One week had passed since Atticus had taken up his class, and the entire time was spent working like a slave for Lucian, sorting out disputes, catching bandits, cutting down trees to fortify the village and expand it. Atticus had managed to gain two new work skills through the week, Bounty Hunting, And Lumberjack. Both were great as he could now take bounty hunting jobs from the inn as long as his rank matched that of the request and his level allowed him to kill or capture the target.
And Lumberjack gave him the ability to chop down trees using a felling ax, As a result he could now harvest wood to be used for light shields, buildings, bows, staves, weapon hafts. In addition, it increased his Str and End by 10 and his damage when using axes by 5% passively.
Liliana had left to return to her palace, though not before giving him a present, 5 Lesser Healing Potions. These were a notch above the ones he usually used and did twice as much healing so he gladly took them. The 12 men he had taken prisoner were tortured daily while the Druid elder left by Liliana had the recruits healing their wounds and mending their limbs as training. The men were kept gagged and they were imprisoned for the full week, If they died then Atticus would throw them back into the cell and the torture would resume.
At the end of one week in the real world, And time passed the men were all at level 1 and most had stopped playing altogether, And the rest who did log in on the final day were given one last warning to behave themselves or the torture would resume.
It was the start of a new day in Duskhaven and so Atticus decided to bathe himself and Shadow as had become their morning ritual, Lilim though acted like the Users and would only bathe in secret out in the woods. But he figured it had something to do with Elven pride, Over the last week he had learned quite a bit about the druid class, For example, Lilim was level 10 and had unlocked her second beast form.
To lock in a beast form one had to study a beast thoroughly, to the point of losing their humanity, Much like he has but not in a savage way, From the way they hunt to the way they mate a Druid must take in every aspect. For her second form Lilim chose a Raven as she had always wanted to fly, Atticus could not find fault in this desire so he let her roam the woods freely and she still has yet to return.
As they finished bathing and drying off Atticus pulled his armor on and began walking around the town, Yes town. Over the last three in-game weeks, Atticus and the villagers had expanded the walls and built more buildings, Atticus helped them to build two-story buildings, With the reasoning of combining the store and home into one by making the second floor home.
It took a long while to perfect the first two story building but after that everything went smoothly, The mines had been reopened and iron, coal, and stone were being brought in daily, Criminals were now being forced to work in the mines for the duration of their sentences.
The walls around the town were now fifteen feet high and covered completely with stone, As were most of the houses as to prevent fires from spreading rapidly through the town in the event of a raid.
As they stood now the town was only half full of people but now the Users could buy homes, But as a perk of being a Thane, Atticus had been given his own home, A larger two story home with a cellar. While sparsely furnished he now had an all stone kitchen with a large brick oven, and something he had shown to the others in the town.
On the stone counter where he prepared food he made a small gap where he put a fire, over the fire was a solid steel plate that he now used to cook food on like a griddle, this made it possible for him to make scrambled eggs and when he got everything he needed, Pancakes
He had a large living room area, and a storeroom on the first floor, On the second he decided to make one large bedroom where he bought an equally large bed that looked like it could fit ten people comfortably, as well as an armory where he would store his weapons and armor.
He then set up his own forge in the cellar as well as his leatherworking equipment, He then made a series of chests store all of the materials he had. With all of this, he realized that any thief could break in and steal his stuff while he was away so Atticus decided it was time to go train in the woods.
He finally wandered around the area and began scouting out what the other users were doing when they started. Most would take a job from the notice board in the Inn, Usually to hunt rabbits, deer, bears, or wolves In terms of strength the Wolves posed the most threat as Bears while having a large health pool and strength their speed was slow enough that when you see the attack coming you can easily dodge.
They also roam alone whereas wolves work in packs of three or more, lower health but a high damage output and superb tactics. So Atticus decided to expand his pack by breaking in some wolves to act as guard dogs when he was away.
He figured six total at two per floor would be good as they would easily detect any thieves and when they did they would alert the others, Another reason he chose to have large rooms, to let his pack have enough room to tear their foes to shreds.
