Hello all! Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! This chapter was a little rushed as I wanted to get it out to you all before the true, well, craziness(?) of the Holidays goes into full swing. Regardless, take it easy and kick back if your are given the chance you (probably) deserve it :P

Good job Players! During you time in this ‘Game’ we have developed for you all we have been lenient as a certain degree of a learning curve is necessary for full engagement inside this experiment. Since your arrival in this world. Currently, 320 867 players are still active, you are the lucky few who’ve braved the hazards and with luck and determination forged a path in this cruel thing we call life. But do not get careless. As your ‘Training Period’ is over we are now releasing the full difficulty as well as consequences from world actions. Be aware, even if you had no part in it, you are still a party to the act itself as a member of the same race. Thus, we are forcing you ride out the consequences. Traditionally these reactions are small scale, however, larger scale conflicts are not uncommon in these tumultuous times.

Regional Event:

A player, by the name of Yuki Hana, attempted a quest to annihilate a fledgling necromancer. Due to his failure, the necromancer revived his master, “Fallon the Impotent” in a fit of rage to take revenge against the human Kingdom of Arlai. Take up arms against the waves of necromancer’s forces or the human kingdom armies. Rewards vary based on contribution and the specific faction chosen. Those considered neutral will be considered an enemy to both sides.

“Huh, well that makes some sense, I guess. Normally animals wouldn’t be so kind as to let people off even if they were that weak. Goddamn, am I going to need to walk around with a contingent of goblins just walk from here to there. Explains why there is less than ⅓ of us now all the same…” muttered Andrew as he ripped the blade away from Lisia’s hand in a irritated fashion.

However, something strange seemed to be happening to her. Compared to the nearly endless crying, screams, and generally speaking rational behaviour for someone thrown into these situations, she was oddly quiet. Even as she stared at the blade, freshly dyed crimson. She still seemed composed. Far from five minutes ago where even the slightest mention of taking another's life would bring about fear and panic in no small measure..

“Hey Elf, how are you feeling?”

“I’m fine, yourself?”

“No strange blows to the head, recurrent brain tumors, or perhaps a history of split-personality disorder?”

“None. Moments ago I just realised something… To protect life isn’t dependent on condemning those who take it, it is more to keep the balance of the forest in mind. A life is nothing more than a passing flame why care if one candle out of a million is blown out? But when there is no kin for a creature I do not think I’d be able to take it’s life,” spoke Lisia with a slight change of pitch in her voice.

“Huh, duly noted. Don’t touch mental stats, lest you receive a new personality express shipped by some crack-head game designers.”

“Ah, I see. You must be concerned about me. I may seem somewhat different, but my personality hasn’t been altered in any way. I just think I’m…. more pragmatic? But seriously, why should I care about killing rodents when enjoy throwing things at a… well, relatively innocent passersby.” Replied Lisia with a smirk.

“Yeah, yeah, do as you will,” sighed Andrew completely perplexed by the whole situation.

Brushing off the strange occurrences, he signaled Lisia with a raised palm over his shoulder. Neither was eager enough to start a conversation, but Andrew was content with the fact that she seemed more composed and, well, less hysterical over some of the smaller things that will be prevalent in this new life. Yet, the entire change still made him take a second glance over every now and again to make sure she wasn’t just messing with him.

Finding their way back to Taryk took a few minutes but once again the goblin seemed to abandon the world during his assault on the wolf corpse. This time, a pair of wolves, slowly circled around the oblivious goblin while Andrew was walking back into the clearing.

Noticing the rustling of the leaves, not unlike his ambush on the goblin squad only the day before, he immediately went to arms.

“Taryk, I know for some sick and twisted reason you like, ‘playing’ with these corpses but… Do you really, and I mean really, have to do it while it’s furry brothers are hanging out in the area?”

“Mmmhmm ~ wait, what? Shit. Did you say there were more of them around?”

“Probably, can you handle one? Ah, get your bloody spear out already. And elves are supposed to be good at this shit, right?”

As Andrew spoke, two mutated grey wolves jumped out of the clearing and bounded in their direction. Andrew had only a few seconds left to react after he forcibly put the bow and quiver into the strangely calm elf’s hand. Jumping forward was essentially the only move he could make when he had Lisia almost directly behind him and the corpse to the side. The other wolf, obviously aimed to avenge its fallen comrade, taking Taryk as his target.

As he calmly stepped forward, he saw the deadly creature still onto the ground sprinting at him. ‘Refusing to give up its mobility for slower prey. No jumping around like an moron. This time he isn’t a complete idiot’ he mused to himself. Waiting only took a moment for the wolf to clear the remaining six or seven metres. As the wolf neared closer and closer, Andrew bent his knees and gripped his two short swords tighter. When he was within a few feet of the wolf’s distance to the roughly five foot tall wolf he dived just under the wolf’s jaws. Spinning around in the air he slashed his sword at the front leg with both blades before landing on his stomach.

