The others had to wake me once we reached the outpost. I groggily rubbed my eyes and exited the wagon. It was early afternoon, and four guards were waiting to greet us at the outpost's gate. Each guard wore light plate armor or chainmail and carried long spears or halberds. Some had a sword, axe, or mace on their hip as well.
"Welcome to Cragtree Outpost. State your business," one of the guards demanded.
"We're just here to let the thauks rest for a few hours and get some sleep ourselves," Gareth replied.
"Is that you, Gary?" a guard shouted back.
"In the flesh, got four others traveling with me!" the merchant cheerfully answered.
The guards ushered us through the gate, slamming it behind us. The outpost itself was a small stone building surrounded by a low wall. We exited the wagon and introduced ourselves to the men. As I spoke to one of the guards named Robert, I felt a massive wave of boredom wash over me.
"Hey, Robert, do you guys mind if I let my familiar into the outpost? He's getting a bit restless," I queried the man. I made sure to explain that Teos was a giant fire-breathing saber-toothed lion to avoid any mishaps.
"Sure thing. I'll open the gate back up," he replied.
I went to respond right as Teos bounded over the wall and landed silently next to me. It startled the men, but they relaxed when the lion sat beside me. I could actually feel how proud the big cat was about his grand entrance.
"Sorry, he has separation anxiety," I apologized as the guards made excuses to step away.
"You can't do that! You're going to give someone a heart attack!" I scolded the lion as if he was an unruly dog.
I pulled Telovir beside us and asked him if we needed to worry about the guards, even this far from Larell and the arena.
"No, at least, I don't think so. See those insignias on their armor? The Guild employs them," he said quietly.
"Guild?" I asked.
"The Hunter's Guild. They offer many different professions. I'll explain more later, but it's something you and the team should consider once we get to Fayne. Ask the guards here. I'm sure they're happy to inform you," he responded, his voice at normal volume.
Each guard displayed an emblem on their right pauldron. A golden crest about the size and shape of a playing card with a silver sword carved into it. The craftsmanship of the emblems was exquisite. Something like that on Earth would only be possible with machines or at the hands of a master metalworker. Gareth was chatting with two of the guards, and I wandered over to see what they were discussing.
"Ah, Alex! I was just asking these men where everyone else was. This outpost normally has twenty to thirty guardsmen," he told me.
"Something happened to a city near the capital. That's all we know. The Guild requested that everyone except us be sent out to investigate it. They were ordered to Fayne and were portaled to the city from there," the guard named Robert replied.
"Which city?" asked Gareth.
"Oraphis, I believe," Robert answered.
"I heard something happened with the Great Seal there," the other guard said grimly.
"Don't go spreading rumors, Tuck! We know nothing about it!" Robert snapped at his comrade.
"The seal? What seal?" I asked, genuinely curious.
"You been living in a cave, Alex? The seals as in The Seven Seals of the Pantheon. Those seals," Robert replied as if it was something I should know.
"I'm from... a really secluded village. They taught us nothing of the outside world," I lied. I wasn't sure how they'd respond to me being an alien on their planet.
Gareth sighed and put a hand on my shoulder. "It's alright, lad. Don't let Robert and Tuck here make you feel bad. The Seven Seals are somewhat of a fairy tale. They do exist, but there are hundreds of stories about their true purpose. One of the two most widely-believed stories is that the gods sealed away some terrible monster in each one. The other is that the gods sealed away the previous rulers of Astika. We call them Tyrants. Allegedly, they were savage beings that culled the world of the first race of mortals and replaced them with their terrible minions. They are the natural enemies of the gods. There's no way to prove any of this, though. It's folklore and fairy tales. Various races eventually built cities on or around the great seals, as they emit tremendous magical power that can be harnessed. Oraphis is one of those cities," he explained to me.
"The first race of mortals? How do you know they existed?" I asked, now wholly engrossed in this story.
"We have found many powerful devices from them called Artifacts. They had much more knowledge and influence over magic than us and built many incredible creations and powerful weapons. Many of the magic crystals we use were learned from some of the first Artifacts we discovered long ago. I'm happy to explain more later, but now I need to get me some sleep," Gareth answered.
