4 The First Mission
Ian woke up the same as he had done for awhile now, doing push ups, sit ups, and planking. Then he got some clothes on and went on a run around the castle walls. The walls spanned a total length of about 4 miles so it was a good run for Ian to get his blood pumping. When he finished his run, he got back to his room and checked his status.
Name: Ian
Age: 17
Class: N/A
Skills: N/A
Level: 1
The only function had just recently appeared for everyone. It seems like they had to train for awhile before the levels appeared. They were all pretty nervous as it had been around 2 months since they had been sent to this new world. Prom would have about a week left before it started and graduation a few weeks after. The group had all sat around and shared their opinions on who would've been put in charge of the new prom details and what theme would be.
"Well, my backpack got left behind and I had actually planned out quite a bit so they might just use my notes to plan it out."
"Geez Alice, did you have such little faith in us?"
"No, I just wanted a backup plan if we didn't come up with anything."
The group looked at each other and thought about how much they had actually planned out for the prom.
Just then, Markus spoke up.
"Guys, I'm worried about Ian. He missed the biggest wrestling competition of the year and an even better chance to go to college. I don't think he's acting like himself."
"You're right, but what are we supposed to do. It's not like we can have a tournament with any actual competitors. You and Derek are the only ones that could actually take him on. Captain Chris and guards have some training, but Ian would wipe the floor with them."
"Maybe going on the mission would be good for Ian, it might help get his mind off of things."
The group sat debating on how to help their friend, but they weren't the only ones trying to cheer up Ian.
"Milady, what seems to be troubling?"
"Oh hello Mary, it's nothing really. Ian has just seemed a little off lately and I was wondering what I could do to cheer him up."
"May I suggest a night visit?"
"No, no, no, I couldn't possible do that. Ian would never fall for something like that and he is a hero and I am a princess."
"Just know that it is always an option, your highness."
Alexandria sat, alone in her room, starting out the window and thinking about how she could help Ian. The thought of a night visit had come across her mind several times, but she didn't think Ian would be the kind of man to accept her if she did that.
Elsewhere, Captain Chris was taking a day off. He, or rather she, let her long blonde hair flow down past her shoulders and pursed her thin pink lips to sip her tea. She was enjoying a book about two people who were at constant odds with each other and later met again in life. They fell in love and overcame many challenges to be together. Alice had offered to let the Captain borrow the book so that "he" could understand females better. The only one who might know that she is actually a female would be Ian. She would catch him giving her puzzling stares like he was trying to solve a mystery.
'If he does find out, it probably wouldn't be that bad,' she thought to herself.
Outside on the training grounds, Ian was doing more weight training. He would pull a cart of pure ore from the gate and bring it to the castle forge where the blacksmith, Zyran, would put his master blacksmith skills to work. Ian had been working with Zyran to learn about the process and help him out when he needed it.
"Hello boy, you got anything besides iron in there?"
"Hey old man, I don't know. I haven't looked through it yet. I just grabbed the cart and started pulling it over here."
"Well then, get started with sorting out the metal. I don't have all day."
"Alright you old geezer, I'll get started. It's a miracle that you ever found a wife in the first place."
"Oh yeah, how is your kid by the way?"
"My daughter is fine, she should be coming to visit my in a couple weeks. You would like her, she's a cute little thing."
[A/N: just for clarification Zyran is a beast-man who stands at 6'3" and is very well built.]
"Hard pass, if she is anything like you then I don't think we would hit it off at all."
"Watch it boy, that's my daughter you're talking about."
"Oooooo, I'm so scared. What are you gonna do "Papa Bear," hit me with your hammer?"
"Don't tempt me, boy."
"Whatever you say, Kratos."
"I feel like you are mocking me with insults from your world, but I don't know for sure."
"No shit, Sherlock. Someone get Edison over here to put a light bulb over Einstein's head."
"What in the heavenly fuck is a light bulb?"
"Magic."
The next day.....
The group got all of their gear together and prepared for their mission. Captain Chris mobilized a few of the guards and explained the mission to the group.
"Today begins your official debut as heroes. You all will be traveling with some of the guards into the forest and doing a bit of pest control. You'll be handling the rising amount of goblins in the area."
Ian said under his breath, "It's always goblins."
"Grab your gear and move out troops. Take only what's necessary. If you can't use it then don't bring it."
Ian and the guys grabbed their packs which had some food, water, and whatever they might need to build temporary shelters with. The girls had the same as the boys, except for a few extra lady things.
[A/N: Alice and Zoe had their bags on them when they came and brought makeup and tampons.]
The group of heroes and guards set out and began their trek to the goblin camp.
