The runecraft info was new to me, I guessed it was thanks to my improved Analyze skill rank.
“Nice! What’s your Smithing skill?
“Fifteen.”
“Amazing! This item is easily at the Expert crafting level. With the right enchantments it could fetch a nice price.”
“I know,” he grinned, “That weird crafting puzzle seemed to do the trick.”
I frowned. Something about Malkyr having to solve a crafting puzzle didn’t seem right. Maybe it was similar to connecting the dots mini-game in my Runecrafting? It seemed plausible, but it was still bothering me. Having to solve mathematical problems went against the idea of being-part-NPC, after all, you wouldn’t expect normal monsters to start doing math whenever they picked up a smith’s hammer. At least, that’s how I saw it.
Malkyr picked up the newly forged gauntlets and put them on. He straightened to his full height, looking at his new toys, turning his hands to see them from different angles. The gauntlets added to the already impressive aura of badassness of his large, already powerful presence. He banged his steel-clad hands together, making a deep iron clang noise and looked at me with a satisfied grin. "Hoshisu is ready to kick my ass for crafting all day instead of going after the insane bounty you give for raw meat. I promised her we'd go hunting tomorrow morning, game time. But, I'm going to craft through the night. Is there anything you'd like me to forge for you? I'm feeling generous." He smirked at me.
I looked at Barzel, who was having difficulties casting the blade for the Lumber Yard’s circular saw. The industrious goblin was overworked. Despite his efficient demeanor, he only had 6 skill points in Blacksmithing and could use the help.
“Can you help Barzel here forge some cooking equipment for the new Mess Hall?”
He shrugged. “Sure. He already asked for my help - gave me a quest and everything. Didn’t have time to get to it yet.”
That explains why I hadn’t received a prompt for granting him a quest. I thought.
“Well then, if you can afford the time now, it will help the settlement.”
“Consider it done, little buddy. But when morning comes, we’re going hunting and then we’ll probably log off for the night, so I’ll see you next in three or four days. Your time.”
I nodded, “good hunting.”
He grinned at me, “you bet.”
I went back to my house. I had almost the whole day to grind the last point I needed to raise my Runecraft to Apprentice rank. I yawned unenthusiastically, it’s going to be a long and tedious night of Enchanting.
***
Hours later, exhausted, I rose from the pile of items I had enchanted and went to bed. It was morning already, Tika hadn’t returned yet from her hunting trip, but that wasn’t an uncommon occurrence. Deprived of rest last night, I fell asleep almost immediately.
***
Someone was poking me. Repeatedly.
“Wake up!”
That bastard jokester, “Leave me alone Vic.”
“Wha-what!?” I sat up stiffly, squinting my eyes open and rubbing at them tiredly. Beams of bright morning sun shone through the cracks in the window, it couldn’t be more than a couple of hours since I’d gone to sleep.
“You got a message from Malkyr.”
I looked around blearily. “Where’s Tika?”
“Open the message, Oren.”
Hearing Vic use my real name snapped me out of my confused lethargy. I clicked the flashing envelope icon at the corner of my vision. It was a player-to-player note from Malkyr, it was short and looked like it was written in a rush.
[Message Received from: Malkyr
Tika captured by hobs. Trying to rescue her. Tough fight. Could use help!]
I jumped up in alarm. Everything around me slowed down as my senses came into a sharp focus, my mind racing. Tika was in danger? MY Tika!? A wave of overwhelming dread rushed over me and a pit grew in my stomach, leaving me with a sense of terrible hollowness. My feelings defied all my earlier logic, the arguments with myself about the nature of our relationship. The fact that she was a goblin NPC and I was a human player didn’t matter anymore. It had never mattered. All I could think of was getting her back.
The message came with a map marker attached. It was several kilometers away from the valley.
“How long ago did I get this?” I asked urgently.
“About five minutes, boss. You were damn hard to wake up.”
“Shit!” I cried, grabbed my staff and ran toward the door.
Excluding boss fights, combat in the game usually took only a few minutes. I had to hurry. I yanked the door open and stopped dead in my tracks.
Malkyr and Hoshisu stood at the entrance, ready to knock at the door. Their faces were grim.
Tika was not with them.
26 - This Means War
The siblings were breathing heavily and struggling to keep up as we ran towards the location where they’d fought the hobgoblins.
With Mana Infusion at level 15 and the Dark Mana skill bonuses, I was running 30% faster than the average goblin could. Even the twins, with their long-legged human-sized bodies, had to force their pace to keep up.
“Tell me what happened,” I demanded, my breath labored.
“We were...” Malkyr was panting more heavily, “looking for game to...” he gasped “hunt...walking down a trail….we suddenly…God I hate running! Especially… with the Death Debuff!”
“We met Tika coming the other way,” Hoshisu continued for Malkyr, she was running with less effort than her brother. “She was running from something. We stopped her to ask what’s wrong, when a couple level 5 hobgoblins burst from the woods.” She took a moment to steady her breath as she ran. “We managed to kill them easily enough. But they were just the advanced scouts. More hobgoblins followed and a couple of Ogres as well.”
