At the shaman’s words, every member of the Night Arrows dropped to one knee and bowed their heads. The only exception was Talwarg as he was busy following Nerek up the hill. Liv and Ivan made to follow but were stopped by Ograch.
“Nerek will allow no one aside from Talwarg or the other shamans to enter their tent. Come, let us go wait for news in Lanek’s cave.”
“Cave? Really? This monastery better be comfortable, I’m so damn sick of sleeping underground.” Ivan griped.
“It’s much nicer than the cellar we found you in, it even has a bed that I don’t think Lanek would mind if you used.” Ograch explained.
As they walked, Liv spoke up. “Ograch? Is the Hordefather your tribe’s god or something?”
“Yes. According to the stories we are taught by the shamans, the Hordefather was one of three gods worshipped by my people. Seeing the spread of the other races through the land, the Hordefather wanted the tribes of orcs and goblins to become more civilized in order to adapt to what he saw as a changing world. However, his brother and sister disagreed. They saw the other races as weak and soft, fit only to be destroyed and fed upon. Eventually, the disagreement became violent and the Hordefather was attacked by both of his siblings. In the end, the Hordefather prevailed, severely wounding both of his siblings but was unable to finish them off before they fled. Afterward, the tribes who followed the Hordefather became more civilized and attempted to learn from the other races while those who opposed the Hordefather’s ideals became the feral tribes.”
“I see. What is this about the Hordefather being silent?” Ivan asked as they entered the cave and he looked around with a resigned look.
“The Hordefather has not spoken to his shamans or the tribe for a couple of centuries. The shamans could tell you the exact number of years if you’re curious. The story we were told is that he went silent after he suffered near-fatal wounds from an attack by his siblings and cut himself off from the world to recover.”
“I’m not sure I like the implications of this. We now have a Primordial and a god becoming active after who knows how long. Not to mention, the Void is apparently active as well. That’s a lot of power focused on this one area. Fuck, possibly focused on just one person for that matter.” Liv cursed as she sat at the small table munching away halfheartedly on some of their travel rations.
Ograch nodded in agreement while Ivan stretched out on the bed. Silence reigned for a half hour as the party rested and tried to process the situation.
Meanwhile, Sanguineus and Kazuma had both left the cave only to be stopped at the entrance to the shamans’ huts. However, it wasn’t the shamans that stopped the pair, but a wave of calming energy that resonated within the both of them. The pair settled down outside the hut and waited for Lanek to awaken.
Suddenly, Talwarg ran out of the shaman’s huts, bellowing orders. Liv and Ivan looked questioningly at Ograch, surprised to see him on his feet and grabbing his weapon. He rushed to the door, pausing to look back at his companions.
“Talwarg is calling for all of our warriors to meet at the gate. Based on what I can hear, it sounds like an attack is coming. I know you aren’t members of the tribe, but will you help?”
Liv didn’t say a word, she simply rose to her feet and grabbed her gear before joining Ograch. Ivan grunted and stood, muttering to himself as he strode to the door. Liv and Ograch wondered if he was complaining, but then they noticed an intricate pattern of lines forming across his hands and glowing a faint red.
When the trio exited the cave, they immediately joined the goblins and hobgoblins rushing to the gate and their chief. Once they arrived, they found Talwarg organizing the warriors, sending them to different points along the palisade.
“Talwarg! What’s happening?” Ograch called out to his chieftain.
“Nerek received a message from the Hordefather. It was a warning, the gaunts are coming and they number in the hundreds. One of Nerek’s apprentices was able to spot the horde with his raven. We have an hour, maybe two, to prepare.”
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Ivan looked over at the gate and the warriors assembled before it. “I suppose they are coming from the north?”
“Yes. I hate that the wall isn’t complete, but at least the unfinished portion is the southern part.”
“Allow me to help, then. I can bolster the gates and the northern wall with my runes. I don’t know how much I can get done, but I will get as much of the wall reinforced as I can before the gaunts arrive. In the meantime, I would suggest that Ograch and Liv fall back and evolve their classes. It feels like the pair of you just passed the threshold recently.”
“Yes, it was right after the fight with the shifters for me. How did you know?” Liv asked.
“I can just tell, probably has something to do with my high perception.”
Talwarg clapped a hand on Liv and Ograch’s backs. “Congratulations. Go to my home at the top of the hill and evolve your classes there. We haven’t made a proper training hall as of yet, so the cores we’ve collected are there. Use as many as you want to evolve a proper class. You can replace what you use if we survive this attack.”
Ograch nodded and gestured for Liv to follow him. The pair sprinted up the hill while Ivan stood next to the gate and began carving runes and glyphs into the gate itself and the frame surrounding it. Talwarg watched him carve for a moment before his curiosity got the better of him.
“What are your runes going to do?”
“I am using a trio of runes to strengthen the gates. The first makes the wood several times stronger. The second makes the gate give off a small aura that will bolster morale for any defenders near it. The final rune will increase the endurance of your warriors. I would do more, but these three are the most suitable ones I have that I can also complete in the limited time we have.”
“Thank you, Ivan. My tribe will not forget your help.” With that, Talwarg stepped away and started making plans with his hobgoblins before sending them off to join their goblin subordinates. Every group or unit of goblin warriors was led by at least one hobgoblin that would bolster their morale and maintain discipline.
At the top of the hill, Ograch and Liv entered the small hall that was under construction before sitting next to a simple wooden chest resting near Talwarg’s bed. Opening the chest, they found hundreds of monster cores nestled within.
“You heard Talwarg, feel free to absorb as many of these as you need while choosing your class.”
Liv didn’t waste any time and followed Ograch’s instructions. Not that there was any confusion on her part, her village handled things in much the same way. The village pooled all of their cores and every person who needed to evolve their class simply told the elders who would then give them permission to enter the training hall and use the cores as needed.
She immediately pulled up her status and began going over her options. Any option would make her stronger, but that didn’t mean she was going to rush her decision. Her goal of achieving a mounted class had not changed. She passed the standard choices, not surprised to see a number of melee classes popping up as a result of her spearman class. A huge smile crossed her face as she found what she was looking for, although the description nearly made her choke in surprise.
Bear Rider [Rare]
Your people have trained you in the way of the spear in service of the Great Bear, Harad. In return for your clan’s devotion, Harad offers you the Bear Rider class to better serve your people. As a bear rider you will experience greatly increased damage output when mounted. Damage output will scale based on the momentum of your mount.
+3 STR, +3 CON per level.
What the fuck?! Harad? Another god taking an interest in this place… At least this one is the god of MY people. Still, no question about it, I am taking this class. I always wanted a mounted class, but I never dreamed that I would get Bear Rider. I've only heard about them in grandmother's stories.
On the other side of the core chest, Ograch was in a similar situation. He found multiple classes that appealed to him and his preferred combat style, such as sniper and skirmisher, but one class in particular stood out. It seems the Hordefather intends to help his people as much as possible. Thank you, I accept your offer with gratitude.
Mounted Skirmisher [Rare]
Your lifelong love of the bow and ranging far and wide in service to your tribe has pleased the Hordefather. Wurgoth offers you the Mounted Skirmisher class to allow you to further the influence and strength of the tribe. As a mounted skirmisher, you will find that firing quickly and accurately while moving at high speed is no longer a challenge.
+ 3 PER, +3 DEX per level.