‘In all fairness, that was probably much faster than returning to the village by foot,’ Sirius smiled as he glanced around the Spawn Cave.

It was quite crowded in the area currently. Numerous players were phasing in every second and the priestesses were running about frantically, trying to reassure everyone and pick out any newbies who may just be entering the world for the first time. One priestess, in particular, caught Sirius’ eye and came running over.

“Sirius! I didn’t expect to find you here. I thought you would be in the group returning from the caves…” Ameera trailed off at the end, blushing into a hand as she realized her slip of the tongue.

“...Yea,” Sirius scratched his head. “My party ran into some trouble, so… here I am.”

“I apologize for my rudeness. The sacrifices of the Heralds have left a deep impression on us all.”

“Ah, it’s all right. I’m just glad that we were able to score a victory tonight.”

Ameera recoiled, her eyes widening. “You… but didn’t you just… How do you know the results of the battle on the surface?”

“Ran into an old knight down there that said they ‘suffered a grave loss,’ or something along those lines,” Sirius replied casually.

“W-What did this man look like?” Ameera stuttered. Sirius explained to her some of the final events leading up to his death and she hissed out a cold breath after he described Heiros’ appearance. “Would you mind re-counting your tale to Lady Necrah. I’m confident that she and the other leaders of Blackhill will be interested to hear of your encounter.”

“Yea, sure.” Sirius shrugged. He would more than welcome any chance to get closer to Blackhill’s elites and had been planning on approaching Berek or Necrah with the information anyway.

As Ameera guided him out of the cavern, through the milling throng of players, he heard many of them talking with great longing and passion about their experiences during the assault on the invaders. Rath’s appearance had struck a chord in many of their hearts, and his battle with the knights left them yearning all the more for power.

“Dale — you were recording that, right? You gotta send me the replay!”

“...Do you think we’ll be able to do something like that one day?”

“Some of us, maybe… But that NPC probably has a rare class…”

“Ahhh! I can’t wait to level up! I wish this island had some good grinding spots...”

“Hah! I saw you get your head lopped off by a Lvl 2 Infantry! What makes you think you’d stand a chance against monsters?”

“You—! You think you're so skilled just because you hide behind me and cast [Sparks]?”

Their excitement and carefree attitude almost made Sirius jealous that he wasn’t able to witness it himself. Sneaking around and ambushing men-at-arms in the caves had been fun, but there was just a constant sense of urgency throughout which had made the experience mentally exhausting. Add on to the fact that he’d been up and working in the game world for over 12 hours and he was more than ready to pass out in the comfort of his bed.

But before that, there were pressing matters that needed to be handled.

Ameera had finally managed to direct them out of the crowd when Sirius received a message from Shadowfire.

Shadowfire: Saw you just respawned. Thanks again for hanging back.

SoT: No problem. I got an interesting experience out of it. Plus — no penalties for dying in the tutorial.

Shadowfire: That’s great! And I’ve got some good news. We managed to safely make it out with another group. Fera had shown up to help them, so we piggybacked. No bonus rewards, but we were one of only 10 parties to successfully complete the mission.

SoT: Nice! You’ll have to fill me in later. I’m about to meet with Necrah. Just send me a ping when you guys are back in town.

Shadowfire: Necrah… You lucky bastard! Did you trigger some hidden objective down there?

Shadowfire: Hey? Sirius?

Shadowfire: My cloak better be ok!

Sirius dismissed Shadowfire’s messages with a wry smile. The man’s cloak was, in fact, ok. Albeit in need of serious repair.

“Right this way, Herald,” Ameera gestured as she unlocked the door. It was one of the many in the corridor outside the Spawn Cave and Sirius was now only more curious as to where they all led.

To his surprise, the door led into a rather small and unimpressive room; however, the people inside were anything but. They sat around a long table resting atop a colorful rug. Six chairs were present around it, but only four were currently filled. Necrah sat at the head. To her right was the Village Chief — a man whose name constantly eluded Sirius, and on her left was Captain Berek.

