Rick stood up from his VR capsule and went down the hall to use the bathroom. He washed his hands and left the bathroom to find his smartphone. He returned a few texts and called Amy back who had left him a voice message asking if he were busy. The two of them decided to go out for dinner and caught a 9:00 movie afterward. They ended up back at Rick's apartment when the movie let out and the two of them slowly made their way to his bedroom while leaving a trail of clothing behind them that ended on the floor next to his bed.

They spent the next couple hours rolling around under the covers and catching up with each other since it had been a couple weeks since they had seen each other. Amy was an airline stewardess who was often traveling around the country on different flights and when she was back in town the two of them would try to make time for each other.

Amy had to actually leave town again at 12:30 pm so they took a shower together and she followed the trail of clothes to get dressed. Amy drove her own car home from Rick's apartment to get some sleep before she had to make her next flight.

Rick had given her a kiss goodbye at the door and then closed and locked it as she climbed into her car and drove off. He shut the lights off behind him and reset his alarm beside his bed and was soon asleep.

He slept soundly for a few hours and was woken up by the alarm ringing in the dark beside his bed on the nightstand. Rick threw on a pair of sweats and a sweat shirt and went into the spare room and climbed into his Gate Gear.

Connect!

He opened his eyes to the dark tower bedroom and stood up to cross the room and start turning on the lights. Angelica began to stir and woke up when he had turned the lights on and sat up in bed. When she stood up she walked over to the armor stand by the wall and began removing the pieces to prepare for the battle. Rick used his outfit preset to equip his thick runic armor "Bastion of Protection" and crossed the room to stand next to Angelica.

Rick helped her put on her chain mail and runic armor and snapped the connecting chains on the back of her torso armor to her greaves and helmet. Rick opened the small compartment on the back of her armor and recharged her storage gems and then sealed it once again. He made use of his repair skill to repair her armor and weapons and then did the same for his own gear.

The two of them left Tower Island with the Tigers and Dire Wolves following behind them. Rick stopped by at the Smokehouse and stored all the meat into his inventory from the previous hunt and then met up with Angelica and the animals waiting outside for him. They all walked together toward the restaurant while Rick used the party chat to call General Sturm and a few of his troops to gather all the military units and meet up at the restaurant. Rick went into the kitchen after turning on a few lights and began going through the fridge grabbing food. Angelica stood beside him in the kitchen and watched as he made a huge batch of scrambled eggs. Rick poured a large portion of flour into a tub with salt milk and water he mixed it up into a thick liquid and made pancakes on large cast iron trays on top of the stoves. As the pancakes and eggs slowly cooked he thinly sliced up some venison and slowly fried the meat in cooking oil with spices.

When everything was done he took it out into the dining area that was quickly filling up with military units fully armored and armed for battle. Rick set out a few stacks of plates with Angelica's help and had his troops all line up to grab some food so they would not be fighting with low satiety levels. He then took out a few large cuts of meat a sectioned them up and placed them on plates. He carried them over to the Tigers and Wolves and let them eat inside the dining area with everyone else.

Rick had picked at some of the food as he was cooking so he did not sit down to eat with everyone. He had actually walked out the front door to leave the restaurant and make his way over to the meeting hall. He walked through the front doors and approached a couple of male half-orcs that were awake watching over their people as they slept. Rick told them in orcish to inform Nezera that he wanted to briefly talk to her and followed behind the guards to her makeshift bedroom and waited outside for them to wake her.

A minute later he was invited inside to find Nezera standing beside her bed with only a blanket draped loosely around her nude body. Rick did not mention it figuring this was how she normally slept and he was the one who came in here and disturbed her sleep. He walked over to stand in front of her and let her know that he and his troops would be using his portal spell to travel to the orc camp and attack them before sunrise.

He thought that since he was going out to attack the enemy who drove her and her people out of their homes that she would like to know. What he did not expect was she would want to come along with him and fight in the battle. He worried for her safety and tried to talk her out of it, but she wanted to at least be present to watch the enemy who killed her people and burned their homes get their just deserts.

Rick stood silent for a moment and then spoke up. "If you come I can't have you fighting you will need to stay at the back of the line. I am sure you know how to fight, but the way you fight and the way my troops will fight are completely different. I will also need to dress you in special clothes and armor. I will not be able to watch over you throughout the entire battle and I don't want to see you wounded or killed by a stray arrow or some enemy who somehow got around us." Rick explained in orcish.

Nezera who was originally upset when he first told her she would not be able to fight, flashed a sad smile when he told her he was concerned for her safety. Nezera then released the blanket covering her so that it fell to the floor and held her arms outstretched while asking Rick to dress her however he wished so that she could witness the battle soon to take place with him.

I guess she really wants to come along and fight this enemy clan if she is willing to just stand nude in front of a man she just met. It could also be that her people do not look at nudity as an embarrassing display. One way or the other she sure has a great body.

