Luke spent the entire trip back to Duncan's base explaining his own experience of what happened during the system, especially the parts concerning Tom and Awoken Myths, which was what Duncan appeared to actually be interested in. Duncan also quizzed him on the dungeon and the general response to the system. Duncan also taught them all the [Meditation] skill as thanks for their help. But It wasn't until they arrived at the school and people broke up to go about their own businesses that Luke's story finally ended.
"So Tom's got another school set up as the Awoken Myths settlement already. That explains why the guild name wasn't working," Duncan muttered. "And he has a resurrection skill already?"
"Yeah, I saw him resurrect an entire room's worth of people," Luke said.
"All at once? That's impossible at our level." Duncan said.
Luke shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you. He brought them back. That's actually why we're out here. Our friend died, and we left him because we didn't think we could bring him back." Luke said.
Duncan nodded. "I've been trying to collect the dead for the same reason. But my class doesn't offer that ability until I'm at least level 20, and it is a mana hog. Tom must have set up a ritual or something to harvest the mana."
Duncan shook his head as they walked past a group of people sitting in the school's halls, shivering in clothes too light for winter. The windows had been smashed in, and the floors were already filthy. Despite how nice and new the school seemed, the lights weren't on, and the air wasn't much warmer than the outside.
Children roamed the school, looking sullen and worried even as they played. But what really disturbed Luke was how many more kids there were than the adults. There were at least three kids for every adult.
"If you don't mind me asking. What happened to you, guys?" Luke asked.
Duncan's face fell, and his eyes glistened with unshed tears.
"In the beginning, it all seemed so innocent. We were up by the university when it started. When I got the notification, I didn't waste any time and just started having fun. Jaime and his friends … you met them earlier there full-on larpers, so they joined me too. For the first two hours, it was fun. Then, the goblins showed up. There were so many of them we never stood a real chance. For everyone we killed, at least ten more showed up. Fortunately, by this point, enough of us had our builds going, and we could fight back.
Anyway, We were forced to leave the university, and we lost a lot of friends that day. A lot of people got left behind, and a lot of people died. We tried heading north at first, but we got pushed back down south by a giant crocodile who had decided a winter urban environment was its new home. We hit up Costco for all it was worth on the way down. We have plenty of people who qualified for the [Pro-gamer] class, so we have plenty of storage space. We tried to keep heading north, but the Fraser River is spitting out monsters, so we headed back down south and ended up here. We've been trying to fortify the place and gather as many people as we could, but the goblins have been quickly spreading out since day two. They raided us last night and destroyed the electrical system and the plumbing." Duncan said.
Luke winced.
"Oh yes, the bathrooms need to be sealed, shit everywhere," Duncan said with a shit-eating grin of his own.
Then his grin fell away.
"The goblins have been killing, capturing, and raping their way through Newton. Thankfully, a lot of the kids were smart enough to hide under their beds, and the goblins were too stupid to check for them. Until we came for them." Duncan explained.
"That's awful," Luke muttered.
"Tell me about it. We have an entirely new world to explore, and instead, we're all stuck here fighting fragging goblins!"
“GOBLINS!!!!” Someone screamed.
Duncan's face turned ashen white.
“Point in case,” Duncan muttered as he took off running. “Shit shit shit shit”
Luke raced after drawing his new moonstone sword. Duncan raced through the school, and they quickly made it to the main entrance, which had become a battlefield.
Luke's eyes instantly fell upon at least a dozen goblins attempting to swarm over a makeshift barricade of piled tables and chairs.
Behind them, a group of people who looked straight out of a Renaissance fair wielded a collection of moonstone weaponry as they tried to keep the goblins at bay.
DING!!
New Quest: The Goblin Raid Ⅰ
During your adventures, you have encountered a tribe of goblin scouts assaulting what looks to be a helpless village! While these goblins will most likely lose if even one escapes, they will return in even greater numbers and kill everyone here.
Intervene. It seems likely that the goblins will overcome the villagers within, yet at the same time, the goblins have yet to spot you, giving you the chance to escape unscathed. What will you do?
Objectives: Option 1: Save the Refugees by defeating all the goblins. Refugees Alive: 364/364 Attacking Goblins: 104/130
Option 2: Escape the village without being killed.
Difficulty: Average
Reward: Experience
DING!!!
You have unlocked the Regional Quest: Bloody Goblin Horde
Goblins have invaded Kwantlen University. Despite only being here for a day, they have already kidnapped, raped, enslaved, and ritually sacrificed any humans they could get their hands on. Bring the fight to them and destroy the Bloody Horde.
Objectives:
???
???
Bonus Objectives:
Kill all of the Goblins: ??? / ???
