Umbra Online- Halgor's Horde

by K D Brand

  “It’s not a complete loss, though,” Char announced.

  She held up a handful of gold coins, which looked to Ty to be about six or seven at quick count, as well as a leather collar encrusted with small, colorful gems, woven through with thin lines of shiny metal.

  Ty collected the coins and dumped them in his pocket, then took the collar while the NPCs kept digging through Vile One’s things, which were mostly his armor and weapons, none of which were of any real value.

  Ty went to put the collar on only to realize it didn’t fit. He sighed. “It’s too big,” he groaned.

  Amon cleared his throat at his back. “I can help to fit it for you,” he offered.

  Ty turned to face him. “You can?”

  The bearded feral nodded. “When we have time, we can stop by my shop, and I can resize the leather and adjust the clasp.”

  A sudden realization hitting him, Ty stiffened. “Wait! If you can do that to the collar, can you do it to…say, my armor?”

  “Sure. You need only to ask.”

  Ty groaned. “So, all this time I’ve been running around, looking like an idiot in rope-tied armor and wearing girl pants, you could have fixed me up?”

  Amon nodded, ears flopping.

  “Ahhhhhhh!” Ty screamed. “Why didn’t you tell me that sooner?”

  “Uh…you needed only to ask,” Amon repeated.

  Ty felt his cheeks heating up, but he really couldn’t blame Amon for his silence. Even Char had kept the information about her shop to herself because she never thought mentioning it as necessary. It wasn’t until they stumbled across it that she said the first word about it.

  The same was true for Amon, and the feral was right, Ty should have asked what the man did. He couldn’t get mad at Amon for not volunteering information he would never have thought of unless put in a situation where it became relevant.

  Ty drew in a slow, deep breath to calm himself, and waited a moment before he spoke again. “So, you’re a crafter?” he asked.

  “I am indeed,” Amon replied, beaming. His sharpened eyeteeth shined in the gloom of the forest clearing. “Best in all of Altunn.”

  Ty grumbled and shook his head. “I’m going to test that theory,” he promised. “But now, I agree, we need to get out of here. It’s not just the spiders we need to worry about, but Vile One could pop back in any minute now and come running back looking to collect his death pile.” Ty gestured to the small cluster of items. “Grab what you think is worth anything, and let’s get moving.”

  Ty marched off with the collar in his hand and Vile One’s coins jingling in his pocket. Not only had he gotten a sliver of revenge on Defiler’s goons for how they’d treated him when he first arrived, and didn’t even catch a reputation point ding for it, but he’d learned Amon was a crafter and could help him create some items that were better suited to Ty’s size.

  All in all, despite the spiders, it had been a pretty good evening. Now, all he had to worry about was the horde and Defiler’s goons hunting him down for revenge.

  Well, it was a good evening.

  Stupid brain.

  Sixteen

  Circle Murk

  TY SEPARATED FROM the NPCs once they’d returned to town, allowing them to go about their nightly business while Ty caught up with sleep. He’d been awake too long and was starting to feel its effects.

  Before he settled down to sleep in a dark, deserted alleyway, he’d wolfed down a ration portion, swallowing the dry mess with some effort. He could still taste the thing when he woke up.

  He burped as he emerged from the alley and wandered out into the streets of early morning Altunn. The sun beamed down on him, warming him immediately, chasing away the chill of the darkness he’d been hunkered down in for the last several hours.

  He glanced in the direction of the Shady Orchid, his feet ready to head that way, when he remembered he had a level to train, so he shifted directions and headed for the trainer huts.

  Ty hadn’t given the spending of his next points much thought, but he had to now that he had more to spend. It wasn’t all about strength and damage-dealt now. He wasn’t that guy anymore.

  When he reached the trainer huts and stood outside, watching their banners flutter in the breeze, he caught sight of the wizard trainer’s hut and a thought hit him.

  Then he hit himself, slapping his palm to his forehead.

  “Godzilla!” he cursed, shaking his head slowly and berating himself in his head. “I forgot all about being able to cast magic.”