I bid him goodnight and walked back to Teos. I found myself wondering what the Great Seals actually were, and what the gods had possibly sealed away. The fact that deities even existed here was almost too outrageous to believe. I was desperate to know more about the first mortals and their creations. If Gareth hadn't insisted on sleeping I could have talked to him for hours about all this. I'd love to know more about the goddess Freya, and why she had even noticed someone like me. My group was now heading to bed also, but I wasn't tired due to my slumber on the way here. I told Teos to get some rest and headed back toward Tuck and Robert.
"Telovir told me earlier that you work for the Hunter's Guild. He also suggested my team should consider joining up. What exactly does that entail?" I asked the men.
"Well, the Guild has four major branches and quite a few subdivisions. The four of us here are Silver Swords or Silswords for short. Silswords are typically assigned as guards around the kingdom. If there's an incident, we can be deployed as an impromptu militia. It's usually a pretty quiet job, though. The second branch is dedicated to magic and magical research. They're called Arcanists. Their insignia is like ours, but with an ornate eye in place of the sword," Robert explained.
"I've actually heard of the second group! Leo said his parents were Arcanists," I replied enthusiastically.
"Aye, they're always coming up with useful tools and magical breakthroughs," Tuck said.
"Third, you have the good old-fashioned Hunters. Most people call 'em Goldbows on account of their symbol, though. They focus on reconnaissance and scouting missions. They can also get sent into combat units with us Silswords if we need specialized troops, depending on their subdivision," he told me.
"What's the last group?" I asked eagerly.
"The last group is kind of a weird one. They're the Adventurer Division. They focus on exploring dungeons and other similar locations. They report back to the Guild on their findings so the Guild can assign proper ranks and levels to the dungeons. You see, dungeons have this strange thing where even if you kill the monsters, they all come back eventually. So the Adventure Division checks it out and helps assign it a ranking. That way, a Level 10 doesn't accidentally enter a Level 100 Dungeon and get themselves killed," Robert said.
"What are dungeons?" I asked, my mind filling with all the possibilities of what kind of challenges a dungeon could offer.
"Boy, you really were secluded. Dungeons are areas with high ambient magical properties. They're some of the most dangerous areas in the world but also offer amazing rewards. I've never been to one, and I'd like to keep it that way," Robert responded.
"I heard that dungeons were created by the gods to help make us strong. They resurrect all the monsters and minions inside so more people can challenge them. That way, when the Great Seals break, there will be people powerful enough to help defend the world," said Tuck.
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"I've heard that the gods created them, too. Not sure if it's true, though. That's enough of the Great Seals nonsense, though!" Rob scolded his companion.
Tuck just waved him off and wandered back to his post. I thanked Robert for his time and decided to meditate while the rest of the team slept. Teos approached and curled around me, sleeping while I focused. A short while passed before a notification interrupted me.
[You have reached Level 11.]
Finally! I was close after the ambush and was excited to start getting those bonus attributes from my class. The extra endurance was a welcome benefit, as quite a bit of my gear had none of it as a bonus. I was fine for the short, intense fights, but if we encountered a long, drawn-out battle, I was worried my stamina would deplete too quickly. Everyone was still asleep when I finished my meditation, so I decided to pull up my stats and see how much I had improved since the last time.
Alexander Venriel
Level 11 Runeguard (2%)
Health: 100%
Mana: 200/200
Stamina: 100%
Prime Rune: Ironwall (Intermediate Level 5 - 3%):
* Shield Charge - Rush at your target with blinding speed, blocking all attacks and finishing with an attack from your shield. Cooldown: 30 seconds. Cost: 5 Mana.
* Reflection - Send projectiles and magic attacks back at enemies for 5 seconds. Cooldown: 60 seconds. Cost: 15 Mana.
* The Immovable Object - Raise your shield and block all attacks regardless of direction or position for 6 seconds. You take considerably less damage for the duration. You cannot move for the duration. You are immune to knockbacks and control effects for the duration. Cooldown - 24 Hours. Cost: 10 Mana.
* Shield Mastery - (Passive) Shield attacks deal three times as much damage. (Upgrades: 1)
Augment Rune 1: Warlord (Intermediate Level 4 - 95%):
* War Cry - Shout a mighty war cry that increases your strength and speed by 15%. This bonus also applies to nearby allies. The effect lasts for one hour. Cooldown: None. Cost: 40 Mana.
* War Stomp - Stomp the ground damaging and slowing nearby enemies for 6 seconds. In addition, you take 50% less damage from enemies slowed by this ability. Cooldown: 20 Seconds. Cost: 20 Mana. (Upgrades: 1)
* Warlord's Cache - (Passive) Grants you a personal dimensional space to store armor, weapons, and other items. Using mental commands, you may immediately equip or remove armor and weapons.
