First War Read online

  Excited but still controlled, they walked up the steps until they were below the glowing orb of faith energy gathered by their territory for Pyarus.

  Everrath breathed in deeply and exhaled before relaxing her nerves before she began. “Our ten great gods! Before you are faithful followers who have followed your cause and sacrificed blood and sweat for you. We beseech you to bless them with the strength to push forward!” Everrath shouted.

  WOOSH!

  A powerful presence pressed down on the town. The sunlight seemed to grow dull and the floating crystal above the altar began to shine brightly. The heart of every creature within the town and the surrounding villages beat faster and they looked towards the altar.

  The weak minded imps suddenly dropped to their knees and began to shout and roar at the power of the divines which began to produce tiny nods of faith power that gathered towards the altar.

  Akor was intrigued, the gods don’t give their own energy, they caused mortals to produce the energy for the process.

  The faith power gathered slowly into 15 small stars that kept growing until it was the size of a person’s head before it was slowly compressed into a tiny glowing dot.

  These slowly lowered down to the altar and stopped in front of each demon.

  “The energy is white, it feels so different from Edite’s divine power!” Everrath thought.

  After a moment, these small lights entered their chests and they all felt their bodies burning. The mana in their bodies gathered at a rapid pace into the mana well in their chests. That small dot of divine power sucked up and released mana at a very fast pace while wild mana around them was slowly gathered more and more into them.

  All this was done in seconds making each of them glow brightly like a star that blinded everyone. During that moment where the divine power absorbed and released mana, it was purifying and improving the quality of the mana to a higher level stimulating the evolution into the next rank of demons.

  Each individual began to change and grow, their skinny arms and bodies expanded and changed.

  When the glow finally vanished and everyone could see what happened, they all looked up at the altar. Akor was most curious as he looked at all the demons.

  What appeared before his eyes made him smile. Starting with the guards, there were ten in total, seven of which were imps. Three of them became giant imps, their muscles were rippling under their armor, which the system had readjusted in size. The other four were red demons. They were like Akor, human sized, even muscles well proportioned and horns coming from the forehead instead of the side of the head. They also had hair now and looked almost human if not for the red skin and tail behind their back.

  Now the curious ones were the minogida, their change was more drastic, the Tier 1 minogida were upright hairy goats with hands instead of hoofs and goat legs. They were about the same height as imps and were just a little smarter naturally. Now, they were very different. If compared to anything, they were like a minotaur. These warrior class minogida had grown to 2 meters tall, their lanky arms, chest and legs had grown full muscles, broad chest and bulging arms. Checking their current race name, it was called minoaries.

  Akor took a few seconds to realize the ‘aries’ came from the scientific name for sheep and rams which was ovis aries. Although it originated from a goat so he couldn’t figure out why this name but he wasn’t going to question the system.

  Next he looked at the scholars, the imps became similar to Everrath, blue demons. The more magical counterpart of red demons and they were more talented in magic compared to red demons.

  The most curious was the minogida scholars. One of them was different from the others. The two similar ones had pure white fur and human posture with goat legs, hoofs and head while fur covered their bodies. Their name was demon goatmen, which wasn’t too bad and was fitting since goatman was a myth that existed on earth.

  The most curious was the last one, his coat wasn’t completely white, it was silver. The difference wasn’t that apparent except for the fact that while the goatmen were hairy, it was short trimmed but this one looked like a very elderly goatman.

  He had the same posture and overall appearance of a goatman but the fur was longer, his goatee hung down near the middle of his chest and the fur around his eyebrows formed an arch over his eyes. It resembled the elder sage man you would see in the wild when you looked for knowledge.

  When Akor checked his name, his eyes widened. The name was silver demon goat sage.

  “What is a silver demon goat sage?” Akor asked.

  “What!?” Valring suddenly shouted. “My Lord, you said that correctly right?! Silver demon goat sage?!” She asked.

  “Yes, that is what is written as the race for one of the goatmen.” Akor pointed to the silver one among the scholars.

  “My Lord, you have the greatest luck of the world!” Valring shouted and laughed. “This is an ultra rare breed that has already been regarded as legend. It is said that for such a ‘sage’ breed to appear, it requires a special eye ability in the individual which it was born with and then it needs to be of a knowledge based class. Among demons this is nearly impossible to find. Until lord appeared and choose such a different path for your territory!” She said.

  Akor frowned and fell into thought, “So what is special about it?” Akor asked.

  “What isn’t, they are a highly magical race, their eye ability which previously saw through common objects and what made them up would have evolved into one that can see the mysteries of the world, to a degree which is limited by his own abilities and potential. It was a race born to seek knowledge. They are born researchers, their ability to research is twice that of a normal scholar with the same intelligence stat. For example, if me and him both had 100 intelligence, and I had to research… say the upgrade to my lord’s house when you upgrade to the next size. It would take me about two weeks but he might be able to do it in one. He is that rare!” She said.

