“Let’s just head back to camp,” said Heath.
Gras quickly incinerated the bear corpse they had just been mutilating to learn an impossible skill before rushing to catch up with Heath.
An hour later Gras and Heath both received notifications of their new subskill.
You’ve learned ‘Espionage’ subskill ‘Sabotage’
Espionage III
Level: 15
Experience: 1.47%
Skill Effect: You can store 1,256 images.
Subskill: Sabotage (Stealth Required)
Skill Effect (Active): You have a 31.50% chance to sabotage object undetected
It was brilliant and awful all at once.
“This could be an issue,” said Heath. “Gras, I don’t suppose you have ‘Espionage X’ skill?”
“Only rank III,” Gras answered sadly.
“Right, then this is all on you. Unfortunately, I am still just rank I. And seeing as you have the best chance of leveling it into something useful, I need you to gain as many levels as possible with that skill as quickly as possible. Duncan, hang that thing from your belt and disappear. Gras, hunt him in ‘Stealth’ and disassemble that clock, but make sure you collect the pieces so he can put it back together so you can do it again. On top of that, I’m sorry to ask this of you, but can you work through the day and night tomorrow? By day four, we need to put that to use,” Heath asked.
Gras appreciated the request but felt it should have been an order . . . not that it was necessary as he would have done it anyway. Knowing he would exhaust himself, he decided he would put in the work anyway.
“We’ll get it done,” said Duncan, nodding to Gras once.
Gras returned the nod, agreeing to do what was being asked of him.
“I’m hoping for at least a 50% chance of success, Gras. So please, work hard or all this is for naught,” Heath asked sincerely, his voice suddenly no longer possessing that strange and awkward accent Gras had gotten used to hearing from the Thief.
Duncan didn’t say anything further, just vanishing from view. Gras gave it a ten count then activated his own ‘Stealth’ skill. The hunt was on.
Hour after hour, Duncan circled the camp, keeping them close to safety, not that the camp provided much of that. Hour after hour, Gras was right behind him, taking the clock apart, piece by piece. And level after level, Gras improved the skill he previously thought useless past the first rank, slowly but surely building it into a powerful tool. And when Duncan learned a skill ‘Counter-Espionage’ it started leveling up even faster.
When Heath returned from his raid the next night, he called for them both to stop. “So, how did it go?”
“Well, I can’t speak for Gras there, but my ‘Counter-Espionage’ skill is already rank III and half-way to rank IV,” Duncan answered, sounding pleased, though it was hard to tell with the old soldier.
Gras though was slightly frozen, staring at his ‘Espionage’ skill and ‘Sabotage’ subskill. Gras had never had a skill level up so fast. He was an old hand at practicing his skills frequently, ‘Espionage’ among his most frequently used when he was gathering information from the people of Hammerton. But this was incredible. Did using the skill against another really make that much of a difference? Or was it using the skill against an adventurer that made the biggest difference? Or was there another factor he hadn’t even considered. Either way, he exceeded his goal by a large margin and there were still hours more time to train before whatever mission Heath had planned.
Espionage VII
Level: 2
Experience: 71.41%
Skill Effect: You can store 2,808 images.
Subskill: Sabotage (Stealth Require)
Skill Effect (Active): You have a 70.20% chance to sabotage object undetected
“Rank VII,” Gras answered after noticing the adventurers staring at him.
“That’ll do,” said Heath. “Now, get some sleep, you’ve earned it. The next phase of the operation starts in the morning.”
Gras was a little relieved for the break, but part of him wanted to keep going. He had no idea when he would get the chance to train like this again. Reluctantly, Gras climbed into his tent and quickly fell asleep.
Gras was woken up a few hours later, it was strange to him to be back and functioning in daylight, so much so that his eyes had a hard time adjusting.
“Come on, we’ve got to move,” said Heath.
Gras emerged from his tent and was surprised that Heath and everyone else was ready and waiting.
“Great, and now with Gras up, we’re ready to go. Should be a fun show,” said Heath. “And one last reminder, no laughing during the show or the effect will be completely ruined.” He paused a moment before adding, “And no writing this in the ‘Book of Otherworldly Knowledge’. We don’t want the adventurers on the other side to know what we did.”
“Awe, that’s not fair,” Green complained.
“You can write in the ‘Book of Otherworldly Knowledge’ to your heart’s content when the war ends. You can probably even make a compilation of the war or something,” Heath offered, all of their short conversation completely unintelligible to Gras.
“Anyway, let’s finish cleaning up and get a move on,” said Heath, moving toward the campfire then tossing the rocks that ringed the cookfire away.
Looking around, Gras saw all the adventurers were busy at work, taking down their tents or trying to erase any sign they had been camping there. Rubbing his face to wake himself up a little more, Gras moved to take down his own tent and pack it away.
Going back through the valley during the daytime was very slow. The patrols from Anvilton had increased, more than just being daytime increased. That the war was probably in full swing now was the only reason for it as far as Gras could see.
