by Tom Larcombe
“This gods be damned thing is made of stone,” Jern hollered. “I can barely chip it!”
The orc warriors were falling rapidly with Ephram also targeting them now that he couldn't see the shaman. A voice rose over the melee shouting.
“Hey boys, have a present!”
The next thing Eddie knew, the shaman's head came flying out into the middle of the remaining orc warriors. They panicked and several spun around, presenting their backs to the rest of the party. Eddie took advantage of that and sent arrows flying as fast as he could. Then he noticed an orc that hadn't turned drop, and he spotted Karl shimmering back into stealth as the orc fell.
A few moments later the only thing still fighting was the creature. Jern continued to slam it with his hammer, knocking a chip off here and there, but not making much headway. When Charles tried to hit it with his sword it skipped off, sparking as though striking stone. So Eddie decided Jern hadn't been exaggerating earlier on. A quick flash of inspiration hit him then.
“Charles, here!” Eddie yelled.
He pulled a pickax out of his inventory, one of the ones Opron had made for him that he hadn't given to the goblins yet. Charles saw him and rapidly sheathed his sword, then held his hand out.
Eddie tossed the pickax then pulled another one out for himself. Gritting his teeth he waited for Charles to claim one side of the creature, then moved to the other side himself. He didn't have a shield, but now they had attackers on three sides of the creature, all with weapons he hoped would harm it.
Charles proved his hopes true a moment later, striking and driving the pickax deep into the creature's side. Getting it out was harder, but Charles managed it after a few seconds and Eddie could only hope all the extra yanking and tugging caused extra damage.
With a quick thought he evaluated the creature, just so he knew what it was, then before even reading the entire screen, he slammed his own pickax forward into its side.
Arthropod
Type: Golem
Level: 15
Armor: 75
Health: 257 (+/-)
Attack: ?
Special:
Stone Shell
You are currently unable to obtain more information about Arthropod (Golem) with Evaluate.
Well, that explains the weird blood, Eddie thought, as his pickax drove deep into the creature and a jet of very thick liquid oozed out. Although a golem with blood? I'm confused.
“It's got a stone shell special,” Eddie yelled. “Can anyone do anything about that? It'll go down a lot easier without it.”
The answer was a jet of flame shooting down on the creature's back, well away from any of the people fighting it. A few flakes of stone popped and exploded off its back, but that was all.
“Not me,” Dominic yelled.
“Maybe,” Tamshir called out. “One moment.”
Eddie tried to block the incoming pincer with his pickax, but it locked around both the weapon and his body, then started to squeeze.
Tamshir started chanting as Jern saw Eddie's predicament and extended his hammer to slam into the pincer holding Eddie. For a moment the pressure from the pincer grew, but then it went slack and Eddie backpedaled away from it. A moment later he was hit by a pair of healing spells, the relief from the pain nearly making him lightheaded.
Just about then Tamshir finished her chant and the stone shell on the Arthropod simply vanished, revealing something that looked like squishy pink flesh beneath the shell. The stone from the shell swirled about the air for a moment like a cloud of dust in a tornado, stinging and nicking everyone it came in contact with.
Charles drove the pickax into the creature again and this time the tool went straight through and into the floor beneath. He left the pickax in place then unsheathed his sword and started slicing away. Eddie stayed back, they were making progress now and he didn't want to run into one of those pincers again.
Arrows started sprouting from the flesh on the Arthropod's back and Eddie decided that he could get behind that. He trotted a few more feet away from it then pulled out his own bow and started firing over and over.
Within a couple of minutes the Arthropod was no longer moving. Final heals played their golden light over Charles and Jern before they finally stepped back.
“What the hell was that thing?” Jern asked.
“An arthropod golem, from what I could see of it,” Eddie said.
“A what?” Jern said.
“Yeah, I kind of had the same reaction,” Eddie replied.
Eddie recovered the two pickaxes, although the one Charles had been using was a little beat up. Then, as everyone else was looting the bodies, he walked to the very end of the tunnel to see what the shaman had been so interested in. As he saw the wall, he did a double take.
“Tiana, send a light over this way please?” he called.
When the light was hovering over his head, Eddie looked again. Sure enough the glitter of gemstones showed in the wall. One of them was nearly cut out of it and Eddie now knew just why the shaman had a rock hammer in hand when they found him.
“Got a winner here,” Eddie called out.
“What did you find?” Charles replied.
“If I'm not mistaken, he was chipping moonstones out of the wall. You know, the gemstone?” Eddie answered.
~ ~ ~
Chapter Sixteen
“Come on, go with me. You could get a class too,” Ferring said.
Campbell stared at him, torn.
