Collin

After the last glider was launched, Collin locked the mechanism and shut the large doors before heading back down to the village. With Ray gone, he was in charge of the protection of the villagers which meant he would be spending the rest of the night in the council room monitoring the system’s map and making sure the whole place didn’t burst into flames. Collin arrived at the ground floor and walked out into the streets making a left and walking towards the east side where the smiths worked. The leather smith were hard at work preparing the different skins that were brought in from the hunt. The underside would be salted and hung in the cellars to dry. Checking with the master leather smith, Collin made note of the total and moved on to the blacksmiths. Pledges were busy hammering away at pieces of metal. The Masters walked around observing them and giving small remarks here and there. Collin went to each building taking in inventory and checking the status of the day. He made his way around the wall and stopped at the guard station by the gates to check in and make sure the patrol was on schedule. It was about an hour past sunset and the guards were preparing to close the city gates.

They would reopen about thirty minutes before sunrise. Collin stayed and helped them shut and lock the gates before turning and heading back up the middle of the village down the main street. The shops were open and people were everywhere getting dinner and visiting with one another. Even with a red alert, the villagers never seemed to act any different. The years of red alerts and near misses while the village was rebuilt must have thickened their skin a bit. There were kids running up and down the roads playing in the streets. Adults shopping and gossiping about the week's events and pledges everywhere having a bit of free time before going to their respective houses to sleep. Collin grabbed a sandwich at the deli and a couple of honey buns from Mrs. Rosie’s Bakery. She was able to rebuild and expand her building to where her shop was at the ground floor with a second story living quarters for her to live in.

Collin arrived in the council room and took his seat at the head of the table. The whole floor was empty except for a pledge or two running up and down the halls delivering correspondence between the guilds.

“System open map of village” Collin said with a mouth full of sandwich.

The table lit up and a three dimension semi translucent screen came to light of the village. Collin used his hands to zoom in and out checking on each building before moving to the walls. Specks of sandwich flying over the table.

“Did your mother ever teach you how to eat?” A voice said from the entryway. Collin looked up to see Adam walking in with his own dinner and what looked to be a bag full of books.

“She did, it just didn’t stick. What are you doing here?”

“I need to grade some papers and plan this week's lessons. I’m also curious about my son’s mission.”

“Have a seat I was just about to check on it” Collin said

Adam sat in his usual seat to the left of the Collin. He pulled out his dinner which looked to be a loaf of bread, cheese, and some summer sausage. With his knife he began cutting small pieces of each and putting them in his mouth. “Care for a drink?” He said pulling out some pint size jars full of a brown liquid.

“Sure, that ale or whisky?”

“Ale, the whisky ain’t ready yet. It should be in a couple more years maybe. Ray has some Meade fermenting that might be ready in a few weeks” Adam pushed a jar over to Collin and they knocked glasses before each taking a sip

“System, what is the progress of the adventures guild for the current mission” Collin said directing his gaze to the middle of the table

The system zoomed out on the map and small green dots appeared through the area. The system differentiated parts under control with a bluish haze. The parts not unlocked had a gray haze and the many green dots were shown to be spreading outward with the village being dead center.

“System, please scan the area for any hostile forces.” A wave came across the map and three red dots appeared in the North sector, one red dot to the west, and five red dots to the south.

“What are those?” Adam asked.

“Looks like hostile patrols. System identifies each hostile. What are they?”

The system zoomed into the North area where the three red dots and what looked like 4 green dots were closing in on each other. A wave went across the map and a new screen formed to the side. Data formed on this screen of each dot. Four humanoid adventurers and three silverback wolves were encircling each other.

The system then moved to the west. What appeared to be a large ogre was walking south along the perimeter. Two green dots above it on a nearby hill to its left and two more green dots to its right. “They must be monitoring its movements, it doesn’t look like they have engaged. “Adam stated.

The system then moved to the south to where five red dots showed moving from south to northwest directly toward the boar canyon. “Three goblins riding two warthogs. They appear to be heading to Ray’s position” Collin said.

Collin reached under the table and pulled out a small bell. He rang it three times and waited. A few minutes later a pledge came running in.

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“You rang sir?” The young pledge said, stopping next to the door.

“Go get Master William of the adventurers guild and tell him to come here. Be quick about it, it is urgent” Collin said. The pledge nodded and ran down the hallway.

“We need his input to send more reinforcements if needed. Collin said to Adam as they both continued to monitor the system.

“Where is Ray and his team? Adam asked, scanning the area to the west.

“System, identify Lord Ray and his team.” Collin commanded “label the lord with a dark blue and his team with Green”. The system was incredibly user friendly. It was as if it could read your mind and knew exactly what you needed. Fifty miles to the west of the village eight green dots, one burgundy looking dot and a small yellow dot appeared.

“Yellow must be Mace.” Adam commented. The dots were spread out around the Boars Canyon traveling back towards the village.