* Blademaster - (Passive) Increases the rate at which weapon-related talents progress by 100%. Also grants you a bonus depending on what type of weapon you are currently wielding.
* Swords: Chance for attacks to be critical strikes that cause massive damage.
* Axes: Increases attack speed by 10%.
* Spears: Chance for successful attacks to cause an instant second attack.
* Maces: Increases strength by 10%.
Augment Rune 2: Onslaught (Intermediate Level 3 - 64%):
* Frenzied Strikes - Begin a barrage of strikes against a single enemy. Each successful attack increases your attack speed by 5%. Stacks up to 6 times. Duration: 8 seconds. Duration is refreshed upon gaining a new stack. Upon reaching max stacks, you may not refresh the duration. Cooldown: 90 seconds. Cost: 25 Mana.
* Crushing Blow - Deliver a staggering blow to an enemy. If successful, the target is stunned for 0.5 seconds. Cooldown: 45 seconds. Cost: 15 Mana.
* Execution - Attempt to finish off a critically wounded enemy. This attack deals 300% damage. The cooldown is reset if the target dies. Cooldown: 60 seconds. Cost: 10 Mana.
* Relentless - (Passive) Any time you suffer a control or slow effect, you heal for 10% of your maximum health. Control and slow abilities have greatly diminished effects on you. (Upgrades: 1)
Augment Rune 3: Guardian (Novice Level 2 - (84%):
* Provoke - Let out a challenging roar that causes all enemies within 6 yards to attack you for 8 seconds. Has diminished effectiveness against sapient beings. Cooldown: 25 Seconds. Cost: None.
* Intercede - Charge to an ally's position; any damage they receive for the next 3 seconds is negated. Cooldown: 60 Seconds. Cost: 30 Mana.
* Freya's Blessing - (Passive) Your Vigor Attribute is increased by 100%. Your natural Physical Resistance is increased by 25%.
* Titan's Favor - (Passive) Every time you block or parry an attack, you gain an instance of Titan's Favor. This ability may stack up to 12 times. - [Titan's Favor: Increases your strength by 2% for 2 minutes.]
Talents:
* Shield Expertise - Level 9 (49%) - Improves your ability to use shields effectively. Each level also improves your ability to block and increases damage dealt with shields.
* One-handed Axe Expertise - Level 1 (84%) - Improves your ability to wield one-handed axes effectively. Each level also increases damage dealt with one-handed axes.
* One-handed Sword Expertise - Level 7 (4%) - Improves your ability to wield one-handed swords effectively. Each level also increases the damage dealt with one-handed swords.
* Spear Expertise - Level 8 (31%) - Improves your ability to wield spears effectively. Each level also increases the damage dealt with spears.
* Meditation - Level 2 (94%) - Allows you to focus and gain experience by analyzing your previous encounters. Each level increases the experience gained from this action.
* Force of Will - Level 2 (8%) - Enables you to overcome control effects you are suffering from by using your willpower. Each level reduces the focus and resolve needed to break free from the effects.
Attributes:
Armor: 880
Attack: 165
Strength: 72
Dexterity: 16
Vigor: 200
Endurance: 47
Intelligence: 20
Regeneration: 15
Magical Resistance: 15%
Physical Resistance: 25%
Movement Speed: +0%
Wow, my armor had nearly doubled with the addition of the Moonstalker gear and Ebonsteel shield. I still needed to replace the common helm, gloves, legs, and boots I was wearing since I lost mine when we fled the arena. The common gear had matching stats but was lower quality than my abandoned equipment, and the boots lacked the 5% movement speed bonus I had. My Guardian Rune was close to its first upgrade, also. If given a choice, I'd choose either Freya's Blessing or Titan's Favor, as they were the two most impactful skills the Rune granted me. I leaned back against the sleeping lion and relaxed for a while.
After a few hours, my group began rousing from their rest and came back outside. We were waiting on Leo, but it was fine as Gareth had to hitch up the thauks to the wagon. We conversed about nothing in particular for a while, and Leo joined us shortly. I thanked the guards again and climbed back into our transport.
A short while later, the outpost was far behind us, and Gareth announced we had another half-day of travel to Fayne.
"I was talking to the guards about the Guild and its branches, Tel. They also explained dungeons to me. Pretty exciting stuff. How would it work if we wanted to join the Guild? They assign us to whichever division we would fit into best?" I asked him.
