Chapter 1

Beast Slayer Chapter 1

Brief fore-word. This story is heavily influenced by the Legendary Moonlight Sculptor and by Ark, both of which I highly recommend to everyone. A shout out also to JawzTranslations, a couple of very promising stories are available there that inspired me to take a crack at my own. The placeholder name for the overall story is Slayer, but that is subject to change. Please read and enjoy, and I would love feedback and constructive criticism.

Yours, Mogdogolog.

Chapter 1: It’s a whole New World

Imagine a small, dark room in an old apartment block. The curtains are drawn shut to block the unpolarised rays of the sun and the hanging lamp is switched off to save on the electricity bill. The only source of light is a pale blue glow from the computer screen illuminating a young man’s face. Aside from the computer and desk the only thing in the room was a short bed in the corner. The covers were neatly laid out, not because the occupant was particularly neat but because he hadn’t slept in it for days.

                This was the home of our hero. Though there were more rooms in the apartment, a kitchen and a bedroom for his sister, the only other one he’d frequent was the bathroom. The young man staring at the screen was named Nevil Thompson, a name he was not particularly fond of. Going by the alias of Devil he was a prolific online figure in the world’s biggest MMO, Neverwhere. He had been selling the latest equipment he’d gotten on an online auction site. As one of the top players the items he sold could make quite a bit of money.

                The latest Epic item he’d gotten dungeon crawling had gone for over a hundred pounds so he was smiling happily while typing to a net friend, Darkspear. Business was not perfect however. For years Neverwhere had captivated players with continuous updates and expansions, but less and less users were bidding on the online item auctions. He was making steady progress on paying off his uncles old debts, but if his source of income dried up he would no longer be able to support his sister at school.

                Trying to forget this niggling worry was no good so he tried to confide in Darkspear.

Devil: Man bills just keep coming in don’t they. With the drop in peeps on the auction sites I’m worried I might not have enough

Darkspear: Haha, no way! ur worried? no one can hold a candle toy u ingame! u always get all the best items!

Devil: Yeah but if there’s no one buyin them it won’t matter right?

Darkspear: ur worrying waaaaaay too much dude, there’s always gunna be some lazy whales

                Nevil smiled to himself, it was great to have friends to reassure you wasn’t it? Not that he’d ever met darkspear in real life, he hadn’t left the apartment in months… Even on the net there were few people he connected with. But still, darkspear always had some words of encouragement. And it was true. If there was one thing Nevil could be proud of, and he knew there was only one, it was that he was one of the best when it came to Neverwhere.

Despite this reassurance he still felt compelled to check if there were any updates incoming to bring players back to the fold. Scrolling through the latest topics of the Neverwhere’s forums he came upon an interesting post. It was a new thread about an up-and-coming MMO simply entitled New World.

Flobadog: Anyone else heard about this new game called New World? I heard they got some real high grade virtual reality gear for it, this might be amazing!!

LionManex101x: Virtual reality? rly? the virtual reality games out at the moment barely even work and they want to release a mmo? this is going to be such a dramatic flop lmao

TherealFrogMan: nah dude I heard this 2, it’s supposed to be years ahead of everybody else, their even implementing touch, taste and smell! It’ll be crazy!!

LionManex101x: it’s *they’re douche, and no ******* way. Why would you even want that? Won’t that mean pain and bad smells?

SmegGreg: It does sound pretty far-fetched. Other VR games barely have the controls working…

Flobadog: Well imma defo check this out, you guys can leave it if you want.

                VR eh? There were only a couple of dozen so called VR games on the market but most were just visors instead of your computer screen, barely different from other games at all. Maybe this one would be different?

                Nevil read through the rest of the posts, but no concrete information was provided. However if this was real then New Worlds popularity would immediately explode! Actual virtual reality would attract players from across the market just for the novelty. Lots of users meant lots of item sales; if he got in early he could even get a monopoly of high class items on the online trade markets. But it would be a big risk. He was making enough to get by from Neverwhere at the moment but if New World did go bust he would lose a lot of time and ground to his rivals. He needed to research more info from the web.

                Finally reaching New Worlds homepage he immediately started scanning for info, only to roll back into his chair in frustration barely minutes later. Aside from the huge promises of absolute immersion, a dynamic world and complete freedom there was only one piece of information Nevil could find. The launch date, 23/04/2024. Just one week from now.