Sirius had to fight back the urge to pinch his nose as he moved past Ameera. The metallic scent of blood was thick in the air thanks to the impressive amount of gore still clinging to Berek’s armor and his club which rested in the corner.

Rath, who was the final member at the table, paused mid-sentence as they all turned to glance at the new arrival.

“I apologize for interrupting.” Ameera bowed, speaking with much greater poise and clarity than Sirius had seen from her thus far. “But this Herald has information regarding the invader’s directly from the mouth of the Golden Blade.”

Instantly, the eyes of everyone in the room were trained on Sirius — inspecting him intently.

“We meet again, Sirius. And so soon at that. Why am I not surprised it is you?” Necrah smiled, amusement dancing across her delicate brows..

“It is a pleasure to see you again, High Priestess.” Sirius copied Ameera’s earlier bow as the girl ducked out of the room, closing the door lightly behind her. “I would like to offer my congratulations to you all on the victory.”

The room suddenly shook as Berek slapped the table, laughing uproariously, “Praise Doehr! Victory indeed! I wish I could have seen the look on that old man’s face!”

Rath looked especially weary — a shell of his former self, but he was infected by the large man’s laughter and soon joined in as well. “I thought his heart was about to seize up from anger when he saw the first of their warships go up in flames!”

“Enough, you two,” Necrah chided. “There will be time for celebration later. I would like to hear Sirius out first. What is the news you bring us?”

“Well, I was being chased by one of their squires when I suddenly arrived in this large cavern…”

Sirius delivered the abbreviated tale to the council. Only this time — he made sure to emphasize Heiros’ remark about the incoming Governor and accompanying reinforcements. That was about the only real piece of relevant information he’d gleaned from the encounter.

“Hmm…” The Village Chief rubbed his wispy white beard, “I am unsure of who or what this ‘Governor’ is, but if the Golden Blade defers to him then we are in for some serious trouble…”

“What’s worse is that they’ll likely be bringing more of their warships! We went through all that effort tonight to destroy the three they currently had and they won’t allow us to succeed twice!” Berek exclaimed, pounding the table again. Sirius had no idea how the piece of furniture had managed to withstand the Captain’s repeated strikes thus far.

“Agreed,” Rath sighed. “I’d much rather fight 10 Golden Blades than more of those fireball-spewing monstrosities.”

Necrah remained silent through the round of complaints, eventually turning to address Sirius, “Did you perceive any indication of when these reinforcements will be arriving?”

“I’m afraid not,” Sirius grimaced. He could understand their fear of the invader’s galleons after seeing the remains of the eastern district and putting two-and-two together.

“Our only hope is that we can repel the current forces enough to send out a messenger to Uscuur,” the Village Chief lamented.

“It may be worthwhile to consider evacuating Blackhill using their remaining ships if we can seize control—”

“No! Absolutely not!” Necrah interrupted Berek with a scathing glare. “We cannot abandon the Spirit Well — under any circumstances.” Rath and Berek frowned but neither spoke up to refute her. “Do not forget that we have the Heralds with us. They were instrumental in our victory tonight and will be the key to our survival.”

“Lady Necrah, maybe it is best if we continue on this topic later…” The Village Chief indicated towards Sirius with a flick of his eyes.

“I trust him.” Necrah declared. “And if you haven’t noticed...” she continued with a smirk, “...He has undergone the Baptism. Sirius can truly be considered one of the Toth now.”

Berek startled and re-focused his attention on Sirius. “You managed to enter the Spirit Well even after encountering Heiros?”

Sirius was unsure exactly what they were speaking about, but he did remember some sort of baptism being mentioned in the Toth lore during character creation. “This Spirit Well… are you referring to the pool in the cavern of crystals?”

“In the Ceremonial Chamber, yes.” Rath rolled his eyes.

“Then, yeah. I fell into it right before I died.”

