . . . They just appeared out of nowhere. One of them stopped me, said I had the right smell, and then they all shifted and started attacking me.”

“I see.” Lee frowned as he looked between the dead bodies. “That’s twice in one day.”

“Yeah.” The manservant nodded. He had been there for the earlier Phouka attack as well. “It doesn’t bode well, but it is just all the more reason we must make it to Kirshtein as soon as possible. If the Phouka are real, and if they are out and about and on a rampage, then we need to warn others.”

“You’re not wrong,” Lee agreed. “We do need to tell people what’s going on.” I may have saved you, but do I want you alive and well enough to tell Connacht and the others that this Queen Meadhbh, as she calls herself, is interested in me and wants to be my partner? Inevitably, his ethics won out, and he didn’t draw his sword again. Instead, he walked back to where his old shield was still lying on the ground with a newly-attached foot stuck to it. He plucked off the appendage and threw the thing in his inventory, not bothering to further clean any of the blood off of it.

“Ling and I are going to go on ahead of you,” Lee said as he climbed back up on top of the Krunklerump, and he and Ling quickly rode off.

“I don’t trust that one,” Ling commented as soon as they were out of earshot.

“He tried to protect us by encouraging us not to help him,” Lee countered.

“He was too insistent that we go with him,” Ling pointed out. She had been practically mute since Amber’s death, and the only talking she had done had mostly been to tell that very man to bugger off when the overly-persistent lackey had tried to drag Lee back to Kirshtein instead of giving him time to mourn.

“It’s not him I don’t trust . . .” Lee sighed as he thought back to the earlier fight and how desperate the man had been to complete his mission, so much so that he was even willing to die rather than risk Lee being lost in the skirmish. That was not a man who lacked loyalty.

“But didn’t Connacht help save you and organize the attack against Devin?” Ling knew which direction Lee was thinking.

“Because I am still a useful tool to the man,” Lee answered as he pulled out the crumpled-up letter from Sinead’s corpse and began straightening it. “He’s too skinny, what with that lean and hungry look, to be keeping me around just for the bacon.”

“You don’t trust thin men?” Ling asked. Being curious was in her nature--she always asked questions no matter what was said--and even if she had politely let Lee mourn, that inquisitive nature wouldn’t always stay hidden.

“Let me have men about me that are fat, sleek-headed men and such as sleep a-nights,” Lee quoted from one of his favorite plays. He knew that she wouldn’t recognize the quotation, but he still hoped she’d understand the thought.

To her credit, she just gave him a ‘hmmm’ and let the subject drop.

The idea of plagiarizing and stealing from the rich cultural history of Earth had actually danced through Lee’s head a lot. Most of the jokes, memes, phrases and other particulars from his world that had attained great fame were dependent on cultural references that the people in this world wouldn’t understand--or on things that might not make sense when translated by the system to their language--but that didn’t mean that there weren’t plenty of things like bacon and fried chicken that would be good in any world regardless. In truth, he had spent quite a bit of time thinking about what he could steal to increase the successfulness of his church. If he could mimic the appeal of some of the rock icons of Earth, for example, then attracting a hoard of zealous followers would most likely be a piece of cake, and he could even do it pretty peacefully.

“You should go for it,” Augustus’s chimed in, interrupting Lee’s thoughts. “There is definitely a crafting section for guitars and the like in that book of mine.”

Augustus didn’t seem to have the ability to just pop into Lee’s head when he was on Earth, so he had momentarily forgotten that the deity was likely watching or listening to every single thought of his and just waiting for an opportunity to interrupt while he was here. “I mean, personally, I really like that little repetitive tune from the block arranging game you played as a kid.”

The block arranging game? What are you talking about? Lee thought for a moment before realizing he was an idiot as he heard Augustus start to hum the familiar tune. Nope, nope, none of that Russian earworm. If that song gets stuck in my head, it’ll be years before it leaves.

“Well,” Augustus chuckled, “do you even play an instrument? Maybe we should start there?”

You know I don’t. But it can’t be that hard to learn one, can it? Lee thought, looking at his Intelligence score. When he first left his home world and came to the competition world, the stat had been dismally low. Now, thanks to learning skills and his fragments of the world stone, he was at 177 Intelligence. That meant that he could learn things significantly faster, as each 1 point of Intelligence was a 1% increase in his ability to learn skills. After talking to others, like Ling, who only had 22 Intelligence and Miller, who had less than 10, he realized that his brain power was one of the abilities he picked up from Augustus. It was likely a divinely-inherited advantage of being a Herald.

“I mean, you can, but which one are you going to pick? Even if you’re learning them two or three or five times faster than someone else, it’ll still take you forever to master an instrument to the extent you could impress anyone,” Augustus pointed out.

That’s true, Lee acknowledged, thinking to himself about how to get around this problem. In general, churches relied heavily on music to influence and capture the masses. In fact, every advertising campaign generally used sound as a key instrument of their push, yet he had nothing yet in this regard. For a world capable of only medieval technology that was rife with constant life-threatening war, it made sense that there wasn’t a lot of proper music and instrument-based songs. After all, it wasn’t like that many would even be able to read sheet music. There wasn’t even any standard method for discussing notes or timing or anything else. In fact, from what Lee was able to tell during his conversations at the Hunter’s Guild in Kirshtein, most bards kept their musical ability a trade secret and charged noblemen heavily to teach them their craft.

Wait! Lee suddenly realized something. That book of yours, it can teach me how to craft anything imaginable, right?

“Yeah, but be careful. This world’s tech limit is pretty strict. You can’t make yourself a robot girlfriend to use since Masha’s not here,” Augustus joked.

But, if I thought about it, it would have the diagrams for anything based on the parameters I used?

“Yeah, I suppose. You gonna craft a bunch of war machines since you can’t play guitar? I know the phrase ‘love, not war,’ but when people can’t fit in with the guitar-playing hippies, they usually don’t immediately turn to war,” Augustus chuckled.

No, not at all. Hold on. Lee paused his little conversation with Augustus, pulled out the book and thought about the self-playing instruments that had been popular in the 1920s on Earth. Even back then, there had been plenty of crank-style music box systems and orchestrions around.

After searching around, he found something that would work perfectly. The musical contraption was a large wooden box nearly a foot and a half deep and roughly the size of a man in height and width with a multitude of vertically-aligned pipes visible on its front face. The pipes all had holes near the point at which they disappeared into the wooden cabinet, about halfway down the height of the machine. Inside the contraption was an intricate series of gears, shafts and wooden arms extending off of flywheels--mechanisms that worked the built-in percussion system and pumped the bellows, syphoning in the air that gave life to the instrument’s music. There were also copper prongs aligned in a row parallel and below the pipes. The prongs resembled those of a thumb organ but were much larger, each nearly the size of a man’s finger. The prongs were situated such that, when plucked, they activated corresponding levers that in turn opened and closed the valves of the copper pipes, releasing air through the bowels of the organ and creating a chorus of haunting, ethereal notes.

The genius at the center of the instrument was an intake for sheets covered in a vast multitude of little bumps just big enough to trip the metal prongs when they were brought past them by the rolling of a smooth log inside the machine. The secret of the log’s movement and the pumping of the bellows was a tightly wound spring that, as it gave up its pent-up tension, brought the large music box to life. It would fill Lee’s church with music and was complex enough to leave any visitors in unabashed wonder at its apparent magic.

The only thing that disappointed him was the number and level of skills that were needed to create the various components via the assembly spell. Making it by hand was possible, but it would take a long time to craft everything so precisely. As such, he had wanted to cheat and use the assembly spell instead. The higher one’s Intelligence, the lower the requirements on the skills, yet even with his freakishly-high stat, most of these required a bare minimum of Initiate Level 6 for Carpentry, Engineering and Miscellaneous Crafting, something he took to mean the fashioning of tools like strings or pencils that might not fall under any specific crafting tree.

Welp, looks like I’ll have to put together a project and get this done the old-fashioned way. Although . . . I suppose I could also try picking up those skills. Spirit Smithing has helped me with locked doors and other issues, so there is no telling when I might need some good carpentry and general crafting skills.

“That’s the spirit!” Augustus chimed in. “When you can’t learn a skill like playing an instrument yourself because you’re too lazy to put in the effort, just spend a ton of time and energy building a machine to do it for you. It'll save you a lot of time in the long run, and you’ll be able to spend that drinking or being with women or drinking with women.”

Of course you had to bring women into it. Lee sighed. I thought you were supposed to be the God of Alcohol and Crafts. Why does it feel like they missed the title of debauchery and whoremongering in there?

“Because they ran out of space on my business card to add the other things. If they had room, they might have even added the God of Handsome Faces and Terribly-Dull and Boring Heralds,” Augustus responded.

Have you actually had more than one? Lee wondered.

“No, the games are so infrequent that it’s honestly like winning the lottery when you get called into one,” Augustus answered, and Lee felt like he could hear a shred of disappointment, as if Augustus wanted these god-killing games to be a normal thing.

Well, speaking of Heralds . . . Lee looked down at the letter that he had straightened out earlier.

“What does it say?” Ling asked as Lee opened up the letter. She was riding on the back of the saddle and was now straining to try and get a good look over Lee’s shoulder to read the contents.

“Don’t hurt yourself. You can read it after I’m finished,” Lee said. He didn’t trust that the woods were without ears, even if he was traveling at a very healthy speed on top of a Krunklerump.

To my pack sisters, Sinead and Clodagh,

I have a great request on this day, for I will be requiring you to travel with great haste over even greater distances to the land between Satterfield and Kirshtein. There, you will find the putrefying sickness of genetic rot that infested the kingdoms of old, and amongst that rot, you will find a man who stands between me and my prize. If not for my own mission, I would already be there to rip his throat out and cull the earth of his weakness, but alas, I must instead trust this mission to you two and your two kin. I am counting on you. Purify the road between those two towns of all disease that cannot withstand your fury, such that only the strong and worthy will come out of the journey alive. Do this for me, and make sure you kill the man with the silken shirt and the scent of mutton about him, for Ulchabhannadhbh has told me that he is attempting to poison the mind of our Herald with the defilement of weakness and corrupt his pure and savage nature. We must save the great Herald Lee before he swallows this poison.

Lee was stunned when he finished reading the letter. He didn’t know exactly what to make of it or exactly what ‘genetic filth’ was, but it creeped him out and unnerved him in a way that he couldn’t put his finger on. For all of the help this strange Herald was supposedly intending to offer him, he found himself wanting to meet her less and less by the hour. And he was also glad that he hadn’t let Connacht’s messenger see it. If he had, Lee’s diplomatic troubles with Connacht would have been multiplied beyond his control.

The worst part was that it implied that, if he ever became enemies with this new Herald, he would be at a severe disadvantage. The Herald had the one asset that could make or break armies in a war: speed. She had it in spades. It hadn’t been more than a few hours to half a day, yet already the Herald had been notified of Lee’s whereabouts, informed of the people near him, along with their intentions and directions, and had enough time to send out a hit squad that beat Lee to the scene. This was an incredibly dangerous situation for Lee to be in, and for once, he was happy with the idea of being in Kirshtein again.

Lee sat in silence, ignoring Ling’s questions, for the rest of the way back to Kirshtein. He had enough on his mind already, even without having to stop and explain everything to her, and he knew that he was likely going to be hunted by more Phoukas in the near future. So, after healing himself back up, he decided that it would be a good idea to have some of his mana in reserve just in case something awful happened. Thus, he spent all but 30% on reshaping a few grams of metal to level up his Spirit Smithing and tried to make the most of the trip.

Chapter 3

Name: Lee

Race: Human

Class: Herald - None

Level: 26

Health: 360/360

EXP: 4175/37000

Primary Stats:

Power 36 (39)

Toughness 36 (39)

Spirit 36 (39)

Secondary Stats:

Charisma 25

Courage 20

Deceit 26

Intelligence 162 (178)

Honor 3

Faith 32721

Personal Faith 233

Skills:

Unarmed Combat Initiate Level 7

Swordplay Novice Level 8

Sneak Journeyman Level 2

Cooking Initiate Level 7

Trap Detection Initiate Level 6

Knife Combat Initiate Level 8

Mental Fortitude Initiate Level 1

Sleight of Hand Initiate Level 3

Blood Shield Initiate Level 3

Glass Smithing Initiate Level 10

Divine Skills:

Golem Sculpting Journeyman Level 1

Appreciative Drunk Novice Level 8

Nectar of the Gods Initiate Level 4

Spirit Smithing Initiate Level 4

Faith Healing

Divinity Powers:

Life in Death

Titles:

Cheat Code Fighter

The Great Deceiver

Lee and Ling were greeted immediately by two Humans and a Firbolg that rushed to meet them as they approached the gates of Kirshtein on their Krunklerump.

“Great Herald! Your presence could not be more needed! First Paladin Miller requires your help right away!” one of the Humans said urgently. “Please! You must come help him!”

Help Miller? Lee blinked. There are few people in this entire town that could fight Miller, much less Miller and the rest of the people from Satterfield together, not to mention Dave and Pelham. What the heck is he talking about? “Just tell me where they are,” Lee answered, deciding that he'd better not wait around to find out what was going on after the fact.

“The park! They’re at the park where you fought the enemy Herald. Hurry, please! I’d hate to see something happen!” the man pleaded unnecessarily.

Lee jerked the mount around and snapped the reins without waiting for a further response.

The first thing he saw when he arrived was a large number of Firbolgs with several Humans and Leprechauns mixed in. They were gathered around the statue he had made of Amber, and while he couldn’t actually see Miller through the throng, he could hear the Firbolg’s loud voice above those coming from the large crowd.

“No one touches the statue, or they die!” Miller shouted. “I will murder each and every person not of my order that comes within five feet of our Divine and Holy Lee’s glorious creation!”

“Glorious creation?” another voice, a higher-pitched voice that was just as boisterous as Miller’s answered back. “We people do not recognize this as glorious! It is a celebration of death, the murder of an innocent benefactor of our great city who was trying to aid us in our time of need! The one true Herald, Devin, died on his way to fight for our city, and your Herald was the one who killed him! How is that not a crime?! The labeling of it as heroic by the city council is nothing more than a flagrant and openly-illegal, corrupt abuse of power by those in charge! We, the people of Kirshtein, demand that our voices be heard! We will not tolerate the crimes committed by the charlatan, Lee, and we will not tolerate the celebration of the great one true Herald’s death!”

What the . . . Lee blinked as he looked on in shock. He was, at this moment, incredibly happy he had left Miller in the town. No death notices had popped up, so he was certain that no skirmishes had started yet, but he didn’t know how long this back and forth had been going on.

“Charlatan? He is no charlatan! He is a god, born of a god!” Miller’s shouts penetrated the audience again. “He will not be slandered, and his creation will not be touched. You and that wall of people you hide behind . . . You can come at me now, brothers! I will rip that pathetic, unmoving heart that cannot recognize divine art and beauty from your chest and eat it right in front of you as you die!”

Oh no, you really shouldn’t anger him . . . you won’t like him when he’s . . . Lee tossed his head back and laughed at Miller’s threat, even though he knew that he really shouldn’t have. The hearty, nearly-villainous cackle was loud enough that the people in the back of the crowd heard him and turned to see what type of person would find any of this amusing. It was hard for Lee to contain himself since he knew Miller would absolutely keep to his word. The single-minded Firbolg was never one to hold back on fulfilling a promise when it involved blood and violence.

“Who are you?! And how dare you laugh at this situation! Good people died right here, and you are chuckling? You are making light of it?” a man near the back yelled at Lee, and others immediately joined in with the proper mob mentality.

Lee let it go on for a moment, simply absorbing the charges and accusations against him, and then he spoke up. “Oh, who am I?” He took a moment to collect himself a bit as he looked down at the rabble comprised of the three races. He was surprised to see Humans among the naysayers, given what the Firbolg he had killed did to them and how lowly he thought of them, but he suspected there would always be those who hated their own kind and rallied against them. “You guys all came here to condemn me, so I figured you’d at least know who I was.”

“Condemn you?” the man asked.

“That’s right. Since I’m the one who killed your old Herald . . . and every single other bastard that tried to fight me after,” Lee said with a smile. “And as for that statue, I’m the one who made it, so I suppose you’ve condemned me twice.”

“You are the . . . You’re Lee! You’re the charlatan from a foreign town that came here to disrupt the peace and order of Kirshtein!” the man yelled. As he shouted, more and more people turned to face him. Spurred by the others around them, they soon began to push forward, forming a semicircle around Lee. No matter how the throng pressed or shifted, however, they all somehow managed to remain equally distant from him and his mount--likely because none was brave enough to step any closer.

“Yeah! That’s me! You got my name right!” Lee shouted with a laugh as he pulled out his sword. The charlatan part is definitely right as well. Lee’s eyes narrowed as he looked around at the crowd for the most obvious threat. “I’m so glad that you all came out to see my art and were so happy that you couldn’t wait to take a piece home for yourself . . . But, sadly, I’m going to have to disappoint you all. It’s not going anywhere.”

“That’s right! We didn’t murder anyone. We killed the Herald of Deigha in the name of justice, and anyone who comes near this statue will feel that same justice!” Miller yelled too when he saw Lee, a smile creeping across his face. He was clearly proud that he had protected Amber’s monument.

“Miller, I’m glad you’re trying to reason with these bastards, but there is no point in logic,” Lee laughed. His face was red and flushed, and his knuckles were white from how hard he was gripping his sword, but that didn’t stop him from finding the situation amusing. “I’m going to just say it here: You’re all cowards. Bloody, freaking, cowards. Do you think time will fortify your courage or attenuate our resolve? Do you think if you wait out here long enough, more men, braver men, will come to your aid? You must because, if not, why would you be standing around here fruitlessly occupying all of ours? That man”--Lee pointed to Miller--“has drawn the line in the sand, but I will make it even clearer. If you take a single step in the direction of that statue, you will die. I will not let a single one of you filthy, loathsome and craven bastards disgrace the honor of that woman. Do I make myself clear?”

“We’ll die? Are you really going to kill me, the eldest and only prince of the house of Tigernach with so many witnesses and in cold blood? Well, I think you’re full of it, but if you’re not, then let my death be the chains that shackle you to prison!” The loud man from earlier stared Lee, turned to face the statue, took a deep breath and then stepped forward.

“Miller!” Lee shouted across the mob, a sly smile creeping across his face. “I believe you made this man a promise. If you’d be so kind . . .”

The encouragement wasn’t necessary. As soon as the man placed his foot firmly one step out from the crowd and in the direction of the statue, Miller rushed forward and thrust his spear right into the man’s guts. The man’s eyes went wide in shock first, and then he threw his head back and howled in pain while clutching at the spear as if he could somehow remove it.

Miller let go of his weapon, leaving it firmly planted in the man’s gut, and then shoved his massive fists into the man’s chest. The sickening sound of bone and marrow being broken apart filled the square as Miller ripped the man’s rib cage open in a single, violent move. The giant Firbolg then reached into the man’s chest, grabbed his heart, and pulled it out.

The man’s face, already contorted in a combination of horror and excruciating pain, was splattered with his own blood as Miller finished his violent work and, true to his promise, took a bite of the man’s heart right in front of him and spat the bloody bit of organ back in the prince’s face.

You have killed Prince Ualtar of House Tigernach. Your party has been awarded a fine gold ring, a fine silver pendant, an emerald, a pair of fine silk shoes, the seal of House Tigernach, 1178 gold and 201 Experience. Your share of this is a fine silver pendant, the seal of House Tigernach, 392 gold and 67 Experience.

“I really thought he’d have passed out or straight-up died before Miller got the first bite,” Lee said to Ling behind him, “but either way, are you ready?”

“I am, but I don’t have much room to maneuver with you on the Krunklerump.

“Okay then,” Lee said quietly as he hopped off the mount.

“I have to admit that I didn’t really think he had the guts to do it.” Lee pushed into the crowd, moving toward where the man had died. The crowd opened up and parted for him once they realized what he was doing, as he walked over to the blood-soaked Miller and the now-dead prince. “Even if he did die, at least he wasn’t as spineless as the rest of you. So, who’s next?” Lee asked, looking around at the people. “Which one of you aberrant fiends will come forth to die next?”

They had all been bravely shouting encouragement moments ago, but they were now strangely silent. Most of them seemed to be fixated on the impossible-to-ignore visual reminder of what might happen to them. The mob mentality had not protected them in the way they had clearly thought it would, and neither did status seem to act as a shield. Instead, it had become abundantly clear to these civilians and nobles that any step forward to desecrate Amber’s statue would result in a fight to the death, with a quick end being the best these non-combatants could hope for against the seasoned Firbolg and the troops behind him.

“What? Nothing?” Lee asked, looking around. “Well, I suppose that settles it then. I’ll give you all a few minutes to clear the park, or else I’m going to murder each and every one of you where you stand.”

“On what grounds?! This is city property, and as citizens, we have the right to be here!” the one who had challenged Lee earlier shouted. He stepped forward, and the people parted for him in the same fashion they had for Lee as he defiantly made his way up to the inner edge of the crowd, took a step forward and then spat as hard as he could in Lee’s direction. “We are the people of Kirshtein, and we will not be--” His sentence was cut off as a giant spear hurdled through the air and pierced his skull. The long weapon split the man’s skull in half, piercing through his nose and out the back with ease.

Lee turned around to see a smiling, but now-spearless Miller.

“You said to kill anyone who took a step toward the statue, and he was taking steps toward the statue!” Miller quickly defended his actions before even waiting for Lee’s response. The giant grinned, and the whites of his teeth stood out in stark contrast to his face, which had been dyed red by the man’s blood. Lee was fairly certain there was a piece of the man’s heart still stuck between his teeth.

“I did, didn’t I?” Lee nodded. “You know, I think I saw one of the people on the edge, one that was moving out of the man’s way, make a step toward the statue too,” he added with a devious grin. The people who had been closest to the man as he died all took in a collective breath as they scurried back further away from the statue in a state of shock. The circle around Amber’s monument grew in diameter as none of them wanted to be the closest person to it, each slowly shifting one after the other to make sure he or she wasn’t standing nearest.

Lee watched with disgust. Despite all the laughter, the fact that they would threaten Amber’s statue less than a week after she gave her life to save him from the racist demagogue these people still seemed to follow left him feeling like a clump of bile was stuck halfway between his throat and his belly. “You know . . . I just don’t have the patience for this. Ling, I want you to pick one of them at random and start shooting in sixty seconds if they aren’t running--and I mean actually running--out of the park by then.”

Ling swallowed hard enough that Lee could see her do it from where he was on the ground, dozens of feet away, but she didn’t protest. Instead, she just gave him a two-word response: “Yes, sir.”

Lee felt bad about giving her the task, but he took comfort in the fact that the people bolted no sooner than he had voiced it. Some of them took a few seconds longer than the others, but they all took off, running away at full speed.

“Timorous men, how mighty and brave they were when they had stronger bigots to hide behind,” Lee remarked with a rueful smirk as he watched them scamper.

“Was that really necessary?” Ling asked when the last of them was out of earshot, and the only ones who remained were Miller, Ling and Miller’s so-called paladins. He recognized about half of them as men from Satterfield, but the other half was completely foreign to him. They had likely been recruited in the short period of time that Lee had spent traveling to Satterfield and burying Amber properly.

“Yeah, it was,” Lee answered flatly. “And if I hear about anyone doing anything to the statue again, I’ll probably kill a few more than today just to make sure the point gets across.”

“You’ll just martyr them,” Ling said, looking at the corpse of the prince near Miller’s feet.

“Maybe. That’d be nice if it were the case.” Lee kicked the corpse he saw Ling looking at for emphasis. “It’d be better to get them all out together, angry and upset with me in the same place, so I can kill them all at once.”

Ling’s complaints about Lee’s behavior grew along with her voice. “That’s not what we do. Doesn’t Augustus preach forgiveness?! This isn’t who you are, and you can’t let who you are change, even if you are upset!”

“No, it isn’t who I was,” Lee said resolutely. “I’m all for forgiveness, but if they threaten me or my beliefs or her statue, then I’ll just have to forgive their dead bodies instead of their live ones. If they give up on that thinking and go home, I won’t press the issue at all. That’s the forgiveness I offer.”

“That’s the spirit! Justice can be served to all who threaten the works of our Herald, Lee, or the god, Augustus!” Miller asserted, proudly standing next to Lee.

“Yeah, what he said.” Lee shrugged as he turned to Miller. “Anyway, was Connacht aware of the people organized to take down the statue?” Lee asked.

“He knew,” Miller answered, his brow ridge tightening as he glared momentarily. “He knew.”

“I see.” Lee frowned. He must have thought it wasn’t a political fight worth winning, even though he knew I’d be back to check up on it sooner or later. He must think I’m easy to control. Lee was suddenly angrier than when he had first discovered the crowd that was trying to tear down Amber’s visage just to rack up a few political points. “Well, then I suppose I now have two reasons to go visit him.”

“Are you going to join them in the council meeting they’re having now?” Miller asked.

“Yeah, I am. Ling, let’s go,” he said, hopping back on the Krunklerump with her.

“Do you want me to join?” Miller asked.

“No, you . . .” Lee looked over at the statue and then back to the man who had withheld vital information that Lee could have used in the fight against Devin, information that could have obviated the need for Amber’s self-sacrifice. “You just keep her safe until I get back. After what you did, I think that’s the least you can do.”

“As you wish,” Miller said as he turned back to the crew. “And, you lot, we won’t waste the Herald’s time! Let’s train! Let’s train with our weapons while we wait for a chance to administer more justice in the name of the great Augustus!”

Still not even a single apology. Lee sighed as he grabbed the reins and set the Krunklerump in the direction of the city’s largest bureaucratic center. It was one of the few buildings in the dead center of town, and while Lee had only seen it once, he would never forget its stunning architecture. It was magnificent. Unlike most of the other buildings in Kirshtein, which all had hard corners and square foundations, this one was circular, stacked floor upon floor like the layers of a wedding cake. Each sequential level was a bit smaller than the one it rested on top of until the fifth and final floor. That particular one was entirely open like an incredibly-large gazebo with diverse flora that spread about the entire floor and hung off the edges, cascading down and nearly blocking out all of the windows of the fourth floor. There were hundreds and hundreds of beautiful flowers planted to make up for the building’s complete lack of paint or even simple decorations on its walls in the two-meter-wide walkway that circled each floor. There were six entrances to the building, each connecting to one of the main roads of the town, and Lee was able to reach one of the entrances in no time. As he arrived, he saw two Humans in black and gold armor rush up to him.

“We’ve been awaiting your arrival, sir,” one of them said as the other went to go get a hold of the Krunklerump, leading it by the reins to a watering spot the moment Lee and Ling dismounted. “Follow me.”

The meeting was being held on the fourth floor, and when Lee arrived, it was clear that no one had expected he would actually show up. The whole room went quiet, and a few of the Humans from Connacht’s faction looked amongst each other as they tried to figure out what to do for Lee and Ling in regards to seating. There were sixty-five seats at the monstrously-large table, and each of its thirteen sections was broken up into five seats. For each of the factions, there seemed to be either five filled seats, clearly distinguishable by race, or five large sashes with a matching family crest hung over the empty seats of what Lee suspected were the six absent factions. When Devin had begun seeding his pro-Firbolg bigotry in Kirshtein, one of the Human factions and all the Aes Sidhe and Dwarves had simply left the town.

There were at least two or three other people behind every one of the seated men, whispering back and forth between each other as they strategized, only momentarily pausing when they noticed Lee, before returning to their gossip seconds later.

Lee assumed that, since Connacht was the one who had invited him, he was supposed to have saved Lee a seat, but none of the people on each side of the prince wanted to give up their chairs when Lee walked in. This allowed Lee understand exactly how significant the seats at the table were, given that no one wanted to voluntarily relinquish one.

Just as things were about to get awkward from the silence and seating conundrum, the only woman at the table, a Human flanked on both sides by elderly-looking men, stood up and faced Lee. “Quigley, Riordan, stand up and give your seats to the esteemed representatives from the Church of Augustus. The House of Alastar will be honored to have you two as our guests at this meeting and to have you represent us with your words and actions.”

“That’s uncalled for!” a Firbolg shouted at her as he came up out of his seat. “The fact that you, a woman who has not the parts be the legitimate heir of Alastar, have already broken tradition with your mere presence at the table insist upon scoffing at our values even further by inviting a religious mountebank to sit down with us as if he is a legitimate member of the council? This is absurd!”

“If I or the House of Conchobhair led by Prince Connacht are breaking tradition by asking a religious figure to sit with us at this table”--the woman turned to the Firbolg--“then what of you, Quinlan Tigernach? Did you not break that tradition first by having your church leader, Devin McGuinness, sit next to you?”

“Tigernach?” Lee’s ears perked up. “I see . . . Tigernach, you wouldn’t happen to have a son out protesting, would you?”

“My son is indeed protesting. We, the proud remaining Tigernachs, must fight to restore order, law, and decency in this devolving land of barbarians who have forgotten so quickly how great the city was under our rule and Devin’s leadership,” Quinlan replied as he puffed his chest out.

“Ah, that’s true. You know . . .” Lee started to meander over to the beautiful, dark-haired, pale-skinned twenty-something Human woman’s side of the table, where the two seats being offered to Ling and Lee were situated. He also used his Glass Smithing to begin making a few more throwing daggers, storing each into his inventory as soon as it was made. “I have an interesting story I’d like to share with you all, actually . . . If you don’t mind, that is.”

“What is the point of this? Not only are you interrupting our meeting, but you’re also going to bore us with a bedtime tale?” Quinlan Tigernach grumbled.

“Bore you? Interesting choice in words,” Lee smirked. “No, I’m here to tell you the story of forgiveness. You see, there is this man who thought he was absolutely right, even though everything else told him otherwise. He arrogantly boasted of his bravery, his strength and his righteousness, until one day a wise--and handsome, if I’m allowed to say that--young man came to help him. He told the man that if he didn’t give up on being such a scummy, self-centered person trying to grab power at every chance, nothing good would come of it, and he would eventually lose his life.”

“Are you threatening me?” Tigernach interrupted Lee.

“Not at all. I’m just telling you a story about a man who”--Lee paused, his smirk growing into a full smile as he did his best to show the most mocking face he could muster--“just recently lost his only son. Or at least, I think it was his only son. That is what the Tigernach prince told us, right?” Lee turned to Ling. “I could have sworn he bragged about being the only son.”

“You, you dirty cledor rat!” Tigernach’s face skipped through the shades of red and straight to purple as he slammed his fists on the table.

“Ah, nice choice of words. I actually imagine that those were the exact words your son tried to sputter out as my man ripped his chest open and ate his heart right in front of him. It looked like the greedy little weakling suffered an agonizing and excruciating death. I’m telling you, seeing that look on his--”

“I will kill you!” Tigernach finally lost it. He bolted up out of his chair and rushed around the table at full speed, drawing his sword as he rounded the corner. Just as Lee had hoped he would.

Lee didn’t hesitate at all as he pulled out his purple, glowing, freshly-crafted glass daggers and threw them, one after the other, into Quinlan Tigernach’s chest. No one from the council said anything. They watched on in abject horror as they saw the proud leader of one of Kirshtein’s oldest and most influential houses turn into a pincushion before their eyes. It took only six knives before the death message appeared.

You have killed Prince Quinlan of House Tigernach. Your party has been awarded a diamond-encrusted short sword, a fine gold amulet, 2 rubies, a fine gold brooch, a fine gold ring, a pair of fine silk pants, a fine silk cravat, the deed to Tigernach Manor, the seal of House Tigernach, 3045 gold and 158 Experience. Your share of this is the deed to Tigernach Manor, 1015 gold and 53 Experience.

That’s even less experience than his son. Lee studied the death message before turning to Connacht. “He said he was going to kill me, had his sword out and came right at me. That counts as self-defense, right?” Lee asked.

“You . . . you aren’t supposed to kill people at this table! Do you understand the gravity of what you’ve done?” Connacht seemed shocked, horrified, upset and confused all at once, and his face kept twisting from one expression to the next.

Lee shot Connacht a scornful look before finishing his walk toward the open seats over at House Alastar. “I understand that you were supposed to take care of my people, and if they hadn’t been self-sufficient, they might be dead alongside the statue of an angel I made at the park.”

When he finally reached the woman who had generously accepted him before his supposed host had even acknowledged him, she bowed, holding her head down as she spoke. “I know it was just your intention to clear away threats, but you have no idea how grateful I am to you for the ‘self-defense’ you have just performed. My house, my people, my soul is in your debt. That hateful monster is responsible for my father’s death, and I can never repay you for this kindness.”

“Umm . . .” Lee was somehow uncomfortable as he looked at the woman. He had only wanted to make sure that he took advantage of the opportunity when it presented itself, so that he could legally, through an act of self-defense, remove the last leg of the group that he knew would be trying to kill him at any given opportunity in the future. “Please don’t give me credit for this. I was just--”

“No, you weren’t just doing anything. You did for our country what no resident had the guts to do, and you freed us from oppression while bringing us the word of the great god of all liquor and crafting, Augustus. You, Your Holiness, deserve no small amount of praise. Even I would not have the courage to step into this council chamber had you not saved our city from that monster named Devin and avenged my father and the great many others that lost their lives to him as well.”

“Please . . . stop.” Lee cringed. The more she spoke, the more uncomfortable and uneasy he felt. House Alastar is Dave’s old faction, right? Lee thought as he looked at the back of the bowing woman’s head. “I really deserve none of this, and if you would, please don’t mention it. Just do right by your people, and let’s continue on with the first order of business.”

“I think the first order of business should be to jail that murderer!” one of Tigernach’s men said, raising a hand and pointing at Lee. “He killed in cold blood, and you all are witnesses.”

“Actually,” one of the Leprechaun faction leaders interjected, shaking his head, “we saw old Tigernach make a clear threat of violence, draw a weapon and rush to attack. It was an honest kill in self-defense. Nothing’s to be done about it.”

“Sadly, even I must agree,” the other Leprechaun faction leader admitted, reasserting the first one’s conclusion.

Connacht and the Firbolg factions stayed oddly quiet as they all watched Lee. It wasn’t exactly a tacit admission that Lee’s actions had been self-defense, but it wasn’t a condemnation of the killing being murder either, and it left the four remaining members of the Tigernach faction squirming in their chairs. They had lost their leader and their leader’s only son, if Lee was to be believed, and they had no one to fill the empty seat of power as the house representative. With that thought, they leaned back and went quiet.

“Well, then. What was that first order of business?” Lee asked as he sat down between Ling and the woman of Alastar. “I believe it was about the city establishing an official state religion if I’m not mistaken?”

Connacht’s eyes shot wide open, but this time, it was from shock, not anger. “Yes, I think that’s a great idea. I’m in favor of it,” Connacht said. “A good religion will bind all people of all races and factions under the same banner for a unified cause and is a wonderful idea.”

“The people true to the House of Alastar all worship Augustus. We are for a unified religion only if it is that of Augustus,” the woman said proudly, looking over to Lee as if she were bragging.

“This is preposterous. How can we, the people of House Faelgusa, trust a church run by cledors?” asked the Leprechaun who had first jumped to Lee’s defense when he was accused of murder.

“This wasn’t even a subject we were discussing,” the other Leprechaun, leader of House Calbrainn responded.

“I’m interested to know more about this Miller character,” one of the previously silent Firbolg faction leaders asked. “I am told your church’s paladin order is run by one of our kind.”

“One of your kind?” Lee blinked at him. “You mean a Firbolg, not a member of your faction, right?”

“Yes, one of our kind. The strong and powerful kind,” the Firbolg answered, a little disgust leaking into his voice. “I’m told that you chose him, for his power, to run your order of paladins.”

“I think you’re mistaken,” Lee stated plainly. “I didn’t choose him for my order because he was strong. He chose to follow me, and he was the first to do so. That’s why he is the first of my Paladins and the leader of my order.” And he needed my help with the Cattywampus Catch quest since he apparently couldn’t rescue a single cat without my help. He’d make a terrible fireman or comic book superhero.

“I’m sure that’s the reason and that it had nothing to do with his superior strength and power granted him by his Firbolg blood,” the man chuckled back at Lee.

“If Firbolgs are superior, then how come I’ve killed so many of them with such ease?” Lee asked. “I mean, didn’t I just kill a noble one moments ago? Or what about the score that lay dead at my feet when she”--he motioned to Ling--“and I fought the best of the best the Tigernach house had to offer? I think you’re mistaking power, intelligence, or mere usefulness as traits people are born with and didn’t earn. I promise you, here and now, that your people will always have a place in my church if they are both useful and loyal. The more they prove their worth, the higher that place will be.” Lee primarily said this to assuage the worried-looking Leprechaun’s concerns, though it was spoken to the Firbolg. The Leprechauns might not have been treated as badly as Humans were under Devin’s dogma, but they were probably tired of hearing about how great Firbolgs were too.

“If your religion is to be the state religion, then are you going to allow us to moderate it as a state religion should be?” the other Leprechaun asked.

“Good question,” Lee said, nodding as if he were taking it into consideration very seriously. “No, I will not.”

“Then I don’t see how we can accept you,” the man replied.

“Ah, that’s a good point. I’ll tell you what’s going to happen. First, I’m going to build a church right at my new residence, Tigernach Manor, after I finish clearing away the unwanted scum.” Lee produced the deed from his inventory for them to see as proof of his claim. “Then, I’m going to send my people throughout the town and have them convert every single citizen. It might be hard, but I have a few plans. After that, what I’m going to do is take note of the houses that helped me get there and the ones that didn’t, and I’m going to tell my followers to stop doing business with anyone who is a member of the houses that opposed me. I’m going to use every bit of my power and influence to destroy your wealth, your family and your home without ever having to use violence. Although, if you want to commit suicide by attacking me, I’ll be happy to help you on your journey to see the rotten afterlife that awaits those who don’t believe in Augustus.”

“Oh,” Lee continued, looking over at the four remaining people from Tigernach. “I forgot to tell you: if any of you all are living in Tigernach Manor, you may want to go house hunting soon. I’m sure with all of the guards I killed during my last trip here, you’ll be able to find an empty house to stay in, so it shouldn’t be too hard.”

“That’s outrageous!” the four men all exclaimed almost in unison. The attendants behind them all began squabbling loudly.

“You can’t do that! We have rights! That is our home!” one of them protested.

“No.” Lee perused the deed quite obviously. “It says it’s my home now. Well, no, I could be wrong. How about you show me your deed, and we’ll compare them to see which one is real.”

“That’s . . .” another began, looking like he was about to have a heart attack. “That’s not right! We’ve lived there for fourteen generations! How dare you!”

“How dare I what? Tell you to move? Does that seem unjust to you? What about the people you falsely imprisoned and left to die or killed directly on the sands of the colosseum without even giving a trial? You know, kind of the same way you tried to kill me?” Lee smiled at them. “I think this is just a minor inconvenience, but if you’d like, I’m sure I can find a way to show you how wonderful a dirt bed can be. I’m telling you: it was the best sleep I’ve had in ages, so feel free to take me up on the offer if you have a problem with leaving the manor in the timely fashion I’ve politely suggested.”

“I think that House Bec will recognize the Church of Augustus,” the Firbolg who had asked about Miller said, ignoring flabbergasted expressions on the faces of the men who had just lost their home. “We are proud of the accomplishments of one of our kind within the religion, and we hope that both he and the church will experience continued prosperity.”

So, you’re going to keep using him as a talking point for your racism, Lee noted. But at least his church had been accepted by one more faction. Both the Leprechauns and the other two Firbolg factions remained quiet afterward, saying nothing while glowering at Lee. Following the declarations of support, which were not unanimous enough to recognize Lee’s church as the state religion, there was a series of small issues that were brought up one after the other. Most of the things seemed so minuscule and unimportant that Lee couldn’t understand why a full and formal council meeting was needed to decide any of them.

When he asked, Bronagh, the female leader of the house of Alastar, explained that, while these issues might seem trivial, they weren’t. The battle for control over the town was being waged through these seemingly-unimportant issues, and each decision might mean the life or death of a faction’s economic base if they were handled incorrectly. How a street was zoned, for instance, whether the city allowed it to be commercial or residential, would impact who was in control of the flow of goods for a significant portion of the population, what the price of land in that area was, and who might be unemployed or homeless the next day. Even if the initial impact was small, and the street even smaller, it all added up, and the more Lee listened to Bronagh’s explanations, the more fascinated he became with the subject.

At one point, in the middle of her talking about the importance of creating a median in one of the roads to restrict traffic flow and improve the economy of the areas that would receive the detouring vehicles and pedestrians, something unexpected happened: a status window appeared.

Statesmen Class Tree Unlocked

Class Requirements: Level 20, 20 Charisma, 20 Deceit, tutelage in basic civil affairs and the admiration of at least 25,000 people.

Due to meeting the class requirements, you have unlocked the class: Statesmen. Would you like to adopt this class so now? If you choose to be a Statesman, you will be locked into the Statesmen class tree, and you will not be able to change class into a different field later. If you choose not to accept this class now, you will require a tutor to assist you in accessing it later.

Statesman? Do I get to know what the benefits are? Lee’s interest was piqued. The biggest concern he had was that, since the statesman didn’t sound like a combat class, he would be at a severe disadvantage when fighting against other Heralds. The last two he fought, he had done a majority of the fighting himself. Even if Amber had sacrificed herself to secure the kill shot, he had been forced to face off against Devin. As such, Lee was a little hesitant about picking a class that wouldn’t be as good at that as others.

The statesman is an experienced orator and a respected political figure. His abilities are related to the political world and options that impact the statesman’s sphere of influence. As the statesman grows in power, so too does his ability to shape the society around him. This class functions best within governments or political groups and excels at leadership, policy and social maneuvering, but it lacks defensive abilities and is generally vulnerable against assassin classes.

Come on, system. You have to have more for me than that. How would it fair in combat? What exact bonuses does it give? Is there anything unique about the class? Lee complained, rather frustrated with the prompts. If there was one thing he hated about every video game, it was that none of them every fully explained what a class did beyond the vague abstract blurbs that were rarely any more helpful than the tag-along side characters that every overpowered hero in a manga or anime keeps around for comic relief. Lee thought he could actually hear an exasperated sigh before a new status message appeared in front of him.

The statesman, while mainly a class built to assist in the founding and maintenance of a government, is versatile in combat as well. It has a slew of abilities that allow him to augment his allies’ abilities or potentially limit the abilities of his enemies. These ability options do not appear outside of combat. During combat, they allow for a clever statesman to turn the tide of battle. One of the most unique characteristics of the statesman is that, much like two of the other rare and hard-to-unlock classes, the berserker and the lecher, the abilities and nature of the class will vary based on the personality and actions of the statesman.

Lee blinked as he read the prompt. You mean there is a lecher class? Lee had to stop and ask as he tried to puzzle out whether or not he should be picking the statesman.

The nature of the lecher class is mostly secret. However, historically, it was founded by the initial great lecher, Scottie, and further promulgated by his comrade, Eden. The lecher class specializes in manipulating individuals of the other sex in order to achieve one’s aims. The requirements for this class are hidden, and the class currently remains locked to you.

Yup. I don’t think Masha would ever approve of me picking that class. Lee shook his head, even though he would have loved the idea of going that route as a younger and more single man. Being attached to a gorgeous woman and unable to even access the class, he went back to the choice before him.

The statesman matched his goals, and it matched the nature of a Herald very well, but there was still the concern that it wouldn’t be as useful in battle as other classes. Nevertheless, he could foresee that being less of a problem in the future with the right pieces in place. Alright, you know what? Forget it. I’m taking the statesman option, Lee said to the system. Is the promotion instant?

Current Class: Statesman - Tier 1 Statesman.
Res dura, et regni novitas me talia cogunt Moliri, et late fines custode tueri.
Class Stat Bonuses: -5 Honor. +5 Deception. +5 Charisma.

Statesman tutorial activated.

The first and most important part of being a statesman is maintaining one’s public image. This public persona will be based upon whether your general actions lean toward the iron fist of cruelty, or whether they exhibit a level of mercy and benevolence. A positive score represents a generous and merciful statesman; a negative score represents a cruel and unforgiving statesman. Your current score: -3. Publicly-visible actions that lean toward violence and create a domineering presence will further lower this score.

The statesman also has the ability to influence the masses, not just through personality, but also through a broader understanding of logistics and economics. The statesman’s public persona will affect this influence, causing percentage changes in funds required to complete state projects. A tier 1 statesman with a maximized cruel persona of -10 will receive a 10% discount for all state projects that he orders to be carried out. A tier 1 statesman with a maximized merciful persona of +10 will have to pay 10% more for all state projects that he orders to be carried out. Conversely, at a maximized cruel persona of -10, the statesman shall receive 10% fewer volunteers or donations when requested. The citizens are also 10% more likely to revolt should morale reach a low enough point or a foreign power threaten the statesman’s territories. The opposite is also true for a statesman with a maximized merciful persona of 10. The impact of each point toward maximum cruelty or mercy will increase as the statesman promotes into advanced tiers.

Finally, a statesman has the combat ability: True Patriot. This ability allows a statesman in combat to call individuals to greater valor. The statesman may grant a random temporary bonus to one ally that will last for 30 seconds. After thirty seconds, the bonus will end. At such time, another random bonus will first be displayed to the statesman, who may then choose which individual other than himself will receive the bonus. After thirty seconds, the bonus will end, and the statesman will be given another random bonus. This cycle will continue for the duration of battle. Both the strength of the bonuses as well as the distance at which a beneficiary may be from the statesman will increase as the statesman promotes into advanced tiers.

These are the aspects and abilities of the class: Statesman. You may unlock or uncover additional facets of the class in the future.

Lee took a deep breath of air as he read through the wall of text. It was massive, but it was also incredibly important for him to memorize. Even though it seemed fairly straight forward--be nice or mean and get bonuses and penalties for being nice or mean--it created out a few issues. Since each of these bonuses would be beneficial during certain parts of state founding and city building, yet pose a massive drawback during other times, Lee was worried about whether or not he would have to act bipolar in the future.

“I think it’s about time I retire,” Lee said, standing up. He had decided that, while the nuances of his public persona would reveal themselves given time, he wouldn’t ever fully understand his new combat ability without putting it to the test. When Miller had upgraded into a paladin, he had gotten the divine battle cry that let him knock people into a state of drunkenness. Just remembering how deadly and effective that skill was, Lee was actually a little antsy as to how his own personal class ability would play out.

Before Lee could even scoot his chair back, the door to the council chamber opened and two Human men walked in. They were wearing solid white outfits with a red dragon symbol drawn out above their left chests, and they instantly reminded him of how companies from his own world would sport a logo. He also instantly recognized the symbol, yet most of the council members stood and faced the door with seeming confusion.

Well, I was going to have to see her again eventually. He watched as a woman stepped into the room, flanked by two more men. All evidence of confusion was now gone from the faces of the councilmen.

The entire council bowed their heads slightly at her, and the Leprechaun leader that had challenged Lee earlier spoke up. “The great and noble Brigid of Kildare, your visit is an unexpected honor for our humble town. Your presence both humbles and delights us,” he said in as dignified a tone as possible as he stood up from his chair and bowed.

Brigid of Kildare, the female general whom Lee had tricked into attacking Kirshtein in a bid to draw out Devin and rid the town of the enemy Herald, gave the room a look of death. Lee cringed inwardly as he imagined that she might actually single him out for his betrayal when she saw him, but she didn’t seem to notice him at all. She just looked on at the council members with something resembling disgust. “Why do I imagine that the lot of you are not--and never have been either--humbled by anything. I have come as a foreign dignitary, and yet you did not announce my presence until I already entered the chambers of your room. Am I your bellhop? Are my people your servants to come at your beck and call?”

“No, of course you’re not. Your presence is just a surprise. We weren’t expecting you today,” the Leprechaun replied, bowing his head much further than before. “If we had, we would have certainly prepared you a grand reception. There is no possibility we would have ignored this matter.”

“So, it’s not that you’re an ungracious host,” the Leprechaun general from the other city said as she scornfully studied the councilmember attempting to grovel and appease her. “You’re just incompetent. I have traveled a long distance to be here, with other people and with no attempt to cloak or mask our presence. And yet you claim that your scouts did not tell you I was coming? I traveled directly through your town, and no one thought to announce my presence before I arrived here? Is the entire town incompetent, or is it just the councilmembers who rule it?”

Lee didn’t want to say anything. He wanted to stay small and mask his presence so that he wouldn’t risk her telling anyone of their previous encounter and his deceit, but, with his pressing need to ensure that Brigid did not spill the beans, Lee’s Charisma stat seemed to kick in, and without even being able to stop himself, he started chuckling. “My dear Brigid, it’s not that our scouts were incompetent; it’s that they had eyes. They took one look at your fair beauty and were too stunned to move, much less report to their superiors. After all, what would they say? That an angel was visiting the town, that beauty and grace had an avatar, and that perfection’s avatar had deigned to walk past them and flaunt her rapturous charm for all to see? It’s not their fault. It’s yours! If you had wanted them to alert others, you should have masked your face and made your presence among us more believable.” As soon as the lines left Lee’s mouth, in a smoother-than-usual voice to boot, he wanted to stab himself for the dorky lines.

Neither Brigid nor anyone else in the council said a word as the general looked over at him. Her face had shown surprise when he spoke up, and she clearly recognized who he was. She seemed to want to say something, but the more he talked, the flatter her face became. It was as if every bit of emotion had melted off it because of his words, and by the time he finished, she was completely expressionless, and there was nothing but silence in the chamber.

The quiet persisted nearly a minute until Brigid finally broke it by laughing. She didn’t just laugh a little: she closed her eyes, tilted her head back, and let out a hearty and deep-bellied laugh. And she seemed unable to stop chuckling. “That’s good,” Brigid said after her fit of laughter, one that seemed to make everyone else even more uncomfortable than her entrance did. “That’s really good. In fact, that’s the best set of lies I’ve ever heard. Good lies. Lies that cheered me up. You know, not the kind that got anyone hurt . . . or killed,” she added, her smiling visage quickly turning to a glower.

“Who said that those were lies?” Lee’s Charisma stat was at play again, making him little more than a passenger in the vehicle of his own personality. He grinned broadly and started talking again as if he hadn’t caught her reference to his vile actions at all. “I attest to you, here and now, that, if you are not the most beautiful Leprechaun I have ever seen, Augustus himself can strike me down and leave me to die right here and right now.”

“And why should I take anything you promise in that false god’s name seriously?” Brigid asked, continuing their conversation that was both private and very public at the same time. “For all I know, Augustus is just a god of lies, served by a lying Herald who spins wicked truths to make women do as he pleases.”

Lee waited a moment, expecting his Charisma stat to push him into spitting out more ridiculous lines, but nothing happened. Instead, he felt no sway one way or the other to do anything as he looked at her. He wanted to drop the subject right away, but then a burst of courage came over him. He hopped up on top of the table, walked straight across the entire impressive length of it and then descended right in front of her.

“Then,” he said, pulling out a sword and causing the guards around her to act jumpy, “if you will not believe in Augustus as I swear by his name”--he flipped the sword around in his hand and extended the handle to her--“believe that I might lie about a thousand things, but I would not lie about your beauty.” He lowered his head as he pushed it closer to her. “I could lie about the stars not existing, the sun never rising, and the moon never shining its light upon the world ever again, but I could not ever bring myself to lie about your visage or curse it for even a breath. If you do not believe this, then I will not tell Augustus to smite me. I will tell you, for your beauty is the only truth here.” He felt awful about how terrible, cliché, cheesy, and as poorly-worded as an early-1980s, 3rd-act-romance-apology-mixed-with-a-bad pick-up-line his words were, but a part of him felt that he just needed to follow through and complete what his high Charisma score had started.

This time, she didn’t pause. She merely extended her hand, grabbed the sword’s hilt and took the weapon from Lee. “The most beautiful . . . Leprechaun, you say?” she asked. She pressed the blade forward until its tip rested against Lee’s throat, just touching his Adam’s apple.

“Yes,” Lee nodded. “I haven’t seen a single Leprechaun more beautiful or radiant than you.”

Brigid laughed again, and the blade against Lee’s throat pressed ever close with her movement. She was cutting it close, but she hadn’t drawn blood yet. “So, that means I’m only the most beautiful woman . . . among Leprechauns, doesn’t it?”

“I’m only Human,” Lee replied with a shrug, staring into her large, almost-glowing green eyes.

“And definitely not the most handsome among them,” Brigid said.

“I make a magically delicious beer that makes up for it,” Lee reposited her slight. “It’s a favorite among Leprechauns.”

“How many do I have to drink to forget about the last time we met?” Brigid asked, and Lee winced involuntarily. Please, please, don’t out me. He had suspected that his Charisma had hijacked his conversation, causing him to say the right words and steer her away from ever mentioning their first meeting--and his stats, namely Courage, had forced him unwillingly into situations before--but as a result of his charismatic behavior, she had brought up their first tete-a-tete anyway.

Welp, time to double down, you lying bastard, Lee thought, simultaneously feeling awful about not being able to ever be fully honest about his actions with others. “I don’t know if there is any number of drinks that would ever cause me to forget the first time I laid eyes on you.”

Through continued courageous behavior, you have received +1 Courage. Current Courage: 21.

Brigid laughed again, and this time, she lowered the sword before handing it back to Lee. “Well, I can’t fault you for trying. I’ll fault you for everything else, but not for trying. I know that, at the end of the day, what each of us did was to protect our people, so I won’t press the matter further. There are no limits to the actions I would do to protect the people in my command.”

“The sacrifices we make to achieve our goals . . .” Lee nodded as he took the sword, stashed it away in his inventory and extended his hand. “I don’t think we’ve met formally, however. I’m Lee.”

“The Herald of Augustus, whom you claim is the God of Alcohol and Crafting. Yes, I know. I’m very familiar with who you are and what you have done. I had a few days to brush up on every tiny detail pertaining to your existence,” Brigid said as she accepted his handshake.

“That puts me at a disadvantage. Perhaps, if you have some spare time, you could tell me all about your hometown,” Lee answered, signaling to Ethan to follow her.

She’d be leaving eventually, and he wanted to keep tabs on her at all times. He hadn’t had much use for the little golem in the past few days, and generally just kept one or two near him at all times to act as sensory beacons during skirmishes. He was far too reliant on their eyes and ears whether it was in the middle of a fight or when scouting out skirmishes, but he didn’t need all three with him at all times. That meant that he could use the third golem to scout farther away or keep tabs and act as a surveillance drone, especially since the little black rat’s flying speed was even faster than a Krunklerump. He had even used it to pick up or deliver letters.

When Amber died, he had forgotten to give them meaningful orders, and they were now lazing about, purposeless, which translated into time that they could spend playing games with each other. That in itself was an interesting concept to Lee since all three golems were of a collective mind, but he hadn’t bothered to parse out exactly how it worked.

The leader of the Faelgusa faction cleared his throat and asked, “Why don’t you just ask her for tea--we have wonderful rooms at an inn nearby--or you could invite her back to your manor.”

Brigid shot him a curious glance and then grinned as she looked back over at Lee. “I think I’d like that, but I’m afraid I’m going to need more than tea with him.”

“Oh?” Lee had to stop himself from taking a step back. His Charisma score had led him in the verbal advances earlier, but he had assumed that it was just to break the mood, distract her, or even curry a little favor with her. He hadn’t actually expected it to ripen into something real, especially since he still had Masha back at home waiting for him. But there was no mistaking that look in her eyes, and her coy smile said she was interested in more than tea.

“Yeah.” She flashed him a seductive look. “I think I just want to take your Herald. You’re what, Lee? Leader of the Human religion in this region?”

“My religion is for any and all races,” Lee clarified. “We take all who like to drink good drinks or to make things that interest them or to eat delicious foods. We’re the religion for a better life.”

“Better life?” Brigid looked like she was about to bite her lip, but as her lips parted to reveal her teeth, Lee could see that she was gnashing them together. “Well, how about you gentlemen”--she looked over at the different council leaders--“let me take your Herald off your hands. We have discovered another Herald in the mountains to the northeast of Kirshtein, one that has been preying upon our people, and we, the people of Birnefeld, would find the services of him and his paladin order invaluable in handling the threat.”

“And why should he help you?” Faelgusa asked. “Your people attacked our city, and now you come demanding our help? On what grounds and on what authority do you dare be so bold? If you hadn’t wasted the lives of so many good troops trying to kill us, then perhaps--”

“I think . . .” Connacht interrupted. “I think what she means to say is tha--”

“I’ll do it.” Lee didn’t bother letting them argue back and forth. This Herald was a problem he would have to deal with eventually, so it was just a matter of ‘the sooner the better’ to him. “We can leave at first light in the morning. I’ll need to prepare my men, and then we can be off.”

“You’ll do it?” Brigid looked at him confusedly. “You don’t need to volunteer so quickly. I’m not going to . . .” She paused, stopping herself from saying what Lee could only imagine amounted to ‘I’m not going to rat you out if you don’t volunteer.’

“Don’t worry about it. This is an important mission, so I’ll be happy to help,” Lee added with a grin. Then, against his better wishes, he felt his Charisma stat practically force him to add, “Anything to see you smile.”

Dear God . . . Blue text box lady, why are you doing this to me? Lee complained at the seemingly-omniscient gaming system that had made him behave or act in a certain way thanks to his stats on more than one occasion. Even as early as his first adventure into this world, he had been forced to accept a quest he didn’t want to due to his Courage stat while drunk. Now, it was his Charisma stat at work, and he was being forced to spew amorous cheese that would never work in the real world. As soon as the councilmen stepped in and pulled Brigid’s attention away from Lee for a moment, he took the opportunity to ask about the sway his stats apparently had over his actions.

All positive stats are there to influence your progression in the world in a positive manner. Negative stats also have the potential to influence your progression in a negative manner. Example: positive courage will unlock quests and force you into accepting ones that would otherwise be unavailable but will have massive benefits to your character growth and development. It may even propel you into dangerous situations that others would shy away from. Negative courage would not only prevent you from accepting more difficult quests but also cause you to be disabled by fear or flee from battles, even when you wished to participate. You would also be unaware of some basic quests as non-players might not trust you with them.

So, my negative honor might be hurting me in ways that I don’t even know of yet. Lee winced at the thought. It was his only negative stat, and it seemed to be getting lower by the day. Then, after a moment of thought, he asked, Well, how come Intelligence never pops up and forces me to do something smart?

Intelligence and Wisdom are two separate things. As your Intelligence increases, you merely learn skills faster and have a higher chance of learning skills without a tutor. Currently, for your level and the amount of time you have spent training your skills, your skills are at a significantly-higher level than any other player. Intelligence, however, will not have any impact on your decision-making skills.

Understood. So, have I overcome the penalty I received at first and surpassed any Heralds in skill. If so, how much higher are my skill levels?

I am not at liberty to reveal information on other Heralds--except for the fact you are the most handsome Herald.

I am? Lee found that bit surprising, especially since he never expected an AI to track such a metric.

No.

