I stepped forward, trying to run between the trees and remain inconspicuous. If past experience of other heroes was to be believed, that child, a girl, would soon start running down the road in a panic. Hearing her squeals, one of the brigands will grin and grab her as a hostage. This causes one guard to die, the bandits steal part of the wagon, and escape with impunity.
Stealthily running up to the girl, I quietly crept up behind her. In a variation of the past, my predecessor had tried to quietly call the girl to him, but it had been a fatal mistake. Out of fright, the girl cried loudly, he was spotted, and killed. So I did something else, the way a clever girl-hero who used to work as a babysitter with children did: I discreetly covered the girl's mouth with my hand and put my finger to my lips, slightly improving the version of the future that my gut told me.
- Don't worry, I'll save you, Lily,' I said.
The girl froze fearfully, but when she heard her name she blinked in surprise.
Exactly... I saw a future where the girl survived. And there she told her saviour her real name, which could only be learnt then.
But thanks to Reading Other People's Fates, I could have learnt her name much earlier.
The girl nodded slowly, and showed her one of his most soothing smiles.
As I had surmised, the brigands didn't notice us, continuing the battle with the guards. This played to my advantage, and exactly matched the version of the future I had managed to peek at from another hero.
I took the child as far away from the battlefield as possible and told her to stay here. Here she could wait things out without endangering her own life, and let my heart rest at least for her.
Nevertheless...I rose from my knee and headed towards the coming battle.
- Wait... take this,' the girl said.
I turned around in surprise and noticed her holding my hand. In her palm was a stone... the same one that the military man had taken! And I had completely forgotten about it because of my nerves... but how? Did he have it at that moment because of the girl?
Come to think of it, I didn't see what that soldier did from the beginning to the end. Pictures of the past came to me in spontaneous scraps, so many that I could peer at them in the hope of spotting the right one. Not surprisingly, I didn't see exactly when the military man had picked up the stone.
Clearly, it was useful information.
Thanking the girl, I moved forward more confidently. The strength and experience of past heroes guided me. I felt a hovering presence in the air, as if they approved of my actions. But there were those who did not. Though I hoped it was all my played out imagination.
But one thing I knew for sure, of all the futures I had seen, the only one I hadn't seen was mine.
Gripping the stone tightly, I tread carefully the way the man of war had tread. Step by step, turn by turn, pause, wait for the brigand to strike his sword against his shield, step again. Every unfamiliar movement I copied from the other man made me break into a hot sweat, and the blood beat frantically in my veins.
I abruptly got behind the brigand's back and swung the stone to strike. Unlike a martial artist, my class was magical but still heroic, so even my attack had an effect: the brigand fell to the ground and stopped moving. I picked up the sword that had fallen out and felt the metallic heaviness in my hands.
I was immediately noticed by my opponents, and panic flashed clearly in their eyes. I didn't hesitate, knowing that hundreds before me had died by hesitating at this point. But unlike them, I had an advantage: I knew where my enemy would strike next.
- You will die! - The bandit raised his sword to strike, to knock the sword out of my hands. And he would have succeeded if I hadn't known that the hundreds before me had decided to block him.
I stepped aside, however, and as the military man did, I suddenly shoved the brigand in the side, upsetting his balance. And when he started to fall and opened for a blow, I swung my sword at him with exactly the same blow that the soldier had made. My enemy fell, and before he could get up the point of my sword stopped him, freezing him at the throat.
- You are wrong, brigand. No one will die this time.
The third brigand managed to escape, leaving his 'brothers' in the hands of the Alliance guards, and the rest of us tied up and left to sit with battered faces.
- You've done us an incredible favour, mate! - The Alliance guard who came up to me said cheerfully, taking off his bloodstained helmet.
He was quite young, with a shiny goatee and a trace of light wrinkles. His shoulders were slumped, and his hands could barely hold his sword after a draining battle.
- No need for thanks,' was all I said.
All the tension that had pushed and sustained me in battle had faded away, leaving me with trembling hands to feel a noble fatigue.
Today I had surpassed myself first and foremost as a man, no, as a man.
