"Congratulations for surviving the first Monster Horde."
"Your safe zone has completed the event: Monster horde"
"Event rewards will be distributed based on contribution"
"System store and profession options have been unlocked"
"The average level of monsters has increased"
"The next Monster horde event will be in 12 days"
"Your contribution for your safe zone is: Mythical"
"You have received a 'Will skill token - Mythical'"
"You received 1st place in this event, broadcast your rating to the safe zone?"
"Yes/No"
After some consideration, Eli selected yes, and entered the name Lord Ash. Then he waited for the others before he checked out his token. Audrey was the first to look up at him and smile, he guessed that the notification sent to everyone was behind all the others. When everyone was looking at him, he spoke.
"So what did everyone get for their contribution?" he asked.
"Epic." Bethany, Cody, Stevens and Audrey said.
"Supreme" Tara said shyly, "Is that good?"
"Supreme is a step above epic, legendary is above supreme, and mythic is above legendary," Eli said.
They all looked at him.
"And how do you know this?" Audrey asked.
"I have a legendary class," Eli said as if it was a normal thing.
Then another system window appeared to all of them.
"Your experience gained from the monster horde event has been calculated"
"You have gained 8 levels from monster kills and event ranking."
Eli dismissed his window and looked at the others, waiting to see what they gained. But it seemed a lot of them were looking through class upgrade options. He waited for all of them to look up at him before he spoke again.
"What did everyone get?" he asked.
"I think we need time to work on some things, let's take a few minutes to ourselves to go over our system menus and we can talk about them after," Tara said.
They all walked away a few steps and looked through things in their system menus. Eli pulled his menu up to assign his stat points and again he was puzzled by what he saw.
"Magic level 58"
"Stats: Strength 30, Reaction 34, Vitality 32, Intellect 34, Wisdom 33, Resistance 34, Will 421"
"Free stats 24, stats between int, wis, res 16."
His 'Will' stat was staggeringly high and he wasn't sure what to make of it. How high was it going to go, and what did that mean for his new 'Will skill' that he would get from his token. He wasn't going to get anywhere until he got more information, but he really liked to think about it. Now wasn't the time and refocused on his stats and assigned them so that they looked like this:
"Magic level 58"
"Stats: Strength 40, Reaction 40, Vitality 38, Intellect 39, Wisdom 40, Resistance 40, Will 421"
He was happy with this balanced approach, but applying the stats actually changed his body a little, he guessed that this was due to his body level going up to 2. He now got 20% of his stats applied to his physical body. So especially his ten point increase in strength added 2 points to strength on his actual body, and he felt those two points, it wasn't painful just kind of eerie to feel his body change. He did feel stronger, which was good since they would be headed to the large central volcano and those monsters would be stronger now.
Next he took out his new token, it looked like a double sized silver dollar with a rune on one side and an 'M' on the other. Assuming the 'M' stood for mythical, the rune probably means will. He focused on it so the system would give information.
"Will skill token - Mythical"
"A skill token used to unlock a will skill with a Mythical rarity."
"Skill tokens are used to unlock skills for which you do not have an open node."
Ok so if a lot of people get these with every event, that is how people with few nodes can get all 12 skill spots open. Since not everyone would get one, you could sell them after you got all of your slots assigned with a skill. Eli crushed the token to use it and he fell into a trance. His mind surrounded a spark of light and from the way it felt, it had to represent his soul, as he got closer his soul was like a sun. It was so bright that he could not even look at it and a massive rune appeared over it, giving that light shape. The rune was so complex and intricate he actually had a tear running down his cheek for its beauty.
He came back to himself and checked out the system window describing his skill.
"Will skill - Domain: Weight of the world - Mythical"
"Control your presence to force everyone and everything within range into the ground"
"Effect is increased based on will"
"Effect is increased based on emotional state"
"Effect is stronger on those who oppose your will"
"Will skills do not use magic but are sustained by the soul"
Eli wasn't sure how he felt about this so he asked Tara to come over and they took a few more steps away. He read the window to her twice to make sure she understood it.
"So, what do you think?" he asked, a little agitated at himself.
"I think it fits," She responded
"What?!?" Eli said loudly enough for his voice to shake the ground a little. He was obviously more upset about this than he wanted to be.
