You have obtained a World's First Title.
| Path Destroyer: Against all odds, you have done what no [F] grade race has done before–to transcend the limits of the soul. Upgrading your Pathstone from Common all the way too Epic is to defy the will of the Creator.
| All stats +10
Noah was in no state of mind to admire his new title. His head felt like it was being split open but he managed to take a deep breath and concentrate on what had just transpired. Something had helped him, of that much he was certain of, but what was it? It didn’t feel like an outside source, and a quick glance around made certain of that. No, it was something inside him. Deep within. Something that he couldn’t see or feel, despite it being his own body.
He stumbled up to his feet–with the assistance of a nudge of Krall’s nose. He looked at Krall. Since he couldn’t put his finger on it, then that either meant one of two things. Krall had made use of [Monstrous Alliance] somehow, or it had something to do with his Bloodline. But with a quick check, it was still Locked.
Did it have the capabilities to act while being secured away?
Honestly, the Bloodline was a mystery to everyone. Peter and Miles weren’t the only ones with the desire to study the new superpowers humanity were introduced to. Many scientists from before the subjugation had transferred into theorising the multiverse, and also the System, it was a worldwide effort to unveil the mysteries behind it. Of course, they were all guesses. The only ones who truly knew about the System were those who made it, or others who had experienced it for years on end in person.
Whatever the strange sensation was, there wasn’t anything he could do about it right now. It didn’t hurt him, rather it had saved his life, so he had to keep walking forward. There was much to plan.
Thankfully, the pain had disappeared after a couple minutes of recovery. It was like stubbing a toe, the pain washed away after a good while. Standing up, he stretched, then glanced at Thraz. His neck was craned forward as he looked into Noah’s eyes.
Taking a step back, Noah waved his hands. “I’m not interested in male dragonborns.”
“That is good, because my sister would love you,” Thraz said as a matter of fact. “She likes bad humans.”
Is that him saying she likes bad boys? Noah shivered at the thought and adamantly shook his head. “No, I don’t like dragonborns.”
“Oh,” Thraz said and slumped his shoulders.
“No, I–” Noah’s words were interrupted by a booming laughter. Thraz held his stomach and slapped him on the shoulder.
“That is what you humans call a foolery. Isn’t it, Noah, rider of Krall?” Thraz poked his chest. “I got you good!”
“You’re an idiot.” Noah sighed and leapt back onto Krall’s back. He wiped the blood from his face. There was too much he didn’t know about the System; like Bloodlines, Expansion, Pathstones, etc. He thought he would be okay with having Miles and Peter’s help, but it was clear a lot of their knowledge wasn’t of much help in this new world.
He gazed through the Grace Shop once more and found something of particular interest.
Grace Coins 1000
| System Manual: A manual detailing the inner workings of the System.
Noah decided to wait until he reached the hub to buy it. If it was made of regular paper, it would just become soaked from the humidity of the jungle. The last thing he wanted was to waste one-thousand coins on some wet paper.
He was about to head into the jungle, but once more, he saw a huge group of people on the beach. Some fished, while others cut down trees to make camp, or skinned animals to prepare food. If he had to take a guess, then those were the survivors that were too scared to head on into the jungle, and face the dangers within. Not everyone had the desire to fight with their life on the line all the time, after all.
But he was confused. Why wouldn’t Declan recruit them, and take them with him? Surely that was within his capabilities. Noah was curious, so he headed over.
As he neared them, the stronger of the bunch were quick to react by brandishing their weapons, and forming a wall.
“Hey, easy now, I don’t want any trouble,” Noah said with a disarming smile.
“There’s been rumours about you.” A woman parted the wall of man as she walked to the front of them. From her confidence, Noah could see she was the strongest among them, even without using Identify.
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“Well, some of it isn’t rumours I suppose,” Noah said, but his words caused those at the front of the wall to point their weapons forward. “Thought I’d be straightforward. As a sign of goodwill and all that.”
Level 23 Human - ???
Noah twitched his finger in surprise. She was the same level as the hunter archer; Jake. It meant that she was most likely the one in charge of hunting or defending the others. He glanced at the curved blade on her hip. It wasn’t an ordinary blade.
However, it was the little people in the middle of the group that turned his surprise into shock. They weren’t just little people–they were children. Kids that he always saw walking down the street as happy as sunshine.
