Rick had activated his Stealth skill and walked point ahead of his units formation roughly 30-40 yards. He cleared out any small groups of monsters in numbers of three or less with his bow and fell back to the formation a few times to clear out larger groups of goblins and gangs of large aggressive brown bears.

He was now traveling through an area with a lot of ground vegetation that limited the view around him. As he had quietly passed through a bush before he stepped out into the open he saw out in a small open meadow that a pack of huge wolves had surrounded a variant moose.

Rick fell back to his units and informed General Sturm of what was going on ahead. Rick assumed these wolves he found were Dire Wolves. He led all his units that had the Hero Ranger class forward and instructed them to cover him as he advanced out to attempt to tame these wolves. He told the archers to aim at wolves legs if any seemed like they were going to attack him and to only kill them if they turned to attack the hidden archers themselves.

He did not want to kill any of the wolves and he had no fear of them attacking him in his new armor. They might be able to knock him around, but there was no way a wolf could penetrate a half inch of Astrallium armor and the Astrallium chainmail he wore under it.

Rick and his squad of bowmen moved around so that they were downwind from the wolves who had now managed to bring down the huge moose. A few of them had painful looking wounds from the struggle with the moose, but for now, they seemed to ignore them to eat their fill.

Rick decided to wait until most of the giant wolves had eaten thinking if he were going to approach a Dire Wolf he would rather they not be hungry at the time or feel that they needed to protect their kill.

With Stealth still activated, Rick then also activated [Aura: Charm Anmal] and slowly walked out of cover into the clearing. He was almost instantly spotted by the pack and a few began to quietly snarl while others just curiously watched what he was doing. As Rick slowly moved forward he used his [Speak with Animals] Skill.

"I don't mean any harm."

"I just want to speak with you"

Quite a few of them cocked their heads curiously sideways as if they couldn't believe that this metal man walking toward them could actually speak wolf. When Rick had crossed over half the distance to them a much larger wolf than the others came forward.

"Go away from my pack! I am the leader and I have nothing to say to you! If you continue to come closer I will kill you!" The large wolf snarled out.

"I only want to offer you and your pack a better life. You can live with me in safety and not have to suffer being cold and hungry or getting injured while you hunt. If you fight with me and my pack we will give you a warm dry shelter and meals everyday." Rick softly explained as he continued to walk slowly forward.

Most of the wolves sat down on their haunches and began to look around at the pack. Rick could tell by the way they were acting that they liked what he was offering. The pack leader did not show any change and in fact, he grew more aggressive.

"I fight for your pack? I am the pack leader the strong lead the weaker wolves! I will show you the strength I possess!" The Pack leader snarled and barked out and then took off at a sprint.

Before it could travel more than ten feet arrows came whistling across the meadow and pierced through the front and back legs. The huge wolf rolled up like a ball and tumbled for a few feet before it came to a rest on its side. When the pack leader attempted to stand and continue its attack it yelped out in pain and fell back down onto its side.

"This is my strength! I could have had you killed just as easy, but I have spared your life! If anyone tries to attack me they will end up on the ground unable to walk just like this wolf!" Rick barked out at the pack.

After he scanned the pack it seemed that they were not going to attack so he continued. "You all can see that my pack is strong we have easily wounded your pack leader. If any of you wish to join us I will provide everything you need. Just come over and stand next to me if you wish to leave these woods for a better life." Rick explained.

Out of the pack of twenty Dire Wolves, fourteen of them came over to sit and stand next to Rick. He removed his right gauntlet and placed his hand on each of their heads and used his [Taming] skill to remove the wild from them and make them a bit more passive. He did not want to take them back home and have them trying to fight the Tigers or attacking his people and livestock.

When he tamed them all he walked over to the pack leader and put his gauntlet back on. He bent down and reached out to remove the arrows and the big wolf snapped its teeth onto his armored hand. It did not hurt Rick at all, but it did surprise and anger him.

"I need to remove these arrows and heal you or you're going to die," Rick said angrily.

"It doesn't matter I have lost to you and lost my pack. This is the way it has always been the old pack leader is killed by the younger and stronger." The pack leader snarled out.

"Are you sure about that? I can heal you so that you are just as strong as you were before, or I can kill you just as easily, so be sure to choose wisely." Rick explained to the stubborn wolf.

"Then kill me I have lost my pride and my pack. I know longer have no reason to continue."

Rick stood up and shook his head at how stubborn this wolf was.

I can't leave him like this or he will just slowly bleed or starve to death and if I heal him he will more than likely try to attack me again.

He unsnapped the longsword on his hip and drew it from the scabbard. He swung the sword above his head and chopped down across the wolves neck with one swift swing he had cut off the wolf's head. He stored the head and body and walked over to the group of wolves he had tamed.

Rick turned to the other six wolves who had not come over to his side earlier. "Your pack leader choose to die rather than return to health and lead you again. I will offer my deal one more time before I leave and you six are left alone out here." Rick said to them.

He figured the reason they chose not to follow him was their loyalty to the pack leader, but now that he was dead, Rick wanted to give them another chance. It worked out like he had thought the other six did not hesitate and almost looked relieved as they quickly trotted over to him. He used his [Taming] skill on the other six and then opened a portal and walked them through to Tower Island. He told them to stay on the small Island and not to cross the water.

Before he left to rejoin his units, Rick used [Natures Blessing] to heal their wounds.

"I will be back later and bring you all meat. Stay on this island and you will all be safe you can go into that stone tower if you want. Do not attack anyone that you happen to see around here unless they try to harm you. I will see you all soon" Rick said and after he petted a couple of the large wolves he walked through the portal and closed it behind him.

