BUGBEAR KILLER RANK I: YOU HAVE FOUGHT AND KILLED OVER A DOZEN BUGBEARS. YOU HAVE EARNED +2% TO ATTACK AND +2% TO DEFENSE WHEN FIGHTING BUGBEARS.

RAPTORS BANE RANK I: YOU HAVE FOUGHT AND KILLED OVER TWO DOZEN VELOCIORAPTORS. YOU HAVE EARNED +2% TO ATTACK AND +2% TO DEFENSE WHEN FIGHTING VELOCIORAPTORS.

The second one was a surprise. Loch had thought he’d gotten a Bane or Killer Achievement for the Raptors already. Cerie hadn’t been able to provide much help in explaining how the numbers required for each Rank, or even to get the Achievement, were determined. It seemed to be different for each monster. Hobs and Raptors had taken over two dozen to get the first Rank where Bugbears had been just a dozen. The Katshituashku had only required one kill.

Strength of the monster most likely had something to do with it, along with intelligence. In the end it didn’t matter. The Achievement titles would come when they came. Loch had no intention of specifically targeting certain monsters to hunt for the titles. He’d done that in games before, but that was a game where it wasn’t life or death. He had no doubt there would be some more eager, and fool hardy in his opinion, to risk their lives hunting Achievement titles.

It had taken some convincing for him to allow the Achievements to be documented. He wanted everything about Classes and Abilities to be in their new encyclopedias, and agreed on just the basics of Achievement titles, but had feared given specifics would lead to people hunting for them.

Only time would tell.

He moved on to more of the notifications.

YOUR SOUL WEAPON ONYX HAS REACHED LEVEL ELEVEN. BECAUSE OF YOUR ACTIONS YOUR BOND WITH THE WEAPON HAS INCREASED. ONYX NOW DOES +2% ATTACK PER EVERY FIVE WEAPON LEVELS, +3% SLASHING DAMAGE PER EVERY FIVE WEAPON LEVELS AND +3% BASHING DAMAGE PER EVERY FIVE WEAPON LEVELS. ALSO BECAUSE OF THE INCREASED BOND, ONYX NOW DOES THE BASE DAMAGE OF IT’S FULL TWO-HANDED FORM REGARDLESS OF SIZE.

Loch smiled, surprised at the change to Onyx. He hadn’t expected the Connection to reward him for learning to manipulate the size of Onyx. That it would do the larger size’s base damage regardless of the axe’s size was a very welcome reward. It would pack a huge punch when thrown now, especially with all the attack modifiers added on.

THE REPUTATION OF CLAN BRADY WITH THE SILVER BARK CLAN OF TIRNA HAS BEEN REDUCED TO ANTAGONISTIC.

Cerie had mentioned Reputation, it was just not something Loch had encountered yet. They hadn’t come across any other Clans until the Silver Bark. He had expected the Reputation to start at Hated. The more he thought about it, the more Loch realized that for the Silver Bark, Clan Brady was just another obstacle. They hadn’t cared about Clan Brady, or even him, specifically. They just cared that there was a Clan to defeat in order to claim the territory.

The Silver Bark didn’t hate Clan Brady. They didn’t care about Clan Brady at all. They cared that there were people in their way. It could have been anyone, even another race. There was an obstacle, that was what they cared about.

Reputation was an odd metric, according to Cerie, in that it didn’t do much. A Clan could be Hated with another Clan, but they could still negotiate or interact without fighting. It just measured how hard those negotiations would be and how high the chances of them turning heated and leading to war.

Cerie had said that it was also a way to judge the trustworthiness of another Clan. A higher Reputation, the more likely they were to remain allies. Things could always change quickly, and in the Connection it most often did.

Loch had come across Reputation in games and it generally meant vendors giving cheaper prices, NPCs reacting better. Things like that. The Connected System’s version felt odd. It probably had more bearing with more direct Clan interactions. Things that Cerie wasn’t that involved in.

