“Pets from the real world were present inside of NEMO from the beginning. They were largely unknown to the general public since they were confined to homes and guild territories. It was only months later when they were allowed to move around in the cities that the world came to understand that somehow the game pods increased their intelligence, often to the point of sapience. The implications hit some communities harder than others.”

  Except from “Not Without My Pet” by Natalia Dyiff

  Year 1, Month 1, Day 8, 06:45

  Orcs ran rampant throughout the interior of the guild keep while Ovarrix organized the formations behind the mantlets. Arrows and bolts flew out to intercept monsters, interrupting their ferocious attacks on the guild buildings. Maddened monsters tore houses down to their foundations. The newest wave took little time to reach the keep, hundreds of fresh foes scaling the wall. The gate shuddered under heavy strikes before splintering and sailing into the open space. The giant strode through, moving towards one of the surviving ballista towers with destruction on its mind.

  Inside the keep, the monsters seemed almost entirely focused on destroying buildings. The pressure on the defenders slackened, allowing them to pick their targets while the close-range fighters kept the few surrounding them at bay. Ovarrix directed the fire into knots of enemies then paused and turned to Dirk. “Dirk, take your people and the newer recruits, roam between the buildings and attack the ones focused on the houses. Try not to get bottled up.” Dirk grinned wryly and fired off a mock salute before taking about 40 people and dashing into chaos.

  Splintering wood and the growing crackle of fires filled the ears of Dirk and his men. They fell upon a group of five orcs hacking into a building, dispatching them quickly. “Look lively, let’s kill as many as we can.” Dirk led the men in a mad dash through the houses, they ganked with glee and their smiles were tinged with battle madness. Orcs fell but so did the houses. They killed dozens but found themselves caught in an open area with more than 100 orc warriors staring them down. They froze for a moment, each side taking a breath before the roars erupted from the orcs as they charged the puny humans.

  “Cheese it!” Dirk yelled. “Back to the main force!” They ran as fast as they could but for many it wasn’t fast enough. Several players found themselves dragged down and slaughtered by the orc raiders. When the survivors made it back to the safety of the mantlets, the ranged defenders pumped as many arrows and bolts out as possible while they kept the wave of monsters from overrunning their position. Barely half the people that went out with Dirk made it back.

  “This isn’t working. We’re going to have to take a chance.” Torgon looked around at the survivors, huddled behind the mantlets, firing on targets of opportunity. “We need to push out, kill all the orcs we can and take on the boss.” He directed everyone to lead a section and ready for the breakout. “We’ll sweep by groups, ranged focus firing on incoming targets, melee to pull groups and make sure we leave nothing behind us. It’s time to push to that overgrown giant and knock him down to size.” A ragged cheer met his words as they moved into growing danger.

  The majority of the houses inside the keep were wrecked, the library was behind them, still intact and the training field had been left alone. Only the large trebuchet continued to fire at targets. The mounted corgi archers moved out wide on the flanks to maximize their room to maneuver. Children streamed behind the main force, weapons ready. Chef Bridges carried an oversized enchanted cleaver dripping with the brown blood of any monster that strayed too close to her. Stabitha moved with her apprentices, large flasks of dangerous alchemical concoctions ready to hurl at anything that threatened them.

  Torgon kept his bow ready, scanning the area as Dusty and Allestor pushed ahead. They moved with determination towards the giant that approached the trebuchet tower. Every 120 seconds, a large bolt would fly from the tower, crushing another orc. “Conserve your energy, use basic attacks. Save as much as you can for the big guy,” Torgon advised. Orcs came at them in ones and twos, quickly cut down by their overwhelming response. Smoke filled the air from the burning buildings, screening their approach until they finally made it to the last cluster of hostile forces.

  Nearly two hundred orcs remained, guarding the giant from attacks while it swung a tree trunk into the tower, cracking the stone with each hammer blow. “Burn the orcs down, kill all the adds then take the Giant.” Ovarrix yelled orders as they leapt into action. The surviving members of Risk of Injury charged into the orcs and the two forces met in a thunderous crash. Allestor used his sweeping strikes to keep Dusty from being overwhelmed as they fought towards the giant. Children furiously fired their weapons, loud cries of anger on their lips as the emotional toll of watching where they lived get attacked caught up to them. The orc lines melted under the fury of the righteous retribution of children seeking vengeance against the bullies that broke their toys.