???
???
Kill Goblin Shaman: 1/1
???
???
Tips:
Much of this quest has been hidden due to a lack of information. Expand your knowledge to gain further insights into the quest.
Rewards:
2 Levels for everyone involved, Bonus XP for Everyone, 1 Skill Upgrade, 5000 Settlement Points, Winter Event Guild Token
"Holy crap," Luke muttered.
Luke felt his heart begin to thunder as he charged. Gareth was already at the line, his new moonstone ax hacking through the neck and shoulder of one of the goblins, carving through its neck in a spray of blood.
"Fucking finally!!" Gareth called out as Luke ran up next to him, stabbing one of the goblins before it could attack his friend.
"Do you know how frustrating this has been?" Gareth asked as he ripped through the goblins on the barricade like Tissue paper. "First, it was that fucking hippo that killed Issac, then the lions, and then you guys one-shot the troll before I could do anything."
Gareth was smiling ear to ear as he slaughtered the goblin, his body starting to glow red.
"Now, this is a fight!!! This is how it's supposed to be. Come and get some, you green fucks" Gareth called out as he launched himself over the barricade.
Luke was just about to follow him. A blast of wind rushed past his left, sending the goblins flying away from the barricade and giving Gareth some space. Luke turned to find Duncan next to him, punching a goblin that had been about to stab him in the face, his fist wreathed in Lightning.
"We can't fight them on the barricade. It's going to collapse. We need to push them off and bring this fight outside." Duncan called out. "Follow the [Berserker]!!!"
Luke roared as he followed after. He didn't know why, but he was learning that sometimes it was just better to shut up and follow orders. Luke charged over the shoddy barricade. Bringing his sword around as he closed with the goblins, he crashed into them. Using the fact that he was double their height to its fullest, Luke all but trampled the first two goblins, bowling them over with his weight. The lucky ones were sent sprawling into the other behind them, sending the entire group to the ground in a tangle of limbs.
Gareth had already disappeared into the sea of green. Goblin limbs and gore were being sent flying as his friend cut loose and butchered the three-foot-tall monsters. All the while, his friend craved more.
Duncan and the rest of the Larpers didn't hesitate to take advantage. The Larpers dove into the ranks of goblins, and every single one of them used a different style: axes, spears, baseball bats, swords, and shields. Everyone had their own style, which was reflected in the fact that they were fighting more like a group of individuals rather than a true party.
Duncan put them all to shame, however. He shot out from behind the barricade on a sphere of wind, skating into the middle of the groups of goblins. Every goblin he touched died—from lightning, fire, or just dropping dead. Any time the goblins started to swarm him, he unleashed a gust of wind, flinging the goblins across the asphalt. He was like if Jackie Chan was the Last Airbender, tall and blonde, with glasses.
Unfortunately, it was at that point that reality caught back up with him as something sharp scraped across his ribs.
"Gah," Luke hissed as he snapped his attention towards the little goblin that had managed to slash him with a spear.
Feeling his adrenaline spiking in response to pain, Luke didn't give the goblin a chance for a follow-up attack. Luke snatched the spear just under his head before the goblin could pull it back. He sharply yanked the spear towards him, pulling the goblin off balance. Luke then introduced the goblin's face to his knee. There was a sickening crunch as the goblin was sent reeling backwards in a daze, the effects lasting more than long enough for his sword to flash out and send it joining its friend on the ground.
“where the hell has that guy been hiding?” one of the larpers asked.
“I found him wandering around,” Duncan shouted. In the meantime, kill them all. If any escape, they'll be back with reinforcements!”
Luke wanted to ask about these reinforcements, but he was cut off and nearly dropped his sword as an azure blue lizard man dressed in Victorian England style popped into existence next to him.
"Holy," Luke swore as the lizard man lunged forward faster than Luke had ever seen, squared a goblin on his sword, and shot a bolt of lightning from his hand, sending half a dozen goblins stumbling to the ground.
"Hello, friend. I'm the Lizard Wizard," the Azure Blue Lizard said before he teleported away again.
Luke opened his mouth to say something but shut it as he blocked another goblin spear. The goblins that had survived his bull rush were already regaining their footing and were now throwing themselves at him.
Luke's world quickly descended into chaos as he fought wide, swinging his sword and fist at goblin after goblin. He even had to block a spear thrust by grabbing hold of one of the goblins and using its body and an impromptu shield. Even still, his chainmail blocked dozens of attacks and probably saved his life.
But even with their success, the battle was taking its toll. At least six people were injured and forced to be dragged back to the school for healing.