Clan Brady’s Reputation with the Silver Bark Clan didn’t matter. Loch had no intention of negotiating with them. They didn’t belong on Earth, and he knew enough about the Silver Bark to realize that allowing them any territory would mean the constant threat of their expansion. Cerie and Elora had described the Clan in enough detail for Loch to understand the Silver Bark Overjarl’s motivation. He was tasked with growing the Clan, endlessly. Part of it was forced on them by the Connected System but part of it was the natural result of the Clan’s policies. Their members had to keep Advancing, even the highest ranking. There was no resting, no sitting back and letting others take over. Not with their lifespans. And not with the Clan’s regard to weakness.

To stagnant was to show weakness. It was to allow others to Advance to equal or grow stronger and those others would supplant the weaker. The higher ranking members could not allow that. And families kept growing, which created more Adapted looking to Advance and they needed somewhere to go. Which meant finding new worlds and territories to expand into so everyone could keep Advancing. Without those new territories, they would tear each other apart. There would be the strongest, but nothing else and those strongest would fight each other.

The Clan kept expanding because it had to.

Loch didn’t want Clan Brady to get to that point.

If Loch negotiated some territory to the Silver Bark it would just be a temporary stop to their expansion plans. They would break any treaties eventually because they’d have no choice. No other Clans could exist on a world with the Silver Bark. They were a parasite, similar to the Wendigo.

It was a problem of the Clan’s own making and they showed no desire to change.

Loch wanted them off Earth.

He just didn’t know how to do that yet.

The elves they had fought were strong. If not for Loch’s higher Level, things would probably have gone badly for his people. What would it be like for the Clan overall?

The one benefit that Clan Brady had was in numbers. Cerie said that the restrictions on the invaders coming through portals was limited. The Resources and Spirit it took to power a Portal and send a single Adapted through was staggering. They had killed a dozen Elves, there wouldn’t be that many left. It wasn’t like the gaunts.

The Silver Bark were a threat but were they a dire threat?

Loch still thought so. Each Silver Bark, because of their experience, was more than a match for any two, maybe three or more, from Clan Brady. Things with the elves would escalate and Clan Brady was not ready.

He looked around the campfire, seeing the newcomers including both Stephanie’s and Josh’s groups. How many more people would have arrived at the Clanhold by the time they got back? Six? A dozen? Two dozen? How many would be combatants?

The problem was the same as when facing the gaunts. There were a lot of people but not enough fighters and not enough time or training to get them Leveled quick enough. Most of the Silver Bark were low Level as well, maybe not as low as Clan Brady, but the difference was in experience. The Silver Bark were not new to the Connection. They weren’t struggling to survive. They had been living in the Connection for centuries. Their homes, how they got their food, how they got their training, it had all been set up. It was like what Northwood had been like pre-Connection. There was routine. Kids knew when to go to school, what to learn to pursue future careers and training. Grocery stores were places to get food. No one had to hunt if they didn’t want to. There were people starving, people that fell between the cracks, and most likely there were those in the cities of the Silver Bark.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

But none would be on the expedition to Earth.

Humanity had lost everything. It gave the elves a huge advantage. One that Loch had to figure out how to overcome.

Loch had gotten through the notifications. He opened his Status to see the changes. He had six free points to spend. His Perception and Dexterity were lagging behind the rest. None of his Abilities directly related to the two Stats, but he remembered the description for Warbreaker. It had referenced relaying on all Stats. He could always use more Strength and Endurance, or even Intelligence and Willpower, but it was time to start bringing up the other two. He assigned three points to Perception and three to Dexterity.

NAME: Lochlan Brady

RACE: Human Rank E

CLASS: Warbreaker

Patron: Thor, The Storm

LEVEL: 26

STRENGTH: 49

Base: 45

Achievements: 10%

Equipment: 0

ENDURANCE: 48

Base: 44

Achievements: 10%

Equipment: 0

DEXTERITY: 38

Base: 35

Achievements: 10%

Equipment: 0

WILLPOWER: 47

Base: 43

Achievements: 11%

Equipment: 0

INTELLIGENCE: 46

Base: 42

Achievements: 11%

Equipment: 0

PERCEPTION: 36

Base: 33

Achievements: 10%

Equipment: 0

UNASSIGNED POINTS: 0

HEALTH: 480

Base: 480

Achievements: 0

Equipment: 0

STAMINA: 475

Base: 475

Achievements: 0

Equipment: 0

SPIRIT RESERVES: 4,789

Base: 4,650

Achievements: +3%

Equipment: 0

ATTACK: 25%

Base: 0

Achievements: +18%

Equipment: +7%

DEFENSE: 38%

Base: 0

Achievements: +18%

Equipment: +20%

ACHIEVEMENTS:

