Three days had passed since I had set off a shitstorm in Danver, ending with the expulsion of all Kurskins. The city leadership was furious, but the truths I had shared with my Hunters spread like wildfire through the citizenry.

  On that bloody night, some of the Hunters had been sent out early and shared the truth and recruited a scant few allies. But what had really saved us were the NPC citizens of Danver. All they knew was that people were fighting the Kurskins. They hadn't known why, nor did it matter. They joined the fight because they still valued human lives over those of Kurskins. Because they were humans and the Kurskins were something else entirely. Also, the lizards were assholes.

  And so a few brave souls joined the battle, inspiring more and more people to join the fight. Eventually, the force was so overwhelming that the remaining Kurskins were forced to flee lest they be consumed by the mob.

  It had been glorious.

  But the Special NPCs in leadership were supremely pissed. They had accused me of starting a war with the Kurskins. I informed them that the Kurskins were the aggressors. Ersabet assured them that there was no other choice. They ranted and raved, but with Ersabet at my side, and most of their population at my back, they were forced to let me go, but to save some face, they banned me from holding any local office or leading or participating in any organization, formal or informal, which effectively kicked me out of the Hunters Guild.

  That was fine. Those Special NPCs in charge were a tool, and I was done with them. To my annoyance, my quest to save Kitz from the Hunters still didn't show as complete, despite me completely altering their primary objective.

  But that was a problem for another day.

  I visited Tara yesterday. She was beyond thrilled to see me, and appeared to be in good health. We talked for a long time, and I even had the pleasure of meeting her father. He seemed like a nice guy. To my shock, Tara didn't ask to come with me when I said I had to go, and she never once mentioned wanting to travel with me. If she wasn't going to bring it up, I wasn't. She was happy, and I think she found the life she truly wanted.

  I had also leveled up from all the experience gained in the aftermath and was now Level Seven. I had gained so much experience that I was over three-quarters of the way to Level Eight.

  None of the skills and abilities offered to me were enticing. One of them, Bloodrage, would have sent me into a rage, where I would do massively increased damage, but the longer I was in the rage state, the more my eyes would bleed.

  Yeah, no thanks.

  I had decided to upgrade the Close Combat Specialist ability. In my mind, it was my most useful ability, and I would have been long dead without it. The upgrade simply stated that the heightened combat awareness would activate more frequently and last longer.

  It was vague, but enough for me. I looked forward to testing it out.

  I had been resting most of the day. The city leadership had people spying on me to make sure I wasn't part of any illicit' gatherings.' I went for a walk and lost them with ease…and a little help from Val.

  It wasn't safe to leave the wooden walls of Danver, as there was no guarantee the exiled Kurskins weren't still lurking about, but I needed a break from all the noise, and I had Val to alert me if any Players were nearby. Danvers was preparing for an inevitable attack and was building palisades and reinforcing sections of the wall. All that, hammering and smashing while the inner city was abuzz with constant chatter, and I just had to get away from it. So I slipped past the wall and found a pleasant spot to think near a small brook.

  I sat down and placed my bare feet in the cold water, then took a deep, calming breath and simply watched the water move past my shins. It was a peaceful moment, and opportunities to rest and clear my mind had been rare the last few days.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Val popped into existence on the other side of the stream. The hem of her black dress was shortened above the knees, and her bare feet were in the water just like mine. Although the water simply passed through her projection.

  I groaned. Moment of peace ruined. "Can I help you, Val?"

  'I was about to ask you the same thing, Ethan.'

  I gestured to Danver. "I did that without your help. What makes you think I need you now?"

  She raised an eyebrow and nodded toward the wooden city. 'You did make quite a mess all on your lonesome, I'll give you that. We'll see how proud you are once the Kurskins come to retake the city.'

  "That's not going to happen," I said.

  'Oh, please, do enlighten me.'

