The first to reach them were the Skreels.

  Long, translucent skin over sharpened claws and with enough collective teeth that counting was impossible, the monsters were as terrifying as they were numerous. They moved among the spikes and drifted among the traps with the cunning well known in their species, even as their movements were janky and stilted at best.

  Archers took careful aim to conserve their ammunition. But unless it was a strike in the head, the monsters came on, wood and fletching bristling from their bodies.

  Standing to oppose them on the western side were a thousand defenders.

  People who fought not only to defend themselves, but to fight back against the creatures who had taken their world from them. Made up mostly of Tier 1 combatants, they stood ready with swords and spears, axes and maces, shields and the occasional staff.

  Then, as the monstrous charge came close, as dust and debris choked the air, the fight was on.

  Cass lost sight of Adya and Jimmy as his most hated creature in the world leaped over the defenses and right into his line of sight. Bella felt his intent and shifted her body.

  Before it could react, he swung his hatchet with a roar. The creature tilted, so as his blade cut across it, he only managed to take off the topmost part of the Skreel. While it wound up its body for an attack, the burgeoning growth of a powerful screech already starting, someone beside him plunged a spear into its chest.

  The Skreel fell, only to be replaced by another, though that wouldn’t last as Bella continued turning, her back-kick throwing the monster clear off the defense with a crunch.

  Another and another took their place.

  They fought as Skreels filled his vision and he tried so very hard not to think of Adya, or his eye, or where his family was at that moment. He fought while screaming, while silent, while a tear drifted from his one good eye over what was happening.

  Through it all, he fought. As seconds turned to minutes, which turned into a dozen more, they fought against the Skreels amongst a symphony of howls, pained yells, and screeches.

  He and Bella worked together as an unbelievable duo.

  When he needed to turn and shift, she was already doing it. When she sensed something behind him, his Battlefield Awareness, combined with their Bonded abilities, gave him a mental download of the environment.

  They turned with speed, her large body shifting the momentum of his swung axe until it was slashing through the attacker before it realized they’d moved.

  So far, they’d remained untouched.

  Then the Scroungers arrived. Many had died unseen to traps or leaped in the night, only to be bumped mid-air into a spike. But their numbers seem undiminished as they sowed chaos into the defender’s ranks.

  Skreels were large and easy to see, Scroungers far less so. And there were more, larger creatures, behind them.

  “Palehides!” A woman to his left yelled, just as a chirping monster leaped upon her chest, bearing her to the ground. A skreel appeared as if by a dark fate, following up the Scroungers' attack with a spiked hand through her skull.

  The lines began to falter as the set of monsters pushed beyond the defenders. Jimmy took care of both the creatures with his long knives before a Scrounger leaped onto his back. Cass cut it down and received a nod of thanks before the big man jumped toward two Skreels coming forth.

  With heightened reflexes, Cass used the backside of the hatchet to slap away a chirping nuisance as he took stock of the situation. This is untenable. We’re having this much trouble holding, and this is only the western-most line.

  Two Scroungers leaped in tandem for Bella’s back. Sensing what he wanted, she turned as he batted both away with his buckler.

  The south, the east, and whatever might be happening at the northern guild-wall can’t be much better. We placed defenses there, too, but there are simply too many, and our fighters are too inexperienced. It’s impossible.

  It seemed like his final plans weren’t going to work. He needed something new.

  There were a few options that flashed through his mind as his reflexes took over, his body becoming absorbed in the melee.

  The first was that they slowly withdrew to the Entrance Hall. Secondary defenses were there, but fitting everyone within the Guildhall at once was greatly pushing it. They’d be cramped, and several necessary supplies would be left out in the open.

  The forced retreat alone would kill many.

  He could organize a strike force to target Alphas. He hadn’t seen any yet, but they had to be out there. Then again, he’d never seen an Alpha actually lead the other monsters.

  It could be that there weren’t any leaders among them. He didn’t know.

  He was grasping at straws, and he knew it.

  In a moment of indecision where he didn’t know what to do, two Skreels and a Scrounger got past the spikes. One of them moved close enough that Bella took a long step back, opening another gap in the line.

  Adya promptly filled in for him, a gore-covered spear leading the way as she went for the lead Skreel first. “Cass, you’re not a combatant! You can’t die here. Get back to the Guildhall and help organize the retreat.”

  In several graceful movements, she took down the first Skreel, batted away the Scrounger, and began prodding at the second.

  When Adya saw him still sitting there, thinking everything over, she slapped his knee, and something flashed across his vision, pulling him out of his planning.

  “Go! Someone will fill in for you!”

