Standing outside next to their cart, the two took a few moments to realize what had happened. The gods of this world were going to kill them. This system, the world, everything they knew was all because of some mistake. They were never supposed to be a part of any of this, and now they had all eyes on them.
"What the HELL!" Lee shouted, but before he could continue the entire sky flickered, there was a massive ripple effect across it. Like the weave of light they saw when they saw the gods, except this was weaved across the entire sky as it rippled in and out of existence.
**World Event 6 days 23 hours 59 minutes and 03 seconds remaining.**
"I feel sick," Sara said, leaning over and throwing up all over the ground. Lee's face drooped and he stared off into the sky above them. "Shit," he muttered.
"Maybe it's a surprise party," Lee said softly.
Sara wiped their mouth and shot daggers, "With who? Our local squirrel mafia?"
Three days had passed since that moment, and in it alot had happened. Defeating the Boss gave them both an option for two rewards. First was a warden's sap blood blade, an epic weapon with +35 base damage, it slowed enemies down by 10% on hit, and it delt bonus damage of 50% on rooted enemies, while also giving 5 hp.
Second one was a living vine wrap, an epic chest piece. It had +30 defense and +10 hp regen. Passive ability: Twitch Reflex, 5% chance to dodge physical attacks passively. It was a set bonus as well. Gain passive Verdant Pulse, which restores 5 hp per second when under 30% health.
Finally was the Warden core fragment x2, legendary crafting material. It was, as it stated, used to make legendary gear. However, it wasn't useful to them yet, Lee took that and the Living Vinewrap chest piece.
With the first set of rewards from completing the boss fight they sat down and calculated what was best for them. Sara bounced a few builds back and forth, but Lee shot some of them down. "No, a stealth tank is a dumb idea."
"What its new and unique!" Sara argued, Lee started. "I don't think you understand, this isn't some build a new character on death."
"You dont know that." Which was a solid argument, they didn't know what happened when they died.
In the end, Sara made their decision.
Sara took the Wardens sapblood blade, and the crafting material as well. Their rewards didn't end there.
Completing the tutorial gave them a system stamp, which allowed them to access non-standard class trees. This wasn't fully understood by either of them yet, it looked like they could combine two classes into one but they weren't able to use it yet.
They also received a passive skill, Unshackled start, which let their stats grow at a boosted 5% per level and a strange system notification called "Custom routed" which stated rules may no longer apply.
They received Party Name, and after a long argument over different party names.
"Alright, party name!" Lee shouted excitedly jumping into the hammock. "Lets go with the red raiders!"
"What no? How about the thieves!"
"Yeah, thats real original. How about The New Gods!" That suggestion caused the interface to glitch for a second, almost a warning of not provoking them anymore then they already had.
They chose, "The Unwanted Patch Notes." This gave them a glitch chain reaction, which allowed crits to be past form one person to the other. If Lee crit, then Sara would have a 10% chance of criting as well.
Achievement rewards were even better. They received Thread Cloak of Phantasm for defeating the warden without taking damage. It was a +25 evasion and +15 too speed. Also immune to root. It gave the wearer a skill called Blinkstep, which teleports them 10 feet and leaves a taunting shadow behind for 2 seconds. It also had a cosmetic effect to leave shimmering digital afterimages when moving, only when active though.
Lee and Sara both had that one equipped, they figured it would benefit them both. They received Hollowborn Badge, an artifact slot object that gave +3 to all stats, a passive classless instinct where they gave 1 passive skill from any class tree. Plus, once per level they can reassign a stat point.
The divine intervention achievement gave them Fractured Godshard, a passive shard that glows near divine beings. Plus a divine snarl, where they can interrupt a spell or magical effect once a week.
Finally came the titles, while three were unlocked they both equipped two different ones. Lee chose Mistake, +1 to luck, and a glitch passive, one per day he could reroll any failed action with a twist. The outcome is always dramatic. He wasn't sure what it meant, but he figured he would get the hang of it when the time came.
Sara chose Oopsie Daisies. The system labels your file as CORRUPTED, some interactions will be altered. Observer access, you now receive occasional messages from entities beyond your system. 1x per day, you can roll back to rewind the last 10 seconds of time in a fight. However, there was one secret. Unlocks hidden storyline if equipped during a world event.
With everything having been learned and equipped, they also chose their new classes. Lee picked Vanguard, a tank based class that gave him access to using buster swords with one hand, heavy armor, and shields all together at the same time. It unlocked alot of tank skills that he hadn't even begun to read. Plus, his health skyrocketed from the new class.
Lee took a free skill called Last Stand where at 25% health all his stats would increase by 10% giving him a fighting chance. The unique skill he gained form his Vanguard class was called Pulse Taunt. It forced all targets in an AOE range to target him (6m).