                After spending another hour researching online Nevil had made his decision. While there were not many details released to the public, interest was very high. Many gaming bloggers and the like had already declared they’d play it from launch. Although he hated taking gambles he needed more than enough to just scrape by, and if it did take of it may very well leave Neverwhere in the dust, especially considering its current decline. His account was quite famous so putting it up for sale would give them enough to live for a couple of months at least. Hopefully by then there’d be enough people interested to make some money off.

                Heaving one last pensive sigh he pressed enter and ordered the VR drive to be shipped ASAP. Neverwhere’s Devil was heading for the New World.

***

Soon after Nevil had tilted his chair back to go sleep the internet started to buzz with activity.

Neverwhere, the game that had dominated the market for well over a decade now, no one with even a remote interest in games could have not heard about it. Millions were subscribed to it and played daily, and as such the top users garnered a fair bit of fame themselves. Castle lords and guild leaders had even appeared on television shows and the news. Near the top of those users was a gamer known simply as Devil, just going by popularity he might eclipse them all. While he wasn’t part of any large guild and didn’t participate in the huge pvp battles he was known to be the conqueror of countless dungeons. Over a dozen of the highest level bosses were known to have been defeated by Devil first, and a couple of those had yet to be beaten by anyone else! As a solo player who had conquered impossible odds he captured the imagination of thousands. And now this nigh legendary player had put his account up for sale.

                First this sparked of a huge bidding war, fans and former rivals all bidding furiously to take up the mantle of Devil. This would mainly be for self-satisfaction, as everyone would know he was leaving, though many were still quite keen. First users who hoped to be able to emulate his exploits crowded to it, but they were eventually knocked out by richer players. Though they’d generally not have as much time to play they were still fans.

But secondly, and more interestingly, it started hundreds of conversations across the web; where was the Devil headed now? Thoughts that he’d just quit the online game world were immediately quashed, there was no doubt he was headed to a new hunting ground. But where? Even at 13 years old Neverwhere was still the world leader of all MMOs, it had many rivals but no equal.

                Soon a post caught everyone’s attention, ‘what about New World’? Most of the hard-core MMO fans had heard of New World, but almost everyone was doubtful. Will it really work? Even if it did, would it being realistic really be fun? There were so many variables that most were taking a wait and see approach, but if Devil really was headed there then maybe it was worth a shot. Like Nevil himself had thought earlier, they did not want to fall behind when it came to exploring the new game.

               Soon the online orders for VR drives had more than doubled. At launch 40,000 people would be playing New World, with more eagerly waiting to see how it went.

***

A week had passed and Nevil was waiting anxiously in his room for the VR drive to arrive. It was late, in just 5 minutes New World would open for the public and thousands of players would sweep in to start their journeys. Nevil didn’t want to leave potential rivals with even a minute head start.

                He had been in a good mood all week; his account had sold for a record breaking £150,000, easily enough to pay off the debts he’d barely been keeping on top of. Most of the rest went into savings and plans for the future, without his parents he’d learnt to be very careful with money. But even so he’d had enough to splurge on food a little and even ate in the kitchen a few times with his sister. Not that they really talked…

                But now he was biting his nails and constantly turning to face his bedroom’s door. He was trying to distract himself by looking for more leaked hints about New World on the web but it was barely working. Internally screaming to himself he brought up the start tab and shut down his computer. It whirled thankfully to a stop, leaving the room in silence. He dared not look at the clock, choosing instead to bore holes into the wall with his eyes, or trying his hardest to do so at the very least.

                Sweet merciful release, in the form of the doorbell ringing, shook him from his reverie and caused him to almost leap to his feet and almost run to the door. Pressing the speaker button he calmly enquired about the identity of his visitor.

                “I’ve got a package for Nevil Thompson.” The delivery man replied

                “I’ll buzz y-you right through.” Nevil said in a weak voice and low tone, despite his excitement.

                Being on the first floor the delivery man arrived quickly while Nevil cracked open the door just wide enough for the package to fit through. Muttering some words of gratitude Nevil quickly closed the door and headed back to his room. As he reached for the handle his sister’s door swung open.

                The siblings stared at each other awkwardly for a heartbeat until Nevil’s little sister, Clair, turned her head and said “A new game bro?”

