Luke, Sam, and Travis watched as people were forced into the minivans Duncan and Travis had been collecting.

"How long until everyone is out of here?" Luke asked Travis.

"Duncan thinks it will take another thirty minutes to get all the cars we need and load everyone into them. The goblins will be here in five." Travis hissed as he smacked his tail into the ground.

"Can we hold them off for that long?" Luke asked.

"We have to, so we will," Travis said, smiling. Then he smiled, "Unfortunately, we need to send some of the weaker fighters with them to make sure they don't get killed en route."

"Don't let Gareth hear you saying that," Luke said.

"Hey, now I'm the great and powerful Lizard wizard. I'm not a complete battle maniac." Travis said strictly.

"Does that great and powerful Lizard wizard have a plan?" Sam asked.

"Duncan's planting magical landmines between the goblins and us. Anyone with a [Rouge] or [Ranger] build is going to harass them all the way here."

"Why aren't you helping with the magical traps?" Sam asked.

"I don't have the skills," Travis admitted. "You need specific system skills or an understanding of glyphs. I don't have either."

"But Duncan doesn't have any kind of magical trap skill." Luke pointed out in confusion.

"True, but he does have a bloodline with a lot of crafting skills," Travis said with a grin. His class also gives him some good crafting options. And more importantly, he remembers enough about glyphs that he can figure out the rest."

Luke's eyes went wide.

"Do you have a bloodline?" he asked.

"Sure, honestly, I suspect most beta-testers came into this with a bloodline."

"How is that possible?" Luke asked. "Tom made them seem rare."

"Well, they are rare, normally. But we all got a system token when the apocalypse happened, so we all had to pick up something special for the end of the world. A bloodline is an easy choice. You get eight extra skills, and the stat bonus helps put you ahead."

Luke bit his lip, wondering if he should ask about his own issue.

"What?" Tavis asked.

"I've got a bloodline. So does Sam," Luke began.

"Holy shit, you got a bloodline?! Congrats, I guess you lucky buggers," Travis said, surprised.

"It says I'm the son of Poseidon," Luke said sheepishly as he rubbed his head.

"Oh … wait, that would mean … you're a demigod?" Travis muttered to himself.

Luke absently wondered if he had broken his new friend. But he did confirm that his race was demigod.

"Alright, let me get this straight. You're saying that your dad is the sea god Poseidon, and he porked your mom before the system, or Legend of Noralon came out? Mind you, the legend of Noralon didn't have Greek gods. Your life is weird, dude." Travis said.

"Thank you. Everyone else is just teasing me for it. But I honestly don't know how to react to this shit."

"Honestly, dude. I would recommend just pacing yourself. Wait until shit calms down a bit, then we can dig into this shit. You should really talk to Tom, or better yet, if we can find Connor, he would really know all about this shit."

"Connor?" Luke asked.

"Another Awoken Myths member. He specialized in religious classes. He said they spoke to him. If anyone would have more information about your situation, it would be him," Travis said.

Luke opened his mouth to ask more questions, but before he could get another word, the relative silence was broken by the howling of what Luke felt like was a thousand goblins screaming in outrage.

"I guess our five minutes are up," Travis said.

Luke nodded as they raced through the school to where the goblins were attacking from.

"Remember the plan. We hold off the goblins, and then we retreat into the school and ride those horses out of here." Luke called out as they ran through the building.

They both nodded to his instructions. Sam unslunging her bow as she moved upstairs. The truly ranged fighters were going to the second floor, while those who focused on mid and close-range combat would be on the ground.

Luke and Travis moved towards the front entrance. Wrecked cars had been placed around the parking lot as cover. According to Duncan, the plan was to engage them at the edge of the parking lot and then slowly retreat backwards into the school before they lept onto the horses they had stored inside and ran out the back of the school, where they were loading up all of the kids into cars.

Luke arrived in the parking lot just in time to see Gareth butchering a dozen goblins in quick succession.

"They're coming!!!" Gareth called out.

Travis pulled out his sword and started firing spells from the tip left, right, and center as the goblin horde descended on them. Each spell exploded, sending the goblins scattering. And then Luke's focus narrowed down to the goblins in front of him. He parried the goblin's spear thrust with ease. The moment he did, however, he felt something, a kind of pressure coming off his sword. Slamming his blade into the goblin, the pressure vanished, but his sword bisected the goblin with an unnatural ease that he hadn't been expecting.

