Nenn opened his eyes and was greeted by the bright morning sun shining directly into his eyes. He looked around. At once it was very clear to him that he wasn’t in downtown Ottawa anymore. He found his hand was still raised and held against the black obelisk, but he no longer felt compelled to hold it there. Around the obelisk there was a small clearing of a couple of meters in all directions then an uninterrupted treeline leading into a thick forest. The trees looked familiar, but they were off. They were not quite like the trees Nenn was used to seeing, but they still trees all the same.
The world had a faint pink hue to it as Nenn took a step forward on the soft green grass. On closer inspection there looked to be some curvature to the pink color.
It’s a barrier, Nenn thought. A domed shield surrounded the base of the obelisk, giving the recently integrated humans a chance to catch their breath.
“Do you guys see…” an eerily familiar but yet different voice trailed off.. Nenn turned, and where Jack had Liz had been, two new people stood in their place. Two all too familiar people. Nenn, Aiden, and Harper turned to look at their two new party members. The three of them had barely changed anything about their own appearances, other than smoothing out a couple of blemishes and adding some fun darker highlights in Nenn’s case.
“What are you y’all staring at?” the other person said. That was a familiar voice coming out of the wrong body. It was Liz’s voice.
“Liz?” Harper asked, her eyes widening in surprise.
“Yes? Is there something wrong with me?” Liz asked, then she turned and saw her twin. Her newly printed twin. “What the fuck did you do Jack!”
“Me! What the fuck did you do? I didn’t choose to look like this!” Jack said. His voice had risen a couple of octaves and taken on a distinctly feminine sound to it.
“For the love of God, why the fuck are you a girl now?” Liz said.
“I didn’t choose that. It's just how I appeared here,” Jack said. “And what the fuck did you do to your body!”
“My body? What do you mean my body? I didn’t change anything!” Liz said.
“Oh no, there are definitely some changes, Liz.” Harper said. “You two are identical now.”
“Fuck me. What’s the point of standing though a customization session if this was going to be the outcome anyways,” Liz said.
Aiden turned to Nenn. “You know the more I look at them, the more it seems like they blended together.”
“Now that you say that, I see what you mean,” Nenn said. “It's like they averaged each other out. They split the height difference, muscle tone, hair length etcetera. And anything that couldn’t be split, went with the older ones characteristics. Damn Jack, if you had only been born 2 minutes earlier, things could have been different.”
“Shut it,” Jack said, his new voice definitely did not fit the level of hostility he tried to display. “We’ve got bigger problems anyways. Look.” Jack pointed into the tree line. Nenn had to squint, but then he saw it. A couple of trees in there was a small creature that blended in well with the forest floor. It was a greenish brown color. It was short in stature as it barely rose two feet off the ground in its crouched posture. Maybe a total of three feet tall if it was to stand straight.The creature was wearing what looked like some kind of fur. But that wasn’t the most concerning feature. The creature was staring them down with a bow. A second later and an arrow flew out of the forest and bounced off of the barrier with a plinking sound.
“Well fuck, looks like we are going to start things off with some combat after all,” Aiden said as he unstrapped his shield from his back and unsheathed his shortsword. Aiden was wearing a set of padded leather armor complete with what looked to be a flimsy chainmail shirt covering his torso.
“If you guys get injured, I can heal you, but it's not the strongest omnipotent heal to have ever existed,” Harper said. She was clutching what looked to be a well loved book to her chest and had been given a white cleric’s gown to wear, with no armor to speak of. She took a couple of steps back to align herself with the back of the group.
“Is it bad that I’m excited for this?” Liz said as a spark arced between her outstretched fingers of her free hand. Liz had definitely chosen warlock as a class, given her black robes. She held a casting staff in her other hand.
“I’m not sure what to feel right now, but oddly enough, some violence might be just what I need to take my mind off current affairs,” Jack said. Jack had a slightly glowing book fluttering open in his right hand. Nenn noted that Jack was still left-handed given his dominant spellcasting hand was free. In contrast to his sister, Jack was wearing identical robes, except they were blue in color.
