Aftermath
War Victory Against Shadowskulls!
Due to your overwhelming victory against the guild Shadowskulls, your guild has earned rewards! Each member of your guild will receive the following rewards:
XP
75,000 (base 50,000 + 50% bonus for surviving with over 90% of your units surviving)
Item
1 random weapon appropriate to the user's class
Monster Cores
1 rare monster core
You Have Defeated an Enemy Guild Leader!
For your role in defeating the enemy guild leader, you have earned extra rewards! Continue to lead your troops from the front lines to earn even more rewards!
XP
500,000 (base 250,000 + 100% bonus for dealing the first and final blows personally)
Item
1 horn of retribution
Monster Cores
1 legendary monster core
Guild Points
250,000 (base 150,000 + 66.66667% bonus for surviving with over 90% of your units surviving)
Level Up!
You have earned enough XP to advance to the next level. You are now level 29! Continue to work hard and push yourself to gain more XP to continue to level up. You receive 10 attribute points to distribute as you see fit.
Level Up!
You have earned enough XP to advance to the next level. You are now level 30! Continue to work hard and push yourself to gain more XP to continue to level up. You receive 10 attribute points to distribute as you see fit.
Bonus!
For reaching level 30, you have received the Warlock skill Dark Shroud. Dark Shroud will allow the user to shroud themselves in darkness making them 10% harder to hit. As this skill levels, the percentage will grow as well.
Tom flipped through his notifications in amazement at the rewards provided. He hadn't even been able to declare war on The Master because they had no idea what guild was his or if he had even been able to form one. The System seemed to understand what was happening and gave out the appropriate rewards for the war they had been fighting anyway. Good information for next time. He would have to remember to ask Bob about this when they returned.
Spirits were being lifted all over the battlefield as almost everyone seemed to have gotten at least one new level. It made swallowing the pill that they had lost twelve members of their guild to the battle holding off the giant undead creature just a tiny bit easier. Derek had given Tom a quick rundown of what had happened and promised a full report when they all returned to the guild.
Tom felt the immense weight of the losses. Even though they had all chosen to come with him, he couldn't help but feel responsible. Derek had comforted him by letting him know it could have been so much worse, and that they had been able to save forty-two people who had been under the control of the collars, but it had only lifted his spirits a little.
Tom had walked Derek through what had happened to get him up to speed, and they had run into the others who all wanted to know the story as well. Tom promised to fill them all in after their return. For now, the efforts needed to be placed on seeing if there was anything of value on the bodies or the building. Derek organized teams which all set off to search the entire compound.
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Another group was designated to help escort the slaves back to the guild as soon as all of their collars were removed. The now ex-slaves were elated to have been freed and each wanted to express their gratitude to Tom for what he had done. A few of his men had tried to stop them, but Tom insisted they be allowed through. Some shook his hand vigorously and others embraced him with tears in their eyes. He made sure to assure each of them that they were free now and safe.
They were ushered over to the team set to escort them back after they all had a chance to speak with Tom. He didn't want them to feel like they were being forced into anything else after what they went through, so he made sure they were handled with care. Once they had left, Tom focused his attention on helping with the search.
Being zombies, the enemy didn't have much of value on them. In fact, most of what they received was only monster cores. The inside of the base though, had some treasures that The Master had been hoarding for himself. Unfortunately, The Master had not picked up on the System having made most things previously of value into worthless baubles. Diamond rings, large gems, gold bars and coins, and other shiny objects that used to be worth a fortune were stashed in a hidden compartment in his quarters.
Bohdan had been the one to explain that all of these items may not hold monetary value, but would be excellent to give to an enchanter to practice their craft on. They would be able to enchant the items to have valuable bonuses that could aid in battles. Tom gave all the items to Bohdan so he could take them to someone who could make use of them.
Once everything had been sorted, the remaining forces gathered their dead and began their return trip to their base. The trip was a mixture of joy and sorrow. Conversations were mostly light with a few sharing memories of those who had given their lives so that others could be free. They would have a proper celebration of their lives when they all returned and settled.
After the walk back, Tom, Derek, James, Kiera, Jay, Kevin, Brian, TJ, and Kedron all met up and headed to the security room to share the details of what had happened. Brian had a team ready to receive the dead and wounded and had them taken to a place to be either healed or prepared for their service.
"How soon do we hold the service for the fallen?" Tom asked.
"We will do it tonight. I had Charlene get her staff ready for a feast. We will make it a celebration as well as a memorial." Brian responded as he looked through his notes on a clipboard.
