Stage 1
It was a short walk from the restrooms I was in, to the football field, but along the way I had already run into many of my classmates who had followed the same drill procedures as me. It was weird to think that the evacuation drills we had run since elementary school would actually find it's use, but here we were.
I went to a large high school with several thousand people, so I was able to quickly disappear into the crowd, and was unnoticed even though I was still dripping water from my head.
It was one of the few times I felt so glad to be unnoticed.
After I had joined the crowd, teachers began to organize everyone, and try to assuage the worries of the students.
"Everyone remain calm! We all saw the messages, but that doesn't mean we should freak out. That will only cause panic, which will cause chaos!"
The one who shouted this through a megaphone was the principle of my school. An older man in his late 50s, Mr. Brently, who had a gentle disposition. He was easy to talk to, as he was quite popular among the student body.
However I knew it was all a front. I had come to report bullying several times, however he always brushed it off and downplayed it whenever I spoke to him.
I later found out the reason for his dismissal, when I was out to dinner with my parents and saw that he was eating an expensive dinner with a student's parents. The parents were none other than Mr. and Mrs. McCaul, Ryan's parents, and two very influential people on the school board.
That was when I realized that Mr. Brently was a scumbag, and didn't care about the students he just cared about securing his job.
I checked the system, and saw that the countdown from earlier was about to finish.
[10]
[9]
[8]
[...]
[1]
[Stage 1: There can only be a number of gods.]
[Monsters will be spawned in, until there are only 50% of you left.]
[Population: 8,439,982,398/4,219,991,199]
Immediately, people began to tense up, but Mr. Brently immediately tried to calm everyone down.
However his attempts were thwarted, when a scream rang out from amidst the crowd.
I looked over, and through the dense crowd, I was barely able to see the source of the scream. There was a girl who looked like a Junior, who had a small green creature on her back, that was biting into her neck.
As I looked at it, I noticed a small nameplate in my view.
[Goblin - Level 1]
[HP: 100/100]
Along with another, that horrified me.
[Janice Hensley - Level 1]
[HP: 0/100]
[DEAD]
People next to her immediately backed away in fright, and then screams began to sound out from every direction. The previously organized crowd, turned into a scene of pandemonium. I quickly started moving towards the edge of the crowds, as I didn't want to get trample, and also so I would be able to move more if I wasn't shoulder to shoulder with people.
I managed to get out of the crowd, and get to the bleachers, where I had a better view of what was going on. In the crowd, circles had formed where there were goblins in the center, spread out throughout the large crowd.
At the forefront of these circles were some students who I could only assume had taken on melee classes, such as warriors. I came to this conclusion because they were bravely willing to fight the monsters head on.
I then saw someone approach a goblin in one of the rings. It was a large student who was wearing a football jersey, who I recognized as a lineman from the football team. He walked up to the goblin, and when it tried to bite down on his arm, I saw his arm turn into metal.
The teeth of the goblin cracked, and although the student flinched at first, it seemed like he had confirmed the effectiveness of his new skill. I then fully turned into metal and began to punch the goblin, beating it down ruthlessly.
The crowd around him then began to cheer him on, and I noticed that more people began to approach the monsters, and test out their skills.
'Natural leaders.'
That's what these people were. They were all popular kids, who were well known throughout the school, that were taking the initiative. Even the teachers were hesitant to step forward, but these leaders weren't.
There were also some who began to rally students together, and lead their own small groups. The initial panic had turned into a frenzy, where everyone started fighting the monsters.
I simply watched from the bleachers. I had no interest in fighting right now, since I didn't have a weapon, or any magic right now. I also took note that the objective was simply to be among the survivors, and there would be an endless amount of fighting available later.
I took out my phone to call my parents. It was less than a single ring before my father's voice entered my ear.
"Caesar, are you okay?!"
I smiled at his worry for me.
"Yeah, I'm okay right now. Are you with mom?"
"Yeah, when the screen appeared we were in a work meeting together. I looked at the roads earlier..."
I understood what he was trying to say.
"That bad huh..."
There was a bit of silence on the phones, before my father spoke in a much more serious tone than before. One filled with care, and love.
"Do your best to stay alive. Your mother and I will do the same... Lets try to meet up again, but if that's too difficult then let's just try to call to make sure we're all alright."
"Yeah... Okay dad."
"I love you son. I know you'll survive this. You've got a bright mind and I know you have a fighter in you."