“How do you know there's anything to give us experience out here? Nothing has ever bothered us in the clearing here, why wouldn't they if they were around here?” he asked.
“I just know, okay? I can feel that there's some things out there that could give us experience. I know that you can get a class, after all I did.”
“Yeah, but you're kind of screwed up in the head because of that class,” Campbell replied.
“No. I was screwed up in the head before, but getting a class and being able to make gains of my own that aren't just given to me, that's gotten my head screwed back on straight. Come on, if you get a class, then I bet we can get the rest of the squad to get one too. Well, except maybe Cooper. He says he's a screw-up like the rest of us, but he seems a bit too straight laced to me for that to be true. I heard him muttering about logging complaints because things weren't totally acceptable yesterday. Man, his superiors must regret putting him in here now, I thought they wanted someone willing to work fast and loose.”
“I don't know,” Campbell said.
“Tell you what, you just come with me. If we find stuff to kill for experience, then you know I'm right about that. Maybe that will convince you I'm right about a class too, what would you want to play for a class, anyhow?”
“Tank,” Campbell said instantly. “Except I'd want to be able to dish out a fair amount of damage also so I wasn't just a useless turtle. Hold their attention and kick the shit out of them while I do.”
“See, so you've been thinking about it too,” Ferring said. “I knew you had, especially after how you took to that half-goblin you were put in. He was a massive tank, wasn't he?”
Campbell's face almost broke out into a grin. He was trying not to, but Ferring could still see the corners of Campbell's mouth trying to turn up.
“Oh, hell yeah. He had shitloads of health and some serious damage dealing specials,” Campbell said.
“So, come on. Let's get you some sort of warrior class so you can work towards getting all that yourself instead of having to wait to get tossed into something like that again,” Ferring said.
Campbell looked around. No-one was watching and, as far as he could tell, no-one was eavesdropping on him either. There were still some weapons and armor sitting in one of the tents, remnants of an earlier mission. He slipped into the tent and pulled on a chainmail vest. He grabbed a tower shield and longsword, then went back out to where Ferring was waiting.
“Alright, fine. Let's go. Don't mention this to anyone though, unless you'r
e right and we can get them classes if they want,” Campbell said.
Ferring led Campbell out of the clearing, in the direction the strong feeling he had was guiding him. He'd played his hunches as he relearned his magic and now trusted them completely. He was sure that they'd find something to kill for experience out this way.
The falcon that had been watching them above fluttered its wings, then spread them and took off. Staying high above and behind them, it flew from branch to branch, watching as the two members of the SF-07 database trundled through the forest towards the encounters Freyja had created just for them.
~ ~ ~
As Eddie stared at the moonstones in the wall, he pulled up his flashing notification light. He'd set it to not show him most things, so he knew he had a skill up or a level up just from the fact that it was flashing.
Success:
You have obtained enough experience to advance to Level 10
Do you wish to advance?
(Y/N)
Yes, he thought.
You have advanced to Level 10.
You have 3 stat points to distribute.
Your Health has increased.
Your Mana has increased.
Your Stamina has increased.
Oh hell yeah, Eddie thought. I knew the orcs were giving some serious experience, five hundred to a thousand depending on their level, I just didn't realize how quickly that would add up.
Character sheet, he thought, wanting to see the new changes.
Edward Hunter
Human Male
Level: 10
Class:Warrior (Ranger)
Strength:14
Intelligence: 14
Agility: 27
Wisdom: 18
Heartiness: 14
Charisma: 11
Willpower: 16
Health: 164 (174)
Endurance: 14
Mana: 198
Luck: 14 (17)
Stamina:429 (439)
Experience:
4,835/550,000
Base Attack: 14
Base Armor: 10 (51)
+2 attack melee (strength)
+35 armor (studded leather, helm, boots, bracers, greaves)
+6 attack ranged (agility)
+7 armor (agility)
Skills:
General:
Acrobatics: 4
Animal Friendship: 1
Animal Handling: 1
Animal Husbandry: 1
Bowyer/Fletcher: 3 (+2 to checks)
Carpentry: 11
Climbing: 1
Cooking: 13
Evaluate: 5
Farming: 2
Fire Building: 1
Fishing: 4
Herbalism: 2
Hunting: 3
Improvisation: 2
Rope Use: 3
Tracking: 3
Weather Sense: 1
Weaving: 4
Combat:
Bows: 5
Staves: 2
Small Blades: 1
Short Swords: 4
Special:
Conjunction: 5
Magical:
Nature Magic: 5
Accel Plant Growth: 2
Arc: 4
Create Food/Water: 2
Fox Fire: 2
Nature's Binding: 1
Safe Site: 1
Wall of Thorns: 2
Create Spring: 1
Along for the Ride: 1
Languages:
Common (Human)
Goblin Speak: 3
How much was that damned golem worth if I'm showing almost five thousand experience again already?
