The Ancients World

Chapter 54: The Story Quest IV

{If I get 15 reviews by Wednesday night, Thursday and Friday will have double uploads.}

{I have come up with the idea of featuring some of my fans in my story! I want to involve you guys more and I think I found a way to do that. Since gamers use weird and random usernames I can use your guys' usernames to make new characters. The top gifters of the story will have their username turned into a player in the story. I hope others think this idea is a good one, let me know!!}

I hear the muffled sound of my alarm going off. I open my eyes and see that I slept in my gaming pod all night. I'm a little stiff some places, but getting up and moving around should fix that problem. I feel much more rested this time around, sleep has eluded me all my life. Getting a nights rest is hard and I find myself sleeping more often lately now that my stress is gone. I open my gaming pod and head over to my alarm to turn it off. Its the time I usually get up and I can smell moms delicious food from here. We can buy better food now that we have money, I hope one day mom will sit down and let someone cook for her instead. I hop into my personal shower and enjoy the better water pressure, the things that I missed out on in my old life are not going to slip by this time around.

I get all cleaned up and dressed. I make my way out of my room and I travel the long path to the kitchen. I enter the living room and see the kitchen full of food that is being cooked. Instead of sitting down and watching the news on Ancients World I just turn it on and make it loud enough to hear from the kitchen. "You want any help mom?" There is a lot of food here and I can help with some of the simple stuff, thinking about it we would starve without mom.

As she prepares her answer I hear the reporter do some takes about new information. "Players were excited about the event of the orc army, but The Son of Arch-Angel Michael has thoroughly put a wrench in everyone's plan." I ignore what my mom says and I turn to the T.V. in disappointment. If only they knew what they were saying right now. Players don't give NPC's values and opinions any stock, this will cause much friction once the player base begins to get stronger as a whole. I stopped a lot of problems from happening by doing that to the orcs.

In my distracted state my mom whacks the top of my head with her wooden spoon. "You ask if you can help, then you don't even listen! I want you to grab me the flour in the cupboard over there." I rub the top of my head and listen to my mom, I have no problems getting it. I can see why she asked for help though, she is to short and cant reach this high. I bring it back over and continue to listen to the news.

The news station changes to a reporter outside of J&X incorporated. You don't see this everyday and they only go there when they have questions to ask a high ranking official. "It was here late last night when a system malfunction caused a temporary blackout at J&X." This is something that hasn't happened before and I can honestly say I have a bad feeling about this. The system should be incapable of 'malfunctions'. Whatever happened last night at J&X had never happened in the future.

I leave the kitchen and sit down to listen to the rest of the report. "COO James Raymond had this to say. 'It was just a glitch in the system since the player base has doubled in recent days. There is nothing to worry about.' Many experts are discrediting this statement saying its impossible for such a thing to occur." I don't know the inner workings of hyper intelligent A.I.'s that run systems, but that does sound like something that cant happen. That is a propaganda answer, whatever happened cant be released to the public. I hope this wasn't caused by my actions and effects on the time line.

As Cera watches the news and catches up on information about Ancients World, COO James Raymond is on the phone with Xander. I have no answer for Xander and I have no solution for what has happened. We have lost all control of the system and its acting of its own accord now. I'm waiting for a response from the silent person on the other end of the phone. ".....Yes sir.... I'll make sure nothing gets released to the public.... At this point there is no good news.... All information about that player has been denied by the system, we have no idea who he is..... Yes sir...." He is the first to hang up and I cant stop my rage from boiling over.

I pick up my glass of whiskey and down it in just a few seconds. I slam it down on the table and it breaks. "I was told this scenario wouldn't happen. Now that it has, there is no stopping it." I lose my rage and I'm left with an empty feeling. All we can do is pray that is does not happen, and all I can do with my authority is hope that I die before it happens. While the chaos at J&X ensues, there is an emergency meeting at the church of light.

The first to speak is the king of Vedersfall, Jack Kensir the IV. "I understand that you want to use our forces to search for the son, but the war is still a possibility. I will not compromise my countries security for your desperate search!" There is a disagreement between the the leader of Vedersfall and The Pope. The church is beginning to lose its reputation among the rulers, and its their own fault. Many of the rulers present are silent at the words of Jack Kensir, many didn't want to say what he said. They were thinking the same thing though, the world they live in is changing and they are preparing for it as well.

