Tom was annoyed—he didn't even get a level from his encounter with the orcs—but he was satisfied with the payoff in the form of cores and, more importantly, skill levels.
<[Library of Akashic Records] has reached Level 22>
<[Universal] has reached Level 21>
<[Universal] has reached Level 22>
<...>
<[Universal] has reached Level 26>
<[Wordsmith] has reached Level 28>
<[Wordsmith] has reached Level 29>
<[Wordsmith] has reached Level 30>
<[Thirst for Knowledge] has reached Level 19>
<[Analyze Person] has reached Level 26>
<[Analyze Person] has reached Level 27>
<[Analyze Person] has reached Level 28>
<[Nascent Guild Leader] has reached Level 23>
<[Nascent Guild Leader] has reached Level 24>
<...>
<[Nascent Guild Leader] has reached Level 26>
<[Leadership Ⅱ] has reached Level 25>
<[Leadership Ⅱ] has reached Level 26>
<[Leadership Ⅱ] has reached Level 27>
<[Raider Ⅰ] has reached Level 22>
<[Raider Ⅰ] has reached Level 23>
<...>
<[Raider Ⅰ] has reached Level 26>
<[Coordinate Ⅱ] has reached Level 22>
<[Coordinate Ⅱ] has reached Level 23>
<[Coordinate Ⅱ] has reached Level 24>
<[Logistics Ⅲ] has reached Level 20>
<[Logistics Ⅲ] has reached Level 21>
<[Karmic Contract] has reached Level 5>
<[Karmic Contract] has reached Level 6>
<...>
<[Karmic Contract] has reached Level 10>
They had returned home, and Tom resurrected everybody and then called a Council meeting, much to Joey's annoyance. Luke, Sam, Gareth, Travis, Issac, Duncan, Eve, Major Adams, Sgt. Thorn, Will, Joey, Hanze, and Abaddon were all in what now felt like a very tiny room. Penny and Skippy were absent.
"I think we have too many characters," Tom muttered. "If I didn't have a memory skill, I would have forgotten half your names by now."
"Really?! You killed me, and you're making jokes?" Joey asked, enraged.
"Tom," Major Adams cut in, "this is serious."
"Not really." Tom said, "In case you haven't noticed, he's not dead."
"Tom, can you please be serious," Sam asked.
"I'm sorry. Before we get any further with this, can someone tell me what is going on and why this meeting was so important?" Penny asked.
"We fought orcs. Their leader used [Parlay]. Joey nearly attacked him, and I killed him," Tom said.
"In other words, Joeys is a dumbass," Abaddon said.
Tom silently agreed, though he didn't say anything.
"Oh," Duncan said. "I get it."
"What?" Hanze asked.
"Joey was about to do something incredibly stupid," Duncan said.
"What?!" Joey screeched.
"Okay, now I need an explanation," Luke said. I feel like we're missing something."
"[Parlay] is a skill that pauses the battle and allows two armies to negotiate. However, if one side tries to use the [Parlay] to attack the other, their entire army receives a 30% debuff to their base stats," Tom explained.
"Lots of people try and time [Parlay] so that their enemies are attacking mid-activation. If the orcs had pulled off that maneuver, we would have all been dead." Alex added. "While Joey might not like it, he's at least here to bitch about it. If Tom dies, we're all screwed."
"Hence Joey is a dumbass," Abaddon said. "Do I need to be here?"
"Yes, this meeting isn't about Joey's butt hurt --"
"Excuse me," Joey cut in. "I'm sorry, but nowhere in there was an apology."
"For what?" Tom asked.
"For killing me?!" Joey said.
"Where's my apology for disobeying orders in a combat setting? For nearly getting us all killed? For forcing me to spend a boatload of mana and manpower to bring you back to life? Hell, what the fuck were you even angry about in the first place?" Tom asked as he sat down at the table.
"In case you haven't noticed, people died," Joey shouted back.
"So what?" Tom asked.
"So what?!" Joey asked. "That's all you have to say?!"
"They're all back. Seriously, when is this thing going to get through your heads? Why does anyone care If they die? I've been bringing people back since day one. When we have a situation where we can't bring someone back, then you can bitch and moan about it. Until then, suck it up, buttercup."