Rick couldn't help but look over her young alluring body as she stood unashamedly exposed before him. He quickly snapped out of it to begin using his recipes to make a female spider silk under-armor top and bottoms. He had her put them on while he used his other recipes to make a suit of runic armor like the one Angelica and her Valkyrie squad wore.

He took out a paint stick and painted Nezera's Armor the same color green as her eyes so that it would look different from Angelica's armor. Rick then assigned ownership of the armor to Nezera and began placing the pieces on her and tightening the straps snugly in place. She was concerned about the weight having never worn metal armor before until Rick opened the back compartment so that he could charge the storage gems and then showed her how to turn on the runes. When Nezera touched the switch rune that activated the runes in the compartment on her lower back she was surprised to feel the weight vanish while the cool air circulated around the interior of the armor.

Next, he placed the helmet on her head and snapped all the torso chains into place to allow the rune circuits to connect with the greaves and helmet and further reduce the felt weight while increasing durability and protection.

When she was fully armored, Rick asked her what type of weapons she was familiar with and she favored the one-handed axe. Rick put a leather belt around her waist with a hammer holder on each side of her waist that was the same as the construction workers generally used, but instead of wearing two hammers, he slid a one-handed battle axe into each of the hammer holders. Now fully armored from head to toe and with two battle axes hanging from her waist, RIck led her from the room.

She stopped to quietly speak with the two guards who had woke her up and they had a whispered argument so as to not wake the people around them over wanting to come along and fight with her. She told them that she needed them here so that she wouldn't worry about her people's safety while all the military units in the city were away. Nezera had a hard enough time getting Rick to take her along and knew he would not bring any of her people along so this was the best way to make them feel they were needed here and not to press the issue further.

Rick and Nezera then left the meeting hall and walked over to the restaurant and Rick made her a plate of food and helped her unsnap and remove the helmet so she could properly eat. When he went to set Nezera's helmet on the table he then just noticed that the helmet had even reshaped itself to fit around her lower protruding canine teeth so that the helmet would fit her head properly and make it easier to put on or take off.

With everyone still eating or preparing their equipment Rick provided another helping of meat for all of his animals who seemed to enjoy the taste of the smoked flavor. Especially the dire wolves who had only eaten raw meat all their lives. It seemed strange to them at first but it was a welcome change to the same thing day after day.

When everyone had finished eating Rick stood up on a bench and explained the mission and their strategy to his attentive units. When he was done he strapped armor onto the Tigers and Wolves and led everyone over to the stables so that the cavalry could collect their horses that were now armored saddled and ready for battle. He went down the line and checked all of his units armor and weapons while helping Nezera put her helmet back on and snapping it to the torso armor.

Now satisfied that everyone was prepared for battle, Rick opened a portal outside the stables and they all quietly filed through to find themselves in the forest northeast of the orc camp. Rick lead them out of the forest into the pitch black clearing where they all could see small fire off in the distance that lit up the quiet orc camp about four hundred yards southwest of them. He stopped the troops on the edge of the forest and opened his inventory to take out the ballista and he proceeded to line them all up in a neat row.

He then used his [Move and Shape Earth] skill to raise a wide wall up about ten feet high with the ballista on top of it. Around the backside of the wall, he made a dirt ramp so that the female dwarves could walk up and stand next to their ballista. Rick then went down the line and placed stacks of regular steel bolts and runic fire bolts next to each ballista. The female dwarven ballista units began setting up and loading their ballista while Rick walked down the ramp and had his infantry form up in preparation for the Testudo. When the infantry was in place, he had twenty Elven Mounted Archer/Mounted Spearmen form up with ten cavalry units on the left and ten cavalry units on the right flanks of the infantry. Rick had them prepare to lead off with their bows at the ready and to leave their spears and shields strapped to their saddles.

Using his recipes, Rick made forty black leather quivers and filled them with runic fire arrows and passed them out to the mounted archers and any infantry that had the hero ranger class. He strapped one across his lower back next to his quiver of regular arrows and did the same for Angelica. Rick then handed out all the red tower shields to the infantry from his inventory and went to find Nezera.

"Alright, Nezera I want you to stay next to me from now on. When the battle starts I will end up moving to the front line to fight I want you to stay on the back line with the archers when that happens." Rick waited for her to agree and gave her a quick smile and waved her to follow him. First, he walked up the ramp to stand on top of the earthen wall next to the ballista line and told them to all load fire bolts.

When they had changed out regular bolts and reloaded fire bolts, Rick told them to adjust their machines elevation to hit the crude wood and leather hovels out in the distance. When the line was loaded and ready he told them that he wanted them to try and burn the camp down with the fire bolts until the orcs had found out they were under attack and began grouping up to counter-attack. When the Orcs began to group up, he would give the order for the ballista to switch targets from the building to the Orcs.

