He laughed merrily, and then viciously tore the armband off my arm and dropped it to the ground.
You are no longer wearing the Armband of the Cracked Skull Clan.
Reputation set to: Hatred
Then he drew back his open hand and struck me across the face with tremendous force.
His strength was incredible. The slap snapped my neck back, completely dazing me. I looked at him in incomprehension for a moment, desperately trying to get my bearing.
“Tough little goblin.” Elenda remarked.
Giving his lieutenant a withering look, Barska lifted his hand again. This time, blackness claimed me.
***
You are immobilized
I came to, blinking repeatedly and staring groggily at the system message that hovered in my view. My mind was sluggish. I’m... immobilized? How come the wall is moving?
The wall in front of me was swaying gently forward and back
I shook my head, trying to orient myself. How can a wall move?!
I looked around me, taking in the blurry surroundings until they became a bit more focused.
I was inside a round, underground chamber. And the walls weren’t moving, I was.
My hands were shackled over my head and chained to the ceiling, my feet dangled above the floor. The movement I thought was the wall, was me swaying in my bonds.
The chamber looked like it was a naturally formed cave, when I looked through the single visible exit I saw a carved stairway leading up.
In front of me was a large stone table, with a variety of exotically cruel looking, hooked, sharp, and jagged, metal tools on it. Along with a small pile of Void Crystals. My crystals, dammit!
Next to the table was a small altar, decorated with splatters of dried blood.
The room had a ‘torture chamber’ written all over it.
I heard a low moan to my right. I craned my neck forward and turned my head, looking for the source. A goblin hung, shackled next to me. I squinted and blinked my eyes a few more times to adjust them, and finally the goblin came into focus.
I finally found Tika.
She was in a terrible state, bleeding from dozens of shallow cuts, her head lolling towards the floor.
“Tika!” I called urgently. “Tika! Can you hear me?”
Another low groan escaped her mouth as she lifted her head and stared at me uncomprehendingly.
“P...please, no more.” she whimpered. Her hands were clenched within the shackles hanging her from the ceiling.
“Tika it’s me! Wake up!” A tremendous rage was building up inside me at the sight of the helpless huntress.
“Oren?”
“Yes, it’s me. I’m here. Are you ok?”
“They want me tell them where clan is,” she whispered, “They hurt me, but I not tell.”
I felt a pang of guilt combined with a rising dread. My fear was now a reality, that hobgoblin bastard had tortured my poor little Tika.
“Tika, why did you leave the valley?” I asked feebly.
She lowered her head, whispering. “I try be good hunter, bring food to everyone, make you happy. But too many goblins now. Not find enough animals to hunt in valley. More to hunt outside. Don’t want you worry, so not tell I go out of valley to hunt.”
“Oh Tika,” My voice broke as I realized her fear of letting me down led to this misfortune. It was all my fault, I had asked her to provide for everyone, and then went ahead and summoned dozens of new mouths to feed. I shouldn’t have put so much pressure on her.
“You’ve done so well, my fierce little huntress. Be strong for just a little longer, I am here now. I will get us out of this.” Somehow, I will! I added forcefully in my mind.
“So, getting reacquainted with your long-lost love? How touching.” Barska walked down the stairs and entered the chamber. His red armored shell was gone, and he looked like every other ordinary, muscle-headed hobgoblin with only one eye.
My mana was still low, at around 100 points, but seeing the evil bastard smirking at me, I didn’t care. I channeled my mana, conjuring the double Drilling Arrows next to my shackled hand, and launched them at him.
Barska reacted so quickly I almost missed the movement of his arm rising to block the attack, his arm flashed, briefly outlined in hard, red light, and the two arrows were absorbed. Grinning, he lowered his hand, not even seeming to notice the tiny marks the arrows left on his skin.
“Now now, we can’t have that, can we?”
He walked toward Tika unsheathing a knife.
I started to thrash in my chains, causing my body to swing wildly. “Let her go you son of a bitch!”