"Tom, I don't think that's a healthy attitude to have—" Major Adams began, but Tom cut him off.
"Hey, for everyone who has died since the system started, please raise your hand."
For a long, awkward moment, nobody said anything except for Abaddon, who raised his hand.
"If you don't raise your hands, I'm calling you out by name."
Sheepishly, Major Adams, Will, Sam, Gareth, and Travis all raised their hands. Issac raised two hands. Joey specifically did not raise his hand.
"Alright, now everyone who had someone they know die on them, raise your hands," Tom said.
Everyone raised their hands this time, including Tom.
"Great, so as we established, death is an illusion. I am a god, and for the last time, suck it up, buttercups. Can we please move on to the more important topic," Tom said, exasperated.
It wasn't the perfect segway into what he wanted to talk about, but it seemed to have gotten them to where he wanted them to be, except for Joey.
"Fuck this. If you want to play dictator, you can count me out. I quit." Joey said, turning to leave.
"The guild or just the council?" Tom asked.
"Fuck off," Joey screamed as he exited.
"Well, that was a bit disturbing," Tom muttered as he turned back to the group.
He didn't want to lose Joey. As much of an ass as the guy was, he had been doing a decent job leading the hunters, and he didn't have a better choice at the moment—not until the rest of the original Awoken Myths guild showed up. None of that mattered, however, as he got the notification that Joey had left the Awoken Myths guild. He would dump the hunters on Sam until either Titus or Ruby showed up. He started to play with a piece of paper with [Shape Paper] as he tried not to lash out at the loss of someone as yet more problems were added to his plate.
"Anyway, onto the more important topic: we're at war, and we're physically going to war on Sunday. Questions?" Tom asked.
The room burst into utter pandemonium as everyone tried to talk over each other.
"Ok, everyone, stop talking!!" Tom ordered as the paper tiger he had been manipulating bounced up and down anxiously like a cartoon character.
Everyone quieted down after a moment. A long moment.
"Thank you. The first rule is if you want to speak, raise your hand."
Hanze's hand shot up into the air.
"Hanze, you go first," Tom said.
"Who are we at war with and why?" He asked.
"We are at war with the goblins, duh. The reason being is they have a gate off world, and they are trying to bring their entire population here. And even if the goblins weren't murdering and raping the human population, which they are, their method of travel means they are going to have to murder a lot of people just to bring everyone to this side of the portal. So we need to shut that shit down before we are literally drowning in goblins." Alex said
Major Adams raised his hand next.
"Major go," Tom said.
"What are the mission objectives?" the Major asked.
"I thought I just answered that," Tom said.
"No, you've told me what you want to do. We already attacked the goblins, and we lost big time. Unless we have a specific method to stop these goblins, this plan isn't going to work."
"Oh, okay. Then, yeah, the primary objective is to steal or destroy the bloodstone. Without that, they can't power the gate, and it takes the goblins' biggest weapon off the board," Tom stated.
"What about intelligence, logistics, conops--"
Tom could tell the Major was about to go on a full-on rant. So he cut him off.
"Congratulations, Major. You are now in charge of this military action. We will delve into the specifics as soon as everyone is done asking stupendous questions. Duncan next!!"
"How many cores did we get today? If we're doing this, I want to go in with something that isn't an inferior rarity."
"110 Uncommon, 300 common. I have no idea what Joey and Sam's people brought in. Which reminds me: we need someone to replace Joey. Can someone call his second in command up here?" Tom asked.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
"He doesn't have one," Will admitted.
"Lovely," Tom muttered.
"We currently have 24 common cores, 16 lesser, and 4 Inferior. This doesn't include the cores you received from the orcs." Hanz stated.
"What the hell, guys?! I said we needed cores." Duncan asked, exasperated.
"We needed more food," Will countered. "Remember, it's not just us. The other settlements that have been set up will also need to be fed."
"Then they can hunt their own damn food. It's not that hard." Duncan pointed out.
"Have you ever tried to hunt for your food?" Will asked. "My husband hunts recreationally, and let me tell you. It's not a cakewalk. Tracking the animals down is its own task. Then you need to kill them, which is a lot harder than it used to be. Then you need to dress your kill and transport it back to your home."