As they walked out into the deeper portions of the woods where the highest levels wolves in the area live he pet Shadows head softly.”Just think Shadow, soon you will have packmates, And if we're lucky more than one bitch to choose from to breed.”
As he said this Shadow bolted ahead and spun to face him barking happily.”Really Really!.” Atticus laughed as he saw the overgrown pup's tail wagging erratically. ”Yes Shadow, I need to reward you for being such a good companion after all.” Atticus had learned that while forcibly aged Shadow still had the instincts of any other wolf, Hunt, Breed, Repeat. So he figured it would be a good idea to find him a mate.
The wolf ran circles around him for a few minutes while barking his joy, After a while of this they came upon their first pack of wolves, Not wanting to hurt them Atticus decided not to use his axes and instead would use his claws and teeth to beat them into submission.
As they got close the wolves all cowered down and began snarling, They knew that the beings before them were not of their pack And that the bigger one was an Alpha of his own. Right away the three smallest of the five wolves ran away as fast as they could.
Atticus turned to Shadow and barked an order as he began running.”Deal with these two, I'm going to give chase to the runners, If they won't submit kill them!”
Atticus heard whimpering and whining as the fight started behind him, but he didn't look back, he kept running after the small wolves and hoped he would find more of them, and for Shadows sake that he could find a few young pups that had yet to mate.
After nearly thirty minutes of running Atticus caught up with the wolves, He even found more of them, Around twenty of them, All level 10 and all of them angry, Especially one whose nameplate was clear above his head before the fight even started.
A massive gray wolf with streaks of brown through his fur and covered in scars, Clearly an old and battle worn beast.
ÓðrRank:Elite BossLevel:11Health:<2000/2000>Attack:75-100An ancient wolf who has begun to expand his territory into Black Rock Hold following the fall of the last Alpha wolf of the area.AbilitiesThrash:Used when biting an enemy to inflict 50% more damage and causes Bleeding.Infectious: Every attack has a chance to infect the target with an ancient, long forgotten disease
Seeing the massive wolf who stood on par with Fenrir he was about to draw his axe but before he could he was met with a message as the old wolf leaped down from the stone he stood upon, all of the wolves in the clearing surrounding them as Óðr snarled and let out a howl.
You have been challenged to single combat by another Alpha, Using weapons will result in your enemy dealing 50% more damage. If you are victorious all of the wolves in Alpha Óðr’s pack will become yours If you fail Lilim and Shadow will become members of Óðr’s pack.
Atticus was surprised at the message but he nodded resolutely as he dropped into a low crouch as he gave his own snarl and howl and activated Enrage. And with that, the fight had begun. The two charged at one another as all the wolves present watched to see who they would soon follow.
As they got close to one another Atticus dropped into a slide as Óðr tried to pounce on him, As he slid under the massive wolf Atticus raised his claws and raked them down the wolf's stomach while using Savage Blow to inflict extra damage,
Óðr growled at the pain but turned and leaped again at the small alpha, Atticus was not fast enough to dodge the agile beast so he had to take him head on, He raised his hands and set his stance as Óðr slammed down on him.
He caught the wolf's paws and held tightly to them, At the same time he saw the massive beasts equally massive jaws open wide as to tear off his head. Atticus then dropped to one knee as he fell backward,
This made Óðr move forward a good two foot as Atticus lunged up and bit savagely into the wolf's neck, taking inspiration from Óðr’s skill he began thrashing his head side to side to inflict more damage.
He let go of the wolf’s paws and began clawing violently across his body, between this and the thrashing he had inflicted the Bleeding effect. However at the same time, Óðr moved back despite the pain of the sharp fangs pulling against his neck and slammed his claws down and across the small alpha’s right shoulder down to his hip.
Atticus growled in pain as he let go of Óðr’s neck and got up, now covered in enough blood for his Savage Combat to begin boosting his rage regeneration and for his Bloodthirsty effect to start healing him as he swallowed a large mouthful of blood.
However, this was a bad idea, As he did get a boost of 15 health per second he had also taken in infected blood, as the system let him know.