Which left Nenn in a light set of leather armor that was accented with some gray animal fur here and there. He had his hefty combat staff, and a desire to hit something with it. It was all well and good to practice with a training dummy, but it definitely does not replace actual combat experience.
Nenn poked the barrier with his staff and found that it passed through without resistance. A quick glance at the goblin told Nenn all he needed to know. The goblin was terrified. It looked as though it was struggling to choose between fight or flight. Nenn scanned the rest of the treeline, feeling some sort of natural energy all around him. It began to wax and then wane with his concentration. This is something to try later, Nenn thought
“Hey, before we go and bludgeon our first goblin to death, maybe we should try talking to it? It looks scared out of its mind and maybe we can make an early ally in this strange new land,” Nenn said.
“Mmm, fine by me,” Aiden said. “But if things don't pass the gut check, I'm going to be seizing the opportunity to get the first strike.”
“I agree with Aiden,” Liz said. “We're brand new to the world and level 1. That thing could be much higher in level and stats. Nothing is quite as much fun as getting one shot by a higher leveled mob.”
“This is the starting area? Why would there be higher level monsters here?” Jack asked.
“It's not a starting area,” Harper said. “Earth was the starting area if you really want to get into it. This is somewhere else entirely. And this somewhere doesn't have to behave like a starting zone. If the System doesn't say it outright, it's open for interpretation until otherwise investigated.”
“So, where do you stand on the befriend or behead the goblin vote?” Liz asked.
“I'm with Aiden and Nenn on this one,” Harper said. “An ally that is native to these lands could be invaluable right now.”
“For the record, I'm also on the try befriending, before beheading side of the vote,” Jack said.
Liz sighed. “Okay fine. I'm out voted and not really against the idea to begin with. Nenn, you go ahead and make first contact.”
Nenn took a second to process why it had to be him. Sufficient armor, and a less menacing presence in close quarters. It made a certain kind of sense.
“Okay, I'll do it. Just don't jump the gun here. We're only going to get one chance at it. And that goes for the rest of all of you too!” Nenn said, raising his voice for the rest of the recent arrivals to hear. The rest of the newly integrated humans had slowly congregated towards the biggest group.
Nenn walked out of the barrier and slowly walked towards the goblin, holding his hands out to communicate that he wasn't there to inflict violence upon the twigly-looking goblin.
“Hello there. We don't want to hurt you. Can we talk? Do you understand me?” Nenn said while slowly advancing.
“Me hear you,” the goblin said. “But me no know who you are?” The goblin raised its short bow and pointed it a slight turn away from Nenn’s direction.
Nenn took the hint and stopped advancing. The goblin talked in a primitive manner. Potent enough to be clearly understood, but severely lacking the nuances of a well defined language.
“We're new here. The System just began The Trial process in our world, and now we're here.”
The goblins eyes lit up. “Trial, you say? You start Trial now?” The bow dropped a couple of inches down.
“Yes, The Trial. We just started it.”
“No, it too late for you. You all too late,” the goblin said, dropping the bow down to his side and removing the nocked arrow in the process.
“What do you mean too late?”
“Legends say Goblinkind start Trial long long long time ago. Goblinkind already late then. You even later now!”
Nenn stood there not sure what to say to this revelation. This was a lot to process all at once.
How can we be late? We just-” a hunting horn sounded out not too far away and the goblin instinctively flattened itself against the ground and began to crawl deeper into the foliage.
“You even later now. Hunters are coming. You hide. Hunters kill all not hunters,” the goblin said as it disappeared in the foliage.
Nenn turned back to the barrier only to see that it had now dissolved. Faced with nowhere to run to, Nenn waited as his team approached him. The rest of the people gathered there had taken the notion to leave in any other direction than towards the goblin.
“What did you do?” Liz asked.
“Nothing! It's just bad timing!” Nenn said. “The goblin is friendly. They said Hunters are on their way here.”
“Well fuck,” Aiden said while scanning the forest. “I don’t see anywhere defensible. We’re going to have to make our stand here.”