"When they group up and begin to move toward us to attack I want you to change your target from the camp to the attacking orcs. I don't care if you use fire or regular bolts just keep attacking them until we are ready to move forward. When the General gives the command to form up testudo and we begin advancing out to intercept the enemy then you can begin attacking the camp again. Just make sure that your shots all clear over us I don't want any of our troops getting hit from behind by a stray bolt." Rick instructed the female dwarven squad and turned toward Nezera.

"Nezera I want you to stay right here until I return I am going to assist in the ballista attack for a few minutes then I will return back to you," Rick explained.

He then opened his party chat and told General Sturm that he planned to move forward during the opening barrage and to hold the troops back until he returned. Rick then activated flight and flew up a few feet above the wall and told the line to begin the ballista attack. He watched as they all touched the switch runes on the end of the bolt hanging off the end of the ballista and a column of fire shot out of the fire rune on the head of each loaded bolt. They released the ranged machines in unison and ten streaks of fire arched through the air to land into the center of the orc camp. The female dwarves all made a small quick adjustment to the ballista and launched another barrage of fire bolts that landed in another section of the camp.

When Rick saw that the roofs of a few hovel began to blaze up, he flew up high into the air and sped across the field to hover over the camp. He was going to expand on the joke he made last time he was here to reconnaissance this camp. Instead of him dropping a crate of hand grenades though he would drop something down on them just as bad.

Rick wanted to test out his new second class spells and the first one he used was [Tear Reality]. When he cast it Rick noticed a black jagged line began to open up on the ground then after a count of about two seconds a huge explosion detonated. The sheer force and shock wave from the spell blast blew apart every hut within thirty yards and any orc that was sleeping inside them. The orc camp now started to wake up from the scattered ballista fires and the sound of the explosion. Rick could see them about fifty yards below begin to run around trying to figure out was happening.

Rick spotted a group of about fifteen orcs that had come together below him and he cast [Black Hole] right in the middle of them. The group of orcs was suddenly ripped apart and sucked into the black hole leaving only blood splashed across the ground after the black hole vanished. He then used his fireball spell on a hut and moved to the back of the camp that had not yet been set on fire and cast fire wall in the entrance of a hovel to set it on fire.

He then circled the camp dropping fire spells on the outer buildings so that the fire would begin to spread inward and soon engulf the entire camp. While his spells were recharging he used his fire elemental to ignite his feet and he would simply land on one roof after another setting them on fire. When over a quarter of the camp was on fire and there were orcs swarming everywhere as the sun began to rise and cast a dim light over the clearing.

Rick had killed at least 70-80 by dropping spells on them from the dark night sky, but he could still see orcs running around between the fires every where he looked below him. With the sun beginning to rise he became more noticeable while hovering above the camp and dropping spell after spell. A small group had seen his spells dropping from the sky and when they looked up they spotted him as he was preparing to drop another fireball from the sky. The small group began to call out trying to alert the others around them of his location. Rick could just make out what they were yelling and when he heard them begin to call out for archers, he knew it was time to silence them.

He decided to attack the group of orcs before any surrounding orc bowmen below him were alerted to his location. Rick streaked down toward them and cast [Halt time] to stop time around them to freeze them in place for five seconds. He followed the [Halt Time] spell with [hypergravity] that amplified normal gravity by ten times. This gravity spell crushed the group of orcs to the ground shattering and snapping their bones under the gravities weight. If an orc were to weigh two hundred pounds this spell instantly changed their weight to two thousand pounds. This was almost equivalent to Rick dropping a compact car on top of each one of them.

Before he began to draw more attention he flew up high enough to avoid the incoming ballista fire and flew back to land next to Nezera who was looking at him like he had two heads now. Even though she was quite far from the orc camp she could still make out the devastating spells Rick mercilessly dropped down on the Orc camp from the air that caused such destruction where ever he flew to. Rick began to chuckle when he saw the incredulous expression on her face. He told Nezera that he paid them back for burning her clan's homes and was quite sure a few of them burned along with their hovels.

Now almost all of the western side of the orc camp was on fire and the hungry flames were spreading toward the east to consume one hut after another. As this wall of flames unrelentingly spread east not only did they burn the huts but they also herded every uninjured orc toward the east side of the camp. When Rick began to see them clumping up in large numbers he told the ballista to start targeting the crowds of confused orcs. Activating his Far Sight he began to spot for them and told them how high or low they were all shooting and after a couple shots each, the line of ballista was all dead on. With the Far sight zoomed in it was like he was almost standing right next to the orcs when the bolts began slamming into them.

The long steel bolts had so much weight and speed they could pierce through multiple orcs and quite a few were even skewered together on the same bolt. After a few minutes of this, the orcs finally traced back where the shots were coming from and saw Rick's small elite army across the clearing lined up in front of the earth wall and the armored horses standing on each side of them.

