Bursts of noise and violence erupted through the night, as Eli sequestered himself in his chambers. He tried to calm the growing mob on the first floor of his temple and failed. After leaving the small riot to James and Roscoe, he went below to rest. Unable to sleep, Eli stood at his magic window, looking out over the serene landscapes displayed before him as a cool breeze swept across his face. He knew he had to do something, anything, to calm the nerves of both the players and citizens of Entarra. His problem was that nothing came to mind. Players found themselves trapped in a game with their lives on the line. To the citizens, their world was ending. All Eli could do was reflect and try to find a solution to their current problems.

The Blight had captured one of the twelve altars. The godlike adventurer’s received a quest to either spread evil throughout the world or rise to fight it. To make matters worse, they had awoken a world boss known as the Arch-priest of Plagues. It was a disaster, one he had not seen coming. At least for a while. According to James, the world boss was not one they had included in the game. The system and twelve AI gods had the authority to create new world bosses when certain criteria were met. If this happened, a report would be sent to human developers in the real world. Listed would be the boss's attributes, abilities, strengths, weaknesses, and territory. Every mob, including world bosses, had spawn points and territories. There was one issue. The devs, as James called them, no longer had access to any in-game information, and there was no way to contact the outside world.

Thinking over his situation, Eli sighed, watching a beautiful gold and white hippogriff land next to a large shimmering pond. He hoped that none of the players would be stupid enough to side with the system, but he had already seen one example. Chris, also known as Koldun, had killed Eli’s family, assaulted the temple of Aeryntorr, and helped take the Plague Altar for the Blight. More would follow, that Eli was certain. There were always those who wanted to see the world burn.

Whether they wanted to live in the game forever, or just wanted to be the bad guys, Eli did not know. Everyone had their own reasons for doing things, and they were not always understandable. He knew that if given the chance to start over from before his life had changed, he would. Some players might see this as their chance to do just that. To start a new life, in a fantasy world with near-endless possibilities. Others would fight back, not wanting to give up their lives on the other side. Many had family, friends, and obligations. To them, this was a game, an escape from their daily lives. They would not want it to become their new reality. Those were the ones Eli needed to find and recruit. How he would do that, he did not know.

Closing his eyes, Eli thought over everything that happened, looking for clues on how to proceed. Often, he would find new ideas by searching his past. A group of adventurers, that he now knew were working for the blight, had attacked him and his family. James had followed them, hoping to find Eli and turn him into a player. After being stabbed by his friend, he spent what seemed like an eternity in the void before returning to life as a player. Rather than coming back as his old self, with all of his memories, he was reborn with the past and memories of his NPC avatar. That was the main source of their problems. If Eli had regained his memories from his life on earth, he would know how to reset the system. The game would reboot. It would send all players to the void to log out and start over from day one. What would happen to him, and the sentient AI attached to him, he did not know.

If he had a physical body, he could log out and go back to his life on earth. Hopefully, with his memories intact. If not, he would vanish. As would his digital family. They were not a part of the game. He had put them there before uploading his consciousness. Unwilling to lead back down that train of thought, Eli balled his fists and started talking himself through his issues.

“Focus,” he shouted out of his window, causing several critters to scamper off. Thinking out loud, continued, “First step, calm everyone down. Second step, make a plan for the town. Third step, train, and have James and Aida teach me everything about this game.”

“That’s a good start,” His AI guide, who he named Aida, said appearing from her spot in his chest.

“What now, Aida? Can’t you tell I’m brooding?” He replied, jokingly.

“I Just thought I may be of assistance.”

“Oh, and what magical tidbit of wisdom might you have this time?” Eli asked, his eyes heavy and bloodshot.

“Get some rest,” Aida said, her tone motherly. “You’re not going to be able to help anyone while you’re exhausted and on edge. You’ve been going from one life and death situation to the next for nearly a week. You need to sleep. Let someone else deal with the situation for once.”

As Eli’s AI companion finished speaking, he heard Michelle’s voice echo throughout the hallway, “Oh for fuck's sake. Can’t a girl get some beauty sleep around here.” Her words followed the sound of heavy footsteps past Eli’s door. “If I have to put these people to sleep, I’ll do it by force.”

“See what I mean.” Aida laughed.

It was the first time Eli had heard the rapidly evolving AI laugh, or show any form of emotion other than annoyance. The sound put him at ease. She was right. He needed to trust the situation to work itself out for the time being. He was only one man, but he had friends. Everyone would be safe for in the temple, or on the island for the time being. Without further hesitation, he laid down in his bed, with his familiar Harley at his feet, and drifted off to sleep.

