CHAPTER 22: Planetary Protectors

Sounds of feet approaching woke Adam. The sound was wrong, like he was listening underwater, and his brain was taking too long to engage. Everything was wavey and his thoughts slipped through him. He tried to move his body and could barely push himself up with his arms.

“Adam! You’re alive!” screamed Abbey as she ran to him. Grabbing his head, she lifted and pressed her lips against his. A heal went off as Adam’s thoughts clearly a bit. The lips stayed in place as several more heals flashed through him. Some of the internal burn damage was healed, but not all of it. As he became more lucid, he felt the coolness that had retreated to the front of his mind spread through the rest of his head. Without intending to, a tendril formed and connected to Abbey. Happiness pulsed through it in both directions, receiving emotion from Abbey as well as giving it.

Abbey’s eyes had already been teary, but now they streamed down her cheeks. One final heal went off before she pulled back, smiling in the midst of crying. Then her expression changed as she turned to the side and started spitting.

“Ew! Goblin blood!” she exclaimed. Several other people chuckled. They were all stained with the blue blood, but Adam was completely coated in it.

Looking at the group, Adam could see that everyone was alive, though they were all in bad shape. Some still had bleeding wounds. Clothes were torn and cut all over. Tom and Nick were being supported by others and Tom especially look deathly pale. They must have waited a while to find him to make sure everyone was healed enough to move.

“Is it done?” questioned Lucas. His stare was intense as he met Adam’s eyes.

“Should be,” rasped Adam, dry mouthed and lungs feeling full of soot.

With that, Adam could see tears in more eyes than just Abbey’s. Tom, Andrea, and Alissa had wet eyes. Randall was outright crying. Stars shown in Joseph’s eyes as he looked at Adam and then at the carnage all around them. Brandon was stoic, watching everywhere while still on guard for any missed goblins.

Lucas turned to the group. They all looked back. With sudden vigor he threw his arms into the arm and screamed, “WE WON!”

The whole group shot their arms up, and whooped as loud as they could. Smiles erupted on their faces. Relief brought fresh energy to them. Brittney hugged Brandon with both smiling wide. Carlos put his arm around Nick as they yelled into the sky, as if they just won a soccer championship.

Abbey grabbed Andrea in a tight embrace and then kissed her almost as passionately as she had Adam. When she pulled away Andrea looked confused but happy. Alissa was waiting next for Abbey with her arms open and lips exaggeratedly puckered.

“Are those for everyone?” Tom quipped when Abbey pulled away from Alissa.

“Nope,” she said smugly, but still leaned forward and gave Tom a peck on the cheek, causing more laughs all around.

Neither the celebration nor the energy lasted long as everyone eventually ended on the ground. The area around Adam was surprisingly empty of gore, with the chief’s body several paces away.

“What happened?” questioned Brittney. “We thought you had died when the connection disappeared.”

“Yeah, well, it was rough. They almost had me. The chief sealed me in a shadowy room with a shadow wielder and a blood manipulator who was hidden. The bastard even ripped off my fingers using my own blood,” Adam explained. Everyone stared at his hands, all eight fingers and two thumbs there.

“Uh, Darling...” started Andrea.

Adam squirmed uncomfortably. Embarrassment was clear on his face. “It turns out I regenerate from drinking blood. I couldn’t use my hands and had to bite out the blood manipulators throat.”

“Ew!”

“Yuck!”

“WTF!”

“What the hell, Boss?!” Tom screamed. “How does that even fit your build?”

A laugh croaked from Adam.

“No idea. But I’m glad it was there or I would be done.”

“Then I’m glad you have it,” Tom agreed happily. “You are too crazy for me, boss. I wouldn’t have thought to bite out a throat.”

“We do what we need to survive,” said Adam. “Speaking of, why didn’t you all retreat? Why come into the courtyard?”

Lucas spoke up. “When the connection was cut we panicked. Then we realized that you were right and the goblins needed to die. No one suggested retreat, we just moved forward.”

“No one wanted to retreat?” asked the surprised Adam.

Everyone looked around and shook their heads.

“It didn’t even occur to me,” said Brandon with a shrug, much like Adam’s.

“Well, you all look terrible,” said Adam.

Lots of laughs broke out and Alissa said what they were all thinking, “Isn’t that just the pot calling the kettle black.”

***

An hour later everyone was back on their feet. Adam had fallen asleep and woke to find his head being cradled by Abbey while Andrea, Alissa, and even Brittney were trying to wipe off the blood from him with already dirty towels, mostly just smearing it around. More heals had gone out to the rest of the group as they looked more alive than before.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

As crazy as the day had gone it was still only about four in the afternoon. The battles had warped the sense of time, making it feel like more time had passed.

“Too bad there is no loot,” said Randall as he scanned the field around them.

“Actually,” started Adam when all eyes snapped to him. The girls backed away and he stood up, though shakily. “Did anyone check the chief’s body? He had a brown crystal that matched something in the castle.”

Tom, Randall, and Joseph rushed over to chief. With a lot of dry gags they searched all of him and came back with a cloth bag and a brown crystal.

“Here you go, boss. Any chance they are valuable?” Tom asked.

“No idea. What is in the bag?”

“We didn’t look. Thought the big cheese should do the honors.”

“You're just concerned there is something dangerous,” Adam eyed them. Randall and Joseph looked at their feet sheepishly, but Tom just grinned shamelessly.

“You are the boss.”

Adam shook his head, then shook the bag. There was a bit of clinking from inside. He opened the bag to see a bunch of little metal squares. Taking a few out he moved them around on his palm. The rest gathered closer to try and see.

There were a few different colors to the metal. One was a rusty color, one a dull gray, another a reflective chrome, and finally a translucent one. A different pattern was on each, except for the translucent one that had a shifting pattern on it, which confused Adam’s eyes. Each one had a tiny hook on one corner and a small hole on the opposite corner.