Some of the assembled orcs out of anger or blood lust decided to charge off toward the enemy without waiting for backup. When Rick had seen these small group of orcs who decided to instantly charge he sent the cavalry forward to mow them down with a storm of arrows. When they had killed the charging orcs they trotted back to stand next to the infantry again. This discouraged any other hotheads from independently running out to attack them.

Rick could see that they were attempting to change their approach by sending out a few orcs to run around the camp in an attempt to move all their numbers to the gathered mass on the east side. One strange thing that he noticed with his Far Sight skill was that among the gathering orcs a good portion of them did not have any weapons. All he could think of is either there were only so many weapons in the camp and everyone did not have one or the fire had surprised them so much that they ran out of their huts in panic and did not even have enough time to grab their weapons and shields before they were engulfed in flames.

The orcs were so disorganized because of the fire they could not even begin to attack in force before the ballista had run out of steel bolts and steel flame bolts. The camp had been in such disarray from them trying to stop the fire from spreading or from attempting to save other orcs trapped by the flames that most of the camp was unaware that they were under attack for about an hour. Rick had just used his recipe to make more steel bolts when he noticed the constantly growing mass of orcs began to form up together and finally move out across the open field toward them. He quickly distributed the bolts and had the ballista start firing again until they began to move out to confront the advancing orcs.

Rick called out for Nezera to follow him and they ran down the dirt ramp around to the front of the earthen wall and along the side of his troops to stop beside General Sturm and Angelica who were watching the orcs march forward. He stopped and told General Sturm to prepare to lead the troops out in Testudo formation when the orc army had covered half the distance between them. He then yelled out orders for the cavalry to keep pace with the infantry and to fire at will when the enemy was in range.

Rick also told the cavalry that if the battle turned into a big messy melee he would give them orders to then switch over to their shields and spears and make continuous charges into their flanks. Just then enemy stopped advancing at a walk and was now advancing at a jog toward them in a large mob without any lines or organization of any kind. Rick could tell that these orcs were used to just throwing large amounts of unorganized groups at the enemy until they won the battle just by watching the way they were currently advancing.

The orcs after jogging toward them for a couple minutes had begun to pick up their pace when they crossed the halfway mark and then Sturm gave them all the hand signal to form up in Testudo. Rick wrapped an arm around Nezera's waist and pulled her tightly against him as the other units began to tighten the lines until they were literally shoulder to shoulder and stomach to back. While they continued to squeeze into formation they all lifted their shields above their heads and interlock them to make a solid metal roof above them. The units on the front line raised their shields up to eye level and the troops on the left and right side angled their shields out to the sides to form a long solid metal rectangle of shields.

Rick gave Nezera a quick explanation of why she had to remain so close to him as they all moved forward and continued to hold her close. This was so the Testudo would not have any gaps from her being in between two shield bearers that would allow arrows or thrown weapons to penetrate. They all could hear as marched forward the four-foot long steel ballista bolts whistled a few feet above their shielded heads to then pierce through the enemy ahead causing them to scream out in pain.

Then after more few yards of marching Rick and his troop began to hear bangs and pings of arrows and thrown weapons rebounding off their shields as they came into range of the orcs. The cavalry began to also come under fire so they galloped forward to unleash their arrows into the orcs and then circle back around the advancing Testudo to unleash arrows on the opposite flank exactly like they practiced. They galloped back and forth shooting and retreating while exchanging flanks to slow down the progress of the orcs and get them to raise their shields instead of their bows.

When the two opposing armies were roughly fifty yards apart Sturm called out for the shield wall. The Testudo stopped and everyone formed up into four lines also taking up their positions like they had practiced. Rick told Nezera to stay put for now and then moved on to the front line with Angelica. He passed her a mithril compound bow from his inventory and also took one out for himself.

Rick and Angelica did not try to form up on the front shield wall and worked independently so that they could move to wherever they were needed. The two of them along with the back rows of archers and mages started to attack the enemy once they were in their position. Spells of Fire and lightning shot forward to burst among the orcs while Rick Angelica and the archers tossed out clouds of arrows that fell into the slowing mass of orcs. The half-giants used their battle aura skill [Heaven's Helper] that created a spirit animal companion that they unleashed into the bogged down orcs that were struggling to push through the torrent of arrows and offensive spells.

Rick then held up a hand signal toward the cavalry on his left and right. The cavalry stopped moving forward and backward to form a single-file rotating circle on each side of the shield wall. The cavalry now looked like two rotating wheels on each side of the shield wall and as each of the mounted archers came around to face the enemy they would unleash a continual stream of arrows. Instead of a random wall of arrows, this was like having two mounted machine guns that shot out a line of arrows that strafed the orcs front line. The mob of orcs was quickly being shot down but they persevered forward unwilling to back off with their homes and families behind them.