As if on cue Nenn heard the sound of brush being forcefully pushed out of the way. The sound of branches breaking and twigs snapping underfoot brought the group's attention towards the three figures lumbering through the forest at a pace.
The figures were tall, odd eared fellows, featuring a brownish green skin that seems like perfect camouflage for the forest backdrop. They were bulky with muscle, and yet slightly hunched over. They wore an assortment of leather armor and dirty worn cloth clothing, all of which looked to be well-worn and battle tested. The hunters were armed with a collection of long knives and an ax that shone in the otherwise dull forest light.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
If Nenn had to take a guess, he would say these were orcs. And if they weren’t before, they are now. The party took up their positions, Aiden taking the lead with Nenn behind him. Harper hid behind a tree somewhat in the middle, and the twins took up the rear. They both looked to be busy, concentrating on something.
“[Steadfast Courage]” Aiden said. Nenn felt a surge of energy and power course through him. He held his staff a little bit tighter, ready to engage the enemy before him.
The orcs broke into a sprint, now that they had sighted their prey. The party was oddly calm considering they were about to engage in life or death combat, but then again they had been training for this their entire lives. Nenn looked at the lead orc and thought with intent.
[Entangling Roots]
The ground just ahead of the lead orc ruptured as roots shot up out of the ground and thickened. The orc was too close to change course and stepped right into the nest of undergrowth, quickly finding its world perspective changed. It tripped, slamming its head hard into the ground. The two orcs behind their toppled leader had to break their momentum to dodge around their fallen comrade only to end up joining it a second later when a blue and black bolt of magical energy sailed through the air smiting directly into their chests.
Nenn advanced with Aiden, weapons drawn, closing the gap on the screaming orcs. The orcs flailed about, managing to find their resolve just as the party’s melee fighters engaged.
“[Entangling Roots]” Nenn said out loud and his chosen opponent struggled to get out of its half-upright position. Nenn lunged forward with his momentum, pushing the blunt end of the combat staff into the orc's thigh. The orc buckled, losing the battle against the tangle of roots.
“[Shield Bash]”Aiden said, and the sound of metal smashing into leatherbound flesh rang through the forest. His foe found itself knocked off its feet, crashing into the ground. It also found itself dead a moment later when Aiden followed through with his short sword, plunging it into the orcs neck.
Nenn wasn’t idle with his own opponent as he willed the roots to constrict tighter and tighter as he smashed the blunt end of the combat staff into whatever squishy part he could gain purchase on. Eventually the large body just stopped moving.
“[Mana Bolt]”
“[Shadow Bolt]”
Nenn’s head snapped towards the twins only to see the bolts veer off towards where the orcs had come from. A sickening squelching sound came from the forest as a fourth orc lumbered into sight with two smoldering wounds to its chest. It staggered and fell to a knee, using its rusted metal sword to support itself.
Nenn strode towards the nearly dead orc, only to feel a piercing pain at his shin. He jumped away, landing awkwardly on his one good leg. On the ground beside him was the first orc that had fallen to his entangling roots. It had managed to get an arm free and was busy hacking away at its intertwined prison with a dagger. It had seized the opportunity to stab Nenn in the leg when he had gotten too close.
Its minor victory was short lived as Aiden punctured its back with his sword, taking all the fight out of the concussed orc, leaving it to bleed out in the bed of roots.
“Nenn!” Harper called out as she moved out of her hiding spot. Nenn turned his attention to her, just as she casted a spell of her own.
“[Healing Bolt]” she said as a blueish-green orb of magic sailed through the air and hit Nenn. He instantly felt the shooting pain from his shin begin to dull as the flesh began to knit itself closed. He took a tentative step with the leg, and found it held just fine. It felt sore, but that was an okay trade off for functionality. Nenn moved towards the fourth Orc just to see Aiden engage it with another shield bash, followed by a puncturing stab to the stomach, and a final gouging to its neck as it went still.
The group stood straight and looked around, waiting for something else to jump out at them, but the forest was silent. They moved back together, sighing in relief that they had all lived through their first combat together.
