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Chapter 37: A Guardian

Olivander moved to check on Reginald, and Gregory checked his status. He had swapped to his Coward class in a panic as he and the creature had drifted under the water. He had hoped that activating his cower skill while sinking to the bottom would protect him from maybe one blow from the creature, with the assistance of water resistance.

The results of that decision, and his previous decisions, were written in the messages he had been ignoring.

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Class "Coward" has reached level 5, you have gained 3 attribute points.

You have fulfilled requirements to evolve your "Coward" class.

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Would you like to evolve class "Coward"?

* Coward (Common) -> Lesser Guardian (Uncommon/Evolved)

* A class that shows no fear in the face of danger.

* A physical fighter who protects others.

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"Uhhh, yes!?"

Cooper looked over at him curiously.

Gregory began to glow a soft blue. It subsided quickly.

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You have unlocked the class "Lesser Guardian"

Your skill "Cower" has evolved into the skill "Endure"

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Endure

* Skill - Special Technique

* Cost: Low stamina per attack taken

* You can use your endurance to dampen attacks against you.

* You can choose to use this technique any time you are attacked.

* Provides a passive bonus to constitution

* +1 Constitution

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"Class evolution?" Olivander asked, walking back over after healing Reginald.

"Yes! I unlocked 'Lesser Guardian'! I'm not a coward anymore! I can finally protect people."

"Very well done, but you never were a coward, Gregory. Well, maybe just a little. You let that class confuse how you perceive yourself too often," Olivander said. He considered Gregory with a serious expression. "I do wonder, what drives you to protect? I understand how much you respect your father, but there must be something more."

"My sister, actually."

"Helga?"

"No…my younger sister, Claire."

"I didn't know you had a younger sister."

"She died. Four years ago. We were out playing, farther out of the ranch than we should have. She was only ten years old…"

Gregory frowned, remembering with a distant look in his eyes. Olivander put out a hand to support him.

"You don't have to—"

"No, it's alright. It's been long enough now that her death is more like a tender spot in my memory than an open wound in my heart. We were attacked by some wandering monsters. They looked like big cats. I couldn't protect her. We were attacked, and she just fell so quickly. I couldn't do anything. When I saw her fall, I just grabbed her and curled up. I don't know if they thought we were both dead, but they just left after that. My father hunted them down, not that it changed anything.

"I always feel like I should be so mad about it. I should want to destroy monsters so they can't do this again. All I ever usually end up thinking is about how, if I had been stronger, or braver, or something, I could have done something to save her."

Olivander remembered a portrait of a little girl on the shelf in Gregory's room. A shelf of small treasures built to remember the person he had lost. The person he believed he had failed.

"I'm sorry, Gregory. Believe it or not, I know what it's like to fail to protect someone close to you, though my failure was long ago. I think she would be proud of the man you've grown into."

Gregory swiped at his eyes with a hand, and shook his head clear.

"Thank you, Olivander. That means a lot."

Olivander nodded. "Now, we need to get the three of you out of here. I need to investigate this domain, but the three of you will not survive inside. You should know that the city has begun showing signs of infection. It may get ugly out there. I'll send you back to Rhodes' manor. Just do whatever Leviana tells you."

"Stay safe, Olivander."

"Ha! Don't worry about me, my canine companion. This domain should be far safer than others I have entered."

Olivander opened a portal, and Gregory picked up Reginald with care. Cooper and Gregory passed through the portal, and Olivander allowed it to close.

He picked up his golem token and attached it to the belt on his waist. He didn't need the construct right now, so he saved his mana, which had finally started recovering to a reasonable degree.

The domain portal was almost closed, but that didn't matter. One of the reasons that the Ghoul Mimic domains went so long without being destroyed was that the entrances were hidden. Once he knew the location, he had spells to open it back up.

"Let's see if we can't crack that open a little wider."

Olivander flipped his grimoire to a section he knew well, but hadn't used in a while. The tools he developed when he had been studying the mimics.

"This domain is much weaker, but I probably shouldn't take any chances," he said to himself.

The first spell he drew out was a special ward that he didn't have a skill in. It prevented the magical suppression that the guardians could inflict. If there were higher level guardians inside, the ward would be helpful.

His skin shimmered briefly as the spell took effect.

The next spell was a portal ritual. It attached to existing portal or Realm entrances and pried them open.

