The next day we were up at the crack of dawn and I was feeling like a new man. I was well-rested and had invested all of my points into my stats. I felt stronger, smarter, and oddly enough taller. I was bursting to go.
The ride for the remainder of our journey was more of the same. When we had to pause to fight I could feel anger surging out of me at the delay and I threw myself into battle. The warriors noticed and seemed to approve. Bison even mentioned that I might make a decent Chief after all. Sometime before noon we pulled up outside of Juneau International Airport. It was a disaster area with monsters running all around it.
Juneau Airport sat on the water with Mendenhall lake about 3 miles to the north of it. A neighborhood had sat in between the two of them and it looked to be all but destroyed now.
Kodiak looked over the situation and pointed at the airport. “That is a dungeon now. It is only 5.5 miles to your home city and this must be cleared to allow you time so that you train some people up here in the future. This will become a very valuable leveling area for your citizens in the future. I know you are anxious to get home, but we will help you clear this quickly. We must clean up this village first and then go and clean out the dungeon.”
I said, “If I claim this whole area as part of my city, won't the dungeon go away? Bison told me my city would be a safe zone.”
Kodiak shook his head, “You do not want to do that, having your another dungeon near your town is a great boon. You will have a place for your people to train and level up. You need to start thinking of everything in the long term. I know that this city has a huge amount of land attached to it, but you are only going to want to claim a few miles to either side of it and leave the rest for your people to level in close to home.”
I thought about that for a second and nodded. He was right. I had to start thinking about a whole tribe from now on, not just my own family. Everything was going to change after today.
We started clearing out the neighborhood. I stayed close to the snowmobile and sled using my bow as a ranged damage dealer. After we cleared a few blocks the tent was set up again with extra shielding and the sled was placed inside.
Bison guaranteed that there was enough shielding in place to hold off a nuclear explosion and that Yepa and the Elf would be safe. The Leopard was starting to look a little fierce herself now anyway. She was the size of a small Leopard herself with paws bigger than my own hands. She was growing daily with me gaining levels.
As we went to clear out the rest of the town a pattern was becoming clear. Ice Worms, Ice Wolves, Ice Bears. The lake was filled with Ice Octopi that would have to be cleared at a later date. It took us an hour until nothing could be sensed or tracked. The Elemental Warriors were beasts and not holding back easily crushing everything. We headed to the dungeon.
To say that the airport had underwent a change would be an understatement. It was hollowed out and turning into a series of cave-like structures with large rooms that held small villages. It was occupied by Ice Trolls.
These were not your fantasy game looking trolls, not by a long shot. They were towering beasts of 8 feet with slobbering, huge mouths filled with sharp teeth. They were covered with sharp spikes sticking out of their backs and they seemed to prefer fighting with hammers and shields. It was terrifying. For all that they were though, they were simply out leveled by the war party. Kodiak and his crew blazed thru them as if fighting children. Even the boss who was a level 55 Ice Troll Chief fell with a whimper.
Congratulations! Dungeon Cleared
+10,000 XP
First Clear Bonus
Having cleared the dungeon for the first time, you have been rewarded and additional +5,000 XP, +1000 Credits.
Bonus for being the first explorer +5,000 XP +5,000 Credits.
Juneau International Airport Dungeon classified as Level 40+ and above
I gained a level and all but sprinted out of the dungeon. The war party sensed my urgency and they even hustled a bit. It had to have been around Four o'clock by the time we were loaded up and were ready to go.
It was only five miles to the city proper and I was quickly losing hope as we pulled closer to town. Every home or building we passed had either been destroyed or suffered major damage. As we pulled into town the first building that seemed to be halfway decent was the Juneau-Douglas High School. It looked fortified. When we pulled up to the front of it the door opened, and Otter stepped out.
He looked at Kodiak and said, “We have trouble, the Truinnar are here.”
Kodiak shook his head and said, “Tell me.”
Otter looked at me and then back at Kodiak. “The Truinnar arrived a few hours ago... They bought the town, but they haven’t even got or set the city core yet.”
I looked back and forth at them. “They bought my fucking city...? How is that possible...? Who the fuck are these people?”
