Lord of Ragnarok

Chapter 1: New beginnings

It was a blast, seriously it was the most fun I ever had. Ragnarok, the MMORPG created to fully use the VR experience, was the most advanced of its kind. Now after five years the Lutum Servers were going to be shut down.

Sitting in the conference room I look at the avatar across from me. The both of us were part of one of the strongest guilds in Ragnarok. The Equestrian Lords, a guild that had two major qualifications to join. The first was that playable characters had to be Equis, or also known as the horse race, and the second was that they had to be fans of My Little Pony Friendship is Magic.

"How's it going Cosmic?"

The winged Equis shrugged, "I'm a tired man. I've been working non-stop for the last two weeks. Plus my girlfriend and I just had a baby."

He sighed, "sorry, I didn't come here to complain."

I gave him a nod, "It's alright. I understand. After all, That's quite a bit that's going on."

He gave a tired nod, "It is. I'm glad to see that Temple still stands. With the servers shutting down I honestly expected to come back to find it completely gone. I would have never thought that any of us would have stayed long enough to keep it going. Guild leader suited you," he said before a yawn escaped him, "I'm sorry my friend, but I've got to log off. I've got to go in early tomorrow. We're going to have to meet sometime in real life." With that he disappeared. I watched for a moment, and felt my shoulders slump.

"Maybe you don't have to go, we could stay, talk about old campaigns, maybe catch up some more?" I closed my eyes and without thinking I stretched out my hand causing the dark forces I commanded to release upon a statue. It crumbled to dust, and I sighed as I grasped a golden casting staff.

The staff itself was a tribute to the guild and to the Temple. Together we worked to grind for the materials for it. Each gem set inside of the rod contained god level magic, each color identified the elemental magic itself. The golden gem was for all Earth Magic, the Red Gem fire, the blue gem was water, and the white diamond was for the very air. Other gems were imbedded into the staff as well. Six purple gems, seated into the eyes of three miniature skulls channeled my ability to raise the dead.

I stood, as the very last member of the Temple of Celestia Sol, Equis Goddess of the Sun, and I was well beyond the limits of most players. I had reached the highest levels, and at this point my being in the game was mainly keeping the temple in repair. We had worked so hard at it, and done so much for it, that I simply couldn't let it disappear into nothing. I walked out of the room and saw a winged Equis. She was cyan, her rainbow mane cut in a military fashion, and I gave a smile. She didn't smile back, she really didn't react to me at all. I suppose that was one of the drawbacks to Ragnarok. They poured so much into the game that unless the character was quest giving NPC they didn't really have expressions.

"Rainbow… Ugh, what was the command? Come with me, I think that's it."

With that she began to follow me, the sound of her light armor rustling around her light frame echoed through the temple. Sombra the Magnificent had spent days creating her. Setting every single setting inside of her to match her counterpart on the show. As a joke he had set her to have a crush on me, and since I had maxed out my charisma points it meant that if I wasn't careful when I spoke to her it could lead to a relationship. That was something we made as a rule.

Of course part of our rules in the temple was that we could have a relationship with the NPCs, but only if their creator gave permission. Of course as a joke it was stated that if the NPCs were fine with it, and consented, then we were allowed to partake of a relationship as well. As I walked I saw others in the Temple. All of our NPCs were Demi humans, most were Equis, but there were exceptions. One of which stood before me. To an unsuspecting eye she looked human, but it would be a mistake to believe her as such.

She was red headed, her eyes an emerald green, and her demure smile hid the fangs that could extend at a moment's notice. Lala was a Lamia, a snake woman, and while she wasn't one of the Six favorites she was in fact one of the main lines of defense for the temple. As I recalled she also was the governess that was over the servants. I looked behind her and saw the eight maids standing at attention. Each of them had been painstakingly created, and each a different subspecies of monster. There was Myra the Slime, Natasha the Harpy, Rikka the Arachnid, Angelia the Succubus, Siliva the Dullahan, Stephine the Vampire, Lydia the Ghoul, and Maxine the Fae.

