~Thorben~
The past few days had been unique, as they had been an odd mix of both detrimental and ameliorating to the state of Thorben’s soul. They had spent the majority of the time digging graves for the victims of the previous owner. They had settled on forever, referring to him as Duke McDirtbag. Tanrin had really gone to bat for Duke McDickjuice, but Thorben had pointed out that McDirtbag was more family friendly. They had both agreed that his name would die with him and that they would do their best to make a mockery of his memory, because fuck him.
They had drug all the guard’s bodies into a pile in the middle of the outer courtyard. The bodies of the wizard and both lieutenants had disappeared. Unceremoniously, they threw the Duke’s battered corpse on top of his dead retinue. They had no plan to provide a proper burial for those that would champion tyranny.
Rather, they had shifted their focus to honoring the victims and doing their best to see them sent to the afterlife properly. Charlie, lacking opposable thumbs, had volunteered to head back to the village and ask for a strong stomached volunteer to identify any of the recognizable bodies. Hence, the reason Thomas Eder and his son had come riding back to identify who they could. The father had a deep - seated need to ensure the man who had brought such pain into their lives was forever gone. The son, working to figure out how to move past his experiences, still had the sword strapped around his waist with a hand rested on the pommel constantly.
The last grave they had to dig belonged to Leah’s mother. Mason had surprised the all as he walked over and reached out for Tanrin’s shovel. Thorben and Mason dug in silence. The boy could barely push the spade into the ground, but forced himself to dig more and more. Thorben let him, seeing the need in the boy’s eyes. Before placing the bodies in the graves, they removed any jewelry or items that might identify them in the future. He would lay these at the base of the headstones after they found a mason to make them.
As they put the last shovel full of dirt on the final grave mound, Mason’s eyes went to the pile of corpses. He looked Thorben directly in the eyes. “What are we doing with them?”
Thorben saw Thomas’s concerned gaze. “He’s dead, Mason. Those men will never hurt anybody else. Their souls will not find peace in the afterlife. Since they were little better than monsters, I will dispose of their bodies as I would an evil beast’s.”
Mason nodded. He strode to the pile and circled it, gazing at the bodies. Thomas came to stand beside Thorben. “What do I do?” He asked. Part of Thorben knew that this kid shouldn’t be there, but after what this kid had been through, who was he to tell him how to process his brokenness?
“Be there for him,” Thorben said.
A shattered cry ripped from Mason’s throat. The boy drew his sword and hacked at Duke McDirtbag’s neck. His flailing swings were erratic and inaccurate. The ground took as many strikes as the corpse, but the boy needed to vent. Thomas went to stop his son, but Thorben grabbed his shoulder to restrain him. “Let him. He needs this. When he is done, then help him rebuild.” After looking into Thorben’s eyes, the man nodded and deflated a bit. They simply waited. The blood had long since sunk away from his head, even so it was a messy affair. After a good twenty minutes, McDirtbag’s head rolled down the pile. The boy marched down after it, spitting on it as he passed by towards his father. Thorben gently reached for the sword. “Let me clean it for you.” Thomas caught his son as he fell back into sobs. Wordlessly, Tanrin guided them to the guest wing to settle in for the night.
Thorben stood their sword in hand, he removed his shirt to clean the sword. After today, he would never wear the thing again, anyway. He wiped it until it was gleaming and then lay it on his shirt. The Duke’s eyes were open and Thorben felt his rage building. All of this brokenness because one man with a lust for power. All of this pain and suffering because one man valued tyranny over all else. He hated monarchies and their potential for corruption. In all of his studies, the atrocities of the world always came back to a lack of liberty.
He could feel his blood boiling. Heat was rising off his skin, distorting the air above it. He wanted these scum to burn in all the hells in existence. Word echoed in his mind: tintreach cruinneachán. Somehow, these words resonated with his desire. Summoning his Katana, he mentally compressed these words into an image of a dome of fire that encompassed the pile of bodies. He fed his rage into the spell, bringing it to just large enough to encompass the entire pile of corpses, and squeezed every spare bit of mana he could dredge up. With a last burst of intent, he sent the spell hurdling out his Katana where it encased the pile. Tears fell and quickly dried as the heat of his spell radiated back onto his face. He watched as a white-blue fire swirled around and around inside a perfect dome. Flesh shriveled up on itself, tearing as it did so, muscle and organs shrunk and melted, leaving behind only bone. Amidst the utterly searing heat, even the bones collapsed into a dust that eventually disintegrated into a mist that slowly disappeared from sight. As he stared at the utter devastation of his spell, he pulled up his newest HUD notifications.
