“What the hell did you tell Harrison and the others?” I asked as I stared around at the crowd that had been waiting for us when we arrived back in Ponson.

“That we were bringing a group of people back from one of the homesteads near town,” Evie whispered back. “I swear that’s it.”

“Hey now, let’s not go blaming our AI’s just yet,” Warren suggested nervously, and I smirked at him in amusement because we all knew that the culprit behind this latest irritation was most likely either Gordy or possibly Hannah. “This could’ve been Harmon’s idea. I wouldn’t put something like this past the old man.”

“Five credits says that it was Gordy,” I quipped.

“No bet,” Kelly laughed.

“Hey, it could be Hannah,” Warren grumbled.

“I suppose that it’s possible that Hannah did something like this,” Fern agreed. “But she knows that I don’t really like this sort of thing so I kind of doubt it.”

“Can we just stop talking about this for now?” Warren grumbled as he ran a hand over his face. “I’m sure that we’ll find out what happened soon enough.”

“That’s fair” I chuckled. “But my offer is still available.”

Warren grumbled but decided to leave it be for now and wave at one of the few children who had yet to be evacuated from Ponson. In fact, I was pretty sure that almost everyone who hadn’t been evacuated had turned out for our return. With the possible exception of a few Crafters who were far too busy preparing for the Undead for something like this.

We followed the path that had been laid out for us by the guards lining both sides of the street until we reached a large building with a clock on it. Even though I had never actually been to this building before I was willing to bet that it was the Town Hall. Waiting for us just outside the Town Hall were Harmon, the Captain, and a slightly rotund man that I didn’t recognize.

“So, these are the brave Outsiders who have been so helpful to you, old friend,” the rotund man said to Harmon as we approached.

“That’s right Percival,” Harmon agreed. “Zeke, everyone this is the Lord Mayor of Ponson. His name is Percival. He’s actually wanted to meet you for a while now but there simply hasn’t been the time. So, when we heard that you managed to save Lionel and a bunch of the farmers who worked for him, we decided that it was time.”

“Maybe I should’ve taken you up on that bet after all,” Warren muttered to me.

“Yes, it was the rather excitable young man who suggested the parade,” Percival agreed. “What was his name again?”

“It was Gordy sir,” the captain replied causing a smirk to cross my face for a few seconds before I wiped it away and walked over to Percival who shook my hand with a pleasant smile.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Zeke,” Percival told me. “I’ve heard a lot of things about you, and it looks like all of it was true.”

“Good things I hope,” I chuckled, and Percival grinned in reply.

“Well, as I’m sure you are aware there have been a couple of complaints from your fellow Outsiders, but I barely even had to look into it before I worked out that they were the ones causing the problems,” Percival laughed before turning to the others. “And it’s very nice to meet all of you as well. Thank you for all the help that you have given us. You have been an excellent example of what Outsiders can do for us and it’s been good to see that other Outsiders have been following your lead.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” I chuckled. “I like to think that our behavior is actually more normal, but this world was a bit different from the ones that we’re used to visiting which is why some of them acted the way that they did. If our fellow Outsiders are behaving better, it’s because the surprise has passed.”

“Well, I don’t know anything about these other worlds that you’ve been to, but I can’t imagine that sort of behavior going down well with anyone,” Percival said. “But we’re not here to talk about that right now. We’re here to thank you for saving so many people!”

The crowd cheered as Percival stepped to one side and raised his voice on the last sentence so that the villagers could hear what he was saying without him having to shout in my face. I had decided that I already liked Percival which was an easy decision to make since Harmon seemed to like him as well.

Some sort of magic activated which allowed Percival to speak normally while his voice was broadcast to everyone present. He greeted Lionel, who appeared to also know him and asked the former officer to explain the events leading to our return. Much to my horror Lionel apparently quite enjoyed the sound of his own voice and spent nearly quarter of an hour regaling the crowd with the events of last night. He made sure to talk about the bravery of his own men and admit that he had been foolish and arrogant to ask them to remain out there in the first place. Honestly, it was a little surprising that he could admit that to a crowd of people like this, but I was grateful that he had. Too many people tried to make excuses for that sort of thing in the real world and I had actually half expected Lionel to be the same but then again it would’ve been pretty difficult not to admit you were at fault with both your wife and niece watching your every move.

He also made sure to tell everyone that if we hadn’t shown up when he had all of his men would probably be dead or at least most of them. Much to the amusement of my friends it was at this point that I decided to interrupt and point out that we wouldn’t have been able to save anyone if he hadn’t been as well prepared as he had been and that we had still been incredibly lucky to get out with as few casualties as we had.

Things were actually starting to get quite awkward at this point but thankfully Lionel finished talking and let Percival take over. Percival thanked us for our help and promised to give us all an item from the city armory which seemed like a pretty good reward to me and my friends. While he was saying this several screens popped up in front of my party telling us that we had completed another hidden Event and confirmed that we would be receiving the reward that Percival was promising which was nice.