"[Sixth Labour]," Luke muttered as he realized just what had happened.

This was going to be fun. Luke started to carve through the oncoming goblin horde. His blade whipped out as he

At some point, Luke found himself next to Gareth. His friend was covered in blood and laughing like a maniac as he hacked apart the goblins with unbridled joy.

"This is the best day of my Life." Gareth cheered as he decapitated three goblins simultaneously.

"When did you become a battle maniac?" Luke asked as he deflected an incoming arrow and then used the power from that attack to kill another goblin.

"Why do you think I joined the football team, the wrestling team, karate classes, Judo, and the boxing team?" Gareth chuckled as he kicked a goblin hard enough to send it flying. "I like contact sports."

"TROLLS!!!" Sam's voice echoed across the battlefield.

Luke looked up. He immediately spotted two trolls making their way towards him.

"I can take the one on the left," Travis said. "Can you two handle the one on the right?"

"Why do you get one to yourself?!" Gareth asked aghast.

"Trolls are weak to fire. Can either of you use fire magic?" Travis asked as his sword burst into flames.

"Come on, Gareth, let's go kill a troll," Luke said.

"Fuck yeah!!" Gareth cheered as he followed Luke in carving a bloody path towards the troll.

The troll roared in rage as it charged towards them. Gareth slammed his ax into the troll's body without a second thought. The troll roared in pain, throwing Gareth off of its warty body, but not before Luke brought his own [First Labor] around.

The [First Labor] smashed into the troll's knee, the massive orange, great sword his original moonstone sword had transformed into dug halfway through the troll's meaty leg. Luke felt his sword impact and crack the troll's massive femur.

The troll roared out in utter agony as Luke ripped his sword free. Even as he did, Luke noticed the troll's body was already healing the damage. He brought his sword around and slashed at the troll's arm. The small cut he made on the troll's arm started healing immediately.

The troll growled, its over-muscled fury arm smacking him away. Luke tried to block the attack, but the troll tossed him aside with ease. Luke stumbled across the asphalt before he came to a stop against a car.

Luke leaped to his feet, ready to jump back in. Suddenly, he felt something. Raising his sword up just in time, an arrow made out of pure ice bounced off of his sword and punched into the metal of the car like tissue paper.

"What the actual fuck?!" Luke muttered.

His eyes traced the path of the arrow back to where it had come from. What looked like an anorexic albino elf. It was bald, with bright red eyes and skin so white it seemed to be glowing. The pale elf casually drew another frozen blue arrow out of seemingly thin air as he lined up a second shot. Luke felt his instincts take over his sword, moving on reflex as the second arrow bounced off his blade a second time. [Sixth labor] started to hum as the charge built up.

Luke launched himself to his feet, deflecting a third ice arrow. He stared at the pale elf. He could feel his abilities working. [Second Labor], [Third Labor], and [Forth Labor] were all working together seamlessly to break down how the pale elf was moving. Its body language, the movement of mana in his body, and his own danger sense all working together to perfectly show him where the elf was going to fire.

Luke noticed this in an almost trance-like state as he deflected a fourth, fifth, and sixth arrow with ease as he stepped forward. But it wasn't just that. No, even with those Abilities, that wouldn't have been enough to help him without his other skills.

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[Fifth Labor] and [Sixth Labor] were working together to help him put his sword where it needed to be to avoid getting pierced by an arrow. All the while, energy kept building up in his sword, and with every arrow he knocked away from himself gave him more power. That gave him another idea. Theo had all but forced him to pick up these Abilities, and right now, all of them were working together in perfect unison—all of them except for one.

As Luke walked past the front line of defenders and into the ranks of goblins, he deflected another arrow and brought his sword around as he activated [First Labor] and [Sixth Labor], and he felt it all click together. The familiar enlarged orange blade was now covered in blue frost and glowing brighter than ever. The blade had grown in length to be at least two stories tall, but to Luke, its weight was unchanged. A manic grin as he finally understood why Theo had been so insistent about these abilities finally clicked for him. Labor's two to four were all about observing his enemies, while five and six were for deflecting the attacks while building the charge. Before he finally released everything in the [First Labor].