Ignoring me, he reached for Tika’s hands as she pitifully tried to keep herself away from him.
I thrashed harder and harder. “NO! NO!”
The knife flashed and Tika screamed. I screamed along with her incoherently, in despair. Weirdly, someone else was chuckling the whole time.
My eyes were drawn to the movement of something falling to the floor. It plopped to the ground and I stared at it for a long time before I processed what it was. A finger. Tika’s finger. I didn’t want to look at it anymore. When I tried to look away I was arrested by the sight of the little lumps scattered around the finger. I felt my blood freezing in my veins in horror as I realized what those other lumps were. They were all fingers.
I was horrified and shocked and full of rage. This was too real! This can’t be happening! “NOOOOO!”
A savage slap across my face brought me back to my senses.
Barska was leering at me with hate filled eyes, still chuckling. “Any more rash behavior and Tika loses another finger.”
I forced my body to relax, looking back at him coolly, though my insides were screaming for his blood.
He took my silence as compliance. “Good. Now, let’s make sure you don’t accidentally cause Tika to lose any more digits eh? She might be out of fingers, but she still has a few toes left.”
I stared at the broken gobliness next to me. Her hands weren’t curled into fists as I had thought when I first saw her. She was missing all of her fingers.
Barska went to the table and grabbed an earthen jug and metal tong. He approached me, opened the lid and reached inside with the tong. Pulling it out slowly, he revealed a fat, quivering yellow slug as long as my hand. Using the tongs he placed the slug on my left arm. The slimy thing stuck to my skin and I immediately felt something painfully pierce through my flesh, as what I recognized now to be a Manaleech, burrowed its proboscis deep into my arm.
You are suffering from a Manaleech drain: -20 MP per minute, -10 max HP
Manaleeches are nasty little mobs, hated by all players because they are insidious, extremely dangerous pests. They are unpredictable, random spawns, usually encountered in wetlands. They either lurk underwater ready to latch onto wading or swimming players, or drop from trees or cave ceilings. They are pathetically easy to kill, provided you spot them before they attach themselves and start feeding. A single slash is enough to cut them in half. But if they do latch on, they become a much more serious problem, and getting rid of them can be deadly. Once they are attached to the victim pulling them off or damaging their bodies causes the Manaleeches to detonate using their stolen mana, and it can cause massive damage. The more mana drained, the more powerful the detonation. Spells and magic are ineffective against Manaleeches as they simply absorb the mana. A skilled healer and a medkit is required to remove them safely. Adventurers prefer to swat them as quickly as possible, accepting the damage from the explosion while it is still relatively low.
I didn’t have the luxury of removing the Manaleech before it became dangerously engorged. Not that I minded dying. Hanging in the air like this, helplessly, being drained…I’d love the chance to rip off the mana leech and blow it all to hell.
Barska drew another leech from the jug, and placed it on my right arm.
You are suffering from a Manaleech drain: -40 MP per minute, -20 max HP
He con
centrated, scrutinizing me, and looked genuinely surprised at what he saw. “You are full of surprises. No Adept under my command could retain any mana with two leeches draining them. You are a sturdy little pest, aren’t you?”.
My mana regeneration rate was 58 points per minute. A staggering amount for my current level.
Unhurriedly, Barska produced a third leech, and stepped behind me. I felt the back of my leather vest being ripped away and my back was exposed.
“Hold on, this won’t hurt a bit.”
Barska placed this Manaleech directly on my spine, just below my neck. I felt it’s sucker piercing my flesh, and penetrate between the vertebra. An agonizing current of pain flared and reverberated through my body. I momentarily lost control and screamed.
You are suffering from a Manaleech drain: -70 MP per minute, -40 max HP
“Told you it wouldn’t hurt a bit.” The grinning Barska appeared in front of me. “I’m impressed. Most magic users would faint from having a Manaleech placed directly on their mana nexus.”
I clenched my teeth fighting down the pain, refusing to give him the satisfaction of hearing me scream.