"You had a feast prepared? What if we had lost?" Tom asked.
"I figured this would go one of two ways, you would win and come back a hero, or you would all die, they would seek revenge, and then again two scenarios, we win and celebrate, or we all die and it didn't matter what we did before that. My money was easily on you winning after that little scuffle at our gates with The Master. You really gave him an ass beating when he was here." Brian smirked as he thought about the events of that day.
"I'm glad you had so much faith in us. I wasn't feeling so sure." Tom admitted but also smiled at the surety Brian had in their victory.
"Thank you for believing in us. I'm sure the others had similar feelings and that was why they fought so well." Tom commented.
"Spirits were very high going into the battle. I couldn't have asked for more, truth be told." Derek added as well. "They went into that fight with positivity and a lust for vengeance."
"Be prepared Tom, you'll have to give a speech," Brian said going down his list of items that needed to be handled.
"What? Why me?" Tom asked, startled at being called out.
"Because guild leader, that's why. People will expect you to make some kind of speech at the memorial to commemorate the fallen. It's only natural." Brian replied.
"He's right. You led them into battle and they followed you willingly knowing the risks. You should speak to their service." Kedron added.
"I'm sure giving a lot of eulogies post-apocalypse compared to the zero I gave before," Tom grumbled. "Fine, I'll do it. What else?"
"We'll have to compensate any families for their loss," Brian spoke again looking at his list.
"And how do we do that? Money isn't a thing anymore." Tom retorted.
"Possibly monster cores, a new room, at the very least some kind of memorial object where we carve their names into it," Brian added.
"Monetary items feel meaningless now. The memorial object though sounds perfect. We could create a plaque or statue where we place the names of all the fallen." Kedron added.
"Okay, let's make it a monument. We have someone that can do that?" Tom asked, now looking at Brian again.
"I'm sure someone can do that. The crafters have been making some great progress in their professions." Brian replied. "I heard you gave the spoils to the crafters as well. That will make them happy, and the rewards from the System should make the fighters happy. Hell, I even leveled up from that XP bonus."
"That was a great reward, wasn't it? I couldn't believe it was so much. And that was on top of the kill XP given out." Tom commented.
"Alright, then it's settled. We will have the feast and memorial this evening to commemorate our victory and the sacrifices the fallen made. Now, let's hear exactly what happened from Derek and Tom." Brian said with some finality to move everything along.
Derek began to recall the events of the day. Most there knew what had happened in pieces and helped add what they were doing during that time. Jay and Kiera piped in to add details about their parts that occurred separately. He finished his tale with how the huge creature had seemed to just shut off like some kind of robot and fell to the ground lifelessly when Tom had killed The Master.
Tom went next, explaining what happened under the main building of The Master's base. The maze of rooms, the undead creatures lying in wait, the attempt to use the slaves as human shields, and the subsequent battle between himself and The Master. However, Tom had to admit that it didn't feel like much of a battle when the anti-magic field was in place.
"I for one think that bastard got what was coming to him. Maybe even didn't suffer enough." Jay said after Tom finished his side of the story.
"I just couldn't bring myself to sink further than I did in torturing him. I just wanted it to be over. But I wanted him to feel the pain and fear he had inflicted on those he controlled." Tom said, his face showing his anger at thinking about the things The Master had said and done.
Their ideals had been opposed, and the clash was inevitable. It could have been so much worse. But they had prevailed and saved those who The Master had taken the ability to choose for themselves from. Tom admitted to himself that it was hard to believe that a simple difference of ideas could lead to such a different set of actions, but hadn't people in religious groups split over stupid things like clapping during songs?
Tom looked up to find that the conversation had not only gone on without him, but that it was concluding and people were getting ready to leave the meeting.
"I'm gonna go get a shower and wash up. I need to get this grime off of me. I'll catch up with you all before the gathering." Tom said and bid them all farewell.
Back in his room, Tom stripped all his armor and clothes off and stepped into the shower. Jerky seemed to sense his mood and joined him, climbing up onto his shoulder and snuggling against his face as the warm water fell on both of them.
"Thanks, buddy. I know you understand what I'm going through. I'm so lucky to have found you." Tom said to Jerky as he scratched him behind the horns.
"Master, good," Jerky said in his broken English.
Tom couldn't take the pressure at that moment and his heart filled with both love and sorrow at the same time as he began to cry, allowing his emotions to flow from him freely as the water washed away both the blood and dirt as well as the wall he had erected around his feelings.