Tales Of Gridarnia

Ray

Ray was running low on mana. Everything was being focused into dodging the onslaught of attacks from the two orcs. They were good. They were really good at fighting actually. They must be brothers, because they were perfectly in sync with the volley of attacks they were dishing out. Ray rolled under a horizontal swing and jumped up in time to miss a vertical swing from the other. Arrows were coming down from the sky but Ray was unable to move the orcs into a position to be accidentally hit by one. Suddenly Goblins themselves were falling down on him.

“What is going on?” Ray asked himself. He jumped on to the nearest table and forced himself to the second floor and out of the way of the goblins that fell to their death. The orcs also looked up and began swinging at the goblins in their path. Ray felt his pack get a little heavier and Mace popped out of one of the holes.

“Hey buddy, What have you been up to? Ray asked, giving Mace a scratch on the head. “ Did you find the boys?”

Mace let out a small bark and shook his tail in confirmation.

“Good boy!” Ray said and turned to the two orcs. “Mace, we can’t leave just yet. We need to kill them and activate that beacon over there, otherwise the system might kill me. The Goblin King is the one on the left and he has a key around his neck that we need to get. Do you have enough mana to teleport a few more times?”

“System, status update for Mace and Myself”

Ray

Mace

Health

55%

100%

Mana

12%

65%

“Let’s be quick about this Mace. I’m ready to go home” Ray said, taking a piece of jerky and a mana crystal out of his pack. He fed half the jerky to Mace and ate the other half. Palming the crystal, Ray began chanting under his breath and pulling the energy into him.

Mana crystals are similar to a safety deposit box at a bank. You deposit mana into the crystal and withdraw it when you need to at a later time. In the academy, they briefly touched on the subject because most magic users had a great abundance of mana reserves. Ray had a normal amount but he unfortunately ran out very quickly. It took him many years to learn how to deposit and withdraw the perfect amount without busting the crystals. Ray’s Mana increased to forty-two percent.

Ray jumped down to the first level and drew his sword and manifested a small buckler on his left arm. Facing the Goblin King and ignoring the other orc circling to flank him, Ray made a lunging motion with his sword and stabbed at the goblin king. The king side stepped and swung his Morningstar hitting nothing but air. Ray teleported behind the king and made a horizontal slash at the neck before teleporting away mid swing dodging a vertical slash from the other orc. Ray ducked and slid between the second orcs legs and brought his sword upward, slicing at the inner left thigh before teleporting to the king's left and slashing at its calf muscle. Ray kept up the pattern switching between king and second orc slashing at an ear before clipping a tendon on the other. Ray threw a knife at the king's face and followed up with a horizontal slash to the back of his neck. The king ducked and Ray caught the knife and stabbed it on to the soft spot of the upper neck into the cervical spine before planting his feet and jumping off of the king towards the other orc. The second orc seeing that Ray had no defense mid air, slashed downward leaving himself exposed. Ray teleported before the club connected and swung his sword with all his might connected with the neck of the second orc and cleaving his head off. The head went flying into the other side of the room. Using the last bit of his mana, Ray teleported one more time using the momentum of his last swing to carry him into the void and through the neck of the goblin King who had hit his knees from the knife blow to his spinal cord. Ray rolled to a stop and hit the cave wall with a hard thump. He sat there motionless watching the bodies fall and hit the cave floor. It was finally over.

Collin

Collin landed his glider in the same field that Ray and the two other teams had landed in the night prior. He and Thomas dismounted and made their way through the Canyon. Collin did not have access to the system outside of the village like Ray did so he was unaware if Ray was dead or still fighting. He rushed down the tunnels and into the entryway ready to fight sloshing through the water. Ice melting from the walls and dead goblins floating literally everywhere. We will need to loot this place thoroughly once the adventure guild gets here. Collin thought to himself.

“Thomas, I think I will be ok going forward alone. Go up and wait for the adventurers to arrive. Once they get here tell them to begin looting the area and loading the wagon as much as they can. Most of this stuff was ours before the goblins got it anyway.” Thomas nodded and turned back to leave the canyon.

Collin ventured further into the canyon pausing every now and again to check the pockets of a goblin or two. He liked to loot and he wanted to see what was here before the adventures guild took all the good stuff. Collin heard a noise and drew his sword. He could hear grunting and moaning coming down the tunnel. Collin continued forward and into the circling chamber ready to fight.

“What the hell are you doing Ray?” Collin asked, sheathing his sword.

Ray was pushing with all his might at what appeared to be a large boulder only it wasn't a boulder but a full size orc on top of a boulder next to another orc. Both heads were completely decapitated. “I need to get the key and it's stuck under the corpse” Ray said

Collin ran over and helped Ray push the Orc off of where it was and found the golden jeweled Key. Ray smiled and shook Collin’s hand. “Happy to see you buddy!”

“Couldn’t let you loot the place on your own. What’s the Key to go to?” Collin replied.

“I am not sure. I think it goes to the rock formation behind us. The system called it a beacon.”

Ray walked over and tried to lift the Morningstar. He managed to lift the handle and turn it over to help prop himself up on.. “By the way, Dibs on this. You can have the club over there”

“Oh nice, firewood. Thanks man!” Collin replied sarcastically.

