“You might like the Gahmkah or the Isca.”
“The Gahmkah are like lion-type men, right?”
“Yes, they’re strong and noble, you’d be great as a Gahmkah, for sure. The Isca are more magical than other races, if you’re into that it’s a good choice. They worship the Inca Gods of your world, which, some say were beings that discovered space travel before the Ningishzida, if that’s true they didn’t travel outside the universe, apparently.”
“You’re saying the pyramids and human sacrifice of those times were based upon some alien race showing up? Like all the primitive religions and the fantasy stories about it are all really based on actual events?”
“Yeah, sure, it seems likely to me. The Isca are more cunning than the Gahmkah, but not as powerful in straight-up melee battles; both would be good choices for you, Dale. What about you Private Smith?”
“Oh, I’m already a Sagittalian. I started beta testing before the draft, so I’ve been around a little longer than Dale. We’re the same level actually; it’s just that I had some issues to handle at home. Anyway, I like the Sagittalian. Straight tank. Destruction. Marauding. I like to break stuff.”
“How come you never told me this? You still haven’t told me why you were in the Nojus guild and why you have so many secrets?” Dale frowned at his friend.
“Sorry,” Smith said. “Part of the reason was non-disclosure shit. I was forbidden to do certain things to give myself an advantage in trials. It’s kind of that simple. I trust you now, and as we go forward, I won’t have a reason to keep secrets.”
“Alright. So what does a Sagittalian look like?”
Private Smith stood and took a few steps back from the lunch table.
He jumped and stomped the ground with both feet.
He became a giant ape, like a gorilla, but not hunched over. He had a humanoid face, but it was covered in fur. He wore leather and metal armor. The metal looked hand beaten and had a copper patina to it. The symbols on the armor looked as if they were Hindu and it seemed to Dale that there must be monkey gods represented. Smith carried a long sword that appeared to have an ivory handle with intricate patterns carved into it. He wore a helmet with short horns that were capped with silver spikes adorned with inlayed golden symbols. His leather bracers and other pieces of armor were all covered with short pointed spikes.
Smith let out a growl and bared his fangs, which were as big and deadly looking as the Sidheagin’s teeth. Next, he lifted his left arm, and spoke a phrase in a foreign language.
A small rain cloud appeared, and then his mount materialized in the mist and rain.
Smith’s mount was a zombie saber tooth tiger. It’s fangs were massive and made of metal that looked like titanium. Inside the skeleton flashes of lightning made different colors appear and the shadows from the beasts bones cast purplish black shadows. The beast growled like a tiger and walked straight to Dale and licked his face with its undead tongue.
The Sagittalian form of Smith spoke to the beast in a language that Dale couldn’t understand, and it curled up like a house cat at Dale’s feet.
Next, a battle pet appeared, a meerkat.
“Awesome pet,” Dale said.
Smith spoke again and returned to human form. The mount and pet dissolved in a flash of purple and blue light.
“Thanks, I figured you’d like him. He’s more of a scout than a tank. In battles, I use a different pet. I didn’t want to summon him here because he’s nearly impossible to control. It’s a crocaconda and, well, we’ve had a few accidents…”
...........................
“What the hell is all this commotion out here?” A lieutenant shouted.
Dale looked up; it was Lieutenant Brinkmann.
“Sir!” Dale said.
“Corporal Brown, are you responsible for all this showing off? Mounts and pets don’t belong in the mess hall.”
“Sorry, sir,” Private Smith said.
“Don’t do it again, the mess hall isn’t a fucking zoo! I’m hunting for a Sergeant Dyfrig?”
“Here, sir,” Dyfrig stood up. He saluted the officer.
“I was assigned to 3rd Platoon, I’m your new LT.”
Dyfrig put his hand out. “Nice to meet you, sir.”
The Lieutenant shook his hand and then looked at Dale. “You’re in my platoon, you and Smith. We have a lot to go over; our ship date is going to hit faster than you realize. I need you all in room 17-36 tomorrow at 0500 for briefings.”
