Daniel stood in his workshop slaving over a piece of hot metal. He hammered on the rough forged knife. In the background his radio was on and he could hear one of the news anchors talking about more sightings of strange creatures around the country, but he paid little attention to the words. Another couple of minutes later he set the knife aside to let it finish cooling; he had done enough work for one night and it was time for him to go home. He would finish up the shaping of the blade tomorrow and once done he could move onto the rough grinding of the blade.
Glancing at the clock in the corner of his workshop he saw that it was already well past midnight, almost 2 AM in fact. He really needed to stop working so late, but he had been in a groove and time had simply flown by without him noticing. Limping over to the door of his workshop he grabbed his wallet, phone, cane, and keys. Once in hand he walked over to his radio to turn it off. Before he did though he heard the new anchors talking about a string of gruesome murders where the killer would seemingly begin to eat their victims while they were still alive. The killer was still unknown and at large, and the news anchors warned people to be careful until the police dealt with the threat.
Turning off the radio Daniel strode out of the building, and locked the door behind him as he left, beginning his short walk home. He lived a little less than a mile away from his workshop and decided to walk to his shop today instead of driving, or he guessed it would technically be yesterday. He really needed to stop working so late, but he had a lot of orders that he needed to get done and it took a lot of time to make a quality product. He did have a reputation that he needed to maintain.
As he began his walk home with his limping stride he noticed just how quiet the street was. It was fairly late, but It didn’t feel like a natural quiet; it felt like there was almost an unseen tension in the air, and that at any second all hell could break loose. He kept walking, but he couldn’t push the feeling aside, and he began to be more alert to his surroundings despite his tiredness.
He eventually came to an intersection which at this time of night had a blinking yellow light with no cars in sight. He took a right turn still following the sidewalk. The only sounds that he heard were the scuffing of his shoes and the click, click, clicking sound of his cane impacting on the concrete of the sidewalk.
That was when he saw it. There in the middle of the road was a flipped car. “Holy shit!” he said, moving as fast as his leg would allow him to approach the car. Arriving at his destination he saw a trail of blood leading away from the car and into a nearby alleyway formed by two adjacent warehouses.
The driver must have been able to drag themselves away from the crash to safety, but Daniel had no idea where the emergency help was. This crash must have made a lot of noise when it happened. There should be at least one person here to help. There was a residential neighborhood relatively close by.
He started to follow the blood trail from the car to the nearby alley. The blackness of the alley made it all but impossible to see inside; he only had the faint light of a nearby lamp post to see by. He called out to whoever was inside to see if they were all right, but when he got no reply to his question. Daniel grew concerned at the lack of a response. From the look of the blood trail they probably lost a lot of blood and could have passed out.
Daniel stepped further into the blackness of the alley and after a few steps he began to hear strange noises. At first, he thought they were ragged breathing, so he decided to try and call out again. “Can you hear me? Are you hurt badly?”
It took his eyes a second to adjust to the near-total blackness of the alley, and when they finally did adjust what he saw horrified him. There were three small green creatures all looking at him as they leaned over the corpse of a person. At first, he didn't know what he was seeing, but when he fully comprehended what was happening he backed up and let out a horrified gasp. The creatures, which were already looking at him, all stood up and grabbed small iron shivs that he hadn't noticed in the darkness of the alley. The creatures began to menacingly approach him, and Daniel began to retreat back out of the alley way. As the creatures continued to advance on him the light from behind him glinted threateningly off their edges of their makeshift weapons.
As Daniel continued to retreat he suddenly felt a stabbing pain emanating from his bad leg causing him to fall to one knee, he turned his head to look at what had caused it only to see another one of the creatures standing behind him with the tip of its shiv covered in blood-- his blood, he realized. He instinctively retaliated at the sudden attack and hit the creature with the tip of his cane before it could get another strike at him. He heard a loud crack as his cane made contact with the creature's face which sent it sprawling to the ground.
In a sudden panic He quickly turned back to face the other three monsters that had been in the alley assuming that they would also be rushing to attack him while his back had been turned only to see the other monsters were just standing there in the alley shoving each other trying to make one of the others go first: each one seemed unwilling to make the first move.
Using the opportunity given to him by the monster's unwillingness he quickly grabbed the handle of his cane and removed its outer covering that concealed the razor-sharp blade beneath. He had made this cane sword himself and in this moment of seeming life and death Daniel was very glad that he had. With his weapon drawn he got back to his feet most of his weight resting on his uninjured leg
The creatures seemed to realize that they had made a mistake, and began to rush at him all at once. He tried slashing at the first creature but ended up hitting it on the shoulder with the flat of his blade instead. He gritted his teeth at the failure and tried to step back; he had never been good with a blade even though he made them for a living, and was now greatly regretting that he hadn't practiced with one more.
