Fate Revealed
Page 22
As Eric approached he launched the arcane strike towards the face of the goblin attacking Owin. Caught unawares, the goblin flinched, its saber pausing for a beat as it reacted and dodged the spell. Looking at Eric, the goblin laughed as Eric’s spell flew by its head. Unfortunately, the arcane strike was just a distraction, one that Owin seized upon, his sword descending like a meteor and slashing directly through the goblin’s shoulder, his blade only halting halfway through the goblin’s body.
Noiselessly, the goblin slumped to the ground, its healthbar draining to zero as Owin retracted his sword and kicked the leaping wolf mount away. Owin’s hasty kick to prevent the wolf’s leap cost him, however, losing the chance to move as the second goblin’s wolf came leaping towards him from behind the ridge, having scaled the hill behind him. Turning, Owin managed to bring his blade up in time to block the saber hurtling towards his head, but was unable to avoid the wolf whose jaws clamped around his leg, dragging him backwards.
With a yell, Owin fell, his body being dragged backwards off the ridge by the wolf. With a cackling laugh, the goblin rained attacks down on the scout who could only rely on his blade to defend, kicking at the wolf with his free leg.
Leaping into the fray, Eric brought his sword down upon the wolf’s side with a shout, eliciting a yelp of pain from the animal as it released Owin’s leg. The goblin aimed a quick slash at Eric who brought his sword up to defend, only to receive the goblin’s clawed foot in the midsection for his troubles. That’s my move! Eric thought indignantly as he was sent stumbling backwards, fresh blood spilling from the hole in his shirt as his healthbar decreased by nearly twenty percent.
Ignoring the fallen scout, the goblin spurred its mount towards the recovering Eric, its saber showering blows upon him as he tried to avoid the wolf’s attacks. Twisting to one side, Eric ducked underneath the goblin’s saber as it performed a horizontal slash, simultaneously avoiding the mount’s swipe. He kicked out his leg and swept the wolf’s supporting paw, causing it to crash snoutfirst to the ground.
As the goblin rider attempted to regain its balance after having its mount kicked out from under it, Eric’s fist slammed into its chin, lifting the diminutive creature off of its mount entirely. Clambering back to its feet, the wolf attempted to bite at Eric who simply backstepped and slashed at it, his sword shaving off the animal’s last few hitpoints. The long fight with Owin must have caused the damage to accumulate, he realized, as he moved towards the dazed goblin who was just now climbing back to its feet.
Remembering Owin’s lessons, Eric dashed in, his feet blurring as he brought the sword in close to his body. Approaching the goblin which had raised its saber high in preparation to receive his attack, Eric’s sword suddenly sliced through the empty space, a thin red line appearing on the goblin’s neck as it slowly separated from the rest of its body.
Panting heavily, Eric looked up to see how the fight was progressing. Owin had managed to dispatch the wolf mount of the goblin he and Eric had combined to take down earlier. While Alexnir had abandoned his quest to turn the goblin he’d killed into finely grated meat, returning to help Tamira engage her two opponents. He and Katzy had taken one while Tamira had taken the other.
Katzy and Alexnir had it easy, with Katzy throwing spells at the goblin whenever it separated from Alexnir, while for his part Alexnir used his shield to send the goblin stumbling backwards into the range of Katzy’s spells. Under this two-pronged attack of might and magic the goblin fell, the indignity it felt for dying to this method written on its unwilling face.
Tamira had engaged her opponent once more in a 1v1. Unfortunately for the goblin, without its mount, the massive reach advantage afforded by the feisty redhead’s height and spear were too much to bear and it quickly found itself with some new holes in its shabby armour. With one last defiant warcry, the goblin fell, quiet returning once more to the stony hill.
- Chapter Thirty-Five -
Dashing Cut
Surveying the scene, Eric leaned heavily on his sword. Both his stamina and his mana were depleted, having been heavily taxed this fight. His healthbar had also been drained, now hovering just above the 50% mark, which made him the healthiest fighter after Katzy.
The mage had managed to avoid taking any attacks this fight, protected as she was at the top of the hill. Once Eric had defeated the wolfrider aiming for her, she had experienced no more attacks, free to cast spells unhindered from the hilltop. Her companions on the other hand had not fared so well. Alexnir was the most heavily wounded of the entire group, having been whaled upon by a goblin and its mount unimpeded for several seconds before Eric’s spell had rescued him. His healthbar was blinking dangerously, not even 10% of his hitpoints remaining after the fierce fighting.
Tamira had fared much better than her ally. Unlike Alexnir, she had not been the victim of an unexpected strike, nor had she been incapacitated and forced to take heavy damage. She had, however, been forced to fight 1v2 for a brief time. Luckily, her reach advantage combined with her spear had allowed her to keep both opponents at bay until reinforcements could save her. Although she had suffered some damage, her healthbar was still relatively healthy at just under 40% full.