“Sir!” Dyfrig said.
The LT left, and Dyfrig told Dale to meet him in the library in an hour so he could help him study the races, guilds, and classes.
“Can Smith come as well? I’d like his opinion.”
“Up to you, son.”
Dyfrig ate his last grub, stood, and walked off.
...........................
After Dyfrig was out of sight, the Sidheagin came to their table and sat. She was in her human avatar, and she smiled at Dale.
He couldn’t tell if she was flirting or not, but he smiled back.
“I’m Amy,” she said.
“Hi, I’m Dale, this is Jef—Private Smith. Or just Smith. Ummmmm, it’s nice to meet you.”
“So, you’re both in the 3rd?”
“Yeah, you?”
“3rd Platoon, boys, I’ll be right there watching your backs.”
“You’re an enchantress, too?”
“My personal guild is Druantia, yes. I’m a healer when I need to be, but I mostly enjoy destroying things.”
She and Dale talked for forty minutes. Time went so quickly that he was surprised when Private Smith stood and left them alone, saying that it was only twenty minutes before they were supposed to be in the library.
“So you don’t have your race or class picked yet?” she said.
“I haven’t picked those, or even my personal guild, although I’m sure on that, I’m going Nojus. Easy decision.”
“So you have your professional, and personal guild figured out, so it’s the two things. Well, just don’t pick Ningishzida, they’re a dirty race.”
“You seem so…”
“I’m not a racist. This is different. The lizards really did plunge us into war, and they eat bugs. You saw that yourself. Try not to become too close to your sergeant friend. You have to follow his orders; you have to fight with him. We’re in the same faction, fine. But you don’t have to actually like him.”
“He’s not so bad—”
“Lizards lie. They are like the Naphil. You can’t trust them. Sure, they may pretend to like you, but when personal objectives get into their sights, they’ll run you over. Trust me on this.”
“I’ll think about it. I’ve got to run. I’m off to the—”
“The library, I heard you. Just think about what I said. Let’s hang out again.”
She didn’t wait for an answer, she stood and walked away. She looked back once, briefly, and smiled.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
The ancients envisioned their world in two halves - masculine and feminine. Their gods and goddesses worked to keep a balance of power. Yin and Yang. When male and female were balanced, there was harmony in the world. When they were unbalanced there was chaos.
~ Dan Brown
Dale likes to make things complicated.
~Private Smith
...........................
Dale entered the library.
“Hey, Sergeant Dyfrig,” he said. Dale sat. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Sure.”
“We’re friends, right?”
“Sure.”
“Do you think the war is more important than your personal objectives and, you know, getting loot and stuff?”
“Sure, it’s the war that drives us. If we lose the war, what good is gold?”
“I’m confused again.”
“Dale, you’re always thinking too hard. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Hey,” Private Sm
ith said. “Sorry, I’m late. What’s the plan?”
“We need to help Dale figure out his shit,” Dyfrig said.
“Okay,” Smith said. “I’ll start explaining things; you stop me if you’ve heard enough.”
“Go,” Dale said.
...........................
“Let’s start with classes,” Smith said.
“Okay.”
“There are four categories with two classes each, for a total of eight. The main four categories are magic and tech, opposites, and political and mystery, also opposites of each other.
“In magic, you have the class Magisk and the class Sann. These two are opposites; Magisk specializes in spell casting, which are the destructive spells, chants, charms, and so forth. This is a good for DPS, obviously. The Sann class is about enchantments, the healing arts. Protection charms and healing in battles.
“The tech category, the opposite of magic, also has two opposites, Thorild and Edificios. The Thorild are the warriors and soldiers; they specialize in destroying things and killing. The Edificios are the craftsmen, they build, restore, create. You’re going to see an assassin in the Thorild. Someone that enjoys that really old game… The one people build stuff?”
“You mean, like one of those old world building games?” Dale asked.