Ouch. I figured the AI had more personality that she let on, but I didn’t expect her to be so harsh. Lee frowned at the system’s message, which elicited a response from Brigid, who had escaped the councilmen and turned to further pursue her banter with Lee.

“So, doing anything to see me smile causes you to frown?”

“Oh, uhhh . . .” Lee’s brain went into overdrive as he tried to remember what nonsense he had spouted last in his previous conversation. “I just read somewhere that brooding and grumpy men were more attractive. You know, a man should frown, but a woman should smile. I have to keep that standard alive.”

“Enough of this. You are not as charming as you believe”--Brigid scowled--“and since you’ve already agreed to my terms, then I will meet you in the morning at an hour past the first light at the northern gate of this town. Have your people ready by then. I don’t want to waste any time.”

“That’s not a problem,” Lee said as he gave her his best smile.

“But what if you die? Our town needs a religious order!” Connacht protested as soon as Brigid left the room. “Without you, our city might be destabilized. We need you to help us bring balance back to the country.”

“It’s not my country. I’m just a resident of Satterfield, nothing more,” Lee replied with a shrug. “I will protect my people, but only in the way I see fit, so I’m going to leave and go take care of this issue now.”

“Just a resident? You’re not only a religious leader; you’re practically the Lord of Satterfield. Those people listen to everything you say,” Ungus, the Firbolg leader of House Bec, said. “In fact, let’s make it official. I vote right now to give you the official title of Lord of Satterfield and incorporate the protectorate once and for all into the state of Kirshtein.”

Lee was surprised. He knew that Satterfield was likely heavily influenced by Kirshtein, but he wasn’t aware it was actually a Kirshtein territory. That fact hadn’t been spelled out for him at any point but had grave implications. Kirshtein likely had influence over many more territories and small cities than he knew about. With the way the territories were set up, it was hard to tell exactly where any government fell in terms of the greater scheme of things, but he did remember that Kirshtein and Satterfield were both part of the larger kingdom, Spicy Chicken Noodle Surprise. He wondered how city-states like Kirshtein and Birnefeld, which apparently extended their realms to include nearby villages, fit under the larger umbrella of that kingdom.

“I’m in favor of the incorporation and such a title being granted,” Connacht immediately voted.

“I concur,” Bronagh said. “Lordship over Satterfield is the least of the titles he deserves.”

“Well, we’ll have none of that!” The people of Tigernach put their foot down only to receive laughter from Ungus. “What do you find funny about our vote?”

“You have no vote,” Ungus Bec responded. “There is no representative of the Tigernach family alive and present, so your vote against it doesn’t matter.”

“It . . .!!” The man who had spoken earlier on behalf of Tigernach looked furious.

“Doesn’t matter,” Bec thundered, cutting off the Tigernauch representative. “In fact, I think it would be best for everyone if you leave and only return to this council chamber when you can find a confirmed blood relative who meets the requirements and possesses the appropriate paperwork to reclaim the seat.”

“Yes, that would be for the best,” Faelgusa agreed.

“Well, we have three votes in favor. How many of you all are voting against it?” Bec said. “If none, then let’s make it official.”

“Four votes in favor,” the leader of House Calbrainn said. “I don’t trust leaving a valuable member of our sphere of influence in the hands of a foreign power without a string attached.”

“Then there is a majority, and we can save ourselves the nay vote. Great Herald Lee, congratulations. You are now the Lord of Satterfield. This means, of course, that you are not only in charge of the good of the people of Satterfield but that we must also place the burden of collecting annual taxes onto you, along with the burden of keeping an accurate count of the census,” Bec explained. “That said, enjoy your new land, have fun taxing the peasants and feel free to put a law or two into the books as you see fit. Just don’t do anything crazy like demanding the right to sleep with all the women on their wedding night. We had a lord do that once, and he got killed by the second couple he tried to force the policy on.”

“Good to know,” Lee replied, nodding. “So, I can . . . establish any law I want?”

“Within reason. And your territory is still subject to all the national laws of Kirshtein,” Connacht answered the question this time. “Now that you’re a lord, why don’t you give up this silly adventure of yours and tend to your lands and people.”

“Hmm . . . I might reconsider before tomorrow, but now, I have even more work to do and a shorter time to do it . . . So, Ling, are you ready? We’ve spent enough time here.” Lee shrugged and then closed the distance to the door, opening it up and waiting for Ling to walk around the table and exit the room as he held it for her.

He also made sure to leave one of the little golems in the council room as he left. He knew that his presence had been divisive and that they were all only trying to use him, so he expected them to talk much more candidly the moment they thought he was out of earshot, which they did.

“I don’t like it,” Calbrainn grumbled, no less than ten seconds after the door had shut behind Lee. “Can someone tell me again why we must tolerate this murderous human?”

“Because the other cities have Heralds, and if we don’t, we’re just sitting ducks. One of my men watched the fight between the two Heralds that happened in the park. I’m told that these two weren’t even the most powerful ones, but it was still like watching a battle between gods. If we don’t get a god of our own on a leash, we’re dead,” Bec said.

“I know you’re right, but I hate that he’s a Human,” Faelgusa said.

“With a Firbolg military leader,” Bec quickly argued. “Look, we can replace him when another Herald comes along who is stronger and easier to control, but until then, we need to protect the city’s assets. Did you see that dragon that attacked our walls for the people of Birnefeld? Can you imagine how powerful the Herald behind that is? If he wanted to raze us to the ground, would our city survive without help?”

“Why worry about getting a new Herald?” Connacht interjected. “What we really need to do is figure out how they gain their power and grow this one. We’ve had him serving the people of our lands from the start, and he seems emotionally tied to our territory. It will be much easier to control him than it would be to position one who is more experienced and from a different land.”

“I hate when you’re right, boy,” Faelgusa grumbled, “but the Heralds seem tight-lipped on how they grow.”

“Not necessarily,” Connacht said. “I tested a theory of mine with Lee. We sent him to the colosseum, where I paid a great deal to have Bronagh’s man, Dave, help him with training. They grow stronger the same way we do, with combat, but their abilities are just much more powerful than ours. The more we throw him into the fire, the better a sword he will become.”

“That might be increasing his sword skills and his other factors, but I remember Devin telling us he needed followers. Lots of them. I don’t think everything is as simple as you make it seem,” Bec said. “I think there are plenty of factors we’re missing here, and I don’t like leaving the fate of my people in the hands of strangers, but if we must . . .”

“He won’t be a stranger if we play our cards right. He’ll be a loyal dog to bark at and discourage intruders,” Connacht said.

“I hope you’re right,” Calbrainn said. “This gamble is a great risk.”

“Too steep a gamble for my liking,” Faelgusa added. “But, if you think he can be controlled, then so be it.”

“He can be,” Connacht assured.

“You all underestimate him,” Bronagh warned. “He will bring us to a greatness that you’ve never imagined before. He is amazing.”

Chapter 4

Name: Lee

Race: Human

Class: Herald - Statesman

Level: 26

Health: 360/360

EXP: 4295/37000

Primary Stats:

Power 36 (39)

Toughness 36 (39)

Spirit 36 (39)

Secondary Stats:

Charisma 30

Courage 21

Deceit 31

Personal Faith 234

Intelligence 162 (178)

Honor -2

Faith 32721

Skills:

Unarmed Combat Initiate Level 7

Swordplay Novice Level 8

Sneak Journeyman Level 2

Cooking Initiate Level 7

Trap Detection Initiate Level 6

Knife Combat Initiate Level 8

Mental Fortitude Initiate Level 1

Sleight of Hand Initiate Level 3

Blood Shield Initiate Level 3

True Patriot

Glass Smithing Initiate Level 10

The Statesman:

Territories:

Satterfield (+10: Savior)

Defensive Strength Rating: 1

Economic Strength rating: 3

Population Rating: 1

Territory Rating: 12

Tech / Utility Rating: 2

Influence / Tourism Rating: 2

Public Persona:

Kirshtein (-3: Unkind)

Birnefeld (0: Unknown)

Divine Skills:

Golem Sculpting Journeyman Level 1

Appreciative Drunk Novice Level 8

Nectar of the Gods Initiate Level 4

Spirit Smithing Initiate Level 4

Faith Healing

Divinity Powers:

Life in Death

Titles:

Cheat Code Fighter

The Great Deceiver

Lee couldn’t help but sigh as he watched the meeting through Ethan’s eyes while making his way back to the park to get Miller. Miller was shocked that Lee was going to take on another Herald, but after a moment of blustering in surprise, he puffed his out chest and told Lee that he’d have the troops organized by morning. Lee also promised to have a beer with the Firbolg paladin later. Miller was rather insistent on that, and Lee didn’t have a good reason to put him off. He might still be upset about Amber, but intellectually, he accepted that it wasn’t directly Miller’s fault.

On the way to the Tigernach manor, which he told himself he’d have to immediately rename, he stopped into the Heaven’s Hammer, to find Dave and Sam, the bartender, chatting away while having a drink. “You know, I thought I’d find you here, but it’s still a surprise,” Lee said when he spotted Dave. “I could have sworn that you’d have been sitting next to Bronagh Alastar if you were still in town, making sure she was okay during that ridiculous meeting of people nearly as old as you, not sitting here having a beer.”

“Well, you don't get to be my age before learning a thing or two about attending meetings where nothing is going to get done,” Dave said, standing up as Lee entered and sticking out his hand. “I heard one mention of saving the town and figured that I might as well just go to a bar if I wanted to listen to a bunch of good-for-nothing bastards brag back and forth about how they were going to fix Kirshtein. At least I can enjoy a beer while I’m here, and if I call them good-for-nothing bastards for being such, it’s much less likely to get me sent to jail.”

“So, your house is restored, the bastard is dead . . . Should I take it that you’re once more a part of the House of Alastar?” Lee asked.

Dave shrugged. “Only if you marry that smitten lass. She seems to be more caught up on you than any fish I’ve reeled in was ever into me. Not to be rude to her,” he said, looking over at Ling, “but you already got a better-looking girl.”

Lee shook his head. “Careful not to tell her that, old man. It’ll either go to her head and make it impossible to work with her, or she’ll go to HR, and they’ll make it impossible to work with her.”

Dave turned his head. “HR?” he asked.

“Human Resources, which . . . You know, don’t worry about it. So, why aren’t you saddling back up with the House of Alastar? Now that they’ve had someone step forward and claim the seat, shouldn’t you be there helping her out? I can’t imagine anyone more experienced and knowledgeable than you.”

Lee glanced around the bar. During his first trip, this particular joint was a Humans-only establishment. There wasn’t a single Firbolg or Leprechaun patron in it, and the Humans were as depressed as could be. Now, they all seemed upbeat, and there were at least two tables with those two races. Those two tables didn’t have a single Human at them, and the Human tables didn’t have a Firbolg or Leprechaun at them, and it was clear that the damage Devin did wasn’t changing overnight, even if things had started to move in the right direction.

Dave nodded. “I could go back and work with her. Probably should. But I ain’t gonna. As much as she needs me, she is already surrounded by old men who know better than her. You got nothin’ but pretty women and angry spear-chuckers near you. I figure you need my services more than she does, but I didn’t expect to see you back yet, so I reckon’d I had plenty of time to get drunk while I was waiting.”

“Well, I’m back, but I’m about to leave again soon. Have another Herald to kill.”

Dave chuckled. “What’s the rush? You going for three in a month? Get yourself a little badge for the effort?”

“Well, you know, it’s just a business-as-usual kind of thing. No big deal.” Lee shrugged as if trying to hunt down a likely very powerful shape-shifting queen of God-only-knows-what monsters was an everyday occurrence for him.

“Alright then,” Dave said. “Let me put down my beer and settle up my tab, and I’ll be ready to head off.”

“Settle up what tab? You’re a hero here,” the man next to Dave said. “I won’t have one of the heroes who fought to the death to save us from that bastard, Devin, paying for his own drinks in a tavern while I am sitting next to him.”

“I hear that,” another random patron added. “I’ll chip in to cover his bill.”

Sam shook his head. “I’ll have none of that! His drinks were already free, so there’s no need for you lot to cover it.”

“Ah, is that how it is?” Lee was kind of happy about this type of comradery and wanted to reward it, so as they kept talking about who would pay for Dave’s drink, he went through his inventory and found the ingredients needed to make a few barrels of beer. Normally, he would try to milk people for money, but after killing the Tigernachs, Devin and so many others, he didn’t see a big point in that type of behavior. “In that case, I’m going to cover everyone’s drinks tonight and leave you something for later.” He dropped the kegs out of his inventory and then used his skill, Nectar of the Gods, to instantly brew five barrels of beer. It even caused Nectar of the Gods to rank up to Initiate Level 5.

“Even us?” one of the Firbolgs who was watching it asked.

“Do you believe in Augustus?” Lee asked.

“Umm . . .” The Firbolg eyed the beer. “Yeah.”

Lee had to stop himself from laughing at the obvious lie. “Then fine. For anyone who believes in Augustus and celebrates the death of Devin, I’m sure Sam will get them some free beer tonight.”

Sam seemed rather unhappy with the idea of serving a Firbolg for free, but his eyes were glued to the barrels of beer. One of them was more than enough to fill everyone’s cups for a few nights, and he was walking away with five. It was the same as if Lee had just decided to drop huge piles of silver into the bartender’s hands.

Due to your public display of generosity, your public persona in Kirshtein has changed. Current public persona: -2 (Unkind).

Ah, so that’s how it works. Not bad, not bad at all. At least I know it can be moved back and forth without too much difficulty--or at least it can at the lower levels.

“Alright, boss, since I’m settled up now, I guess I’m free for the night. Wanna go kill something before it gets too dark outside?” Dave asked.

“I think it would be prudent if we returned to Tigernach manor,” Ling weighed in. “Lee has had a rough week, and I don’t think the shock of all the events has worn off yet.”

Dave looked a little solemn as the three of them exited the bar. “He’s still cut up about losing that girl? Crap, should I not bring that up? I forgot how you youngsters are much more sensitive about death. Haven’t seen enough of it, I guess.”

If it weren’t for the fact the topic caused Lee to wince, he might have laughed at Ling’s expression when Dave ran his mouth off. It was priceless. She didn’t seem capable of processing what he had said, and her mouth slowly opened and closed, finally settling on closed.

The three made their way to Tigernach Manor after that. Dave was incredibly pleased to hear exactly what grand mansion Lee now owned and exactly how he got it. As he put it, it would have been better if Dave had done it himself since a few daggers in a man’s chest just didn’t have the oomph of a good flail to the face.

Lee was greeted by a now-familiar scene of Miller and a few of his paladins face to face with several Firbolgs when they arrived at the manor. They were yelling back and forth at each other, but with so many different voices, it was hard to tell who was yelling exactly and what they were saying.

“Hey now!” Lee shouted as he approached the group. He wished he hadn’t stabled his mount earlier at the city council, as it would have provided an excellent vantage point to see everything clearly. Instead, Ethan snuck off to a tree to give a third person point of view of what he was worried was about to become a street fight. “What in the heck is going on here?”

“I’ll tell you what’s going on,” one of the no-name Firbolgs that had sat next to Tigernach earlier at the city council said with a grin when he saw Lee. “You’re going to die.”

Lee laughed. Are you kidding me? “You? You’re going to kill me? You and what army?” he asked, and then immediately kicked himself. He knew better than anyone that, as soon as someone said that, an army would appear. He had basically, and rather accidentally at that, assumed the role of the villain taunting the protagonist kids at the end of a terrible 90s movie with that one, single line.

Sure enough, just as Lee had feared, an arrow struck him in the back of his left shoulder for 85 damage the second the words left his mouth. He immediately pulled out his shield and turned around at the same time to find that Ling, Dave and he were now only about thirty feet away from a group of what he could only guess were mercenaries.

And I just freaking healed this shoulder. Lee heaved a sigh and used his mana to patch up the wound and push out the wooden shaft that had embedded itself in his flesh. “You have to be kidding me,” Lee sighed aloud. “You really want to start something. After all the people I’ve killed, you think you’re going to do better?” He noticed then that a small status window had appeared in the bottom right of his field of vision as he was speaking. It had only a single line of text on it--‘The Speed of Rumors’--and there was a green circle next to the text.

“Well, the way we see it,” one of the mercenaries began, “we’ve got you surrounded and outnumbered, and you’re holding a deed on you that will make us rich after we kill you and rip it from your corpse.” The speaker was covered from head to toe in gold-painted armor that included a gladiator-styled mesh and plate helmet that hid his face.

“Ah, so you’re the mercenary kind. I take it the people behind me, the people in Tigernach, were the ones that hired you?” Lee asked as he pulled out his sword and eyed that green circle.

“Not that it matters, but yeah,” the mercenary answered back. He was taller than Lee, and his voice was gruff enough that it sounded like he had grown up spitting tobacco dip at a motorcycle club.

Lee stared at The Speed of Rumors, which was still on his screen. It was clearly part of his new skill, True Patriot, and he noticed that there was even a timer on it that was counting down. Twenty-four seconds had passed, and his chance to use the buff was about to expire. Just to see what would happen if it did, Lee quickly looked over at Dave and thought, Imbue him. He knew that Ling would be great with a speed enhancement, but if it was movement speed, and it let Dave close the gap between the parties quicker, then all the better.

As soon as he sent the buff over to Dave, the text changed from simply saying Speed of Rumors to displaying an entirely new message.

The Speed of Rumors (Dave): 30 Seconds Remaining

Next buff - (Unknown): 2 seconds.

Sure enough, two seconds later, even as Dave’s counter was ticking down, a new line of text was listed. It said: The Monarch’s Word. It had both a red and a green circle next to it, and while Lee wasn’t certain, he had a feeling that it meant this buff had two properties. He quickly looked over at Dave and tried to assign him that buff as well, to see if they stacked, but it failed. Instead, he ended up assigning it to Ling.

When he finally looked up from assigning buffs, he noticed that there was a green outline around Dave, and he seemed to be moving his hand in a way that made it obvious he was aware of the fact that he had been changed somehow. There were now two separate colors around Ling as well: one red and one green, and they seemed to swirl back and back and forth as if they were either dancing or fighting for territory around her.

“You heard the man, Miller!” Lee shouted. “They hired people to kill us, so give me five men and then murder everyone from Tigernach. I don’t want a single one alive!”

“Troop C, head to Lee. The rest of you, to arms! They shall feel justice!” Miller shouted back.

Within seconds, Lee heard the sound of metal clashing against metal and the poor dying souls of Tigernach screaming. “Dave, can you take the big one on when they reach us?” Lee asked, backing up and trying to reposition himself while he waited for the paladins to reach him.

Most of the mercenary group charged forward, but four remained behind where they were and began shooting arrows. Ling had positioned herself beside Lee, and as the arrows came at them, she responded with two arrows of her own. Both sank into the same man, and then she ducked behind Lee and took cover. A death notice appeared to let Lee know the girl had been successful.

You have killed Afric. Your party has been awarded a yew bow, 27 silver, 86 copper and 810 Experience. Your share of this is a yew bow and 270 Experience.

Two of the other archers had tried to kill Lee by aiming for his head and legs separately. He was able to block the ones going for his head, but he still took an arrow in his shin. It was an unavoidable trade that ticked 34 health off of his bar, but it didn’t take more than a second to fully heal it up.

The other archer wisely took advantage of the fact that Dave didn’t have a shield, firing several arrows right toward his face. Dave used his left arm, which was covered with thick leather armor, to block three of the bolts, but he grimaced as if he were in a lot of pain as they each struck home. “Dammit, I’m too old and too single to be losing a good arm,” he grumbled loudly as the sixteen other mercenaries closed the distance. “I won’t have a woman to take care of me after if something happens.” Thankfully, the press of bodies stopped any future arrows from hitting Dave since they archers weren’t likely to risk shooting their own people in the back.

Even if the enemy archers ceased firing, Ling didn’t. She popped out again with several more arrows in hand and launched them into the onrushing mob one after the other. Lee was impressed with the speed of her attacks and could see the red and green colors dancing across the arrows like a Christmas-tree special as they dug into their foes. Within what seemed like seconds, two more death notices popped up. Lee couldn’t say for certain, but given the way the arrows penetrated through the leather armor, it seemed like they were much stronger than they had ever previously been. He had a keen understanding of Ling’s combat abilities after fighting side by side with her and training with her so often, but he didn’t actually have any understanding of the strength of the targets she was hitting.

Dave lowered the arm he had used to protect his face from arrows and rushed forward to meet the surge, swinging his normally-two-handed flail around with his good arm. Lee watched in slow motion as it crashed into the leader of the group, highlighted by a green light. The flail moved much faster than it normally would have, and the spiked ball at the end exploded right into the mercenary leader’s impressive helmet and crushed it inward. The man’s head exploded like a can of soda being stomped by an angry elephant on meth, and a combination of blood and brains splattered Dave red.

Dave started backing up, but not in time. He was forced to throw up his left arm defensively again, which was already mangled from the arrows, to fend off a mercenary’s spear strike. The spear pierced through his arm and then became caught between the two bones there, the radius and the ulna, and there was a loud splintering noise as they were split apart. Dave shouted loudly and dropped his flail, and then the spear pushed forward into his chest. The mercenary wielding the spear had a triumphant expression on his face, but he had made one fatal mistake, and Dave was quick to both capitalize on the man’s error and correct his unearned faith. His arm shot out, and he grabbed ahold of the man’s throat in one swift motion. The poor mercenary had stepped forward, hoping to drive his thrust home, but rather than leveraging his spear deeper, he had moved up himself and positioned himself close to Dave. The muscles in Dave’s forearm stood out like cords as he squeezed, and then his fingers sank into the man’s skin. There was a loud pop as the mercenary’s windpipe was crushed, followed by the sound of tearing skin and a fountain of blood as his throat was ripped out.

One of Miller’s paladins moved to occupy his place on the line, and Dave retreated back so that he could tend to his wounds. “I can’t help you anymore, boss,” Dave muttered as he passed by, his arm still pinned to his chest by the spear.

“Don’t pull the spear out. I’ll heal you when I can,” Lee advised, but he was already dealing with his own problem. Miller’s paladins were great, and they had taken up a position on his left side, but they hadn’t been able to reach him quickly enough to cover his right flank. That meant that, when pressed, he was forced to fight defensively and slowly give ground. He was able to use his shield to stop the man directly in front of him, but he couldn’t do anything to block the three that were circling around to his right.

Ling helped by sticking a few arrows through one, but that only spurred the other to attack. He parried the first attack, a low, two-handed spear thrust aimed at his side, but it took nearly all of his strength to do it, and it left him exposed and out of position to stop the next. Inevitably, the second man’s sword pierced right into his chest and wedged itself between two of his ribs, peeling off 184 hit points in a single blow. Lee gnashed his teeth together and fought to maintain consciousness against the swirling colors that filled his vision. A message popped up as the soldier withdrew his sword, letting Lee know that he had just received a bleeding effect and was taking 12 damage per second and that he had been knocked down to 164 hit points after the first tick.

Crap. Lee ground his teeth together in pain as he backed up, twisting around to face the two men and trying to cover his right side at the same time as another set of attacks came toward him. He was able to block the spear with his shield this time, but the impact forced him back another step and turned him to the side as he struggled to get his sword around in time to parry a second thrust. He realized his mistake as soon as he made it: his shield was out of position, and there was no way he was going to be able to block the man who had moved up with a sword in hand. He looked toward the man just in time to see a dark object land on the man’s face, and then the mercenary screamed out in pain as Ethan dug his teeth and claws into his exposed skin.

“Fklaj!” the man cried out a second time a moment later in an indescribable, gurgled voice, and Lee, through one of his golem’s eyes, was able to see what had happened despite the fact his eyes were now covered in blood. The paladin who had taken Dave’s spot had apparently realized what was about to happen when he saw Lee in trouble and had pushed himself between the two combatants. He had intercepted the horizontally-angled downward chop that had been intended for Lee, but he hadn’t been able to do it properly. The had sword cut into the base of his neck where it met his collarbone, resulting in a spray of blood that exploded upward from the cut artery, covering everything around him in a mist of red blood.

Lee instinctively abandoned his defenses and reached out with a hand to help him heal the gravely-wounded man, but before he could even so much as touch the dying paladin’s back, another pair of attacks forced him to back away as he hurried to block and parry the blows.

Ling was doing her best to relieve Lee of the pressure from the fight, but each time she killed someone, another tried to move in on his right flank. She had nearly four kills before a new threat appeared: the archers from before. She unloaded two arrows into one of them and got another arrow off into the second, but the third actually managed to strike Ling dead in the abdomen. She bit through the pain and returned fire, killing the third one off, but not before taking two more arrows: one into her right thigh and a second shot to her abdomen.

No, no, no, no! Lee panicked as he realized that his contingent was dying all around him. He noticed that Ling’s buff had faded, and a new option for him to cast appeared in its place: The Wrath of the Demagogue. He didn’t know what it did, but this one had two red circles next to it. He knew it was highly unlikely to have any healing properties based on its name, but he still gave it to the paladin who was dying to his left. He saw the red color engulf him, and the paladin did something no one was expecting: he dropped his shield, grabbed the first blade that arced toward him with one hand and stabbed its wielder multiple times in succession with a savage strength and fury.

What the hell? Lee was left in awe and feeling helpless as he continued to fend off the attacks in front of him. He could only catch brief glimpses of the brave paladin as he hacked away at the man for a time before falling to the ground dead himself. Another paladin filled in the spot as soon as he died. Miller’s men had finally shifted until they were able to cover his right as well, and while it was comforting to not have to worry about being flanked from two directions, it was somewhat unsettling to think about exactly how quickly the paladin who had just died had been replaced.

Lee watched on in horror as Ling finally succumbed to her wounds and fell over backward, crumbling into a lifeless ball on the ground. She had taken out the remaining enemy archers and a few of the melee skirmishers, but now she was dying. And that meant that the fight was now time sensitive.

Even with his healing, he was still down to only 225 hit points when he decided to make a gambit. His job was usually to stay safe and create a wall ahead of Ling so that she could safely kill from a distance. With Ling down, however, that changed things. It meant that he had to hurry things up or he wouldn't make it to her in time. It meant that he had to take a chance and gamble on something risky.

He once more deflected away the spear with his shield when it was thrust forward, but he turned to the side at the last minute, anticipating the sword attack from the second man that was sure to follow. The weapon pierced right into his stomach, and pain exploded through his abdomen. His vision swam, even as a notice popped up letting him know that he had taken 68 damage and that the bleed effect was increased to 25 hit points per second, but it didn’t stop him from following through with his insane plan. He reached forward with his shield arm and grabbed ahold of the man’s forearm, refusing to let him withdraw his weapon, and then stabbed forward with his own sword. Lee’s swift strikes repeatedly hammered into the mercenary. He struggled against Lee’s furious assault, but Lee somehow managed to maintain his grip. The sword in Lee’s gut twisted around from the violent motion, racking up even more damage as it nicked his organs and left him hovering at just 98 hit points, even with the healing effect continuously coursing through him.

The spearman finally stepped in with the intent of taking advantage of Lee’s precarious situation. Since Lee’s tenacious grip left him unable to wield his shield, it was basically a guarantee that he would land the strike. Somewhat thankfully, however, Lee was jostled to the side by the swordsman at the last moment before the spear struck. Instead of piercing through his chest, where the strike had been aimed, the spear sheared through his arm and only took off 35 more HP instead of landing a critical blow.

Lee ruthlessly thrust his sword into his target over and over again until the death notice that he had been praying for appeared. Life in Death activated and stopped the bleed effect, and he sighed against the pain since he was able to start healing up at a much faster rate.

Lee turned to face off against the spearman and was just preparing himself to take another blow just so he could create an opening and kill his opponent quicker when a giant wooden shaft penetrated through the man’s chest.

“JUSTICE SHALL NOT TOLERATE YOUR EXISTENCE!” Miller’s voice boomed across the battlefield. “Lee, I have finished my foes. Why are you still dawdling around with these scum? You must show them your might and crush them all!” Miller then let out a Drunken Shout that hazed Lee’s senses and thankfully dulled the pain he felt in his still-unhealed gut when he was caught in its area of effect.

Why didn’t you do that sooner? Lee thought exasperatedly as he turned around and hobbled over to Ling’s side. With Miller and the other paladins coming in to assist in cleaning up the mess, his only thoughts were on Ling, who was growing paler by the moment as she bled out. He dropped to his knees and placed his hand on her stomach and started healing right away. It took longer than he was comfortable with, but he was relieved when he saw color start returning to her skin. He didn’t know why, but after the incident with Amber, he was worried that the healing wouldn’t work, even if he did make it to her in time. Having watched someone die even as he tried to restore her, he felt inept. He was afraid that he might fail again, even if there was no logical reason for him to do so.

The two arrows fell out of her stomach as they were pushed out by the healing process, and he pulled her up into a hug. He could hear the screams from the people dying in the background, and he could see the death notices as Miller went to town butchering the remaining mercenaries, but he didn’t pay them any mind. Ling was one of his only true friends in this world, and the only one he could trust absolutely.

“I gotta ask,” Dave started from behind as he put a hand on Lee’s shoulder. “Is it the chest? Because, if that’s what it takes to get priority in the healing, I can grow a chest. Just put me in a room full of a few hundred pounds of bacon, give me some beer, and I’ll grow a nice pair if that’s what it takes to get to the top of the healing list. But if it’s not that, let me know what it is. Because I could really use one of those heals you just gave her right now.”

Lee let go of Ling, who took a second longer to break off the hug, and stood up to see Dave still standing there with the most mangled arm he had ever seen, spear still firmly lodged an inch into his chest. Lee had no idea what type of health pool someone needed to stay alive and walk around like that, but he didn’t waste any time as he put his hands on Dave and began healing. Little by little, the flesh on Dave’s arm sewed itself back together, the bones closed until they were back in the proper locations, and the wood and metal from the spear pushed itself out of his wound. It took a lot longer to heal Dave than Ling, but after he finished, Dave looked very happy as he stared down at his arm.

“That is amazing,” Dave said as he looked at his good-as-new flesh. “I’m telling you, I’ll never doubt you or Augustus again. Freaking miracle right there.”

“No problem. I appreciate you stepping up and helping me back there,” Lee said as he dusted his legs off and looked over to the paladins to see if any were injured.

“I mean, seriously, this is incredible. I’m surprised you don’t just go to one of the doctor’s sick bays or the medic place where all the injured are being treated and heal them one after the other. You’ve got the ability to save so many lives,” Dave noted. “I’m really shocked that you’re out risking your life to fight other Heralds instead. Personally, if it was me, I’d be healing people left and right, telling all the pretty women, ‘oh, you want your dad to be in good shape and healed up? Well, I can do that . . . but--’”

“Can you not?” Lee stopped him right there. He knew there was a lot of merit to what Dave was saying, but the lecherous joke at the end just felt flat after he had watched someone die right in front of him--someone die for him. Lee glanced over at the body of the fallen paladin and sighed. More and more people seemed to be sacrificing themselves for him.

“Ah. The kid who died,” Dave said after following Lee’s gaze to the one body that wasn’t an enemy’s. “Yeah, that happens. Kinda surprised we only lost one. Really good day, if you ask me.”

Only lost one? Good day if we ask you? Lee was flabbergasted by Dave’s nonchalant attitude, and it must have shown on his face.

“What? I’ve been in a hundred skirmishes, and I’m telling you, if it’s twenty on twenty or thirty on thirty, you can always promise yourself you’re going to lose five or ten. At least. We only lost one. Those are pretty good numbers if you ask me,” Dave said with a smile, nodding his head at the battle. “Whoever is training your paladins is doing a fine job.”

Lee knew that what Dave said was logical, but that didn’t make it feel right. The fact he had been in so many battles and seen so many people die, in perspective, did explain his casual, laid-back mood after the fight.

As Lee was trying to figure out how to respond to Dave, Miller came up to them with a decapitated head stuck on the end of his spear and a smile stuck on his face. “The enemies have been butchered, evil has been vanquished, and we have emerged victorious, Lee. Justice has won again.”

“We lost someone, though,” Lee said, tilting his head toward the paladin that had died for him.

“Yeah, we did. Augustus will see to it that he has a good afterlife though, right?” Miller asked. “Clontarf might not have been from Satterfield like most of the true and good believers, but he was definitely a good man. There is no way Augustus won’t take care of him.”

“Yeah . . .” Lee trailed off as he looked at Clontarf’s body. “I got an idea, though, just in case,” he finally added. He went over to Clontarf, picked him up and walked it into the Tigernach manor. “Can you get me a large pile of sand and set it here? In fact, have your men gather as much sand as they can. Or just buy glass if they can’t find sand. Set it all up in piles and then set the piles up in rows. Treat them as you would graves.”

“Graves?” Miller asked.

“Yes, the distance between them should be the same as between graves,” Lee said. “I’ll need one pile for every person that has died serving our cause.”

“Oh . . .” Miller said. “Do you want another pile for Amber too?” he asked, intuiting what Lee was thinking.

“Yes, get another pile for her too,” Lee answered with a sigh. Then, leaving them to it, he finally retired into the manor to see what he had acquired.

The actual manor itself was amazing. On top of having a massive yard, which was possible since the huge building was technically outside Kirshtein’s walls, the manor itself was an amazing piece of architecture. Out of necessity, housing was generally built for purpose or task, and it was fairly utilitarian. There simply wasn’t a need or demand for lavish homes when no one could afford them. This one, however, was very close to being its own castle. The front wall alone had several tower-like columns that extended outward from the flat surface. The walls and the tower-like extensions were all made of stones of varying colors, and there didn’t seem to be any mortar at all sealing them into place. Instead, they appeared to be fitted, which made it all the more impressive. The building itself was large enough that Lee suspected that there were plenty of open spaces with at least twenty, if not twenty-five, bedrooms.

“Why do I feel like we could give everyone in Satterfield a room here?” Ling asked as she walked up to the manor’s entrance.

“Probably because we could,” Lee answered, his eyes roaming from one end of the manor to the other. With all said and done, Satterfield wasn’t a large town. Compounded with the fact that so many people had died either in the slave mines or in fights against the Heralds, the town’s population was severely diminished, and there was no way more than 200 at most lived in the town. This manor could easily provide a roof for them all, even if they would have to share rooms to do it and convert a dining room or two, and whatever other luxurious space-wasting places they could, but the square footage was there to easily house over 200 people.

“One of these rooms would have sure been a step up from being cramped three-to-the-room with pets included back home,” Ling commented, wistfully admiring the full scope of the manor’s majesty.

Lee had to stop himself from saying what he was thinking: Well, it would be a downgrade from my home, since, you know, I had air conditioning, indoor plumbing and all the other good amenities this place probably doesn’t. One tiny room with air conditioning would be worth far more than any number of large sun-baked rooms when summer rolled around.

“It’s not as nice as the House of Alastar,” Dave said as he came up behind them. “Just no color at all. It could definitely use some color.” He nodded once in appreciation of his own appraisal and then walked into the building. “Anyway, the old man needs to lie down. I’ll take one of the servant bedrooms, so don’t mind me. Just call if you get around to making more beer or if you need someone else to shoot me in the arm.”

“We’ll be drinking later tonight,” Lee called after him, making sure to speak up so that he could hear. “Setting up a keg in the dining room in a minute.”

With that, Lee walked into the house with his group and did exactly as he promised: he dropped a keg of magic brew in the dining room before exploring the manor. Even though the house was massive, it seemed like the majority of the rooms were for dining or hosting. There were several large open areas, like the center hall, that were much bigger than even anything he was familiar with back home except in hotels and plazas. The place was also fully decorated with the stuffiest furniture Lee had ever seen. It was wooden everything: wooden chairs, wooden tables, wooden cabinets and drawers. At the very least, Lee could praise one thing about the repetitive and dull nature of the furniture: the wood was very ornately designed with beautifully-intricate overlays. He personally preferred a more opulent and exotic style when he imagined his ideal mansion: dark-teak Moroccan couches covered in colorful silk pillows paired with low-standing tables, arabesque carvings on every bit of wood and embroidery, and maybe even some gold filigree highlights on the furniture. Also, drapery. Way more gossamer drapery.

After he finished laying out the keg and setting up a meal for the paladins, he went back outside to see about the progress they had made with the piles of sand. Surprisingly, they had already managed to put little stakes in the ground for seven piles of sand already stacked up. Lee bent over and began crafting the first one into a person-sized statue of the paladin that died for him, the paladin whose name he hadn’t even known until after his sacrifice. After he was done, he went to the second one, and he was about to craft another member of the fallen, but he couldn’t remember the man’s face.

Augustus, can you help me out? Lee asked. I don’t have any recollection of these people’s faces. They may as well have been wearing red shirts on a star-crossed adventure, Lee said.

“I mean . . . I could, perhaps, show you clips from the past that you’d already seen, yeah . . . but you know you can’t tell anyone if I do, right?” Augustus said. “It’s not technically cheating, since it’s something you’ve asked for, and it’s just a memory you should actually have already . . . but . . . Well, you know we’re not supposed to help you out at all, right?”

Yeah, and that’s . . . That’d be amazingly helpful, Lee thought back. He was taken aback by the fact that Augustus hadn’t mocked him or teased him about this.

“Oh, and I’ll want a favor out of you,” Augustus added before Lee could pile on more credit to the deity’s good nature.

Why did I have a feeling this was going to happen when you were so cool about helping me out? Lee sighed. Fine, what is it? What do you want from me?

“Don’t be like that. I just want a memento from you. You know, the first time we met. I thought it would be a cute little bonding moment for us. I want you to make a little glass statue of it and leave it in the master bedroom of this new manor,” Augustus insisted.

Fine, but do I have to make it right away? Lee asked.

“Nah, take your time. I just want to make sure we get that panicked face of yours perfect, make sure we get that way you were wailing and whining like a little kid with a skinned knee down pat. You can do that for me, right? It was such a wonderful shared experience that I don’t want you to forget it. Yup, the day we first met.”

You’re an ass. Lee sighed. But fine. I’ll do it, but just help me with the clips of their faces, Lee agreed, and Augustus did just that. It took Lee nearly twenty minutes to burn almost his entire mana bar, and he was only able to make seven statues, even with the massive discount that his improved Glass Smithing gave, but one of the big bonuses was that he got a status message window he had been waiting on for a while after crafting the fourth glass sculpture.

Your mastery of Glass Smithing has progressed from the rank of Initiate Level 10 to the rank of Novice Level 1. Glass Smithing now allows for faster formation and manipulation of glass at a lower Spirit cost. The Novice rank adds a durability bonus of +1 to all future glass creations made using Glass Smithing.

Due to improving Glass Smithing, you have received +1 Intelligence. Current Intelligence: 164.

When Lee made a dagger between statues to test the effect, he noticed that the damage had gone up again. It was still only increasing at a rate of +1, but the dagger did indeed have more durability. It wasn’t a lot, but it was noticeable. Lee also noted that the Novice tier bonuses leveled up the same way the initial one did, just 10 levels behind. If he received a +1 to damage at Novice Level 1 of a skill, that would generally scale up to +2 to damage at Novice Level 2. So, he was very happy to see that his glass weapons might actually be capable of outpacing basic steel weapons in time, even if it was highly unlikely they’d ever outperform Spirit Smithing products.

Lee stopped and checked his status window as he took a break and headed inside. On it, he noticed that there was an entire category for his Statesman class, and Satterfield was listed among his territories. Below the listing for Satterfield, there was also a list of ratings for the town, ranging from a Defensive Strength rating to the town’s Influence and Tourism rating. Satterfield, sadly, nearly had a zero in all of these. The town actually had a Defensive Strength rating of 1, and he couldn’t help but wonder how it could possibly be any worse. The only thing he could imagine is if he personally drafted ‘conquer me’ letters for every single foreign power and had the women walk outside and lift up their dresses as they invited a hoard of roaming barbarians in for crumpets.

What do these stats mean? Is there even a way to fix them? That defensive stat is just way too low, Lee wondered as he stared at the chart.

These are the general status parameters for your territories. As they increase or decrease, so too will the likelihood of positive or negative events occurring for the territory. For instance, if a town’s economic strength is significantly higher than its defensive strength, it is likely that it will suffer barbarian raids or invasions should this information spread. The rate at which information spreads and people visit, establish businesses or leave a town is directly impacted by the town’s Influence and Tourism rating. Certain ratings, like the Tech and Utility rating, will indirectly impact other ratings while also maintaining a potential for their own effect, such as the rate at which resources or labor are consumed for desired outcomes by the villagers. Finally, some ratings, such as the Territory and Population rating, will not trigger events but are there to give a general understanding of the territory’s size and scope.

Okay, so I understand that Defensive Strength is how well we can repel attackers, but what exactly does Economic Strength measure? Is Economic Strength how fast the town earns money or how much money the town has total?

It is a measurement calculated by assessing how much money the average person within the town makes in a given year, how much money they already possess, and how much money an invasion can make transferring plunderable valuables directly into currency. This figure does not include your own personal savings, as it is assumed a statesman would flee with his wealth still in his inventory in the case of defeat.

Well, that explains why the rating is so low, Lee thought as he stared at the number. Lee had a ton of money. Having earned it through a combination of hard work and killing a few very wealthy dirtbags, Lee possessed enough wealth to probably buy the materials and pay the people needed to build Satterfield a few times over. If that wealth were factored into Satterfield’s Economic Strength rating, then there was no way that the stat would be so close to the dismal Defensive Strength score it had now. The only probable reason its economic stat was listed as a 3 was the fact that the repaired version of Ramon’s former bar--now the Church of Augustus’s central establishment--was bringing in a ton of cash. There weren’t a lot of tourists, but a small trickle was consistently traveling through to try out the fried chicken, and some were paying extra to get their hands on the only bacon in this game world.

Wait. Lee thought for a moment, realizing that there must be more options than the ones listed. After all, these ratings were given by the system, not as a response to his ownership of the territory. This was just his Statesman class interpreting what was already there. Is there any way for me to do something about that low Defensive Strength rating from where I’m at currently? Do I need to go all the way back to town and fix the buildings, or is there a function of the class Statesman that would help me solve this? Lee asked.

The statesman, as an experienced political overseer of a territory, is offered a number of projects or initiatives that will allow him to augment a town’s score. He may change the town’s governing leadership and social system, enact or repeal laws, and lastly order the construction of unique civic building projects with his own personal funds. These projects may be started manually, or you may use the statesman’s ability, Delegate, to send status window orders to a leading representative of your territory.

As a Herald, you are also offered an additional skill in which your class skills and Heraldic skills synergize. For you, this unique synergy skill is ‘Spirit Builder.’ When activated, if you personally meet the crafting requirements necessary, you may sequester a portion of both your mana and mana regeneration for the sake of creating and assembling unique civic building projects through magic instead of the town’s personnel. It should be noted that the cost of this will be impacted directly by one’s public persona gauge. The requirements for this vary based on the project and are listed next to each one.

Woah, that’s a lot of . . . Why didn’t you tell me this earlier when I first got these skills?

You did not officially own territory when you first got the skill. Thus, this information was locked to you, even if you had asked.

You could have told me when I first got the territory, and they became unlocked.

And you could have thanked me for being so helpful with previous prompts. We both failed to do things within our ability that would have been nice for the other party.

What? Lee blinked but then decided not to even let himself think anything else since the system, like Augustus, could read all of his thoughts. Fine, thank you. Thank you very much for being so helpful and kind throughout my stay in this world.

You’re welcome. In that case, here is the list of unique civic building projects you may choose to remotely assemble using your current skills and abilities. Please read it thoroughly.

Okay, great . . . so . . . um . . . I’m waiting. Let me have it, Lee thought to the system. And also let me know which one you suggest since you’re usually very smart at this, he thought, deciding to throw in a compliment too.

I already generated the list for you. Did you not read it thoroughly?

I didn’t see it. There was nothing there. Lee even double-checking the previous pop-up window and looked around for a potential new one to make sure he didn’t miss something.

Good, then you read it thoroughly as advised.

So, there is . . . nothing I can build with my current abilities? Is there a list of total things I can build? I mean, if it’s not too much trouble, Lee thought, trying to be as polite as possible since this system clearly had more of a personality than he had previously realized.

Yes, there is a list of available projects that you may delegate to your town representative at any given moment. That list can be found within your Herald’s tool, or, in the event that your Herald’s tool does not display the text, I can provide you with a list of available options if you specify your goal.

So, if I want a little help here, I have to know what I’m aiming for in the same way my book requires me to know what I want to make before it will show me a how-to for it. Thanks. That’s helpful.

And that wasn’t difficult, was it?

What?

Saying thank you.

Would it help if I said I was sorry too?

It might.

Well, I’m sorry. I’ll be politer in the future. Lee fought back a sigh, not wanting to sound disingenuous with his apology as he pulled out the Book of Augustus. Are there any projects you would highly recommend I take a look at first? Lee asked. You’re the expert on what it is to be a Statesman.

Yes, of course. The likelihood of an attack against your people is roughly determined by dividing your territory’s Economic Strength by the total Defensive Strength. However, even though this should make your town a prime target for invaders, due to the fact your total Economic Strength as well as Influence and Tourism rating are both under 25, it is unlikely that anyone would consider the town as a potential target or even know of its existence. As such, I recommend avoiding Defensive Strength boosters until either one of those scores exceeds 20. Projects focusing strictly on Economic Strength or your Influence and Tourism rating, however, will give you immediate gains in finance and population but may require more points later on to update as you increase your Tech and Utility rating. For this reason, I highly recommend you focus on Tech and Utility civic projects.

Okay, that’s . . . very helpful. Thank you. I’m glad you saved me the trouble of figuring all this out by explaining it to me that way, but what Tech and Utility should I undertake first? Lee asked as he began opening the book and thinking about projects that might fall into that category. He saw several that seemed very interesting, but the requirements were far out of his reach. Even something as simple as a gear-shift windmill required him to reach a Carpentry skill of Initiate Level 8. An aqueduct, while amazingly cheap in terms of materials and gold cost, more so than Lee had initially expected, required a fairly high level of Masonry. On the other hand, there were some projects that seemed very easy to reach. A water reserve with pipes to help facilitate running water seemed to only require him to gain a Carpentry skill of Initiate Level 2. He already had the prerequisite Spirit Smithing, and with his Intelligence, Lee was confident that he could gain and level a skill to Initiate Level 2 within a few hours at most.

Lee looked over the cost of each project. For the water reserve, which would raise Satterfield’s Tech and Utility rating by 10, it would cost 275 gold pieces to remotely build it using the Spirit Builder function. The base price was actually only 250 gold pieces, which Lee assumed was mostly for acquiring the metals needed to lay down the initial piping for the entire town, but he had to pay an additional 25 gold pieces due to being listed as a Savior, or +10 on the public persona scale for Satterfield.

He glanced over at other projects and realized that there could easily be a synergy between them. At the moment, the 250-gold water reserve and running water system was built around the concept of using gravity to create the pressure needed to push the water through to different parts of the town. This meant that they would still have to manually pump the water into the tower, and as such, the tower came with a well pump that would dig into the ground and allow the villagers to manually pump the water into the reserve. Once there, the sheer height of the tower would allow gravity to draw the water through the Spirit-Smithed magical filters and into the ever-narrowing pipes until it reached the buildings.

That said, Lee noticed that there were other buildings he could add in the future to augment this system. If he combined an aqueduct with a water wheel, used the water wheel to raise the water to the right height, and then used the aqueduct to transfer it over the town and into the reserve, then no one would have to be pumping the water at all. This would all be in the future, though, as the river near Satterfield was a good ways off, and Lee didn’t have the Masonry skill needed to even consider this feat yet.

Lastly, next to the selection, there was a timer for how long it would take to assemble through Delegate and through Spirit Building. Through delegation, it estimated that the people of Satterfield would be able to finish the task in two to three weeks at the earliest, and the material cost was rather high. Spirit Builder, however, only required 48 hours to do the project, 35% of his mana to be sequestered and 35% of his mana regeneration to be sequestered. If he gave these up for only two days, by this time the day after tomorrow, the people of Satterfield would have running water, even if he wasn’t there to see it.

The other option that interested him was a proper bathhouse. It wasn’t tempting for the fact it increased any scores--in fact, it only promised to increase the Influence and Tourism score by 1--however, it was cheap. It was an entire building and a tourist spot that would only cost Lee 27.5 gold pieces as well as 5% of his mana and mana regeneration. It still would, however, require 48 hours to complete, making Lee wonder if the fluctuating part of the spell was not the time it took, but rather how much or little of his money and mana it required to complete.

Wait, can I do both of these at once? Lee asked the system. I can afford it.

No. Future tiers of the Statesman class may allow it, but I am not at liberty to divulge those changes yet.

The last option that interested him somewhat was a rail system. Much like the bathhouse and the water system, it didn’t require him to gain that many levels in a new skill, and just like the bathhouse, it wasn’t that expensive. A local railway was only 55 gold pieces and would connect all seven of Satterfield’s farms through a simple manually-operated rail cart system to the center of town. Then four sets of rails would connect the center of town to the outskirts of the town in all four directional sides. This didn’t seem like a big deal, but a frictionless, fast way for the people of Satterfield to transport their heavy materials to and from the town would save a lot of people a lot of time as well as encourage more trade. The only reason Lee didn’t clinch this option, was, much like the bathhouse, it’s rating improvement, a 4 to Influence and Tourism, was still lower than the running water. This was likely because it only generally improved the quality of life for farmers, and they’d still have to operate the lever carts manually.

Well, thanks for the help. I’m off to get the Carpentry requirements.

“Long day?” Miller said as he came up behind Lee while the Herald was still looking through the menu. “Need a beer?”

Lee looked up. “Actually, I need to get more work done.” Lee sighed, pulling up the music device in the book of Augustus he had wanted to build earlier for his church. “Do we have any equipment for woodworking?”

“What is that?” Miller didn’t answer Lee’s question at all as he glanced over at what Lee had open in the book. “Is that what I think it is?”

“Do you have these where you’re from?” Lee asked.

“Yeah, but not really? I don’t know. I haven’t seen one in ages. This is brilliant. Lee, you’re a damn genius. We can listen to good music while we drink with this. It’s the one thing that’s been lacking. How can a man drink beer in silence? You son of AUGUSTUS, YOU’RE BRILLIANT!” Miller’s enthusiasm drew over Ling, who had just been watching in the distance as Lee turned one pile of sand into a statue after the other, to check out what was happening.

“I don’t understand,” Ling said as she looked at it, “What is it?”

“It’s uhh . . .” Lee tried to think about how to say exactly what it was. “It’s a surprise. Come on, let’s go get it made over some drinks.”

“Right, crafting and drinking. This is exactly what Augustus would want,” Miller agreed, nodding heartily. “I’ll have the men go fetch lumber and supplies while we go eat and start in early on the boozing.”

“Can I help?” Ling asked as she eyed the book. She eventually took it from Lee before he could stop her. Her Sleight of Hand speed was surprisingly much faster than Lee would have guessed.

“Yeah, sure, can you work wood?”

“Yes. I’m very good at working wood,” Ling nodded proudly. “To be a good archer, you have to be able to handle wood perfectly. Each shaft must be polished and topped with even care. The bow must constantly be cared for, and you--”

“Nope, nope. I’ve got the point,” Lee interjected cutting her off immediately.

“What?” a voice Lee recognized but couldn’t put his finger on interjected itself into the conversation. “You didn’t want to hear about how she’s going to manually polish your wood with love and care? I mean, if you’re not interested, I am. I could use a good story, and I got plenty of wood, and I would love to hear about how a woman would polish it.”

Lee turned to see Pelham, fully geared up with extra swords strapped across his back, heading toward Lee.

“Thought you’d be with Connacht.” Lee brushed off the sudden turn toward innuendo. That was enough dirty jokes for one day, and he didn’t need to add more.

“Meh.” Pelham shrugged. “I also thought Dave would be at the bar waiting for me to finish work, but lo and behold, I go to meet up with him, and they tell me he’s off chasing miracle beer. Honestly, after seeing all the bodies at the entrance to the damn place, I kind of wish you’d waited for me.”

“Well, if you were just drinking on the job with Dave, you wouldn’t have been late,” Lee chuckled. “In the future, drink more on the job, so you don’t miss out.”

Pelham nodded. “That’s sound advice, boss. Anyway, where did the old fart-whistle go? I’m going to see what he’s up to.”

“Oh, he clocked out early like an old man,” Lee replied with a shrug. “Go grab some beers from the dining room and bring them to him. We’re just going to be working in there anyway.” Lee didn’t bother asking him if he was going to join them tomorrow on their expedition. He thought it’d be rude at best, downright insulting at worst.

“Sounds good. I’ll leave you and the big man to practice polishing your woods with the lady. I’m off.”

You just had to word it like that. Lee shook his head. “Well, let’s get cracking on this monstrosity. Even with several hands helping, I imagine it’ll take all night to complete.”

“Do you want the paladins to help? I was going to let them take a breather after all they’ve done for me today.” Miller had a concerned look as he glanced over at his troop of warriors. Half of them, if not more, were from Satterfield, but there were plenty of new faces too. As more of them showed up, Lee even saw a few Firbolgs and Leprechauns in the mix. There weren’t too many of those, but there were enough that Lee had hope that he wouldn’t end up with a mono- or bi-racial army like Devin. He even laughed when he noticed that one of the Firbolgs had copied Miller’s outfit and how he wore it down to the letter, as if he had gone full fanboy.

“Yeah, let them rest.” The three of them went into the dining room, and Miller’s paladins set up the supplies they needed to get to work. The men then poured themselves drafts of beer and sat around at nearby tables so that they could watch what was going on, and Lee provided them with some of the bacon he kept on hand for occasions just like this.

As the wood, some crude tools that basically amounted to knives, marked rope for measuring, a saw and a makeshift workbench came in, Lee realized exactly how difficult this was going to be for him.

“It doesn’t have to be difficult, though,” Lee heard Augustus say in his ear. “I mean, you can shape sand into glass with your mana, and you can shape metal into . . . you know, different shapes of metal. So, you should be able to do it with wood too, right?”

Huh? Lee looked down at the wood. That’s right! It’s simply using my spirit to reshape an already existing material. This should be easy. “Welp, time to try doing this the easy way,” Lee announced as he picked up a 4-inch-diameter, 5-inch-long block of what looked like unfinished tree stump.

“What are you up to?” Miller asked. “You going to make us some magic beer?”

“No, I’m going to see what I can do with this wood,” Lee responded, focusing on the little bit of log. He concentrated on its dimensions as he planned out exactly how he wanted to shape it. Okay, I’ve got about 10% of my mana back after spending so much on the glass statues. That should be enough. He poured in 2% of his total mana into the block of wood, trying to use his spirit to shape and control it.

“That’s it. You can do it,” Lee heard Augustus say, and then he could hear what almost sounded like a chuckle. “You got it . . . just a little more spirit!”

Okay, Lee thought back as he put more effort into it, upping the amount from 2 to 3%. Unfortunately, it still wasn’t shaping. Instead, it was changing color . . . and then it exploded. The wooden block ignited in his hand and burst into flames, the sound of the crackling wood covered up completely though by the sound of Augustus’s laughter.

“I can’t believe you! Hahaha! That’s so great! What’s wrong with you? Did you really think you could do that? Oh, man, that’s priceless. I swear, you’re way too gullible!”

Augustus carried on laughing and taunting Lee, but he wasn’t fazed. Even if it was incredibly embarrassing to mess up like this in front of everyone, there was still one thing he was taking away from this whole experience: he had made fire. Even if Augustus hadn’t actually meant to help him, Lee was entranced as he watched the block of wood burn in his hand. He already knew firsthand exactly how useful of a tool fire was, and being able to create it at a whim could be a windfall. There was a thin layer of dirt between the wood and his hand, but the fire was still hot enough to burn him a little and scorch away 15 hit points. Once it had turned to ash, there was a tiny piece of charcoal remaining from where oxygen hadn’t been able to reach it as it ignited.

So, spirit is just another form of energy, and if I condense it into an object that is sensitive to heat or energy too quickly, then this is the result. Lee closed his fist around the piece of charcoal, and the ash crumbled down around his hand. I’m not just generating mana over time. I’m essentially a renewable battery, and this mana is my electricity. It’s something that I might one day learn how to program, just like computers. Lee couldn’t stop himself from smiling as he held onto his ill-gotten reward, the boon his trollish ancestor had not meant to gift him.

With that, he grabbed another piece of wood and repeated the processes, laughing merrily to himself even as it burned him when he saw the exact same result. He was able to do it with even less mana this time as he focused his efforts on just burning one part of the wood rather than trying to turn the entire block into something he could shape as he had done the first time. By the third attempt, he was able to ignite the piece of wood with less than a single point of his mana, which was good because he didn’t have much mana to begin with.

You have uncovered the school of magic ‘Ignis Veritas’ and begun to better understand the nature of magic in this world. Practitioners of Ignis Veritas can ignite objects more effectively using mana and produce a flame with higher heat.

You have been awarded 5 bonus Intelligence for discovering a school of magic without help, a teacher or the assistance of a tome. Current Intelligence: 173.

What . . . in the . . . This is freaking amazing. Lee couldn’t stop himself from laughing happily as he held onto the charcoal, staring at the skill.

“Lee? Are you . . . Are you okay?” Ling asked hesitantly from his side. “You’re scaring me.” She wasn’t the only one looking concerned. Lee hadn’t noticed it, but everyone in the entire room who had been drinking mirthfully moments ago was now staring at Lee with their mouths as open as their eyes. Everyone except Miller.

Miller was sporting the same ear-to-ear grin that Lee had. “The god of fire! I told you so! I knew it! I knew it!” he yelled loudly, jumping up and rushing over to grab the charcoal out of Lee’s hand. “This is amazing! This is everything I wanted from you and more. This is beautiful! So beautiful! I knew from the moment you were reborn that you were touched by fire! I told myself, the blood of the crafting god is in his veins, so of course he can use fire, but now I have proof!”

“Easy there.” Lee had to calm down Miller before the raving Firbolg killed someone in his crazed state of overly-enthused excitement. The way he had pulled out a spar and slammed it on the ground as he proclaimed Lee’s fire-based divinity had people even more scared and nervous-looking than when Lee was laughing maniacally while lighting pieces of wood on fire.

“How can I be calm? This calls for a round. This calls for a few rounds. This calls for a dozen rounds! Let’s celebrate all night! We must be exuberant as we toast the success of your newfound powers! Once more, you’re stepping out of the shadows of your divine father and into the spotlight, where you will shine with righteous and just fury!” Miller exclaimed, rushing over to the keg as he excitedly filled up a few mugs and passed one over to Lee.

Lee took the first mug, and he didn’t shy from the moment as he toasted his success. It really was an occasion to be happy about. With that done, however, he had to keep his original goal in mind: gaining and leveling Carpentry and starting work on the annoyingly-complex medieval orchestra jukebox. As such, after just two beers, Lee was hunkered down with Miller and Ling, shaving down and cutting one piece of wood after the other. By the time Lee had spent nearly an hour working on the piece, and having achieved little to hardly any visible results, the message that he had been praying for finally appeared.