Rolling away from the beast, he looked at the damages instinctively before calling out, “FUCK! BASTARD!” In his adrenaline fueled charge at the wolf he received a small nick on his arms from the ground but the real damage was from his back. Crying out softly in pain as he tried to force himself to stand. If that were to have been the worst then Andrew would have accepted it, however, as he slashed with both of his short swords one of them shattered near the tip.

From the looks of the wolf, it seemed to have been an effective attack as the wolf itself was stunned for a short while but Andrew was still irritated at the price he had to pay for it. Limping and almost refusing to put pressure on that leg, the wolf cried out in frustration.

Using this as a chance Andrew swiftly pulled out a new sword from his inventory - still the same battered, old copper short sword. It was, however, an extra layer of protection to the man as he saw it.

Running wearily to the rear of the limping wolf, he drew his sword in an arc against another leg as the wolf whipped his tail across his chest. Both attacks connected at the nearly the same time and both limped away once more. ‘Fuck! What the hell is with that tail?! Some prick decided a two headed, five and a half foot tall beast wasn’t enough? Yeah, let’s add a bloody flail just because.’ It was as if the tail was covered in steel barbs that flayed his chest with innumerable shallow wounds that stung with every breath which is not to dismiss the weight of the force with the tail itself. It wasn’t much different than a medieval mace.

The wolf, however, was also left with more wounds to show for it. Both the front and back of its right legs were injured beyond repair. Blood flowed out, tendons split open and exposed themselves the warm air, and occasionally a small shard of coppery or white light would glimmer on its front leg. Effectively downed the wolf did the last thing it could do in that situation.

“Aaawwwooooooo!”

‘Shit, calling for reinforcements. Let’s quicken the pace a bit.’

With the call, Andrew arduously ran behind Taryk’s wolf whom was kept at bay with each spear thrust causing it growl menacingly in frustration against its opponent that was barely half its height. With a quick slash to the hind legs the wolf collapsed into a sitting position that still seemed as ferocious as before.

Andrew, not caring about formalities, holstered a sword and went to Taryk’s side ripping away his spear. With a single thrust the wolf laid on the ground convulsing slightly. Not wasting a moment, Andrew exhaled loudly with agony written on his face.

When he turned to look at his wolf he was mildly surprised. The head and torso was riddled with arrows - albeit shallow wounds on it's tough pelt, they still served a purpose as the wolf was bleeding out at an incredible rate.

Passing the spear back to the somewhat dissatisfied goblin, he knocked him on the head before telling him, “Get back to work, no slacking off anymore. I’m starving, injured, and in a hell of a lot of pain. And guess what; there is probably a few more coming."

“Shouldn’t we run then Boss…?” Asked Taryk questioningly.

“If we could, that’d be great. But I have a sinking suspicion that those wolves will not let us leave that easily. And since when was I your boss?“

“Perhaps we can outrun them?” Chimed in Lisia who started plucking arrows from the, now dead, beast’s hide.

“I don’t know about you, but I can’t exactly run. Fight maybe, which sounds weird, but not run.” replied Andrew as he felt his rib cage. “Yeah, it still hurts to even breath. Side note: Don’t get hit by the tail.”

“Obviously,” scoffed both in unison.

“Well, next time I say, ‘let’s go hunt some wolves,’ please let me know what to watch out for as you can obviously tell I’m not from here.” replied Andrew irritably.

“We didn’t know. At least for me, I just thought you were some wandering human from the southern kingdoms who thought to try his luck in these lands. Also, nearly every creature in this territory will inherently hate you by the way. Humanity has quite a few enemies.” replied Lisia with a snicker.

“Ah, useless, all of you lot.” sighed Andrew, before adding, “Oh, Taryk get your tiny, green ass in gear. Also, can’t this elf here heal or some such non-sense” as he nodded off into the distance.

“Say the magic word please ~ ‘Can you please grace my body with your beautiful, wondrous magic touch ~’ “

“Taryk do you think Grok still needs some company?”

“Yeah, he used to burn through at least 3 or 4 women a night when our clan had the capability. Goblin women though, so they tend to be a bit less desireable than the more human-ish ones. So he would likely take his time with an elf I’d imagine.” Taryk, playing along once more, replied rather insidiously whilst completely ignoring Lisia who was all of three feet beside him.

