The Winter Wizard: Integration [Dark Fantasy | LitRPG]

The words vanished and the bright light receded until he could make out his surroundings. The first thing Ethan noticed was the staff he firmly held in his hand, it was more an oversized stick than a properly made staff, still for now it was the only form of weapon he had available to him. The second thing he saw was the group of people that looked as confused as he felt.

On his left he saw two teens no older than 16 years old, a boy and a girl both looked confused but otherwise in a good mood, that was odd. This whole situation should be absolutely terrifying for everybody no matter how good one's nerves are.

Instead of panicking the boy looked at Ethan and gave him a big smile. The sword he had in his hand looked powerful, the blade was polished and some symbols were engraved in the middle of it, that groove was called a fuller if Ethan remembered correctly . Seems like one already picked a powerful weapon but the words of the old man were clear, powerful for Level 1.

The girl next to him looked like she picked the same class as Ethan, clad in a robe of rough fabric and holding a staff in her hands, hers had a red gem on top that swirled with hidden power. Did she also pick a specific weapon or was it part of her class? He was curious, after all his staff was…well a stick.

Ethan switched his gaze to the other group that was standing on his right, they were not what he expected. Tall men, their bodies muscular and broad, their heads were shaved and Ethan could see multiple large tattoos on their bodies. He didn't recognize them but their behavior told him what he needed to know, even to a socially awkward guy like him it was obvious.

They acted like animals that constantly needed to show aggression, muscles flexed under rough armor, sword hilts in a tight grip while their eyes wandered over Ethan and the two teens. They were careful and ready to strike. Ethan's guess was that they were prisoners or something similar. In the end it didn't matter, the only thing he wanted was to stay out of their way.

While they stared at him he noticed how quickly he averted his gaze, their whole demeanor and the aura they gave off made him feel small. Both sides looked uneasy, nobody knew what to do in this situation. This was after all not their world, the meaning of weak and strong wasn't the same anymore. Now you had a strong warrior that would be killed by a fireball straight to the face, a nimble archer could be captured with magic and be defeated easily by a swordsman. Mages were strong in attacks but weak to everything else, their HP especially low.

The situations became tense, the fear of the unknown, the loss of a standard was their first thing that happened. Why should the prisoner care if a policeman told him anything now? Instinctively Ethan took a step back and wanted to run away, it was the best chance at survival, he was a coward after all. But before he could bolt out of there a high pitched scream filled the clearing and made them press their hands over their ears.

One of the prisoners, a bull of a man that had arms like logs and hands the size of vices, stepped forward and once the scream stopped he addressed his fellow inmates. "Leave them, we don't need to babysit these kids, they're not our problem." The thick beard that covered most of his face jumped up and down while he ordered his fellow inmates around. The stance of the other prisoners changed instantly, it seems this man had total authority, something he must have earned a long time ago.

The group started walking towards the direction of the scream and Ethan exchanged a look with the teens, he nodded and tried to be the adult in this situation, with a smile on his face he approached them. "Hey, I'm Ethan, nice to meet you." The boy's smile returned and he offered a handshake. "Hey! I'm James and this is Marie." he pointed to the girl, Marie smiled too and they shook hands.

"So…I guess we follow them? To be honest I don't wanna stay here alone." Ethan nodded towards the group of men that already vanished in the trees. James and Marie nodded and the trio followed them into the forest. The trees were so close together, they formed almost a wall one had to push through, the prisoners took a different approach and hacked branches off to clear a path.

"I see you decided to go with equipment, a sword and…?" he raised an eyebrow and looked at Marie."I'm a fire mage of course! Throwing fireballs like in those games I play all the time, it sounds awesome, right?" Marie said proudly and raised her staff in the air. While she raves about fireballs James looks at Ethan. "Why did you go with mage? A knight is so much better! I told Marie all the time but she also picked it. ", he nodded to himself and smiled.

Ethan nodded, he already knew that nothing he said would be correct in the kid's eyes, he was one of those guys that wanted to fight with a sword it seems. Ethan shrugged and just said. "I think it's more my style." His gaze returned to the prisoners to make sure they were still in front of them. Their path was mostly straight and he could see them hacking away at more branches. Satisfied he was scanning his surroundings, the thick trees making it especially hard to see anything. While he walked or rather stumbled his way forward over the thick knotty roots that covered the forest floor he thought about his situation.