My mana bar was slowly and surely draining. Soon, I would be out of options.
“You will pay for this.” I gasped out, panting.
“Are you sure?” he seemed genuinely interested. “As one leader to another, have you tried taking a good look at me?”
Huh, what the hell is he talking about? I thought with confusion. I was staring right at him after all.
Then a realization came over me. Of course! With all the commotion and the fighting, I didn’t have the time to properly Analyze Barska. Well, since he’s offered it himself…. Analyze.
Barska, Hobgoblin Chief
Level: 20 (4%)
Type: Boss tier 3 [Demonic Channeler]
Abilities: P: 20, M: 13, S: 2
HP: 973, MP: 330
Skills: Demonic Armor: 33, Spears: 24, Torture: 19, Powerful: 28, War Leader: 12, Inspire Followers: 12
Traits: Goblinoid (+1P, -1S), Demonic (Demonic powers)
Resistances: Armor: 65, Mental: 50%, Spell: 30%, Fire: 100%, Holy: -30%
Background: Barska Demon Eye was young lieutenant favored by his former clan Chief. One day, a ritual performed by the clan Shaman to summon demonic power backfired, infusing Barska’s body with internal energies instead of summoning a terrible demon. The power took root in his body and cost him an eye, but in return it fueled him with infernal power. The demonic nature of the power affected his mind, magnifying his ego, and his already notable thirst for power. Driven by those internal forces, Barska slew his Chief and claimed the position and power as his own. He is in an alliance with Elenda, a hobgoblin-Elvish Adept whose perverse lust for blood, power, and pain rivals his own. Barska’s only goal in life is to become more powerful, which he mysteriously learned could be achieved by consuming the hearts of defeated leaders
Boss tier three!? He’s a rank three boss!? I never had a chance. His HP was greater than my mana and health combined. His mana capacity was close to mine, and he was a melee fighter class!
A sinking feeling settled in my gut as I realized I might be more screwed than I’d originally thought. Escape might be impossible.
My mana was at 50 and dropping.
Barska looked at me with satisfaction as he saw comprehension dawn on my face. “So you see, there’s little point in resisting. Tell me what I want to know, and you don’t have to watch poor Tika suffer anymore.”
He reached toward me and I cringed, expecting pain. Instead, he merely pointed at the dagger tucked safely back in my belt. “How did you get this dagger? Why can’t I remove it from you?”
I hesitated. The bone dagger was Soulbound to me, as a result it could not be lost or stolen. It also reminded me I had another weapon at my disposal, but I couldn’t really use it against the hob leader. At most it would injure him, and Tika would pay for that.
Seeing my delay, Barska drew his knife and moved towards Tika again. The poor thing had 30% of her hit points left. “Pity she has to pay for your stubbornness,” he almost cooed as he moved the knife toward her feet.
“Wait!” I shouted. His hand froze in the air. “I got this dagger after I killed the clan’s old Totem with it. I don’t know why it can’t be removed.”
He lowered his hand and turned his full attention to me. “So… we have something in common, it seems. I too killed my predecessor. And I too, gained interesting abilities as a result.”
“Now for the next question, and don’t even think about stalling or lying. If you disappoint me, what I do next to your precious Tika will make losing fingers seem like a shaving cut in comparison.” He approached me, and leaned in intimidatingly, his face centimeters from mine. “Where is your clan located?”
I couldn’t tell him. I’d invested too much, a month of my life, growing my little clan of goblins.
It was also my only ticket back to reality, away from this hell show. And revealing the location would doom all of my goblins. I wasn’t going to let that happen. But I couldn’t let him continue hurting Tika either.
I had 30 mana remaining, just enough for one last fully empowered Drilling Arrow spell. I had to make it count.
“I can’t take any more,” I whispered, my eyes darted at Tika in shame, and I dropped my head.
Barska leaned in even closer, turning his head a little to put his ear closer. Perfect. Praying fervently, I pulled my mana and conjured a Drilling Arrow. My hope was that since Barska’s face so close to mine, he wouldn’t notice the double arrows manifesting near my hands over my head, outside of his view.