“Muuuu, fine, fine! This time is free, but next time at least use my name when you refer to me!” pouted Lisia, as her hands started glowing a bright green. As it flowed outwards, first to his chest, then back followed by his limbs a rather strange sensation erupted in his body. Not pain, relief, warmth, or anything one would expect. Merely a sense of being refreshed. As if one bathed in a mountain hot spring after a long journey. As she pumped more and more mana into the spell she wondered to herself, ‘how can he still move, that’s… even most men from the village complain about a small cut or bruise but he fractured 2 ribs, lost however much blood… essentially his body should be shutting down by now. If not by pain, then organ failure.’

After multiple casts, the once near disfigured body of Andrew managed to regain some vigor and was relieved of a large margin of the pain. The blood from the previous encounters still coated his skin, but his wounds were no longer adding to that mess. Stretching his body, ‘it feels like I’m a new person, helluva lot better than before,’ he felt his muscle releasing their tension significantly without nearly any pain except for his rib cage..

“Ah, thanks El- Ahem, Lisia, happy?” spoke Andrew before a glare interrupted him, forcing him to alter his way of addressing her.

Sighing lightly, he twirled his short-swords around his wrists, calling out, “Come out you mangy bastards. I know you’re there, you are kinda massive so that little bush you're crouching beneath won’t do shit.”

With his perception being as it is, he could nearly spot their entire figures in the brush. ‘Six heads… Three this time, hey?’

As if on cue with his declaration an arrow pierced into the woods before boring a hole into a wolf’s head. A pitiful, grief filled cry sounded out before a trio of wolves stumbled out. Two figures were standing straight up glaring at Lisia who held the poor goblin bow as she notched another arrow. The last one dragged the left half of his body into a sitting position as he licked the other head softly.

With an arrow embedded deep within the skull of the right head, the wolf’s partner and brother since they entered this world had passed on. As its hopes were slowly crushed by his passing realization his grief turned into fury. The wolf jumped up barking orders at the two others in a deep growl, as if to say, ‘she’s mine, don’t you even think about going after that elf.’

The two other wolves bobbed their heads unceremoniously in agreement before they started to line up with their own respective targets.

“Ah, Elf can you handle one?”

“Don’t call me that! My name is Lisia, and why would I not be able to? Obviously it will go after me regardless. And it’s pissed off making it an easier deal with.” retorted the annoyed elf.

“Fine, fine, this big bastard thinks I’m tasty so let’s give him a chance. Taryk, you’ve done it before. Just don’t die… ideally, anyhow.”

Another arrow was loosed as the enraged wolf charged forward, breaking their conversation, hitting him in the centre of its torso, but it showed no sign of slowing down. The other two bounded forward as well leaving each to their own battle. As the first wolf clawed, pounced, and bite at the nimble Elf, Lisia kept dodging left and right- forward and back, loosing arrows at the beast all the while. As it got more and more riddled with holes the wolf gave a woeful roar before charging directly at Lisia. The beast itself showed no care for the arrows impaling its scalp. Driving the elf into a tightly packed wall of trees, the wolf dived at the elf.

As this was going on, Taryk was also fending his wolf off. Each thrust was aimed directly at the beast’s throat, eyes, or brain causing the wolf to instinctively step back after each thrust. Jumping towards the back of the goblin, it came close to closing its maws on Taryk’s neck. Yet, each time that happened, he would rotate his grip on the spear before stabbing it behind his back once more nearly impaling the wolf. When the wolf finally backed off, each kept one another at bay with a few exploratory swipes or stabs. Naturally the two fell into a pattern where both continually were on the defensive as a slight error would allow the other to grasp victory.

Andrew, on the other hand, danced around the wolf, nearly receiving the wolf’s claws every strike, but managed to escape just outside of the attack range as he swung his two copper short swords down at every opportunity. Entering the wolf’s reach, Andrew back stepped a claw after leveling his sword with its path. Feeling the blade connect and blood spatter on his face without even needing to use force himself, Andrew smirked devilishly. Stepping back once more, he saw the wolf lunge at him low on the ground.

With the wolf’s speed and ferocity it took all his strength to jump to the left side. Just barely escaping the wolf’s path. Stabbing his twin swords in the still moving wolf was almost instinctual at this point in the fight. When he did finally feel them connect he was mildly surprised - and irritated.

Even after the stab, the swords were locked in Andrew’s hands. Refusing to release the pressure, he felt one drag across the hide before pulling out of the beast after half of the length of its flank. The other - while it did stab it and was dragged a few centimetres, the blade shattered into the wolf’s body.

Retreating once again he faced the wolf from their final confrontation.