  The 15 walked down the altar by this time and bowed to Akor, “We thank master for your blessing!” They said together.

  “Rise!” Akor said allowing them to stand. “All of you are vital to my growth, as Tier 2 demons, you are all now important to the development and survival of the territory. You will all be promoted and be given a demon hut to manage as the family head.” Akor said.

  “Thank you Master!” They all said.

  Akor nodded and turned, “Let’s return to my house to continue with the plans.” Akor said.

  ***

  Wilson Rich, the CEO of Second Life, was looking at a large list of statistics. All of these were from different planets where his company released [Magic Life]. Of course it included Earth which was the primary one since he was on it.

  “Ahahaha! The unexpected result of the lord’s uprising is amazing. To think the accident with the lord class would draw in so much publicity!” He laughed. “Two months in and the number of people entering the game is still skyrocketing from all over.”

  “This is the AI’s prediction for the incoming increases.” Edna said.

  Wilson took the list and his eyes widened. “Do they really expect for at least 30% of the population to enter the game? If so then will there be enough land or resources to support over a billion people in each server?” He asked.

  “From what they said, there is plenty of space but they actually want to ask about the lord class. Should it be opened up once more for more players? This time without the job offer?” Edna asked.

  Wilson frowned and scratched his chin, “The current uprising seems like a good time for it, really.” He muttered and nodded, “Alright, as an added event, open the lord class for people entering the game but only one day in the week and make it random so that we don’t get flooded like before.” he said.

  “Understood.” Edna said and took out another page, “Here is also the statistics of the lords and the calculated chances produced by the AIs.” She said.

  The list was from rank 1 to last. He flipp
ed through and nodded, “This event really will clear out the trash from the ones who are worthy.” He said and thought of something. "I remember some world governments train their ‘kings’ with VR games right?” He asked.

  "Indeed, there are some worlds which have some degree of monarchy but the inheritance method isn’t through blood but through skill.” She replied.

  He shook the list in his hand, "I wonder how many of these will end up someone important in the future.” He said and laughed while throwing the list onto the table and getting up. “This last month was fantastic so give the lord players a little bonus.” He said and left.

  “Understood.” Edna said and on her PC, she input the command and after a thought added the value she assumed was good for a bonus. She went off to do her job to continue the progression of their company’s fame.

  ***

  Monthly Pay Report

  Monthly Salary: $1,500.00

  Studio Video Viewership Payment: $1,750.00

  Bonus: $500.00

  Total: $3,750.00

  Lucas’ jaw was dropped as he jumped onto the net to see his views and indeed it was the proper calculated sum. 875,000 views paid at $2 for 1,000 views earned him $1,750.00 this month, more than his actual salary. And this bonus he didn’t know why but he wouldn’t shun money.

  His mood was at an all time high from the income he had always dreamed of.

  “Soon, as long as I keep growing, by the sixth month I will have gained enough tax income from the game to change gold coin into money!” He thought.

  The thought of becoming independent made him smile from his heart. He quickly went to the kitchen and bathroom while making a list of everything he needed before going to the supermarket to do his monthly shopping in a truly good mood.

  When he returned he stored everything and entered the game once more.

  He stood from his throne with a light smile on his face and left his house only to be met with Valring.

  “My Lord, good news, the dire wolves my lord had captured before my arrival have finally arrived from Hope village. Their numbers have increased quite a lot since then.” Valring said.

  The light smile spread even more on Akor’s face. When things go right, it feels everything goes right. “Great, follow me because I am going to choose one as my own mount.” He said with extreme enthusiasm having learned how to ride and tested the goats once and failed. Now he wanted to finally get a true mount that would look amazing when trained.

  Valring followed him while curious about his happy state.

  Chapter 14

  Akor scrutinized all the dire wolves. They had all been domesticated and thus, obeyed the imps that leashed them. These were not the original ones, like the goats, these dire wolves had bred and such, the infants were raised separated from their parents avoiding their wild counterparts.

  Of course, those original ones were also there, but they were transported in cages with their muzzles tied up so they couldn’t bite. They were all being trained into light cavalry mounts.

  Horses obviously needed open fields so players could only try their best to develop something different.

  As for Akor himself, he slowly walked along the outside of the enclosure until he stopped with Valring at one point. Playing amongst several pups was a significantly larger dire wolf. Strangely though, it didn’t have traits of an adult and also looked like a pup.

  “What is wrong with that one?” Akor asked pointing to the larger wolf.

  Valring looked at it curiously before activating a spell. It was an identification spell that she had learned after reaching Tier 2.

