Resistances: Armor: 12, Mental: 30%, Spell: 10%
Background: Glibworm reached the title of Adept through years of training and a thirst for power. In combat, he was known for his ability to transform a weak fighting force into a frenzied killing machine. His lack of physical endurance has taught him to wary of being hit, hiding behind his allies in combat is second nature to him
Ogre warrior
Level: 13 (22%)
P:17, M:-2, S:-2
HP: 175, MP: 65
Skills: Powerful: 18, Blunt weapons: 20
Traits: Ogre (+4P, -2M, -2S), Frenzy (gain 60% combat bonuses when reduced below 55 HP)
Resistances: Armor: 35, Physical: 75%, Spell: 30%
Background: Big ugly brute. Hits hard.
It was my real first opportunity to test the Master ranked Analyze skill I’ve gained back at Nihilator’s den, nearly at the cost of my life. I could now view the full information of my enemies, including their specific abilities and strengths. It was amazing, wars were often decided by which side had the best information. And I had access to a lot of it now.
I finally recognized the Adept, Glibworm. He was the one who had led the last hobgoblin war party my warriors and I encountered in the forest. Back then, we’d hidden in the bushes until they left. I intended tonight’s encounter to end very differently.
Glibworm by himself wasn’t much of a challenge, his strength was in his ability to cast group buffs. His spell “Mass Frenzy” could trigger the warriors’ Frenzy, increasing their combat efficiency by 50%. He could use the same group heal as me, extending their capacity to absorb damage, making them even more effective in combat. His ability to use allies for cover and use magical defense meant I was going to have a hard time trying to take him down in a head-on fight.
The Ogre was the real problem, it was more than I bargained for, if allowed to reach me in melee he could make short work of me. Ogres had a ton of hit points, incredible strength and a temper to match. They could hit with the force of a wrecking ball, and shrug off most counterattacks. Add to that their respectable spell resistance and you received a monster that was hard to hit both by physical or magical means. A single would usually lose to an Ogre of a similar level. And this ugly brute was equal to my level.
Still, I had some advantages. I wasn’t merely a level 13 player - I was a level 13 boss. I was higher level than the hobgoblins, and had more hit points than the Ogre, though that in itself wouldn’t ensure victory. An ogre could easily reduce my HP to zero in just a few massive hits. In addition, I also possessed an impressive array of magical arsenal, which I intended to put to full use against the group. All I had to do was come up with a proper strategy.
I thought about using my Freeze and Dominate options first. With my Dark Mana skill level at 15, I could influence two of the hobgoblins or just the Ogre.
It was a good strategy against the two simple warriors, but Glibworm and the Ogre had spell resistance. I didn’t like the idea of my spell suddenly backfiring on me at the wrong time.
Instead, I came up with a daring plan. Daring sounded better than stupid, anyway.
Still concealed, I established the mental link to my darkness imbued dagger. I made it slide out of my belt and over in the air. With another thought I caused it to turn, its tip now pointing toward the unaware Ogre. Still maintaining the dagger midair, I cast Drilling Arrow, conjuring two spinning arrows of dark mana and spent several seconds to charge them up to their maximum, tripling their mana cost and damage potential. My Apprentice rank in the spell allowed me to exceed the default maximum double charge of mana.
Everything was ready. The dagger was hovering, the two arrows fully charged. With a mental push I launched all three projectiles at the unsuspecting Ogre.
Drilling Arrows hit Ogre for 71 damage [(13+16)X3, +6 Sneak, -22 spell resistance]
Dagger hit Ogre for 28 damage [+6 physical, +17 dark, + 5 sneak]
With that single, perfectly executed attack, I’d deprived the ogre of 60% of his hit points! But there was little time celebrate as the Ogre jumped to his feet roaring in rage, swinging his club, and looking for his attacker. The hobgoblins had also jumped up, startled and searching for their attackers.
Before they could do anything else, I stepped boldly into the clearing.
With a flick of my mind, I connected to the two warriors’ internal mana pools, and poured my black mana into them, casting Dominate. At over twice their level, they had little chance to resist. I overwhelmed any mental defense they might have had, easily making them my slaves.
Grab and restrain him! I ordered the warriors telepathically pointing at their leader. The two immediately jumped on poor Glibworm, trapping both his arms, and twisting them behind his back, preventing him from casting any spells. The warriors were much stronger than the Adept and had no trouble restraining him.
“Why don’t you relax for a minute,” I casually quipped at the pinned hobgoblin as I turned to face the raging Ogre.
Ignoring the dagger still embedded in his chest, the Ogre waved his huge club threateningly through the air, then crouched down. He was obviously preparing to charge at me, probably intending to knock me over and then pulverize me with his club while I was down.
I didn’t give him the chance. With a mental flick I pulled the still embedded dagger from his body, and floated it right in front of his face, forcing him to confront the weapon. The stupid creature tried to swat it away, but I slashed the dagger across, cutting a deep gash open along his forearm.
Dagger hit Ogre for 23 damage [6 physical + 17 dark]
Just for good measure, I shot another Drilling Arrow at him. This time, not spending the precious few seconds required to charge it up.
