As the days passed, Marcus found himself venturing further and further into the lizardkin frontier. Guin had even warned him of the dangers that lurked within, but he was determined to reach level 45 before attempting to leave. And now, he finally achieved his goal.

  Despite the constant threat of danger, Marcus had been able to clear entire forts of lesser lizardkin with ease, his mastery over his weapons growing with each kill. His Boomerang and Whip had become extensions of his own body, and he could wield them with deadly precision.

  Even the most fearsome attacks from the monstrous creatures were no match for Marcus now. Lightning bolts and acid blasts bounced off his armor as if it were made of diamond, while his weapons struck true and brought down his enemies with ease. He had even reached Mastery 2 with both the Boomerang and Whip.

  As he stood on the edge of the frontier, Marcus couldn't help but feel a sense of pride and accomplishment.

  I am going to kill them all.

  Level 47

  210 more kills till level 48

  STR: 76

  DEX: 45

  CON: 78

  INT: 35

  WIS: 32

  STA: 40

  Attunement: 185/325

  Loot Coins: 36

  Standard Boomerang of Returning[Well Built]

  Base Efficiency Bonus: 48% + [20% Well Built Bonus] = 57.6%

  Skill Tree: Dance of the Ethereal Hawk

  Base Ability: Recall

  Trigger: Mentally Activating the weapon

  Energy Drain: Negligible

  Description: Allows the user to say the mentally activate the boomerang and immediately teleport the boomerang from within a distance based on Mastery level of the item and the user’s Wisdom. Base Level is 300 feet.

  Mastery 1 Ability: Phantom Hunting Grounds

  Trigger: Mental Activation

  Energy Drain: Medium

  Description: Allows the user as they hold the Boomerang to mentally activate the skill as the area within 150 feet of the user to become a field of Ethereal Energy. While inside of the field the boomerang can be thrown from any angle inside of the field and from any direction.

  Mastery 2 Ability: Zero Toss

  Trigger: Mental Activation upon throwing the boomerang

  Energy Drain: Very High

  Description:

  Allows the user to throw their Boomerang and at any point during the throw the user can swap places with their Boomerang. The cost is reduced to Medium while both the user and the boomerang are in Phantom Hunting Grounds.

  Attunement Slots: 40

  Standard Chain of Wailing Widows[Well Built]

  Base Efficiency Bonus: 48% + [20% Well Built Bonus] = 57.6%

  Skill Tree: Screams of the Forgotten

  Base Ability: Widows Embrace

  Trigger: Mentally activating the ability when the target is struck by the whip.

  Energy Drain: Low

  Description: As the user hits the target with the chain whip, if the target is living the target begins to hear sounds and screams of hundreds of widow’s crying at the loss of their lovers that will never return home. This lasts for a number of seconds equal to your wisdom and your Intellect. This effect is

  resisted by your wisdom + this weapon's efficiency vs their Wisdom.

  Master Ability 1: Pull of the Forgotten

  Trigger: Command Word(Irvine)

  Energy Drain: Low to Extreme(duration)

  Description: The user says the command word and slashing, extending the chain by an amount equal to the amount of energy used and turning the whip into a supersonic whip of sound. While extended this way all other abilities used by this Skill Tree are considerably more effective while using considerably more energy. Duration is based on the user’s wisdom.

  Mastery Ability 2: Banshee Wail

  Trigger: Command Word(Sonito)

  Energy Drain: High

  Description:

  The user says the command word and makes a slash with their whip as it turns to a bright silver as it turns into pure sonic energy. This weapon can only be stopped by other sonic based attacks or similar items as it unleashes intense sound waves inside of the person. The attack potency of this attack is increased by the user’s wisdom.

  Attunement Slots 40

  As he leveled up as well he noticed just how often Guin spoke to him and how her presence felt to him. While he was walking or sitting down resting he could feel her presence as physical as arms wrapped around him or she would hum a soothing tune in his ear.

  “It’s time.”

  Marcus turned to her confused and looked at her presence strangely.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Now I have to tell you what makes you truly unique and special. As it stands currently and at your growth rate you will probably be somewhere in the top 1 percent of people sooner rather than later. “ Marcus nodded as she continued. “What makes you have the potential to go above them all is your ability to give stats to others.”

  Marcus looked confused at her before she continued.