  Jimmy dropped back and gave him a look.

  Cass understood what he was asking and shook his head, then motioned at Adya and the line. The big man gathered more than was intimated, wiped his ichor-covered blades on his pants, and stalked back to the line.

  It felt too close to cowardice for comfort, but a musky Bella and her rider soon passed through the Entrance Hall. He tried not to hear it, but the sounds of people fighting and dying behind him still called out to his soul.

  He knew what was bothering him: his Calling. Even after all this time, something didn’t feel right. What was the point of being a QuestWright if he needed special paper to do his damn job?

  Why did Hollis put him in charge over literally anyone else? An Administrator at that.

  Were they going to die because he didn’t listen to enough people? The right people?

  His frustration boiled over enough that he inadvertently yelled, “And where the hell are the Companies at the Red Tower!? Shouldn’t they have noticed by now that all the monsters are in Liora?”

  He never got the answers he needed when he needed them, and the few people who looked at his burned, slashed, and ichor-stained robe quickly looked away. His one good eye roamed over everyone with anger, but not at the people trying to survive, rather at the impossible situation they found themselves in.

  Moore saw him and waved him over.

  He took one glance at all the Skreel and Scrounger blood covering the duo, then handed him a rag and a bucket. There were already a few around the area, the water tinged an assortment of colors he didn’t want to think about.

  Cass did as he was told long ago; he took care of his horse first. After wiping her down, he went and got fresh water, scrubbing the bucket with a piece of metal wool sitting nearby, then started on himself. As he was rubbing the back of his neck, he looked over and spotted the two guards still standing over the red Vellum.

  A flaky piece of gore fell out of his hair during a scrubbing, and amidst his disgust, he remembered that he’d finally transferred his experience over to Adya. There should have been quite a sum left over for him.

  It seemed wrong to look, but just maybe, he’d find something that would help.

  The screen pulled up, then locked in place. A huge amount of experience rifled through his screen as he received temporary credit for all the monsters currently being killed just outside of the Guildhall.

  Anyone with a long enough timer or fulfilling a duty was siphoning experience to him in such numbers that the list seemed never-ending. Even the smallest amount filtered through, several 1xp gained notifications flying past his eyes.

  It was enough that he’d reached Level 10 without even knowing it.

  [System Record- Subject: Cassio Vale]

  Status: Apprentice QuestWright

  Age: 18

  Level: 10

  [QUESTWRIGHT TIER UPGRADE UNLOCKED]

  QuestWright Cassio Vale of Liora.

  You have chosen to become a symbol of hope for your people.

  Under terrible circumstances, you have carried your office with honor and wisdom beyond your years.

  You are a leader who sees beyond the veil of ignorance and genuinely cares for those around you.

  The System hereby records and recognizes your deeds.

  Where others despair and fall, you rise to the occasion. The System watches…and rewards.

  —

  First gate unlocked

  QuestWright Tier II Threshold reached

  Upgrade route superseded by Cassio Vale’s inability to accept System Quests.

  Adjusting…

  Analyzing prior path integration

  Logistics: Unlocked

  Inspection: Unlocked

  Survivor: Unlocked

  Stalwart Way integrated: Confirmed

  Tempered Way integrated: Confirmed

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  Bonded path sync: Active

  Contracted path sync: Active

  Prescribed conditions met for multiple options:

  Processing…

  …

  …

  Option 1: Universal QuestWright

  Unlocked by:

  Assigning over 1,000 Quests before reaching level 10

  Unlocking all Common and Uncommon Quest types

  Assign Quests to over 100 different Questors

  Automatically gain the Printing ability:

  Printing: Once per day, you can create fifty Quests at once using pre-built outlines

  Upgradeable

  Option 2: Battle QuestWright

  Unlocked by:

  Obtaining the Tactician path

  Engaging in combat and slaying at least 10 system-registered monsters

  Leading a group to victory against superior numbers

  Automatically gain the Tactical Overlay ability

  Tactical Overlay: Projects a tactical grid using the Battlefield Memory ability as a basis for all terrain and engagements.

  Option 3: Durable QuestWright

  Obtaining the Unique-Survivor path

  Surviving two different poisons and two major wounds

  Used Quests tactically under pressure, leveraging pain as clarity

  Upgraded Stalwart Recovery: Automatically gain an upgrade to the Stalwart passive ability, increasing its limits to repair damaged body parts and organs.

  “Shit,” Cass said under his breath as he looked at the three options. Each had its own positives. The first would make him like Hollis, assuming that’s the same ability. It would let him mass-produce Quests. It made him briefly wonder if his eye would glow like the Guild Master’s did the few times he’d seen him use it.