The ritual flashed and the portal into the domain stretched into a wide opening. It looked like a dark blue void, obscuring the strange place within.

Olivander levitated himself up to the entrance and then stepped through.

* * *

The great hall inside the Rhodes' manor looked much different than Gregory remembered from a just hours ago. Tables had been pushed together into working groups where people continued organizing the effort to combat the potential plague that had been unleashed on the city and potentially the kingdom at large.

Leviana saw the portal open and beckoned Gregory over.

"Is that…Reginald!? What happened?"

"We fought some kind of monster from the Ghoul Mimic's domain. Olivander saved us at the last minute, but Reginald was hurt pretty badly beforehand. He's better now. Olivander healed him up, but he's sleeping."

"Thank goodness you're all okay. I take it Olivander is dealing with the source of these creatures?"

Gregory passed Reginald off to one of Leviana's staff, glad to not be holding the man anymore. He had been surprisingly light, but it made Gregory feel awkward.

"He is. He sent us back and said we should do whatever you told us!"

"Excellent. Are you both in fighting form? I'm very low on manpower, and want to send you with a group of wagons scheduled to pick up some of the people who fled the city. We don't expect fighting, but it pays to be prepared."

Gregory looked at Cooper, who nodded.

"I think we're ready enough!"

Gregory's quest ability popped up, it seemed to be a passive that worked regardless of his equipped class. He had received a quest to help Leviana when they split up from Olivander, and now the quest updated.

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Current Quest

* Do whatever Leviana asks of you

* Escort the Caravan 0/1

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A half hour later, they were leaving the city with a caravan. They were surprised to find a familiar face driving them.

"I'm glad to see you two are alright. I thought you were troublemakers, but that dungeon popping up around you didn't sit right with me," Burt said

"We didn't actually end up in a dungeon! Well, Olivander did, sort of, but the rest of us were fine."

That seemed to satisfy the merchant, and he went back to ignoring them. Gregory wasn't sure if that had been the man's attempt at an apology, but he decided it didn't matter as long as he wasn't yelling at them.

They traveled through the forest, heading towards a town that should only be an hour or so ride. The caravan wasn't loaded, and they didn't have anyone walking, so they were able to push the wagons a little faster, making good time. It was late into the night and cool, but the clear sky allowed the bright moonlight to illuminate the road ahead.

The mini caravan was two wagons, with Burt driving one, and a spare constable, Garrick, driving the other. Garrick had introduced himself as being standard level fifteen, which put him firmly into Iron rank.

Now that Gregory thought about it, he might actually have reached the minimum level for Iron rank after his latest adventures.

Gregory Temerin, the Resolute

Age: 19

Race: Human

Standardized Level: 12

Combat Class:

Lesser Guardian (Uncommon)

Level 5 (12%)

Magician’s Apprentice (Uncommon)

Level 3 (37%)

Non-combat Class: None

Health: 110/110

Stamina: 50/50

Mana: 65/65 (30 +10)

Strength: 11

Dexterity: 5 (6 -1)

Constitution: 11 (9 +2)

Wisdom: 8 (6 +2)

Intelligence: 9 (8 +1)

Skill Points: 1

Free Attribute Points: 7

Skills:

Endure

Abilities:

Will of the Sculptor

Magician's Quest

Spells:

Mana Bolt

Healing Touch

"Nice! I think I can get my iron rank token! I think standardized level ten is the guild minimum. Oh wow, I have a bunch of points to spend too, I wonder what my new class has to offer."

He focused on the Lesser Guardian skills

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Lesser Guardian Skills available

* 1 Skill Point

* Empowering Shout

* Mark of Protection

* Strike

* 2 Skill Points

* Summon Guardian's Shield

* 5 Skill Points

* Summon Guardian's Plate Armor

You have 1 skill point available

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Gregory whistled.

"Looking at skills?" Cooper asked, perking up. He always enjoyed looking at new skills.

Gregory shared the display with him.

"Summoning armor sounds good. You wouldn't have to carry it around."

"That is true, but I'm not sure I want plate armor again. I used to have some and I never did well with it. Besides, it's five points. I think I might grab the simple strike skill. I don't have any special attacks yet. It would have been helpful when we fought the guardian. Well, it would have if I were a higher level too."

"You'll get there. We both will!"

"That's true," Gregory said, selecting the simple strike skill.

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Strike

* Special Attack

* Cost: 7 stamina

* Empower a strike with extra force.

