Civilization

Commanding the groups of humans, demi-humans and goblins, we transported the loot back to HavenFall, where everyone finally rested up. I was pulled to the side by Noah once I arrived in order to get a rundown of the events that happened whilst I was at the Cave. Bringing me towards the front gate, Noah starts to recount the events that happened at night.

"Starting off with where I was positioned, I was faced with a large group of zombies, some of which were different from others. They had exposed muscles and no skin with extremely long tongues. These monsters were difficult to deal with since our arrows didn't do much, however, the normal zombies were unable to break down the wall we had created. Especially after we reinforced it with the shields at the front and bricks behind.

The monsters instead climbed the sides and started to invade the surrounding space, but Razor and some other wolves were able to defend against the monster, retaliating and defeating them. That was during the first half of the night, later on, we were bombarded with poisonous liquid.

The liquid did not differentiate between friend and foe and killed more zombies than it did damage to us, however, those poison zombies out ranged our archers and were smart enough to go into hiding after each attack. They bombarded us with attack after attack, but as the sun started to rise the zombies retreated in one wave." - Noah

"And that was just your side? Was there more that happened at the gate?" - Ian

"Yes, the gate was swarmed with zombies. The pillar of light that Stellar was watching, spawned zombies in droves with half going to us and half going towards the Krepost. However, the zombies moved slowly, allowing Stellar's group to slowly whittle away the numbers before they reached either place.

Once they did arrive at the gate, Stellar's group and the archers that were positioned at the gate with Gyumi were able to defend against the zombies. According to her, there were no special kinds of zombies. They were all the same slow-walking zombies until any sound was made, then they would rush towards the sound in a crazed panic." - Noah

"I see. Did you already go out and collect the loot in both places?" - Ian

"The small path has already been looted and brought to old man Hus's storeroom. Stellar's group is in the process of looting in the forest as they killed zombies in between the pillar of light and HavenFall." - Noah

"Good, if there is anything out of the ordinary take it to me. I'll be at my house in the meantime. Make sure everyone is checked out and no one is injured and then rest up. Tonight will be another hard night especially since we don't know what kind of monsters will appear from the pillars of light." - Ian

"Of course. I'll let everyone know about it as well as discuss it with Howard, Gobi, and Stellar about the follow-up. Do you want to be notified about what is going to happen?" - Noah

"For now, I trust you know what to do so there will be no need to notify me. Also, send a scout to the Krepost as soon as possible. They will be replenishment of either potions or materials, so the scout will need to be someone fast." - Ian

"Leave it to me, Ian. Get some rest, you don't look so good." - Noah

"Really? I feel fine though? Just a little tired but other than that, I thought I'm looking alright." - Ian

"No, you definitely look like you need some sleep. I'll get Melody to bring you the loot but until then, I suggest you sleep. Don't worry about anything here, I'll handle it and rest up later okay? If I need help, Howard has my back so don't worry about it." - Noah

"Are you sure?" - Ian

"Yea, rest up. You have done more than enough. I'll get the details about what happened at the cave from Howard." - Noah

"Alright, thank you, Noah. I'll head back to my house now." - Ian

Waving goodbye, I start walking back to the house. I had already given my armor and my trident to old man Hus as I passed his workshop for him to repair, so I was just wearing a simple shirt and pants. After hearing Noah telling me I was tired, I did feel a wave of fatigue hit me. My head was slightly spinning, and my eyes were barely open. I hurriedly got home, and collapsed on my bed upstairs, closing my eyes the moment my head hit the pillow.

"Ian…" _ Melody

A feel a slight tugging on my shoulder as my eyes cracked open. Slight throbbing pain in my head as I turn my head sideways, to see Melody gazing into my eyes. It took me a couple of seconds to register that Melody was there before, I fully open my eyes and smile at her. Her face becomes flushed as she turns her head to the side hurriedly.

"Hey, what's up Melody? Are you okay?" - Ian

"I-I'm fine. Are you okay? I came in here a while ago, and you were so knocked out that you didn't respond to me calling your name. It was only until I shook your body did you wake up. Was fighting last night too much?" - Melody

"I'm not too sure. There was a lot going on last night, and it was the second night of continuous night battles. I guess my body was just not used to it yet. There is still tonight and every other night for the next month of constant fighting, so I need to get used to this as fast as possible." - Ian

"It's going to be hard on everyone here. Is there anything I can do to help?" -Melody

"You are doing a lot by just helping around. Not everyone can fight, and we need people doing other things as well." - Ian

"Yea, I understand." - Melody

Melody's bright smile radiates warmth as she speaks to me. We end up having a light conversation with her sitting on the side of the bed, talking about the different things that have happened since she has come to HavenFall. She teases me about the time I gave her a massage by the river, making me slightly nervous, but she tells me she was grateful for coming here and meeting everyone in HavenFall.

After talking to her for a while, she brings me downstairs where a small box containing the loot from last night's battle was placed next to the table. It consisted of 2 of the same skill books, a claw-type weapon, a pair of gloves, and an earring. The loot varied a lot compared to the previous battle, but the more there is, the stronger we get as a whole.

[ Skill Book: Toughness

+3 Vitality

+2 Strength

This skill book will allow the user to obtain the skill Toughness. Toughness will give the user a slight boost in Vitality and Strength. Open the book and say the skill name in order to learn it. ]

[ Bloody Claws

Attack: 30

Agility: 5

10% of damage is converted to HP

A black tightly fit glove, with 3 sharp prongs at the knuckles. It drinks the blood of enemies and converts the blood of foes to the life of the user. ]

[ Night Gloves

Defense: 15

Agility: 15

Skill: Sleight of Hand

A soft black fingerless glove. Its smooth underside makes it easy for the user to take things or to move things around without other people noticing. ]

Sleight of Hand (Active) - The user's hands move twice as fast for 5 seconds. Increases the chances to steal items and increases the chances of performing multiple attacks at once. Cool down 5 min.

[ Amber Tear Drop Earring

Intelligence: 20

Skill: Rock Fist

A small earring in the shape of a teardrop, made out of polished amber. Its orange hue gathers mana from the earth, creating a fist out of stone to help the user. ]

Rock Fist (Active) 5MP - Create a fist out of rock as big as a head and propel it towards the target. Once the fist lands, it will explode and the shrapnel will also do another portion of damage. ( 30 + 50% Intelligence) + ( 15 + 50% Intelligence) Cooldown 2 min.

Looking at the new loot, I already knew who gets the items. Howard and Gobi both need to become stronger, to the point that I can leave them to fight their own battles during this event. After all, there might be a time when I need to leave to fight a boss and I need to assure myself that HavenFall is protected during that time.

I would give them both the skill books for Toughness, increasing their stats just a little, while the claws might be useful on Gewari. I had a slightly tough decision between Solar, Lynn, and Gyumi for the earrings but ultimately, decided that Lynn should have the item since her kit as more magic-based than Gyumi and Solar had enough skills to manage. Gyumi was more of an archer that used magic rather than a mage and Solar was a light mage or a healer than a classic damage mage.

As for the gloves, I took them myself since I didn't have any sort of special gloves yet. The additional Agility will be good for me and having the skill, Sleight of Hand, might also come in useful in the coming battles. After telling Melody about who would get what item, I left her to deliver the items whilst I wait for the game to end, after all, the sun was already high up in the sky. Before long, I bid farewell to HavenFall and woke up in reality.