New Year Resolutions.

((Boy, it has been a while since I've released a chapter. Long enough that I want to leave you guys with a quick message. I wanted to apologize for the lack of releases recently. With everything so crazy in the world right now, there's nothing more that I want to do than to throw out a bunch of stuff for you guys to read, but up until now I have been holding back on doing that. I'm not going to get into shit cause I'm sure there are a lot of people who don't really care to hear it, so I'm just going to say that most of the editing I needed to do in my branch to fix certain plot holes is now finally done. I can't say if releases will resume like they're supposed to, but they should start coming out more frequently now. Also if you started reading my branch recently, and you didn't see the character sheets back at the beginning of the story, but found them partway through the first arc, that was because the hosting site I had for the images was closed down. Those images have now been fixed. Enjoy.))

Surprisingly, neither Ashid nor Saya tried to drop their weapons at John’s order. They both winced and grunted when John tightened his grip on the gem, but neither seemed about to obey him. Even though the two of them made a show of lowering their equipment, neither actually released their arms. It was subtle, but John didn’t miss how Ashid tried to keep his spear tip pointed towards John and his body poised low while his sister tried to trace lines in the air behind her back. He couldn’t see the reactions of the rest of the citizens of Dornwich, but he imagined that they felt the same kind of nervousness that Ashid and Saya showed. The hair on each person’s nape stood up as a chill went down their back, and judging from the way the two Elves in front of him winced, he imagined that they could feel him squeezing the gem in his hand like a person felt a migraine. He only needed to add just a little more pressure before the pain got worse enough for one of the two warriors in front of him to cry out, Saya.

He assumed that her weaker level must have made her more susceptible to the crushing pain she felt in her mind, but her pain was nothing compared to the untrained citizens outside the castle gates. Thousands of Elves cried out in shock and pleaded for help all at the same time as the feeling echoed throughout the city. Warriors dropped their weapons and found themselves surrounded by Gnomes, Dwarves, Goblins, and, in certain rare cases, Orcs as they clutched at their heads and heard John’s demand. The fighter’s that John had charged with taking the city, Mub especially, found themselves staring at the Elves as the shortest fight of their lives came to an abrupt end, and at the same time, every connected Elf in Dornwich turned to look at the keep east of them.

John didn’t have to see them to know that they were all talking to him. The echo of so many voices coming from Saya’s lips as they all spoke the same plea was more than enough to inform him that Dornwich had heard him. “Kill him!” He heard the city cry as Saya staggered and fell down onto one knee, clutching at her head. Ashid didn’t have to turn his head to know his sister had fallen. They were connected, when she winced and cried out, he winced as well… and then ground his teeth together to bear through the pain and charged at John again to save his sister.

The Gamer didn’t even have to activate his Fighter’s Eyes this time. His heart was still racing from the battle beforehand, but he was smart enough to recognize the advantage he had over them now. When Ashid took to the air, John ignited the fist holding the crown jewel of Dornwich and watched as the Dark Elf plummeted face first into the pool with John. Ashid’s spear slipped from his fingers and would have impaled the Gamer if not for the fact that he still had one hand free to try and catch it.

Try was the keyword there. As soon as John brushed it, his fingers closed around thin air instead of the spear as he chose to move the spear into his inventory instead. He had to use an ability to do it, but he had the mana to spare for once.

Theft Unsuccessful! The Spear of Fel’das has been moved into your inventory but your thievery has been noticed by the people around you!

At the exact same time, both Ashid and his sister collapsed as if they had been struck from above. Saya dropped her staff like Ashid had with his spear and the two of them screamed and began rolling around in place as if they were actually on fire. Ashid’s cries were muffled and barely heard from where he fell into the pool beside John, but Saya’s voice echoed throughout the castle with so much pain in it that the sound made John’s blood run cold. He regretted burning the gem almost immediately because of that scream… and all of the screams of Dornwich that echoed in her voice, but he figured that a little bit of pain was the lesser evil compared to all the **** and destruction that could have followed. With his hand still burning and staining the gem in sooty, black marks, John made his way out of the pool, plucked Saya’s weapon off the ground, and stepped back into the throne room. The fire from Saya’s spell was still burning when he walked over it and hurt him… but it was weaker than it had been before. She had lost concentration on her abilities and it was showing in the elements around him.

The first thing he did was turn to look at Urga and the Gnomes when he walked back into the room and was glad to find that nobody was dead... for once. Urga looked beaten and blooded, her lower lip was split where she had been struck by the base of Ashid’s spear, just like John had been, and she was bleeding profusely from two separate, clean cuts… but she was fine. At least as fine as an Orc who didn’t believe in magic could be while a Gnome cast spell after spell on her to keep her from bleeding out. Kennedy likewise seemed to be battered, though his condition was worse when compared to Urga. When John saw him the little Gnome was **** and lying on the ground in a puddle of his own blood. Ms. Lask assured him that he was okay as quickly as possible, despite the fact that he had a gaping wound in the center of his abdomen that was still adding to the growing puddle on the floor beneath him, and told John that the little Gnome would recover… eventually. The fact that he had kept breathing long enough for Ms. Lask to administer first aid was all the information that the other Gnome needed to tell John that Kennedy would survive.