You have drunk the blood of an Ancient Wolf and contracted Lycanthropy, On the next full moon you will have your race changed to Lycanthrope.
Atticus disregarded this as he didn't have time to worry about it with the massive beast swinging his claws again. If he lost he would lose his only two pack members and that was unacceptable, Especially since Lilim was a very sexy little elf!
Atticus leaped to the side and then jumped on Óðr’s back and began biting and thrashing as his claws began chipping away at the beats health, Making sure to use Savage Blow as much as he could until his mana went dry, and then every time he hit 50 mana.
During the five minutes of fighting Shadow arrived and watched his master fighting the massive wolf, Worried as the other wolves would not let him help his master, and angry as they mocked his foolishness for challenging Óðr.
Atticus panted as he was thrown again from Óðr’s back, The massive wolf now had <1035/2000> HP remaining and was missing his right eye and had the hamstring of his left front paw ripped out.
Atticus, on the other hand, was down to <280/1150> HP, His body was completely covered in claw marks and blood so his Savage Combat was working at full capacity and he currently gaining a good portion of health back per second.
However Óðr was giving him little time to rest as he kept pushing the attack, Soon the two were on near equal footing as Atticus misjudged where Óðr’s paw was going and now had his left eye gouged out again with four jagged claw marks running from his hairline down to his collarbone.
Atticus howled in rage as he let his bond with Shadow begin leading his actions as he did in his fight with Floki, Relying completely on instinct he charged the wolf, leaping high as the wolf pounced down on an empty patch of dirt before slamming down on the beast's back.
He began biting and thrashing wildly as he used his right hand to gouge out Óðr’s remaining eye, at the same time he began tearing out large mouthfuls of meat blood while swallowing greedily as if he had not eaten in days.
Óðr howled in pain and began thrashing and trying to throw Atticus off but Atticus would not have it. He kicked his boots off and kicked into Óðr’s sides, his clawed toes digging in deep as he wrapped his arms around the beast's neck and squeezed violently.
He let his claws dig into the sides of the beast's neck as he began choking him, all the while tearing the flesh and muscle away from the back of his neck until he bit firmly onto the spine and began thrashing again.
Soon there was a loud crack and a whimper as Óðr went still, Atticus had won but he didn't stop, He kept devouring the large wolf as his claws tore the furry hide away to expose the meat below.
When Atticus finally came to it was dark out and the moon was high in the sky A full moon. He was then greeted with quite a few messages.
Spoiler :
You have become a Lycanthrope! Check the Race option in the Character Window for more information.
You have killed the ancient alpha Óðr and become the alpha of his pack.
Your pack now consists of 8 Males, 12 Females (4 Unmated). Check the Pack Window for more information.
As the Alpha of a pack without a mate there is no true order and as such Male wolves will try to take the Unmated Females for themselves. Selecting a Female Alpha will result in n harmony between the sexes.
For killing and devouring a rival Alpha your skill Pack Master has gained a new ability, Dominating Presence.
Dominating Presence: Fear binds your pack members to your will, Increases loyalty to 75% by default no matter how they are gained. When haggling with merchants they will be 25% more likely to agree to your price.
For becoming a Lycanthrope Aspect of the Beast has reached its strongest. Your eyes are now permanently heterochromatic showing your fall to beasthood. Your right eye has now become a bright gold that glows in the darkness while your left is a bright cobalt blue. +30 Attack damage,Str, End, Dex.
Your Bloodthirsty effect has become stronger. an additional 50 Infamy has been added.
Seeing all of this as well as all of the wolves around him sitting silently, With Shadow standing over the 4 Unmated females and guarding them Atticus decided to take a moment and collect his thoughts.
He started by picking up the blood-soaked pelt that he had torn away from Óðr, It eerily was complete from the neck down as he pulled it off like one would that of a rabbit. It was of the Epic quality so he pushed it into his bag,
All of the bones were ruined with being covered in marks from his teeth and some even half gone. He did save the skull which was of the Epic quality, surprised him as it was a Trophy.