  The second would make him a heck of a commander. Look at a battlefield, then assign Quests using the terrain pre-built from his memory? If he stacked that with Profile, he could lead entire armies. He could take the fight out into the wild, moving from place to place as battle was inevitably joined, pushing new zones of freedom for humanity.

  As for the third, that seemed a little on the nose. He just lost an eye, and the System was throwing an increase to his favorite passive, the ability to heal rapidly. Enough to fix his vision? Maybe. Probably, even. Otherwise, why offer it now of all times?

  It could fix his scars, too. He would regain his full vision, repairing a disability that would last a lifetime unless he was fortunate enough to find someone who could fix it for him. He wouldn’t need to be singularly ocular. But no.

  None of those three would really solve their problem here. Everyone was still going to die, and even though it shouldn’t fall on his shoulders, to a large degree, it did. So when the prompt appeared asking him to make his choice, Cass said something else.

  “No.”

  The prompt continued to sit in front of him, but Cass would not be denied. “I said no, I don’t want any of these.”

  It still didn’t react, keeping his vision locked into what the System felt he deserved. So he threw his hands in the air and tried yelling at it, unwilling to care about how he looked. He was sure that, with his arms up, screaming at the sky, everyone in the guildhall thought he’d lost his marbles, but this wasn’t the time for things like that to matter.

  These may be his options, but only right now. He needed something better. Different. Something that gave Liora a chance.

  Cass well understood that it was egotistical to believe that, after his plans had fallen apart with the monster parade, he could still affect the battlefield. But he wouldn’t be denied. He was Cassio Vale. He’d chosen to become the beacon of hope in Liora. He’d chosen, as the System itself recognized, to be a leader who cared for his people.

  This was not enough.

  So, he cursed the sky for its unwillingness to grant necessary concessions. And as he did so, tripping every so often without grace, he moved closer to something that the system didn’t like.

  The lock on the screen became fuzzy as he moved in a particular direction, and with the only change he’d seen yet presenting itself, he continued to move that way.

  The System didn’t like it.

  Warning: Corrupted item nearby

  “So what! It’s just sitting there, like me, waiting for something to happen. I will not choose an ability that doesn’t help us! I will not strand my people with a Guild Master who cannot save them!”

  The screen’s lock failed for a moment, the world slowly coming back to his eyes, before reasserting itself with vigor. Finally, he felt the attention of something he didn’t fully understand.

  Cassio Vale of Liora, are you refusing these options that you have earned?

  “None of those options will do anything for me right now. You want me to pick an upgrade, then die anyway? Or, even if I take the third option, and I somehow survive because of my Unique path, then what’s the point of living? Everyone else is dead. I’d be wandering the wilds, looking for food and hoping not to be the next meal for whatever monster out there has my number. No.”

  Processing…

  The options present fit the unlocked paths and actions of your journey through the first Tier. They satisfy the QuestWright requirement for upgrading following the System-designed paradigm.

  If you do not choose an option, one will be forced upon you.

  “Then give me something that I can use! I need the tool that lets me act. Not later, but now. Right now. I don’t need fifty Quests handed out at once. I don’t need the tactical grid or special healing magic. Fuck my eye!”

  He paused, and when the System didn’t respond, spoke softly, “I need an instrument of change that will allow me to rewrite our future. I’m a QuestWright who can’t write Quests. Please, help me out here.”

  When it still didn’t respond, he tried a different tactic, “Look, from what I can understand, you’re designed to help us destroy the monsters. As far as I know, you’re on our side. So help me out. Help me control this situation. Help me kill the monsters, so the humans will live. I don’t have any Vellums and I’m shit out of luck on numbers, but if you can throw something at me that will help me, help us, get through this bloody hurdle, I won’t forget it.”

  Compensation is required for all Callings completing the first gate.

  Any changes must still fit within your Calling. QuestWright is an Administrative assignment at its core. Full divergence without achievement is not allowed.

  The request you are making can be obtained. However, it does not come cheaply, Cassio Vale of Liora. There will be a price.

  A compromise will be required to achieve compensatory gains.

  Cass smiled, though he wasn’t sure if the System could see that, “To save everyone I care about? I’ll pay the price, happily. What’s the compromise?”

  A corrupted object is currently within your immediate vicinity. If left untouched, it will create a cascading problem for your world.

  For you to gain an alteration to the first gate, a System geas will be required of you. You must promise that any and all corrupted objects will be nullified should you chance upon them.

  “How am I supposed to do that?”

  The System will provide the means for you.