“It looks like they have landed and started the mission “Collin said, taking another swig of the ale. “Good luck buddy.”

Ray

Ray and Team two moved quickly through the forest. They reach the mouth of the canyon. Along the way, Ray showed them how to activate the flags and where to place them. Checking the system Ray noted his percentage had temporarily changed from twenty percent to twenty-two percent. Having everyone extend the borders another ten miles was already beginning to work in his favor. Ray checked his status window, the power that Minh gave him before she died, the berserker, was fully charged and ready to be activated. On the darkest day, as the dark wizard Merrikh was nearing the ending of his ritual to summon Adrialle, a demon with the power to destroy the sun and conquer the world five times over, back to the world of the living ,and only hours after losing Minh, Ray activated the power.

Minh’s tribe had warned him about using the power. They had guarded the secret for nearly a hundred years. The berserker who destroyed villages and killed thousands. They told Ray of how they finally sealed him away into one of their own and that for the last hundred years they had been transferring the seal from living host to living host. Minh and Mace had it for nearly five years before she got sick. He shouldn’t have activated it that day. He was supposed to have died. After the berserker took over, and hopefully killed the demons and dark wizards that had taken control of the land, he was supposed to have had his mana completely drained and his soul split into a thousand pieces. He was supposed to die and join her. He didn’t however, and after becoming lord he found that he was able to reactivate it but still not fully control it. If he activated the power, which happened frequently when he was drinking, he became the berserker. He would go wild and thrash about, waking up days later in the middle of nowhere with no memory of what happened. It got to the point that he was no longer welcome in the pub. They would give him what he needed and point him out towards the forest. He would venture out, sometimes alone and sometimes with friends and wake up days later with no memory.

They reached the edge and Ray sent the team on their way. The canyon had a wide gap about three yards across and six yards down. Adjusting his straps and checking to make sure Mason was still with him. Ray jumped down into the mouth using the rope and the cliff edge to propel himself downward and a controlled pace. Ray landed at a section of rock deep in the canyon. There he took a knee and listened. Being linked to Mace allowed him to borrow certain abilities that Mace had such as teleportation and dog-like senses such as the ability to smell and hear at a much higher level than a normal human could. Ray dropped down further and began following a path leading deep into the chasm. If this is where the goblin king was then he would be at the very bottom.

These tunnels had to be large enough to ride a boar out or for an Orc to walk through. He would need to find Dayton and Theo and get them out before anyone noticed. If any one goblin noticed Ray then they would all be in serious trouble. Ray reached a fork in the tunnel and paused briefly.

“Well now which way should we go, Mace?” Ray said, looking from one to the other. Mace hopped down from his spot below Ray's arm and sniffed the air. He then began trotting down the left path disappearing from sight.

“Ok cool. You find the kids and I’ll fight the bad guys. Good talk. Go Team!” Ray muttered after as he moved down the right pathway.

This was normal. Mace liked to wonder and could take care of himself. Many times he had disappeared and ended up doing gods knows what before appearing with some new toy and a wagging tail at the very end. Ray moved swiftly down the path. He snuck up on three goblins who had dozed off and managed to slice their throats before moving forward. Further and further he kept going. A few goblins here and there but nothing he wasn’t able to quickly dispose of. Ray entered into a large dark opening and stopped. There were hundreds of Goblins and orcs all gathered in front of a throne.

On the throne which was made of rotten flesh and bone sat a large creature. He didn’t look like a goblin but neither did it resemble an orc. It was eight feet high and five feet wide. Its forearms were the size of small oak trees. A large Morningstar sat at his side. Broad and powerful shoulders. He sat there eating and spitting and sloshing drink all around in a drinking super. A table lay before him and the goblins all sat around in the hundreds eating and carrying on. Ray crept around the side of the rock and hid himself behind a column. The firelight was dim enough to remain hidden but not so dim that he could be careless. Goblins had better vision in the dark and mace was not nearby to allow him to borrow his power. Ray surveyed the area and noted no signs of the two younglings or any human remains in the area. That’s a good sign Ray thought, the two must be elsewhere and if they were, then Mace would find them. Ray noticed something glimmering above the king.

Above the throne was a pillar of sorts. Different from the other Columns. It had gems and jewels running up and down it in an ornate pattern followed by what appeared to be rune markings.

“System display” Ray whispered. The window popped up for only him to see. “What is that structure?” Ray asked it hoping something good would happen.

There was a moment's pause and a display message then appeared.

A System mission has unlocked. Would you like to accept?

A yes and no icon came forward. Ray touched the icon for yes and waited. Surely they could not hear him. As far as he knew he was the only one able to see and hear unless he allowed someone else via a voice command. The system changed and a new window formed.

Defeat the goblin king and activate the beacon.

Rewards: to be determined

Failure to complete: Death