Throwing my sword to the ground, I silently accepted the guards' thanks and declined their offer to celebrate my victory over the brigands over a mug of hops. The funny thing is, they weren't surprised by my interference. From their own words, they took me for a volunteer for the Militia, of which there were now quite a few. Stormgrad was just recruiting anyone willing to fight the depredations of the Brotherhood of Justice.
- No, I'm not a militia man. I'm a traveller,' I explained, hesitating.
The Brotherhood of Justice is a local band of bandits who ravage the Elwyn Forest and the borders of Stormgrad. No wonder the locals calmed down so quickly when we beat back the attack. It's not the first time something like this has happened here.
- Well, it's a shame, but thank you again. You don't look like a swordsman, but you've proven yourself as good as any of us. You're a worthy representative of the Alliance. Rest assured, your kind will always be welcome. If you're thinking of joining us in our fight against those insolent Brotherhood scum, head for the militia in the Western Lands. Marshal Stonegrove will be glad to have your help.
- Maybe you can tell me how I can address you. It's awkward not knowing your Saviour's name,' the second guard asked with a tired smile.
'What's my name, then...,' I thought, realising that I now had to come up with some sort of "nickname", I couldn't go around the world with my real name, could I?
- Let it be Alteran.
- Let it be?
- I'm Alteran,' I repeated, extending my hand to the Alliance guard, 'it has been an honour to fight alongside you.
***
After saying goodbye to the Stormgrass guards and the men they were escorting, I was finally able to exhale.
Tension still had me on my feet, and I wanted to forget it all and just rest, but where was it? The surprises were just beginning.
'You have obtained the achievement 'Destiny of Nobility: Chosen One'.'
I was hoping to get the Destiny of Heroism, but instead I got this. The new path I got by doing exactly like that soldier, but where did I go wrong? Also, I didn't remember this path from other heroes, which hinted at its uniqueness.
Okay, I wouldn't have been so worried if this achievement gave me a bunch of characteristics like Hero's Destiny did. But the achievement I got, while it sounded cool, only gave me + 5 spirit.
Bonuses received: + 5 spirit units.
Spirit - was responsible for mana regeneration, slightly speeding up its process. Not completely useless, may be useful in a protracted battle, but still somehow a little compared to the achievement Hero's Destiny, giving +15 to each characteristic.
Is this karma for being a cheat?
Destiny of Nobility: The Chosen One description:
'You illuminate people with light and give hope for a better future. Legions and hundreds of loyal friends will follow you, knowing no doubt of your honour and fearlessness. In your eyes you will find no shadow of betrayal of another's faith, and the valour that fuels your sincere motivations - will break down the strongest barriers'
Thinking about it, I shrugged my shoulders. Okay, the Brotherhood's +5 spirit brigands would definitely not be defeated, but this was not the end.
I just hoped that my path would reveal itself a little better in the future, and confidently continued on my way.
The Elwyn Forest seemed much larger now than it had before, and I knew what dangers and secrets it held. Gnolls, Morlocks, Kobolds, wild beasts, the Brotherhood of Justice... hell, you don't want to go unarmed in this place!
Suddenly a blue glow appeared before my eyes. It turned out to be a new pop-up window with unexpected advice:
'You can go to your castle and continue working on the homunculus there.'
I had a private castle.
Really?
I pressed the button to open the portal, and a swirling circle appeared in the air, which seemed to swallow the entire space into itself. A black hole formed in the centre of the circle, gaping with impenetrable darkness. Apparently, it was some kind of spatial pocket in which I could hide.
When I put my hand to the black hole, I felt a faint chill on my fingers and a faint smell of stone touched my nose.
The lock was called '...'. Pressing the name button on the side, I gave it the name 'Creator Space' and then stepped into the abyss, feeling a wet veil of water on my skin, but... found myself completely dry.
My castle was not as impressive as I had imagined. As I moved inside, the golden-coloured opening sign of the new location 'Workshop' appeared above my head. And I was awarded fifty-two experience for this achievement.
As it turned out, I had only moved into the Workshop, only a small part of my grounds. Apparently, the System was hinting that this was where I should be creating homunculi.