“Money?” asked Brandon.

“What makes you think that?” asked Andrea.

“Well, except for being square instead of round, they are about coin sized,” he answered.

“There is no way such coarse creatures like the goblins could make something as refined as these,” said Elias.

“Maybe it doesn’t belong to the goblins but just invaders. It could be some space money, or belong to the [System],” suggested Brittney. Brandon nodded in agreement.

Adam put the items in his hand back into the bag and handed it to Elias. “Great! You and Brandon can do some research on them.”

“What about the crystal?”

“It just looks like a brown crystal, like a shaped piece of beer bottle glass. Nothing special about it. Let’s go check it against the bigger one in the castle,” explained Adam.

***

“Damn, boss. I think I, hurk, found your fingers.” Tom could barely talk without vomiting. Everyone else cringed as they looked around the blood covered room, eyes avoiding where Tom stood. Adam was a bit embarrassed considering how easy it was to see that most of the blood was red, his own.

Adam led them to the larger crystal pillar, positioned next to the stone throne. Brandon kept his eyes down as he followed, and Elias seemed surprisingly interested. This was the first time Adam had seen Elias intrigued. They spent a few minutes looking at and inspecting the crystal. Then Adam reached up and touched the crystal, causing a message to pop up.

Owner of Dimensional Convergence Rift has died…

Inheritor of Dimensional Convergence Rift has died…

…no new Inheritor found. Ownership presented to possessor of Control Node.

Would you like to take Ownership of this Dimensional Convergence Rift?

[ Yes / No ]

“It’s offering me ownership of this…dimensional convergence rift. Should I agree?” Adam asked the two with him.

“Does it seem dangerous?” asked Brandon.

“Not that I know of, but we have no information about it,” said Adam.

“Try it out,” suggested Elias. “If we can own this warehouse space then it will be worth it.”

Adam nodded, then selected Yes.

Ownership of Dimensional Convergence Rift has been taken by a native. Invasion ended. Rewards pending. Assign Inheritor?

“Elias, I’m setting you as the inheritor in case something happens to me, and then Brandon after that. Once we finish here, I’ll leave you two to investigate what this control node can do.”

Then Adam addressed the message. “I assign these two as inheritors.”

Elias Munroe selected as Inheritor. Brandon Collins selected as 2nd Inheritor.

Rewards ready for natives who ended an invasion.

Release rewards?

[ Yes / No ]

Adam selected Yes, curious what would happen, and it didn’t take long for him to see. He noticed that everyone else in the room had stopped moving as well.

…All natives included in Dimensional Convergence Rift will receive the title “Invasion Conqueror”.

Invasion Conqueror

For defeating an enemy of your planet and preventing their rampage from continuing you will receive +2 to all stats. Claiming more Dimensional Convergence Rifts will increase this title.

…For being the first natives to end an invasion you are awarded the title “Planetary Protector”.

Planetary Protector

You have given your all to protect your planet, even before knowing the threats in store. For this you will receive +5% to all stats. Once assigned, no one else on your planet may receive this title.

“Whoa!” someone shouted, as someone else whistled.

“This is nice!”

“On to the next invasion,” a voice said only to get shut down by, “Let’s recover from this one first. Maybe use an army next time.” A few chuckles sounded out. The sudden lightness that he heard caused Adam to get a little concerned that they might forget the hardships they had just faced. He did not have time to think on it very deeply before a new message popped up, only for him.

…error. Soul corruption found. Unable to assign benefits of titles.

“Damnit!” Adam swore with a bit too much venom. The lightness was instantly gone as everyone looked at him and then to their surroundings.

“What’s wrong, boss?” asked Tom. Everyone moving closer to Adam.

“Ah, sorry. The titles don’t apply to me,” he answered.

“Because your status doesn’t exist?” asked Nick.

“Probably.”

“That means you can’t grow like the rest of us?” asked Brandon.

“It seemed that way. At least until we learn more.”

Tom put his hand on Adams shoulder while Abbey slipped past him and took Adam’s hand in her own. “Well, Boss. You will definitely out ass-kick us for quite a while. No worries there.” A taunting smile spread across his mouth. “Plus, I’m sure we can figure it out. At the moment we know nothing. I swear to you that Elias and Brandon won’t rest until they learn more about what’s going on, and that I will be right there to take credit for it.” That earned him a forearm shove from Lucas.

“Don’t worry, Adam. I’m sure there will be other ways to strengthen you. Maybe figure out what soul corruption is,” Lucas added.

“Thanks for the pep talk,” Adam responded. “I won’t be down about it for long. I’ll do what I need to do and we will all figure it out as we go. Maybe tomorrow after school we can discuss your levels and skills, to see how much we should grow our army. We don’t even know if there is another invasion nearby. Maybe for us this is a one and done and we won.” He shrugged. At least everyone else has gotten stronger, Adam added to himself.

The rest of the time was spent exploring the castle. It was not a wonder of architecture, as there were only a few more large rooms with hallways between them. They found what must have been a treasure room, but Adam could not see it as anything but a junk pile. Meat and vegetables, from who knows where, were in another room, but they were all moldy and rancid. The smell approaching them had almost prevented them from getting to it.

Unfortunately, they did find one room of note. It had 24 bodies in it, from middle school age to upper 50s, both male and females. Clearly victims that the goblins had taken from the area. The bodies had been stripped down but their stuff was thrown in a corner. No one was sure what they should do about the bodies, whether to bury them or contact authorities. In their tired state everyone decided to figure it out the next day. Decay had already settled in and no one knew how to safely handle them.

With that last macabre encounter, everyone seemed ready to leave.