“No, yes. It was a world where you mixed elements…”
“Minecraft,” Dyfrig said.
“Yeah, Minecraft. You’ve seen that?”
“Sure, all the awesome earth games got pirated.”
“I never knew.”
“It’s true. Not just games, when I was growing up we used to watch Star Trek and Star Wars and laugh at all the errors humans made.”
“I’m confused again,” Dale said. “Let’s go back to this Edificios class, is that class for people that want to build a zoo or something like a city?”
“Yes, of course, but remember, you’re in Unit 19, which gets its charter from Kartikeya, the warrior soldier guild, so they are going to pressure you to choose Thorild because the buffs and extras you get will help with the war effort.”
“Shit. It’s so confusing.”
“Remember, you can do all things, tank, DPS, heal, create, whatever, no matter what you choose. It’s just a lot easier, or harder, depending on your race and class.”
“I get that. I just don’t want to make a dumb choice.”
“I understand. Let me finish. The next set of classes are the Lysanderian and the Politicos, opposites. The first being the anarchist class and the second the government class. Not that many people choose these, but they are important. If you want to get into leadership in a guild, being a Politico is helpful. If you want to be a chaos creator or an assassin, then Lysanderian is better. The Politicos represent control; the anarchists represent freedom and liberty.”
“I’m a Lysanderian, by the way,” Dyfrig said.
“So, the last category,” Smith continued, “is the intellectual category, with Sepehr and Rigzin. The Sepehr class is a religious class. If you pick the Isca race, and you’re going to be worshipping the Inca gods, you’ll want to consider Sepehr as your class. The Rigzin represent philosophy. They are good in solving mysteries, which I suppose would help if you’re going to go on lore quests and want to work on overall war strategies.”
“Like if we should even be fighting this war?” Dale said.
“Don’t speak of such things here,” Dyfrig said. “You’ll gain unwanted attention if you start sounding like a Troth.”
Dale remained silent.
“Okay, Dale, those are the eight classes you need to consider, Magisk and Sann, the magic classes. Thorild and Edificios, the tech classes. Lysanderian and Politicos, the governmental classes. Then lastly, the intellectual classes, Sepehr and Rigzin. Got it?
“Sort of. I’ll have to think on this for a bit.” Dale wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. “Maybe you can talk more about the guilds; that will probably help me.”
...........................
“You’re going to have to study these things,” Sergeant Dyfrig said.
“I know, but maybe you and Smith can give me the basics? To, you know, get me started.”
“Alright,” Smith said, “There are twenty-one guilds. Each one supplies a certain level of help in the form of buffs, upgrades, bonuses, and other perks. I’m sure that it’s like something you’re already familiar with. The difference you have to remember is that you have a professional guild and a personal guild. Like all wars, this one has the potential to go on and on. So what you pick for your personal time is important too.”
“I’m going with Nojus, for sure,” Dale said.
“I thought so, I’ll give you a recommendation, if you want to join my guild,” Smith said.
“How big is it?”
“We have over six thousand.”
“That’s pretty awesome.”
“We have a coop for our guild, all first captures of any animal are given to the guild. We have plans to build a zoo someday.”
“Awesome.”
“So, there are quests you can go on when you aren’t engaged in warfare, for instance, a quest to hunt down a rare animal will get you loot, possibly even weapons drops, but most importantly, you’ll get XP for leveling and bonus XP by getting a rare animal into the guild collection. It’s something I do for fun, plus, I have a lot of battle pets and mounts, which I can share with you because we are bound.”
“Thanks. So, about the professional guild, I have to join Kartikeya?”
“Well, Unit 19 is a Kartikeya charter guild, so yes, technically, you have to join Kartikeya, but it’s not that simple.”
“God…” Dale sighed. “Okay, explain it to me.”