The orcs even after losing heavy numbers made it to the shield wall and raced forward to throw them themselves furiously into battle. When they came into contact with the shield wall the front line all snapped their shields forward and pushed the orcs back while at the same time swords and spears licked out from between the shields to pierce through and kill the orcs. The simpler minded orcs that had never fought against an enemy who could use military tactics and formations continued to repeatably toss themselves against the shield wall. Every time they slammed against the shield wall they were continuously pushed back to be pierced and stabbed while stumbling to keep on their feet while then be pushed forward again by their comrades from behind who were also trying to reach the shield wall.

Rick and Angelica dropped their bows behind them and reached back to draw out their runic fire swords. He used a combination of Hypergravity to crush the orcs and Gravity Field to suspend them while the other recharged. The mass that they worked hard to thin out now began to grow as reinforcements from the camp kept running up from behind to swell their ranks. Rick decided before they were encircled and over run he needed to distract them. After casting so many spells he was low on mana and decided to switch tactics and use elementals that did not suck up his mana as quickly as spells.

He took out his fire and lightning runic hammer maul that once almost killed him from testing it and then covered himself in a layer of lightning and flames. Rick told Angelica to remain on the frontline and he ran forward by himself while swinging his hammer from side to side. He bashed a wide path into the center of the stunned orcs leaving a trail of charred bodies behind him. As he fought through them he noticed that there were still numerous unarmed orcs that were attempting to pick up weapons of the orcs he had killed.

Rick upon seeing this began to feed his elemental fire and lightning into his hammer to create small detonations every time it struck a foe. This was to try and scare them away from the weapons laying around and create mass panic in their ranks. The first orc he hit was literally blasted in half the upper torso became a pink mist and the lower part waist and legs stood in place until Rick plowed forward setting off more small explosions.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The fearless orcs who witnessed the carnage either ran from Rick or charged forward to try and stop him. This created the chaos he was looking for in the mass of orcs from them all attempting to run in different directions and it helped to take pressure off the front line of the shield wall. The orcs were no longer working together to attack the shield wall which is exactly what Rick wanted.

When he found himself in the center of the mob, Rick started taking blows from every direction. A couple that hit his helmet rang his bell and he almost lost his footing once, but for the most part, they hit his torso and arms without any real damage with his spider-silk under-armor, astrallium chain mail, and rubber lined runic armor he could get hit by a bus and only receive a small amount of blunt force damage. It was now beginning to become difficult to remain on his feet and he didn't want to fall down and have the orcs pin him and strip his armor off so he decided to make his way out of the attacking mass.

Rick changed his direction and began swinging his hammer toward the outside perimeter of the orcs and was soon able to make his way back out again. A small portion of the orc mass broke off now tunnel visioned on only trying to kill him. He started casting spike traps behind him and fire walls to channel the pursuing orcs into his traps. The earth spike traps pierced through their feet, legs, and stomachs while the fire wall scorched any Orcs that attempted to run through the flames.

When he had broken free of the pursuing orcs Rick held up his hand to signal the cavalry to fall back behind the infantry lines and replace their bows for spears and shields. With spears and shields in hand, they then made wide looping circles around the outside mass of the hundreds of attacking orcs and charge at full speed into them from behind. When the line of charging cavalry slammed into the orcs from behind they trampled and threw the orcs spinning off in every direction. The cavalry was able to carry their momentum through the mob while they lashed out with their spears to stab any orc within their reach. When a horse or rider was wounded they would make their way to the back lines so that the clerics could quickly heal them and rejoin the charge.

The cavalry charges really turned things around for Rick and his troops. There were a few times when the overall orc numbers had threatened to spill over the sides of the shield wall and attack the lines from the sides in the same way they had wiped out the spiders, but the cavalries continued charges and retreats kept driving back the encircling flanks of the orcs.

Rick made a guess that when the melee first started the orcs had four hundred or more units and with their ever changing tactics and distractions they were able to whittle down the orcs numbers to around one hundred now. Rick fell back from the front line to find Nezera still standing in the back row among the Archer line watching the battle progress.

He called her forward to him and when she was next to him he pulled a light weight round Mithril shield out and handed it to her. "Time to get your revenge Nezera! Take out your axe and follow me!" He yelled out to be heard above the sounds of screams and metal on metal that filled the air. Rick also looked to the Tiger and Dire Wolf lines and unleashed them on the remaining enemies.

Rick led Nezera up to the front line to fight beside him and Angelica. Now that the orcs numbers were low and it would only be a matter of minutes until they were completely wiped out, Rick let Nezera run wild. For a low level, she wasn't an elite unit, but she impressively held her own against one or two enemies at once. She was quick to block and could lash out with her axe to hit vital areas that quickly killed or crippled her foes. Her agility and strength could dominate any one on one combat that she found. What impressed Rick was that she still had a good sized pool of unused points that needed to be distributed still. This was a good opportunity for him to see how she fought and then later he would be able to help her distribute those points in a way that would improve her fighting style.