I groaned at the poor joke. Trixieisagoddess had been something of a Twilight fanatic, and she had specifically created Stephine as a tribute to the God awful vampire series. At least she had listened and made her as a more traditional vampire. I studied them for a moment.

"Come with me," I said and led them with me to the throne room.

I walked into the throne room and saw the Purple winged Unicorn Equis standing there. A book was in her hands, it was opened, and she appeared to be reading and writing in it. That was the default animation for her, although I thought that it felt that it suited her personality fine. I neared her and took a seat. I studied her face, as she continued to read and write, appearing to be so lost in her studies that she wasn't paying attention to the world around her.

As she held the book I opened the settings for her. Thousands of lines were there, and it was set up like an old Dungeons and Dragons character sheet. But then again, Doughnut Steel had been the one to create her. Like myself he had been something of a setting nut, and he was really into Dungeons and Dragons. He had basically created her to match her counterpart's personality, but with a small difference. There, toward the bottom, was his final bit of setting.

"She's completely stuck up? Really Doughnut?" I sighed as I looked at it. Normally I would need to have my administrative account open to change anything, but with the staff I could override it easily. I hoped that he wouldn't mind me changing this. I removed the last line, and I rubbed my chin.

"Let's see… She's fallen in love with Mannulus," I wrote before I shook my head, "God I'm such a geek."

Looking out at the flags in the distance I studied them. The inner circle, Mannulus, Trixieisagoddess, Sombra the Maginificent, L0rd0f7hunder, Clopmaniac, Mistress Marevelous, Cosmic Light, and Lightingsword, of the inner circle I was all that was left, and soon the world I loved would be gone. I looked at the counter, a minute was left, and then it would be gone.

I sighed, It had been fun, no, it had been a blast, and soon it would be gone. I suppose after it shuts down I need to log out. I've got a full day of dealing with customers that don't know how to deal with anything they bought. The timer counted down, and then nothing. The temple stood before me, nothing had changed, and yet I was still here.

Part of me wondered if that meant that the shutdown had been pushed back. Maybe there had been a surge of players, and they decided to see if it could drum up enough activity to keep them up a little longer?

"Settings!"

Nothing happened. I couldn't log out. Something was truly wrong if I couldn't log out. I held my palm out, and my keyboard didn't appear. I closed my eyes.

"Call DM."

Nothing happened. There was no Dungeon Master was on call. I saw Twilight, Doughnut Steel's NPC looked at me, "Sire, I do not know the spell you cast, but it appears to not have worked, is there something wrong?"

That was certainly wrong. The NPCs didn't talk in Ragnarok, and they certainly didn't sound like the voice actors that voiced the characters they were based on.

"Perhaps, but perhaps not, I believe we are no longer on Ragnarok," I looked at Lala and her maids.

"Lala, check the perimeter around the temple. Ensure our location, and report back once you have finished."

She bowed, "It shall be done my lord," and with that she slithered away.

I watched as she left, and I could see the rattlesnake tail of hers. The pink scales had been a touch done by Cosmic. He had basically made her to be a viper woman, but as I recalled he made her to be a fair and obedient servant. As she left I looked at the maids, and then at Twilight herself.

"Twilight, gather the other guardians, have them meet us on the fifth floor."

She bowed, "Of course, my love," she said before she teleported.

"Love?!" I looked to see Rainbow. Her rose colored eyes flashing with anger, "She knows that I love you!"

I sighed, at that moment I could strangle Sombra. Although it was obviously a joke what he had done when creating her had made Rainbow consider herself to be the main contender in becoming my mate. Of course it was a crush, but then that crush could easily turn into something else. I held my hand up, causing her to stop.

"Rainbow, this is not the time," I said as I rose, "all of you, report to the fifth floor, Rainbow, come with me."