Achievement:
Congratulations Spell Elemental Component Learned!
Experience Gained
Achievement:
Congratulations Spell Form Discovered!
Experience Gained
With a thought, he pulled up his spell book.
-Spell Book: [New]
- Spell Element
Tintreach: lightning (Basic)
Tine: fire (Basic)
- Spell Form
Saighead: arrow (Basic)
Cruinneachán: dome (Basic)
As he closed his HUD and turned to leave, everyone was staring at him, slack jawed. Maybe I should have waited longer until they left. He walked across the bridge to head inside with them. Mason was the only one to say anything. A simple thank you. The look in his eyes spoke more than any words ever could. He looked relieved as he headed to bed.
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It took a couple of weeks, but at last they had cleared the keep of any sign of evil, but the aura lingered. Thorben had braved entering the ducal wing and was a bit surprised McDirtbag kept his home in a somewhat normal order. He’d even found a desk with a strange orb sitting on the desk in what he decided would be his personal chambers. When he’d touched it, he’d discovered it was a magical device that allowed him to build, improve, and even rename the keep. It opened a screen similar to his HUD, that was titled “Accommodations Altering Apparatus.” He held off until he had a clearer picture of what this place would become before deciding, which had the potential to be permanent. He’d sent Tanrin about a week ago to see if the Aldwin and the others at Alfred’s Inn would want to join them at the keep.
Meanwhile, he had discovered a massive hoard of food. Way too much for the few people in the keep…his keep… to eat before it spoiled. Charlie had damn near bit his head off when he suggested hooking him up, along with his own mount, to one of the two-horse wagons. It’d sent him on what Charlie referred to as a ‘rage quit’ fit. It hadn’t lasted that long, but they had discovered that he reappeared in whichever doorway belonged to the room he had last slept in. After a cool-down period, Charlie said he would accompany him to Farfield to see if they wanted to send a wagon to retrieve some of the food. Thomas and Mason were going to stay and finish up a couple of repairs around the keep until Thorben returned.
“So, what’s your plan for the keep?” Charlie asked. “A place that size could fit a ton of people! A little much for just a couple of adventurers, no?” As if his words were a catalyst for change, a prompt filled Thorben’s vision.
Unique Quest Available!
Bastion of Hope: Form a guild and recruit members to return Baherune from the brink of disaster. Accept quest?
Well, I guess that answers that question. If something is unique, the rewards must be worth it. With a thought, he accepted the unique quest, and verified that it was in his quest log, before answering Charlie. “Well, I just got a unique quest to form a guild to save Baherune. I guess we will have to make it our base or whatever.”
“A guild? Sounds interesting. I’m pretty sure I heard some people talking about those before I logged in.” Charlie said. “Something about it being like a club with benefits. I think it’s called a guild hall, not a base.”
“I wonder what the benefits are,” Thorben mused aloud.
“Got me on that one, kid. Like I said before, never been a big gamer but I am a 1% er. If it’s anything like that, then there are responsibilities and privileges that are deeply intertwined. You’d better be ready to take that on.”
“A 1% er?” Thorben asked..
Charlie launched into an explanation of the “Hell’s Angels” group he belonged to. He assured Thorben that it was much more than a club, it was a brotherhood. They dedicated their lives to each other. As they discussed the pros and cons to this, they were both hit with a sense of vertigo. As it passed, they found a rabbit had appeared in the path before them. A sense of stillness and isolation surrounded them. Thorben and Charlie glanced at each other, unsure of where this fluffy little fur ball had come from. As they stepped to move past it, a green bar appeared above its head, and above that word.