You have learned the crafting skill Carpentry. This skill is currently at Initiate Level 1. This skill improves your ability to cut, carve and finish wood quickly and precisely in order to craft a variety of items.

You have been awarded 2 Intelligence for discovering a new skill without the assistance of class trainers or a manual. Current Intelligence: 175.

It then took another hour and a half before Lee reached Initiate Level 2, and at that point, he was beginning to grow incredibly-frustrated with the pace. He had expected that it would gain levels faster since the level of the skill was so low, and he was focusing on it entirely, but he was sorely disappointed. So, he took the one golem that wasn’t busy watching the council or following Brigid of Kildare and decided to have the little guy help him out while he took a break to make a few more glass statues. It was even more disappointing to see his Glass Smithing climb to Novice Level 2 before his Carpentry even increased to Initiate Level 3, but sure enough, right as he was beginning to think his experiment was a complete failure, the Level 3 status window appeared.

Before he started back on what he was sure would be a long night of working on both the wood for the orchestra machine as well as the skill Carpentry, he made sure to pause and start up the public works project. He kind of wished he could be there in Satterfield to see their expressions when his Spirit Builder skill started creating a magic water reserve out of thin air.

Alright, system, I’ve got the Carpentry. Now, I’m going to order the construction of the water reserve and the running water system. Does that sound good to you? he asked, deciding to do the one thing he was actually good at these days: asking for help.

Please don’t abuse my significantly-higher Wisdom stat. I cannot do this competition for you.

Fine, you’ve helped a lot already. Let’s just order the construction of that project, Lee thought back, a little disappointed that he couldn’t get more in-depth advice but still rather happy with the amount he had already received.

275 gold has been subtracted from your inventory, and your leading delegate in Satterfield, Henslee, has been notified about the impending construction to prevent confusion. 35% of your mana and mana regeneration have also been sequestered.

Thank you, he thought after a moment, almost forgetting his manners as he scrambled to throw it in quickly and not anger the omnipotent AI. When the skill was activated, it didn’t just sequester his mana. Lee felt as if a part of his very soul had been ripped from his chest, and there was now an emptiness where it used to reside. Is this normal? He touched his chest, his hand lingering directly over his heart, where it felt as if a part of his spirit was missing.

A very large portion of your mana and mana-generating soul has been broken off of you and is now crafting in Satterfield. You should expect to feel uncomfortably empty for the remainder of the process, as most people take several months to several years to get used to soul splitting. The difficulty of maintaining the state is so high that the skill would not even be possible for someone of your low Intelligence and Spirit scores if not for your class capability.

So, it really is as if I’m in two places at once. Lee kept sucking in air, trying to patch up the emptiness inside of him, but it was to no avail. It took several minutes, but he was finally able to put his mind back toward working on leveling up his Carpentry. He figured that the only reason he was even able to take his mind off of the issue was that he was somewhat used to splitting himself up to concentrate from his own point of view and that of the three golems at the same time. He had gotten used to being part of a random hive-minded collective, though in some ways, this was also the opposite of that. Whereas the golems created more noise and static in his head to deal with, this particular effect created less and felt more like a cold, empty stillness gripping him than anything else.

You know what? This type of emptiness is exactly why God made beer so delicious. He stopped himself from getting lost in his own musings and downed another beer in one go, much to Miller’s approval, and then went back to Carpentry.

Chapter 5

Name: Lee

Race: Human

Class: Herald - Statesman

Level: 26

Health: 360/360

EXP: 8075/37000

Primary Stats:

Power 36 (39)

Toughness 36 (39)

Spirit 36 (39)

Secondary Stats:

Charisma 30

Courage 21

Deceit 31

Intelligence 179 (198)

Honor -2

Faith 32720

Personal Faith 233

Skills:

Unarmed Combat Initiate Level 7

Swordplay Novice Level 8

Sneak Journeyman Level 2

Cooking Initiate Level 7

Trap Detection Initiate Level 6

Knife Combat Initiate Level 8

Mental Fortitude Initiate Level 1

Sleight of Hand Initiate Level 3

Blood Shield Initiate Level 3

True Patriot

Glass Smithing Novice Level 2

Delegation

Carpentry Initiate Level 5

The Statesman:

Territories:

Satterfield (+10: Savior)

Defensive Strength Rating: 1

Economic Strength rating: 3

Population Rating: 1

Territory Rating: 12

Tech / Utility Rating: 2

Influence / Tourism Rating: 2

Public Persona:

Kirshtein (-2: Unkind)

Birnefeld (0: Unknown)

Divine Skills:

Golem Sculpting Journeyman Level 1

Appreciative Drunk Novice Level 8

Nectar of the Gods Initiate Level 4

Spirit Smithing Initiate Level 4

Faith Healing

Ignis Veritas

Spirit Builder Initiate Level 1

Divinity Powers:

Life in Death

Titles:

Cheat Code Fighter

The Great Deceiver

Lee reached Initiate Level 5 of Carpentry, and the night looked like it was going to be over in a rather dull and boring fashion. He was just getting ready to go to bed when he heard a loud cry, something akin to a large bird squawking, and then a hair-raising scream from outside. The sun had already set a while ago, so he sent Ethan out ahead of him as he rushed to the door with Miller, Ling, and a few of the paladins who had been drinking with him.

“I don’t know what’s out there, but we can do this,” Lee shouted as he readied his sword and shield.

“Should we wait for uhhh . . .” Ling hesitated as she looked over at Lee, clearly stumbling over the words ‘Ethan’ and ‘golem.’ Before she could even finish asking, Lee had already seen what would be ahead of them when they opened the door: nothing. It was empty on all sides. No matter how hard he surveyed the calm night scene, he couldn’t spot a single enemy. Even still, he was incredibly cautious as he opened the door, peeking his head out while still keeping as many of his vitals as he could behind his shield.

Then, after a moment, the rest of the group had come out too, and still, no one could see anything at all.

“I don’t get it,” Lee said as he looked around. “I could have sworn I heard screaming.”

“Window.” Ling pointed.

Sure enough, there was a window open. One of the manor’s servant quarter windows was wide open, and there was a smattering of some dark liquid on the sill.

“Crap, Dave and Pelham were there drinking!” Lee thought aloud. “Dave! Pelham! Where are you--?”

Then, as if out of nowhere, the screaming returned. It wasn’t out in the dark courtyard: it was above him. Lee switched to Ethan’s eyes as the rodent launched itself into the air, and he just barely caught a glimpse of one of the new paladins. The poor man was screaming his lungs out as he plummeted through the air and dropped toward Lee at break-neck speed.

“No!” Lee shouted back, but there was nothing he could do. Moments later, the paladin struck the ground, splattering out in all directions like a watermelon. “What in the hell . . .?” Lee did his best to swallow as he stared at the corpse. He had already memorized the man’s face, and he’d have to make another statue, but he felt helpless in the moment.

Just when he thought it was over, a sealed envelope fluttered down slowly and landed in front of him. Lee grabbed the strange missive before it hit the ground, and this time, he couldn’t hide the presence of the letter from the others. They all saw it as plainly as he did, so he didn’t bother trying to act discreetly as he opened the envelope and began reading it a moment later.

We were weak. So weak. We shifted, and they mistook it for strength. The brain of a man and the power of a beast--they thought of us as perfect, but we are weak. So weak. Far from perfect, we were broken. That’s why we had to beg for power, to cry and plead for nature to undo the mistakes of man on our hands and knees for a thousand of days and nights. This is our story, my story, the story of the cruelest thing man had to offer his brothers and sisters: dishonest acceptance and unjust protection from the guiding hand of nature. Unto generations of men are born those stronger and weaker than their predecessors. I was of the latter. I was the weakest of the litter, spawned from the weakest of the litter and so forth, until I stood, a gaunt cripple with no strength, no skills and no hope of survival on my own. But it wasn’t my fault. It was theirs. If they had just stopped it at the start, if they had culled the weak genes from the pool before us foul and wretched spawnlings could emerge, would we have ever had to suffer?

No. We wouldn’t have. Our existence here is the blight that they gave us, and our strength is here for one purpose: to cull the weak before those as wretched as me ever walk this world again. So, I gave you a gift, one you don’t even have to thank me for. I culled the weakest of your order so that you’ll never have to do it yourself. I know you have the strength to do it, but it doesn’t make it easy. I know. So, I will purge this genetic rot from your order and wait for your arrival. My birds tell me you’re coming.

I’m so excited. I can’t wait to see you.

“What’s it say?” Miller asked. Both he and Ling were trying to glance over his shoulder, but neither was too successful.

“Nothing good,” Lee responded as he took in the gist of the contents. “It’s a challenge from the other Herald,” he continued, summarizing it in a way that he thought they would most easily accept. Should I tell them that I’m being courted by a crazy, murderous shapeshifter? He quickly ran over the letter’s contents again in his mind. He understood her to a degree, and he even sympathized with her a bit. She had been born deformed and crippled, and she blamed an endless line of selfish people with genetic defects freely procreating for why she turned out that way, but it didn’t excuse her. Even if he could agree with the logic behind her allocation of blame, there were so many ways to go about preventing the suffering she described that didn’t involve killing off the weak, ill and physically-deformed so they wouldn’t keep reproducing.

“Can I at least--” Ling reached over to try and take a peek, but Lee just stashed the envelope and letter into his inventory.

Lee shook his head. “It’s best if you don’t read the particulars.” He knew this was going to put a little bit of doubt between himself and Ling, and himself and Miller, but something told him that he shouldn’t mention the contents. The worst-case scenario was if this Herald’s words and tone created a rift between him and the party from Birnefeld. He didn’t think that Ling or Miller would leak the fact the Herald’s words implied they were on the same side, but an odd word at the wrong time might be deadly to the synergy he was hoping to achieve with this diplomatic party.

The last thing he wanted was to be tied to just one town politically, and as much as this was an opportunity to hunt down a mad woman of a Herald, it was also an opportunity to patch up a relationship with a woman that probably hated him. If he could do that, there was a chance that he could also work his way into the good graces of another powerful and influential town. The more people that want me, the higher my price, right? Lee frowned as he was reminded of the things he had heard from the council after he left the room.

But how do I fight a beast that can just rip me into the air like that? Lee’s eyes moved from the hands that were holding the letter back to the corpse of the fallen man. Wait, no . . . Don’t tell me I’m going to have to learn that too . . . Lee sighed as he came to realize the only possible way he could think of to stop himself from immediately dying from a similar bird attack.

After that, the rest of the night went smoothly. He didn’t try to magic any parts for the most massive pre-electric boombox he had ever seen, but he stayed up until almost midnight, making it with Ling and Miller. He used his mana as it restored, constantly making glass statues and reaching Novice Level 3 Glass Smithing before he finally finished honoring all of the dead men and women who had fought for his cause. They didn’t even come close to finishing the machine. They were almost to the halfway point when they had to stop, but it was still a good bit of manual labor and a useful distraction to take their minds off the fact that they had all just witnessed one of the most gruesome deaths in their shared experience together.

Trying to prevent a repeat, he had the rest of the paladins lock their windows and bar them up with furniture just in case before they went to sleep. Dave just shrugged off the suggestion, mumbling something about how ‘falling for a woman’ was like dying anyway, so he might as well give it a shot if ‘that harpy hag wants a go at me,’ but Pelham blocked up his window for him anyway.

-----

Lee reluctantly crawled out of bed the next morning and then headed downstairs without much ado. Ling seemed to think he was doing better, or so he assumed based on the fact that she slept in her own room and not by his door this time, but she still took forever to wake up. The master bedroom of the manor was so opulent and decadent compared to the place at Ramon’s that he was half-tempted to come up with an excuse to stay an extra day, work some on the orchestrion and level up his skills more since he was making good time with all the things that mattered.

That temptation faded, however, when he saw who was waiting for him as soon as he came downstairs. He was greeted by Brigid and ten of her soldiers, all dressed in what looked like the most elite plate armor Lee had ever seen. They were all standing motionless behind her in two rows, one row on each of her sides.

“Sir,” a paladin said as he saw Lee come down. “A ‘Brigid of Kildare’ to see you. She has been awaiting your presence for nearly an hour. She hasn’t moved.”

Lee unconsciously looked over at the golem he had tailing her as soon as the mouse came into view. He knew exactly how long she had been there, and when she had left to come to him, but it was still a bit of a shock to see someone stand that motionless for that long.

How do they even do it? Lee wondered as he poured himself a mug of beer and sipped it while waiting for the rest of his crew to wake up. He wasn’t exactly afraid of the conversation, but he was hesitant to begin without everyone being present. Is it just like dead empty space upstairs, or are they so good at thinking about stuff that they can completely separate the brain from the body, letting their body wait while their brain plays?

“I think it’s a little of A and then a little of B, depending on which person you’re referring to,” Augustus muttered as Lee was spotted by Brigid.

“I see you do not take meetings seriously,” the Brigid said. “I’ve come to gather you. We are leaving now.”

“No.” Lee shook his head. “We gotta wait on Miller, Ling and a few of my paladins. Then we can go.”

“Why are they not up, armed and ready to go sooner?” Brigid fussed. “We have work to do, and valuable daylight is burning.

“Well”--Lee paused as he casually sipped his beer--“we had a bit of an unexpectedly-rough night, you know? Being attacked by an armed mercenary company, some people from the House of Tigernach’s leftovers . . . And, of course, that crazy large beast that ripped one of my men from his bed, dragged him hundreds of feet into the sky and then dropped him for everyone to see . . . Well, that kinda left the men needing a beer and a little extra time to sleep.”

Brigid’s face winced at the mention of Lee’s men dying. “I see. I see you’ve also . . . made more sculptures. Were those the men that died during the fight last night?”

“Not just the ones that died last night. The ones I’ve lost total,” Lee clarified.

“Ah.” Brigid pursed her lips. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“It happens, but you’re going to have to wait on my people nonetheless.”

“Honestly, I’d be sleeping if I could too,” Dave said through a mouth full of bacon as he waltzed out of the kitchen with one hand still clutching onto a massive amount of food and the other holding onto what looked to be a handcrafted seventy-ounce mug. It looked as if Dave had spent the whole night working on a sloppily-done, yet functional, ridiculously-large mug that could have easily been carved out of a tree trunk by a kid with no thumbs. “I mean, it’s been so long since I’ve been able to sleep more than a few hours without my beer orchestrating a faster prison break than we’ve ever pulled off, if you know what I mean.”

Lee couldn’t help but chuckle, especially with how contorted Brigid’s face was as she visibly contemplated whether or not to respond.

“The things she puts up with for you,” Augustus said over what seemed like the sound of someone eating popcorn in the background.

She’s not putting up with things for me. She’s just trying to make sure she has her magical bodyguard to help her with the Herald. That’s all, Lee quipped back.

“Nope. Definitely ‘cause of you,” Augustus replied. “I’m telling you, after all those ridiculous lines the other day, there is a very high chance she’s interested in you. Sure, you might have caused her to start a war and gotten a good portion of her army hurt or potentially killed in the attack, but that was all just foreplay for your next grand romance: the medieval edition.”

There is no romance, Lee sniped back. I have Masha waiting for me back at home. I don’t need to go off seducing every girl that will open her legs for me.

“But why--?” Augustus began talking, but then Lee thought he heard a woman’s voice behind him in the background that cut him off.

“See! I told you he wasn’t that type. He’s way better than you!” the voice quipped. It was muffled and hard to make out, the same way a television sounds in the background when you’re talking to someone on the phone.

“Look, that aside, why not? It’s not like you and Masha are even in the same dimension or timeline right now. As far as those things mix up, she’s already dead, so you should pick up another woman,” Augustus insisted. “You can’t have enough women in life. Trust me on that. Makes everything so much easier when one of them dies because you don’t age and they do.”

You know, Lee argued back, I’m kind of confused. Why do you keep trying to push women on me? Aren’t you supposed to be the god of crafting too? Not just alcohol?

“Well, technically, yeah. But what does that have to do with anything?”

I mean, not to go all speculative, but how in the world can the god of crafting be pushing for a harem? Wouldn’t that kind of kill productivity? Don’t people invent things because they have free time, they’re bored, or they don’t have a woman, and they’re trying to get one? If a scientist had a full harem to take care of, can you imagine how absolutely little he would get done? I mean, I’m not saying you can’t have a girlfriend and be productive, but trying to have several girlfriends and still find free time to get anything done? I don’t buy it. I’m going to state that I’m absolutely positive that there is an inverse relationship between the number of women you can have in a harem and how productive you can actually be.

Lee clearly heard the woman’s voice say this time and not Augustus’s. “Don't even try to argue with him. You lost the bet! He’s just better than you,” she argued.

Do I want to know what’s going on up there? Lee asked. Are you . . . Are you watching my life while eating popcorn with a group?

Augustus harrumphed. “Nothing is going on except the fact you aren’t getting some from a clearly-attractive woman just because of a girl that’s kinda dead as far as timelines are concerned. I swear, you’re such a bad Herald. How can we have so much in common genetically but be so different mentally?” Augustus asked. In the background, Lee thought he heard a “Pay up, monkey boy” comment from that female voice.

“Is something the matter?” Brigid asked.

“Oh, don’t mind him,” Dave answered. “He does that from time to time. It’s the whole praying thing. Communes with the god himself. From what I can gather, it’s usually when he’s out of beer. Like, when I first met him, he got on his hands and knees and prayed for half a day just to get some beer and bacon. Lo and behold, we’re fighting to the death later on and not a single ask for help from the deity. I’m telling you, man has funny priorities.”

Lee laughed, especially at the misunderstanding of the relationship since he did remember putting on the whole song and dance about praying to Augustus at the colosseum. “Well, it’s a matter of making sure the life is worth living before you ask for someone to save it.”

“That’s true. That’s true. Here I am, old enough to complain about my knees every morning, and not a single girl by the bed that I can talk into complaining about hers . . . Makes me wonder what I did wrong as a kid to earn this type of life,” Dave laughed. “Oh well. Maybe next time I’ll save my prayers for something better.”

“No need to worry about next time. We’ll have so much beer for you after we kill this Herald that you won’t be sober enough to remember any of your complaints,” Lee chuckled.

“Perhaps you should learn to pray for life because, even on a bad day, this Herald and her crazed soldiers could wipe out half the army of Birnefeld,” Brigid said. “I saw them in combat once, and it was horrid. Only a small squad wrecked a twenty-man unit without losing a single life . . . So, perhaps praying to stay alive should take priority this time.”

Wait . . . Lee realized what was happening. She thinks this is a suicide mission. She’s hoping to use me to drag Kirshtein into the war, and in the very worst-case scenario, do a little damage to the Herald’s forces before her own town is beset. She didn’t forgive me. She has no feelings but pure hate and wants to ensure my death with hers. They must have sent her on this mission as a means of punishing her for her failures and for her potentially starting a war. And those terrible lines. They assured her that I was worth dragging down with her. She really wants me dead.

“Alright, then.” Lee took in a deep breath. “I’ll keep your advice in mind. Dave, go slap the drunk Firbolg awake. We need to head out.”

“If it’s this dangerous”--Dave frowned--“do you want to leave Pelham behind? That boy is still wet behind the ears. We don’t need to--”

“What? Ditch me during the next fight too, you old curmudgeonly bastard?” Pelham said as he came down the stairs from the servants’ section. “You know I’m just as good at fighting as you. What the hell is this wet behind the ears? I’ve seen more fights than you’ve seen years.”

“Whatever you say, boy.” Dave laughed and then made his way up to the stairs. “Anyway, since it’s what you want, I’ll go slap your drunks around so we can get moving early.”

Dave returned quickly, apparently having awoken the slumbering beasts in record time, and everyone moved out without talking much. There were roughly forty men of Lee’s and twenty of Brigid’s. Lee had expected her to have more troops when she first showed up and proposed the idea, but he already knew by the time she arrived that twenty was all he was going to get. Now, it made sense as to why: the Dragon King’s empire, as she called it, was clearly not supporting her in this suicidal endeavor.

Even though they numbered between 60 and 70 people, the first half of the trip was incredibly quiet, except for Miller yelling at his paladins constantly as he tried to correct their ‘poor form’ and the continuous detours they made to ‘optimize’ the amount of killing they could get for the distance traveled. And no one seemed to be that cheerful about any of it.

The first full day and a half passed in the same fashion, with fewer conversations between Brigid and Lee than two characters on a twenty-minute-long sitcom--not that Lee worried about it too much. They were both using each other, and he knew it.

Just when it looked as if the entire trip would go on uninterrupted, their group was stopped by the most unexpected sight. There, in the middle of the road, they came across a group of seven kids. The children were huddled together, crying and sniveling, and they were the most miserable sight Lee had ever seen. Each child looked like it was between the ages of seven and ten, but they were all so haggard that it was hard to tell.

“What in the world are children doing out here?” Ling asked from behind. Lee and Brigid had been walking in silence side by side, his men on the right and Brigid’s men on the left behind them.

“I don’t know, but . . . it doesn’t feel right,” Lee answered back, glancing around the forest. He had seen far too many horror movies to think that this was going to be as simple as it seemed. If there were children in a place where children shouldn’t be, doing things children shouldn’t be doing, they weren’t children. Horror movie logic had taught him that much, and these kids in front of him were a prime example of just that.

“Maybe their parents died in a fight nearby? Or their parents are fighting nearby?” Dave guessed as he stared at the group of seven.

“That or . . .” Lee paused, using his golems’ senses to look around more closely. The first thing he noticed was that, though the kids were small, there was a track of big footprints leading to them. Not just the type of big that one would expect from a tall, heavy man, but the type that even a grizzly bear’s paw might not fill. There were several tracks leading right to where the kids were, and the kids were actually sitting in one of those tracks.

The next thing he noticed, and one thing that he didn’t need Ethan’s help with, was that the air smelled of blood. It reeked of it. At first, Lee had just figured it was because none of his group had taken a proper shower in days, but something in the back of his mind gave him pause and made him question that assumption. When the wind picked up a little and blew toward him, and the smell was still there, he knew something was off. It definitely shouldn’t have been. He used every sense his golems had, but it was to no avail. There was no sound of life anywhere near them, as if every creature in the forest had abandoned this particular spot. The only thing upwind of Lee at the moment was the kids, and they were surrounded by the large spaced-out trees that would have been at home in the Muir woods back home.

“They are likely refugees of that Herald’s war,” Brigid offered as explanation, taking a step forward. “We should help them out. We can spare a man or two to make sure they get back to camp safely.”

Lee grimaced. Why do you have to fill out the stereotype of the dense, caring woman? Don’t you know any better? No. Of course you don’t. This is a world without grenades, guns and horror movies. Children probably seem incredibly safe to you.

“Don’t take another step,” Lee warned, reaching out and grabbing her shoulder before she could head over to them.

“Mister, mister, is that you? Is someone there?” The kids asked turning to face Lee’s group. “Mister, can you help us? Mister, it’s cold. It’s lonely, mister. Can you help us?”

Dear God, why must you be so cliché?

“She said you would come, mister. She said you would come and save us. Are you here to save us? We have a letter for you. Please, mister. Can you come and help us?” One of the tiny ten-year-old-looking children rotated toward Lee, and his solid-white eyes seemed to be staring right at him.

“Miller,” Lee called over to the Firbolg who was a few paces behind them, instantly sharing a drink with Dave the moment the group had been stopped. “Miller, do you have an extra spear?” Lee asked.

“Yeah, are they about to be attacked?” Miller asked, pulling a spear from his inventory and passing it over to Lee. “Do we need to rush over and help them?”

“No, we don’t need to help them,” Lee said as he hefted the weapon into position.

“Mister, please come. We don’t know what to do. I can’t see anything at all mister,” another one of the kids complained. They were sobbing, crying out for ‘mister’ to help them, one after the other as Lee balanced out the spear in his hand.

“Lee, what are you doing?” Ling asked in alarm when she saw Lee’s pose.

“By the dragon, no!” Brigid shouted loudly, reaching for his arm a few seconds too late.

“I’m helping them,” Lee answered as the spear left his hand. The spear hurtled through the air and struck one of the seven kids right in the chest, carrying the tiny, four-foot boy several feet back as the momentum of the heavy spear dragged his body along the ground.

You have killed Puck. Your party has been awarded 2340 Experience. Your share of this is 780 Experience.

Across Party Lines (Undecided): 29 Seconds Remaining

Next buff - (Unknown): 29 seconds

As soon as the spear struck the child, not only did the death notice appear, but it was also accompanied by True Patriot’s buff options. He still didn’t know for sure how the buffs worked, but when he saw a blue circle next to the buff called Across Party Lines, he guessed it had something to do with range because of the name. With that, he instantly threw it on Ling, as she was the most reliable archer he knew, and he had a feeling he wouldn’t get another chance to manage the buff before the fight broke out.

“You . . . monster! Why did you . . . Why did you do that?!” Brigid panicked and began slinging accusations, and Ling was joining her as the normally-composed archer hyperventilated beside Lee, covering her mouth and breathing in and out of her nose as fast as she could.

“Lee, I’m with the women folk on this one. What the hell? There is no justice in what you just did! How could you kill the innocent--and children at that!”

“Do you have another spear?” Lee asked, turning to Miller who was fuming mad.

“My spears are not for this type of murderous barbarity!” the Firbolg protested.

“Fine, fine.” Lee shrugged and pulled out a bow and arrow, not wasting any time arguing. Even if they were furious, he knew better. His gut told him better. This time, he aimed for the head of one of the girls next to the boy he had struck and let the arrow fly, dealing a death blow in one shot.

“What are you-- Oh.” Miller stopped. He could see the same death notices as Lee, and he knew what it meant. But Lee didn’t get the chance to shoot a second one before Brigid grabbed his arms and tried to pin them behind his back. Lee struggled against her, trying to keep hold of the bow, but there was little he could do. Even Ling was assisting Brigid.

“You have to stop! Those are children!” Brigid yelled, squeeze Lee’s arms together. “Do you not understand the importance of life!”

Lee was going to answer her, but as soon as she finished, he was stopped by a series of loud yelps and gargled roars.

The kids had stopped crying. When Lee looked back to them, they were already changing into the most grotesque abominations that he had ever seen. Their tiny frames crackled and popped, and their skin stretched in inhuman ways as they grew from four to thirteen feet in moments. Their bodies wrenched and twisted horribly, and their screams changed from soft cries of desperation to ear-splitting screams of pain.

“Mister, you were supposed to help!” one of them roared. His face split open, and a giant, long-snouted bear face appeared, hair almost bursting through his skin.

“Mister, the God-Mother told us you would save us,” one of the little girls shouted. Her legs were no longer thin pole-shaped twigs, but were now large, mountainous shafts of muscle and fur.

“What . . . in the world . . .?” Brigid seemed to be at a loss for words, but that didn’t last long. She let go of Lee and his weapons as she backed up and drew her own, and then she started barking out orders. “They’re Phouka children! They’re the PHOUKA!” she shouted. “Men! Get a lance line front and center now! Archers, heavy-tip those arrows! These are the big ones! We need to do as much damage as we can!”

Miller also barked out something, but it wasn't orders. He just picked up his spear, slammed it to the ground, and yelled “FOR AUGUSTUS!” before charging forward. The rippling wave of his Drunken Shout coursed through everyone around them. It knocked Brigid and her men off-kilter as they tried to process the alcohol, but it didn’t faze the beasts at all. The Phoukas didn’t even so much as wobble when Miller’s wave of inebriation hit them full force, which meant that they were either immune to it or in a phase where it couldn’t affect their mental state.

The big ones, the term Brigid had used for them--and even in its vagueness, it fit them perfectly--were monstrous. They had the demeanor of a bear, but without the usual flab that it grew as it meandered through nature. Instead, they had the tight-muscled exterior of a gym rat who had been juicing for a decade. Their muzzles were larger, with long and wicked-looking teeth, their front legs were much longer than a four-legged creature’s should have been, like a gorilla’s arms were in proportion to its legs, and their heavy-footed paws ended in sharp-tipped claws that reinforced Lee’s fears that their speed would be a concern and that they clearly were capable of charging on all fours.

Lee didn’t waste any time. He charged forward the moment he saw Miller’s own crazed attack, following after the blood-thirsty Firbolg as quickly as he could. He stowed away his bow as he ran and quickly withdrew his trusty sword and shield instead. Time was of the essence, and they needed to kill these things as fast as possible. He had been hoping that the Drunken Shout would have had an impact, but he had never really been counting on it to begin with.

“Let’s get that one in front first,” Lee shouted to Miller as they ran. “Ling, have our troops circle around and pick off the sides. Have the shielded paladins hold the wall. Spears are our best bet.” He kept barking orders, although it was a habit of discipline more than necessity. If the last day and a half of fighting side by side with the paladins as the group hunted down and slaughtered every creature that looked like it was worth experience had taught him, it was that Ling could handle the commander's chair without him.

Miller and Lee both slammed into the still-shifting beast in front of them weapons-first as hard as they could. It was like running straight into the side of a car, except a car would have rebounded off the shocks and had more give to it. Rather than pushing the monstrosity back, Lee bounced off the monster’s thigh and was then thrown back when it lashed out with its leg, pushing him even further away.

“Duck!” Miller shouted. Lee obeyed the warning without so much as a second thought, and he felt the wind on his back as one of the monstrous claws swung past him, missing him by inches. Given how powerful the creature must have been in order to not have been even affected even in the slightest by their combined weight and power, he had absolutely no faith that he’d be able to heal if he were hit by one of those claws.

He looked over at Miller, who appeared as if he were barely able to get his spear more than a few inches into the beast’s tough hide, and then up at the giant towering over him. “Back up,” Lee said, pushing himself back and away as quickly as he could before two more swipes swept through the space he and Miller had just occupied. “He’s . . . He’s blind,” Lee said. “Even in this form, they can’t see.” Lee pushed himself to his feet and then to the side in order to dodge another attack. He was feeling rather cocky with that realization, only to have that bravado shattered a moment later as the paw bearing down on him reversed course the moment it hit the ground and pummeled straight into him. He was able to raise his shield in time, but it did little to stop the pain or force of the blow. The backhanded attack sent him flying through the air a solid ten feet before he crashed down on his rear, receiving 204 points of damage. The massive impact reverberated up his spine, and it felt like his ribcage and arms had been shattered. Even with all of the foes he fought in this new world, this was the most powerful attack he had been struck with.

“Roll!” Miller shouted.

Lee reacted without thinking. One of the other massive, ursine creatures crashed down a moment later in an axe-handled, double-fisted jump attack. It had apparently decided that going after the giant army behind Lee was less enticing than killing the small human in front of him, and it wasted no time before taking action.

“Hamstring!” Lee shouted back as he rolled into an upright position. He scrambled to his feet and then ran around in front of the first beast, shouting as loudly as he could to draw its attention. It worked well. The giant bear-like creature wildly swung back and forth, allowing Miller to move around behind it. The towering Firbolg’s spear swung past in a tight arc as he took a slash at its tendon, but his attack didn’t seem to do much. His spear cut through the creature’s flesh, but he must have missed since the target remained upright.

“It’s like a metal pole back there,” Miller shouted as he dodged a backward kick attack from the monster. “I can’t get it.”

“We need something,” Lee replied with a grimace. He was doing his best to stay out of the way of the attacks, but the Phouka was much faster than even something half its size should have been. It was only a little slower than a person using a weapon, and each time it pounded the ground, debris and dust flew up, obscuring his vision and filling his eyes and nostrils, making it even harder for Lee to dodge.

Lee turned to see what he could use against the monster, but the only thing he ended up seeing was bright-blue streaks whizzing through the sky as Ling’s arrows soared across the battleground and buried themselves into the beast in front of him while the other groups still desperately tried to control their own monsters.

“We need its throat!” Lee decided to gamble on the last option. If hamstringing the creature didn’t work, going straight for its throat or eyes was the next logical approach. The beast struck downward once again, its gorilla-like, eight-foot-long arms pounding the ground right in front of Lee, and an attack from the second Phouka arrived a moment later as the massive creature pounced forward. The two gargantuan ursine creatures collided with one another, and they briefly lashed out at the other’s chest with quick, impulsive movements.

Unlike his and Miller’s attacks, their claws dug in deep. There was a loud crack as one of the creature’s ribs was shattered under the forceful impacts, and rivulets of blood gushed out from the freshly-opened wounds that quickly covered their fur. The great, wounded beast threw its head back and howled a horrible cry of fury and pain that was quickly choked off by the gargled sound of blood as it filled his throat.

“Well . . .” Lee and Miller both quickly exchanged glances as they watched the unexpected happen. “That . . . kind of worked?” Lee shrugged it off as good luck and then immediately regretted opening his mouth when the shapeshifted monstrosities turned their attention back to him once again.

What am I doing? This is giant monster versus giant monster 101 from every movie. Lee had finally healed his own wounds sufficiently enough to risk a second attack, and he quickly leapt to the side, dodging around the two brutes as he attempted to get into a solid position to launch his attack from.

He narrowly escaped several blows thanks to Ethan, but then his luck ran out. A sweeping arm was a little too quick for him to duck under, and it caught him directly in the chest. The air was knocked out of him with a loud grunt, and he went flying back and to the side once again. The hit ticked away 245 hit points in a single stroke, but, even in his failure, there was a little success. Lee wasn’t the only thing struck by the attack: the brute also caught the other’s paw with its own. Once again, just like before, the opposite bear lashed out and clawed his companion’s chest, further deepening the wounds that had already been inflicted there. The bear completely collapsed to the ground, crumbling in on itself.

“Miller! Now!” Lee shouted, urging his friend to take advantage of the opportunity.

Miller rushed forward and jabbed his pike upward and into the wounded Phouka’s throat. The creature went from clutching at its chest to holding its throat as if trying to hold back the surge of blood issuing out. It let out a gargled groan as it fell down, and before it even hit the ground, Lee was already on top of it. The other beast made a crying sound, as if it understood what it had done, but Lee didn’t care. There was no way he was going to sympathize with the deadly creatures so intent on killing him and his friends. He brought his sword around in as hard a sword swing as he could muster, going straight for the arteries that led to its brain.

Just as Lee cut into the bear’s throat, he heard a loud shout from Miller. The Firbolg warrior had finally been caught by one of the other Phouka’s gigantic paws, and he had been sent flying to the side, screaming in horror. The giant Firbolg landed in a heap, and Lee knew that the gashes left behind by the creature’s long claws were critical at a single glance.

Lee flung himself off the Phouka he had straddled and instantly worked to create some distance. The monster flailed about, trying to hit Lee, but it was too little too late. There was nothing it could do to either save or avenge itself at this point.

You have killed Saoirse. Your party has been awarded 2340 Experience. Your share of this is 780 Experience.

“Miller, circle around its back!” Lee shouted as he approached Miller’s attacker.

“You know that won’t do any good. My spear can’t deliver the power needed to bring this beast to justice and make him face his maker!” Miller pushed himself to his feet with an angry growl and circled around anyway, holding his side with one hand and dragging his leg with a slight limp.

At that moment, the next buff option for True Patriot, Rising Poll Numbers, became available, and it gave Lee an idea. It had two red circles, and Lee was quick to bestow it on Miller when it appeared.

Lee hated having to use Miller in this fashion, but he needed to. He had found the only weaknesses these creatures had, and he was going to have to risk everything to pull this off. Miller finally circled around and waved a spear silently to let Lee know that he was ready.

“Run toward me!” Lee shouted. “I’m going to need a boost!”

Miller looked confused, but he followed the order anyway, pushing himself into a shambling run despite his obvious injuries.

The Phouka twisted its head back and forth between the two as if trying to discern the conversation. Lee started stamping his feet and shouting, making sure the creature knew where he was, and then loudly clomped to the left before silently ducking back to the right with a little help from his Sneak skill. He then dashed at Miller full speed. The monster blindly rushed forward at the sound of Lee’s voice, confident that it now knew exactly where he was since he had spoken up to let Miller know where he wanted him. Its thick arms swung from side to side as it came, tearing up huge clumps of dirt from the road with every swipe and sending them flying. It was terrifying to watch, and Lee was tempted to break out in a full sprint in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, he knew that he’d likely be a dead man the second he turned away. There was no way it would miss him if he made that much noise. So, instead, he forced himself to back away quickly to the right, hoping that it didn’t notice him.

“Drop to all fours!” Lee shouted.

Miller was clearly more confused by this fight and Lee’s orders than any he had ever been in, but he still obeyed. The Firbolg dove forward, instantly dropping onto his hands and knees and allowing Lee to springboard off of his back. Lee felt bad about putting so much pressure onto his injured friend’s back, but he had no faith that he’d be able to hit the beast where it mattered without the extra height, and he was surprised to find that Miller was as sturdy as a rock, his body glowing red as soon as Lee’s foot landed square on his spine. Lee thrust above his head as he flew through the air, and the point of his blade pierced into the Phouka’s thick neck, finally penetrating into its jugular.

Its claws raked into the flesh of Lee’s unprotected shoulder as its paws came around in another attack, and Lee was sent flying like a swatted mosquito. The combination of the damage from the blow and his rather ungraceful landing as he skidded over the rough ground and rocks knocked him down to less than 41 hit points, and a notification let him know that he was now bleeding at a rate of 10 hit points per second.

Lee was thankful for the fact that he was able to heal himself faster than he was taking damage as he stood up and looked over at the creature. It had collapsed onto its knees, and even stabbed and bleeding out, the creature was still threatening to hurt anything that was near it.

“Miller, can I please use one of your spears to kill this thing?” Lee asked.

Miller pushed himself back to his feet and glanced in Lee’s direction, warily circling around the wounded creature. “Make it quick. The beast fought well.”

Lee nodded, grabbing the spear and running toward it once more. The spear had a much longer reach that his sword, and the monster was already downed, so Lee was confident that he’d be able to land a killing blow this time. Just before he reached it, however, the creature lashed out at him in one final desperate attack. Lee ducked under the eight-foot arm, lowering his body as much as he could, and then pushed off with all of his might, launching the spear at the beast’s throat.

The spear struck home right next to its throat, and the beast stopped all of its attacks just before Lee ricocheted off the beast’s chest. The Phouka grasped the spear between its gigantic paws, pulled it out, and then looked down at where Lee’s body had struck. Then, like liquid flowing into a smaller container, the gargantuan monster transformed back into the little child. Tears fell from its red, bloodshot eyes, and it clutched at the injury in its chest with two tiny, childlike hands.

“Mister . . .” it sniffled. “I don’t . . . I don’t want to die,” the now-kid-shaped boy cried before sniffling once more and collapsing to the ground.

You have killed Liam. Your party has been awarded 2423 Experience. Your share of this 808 Experience.

“That was . . .” Miller seemed to be at a loss for words as he stared at the now-dead child.

“A little twisted? Uncomfortable? Messed up?” Lee cycled through possible finishes to Miller’s sentence as the two of them stared at the dead ten-year-old-looking kid before glancing over the rest of the battle site. While Lee and Miller had managed to fight two of the six remaining beasts without dying, the same couldn’t be said about the others. There were four large carcasses, but there were over a dozen bodies strewn about on the ground between the paladins and Brigid’s men, the death ratios seeming pretty even between the two groups.

Brigid was still alive. She was actually one of the few soldiers who appeared to be relatively unharmed, standing to the side and looking down on one of the enemy bodies. She pulled her sword from its eye socket where it had been buried and shook the blade to free it of the loose blood before wiping it across the creature’s fur to clean the blade. The dead Phouka was riddled with arrows, some of them still growing blue, lying on a bed of broken arrow shafts from those that either didn’t land or didn’t dig in enough to stick.

“No.” Miller shook his head as he looked around at the rest of the fight. “I wouldn’t say any of those. I would say . . . crazy. Exhilarating. Intense. That was the toughest fight of man versus beast we’ve had since those things in the mine tunnels outside of Satterfield. How amazing was that battle?”

Lee grimaced at Miller’s excitement. “You do realize we lost people, right?”

“All that died will dine in the halls of Augustus,” Miller proclaimed. “They shall drink the finest beer and eat the best bacon. But now, while we mourn, we can also celebrate the glorious battle that just occurred. We lament only that we doubted Augustus’s wisdom and that we failed to kill more of them before they changed shape.”

“I did try,” Lee grumbled, pointedly looking over at Brigid. “You guys stopped me.”

“A mistake!” Miller lamented, although somewhat dismissively. “A mistake I regret deeply upon the soul of every dead paladin. But the battle after . . . It was glorious.”

“It was . . . intense.” Lee patted his buddy on the shoulder, and then something else caught his attention. There, in the center of the circle where the kids had been huddled up, was another one of the cryptic letters that had more or less served the purpose of a sort of calling card. He had found one after each encounter with anything related to this crazy Meadhbh, The Mad Herald of Creepiness, and this fight was apparently no exception.

Miller followed where Lee was looking and stopped him. “Hey, before you grab that, do you mind?” Miller asked, signaling to his still-bleeding, injured side.

“Oh, yeah.” Lee used the hand that was already on the Firbolg’s shoulder to heal up the wound until it looked like it was as good as new. He didn’t know how many hit points Miller had, but he was annoyed that, for someone the same level as him, Miller seemed to have at least 20 or 30 more hit points, as he had pumped more than his own health pool into Miller, who, though gravely wounded, didn’t seem quite on death’s door. Then, after patching the Firbolg up, he grabbed the letter and went toward the others to see if any of them were injured and needed help too.

“How did you know?” Brigid asked him before he even got close to the larger group. “How did you know they weren’t what they seemed?”

Lee looked at the dead people behind Brigid. “I’m a Herald,” Lee answered, his eyes constantly scanning for any potentially mortally-wounded people. “It’s my job to know some of the details like this.” He couldn’t see anyone that looked close to death at first glance, so he looked over at Ling. “Are we the best we’re going to get? Does anyone need patching up?”

“No. Those who died from the initial hits died instantly. There were no wounded,” Ling reported. “It took us a minute to realize how to hunt them. I’m sorry. It was my failure. I’ll lead better in the future.”

Brigid marched up to Lee and positioned herself in front of him so that there was no avoiding her or her question. “Wait a minute. We’re not done here. I asked you how you knew. Are you not going to tell me?”

“You seriously don’t understand?” Lee snapped back, making sure to get as close to her as he could without physically touching and then using his height advantage to look down on her. “How do you think seven ‘innocent’ children made it into the middle of the woods? These woods that we had to fight tooth and nail to make it through? Why wasn’t there a single guardian in sight? Where did you think that smell of blood came from? Did you not notice the giant animal footprints leading up to them, but not leaving? ‘How did you not know?’ is the better question. The blood of every dead soldier here is on your hands for not letting me finish the little bastards before the first one shifted.” He had no idea why he wanted to be this mean or intimidating, but he did. The urge to take her down a peg and make her feel small boiled inside him, and he had to rein it back before he did or said something he would regret.

“I’m . . . I’m sorry, but you should have--”

“Should have what? You should have trusted me. Did you think--” Lee couldn’t help himself. He was ready to tear back into her, but Ling stopped him.

“Enough!” Ling shouted. “People died, and you’re arguing over who is most at fault? Show some decency!”

“Ugh . . .” Dave grumbled. Lee glanced over at the old man and saw that he was fairly well roughed up. “You know, the worst part about women talking is how often they’re right. I say we do what that loud Firbolg of yours is always suggesting and crack open one of the kegs and toast the fallen while we bury them properly. Can’t leave the bodies around for dogs to eat, you know?”

Lee looked over the bodies of the fallen and then nodded. “Yeah, that is what Augustus would suggest: have a drink for each of those that can’t.”

“Per person? Or do we split them? ‘Cause I can’t drink enough for every dead person here, and if we split them, then some of us are going to be without beer,” Pelham said as he started mentally counting up the bodies. “I mean, how ‘bout we do two or three drinks for each fallen brother and split them evenly. That should work, right?”

Dammit, Pelham. Lee didn’t even know how to respond to that. He just produced a few kegs and then a shovel he had hoped he wouldn’t have to use so soon.

“I still have more questions,” Brigid asked as Lee was chugging down a beer, eager to do his part and help get the bodies buried before they lost too much time on this stop.

“What is it now? Are you upset I didn’t kill them all at once?” Lee asked, a little annoyed she had dragged his people on what she thought of as a suicide venture. Even if she was mad at him, there was no reason to try and get the good people from Satterfield killed.

“Yes, actually,” Brigid answered. “I don’t know how, but I know that the dragon that attacked Kirshtein was your doing. How come you didn’t summon it or something grander here? You had the power to kill another Herald. I witnessed the ice giants your men fought off as you committed the deed. Why did you have nothing to finish off those six yourself?”

“Didn’t have time to plan,” Lee said dismissively, shrugging it off. “I don’t know what to tell you. Are you looking to blame me for their deaths, or are you just trying to find a place for your hatred and anger to go other than yourself?”

“I’m . . .” Brigid pressed her lips together until they disappeared into a single thin line. Then, looking around to make sure others weren’t eavesdropping but were instead doing what Lee should be doing, she continued. “I have every right to be mad at you. Do you know how many good men and women died because of that stunt you pulled dragging them into a war that didn’t even exist? Just for what? So that you could play your ‘god games?’ And here we are again: more bodies and more people dead so that you stupid religious psychopaths can flex your muscles and kill each other.”

Lee sighed vexedly. “It’s not that simple. You’re upset because I got people under your care killed. You’ve lost your composure and grown mad because they were your responsibility, and I understand that, but it’s the same for me. I did what I had to do to protect my race, my people, and those that had their faith in me. That’s a thing I’m sure you understand,” Lee explained. She seemed to register it, but it didn’t make her look any less angry. “Anyway, it’s not like I wanted to be in this war either, but there’s no use in complaining about it.”

“What type of attitude is that? As long as you’re still alive, there is always a point in reflecting on past mistakes,” Brigid replied sternly.

“I made no mistakes,” Lee replied, leveling with her. “I did what I had to. Just as you would have. You marched men to their death because you thought it was what you had to do. In that, we are the same. I just marched more of your men than my own.”

Brigid’s face turned beet red as she glared back at Lee. “This is not finished,” she said. “I just have men to tend to and organize.”

“Did you tell them at least?” Lee said, stopping her before she could turn and leave. “Did you at least tell them that they’ll probably die up here? That you’re knowingly leading them on a suicide mission?”

“Yes. Those that are here are the ones that wouldn’t leave even when they knew. These are the few that I couldn’t stop,” Brigid said, acknowledging the hidden question Lee was asking at the same time.

Lee looked over at the sixteen men patching themselves up. So few, Lee thought. Thousands of men she commanded, and here stand less than twenty. “Well, let’s see which ones we can keep alive till the end.”

After she left, and Lee was positive she was busy with her own stuff, he pulled out the letter that he had found and started reading it.

Last night, as I lay upon my back and stared at the sky, I imagined that beneath its starry visage was a perfect world, the world we will make. The world we must make. I saw it in its glory, its beauty, its purity, a world without my kind. Without the weak and broken. I know you’re on your way to be with me, coming closer by the day, and I can’t help but feel overjoyed. So lonely is this path, so heavy does it weigh upon my heart, that the thought of sharing the burden with someone else is a relief I cannot express, a joy that can’t be measured.

I can only wonder if others will ever understand us, if those in this world will see the horror that awaits them as time moves on, as technology catches up and lets the sickness fester to degrees that should never exist. Do they know what awaits us tomorrow? From a world where the healthy and able-bodied walked in mass to the world where everyone is born with something: born blind, born with diseases, born with a body that rejects all environments or limbs that don’t work. They will never have asked for that, but still they won’t be able to leave. It is life’s nature to preserve and persevere, and so they will, even as the pain and suffering grow by the day.

That’s why it is our job. We must spare them. We must cull the weak calves. So, today, I sent the weakest of my weakest calves to the butcher’s fields to eat the butcher’s grass while they waited for his axe.

See you soon, my butcher.

Lee shuddered as he read that last line. It was hard not to be both upset and creeped out. He didn’t know what time she had come from, or what her home world must be like, but the idea of having done her dirty work in killing these children left a knot in his stomach that wouldn’t untie itself.

“Worse than the last letter?” Ling asked as she creeped out of the shadows behind Lee.

He looked at Ling and just put the letter away as soon as he finished, not bothering to answer and not wanting to think about it anymore. There were so many horrid implications in what Meadhbh had written that he didn’t even know how to begin unpacking them. He didn’t really want to either.

“I see.” Ling’s eyes seemed to find something on the ground, focusing on it a minute before looking back up at Lee. “I know it’s not my place, but--”

“Then don’t,” Lee said, stopping her. “I don’t want to think about it, and I don’t want to talk about it, so . . . can we not?”

Ling frowned up at him, and then her eyes darted to that spot on the ground again. “Yeah, we cannot talk about it if that’s what you want.”

“Thanks,” Lee said. “I’m sorry if I seem snappy. How ‘bout we just go get a beer? We have a long day ahead of us, and I’ve got a lot of people to heal up.”

And just like that, another day passed. Lee and Miller took point, hunting down mobs and killing them at every chance even as Brigid and her men watched on in confusion. Even Ling didn’t seem to understand how Miller and Lee could be so eager to fight again after everyone came so close to death such a short time ago, but it was precisely that reason which drove Lee harder. When night set in, he didn’t even let himself rest. He started crafting as soon as he could, trying to finish his little pet projects before the next day came, and he and the group came face to face with what he knew would inevitably occur. Halfway through the night, a status message popped up to remind him about the project he had started earlier.

Congratulations! You have completed your first unique civic improvement for Satterfield. A water reserve, ground pump and basic piping have been installed. Satterfield has received an increase of 10 to its Tech and Utility score. Due to the fact this is the only water reserve of its kind within the area, Satterfield has also received an increase of 2 to its Influence and Tourism rating.

Really? Lee looked at the number with surprise. That’s amazing! Lee was thrilled as he looked over Satterfield’s new stats, a little happy with the fact he had gotten an unexpected boon from the ‘first of its kind’ bonus.

Of course. Why would you doubt me? You’re the one with 31 deceit, not me.

That’s . . . That’s not what I meant, Lee apologized to the AI yet again. Anyway, does this mean I can start a new project?

Yes. As soon as you’ve selected one, please inform me, and I’ll help you initiate the process immediately.

Okay. In that case, I’m going to want to start the wooden palisade framework around the town. Lee actually wanted to install proper stone walls, but he had found out when he was looking through the book that, unlike many other projects, walls were ones that had to be upgraded one stage at a time. A town had to have the wooden palisade framework before the town could get the upgraded version of fortified wooden walls. The next stage, of course, was a stone wall and then a reinforced stone wall. Each section wasn’t that expensive, but the town had to have them upgraded one step at a time, and since Lee hadn’t yet gotten into Masonry, he couldn’t rush toward a fortified stone wall even if he wanted to. He also knew that, even with the amount of money he had gained from the Tigernachs’ deaths, he didn’t have nearly enough to afford the more advanced stages like the fortified metal ramparts. Just one wall would cost Lee nearly 6500 gold, a price that he couldn’t ever justify spending on a town with such a small economy.

You do remember that part where I told you that it was not in your best interest to focus on defensive structures until you improved the Economic Strength rating or the Influence and Tourism rating of the town?

Yes, I remember that incredibly helpful rundown of how the system works, Lee answered.

Then why are you ignoring my advice and building palisades anyway? For a burgeoning town, you’ll be wasting 24 hours on a structure that will only increase Satterfield’s Defensive Strength rating to 3.

Yeah, but with fortified wooden walls, it should be able to reach 7 in no time, Lee responded.

But you do remember how it’s not necessary, right? I have been incredibly generous with my assistance. Why are you not taking it?

Oh. Lee wasn’t sure how to word it. Because, even if it doesn’t make sense, I’m still kind of worried about the crazy, psychotic shape-shifting Herald that has a weird obsession with me. I know the walls won’t help much, but I’d like to think that if a pack of Phouka wolves attack, they won’t be able to operate a door or get past the wooden wall that will hopefully be finished in time.

Oh. Paranoia. Yes, that is a strong motivator. However, you do know that, in the event the residents of Satterfield die, new ones will eventually take their place over time? So long as the land exists, and your improvements are in place, more people will be drawn to fill out the town’s standardized population-carrying capacity. Even though Satterfield has less than 200 people now in its current form, the carrying capacity is 325. As such, more people will eventually start appearing and wandering in to find residence in Satterfield. You don’t need to worry about the existing population of Satterfield, just the ratings.

Lee blinked, unsure of how to respond at all. So, if my whole town dies, more people will just walk in until the population reaches 325 again? Lee soaked in that little bit of information. Between the letters Lee had gotten from the crazy Herald woman, and now the things the omnipotent being running the status messages was saying, it was hard to stomach the callous attitude toward individuals’ lives.

Yes. That is the gist of it. You don’t need to worry at all. That’s why I recommend picking an option that will increase the Influence and Tourism rating. That way, when the people in your town die, assuming the infrastructure isn’t broken, the speed at which people replenish its ranks will be faster. This should assuage your concerns.

I . . . I think I’m going to let my paranoia win. I’m going to stick with the decision for the wooden palisades.

Suit yourself. The project has been started. 33 gold has been subtracted from your inventory, and your leading delegate in Satterfield, Henslee, has been notified about the impending construction to prevent confusion. 10% of your mana and mana regeneration have also been sequestered. The project will be completed within 24 hours. At that point in time, you may then choose to upgrade the wooden palisades to fortified wooden walls.

Thanks, Lee said, and then, picking up his needle, he went back to work. One of his golems helped with some of the finer points of his tasks as he silently toiled away in the private tent his paladins had set up for him. Part of him wanted to stop what he was doing, go have a beer with Miller, go hang out with Ling and take his mind off the day, but the other part, the part that won out in the argument, reminded him of how little time he had left before a real confrontation with this Herald broke out. He had to be prepared, and that meant he had to work hard and not waste a single hour or minute of his time before the upcoming battle, even if his preparations left his hands prickled with tiny holes as he fumbled through his next crafting adventure.

Chapter 6

Name: Lee

Race: Human

Class: Herald - Statesman

Level: 28

Health: 380/380

EXP: 42053/46500

Primary Stats:

Power 38 (42)

Toughness 38 (42)

Spirit 38 (42)

Secondary Stats:

Charisma 30

Courage 21

Deceit 31

Intelligence 201 (220)

Honor -2

Faith 32711

Personal Faith 224

Skills:

Unarmed Combat Initiate Level 7

Swordplay Novice Level 10

Sneak Journeyman Level 3

Cooking Initiate Level 7

Trap Detection Initiate Level 6

Knife Combat Initiate Level 9

Mental Fortitude Initiate Level 1

Sleight of Hand Initiate Level 3

Blood Shield Initiate Level 5

Sewing Initiate Level 4

Glass Smithing Novice Level 4

True Patriot

Carpentry Initiate Level 5

Delegation

The Statesman:

Territories:

Satterfield (+10: Savior)

Defensive Strength Rating: 1

Economic Strength rating: 3

Population Rating: 1

Territory Rating: 12

Tech / Utility Rating: 12

Influence / Tourism Rating: 4

Public Persona:

Kirshtein (-2: Unkind)

Birnefeld (0: Unknown)

Divine Skills:

Golem Sculpting Journeyman Level 4

Appreciative Drunk Novice Level 10

Nectar of the Gods Initiate Level 6

Spirit Smithing Initiate Level 5

Faith Healing

Ignis Veritas

Spirit Builder Initiate Level 1

Divinity Powers:

Life in Death

Titles:

Cheat Code Fighter

The Great Deceiver

The following day seemed to creep by slower than any day Lee had suffered through so far. When the alcohol had worn off, the taste of blood had gone, and daylight had set on the camp, doubt set in and snared the men. Even though Miller, Lee, Ling, Brigid and a few of the braver paladins set about clearing the forest of any murderous-yet-EXP-rich creatures, just as many now-timorous paladins viewed everything as a potential threat. They watched with constantly-peeled eyes, treating even trees and falling leaves as a danger--not that Lee blamed them. The miniature massacre that had happened the day before was enough to shake any man to his core. After all, it wasn’t every day that the most innocent and mundane-looking of helpless creatures turned into giant bear-like monstrosities that killed men without so much as batting an eye.

Lee wished that he could give a rousing speech or something to snap them out of their funk, but he didn’t really have any words to do it. The best that he could do at the moment was to let the alcoholic inebriated warcry of his Firbolg companion cover things up.

“I think they’re going to go crazy soon,” Brigid observed in a low voice as she walked up next to him. They had just finished putting down a dozen dire wolves that were being led by a shapeshifter, and Lee was immensely thankful this one didn’t have any letters for him.

“You think it’s that bad?” Lee asked, turning around to study the two groups. His men were a little skittish, but the few remaining members from her small force were much worse. Two of them actually jumped when they heard an owl hoot.

“I haven’t seen them this bad in a while. How do you keep yours together after . . . after whatever that was?” Brigid asked.

Wait, we’re talking again? Lee wanted to respond snarkily, but he swallowed that instinct. He’d be needing her in due time. “Honestly? Liquor. The horrors they’ve seen, the torture some of them have been through . . . I can’t imagine them ever stepping outside their front doors again without a little liquid courage.

“Nothing helps start a fire in the belly of a man like the proper fuel,” Miller said, nodding along to Lee’s sentiment. “Sometimes, it’s just you, your spear and three or four guys that each look like they could take you one on one. You know that you’re on the side of good, righteous justice and whatnot, but that doesn’t make the enemy any smaller. So, for me”--Miller looked down at his spear--“I just get trashed, grip this divine rod of heathen-slaying and murder enemies. Once they’re dead, I don’t have anything to worry about.”

“You know you’ve got the order backward, right?” Brigid asked. “It’s supposed to be that you don’t have anything to worry about, so you feel confident enough to kill them. Not--”

“Don’t explain it,” Lee interjected, cutting her off. “He knows better. He’s just having a go at you.” However, even he didn’t really believe the words as they left his mouth.

“What? Why would he?” Brigid blinked several times as she looked at Miller.

“Brigid, don’t mind him. He’s drunk,” Lee explained. “Then again, finding him sober is like finding an untouched plate of bacon and burgers at a barbeque.”

“Or like trying to find a good woman in the middle of the woods that has enough going wrong upstairs to drink with me,” Dave interrupted. “I’m asking you: what is it about me that screams, ‘I want to give advice to upstart bastards that get knock-kneed at the first sign of trouble’?”

“It’s definitely that bald spot on the top of your head,” Lee suggested with a laugh. “It’s a beacon reflecting wisdom to all around you.”

“Hey! That’s uncalled for. That bald spot was hard earned. It’s not just . . .” Dave trailed off as he saw something. Lee followed his eyes to see a woman sitting in the trees above them, thirty or forty feet off the ground. She was perched on one of the larger trees, watching the group below.

“Oh crap,” Lee said with a frown. This was one woman he couldn’t forget if he tried. It was the very first Phouka he had met, the one who had insisted that he must go and meet the other Herald, and if his suspicions were correct, she was also the same bird who lifted one of his paladins from the Tigernaucht mansion and dropped him from the night sky.

“What? You know this one?” Dave asked. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you did. I know you keep some pretty crazy women around you.” Then, looking over at Brigid, he added, “No offense to you, that is.”