She bowed, "Of course," she said as she fell in step behind me. I heard her breathing, her light steps, and it occurred to me how quietly she was able to move. Sombra had done well in making her. She was quiet, quick, nimble, and honestly while I was never really into petite girls she was quite beautiful.

I shook my head. My avatar, Mannulus, was a powerful necromancer. His body was scarred, runes burned into his skin, an eye had been destroyed and replaced with a powerful gem. It was one that L0rd0f7hunder and I had crafted it especially. The gem was able to redirect all magical attacks back at the caster who cast them first. It would work against all magic up to World Tier magic. Safe to say it would be on par with god and goddess magic.

It would work as a real eye, and even at this moment I realized how well it worked. It did more than simply allow me to see fully, but it also allowed me to see magical auras. Rainbow had an aura for certain, but her own magic was centered in attack skills. She could enhance her strength, fly, and increase her speed to the point only the most powerful beings could see her.

Our walk finally led us to the doors to the fifth floor. I opened them and there I could see a sight I had never expected to see. She was facing away from me, her body bare, the light overhead cast a heavenly glow upon her, and she stood proudly. The sound of her was soothing as she talked to a huge hydra. Beside her was a Vorpal Bunny. I couldn't remember if it was L0rd0f7hunder or LighteningSword that had created the bunny and named it Angel. The Vorpal Bunny seemed to stay protectively toward her.

"Be still Angel, Fluttershy, the others are coming," I said.

I heard a soft meep of surprise, "Of course, Sire. Shall I have a moment to dress Lord Mannulus?" she quietly asked.

I nodded, "Of course, take a moment."

She fluttered toward the cottage, and disappeared into it. I watched the hydra, a beast that was easily a level sixty enemy. No near as powerful as any of the guardians, but certainly powerful enough for any mid level adventure that happened to wander into the temple itself. After a moment she reappeared wearing a white chiton. It flowed seamlessly around her. Fitting her like a second skin, and I shook my head. In many ways she was innocent, and I wasn't enough of a bastard to take that from her.

"Sire, I am honored that you are visiting my domain," she said quietly.

I saw Rainbow studying her, "Yeah, well your floor is one of the few that is neutral."

I glanced at Rainbow, and while she stood proudly I could see her swallow.

"Rainbow is correct, the neutrality of your floor was the reason for its choice. As you know the six floor is pure chaos, and as such Twilight would be unable to withstand the attack on her senses."

Fluttershy giggled, "But Pinkie's floor is actually interesting."

Moments later Twilight appeared. Her hair frazzled, her eyes wild, and her soft blue and purple dress ripped in places. She shook as if something truly terrible had assaulted her, and then seeing me she ran toward me. Her eyes focused on me, and without a word she threw herself into my arms. I felt her shutter as she stood there.

"Cake shouldn't be able to do that!"

Rainbow practically growled, but I held up my hand, "Twilight, what happened?"

My answer came with maniacal laughter as Pinkie appeared. She moved toward me, her soft blue dress barely holding the generous proportions that she was designed with. She jiggled as she neared me, "My lord, I'm afraid that I might have let my new creation out of the oven too early, and poor Twilight was unfortunately there to witness it."

Twilight shuttered, "Cake shouldn't be able to do that!"

Pinkie giggled again, "True, but now it can. My lord, I created a new trap, it was meant to be a special cake that would never dry out, but now it is a double chocolate fudge violator slime," she smiled, "I am sorry that Twilight tested it out first, but at least we know that it works."

"What in tarnation are y'all going on about? Lord Mannulus, Ah have come like ya ordered," Applejack said as she knelt.

I gave her a nod, "Very well, Welcome Applejack, tell me, how has food production been?"

She rose to her feet, unlike the others they were bare. They were shaped like traditional feet, with the difference being the single toe that had a hoof covering it. She looked toward Rainbow and gave her a smug grin, "It's goin' as well as Ya could expect. We have plenty of apples, animals, and the such."