  In all the excitement, and never having had any real magic—in-game or real life—he’d completely forgotten he was capable of casting spells.

  “I could have used them on the raccoons…or the spiders,” he grumbled, frustrated at the missed opportunity to test his skills out.

  Ty growled as he looked over the huts, determining where next to spend his points. Having determined he wasn’t going the warrior route considering that, even if he was capable of physically growing as he trained, he was so far the base starting point that he could never be effective.

  But while that cleared up one dilemma, it only created another.

  Now, knowing he was behind the curve in most every class, Ty had to figure out how to take advantage of being able to multi-class without making himself a jack of all trades, so weak that he wasn’t good in any of them.

  That thought helped him make his decision.

  He slipped inside Morit’s place, the rogue trainer and let the old man beat him until he’d gained another +2 to small bladed weapons, +4 to stealth, and a +2 to stealth’s complementary skill, backstabbing.

  He then raised his stats, bumping both his Wit and Fitness up to 20s, blowing all his points in one shot. Satisfied—mostly—he grinned. He was starting to look like a real character.

  Now that he was content with his training and how he’d spent his points, it was time to gather the NPCs and put Amon to work crafting him some items he could use against the horde.

  Not that he expected to beat them this time around, but he wanted to be as ready as he could. Fortunately, while his friends might not appreciate the “reality” of it all—air quotes—he figured he could use the invasion to better determine how best to go about defending against Halgor’s army.

  That was one benefit of it being a repeating quest. Ty could throw different solutions at the horde and see what stuck. Going up another level and getting some better gear would help immensely.

  That in mind, he headed for the Orchid.

  There, he circled around the building and glanced inside to make sure Defiler and his goons weren’t there. Once he was sure they weren’t, he went around to the front door and went inside.

  Char greeted him with a wave, calling him over to their table. He went over and plopped down.

  “Hiya,” he told the three.

  Each greeted him in turn as he settled in.

  “What’s the plan for today?” Deven asked.

  Ty glanced at Amon. “I was thinking we could go to Amon’s shop and do some crafting,” he answered. “I’ve a number of ideas I’d like to implement with his help. I also need to go out and get more experience, but crafting first. You up for it, Amon?”

  “Of course,” he replied. “Anything that keeps me from having to face down spiders or mutated raccoons or, really, anything else that crawls, skitters, or creeps.”

  “What about something that stomps?” Deven asked.

  “Huh?” Amon said, his head titled sideways. “Why would you ask that?”

  He gestured toward the stairs with his chin. “Because here comes something stomping toward us now.”

  Ty stiffened and cast a glance over his shoulder. Vile One stormed down the stairs, drawing his sword from his sheath.

  “I’m gonna kill you, punk!” he screamed.

  “That’s my cue to vamoose,” Ty mumbled, hopping up in a hurry. His chair toppled over behind him, hitting the floor with a crash. He angled toward the door, visualizing the path h
e’d run, but fate had other plans for him.

  The Orchid’s front door flew open, and there stood Defiler, Primmus and Zurber flanking him, blocking the exit.

  “There you are,” Defiler said with a grin, jabbing a finger Ty’s direction. “We’ve been looking for you.”

  “The window,” Char hissed, casting a furtive glance its direction as she clambered to her feet. “You can make it.”

  For a split-second, Ty contemplated doing just that, crashing through the window to escape Defiler and his goon squad.

  Then the voice of his mother echoed inside his head: Ain’t nothing wrong with running from a fight you can’t win, Tyler, but, sometimes, you have to stand flat-footed and fight back on principle, even if it means you take a beating.

  Ty always questioned that wisdom, wondering how getting beat down equated to looking strong but, for some reason, it made sense to him right then. He glanced at his friends and realized that whatever violence there was coming would encompass more than just him.

  While Defiler had started the whole thing when Ty had accidentally been summoned to land on top of them, choosing violence instead of just letting it go, Ty had propagated it, going after Vile One in the woods. Now, because they’d been with him, his friends were in danger if he didn’t step up and pay the price for his actions.