Óðr’s Skull Type:TrophyDurability:IndestructibleQuality:EpicThe skull of an ancient wolf who was defeated by the Úlfhéðnar Atticus Shadowsgrove in single combat while barehanded.When hung above the mantle in one’s home increased fame by 100When hung above the mantle in one’s home increase the stats and damage of all wolves or dogs inside of the home by 25%
Atticus was impressed with this as he had never even thought that trophy item would exist, It would work well with what he had in mind. He then noticed something else on the ground, Two large grey-brown paws that looked like they could fit his hands.
Óðr’s front pawsType:LeatherDurability:IndestructibleQuality:RareThe paws of an ancient wolf who was defeated by the Úlfhéðnar Atticus Shadowsgrove in single combat while barehanded, A Master Leatherworker can make these into a pair of Gloves.
Atticus was pleased with this as his own gloves were falling apart and made of plain leather. He then decided to see what this Lycanthrope business was all about.
Spoiler :
LycanthropeThrough battle with an ancient wolf you have contracted the Lycanthropy disease, After failing to cure it before the full moon you have been turned into a Lycanthrope!Effects+ 50 to Str, Dex, End.
+200 Infamy
+300 Rage
Once per month you may infect another with the Lycanthropy disease,
You now have a second Form, Beast Form. When you enter combat your body will grow larger, faster, stronger, and furry. When in beast form you will gain an additional 25% of your stats.
Your skills Bloodlust,Skinning, Beast mastery, Packmaster, and Howl have been upgraded to the Adept Ranking and have received a bonus.
You may now see clearly in the dark.
You are immune to Vampirism.
When fighting with your fangs, claws, or claw type weapons gain + 50 Attack.
Silver weapons now deal 75% more damage to you.
You take 50% more damage from fire attacks when in beast form due to the risk of your fur catching fire.
Those who do not know you well will be more likely to attack you when they see your Beast Form.
Normal armor will break when entering Beast Form.
You must now gain an addition 50% EXP to level up.(In combination with your class Úlfhéðnar you must now gain 2.5 times as much EXP as others)
Your alignment is set to Chaotic Neutral.
You may now accept quests from monsters.
Atticus sighed seeing that he now needed, EVEN MORE, EXP to level up, but he tried to see the positive in things and looked at the skills that had reached the Adept rank.
Spoiler :
Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:BeastMasteryAdept10%You have learned how to make beasts follow your lead and see you as one of their own.You may now tame beasts at or below your level with 100% chance of success, If your intimacy with a higher level beast reaches its maximum they may willingly submit to youWhen a higher level beast submits to you they will be temporarily lowered to your level, leveling up automatically with you until you are at their initial level.Beasts tamed by you will have to level up using the same system as yourself, though with a lower EXP total. For example to reach level 2 a player must gain 400 EXP, For a tamed beast, only 200 is neededBeasts tamed by you will receive 40% of your stats in addition to their own.Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:SkinningAdept10%You have gained the ability to skin animals to gather furs and leathers for use in crafting. You may now use Uncommon quality materials with no risk of failure.You can skin any animal you come across, Skinning animals of a higher level than yourself will grant far more EXP but yield lesser quality materials.You Have a chance of gaining Rare materials when skinning an animal at your level or lower.You may now use your claws to skin your kill.Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:HowlAdept10%You have learned to pour Mana into your battle cry, The result is an amplified sound akin to a wolf’s howl.On use you pull the attention of all enemies within 40 meters to you for 40 seconds as they perceive you as a higher threat.Alpha's Command Now increases Health, Attack Speed, And Damage done by your pets, your party members pets, all Druids in animal form in your party, and all members of your pack within 40 meters by 25% for 1 Min.When used indoors or inside of cave systems the sound is amplified, Increase range by 40 metersWhen used in combination with Bloodlust your roar fills the area with an aura of dread, Increases the chance of an enemy being affected by fear by 60%.Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:Pack MasterAdept10%Your connection to the realm of beasts has granted you the ability to talk telepathically with your pets, your party members pets, all Druids in animal form in your party, and members of your pack.Your presence alone is enough to force most into submission, Dominating Presence: Fear binds your pack members to your will, Increases loyalty to 75% by default no matter how they are gained. When haggling with merchants they will be 25% more likely to agree to your price.Skill Name:Skill Rank:Skill Level:Skill Experience:BloodlustAdept10%Through an act of extreme cruelty you have become able to direct your bloodlust at all enemies around you, Inflicting them with fear if they have lower Infamy than yourself or are of a lower level. Higher level enemies may be affected should you deal a steady stream of damage while taking none yourself or have at least 50 points more infamy than them.In addition, you can feel when hostility is directed towards yourself and from who it originated.30% chance of inflicting fear upon another being within 40 yards of yourself when you perform a battle cry when they are of a lower infamy than yourself.50% chance of inflicting fear upon another being when you attack them and they are of a lower infamy than yourself.You can now detect all beings with hostile intentions within 40 yards.You have given in to your bloodlust and rage! you have learned to Enrage like the beasts you have hunted so much when backed into a corner, You gain an increase of 60% Attack damage, Attack speed, And movement speed. Cost 20 Rage per second.Your fiery hate now infuses your body, Causing all wounds while Enraged to burn shut making the Bleeding Effect impossible.You have become close to a beast, it is now 75% easier to raise intimacy with animals and monsters.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Atticus sighed seeing this all as it was a good upgrade with most everything going up at least 10% but the fact that his armor would break every time he went into combat was a bit of a pain in the ass. He stood up and stripped his armor off and put on his kilt and belt again. rather than the leather pants made from Fenrir's hide.
He then looked over the pack and gave a shout.”Follow me!” He then began walking back towards the town of Dusk haven with 21 wolves following his lead, the entire time he mulled over his options for armor.
Luckily they did not get into any fights and they all returned to the town with ease at dawn, And once more the users were filled with fright as they saw the usual sight of the savage man covered in scars and blind in his left eye return to town, with not two but twenty large wolves and one massive one in tow.
The villagers quickly spread word as Atticus went straight to his home where he took a break, placing his new trophy on the mantle and assigning one mated pair of wolves to each floor of the house, He then let Shadow have his pick of the Unmated females, he quickly chose one that had a bright red coat of fur.
He stretched as he then let the rest lounge in the living room for now as he wondered what to do with them all. For now, he began cooking some goat meat he had bought the other day, making sure to have enough for all of the wolves to have a large haunch before he himself ate.
As they were eating Lucian opened the door and rushed in which resulted in a chorus of growls throughout the house which Atticus silenced with a command through the pack link.”Good morning my friend, How can I help you today?”
Lucian looked around at all of the wolves in a slight state of wonder.”By the gods boy, Did you get enough wolves? i
thought you only wanted 7 of them, And what the Hel’s name happened to your eye boy its gold as the beasts...”
Atticus nodded.”I did but I ended up running into an Alpha..Ancient one that had a pretty nasty disease called Lycanthropy.”He motioned to the massive skull behind him on the mantle of his hearth.
”And as a result, I took over the pack, Want to take about 10 of them off of my hands? I'm sure the guard could do with some armored wolves by their sides..”
Lucian ran a hand through his long bushy beard.”I'll see what I can do, most of the guard have experience handling hunting hounds so they may be able to handle a wolf. And do you mean the lycanthropy? Fur and all?”
Atticus nodded.”The one and only, hence the lack of armor, I'd hate to break all of mine on accident, But I think I figured out a way to work around it so I'll talk to Erik about modifying my armor later.”
He stood up and began walking over to Lucian, giving the order to stay to the wolves as he leads the man outside and towards the great hall.”In the meantime, I need to get this left eye healed, though at this rate I may as well stop worrying about it, After all, Odin seems to do fine with just his right...”
This caused Lucian to laugh heartily as they walked.”He does but you're no god, my friend, we'll have Rena patch you up, after that beating you gave her she's been worried you want nothing to do with her as you haven't spoken to her since..”