I don't want to throw the wolves into a fight until I can make them armor that is similar to the Tiger's armor. Rick thought as he rounded up the hidden archers and went back to the main group.

Now that I have the Tigers and Dire Wolves back at home I need to start keeping more meat in stock to feed them all. Rick thought while walking back to meet up with the main group.

When he and his archers made it back to the waiting troops, Rick had a talk with General Sturm to arrange the ranged units in a formation that allowed them to hunt for wild game as they traveled forward. General Sturm had the troops advance forward in a single line with a melee fighter on each side of a ranged unit. This way if they ran into trouble the ranged units could quickly step back while the melee units stepped forward to form a defensive line.

Even the units that were not archers such as those with the assassin class used their darts to take down large birds, rabbits, and even the smaller deer. Rick used his recipe for the darts to keep everyone fully stocked up and it turned out to be great practice for them as well. After the troops had walked roughly five miles through the forest to the quest marker location they had vastly improved their accuracy and distance with the hand throwing darts.

As Rick realized that they were now getting much closer to their destination he had General Sturm reform the troops into the original formation of keeping the lighter armored troops in the center to protect them from attacks from any side.

The surrounding trees in the area that they all had finally arrived at were covered in thick webs that went halfway up these tall and thick trees. The webbing was strung from one tree to another in an attempt to funnel anything that happened to run through this area into a dead end enclosed with these web walls. Rick followed his compass into this dead end right toward one of these walls made of webs and it had what looked like a large cocoon spun up in the center where the quest marker was indicating him to go.

This looks like how spiders spin up their prey in webs or protect their spiderlings before they hatch. I have seen TV shows how they will spin up their prey and then come back to feed on them when they are dead. Rick thought as he walked over to the large bulge. Just as he was reaching out to touch the web he heard what sounded like a screech from above him.

When he looked up he saw large numbers of spiders bigger than him climbing down the trees.

Defend! Rick bellowed out as he pulled his bow from his inventory and began zipping arrows up through the branches to pierce through the swarm of descending spiders.

General Sturm threw up a couple hand gestures and the formation immediately shifted. All of the heavy armored units formed a tight front line while the archers and mages formed the second line, that was staggered to allow them to shoot or cast in between the heavy front line units. The assassins, clerics, and ballista formed up in a third line and awaited orders.

The spiders had made it halfway down the trees when a storm of angry sounding arrows and darts came simultaneously screaming skyward to smack into them. The ranged units put up a heavy continuous barrage that killed a lot of spiders before they made it down the trees to the ground. Still, even with their best efforts there were still so many spiders it seemed everytime they would kill one two or three would take their place. The spider's initial assault was slowed for a moment, but their overwhelming numbers that seemed to keep pouring down the tree trunks allowed them to gain the ground where they wasted no time to advance forward.

Rick quickly put away his bow when the first spider made it down to the forest floor and was reaching over his shoulders to grab his runic fire swords while at the same time that General Sturm gave a signal to send the ten giants covered from head to toe in steel plate mail forward to charge straight into the spiders with their massive four-foot long battle axes chopping and slicing everything in their path.

Unsheathing his fire swords, Rick charged in on the left flank and Angelica followed right on Rick's heals. He had a figured that the person he was looking for was trapped in that spider web or was possibly above them in the trees somewhere from what he could make out from the compass reading so he refrained from using his ranged fire and lightning magic. If one of his spells missed the target he could end up killing the clan princess without evening knowing it.

He figured his units wouldn't cast careless magic with Angelica, the half-giants, and him on the front line, but he yelled out just to be sure.

"General Sturm hold off on any offensive Ranged Spells! The person we need to rescue is hidden around us somewhere!" Rick yelled out loudly so that everyone would hear him over the sounds of the battle.

Right after Rick had made contact and cut down a couple spiders Angelica's Valkyrie squad came charging in on the opposite end of the line from him. They all wore the same armor as Angelica and were also dual wielding the runic fire swords.

Angelica's Valkyrie squad were dual wielding [Blade Masters] and everyone of them had also been assigned [Battle Mage] as a second class. Right before they had reached the right flank, everyone of them, cast [Ring of Fire] which is a mobile spell that surrounds the caster in flames and would gravely burn any enemy that entered the five-foot circumference around each of them.

When the Valkyrie squad advanced into striking range their [Ring of Fire] spells began painfully roasting the spiders who were pressing forward. As the frontline of spiders tried to fall back to escape the flames the all female squad of Valkyrie began to use [Gravity Field]. This was the same spell that Rick would often use to suspend his enemies off the ground and attack them while they helplessly floated a few feet off the ground.

Rick looked down the line and noticed the Valkyrie using the Gravity Field and decided to join them in their tactics he enshrouded his armor in elemental flames and cast a large field to suspend the left flank mass of spiders.

"Let's go, Angelica!" He yelled out and the two of them ignited their fire swords and began slicing into the suspended mob with cherry red glowing blades that sizzled through the spiders without any resistance.

These forward attacking units now had the spiders held back in a line that bowed around them to partially encircle the spiders. While they continued to attack the front line General Sturm kept the Hero Knights in reserve to protect the archer and mage lines against any spiders who struggled past the front line.

Garion and the other four half-angel cleric assassins were then sent forward by General Sturm to stay behind the forward battle line. They began casting healing spells and [spiritual Cleansing] on anyone who was bit by a spider to dispel the poison. When there wasn't anyone to heal they would use [Phantom Pace] to turn nearly invisible and [Dash] that allowed them to move 2x faster. With these two skills activated they would quickly jump up into the front line and cast [Dive Detonation]. This skill would strike all foes within 15 feet for 50 holy damage each second for a five-second duration. Then they would quickly retreat to cast [Sacred Shield] on the frontline units. [Sacred Shield] would deal 50 holy damage to any foe that attacked or targeted a nearby ally and the attacking foe would also be knocked down.