As Andrew’s target was getting slower and slower, he back stepped from a vicious bite from the wolf’s maw and sank his remaining blade into the wolf’s throat. Twitching slightly, the wolf sank to the ground. Following that, Lisia’s wolf fell exhaustively onto the ground near a tree where a certain elf managed to find her way up before raining arrow after arrow on the wolf’s body.

Taryk, as luck would have it, managed to grasp a small opening in the wolf’s evasion and thrust his spear through the creature’s leg. As he pulled back on the spear the wolf’s other claw swiped at his body. Abandoning the spear for the moment he jumped backwards as far as his small legs could take him, falling backwards in the process. It was at this time an arrow loosed by Lisia found it way into one of the wolf’s heads severing the life from part of its body instantly. Andrew came from the side before slashing at the leg of the beast causing it wobble for a moment before falling pitifully on its face. Retrieving the spear from the struggling beast, he tossed it to the still recovering Goblin hitting him in the face with the shaft of the spear.

“You bastard! What was that for?!” roared Taryk.

“Ah, sorry, sorry, expected you to have better reflexes though,” teased Andrew from the side.

“Well, I was on the ground as you threw it, so give me a break,” before sighing indignantly “humans…”

Grabbing the spear in one hand and rubbing his head with the other, Taryk walked up to the wolf in a relaxed manner before stabbing down with the spear. A small whimper was heard, but before it the spear could even be pulled out it vanished into the wind.

“Oh, something weird popped up Andrew. What is this level thing? And something or another about status points?”

“Hmmm, you can see that? Interesting, well looks like I can control it, wait why did the system just decide you were my companion? Whatever. I don’t even want to think about it anymore. I’ll deal with for you by the way; warrior elf, mage elf, healer elf, hunter elf, or something in between?”

“Lisia! My name is Lisia!”

“Hunter elf it is, Lisia.” spoke Andrew emphasizing the last word.

As he looked in his status screen he noticed both Lisia and Taryk were forcibly recruited as companions thus giving him access to their stat screens, stat allotment, and even a brief overview of their background. Uncaring about their past he skipped past the introductory notification which, essentially, was a small biography and went directly to assigning their stats.

Lisia Jean Aira Dradrenau

Level 5

Str: 7

Agi: 12

Per: 11 (+2)

End: 7

Vit: 6

Int: 8(+5)

Wis: 5 (+5)

Chr: 10

Affinity:

Nature (Small): When using nature based spells, such as restoration and rooting, duration and potency is increased by 15%.

Skill:

Adaptability (Beginner 3): Ever-changing and ever-evolving in this world, the individual gains a great wealth of knowledge and mental fortitude. Those who are more open to these changes can see through various weaknesses granting them +5 intelligence, +5 wisdom, +2 perception.

Minor Restoration (Beginner 2): Calling up the forces of nature an individual can quickly mend minor wounds at the cost of MP.

Taryk of the Cleaver Clan

Level 4

Str: 12

Agi: 8

Per: 7

End: 8

Vit: 9

Int: 5

Wis: 6

Chr: 4

Status:

Minor Bleeding - Health will continue to decrease unless treated.

Skill:

Spear Handling (Intermediate): Any spear put into your hands is a machination of death and suffering for those that stand before you. However, for those that get within your reach be warned for they can easily spell death towards a careless novice or veteran alike. Bonus 30% damage with all long handled polearm weapons. Increases armor piercing power by 15%. Increased chance of bleeding.

Andrew Marks

Level 8

Str: 13 (+1)

Agi: 15 (+1) (+2)

Per: 14 (+1)

End: 10 (+1) (-2)

Vit: 10 (+1)

Int: 9 (+1)

Wis: 8 (+1)

Chr: 9 (+1)

Lck: ? (+1)

Status:

Bone Fracture - END is reduced until treated.

Skill:

Dual Wielding (Beginner: 4): While wielding two weapons Damage Rating penalty is reduced by 26%. Penalty currently at 24%. Grants easier range of motion and knowledge of advanced techniques are granted at base level up of the skill.

Improvisation (Beginner: 2): You arm yourself to the teeth before encounter any situation, using any available tactics and weapons in a manner to ensure your survival in this new age. Increases attack rating by 6% for all weapons. Increases hit chance and critical chance by 2.5% for all weapons (be in, physical damage based melee, thrown, or projectile). Spell failure rate decreases by 3.5% and spell duration increases by 3.5%. +1 to all stats including luck.

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Chapter RSS About the author 3 Fictions 65 Posts 2 Threads Ambush Follow Author Thursday, December 24, 2015 6:38:20 PM Thursday, December 31, 2015 7:03:48 AM Canada Shy Penguin

Bio: Chronic Inability to Finish Stories; CIFS for short. A major affliction that has gripped me in its steely maw for weeks, months, and (shivers) shows no sign of stopping.

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