Collin walked up and put his arm around Ray who was having trouble standing. Leaning on Collin, they both ventured up to the second level to where the beacon was. It took them nearly thirty minutes to find and get up the staircase. Dead goblins everywhere they looked.

“You didn’t save any for me, I see.” Collin joked.

“Mace killed those.” Ray pointed at the ones hanging from the cliff side. They were impaled by the natural spikes that the cave had formed. Mace popped out of the top compartment and barked in approval.

“You saved the younglings and killed those goblins. Such a good boy!” Collin said, giving Mace a scratch on his head. Mace waged his tail, yawned and then retreated into his pouch for a much needed nap.

“Are they ok? Ray asked

“Yeah, They are on the way back with team one. Team two should have turned around and will arrive here shortly” Collin explained. “Everything is in order at the village. Near miss with an Ogre and we managed to get a couple of wolves but other than that all was good. Your Dad and I held down the fort.”

“Good Good. I wonder what this beacon will do?” Ray said

The two reached the beacon. It was covered in Jewels and different rune markings. The beacon was seven feet tall and four feet wide. It was made of some foreign material not found in the cave. Clearly someone had positioned this here long ago. Ray took out the key and inserted it into the opening. He tried to turn it to the right and then to the left. Nothing

“Is it not the right one?” Collin said, trying also to turn it and failing.

“The system said I needed to kill the Goblin King and Activate the Beacon. I thought the key would be it.”

Collin looked up and down and all around but was unable to find any other places that a key would fit into. He tried pushing and Pulling the beacon but it would not move.

“Can we ask the system what to do?” Collin said

“System, open status screen” Ray said.

The system screen opened in front of them and there was a blinking box in the upper right hand corner. Ray pressed on it and the box opened.

Goblin King Defeated

Rewards : Morning star +5

2500 Gold

New Title: Goblin Assassin

Mana Reservoir Increase 15%

New Skills Received

“Oh nice. It gives you increased Mana.” Collin noted

“Why does this seem familiar?” Ray exclaimed. “It’s acting like the Matrices we had.”

"You know it kind of does. Mine was named Trixie. I miss that complex cube of energy. Had my Shadow abilities stored in it. Collin said. “They have them locked up in the Compound though.”

Ray nodded. He was well aware of where their matrixes were taken. He clicked on the screen

New Title: Goblin Assassin

Description: + 5 Damage +10 Health and Physical Resistance +20% when battling Humanoid Creatures : Goblins, Orcs, Uruks, Gnomes, etc

New Skill Received

1) Elemental Smash Level 3

Imbue your weapon with an elemental orb to deliver the specified elemental damage to an effective area.

Up to 3 elements per attack

2) Goblin’s Roar Level 1

Create a shockwave of sound which causes enemies to be stunned and unable to move.

Duration: 3 seconds

Cooldown: 5 seconds

“This is awesome!” Collin exclaimed. “I am coming with you on the next one.”

“System, How do we activate the beacon?” Ray said.

Beacon Activation requirements:

Golden Jeweled Key

Acquired from slaying Goblin King

Charge Beacon

Imbue Beacon with mana.

“Looks like we need to charge it first.” Ray said. Taking his last crystal out of his bag and absorbing the mana from it. He concentrated and moved a bit of the mana into Mace also. He had used much more than he should have in the final part of the battle, Teleporting that many times was not good for either of them, but it had to be done.

Ray

Mace

Collin

Health

40%

100%

100%

Mana

50%

35%

100%

Ray placed his hand on the beacon and began sending his mana directly into it. The percentage on the screen for his mana began dropping with the flow of his release. He stopped when the percentage reached five percent. He would need this remaining amount to get home. The beacon began to glow but then started to dim just as he released his hand from the stone. Collin placed his hand and started imbuing his own mana into the large stone also. The beacon glowed brighter and brighter and then there was suddenly a clicking sound as the key turned of its own accord. Collin released his hand when he reached five percent also, They stepped back and waited for something to happen. Mace popped up out of the hood and stared at them.

The beacon let out a burst of light and a wave of energy shot in all directions. Ray and Collin were thrown off their feet and hit the wall behind them. The breath was knocked out of them and they lay there in a daze. The chamber glowed to an almost perfect white. There was no shadow to be seen. Rays and Collin closed their eyes as the brightness was just too much to bear. Seconds that felt like hours went by before they felt it safe to open them again. When they did, The stone pillar that they knew to be the beacon was gone. The torches that were positioned throughout the cave were no more and the three sat there in utter darkness.

Beacon successfully activated!

Beacon Teleported to the Golden leaf Village

+10% Control of Gridarnia Region XI (Total Regional Control 32%)

Boar Canyon Unlocked

Boar Canyon Loot transported to Village Inventory

Boar Canyon Occupants Expelled

Boar Canyon Mines unlocked

Boar Canyon Teleportation Portal unlocked

Shattered Key Piece 1 of 5

Lord Ray Maximum Rewards:

Lord Level 2

Skills Unlocked:

Telepathy (Region only)

Access to Lord System (Kingdom Only)

Teleportation Golden Leaf Village (Region only)

Teleportation Boar Canyon (Region Only)

Previous Lord’s Personal Inventory Unlocked

Vice Lord Collin Chintzy Rewards:

Vice Lord Level 2

Skills Unlocked:

Access to Armory

Access to Village Inventory

Access to Lord System (Region XI only)