  “Every 25 or so levels, you gain an additional pool of stat points you can assign to others. This pool equals your level and increases by your level every 25 levels. For example you have 25 stat points to give now but at level 50 you will gain an additional 50 stat points in total to give. Every stat you give increases your own stat by that amount.” Marcus asked the obvious question.

  “What if they die?”

  “You lose out on those points forever.” He nodded as that did make sense to him. Humanity was at its best when working together for the common goal.

  “How does it work exactly?” Guin's presence increased as she moved her hand down his arm and wrapped around his hand as he could feel her spread out his fingers and motioned for him to hold out his palm.

  “Extend your hand like this and touch the person on the head. They will get a prompt and if they accept you can assign points to them. They can choose where they put the stats.”

  “That’s it? No strong bond or anything like that?” He heard Guin chuckle before plucking him in the head again.

  “They are not your friends. They can be your friends but they are extensions of your very being. You need to find exceptional people then give them more power and make them beyond what they could achieve normally. That’s the only way you can truly carve a way forward for humanity.”

  Marcus nodded and smiled to himself as he looked back at the decimated outpost that he destroyed. Even with his mental band of clarity he could just barely stop the intense bloodlust. After several days he had run out of the potions and was just using his mental band at this point.

  “Guin, is this all there is to it? For me to hunt monsters and push back against the horrors that would prey on us? I feel like…this should not feel as good as it does. I love this, more than anything I have ever experienced. It feels better than sex, better than the finest food and wine.” He felt her presence again as she pushed him down to sit on the harsh grass before he could feel her eyes mentally stare him down before she spoke.

  This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  “You are The Herald of Humanity, you have been engineered for greatness. The burdens you bear are the heaviest, you have to master yourself and save humanity. You lead from the front, you will never be a part of the pack. You will never feel like them anymore. You are beyond. You can’t be a part of the pack and lead the pack. You will be mostly alone with your decisions to save or damn the lives of millions potentially as you continue to climb the ranks. But remember-”

  With that she felt her kiss his forehead through his helmet and wrapped her arms around his head and pulled him in close.

  “I will be here until the end of your journey. Good or bad. When the stars in the sky die and reality swallows itself I shall be with you.” As he looked at the nothing infront of him he relaxed and rested his head against what felt like her chest for a while as the soothing embrace allowed him to calm his madness at least for a moment.

  After several minutes like this Guin pulled away and spoke again.

  “It’s time to return back to Druid’s Grove. With your increased speed you should be able to reach it in a few hours.“

  As he continued back from the edge of the frontier he crossed paths with the same Frontier Outpost that he saw on the way into the Lizardkin territory. As he made his way past it he was stopped by a guard that he thought looked familiar. As the man approached him it was a Elume or Elf man with short hair under a metal guard helmet and a spear and shield in his hand. He looked at Marcus like he saw a ghost.

  “You made it back alive? We had a few bets but the fact that you actually made it back. You also look much…bigger. The Captain would like to speak with you if you would like.” Marcus shrugged and followed the man inside of the outpost as he saw Ume of all subraces from Humes like himself to golden colored people called Solumes. Most of the people whispered under their breaths and in hushed tones as he was led to the office inside of the building on the first floor where he was face to face with the captain.

  The Captain was a stern faced Gobume or Goblin looking man dressed in what he imagined was officer gear with two shortswords on his sides. As the guard escorted him inside he introduced him as the man who ran into the lizardkin frontier and came back.

  The Gobume man nodded at Marcus and extended his hand to shake as he pulled out an identity lens and looked over at Marcus as he quickly dropped his lens and spoke up.

  “Greetings, I am Captain Tusk. I am the Commander of this Frontier Outpost. I can see you are very powerful for your level. Can I ask where you are headed?”

  “To Druid’s Grove to join the defense.” Captain Tusk nodded at Marcus before speaking.

  “We have to stay here but we have several caravan people that could use an escort back to Druid’s Grove. Currently from my intel from the Guards the Undead have fully mobilized and should reach Druid’s Grove within two weeks. We don’t have the manpower to send a large enough guard watch to protect them from other things like bandits and lizards. Would you be interested in helping them? If not they will be stuck here probably for another month. “

  Marcus thought about it for a minute and nodded. “I can get them there safely. Are they ready to go or can they be soon?” The Gobume man nodded and motioned for the guard as he told him to take him to the caravan group.