“What the hell are they doing here?” Noah nudged his head to the children.
The woman looked at him for a second, as if inspecting him, before saying in her usual bland, emotionless voice. “We found them in the jungle, crying. They were chosen.”
“Chosen?” Noah was taken aback before a boiling anger surged within him. Why the hell had the System Administrators taken children into this hell hole?
Making up his mind, he leapt off of Krall’s back, and entered the Grace Shop. He bought a few sweets that cost nothing more than 50 Grace Coins. They were made from sugar and offered a short burst of energy, but in the end, they were just sugary goodness.
He crouched down in front of the wall of sharpened blades and pointed spears and held out the sweets in his hand with a smile. The children were shy, but they looked to the woman for approval.
“You can’t stay here,” Noah said. “You heard the System when the Hub was created. We are approaching the one week mark and who knows what’s going to happen then, and besides, you have a lot of injured people here. I can take you all back in one piece.”
“And you think it’s going to be safe there?” A man with long hair holding a spear said with impatience.
“The strongest are there. I’m there. You see the Level of the monsters roaming around now. How long until one strong enough to wipe you out wanders onto the beach? The Hub buildings are strong, especially mine. With it, we can even create defences.
“I couldn’t care less about you, but the kids deserve a chance.” Noah looked at the woman, then she sighed, and nodded to the kids.
The children rushed forward and took the sweets from Noah. They were about to place it into their mouths, but the eldest girl held their hands from continuing further. She looked at him with big, cautious eyes, and said, “Are you a bad man?”
Noah thought for a second, before shaking his head with a smile. “I don’t think I’m a bad man. Misunderstood, that’s all.”
She nodded, then asked another question, “Is that your pet?”
“Yep, want to pet him? He might look mean, but he’s stupid, and warm inside.”
The girl bobbed her head up and down. Noah warned Krall not to bite, but it seemed he worried for no reason. Krall lay on his stomach as the girl approached. She touched the mole flesh, then glanced her fingers across the armoured scales. It wasn’t long before Krall was picking them all up and swinging them around. A flit of giggles pervaded the camp as the other survivors couldn’t help but break out in smiles–Noah included.
“Okay, we’ll go with you,” The woman said after much deliberation. “My name’s Samira.” She stretched out her hand and Noah took hold of it, and shook it
“Noah,” He then pointed to Krall and Thraz. “The big oaf, and loyal monster is Krall. He’s a noble dragonborn, Thraz.”
“We’ve met before,” Samira said.
“Oh, and they never took you back?” Noah asked.
“I wanted to!” Thraz added.
“It’s true, he did, but the others refused. They said taking a group of kids through the jungle was too difficult, and that we should wait here until it became safer.”
Noah thought about it, but it was the sad truth. If they decided to take the kids through the jungle, mistakes could happen. If they died, the blood would be on their hands. It wasn’t something many would be willing to risk. Even Noah with his current strength, wasn’t capable of saving everyone; especially those who didn’t have the strength to protect themselves.
“But I’ll make myself clear now. I don’t stay within the Hub very often, and I’m more of a solo act than anything. You can stay within my house, or camp within its grounds, but I can’t stay, and protect you all.”
“Give us a place to defend, and we will do all the rest,” Samira said.
“Perfect, then let’s move.” Noah wasted no more time as he ordered Krall to walk over the children, protecting them, while Noah stood at the front.
They headed into the jungle, and after a couple hours, he could see how they had managed to survive until now. Especially after watching Samira. Whether she was a Trained, or was some sort of olympic sword duelist, or whatever. It was evident she had a lot of sword experience back on Earth. Each move of hers was filled with accuracy and grace as she killed the oncoming monsters. Even when compared to Chloe, who was indeed a Trained, she was a few notches above.
She had also taught the others some moves, as their sword strikes were kind of familiar. They just lacked practice.
Noah had to work hard in order to protect everyone as he didn’t want Krall to move from his position. He bolted from side-to-side, killing with efficiency. Only using [Thrust] each hit reaped the lives of the kobolds, grungs, and whatever else there was.
After a few gruelling hours, they reached the Hub. The children rushed into the blue walls of safety as they hugged each other, and cried. While those who had protected them up until now sighed in relief as the cool green verdant grass licked the skin on their legs.
At least for two more days–they were safe.