Luke swung his now-building-sized sword horizontally through the encroaching army of goblins. The massive blade didn't so much cut as blast through the seemingly endless ranks of the goblin hordes. The goblin fodder exploded, their bodies blasted apart by his abilities, and their insides froze from the stolen ice magic that had been inhabiting his sword. The goblins screamed in pain and anguish as they died. The remains of their exploded frozen organs have been scattered over the ground. The goblins just beyond the range of his blade stopped cold at the sea of frozen gore in front of them.

"Holy shit," Luke muttered as he looked at the scene of carnage in front of him.

Gareth and the Larpers were still fighting the trolls behind him, but he had just managed to buy them a lot of breathing room. Then Luke felt his Danger sense scream at him. Luke's sword shot up to block another frozen arrow. Only this time, the arrow changed course mid-flight and embedded itself into his shoulder, punching through his new chainmail with ease.

"What the actual fuck?!" Luke shouted out in shock.

You have been afflicted with the frost affliction: [Stagnation]

Your AGIL, DEX, and PER have been decreased by 1

"That's fragin cheating," Luke muttered as he tried and failed to deflect the second arrow, as it defied the laws of physics to change its trajectory mid-air before impacting his arm.

"GAH!" Luke hissed in pain as the ice-cold tips chilled him to the bone as if he had been standing outside naked. His hp dropped to around 80%, but the cold coming from the arrows was all-encompassing.

Luke bit his lip as he ripped the ice arrow out of his body. He lept behind one of the wrecked cars as two more arrows zipped through the air like they were alive. The arrows embedded themselves in the car wreck an inch from his face.

Then Duncan showed up next to him.

"Hey, thanks for that little trick with the sword," Duncan said as he cast two spells back to back.

The first spell caused the ground to become shiny. Any goblin who stepped into the shiny puddle slipped like they were in a comedy. The second spell sent a spark of electricity directly into the shiny puddle. Then Luke realized what the puddle was—grease. The grease immediately combusted, creating a line of fire. The goblins that were already in the grease trap started to scream as they were burned alive.

"Holy frag," Luke swore as the goblin line devolved into panic. The goblins in the front tried to avoid being pushed into the grease fire, while the goblins in the back tried to push them forward.

"Ha. enjoy that, you green shits!!" Duncan called out.

Then Duncan lept to the side as a frozen arrow shot through where his head had just been.

"How is that pale elf curving his shots?" Luke asked.

"It's actually a pretty common archer skill," Duncan said. "Also, it's a drow. Not an elf. There is a difference."

Luke frowned. "Arnt drows supposed to be well …"

"What? Evil?" Duncan asked as he cast another grease spell. This time, the grease spell overlapped with the already existing one, causing the flame wall to expand.

"Well, yes, but that's not what I mean. Arnt, they supposed to be, you know?" Luke tried to think of a better way to say it. Then he gave up. "Black?"

"Ok, I know you're not trying to sound racist. But you sound racist. Also, the drow is an albino. I thought you had a [identify] skill?" Duncan asked.

Luke looked out from behind cover quickly using [Fourth Labor of Theseus] before he had to duck behind the car again as an ice arrow nearly stabbed through his head.

Name: Seraphel

Race: Drow Subrace: Albino

Affliction: Soul Damage

Current Level: 14

True Level: ???

Classes: Harbinger of Fimblewinter ?? / ??? / Brother of the Wild Hunt ?? / ???

Skills: [PRIVATE]

"Um, what's Soul Damage?" Luke asked.

"Uh, I think It means he's been forced down to a lower level. Yeah, unfortunately, he's still going to have all of his skills, but he doesn't have the stats to support them. He'll be tough, but he shouldn't be able to keep it up for long before he burns through his mana pool," Duncan muttered as ice arrows began to fly overhead, forcing the larpers back as the frozen arrows peppered them.

"We need to get rid of him," Luke said, dispatching a goblin as it tried to sneak up on him.

"Agreed, that [Stagnation] debuff is going to slow us down until we can't move," Duncan said.

"How would you guys fight him in the game," Luke asked.

"Well, we can wait for him to run low on mana, or we can try to get in close somehow. We need to change the game, removing his advantages while promoting our own."

"We need to lure him inside," Luke said as inspiration struck.

"What are you nuts? We are out here to specifically buy time to get everyone out." Duncan protested.

"We stay out here. He's going to pick us off one by one until we're too slow to defend ourselves. You said so yourself," Luke said. "If we're in the school, he can't use his bow, especially if all the goblins crowd inside."

Duncan looked like he wanted to argue for a second. Then he nodded.