"I think they recommend where your skills would likely be the most useful, but ultimately it will be your choice," Telovir answered.
"What about the dungeons? Do you know what causes the strange things to happen inside them?" I asked my companions.
"Some say the gods place them here for our benefit. Others think they're just areas of very high ambient magic," Leo answered.
"I've heard stories, but let's not worry about dungeons until we arrive in Fayne and you speak to the Guild. If that's something you're all interested in, of course. Hunters Guild members receive many special privileges, which would deter retaliation from the Bainmourths. If a member dies under mysterious circumstances, they investigate quite thoroughly," Telovir stated.
The rest of our trip was peaceful, and I was sitting up front with Gareth discussing other myths and legends from this world. Time passed quickly, and eventually, I could see the walled city of Fayne in the distance.
It was late afternoon when we approached the city gates. A pair of guards asked us about our purpose for coming to the city, and we explained we were seeking employment from the Hunters Guild. They ushered us through without issue. We paid Gareth and prepared to part ways with the helpful merchant.
"Thanks again for everything, Gary. Look us up if you ever need anything!" I told the man.
"Will do! If you ever need a ride back to Larell, let me know! I make the trip about once a month," he explained.
"You got a deal," I said while Cass stifled a laugh. We shook hands and parted ways after the others said their goodbyes.
Fayne was slightly larger than Larell, and the layout differed according to Telovir. He explained that the city's center was dedicated to the Hunters Guild, while the area around that was primarily vendors and tradespeople. We searched for a place to stay close to the central location and began walking toward the inner city. I found a stable that agreed to house Teos for our stay here, at least until we figured something else out. I reassured the lion and told him I'd be back in the morning and paid the stableboy. I had to stop when we spotted a man at a food cart cooking something that smelled incredible. It was some form of meat on a stick, and I had to have it. The man explained that it was grilled Uakari meat. I bought four sticks and handed him 2 silver. Which was way more than the stated cost, but he deserved a tip too. The cook thanked me profusely, and we resumed our walk. I offered my companions a meat stick each, and all took one except Leo. I shrugged and ate two while we walked. Leo waited until we finished our food before explaining that Uakari were giant arachnids.
"I don't care if it was spider meat. It was delicious!" I declared.
"No, no, I just don't deal with spiders. In any capacity. I don't like them. We have an understanding. I don't eat them, and they don't eat me," Leo responded.
"You really think that?" Cass asked him.
"It has worked for twenty years. Why stop now?" he asked.
We all laughed at the obviously illogical statement coming from such a logical man. The group continued chatting during our walk, and I was taking in the new city. All the sights and smells were amazing, and I could actually enjoy it since I wasn't rushing to escape this time. It was beginning to get dark now, and Telovir spotted a tavern that he decided was close enough to the Guild Hall. The place was called 'The Nostalgic Peon', which I found hilarious. Our group entered, and I approached the woman behind the bar.
"Hi, there! I want four rooms, please," I said cheerfully.
"I only have one room available tonight," she responded flatly.
"That's fine. We'll take it," Telovir declared without hesitation.
We all looked at him like he'd gone crazy, but he insisted. We trudged up the stairs behind the bar, and the woman let us into our single room. The room was furnished only with two small beds and a nightstand. Luckily, the floor had enough room for two of us to lie down. This prompted an argument about which two of us got to sleep in the beds. Cass and Telovir won, so Leo and I were relegated to the floor. There was a public washroom down the hall, but I wasn't sure how I felt about that yet. I handed the woman the coins for the room with a sigh.
"Why didn't we keep looking, Tel?" I asked.
"At this time of day, it will be nearly impossible to even find one room this close to the central city. We were lucky to find this one. Get some rest, and tomorrow we can decide if the Guild is something you three want to consider joining." he stated.
"I think we've all decided already, Tel," I replied. Cass and Leo agreed with me.
"Are you sure? You don't have to just because I suggested it. There are other options," Telovir said.
"We decided long ago that we'd stick together. We're a team that you helped build, Tel. More than that, we're all bonded. I don't think any one of us wants to go off on our own now and become a baker," Cass declared.
"I can't imagine doing anything else. You all showed me that I could fight. I can be a part of something bigger than myself. I'm in!" Leo announced.
All three turned to me. I grinned.
"That settles it, then. Tomorrow, we head to The Hunters Guild," I stated.