"Take a breath and think, you have always carried the weight of your decisions on your shoulders. You worry and feel responsible for every outcome that you had a part in. You want your actions to have a positive effect on the world and you carry the disappointment and weight of your failures around like a necklace made of lead bricks." Tara did her best to explain without sounding judgmental.
He knew she wasn't judging him or saying he was bad, but he did not think this skill fit his soul. He just didn't view himself that way.
"We will talk about this more later, but I just got a request from Audrey and Bethany for them to be under me as a servant and I need to know what you think."
"Well I just hit 51 and upgraded my class to supreme. level 50 servants I can have up to 10 minions. Maybe have them work under me first?" Tara asked.
"You think they will go for that, would that even work since the system requires a connection and trust before it lets people do this?"
"Only one way to find out, let's go talk to them," said Tara.
First they pulled Audrey aside to ask her some questions. Facing away from the others, Eli took off his mask so she could see his face.
"First, I want to say that I am not opposed to you being a servant like Tara, but we want to make sure that this is what you really want. We are pretty sure that the system enforces loyalty and may even alter or enhance other feelings," Eli said, trying to be fatherly, or at least big-brotherly, about it.
"I've thought about it, and it's what I think is best for me, and for everyone. I'm sure Tara would have killed me if I didn't do this anyways because of what I know, so this just works out for the best. That's not why I want this though, not the fear of death, I want this because of what I learned and because of what you did to save me. It could have killed you, but you saved me despite that," Audrey explained in such a calm manner that Eli and Tara were having trouble coming up with a response.
"Ok, so…. I'm going to need more information. What is it that you know?" Eli asked then turned to Tara, "and why would you kill her for it."
Tara explained to him what had happened and how Audrey had helped and then sensed something about his magic. Audrey flat out refused to talk about it until he accepted her as his servant. This made Tara angry, but she could respect the teenager's perspective. Whatever the secret was she was willing to gamble with her life to stay close to Eli. Tara paced back and forth debating on what the terms of this should be.
"We agree." Tara said finally
"We do?" Eli asked
"Yes, but I have some conditions."
"I'm listening," Audrey responded hesitantly
"First, until you are 18, you work for me, not Ash. Second, you fill us in on everything you have learned and been able to piece together. Third, you swear to me right here and now that there will be no magical funny business until you talk to me first. I know there may be some things we need to keep from Ash for his own good, but you tell me everything!" Tara said while giving her a very serious look.
"Deal," Audrey said and stuck out her hand for Tara to shake.
"Wait, I don't think we addressed my concerns here," Eli said.
"Deal," Tara said while smirking at Eli and shook her hand. "We will handle your concerns, no need for you to be bothered by them."
The two walked away laughing to each other and Eli just shook his head and selected accept under Audrey's request to become his servant. Audrey paused in her steps and her body shook for a second, then she kept walking and talking to Tara. Eli wasn't sure how or why, but he knew this wasn't going to end well for him. After a few more seconds of self pity, he followed them to where Bethany was standing, she was just inside the barrier, probably checking out the system shop. The three stopped outside it and waved for her to join them.
"Let me do some of the talking this time," Eli said, and they nodded
"I'll start off by saying that I'm not opposed to you being.." Eli swallowed hard before continuing since he didn't like the title, "my servant, but I would like for you to tell me why? You don't know that much about me, I could be terrible."
"I've seen enough to know your character, Tara and Stevens talk about you with reverence, which is something only a good man can inspire. I also have seen how you protect those around you and how much it affects you when you fail to keep them safe. I come from the cut-throat corporate world before all this and I know how to tell who the good ones are." Bethany said.
"I can understand that, but I need to know that you understand the consequences. We are pretty sure that the system enforces loyalty somehow, and it may affect other feelings and such as well. This will give me power over you and I need to know that you are ok with that," Eli said, then took off his mask so she could see his face. "I don't want to surround myself with power, I have enough power, I want to surround myself with people that I can trust. Most of all though, I want those around me to truly want to be there, despite my mistakes and causing trouble for us." He finished his speech with concern on his face, the concern of a friend, for a friend.
"Ummm…." Is all Bethany could get out while staring at Eli.
"Why don't you let us handle the rest, you said your bit, now let us work out the details," Tara said.
Eli shook his head, put his mask on and went over to Stevens and Cory who seemed to be comparing notes on what they got from the tokens.