Kodiak said, “Slow down and take a breath, you have a Heritage stronghold city granted to you by the system. You can easily take this area regardless of who holds it, but this will complicate matters a bit.”
“Complicates it how?” I asked. Kodiak put an arm on my shoulder and said, “We had hoped to stick around for a few days and help you figure out some of the ins and outs of your new city, but that can't happen now. The Truinnar cannot see us here.”
I took a step back from him and said, “You guys are ditching me? Now...? I can't handle this crap by myself yet! How do I deal with these people?”
Kodiak gave me a reassuring look “Number one you have the Dark Elf… Heh I like that name you have for them! You have Onida that you have bonded with. They will not risk killing you for fear of driving her mad and taking her life. Number two you have a Heritage city granted by the system, keep repeating that over and over. It is a very powerful thing. Any Truinnar worth their salt will realize that.”
I looked at Otter and asked the question I had been dreading...
“My family? Is Samantha Alive?”
He nodded “She is at the Governor's Mansion with the rest of the survivors. Your friend Jackson is watching over her. The Mansion has been turned into a System verified fort, but I would get there fast before the Truinnar decides to destroy it. The locals are not happy at all that the city has been bought and they are planning on a fight. There are about 1000 of them in there, but it won't make a difference. The Envoy is here with a wrecking crew.”
I asked him with a hopeless dread falling over me, “Only 1000? What happened to the city?”
He said with grim face, “The same thing that happens to most cities on the first day. Monsters spawned all over downtown and killed almost everybody. The noise they made brought in huge monsters from the seas and they crushed all of the big buildings and infrastructure. Not many survived.”
I looked at Kodiak. “Fuck man, I have to go save them… Now... Is this goodbye forever?”
Kodiak shook his head, “We will be close keeping an eye on you. We will be able to see everything that happens in the Village. You will need to rely heavily on the Village's A.I. and your Ancestor. We may not be able to be here in person, but we will be able to contact you in your office.” He grabbed my forearm and we shook. “Save our people, remember that leveling them is the most important thing. We have set up time tested schedules for you to succeed in this, now go.”
I said goodbye to each of the war party members and each one presented me with a gift of jewelry with a touch of ceremony. I was too distracted to look at anything and just shoved them on and thanked them. I had a feeling there would normally be some kind of ceremony for this, but I was running out of time.
I looked at the sled and Kodiak waved a hand at me, “It's yours..., be sure to check in the stables too.” I hopped on the snowmobile and took off never looking back.
I was zipping down Calhoun Avenue as fast as I dared with the sled attached. I barely had time to glance at the city, but it didn't look great. Most of the family homes had been destroyed and all of the businesses and big buildings were gone. This was a war disaster area.
I rounded a corner saw a crowd of Dark Elves, err Truinnar, standing in front of the old Governor's Mansion speaking up to someone on a wall. The Mansion had been converted into a small castle with walls and a gate. There were about ten of the Truinnar standing behind a woman and I couldn't see any of their levels, this was going to be bad.
I pulled about twenty feet from them and jumped off of the snowmobile. “Excuse me people, who is in charge here?”
The Woman turned to me and studied me for a second, looking at my level and title. She was obviously powerful, I could feel it pulsing off of her. “First of First is it? And a War Chief to boot? My, but aren't you impressive for a Human. I am in charge here. I am the Duchess's Envoy for this area.” I looked at her titles.
Lady Priya Kangana (??? level ???, Lady of the Seven Marshes, Mistress of the Kitchen, Savant of the Realm)
“Lady Kangana a pleasure to meet you.” I laid it on thick, I was going to need to be as diplomatic as possible here.
She gave me the once over and gave off the impression that I was a turd that needed to be flushed. “What can I help you with Chief, I don't have much daylight left and we need to take this building for the city core placement.”
I pointed to the sled. “I have someone here you might be interested in and a video to quickly show you if you will allow it.” She walked over slowly and glanced down at Onida's face. She spun to me. A look of pure rage took over her face. She started walking slowly towards me. “You dared to...”
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I held up my hands. “Whoa, whoa take it easy, I didn't do this, a Dragon did, it took her and her ship down, I saved her.”