Owin had been placed in a 1v2 from the start, and if one counted the wolves as separate entities, then it was actually a 1v4. Fortunately, the scout was the most experienced and battle hardened fighter present and had managed to keep himself alive, using the terrain to limit the mobility and lethality of his mounted opponents. He had been almost completely uninjured up until the point where the wolf had seized his leg and he’d been subjected to the relentless attacks of both wolf and rider. His right leg was now bloody, the pant leg around his calf having been turned into rags by the mauling of the wolf. He also bore a number of cuts and lacerations around his face and shoulders from blows he’d been unable to defend against properly due to the wolf at his feet.
Fortunately, the man can’t really get much uglier, Eric thought as he watched the scout limp towards him.
“That was one hell of a fight, it’s good to see that everyone survived,” said Owin.
“All thanks to your tactics, if it wasn’t for this hill, we’d have been surrounded and chopped to pieces,” Eric responded. Tamira and Alexnir echoed his sentiment while Katzy nodded timidly.
“How are we going to divide the loot?” Tamira asked, looking towards the fallen goblins. Her eyes gleaming as she stared at the sabers.
“4:3 split. Owin and I will take two each, you three can have one each.”
“No way. There’s more of us, we fought just as hard as you two did. Without us you’d both be dead.”
“Without you we wouldn’t have had to fight them in the first place,” Eric retorted. “Plus, we contributed more. Owin fought against two riders at once right from the start. My arrows were the reason you and Alexnir could slay that first goblin so easily. And if it wasn’t for me protecting Katzy she would have been killed by that rider that flanked you guys,” he argued.
Opening her mouth to retort, Tamira was cut off by Alexnir, “That sounds fine.”
“Alex!”
“He literally saved both me and Katzy, Tammy,” moving in closer to his companion, Alex continued in a hushed voice. “Plus I’ve gained quite a bit from this fight. I just got a new skill. Just let it go for now. Now that we know how he fights, the next time we see him if he decides to fight us then we can beat him.”
Gritting her teeth, Tamira nodded slowly, “Fine we accept your conditions. But you’d better not forget that we helped you.”
“Never,” said Eric, rolling his eyes at the woman’s stubbornness.
“Let’s hurry up and get moving. We can’t be sure that those are the only pursuers,” Owin encouraged, gazing back towards the north. With a small murmur of assent, the group got to looting, taking whatever they could salvage from the dead goblins and their mounts. Once the goblins had been stripped of everything useable, they set off, leaving the stony hill behind.
As they walked, Eric opened his event log to see what benefits he’d gained from the fight. Ignoring the kill notifications, he focused on the skill ups and the loot.
[Arcane Strike has levelled up to Beginner 7]
[Basic Martial Arts has reached Beginner 7]
[Charged Shot has levelled up to Beginner 8]
[Basic Archery has reached Apprentice 6]
[Basic Wind Magic has reached Beginner 5]
[Wind Blade has levelled up to Beginner 2]
[Basic Martial Arts has reached Beginner 8]
[Arcane Strike has levelled up to Beginner 8]
[Militia Swordsmanship has reached Beginner 9]
[You have learned: Wind Strike!]
[Basic Wind Magic has reached Beginner 7]
[Wind Blade has levelled up to Beginner 3]
[Arcane Strike has levelled up to Beginner 9]
[Basic Martial Arts has reached Beginner 10!]
[You have levelled up to level 6! Stats have been updated]
All Stats +1
Health +10
Mana +10
[Militia Swordsmanship has reached Beginner 10!]
[Basic Evasion has reached Apprentice 6]
[You have levelled up to level 7! Stats have been updated]
All Stats +1
Health +10
Mana +10
[Militia Swordsmanship has reached Apprentice 2]
[You have learned Dashing Cut!]
[You have received Goblin’s Rough Iron Saber x2]
[You have received Goblin’s Ill-fitting Leather Armour x2]
[You have received Red-maned Wolf Pelt x2]
The notifications bombarded his vision, filling the virtual screen as he looked over the various skill ups and loot. He’d used a significant amount of magic this fight and it had paid off, with numerous levelups for his spells. He’d also gained two levels as two more skills had hit Beginner 10. While his Swordsmanship hitting Beginner 10 was to be expected, more surprising was his Basic Martial Arts also reaching Beginner 10. He hadn’t expected for it to level up so quickly as he had only really started to use his fighting skills this fight. Perhaps Gio was right and the skill proficiency really was linked to how well the player performed the skills? It was definitely a hypothesis worth testing he decided, closing the event log and bringing up the skill information for Dashing Cut.
[Dashing Cut] - Beginner 1
Active Skill - Sword
Uncommon
Dash forward, closing the gap between you and your foe as you launch a slash that contains the momentum of your dash. The dash has an evasive property thanks to the special footwork used by Elite Novanalba scouts. The power of the strike is increased the further you dash, up to a maximum of twenty steps. Stumbling or halting the dash will cancel the skill. Your stamina usage is tripled when using this skill. This technique can be enhanced.