Luke found himself fighting side by side with the Lizard wizard. The wizard was blasting goblins using a rapier coated in flames as he cut through the goblins. When they finally cut apart the last enemy, the two of them looked around for the next enemy, only to find nothing.
Taking a breath to regain his senses, Luke glanced around the battlefield. There were easily a hundred dead goblins littering the ground. Gareth was standing over a mound of dead goblins, an Ax in each hand, his entire body covered in blood, cheering his victory to heaven. It was enough to prompt another wave of text to fill his vision.
DING!!
The Goblin Raid Ⅰ: Failed
Despite your best efforts and your success in defending the fortress, four goblins have escaped to report back to their dark masters. They will raise an army of Goblins, Orcs, and Trolls to attack the fortresses.
<[First Labor] has Reached Level 16>
<[Second Labor] has Reached Level 3>
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
<[Second Labor] has Reached Level 4>
<...>
<[Second Labor] has Reached Level 10>
<[Third Labor] has Reached Level 12>
<[Forth Labor] has Reached Level 8>
<[Forth Labor] has Reached Level 9>
<...>
<[Forth Labor] has Reached Level 12>
<[Fifth Labor] has Reached Level 11>
<[Fifth Labor] has Reached Level 12>
<[Fifth Labor] has Reached Level 13>
<[Poseidon's Sea] has Reached Level 7>
<[Poseidon's Sea] has Reached Level 8>
<...>
<[Poseidon's Sea] has Reached Level 12>
<[Master of Death] has Reached Level 12>
<[Natural Born Leader] has Reached Level 5>
<[Natural Born Leader] has Reached Level 6>
<...>
<[Natural Born Leader] has Reached Level 8>
DING!!
New Quest: The Goblin Raid 2
The army of darkness will be on your doorstep at 3 o'clock. Will you stand and defend this settlement, or will you take your people and flee from the coming horde?
Objectives: Option 1: Stand and Fight
Option 2: Flee
Difficulty: Hard
Reward: Experience
"Fuck" Lizard Wizard said.
"You can say that again." Luke breathed.
"Names," the Victorian wizard Travis said.
"Luke," Luke said, shaking the Lizard man's hand.
Despite looking superciliously like Abaddon, the Lizard Wizard was smaller and a lot thinner. If Abaddon was a massive crocodile, this guy was more of an iguana.
"You did pretty well. Not as good as your friend over there, but pretty good," the lizard wizard said.
Luke turned to see Gareth stomping over to them.
"I got eight levels," Gareth said.
"Holy shit, how? I only got three?" Luke asked.
"Remember, leveling gets harder the higher you go. I didn't get any levels, but I'm already at level 20. What level were you before this started?" Lizard Wizard asked.
"8," Luke said.
"4," Gareth said.
"You were at level 4?" Luke and Lizard Wizard asked in shock.
"You did all that at level 4. How?" Lizard Wizard asked.
Gareth shrugged. "Git gud scrub"
Lizard Wizard nodded sagely as if that made sense. "far."
"Ah shit," Gareth said.
"What?" Luek asked.
"I maxed out [Berserker], and now it's asking me if I want to evolve it into [Barbarian] or [Viking]. I don't know what to pick." Gareth admitted.
"That depends on what you want." Dunan's voice interpreted their conversation as the large man wandered over. Luke noticed Duncan purposely trying to ignore the large red puddle in the snow, despite the fact that his jeans were already splattered in blood.
"The [Barbarian] class revolves around the rage skill. It can also evolve into a [Jarl], and that one includes some leadership abilities, or you could push it into an [War Machine]. Which is exactly what it sounds like, but you won't really be able to control yourself, and unless you're directly in a fight, it will be useless. I would recommend [Viking]. It's a more generalized warrior build, but it's a higher rarity class, and it has a few potential legendary evolutions. Even if you don't get those options, you can still become a [Jarl]. Definity is a good pick." Duncan said.
Gareth nodded. "Vikings are cooler anyway. Any suggestions for skills?"
"What do you have so far?" Duncan asked.
"[Axe Warrior], and [Rage]"
"What can you get?" Duncan asked.
Gareth made his status screen visible to them.
Berserker Skill Options
[Power Strike] - Lesser: Your next attack will hit with 50% more STR along with an additional 0.5% per skill level. Cost 12 stamina
[Raider Ⅱ] - Lesser: you have a 1% chance per level of this skill to inflict the [Terror] ailment. If you do inflict the [Terror] aliment, you have a 0.5% chance per skill level to inflict the [Insta-death] effect.