The Envoy looked back at Onida and then me, “You have somehow bonded with her while she was unconcious, why would you do such a perverted thing?”
I pointed at the Leopard who was standing up growling at the Lady. “It is a shared bond, through the animal. I didn't even know it was possible, It happened on the second day, you cannot blame me.”
Her eyes narrowed as she looked back and forth between me and Onida. I could tell she was debating with herself if she could kill me and still have Onida survive.
“Your other scout wasn't so lucky, he is dead. I found who killed him and… I executed them. I recorded it if you will allow me to send it to you.”
She simply nodded. I queued up the video the way the Eagle had showed me and I sent a carefully edited version of the file over to her and watched as she stood there looking at the video. Her hands were in tight fists flexing.
She said, “What happened to the scout's ship?” I shrugged “I wasn’t there, never saw it, they said that a Dragon took it down. They also said that it has been flying non-stop over that area since. Something must have riled it up. I wasn’t going to check, I barely made it out of there alive.”
She nodded “Well, it seems that some of you monkeys have a shred of honor.”
I frowned and said, “I saved one of your people and took revenge for another, If you aren’t going to kill me now it is time for some bad news I am afraid”
She sneered at me. “What kind of news could you possibly have that would mean anything to me?”
I stood as straight as I could and said, “I am afraid that this is my city, and you are all going to have to leave.”
The Envoy actually snorted and looked back at the big man behind her. All of her guards started chuckling looking at me. She said, “I don't know if you understand yet how the system works, or if you ever will, but we have already bought this city.” She held out a crystal. “This is a city core, bought and paid for. I was just about to place it. I am sorry to tell you War Chief, but you are a little too late.”
I was feeling a little pissed off at this group of assholes laughing at me and scoffed at her. “I'm not sure if you understand how the system works, but have you seen my title “First of First Nations?” I got the first kill on this planet! Because of that, I was granted a System Verified Heritage Stronghold City!” I crossed my arms over my chest. “Do you understand what that means?”
She took a step back and her eyes got big. “But this city is paid... You wouldn't dare… How fucking stupid are you? You could take an entire city like Los Angeles or New York! We would trade you all of Alaska for a city like that!”
I shook my head no, I needed the secrecy that Juneau provided.
“You will be losing millions! Billions even! Why would you want this tiny dump of a city?”
I shook my head at her. “Why? Because it is my home, I have lived here most of my life and love it, it is quiet and peaceful and away from the big cities and all of their noise and prejudices. Why? Because I love it, NOW IT'S MINE! NOW I CLAIM IT!”
Would you like to take control of the city of Juneau, Alaska?
(Y/N)
I looked her right in the eyes and saw the hatred pouring out of her.
“YES!” I shouted.
Congratulations! You are now the owner of the City of Juneau.
Current population: 990
City Treasury: 2,044,250 Credits
City Mana: 1,000 Mana points
Taxes: 0%
Facilities: Fort (1), Educational Institution (1)
Defenses: None
First City Acquired!
Bonus +50,000 Experienced
A shroud of light engulfed my body. It pulsed three times and shot off in all directions.
Lady Kangana and her crew stood there with their mouths hanging open.
I sent Tor a message “Is there something like a screenshot in this system? I want to see this bitch with her mouth hanging open for the rest of my life.”
Tor chuckled “I have been recording the entire time for prosperity!”
The big beast of an Elf behind the Envoy started to draw a sword. I looked at the Truinnar and said, “This city can never be taken now, or sold for that matter. If you kill us all it will be in vain, and I don't have to tell you what it means that I have been granted a Heritage city for the Indigenous of this world... You harm me, or mine, and you will be pissing off someone way high up in the power structure, possibly even a Council member... You may now nod if you understand me.”
Steam was just about pouring off of the Lady as she set her hand on the Officer's arm stopping him from drawing a weapon. “You have no idea what plans you just interfered with. You might be safe for the time being, but your people will be marked, trust me.”