While Angelica and Rick made quick work of the suspended spiders on the left flank, he could hear the half-giants lined up next to him begin chanting and small buff icons began to appear across the bottom of his vision. He glanced down and saw [Aura of Speed] that made allies 35% faster. [Power Aura] was also buffing him with +20 to strength and agility. Then the next buffer to help them was [Veteran's Aura] that gave +5 to all skill levels to allies within 30 yards.

One of the half-giants was also chanting [Veiled Aura] on the spiders. When [Veild Aura] was active all enemies with 30 yards of the chanter suffered from a blurred vision status which severely affected their fighting abilities. All of these combined Auras ran together to constantly buff the combat line without a timer they would continually buff everyone until the half-giants deactivated them.

With all of these Aura Knight buffs supporting them Rick and Angelica began to quickly mow down the spiders. They were soon able to move further back around on the spiders and attack them directly from the side. Just as Rick and Angelica started their attack on a direct side flank they heard General Sturm yell out loud enough to be heard over the blows and cries of the fight.

Exploit Opportunity!

A small red buffer icon popped up from General Sturm's [Exploit Opportunity]. This was a general's skill that allowed all allies within 100 yards to do 2x damage if they were flank attacking from the side or 4x damage if they were flank attacking the enemy from behind. Now that Rick and Angelica and her Valkyrie squad across from them were attacking from a side flank they were able effortlessly to slash right through the spiders. Rick then roared and snarled out orders to his Tigers who had been paiently waiting on the back lines to circle around and form up alongside him.

With the stench of burning spider flesh heavy in the air the mass of spiders began to rapidly dwindle down after a couple minutes of this surrounding attack of whirling and dicing fireswords. Rick did not let up and he continued to push around until he could get behind the shrinking group of spiders with the help of his Tiger reinforcements and Angelica.

He wanted the 4x damage buff to activate on him and when it did he mercilessly cut into the spiders from behind with Angelica and his armored Tigers right beside him they drove and prodded the remaining spiders forward into the half-giants frenzied attacks.

This reminded him of a book that he had once read on Alexander the Great. he would often circle around the enemy from behind with his cavalry and drive them forward onto the spears of his waiting phalanx units. Alexander called this the hammer and anvil tactic. The cavalry was the hammer and the phalanx was the anvil that crushed the enemy between them.

After fighting for about fifteen minutes they had wiped out the huge colony of spiders. Even though a few of his units fell from the spider's attacks during the fight the Cleric Assassins were always right there to heal and cleanse any wounded units back to normal within seconds.

Rick didn't waste any time after the battle ended and he immediately climbed over the piles of large dead spiders to begin cutting open the bulge of the thick web. Even with a razor sharp dagger, he had to struggle to cut and pull the impossibly strong webs away to reveal a hidden head with long red braided hair from the cocoon. He stopped and cast Natures healing on the girl and yelled out to the clerics to come help him. The girl's disheveled hair was covering her face so he couldn't tell if she conscious or not. Using his dagger he continued to cut the webbing away from her body and laid her on the ground as the clerics were climbing over the dead spiders to make it over to help aid the girl.

Rick removed his gauntlet to brush away the long braids of hair covering her face. What he saw surprised him more than the spider attack had earlier.

The girl whom they had come to rescue had two small tusks that protruded from her mouth and reached the top of her upper lip. She was a pretty girl and her skin, if it were not so white right now, seemed it would normally be the same color as a regular human.

Now I understand the name of the quest! This is an unexpected princess alright! I think this girl is half human and half orc!

Rick placed his hand on her cheek and used his Identify skill.

Spoiler: Identify!.

Nezera Zaraknok Strength: 38 Level: (56%) 12 Stamina: 35 Health: 620 Vitality: 62 Mana: 740 Intelligence: 74 Piety: +175 Wisdom: 42 Fame: +3000 Agility: 28 Honor: +2000 Charisma: 22 Alignment: +1000 Leadership: 32 Satiety: 2% Luck: 4 Class: Clan Princess Health Regen/Sec: 3.5 Mana Regen/Sec: 3.0 Health Points: 120/620 Race: Half-Orc Awarded Titles Currently Displaying: Lorebark Forest Clan Royalty Title: Lorebark Forest Clan Royalty Alignment +/- +1000 Title: Displaced Clan Princess Alignment +/- -none-

This is the first time I ever tried this on a living person I can't believe it opens a status page like this. Let's see here it seems her health is really low and her satiety is rock bottom. My Natures Blessing heals for 100hp and she has 120hp now, why hasn't her hp regened since she has been in that webbing all this time and why isn't regenerating without any monsters around her right now?

Maybe it has to do with her Satiety? I never let mine get that low so I am not sure what conditions it may have on you when it drops. It must somehow shut off your regeneration until you either eat or die then. I guess that would make sense, just like the real world if you do not eat you die this must be set up so people can't continue to regen hp without ever eating anything.

If she is in this condition I can't make her eat anything solid or she will choke on it. I need to make something Liquid with some calories in it.

Even with the clerics now around and trying to heal her while Rick thought out the condition she was currently suffering she would not wake up and her HP would continue to decrease every time she was healed. Rick decided to open a portal to the 2nd floor of the tower and he brought all his units back to Tower Island. They carried Nezera Zaraknok through the portal with them and laid her on one of the beds. Rick sent everyone off to grab a meal or relax at home for now and told them they would continue the mission soon.