“There you have it.” Necrah smiled. “Back to the point at hand... I think our best chance at regaining control of the island is to send another wave of Heralds in an assault on the docks. We need to get Fera on a ship and send her down the Stormwind Strait with a team.”

“Agreed.” Berek and the Village Chief replied in unison.

“I would like you to accompany Fera on this mission as a representative of the Heralds, Sirius. Put together a team and report back to me tomorrow. We must strike while the invader’s are still recovering. And while we retain the numbers advantage.”

*Ding*

You have triggered the advanced quest [Deliverance]!

High Priestess Necrah has instructed you to accompany Blackguard Fera in carrying a request for assistance to the Toth’s Elder Council in Uscuur!

Note: Up to four other players may join you on this mission.

Sirius was stuck in a temporary daze before he managed to utter a reply, “Y-Yes, of course. I am honored that you have entrusted me with this task, High Priestess.”

Favorability with High Priestess Necrah +10!

“You are the Herald I trust the most, so it is only a matter of course. Now, I am sure you must be weary after your battle. Get some rest — for you have an arduous journey ahead.”

“Thank you for your consideration.” Sirius bowed again and hurried out of the room. He inhaled a deep breath as the door swung shut behind him.

‘Holy shit! Advanced quest!’ An irrepressible smile spread across his face. He had struggled tremendously to contain himself and maintain his dignity in front of Necrah and the Blackguards.

‘And I really need to start checking my notifications promptly.’ He’d initially thought they were all just warnings related to his death, but based on that conversation — he couldn’t have been more wrong.

With a moment to himself in the hall, he decided to go through them all. The majority actually were warnings, so he wasn’t far off, but he managed to filter out a few of the useful ones.

*Ding*

Due to repeated and tactful use of the Skill, [Reckless Charge] has gained a level!

____________________

*Ding*

You have been submerged in the Spirit Well!

Ambient energy being absorbed due to the trait [Attuned Body]...

____________________

*Ding*

Spirit Vein molding complete!

+5 base Spirit!

[Attuned Body] is enhanced!

____________________

*Ding*

Due to successfully completing your Baptism in the Spiritual Font — your Reputation among the Toth has been increased!

+25 Reputation in all Toth settlements

____________________

*Ding*

You have achieved {Trusted} status in Blackhill Gardens!

‘Yea… that definitely explains a lot,’ Sirius chastised himself. The prerequisite for unlocking the advanced quest was likely having a {Trusted} reputation. And thanks to his tumble into the Spirit Well, he was the first player to achieve that.

‘Shadowfire is going to be pumped… I better let the others know before I log off, so we can all be prepared for tomorrow.’

SoT: Hey! Good news!

Shadowfire: ...What?

SoT: Thanks to a lucky accident, I managed to snag us a new mission from Necrah!

Shadowfire: That’s incredible! Wait… Us?

SoT: Yeah! I can recruit 4 other players, so we’ll be able to keep the same party — and one more if we’re so inclined. How far out are you guys?

Shadowfire: Coming into the village now. Meet us back by the barracks. I want to hear everything.

SoT: Sure, see you soon.

Sirius took a moment to reconfigure his notifications while everything was fresh in his mind. Information from the combat log and other general messages all blended together in one sheet, so he decided to split them up into multiple windows and filter out anything that was unnecessary like HP % warnings.

After all that was settled, he only had one last thing to check before making his way out of the temple.

[Attuned Body]

+10% bonus to all buffing effects given or received (excludes equipment bonuses) & increased compatibility with body augmentation.

Spirit Vein Molding: Increases base Spirit Regeneration by 25%

‘Pretty useless,’ Sirius grimaced. But his disappointment was short-lived. The dip in the well didn’t do much to enhance his personal strength, considering he didn’t have the Spirit resource or prioritize the attribute, but it helped him significantly in a few other ways. Namely, the Reputation boost and the knowledge that Traits could be enhanced.

He could only hope there would be some nice tangible rewards from Fera for completing the main story mission. Because fighting Rhis had been an eye-opener in many ways. For one, he learned that named enemies had significantly more skill and combat awareness than their generic counterparts.