I felt a wave of relief. He hadn’t noticed, but I had to stall for more time to fully charge the arrows.
In a low, hopeless and defeated voice, “The clan’s new location is…” then trailed off in anguished sobbing, to buy a few more precious seconds.
“Tell me!”
I raised my head, looked directly at him, and replied evenly, “The clan is located way, wayyy up your mama’s ass. It’s dark, there’s plenty of room to grow, and the stink left with you, when she pushed you out like the bloody turd you are.” I was grinning at him tauntingly as I finished.
He was utterly still for long seconds, as if having trouble believing what he’d heard. Then, slowly, his face flushed, the veins at his temples throbbed, swelling so much they bulged underneath his skin like thick worms. He roared angrily, a red glow started emanating from his body.
His face was only centimeters from the fully empowered Drilling Arrows when he noticed and looked up at them. I smiled and launched the spell. The projectiles struck with a resounding smack.
Zero mana remaining.
Barska actually flinched and then scanned himself in bewilderment, looking for a wound. There was none.
I hadn’t been aiming at him.
Finally realizing the deception, Barska whirled around, just in time to watch poor Tika’s body disappear, absorbed by the game. This chamber was apparently set to absorb dead bodies instantly.
The thought of harming Tika at all was repugnant, deliberately killing her was a whole other level of hell, but it was my best and only move. Not only did it spare her from more torture by this sadistic tin-pot digital psycho, it also took away the only leverage he had over me. There was no other way, even a direct headshot would barely be enough to put a dent in Barska’s monstrous health pool.
Tika had her own VI, when I got back to the village I could resurrect her, restoring life and hopefully, limbs. Although I wasn’t sure what her emotional state would be after her experiences in this horror shop.
Still, despite knowing that killing her was an end to her pain and the best possible outcome for her in this situation, I felt a wrenching gnawing sense of guilt.
Seeing Barska’s thwarted, congested expression didn’t make up for what I’d had to do, but it sure did give me a warm fuzzy feeling of satisfaction.
Looking at me wrathfully, Barska reached t
oward the top of the stone table and selected a curved scalpel with serrated edges.
“You will pay dearly for that little stunt” he snarled.
Sigh. This is going to suck.
28 - The Lion's Den
“No! NO!”
I struggled vainly in my chains, my body flailing widely. But Barska’s grip held my head motionless while his other hand slowly came closer to my eye with the barbed scalpel.
“NO!!!!” My panic skyrocketed at the seeming inevitability, spiking my adrenaline as I redoubled my frenzied thrashings, my chains clinking loudly. But I was powerless to resist, my head was held immovably in place, without mana I couldn't do anything to resist Barska’s strength and the power of his insane levels.
The razor made contact with my eye, and I felt it slicing in. Spiking pain shot through my head, and I could literally feel the tool penetrating my cornea.
“Oh yesssss, scream for me, Little One.” Barska chortled in pleasure.
My health bar, which had recovered fully, was dropping once again.
I was immersed in a private universe of pain, it enveloped me and claimed me. Little else existed.
Barska wasn’t through, he kept going. He dug the barbed razor in deeper, twisting it inside my eye socket as if searching for something. Through the pain, I felt warmth oozing down my cheek.
Barska grunted. “Be patient little Totem, I am a bit out of practice.”
After what seemed like an eternity spent in agony, he pulled the blade out forcefully. I felt more than heard a soft popping and tearing sound.
The horror of it was secondary to the pain I was feeling, but I knew Barska had pulled my eyeball out with the scalpel.
Barska barked a short, evil laugh.
This is not supposed to happen! It’s too much! I thought desperately.
Ridiculously, a part of me was marveling at the game’s authenticity levels. It felt so real!
But this is only a game! I told myself desperately. This kind of extreme pain was not meant to be part of the game experience. Monsters weren’t supposed to take players as prisoners, let alone torture them.
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