“Is it over?” Urga asked, and lifted her head in John’s general direction as the flame on the Gamer’s hand slowly flickered and died out. The screaming came to a gradual halt, and drew John’s gaze over to the two Dark Elf siblings as Ashid climbed out of one pool while Saya glanced at John… and then turned away and vomited in another bath.

“Not yet,” the Gamer grunted as Ashid slowly tried to stand again. The second that the two Elves were looking at John again, he barked at the two of them and raised the gem threateningly. “Do not rise!” he snapped and watched as they both froze in place, and then tried to subtly search the ground for their weapons. “It’s done,” he grunted, giving them both a moment to reach the realization that they were unarmed, and then his throat felt like it closed up when he tried to speak again. It wasn’t another spell or some kind of curse. The victory just didn’t feel real as he was standing there. Even if he had them by the throat and they were to obey his second demand for their surrender, he didn’t know how he was supposed to get them to follow him in the future. Orcs, by comparison, seemed almost easy to **** into line. They respected strength so they followed him when he got strong. The Elves… He didn’t know anything about them, other than that they had been corrupted by dark magic. Corruption could make them turn on him at any moment.

His throat closed up because he was nervous to take control of their throne. It seemed like something that should have been done by someone who was focused on building their Charisma stat, not Strength. His last attempt at leading had pulled his pack into the heart of a war they had been wholly unprepared for. People had died because of his choice.

Tyrea had died because of his-

The ring on John’s finger, Daemon, lit up as that thought passed through John’s head. Baleful green light dispersed the purple glow all around John as another thought seemed to cut through the dark worry stopping him. One thought that reminded him precisely about what he could do here if he were in control.

It was the Elves who had killed his friend, and the ones who had been in control could face justice if he took the city. His pause went on long enough for Ashid to begin rising to his feet again, but even if John was lost briefly in thought, the movement didn’t go unnoticed. The Gamer shot back into a stance ready for battle and growled at the Elf, but without his weapon, Ashid didn’t seem to be as willing as he had been before to pick a fight with John. The Elf froze seeing the Gamer raise his fists again… and then paled when John barked a new command at him.

“Kneel.” he ordered and watched as the two Elves glanced at each other. John didn’t let the order hang in the air for long; as soon as he noticed their hesitation, John squeezed the gem again. “I want every citizen in Dornwich to throw down their weapons, NOW!” This time, John roared the last word at the two of them and then crushed the stone harder and harder in his grip until he could hear the gem creaking softly in his hands. The two Elves cried out and fell to the ground before the gem could snap in his grip, but they didn’t drop to their knees. They just collapsed into limp, writhing messes on the floor. He didn’t try to correct them. As long as they weren’t up and trying to charge him again, he was fine with whatever position they wanted to take. They stayed that way until a group of Gnomes finally walked into the room, dressed up in small suits of armor, and turned to Ms. Lask.

“I don’t hear fighting,” Urga grunted, and the warriors confirmed her statement.

“The city has been taken, Lady Lask,” the first warrior grunted, a man with a fresh bloody cut down across one eye. “We were able to quickly commandeer the towers of Dornwich as soon as the people started screaming.” Ms. Lask didn’t get the chance to answer or order her troops around once her man finished talking. John, anxious to make sure that the Gnomes didn’t go back on their promise, cut into the conversation to take control instead.

“Good,” he answered the man with the cut and stepped up to the group of warriors. “Find all the Alphas in my tribe. I want them to take control of each of Dornwich’s districts and begin rounding up all the necromancers in the city. Mub can work as Alpha for my pack on my behalf. I want them all arrested until I can decide on what to do with them. Take these two Elves as well, and any other Elf in the castle. I want the keep locked down as quickly as possible. No one in or out unless I say so,” he ordered and watched as the Gnomes slowly turned to look at Ms. Lask for permission. The Lady of Bulgebottom stayed silent for a long moment as she stared at John and pressed down on the wound in Kennedy’s stomach, her eyes darting back and forth from the Gamer’s face to the gem in his hand. John assumed that some part of her recognized how important the jewel was in his hand because she scowled at him briefly and then nodded to her soldiers. With her permission given, the group set off immediately, dragging away the two siblings from the throne room and leaving John, Urga, and the two Gnomes to tend to their wounds.

Half an hour passed in relative silence as Ms. Lask continued healing John’s companions. The Gamer spammed his Regrowth to try and begin working on leveling it up, but for sixty points of mana, he only got four points of health back, and then he was left to his own thoughts… and the empty sapphire throne of Dornwich as the seconds ticked by. The rush of adrenaline faded and John was left… aching and tired. Exhausted, actually, he couldn’t remember ever being so sluggish, but the sensation was strong enough that it felt like his heart was trying to drop down into his stomach to rest. For once, he didn’t even bother reading through his pop-ups. He just wanted to look at things normally for a while. He wanted to relax…

...so he sat down on the Throne and closed his eyes.