I gave her a hard, cold look. “I would be very careful before you make any threats, you have no idea what is going to happen here. If you need to save face, tell your Duchess that she can feel free to tell anyone she comes across that this is her city, I don't care. We just want to be left alone. Now, I think that it is time you all leave my city before I banish you. I have a lot of work to do.”
With that being said I turned my back on them, dismissing them, and walked back to the sled. I was too angry at this point to be scared. I patted Yepa on the head and mounted the bike. I drove over to the gate and yelled, “Hello the fort!, Blackbear here, Open up!”
The first face I saw was Jax's. Jax is one of my best friends and one of the very few people that I trust to have my back. His name is Michael Jackson, but no one would dare to call him that to his face. Jax is what he goes by.
I expected hugs and kisses, but what I got was a grim look. “Huh, so you survived and own the city eh? Congratulations... you got a ghost town, we're all dead.”
I gave him a pained look. “Everyone? Ethan, Missy, David?”
He just shook his head. “All gone man, besides me and that big goofball Smitty, they are all dead.”
I grabbed him by the shoulder, a tear in my eye. “Samantha and Billy? Where are they? Why aren't they here to see me?”
Jax could barely look me in the eye. “About that, I'm sorry man, I tried, and we lost a hundred people trying to stop it, but Billy is gone. All of our children are gone...”
“What do you mean gone? All of the children were killed? HOW?”
Jax shook his head “Not killed brother... taken.”
I stood back. “So Billy is alive but taken, please man tell me everything.”
Jax pointed out at the sea. “A fucking army of Mermen came ashore the very first day of the change. They said that they were some kind of relief force that was sent to rescue all of the children along the coastal towns. They take all of the children to underwater cities where they say they will educate them on the System and survival and will release them back when the earth has stabilized and they are ready.”
I shook my head trying to come to grips with what he was saying. I saw that fucking army of Mermen “So he's alive and being protected, okay I can live with that, did they say where?”
Jax shook his head “Just down to their cities, that's all they said. When people fought back they just blasted them with magic killing anyone in their way.”
“Where is Samantha at? Is she all right?” I pleaded.
Jax looked back at the castle. “She is here Bear, but she has been in bad shape ever since they took him. She is almost comatose, won't talk to anyone, I have to force her to eat. She wants to die... She thinks you and Billy are dead.”
I heard a moan behind me and almost fell over in shock when Onida sat up pulling her helmet off and rubbing her head. She looked down at Yepa and smiled automatically petting the cat who purred louder than I ever heard her before. She looked up at me and said groggily, “Where am I?” She looked at Yepa and then me and shouted, “WHAT THE HELLS HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!”
Jax sneaked a surprised peek at Onida not even noticing her before. He looked up at me and said, “Whoa, who is the hottie? Did you forget you were married?”
I snorted at him “No, I haven't forgotten. It's a long story. This is Onida, Onida, meet Jax.”
The woman looked at me like I was crazy. “Onida? That is not my name, my name is... Well, I guess my name now is Chieftess Onida isn't it husband?” She said slyly with a smirk on her face.
I looked down at her “Husband? We are bonded not married, I already have a wife.”
She slowly started getting to her feet. “Hells, I now have a wife too? And a Snow Leopard child? What the fuck happened after I crashed? Do you humans usually take people hostage and force them into marital bondage?”
I rolled my eyes, “It's Yepa's fault, not mine, blame her!” She glanced at the cat and then looked me up and down “Hmm, not bad at all, I can do all that.” She said, waving at my body.
Jax chuckled “As sad as I am right now I am finding great pleasure in all of this. “Now tell me how you came to own the city and became a War Chief!”
Onida broke in on the conversation “You own the city? How did you do that? Where is the core? How much protection do we have in place? Do we have any defenses at all? Where are the sentries?” She rambled it all together making it sound bad.
I stared into her eyes and said, “I just took control 10 minutes ago, I haven't set anything up yet.”
She looked me right in the eyes and shook herself, “Whoa, what is with that compulsion? Never mind, we need to set up defenses right away, You don't want your people to start dying en masse your first day, horrible for your rep and fame. This is crucial, trust me. Stop dicking around, let's go!”