“Fuck that was something,” Nenn said. “Thank you Harper for your healing. My leg functions like it's as good as new, but it feels sore.”
“I guess my healing isn’t that powerful yet. I will keep the side effects in mind. Let me know if anything else comes of it,” Harper said.
“I’m just glad everyone remembered why we call out spell names during combat,” Aiden said.
“Yeah, the last thing I want to do is blast someone in the back because they move into one of my spells,” Liz said.
“How is everyone doing on resources? I’m half spent,” Jack said.
“Same,” Liz said.
“I’ve got another 4 casts left in me if needed,” Harper said.
“I could use a small break. I’m at 20 stamina,” Aiden said.
“I second that notion,” Nenn said. “Let me try something out while we wait.”
Using his good leg, Nenn pushed his heel into the ground and dragged it around himself, kicking up some of the underbrush as he formed a circle around himself. Circle complete he sat down, criss-crossing his legs and putting his palms down against his knees. He took a deep breath and released it, letting the stress that had built in his body flow out of him, and allowing the abundant natural energy around him flow in to take its place. It was an enrapturing feeling. One that felt just right to Nenn. It felt, well, natural. He felt calm and serene, like a blade of grass swaying gently in the wind.
The rest of the group set about scavenging anything they could off of the orc hunters. A pile of used leather armor quickly accumulated and was all found to be unusable. The armor would have to be thoroughly washed to get rid of the disgusting scent of the orcs. And then it would have to be repaired. Most of the armor featured magical scorching, stab wounds, and plenty of wear and tear that made the armor a firm downgrade when compared to their starter equipment.
The weapons on the other hand were quite valuable, in particular the ax. It was a decent sized wood cutting ax, so it would double as an excellent tool for the foreseeable future. Each of the orcs were carrying a long metal knife. They all featured some level of rust, but were undoubtedly sharp. And finally, there was the short sword that had been recovered from the fourth orc. On closer inspection, the sword was found to be more like a machete than a sword. It would be another useful tool going forwards.
There were a few perishable items found on the orcs as well. A small drawn closed bag of nuts, and a small piece of fruit was found in another. Four waterskins were found as well. Harper had said not to use them before we got them cleaned out properly. Citing something about germs and otherworldly bacteria.
Once Nenn was feeling fully refreshed he stood up and left his meditation circle. Remarkably his formerly injured leg was now feeling completely better. It was no longer sore in any measure. In fact, all of his limbs felt well rested. He limbered up relishing the feeling of his renewed body, and rejoined the group.
“And there he is, the man who wanted to skip out on undressing corpses,” Jack said.
“Mmm, yeah. It was well worth it. I have a passive ability that lets me recover at an increased rate while I meditate. My leg and my whole body for that matter feel as good as new. Better even.”
“Did you check your status sheet?” Aiden asked.
“No? Why?” Nenn asked.
“Do you see a dim blinking blue dot in the top right side of your vision?” Harper said.
“Hmm, yeah, I guess I do. How long has that been there?” Nenn asked.
“Since we resolved combat with the orcs I think. Go ahead and open it,” Aiden said.
“Status,” Nenn said and a piece of paper appeared between his hands.
NEW ENTRIES IN COMBAT LOG
“Oh, we have a combat log. Neat, let me take a look at that. Combat log,” Nenn said. The piece of paper rolled up in his hands and then unfurled, this time showing his combat log. He began to read it.
Party Combat(5): 4 entries. 0% Party Combat penalty applied due to number of enemies and level difference.
Level 5 Orc Hunter killed. Killing Blow. +50 experience. Bonus for level difference + 40 experience.
Level 5 Orc Hunter killed. Party Combat. +50 experience. Bonus for level difference + 40 experience.
Reached Level 2. Rewards to be given once combat resolves.
Level 5 Orc Hunter killed. Critical Assist. +50 experience. Bonus for level difference + 30 experience.
Reached Level 3. Rewards to be given once combat resolves.
Level 5 Orc Hunter killed. Party Combat. +50 experience. Bonus for level difference + 20 experience.
Party Combat(5): Resolves. Please see Status Sheet for stat changes.