“I took a… chunk of one.” Malkyr continued to gasp. “Tough bastards… messaged you…for…help.”
“Yes.” Hoshisu continued. “We couldn’t fight them off. When the main goblin group attacked we got separated from Tika. We did see a couple warriors grab her and make off with her before we were overwhelmed.” She paused significantly “They seemed to be more interested in capturing her, than in killing us. We were just in their way.”
“Came as… soon as… respawned.” The big guy gasped heavily.
It took us about 10 minutes to reach the skirmish site, the dense forest slowing us down considerably.
Crushed bushes, smears of blood and the body of a dead hobgoblin were the first signs of the battle that happened here. I looked around the clearing, scrutinizing the area carefully, there was a second dead hobgoblin, this one impaled through the chest by a spear that pinned him hanging at a nearby tree. My seldom used Tracking skill kicked in and highlighted more signs.
“Your handiwork?” I asked Malkyr, gesturing at the impaled hobgoblin, as he joined me.
“Oh yeah.” he grinned broadly. “The bloody hob threw his spear at me, I got kinda mad and decided to return the favor, and the spear.
I took another look at the hobgoblin suspended two meters above the ground. That was some favor.
“They dragged her off that way.” Hoshisu pointed toward the north, away from the valley.
The trail of their passage was clearly visible. I made to follow.
A large hand grabbed my shoulder.
“What are you doing man,” Malkyr demanded.
“I’m going after her. Let go of me.” I struggled against his powerful hand.
“Come on man, think. You can’t go after her alone, you’ll be outnumbered.”
“Then come with me.” It was a statement, not a question. “I’ll make it worth your time.”
A quest grant request popped up. I maxed out the offered rewards.
Would you like to grant the quest [Help Find Tika] to Malkyr and Hoshisu? Yes/No
Suggested reward: XP: 1710, Reputation:190, gold: 100, items: none
> “Christ man, where do you get all that money from?” Malkyr shook his head in disbelief.
“Of course we’ll help,” Hoshisu interjected. “But let’s be smart about it. Both me and my brother just respawned, we are suffering from the death debuff so we’ll be next to useless in a fight. And you look haggard and all wild around the eyes, like you haven’t slept a wink.”
“Besides,” Malkyr continued, “We might be away for a few days, would you leave your clan undefended? Better to prepare everyone for your absence.”
A wave of anger flowed over me at his insensitive words.
My anger lessened as I considered his word. That’s right! I can resurrect named goblins with energy. That meant I should definitely go back to my clan and check the Interface. But there was just one last problem.
“If we head back now, we risk losing their trail,” I voiced my concern.
The twins exchanged looks, something passing between them. Hoshisu nodded. “I’ll go after them. I also have the Tracking skill and I know how to sneak. I’ll find out where their camp is and I’ll report back.”
“Be careful sis.” The big man said with a worried expression.
She shrugged. “At worst I’ll be killed and sent back to the valley. Would spare me the trip and other than the debuff, there are no death penalties until level 10. Remember?”
“Let’s go. I turned back toward the valley. Malkyr following close by.”
***
We arrived back at the valley at high noon. The village was still asleep, a wisp of smoke could be seen coming from the Mess Hall, probably Gandork getting an early start with the first meal.
I briefly considered waking everyone, but after some thought decided against it. They’d wake up soon enough on their own. It was better than having them suffer morale and efficiency penalties from not being well rested.
Instead, I used the time to prepare myself.
I sent Vic to get me an exact food count. I needed to know exactly what my available resources were.
In the meantime, I drew out the runecrafted Ring of the Sounding Horn and opened the design interface.
Last night I’d finally reached the Apprentice rank at Runecraft and it provided a few new useful features. I opened up the skill description to make sure I hadn’t missed anything.
Runecraft (M)
You understand the subtle principles of imbuing items with powerful runes. Runes can be combined in different ways to achieve different magical effects. From making an everburning torch, to bringing inanimate objects to life. The runecrafter must always seek out new runes to increase his available repertoire, and to increase his skill.
Currently known runes: ko, ha, ma, esh
Current level: 11 - Apprentice: add a chance to discover new runes from dismantled magic items. Decrease mana required by 10%. See enchantment details while crafting.
Effects I: enchantment strength: 15.5%. Rune count base increase: 5.5%.
Effect II: chance to learn new rune by dismantling: magic item: 11%, runecrafted item: 22%
Yesterday I decided to hold off with dismantling the ring, in order to increase the skill further, improving the chance for a successful attempt. But right now I needed every advantage I could get no matter how small, and gaining new knowledge from that ring just might help with that.
The design mode opened, showing me the ring I was holding and its properties. A large dismantle button appeared. I held my breath, gave a quick prayer to Nihilator for luck and clicked it.
Ring of Blowing Horn Dismantled
Gained: gold band.