"I feel like I should have a short sword and a shield, with a horned helmet and fur-leather armor."
"I feel like you should stop being a weeb for 5 fucking minutes, Ian. We are dealing with goblins here. It's like going to a birthday party for a bunch of five year-olds and you've given them sharp sticks and rocks."
"Come on Zoe, you don't have to be so worried. Just aim for the vitals and don't turn your back to any opened areas."
"Oh yeah, how has everyone's training been? Have you guys learned anything new yet?"
Name: Alice
Age: 17
Class: Wizard
Skills: Fire bolt, Shock
Shock: release a small bolt of lightning that strikes an enemy. Does more damage to enemies wearing conductive armor.
Name: Rose
Age: 17
Class: Priest
Skills: Cure Wounds, Cure Poison
Cure Poison: Dispel the effects of a weak poison. Can use three times to dispel a slightly higher grade of poison.
Name: Zoe
Age: 17
Class: Thief
Skills: Sleight of hand, Dagger Proficiency
Dagger Proficiency: obtain an understanding of how to use daggers. Can do extra damage with daggers.
Name: Markus
Age: 18
Class: Fighter
Skills: Rally, Born Leader
Born Leader: can calmly give orders to any nearby group of people. Bonus for giving orders to trained soldiers.
Name: Derek
Age: 18
Class: Barbarian
Skills: Rage, Intimidation
Intimidation: can utilize your size and strength to intimidate weaker beings. Can be increased with the Rage skill.
"Ok, those all seem pretty useful for the situation."
"What about you Ian? Did you get anything useful?"
Ian pulled out a chunk of something that looked similar to the black tile in the castle.
"I was helping Zyran make weapons at the forge and I found some of this. He said I could keep it. I believe it's obsidian, but it seems to be much harder than what was found on Earth. I had to break it apart with my stick just so I could use it."
"That is pretty cool. Have you made anything with it yet?"
"I've made a knife, a few arrows, and some armor with it."
"Where's the armor at? I don't see it."
"That's because it's in a place that's not usually seen."
[A/N: that's right. Ian made a cup out of obsidian. Don't judge me on that. You always have to protect the family jewels.]
"Oh you have go to be shitting me! You used an incredibly rare and sturdy material to a fucking cup!!!"
"Hey, I'm not invincible."
"Quiet everyone. We are approaching the goblin camp."
After a few hours of trekking through the dense forest, the group found the goblin camp. It was surrounded by a large wooden fence about 12 feet tall and had a few guard towers that brought the height to around 20 feet tall. There were 3 small huts around the outer part of the camp and 5 larger huts that circled the middle of the camp. The number of goblins was at least 30 and there seemed to be a few goblin chiefs as well. The bizarre thing about this is that the camp looked like it couldn't have been built by such creatures with low intelligence, but there wasn't anything that looked remotely smart enough to build something like this in sight.
Ian looked around the entire perimeter of the camp, "I don't like this. I don't see anything that looks intelligent enough to build a camp like this. I'm gonna go and scout the area to see if I notice anything weird. I'll signal you with my phone if I see anything."
Ian took off for a ridge near the camp and hid behind trees as he worked his way down. The group watched him get closer to the camp and then climb the fence.
Zoe was trying to keep her voice low while she yelled out, "What the hell is he doing? Is he trying to get himself killed?"
Markus put his hand on Zoe and reassured her, "Ian is good at moving fast and not getting caught. I trust that he can do this and get back to us safely."
Ian was moving as quietly as possible while he climbed the wooden fence. Parts of the fence had shown significant signs of weathering so he had to be careful of where he was grabbing.
*Crunch*
Ian had stuck his boot into a rotted part of the fence about half way up and could now hear the sounds of small feet running near the fence. Before Ian could pull his foot out, a sharp stick came out from a gap in the fence and stabbed him in the leg.
"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!!"
'That fucking hurt'
Ian felt his blood dripping down his leg as he lay against the fence. A few goblins began to move around the fence and Ian saw one of them come over to his position. It looked like a small child with yellowish-green skin and a very large wart-covered nose. It had pointed ears that dropped down and some sharp teeth that made up a horrible smile. The goblin had a small green cloth that wrapped around part of its head and a loincloth that looked like it was soaked in blood. The little goblin hit the stick that it was carrying against the fence and another goblin sounded back.
Then Ian felt excruciating pain as the stick was literally ripped out of his leg along with a part of his upper thigh. He started to bleed profusely and fell from his position on the fence. The goblin near Ian make another gargling sound and the group watched from afar as a large being, that was covered in a mass of branch leaves and mud, picked up Ian and brought him into the camp.