Looking over the information on the skill, Eric nodded; it was an active skill pertaining to the sword which he’d already known. The part about using momentum to increase the power of the attack he’d known thanks to Owin. However, the limit for the skill being twenty steps was new information, and the part about the Elite Novanalba Scouts was interesting as well. But by far the most important line to a competitive player was the last one. Bringing up his other skills, Eric quickly double checked, none of them mentioned enhancement. A few mentioned benefits for improving the skill which he presumed meant leveling up. But enhancement was new. Unfortunately, the description gave no hint as to how the skill could be enhanced. With a regretful sigh, he closed the skill description. It was something he could worry about after the quest was finally finished.
Engrossed in his own thoughts, Eric didn’t even realize that Katzy had pulled up alongside him. It wasn’t until she waved her hand in front of his face that he snapped out of his thoughts of skill levels and usages.
“Hey? You there? Ummm…”
“Wha? Sorry, was a little distracted,” Eric laughed sheepishly.
Katzy smiled, “Now that I think of it. We’ve fought you twice but I don’t even know your name. I’m Kathryn, but you can call me Katzy. Those two sourpusses over there are Alexnir and Tamira.”
“I’m Eric, but you can call me Kyp.”
“Good to meet you, Kyp, thanks for teaching me that rune. I haven’t been able to use any strong spells for fear of burning the entire forest down.”
Eric laughed at this, “Yeah, I was pretty happy to find that spell. It’s hard to use magic when Arcane Strike feels too weak but a missed Flame Strike could ignite the biggest bonfire of the summer.”
“I know right! I can’t believe they didn’t teach us the runes for some of the other elements! I really wanted to learn water magic,” Katzy said in an animated fashion. Her face scrunching up as she slandered their instructors.
“The entire game seems to have a philosophy of show not tell. I mean, we don’t even know what affects skill level ups and our actual level. I like it myself, but as a competitive player it feels really weird not being able to look up a guide.”
“Yup. The three of us are trying to form a team, and we don’t even know how to do that yet! Hurricane’s being really stingy with the information,” Katzy complained, puffing out her cheeks in a huff.
Eric stifled a laugh, despite their terrible first impression, this mage was growing on him. Even looking like a chipmunk, she was pretty cute.
“My friends and I are trying to create a team as well - hopefully Hurricane tells us more about the requirements soon. Right now we’re not sure if we need five people or five hundred,” he responded with a grin.
“Right? It’s like, damn Hurricane. The least you could do is tell us how many people we’ll need,” Katzy echoed. “Oh right, I was meaning to ask. How did you learn to do wandless casting? I tried a few times during the tutorial but couldn’t get it to work.”
Looking at the eager mage for a second, an internal debate raged within Eric on whether or not to give her some tips. On the one hand, this girl was the only one of the three who didn’t seem to hate him. It wasn’t like wandless casting was a secret either; it had been discussed during the tutorial and he already knew of at least one other player who could perform it. Plus Katzy was pretty cute and he’d be damned if he wasn’t a sucker for a pretty face.
On the other hand, as a competitive player Eric was loathe to give away any of his secrets. Despite Katzy’s friendly nature, his instincts told him that her party members, Tamira and Alexnir, were both still hostile towards him. And giving his enemies more ways to kill him was never something he considered as a plus.
“Please? Look, I know that you and Tammy don’t get along. But I’m pretty sure I can persuade Alex,” Katzy pleaded, her eyes trembling.
“It’s kind of hard to explain. Ummm… Just picture how you cast with a wand, only without a wand.”
Katzy’s face froze, “What?”
“Like, send the mana to your wand. But then instead of infusing it into your wand infuse it into your fingertips. Does that make sense?”
“Not really?”
“You’ve got to regulate the mana properly. Try letting it flow through all your mana paths a few times before you do it.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you really suck at teaching?”
“It may have come up in conversation a few times yeah.”
“They weren’t lying.”
“Sorry, it really is hard to explain…”
Katzy laughed, “Oh well, I’m sure I’ll get it eventually. Plus using a wand isn’t that bad. Makes me feel more witchlike.” Grabbing her wand she twirled and struck a cute pose, “Magical Girl Kat to the rescue!”
Eric rolled his eyes, “Don’t tell me you’re only a mage because you want to be Sailor Moon.”
“Hey! Retro shows are cool. Don’t act like you don’t watch anime - I’m getting a total nerd vibe from you,” Katzy said threateningly, pretending to pout.
Eric laughed, “Alright fine. S
o what if I do? I’m still not the one playing a mage so that she can be a magical girl.”
"Hey this is nothing. There was a guy in the tutorial who named himself Naruto.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Cross my heart.”
“Holy shit.”
“Yeah...”
- Chapter Thirty-Six -
Morningstar
The rest of the journey passed in much the same way. Eric and Katzy discussed magic, while Owin walked alongside, lost in his thoughts. Tamira and Alexnir shot dirty glares at Katzy but she ignored them, continuing to try and make sense of Eric’s dreadful teaching methods.
Soon enough, the group emerged from the forest, the walls of Tonbura looming in the distance. As they approached the northern gate, Katzy looked at Eric apologetically.
“Sorry about my friends.”
“Haha no worries. I’d be pretty pissed if I thought you guys had killed me.”
“Add me as a friend?”