After hearing the voice again, they quickly stood up and looked around the house to see if anything changed.
"Atlas I hear something, from there," Callista said with a shaky voice will hiding behind her mother and pointing at the kitchen.
They all went silent as they turned towards the kitchen. They could all hear a low pulsating sound and there was a dim purple light that could be seen in the entrance.
"Apollo." Atlas called out suddenly.
"Yes."
"Check the windows carefully and tell dad if there are any changes outside. Arty grab your bow and follow a few feet behind me."
"Alright," they both responded at the same time.
Atlas and Apollo both picked up their hunting knives and Artemis grabbed her bow and a quiver of arrows. Apollo stalked off to the nearest window to check for any abnormalities as the other two made their way to the kitchen.
Atlas took a small toy he picked up off the ground with him as he pulled out his phone. As he looked around the corner that's when he saw it. A small black and purple spinning disc, about a meter (3.28feet) off the ground, then something came out of it. Three dark green bi-pedal monsters, wearing brown cloth around their waist barely covering the private spots. They were about the same height as Calli just over a meter tall. Their ears were long and ended in points and they had small canines and hideous faces, and they were turn towards one another whispering something inaudible. All three of them had arms that looked too long for their bodies and each one was holding a long stick with a sharpened end that looked like a makeshift spear.
'Are those things goblins?' Atlas thought to himself as he continued to watch them.
As the last of the three came out of what looked like a portal, it vanished like it was never there.
Atlas pulled his phone back as he turned to Artemis and signaled that there were three targets. He told her to aim for their heads or legs. He would finish off any she didn't hit in the head. On the count of three, Atlas threw the object he was holding to the opposite side of the kitchen as he told Artemis to shoot.
She quickly pulled back on her already loaded bow. As she let go the arrow made a quiet whistling sound as it flew. The arrow hit the first goblin to come out of the portal and penetrated the back of its head. It squealed as the arrow hit it and fell to the ground. The other two goblins in the room quickly turned towards them as the one on the floor died. They soon saw Artemis quickly nocking another arrow and quickly dove out of the way as she shot it.
[Title received: Quick Thinker
One of the first 1000 to kill a monster.
Title effect: Increases learning of weapon proficiency by 10%
35th place]
[Title received: Pathfinder
One of the first 100 to kill a monster.
Title effect Increases learning of skill proficiency by 10%
35th place]
[gained: 5 xp]
As the one closet to the door looked up Atlas was already there slashing its neck.
"GEHHHH," the goblin made a gurgling noise and fell back down to the ground holding the cut and died shortly after.
Just as Artemis was about to release the last arrow to kill the last goblin Atlas stopped her, "hold on."
He stood up as he looked at the last goblin that was shacking on the ground.
"Did you get those messages too?" He asked Artemis without taking his eyes off the goblin.
"Yeah, I got three of them," she quickly responded.
[Title received: Quick Thinker
One of the first 1000 to kill a monster.
Title effect: Increases learning of weapon proficiency by 10%
47th place]
[Title received: Pathfinder
One of the first 100 to kill a monster.
Title effect Increases learning of skill proficiency by 10%
47th place]
[gained: 5 xp]
"Can you go get Apollo for me." He said suddenly.
"Alright," she said, although confused at first, she realized why he wanted him.
She soon came back with Apollo who was busy watching the windows.
"What was the situation like outside?" He asked seeing the two come back.
It was then that the goblin that was slowing creeping back to its spear picked it up and charged at Atlas. He easily grabbed its spear and swept its legs, so it fell back down on its back. He then put a knee to its chest and held it there easily so it couldn't move.
"Apollo kill it quickly!" He said the moment he got it on the ground.
[Title received: Quick Thinker
One of the first 1000 to kill a monster.
Title effect: Increases learning of weapon proficiency by 10%
98th place]
[Title received: Pathfinder
One of the first 100 to kill a monster.
Title effect Increases learning of skill proficiency by 10%
98th place]
[gained: 5 xp]
Apollo quickly cut its head off the moment he heard those words from his brother. He heard the same notifications as his siblings right after it died. He looked towards both Atlas and Artemis and they both nodded realizing he was curious about the things he received.
"Apollo come with me to tell dad what happened here, Artemis try to clean these bodies and try to get rid of the smell of blood as best as you can. We don't know what these things can do yet. If anything comes don't try to fight it on your own, get back to us first."
Artemis quickly got out cleaning supplies to get rid of the blood as the other two left the kitchen.
"Chores, even when there are monsters around. This sucks," They heard her mutter as they left the kitchen Apollo couldn't help but snicker at that.
As they got back to the living room, they told their dad about what they just saw outside and in the kitchen.
"There was portals and monsters came out of them? They weren't even all zombies. Haaa," their dad sighed after he heard what happened.
"There were around 25 to 30 portals outside of all varied sizes and the biggest was only around 2 meters tall. I only saw two types of monsters outside. There where the same goblins we saw in the kitchen and zombies wandering around slowly," Apollo responded after he heard what his dad said, "There was a little more than 100 of them from what I could see. People are also running out of buildings so there could be more inside. Probably about a dozen people trying to fight back, but I don't think any of them have killed any of the monsters yet."
"These things also give levels and achievements, I don't know what they do yet, but I don't think they are bad for us," Atlas interjected. "We'll go out in groups of two at a time and try to get rid of the monsters near the house. I want to know just how muck like a game this thing functions."
That's when Artemis walked back into the room, with a dire look on her face.