He only had to back her up a couple times when she had stepped forward of the line too much and had three or four orcs trying to take her down at once. Once Rick had pulled her back she soon got used to fighting on the line instead of running head long into the enemy ranks.

When the orcs numbers were cut down to about thirty units a few broke off and tried to make a run for the village, but Rick sent the Tigers and Dire Wolves out to run down any who attempted to escape. General Sturm held up his hand and gave a signal to release part of the front line and the half-giants charged forward into the remaining orcs. Their huge axes in hand and their tower shields left behind they quickly cleaned up the remaining enemies.

With the battlefield now clear of enemies, Rick had his units form up into Testudo once again and he pulled Nezera in close to him as they advanced on the orc camp that looked like a wall of flames in the distance now. Rick halted the formation just on the outskirts of the camp and then he raised the earth beneath all of them about fifteen feet off the ground.They scanned the camp below them from behind their shields and found that there were still a few orcs who were still occupying the camp in an attempt to put out the flames.

Rick sent the archers forward on the raised section of dirt they were all standing on and had them open fire on anything that moved in the camp. After about ten minutes they could no longer see any movement out among the burning huts.

He then lowered his troops back down to ground level and they broke formation and walked back toward the ballista line. While walking back he had his troops spread out and cover the battle field to pick up all of the metal weapons they could see. They were mainly wooden bows and wooden spears with a few crude iron weapons. Rick did not want to leave anything behind that would arm any orcs who may have hidden throughout the battle or may return at some point.

He stored the weapons into his inventory along with the tower shields and ballista and opened a portal in front of the apartments back home. He thanked and praised his troop's great work today and even though a few were wounded the shield wall and Testudo had helped to save a lot more of them from injury or death today. The healers were to be praised for their quick heals and the Calvary for their unrelenting charges that turned the tide of the battle.

Rick told his troops to go home, take a long hot bath, and take the rest of the day off. He then announced that Physical Training was canceled for the remainder of the day. When he dismissed them they all began to file through the portal. He then turned to see Nezera a few yards away looking out at the piles of dead bodies and the burning camp with tears running down her cheeks.

He told Angelica to wait there for him while he went to check on her. Rick walked over and stood next to Nezera without saying anything, he just scanned the carnage of the battlefield and the camp in the distance burning which for some reason brought back memories of his time on deployment in the middle east.

"I can't believe that they are all dead. These bastards came to our settlement and tore apart my entire life. My mother and father both stayed behind to slow down their advance while they had me lead our people to safety. They were both supposed to only delay them long enough for us to escape and then meet back up with us at the cave later. I waited for three days and they never arrived, I lost my mother, father, and my life for what? Why did they have to do it, I just can't understand what it was all for." Nezera said in between sobs and tears as she looked back over the past few days.

Rick walked in front of her and wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close to him. "You can't try to understand people like this Nezera. They live to kill and destroy anyone's way of life that is different than them and they don't care if they die themselves trying to accomplish it. I fought people in my world with the same type of beliefs as these orcs." Rick whispered while trying to comfort her.

"What am I suppose to do now? My father was the clan leader and I am only nineteen years old. My people already are looking to me for answers and I have no idea what to tell them. If it wasn't for you I would have died in that spider web and my people would have all starved to death. I am already a failure as a leader." She said while still crying.

"I am sorry about your parents and that I couldn't be there to rescue them as well. Like I told you before you do not have anything to worry about anymore. I know it is a big change but you and your people can come live with us. I know it will be difficult starting a new life after having your happy family life torn away. All you can do is take it one day at a time and you will slowly learn to live with the loss of your parents. You need to be strong and move forward. As long as you always remember them a piece of them will never die." Rick explained.

Nezera cried on his shoulder for a couple minutes and then she wiped her eyes and thanked him for everything. Rick walked her over to Angelica with his arm around Nezera and he did the same wrapping his arm around Angelica as well. The three of them silently walked through the portal to end up in front of the restaurant.

He had noticed when he came back through the portal that he only had one quest marker now that pointed towards the temple. Rick walked with the two girls over to the temple and they entered to stand in front of the podium.

"Faith it is done I completed the quest," Rick called out and then Faith appeared before them. "This is Nezera the one you sent me to save. I rescued her and her people and destroyed the hostile clan that attempted to bring a war to our island. Nezera and her people have lost everything because of the orc attack so I have invited them to live with us. I can offer them shelter, food, protection, and a chance at a new life." Rick told the goddess.

"That is quite kind of you Cedric, I knew I could trust you to handle this. You have even exceeded my expectations. Your quest is now complete and I hope that you and your people stay to live here with us Nezera Zaraknok." Faith said with an innocent smile and then she turned toward Angelica.

"Now could you two please excuse us I don't have a lot of time to stay and I wish to fulfill my promise to Angelica," The goddess said with an apologetic look.