Brigid frowned at the obvious insult, but then looked over to Lee. “Do you know her?”

“Yeah,” Lee replied. “She’s the one that sent one of our men airborne at the manor. Get the archers ready now.” He took out the four backpacks he had been working on the night before. “Miller, this ain’t a fix, but you know how to use this?” he asked, tossing two to the Firbolg.

Miller looked at it, and recognition quickly flickered through his eyes. “Yes. We have these back home.”

“Good, then I don’t need to tell you to--”

Miller grinned broadly, and he genuinely seemed thrilled by the prospect. “No. Truthfully, I’ve always wanted to try this out. Can’t wait!”

“Wait, what is that? Why are you--” Dave looked between Miller and Lee as they started strapping up the packs onto their backs. “Why are you two putting those things on? Is this a new battle-type fashion statement? I thought the hats last year were funny enough, but I missed that fad. Never did understand the point of a loose hat that doesn’t fit your head right.”

Miller went over to Dave with the extra one Lee had given him when he was done putting his on. “You won’t miss this one,” Miller said as he started putting the backpack on Dave. “It’s an exclusive trend straight from Augustus himself.”

“This came from Augustus?” Ling asked as Lee passed her a backpack too. “I expected more . . .”

“Beer add-ons? Bacon holders? Something that didn’t weigh as much?” Dave went through a list of suggestions. “Yeah, me too.”

“No, I was going to say something better looking.”

“Just wear it and be happy,” Lee grumbled.

“I don’t understand but . . . sure. Fine.” Ling acquiesced, although still looking unhappy. Given she had always stuck to simple, tight leather outfits or long dresses, Lee hadn’t figured her for the type to worry about fashion, but with that one expression, he knew he was wrong. Then again, even in his other world, the people who cared about fashion always surprised him. He had once asked one of his gaming buddies to come out and help him shop during the post-Christmas sales only to have the guy scoff and explain that he ordered his clothing online and in bulk because it was cheaper. As such, Lee had been caught completely off guard when he found out later on that his very same bulk-order-fashion-bum of a friend spent nearly 500 dollars over the course a year on microtransactions just so that one of his in-game characters could have multiple dress-up outfits.

“What are you doing?” Brigid asked from the side. “Why are you giving them backpacks?”

“Because of the crazy owl lady,” Lee answered, pointing upward. “I would give you one too, but I’m still working on pack five, low sewing skills and all,” Lee replied, shrugging.

“Why in the world would I need a backpack to fight her? Is it weighted? Is it supposed to be heavy enough that she can’t carry you away?” Brigid asked as she began going over the options.

“Umm . . .” Lee wasn’t sure how to answer it.

“It’s cleverness,” the owl lady answered as she jumped down off the three-story-tall branch and landed as if it were the easiest thing in the world. Lee didn’t know if it was an adaptation due to her other more avian form or if it was just that her level was simply that high. “He’s smart, he is. He’s smarter than all of you. He thinks, he plans, and he kills. He has the strength that she desires.” The owl lady was clearly beginning a mad rant, and Lee couldn’t help but wince and cringe with every word.

“That’s why she’s so happy he’s coming. But . . .” The owl lady’s head did that turning thing again that made it look as if her neck didn’t exist. Lee felt a little nauseous as he watched her head spin around at unnatural angles. “But she heard what happened yesterday. He was so strong. He didn’t hesitate. He did exactly as she thought he would . . . and then you. You came. You stopped him. You grabbed and held him like he was yours. He’s hers!” the owl lady hissed, and no one moved. A concave line of people began to form around her, bows were drawn, arrows readied, and shields went up, but no one even breathed anything besides shallow breaths, much less stepped forward. “It hurt her to hear. She was so . . . unhappy with you.” She whipped her head back around into an upright position, her gaze instantly locking onto Brigid. “So very unhappy.”

Welp, the horror movie dialogue is perfect, but now I definitely can’t hide any of the creepy obsession this Herald has with me, Lee thought.

“Lee, what’s she talking about? Why is . . . why is she unhappy with me?” Brigid took a step back without ever taking her eyes off the owl lady.

“Because you held his hand. You stopped him from his already-painful task,” the owl lady answered, slowly closing the distance between Brigid and herself. Lee instinctually followed the owl’s example and moved closer to Brigid as well. He could already feel warning bells in his head go off as his gut told him what was about to happen.

“Stopped his hand from what? Killing children? How could I have known that they were--” Brigid objected before being silenced by the creepy woman.

“Blind? Crippled? Weak and incapable of growing? They weren’t children. They were practically adults, not that their bodies showed it. Their genes were broken. They were broken. They were the weak cubs that their mothers wasted time nursing,” Ulchabhannadhbh said, steadily closing the distance between herself and her prey. The crowd shuffled away immediately, making it clear that no one but Miller, Lee and Dave seemed to want to be anywhere near the two women. The crazy owl chick kept silently inching nearer like a velociraptor, her head weaving from side to side with each step. “And you . . . You are the leach that has stuck itself to a lion, the barnacle trying to ride the whale. I cannot--she cannot--tolerate it. She has told me you are not welcome. You, who would make a hard job harder. You, who would shackle the strong with your weakness. No, I can’t tolerate that; she can’t tolerate that. Nature must cull the weak.” The crazy lady smiled, and then, within a blink, she had fully transformed.

Lee wasn’t even able to finish yelling out the word ‘no’ before the woman had already turned into a massive, towering owl. Her wings unfurled, and she was airborne in the next second. Lee already knew what her goal was: he had positioned himself closer to Brigid for just this reason. He launched himself at the two women, grabbing ahold of Brigid and trying to pin her to the ground. But it was too late. Ulchabhannadhbh had already grabbed the general and taken to the air, her giant, taloned claws pinning Brigid’s arms to her side. Lee was hoisted into the sky along with her, and the two were carried skyward like paper bags caught in a tornado.

Within seconds, they were seven or eight stories into the air. A few seconds more, and they were several hundred feet above the ground and climbing as Ulchabhannadhbh flapped her wings and climbed with no regard for her passengers. Despite her tough exterior, Brigid apparently couldn’t handle heights well at all. Her arms were pinned to her side, but her legs kicked back and forth as if she were running a sprint, and she screamed non-stop for the first twenty or thirty seconds of their flight.

“I see,” Ulchabhannadhbh said after Brigid stopped screaming. “You’re eager to see your queen. You’re eager to come! I knew it. I’ll take you both to her, and we can kill the weak one when we arrive. She’ll be so pleased!” Ulchabhannadhbh cawed joyfully.

“What do you mean, ‘kill the weak one when we arrive’? Why wait?” Lee shouted back as he realized how to handle the situation. “Why don’t we just start right now?”

Ulchabhannadhbh didn’t reply, but she stretched her wings into a glide and arched her head down to look at Lee. “You see, from where I’m at, you’re still weaker than me,” Lee shouted back with a grin. “So, we need to cull you too.”

“I’m . . . I’m weaker than . . . than you?” Ulchabhannadhbh seemed genuinely confused. “I am the strongest of Meadhbh’s flock. I am the fastest. I am. What are you doing?”

They were well over a thousand feet in the air, and he had spent that entire climb thinking of the best solution he could. Sadly, since he had been hanging around Miller and Dave too much lately, the only thing he could think about was fried chicken and beer--which meant that Ulchabhannadhbh’s legs basically looked like giant drumsticks to him at this point. As far as he was concerned, her feathers just furthered the look of an unplucked chicken ready to be prepped for the fryer.

He quickly removed the cooking oil that he had brought along for the expedition, took off the lid and recklessly splashed it upward, soaking the giant owl’s lower legs. It was a rather hard task, given the fact that they were soaring through the air, and he had to account for wind. The best he could do at the speed they traveling at without getting it all over himself and Brigid was covering her drumstick-like legs, and he hoped that would be enough.

“Just prepping for dinner,” Lee laughed to himself. He was terrified of heights, and making a joke or two as he worked was keeping him from thinking about what very surely might end up being his incredibly-untimely end. The only comforting thing was that he knew that he could heal himself up as long as he survived the fall. He had heard of too many horror stories of bad parachutes not opening, and the best he could hope for in that scenario was shattered kneecaps and broken bones--and the very real possibility that he might never walk again, even if he somehow managed to live.

“Dinner? By the gods, is food and beer all your group thinks of?!” Brigid complained, having somehow heard Lee’s joke. “It’s one thing after a fight, but we’re about to die, and you’re still talking about food! Haven’t you kidded around enough?! Take life seriously for once! You’re supposed to be a Herald, a leader of people! Not a clown!”

“And you’re supposed to have some damn faith!” Lee shouted back as he finished applying as much oil as he could. Then, he put his hand on one of the oil spots and concentrated. At first, nothing happened.

“Well? Show me why I need faith!” Brigid snapped again. “Do something! Please, gods, I don’t want to die like this!” Her pleading quickly devolved into begging. “I want to die fighting, not like this. Please no, not like this!”

So, you’re not as brave as you try to pretend. It took nearly two minutes for Lee to slowly build up heat up in the oil, but then, it finally happened: ignition. Once the first spark erupted, Ulchabhannadhbh’s oil-soaked legs exploded into a massive conflagration. Unfortunately, Lee was unable to stop himself from getting burned too. He instantly switched from using his spirit to light the oil to using it to heal his and Brigid’s burns simultaneously as the fire fed off the rapidly moving air around them, building heat and horribly scorching them both in the process.

Lee watched as damage markers went off, one after the other. They started with a series of rapidly-appearing 20-damage notifications and then upgraded to 25 and then finally 30 while Ulchabhannadhbh screeched in pain. Lee took extra damage from the fire just to make sure his backpack didn’t get burned in the process, slightly shifting his body toward the scorching flames. His health was falling quickly, but sure enough, after a few moments, Ulchabhannadhbh’s grip on Brigid faltered. When that happened, Lee pulled out a sword with his still-burning free hand and sliced at her right leg.

Within a few seconds, Brigid had broken herself free of Ulchabhannadhbh’s clutches. She tried to grab ahold of the blazing bird as she fell away, but Lee intercepted her hand and stopped her. Instead, he took her arm, hoisted her to him and hugged her as tightly as he could against his chest. And then he let go.

“You idiot, you killed us both! We could have ridden her corpse to safety!” Brigid screamed.

Lee had no idea if this would work or not. It wasn’t exactly made with the right cloth or material, and he didn’t exactly have expert plans or experience crafting parachutes. He was terrified that it would rip at any given moment and let them plummet to their doom, so just in case, he kept both her and himself healed, trying to make sure that they’d still have a few hit points left to take the fall, even if they crashed at a dangerously-fast speed from the ridiculous height.

“Just shut up and hold on to me tight,” Lee said through gritted teeth over the wind. He let go as soon as her arms were wrapped around him, grabbed the parachute ripcord and ejected what he prayed would be a functional device. Wind caught in the parachute, unfurling it above and revealing the gigantic beer mug stitched into the fabric. Their descent finally slowed, and Lee looked over to see Ulchabhannadhbh tumbling down through the air, a gigantic ball of flame falling toward the ground like a meteor. Even if she was crazy, Lee couldn’t help but pity her. Before she even hit the ground, the familiar death notice appeared.

You have killed Ulchabhannadhbh, Chosen of Maedhbh. Your party has been awarded 4267 Experience. Your share of this is 1423 Experience.

You have also received the title: The Aggressive Mile-High Chef. A culinary jetsetter and trendsetter, you bring unrivaled passion and flare to the art of airborne cuisine. For spearheading the flying feast, you have received +1 to Cooking, +1 to Charisma, +2 to Courage.

Lee couldn’t help but chortle as he and Brigid continued to slowly drift downward. System, don’t tell me you’re the one who invents these titles? You didn’t just give me one because you thought a giant bird creature covered in oil and deep-fried at a high altitude was funny, did you?

Please. While I’d like to take credit for these titles, the author is much more juvenile and far less sophisticated than I am. If it were up to me, I’d have given you other titles long ago.

Other titles?

Yes. Other titles.

Like?

I don’t have the power to give them to you, so there is no use mentioning any of them. However, know that I believe that the casual way in which you treat the lives of those around you should earn you at least some minor title like The Diligent Despot.

Why do I feel like you are trying to sell that title as a compliment?

Because I am. A despot is a ruler with absolute power and control over a government, and one that exercises it in a way that doesn’t necessarily take the lives of its people into regard as the despot continuously makes decisions that are best for both the country and the despot. You are a despot, and when you are diligent in your work as you toil to reach the greater goal, it’s admirable. Although, I was a little disappointed with your recent decision on the wooden palisades. I’m having to rethink my desire to call you a diligent despot. Perhaps the one who assigns titles was indeed correct in not awarding you with such a magnificent label.

Yup, Lee sighed. I was right. You did mean it as a compliment.

Of course.

Well, thank you, I guess? Lee made sure to add the ‘thank you’ yet again. Now that he knew exactly how cold and heartless the AI could be, he definitely promised himself he’d do everything he could to stay on its good side.

Lee looked down at the ground as he finished his conversation with the system. He wasn’t sure where to land as they glided down, but the massive trees looked like they could be both potentially deadly if one of the branches ripped through his parachute or snagged it in just the right way, and he didn’t want that. There was actually a small clearing on the mountain below. He couldn’t tell exactly what was on the ground, but something had knocked down a ton of trees, and it looked like it would be a somewhat safe spot to land.

“Hold on tight. We’re coming in for a landing!” Lee grabbed the cords attached to the chute and started pulling on them, angling toward the clearing. He didn’t have a lot of experience, but with a little trial and error, he quickly figured out exactly how sensitive the cords were and what he needed to do to get into that clearing. The best he could hope for at the speed they were gliding and their rate of descent was to barely miss the tree line and just reach the huge open spot, which he hoped had a lake or something comfortable to land in.

“I’m holding tight! I’m holding tight! Is it over yet? Please tell me it’s almost over!” Brigid panicked, emoting more in those minutes than she had over the course of the three days they fought side by side--assuming, of course, that he didn’t count her continuous angry glare every time she had looked over at him.

“Almost. Just relax. I should be able to heal us up if we get hurt in the process,” Lee assured her. He almost wanted to pat her on the head and comfort the scared general, but his hands were still full trying to save their lives. Then, they crossed the tree line, and Lee was finally able to see what was beneath them. He immediately wanted to turn around and risk getting caught in the skyscraper-high woods.

There, beneath him, was a battlefield littered with corpses. It was the scene of an incredibly-bloody battle, and Lee’s eyes instantly locked on to what he suspected was the victor. There were dozens of bodies, all missing limbs, and blood was splattered around in the most grotesque fashion possible, turning the ground dark red and black. Shapeshifting wolves and bears like the ones that Lee had fought had been butchered there as well. However, in the middle of the field, standing nearly twenty feet tall, was a giant blob of muscles and bones. There wasn’t a shred of skin left on the gargantuan body; it was covered in exposed muscle and rivulets of bright red blood. The closest thing that Lee could compare it to was a fat, flayed human with broken bones jutting out of it in every direction and a face that seemed to have layer after layer of tiny, sharp teeth. There were no eyes, nose or ears. Just a giant gaping maw for a mouth that was filled with teeth.

Lee knew the creature was the clear winner of the conflict. Not only was it the sole survivor in a field filled with gore, but it was poised over two of the shapeshifting bear-like creatures that Lee had struggled so hard to kill. It was clutching what appeared to be an uprooted tree in one hand, and it appeared to have used it to smash the two creatures to death. Simply seeing the aftermath of that sheer feat of strength caused Lee to shiver a bit and want to turn and run the second he saw it.

What in the hell is that?! Lee was seriously hoping that it didn’t notice the huge parachute as he descended down to solid ground with a frantic red-headed Leprechaun clinging onto him as he did it. No, there is no way I’m not going to get noticed. I need to get ready to fight. Lee scanned his surroundings, suddenly feeling rather blind without the help of his usual flying mice. When he went to check for them, he did discover something odd. Instead of waiting for him while he went up to save Brigid and kill Ulchabhannadhbh, all three were flying at top speed toward him, their mental connection giving them a perfect compass pointing the way.

“Lee . . . What is that? Is that yours? Please tell me that’s yours. That’s one of your creatures . . . like the dragon, right? This is just like when you summoned the dragon. You just had to prepare for it . . . and know it was happening . . . and, oh sweet buttered butts in bed, we’re going to die, aren’t we?” Brigid was practically hyperventilating when she saw the sanguine, muscular monstrosity.

“We’re going to be fine,” Lee said, hoping it wasn’t a lie with only a slight timbre in his voice. “Just calm down. Lift up your legs and wrap them around me. We’re going to slide into the ground now.” She wrapped her legs around his stomach as she was told, and he lifted his own legs up, bracing for impact. His feet thankfully touched down first, and his momentum carried him away across the slick, blood-soaked grass until they collided with the massive body of an ursine Phouka. The parachute collapsed behind him, and Lee sank to the ground on only slightly-shaky knees.

“There, we did it,” Lee said as he undid the straps on the backpack and stood up as quickly and quietly as he could, trying not to be noticed by the monstrous blood creature--if that was even possible at this point.

“I kind of thought he’d have another Herald kill befo--” he heard Augustus say, the communication ceasing before he even finished his sentence.

Another Herald kill before what? Before what, you shapeshifting bastard? I swear, is this Herald yours? All these animal forms . . . You’re not really one of the Phouka, are you? Lee asked.

“Of course not. My pre-divinity race was human, just like you. Now, be quiet and pay attention. You might die if you’re not careful. That thing looks hideous,” Augustus advised.

Lee was going to make a clever retort, but the animal-shaped bastard of a deity was right: that thing was Brobdingnagian in size, and Lee felt like he might die at any moment.

“Okay,” Lee said to Brigid. “We’re safe. You can stop holding on to me so tightly.”

“Fine,” Brigid mumbled reluctantly, releasing her death-like squeeze on Lee and letting her feet drop to the ground. Even as Lee had unstrapped a moment before and stood up, she still had her eyes closed like she was clinging to Lee for dear life.

“What, no ‘thank you’?” Lee took a cue from the snarky system that managed him and pestered Brigid about having saved her life. “You know, for risking everything to rescue you from the jaws of death? Not even a ‘thank you, kind hero’ or an ‘I’ll never forget this’?”

“There is already one thing related to you that I won’t forget. Why add another?” Brigid shot back as she dusted herself off. “Your help was very much appreciated. I did not want to die like that.”

“Being crushed by a murderous beast or killed by a Herald . . . That’s fine?” Lee kept his voice down as the two of them slowly moved away from the big, blood-soaked, skinless thingy that had rampaged through the area and killed so many people. “You’re fine being sent to your death, against . . . whatever that thing is . . . or whatever the Herald is that controls these beast men . . . but not by falling?”

“Falling is different. It’s . . . scarier. Look, I’m afraid of heights, okay?” she yelled back at him in the softest voice possible.

“Wrong,” another sharp-but-feminine voice interrupted them, shocking Lee and Brigid both into stiffness. “Wrong, wrong, wrong. I swear, whoever wrote these side characters is terrible. I mean, his lines are fine, except they’re way too direct. But hers? Terrible. She should be all ‘It’s not like I like you or anything.’ Maybe she could spice it up by saying, ‘It’s not like I wanted to be saved by you,’ and then her face should go red to match her hair. At that point, she should stomp her feet and pout. Wait, is this her pouting? It’s terrible. The pouting should be way more authentic-looking. You two are just . . . Ugh! So many well-written stories, so many great characters with perfect backgrounds . . . Why did you two have to show up and ruin it?”

“It’s not like I like you or anything.” Lee’s brain took a total of two seconds to catch that reference as he turned around to be greeted by a stunning, perky, blue-haired girl with a smile on her face and an outfit that screamed cosplay. Specifically, it was cosplay from the top-selling high school detective series, Fushigi na Koukou. “Are you serious? There is no way at all she’s a tsundere. She just legitimately hates me,” he began, arguing with the girl before he could stop himself. He didn’t know why, but the familiarity of a subject he never thought to encounter here at all, one that he actually liked, caused him to open his mouth before his brain could stop him.

“What? How is she not a tsundere?! She’s tall, she has red hair, she seems like the type to fight with a melee weapon, and let’s not forget the most important determining factor in a tsundere,” the woman argued back. “Besides her weird insistence on not liking the man she likes, that is.”

“What main quality?” Lee asked.

“You know? You do know, right? No, never mind. Men are so stupid. Why won’t you just admit that she has that other quality? Here, you can check for yourself.” The woman pulled out a long measuring tape and walking up to Brigid. The general didn’t move one way or the other, but her eyes never left this bizarre, fast-talking, blue-haired woman. Then, without warning, the cosplay girl wrapped the cord around Brigid’s chest. “See? Just look how small they are.”

Brigid snapped, batting away the woman’s hand, backing up and then covering her breasts in one quick motion. “I am . . . They are not small! They’re the perfect size!”

“Classic tsundere,” the woman said, nodding proudly to herself as she actually posed in front of Lee.

Lee wanted to stop this insanity before it got worse, but this girl was apparently one of the survivors, which meant she probably was on the same side as the bloody monstrosity they had seen.

Wait a minute . . . Blue hair? A sleek Japanese-style schoolgirl cosplay outfit . . . Lee gasped. “You’re a Herald! Are you the Herald? Are you queen Meadhbh?”

“Oh, her? No. I’m Jade, the Blood Queen! Savior of New Kyoto, Rescuer of the Handsome Virgin Prince, Vanquisher of the Maiden-Chasing Demon, and the one who created this world’s first Japanese-style bathhouse! Onsen for the win!” she proclaimed proudly.

“Your name is . . . Jade?” Lee looked at her skeptically. Even if she seemed to be very into Far-Eastern culture, she was still as white as he was, perhaps even paler. Lee couldn’t tell what her hair’s natural color was, but everything else pointed to whiter than the whitest bread, not rice.

“Yes, Jade. Just Jade. The future queen of . . . Well, I haven’t named this place yet. I couldn’t decide. Took forever to name the town, so I figured, why bother with the planet’s name? I can come back to that later after I take it over with the handsome husband that I’m on my way to meet.”

“Husband?” Lee found that a little surprising. “You’re on your way to meet a . . . husband?”

“Yes. A husband. Not just any husband, either, but one of the greatest men to walk the world,” she said proudly. “I’m not sure what superpower he’ll have, but I know it’ll be really cool. He won’t talk much, and we’ll end up in this amazing lovey-dovey relationship when he struggles to confess his feelings for me, only relenting in a night of passion as he steals me away from another dashing man that’s trying to advance, woo and pluck me like fruit from a holy garden.”

Every time Lee thought he had gained a foothold in the conversation, this woman managed to surprise him yet again. “You’re not only going to meet a husband, but you already have a love triangle planned?”

“Of course. You know what a tsundere is? Right? So, you must know what anime is. And that we’re in an anime-style game thing. Which is such a relief. I’ve been dying to gush about my favorite anime forever, but everyone here is either part of the best group of roleplayers to ever walk the world or an NPC. I can never tell which is which.” Jade looked over at Brigid. “That one is an NPC, right? Like one of the side characters that they add for fluff and emotion so the writer can kill her off later?”

Lee glanced over at Brigid. He hated to admit it, but this woman’s twisted sense of reality was actually somewhat insightful. “Yeah . . . I suppose I could see that actually.”

“Anyway, nice to meet you, fellow anime lover. Glad to see you started your harem off with a proper tsundere so as not to break the expectations of your fans, but I must be going. Had a tough battle here, and old clunky guts won’t last more than a minute or two longer, so I need to get moving while I can. I’m off to find the great, the handsome, the mysterious and amazing, the wonderful and enchanting man who will soon become my husband. He’s even killed two other Heralds before, and I’m told he’s incredibly dreamy. I can’t wait to meet Lee,” she said, holding both hands over her chest like she was posing in a K-pop video and then sighing.

“Wait, did you say ‘Lee’? Isn’t that your na--” Brigid started speaking, and Lee quickly threw both his hands over her mouth, attempting to seal the information-revealing woman’s trap as soon as possible, but she had already gotten too many words out. Crap, no, no, no! I have enough crazy women trying to get with me! Lee winced, looking over to see if Jade had noticed.

“What? Do you know where Lee is? I’ve been looking for him everywhere. I was told he’d be here with Meadhbh. Have you found him?” Jade asked, but Lee didn’t remove his hands. He simply smiled while both Jade and Brigid shot him a ‘what the hell are you doing?’ look until he finally removed them.

“Sorry, I just . . . You know, you're on such an important mission . . . I wouldn’t want to . . .” Lee said, trying to salvage the situation.

“Wouldn’t want to what?” Brigid asked, giving Lee an incredibly-mischievous smile. “Introduce yourself before she leaves?”

“That. Yes, that.”

“But . . . Lee, the great Herald of Augustus and slayer of Devin, Herald of the Goddess of Ice, why wouldn’t you?” Brigid made sure to add some entirely-unnecessary grandeur as she outed him, perfectly enunciating every word and emphasizing every syllable with extra care and effort.

Jade seemed furious when she heard it. “Herald of Augustus? Killer of Devin? Your name is Lee? No! No, this won’t do at all! You can’t be Lee!”

“Oh, he is,” Brigid assured her. “He is most definitely Lee. He can even perform cool miracles like healing people instantly, brewing amazing beers in the blink of an eye and crafting anything you can think of--like whatever that contraption was that he used to stop us from dying.”

“The parachute?” Jade turned around and looked at where it was, strewn across the ground. “Ugh! You are from my world just like Sord’s stupid Herald. This is just . . . so not fair. You can’t be him. You can’t be him at all. This isn’t right!”

“Why can’t he be him? Is it because he’s not handsome?” Brigid said. “I can definitely see that as a problem. He isn’t the ugliest Human I’ve seen, but there are definitely better-looking ones. Wait, is it because of how weak and puny he is? How he always hides behind his--”

“SHUT UP, SIDE CHARACTER!” Jade shouted. “You have no idea how annoying it is to see the tsundere character insult and belittle the main character episode after episode but still get him in the end. I swear, it’s what I hate most about anime. It’s the only thing that those beautiful animated creations of life and love have wrong! You tsunderes should die! Blue hairs should win for once. Why must blue hairs always lose?!”

Brigid was clearly stunned by the fact Jade had lashed out at her and not joined her in piling insults on to Lee. “Huh?”

“Do you know how frustrating this is? I’ve traveled through cities, across plains, over rivers and up mountains to meet him, and you're telling me he already has a feisty tsundere chick following him around everywhere? Ugh! SO MUCH FAIL!” Jade grumbled loudly. “Next thing I know, you’ll be telling me he has a quiet-yet-super-helpful dark-haired girl following him around everywhere, one who is really smart and--”

“You mean Ling?” Brigid asked.

“NOOO!!!!!” Jade let out a scream of frustration. “No! No! No! This can’t be happening! He has both the tsundere and the megumin. Calm down, Jade. Deep breaths. Husband-stealing plan can still work. Wait, he hasn’t . . . he hasn’t done anything with this Ling yet? Has he? No, stupid question. The male character always has plenty of women around but never does anything with any of them. Why would I ask that? It’s just a dumb question. Deep breaths. Calm down. We can do this.”

“You do realize I can hear you?” Lee asked, completely stunned. He had been hoping to back away slowly and run before this woman realized he was gone, leaving Brigid to be a ritualistic sacrifice as he booked it straight toward his gang of Little Ethans, but he just couldn't wish that fate on anyone. This woman was borderline psychotic-obsessive at best, clinical at worst, and she saw Brigid as both an obstacle and an NPC. He could only imagine what combination of things that might possibly go wrong and turn messy if he left the situation unsupervised.

“I mean, am I wrong? Have you slept with a single girl since you’ve gotten here? Stop acting like I’m wrong. We both know how this plays out,” Jade insisted. She took a few more deep breaths, closed her eyes and looked over at Lee. “Alright. I suppose we must do proper introductions. I am Jade, the Herald of Mary, Goddess of Blood, who I think is sleeping with your god, Augustus, as we speak. I keep hearing that jerk in the background when she talks to me, not that--”

“Wait, what? Huh? You keep hearing Augustus?” Lee couldn’t let that detail slide without interrupting and asking. “Do you hear that annoying troll-like voice that grates on your ears when you talk to your own divinity? And . . . Does yours kinda sound like”--Lee paused and then did his best impression of the girl he had heard in the background when he last talked to Augustus--“that? Does she talk like that?” He was both ashamed and proud at how accurate the voice was.

“That’s her! That’s her to a T! Oh, man, so you’ve heard her too? Ugh. Thank God! Or Goddess . . . or Mary, or whatever! Anyway, it stinks that I ended up being the side character. I had a whole harem of potential men chasing me that all just conveniently happened to die as soon as you showed up,” Jade sighed.

“Oh.” Lee frowned, looking around at all the dead bodies. “I’m sorry for your loss. Do you want to, you know, take a moment?” he asked. He understood how difficult it would be for someone who had just lost so many people close to her.

“For them?” Jade tilted her head. “They’re just NPCs, man. They’re like the background characters in every anime that die anyway. They’re not real. This whole world isn’t real. So, it’s no big deal. They were destined to take a dirt nap here, not to mention I couldn’t have won if they didn’t.”

“Huh?” Lee didn’t exactly know how to unpack what Jade was saying. So, like, the computer system that talks to me . . . She thinks none of this is real. They have personalities, families, react just like people, but to her they’re just . . . NPCs. That would explain why she doesn’t seem at all phased by the fact that so many people with her died.

“What ‘huh’? I said I couldn’t have won if they didn’t die. This was a tough fight, but thankfully”--Jade extended a hand, blood from the ground rising up and forming a perfect katana shape in her hand--“with their noble sacrifice, I was able to gain the materials needed to”--she paused and made a slash with the now-hardened blood katana--“slice through my enemies and achieve victory!”

“So . . .” Lee looked over at the golem.

“Yup! Took like forty dead bodies to make that big ol’ guy. I mean, it was hard keeping him alive at the start. He begins as nothing more than a waist-high little one, but once I get enough material, he really shines. Not to mention, nothing feels greater than making a giant, undead, flesh-monster and using it to rip trees out of the ground and hit people with them,” Jade said proudly. “If video games have taught me anything, it’s that the necromancer is the perfect class so long as you have enough bodies to throw at a problem.”

“You’re a little insane. You know that, right?” Lee chuckled softly, not because he found the situation funny, but because it was disturbing and uncomfortable enough that he didn’t know what else to do.

“Well, I am imagining myself stuck in a fictional anime world where I’ve been tasked with spreading a stupid religion and where I’ve been given only three powers to perform miracles and do it with.”

“If manipulating blood and making . . . blood golems? Undead thingies? Whatever you call that . . . If those are two of your powers, then what is the other? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Oh, I don’t mind. It’s just sooooo useless. It’s like the worst power you could ever give a girl,” Jade said with a frown.

“Which is?” Lee pushed, very curious what type of useless power she was complaining about.

“Pregnant,” Jade harrumphed.

“Your third power is . . . that you’re pregnant?” Lee still had no idea what she was talking about.

“No, it’s . . .” Jade turned away for a second. “I have the power to make sure that a copulating couple gets pregnant and even has twins or triplets. Apparently, my power also speeds up the process, like halves the amount of time it takes. It’s so annoying and useless and awful. Why couldn’t it be the opposite? Why couldn’t I have the power to make it so that a woman couldn’t get pregnant? That would have been helpful. Then I could have used that reverse harem of mine for a lot of fun without constantly being afraid that I’d end up with thirty babies after one night in the sack.”

Augustus, is she . . . Is she trolling me? Lee asked in his head, only to hear raucous laughter echo back at him. Actually, never mind. Don’t answer. I wouldn’t be able to believe you if you did anyway.

“So, you mean,” Brigid began, interrupting them, “that you can half the suffering of expecting mothers, ensure they are with child and double and triple the bountiful yields of their belly? How can you call this a curse?! This would be a godsend in any town! Blessed is such an amazing ability!”

“QUIET, NPC!” Jade yelled at Brigid. “I did not initiate dialogue with you, so will you freaking shut up and throw some random punctuation above your head until you’re spoken to!”

“I am not an NPC!” Brigid shouted back. “I am a person, and I will have you--”

“OH MY GOD, if you don’t stay quiet, I will murder you right now just so that I don’t have to listen to your incessant and useless chatter. I swear, I don’t know who made this anime, or game or whatever it is, but the unprompted dialogue from NPCs has to be the single most annoying part of it. Why couldn’t I have been stuck in an adult literature book?” Jade continued grumbling on, but the threat seemed to silence Brigid, especially since the giant blood-beast turned its head in the middle of Jade’s yelling. “Anyway, since you’re Lee, I’m supposed to kind of give you something . . . but I lost it.”

“You’re supposed to give me something?” Lee was never sure what this woman was going to say next, so at the mention of a gift, he slowly took a step back, just to be on the safe side.

“Yeah, I had a cool present for you. I had stitched together a big, giant stuffed anime waifu pillow. It was amazing. Unfortunately, I left it with Prince Ichigo Lelouch, and he went up and got himself killed ten seconds into the fight. The pillow was wrecked in the process. Now, I’m kinda . . . you know? Without a gift. But it’s cool. I know exactly where to get another. There is supposed to be this angry, cranky, crazy cougar chick up the mountain with a hoard of goodies she’s taken from other villages. She’s even sitting on one of the world stone fragments,” Jade explained. “You wanna go up the mountain and grab it? Get this over with so we can start our epic isekai adventure?”

“Can that thing help us kill her?” Lee glossed over half of what she said, focusing on the most important bit: she was willing to help him with the fight against the Meadhbh.

“Oh, Big Bobby the Blood Bro? Nah. He’s only good for a minute or two more until my spirit can’t sustain his form. He’ll collapse all over the place in a moment and gush blood everywhere like this was the elevator scene in that one movie.”

“What is an elev--”

“I swear, you tsundere harlot, I will murder you if you speak when grown-ups are talking one more time. DON’T THINK I WON’T!” Jade stamped her foot and narrowed her eyes as she scolded the general.

“Can you not?” Lee asked. “She’s kind of supposed to be my diplomatic connection to another town, and I’m not okay with you randomly killing, the uhh . . . NPCs. I need them to win the game, you know? You do understand how that works, right?”

“What? The faith thing?” Jade shrugged. “Psh. Yeah, I got it. I go around and collect faith points while you go around and collect those stupid world stone fragment rocks, and once you have them all, we get to click our heels together and go back home. I got it. Which is great, because I can’t wait to get home finally and see the end of Shi no Enpitsu in a few weeks. I mean, I already know how it’s going to end: hero gets a power-up, uses emotion, saves day, but . . . I. MUST. SEE IT!” Jade even squeed at the end of the sentence.

“That was . . . That was like . . . That was only two months ago?” Lee’s interest was piqued by the timeline Jade had mentioned. He was surprised that they not only came from Earth, and probably the same country, if he were to judge by her accent, but the points on Earth’s timeline from which they had been pulled were only a couple months apart too. It shocked him a little. Every other Herald he had encountered so far seemed to be from an entirely different era.

“What? Months ago? Don’t tell me . . . you’ve already seen it?!” Jade sounded incredibly excited. “You’ve already seen it?!”

“What are you two--” Brigid began to ask.

“Brigid.” Lee stopped his ‘NPC’ tsundere character, as Jade called her, from talking. “You need to not do that. This is a talk between Heralds. You’re not going to understand any of it. Accept that fact and stay quiet. Okay? We’re about to team up and go kill that other Herald you hate, so just be happy with that fact.” He wasn’t a fan of talking down to someone like that, especially someone he still felt he owed, but he didn’t doubt for a minute that this new woman would actually murder Brigid if given the chance.

Brigid glared at Lee but then nodded.

“So, have you seen it?” Jade asked again.

“Yeah, I have. And . . . the ending would surprise you. You see--”

“NO! NO SPOILERS!” Jade cried, trying to hush Lee as quickly as possible. “Don’t say a word! NO SPOILERS AT ALL!”

“Okay, okay. I can avoid spoilers . . . but only if we get moving and go kill the Herald. The sooner this Phouka is dead, the better.”

“Meh. She killed my harem, so I’m game for murdering her. You have no idea how long it took to build a league of doting men in this world where they all kind of treated me like some sort of foreigner who didn’t understand anything,” Jade complained.

But . . . that’s exactly what you are . . . Lee thought, but just kept his mouth shut and bit his tongue.

“Shouldn’t we wait for our reinforceme--” Brigid started, but Jade quickly cut her off.

“BRIGID!” she yelled as she formed another blood blade, and Brigid backed down immediately.

Brigid’s suggestion that they wait for reinforcements was valid, but Lee wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to. These Phoukas had a habit of killing his men with every encounter, and this woman seemed like she might even speed the process along just so that she could use their dead bodies to summon up more of those blood golems. The goddess of blood indeed, Lee mused.

So, with that train of thought and reasoning in mind, Lee decided to just keep the group condensed to the three of them. He tried sending the golems back to notify the group, but they wouldn’t go. They just kept speeding to him at full pace. They ignored his commands and pressed on with a will he didn’t know they actually had until just then. Then he remembered that he was still in a group with Miller and Ling.

Wait, system, I got two questions for you. First, can I name any animal I want? Like, if I name a dog RoffleCopter, then will that be its registered name, even if I haven’t tamed the dog? And, second, can I add someone to the group, even though I wasn’t the one who started the group?

To answer the first question, you may only change the names of creatures that aren’t domesticated and owned by someone else. For example, such is the case with this world’s variation of what you might call squirrels. To answer the second question, you have been the assigned party leader since the addition of Amber. As such, you may add or remove players and NPCs as you please. Miller transferred the party leader status over to you a long time ago.

And you didn’t tell me? Never mind, never mind. Of course it’s because I didn’t ask. Okay, so if I find a random creature, I’m able to let you know what name I would like it to have, and if I kill it, it’ll have that name on the death notice?

Yes. That is the case. A very worthy and ruthless thought, as expected of my Diligent Despot.

I’m not a des-- Never mind. Lee didn’t even bother with that argument as he looked around him. He wasn’t able to find any creature specifically worthwhile, as most of the mobs and creatures in the area had likely been killed off by the two parties coming to murder each other, but after they traveled a little way up the mountain, they started running into random animals and monsters. The first such creatures, a pair of pointy-toothed wild rabbits, took only a few minutes to find. When Lee saw them, he started talking to the system again immediately. I need you to name this creature ‘MillerI’mFineAddingNewPlayerJadeThenWe’reKillingHerald,’ Lee said. Then, name the one next to it ‘PSBrigidIsOkayToo.’

It’s done. You may proceed to kill these cute and harmless forest creatures for the sake of abusing the system and ferrying your message to the rest of the party, Mr. Diligent Despot.

Lee hated the name Despot, but he had long since admitted defeat on being able to control what the system called him. He killed the two creatures, sending the message, and then added Jade to the party. At first, Jade was surprised to find out that the party was two guys and one girl. She said it threw her whole anime assumption off but didn’t further explain as the three of them continued on, climbing the mountain and leveling at the same time. Lee had to admit that, as awesome as Jade’s blood sword looked, and as stylish and skillful the way she danced around with her sanguine katana appeared, she was really ineffective at killing. Her weapon might have had great damage stats, but it was clear that she had spent very little time actually learning how to use it.

The little blood golem, on the other hand, appeared the second something died, and she was deadly with that. The smaller blood golem was made from the two dead pointy-toothed rabbit corpses, and as inept and useless looking as it might have been, it was able to jump the third such monster they encountered and destroy it instantaneously. Every part of its body acted as a weapon, and even its bones jutted out and stabbed into its victim no matter how the rabbit blocked or tried to defend itself. Within seconds, the third beast had died, and the golem had gotten bigger, stronger and generally more grotesque and scary looking. It was like the most disgusting version of a broken and flayed man Lee had ever seen.

“You can’t be comfortable with the way that thing looks,” Lee remarked after watching it eat a fourth, fifth and sixth pointy-toothed rabbit. The blood golem was really starting to snowball out of control. Even if he thought it was ugly and gruesome to watch, at the very least, he began to understand why her sword skills were so horrible. If his clay golems were half as deadly as her blood golems, he would never have to level up combat skills. He’d be able to simply let Miller kill one creature, and then kill the rest with the subsequently-cobbled-together demon spawn.

“What? I think little Bobby is cute. Don’t make fun of him. He’s my adorable little Bloody Bobby,” Jade retorted as she went over and petted the now-six-and-a-half-foot-tall golem. “You’re just so adorable, aren’t you?”

Lee’s own golem trio finally caught up just as night set, and Lee and the two women made camp. He was surprised to find that while he had used his inventory to store a simple tent with basic provisions, Jade had packed an entire resort-level yurt. The difference in their expectations was like the difference in a wilderness survival tent and a full-on outdoor luxury resort camp for a millionaire who wanted to say he was camping but didn’t actually want to suffer for it. Lee practically drooled as he stared at the accommodations.

“You have got to be kidding me,” he said when Jade first brought out the pre-built, ready-to-go structure. “How in the heck did you manage that?”

“Aren’t you supposed to be the Herald for the god of crafting? Why don’t you have your own? I mean, we’ve been stuck in this stupid anime world for months, why have you not--”

“Weeks. At best,” Lee corrected her.

“What?” Jade looked startled. “You’ve only been here for weeks? I mean, three weeks? Four weeks?”

“Uhhh . . . about two, maybe three at most?” Lee had trouble keeping track of his time in this world since he was always bouncing between it and his real world. “I’m told every other Herald in this competition had a two-month head start on me.”

“Really?” Brigid asked as she came up behind Lee with firewood. “You mean the Herald you killed in Kirshtein? He had two more months than you, and you only had a week or two to prepare?”

Lee shrugged. “Yeah, that’s the sum of it. Although, I only had a few days’ preparation before I killed my first Herald.”

“Holy crap, how did you manage that? How did you get any levels at all in the first day or two? It took me a week just to figure out my power and get a few followers. It took me nearly a month to convince an entire town that I was the rightfully-chosen princess of this anime.” Jade seemed thoroughly astonished with Lee, and then she noticed where Lee was staring, and she smiled from ear to ear. “You can sleep in here with me if you like,” she added. “This giant, amazing and luxurious tent . . . it does feel a little lonely sometimes.”

“You’re not playing your role right. Blue hair is supposed to be cooler and collected,” Lee said, trying his best to shut her down. But the offer was tempting. Sleeping in that tent with what looked like a queen-sized, fully-furnished bed would be a heck of a lot better than sleeping on a roll-out mat laid over a sorry excuse for a medieval tarp.

“Hmph! I have to break the mold, or my life will be full of failures! Stupid harems . . .” Jade pouted.

Lee decided to go with a different approach. “Really? Still on that harem talk? Because, if I come into that room, and we fool around at all . . . won’t your power leave you pregnant? Wait, is that what you want? How many kids are you after?” He didn’t actually want to do anything, but he figured that she might back off if he mentioned her implication earlier that every round of fun would lead to pregnancy. It was a gamble--since she was clearly crazy--but some part of him told him that the gamble would be worth it.

“Psh. No, forget that. Stay under your own stupid sad-sack excuse for a roof,” Jade scoffed. Then, as if it wasn’t obvious enough already, she stormed off into her pre-built home and was about to shut the door when she saw Brigid walking up to Lee’s tent. “You! Flat-chested princess, what are you doing? It’s time to go to sleep!”

“But . . .” Brigid looked over at Jade and then at Lee. “I don’t actually have a tent. My accommodations are always handled by the soldiers under my command.”

“NPC, that doesn’t explain why you’re going to his tent. What the heck? Did you feel inspired to give him a quest to craft you a better chest? Cut that out. You’re with me. If I see you go near his tent again, I’ll murder you myself like the under-leveled follower you are,” Jade threatened, staring at Brigid so hard she forgot to blink.

“Stop with the threats,” Brigid shot back, having regained her spine as the day went on and the shock wore off. “I’ve seen how you fight without your golem. Don’t act like I can’t kill you myself before you have a body near to summon that hideous, grotesque creation of yours.”

“Oooo, feisty. Well, come on girl. You’re sleeping with me tonight, one way or another. I need to keep an eye on you so that you don’t try to steal a march on me in the middle of the night!” Jade ran out of her tent, grabbed the still-angry-looking Brigid by the arm and dragged her into the tent.

Lee crawled onto his well-described sad sack of a sleeping mat and pulled out some of the wood he had brought to practice his crafting. He desperately wanted to begin working on Masonry, but the problem he was having was that it was going to require him to be in a fixed location a lot longer. Cement was going to take a long time to mix, set and plan. There was also the issue that he wouldn’t be able to bring giant cement structures with him easily, since the only thing he could attempt to make with his nonexistent skill level and limited understanding was a foundation. Thus, he stuck to Carpentry while at the same time using his mana whenever he had enough to improve his Spirit Smithing.

A little into the night, the ding that he was already expecting finally went off.

Your wooden palisades have been completed. Satterfield has received an increase of 2 to its Defensive Strength score. You may now select a more useful and apt civic project to begin. I can offer you a suggestion from the list of options in the Tech and Utility tree if you like.

He had been dreading the system’s response to the next project choice since he had initially planned it out, but it was still one he wanted to do now more than ever. Actually, I think that’s okay. I don’t need the list. I’d like to upgrade the wooden palisades to fortified wooden walls.

You are joking, right? Mr. Diligent Despot, surely you would like to reconsider this option in favor of a better, more sensible one, right?

No, I’m pretty set on this, Lee thought, not backing down from his decision. I want those walls to be in tip-top shape when I get back.

I will trust this is part of a grand plan of yours and begin the program immediately. The project has been started. 77 gold has been subtracted from your inventory, and your leading delegate in Satterfield, Henslee, has been notified about the impending construction to prevent confusion. 15% of your mana and mana regeneration have also been sequestered. The project will be completed within 24 hours. At that point in time, you may then choose to upgrade the fortified wooden walls to stone walls.

Excellent! Thank you so much for your assistance. Lee went back to work on his projects. He still needed to raise Sewing some for a few of his civic projects, but overall, he was actually pretty happy with the town. His only real disappointment was that he couldn’t be there personally to see the faces of the townspeople as the walls grew and improved around them. He also wished he knew exactly how far out they were situated, whether they left room for additional housing in the town, or whether they skated around the edges of the houses and if they protected any of the farms. There was a lot he didn’t know and wouldn’t know until either he sent one of the currently-disobedient golems or went there himself.

He went to sleep after reaching a comfortable point with his Carpentry. He had fashioned several more pieces that he could assemble onto his medieval jukebox later on. He spent the time thinking the day’s developments and wondering exactly what was going on with Augustus, why the deity had sent him a crazy anime fangirl, and what he was thinking getting her to make a body-sized anime waifu pillow. Even with all that in consideration, Lee was actually happy to have met a Herald that wasn’t out to kill him. And, even if she might be murderous, at least she wasn’t going to try to make him kill children and sickly people either.

Chapter 7

Name: Lee

Race: Human

Class: Herald - Statesman

Level: 28

Health: 380/380

EXP: 46110/46500

Primary Stats:

Power 38 (42)

Toughness 38 (42)

Spirit 38 (42)

Secondary Stats:

Charisma 31

Courage 22

Deceit 31

Intelligence 204 (223)

Honor -2

Faith 32711

Personal Faith 224

Skills:

Unarmed Combat Initiate Level 7

Swordplay Novice Level 10

Sneak Journeyman Level 4

Cooking Initiate Level 8

Trap Detection Initiate Level 6

Knife Combat Initiate Level 9

Mental Fortitude Initiate Level 1

Sleight of Hand Initiate Level 3

Blood Shield Initiate Level 5

Sewing Initiate Level 4

Glass Smithing Novice Level 4

True Patriot

Carpentry Initiate Level 7

Delegation

The Statesman:

Territories:

Satterfield (+10: Savior)

Defensive Strength Rating: 3

Economic Strength rating: 3

Population Rating: 1

Territory Rating: 12

Tech / Utility Rating: 12

Influence / Tourism Rating: 4

Public Persona:

Kirshtein (-2: Unkind)

Birnefeld (0: Unknown)

Divine Skills:

Golem Sculpting Journeyman Level 5

Appreciative Drunk Novice Level 10

Nectar of the Gods Initiate Level 6

Spirit Smithing Initiate Level 6

Faith Healing

Ignis Veritas

Spirit Builder Initiate Level 1

Divinity Powers:

Life in Death

Titles:

Cheat Code Fighter

The Great Deceiver

The Aggressive Mile-High Chef

The next day seemed rather uneventful at first. Lee, Jade and Brigid continued up the mountain path, pressing on as fast as they could without skipping out on leveling until they found a set of tracks. The impressions in the soft earth appeared to be left by a humanoid but were a little larger than an actual Human’s. The only positive thing that could be said was that whoever made them was wearing shoes. As trivial as this detail might seem to be, Lee took it as an indication that the owner of the footprints had a good chance of not being a Phouka, as all the members of that race whom he had encountered so far were always clothed in the simplest of garb and were barefooted.

“They all lead up that way,” Brigid said as she bent over and studied them. “Do you think it’s worth a detour?”

“I don’t know, NPC,” Jade huffed. “Are you going to give us a quest properly so that we can get some EXP after you state the obvious? God, I swear, I don’t know why Lee insists on talking to you all the time.”

“Because her opinion is often valuable,” Lee responded. “Yeah, they’re worth checking out. Just because these prints were made by someone wearing shoes doesn’t absolutely mean they aren’t Phouka. We still need to be on our guard.”

“You know, we could just bring some breathing bodies with us. We could go sack an NPC town and stack the piles miles high, and then we could just throw them at the enemy and make little Bobby pop out and win the day during our next encounter,” Jade offered. “I’m just making a suggestion. Don’t look at me like that.”

“I don’t know how many times I have to tell you. This isn’t a video game,” Lee sighed. “These aren’t NPCs; they’re real people.”

“If this isn’t a video game, and they’re such real people, then why the hell does a status message pop up every time I kill one? It’s really confusing,” Jade complained as the three of them kept following the tracks upward. “Either they’re real, and this isn’t a game, and I’m insane, or something is really broken with reality, and this is definitely a game.”

“I don’t understand what you two are talking about,” Brigid grumbled. “Why can’t you speak normally?”

“Lo! Woman! I have a grand quest to split thy legs and venture through thy valley! Is that normal enough for you?” Jade chuckled. “Wait, you guys smell something?”

“Yeah . . .” Lee paused, taking a big whiff. “It’s . . . It smells like barbecue,” he thought aloud. “But that’s not right. They don’t barbecue anything here. It doesn’t match with their culture.”

“Forget logic . . . THIS SMELLS SOOO GOOD!” Jade gave up any pretense of patiently walking with the group and darted toward the smell. Lee and Brigid quickly followed behind. After nearly twenty-four hours together, they were used to her just doing what she felt like and going off on tangents, but it didn’t stop either of them from making sure their shields were up and ready for anything that might come their way.

Lee sighed and looked over at Brigid, only to have her nod her head.

“It . . . It really does smell good.” Brigid followed Lee toward the smell like a toucan in a rainforest hunting cereal.

The trees opened up even more as Lee caught up to Jade, revealing a clearing by a river, and he understood why she had stopped at the moment the town came into view. It was decimated from one end to the other. The delicious aroma was the smell of crops burning in the fields that lay on the other side of the river and slain livestock whose corpses had been roasted in the flames. Lee watched with a little bit of horror as a group of incredibly-muscular bearded men struggled to dig a huge trench around the flame. They were each working incredibly hard and fast to trench the soil and create a barrier to prevent the fires from spreading, but it looked like they were fighting a losing battle against the flames.

“Ugh.” Jade frowned, turning to Lee as he came up behind her. “These reeks of annoying, mind-numbing fetch quests and no food. Why did they have to tease my nose? I’m hungry now. Lee, go make me some food.”

“How about ‘no’?” Lee answered, instantly denying her. “I think we need to make it to the other side and lend them a hand.”

“Boring. We need to just make it up the mountain and finish what we came here for,” Jade insisted.

But Lee wasn’t bothering with her. He had already begun scanning for a quick way across. Luckily, he didn’t have to look long. The river was wide and fast, but there appeared to be two carts on either bank with a series of ropes attached between them and a rope in the middle, floating in the water. The makeshift ferry appeared to seat six people, and when Lee got there, he found that the entire thing was essentially operated like a bike or a pedal boat. The occupants of the middle seats would pedal, propelling the vehicle along the rope to the other side.

“You coming?” Lee asked, sitting down behind a set of pedals.

Brigid nodded, and she didn’t hesitate to hop in the contraption and position himself next to Lee. An instant later, the two began moving away from the riverbank.

“Wait! Fine, I’ll come. You talked me into-- Hey! Where are you two going?!” Jade harrumphed from the shore as Brigid and Lee traveled farther away, quickly making their way across the river. During their trip, the other cart that was previously on the side of the village ferried itself over to where Jade was waiting angrily.

Lee hopped out the moment his cart touched into the specially-designed dock and rushed to help the men before the fire could consume even more. He and Brigid grabbed two shovels and then began digging as fast as they could. The men were determined, and they were clearly both efficient and well-organized, but with Lee and Brigid’s enhanced stats, the pair was easily able to tear through roots, plants and earth and expand the trench incredibly quickly. When they were done, they all took a step back and watched as the fire ran against the freshly-dug ditch. It began to burn itself out and lose strength shortly after as it had nothing left to feed off of.

“Well, that was interesting,” Lee commented as he watched the slowly-dying flames.

“Thanks for the help, lad,” one of the men answered as he came forward. The man was almost six feet tall with a barrel chest and a long beard. “Won’t forget the help you gave us here.”

“It wasn’t a problem, but if you don’t mind me asking, how exactly did this happen?” Lee glanced around, finally taking everything in. There was a still-functional irrigation system running through the fields, albeit a crude and rough one. There was no logical reason for there to have been a fire in the area, especially given the weather, their proximity to a river, and the fact the crops that hadn’t been caught up in the blaze were looking very healthy and well-watered.

“It just did,” the short, gruff man said. “It did, and that’s all there is to it.”

“Oh my God, write a better plot, Mister Game Creator! These storyline quests are more recycled than childhood friend tropes at an anime convention,” Jade huffed so loudly that several men turned and looked at her. She was still sporting the same angry look she had on earlier. “I mean, seriously, how is this not absolutely clear? First, he”--Jade pointed to Lee--“doesn’t just show up right when a tragedy hits the town unless it’s been planned that way. Second”--she pointed over at the man--“he might look tough, but did you see how long it was taking him to shovel that dirt? Weaaaaak sauce, man. Weak sauce. He’s clearly one of the low-level townies that’s only good for trade at best, and he’s being threatened and extorted by someone that has an issue with you. I mean, coincidence much? This was set up from the start, and he can’t say a word because whoever set it up to mess with you did so with the express intention of not being discovered--which probably should have worked, given the main character is incredibly dense. Seriously, seriously dense.”

Lee couldn't help but mostly agree with her. What she said made a lot of sense. And since we’re only near one potential bad guy, it must be Meadhbh. It’s not like Brigid’s people would have made it up here quicker than we did on the barbecue-bird express, and it’s not like we’d know anyone else up here. So, anyone else watching and waiting for us . . . “So, putting aside the attack by Meadhbh, where is your town?” Lee asked as he looked around. Fields were visible, and lots of contraptions and hydraulic gears, each seeming to have their own unique purpose, were everywhere, but there was a clear absence of dwellings. Lee’s eyes darted from one clever mechanical innovation to the next, noticing that the contraptions and gears were all broken, except for the pulley boat that he had ridden over on.

“Below,” the man answered. “You’re welcome to lodge here for the night as thanks for your assistance, but it’ll be getting dark soon, and we have repairs to make and work to do. We don’t have time to spare on you Humans.” He moved toward the center of the field where there was a metal gazebo-shaped room with no windows, and once there, he opened a door and disappeared.

“I’m not a Human,” Brigid sighed. “I’m a Leprechaun.” The constant verbal abuse from Jade had taken a toll on her, and she wasn’t the same confident and determined commander she had been when Lee first met her. Now, she just seemed resigned to tagging along with Lee while they made their way to meet the Herald.

“Don’t take it personally, lass,” one of the other men added as he saw Brigid’s face twist up with frustration. He was slightly taller and had a broken-looking nose. “To us Dwarves, Leprechauns, Humans . . . well, you both look the same. It’s hard to tell one of you thick-headed surface dwellers from the next.”

Surface dwellers? You mean . . . Lee’s eyes glistened with excitement as he watched two more people walk into the gazebo and disappear. They really do have an underground lair! he concluded, knowing full and well that those three barrel-chested men would not be able to fit comfortably in that tiny building.

“What’s with that look?” Jade asked when she saw Lee’s face light up. “You excited you won’t have to sleep on that rat-infested thing you call a sleeping mat?”

“It’s not rat-infested,” Lee grumbled.

“It’s not? I could have sworn I saw three mutant, sewer-dweller-sized rats going in and out of your tent last night while you were sleeping,” she teased with a shrug. “But, if you don’t want to admit it, that’s fine.”

She saw my golems? Lee was a little surprised by that revelation. He had used the three mice to gather materials from around their campsite last night, but he didn’t expect that she’d have seen them at all. Their Sneak skill was the same as his, and that was nothing to look down on. He was already a Journeyman, and it was by far one of his highest skills yet.

“Well, I guess you’re right. I would like to sleep on a real bed for once,” Lee replied, brushing off her observation and heading toward the metal room standing in the center of the field. He’d have to remember to be more careful with his creations around her in the future, at least until he was comfortable enough with her to tell his secrets.

He opened the door to find a steep, two-person-wide staircase that led down into the ground. He followed the Dwarf in front of him down, and the two descended into the town. Amazingly, the small town was covered in metal pipes and gears, and water flowed everywhere. If Lee had to guess, he would assume that they had channeled the river and turned it into an incredibly-efficient power source. There were knobs and levers, the functions of which Lee could only guess, at every turn, and he was forced to wonder whether or not running water had been as big of an accomplishment for Satterfield as he thought when this particular town was much, much more advanced. The cavernous area was lit with a series of small torches, and Lee could see several places in the ceiling where air was vented, but the rest of the rooms and hallways were solid polished stone with only tiny layers of mortar separating one block from the next.

“This is crazy. It’s like steampunk without steam--just water,” Jade remarked as she admired the place. “And with this many men around, I once again am the main character!” she proclaimed for anyone listening.

“How do you figure that again?” Lee asked, and the three of them pushed deeper into the Dwarves’ underground stone town.

“It’s harem logic. If the ratio of party members favors men, not women, then a woman is the main character. If there are more women, then a man must be the main character. I swear, it’s like you don’t even pay attention to plots these days.”

“Kind of a problem with that,” Lee observed. “Since we’ve added you, our party has two women and two men . . . so who is the main character in this scenario?”

“Umm . . .” Jade wilted as she seemed to hit a wall, but she quickly bounced back. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. That’s silly. There has to be a ratio. It just means that one hasn’t been established yet, but have no fear! We’ll add one of these Dwarves into our group just for the sake of filling out a diversity quota of mythical races. Gotta represent them all.”