The vague lighting revealed a relatively large room: grey walls and stone slab floors. Dim lamps cast flickering shadows on darkened objects, among which was an oblong table with black restraining straps.
I walked over to the surgery table, opened a spatial pocket, and tossed the empty homunculus body in front of me. Secured it with fasteners by its arms and legs, and stepped back, applying what it looked like from the outside.
- Creepy.
The doll lay with blank eyes to the ceiling, and I was to touch it to make a living being.
Perhaps I was being unnecessarily hasty and should have explored my castle before engaging in this... perversion.
I walked around the workshop looking for an exit and found the only door that led to the void... yes, woah. A real void with nothing behind it. I put my foot through it and tried to step on something, but my toe couldn't find any footing.
So I realised that my castle was empty for the time being. There was literally only one Workshop here so far, and all the other halls and rooms were literally non-existent. In short, I had to create everything from scratch, just like in the SIMS house editor.
In the System interface there was a separate window for building a Castle. I could build myself any castle I wanted. I had no restrictions at all. I could build it as long as an entire city or station.
But there was one thing: for each expansion of space in my pocket world I had to pay a large sum of money, and this money, respectively, I had to earn in the real world.
One new room cost a thousand gold pieces, and the great hall cost five thousand.
It was going to be a serious job, given the fact that even in the starting locations to earn a thousand gold will not be possible in six months. But no, not so, the local peasants did not earn so much in a lifetime.
Large sums are the privilege of nobility or heroes, every day experiencing deadly battles with opponents who could cripple an entire army with a single breath. Few in millions.
After spending about half an hour exploring the interface in search of food, I discovered a small shop built into the System. Well, how small... the window was small and convenient, but the material and all sorts of resources were endless.
I tried entering more than twenty of the most difficult and inaccessible items into the search to test the capabilities of the System and the shop. There were even endangered fish as goods, quite strong equipment, and many other things, though weapons of the future and microwaves were not here. Apparently due to the living conditions in a fantasy world where microwaves hadn't been invented yet.
Selecting the tab with legendary weapons, I wrote 'Frostmourne' for the sake of interest.
Frostmourne covets... to... One billion gold!
How?! Even expanding the space in the castle costs less!
Faintly recoiling from the screen, I wiped the name away for good measure.
Examining the shop's prices, it was clear that the main currency of Azeroth (the world I found myself in) was accepted here: copper, silver, and gold. Each of them was in the ratio of one to one hundred. That is, for one silver, there were one hundred coppers, and so on.
These rates are exactly the same as in the WWE game itself.
I only had a hundred gold on my balance sheet, subscribed as startup capital for my lodging. That was plenty, considering that Ice Milk was only worth one and a half silver.
I immediately thought that I could cash in on the price difference and become a great merchant, BUT...! At the bottom was a note: 'Prices are adjusted to the world economy.' Which meant that the prices in the shop would change depending on conditions so I couldn't fool the local people. In addition, the price also depended on the difficulty of extracting the material. Even the distance that had to be travelled from me to the merchant was factored into the cost. In other words, because of the floating commission, it was more favourable for me to buy things in the real world than in a virtual shop.
After I finished dealing with the shop, I quietly ordered myself a delicious breakfast of juicy chicken, salad, and a strong beer to keep me awake. They came out of the system window portal in pre-prepared boxes that disappeared as soon as I ate them.
I knew that the events of the WWII Classic patch were now taking place. The early world of Warcraft, not yet corrupted by the massive assault of Pleta and Deathwing, much less Sargeras. It was written in the interface itself, like this, 'Current world state: WOW Classic'.
And so I finally got to work on the homunculus, stopping at an empty and soulless puppet woven entirely of my mana.
I opened the interface and switched on the gacha, where I was to knock out a 'soul' for this puppet. A dark window with a golden design opened in front of me. It was nothing special, except that there were different images of characters drawn in the background, which were always changing. They were characters from anime, film, and even TV series.
To begin my journey, I needed a homunculus with good melee combat skills. This was due to the fact that my Architect of Fate class is non-self-powered and magical. It's almost impossible for me to fight alone. I need someone to cover me while I stand and create 'spells'. Right now though, I didn't even have any attacking abilities or special spells to defeat the enemy. I literally needed a strong ally to fight for me, and in the world of Wakraft, battle would always be waiting for me.