Eli awoke to the sounds of banging on his door, the loud noise causing him to jump out of bed in a panic. In his frantic rush to prepare himself for whatever dangers he thought near, he tripped over his massive fur blanket. With his head throbbing from it colliding with his footlocker, he stared out his magical window. It was close to midday. He had slept for nearly twelve hours.

“Wake the fuck up,” James shouted, his soft yet masculine voice echoing into Eli’s room. “You can’t lock yourself in your room and leave me to deal with this mess. “I’m not good at being the responsible one, and Michelle is about to kill people.”

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Eli moaned, wishing he had several more hours to prepare himself for what he knew would be a rough day. “Just let me get ready. I’ll be upstairs in a few minutes.”

“What stairs,” James chuckled.

“You know what I mean!” Eli screamed.

“Just hurry. One of the griffins killed someone last night. Or maybe it was a flying wolf. Can’t be sure.”

After equipping his gear, Eli rushed out of his room and started making his way to the portal. As he was about to select the first-floor waypoint, he paused, then selected the portal on the fourth floor. He needed something to pacify the mob. Something to make them feel safe. Noticing William, huddled over a stack of books and Kelly fetching more, he waved. The scholar had created his own room in the library, cot and all. There was even a pot of tea brewing over a small magical fire. Of course, he would, Eli thought, rushing past the man who failed to even notice him.

A moment later Eli had every weapon, piece of armor, and grain of food from his treasury, stuffed into his bag of holding. He needed to give the people, that he was now responsible for, a means to defend themselves and keep them fed. Then he needed to put them to work and give them something to keep them busy. Bread and circus, he thought, not knowing where he heard the line. After double-checking each chest for anything that may be of use, he rushed back towards the portal, stopping and pet the altar guardian Rufio on his way out.

The scene playing out on the first floor of his temple was pure madness. People were screaming, there was a human corpse near the portal, and Alyssa was holding keeping the Shadowstalker pack from attacking a small group of humans. Michelle was standing in the middle of the chaos, gripping her large double-handed club tightly. James was speaking to the humans, while Don stood with the Wolffen. The Turta was doing what he could to help Alyssa calm the situation. Roscoe was inspecting the corpse just a few feet from where Eli appeared.

“You filthy, beasts, this is your fault.” One man said, a younger-looking human with broad shoulders and scars from whips on his arms. “Before you showed up in Dawnport, they left us alone.” His arms flared as if to point to his surroundings, “Now we’re here. Living in this forsaken temple, surrounded by beasts, while its owner sleeps peacefully underground.”

“Yea, where are the weapons, and food!” A woman to his left shouted towards Michelle. “It’s been one night, and someone’s already dead.”

“Call us beasts one more time.” A slender, dangerous-looking Wolffen man said as he crept forward.

“Raccus, stay in line!” Alyssa shouted to the wolffen man creeping forward. “If you attack them, those beasts will come down and kill us all. If not, Eli is likely to kick us out. Then where will we go?”

“Let him try,” The Wolffen, Raccus, growled.

“That guy tried to steal a gem from the portal,” Michelle said, waving her club at the dead man. “Fucking idiot. Got what he deserved.”

“He was my brother!” The large human replied, grabbing a small hammer from his waist.

“Enough!” Eli shouted, trying to make his voice heard. Seeing that no one was responding, he ordered the anxious-looking beasts above to land in the magical clearing between the two groups. This got everyone’s attention. “I said,

Enough!”

At Eli’s words, the noise in the clearing came to a halt, as everyone looked at the vicious-looking beasts in fear. Everyone except the Alyssa and the rest of her pack. After a quick display of spellcraft, and several Arcane Missiles flying overhead, Eli had their attention.

“Look! I know this isn’t exactly what any of you want, or had in mind when coming here. Unfortunately, it isn’t exactly what I had in mind either. I didn’t want the blight to show up. I didn’t want to claim this temple, and I sure as hell didn’t want to babysit a bunch of adults who should be out building themselves a city. But, here I am.” Eli said, raising his hands to create a small pedestal of roots to stand on, and calling his allies to his side. “It is unfortunate that this man is dead. However, I warned you. If you steal from this temple, try to harm anyone in the guild, or cause harm to others while in these walls, the guardians will attack you. This man proved that point with his life.”