                He could hear the scorn in her voice. It was always like this, she always acted so haughty when it came to his method of making money. He almost wanted to drop the box and yell ‘what do you think’s paying for this home?’ But he couldn’t. Nevil could never raise his voice to his sister. It was ok if she carried on despising him; it was his own fault anyway. A pathetic older brother, only good for sitting around all day playing computer games was exactly what he was. As long as the video games provided for them it didn’t matter what she said, that was the thought that had driven him thus far, and he wasn’t going to let it go now.

                Grasping onto that idea Nevil gave a barely perceptible nod and disappeared into his room. Laying down the package carefully on the floor he quickly tore into it with renewed enthusiasm. It didn’t matter how much of a head start others had, he came into Neverwhere much later as well and compared to that 10 minutes was nothing. He would reach the top in New World too.

                Upon opening the package Nevil found the actual console was surprisingly small. The VR driver was a simple helmet with a black visor; it was quite amazing how so much hardware could be fit into it. The only other content in the box was a thin instruction manual. Leafing through it he read that all he had to do was lay or sit down somewhere with the helmet on and when the device had switched on say out loud ‘system start’. There was, mercifully, nothing that needed to be inserted into the skin, or anywhere else in the body, but it was quite mysterious on how it would work. How would a simple helmet be able to replicate taste, touch or smell?

                Deciding not to think on it too deeply Nevil lay on his bed and pulled the helmet over his head. With the visor brought down he was left now in complete darkness. A sudden worry struck him. It had been ages since he’d last been outside, what if this virtual reality overwhelmed him? Words in a foreign language flittered across the screen before fading out. He resisted the urge to rush back to the comfort of his computer, it would be fine. A game like this may put you into a virtual world, but no matter how good the graphics were it’d still be a game.

                Having decided there was nothing to worry about he took a deep breath and lightly closed his eyes. Then to his empty room he said aloud “system start.” And, for the first time in ages, Nevil’s world was filled with space, colour and light.

***

The sudden burst of light caused Nevil to snap his eyes open immediately. Above him was the vast night sky, filled with more stars than he’d ever seen in his life. Confusion quickly set in and he brought his body upright to scan around. But there was nothing near him. In the distance the sun shone blindingly, too bright to even look at through his fingers. It occurred to Nevil that that was ridiculous, there wouldn’t be stars out at the same time there was the sun. Finally running out of places to look Nevil turned his gaze down to where he was sat. Only he wasn’t sat on anything. Far, far below him a planet stretched out in all directions. Were he in a calmer state of mind he might have noticed the continents and landscape were very different from earths. However he was not quite so composed. He began screaming.

                His arms and legs flailed wildly in desperation, seeking something to latch onto, while his mouth hung agape, panicked shouting escaping his lips. The only thought that had managed to make its way into his head was that the only way to go was down. It was not until he’d run out of breath and had to take a break from his screams that he noticed he was not in fact falling. He simply hung there, motionless.

                “Welcome to New World!” A voice called from behind him.

                Still far from relaxed Nevil managed to twist his body to face the speaker. Before him was a figure that appeared to be a man, yet he could not make out any shape or features, as if the entire person was made of static. What appeared to be its elbow rested on what appeared to be its knee, while what he could only assume was its hand supported what must have been its head. Just as Nevil was about to question it the unidentifiable figure continued its address.

                “This is an automated greeting from the creators of your new game. Thank you for purchasing and allow us to fill you in on the basics!” It cheerfully chimed. “While New World has many similarities with other games, be aware that treating it like you have others will get your character killed! You have the same needs as in real life, keep yourself fed and rested.”

                Having heard that it was an automated message Nevil gave up on questioning it. He was actually rather relieved that no one had seen him behave so embarrassingly back then. Now he needed to listen as intently as possible to glean as much information as he could from the message.

                “As in all good RPGs you have basic stats and levels to grind, as well as some hidden stats to find! While you can level up to improve your stats certain in world actions will boost them too. And those with skill can perform better than those with much higher levels!” It exclaimed, spreading its arms in mock excitement, “Speaking of skills, there are thousands of skills to learn in new world! These range from basic weapon masteries and crafts to spells that can level mountain tops! You can learn skills from NPCs, skill books or more rarely from great personal effort. Though there are many Class restricted skills too with the vast array of classes to choose from you’ll never feel restricted! Now, finally, to begin your journeys choose your race and starting position. You can be Human, Dwarf or High Elf, but more races will be unlocked as the world is explored!”