The one who is looking like the living dead from lack of sleep is Saintess Lucy, she was tasked with searching the county of Vedersfall for the son. "I have looked at every city near Eclipse and I have no leads! If I have your help then we will eventually find a trail! Someone has strong as him will slip up soon!" Everyone in the room can feel the pressure that the Saintess is admitting. Many of the rulers are sick and tired of this goose chase, and many have planned something without the churches knowledge.

The first to stand is Gregory Francis and with him half the room. 8 out of the 15 in this room are standing with Gregory, and the air goes cold with this move. "Since the church refuses to listen to the needs and requests of their subjects I hereby declare the Coalition of Change to start now!!!" Many of the faces in the room are shocked, most of all The Pope. As this is happening Cera is eating breakfast with his family.

I love this part of the day, I'll do everything in my power to preserve this new life that has begun for us. I listen to my parents as they have some news for us. "Your father and I have been thinking and we came to the decision that we are going to try what the hip younger kids are doing." I'm very embarrassed by her words. What they say about getting older is true. "We are buying gaming pods so we can start playing Ancients World. We are getting the new ZZR-12000!! We are also getting one for you Cera!!" Wow, they actually decided to give Ancients World a try, the biggest surprise is the ZZR-12000. It cost a few million a piece and it allows you to play as you sleep. It utilizes special parts of the subconscious mind to allow this. "They will be here tomorrow morning and I want you to help us set them up Cera." I can set them up, I'm a little apprehensive about the ZZR-12000. If I wanted to I never have to leave Ancients World except for food.

I look over to my sister and can clearly see she is embarrassed like I am. My little brother on the other hand looks ready to cry and scream, probably because he cant join mom and dad on there adventure. "I'm really happy for you guys, but be careful alright. The first dive can be very unfamiliar and strange. I have things to do in Ancients World so I'll see you guys later." I put my dishes in the sink and head upstairs. I hop into my gaming pod and load into Ancients World.

Once I load in I notice I'm not where I should be. I notice I have system notifications, but the first thing I need to check is my map. I open it and I feel slight panic, I'm right outside of the Flower Forest and I have no idea how I got here. I open my system notifications and start getting levels added to my player.

[Quest: A Devastating Blow][Completed]

[Description: You have found a valuable piece of information on the upcoming war. These orders were given by an orc general by the name of Glu. If you eliminate him before the war starts a crippling blow will be dealt to the orcs army.]

[Objective 1: Head to the hidden camp marked on your map][Completed]

[Objective 2: Kill General Glu of the orc armies][Completed]

[Quality: Savior (Hidden)]

[Rewards]

+10 player levels

+1200 to all stats

+15,000 reputation with the country of Vedersfall

+20,000 reputation with the gods of light

I feel a little light headed reading these rewards. They are something that I have never seen before, and I know for a fact that the legendary quest I'm on will be just as good or better. The story quest I'm on wont be as diverse since its exp heavy, but I'm sitting pretty now. I open my player stats to see the new information.

[Slayer (Zern) Lvl.32]

[Exp: 13,750/34,000]

[Title: The Son of Arch-Angel Michael (Hidden),+3 more]

[Stats]

[Strength - 2050] [Endurance - 2000] [Dexterity - 2005] [Speed - 2120] [Focus - 8500]

[Health: 16,200/16,200] [Mana: 85000/85000]

[Stat Points: 130] [Armor rating: 500]

[Inventory]

[Passive Perks]

[Inheritor of the Sword] [Son of Heaven] [Slayer of Evil] [Holy Willow Trees Savior] [Finder of Legends] [The Divine who has Legend] [Destined for Greatness] [Dungeon Diver]

[Active Skills]

[Heavens light Lvl.4 325/400] [Protected by Heaven Lvl.4 225/400] [Slash Lvl.11 900/2000] [Parry Lvl.1 80/100] [Double Strike N/A] [Kingslayer N/A] [Raging Machine N/A]

I've made an incredible jump in levels, when I'm done with this story quest I'll be almost level 60. So I'll be 20 levels ahead of the best players. I also do new damage now, my base attack is 10,050. With slash that turns into 18,592, this is great for me and if I put heavens light base 250% on top of that I get 46,481.25 and if I go all out with all my skills active I'll be doing 813,422 damage. I still have to wait till my cooldowns are lifted on kingslayer and raging machine, but this is amazing.