After his failed first swing the second creature got past his guard and tried to stab him in his unwounded leg, but he quickly stepped back trying to avoid the blow, but at that moment his leg buckled again and he fell onto his back. The third creature, seeing his helplessness, pounced on him trying to stab his eye. Seeing the pouncing monster from his prone position he instinctively angled the tip of his blade at it. The creature thankfully ended up impaling itself on his sword, but the weight of the monster still ended up landing on him, trapping his blade beneath its body and his own.
He pushed the small green creature off of himself only to see that the first two creatures were once again upon him. He managed to kick one of the creatures in the chest and knock it away while still lying prone on his back, but the second was able to stab its shiv into his exposed chest causing Daniel to cry out in pain.
He tried to retaliate as the creature retreated, but with his sword still lodged in the body of the creature that had impaled itself, his attempted strike went nowhere. He ended up using all of his strength and just flung the small child-like body of the creature at the other of its kind, freeing his sword as the corpse slid off of it.
The creature that had stabbed him easily evaded the thrown corpse of its ally, but Daniel used the space he had gained to quickly roll over onto his non-injured side and get to his knees. His whole side burned with pain, but he tried to work through it as adrenaline coursed through his body. He was out of time though because those little monsters were on him once again.
This time when he swung his sword he was able to cut one of the monsters across the chest causing a stream of green blood to come pouring out of the wound. The second one stopped its charge and just stood there looking at Daniel, he didn't understand why until he felt another stab of pain from his back. The first creature that he had struck with his cane had managed to recover and managed to stab him from behind a second time. Thankfully the shiv seemed to have struck his shoulder blade and only caused superficial damage, though it didn’t feel that way to Daniel.
Turning around the best he could, he swiped his blade at the monster. He managed to land a lucky blow as it had not backed up after its attack. In a move that probably used up the rest of his luck for the year, his haphazard swing managed to separate the creature's head from the rest of its body. Knowing that he still had two more monsters to deal with he quickly turned back around to face them. They had grouped back up while he had been taking care of the first monster that had attacked him and were preparing another charge. Knowing that he had a reach advantage because of his sword while they only had knives. That didn't even take into account their child-like bodies; he came up with a plan of his own.
Daniel, knowing that he probably wouldn't survive another round of attacks he would only get one more chance at this. The two monsters charged together and he brought his sword down in a slash that appeared to be executed far too early causing his swing to miss entirely, but that was all part of Daniel's plan. Daniel stopped his attack mid swing causing the tip of his blade to be pointed directly at one of the goblins chests. It tried to dodge, but it was too little too late and one of the monsters impaled itself on his blade for the second time.
Quickly letting go of the handle of the blade he turned to face the last charging creature, the one that he had sliced across the chest during the last charge. It was running at him, shiv pointed at his chest with both hands. He grabbed both its wrists and broke its grip on the knife; he wrestled for control with the creature for a moment, but it didn't have a chance against Daniel's larger size. It struggled in his grasp, but its raw strength was nowhere close to his own. He waited until it went limp in his grip from the lack of oxygen, then once he was sure that it was unconscious he grabbed the creature's dropped shiv and stabbed it into its eye.
As soon as that last creature died all of the sound seemed to come rushing back into the world; he heard the chirping of crickets and cars driving down the nearby highway. Those simple sounds almost made him cry in relief.
He shuddered in pain as all of the adrenaline left him in a rush and the pain from the injuries he had accumulated suddenly came rushing back with a vengeance, causing him to fall limply onto the ground. As he lay on the ground he couldn't help but wonder what those things had been. They looked like the old depictions of goblins from tabletop games like dungeons and dragons. But that couldn't be right. There was no way those things were real. If someone had told him that they had just killed four real life goblins he would have called them crazy, but he was looking at their corpses right in front of him.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Before his thoughts could spiral any further in what was real a screen popped into his vision, and he instinctively started reading the words that were hovering just before his eyes.
Congratulations, you have killed 4 level 1 goblins and have received experience points.
Congratulations, you have reached level 1, and have gained access to The System Interface.