Drilling Arrows hit Ogre for 21 damage [(12+15) -6 spell resistance]
As the second barrage brought the Ogre’s hit points down to 10%, his Frenzy ability kicked in. He roared deafeningly, ignored the dagger and charged straight at me.
I hadn’t expected him to do that, I intended to keep the floating dagger between us as a makeshift tank, but it seemed that this time, I was fresh out of luck. I tried activating Mana Shield, but the Ogre was faster. The huge club descended rapidly, aimed straight at my head.
I reflexively threw myself to the side, narrowingly managing to evade the devastating blow. The club smashed the ground next to me, causing earth and stone to explode out in all directions, some of it hitting me and shaving off a few hit points. Before I could recover, the Ogre, still roaring in fury, kicked me with amazing force. The kick connected fully, blasted the air from my lungs, and hurled my body across the clearing. A helpful tree trunk broke my momentum and nearly my back along with it.
Forest Ogre kick hit you for 32 damage
Stun debuff gained. Duration 6 seconds
That kick hurt. A lot.
Especially harmful attacks sometimes conferred additional negative effects along with the hit point damage inflicted; like the stun I had just received. I was left dizzy, desperately struggling to regain my breath and shake off the stun effect, but my lungs refused to cooperate. The Ogre seized this opportunity to charge at me again, adding his momentum to the raised club, intending to deliver another devastating blow. I looked at the big creature desperately as he closed the distance between us like a runaway truck. There was nothing I could do to stop him, I couldn’t move or concentrate enough to activate my magical abilities. I stared at him and steeled myself for another bone-shattering blow.
“You’re getting good at this” I complimented my companion as my control was restored.
Saved from the sudden attack, I looked up at the giant Ogre looming over me and smiled at hi
m. “My turn, bitch,” I stretched my hand out toward his surprised face and snapped my fingers.
The dagger, still hovering in the air behind the ogre shot toward me in a straight line passing through the Ogre’s body. It ended its flight in my palm, covered in blood.
The ogre looked with incomprehension at the dagger in my hand, then down at his belly and finally like a falling tree, toppled forward, dead.
I easily sidestepped the falling body, and it hit the ground with a resounding thud.
I stood up, tucking the dagger back in my belt and looked at the large body at my feet. It had a large gaping hole at the center of his belly. Instead of blood-red, the wound was completely black. As I watched, lines of darkness erupted from the gaping black hole, snaking over the body, enveloping it completely. Then the dark blob that used to be an Ogre began shrinking. It condensed, becoming smaller and smaller, the shape becoming faceted, sharp and crystalline, ending as a small tear-drop shaped black crystal. All that remained of the Ogre was his massive club and a few smudges of blood on the ground.
So that’s what ‘consumed by darkness’ means, I thought to myself. It was an apt description.
Glibworm, still held down by his previous subordinates looked at me with horror “Wh-who are you? How did you come to possess such power?” he asked hoarsely, partly choked off by the warriors’ hold on him.
I ignored him, bent down and picked up the black crystal.
Void Crystal
Level: 13
Description: A fragment of pure darkness created by consuming the life essence of a slain creature. Can be used in dark rituals, or to power objects and creatures affiliated with darkness.
Type: Source, Power, Dark
Effect: restore 130 mana
Well, that could come in handy. I didn’t intend to use it to fuel my mana, that would be a waste. The ambiguous description strongly hinted toward some sort of darkness related buff, and I had a good idea how to test that when I returned to Goblin’s Gorge.
I cast Heal Followers a few times, speeding up my hit point regeneration, and gaining a small percentage in the skill’s progression.
Once I was fully healed, I was ready to question my prisoner.
I approached the waiting hobgoblins. My controlled slaves were doing a fine job at subduing their former leader with a firm choke hold, barely allowing him enough air to breathe.
I took a quick look at their Domination status. They will remain under my control for 12 more minutes, quite enough for what I had in mind
I carefully studied the restrained Adept. He was larger than me, but smaller than his warrior companions. His teeth were crooked and his nose broken. Not a very fine specimen of his race.
I hit him with a Mana Drain.
Mana Drain hit Glibworm. 25 MP drained
He stammered and choked as I relieved him of his magical energy. Analyze showed me he had 55 left, still a threat. I waited for the spell cooldown and hit him with another drain. 33 mana left. That should limit his spellcasting considerably.
“Where is Barska, your leader?” I demanded, mentally ordering my minions to release their choke hold to let him reply.
“Barska?” he seemed surprised. Then his eyes narrowed in contempt. “Stinking little goblin! Barska will come for you soon enough.”
I sighed and made the warriors bend his arms back. Glibworm screamed at the sudden pain. I didn’t like resorting to torture, even when used against NPC monsters, but I had already gone through my soul-searching period. The survival of me and my clan came first, and the hobgoblins were a threat to that.
“Where is he?” I demanded again.
“At our war camp!” he spat out in pain, as the warriors gave his arms another twist. “It’s to the west.”
“Good. How many warriors does he have?”
Glibworm spat at my feet, “Enough to crush you pitiful critters and send you back to Corgoram.”
A nod toward the warriors made him scream again.