  "For one, the Kurskins are at war with the Dalari, and the Dalari don't give a rip about what's happening in Danver. So, if the Kurskins want to do something about it, they'll have to send a force this way. If they do that, they risk losing ground to the Dalari. If they do send a force, it will be small, and there are enough angry humans in Danver to repel them."

  'You've really thought this through, I see," Val said, then leaned forward. 'But you're forgetting one important aspect of the Kurskins.'

  "What's that?"

  'They are Players, and the people of Danver are not.'

  "So?" I said, holding up my hands. "We just killed a bunch of them, and the rest fled. They die just like everyone else."

  She frowned sadly. 'Yes, the low-level Players in Danver died easily. Those lizards, as you like to say, were Players here for Quests and adventure. That playstyle is a slow grind compared to those that participate in the wargames.'

  I wanted to retort, but the chill down my spine checked me. Just how powerful were those higher-level Players?

  I asked Val the question.

  'Powerful enough to bring down Danver's wooden walls with a single spell. Powerful enough to destroy an entire block with a wave of their hand.'

  I shook my head. "That's end-game stuff. We're only five months into this. No one's that high of a level yet." The words were spoken for my own comfort, rather than as a rebuttal to Val.

  'Perhaps,' she said. 'I cannot say for sure. All I can say is that in previous iterations of the game, participants in the wargames increased their level at three times the rate of those who focused on Quests. And the Players who led those armies of Players and NPCs received shared experience, and levelled even faster.'

  "Oh," was all I managed to say.

  'We don't know when or if they will even come,' Val said. "But I'm confident they will seek revenge, if not for their peers, then to stamp down the plague of knowledge you've inflicted on the people of Danver.'

  I looked at the brook stones near my feet. Each was a different color, and all were perfectly smooth, having worn away all roughness from years of water erosion, but in truth, they were made this way when the world was reshaped. I wondered if they were actually brook stones from my version of Earth or if they had been recreated from the atoms of a mountain or something. The thought made me sad.

  'What are you going to do, Ethan?' Val asked.

  I looked up at her. "What do you mean?" I asked the question, even though I knew what she meant.

  'Are we sticking to the plan and leaving or not? The prime opportunity would have been after the leadership admonished you, yet you've stuck around. Why?'

  I shrugged. "I don't know. I guess a part of me feels like I shouldn't abandon everyone, especially if they are in danger of being attacked."

  'You should listen to your other part," Val said. 'The one that sticks to the plan and leaves this place today.'

  I closed my eyes and thought. She was right, of course, and time was running out. I held no illusions that it would take the Kurskins longer than it did for me to reach Danver. In fact, with their innate endurance combined with their upgrades from the system, they could make the trip to Danver in half the time it took me.

  I had to focus on the big picture, and Danver was only a piece of it. If I stayed in Danver and died, then all was lost. No matter how immoral the idea felt, my own survival was more important than the people of Danver. If I died, then everyone left in this world would be doomed to a life of slavery and a progressive genocide.

  "I'll go," I said. "Let's get back to town and find Ersabet."

  Val didn't answer. I looked at her curiously. It was as if she were frozen in place, or glitched out, or something.

  "Uh, Val?" I waved my hand in front of her face.

  Her glazed eyes reignited with life and opened wide. 'Back to Danver now. Run!'

  I didn't hesitate and slipped on my boots as fast as I could before sprinting my way back to Danver.

  "What's going on?" I asked.

  'They're here,' Val said.

  "Already? How?"

  There was a tremendous roar from behind me. I turned to look, and my knees nearly buckled from what I saw.

  Although it was still far away, it was unmistakable. A dragon was flying straight to Danver.

  "Dragons are real?" I shouted.

  'If it was mythologized on Earth, then it's likely real on Erda,' Val said.

  "How do we kill it?"

  'I'd be more worried about the twenty Players it brought with it.'

  Goosebumps rose on my arms, and I ran back to Danver as fast as my legs could carry me.