“Because we are going to war, the major divisions want lots of soldiers, so the Kartikeya guild is getting top heavy. Wars aren’t won by making everyone a tank and sending them into battle. So, there is an exception to the typical thing you’d expect. You can be in a unit, say Unit 19, that has it’s guild charter under Kartikeya, but you can join another guild. You have to get permission from both guilds. It’s not hard for someone as skilled and intelligent as you, so you need to consider the options.”
“Damn, this is really confusing sometimes.” Dale frowned.
“You’ll get it, Dale,” Dyfrig said. “Just think about the things you like to do and that you’re good at. Then choose accordingly.”
“Easy to say.”
“Well, let me finish telling you about the guilds. The Kartikeya is a warrior soldier guild, mostly concerned with army shit, as you might expect. They have subdivisions, and this is where it gets tricky. You can join a small guild within the guild, say of twenty or thirty people, who have the common desire to work on upgrading weapons in the war, say you want to work on figuring out bullets, for instance. You can be in a Kartikeya Guild unit, your platoon, but you can join the crafting guild Hephaestus and work on building XP towards intelligence, craftiness, invention, problem-solving, and then work on figuring out how to make guns.
“An important part of the war is advancing the tech that our faction has access to. You can join a guild that helps that advancement, like Hephaestus, or say the Ymir, which is a mining guild. The Ymir is mostly made of Sigtrygg, Draenen, and Kanawa, because all those races like to be underground, but anyone can join. You’ll get more XP bonus when in mines and dungeons and you’ll be more likely to get bigger loot drops when you battle underground. And so forth.
“The Hermes, Platus, Hesiodian, are more like the Nojus, in that they don’t directly do things that are for war and battle, but they are still important. The Hermes Guild is the merchant guild, they run the stores, the trading, and if you like that kind of stuff, you can accumulate a lot of wealth. The Platus Guild is the banking guild, they handle all transactions between coin and gold transfers, for instance—”
“Wait. You’re saying I can pay for victories?”
“Oh, no. Not at all. The Nagant Monks are genius creat
ors, you can only level up, and get more powerful shit, by earning it. That’s the only way. But you can get tons of flair and cool mounts and stuff, if you accumulate gold and Rhith Coins. The out-of-war things you can do are increased if you have more money. Basically, it’s for chasing women. Or men. Depending on your taste.” Smith lifted up his arms and smirked.
“Both if you’re a Ningishzida, we’re hermaphrodites,” Dyfrig added.
“I’m confused again. I had this experience. Captain Redding, at the…”
“Wo-hoo,” Smith said. He raised his hand for a high five.
Dale high-fived back, but he felt weird about it. “I don’t really know what happened.”
“Well, you better just keep quiet about it,” Dyfrig said. “She’s the captain of Bravo Company. Just keep your head down.”
“Alright,” Dale said.
“So,” Smith said, “let’s talk about the Naphil. They are a race that’s supposed to be something along the lines of an angel or spirit being and a human, but whether they are half-demon or half-angel, nobody knows. Maybe you’ll find out if you join them. This war has a million secrets. What I can tell you is that everyone believes that the Naphil are sneaky, untrustworthy, scary, and you need to watch your back when dealing with them.”
...........................
“Is that so, Private Smith?” Captain Redding had been listening.
Dale’s face reddened. He hadn’t seen her approach, neither had Smith, obviously.
“Sir!” Smith stood. “I’m just explaining basic Nagant literature; it’s in the books.”
“At ease, Smith,” she said. “I’m not here to bust your balls. I’m looking for Dyfrig.”
“Yes, sir!” The reptile stood at attention.
“Sergeant, follow me, we’ve got orders to move up the launch date. Smith, Brown, get your shit in order, we ship in three days. Dale, if I was you, I’d stay clear of the Naphil. Join the Sagittalian like your friend; we can always use another good tank. Or perhaps, you could go full-on destruction and join the Asakku.”
She laughed as she walked away with Dyfrig following right behind her.
Nagant Wars: A LitRPG Novel (Nagant Wars Series Book 1) Page 18