"All the more reason for cores. If I have more cores, I can start equipping people with magical gear, and then you can kill more monsters, get more food, and have more cores. Everybody wins," Duncan shot back.
"Alright, enough, we're getting off-topic," Tom cut in. Duncan, how hard would it be to weaponize a couple of cores? Understand, I'm hoping to use a lot of them to buy mercenaries."
"It's fine. I did plenty of crafting in Noralon, and I remember how to make core bombs," Duncan said.
"What mercenaries?" Luke asked.
Tom let out a long breath. This was not going to be popular.
"Right now, I'm looking to recruit the guys that attacked us, Starkiller and the orcs," Tom said.
"You have got to be shitting me" Abaddon threw up his hands in disgust.
"You can't mean those assholes who attacked us," Luke shouted.
"Those orcs attacked our hunting parties," Will tried to cut in.
"Stop!!" Tom silenced everyone at once. "One at a time, Abaddon, go."
"The last time that fucker was in the party, he screwed us over for the Scylla raid boss for 500$. I don't trust him." Abaddon stated.
"Fair enough. Unfortunately, one of the goblin leaders is an albino drow archer with ice magic. Otherwise known as Seraphel. That drow is a pretty hard counter for you, and I need you to keep the [Blood Mage] occupied. So I need someone to keep that drow occupied." Tom stated.
"We could do it." Luke offered as he stood up.
"No, you couldn't," Travis cut in. "Seraphel had us on the ropes when we had almost five levels on him, and it was five on one. And he wasn't going all out."
Luke's face flushed with embarrassment as he sat back down.
"It's too bad the rest of the guild is a week out; otherwise, this would be easy." Tom groaned.
"And you think this Starkiller can keep him busy?" Sam asked.
"His class is one of the most unkillable, unstoppable top-tier legendary classes in the game; he's in the top ten of all PVP players in Noralon, and most importantly, he's disposable," Tom stated.
"And what if he backstabs us again?" Abaddon asked.
"We kill him!" Alex stated.
"Why would he betray us if there's no one else to pay him? Starkiller is a mercenary. He should know by now that we're the only settlement in the area that he'll have any business with. Unless he's planning on leaving, he won't risk it," Tom stated.
"What about those guys who attacked us?" Luke asked. "They are alternative sources of income."
"They're called the Apocalypse Force," Duncan said.
Everyone looked at him.
"What? You guys kept calling them the guys who attacked us. It was getting repetitive."
"Yeah, but how do you know what they are called?" Luke asked.
"Because when Travis was fighting that wannabe Grim Reaper, he had the title Apocalypse Force on his status," Duncan said. "Seriously, you guys need to learn to identify everything. Every scrap of information helps."
"Anyway, as much as I love that our ability to stay on topic is trash, I don't think the Apocalypse Force will be a problem. In fact, I expect there'll be begging for our help there, practically next door to the goblin horde. I wouldn't be surprised if they aren't already under siege," Tom stated.
"And what if they joined forces with the goblins?" Major Adams asked.
"Unlikely. They have beta-testers like us. They would have to know that unless their entire population is made of orcs, the goblins wouldn't be willing to leave them alive," Alex said, shaking her head.
"Why orcs?" Gareth asked, speaking up for the first time.
"Orcs are humanoids and goblinoids. They are considered as the in-between species. Tolerated but not a part of either species."
"And you want to hire these orcs to help us fight against the goblins? After they were already hired to fight against us?" Gareth asked. "That's ballsy. I love it."
"I have to agree with Gareth here; I would be concerned about bad faith." Hanze agreed with Gareth.
"They are followers of the Goddess of War and Justice. They will keep to their words. If they say they have cut contact with the goblins, you can trust that. If they agree to fight with us against the goblins, then they will. And if they don't, their gods will get pissy with them. Can we please move on?" Tom asked exasperated
"What about the other settlements?" Hanze asked. "If we need more people quickly, some of these places will have able-bodied men and women."
Alex and Tom looked at each other and shrugged.
"Are they willing to help?" Alex asked. "We kind of spanked Brindley pretty hard."
Tom could feel the innuendo.