  Is the compromise acceptable?

  “If you’ll help me now, yes, absolutely.”

  Agreement met.

  Change approved. Upgrade selected.

  Processing…

  Cass held his breath.

  Final step required.

  The System watches…and rewards.

  The screen blinked out, then the Reputation screen took over. Bella’s brown, Liora’s flimsy green that had stacked itself up when he became the Guild Master Pro Tempore.

  And right in the center, the silver blocks that made up his System Reputation.

  Several crumbling bricks were near the top, his failures from recalling everyone from the gates, but he didn’t mind. Save some lives, lose some reputation. When all’s said and done, that’s fair.

  But then, something new happened. Though he was there in spirit rather than body, he felt something grip him, pulling his gestalt form right to the silver tower. Rather than stop, he was slammed face-first into the bricks. It didn’t hurt, but it was shocking.

  Dick move, System.

  As he pushed himself away, his eyes noticed something radiant just beyond the tower. Something that hadn’t shown itself in the distance.

  It started as a flicker, but soon enough it was all too bright. So incandescent that it shone through the wall he was leaning upon. He tried to move himself and get a better look, but his hand slipped.

  There was a weak brick making up the portion he’d been brought to. Instantly, one Quest came to mind, the first he’d ever failed.

  Johnny.

  There was a crack running through it, the weakness inherent in all failed Quests. He looked up, and aside from those sliding off the precipice above and beyond reach, this was the only weakness in the wall.

  He stared at it for a heartbeat, remembering the young man’s body he had once tripped over. His hand roamed across it, feeling the last act of a young man whom he’d only known for a moment, but would stay with him for a lifetime.

  Then, his hand curled into a fist.

  The first punch deepened the crack in the wall. A second strike followed, then a third. By the fourth, he was able to slide his hand through as if it had been hollow all along. The strengthened bricks from his Quest webs held the tower lofty and high as Cass went digging for his city’s only hope.

  Light streamed out, illuminating the area. It shifted from silver, like a vellum’s glow, to the gold of an accepted Quest, before it transformed to several hues he couldn’t name. As he reached further, his arm meeting its maximum length, his hand grasped something heavy. Something sturdy in a place where it shouldn’t exist.

  With great effort, he pulled it out and glimpsed his city's salvation.

  Inside his palm rested a long, narrow cylinder with a feathered top. The tip of it was sharp enough to cut, and as he looked, it glowed a white so bright it blinded him for a long moment. Then, the System’s text dropped down in front of him, aggressively close to his face.

  Ability Gained: Airscript Quill

  You may now write Quests without the need for materials, and can modify the Quests of others.

  Each usage costs significant Stamina and System Reputation.

  Use it wisely, Cassio Vale of Liora.

  Cass felt himself unceremoniously thrown out of the Reputation screen, even as new notifications streamed in.

  Rare Quests may now be chosen:

  Status updated:

  QuestWright Cassio Vale:

  Region: Liora- LIA

  Callsign: CV

  Calling recognition upgraded: Apprentice -> Junior

  Automatically assigning new Rare quest type: (DU) Dungeon

  New recognition status: Junior

  The System has increased your maximum Quest rate.

  New maximum daily Quest rate: 150

  You may assign one rare Quest per day

  New weekly Quest quota: 300

  -Rare QUEST TYPES-

  Rare Quest types unlock naturally through exploration. Continue on your path to discover more.

  Your title [Rapid Riser] has upgraded to [Experiential Driver]

  Upgrade unlocked for reaching Level 10 in less than 3 months of receiving your Calling

  +20 bonus experience granted for every five completed Quests

  Upgradeable

  Note: Modified per Calling

  Warning: You’ve accepted a compromise with the System. Any and all corrupted objects that you locate must be fixed or destroyed.

  Cass blinked twice, as if to dim the brightness from the System Reputation screen, but it was early evening. Wanting to see if the System was just making things up, he instinctively understood how to call upon the Quill.

  Raising his hand in the air, he called out not with a voice, but with his will. In the palm of his hand, a glow formed, searing white and lighting up the pervasive darkness.

  It was a stylus of living light, sharp as his will and shaped by a powerful belief that he could keep his people alive.

  Cass grasped it without thinking.

  Moore, breathless, looked at him with a strange expression of half fear, half awe as Bella snorted behind him. “What did you just do?”

  Cass stood, new quill in one hand, his other clutching the now-empty satchel that had once held his final Quest. He took a step toward the red vellum.

  [SYSTEM NOTICE]

  Corrupted object nearby (Vellum)

  “I found my priorities, Mr. Moore.”