                Nevil briefly considered his options, but still unsure of what the New World held he finally opted for Human. Humans were always the most versatile race.

                “Very well, the current available starting locations are city of Richmond in the Great Kingdom of Albion or the city of St Adelise in the Lothargian Empire.”

                “Richmond.” Nevil decided aloud.

                “Your character will share the same appearance as yourself, however investing in stats will change how you look, for example gaining lots of strength points makes your character more muscly, while charming characters become more attractive. For the last choice what name do you choose to go by?”

                “Devil,” he replied instantaneously. He was slightly disappointed that he couldn’t customize his looks, he was well aware that he appeared rather pasty and gangly, but he comforted himself with the knowledge that most the other users would be in the same boat.

                “Sorry, that name is taken, please choose another.”

                What?! But that was Nevil’s name! Had someone tried to ride on the coat-tails of his fame? Wait, it was only one person per name? Thinking about it, there’d been no other account creation, just the avatar. They’d need some way of keeping track of who’s who. It still smarted that someone could just steal his identity.

Nevil clenched his fist, then exhaled slowly. No matter, it was a new game after all. He would create a new legend in New World! He sunk into silence as he carefully considered. Diablo? No much too close, he needed something different. What was the opposite of Devil? Nevil smiled to himself, Latin class’s in the distant past weren’t such a waste.

                “Divus.” He declared.

                “One last message, time flows 5 times faster in New World than in reality. Every 5 hours you experience here would be a mere hour in your world. Now good luck adventurer, become strong, gain territory, learn forgotten mystic arts, build a great nation or a mighty merchant empire and change this world around you with your actions! I must say though you seem like you’ll be very amusing, none of the other adventurers screamed quite as loudly as you did…”

                Nevil was still reeling from the fact that time flowed faster in New World so he barely registered the last thing the figure said. 5 times faster?! The other players had a huge lead! He’d have to work hard now to catch up… Wait none of them screamed like me? Wasn’t this a recorded message?

                “Hey wai-“ Nevil tried to shout, but he’d already started being pulled downwards. He began hurtling faster and faster towards the ground. Pulled off on a tangent it was only a matter of seconds before a large city seemed to rise up to meet him. Letting out a small yelp instead of screaming he was enveloped in light and suddenly brought to a stop. The light dissipated, leaving the newly born Divus stranded in the middle of a bustling city square.

                Nevil, or Divus in the New World, suddenly realised that he had been dead wrong about easily being able to tell the game apart from real life. The brightly coloured street stalls all around and the various merchants who ran them looked perfectly life like; through his thinly soled shoes he could feel the cobblestones beneath his feet; the aroma of herbs and spices wafted towards his nose from a nearby cart; the low ebb a massive crowd could be heard from all around. It was indistinguishable from reality. Desperately resisting the urge to flee towards a dark alley Divus searched around for somewhere where he could get information about where he was.

                He stumbled about dumbly for a while, trying to get his bearing. Around the square there were dozens of stalls, but instead of providing the newbie guidance he so desperately needed they were selling various pieces of regular, albeit medievally, merchandise. There seemed to be no obvious quest giver with a question mark floating over his head, or anyone that looked near friendly enough to start chatting with.

                Reluctantly approaching a stall he decided to question the nearest trader. While the mysterious figure he’d assumed was a character creation NPC had seemingly turned out to be a GM he was quite positive the towns merchants were computers.

                “Um, excuse me?” He said quietly when he was near.

                “Hello fine customer, what can I get for you!” Was the polite response.

                “Where should I go to get started? I mean, where’s the tutorials?” Divus enquired. No game on the planet didn’t have some form of starting stage.

                But the merchants humble demeanour was suddenly replaced by an extremely annoyed face. “Another one of those are we? Does this look like an information both to you buddy? Damn influx of foreigners… Go ask someone else. Go on, shoo!”

                Divus was speechless for a moment. Indignation winning out over the sudden nervous panic he finally managed to force a response. “B-but you’re an NPC? You shouldn’t be answering like that!”

                “An NP-what? Look buddy if you ain’t interested in buying then get away from my stall!”

                Chased away Divus went back to standing in shock near the middle of the square. He was lost, he’d no idea how to find out how to get started and he was far too terrified to try asking someone else. Luckily a lifeline was thrown towards him.

                “Hey guys a newbie! Over here new guy!” Someone called from nearby.