Downstairs on the first floor, Rick turned on the stove and placed a skillet on it that he poured cooking oil into and added a large cut of beef. This beef was part of his private stock that he had bought from the butcher at Silverhall City's central plaza.

He took out a container of milk from the fridge and poured it in with the frying beef. Then he searched through the cabinets and found a bag of flour that he scooped out a large cup from and sprinkled it into the skillet over the beef.

He continued to stir up the thick beef gravy with the beef fats that formed in the skillet for a few minutes and then removed the piece of beef and poured the gravy into a cup. He filled the half full cup up the rest of the way with milk and carried it up stairs and set it next to the bed. He had Angelica gather up some pillows and help him prop her up some and then tilted her head back and opened her mouth to slowly pour the milky broth into her mouth. After a few unconsious coughs from having some of the broth sneak past her trachea, Rick managed to get it all into her stomach.

When he had checked her status after giving her the drink her satiety had gone up to 31%. Rick closed the status menu and began casting his Natures Blessing every minute after it recharged. Once Nezera health had recovered she started to wake up. When she opened her eyes it took her a minute to comprehend the situation she was in and then her eyes opened wide when she realized that two humans were standing over her.

Panic set in and she quickly sat up and looked like she was prepared to bolt out of the tower. Rick grabbed her arm and held her down on the bed and Angelica grabbed her other arm and held her.

"We are not going hurt you please settle down!" Rick said and Nezera continued to struggle. Rick then remembered the new languages he learned recently at the library and the orc language was one of them.

"We are not going to hurt you please settle down you need to rest for a few minutes! You were almost dead when we rescued you from the spiders." Rick said to her in Orcish.

Nezera stopped struggling then and looked up at Rick in surprise. "What are you and her? She asked Rick.

What are we? Does she mean what race are we? I guess even though she is half human she has never seen a pure human before.

"My name is Cedric and this is Angelica we are both humans. Have you never seen a human before?" She shook her head as she settled down, but was still wary of them.

"You are a half-orc, a mix of a human like us, and a regular orc. Your clan must have once copulated with humans on this island long ago before you were even born." Rick tried to explain.

Nezera had a look of realization appear on her face. "If this is true that must be why our clan is so different from all the other forest clans." She said quietly to herself.

"Where is your clan are they safe from the hostile orc clan? I was sent by my goddess to rescue you and your people from them." Rick asked Nezera.

"My clan is hidden in a cave in a secret valley that only those of our clan know the location. My clan has used this cave as a refuge for many years. We had been driven from our homes and fled to the cave with so many clan members and only a small amount of supplies we ran out of food a couple of days ago. I went off on my own to try and seek help from an ally clan. As I traveled through the night so I would not be easily seen I was hungry, tired, and weak, but I continued stumbling along, pressing on forward and without realizing it I fell directly into those spider webs. The spiders spun me in webs and I passed out thinking I would be eaten and die and then I woke up here."

"That is where I found you my goddess led me to your location and we fought and killed all the spiders and were able to rescue you from that web. Your health was really low and you had almost starved to death so I brought you back to my home to help you regain your health." Rick explained.

"How did you defeat all those spiders there were so many of them?" Nezera asked in bewilderment while shaking her head.

"My clan is very strong and we have weapons and armor that makes us even stronger. Now, I am going to let go of your arm so that you can try to stand up. Please trust me and do not try to run off or I will not be able to save your people and they will all die of starvation in that cave hidden in the forest." Rick said and then smiled as he released her arm and nodded to Angelica to do the same.

Nezera slowly stood up from the bed on wobbly legs and Rick reached out to steady her before she fell down.

"Let's go downstairs now and I will make you a meal. That should help you recover, and then we can go back to the forest and save your people." Rick said.

"What is doa-tairs?" She asked with a quizzical look.

Rick started laughing. "That is right you probably do not know what stairs are. Come let me help you." Rick held her arm and walked her over to the staircase and helped her walk down to the first floor.

When they reached the bottom she looked up the stairs at the 2nd floor as if wondering how they placed a room on top of another room.

"Those are stairs we use them to walk up to higher level rooms. This tower has four levels and one underground that you can get to by using all the stairs." Rick explained as if he were a teacher in a classroom.

"Now have a seat at the table over here and I will make you something to eat," Rick said as he helped her over to sit in the chair.

Rick turned the stove back on and placed a pot on it and filled it halfway with water. He sliced up the big cut of beef he cooked earlier along with carrots, potatoes, peas, and tomatoes that he had in his inventory. He dumped the vegetables and beef into the low boiling pot of water and poured a few cup of flour in. With a long wooden spoon, he slowly stirred the stew mixing the flour and water together. Rick once again brought out the milk container from the fridge and poured in a couple cups and continued to stir it for about fifteen minutes.

Right before it was done cooking he added some spices and sea salt. When the stew was done he filled three big bowls up and placed one in front of Nezera and Angelica. Rick sat down with his bowl and handed everyone a spoon.

"This smells very good! I have never seen food like this before!" Nezera exclaimed.

"It is a popular human dish try it I think you will like it. It has a lot of meat and vegetables that will make you strong again." Rick said as he and Angelica began to eat the stew.

"Cedric this stew is fantastic! This is much better than the food at the restaurant!" Angelica said and she began to attack the food in her bowl.

Rick chuckled at her reaction. "I wouldn't be surprised if it was better. My cooking skill is level 3 Master now. If I didn't have those cooks at the restaurant to cook for me and everyone else it would have been maxed out by now. Rick told Angelica.

"What is that sound you two are making to each other? I heard you do that when I first woke up earlier." Nezera asked.