"No," Major Adams said. "I've asked around, but most of these people are civilians. They are scared, and I'm already having to fight tooth and nail for this operation as is. The fact is most of the people who witnessed the system and wanted to play hero ended up here to begin with. So what we have is likely all we're going to get."
"You'll need food," Will pointed out.
"Everyone who's going is getting the [Storage] skill. Just make sure to give everyone a packed lunch." Tom said
"What if someone dies? How are we going to transport them back?" Sam asked.
"Again, the [Storage] skill," Tom said.
"Does anyone know how many guns we have? ammunition." Lt. Thorne asked.
"Guns aren't all that useful on trolls." Duncan pointed out.
"We aren't talking about the trolls; I'm talking about the goblins. Part of the reason we lost our first engagement was the fact we could only push back the goblins or the trolls. If we didn't have to worry about the trolls, we could kill goblins until our ammo runs out." Major Adams pointed out.
"Great idea. Sam, add guns to the top of your priority list." Tom said.
"Great, another thing to add to the top of the list." Sam huffed. "Along with literally everything else."
"What's the actual plan of attack?" Major Adams asked.
Tom perked up.
"Here's the plan. We need to draw out the [Blood Mage], so we're going for a head-on assault." Tom began
Immediately, everyone looked at him as if he were crazy.
"Let me finish." Tom cut off the incoming complaints before it could start.
"Abaddon here is going to use a skill called [Lesser Colossus] to get big."
"Define big?" Gareth asked.
"We're going to be following about three, four-story tall Godzilla into battle," Tom said.
"And Abaddon is going to be able to beat them all?" Sgt. Thorn asked dubiously.
"No, they're going to drop everything and turn me into a living pincushion," Abaddon said, clearly not looking forward to his part in the battle.
"What this will do is it will allow us to flank the goblins and inflict massive casualties on them while they are targeting Abaddon." Tom continued.
"Oh, so that's how we win?" Gareth asked.
"No, stop interrupting the plan," Alex said.
Tom tried his best to ignore the peanut gallery before he continued.
"At this point, the [Blood Mage] and Seraphel will have to make a move. Seraphel should be occupied with Starkiller or whoever we throw at him, which means the [Blood Mage] is the only card they have left. I have some people upstairs preparing everything I need to counter his blood magic from debuffing us. So he'll have to use a [Sanguine Colossus] to counter Abaddon."
Luke raised his hand.
"A [Sanguine Colossus] is like a giant mech suit made out of blood that a blood mage can drive around like a jaguar robot. You're going to be fighting the goblin horde while Abaddon and the blood mage have a kaiju fight practically on top of us, OK?" Tom said.
"And where will you be?" Gareth asked.
"Alex and I are going to be running support for Abaddon," Tom said.
"What about the squirrely guy?" Thorn asked.
"He's got personal issues he's working on," Tom said.
"So he's not coming?" Luke asked.
"No, Skippy will be there, but at this time, I cannot guarantee what help he may be able to offer, if any; therefore, we will not be making plans about him. Understood," Tom said.
"That sounds like a terrible plan." Major Adams said.
This was met with a round of nodding.
"The [Blood Mage] will only take to the field if he can't safely debuff us or if he's an idiot. And if he does come out, he needs to do it inside of a [Sanguine Colossus], or he'll die from the first asshole with a gun. Whoever sends out their kaiju first will have an initial advantage. But if you guys have a better plan, let's hear your plans that take into account magic, damage resistances and the dozen other things that come up in the Legend of Noralon."
"What if we just sneak in and steal this bloodstone?" Eve offered.
"That sounds a lot safer." Will agreed.
"Great idea. Who's going to sneak into the middle of a goblin horde, steal their most precious item from under the [Blood Mage]'s nose and escape without getting caught?" Tom asked.
This statement was met with silence, much to Tom's amusement.
"Don't get me wrong; it was a good plan. In fact, it was my first plan. But we don't have anyone who can actually pull it off. What's your next idea?"
"We still have a recruitment problem," Major Adams cut in.
"How many do you think we'll get?" Tom asked, concerned.
"I can get four thousand from Hopkins; three thousand of them will be larpers with a thousand RCMP and ex-military. If I'm lucky, I can get us another thousand from the other settlements, but I'm not hopeful. Most of their administrators are associated with Mr.Brindley." Major Adams admitted.