“His name was Gerald, he was starving, and broke. He wanted to trade for food. So, your beasts killed him. How is that fair?” The large man shouted, anger washing over his face. “How is that any different from Dawnport?”

“Watch your tone,” Michelle shouted, staring the man down.

“No, Michelle. He’s right. We are trying to make something better. We are trying to be better. This man did not deserve to die. And if he had waited until this morning, he wouldn’t have.” Eli said, opening his arms as a large bowl appeared at the edge of the pond with the portal. A moment later, it was filled with jerky, stale bread, and dried fruit. There is enough food here to feed a small army, for a short time.” The food had been stored in a bag of holding, looted from a blighted goblin necromancer, but they did not need to know this. “It is yours. But, take only what you need. This is what

I can offer. For more food, you must hunt and grow it yourselves.”

“With what weapons,” The human woman screamed while shoveling dried fruit into a sack.

“You promised us equipment,” A small-framed wolffen added. “While some of us can hunt barehanded, not all can.”

Seeing the group focus on the large pile of food instead of each other, Eli smiled. “That comes next.” With a wave of his hand, Eli summoned his temple guardians to his side, and created a large chest, using his Create Object spell. “Here’ is a small portion of what I have. They are not the best, but they should be enough to protect yourselves, and hunt small game.” He said, filling the chest with small goblin bows, crossbows, clubs, and daggers.

Nearly two hours later, Eli, James, and Don had handed out nearly every piece of food and shoddy equipment they had. The best of his items went to the healthiest of the Shadowstalker pack, and the large human who’s brother had died. Eli also gave the man ten gold coins, an apology and the promise of a proper burial. The man who had died would come back, Eli was certain. He was a named NPC, as was his brother. But he did not know where or when.

All named NPCs came back, as long as the system considered them important enough. That was proven when Eli’s dead family re-spawned at his old cabin, along with the cabin itself. He gave the man the gold and platitudes to increase loyalty and ease the tension of other villagers. For the time being, he just needed to keep everyone from killing each other, especially while inside of his temple.

“What are we to do with these trinkets,” A scrawny human man said, trying to fit himself into a set of hide armor designed for goblins.

“I don't see any problems with it,” A small-framed mist elf woman replied, slipping into her set of armor with ease.

“The small armor is for the smaller people and the medium armor for the humans and wolffen. If there’s nothing left in your size, please see James. He will take down requests for equipment. I’m not sure when it will come, but we will make it happen. Your first set of gear is on us. I promise.” Eli replied, laughing at the man, as his belly spilled out of the tiny tunic. For now, everyone who is not injured or seeking medical attention needs to get out of the temple. Alyssa has work to do.”

For the rest of the day, Eli handed out equipment, made sure everyone was fed, and greeted everyone personally. While doing his best to calm everyone, he had James take down requests, Don met with prospective castellans, and sent Michelle to gather supplies. Before long, the whole village was moving. Tents were put up, small wolffen hunting parties formed, and Alyssa had conscripted several people to help her tend to the wounded. The players were the only problem. They were waiting on quests.

After a short discussion with his guide, mind to AI mind, Eli had Roscoe gather anyone who knew carpentry and create two job boards in front of the southeastern entrance of the temple. When that was finished, Eli went to the library to beg William for paper.

“You, what?” William gasped. “You expect me to give you a ream of my precious parchment to waste on job listings? Nope, out of the question. I need it to make notes and copy these texts. Some of these are one of a kind, you know.”

“Wait, you’re doing what?” Eli asked.

“I’m making copies of these books. Well, two copies. Of each. One for me, one for the lads at the mage’s college.”

At the scholar’s words, Eli’s jaw dropped, “You. What? How.” He stammered, “How long is that going to take.”

“Years, my boy. Especially if you keep bugging me. Now here’s half a ream. Leave me be.”

Before walking out of the library in silence, Eli had an idea, “Can you copy class tomes and skill books?”

After thinking about it for a moment, William finally looked at him, “Why yes. I think I might be able to. Or I might be able to, I should say.”

“What do you mean, might be able to? Can you or can’t you?” Eli replied.

“Well, at the moment I can copy spell scrolls and most spell-books. That’s all I’ve been able to copy, for as long as I can remember, until recently. Since coming here, I’ve been getting better. I’ve gained new abilities. My skills have improved. It’s like a fog has been lifted from my mind.”

At William's words, Eli ran from the library, calling for James.