  As he made it there he saw a collection of people from the gnomish Gnoume to the devil like Delume. It had to be well over 50 people all from the ages of 3 to 50. Several of the people pulled out Identity lenses as they looked at him with wide eyes before the Elume guard nodded and left. This time a Ghanume woman that had to be every bit of 7 feet tall looked down at him with her marble colored skin and smiled before nodding and speaking.

  “Greetings, we are members of a variety of caravans that were attacked recently and have been stuck here for the past few weeks. We were told you are some kind of escort?” Marcus nodded and spoke.

  “Yes, pack up and be ready as soon as you can. I am looking to leave this place within an hour. Don’t forget anything but try to go at a good pace. I don’t plan on coming back soon.” The tall woman nodded at him and smiled.

  “What brings you to Druid’s Grove?” Marcus took a second before speaking as he looked at everyone.

  “I am looking to return to Druid’s Grove to avenge Oakbend. I intend to kill as many undead as possible. I have been training out in the Lizardkin Frontier, alone killing as many monsters as possible for the past couple of weeks. “

  There were several murmurs as he saw several of the group packing up gear as quickly as they could as he fell back towards the front of the outpost. After a couple of hours several wagons that looked more like strange cars as there were no horses or beasts of burden as someone in front of the wagon had the ability to send energy into the wagon to drive the wagon.

  He decided to run with the wagons as he was surprised that the wagons could move around 30-40 mph no problem as the 5 wagons continued on. It would take the wagons about 4 days total to reach Druid’s Grove with all of the stops.

  As the day turned into night he took watch as the caravans gathered around in a circle and everyone slept inside of their caravans. As he stood watch the Ghanume woman walked up to him and offered a soft smile as she leaned against a wagon and spoke.

  “I want to thank you again. We all appreciate you taking us back to a major city, it was getting stuffy in that outpost.” He nodded at the women and turns to face the surrounding forest listening for threats,

  “I know a lot of people don’t like to talk but you have said literally 10 words to us in 12 hours. I get we make it an inconvenience for you but still the kids are scared to come out of the caravan because they think you are some kind of monster or something.” Marcus turned towards the woman and nodded again before looking back towards the forest.

  “I am not sure what you have gone through in that hellscape in the frontier or what surviving Oakbend has done to you but, at least for our journey to Druid’s Grove, if you need someone to talk to I am here. Not sure how much that is worth to you but still. ” The woman stood for a second as a pregnant pause began to fill the space before she turned and climbed in her caravan and closed the door.

  As the morning came the several of the caravan people woke up to screams from several people as the bodies of over a two dozen lizardkin was piled up on top of each other as Marcus had dragged them off to the side of the caravan.

  “These were two raiding parties that were in the nearby area. I picked up their smell and tracked them about a couple of miles deep into the forest. I investigated and killed them. There was also an additional raiding party that tried to attack you all in the middle of the night. These are the bodies. Are we ready to continue?” As he looked at several members of the group with a crazed look in his eyes they all nodded as he quickly ate a cold breakfast before heading out.

  As they made it through the day and the second night the caravan had woke up to over a dozen more monsters. This time the Undead variety as they were almost attacked by Ghouls before Marcus was able to sniff them out and kill them all. The last two days were nightmarish and they are assaulted almost every hour or so by small bands of roaming undead in packs of 5-10. Marcus would quickly kill them all but once they got within a few miles of Druid’s Grove the undead threat began to thin down to nothing before they pulled up at the gate.

  As they pulled up what he noticed was that most of the villages had quickly erupted walls of trees and stone along with various people coming into the city but very few people coming out. As they made their way through the toll. He noticed that the Toll went up to 5 silvers coming in and out. As they all made their way inside the Ghanume woman stopped him before he turned and walked away.

  “I know you don’t like to talk much but without you we would have all died. We have collected some gold marks for you as a thanks.” She pulled out a hefty leather pouch that she counted out well over 250 gold marks.

  “You have made a friend of the Diamondcrest Trading Company. We don’t have a base of operations here but we do have several in Florro and one in the capital.” She pulled out a metal card with what looked like a diamond in it.

  “So hand this to any Diamondcrest associates or businesses and you will get the best deal possible. I am Marie by the way. Once again, thank you for protecting us.” Marcus took the card and nodded at the woman before speaking.

  “Thank you, I'll do what I can.” She gave him a soft smile and turned and walked away.

  Time to handle some business in Druid’s Grove and make my way out with the attacking force.