Infernal Apocalypse

"Why did you do it?" A grizzled old man, who seemed to age by a 100 years after asking the question.

"We are Royalty father! We can do what we want! Why must we grovel and cower like rats?!

"Our Family rules an entire GALAXY! And here you are, a proud Domain Realm Cultivator shaking in your boots because I killed a couple idiots who disrespected me. They deserved to die!"

The old man seemingly aged even further the more he listened to his son.

"Those 'idiots' were young Infernals, and your watchers have long since reported what really happened. You coveted one of their spears, and when the boy refused, you killed all three of them in cold blood. They were a mere fraction of your age.

"Sigh...This is my fault, once I realized how I failed in raising you, a cell or a blade should've been your reward, but no, instead I let you continue to grow into this vile creature of a man, and now that mistake has cost me, this family, this country and maybe even this damn galaxy our lives. "

"Thats what I'm talking about father! Even If I killed someone a little important why are you already giving up! Where is your back...-"

BOOM!!!

"WHO WAS IT?! WHO WAS IT THAT KILLED MY SONS?!"

A voice bellowed so loud that the the air itself was collapsed onto itself, creating a loud boom that rocked the planet and almost everything on it.

The people who looked up towards the voice in the sky, could only describe what they saw as a deity. A women whose entire being was coated in flames darker than the night, that danced along her skin with a rapid yet controlled manner. Her head was covered in blood red flames that functioned as her hair and it was so smooth and beautiful that it was enough to cause lesser men to shed tears.

Behind her stood 1000 men and women, covered in head to toe in red armor, in a style akin to roman legionnaires.

-The beginning of the end for the Prixus Family many millennia ago.

I followed Richard inside one of the houses on the left side of the Outpost. It wasn’t that long a walk but once we made it inside the house, I could see how messy it was, not that I cared, but it seemed Richard did for some reason.

He rubbed the back of his head and gave a wry smile as he apologized while grabbing two cots for us to sit on. How nice of him.

“Sorry about the mess, over 20 of us share this house so it’s not easy to keep it clean.”

Twenty? I knew they had a big group but over 20 people in one house was way too much. Can’t they rent the others? They weren’t that expensive.

“Isn’t that too many people for one house? Why not rent the others?”

Richard sighed before responding.

“We do rent a couple more. Our group is around 100 people, and not everyone is a fighter so it’s hard to maintain and keep everything and everyone together.”

Wow, they had it harder than I thought. I hope they can get stronger and kill some more Goblins, oh yeah wasn’t there something about upgrading the Outpost? I hope for their sakes that the Outpost gets upgraded and it does come with some more space for them to live as well…

“That’s our problems though so don’t worry I am not asking you to help us, but I’ve been doing some thinking and I based on what I noticed today, and the things I read in the Tutorial book, I think I have some potential crucial information.”

He brought me out of my thoughts with that, and yeah, it’s good he won’t asl for help I need to save for the item in the shop. Anyway, crucial information huh...that’s a big claim.

“Crucial how?”

“I think we will have to defend the Outpost from attacks.”

Well, I guess that makes sense considering there’s Goblins kind of scoping out the Outpost right now, but I wonder what else brought him to that conclusion.

“I can kinda understand why you’d think that but what else?”

“Yeah, I should probably go into detail. So, we know there’s stages, and we are in one right now, but I’m not sure if you’ve noticed but the man that usually guarded the entrance isn’t there anymore and I strongly believe he isn’t coming back. On the other hand, I believe the Goblins are going to slowly get braver and until there are regular attacks on the Outpost. I don’t know if the locals will help us if we get overrun or just abandon us, but I’m leaning towards the latter. If you read the Tutorial book then you know there are only 26 Outposts for billions of humans, and if this one is an indication for average size, then millions of people will likely die.

“Based on that, I don’t think whatever started this Tutorial and put us here, really cares if we survive or not, and I want to be prepared for that.

“So, with that being said I think we need to create our own guard for the Outpost and be ready to defend it ourselves.

“Obviously, my group would probably be the ones handling that, but it would be nice if you can play a part, since you’d be benefiting from the guards as well. As of right now, I think you can just keep doing you and if you we are getting overrun, I’d of course like for you to help if you are here. Apart from that, helping out with a extra house pass or just coins or orbs in general would help since the folks guarding the gate wouldn’t be able to hunt.

“I know it was a mouthful but what do you think about all of that?”

Well he wasn’t lying when he said it was a mouthful. What he’s making all of these plans from is not a fact or set in stone, but as I think about it myself, I suppose it makes sense in a way to think the Outposts might get attacked and the Greja and the rest won’t help us out. I also don’t want to have to go searching for another Outpost, so I’d prefer to stay here. Overall, I think he means well…but it does feel like he’s tying to scam me.

We don’t need to be in some agreement for me to help if they are getting overrun, since I live here too. I also don’t like the idea of giving them money, they can work for their own shit.

Though now that I think about it. I have a busy schedule as is, and it would be nice to not have to worry about guarding the Outpost while I’m training in the mornings and fighting Goblins in the nights. So, I can think of it like paying for a tv subscription or something…yeah that works.

I think I need to confirm some of this with Greja, but for now I don’t mind agreeing with this even though it feels like a scam of some sort…kinda like a streaming subscription. Ok fine.

Oh wait…I just had a great idea.

“I can see where you’re coming from, and while I really don’t like the idea of it all, it does make a little sense, but even still, I’m not giving you any money and I would defend the Outpost anyway. So, I have a better way of helping out.”

Richard seemingly didn’t like that his initial idea was shot down, but he was still open to what I had to say.

“Sure, lets hear it, how can you help in a better way?”

“Training. I’m currently being trained by the Outpost Leader himself, and I have already gotten much stronger. I will ask him to train some of your group as well, and that should make up for lost time since you all would be able to hunt better after the training.”

I don’t really care if he agrees or not since I’m not going to give him or his group money. I need it. If the Outpost does get overrun and I have to leave, then that’s that. Life goes on.

“That actually sounds like a good idea. Please do ask about the training and let me know what he says, my group and I could all definitely benefit from learning how to fight better.”

Ah he agreed. I’m a better negotiator than I give myself credit for. And maybe Richard’s not a bad guy after all.

“Alright, I’ll find you tomorrow…-”

Right as I was saying my last piece so I can finally go outside to go hunting, someone started banging on the door and yelling.

Bang Bang

“Richard! Come now! The Goblins are coming towards the Outpost! Richard!!”

It was the voice of a woman, but it might as well have been the voice of an angel to me. I didn’t even bother saying anything else to Richard, nor did I wait for him to get the door.

I simply opened it, stepped past the surprised woman who looked like she didn’t expect me to open the door and took off in a jog to the gate.

I’m getting a little excited.