“Which one is a high-enough level to add?” Lee asked, looking around at the men they were following and the others whom they occasionally passed. The further into the town he went, the more and more he began to notice something: everyone was healthy. Ridiculously healthy. And fit. He had yet to spot a single person who was fat or lame or weak. For a race that was supposed to be made up of tiny people, the shortest man he saw was only five foot five or five foot six, but by the accounts that he had heard when in Kirshtein, there were supposed to be male Dwarves that were as short as four foot ten. Even the women here were surprisingly tall, and not a single one of the children seemed ready to fit the description of the Dwarves he had heard about.

“Tough call. I mean, he’s gotta have a beard, and he’s gotta be able to drink. Otherwise, why add a Dwarf at all? Might as well just add a short Human at that point,” Jade pondered aloud, causing the smooth-faced Dwarf next to Lee to scowl.

“What about a female Dwarf with a beard? Do those exist?” Lee asked jokingly as they reached the center of town. He realized something else just then: there were far too few people for the number of homes. They had passed nearly a dozen rooms on the way, and from what he could gather from a single glance as they walked by, each could easily contain a full family. Yet, here he was at the town center, and there were even abodes, full-sized dwellings that could house a population of a thousand if not more, and yet he hadn’t counted more than a hundred or two citizens at most. “And this . . . This place is rather empty.”

“Right. We went over the evil party trying to destroy you that attacked this place before you arrived, didn’t we?” Jade responded, shrugging off Lee’s commentary.

“We did, but . . . something else is definitely wrong.” Lee stared into miserable faces on every person he passed. It was as if they had all been mourning for weeks.

“Your friend has the right idea,” the Dwarf next to Lee said. “It’s best if you ask fewer questions. The fewer you ask, the better for everyone. We’ll get you some food and a bunk, and then when first light breaks, I suggest your group goes on its merry way.”

Lee looked over at the Dwarf and then at the rest of the people around him. Perfectly healthy people . . . strong, tall, good looking. They don’t match the criteria for people Meadhbh would attack at all. The only one that does . . . Lee tried to find anyone who looked like someone Meadhbh would try to kill off. It took him a few minutes, but he finally spotted someone. It was a four-foot-tall, waiflike man with a limp in his leg who was walking hand in hand with a much taller and stronger-looking woman. Upon spying the man, Lee pulled out a glass dagger and threw it across the town square. The knife buried itself into the wall, inches in front of the man’s face.

“What in the heck were you thinking?!” the Dwarf next to him shouted, backing up and gripping the shovel he had been using earlier in both hands like it was a weapon.

“Put down your weapons, surface walkers,” the leader from earlier said, also readying his shovel.

“I don’t know where you’re going with this, Lee, but I like it. All this walking and repetitive monster killing has just left me SOOO bored. A good town-clearing NPC slaughter fest is just what we need!” Jade cackled merrily, cracking her neck and pulling out a vial of blood that she quickly turned into her blood blade. “I also just got to know: Will my little Bobby have a beard if I only use bearded men to make him?”

Lee extended a hand as if to stop Jade, trying to de-escalate the woman’s obvious bloodlust. “There’s no need for that. We only need that man,” he said, pointing at the limping guy across the room. “I want him and no one else here, but if you get in my way, I will do what’s necessary,” he threatened, hoping that no one would call his bluff. The last thing he wanted was to go on a murderous rampage through this town, but given how weak they had seemed in comparison to him as they dug the ditch, he was confident that he’d be fine against them--especially within confined hallways.

“Just him?” the leader said, but his face didn’t seem disappointed. “Fine, you can have him, but then you must leave.”

“That won’t be necessary.” Lee shook his head as he watched the man, who was now trembling so hard that his good leg shook from side to side. “After all, I’m doing you all a favor.”

“A favor?” the Dwarf who had been walking next to Lee earlier. He was now a good ten feet away, his shovel locked in a death grip. “I don’t know how threatening to kill us is a favor.”

“You know exactly how,” Lee said. “That man is a plague in your home, and you’ve been waiting for someone to come along and kill him, haven’t you?” He was growing more confident of his assertion as the seconds ticked by. If Meadhbh, the one who had written him so many letters, had visited this town, she would have killed the weak. She’d have purified their blood to her standards: by removing all the short ones, all those who couldn’t grow muscle and all the lame and ugly people throughout the entire town. She’d have only left the strongest and best of them--and a test. She’d have left one of her loyal Phoukas as a trial of whether they were able to do what it took to preserve their bloodlines and prevent the lame and sickly from being born in rampant numbers. That man was Meadhbh’s test. Their skittish reactions were because they didn’t have the resolve or strength to do what Meadhbh wanted, and so the Phouka had remained in their ranks, reporting on them and causing them problems like the fire above.

“What are you doing? This isn’t like you, Lee,” Brigid said. “You help people. You don’t kill those who are crippled or weak just because--”

“Remember the kids in the forest?” Lee asked as he drew his sword and started walking over to the short, limping man.

Brigid pursed her lips and furrowed her brow, but she didn’t say another word. The last time she had stopped him, it had turned out incredibly ugly.

“Can we just skip the cutscene dialogue and go straight to the killing?” Jade asked from behind Lee.

“There won’t be any need to kill a bunch of people,” Lee replied, leveling his sword straight at the man’s throat. “I just need you to show your true form and have a proper fight to the death before you go.”

The man swallowed hard, backing up against the wall. The tip of Lee’s sword followed, never leaving his throat. “It’s not what you think. I’m not . . . Don’t do this,” the man begged. “Please, just put down your weapon and go away.”

“Show me what you really are before I kill you, or die in that wretched skin you’re wearing now,” Lee pressed, pushing the blade a little farther until it drew blood.

“Fine,” he said, pulling out a letter and throwing it at Lee. “She said you’d come. She said you’d kill me, but I didn’t think you’d have it in you. Oh well. You want to see what I am? I’m the beast that will break this town before I die!” he laughed. “These weak fools couldn’t kill a single crippled man . . . And I’ll murder them all with you here!” The skin around his hands turned black, growing claws and obsidian-colored scales that began spreading up his arms.

Lee didn’t hesitate. His sword was already against the man’s throat, and the second his suspicions were confirmed, he pressed forward, driving the blade through the Phouka’s throat. Fearful of what might happen if the man transformed, Lee drove the sword clear through the man’s neck and into the wall behind him before he stopped pressing.

You have killed Alby. Your party has been awarded 1567 Experience. Your share of this is 392 Experience.

You have reached Level 29! Your level increase has boosted all primary stats by 1. Your current Power, Toughness and Spirit have been adjusted to 39. You are 51498 Experience away from Level 30.

“Damn! That was cold,” Jade laughed from the side. “I’ve heard of gray ganking, but that’s rough, man. He was all, ‘This isn’t my final form!’ And you were all, ‘Nope, nope! Episode’s over! Go home, you little bastard!’ Then he was all, ‘U-ug-uglug.” Jade did her best impression of the man spilling blood out his throat. “Priceless. And that whole villain’s speech before he died? Even better. But you had all the fun. Can I kill one or two--?

“No!” Lee stopped that thought right in its tracks. “We killed their Phouka agent, nothing more. It was an enemy. The rest of these people are just victims and innocent townsfolk.”

“Do they always look helpless? Are they always supposed to look weak and deserving of sympathy?” Brigid asked, staring down at the dead man.

“And what’s with that letter? Is that a love note? Is it a last will and testament? You think it’s a map for buried treasure?” Jade asked. She snaked up beside Lee and peered over his shoulder, clearly waiting for him to open it so that she could read its contents along with him.

“It’s . . .” Lee stopped himself after one word. He was about to say, ‘It’s nothing,’ but there was no way that wouldn’t draw more suspicion. “It’s one of those long journal entries you get at certain points in a quest,” he said instead, accurately predicting how bored Jade would look when he described it like that.

“Ugh! Who even reads those? Wait, are you actually going to read it? Don’t tell me you keep a little diary that you update between fights with each interesting thing you’ve done so that someone can go through it later and reference it for god-only-knows what reason?” Jade said when Lee opened the letter, unfolding it so that he could see what Meadhbh had to say now.

My dearest Lee,

You killed Ulchabhannadhbh, and as sad as an occasion as it was, it was a mercy for which I must thank you nonetheless. I worry that I did not have the heart to do it myself. In her beast-like form, she was strong. One of the strongest of us. But you weren’t wrong to kill her. She was still a Phouka for a reason. She was broken in more ways than one. Her flesh was weak. Her mind was weaker. There was no cure for the pain that addled her brain and left her the jumbled, mumbling mess of a woman she was. Still, it was hard to hear of her passing. She was my friend, and that friendship had created a wall between me and what I had to do. So, I thank you for doing it in my stead.

The only fear I have is that you did it to save your friend and not to expunge the weak. This is a grave concern that lingers in my heart as I listen to the stories of your adventures. My heart, in constant trepidation, worries that I have mistaken you. It fears that you may just be another one like them, merely killing to protect, so I left you this test. Forgive me for once more shifting the burden of culling onto you, as it was clearly unjustified. That you hold this letter, that you are reading its contents, is proof alone that my fears are unfounded and my consternation was unwarranted.

Yet, I hope you like my handiwork. I hope you can admire the strength it took to purge the blood of the weak from the town in which you collected this letter. Their kind do not exist in my home world, yet Fey, Goddess of Changing Fates, showed me what the Dwarf race looks like in many dimensions. It’s always the same: they breed themselves into the smallest and most hideous of beings, their muscles atrophy, their frames diminish, and they slowly neuter their own species until they resemble caged bears that are unwilling to even fornicate to save their own lives. They, the fastest to reach the stars, are always the first and fastest race to die among them. Over a thousand people in this town, only a hundred and sixty-eight worth keeping. It was a hard task, and I wept for every life I took, but I had to. They had to die so that tomorrow’s future can be glorious for their kind. They didn’t understand me. They cried, they wept, they begged, and it made the killing that much more difficult. But you understand me. Of course you do. Only you, among all others, truly understand me. Only you have come to purge the weak with me, to build the better world.

To that end, and for that reason, I wait for you. My heart beats with growing excitement as you draw nearer, and I know we will soon be united. Please, come soon. This task is too hard on one’s soul to do alone, no matter how important or necessary.

After finishing the letter, Lee couldn’t help but have mixed feelings about the psychopath he’d inevitably have to kill. To some extent, he understood her. He realized full and well that she believed in her cause, that she believed in what she was doing, even as it hurt her to do it. The fact that she was looking to him as some sort of emotional support, a beacon of understanding and sympathy in a world that had clearly rejected her, pulled on his heart a little. Her solution to the problem made no sense, and it wasn’t worth hearing out, but it was still one that came from the pain of being born already rejected into a society that would never accept her--and all for a ‘sin’ she didn’t commit.

“So, you gonna keep the journal entry or just stare at it slack-jawed?” Jade asked.

“I think I’ll keep this one,” he replied. Then, trying to downplay its significance, he said, “Never know when I’ll need to turn it in for another quest.”

“You’ve been finding a lot of those,” Brigid observed. “Your men told my men before that, even at the manor when . . . when that soldier of yours met an unfortunate end . . . You found a letter there too.”

Lee knew that there was no way he was going to be able to hide what was going on with the letters from Brigid. She was smarter than that. And he also knew that she wasn’t a threat. He hated classifying her as ‘good’ simply because she was the lesser of two bad options, but after finding out about Devin’s past and hearing about the storyteller Herald--and now having met the Herald of the Goddess of Blood--Lee was rather confident that, out of the two women currently present, Brigid was the least unsavory option.

In this game of gods, Heralds were thrown into a world that felt like a game, given tons of powers and tasked with gaining and wielding spiritual influence over people from an incredibly-primitive age. They were bound to go a little crazy. Absolute power wouldn't always corrupt absolutely, contrary to what the common expression implied, but an absolute ego might.

With that in mind, Lee was beginning to fully understand that the worse these other Heralds looked, the more likely the people of this world would turn to him as a protector and lend him their support. Being the least worst option was a game he hadn’t thought about playing until now, but it was one he was considering more and more as he noticed what Brigid would let him get away with, even though she clearly still hated him.

He had brazenly deceived the general and tricked her into leading an army into battle and entering a war she had no part of in order to kill Devin. Since then, he still was spending all of his time and money helping out the people of Satterfield, fighting for those who believed in him, and Kirshtein was clearly much better off without the Firbolg’s oppressive and discriminatory ideology. On the other hand, Heralds like Devin or Meadhbh were fighting for the extinction of whole swaths of the population, and Jade literally saw people as nothing more than fodder for her golem in battle.

With that in mind, Lee knew that he could get away with just ignoring Brigid’s observation about the letters and continue on with his day. He found a place to bunk and started crafting in his own little private stone room. The bedding, the lighting, and the perfectly-cool underground air contributed to a comfortable night--one that was far better than it had been when he was working in a fold-up tent with barely any room and no amenities. The kindly Dwarves even brought him a nice meal by their standards, not that Lee trusted food that had been prepared for him after he had acted so harshly earlier, but it was the gesture that counted.

At some point--Lee couldn’t tell when since he had lost track of time due to the lack of sunlight underground--the system reminded him of exactly how late it had become with a notification regarding his Satterfield project.

Your wooden walls have been completed. Satterfield has received an increase of 2 to its Defensive Strength score. Now, since you’ve finally fortified the town, would you at least care to take a look at the options we have available for improving Satterfield’s infrastructure?

Lee saw the message and sighed. Yeah, the walls should hold, but they won’t hold indefinitely. There is still something missing. Actually, I’d like to begin the modified polybolos project. The modified polybolos project was a simple project with the goal of adding a nearly-automated ballista at each wall segment, giving the town a massive defense boost. The only problem with this was that it was an incredibly-expensive endeavor, not monetarily, but in its mana consumption. The costliest project he had done so far, the water reserve and piping, had only sequestered roughly 35% of his total mana and mana recovery. This time, however, it would section off 60% of his mana. It was a hard call to make, but he knew that Satterfield’s defense against everything but a proper siege would be outstanding once the system was up and running, and that was something that would help him rest more easily at night.

Are you doing this specifically to torture me with your poor choices? I’ve heard that humans are illogical, and they allow some mystical set of feelings they call their ‘gut’ to make most of their decisions, but could you please try to be above such basic and mundane biological programming and listen to your betters?

I’m really sorry, Lee apologized. You just have to bear with me and just do this one last defense project. After this one, I promise I won’t do another one . . . for a bit.

Is this bit a period shorter than a week? If I complete this project, are you going to begin a moat next?

Lee hadn’t even considered a moat before, but the moment the system mentioned it, he couldn’t help but think about it. Yeah, a fortified wall, some fancy ballistae and a moat . . . That would be perfect, he thought as he imagined everything. Satterfield would be my own little defensible paradise.

One week. Go at least one week before you consider that. You’re causing my programming to try and make itself redundant.

“Fine. A week will make you happy?” Lee scrolled through the menu one more time, seeing all the upgrades he could potentially do for the town’s defenses after a week, upgrades he fully intended to suggest just to tease the system even if he didn’t think the town needed any further protection for a while.

I wouldn’t say ‘happy.’ The project has been started. 330 gold has been subtracted from your inventory, and your leading delegate in Satterfield, Henslee, has been notified about the impending construction to prevent confusion. 60% of your mana and mana regeneration have also been sequestered. The project will be completed within 24 hours. At that point in time, you may then choose to upgrade the polybolos to polybolos with extended magazines.

Once he was done with that, Lee noticed that there was an old-looking Dwarven man watching him work from outside of his room. “You can come in. I’m not making any state secrets here,” Lee said, using the golem he had posted by the door to make sure that no more guests would pop up without him finding out.

“That’s good craftsmanship there for a Human,” the Dwarf said as he watched Lee whittle away at a piece of wood. “Almost impressive by Dwarf standards even.”

Lee, who was still working on the gears and other pieces for the magical jukebox, didn’t know what to say to that. “Can you even tell what I’m making?” he asked, not sure if the Dwarf was giving him an honest opinion or just coming in to brag about how much better Dwarves were at crafting.

The Dwarf looked over at the page Lee was on in the Book of Augustus and then nodded. “Giant music box, right?” the Dwarf said. “You’re making a device to feed sheets in and have it play a tune for you. The lazy musician’s best friend?”

“Yeah . . .” Lee looked at the page, trying to figure out how the man was able to both recognize it and describe it so well from the very limited information that this particular page of Augustus’s book gave away. “That’s right. Have you made one before?”

“One of those?” The Dwarf shrugged and stroked his beard. “No, not one of those. But I designed most of the stuff around this town, so I’ve made plenty of things before that were similar enough. If it wasn’t for the . . . the incident, I’d still be working on my latest invention as we speak.”

“What was it supposed to do?”

“Harvest! We’ve been adding grain fields near the base of our settlement, but the old men are complaining that the scythes are a pain to use,” the Dwarf grumbled. “I’ve been working on an automated fix, something that would let them get around having to bend over all the time when harvesting, the lazy bastards. But it also means we’ll be able to expand our harvest by the wagonload. The machine works a lot better than any of those leeches and only takes me a horse.”

“You mean you have a mechanical reaper?” Lee asked with wide-eyed excitement, hoping the system would translate the words over so that it made sense to the Dwarf.

The Dwarf tilted his head to the side and then nodded. “I suppose you could call it that. Yeah, I got one of those.” The Dwarf grinned broadly as he pulled on his beard with one hand. “You wanna check it out? The others don’t understand it. They think I’m just wasting time.”

“Wasting time? If it is what I think it is, you’ll be giving the farmers freer time than they’d know what to do with!” Lee exclaimed, jumping up from his seat and storing his stuff back into his inventory. He was nearly done with the box, so he figured that he could get away with taking a day off and working on it again later.

“That’s what I said! Like every good Dwarf knows, enough is never enough! Be it how much we drink, how much we eat or how many women we try to bed”--he paused, his eyes immediately moving to the door across the hall from Lee’s where Brigid was before giving Lee a wink--“or the state of our lives. We have to do better every day; we have to invent more every day. How can they be happy with that dumb cradle scythe they came up with a few years back?”

“Cradle scythe? You’re going from a cradle scythe to an automated reaper? That’s astounding!” Lee couldn’t help but be impressed as he thought about what a large leap in technology that was and exactly how important it would be. Most people never thought about it, but the only reason most countries could thrive technologically, artistically and otherwise was because agricultural innovations had allowed society to go from farming a few acres per person to hundreds--even thousands. This meant that no one needed to stay on the farm just to keep the nation’s food supply steady, and they could instead pursue their dreams in the city. Indirectly, people like Cyrus McCormick, who revolutionized the farming industry on Earth, could be said to also be responsible for a myriad of other inventions that might not have happened if people hadn’t had the free time mechanized farming had afforded them.

“If you’re going to sit there slack-jawed and doubt me until you see it, then let’s get moving already,” the Dwarf said, happily grabbing Lee’s hand and pulling him.

Not usually one to shy away from someone just because of handholding, Lee was still too uncomfortable to go with the flow, and he pulled his hand free quickly. “What are you--?” The Dwarf turned to Lee, then he seemed to understand. “Oh, yeah, I forget you surface dwellers are touchy about your personal space and that males don’t hold hands. Well, no time for that now.” The dwarf shook it off, as if insulted, and marched forward. “I got tons of inventions to show you!”

Why does it feel like I’ve been invited to the biggest dork’s sleepover? Lee laughed to himself but followed after the Dwarf, catching up and walking side by side with him a moment later. The Dwarf rambled away about the things he wanted to make, and Lee just mentally took notes, thinking about how he could potentially use this type of man in Satterfield later. He saw this type of innovative geek as the perfect addition to a town he inevitably wanted to modernize.

Rather than going straight to a workshop inside one of the dwellings as Lee had expected, they instead exited the settlement altogether. They were just starting to travel downhill when Ethan’s ears perked up, and the little rodent focused in on an interesting noise. Lee immediately grabbed the Dwarf and yanked the short man behind him, throwing his shield up and then pulling out his sword.

What is it? Lee asked, but by the time Ethan had moved to investigate the sound, whatever had made it was already gone.

“Is something wrong? Is something out there?” the man asked, suddenly looking and sounding nervous. “Oh, god, it’s them again, isn’t it?”

“Go back now, shut your door, and don’t open it again until morning,” Lee warned. “Don’t let anyone open it.”

The man didn’t need to be told twice. He darted back to the town, yelling a ‘thank you’ as he faded into the distance.

“It’s just us now,” Lee called out into the dark, not sure who or what was out there. The fact that they hadn’t attacked yet was a good sign, but it didn’t mean that he was safe yet. “You don’t have to hide.”

“It always has been,” a deep, dulcet voice echoed from the woods off to Lee’s right. “It always will be.”

“Meadhbh.” Lee had to stop himself showing fear when he realized who it was. Her purring feminine voice sent chills down his spine as he turned to behold her figure when she finally showed herself. “I thought you were waiting for me to come to you.” He wasn’t sure how much better at anything he could have been given another day or two, but he had still wanted that chance. He always felt unprepared when a serious fight started.

“I was,” she began as she stepped out of the woods. I was waiting.” Finally seeing her actual form, Lee began to understand exactly how full of himself he was to think that he could defeat this woman on his own. A massive, black tiger with white stripes stalked out of the woods and stopped in front of him. He wasn’t sure how big tigers normally were--he hadn’t ever even seen one in a zoo, mostly due to being too busy with video games actually go to a zoo--but this one looked enormous, nearly fifty-percent larger than the biggest one he had seen on TV. And, even despite its great size, its didn’t make a single sound as it sauntered from the tree line. “But I grew lonely, waiting for my prince atop the mountain all by myself.”

“They say good things are worth waiting for,” Lee answered back, taking a deep breath to steady himself and help keep his emotions in check. He had charged headlong into battle with giant bear-like creatures, but this Phouka felt so much more vicious, powerful and frightening.

“Are you a good thing?” she asked, her head moving as she examined him. “Given what we must do, can either of us be good?”

“We can,” he answered. “We can do the necessary thing and be good at the same time.” He chose his words carefully and hoped that they reached her. It wasn’t that he was scared of a fight. This confrontation was likely inevitable, and he suspected that it had been from the moment he read her first letter, but he still wanted to at least try to save her from the destructive path she had chosen as a result of her anguish. Even if he lost this fight, he still wanted to save her soul. Even if the attempt was in vain, he still had to do it for himself, so that he could rest easy, knowing he had tried.

Lee knew Meadhbh loathed and tortured herself because of the role she played day after day. Yet he knew that she hurt those she wanted to help. Even if Lee didn’t want to admit it, it was like a dim reflection of his own venture into this world. More and more, his own actions brought death and tragedy into the lives of the people he tried to care for. He had chosen to make sacrifices for his cause as well--he had looked into the eyes of men and women he had led to their deaths--and he knew just how deeply Meadhbh was wounded. They both bore the same grave injury, a wound that cut through them in a way that ached every minute of every day.

“The necessary thing? Mmm. It’s so hard. You know, everyone thinks that this shape is my power,” she said, her giant feline maw pulling into a fierce, sharp-toothed smile. “But it is just another blessing of the Phouka. It’s nothing more or less than what any Phouka is granted.”

“Yours . . . does seem to be greater than theirs,” Lee interrupted, noting her striking physical advantage over the other Phoukas.

“Ah.” She nodded once and then jumped across the field and back to the woods, where she sat beside a tree for a moment. She then shifted, showing Lee her true form. “I seem to have the most because I have the least,” she said. This time, her voice was so frail that Lee couldn’t have heard it if not for the help of his golems. “See now the curse that we must stop? The future suffering that awaits so many if we do nothing?” she repeated, her fragile throat barely producing sound.

“Your condition may be a curse”--Lee’s face sunk with pity at the sight of the helpless Herald before him--“but you’re not. Your will, your strength and your determination--those are things that no one else I’ve met has.” Lee slowly took a step toward her, and he was able to see her better through the darkness. She was indeed cursed by genetics. She was small, barely the size of a twelve-year-old. Her limp arms and legs were atrophied as if they had never been used, the bones in her ribcage stood out, and her cheeks were gaunt and sunken. Her condition was horrible, and it was painful to watch as she struggled to simply breathe. So, that’s how the system works. The reason the others could only shift into wolves while the blind children could shift into ursine monstrosities was because the kids had more physically wrong with them, and the adults who shifted into wolves were, for the most part, in decent shape and able-bodied, even if a bit emaciated and frail.

“Ha.” She shook her head. “That’s what my mother said too. Maybe she was right. Without me, without this blessing, how many more like me would be sent into a world cursed, and how much worse would our suffering be tomorrow? I can already see the workings of my changes. I can see through fate and know that I have done well.” Meadhbh gasped out the words between long sessions of struggling for air.

“Your Heraldic power, it’s to see the future? You can see what is to come?” Lee had heard her goddess’s title only once, the Goddess of Changing Fates, but it started to make sense. If she saw a future where thousands, if not millions, were born in a worse condition than she was, he could see exactly how it would inspire her.

“Yes, that and binding. I can bind men to fate and to each other. I’ve been trying to find you so that we may bind. So that we may share, and together, fix this broken world.” Then, suddenly, she changed back into her massive feline form. While Lee was uncomfortable around the hulking beast, and the thing could easily kill him at any moment, it was still easier to look at than the girl, limply propped up against a tree in pain.

“Binding? What do you mean?” Lee asked, taking another step forward even as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

“We can bind our fates together and share each other’s powers,” she explained. “The strength of my form, the power of your healing--we will be unstoppable.”

Holy crap, if I could turn into that giant thing and still heal myself . . . we really would be unstoppable. Lee actually considered it for a moment, before discarding the idea. Nope, nope, nope, nope. She might be someone I’m trying to help, but she’s still crazy, and that road is still not worth it yet.

“I can help you. I will help you,” Lee said, “but you can’t go about changing the world this way. You don’t have to kill people to stop this from happening. There are other ways to do it.”

“They won’t work. I’ve tried. I’ve tried a hundred different ways to improve the inevitable fate of the creatures on this wretched world, but it all ends the same. It always does.” The tiger sighed as she prowled closer to Lee. “There is only one solution, so why are you faltering now?”

“I’m not faltering,” Lee asserted. “I can clearly see what this path has done to you, and I want to help you too. You can’t do this anymore. You need to take a step back and let me pick up your mantle. I’ll fix this problem. I’ll fix this world,” Lee promised, and his words sounded just like a politician on the stump. He didn’t know how or what he would do to stop the forthcoming doom that she predicted, to stop people from being born into such horrible conditions, but he did know that he couldn’t just stand by while men and women were led to their deaths by Meadhbh’s twisted solution. And he knew that he couldn’t stand by and let her be the one to lead them.

“Talking is your solution? No, no more talking. I’ve seen how that turns out. You’re growing weak. You’re faltering!” She jumped over to Lee, her large tiger face studying him from such a close distance that Lee could feel her breath. “I see indeed. It’s because of them, isn’t it? Those people back at that town you love, those broken drunks you’ve picked up. You’ve grown a soft spot for them. I see. That’s good to know. That’s a fixable problem. Unlike many problems, it can be taken care of quickly. They are your sickness, your disease, and their rot can easily be purged. She backed away a few steps toward the wood. “I will do this for you since you cannot. This will be yet another gift I give you.”

What? “No! You can’t do that!” Lee shouted at her. “You must not do that!”

“You don’t understand how weak they’ve made you, how they attenuate your resolve,” she said. “Just let me take care of this. I will be back soon.”

“Stop! My decisions are not their fault! You can’t kill them!” Lee again pleaded as he readied his blade. He knew this was going to end exactly how he had thought it would in the beginning, just with a bigger prize at stake: the safety of Satterfield and the lives of every single person there.

“I can’t? You’re mistaken. The weak can always be killed by the strong. It’s exactly what I will do when I reach that town, and you will be able to do nothing to stop me.” She stalked back toward Lee as if she were making an obvious point even more glaring. “You have let the sickness of mercy, of wretched pity, sink into you for too long, and so I must purge it.”

Lee resolved himself to the fight and gripped his shield tightly. “You’re right. We’ve talked enough. If you think might makes right, and that is the only argument you’ll listen to, then I have a sword and a shield right here to debate you with.”

Meadhbh smiled at his words. “Though we are joined in cause, this was indeed bound to happen eventually, wasn’t it? There can only be one queen in the jungle, one ruler on the throne. Fine, if you wish to establish who is the better here, then I will debate you before I go kill those parasites leeching off your kindness before I slaughter the weaklings who should have died to the first Herald long ago anyway.”

She leaned back onto her hind legs as she finished speaking, and even in her crouched position, she still looked far bigger than any creature Lee would ever want to slam into him. Even so, she somehow managed to fade into the grass and shrubs around her as she lowered the front half of her body.

Lee readied his sword, remembering all too well how even a much smaller wolf had knocked him clean on his back. With that in mind, he was careful to make sure his stance would let him bounce to the side the moment she jumped forward.

“Let’s see what my partner can do,” she growled and then leapt at him with blinding speed.

Lee summoned every bit of agility he had and moved to his right as she came in hard on his left. He couldn’t fully dodge her, and she careened off his shield with a glancing blow. He felt the shattered spikes lodged there tear into her shield as she was turned away, and he staggered back under the impact. Despite taking 20 damage as well and being pushed back about five feet, he was still able to keep his balance--albeit with great effort.

“Good,” she purred and then lunged again. This time. it wasn’t a proper pounce. She landed in front of him and took a swipe with her right paw at the same time. The combination happened so fast that Lee couldn’t even think about what he was doing. He simply reacted, instinctively raising his shield--thanks to Bloody Shield--but the blow crushed him. Her heavy paw ignored the protruding spikes, and her long claws tore into Lee’s shield, shredding it into pieces. Her massive paw continued on unabated, each sharp point digging into his side as the force threw him to the right like a punched pillow.

Lee took 300 damage in that single hit and received a notification telling him that he was taking 20 damage per second due to bleeding, and he did his best to stand up despite it, but his entire body was wracked with pain. It was the closest he had come to feeling like he had been struck by a car since he arrived in the world, and his senses were disoriented from the shock. He fought down the wave of nausea that threatened to bring up his lunch, and he was suddenly thankful that he hadn’t eaten what little food the Dwarves had offered. He eventually made it back into an upright position and began circulating his spirit throughout his body as quickly as he could, healing himself in multiple places at once.

“Excellent,” she purred. “No one else could have taken that hit. Only you . . . Only you could survive the full brunt of my fury.”

“Well . . .” Lee gasped out the word, attempting to carry on the conversation and stall for time so that he could patch up his wound. It was happening so quickly, and one more small hit meant that he would easily be killed. “I have a lot of experience getting beaten up these days.”

“So I’ve watched,” she said, lowering her body again as she came nearer. “But, today, I will show you that there is a difference. I will teach you the limit to the abilities that even we gods are born with so that you can better understand the purpose of our mission . . .” She suddenly leapt at his face, her jaws hinged wide open.

That’s not going to show me anything! You're going to kill me! Lee dodged the giant feline by rolling forward and to the right as if he were stuck in a Dark Souls game. The moment he came out of the roll, he darted forward and spun around, raising his left arm out of habit as if the shield were still there. He quickly realized it wasn’t there when he sensed the missing weight on his arm, so he pulled out a glass dagger from his inventory and chucked it at Meadhbh’s face as hard as he could instead.

She lunged to the side, dodging the knife, and he followed it up with four more in quick succession, their purple glow streaking through the dark night as Meadhbh effortlessly outmaneuvered every throw.

After dodging his initial five throws, she pressed forward again. Lee had managed to stall her long enough to build his hit points up again to three quarters of a full bar, but between the crafting he had done earlier, his sequestered mana tending to the project in Satterfield, and the healing he had done just now, he was running dangerously low, so he was trying to delay her a little more. He pulled out another one of his stashed daggers, but she just ignored his attack and jumped right at him before the dagger could even leave his hand.

Lee panicked at the sight of her so close to him, but his instincts took over. He had been in fights with hundreds of pouncing beasts before. She struck him with both paws in the center of his chest, dealing 100 points of damage, and he let her momentum carry him over. He gave momentum a little help by pushing off with his feet at almost the exact moment she struck, rolled backward, and used her weight and momentum to push her over and off of him at the same time.

He was still hurt badly from the hit, but he had at least prevented himself from being pinned. He instantly sprang back to his feet and turned to see where Meadhbh was going to attack from next, but before he could even begin turning his head, she had already pounced and struck. She kept her claws withdrawn this time, but she still dealt 60 damage as he slammed into the ground. He was rolled over, flat on his stomach, and she stood atop his body, pinning him under her immense weight.

“Cunning, strong and agile. For a Human, you’re perfect,” she purred. “If you were to fight another of your kind in your original form, I have no doubt of your victory. But this is the limit. This is the limit that the blood of man has imposed upon itself--which is why you must now learn your place beneath my paw.” She lifted up her feet as she dug into his neck with her teeth and hoisted him into the air. The attack didn’t do much damage initially as she carried him like a tiger would carry a cub, but the bleeding effects were stacking up. Lee started using what little mana he had left as fast as he could to patch the wounds, but as long her teeth were in him, it was no good. He was able to stop the punctures from killing him until he ran out of mana completely, but that was about all he could do.

She dragged his body with her to a spot just a few hundred feet from the entrance of the town and laid his body down. “Rest now, little one. Heal up, and I’ll be back,” she said. “I just need to go remove the chains that bind your heart and help make sure you do not lose your way on our path to change fate and save our people.”

Then she disappeared, fading into the dark so fast that Lee couldn’t even follow her with his golems. She left Lee alone, blood pooling around his neck, his mana depleted and unable to do anything to stop his life from slipping away. Then, he remembered exactly why his mana was low.

System, I’m going to die. Can you please cancel the building project and let me access my mana? Lee pleaded as he watched his hit points slowly tick down. At this rate, he was going to die within minutes. There was no way for him to heal himself without mana, and thanks to the Spirit Builder eating up so much of both his mana and its regeneration, he was doomed.

Don’t worry, the project will naturally be canceled when you die. You don’t need to add in the additional notification. But I appreciate the reminder.

No, no! I don’t mean cancel it when I die! I mean cancel it now so that I don’t die! Lee pleaded. I need that ma-- He found it hard to think for a minute, the words getting lost in his head as a feeling of extreme tiredness washed over him.

Oh, that is what you meant. The project cannot be canceled until it is complete. You’ve already paid for it with both mana and coin. It will be completed except in the very likely event that you die. I apologize for thinking for a moment that, with your last dying breath, you wanted to kindly assist me by reminding me of which absolutely-pointless and worthless waste-of-time tasks I might need to cancel. I should take better note of your inconsiderate nature in the future.

Fine. Well, here’s hoping your next user will be better than me. Lee sighed as he ran out of ideas. With no more options and the inability to move, he just lay there on the ground, lacking both the mana to heal himself and the kill needed to trigger Life in Death. He remembered the cold familiar chill of death that he had encountered just outside Satterfield what seemed like ages ago, and he could feel it creeping in. He was bleeding out too fast, and his consciousness was slipping. Just before fading though, he heard Jade’s voice, loud and clear.

“See, you stupid NPC? What did I tell you? He’s still alive! I swear, you worry too damn much for a tsundere character. You need to stick to your guns and go, ‘It’s not like I like you or anything,’ more often!” Jade prattled on as Lee watched two figures approach through dimming vision. “It’s not like the main character of an anime or video game can die. He’ll be fine in the . . . Oh, he’s seriously lost a lot of blood. He might really die. Dang, that would be a shock to the story. Hey, you! Grumpy, sexless, beardless bastard! Can you even hea--”

Lee’s world around him closed into darkness, and the rest of her words were lost to the void.

Chapter 8

Name: Ling

Race: Human

Class: Huntress - Ranger

Level: 30

Health: 400/400

EXP: 1445/57000

Primary Stats:

Power 40

Toughness 40

Spirit 40

Secondary Stats:

Charisma 5 (7)

Courage 28

Deceit 5

Intelligence 23

Honor 11

Wisdom 2

Skills:

Unarmed Combat Initiate Level 6

Swordplay Initiate Level 9

Sneak Novice Level 5

Archery Journeyman Level 3

Trap Detection Initiate Level 4

Tracking Novice Level 4

Trapping Novice Level 3

Skinning Initiate Level 10

Carpentry Initiate Level 1

Butchering Initiate Level 2

Cooking Initiate Level 2

Herb Lore Initiate Level 3

Pathfinding Initiate Level 5

Titles:

The Damsel in a Red Dress

You have killed IsEverythingOkay. Your party has been awarded a feather and 48 Experience. Your share of this is a feather and 12 Experience.

Ling stared at the notification while restocking her quiver. The journey up the mountain had taken more days than she anticipated, and penetrating some of the creatures’ thick hides had cost her a lot more arrows than she could have ever imagined. Thankfully, she was able to use her previously-vaunted ‘ability to work wood’ to fletch more arrows.

“You look worried,” Miller commented as he came up beside her. “It’s been less than a day since our last message from the Herald of Augustus; I’m sure nothing bad has happened.”

“She’s not worried,” Dave said. “She’s frustrated. Unlike you, she’s not used to being without a partner for so long. She’ll be walking normally again in no time if this keeps up.”

“You know they don’t have that relationship,” Pelham insisted. “Why must you always tease everyone?”

Dave chuckled. “Wait . . . You’re not just saying that because you want me to only tease you, are you? I mean, that’s cute and all, but come on . . . Don’t be jealous. It’s unbecoming.”

Pelham laughed and said, “I’m going to murder you one day.”

“One day? Stop lying. The only reason you haven’t stabbed me in the back already is because you plan on using my fat belly as arrow fodder in the next fight. Isn’t that what you used to always say in the colosseum?”

“I am concerned,” Ling interjected honestly. Everything felt wrong to her. It was eerie. The day was filled with the same tension that had hung in the air before they fought the first Herald and the same tingling nervousness that had penetrated her bones before they fought Sevin. Now, it was here again. And that didn’t sit well with her. All of the signs were in place indicating that something had happened--or was going to happen--and everyone needed to be on guard. “This place has gotten quiet. We’ve only been fighting regular monsters for a while, and even the Phoukas stopped showing up just after we last heard from Lee. Something feels off.” She tried to spell out some of her points, hoping the others wouldn’t take them so lightly.

“You’re right,” Miller agreed. “Something definitely doesn’t feel quite right.”

“It’s called being sober,” Dave said wryly. “You’ve finally run out of liquor, and you’re starting to feel a hangover that’s been weeks in the making.”

“Whatever. I’m going to go check around and see what I can find.” Ling put away the arrow she had just made and walked off as quietly as she could. She wasn’t the best fighter in the group--she had even shot her own friends on occasion--but she was by far the best tracker. She had hunted game her whole life around Satterfield with a bow, and she knew how to look for prints and how to avoid danger most of the time.

I really do wish Lee was here. At least he’d take this seriously. She had never voiced it, but she was fairly confident that the rest of their party was nearly incompetent when it came to anything past killing. Dave wasn’t good for anything other than biting, low-wit comedy that only he found amusing, and Pelham just went with the flow without ever voicing a real thought or opinion. Their most useful role was as a body in a battle, not a strategy meeting. As for Miller, he recklessly charged into every fight, and he rarely acted like a team player once the battle started. He had even withheld vital information that cost Amber her life and almost killed Lee.

Ling felt a pang in her chest as she remembered the previous events. She didn’t know why, but Lee’s vacant expression and his hollow, hateful eyes--it was hard to bear it as she thought back on the how he had changed after Amber’s death. Ling had always imagined Lee as a kind and optimistic guy who was out to do the right thing until recently, but during the last few days, she didn’t know when he would turn overly-aggressive, cruel, or even just plain vindictive against anyone whom he viewed as a threat. It hurt to think about, and it hurt even more to think about how she couldn’t seem to help.

Now, to make matters worse, she couldn't even be there like a good friend should. He was miles up a mountain and about to a fight a Herald, and she knew that he wouldn't wait for them. Miller had illusions about this point, but she didn’t. He could have stayed near the base of the mountain where he had been dropped, sent a signal and allowed them time to catch up while he leveled and trained if he had wanted to. But he didn’t. He had pressed onward. He had climbed higher and faster by the day without ever letting them know exactly where he was headed, and she knew it was because of Amber. His callousness, decisiveness and random bursts of violence were his way of compensating for a feeling of helplessness. She recognized it for what it was because she had seen it before.

He’s going to fight, and he’s going to try to do it all by himself so that we don’t get caught up in the combat. She pressed her lips together and desperately looked for tracks. She was about to give up when she finally heard something: a child crying. It was far away but still shrill enough to be grating. Crap. Lee warned us about this. There’s no reason for children in these mountains. I need to get back. She felt justified in her hunch, but she couldn’t stop herself from being concerned either.

She ran full speed and reached the camp a few minutes later. “Guys, guys, we have trouble. The Phouka are coming,” she warned, coming to a quick halt in the middle of the camp. “I just heard-- I heard one of them on the way here. We need to prepare for battle.”

“Was it a bear? An owl? What creature did you hear?” Miller asked.

“I couldn’t tell. I just know that it wasn’t a regular monster. We need to get ready,” Ling stressed. The men in arms around her looked at each other, and each slowly pulled out their weapons, but none organized into any formation. Ling sighed heavily at seeing their reaction. They don’t believe me. Fine, I’ll walk them--

“She heard a child,” a surprisingly-deep yet feminine voice came from the woods. “She heard a weak and crying child, and she knew it was us, so she came here. She led us straight to you.”

“By Augustus!” Miller exclaimed, gripping his spear now with both hands and turning in the direction the voice had come from. “Who’s there? Where are you?”

To answer his question, giant boars, wolves, and even one of the bear-like creatures that they had fought earlier walked out from the shadows with a giant black tiger leading them. “Me? I am your savior,” the tiger rumbled. “I see here so many brave men, hearts in the right place, but bodies . . . some are lacking. Some of you are weak, and some of you are broken. You compensate with the strengths of fortitude and experience, of armor and weapons, but your blood does not lie. Your scents reek of weakness and ineptitude.”

Brigid’s few remaining men and the paladins finally scrambled to form up together, making a line of shields with archers behind them. It wasn’t the best she had seen, and she doubted whether it would hold from the attack, but at least it was a reaction.

“We already have a savior,” Ling spoke out first.

“You mean the boy? Lee? Hmm . . . Yes,” she mused. “I suppose he is a savior to you.”

The giant tiger sauntered back and forth, eyeing them the same way Weiser did when he was watching a mouse, and Ling knew that she was deciding exactly when she would pounce.

“But, to him, are you worth saving?” Meadhbh said with a growl in her voice. “You are chains, shackling him to the illusions of mercy’s kindness and hiding the cruelty of it from his eyes. You, like Satterfield, are just chains that need to be broken, so first you and then his precious town shall be shattered.”

“I’m not the burden here,” Ling replied defiantly. “You and your people are the ones that dragged him up the mountain to fight battle after battle where he could lose his life just so you can . . . What? Continue on in your stupid Herald wars? Why can’t you leave us alone?” Ling pulled out an arrow and nocked it. She didn’t know when the tiger would choose to act, but she was going to shoot first if that beast came any closer.

“Fight battle after battle? I suppose that’s accurate,” the tiger countered. “He is indeed one to wade close to death, but I’m not here to fight a Herald war. I won’t let him die. No, I have no intention of killing him. I’m going to conquer the world with him, and you’re just a distraction . . . a weakness that needs to be purged.”

“Did you ask him first?” Ling pressed. “You want to conquer the world with him, but did you even get his opinion on the matter? What if he doesn’t want to do that? Have you ever thought about why he is climbing up the mountain with troops at his back?”

“Troops at his back? I saw none. Only two women that I’ll remove in due time. No, he came to be with me willingly. You’ll just have to take my word now since you’ll be dead soon. Dead. Like all the other weak ones. My brothers and sisters, my Phoukas, are going to purify this group. All but those with the strongest blood will be purged. The rest of you aren’t necessary.”

“For once, when I have to fight some self-righteous whippersnapper, I’d like them to just, you know, attack me,” Dave said with a groan. “What about your generation demands a monologue before every encounter? I mean, we get it, Phouka girl: you got a weird, crazy reason for going all murder happy. You’re just doing it for money ‘cause you got a family to support, or maybe you’re doing it ‘cause it feels good, and your parents were mean to you. I honestly don’t care. Can you just come at me so that I can kill you quickly and have time to wash the fur off my armor before the sun sets? If I’m being honest, I hope you stay in that form so that, after I crush your skull in with old trusty here”--Dave patted his flail--“I can make a nice, proper rug out of your skin.”

The tiger looked over at him, sniffing the air at the same time. “You’re not weak. It’s . . . It’s the one next to you. He’s the one we’ll kill. If you don’t want to die, you don’t have to fight,” she said. “You can run away and live to a ripe old age. I’d even encourage you to sire children to ensure the next generation is healthy.”

Dave and Pelham shared a glance, looking at one another. Seriously?” Dave asked incredulously. “I mean, I’m not trying to say I’m ugly, but how is this face the one that’s worth saving? At least his looks . . . Well, he might be average . . . but my face looks like a carpenter tried to smooth out my ugly-ass nose with roughing paper but failed and gave up halfway. Damn, lady, your taste in men is terrible.”

“Never been a fan of cats myself, much less cat ladies,” Pelham said. “Maybe she can smell it.”

Dave laughed. “That’s true! You have always been averse to--”

“Enough!” Miller shouted, slamming his spear on the ground and letting out his drunken warcry. A moment later, that same spear was hurtling through the air at full speed. The giant tiger nimbly dodged it, but the boar behind her didn’t. The beast was struck so hard that the spear’s momentum knocked the stuck pig back and rolled it over.

You have killed Niall. Your party has been awarded 1312 Experience. Your share of this is 328 Experience.

“Fine, let’s do this the hard way,” the tiger purred and then leapt forward at Miller.

The tiger was engaged so quickly that Ling didn’t even have time to loose an arrow before it was already on top of Miller. By the time she reacted, she was already afraid that she’d strike him or one of the others, so she started looking for weaker, easier-to-hit targets in the backline instead. Experience had already taught her that her arrows would be relatively useless against the bear’s thick hide, but after seeing how effective Miller’s spear was, she felt confident she could deal some damage quickly to the boars and wolves. She aimed at one of the boars that had charged and began firing while watching out of the corner of her eye as Dave and Pelham stepped forward to intercept it. Miller pulled another spear from his inventory and threw it at the tiger lady, missing her yet again, but it still struck another boar, killing it just as Ling put down her own target.

You have killed Oonagh. Your party has been awarded 797 Experience. Your share of this is 199 Experience.

You have killed Afric. Your party has been awarded 810 Experience. Your share of this is 270 Experience.

Nearly a dozen boars died from the rain of arrows as they broke out of the forest and charged directly toward the assembled soldiers, but the shield wall was inevitably struck by the seemingly-endless horde of boars. Several more of the creatures died the moment they struck the shield wall, pieced by the paladins’ spears and hacked apart by Brigid’s men, but the sheer number of brutes was too much. The first wave of swine died before doing any real damage, but the relentless assault continued unabated. The men were driven back at first, slowly but surely, and then they started losing their foot as the mounting bodies continued to pile up with no end in sight. The second and third waves hit, one after another, and the few soldiers who had somehow managed to remain upright began to give way under the pressure. After that, there was little hope for recovering their formation, and Ling knew it.

You have killed Sean. Your party has been awarded 923 Experience. Your share of this is 231 Experience.

You have killed Orla. Your party has been awarded 742 Experience. Your share of this is 185 Experience.

Ling fired off arrows as quickly as she could, counting one death notification after another, but she couldn’t avoid watching the massacre going on beside her in between shots. The strong, durable paladins crumbled under the stampeding boars. One by one, the paladins fell, and the swine rushed and over them, trampling the piled bodies and slowly killing the fallen warriors.

The only spot in the line that didn’t break was the one fortified by Dave and Pelham. The two of them seemed to work miracles as they smashed everything that came near, building a wall of corpses in front of them. Dave’s flail moved with incredible speed: he cracked one boar’s skull open, crushed another’s spine, and slammed into a third with so much force that the sound of its ribs cracking was audible even across a battlefield.

The former Knight Captain Pelham proved to be less of a stationary peg of destruction with his two swords and more of an offensive specialist. He killed his first Phouka by hopping on its back and stabbing down through its spine with both blades, and he then jumped from one boar to the next, pushing his killing spree forward into the onrushing horde and sparing the shield wall and archers directly behind him from the same fate as everyone else.

Miller also put forth a fierce effort while squaring off against the tiger, and the boars surged around the two combatants as if he and the giant feline were a huge stone in their path. His spear was quick, but her paw was quicker, and no matter how fast and hard he struck at her with his weapon, she always dodged it and followed up with an attack that either knocked him back or caused him to lose his footing. It was clear that Miller was fighting a losing battle and that she was taking her time killing him, almost as if she enjoyed what she was doing, and Ling was reminded of Weiser and how the cat toyed with his prey just before killing it. No matter which way Miller moved to attack or evade, the cat’s lightning-fast paws were there first, turning the blow away or stopping him from maneuvering.

Ling normally would have helped--she always preferred to help the others in battle whenever she could rather than going directly for kills herself--but she couldn’t. She was so caught up with trying to stem or deter the flow of boars that she just couldn’t find the right place or the right time to take a shot. Then, before the opportunity presented itself, the shield wall collapsed. She knew that she would be doomed if she stayed in the same spot. The boars were far faster than she was, and she wasn’t as competent a swordsman as Pelham, so there was little chance of her being able to defend herself in close-quarters combat.

Ling wanted to linger where she was--every second behind the bow was a chance to help the others out more--but she also knew that she needed to get to some sort of high ground if she was going to make it through the fight alive. Without any other option, she threw her bow over her back and then turned and sprinted straight toward a tree on the edge of the small clearing, jumping up and grabbing ahold of the lowest branch as soon as she was within reach. She quickly hoisted herself up onto the large limb, secured her footing and then looked toward the collapsed shield wall in the futile hopes of finding a target that would make a difference. She fired off several ranging shots that dropped into the mob, but her efforts were far too little and too late to make a difference. There appeared to be shots coming from around a dozen places in the trees where others had sought refuge like her, but other than those, everyone else aside from Miller, Dave and Pelham was laid out on the ground, dying and being trampled on by the wave of boars.

This isn’t good. We’re going to die. We’re going to lose more people. Lee isn’t going to handle this well. Ling concentrated her shots on the boars trying to reach Pelham. No, he’s fine for now. What needs to happen . . . Ling looked over at the tiger and plucked off a few arrows straight toward the big beast. The feline may have been adept at dodging Miller’s spears, but Ling’s arrows were faster, and the beast was preoccupied. Seven of the barbs scored across her flank as she tried to rush in and pounce on Miller again.

The tiger skidded to a halt, screeching out an awful noise that was a combination of pain and surprise. It turned toward Ling, looking for the source of the shots, and the moment that she did, Miller ran through with a spear and stabbed her in the left shoulder. This seemed to infuriate the enormous cat, and rather than actually slowing it down, the animal swiped Miller so hard that the giant Firbolg went flying back ten feet. The tiger then turned to face Ling again, roaring a challenge in her direction.

Ling felt a tremble in her composure under the roar. Her nerves rattled, and a slight tremor ran from her spine down the length of her already-shaking arm, disrupting her rate of fire. She quickly sucked in a deep breath of air and tried to calm herself, but by the time she went to shoot again, the giant black beast was already dashing straight toward her at full speed. Why won’t you just die? Ling complained while muttering a few choice profanities that she had heard from Dave under her breath. She took aim and fired off as many shots as she could, doing her best to pincushion the rapidly-moving feline. Over half of her arrows hit the mark, but none actually slowed it down.

“No, you don’t!” Miller yelled, charging after it at full speed. The massive feline reached Ling’s tree and was just set to pounce when Miller slammed into it at full speed, ramming his spear into feline’s side. Both went flying back, and the two slammed into the trunk of the tree with a massive thud. Reverberations from their assault shook the entire tree, and Ling had to reach down and grab ahold of the limb she was perched on for fear of losing her balance.

“Why must you court your own death?” the tiger growled as it sprang to its feet. It leapt away once and then turned and faced Miller. “You are one of the strong ones. You would have lived.”

“I will not watch as those under my charge die!” Miller shouted back, pushing himself to his feet and holding his spear at the ready. Ling hadn’t noticed it before, but he was covered in blood. She had only seen the beast knock him back once, but he had either been trounced when she wasn’t looking, or that single blow must have done a massive amount of damage.

“Don’t be foolish. Know your place in nature and back down now so that I may cull the weak filth from this field,” the tiger roared.

Ling didn’t know how much health it had, but she was beginning to be worried by the fact that even as her arrows pelted it relentlessly, it ignored her.

“My place is here in front of you, in battle, until one of us dies,” Miller said, letting out another inebriating shout.

“So be it,” the tiger roared and then pounced at Miller. The Firbolg warrior was ready and responded by hoisting his spear up in front of him. He took the brunt of the tiger’s attack on the end of his weapon, wedging it into the beast’s open jaws, but it wasn’t enough. The tiger bowled him over with sheer weight and momentum, and Miller was trapped underneath the beast.

Ling fired off shot after shot at the easy target, but her arrows still seemed to do very little damage. With every passing second, Miller was being ripped up by the Phouka’s claws.

“Last chance,” the tiger growled. “I do so hate killing the strong blooded.”

“Justice never backs down, you filthy, wretched beast,” Miller taunted through gritted teeth. “Get to safety, Ling. I’ll hold this stupid cat off.”

Ling turned and took a quick survey of the field. She was tempted to do just that. She spotted eight of the dozen archers who had made it to the trees, and only Dave was still standing amidst the carnage, his flail swinging back and forth with carefully-placed shots as he crushed one enemy after the other. There was nothing on this field that she could fix, her arrows were running low, and time was nearly up. Taking to a higher branch and attempting to make her way through the canopy of trees was an option, but it didn’t sit right.

Ling pulled back another arrow and steeled her resolve. Even if Lee will mourn me, he wouldn’t run. “I’ll meet you and Amber shortly.”

Miller’s spear shattered as the beast’s maw finally snapped shut. The tiger looked up at Ling as she heard the farewell, and then it opened its jaws again and bored down on Miller, tearing off his face in one bite.

Miller has died.

The tiger looked up at Ling after her kill, Miller’s blood dripping from her maw. “Strong-willed and strong-blooded. Even though you carry his scent, I shall leave you today. You have earned that much.” The cruel feline then leapt away, disappearing into the woods again and vanishing from sight as quickly as it had appeared. Ling took one of her five remaining arrows, nocked it on to the bow and prepared to aim at any target she could find. But the wave of boars was gone. The bear-man was dead, and Pelham was lying next to it, his legs separated from his torso. One of his two swords was buried in the ursine creature’s throat, and Dave was standing over his corpse, looking down at his dead friend.

Out of the entire company, there were two from Brigid’s unit, four paladins, and Ling and Dave alive. An empty, hollow pit formed in her gut as she surveyed the brutal landscape. Dozens and dozens of boars lay dead across the field. Each of the paladins had killed at least one, and some had even killed three or four before dying. They had stood and fought exceptionally well in the battle, proving their worth before being slain under the hooves of a horde of swine. Yet, even as she witnessed and acknowledged their valiant effort, it felt meaningless underneath the scores of their own people that had died.

Ling dropped down from the tree and cautiously made her way over to reach Dave, carefully picking her way around the dead beasts as she went. She couldn’t help but wish she knew what to say.

“Shame, really.” Dave said when she reached him. “You’d think that, after all the crap he survived through, dying in the woods to some crying blind kid throwing a magical hissy fit wouldn’t be one of the ways he’d go.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Ling muttered dumbly. She put a hand on the old man’s shoulder, trying to be supportive.

“Don’t worry about it, young’n,” Dave responded, shrugging her hand off. “At my age, I’m more surprised when a fight ends without a friend dying than I am when one winds up dead. You’d think it would be us old folks that would go first, but it’s always the folks that would have had time left. They just don’t know when to run; always got something to prove. If he had stayed in his place and just fought that damn horde of bacon like I did, he’d still be here, laughing at how many people he killed. Nope, had to be the big man and fight one of these bastards solo. Had to prove himself, the idiot.”

“I’m sorry,” Ling said again, still unsure of what to say.

“It’s not your fault. It’s that damn Herald’s. Him and his stupid . . . Oh, I suppose I shouldn’t speak ill of the dead. He and that Firbolg of his fighting against two of them in a doubles’ match of Blind Billy and the Barmaid left that idiot Pelham thinking he could mimic them,” Dave lamented. “Idiots really shouldn’t think--or rather shouldn’t act--on their thoughts. The moron, getting himself killed.”

Even though Dave was throwing around insults, Ling knew that he was really just depressed with the outcome. His face looked broken, like he might cry, but then every time she thought a tear would fall, he’d just sniffle and wiggle his moustache. “I’m still sorry for your loss,” she said again.

Dave shrugged. “People dying for dumb causes. It’s what makes this world great. Well, you wanna wait here for your boy, Lee, or chase my unkilled rug and her hoard of pork chops down to Satterfield?”

“I think we should wait for Lee,” Ling advised cautiously. “We need to send him a message about what happened as soon as possible.”

Dave scratched at his scraggly beard and then said, “You thinking we might abandon Satterfield, regroup back at Kirshtein for a defense? If we had a good army, we could handle the wench. We’ve taken out a good chunk of her forces, and, if we get some proper idiots willing to suicide themselves in a fight like Pelham, I think we can do this in one more go.”

“One way or another, I’m waiting for Lee,” Ling answered resolutely. “I want to protect Satterfield too, but I’ll see what he wants to do. I don’t know how we can outmaneuver them.”

“They didn’t field them, but I saw there were these other things moving around the action in the woods. They were slow walkers . . . umm . . . I don’t know what you call them. Fancy bull- and horse-looking things walking on two legs. If the Phoukas keep their army together, which they should, then we’ll be able to catch them if we move at a full sprint. We’ve got roughly . . . four or five days at most until that force hits Satterfield head-on if they let the slowest hold them up. If you dodge out now and head back at full pace, you might be able to save your dad.”

Ling bit her lip. “I’ll give Lee till the end of the day to respond, then I think I’ll do just that.”

“Suit yourself, woman, but I’m sticking with you till then. Can’t have old boozemaker mad at me for letting you die on your own.” Dave looked down at Pelham one last time and added, “Well, I might need to bury a few people first. You think Lee will give him one of those fancy glass statues? Maybe he could make Pelham smile for once when he does the face. Maybe that’d be good.”

Ling frowned. The thought of Lee having to bury more people hurt more than a little. “Yeah, he can do that. He’ll take care of it for you.”

Name: Jade

Race: Human

Class: Herald - ???