Sirius had been practically toyed with and his limited range was proving to be a serious detriment in the early going. He felt like he was too reliant on Skills by going the unarmed route.

Switching to a weapon would require him to learn a whole new combat style — which felt like such a huge setback after so much hard work and training. But on the other hand, his unarmed mastery was making little to no advancements, so it wasn’t like he’d gone too far down the rabbit hole yet…

‘...Maybe Shadowfire will have some advice.’

Sirius slunk down the corridor, a confusing mixture of anticipation and apprehension swirling in his gut.

***

“Hey, guys!” Sirius glanced around as he joined his party in the short queue that had formed in front of Fera. They were back in the clearing outside the barracks, a buzzing crowd of players laughing and chatting all around. The atmosphere was so similar to that of the Spawn Cave and was fueled with so much excitement that Sirius almost thought they had traveled back in time and were still waiting for Berek to announce the commencement of the night raid.

“How’s it going, Sirius?” Shadowfire was grinning broadly, but the reactions of Talia and Roan were much more subdued. Clearly, he hadn’t told the other two about the new quest yet.

“Hey, Sirius… sorry, we left you behind like that…” Talia replied softly.

“All's well that ends well. It had to be done, and I was plenty willing. There were no death penalties and I didn’t have to run all the way back either.”

The last part of that statement elicited a frustrated snort from Shadowfire.

“That is good to hear.” A sigh of relief escaped Roan. “Talia and I have discussed, and we are willing to offer up a portion of our rewards for your extra effort.”

“Don’t worry about,” Sirius brushed him off, unwilling to reveal too much with all the other players around. “We can figure all that out after this is settled.”

“Agreed,” Shadowfire grunted. “And can you hand me back my cloak already…”

“Yeah… of course…” Sirius chuckled awkwardly as he unequipped the item and handed it over.

“What the hell did you do to this thing?” Shadowfire exclaimed as he checked out the durability. It was hanging on at a solid 2 points out of 20.

“What can I say? That squire cut me up pretty good…”

Shadowfire groaned, “You’re lucky I’m still in need of practice with my manual repairs.”

The line in front of them was moving at a steady pace as they continued to chat idly. Sirius was only surprised by the sheer amount of players who were seeking out their rewards. “Didn’t you say that only 10 groups managed to complete the mission?” he asked.

“Yes. However, I think everyone is being offered some form of remuneration for participating,” Roan explained, brushing the hair from his eyes.

“Gotcha. Any idea of how many prisoners actually made it out?”

“Not very many” Shadowfire frowned. “Maybe 150-200 max. They’re all with Doctor Kern for now. A lot of groups managed partial completion, but there were just as many that were wiped out early on.”

“That… seems awfully low. But it did take us forever to find anyone. Maybe there weren’t as many prisoners down there as they thought?”

“Fera was really upset on the way back,” Talia answered with watery, downturned eyes. “I think you’re right — they were expecting more people to be down there.”

Sirius sighed and decided to shut up after that. There wasn’t anything to be done about it now, and he didn’t want to piss off Fera or any of the nearby NPCs by speaking carelessly.

In the next few minutes, their turn finally arrived.

“Ah, little Talia and her companions,” Fera smiled slightly, but somehow her expression remained cold. “Your group has rendered great merits. ” She passed them all a small coin purse unceremoniously and stepped back.

*Ding*

Quest Complete! [Invasion of Blackhill Garden Pt. 2]

Awarded: Experience, 150 Blackhill contribution points, and 5 Silver Marks

Note: Contribution points may be spent alongside currency in the Faction Store.

____________________

*Ding*

You Have Leveled Up!

Received: 5 Unassigned Attribute Points & Class Skill [Sunder Earth]

Everyone in the party lit up simultaneously as they all reached Level 5.

“Ohhh, yes!” Talia pumped her fist. “I got a new Spell!”