Even if they died, I wouldn't have a guilty conscience, because the Humunculi were soulless toys in my hands. Well... at least they should be.
If I failed to create a homunculus, I would have to become a trader or risk my life literally every day, even if I decided to take a walk.
Sure, I could rely on my 'foresight', but even that had a bunch of drawbacks.
I had access to the first ten free spins as a beginner. And I used them right away, pressing the summon button for ten cards at once.
The display began to glow and play an animation of a gate opening... apparently with a hint of other worlds.
Ten black cards with the symbolism of a whirlpool in the centre appeared before my eyes. Five cards at the top and five at the bottom horizontally.
Which one should I start with?
The first one from the top:
1) 'First Class Rapier' (Uncommon).
A green framed item denoting 'unusual rarity'. No phenomenal effects other than a +3 dexterity bonus and good quality. You'd need a master swordsman for such a thing, but it'll come in handy for me at first.
2) 'Hercules' Lion Strike' (rare).
A unique blue framed technique, one level better than a rapier. It gave the homunculus the ability to strike like an ancient Greek hero. The damage of the ability depended on the character's strength, but did not require staging or physical training. This meant that even a homunculus without combat skills would be able to apply the blow correctly. Unfortunately, the ability required twenty units of rage, which meant that only a homunculus of the warrior class could use it.
3) 'Happy Left Hand' (Uncommon).
It was a 'spare part' that could be attached to the homunculus' body as a modification. This arm not only increased the chance of a lucky punch, but also influenced luck in gambling and anything else you did with it.
To top it all off, the hand adapted to the wearer's appearance.
4)Silver Ore (Uncommon)
Not dense, but you have to have it in the household.
5)Elegant Paper Crane (Unusual)
Beautiful, elegant, useless.
6)Weiss Schnabel (White Beak) (epic)
A purple glow finally appeared in front of my eyes. The card with Esdes' ability from "Akame's Assassin" lay in my fingers.
The White Beak ability allowed the wearer to unleash a rain of ice spears at the opponent. To use it, which is not surprising, required as much as thirty-five 'focus'. But the effect was able to cause trouble even to a group of dangerous enemies.
It was definitely strong.
To use White Beak, a character that produced 'focus' was required. The kind of energy that the hunter class used.
7)Comfortable slippers. Black (Uncommon).
The slippers did turn out to be comfortable, the toes breathed, and the stepping was soft, but I needed a character.
8)Esdes' military uniform (epic).
A strong item, but I didn't detect any special characteristics in any way. Five armour with no stats. Just a strict military uniform with a Germanic motif. Sexy, sure, but... who am I gonna put it on? Wait a minute, there was a note at the bottom that said, 'Transmodification, to be worn over artefacts. If used on a homunculus with an Esdes soul, the wearer gains +15% to all stats every 10 levels.'
Transmodification was a feature in the original game that allowed you to change the appearance of your armour. You could put on a wooden helmet and give it the visual appearance of rabbit ears. The characteristics of the item were retained, which was very much appreciated by modders. Usually transmodification didn't give you any additional characteristics, but this one does. And it's incredible.
9)Rare rubbish (rare).
'Description: you've never seen such rubbish before!'
Thank you... I guess...
In frustration, I laid my head on the table and closed my eyes in humility. It looked like a heavy hand had been laid on my fate, and would have to break through on my own.
Clenching my fist, my soul filled with determination before the desperate final push. My hand swiped the last card and my eyelids were bathed in a bright golden light that made me squeeze shut.
What is this...?
10)General Esdes (Legendary).
A glowing, cold emanating essence fell into my hand. It was like a bright ball exuding a snow-white, calm winter light. But at the same time, its coldness pierced to the very bones and caused nervous tension.
I raised it solemnly above my eyes and laughed madly ....
How can one be so lucky on the first day? I solemnly declare: I am the luckiest man in the world.
The description says that this one is just a copy of Esdes' soul, not her real soul. I guess that's why they're called 'personalities.'