He pulled up the last notification from the fight and stared at the greater than six thousand experience the golem had given him. He assumed everyone else that had fought it had gotten a similar amount and just shook his head.
Well that explains how you can keep getting enough experience for the higher levels. Just find the right monsters and it'll be easy, he thought sarcastically.
But, first things first. Add one stat point to agility, one stat point to intelligence, and one stat point to strength.
He'd decided that every level he'd add an agility point, until he maxed it out. He also wanted some more skill slots, knowing he'd just wasted one and was liable to waste more, plus intelligence would boost his mana regeneration a bit. Finally, he just wanted to be stronger. For his carpentry, the strength would make his job a lot easier. He'd decided that on his next level he would focus on a bit more survivability with some heartiness and maybe a point in wisdom to boost his magical power a bit, along with his constant agility point.
With the additions to his strength and agility he knew his stamina was even higher than it had been a moment earlier. His mana was based on wisdom though, even if both intelligence and wisdom affected its regen rate, and health was all heartiness and level, so stamina should be the only thing that changed with the addition besides the one point rise of the stats themselves.
Eddie stared at the rock hammer that was lying on the floor at his feet. He knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he should just leave it there. He'd just gotten himself more skill slots, and now he had three random and one to select still. He knew that if he picked up that hammer and tried to get the moonstone out of the wall that he'd waste one of them, he was positive, and yet he still reached down and picked up the hammer.
He'd raised it and was about to strike when he finally managed to stop himself.
“Wait,” he said aloud, but mainly to himself.
He turned around.
“Does anyone here have the mining skill?” he asked.
He mainly kept an eye on Jern, figuring that the dwarf was the most likely candidate. He got a bunch of head shakes for an answer.
“Anyone mind staying here for a few minutes? It should be safe with the stairs plugged.”
“What are you thinking Eddie?” Charles asked.
“I figured I'd go get a goblin who does have mining so we can get these moonstones out without damaging them, and so I don't saddle myself with another skill I don't want.”
“I wouldn't mind a few minutes to just sit here,” Tamshir said. “I went to zero mana on that last cast. If I'd had more mana I would've cast it sooner, but I didn't want to get mana burned. As it is, I still don't feel so well yet.”
“Okay,” Charles said. “Go for it Eddie. We can wait here a bit and there are several moonstones visible there, so we all benefit. We'll wait here.”
Eddie headed for the ropes leading up. With his strength and agility enhanced by another point it was much easier to swarm up the rope. When he hit the top he broke into a jog, heading for the goblin's room.
It only took him a couple of minutes going directly there and since they'd been through the entire first floor earlier, he wasn't worried about running into anything.
When he made it there, he stopped for a moment to pet Lucky, who had jumped up at his arrival.
“Sorry girl, only here for a minute. We're almost done though, I think,” Eddie said, then entered the goblin's room.
“Hey, anyone know mining gemstones?” he asked in goblin. At least that's what he thought he said, his mastery of it wasn't very good yet.
He got two goblins raising their hands.
“Either willing to go into the mine with me to get some? See them in wall but don't want to damage.”
One of the goblins put its hand down, the other stepped closer to Eddie.
“What for me?” it asked.
Eddie checked his inventory, then pulled out a loaf of bread, the risen type.
“This loaf of bread for you, if you do job,” he said.
The goblin held out a hand and Eddie handed over the bread.
“Moment,” the goblin said.
He then proceeded to tear the loaf apart and hand chunks to several of the goblins in the room. Not all of them though. Stuffing the last bit of bread in his mouth with an appreciative grunt, the goblin came back to Eddie and nodded.
Eddie headed out, leading the goblin along. It took longer to get back since the goblin couldn't move as quickly as Eddie, but they made it in good time. Eddie offered the goblin the rock hammer and pointed to the moonstones.
The 'Tink, tink, tink' of the small rock hammer's pointed end hitting the wall started. It continued for at least half an hour also before the goblin stopped. It came over to Eddie and dropped five raw moonstones into his hand.
“Others too, but take lots more time,” the goblin said.
It grabbed Eddie's hand and pulled him over to the wall, pointing out where two tiny slivers of moonstone showed through the rock in the wall.
“So, we got five,” Eddie said. “There are more here, but they'll take a long time to get out. Should we settle for these now and maybe get the others later when we actually claim the mine?”
The two groups discussed it for a moment, then agreed.
“We don't want to be down here much longer for now,” Charles said. “I need to see some sun again, these tunnels are kind of musty and damp.”