“Congratulations. The growth of you Heralds is truly astonishing.” Fera’s voice remained soft and level, but Sirius thought he could see a hint of wariness in her eyes. It was the same look that the Village Chief constantly gauged him with.

In the end, Sirius just nodded his head and moved off with the others to check out their skills. He didn’t know what could be said at this point in time to reassure the stoic Blackguard. It was just as that very first quest prompt had read: actions speak louder than words.

“Hey, hey! What’d you get, Sirius?”

“You first,” he laughed.

“Fine… I got [Frigid Breath]. It’s an AoE slow that does a bit of damage. Buutttt — get this. I can combo it with my [Wind Barrier] to create a frost wall instead! Apparently it will last longer, apply a slow, and is harder to break.”

“Pretty cool,” Sirius admitted with a laugh. “Mine’s actually pretty similar to yours…”

[Sunder Earth]

Rupture the ground in a cone in front of you to disrupt your opponents.

Requirements: Barbarian Class

Cost: 12 Rage

Cooldown: 45s

Effect: Enemies within a distance of 3 meters will be {Staggered} for 1.5s and receive 40-41 nature damage ( = 1.5x Str).

Enemies between 3 and 8 meters will be slowed by 20% for 2s and receive 32-33 nature damage ( = 1.2x Str).

He shared the details with Talia who then ran off to pester Roan and Shadowfire. While he had a moment, Sirius applied his attribute points in the same manner as usual and considered the benefits of the Skill. It was exactly the kind of tool he needed to engage melee opponents who had quick attacks and longer reach. However, it had a long cooldown, so if he missed or didn’t manage to capitalize on a successful {Stagger} — he was still screwed.

And if it was against an opponent like Rhis, he still had no means to deliver enough force in his basic strikes to deliver Severe Blows through heavy armor.

Working in a party would help shore up his weaknesses — as was the whole point of such a thing, but his current build felt lackluster if his group wasn’t the one with a numbers advantage.

‘Now is not the time,’ Sirius reminded himself again. He walked over to the others, catching the tail end of Roan’s explanation on their new [Ritual Circles].

“...Exactly. It’s similar to the totems in that we have to prepare them in advance and can select from a variety of effects.”

“They’re traps,” Shadowfire added bluntly.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I thought this would be a good opportunity to fill you in on everything before I log off.”

“Sure, let’s hear it.”

Sirius inhaled a deep breath and launched into his version of events for the third time. He was quite practiced with it now and was able to conclude it quickly without omitting anything significant.

“Wow! So we got a new quest… and with Fera!” Talia was all for it.

“Yea. She’ll be the Blackhill representative leading us.”

“You said this was classified as an advanced quest?” Roan asked. He appeared the most hesitant of the group.

Sirius responded to the inquiry by directly sharing the quest with them all. After glancing it over, a few more questions came back.

“I’m worried because it doesn’t fall under the [Invasion of Blackhill Garden] questline,” Shadowfire admitted. “Pt.2 required completion of Pt.1, so we may miss out on a good portion of the zone’s main story while traveling.”

“Couldn’t we game the system by having one person remain back to accept the quests, then share it with everyone?”

Shadowfire shook his head. “Tried it earlier. Quest sharing requires proximity — even in a party. Of course, I believe that an advanced quest will provide us with rich rewards, but we barely made it through by the skin of our teeth last time...”

“Yes. It feels like a lot of risk.” Roan agreed, tersely

“Well, I’m going to take the quest regardless,” Sirius shrugged. He was a little peeved by their lack of enthusiasm outside of Talia.

“Gah. Of course, I’m going to do the damn quest if you’re kind enough to invite me,” Shadowfire groaned. “Just thinking out loud, that’s all.”

“I will go wherever Talia decides,” Roan stated.

“Great. Then it's settled. I wasn’t planning on inviting a fifth unless any of you had someone in mind...” Sirius paused, but continued on after no one spoke up, “...Necrah wants to meet with us tomorrow, so why don’t we plan on meeting outside the temple in the morning?”