Congratulations, you have been chosen to be one of 10,000 heroes of Earth and have gained access to The System before global integration has finished. For this honor you have gained access to two greater feats of your choice. Note that when The System is fully integrated all other users will gain access to only one normal grade feat and you will receive access to feat choice that will not be available to others. Some individuals are better suited to certain choices and the benefits they provide. You however do not have this restriction and all existing greater feats are open for you to choose. A rare or better tier 5 class will also be provided to help you along your path to save the world. Note that the class will start at tier 4 and you will have to choose your tier 5 specialization.
As a inhabitant of a soon to be newly integrated world you, and all other inhabitants have gained the Lesser Feat: ‘Comprehend Languages’ to allow you to more easily interact with the larger universe
Daniel was surprised by the message but with nothing better to do, and since he was currently bleeding out on the ground anyways he just mentally shrugged. “I’m already dying due to blood loss so why not listen to the weird voice in my head.” Besides, for all Daniel knew he was crazy and this was all some kind of hallucination caused by the blood loss.
Currently available feats (organized by current and past actions):
Giant Strength: You gain massive innate strength
Troll Regeneration: You gain the ability to regenerate almost any wound as long as you survive long enough for it to heal. This feat also provides a lesser benefit to your endurance. This feat has reduced effects in combat.
Mana Channels: You gain almost flawless mana channels and gain the ability and knowledge to use mana effectively.
The Crafters Legacy: You gain the knowledge of the crafters who have come before you in a chosen field. Let these ancient craftsmen and craftswomen make you the best crafter in the world. Selecting this feat will remove your primary and secondary profession slots.
Innate Weapon Mastery: You gain innate understanding of all weapon types, their uses, and how to use them.
Specific Weapon Mastery: You become a master of one weapon type.
Qi Cultivation: While mana focus on the external use of power, Ki focuses on the internal allowing a user to strengthen their body and mind. Your internal mana pool will be converted into Qi
Enhanced Reflexes: You gain massively enhanced reflexes.
Enhanced Endurance: It becomes almost impossible for you to become fatigued. This feat also provides a lesser benefit to your rate of healing.
Bonded: You receive a random Tier V bonded beast companion who will be forever loyal to you.
Page 1 of 100
There were a lot of options in front of him, and he really didn't know what to pick, but if nothing changed he was probably going to bleed out soon so there was really only one choice that would keep him alive.
Congratulations, you have chosen the feat Troll Regeneration.
Immediately after he made his decision he physically felt the wounds on his body closing. It felt like that itching sensation you get when a wound is healing and new skin is being grown, but ten times stronger. He looked down at his right side, where one of the monsters had stabbed him, and lifted up his blood soaked shirt to examine the wound only to watch it close at a visible rate.
His eyes went wide as he saw the effects of the first feat he had chosen in action and wondered what another would do for him. Now that his life no longer seemed to be in danger, he would more carefully look over his options.
There were a few choices that stood out to him. One of which was Mana Channels. When he was younger he had played games and read books that all had magic in them, what kid didn't want to be a wizard and fling magic around. But he didn't want to make any decision too quickly, so he decided to read through the rest of the list to see what else might appeal to him.
There were many options available to him. There were what he could only describe as race changes such as turning into a greater vampire, greater werewolf, or some other creature that were thought of to only be myths. There were also other options like picking a soul-bound weapon, but since he didn't know what that meant he passed on that option as well.
The only option that really appealed to him was ‘The Crafters Legacy’ feat. He was already a blacksmith and wanted to see what else he could learn about his craft now that magic seemed to be real.
Congratulations, you have chosen the feat ‘The Crafters Legacy’; This is a Legacy feat that only one person can possess at a time. You will lose access to your primary and secondary profession slots, and will instead gain new professions through advancing this feat.
This feat will impart the vast knowledge that all previous owners of this feat have possessed and will enable you to unlock skills that they have learned or earned through their lives.
Information transfer starting in:
5.
4.
3.
2.
1.
0.
A splitting pain stabbed through his head as thoughts and information not his own flooded into his mind. Seconds later he felt the pain fade away as the darkness of unconsciousness took him.
~~~~~
It felt like hours later when Daniel came back from unconsciousness. As he opened his eyes rain poured down on his prone form. Groaning in pain he slowly sat up. He vaguely realized that his body no longer hurt, but his head was throbbing with pain. Reaching up a hand he touched his face only for it to come away bloody. It felt like he had just been kicked in the head by a horse. In a panic Daniel remembered the lady who had been in a car wreck and presumably been killed by the goblin looking monsters. He didn't want to think about what else they might have done to her, but he needed to take care of this.
