God Class, page 33
For a moment he thought of Rae, and how excited he would have been about real food; or beer.
He had worried for the man during their fight against the leeches and worms but had been too distracted against the slug Queen to think of him again. Now that a town was in sight, he truly hoped the weirdo had made it here, or to another town. It wasn’t exactly a cool move to abandon Silas and Tulk after they escaped together, he knew that, but he still would not wish harm on the man. At the end of the day, he was just another captured human trying to make his way home, and Silas could sympathize with that recalling his own home, and his own family.
When Argor mentioned they would make it by nightfall, Silas hesitated for a moment. Would appearing in a small town from the hostile woods with a legendary ent creature and a Goblin under the cover of nightfall be the right move? If he had been a town guard, he imagined that he would either die of a heart attack or raise the alarm. Argor seemed to not mind it, explaining that their kind were the kind of legends that people would give anything to see or meet, and few from towns such as this ever had the option. On the other hand, Tulk agreed wholeheartedly with Silas. The creases of his green face showed his disdain and worry, and he did little to mask it.
“We should camp at the edge of the forest,” he remarked, nodding towards the tree line. “At daybreak Tulk may seem less intrusive, and perhaps be welcomed if we weave words right.”
Argor brushed the comment off, shaking its grassy head. “Danger lurks even at the tree line, green one,” Argor answered. “We cannot be sure that your people are not actively hunting even as we speak, and with Lumaca removed the Spore-Strider populous will undoubtedly flee. The ecosystem here may change in just a matter of days with various factions seeking territorial control.”
“Ah,” Silas remarked, rubbing his chin and nodding. He sighed and slumped a bit at the thought. “I hadn’t thought of that happening. Does that mean we have brought harm to the village do you think? Sorry… I’m not sure how this world works.”
“Harm!” Burbles added.
Argor shrugged. It was a stiff, odd tree shrug. “The humans will be fine, few of the creatures would leave the forest unless provoked to do so, and none so casually as us. As for the green ones, they may face a dietary shift or a brief infestation but even they will prosper again if they decide to reopen the cavern systems.”
“That isn’t much better…” Silas muttered. “So, do we stay, and risk being attacked here? Or do we go, and risk being attacked there?”
With those being the only options given, the choice seemed obvious. Argor summoned a new staff for Silas, then the team headed for the town as the sun dipped into sleep.
The walk was silent and uneventful. It was something that Silas craved without even knowing it. It gave him moments of reflection that he was unconsciously desperate for, and he found himself asking questions more than finding answers. As they traversed the seemingly endless field, moist grass licking at their every step, he thought about his current life and finally came to one realization that he was trying to hide from himself. One he feels like he had known all along.
This world was real.
It was alive, and vibrant. It pulsed with the veins of real life. All of his senses told him that it couldn’t be a dream, it couldn’t be some digital experience or an upload of his consciousness. Wherever he had ended up had been as real as his home world of Earth, with as much history and pain as any real world would. This realization should have sent a jolt of fear throughout his body, chills down his spine. He should have been afraid, but he was not. In fact, it left him with his first question of the walk; Why not?
He had not been nearly as frightened by the worms, leeches, or even slug queen as he had been with the Goblins. Could it be his companions? The fact that others now looked out for him, and in turn he looked out for them? It was plausible, and he wanted to believe it was the case. Was it the Levels? Maybe his increased Intelligence, Wisdom, and possibly Strength, were making him more courageous? Again, reasonably plausible. He was certainly larger due to the stat increases, but after looking down at himself he realized he still registered as someone on traditionally thin and frail. Not skeletal like he had been, but Silas knew he wouldn’t be winning any body building contests anytime soon.
The sun was fully settled in by now, with the sky taking a darker tone as they continued their silent journey. Tulk’s armor and weapons made the occasional clunk sound when he met uneven ground, and occasionally burbles made an odd bubbling noise that seemed to not really mean anything at all, but otherwise it was silent. Since they stilled moved quietly as a unit, Silas decided to quickly set his new stat points, and look into the ability points aspect as well, which he had been leaving alone for far too long.