* Deals extra damage.

* Works with or without a weapon.

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Gregory wanted to spend his attribute points, but he couldn't decide what direction he wanted to go.

"Should I bump my mana to one hundred? I kind of want the Mana Manipulation skill, but I also have a couple skills that will drain my stamina now. I might want to bump up my other stats too, I've been neglecting them."

"Olivander said to focus on resources first, just go with that? More stamina is nice."

"Yeah, I think that makes sense right now."

He split his points, bumping up his resources.

Health: 110/110

Stamina: 90/90

Mana: 80/80 (70 +10)

He didn't get any bonus stats, but was happy with the results.

"There we go. What about you Cooper? I don't remember where you were on levels."

"I just leveled my non-combat class while searching for the domain."

Cooper the Resolute

Age: 3

Race: Dog

Standardized Level: 7

Combat Class:

Canine Striker (Uncommon)

Level 3 (41%)

Non-combat Class:

Dog (Basic)

Level 2 (86%)

Health: 70/70

Stamina: 90/90

Mana: 10/10

Strength: 8

Dexterity: 15 (13+2)

Constitution: 6 (5 +1)

Wisdom: 7 (6 +1)

Intelligence: 7

Skill Points: 0

Free Attribute Points: 0

Skills:

Bone Crusher

Abilities:

Reverse Telepathy

Relentless Striker

Advanced Search

Spells: None

"Nice! You're not too far off Iron rank yourself. I think non-combat classes gain attributes a little slower than combat classes, but they gain skill points faster."

"I like your sculptor ability. I would like to pick my points, but I don't mind where things are going. I still want a spell though."

Cooper practiced the identification ritual that Olivander taught them, drawing the lines with his nose. He was surprisingly good at it.

"With all that's been happening, I completely forgot we were supposed to practice that ritual."

They both practiced for a minute, Cooper running out of mana quickly.

"I see some people. I think they're heading this way," Burt said.

Indeed a group of ten or so people were making their way down the forested road. They waved at Burt and started running towards him.

"I do not like the look of that," Burt said, pulling the wagon to a stop.

Gregory, Cooper and Garrick got off the wagons. Cooper slipped on his trickster's mask and vanished into the woods, in case there was trouble.

"Help! Please help!" a woman called to them.

"What's wrong?" Garrick shouted.

"It's my dad, something's wrong with him," one of the young men said as they stopped jogging next to the wagons. "He just went crazy, he lashed out at old Mem…I think…I think she's dead."

Just down the road where the group had been coming from, a shambling man covered in blood was approaching.

"Is your dad an adventurer?" Gregory asked.

"Not an adventurer, but he's got some skills from non-combat classes. He's level eighteen."

"Let me handle this," Garrick said. "Your father might have mindrot…We may have to put him down."

Mindrot was a rare disease, and while most people had heard it was a death sentence, many people didn't actually know what it did to a person. The group looked horrified.

"You can't cure him? None of you are healers?" the woman asked.

"No, and once you start seeing the aggression symptoms it's too late," Gregory said. "I'm sorry."

"This is ridiculous!" the younger man said.

"Stay here!" Garrick said. He charged down the road, drawing a cudgel.

Gregory waved the people towards the wagon. Some of them hesitated, watching Garrick run towards their lost companion, but once Gregory had a couple moving, the rest of the group began climbing onto the wagon.

"Burt, get these people moving back towards the city! If anyone starts acting violent, leave them behind!"

Then Gregory jogged after Garrick. He didn't get too close, but closer was better than all the way back at the wagons if the constable needed help.

"Can you hear me, friend?" Garrick asked the man who wasn't walking quite right.

The man ignored Garrick, continuing to approach him.

Garrick tensed up, but Gregory couldn't see his face. Garrick charged the man, his cudgel taking on a faint glow as it descended.

The meaty thunk it made as it caved in the man's shoulder made Gregory wince.

The mindrotted man didn't seem to care about the severe wound. Before Garrick could pull his cudgel out, the man's hand glowed a deep red and he plunged a flat hand into Garrick's gut.

Gregory recalled something his mother had once told him. Just because a class is labeled non-combat, it doesn't mean someone can't hurt you with it. The man must have had some abilities to help with sculpting metal or something similar, because the hand sizzled as it met Garrick's flesh.

Garrick screamed, and Gregory sprinted towards him.