A few minutes later Percival finally finished speaking. Most of the rest of the address was more about the siege that we knew was coming and how everyone should follow the lead of the farmers who had already fought to defend their homes from the Undead. Most of the people who were going to stay in town had never fought anything stronger than a Javelin Toad before, which meant that the farmers had more experience than they did. He also asked that any of the Outsiders who might be present stay in Ponson to help them and confirmed that the reward that had been promised was genuine which I asked Katy to record and post to the thread that we had posted about the situation the other day.

“Well then,” Percival said once the crowd had begun to disperse. “Let’s go and take a look in the armory so that you can choose your reward.”

“Alright,” I nodded and together we followed Percival into the Town Hall. The large building was actually even nicer on the inside and Percival led us down a flight of stairs and down a hall to a large metal door.

“Just give me a moment,” Percival said as he pulled a small glowing crystal out of his pocket and pricked his thumb with it before placing it in a small receptacle next to the door.

“The security for this door seems extremely high,” Kelly mentioned as the massive door slowly started swinging open. “Why does the armory for such a small town require such heavy security.”

“Because it’s not just where we keep the oldest artifacts that we have,” Harmon explained. “It’s also where the town’s Warding Crystal is kept. As for why we have any artifacts to keep here at all. Well, perhaps its best that Percival explain that one.”

“Basically, it’s because they belonged to either the founder of Ponson or members of his family,” Percival replied with a shrug. “And since I know what you’re going to ask next, we’ve known that you Outsiders were coming since well before Ponson was settled and my ancestors requested that these artifacts be left for these Outsiders when it became necessary for them to be wielded again. These artifacts are still sealed away for now, and I don’t know when the seals will be released but we have plenty of other things in here that would be difficult for you to obtain from all but the best shops in the capital which I’m guessing that you can’t afford. No offense.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“None taken,” Kelly nodded. “That’s quite interesting. I wonder when the seals will be released?”

“Who knows,” Harmon shrugged. “All we know is that it hasn’t happened yet, but we do have a number of other items that are quite difficult to come across without going to the capital and you can pick one each of these.”

“That’s right,” Percival nodded. “We have a number of rare weapons, armor and jewelry stored here. We’ll be handing the rest of it out to the guards today as well so that they can get used to using it. We only got them the other day and we were trying to decide who to give them to you when your friends told us that you were returning to Ponson with a large group of people and potions in tow.”

“I was wondering about that,” I nodded as Percival stepped through the now open door. “It didn’t seem like a very good idea to leave useful equipment just lying around.”

“Yeah, things would be much easier if we could just give the artifacts to some powerful people like Harmon,” Percival agreed. “But according to the few records that we have he probably wouldn’t even be able to use them if they were unsealed.”

“I take it that these artifacts are from the same time that the undead are?” Kelly asked curiously.

“That’s correct,’ Percival sighed. “It’s entirely possible that the Lich is from that time as well. Which may explain why it’s attacking us. It thinks that it might be able to obtain the artifacts for its own use.”

“Seems likely,” Kelly agreed. “By the way have you made any progress on working out who woke the Lich up?”

“We haven’t been able to completely confirm it but we’re pretty sure that it was the Hegemony,” Harmon replied. “Of course, they haven’t confirmed it so it’s still only a theory at this point. But they’re the most likely culprits according to my sources. I’m sorry that I don’t know more but with things being the way that they are right now I haven’t had a lot of time to worry about things like that.”

“Don’t worry about it, Harmon,” Percival shrugged. “I know that you’ve got a lot on your plate right now.”

“It’s not you that I’m worried about,” Harmon sighed. “It’s that bloody treasurer of yours. I know that he’s good at his job, but I still can’t quite bring myself to trust him. The man just gives me the creeps.”

“I know, he gives me to the creeps as well to be honest with you” Percival agreed. “But he was appointed by the crown so I can’t just fire him without a very good reason and his family is powerful enough that I would probably be punished even if I had a god reason.”

“So, this guy is weird enough to creep both of you out, but you still have to keep him around,” Warren grumbled. “Why does it sound like he might be in cahoots with the people who woke the Lich up for some reason?”

“That would be pretty cliché,” Evie nodded. “But let’s not judge someone who we haven’t even met yet.”

“Good point Evie,” Fern agreed. “Still, it might be a good idea to at least look into him.”

“Easier said than done,” Harmon sighed. “I can’t even convince any of my contacts to investigate him because of how powerful his family is. Not without more than a feeling that he might be involved anyway.”

“Have you thought about hiring an Outsider?” Fern asked curiously. “They might not be capable of much right now but maybe after the siege they will have grown strong enough for something like that.”

“That’s an interesting idea,” Percival agreed thoughtfully. “Although that Outsider would be putting themselves in an uncomfortable position if his family catches them. One that coming back to life like Outsiders do would make worse.”

“That’s a good point,” Fern agreed. “But would they still be able to do that if the Outsider in question was a Ranger on an official mission from a Ranger General?”

