Chapter 1 - Fall of Immica

Just outside of a small farming village on the outskirts of the Ulstwen Kingdom, bobbing flames moved ever closer. A group of thirty people wearing dirty and mismatched armor moved through the cloudy night guided by torches. The largest of these brigands led the group towards a hill that would hide their approach from any guards keeping watch for monster attacks.

"Put out the lights, Red Heels!" the man said in his rough voice. While he spoke loud enough to be heard it was still quieter than usual, quiet enough that the sound shouldn't travel far.

Yugo the Hungry was a large human who fought with the Bandit Lord class and was skilled with dual axes. His brown eyes seemed to glow as he peaked over the hill to see what kind of defenses his Red Heel Bandits would encounter. A cruel smile grew across his face at the half dozen guards patrolling a small wooden barricade.

Yugo turned to his crew with his manic grin still showing. The long-time members got excited at the expression while his newer recruits couldn't suppress the shiver of fear.

"Seems Clusea has her shadowed hand over us today, Red Heels!" the Bandit Lord told his men in obvious excitement. "Those scented poppies gave us a nice and easy pay-day this time!"

"How's it look, Boss?" asked one of the other bandits.

"Pathetic!" Yugo answered before spitting in disgust. The disgust soon shifted back to giddy malice. "But that's better for us, isn't it? Alright, here's the deal! That noble kid wants the place torched and the villagers killed. The more damage we do the better!"

The bandits' hushed cheering answered his words. Before they could get too lost in their visions of debauchery, Yugo continued.

"Now, I know you all want to enjoy yourselves and find some stuff to keep and sell but the job comes first! This'll be done by dawn, we'll celebrate with a few farmers' wives in the morning, and by sundown tomorrow we'll divvy the loot! And if I find somebody hoarding stuff I'll make what I did to little Jimmet look like a summer harvest celebration!"

All the bandits turned to look at Jimmet, the young bandit who instinctively stepped back and covered the stump where his left arm used to be. He backed up a bit more, his head swiveling from face to face watching for sudden movements. It wouldn't be the first time one of the other Red Heels slapped his still tender arm in 'brotherly companionship'.

"Wight, you'll take a dozen of the Red Heels around the north and wait for my signal," Yugo ordered, drawing their attention once again. "Leave Frosty with me, I got a special job for her before we start," he finished, a lecherous grin twisting his features more than usual.

The slim woman with pointed ears and pale skin referred to as "Frosty" clenched her fists in anger but her blank expression never changed.

In a wooden house, the largest in the village, a man jolted awake from a dead sleep. Morning was still hours away and all was quiet. Within his mind, where Arthaesis' magic dwelled, he felt something pulsing. After opening his system menu, he skipped his stats and skills and mentally probed the flashing quests section.

-Emergency quest- Survive until Dawn!

-Immica is under attack by bandits! You must lead your people to survive until dawn!

-Gather as much food as you can carry.

-Gather tools/resources for different trades.

-Gather wagons and animals.

-Flee through the south gate.

-Hold your position at the Aldrich Farm until dawn.

-Rewards- 1000 exp, Time Vault Ring, 1 skill point.

The man who was just starting to show gray in his hair opened his eyes as wide as they could go. Before panic could set in, his 'Tranquil Mind' skill activated, allowing him to think calmly. He immediately woke up his wife and started giving instructions. If the village could stay dark and stay quiet, they just might get through this. But it would be a long night.

The Mayor of Immica had followed the quest outlines as best he could, making his own decisions to help his people survive. He wasn't sure what was supposed to happen at dawn but some type of reinforcements were likely. Either way, the town was lost. There was no other reason for the quest to ask them to bring as much as they could carry.

He'd sent his wife to start waking everyone in the village while he went straight to the homes of the best hunters as well as Paschot the almost reformed thief. All those grumblings about having a criminal in the village were going to be wiped clean in one night.

Once they'd been awoken and the situation explained they'd revealed their own quests. A brief discussion and Mayor Kinton left the scouts to do what they could. The Gods who granted the quests would help more than his advice anyway. He simply told them to return to the south gate at the first sign of enemy approach and keep in contact with each other.

Umia, Kinton's wife, had meanwhile started working with her own emergency quest and began a chain of notifications where each person she told would tell another and so on down each street until everyone gathered in the village market, an open space near the center of Immica. She'd warned them before hand to stay quiet and use no torches or lights of any kind.

Once everyone arrived, she explained the situation and people of different classes started getting their own quests. Umia wasn't sure why so many Gods were taking notice but she was starting to become afraid that this was a far more serious event than she'd thought. While the lives of the villagers were of course important, it was rare for the Gods to take notice unless there was either a Blessed One among them or a catastrophe coming. Unfortunately, there were no Blessed Ones in Immica.

An hour later most of the village had gathered at the south gate. A few would stay behind, either because they were incapable of travel, they were too stubborn to leave their home, or in Mad Ponter's case, a little vengeance against the bandits was more important than survival.

"Mayor Kinton," a middle-aged man with arms like tree trunks whispered, "we've gathered as much as we could and are ready for travel."

"Thank you, Hamal," the Mayor answered, his Tranquil Mind running constantly. "We'll wait for word here. Eat something if you all haven't already."

The villagers were on edge and there was no one who had any type of skills for inducing courage or calmness aside from the baron's passive, but that only affected him. The children were blissfully unaware, treating the whole thing as a game. How Kinton wished for it to stay that way.

A shadow approached from the market center and slowly revealed the form of one of the hunters.

"Mayor," the thin man whispered. "We saw movement on the hills just east of Immica's walls. Looked like about ten people, but there could be more if they have some decent stealthy type classes."