“That’s fine. Though, I was going to check out the Faction store first thing if anyone would like to accompany me for that.”

“Ooo, me!” Talia cheered after hearing Shadowfire. “I want to get a new staff.”

“You should really try and get some jewelry or other gear to boost your Wisdom,” Roan chastised. “You’ve been investing too heavily in Spirit.”

“Roan…” Talia slouched, “Isn’t that what I’ve got your totem thingie for…?”

“I’d like to see what they have to offer as well. Let's just meet at the Village Chief’s instead.” Sirius chuckled. “If that’s all, then I’m going to head back to my residence and log out.”

“Same… I need to make sure my sister doesn’t lock herself in the capsule for 12 hours straight again…”

“Yeah… my girlfriend has been pinging me on the Vault Creative network for the past few hours, so it’s best if I head out as well.”

“Alright. See you guys later!” Sirius waved goodbye and hustled off towards Old Biln’s.

***

‘Hmm? what’re they still doing up?’

He was surprised to hear sounds of revelry and see a few lights still on in the home as he approached. It was practically the dead of night and most people seemed to have holed themselves up and shuttered their windows long ago as a result of the battle.

Sirius knocked twice before entering and was instantly stunned by the scene inside.

“...Bernard?” He mouthed. The words came out as barely more than a whisper, but his entry caught the attention of everyone in the kitchen.

“Y-You… You’re alive?” Bernard’s mouth hung open. One arm was still wrapped around Biln’s shoulder, while the other clutched a pungent beverage.

“You two have met?” Biln remarked, a permanent smile plastered on his face. His eyes were somewhat vacant as he wobbled unsteadily.

“Yes, Biln! This is the young man I was telling you about! He was part of the group that rescued us…” Bernard handed off Old Biln to Palma and then rushed over to grab Sirius’ hand.

“I am so glad to see you alive!” Bernard raved. “I can’t thank you enough for what you did!”

Sirius scratched his head as he accepted the handshake. “It’s really no problem. I’m happy to see you all made it back safely as well…”

“Bernard!” Palma stepped in. “Didn’t I tell you the Heralds would be fine. The Chosen aren’t the only ones who can revive around here anymore.”

“Yes, but… It’s hard to believe it without seeing it with my own eyes.”

“Well, there you have it. Now let the boy go, would you.” Palma set Biln down in a chair, and the old guy immediately nodded off. “Thank you, Sirius. Truly. Bernard is an old friend of ours who’s been working down in the caves with Biln since they were boys.

“Oh, Y-You’re welcome,” Sirius bowed. He was still a bit flustered after hearing Palma casually mention ‘Chosen’ that could revive.

Palma nodded and turned to face Bernard. “I’m sure Sirius came back for some rest, so why don’t you come back tomorrow. Maybe you and Biln can think of a proper way to thank him once you’ve sobered up.”

“Ah, of course,” Bernard profusely expressed his thanks again and hurried out.

“You know, there’s really no need—” Sirius started as the door closed behind him.

“Let the old men have it, dear,” Palma interrupted with a strained smile. “Biln won’t be satisfied until he does something for you.”

“Very well, I understand...”

“Wonderful. Now, I’ve got some cleaning up to do but feel free to help yourself to any leftovers or food in the pantry. Otherwise, I wish you goodnight.” Palma strode off hastily into the dining room, her hunched shoulders somehow looking more weak and lonely than they had before.

Sirius sighed, gazing at the mess in the kitchen as Biln’s snores rolled through the room. He found a blanket on one of the shelves in the hall and draped it over the man before heading upstairs.

Loud, jerky creaks soon joined the symphony of snores as he tread up the worn wooden stairs and entered the room set aside for him.

***

“Ahhh…” Sirius sighed blissfully as he tumbled out of the capsule and crawled over to his mattress in the corner of the room. He was still fully clothed, but couldn’t be bothered to undress or even feed himself.

As soon as his head hit the pillow — he fell asleep.