Atticus smirked.”I'd hate to sound rude Lucian but I needed to teach the bitch her place after that incident of her leaving me in battle, the pain and the feeling of abandonment will hopefully have done her some good..”
Lucian grinned.”Don't worry my friend, there's a reason I pushed her off on you, she started getting lazy and using my name to get her way around town, Now she's behaving herself and working to earn her keep.”
As they entered the great hall they went and sat at the table as a servant went to bring Rena from the back, When she walked out she was wearing the armor Atticus had given her and she ran straight to him as she began tending his wounds, never making eye contact with him and not speaking.
Once he could see with his left eye again and all of the scars except the four where his eye had been gouged out were gone Atticus nodded, a hand reaching down and grabbing Rena's chin as he pulled her into a deep kiss, after a second the young woman kissed him back eagerly until he pushed her away.”Good girl, Now go and get me some mead...”
And once again he was ignoring her as she happily ran off.”Y..Yes, sir!” As she did both he and Lucian started laughing before Atticus began to tell Lucian about his fight with Óðr, He could see the older man's eyes alight with the desire to go out and fight among the beasts once more.
But he told Atticus shortly after he got his class that the Rites take something for the power they give, In his case he lost his sense of taste with the first Rite, And the ability to have children with the second. Though with each it is a different price, his predecessor had lost his voice and sight from two of the Rites.
He was assured that the prices were a fair trade for the power gained, But there is no going back once the price has been taken When they found out that he could no longer give his wife a son it nearly tore them apart.
But now the two were more in love than ever before, though he still finds her staring longingly at the young couples with newborn babies. Atticus, however, had a thought, While he didn't like the way Floki had used the rune it could help his friend in no small way.
“Lucian, Have you thought of using the Fertility Runes?, Perhaps I could etch the rune into your wedding rings?”
Lucian stroked his beard in thought.”Well, we haven't we tried all of the traditional ways but perhaps the runes will make it work...”After a moment, Rena returned with their mead.
“Heres your mead sir...”She set it down on the table and tried to run off only for Atticus to throw his arm out and grab her by the back of her robe.
”Be a good girl and go fetch your sister-in-law, we need to have a chat...” He looked up at her, smirking a bit as he saw the glee in her eyes of being able to help but also the shyness of remembering how he had his way with her when he returned to town after she abandoned him.
She nodded and as he let her go she ran off to find Eleanor In the mean time Atticus and Lucian began drinking and Lucian began to tell him of the way he had met his former party.
Lucian had grown up in Duskhaven, a small village that barely got by, too far out of the way for them to get many travelers
other than those who were criminals trying to make some money by kidnapping and selling the women and children,
Eleanor had been his childhood friend and neighbor, as such they had played together since they were old enough to walk, She took to the bow and he to the axe when they got older, As soon as they came of age they were wed, though they left the village shortly after to go on an adventure.
Three months had passed and they were running out of money from their last job so they decided to journey to the human capital at the time before the alliance of the three races, Dawn's Rise which was later turned into Jotuns Hammer due to its central location between the three biggest cities of the elves, dwarves, and the humans second biggest city which was then renamed to Dawn's Rise in memory.
It was there that they met Liliana, at the time she was still an initiate of the Druid order and was sent to become stronger before her final test, As well as Ivan, the smith. At the time they met he was a man in his late twenties, wearing a massive suit of blood red steel armor and wielding a war hammer while on a journey to find a vein of Mithril not hoarded by the elves so that he could study the metal in its raw state and thus learn how to use it.
They went on many adventures together until they suffered a brutal defeat at the hands of a rival party, Their loot stolen and their pride was broken they disbanded for a full year and six months When they reunited in Dawn's Rise everything had changed.
Lucian had left on his own to train in the wilds where he was found by Freki, the previous grandmaster of their order. He trained for a solid year before Freki gave him his first and only two rites.