"That is the human language we speak our words different than orcs. There are many different races in this world and all of them have their own languages. All the races were divided for many generations and they all developed their own way to communicate with one another that was different from every other race." Rick explained to her.

"Then how do you know how to talk like an orc if you are a human?" Nezera asked as she gobbled her food down and finished the bowl.

Rick stood up and refilled Nezerar and Angelica's bowls with more stew and placed it in front of them.

"In a large city far from here, there is a place that holds a lot of knowledge about many things in this world. I went there and studied how to speak different race's languages."

Nezera stopped eating for a moment with a look of wonderment on her face as she tried to imagine what this city and place filled with so much knowledge must be like.

Rick opened his party chat and asked General Sturm to round up all the military units and bring them back over to the tower when he finished eating.

"How are you feeling now Nezera? Do you feel stronger now that you ate?" Rick asked.

"Yes I do, thank you very much. Wait, how do you know my name? I don't think I ever had a chance to tell you it yet." She asked.

"I have a skill that provides me with information about anything I touch. When I was healing you in the forest I placed my hand on your cheek and it showed me your status menu." Rick explained.

"St-atus me-nu? What is that?" She asked confused.

I guess her tribe has no idea about stats and skills then. They have always been isolated in that forest and never had contact with other races to learn these things. I wonder if a tribe of primitive humans from that hostile western tribe centuries ago grouped up with an orc tribe to make this half-orc clan that ruled the forest until recently. This might explain why the pure orc monsters are defeating them so easily they have no idea how to increase their stats and skills and have survived off their advanced thinking process that they inherited from the human side of their genes. The hostile pure orcs must have superior numbers to overwhelm any schemes or traps that the half-orcs may use against them. Rick thought for a moment and then answered Nezera.

"Let's try something Nezera. I want you to say show status menu." Rick said.

"Show S-status Menu!" Nezera repeated with a slight hesitation.

Nezera gasped and jumped up out of her seat and began waving her hand in front of her. "What is this it has my name and numbers on it? When I try to grab it my hand goes through it." She asked in shocked.

Rick lightly chuckled. "That is your Status Menu it tells you how strong, hungry, and good or bad you are. Is there a spot near the bottom that says unused points? Rick asked.

"Yes! I see it and it has the number for sixty after it!" Nezera said.

Just as I figured they get five points for every level, but since they do not know how to distribute them they just continue to stack up.

"That is good then that you have those points. I will teach you how to use them later and it will help you and your people to get stronger." Rick said.

"Will it make us strong enough to defeat the enemy clan?" She asked excitedly.

"You don't have to worry about the hostile clan anymore. Once we rescue your clan I am going to defeat them all." Rick said with a mischevious smile.

Nezera caught movement out of the corner of her eye and then quickly moved behind Rick and peeked around him as General Sturm walked into the tower followed by the military units that had almost one of every race in the world among them.

Nezera was left speechless as she scanned the room to see so many different looking races all wearing matching metal armor and each person was all carrying multiple weapons on them that reflected light at her like the surface of a calm lake.

RIck turned around and looked at Nezera. "These are people are from my clan and I am their leader like you are to your clan. You have nothing to fear they will not harm you in any way. In fact, we are all going to go back to the forest right now and rescue your clan together." Rick said with a smile.

Then he opened a portal back to where they fought the spiders and General Sturm led the units through to secure the other side.

I am not sure if you are familiar with magic but this is a magic spell that allows me to open a door to anywhere I have been before. I am sure you have questions but please wait until we save your people and get them to safety." Rick explained.

"Angelica? Are you ready?"

"Yes, Cedric." She answered and stepped through the gate.

"I guess it is our turn. Do not worry it will not hurt you at all. It is just like walking through a doorway into another room." Rick hooked his arm around hers and led her through.

Rick took a minute to calm Nezera down. Returning to the spot she almost died and seeing the piles of dead spiders startled her when they stepped out of the gate. Once she was calmed down Rick wanted to investigate the spider webs she was caught in earlier. He didn't have much time to realize it earlier with everything happening so quickly, but now he remembered thinking that the spider webs felt familiar to him when he was cutting Nezera free.

He picked up a piece he had cut before and used his Identify skill.

Spoiler: Identify!. Spider Silk

Spider silk is a protein fiber spun by spiders. Spiders use their silk to make webs which function as sticky nets to catch their prey, or as nests or cocoons to protect their offspring or to wrap up prey.

If properly woven in layers Spider Silk can be as strong as steel and tougher than Kevlar yet flexible enough to be spun into a wide variety of shapes.

I thought this felt familiar this is what I used to make the ballista Strings. I knew it had a high tensile strength that was why I used it for the strings so would not snap easily when cranked back. I didn't know it had these game properties though.This can be as strong as steel and tough like kevlar? I need to start collecting this stuff to make light armor and outfits from it. I know that roll I had was quite expensive so Spider Silk must be hard to come by. These spiders are so aggressive I can see why that roll of spider silk cloth was so pricey now. The person collecting this is literally putting their life on the line to do it.

Rick had General Sturm form a defensive perimeter around them and he and his units began cutting the tough webbing from the trees all around them. They stripped about an acre of trees that were wrapped in the Spider Silk and stacked it all up in a big pile for Rick to store into his inventory.

He then called over Nezera who had been curiously watching all the different people running around cutting down the webs. Rick told her in Orc to lead them back to her people and they formed up in a defensive formation and set out through the forest.

The party continued in a southwestern direction for a few miles without any hindrances from monsters or animals. They were led to a large valley that was surrounded by sheer cliffs that made accessing the bottom impossible without long ropes and climbing gear. They followed the edge of the valley into an area that was thick with bushes and ground cover. Nezera showed them the way through the thick vegetation and they came out on the edge of the valley next to a narrow footpath that wound down to the valley floor.