What are ability points? He thought to his mind’s voice.
[Question accepted: Ability points] It began in its monotone and abrupt speaking pattern. [Ability Points can be assigned to skills to unlock additional passive benefits. Each ability contains a series of nodes, and each node allows for one additional passive benefit to the ability itself. Please note, only a single node may be active on any ability, and the purchase of a node with ability points is permanent. Currently you have 28 unassigned ability points]
Silas thought about that for a moment, nearly falling when he stepped into a small gopher hole with his eyes closed. He composed himself, hearing the snickering from Tulk behind him, and continued moving forward.
Show me the Nodes available for Morning Star.
In the darkness behind his eyes, a circular sun appeared that resembled a shrunken version of his ability. He grinned seeing it, knowing that he must look very dumb to his companions right now should they notice. Morning Star had been his crutch ability, it saved him when he knew nothing about this world and was still his most powerful and impressive skill. If there was a node to reduce its massive cooldown it would be a game changer, and maybe even save his new allies if another large-scale foe like Lumaca or H’Alik come their way.
Under Morning Star, it showed four different options which were tiny ghostly moons that seemed to orbit it. He focused on each one, and they revealed the passive benefit to him.
[Flare Node: 2 ability points. Effect: Adds a weak burn effect that lasts for 30 seconds and does 2X damage per second, where X is equal to the users Intelligence rating]
[Redeemer Node: 4 ability points. Effect: The warming glow of the Morning Star heals the user and their allies for 7% of total damage done to a foe. Must be within a 6 yard radius for effect to take hold]
[Twin Sun Node: 8 ability points. Effect: What was once one is now two. Morning Star is now smaller in size, and only 2/3 of its originally effectiveness. However, it is turned into two versions of itself which can be launched like projectiles which explode on contact]
[Unrivaled Node: 12 ability points. Effect: Morning Star gains the ability to absorb or deflect oncoming magical projectiles and incinerate physical projectiles. Absorbed magical projectiles increase the size of the Morning Star, adding their original damage calculation to the total damage of Morning Star at a reduction of 50%]
Silas fumbled his steps again, this time at the information before him instead of a gopher hole. These Nodes were not just game changers, but some were just downright disrespectful to opponents. In his gaming days he had always loved the idea of skills gaining devastating boosts and boons of the course of a game, and now he had that option for himself; he wondered why it seemed like each of his favorite pieces of gaming were a part of his system. Still, now he had the hardest part of it all ahead of him; what to choose?
The Redeemer Node was a little tempting when he considered the limitations of his current healing abilities, and the benefit to his companions. But he still was not sure if his skills had some kind of friendly fire damage that he was not aware of. Technically Morning Star had not damaged him, he was just far too weak and inexperienced to wield it and knocked himself out, but that did not mean it wouldn’t blind, if not totally annihilate, his friends. At that point, what good is a 7% healing boost?
The other three were what really caught his attention. The Flare Node may be his only opportunity to have something similar to a fireball, and technically the Twin Suns were fireballs of blinding light energy. Then there was the Unrivaled Node. It was a power battery of a move, turning his most destructive skill into shield of sorts that could exponentially grow in damage. If he ever found himself facing off against H’Alik again, or that emperor guy the others talked about, then it could turn the tide.
His mouth began to salivate at the thoughts, his tongue rubbing against his dry lips as if to taste…
Food. It wasn’t the nodes that did that. It was the strong aroma of real food.
Silas opened his eyes and was surprised to see that they were only a few yards from the main gate of the sleepy little town, and the smells of roasting suppers almost made him ravenous like a comic book zombie. His hunger nearly blinded him to the fact that there were multiple guards with rifles trained on them from towers beside the gate, along with two more at the gate with spears held out at the ready.
“Halt!” Screamed one guard, spear point staring directly at them. “State your business!”