I smiled bitterly. If he knew I was bullied, would he say the same thing? Did I really have that kind of fighting will?
However now wasn't the time for that.
"I love you too dad, and tell mom I love her. I gotta go, things are starting to escalate here, but I will talk to you again."
With that I ended the call, and focused back to the crowd before me.
I was telling the truth, as things were really starting to escalate.
The groups had become much more pronounced, as they had eventually ended up under three different leaders.
Mr. Brently, Adam Lockheart, and Amelia Fringe.
Mr. Brently had simply gathered people who though of him as their leader still, since he was the principle, but his group seemed the worst of the three.
Adam Lockheart was the captain of the football team. A popular guy, who was actively fighting goblins with his group. This group was the strongest, in terms of combat ability, as they hadn't lost a single person or suffered any injury.
Then there was Amelia Fringe, student council president, and the school belle. She had gathered a bunch of men who were protecting the women. It seemed like your typical exploitation of simps, but it was working either way.
Then there were the outliers. The loners, or weirdos that didn't fit into any of the groups, who had joined me in the bleachers. Once the field was cleared of goblins, people were about to celebrate when a large flood of green creatures entered the field.
They appeared on the sides of the three groups, and immediately everyone began to back up towards the bleachers.
I inspected some of the creatures, to confirm my suspicions.
[Goblin - Level 1]
[Hobgoblin - Level 2]
These were the monsters that now filled the ranks of the enemies before us. They were organized under the hobgoblin leaders, and had all appeared here to fight the humans in a large scale battle. Before, we outnumbered the goblins over 30 to 1, but now we were the ones being outnumbered.
With just a glance, I could tell there were thousands of goblins now.
It was now that I stood up, before heading down the bleachers. Each side was staring at the other, as if looking for a clear weakness, but that was suddenly interrupted by an ear piercing roar.
Soon in the back of the goblin army, came a goblin that was easily over 8 feet tall.
[Hobgoblin Captain - Level 3]
[HP: 10,000/10,000]
'The raid boss arrived...'
He was a walking mass of muscle, and he was also the only one hold a weapon. A giant two hand axe that looked incredibly sharp.
He then roared something, and the Level 1 Goblins charged at us. The fight was much different than it was before, as they now threw themselves at us in hordes. Unfortunately, everyone was still unarmed, so those without defensive skills were getting bit and scratched. Causing injuries to pile up.
I was just behind the front lines, and was looking for an opportunity to assist.
My chance then came, when a large warrior I was hiding behind got jumped on by multiple goblins, and one got to his back.
When that happened, I jumped forward and grabbed the goblin in a headlock.
I had never fought before, but I knew that choking someone out was easy if you applied pressure correctly. I had watched a ton of videos on different niche fighting techniques, but never had the courage to use them against my bullies.
However I would use whatever it took to get to my family.
The goblin let go of the guy, and desperately began to scratch my arms. While the nails of the monster weren't terribly sharp, they still broke my skin and caused me to bleed.
However I didn't let go, instead I flexed my arms hard, and cut off the blood flow even faster. It was only ten seconds, but it felt as if it was ten minutes. However the goblin soon went limp and I was able to finally exhale. I had unconsciously held my breath in fear that if I let that tension go the goblin would live.
I then took a deep breath, and held my choke, while watching the health of the goblin.
I could see it's health draining at a very quick rate, because it's brain was not getting any oxygen. I held on, while people continued shouting and screaming around me, I focused solely on this goblin.
After about half a minute, the creature's health finally bottomed out.
[Goblin - Level 1]
[HP: 0/100][DEAD]
[+25 EXP]
[Level 1: 25/100]
'Three more! Then I will reach level 2, although I don't know what significance that will hold.'
I pushed the dead goblin off me, and quickly moved back to catch my breath. During this time, I saw some people were now holding weapons around me, proper weapons.
I turned to someone who was holding a sword, and asked.
"Where did you get a weapon?"
"I killed a goblin and got a weapon from the system, the things can drop items."
After explaining to me, he stepped forward and stabbed a goblin in the back as it tried attacking someone.
It seemed that I would need to either get lucky while killing goblins for a weapon, or I could pick one up from a dead body...
The guy who had just explained to me how to get weapons suddenly fell into me, while gripping his throat, I saw that he was bleeding terribly. A goblin had managed to rip a chunk of flesh from his throat, and he was now going to die.