[Toughness] - Lesser: You gain 0.5% resistance to all physical attacks per skill level
[Discipline] - Lesser: You gain 0.5% resistance to all mental attacks per skill level
[Frenzy] - Lesser: Gain 1% to all stats for every 1% of HP lost
[Battle Sense] - Rare: You have an innate sense of the position of your allies and enemies in conflict. You have an innate sense of how to position yourself to the greatest effectiveness during a conflict. This effect is increased by 1% per skill level.
[Aura of Slaughter] - Rare: You project an aura of Slaughter and Mayhem. Any time someone is injured within your aura, you gain (0.1% per skill level) of the damage back as restored health.
[Disciple of War] - Epic: You gain insight into your opponent's capabilities relative to your own. While you won't get specific numbers, you can sense if their strength is higher, lower, or similar to yours. This skill is especially adept at providing rough information about your foes, including their overall affinities, skills, and skills. This effect increases by 1% per skill level. The longer you fight any single opponent, the more you grow accustomed to fighting them, and the better you can predict their next move, making it easier to anticipate and counter them with increasing ease at a rate of 3% per skill level.
Capstones: Capstone skills are only available when you cross the thresholds for levels 10, 20, and 30 in each class.
* Capstone: [Legendary Strength] - Mythic: For every 2 points you add to your strength, you add 1 point to your agility. This skill does not apply to the Level Bonuses. +10% STR
* Capstone: [Warhorse] - Epic: +1% to all stats per skill level when in combat
* [Penetrating Physical] - Ancient: Ignore 0.5% of the target's resistance to physical attacks per skill level.
"Grab [Toughness], [Aura of Slaughter], [Discipline], and [Legendary Strength] before you take the upgrade. [Aura of Slaughter] will restore your HP when you're in battle. [Discipline] will be upgraded to [Eternal Vigil], and then you can add the benefits from [Frenzy] into your build without spending any points. [Legendary Strength] is great as it allows you to neglect your agility in favor of your strength stat. No idea what [Rage] will upgrade into, so good luck with that." Duncan said.
"No, no, no. You should grab [Disciple of War] and [Battle Sense]. Those skills help you optimize your fighting style," Lizard Wizard said.
Duncan rolled his eyes. "Travis, these are noobs. They don't need a hyper-optimized build that requires hundreds of hours of practice. They need a build that will keep them alive. Besides, he can get all of those benefits from the [god of war] capstone skill at level 30.”
"Wait, Travis? You told me your name is Lizard Wizard?" Luke asked, confused.
Duncan rolled his eyes even harder somehow.
"Goddammit, Travis, you're worse than Abaddon. His name is Travis. He just likes to call himself the Lizard Wizard. Just call him Travis. He's also a member of Awoken Myths. He's our resident [Spell Sword]," Duncan said.
Luke wanted
"Call me Lizard Wizard," Travis said as Duncan got close to them
Luke immediately felt something roll over them, and though he couldn't see anything different, a notification appeared.
DING!!
You have entered Duncan's [Aura of the Sun].
While inside this aura, you gain 14 hp per minute. You have been afflicted with [Calm]
"That's bloody fantastic," Luke said as his bruises and cuts started to heal.
Duncan shrugged. "It's not as helpful as you think. When you're given HP, you're not actually healing. Your body just has more resources to heal."
"It's literally saved our lives more than once," Travis said, and then his face turned darker.
"Duncan, I don't think we can handle another raid. The last time they attacked us, we lost almost fifty people. We can't survive another attack."
"You've lost fifty people?" Luke asked.
"We lost fifty fighters. We've been stealing any car that people leave behind. Most of the people take their cars and drive off in the hopes of finding their loved ones, running for the stats, or whatever dumb idea they have. The smart ones and the kids have been staying with us," Travis said.
"Relax, Travis, thanks to our new friends. I have a plan." Duncan said.
"This should be good," Travis said.
"Lance, or Tom, has created the Awoken Myths guild a couple of miles from here. He's already gotten the basic setup running, and we know it's run by my old guild mates from the Legend of Noralon, so they know what they're doing. More than that, according to Luke, my friend Tom already has a resurrection skill, so he can bring back everyone we've lost so far."
"Well, that would have been great, but we're about to be attacked by a horde of goblins, and we don't have time to get everyone out of here!" Travis said.
"We'll buy time," Duncan said. "If we can get the rest of the Larpers and Luke's friends, we can buy enough time to get everyone out onto the road. Then we just need to follow after them."
Travis stroked his beard. "It should work. We'll have to take the highway to avoid the nut jobs at the Arts Centre, but it's manageable."
"Great. Get inside and start getting everyone organized to leave. We can load them in the vans like sardines if we have to, too, but everyone is leaving in an hour." Duncan said.
Travis nodded, moving back towards the building.