“Uh…” Silas answered, looking to his companions for some ideas. Then, he realized who his companions were. A legendary tree monster creature, a poisonous mushroom crab with claws the size of tennis balls, and an armed Goblin. If anyone should answer, it should probably be him.
“Uh,” he said again, deep in thought of his next words. “Hi!”
Hi? he asked himself, feeling immensely stupid.
[Hello] his Helper answered.
“State your business!” The guard shouted again, this time to the chorus of the two on the towers clicking hammers back on their rifles as if to punctuate his demand.
“Oh, yes. Sorry. We are… uh, travelers. Yes! We are travelers, and we are just looking for somewhere to stay for a few nights. An inn perhaps? Or… like, a hotel if you have one? Maybe some food? Got a Denny’s or something back there?”
“An inn? Food? What trickery is this?!” He shouted even louder, moving a single step closer. “You are in company with a Goblin! And a… a…”
The guard’s eyes moved from Silas, to Tulk, and then hesitated on Argor. The tree being just stood, neither threateningly nor friendly. In all honesty, Silas thought it just looked like it was standing like an ordinary tree. But he could see how the guard eyed it. His eyes widened, his jaw dropped, and suddenly the guard looked like it had seen an angel. Or demon. One of the two.
“Are… are you…” He could not even manage his words, raising a strange lantern that was on his hip so that the light could cast a distant glow on Argor’s figure.
The other guards had followed suit, lowering their weapons and standing in awe of Argor. The Guardian grinned, and Silas hoped that these people did not find it nearly as off-putting as he did.
“That is the Forest Guardian…” A female guard said from the tower, just loud enough for the others to hear. “That is the Forest Guardian! Stand down!”
All at once the guards lowered their weapons and gathered at the gate, clearly wanting to approach the being. Silas watched in fascination at this. What would the Earth equivalence of meeting a legendary creature be? Big Foot? An alien? He shook his head. Clearly there was not an Earth version of this event, because he knew he would run like Hell at the sight of either one. Maybe it was more like meeting Lil Wayne, he thought.
“That I am,” Argor answered. They put out their hands, palms raised toward the sky, and in each bloomed a brilliant white rose that seemed to curl out and unfurl like a dancing ballerina. Argor continued to grin as it approached. “Please, humans, call me Argor.”
The guards hesitantly approached the Guardian in return, and it gifted the first two with the white roses, then bloomed two more for the rifle-wielding guards behind them. Each took them in their hands, and they began to glow with a warming inner light as if they were filled with electricity. The guards held them to their faces, the soft glow showing each wrinkle of their smiles, and some even let go of a brief spasm of laughter.
All at once the group seemed to let their shoulders drop, finally relaxing. Silas couldn’t help but be jealous since if they met the same Argor that he had met they wouldn’t be so damn happy.
Silas checked out the uniforms they wore. The color scheme was a royal blue, with a conductor style hat and a long jacket that held large bronze buttons to keep them shut. The hat held a golden symbol on it, but he couldn’t get a good view of it from his position. Each had a black belt around the outside of the jacket that held various pouches and buckled satchels, and under the jacket there were thick brown pants that Silas assumed were a hide material. They were finished off with well-worn black boots, and he guessed that the jackets covered some kind of leather studded brigandine armor as well.
He thought it was odd in comparison to what he pictured a guard to look like. They were not as heavily armored in plate mail or wielding shields and maces. All of his time spent watching fantasy films really let down his expectations a great deal. Instead, these just looked like a police force of some kind, almost casual except for the weapons. He took the opportunity of Argor’s distraction to survey the surroundings, the stone and wooden wall, the worn structures visible from just beyond the now opened gate and the roads of dirt and stone that ran between them.
This was clearly a prospering town of some kind, but maybe not the most profitable. It could be that armor and weapons like he had thought of were saved for units who may actually see combat. Maybe these were more like the average mall cop instead of a military force; it wasn’t too farfetched of a guess. According to the tidbits he got from Argor, this town mainly had to defend itself from the occasional Goblin or roaming insect creatures. Unfortunately, that would leave them nearly defenseless if the Charred Bone clan had chosen to attack in full force, and he guessed that the rifles were all that kept them at bay.