"Please take your time we will wait outside and give you two some privacy," Rick said.

Rick glanced at Nezera and saw that she was frozen in place with a look of shock. Rick lightly laughed as he wrapped his hand around her waist and led her out of the temple. Once they were outside she finally snapped out of her surprised state enough to respond.

"C-Cedric w-who was t-that? She suddenly just appeared and I felt this warm comforting feeling like when my mother held me as a child." Nezera asked in amazement.

Rick chuckled. "I think maybe you should sit down on this step if you really want to know that because what I am about to tell you will be even more shocking," Rick said with a slight smile.

The two of them sat down on the steps and Rick spoke up. "First let me ask you are your people familiar with gods and goddesses?" Rick asked and Nezera shook her head with a questionable expression.

"Ok, How do I explain this then. A god or goddess are people of different races that can not die and they are very powerful. They could create a mountain or tear it down with a slight wave of their hand. They also lead the races of this world and provide them with direction on occasion. That young looking woman you just met in there is the goddess who created this entire world we live in. The land, water, trees, mountains, animals, and she even created the lesser gods who watch over those other races." Rick explained as best he could.

Nezera sat in shocked silence for a few minutes trying to comprehend everything she was just told before speaking up again. "How did you ever meet such a powerful being as her if you are only a human then?" She curiously asked.

"As I said in passing before I am from another world and I am known as a chosen human. We were brought from our world to this one so that we could help develop it. Now, not all chosen are humans we can be almost any race we chose when we first arrive and they may not be nice people just like regular people some are good and some are evil. As for me my goal when I came to this world was to build a large beautiful city and have fun crafting new things that this world has ever seen. I have no desire to conquer and rule over others. I just love to create and hope to build a place that everyone can enjoy and be proud to be a part of it." Rick said with a smile.

Nezera looked around at the buildings and the different colored trees that lined the paved streets with the towering walls in the distance that surrounded it all. She had an expression of awe as if this place was some sort of dream that she or her people could never have even imagine existed.

"It is a stunning city and I still can't believe you want us simple people who have alway lived in the forest to join you all." She said in slight awe.

"Well it is true and I hope very much you will stay just like the goddess Faith had said just now," Rick said.

He then stood up and held out his hand and pulled Nezera to her feet. "Speaking of which why don't you head back to the meeting hall and let your people know that you and your people have been invited to make this your new home. I am sure they are also worried about you and would like to know that you helped to destroy the enemy that killed your loved ones and drove you from your homes."

"Yes, you are right even if I am not ready for it my people still look to me for guidance. Thank you for your help, Cedric, I guess I need to go and have a serious talk with everyone." She said looking a little nervous and scared.

"You will do fine no matter what happens I will help you out so stay strong and make your parents proud," Rick said reassuring her.

Nezera took a deep breath and walked off across the paved plaza back toward the meeting all. A few minutes later Angelica walked out of the temple entrance looking lost in thought. Rick walked her back to the tower and did not ask her what the two of them talked about. He remained quiet allowing her to sort out her feeling and thoughts. Rick knew if she wanted to talk about it she could talk with him about when she was ready to.

After leaving Angelica at the tower to relax Rick opened his notifications while he walked over to the restaurant.

Spoiler: Show Notices! Language Increased: Orcish Language Level 8 Beginner 48% Skill Increased: Swords Level 1 Expert 14% Skill Increased: Archery Level 8 Advanced 73% Skill Increased: Blocking Level 6 Intermediate 03% Skill Increased: Far Sight Level 5 Intermediate 62% New Skill Notice!

New Skill Learned!

Blunt Weapons Level 1 (Beginner 0%)

This skill allows you to wield blunt weapons of any type.

Higher levels allow for greater damage and increased technique.

Skill Increased: Blunt Weapons Level 4 Beginner 78% New Level Notice!

You Gained A Level!

Level 21

You have five unused points to distribute!

New Battle Notice!

You have successfully attacked the realm of an orc clan.

You and the party killed 398 out of the 426 attackers.

Some of the enemies were not present during the battle and were able to survive.

Congratulations on your victory!

You have gained Experience Points for your victory! You have gained Leadership Points for your victory! You have gained Fame Points for your victory! New Level Notice!

You Gained A Level!

Level 22

You have five unused points to distribute!

New Quest Update!

You have rescued Nezera Zaraknok from certain death.

You have saved the Lorebark Forest Zaraknok Clan from extermination.

You have destroyed the hostile Lorebark Forest Mogadar Clan thus ending their campaign of conquering Godshome Island.

You have gained Experience Points for completing your quest objectives! You have gained Fame Points for completing your quest objectives!

You have earned a quest reward!

The Quest Compass as now been unlocked you can now toggle it on and off in your options menu.

New Level Notice!

You Gained A Level!

Level 23

You have five unused points to distribute!