"And our livestock?" I asked.

"E'ery creature worth their meat is well cared fer and fattenin' up nicely," Applejack stated, "we're all set fer winter, when it comes."

"I really wish you wouldn't treat the cows and pigs like that," Fluttershy said, "I know we need the beef and pork for most of the temple's guardians and other floor creatures, but they are sentient creatures."

If Applejack took offense I didn't see it. Instead she merely looked at Fluttershy and shrugged her shoulders, "Ah get how y'all feel, but ya best get over it purty soon. Some of the folks livin' here ain't got a choice. Vegetables, any of 'em, wouldn't pass fer food. In fact some of the maids themselves will get right sick if'n they so much as taste an apple. Sides, it's either we keep a good stock of food fer 'em, or they go and hunt down every village within ten miles of the temple."

A purple flash erupted and I saw an alabaster unicorn equis appear. She shook her head, the purple locks flowing freely, and she walked toward us. Her dress, a soft crimson number that covered her chest, stomach, and legs was more than for appearances. I knew that Clopmaniac had created it to be a light suit of armor.

"Sire, I come bringing news that Lulamoon, Luna, and Solar Flare will be here as shortly as possible."

I nodded her to her, and within a few minutes the floor became as black as night itself. A single star appeared overhead, and then hundreds more appeared. A large moon brightened the entire area, and I watched as the dark blue winged unicorn Equis landed near us. Her purple chiton hung on her frame beautifully, and she took a bow, before walking toward me.

"Lord Mannulus, I bring thee great tidings," she said.

I nodded, "Thank you Luna, we need only for your sister to join us."

My words were answered by the sound of hooves stepping behind me, the sky turning into an unforgivable bright summer day, and then two arms wrapping around me. I felt the body lean against me, and warm breath tickled my neck.

"You summoned me, Milord?" Solar Flare cooed, "you know I would do anything for your favor, milord."

"Becalm thy teats, Sister," Luna growled, "thou art making a spectacle of thyself."

"So what if I do?" Solar Flare asked, "it's not like you don't drop everything you're doing when Master summons you."

"THAT IS NOT THE POINT!" Luna roars, then calmly, "the point is that Our Lord has need of us. We are Guardians of the Temple. We should and must conduct ourselves with aplomb and- professionalism."

"And how professional is that shrine to Lord Mannulus that you maintain in your keep, Sister?"

"HOW DOST THOU KNOW ABOUT THAT?!"

I listened to them arguing, and honestly it took me back. Mistress Marevelous and Sombra the Magnificent had created them both. Not everyone knew, but they had both confided in me that they were siblings. Mistress Marevelous was Sombra's younger sister. Of course she had decided to create Solar Flare, and she did so using a ton of fan sourced material based on the counterpart for Solar. Sombra had gone far more traditional and created Luna more directly from her counterpart, using only a few basic ideas from fan sources. It would appear that they had made them exactly like sisters.

"Thou hast no right to enter into my domain! We, I, Do not trespass upon your domain!" Luna shouted.

I felt the area around me gain in temperature. It almost felt as if I was standing next to a roaring fire, and I felt those arms squeeze me tighter.

"That's because you know that I would beat you senseless, sister, and if you shout at me again I will personally see how much of my hooved foot will fit into your ass."

I knew that I had to settle things. Mistress Marevelous and Sombra would get into fights like this, and then one, or both of them, would be offline for days, sometimes weeks before they came back. Luna and Solar didn't have the ability to disappear, and I didn't want a fight to destroy the temple.

"Settle, both of you."

I felt Solar Flare hug me tighter for a moment, and then she released, of course her hug had, unintentionally, also been with Twilight who had simply refused to leave me. I waited for a moment, pressed my finger to my head, and decided to see if this would work.

"Message."