They stopped just outside the entrance to the cave where the secondary entrance was hidden. From inside the cave, the sound of hammers and complaining Dwarves could be heard.
Heath dropped ‘Stealth’ while they were out of sight. “Gras, this is all on you. Take apart the tools they are using now if you can, then continue inside and keep at it. Work quickly but don’t let them see you. Everyone else, remain hidden and enjoy the show,” Heath whispered, then reactivated his ‘Stealth’ skill.
Gras took a single deep breath and let it out slowly. This was about as dangerous a mission as he had ever heard of, more so due to what was at risk if they failed.
Creeping through the cave toward the door, Gras saw three Dwarves working on reassembling the door. One Dwarf was reassembling the lock and had just about finished. Carefully as he could, Gras took that lock apart, priming it so that as soon as the Dwarf stuck the key into it to lock it, it would fall apart. Gras quickly moved on to do the same with the door hinges and frame, trying not smile too much.
“Not bad lads, hopefully, that will keep anymore Bronzie saboteurs out,” the one that reassembled the lock said, ushering the other Dwarves back into the factory then pulling the door closed. As soon as the door banged into the metal frame the entire thing fell to pieces, the Dwarf in charge was left standing there, holding the door handle in his hand.
The other two Dwarves with him started backpedaling into the factory before one finally screamed and ran.
“Gremlins!” the Dwarf cried out as he ran, his companion echoing his thoughts.
“I do not care if they hunt me down,” said the leader, who instead of running into the factory, ran the other direction, into the cave and out into the valley itself. If he was smart, he wouldn’t stop running until he got to the portal.
Gras didn’t have time to laugh or enjoy and it might have been cruel but as warfare goes, this was actually a lot of fun. Inside the tunnel, Gras disassembled the few lamps that had been reassembled before the door was, giving him extra darkness to work with. Working quickly, he moved towards the factory floor which had all but cleared out, all the Dwarves inside were trying to get past the soldiers blocking the main entrance, voices c
rying out.
“What is the meaning of all this noise?” a newly arrived soldier shouted. This soldier Gras knew as an enemy of his people,
The workers clamored loudly all at once, several voices overlapping each other.
The Major fired a pistol into the air. “Silence!” he bellowed, then pointing to one of the Dwarves in the front of the crowd, “You, tell me what this is about now.”
“Gremlins, sir,” the Dwarf replied meekly.
Major Bruno shot him. Killed the worker in cold blood. “You,” he said, pointing at another of the forced laborers. “Tell me what this is about now!”
Gras was furious, ready to kill the Major in an instant, mission be damned, but the soldier in him had a better idea.
“But sir . . . please . . . my family . . .” the worker pleaded.
The Major cocked the hammer back.
“It is gremlins, sir,” the worker said, terrified to stay. It would have been a death sentence either way.
The Major pulled the trigger and instead of the expected bang, the pistol fell to pieces in his hand.
Major Bruno turned pale. His lips began to quiver slightly. “Seal the door, seal this factory up immediately. Any worker that tries to escape is to be killed, no word of this is to reach the city,” he barked out orders to the soldiers that came with him.
There was an outcry from the workers as they were shoved back from the doors.
One of the soldiers swung the butt of his spear, cracking one of the workers across the face, but froze when he brought his spear forward again, green blood coating the tip of it.
All eyes, both of the soldiers and of the workers were drawn toward the wall, where a single gremlin was straining to climb back up it, except for the new hole in its side. It made it a few steps before the life faded and it fell, hitting the ground with a loud squelching sound.
Gras was confused, he didn’t understand what was happening as suddenly the room was covered in red-eyed gremlins, glaring down at the Anvilton workers and soldiers alike.
“Oh God Ivaldi, no,” Major Bruno hissed, backpedaling before screaming and running, his soldiers right behind him, the workers were completely forgotten as they started to run. The workers not far behind them, only for the doors to slam shut as the last soldier exited, Green appeared in front of doors with his large arms crossed over his chest.
Green grinned, his large fangs earning a scream of fright from the workers.
Suddenly, the gremlins vanished, wavering from view.
“Now that was a bit of fun,” said Heath, appearing next to Green along with all the other adventurers. Gras could see Heath was actually sweating profusely and suddenly he understood. It was an illusion, there were no gremlins.
Gras appeared in front of the adventurers, earning another shout of surprise from the workers. “My people, please, calm yourselves,” he shouted over the crowd.
“It is Lord Gras,” said one of the workers, sagging in relief. “He has come to save us.”
“I have,” said Gras. “The soldiers are gone, terrified to come anywhere near this place again. But the danger has not passed. So, please calm.”
The crowd all seemed to relax, though some were still casting their gaze about in fear.
“There are no gremlins,” Gras started again. “It was a trick, an illusion crafted by one of my companions. Now, this factory cannot be used by my father to bring about the death of more of our people in a pointless war.”
“What happens to us now?” a voice asked loudly.