                He turned to see a group of three picking their way through the crowd towards him, two guys and a girl, all looking in their early 20s. They were all dressed in the same tacky looking leather armour and had knives buckled to their belts, as were hundreds of other people in the crowds of the massive square.

                “Haha, you look absolutely dumbstruck! Can’t say I blame you, this place is absolutely fantastic!” Said the young man in front. He had blond, spiked hair and a wide smile on his lips. “I’m Dash, nice to meet you!” He exclaimed, holding out a hand.

                Divus stared at the hand for a moment longer than necessary, and then shakily extended his own to meet it. “I-I’m Dev-, er Divus. Likewise.” He managed.

                “We saw you get chewed out by that merchant and figured you’d only just arrived. Oh yeah, this is Trevor and Beauty. We’ve been here for over an hour but have yet to level up at all! This game is a lot harder than we thought it would be, so we partied up for now.” Trevor was a short, skinny guy with an emotionless face while Beauty was living a lie. While by no means ugly no one could argue that her looks were in danger of captivating anyone. She was just very average.

                But Divus was relieved. If they hadn’t levelled up at all then there was plenty of hope for him to catch up. “W-why not, how many monsters does it take to level up then? If it’s been over an hour it m-must be dozens…”

                “It’s worse than that… Listen, wanna party with us? We can show you the basics here and an extra pair of hands would be real useful.”

                It was an unexpectedly good proposal, he knew next to nothing and being in a party in the early stages would give him a boost. Though he never partied with anyone in Neverwhere it did sound like the fastest way for Divus to get on his feet.

                “Su-sure, I’d be glad for the help.”

                “Then let’s go!” Dash chirped, “I’ll just send the request.”

                A slightly translucent screen popped into existence before Divus, causing him to jump back slightly.

                Beauty let out a cute giggle, a sound far more fitting of her name than her actual features. “Don’t worry, those screens pop up whenever you need to do something in game, like accessing your inventory or character profile.”

You have been invited to Dash’s party. Accept? Yes / No

                “W-what do I do?”

                “Just say yes and you’ll join the party.” Dash explained.

               “Y-yes.” The blue disappeared and in the corner of his eye life bars with his new parties names on them popped up.

                “Come on, let’s head into the field!” Said Dash as he turned back towards the crowd he’d appeared from. Beauty quickly followed behind while Trevor fell in step with Divus. Hesitating just a brief second he started to push into the crowd behind them. While it seemed Dash was living up to his name and rushing things along he had no complaints, needing to get ahead quickly as well.

                Trevor started explaining the basics as they walked. Unlike Dash he was a bit more reserved but warmed up as they talked. “If you want to look at any particular screen, like quest logs or your character screen just say ‘Open stat screen’ and the window will pop up. The only real variation with other games is the inventory. Basically you’re stuck with what you can carry. We all start with a pouch on our belt, pull your knife out from there. ”

                Divus swiftly complied. There was indeed a small pouch on his belt, which he’d been too busy being bewildered earlier to notice. He opened it up and peered inside. Five small loaves of bread and a sheathed knife were all that it contained. Not having an inventory would be a huge pain… Divus wondered how you were meant to collect loot for a moment before quickly pulling out the knife and presented it to Trevor.

                “Put it on your belt, you equip items in this world just by wearing them.”

                As he did so Divus had a look around the street they were walking down. Thatched houses rose on either side of them while all manner of NPCs walked around. If it were not for the occasional fantastic creature, like an elf or dwarf, he could have easily believed he’d been sent back to medieval Europe. The street felt so alive as well, all the NPCs seemed to move with purpose and reason. At one point a window opened on the upper floor of a house and a woman emptied a bucket of night soil into the street.

                “Hard to believe it’s a game, isn’t it?” Dash spoke over his shoulder up ahead. “And this is just a mundane city; imagine what the more fantastical places will be like!”

                They continued walking, Beauty chatting to Dash and Trevor occasionally saying a word or two to Divus, until they finally came to the city gates. A wall that rose above the nearby houses stretched out either side to surround the entire city, or so Divus would presume. The guards barely spared them a glance as they advanced under the thick portcullis and through the towering oaken doors out into the country. Fields of crops sprawled out both sides of them and the road continued off into the horizon.