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While he played games in the past there should be no way for something like this to exist, floating screens filled with data and the ability to use magic and real monsters. What surprised him the most was how well he took it. The whole thing should be terrifying and make every normal person black out from panic but here he was, two kids, a handful of prisoners and him. His best guess was that the system had something to do with giving people a chance to adjust and even survive the tutorial, after all every normal person would freak out but he and his group took it rather well, maybe he should be grateful for the help because he wanted to live right? His head started to hurt for a second…yes..staying alive was his goal.

Before he could sink deeper into his own thoughts he heard the men up front laugh and the three of them quickened their steps and tried to see what was happening. The man with the beard held something in his hand. It looked like a human but in a darker shade of green. He decided to test his newest ability, [Identify], and it gave him the answer.

[Goblin Child - Level 1]

[Goblins are a humanoid race that live in large tribes and are extremely dangerous. They reproduce very quickly and are known for stealing women to ensure the population remains steady. Be cautious]

That can't be right. Ethan thought and shook his hand. Goblins were low level creatures in every game he played and every book he read. Physically weak and also dumb they run off at the first opportunity to save themselves.

The man holding the goblin child evaded its swiping attacks while he held it like a wet dog, his hands firmly placed on his neck. "Ha, look here, some tiny little creature and I thought this is going to be hard." He looked at the hissing child and shook it a few times. "I will do the honors, that beast looks vicious." He pulled his hand back, aimed at the tree trunk and without hesitation, his hand shot forward and slammed the small creature against the tree. The child hissing turned into screams as it tried to attack again, those tiny vicious claws on its hands and feet tried to scratch the man but he just grunted and pulled his arm back for a second strike.

Again and again he hit the child against the tree, Ethan choked when he saw one of his yellow eyes explode, its long nose was crushed flat against the face and it lost most of its teeth at this point. Blood dripped down its body and from the tree, pooling into a small puddle in front of the man. Then they all heard the cracking of its skull. Its arms and legs stopped flailing along and its body hung in the man's hand like a doll with its strings cut.

The man nodded and looked at the limp body he held in his hand, he turned to his group. The confident look on his face vanished in the next second as a new feeling overtook him, pain. Behind the man stood a goblin but not a child like before. He was around 4 feet tall, his skin dark green, almost black. The long nose came to a sharp point and was slightly curved down, reminding Ethan of a dagger. His mouth was filled with needle-like teeth, large black claws on each finger and toe made for natural weapons. His whole body was packed with muscles like you see on a runner, the only clothes he wore was a piece of fur to cover his modesty. The moment Ethan saw it he knew, this wasn't a game, this was real. Because that goblin was vicious.

It screamed at them, its claws hacking away at the stunned man, only when the smaller goblin pushed him to the ground did Ethan spot the dagger the goblin must have thrust into the man's back. Its claws raked at the man's back, the flimsy armor a warrior was equipped with offered little resistance.

Shocked, they stood there like an audience watching a horror movie. One of the prisoners broke out of his stupor and unsheathed the sword at his side. He hit the goblin with it like it was a club. It looked awkward, the untrained use of a sword did basically no real damage, the blade only hitting twice while he swung it around. Still he managed to kill the thing only because his first hit landed on the goblins head and made it dazed enough for the other wild swings to hit. Breathing heavily he tried to get the sword out of the corpse, the blade managed to get stuck in the goblin's shoulder.

With a war cry he pulled the sword out, lifting it in the air in some sort of warrior pose, then they heard the telltale sign of a crossbow getting shot and the man was hit square in the eye, the crude bolt exploded from the back of his head and sprayed two others with his blood and pieces of his brain, the gray matter hitting their faces and chest, dripping down their skin and armor, one of them got blinded when it managed to get into his eyes.

The next moment a horn sounded and they heard the screams, in front of them, behind them and to the right. So Ethan decided to act, something he almost never did in his whole life, taking the initiative instead of reacting. He pushed the two teens away from the bloody scene. "We need to run! Like, right now!" He grabbed his staff in a white knuckled grip and pulled the teens towards him. Even the prisoners listened and followed the group of three into the forest. Behind them the constant screaming of goblins, their horns announcing the hunt was on.