They all carefully made their way down and crossed the valley to an opening in the cliff face at ground level. Nezera told Cedric that this was where her people were hiding from the hostile clans. Rick asked her to go in alone and explain to her people that they were here to help them so they would not panic when they saw all of the strangers that came to help them.

Nezera entered the cave for about fifteen minutes and then came back outside with her people following nervously behind her. Many of them were very weak from not eating anything for the past couple days and needed help to leave the cave.

Rick explained in orcish that he was going to take them all away to a safe location where they could eat and rest. He opened a portal again and his military units filed through like it was second nature now and after some reassurances they got Nezera's clan members to walk through the portal to the front of the restaurant.

General Sturm led the troops off to head back to their apartments after Rick had released them. Rick, Angelica, and Nezera led the starving half orc clan inside and sat them at the tables. Rick went into the kitchen and worked with his cooks to make large tubs of stew, bread, sausages, scrambled eggs, and breaded deer chops. When the food was prepared and cooking Rick went out back and used [field dress] on the Dire Wolf pack leader. He skinned the fur and quartered the meat up and stored it all in his inventory.

When he went back into the kitchen and grabbed a big bowl. Rick added cooking oil, vinegar, pepper seeds, and spices to the bowl and whisked it for a minute. He laid out a few large iron cast trays and loaded them up with the wolf meat and covered them in the marinade he just made in the bowl. After letting the marinade soak in for a couple minutes he placed the trays into the ovens until the wolf meat was cooked through.

When he pulled the trays out he spread more marinade on the wolf steaks and began taking all the food they had made out to a table to make a buffet style for the hungry clan. They passed out plates and utensils and had everyone line up and grab whatever looked good to them. The ones who were still too weak had to have others bring them a plate of food back to the tables.

It wasn't long until they were all once again full and had cleared out most of the food that was set out for them. Even after being full some were so thrilled with all the different delicious foods that they kept going back to try the other dishes they passed on at first.

While famished clan was eating Rick escorted Nezera outside to show her the city he was building. She was stunned by the size of the buildings and the flat smooth stone paved streets. He showed her the furnished apartment interiors and they walked through the crafting buildings and briefly watched the craftsmen making so many varied items. When they were heading back Rick spotted his Tigers and called them over. He had them all line up and he removed all their armors and stored them.

Nezera was once again petrified and amazed at the same time from being so close to the Tigers. She was afraid of the huge Tigers and amazed that Rick could talk to them and they listened to what he said without any signs of aggression. Rick told the Tigers that the half-orcs were friends and they all walked over to Nezera to sniff and rub against her. Rick let her know that they were just saying they want to be friends. When she reached out to pet one it rolled over and began purring loudly like a big house cat. Rick told the Tigers about the Wolves on the island and told them to follow him until he could introduce them all.

Opening his inventory, Rick took out a table and a couple chairs and placed them under a tree next to the restaurant and sat down with Nezera to talk. He ignored the startled gasp when he pulled the table and chairs out of thin air as it would seem to her and spoke up.

"So what do you think of my city? It safely surrounded by fifty foot stone walls and towers. We have homes for each individual person, and free meals three times a day in here at the restaurant for all the people who live here. This is only the start, we still have a lot more to build here." Rick explained to her like he was trying to sell her a new house.

"I have never even dreamed about a place like this before it is incredible. I am amazed that you can make these huge stone buildings and have so many different kinds of people working together to build it all." She excitedly exclaimed.

"That is good to know because I am going to take my people back into the forest and destroy all of the hostile clans, and after they are gone I want you and your people to live here in my city. Your people will be treated the same as everyone else and of course you will keep your title as clan princess. I will even make you your own apartment inside my castle for you to live in when it is built." Rick said as he pointed at the building down the road that Handil and Jerem's crews were building the walls of right at that moment.

Nezera just sat there with her mouth open trying to comprehend what she just heard. Before she spoke Rick continued on.

"You told me while we were traveling through the woods to rescue your people that the enemy clan burnt down and destroyed your homes right? Then you have nowhere to go now and that forest isn't the safest place to live even with your homes now you have nothing where will you and your people live in that hidden cave at the bottom of that valley?

Here your people are safe and have plenty to eat and as the city grows if they find things that interest them then I would be happy to have them learn how to do them. They could become farmers, builders, crafters, cooks anything they wanted to be or nothing at all. If they want to stay home and raise a family or just enjoy living in the city they will always have their freedom to chose their own future.

I will go set up a building where you and your clan can spend the night and you will be able to talk with your people in private and decide on if you wish to stay here or return to the forest. Whatever you decide just know that this city will always be your friends and you can always return here when ever you wish to visit or live." Rick then gave her a smile and stood up.

He told her he would be back in a little while to get them all and went off to the furniture shops and loaded up with cotton and wool. He used his recipes to make up a bunch of plain single beds and walked over to the meeting hall. He stored the long table and all the chair and lined the walls with single beds and turned one of the side rooms into a nice looking bedroom for Nezera with carpets, night stands, a dresser with women's clothes that he sold at the store and one of the large canopy beds.

Rick then brought them all over from the restaurant to the meeting hall that was filled with beds. He took Nezera into the side room he set up for her bedroom and told her that he would talk with her again in the morning. He let her know that her people were free to walk around and explore the city but to be careful leaving the city walls because there were no guards out there to protect them from whatever may happen along.