Eleanor had gone to the mountains to train herself, though to a lesser extent than Lucian as she realized she was pregnant with their daughter a few days after everyone had left. But she kept training as best she could until she became a Pathfinder, excelling in stealth, tracking, and pinpoint accuracy
Liliana had become a full druid and risen to be the first princess in line for the Ironwood throne, Having trained her magic over nature and healing to the point where she could even bring back the dead within an hour of their death so long as their heads were not smashed.
Ivan had become a Warlord, leading three hundred mercenaries at his prime while now being able to run just as fast as Lucian could naked while he was wearing two hundred pounds of heavy steel plate armor. His Warhammer had grown to be nearly three times the size as before.
In addition, they met a new member, Alissa, a dual blade wielding assassin who had become Ivan's wife, A fair-haired young woman with a tall and lean build, Enough so that everyone worried that Ivan would break her at night when he was drunk,
He was about to tell him about their adventures when they heard someone clearing their throat, Looking up it was to see an annoyed Eleanor, and from behind her was little Ellen who darted over and tackled him.”Good morning Uncle Atti!”
Atticus smiled at the little girl and pulled her up and into his lap as he stroked her hair.”And good morning to you too little one, Did you sleep well?”
She nodded happily.”Uhuh!”
Atticus then got a thought as he remembered the smallest of the unmated wolves, little more than a pup who was only six months old.”Ellen, How would you like it if you had a wolf?”
The girls eyes lit up as she looked to her father who sighed a bit.”Cheating bastard...” He muttered as he looked at his daughter's adorable little face.”As long as you treat it kindly, Uncle Atticus has a few to spare...”
He heard a small laugh from Eleanor as he kept stroking the young girls hair, he then ordered Shadow to bring Isis, the young wolf to him, having already picked his mate Shadow agreed. As they waited Atticus remembered the main issue at hand as he took out his runesmith equipment.”Eleanor, would you let me hold onto your wedding ring?”
Eleanor looked confused but seeing Lucian taking his own off she nodded and handed it to the man who had already served their hold well, who had quickly risen to a station of power and respect though he never abused it.
“I will but what are you going to do?” She trusted her husband but seeing Atticus’ tools she was worried about her ring being damaged. Atticus noticed this so he started with Lucian's ring.”I am going to carve a set of Fertility runes into your rings, the same that Floki was using if it had such an effect on the elves who are known for being hard to impregnate then perhaps it will help you both.”
She looked hopeful but at the same time, she had been told the same about so many things.”But Lucian cannot have children, he has become impotent...”
Atticus smiled a bit.”Does he stand at attention when you play at night?” She blushed a bit but nodded.”Yes but no child will come of it...”
Atticus shook his head softly.”You see in the lands I am from, The one you have taken to calling the Beyond, our shamans have found that a man can become infertile, like a woman, this can be caused by many things, such as a change in lifestyles. Since this happened after the Rites that is a lifestyle change, perhaps it's not that he cannot have children, but it is merely harder..”
As he finished speaking he passed Lucian his ring, having etched dozens of tiny runes along the inside of the ring, it now had a soft pink glow when it was not on his finger. He then did the same to Eleanor's ring and handed it back to her.
“Give it until the next full moon, If there is not a baby in you by then there is nothing more I can think of other than forcing Freyja herself down here to bestow her blessings..” As he spoke the two grinned and stood up, running from the room like a couple of children as they eagerly wanted to test this.
Atticus sighed again as he looked at Rena and little Ellen, all but forgotten by her parents in their haste, but soon Shadow and the small wolf came into the great hall through the open door,
Ellens' eyes went wide at the sight of Shadow, this being the first time she had gotten to see him as they left the village long before she awoke.”Is that one mine!?” she asked happily as she pointed to Shadow.
Atticus laughed softly and shook his head before pointing to the little wolf.”No little one, you get a little wolf to match, Her name is Isis, She is still young but she is a good strong pup If you feed her well and train her she will no doubt grow even bigger than Shadow...”
As he spoke she nodded and hopped down and ran over to the pup, As she did Atticus went into his pack window and changed ownership of Isis to Ellen, While still being in the pack Ellen's orders now trumped his own but he told the little wolf one order. Protect and serve her.