Mayor Kinton dipped his head a bit in thought. It was safe to say that there would be at least a few thieves among that lot of criminals. Probably fifteen to twenty men, then. He couldn't be sure if they were only coming from that one direction either. Based on the quest description, there probably weren't any bandits in the south, but the north and west were uncertain.

"Knight Kino," Mayor Kinton said to the thin hunter, "find rest of the scouts and tell them to come back, we'll be heading out in five minutes."

Kino, Immica's Knight of the Hunt, nodded before turning around and disappearing north into the darkness again.

The citizens of Immica were all staring at the Mayor, waiting for news on what was going to happen next. Some of them were becoming twitchy and anxious. Kinton knew he didn't have long before someone made a mistake. He was surprised and proud that they hadn't already broke under the strain. He couldn't help smiling at the strength of will his people had. 'Those weak city folk wouldn't last a minute in the hard-working shoes of these villagers,' he thought.

"It's almost time to leave, everyone," he said quietly, yet clearly. "I'm proud of all of you for how well you've done tonight. The Gods are watching over us. So be strong, be brave, and we'll get through this. This is not going to be easy, but since when have any of you been afraid of doing what needs to be done? Come the dawn, a change for the better begins! Now gather your things and prepare to move!"

Two groups of scouts filed in, one after another, and with that it was time to move. They started sneaking as quietly as a group of seventy villagers and a dozen farm animals can sneak. It didn't matter, they were already on their way and every step without being spotted was more than they expected.

When they made it about a hundred feet passed the south gate there was the sound of an explosion coming from the north and a few screams broke the silence of the night. Kinton knew something happened at the east gate, but he wasn't sure who did it or what exactly that 'it' was.

"Alright, my friends! Time to move it! Run, run, run!"

With the cracking of whips, the group of wagons started picking up speed. The children were picked up by their parents, and as a group they ran as fast as their weighed down bodies could go.

Kinton moved to the side and waved everyone by before shouting to those who passed him. "If anything happens, meet at the old Aldrich farmstead at dawn! Meet there and we'll be safe!"

The hunters took positions around the parade of villagers, using their enhanced sight skills to stay on guard. A couple led from the front, watching for potential ambushes. Others helped at the sides keeping people moving and watching for villagers who fell or dropped something. The strongest and highest leveled, as well as Paschot, stayed at the rear, ready to attack and defend as the bandits drew close.

Another explosion rang out and a plume of flames reached into the sky. When the initial burst died down those looking back saw a few buildings on fire along with the eastern wall.

"I think that was Ponter," Paschot told Kino who ran beside him. They were both breathing a little heavier than normal, but still full of strength.

"Hopefully he got a few of the bastards," Kino replied in his quiet voice, barely heard over the pounding feet ahead of them.

For almost an hour the villagers ran while the sun was just starting to brighten the sky. Daybreak was probably only a half hour away and the former residents of Immica were starting to think they might not even see the bandits. Unfortunately, their hopes were soon dashed as one of the Hunters at the rear saw movement coming from the direction of the village.

Kino dashed forwards and reported what he saw to Mayor Kinton. "We'll have to resist them for a bit, it seems," the Baron said after hearing the news. "Let the others at the end of the line know, if we can take a few of the bandits out early then that would be best."

The tired villagers that had started to flag ran with a renewed burst of energy with the first arrows fired by the hunters. Paschot had a few throwing knives but his range wasn't as good, so he had to wait for the bandits to get closer. The bandits may have had a lower endurance than the average farmer, but they also weren't nearly as weighed down or sleep deprived. So, when the villagers made it to the Aldrich farmstead the bandits were only a few moments from reaching them.

The villagers formed a line to defend those behind them. A few hunters, a group of lumberjacks, Hamal, the blacksmith, Paschot, and a few of the farmers who lived in town but worked on other steads were to be the ones to hold the line. Several other hunters as well as the few people with some type of elemental attack skill were going to bombard the bandits that approached. There were only nineteen of them, but each of them was far more experienced in combat than a tier one villager.

Miussa stayed behind the front line constantly using what mana she could to heal those around her. As the only person in the village with healing magic she was frequently called upon when a child would break their arm or someone was kicked by an ornery mule. Today would put her skills to the test. Unfortunately, it couldn't save someone when an arrow took them in the heart, or when one of the bandits managed to bury their axe into a hunter's head. As mana left her hands so too did tears leave her eyes.

For several minutes the fighting went on, eight bandits lay dead and five villagers had joined them. Time was running out for the Immicans.

"Red Heels! Crush them and repaint your boots!", the large man wielding two axes shouted before charging back into the fray.

The line was shattered, and several villagers were knocked down as the bandits charged to the more frail villagers in the back. Suddenly there was a high-pitched scream that deafened everyone nearby before a blast of light blinded them. There was an explosion and a wave of force rippled through the area. When the light dimmed the bandits were all dead with a cauterized hole through their chest. The people of Immica saw a gentle yellow shield start to thin and dissipate from each of them. Those who were wounded found the pain gone and their wounds healed.

Twenty feet away, just behind where the bandits lay the dust began to settle, revealing a glowing yellow crystal. As the glow faded the crystal turned clear revealing a man covered in a pristine white sheet. His hair was blonde and his face clean shaven. He looked scrawny and weak, as if he were an unclassed child in the body of an adult.

As Kinton approached the crystal his mind pulsed and he saw that his quest was completed. Looking to the east he saw the sun crossing over the hills. After a moment of silence he turned to his people and shouted, "We made it! We're saved!"