There was nothing for a moment, and then I heard Lala's voice in my head.

"Sire?"

"Lala, what have you found?"

Everyone looked at me, almost as if I was talking to myself, which I understood that it appeared to be so.

"There is much to report. Do you wish for me to do so here, or would you rather I do it in person?"

"Please, come and do it in person. We are on the fifth floor. I wish for you to fill me in completely."

"Of course Sire, I shall be there shortly."

I looked at the guardians around me, "Lala is coming, and she is going to report on her findings."

There were various nods, and a few moments later Lala slithered into the room. Her long rattlesnake tail was quite lovely as she coiled herself into a sitting position. I took notice of her dress, black, with white accents, done in a Victorian style. Cosmic had made it like Rarity's, in truth it was armor, but inside of it was dozens of throwing knives, each tipped with her own venom. Deadly to any mid to low level foe, and damaging to many others.

"Sire, we are not on Ragnarok. Instead the Temple appears to be located in a grassland area. There is nothing else directly around us, however, I did go far enough out, about twenty miles, an found a village. It appears to be comprised of humans and demi humans. Mostly Dark Elves, a few Dwarfs, and humans."

I nodded, "do any of them pose any danger to the Temple?"

She shook her head, "No Sire, though the Dark Elves and Dwarfs appear to have some higher strength, none of them are warriors. Instead it appears to be a community of farmers."

I nodded, "Very well, then the first order of business should be to conceal our home. We must think of a way to hide in the open, as it were."

Everyone seemed uncertain of what to do until Applejack shook her head, "Lord Mannulus, It seems ta me that the easiest answer would be to cover the temple with either earth or surround it with woods. Either can be done, and if ya want woods, we can transplant some of the trees outside and just make them duplicate until they surround the temple itself."

I heard her growl, and before I could say a word Rainbow rushed toward Applejack, putting her muzzle against hers.

"You want to cover our home with dirt or put it in the middle of damned forest?! This isn't some hick shrine! It's the great Temple of Celestia Sol! It's the home to the supreme beings! Home to Lord Mannulus, and to each of our creators! How can you be so fucking stupid?!"

"Rainbow, be still, Applejack, it is a suitable idea, but I would rather not cover the temple with dirt. Instead, transplant several trees, and grow a forest. If it is done well enough I'm certain no one will notice the difference."

She nodded, "Course, The woods, do ya want just regular trees, or would ya like some fruit trees as well? If we place Fruit trees out as well we could attract some of the local wildlife, it might give us a chance to see if any of them are worth using as livestock."

I rubbed my chin, "A few fruit trees is acceptable, but not enough to entice the locals to enter the forest willingly. I would rather not deal with a constant clean up of dealing with foolish mortals."

She nodded.

I looked at the others, "Guardians, we are no longer on Ragnarok, and as such we must discover as much as we possibly can about this new world," I said as I studied them, "our top priority to keep the Temple secure against all threats. Until we have a more detailed analysis of our current whereabouts, nopony or creature is to leave the Temple unless it is for the purpose of maintenance or concealment. Is that understood?"

The Guardians gave out their ascent, but stood waiting for further orders.

"Everyone to your keeps, except Solar and Luna," I ordered, "I need to speak to you two privately. Also, Pinkie, I'm to understand that The Twins are working on something?"

"Yepperoni!" Pinkie answered.

"Do you know when they'll be done with that side project?" I asked.

"My Lord, they should be done in another two hours," Pinkie replied, "they got something super-dooper fun to show you!"

"Excellent," I breathed, "when they're done with that, have them meet me in my keep. I have a new project for them to undertake."

"You got, My Lord!" Pinkie squeaked, then she was gone in a gust of wind and a plume of pink dust.

"I'll never understand how she does that," I state before turning to the Sisters, "Luna, Solar, do you still have your connections to your cosmic bodies?"