As for Sara, they chose Arcane archers, they were not proficient with all sorts of bows, and even gained a form of magic. Their arrows now had abilities, fire, ice, shadows, vines, they were one level short of the phase arrow though. An ability that lets them shoot arrows and transfer their location with said arrow.
Sara also received a skill called Phase Veil, where they briefly become intangible to avoid attacks. Their free passive they could choose from any class was called Ghoststep which increased evasion and silence on movements.
The new system unlocks were also overwhelming, world map, party management, titles and passives, quest syncs, inventory sync, crafting remote access, they had a full mmorpg at their fingertips. The most important thing was the new guild management that they had access to.
"If we are the only two players, who can we have in a guild?" Lee asked when he first discovered it.
"If my options are you, and you, then I'm going to be in a guild by myself." Sara said in response.
They managed to place the crafting table in their home as well. It made things easier for them. Sara re-forged the bow into something more powerful. Verdant Spine bow, which had a piercing shot.
Lee forged what was called Iron Vine Greatshield, which was a thorny shield that caused bleed when he used bash skill with it.
The map they unlocked was massive, it took up the entire view. Most of it was covered in fog of war though, meaning they couldn't see where they hadn't been, which was almost the entire continent. They had the main villages they did trade routes with, but other than that empty white clouds.
The worst part about the entire map, the world event showed it to be right directly on their hometown. Darrowmere.
"Of course it's happening here. Can't even have peace in the woods!" Sara exclaimed with a heavy groan.
"Guess we are hosting the apocalypse. Should we bring the dip?" Lee said eating a potato from the fireplace, Sara smacking their forehead.
In the following days however, they learned more about the system. They could pass on enchanted objects to people in town, and they received effects for them. This became a game changer.
"So, whose first?" Lee asked Sara, they examined people who had a job status of unemployed. There were percentages of who would join them, and survival likelihood as well. Sara and Lee began the scouting mission, observing and browsing different candidates before finally landing on two scrawny boys.
Alvin and Theodore, "I'm surprised they aren't chipmunks." Lee grumbled under his breath, signing them up for the position. "Alright boys! First things first, take this cart and travel about an hour on foot and deliver the load to the nearby village."
"Wait, sir, thats…suicide, its so cold!" Alivin squealed in fear, Lee opened up the system and checked the likelihood of survival.
**Survival 89%**
"You'll be fine, if you do this ill make it worth your while!" Lee said, wiggling his eyebrows, the two boys glanced at each other and sighed, picking up the cart and proceeding to travel.
Lee proceeded to begin looking for objects and items that he could use in crafting. Crafting followed basic principles. One item, mixed with another item, gives an item with this said effect. Basic, to the point, but you had to know what item would give what effect by trial and error.
The one trustworthy item that Lee found for the cold, coals mixed with any cloak gave a cold resistant cloak that felt like you were on a tropical island of comfort. As for wildlife, he made a few attempts of different items that resulted in failure. Finally he found the Lantern Maw skin mixed with a shirt gave an intimidation boost.
Any wild animal or bandit would be brought to the knees seeing this outfit. Which, led to employee uniforms.
"Theodore Alvin!" Lee shouted, they managed to survive the first trip with ease. Just as the system predicted, "I got you some uniforms, and a satchel of employee essentials. Keep these items with you on every trip, and we will refill them before you leave." Lee said, handing them both the goods.
Potatoes with stamina boost, the uniforms, and even the satchel itself made things light weight. This led to the great trade route, Lee and Sara started making a name for themselves and fast.
With the success of the trade route, they quit their day jobs. For the most part, Garrick and Telle were over the moon for their success. However, the entire village had also noticed they were different. They walked, they talked, they acted more mature and wiser. They were like two new people.
Yet, the trade company kept the slogan. 'Lee and Sara, the trade company with a mouth.' The local villages advertised it that way as well. The hired help was bringing back loads of supplies, the towns were booming with income, supplies, and hope for the first time in a long time.
"It feels like we are the fantasy Amazon," Sara said, loading up one of the carts with supplies.
"Well, let's pray that Jeff Bezos isn't one of the Gods." Lee quipped back at them.
Slowly the day's were coming and going, and with it was satisfaction that they were making a difference in their home village. The questions of uncertainty still rang in the back of their mind, the Gods were watching them now as well.
"What do you think is next?" Lee asked Sara who shrugged.
"Not sure."
"I think we should lift some of this fog of war."
"I can definitely agree with that."
Lee watched the clock ticking on the world event page. It was hard not too watch it, uncertain of what is too come.
"Let's hope the world is ready for us," Lee said.
"I'm not even ready for us," Sara added..