Rick closed out his notices and then entered the restaurant.

Inside the restaurant, he found that the pots and trays he left out earlier for the military units early breakfast had been cleaned up already. He walked over to the counter that had food laid out on it for lunch and he took a plate from the stack and utensils that had been laid out and filled his plate. He looked around the crowded dining area and saw Handil and Jerem at a corner table. Handil had raised his hand to draw his attention so Rick went over and sat down with them.

He talked to the two of them n dwarven about the castle and found that they had the outer walls of the second floor completed and we're going to start on the roof when they got back. Rick told them that he wished to add a third floor and that he would help them finish it up. He told them about the new Fast Domain spell he now had and they were excited to see how it worked.

When Rick had finished his meal he took out a sheet of parchment and a charcoal pencil and drew up another building design that he wanted his two construction crews to start on after they completed the castle. This next building would be a Military Academy that would have classes to teach his troops tactics, formations, strategies, new weapon technologies, and it would also have a large training field for practicing all of these new ideas. This Academy would be built on the large have paved lot just south of the castle plot.

Spoiler: Military Academy.

Once he had explained how he wanted the Academy to be built and how the interior should be laid out they walked over to the castle together. Rick began casting his Fast Domain and helped out with his flight skill, (Carpentry skill at level 2 Master), and (Masonry skill at level 7 Master) they were able to quickly knock out the third floor and roof. Handil and Jerem's crews then packed up their tools and sent a runner off to have the Wagoner to begin to bring them supplies and help move the left over supplies on the castle plot.

Rick left them while they were preparing to switch job sites and went through the crafting buildings and collected all the furniture, rugs, tapestries, tables, and everything else he normally sold at his store and took it over to his castle and began furnishing each room. First, he made a large kitchen with four large runic stoves with ovens and he also added six double wide stone runic refrigerators. He made a large metal tub sink in the basement workshop and used the recipe to make three more. He installed the four large metal tubs sinks in the kitchen and connected them to the water in and out lines.

In the dining hall he used the recipe for the large table he designed for the meeting hall and placed fifteen chairs on each side and one chair on each end of the table for a total of thirty-two chairs. On the second floor, he made one of the larger rooms into a library that he lined the walls with hand carved wooden bookshelves and placed ornate tables and chairs on top of patterned rugs in the center of the room. The library's bookshelves were all currently empty, but he had plans to start collecting books in his travel to fill them.

On the third floor, he made a huge bathroom with a bathtub that looked like a small wading pool that could hold ten people comfortably. Using his runes he made a huge hot water tank on the roof that allowed the bath to be filled with warm water. He even made a basic rain shower head in the castle workshop and used the recipe to install a few of them by hooking them up to the castles water lines and the hot water tank on the roof. When he was in the workshop making the shower head, Rick had also made an eight foot tall by four foot wide Sparkling Silver sheet metal mirror. He used his recipe for the huge mirror to make a few more and attached them to the walls around the bathroom. He then sectioned off another room that he split in half and added stalls toilets and running water sinks on each side. Each sectioned off area had a door marked for men and women so that the men's and women's toilets were separated from each other and not a part of the bathing room.

Rick flew out of the window of the castles third floor and landed outside the tower. Before he could enter a few Valkyries from Angelica's squad walked outside to head home it seemed they had stopped by to talk with Angelica for a little while. Rick greeted them as they left and then went inside and placed a couple hundred pounds of smoked meat into the fridge for the animal trainers to feed the Tigers and dire wolves.

Rick told Angelica that the castle was finished as he packed the refrigerator and then went up to their bedroom and packed all the furniture, bookcases, scroll racks, and clothing into his inventory. Then he went up to the top floor armory and packed away all the weapons, weapons racks, armor, armor stands, miscellaneous items, and furniture.

Rick walked outside with Angelica and scooped her up and flew over to the newly built castle and landed outside the front door. He took her for a tour of the castle and stopped in the second-floor library to unload the bookcases and scroll racks. She was excited when he showed her the huge bathtub with the stacks of scented soap around it. She still often thought about the bath she took with the scented soaps and now she could take one when ever she wanted.

Rick then set their bedroom up on the third floor and made one for Nezera across the hall. Both bedrooms had huge canopy beds, multiple wardrobes for clothing, beautiful couches, large comfortable chairs, hand carved decorative desks and tables with high-quality colorful carpets on the floor. He hung tapestries on the walls and placed floor and table lamps around the rooms.

He went through each floor of the castle and hung runic crystal wall lights so that he could light up the entire castle interior at night time if he wanted.

Well that should do for now there are still a lot of rooms in here that need furniture and I need to finish the throne room, but that can wait for now. I fed my character at the restaurant now I need to log out and eat for real. He thought as he put away his tools.

He went up stairs and told Angelica he was going to lay down for a little while and went up to the bedroom unequipped his gear and laid down on the bed.

Disconnect!