Solar smirked and said, "I would like a connection with your cosmic body…"

"AHEM!" Luna cleared, "We are afraid that our connection to the moon has been- dulled, Milord. I can feel it here, but my ability to affect it has been severely diminished. I may be able to affect it's rotation, but not it's orbit. Many apologies, Milord."

"Solar?"

"I'm afraid that I, too, have a diminished connection to the local star. I can feel it, and sese it's heat, but as far as it's navigation in the sky, I have to report that is something I can no longer do."

"Damn," I growled, "we could have used a shorter day and a longer night to keep the Temple concealed until Applejack is done with her work. Well, until we know more, report to your keeps. This- this is going to be a long day."

The Sisters bowed and made their leave. As they left, I activated my teleportation ring and slung myself back to my keep at the top floor of the temple. Once there, I made a beeline for my throne room, bypassing the servants of the keep and planting myself onto my throne with a will. I tried again to contact an admin, a moderator, even Ragnorak support and got nowhere. What in the hell is happening?! I thought.

The Bacchanal Immersion Console, v. 0.237961, while not the latest version of the system, was the most stable of the deep dive, full immersion virtual reality systems on the market. Total failure of the units, which require a dive suit which in of themselves were similar to the plug suits from Neon Genesis Evangelion but more forgiving in both form and function. The other part was a neuralace. The neural interface was responsible for providing scents, tastes, and certain visual data to provide a vivid landscape for player to roam in. The dive suit added full tactile response to things like grabbing a sword, climbing mountains, taking hits, and even some more- carnal functions. Ragnorak had the most sophisticated sexual response algorithm of any of the current generation of full dive VR games and it's a small wonder any game after it's release could match it. While several of the newer games came close none of them seemed to ever really reach the pinnacle that Ragnarok had reached.

Still, getting stuck inside the game after the servers were shut down instead of being booted from the game entirely was not the kind of lasting experience I was hoping to have on End Day.

"My Lord," uttered one of the lower maids of the Temple's retinue, "are you well? You seem distressed."

"I am not well," I told the young drow, "I- cannot communicate with The Outside. I should be able to, even if we are no longer on Ragnarok, The Outside should still be available to me. Thus far, nothing."

"Why would you need to communicate with the outside, my lord?" The maid asked, "is there something that you find displeasure with?"

"Nay, there is nothing like that," I answer, "but I would like answers as to why The Temple has been removed from Ragnarok."

The maid looked as if there was more questions she wanted to ask, but she seemed to sense that I wasn't in the mood to give many answers. In truth it was less about wanting to give answer instead of not being able to give them. She finished the clean up she was doing, excused herself, and moved out of the throne room. I took a moment to consider what the next move would be. I couldn't contact anyone outside. The simple answer, as fantastic as it might seem, was that I wasn't on Earth anymore. I could feel things, some things, but other things I couldn't feel as well as I would have claimed before. Feeling Solar's breath on my neck was one of those things. And while I could feel things in a basic way, such as feeling something hard as compared to soft, there was a vast difference between what I could feel in game and what I could feel here.

I could feel the heat from Solar's spat with Luna. I could smell things far better than the game allowed me to. Where there was a basic smell that seemed to default to the game itself I found it enhanced. I could smell the musk of desire, I could smell fresh grass, and I could smell a thousand other things. I considered the actions that I would need to do. First, I needed to gather what information I could about our surroundings. Lala had reported what I asked of her, and for that I was grateful, but at the same time I wanted to know more about this village.

It was obvious that it would be the best source of information about the world to us. How to view it was the issue. I stood and focused on an item I had bought in game. A first there was nothing, and then a swirling vortex of dark energy formed beside me. I stuck my hand into it and I withdrew a mirror. The mirror itself showed my reflection, and I grimaced as I looked at it. My character had been a Unicorn Equis at one time. His right eye had been destroyed, and replaced by a green jewel with a ruby center. The jewel acted as an eye, read auras, and even allowed for some magic to be gathered together in it for quick spells. The most important part was the runes engraved in it. Those caused any magic cast upon my character to be redirected back at the caster.