“This gift…” A guard said, enamored with the glowing rose. “It is a great boon, elder spirit of nature. We are not worthy of such grace, surely.”
Argor chuckled, and only Silas seemed to be a bit taken back by it.
“Oh, dear humans,” Argor said through the laughter. “Your grace in meeting us has been worth more than my simple treasures, I assure you. Keep them and bring them to your homes. The light they bring will last for a full cycle of the moon and will bring you restful sleeps and energized morning. Now, in return I only ask that you see my allies and myself to your town. I assure you they mean no harm.”
“I see,” the female guard answered with a nod. Her eyes darted to Tulk and back several times, as if she was torn between the kindness of a legend and their ongoing dispute with what must have been a hated race. “For you, and that one,” she nodded to Silas. Then she landed on Tulk with a resting gaze. “I do not believe it will be an issue… But…”
“Oh? And you would deny entry to a Samblar Parora?” Argor said, a bit of sass carving into their voice.
“A…” The female guard fumbled over her words. “Wait, you mean the Goblin?! The Goblin is your Sentinel?!”
“The surprises of this day just continue to bloom,” the other rifle wielding guard said, moving his head toward the flower as if making a bad joke. “We know even less of the Sentinels than we know of the Guardians. Please forgive our ignorance, we had not known the Forest Guardian had a Goblin Sentinel, or that there even was such a thing. Oh! What am I saying,” the guard said and stepped up to Tulk quickly, bending his knees and hunching over to shake the hand of the smaller Goblin. The guard held his eyes shut, grabbing Tulk’s gnarled hand in his and then shaking it as if he were trying to remove the Goblin’s arm from its socket. “Our apologies, Sentinel. We will see the Guardian and their Sentinel inside at once!”
“What do you think you are doing, Human?” Tulk spat and pulled his arm back. He shook it out a few times and rolled his shoulder. “Trying to make sure Tulk does not ever wield a blade again? Foolish Human…”
“Foolish!” Burbles added, clicking and clacking her crustaceous steps in a mock saunter right behind Tulk.
Tulk continued to mutter as he walked forward with the crab behind him, making his way toward the town without the others. The guards looked to one another, shrugging and doing their best not to upset the Guardian or their apparent allies. They turned back to Argor and Silas, happily ushering them inside of their town and escorting them beyond the gate.
“Thank you,” Silas spoke up, taking a few fast steps to catch up. “What town is this?”
“Autumnrun,” the older spear-wielding guard answered as they crossed the threshold into the town. “Three days due south of the capital. This place served as a fort some years ago, and in time grew to be a full town as more families arrived to stay with the soldiers. Eventually, this place was no longer needed. And… well…”
“All of this was born,” the young man with the rifle finished for him and swept a hand out as if to present the town to them.
It was quaint and quiet. The town had clearly been thrown together at first using leftover logs from the surrounding wall along with patched wood, while others were made of better milled wood that must have come later. More of the strange glowing lanterns filled the city, with some high on posts like streetlights while others hung before the doors of various shops and homes. Flickering candles had also offered more to the ambient glow of the sleepy town, and Silas noticed that there were not many people out despite it not being that late in the evening. But, above all else, he noticed the smells of delicious food.
Succulent meat, slowly charring over open flames. Seasoned vegetables roasting to perfection. Fluffy, warm bread fresh from stone ovens, set out to rest. He could smell it all and each whiff was almost euphoric. They reminded him of home, only better. The city always smelled of food, and when his senses became dulled it was a heavy hit to take. Yeah, sometimes there were moments where the smell of fresh tacos fought against pizza, or when the seafood restaurant decided to one up everyone and do an all-day boil, but those smells always seemed like home. Now, transfixed by the scent of beautiful food, that feeling of home began rushing in like waves.