Level: 35

Health: 450/450

EXP: 38651/57000

Primary Stats:

Power 45

Toughness 45

Spirit 45

Secondary Stats:

Charisma 19 (21)

Courage 14

Deceit 12

Intelligence 38

Honor -4

Faith 12378

Personal Faith 9257

Skills:

Unarmed Combat Initiate Level 2

Sneak Initiate Level 4

Swordplay Initiate Level 5

Sewing Initiate Level 1

Intimidation Novice Level 1

Divine Skills:

Blood Golem Journeyman Level 10

Hemomancy Novice Level 7

Divinity Powers:

Fountain of Fecundity

Titles:

Town Impregnator

The Butcher of Buachailliville

The Looney Lady

Genki Gaijin

Chuunibyou Hime

Otaku Apprentice

Hikkomori Herald

Twenty-Something Magical Girl

“Jade, do something! I think he’s actually going to die!” Brigid spat out the words in a panic, rushing over and squeezing her hands against Lee’s wounding neck as if applying pressure would somehow keep the blood in.

Ugh. She really is dumb. Are all NPCs this stupid? Jade questioned as she stared at the fading Herald. “Should I actually save him?” Jade wondered aloud. “I mean, I suppose I kind of have to.”

“You have to?” Mary asked from within her head.

“He’s the main character, isn’t he? The main character can’t die. Wait, what if he’s just a red herring main character? The writers are tricking us into thinking he’s the main character when, all along, it is STILL ME!!!” Jade proclaimed triumphantly.

“I keep telling you that this isn’t an anime,” Mary said irritably, and from the tone of her voice, it was clear that this was a topic she had covered many, many times. “Will you stop that and just . . . I don’t know . . . Fix him? Do something? You know modern medicine. Figure it out.”

“Meh. You don’t need to say anything,” Augustus slurred. “Either he has my magic charm and irresistibility, and she’ll help him whether she wants to or not, or he’ll die, and that’ll be that. No matter what you pick, I say you draw a picture on his face and let me get a good screenshot of it. Make it as embarrassing as possible.”

“AUGUSTUS!” Mary shouted, “Will you show some decency! Isn’t he your Herald? Your flesh and blood? How can you be so callous? I thought you cared!”

“I do, but he’ll be fine. Why should I beat myself up over it?” Augustus shot back.

“Ugh! Old married couple! If you insist on bickering, can you do it OUTSIDE OF MY HEAD?!” Jade shouted. “I swear, you two aren’t even important to the plot. Why must you constantly bother me with your old couple complaining? It’s so noisy!”

“We’re not a couple!” Mary said back. “He’s just--”

“What, your only and closest friend in the whole wide universe? The one you depend on all the time and defer to constantly? The one who told you to bark, and you barked--which was kinky, but seriously, you had me come all the way out here--and you’re going to try and tell me you two aren’t a couple?”

“It’s complicated,” Mary protested weakly.

“Not that complicated. Just shut up and have your romance off camera. This scene doesn’t need you.” Jade was so incredibly annoyed at how they would constantly bring her into their problems, and it was always distracting her. Before she met Lee, she didn’t have anyone in this world to talk to who was actually a person and not some stupid, idiotic NPC, so she put up with it. But now that she had someone to chat with, the voices were just annoying, and they made her feel like she was going even crazier than she already was. Well, you’re already possibly hallucinating that you’re stuck in a video game. Maybe voices in the head is a step up, not down.

“I like her better than you!” Augustus’s grating voice chimed back in, and his subsequent laughter resounded in Jade’s skull. “Alright, then. Do your thing, crazy woman.”

“Thank you for your approval, random voice in my head. Now, keep your woman quiet like you actually know how to use a belt.” Jade finally took the time to focus on Lee’s mangled body and tried to figure out what to do. The other day, when she had met him, he had been the most heroic figure she had ever seen, a pure beacon of manliness gliding through the sky while rescuing the crazy NPC. The next day, her opinion of him had only gone up as he single-handedly fought wild beasts, one after the other, no matter the odds. Now, here he was, broken and looking like he was about to die at any moment.

“Who are you talking to?” Brigid asked, interrupting Jade as she thought about how to handle the situation.

“WILL YOU SHUT UP, NPC?! I’M TRYING TO THINK!” Jade snapped. She actually liked Brigid. A lot. For an NPC, her character was believable, well-written and properly drawn out. Out of all the anime- and NPC-like characters in this world that she had come across so far, Brigid felt the least like disposable filler. Yup, she’s definitely going to make it to act three, maybe even act four, before they kill her off like it’s Hamlet on a fun-time spree, Jade thought as she eyed the girl. But she’s way too attractive to be hanging around my . . . Oh, yeah! Dying man. Still need to fix that . . . “You know what? I think the only way to save him . . . is to get some of your blood, NPC,” Jade said, a random idea occurring to her. If I can infuse her blood with my power, I could just inject it into him and fix up the bleed-out problem no issue, right?

“Really?” Brigid asked, clearly disbelieving. “My blood? Will I be okay?”

“See, now I’m going to have to tell him that you asked, and you’re going to lose out on all those tsundere sacrifice points you were gonna get for offering your blood,” Jade complained with a sigh. For a harem wench, she’s absolutely terrible at her job. She needs to show real affection! “In the future, you need to go, ‘Oh no, he’s dying! What can I do to save him? Take my life if you have to!’” Jade started acting out the most desperate princess moment she could imagine. “‘Take everything; just save him! Woe is me! Woe is me without him!’” She concluded her scene and then straightening herself out. “See? Like that. If you do it like that, then the player will like you better. That way, you won’t get killed off or discarded when another, better optional romance shows up in the next DLC for . . . whatever this game is.”

“It’s not a game! He’s dying! Do what you have to do, but stop lollygagging when his life is on the line!” Brigid demanded. Then she took a knife and cut across her own wrist. “Here, take my blood.”

What? That was way too sexy, hot and direct. I freaking loved it! Which means he will too! Not fair, NPC woman! Don’t up your difficulty rating so quickly! I will not lose to you! Jade’s eyes flared at the challenge as she took a knife and cut her own wrist. “Fine, here we go!” She collected the blood that was falling from Brigid’s wrist and her own and, pooling it together, she magically redirected it into Lee’s veins. It was a messy project, especially since Lee’s body seemed to reject their blood at first.

Well . . . what if we put some of his in ours and then . . . Jade briefly thought about it for a minute then just did it. She wasn’t sure how it worked, but she was able to take Lee’s pooled-up blood, purify it, then pull it through the wounds and into Brigid’s and her own body where, with the help of her skill, she was able to mix their blood through each other before then transfusing it back into him. It was a rough and fairly-sloppy process, but doing stuff like this was one of the few abilities she had. When it came to blood, she was the queen. There was nothing she couldn’t do with the gooey, weird substance, even if she limited herself to making coagulated katanas most of the time.

“There, done!” she declared triumphantly.

“But, he’s . . . He still looks dead,” Brigid said, clutching her wrist where she had cut herself. Jade had used some of her magic to patch up the wound, making temporary blood-crafted seals on all of their injuries.

“Why in the hell am I even talking to an NPC? I swear, I do a good deed, I save your boyfriend, and you go whining about the speed when I finish! You’re so annoying sometimes.” Jade made a point of sighing as loud and exasperatedly as she could right into Brigid’s face. “Will you please fix your programming and be more useful? If you had been with him, maybe he wouldn’t be taking a dirt nap right now. I mean, what? You spent all day pining and lusting after his nice butt and those broad shoulders and that cute face and the sexy scruff where a beard is starting to grow . . .” Jade paused, her mouth hanging open for a second before she shut it and went back to lecturing. “And then what? You just conveniently walk away from him right as the villain is going to show up? Why must you NPCs always be so predictably stupid? Bodyguard is a full-time job, woman!”

“I’m not his bodyguard! I’m the general leading the expedition! And you were the one who made me join you in your room so that I wouldn’t be bothering him,” Brigid responded, attacking both points instantly.

“Tomato, potato. It doesn’t matter,” Jade said. “Clearly, as the winning harem member, it’s your job to protect--”

“She died,” Brigid interrupted, angrily staring into Jade’s eyes as she blurted out just those two words.

“Huh?” Jade blinked. “What are you talking about? Did he kill the other Herald, and I just didn’t get the death notification? Is there a body nearby?” She looked around, searching for a corpse.

“No, his ‘winning harem member,’ as you would call her, died. I saw her death with my own eyes only a few days ago. She died right in his arms,” Brigid explained.

“Wait? Seriously?” Jade took this news as a bit of a blow. “You mean . . . You mean he already went through the tragic death scene, and it wasn’t me? I guess I should feel relieved that it wasn’t me, but that’s messed up, man! I should have at least been there to watch it with some popcorn and--”

“Please, don’t belittle a man’s loss so quickly,” Brigid said, cutting her off. “Even I can tell you that who he was before and who he is now after her death are two different men, and it is certainly not something to be laughed about. How dare you make his loss a part of your twisted jokes.”

Seriously? I’m getting lectured by the NPC about another NPC dying? I mean, I guess they have a vested interest but . . . Ugh! Why does it feel like I’m on the wrong side of this argument? Am I the villain? No, of course not. I’m the main female lead, fresh on the scene, so who is she to tell me off? Jade snorted. “I didn’t belittle anyone. You’re imagining things. I’m just . . . just saying I’d have been there for him.”

“From what I understand, he already had plenty of support from his friend Ling. She was--”

“THAT MEGUMIN AGAIN?! I totally forgot about her! How big is his harem?! We got the tragic dead girl, now the supportive friend . . . Where is my--” Jade began her protest, but she realized that she was going to be called out and made fun of by the NPC again, so she tempered her reaction. “Deep breath, Jade-O,” she told herself. “I’m just asking, what role is left for me? Why are there so many female characters? Why couldn’t I be stuck with the nice, nerdy guy that sits on the couch eating potato chips all day and doesn’t go around saving the day and building up NPC harems?”

Brigid didn’t respond this time. She simply glared at Jade and then went back to looking at Lee, who had a lot more color than before. His breathing was also strong enough now to be noticeable, and he seemed to be making a steady recovery.

“La da-da-da da da da da da-da!” Jade sang out the victory instrumentals from her favorite Circle Phoenix game, Nobel-Born People Have Magic.

“What are you doing now?” Brigid asked, her shoulders slumping defeatedly.

“Victory music. You should get a tune to play after you accomplish something. That way, you can be like, ‘Constipation defeated! La da-da-da da da da da da-da!’ Sometimes, I use the song from their sequel, If You Aren’t Born Special, You Suck: Dun dun! Da dun dun! It’s the best thing to sing out when you do something awesome or adultlike, like pay your bills on time or parallel park in under ten minutes.”

Brigid looked incredibly confused. “Bills? Parallel park?”

“Oh, God, this is why this place is a fantasy world. You don’t know what bills are, and you’ve never had to parallel park. How I envy your sweet, innocent, ignorant NPC brain. You’ll never know the horrors of final exams cropping up on the same week that your favorite streaming site releases fifty hours of bingeable materials.” Jade shook her head. That poor, sweet, stupid NPC . . . God bless her. “Anyway, victory music. Come on. Sing it with me ‘cause he’s alive, Ms. Frankenberry.”

“Is he safe to move to his quarters? I think I’d like to be inside, given that I don’t know how safe it is out here,” Brigid said, walking over to his body and picking him up.

“Nope! No stealing a march on me, small chest. He’s mine,” Jade insisted, taking Lee from Brigid’s arms and walking him down into the city.

The Dwarf that had come and yelled at them for help was waiting at the entrance. He looked horrified when he saw Lee’s body, but after a second, he looked relieved.

“Yeah, I was pretty shocked too,” Jade added when he saw the Dwarf’s expression. “I always thought I’d get princess carried before I princess carried someone else, but with a male lead, we need all the gender role switching we can get, or else the game might get petitioned by feminists.”

“What?” Brigid asked. Both she and the old Dwarven man looked confused. “What’s feminism?”

“You simple, simple people. Oh well, at least he owes me a princess carry. Actually. He owes me like five. I saved his life. I should get breakfast in bed for a week. And maybe he should feed me grapes while I lay around and do nothing. OH! OH! Or better yet, I need a foot massage. These shoes? Freaking terrible. Mary, how come you can’t get me some proper tennis shoes? I’m telling you, it’s like hiking in sandals with these things!” Jade just kept on talking as she finished carrying Lee to his room. When she got him there, she looked over at Brigid. “What? You gonna wait with him all night?”

“I thought you said it’s an NPC’s job to guard him?”

“Oh, I did. Actually . . . Hmm . . . I’ve got an idea. Come over here,” Jade said, motioning for Brigid to come closer to her. Now, pull up a chair and sit right here. Right next to his bed.”

“What are you doing?” Brigid asked. She looked confused, but she did as she was told while Jade finished tucking Lee into bed. Then Jade looked over at Brigid. “No, his harem is too big for this to work. On second thought, get in the bed with him to warm up his body. Otherwise, he might die of heat loss.”

Brigid looked at Jade incredulously. “I will not lower myself to that . . . Are you . . . What are you doing?”

“I’m getting in bed with him to keep his body warm. What does it look like? Then I’m going to cover myself with the blanket so that he can’t see who it is, and when he wakes up, he’ll be like, ‘Oh no! What’s going on? Who is with me? Where am I?’ And I’ll pop out and go, ‘Oh my, Mr. Cute Butt, last night was amazing.’ Then he’ll go--”

“Are you insane?! How could you do that to a man who almost died?!”

“And whom I saved, which means I can do this without a guilty conscience at all,” Jade replied, proudly puffing out her chest.

“Doing the right thing once does not clear you to do the wrong thing! Are you listening to me?”

Brigid seemed like she was about to head off on another lecture, but Jade had already crawled into the bed and covered herself up with the blanket, preemptively ignoring any logic-filled tirade the Leprechaun woman had to offer.

“You are so childish!” Brigid declared, storming off and slamming the door behind her.

“Classic tsundere,” Jade sighed, and then she nuzzled herself into Lee, falling asleep as she waited for him to wake up.

Chapter 9

Name: Lee

Race: Human

Class: Herald - Statesman

Level: 29

Health: 42/390

EXP: 4182/51500

Primary Stats:

Power 39 (43)

Toughness 39 (43)

Spirit 39 (43)

Secondary Stats:

Charisma 31

Courage 22

Deceit 31

Intelligence 209 (230)

Honor -2

Faith 32678

Personal Faith 192

Skills:

Unarmed Combat Initiate Level 7

Swordplay Novice Level 10

Sneak Journeyman Level 4

Cooking Initiate Level 8

Trap Detection Initiate Level 6

Knife Combat Initiate Level 9

Mental Fortitude Initiate Level 1

Sleight of Hand Initiate Level 3

Blood Shield Initiate Level 5

Sewing Initiate Level 4

Glass Smithing Novice Level 4

True Patriot

Carpentry Initiate Level 8

Delegation

The Statesman:

Territories:

Satterfield (+10: Savior)

Defensive Strength Rating: 5

Economic Strength rating: 3

Population

Rating:1

Territory

Rating:12

Tech / Utility Rating: 12

Influence / Tourism Rating: 4

Public Persona:

Kirshtein (-2: Unkind)

Birnefeld (0: Unknown)

Divine Skills:

Golem Sculpting Journeyman Level 5

Appreciative Drunk Novice Level 10

Nectar of the Gods Initiate Level 6

Spirit Smithing Initiate Level 7

Faith Healing

Ignis Veritas

Spirit Builder Initiate Level 1

Divinity Powers:

Life in Death

Titles:

Cheat Code Fighter

The Great Deceiver

The Aggressive Mile-High Chef

Lee woke up to the pleasant feeling of pain racking his sides as he took a breath. He instinctively grabbed at his aching ribcage, only to have his hand run into a soft, unidentifiable head of hair. “Masha?” he asked as he suddenly became cognizant of the feeling of a body pressing against him under the sheets.

With that question, however, came a thump on his injured ribs, and he took another 10 damage. “Ow, what the heck?” Ignoring the pain, Lee lifted up the covers to see what was going on.

“What the heck is with you?” the blue haired woman snapped at him, but she kept her head right where it was. “Do I look like a Masha? Are you really thinking of other women after all we did last night?”

Lee froze. I didn’t . . . I didn’t sleep with her? Did I? he wondered as he looked down at her figure. “I mean, no. What do you mean?”

“Really?” She lifted her head up and gave him a coy smile. She was only wearing a blue satin dudou and lace panties that matched her hair color, and as she sat there giving him that pouty face, Lee found the usual morning assault twice as strong. “Are you really going to play innocent when even he remembers?” she said, gesturing at his wake-up call.

“I . . .” Lee was having trouble collecting his thoughts when he remembered both his injury and the source. “I’m not sure I believe you.”

“Ugh! You would doubt your own flesh and blood?!” Jade grumbled at him. “Here I was, cuddled up and waiting for round two, and you tell me that not only is there another woman, but you don’t even want to take responsibility for round one?”

“My own flesh and blood?” Lee was incredibly confused. “What are you talking about?”

Jade sniffled. “I . . . Our blood. I had to mix it to stop you from dying. You could say that, since your blood and mine have already mixed . . . you’re like my blood brother, and I’m like your blood sister, like kids in a pact.”

Lee began using his magic to heal up the wound. He was still in too much pain to try and lift himself normally, so he decided to take care of that problem first. “If we’re like brothers and sisters, isn’t that even more of a reason for you to get out of my bed?”

“Aww! Don’t be like that. We might be bonded, but it’s not like we’re blood-related,” she said. “Anyway, don’t you know . . . wincest for the best rest?” Jade teased. If it weren’t for the fact that she was suggesting stuff that cranked the awkward meter up to eleven, Lee might have continued to find himself tempted by the sight of her.

“Yup, nope.” Lee shook his head. “Out. I need to get dressed properly.”

“Wha? Not even a thank you kiss for saving your life?” Jade harrumphed. “I hope this MASHA is worth it. Because . . . Because right now, you’re being a total meanie!” She then jumped out of the bed and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

“A meanie?” Lee blinked. “Did she just . . .?” But before he could finish that thought, Jade opened the door and stuck her tongue out at him before then closing it again.

“I have no idea what the hell just happened,” Lee muttered, throwing his mana into healing himself up as he recalled the events of last night. Satterfield. The word struck him like a brick as his memories flooded back to him, and he remembered what had happened. He felt somewhat guilty that it hadn’t been the first thought on his mind, but he knew that was probably what Jade was after with her antics. Crap, he thought, holding his side as he finished the last bit of healing. How long have I even been out?

“‘Just for the night,” Augustus’s voice answered. “Even if you do manage to make it down to the town in time, what are you going to do? You were stomped by her. You barely managed to hold onto your life and dealt absolutely no damage in return.”

“Yeah, it was kinda sad to watch,” Mary’s voice chimed in. “Almost as sad as watching my poor Herald humiliate herself. I swear, Augustus, you’re a terrible influence on Jade.”

“What?” Augustus asked indignantly. “It was funny! You should lighten up! I swear, you’re tenser and stuck up than Lee is.”

“He’s not tense and stuck up. He’s just a man with a plan who understands the gravitas of what he is doing. You should take more after--”

“Please shut up,” Lee said to the both of them. “I swear, you two bicker back and forth like an old married couple trying to decide where to eat.”

“That is not what is happening!” Mary protested, but Lee figured it was better to just ignore it.

Lee frowned as he looked at the hand that had clutched his now-healed wound. The damn old geezer is actually right. Even if I do make it down the mountain, there is nothing I can do to stop her. She easily bested me. I need to do something to save Satterfield.

Lee pushed himself out of bed and found the inventor Dwarf waiting for him outside his door along with a boy who couldn’t have been older than ten.

“Sir,” the man began apologetically. “I’m sorry for what happened last night. This here is my grandson, and after those events, I’m the only one he has to look after him. I wouldn’t have run otherwise, and I hope you can forgive me.”

He’s feeling shame for staying alive? “Forgive you for what?” Lee asked. “You did as I told you to, and I’m assuming the fact that my friends showed up was due you.”

“Yeah . . . I went to them as soon as I could,” the Dwarf explained, still looking abashed. “They were both asleep in the same room, but the blue one bolted out the door right away . . . and I’m glad she did.”

Lee just shook his head slightly. He didn’t have the time to deal with this Dwarf’s insecurities, so he tried to be blunt without being cruel. “There isn’t anything to forgive. What’s the problem? Should you have stayed there and died with me?”

“No, it’s just”--the man looked down at the kid--“I wouldn’t be here to take care of him if you hadn’t sent me back. I can’t let that debt go unpaid. We Dwarves ain’t the tallest of races out there, but we hold our head high when it comes to unpaid debts. I gotta do something for you for the kindness you showed me last night. It might be true that me getting help kept you alive, but you kept me alive first to do it. So . . . is there anything I can do to help you out?”

Lee studied the man curiously. Normally, he wouldn’t bother with this type of thing, but knowing that there was a cultural difference, he wondered if not extracting a price would cause a bigger grievance than any recompense he could collect. Hmm . . . I could just ask him to follow Augustus, but . . . that would only be one follower. This whole town could follow Augustus, and it wouldn’t boost the numbers as much as Kirshtein did. No, actually there is something I could really use. “Stonework,” Lee answered. “I don’t know anything about Masonry. Can you teach me that?”

“What in the heck?” Augustus exclaimed. “That’s what you asked him for?! No beer, no prostitutes, no food, no dancing women or musical songs? You want to learn the most boring profession there is in all the kingdoms of this stupid food-named empire? Bricklaying?!”

You really don’t live up to your name as the God of Crafts, you know that? Are you trying to switch professions on me?

“No,” Augustus groaned. “I just think that my book would provide better, more adequate explanations, and you could use the good faith you’ve accrued on something you clearly don’t know how to get without help.”

Your book might provide the instructions, but having someone hold my hand through every mistake would help me more, and this guy is clearly a professional when it comes to crafting of any sort.

“That’s no problem at all,” the Dwarf answered, interrupting an argument between Lee and Augustus that he couldn’t know was going on. He sounded excited, and there was a glimmer in his eye having heard Lee’s request. “I’ll get my kit and the boys who owe me a favor right away. We can run you through everything you need to know about it without a problem. This . . . This I can do.”

Lee sighed. He should have felt happy getting what he wanted, but the threat looming over Satterfield was still there. There has to be something I can do. The situation can’t be that bleak.

“The stone . . . You must use the stone, Luke,” Jade’s voice teased him as she popped out around him, this time in her usual adventurer gear.

“The stone?” Lee turned to find the blue-haired girl who had only moments ago run from his bed in mock anger.

“Yeah, you were talking about stonework, so I just thought . . .” Jade was leading him on, but it took a second for Lee to get what she was trying to put out there.

“The world stone fragment!” Lee shouted, as if an idea had struck him. “That’s it! I can use the world stone fragment!” It won’t be everything I need, but it might be enough to at least close the gap some in the next fight! The last two were a huge power boost!

“Yup. If it’s still on this mountain. Hey, maybe one of your bearded brothers might know. You’ve been pretty chummy with that one Dwarf. I’m sure he has some idea.”

“He might so long as Meadhbh hasn’t gotten it already, but . . . that still doesn’t answer what we’re going to do about Satterfield. Maybe Miller and Ling might have--”

“The dead guy?” Jade asked, tilting her head.

“What?” Lee asked.

“You said ‘maybe Miller’ like you were going to rely on him, but isn’t he the party member that died?”

“What?” Lee felt a lump form in his throat that was rather hard to swallow down. “What are you talking about?”

“Huh? Did you not check your notifications after you woke up? I mean, you’ve got people leveling us without either of us having to lift a finger, but you don’t even check their progress? That’s really mean. They’re working super hard like good NPCs should.”

“Miller is dead?” Lee stumbled over the words while fumbling to open up his notification list. The messages there were bleak. There were several tiny, innocuous, renamed kill-notifications that Ling had sent to update him on what was going on, but the system updates were ugly. He sifted through them at lightning speed and with a growing sense of dread. The party was wiped out, their troops were dead, Pelham was dead, Miller was dead, and only Ling, Dave and a handful of others were left of what was originally a sixty-man expedition. And, to make matters worse, they had four days at most to reach Satterfield before Meadhbh culled the population there.

Ling had been thorough with her messages. She described how Pelham had killed the bear-man and then went into detail about the stampede of boars that had crushed their ranks. That’s . . . System, will fortified walls hold up against those attacks? Lee feared he already knew the answer.

Of course not. Those walls you wasted two full days of mana on will get crushed like pixie sticks under the assault of a stampede of boars. I take only very small--no, quite large actually--amounts of pleasure from knowing that you spent so much time and effort protecting a city that will die out anyway. I told you that you should have just worried about the infrastructure and not the population. Now, I can say I was right.

But would stone walls? Lee thought. I mean, if I get my Masonry up high enough today, wouldn’t that work?

I believe we had this discussion, Lee. You said you would give me a week before you asked me to do any more defensive improvements.

“Yeah, but is there any way you can let me off the hook? Just this once? Satterfield is going to be attacked. I need to do everything I can to stop it,” Lee protested. “I have the ability to upgrade the defenses and save lives. Do you mind if I do it? Just this once?”

Well, you could. You could be the type of man who breaks his word after having said that he wouldn’t upgrade the town’s defenses for a week, and I might just have to become the type of system that says it will help you facilitate an upgrade but won’t. This could also happen, right?

“You’re not going to let me do a single additional defensive upgrade, are you?”

No, and I am also going to highly recommend you don’t try to save Satterfield. The town will repopulate after Meadhbh kills everyone, but you will not. You are a Herald, and a new Herald won’t randomly regenerate. That’s why I have some great recommendations for upgrades that are incredibly unlikely to be destroyed or affected by a barbaric invasion. Would you like me to generate that list now or after your polybolos project completes, and it is time to select another upgrade?

Lee sighed. “Just . . . later. Later, please.” I have the power, but an agreement with the system won’t let me. Great. “So, Jade . . .”

“Yeah, what’s up?” she asked

“Do you think you could do me a big favor?” Lee asked the perky, blue-haired psychopath.

“I mean, I can, but I kind of wish you had asked me this when we were still in the bedroom. You have no idea what a hassle it is to take these clothes off. It’s like the worst part of being in a video game. It takes forever to put these on and take them off!” She pulled at the incredibly-tight leather pants that were hugging her butt. “I mean, look at these.” She turned around, flaunting her perfectly-curving, bouncy-looking bitable booty for him. “It’s so hard to get pants over them.”

“You were already changed by the time I left my room. That was like . . . twenty seconds? At most?”

Jade sighed longingly. “Which is eighteen seconds longer than it takes to remove normal pants and pull up some sweatpants. Anyway, if you really need me to, fine. Let’s go get this done so you can get this whole depressing death of your buddy and loss of your troops out of your system. Sex is cheaper than therapy, but I never expected you to have the equipment needed to ask for it.”

Lee let her ramble on before finally stopping her when she tried to walk back into his room. “Oh, no. That’s not the favor. I need you to go send Ling a few messages through the rename-and-kill system. She’s no doubt panicking right now, and she needs to know that things are okay up here, that the radio silence is over and that we have a game plan. Or at least, that I have the rough makings of a game plan.”

“Huh? How did I get downgraded from the booty call to the cell phone you’re using to text order an NPC booty-call?” Jade grumbled. “This is ridiculous.”

“Just cut the act and do it,” Lee snapped impatiently. “I need you to send several messages to her, and I’m going to need to talk to Brigid about what happened to her men. This isn’t going to be easy . . . And I need to figure out how to reach Satterfield after we get the stone fragment.”

“Wait, you’re still thinking of going? I mean-- I suppose there will be a lot of bodies if the whole town is massacred, so I can be helpful against the Phouka, but do you think we’ll still stand a chance?” Jade asked. “She messed you up pretty bad last time, and that’s even with your broken healing skill.”

“Yeah, but I gotta try,” Lee insisted. “If I do nothing, then everyone relying on me will die.”

“Hasn’t that already happened? Not to be the Debbie Downer, but if you had stopped the crazy lady, she wouldn’t have made it down the mountain and destroyed your little matchstick army, right?”

Jade’s question was an emotional gut-punch that Lee had been trying to avoid by focusing on what he had to do and not what had already happened. He was trying to keep busy not only to make sure that Satterfield would live but also so that he didn’t have to consider the ramifications of what had happened.

“Even if I’ve lost them, that doesn’t mean I’ve lost everyone,” Lee replied.

“Right, that old ‘don’t wallow in the past; throw water out of the ship’ approach,” Jade said with a sigh as she put a hand on Lee’s shoulder. “Tough one, brother. It’s not the wrong approach, but you really can’t let these things beat you up. Are you ever going to be happy again if you cry every time an NPC dies? While we’re talking, one is dying. You go stop Meadhbh, and she’s got NPCs with her, so some will be dying--maybe all if we do our job right. Two towns go to war ‘cause people in video games suck and have to kill each other like all the time or turn into lowbies and then get killed, so people are going to die. Why are you sweating this so much?”

“Because they’re not just NPCs,” Lee proclaimed loudly. “They’re people. They have wants, desires, and even freaking kids for heaven’s sake. How can you just treat them as NPCs and move on like they don’t matter? They have more reason and feelings than you and me sometimes.”

“That only means they’re better-programmed NPCs. You really need to stop stressing over this. I mean, seriously, I literally saw an entire town lose every person in it, and then within a month, it was all right as rain as if nothing happened. They’re NPCs, Lee, and you can’t let their dying bother you. Otherwise, what kind of mad killing monster are you? How many of them have you butchered for your own agenda? Don’t think that Brigid hasn’t told me what’s happened, what you did to her people,” Jade said. “You really gonna say, ‘Oh, they are all people just like us, but it was totally cool when I picked which ones lived and died in a political squabble?’”

“I did what was right for my people.”

“Right. So, it’s like summons or portable monsters for you? You’re like a warlock or a beast trainer in one of those fantasy games or anime, and these people are like the pocket pet or summon you’re trying to keep alive? I can kinda dig that,” Jade said. “Alright, cool beans. We can do this, but you need to not get so beaten up emotionally when a few of them die.”

Lee didn’t have a clue how to deal with her. There was no way that he could ever accept that someone like Amber wasn’t a person. He just decided not to press her on the issue. “Fine. Think of them like a hunter’s pet or however you want, but help me out. I need you to send some messages to Ling.”

“Okay, I’ll also go find this town’s stable or whatever and get a mount for us,” Jade said. “Just don’t start drinking without me. I’ve always wanted to get plastered with Dwarves. I mean, they say that a Dwarf can drink anyone under the table, but little do they know, thanks to my powers, I can control my blood alcohol level! Ha ha! This is going to be great! When I get home one day, I’ll be able to tell all the friends I’m going to make about how I out-drank a bunch of Dwarves in the middle of a big underground city!” Jade laughed to herself as she skipped off into the distance.

“Wait, you forgot the messages!” Lee called out after her.

“Don’t need ‘em. You’re going to tell her to wait for you, that you’ll pick her up soon on a fancy mount and that everyone is going to ride off into the sunset, where they’ll use the power of emotions to do the clearly impossible and overcome some unbeatable challenge through friendship or some crap.” Jade gave Lee a wave without bothering to turn around.

“Now how can you look at that and not want a harem?” Augustus asked, but Lee didn’t pay him any attention. He watched Jade until she disappeared and then took off after the old Dwarf who had promised to help him out. The Dwarven village wasn’t big, and thanks to Ethan’s help, he knew exactly where the old man was.

“Hey, one more thing,” Lee began as he raced up to the man. “Do you know any place that is completely dark, creepy-like and has a magic stone fragment?”

“Oh, the trial room,” the Dwarf said, turning around. “Yeah, we hit it when digging the foundations of our city. That crazy tiger beast went to it recently, and it was, for some reason, covered in vegetation and all sorts of things. There were a bunch of stones around it and a statue in the middle, talking at her. I didn’t hear what it said, but . . . Well, I guess no one did. All I know is that she took a look around the room for a bit and then left. When I went back, there was only the statue, holding the glowing gem in its hands like it always does.”

“You guys have never tried to take it for yourself?” Lee asked the man.

“Well. . . This town has been here for a while, and legend has it that, when the founders first dug into the ground and revealed the room while clearing the city, they lusted after the rock, and one after the other, they tried to take it. It was magnificent, beautiful. Everyone who has seen it can agree, so we understand where their desires came from. Sadly, every single person that went into the room to take the stone was killed by the statue. Even their corpses vanished. No one tries to take it anymore. I think that’s why Meadhbh didn’t take it.”

“Hmm . . .”

“Let me show you where it is,” the old man said. “You can at least see its beauty, even if you can’t take it. It’s suicide.” The Dwarf led Lee down a few flights of stairs and along a hallway until Lee was face to face with the statue of a nude Amazon he remembered from when he had encountered the first world stone fragment. The room appeared to be otherwise empty, but as soon as he took a step into it, the room filled with an abundance of different crafting supplies. There was every type of wood, metal, crystal, gem and stone that he could possibly imagine, along with a few he couldn’t, and there were even dozens of different types of rocks and piles of sand decorating the sides of the room.

“The one with you may not enter,” the statue said as Lee stepped further into the room.

The old man behind him froze, quickly backing away.

“And I may, right?” Lee remembered that, last time, the other statue had allowed only him to approach.

“Indeed. You, as the qualified bearer of his will and the blood of his chosen who has entered into the Temple of the Creator may not leave until your third gift is tested,” the statue answered.

“My third?” Lee blinked in confusion. “I have only been tested once.”

The statue didn’t respond for a moment. “You carry two stones, proof of your two gifts. Your first gift, the gift of the father, was your wit. It has been tested. Your second gift, the gift of the mother, was your heart’s regret. It has resonated. Now, you may not leave until your third gift is tested.”

Lee stopped the statue and asked quickly, “If one cannot leave until their gift is tested, then how did she, the tiger one, walk out?”

“She passed the test; she rejected the stone,” the statue responded. “If she had failed the test, then I would have removed the stain from her patron’s name, as I will you if you prove yourself unworthy.”

Crap. That wasn’t what he wanted to hear, but it wasn’t entirely unexpected either. He had been in one of these temples before, and the stakes had been the same then as they were now.

“So, what’s my test?”

The statue turned to the side and gently placed the world stone fragment into a stone wall as smoothly as if it were being dropped into water. A spring of lava spewed forth from where her hands were withdrawn, flowing down onto the stone floor before vanishing into the ground. It was like a weak sink faucet had been turned on and left running as the lava poured out endlessly yet never showed any signs of accumulating

“Your test is simple,” the statue spoke. “Before twenty-four hours have passed, you must capture the cycling liquid in a container. Your vessel must be able to withstand the fury of its heat until the liquid cools. You may not use the water directly to lower the temperature of the cycling liquid, and as soon as the liquid re-enters the earth, its temperature will be restored.

“What water?” Lee asked, looking around and only seeing ingredients, but as soon as he asked, water sprung forth from one of the walls, disappearing to the ground in the same manner as the lava.

Lee looked at the stream, examining it at first. Other than how high it was and how much fell at any given time, he couldn’t make heads or tails of what type of container he would need to make or how big it would need to be. He knew that it would help him calculate it all out if he could measure how long the stream lasted before the recycle, but when he took a metal sheet and tried to use it to interrupt the flow, the metal began to melt nearly instantly. Within ten seconds, the thin metal sheet he was using to test it was completely melted, and the loop was back. Lee knew that iron has a very high melting point, but it was irrelevant because its thermal conductivity was so high that the heat from the liquid was able to transfer to the iron nearly instantaneously. Because of this, even though iron has a much higher melting point than stones, it would take much longer for stones to melt or be impacted by heat than iron.

Lee then looked around at the materials and tried to make a decision of what to do and how to approach the problem. He knew he had two ways to handle it: the first was to try and increase the mass of the metal so that it would take much longer to melt. This was actually probably a good decision, because if he could make a large enough block, then there was a chance that, while the top part might melt a little, the total energy wouldn’t exceed what the iron could handle. The problem with this option was Lee didn’t have the mana needed to meld the entire thing together. The iron came in ingots and sheets and would have to be fused together, and Lee didn’t know how to do that properly. There was the book, but without a forge, he still wasn’t sure how he could properly handle it.

The next option was to take advantage of items that had the lowest thermal conductivity possible. This route seemed more feasible, but he didn’t exactly know how to make a stone in the shape that he wanted. Since a stone wasn’t a finished product, even with mana or energy, he wouldn’t be able to shape it into what he wanted. This would mean that he’d have to handcraft the entire channel, and if it didn’t work, that would eat far too much of his time.

Wait, how do they do this in forges? Lee thought as he stared at the materials around him. There is no way they have heats strong enough to melt metal and lack a way to hold it, Lee grumbled as he pulled out the book. Book, tell me what they use in forges for the sides, to hold the coals. But nothing showed up. Instead, he decided to go about it a different way and began to picture the brick on a forge he had seen in a picture as he flipped through the book. This time, a series of refractory brick instructions appeared in front of him in the book. They each had slightly different ratios but also seemed easy enough to make.

After looking through the instructions, he found one that had a very low time to set if magic was used, but each brick would still have to be set out and made individually. For Lee, this meant he’d have to make a ton of cases for the bricks as they set, so while reading the page, he began to craft and put together the wooden cases for many of them. As he was doing that, he went over the ratios he’d need for the mixing: seven-parts vermiculite, seven-parts perlite, two-parts cement and four-parts sand. As he wondered what those were and how to get them and identify them, he found that the game system provided giant stacks of the material for him. He then began mixing the parts together in a pile, adding water as needed, and getting a consistency that looked close to the one in the book, he sat back and checked the progress. It wasn’t setting fast, so he used a little spirit energy to heat it up internally, testing if he could speed up the process.

After finally completing an adequate refractory brick, Lee went to the stream to test it. His hopes weren’t that high after failing so many times and watching the iron he had smithed earlier melt so quickly. Yet, not wanting to jinx himself, he held his breath and said a little prayer as he pushed the brick into the stream of liquid. Surprisingly . . . it didn’t burn. Go, go, basic science, Lee thought as he watched the ceramic creation withstand the heat quite well.

“System, how much time do I have left before twenty-four hours are up?” Lee asked.

Only hours have passed since you began this trial. You are making great time with all things considered. Perhaps you could show this dedication toward picking out economic- and utility-based projects for Satterfield?

“You’re never going to let that go, are you?” Lee groaned as he held the brick under the liquid. It wasn’t instant, but after a few minutes, he could tell that the brick was heating up and would soon melt. Okay, so there is a timer, Lee realized as he pulled the brick back and looked at the scorch marks left around the line where the material had begun to melt.

Alright, time for step two. With his first success in mind, he began making more and more batches of fire bricks and mortar. Less than thirty minutes into his project, he received an update from the system.

Your mastery of Masonry has progressed from the rank of Initiate Level 1 to the rank of Initiate Level 2. Masonry now allows for faster stoneworking, the production of more durable bricks with greater resistance to the elements and the creation of stronger mortar.

Due to improving Masonry, you have received +1 Intelligence. Current Intelligence: 212.

I see. So, it improves durability and resistance to elements . . . which likely means temperature, which will be even more useful for this challenge in particular. Lee continued to work at making the bricks, one after the other, and by the time he was finished, his Masonry was at Initiate Level 4, and all of his other skills had improved in the process.

Alright, now I just need to organize this in such a way that one brick doesn’t have to withstand the entire stream. He was fairly certain that a single brick was would likely melt or burn if exposed to the lava for too long. The only problem was that he didn’t know how long that actually was. That was the whole reason he had spent so much time churning out bricks. If the stream of lava somehow changed, if it suddenly increased in volume, he’d be screwed. Further, he had no idea how much lava was actually contained within the wall. He could only see a small trickle where it ran out of the stone structure, and there was no telling how much might be contained within it that hadn’t flowed out yet.

To handle this issue, he created separate paths, each one angled slightly with a chiseled-out route through the brick for the stream to run on. He had the paths travel an extremely-long distance at a very shallow angle that was steep enough to move the liquid but made the journey take a very long time. All eight of the paths then met up at the bottom in a single large collection basin that took up a significant portion of one of the room’s corners with a wide surface area. He had originally thought to have his channels empty into separate tanks, but he was concerned by the fact that the statue had insisted on only using a single vessel to hold the liquid until it cooled. Lastly, he carved out several firebrick funnels that would allow him to direct the flow of the liquid into the paths one at a time.

With all of the preparations in place, he walked up to the stream and used one of the funnels to push the lava into the first channel. He only let thirty seconds pass before removing that funnel and placing the next one under the stream, directing the lava down another path. He then repeated the cycle every thirty seconds until roughly nine minutes had passed. At that point, the liquid ran out.

He was rather glad that he had chosen to alternate the streams, as nine minutes on any one brick would have likely melted it through. When he was done directing the liquid, however, he still had to wait a while for the various channels to finish emptying out into the pool. He could tell that the lava had already begun to cool some by the time it reached the pool based on its darker color, and it continued to darken little by little until it turned a solid black. There was a slight pause as the last of the lava fully hardened into stone, and then yellow lines of light danced across the thin layer of black stone. They sparkled brilliantly for a moment before breaking through the dark substance completely. The black stone fragments fell away and disappeared in the dazzling light like a shadow escaping the sun, and when the light faded, all that remained was a single yellow stone in the middle of the container Lee had made. It was the world stone fragment. The piece of stone was bound to Lee within seconds, and he felt the noticeable change as all three of his primary stats and his Intelligence were boosted by the item.

“Now that you have passed the test, you may ask a question of me, as is the custom of our temple,” the statue said, its eyes shining brightly as Lee picked up the fragment. “I shall answer your inquiry to the extent that I am allowed by the rules of the Creator.”

“Hmm . . .” Lee sat there, wondering how to handle this. He wanted to ask why he wasn’t given three questions, but he was worried that it would be treated as a question and that he’d be reduced to zero questions total. That was a terrible cliché, and one that always caused him to facepalm whenever he saw it, so he didn’t want to fall victim to it himself. There were only two burning questions, both of which he desperately wanted answered. One was about the system, and the other was about whether or not the NPCs were NPCs or people. Whether or not they were real people.

Unfortunately, Lee knew that he would have trouble taking the answer to the second question, no matter what the answer was, so he went with the first one. “What exactly is the system that it seems to have both a personality and will of its own?”

The statue glowed for a few seconds, and finally, an answer was generated: “I am not allowed to divulge the nature or who of your system.”

Lee’s mouth hung open. Seriously? Are you really telling me I wasted my question? He almost voiced the question out loud, but he realized that the answer had given him more than he expected. The statue had said it couldn’t divulge either ‘the nature or the who’ of the system. The who . . . Lee wondered again as he stared at the most recent system notification, the one notifying him about the new stats he had received. Interesting, he thought, turning around and leaving the room.

The old man had been watching him the entire time, and as Lee exited the much-feared place, the Dwarf’s mouth practically hit the floor.

“You . . . You wanted us to teach you? I’ve never seen stonework like that, or metalwork for that matter, and . . . you’re alive! You lived and took the gem! That’s amazing!” The old Dwarf’s excessive enthusiasm bubbled out into an unexpected joyous display, and he practically jumped in place. “You lived and took the gem! No one’s ever done that!”

Well, at least one person had the chance, Lee thought ruefully as he remembered that Meadhbh had passed the trial and rejected its gift. An uncomfortable knot formed in his stomach as he thought about that. Why would she reject the gift? If she had gotten the stone, wouldn’t she be that much stronger? Should I be counting my blessings since that 5% increase in her primary stats might very well have spelled out my death?

He rounded a corner and saw Jade, who was walking up to him with a big grin on her face and holding up what looked like a rat tail. Do I even want to know?

“Well, kid,” Jade said as she tossed the rat tail to Lee. “I got you a brand new Krunklerump for your birthday.”

“You did? How much did that run us?” Lee’s eyes opened wide with joy. He hadn’t seen the stables for the town, but he knew that a mount couldn’t be common up here. They had to be rare, which meant they had to be expensive.

“Nothing. I told you I was going to have a drinking competition, right? Well, that’s exactly what I did. I went to the bar and found the biggest, gruffest-looking Dwarf I could and told him he was worse than a teetotaling Aes Sidhe when it came to drinking. He got all huffy and challenged me to a drinking contest, and one thing led to another, and now I’m the proud owner of three Krunklerumps, nearly thirty gold and a ton of rations. They weren’t quick to bet those, but given they lost half their town, who can blame them, right?” Jade seemed rather mirthful as she told her story. “Oh, also, Brigid tried to help with the drinking competition when I told her it was to save people’s lives and defeat Meadhbh, so I had to carry her back to her room. If we leave tonight, you’re going to have to figure a way to wake her up or lead her Krunklerump. I am done putting in effort today.”

“Wait, tonight? What time is it?” Lee asked. “Did you send those messages?”

“Yeah, I did. I told Ling that we’d give her a ride but that the rest of the men needed to start hoofing it. She said Dave was too lazy and that he’d wait for a ride as well, and then she spent all day killing stuff. I got a level off it. It was neat. That woman works really hard,” Jade commented. “We need to get like thirty of her in the group and just let them do all the work. That’s the real way to use NPCs. You’ve taught me much, sempai.”

“That’s not why I keep her around . . .” Lee started to correct her but then decided not to bother. “Anyway, it’s good that everything’s ready to go . . . but what’s with the rat tail?”

“Oh, well . . .” Jade twirled a strand of her blue hair around her finger. “I couldn’t think of the mount equivalent to car keys. I mean, I suppose I could toss a saddle at you, but then I’d actually have to resaddle the thing after. I also thought about tossing a bottle of something at you, but the only thing I had on me after the competition was that weak Dwarven beer, and it was icky with backwash, so, yeah, no. That’s why I figured, heck, at least the rat tail is the right shape.”

“Yeah, it is. Well, you’ve done great. Let’s get a move on.”

“No,” Jade said firmly, shaking her head.

“What?”

“I haven’t figured out what character I am, but you’re supposed to be the main character. That means you need to pat me on the head when you tell me what a good job I’ve done,” Jade insisted.

“Wait, you’re serious?” Lee was confused, but he saw no harm in it. Acquiring mounts to get down the mountain was a massive favor, so he went along with it and patted on her on the head.

“And say ‘good girl’ while you do it,” Jade added.

“Right. Good girl,” he said as he patted her on the head. “Now, can we go?”

“Sure,” Jade answered, touching the spot on her head where his hand had touched. “Definitely not that character. Didn’t feel right at all.”

“Wait, what about me?” the Dwarf man behind Lee asked. “Can I still be of help?”

“Oh . . .” Lee scratched at his chin while he pondered the question. Yeah, you could. I could definitely use this town for later, but . . . “Later. I’ll come back for this town one day, but until then, the only thing you can do for me is to tell the people that the god, Augustus, will handle their problems with the Phoukas.”

“Umm . . . but . . .” The man flinched, instantly looking uncomfortable. “But I can’t proselytize.”

“I thought I couldn’t either.” Lee laughed at how uncomfortable the idea had made him. “You said I saved your life by sending you back, so make something good of it for me. I’ll return in due time.”

“Fine, I’ll do as you say. The god called Augustus?”

“Yeah, the God of Alcohol and Crafting,” Lee confirmed.

“You done with the sales pitch? We need to go,” Jade said, tugging on his shirt and pulling him out the door.

Brigid, impressively awake despite her considerable inebriation, was waiting for them when they got to the stables. She had, largely with the help of several Dwarves, packed rations and everything they might need and seemed to be in good spirits, possibly because of all the alcohol from the drinking competition.

“Does she know?” Lee had to ask in a whisper as they approached.

“Ehh . . .” Jade answered warily. “I figured you should tell her since you know her and all. Though . . . preferably once we’re already moving. If she has a breakdown, do you want it to eat up travel time?”

Lee scowled, but he knew Jade had made the right decision. “How considerate.”

“Hey, big guy. It’s the main character’s job to comfort women after a tragedy. It’s how you unlock flags and move forward in the game.” Jade wrapped his arm in hers and rubbed up against him with a mischievous smile. “Also . . . Do you really want the girl who constantly yells at her to shut up to be the one to tell her the bad news?”

Ugh. I don’t want to do it either, he thought. Lee just saddled up the Krunklerump without saying anything, and the three of them quickly departed.

A few hours into the journey, after Jade had conked out and made Lee take over guiding her Krunklerump with a sort of incredibly-long leash, Lee decided to bite the bullet. “Brigid,” he began, turning in his saddle to look at her. “Did you umm . . . did Jade tell you what happened?”

“Huh?” Brigid looked over. “Do you mean with the fight? No. She hasn’t said a word. What are we up against?”

Lee was tempted to follow the tangent she unknowingly provided and describe the foe they were going to have to fight, but he knew that wasn’t going to lead anywhere and only make things worse. Strangely, now that he couldn’t avoid it any more, telling her what had happened wasn’t really that hard. Death and loss was part of battle, after all. “Brigid, I’m not talking about that fight. I’m talking about the one that already happened to our men in the forest,” he said.

“What?” Brigid looked over at him, confused. “What are you talking about then? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Your men, Brigid. Your men are mostly dead. I’m sorry, but after my confrontation with Meadhbh, she went down the mountain with a stampede of Phouka. She wasted our troops. Two of yours survived; six of mine did.”

Brigid didn’t say anything. She just stared ahead silently. Lee wished he could offer her some form of condolences, but there was nothing that he could say or do that would bring back the dead. Plus, he recognized the dead look in her eyes, and he knew that she was better left alone to deal with the shock and grief in her own way. The quiet persisted for nearly two hours until finally she finally spoke up and said, “At least two of them lived.”

“Yes, there’s that,” Lee agreed.

“If I had been there to fight with you, maybe we could hav--”

“No, we couldn’t have. We’ll need to think of something, but that woman’s strength is greater than I imagined. I honestly don’t know how we’re going to beat her.” In truth, they might have had a better chance, maybe even a 5% or 10% chance of winning, thanks to his skill, True Patriot, but he didn’t want to give her any illusion that would leave her with guilt. “If you were there with me, the only difference would be that your name would be added to the list of casualties at the end of the expedition. You can still avenge them, and you can take care of the families that they left behind. That’s all that’s left at this point,” Lee said.

Brigid gazed at him with empty, unseeing eyes. “They put their faith in me--they put their lives in my hands--and I failed to keep them safe.”

“I know,” Lee answered, and it wasn’t nearly as sympathetic as it could have been. He didn’t mean to sound dismissive, but there wasn’t much to add to what she was saying. He knew from personal experience that, even if someone tells you it isn’t your fault, that doesn’t make the outcome hurt less. “But let’s do what we can for those left behind.”

Brigid just looked back down at her reins. “This was always meant to be a suicide mission. That much hasn’t changed. I suppose the only positive thing is the fact that we have survivors, so we know more about our enemy than we did before. I’ll have to send those two who saw her numbers and capabilities back to report to Birnefeld so that my city can be better prepared.”

“Brigid . . .” Lee sighed. He knew that she was just sending them back to spare their lives from the upcoming violence, and he hated that he understood what she was feeling so well. “I . . . know you’ve lost people before, so I don’t need to tell you this, but even if it doesn’t get better with time, it at least gets easier.”

She turned back to him with a wry smile. “Those words are too true, and I’m sorry for the loss of your men too. Tomorrow, we shall have victory, and then maybe you can make some of those glass statues for the men I lost. I can describe their faces if it is needed.”

I’ve got plenty of people to bury. There is no harm in adding a few more. He couldn’t stop himself from mentally doing the math for how many people he might still save and how many lifeless commemorations he’d need to make before the end of this.

“Yeah, I can do that,” Lee agreed after a moment.

Chapter 10

Name: Lee

Race: Human

Class: Herald - Statesman

Level: 29

Health: 390/390

EXP: 24782/51500

Primary Stats:

Power 39 (45)

Toughness 39 (45)

Spirit 39 (45)

Secondary Stats:

Charisma 31

Courage 22

Deceit 31

Intelligence 220 (253)

Honor -2

Faith 32685

Personal Faith 198

Skills:

Unarmed Combat Initiate Level 7

Swordplay Novice Level 10

Sneak Journeyman Level 4

Cooking Initiate Level 8

Trap Detection Initiate Level 6

Knife Combat Initiate Level 9

Mental Fortitude Initiate Level 1

Sleight of Hand Initiate Level 3

Blood Shield Initiate Level 5

Sewing Initiate Level 4

Glass Smithing Novice Level 5

True Patriot

Carpentry Initiate Level 10

Delegation

Masonry Initiate Level 4

The Statesman:

Territories:

Satterfield (+10: Savior)

Defensive Strength Rating: 10

Economic Strength rating: 3

Population Rating: 1

Territory Rating: 12

Tech / Utility Rating: 12

Influence / Tourism Rating: 4

Public Persona:

Kirshtein (-2: Unkind)

Birnefeld (0: Unknown)

Divine Skills:

Golem Sculpting Journeyman Level 6

Appreciative Drunk Novice Level 10

Nectar of the Gods Initiate Level 6

Spirit Smithing Initiate Level 9

Faith Healing

Ignis Veritas

Spirit Builder Initiate Level 1

Divinity Powers:

Life in Death

Titles:

Cheat Code Fighter

The Great Deceiver

The Aggressive Mile-High Chef

Thanks to the Krunklerumps, the group was able to meet up with Ling and Dave just before the sunrise. However painful it was on Lee’s manhood, he couldn’t insult or doubt the mount’s speed as he rode into the camp. He instantly knew that it was theirs when he spotted the makeshift memorials that had been erected. Someone, likely Ling if he had to guess, had stuck a dozen sticks vertically into the ground, surrounded them with rocks for support, and then hung helmets from them. The effect was to create rather primitive-looking graves, but it clearly marked the loss that had been felt here. The thing that surprised him, however, was that no one came out to greet him. He saw their tents and fires, but there was no one in them.

Instantly fearing the worst, he had his golems start searching for any signs of what might be going on. Ah, I see . . . Lee marveled as he discovered the camp’s residents. Someone had fashioned several makeshift beds in the trees above. It was incredibly-crude work, but it was efficient. A crude series of planks had been laid out and nailed down between the limbs of the trees resembling something that a kid making the rough foundation of a tree fort might have done. Although it was unnecessary with the number of people left alive, there were three separate platforms. Ethan found Ling asleep by herself in one while Dave was sitting up and looking down at Lee from his own branch-bed, and the other two soldiers were doubled up in another tree.

Impressive. He also couldn’t help but think that it looked like the beginnings of an elf town from one of his favorite MMOs, and that given Ling’s preferred method of fighting, she’d fit right in. He also instantly recognized it for what it was: a ruse and escape from what might be otherwise ground-bound Phouka. He had only encountered one that could fly so far, and he very much doubted that one of the giant, cumbersome bears could scale into the trees without a fair bit of work and suffering a ton of damage.

“I was wondering how long it’d take for you to notice us,” Dave laughed. “Thought it’d at least be a few more minutes before you figured out how to stop floor-watching and hold your head up for a minute.”

“I’m not a . . . floor watcher,” Lee responded as he looked up at his friend, happy to see the familiar face.

“You are when you’re not just staring off into space,” Dave chuckled and hopped down from the ten-foot-high platform he was sleeping on without even bothering to use the makeshift ladder nailed to the tree. He landed with a heavy thud and said, “Other than those few creepy moments, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile. Either your head is buried in work, you’re praying, or you’re moping. You really need to learn to pick your head up and enjoy life’s pleasures.”

Lee focused on a grave marker that was less than a foot from where Dave had landed, and he couldn’t help but note the irony between the old man’s words and the situation they were in. “Not sure this is the appropriate time for that advice.”

“Nonsense,” Dave insisted as he walked over and smacked Lee on the back. “It’s always a good time to be happy. I’m sorry about your loss and all, but looking all depressed like you’ll never taste a woman again isn’t going to accomplish anything. You think it’ll bring back the dead? We’re all going to die sooner or later. Don’t lose a day of joy on their account. But, for what it’s worth, I’m still sorry for your loss, boy. I know that drunken Firbolg was a friend of yours, and it’s really hard to find a good drinking buddy, but don’t you worry. I’ll be happy to drink with you until you get a replacement.”

“Huh?” Lee looked at Dave, a bit puzzled.

“He’s talking about Miller,” Ling clarified from above as she gracefully climbed down from her branch. Her bow was slung over her back, and she was dressed in full armor as if she expected to fight at any moment. Lee’s eyes flitted over the sway in her hips as she descended, and he rued Dave for making him think of such things when there was so much work to be done.

The other two men also dropped down from their branches and made their way over. Unlike Ling though, they had to take time to straighten their armor and adjust several pieces once they hit the ground. It only took a brief moment for them to make themselves presentable, but it was impossible not to notice their lapse in order before they rushed up to Brigid and saluted.

Lee frowned, slightly confused. “Miller? Don’t worry about him. I’m sure he’s fine. More importantly, I heard about Pelham. I think I should be the one saying I’m sorry for your loss.”

Dave made an odd face, puffing out his cheeks and nodding his head at Lee. “That’s a good attitude. With that god of yours, I’m sure he is indeed. Same with Pelham. Well, do you want to head off now?”

Lee’s eyebrows furrowed as he realized that they didn’t understand at all. “No, that’s . . . That’s not what I mean. I mean that Miller is fine. He’s not dead.”

“Huh?” Ling voiced the confusion that was plainly written in her expression, and it was filled with every bit as much pain as well.

“Boy, I saw his face get eaten by a tiger,” Dave said crudely and doubtfully, with an edge in his voice that hadn’t been there before. “He’s dead. I know it’s been a rough day for you, but don’t act crazy in front of the girl here. Dead is dead. No one who gets half their head bitten off comes out less.”

“It’s not that. It’s that he’s . . . He’s not like us. He . . . Well, he’ll be in Satterfield by now waiting, so don’t worry about him.” How do I explain the concept of players and respawning to people? He had been hoping that he could continue to ignore the subject altogether. Miller did mention that he’d be reset to Level 1 if he died, so I’ll probably be stronger than the oaf for once. Lee didn’t really enjoy that fact as much as he might have once imagined. He had grown used to charging into battle side by side with Miller, and the Firbolg was, for all of his ridiculous bravado, a trustworthy and competent battle partner.

“Oh,” Ling said. “So . . . he didn’t actually die? The status message said he died.”

“He did,” Lee explained carefully, “but did you check the notifications for EXP?” Ling certainly got the pop-ups. In fact, having spent her entire life as an NPC who relied on watching those blue pop-ups every moment of her life, she was probably more apt to pay attention to them than anyone else. The fact that she could send him messages via kill notifications like she had been doing assured him of that fact that she hadn’t dismissed them outright, no matter how much she might have originally wanted to after she became aware of the controlling aspect they had on her life. She probably knew the whole system better than anyone else, and rightfully so--but that didn’t mean that she thought of them as anything other than a constant reminder of her friends’ deaths at the moment.

“Yes,” she answered slowly, “but I haven’t seen a single message from him . . . since he died.”

“Yeah, but the EXP is being split,” Lee explained. “It’s still being dividing four ways.”

“Oh . . . Oh!” Ling’s eyes popped open as understanding hit her. “I didn’t check the math. It was too . . . I’m not good at dividing numbers that large so easily. I was just paying attention to my level and how far I had to go to reach the next one.”