But looking at it from this perspective, it was dishearting. I looked at my face. Half of it was sunken in, muscle that, according to my character's backstory, had been ripped away by demonic wolves. Various places were present where no fur grew. These places had runes, specific ones that bound my body and soul together. My character, and thus I supposed me, was effectively immortal.

It would take a necromancer of at least my power level, if not more, to break the seal the runes made. In Ragnarok I was at level one hundred and eighty. That was as high as anyone could go. I had power, knowledge, magic, and I needed to play the part of the guild master of the Temple of Celestia. I needed to be Mannulus. It shouldn't be hard, after all I was Mannulus, but at the same time outside of Ragnarok I was a poor schmuck that worked a shitty job at a call center. I didn't have family, I honestly had nothing other than my job, some shows I liked, and Ragnarok.

I studied myself a bit longer. My mane was salt and pepper, my mouth had fangs, something I would get used to, my right hand was missing two fingers, again an astic choice that I regret, but I had no doubts that I could create a replacement. I focused on the mirror, not paying attention to the door opening, not realizing that someone was nearing me, and after a moment I heard breathing. I looked beside me to see Twilight.

"My Lord, everyone is doing as you requested."

I studied her, "I thought I said for all of you to return to guard posts."

She smiled, "My lord, my guard post is with the leader of the Temple of Celestia. I am to remain by your side. As such I have returned to the very duty you have commanded."

I nodded, and then my attention went back to the mirror.

"What are you attempting to do, Lord Mannulus, my love?"

I glanced at her, "I wish to view the village that Lala spoke of."

I focused on the mirror itself. It had been ages since I purchased it, and then afterward I had added several layers of wards on it giving it the ability to view any place I wished to see. I moved my hands, trying to get the cloud to remove itself, and then finally it parted, and I could see the village. It appeared to be a festival, and then I moved my hand again, revealing not a festival, but rather the entire village being overrun with soldiers.

"It looks as if they are under attack, do you want to take action?"

I studied it. Before, outside of Ragnarok, I would have gotten sick at the sight of these people being butchered, but now, inside of Mannulus, it didn't bother me. It was as if my humanity was hampered.

"I'm not sure," I said until I saw a man fighting against a soldier, protecting what looked to be a half dark elf child. "I'm venturing out, Twilight, summon Rainbow and come with me."

With that I opened a portal. The spell wasn't teleportation, exactly, instead it was summoning a gate to leave the Temple and arrive in a separate place. The biggest difference between it and teleportation was that Teleportation used MP, but the gate was tied to the Temple itself. Using it was tied to the runes in the temple and the runes burned into my skin. As the gate opened I felt the runes burn again, almost as if they were once again being burned into my skin. The gate formed and I could see the mirky blackness of it swirled as I stood there. A moment later both Twilight and Rainbow stood on either side of me.

I stepped forward, feeling the magic surround me, and a moment later I stepped out from the gate to see two half dark elven girls. One could barely be considered a child, and the other was in her teens. From what I could remember in the lore for Ragnarok half breeds would age like their human parent up until early adulthood. At which time they would age like their other half. In this case I believed both to be the ages they appeared to be. Behind them two soldiers stood, shouting, and they glanced at me.

"What is an trio of Equis doing here?! Run away ponies unless you want us to kill the three of you!"

I looked at him, annoyance filled me, and I held my hand out, "Chest Burst."

He screamed as my hand disappeared into a small portal and ripped out through his chest. I held his heart, feeling it beat its last, and he fell to the ground. I pulled my hand back, and flicked the blood from it.

"Good, I'm glad to see my favorite skill was retained. Now, for you."

The other looked at me, screamed, and turned to run only for him to choke a moment later. He fell forward and his head rolled away from his shoulders. I looked at Rainbow who was cleaning her sword. She looked at the girls, and then back at the fallen soldier.