Outside the meeting hall Rick found the Tigers waiting and he walked back to Tower Island with them where he had a long talk with the Dire Wolves and Tigers about getting along and not fighting. He then pulled out four large deer that they had shot in the forest and quickly skinned them and let his wolves and TIgers have a nice little snack to hold them over until they were fed by the animal trainer.

Right before he gave them the deer made sure to tell the wolves not to eat any of the sheep or horses that may be roaming around the area. Rick left Tower Island after feeding his growin pack of critters and flew off toward the castle. He checked in with Hadil to make sure everything was going alright and then walked down the spiral stairs into the basement. As he was walking down there he opened his notifications.

Spoiler: Show Notices!. New Level Notice!

You Gained A Level!

Level 19

You have five unused points to distribute.

New Level Notice!

You Gained A Level!

Level 20

You have five unused points to distribute.

Thank you spiders! I gained two levels just from that battle and I still have the experience from the quest to look forward to!

You Have Qualified For Your Second Class! Do you wish to choose your second class now? YES NO

Now I get to pick my second class let's see what I have to choose from.

Yes!

Available Classes Menu! The Classes listed below are what you have qualified to currently choose from! Available Classes Prerequisites Class Descriptions Scout

Farsight Skill

Cartography Skill

Scouts are skilled hunters and trackers.They have an excellent memory for maps and geography, and can always recall the general layout of terrain, settlements, and other features. Forgemaster

Blacksmith Skill

Hammering Skill

Forging Skill

The greatest crafters of Weapons and Armor, they possess the ability to create deadly works of art. Battle Elementalist

Sword Skill One Affinity

One Affinity

They combine their blade with elemental forces to destroy their enemies. Chivalric Knight

Sword Skill

Blocking Skill

Trained from birth in the ways of warfare and chivalry, the knight is the stuff of legends. Shadow Archer

Archery Skill

Stealth Skill

A Shadow Archer combines his Archery skills with Stealth and Magic. Elemental Mage Two or more Elemental Afinities They wield the power of all the elements bringing massive destruction to the battlefield. Sword Sovereign Sword Skill Expert Level They can deploy four swords in a circle around them. Their techniques combine these four swords to attack in unisonance. Space-Time Wizard Space Elemental Afinity These wizards are capable of controlling dangerous types of space and time spells. Mind Mage: Magic user with Psionic Powers The Mind Mage is a blend of Mana and Psionic energies. They are the infusion of Psionic powers and weak Magic spells.

Oh? They added the prerequisites needed to qualify for each class to the menu now. Half of these classes were available to me at level ten. This sword sovereign class and Space-Time Wizard class look interesting.

Spoiler: Show Sword Sovereign!. Sword Sovereign

The Sword Sovereign is a swordsman who studies a bizarre fighting style.

They use magic to fight with four swords surrounding them.

The launch these four swords at their foe from every direction, making it all but impossible to predict his moves.

Skill List Skill Name: Skill Descriptions Mana Cost Recharge Time Blindside: You use two swords for as a frontal attack while you third and fourth swords attack from the side. 10 mp One Minute High and Low: Two of your Swords attack your foe at chest level while the other two swords simultaneously attack at thigh height. 10 mp One Minute Encircle: Allows you to surround your enemy with your four swords to work together and attack any exposed areas. 10 mp One Minute Defensive Line: You can form a defensive line with your four swords to hold back attacking foes. 25 mp One Minute Whirling Blades: You four blades form a horizontal circle and spin toward the target to bash away shields and slice through armor. 35 mp Two Minutes

Stealth Sovereign's Domain

You create a 50-yard domain around you that allows your four swords to become intangible up until they pierce through your foes. 125 mp Five Minutes Swords: Allows you to use swords. Level determines bonuses to damage and technique. Daggers: Allows you to use Daggers. Level determines bonuses to damage and technique. Magic User: Allows you to wield magic. Medium Armor: Allows you to wear Medium armor. Skill level determines protection bonuses. Heavy Armor: Allows you to wear Heavy armor. Skill level determines protection bonuses. Close Quarters: Allows you to be far more effective when compressed with two or more allies. Reading and Writing: Allows you to read and write you racial and Lord's language. Brawling: Allows you the knowledge of how to fight unarmed to win by any means necessary.

Hmm, The sword Sovereign class sounds cool but it seems more suited for small fights and not a battlefield class. I am more interested in gaining more area effect skills and spells that I can drop on a battlefield and wipe out groups of enemies at once.

Spoiler: Show Space-Time Wizard!. Space-Time Wizard

The controllers of space and time tissue. They possess an assortment of very dangerous spells.

These spells are based on the properties of time and space.

Space-Time Wizards are masters of the mathematical model that joins space and time into a single idea called a continuum.

Spell List Spell Name Spell Descriptions Mana Cost Recharge Time Halt Time: You can stop the flow of time for everyone but yourself in a circular area of 10 feet around you for five seconds. 15 mp One Minute Hypergravity: Allows you to increase the force of gravity by 10x in a targeted area. 15 mp One Minute Spatial Rift: Allows you to teleport to any location you can physically see. 15 mp One Minute Tear Reality: Allows you to tear a hole in reality at a targeted location. All foes within 30 yards of the reality tear are subjected to a devastating exsplosion. 50 mp Two Minutes Blak Hole: Allows you to open a tiny black hole. Any enemies within twenty yards of the black hole is pulled out of the game world 100 mp Two Minutes Slow Domain: Allows you to create a 30-yard circular domain for 5 minutes that time will move 12x slower for you or anyone who enters. 1000 mp Sixty Minutes Fast Domain: llows you to create a 30-yard circular domain for 5 minutes that time will move 12x Faster for you or anyone who enters. 1000 mp Sixty Minutes Region Rewind: You have the ability to reverse time ten seconds in the region you are currently located. 1500 mp twelve Hours Instinctive knowledge Magic: Allows you to wield magic. Daggers: Allows you to use Daggers. Level determines bonuses to damage and technique. Staves: Allows you to use a Staves. Level determines bonuses to damage and technique. Unarmored: You can maneuver in combat so that most strikes miss or glance off your body. Light Armor: Allows you to wear Light Armor. Skill level determines protection bonuses. Shoot on the move: Allows you to accurately hit targets while moving regardless of terrain. Reading and Writing: Allows you to read and write you racial and Lord's language.