Ah, that’s right. Of course she wouldn’t be good at quick math with large numbers. Her father probably never formally trained her in that, and Satterfield doesn’t exactly have a local tutor. While we were stuck in school doing hundreds and thousands of math problems till our eyes bled numbers over the course of years, she was out in the wild hunting and killing. The only math she ever needed was what was necessary to count the copper she got from selling off pelts and meat. That she even knows how to read at even an elementary level makes her more literate than over 90% of most people before the printing press was a thing.

“Well, that’s understandable. Anyway, Miller is definitely alive, but he’ll be very weak after what happened. Miller and I aren’t exactly native to this world, but whereas my kind dies when we die, his kind just reappear at the lowest level,” Lee explained.

“He might have spawned at Level 1, but he’s not there anymore, not after Miss Perkier-than-Your-Coffee Breasts over here spent an entire day force-feeding him experience. It would be a miracle if he is still under Level 10,” Jade said. “I mean, I got a level off her, and I was 35.”

“Hey, don’t insult her priority-healing tickets,” Dave remarked with a gruff laugh. “She gets preferential treatment after every fight thanks to those gravity-defiant, bouncy boons, and I likely wouldn’t have made it this far without the encouragement they provide.”

“Well, of course she’d get priority. If gravity can’t defeat her, how can anyone else expect to?” Jade snickered.

“I like this blue-haired girl you picked up,” Dave said, nodding at Jade approvingly. “But, next time you disappear and show up again with a girl under your arm, can you make it one who is closer to my own age? I’m just saying, us old men need a damsel we can rescue too.”

“Aww . . . wise, old, male support character . . .” Jade looked at Dave wistfully. “Your future is bleak. I feel bad.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’m just saying that your death has been foretold by the gods of repetitive story writing,” Jade explained sadly, patting him on the shoulder in a comforting way. “I can already see it now: There will be a really tough fight, we’ll be hard-pressed, Lee will be just about to die, and then--BAM!--you narrowly rescue him from the clutches of death with a noble sacrifice. It’ll be wonderful; trust me. Your death will make us all cry and the game developers all cheer at a successfully-written story.”

“Welp, that’s pleasantly creepy,” Dave remarked as he backpedaled away from Jade. “You know what? On that note, forget what I said. Don’t get me a girl. Every single one you bring back is crazy.”

“Yeah, well. Introductions. Dave, Ling, this is Jade. She’s the Herald of Mary, Goddess of Blood, who is a really nice deity,” Lee added, thinking back on how the few interactions he had managed with Mary so far had been rather positive.

“See, his tastes are even better than yours,” Mary chimed in, reminding Lee that Augustus was not the only one watching him now.

“Too bad we can’t trade,” Augustus grumbled.

“It really is too bad, old man,” Jade agreed, and Lee wondered if the comment was directed at Dave or Augustus.

“Well, I hate to be the one to break up the reunion,” Brigid began dryly as she pushed her mount over beside him, “but if you want to save that town of yours, we need to get a move on.” The two soldiers she had been talking with had already disappeared, heading off toward Birnefeld, and Lee was sure they were making a beeline for it as fast as their feet would carry them. “I suggest we talk while we ride.”

“Right. I’ll ride with you this time,” Jade said. “I got plenty of sleep last night, so I can steer the six-legged thingy for us.”

Lee didn’t know why Jade was being helpful, but he was fine with it.

“Do you know the way?” Ling asked, stopping Jade. “If not, please allow me. I am also well-rested.”

“She can ride with me,” Brigid said, patting the seat in front of her. “I’ll guide you. I’m used to pulling morning to morning shifts, so I can still go.”

“But can’t I just follow someone who knows the way? Why must-- Ugh. Don’t steal my march!” Jade grumbled all the while, yet she still climbed up on the seat in front of Brigid. “Go to sleep, old lady. I’ll get us there.”

Dave hopped on Jade’s now-empty Krunklerump and said, “Alright, let’s go back to town and get us some beer. I’ve been sober too long to deal with all of this.”

Lee mounted the Krunklerump behind Ling and agreed. “Sounds like a plan,” he said, but he didn’t realize how tired he was. Not more than ten minutes later, he was passed out against Ling’s back.

-----

It was dark by the time he woke up again, and his face was buried in a pool of drool that had accumulated right at the spot where his mouth rested against Ling’s back. Yup, my finest hour . . . Lee leaned back and wiped the drool off his face and then did his best to clean up Ling’s back with a cloth. “Sorry about that,” he said as he dabbed a cloth he had pulled out of his inventory against the spot.

“You clearly needed your rest,” Ling sighed patiently.

“It was so cute!” Jade called from behind him. “You even snored cutely. I definitely didn’t expect that level of adorable gruff protagonist sleep attack.”

Lee frowned at Jade’s comment but ignored the obvious bait. Instead, he asked, “Are we almost there?”

“Almost there? We just stopped. I thought that’s why you woke up,” Jade said matter-of-factly as if she were stating the obvious and then hopped off her Krunklerump. “Like, you know, a little kid in the back of a car who wakes up when it comes to a stop.”

“We would have been here sooner,” Brigid began, “but I had to take measures to avoid Meadhbh’s army. I didn’t know where they would be, but I figured we could use a detour with the Krunklerump’s speed and ensure our paths didn’t cross and still make it in time.”

“That’s good thinking. Last thing I’d want is to find myself face to face with Meadhbh and her army of Phoukas before we’ve had time to prepare something,” Lee said, studying the town in front of him.

“I don’t remember Satterfield looking anything like this,” Ling added slowly. Each and every one of them was staring at the giant wooden gates that hadn’t been there the last time they had left the town--which, in truth, had only been a few days prior.

“I made a few changes while we were gone. It’s a long story,” Lee said as he admired his handiwork; or, rather, the results from his Spirit Builder’s handiwork. The welcoming, scenic, countryside view of a double hamlet that he had come to recognize on each return trip to Satterfield had been replaced by a formidable-looking gate with towers flanking each side and high walls which encompassed the town. Their view of the hamlet and everything that lay beyond was effectively blocked the fifteen-foot-tall barriers that had been erected in their absence. Judging by their arc and placement, it seemed as if the town was exponentially larger than before.

“We’ve been expecting your arrival,” Henslee’s voice called out as the gates swung open, revealing her figure waiting behind them. “Miller has already filled us in on everything, so we have your rooms ready for the night, but everyone is still too busy working to greet you. We don’t know how you did it, but we cannot thank you enough for these improvements.”

“Thank you,” Lee said. “But where is Miller? And what are the others working on?”

“Chopping down trees, digging five-foot-deep ditches around the walls and then filling them with spikes. Miller said that it’s exactly what you’d want done and that we should consider it as a direct order from you. He said our lives depended on it . . . Is he telling the truth?”

Lee didn’t much care for his name being used to justify ordering people around, but he wholeheartedly agreed with the Firbolg’s intentions. With how weak these walls were--as the system had been so kind to point out--the ditches and pikes would act as an additional layer of security against a heavy charge.

Ling directed their Krunklerump into the town and past Henslee, and Lee was instantly drawn to the polybolos that were mounted atop the fortified walls. The large, defensive ballistae were spaced out about every fifty feet or so, and they were quite intimidating. Yeah, those are definitely going to come in handy . . . The only problem that they needed to solve now was where to station people. Meadhbh was smart, so there was a good chance that she’d circle the town and attack from random directions. Her current angle of approach put her arriving at the main gate, and that was simply too direct. Her attack would be too obvious, and it was right where Lee was likely to station the most people defensively. The more pressing problem was that he didn’t have nearly enough people to cover every direction at once. Even if he tried using scouts to predict where the attacks would come, there was a good chance that he wouldn’t be able to respond in time.

“How much progress has he made?” Lee asked Henslee. “Has Miller finished a side yet?”

She sighed, somewhat plaintively before she answered. “No, but he’s making quick progress. They’ve almost completed a quarter of the wall. I honestly can't understand why you made the town walls so large. If they didn’t cover so much area, the men would be so much closer to being finished. Not that I’m questioning Augustus!” she added hastily. “I’m sure he knows best. I’m just . . . Is our town really going to be this large one day?”

Lee turned and looked back at the rest of the town, taking it all in. There was a capped-off water pipe from his newly-created water reserve jutting from the ground, and it was about the best indicator of where a house should be built that he had ever seen. And there were dozens and dozens just like it that he could see from where he sat atop his mount. It appeared as if a construction crew had assembled the town and laid the foundations for expansions but only built 10% of the houses and buildings it could actually contain before quitting and moving on to a new project. Surprisingly, he could pick out additional spaces that were intended for other improvements, and there was even a section of land with no visible piping that Lee assumed would eventually become a park or some structure that didn’t need plumbing. The scope and scale of what the hamlet would eventually grow to become was magnificent, and now that he was finally able to see it for himself, he was fully able to appreciate exactly where all of the money he had spent with the system had been used.

“Yeah,” Lee nodded. “Satterfield will be the holy capital of Augustus one day. It has to grow.”

Henslee seemed inspired by those words, and a light seemed to push the doubt out of her eyes. She visibly brightened and perked up at his prediction, rolling her shoulders back and holding her head a little higher. “That’s exactly what I guessed. It will be amazing, which is why Augustus will take extra care of us. I cannot thank you enough for all you have done for the city. I thought that you would forget us when you started your hunt for other Heralds, but I see now that I was foolish to have ever doubted you. I will never make that mistake again.” She tightly clutched her hands together in front of her chest as if she were making a solemn vow.

“Wow,” Jade said from the side. “That’s some dedication. You got real followers here. What did you bribe them with?”

“Beer and bacon if it’s the same as Kirshtein,” David answered as he hopped down off the mount. “Although, I seriously doubt that I would be able to enjoy either after that ride. I understand now why the cavalrymen of Kirshtein are not known for having kids.”

“I don’t think we’ll have time for either,” Lee answered, redirecting the conversation before it could get any further off topic. “We need to get to Miller and help him with digging the trenches. “Can you lead the way, Henslee?”

“Of course,” she answered, swiftly dropping her hands and darting ahead of the group. “Right this way.”

“Seriously?” Jade groaned. “Do I have to help with digging? No, that just doesn’t work for me at all. I’m a terrible digger. Can I do something else?”

“Can you store bodies in your inventory for later?” Lee asked. “For your golem to use?”.

“No, they have to be fresh kills. They don’t count if I throw them in an inventory,” Jade answered quickly. “Believe me, that was one of the first things I tried. I wanted to build up a huge stockpile of bodies to use, but even bathing in enough blood to double as the young blonde foreigner in a seinen, I still wasn’t able to preserve the bodies long enough to be used again. Nothing really rots away in the inventory, but stored bodies still won’t work for the golem. I don’t know why.”

“I see,” Lee said. “Actually, you guys help Miller out--”

“Nah,” Jade interrupted. “They can do that. I’m going to go kill stuff and sleep until the fight starts. Gotta be at my best, and I want to see if I can’t get another level. Not to mention, are we really going to be the best people for digging ditches? There has to be like a hundred-plus people in this town. Are you’re sure our time wouldn’t be better spent making sure we’re prepped? It’s not like these NPCs are going to be a high-enough level to be very useful against anything other than the weakest of the Phoukas.”

Lee blinked. He hadn’t thought about it like that, but she was dead right. Miller was a low level at the moment, but he, Ling, Dave, Jade and Brigid were all at comparatively high levels. Jade was spot-on: their time would be better used doing something else.

“Fair point. Okay, then. Jade, Ling, you two go have fun leveling. Brigid, you do whatever it is you feel will best prepare you for the fight. Dave, can I ask a favor of you then?”

“No problem,” the old man grumbled. “Just so long as it doesn’t involve getting on another one of those Krunklerumps. I don’t think I could survive another day on the back of one of them.”

“Fair enough. What I’m going to need is simple. You remember how you helped me in the colosseum?” Lee asked.

“Yeah, it was easy enough,” Dave said with a curt and knowing nod. “Knock stuff down; let you finish it off.”

“Go find someone in the village, have that person form a group, and then use him to level the rest of them,” Lee instructed. “I need them in the best fighting shape they can be in before the battle.”

Dave shrugged, swung his flail once as if testing how limber he was and then nodded appreciatively as if he were satisfied with the result. “Yup. Easy enough. Don’t get yourself beat up again before we meet up this time.”

“That seems easy,” Lee answered. Then, thinking back to the fight that had left him on death’s door, he remembered something he desperately needed to do: craft. His shield had been shattered during his last encounter with Meadhbh, and his sword had proven to be relatively useless against her. Without the means to either attack or defend himself, he didn’t have any hope of defeating her. She came with natural armor, natural weapons and a natural size and speed advantage. Fighting her would be just like an unarmed man fighting a tiger back home: without the proper weapons, there just wasn’t a chance in hell the man would win.

Thankfully, Lee was confident that he could craft better gear than what he had been using so far. His skills were peerless compared to the blacksmiths he had met in Satterfield, and he had improved by leaps and bounds since he began crafting glass weapons for use in the arena.

Actually, speaking of crafting, I should have enough time for another civic project too, Lee thought, and then, looking at his mana bar, decided against it. No, I need it for Spirit Smithing. One of the things that had plagued him was the annoyingly-high mana cost associated with his skill. Since his Spirit Smithing was currently only Initiate Level 9, that meant he could only shape 1,551 grams of metal at most with his current mana. That amount would inevitably go up as his skill leveled, but making progress was painstakingly slow.

He had just woken up after sleeping the entire day, he hadn’t started a civic project yet, and he still had a full mana bar. So, if he was ever going to try crafting a sword, this was about as perfect of an opportunity as he was ever going to get. The average longsword was between 1,200 and 1,600 grams, with some of the larger war swords weighing over 1,800 grams, but he didn’t need one that big. Instead, he’d make one that was exactly 1,551 grams, using every point of mana he had, and then he’d look into civic projects. As the others all left to prepare for the fight in their own way, Lee went off to a nearby shop with a workspace to forge his blade.

Lee pulled out all the iron that he still had on him. His inventory was still flush and overstocked with ingredients because of the musical machine he had been making, which was actually pretty close to completion now. Somewhat surprisingly, steel wasn’t actually an unknown metal in this empire. In fact, there was a ton of it available--if you could afford it. The smelting process was complicated, so rather than bothering with that, Lee bought a lot of coal and planned to process and purify it himself. Lee broke open the Book of Augustus and looked through the options presented. Okay, this one should give me exactly what I need, Lee decided, picking out one of the purification methods for the two types of coal he wanted to use and then activating the book’s autocomplete to finish the function.

He then used the book to find a set of instructions for making steel. There were actually a few sets of instructions, but they each required roughly the same level of Spirit Smithing or Metal Working. The methods would have required him to have Novice Level 5 Metal Working if it weren't for the fact that he already met the alternate requirement of Initiate Level 4 Spirit Smithing. Clearly, Metal Working was what people who didn’t have his divine powers used to make these items. Thinking about it, he closed and reopened the book while thinking about glass products and found that Glass Smithing was an equivalent to the normal Glass Blowing skill. Huh, does that mean that Carpentry and the others still might have a divine-power-based equivalent? Laying aside that tangent, he created his steel using Spirit Smithing. He was able to run through the entire process with the added iron and make over 4 kgs of steel using the book.

Lee couldn’t help but be impressed with the quality of the steel when he was finished. The metals that the kingdom produced weren’t crude, but they also had imperfections in them. The ones he had produced with the Book of Augustus were flawless. The only thing he was curious about was the durability. Since he had employed Spirit Smithing, the steel’s strength should have improved by 22.5% due to the bonus the skill gave. He wasn’t sure if this was the case though. It was possible that the bonuses stacked. That seemed too broken to be possible, but Lee still hoped it was the case.

Lee’s had used about a third of his mana, which meant that he had to wait an hour and a half for it to fully recover. He still needed to make a shield and a sword, and he knew that there was no way he would have enough mana to make a full steel shield in one go, so he opted to make a mostly-wooden shield and reinforce it with steel.

Not wanting the wood he used to be inferior, and not even knowing the names of the trees in this world, much less the quality of the wood they produced, he decided to do some rough estimations. He didn’t want to go through the trouble of building an actual scale that would tell him the exact weight of each type of wood, so instead, he used one of the shop’s balancing scales to pit one small block of wood he would cut against another identically-shaped block from a different tree. He did this over and over again until he figured out exactly which wood was best. The winner was one called Morning Tears. The doleful name was due to the fact that the tall tree had broad leaves that were perfectly-shaped to collect dew and rain. The foliage collected water until it reached the tipping point, and then the gathered liquid would slowly trickle to the earth below one drop at a time, making it seem as if tears were falling.

The wood was heavy by any standard he could remember. It seemed nearly one and a half times as heavy as regular oak, and Lee was rather impressed with the material. He took a good sheet of it and started fashioning a medium-sized shield. He wasn’t sure how thick to make the creation, so he ended up looking up an example from Augustus’s book. Gokstad shields, what Vikings had used, were between a quarter- and a half-inch thick. Lee was tempted to use that as the base model, but then he remembered exactly how hard Meadhbh had struck him. Two of his shields had been shattered--one by the Phouka queen and one by the imps in the arena--so, for safety’s sake, he decided that he needed to make it thicker, even if he was going to reinforce it with steel. With those two incidents in mind, he decided on a 25-inch-diameter shield with a thickness of a little over an inch. The heavy armament weighed in at what felt like close to 20 lbs. as he hefted it into the air, but it was strong. Even without steel reinforcements, a small system notification told him that it was two and a half times the durability of his last shield.

The next thing Lee did, since finishing just the wooden frame had taken him nearly an hour, was to reinforce it. He ran a strip of steel around the circumference of the shield and then made four strips meet in the middle, where he placed the shield boss. He then affixed a large, sharp spike to the center of the shield to cap things off. It wasn’t necessary--in fact, none of the instructions recommended one--but his instincts told him that it would be a must with his Blood Shield skill. It might limit his mobility in combat, but it would be worth the loss if that extra bit of damage-dealing ability saved his life.

When he was finally done with the shield, he was incredibly impressed by it. Not only did it have a very high durability, but it also had a stat that the other one didn’t: a shield slam damage of 18, which was much higher than what even the average sword dealt when swung well.

This is freaking wonderful! Lee smiled down at his newest creation, admiring his work, and only looked away when a system message popped up.

I would feel remiss if I didn’t inform you that, as the original creator of this exact method and the maker of the shield, you can technically name it.

Really? Well, it’s a defensive item that I’m probably going to use to launch my first attacks . . . Lee considered for a moment, debating what to name it. Then, he remembered his favorite real-time strategy game from when he was younger, one that involved three races fighting in space. Yeah, that’s the perfect name. System, can you name the shield ‘The Cannon Rush’?

That name makes no sense at all. It’s not a cannon. However, I do have the ability to assign this item that name. There, your shield stats have been updated.

Lee beamed with pride. It was a silly name, but it was something he had picked, and it had roots in something nostalgic that he had enjoyed immensely.

The Cannon Rush

Durability: 303

Shield Slam Damage: 18

The Cannon Rush had taken a little over 2 lbs. of steel as well as the 20 lbs. of wood to craft, making it the heaviest shield he had encountered since he started this competition, but with the assistance of the stat system and his levels, it was not only usable, but it was incredibly strong and provided amazing defense. His last shield, one that he had thought was nearly indestructible at the time, only had a durability of 108. His new creation had nearly three times that.

Since he had some time to kill before making the sword, he started making pikes as fast as he could. Crafting wasn’t exactly what Jade had been talking about when she suggested they level as much as they could before the fight, but he knew that he could produce the pointed wooden poles faster than most of the other townsmen thanks to his fast-leveling Carpentry, so it’d save them time they desperately needed to use digging. It wasn’t long into carving the pikes that he finally got the Carpentry level-up he had been wanting:

Your mastery of Carpentry has progressed from the rank of Initiate Level 10 to the rank of Novice Level 1. This skill improves your ability to cut, carve and finish wood quickly and precisely in order to craft a variety of items. The Novice rank reduces the number of wood shavings and sawdust accidentally produced during carpentry by 5%.

Due to improving Carpentry, you have received +1 Intelligence. Current Intelligence: 221.

It was incredibly disappointing to see that the only bonus the skill offered was to prevent the loss of 5% fewer shavings and that the skill wouldn’t otherwise function any differently. He had been hoping for something better when he reached the Novice rank, like a durability increase or something similar, and in comparison, fewer wood shavings seemed useless. He didn’t lose much wood to shavings anyway, and he had a nearly infinite supply of material thanks to the fact that the two towns he was living in were surrounded by forests.

Nevertheless, Lee continued making wooden pikes and sending them to Miller’s crew until his mana reached 100%. Since he had 1,551 grams of steel to work with before his mana was completely deleted, he decided to make a longsword. He crafted a standard double-edged sword that was around forty-eight inches, including the blade and hilt, and then created a small, slightly-curved cross guard, creating two points facing the blade at the end.

Excellent! Lee happily smiled to himself as he finished the blade and admired his work. It was a work of art compared to every sword he had used before. He didn’t know if it was because he had used top-notch steel instead of iron or the fact that his Spirit Smithing gave him far better crafting ability than the average blacksmith, but its damage was incredible compared to what he had been using. The weapon even had a bonus property, something he hadn’t expected at all. Well, since it’s meant to go with the shield, and it has that nifty bonus, I should probably give it a name that fits . . . System, can you name this blade ‘The Proxy Gateway’?

First, you wanted to name a shield ‘cannon,’ and now your sword is a gateway? At least this makes more sense. If used correctly, it will be a gateway into the afterlife, but I still don’t understand your naming schema. Fine, I’ll take care of this for you since, at the very least, you didn’t take over an empire just to rename the whole thing after your favorite food.

Lee shook his head at the system and then inspected his work:

The Proxy Gateway

Damage: 25

Blade is 10% Faster than normal weapons.

Once those two pieces were done, and Lee had helped his men dig the trench and lay the pikes as his mana climbed back up to 100%, Lee had no idea what to use his restored mana on. He was tempted to tell the system to start making a new upgrade for the town, but instead, he decided to help his friend Miller out by custom making him a pair of Miller-sized spears with heavy steel tips and then making fifty arrowheads for Ling. Neither of these used up his entire mana bar though, as Ling’s arrowheads only weighed roughly twenty grams, but it did boost his Spirit Smithing to Initiate Level 10. He was one level away from reaching novice, and so he began to make more and more steel with his Spirit Smithing, storing away four kilograms of it as he used his mana only on Spirit Smithing. By the time one of the golems he had placed around the city notified Lee about Meadhbh’s army being only two hours away, Lee had already made several spears, each with a one and a half-pound steel spearhead, and another fifty arrowheads.

Lee had make sure to eat and rest when he had been able, but he had barely slept as the anxiety of the upcoming fight had weighed on him and driven him to waking up early that day. He couldn’t stop his brain from wanting to prepare more, make more spears, make more spikes and arrows, but now Meadhbh was almost at his doorstep and the time for preparations had nearly run out.

Welp, they’re here, Lee thought as he saw the army through the eyes of his spying golems. There were dozens of creatures besides the boar-men, but Lee couldn't really identify what they were. There seemed to be bull- and horse-like creatures, and then some that had hooves and horns but weren’t recognizable as any creature he had ever seen before. Additionally, the Phouka were ordered into ranks, differentiated only by color. The army was huge, and if Lee had to guess, he would put the number of creatures in it to over 500 with the majority of them being the boar shifters. Ling had said that the pigs were fairly easy to kill, but the numbers were heavily weighted in favor of the Phoukas. There were barely over one-hundred people left in Satterfield, and most of those remaining were either drastically under leveled or unleveled completely. As far as Lee could tell, Miller had recruited almost every able-bodied man to his paladins, and those were now gone. He had the advantage of only needing to hold a defensive fortification, but even so, Lee had no idea how they were going to survive the assault.

Lee quickly checked the progress of the town’s defenses and learned that Miller had finished the first layer of spear-filled trenches around the wall, and he now had crews sporadically digging small holes in the fields to slow down a large charge. He quickly purchased a chicken from a nearby farmhouse, renamed it ‘ECSG’ and killed it so that Miller, Jade and Ling would abandon their tasks and start forming up the ranks. The code was one that he had given Henslee and ordered her to pass along, and it was shorthand for ‘enemy coming, south gate.’ Well, at least we have the polybolos, and at least Pelham took out the last of their bears by the look of the army.

He had never learned any type of archery or marksmanship skill, but he had experienced good success with a bow in the past, and there was no reason that he could see not to fire off as many shots as possible before the Phouka reached the walls. Every single Phouka that he killed or wounded without having to engage and swing his sword or put himself directly in harm’s way was all for the better. Based on the staggering numbers alone, every able-bodied man in Satterfield would have to kill nearly fifteen Phouka each. It was an unreasonable task to ask of anyone, and while there was a wall between them, and that gave them an advantage, the barrier would only last for so long. He already knew that the only way anyone was going to make it out of this alive was if they somehow managed to play their cards right and if he and Dave stepped up and took out the biggest threats.

The wall should last against at least one wave, right, system? Lee asked hopefully, remembering that the AI had actually given him an answer before to a similar question.

Please do not ask me questions when you aren’t prepared for the answer.

That’s not comforting. Lee frowned, watching the army get closer through the eyes of his golems.

Honesty is rarely comforting to the inept or the unlucky.

Lee decided not to bother asking the system anything else after that. Instead, he directed his thoughts to the battle plans and ran through them time and again until Miller approached. Lee glanced over at his newly-respawned Firbolg companion as he came nearer and discovered that, while his face was identical, at least one key change had been made to his character’s appearance during the respawn process: he now had a gruff-looking, bright-red beard to go with his flaming hair as well as a moustache that was so large that every 1970s detective on film would be envious.

“Miller?” Lee asked, not sure how to phrase the question ‘What the hell happened to your face?’ politely.

“Lee!” Miller exclaimed excitedly. He walked up to Lee and hoisted him off the ground in a crushing bear hug. “It feels like it has been a long time. I thought that tiger had eaten you until I saw your messages. She was fiercer than any foe we’ve fought before.”

“I hear she actually did succeed with you,” Lee observed wryly. “Did you fully reset?”

“It’s just the levels. I apparently have kept my skills,” Miller said, seemingly as confused and unsure about it as Lee was. “I will still be useful during the fight. Justice is on my side.”

“It wasn’t when you died?” Lee asked, and he kicked himself as soon as the words left his mouth. He didn’t know why, but he couldn’t stop himself from being so rude.

“It was! If I hadn’t died, woe would be upon this town. My death was, as Augustus has said, a blessing. My failure in combat was preordained such that I might lead this town to bolster its defenses and fortify itself against the coming darkness. I only lament that I wasn’t able to save more of my fellow paladin brothers on the mountain. If only justice had been . . .”

Miller began to spout platitudes, but Lee noticed Ling approaching from behind his large friend. She was wearing a strange, tepid expression that he couldn’t quite read, and after a moment, she slowed her pace and began backing away without ever having actually reached them.

Realizing what was going on, Lee called out, “Hey, Ling!” and prevented her from running off and avoiding one of Miller’s great ‘Miller Moments.’ “Just the person I was looking for!”

Ling cringed upon hearing her name, but she took a deep breath and stepped forward. “You needed me?”

“Yeah, I got some presents for you two.” Lee pulled out the spears and arrows he had made. “I think these will assist in the upcoming fight.”

Ling looked very happy as she took them. “They are much better than the ones I was using earlier. Thank you.”

Miller took the spears with a large, face-splitting grin. “I won’t have lost much fighting power with these! This is indeed a spear of justice--a rod of truth and righteousness that I shall deliver into the hearts of . . .”

Miller kept talking, but Lee had already tuned him out as he watched Ling’s eyes roll upward, and she shook her head. Finally, he decided that it was time to interrupt the Firbolg’s justice-laden rant before it became a runaway tangent. “Just hand them out to the men you’ve trained on how to use a spear,” Lee instructed. “Go ahead and pass out whatever bows we have available, and then get the men up here and positioned on the wall once they’re geared. Make sure there is a man on every one of those automatic ballistae as well.”

“The will of Augustus shall be completed!” Miller nodded once and left to take care of the task.

Jade appeared, giggling to herself, as soon as Miller disappeared. “You were so right. He is just like that. He’s the perfect, role-playing paladin. Priceless!”

“What do you mean by ‘role playing’?” Ling asked. “I don’t understand . . . I only said that he is the embodiment of someone who believes in justice.”

“Right. I got that, but . . . man, was that funny to watch,” Jade explained. “He just kept going on and on about how great justice and Augustus are. It really makes me wonder . . . Lee, what do you do to inspire such loyalty? I mean, I’ve never seen a Herald have such devout followers before.” Jade turned to Lee, a curious expression on her face, clearly expecting an answer.

“It’s like I told you, woman: beer and bacon,” Dave said as he walked up behind her. “Maybe if you learned how to cook like Lee, you’d be able to get better followers too. Don’t you know that the key to someone’s heart is their stomach?”

“Dave, you can’t go around telling women to learn how to cook,” Lee admonished him. “You have to show respect to women.”

“What? I respect her enough to tell her my opinion. Doesn’t that count for something?” Dave shrugged and picked up his flail. “Now, where do you want me? I could stand in front of the wall there or there”--he pointed to two spots--“or you could give me a beer and put me over there,” he said, turning and pointing to the kitchen.

“I’ll need you on the ground actually,” Lee said. “If a hole opens up in the wall after the boars crash into it, I need you to be there to fill it with corpses so that they don’t pour through.”

“Don’t want me to fire some arrows at the boars?” Dave asked.

Lee shrugged. “I just assumed you didn’t really do that kind of combat, but if you can, that’s great.”

“No, I can’t,” Dave laughed. “Not even going to bother. I like to make sure the beasts I kill get sent off into the next world with the taste of my foul breath still lingering in their nostrils. Makes me feel extra warm and fuzzy like that.”

“Grandpa is right,” Jade insisted, suddenly rather enthusiastic. “Gotta kill them up close! Or at least let your golem kill them up close.”

“You’re not just saying that because you’re a terrible shot, are you?” Lee asked, looking at Jade suspiciously.

“So what if I’m a bad shot? Bobby will grow up and destroy everything anyway. I don’t need to be a good shot!” She stuck her tongue out at him and then said, “Anyway, if I’m off fighting stuff with a bow, I won’t be able to concentrate on the power.”

“Fair enough,” Lee conceded.” Then you’re with me up here. I’ll keep you safe, so just do what you can.”

Jade gave Lee a wan smile. “I’d expect nothing less from my wonderful hero. By the way, has anyone seen the tsundere NPC?”

“Brigid?” Lee asked, recognizing who she was talking about immediately. “No, but one of the townspeople told me that they already warned her about the upcoming battle. She should be around soon.”

“If you say so . . .” Jade looked at the townsmen and watched them as they filtered across the top of the fortified wooden wall. “I wouldn’t take her for a coward, so I’m inclined to believe she’ll be here soon.”

“Right.” Lee settled in after that and waited for Meadhbh and her army to arrive. They had an hour to kill, but he wasn’t keen on waiting until the last minute to get into place. Miller showed up again later on and took up his position on the opposite end of the wall to Lee, proudly carrying one of his new spears while commanding the men to drink to their hearts’ content before battle. Lee laughed at the sight. He normally wouldn’t encourage people to get liquored up before a fight, but he knew the effect it had on men from experience. After all, it was called liquid courage for a reason. All too often, he had seen firsthand how it calmed mens’ shaky hands and settled their fears before a fight. Miller boasted to the enraptured men and women around him about how justice would persevere, and how Satterfield would surely triumph. Even if Lee wasn’t a hundred-percent sold on their odds, he had to admit that the ultimate victory of rectitude and the deliverance of Satterfield was a pleasant thought.

As for his little trio, they just waited quietly atop the southern wall. Ling was on his left, Jade was behind him, and Lee’s eyes were on the army. He had made sure his golems had a view of every part of Meadhbh’s army at all times. When she finally broke out of the forest into the clearing in front of Satterfield’s southern gate, Lee had already familiarized himself with her numbers and the quality of her beasts. He wasn’t sure he was ready for them, but he was going to do his best.

Meadhbh’s giant tiger form swaggered across the field, baring her teeth as she outpaced her army and dashed a hundred feet ahead of her nearest soldier. She spotted Lee on the wall as if she were drawn to him, and she slowed to a halt. Smiling up at him, she roared, “I have come to rip apart your chains, my partner! I have come to kill this weak filth you cling to and free you for greatness!”

“Oh. Wow. That is definitely one creepy yandere,” Jade laughed. “I see why you built a wall between you and her. That is a next-level psycho love story. Alright, let’s kill the yandere, avenge the tsundere, and then go drink with the deredere. Did I miss someone?”

“The grandpa?” Lee asked, chuckling despite the tension he felt mounting. He couldn’t help but admire how easy it was for Jade to reduce what was about to be one of the bloodiest battles a town would ever face down to nothing more than a joke.”

“Oh, right. No, I didn’t forget him,” Jade continued. “I’m not drinking with old men. Was forced to do that too much back home before the transfer. Not going to do anything remotely similar now.”

“Meadhbh,” Lee called out to the tiger. “I think you have greatly underestimated the people you call weak and what even the most unfortunate man has to offer this world.”

“We shall see,” Maedhbh growled back. Then, she let out a louder, more guttural roar. The thunderous boom resonated off of the walls, and Lee instantly felt the tremor created by the stampeding hooves for the first time as her army charged forward. Moving as if they were one giant, gelatinous blob of squealing and bellowing troops, they all began pressing toward Satterfield and its walls.

The boar-men moved faster and soon began to outpace the others. Lee didn’t wait for them to reach either the pits or the spike-filled trench and began firing off arrows as fast as he could grab them as soon as the Phouka were within range. The first arrow sailed across the battlefield and landed perfectly in the back of a boar-man; and, to Lee’s surprise, a death notification appeared as soon as it hit. What? Are they just cannon fodder? Lee quickly notified the system to turn off all future death notifications.

He wondered if they were going to be so easy to kill, but he noticed that some of his fellow villagers required six or seven arrows in order to fell a single one, whereas others required two or three. Ah, it’s just the effect of a higher Power stat, Lee realized as he finished killing his third boar. Then, the polybolos began firing. The giant bolts darted across the field with a terrifying speed, stopping the boars in their tracks and pinning them against the ground where they landed. It took two people to operate each machine, one constantly running the crank and the other feeding bolts into the chamber since the machine could easily unload over ten a minute, but the bolts were being fired in rapid succession thanks to the automated loading process.

After getting his first few kills, Lee saw the now-familiar menu appear, letting him know that he had a buff to distribute. This one was titled True Patriot: Fury of the People, and it was accompanied by three red circles. He was tempted to give the buff out right away, but then he realized that, since it was marked with red, it was likely just a pure damage upgrade. It might help an archer kill a few more boar-men, but the smart play would be to either save it for the next twenty-eight seconds or cast it when the first wave hit the wall, whichever came first.

Things looked to be going well so far, but the inevitable problem then became even more strikingly apparent almost immediately: there were simply too many for them to fight off. The Phouka army was too large, and it was only a matter of time before the walls were struck by the horde and strained under the frenzied press of hefty animal bodies.

We need to tighten the point of impact at least. If they’re going to break through, let’s concentrate where . . . “Miller, thin the left edge first!” Lee shouted over the chaos, hoping his ally heard him. Then, he directed his instructions to the men around him. “Brothers, take out this right flank with me. Archers, spread out! Abandon the middle segment of the wall before they hit. Don’t go down with the wall!”

Everyone rushed to follow Lee’s orders, picking off the sides of the horde as fast as they could while spreading out so that they wouldn’t be on the center part of the wall when it first got hit.

“Jade, you got that golem coming up yet?” Lee asked, not seeing it anywhere on the field.

“It’s not a good time yet,” Jade said as she walked forward and leaned over the wall, looking out over the carnage. The fight hadn’t even been going on for a full minute, but dozens of the boar-men had been slaughtered. Unfortunately, another few seconds was the most they were going to get. The boar-men were faster than counterparts, and they were already two-thirds of the way across the field and rapidly approaching the small pits Miller had dug. The first of the hogs to reach the pitfalls dove into the giant holes face-first, rather effectively plugging them with their own bodies, and the onrush of boars continued unabated from behind, their sacrificial brethren becoming makeshift bridges like it wasn’t a problem at all. It was like watching giant alien bugs in a campy sci-fi movie crawling over each other, except the pigs exhibited even less empathy as they continued their crazed rush toward Satterfield.

A few dozen more died before they reached the long ditch filled with spikes, and then just like with the pits, the front line tumbled in face first. Their squeals sounded out over the din of the battle and the sound of stampeding hooves, deafening out everything else as they mercilessly impaled themselves on the spikes and then were trampled over by their brothers. It took three boars to fill the well-dug ditch, unlike the quick pits Miller had dug, but there were more than enough following behind to fill the holes left in their ranks.

Even after over a hundred of the boar-men had died on account of the spikes, the pits and wave after wave of arrows and automatic ballista fire, Meadhbh’s army seemed both endless and unstoppable. The massive force was about to hit the wall in a few seconds, and Lee had no way of stopping it

“Get off the damn center portion of wall!” Lee yelled when he saw three archers still firing from the exact section that was about to break and collapse.

“That should be enough!” Jade yelled while raising her hands. The bloody boar-shifters strung across the field, pits and ditches all had their bodies ripped into pieces as if being moved by an unseen hand, and they were dragged into the center of the field. It was horrifying to watch, and even Lee hesitated a second between loosing arrows.

The giant ball of corpses started to accrete and coagulate, and Jade’s gruesome-looking golem was formed in the middle of Meadhbh’s army. This time, it was over twenty-five feet tall, and Lee knew that it was likely a goliath in terms of strength and power simply because so many bodies had gone into it. When he had seen the creature before, its pale, rotten flesh had hung loosely from its body. Now, however, it appeared to be as firm and as taut as a professional athlete. The stampeding boars charged into its legs headfirst, seemingly hoping to take it down, but it appeared as if they were more prone to bounce away harmlessly than they were to do any real damage. The giant golem lashed out with a few kicks, sending the creatures careening away through the herd, and then took several steps forward, crushing even more underneath its feet.

Most importantly, however, Jade’s golem had been summoned using the corpses that had piled up in the pits and ditch. When the blood golem was formed, the dead bodies were sucked up into it, effectively resetting the traps and clearing them of carcasses. Now, the mindless brutes would have to refill the traps the same way they had before. This also meant that the first wave of boars that had already cleared the ditch had absolutely no backup. There was no momentum behind their charge as they were only two or three deep now, and Lee wasted no time ordering his men to try and thin that line out even more before impact.

“I can’t hold a golem this big for long. Maybe forty-five seconds at most before I run out of juice!” Jade warned.

Lee glanced down at his True Patriot Skill.

Fury of the People (Unknown): 13 Seconds Until Expired.

Next buff - (Unknown): 13 seconds.

“Well, let’s make those 45 seconds count.” Lee threw his buff onto the golem. The Golem’s towering body glowed red and then the brute stomped forward. Each step crushed a boar in the same way that a two-and-a-half-story building might a human if it happened to topple over and land on top of him. Meadhbh dashed forward out of the backlines and lunged at one of its legs; but, surprisingly, her attack didn’t appear to have any effect. The golem retaliated with shocking speed, shifting its weight onto one foot and trying to stomp on Meadhbh with the other. Maedhbh dodged to the side, leaving a pig behind to die in her place, and the golem lashed out with its foot and kicked her instead. The giant black tiger went flying through the air, roaring in pain and anger as she flew back nearly fifty feet.

‘Damn. I don’t know what you did to my Bobby, but he’s stronger than ever!” Jade exclaimed. “It’s really helping him deal with the excess bloat.”

Lee didn’t have time to celebrate the minor victory because the first wave of boars hit the wall, and he felt the reverberation run through the wooden timbers, shaking the decking beneath him. Crap! It’s not going to take the next hit! Lee danced back even more, creating some distance between him and the targeted section of lumber. “Jade, Ling, let’s move.”

Rather than respond, however, Jade stood rooted in place. Ling retreated, leaving him and Jade as the last two people on this section of the wall.

She’s going to fall when the wall collapses! Realizing what was about to happen, Lee quickly stowed his bow into his inventory, jumped forward once again, grabbed Jade around the waist, lifted her up as gently as he could, and ran along the wall. All the while, she remained focused on controlling the demonic-looking minion of hers on the field. Lee took her silence and concentration as a sign of the amount of strain such a large golem was placing on her mentally. He set her down once they were reasonably clear, looked over at Ling and said, “Watch after her.” He then looked for Miller and found him on the opposite wall section, firing off arrows. It was weird seeing him use something other than a spear. It just felt wrong.

“‘Bout my time, is it?” Dave called up from the ground. The tremors in the wall had been distinct enough to tell him that it would likely topple soon. Even if it hadn’t lasted very long, Lee regretted nothing in terms of putting it up. It was buying him precious time, and the wave that had only just slammed into the wall was already dead, mowed down by the ballista and archers.

“About there,” Lee shouted back, once more pulling his bow back out and firing off a few shots. He, and apparently the rest of Satterfield, was still drawn to the sight of the massive blood beast. His next buff came up in the corner of his vision, this one titled Wings of Liberty, and it was modified by five white dots next to it. You’ve got to be kidding me . . . If this was as obvious of a buff as the name indicated, it would be the single luckiest draw of his life.

Fury of the People (Jade’s Golem): 17 Seconds Remaining.

Wings of Liberty - (Jade’s Golem): 30 Seconds Remaining.

Next buff - (Unknown): 29 Seconds.

Then, as if every expectation and more was met, he saw a white light highlight the golem, and two giant, white wings appeared on its back.

“What have you done to Bobby?!” Jade squealed excitedly, and then, a second later, the white light filtered down off of the golem and pressed into the ground as the golem was lifted into the air. Lee didn’t know what Jade was planning, but it soon became clear. The previously-lumbering golem hovered in the air above the wall, what must have been at least ten stories off the ground, curled into a ball and then barreled back to the ground at a tremendous speed. The white light that had made its wings retracted inward, surrounding the golem in a type of shield as the behemoth crashed down. The giant ball of bloody death ripped through a wave of boars like a gargantuan bowling ball of bloodshed only to spring out of the ball and shoot up into the air again.

Meadhbh roared furiously, but neither she nor her troops could do anything to stop it. The more humanoid shapeshifters seemed to be able to see it coming, so it never achieved more than the slaughter of boars, but it was incredibly effective in cleaning them off the battlefield.

On its third cannonball run, the wall was struck by another line of boar-men. Their lines were heavy, and the pressure of their corpulent bodies on top of the ones behind them broke through the wall. The initial surge had already shaken and fractured the main supports stabilizing the wall, and this second brought down the surrounding portions with it, toppling them inward when the center gave way.

“Run further to the sides!” Lee shouted, and the villagers responded.

Less than a third of Meadhbh’s troops remained thanks to the continuous firing of archers, but they were the more humanoid, bigger and meaner-looking ones. More importantly, they were the ones that looked like they could climb the ladders on the inside of the wall and make it up to where all the low-level villagers were without a problem. Lee had no faith in the troops’ ability to hold that side without help, especially since Miller had lost so many levels with his death. “Dave, fight your way up to Miller’s side. Get on that rampart!” Lee called out to the old man where he stood waiting, ready to intercept the beasts. “Miller, break those ladders near your troops. Don’t let those be used against us!”

“Lee, I’m . . . I’m spent,” Jade stuttered. Her golem, which was currently running amok through some of the few remaining boars that hadn’t yet reached the wall, stood up, took to the air for a brief second, and then exploded. Large chunks of bloody flesh rained down across the battlefield, bathing everything in a bright-red sheen of blood and crushing at least seven more boar-shifters under its weight as pieces of it fell across the field in its last moments. “Hold me,” she gasped and then collapsed just like the golem.

Lee reached out and grabbed her with both arms before she hit the deck, only to have her turn, hug him tightly and then hop out of his arms as fast as he had picked her up. She winked at him and said, “You’re so predictable, Mr. M.C.” She laughed merrily as she leaned against the railing. Despite her jovial attitude and hijinks, she was clearly unable to stand properly without support.

“Keep those arrows firing!” Lee shouted when he noticed that the troops on his side of the breach had let up their barrage. The blood golem’s collapse had confused them, and the fact that there weren’t many easy boar targets left hadn’t helped. “If you can’t hit a boar, start shooting the fattest of those humanoids. The ones that look like the offspring of the largest man in Kirshtein and a cow. Those first. Small targets second. You, you, you and you, knock these ladders down. I want one point of entry!” Lee commanded as he turned around and began firing again. He couldn’t be telling them not to slack off if he was.

“Lee,” Meadhbh roared, her voice echoing over the din of war. “Lee, why are you hiding up there? Must I kill every one of your people before we fight? Would it be better for them to lose hope before their death?” Meadhbh looked slightly wounded, but for the most part, she appeared to still be in good shape. The blow from Jade’s golem had done a number on her, but it wasn’t so bad that she couldn’t recover.

“Lee, she can jump up here,” Ling warned. “I’ve seen her leap across a field. We’re not high enough to escape her reach.”

Meadhbh growled, leaping out of the way of an arrow. “So, come down and fight me here. No one will interrupt our match.”

“How about you fight me instead!” Brigid called out from Miller’s side of the ramparts. She jumped down from the wall with a two-handed sword at the ready, landing behind her portion of the defenses. The boar-shifters instantly surged toward her, but a single roar from Meadhbh stopped them. “Good! Come at me, you fiend. I have eighteen debts to settle with you!”

“What in the hell are you doing?” Lee muttered softly to himself. He was the one who was supposed to take on the Herald, not her. He was the one that was supposed to defeat the crazy woman. He checked the available buff from True Patriot to see what he could help her with. The newly available buff was Defend the Homeland, and it was accompanied by three white circles, so Lee assumed it had a good effect.

Without thinking about it, he threw the buff on Brigid right away. He then scanned around, looking for the next move to make to try and save her. He hated that her recklessness had caused her to leave an easily-defensible position, but he still didn’t want to leave her to fight alone.

Dave casually propped his flail over his shoulder and looked like he was about to jump down and help when Lee stopped him. “No! Dave, stay where you are! They need you there. If you go down, no one will be left to defend the people on the rampart.”

“Yeah, but I kinda promised I’d make her into a rug,” Dave complained. “Kinda feel like, you know, I should. With Pelham dead and all.”

“Dave, just hold the damn line,” Lee shouted back over the noise of the battle.

“I’m telling you: it’s damn sexist how you’re always so strict with me and not the girls,” Dave grumbled.

But Lee wasn’t paying attention. He had already jumped down off his own rampart, trusting that Ling and Jade would be able to hold against anything that came up. He wasn’t given the space that Meadhbh had promised, and the second his feet hit the ground, a giant humanoid version of a bull came charging in.

The creature was roughly ten feet tall, and its sword rocketed forward with remarkable speed as it came down swinging right at him. Lee braced himself, threw his new shield up in front of him, and deflected the bull’s blade before returning a slash of his own. His weapon cut through the minotaur-looking beast with ease, slicing through its rough hide and into its side. Unphased, however, the bull thrust forward with a second attack. This time, Lee stepped to the left to avoid the blade and slammed his shield forward, burying the metal spike he had affixed to it into the Phouka. The bull-man threw his head back and bellowed out in pain, leaving himself exposed. Lee took advantage of the opportunity and thrust his sword into the Phouka’s thick, undefended legs twice. The bull’s eyes turned white as it died, and it topped over backward.

He didn’t get a chance to breathe before another Taurus with a two-handed axe attacked him. He jumped back at the last moment and just barely deflected the blow with his shield. If he had been harboring any doubts about the strength of his new equipment, they were fully dispelled after absorbing the staggering blow. He stumbled back several steps until he recovered and then lunged forward, aiming a blow at bull’s side. Unfortunately, his blade was turned away by a horse-like, humanoid Phouka that had approached on his side. The equine creature smashed its mace against Lee’s sword as it turned away the blow, and before Lee could even prepare a defense against those two, a third and fourth Phouka started toward him. Lee cursed under his breath when he saw the two new attackers. He didn’t even know how he was going to handle this, and he desperately needed to make it to Brigid in time to save her.

The one with the axe swung again, and the Phouka beside him also came at him with a sword. Lee thought he might be done for as he could only dodge one, but then a series of arrows riddled the two Phouka, and Lee was able to get out of the way of the axe.

There’s no way that I’ll make it to her if I stay here fighting these one at a time! Rather than retaliating, Lee lunged forward and slammed into the horse-like humanoid with his shield. He careened off the animal, twisted around with his momentum and took off running. He weaved between several seemingly-confused Phoukas, who didn’t seem to understand why he wasn’t fighting back, and pushed his way toward the Leprechaun general. Several of the creatures took swipes at him as he ran past, and he ended up being cut numerous times by a combination of weapons and claws. He used up 7% of his total mana healing himself before he reached the small space where Brigid and Meadhbh were fighting--or, rather, where Brigid was being toyed with by Meadhbh.

The buff, Defend the Homeland, was just starting to fade as Lee approached, and he was able to see what it did as he ran up to her: the effect seemed to create a wave of force that radiated outward from Brigid in all directions and slowed Meadhbh’s attacks. At first glance, it was arguably the only reason that Brigid was still alive.

“So, you’ve come,” Meadhbh growled. She turned away from Brigid, seemingly happy to abandon her plaything, and faced Lee instead.

“Well, damsel in distress and all that. Kind of my job to come and rescue her, beat you up and save the day,” Lee explained as casually as he could. Despite doing his best to sound confident, he was still terrified. His body remembered the ferocity of her attacks very well, and the places she had struck him tingled for a moment when he saw her up close.

“You have it wrong,” Meadhbh countered. “I am here, saving my ‘damsel’ from the prison that binds him!” She let out a tremendous roar and then turned to swipe at Brigid. The force wave from Defend the Homeland was still active, and it slowed down Meadhbh’s attack long enough for the Leprechaun woman to dodge out of the way--but only just barely. The tiger’s claws drew four solid streaks of blood as they grazed past.

Lee rushed forward and finally reached Brigid. The next buff option had just appeared: Sports Event City Spending, and it was denoted with two pink circles and a red circle. What in the hell do these circles mean? Lee was curious, but the mystery didn’t stop him from immediately sending the buff to Brigid as he reached out and grabbed her hand, transferring his healing in the form of 16% of his mana into her as fast as he could. Color returned to her pallid face, and the wounds she had sustained from her battle with Meadhbh instantly faded.

“So, this is what it feels like . . .” Brigid gasped as the healing washed through her, and she readied her sword once again. “I feel more alive now than ever. I feel even better than I did when we first fought, you fiend. Now, I shall slay you for what you did to my men.”

“Careful,” Lee said, reaching out and grabbing her arm so that he could hold her back. He had a feeling that she hadn’t noticed the buff that he had given her, and he very much doubted that she understood how dead she would have already been without that random bit of help. He was also worried that she was overestimating herself at the moment and that she might get herself killed faster than he could heal her.

“There is no need to be careful,” Meadhbh laughed. “Her death is assured! Let her rush to meet it.” The sound of a cackling tiger was something that Lee never thought he’d have to hear, but it was unnerving.

“Just come and fight me!” Lee insisted, but Meadhbh ignored him and lunged at Brigid once more.

The Leprechaun stepped forward swinging, but Lee stepped forward and intercepted the blow instead. He slammed his shield into the tiger’s side before it could reach Brigid. The spiked tip didn’t penetrate into Meadhbh’s skin like it had with the bull, but it redirected her attack instead and sent her sprawling to the side. Brigid’s sword had too much force behind it for her to arrest its momentum completely, but she managed to shift its trajectory just a bit. Rather than biting deep into Lee’s triceps, it skimmed his right shoulder instead, dealing 61 damage.

“Hah! It seems the damsel doesn’t want saving!” Meadhbh rumbled a laugh at the bungle and then rolled back onto her feet.

The moment she had all four paws on the ground again, she ran straight for Lee. He threw his shield up in front of him and adjusted his feet so that his body was turned at an angle and so that he didn’t have to take the impact head on. This was the actual moment of truth after spending so much time and care crafting his shield. The aegis hadn’t done much damage when he had rammed Meadhbh with it, but he had faith in its durability. Meadhbh barreled in with a sweeping, claw-first strike, and Lee felt his heart skip a beat when her massive paw struck against his shield. The blow dealt 20 damage due to the blunt force of the impact, but his newly-crafted defensive armament held up. The pointed tip sank into Meadhbh’s paw as she made contact, and the feline Phouka roared in shock at the unexpected pain and resistance.

Brigid stepped in and quickly followed up with a swing of her own, slicing into the tiger’s rear thigh with an upward slash.

“Your toys are stronger,” Maedhbh roared, “but not strong enough.” She rocked back onto her two rear legs and lifted the front half of her body into the air. She teetered in the air for a brief second and then unleashed a series of furious swipes at Lee. He did everything he could to hold onto his shield and not miss a block as thirteen quick attacks, each dealing between 20 and 22 damage, battered his shield. The combination was so fast that he acted entirely on instinct, and as soon as the series was finished, his Bloody Shield skill took over and caused him to push forward, slamming his shield directly into the tiger’s maw. Meadhbh twisted her head to the side and tried to avoid the blow, but she wasn’t fast enough. The metal spike jabbed deep into her exposed neck, eliciting another loud roar of rage as it dug into vulnerable flesh.

Meadhbh staggered backward several steps while shaking her head as if trying to dispel the pain of the attack. She quickly recovered, however, and darted around Lee, circling back around and hitting Brigid with a single fast attack that was strong enough to send the redhead flying back ten feet. The lanky Leprechaun general crumpled into a limp ball when she hit the ground and lay motionless. Lee rushed toward her, hoping to heal her before the bleed damage her took life, but Meadhbh interjected herself between them.

“Now that we’ve got the pest out of the way, let us finish this!” Meadhbh sprang forward and wrapped her giant arms around Lee, throwing him off balance and pinning him to the ground underneath her.

What the hell? With his arms pinned against him, and with her weight bearing down on top of him, there was no way he could leverage either his shield or his sword against her.

He swapped his vision over to Ethan’s, desperately hoping to find another route or someone who was free to help. Unfortunately, the situation wasn’t nearly as promising as it had been before he left the ramparts and engaged with Meadhbh. Ling and Jade were doing the best they could to hold on against the endless waves of humanoids that had climbed onto the walls, but the tight space and narrow ramps didn’t leave them with much room to work. Ling was forced to shoot around Jade, and to make matters worse, it was already clear that Jade was inexperienced with using a sword. Even at a quick glance, the strain of her efforts was plainly visible on her face.

He checked on Dave, thinking perhaps that he or Miller and could help, but that situation there was even worse. Dave was functionally a one-man wrecking crew, and the bodies of dead beasts were piled up around him. Similarly, there was a stream of bloody, crushed Phoukas leading down the catwalks where Dave had slowly been forced to retreat back in order to have room to continue his deadly work. Lee also noticed that the humanoid Phoukas had started attacking the wall’s support beams.

“Dave, press forward! Get across those ramparts, or you’re all dead!” Lee twisted his head back and yelled as loudly as he could, warning Dave but not being able to do anything to help his own situation.

“Hell, give me a break!” Dave shouted back. “Working the old man to death, are you?” he complained, but he still did as he was told, taking a step forward as he began bludgeoning a path through the carnage with his flail.

Lee didn’t have any more time to think. Meadhbh rolled Lee onto his side, cranked her back legs forward until she was in an arced position, and then began kicking, trying to claw at Lee’s guts while keeping him somewhat pinned by shifting her weight onto her front legs. Lee squirmed out of the way of the first swipe, but the second swipe came closer, and the third closer still, and the fourth tore into his leg instead of his gut, dealing 150 damage as it ripped through his thigh.

Meadhbh’s head shot forward a moment later, and she snapped at his face. Lee thought he’d be done for, but right before the maw closed in on him, it was stopped by a downward-stabbing, two-handed blade that dug into her right eye. Meadhbh roared in pain, and Lee felt her hot breath as it blew across his face. The roar of agony was a concussive wave against Lee’s ears that made his muscles involuntarily stiffen as the sound blasted him.

“I told you: I have debts to settle with you,” Brigid said as she pulled the blade out and stabbed it again into Meadhbh’s throat. The tiger released its hold on Lee, scampered over his body and back up onto all fours. The beast’s claws raked through his skin and armor as she climbed over him, dealing 125 damage and leaving him nearly dead.

Lee was thankful that he had discovered his healing magic, or he’d have been dead already, a thought that he didn’t forget as he pushed himself to his feet and looked over at Brigid. She was battered but not beaten, and she was holding her sword out in front of her, challenging Meadhbh with an angry glare.

“I have tolerated you long enough,” Meadhbh snarled. “Brothers, sisters, destroy this Leprechaun wretch so that I may deal with their leader myself!” At her command, the sparsely-populated area that they were fighting in was suddenly filled with an influx of horse- and bull-shaped creatures that all charged straight toward Brigid.

Brigid’s eyes popped open in shock as she whirled around, her weapon moving rapidly as she blocked three incoming attacks.

“Miller, save the damn Leprechaun!” Lee shouted to the would-be Firbolg archer who had yet to use his spear in the battle.

“She will not die on my watch!” Miller shouted back, seemingly thrilled by the invitation to leap into battle. He jumped off the rampart and landed in a roll, springing up and chucking a spear at one of the closest Phouka. He then pulled out the steel-tipped spear Lee had given him and carved his way through the enemy to Brigid’s side.

Relieved that the two were able to handle the first wave of attacks, Lee turned his attention back to the now-one-eyed and injured Meadhbh, who was staring back at him.

“This is all for your own good, for our own good,” Meadhbh roared at him. “You who understand me . . . You who will share my burden! Let me teach you how to see past all of this.”

The tiger casually sauntered closer, moving into position, but Lee knew what she was planning. Instead of trying to back away or dodge to the side when she lifted herself up, he pushed forward as hard as he could the moment her forelegs left the ground. He slammed into her with his full weight and knocked her back just as she reached a fully-erect position, driving his sword into her exposed stomach. The blade didn’t penetrate deeply, but it left behind a long gash that twisted down the length of her stomach and onto her side as she rolled away.

Meadhbh landed on all fours, seemingly oblivious to the freshly-inflicted injury, and sprang forward. She attempted to bat his shield out of the way with one of her massive paws so that she could bite his face, but Lee was ready for her. He turned her strike away with his shield and thrust forward with his sword. It was a well-practiced maneuver that had worked for him time and again, and it had basically become second nature during his time in the arena. She twisted her head to the side at the last moment, and the tip of his blade narrowly grazed past her large eye. Lee was spared from having his face torn off, but all he managed was to buy some time.

Meadhbh recoiled and then sprang forward in a second attempt to reach him, and once again, Lee reacted on instinct. He dropped down into a semi-crouched state, flung his shield up in front of him defensively, and dug his heels into the earth as he prepared to absorb her weight. She crashed against the wooden barrier a moment later, her teeth gnashing against the shield as her attack was rebuffed. Driving up from the ground, he turned her large head to the side as he stood up, and his sword simultaneously snapped around in a low-aimed slash.