“Oh fuck yeah, level 3 already?” Nenn said.
STATUS
Stat changes indicated by ().
NAME: Glenn (Nenn) Kerr
SPECIES: Human
ORIGIN: Earth ([0.0.0.0.0] Year 0, Day 0, Hour 0, Minute 0, Second 0.)
SHIELD: 140/140
HEALTH: 140/140
STAMINA: 140/140
MANA: 140/140
STATS:
VITALITY: 14/14 (+4)
STRENGTH: 14/14 (+4)
DEXTERITY: 14/14 (+4)
INTELLIGENCE: 14/14 (+4)
WISDOM: 14/14 (+4)
COMBAT LEVEL: 3
COMBAT CLASS: Druid
“Well that's good to see,” Nenn said. “I feel approximately 40% better than before.”
Jack laughed. “Yeah, I’d say, we all got 10 stat points per level, it looks like. I only get 1 per level in strength and dexterity, but in return I get 3 per level in Intelligence and wisdom.”
“Same here,” Liz said. “I just wish I could distribute them myself.”
“That’s probably for the best that you don’t. I don’t want to have to spend another year babysitting your glass cannon ass again,” Harper said. “ I got the same distribution as the twins.”
“And I got the opposite. Extra vitality and strength, less intelligence and wisdom,” Aiden said.
“I got even +2’s down the board,” Nenn said.
“Goddamned jack-of-all trades class,” Jack said with a bit of a laugh.
“Did anyone get anything unique or special?” Nenn asked.
“No, just level up stats? Did you?” Aiden asked.
“No, I was just wondering. I wonder when we will get our next ability.”
“Level 5,” Harper said. “I asked the Tutorial guide about that. Active abilities at 5, 15, 25, 35, etc. Passives at 10, 20, 30, and so on. Until 100. Then the guide refused to answer what happens after reaching level 100.”
“Eh, that’s for us to find out then,” Aiden said.
The group collected all of the items, and passed them around. Everyone other than Aiden got a long knife to wield. It seemed as though daggers were a universal constant. It didn't matter what class you had picked, you still were able to wield the knife fairly well. Made a certain kind of sense, seeing that it was just a slightly oversized kitchen utensil. It got Nenn thinking. He was hoping he didn’t need a fork mastery or a spoon mastery to eat now. Jack hung onto the short sword machete for safe keeping. Harper had the waterskins attached to her waist, and Liz carried the rest of the edible consumables.
Just as the group was about to depart there was a rustling in the bush. The group turned to see the goblin from before stagger out from its hiding place, none the worse for wear.
“You kill hunters?!” the goblin said. “How?”
“Teamwork and superior human ingenuity,” Nenn said. “Did you not see the fight?”
“No. Goblin sleep when hiding. Make it hard to find,” the goblin said.
“Ah well, as you can see you have four very dead orc hunters here,” Nenn said.
“Good. Good. But also bad. Very bad,” the goblin said. “More hunters will come. Look for dead hunters. Want revenge.”
“Ah, well, that makes sense when you put it that way. Although if they are all like that, we shouldn’t have any problems with them,” Nenn said.
“They weak. We inside Orc territory. Weak hunt inside. Strong hunt outside. Strong orcs will come. Revenge,” the goblin said.
“Can you take us to your village?” Aiden asked, finally joining the conversation.
“Yes, yes. Village is that way. We go soon. There before nightfall,” the goblin said.
“Just one thing before we go,” Nenn said as he headed towards the obelisk.
A couple of minutes later the group and the goblin began the trek through the forest towards the goblin’s village. Nenn had wanted to leave a message for the future integrated humans to follow. Nenn cut a section of bark off of one of the trees facing towards the Obelisk and carved the following message for all future integrated humans to read.
‘“Goblins are friendly. Orcs are hostile.’
Hopefully that would stop other humans from going full on murder hobo on the goblins as soon as they emerge into the world. After all, goblins were the usual entry level monsters in a lot of video games, so it made some kind of cruel sense that these goblins were there as experience pinatas.