"Weaklings or not, killing for no reason is inexcusable."

"I agree," I said as I held my hand, "However, I believe they may be of some use to us. Raise undead knight!"

A black inky blob covered the dead soldier, and his body jerked as if jolts of electricity were running through it. A moment later he transformed into a mummified skeleton holding a shield and a broadsword. His armor was not like what he had been wearing, but instead it was covered with runes similar to those that covered my body. It was different from what had been in Ragnarok, but the spell worked more or less the same. I looked toward the girls, and could see that the elder had taken a large slash across her back. I reached forward again, the small portal opened, and I pulled a red vial from it.

"Here, take this, and drink. It should heal you."

She looked uncomfortable, seemingly afraid, and of course I realized what I looked like.

"Please, I...I'll drink, but do not force my sister to do so."

I shook my head, "It's a healing potion, it will help, not hurt. Stay where you are after you use it," I said as he lifted both hands, "Protection against arrows, negate all melee attacks, protection against magic."

I began to turn around, "Do not leave until you are summoned, and nothing will happen to you," I took a couple of small bells from the portal that appeared, "Use these if you need to. They will summon a few hobgoblins to do your bidding."

I looked at the Undead knight.

"Undead Knight, go into the village and kill all you see there wearing this armor," I said pointing at the dead soldier.

It roared and then ran off toward the village itself. I shook my head as I realized the noob mistake I had made. I had summoned a defensive creature and sent him off to kill. And on top of that I didn't command him to capture any of the attackers. I walked with Twilight and Rainbow until we came to the village itself. Dozens of soldiers lay dead, and a mere five were left alive. Those that were seemed to throwing small vials toward the undead knight. Bottled lightening, fire, and ice spells erupted, but nothing seemed to be slowing the undead knight down. Of course I could see that it had taken some damage, but nothing that would come close to stopping it. The magical attacks were barely a level two, something great against weak NPCs, but nothing against a mid level undead.

"Undead Knight, stop."

It halted its attack. I looked toward the remaining five, "I have gifted you your lives. Leave, and tell all that you come across that Lord Mannulus has taken guardianship over this village, enter it and face my wrath!"

They screamed as they fled. One of the Elves neared me. He bowed his head, "We thank thee. Surely we would have perished if not for thy benevelevent actions."

I nodded, "Thank nothing of it. We happened to see what was happening, I could not allow it to continue," I saw his eyes arch slightly, "However, my services do not come cheap."

He smiled and grasped my hand, "Verily, we shalt ensure thy payment."

I followed him, and began to ask a few questions. As he answered I discovered that he was the chief of the village, the village itself was known as Oppidum, and it was seated near the boarder of the Kingdom of Coronam and the Barbarus Empire. He explained there was a third nation, the Sanctus Theocracy, which apparently was comprised of a nation determined to keep themselves pure, and thusly they refused to allow any demihuman to enter. The Final nail in the coffin was that the name of the planet, was Lutum. I nodded, and followed what he was explaining. The soldiers that attacked were dressed like those from the Barbarus Empire.

I also learned that the currency from Ragnarok itself had value only in the gold. Their own currency seemed to be minted from silver, copper, and a few gold pieces that looked far different than the coins used in Ragnarok. I allowed him to pay me, and I stepped outside. Twilight stood near me as I looked over the village.

"Not that I am one to complain Lord Mannulus, but why are we helping them?"

I looked at her, "Having a village so close to the Temple may be a benefit. If for nothing else than information, but since it appears we will be here for the forseeable future, I believe I would like to see if the village would willingly work along with us. Perhaps we could use them to help supply the temple when needed."

She nodded, "An experiment in governing. That makes sense. Shall we leave a presence with them?"

I nodded, "Perhaps, but not at the moment. Instead, let us allow them the chance to rebuild."