Duncan turned to Luke. "I really need your help here. If you want to run, though, I understand."
The thought of just leaving all of those people, the kids that he had seen in that school, yeah, no, leaving them to the goblins, caused bile to rise in the back of his throat.
"No, I'm staying. I'm not letting all these people get killed." Luke said.
"Thank you. Is there anything I can do to help you? Just ask."
Luke was just about to say no when Theo came back to his mind.
"Actually, I used to have this companion. He was a spirit I got from my bloodline. He did something, and now we can't find him," Luke said.
"Alright, go back to the beginning, tell me everything," Duncan said
So Luke did. He told Duncan about Alexi, the Bloodline, even the skill, and what he thought Alexi had done to let them escape the Nemean lion. Duncan didn't commit. He just listened.
"Bloodline of Poseidon? You're sure." Duncan asked.
"Yes, I can read," Luke said. "I'm not even sure if I believe it myself; it feels like a cruel joke."
"Oh, it's not that I don't believe you, but that's troubling for another reason. The Pantheon in the Legend of Noralon didn't include Poseidon or any of the Greek gods."
"So what does that mean?" Luke asked, concerned.
"I have no idea. As for your friend, the only way I can describe what he did would be that he somehow hacked the system or maybe tricked it. That skill isn't supposed to bring anyone with you. Hell, you aren't even supposed to gain levels until you are out of combat. I think that whatever he did, he might have been flagged by the system the same way a hacker would have been in-game."
"What does that mean in this context?" Luke asked.
"No fucking idea. He could be dead. Maybe he's in time-out. Normally, I would call the customer support line at this point. But I just don't know. We're going to have to talk to Alex and Tom. They're the magic experts."
"And you're not?" Luke asked, chuckling.
"Nah, my specialty before this was a full-on craftsman, and in college, I was actually trying to become an engineer with a minor in computer programming. My current class is [Settler]. It's a generalist class, and I only picked it because I wasn't really sure what was going on, and it covered both crafting and combat." Duncan said with a joke.
"Now, make sure to assign your levels. The goblins are going to be coming soon."
Luke nodded and opened his status. He assigned all of his levels to [Heir of Theseus]. The skill option jumped out of him before he had the chance to even read the list. A small smile flashed across his face.
Theo's choice (if you don't pick this godling, I swear I am going to kill you) → Level 10 Capstone - [Sixth Labour: Procrustes Just Deserts] - Legendary
[Sixth Labour: Procrutestes Just Deserts]: For Theseus' sixth and final labor, he killed the bandit Procrustes by forcing him to suffer the same torture he inflicted on others. In each of Theseus Labors, he inflicted the bandit's own torments back on them. Now, you can give your enemies a taste of their own medicine.
1. +5% chance to Block or Parry any incoming attack per skill level
2. Absorb 1% of the damage you blocked or parried per skill level
3. When activated, all of the absorbed power is added to your next attack
4. +10% to DEX
You may skip to the next chapter.
Name: Gareth Brown
Race: Human
Type: Humanoid
LVL: 11
SubRace: Canadian
Age 18
Health: 935
Stamina: 1510
Mana: 220
Health Regen: 9.9 per hour
Stamina Regen: 15.4 per min
Mana Regen: 4.4 per min
Titles: Awoken Myths, Rambo
Immune
N/A
Resistances
Physical 0.5%, Elemental 0.5%, Mental 0.5%
Weakness
N/A
Bane
Manslayer
Classes: Viking 11
Total
STR: 60
AGIL: 33
DEX: 44
CON: 66
END: 55
PER: 44
INT: 11
WILL: 11
SPIRIT: 33
EGO: 22
CHA: 12
LCK: 11
Base
STR: 55 +10%
AGIL: 33
DEX: 44
CON: 66
END: 55
PER: 44
INT: 11
WILL: 11
SPIRIT: 33
EGO: 22
CHA: 11 +10%
LCK: 11
Personal: +4 STR +3 DEX +3 PER +2 CON +2 END
Racial: +3 CON +2 END +2 SPIRIT +1 EGO
Level Bonus: +1 to all Stats
Viking Skills: +2 AGIL
Skill Slots: 10/60: Skill Points: 0
Personal Skills
- [Pursuit Hunter]: - Level 20
- [Storyteller] - Level N/A
- [Storage] - Level 10
- [Meditation] - Level 1
Viking 06/16
- [Nordic Arms] - Level 16
- [Battle Fury] - Level 6
- [Weather the Elements] - Level 1
- [Eternal Vigil] - Level 1
- [Aura of Slaughter] - Level 1
- Capstone - [Legendary Strength] - Level N/A