“That would make it harder for them,” Harmon agreed as a Smirk broke out on his wrinkled face. “Are you offering your services then?”

“Well, unless you happen to be eying another sneaky Outsider to make into a Ranger then I don’t think that you really have any other choices,” Fern pointed out before turning to the rest of us. “That is, if you guys don’t have a problem with this idea.”

“Nope,” I replied. “If we can help get to the bottom of this then we should.”

“Right,” Warren agreed. “That seems like a natural progression of what we’re already doing to me. We might even be able to stop further attacks as well.”

“We have to survive the undead first but if we do then you can count on my full support as well,” Percival nodded. “In fact, we have several items here that should make your investigations easier that will also be useful when the undead attack.”

“Well then, let’s take a look,” Fern nodded and followed Percival as he walked over to several large benches that had a large number of various pieces of equipment and Soul Cores on them.

“This is quite impressive,” Katy said as she looked over the assembled items. “Some of these things won’t be that useful to us but I see plenty that will be.”

“Well then, feel free to give us some suggestions then,” I said. “You know more about this world than we do after all.”

“Really?” Percival asked interestedly as Katy started muttering to themselves as she examined the items on the table and started sorting them into piles. “Isn’t she a spiritual being that you’ve given a physical form?”

“Close enough,” I nodded. “She’s a spiritual being from this world that has been given a number of powers that allow her to help guide us since we don’t know a lot about this world.”

“And all Outsiders have one of these spirits giving them advice?” Percival asked and I nodded in agreement. “Then why didn’t the spirits stop them from acting the way that they did when they got to this world?”

“That’s a good question,” I nodded as I watched Katy work. “And I don’t really have a good answer to it. All I can really say is that both the Outsiders who come here and the spirits who are supposed to guide them are their own individuals. So, none of us can really do anything more than guess at their motivations.”

“Fair enough,” the mayor agreed. “Just let me know what items you decide to pick so that Harmon and I can work out who to give the rest to.”

“Sure,” I replied as Katy turned towards me.

“Alright, I’ve gone through the items that will suit all of you the best,” Katy told everyone. “However, if you spot something else that you’re interested in then don’t be afraid to ask about it.”

Katy pointed out which pile of items was for who and we started looking over them ourselves. Most of the stuff in my pile was jewelry but there was also several Soul Cores and even a Spellglove that was much better than the one that I was wearing as well that I was quite interested in.

Some of the items were actually placed between two different piles which Katy explained meant that they could be useful to either person. This meant that there was actually quite a significant number of useful items for us to look over. Everyone other than me had a weapon in their pile since weapons like naginata were pretty rare but that was fine by me since I still had the most choices of everyone here.

While everything was pretty useful, I decided against most things easily enough since I had seen similar things around town or didn’t seem like they would be particularly useful against the undead, which was my biggest worry right now. It was a little hard to decide but, in the end, I went with the spellglove which was a pretty considerable upgrade from my current one which was the one that I had made with the help of Kelly ad Warren. I felt a bit bad about upgrading to a new one so quickly but this spellglove was just that much better in comparison.

Battlemage’s Spellglove

Item Tier (Rarity): Journeyman (Rare)

Required Level: 10

Magic Power: 12

Core Sockets:

2 Skill Core Socket

2 Spell Core Socket

While most mages avoid fights where something like a spellglove is necessary there exists a type of mage that revels in combat. Battlemages are warriors who have mastered the use of both magic and martial combat and this spellglove was designed so that they could fight to their heart’s content.

“I thought that you might pick that,” Katy chuckled. She had already picked her own item which turned out to be a strange looking bow that had a strange glowing string. I was a bit confused about why Katy had picked this weapon since it didn’t seem like it would be all that much more useful than her current bow, but a quick check told me that it was a Mystic Bow which was a type of weapon that could fire magical arrows similar to Evie’s spell-gun. I was definitely starting to sense a theme with our choices of weapons in this party, but I certainly wasn’t going to complain if that what Katy wanted since a magical attack was definitely going to be more effective against an undead enemy than an arrow would anyway.

Kelly and Evie both picked pieces of jewelry that already had Soul Cores that increased their SP and SP regen while Fern grabbed a powerful Shadow Magic Spell Core that was a bit different from the one that she already had. Apparently higher Tier Spell Cores came with more spells to start off with as well as having more Levels which made them considerably better than the basic ones that we had. Warren picked perhaps the most interesting item of all of us. A strange necklace that could create an unbreakable barrier that could take a single blow once a week. The barrier cost 50 SP to use as well so it wasn’t like it was a get out of jail free card but having an item like that would be pretty useful especially considering the powerful enemies that we seemed to have a habit of running into.

“Alright then, you six can take your leave if you want,” Percival said once we had finished picking the items that we wanted. “Working out who we’re going to give the rest of these to is going to take a while.”

“Alright, we’ll see you later,” I nodded as we turned to leave.