He then got up and walked over to the small girl and wolf and pet them both before he removed his and Shadows collars, He adjusted them and locked them onto the two girls necks and right away Ellen shouted in pain as she fell over.
This caused Rena to panic and come running over but Atticus raised his hand and gave a silent order to stay still. And soon enough Ellen sat up slowly and looked into Isis’ eyes and then to Atticus and began laughing happily.
“I can hear her uncle Atti! I can hear Isis talking!” Her eyes had changed like his own, becoming more like wolves though in a cute way like a puppy's eyes, Not the savage beasts eyes he himself had.
Atticus nodded and kissed the girl on the forehead.”I know little one, I used these collars with Shadow before I became one with the pack, But now I can hear all of the wolves so I will let you have them ok? Just never take them off, Now go play with Isis and bond with her.”
Ellen nodded happily and Isis barked as the two ran out and went to play in the woods, Knowing there were still beginners who didn't know better he took out a special piece of armor he had made for Shadow.
It was made of tempered steel, etched with all of the runes he knew except growth rate and fertility. It had two marks on it, one was that of the tattoo on his chest, which was now on the right front shoulder of the armor, And Black Rock Holds emblem of a jagged black rock on the left.
Black Rock Wolf Plate Armor .Type:FullbodyDurability:1500/1050Quality:RareDefense:200A set of sturdy steel plate that covers every part of a wolfs body except the eyes, and ears while allowing full mobility due to the unique design of Adept smith Atticus Shadowsgrove.Requires 30 Dex and Str to wear.+15 to Str and End+100 Health+5 to End, Str, Int, and HP RegenEtched with the runes of Fury, Life, Invigoration, Discipline Speed, and Longevity. Due to a high number of runes the effects have been reduced by 50%
He put the armor on Shadow, making sure everything moved properly from the steel jaws to the joints of the tail. He then nodded.”Go defend the little ones in case someone is stupid enough to attack them. If it happens kill the enemy, show no mercy…”
Shadow growled and barked loudly.”Understood!”
He smiled as his furry companion took off to catch up with the two little ones, still only able to move at 75% speed due to the weight of the armor but at the same time it made him like a tank, hard to knock down and even harder to pick up or push off.
Atticus then walked out of the great hall while ignoring Rena a bit as she stepped forward and tried to ask him if he needed her help but she could tell she was still being punished so she went back to working.
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In a large facility fifty miles from any form of civilization, Rebirth Online Developer Haven's main office.
Grant Longshanks was the designer of the Cradle system and RO's leading developer, He had made the game and system in order to test medical theories about long-term paralysis due to nerve damage and potential ways to treat it,His backers, however, didn't know he had a far different agenda from just medical testing to help the crippled
It was in the main server room where a team of surveyors watched over the hundreds of thousands of players, spotting out the ones with talent or just had amazing adventures, So it was no surprise that the two Unique classes owners were being closely watched.
But because of this, many members grew sick to their stomach, they watched a man who just days ago was calm and sane become a beast, ripping apart a massive wolf and devouring it raw. It frightened them enough to consider sending psychiatrists in to remove the man from his cradle.
What stopped them was an order from Grant himself."You there, Whos feed are you watching!"Grant had never seen numbers like the ones on the edges of the screen showing the violent death of a wolf.
"T.Test subject Adam Sterling sir, Also known as Atticus Shadowsong.." Grant ran to the screen to get a better look at the data, Grinning widely at what he saw. In the top right corner there was a view of the inside of Adams Cradle, And inside they could see his legs moving ever so slightly.
Grant also noticed something far more important. This boys Synch rate was through the roof, most averaged 25% synch with the system, a numerical value of how real they believed the world to be and how they treated it, Adams synch rate was at 90%!
Grant looked back at the surveyor in charge of Adam."What is his medical status!" The young woman swallowed a bit at the glare she received."Pa..Paralyzed from the waist down sir!, Inoperable nerve damage due to falling down the stairs!"
Grant smiled as he looked back to the screen before walking towards his office giving orders to update him constantly on his condition."I have found you... My perfect soldier..."