This Space-Time Wizard has some awesome crowd control spells and just take a look at these last three spells. Two of them are 1000 mana points and the last one is 1500 mana points, but it allows you to reverse time in your area? Ten seconds isn't a lot of time but it can be enough to save someone's life or change a terrible decision.

Wait a minute, if I had this class couldn't I train inside this [fast domain] to rapidly increase skill or spell levels? I could train for one hour inside the [Fast Domain] for every five minutes of game time. Does that mean that I could train for 24 hours in the [Fast Domain] for two hours of standard game time?

The DEVS must not have thought this spell through if that is the case. Unless the massive mana point cost is what is suppose to balance the spell out, I bet most people wouldn't have over a 1000 mp at my level and if they did once they cast that spell they wouldn't have much mana left to do anything with it.

Well that decides it I like the most of the spells in this class and if it turns out that it isn't what I wanted I can always change for one of the others later on.

Rick clicked on the Space-Time Wizard class and had a window pop up asking if he was sure that he wished to chose this class. He clicked yes and received his second class.

When he had finalized his second class choice an unexpected window opened before him.

Level 20 reward! You can choose one more additional attribute from the following choices! Fortitude Perception Quickness

Holy crap! I get another attribute with level 20? I am not sure if that is a good or a bad thing. This could mean just one more attribute to suck up my points.

Show Attribute Fortitude!

Fortitude

A measure of how resilient a character is.

Higher Fortitude will lessen the amount of damage you receive and the amount of pain you will feel from that damage.

Show Attribute Quickness!

Quickness

Quickness is a measure of how fast you can move and how fast you can swing a weapon or shoot a bow.

The more points you put into quickness the faster you can get from point A to point B while using less stamina in the process.

Show Attribute Perception!

Perception

Perception controls the chance to detect vital clues, traps or hiding enemies.

Perception will also enhance your sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.

I already have the [Sixth Sense] skill which is almost the same thing as Perception if I were to level it up more. That leaves Quickness and Fortitude to chose from and with my new extra thick runic armor it will take something major to hurt me badly now. Quickness seems like a good choice I can increase my swing and draw speed and move around faster.

Rick clicked on the Quickness attribute in the rewards window and opened up his status to review his new attribute and class.

Spoiler: Show Status!.

Cedric Crownguard Strength: 125 Level: (41%) 20 Stamina: 107 Health: 1060 Vitality: 106 Mana: 1230 Intelligence: 123 Piety: +175 Wisdom: 60 Fame: +37,000 (locally respected) Agility: 64 Honor: +32,000 (village hero) Charisma: 30 Alignment: +4000 Leadership: 50 Satiety: 99% Luck: 15 Class: Druidic Mage Quickness: 10 Class: Space-Time Wizard Health Regen/Sec: 5.0 Mana Regen/Sec: 6.0 Feudal Domain: 5760 Race: Chosen Human Feudal Title: Marquess Unused Points: 0 Awarded Titles Currently Displaying: The Adept of Refinement Title: The White Knight Alignment +/- +1000 Title: The Honor Guard Alignment +/- +1000 Title: The Duelist Alignment +/- +1000 Title: Black Hand Interrogator Alignment +/- -1000 Title: Benevolent Leader Alignment +/- +1000 Title: Explorer of the Unknown Alignment +/- -none- Title: Oath Breaker Alignment +/- -1000 Title: Honorbound Alignment +/- +1000 Title: Reviver of the Ancient Beliefs Alignment +/- +1000 Title: The Adept of Refinement Alignment +/- -none-

Once he had looked over his status Menu he spent his ten unused points on his new Quickness attribute and closed the menu.

Rick opened his inventory and brought out a few mithril ingots that he placed into the forge and touched the switch rune to activate the fire and wind runes. He then went to the elemental training room next to the workshop and sat down in the center of the rune circle. He cast his new spell [Fast Domain] and activated the Fire, Lightning, and Space runes. Closing his eyes in concentration he circulated his out reaching mana through the three affinities.

With his eyes closed he could still keep an eye on the active [Fast Domain] icon in the lower left of his vision. Rick used the new spell three times in a row while training his affinities. Only five minutes had passed in the game world, but inside his domain he had trained for three straight hours. After the third domain cycle he stood up and went into his workshop to remove the Mithril ingots from the forge and began making full body armor for his Dire Wolves that was similar to that of his Tigers armor.

When he completed the armor he received a new recipe that he used to make enough suits of armor for each Dire Wolf.

Rick walked up out of the castle basement as the sun was begining to set. Handil and Jerem's work crews were packing up their tools and cleaning up the construction site around the partially constructed castle and preparing to head home or over to the tavern for a couple drinks. Activating his Flight skill, RIck flew over to the tower and went upstairs to the 3rd floor bedroom and unequiped his armor. Angelica had been reading when he came up and she began preparing to go to bed as well when she saw Rick preparing to disconnect.

They turned off the lights in the room and crawled under the covers to get some sleep for the remainder of the quest tomorow.

Disconnect!