Learned rune: Ra - rune of sound
Runecraft skill level increased to 12
Lucky Bastard skill level increased to 15
Despite my stress, I couldn’t help grinning in satisfaction.
Next, I held the gold band in my hand and a holographic copy of it appeared in the design mode.
After long moments of fiddling I discovered that the new Ra rune produced a sound that was directly controlled by the connector rune. Depending on how I twisted the rune lines I could produce a variety of sounds, from a low whisper to a roaring scream. One of the perks of gaining the Apprentice rank, was that while I was working with various rune combinations, I could see their effect listed in the design mode in real time. It really helped speed the discovery process of trial and error.
Vic returned with his report. Wordlessly he waved his hand, and a menu appeared in front of my eyes.
5 raw meat (ingredient)
55 raw fish (ingredient)
64 gathered edibles (basic food)
35 gathered ingredients (ingredient)
103 raw mushrooms (basic food, ingredient)
11 Venison in Mushroom sauce (advanced food)
30 travel rations (basic food)
Adding the type of each food was a nice touch. I appreciated the gesture. I knew Vic well enough by now to know that it was his way of trying to offer his support.
“Thanks Vic.”
He looked slightly embarrassed, then shrugged. “Don't mention it boss.”
So it looked like if I turn all the raw food into Basic food, I’ll end up with 257 units. That would have to do.
The other goblins were starting to wake up now and head toward the newly constructed Mess Hall.
I hadn’t had the chance to inspect the building myself yet. I followed the crowd inside.
The interior was big enough for hundreds of goblins. Stone pillars supported the beams that crossed the ceiling of the dining hall. Everything, from the flooring and the orderly rows of long tables and benches, to the serving counter in the back corner, was made from simple, roughly hewn, planks. The kitchen, visible behind the counter was the notable exception, being made of stone, presumably to prevent fires. A plethora of kitchen utensils on hooks, that looked like a hanging garden of copper and iron, were suspended over the kitchen’s prepping areas, fireplaces, and cooking stations.
Gandork darted excitedly from one end of the kitchen to the other. Slicing ingredients here, stirring a cauldron there, popping a pan with, I assume, food in it into the oven.
As he saw me approach, he started chattering exuberantly. “Finally a decent workplace! I have organized all of our food supplies neatly in the storage area, so now I can finally give you an accurate inventory count. I’m still missing some important cooking tools, you need to take care of that soon. At least having a proper stove allows me to easily prepare Advanced food, and the--”
“Gandork. I need your help.”
Something in my voice made him stop mid-speech and look at me with apprehension. All his rudeness evaporated as he saw my deadpan stare.
“Yes, Dark Totem?” he asked soberly.
“I want every type of raw food we have converted into Simple food. Fish, raw meat, everything. As fast as you can.”
He bowed, “My new kitchen is not entirely complete, but it should be enough for such a simple task. It shouldn’t take long.”
“Good.”
I looked around the dining hall and saw that everyone I needed to talk to before I left was here, either eating or just finishing their meal.
I wove around the tables to Bosper, eating alone at one of the benches.
“How many bows have you made so far?” I asked abruptly.
He swallowed the food he had just put in his mouth, and sensing the gravity of my request, answered quickly and to the point. “Four, Dark Totem.”
“Thanks. Keep making them as fast as possible.”
Next, I went over to the table where Vrick and his warriors were eating. This time Vrick didn’t have any leather pieces around
him.
“Vrick, Tika was taken captive by hobgoblins. I’ll be leaving the valley shortly to rescue her. I might be gone for several days. Before I leave I am going to summon some more warriors to help you guard the clan. Train them as best you can while I am away, but double the guards on all watches and make sure they stay on high alert until I return. Look after our people while I’m away, their lives are in your hands.”
He was gaping at me, eyes wide, when I finished. But only for a moment. Recovering quickly, his face drew into a grim, determined visage, and he answered in a crisp voice. “As you command, Dark Totem!”
“Good.” I turned to leave.
“Please, bring my niece back safely.” He added in a lower, pleading tone.
That revelation broke through the barriers of my worry and anger. I turned, looking at him in surprise.
“You are Tika’s uncle!?”
“Yes. I trained her to use a bow and hunt from the time she was a little goblinette. How do you think she became so good at hunting?”
I was moved by the sudden display of emotion from the usually stoic goblin. I gripped his shoulder in reassurance. It no longer mattered who was a real person and who was not. Here was a man worried for his family. “I will do everything I can to bring her back.” I told him quietly, giving his shoulder another squeeze.
I scanned the Mess Hall, looking for Zuban.
He was sitting with his workers. Bargush stood out from the other workers not only because of his four arms, but also for being nearly as tall and bulky as Zuban, with his hobgoblin physique.
“Dark Totem.” The foreman greeted me respectfully as I neared his table.
“I am leaving the valley for a few days, maybe more. If you finish construction before my return, start building Huts for everyone. I trust your judgment to decide on the location.”
He nodded his understanding. “Of course.”
“Continue working on the Barracks blueprints with the new Researcher. We need it.”
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