  He groaned under his breath and drew his nandao out, moving out ahead of the table to keep the NPCs out of the line of fire.

  “Guess you found me, huh?” he called back.

  Defiler laughed as Vile One joined him, and all four of the goons started Ty’s way.

  “Look at what we have here, guys,” Defiler said with a sharp grin, “the Master of the Punyverse. Got enough rope for all of us?”

  Despite himself, Ty grinned. That was a good one.

  “Just enough to help you hang yourselves,” he fired back.

  “What are you doing?” Char hissed behind him.

  “Standing up for myself…and for you guys,” he answered, whispering back her way.

  “This is stupid,” she argued.

  “Probably, but my mother taught me to fight when it’s necessary,” he said.

  Ty turned his attention back to the goons as they started to spread out, circling tables so they could surround them. They cast furtive glanced back and forth at one another, syncing their movements, giving Ty nowhere to run.

  Whatever he thought of them as people, there was no mistaking the fact that they had fought together often enough to form a cohesive unit. They moved as one, casually and carefully.

  Ty knew right then this wasn’t a fight he could win.

  “Fortunately, my mother also told me to cheat when I’m outnumbered,” he said with a wild grin.

  Before Defiler’s people were on him, Ty turned to his left and kicked a table, knocking it and its contents over onto Primmus. Caught off guard, the goon cursed and went down beneath the frothing and foaming drinks, the tabletop driving him into the wall at his back.

  Then Ty raised his left hand and muttered the enchantment he could see in his head, following the memory of Semul as he walked him through it.

  A dozen shimmering blades that looked almost like ice shards appeared before his hand, floating in the air. The goons paused at seeing them, shock apparent in their wide eyes.

  Ty grinned and flicked his wrist, flinging the blades at Defiler.

  They shot off like furious bees, the air humming with their passage. Defiler ducked away, but there was no dodging the spell. He shrieked and thrashed as the blades pierced his armor and speared his flesh.

  And then he stilled, his cries morphing into a low, deep chuckle. He rose and brushed the crystalline remains of the spell from his armor, a wave of glittering dust kicked up.

  “Nice spell,” he told Ty, still laughing. “Too bad it only did seventeen points of damage.” He waved his goons forward. “Get him!”

  Vile One leapt across a table with his sword leading the way. Ty managed to parry the sloppy blow aside, but he realized at the last moment that it hadn’t been anything more than a distraction.

  Zurber shot forward while Ty’s attention was on Vile One.

  A sharp, searing pain ran down Ty’s back as Zurber’s blade cut a deep groove through Ty’s armor, the point of the sword slicing into the flesh.

  -22 HP!

  Ty stumbled and tripped over the table he’d kicked into Primmus, but Defiler’s man had broken clear. He lunged forward and stabbed Ty in the biceps of his left arm. Only a last-second twitch saved him from losing the use of the arm.

  -14 HP!

  Ty howled and flailed at Zurber, driving him back a step. But that did nothing to stop Vile One from coming at him.

  “I want my torque back, punk!”

  A quick slash, and more blood flew as Vile One’s sword drew a crimson line across Ty’s chest.

  -19 HP!

  Weakness washed over Ty, and he crumpled to a knee while his brain unconsciously did the math. He was down to five health points, and nothing was going to stop Vile One from getting his revenge as he loomed over Ty, his blade raised.

  So, Ty turned to his friends, frozen in place, eyes wide and glassy, frustration and terror in their depths in equal measure.

  “We can’t attack,” Char moaned, and Ty could see the muscles in her arm spasming, desperately trying to unsheathe her weapon. “I don’t understand.”

  Ty realized what was happening, but there wasn’t time to explain it to the NPCs.

  “Run!” he screamed at them, urging them to flee.

  There was nothing they could do to save him if Defiler and his goons turned their attentions on the NPCs.