  “Show my Lord the identification notice.” Valring said.

  Identification

  Name:

  Akor

  Race:

  Dire Wolf

  Race Tier:

  Tier 1

  Potential

  ★★★★

  Description

  First generation domesticated dire wolf, this pup is significantly bigger than its counterparts. Its potential is twice that of common dire wolves because it is the offspring of the alpha male and female.

  It is still possible to tame this pup easily at its current age. It also eats twice that of common wolves.

  Akor read the description making his eyes widen, and he smiled brightly. To find something with high potential is the wish of all tamers. Akor knew the taming skill since he wanted to get a mount.

  “That one, I will train it as my mount.” He said.

  “An excellent choice my Lord. With it growing to full size, it will certainly become a very powerful beast mount.” She said smiling.

  Akor nodded and easily jumped the fence. Several wolf pups ran away as soon as he appeared but others were still like puppies and curious, including the big one.

  As he walked over they crowded around him making him smile. He never had a pet for obvious reasons. He never expected to play with so many pups and actually felt quite good about it.

  Soon the big one reached and Akor pet his head and activated the taming skill.

  You have successfully tamed dire wolf Pup

  “Your name will be… Amarok.” Akor said with a nod.

  The happy pup barked, but it suddenly froze as a small black flame formed over Akor’s hand.

  All the other pups ran away and Akor looked at it.

  “What is this?” Akor muttered.

  Valring floated over while gently flapping her wings and saw the little flame. “My Lord, remove your hand so that it can accept your mana.” She said.

  “My mana?” Akor asked.

  “Of course, as your tamed pet, similar to your royal minions, a small bit of demon mana will be infused into his body.” She said.

  “Oh.” Akor removed his hand.

  As soon as he did so, the little flame dropped down gently and landed on Amarok’s head and was pulled inside.

  “AOOOOO!” it suddenly howled as its body began to heat up. The pup’s fur was dark grey, perfect camouflage for the mountain but now, it was slowly getting darker.

  WOOSH!

  A momentary black flame burned around the little pup and suddenly the long fluffy coat was burned shorter and turned black. The brown eyes turned red, and it assumed a demeanor similar to a guard dog. It started to growl because of the pain but a small wisp of flame flowed out of its jaws.

  It finally calmed down and seemed to become tired and finally woke up from the trance.

  Your pet, Amarok has finished assimilating your demon mana and gained a new title.

  Title:

  Demon Lord’s Mount

  The creature that owns this title is destined to become the mount of a demon lord. They are infused with demon mana of the demon lord and can become Tier 2 demon mounts.

  They have two forms, battle pet and mount form.

  Receives a buff similar to minions.

  "It gained a title.” Akor said surprised.

  “Not only that my Lord, it has also had a minor race mutation.” Valring said.

  The two looked at the pup that looked around before it bent over and started to lick its belly.

  “Amarok status.” Akor muttered. This command fully opened the status, different from the identification earlier.

  Status

  Name:

  Amarok

  Race:

  Alpha Dire Demon Wolf

  Class:

  None

  Race Tier:

  Tier 1

  Level:

  2

  Exp:

  0/500

  HP:

  100/100 HP

  MP:

  130/130 MP

  HP regen

  40 HP/m

  MP regen

  30 MP/m

  Stat points

  0

  Strength:

  4 (3)

  Wisdom:

  3 (3)

  Agility:

  10 (3)

  Intelligence:

  5 (6)

&nb
sp; Constitution:

  5 (3)

  Dexterity:

  10 (3)

  Charisma:

  2

  Skills

  Bite

  Level 1

  Like all beasts and predators, the fangs are one of their primary weapons and attack methods.

  Wolf Claw

  Level 1

  The second primary weapon of predators. They can hack and damage other creatures with this skill.

  Wolf’s Howl

  Level 1

  A howl that boasts the pack’s stats depending on how many howls work together and how strong each individual is. The larger the pack, the stronger the effect. It also induces the state of fear into enemies.

  Demon Fire Breath

  Level 1

  An innate spell learned from creatures with demon mana. The creature can shoot a breath of fire from its jaws to damage enemies.

  Mount Form/Battle Form

  Level 1

  A special skill unique to a few specific species which have sufficient power and ability to be both mount and battle pet. These pets have the ability to transform between the two.

  “The skills are quite general except the last two.” Akor said sharing them.

  “Oh, I believe the battle form is the one we see now. Mount form requires sufficient size to be ridden.” Valring said.

  “That is true, I can’t see myself riding a pup.” Akor said, “Mount form.” Akor ordered.

  The pups ears perked up at the order and its body suddenly released a faint glow before it expanded to the size of an adult dire wolf. It was 1.5 meters tall and 3 meters long that said, it was quite skinny and its bones were very visible.