“Three full quads. Each led by a lieutenant and supported by an adept. The Grand Chief sent reinforcements to make sure we take over this area.”
“What about the Ogres?” I pressed further.
“A small clan has pledged allegiance to Barska, two of the Ogres are his personal bodyguards, the rest are guarding the camp’s perimeter and sometimes join one of the squads in patrol.”
“Thank you,” I murmured, considering his answers.
So Barska had a war camp with a significant fighting force somewhere to the west. We couldn’t hope to take them out all at once, along with the Ogres, they were definitely much stronger than us as a whole. But as long as we only attack small groups of the enemy, we should be able to whittle the force down until to a point where we can take them down all the way. Guerrilla warfare was my only resort.
The only unknown was Barska himself. As a boss, he would surely have some nasty surprises up his sleeve. I had to approach him carefully.
Glibworm took advantage of my momentary distraction. Without me actively guiding the warriors who held him, he managed to wiggle his hands and utter some magical syllables. The air around him rippled for a second, and then a blast of energy burst out of him as he cast his Deflection Field spell. The blast hurled the two warriors away, releasing him.
He sneered at me triumphantly as he turned, fleeing toward the trees and the safety of the forest.
Overcoming my surprise, I frantically activated my newest ability, pulling the shadows all around to converge on the fleeing hobgoblin. Large swathes of darkness slid toward him, swarming around and over him, obstructing his sight. Effectively blinded, Glibworm kept going through the shadows and cleared them just to stumble, head first, into a convenient tree, giving off a hollow, melon-like thumping sound.
Before he could recover, I hastily cast Freeze on him, praying it would take. I could not let him escape to warn Barska. It could be a disaster if the whole war camp moved to this area, close to the settlement. Luckily, the Freeze effect worked, rendering the Adept immobile. He tried to fight off my influence, eyes bulging in fear and loathing. I hit him with another Mana Drain, relieving him of his last remaining mana point.
His arm suddenly spasmed, overcoming the effect of Freeze. His magic resistance was enabling him to fight off the spell. He was regaining his mobility and the warriors were still lying on the ground dazedly. I couldn’t risk him escaping. With a gesture the dagger soared into the air. Another twist of my fingers and it launched straight for the immobile hobgoblin, striking him in the forehead, piercing through and embedding itself to the hilt.
Glibworm sacrificed
+7 Faith Points (Cult of Nihilator)
As Glibworm was technically still Frozen, it activated the dagger’s Sacrifice ability, killing him in one strike. As happened with the ogre, the area around the embedded dagger turned black, rapidly spreading, engulfing the Adept’s body in darkness. The black shape that used to be Glibworm’s body then shrank down, compressing to leave only a small crystal behind.
Void Crystal
Level: 7
Level up! You have reached Character Level 14. You have 1 ability point to allocate.
Finally, level 14! I opened my character screen and with barely a pause assigned the ability point to Mental, bringing it to 16. One could say I’ve gone completely mental, I laughed out loud at my own goofy humor.
More good news was that sacrificing creatures had the added bonus of awarding Faith Points. It was gruesome, but killing things was a big part playing in NEO, which meant plenty of opportunities to gain more Faith Points and Void Crystals.
Well, I guess I’m done here. I called my controlled minions to me and as they neared, I used Freeze on both of them. Despite my aversion to killing in cold blood, I commanded the dagger toward the two. There weren’t really any other options. The two hobgoblins couldn�
�t be allowed to escape. Besides, killing a mindless mob is not like murdering an intelligent VI operated NPC, I had to remind myself. The dagger slit the throat of the first warrior and then the second, sacrificing them both and gaining in the process two level 5 Void Crystals and 10 Faith Points.
The ease of which I dispatched the two was enthralling. It was so easy. I didn’t feel the slightest remorse at killing them in cold blood. They were the enemy after all. I could get used to playing the role of a dark priest, I thought to myself humorously. Everyone else expected me to act like a monster, so why shouldn’t I?
There were no bodies left to loot after the Sacrifice effect worked its dark magic. But luckily, the darkness effect didn’t consume equipment. Where each creature was slain, there was a small pile of items. I went through each one, sorting through the loot.
I inspected the Ogre’s huge club that was left on the ground.
Ogrekin Ironwood club [monster race only]
Description: A club intended for large creatures. Made from Ironwood, this weapon weighs double than normal and is nearly unbreakable. Requires the ‘Powerful’ skill to be wielded efficiently.
Type: weapon [two handed].
Rank: masterwork
Durability: 198 /200
Damage: 25-32
Effect: Powerful skill has 50% bonus to damage.
That was some fierce weapon for a simple-minded Ogre! As a race, they usually just used stripped down branches as clubs. Someone definitely saw to equip this one better. Considering his Powerful skill was at 18, I estimated the damage output of this specific Ogre at around 60-70 points per hit.
Aside from the huge club which I couldn’t carry, let alone use, the Ogre dropped 21 gold coins and a dwarf figurine carved from onyx. Definitely weird, but the game was known to occasionally drop miscellaneous items from slain monsters. The two warriors had decent leather armor, a battleaxe and a wooden shield each. I stowed it all in my inventory.
Life Reset Page 54