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  Stray arrows hit the giant, causing it to turn away from the tower and vent its own murderous fury. The tree trunk sent swordsmen flying away, ribs broken and limbs crushed. Dusty avoided the strikes and Barkolemew was there, blinking in and out, taking away fighters that could no longer move for healing. Ivy used her fairy rangers to guard a small area for healers tending to the wounded. The healers rushed to the least injured, focused on getting people back into the fighting. Ivy and her rangers killed anything that came close. Their small bows did little to the giant but were very effective in finishing off wounded orcs.

  The first volleys of arrows hit the giant. Its health dropped, but soon it rose back. Torgon gritted his teeth in frustration and analyzed the giant.

  “Troll Blooded Siege Giant, Boss, Level 5, Health 98%”

  He cursed then warned everyone. “It has troll blood. The giant’s regeneration powers are going to be high. We need to get as much damage on it as possible.” He began firing arrows as quickly as he could manage, starting to burn stamina in a desperate effort to outpace the monstrous health recovery of the beast. Dusty spent most of her time dodging the ponderous club. The less skilled of the melee fighters pulled back, choosing to use less damaging ranged weapons and giving her room to operate.

  Stabitha ran forward with her apprentices, hurling flasks that broke over the giant, soaking it in caustic substances and flammable liquids. “Now Sparky!”. Her yell brought a gangly youth to stand beside her and lift his hands up to send a small bolt of fire into the giant. It ignited the oil on the giant with a massive fireball, causing the wounded creature to roar with enough volume to land a deafened debuff on people close to it. The boss was still recovering health at an increased rate, but it was noticeably slower.

  Dusty winced as the blood trickled from her ears and the flames on the giant singed the hair on her head. She landed double strikes as often as she could safely. Tears ran down her face from the smoke, but she fought on, keeping the attention of the great beast on her. Other tanks joined the battle but none of them had the agility and experience to dodge as well as she could. They kept being splattered against the walls by the giant’s club. Her health was dipping with the intense heat of the fire on the giant raging near her. She ducked another wild swing of the flaming club, then her heart froze in her throat as she stumbled. An orc on the ground had been playing dead and grabbed her ankle. She stabbed the orc through the throat, but the damage was done, she sprawled on the ground and rolled to see the club being swung down to paste her.

  Dusty felt pressure on her shoulder and then she was suddenly somewhere else. Barkolomew deposited her about forty feet away from the giant while Sir Boots leapt on the beast’s back. His mighty front claws gripped the giant’s shoulders, and his hind claws raked the giant’s flesh from behind. Great streams of blood poured from the wounds. Sir Boots bit down on the giant’s neck, his fangs puncturing arteries and making bloody froth pour forth when the monster screamed. The giant stumbled, its regeneration falling far behind as its health dipped below 50%.

  Cool healing washed over Dusty, and she ripped a flask from her pouches to top her stamina off. She charged in, striking the giant’s thighs with her blade as Ovarrix and Allestor joined her. They focused on the tendons and joints as the giant spun, trying to dislodge the massive cat on its back. Arrows feathered the monster’s flesh, sinking all the way to the fletching with the giant’s animal hide armor burned away. Incongruously, the giant’s filthy underclothes weren’t burned and the streaked cloth stood out from the angry blistered flesh.

  The boss stumbled, blindly swinging its club in fury. An unlucky attacker screamed in terror and pain as the club connected. The figure’s yells drifted away as their body was hurled over the wall, and the yells ended in a wet snapping crunch. The last dozen melee fighters grabbed at the giant, pulling it off balance and making it fall on its wounded front. Sir Boots leapt away as arrows poured in from all sides, finally ending the Troll-Blooded Giant’s life.

  An announcement from the system filled everyone’s vision.

  “You are Victorious! You have defeated all five waves of the Base Siege. Rewards are increased for your first victory. Bonuses have been granted for having 38% of your Guild Members still fighting and 17% of your buildings still standing.”

  “All members of the guild are awarded 1,000 Free Experience. Additional experience for the combat has been distributed according to your individual participation. The guild has been awarded a Recreational Park. Obtain victory in additional guild base sieges to upgrade your park. Your guild has been awarded the basic portable ballista siege weapon blueprint. The guild has been granted 5 teleportation passes to the trading city of Deep Harbor.”

  “Be Wary. After every fourth consecutive victory, the system will increase the quality of your siege opponents. Train hard and grow your skills and equipment to continue prospering.”

  A ragged cheer rang out from the survivors. They had done it. Most of their homes lay in ruins, but fortunately, the rebuilding would be easy. Even the fallen buildings required an outlay of half the original materials to rebuild and best of all, they didn’t need to earn more cores. Hundreds of deaths left the guild with a large amount of accumulated xp debt to work off and what better way than to farm materials for the rebuilding effort. It was time to get to work.