I waved my hands at her. “Bossy much? I don't care who dies or what happens, I am going to see Sammy first!” I turned to Jax “Take me to her.”
Jax rushed me through the crowd who were spitting questions left and right at me. Ignoring them, we took a stairwell up to the second floor. I noticed Yepa trailing after us tail swishing at all of the people.
He led me to a room and stood outside of it. “I'll give you some alone time Bear, but don't expect much.”
I opened the door and Onida stepped in front of me. Jax tried to stop her and she said, “This is my wife too now dumbass and I am a hell of a lot higher level than you. Move your arm or I will break it.”
I looked at her and said, “You're serious with all of this marriage business?”
She snorted, “You might not realize it yet handsome, but try and leave me and see what happens. You have bonded with two sentient beings and that is not a breakable bond unless you want to spend the rest of your days in a mental hospital.”
I said, “Seriously? But your all...” I waved my hands at her.
She gave me a shocked look. “All what? Sinewy and black like a Dark Elf? Are you serious? You're a Native?” She took in the look in my eyes. “Really? What the fuck human? I am super... hot where I come from! Never mind, If it bothers you that much I will get some cosmetics from the shop, no biggie. Won't be the first time I disguised myself.”
I said, “No, no, not your looks, I was gonna say all pushy and aggressive.”
She shook her head at me. “So you don't like the way I look or my attitude, great!” She stomped into the room.
I looked over at Jax and shook my head. He shrugged his shoulders at me. I whispered, “She's all yours if you want to try and date her.”
He cracked a smile and said, “Umm, I finally managed to land Plain Jane, kinda saved her life and she finally caved in.”
I dropped my jaw. “Really?...” Jane was a pure, natural, native beauty and Jax had been after her for years.
I walked into the room and Samantha was lying in a bed asleep. Onida was sitting next to her with her hand on her head looking at something in her mind's eye.
Sammy looked horrible. She was normally a perky, fun person that everybody wanted to be around, but now she looked burnt out and hollow. She had lost weight and her eyes had huge black rings around them.
I sat on the bed and took her hand. “Sammy? Wake up, baby.” Yepa jumped in the bed and laid alongside Samantha purring loudly. Her eyes opened and she looked down at the cat.
She looked up at me and a tear fell from her eye. “Bowen? They took him, they took our son.”
I kissed her on the forehead and said, “Don't worry honey, I am gonna get him back, I promise you.”
She looked up and said, “They took our boy, they took him and then killed Ethan. They took our boy...”
I shot a worried look at Jax by the door, he said, “That's more than she has spoken in days.”
Onida looked at me and said “Right, we can fix this. When you set up the city we will buy a med center and hook her into a machine, it will have her out of this malaise in a couple of days tops.”
I looked over at her. “Honestly?” I croaked out my voice breaking.
She nodded at me “I swear it, I wouldn't lie about something like this.” She moved over and started taking Sammy in her arms. She whispered, “Hello love, I'm your new wife Onida, I am gonna fix you all up and make everything better.”
She scooped up Sam in her arms like she weighed nothing and looked at me staring at her in amazement. “What? I am stronger than you, you do know I can see all of your stats right? We are bonded handsome, no secrets from me, Skin...err...“War Chief”!
I sent Tor a question “Where are you I need you now.”
Tor appeared next to me, “I am right here Brownbear, I have never left your side.”
Jax shot me a look. “OK W...T...F... Dude, first a Snow Leopard pet and then a second wife, now you have a ghost with you as well? What happened to you?”
I said, “His name is Tor, he is a System generated Spirit companion. I'm sure you can buy something like him at the store when it is up and running.”
Tor snorted, waving his hands over his body. “Doubt it Broseph, this package will set you back a few million credits.”
I stared at him “You're not serious, are you?
He nodded “Wait til you set me up at the Village and I get hooked up with the A.I., I am gonna go to a whole other level. I was made to service hundreds of people with advice, not just your straight-laced ass.”
Jax looked over at me “Straight-laced,? You?”
I nodded, “Snoop Dog over here likes to get high!”
Jax nodded “Oh. Okay, this is all normal now.”
I headed for the door, “Let's go, we have a village city center to place.”