  “Wait, Vile!” Defiler called out. “It’s my turn.”

  Defiler laughed, having let his minions get their shots in, but he wanted the killing blow all to himself. He stalked over while Ty’s friends stood immobile, watching as Defiler pulled his ax from the mount at his back. He held it in front of him so the light reflected off its sharpened edges.

  “You remember this ax?” he asked, the blade wavering before Ty. “I took your head off with it the last time your crossed us. Now, it’s gonna do it again,” he laughed.

  Ty growled and rose to his feet. No matter what happened, he wouldn’t die on his knees.

  He spit blood Defiler’s direction and grinned, looking like a madman. “Do your worst, jacktard.”

  Defiler growled at his defiance and did just that.

  -75 HP!

  Ty winced as the ax hit him, déjà vu washing over him right before the darkness did, and he crumpled into a heap.

  You have been defeated!

  TY SAT UP in a rush, gasping for breath. His mind whirled for a moment, and then settled as he realized where he was.

  Back in Savan’s hut.

  You have been restored! Welcome back to the realm of the living!

  He groaned, grateful for the starter game levels that kept his head attached to his shoulders, but there was little comfort in being hacked apart. Even though the pain had already faded with the respawn, and Ty was whole again, the resurrection process did nothing to wipe the memory of his death away.

  Ty could still picture it, the images running across the screen of his mind, Defiler lifting his ax, then the blade dropping, the agony, the darkness, then the absolute nothingness that preceded his sudden awakening, lingering on and on and on. It weighed on him, and no matter how many times he told himself it was all a game, that he hadn’t actually died, there was no shrugging off the effects of having an ax slam into his skull.

  -1 MP!

  He grinned at the notification, not at all surprised by it.

  Yet, while he lamented his defeat at Defiler’s hands…twice, he knew his friends were back there still, standing frozen in front of the cruel PCs who could provoke an attack upon them, but who the NPCs could never attack.

  He groaned as he climbed out of the cot and got to his feet.

  As much as Char had wanted to go after Defiler,
to defend Ty, she simply couldn’t. The system forbade it.

  No civilized NPC in the game could attack a PC unless it was part of a quest scenario. They could defend themselves from attacks, but it wasn’t like they were prepared or equipped to win a fight like that. Only the guards had the training and equipment to take out a player character, and that was only if the PC did something to provoke them.

  Ty let out a relieved sigh.

  He glanced over at the other cots in the room. Since they were empty, Defiler and his goons incapable of killing the guards who would have responded had they attacked Ty’s friends, he had to assume that Char and the others hadn’t been hurt by Defiler.

  Buoyed by that thought, he darted from the room, waved a quick goodbye to Savan, who greeted him with her standard hello, and then whipped the door open.

  Whatever optimism he had died right then.

  Defiler and his goons stood outside the door, grinning like a pack of feral wolves, weapons in their hands.

  “Did you really think we were gonna let it go that easily, punk?” Defiler asked, shaking his head. “Nope, not gonna happen. We’re gonna chop you into pieces over and over, showing up every time you die just to do it again until you quit this server and move on.”

  Ty gasped and slammed the door shut, sliding the bolt home.

  “Oh, Fraggle Rock.”

  Defiler’s laughter howled from the other side of the locked door as he and his minions pounded on the wood, threatening to break through with every blow.

  Ty had underestimated their determination to make him pay for his aggro-murder of Vile One.

  They’d waited twelve hours only to show up outside Savan’s hut in order to kill him again. And given how violently they pounded on the door, it was only a matter of time before they tore it down and made good on their promise to kill him again.

  He spun about, desperate for a plan, a way out.

  Savan smiled at him from behind her counter, seemingly oblivious to the onslaught happening to her front door.

  “Care to buy a potion?” she asked. “Or maybe a salve, a ward against poison, perhaps?”

  Ty glanced over his shoulder at the door, thinking a healing potion might just do him good should the goons break in and come at him again. He might be able to hold them off if he could reset his health points in the middle of a fight.