Adorable Cottontail Rabbit Lv. 6 - Sneak Attack
“What the…,” is all Thorben could get out before the rabbit dashed forward and a fluffy paw slammed into his cheek with the force of a boulder, or at least what felt like a boulder to his current level 1 stats. It knocked Thorben off his mount. He hit the ground hard and rolled to his feet, shaking off his shock at the woodland creature’s vicious attack. Charlie burst into laughter, only to be silenced with by the adorable bunny’s flash kick to his jaw.
The bunny darted backwards as if to prepare for its next charge. Seeing Charlie and himself loose a not insignificant amount of their health to the beast’s first strike motivated Thorben to go on the offensive. Summoning his sword, he dashed towards the bunny with a basic downward strike, intent on finishing this ridiculous battle. To his surprise, the rabbit quickly jumped out of the way, avoiding certain death. Thorben had clipped the ear, which flopped onto the dirt path at his feet, and saw the creature’s health bar drop. A screech of pain escaped the monster’s throat as it bit towards Thorben’s calf in retaliation.
How is this thing so fast? As the rabbit’s feet touched back down from its latest blitz, he attacked with a low horizontal slash and managed a shallow gash in its chest. The twisted critter sensed Thorben was gaining the advantage, and switched back to attacking Charlie, whose health was down to 75%. It snapped at his legs, drawing blood and steadily decreased his health. The unicorn frantically stamped, attempting to crush the rabbit with his hooves, but it was simply too nimble. Thorben activated his active meditation technique and watched as time slowed. He moved to Charlie’s side in a flash and thrust his sword underneath, spearing the psychotic bunny through its heart. As he pulled it out from under the unicorn, his Katana acting as a skewer, he dropped his technique, allowing his perception of time to return to normal.
Critical Strike!
Experience Gained!
Loot found: Lucky Rabbit’s Foot x1
They were both breathing heavy. “So we almost got our asses kicked by Thumper,” Charlie wheezed. “We could have used a holy hand grenade.”
“Thumper? Grenade? It was a Level 6 Adorable Cottontail Rabbit.” Thorben said.
“Never mind, thanks for the save. Only being level 1 is kicking my ass. Even a damn rabbit has the potential to kill me.”
“I’m level 24 and it gave me a challenge,” Thorben joked. They had made Charlie aware of Thorben’s unique attribute limitations and his recent experience boost during the past few days of work. They both chuckled at the absurdity of a level 24 Arcane Swords Wraith, even having to give effort to kill a level 6 wild animal the size of a meal for one.
“Where did that rabbit even come from? I swear it wasn’t on the road, or anywhere else in sight, before a dizzy spell hit me. Then it just appeared and attacked!” Thorben said.
“It was a random encounter. I’m a little surprised you haven’t encountered one yet. The guy who… gave me the game access said they can happen to any player traveling outside a city or other designated safe zone. My first, and only one before this, was against a level 1 sheep near the barn where you found me. So far, it’s been my only source of experience,” Charlie said.
“You didn’t get any experience just now?” Thorben asked.
“No. You only gain experience if you contribute to a kill, make a kill, or are a member of a ……son of a bitch. I’m an idiot. I didn’t even think of trying, but why not? The worst thing that can happen is it doesn’t work.” Charlie said.
Before Thorben could ask Charlie what he meant, his HUD notification light began flashing. Charlie clarified what he was doing and why. Apparently, this was some built in system that would allow players to earn experience together.
HellsFury81 has invited you to a party.
Accept?
Thorben accepted, and they continued on their journey. Three more random encounters later, and they arrived at Farfield. It had been strange fighting a butterfly and two prairie dogs, all of which had been lower level than what Thorben thought of as the demon rabbit. They’d snagged some additional loot as well. The prairie dog hide, Thorben assumed, was some kind of crafting material. The most interesting thing they’d gotten tough was a pendent.
Minor Pendent of Butterflies Grace
(3/3 Charges)
Consume a charge to briefly absorb the weightlessness of a butterfly and slightly reduce fall damage.
Thorben was not oblivious to the utility of this item. As he stared at it, his infant enchanting senses told him he could learn from it!
Not all the gains were Thorben’s alone, Charlie had gained a level. He was now a level 2 Barbarian whose attributes currently were superior to a level 24 Arcane Sword Wraith. If only he had opposable thumbs.