252 Chapter 252
Since the events at the Abyss, it has been a week and a half, 2 weeks into the third event. During this time there have been a lot of discoveries made by the players as they venture through the Portals entering the Glemt, the Reaper's territory. The most prominent discovery would be the location of the Reaper, himself. One of the top teams of Aqua, led by Helioc, ventured deep into the Glemt through the Portal that leads to the Courtyard.
They documented the journey and posted it on the forum, allowing others to reach the same destination, however, it only led to more player deaths. What they didn't include were the monsters that were defending the Reaper's Castle. In front of a large black castle shrouded in a black mist, were 2 monsters.
A Cerberus, with each of its three heads utilizing fire, ice, and lightning, and a Dullahan, dressed in pitch black armor with a cyan spectral head and cyan flames for a neck. The Dullahan also rode a jet black horse with flaming red eyes and scarlet flames for its mane and tail, with sparks of flames right above its hooves.
These two monsters were discovered after the Aqua released the path to the Reaper's castle. However, the most plausible situation is that Aqua was also unable to defeat the 2 monsters. Attempting to see who could defeat these monsters, they released the path to them.
Other discoveries included the vast variety of monsters, the environment of the Glemt, and the multitude of items obtained from fighting the monsters and from searching the area. That was the good news during the week and a half, there was also a lot of bad news for players.
After the Portals started to be overtaken by the players, more monsters pooled out of the ones that weren't, as the hordes of monsters slowly pushed back the players from the Glemt. Many player villages that were only able to barely defend against the initial waves of monsters were destroyed. Many players and NPCs were killed and lots of environments were overtaken by the Reaper's army.
For HavenFall, this week and a half have been very productive. Just looking at the progress in the main village, we were able to rescue another group of NPC humans as they ran from the dangers. These 15 humans were previously their village's militia and were trained in combat but most of them were blacksmiths or farmers.
Taking advantage of the new blood, old man Hus took the blacksmiths and worked them to the bone, making Evan create a second workshop to accommodate the increased workload. Old man Hus, was able to create 10 sets of bronze armor during this time, equipping the Hobgoblins that were at the frontline the most.
During this time, Evan claimed the Portal near HavenFall, calling it Portal to the Tower. Oscar and Rex found a large amount of copper ore near the Portal and started to transport them via the river. This was possible for them as they discovered how to create a simple raft, and then after unlocking the Sailing Technology, they were able to experiment and create a small rectangular floating device. Attaching a rope to the floating device, they were able to transport more copper than before upstream.
Lucina was also making sure of the recruits, expanding her medicinal garden and creating more potions. She transported a large amount to the Krepost, while also keeping a decent number at HavenFall. Various other potions were experimented with as she learned more from the farmers, as these farmers have used certain plants to treat certain situations. However, the seeds need to be found and then grown before any progress can be seen.
After Frank arrived at HavenFall, he started to take some of the goblins out on hunting trips for 12-18 hours a day, coming back with 1 or 2 hobgoblins. If Frank was lucky enough there would be a monster following behind him, however, at the end of the week and a half Frank was only able to obtain 5 monsters, 3 Pythons, 1 Giant Rat, and a Kobold. There was an increase of 17 hobgoblins in HavenFall, with some of them transferred to the Krepost along with the potions.
Gobi has been training the goblins during the whole process, having Noah manage the Ikanda and allowing hobgoblin after hobgoblin to go through. I was not sure if it was because the tasks were different inside the Ikanda or Gobi passed on some amazing advice to the hobgoblins who were leaving in 3 days after entering the Ikanda. A total of 3 hobgoblins were able to obtain the increased stat points and skill from the ikanda, making them stronger than their counterparts.
Stellar and Lynn were practicing their spells during the time, trying their best to understand magic and further their skills. The both of them sparred constantly, testing out new strategies as their proficiency in using the spells went up. With the help of the spars, they were able to understand their skills more and had a higher accuracy on spells that require attacking a moving target. Occasionally, they would help Lucina with some foraging as a way to relax and calm their mind.
Noah also had time to upgrade the walls of HavenFall, primarily creating 3 walls between the mine and HavenFall. These walls used large tree trunks, cut into thick strips of wood, cutting out only a small adult-sized portion to allow passage. Furthermore, there were several gaps in the wood as it entered the water, allowing water to pass through smoothly. He also solidified the wall towards the Plains, securing it with a stone barricade. The front wall was also upgraded, creating a taller wall as well as making it thicker and creating a wide moat.
On top of the wall were Robin and her apprentices, Rex's sister, and her friends. They were only working on their archery skills the whole time, being a lot better, however at the expense of other stats. They can hit moving targets easily and are capable of firing multiple shots at once in quick succession. Standing near them were a couple of skilled goblin archers, trained by Robin as well. There is also a small bundle of sticks and leaves on one end, as a method to signal an enemy invasion. The smoke signal was only used once to test out the capabilities, meeting a satisfactory result.
The defensive capabilities of the walls were also upgraded, the walls were all purely made out of stone cut from the canyon. Moving further down the canyon, past the tin mine, there is a small clearing to the right. After careful examination of the rock in this area, it was found to be only slightly weaker than golem stone, making it stronger than clay bricks. During this time frame, only the front gate was completed, completely showing off a grey color scheme from the front.
Offensively, HavenFall has improved greatly with the development of the Kris Blade, created by Lime. Similar to ancient Indonesian cold weapons, Lime used the leftover ore scraps from the copper to forge a wavy blade. This blade was the first of its kind, created when Lime was experimenting. The wavy edges were done unintentionally, as Lime fails to contain the melted metals, however, after cooling it was determined to be of use.
Experimenting with the blade, Lime lets Gobi attack a Jackalope with it. Seeing the blade enter the monster easily satisfies Lime, however, as Gobi retracts the blade, more blood and flesh was taken out. They were able to find out after a couple more experiments that the blade tears the flesh as it comes out of the body. Unfortunately for Lime, there wasn't enough material to create more and only 15 were produced. The blade has been worn on the side of the front line, ready to be used if their spears were broken.
Bows and arrows were also improved as the farmers advised on the type of trees to use for the bow and the shaft of the arrow. The wood was more flexible and retained the tension of the bow, resulting in a better product as the increased flexibility also increased the speed of the attacks. The arrow's shaft was also replaced, creating a more streamlined weapon. There was plenty of this type of wood, allowing Robin to collect a decent amount to make into arrows and bows.
HavenFall has been upgraded internally as well, as more houses were created to accommodate the increased population. Bricks were used to create pathways allowing for easier navigation and for the convenience of feeding everyone in this village, the dining hall was expanded and a secondary outdoor dining area was created. Evan overlooked this expansion as he waited for the food to be cooked.
With that, HavenFall's week-and-a-half update report ends here. Next is the Krepost, where there have been as many or maybe even more changes.