"Alright. We'll retreat inside the school." Duncan said.

Duncan raised his hand, launching a red flare up into the air. Immediately, the other larpers started to retreat back to the school.

"How did you do that?" Luke asked.

"Pure skill," Duncan whispered conspiratorially as they raced back towards the school.

Travis and the rest of the Larpers were already at the door, barricading it.

Luke quickly found Gareth at the door, completely covered in blood and gore, with an oversized intestine wrapped around his neck like a scarf.

"What the fuck happened to you?" Luke asked in shock.

"I killed the troll!" Gareth said with utter glee. "It was magnificent."

"It's disgusting," Travis said. I don't even know how you are alive; that troll had its claws in your stomach."

"It's the [Aura of Slaughter]," Duncan said. It heals him for every wound he inflicts."

"Oh right, I forgot about that," Travis muttered.

"Why did we retreat?" Gareth asked. "I thought we were winning."

"There's a high-level archer out there. If we stayed out in the open, he would have picked us off. We need to lure them in here. How much longer until everyone is on the road?" Luke asked.

"At least another five minutes. Like actually five minutes." Travis said.

"What's taking them so long?" Luke asked indignantly.

"You try loading up a bunch of recently orphaned kids into a myriad of minivans while also stuffing it full of supplies and sharp weapons that you also have to keep away from the kids. Also, you know most of us are college kids, and most aren't parents. It's not easy. Trust me, I'm watching them with [Scy]. It's a miracle they're moving as fast as they are." Duncan said

Luke felt his heart drop as the goblins raced towards the school.

"Alright then. Let's buy them five minutes," Luke said as the goblin horde charged over the barricades.

You may skip to the next chapter.

Name: Travis Lizard Wizard

Race: Lizard Man

Type: Humanoid / Dragon

LVL: 20

SubRace: Iguana

Age 18

Health: 1500

Stamina: 2960

Mana: 2800

Health Regen: 18.0 per hour

Stamina Regen: 28.0 per min

Mana Regen: 22.0 per min

Titles: Beta-Tester, First

Immune

Crit, Insta-Death, Disease, Poison

Resistances

Physical 11%, Magic 61%, Elemental 11%, MentalVitality 23%

Weakness

N/A

Bane

Manslayer, Scale slayer, Dragon slayer

Classes: Spellsword MAX

Total

STR: 192

AGIL: 100

DEX: 100

CON: 100

END: 100

PER: 140

INT: 140

WILL: 140

SPIRIT: 80

EGO: 40

CHA: 40

LCK: 40

Base

STR: 160 +20%

AGIL: 100

DEX: 100

CON: 100

END: 100

PER: 140

INT: 140

WILL: 140

SPIRIT: 80

EGO: 40

CHA: 40

LCK: 40

Personal: +4 STR +3 DEX +3 PER +2 CON +2 SPIRIT

Racial: +3 STR +2 END +2 PER +1 CON

Skills: +3 AGIL

Bloodline: +5 INT +5 WILL

Bonuses: +2 to all stats

Bloodline:

[Bloodline of The Aether Warped Wyrm] - Legendary: Specialized in consuming magic, the Aether Wyrm Bloodline allows you to absorb and convert magical energies from spells and enchanted objects.

- [Mana Leech] - Level 30

- [Consume Magic] - Level 9

- [Mana Void] - Level 7

- [Ether Venom] - Level 30

- [Dragon Breath (Magic)] - Level 10

- [Ether Dragon Heart] - 12

- [Immortal Organs] - Level 24

- [Dragonscale Mantle] - Level 22

- +5 INT per level

- +5 WILL per level

Skill Slots 18/60: Free Skill Points 2

Personal Skills

- [Dark Vision] - Level 19

- [Ocean Adaptation] - Level 9

- [Storage] - Level 11

- [Mapping] - Level 9

- [System Wiki] - Level 6

- [Bullet Time] - Level 10

- [Meditation] - Level 1

Spellsword 11/11

- [Kitchen Sink] - Level 15

- [Blink Step] - Level 24

- [Perfect Motion] - Level 23

- [Toughness] - Level 20

- [Elemental Strike] - Level 21

- Capstone - [Legendary Strength] - Level N/A

- [Resonance Strike] - Level 8

- [Bullet Time] - Level 13

- [All-Seeing Eye] - Level 9

- [Relentless Onslaught] - Level 12

- Capstone - [Mageblade] - Level 9