I ripped off my shirt, and immediately tied to tightly around his throat. Making sure not to make it too tight, I then grabbed his sword before dragging him as far back as I could.
I knew that there were people who had picked the healer class, and I soon heard their shouts.
"BRING THE INJURED HERE! WE ARE HEALERS!"
I immediately changed my direction towards the voice, and soon four people surrounded me.
"Is this the only injury?!"
One of them asked me in a panic.
"Yes! His throat has a bunch of it ripped out."
Immediately the four began to put their hands on the guy, and then there was a mystical while glow that began to surround the guy. Slowly his wound began to close, but when I looked closer I saw that it wasn't perfect. The wound was closing but it wasn't regenerating.
'He won't be able to speak, but it's better than dying.'
I quickly stood up, and made eye contact with the injured guy.
"I'll borrow your sword, if I see you again I will make sure to get it back to you."
He simply nodded, and with his permission I ran off to the frontlines again. With his sword this time, I began to focus on raising my skill.
I was slashing at any goblin I saw, creating dozens of wounds of different goblins, but my allies were the ones killing them. I thought at first that it was a shame I wasn't getting EXP, but then I received a notification that made me feel much better.
[Bleed Out - Level 1 ----> Level 2]
[Wounds you inflict bleed a lot more, and are even harder to heal.]
[Upgrade Condition: 3/200 gallons of blood spilled.]
I continued doing what I was before, but I started getting notifications like this.
[+25 EXP]
[+25 EXP]
[+25 EXP]
[Level up!]
[5 AP available to spend.]
I didn't bother opening my status to apply the stats yet, since I didn't know what I would do in the future, and I currently didn't need the stats.
So I saved them.
I then continued to slash at goblins, and as the fight went on the group's formation became better.
Archers were given bows and arrows, allowing them to finally fall back and begin to rain down on enemies. Some mages even received items like spell books, that allowed them to use spells.
Warriors began to get shields, and we finally formed a defensive line. However, the Goblin Captain roared again, and the Hobgoblins stepped forward. They were bigger, and a higher level. This caused many to falter, but then Adam's voice rang out.
"Everyone calm down! Stay in our current formation! They're only level 2!"
However that soon became a gross underestimation, as the first thing a Hobgoblin did was stomp hard towards a line of tanks, which caused a massive fissure to appear, and the defensive line collapsed in an instant.
Screams rang out as the Hobgoblins rushed forward, and began mercilessly tearing people apart with their bare hands.
Everyone was shocked, but some quickly collected themselves.
"ARCHERS, MAGES, SHOOT AT THEM FROM A DISTANCE. TANKS FALL BACK SLOWLY, AND DEFEND THE DAMAGE DEALERS IN THE BACK!"
Adam had quickly reorganized his thoughts, and began doling out orders again.
However those meant little to me, as I was focused on doing what I was doing, and my level was gradually rising.
Because of the Hobgoblins, the fights became much different than before. We were now actively moving around, and trying to kite the monsters. More durable tanks with shields moved to the front to deal with these monsters, and archers were honing their aim. Everything was starting to feel much more like a coordinated effort, and we started to feel like a real team.
However even that came to an abrupt end, as the Goblin Captain let out a primal roar, and instantly charged towards us. Taken by surprise, we weren't able to adapt well enough, and he soon arrived to begin his rampage within our ranks.
He pulled back his giant axe, and swung horizontally through our tanks. Our sturdiest people were cut through like butter, and it didn't stop there. As he went to go for a backswing, I made the most logical decision.
I turned and ran out of the football field.
There was no feasible way we were killing this monster, and I wasn't the only one who thought this. The so called leaders were already seen scaling the chain link fences, running away with their entourages.
I checked the number of survivors left, and noticed that there was a increasingly rapid reduction of the human population happening at the same time.
'The ramping of difficulty was timed. This was almost a survival game, and if I lived a little longer there will be an even greater danger... Perhaps others had figured this out, and began to thin the herd already?'
As dark as it was to think of, it was the reality of the situation. No one wanted to die. Even as I was running away, I had to block out the human emotion that made me want to turn around to at least witness these peoples' last moments, because if I did I might slow down and get caught by a goblin.
It was a random thought, perhaps to distract myself from the horror of the things I had done today, but I was thinking this felt like a purposeful design of this trial. To make us willingly kill our human compassion.
With that, I safely made it out of the football field and made it to a nearby shopping mall.