A GROWING CLAN RANK I

BANE OF RAPTORS RANK I

BEAR’S BANE RANK I

BREAKER OF WAR RANK I

BUGBEAR KILLER RANK I

CHIPMUNK KILLER RANK I

CLAN’S STRENGTH

DEFIANT CLANCHIEF

DEMON DESTROYER RANK I

DUNGEONEER RANK I

ELITE KILLER RANK 2

FIGHT FOR THE RESOURCES RANK I

FIRST ACHIEVEMENT EARNER

FIRST CHALLENGER

FIRST CLASSER

FIRST DUNGEONEER

FIRST TO FIVE

FIRST TO TEN

FIRST TO TWENTY-FIVE

GAUNTS BANE RANK 2

GIANTS BANE RANK 1

HIGHER LEVEL RANK 1

HIGHER LEVEL RANK 2

HIGHER LEVEL RANK 4

HOB KILLER RANK I

HUNGERS BANE

KATSHITUASHKU BANE RANK I

LEVEL MILESTONE RANK 1

LEVEL MILESTONE RANK 2

LEVEL MILESTONE RANK 3

ONE STRIKE

PATRON’S FIRST

RAT SLAYER RANK 1

RAPTORS BANE RANK I

REPEATED IGNORE RANK 1

STRIKING HIGHER

THE FIRST BANE

TROGLODYTE KILLER RANK I

UNPREPARED DUNGEONEER

WAR LEADER RANK I

SKILLS & ABILITIES:

EVALUATE RANK TWO (ACTIVE SKILL)

DEFIANT RAGE RANK TWO (ACTIVE ABILITY)

HEAT RESISTANCE RANK ONE (PASSIVE ABILITY)

MENTAL RESISTANCE RANK ONE (PASSIVE ABILITY)

POISON RESISTANCE RANK ONE (PASSIVE SKILL)

BOONS:

THUNDERCLAP RANK TWO (ACTIVE ABILITY)

CLASS:

AURA OF ATTACK RANK TWO (ACTIVE ABILITY)

BREAKER’S BANNER RANK ONE (ACTIVE ABILITY)

LIGHTNING BULWARK RANK TWO (ACTIVE ABILITY)

OFFENSIVE/DEFENSIVE WEAPONRY (PASSIVE ABILITY)

PRECISION STRIKE RANK TWO (ACTIVE ABILITY)

STANCE RANK TWO (ACTIVE ABILITY)

RACIAL:

ADAPTABLE (PASSIVE SKILL)

DISEASE RESISTANCE (PASSIVE SKILL)

GO BEYOND RANK TWO (ACTIVE ABILITY)

TRAITS:

UNFETTERED

EQUIPMENT:

ONYX: LEVEL 11 SOUL WEAPON

CLEAVE RANK TWO (ACTIVE ABILITY)

LIGHTNING STRIKE RANK ONE (ACTIVE ABILITY)

SHIELD BASH RANK ONE (ACTIVE ABILITY)

SMASH RANK ONE (ACTIVE ABILITY)

WIDE CLEAVE RANK ONE (ACTIVE ABILITY)

CHALLENGER’S MAIL ARMOR SET 5 OF 5

CHALLENGER’S BOOTS

CHALLENGER’S BRACERS

CHALLENGER’S CHEST

CHALLENGER’S GLOVES

CHALLENGER’S LEGGINGS

ELEMENTAL SURGE

WINDSTEP

CLAN BRADY

CLAN RANK: CLANCHIEF

CLANHOLD: NORTHWOOD

REPUTATION: SILVER BARK CLAN - ANTAGONISTIC