                Other parties of players, all decked in the same equipment as Divus and his comrades, were leaving the city too. Dash stopped up ahead slightly and turned to his team. “We’ll head back up to that forest over there,” he ordered, gesturing to a wood in the distance, “This time we’ll definitely kill enough rabbits to level up!”

                ‘Rabbits?’ Divus thought to himself as they headed off. ‘I thought it’d be something slightly tougher to have stumped them so thoroughly.’

***

About an hour prior to this, in the city of St Adelise, players also started appearing in the town’s centre. Among them was a man who looked to be in his late twenties. While the majority of the other starting players had thin or overly full figures and pasty skin, and most of the rest were just of normal stature, this man had an incredibly well toned body with tanned skin and sharp eyes. These eyes briefly scanned his fellow newbies before turning away in disinterest.

                While the other players tried to gather their bearings as more beams of light carrying more new arrivals appeared the man simply walked straight down the street, pausing briefly to ask an NPC how to leave the city. His nonplussed actions drew a small crowd; maybe he knew something extra about the game. With so little else to go on many people just ended up following him.

                He exited the city and swiftly headed into the wilderness, obviously looking to fight some monsters or wild beasts to level up. His followers equipped their own knives, ready to pounce on any rabbits they came upon. But the man ignored all the small animals, continuing to look around for something else.

                Suddenly a howl echoed through the small woods the players were in, and they tried to shy away back to the city. But the man became like a statue, even his breathing seemed to have ceased. Had he panicked, the onlookers wondered, was he frozen in fear?

                A wolf burst out of the trees towards them, although shabby and starved in appearance the players realised that the beast was far beyond their own level and scrambled to escape. However the man turned, slowly and deliberately, to face the wolf, a smile spreading across his lips. Hesitating for just a moment the wolf quickly bounded toward him. As it leapt at him, claws reaching for his face, he hopped backwards in time with it, his leg spinning around to connect with its snout. The beast whimpered and fell back but the man immediately pressed his advantage, lashing out with his knife with swift, controlled strokes. Unprepared for this onslaught of blows this wolf could do naught to defend itself and eventually fell from the dozens of cuts along its body.

                After the battle the man stared unhappily at his fallen foe and then at his knife, before continuing deeper into the forest. The onlookers were enamoured with his performance and sought to follow him or replicate it themselves. But those who fought the wolves died easily while those who pursued lost him in the forest. Eventually the ragged band returned despondently to the city.

                The man, whose character’s name was Beowulf, never did return after them.

***

Around the same time, in the High Elf city of Highriver, a single player was also causing a commotion. In the same way as with everywhere else the new arrivals were trying to get their bearings and establish how to proceed, but it was harder adapting than at the human cities. It was not the racial differences. While they had pointy ears now their faces were the same as ever, though there was still a certain novelty there. The main shock however was the city of Highriver itself. Built into the side of a cliff it had a few houses carved into the rock face that certainly captured the eye, however the most striking feature was the waterfall flowing through the middle of the main square. Huge volumes of clear water cascaded into the rest of the city below. Not only that, but a thick jungle encircled the upper city. Filled with exotic wildlife there were many sights that most players had never dreamed of seeing up close.

                As the players struggled to get to grips with the extraordinary place they found themselves in, one man stood before them. He had climbed atop a platform for public events and began a speech to the crowds below

                “Everyone, listen to me!” He called in a clear tone. With a face like a movie stars and a dashing figure he immediately drew the attention of all around him. “I do not doubt that all of us here are experienced gamers as only the best would be so eager to push into this new frontier. But hear me; I say there is no need for us to be rivals. You brave and daring warriors would make far mightier allies!” His bright and charismatic voice had now taken a hold of everyone in the square. “This new world is foreign to us all, surely many dangers wait at unknown corners and devious foes at each bend, so let us work together here in Highriver. We all saw it from on high, this world is vast and varied, there will be much to discover and plenty to share.  Let us, the High Elves, conquer it and take it for our own! While the other players fight among themselves for loot and levels let us work together and surpass all of them!”

                With the majority of the current players being shut-in gamers this encouraging and powerful orator was a fresh experience. A cheer rang out from the entire crowd which shook the city of Highriver. They could see it now. The other cities and races would be bickering among themselves while Highriver stood united and crushed them all. All of them could be part of the strongest faction in the continent.

                “We can easily accomplish this!” The young man continued, “As long as you follow me, the legendary Devil of Neverwhere!”