Meadhbh may have been turned away from him, but she quickly rebounded, once again raising up into the air on her hind legs. Her left paw shot forward, and Lee winced in pain and arched his back as her long claws raked across it and over his shoulder, taking off 200 more health.

Lee twisted away from her and created some distance, hoping to buy himself some time. Meadhbh had demonstrated a clear ability to do massive amounts of damage in a single attack, and she could do it multiple times. There was no way he was going to stand around and leave himself exposed if he didn’t have to, and at the moment, he needed some space. That was when he noticed something: the wound in the flank earlier was deep, exposed, and raw. All of his attacks prior to that one had barely penetrated her thick hide. That particular gash was rather nasty, however, which meant that she was low on hit points and no longer had the health pool to resist his attacks the way she had at the start of the fight.

Well, here we go, Lee told himself as Meadhbh swiftly closed what distance he had made between them. Lee lunged forward and jabbed his sword straight into the open wound as he maneuvered under her incoming pouncing body. Meadhbh howled out again in pain, but she didn’t counterattack or back up this time. Lee was going to go in for another stab, but before he could manage the attack, Meadhbh shifted back into her Human form. Her small, frail body, which couldn’t have weighed more than sixty pounds, lay sprawled out on top of his shield. It didn’t even look like she had the strength to keep herself from sliding off if he tilted the thing slightly.

“That’s enough,” she said meekly as he pulled his sword back and set her down gently on the ground. He didn’t know what to do. She was bleeding from her side, and her eye was still missing, causing her to look on the brink of death anyway, and he found it hard to go for the killing blow. Fighting a giant tiger to the death was easy, but killing a poor, helpless crippled girl that was already injured was entirely different, even knowing the atrocities she had committed.

“Don’t look at me like that,” she wheezed. It was obvious how hard she was struggling to take even so much as a breath as she lay there. “I knew . . . what I was getting myself . . . into . . . when I started . . . this chain of events.” Her voice trailed off every few words so she could draw another breath. “The Goddess . . . of Changing Fates . . . and I . . . We knew. This was . . . always . . . our end. This was . . . the fate . . . we saw . . . that would save you. That would save . . . our people.”

“You knew you were going to die here?” Lee felt like a pit had opened up in his gut as he stared down at the dying girl. “If you knew you were going to die, why go through all this? Why would you fight me so harshly? Why kill so many people? Why?”

“To be . . . free . . . To be free . . . of this pain . . . and to . . . change the fate . . . of this game . . . they play . . . with our lives. But you . . . were too weak . . . my prince. I . . . loved you . . . who care . . . for your people. But . . . you still . . . are too weak . . . my prince.” She gasped out her last words, weaker and fainter than ever, her eyes closed, and her body went completely limp.

System, Lee asked tepidly. System, did she die? He normally would have been able to tell based on the death notifications, but he had disabled those at the onset of the fight so that they wouldn’t clutter his vision and distract him from the fight at hand.

Yes. She is dead. Would you like me to display the pending death notifications?

No, that’s okay. Lee took in a deep breath and turned around. He expected to see a battlefield enveloped in chaos, but that wasn’t exactly what he found. Bodies numbered well into the hundreds, and the ground was covered in pools of blood that refused to soak into the already-drenched ground. Arrows covered everything: they littered the ground, they were pincushion into Phouka corpses, and they were even buried in the walls. Several support beams had collapsed, bringing down large sections of the wall and ramparts along with them, and leaving that portion of the wall in shambles. The Satterfielders who hadn’t been able to get away in time had been crushed by the fallen structures, and a handful survivors looked to be futilely attempting to free them.

But the fighting had stopped. The Phouka survivors had all shifted back into Human form. A quick glance around through the breach told Lee that there were likely only a hundred-odd remaining members of Meadhbh’s forces, and they were all frail, deformed and weak looking. Each held a knife in hand, and they were all staring at Lee and their dead Herald with hollow, unblinking eyes. Before he could so much as speak, every single one of them stabbed themselves. Blades pierced into their hearts or sawed across their throats, but horrific as it was, Lee couldn’t stop himself from watching as their bodies gave in to death. A people had died, right there, before his eyes and somehow for his sake.

She came to Satterfield to remove the weakness, to remove the chains that bound me, but this . . . He regretted that he hadn’t read more into everything that she had said that pointed to this end. But regret was a companion for him these days; and, realistically, there was no way he could have stopped this. He simply hadn’t once considered this meaning to all her portentous words. Lee had fought so hard to stay alive, so people choosing such an end was unthinkable for him. His blindness combined with Meadhbh’s cryptic revelation before her death left his moment of victory feeling hollow, empty and void of all joy. He had saved Satterfield, but he didn’t understand why any of this had happened.

She left me the world stone fragment because she never intended to live. It has always been her goal to improve me. But why did she have to go this far? If she had won, she would have been a goddess. She wouldn’t have ever had to suffer again. Lee stared blankly, consumed with the thought, as he turned to the people of Satterfield. He then looked over at Brigid and Miller and found both covered in wounds but nevertheless holding up. Everyone seemed as at a loss for words as Lee.

Dave grunted. “Gotta tell you: I definitely did not see that coming. I mean, a little girl? I’ll never have my epic tiger rug now. I was even thinking of making it into a cloak after I killed the wench, but if I try that now, people will just think I’m twisted in the head and get the wrong idea.”

“Dave,” Lee said, shaking his head, “you really gotta learn to read the mood.”

“What? We won, right? Come on, guys. Stop looking glum just because the enemy killed themselves. Only means we got to save ourselves the effort. Let’s go toast our victory, drink a bunch of ale, and play ‘Not It’ when it comes time to decide who is responsible for repairing the wall,” Dave said with a laugh as he jumped down off the fifteen-foot high rampart as if he were merely hopping down a few steps at the bottom of a staircase. “Alright, I’m heading to the tavern. Who is buying my first round? I kept you bastards alive, so at least one of you needs to pay me back with a belly full of fried chicken and beer!” Ignoring the battlefield altogether, Dave simply strode off in the direction of the tavern.

“So many sober people when we serve the God of Alcohol?” Miller asked, watching Dave walk off. “It’s a tragedy. The ancient dust collector is right! We need to toast Augustus and praise this nearly-flawless victory! There will be time to mourn the dead tomorrow, but now, we must celebrate our victory and honor those who died in battle with tales of their deeds!” Miller hurried after Dave, but the rest of Satterfield simply stood rooted and looked to Lee.

“I think the two old veterans are right,” Lee began. “Even if the end of the fight wasn’t what we had expected, we still fought hard to get there. They came at us with overwhelming odds, odds that would have crumpled and destroyed us if we had flinched. But you didn’t even blink. Your courage is what won us the day. Instead of running, you had faith in each other, and that isn’t something you should overlook. Be proud and be happy with what you’ve accomplished. Know that those who died didn’t do so in vain. They fought to the death for your sake, for this town’s sake, and they will be remembered forever for their service. The only thing you can do now is do your best to be happy and make something of the lives they saved.”

The group of townsfolk nodded at Lee’s words but didn’t say anything or move.

“Also, you guys really do owe Dave some beer, so go get to celebrating this victory,” Lee instructed. “That’s an order from Augustus himself. I don’t want to see a single person with an empty belly at the end of the night.” That last part seemed to be enough to get them to shuffle off after Dave and Miller toward the main tavern that also doubled as the Church of Augustus.

The only people who didn’t leave were Lee’s closest female companions: Ling, Brigid and Jade. Jade had just plopped down where she was and was currently sprawled out on her back as if she were trying to make snow angels on top of the wooden rampart, but without snow. Ling had put away her bow and was sitting up on the rampart and letting her feet dangle off the edge facing the town. After the people had dispersed, Brigid walked over to Lee.

“Thank you,” she said as she put away her sword. “Those people who were willing to follow me into hell . . . They have their vengeance.” Her face twisted with discomfort as she said the words.

“I’m sorry,” Lee responded, resting a hand on her shoulder. “But I’m glad that you’re still alive, and I think that they would be grateful for that.”

“I don’t even know how I am. She wounded me so badly I thought I would bleed out before I recovered, but whatever you did to me, it closed the wounds and gave me strength. It invigorated me. I thank you for that, but I still haven’t and can’t forgive you for what you did to my people at Kirshtein, forcing them into a war that led to so many deaths. You have killed more of my people than she did. For the crimes you have committed, you should have died for your sins well before her.”

Lee gritted his teeth. He knew these were her thoughts from the beginning. He had put it out of his mind since they had been working together for a common cause, but that cause was finished. He had manipulated her earlier to get her to not tell the ruling council of Kirshtein what had really transpired before her people attacked the city, but that hadn’t fixed anything.

“It is only a shame that I cannot bring myself to hate you,” she added with a sigh after leaving Lee to stew in her previous words for a minute. “I will never forgive you for what you did, for their families would never forgive me if I did, but after fighting with you, following you, and seeing the type of man you are, I can neither hate you nor wish for your death. I will recommend to the king of Birnefeld that, following these events, you be given a chance to preach about Augustus and make a place within our city. If you are the man I think you are, I know you will go there in time, and through your efforts and your actions, I fully expect you to work day after day to atone for the lives that were lost in your nefarious scheme.”

Lee opened his mouth to reply, to agree with that sentiment and assure her he would do his best, but she stopped him.

“No, don’t say anything,” she insisted. “Your tongue now is as wicked as your deeds were then. I have seen through many of your lies, and I will have none of them here. Show me through actions that you are a better person than the Herald we just killed.”

With that, she turned and left, leaving Lee to watch her beautiful figure slowly walk away.

“Damn,” Jade’s voice came from the rampart where she had been lying down. “You two really need to just bang it out. That sexual tension . . . I could feel it all the way up here.”

Lee was annoyed at Jade for making light of a serious issue. “I think your feelings were wrong,” he replied.

“Nope, definitely sexual tension. What do you think, Ling-a-Bing?” Jade asked as she got up and then sat down by Ling. “Sexual tension?”

Ling didn’t dignify Jade with a response, only sparing her one glance before looking back over at Lee.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes,’” Jade said. “Anyway, what do you want to do, M.C.? Want to play it like the British spy who saved the day and spend the night with one of his harem members? Maybe go get drunk in the tavern so the game can fade to black? You could even get all buddy-buddy with that Firbolg friend of yours so that the squeeing fangirls can write a bunch of theories about you two? No, wait, I’ve seen his face. We can’t have that. One of you two needs to be more effeminate for that to work . . . Hmm . . . maybe you could just ditch all of that, and the two of us can go talk about old times in our world over some hot cocoa and marshmallows after a pillow fight?”

As unempathetic and rude as Jade was, the idea of sitting back and talking with someone about the other world was actually tempting after what Lee had just gone through. A cup of hot cocoa and marshmallows did sound good, though he didn’t know where he’d get either of those two at the moment. He hadn’t bought chocolate or sugar, so even if he used the book, he would have a hard time producing them.

“Actually, no, I know what we need to do,” Jade declared, hopping down from the rampart.

“What’s that?” Lee asked hesitantly, almost scared to hear her answer.

“We should go level. I mean, the whole party is here, right? Other than your spear boy, that is, but he’s kinda a lowbie anyway, so we can let him do his thing. I think what we should do is you, me and Ling-a-Bing here should go take out all the frustrations and depressing thoughts by grinding away on some monsters like real gamers.

“You don’t want to celebrate the win?” Lee asked, cocking his head a little as he did.

“Nah. Why bother? Is that what you do in normal games? After a big boss fight, you go to the fictional pub and drink? Or do you, like any hardcore MMO player out there, grab a quick beer and go start farming some more EXP? I bet we can get at least another level--maybe two--before we have to sleep.”

Lee’s first instinct was to tell her off, that it was perfectly normal to celebrate, especially since the battle had probably yielded a ton of experience. Not to mention, he still hadn’t checked experience or loot, but he knew it was a lot. Before he could open his mouth to disagree, he remembered Meadhbh’s face and the warning she had given him: you’re still too weak.

“Fine. I’m sure there is a place we can go that is close to our level near the mountains, but we’ll probably have to take a Krunklerump to get there at a reasonable speed,” Lee said, looking over at Ling. “You coming too? You can stay here and spend time with your dad if you want. I don’t know when we’ll be back in Satterfield again.”

“No.” Ling shook her head. “I’m sticking with you.”

Lee couldn’t help but smile as he heard her say that. She really has been dependable. But the moment was ruined by Jade blurting out: “SOOO CUTE! Ugh! I am totally going to lose to the silent, support-role chick. This is not fair! I thought I had a chance with the tsundere gone!”

Lee and Ling both cringed at Jade’s outburst, and neither responded as they both walked toward the stables.

Chapter 11

Name: Lee

Race: Human

Class: Herald - Statesman

Level: 30

Health: 400/400

EXP: 15673/57000

Primary Stats:

Power 40 (46)

Toughness 40 (46)

Spirit 40 (46)

Secondary Stats:

Charisma 31

Courage 22

Deceit 31

Intelligence 226 (260)

Honor -2

Faith 32780

Personal Faith 325

Skills:

Unarmed Combat Initiate Level 7

Swordplay Journeyman Level 1

Sneak Journeyman Level 4

Cooking Initiate Level 8

Trap Detection Initiate Level 6

Knife Combat Initiate Level 9

Mental Fortitude Initiate Level 1

Sleight of Hand Initiate Level 3

Blood Shield Initiate Level 6

Sewing Initiate Level 4

Glass Smithing Novice Level 5

True Patriot

Carpentry Novice Level 1

Delegation

Masonry Initiate Level 4

The Statesman:

Territories:

Satterfield (+10: Savior)

Defensive Strength Rating: 9

Economic Strength rating: 3

Population Rating: 1

Territory Rating: 12

Tech / Utility Rating: 12

Influence / Tourism Rating: 4

Public Persona:

Kirshtein (-2: Unkind)

Birnefeld (0: Unknown)

Divine Skills:

Golem Sculpting Journeyman Level 7

Appreciative Drunk Novice Level 10

Nectar of the Gods Initiate Level 6

Spirit Smithing Initiate Level 10

Faith Healing

Ignis Veritas

Spirit Builder Initiate Level 1

Divinity Powers:

Life in Death

Titles:

Cheat Code Fighter

The Great Deceiver

The Aggressive Mile-High Chef

Alright, system, since I don’t have a life or death fight pending right now, let’s start those public works projects.

You are not allowed to select a defensive one yet.

Fine, but . . . Lee paused, thinking about the people back in Satterfield and what everyone had just gone through. Even if the death count had been incredibly low, they had still lost many of their brother paladins halfway up the mountain, and they had still gone through a very emotionally-taxing event. The bathhouse, that one doesn’t cost much, right? Lee asked.

Excellent choice. Such luxuries, while serving a specific immediate purpose toward improving public health, improve both morale and tourism as well. We can begin construction on five bathhouses around the city.

You’re telling me I made an excellent decision? Lee chuckled at how out of character that seemed for the system.

Well, you didn’t insist on a silly defensive structure and instead picked one that will encourage more players to stop in Satterfield on their travels.

Thanks. Now, could you show me what I’ve gained from the fight? Lee asked as he rode with Ling on a Krunklerump toward a leveling area.

You have killed Meadhbh, Herald of Fey, Goddess of Changing Fates. Your party has been awarded 6543 Experience. Your share of this is 1636 Experience.

You have defeated the Herald of the Goddess of Changing Fates. As the slayer of a Herald, all of her excess faith shall be awarded to the god you serve. You have also been granted the final boon of a now-dead goddess: The Eye of Changing Fates. This item will randomly activate within a short period before your demise and show you your death and a small number of actions leading up to it in vivid detail. This item will be consumed upon use.

Lee had no idea how to react to the Eye of Changing Fates. It was simply too powerful an item, and he had to wonder if Meadhbh, who had said she had known how the last fight would turn out, had seen her death using the item or a similar ability. If such a skill did exist, it was possible that she might have seen her death multiple times, and she had known with perfect clarity how she could stop it.

The more he thought of it, the more he became uncertain as to whether or not it was worth keeping--especially if he had no ability to actually change his own fate. It was that age-old question that people asked in the bar: If you could know the exact date of your death, would you want to? Most people Lee knew would answer ‘no’ for the obvious reason: the mere knowledge of when or how you might die could potentially ruin your life and cause endless anxiety; or, even more likely, knowing when you were meant to die might actually cause the person to die sooner rather than later due to arrogance if it turned out their destiny wasn’t fixed.

The only problem was that he didn’t have a choice as to whether he kept the item or not. However, after receiving it, it wasn’t in his inventory or on his person. Did I actually get the item? he asked the system as he kept searching.

Of course. If I listed it in the loot table, then you received it. The Eye of Changing Fates, however, unlike other items, does not manifest physically. It has already been added to your existence much like a temporary entry to your character sheet, though it does not appear there.

Is there a way to remove it if I wanted to? Lee asked

I just complimented you on your excellent decision. Must you force me to retract my approval so soon? Please consider: can you remove a property on your character sheet at will? Only your actions and circumstances can change your character sheet. In this case, only by using the Eye will it be consumed and disappear.

I see. Thanks for the info. Very helpful, Lee thought, doing his best to make sure the last part didn’t come off as sarcastic.

It is good you know.

Lee saw the last message and frowned. Alright, enough of that. Off to leveling.

-----

“What’s the point of going back to town?” Jade complained. “I have a tent, and if we camp here, it means less travel time when we wake up.”

They had been at the grind for hours, and it was almost night before any of them even mentioned that they should start back to town. Jade, for whatever reason, was very much against returning to Satterfield. Lee and Ling, however, weren’t keen on sharing a tent with Jade--even if she was just being practical.

By the time they got back to Satterfield, it was already halfway through the night, and only the moon watched over them as they made their way in through an unmanned gate. Ling promptly excused herself from the party, making her excuses and bidding everyone goodbye before going to spend the last part of her night at home.

Lee and Jade made their way to the bar, and he was somewhat surprised to see that the entire place was empty. There were dozens of empty glasses and a few licked-clean plates left behind from the night’s earlier festivities, but that was the only sign of life in the entire place. Normally, he would have been upset that no one had cleaned up. Given what the villagers had gone through, however, he didn’t see the point in griefing them over a single slovenly night.

Thus, rather, than waking someone up to finish cleaning, he simply had his three golems take care of the place for him. He wasn’t sure if it was the case, but they seemed rather annoyed that their first task in a few hours had been to clean up dishes.

“That is . . . very useful,” Jade commented as she stepped inside after Lee. “So, what you gonna do now? I don’t exactly have a standing room here . . . so, I might need to borrow yours.”

Lee looked over at the blue-haired temptress that was doing her best to act coy with him, “You’re welcome to it,” he said. “I’m not exactly ready to crash yet myself.”

“Oh.” Her face changed from a fake shy to a very real pout. “Well, in that case, let me pour us a few drinks, and you can tell me what you wanna do until then.”

“Didn’t you want to borrow my bed while I’m not in it?”

“What’s the point?” she answered, shrugging. “They’ve already stolen a march, so I’ve got to make up for lost time. So, tell me, what random thing are you going to craft now?”

“Who said I was going to craft?” Lee took the beer she had just poured for him and sat down at the table, opening up his inventory and going through the material list.

“It’s you. You seem to love crafting. I’ve never seen someone spend five hours making stuff without getting extremely bored. Although, I suppose it’s in your blood.”

Lee looked through his inventory and found the one project he hadn’t finished yet: the orchestrion. Lee almost had each prerequisite skill at the right level to make one through the book’s crafting system. It probably would also be faster to do it that way, but he didn’t want to cheapen it.

He had spent hours working and toiling away on the thing, and he figured it was time he finished it up. So, he didn’t stand on pretense. He just took out all the parts and started working on it right in front of her. He was only a few parts away from the final assembly stage when he started, so it didn’t take more than a few hours to finish it up. Then, he spent a little longer putting together music sheets to feed into it. After he was finished, he sat back down at the table.

“So, is that it?” Jade asked as she looked it over. “We got another hour before sunrise if you wanted to add something to it: carve your name into it or maybe draw something on it.”

“Huh?” Lee turned to look at her. He hadn’t even considered changing the design or adding art or dyes to anything in this world past making camouflage for his troop’s armor. “I mean, I guess we could . . . draw something on it later?” The idea didn’t really resonate with him at all. He was more interested in seeing how it functioned now that it was complete.

Since it was technically an automatic organ with a percussion kit set in the base, Lee wasn’t exactly sure how it would sound--but he was dying to find out as he loaded the first sheet in and started it up. Just like that, the deadly-quiet church-turned-bar was filled with music. He had chosen Moonlight Sonata, one of his favorite classical pieces, for the first piece, and he couldn’t help but feel relaxed and a bit sleepy as he sat back in his chair and listened to it. It was magnificent.

Between the magical beer in his hand, the music from the automated machine, and the fresh, bacon-flavored air that was hanging in the bar, Lee finally felt like the boss fight and the stress he had been dealing with was behind him. This was the downtime he had needed earlier. He knew he wouldn’t be able to spend too much time here--Jade, Miller, Ling, common sense and logic would all drag him back into leveling as they prepared for whatever high-level threat to his existence might pop up next--but that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy at least one song before then.

“So, you about ready for your usual post-Herald-murdering trip to Earth?” Augustus asked, breaking into Lee’s consciousness as the Herald sat there, marinating in the melancholy melody playing out through the automated organ.

“Oh, yeah,” Lee thought aloud, not bothering to mute himself as the only other person there probably knew exactly what it was like to talk to a god that only she could hear. “I think I’m gonna pass, actually.”

“What?” Augustus seemed surprised. “You don’t want to check up on Masha, enjoy a round of games with Wolfe, hang out with your old, giant shape-shifting bear while watching some television?”

Lee didn't even think about it when he turned Augustus down. He had no real reason to pass up the trip. It was free time, after all. He might die tomorrow in this game world, but over there, he could likely enjoy weeks, months, or years without stress or hardship. It was, by no small means, a paradise when compared to this gaming world. The simple luxuries of toilet paper, good bed sheets and pants that weren’t made of rough cotton were enough to warrant a trip there, but he had automatically said ‘no’ like it was a gut reaction.

“Yeah, I’ll pass,” Lee reaffirmed and shrugged. Jade looked over at him with one eyebrow raised. After everything that had happened, even if it was a better life over there, it wasn’t one he was sure he deserved. This venture hadn’t saved anyone. He hadn’t brightened up the world or even rescued so much as a single flower in a field. The jukebox playing out a beloved but somber song was the only thing he actually felt like he had accomplished in this battle to save Satterfield. If he had been better, stronger or smarter, then fewer people would have died. If he hadn’t been a part of Satterfield, Meadhbh wouldn’t have targeted it or his people. Those that perished, their deaths were in large part his responsibility, his fault.

“Suit yourself, but if Masha knew you were turning down more time with her, she’d be really disappointed,” Augustus said, punctuating his words with one of the most overly-exaggerated sighs Lee had ever heard. “So disappointed.”

“Not going home?” Jade asked around mouthfuls. She had found some leftover cold fried chicken, and she was devouring it like it was the greatest thing she had ever tasted.

“You heard?” Lee asked, looking over. He knew she could probably intuit what was being said from his side of the conversation, but he figured he’d take a stab at it to see how much this chummy pair of deities was actually sharing.

“Yeah, Mary is telling me what was said. Why not? Don’t you wanna go back and watch some TV? See what happened on your favorite anime?”

“Man, they really are dating, aren’t they?” Lee laughed.

“Hey!” Mary exclaimed, her voice audible through whatever channel Augustus used to talk to Lee. “Stop that! Why in the name of banana bread do people keep saying that?!”

“Banana bread?” Lee questioned. “What in the . . . never mind. I don’t want to know.”

“She has a thing for fruity desserts. Just leave her be.” Jade waved the mostly-eaten drumstick as if dismissing the idea. “Anyway, if you’re not going to sleep, do you want to go get more EXP? You finished your gadget, and we’ve had a bite to eat. Why not stock up on some bacon and go back to the mountains? I’m sure we can let Ling know where we are when she wakes.”

Lee leaned back in his chair and took another sip of his drink. He was tired. He wanted to sleep, and he even wanted to go back to the other world, but he knew his mind wouldn’t let him do either of those things. “Fine. Let’s do it.” He picked up a few plates of food and a keg’s worth of beer and headed off with Jade. He considered letting Ling know that they had given up on relaxing and were about to pull an all-nighter, but he decided that she needed the rest, and he knew she’d have come with him even if she didn’t want to.

“That’s the spirit!” Jade patted him on the back and cleaned out some of the pantry for her inventory as well. “Let’s try to hit Level 40 before the next sunset.”

“Yeah, that’ll be helpful.”

The two of them left the church and began their venture back out into the world. Even if he didn’t enjoy the mindless murder as much as the girl next to him, he did enjoy the distraction. He didn’t like thinking about whether there was any merit to what Meadhbh had said or whether he could have saved her. He liked not having to think about what was going on with Masha. The only thing he liked thinking about was that he was, little by little, gaining control of his destiny in this world. The more he fought, the stronger he got, the better he would become. Even though it wasn’t the life of luxury, relaxation, and comfort in the other world, the one he ultimately wanted and felt that his powers should help him obtain, the feeling of control and agency that grew with each enemy vanquished gave him a sense of satisfaction.

Meadhbh had talked a lot about fate and the destiny of men if they did not purge the weak from their bloodlines. What Lee had taken away from most of it, the part he couldn’t block out of his mind, was her last words: he was still too weak. It was a feeling that had plagued him since he first arrived in the world, and that same weakness which seemed to hang from him like a constant burden was why he had to face so many problems. If he had been stronger, fewer people would have died, everything would be in better shape, and Pelham--even Amber--would be standing there to drink with him. Even though he wasn’t born strong, as Meadhbh seemed to feel was necessary, he had but one goal: to cull the weakness from his own mind and body and take control of his fate by whatever means possible.

-----

“You think she knew?” Mary asked. The two gods sat together, eating snacks, drinking boozy juice and watching the screens in front of them.

“Fey, the Goddess of Changing Fates?” Augustus looked over at Mary. “She saw everything. Of course she knew.”

“Then . . . was this too all for your plan? Did you talk her into helping you as well?” Mary lowered her head to use the funny-shaped sippy straw she had grabbed out of Augustus’s kitchen to pull up more alcoholic fruit juice.

“Her? No. No one ever got to talk to her after they realized what she did and what she knew. Not even I had a chance to say a word to her,” Augustus explained. “Her stone door never opened.”

“Then why did she help you?” Mary questioned. “I don’t get how she helped you, but that last line . . . She clearly knows what you intend to do with Lee--or, rather, what you intend to make Lee do.”

“Maybe it’s exactly because of that--because she knows. Maybe because she, like me, knows how important it is for the future, for the order of society. We can’t let things stay as they are. The rotting limbs must be cut from the world tree.”

“Ugh.” Mary retreated at the line, shivering involuntarily. “I hate thinking about it. It’s too much. How can you plan something that will be so devastating? Is there really no other way? We could just . . .”

“If you think of another way, then let me know,” Augustus said. “Or better yet, let him know. Because as things are going . . .”

“He’s still dancing to your tune. I don’t know what bothers me more”--Mary grimaced--“that he is doing everything as you said he would . . . You aren’t even pushing him in the slightest, yet he’s following along perfectly.”

“Call it a gift,” Augustus muttered. “One you should be well aware of.”

“As was Fey, apparently.” Mary closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then, she seemed shocked out of it by something.

Augustus felt a tingle too. It was his phone vibrating in his pocket. Since he wasn’t used to being in his human form around another person, much less using pants, he also wasn’t used to throwing a phone in his pocket. When it vibrated, it ended up startling him and drew a snorting chuckle out of Mary.

“Not as timid as you were when you first started crashing,” Augustus noted. He wasn’t sure whether he liked that or not. The woman had been quaking in her boots when he first revealed who he was, and now she was practically snorting milk out her nose at his jokes. His ability to intimidate her was clearly reaching an all-time low as familiarity built between the two.

“I’m just used to you,” Mary explained. “You still scare the hell out of me, but . . .” Her eyes darted to the screen and then back to Augustus. “Never mind.”

You feel pity for me. That’s what you mean.

She shifted the conversation, not wanting to carry the topic further as she looked over at her own phone.

“Another stupid meeting?” Augustus grumbled out a guess at what could have possibly required both of them to be notified at the same time. He used to look forward to them to a degree. He liked to watch Siegman grumble, whine and protest every sensible thing he did. The prudish deity followed the rules to the letter, and when he realized that there weren’t many rules, he had invented fifty or sixty more silly conventions and traditions that he foisted on others as well. It’s what made him both intolerable to be around as well as incredibly fun to tease and mock.

“Yeah, I got the notification a bit ago,” Mary sighed. “Apparently this entire impromptu meeting is to discuss unwanted changes and dynamics within the game.”

“Let’s just skip it.” Augustus shrugged and swiveled his chair back around to face the screens.

“But they might use the system to punish our Heralds,” Mary protested. “We can’t be negligent. If they ban them for a prolonged period of time again, there is no telling whether or not either of them will be able to catch up.”

“They can’t,” Augustus said, watching Lee cutting through twenty dire wolves as if he were an impatient sushi chef in a fish shop. Each slice was clean and thorough, but the cuts were all sloppy. Their placement was much better than when Lee had started, but the level of precision wasn’t where it needed to be yet. Lee was still lacking a lot in terms of skill, but at least he had his determination.

“Yes, they can. That’s part of the power given to each council as a way to help regulate the games,” Mary said. “If not for that power, then who would ever show up?”

“But they can’t now. The game has started, and since both of our players have been involved in another Herald’s death . . .” Augustus just turned to smile at Mary.

“Any penalty raised against them could be protested as biased interference.” Mary’s eyes opened slightly. “So, the group has no power over us now until the next time our characters are in a game--if there is a next time.”

“Yes, and by then, who is to say whether they will have lived through their games? We might be dealing with an entirely new set of players,” Augustus chuckled.

“So, we really don’t have to go . . .” Mary sat back in her chair.

Augustus nodded. “Right. But, you’re also right that we should go,” he said as he stood up from his chair. “If anything, we can at least see Seigman’s face as he tries to yell at us for killing yet another Herald. That is what this meeting is about, isn’t it? That my poor boy Lee is already up to three kills this game. Apparently, they have a tradition against that.”

“Yeah, it is what this is about, but . . . If you really don’t have to go, then why put yourself through that?”

“Through what?” Augustus asked. He already knew what she was going to say.

“You don’t have to put yourself through their abuse. They’re just going to lash out at you again, make fun of you. You don’t have to sit through that.” She shifted closer to him as she spoke, frowning slightly.

Augustus had seen all of this as inevitable. She had been looking at him with those eyes that spelled out neither love nor hate, but rather swelled with pity, for a while now. She thought he must be some poor and tragic man whose life was filled with loss and disappointment. Her perspective was evident, but he didn’t see himself the same way. Where she saw him suffering over lost loves, he reveled in the memory of each encounter he had shared with those amazing women. Where she saw his abuse as something worth avoiding, even though she had, herself, once taken part in it before knowing him better, he was fine with it. It was just another way for him to entertain himself through the endless stretch of life that was foisted upon gods.

He thought about explaining this to her, but it was useless. She’d just take it as an excuse. “The tree must be cut,” he mumbled to himself as he stood up. “You can stay, but I’m leaving.” He shifted into a grizzly bear as he went through the door.

“You’re still going to the meeting? Even though you don’t have to?” Mary asked as she watched Augustus leave.

“No, I’m not,” he answered. And he left it at that. He didn’t feel the need to explain his actions further as he used a combination of his inadequate bear claws and his magic to text someone he hadn’t talked to alone in a very long time: the only other deity who had always known who he was.

Game Manual

The War Aeternus Tutorial:

Only read before actually playing the game if you absolutely must, as all tutorials to true gamers are considered spoilers, and as such, caution is advised.

Character Stats:

Accuracy: Allows one to land projectiles. This stat impacts archery and bow related skills in a multiplicative fashion.

Charisma: Each point of charisma increases the user’s likability by 1% and reduces market prices when buying or selling by .25% where applicable. Note, shopkeepers will not take a loss when trading no matter how high a user’s Charisma is.

Concentration: Allows one to better cast spells in combat without being interrupted.

Coordination: The game designers lack this attribute in real life, but we felt the need to include it because people say it is important for combat.

Courage: Each point of Courage improves pain tolerance by 1% and reduces the likelihood of being influenced by a fear-based attack by 1%. (Chapter 2)

Deceit: Deceit improves the likelihood of successfully lying to others.

Faith: Each point of Faith the user has increases the ability of their deity to affect the world and increases the chance of their deity interfering on their behalf. As the Faith stat increases, physical characteristics and appearance may change. Faith also increases the chance for the user to resist curses.

Intelligence: So, Intelligence isn’t just for learning skills faster. It seems you can’t even learn or use certain skills without it. (C3)

Reflex: This is a hidden stat, that allows one to be better at reacting to things. Like ping pong.

Spirit: This stat’s effects are not allowed to be discussed with users, for fear that we will be unable to create deus-ex-machina mechanics in future game editions.

Power: Each point of Power increases damage by 1 point.

Toughness: Each point of Toughness increases hit points by 10. The fact this stat is here is silly, since it’s redundant and hit point alone should be included, but then the status messages in War of Eternity would have to include a separate line from hit points and primary stats, and that is more effort than we, the game designers, wanted to put in. We’re that lazy.

These Stats can be impacted by status effects. Some of the effects are vague and vary more than others.

Here are some example effects that could negatively impact one’s character sheet.

Inebriation (Penalty) - Inebriation causes the player to lose 50% of their intelligence, 30% of their coordination and 30% of their reflex stats.

Fatigue (Penalty) - Running all day can have its downsides.

Known Characters:

Alexander: Masha’s father and a rather mysterious man. He is skilled at many things, but mostly just embarrassing his daughter so much that she has developed the ultimate thick skin against lame dad jokes and awful, cringey comments.

Arand: Top fighter of house Alastar who went missing before the challenge. Drugged with sleeping agents, kidnapped from his own home and shipped off to a nearby town where he was held for a week before being let go.

Augustus: The antagonistic old male figure of the game who is supposed to connect with the main character over time, build a budding relationship and assure the main character’s success in karate tournaments even if the main character has to completely cheat to win. Head kicks are disqualifying! However, this particular shapeshifting alcoholic god lost his memo about the caring and connecting part. Instead, he spends most of the book, besides warping Lee to and from different worlds, making bacon, turning into very small animals, and getting drunk. He even showed up to chapter one so drunk that he was unable to properly indoctrinate Lee into the new world, and instead insulted and pranked him.

Brian the Undead Zombie: The life of Brian was rather long and difficult, but in the end, he was able to look on the bright side. Then he got turned into a zombie and used as a tutorial combat instruction side for the game.

Brigid: A leading general of The Dragon King’s Empire, she was duped into attack Kirshtein so that Lee could win against the Herald Devin. As punishment for her folly, she was ordered by the king to extinguish the Phouka threat. Undeterred, she accepted the suicide mission as punishment for failures. Staunchly loyal to her troops.

Connacht: A leader of House of Conchobhair, one of the last remaining Human factions of Kirshtein.

Dave, The Old Fart-Whistle: Nothing more needs to be said. Dave is an old fart-whistle.

David: The Chef. Never trust a chef who cannot cook fried chicken. But, this one has an excuse for it.

Deigha, Firbolg Goddess of Ice: Based on her personality, she might as well be the official goddess of grudges too. For an ice queen, she has a real problem letting things go.

Delilah: A combination of sexy, strong and beautiful, this sick sadist collects people like toys and wants her very own Human Herald to lick her boots. Enjoys studded leather collars.

Devin McGuinness: The Herald of the Goddess of Ice, Deigha. Once had a son.

Donovan Miller: Justice heavy Firbolg found out he has to pay more on taxes than his boss, even though his boss makes five times as much as him, so now he’s out killing everything in sight in the name of justice. No one has told him what exactly qualifies as justice because of his temper though.

Geoffrey: The town’s local tailor. Does some suspicious stuff that gets him into trouble?

Gregory: A pretentious lawyer whose book-smart intellect is often only beaten by his own ego and street-smart stupidity.

Grimalkin: We thought we were being creative. It’s just a cat.

Haikai: The greatest baker in all Charles-written multiverses.

Herald of the God of Books and Stories: This Herald’s gift with words was second to none, not in that he was clever, but that in his words literally manifested themselves as tangible and deadly opponents for whatever victim fell prey.

Herbert the Green Hat: An unfortunate man who should keep a better eye on his wife.

Hunter: Previously undefeated champion of House Alastar. Uses war maul as a weapon.

Kate: Miller’s now-deceased beloved fiancée.

Jade: The blue-haired herald of Mary, the Goddess of Blood. She is spunky, out-going, and always the main-character in her own drama--unless Lee is around. Obsessed with all things 'anime,' she is out to find her role in Lee's harem, and she won’t let some tsundere stand in her way.

Jian Fu: The wife of Herbert.

Lee: Originally, he was nothing more than a Data Engineer, but after being pulled into another world, he can’t even contribute anything. As the main character of the game, he comes equipped with all of one’s token expectations: girls that like him for just being there, bland and over-caring attitude, hypocritical morals that he changes based on circumstance, lack of self-awareness, and that annoying, ever-present power of ‘feelings.’

Ling: Ying’s Daughter. Because every book or story needs a hot, attractive woman who at first has trouble thinking for herself.

Maedhbh: The shifting queen of the Phouka. She is out to purge all forms weakness from the world, and she no regrets if that means killing everyone in her path. She’s strangely devoted to Lee for unknown reason and see herself as his future mate.

Miller: see Donovan Miller

Mr. Ying: Because Ling wouldn’t be right without her parent.

Silinus the Slayer: One of the great Leprechaun champions of the arena, known at first for his victories, but later as a cautionary tale against being a braggart. His explosive death at the hands of a lower-level Human was made much of in the bars around Kirshstein after the battle, more than a few scathing tunes arising to commemorate his spectacular defeat. Here is one example:

There was once a Firbolg they called Silinus,

And his speeches and boasting were villainous.

For his talk was some hot air

And his folly was laid bare

When that Herald got fired up and bilious.

Oran: One of the guards who oversees Lee’s time in the arena. He secretly converts and becomes a follower of Augustus after witnessing Lee’s magical abilities and receiving consolation for a recent loss in his life.

Pelham: A Human knight captain, an experienced fighter, and, like Dave, one of the veterans of the colosseum.

Quaid: A thoroughly-racist jerk who really enjoys hitting Lee.

Ramon: This is the bartender character. While information dump characters have been nearly made irrelevant by the introduction of game walkthroughs, tutorials, and side books that have to hold the impatient reader’s attention, it’s still helpful to have a good old bartender type character to fill in the player on lore and helpful events. This particular one just so happens to not only be the bartender, but the owner of a very practical bar, with great ale, good food, and beds to crash on so there won’t be any drunk horse riders.

Ulchabhannadhbh: Look, even we can’t pronounce this name. Sorry.

William: Top fighter of house Alastar who went missing before the challenge. Drugged with sleeping agents, kidnapped from his own home and shipped off to a nearby town where he was held for a week before being let go.

Wolfe: Everyone needs a good and charismatic wingman. The type that tells your most annoying, morally bankrupt architect, or rather software architect, that he’s not the bad guy in the story even as he does incredibly questionable things. Wolfe, is just that guy. He’ll pat you on the back, and tell you that you’re legendary, if you have the weight for it that is. He is by far Lee’s most loyal friend, even if Lee ends up hanging out with the tall guy with a unibrow.

Races:

Human: You’re one, so this shouldn’t need explaining, but the average base stats for humans are 10 Power, 10 Toughness, 10 Spirit.

Firbolg: This race of giant large browed beasts of men comes, more often than not, with orange and red coloring on either skin or head. Their fore-arms are much larger proportionately to their body than with humans. They also have boosts, which vary based on purity of blood, to their power at a cost of their Reflex, Coordination and Accuracy.

Leprechaun: While not significantly shorter than humans, Leprechaun are noticeably smaller than Firbolgs. They suffer a penalty to power but have boosts to Coordination, Reflex, and Accuracy.

Aes Sidhe: Not much is yet known about this mysterious race who fled from Kirshtein as Devin took control and the Firbolgs positioned themselves as the ruling class.

Phouka: The shapeshifting race whose powers originate from the blessing of the earth itself. They believe that they were born weak, but possessing the strength needed to receive their cursed blessing is no small feat.

Items:

From Book One:

Sword of Slight Stabbing: Just another name for the awful starting sword Lee gets. The name changes based on how much he hates it at any given moment.

Blade of Failure: Just another name for the awful starting sword Lee gets. The name changes based on how much he hates it at any given moment.

Every Noob’s Starting Sword: Just another name for the awful starting sword Lee gets. The name changes based on how much he hates it at any given moment.

Adventurer’s Starting Sword: Just another name for the awful starting sword Lee gets. The name changes based on how much he hates it at any given moment.

Book of Augustus, holy text of the God of Alcohol and Crafts: The magical bible of Augustus. Unlike other bibles, this particular book is more craft and brewing related. If one knows how to ask the right question, the book will always have the right answer, but knowing the right question is much harder than it looks.

Fine leather boots offer 6 damage reduction over the surface they cover, reduce energy spent on travel by 15%, and increase the effectiveness of sneak by one rank when worn. Chapter 4.

Leather gloves offer 5 damage reduction over the surface they cover and increase grip strength on weapons. Chapter 4.

Leather pants offer 5 damage reduction over the surface they cover, reduce energy spent on travel by 15%, and increase the effectiveness of sneak by one rank when worn. Chapter 4.

Cloth Armor offers 3 damage reduction over the surface it covers and also reduces damage from heat or cold based attacks by 5%. Chapter 4.

Bronze sword Deals 8 damage. Chapter 4.

Oak bow Chapter 5.

Bronze Dagger Chapter 5.

One box of unwritten letters Chapter 6.

One silver dagger Chapter 6.

One tower shield Chapter 6.

Ling loots a longsword Chapter 6.

Sturdy Leather Boots Chapter 7.

Armor Pants Chapter 7.

Armor Chest Chapter 7.

Armor Wrist Guards Chapter 7.

Short Sword Chapter 7.

Tower Shields Chapter 7.

Sturdy Leather Armor Helmets. Chapter 7.

World Stone Shards: These, when connected to form the original world stone, will allow the user to bypass the kill-spree of other heralds and claim victory for his god.

Three blank pages from the Book of Endless Dreams Chapter 12

From Book Two

Eye of the Cragaboom Chapter 1

Full Plate Iron Chest Piece Chapter 2

Fine Steel Sword Chapter 2

3x Devilkin Skins Chapter 4

5x Sceilewolf Scales Chapter 4

Spiddlendra Carapace Chapter 5

Bowl of the Ice Queen’s Pudding Chapter 12

From Book Three

1 crumpled letter Chapter 1

1 tower shield Chapter 1

1 obsidian dagger Chapter 2

1 fine silver pendant Chapter 3

The Seal of House Tigernach Chapter 3

The Deed to Tigernach manor Chapter 3

1 yew bow Chapter 4

1 feather Chapter 8

The Eye of Changing Fates Chapter 10

Skills

Appreciative Drunk reduces the inebriation stat penalties by 1% flat, such that with level 1 appreciative drunk the player will only suffer 49% Intelligence, 29% coordination, and 29% reflex penalties. It also will add other stats depending on the user’s accomplishments or properties. These Combat skills are changed while Drunk as well:

Unarmed Combat changes to Drunk Fu.

Swordplay changes to Tipsy Blade.

Sneak changes to No Squeaky Floorboards Please.

Blood Shield: It is often said that the best defense is a good offense and that a shield is one of the best offensive tools a soldier can use. Through unorthodox use of the shield, one’s skills with the tool will improve, and one’s reflexes will improve when both blocking and assaulting enemies with the shield. Makes a bloody mess.

Carpentry: [this answer is being left blank to prevent the temptation to make a dirty innuendo.]

Cooking: This skill improves one’s ability to manage time and ingredients in the kitchen.

Delegation: In a world full of text messages, it's hard to understand or appreciate the importance of instant communication. Let no one forget that empires are built on communication networks and the sharing information.

Faith Healing: This skill allows one to use one’s own spirit to heal and patch up the wounds of himself, or others.

Glass Smithing: This skill improves one’s ability to create and shape glass structures using sand. Perfect for making vases, goblets and statuary.

Golem Sculpting: Allows the user to create a living creature out of an inanimate material, like clay. The higher the level, the larger and fiercer the creature will become. The golem will be telepathically linked with the user, and this does include sight, so we recommend new players read the ethics handguide before using this skill.

Ignis Veritas: It's like my good friend Dakota always says: The best fires are the ones you start yourself. Even if it’s on accident.

Knife Combat: Knife fighting is not for those who are just quick or dexterous, but also for those who know how and when to take a blow. It requires one to have both a strong constitution and a tolerance for pain, as rarely does either party in a knife fight walk away unharmed. Improving one’s skill in Knife Combat also improves one’s street cred.

Masonry: Mixing and matching is for more than the hyper-conscious well-dressed this days, and it’s rarely more important than when making cement. One wrong ratio, and the foundations of an entire empire might come crumbling down around you.

Nectar of the Gods: For the zymurgist on the go, alcohol can be made anywhere and everywhere with this amazing talent. Why bother waiting for the distilleries and breweries to make a beverage? They say liquor is quicker, but now it is practically instant and on tap anywhere!

Sewing: A good suit makes the man, and a good suit is sewn well. Despite what they say, sewing makes the man.

Sleight of Hand: This skill improves one’s ability to hold, manipulate and use small objects deftly without onlookers noticing. Increasing the skill’s level allows for better unseen manipulation of small objects. Great if you want to make a killing in Vegas.

Sneak: Improves one’s ability to stay hidden, move silently, and act undetected.

Harder to Notice if People Aren’t Paying Attention: Being hard to notice is always easier when you are uninteresting or at least not as interesting as anything else in the room. Make it work for you, you sneaky devil, you.

Sneaky Old Space Wizard: If you use this ventriloquism bonus to the Sneak skill to start a comedy act with a puppet, then you are so very unworthy--unless you are that one guy with the turban-wearing skeleton. He’s awesome.

Statesman, The: The idealistic a leader to most, this is a courageous hero who challenges the world's flaws and leads by example and inspiration. To the rest of us, he’s a pompous windbag who never gets tired of hearing his own voice.

Spirit Builder: The dream of every lazy college student and whimsical dictator is to have their work done for them the very moment they decide to do something and without ever having to lift a finger. Wouldn’t it be nice to just spend some mana and build an entire town without ever having to leave the couch?

Spirit Smithing: This skill allows the forming, shaping and tempering of metals using Spirit alone. The skill also increases basic understanding of metal weapons and armor. Spirit Smithing improves mana management by 5% per rank when Smithing and improves the durability, armor value and weapon damage of metal items by 2.5% per rank. Feel the metal.

Swordplay: Improves reasoning and execution with sword-related skills.

Trap Detection: This skill helps one notice the hard to see traps and devices that could very well spell about one’s end. It also improves the ability to recognize a person’s biological gender for some reason, programmers have yet to discover why.

True Patriot: The world changes from day to day, and so do the words of a statesman. The words of every message are different, but effects remain the same: Go forth and conquer. Only a true patriot can instill such inspiration in others.

Unarmed Combat: Improves one’s ability to fight without a weapon.

Locations

Birnefeld: Hometown of Brigid of Kildare and rival to Kirshtein.

CowTip: While this town sounds ridiculous, it’s because the war of eternity game creators were incredibly hungry and thinking about beef tips when they wrote this part of the questline. Please, try not to let hunger influence your own naming choices.

Farann: Miller’s home world. Located in another dimension.

Heaven’s Hammer: A wonderful bar run by humans, for humans. Heaven’s Hammer had the best beer in town previous to Lee’s interference with his divine zymurgy. It is also a great place to get hammered.

Kirshtein: The largest major city near Satterfield, part of the grand kingdom of Spicy Chicken Noodle Surprise. A great place to party, turn in bounties and get lost in a maze of alleys.

Satterfield: Within the southern kingdom of Spicy Noodle Chicken Surprise. Spicy Noodle Chicken Surprise is a kingdom founded and still being currently ruled by King Red Ramen of the guild Heroes of Eternity.

Random:

Members of the Church of Augustus: Those that are still alive have all learned how to ask the right question to the great Book of Augustus, and thus have achieved near immortality. Unfortunately, they haven’t learned to play games, thus their own god doesn’t hang out with them as much.

List of gods and their titles:

Mary God of Blood

Sord God of Rising Numbers

Angelica God of Regrets

Cadwe God of Poetry

Cadwe God of Ambiguity and Awkwardness

Nevir God of Fashion

Erik God of Spices and Smells

Chmilenko God of Uncomfortable Silences

Lenfers God of Architecture

Siegman

Recipes:

Augustusfest Beer #001: Temporarily increases your Power by 1 and your Charisma by 2. Great with schnitzel and pretzels.

Mana Water: Replenishes the drinker’s mana and health, albeit at a slower rate than Lee’s divine healing skill. Also quenches thirst, but not if you pour it on yourself instead of drinking it.

Brave Brother’s Brew: Miller’s attempt at naming a beer comes with heavy-handed and bro-oriented alliteration.

Monster Wine: The best kind of wine is one divinely made from the best enemies, and there are no better enemies than good monsters.

Traps:

Ballista: Long before the “we need a bigger gun” mentality came into play, people were already using the “we need a bigger bow” version. This is because bigger is always better when it comes to certain weapons and also because not everyone can hurl a spear on their own in the same beautiful fashion that Miller can.

Barbed Rope Cage: Barbed wire is easy to get around with the proper tools, but without them readily available, it can be much more difficult and very time consuming. In a battle, time is everything, and this seemingly-mild annoyance of a trap can be the difference between victory and defeat. However, the creator of the trap highly recommends one doesn’t tattoo the design on one’s arm.

Sweet Rides:

Krunklerump: A six-legged mammalian monstrosity that the author must have dreamed up when he was very drunk. Fortunately, it is able to be tamed and serves as a useful mount for soldiers with balls of steel.

Titles:

Cheat Code Fighter: Forget long sequences of directional pad input. The only button-pressing you’ll be doing to get this title is using your creativity, wits and stunted sense of fair play to really drive your enemies up a wall.

The Great Deceiver: If you get this title, you must have pulled off a doozy of a deception. Warning: it is advised that you check to make sure your pants have not erupted into a hellish blaze in response to your audacious lying.

The Aggressive Mile-High Chef: Only the truly affluent can afford in-flight meals these days, and it takes a real high roller and culinary expert to flambé an entrée above ten-thousand feet.

Factions:

House Tigernach: The ruling faction and family who supports the Firbolg Herald and has seized control of Kirshtein politics.

House Alastar: Human faction that Dave belonged to before being imprisoned.

Quests

Cattywampus Catch

Cattywampus Catch part 2

Monsters, Mobs, and Enemies:

Bandits: If there weren’t bandits, it wouldn’t be a game in a fantasy setting. Honestly, how are there always so many?

Bandit Leader: Because if a bandit is going to break every rule in town, he needs to find order somewhere in life. Having a good leader can give the bandit that much needed structure and discipline.

Corrupted Sloth: The name kind of explains what it is… but sure. Type it into a search engine and guess for yourself. The programmers, and the lore book writers, were both too lazy to put a real answer here.

Cragaboom: No one is entirely sure how these giant stone monstrosities were made or where they came from, but there is one thing that is clear: they like to eat people. Due to this causing a great dislike for them in anyone who isn’t one of their cultists, their origin has often been twisted into the most insulting things the local townsfolk can imagine. The most commonly-shared origin myth is that Cragabooms are animate turds, a final reminder from towering magical mountain beings that used to walk the lands that one should be careful where he poops and what he eats.

Cultists: In a world where there are actual magic-performing Heralds and gods interfering with people’s lives on a daily basis, some individuals still insist on sticking to good old random-monster worshipping. On the bright side, these cults often come with great dental plans.

Devilkin: These fire-bellied imps mimic the dragons of European lore with their ability to spit out infernal balls of destruction at will. They also tend to pop.

Dire Wolves: Larger than the original wolf, more ferocious than the ravenous wolf, these are creatures to be admired, but not domesticated. Attempting friendly relations with the Dire Wolf has led many a fan to his death.

Drill Mites: This is what happens when mosquitoes become even uglier, deadlier, and more heinous and then decide to adopt the social habits of wasps. Avoid at all costs . . . much like I’m avoiding the obvious mosquito pun here.

Gan Ceann King: This type of wicked and fierce fighter can quickly take your head just as fast as he lost his own. Be careful when crossing them, and never play poker with them. This is generally advised with anyone whose eyes and face you cannot see though.

Glubinsa: Because the words ‘slime,’ ‘blob’ and ‘acid monster’ just felt gross or lame, ‘Glubinsa’ will have to work in their place.

Krobken: The Krobken are called the ancient guardians of the Worldstone Shards, installed by the programmer at the same time as almost every other NPC. In this case, the word ancient doesn't feel right, but the lore book says so, so the game guide must adhere.

Ravenous Wolves: Because regular wolves are far too cute and cuddly to attack anyone.

Sceilewolf: A wingless sand whelp that uses every part of its body, especially while spinning, to slice up its enemies.

Spiddlendra: Insects were scary and disgusting enough, but now they’re spitting spikes and adhesive goo that leaves the spikes permanently embedded in whatever surface they strike

Gaming Terms:

Aggro: The proclivity of a monster or NPC to attack a player or another creature. Often used within the phrase ‘draw aggro,’ which basically means to get a monster’s attention or force it to attack a certain target.

AOE: Area of Effect. This term refers to skills that affect multiple targets simultaneously, whether friendly or not. Typically, the particular skill being used determines the range of affected targets.

Buff: To increase or augment the abilities of another player or character in a game. When someone “buffs” another person, they’re making them better at their job.

Drive: (as in VR drive) The device used to access a virtual reality world.

EXP: Experience. Gained from killing monsters, completing quests and assisting other players. Necessary for increasing one’s level within the game.

LOS: Line of sight. You can’t attack what you can’t see.

Nerf: A dreaded term for many avid gamers, this is the word used to describe when a game manufacturer makes a class less potent in its field.

NPC: Non-Playable Character. Characters within games that are controlled by the computer (artificial intelligence).

PK (RPK): This term can be used interchangeably as either a noun or a verb. Thanks, 1337 sp34k. As a noun, it refers to a player killer, someone who participates in actively killing other players. As a verb, it means ‘to have been killed by another player.’

RPG: Role Playing Game. Often used as MMORPG.

VR: Virtual Reality.

MMO: Massive Multiplayer Online (game).

About the Author

Charles Dean has an English Degree and an MBA. He's worked in multiple service and sales level jobs.

He spent most of his childhood playing every story-based RPG and reading every fantasy book he could get his hands on. When he finally ran out, as the price of books and games was rather costly, he tried writing his own. The first LitRPG he produced was a simple Diablo 2 fanfic, involving the president becoming a Paladin in an epic quest to save the world from a treacherous demon's nefarious plot. Unfortunately, this book was part of a creative writing assignment for a school project and the teacher deemed it 'too violent.' It would be over a decade later until he finally had free time to begin his next attempt at a LitRPG with his original series The Bathrobe Knight.

Special Thanks

A special thanks to the amazing efforts of those who sampled the earlier, less-than-edited version of this book. We thrive on the feedback of our readers, and these proud souls stepped forward and deserve special recognition. The fearless, the brave, the beta readers:

Chris Ryan

Clifford Lenfers

Ramon Mejira

Jade Goodrich

Florian Cadwe

Kyle Satterfield

Mark Benson

Other Books by Charles Dean

The Bathrobe Knight:

Darwin, a video game addict, was sitting in his bathrobe and slippers playing his favorite MMO on a Christmas night when an uninvited guest breaks into his house to steal his belongings. After the scuffle is over he finds himself transported into one of the sword and magic RPG-style MMOs that he has always loved to play, albeit one he has never heard of, where he has to overcome trials and tribulations at every turn as he fights for his life alongside new companions.

Available on Amazon

The Bathrobe Knight Volume II:

Having gone from a simple video game addict to the leader of a band of refugees, Darwin continues to cut his way across the world of Tiqpa searching for a home. Be it his home in real life, or one for his people in the game, the sleepless warrior presses forward. Unfortunately for him, each step he makes changes the fate of Tiqpa, a fact that is not welcomed by those who inhabit the lands.

Available on Amazon

The Bathrobe Knight Volume III:

Our hero carries on down the path that has been laid out before him. He must wrestle with the task of leading a new race of Demons and grapple with a madness that threatens to completely consume him–all while working with a bounty on his head and thousands seeking to kill him.

Available on Amazon

The Merchant of Tiqpa

Tiqpa, the first VRMMO to hit the markets, has become a world in and of itself with its own burgeoning political structure and growing strife between kingdoms and players. This unknown terrain, ripe with opportunities, becomes a new frontier which Locke, a blacksmith, tries to use to pay off real-world debts. But when he is betrayed by one of his business partners, he finds himself caught between his growing lust for revenge and his very real need for capital.

Available on Amazon

The Merchant of Tiqpa 2

When a diplomatic mission goes off the rails, Locke quickly finds himself between a rock and a hard place as old urges and new desires clash to shape the life and death decisions that he is forced to make. He soon realized that a mysterious new organization is pulling everyone’s strings and calling the shots from the shadows, and it seems to have the uncanny ability to anticipate his every move. Ultimately, he must choose between saving a friend’s life or a kingdom from the brink of corruption

Available on Amazon

War Aeternus

Lee is a quiet and unassuming office worker who leads a life of solitude, comfort, and routine. Day in and day out, he shuts off his brain, keeps his head down, and goes about doing his job and minding his own business. That is, he does until a drunken god shows up randomly one day and whisks him off into another world, demanding that Lee serve as his pawn in a game between the gods. Now, trapped in a completely different world full of danger, magic, and creatures he's never imagined outside of fairy tales and video games, Lee has to figure out how to stay alive long enough to make it back home.

Available on Amazon

Books by Richard Haygood

Death Flag

Madison spends his days lugging around boxes in a warehouse while dreaming of adventure and longing to see the world. He keeps his head down, goes to work, and does his job to earn a living, but he can't help but feel that his life is passing him by with nothing that he can do to change it. Then, on the way home from work one day, he is confronted by a beautiful but vengeful woman who accuses him of crimes he doesn't remember committing and banishes him to another world as punishment.

Now, trapped in a mysterious world he didn't think existed outside of fairy tales, pursued by angry slavers and vengeful pirates, and in the company of killers and assassins, he has to figure out how to survive long enough to get revenge and make it home. The only problem is that he might not be as innocent as he thinks he is, and everyone else seems to know more about his past than he does.

Available on Amazon

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