Standing up he looked for the bodies of the slain goblins, but couldn’t find any hint of them. This made him panic for a moment thinking that maybe he hadn't killed them and they had fled after he passed out, but that fear quickly vanished when he noticed copper coins on the ground where he remembered each of the goblins’ corpses had been. He bent down and grabbed each of the coins as he touched each of the coins which also vanished leaving no traces behind. He could figure all of this out later, for now, there were other more important things for him to do.
He gave another look around and saw no other traces of the goblins, and any that might have been left behind like their green blood had been washed clean by the rain if it had remained. The only evidence that anything at all had happened here was the body of the unknown woman and the rips in his clothing. However just like the goblins his wounds had also disappeared without a trace.
Reaching into his pocket and grabbing his phone, he quickly dialed 911 as he walked over to where he had first seen the body. His call was quickly answered and he gave his location to the operation and a brief, somewhat altered version of the truth to the operator. After the call, he checked the time on his phone. It was a little past three in the morning now which meant he had been knocked out for almost an hour after he had chosen ‘The Crafters Legacy’ feat.
When the cops arrived he gave a statement, repeating the altered version of the story he had given the 911 operator about finding the body which was presumably one of the victims of the serial killer that he had heard about on the radio. He didn't know how they would react if he told them he had killed some monsters that had been eating this woman and were also the things that had killed her. He told them he was walking home from his shop after a long day at work, only to find a flipped car and a blood trail leading to the alleyway. He told them that he didn't know how long it had been since the accident had taken place as he had found it after it flipped. The woman, who he later found out was named Miranda, had probably bled to death before the goblins found her, but he couldn't be certain for all he knew they had also somehow caused the wreck and were the things that had dragged her into the alley way.
After about half an hour of talking with the gentlemen in blue and giving them his information in case they needed to contact him in the future, he was free to go. He grabbed his cane, which he had sheathed before the police arrived, and began to walk away when one of the officers made a comment.
“Hey, Mr. Martin, if you don't mind my asking why do you need the cane? You seem to be walking fine to me.”
Turning, he started to reply before realizing that he wasn't limping. Faltering for a second he quickly said. “No, it's fine. I have an old knee injury that sometimes acts up, so it's good to have around, just in case.”
The officer nodded at his answer and went back to his work. Daniel continued to walk away thinking about his leg. His new feat Troll Regeneration must have not only fixed his stab wounds but also his leg injury. This new feat was even better than he had first thought.
It only took another 5 minutes to walk the rest of the way to his fathers house. Unlocking his front door he walked inside, closed, and locked it behind him. Walking inside was always a bit sad to Daniel as he saw the old furniture that he had grown up with. He let out a deep sigh. The house still felt so empty without his dad.
It was then that he was greeted by his dog Kota as he came to the front door at the sound of Daniel arriving home. Kota was a massive dog. Daniel hadn’t known exactly what breed he was when he had gotten him, but he’d done one of those DNA testing kits on him a while back and found out Kota was over 80% gray wolf.
When Daniel had first found Kota at one of the nearby shelters he was scheduled to be put down due to people’s general unwillingness to adopt such a large dog. There weren't many families that wanted to take care of such an animal. Daniel had decided to adopt the dog since he had the land to let such a large dog run around on, and since most of his property was wooded he had thought that he might be able to teach the dog to hunt for some of his own food, taking some of the cost of caring for such a large animal off of his shoulders.
Kneeling down he hugged the big dog around the neck and began to scratch him all over. This quickly turned into a belly rub causing Daniel to laugh at his dog’s playful nature. All of a sudden, another system message popped into his vision. Which he began to read on instinct.
Congratulations, your bond with an animal has grown to a sufficient level to allow you to form a companion contract.
Would you like to form a companion contract with the Tier 0 Wolf-Dog Kota? Y/N?
Note that this decision is not permanent and should one or both parties wish for it then the contract can be broken. For more information about the companion contract in the companion tab if you accept the bond.
After reading the prompt he was prompted with a new message that simply said yes/no. Seeing no reason not to, Daniel selected yes. He waited for a second after the box disappeared to see if he would feel any changes, and when he didn't he just shrugged and looked down at Kota.
Kota had stopped rolling on the floor and was looking at Daniel quizzically. As if he too knew that Daniel made some kind of decisions that affected both of them. Shaking his head to remove these weird thoughts from his mind. He decided that he would take a quick shower then go to bed. He was just so tired from the day's events, and couldn't make heads or tails about everything that had happened. Maybe when he woke up he’d find that all this had just been an unusual dream, and life would be able to go back to normal. He could only hope.