“Tonight, under the cover of darkness we will be sneaking all of you across the valley into Hammerton. You’ll be safe there,” Heath said, stepping forward. “Before that, we need to seal this main entrance, make sure no one can come back to investigate. We have a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to do it. Let’s get to work people.”
All eyes looked to Gras.
Gras nodded his agreement, setting his people to work. Gras was left to look down on the dead worker. “I am sorry I did not save you sooner. I promise I will do everything in my power to stop my father. To make sure nothing like this ever happens to our people again.”
Gras was slightly startled when a hand was placed on his shoulder.
“Should we bury him?” Green asked.
“In the cave,” said Gras. “We are born from stone and to stone we return.” It was about as much as he could do for the poor Dwarf.
Chapter 22
“We’re getting close to Hammerton, Vision, go,” Micaela ordered the spirit wolf to run toward the city. She was acting as look out for us while we struggled with our current task. Her new dark gray shale stone armor made her look menacing, a large departure from the light-colored Limestone she used before. Add the dark grey axes hanging from her belt, which were larger than her previous axes, and her menacing look was completed . . . only being broken when she started talking to her armor or axes.
“You got it, boss. I will tell Mardi to be ready,” Vision replied, the blue spirit wolf vanishing from sight.
“Rose, hit it again,” I shouted, straining to pull on my net and the orb trapped within it.
Rose’s ‘Magic Paralysis’ spell went off a moment later and the mana recharge suddenly halted, the orb stopped fighting against us. She ran a few steps closer then chanted another spell, this one taking a bite out of the orb’s mana pool. Rose wasn’t all that different aside from being considerably stronger after raising her stats to match her level . . . that and possessing a bit of power behind her small selection of spells.
Olaf and I strained to pull the captured rock giant toward the gates of Hammerton that were now in view. This would be our eighth attempt to bring one of these captured giants to Mardi. The first time, the Hammerton Guards killed the thing as soon as we were inside the outer gates. The next two attempts, Rose’s ‘Magic Paralysis’ was resisted at the worst possible moment and it broke free. We were unable to recapture it after that and were forced to kill it.
Attempts three, four, and six got us all the way to the forge but Mardi hadn’t figured out exactly how to drain the orbs blood without killing it.
Attempt five, we were ambushed by adventurers from Anvilton and all went for a trip to the graveyard. The worst part, our killers were less than 10 levels higher than us, meaning they stole all our experience toward level 15 and 5% of our money, roughly 29% of the experience to my next level and just under 31-Gold. That was a miserable feeling, to know all the work we had done could be taken away so easily. I was glad I was nowhere near level 15 when it happened but it still stung to think about it.
The seventh attempt, Mardi figured out how to drain the blood without killing it, but the spear wasn’t ready yet, so the blood was wasted, and the giant died . . . again.
So here we were, dragging this orb, this rock giant heart, down the mountainside again. My spear was in the fires of Mardi’s volcano forge being prepped and I was left with only a net and a shield to fight with, talk about difficult. Still, I gained some levels to those skills, partly due to the prep work involved in capturing a rock giant, and partially due to the three days we spent training.
Net
Level: 73
Experience: 4.17%
Subskill: Net Whip
Damage: 36-38
Critical Strike Chance: +7.30
Subskill: Net Toss
Capture Target: Below 32.30% HP
Skill Stamina Cost: 123
Preparation Time: 3-minutes 47-seconds
Skill Effect: Slow netted target by 57.30% for 30 Seconds
Subskill: Surprise Capture
Skill Effect: Net Toss 7.3% chance to capture a stunned or unprepared target.
Being able to use the net as a weapon was nice though the damage was pretty sad. Thankfully, a net was not my main weapon, not that my ‘Two-Handed Polearm’ skill would have improved
much anyway as I basically hadn’t been allowed to use it since training began.
Not that improving my weapons skills was the most important aspect the training anyway. I was more focused on building my stats to the level 14 cap. Something I accomplished for my physical stats, gaining +38-Strength, +40-Dexterity, +78-Endurance and +40-Stamina with relative ease, if you consider ease trying to capture rock giants and drag their weighty core down a mountainside.
Level:
14
Experience:
0.72%
Class: Initiate Warrior Priest of Issara
HP (Health Points):
3,300/3,300
MP (Mana Points):
2,210/2,210
SP (Stamina Points):
1,840/1,840
Strength:
155
- Melee Damage Modifier
+155
Dexterity:
175
- Melee Critical Strike Chance
17.50%
- Hit Chance
68.75%
- Dodge Chance
17.50%
Endurance:
330
Stamina:
184
Intellect:
221
- Spell Critical Strike Chance
22.10%
Wisdom:
132
Charisma:
166
Health Regeneration per 10-seconds:
175
Mana Regeneration per 10-seconds:
76
Stamina Regeneration per 10-seconds:
92
Holy Spell Damage Bonus:
252
Holy Spell Healing Bonus:
202
Carrying Capacity in Lbs.:
World Tree Online: The Mountain Valley War: 2nd Dive Concludes Page 38