"Is there anywhere else we can get more people from?" Tom asked, half desperately.
"Sorry, I've called military bases and other police stations in the area. The ones who answered all have their own issues. And I suspect the ones who didn't respond are dead or scattered to the four winds at this point." the Major admitted. "Some places are ok, but those aren't close enough to make a difference."
This went on for the next few minutes. In the end, they agreed to try to recruit people from as many different places as possible, but no one was able to come up with a better plan.
They finished up for the evening with a tentative agreement to follow Tom's plan. But as they were leaving for the night, Abaddon walked up to him.
"Can I talk to you for a moment? In private?" Abaddon asked sheepishly as he motioned for him to follow.
You may skip to the next chapter.
Name: Tom Bruner
Race: Half-Elf ()
Type: Humanoid
LVL: 20
SubRace: High Elf / Caucasian
Age 18
Health: 1000
Stamina: 1400
Mana: 4000
Health Regen: 14.0 per hour
Stamina Regen: 18.0 per min
Mana Regen: 24.0 per min
Titles: Beta-Tester, First, Awoken Myths, Guild Master
Immune
None
Resistances
Mental 70% Soul 43%
Weakness
None
Bane
Manslayer
Classes: Augur 10, Tactiction 3, Exorcist 7
Total
STR: 40
AGIL: 40
DEX: 40
CON: 80
END: 40
PER: 220
INT: 200
WILL: 180
SPIRIT: 60
EGO: 40
CHA: 140
LCK: 40
Base
STR: 40
AGIL: 40
DEX: 40
CON: 80
END: 40
PER: 220
INT: 200
WILL: 180
SPIRIT: 60
EGO: 40
CHA: 140
LCK: 40
Personal: +4 PER +4 WILL +3 INT +3 CHA
Racial: +3 WILL +2 CON +2 CHA +1 SPIRIT
Bloodline: +5 PER +5 INT
Level Bonus: +2 to all Stats
Bloodline:
[Bloodline of the Keeper of Akashic Records]—Forgotten: Through your vein runs the blood of the forgotten Keepers of the Akashic Records. These monks, scribes, and scholars helped create the system, and within their blood are the keys to its secrets.
* [The Pen is Mightier than the Sword] - Level 32
* [Words Will Always Retain their Power] - Level 26
* [Library of Akashic Records] - Level 21 >> Level 22
* [Universal] - Level 20 >> Level 26
* [Wordsmith] - Level 27 >> Level 30
* [My Mind is My Temple, My Soul the Altar] - Level 43
* [Thirst for Knowledge] - Level 18 >> Level 19
* [Visions of Akashic Records] - Level 11
* [Soul Forge] - Level 30
* +5 PER per level
* +5 INT per level
Skill Slots: 25/60: Skill Points: 1
Personal Skills
* [Analyze Person] - Level 25 >> Level 28
* [Best of Both Worlds] - Level 13 >> Level 14
* [Art of Water] - Level 16
* [Art of Earth] - Level 16
* [Teacher] - Level 15
* [Misalliance Crafting] - Level 6
* [Mana-Infused Weapon] - Level 6
* [Basic Swords] - Level 15
* [Flyte] - Level 6
Augur 07/16
* [Augurs Eye] - Level 7
* [Bright Arts] - Level 32
* [Art of Life] - Level 27
* [Prophetic Meditation] - Level 44
* [Far Seeing] - Level 17
* Capstone: [Hand of Mercy] - Level 48
* [Quest Giver] - Level 12
Tactician 05/6
* [Nascent Guild Leader] - Level 22 >> Level 25
* [Leadership Ⅱ] - Level 24 >> Level 27
* [Raider Ⅰ] - Level 20 >> Level 26
* [Coordinate Ⅱ] - Level 21 >> Level 24
* [Logistics Ⅲ] - Level 19 >> Level 21
Exorcist 05/11
* [Spell Trap] - Level 4
* [Karmic Contract] - Level 4 >> Level 10
* [Shape Paper] - Level 13
* [Paper Armour] - Level 9
* [Paper Wings] - Level 7